'Look, I'm already there, can't we just do this another day?' I answered in a frustrated tone.

The Shade did not reply and instead launched another attack forcing me to teleport away in a dodge. The dark fog was dangerous, before it, the defensive properties of my scales were basically nonexistent.

I took a quick glance at my side and winced, a few of my scales were missing as the Shade's energy was running rampant in my body stopping me from fully healing myself.

It was not impossible, but It was significantly harder to expel it when the damned bastard wouldn't give me a single moment to rest. Our bodies constantly flashed about in space with me doing most of the dodging.

The Shade coated himself in the fog which stopped my teleportation attacks from landing. Every time the strand of cosmic mana connected, the fog would protect him, and a portion of it would disappear instead before being quickly replenished.

Usually against most of the other Shades, I did not have such a problem as my cosmic mana could bypass their barriers with ease. This one, however, seemed like a higher-level one.

Still, a string of hope sparked inside of me as the battle continued. Although I couldn't do much to him, neither could he to me, and as the battle continued I was slowly analyzing how to get past his 'fog barrier'.

The space around me darkened even more, and I hastily teleported away behind the monster, this time he was ready and slashed at me with what appeared to be a dark whip of sorts.

I twisted my body in a dodge, letting the attack fly overhead before I countered with a dragon breath. The Shade swerved, avoiding the attack, and rushed toward me.

A slight frown made its way across my face as I teleported away.

'Come on! We are both just wasting time, can't you see we are bad matchups for one another? How long have we been at this for?' I said, but inwardly my mind was running in overdrive.

He dodged my dragon breath, he didn't defend against it using his fog but dodged it instead. A glimmer of hope made its way to my heart but I forced myself to remain calm. First I had to be sure.

I continued dragging the fight and launching a few cosmic attacks here in there. The Shade did the same and even managed to take off a couple more of my scales to my left side.

I occasionally launched my dragon breath attacks, here and there, and just as I expected, the Shade didn't defend but dodged instead. Seeing that, a plan quickly began to formulate in my mind.

My attacks slowly began to turn more frantic, 'What a waste, just move from there damn it!'

Seeing my 'anxiety', the Shade's aura shook happily, 'What's wrong little pillar? Play with me some more!' His voice reverberated in my mind causing my frown to deepen.

Inwardly, however, I was calm as I continued with my facade. The battle dance between us continued with me growing more 'frustrated' with each missed attack. The Shade didn't say anything more, but I could see his attacks growing bolder and bolder.

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It didn't take long before I 'slipped' in my frustration. One wrong teleportation and I came face-to-face with the Shade's sharp sword-like attacks. I dodged and diverted as many as I could but inevitably, one strike landed true.

I groaned as my stomach was pierced by the attack. The Shade moved almost instantly, not giving me a chance to teleport away. The fog surged alongside him as he blocked all the space around me.

Panic flickered on my face, and the Shade's figure flickered with excitement as his limbs launched toward me. It was then that I instantly coated my limbs with cosmic mana and grabbed hold of the monster's main body.

The cosmic mana and the fog clashed against each other and my claws were already slowly melting off, but a wicked was plastered on my face as I held on even tighter to the Shade.

'Finally got you, you bastard!'

The Shade seemed to sense that something was trying to retreat, but I wasn't about to let this opportunity go. The pain from my claws and stomach was already making it harder for me to focus, but it was worth it.

Panic began to set on the Shade as he unleashed the full force of his dark fog. I retaliated by doing the same with my cosmic mana. The two sides clashed causing flashes of purple light to illuminate the dark space.

My mouth then opened as a spinning orb of energy materialized before me. The Shade growing more anxious roared in my ears and began to swing wildly. The fog turned into all sorts of shapes that bombarded my cosmic mana, and the Shade tried to attack me physically as well, alas I was holding on to him for dear life.

Ignoring the pain coursing through my body, I let my dragon breath grow larger and larger, and soon the light was almost blinding, akin to a small star in space.

'Eat this, you ugly bastard!'

The dragon breath was released and the fog parted ways. At first, it tried to fight back but resistance was futile and soon the Shade was completely engulfed.

After a few moments, the fog slowly disappeared. A few more, the Shade's energy that was preventing me from healing, inside my body slowly disappeared.

Still, I didn't relax completely, instead, I launched another dragon breath for good measure, before devouring what remained of the Shade's body.

Power coursed through my body and a slight shiver of ecstasy passed through me as I lightly smiled.

'Wait, that wasn't so bad. Quite tasty too. I could get used to this,' I inwardly mused before hastily shaking my head.

'No, no. Calm down now, Aether. What get used to?' I inwardly sighed before turning my gaze toward the direction where the main plane was situated.

I was finally almost there, I could even sense the aura emitting from it. But first, before any of that, I had to heal my injuries. Cosmic mana flowed through me from our surroundings and a sigh of relief escaped my mouth.

The energy I had absorbed from the Shade was extremely helpful as well, and not long after, my scales regenerated, and the attack on my stomach closed.

'Phew, time to go.'