The sounds of constant explosions made me flinch as I nestled deeper inside the cave, nursing my wounds. My teleportation to the main plane was successful but was met by an immediate ambush.

A duo, one Deity and one Shade, tag-teamed together and managed to land a somewhat serious blow to me. Right below my wings, a massive gash was opened and I was constantly using my mana to eat away at the divinity and Shade energy stopping me from regenerating.

I had managed to kill both assailants, but I had to run almost instantly as I saw more rushing my way.

Perhaps it was not a smart decision to teleport right into our continent. Maybe, I should have gone to the human plane and laid low.

In the chaos of the battles going outside, I had managed to slip out and teleport myself to the mountain range down south. Here the presence of Shades was massive, but thankfully, their levels were neglectible.

Not to mention, most of them were busy with the war, and so It was rather easy to find a cave to lay low for the meantime. However, I wasn't sure how long I could stay here before I was eventually caught.

I was trying to keep my aura at the lowest, and have been successful so far, mainly due to the disarray going on outside. Though, every time I hear an explosion close by, my heart skips a beat.

I hissed as another portion of the Shade's aura was expelled in the form of dark fog. I then used a tiny strand of cosmic mana to take care of it before moving on to the next.

Both powers were in a constant battle with my mana inside my body. The pain that resulted from their clash was nothing to scoff at either. Still, I had no choice but to grit my teeth and continue to shave off the influence that both the Shade and Deity had left on me.

****

A few days passed peacefully, with the occasional noise and shaking of battle, but other than that, I have been very lucky. I finally managed to completely expel the Shade's aura and almost finished with the Deity's divinity as well.

Now that I had more room to breathe, my mind finally went back to what had happened. The massive fight, Grandfather's expression of distress, the entire battlefield pausing to turn toward me.

'Why?' I inwardly wondered.

That was not normal. The way the Shades and the others that follow them looked at me, was— eerie to say the least. Grandfather and the rest were in a panic the entire time as well.

'But what would they want from me?'

Thinking of that question, the only thing that came to mind was my power over the cosmic mana. That was the only thing that differentiated me from the others.

Still, although I could somewhat understand the danger I could pose, I doubted it was enough to cause an entire chaotic battlefield to draw to a halt.

"Do they need my cosmic mana for something? That would make more sense," I mused with a frown as another strand of divinity left my body with a hiss, causing me to shift uncomfortably from the pain.

Still, no matter how hard I tried to think about it, nothing came to mind.

"I need to ask Grandfather, or Grandma when I see her."

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Almost as if on cue, my scales suddenly tingled, and without hesitation, I teleported out of the cave just in time to avoid the massive explosion that followed.

Standing in the air, I flapped my wings and glanced downwards at the now-flattened mountain, before turning my gaze to the newcomer levitating a short distance away from me.

"Now why would you do that?" I said with a sigh, as I scanned my surroundings.

"I can't believe my luck! It's the Voidwalker in the flesh! Hahaha!"

'Damn it, another talking Shade,' I inwardly cursed as I glanced at the vaguely humanoid blob of darkness. It had a massive mouth with an array of razor-sharp teeth, but no eyes no nose, and no ears, only an eerie mouth and a pair of goat horns.

"That's me, I would say a pleasure to meet you, but you know, It's not— so."

"Hahaha! I like you! Come on now, let's go."

"Let's go? Go where exactly?" I asked with a raised brow. My cosmic mana was already on full blast and just a short command away from teleporting me out of here.

"No need to be so nervous Voidwalker. Or would you prefer if I called you Aether?"

"To be honest, I would prefer if you didn't call me at all. You do realize that I feel truly disgusted standing over here talking to you, right?"

The Shade shrugged before answering, "Nothing much I can do about that. It's your so-called King's doing."

"Sure, now if you excuse me, I really would rather not get into this right now," I said, my eyes strained on the Shade for any sudden movements. I was stalling for time, and I was sure he was aware of that. The divinity inside my body was acting up, but I had no choice.

"There's no need for you to be so on the edge, Voidwalker, we have no plans on killing you," he said.

"Oh really?" I asked sarcastically as I glanced back down at the destroyed mountain, "I can totally see that."

"Haha," The Shade chuckled before continuing, "I was sure you would avoid that, if not, then you are simply not worthy."

"Worthy? Heh, worthy of what exactly?" I asked.

Hearing my question, the Shade spread his hands wide open, his body shifting akin to a bubble of gas as he replied, "Why, worthy of leading us of course!"

For a second, I didn't know what to say, or how to respond. I simply stared at him as if I was staring at an idiot.

"Lead— are you crazy? No, I'm the crazy one for even asking you that."

The Shade raised his hand to interrupt me, "It matters not what you think of me, Voidwalker. We live in a crazy world after all, but all will make sense once you come with us," he said.

"Yes, about that. I refuse," I replied.

The Shade nodded as if he was expecting such an answer.

"I see, then I will be seeing you," he said, his mouth extending into an even larger grin.

"That's it? You will be seeing me, you are not going to try to stop me?" I asked, puzzled.

"Why should I?" The Shade tilted his head. "I'm sure you are one move away from teleporting elsewhere. Besides, I don't need to. Since you are already here, then all will be clear and once it does, you will lead us."