Raising my head, I glared at my little sister who had just stolen my prey. A growl escaped my mouth at her arrogant look. I did most of the work, I entrapped that tainted monster inside my sphere of darkness. All she did was throw one light-based attack, and it was all over. 

"Hmph, I told you that's my prey!" I said while approaching her, the glare never quite leaving my face. 

Immy snickered with that annoying expression of hers, which made me just want to let everything go and slam her head to the ground. 'No, you can't do that Sidus. Think, what would have brother Aether done? He doesn't care about petty quarrels. Besides, the real enemy here is not stupid Immy, it's the Shades and the tainted.' 

I constantly reminded myself, as I attempted to reign my anger and keep it in check. Though by the King's will, It was not easy. Not when I looked at her damn grin. 'Happy thoughts, think happy thoughts.' 

"Let's go, the tainted here are too weak to pose a threat." She arrogantly spoke, causing me to snap.

"Who are you to decide what we do and when we go, huh? I still like it here," I said while motioning at the deserted valley we were in. 

Immy stared at me like I was an idiot, her gaze caused my blood to boil in anger, yet I still forcefully calmed myself down. 

"Are you an idiot? I mean I already knew you were somewhat stupid after challenging brother Aether all of those times and still getting your scales handed to you." 

"Y-You!" I couldn't reply immediately, for she was right. I was a stupid child, the scar on my eye still itched, yet I refused to heal it. At first, it was mostly because of my pride. I hated our brother, he made me feel inferior, and so I vowed to beat him before I heal my eye. 

Yet as time passed, I only found myself growing to respect him. He didn't hold a grudge against my stupid childish decisions. He was always constantly pushing himself to grow stronger, and he cared about his family. I had no doubts in my mind, that brother Aether was the link supporting and keeping us siblings together. 

Although I may never tell him out loud, I respected him. And I was sure the others did as well. Hence why It was embarrassing enough with Immy poking at the faults of my younger self. 

"I-I will beat and surpass him one day!" I stuttered in reply. Yet my conviction never wavered, I respected him, but that only served to strengthen my resolve. I will surpass him one day! 

"Oh please, I had it with you and your childish fantasies, you can't even beat me," She replied with a provocative grin.  

My dark mana subconsciously seeped out of my scales, enveloping my entire body within it as a dark space emerged in my surroundings. 

"Say that again?"

"Heh, you can't beat me." 

Saying that Immy's body suddenly shone like a torch. Her scales glowed brightly as if a miniature sun descended. Still, I was unconcerned. Although she talked big, both of us knew that we were equally matched. It was our curse, our elements seemed to perfectly counter the other, while our strength was the same. 

Our glaring contest was suddenly interrupted by an uninvited guest. I subconsciously moved my shadow realm to engulf the newcomer that tried to sneak up on Immy. The monster had a lanky humanoid body, one thin leg from which extended sharp claws, and two unnaturally long clawed arms as well. 

He suddenly appeared in the air aiming for Immy's head. 'Did he jump from the cliff?' I wondered. My shadow realm stopped him from approaching her. 

Immy's body instantly rotated as a spear of light impaled the monsters, on the ground. I recalled my shadow realm and slowly approached the downed creature. Immy was right next to me. 

"It's ugly," She muttered, to which I subconsciously nodded. It truly was ugly, the monster's head lacked any distinctive features. It only had one long horn extending from its forehead and an abnormally large mouth full of razor-sharp teeth. 

"It is," I subconsciously nodded. 

"I didn't sense him until he was close," She continued, her eyes glanced upwards. 

The valley we were in was not very illuminated. It was surrounded by mountains from all sides. The monster probably jumped from one of the said mountains, which wasn't bad per se. The problem was how close it managed to get to us before we noticed.  

My eyes widened as I instantly shot out three dark tentacles from behind Immy, grabbing the sudden assailant. Her three light spears illuminated my vision as they flew past my head and pierced three more monsters that were sneaking on me.

She glanced backward, and so did I before we immediately moved to stand next to one another. She protected my back and I protected hers as we kept our guard up. Although I didn't want to admit it, I could stay at ease with my back entrusted to her. 

"Do we take flight?" She asked. I wanted to poke fun at her, yet now wasn't the time. Surrounding the valley, countless figures similar to those who had just attacked us silently appeared. They were easily hundreds of them. 

"No, isn't this what we came here for?" I asked, before continuing, "Who knows what brother Aether is doing right now? I wouldn't be surprised if he ended up challenging one of the so-called gods. How could we retreat at the first obstacle," 

Immy snickered before answering, "What first obstacle? Did your memory go bad already?" 

"J-Just shut up and fight," I hastily replied. True, this wasn't our first dangerous fight. The south was plagued with tainted monsters, some of which we had never encountered before. The deeper we ventured, the more dangerous it became. 

'Why did I say that though? Damn it, now she's never going to let that go,' I inwardly grumbled. My body turned completely dark as I merged with the shadows. 

"Same as always, draw them in and finish who you can, and I'll try to take care of the rest and those that sneak up on you. Just keep your light away from me," I said, to which Immy silently nodded.

"Alright, let's just be fast about it. I want to sleep."