After that day, I never exchanged a single word with Aefina. I wanted to talk to her, but whenever I met her gaze, every word would lodge itself stubbornly in my throat.

We no longer slept together at night. In fact, we avoided any physical contact at all—as if an entire world now stretched between us. But wasn’t that the truth?

That first night, Aefina still lay in the tent as usual. I just couldn’t bring myself to hold her again. So I sat outside the tent and slept upright all night. When Aefina noticed I hadn’t come inside, she suddenly got up past midnight and sat beside me. For days after, our tent stood empty while we sat side by side beneath the stars.

After encountering Monstrous Beasts, Aefina stopped dragging me to the front lines. She simply guarded my side—neither pulling me forward nor leaving me behind. Our change was so obvious the others couldn’t miss it, but they stayed silent and let us slack off.

Of course, the deeper-region beasts remained formidable—that’s why Viter’s group needed Aefina and me. To ease their burden, I’d deliberately charge into battle first. Aefina would then "reluctantly follow me," only to "protect me" by swiftly eliminating every beast.

Aefina still shielded me fiercely. In all our days in the forest, not a single drop of beast blood had ever touched my clothes. Back then, I hadn’t even noticed… After each fight, she’d steal a glance at me. When our eyes met, she’d quietly look away. Honestly, I’d rather she yelled at me than endure this silence.

“Ugh! I can’t take this anymore!” Norma suddenly snapped, drawing everyone’s attention—except Aefina’s. She acted as if she hadn’t heard, never glancing at Norma. She simply maintained her precise four-meter distance from me—close enough to protect me, as she’d once promised, yet far enough to keep me at arm’s length.

I’d tried closing the gap. But with my slower pace, I couldn’t reach her if she refused. And Aefina… clearly didn’t want to be near me anymore.

“Why did Luo Sa and Aefina have to end up like this?!” Norma fumed. “Even arguing would be better! Why this silence? Silence is agony! If there’s a misunderstanding or conflict, how can you resolve it without talking?!”

“…Norma, stop.” Ilan cut her off, then turned to me. “This is your private matter—we shouldn’t interfere. But Luo Sa… Aefina is hurting. Only you can fix this.”

Only me? I glanced at Aefina standing not far away. *Not far*—yet compared to before, it felt like an ocean separated us. Four days had passed already…

Aefina must have heard every word. Yet she only watched me silently, still unwilling to let me near. Of course. I’d have to take the first step. After all, Aefina was never good at being honest.

Norma was right. My silence back then must have shattered her.

As we moved away from the deep forest, the beasts grew weaker—evident from Norma’s increasingly effortless opening shots. Once fully out of the depths, Viter’s group could handle the monsters easily. Aefina and I slipped back into slacking off… Had I been slacking this whole time?

Twelve days had passed since entering Rajeno Forest. Another seven or eight would see us out, then one more day to Domor. Twenty-some days total—proof of how inconvenient travel was for ordinary folk here.

We’d also drifted far from the Phantom Beast’s territory. We never encountered it. I’d been curious about that legendary creature’s true form… Wait. Did that sound like a flag? We shouldn’t meet it now—we’re too far away!

Just as I pondered what to say to Aefina, she shot behind me like a white arrow. She faced my back, muscles coiled like a cornered animal. Since I’d been walking forward, she now stood less than half a meter away, her breath warm against my spine.

“Aefina? What is it? Something behind me?” Her unnatural tension made me want to see her face. Maybe her expression would tell me everything.

“Luo Sa, don’t move!” She blocked my chest with one palm as I stepped forward. “Something’s approaching. Something powerful.” Her stance was like a mother hen shielding her chick. And if she was the hen… what waited ahead was the hawk.

Her alertness froze the entire group. Everyone halted, staring in the direction Aefina faced.

“Go. All of you. Now.” She took two steps forward. “Luo Sa, with me.”

I couldn’t obey that. Instead of retreating, I stepped beside her. Instantly, she sidestepped again, placing herself firmly between me and the threat. Watching that slender white back—so fragile yet unyielding—I felt my heart ache all over again.

*Always shielding me like this… What’s left of my pride as a man?* Even after my betrayal, she’d still protect me without hesitation. This tenderness was unfair. *You’ll make me fall for you all over again, Aefina.*

“I won’t abandon you.” On this, I wouldn’t yield.

“Luo Sa, run…” Her palm pressed against my chest again as Mind Speech echoed in my head. *“This enemy is too strong. I can’t guarantee your safety…”*

“Stronger than you? Then you run! I told you—if danger comes, save yourself. Don’t wait for me.”

“…If I don’t revert, I can’t win. But…” She glanced back.

Of course. Under Viter’s watchful eyes, she refused to reveal her true form—the Great Dragon. And in human shape, she couldn’t defeat whatever approached. *So this is where we part ways.*

“You all go. Aefina and I will hold it off.” I turned to Viter’s group.

“…The Phantom Beast?” Ilan knew Aefina’s secret. Only one creature in this forest warranted such caution from a dragon.

“Probably.” Nothing else would make Aefina admit she needed her true form to win.

Hearing “Phantom Beast,” Viter’s group stiffened. As seasoned Rajeno Forest adventurers, they knew its legend. Worse—Phantom Beasts never left the deep forest. This was unnatural.

Yet their first reaction wasn’t flight. They gripped their weapons, ready to fight beside us. Noble teammates—but they’d only slow us down.

“We’re comrades! We don’t abandon allies!” Viter declared.

*I know you mean well, but please just go!*

“Leave this to Luo Sa and Aefina,” Ilan urged. “We’d only hinder them.” She understood: Aefina guarded her secret fiercely. Staying would betray her trust.

“Trust us,” I added. “The rest of the journey is safe. You don’t need us anymore.”

The unspoken message was clear: *Staying will only cause trouble.* They had no reason to remain. I’d forgotten my own presence was a burden to Aefina too.

“It’s here.” *Clang!* Aefina’s warning and the metallic shriek overlapped. A golden whip-like tendril lashed at her—only to shatter against her fist. The broken fragment recoiled like a snapped wire.

It wasn’t light—it moved too fast to see clearly. But that whip-like strike? Definitely tentacles. Yet their clash with Aefina’s fist rang like steel on steel. Both sides were terrifying.

*Tentacles? What kind of improper Phantom Beast is this?*

“Luo Sa… we’ll meet again, right?” Ilan called as the group retreated. The Phantom Beast ignored them completely.

“Keep the 150 gold coins from the commission. I’ll collect it when we cross paths again.”

I nodded. Ilan smiled, then vanished into the trees.

The Phantom Beast played with us, whipping its tentacles from all directions. Aefina parried each strike with both hands, filling the air with *clang-clang-clang* like a blacksmith’s forge.

*ROOOAR—*

The inhuman roar tore from Aefina’s throat. Her human form exploded into her true shape—a twenty-meter wingspan Great Dragon.

We’d been standing shoulder-to-shoulder. When she transformed, her expanding body bumped me airborne. This was only the third time I’d seen her true form: first in the pirate den, second near Aegros Forest, now here. Her transformations had no wind-up, no strain—just instantaneous, seamless shifts.

I flew upward—but her tail caught me mid-air, lowering me gently to the ground. It didn’t release me. Instead, it coiled around my waist like a living belt. I trusted Aefina completely, but having a dragon’s tail wrapped around you? Intimidating.

As a dragon, she dismissed the tentacles with a contemptuous swipe. Four whip-like limbs shattered cleanly under her claws. The severed ends dissolved mid-air without a trace. The remaining halves… two tentacles in total?

It seemed to sense Aefina’s overwhelming power and obediently shrank back.

At the same time, a girl’s voice drifted from ahead: “The nuisances are gone, it seems. Trust me—I mean no harm. I’ve just never seen the legendary Great Dragon before and got curious. Let me introduce myself: I’m the ‘Phantom Beast’ you’ve been talking about. Call me Nia.”

As the voice faded, the Phantom Beast “Nia” slowly… leaped out from behind the tree.

“Whoa?!” After seeing the Phantom Beast’s true form, I couldn’t stay calm—I was so flustered I blurted out in Chinese.