Luca had left Rachael alone for a minute when he felt a presence following him. For a second, Luca was sure he would see the person following him. But instead, the one who came out of the shadow was a shadow-like creature.
It looked animalistic but had large and ferocious-looking teeth. And if Luca paid attention to it, he could also notice the poison on the beast's fangs.
"You are not the thing following me. Did your master send you to ensure I do not cause trouble for him? Tsk, what an annoying little thing you are turning out to be for me."
Luca looked at the giant cat behind him. Seeing such a creature coming after him annoyed him to no end.
"It looks like I need to finish you before I can go after my charge. What a hassle this is turning out to be."
Luca sighed, but the shadow did not give him time to rest. The shadow creature tried to sink its sharp claws into Luca's arm, but he dodged in time.
Not only that, but he used his gravitational powers to slow that creature down.
Like this shadow, Creatures with no body mass provided a challenge for Luca to overcome. But he was experienced on his side. He was able to use his gravity to affect other things.
Even if branches do not hit the shadow demon, it could still be left to its instincts. The natural way to defeat these creatures was energy weapons that challenged one's mana and converted it into energy.
"Tsk, is this how you want to play? Then you leave me with no choice but to take care of you now."
Luca's sword sizzled with electricity. That was the form his magic preferred to take while fighting. The sizzling crack of electricity attracted the colossal beast's attention, and it took a step back.
"What's wrong? Did seeing a little lightning make you lose your mind?"
Luca taunted his opponent, making the beast lose its mind and attack him outright. Luca dodged it and tripped the beast so that it would fall directly into the waters behind him. The beast tried to get out of the water. And that was Luca's cue to electrocute the water with electricity.
The shadow disappeared in a flash, almost like it had never been there before.
"Tsk, useless beasts trying to keep me hostage. They do not know what kind of person they are dealing with here."
Luca commented before remembering that he was not alone and had a charge to protect. He had been so focused on the beast this time that he forgot all about it.
'Oh shit! Don't tell me that I am too late to save Rachael. Young master Elias would have my neck if he learned about this.'
Luca hurried back to the clearing. He looked around but saw nothing. His heart froze in terror, and he huffed a few times.
Finally, he heard the noise of huffing coming from the forest. Someone was running toward him, and Luca braced himself for the impact.
Luckily, he only ran into Rachael's panicking self. The female seemed to be running away from something…or someone.
"Luca, we need to run. There is a demon chasing after me. I managed to blindsight him with the hold of my herbs, but it will not last long."
Rachael tugged at Luca's sleeve, but the beast had none.
"You think you can run from me? There is no chance for you."
......
Once Rachael realized the demon was here for her soul, she froze solid. All her attempts at distraction had gone down the drain.
"Well, catching you right now will be no fun. So why don't we have some fun? I will let you run away; if you can get away from me within 15 minutes, I will let you go. What do you say?"
The demon offered Rachael this deal. It was a recipe for failure for Rachael. How could a nine-year-old run away from a monster? She did not have any powers at her disposal.
But what she did have was her knowledge as well as her supplies.
'I can outsmart this demon. I can do this right.'
Rachael decided to take this bet for now, and the demon smirked.
"It's nice to see that my friends are cooperative. It makes things easier as well. So now that we have this out of the way, it's time to play. You should run, and I will seek you."
Rachael ran as soon as the demon let her go. Her legs ached, and her lungs were not in good shape already. But this was all she could do to keep herself alive.
The demon gave Rachael a head start before he came after her. That head start was almost five minutes' worth of time. Rachael ran as fast as she could. But even then, Rachael knew that she would not be able to outrun a demon.
She grabbed her pouch and took out a few herbs. She still had the herbs that could knock someone unconscious.
'I need a source of heat to make these herbs take effect. If I can release their neurotoxins, then I have a chance to escape.'
Rachael had a source of out now. And she also knew that she had a lighter in her bag. So, she quickly climbed a tree she felt comfortable jumping down from and looked for a lighter.
She burned the herb as soon as she found the lighter. It happened right in time for the demon to also look for her.
"Hey, little girl. Can you just sit back and have all the run? You are making me annoyed now. You better show yourself, or I will come and devour you soon."
The demon called out, and his voice echoed inside the forest. It caused the whole forest to shake as the monster followed behind Rachael.
Knowing that she did not have a chance to win if the demon spotted her, Rachael allowed the monster to cross her location. Then, she threw down the pouch of power she had and watched the demon panic.
"You little brat! How dare you try to mess with me? I will not allow you to get away with your actions."
It was too late for the demon to react when Rachael threw the smoke and herbs at him. It caused the monster to panic, and he instantly regressed.
Rachael jumped back without screaming and left toward the second part of the forest that led to the outside. She ran as fast as she could.
She looked back once to see the demon falling asleep. But the drug would not keep the monster down for long. She could already see the monster waking up.
'I need to head back to the site and find Luca there. He must be waiting for me at our place.'
Rachael could see her finish line in front of me. She quickly ran toward it, hoping to reach the base.
"Oh no, you do not get to run away from me. Just because you smell delicious does not mean you get to give me the slip."
Rachael felt the demon touch her hair. But thankfully, her hair was short enough to escape the demon's grip.
As she ran, Rachael noticed that Luca was back at the site. The elder looked at her with a concerned expression and then looked behind Rachael's back.
"Luca, we need to run. There is a demon chasing after me. I managed to blindsight him with the hold of my herbs, but it will not last long."
Rachael reminded Luca and herself at the same time. Her energy was spent, and Luca also caught up to her in a heartbeat.
"You think you can run from me? There is no chance for you."
The demon finally showed himself in front of Luca. He still looked like a kid, but his eyes had turned demonic and showed his true colors.
"He…Hehe…. hehehe…you think bringing another human into the mix would save you? Just how naive can you be? Don't you understand? I am a demon! I am naturally superior when compared to you. There is no way you can…"
Luca clenched his fist and increased the pressure of gravity around the demon. The demon looked surprised and looked up. Instantly, the branch above the demon's head snapped, and his body buckled beneath the branch's weight.
"Ahh, this sucks. Can you stop damaging my head when I am in this vessel? I am rather attached to it after all."
Rook sounded annoyed as he bled from his head. The glare he gave Rachael and her partner made her feel scared. But it was not the case for Luca.
"You sounded rather cocky for a demon about to die by my hands. It makes me want to kill you."
Luca finished his words just as he was knocked off his feet. He looked up, only to notice a shadow trying to get past and at the female before him.
Rachael was being targeted quite openly right now.
"Hey, why do you keep going after the kid like this? What did she ever do to you? If you want to pick on someone, then pick on me. I am more your size, right?"
Luca asked as he yelled at the demon. But the demon was still more interested in Rachael than Luca.
"You don't realize what kind of treat you are taking away from me. That human is making my mouth salivate. She's a delicacy in our society. I could not believe my luck when she walked into this dungeon."
The demon seemed enchanted when he looked at Rachael. The glaze in his eyes was not usual. And even Luca, who regularly hunted monsters and demons, could not understand what made these demons act this way.
What he did know was that he needed to protect Rachael at all costs.