After killing Tanulia, Harriet readied to leave the area. Just as she was about to disappear into the woods, Harriet heard a rustling sound. Harriet paused on her steps, waiting for another one to walk out of the shadows. As Harriet expected, a figure clad in black armor from head to toe emerged from the woods. Just with a single look, Harriet could tell the figure was a woman due to the perfect hourglass structure and the way she walked toward her. Harriet stared at the crimson red glistening under the dark hood.

"Would you answer me if I asked who you are?" Harriet heard the woman talk. There was a shock in her voice. Her glistening eyes looked around the place. They briefly paused at Tanulia's head.

Harriet swallowed a mouthful of saliva. Her heartbeat rose. There was no way Harriet would fight the girl before her. It was not because Harriet feared her but because Harriet knew the girl's identity. Under all the armor and hood, Harriet knew it was Aelia, her son Ghost's fiance. Since Harriet knew the Dark Lord was Ghost, naturally his fiance would be the Dark Queen. Unlike Noah, Ghost dedicated himself to one woman. So it wasn't hard for Harriet to see through Gaya's disguise.

"I wish I could answer you," Harriet sighed.

"The Dark Lord wants to see you woman. So it would be wise to accept the invitation," Gaya said in her demonic voice.

To Michael and Gaya's surprise, when Michael and Gaya arrived at the Inn, they saw Tanulia Valren. Initially, they planned to murder the Thusians, but after seeing Tanulia, they changed their plans. Michael chose the Thusians, while Gaya decided to follow Tanulia with the weaponized plague to weaken Tanulia and her men. However, she was utterly stunned when she noticed someone else was following Tanulia.

Moreover, Gaya saw the woman effortlessly taking out four Soul Refiners like they were nothing. Due to her curious nature, Gaya stood behind and watched everything. She was completely taken aback to see the woman brutally murder Tanulia.

"I can't ask you to trust me but step aside. We don't have to do this," Harriet exclaimed. Gaya was surprised to hear the tinge of helplessness in the woman's voice.

She was a Soul Refining stage level 5 cultivator. Thus, Gaya knew the woman had nothing to fear her. In fact, after seeing how she handled herself, Gaya was sure the woman could fight her toe to toe. Yet, the woman seemed to want to avoid the battle.

"You are right. We don't have to. So come with me. I give you my word the Dark Lord won't harm you," Gaya had no intention of fighting the mysterious woman. As far as Gaya could tell, she shared the same hatred for the Guardians like Michael and her. So Gaya wanted to make the woman their subordinate. A powerful fighter such as her would make an excellent subordinate.

Taking a deep breath, Harriet looked over her shoulder to see the old man, lying under the carriage without moving an inch.

"He is not dead, just sleeping," Gaya said. Before Gaya approached Harriet, she knocked out the old man so the old man wouldn't listen to their conversation.

"What about this? Let's have a friendly battle. Whoever lands the first blow wins," Harriet said,

"If that's what you want, so be it. If I win, you come with me. If you win, I'll let you go," Gaya agreed. However, Gaya had already surrounded the forest with Spyders and drones. Even if Gaya couldn't beat the woman, she could follow the mysterious woman using the Spyders and drones. To be honest, Gaya wasn't completely confident she could defeat the mysterious woman. As a warrior, Gaya was able to tell the mysterious woman was someone who had experienced hundreds of battles.

"I have to bring her to Michael," Gaya said to herself. She heard the mysterious woman recite a phrase similar to Michael's. Gaya wondered whether she could be connected to Michael somehow.

Harriet on the other hand, hated to fight her daughter-in-law. Aelia was her family, but Harriet would rather fight Aelia than her own son. She had a better chance of defeating Aelia than Dean. Suppose Dean recognized her face, everything Harriet had done would go in vain. No matter what happened, she must protect her identity. Gaya slowly made her way to Harriet. To Gaya's surprise, Harriet didn't unsheath her swords. Instead, she just cracked her knuckles.

Upon getting closer to Harriet, Gaya released the fear toxin from her suit of armor. However, Harriet noticed the change in the air. Fortunately, she was immune to all the poisons and illnesses thanks to her ancient god Arrora's blood coursing through her veins.

When Gaya and Harriet met in the middle, Gaya threw her fist, aiming for Harriet's head. The latter managed to bend back and avoid the fist. As soon as Harriet dodged the fist, she raised her leg to kick Gaya in the abdomen, but the latter swayed her body to the side, avoiding the kick. Without giving Harriet a second to react, Gaya leaped into the air, attempting to land a kick on Harriet's head.

Chak!

Chak!

Chak!

Harriet kept blocking the kicks using her hands as Gaya traveled in the air for a couple of minutes. Blocking her kicks, Harriet's hands started to numb, but she continued to do so. Finally, after blocking almost sixty kicks, Harriet grabbed Gaya's leg and threw her against a nearby tree. Yet, Gaya managed to kick the tree, stopping herself from colliding with the tree. Her kick had enough power to create cracks in the bark. Splinters flew in all directions as the leaves rained down due to the force.

Before her feet could touch the ground, Gaya boosted herself using the tree and shot toward Harriet like an arrow. Her shock wave created by Gaya's boost obliterated the poor tree into pieces. Harriet was surprised to see Aelia's speed and her battle awareness. The dormant warrior deep down Harriet woke up excitedly. When Gaya's fist was about to hit Harriet's face, Harriet spun around to kick Gaya in the face. Just as she surprised Harriet, the latter surprised Gaya. Luckily, Gaya managed to grab Harriet's leg as they both fell to the ground.

They both quickly kicked up almost at the same time.

"You are good," Gaya said, admiring the mysterious woman.

"I can say the same to you," Harriet said. Her son's choice was spot on. Aelia was a perfect match for him in every way. It was a pity Harriet had to fight her loving daughter-in-law.

"You don't want to use those swords?" asked Gaya. She wanted to see if this woman possessed the same fighting style as Ghost.

"You are an archer, not a swordsman," Harriet calmly said, surprising Gaya.

Gaya couldn't help raising her brow behind her mask.

"How did she? Might be a lucky guess," Gaya shook off the doubts in her head.

"I don't want to hurt you, but I don't want to hold back either. After all, the longer we stay here, the less safe we are," said Harriet.

Gaya and Harriet began to walk in a circle, keeping five meters distance from each other. They were poised to defend themselves from the other.

"You could come with me," Gaya kidded as Harriet sighed. She almost wished she could go with Aelia and tell her son everything. However, she did not want to put her son in more danger than he was already in. In case Skyhall was watching her, meeting her son would be like leading them straight to their target. So until she kills the Skyhall elders, she wouldn't meet Dean although she wanted nothing more than to meet him and tell him she was his mother.

"Let's finish our little duel," Harriet cracked her neck. As soon as she did this little movement, Gaya creased her brows. She had seen Michael do the same as the mysterious woman did. Coupled with the rhyme she recited, Gaya was almost sure this mysterious woman was somehow connected to Michael. But who she was to Michael remained the question.

Besides her shock, Gaya wondered how she was still standing instead of trembling due to the fear toxin's effects. Yet, the woman didn't reveal a single sign of distress as Gaya expected.

Whoosh!

As Gaya was in doubt, Harriet dashed at her. This time, Harriet's speed was several times faster than before. Gaya could only see a blue, not her entire figure. Still, Gaya's battle instincts made her sway her body and bend down to evade Harriet's punch. Her evasion was short-lived as Harriet grabbed Gaya's hand in the blink of an eye and twisted it back.

"Argh," Gaya growled, running towards a nearby tree. Before Harriet could punch Gaya in the gut to land the first blow, Gaya ran onto the tree, twisted her body, and jumped back, releasing her hand from Harriet's clutch. As soon as Harriet heard Gaya's feet hitting the ground behind her, she punched the tree in front of her. Her punch contained enough force to create a shock wave that put a hole in the tree and created a shock wave.

The shock wave blasted both of them backward, knocking Gaya off balance. As a result, Gaya lost her chance to punch Harriet in the back. At this moment, Harriet's battle experience provided her an edge over Gaya. Harriet leaped up, going upside down directly above Gaya's head. Then, she quickly grabbed Gaya by her shoulder and squeezed hard enough to make Gaya growl in pain.

Gaya felt a sharp pain in her shoulder. She wanted to dash away, but her body refused to move. It felt as though her body was paralyzed.

"What did you" Gaya's voice trailed off.

"If gods permits, I will teach you this technique," Harriet landed behind Gaya, whispering into her ears.

"I win," Harriet gently punched Gaya in the shoulder instead of punching her like she punched Tanulia.

"Wait," Gaya tried to stop Harriet only to see her exhale deeply before flying into the sea of trees.

"Michael," Gaya sent a sliver of arch energy to the earpiece in her ear to connect to Michael.

Gaya heard a click in her ears.

"Are you in danger?" Then, she heard Michael. There was spite in his voice.

"No," Gaya answered Michael.

"Good. Whatever it is, it can wait. I am busy murdering these thusian pigs,"