The second female lead Dual Cultivates

"Shou, come back here Shou. I'm not angry at you and I won't scold you" Howl yelled as she made her way through the forest. There was something wrong with this forest for sure. It felt far too quiet and monotonous for Howl's taste.

There was a feeling of doom all around the place that left her feeling cold and bothered. It felt like she was about to suffocate by her own feelings and she could not understand how it didn't bother her brother in the slightest?

Was it because he was a human? Too young to feel this? Too magically advanced to be affected? Whatever the reason was, it could not be good.

"Shou" Howl yelled, not being able to feel her brother's aura as well. The bright spot that Shou was could not be spotted no matter how much she tried.

Howl continued her trek till she reached the only known clearing in the forest. It had been labeled as the forbidden zone due to all the powerful beasts that used to live there. She had visited this place once with Neha before and it had been loud.

According to the soldiers that had accompanied her, fights commonly occurred here and it was never quiet. But now it was deadly quiet and Howl felt worried about what it could mean.

"Howl, you followed after me. I won't allow you to kill the ghost" her kid brother yelled from across the clearing, his fists clenched tightly at his sides.

Howl had not even sensed him, much less seen so it surprised her to see her brother standing in front of her without her knowledge. It was a testament to how much this place was affecting her.

"I don't care about the ghost or anything else. We need to go back to our mother now. She wants to talk to you" Howl explained. She knew that the younger was angry with her but even he would not ignore her words if it were about their mother.

Howl was counting on this fact and she felt satisfied when she saw the younger's anger slip into uncertainty.

"M-Mother? Wasn't she resting? Did you visit her? N-No, you're trying to fool me, aren't you? You're trying to fool me to come back so that you can take care of the ghost in my absence" the kid guessed with an angry pout.

He was not wrong since this was one of the reasons Howl had been trying to get him away but it was not the main one. The main reason was their mother.

"I'm not lying to you. Mother really doesn't have much longer to live so I would like you to have your last words with her as well" Howl pushed all her sincerity in her voice to show that she was not joking.

Her brother realized that as well, his eyes widening. For all the teasing Howl did with him as the target, this topic was not one she was about to instigate during this time. There were things you could joke about and then there were things you should never joke about.

"B-But she was alright in the morning? Howl, wait here for a second while I go and say goodbye to the ghost" the kid yelled as he ran away.

It happened too fast for Howl to react and she could only watch as her brother left her sight.

Then she snapped out of her daze and followed after him with a curse. She didn't know why but she had a bad feeling about this ghost.

The appearance of such an entity along with the warning Neha had issued her, all seemed too interconnected in her mind. She did not have to be a seer to know something bad was about to happen.

It was magic that hit Howl first, the feeling of dominance as well as over-consuming despair coming from the heap of meat in front of her. The more Howl felt the stronger that feeling got.

And then her eyes registered the fact that her brother was trying to climb on top of that heap of flesh.

"Shou, get down. What are you doing?" Howl questioned as she worriedly watched her brother make the climb. He looked confident and nor worried at all but Howl felt her heart come to her throat at the display of numbness.

That was too dangerous and could end up killing her brother if he was not careful.

"No, it's alright Howl. The ghost will not hurt me. He doesn't even move and just lies there. The only reason I know he's alive is because he breathes and gives off this weird magic" her brother explained. He sounded certain but Howl felt terrified.

The kind of magic being let out of the creature was not normal. It left her breathless and she was standing so far away from the body. She had no idea how her brother was even able to find the courage to venture close to that body.

Howl was so worried about her brother that she missed the moment that huge body moved a little. The magic was too strong to register even if it changed and it left Shou as the only one to feel the change happening.

Still, he was a kid and did not think anything of it. He slowly made his way in front of the huge metallic face and finned down at it.

"Hello, friend. I'm sorry I can't stay here longer today since my sister needs me back home. See, there she is - My sister Howl. She works for Princess Neah and…woooh" the body actually reacted at the name.

Howl was not sure if it was because of her or the princess's name, but it caused the magic to get angry and lash out at its surroundings. The imbalance also caused Shou to fall down from the huge body.

Howl felt her body move on its own as it hurried up to catch her falling brother. The fall was large enough to break bones and she liked her brother alive.

"I thought he did not move," Howl asked as she eyed the huge body picking itself up from the ground. Blue eyes looked back at her and they felt familiar to her. They looked like Neha's eyes when she was filled with power and vigor and they also promised death to her.

"Hello, friend. It's nice to see you up and about. My name is Shou" her brother, the fearless idiot, spoke up. He sounded excited while Howl felt dread fill her heart.

They were going to die. Those eyes promised death and the body it was attached to did not seem to have enough brain capacity to change its decision.

And then the weirdest thing happened. Those eyes looked at her brother and softened. And suddenly, there was hope for them.