Chapter 381: North - West - East
A strange black bird was flying in the sky above the wide dark river that stretched across the valley. With every flap of her wings, she traveled vast distances.
The bird's target was the north, namely the portal located there.
Ned, who was that bird, had to fly the longest distance out of the three of them to reach his goal.
Although the distance he had to travel was much longer, his flight speed, thanks to his transformation and platinum rank, was faster than his Master and Mistress.
All this time, during the flight, Ned's master's words rang in his head that the northern goal was the most dangerous. There was a high probability that they would be ambushed there, and that Erza, perhaps even the Queen herself, would be there.
Instead of fear, Ned felt aroused. He was ready to meet and fight these creatures again.
This time, he was fully prepared for everything.
Immediately after the summoning, Ned first copied his Master's current state and his new bloodline.
With these thoughts, Ned gave his best, striving to get to the portal as quickly as possible and have time to play before his Master summoned him.
***
Far away in the west of the dark valley, leaving a trail of fire behind him, Idan was rapidly approaching the western portal, surprised that so far he had not encountered any problems or obstacles.
"Something's not right here," he muttered, moving steadily toward his goal.
Idan, like a beacon of fire in this dark world, couldn't understand why no one had noticed him yet.
"I can't be that lucky, can I?" he asked himself, without relaxing his vigilance.
Through his connection with Ned, Idan could clearly feel his anticipation and excitement. He just shook his head, thinking about this crazy battle lover.
As for Arabel, Idan hasn't heard from her yet.
The lovers' plate remained silent, and Idan did not want to distract her without a good reason.
"I hope she's okay, — Idan muttered, releasing more flames. He accelerated, becoming even more visible, but much faster.
***
To the east, Arabel, transformed into an Ice Valkyrie, was rapidly approaching the eastern portal.
A fox snuggled on her shoulder, licking a lollipop with great enthusiasm. From time to time she turned to Arabel and, tickling, licked her snow-white cheek.
Coco found the new lollipop incredibly delicious and couldn't get enough of its flavor.
However, looking at her Mistress' snow-white, smooth, and cold skin, she couldn't help but pay attention to its coolness. The first time Coco licked Arabel, she felt a pleasant chill, as if she had just licked clean ice. Since then, she couldn't resist occasionally licking her Mistress' cheek while licking a lollipop.
For her, it was just a delicious combination of sweet lollipop and cold.
Arabel found Coco's behavior amusing and did not object to her ticklish touches. The little tongue did her no harm except tickle her.
In Coco's company, Arabel felt calm and somewhat confident. If she had been alone, she would probably have been lost in thought and would have felt anxious and tense.
Arabel was in high spirits as she looked at the relaxed fox cub.
Coco was enjoying the lollipop, but she didn't lose her vigilance and kept a close eye on her surroundings.
"Woo-woo-woo"
Suddenly, after a while, Coco, still not finishing her lollipop, abruptly raised her head and began to hiss, attracting the attention of her mistress.
Arabel stopped abruptly and swooped down.
She trusted Coco and, without wasting time on questions, decided to go down and hide among the dark trees of the dense forest.
"What's in there?" — Arabel asked as soon as they were safely inside.
"Woo-woo-woo, — Coco purred.
"Is there someone ahead?" Arabel clarified, and Coco nodded vigorously.
"Hmm..." Arabel frowned, then looked at Coco, and noticing her mistress's gaze, Coco, without waiting for her command, jumped off and, tearing through space, disappeared.
"Good girl," Arabel murmured, making a note to give Coco another lollipop as soon as she returned.
While waiting for Coco to return, Arabel undid her transformation into an Ice Valkyrie and took out a Ghost Mask. She looked at the familiar face that appeared in the initially featureless mask, and put it on with trepidation.
Her long red hair turned black and short. The azure eyes darkened, and following that, her height and other body parameters began to decrease. Her breasts, which she was so pleased with, and her hips began to shrink.
"Ah..." Arabel moaned, watching her own changes. Without the usual size of her breasts, she felt as if she had lost something important.
If earlier her own breasts could not fit in the palm of her hand, now, when she touched her breasts, she found that they fit comfortably into her.
"What are you thinking about?" — Arabel shook her head as strange thoughts began to enter her mind.
"Damn pink!" she exclaimed angrily, accusing her pink version of having infected her initially diligent mind with her antics.
"Phew!" sighed Arabel, then carefully examined her new appearance.
While she was in the spatial storage, after learning from Idan about the new hidden ability of the Ghost Mask, Arabel decided to copy the appearance of Essora and Milla, just in case, after asking and receiving their consent.
And at this time, Arabel has taken the form of Milla.
"It is urgently necessary to resolve the issue of clothes," Arabel thought, realizing that with the reduction of all her parameters, her old clothes had become a little too big for her.
After discovering that Coco hadn't returned yet, she decided to look into the "Trade" function, remembering that they still had enough System Points for purchases. Arabel wanted to buy at least something that could change the size.
"Hmm... perhaps this will be quite enough for the first time," she mused, quickly discovering a black cape with a hood that perfectly concealed her figure. The cost of this outfit was 600 System Points, but it had the desired resizing ability, which was very convenient.
As for the rest of the clothes, Arabel decided to discuss this issue with Idan and, perhaps, instead of buying, make a public order specifically for herself. The prices of clothes in the "Trade" function varied greatly and depended on the quality of the material and the quantity and quality of the built-in functions.
Arabel had just bought a black raincoat and put it on when a small crack appeared in front of her, from which a small fox jumped out.
As soon as Coco appeared, she handed Arabel a stack of photos that she had taken during her absence.
Arabel immediately frowned when she saw the photos.
The photos taken by Coco brought her several bad news at once.
Firstly, it seems that the eastern portal has already opened, and the outsiders from that side have returned to this world. In addition, there is a high probability that the portal has already been closed.
Secondly, in the photos Arabel clearly saw about ten representatives of the Womskinner race and a crowd of unconscious Awakened with empty eyes among them.