Leaving behind fake doubles of themselves, Haruki teleported his party at a slight distance away from all the ruckus being created by the demi-human elites. Making haste to get out of the city, they met up with Riley at the gates. Having hijacked a carriage from around the town, she quickly got everyone on before rushing right out through the city gate.
Thankfully, since all the guards were killed off or had given up their posts to join the rebellion, there was nobody to stop them as they made their way toward yet another kingdom.
"This is…" Crammed into the carriage, Alice, like the others, was crushed between the others. "A bit too crowded, don't you think?"
Peering at Haruki, who himself was tightly pressed between Margarette and Asuka, Alice wanted him to do something about the situation. However, since they weren't yet far enough from Dolatia he didn't wanna expand the carriage with his emperor of dark ability since that'd definitely give away their identities to anyone they met on their path.
"In a bit, I'll make a bigger carriage and Moriyana can mask it with illusion," although being crushed under the breasts of two beauties wasn't all that bad, Haruki felt as though he needed to spread out his party more so they wouldn't be as cluttered so often.
After traveling far enough away, they all abandoned the small carriage and mounted one made of pure darkness by Haruki. Masking it as a traveling merchant's wagon, Moriyana added bright red curtains on it along with a distinct carved look on all sides. Using the same horses from the other carriage, the wagon got them back on the road, but this time with a lot more room for them to stretch their bodies.
"Back on the road, huh?" Margarette muttered, a gentle smile resting over her lips.
"Yeah, but to be honest, I feel better on the road than being surrounded by the hustle and bustle of the cities," Fay added as she gently rested her head against Haruki.
Seeing her doing so, Asuka leaned onto his shoulder from the other side as well. In the meantime, playing with her newfound pet demonic spy, Stella was stumbling up and down trying to catch the eyeball creature. Ever so often, it would stop to look back at her and let her almost reach its body but fly away in an instant.
Watching it all unfold with the inside of the wagon being heated under the sun, it washed everyone's heart with a strange sense of melancholy. Basking in the warmth of heart and body, they all felt their eyes shutting on their own as the built-up stress from a month of acting guard finally began to catch up to them all.
One after the other as they drifted into sleep, their journey went on, but not to the next kingdom as they'd expected, but instead to a place that they'd once fondly called home. Seeing how everyone was tired and sleeping, Riley brought the wagon to a halt at a riverside corner. There, while preparing camp, she couldn't help reflecting on the journey they'd gone on so far. From the castle in Daria to taking over and destroying kingdoms, it all felt daunting and yet not so farfetched now at all.
'Maybe…We should head home first? Trace our steps to reconnect with everything.' Worried about being taken over by their instinctive demonic side, she felt like going back to their roots would help them get a better hold on their subconscious once again. 'I should ask Haruki about this when he wakes up. Besides, we do have to go and check up on everyone in the minotaur dungeon at some point.'
Setting up the camp with a burning flame, Riley summoned the lonesome widow to keep watch at the wagon while she ventured into the wild looking for something to cook up for the others. Having taken up a likeness to cooking after preparing that grand meal with Asuka, she wanted to surprise them all again with something nice and savory.
Being a lifelong hunter it didn't take her that long to spot a deer and take it down with a swift throw of the knife. After taking it back to the camp, she prepared it into a stew with a bunch of herbs and wild vegetables she'd found amongst the trees. By the time it was all done, the sun had begun to set on the horizon. Watching it drown away, Riley felt a compulsive need to pick up her blade once more and hunt something else once again.
'Stop…' Trying to fight those instincts, she carved her skin up with the tip of her blade. However, when the painful distraction didn't work, she violently shook her head and decided to take a stroll through the woods again.
Not realizing that Haruki had just woken up inside the wagon and would soon start looking for her, Riley ventured deep into the forest trying to find yet another creature to take out her bloodlust on. Down on the path, a hint of blood caught her attention, but for some reason, the smell felt a bit off to Riley.
'I've never smelled blood with such a faint hint, it's almost as if it's freezing despite actively coursing through a creature's body.' Wondering if it was a reptilian, she drew out her blades to keep on guard. 'If it really is a reptilian monster, then this could definitely be some fun.'
Turning invisible, she kept following the hint of blood. Reaching a slight opening amongst the trees, she was eventually brought to the sight of a female lamia with a long red tail bleeding out of her guts while laying lifeless in the very middle of the opening.
'Is this a trap?' Riley wondered. Confident in her invisibility, she approached the lamia women with great caution. Getting down to her knees, she placed her hand on her light green hair and slowly turned her face towards herself. 'She's…Beautiful.'
Charmed by the Lamia, Riley wiped off the blue blood from her cold wet lips.
"H-Help m-me," her eyes still closed, the lamia barely managed to whisper.
For a moment, Riley didn't know if she should help her given that she knew nothing about this woman, but as her instinct for carnage kicked back in, she was reminded of the self-serving evil slowly trying to take hold of her.
'I need to help her, if not for her sake then at least to prove that I'm my own person separated from the monstrous thoughts running rampant in my mind.' Determined to help the lamia, Riley pulled her body up on her shoulder and began dragging her towards their camp.
After a certain point as the weight of the woman was getting too much for her, she heard Haruki calling out to her as he tried to figure out where she was. Hollering back at him, she got him to help her get the Lamia back to their camp before even explaining anything that had happened so far.
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