"While Shia is sleeping, I'll go scout out the news in the city first."
By the campfire, Lily took out a peculiar cross from her storage ring—about ten centimeters long and one or two centimeters wide, emitting a faint white glow in the night.
"You must protect her well, okay?"
Lily patted the top of the cross and gently placed it around the sleeping Shia's neck before flying away with peace of mind.
After Lily left, the cross quickly transformed into human form. A white-haired woman with the budding figure of a young maiden appeared, with bird-like white wings on her back, bearing an uncanny resemblance to the legendary angels.
She first looked around in confusion, then focused her attention on the sleeping Shia.
"Injured? Tch... what a hassle. I'll be magnanimous and heal you a bit."
The angel girl raised her palm toward Shia, and warm white light quickly burst from her hand, covering Shia. Her complexion rapidly became more rosy.
"Ah~ healing magic for the wounded~ please work quickly~ I forgot what the incantation is~ good thing I'm an angel and don't need to recite spells to use holy light~ whatever~ I declare this the new incantation~"
The lazy-looking angel glanced at the now fully recovered Shia, and the corners of her mouth curved upward in an arc she didn't even notice herself.
"Heh, remember to thank me, girl. It's not like I healed you because I was worried about you or anything."
The angel girl transformed back into a cross in a flash of white light, returning to Shia's neck.
○
Meanwhile, in the quiet night sky, Lily was approaching the kingdom's direction while trying out the most exaggerated flight maneuvers she could manage.
'My flexibility is so good! This level would have definitely made me roar like Beast Senpai from the pain back in the day.'
Marveling at her body's agility, Lily tried hard to resist the urge to do a split in mid-air.
It wasn't that she didn't want to do a Van Damme move, it's just that she was wearing a skirt after all, and she was a cute girl now~ She had to be elegant, like a young lady, Lily thought.
'I wonder if that Funiya is actually working diligently. She used to slack off all the time.'
Tch! That guy who's supposed to be a healer! Every time she appeared, she practically pointed at my face asking me to give her milk! Can't she be less lazy! Is she some kind of sloth demon!
'Hmph, good thing I already prepared a second layer of protection.'
Besides that lazy angel, I also prepared the simplest and most practical barrier to protect Shia. Hehe! Good thing guys like me who live in games all day love to grind! Hardcore grinding!
I can also set up barriers—my omni-class builds are basically all maxed, though I didn't have time to farm graduation gear for some classes, damn it! Could that terrible drop rate get any lower?! Dog operators!
"Emmmm, we've arrived."
Lily gazed into the distance. A distinctly medieval sword-and-sorcery city had appeared in the center of her vision.
The thick city walls were guarded by quite a few soldiers. Lily's judgment wasn't wrong—judging from the walls and the weapons the soldiers were equipped with, the Fres Kingdom's national power definitely wasn't poor. Even these most basic soldiers could wear complete sets of standardized armor.
However, even such a country was still easily defeated by the Empire, and Lily clearly remembered what Shia had mentioned.
Blood Demon Azicat's divine artifact—that is, her graduation equipment—seemed to be in the Empire's hands.
'Damn stinky Empire, they were also a warmongering faction in the game.'
But I can't find Blood Scythe's location right now either. How frustrating~
Maybe I should consider directly transforming into Azicat. As her weapon, she could probably sense Blood Scythe's location.
But Lily stuck out her tongue—she was really a bit scared now.
If the imperial aura she had originally written into Catania's settings could turn her into such an ice beauty...
Then she really didn't dare imagine what she would become if she transformed into Azicat, whom she had written as a bloodthirsty demon, killer, psycho—basically however crazy she could make her, a chaotic character.
Lily rubbed her hands together. It just didn't feel right.
'Well, good thing I have other options.'
Lily activated the interface that only she could see. Honestly, she was somewhat curious whether this interface actually existed in her eyes.
Or was this just magic presenting itself in a way she was familiar with, just a form?
Ah, forget it, it's not important anymore. I choose you! Go!
Shadow Demon Amontis!
Eh? Why is there an option here? Partial Summoning? What's partial summoning?
Lily clicked that button with her consciousness without hesitation.
The next moment, she felt her body suddenly filled with a cold power. She looked at the shadows cast by moonlight in the forest and suddenly felt like she had gained a dimension. What was originally just black shadows suddenly became passages in her eyes.
She could freely travel between them.
"Wow, how interesting."
Poking her head out from below a protruding rock on the cliff, Lily was initially wondering why her hair was flying upward.
Oh! She was upside down!
'Cough cough! Alright, I get it. So-called partial summoning means letting part of a summoned beast's power come to me, right!'
That's awesome! Then what's there to fear about personality changes! Hurry up and let Azicat's power come to me! Quickly!
"Eh? Why doesn't she have this option!"
Wait! Catania doesn't have it either!
Damn! Got excited for nothing!
Lily swayed in the air due to frustration, but after accidentally getting her hair in her mouth once, she wisely stopped moving.
'Fine, fine, Shadow Demon's power is enough too. Come on.'
'So-called light naturally casts shadows, and I am the master of shadows.
Another line that could only be said during a chuunibyou episode. Lily's face instantly heated up like a steamed red crab, with steam rising from her head.
"Ahhhhh! Why does it feel like there's no presence at all and it's super embarrassing!"
'This kind of thing really should be said by others. It's so awkward when you say it yourself…'
Trash~ Speaking of which, I used to say this to others in the game all the time.
No! They must have been laughing at me behind my back!
'Speaking of which, I look so tiny—I won't get kidnapped later, will I!'
A white-haired girl getting her mouth and nose covered in an alley, waking up already tied up, with a blindfold on her face completely turned into a plaything or something!
Feels pretty lewd...
Max Level Poison Immunity: ?
'Anyway, let's enter the city and take a look first.'
Lily finally left the sky, and there was serious suspicion that she was actually too lazy to walk.