Nyssara's massive wings beat the air one final time, kicking up a cloud of dust over the cracked altar slabs, before the Mistress touched down softly on the ground.
Before the gust of wind could even settle, the three-meter demonic silhouette flared with crimson light and shrank, returning to her human form.
Elarienne, whom the Empress had held securely at her side the entire time, stood stably on her feet, adjusting the folds of her green robe.
Liselotte didn't wait a fraction of a second.
With the loud, furious clatter of stilettos, she ran up to them, pushing her lips out into a pout so exaggerated and theatrical that her cheeks nearly ruptured from the excess air.
She crossed her arms beneath her heavy bust, thrusting it forward aggressively, as her demonic tail smacked against her calves with a loud slap.
"You left me!" she blurted out accusingly, pointing a finger straight at Nyssara's chest. "You just scooped her into your arms, unfurled those magnificent wings of yours, and flew off into the clouds! And what about me?! I was left down here all alone like some abandoned piece of furniture! My heart is bleeding, my Mistress! It bleeds and demands restitution!"
Nyssara slowly arched an eyebrow, looking down at the girl with cold amusement.
"Truly?" the Mistress tossed out dryly. "And yet, a moment ago, I could have sworn you were screaming in delight at the sight of my landing."
"Because the landing was wonderful!" Liselotte instantly switched to a squeaky tone, then bristled again like a wounded cat. "But the fact remains: I was overlooked! Next time, I'm flying too! You have to promise me that next time, I'll be the one hanging at your side!"
Elarienne brushed some dust motes from her sleeve, then looked at the maid as she spoke with heavy irony.
"Liselotte, barely ten minutes ago you tripped on a flat stone floor and somersaulted halfway across the altar because you cannot stand on those heels of yours. Taking you on an aerial reconnaissance mission over a chasm would have been nothing short of a catastrophe."
"That was a matter of adapting to uneven terrain!" the servant huffed, stomping her heel. "I have fully mastered my center of gravity now! Besides, you don't walk in the air, you fly, so my shoes wouldn't have mattered anyway!"
"Enough of this circus," Nyssara cut off sharply, a tone entering her voice that brooked no further argument. She looked at the blonde as she added, "Elarienne, stop teasing our degenerate and tell me exactly what you managed to perceive from above."
The elf nodded and instantly turned serious. She rested her hand on her staff, pointing the head toward the southern horizon, where the black cliffs of Gloamreach Vale slowly transitioned into rolling hills.
"The optimal direction is undoubtedly south," the blonde began matter-of-factly. "My talent highlighted a region designated as the Green Forest. It is a gigantic, dense woodland that constitutes the very heart of this entire Wildshade Expanse. From the intelligence I managed to gather, the soil there is exceptionally fertile. We will find an abundance of timber, wild fruits, herbs possessing magical restorative properties, and entire herds of fauna."
Nyssara narrowed her eyes slightly, analyzing the words.
"And the threats?" the Empress asked. "I refuse to believe a region that rich is completely uninhabited."
"Of course it is not," Elarienne admitted. "I saw indications of timber wolves, predatory avians, and several other baseline beasts. The information provided by my talent is not an omniscient atlas, however; I receive a general overview of the terrain and the names of key species, but I cannot pinpoint every single monster lurking beneath the canopy. We must certainly remain vigilant, but the threat level on the outskirts appears relatively low. Significantly lower than the swamps to the east, which are swarming with venomous monsters."
Nyssara did not deliberate for another second.
After all, she was not the type of ruler to spend hours agonizing over simple decisions, sitting idle in a ruined starting point.
They needed resources immediately, and the clock on their three-day grace period was ticking down with every passing minute.
"Excellent. We are moving out," the Empress decided firmly. "We head for the Green Forest."
"Wait just a minute!" Liselotte instantly inserted herself between them, waving her arms. "What do you mean, 'we head'?! You were just flying a second ago! Since Elarienne got a free flight in your wonderful, hot arms, I demand the score be settled! It's a matter of basic justice! I want to fly too!"
Nyssara looked at her with such boundless skepticism, it was as if the maid had just asked for the moon.
"Liselotte, do you have any concept of how much an adult woman weighs?" the Mistress asked mockingly.
"I weigh almost nothing! I'm light as a feather, agile, and delicate!" the servant denied feverishly, even though her gigantic bust contradicted every single word about lightness. "Besides, in your demonic form, you're three meters tall with muscles of steel! You can carry both of us at once! I beg you, my Mistress! Surely you aren't going to make me break my heels on these cursed rocks for a several-hour march!"
Nyssara sighed heavily, pinching the bridge of her nose.
The prospect of trudging through the gorge at a pace dictated by Liselotte's lacquered stilettos was indeed profoundly unappealing.
The Empress looked at Elarienne, who merely offered a slight shrug, leaving the decision to the Demon Queen.
"Fine, you whiner," Nyssara finally grumbled. "But if I hear one squeak too many out of you, I will drop you onto the first tree we encounter."
"Thank you, my Mistress! You are the most wonderful being in the world!" Liselotte jumped for joy.
Before the maid could say anything more, black-and-crimson fire exploded around Nyssara once again.
Her body expanded in a fraction of a second, gaining massive arms, crimson-saturated skin, great horns, and razor-tipped dragon wings.
Not waiting for an invitation, the demonic Empress leaned down and scooped both women into her arms.
The Mistress's left arm wrapped around Elarienne's waist, lifting her stably and securely. Her right arm grabbed Liselotte, pressing her tightly against her side.
The wings beat the air with a deafening boom.
"Aaaahn...!" a muffled, shameless moan of pleasure escaped Liselotte's lips as the ground instantly fell away from her feet.
The sensation was overwhelming for the maid.
The cold wind whipped her exposed shoulders and thighs, but the rest of her body drowned in searing, unbelievable heat - after all, she was pressed directly against the hard, sculpted flank of a three-meter demoness.
She felt Nyssara's rough, hot skin beneath her fingers, heard the deep, drumming beat of her demonic heart, and absorbed the scent of sulfur mixed with her natural perfume.
Her monstrous breasts were flattened against the Mistress's massive arm, and a pulsating, burning wave of pleasure instantly flooded the maid's lower belly.
Liselotte completely forgot that they were hanging several hundred meters above jagged rocks. Instead of fear, she felt pure, animalistic ecstasy.
Her ruby eyes clouded over, her lips parted in a dopey smile, and her demonic tail wrapped tightly around the Empress's thigh.
However, after a few minutes of flight, the girl began to squirm.
Her small hand slipped from Nyssara's shoulder and wandered downward, exploring the line of her massive abdominal muscles, before drifting dangerously close to the edge of her hip.
"Liselotte," Nyssara's deep, bass voice suddenly rumbled, vibrating so powerfully it shook the girl's ribs.
The maid blinked, raising a dreamy gaze.
"Yes, my Mistress...?" she mumbled sweetly.
"If you make one more move with that hand, I will release this comfortable grip, and you will spend the rest of the journey dangling by the collar of your corset. Is that understood?"
The threat worked instantaneously. Liselotte stiffened in a fraction of a second, gluing both hands flat to her own thighs and straightening her back.
"I am being a good girl! Quiet and still as a cock when it sees my tits!" she assured earnestly, not even twitching an eyelid.
From Nyssara's other side came a quiet, amused snort.
Elarienne, who was enduring the flight with impeccable elegance, looked past the Empress's chest at the spooked servant.
"A wonderful demonstration of self-discipline," the elf commented dryly. "It merely took the threat of losing your comfort for you to recall the absolute basics of proper etiquette."
Liselotte just stuck the tip of her tongue out at her, but didn't dare to move. In her head, however, pure pride exploded.
Point one from the Quest Log officially completed! she thought with wild satisfaction, recalling the little pink notebook hidden in her inventory.
"Fly in the arms of my Mistress."
Done!
And barely an hour after arriving in this world!
I am simply a genius!
The flight continued for a few more minutes, crossing the jagged borders of the gorge.
Below, the landscape began to change rapidly. The black stone and dead dust gave way to soft, rolling green. The air lost its rotten aftertaste, filling with the resinous aroma of damp earth and blooming shrubs.
Nyssara banked her wings, executing a wide arc over the treetops, and landed with a loud rush of air in a small, grassy clearing at the edge of the Green Forest.
As she set both companions on the ground, she flared with crimson light once more, returning to her normal, human form to navigate the dense thicket freely.
The atmosphere of this forest was striking.
After the grim, suffocating silence of Gloamreach Vale, the Green Forest teemed with life. Golden rays of sunlight filtered between massive, mossy trunks, unseen birds chirped in the dense undergrowth, and the air smelled so fresh and intensely earthy that it tickled the nose.
Elarienne immediately approached the nearest brush, leaning on her staff. Her emerald eyes flared bright green, activating her talent.
"Here," she pointed a hand toward a dense shrub with dark, waxy leaves, heavily laden with oblong fruits shimmering in the sun in three colors: azure, violet, and gold. Right beneath the bush grew a patch of gleaming, silvery moss with long, soft blades.
"What is that?" Nyssara asked, stepping closer.
"Tricolor Berry and Silvery Herb," the elf explained calmly, reading the system notes invisible to the others. "These fruits possess special properties; consuming a single piece restores approximately twenty mana points. In turn, this silver herb regenerates approximately twenty health points."
Nyssara crossed her arms over her chest as she spoke:
"Twenty health points is negligible for serious wounds, but it is still a massive treasure," the Empress noted. "I wonder how quickly they grow and whether the soil around our altar would be suitable for transplanting them. In the future, we could establish a permanent plantation right next to us, so we don't have to scour the forest every time our supplies run low."
At that moment, Liselotte, who had been looking around at the trees, furrowed her brow, and the gleam of a hardcore gamer appeared in her ruby eyes.
"Twenty mana per fruit..." she began calculating aloud, tapping a finger on her chin. "My mana pool is exactly five hundred points. If I completely burned through my energy during a heavy skirmish, I'd have to snort twenty-five of these berries in a row to fill up to maximum. In the middle of combat, that is absolutely useless; I'd choke on the pits before I could cast a second barrier. But outside of combat? Or if we processed it into some concentrated juice or brewed it into a potion? Then maybe we could amplify its effect."
Nyssara and Elarienne looked at her with mild surprise, realizing this perverted maid could switch off her chaos in a fraction of a second and think quite logically.
Liselotte didn't wait for praise, however. She reached out, plucked one plump, tricolor berry from the bush, and popped it into her mouth without a shadow of hesitation.
The sudden explosion of flavor literally knocked her off her feet.
"Ooooohhh...!" she moaned drawn-out, and her knees buckled so violently she narrowly avoided landing on the grass again. She grabbed her cheeks, closing her eyelids, while her fluffy elven ears fluttered in wild frenzy.
"This is... this is incredible! Sweet, slightly tart, with this icy note washing over the palate! Absolute heaven!"
Her new body - a fusion of the hyper-sensitive, inhuman senses of an elf and the sensual, perpetually stimulation-starved nature of a succubus - made an ordinary fruit taste to her like the most magnificent nectar of the gods.
She felt a cool trickle of energy slide down her throat, restoring a fraction of her magical strength.
Elarienne watched her with pure consternation.
"Liselotte... it is merely a wild forest fruit," the elf noted dryly. "You are behaving as if you have just experienced a divine revelation."
"Because it IS a revelation!" the servant retorted, then her gaze instantly darted toward Nyssara.
That same radiant, determined smile appeared on Liselotte's face. She plucked another, even larger, perfectly ripe berry from the branch and scurried over to the Mistress with quick, tiny steps.
"My Mistress! You have to try this! Immediately!" she demanded eagerly, standing right in front of her.
Nyssara extended a black-gloved hand.
"Give it to me, I'll test it myself."
"No way!" Liselotte pulled her hand with the fruit behind her back, shaking her head. "What kind of personal servant would I be if I let my Mistress dirty her hands with forest juice?! Open your mouth, my Mistress! Say 'aah'! Please!"
The Empress froze for a moment, sizing the girl up. Hesitation flashed in her eyes, followed by a barely perceptible shadow of indulgence. Though Liselotte was a walking social catastrophe, her devotion was so genuine and disarming that it was difficult to stay angry with her for long.
Nyssara sighed quietly, then slowly parted her lips.
Liselotte squeaked with quiet delight.
She stepped a half-pace closer and, with extraordinary, reverent care, slipped the fruit between the Mistress's lips. Her soft, warm fingers brushed against Nyssara's lips and the tip of her sharp fang in the process.
The Empress bit into the berry, and the sweet, crisp juice instantly filled her mouth, carrying with it the delicate tingle of mana.
"And?! Good, right?!" Liselotte pressed excitedly, bouncing in place.
Nyssara swallowed the pulp, then the corner of her mouth lifted in a rare, authentic smile.
"I admit, it is quite tolerable," she evaluated calmly. "Very well. Gather samples of both plants. Let us take as many fruits and of this silver herb as we can find. We will make this our first small stockpile."
All three immediately got to work.
Liselotte plucked berries from the branches with the speed of a small machine, packing them straight into her system inventory, while Elarienne carefully uprooted the herb, ensuring she didn't damage the precious tissues.
Suddenly, from the thicket on the right, came the quiet, dry snap of a breaking branch.
The sound was faint, but in the quiet forest, it rang out like a gunshot.
Liselotte's movements froze in a fraction of a second. Her long ears immediately swiveled toward the brush, standing rigid in the air.
Nyssara straightened up lightning-fast, resting her hand near her waist, and all amusement vanished from her eyes, replaced by the icy vigilance of a warrior.
Elarienne's gaze locked onto the dense fern bushes from which the noise had come, and her emerald irises flared with intense green light.
"What is it?" Nyssara asked quietly.
The elf narrowed her eyes, a shadow of concentration passing over her face.
"A level one creature is approaching," Elarienne reported in a passionless, composed voice, raising her staff. "A single target. It is a timber wolf."
The fern bushes rustled violently, parting to the sides.
From the shadows of the trees, a low, sinewy shape slowly emerged, covered in coarse, gray-green fur, from which hard, woody growths protruded.
The beast's eyes burned with a hungry, yellow glow, and thick saliva dripped from its gaping maw as the animal bared yellowed fangs, staring straight at the women standing in the clearing.