The Blood Fox was quite upset about how they treated this situation.
Unfortunately, it was not like she would win against them in direct confrontation, and it didn't seem like Aiko minded it all too much.
As such, she could only wait for them to leave.
Witch Aiko munched on another piece of meat. Her physique almost incorporated that poison into her repertoire completely.
That meant that her body would be able to produce that poison later, which could be useful.
She already assimilated many poisons, so adding one wouldn't do much, but with each addition, she would grow slightly stronger.
"We will be leaving now." The Holy Deer noticed that the Foxy was checking some kind of Treasure, and they didn't want to disturb her plan.
He also had to report this to his Founder and sort through Treasures to find all the Soul Treasures that would help them save the Founders.
"Sure." Witch Aiko didn't mind them leaving since 2/3rds of the rivers were covered in blood, so it was almost time to get ready too.
'If she grows stronger, it should affect the Contract and during that time I should be able to remove it completely...' Since Aiko was powerful, the Contract was likewise powerful, but what if the Blood Fox matched her strength?
'Well, that might be impossible without preparations, but we will see.' Witch Aiko was the least powerful of the group when it came to defences. Moon Aiko, when it comes to offences and Sun Aiko... Sun Aiko was just out there.
The Blood Fox wrapped her hands around Aiko's waist. Now that they are gone, they could resume the conversation~!
"So, what is your answer~?" The Blood Fox hummed happily as she leaned onto Aiko's body.
Witch Aiko was startled. She didn't expect the Blood Fox to be like this, and right after being contracted to boot!
The Blood Fox gently kissed Aiko's side of the neck, making her shiver.
"We should go." Witch Aiko didn't know how to deal with this. Teasing was fine, but the Blood Fox was acting strange.
The Blood Fox didn't mind this. It felt like her prey was trying to run away, but still had to stick around since the predator was injured.
'Everything is going well, I will have to thank Mei later for this opportunity~' The Blood Fox licked her lips.
"Where are we going, Mistress?" The Blood Fox smiled gently.
"We are taking the portal to the middle of the continent, and that will also be your Evolution point." Witch Aiko said gently. Everything was calculated over time when she was spreading the beads.
They walked outside the hall, and the Blood Fox immediately flinched.
"Sorry about that." The scent was pretty much all around the capital, so it was only natural that the Blood Fox was affected.
Using her Divine Sense and shadows, she wrapped them with it, not allowing her own poison to affect them.
The Blood Fox held Aiko's hand during this time, making her even more concerned.
"Does it still feel bad?" Witch Aiko asked gently, seeing the Blood Fox hunched over.
"I'm fine." The Blood Fox pursed her lips, that scent... was something, alright.
"Okay." Witch Aiko wouldn't press on, since the Blood Fox said she was alright, she was alright.
Walking through the capital full of chaos, there were corpses here and there from shadow Beasts that were able to sneak inside.
Of course, Aiko could ignore them, since they were likewise wrapped in shadows.
This allowed her to deter any Beasts that would try to go against them.
'I should have everything for this Evolution, but maybe I should've done some more preparations?' Witch Aiko pondered. If the instigators went after them, it would make it slightly difficult to fend off, but...
'What if I wrapped the whole phenomenon in the darkest darkness?' Witch Aiko believes that would be possible with a bit more preparation.
Well, since the rivers were not completely dyed red, she still had a bit of time.
"Halt-" The soldiers tried to stop her from approaching the Movement Array, but Aiko just put them to sleep.
'I should practise illusions more.' Witch Aiko marvelled at this silent approach, which would be very useful for her in the long run.
Nodding her head gently, she turned around. "How are you doing?" She asked the Blood Fox gently, seeing that strange twinkle in her eyes.
"I'm doing well." The Blood Fox giggled at how Aiko's fingers squirmed during their hand holding. It was obvious that Aiko was not used to this thing, and she liked that fact~!
"Okay." Witch Aiko adjusted the Movement Array slightly, so that they wouldn't appear in the middle of the city. That way, they would be able to leave that place.
They stepped on the Movement Array as it burned through the Spirit Stones.
They disappeared from the capital, leaving the royal family behind...
The royal family was supposed to use this Movement Array to get away from this place, but unfortunately, they were too late.
Someone already went through it, and it would take a lot of time to verify the coordinates and procure the Spirit Stones.
They were... trapped here with their citizens.
...
Witch Aiko and the Blood Fox appeared at the other side of a quiet inn.
'Messed up the cords?' Witch Aiko tilted her head, but she didn't think too much about it.
Her [Little #### Nightmares] were out, so anything dangerous would be solved by them.
The other humans ignored the duo that appeared here all of a sudden. They were told in advance that something like this might happen and that they should look the other way.
It was the royal family, after all, so nobody was willing to question them or engage with them.
Witch Aiko ignored that strangeness and went out with the Blood Fox, making her see the insides of the city.
"This is a strange city..." The Blood Fox already noticed the oddity.
"This city is a neutral city. They are not part of any kind of Empire, and Beasts can visit here freely.
The Blood Fox looked around, and sure enough, citizens didn't even give them glances.
"We are under my illusion, but even then, the folk in this place wouldn't care. As long as you don't try to hurt anyone, you will not be hurt back." Witch Aiko read about this place a few times, and since it was one of the more prominent cities, Moon Aiko remembered all of them.
This was also useful right now, since they could easily and without worry pass through this place.
They were able to leave the city without anyone stopping them or questioning them.
"Where are we going?" The Blood Fox was confused. She believed Aiko, but it was strange that even Aiko was confused.
"I'm not sure, the centre of the continent was supposed to be somewhere around here, but..." Witch Aiko sighed. Her Table Map was not complete, so there were many missing places.
The whole continent was vast, and she was only able to collect major sites and calculate the centre based on that.
"Hm?" Witch Aiko tilted her head when her [Little #### Nightmares] tugged on her clothes.
'Is it this way?' Witch Aiko asked them curiously.
The [Little #### Nightmares] nodded their heads and guided her towards her goal.
"Is everything alright?" The Blood Fox felt like Aiko was acting strange again.
"Yeah, we are being guided." Witch Aiko nodded her head.
The Blood Fox was confused. She felt like these moving tails were very familiar, almost homely, in that strange feeling. She was wondering what their origin was and why they were helping Aiko? Why were they so familiar and not scary?
The Blood Fox shook her head. She will have enough time to figure this out in the future.
...
Witch Aiko and the Blood Fox were guided to a certain pond.
It was a bloody red pond that made the Blood Fox want to jump into it.
This was the central pond where all the rivers converged, but also a strange hollow place never to be written on the maps.
Witch Aiko wondered what was wrong with this place.
'Wolfy.' Witch Aiko summoned her Divine Sense to scout the area.
Wolfy looked around and couldn't find anything strange, and her [Little #### Nightmares] also didn't find anything strange.
[Intention Perception] also didn't sound any alarms, making this place stranger and stranger.
"You have come." A gentle and small girl peeked at them from behind the tree.
"And you are?" Witch Aiko narrowed her eyes.
"The Spirit of the pond, who is being tortured by you." The girl said gently, yet she didn't hold any hostility towards them.
"You are strange." Witch Aiko narrowed her eyes.
"Because I don't hold a grudge?" The girl tilted her head. "I would have to hold a grudge each time someone died, and that would be tiring." She shook her head.
Witch Aiko understood what she meant. Each time a Cultivator or Beast died near a river, their blood would make its way to here, so it was natural that she would feel pain each time that happened.
"How about coming with me?" Witch Aiko was curious if she could include this girl inside her Hollow Moon.
"That is impossible, the potency of the resentment is too deep, and you won't be able to swim into the pond to retrieve me." The girl shook her head.
"Oh, so if I can retrieve you, you will follow me willingly." Witch Aiko smiled mischievously.
"En." The girl nodded gently. "But no matter what you do, you won't be able to get to me."
"Oho~" Witch Aiko hummed and approached the girl, petting her head gently.
"You know I'm older than you are." The girl glared at this daring Fox.
"But now you are small and cute, so you need to be doted on." Witch Aiko said shamelessly as she pulled out a Pill Candy from Mei.
"I won't eat strange Pi-" The girl proclaimed, but Aiko was able to slip it into her mouth.
"It's nice and delicious." Witch Aiko also munched on one.
The girl was forced to munch on it for a moment, but that taste was truly nice.
"Hmpf." The girl snorted, but she was quite happy since that Pill was really tasty.
"So what did you feed me?" The girl narrowed her eyes.
"Pill Candy." Witch Aiko said gently.
"I have never heard of that kind of Pill. What does it do?" The girl grew slightly curious and worried.
"Nothing." Witch Aiko tilted her head. "It just tastes good."
The girl's eyes widened as she blankly blinked at the Fox.
This repeated a few times before she collected her wits.
"So you are trying to tell me that you have used precious Herbs, which are hard to cultivate, just so you can have candies?!" The girl flipped out.
"Yeah." Witch Aiko smiled happily.