2 days later, with the reveal of Vermillion going together, they decided on an extra day to prepare for some extra plans and confirm things up, and now they are in front of the Castle. Vermillion is standing tall right in front of it. She seems to be looking around for something. The Demon King is at her feet. Vermillion is currently not using any armor and is basically in casual clothes.

Their stuff have been organized in 2 baggages. The first one has been set as a backpack, but is used on the front to avoid affecting the wings. It is filled with food, water and other related tools. They are to catch some food on the way if they find some.

The second is set more as a sack. It keeps her clothes and armor. The deal with the cloth is that, to cross to the other side, there is a territory called the Ice Lands to go through, so when they arrive there, she will wear those. The same to her armor, the Demon King wouldn’t allow her to leave without it, but of course, using it all the time would affect her disposition (She says it’s too hot). The only piece of armor she is holding outside is her Shield being held in her left thigh.

Vermillion insisted on Akira riding on her horn, he refused with all his might… Which isn’t to say a lot. She said she wants to talk on the way, and be able to point things out. Of course, she prepared for it, her right horn is now fully wrapped with a material to avoid slipping, and she got him to make something similar to a saddle for her horn. They did a small test flight with it until it was perfected.

Meanwhile the map, compass artifact and related things are with Akira, the Demon King was able to get some normal sized resources through the other tribes, so he will be the guider, besides the fact that he has already gone through, but this map will also help to find things like hunt zones for Vermillion’s sake.

Suddenly Vermillion, rummaging the sack with the clothes takes out something from the inside. It’s Lapis. She is pouting heavily, acting like a statue, but Vermillion just picks her from the sack and places her right next to her father.

“OK, everything checked. Ready to go.”

“Vermillion, don’t forget about the things we talked about.”

“Father, I know, I will be patient. I will do my best to make it work.”

“That’s good, have a safe trip, and don’t forget to consider the way back. Your life is the most important”

“I know. Papa, I will be going.”

Mama started climbing Vermillion’s legs, Vermillion took her mom with a single hand, raised her up in an instant, then inserted her tongue on her mother’s mouth, completely overpowering the Titan mother, then leaves the spasming mother on the ground.

Vermillion goes on all fours to reach her father’s vision, and gives him a goodbye kiss on his cheek.

Such difference in treatment.

“That’s it then, I am going now!”

“Be careful”

And then Vermillion, placing Akira on her horn, wearing the backpack as she planned and holding the sack with her two hands lifted flight!

…

But it did not go much further, as she soon dropped to the ground again

[I guess it’s a little too heavy for now, sorry.]

On the communicator, the Father heard his daughter as he was holding back the mother that wants to run there.

---------

Since she couldn’t fly, Vermillion threw the sack to her back and started running as much as she could, maybe her wings weren’t that strong, but she was confident in the legs, so she mixed in a little of both for optimization.

Akira could only look at the Horizon moving fast, certainly, if he was to compare with the safe speed he had when coming, plus considering he had to take care of monsters and bad terrain, the idea of taking a few days for the travel that took over a couple months was not far fetched, running in a straight line was certainly faster, but so was the speed. And her way of running was quite stable, there wasn’t much impact on the rest of her body, it’s like her own legs were softening each step. Nonetheless, it was fast.

Of course, she sometimes would tire, want a rest, sometimes she would also try some photos on the “camera”, she got really interested after seeing the results, and would even start taking poses by herself, at night, when going to sleep however.

“Milly, we need to talk?”

“I’m tired, but sure, what do you need to talk?”

“I just want to make sure, upon finding humans… Please don’t give the whole “weak” speech you learned from your mother, would that be too much to ask?”

“Eh? I certainly wasn’t expecting that kind of talk. Where did it come from?”

“Your mother explained that your upbringing… To her… It’s problematic.”

“What do you mean?”

“... Maybe your mother has trained you to be a sadist…”

“Hmmm, is that bad?”

“Well, let’s say that it may not be the most amiable thing if you want people to think you are friendly.”

“Hmmm, weirdly enough Papa talked about something similar recently, told me that my behavior may influence the negotiations, and to listen to you… Ah, that reminds me, Akira, I can’t tell you everything, but I just want you to remember that I’m your ally. This is important, ok?”

“Eh? Sure, thanks, I guess? I will keep it in mind. I guess I will try to think on a few things to avoid problems once we arrive.”

“Sure, I will be all ears, is that all?”

“Yeah, that’s it from me”

“Then good night.”

“Good night.”

----------------

Three days later, after a bunch of photos and some hunting, they arrive at the Ice Lands. This is the place that borders the Demon World and the Human World, with it’s harsh climate, although ways to bypass it does exist, it may be hard for a whole army to keep itself together in this place.

Nonetheless, Vermillion was already wearing her armor and her thick clothes, she was planning to go slow because of the cold, but Akira suggested her doing the opposite, the more she moves the less cold she will feel.

Vermillion could only make a wry smile at that suggestion, it’s not gonna be easy, but she will do it. And so, she has started running at a relatively good speed, as she could to not tire fast but to still reach a lot of distance. A couple hours later, Akira tells her they passed through the border, meaning they already passed through the worst part.

“Milly, you can calm yourself now, you can slow your pace.”

“You know… huff huff… I was thinking… huff huff… I want one of those cars… huff huff… I was thinking… haa huff… how did you cross over this… haa huff… and then I remembered that… huff huff… Think it’s possible?”

“I would think it would be very hard, but there are other options, like a bicycle, but it would need to be something that can withstand your weight…”

“Eh? Haa huff… Damn… Nothing works for me…”

“You may need water or at least eat something, you should rest here and eat something. I would not recommend to sleep though.”

“I hear you… huff”

“I’m sorry, I can’t really help you that much…”

“Ah… That… I guess being helped… Could be nice… I never really got much help... in situations like this… Well, thanks for the intention at least... Hopefully you will be able to... help me one of these days.”

She takes the baggage with food and decides to eat some preserved meat she had prepared for such moments, she had been warned that she wouldn’t be in her best conditions in such timings. She ate some meat, then drank some water, but it was freezing. Akira told her that she could use the ice to replenish her water, it seems she didn’t knew that Ice was just water at low temperatures.

“Hey, have you seen the sky yet?”

“Hm? Ohh, it’s so weird to see the sky so different in such a different color. Is this how it was on your world?”

“Yeah.”

“I see, it’s a pretty color, it calms me down. It reminds me of Mama’s eyes.”

“That reminds me, no sadist behavior, ok?”

“Eh? I know, you already told me, I will be careful.”

Vermillion had a nice smile on her face while looking up.

About 15 minutes later, Akira checked the route they went through in the map, and their location, and Vermillion decided to resume, but at least just walking to recover some strength. She was pretty exhausted.