"Whatâs your plan now?" Nan Tian asked as he walked next to Shiro.
"I need to go talk to Khionah since we need to deal with the Shadow Empress. Now that weâve taken some time to level up, it should be a good time to sort things out before the invasion." Shiro replied as Nan Tian nodded.
"Howâs the monitoring with Thiria?"
"Same as usual. Sheâs too hard to keep track of even with the satellite system. We donât know where to look and sheâs managed to hide her traces well." Nan Tian shook his head with a sigh.
"It would be great if there was a way for us to find a link but unfortunately that link hasnât been discovered yet."
"I see... no matter. Hopefully, weâll see her at the next event. If we donât then not much else we can do. Letâs just sit back and wait for now." Shiro said as she created a portal for the two of them.
Teleporting to Revelâs hanger, Shiro could see the mighty leviathan resting right now.
"How are you feeling?" Shiro asked as Revel opened one of his eyes.
"Not too bad. My soul is recovering slowly but itâs almost done. I should be able to fight properly in a week or two." Revel smiled as Shiro nodded her head.
"Speaking of which, you should have seen the reaction of one of my opponents. She thought she could outsmart me with the placement of her units but it was a trap all along. Hahaha, the moment she thought she won she lost all of her units in one turn." Revel grinned as Shiro chuckled.
Since she was the one who created the internet café, she could naturally access the servers. Unfortunately for Khionah, the barrier blocking her from reaching top three was actually this leviathan. He had found himself a hobby of stopping her.
Talking with Revel for a little, Shiro left him alone to heal for now.
"The attraction of games is quite strong isnât it? Both Revel and Khionah are addicted" Nan Tian smiled as Shiro nodded her head.
"Thatâs true. Anyways, are you ready? Iâll be taking us to Khionah." Shiro asked.
During this month, she had a few more âpeaceâ talks with Khionah and the two agreed on letting Shiro install a teleport gate to her city so that she could travel back and forth with ease. After her first display of power, Khionah understood that if Shiro wanted to destroy her city, it was a simple task. There was no need to work in the shadows hence she was fine with her placing a teleport gate.
Plus, it made it easier for Khionah to come to Asharia and shop for the latest hardware.
Teleporting outside of Khionahâs castle, Shiro entered without any problems since the guards were long used to it by now. Seeing the fatigued receptionist and workers in the castle, Shiro couldnât help but feel pity for them since she had turned their Queen into a neet.
Seeing Saphi carrying some documents, Shiro gave her a small wave.
"Ah miss Shiro, sorry about the lack of a welcome." Saphi apologised while forcing a smile.
"Itâs fine. Howâs Khionah? I was hoping to talk to her about the problem regarding the Shadow Empress today." Shiro asked as Saphiâs smile twitched.
"She has just started a new game so Iâm not sure. But sheâs in her room as usual."
Nodding her head, Shiro helped Saphi out a little by making a drone to help her for the day before walking to Khionahâs room.
Knocking on the door, Shiro didnât hear a response and opened the door.
The moment she saw what was inside, Shiro covered Nan Tianâs eyes.
"I suppose I should turn away." Nan Tian smiled as Shiro nodded her head.
Watching Nan Tian take a step back, Shiro entered.
Sitting in front of the computer, Khionah was dressed in a simple oversized shirt and her underwear. She had her legs crossed while tapping away at the keyboard. Her blanket was barely hanging on as she simply wrapped it on her shoulders like a cape.
Seeing what Khionah was like, Shiro facepalmed. This was the Ice Queen?
"If youâre bringing food, leave it on the side." Khionah said as she didnât even bother to look up.
*COUGH!*
Clearing her throat, Shiro forced Khionah to look up.
Glancing up, Khionah paused the moment she saw it was Shiro. After all, Shiro was the one that could take everything from her.
"Er... mind letting me get dressed?" Khionah asked with a small blush since she was in her underwear and a shirt right now.
".. .Sure. How long do you need?"
"5 minutes."
Nodding her head, Shiro took a step out.
Waiting in the corridor with Nan Tian, Shiro opened her mouth.
"Maybe I should take away her computer for a bit." She sighed.
"Pft, I feel like youâve picked up Khionah as a kid now." Nan Tian laughed since Shiro was acting like a mother who wanted to take away their kidsâ games.
"Bah, I already have Yin, Attie, and Lisandra to take care of. I donât need anymore kids right now. Plus, Yin is already a handful." Shiro rolled her eyes.
"Erm... I heard you said that you wanted to take away the computer for a bit. Please donât." Khionah said as she popped her head out from behind the door.
Glancing over, Shiro could see that Khionah was still half-dressed.
"Go... get dressed then we can talk."
Waiting for a little longer, Khionah invited them in.
This time she was dressed properly and sitting on the bed while offering two seats for Shiro and Nan Tian.
"So what did you want to talk about?" Khionah asked as she adjusted herself so that she seemed more like a Queen.
"I wanted to talk about the Shadow Empress. Since weâre going to be challenging a raid in two weeks, I wanted to take care of the Shadow Empress before I leave." Shiro said as Khionah nodded her head.
"Right, the Shadow Empress. I have mentioned before that Iâm still trying to track down her location. While we havenât discovered her exact location, weâve found some tracks. Since she has fallen, there are some distinct marks that are left behind by her skills." Khionah said as her expression was serious.
Pulling out a few pictures, Shiro could see that there was corrosion on the damage left behind which emitted a black aura.
"Her attacks are becoming more frequent now. After tracking her for a month, it seems like sheâs been travelling towards the southern section of the world."
Turning her screen towards Shiro and Nan Tian, Khionah brought up a map of the world and revealed marks of where the tracks have been found.
Looking at the map, Shiro could see that it was practically a straight line down towards the south.
The last time she had checked the South Pole from her satellites, she couldnât find anything strange like the egg in the North Pole so she didnât pay it much attention. But if the Shadow Empress was making her way there then she might need to reevaluate her thoughts on the South Pole.
"There is very little divergence to her path so we did think about maybe sending a few scouts to intercept. The scouts have doppelganger skills so their lives wonât be in danger but even if we try to be there ahead of her, we couldnât spot her at all." Khionah shook her head.
"Well, that does make sense. After all, shadows are everywhere. If sheâs the Shadow Empress then travelling through shadows would be rather standard. Hmm... Iâll set down a few drones on the way there to see if I can spot her. Otherwise, I think itâs best for me to look at the tracks that she leaves behind. That way I can find her with my skill."
If Shiro can get her hands on the Shadow Empressâs tracks, the Blessing that Argus gave her would help her track the Empress down.
"Sure, I can show you the way. Speaking of which, do you know the owner of this account? He really is insufferable. He can get first place but he always makes sure that he is in third to block me!" Khionah pouted as she pointed towards Revelâs account.
Scratching her hair, Shiro nodded her head before opening her mouth.
"You can figure that out eventually. Our focus is the Shadow Empress ok?" Shiro reminded her.
Hearing this, Khionah nodded her head.
Talking for a little longer, Shiro controlled her satellite to send down a drone so that it can act as a teleport anchor for her.
Once she sensed that the anchor was ready, she opened a portal and arrived at the most recent mark.
"Damn, that really is convenient." Khionah muttered. With Shiroâs satellite system, she was able to send a node to anywhere in the world and teleport there in an instant. She essentially had fast travel with every new node she unlocked.
Right now, the three of them were in the middle of a forest. Seeing the treeâs corroded to their roots, Shiro glanced at the black aura being radiated and furrowed her brows.
Even though she was just sensing the residual energy, she felt chills down her body and knew that the Shadow Empress was long gone.
Conjuring up some nanobots, she collected a sample so that she could use it as a tracker.