Boosted Continuation

The group kept getting closer to the monster country and spent the time walking and chatting with each other. During that time, Steph wanted to learn more about griffins in preparation for riding one. During those conversations, the wolves revealed that there are ruins of an abandoned demon city where they love to nest. Naturally, many of the girls got quite excited hearing about that.

“Ohh!” The group was still walking towards the monster country, and the dry grasslands around them were becoming more desolate when Steph spotted something a few hundred meters in front of them and energetically clapped her hands.

“Welcome to the monster country, I guess.” Maya scratched her cheek as she spotted the countless wooden signs in front of them that went on forever to the right and left. Each of them showed signs of wear, likely from being out in the open the entire time, but the big red skull was still easily visible.

“How inviting~.” Sophia let out a small chuckle while taking in the sight.

“Maybe because it’s supposed to be the opposite of inviting.” Ari stared at her while shaking her head.

“I think it’s nice that someone went through all this effort to warn others.” Chloe nodded a few times. "I agree with the not-inviting part, though."

“I’m not going to repeat myself!” The jaguar then glared at the fox.

“Hehe.” Sophia and Chloe enjoyed her reaction.

“Let’s go!” Steph started sprinting towards the signs and jumped over them. “I’m the first of us to enter the demon continent!”

“Nuh-uh.” Her sister and the fox shook their heads.

“I’ve lived in there longer than your bloodline exists.” Aura also disagreed with her.

“You’re more like the third-last of this group to go there.” Fen dealt the finishing blow.

“I hate all of you!” She started pouting. “I’m the first to do it TODAY! BETTER?!”

"Why are you angry at me, too?" Ari didn't appreciate that.

"Yes!" Anna nodded a few times. "The two of us haven't been here before either."

"I still love you two!"

“She’s cute when she’s angry, isn’t she?” Sophia smiled at Chloe.

“Very much!” She nodded in return. “That goes for both sisters, though.” Her expression turned into a slight smirk. “That’s why you get teased so much, too.”

“…” The blonde went silent for a moment. “I really should’ve seen that one coming.”

“Then again, it’s kind of the case for all of us, so it’s not fair to single you two out.”

“Even when teasing, she’s kind.” Sophia only took more damage from that.

“Hurry up already!” Steph was getting impatient. “I was promised demon ruins!”

“Do you also remember the part where they’re in the center of the monster country?” Aura got a little closer to her and gestured behind the warning signs the dog-girl was standing next to. “It’s going to take a little while until we get there, especially because some of the terrain between it and us is a little hard to navigate. Well, unless we use Sophia’s portals to skip everything, that is.”

“I wasn’t planning to do that.” The tiger in question shook her head. “At least not all of it and instantly. I want to at least spend some time exploring before we start speedrunning.”

“Hard to say no to exploring, so that’s fine!” Steph gave her a thumbs-up in return.

“By the way, what kinds of monsters live in here?” Ari, who had suspiciously squished herself between Fen, who was in his big form, and Sophia, had been there ever since the signs came into view for maximum security. “We talked about the griffins a lot, but in school, we never learned what actual monsters are there besides that.”

“It’s mostly bigger and stronger versions of regular predatory animals.” The male wolf answered her.

“Like you?” She tilted her head.

“Not that bigger and stronger.” He shook his head. “However, they’re unable to talk and can’t be reasoned with.”

"That's much scarier, then!" The jaguar didn’t like that.

“That depends on who you ask, but it certainly is the case for weaker individuals.”

“I AM a weaker individual!” She glared at him.

“Inside our group, maybe.” Fen looked back at her. “In absolute terms, you are far from weak compared to most on this planet. You should be able to take on a griffin, so nothing else in front of us will be a problem for you.”

“The thing that’s supposed to be an army-level threat?!”

“If someone’s twice as strong as you, it doesn’t mean that you’d could beat them with two people. It’s a lot more until you’d even get a chance at beating them. The difference between a griffin and a regular beast man soldier is a lot more than just twice. You need to throw a bigger number of people at a big number of strength.”

“So, you’re telling me I could defeat an army?” Ari kept staring at her.

“What do you think would happen to an army if you hit them with a full-power fire like when you set the jungle on fire, or did the thing together with Aura in her first pine forest?”

“…” She had many mixed emotions about what she just heard.

“Well, you lack control and experience, so you might not want to let the soldiers get too close to you, but with magic alone, you’d win.”

“I’m not sure if I like that.” She paused for a moment. “Knowing the part where I’m that not normal, I mean.”

“Also, on that topic, griffins can fly high and fast.” Fen ignored her complaint. “Easy to counter for someone with strong magic, very hard for someone who doesn’t have the range.”

“You should’ve just said that and kept the comparison to yourself!”

“It’s less fun that way, though.” After all, the wolf was a fellow teaser.

“Urgh.”

“Hmm,” Anna then tilted her head. “Going by that information and how Aura told us about our strength in comparison to the demons, it would be game over for the beastfolk if they ever decide to come back to this continent and wage war, right?”

“If Sophia and the rest of this group fight on the side of the beastfolk, then it would turn out in your favor. If not, then not.” Aura was the one to answer her.

“You’re lucky I like all things fluffy.” The blonde let out a chuckle.

“It won’t happen, though.” The female wolf shook her head. “While the demons like to fight, they don’t start wars without being aggravated. Similar to you and the humans on this continent.”

“That’s reassuring.” The princess let out a small sigh in relief.

“There are no fluffy demons, right?” Sophia was feeling playful.

“HEY!” Anna didn’t like that.

“Don’t worry, your side has Ellie, so you’re safe.”

“There are some fluffy exceptions, but the vast majority isn’t.” Aura shook her head.

“Phew!” The tall tiger looked even more relieved.

“Good thing Ellie is a national treasure, huh?” Maya smiled at her.

“Yes!”

“Well, I’m a fan of all the princesses, so things would turn out fine regardless.”

“Ehehe~.” Anna let out a happy giggle.

“Would you really take sides in the first place, though?” Chloe tilted her head while looking at Sophia.

“I mean, I kinda did already back when the humans attacked the beastfolk.” The blonde scratched her cheek. “Well, not unconditionally at the very least. Like, it depends on the situation. When the humans attacked the beastfolk, they very much had no-good motives. If the beastfolk attacks someone with bad intentions, I wouldn’t help. Depending on what it is, I’d even get angry at Menzor. The same goes when the parts of the beastfolk get attacked for something they did before, when it was a serious offense. I am a member of the beastfolk and identify as such, but that doesn’t mean it has my unconditional loyalty.”

“Fair enough.” The pink fox could follow her reasoning.

“Also, I’ve grown a lot since the last war thingy~.” Sophia proudly puffed out her chest as a smirk appeared on her lips. “Instead of joining a war, I’d force both sides to take the diplomatic approach.”

“It’s pretty wild to think that you actually have the power to do that.” The fox wasn’t sure what to think about that.

“In the first place, I want to befriend the demons, so this conversation has gotten completely off-track.” The blonde lightly clapped her hands. “If possible, I’d like to use my portals to create friendly relations between both, too, after all.”

“What if you don’t like the demons?” Anna tilted her head.

“Then I probably won’t befriend them, I guess?” Sophia scratched her cheek. “Although, from everything that Fenny and Aura told me about them, I don’t see that happening.”

“Yes, there’s no way she won’t like them.” The female wolf nodded a few times. “They’ll love her, too.”

“What does that mean?” The blonde’s ears perked up.

“The stronger you are, the more popular you’ll be amongst the demons.” She looked right at her. “Well, as long as their personality isn’t a hindrance, but that won’t be an issue with you, either.”

“Ahh, I see!”

“She’s going to be the center of attention even more than usual, isn’t she?” Chloe just stared at the wolf.

“Why do you think I said that Sophia’s going to like them?” Aura's voice was overflowing with smugness. "After all, we all know that she needs to have all eyes on her to prosper~.”

“True!”

“Why is this suddenly about me?!” Sophia didn’t like this turn of events.

“Isn’t it always about you?” Ari naturally had to join in on that. “That’s the whole point of Aura’s claim.

“Yup.” The wolf nodded a few times.

“Stop messing around and get going already!” Sophia was saved by her sister, who grew more and more impatient with each passing moment. “Let’s go!”

Not wanting to make her wait even longer, as everyone knew that Steph was almost as much of a handful as her older sister, they finally started walking again to cross into the monster country.