Three days had passed since Alex's fight against the supreme priest; after killing the thing controlling the city, the city regained a bit of liveliness, although there was a lot more to do, Z-city would soon regain life. Alex destroyed the moon powder. With the girl's help, they helped the city residents get back on their feet before deciding to leave.
The three were about to use the teleportation room for the next floor.
''What are you thinking about?" Alex asked Maria, who had been silent for a while.
''Ah! No, I'm just thinking about how hard it would be for them to be back to normal again. In the beginning, I used to think that because this world is like a game like an RPG game from Earth, people, cities, and other things were just data that would regenerate after some time. Still, the more time I spent in this world, the more I started to believe that this is just any other world out there, people here, everything here is real.'' Maria explained how she was feeling.
It was rare, so Maria was so emotional, even Eri, who would usually be poking fun at Maria, did not do it as she also understood this feeling, in the beginning, she was like Maria, worse because she thought of people here as some data, when she went on a rampage she doesn't care about the number of innocent swept in.
Seeing the mood becoming heavy, Alex decided to alleviate it.
''Don't worry, I'm sure they will be able to succeed. Humans have always been like that; stronger after experimenting with a huge setback, they evolve, they advance. You can take an example of Earth's history. Well, we did what we could; the rest is up to them. We have our own goal to accomplish. Let's go.''
The girls nodded before the one acting as temporarily mayor channeled mana into the teleportation stone. Immediately the teleportation formation lighted up, covering Alex and the girls in the middle; they disappeared shortly after.
When Alex and the girls opened their eyes again, they were inside a different world, floating islands as far as the eyes could see.
''Beautifull.'' Unexpectedly it was Maria who said those words, maybe it was because she was suffering from side effects from the Ice Empress Mode but, the fragile Maria right now was too sensitive, too emotive, so emotive that Alex wished to hug her all day long whispering sweet words into her ears.
''Let's eat something before trying those flying ships.'' Alex proposed, staring at the tall building surrounding them; he could see Eri's eyes shining; she was happy when she heard Alex's proposal. She started jumping like a child whose parents had just bought her a toy.
Alex and Maria exchanged glances before shaking their heads. They walked around and soon saw an inn; after booking rooms, they came down and ate. They decided to act independently the next day, with Alex and Maria going on a date while Eri would enjoy herself.
•••••
The next day, Alex stood there staring at the large airship laid out before him. It was long, maybe twenty meters long. The airship before him was more to the degree of a cruise ship in appearance.
Alex's eyes didn't linger too much on the airship. He turned to look over his shoulder and out over the waiting room beyond. There were dozens upon hundreds of people, elderly, young couples, children, all dressed nicely. Scanning the crowd, he searched for that head of illustrious black hair; Alex ignored the various women who would cast him their leering glances on his body, the eye patch did add a bit of mysteriousness to his handsome face and cold mask he was trying to put, those women looked like hungry hyena trying to swallow it.
However, just as those women thought they could make a move, you get nothing if you don't try; they felt chill run down their spine out of nowhere, and because most of them were ordinary civilians, they ran away without having the courage to check the cause of the chill they just felt.
Naturally, the one that caused this chill was none other than Maria, she might have temporarily lost her strength, but her killing intent still does exist; by releasing a small amount of it, she was able to scare away those ravenous thieves trying to take a bite at her golden pie, at the same time this also acts as a reminder to those men trying to hit on her. Nobody wants to mess up with this cold woman, so they opened the passage, letting her past.
Today, Maria wore a pair of white form-hugging pants that showed the curve of her ass. Upwards she had on a long-sleeved black blouse above which she wore a white and blue buttoned under-bust corset.
She walked calmly until she arrived before her man; Alex said nothing because moments like these, you better not say anything not until you enjoyed what your partner was offering, staring at her in silence with a gaze filled with love was a way to tell her that she counts to you, you loved, that in this crowd you only have eyes for her, she was the center of the world right now, and Alex did exactly that.
Maria felt loved at first, but when Alex continued to stare at her for an extended period, she became embarrassed. Maybe she lost her power, but as Alex thought she became sensible to the surrounding gazes, people were whispering while pointing their fingers at them, which increased her embarrassment.
''Alex, let's go.'' She said, trying to drag Alex toward the airship.
As soon as Maria spoke, the speakers lit up with noise as a stewards voice blared across the waiting room.
"We will now be opening priority boarding."
A dozen ship farers stood and pushed past the crowds arriving by the ticketing booth, where the steward and stewardess checked their passes and marked them down as arrived.
''Okay, We can talk inside," Alex, who had come back to his senses, turned to Maria and said. Without giving her room to argue, he reached for the handle of her wheeled luggage bag and took it without resistance. His hand scraped hers, sending her reeling back with a start, almost dropping the ticket she was clutching in her other hand. Maybe it was because of the way he was looking at her; Maria butterfly in her stomach coupled with her sensitivity because of the side effects, her heart began to beat loudly, almost like a drum, she quickly tried to calm down her beating heart.
Alex had no idea what her partner was going through; he didn't know that it was because of this reason Maria slept on the second bed in the room they rented; she was afraid that Alex would react abnormally when he would unconsciously. Who knows what he might think when that happened? Maybe he would label her as a horny girl; usually, those kinds of things should not matter, but when you're in love, you tend to want your image to be perfect inside your partner's mind; Maria was not an exception.
Not only does the side effect of the Ice Empress Mode make her sensitive, but it also made her realize how much Alex mean to her; she fell in love with him, she regretted that condition she put forth when he told her his feelings, it was just her not being honest with herself, she was scared at that time. But thinking about it it was not bad, the road was long, but she was now together with the one she loves, her love became stronger with all that happened, she was sure to hundred percent that she loves this man, she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him, together with her sisters and other women. As for ruling them as the head of the harem, Maria had long forgotten about this, who cares about that as long the man she loves loved her back. Wanting to the head harem without the other's consent could only put the whole harem in jeopardy, something she would want to happen.
''Little ice fairy wake up.'' Alex's voice echoed inside Maria's ears, startling her awake; she became aware that they still did not board the airship, that she was daydreaming, she quickly strengthened herself.
Seeing this scene, Alex chuckled before he moved to the male steward, while Maria took the female stewardess with luminous green hair and many cutesy freckles. It took a second for the woman to scan the barcode atop Maria's ticket, having to straighten out a crease formed by Maria's clamping when Alex touched her. The stewardess said nothing; she did her job; Maria was given a 'thank you for joining us, enjoy your stay,' and the two were allowed onto the ship.
Shortly after, the airship started to levitate, slowly before leaving the airport, and soon, the island they had been on became a dot; they encountered many other airships.
''Nice views,'' Alex commented while looking outside; Maria nodded before proposing.
''Let's go down.''
''Okay, why not,'' Alex responded while taking the hand offered.. Maria had made up her mind and didn't hesitate anymore, hand in hand they left.