This Ascent to Divinity is Lewder than Expected (A Futa LitRPG)

5.15 - Arcade I

Losing Helena was fortunately easier than Zoey had feared. Bursting into the busy streets of Treyhull, Zoey and Delta quickly disappeared into the crowds. Helena apparently wasn't willing to leverage any skills or abilities to pursue them, or to start a fight between wayfarers in the middle of the city, and Zoey and Delta had a head-start—and also the advantage of being the ones to flee rather than chase.

Even Zoey had some difficulty keeping up with Delta, though the foxgirl made sure not to lose her. Several streets later, and a good five minutes of winding down random busy pathways, Delta came to a stop, eyes scanning her surroundings. Breathing heavily—and only half from the exertion of sprinting away—Zoey did the same.

Delta took off her mask, which prompted Zoey to do the same.

"Well, that was interesting," the foxgirl said.

"What happened?"

"Got out, somehow." Delta shrugged. "Should've put more effort into the bindings. Or maybe the gag. Not sure. If I had to guess, someone heard her."

"Then how'd you get your body back?"

"Swapped over, then snatched the mirror back from Jacquelyn. Would've been trickier if she didn't come straight to me. They're not great planners, these cultists."

"I think that's hypocritical coming from us," Zoey said. "Considering our own disaster of a mission."

"We're all equally bad at it," Delta amended. "Anyway, we're home free, pretty sure. Lost Helena." She wrinkled her nose. "Probably have to watch out for anyone poking around for us, though. Treyhull's a huge place, and the local guild too, but there's not too many people fitting our descriptions."

An orange-haired foxgirl? Friends with a six-foot woman with short black hair? No, even considering Treyhull's size, tracking down two wayfarers with that information wouldn't be exceptionally difficult, though they at least kept somewhat to themselves, so maybe not insanely fast, either. She and Delta had felt okay invading the cult because they wouldn't be in Treyhull more than a week, but it had certainly opened up a vector of danger.

"We'll keep an eye out," Zoey said.

"You at least learn anything?"

"Not what we wanted, but some important stuff other than that, yeah."

"Oh?"

"You heard the start of it. She's been to a lewd shards."

"Confirmed?"

"Without a doubt. Specifically the one with the reflection."

"So it means when you enter a shard, the change is permanent."

"I guess it is."

"That's insane. Can you imagine the implications?"

"Not in the slightest," Zoey said honestly. "I guess I'm spawning a whole new genre of shards. What the hell does that mean?"

"Not sure, but I expect it'll be popular with some people," Delta said amusedly. "Gods, I can't wait to hear what people have to say about it. Wonder if anyone back at the guild has been to one."

"Dunno if you should just go asking around."

"Yeah, yeah. I won't. Just curious." Delta paused, then smirked. "But long term, assuming we hang out near Mantle for a while? It'll be more than just two shards corrupted by you. You'll have a whole fleet of them as the months tick by. No chance it stays a secret."

Zoey considered that, then shook her head. "It'll be interesting, for sure." She wasn't sure how else to describe how she felt about the revelation.

"But nothing about our vampire friend?"