"Clothes?"
Hel instinctively looked down at her completely naked body and blushed, quickly saying,
"Alright, alright, you go ahead."
"Okay!"
After watching Niv leave, Hel carefully examined her new body.
Honestly, when she had her plain little-loli body, becoming a girl hadn't felt like a big deal—it was just losing her dragon form.
But now, in this mature and voluptuous body, she felt a bit uneasy.
The two mounds on her chest felt strange and unfamiliar.
Instinctively, she reached out to touch them, and an odd sensation coursed through her, leaving her feeling somewhat awkward.
Soon, Niv returned with clothes.
Fortunately, it wasn't lace lingerie and white stockings this time.
Unfortunately, this outfit used even less material than the lingerie, replaced with a black stocking outfit.
"Don't you think these clothes are a little… weird?"
"Really?"
Niv tilted her head, pretending not to understand.
"But Master, didn't you love seeing me in these kinds of clothes? Didn't you want me to wear them?"
I like seeing others wear them, not myself!
Hel mentally screamed, but after thinking it over, she gave up on asking Niv to make a new set.
Maybe wearing this would make it even harder for anyone to suspect her original body.
"So… is there a coat prepared?"
With Niv's help, Hel painstakingly put on the lingerie and black stockings, then asked again.
"Ah? Yes, yes!"
Niv instinctively wiped a nonexistent nosebleed, flipping out a gothic-style dress.
The main body was black with small red accents; the flared skirt ended just above the thighs, revealing her black-stockinged legs.
Below that were black calfskin shoes.
The outfit included some of the rare materials Hel had originally used, combined with alchemical runes Niv had etched.
Its properties reached golden legendary quality, meaning if Hel also wielded a legendary weapon, she could easily fight above her tier.
"Master, you look amazing in this."
Niv circled Hel, adjusting the folds until satisfied.
"Really?"
Hel looked down at Niv, who only reached her chest, and slipped her hands under Niv's arms, lifting her.
"See? Now that I'm taller, I can do things I couldn't before."
Hel smirked and spun Niv around twice, then set her down. Niv flopped against Hel, saying playfully,
"Master has become a bad woman."
She pounded Hel's chest lightly with her tiny fists, pouted for a while, then separated.
"Master, are you going to use this body to do something?"
"That's the plan."
Hel nodded, then explained:
"Once the soul network is set up, I'll send her to the Dessert Kingdom to draw the War Witch's attention away."
"With your current strength, Master, you shouldn't fear that War Witch anymore, right?"
"Not necessarily."
Hel shook her head, sitting down with Niv on her lap.
"Before, I only estimated the War Witch's strength to be sixth-tier. I don't know exactly which stage—if she's peak sixth-tier, this body alone can't take her down easily.
Besides, judging by her command over the Beastman invasion, she must hold significant influence among the Beastmen and likely has some holy-tier allies.
Better let the Empire scout her first."
"Master, you really are as cautious as always."
"That's called being responsible."
Hel proudly patted Niv's head.
As she was about to discuss operational details, she sensed a faint soul signal from her original body.
It came from the chip installed at the back of her brain that receives soul signals—at this point, only Witt and his team could contact her through it.
Although Witt's relays were somewhat crude, they were sufficient for preliminary communication.
In recent days, Witt had placed the relays at several critical nodes, forming a basic soul network.
"Wait a moment."
Hel told Niv, then returned to her original body and accepted Witt's connection request.
With a thought, she appeared in a pure white space with a single white table.
Witt was standing beside it, waiting.
"Young Master, you finally arrived."
Witt's expression was grim—whatever news he brought was clearly bad.
"What happened?"
Hel approached the table and gestured for Witt to sit across from her.
"Here's the situation."
Witt rubbed his temple; streams of light emerged and condensed in his hands, forming a stack of paper documents, which he placed before Hel.
He reported:
"Several major events have occurred in the capital.
First, the kingdom's second prince, Igor Selerphis, died during the purge of the Snow Velvet Duchy demons. Several high-ranking church and royal officials also perished.
The exact cause is unknown, but rumors suggest a holy-tier demon appeared. The Empire has already sent its holy-tier experts there."
"Second prince?"
Hel thought back—she remembered seeing them kill the three horned demons before leaving. Could it have been those lake eyes?
Clearly, leaving at the right time had been wise.
"And the next event?"
"The Ymir Empire's army did retake the Free Nation, but they clashed with the Beastmen invasion forces at the Watchtower Wall's gap.
That's not the worst part—the worst news is that a plague has broken out in all three major empires."
"Plague in all three major empires?"