"Alright, we made enough noise in this place, we have to move away now." Ed and the others descended down into the scorched earth, gone were the sky-high mountains; all was left were embers and an even plain.
"Ellie, wear this," said Ed as he passed Ellie a head scarf. "It has built-in illusion magic. It should be enough to make your characteristics undiscernible to most people."
"But why? It's not like there are wanted posters scattered around here. We've only breached the world today; I doubt anyone can recognize me."
"Maybe not, but we don't know if this world even has Beast people," said Ed as he pointed at Ellie's ears and tail, which made him sober up and notice that Ellie had undergone some changes since he last saw her.
"Speaking of which, what happened to your colors?" Ed tilted his head to the side slightly as he asked. "I don't remember your hair being white."
Indeed, Ellie's hair was no longer the golden color it once was. Now, she had Shoulder length hair as white as the moonlight with a tinge of black at the very edges. The same was for her ears and tail.
"Ed, you're an idiot," Emilia said as she patted Ellie, who was downhearted.
"What?! I didn't say anything, in fact, she looks great!" Ed frantically tried to protect himself while anticipating a punch or a kick. Even Oliver was silently shaking his head behind Ed.
"Anyways, Ellie's not the only one who's going to wear these items," he said as he passed around equipment to Emilia and Oliver; and he as well wore some.
For Ed, it was simple reading glasses with a silver frame. Oliver received a coat, while Emilia got a Shal. On top of these recognition inhibition items, Ed also passed around new accessories.
"The rings will passively refill your Qi while you are fighting," he explained while putting on the ring on his left hand. "The earrings are similar to what I gave you before, one earring will protect you from a life-threatening attack once; you have two chances." Ed tilted his glasses as a teacher would while explaining to his students, forcing Emilia, Ellie, and Oliver to either face palm or roll their eyes.
"How confident are you in the inhibition?" asked Emilia while fixing her Shal.
"Not very. For all we know, the people in this world don't have glasses. Maybe they don't cover their heads with anything. The only reason I opted for these items is that the monsters probably belong to a hive mind. They are all controlled by one thing. If so, that thing will know we are here. At least disguises would make us difficult to point out; if they work that is."
"For all we know, there are no humans in this world." Ellie pointed out.
"I doubt it." With a shake of his head, Ed declared, "Only humans can commit these atrocities."
And so, the four of them headed north. For a while, they didn't encounter any semblance of life. Monsters roamed around incessantly, but thanks to his map, Ed and the others managed to evade fighting them. Red points illuminated the map so densely, that Ed figured out that monsters were on the ground, above it, and below it at the same time.
An hour of marching later, Ed's map detected a legion of monsters coming his way. If his map had any empty spots before, they were all gone now. He stopped everyone, knowing they would have no way of avoiding detection. In a split-second decision, Ed pulled everyone into a dimension he created with his Sharingan.
"We'll rest here for a bit," he said while handing out water bottles and sweet candy. "Half an hour should be enough for that horde to pass. "
"Was that a reaction to us, or are they simply the ones heading to our world?" Ellie asked with a tinge of worry in her voice.
"No way of knowing that now, is there?" Ellie laid back on the grass. Ed chose to create a dimension that was full of greenery and light, as opposed to the gloomy world they were discovering outside.
"We've left everything and came here, the others trusted us and stayed behind," said Ed. "We've no choice but to trust each other, but that doesn't mean we can't do anything about it. The faster we kill whoever is ruling this world, the less time they will suffer the siege war."
Emilia nodded glumly.
Ed and the others exited the green dimension back to the gloom of darkness and decay. Their northern expedition proved to be correct, for soon they found themselves in front of city walls. Bricks, black and gray, piled up in front of them in a hap hazardous way. They hid under the trees just outside of the city gates in order to observe the people entering and exiting. Ed did not forget to keep an eye on his map. He also used Wind magic to stop the air from flowing near them. That way, no one with a sensitive nose like Ellie would pick up on their smell.
The giant red at the center of the wall swung open suddenly, making Ed and the others focus all their senses there. Two minotaurs, half a house tall each, pushed each part of the gate. Out of the gate emerged a creature, unlike anything Ed had seen before.
It was a humanoid, triple the size of the minotaur. Its body was skinny but looked durable. The end of its arms split into three fingers, each taller than Emilia. Its whole body was ashen grey, except for its yellow bulb-like eyes, and the crown formation resting on its head. It had four wings, pale and yellow, with streams of green and red.
As the creature hovered above the ground, a legion of giant butterflies followed suit. They were heading south.
"Raikou," Ed whispered under his breath without removing his eyes from the monster. "That thing, and its followers, I need you to intercept them."
Noticing his shadow shiver, Ed understood that Raikou was already in pursuit. Ed switched his focus back to the gate which was now being pulled close by the minotaur. "Hold tight," he mumbled to the others while pulling them closely by his mana.
Emilia, Ellie, and Oliver felt a familiar jolt as the scenery changed in front of them once again. Ed had teleported all of them inside of the city walls while transporting them at the same to his dimension in case someone was about to see them.