Chapter 77. Icicle: Like Ice Cream, Only Tasteless

A girl with long black hair, wearing a black T-shirt, shorts, stockings and boots came out of the forest. Her wrench was pointed at the doll in the electric aura.

"Creator," Kyotyoryon fell to her knees and opened her mouth.

Halankuo didn't look at her character. Her gaze was fixed on the enemy she was holding with a wrench.

"My creator has come to take me away," Kyotyoryon thought. "I have to get out of here."

The spirit of metal hid behind a nearby pile of rocks, and then with one leap she found herself in the forest.

"No one will find me here. But I need to go even further so that there are no evil dolls at all."

The spirit of metal managed to take only one step, after which she felt a vibration that engulfed her legs.

Kyotyoryon tried to look down, but her large breasts combined with her metallic clothing prevented her from doing so. So the character had to bend over to see the source of the vibration.

… It turned out to be a green energy band with a curved tip at the end, which bound her legs above the bracelets.

"What is this thing?" Kyotyoryon looked at the strange ability with dilated pupils. "It seems to be there, and it seems not to be there. Where does it start?"

Soon the spirit of metal learned the answer to her question. The energy ribbon pulled her first up, then forward, and then down…

Kyotyoryon found herself upside down over a small lake. Thanks to the spring in her spine, the spirit of metal bent over again and saw that the same energy ribbon was wrapped around a thick liana that hung between two tree ferns on opposite banks of the lake.

"Hey, you!" Kyotyoryon shouted. "Let me go!"

No one answered. Then the spirit of metal created a blade above itself to cut the energy ribbon, but it only passed through it.

"It's energy," a voice came from below. "You won't be able to cut it with your things."

The bushes on the shore of the lake parted, after which the head of an arctic fox girl with black hair and small ears appeared from there.

"They're so tasteless," the animal girl pulled a fern leaf out of her mouth.

Kyotyoryon looked at the creature that had emerged from the bushes. The metal spirit's eyes had grown so large that they were about to leave its head, but fortunately something inside held them in place.

The arctic fox girl looked around to find her "prey", but after emerging from the bushes she could no longer navigate the dense forest. So she could only sniff the air.

"She's soft," Kyotyoryon recovered from her shock and began to examine the creature in more detail. "You can cut her. She's not scary."

The arctic fox girl took off her hood, and then looked straight at the spirit of metal.

"There you are," the animal girl smiled. "I am Etinnei, the spirit of the arctic fox. Are you the spirit of the horned bird?"

"She can talk. Maybe I should answer her? Or would my metal answer her better?"

After some thought, Kyotyoryon settled on the second option. A blade that had recently tried to cut the energy ribbon flew towards Etinnei.

The arctic fox girl clearly did not expect such a turn of events. Her passive skill, a snowflake-shaped shield, saved her from danger.

"This eared one is soft," Kyotyoryon wiggled her eyebrows. "She needs this cold thing."

The snowflake crumbled into ice fragments, which quickly melted due to the high temperature. The blade also disappeared.

"Is this your thing?" Etinnei looked at Kyotyoryon in fear.

"Yup," the spirit of metal answered. "This is my metal."

"Don't let her go anymore. She might get into me and hurt me."

Kyotyoryon felt something building up inside her, but the spirit of metal didn't understand what exactly.

"They told me to take you," Etinnei continued. "Do you want to meet the creator?"

Kyotyoryon looked at the Arctic fox girl the same way she had looked at her for the first time.

"Are you afraid of her?" Etinnei asked.

"No, I just want to cut her," Kyotyoryon released the blades from the bracelet on her hands. "It didn't work out well for me the first time."

Etinnei opened the screen and wrote something in the chat.

Etinnei opened the screen and wrote something in the chat.

"Now this green thing will let you go," the arctic fox girl said. "Just don't run away."

Kyotyoryon felt the vibration that had hit her legs disappear, and then noticed the lake in the middle of the forest getting closer.

In fact, the spirit of metal was simply falling down, but did not fall into the water. Kyotyoryon released wings from her bracelets, which slowed her fall and allowed her to land on the shore of the lake.

"Who did this?" Kyotyoryon looked angrily at Etinnei.

"What?" the arctic fox girl asked.

"That thing that held me, whose is it?"

Etinnei looked up, and then lowered her head.

"Answer or I'll cut you!" Kyotyoryon shouted. "You're soft."

"You won't succeed. I already told you. So it doesn't matter whose skill it is. You won't be able to do anything to it."

"She doesn't like the energy harpoon just like me," the Arctic fox girl guessed. "But this green thing has already saved two creatures. I guess I should forgive her."

Kyotyoryon looked up, as if trying to see something in the thick vegetation.

"I feel you," the spirit of metal said. "Come out, I'm going to cut you!"

Of course, no one answered Kyotyoryon's call. Then the spirit of metal flapped her wings and rose above the lake.

"She might find Tuot," Etinnei was afraid. "I must stop her."

The arctic fox girl pointed her sleeve at Kyotyoryon and released an icicle in an electric aura.

The spirit of metal saw something that looked like a dart, but covered in lightning, fly in front of her and froze in the air. The icicle disappeared into the depths of the forest.

"This is not my metal," Kyotyoryon thought after a few moments. "But this thing is very similar to it. Someone could be counterfeiting my metal because they can't make their own."

Kyotyoryon looked down to where the Arctic fox girl stood on the shore of the lake.

"I know who it is," the spirit of metal thought.

Kyotyoryon forgot about the energy harpoon and landed on the shore.

"Hey, eared, was that your skill?"

"Yup," Etinnei admitted. "I accidentally released an icicle. Did it do anything to you?"

"What is an icicle?"

"Um, it's... like ice cream, only not tasty."

"What is ice cream? Does it hurt?"

Etinnei thought about how to explain this to the overly progressive character, but did not have time to answer. The metal chain flew past her with a characteristic ringing sound and headed towards Kyotyoryon.

The spirit of metal felt threatened and tried to hide in the forest, but froze in front of the nearest tree fern branch.

"The evil doll has come," Kyotyoryon said.

Etinnei saw thick bare legs in front of her, reaching down and pulling a chain wrapped around her knee. Long strands of pink hair fluttered and vibrated with a purple energy aura.

***

The gazebo stopped. The translucent energy barrier that had replaced the door disappeared. Unana and Yueret saw a part of the cave with glowing stone icicles on the ceiling.

"It looks like we've arrived," Yueret said. "Let's get out of here before this thing goes any deeper."

The brother and sister exited the elevator. The cave turned out to be a spacious hall, illuminated by those same stone icicles on the ceiling. Along one of the walls there was a depression with a rail at the bottom, and next to it there were several stone benches.

"It's warm here," Unana noted. "Almost like home, but why? This is a station."

"I don't know," Yueret answered. "Perhaps it has to do with the energy that moves the elevator."

Unana changed her winter clothes for a purple top and shorts, but left her fur boots on because the floor was cold.

"Kimchan should be somewhere around here," Yueret looked at the stone bench. "Do you hear anything extra?"

"Nothing," Unana touched the antennas on the headphones. "We are alone here. Maybe Kimchan has already been caught?"

Unana looked at her brother in fear, and then grabbed his hand.

"Are you afraid?" Yueret asked.

"No, but..." Unana turned away. "Kimchan could have been eaten by dinosaurs."

"There are no dinosaurs here."

"They ate her and left."

That's too fast. Dinosaurs are slow and clumsy. They are very ancient creatures, so they are not as developed as humans. You shouldn't think of other species as your own.

Unana let go of her brother's hand and sat down on the stone bench, but soon felt the cold and stood up abruptly.

"I shouldn't have taken off my fur shorts," the archer thought. "I knew they were more than just cute."

Unana approached the edge of the platform. In the depths of the tunnel, the girl noticed a blue light that gradually grew in size.

"There's something there," the archer's weapon appeared in her hand, but without an arrow. "It is blue."

Yueret approached his sister and looked into the dark space of the tunnel.

"There's someone coming," Yueret said. "We'd better get away from here. Maybe it's a trap."

Unana turned to where the elevator should be, but she didn't find it there.

"No..." the archer looked at the rail in fear. "Dad couldn't do this to us."

Soon the light turned into a blue glowing silhouette, in which Yueret recognized the outline of a locomotive.

"Don't worry," Yueret turned to his sister. "It's just a train."

Soon his brother's assumption was confirmed. A train whistle sounded from the tunnel, amplified by the echo.

Unana remembered standing at night at an abandoned station with her brother. Then the train also appeared from the darkness. But now, Unana felt as if the train was coming from another world. This place was so different from everything she was used to…

… The silhouette grew larger. Unana looked at it and expected to see a wooden or metal train, but…

… A long wooden boat with a roof, surrounded by a blue energy aura, came out of the tunnel.

"What?" Unana opened her mouth wide.

"A train, obviously."

"First a gazebo that flies, and then a boat that rides on rails. It's weird."

"Unana still knows little about the world, so she's surprised," Yueret thought. "I'm seeing things like this for the first time, too, but they don't seem strange to me."

The energy around the boat disappeared. A board extended from the side of the "train" and connected the "train" to the platform.

"We're invited," Yueret grabbed his sister's hand and dragged her to the board. "Let's go."

As soon as the "bear cubs" entered the "carriage", the board slid back. A blue translucent energy aura appeared around the boat again, which also served as a barrier and played the role of walls and doors. The "train" moved in the opposite direction. Darkness fell...

… The boat flew out of the hole on the opposite side of the mountain, where there was no longer any snow and the coniferous forests were covered with frost. Ahead appeared a basin filled with a lake and surrounded by mountains and somewhere in the background the sea was blue.

Unana's breath caught. The girl didn't notice how the "train" began to slowly fall, but... A bridge of blue energy suddenly appeared in the air. The "boat" fell onto it and continued moving towards a high mountain in the distance.

Unana felt a powerful stream of vibration that made her turn away from the views of the area and grab her breast with her hands so that it wouldn't fall out of her top…

… The energy bridge broke off as abruptly as it had appeared. For a few moments there was darkness, which was replaced by a well-lit cave, more like an underground hall inside a train station than the previous "station". The "train" slowed down, and then stopped at a dead end in the form of a wall.

The energy disappeared along with the barrier around the boat. Yueret and Unana stepped out onto a stone platform and saw a screen in front of them with a silhouette of a humanoid creature and several buttons around it.

"What is this?" the archer asked.

"Looks like someone is playing a game here," Yueret answered.

Unana looked around, but saw only a silhouette on the screen...

***

Kuttanai's body twitched from the electric discharges, and his eyes with purple pupils tried to find the enemy.

But the enemy did not appear. Only the creator of the dolls, or rather what was left of him, stood on the bridge.

"Now do you understand what happens when you are taken apart?" an electric silhouette of a girl with long hair appeared in the air.

Kuttanai's body fell onto the bridge and continued to twitch, but the eyes along with the hair remained in the same place.

"Now I'll take you apart like a real doll," the electric silhouette divided into several parts: "head", "torso", "arms" and "legs".

"You're taking yourself apart," Kuttanai said without a mouth.

"In order to take the doll apart, you first have to take yourself apart."

Electric discharges ran between the "body parts."

"Ikte wants to connect herself with lightning," Kuttanai thought. "She knows I can only control one target at a time."

The creator of the dolls maker's pupils turned black again. A small screen with cells filled with doll heads appeared before his eyes.

"Who should I choose?" the red frame moved forward a few cells. "They could all have become my dolls, but they chose to remain human. Now they are gone, and I can use their heads."

Kuttanai's gaze stopped on the head with yellow hair. The cell began to flicker, and then dimmed. The red frame moved further.

Near the screen, surrounded by a purple aura, a head with yellow hair down to the edges of the cheekbones appeared. Its eyes were closed, and the end of a black rubber tongue was hanging out of its open mouth.

Meanwhile, the enemy was preparing to attack. The discharges between the "body parts" of the electric silhouette turned into a thick lightning bolt that connected them. The "head" began to grow and attract Kuttanai's body, which was struck by electricity.

"This skill attracts objects that are affected by lightning. Looks like I know what to do."

The rubber tongue, in one sharp movement, fell out of the mouth of the doll's head and grabbed the body, which was slowly moving along the ground and trying to rise into the air.

The lightning between the parts of the electric silhouette became thicker. The attraction intensified, and the rubber tongue almost let go of the "prey".

"It's a pity I don't have an antenna. I could command the head to activate the yellow aura to remove the lightning with just a thought. I can use the control panel, of course, but it's too long."

Luckily for the creator of the dolls, the lightning on the body ran out before it could be drawn to the enemy. The doll's head, which had stretched out its tongue to stay in place, could now direct its weapon against the electric enemies...

... But it didn't have time.

An electric spear fell from the sky and pinned the rubber tongue to the surface of the bridge. Kuttanai looked up and saw a doll with red hair, wrapped in a white translucent cloth. She was held in the air by a purple aura and was looking at the electric spear with activated pupils.

"There you are," Kuttanai said. "Aren't you afraid that I know where you are?"

"It doesn't matter," Ikte answered. "You're no longer dangerous. So I won't hide. I'll take you apart."

Ikte looked a few steps further. The spear vanished into thin air, and the rubber tongue moved forward to finish the attack on the electric opponents.

Kuttanai looked at his body with his activated pupils and tried to pull it towards him, but at the crucial moment, the rubber tongue, which had almost reached the parts of the electric silhouette, moved in the opposite direction.

The doll's head finally activated the yellow aura, but it was too late. The rubber tongue, which was controlled by Ikte, wrapped Kuttanai's body like a blanket, and then pulled it towards the parts of the electric silhouette.

"You said that the doll cannot be destroyed," Ikte said.

… The rubber tongue brought the creator of the dolls body to the parts of the electric silhouette, and they began to envelop him like armor.

"I'll take you apart piece by piece," Ikte finished.

... The electric "suit" exploded like a bolt of lightning from the sky. Instead of the doll maker's body, clots of lightning flew over the bridge, quickly dissolving in the air...

"It's just a body," Kuttanai answered.

The eye in the air turned towards Ikte. Its pupil changed color to red, and then shot out as if under pressure…