Idan swallowed hard, looking at the woman who came out of the portal. And only two words came to his mind.:
Idan and Arabel, unlike the other awakened ones present here, had already had experience communicating and had even witnessed battles between Diamond-ranked beings. And thanks to this experience, they had no doubt that just such a being had appeared in front of them.
They had never encountered such a being alone before this day. Usually, they had someone of the same rank by their side who could protect and come to their aid. But there was no such being with them today.
Idan, being the only one who could resist the pressure coming from the newly arrived woman, stepped forward and stood in front of Arabel, protecting her from the stranger's gaze.
"Belle, do you trust me?" asked Idan, without taking his eyes off the woman.
Arabel, trembling from the pressure of the Diamond-ranked being, raised her head to look at the back of Idan's Avatar, who stood in front of her and asked this unexpected question.
"Yes, I trust you,— Arabel replied.
"Okay,— Idan said, and then added: "Then if something goes wrong, don't fight back."
After hearing these words of Avatar Idan, Arabel did not quite understand their meaning, but since she had already said that she trusted him, she decided to follow his advice.
The woman, ignoring Idan's actions, first looked around the entire village.
The village was engulfed in flames, and the ring of fire was rapidly shrinking.
Then her gaze fell on the bodies of her own race, the women Idan and Arabel had killed.
When she looked at them, Idan and Arabel couldn't read any emotions on her face.
Her gaze lingered on the remains of the Outsider Leader's skeleton a little longer than on the others, and only then did a thoughtful expression appear on her face. After that, she began to look around as if she was looking for something.
Unable to find what she was looking for nearby, her gaze finally fell on the natives of this world.
Bzzz... Hrrr... whoosh...
Suddenly, the space around the portal began to tremble and hum violently.
Small cracks and gaps in space began to appear around the portal. Following that, a more powerful mysterious pressure descended on the square.
To the surprise of the couple and the other awakened ones, they were not affected by this pressure. It only affected a Diamond-ranked woman.
The woman clicked her tongue in displeasure, feeling a lot of pressure on herself.
The Diamond-ranked presence that she exuded began to fade away under this pressure. In just a few seconds, it changed to the presence of a Platinum-ranked being.
With the fall of the woman's rank, the mysterious pressure that only affected her also weakened, but it did not disappear. It seemed to be constantly making sure that she did not exceed the threshold allowed by the loosening of the restrictions of the world caused by the opening of the portal.
When the woman dealt with the pressure, she finally paid attention to Idan and Arabel.
"Oh!" she exclaimed, and a look of surprise appeared on her face.
"Really?" woman asked aloud.
Idan and Arabel didn't understand who woman was talking to.
Idan began to worry, noticing her gaze in his direction. He immediately realized that the woman was not looking at him, but at Arabel, who was standing behind him.
"So that's where you're hiding," the woman said, and her hair began to move, rushing toward Idan and Arabel. "Come back!"
"Damn!" exclaimed Idan, noticing this, and immediately began to act. He instantly cast dozens of basic Flash light spells in front of him.
A huge flash of light illuminated the square.
Arabel, who was already standing after the pressure from the woman had lessened as soon as Idan started acting, suddenly received a notification from the System. Before she could fully comprehend what was happening, she found herself in a completely different place.
"Huh?" said Arabel, looking in disbelief at the six girls who were also looking at her in surprise.
"Who are you?!" she suddenly heard an insistent question from one of them, with a heterochromia of the eyes. "Where's Ethan?!"
"Ethan?" — Arabel turned to this girl and only then, paying attention to her question, realized that she had taken the place of Idan's real body.
"Dan!" — Arabel exclaimed, unable to believe that Idan would just switch places with her. She was furious when she realized that Idan had intended to do this from the very beginning, remembering his question about trust.
"I'm asking you, who are you? And where's Ethan?"— Hailey's voice sounded more and more insistent, impatient and demanding.
"System..." Arabel did not have time to compose her question and say it, as she immediately received an answer.:
[Your partner is against it, so without his consent, this System cannot use the unique "Swap" ability.]
"Damn it, Dan!" — Arabel cursed to herself. She immediately wanted to ask the System, then why the hell had the System switched her with Idan's places without her consent. But then she stopped, remembering Idan's words again.
Idan had already indirectly obtained her consent.: first he asked about trust, then he told her not to resist, and she agreed and decided to trust him. The system took this as an agreement on her part.
"Hey! Are you deaf, right?" — Hailey, not getting an answer to her question, began to get angry at Arabel. "Who are you?! And where the hell is Ethan!"
"And who are you?" Arabel asked a counter question, annoyed by her persistent curiosity. She was already seething with rage because of Idan's act, and then some unknown girl was so persistently asking her questions.
"I'm his girlfriend, that's who I am!" — said Hailey with confidence. Her answer startled Arabel, who opened her eyes wide and looked at this cocky girl in disbelief.
The other five were also in shock, not taking their eyes off Hailey. After that, they felt a huge pressure that sent shivers down their backs, and they began to panic, mentally cursing Hailey.
"Are you Ethan's girlfriend?" Arabel asked, and a sweet smile appeared on her face.
"Fuck!" was all the five girls could say, realizing who this girl who suddenly appeared instead of Ethan was.