Iris paced around the street, looking at the multitudes of buildings on the side. Occasionally, other Monster Girls brushed past her, grazing her sensitive skin with their clothes and body. Though she could suppress her voice, she couldn't get rid of the pink flush inside her body. Because the clone was having a crisis, the original also suffered due to their shared sense.
Iris wouldn't meet Amplicia with her mind clouded and her desire aroused, so she wandered around in the cleaner part of the street. She didn't dare to head to the red-light district, fearing that she might lose herself and regretted her life choice.
Her walk wasn't in vain. While roaming around, Iris came across multiple groups of Monster Girls donning in their battle equipment. Their tattered yet joyful appearance resembled soldiers who went through wars and back. After playing bashful and asking them, the Monster Girls happily teased Iris and deluged the news.
At the lowest Layer, the Puppeteer Legacy Ground had opened. Its awakening caused the Labyrinth to tremble and the strange light to fall. Soon after the chaos broke out, the two Lords of the Labyrinth issued a statement, inviting all Monster Girls to participate in the once-in-the-lifetime opportunity.
As a Legacy Ground, its structure was exceedingly complex, its mechanism incomprehensible. According to the carving at the entrance, the Legacy Ground was a dynamic maze divided into five floors, each with countless opportunities. The condition to descending into a deeper, better level was unclear, but if one could pass the test, they would receive an appropriate reward. The participants could only leave the Legacy Ground after they concluded the test and would have to start over if they went in again.
"Sisters, do we know who the owner of the Legacy Ground is?" Iris said as she let the Monster Girls touch her body and caress her bouncy skin.
"Rumour has it that the origin of the Legacy Ground dates back to the era of the Deities," the Mushroom Girl said. "It might be true. My friends and I only enter the first floor, but we’ve already netted some great benefits."
Though her appearance resembled an ordinary pale-sick lady, under her braggy cloak, countless small white mushrooms grew from her skin and covered her delicate figure. She slipped her hand into her mushroom-covered abdomen. It went inside her hollow body and took out a lush branch. The branch exuded a fragrance that permeated the atmosphere with ghostly whispers and moans.
"This is a branch of the Nighty Lust Tree," the Mushroom Girl said. "A perfect piece for me. Though I don't usually show my precious treasure, you're an exception, Little Sis. You touch it if you can satisfy me. Even if you are not a Plant-Type Monster Girl, having it inside you should help with your Corruption Power."
"I'm thankful for your offer, Sis, but I'm afraid I can't accept it." Though Iris could sense that the branch was beneficial to her, she didn't want to do anything with someone she didn't know. The branch's name also didn't comfort her. "I need to go soon; if I had time, I would gladly spend it with you, Sister."
"I understand." The Mushroom Girl looked dejected. She had never tasted a Smile Girl before, but she couldn't be impolite and restrain her. "I hope it goes well, Little Sis."
"I hope the same for you too, Sister." Iris smiled as her cheeks flushed red. Her membrane quivered and tainted her cool, elegant manner with alluring quality.
"You little teaser." the Mushroom Girl giggled. "My last advice: if you want to try your luck in the Legacy Ground, prepare your best. No one can enter or leave until they complete the test. Some careless Monster Girls have lost their lives in there. If not for my dear friends here, I would have lost half of my body mass there too."
The Mushroom Girl glanced at the Insect Girl behind her. She was slightly shorter than the Mushroom Girl but taller than Iris. She coyly smiled and grasped the Mushroom Girl’s hand. Her insectoid eyes blinked and somehow expressed redness like a cute girlfriend who had just received a surprise kiss from her love.
As the pair flirted, Iris quickly excused herself and rushed back into the street. They reminded her of Penlarin and Warnuli, the two Monster Girls Iris encountered when she first entered the Labyrinth of Love. As someone strong enough to be tasked with guarding the entrance, they must have valuable information and many curious, sensual things they promised to give her.
Iris shook her head and discarded her indecent thoughts. Her green body was now pink as the transmitted pleasure flooded her mind, numbing her senses. The lukewarm sensation under her skin compelled her thought to venture to the realm of imagination, where she gradually sank into the king-size bed along with her sisters, who grasped and rubbed and teased her.
If not for these thoughts, Iris would have continued the talk with the Mushroom Girl, but her soothing sense infused into Iris a passion that accumulated and threatened to consume her. If not for the training from Lenmia and regulation from the Shadow Heart Core, Iris might really accept the invitation and find herself in bed with the Transformation Phase Monster Girls.
It took three hours before the heart-gripping pleasure ceased as the clone finally escaped the crutch of bliss. Meanwhile, the original Iris had walked around the entire Main City and gathered some information regarding the Crusade outside.
Most of the Crusade had retreated from the inner part of the Sinking Dark Forest. Their rampage had driven the Wild Beasts and the Monster Girls desperate, killing some while pushing others deeper into the forest. Most of the Monster Girls had concentrated inside the Labyrinth, waiting for a chance to strike back.
With the arrival of the Ambassador of the Broken Empire, everyone knew that the Sinking was nigh. Once it happened, the opportunity to get back at the surrounding nations would manifest. The more territory corrupted, the weaker the Pure Races, the better chance for the Corrupted Races.
Iris arrived at the Garden of Splendour, holding the silver badge. The flower-covered pagoda was still the same, radiating an elegant yet carefree spirit of a bar, attracting Monster Girls from all places. Despite the uproar of the Legacy Ground, the business was thriving, with even more Monster Girls coming and going.
After Iris entered the pagoda, she shifted her colour back to her soft blue shade and pulled a maid to her. Because she remembered the Slime Girl maid, Iris smiled and whispered to the maid, who carefully bowed and led Iris up the second floor.
While ascending to the second floor, the pink Slime Girl maid introduced Iris to multiple drinks and the special rooms where the customers could have personal maids and bartenders with them. The thin curtain concealed the Monster Girls inside, but their intertwining silhouettes and their faint cries reverberated throughout the floor, suppressed only by the faint classy music in the background.
Iris sat at the front bar and ordered a random drink. Because of her esteem status, she didn't need to pay anything. The bartender, a mature Spider Girl, skillfully mixed multiple whiskeys with strange herbs and shook the cocktail shaker until soft radiance seeped out of its gap.
"Esteemed Guest, your drink the Herbal Bliss is ready," the Spider Girl said. "Please enjoy my speciality."
The Spider Girl tossed a cocktail glass in the air and gracefully danced around it, knocking her hand on the bar, pushing the cocktail shaker open. The colourful liquid gushed out and fell like a fountain. Following her movement, the liquid waved and danced in the air, gracefully floating downward. The Spider Girl grasped the flying cocktail glass and gently placed it on the counter, letting the Herbal Bliss fill it.
Iris received the Herbal Bliss from the Spider Girl. Its fragrance seared her nose with a bubbling sensation that urged her core to throb and her mind to spark. The intense flame inside her body lightened her slime colour, corroding her elegant manner with passion.
"Tell me, my Maid, how many the Esteemed Guests are there?" Iris said as she sipped the Herbal Bliss. The strong taste numbed her throat, but the concentrated Corruption Power inside it compelled her to drink more.
"There are currently seven Esteem Guests, including you, Lady. Aside from the two Lords and the Ambassador, the rest are residing in other Layers."
"Are they all at the peak of the Transformation Phase?"
"Not only that, but they also possess great influence within the Labyrinth. The Layers they ruled are only inferior to the Main City Layer and the Submerged Ocean Layer."
"Have any of them come back from the Puppeteer Legacy Ground?"
"The two Lords have already come back. The Ambassador didn't go in. Unfortunately, we have no information about the others."
"It's getting lively." Iris finished the drink and got up. "I'll be going up the third floor now. If I'm not mistaken, Lady Amplicia will be coming soon."
The Spider Girl stopped her mixing and turned to Iris, expressing her shock. She quickly excused herself and went to the backroom, where she informed others of the news. The noises erupted as the staff prepared to receive the Ambassador, but Iris didn't wait to see the grand ceremony and went up the third floor.
The pink Slime Girl couldn't enter the Palace of Serenity and went back to help her coworkers. As Iris arrived at the modern-looking door, the Silk Revenant pushed it open and greeted her, inviting her inside.
The room was still the same. The Silk Revenant had taken great care at cleaning and dusting it. The walls glittered as its smooth surface reflected the light from the outside. The scenery of the pagoda's top floor radiated the stability that engulfed the Labyrinth, though underneath this facade was a fragile peace that could break at any moment.
Iris politely refused the drink and went to sit in the same seat from before and gazed towards the foggy dome at the horizon. The phantom scent of the ocean seeped into her body as she recalled the close encounter with Undrila, a holder of a Shadow Heart Fragment.
Despite the disparity in power, Iris strangely felt no fear. The scent of the sea instilled her soul with security that she almost mistook herself as Undrila, the ruler of the tide. The arrogance and the aloofness manifested inside her heart as she let her mind drift.
It was a peculiar feeling. The more Iris thought about Undrila, the better she could visualise the body and the power of the Condensation Phase Mermaid. Not just Undrila, but everyone else she had met. Iris gradually learnt their behaviour, both subtle and explicit, her mind slowly assimilating this new information as if she had consumed them like how she did with Vilia.
Though she was still too weak to mimic anyone but Vilia, if she could spend more time with other Monster Girls, intimately, sensually, she felt that she would deeply learn their appearance and personality.
Time silently went by. The Silk Revenant respectfully stood behind Iris and observed her. The subtle change inside Iris did not go unnoticed, but it was bizarre and uncanny as if her presence were dissolving. The Silk Revenant didn't know what Iris was doing, so she patiently waited for something to happen.
The tranquillity broke as the door of the Palace opened. The Silk Revenant was entranced by Iris that she didn't notice the new Esteem Guest coming in. She hastily bowed, but Amplicia lightly waved her hand and told her to prepare a relaxing drink.
"Sister Iris, we finally meet again," Amplicia said. "I'm terribly sorry for the previous interruption. Please accept my apology."
Thanks for the chapter. =)