Aside from the ruins and the streets, greenery took over everything. Lively animals whispered sounds of nature while summer breezes flowed through the clear sky. Butterflies softly flew, hovering around the flowers growing between the collapsed buildings.
In the harmonious environment, Iris gradually crawled out of the shelter. She snapped her fingers and expelled the dirt and debris out of her body, her eyes surveying the surrounding.
After a minute of admiring nature, she strolled along the road, smiling as she raised her hands and touched the falling leaves. Above her, birds of various colours glided through the clouds, casting their shadow onto her lovely, lonely silhouette. Though her body was bare and exposed to the cooling winds, her membrane fluttered with her movement, resembling a long, loose wedding dress.
Despite the lack of ceremonial air in her expression and flowers in her hands, Iris still exuded an air of innocence, divine purity. Untainted by the world, she stood alone in the middle of the soundless town, waiting for someone, desperately praying for someone, for her to appear.
Why wouldn't you appear once more?
"How can I see you again, Vilia?" Iris muttered. "I'm at lost; I'm scared. I need your help, the help you've always given me. Why won't you spoil me?"
The world was silent. Iris sighed and closed her eyes, imagining a ripple of air spreading outwards. Her soft membrane quivered and parted into tiny rifts, where milky white mists seeped out and diffused into the atmosphere.
Iris's consciousness dissipated into the surrounding, gradually covering the town. Though she was a Transformation Phase Monster Girl, she was a newly ascended one and hadn't consolidated her foundation yet; she could only thinly feel the landscape, not a vivid detail of the world, but it was enough.
As her moisture touched the surroundings, she felt a peculiar sensation of grazing something, sometimes rocks, sometimes petals, sometimes something soft. She faintly smiled as she glanced at the shelter, shivering from the marvellous feelings of intimately caressing Artium and Serinda, without them knowing. Despite how much shame she felt, she couldn't stop herself from relishing it.
At once, she decided to limit the usage of this new power. It was immoral, like kissing someone in their sleep. Iris couldn't do such a sinful act, but this time was an exception; she used it to confirm her suspicion. She promised to herself she would not use it again, maybe.
After regaining her composure, Iris opened her eyes and retracted her dissipated consciousness. The omnipresent feeling disappeared as her blurred perception of the town faded. She couldn't find a single soul in the surrounding, except her and her friends.
Last night, the thunderous warcries and explosions still occasionally erupted, yet everything had gone silent in the morning.
The situation was too peaceful, too good. It reminded Iris of the endless corridor and the tranquil forest. Both locations were strange, the former filled with unknowable danger while the latter was ambiguous. If possible, Iris wouldn't want to go through either of them again, even more so with her new friends.
"Even though I've covered the town with my consciousness, I still can't find the exit." Iris frowned. "It seems I really need to wait until the time's up, but I don't want to go back to the shelter. What if they demand me again? I can't keep denying them."
Thinking about the two dirty Monster Girls, Iris felt a headache. She initially hoped the test would change so she could use it as an excuse not to engage in any unsavoury action. She couldn't directly refuse them.
"Overseer, do something." Iris raised her head and looked at the sky. "If you aren't going to do anything, I'll leave this place with no hesitation when I get a chance!"
The town remained unmoving. Iris could only sigh and turn to the shelter, biting her lips while walking back slowly.
Well, if it was going to happen anyway, she should just enjoy it, right? She should just treat it as repenting for her mistake. They were pretty and not forceful, after all.
"You must not watch, Overseer," Iris mumbled. "I'll dig into the ground and hide from this earth if I found out that someone was watching me making bad expressions."
Iris halted her footsteps. A thought hit her at lightning's speed. She broke into a sprint towards the shelter as her hands trembled, creating a lance out of the slime.
The ground beneath Iris gave in, violently shaking, collapsing, breaking into multiple pieces. Dust and smoke ruptured from the cracks, shattering the buildings and the road, toppling the landscape. Iris failed to land on her feet, but her body merely splattered and reformed in the next moment.
When she landed on the sunken ground, she hurled her lance towards a crack, where a shadowy silhouette climbed up. The grey puppet had only shown its head and couldn't protect itself. The lance pierced through it, stabbing into the rising ground behind it. The nearby grey puppets pushed themselves out of the rifts and took out the weapons attached to their bodies.
Iris created an array of lances and swung her hand. The lances shot towards the grey puppets, assaulting them in an unceasing torrent. Once the lances struck anyone, they would explode into a high-pressure wave, disrupting the nearby puppets.
These grey puppets were only comparable to Metamorphosis Phase Monster Girls and lacked the exotic power of the White Puppets. Iris effortlessly destroyed tens of them with her methods, yet she felt a chill gripping her heart.
If she were the Overseer, she would strike at the weakness of her enemies and forced them to submit unconditionally. She wouldn't try to deal with the bothersome Slime Girl but the two weaker Monster Girls.
These grey puppets weren't here to kill or even fight her. They were here to delay her. Their true targets were Artium and Serinda.
"Artium, Serinda!" Iris stomped the ground, creating a blazing light under her. "Come to me!"
The radiance engulfed the platform and blinded the grey puppets. They raised their weapons and defended. A swarm of icicles shot through the wall of light, shattering upon impact, creating countless sharp fragments. Though they were weaker than the spears, their number was endless. Some of them slipped through the defence and damaged the puppets.
At the opposite end of the grey puppets, Iris jumped out of the light, heading towards the sinking shelter. She held a pair of orange spears, whose exterior heated up until they distorted the air.
As she advanced, she battled against the grey puppets. Every time she swung her spears, a thread of flame flowed out of her strike and melted her enemies. Her demeanour changed from delicate beauty to a bold princess. Her dark blue slime changed its colour into red-orange, resembling the blazing flame of a war goddess.
The main force of the grey puppets attacked the wall of light and shattered it after a minute. The light dispersed into clouds of sparks and rose to the sky, revealing a figure inside. Iris had divided herself into two and sent her clone to get her friends, leaving herself to suppress the overall situation.
When Iris was at Metamorphosis Phase, she could only have one clone, but she could create two clones in the Transformation Phase. She helped her clone immersed in the memory of Errenia, the fiery maiden who left a profound impression on Iris. She was the first human Iris interacted with, the first person whom Iris corrupted.
"Where are you now, Errenia?" Iris mumbled. "You took my first; just wait until I found you."
She shook her head and stared at the sea of grey puppets surrounding her. The slime under her feet bubbled, rosing into multiple tendrils, holding all kinds of weapons. Iris smiled as excitement surged in her heart. She finally had a chance to test her limit.
"All of you, become a target of my frustration," Iris said.
She raised her hands and chanted a melodious verse. A strong pressure descended as Iris rushed forwards. Her strikes shook the ground and shattered the grey puppets, destroying them along with her repressed emotions. The heat in her chest and the anxiety in her soul transformed into her destructive power.
...
"Something's wrong," Serinda said. "Artium, my heart won't calm down. This is bad."
Artium turned solemn as she clenched her fists, which held the rifle. The lilies on her body quivered, releasing a soothing fragrance that refreshed the spirit and replenished the body. She quietly mumbled her spells. Beds of grasses and flowers grew around her, with vines protruding to the outside.
Though Artium could endure more pressure than Serinda, Serinda remained the leader because of her specialness. Her mind and spirit were closer to the world than others, creating a unique resonant akin to a legendary spell of prophecy. She could faintly feel the trend of the world, of destiny, of fate.
When she inexplicably felt agitated, it meant that a great danger was coming. With this ability, she and her team had narrowly escaped crises multiple times. It was also this ability which told her that Iris was an extraordinary Monster Girl.
"We should go out and stick close to Sister Iris," Serinda said. "Her aura had grown even more extraordinary since the last time I met her. She must be our saviour."
The two prepared their spells and rushed to the exit, but the world suddenly shook and shattered into multiple levels. The ceiling and the walls collapsed, breaking into countless cracks, where strange grey puppets crawled out.
Artium was slower than Serinda and failed to get out of the shelter. She glanced behind her. A massive platform split in half and fell above her. Its shadow engulfed her body, threatening to consume her existence. With all her strength, she gritted her teeth and jumped.
The platform crashed into the ground, with Artium narrowly leapt across the distance, falling slightly out of the deadly reach. She pushed herself up and sighed, but the soil around her rapidly sank. Another earthquake struck.
Artium couldn't get up and could only flail her arms, trying to grab onto something. She fell with the earth, but her hand caught onto another soft, delicate hand. Serinda endured the pain of overexertion and pulled Artium up. The two finally escaped the sinking earth, leaning onto each other.
The peaceful town had turned into a maze, with layers of walls obstructing the vision. Serinda and Artium couldn't spot Iris. They only saw the emerging grey puppets, whose power rivalled theirs.
"Isn't this difficulty too much? It's already a death trap," Serinda said. "Is Sister Iris that amazing?"
"It's too late to regret, Serin." Artium panted, her expression turning to excitement. "This is like a scene in the legends. The earth shook asunder, the sky dimmed, and the hero pointed his sword at the sky. Only in the absolute despair shall we see the brightest light."
"You still have the time to be poetic. Right, you are still Artium I know and love."
Serinda and Artium glanced at each other and chuckled. They immediately turned around and stood back-to-back Their spells revolved around them, creating a mystic scene of black shadow hovering below white petals. Despite the overwhelming amounts of the grey puppets, the two never lost hope.
"Artium, Serinda!" a powerful, heroic voice echoed. "Come to me!"
Serinda and Artium turned in the direction of the voice. A beam of light shot towards the sky and pierced the clouds, creating rays of sunlight, which gave hope to the two Monster Girls.
"She's indeed a hero." Serinda laughed and stepped forward. "Come, all of you. I'll definitely be by Sister Iris’s side!"
"Let's have a bet," Artium said, grinning. "Whoever destroys more puppets will be the first to ask her out!"
The two erupted with their peak power and clashed against the grey puppets, their eyes glittering with fighting spirit.
Taverius· Aug 29, 2021
