The green light painted the landscape with the forest fragrance, creating rings of overgrown. Flowers and grasses emerged from the cracks in the ground, transforming the brown soil and frozen earth into a grassland. Petals and leaves spurted and fell from their branches, swaying in the air, floating towards the Flourishing Nature Sword, empowering it.

The trees and vines stretched outwards, creating a dome which concealed Iris and Greenwood Swordmaster from the outer reach, a divine arena for the final battle.

The grey puppets rapidly retreated from the battlefield, but they were too slow to evade the collateral damage. The wild, mutated plants caught, crushed, and devoured them, piece by piece. A man-eating flower opened its five-petal mouth, slapped out its thorned tongue, and dragged its victim into its mouth.

In front of the overwhelming power, Serinda and Artium held their breaths while retreating. They pushed themselves to the limit while focusing on their defence. Their eyes fixed on every dangerous tree and flower around them, but nothing perilous occurred. Greenwood Swordmaster had kept his words. The plants instinctively avoided the two Monster Girls, opening a safe path for them, not too far from the battlefield, but also not too close.

They knew they couldn't help Iris, yet they still stayed as close to the dome as possible, thinking that their hearts and wishes could go through the obstruction. Artium found a smooth thick vine to sit on and called Serinda, watching over the dome for any movement.

"Just the side effect of the opening move is already more powerful than my Battlefield Spell," Artium said, shaking her head. "Serin, what do you think? Can your spell, Seer Eye, predict the result?"

"If I could, would I still make this face?" Serinda sighed. Worry lingered in her eyes. "Their powers are already beyond the Transformation Phase. I'm a mere Transformation Phase Shadow Snake Girl, not a Condensation Phase Monster Girl."

"What about your heart? Has it told you anything? Your gut feeling?" Artium smirked. "There is worry in your eyes but not despair. There is still a chance, a slight hope, right? But this is truly strange. How did Sister Iris get so strong so fast? Is she an incarnation of a strong Monster Girl, or Lady Lilith herself, or maybe other beings from the myths?"

"She defies common sense. Didn't you see? In response to that ultimate attack, she knelt and prayed." Serinda shivered, her heart palpitating. “A Monster Girl praying to a Deity, how is that possible? Which Deity would welcome a tainted soul? It would be understandable if she prayed to an Evil God, but the light around her was holy, incomparably holy!"

"If anyone else did that, I would have thought they were trying to die." Artium giggled and leant on Serinda. "We shouldn't guess our big sister's plan. We should wait obediently like the cute younger sisters we are. I'm sure she knows what she's doing."

"That's right. I don't know how, but there is still hope. We just need to wish for her good luck, and maybe our prayer will help her in a time of need."

While Serinda and Artium gradually relaxed and filled themselves with unfounded confidence, Iris was holding her breathes, waiting for the answer to her prayer. Despite not needing air, her chest felt suffocated like a massive monument was weighing onto her shoulders. She was still hovering above the ground, with the divine light glowing out of her forehead, where the Mark of the Lord manifested, and her chest, where the strain of Faith resided.

The resonance of Faith grew loudly and brighter as her body and soul quivered, slipping out of her control. The divine light enveloped her figure, which turned finer than all beauty and holier than all mortals. A piece of golden silk wrapped around her chest, extended to her back, fell onto her waist, concealed her thighs, and flowed to the ground, revealing her curvature without any hint of promiscuity.

From the Mark of the Lord, milky white light emerged and seeped into every corner of Iris’s body, merging with her soul. She plunged deep inside herself, her mind shaking from a flood of information, overwhelming, incomprehensible information. The world was speaking to her, telling her the darkest and brightest secrets, hidden and public events, absolute and changing laws.

Everything she could ever ask for was before her.

She blinked. Her eyes shone like a pair of heavenly stars. She had already lost control over her body, her soul rapidly dissipating. Her mortal mind couldn't accept the truth of the world, couldn't withstand the pressure of Divinity, couldn't handle the power of the Lord. She violently trembled as a pair of white feathery wings ripped out of her delicate back, unfolding, expanding grandly behind her.

As more wings grew from her back, Iris felt herself closer to the world, her sense dulling, her perception expanding, herself disappearing.

Though she had lost control over her body, she could still see through her eyes but failed to command her arms and legs. She knew she was in grave danger and struggled with all her might. Her mind fought against the sea of information, yet the intoxication brought by endless inspiration and limitless comprehension gradually wore down her resistance.

Her thoughts dwindled; her memory faded. There was nothing to worry about; everything was as intended. The world was impartial, the reality fair and balance. All beings lived equally under our guidance; all eras passed and decayed under our cycle.

Everything is as it should be, or is it? What is missing? What have I forgotten? What am I? Why is there I in this world? This world? Something is wrong, unforgettably wrong.

That's right! The promises! I promised! But promised what?

"What did I promise?" Iris mumbled. Countless pairs of wings on her back shook. They fluttered outside of her control and generated golden light around her. "Promises, the promises . . . I don't remember, but they are important, too important, must fulfil, must not forget."

Iris's mind was muddled; she couldn't overcome the power of the world. The assimilation of the world continued, but her last remaining trace persisted. She couldn't and wouldn't leave until she fulfiled her promises, until she reached her dream, until—

"Iris, my dear Iris, why are you pushing yourself into the boundary of life and death again?" a familiar voice echoed. The divine wings halted; the assimilation of the world froze; time paused; space stagnated; Divinity froze. Vilia stood below Iris, raising her head to look at Iris's confused, longing face. "You're too reckless, too daring, too brave, but this is why I must be here, right?"

"Who are you?" Iris's voice was shaking. She didn't remember, but her heart remembered. Someone important. Must not forget. "Vilia? Vilia!"

"Just this face is enough to wake you up? You're truly amazing, Iris. Maybe I don't really need to help you, but it is safer this way. That power is too much."

Vilia lightly jumped, floating towards Iris. She seized Iris's chin and caressed her cheeks, smiling. She leant forwards and kissed Iris, pressing her ghostly lips onto the moist, trembling lips. Her ethereal body merged with Iris, vanishing into the divine beauty.

Iris immediately regained her memory. The Divinity around her stopped invading her as the foreign energy inside the Shadow Heart Core gushed out and fought back. The knowledge of the world stopped forcing itself into her, and the assimilation of her soul had stopped. Her forceful ascension had failed, but she also didn't fade into the world.

"Vilia," Iris mumbled. "Did I hurt you again?"

Surprised but also dejected, Iris glanced at her back. Countless pairs of wings unfolded behind her, creating a field of feathers, exuding bright holy light. Her divine aura flooded out like a tide, clashing against the green light opposite of her. Greenwood Swordmaster had been watching her but failed to detect her perilous moments; they were too profound for mortals to understand.

"Your appearance . . . Heavenly Descension?" Greenwood narrowed his eyes. "No, how did you wield the power of Divinity? And such powerful Divinity. Are you a Goddess Incarnate? Impossible, the Goddess Incarnate couldn’t have a tainted aura."

"Does it matter if you know the truth or not?" Iris smiled. Her body felt light; it was a fascinating experience having countless pairs of wings on her back as well as Divinity coursing inside her. "Let's us compare our trump card. Either you fall, or I fall."

"Very well. Lady Iris, please show me your might."

Greenwood Swordmaster raised his sword and swung downwards. His movement abruptly slowed down as his body turned grey, ageing rapidly until his sword lightly tapped the ground. He stood motionless, as if dead, but his gaze remained sharp, staring at Iris.

There was nothing, no pressure, no wind, no magic. The Flourishing Nature Sword suddenly shattered. Iris stared at Greenwood Swordmaster, then turned to herself as itchiness spread inside her. A speck of green light manifested on her chest and spouted into a lily. Its roots sank deeper into her body and spread towards her arms and abdomen and head.

"What is this?" Iris said, shivering. She grabbed the lily and pulled, but a piercing pain interrupted her action. She could feel her palms when she tried to uproot the lily.

She was the lily.

Soon, multiple flowers emerged. They connected with Iris, turning into a part of her while growing outside her restraint. Her countless pairs of wings turned colourful as leaves and flowers grew on them. Her delicate skin turned green and brown as her flesh changed into woods and stems.

A sense of helplessness and frustration rose as Iris failed to do anything except watching herself turning into a Plant Girl. She closed her eyes and thought before an idea came to her. The fleeting memory of the truth of the world gifted her strange inspirations.

She commanded the Divinity inside her and fused it with her eyes. They shone in holy light, allowing her to see the profundity of the world.

"So this is the essence of your ability," Iris said, excited. "Connecting me with nature and let nature take its course. If I don't have the Divinity inside me, I would have lost my Slime Girl body or even my freedom."

Smiling, Iris raised her hand and flicked her fingers. Rays of holy light manifested at her fingertips, then shot outwards, revolving around her, cutting off the invisible threads. They snapped and disintegrated into nothingness as the rate of growth of the plants on Iris's body stagnated, but they still didn't disappear.

Satisfied, Iris gazed at Greenwood Swordmaster. Countless invisible strings on his body were breaking into green particles. His grey body was decaying, his vitality vanishing.

"Lady Iris, you've won," he said, his voice hoarse. "My final move is indeed such as you described, but I didn't intend to kill you or strip your freedom. The Flourishing Nature Physique is dangerous for many, but it is a precious gift for you."

"What do you mean?"

"If I tell you anything, my soul will immediately disintegrate, my existence erased." Greenwood laughed. "You know what to do, Lady Iris."

"Very well." Iris sighed. The plants inside her body lived on her power. To get rid of them, she had to expend all her energy. "Take a look at my ultimate attack, Greenwood Swordmaster. It will be the most wondrous memory of your life."

Taking a deep breath, Iris pointed forwards. Her countless wings arched with her gesture, pointing at Greenwood Swordmaster. All the Divinity and Corruption Power inside her condensed at her fingertip, forming a blazing sphere of Divinity; it almost turned into the Divinity Flame, but its concentration was not enough.

"Farewell, Greenwood Swordmaster."

"Farewell, Lady Iris."

The Divinity enlarged into a beam of pure light and shot towards Greenwood Swordmaster. The radiance engulfed him and penetrated through the world, not just the forest and the dome, but space itself. The power tore the inner worlds asunder, cracking the fabric of realities, shattering the equilibrium of the Puppeteer Legacy Ground.

Greenwood Swordmaster closed his eyes and accepted death. As his mind gradually went blank, a burst resounded, and the seal on his memory shattered, revealing the secret obtained from the destiny spell. His expression twisted into shock and anger as he struggled in his last moment.

"Lady Iris, you must be careful!" Greenwood shuddered, his voice fading. "Be careful of coincidences! Be careful of your allies! And be careful . . . of yourself!"

"What do you mean!" Iris attempted to stop her attack, but she couldn't control it; the strike was too powerful. The Lord had gifted her this power, and Vilia had helped her restrained it. "Greenwood? Greenwood!"

When the light died down, Greenwood Swordmaster had already become nothing.

GDLiZy

Definitely not important. Greenwood is just messing with Iris.

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