The green light pierced Artium's heart. The pain was not explosive nor searing; it was a tiny ache, a ticklish sensation which spread outwards, flowing through her veins, filling her mind with tranquillity beyond all other emotions. Artium bit her lips until they bled, but she could no longer feel the pain. Her mind focused on her hand, where she held a powerful yet brittle crystal core.
Her entire arm trembled, yet she could not command it to crush the core. Her nerves refused to listen to her; she couldn't feel a thing. She shifted her attention towards herself. Her skin was glowing green, splitting open into countless tiny rifts, oozing out the ghostly, foul light.
There was no sense of crisis. She merely observed her body breaking, her blood boiling, her flesh bubbling, and raised her head, staring at Lord of the Suffocating Chains. There was a hint of mockery sparked in his glowing eyes.
Artium sluggishly covered her mouth with her other hand. She didn't cough, but her misty blood still dripped from the corner of her mouth. Her body started to disintegrate back into the pink mists, merging with the power of illusion. The green light in her heart flickered and dragged her back into reality.
Lord of the Suffocating Chains crackled, drew up his arm, and placed his palm on Artium's head. He wasn't as carefree as his appearance suggested, for the power of dream had invaded his body, slowing down his thoughts, suppressing his soul. He turned translucent as he moved and had to limit his speed to avoid disappearing into nothingness.
His heavy hand pressed on Artium's head, yet she felt nothing as if the hand was weightless. She wiped the blood on her lips and smiled, leaning forwards, reaching her other hand towards the crystal core. Her solid silhouette strangely merged and passed through the chains and the skeleton hands, moving straight towards Lord of the Suffocating Chains.
"How is my power? Is it interesting? Comforting?" Artium silently said. Her mouth moved with no sound, but Lord of the Suffocating Chains could hear her words. "Will hope and dream falter in front of death and destruction? We’ll find out soon."
As she merged with Lord of the Suffocating Chains, she glanced behind her, through the pink mists, reaching Flamira and Serinda. The two cast their spells to find out the truth inside, but the power of the dream had misled them. They knew nothing of the crisis, but they still wore worry on their faces.
Behind them, another figure recklessly sprinted forwards. Iris felt something amiss when the pink mist thickened after Artium went inside. Iris couldn't use her Corruption Power, but the Faith inside her provided her with sufficient holy power to fight for a short while.
"Sister Iris, you're really silly." Artium giggled. "Well, time to end this."
Her two hands clasped the core. She pushed herself to the limit until her muscles tensed and bled. The rifts of green light on her skin widened, shining brighter as they devoured her body, decaying her until her pure white bones revealed themselves. Despite the lack of nerves, she could still move her hands, even if it was just a little.
The core shook, emitting odd, shilling noises. Tiny cracks appeared on its eerie surface as Lord of the Suffocating Chains trembled, his skeleton glowing in black light, imploding with unending pressure before stabilising. His glowing eyes dimmed as the intensity of his aura dropped.
Surprise, rage, and frustration erupted as he disregarded the consequence and burnt his entire arm black. The rotten stench flooded the swarm of petals. The decaying energy in them ate away the colourful flowers and decomposed the illusionary rainbow trees. Though Lord of the Suffocating Chains had to sacrifice a lot for this attack, he had gained an instant increase in his power.
"Make it quick," Artium said, smiling.
Lord of the Suffocating Chains swung his arms downwards, crashing against Artium's fragile body. The black flame enveloped her silhouette and consumed the pink mist around her. She shuddered, turning translucent, but the green light kept obstructing her retreat, forcing her to burn until her bones dispersed as the white ashes.
In her palms, the brittle core remained with countless cracks on its surface. A little more force would destroy it, but Artium's arms were no more. She glanced around and saw that her legs had already faded into nothing, her abdomen slowly turning to dust. The void in her heart intensified, yet she could feel nothing, just dullness, muddiness.
In the end, her body vanished, leaving only her head, which gradually turned invisible, fleeting, like a sphere of waning light. She stared at Lord of the Suffocating Chains, still smiling. Her lips, tainted by her glowing pink-purple blood, distorted into a grimace.
Lord of the Suffocating Chains retrieved his arms, but they had disintegrated into pink mists. The core inside him exerted its influence and prevented the fading from affecting his other body part. Though he had lost most of his power and his weapons, he had won.
Artium quietly vanished, yet she remained silent, strangely silent.
Before Lord of the Suffocating Chains could expel the pink mist inside him, Iris burst through the pink clouds, looking for Artium, failing to find her. Her eyes flashed with multi-coloured lights as she forcefully cast countless spells, conjuring myriad arms behind her, creating endless sets of weapons. Her soul fluctuated as the Faith inside her struggled to supply the needed energy. It was going to stop, so Iris took over the control and commanded it.
She shouldn't know how to manipulate Faith, but she just did. Her instinct guided her.
"Artium, where are you!" Iris rushed forwards, disregarding her condition. "Don't leave me. You must never ever leave me!"
A sense of crisis peaked as Lord of the Suffocating Chains generated a new pair of skeleton arms and punched forward. His arms grew larger and larger as the black flame engulfed his body, strengthening him while burning his soul. He finally knew what the true danger was. This unknown, weak Monster Girl could threaten him with her suicidal power!
The intense premonition of doom intensified. There was no doubt that the decisive moment was here.
As the two rushed towards each other, a muffled noise resounded, and everything was over. Lord of the Suffocating Chains collapsed under his weight. His skeleton shattered into bone fragments. His core disintegrated into sparks of light. Behind him, a cold, gorgeous lady stood, holding a delicate dagger in one hand, Artium in another.
Iris halted in her steps as her eyes laid on Artium, who was unconscious. There were a few scratches on her body, yet her complexion was healthy, even cute, like a lovely maiden dreaming about her ideal wedding night.
"She has done well, exceptionally well," Kurion said, caressing Artium's cheeks, smelling her flowery scent. "She has fainted from overexerting herself. This won't happen once she has familiarised herself with her power."
Iris hadn't said anything, but her blurry eyes told Kurion everything. Kurion gladly let Iris hold onto the sleeping Artium. Iris remained silent for a long while, staring at Artium, feeling relieved, happy, and annoyed.
Please don't do this ever again.
Like knowing what Iris thought, Artium smiled and mumbled in her sleep. Iris couldn't help but pinch those lovely cheeks.
"Thank you, Lady Kurion," Iris said.
"Why are you thanking me?" Kurion knelt and looked for something among the pile of bone fragments. "If you want to thank someone, thank your friend. She allows me to end the battle cleanly, at the expense of her safety."
"You're too modest, Lady Kurion. Without you, it would be a hard-fought battle, a life-threatening one." Iris tightly hugged the sleeping Artium. "I can't praise her. She deceived my fragile heart. I'll get back at her later."
Kurion grabbed onto a tiny dot of light and stood up, rubbing it against her palm. The light flickered and heated her hand, giving her a comforting sensation.
"This is my reward, I supposed." Kurion placed the dot of light on her tongue and swallowed it, shivering as it moved down her throat, flooding a wave of Soul Energy inside her. "After I digest it, my chance at reaching the Condensation Phase will increase once more."
"Congratulations, Lady Kurion. I'm envious of your opportunity."
"No need to envy me, for this is a transaction." Kurion snapped her fingers, grinning. Her eyes gazed into Iris's, seemingly peering through her body, reaching the deepest part of her desires. Though Iris was a Slime Girl and wouldn’t feel anything when she was naked, the intense gaze still caused her to blush; not just her body, but her soul was naked in front of Kurion.
"Please, please don't stare too much," Iris whispered. "My body is not sexy and need not clothing, but my mind is fragile, too delicate for such a powerful glare."
"While trying to clear the test, I found a scroll at the deepest part of the test. It told me about the Floor Guardian and the rewards upon defeating it, a chance to reach the imperial treasury." Kurion stepped closer to Iris, standing ever so close, yet ever so far. Her faint presence towered over Iris, enveloping her with a cold but uplifting sense of security. "I originally wanted to see what kind of place it is, but I can feel that this chance suits you much more."
"Lady Kurion, are you sure?" Iris frowned. Though she was happy she would gain another chance to take out a treasure, she didn't want to take advantage of someone who saved Artium. "The reward inside the imperial treasury is much more valuable than just an exotic material for your progress. There might be a suitable artefact waiting for you."
"Do not try to tempt me with greed, Little Friend." Kurion caressed Iris's face, her fingernails grazing the bouncy lips. "After reaching the limit, I transformed into the Distortive Dark Elemental. My innate talent is about distortion, of perspective, of light, and of desires. Wherever darkness exists, I exist."
Knowledge was often one of the deciding factors of the battle. Lord of the Suffocating Chains fell because of his lack of knowledge. He ensured no darkness existed around and inside his body, but he didn't know that there existed darkness of arrogance in his mind. He didn't realise that Artium's power of dream aggravated his emotions, reducing his weariness. She guided him according to her play, intensifying his anger and frustration, misleading his premonition of doom, placing it onto Iris instead of Kurion.
Iris blinked and turned to the sleeping Artium, whose smile seemed to widen as if she understood that Iris was looking at her. The smugness exuding from her urged Iris to kiss her, but Iris had to stop herself from doing so. Kurion was still looking.
"I know what you're thinking," Kurion said. "It is partly my power of distortion that Artium could mislead the Floor Guardian, but without her, there would never be a chance like this. She is indeed the crucial part of the plan."
"Who thought of this plan?" Iris glared at Artium, then at Kurion.
The plan not only deceived Lord of the Suffocating Chains but also deceived every other Monster Girls. Someone needed to be responsible.
"I'm the one who proposed this plan," Kurion said, "though I know you wouldn't believe it."
Iris fell silent, frowning.
What is the truth? Who is the culprit? Is it Kurion who wants to know how I would react, to know if I have any sentiment, weakness, conscience? Or is it Artium who just wants to tease me because she is like that?
Does it even matter?
Iris didn't know anymore.
