Chapter 13: Chapter 13: Then and Now

In the living room area inside the cave, the Monster Girls gathered around the dirt table, staring at Varda. Each had a bowl of flowery nectar, filled to the brim. Unused to the environment, Varda held her breath and drank more of the nectar before she finally started her explanation.

She dug her green fingernail into the dirt table and drew a rough sketch of the world map, focusing the detail on the boundary between different nations and the Sinking Dark Forest. Her bright green eyes glittered as she captured everyone's attention. Her scale-covered body trembled at the thought of the playful rewards, and so she prepared to give her best.

"My team and I were sent to investigate the Fallen Light Incident. And halfway through the process, the Church sent Filiavera to ensure we could take down the Fallen Maiden," she said and turned to Lenmia, pausing her smile as guilt grew and burnt in her eyes. "Sister, I'm sorry."

Standing beside her, Iris couldn't help but grabbed her shoulder gently and squeezed it, soothing the quivering guilt by stroking her cool fingers across the green scales. Varda shifted her body, leaning onto Iris, whose body softly sank and bounced like jelly. She held onto Iris, sniffing the familiar scent while trying her hardest not to cry.

"The past you is no longer the present you, Varda. Now, you're a gorgeous Snake Girl, bewitching and lively, our newest sister. You'll be living together with us, so let us help you with that burden. Your fault is our fault, your grief, your happiness, ours.”

Standing opposite Varda, Lenmia smiled and pulled Tardi and Reta to her sides, hugging them tightly until they partially sank into her body. Jealous, Dulcie tried to slip into the embrace, for which Lenmia readily made space.

"Well said, Iris. Varda, you're one of us, family. If you still feel unused to it, we'll teach your body to accept it, all night, if necessary."

Varda chuckled, her guilt dissipating. “Thank you, everyone. I've made you worry. I'll be waiting for the nighttime, but there is something I need to tell you right now."

She placed her hand on the dirt table and gripped the soil in the middle, holding it in the air then letting go. The dust particles lingered and flew around, landing everywhere inside the boundary of the Sinking Dark Forest.

"The neighbouring nations have agreed to invade the Sinking Dark Forest. They hope to combat and even prevent the upcoming Sinking. After they have confirmed the elimination of the Fallen Maiden, the Pure Races will surely strike."

After finishing her chilling news, Varda fell silent. The solemn air permeated the atmosphere, dimming the room, freezing the nectar. She pushed her snake body towards Iris, her hands placing on the soft skin, her head cuddling the bubbly chest. The slime which coated her body gave her a sense of security.

Being a Snake Girl, Varda was taller than Iris, but she coiled herself until she could fit inside Iris's embrace like a drunk girl in her lover's arm. Iris merely smiled and stroked her silky green hair, contemplating.

"Sister Lenmia, what should we do?" Iris said, turning towards the corridor of the cave, staring into the deeper part. "I have a suggestion."

"If Iris considers it, it must be worth listening to."

"Please don't tease me. I'm just speaking my mind. If we don't move away from this place, we can further explore the cave. It is too dangerous to leave our base and wander into the deeper part of the forest. I've heard that there exists strange evil lurking inside the great mountain range."

Lenmia slammed her hand against the table. The dust flew everywhere as the gale blew past her. Her sharp gaze lightened as she stopped her reflex, pulling her hand back before turning to the confused Iris.

"I'm sorry, Iris, but I won't allow it. Exploring the cave is forbidden, impossible. It is not worth the risk."

"But Sis Lenmia, if we stay hidden inside the cave, we don't need to risk wandering inside the forest. We also won't need to find another Soul Tree. Without it, we won't be getting strong fast as we can now."

Wishing to help, Varda perked up, her eyes glowing. She slightly shifted herself away from Iris to look at Lenmia then slowly raised her hand to attract her attention. After acquiring it, she cleared her throat and glanced at Iris, whose eyes stayed fixed at her. A hint of proudness manifested in her expression.

"Sister Lenmia, we won't need to stay hidden for too long. You also know that the Crusade can't be prolonged. If the news got leaked, the Broken Empire won't let the chance slip away."

Upon mentioning the Broken Empire, Reta perked up with a smile of zeal on her hopeful face. Her eyes drooled with a fantasy of the mystical paradise where Monster Girls could live in peace. Dulcie and Tardi also nodded their head. They knew of the Broken Empire and their great influence.

"The Broken Empire will crush those people," Reta said. "They will help us, surely. When the day comes, please let me travel there, Sister Lenmia."

Iris was the only clueless one. She averted her eyes then fiddled with her hair, trying to go along in silence, but Varda, who remained in her embrace, excitedly moved around, sliding up and down. Her movement tickled Iris, who cried in panic and grabbed the room by surprise with her tantalizing voice.

"Sisters, forgive me, but what is this Broken Empire?" Iris said as she tried to brush aside her shame, tapping her cheek and cutely leaning her head.

"You have a cute voice," Lenmia said, giggling. "The Broken Empire is the paradise for the Corrupted Race. Long ago it was one of the biggest empires of the Pure Race, but after the Dark Descension, it had fallen and turned into the empire for us Monster Girls."

In awe, Iris closed her eyes. The world of mists and darkness shrouded her dream, filling her view with misty landscape lit by the crescent moon, which glowed ominously as the Monster Girls, dressed to enhance their appeal, lured each other into the whirlpool of pleasure, touching bodies, sliding hands, brushing lips. Their fingers ran across her chest and excited her breasts, sinking into her liquid body and messing with her inside.

For a moment she enjoyed it and yearned for it. Then immediately her moral rejected the desires and extinguished it, thought the ashes remained, sitting deep in her heart, waiting to be ignited once more.

"So there is the place like that," Iris said, blushing. "How far away is it? Is there a chance we travel along the border and reach the refuge?"

"It is unfortunately impossible," Lenmia said. "The borders are tightly regulated; no Monster Girls can go through them without any disguise, and only the Monster Girls above Metamorphosis Phase can freely hide her appearance."

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Iris experienced what her sisters did, the initial hope crushed by reality then turned into a kind of zeal, which burnt despite the hopelessness. A goal emerged in her mind: reach the Broken Empire with her family. If the Transformation Phase was what it needed, she would become a Monster Girl so strong, so seductive, and so wicked she could capture every heart. For her sisters.

"All the more reasons not to leave this cave," she said and met Lenmia with her unyielding gaze. "Sister Lenmia, why can't we stay here?"

The other Monster Girls held their breaths and waited for their eldest sister to speak. Lenmia was never the one irrational, so something must be troubling her when she couldn't permit Iris to explore the cave. Everyone had already put their trust in her, as a family should. That was also why she hesitated to tell the truth.

Though it was dangerous, she couldn't bear the guilt of lying to her sole family. Lenmia sighed, her gaze leaving Iris, staring at the empty ceiling onto which she could paint her memory.

"Will you all promise not to console me after I tell you?"

Iris instinctively paid closer attention, ignoring the warming tickles inside her body and Varda, who was nuzzling her breasts. Since the battle, Lenmia had never talked about the otherworldly scene of the white feathers falling from the sky, covering the world and consuming the divinity. As if she had always known about their existence.

"Sister Lenmia, your pain is our pain. You can share anything and everything with us," Iris said.

"I should have told you earlier." Lenmia shook her head. "Before the rebirth, I came to this place . . ."

...

Along the peaceful forest, a group of holy paladins and priests escorted the Holy Maiden. She donned a white ceremonial robe, whose tail extended from her legs across the ground. Despite the grazing the dirt, its pure fabric remained untainted. As she ambered, her bare feet tapped the ground and purified the soil, leaving behind a trail of lush flowers and grasses.

"Your Grace, why did you decide to come here?" a holy paladin said. "Forgive my impudence, but I don't think this incident requires your presence."

"My sense told me to come," the Holy Maiden, Sintecia, said. "There is something wrong about this place. Can you guess it?"

"It is too peaceful. The lack of activity is concerning."

Unlike the rest of the forest, they found little to no sign of Wild Beasts and no Monster Girls. The Sinking Dark Forest was the wilderness of the Corrupted Ones, making the discovery alarming.

"That is half the reason. I can sense a sinister aura shrouding, straining the air. The Corrupted Ones must also sense it, and it frightens them." Under her pale cloak, Sintecia blew a wisp of moist air, which diverged into multiple streams of milky haze, twirling, purifying the air with their vapours. "This is why my presence is needed."

Upon flying farther, the milky white streams lost their brightness, turning dimmed and rotten; their vapours decayed into black ashes, which dissipated into the surrounding, annihilated by the invisible aura. Suddenly the quiet surrounding lost their tranquility. The harmless shades turned ominous as the ordinary leaves swayed, all in one direction, pointing at the origin of the darkness.

The holy paladins and the priests halted, readying their spells and weapons, but Sintecia raised her hand, stopping them. They immediately retracted their power and proceeded normally, placing their trust fully on her.

"Do not panic," she said. "The aura has no ill intention. It doesn't know we're here. Proceed with caution, but do not attempt to agitate the forest."

"Your Grace, should we call for backup? The danger zone begins right ahead. We cannot expose you to any possible risk."

"We will only observe and verify the source of the aura. Such a task won't be dangerous for me. Even if it is, none of the backups can deal with it anyway."

"Please don't frighten us, Your Grace. You who are the second strongest Holy Maidens can’t fall here."

"If such a fate were to befall me, do not hesitate to escape. At least one of us must live to tell the tale of what vile being resided there. The Goddesses must know about such an entity."

The holy paladin firmly beat his chest with his fist. "It is our duty to ensure your survival. Our lowly lives cannot be compared to that of the vessel of our goddesses."

Sintecia shook her head, her hands caressing a silver ring on her right index finger. The pearl at its top faintly glowed as the divine power inside it reacted with her touch, softly seeping into her body, circulating her body, expressing their warmth through her eyes, which gleamed in holy light under the cloak.

"The Goddesses will protect us. As long as our belief remains, we shall never falter."

Passing through the last layer of bushes and trees, Sintecia stepped into a soft landscape where an innocent cave laid in slumber, covered by vines and flowers, ancient and mysterious. Inside it, an invisible aura seeped outward, permeating the forest, pressing onto her heart in a hand that gripped her neck. The source of all wickedness rested inside.

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