Chapter 57: Chapter 57: Before the Storm

Reta had been staying with the cloned Iris a lot. She blackmailed Iris into going out with her, eating dessert, buying potions, reading books. Though she kept her promise, she occupied Iris for most of the day, making Iris frustrated.

The Main City Layer was dark and cold. The crystals ceiling lowered its illumination, imitating the day–night cycle. Reta and Iris were in Iris's bedroom, Reta reading books, Iris watching her. The other sisters didn't feel anything strange and went about doing their business.

After a while, Reta felt bored and closed the book, tired after a day worth of fun. She got up, stretched for a bit, and turned to Iris, who still looked energetic as if she hadn't done anything for the day.

"Are you lying, Sis Iris? If you did, I would tell Sister Lenmia everything," Reta said, her eyes narrowing. "You really can't connect with your main body?"

"We're already partners in crime," Iris said. "Why should I lie about this when you’ve already known the biggest secret?"

"I know you, Sis. You don't want me to worry and thus will lie to me." Reta chuckled. "But I also have a weakness, and it's trusting you too much. Even if you lied to me, I couldn't force you to tell me the truth anyway. I'd rather trust you."

"I'm not a Goddess, Reta. The Puppeteer Legacy Ground is an extraordinary place; it is to be expected that I can't contact my main body once she entered inside."

"Then you should also know that you should go in and out fast." Reta sighed. "Sis, the Pure Races have been creeping deeper into the Sinking Dark Forest. They might find the entrance to the Labyrinth of Love soon."

"Everyone knows that, but why must we fear them? This is our home; we have the geographical advantage. Almost all Monster Girls are here while the forces of the Crusade are scattered. We only need to defend against them while they need to fight against us, the Wild Beasts, and many other native forces."

Reta shook her head and hugged Iris one last time before she left the room, mumbling something. She felt like she was missing something, but the exhaustion had taken hold of her mind. Soon, her creaky footsteps softened, echoing in the direction of her bedroom.

As silence befell the room, Iris frown, her face distorting in pain. She gripped her chest, pressing her arms against her breasts, clutching her trembling membrane. She didn't lie to Reta, but she also didn't tell the whole truth. Reta guessed correctly but wasn't determined to know the answer.

Iris couldn't exchange information with her main body, but she could subtly feel their connected emotions. There was an influx of excitement, sorrow, grief, surprise, pain, then dullness colder than the bottom of the dark abyss.

"What happened to you, Me?" Iris mumbled, gasping, letting her voice drift. "Come out soon, Me. I know you’ve encountered something bad, but please prevail and come out soon. I have a bad feeling about this."

The intensity of the Crusade shot up recently after a brief period of stability. The surrounding nations sent endless amounts of warriors and believers into the Sinking Dark Forest, trying to weaken the Corrupted Races before the eventual Sinking. The air of unease had already permeated the Labyrinth of Love.

Monster Girls were strong, but they weren't battle maniacs and treasured their life. Unlike the frantic believers, they wouldn't abandon their life to take another. It was also difficult to bewitch and corrupt the believers, requiring total suppression in both strength and will.

Unlike the believers, the ordinary Pure Races merely shunned the Corrupted Races because they corrupted the soul and the mind, but they wouldn't suicide when captured. They would let the Monster Girls had their way, the male drained, the female corrupted. At least they would live; living trumped all other desires, excluding the extraordinary ones.

"At least I've already made a deal with Amplicia. If the worst case happens, I'll just guide them to Amplicia before revealing the truth.” Iris closed her eyes and sank into her bed.

The chaotic time was approaching.

...

Iris sprinted towards the Archer, her body vibrating, her membrane quivering. Her right arm gripped at the lance and arched backwards. Though her strength and speed couldn't compare to Lancer, she had her way of multiplying her force. Iris bent and pushed her feet, exerting her legs until they burst into a wave of slime.

Iris was a Slime Girl, a Liquid-Body Monster Girl, having a flexible body. She didn't need to fear muscle tear and could fully spend her strength. The force originated at her feet and rapidly accumulated as it passed through her body, ripping her membrane, gushing out the slime.

Her right arm tensed to the limit as her membrane ruptured. Once Iris released the lance, she exploded into a fountain of slime. Before the rain even touched the floor, it swiftly congregated into Iris. Her momentum didn't decrease as she resumed her speed, still running towards the Archer, who let go of the string and shoot out the three arrows.

Iris had already stepped into the shooting range and wasn't fast enough to evade the arrows; she also didn't have any desire to evade them.

The three arrows stabbed her, the flame melting her slime, the electricity shocking her mind, the ice freezing her membrane. Her speed abruptly declined, but her expression remained dull as if the pain didn't reach her.

After releasing the three arrows, the Archer held her arms in front of her chest and shouted a strange word. Around her wrists, green symbols manifested and enlarged, covering her chest and her face. With her speed, she could barely dodge the lance, but the Mage behind her would suffer, his ritual disrupted. She must take the blow.

Though not as strong as the lightning arrow, the lance still exuded a powerful aura as its speed suppressed the sound barrier, creating sonic booms as it shot towards the Archer.

A shrilling noise echoed before the lance hit the Archer, breaking her defensive spell. The great force pushed her against the ground and backwards. She exerted her arms to the limit, causing the wound in her right arm to flare up. Electricity and smoke leaked out as the right arm trembled, turning unresponsive.

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The lance grazed her chest but failed to penetrate through her thin white exterior before losing its momentum. The Archer flung it away and drew her bow. As she couldn't use her right arm, she bit the bowstring and pulled with her mouth, her eyes gleaming with the determined air of a great warrior.

Before the Archer could aim, Iris had already flung her right arm. Multiple hardened droplets flew towards the Archer, bursting into a spray of slime, aggravating the wounds on her arms. Though Iris wasn't proficient in long-range attacks, she didn't waste her time defending, giving her ample time to strike first. She raised both her arms, morphing them into a bow identical to the Archer's.

The Archer couldn't stabilise her aim, yet she also couldn't dodge. Seeing Iris and the lightning arrow, the Archer abandoned her bow and darted towards Iris, reaching into her back, grabbing a black dagger. She knew Iris could imitate the attacks and understand her own destructive potential better than anyone else.

Even if she sacrificed herself, the fearsome lightning arrow would annihilate both her and the Mage. She had to stop Iris by fighting in close combat, using her agile movement and sharp dagger to crack Iris's core. She didn’t need to kill Iris and only needed to stall until the Mage succeeded.

Though her speed was slower than the Lancer's initial burst, she could easily change her direction and run around Iris, slashing and retreating at will. Her dagger glowed, flashing in blue light as electricity emerged from its black surface.

Iris stayed motionless, her expression solemn. She didn't move her arms to block the strikes, but her lower body quivered and broke into countless tendrils. Up in the Main City Layer, Iris had seen the Vine Girl used her tendrils to move around and hold many things, so Iris imitated her and used them to slap the dagger.

Though the electricity shocked Iris, it couldn't disrupt her aim. No matter what the Archer tried, Iris remained unwavering, her eyes unreadable. A bright spark manifested at the bow, turning from slime into a ray of lightning, resembling an arrow of exquisite quality. She held it tight and pulled the bowstring, only stopping when she couldn't draw more.

Seeing the flash of lightning, the Archer screamed and rushed towards Iris. The black lines on her pale-white body radiated green light as her mechanical eyes shone. After activating her overdrive mode, her speed abruptly increased, easily dodging the first few tendrils, cutting some while parrying more.

She shot towards Iris, disregarding most of the tendrils, letting them pierce her body while pushing the dagger inside Iris's. Its tip produced a torrent of electricity, shocking Iris until she trembled, her arms losing strength.

The Archer knew that the lightning arrow was dangerously powerful. If Iris misfired, she would suffer the backlash of a thunderous explosion.

The Archer stopped defending and drove her flashing dagger towards Iris's core. She sacrificed herself, letting the tendrils piercing her, frying her circuit, shocking herself and Iris, who couldn't hold onto the bow and let go.

The unstable arrow trembled, emitting sparks, cracking with thunderous noises. It brightly shone before abruptly dissolving into slime, dripping to the floor. Its brilliance manifested and vanished as fast as lightning. Iris immediately grabbed the Archer and locked her in place, crushing her with countless tendrils.

Iris could only imitate the appearance and not the ability. Though her copy was flawless, it didn't contain the power of the original, only the aura. She intentionally misled the Archer, forcing her to abandon her bow and fight at close range. Because the White Puppets specialised their power, the Archer's strength was weaker than Iris.

The Archer struggled. Her overdriven body shook, emitting heat and smoke. A blazing flame engulfed her and Iris, burning the robotic armour and the slime membrane. The Archer combusted into an explosion, boiling Iris and pushing her against a wall.

Though the Archer died, Iris suffered much, her body splashing upon impact. The force broke the metallic wall, sinking deep into itself. Because of the unceasing flame, Iris's reforming speed dropped. When she regained herself, she quickly formed a lance and hurled it towards the Mage.

The Mage didn't dodge and endured the strike. It pierced through his armourless body, drilling a hole in his chest, which enlarged and exploded into spectacle sight. Colourful fires blast out of him, burning his scraps to ember, leaving nothing behind.

The Mage was weak in all aspects except magic; he couldn't dodge the lance; he didn't need to.

The array below his feet imploded, sucking the colourful flames, forming a colourless sphere in the middle of the spell formation. Walls of azure light manifested at the edge of the array, protecting the sphere from outside interference.

Iris tried, but her attacks couldn't pierce the walls. She could only watch as the sphere took its shape into a humanoid entity, slowly shaping its feature. As the mysterious spell progressed, Iris gradually frowned, her heart sinking.

The walls of light collapsed, revealing an entity inside. The sphere had morphed into a feminine figure, whose silhouette resembled the divine beauty, the beauty which enchanted all, the beauty from another world. Her deep blue body reflected light, inviting touches, teasing desires.

"Who are you?" Iris said as she narrowed her eyes. She slowly retreated, doubt emerging on her face. "Why do you look like me?"

The Slime Girl smiled and stepped forwards. Her appearance was a perfect copy of Iris, down to the manner, the smile, the gaze, and the body. She had a core in her abdomen, like how Iris had the Shadow Heart Core. Her movement was elegant, like how Iris moved.

"Lady Iris, I am your copy," the Slime Girl said. "Please call me Lily. I'll be your final opponent."

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