Chapter 76: Chapter 76: Going Crazy

When a Monster Girl died, her spirit would not disperse into the wind nor float into the Heavenly Kingdoms. Her twisted soul would remain on earth in the form of a Soul Gem, the distillation of her experiences, desires, and dreams. If the Soul Gem was powerful enough, it could become a Soul Tree.

Lenmia had told Iris about this, but it was not why she chose to take the Soul Gems. It was because they contained the essence of the deceased Monster Girls, their momentos.

"These are all those who fell inside the Puppeteer Legacy Ground," Iris mumbled, feeling strange. "I know death and life are the processes of endless struggle, but I can't get used to it. They said it would get better, but when? Do I want it to get better?"

Iris shielded her heart and reached out towards the altar. The Soul Gems glittered in colourful, serene light as the hazy reflections on their surfaces flickered, revealing countless events known and unknown to others. Somewhere in there, Marina’s Soul Gem lay waiting.

Iris’s fingertips approached the barrier around the altar. Once she crossed it, she would have used up her one chance to obtain a peerless treasure. The imperial treasure would force her out. Though she would likely never get another chance to enter this place, it was worth it.

"Iris, you must not let emotions cloud your judgement," a voice whispered. "Look around you and see what you're missing. Not just the artefacts or exotic material, but the other altars. Without any backup, how can you leave this place?”

"Vilia?" Iris pulled back her hand and turned around, but the expected ghostly silhouette wasn't there. "Vilia, where are you? What must I do to see you again? Please tell me!"

There was nothing but silence. Iris clenched her fists and bit her lips, but she didn't wail nor break down; she couldn't do it in front of Vilia; she must be strong, stronger than ever, strong enough to bring Vilia back.

"If you don't want me to see you, I'll become strong enough to force you, Vilia!" Iris glanced at the altar of Soul Gems before shaking her head. "You're right. I need to prepare for the worst. The Overseer must have arranged these Soul Gems to force me. I must find something that can help me defeat him."

Iris didn't waste any more time and rushed deeper into the imperial treasury. Along the way, countless more treasures dazzled her eyes and attracted her greed, but she gritted her teeth, thinking about all her friends, her sisters, her family. She had to get out to meet them, or they would get worried after knowing the truth.

After a while, she reached a hall divider: a thin, translucent veil that stretched across the imperial treasure. There was a sentence written in the language of the past. Though it had endured for countless years, its brilliance remained blazing and glittering, commanding respect and obedience.

"Only the Destined Ones may enter the true imperial treasury."

Iris smiled and stepped forwards, passing through the curtain. An unseen force descended upon her body, but its power faded when it touched her, like a soft, relaxing massage. She calmly strolled forwards, glancing at the surprisingly unremarkable layout and decoration.

Like the stone graveyard inside the golden pyramid, the true imperial treasury was modest and traditional. Instead of golden altars holding the artefacts and gemstones decorating the path, stone slabs and bookshelves held the secrets more precious than anything outside. If not for the mysterious air it had, Iris might have thought herself in an ancient library, not a ruin of a powerful, glorious civilisation.

"The Overseer shouldn't be able to arrange anything here, but I'll have to be careful of any sudden change. The Legacy Ground isn't as secured as it used to be." Iris thought about Quasi and her black card but decided against using it. "Now is not the time."

There were no barriers between the mystical artefacts and Iris, but she feared that the imperial treasury would force her out if she took one out of greed. She had to find that thing before doing anything else, and she had to find it fast.

According to common sense, she rushed towards the end of the hall, where a stone altar was. On it was a grey token, smooth, fist-sized, and delicate. On it was a strange symbol, the word for "puppeteer" in the ancient language. When Iris gazed at it, a gush of information emerged in her mind.

Unlike the other items in the imperial treasury, the Puppeteer Token didn't have any powerful functions, but it was the most important item in the Legacy Ground.

It was the token of inheritance. With it, Iris would be eligible to contend for the ownership of the Puppeteer Legacy Ground. Just by having it, she would be able to enter the imperial treasury each time she passed through a floor.

Seeing it, Iris reached out and grabbed it, sealing her fate. She could no longer leave the Legacy Ground unless she discarded all her rewards and the token. It was a big gamble, but she was fully confident in succeeding.

Once she held onto the Puppeteer Token, white light descended and enveloped her, pulling her out of the imperial treasury and back into the second floor. She landed on the same spot where she vanished, alone in the middle of the broken battlefield.

Faraway, Serinda and Artium and the fiery maiden clone were sitting on a fallen stone pillar, chatting. During the battle between Iris and Greenwood Swordmaster, the collateral damage buried the clone under a sunken ruin. She only broke through frozen material and vines after the battle was over.

The trio quickly noticed Iris and ran to her, hugging her, pretending to cry, demanding more cuddling. Tired, Iris looked at her clone, but the clone merely shook her head, powerless, unwilling, to stop their cute actions. The two Irises wouldn't admit it, but they enjoyed the attention they had been getting from the two exotic beauties.

Why did I reject such treatment before? Wait, this is wrong! Sinful!

Iris shivered and glanced at the two Monster Girls. Their smiles and giggles warmed her heart, but she must not take another step forwards into the forbidden, immoral territory. They were sisters, sisters only, no more, no less. Their intimacy was pure and just, nothing strange.

"All right, both of you," Iris said. "I'm sorry I abruptly disappeared, but it isn't in my control either. I'm not sure why, but you all didn't get into the imperial treasury with me. Maybe something is wrong with the Legacy Ground."

Iris guessed that the Overseer had meddled with Legacy Ground, but she didn't want to frighten Serinda and Artium. If they knew about the situation and her plan, they would not allow her to take that risk. No matter what, she had to keep quiet until they got out of the Legacy Ground.

"What did you get, Sister Iris?" Serinda said. "Considering the difficulty in defeating the Floor Guardian, your reward must be unimaginable. Can I have a look? I promise I won't break it."

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"If it were to break that easily, it wouldn't be a reward inside the imperial treasury. Would you believe me if I told you the entire treasury is made out of gold? Everything!"

"Even if you told us you had gained ownership of the Puppeteer Legacy Ground, I would believe you."

"Unless," Artium said, "Sister Iris intentionally lies to us because she wants us to severely, heavily, punish her, exhausting her until she falls asleep on her bed. A daring plan, don't you think so?"

Artium turned to Iris, who blushed. She found no energy to rebuke them; she really lied to them, and she slightly wished for their punishments. It might not be too bad to enjoy it. She couldn’t prevent them anyway.

"We need to stop playing. We'll have much more time after we got out of here." Iris took a deep breath. "Good job on finding the exit, but would you like to hear my crazy suggestion?"

Once Iris returned to the second floor, her connection with the fiery maiden clone reconnected. They rapidly exchanged memories and emotions. Iris now knew that the three had already found the exit but decided to wait for her. They also teased the clone a lot, asking her personal questions she couldn't avoid answering.

Serinda looked at Artium. They nodded at each other before turning to Iris, their eyes gleaming with anticipation, a kind of madness, madness which filled their bodies with thrills of living, of pleasure. Their blind trust in Iris was abnormal; they knew it but didn't mind it. Something about Iris gave them comfort beyond logic.

"What is this craziness, Sister Iris?" Serinda tilted her head. "I'll take a guess: you want us to go through the rifts, right?"

Iris nodded, surprised.

"Did you cheat with your destiny spell? I won't reward you anything if you cheat." Iris pretended to pout, faintly smiling. "If you want me to hug you, you should have said so; no need to do it in the roundabout way."

"If I said so, would you really do it?"

Iris forgot that the Monster Girls were a bold bunch. They never restrained their raw emotions and always followed their passion. She averted her eyes and signalled her clone to divert their attention. The clone sighed and faked coughing.

"Don't tease Main Body too much. She's too exhausted to play with you two. If you made her flush until the shame reach her heart, what if she fainted from embarrassment?" The clone glanced at the main body and smirked. "No one would want that, right?"

"Why is my clone siding with Serinda and Artium instead of me?" Iris mumbled. Everyone heard it but pretended not to. "Serinda, I'll be troubling you to cast your destiny spell. I want to know which rift is the best for us."

Sensing the solemnity in Iris's voice, Serinda and Artium stopped playing around. Serinda took a deep breath and coiled around herself, bending groundward, tracing her finger on the soil. Her arm arched into a circle as she painted a complicated, confusing diagram with countless smaller circles and stars inside the large one.

In silence, Artium raised her hand, revealing a delicate ring on her middle finger. It was a Virtual Space Ring, expensive magical storage. Even Iris and her family didn't have one. Artium, Serinda, and Marina had to pour their fund together to buy one, but it was worth it. They could gather much more material and emergency rations when they went out.

The gem on the Virtual Space Ring shone, revealing a small set of inscriptions. The symbols revolved around the ring before pouring out a few magical materials necessary for creating the formation.

Multiple exotic fruits flew out and landed on the star symbols of the formation. Iris retreated and observed it with all her attention, greatly interested in the power of destiny.

"Sister Iris, please watch me," Serinda said. "This is my special talent, one I had even before I became a Monster Girl."

The spell formation lit up in purple light as Corruption Power gusted out between Serinda's brows. The dark purple colour tainted the lines drawn on the ground, absorbing the exotic material on the star symbols. Their colours merged as they separately lit up in various lights, creating multiple translucent orbs.

With the formation as its centre, the orbs gradually revolved and displayed countless images, some clear, others incomprehensible. They blended into a ray of pale light, which revealed the location of a peculiar rift, stable, near, and familiar. In it was a trace of Corruption Power. A Monster Girl was inside that inner world.

The screen flickered and showed a hazy silhouette of an unknown Monster Girl battling against an unknown enemy. Their clashes shattered metallic chains and stone walls, carving their strikes into the thick iron bars. The darkness enveloped their figures yet failed to conceal their terrifying power.

The Monster Girl was at the Transformation Phase, but she was struggling against the unknown enemy. If nothing unexpected happened, she had to retreat or risk dying.

Before the battle could be decided, Serinda coughed, her face turning pale, her connection with the formation severed. She covered her mouth, but blood still seeped between her fingers. The power of the battle was too strong for her to observe forcefully. She quickly wiped her lips and got up, stopping Artium and Iris from feeling distressed.

"Sister Iris, we should hurry if you want to save that Monster Girl. She'll be of great help to us. The more, the merrier, right?"

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