In the Shadow Plane, Iris collapsed onto the grey throne, panting, shaking. The viscous, concentrated Corruption Power surged around her, seeping into her mechanical body. Her smooth, metallic skin turned muddled as the Corruption Power gushed inside her.

Pain seared her body and soul. She grabbed her arms and arched forwards, but she could not feel her touch, only the pain. Itchiness and numbness spread from her metal exterior to her inner circuits and joints. They corrode the locks inside her soul, shattering the seals on her memories.

Though her soul had protected her most precious memories, some of them still got erased. Now, all of them came back to her. Countless images played inside her mind, recounting her experience since her rebirth.

She flung herself back. Her head crashed against the throne. Both of them shattered. Blue electricity flew out of her skull, but the purple Corruption Power pushed them back inside her. They merged and fused with her, heating up her body.

She tensed her arms and legs. Her back and thighs melted and joined with the throne. The invisible fires inside her glowed brighter and hotter, yet she could not do anything. Her lips melted into one. Her eyelids closed shut.

Darkness and silence enveloped her. It was a special kind of darkness and silence, one which deprived all senses. She could not feel, touch, smell, hear, taste, or see anything. She only knew that her body was melting, turning into a blob of liquid.

As helplessness flooded her heart, Iris tensed. A teardrop squeezed out of her tightly shut eyelids. It rolled on her cheek before evaporating under the intense heat.

A hand caressed her face and rubbed the teardrop’s strain. Iris felt a slight tug in her heart. She could not see nor speak, but the silhouette in front of her understood everything.

"Please don't cry," a voice echoed. Though it was familiar, Iris could not remember its owner. "You are never alone. We are always with you, always."

The agony that tore Iris apart vanished as anxiety and hope mixed inside her. She regained control over her body and struggled madly. Her senses came back. She could feel the gentle caress and the soothing voice. She wanted to see that face!

Vilia!

Without any regard for herself, Iris forced her eyes opened and pulled herself forwards. Her android exterior held her body back, but she pushed forwards until the vessel that contained her shattered. She gushed out as a blob of azure slime, so ever lonely, so ever pretty.

"Vilia?" Iris looked around. "Where are you!"

Around her was the crumbling throne room. There was no one else except Iris.

"Why?" Iris said. "I just want to see you one more time."

Iris placed her palm on her right cheek. Though slowly dispersing, the foreign warmth still lingered in her touch.

"Am I that reckless? Do I need to push myself into danger again?"

She really wanted to meet Vilia, but she could not force Vilia to show up. She wouldn’t hurt any of her sisters. If possible, she would shoulder all the pain for them.

If Vilia came to my rescue, it must mean that my plan is too reckless. I came too close to total annihilation, but the most dangerous moment has passed.

As Iris contemplated her plan, a sense of dread gripped her heart. The Shadow Heart Core intensely vibrated, screaming warnings after warnings.

A mortal danger inside the Shadow Plane?

Without any delay, Iris ascended to the Main Material Plane. The Overseer and the golden-cloaked man locked their gazes at Iris.

"How . . . did you remove our modification?" The Overseer trembled. His mechanical eyes glowed blood red. "How dare you ruin—"

A shockwave swept past the fragmented throne room and pushed the Overseer against the ground. Despite the pain, he forced himself up and protected the golden-cloaked man. Though the man used to be strong, he was now a fading soul.

Iris braced herself and glanced upwards. Amidst the infinite blackness, a spark of light flickered. The void stretched and pulled back, trembling under a terrible might. The shockwaves alone could shatter reality and distort space and time.

Is that the danger that targeted me? I must have underestimated the importance of the Shadow Heart Core.

Iris glanced at the Overseer and the golden-cloaked man. This is my chance.

"Looks like you have a guest, Overseer," Iris said. "Even the world is helping me. Your plan is destined for failure."

The Overseer glanced at Iris, then crushed the necklace in his hand. A powerful yet invisible pressure engulfed the throne room. It crawled outwards and fused with the fragmented realities, reversing their destruction.

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The Puppeteer Legacy Ground rapidly reconstructed itself. In an instant, the nine Floors, the throne room, and the imperial treasure returned to existence.

For a moment, the glory of the past glimmered.

"With the Legacy Ground completed, you can't break the rules anymore." Iris faintly smiled. "How will you deal with me, then?"

"The Legacy Ground is no longer under my jurisdiction," the Overseer said. "Everything belongs to His Majesty."

The golden-cloaked man turned to Iris and pointed at her. Chains of electricity emerged from his cloak and shot at Iris. She held the Puppeteer Token and the black card in her hands, commanding them. Her authority crashed with the golden-cloaked man's, slowing down the electricity.

"Your authority comes from the imperial family," the Overseer said. "If they wish so, they will strip you of your power."

"If the man in front of me is still alive, I would never stand a chance against him. Fortunately, he is merely a lingering soul. How can he fight against me, a living being?"

Iris smirked as her slime body quivered. She closed her eyes and let her emotions ooze out of her. Her impression of the golden-cloaked man gradually emerged inside her mind. His appearance, demeanour, and aura merged with her soul. The injected memories inside her mind enhanced her mimicry, giving her more information about the golden-cloaked man.

Her membrane boiled and stretched into a long, silky golden cloak. Her oozy hair flowed to her back and separated themselves into fine strands, shifting their colour to shiny golden. She raised her hands in front of herself, and her slime morphed into smooth, beautiful skin. When she opened her eyes, her dazzling irises glowed like the sun.

She looked ethereal, majestic, like a beauty from a fantasy: a nonexistent princess.

After her transformation, Iris looked at the Overseer. Her gaze contained boundless confidence and majesty that forced the Overseer to step back.

The golden-cloaked man frowned. The maiden in front of him was not someone of the imperial family. Her aura did not remind him of anyone, yet it had the particular trace of imperial aura, something impossible to replicate.

"Who are you?" the man said.

"I am your successor, Your Majesty."

Iris placed the Puppeteer Token onto her chest. It sank into her flesh and connected with her. The imperial aura in her body commanded the Puppeteer Legacy Ground to accept her, for she was its rightful inheritor.

"Impossible!" The Overseer created multiple spell formations and attacked Iris. "You are not real!"

The red and blue electricity flew towards Iris, who remained motionless. An invisible pressure descended. It restricted the Overseer and destroyed the electric currents, protecting Iris from all harm. The Puppeteer Legacy Ground had accepted her.

After the Overseer got restrained, Iris turned to the golden-cloaked man.

"It's time to rest."

"You do not understand," the man said. "This is the path I must walk, the path that carried everyone's hope. Even if you obtain the imperial will, you cannot contend against me, the progenitor of the imperial family."

"Time has already erased your trace from this world." Iris raised her hand. "This Legacy Ground is the last proof of your existence. It has accepted me. As your final successor, I shall put your story to rest."

Iris commanded the Legacy Ground to destroy the golden-cloaked man, but her authority could not override his. Though dead, he was still the forefather of his civilisation, the system's creator, and the strongest of his race.

"You cannot dethrone me. According to our seniority, I am the oldest member of the imperial family. Even if you can fool the Legacy Ground, your authority alone can never reach my height."

The pressure on Iris increased as the golden-cloaked man slowly stripped her control over the Legacy Ground. She tried to fight back, but her seniority was too low compared to him. She could only delay the inevitable.

"If I alone cannot compete against you, what about the wills of the other members?"

"They are all dead. Even with our foundation, only I remain. The Divine controls the cycle of life and death. If not for the conflicts between the Divine and the Foreign Existences, even I might not have this chance."

"Indeed, they have fallen, but their wills remain." Iris flicked her hands. Her skin changed back to slime and morphed into a broken sword. "Puppeteer Legacy Ground, heed my words. I am the successor of the imperial family and the carriers of the imperial wills across all generations!"

With a wave of her hand, Iris recklessly generated more broken equipment she saw inside the sacred graveyard. Though she could not mimick their power nor material, she could replicate their auras, tricking the Legacy Ground of their authenticity.

Is this why you lead me there, Miss Quasi?

The Overseer trembled as the auras of the broken equipment enveloped the throne room. Though he lacked the sense of touch, he still felt the numbness that spread throughout his body and into his soul. It was like he had returned to the olden day where he would guard the imperial palace.

Even the golden-cloaked man took a step backwards, his eyes staring at Iris as if she was a monster.

"You . . . what are you?" he said.

"I am a Wandering Slime Girl, searching for a way back home." Iris smiled.

The pile of broken equipment and armours gathered around Iris, exuding the imperial auras of multiple members of the royalty. The scale of the authority rapidly tilted towards Iris, solidifying her place as the absolute owner of the Puppeteer Legacy Ground.

In the end, the golden-cloaked man failed. As a fleeting soul fragment, he could not do anything. The Legacy Ground effortlessly annihilated him, leaving nothing behind.

He who once ruled over all fell to the tide of history.

After the golden-cloaked man died, the Overseer stopped resisting. His mechanical eyes dimmed. He shut down his body and overloaded his circuits, burning himself from the inside out. As he reached his limit, his exterior melted into molten metals and exploded into a burst of flame.

Bright red and orange flares filled the throne room, but the heat never reached Iris. The Puppeteer Legacy Ground suppressed the destruction and reverted everything to perfection.

Once everything was over, Iris fell on the ground, panting. Her elegant, majestic aura dissolved into a weak, feeble air as her golden cloak and fine hair melted back into her azure slime. Though she hadn't lifted a single finger in the battle, the psychological pressure pressing atop her heart was massive.

If she misstepped once, she would die. Her plan didn't accord for any of this. It had been evolving since the moment she came into the Puppeteer Legacy Ground. Only at the end did she understand the whole truth.

I can't relax just yet. The main threat is coming.

Iris lightly waved her hand. A hologram of the Legacy Ground manifested. At the highest point of the Legacy Ground, the gigantic gate violently shook, its cogs falling and breaking into pieces.

The quake continued for a few minutes before something forcefully pushed open the gate and stepped into the darkness.

Nupian had entered the Puppeteer Legacy Ground.