“Niran Dorl, a sophomore Mage Apprentice specialised in extradimensional magic,” an Ink Girl said. “Her parents own a modest storefront and sell sea-origin goods such as tinted pearls and pet fish.”

“I’ve underestimated our intelligence network.” Iris glanced at the Ink Girl, who hid her hands behind her back and tilted down her head, waiting for praises and rewards. “What is your wish?”

She peeked at Iris’s smiling face and then drew her left hand forward. In it was a handkerchief embroidered with the finest care. She handed it to Iris, who took it and placed it on her nose.

Iris closed her eyes and breathed in. A soft, ocean-like aroma perfumed her senses. She wiped her face with it before returning it to the Ink Girl, who delicately stored it in her pocket.

“To have a trace of me with you, you only need to ask.” Iris leaned toward the Ink Girl, held her by the chin, and licked her face. The black ink and the milky tears tainted her slimy tongue. “You taste bitter, like a downcast day. I don’t hate it.”

The Ink Girl’s face brightened. She whispered her thanks and swiftly retreated to the back, where her friends swamped her with questions and envy.

Secain, pouting, filled the vacant spot. She was the one who got that girl to report Niran’s background, but she didn’t expect Iris would grant such an enviable reward.

“That girl, should we take her with us?” Secain said.

“Jealous, aren’t you, Secain?”

Secain averted her eyes. She glanced at the Ink Girl, who, noticing the gaze, wryly smiled. “I wouldn’t dare monopolise your affection.”

“You, however, are irrational when it comes to the matter of love.”

Iris reached forward and grasped at the air. A black-and-white masquerade mask materialised. As she donned it on her face, her outermost membrane morphed into a sleek suit. Her Slime Girl’s frivolous temperament vanished, replaced by a cool, unreadable sensation.

Secain touched her bosom with her left hand and abdomen with her right. She grasped her tight uniform and pulled. A shadowy mass detached from her body, regained its tangible form, and transformed into an exquisite cane. The white diamond on its head reflected Secain’s intoxicated expression. She secretly caressed it before handing it to its rightful owner.

Iris received the cane and, after a moment of silence, chuckled.

“Though the cane has no awareness, it contains memory.”

Secain tensed up. Her face reddened beneath her mask. “I . . . the thought of having a part of you is too tempting, Mistress. Please . . . punish me.”

“Like how you punish this part of mine?”

Secain coyly tilted her head. “Yes . . . please?”

Lorient coughed. She peeked at Iris’s cane but decided against asking. “Mistress, we’ll soon arrive. Is there anything we can procure for you?”

“Keep an eye out for high-quality Abyssal-Plane material, and pick a lady who knows her way around the warehouse.”

“Madam Black Rose, please use me.”

Iris turned around. Olivia, the Crystal Girl, came forwards. She rigidly bowed, her clenched fists trembling under the watchful gazes of Iris’s two trusted aids.

“Why should I, when these two can satisfy me?” Iris said.

“I . . . not in that way, Madam! I once helped at the warehouse. I can be your guide.”

“If we encounter your old friends, and if they resist?”

“I shall stop them. You don’t have to dirty your hands, Madam.” Olivia deeply inhaled. “We’re now of different worlds.”

“You can bring them to our sides.” Iris stroked her mask. A hint of pinkness tainted its pure white surface. “They too can experience that pleasure of the Fall.”

Olivia shivered. She looked at the ground, looked at her reflective hands, and saw a hazy reflection revealing her expression of terror mixed with euphoria. That sensation simmered within her soul, forever waiting for another chance to emerge.

“I can help them cross over if they desire so . . . but I don’t think they do, and I don’t think my heart can.”

“You’ll be surprised how emotional your heart can be.”

Iris strolled onward. Another group of Monster Girls came to greet her. They were under Vindette’s supervision, and they had already secured Alchemy Warehouse.

“How long will it take to collect everything?” Iris said.

“We’ve already acquired half of the requirement. However, the last few items are too rare. We’re interrogating our captives to obtain their locations,” a White Lily Girl said.

Olivia stepped forwards. “If you’re talking about Upper-Grade Alchemy Ingredients, they are at the left wing of the warehouse.”

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The White Lily Girl turned to Olivia and peeped at the silent Iris before nodding. “We shall send a team to retrieve them. Praises be with you, Sister.”

“Praises shall be granted, Olivia,” Iris said. “Now, guide me inside the warehouse.”

“Where would you like to go, Madam?”

Iris tapped her chin. “Where your heart will lead me, Dear.”

Along the way, Iris and Olivia walked past small groups of Monster Girls, who, upon seeing their mistress, dropped their tasks and paid their respects. Those who had fancied a few students introduced their targets to Iris. She gave them her blessing, and Olivia watched them with flushes on her crystal-clear face.

When they intruded upon battles, none dared to harm them. Iris’s mysterious disposition as well as her respect-commanding presence deterred the students and guards from crossing her. She overlooked the situation but never acted.

Only Olivia was unable to keep quiet. She tried to convince her former kind to surrender, but her words failed to move them. Left with no choice, she joined hands with her new friends and suppressed her old friends. They knelt before her, glaring at her, their gazes denouncing the traitor.

“Why must you resist?” she said. “It will only hurt you.”

“We’ll never fall for your deceit,” a Mage Apprentice said. Her eyes darkened.

“I . . . was once like you, stubborn, irrational. Don’t worry. I won’t force you.”

After a few failed persuasion attempts, Olivia reluctantly returned to her mistress. Frustration lurked in her gem-like eyes, which expanded and contracted as she mulled over her mistakes.

“They’ll never understand us,” Iris said.

“They need to give us a chance.”

“We can compel them to give us a chance.”

The two stopped in front of a large metal gate connecting the central building to the left. Olivia walked to it and pressed her right hand on its cold surface. Her crystal palm stroked its firm exterior, feeling an oppressive force pushing against her.

She was now unwelcomed, a trespasser. She was appalled, yet a part of her quietly giggled. Her eyes wandered to Iris, the gorgeous, confident Iris. This Iris and she now shared a taboo.

To be a Monster Girl, was it to be this free?

Her fingertips traced particular patterns on the gate. Her Corruption Power merged with the engravement, forming an alchemical symbol, the sun with a crescent moon embedded in its centre.

Invisible gears rotated inside the gate. It creaked and parted, revealing a path onward, where rows of high-quality treasures awaited.

Olivia turned around, raised her right hand, and drew it forward. She avoided staring at her mistress, her saviour . . . her date?

Her stone heart pulsated. Her face burned. She pulled back her hand, but Iris decisively caught it.

“Please hold me tight, or I might get lost.” Iris tilted her head, smirking.

“My . . . pleasure.”

Giggling, Iris stepped forward. Her body passed through an invisible field which separated the turbulent air outside from the tightly regulated air inside. A cooling wind caressed her mask, seeped under it, and tickled her face.

Before she could enjoy the view, the wind whispered to her. Her eyes brightened.

“We aren’t alone in here.”

“Only talented students or professors could enter this place.” Olivia looked at her hands and clenched them. “I’ll protect you, Miss.”

Iris grasped the air in front of her and rubbed her fingers. Glistening dust manifested in her palm and scattered around her. They flowed according to the wind current, forming a colourful path amidst the maze-like storage.

“Shall we surprise them?”

Olivia looked at the path ahead and pursed her lips. “Must we force the confrontation?”

“Either we capture them, or my subordinates will. Can you bear to see your friends hurting our kind?”

Olivia shook her head. She opened her mouth, yet she had lost all excuses.

Iris didn’t press on. Things like this required time and experience, mistakes and courage. Could she fight against her instinct, her newfound desire, and retain the purity of her past?

Following the magical path, Iris and Olivia toured the labyrinth of treasures. They stopped at a few places and picked exotic ingredients whose value caught their fancy.

Olivia, plagued by guilt, refused to take anything, but Iris’s insistence wore down her morale. She hesitantly chose ingredients crucial to her progression as embarrassment stuffed her chest. She hated this, but she also liked it. What was happening to her?

While judging herself, Olivia walked into Iris, who stopped in her track. The colourful path had terminated. At its destination was a group of students led by a professor. They stared at the two intruders.

The lady in the masquerade mask radiated no pressure, no aura, no presence. Like a ghost, she existed only as a fleeting figure, seen only by the eyes and not the soul.

“Identify yourself.” The professor unsheathed his sword. “How did you enter this place?”

Iris scrutinised the professor’s muscular yet also slim body. Her gaze shifted towards his apprentices, some avoiding her gaze, others returning glares. She playfully teased them with her eyes until they landed on the final cloaked girl.

Tundra pulled back her cloak and, blinking, stared at Iris. Her bright yet nervous pupils reflected Iris’s aloof appearance.

“Teacher Gilworth, you might remember me.” Olivia walked to stand in front of Iris. “I’m Olivia, once a senior, now a Monster Girl.”

“Impossible. Didn’t you die in that Planar experiment?”

“Please surrender to Miss Black Rose. I promise not to touch any of you.” Olivia turned to Iris. “Miss, could you give your promise, too?”

Iris recollected her thoughts and smiled. “How could I say no to those teary eyes?”

Olivia tilted her head and touched her eyes. There weren’t tears. Miss Black Rose teased her!

“What do you want?” Gilworth said. “Fighting you will only result in needless loss. We can pretend not to see each other and go our separate way.”

Some of his pupils protested, but he decisively suppressed their dissent. Compared to his dignity, his students’ safety was more important.

Olivia beamed. She looked at Iris and perked up, but Iris remained unmoved.

“What I want is a chance.” Iris swiped her right hand at the female students. “A chance to inspire, to experience, to exchange.”

The students recoiled in disgust, except for Tundra, whose eyes never left Iris. They followed her gesture, recording everything. She couldn’t take her eyes off this mysterious lady. Something arrested her attention, seized her heart, and infused her mind with inaudible thoughts.

This aloof disposition felt familiar.

“If that’s what you wish,” Gilworth said, “then there’s no need to discuss further. I’ll have to take you down, Corrupted One.”

Gilworth’s sword, engraved with countless runes, glowed. He gripped the handle and swung upwards. His speed produced afterimages, which diverted from each other, becoming multiple strikes.

Each attack produced a stationary ray of light, building a brilliant net of interwoven, ever-shifting radiance. Their pressures twisted the atmosphere and boiled the air, but without Gilworth’s command, they stayed still, waiting for the chance to erupt.

Iris pierced her hands into her chest. She arched forward, and her arms entered her bosom. Her black-and-white suit turned dark purple, and her breasts split open, revealing a gaping mouth of sharp teeth with a large pupil in the middle.

A sinister aura ruptured from her body, filling the void surrounding her. Her long fine hair danced with an intense gale. She took a step forward, her footstep tainting the floor with her expanding shadow.

“Let us see if your net can catch Masolis himself,” Iris smirked.