The black-scaled Snake Girl and the Lily Girl couldn't even scream before the shockwave rammed into them, crashing them into a wall. In the moment of life and death, the Lily Girl forcefully activated her spell. Her figure flickered in soft light as white petals manifested around her and her friend.
The impact crushed the petals into pieces, but they greatly lessened the damage the two Monster Girls suffered. Though the wall behind them crumbled, the Snake Girl only had minor injuries while the Lily Girl turned pale from the backlash.
Though their physical pain was bearable, their mental pain wasn't. The shock in their hearts froze their minds, flooding them with grief, incomparable grief.
They wanted to howl and scream, but their throats were dry and hollow.
They wanted to beg and bargain, but their lives were cheap and trivial.
They wanted to suffer and die, but their hearts were indecisive and scared.
"We will go through pain and happiness together," the Beetle Girl, Marina, once said. "If one day, we couldn't reach each other, promise me you all will live your best. Only then will I be assured to live mine."
"I choose to be the vanguard because that is what I'm good at," Marina once said. "And because I trust you two to watch my back. With you two here, I can wholeheartedly focus on my task."
"Naturally, I, the great Marina, have never failed my duty," Marina once said. "Under my protection, none of you will come to harm!"
The Lily Girl, Artium, cried steaks of tears. The blooming lilies on her lush body withered, succumbing to the despair which gripped her heart, filling her mind with unrepeatable memories.
She was exhausted, her body too tired, her soul too frail.
After the smokes and dust cleared, the black puppets aimed their rifles and shot. Screeching noises boomed in the air while bullets flew towards Artium. She didn't resist and faced death noiselessly.
"Artium," the black-scaled Snake Girl, Serinda, shouted. "We must live on. We promise her to live on!"
Despite her bleeding wounds, Serinda jumped towards Artium and raised her hands at the incoming bullets. Five layers of magical formations manifested in front of her, refracting the rain of bullets. The formations flashed in black light as their intensity faded, flickering until they exhausted themselves and dissipated.
Serinda's action shocked Artium, who quickly regained her clarity. Though Marina had died, she died protecting her friends. Her friends must survive and tell the tale. Her friends must live their best for her sacrifice to be her best.
Artium pointed her staff at Serinda, her arms trembling. Her strained body ached, but she never stopped chanting. The tears and blood mixed in her mouth, giving her a bitter, metallic aftertaste. The pain reignited her determination, raising her spirit, replenishing her energy. Her melodious voice gained a hint of melancholy, singing a new song given by a sorrowful inspiration.
The ground shook and burst open. Countless vines spewed around Artium, twisting towards the black puppets, restraining them. The black puppets struggled, but their physical strength was merely ordinary, comparable to normal humans. Only their deadly weapons could threaten the Monster Girls.
Nodding at Artium, Serinda grasped her hands and waved. Multiple waves of darkness seeped out of her fingertips and flowed towards the black puppets. They surged into a black wall of corrosion, decaying everything they touched. The black puppets shook and tensed. Their movement gradually ceased.
"Careful, Serin. My spell is dispersing," Artium said. "I haven't mastered it yet. There are conflicts between our spells."
"Defend me. I'll prepare a combination spell." Serinda gritted her teeth and concentrated on her chest. "I'll avenge Marina. They all will die here."
Despite being exhausted, Artium didn't hesitate and forced herself to cast another spell. Her wooden wand shook as cracks appeared on its surface. A dense wave of Corruption Power swirled around the wand and condensed at its tip, generating a pink mist. It exuded a flowery fragrance as it spread around Artium and Serinda, covering their silhouettes.
After the wave of darkness corroded the vines, some black puppets broke free. They retreated from the mists and took the unbroken rifles from the decayed ones. Aside from the ordinary black puppets, the leader of the division also lived. It commanded its soldiers to fire at the black mist randomly, trying to disrupt the Monster Girls.
Some of the bullets decayed inside the black mist, while others survived. The remaining ones entered the pink clouds, which coated them with magical power, turning them into petals. Without magic, the black puppets could only exhaust Artium before they could harm the two.
Time went on. The barrage of bullets never ceased. Artium's vision blackened. Her legs trembled, her face pale. She bit her lips until they bled. The pain and stress hurt her head, yet she kept her mind from failing, chanting in her heart the promise she made with Marina.
"Serin, I'm sorry," Artium mumbled. "I can't hold on anymore."
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The black mist dissipated, revealing the black puppets. Their leader was holding the grenade launcher, aiming it at the pink mist. There was no emotion on its face, only robotic apathy.
As Artium found herself falling asleep, she ran in front of Serinda, rushing towards the black puppets. She closed her eyes and reached forwards, feeling the flowery fragrance permeating her body. The pink mist finally vanished and returned to Artium, giving her the final boost of strength.
Serinda wanted to pull Artium back, but she could not stop preparing the spell. If she forcefully stopped, all hope would be lost.
The leader of the black puppets pulled the trigger. The explosive spun forwards. It traversed through the lingering black mist, approaching Artium.
A blue streak flashed and crashed against the explosive. The impact exploded into a storm of electricity and heat, but water pressure suppressed the wave of destruction, condensing it into a small bubble. At the same time, a water spear shattered the leader’s head, destroying it instantly.
Two more arrows simultaneously arrived at the battlefield. The flaming arrow ignited the black mist, burning the nearby black puppets. The ice arrow landed in front of Artium, creating a wall of ice, protecting her.
Artium opened her eyes and turned to the side. Iris was recklessly rushing towards the battlefield, hold a slime bow, pulling the string, creating more arrows.
The black puppets scrambled into a new formation. They aimed at Iris and fired, but their bullets merely slipped through Iris, causing negligible damage. The Shadow Heart Core was too durable, while Iris was a Liquid-Type Monster Girl; only unconventional power firearms could harm her.
Iris continually shot a swarm of arrows, which landed onto and around the battlefield, some destroying her enemies, some protecting the two Monster Girls, some obstructing the escape path. She heavily pressured the black puppets, attracting all their attention, giving Artium and Serinda some time to recuperate.
Compared to the White Puppets and Lily, the black puppets were mere weaklings. With the power of a Transformation Phase Monster Girl, Iris single-handedly unravelled their formation and annihilated them. They could do nothing except struggle in vain.
After Iris pulled the pressure onto herself, Serinda and Artium regained their initiative and supported Iris. The two mostly retreated as they marvelled at Iris's strange battle tactic and newfound power. Their occasional support could only distract some of the black puppets. Iris still did most of the work.
They remembered her; they had tried to recruit her. Serinda noted Iris's appearance because of the mysterious aura around her, but Serinda could never imagine that Iris would suddenly become a Transformation Phase Monster Girl.
That wasn’t important right now. Serinda finished her preparation and unleashed her combination spell. Tens of giant black hands emerged from her shadow and grabbed the black puppets. The hands crushed and absorbed them into her shadow, strengthening herself after each absorption.
Without the grenade launcher, Iris gradually ground the black puppets to oblivion. Because Artium and Serinda were supporting Iris on the side, the black puppets couldn’t resist nor escape.
Soon, the battle ended.
Iris stood a distance away from Serinda and Artium. The two knelt at the centre of the battlefield, where a piece of black exoskeleton laid inside a shallow pit. The exoskeleton softly shone as light reflected on its surface. The sun's glare gave an illusion of a proud, happy smile, which Marina used to express.
Serinda and Artium remained silent, their bodies frozen in time, their minds drifting in time. Tears fell from their eyes, but they said nothing. Memories of the past and hollowness of the future surged in their hearts, filling them with thoughtful melancholy which they hated yet loved.
They hated that they felt pain but also loved that they felt pain.
Iris walked to them. Her expression was heavy.
Maybe she shouldn't step into this test. Maybe she shouldn't recklessly follow her heart.
Because of her, the difficulty rose. Because of her, someone died.
What if that was one of her family? What if that was her sister?
"I'm sorry," she whispered. She could only whisper. "I'm sorry."
Serinda looked at Iris, her expression profound. She lacked the strength to do anything; it was meaningless to do anything.
Artium glared at Iris and stood up. She walked towards Iris, raised her hands, and struck Iris. Her delicate fists passed into the slime body, submerged inside the warm liquid. Her attacks were meaningless, yet her anger only intensified.
She continued to slam her fists into Iris while grief overflowed from her face. The blood and tears merged into pinkish fluid, which fell from her chin and landed on the ground. Her coarse wail seeped out of her mouth, which gasped for breathes in between her chokes. Her pathetic expression distorted as rage and anguish and regret revealed themselves through her ashen eyes.
Iris just stood there and let Artium do what she wanted. Serinda tried to stop her, but Iris raised her hand and shook her head lightly.
"Why?" Artium said. "Why did you refuse? She could have lived if you had come with us."
Iris remained silent. Artium punched the Shadow Heart Core inside Iris. The pain seared her fists, but she didn't stop.
"Why did you come here?" Artium shouted. "If you didn't come here, the test wouldn't become harder. She could have lived if you hadn't come here!"
Iris remained silent. Artium raised her hand and conjured a spell. Countless petals coated her hand, turning her fist blood red.
"Why didn't you come faster?" Artium screamed. "You're a Transformation Phase Monster Girl. She could have lived if you had come faster!"
Artium punched with all her might. Her fists rapidly approached Iris but stopped before they could hit her, shaking intensely and uncontrollably. She collapsed on her knees and wailed the loudest she could. Tears burst from her lively eyes as remorse surged from her heart.
"She doesn't want this," Artium said. "She doesn't want me to do this. It isn't your fault. It isn't my fault. It isn't anyone's fault. She wants us to live our best. I mustn't do this, but I can't help but cry. I can't stop my tears. Please help me."
Iris looked at Artium and saw Herrifer’s appearance overlapping onto her. Iris suppressed her reminiscence and knelt with Artium, hugging her, letting her cry. Serinda quickly moved to Artium and hugged her, crying together.
Throughout the mourning, Iris remained quiet. Only the forlorn wailing of Serinda and Artium reverberated into the surrounding. The explosions and gunshots in the air quietened for a short, unprepared funeral of Marina.
After the two cried their hearts out, Iris helped them bury the piece of the exoskeleton and erect a small, lovely tombstone. They made it inside an inconspicuous ruin. No one would notice and ruin it.
"Marina, died saving her best friends. May she rest in peace, knowing that her friends would live their best."
The three stood in front of the tombstone for one minute, silently honouring the dead. Serinda and Artium had recovered some of their strength.
"I'm sorry," Iris said. "I've implicated you. My hesitation has cost you too much loss, too much misery."
Iris told the two her journey, concealing only the black card and Quasi's death, not because she didn't trust them but because she had to keep them a secret from the Overseer. If she could find a place where the Overseer couldn’t reach, she would have told them everything.