Iris reached out her hand and swung forwards. The slime in her palm enlarged and hardened, forming an azure blade which glowed with the power of the coldness. It cut through the air, freezing, shattering vapours and dust, producing crackling noises. Its power tainted the surrounding pure white like snow.

The Greenwood Swordmaster laughed as he raised his sword and met the strike fearlessly. A ray of green light swirled around the sword's tip, creating a stream of leaves and flowers. The two blades crashed and created a cold, scentful gale. The impact generated a storm of shockwaves, which exploded outwards, sweeping across the battlefield.

The nearby grey puppets lost their balance and collapsed from the pressure. Their bodies crumbled from the residual blows, breaking into multiple pieces. Serinda and Artium rapidly retreated and cast their spells, defending against the toppling ruins and splinters. They weren't like Iris, whose body negated physical damage.

Iris and Greenwood jumped back, staring at their opponent with surprises in their eyes. Behind Iris, lines of greenery dragged under her feet. The power of nature caused an overgrown of plants and flowers, while the coldness created a field of ices behind Greenwood.

"Greenwood Swordmaster, shall we make a bet?" Iris said, glancing at Serinda and Artium. "I'm afraid we might not have a fair fight without some rules."

Greenwood remained silent and surveyed the battlefield. The grey puppets were still coming out of the cracks, but their numbers were lessening as time passed. Their peak power was only at the height of the Metamorphosis Phase, not enough to deal with two extraordinary Transformation Phase Monster Girls, not to mention Iris, an anomaly.

"Even if you three came at me together, I won't easily fall. At least one of those two will suffer grave injuries," Greenwood said. "On the other hand, you alone are strong enough to defeat me. Even during our glorious era, I've never seen anything like you."

"What did you see in me? How am I different?"

"I can't see through you. With the imperial treasure, no one could elude my inspection, not even the Overseer. Yet, I can't measure your destiny, your potential, your past. Why is that?"

Greenwood pointed his sword at the Shadow Heart Core in Iris's body. He closed his eyes and exerted his aura. His entire body trembled as a suffocating, all-encompassing force exploded outwards. It swept across Iris, but she felt nothing. The weight akin to mountains fell onto her like fleeting dust, weak, not worth mentioning.

Instead of her, Greenwood violently shuddered, his arms losing strength. He instantly cut off the connection of his spell and let go of the sword. His body split open into various cracks, which gradually sealed back into perfection. The terrifying pressure disappeared, but the terror lingered around him. He quickly picked up his sword and remained silent.

Iris felt the Shadow Heart Core faintly vibrating and nothing else, though Greenwood's reaction was telling. She could feel the presence of the spell. It reminded her of the one Amplicia cast on her, the magic which peered into the future.

"What did you see?" Iris said. "Tell me, how is my future? Is there any hope for me? What about those whom I cared?"

" Your future . . . will be unimaginable, the usher of endless calamities," Greenwood said, then abruptly clenched his head, groaning. "What is that? Why can't I see it? It's so—blurry!"

"What did you see? What happened?"

Iris wanted to get closer, but Greenwood swung his sword, creating a shockwave to obstruct her. Though it couldn't harm her, it was a warning. He stabbed his sword onto the ground and tried to calm himself, shivering in confusion and alarm. He glanced at the innocent Iris and opened her mouth, but the thought he was about to convey silently vanished as if it had never existed.

Greenwood took a deep breath and stood straight, pulling out his sword. The calm, arrogant look returned to his silhouette.

"Lady Iris, you're indeed a Destined One. Your potential is far greater than any others I've ever seen," Greenwood said. "Very well, I shall accept the bet with you. The grey soldiers won't move, and I won't be attacking your two friends, but they also have to watch us silently."

Greenwood's voice wasn't loud, but he infused magic into it and spread the message throughout the battlefield. The grey puppets halted their advances and retreated away from the Monster Girls, forming an empty arena for Greenwood Swordmaster and Iris.

Within his own floor, the authority of the Floor Guardians was greater than the Overseer. Greenwood only bowed to the imperial family and nothing else. He stared at Iris and smiled, his eyes flashing with devotion.

Iris found Greenwood's previous behaviour strange, but she couldn't deduce anything. Only the unease in her heart remained. She stopped thinking about useless things and focused on the battle. The longer she dragged on, the more schemes the Overseer could bring about.

Once she lost the initiate, she would fall.

"I have no problem with the rules," Iris said. "Can I ask you one more question?"

"You're a Destined One, the beloved child of the imperial family. I would have told you what I saw, but I couldn't see through you. Your destiny rivals the imperial family, the rulers of our glorious civilisation. Perhaps only the Destiny Devourers could see through your future. Alas, the last one had already fallen. I could feel her aura in you."

Stolen novel; please report.

"Miss Quasi passed away with satisfaction in her heart," Iris said, smiling. "She didn't say anything to me, but I'm sure that she meant well."

"Indeed. She has a great fondness towards the talented." Greenwood took a step back and glanced at Serinda and Artium. "Lady Iris, though we have agreed on our bet, your friends seem to object to it."

Iris turned to Serinda, who pursed her lips.

"Sister Iris, why?" Serinda said. "I thought we’ll go through happiness and sorrow together. Why did you do this?"

"Sister Iris, I don't want to go against you, but Serin is right," Artium said. "With our combined power, it is easier to defeat him and the remaining puppets. You shouldn't shoulder all the responsibility."

Iris wanted to rush over to them and hug them all her might, but she restained her smile and shook her head, erasing the cute thoughts of rewards and praises that warmed her chest.

"You two have only recently advanced and haven't gotten used to your power," Iris said. "Though your innate talents are powerful and exotic, you can't effectively fight with them. The weaker grey puppets are not a problem, but the Floor Guardian is strong enough to threaten you."

"But, Sister Iris, you also have just recently broken through," Artium said. "When we met outside the Puppeteer Legacy Ground, you were still a Metamorphosis Phase Monster Girl."

"My body is special, Artium." Iris raised her hands. The slime morphed into various shapes, ignoring all physical limitations. "Physical damage can't injure me. I'm the strongest and the most suitable for this occasion."

"I won't allow it," Serinda said. "We promised to be family. I will—"

"If we are family, you must listen to your elder sister," Iris said, smirking. "What did your lovely elder sister say?"

Serinda wanted to speak, but Artium grasped her hand and whispered something. Serinda could only lower her head and stayed silent. Iris felt guilty; she wanted to comfort them, yet the situation wouldn't permit her. To avoid their gazes, she turned to Greenwood.

"I've already taken care of my side," Iris said. "Shall we begin?"

"Lady Iris, it's my honour to witness your grace," Greenwood said. "May the strongest emerge victorious."

"May the strongest emerge victorious."

Greenwood Swordmaster exerted his legs and pushed against the ground, shattering the area under his feet, sending himself forwards like an arrow. Iris stepped forwards and traced her feet in a circle. Her manner melted from heroic domination to elegant dance. The icy sword in her hand caressed her body as she bounced around Greenwood, parrying his strikes.

Each swing of their swords generated colourful sparks in the air, rippling pressures and winds, destroying the environment. Cold gales and thorns shot towards the sky and rained down as snows and leaves. Everything in their chaotic path got overturned and annihilated, leaving behind only overgrown plants and frozen materials.

Iris suddenly retreated and held her other hand outwards. Another sword manifested in her palm, burning in blazing flames. She clenched her fists and rushed back in, changing her rhythm from the slow grace to the swift action. Greenwood Swordmaster tried to fight back, but the combination of fire and ice attacks forced him to defend, slowly restricting his choices.

Though Greenwood was comparable to the peak of the Transformation Phase, he suffered an injury from inspecting Iris's destiny and lacked the means to deal with Iris's special physique. Unlike ordinary Monster Girls, Iris almost completely negated physical damages. Only the infused power of nature in the sword could hurt her.

Greenwood held his left arm in front and blocked two swords, shaking from the force of the strikes, cracking into multiple rifts. Only the body of the Floor Guardian could withstand such power. After the swords penetrated his exterior armour, he gripped the icy sword and yanked.

Iris didn't fight his strength and let go of her icy sword, then pressed onto her flaming sword, trying to melt Greenwood, who remained unfazed and swung his other hand at Iris's waist. The sudden strike created a sonic boom as the green sword ripped through Iris's membrane, heading towards her core.

A sense of threat gripped her soul, forcing her to backstep slightly. The strike narrowly missed her core but still cut her in half. Her upper body lost its balance and fell on the ground before reforming into another Iris, who sprang backwards and detonated her swords.

The hardened slime turned into shrapnel, which stabbed into Greenwood's joints and wounds. Despite the pain, he escalated towards Iris, raised his sword, then swung forwards. A strong whirlpool of green energy surged into a glowing slash, heading towards Iris. She quickly formed a holy shield to block herself, but the impact shattered it and sent her flying backwards.

After spinning in the air a few times, she landed on her feet with a pair of new flaming and icy swords in her hands. Her eyes stared at Greenwood without blinking, exuding fighting spirit and a little of oppressive killing intent. She understood the difference in strength between Greenwood and her. If she wished to win, she had to exploit her advantage to the fullest.

"I've died twice in the span of a few seconds," Iris said. "You're too strong, Greenwood Swordmaster. If the second floor is already this hard, how terrifying is the last floor?"

"I'm the strongest Floor Guardian of the second floor, but I can't hold a candle to the Floor Guardians on the last floor. They can easily annihilate us with just a wave of their hands. Since the Legacy Ground opened, no one has the potential to reach the final floor, except you, Lady Iris."

"You're praising me too much."

Iris closed her eyes and exhaled. Her back quivered and spilt open, allowing multiple arms to grow out. They held various weapons, some with exotic power, others completely mundane. She smiled as the thrill in her heart exploded, tainting her body with excitement. Without any hesitation, she rushed forwards and overwhelmed Greenwood Swordmaster with her cheat.

As they battled, Iris felt the pain of information overload. Countless emotions and sensations shook her mind, but she preserved and ground her skill with real battle experience. Greenwood Swordmaster rapidly retreated as he bitterly fought back with all his might, exceeding his limit multiple times yet still failed to parry all tens of simultaneous strikes.

At first, Iris's strikes weren't coordinated and obstructed themselves, giving Greenwood opportunities to adapt. Nevertheless, Iris's movement constantly got better as time passed, nullifying Greenwood's strong battle adaptation. They entered a deadlock with Iris slowly building up her momentum, controlling her tens of arms like the usual two.

From afar, Serinda and Artium leant onto each other, speechless. They looked at themselves and blushed, embarrassed. They had just told Iris they were strong enough to protect her.

They were wrong; Iris was an anomaly. Slime Girls' innate talent of mimicry wasn't as potent as Iris’s. They could mimic appearance and aura but not copying powers and adapting to new body parts.

"She is indeed the special person," Serinda said. "And I thought my innate talent is one of the top talents. There are monsters among monsters, Monster Girls among Monster Girls."

"She's dominating Greenwood Swordmaster without giving him any rest. If that were us, I don't think we could survive him for a minute, let alone winning."

"If we can't help her in the battle, we should help her in other ways." Serinda giggled. "She's so adorable when we talked about making loves. I like that version of her more than this cool yet terrifying Slime Girl."

Knowing that the result was certain, Serinda and Artium relaxed and gossiped about Iris.