Submerged in warm milky water, Iris raised her hands, creating ripples. They clashed against her flesh, nourishing its smooth, bouncy texture. She gradually sank underneath the surface until only her head was visible. The rising stream blurred her vision, yet she stayed relaxed, her back leaning onto Ludmint’s soft body.

Ludmint lovingly rinsed water on Iris’s arms and rubbed them. Her delicate touches stimulated Iris, stroking, squeezing, massaging out hidden fatigue. She cleansed every part except Iris’s private places. When she tried to, her hands got slapped away.

“Is my service worthy of praises?” Ludmint said. “Do you wish me to experience my nightly massage?”

“Not today, Ludmint. Yesterday, I foolishly presented you with my heart. Such an opportunity will never grace your lips again.”

“If you won’t grace my mind, I’ll grace yours.” Ludmint leaned forward. Her chin lightly tapped Iris’s shoulder, tickling her. “When I explore your heart, I found a comfortable place and declared it mine. Have you been keeping it tidy?”

Iris lifted her head and stared at Ludmint. Despite her sharp gaze, she allowed Ludmint to touch her freely, tenderly. “I sealed it under a mountain of ice. Nothing will enter or leave it, ever.”

“Then why did you reveal that gaze when I entered the bathroom?” Ludmint pecked Iris’s right cheek, leaving a warm mark on it. “There is nothing shameful about your desires. We are Monster Girls, and more importantly, you are my wife.”

“I’m your girlfriend, not your wife . . . yet.” Iris lowered her head, smiling. “You are not worthy of my everything. You . . . must prove yourself first.”

“What must I do?”

“In my hometown, a legend spoke of the origin of love, a reunion of one soul. Connected through emotions, bound by promises, fragmented lives became whole.” Iris giggled. “I’m going to test you. Whether you and I are of singular, we shall know.”

“A fascinating tale, but unfortunately, I found little evidence to support its validity.” Ludmint nibbled Iris’s ear. “However, as your wife, I know what my wife thinks and how to please her.”

“You wouldn’t have forced me to bath with you if you—”

“Dishonesty is not healthy!” Ludmint pulled back her hands and groped Iris’s breasts. “Allow me to give you a special massage. Please don’t move too much, or my fingers might slip.”

Ludmint’s hands gradually moved up to Iris’s face, grazing her cheeks, playing with her hair. They touched her lips and snuck into her mouth. Iris smirked and bit them. Her meagre force didn’t harm Ludmint but gave her a shiver.

“The next time will not be a simple tease.” Iris licked her lips, raised her head, and kissed Ludmint. Their mouths touched, and their tongues reached for each other, but then Iris pulled back, nipping on Ludmint’s lower lip.

Ludmint’s hands grasped Iris’s chin and pulled her closer. As Iris slipped beneath the water, Ludmint shifted her posture, reversing her position. Her body caressed Iris and turned itself over, lying on the soft, delicate, flushing maiden. The thickening mist choked the bathroom, but it failed to obscure the heat and the seductive noises.

Although Iris needed not to breathe, submerging under the water made her feel stuffy. She wanted to grab hold of the beautiful, cunning lady in front of her and pull herself up, but she desperately suppressed her desires. She couldn’t lose this game.

“Why must you force me to be rough?” Ludmint wiped her fake tears. “Dear Wife, I should have known you have a unique taste. No matter. My massage will win over your heart.”

She placed her hands on Iris’s thighs, gently kneaded them, and ran her fingernails across their sensitive, pinkish skin. Her touches paused at Iris’s abdomen, which tensed up. When she cuddled Iris, muffled sounds leaked out from the bubbling water.

Against the restriction, Iris struggled, scowled, and moaned, yet she never once uttered words of rejection. Her trivial resistance only provoked Ludmint further, and she, knowing the consequences, still futilely resisted.

Despite her best effort, the corners of her mouth curved up. Her human appearance had glowed pink, and her silky skin was crumbling. The overwhelming fire inside her chest spread outward; the body of water failed to cool her.

Her legs arched, her feet and toes quavering.

“I am the winner,” Ludmint said while lowering herself, pressing her every part against Iris. “Whisper my name, Iris. I shall give you the ultimate pleasure, and you shall accept your true self.”

Ludmint’s tongue slithered out of her mouth, tasting the milk water. The sweet sugary flavour satisfied Ludmint, but it could compare not to Iris’s forbidden nectar.

While her anticipation built up, Ludmint carefully parted Iris’s legs. In front of her was paradise, an unreachable fantasy. She crept forward, closing her eyes, holding her breath. She was about to experience the ecstasy when she heard, despite how muffled it sounded, a click, a flip of the switch.

An ominous premonition filled her soul.

The trembling Iris froze, and, with shifted expression, she held tight on Ludmint’s back and dragged the confused, panicking lady to the depth of carnal desires. Giving no pause, she seized Ludmint’s neck and then licked it, tasting the dripping milk, the salty sweats, and the savoury taste of lust.

“The game hasn’t ended yet,” Iris smirked. “You broke me, and now, you must take responsibility. Please don’t break, My Dear Ludmint.”

Iris’s voice shifted, and with it, her personality. She snapped her fingers. Her innocent form collapsed and morphed into another appearance. Her azure membrane revealed itself along with the purple dots and tendrils covering her slimy physique. The bloodline of the Mind Breaker took over.

With an insidious smile on her face, she grasped, stroked, and pulled Ludmint apart. How she exacerbated the pleasure shocked Ludmint, both from the profuse joy as well as the implication. She knew herself well, and she recognised the manner which Iris mimicked.

It was hers. The touches felt like hers. Iris was using her, taming her, twisting her!

“Wait, Iris, how—” She couldn’t speak, for the sensation evoked her cherished memories. They reminded her of the lively nights, where she meticulously explored the bodies of her other partners, of other Monster Girls, and sometimes of other Pure Races.

At once, she became the receiver of all her sins, the bearer of her ardour. At once, she regressed from the fearsome Ludmint, the Spirit of the Sunken Storm, and became the meek Ludmint, the sickly daughter of the sea merchant. Her resistance evaporated into boiling passions, which moaned pitifully, wonderfully.

With every touch, her mind faltered. A tender kiss elevated her purity; a lecherous caress sank her soul into the descent, whose endless depth consumed her spirit. She clenched her fists, but the numbing pain, pleasure, undid her walls.

It was as if she were falling once more, broken apart, and then reconstructed into a Monster Girl again, and again, and again, until her first memory blended in with the rest, and she had always been a Monster Girl.

The misty atmosphere filled her vision, but only the sticky, slimy Iris could fill her heart. The slime tendrils, purple like corruption, invaded Ludmint, coiling around her arms, rubbing her flesh, pasting her with exotic liquid, poison for the mind.

“Iris, please don’t stop,” Ludmint whispered. “I’m already yours. Please, take me to the end. I want to see the view at the peak and feel the thrill of the swift descent.”

“This is the consequence of your action, Ludmint.” Iris bit on Ludmint’s neck, leaving behind a pink mark. “You’re mine, and I’m yours, but my heart is still incomplete. Will you allow me to search for my other fragments?”

“We Monster Girls do not settle for less.” Ludmint exhaled. Her floral breath added a hint of pinkness to the white fog. “If they have my approval, I shall allow them to be with me.”

“They are mine, not yours.”

“And you are mine.” With a smirk on her face, Ludmint rose from the bathtub. Her Condensation Phase power ruptured, spreading an oppressive yet gentle pressure around the room. “You may talk back to me when you’ve surpassed me.”

Iris struggled, but she was only a Transformation Phase Monster Girl. Without the pleasure to numb Ludmint, Iris was not her match.

“Not only will I surpass you, but I’ll also acquire a Legendary Title before you!”

Ludmint blinked, and Iris slipped out of her grip. As Iris was about to leap out of the bathtub, she noticed Ludmint’s bewildered gaze. Before Iris could ask, Ludmint laughed while she desperately tried to suppress her voice. Though masked, the tone contained a hint of pity.

“Ludmint, what meaningful knowledge have you not told me?” Iris said. “Are you doubting my talent and determination, that I could never become a Legendary?”

“I’m sorry. I . . . didn’t want to ruin your hope, but it seems I cannot delay this any further.” Ludmint sighed, her eyes growing cloudy. “I don’t doubt your talent; I even hope that you could become a Legendary, but it seems you don’t know the truth.”

“You better not judge me with your ordinary standard.” Iris held Ludmint’s wrists. “I am not a mere Slime Girl you thought I were. My potential is enough to reach the realm of the legend!”

“Maybe, but . . . it is undeniable that you can never become a Legendary. Not just you, but all of us, I, you, Parmin, Morbi, and even the Court Founder.”

“What?” Iris frowned. She glanced at her abdomen, where the Shadow Heart Core stood still. She had a premonition, a terrifying conjecture. “Why is that? Can we Corrupted Races not become the Legendaries?”

There was only silence, and it answered everything.

“Impossible. Lady Lilith is our ancestor. She is a Foreign Existence, one of the strongest in this world. Her methods are unimaginable that even the Divine could not annihilate her trace.” Iris wanted to gouge out the Shadow Heart Core inside her to question Lilith, but she stopped herself. “As her lineages, we possess her blessing. How could we not break our mortal shells?”

“From the moment the first of us appear, there has been no formal record of a Monster Girl Legendary. The end of our path is at the Solidification Phase.”

“How could that be? Even the Pure Races could—”

“To become a Legendary, you must gain the acknowledgement of the world. As Monster Girls, we are a menace to the world, a plague, a tainted spot. Our existences corrode and corrupt everything around us. How could the world acknowledge us and bestow its power?”

Everything turned dull. Iris rose out of the bathtub. The heat inside her chest vanished, replaced by the paralysing clarity. Her brows furrowed, her lips pursing. “Is there no other way?”

“It is said that after her death, Lady Lilith had left multiple legacies of herself, that one of them contains the supreme method, which could allow us to overcome the limitation of the world.”

“Lady Lilith’s legacies?” Iris crutched her fists, trembling. “Is there really no other way?”

“The main goal of The Court, other than protecting our kind, is to find a way to overcome our innate limitation.” Ludmint gazed down. “We have yet to find any other way. Our only hope is with the legacies of Lady Lilith.”

“I thought so.” Iris paused for a moment, but she did not turn to look at Ludmint. She exited the bathroom, wrapped herself under her towel, and went to her bedroom.