She bristled.
And, she was even huffing and puffing.
Staring at Iris, who looked like a white kitten with her fur all fluffed up, Yili waved her hand dismissively—she was just telling the truth.
She really hadn’t heard of the title “Abyssal Predator,” but as for “Abyss”… Yili frowned. That was a word she detested to the core.
And this white-haired loli who was currently all bristled and claimed to be an Evil God—just what kind of connection did she have with the Abyss?
Yili didn’t know, but anything related to the Abyss was never a good thing.
If she’d known it would turn out like this, she never would have gotten herself into this mess. She’d gained nothing at all, and now, there was a strange soul inside her, one that might be connected to the Abyss.
As if the curse on her body wasn’t lethal enough, now she’d found another to torment her.
“Ignorant human, what do you know.”
Iris’s voice rang by her ear, her delicate little face written full of offense. “If I weren’t just a remnant soul right now, do you really think you could be standing here in one piece?”
Staring at that puffed-up little face—hmm… Her words really didn’t have any bite to them at all.
“I really don’t know, but since you claim to be so powerful, shouldn’t you, as a god, be able to revive without borrowing the body of a small, weak human like me?”
“Right now, I’m just…”
“But aren’t you a god?”
One line, and Iris was left speechless for a long while.
She opened her mouth, her cheeks flushing red, but she couldn’t think of any retort. At this moment, her blushing face said more than any words.
“Forget it, there’s no point arguing with an ignorant human like you.”
“I really am ignorant, but Evil God Miss, you don’t seem to be doing much better yourself. If it wasn’t for this small, weak human coming here, who knows how much longer you’d have been trapped?”
Hmm… She couldn’t help but keep up the retorts.
Not good.
Her merciless words seemed to tear something apart. Instantly, Iris’s scarlet eyes grew cold.
The corner of her mouth lifted, as if she were smiling, but there was not a trace of warmth in it.
“Hey~ Yili-chan, did you know?”
The instant her words fell, a huge amount of thick, black, unidentified substance surged up from the ground around Yili.
A foreboding sense of doom rose in her heart. Except for the area right under her feet, the rest of the Tomb Chamber was covered in black sludge—who knew what would happen if she stepped on it.
She raised her left hand toward the entrance of the Tomb Chamber. Before she could even activate the claw device on her left arm, a tentacle-like thing shot out from the black sludge and instantly wrapped around her wrist.
“Hm?”
She drew her dagger, but the black sludge was even tougher than she’d expected. A single slash didn’t cut through the tentacle, and as soon as she pulled her blade back, more tentacles sprouted behind her.
Yili dodged nimbly, but with her left hand already seized and her foothold shrinking by the moment, it was only a matter of time before she was completely caught.
Very quickly, Yili, now with all four limbs bound, was hoisted up in the air. In front of her, the white-haired, red-eyed girl lightly licked her lips.
“Even though I’m just a remnant soul right now and can only use a tiny bit of my Authority’s power, just this little bit is enough to easily toy with you.
So, what should I do next to make sure you remember your lesson?”
She raised her hand, and once again, a tentacle emerged from the black sludge below Yili—not aiming for her limbs this time, but instead lifting her shirt and pressing against her smooth skin.
“Eeek!”
A soft whimper slipped from Yili’s throat. She froze, utterly unable to believe that sound had just come from her.
And this was just from the tentacle pressing against her body. If it started to move…
“Ah~ What an adorable voice.”
Iris’s mouth curled into a playful smile. Her fingertips lifted, and the tentacle against the girl’s soft skin began to move upward. With every squirm of the tentacle, a tingling, electric shiver spread across the girl’s skin.
Her body was growing soft, but Yili stubbornly forced herself not to make a sound.
Still, the rosy flush on her face said everything.
“Yili-chan, your face is so red! What, are you starting to get shy?”
And this was only the beginning—another tentacle appeared behind her, slipping under her clothes to press against her smooth, bare back.
The sensitivity of her new body made Yili’s breathing grow increasingly disordered, but she bit down hard on her lip, refusing to let out any embarrassing noises.
“How is it? A girl’s body is truly mysterious, isn’t it?”
Seeing that Yili didn’t speak, Iris wasn’t in any hurry. She just controlled the tentacles to keep exploring upward.
She could endure for now, but how much longer could she hold out?
That flushed face didn’t lie.
“There are all sorts of marvels to a girl’s body, you know. If you want to quickly adapt to your new body, there’s really no better way than this.”
Seeing her still clenching her teeth, Iris licked her lips. The more she resisted now, the more delicious the expression on her little face would be when she finally surrendered.
She raised her index finger, and the tentacle continued to move upward. In that instant, Yili’s body trembled as if struck by lightning, her eyes gradually growing hazy.
“Oh, right, Yili-chan. Weren’t you curious about how I knew the name Ciri?”
Yili gritted her teeth. She really did mind that.
But Iris didn’t stop moving the tentacle, and as Yili’s consciousness started to slip, she could no longer think straight—she could only drift along, sinking ever deeper.
A restless heat began to rise from her core, as if a fire had been lit inside her, making her want to peel off her clothes and cool down, and then…
No… With a jolt, she bit her tongue hard. The sharp pain instantly snapped Yili’s consciousness back.
That was close… She really was just a newly changed girl—her resistance was way too weak.
But thankfully, Iris seemed convinced she’d already completely restrained her and hadn’t taken the dagger from her hand. That meant she still had a chance to turn things around.
She just needed an opportunity—she would have to wait patiently for now.
“Not going to guess?”
Seeing Yili’s gaze fixed on her, Iris laughed softly. “Of course, while Yili-chan was unconscious, I peeked through your memories.”
She’d seen her memories…
Yili’s face changed, and Iris went on.
“But time was short, so I only browsed the memories from the past few days.
All for a single rumor, you almost lost your life on the road—for a so-called secret treasure that might just be a fake? You really are desperate.
With things as they are, why not just hand over your body to me? That way, you’d be free from your curse.”
Iris suddenly pressed closer, her gentle voice laced with the utmost temptation.
“Come on. If you just surrender your body, all this pain will vanish forever.”
Listening to her bewitching voice, Yili nearly slipped again. As her mind started to blur, she bit hard on her tongue once more, the taste of iron flooding her mouth and snapping her back to clarity.
What a devious combo—right when she’d just turned into a girl, when her body was at its most sensitive, she used the excuse of helping her “adapt” to whittle down her consciousness, tried to lure her into drowning in pleasure, and then, while her mind was hazy, dangled a tempting solution in front of her.
She almost fell for it.
“Not a chance.”
“Geez… What’s so great about this body, anyway? It’s brought you nothing but pain—why would you rather suffer than give it up?”
But just as she finished speaking, a sudden change erupted.
The ground below began to tremble, and the entire Tomb Chamber shook. Iris was certain—this disturbance wasn’t her doing.
Who was it?!
Taking advantage of her distraction, Yili finally got her chance. She twisted the dagger in her hand. Thanks to the shaking, the black sludge below grew unstable, making the tentacles far more fragile.
With a swift slash, she cut through the tentacle binding her right wrist. Another flash of the blade, and the other tentacles were severed as well.
Not bothering to fix her disheveled clothes, Yili darted out of the Tomb Chamber.
By the time Iris recovered, Yili was already gone. Overhead, the ceiling of the Tomb Chamber suddenly collapsed, and shattered stone poured down, burying the entire Tomb Chamber.