The Soul Gem shattered, and with it, the very essence of Vilia. Her power, her desire, her emotions, all came crushing down. They surged inside Iris, who was too weak to endure their pressure. Her skin gradually blackened as the Corruption Power violated her flesh. Her heart throbbed as the pleasure and pain merged inside her.

The overwhelming information and love and lust flashed past her eyes, which gradually dimmed as her body intensified the sensation, melting, reforming. She let her newfound lust take over her hands. One of them fondled Herrifer's breasts while the other crawled inside her lovely place, becoming more temperament and violent.

In a trance, Herrifer continued to chant her prayer, increasing her speed as her craving overcame her control. As she touched Iris, she felt more sweats building up, evaporating into milky steam. The cloudy curtain obstructed the outside world.

"We’re melting," Iris said, her voice turning sensual and sharp. "Can you feel it? This is the real me, the lovely me. I'm taking you with me, Heria."

Iris moaned. Her skin and flesh stirred, bubbling into pitch-black muds that swirled inside her stomach, twisting her humanity. The pain of her heart and brain frying ruptured throughout her body, but the pleasure of her sensitive skin submerged it, filling her mind with a sea of desires.

As her skin blended into a thin translucent membrane, her insides dissolved into blue slime, where her consciousness slowly permeated, spreading her sensitivity throughout her body. Freed from the constrain of flesh, she felt at home, airy and free. In her sea of slime, a purple tint manifested. It danced and diffused inside her consciousness.

"Welcome back, Sis Vilia," Iris said as she closed her eyes and felt her inside tingling. Her body hosted only her soul, but Vilia's memory and desires rapidly assimilated into her, granting her an everlasting reunion. "Please leave it to me."

With her newfound power, she condensed her lower body into a long, slithery tail, resembling a snake. Her slime colour shifted its shade dark purple. Her eyes curved into a smile as she coiled around Herrifer, who panicked and opened her eyes, surprised at her sister's appearance.

"Sis, is that you?" Herrifer stuttered. "How did you become like this? Are you really Alice?"

"You’ll know if I’m still me or not." Iris's voice resonated with Herrifer's heart and gripped it tight, not letting go until she begged for it. "Your body will."

Iris collapsed a part of her body into a slime puddle and coated Herrifer, stroking her reddish skin. With her long, sticky tongue, Iris licked Herrifer from her stomach to her breasts and up her neck and her face. Her flexible slime body bent and sculptured according to Herrifer's posture, touching every part, teasing every place.

Feeling Iris's everywhere, Herrifer couldn't keep herself from overheating. Her burning flesh quivered as Iris's cold slime relieved the discomfort that built into more and more pleasure. She was slowly submerging in a sea of slime, and if she let it be, she would never be able to return.

"Take me, Liz," Herrifer whispered, panting. "I want to be like you."

Iris laid on Herrifer. Her cheek rubbed against Herrifer's and tainted it sticky and warm. Her translucent eyes gleamed as she smirked. Her slimy snake body tightened its grip as she exhaled a puff of sweet mist. It merged with Herrifer, who indulged in it thoughtlessly.

"Then pray to the Lord and tell her."

"What if she refuses?"

"Does it matter?" Iris licked Herrifer's cheeks. "We're family."

In her totality, Herrifer closed her eyes and prayed. Her heart throbbed as words leaked from her mouth, not sending to the Lord, but to Iris. Her faith, extraordinary and feverish, circulated her body. It glowed through her veins and warmed her skin. The mysterious power seeped into Iris, who instinctively absorbed it, feeling her soul gradually changing.

The change was subtle, almost unnoticeable. Iris couldn't feel anything physically, but her soul resonated with the prayer. The desire and wish and doubt and confidence flowed through the chant and into Iris. A spark of great majesty manifested then vanished, not enough faith to ignite it.

The Hall of Verdict, the gigantic cathedral, the city, the world, the dimension, everything trembled as a force from the outside tried to enter. The world screamed in fear, crumbling into a sea of mist in an instant.

Sensing the end, Iris looked around, but the walls of the Hall had already been destroyed. The pure whiteness crept towards her and Herrifer, rapidly devouring the floor and the decoration. There was no escape. The dream was crumbling.

Terrified, Herrifer shivered as a chill surged inside her body. She looked at Iris, feeling an urgent sense of loss. She panted and panted until her heart ached, but the dread kept filling her. She planted her face on Iris's bouncy body and mumbled something incoherent.

Iris strangely understood everything.

"I'm scared. I feel like you're disappearing. Is this a dream? Is this place real? Please don't leave me."

"Don't worry. I'm here," Iris said as she stroked Herrifer's head, gently coaxing her. "Close your eyes and listen. Nothing can harm you. I'm here."

Herrifer didn't say anything and trust Iris fully. She closed her eyes. Her complexion turned pale. Soundlessly, she slept on Iris's lap, feeling the soft, tender caress. Gradually, she beamed a smile, her mind falling into a deep, peaceful slumber.

She casually faded to nothingness, leaving Iris in the dream alone.

Numbed, Iris looked up, feeling empty. Even though she had acquired her power and body as well as Vilia's memory, she felt desolate, regretful. She had already prepared herself, but the truth still hurt.

"Why?" she said and turned to the side, where a figure cloaked in torn clothes stood. "I hate it when someone else toys with my feeling."

"Don’t misunderstand me, my Kin. This isn't just an illusion. Your feeling isn't just an empty promise."

Gulia walked to Iris. The chains which bound her wrists and neck and legs quivered, sending their haunting echoes throughout the great misty plane. She raised her hand and smiled. The fog concentrated above her palm and condensed into a black lily. She tossed it at Iris, who watched it slowly bloom in the air.

"We are in the Dreamscape, a place where lucky souls can stumble their way in." Gulia clenched her fist and opened it. There was a heart-shaped cookie in her hand. "Your sister, Herrifer, dreamt this place up."

"But she hated me."

"You never know how big the piece is until it is missing. Sometimes, the hole might be too big that you fall into it."

"If Heria can connect to the Dreamscape, can I return to my old world?"

Gulia sighed and crushed the cookie, grinding it to dust. It kept multiplying until a dust storm emerged around Iris. The strong wind blew upward, shaping the ashes into countless shapes, which hardened into a solid structure, a palace of sand. With a flick of her hand, Gulia created a tea party and sat on the marble outdoor chair, gesturing for Iris to do the same.

"Unfortunately, I'm not that strong," Gulia said.

"If you can create this Dreamscape, you can send me home, or at least bring Heria to our world."

"Dreamscape has been here since the beginning of time, even before I ascended. The being that created it is truly ancient." Gulia let the silence permeate, watching Iris digesting the information. "Actually, this isn't my idea but Lilith's."

"What does she want from me?"

"She wants a successor, someone who shares our fate. Before she fell, she came to me and gave me this." Gulia took the teacup and drank it, then placed it in front of Iris. Inside was a black crystal fragment. "A fragment of her Essence, the core of the Shadow Heart."

"Why are you giving me this? What test did I pass?" Iris refused to take the fragment. It was a valuable treasure from a being far beyond her power, a dangerous offer. She couldn’t keep it.

"I like your determination. Your godless faith resonates with us. We the abandoned have always resented them." The Dreamscape faintly shook as Gulia exuded her aura. "With it, you can enter the Shadow Plane. If you want to become strong, this is a rare opportunity."

"What will you gain from this?"

"I'll provide you the support of my cult, our cult. And if you manage to collect all fragments, all twelve of them, you can control the totality of the Shadow Plane, the power akin to divinity." Gulia looked at the crystal fragment, the past flashing in her dim eyes. "When you become strong, I will gain my freedom. We Foreign Existence will rule this world—as if. I'm just interested in dragging those gods down from their thrones."

Knowing that refusing was not an option, Iris carefully picked up the Shadow Heart Core and inspected it. Inside the murky surface, a dark grey light pulsated. It was like a Soul Gem, but the crystalised lines were too dense that they packed neatly into an array, turning the transparent crystal opaque.

"Promise me one thing. I want my family to be safe and sound," Iris said.

"The Sinking will happen; the Crusade will end. It will be my gift, so become strong fast." Gulia snapped her finger. "When our followers see you, they will know you're one of us. Welcome to this world, Elizabeth, no, Iris."

"I hope you will keep your words."

"When we meet again, I hope you'll have awakened your True Name. Farewell, our last Kin."

Before Iris could say anything, Gulia waved her hand, and suddenly the Dreamscape went black. Iris lost all her senses as if she were in an endless void. When she blinked, she had already returned to the empty cave. Confused, she looked at her hand. Inside her body, the Shadow Heart Core floated, looking like her slime core.

...

Herrifer snapped her eyes open and sprung up from her sleep. She sat on her bed, sweating, panting. Her eyes swelled with tears. The moonlight from the outside illuminated her bedroom, which grew colder and colder as realization drowned her. She just had a nightmare, a visceral, hallowing dream about her dead sister.

She knew it was a dream because she had already passed her test of faith, and Elizabeth died in her sleep that day. She didn't know about the news and thought her sister was just sick. Only after she came back to boast was she informed of the news.

Since then, she found herself exhausted. It was strange that Elizabeth, whom she hated, made her feel bitter as if she were the one dying. The fatigue had taken a toll on her that she dreamt nonsense. Ridiculous, but somehow, the dream was life-like.

"Maybe I'm going insane," she murmured. "Alice, do you really love me?"

Exhausted, Herrifer collapsed back to her bed, shifting her posture, trying to shake her strange, longing thoughts out of her head. The night was long, and she spent most of it thinking about wild possibilities. Maybe the Lord could answer it if she prayed hard enough.