It was nightfall of the same day, and Alice felt rested enough to attempt her ascension to the next Step.
After informing the others in their small circle, she took the main tent where they usually slept for herself. In their current situation, this was the best she could manage; specialized chambers were nothing more than a distant luxury.
Maybe that was why Ashen was acting like a worrywart, standing guard outside the tent with an unnecessarily serious expression.
'Hehe… how protective.' A faint smile slipped across her lips. She felt it would be fine, so his excessive fretting only struck her as… oddly endearing.
Before starting, she closed her eyes and dived into the inner visualization of her pathway one last time. This trick allowed her to align herself more closely with her concepts, which would hopefully make her advancement smoother.
Her visualization was, as always, all about one man: Ashen. And as a pathwalker of lust, it was predictably the act of inducing the most pleasure she knew: intercourse.
At the seventh step, it was the image of both of them having sex as teenagers for the first time. It was one of her most cherished memories, and having it as her inner visualization pleased her greatly.
When she reached the sixth step, the vision aged with it, arriving at a time when Ashen was in one of his most self-destructive phases. Of course, they weren't on the best of terms then, so the memory was expectedly one of "hate sex."
It was much more violent than their teenage love, but it had its own distinct flavor for Alice, and she wasn't disappointed with this new representation.
When she advanced to Mistress of Flesh Automata, the vision changed once more. This time, it was the memory of her in the flesh of the nine-tailed fox, during their reunion sex.
That was why she now embodied the woman with nine tails… the same nine tails currently being held by the strong, rough hand of the man taking her from behind.
Everything was visible with crystal clarity: Ashen's face, her own, and every one of his actions, which never stopped until they reached climax and then repeated in an endless loop.
This was the sign that her epithet was fully embodied. Otherwise, his features would have been blurred, and the act would have stopped before completion.
Opening her eyes with flushed cheeks, she felt the Lust concepts housing her flesh almost cheering.
"System, you can start the ascension to the next step. I'm ready."
[Acknowledged]
[Step advancement initiated: Mistress of Flesh Automata (Step V → Step IV)]
[Warning: Soul Resonance Required. Domain Knowledge 'Lust' Will Be Imprinted.]
Alice did not wait for her mana to rebel. She activated her innate skill, allowing the nine tails of the fox race to surface.
The fox race's talent in mana control far eclipsed that of humans. Though she could now wield this talent without fully changing form, pushing it to its limit still felt more comfortable when she switched like this.
Right after, her circuits heated abnormally and the mana within began moving on its own in incomprehensible patterns. It seeped out of her flesh in a vivid pink hue, shaping into long tentacles that thrashed wildly, nearly wrecking the place. Alice brought them under control at the last moment.
But it didn't end there. Her flesh began to wiggle on its own. Had she seen herself in a mirror, she would have found a completely debauched, wanton face staring back. Her breasts heaved in rhythm with her expression, which grew increasingly sultry. Down below, her panties turned unbearably wet.
Still, that was the extent of it. Inwardly, she remained calm. She trusted her own control; her will would never allow her to succumb to mere lust induced by anyone else… aside from him.
…even if it was the almighty System.
"Ah~"
As if taking that as a challenge, her mind was bombarded with foreign memories. She recoiled and fell onto her back.
At first, the visions showed human women grooming themselves with obsessive devotion, shaping their hair, lashes, nails, and bodies to the utmost mortal limits of beauty.
Then came the same women wielding those perfected looks as weapons. They seduced kings into obedience, incited conflicts to eliminate enemies, and tempted the wealthy to surrender their riches. If there was even the slightest attraction, they turned it into a tool for their goals.
The visions did not stop there. For those with wills too firm to be enticed, the "grooming" evolved beyond mortal means. Sickening body transformations, sacrificial rituals to preserve beauty, and even the theft of more naturally alluring bodies.
All of it unfolded before Alice's eyes.
She saw every conceivable trick used to craft the perfect vessel of lust. The images spun on and on until she felt sick.
Yet alongside the nausea came something else: the intoxicating triumph these women felt when they seized what they wanted. Their pleasure in controlling men stronger, richer, and more authoritative than themselves washed over her.
It was a heady feeling, one that made her view everyone else as inferior creatures, unfit to even serve as the ground she walked upon.
But no matter how fiercely those emotions surged, her own heart remained frozen.
'What's the use of seducing others? I have Ashen.'
The thought made the emotions feel like a nuisance at most.
'Is standing over unknown men really so great? Ashen would make me queen of the world if I asked.'
And she naturally believed it with all her heart.
'Do I really need to steal, scheme, and spread conflict to get what I want?'
Ashen would grant it with a single word from me… was her most likely answer to that question.
Just like that, with a single thrall to her name, Alice judged herself superior to all the women in the visions.
In that single moment, her arrogance eclipsed all of theirs combined.
All because she had her "Ashen."
SSssst—
[...Soul Resistance Check: Passed.]
The visions halted abruptly. The System's sweet female voice echoed once more, carrying a strangely bewildered tone.
It had likely never encountered a human so proud of her own man that her arrogance surpassed even the most deranged women in its archives.
[You have taken another Step toward Ascension. Congratulations…]
[You are now a Step IV, Living Vessel of Desire.]
"..."
"That was easier than expected…" she remarked nonchalantly.