The bathroom mirror was completely fogged over again by the time Alex finally pulled himself away from it.
He cleaned his new skin dry with a soft towel, complaining about how sensitive every single inch of his body had become.
He dug into his dresser and pulled out a pair of loose, worn-out cotton sweatpants and carefully stepped into them.
He didn't even bother putting on a shirt. The mere thought of rough fabric brushing against his puffy, swollen nipples made a shiver run down his spine.
With heavy, dragging footsteps, his hips swaying slightly from the strange new weight shifting in his pelvis which he didn't even notice, Alex walked back to his room and fell flat on his back onto his bed.
He threw an arm over his eyes, letting out a long, shaky breath.
"Finally giving up, little vessel?" the Empress purred in his mind. Her voice was like warm honey, dripping with dark satisfaction.
"Just... shut up," Alex whispered into the empty room, his voice cracking into a soft, airy sigh. "I'm too tired to fight you anymore tonight."
"Heheee… My sweet little girl. Surrender is the first step to true power."
His mind was spinning out of control, replaying the absolute chaos that had been his day. It felt like another lifetime had passed since the morning.
It had been an endless, humiliating marathon.
From getting completely mind-fucked by the Empress in a dirty alleyway… to shedding his skin for the second time, he hadn't caught a single break.
It's only been a few days and he already shed for the second time.
His body had been pushed to the edge of an embarrassing climax all day long.
Even now, completely drained, his groin still throbbed with a dull, needy ache, and his little brother still felt restless against the soft cotton of his pants.
He had been aroused again and again, forced to submit to the intense sexual urges and heat pooling in his belly.
And then there was the System that suddenly upgraded, opening up multiple new possibilities.
He squeezed his eyes shut, he had tried everything to suppress the changes, to stay a man.
But he had failed at every turn. Every time he tried to fight back, the Empress, the system, or his own treacherous body just pushed him further down the path of feminization.
"Seventy-three percent." Alex felt he was nearly at the end of the first Ecdysis phase, and the harsh reality was finally sinking in: he couldn't stop it.
The deep, bone-chilling exhaustion of his new cold-blooded body finally caught up with him, overpowering his anxiety and his lingering arousal.
His breathing slowed, his soft chest rising and falling rhythmically in the quiet room, as the heavy darkness of sleep finally dragged him under.
What Alex didn't know was that, as he finally surrendered to his deep exhaustion, deep into the night, the air right next to his bed began to shimmer and warp and the temperature around the bed suddenly dropped.
Pale moonlight spilled through the thin window curtains, casting a light glow across the messy bedsheets.
Within that pool of light, a phantom figure slowly took solid form.
It was the Empress.
She did not look like the ancient, desperate ghost from the dilapidated shrine with her, see-through ceremonial robe any more.
Instead, she seemed to have completely adjusted to the modern world she was in right now, perfectly integrating her intensely raw, predatory sexy vibe.
She was wearing a pair of tight black spandex shorts that hugged the wide, soft curve of her hips and rode up dangerously high on her thick thighs.
On top, she wore a simple white crop top, but it was far too small for her frame.
The thin fabric stretched to its absolute breaking point, barely able to contain the heavy, pale weight of her massive bust.
The deep valley of her cleavage was fully on display, and the bottom of the shirt rode up to reveal her soft, perfectly smooth stomach and her navel.
The moonlight hit her perfectly, making her flawless, porcelain skin practically glow in the dark.
Her long, silvery-black silk hair cascaded down her back, spilling over her shoulders in messy, beautiful waves.
A few stray strands fell across her face, framing her stunning features.
Her lips were full, plush, and curved into a sly smirk. Her large blue eyes, bright and glowing with vertical, serpentine slits, stared down intently at the sleeping boy.
She leaned over the bed, resting one knee on the mattress.
The bed didn't creak, as she was still a phantom to the physical world, but her presence was heavy and suffocating.
She reached out, her long, sharp fingernails gently tracing the air just inches above Alex's flushed, sweating cheek.
She let her sharp predatory eyes wander down his body.
She looked at his bare chest, noting the puffy, swollen pink nipples that he had just spent so much time aggressively denying in the mirror.
She saw the way his waist had cinched and how his hips flared softly under the worn-out cotton sweatpants.
"Alas, this kid is still so stubborn to accept his reality," she muttered.
Her voice was a soft, velvety whisper that seemed to vibrate in the cool night air.
She brushed a stray lock of silver hair out of her eyes, a wicked, breathtaking smile slowly spreading across her full lips.
Her sharp, elongated canine teeth glinted in the moonlight.
"Hehaah," she laughed, a low, throaty sound filled with dark, sadistic amusement. "The harder he resists, the greater the fun in it for me watching you embarrass yourself."
She trailed her phantom hand lower, her ghostly fingers hovering just above the loose waistband of his sweatpants.
Even deep in his sleep, Alex's breath hitched.
His chest heaved, and his body arched slightly toward her cold, spectral touch, his mutating biology instinctively craving the pure Yin energy she radiated.
The Empress licked her lips, her eyes darkening with a bottomless hunger.
"Sleep well, my sweet little vessel," she whispered, leaning down until her lips almost brushed against his ear, her hot breath sending a visible shiver down his sleeping spine. "Because tomorrow you're gonna wake up even more depressed and embarrassed than today."
She leaned back slightly, her glowing blue eyes narrowing with a calculating, wicked gleam.
"With my current strength, I could only do this much to accelerate your feminization," she murmured into the quiet room.
As she spoke, she raised her pale, delicate hand and waved it slightly through the air.
Instantly, the air inside the small bedroom grew restless.
Unnatural, ghostly gusts of wind began to swirl around the bed.
The breeze acted like a sponge, soaking up the thick, intoxicating scent of spiced honey and night flowers, the incredibly potent pheromones leaking from every pore of Alex's soft, sweating body.
With another flick of her wrist, she sent the wind pushing outward, through the windows and the doors.
The sweet, heavy breeze slid under the crack of Alex's closed door, creeping like a living fog down the dark hallway of the house.
It didn't stop there. The invisible gusts blew out through the gaps in the window frame, spilling into the cool night air.
It slowly drifted down into the quiet street, winding its way through the dark alleyways, and slipped into the open windows of nearby apartments and houses.
Unknown to anyone, everyone around Alex were in for a night full of silent pure lust.