Immortal Ice Empress: Path to Vengeance

When Mira laid her eyes upon the sleeping Dominique, her eyes couldn't help but soften a bit. How could she not? The girl saw her as a mother figure. Before she went through those trials, she might've looked at her with the same indifferent eyes she looks at everyone with, but she is trying to get better with that now.

During all those years she spent in those item trials, especially the Legendary Ice Beast Blood Essence trial, she's come to understand that only caring about power is incredibly dull! Although she loves power and the benefits that come with it, she'd also like to have something or someone to accompany her on such a long journey to the peak of power.

If she's too indifferent to those that care for her, she might end up pushing them farther away if she shows no signs of changing.

Mira might not care about that kind of stuff at the moment, but she knew she would undoubtedly care about things like this as she grows older and more powerful.

Having people around her can also keep her grounded, something she desperately needs, but she didn't know it until she underwent those item trials.

Well, even though her disposition may have changed, Mira also knows just how important having power is. Whether it be in a world where money is power or in the Cultivation World where might makes right.

Essentially, the more powerful you are, the more freedom you have. The richest man in a world run by money can do pretty much anything and get away with it.

In this Cultivation World, this truth is even more prevalent. The strongest people in the world can actually do whatever they want, and nobody weaker can stop them. If they want you dead, then you die. If they want something you have, then you don't have any other choice than to give it up. Nobody can stop if they want to have sex with someone else's romantic partner.

Power and freedom go hand in hand, but unfortunately, one cannot have freedom without power.

Mira, who has been at the whims of the powerful for so long, understands this truth more than anyone else. She longs for that kind of freedom. The freedom to do whatever the fuck she wants, and nobody can tell her otherwise!

Maybe once she reaches that point, she'll be able to be truly happy. However, until then, she'll have to keep pushing herself and those around her to their limits.

Once Mira reached that point in her thinking, she felt her mind lighten up. She gazed at Dominque's sleeping face, sat down next to her, and began stroking her head.

Suddenly, Dominque's eyes shot open when she felt an unfamiliar hand touch her. She didn't feel any danger as she could sense Maria nearby, nor did she sense any ill-intent from the hand that touched her.

So, instead of getting up, she just turned her head to look at who was touching her but immediately froze when she gazed upon the most beautiful woman she's ever seen. Although Maria is quite the beauty, she still feels like a mortal. However, the woman petting her could only be described as ethereal.

There's only one person she's met in this world who had a face that came close to this person's, and seeing how Maria accompanied her, Dominque began putting two and two together.

"Mother…?" A slightly uncertain voice left her mouth.

When Mira heard the word that came out of Dominque's mouth, a small smile grew on her face, and she nodded. Maybe in the past, she would be reluctant to accept such a title. Well, she still is, and part of her feels unworthy of becoming someone's adoptive mother, but she felt like it'd be better for Dominique if she accepted her role as the girl's mother. She didn't want to deprive the child of a mother's love that Dominque so desperately desired. A love that Mira had long forgotten and experienced until she was forcefully reminded during her time in the trials.

Unbeknownst to anyone in the room, and even the Guardian almost missed it, a minuscule portion of Mira's Blood Essence, soul, and another unknown energy, shot out of Mira's body and into Dominque's. The damage done to her body was healed instantly, making Mira none the wiser.

"Mm. It's me, Mira. It seems you've grown quite a bit over the last few years. I'm sorry for abandoning you so soon after we met, but I'm here now and will be in the future. You'll have to tell me about all you've experienced over the last few years," Mira said while gently stroking Dominque's head.

"Mother! You're finally back! Uwaaaaahh!" Dominque shot up and dove straight into Mira's arms, crying.

Luckily, Mira was prepared for such a situation and partially removed parts of her ice armor to avoid making the girl uncomfortable.

The others watched this scene and were surprised. Not only were they surprised by how quickly Dominque's demeanor changed, but also by how Mira handled the situation. Right now, she looked more like a loving mother rather than her usual cold, indifferent self.

Maria turned to Elenei and couldn't help but ask, "What happened during the time we were separated? Why does Mira seem like an almost completely different person? Well, it's not like I'm complaining. I'm just curious."

Elenei stared at Maria for a few seconds before answering, "I… don't really know. For the first nine or ten months, she slaughtered people left and right for no particular reason other than because she could. However, she disappeared for almost an entire year, then came back and seemed like a different person. But it wasn't until she broke through to the Core Formation Realm did she really feel like a different person. If you want to know the details, you'll have to ask Mira."

Maria squinted her eyes but didn't say anything and just nodded. She would be lying if she said she wasn't worried, but her intuition told her that the Mira in front of her was the same Mira she's known all these years.

'I guess I can only hope Mira talks to me about what's going on.' Maria thought to herself before throwing these thoughts to the back of her head.

Ten minutes later, Dominque finally calmed down, and she was finally able to get a good look at Mira's body. However, her eyes were immediately drawn to her tails and ears.

"Woah! Mother, how'd you get those tails and ears? Will I be able to grow tails when I get stronger? Do these tails serve another purpose other than being cute and soft? Wait! Now that I've gotten a good look at you, you're eyes look fox-like as well!! Have you always been part fox?" One question after another flowed out of Dominque's mouth, causing Mira's eyebrows to twitch a bit.

Dominique even began caressing and stroking her tails, but fortunately, Mira didn't feel the same sensation she felt when Maria did it.

Seeing this, the smile on Maria's face grew, and she really wanted to rub Mira's tails to hear those… ahem… lewd noises again.

Mira felt Maria's gaze intensify slightly, but she acted like she didn't and answered Dominque's questions, "Let's just say that my situation is a bit unique. No, I was 100% human before I broke through to the Core Formation Realm. I'll go into more detail about the process later. However, I can assure you that my tails are crazy strong. Do you see that golden one? That tail weighs more than enough to cause the entire residence and everyone in it to turn into nothing more than dust. My other tails may not weigh as much as that one and have other uses, but they are still more than enough to wreak havoc on the surroundings based on physical strength alone."

Dominque wasn't the only one who froze at those words, but everyone except Elenei froze and immediately stared at Mira's tails with slight fear in their eyes.

While others may not know, Elenei knew that the tails of nine-tailed foxes are all terrifyingly strong. It's actually those tails that allow nine-tailed foxes to fight evenly with Mythical bloodline beasts even though they are only Legendary Grade.

Well, most nine-tailed foxes are supposed to only be Legendary Grade, but Mira's bloodline feels stronger than that, even though Elenei can feel her bloodline hadn't quite reached the levels of a Mythical beast bloodline.

Mira could feel Maria's slightly fearful gaze on her tails and turned her head slightly to look at her, then released a predatory grin, showing off her canines, for a second before returning her attention to Dominque.

Maria saw this and felt somewhat ashamed, yet at the same time provoked. However, she didn't do anything and decided to wait until the two of them were alone to get her 'revenge'.

Dominque was about to pull her hands away from Mira's tails as she didn't want to accidentally turn into meat paste, but Mira swiftly wrapped her lightest tail around her, preventing her from escaping.

"No! Mother! Put me down! How could you trick me into thinking your tails were so cute and fluffy?! If I knew your tails were so meaty, I never would've touched them!" Dominque yelled as she tried to escape from Mira's 'meaty' tails.

Mira's lips twitched, and she replied, "You brat. You were just enjoying how soft and fluffy my tails were a second ago, but now you're calling them meaty? I'll have you know that they are only so heavy because not only are they filled with energy, but their compositions are quite unique. Here, I'll even prove to you how soft they are!"

Mira then shoved Dominque into her eight other tails and forced her to melt into the soft and fluffy sensation that her nine tails provide!

Feeling such a comforting sensation, Dominque had to admit that Mira's tails really are unparalleled in terms of softness and comfort. However, she couldn't fully enjoy it because…

"...Mudder… pwease… stawp…"

…she was suffocating.

Mira chuckled and removed Dominque from her tails. From then on, the two of them played around a bit more before they were interrupted by something…