The first thing Alex did after turning the lock on Room 104 was carry Liria over to the bed and drop her onto the mattress.
She bounced slightly on the plush springs, letting out a soft, exhausted whine as she rolled onto her side.
Completely drained from the intense orgasm, the freezing chill of his Yin mana. She just curled into a tight ball, wrapping his oversized grey hoodie tightly around her bare breasts, and buried her flushed face into the pillow.
Leaving her to rest, Alex turned and walked straight into the bathroom, shutting the door behind him.
Unexpectedly, both the bedroom and the bathroom were spacious, modern, and spotless.
The bathroom featured clean white tiles, a large walk-in glass shower, and a wide mirror with bright, clear lighting.
It looked nothing like the inside of a cheap, run-down love motel.
What Alex didn't know was that the horny young man at the reception had given them the VIP executive suite, the best room in the entire building without charging him a single extra credit, all because of his wild yuri fantasies about two girls sharing a bed.
However, Alex didn't bother wasting his time on such thoughts.
His mind was completely preoccupied with his own body. Standing in front of the wide mirror, he immediately began to undress, eager to check his system interface.
He pulled the t-shirt over his head and tossed it into the sink.
Next came Lily's borrowed white sports bra.
As he hooked his thumbs under the lower band to pull it up, he winced. The stretchy fabric felt way tighter than usual, clinging stubbornly to his ribs and chest.
When he finally pulled it over his head and freed himself, a sharp gasp escaped his lips.
The release of pressure sent a sudden, electric jolt of sensitivity straight down his spine.
He looked at his pale torso in the mirror; the tight lower band of the sports bra had actually left distinct, red indentation lines across his ribs.
"System, open status panel," Alex commanded mentally, his heart beating fast as the sleek, blue holographic screen materialized in front of the bathroom glass.
His dark eyes skipped past his attributes and locked directly onto two specific things: his accumulated Source Power and the rate of his Feminization Progress.
[ Current Source Power: 18 Points ]
"Well not much, but useful.." Using his Void Yin Constitution to forcefully devour the evil spirits energy of those two D-Rank Evil God cultists in the alley.
Then, he forced his eyes to drop down to the line he dreaded most.
[ Feminization Progress: Phase 2/9 (Ecdysis) - 41.2% ]
"Thank God, it only increased by six percent..." Alex whispered, leaning his forearms against the marble sink and letting his head hang.
While he was carrying Liria through the streets, he had been almost half scared to death.
Between the physical exertion of fighting, or the influx of source power he absorbed from the cultists, and using his unique Desire Mark during their wild climax, he was terrified that the system would jump another twenty or thirty percent like it did during his cultivation breakthrough.
Only gaining six percent felt like dodging a bullet.
Yet, when he looked back up into the mirror, the physical reality of that six percent stared him right in the face.
The reason the sports bra felt like a crushing vise became obvious.
His breasts were growing slowly, but the progress was impossible to deny.
They weren't just tender little buds or flat A-cups anymore. The soft flesh had expanded outward and upward, looking noticeably rounder, heavier, and fuller against his pale chest.
They had completely crossed the A-cup threshold now, rounding out into plump, soft mounds of flesh that sat just shy of a standard full B-cup.
His areolas were wider, flushed a deep pink, and his puffy nipples stood out stiffly in the cool air of the bathroom.
Just watching the soft curves of his own chest rise and fall with his breathing made a strange, shameful heat pool low in his belly.
"Don't you think they look beautiful on you??" The sudden, lazy whisper echoed directly inside his mind, accompanied by a sharp drop in the bathroom's temperature.
"I just feel like they were a bit small for my vessel... Don't you think so, my dear?" she spoke, her seductive voice vibrating against his skull with dark, teasing amusement.
Alex stiffened, his fingers gripping the edges of the marble sink so tightly his knuckles turned white.
He didn't answer her, his cheeks burning a deep, humiliated red as he tried to look away from his own reflection.
"However, I must appreciate that you acted like a real man for once," the Empress continued, her tone shifting into a wicked, seductive drawl. "Hmmm… do you feel good fucking her??"
"If you can maintain such pace, I don't even have to interfere, you would become a perfect vessel in no time… Hahahahah!!"
Her ringing, sadistic laughter echoed in his ears, hitting him like a physical blow.
Alex froze, his eyes widening as the horrific realization of her words finally clicked in his brain.
His face instantly burned a furious, deep red.
He grabbed a towel off the rack and held it defensively against his chest, glaring at his own reflection as if he could see the ancient ghost lurking behind his eyes.
"Shut up," Alex hissed in his mind, his high-pitched, melodic voice cracking slightly. "I didn't do it just to have fun!"
"That slave brand was going to burn her heart out! If she died in that alley, I wouldn't have any way to find out what that crazy bitch is planning!"
"Oh, please," the Empress purred, her phantom fingers brushing a cold, teasing trail down the back of his neck. "You can lie to yourself, but you can't lie to me, little vessel."
"I felt your heartbeat. I felt how greedily you thrust into her, how desperately you pumped your cum into her womb. You enjoyed every single second of it."
She paused, letting a triumphant, mocking laugh echo through his thoughts.
"And you even left your mark on her soul. You're going to mature into a perfect, irresistible vessel all on your own... Hahahahah!"
"I said shut up!" Alex mentally screamed, violently blocking out her voice as he stepped into the glass shower stall and twisted the faucet.
He leaned his forehead against the wet glass, letting the water wash away the sweat, and the heavy, intoxicating smell of sex and pheromones.
Every droplet that cascaded over his newly enlarged, tender breasts made his skin tingle with a strange, buzzing electricity.
He looked down toward his lower half.
His manhood was still intact, soft and resting quietly between his thighs, but the visual contrast between his curving, distinctly female upper body and his male bottom half felt more bizarre and disorienting with every passing day.
Ten minutes later, Alex turned off the water and stepped out onto the bath mat. He quickly dried his pale, flawless skin with a fluffy towel.
When he reached for his clothes, he hesitated.
He picked up Lily's white sports bra, looking at the stretched elastic and the small cups. If he tried to force his new, near B-cup breasts back into that fabric, the compression would be agonizing.
"To hell with it," Alex muttered.
He tossed the bra into the trash can. He pulled his light cotton sweatpants up over his hips and slipped his loose white t-shirt directly over his bare skin.
Without any undergarment to hold him in place, the immediate sensation of the soft cotton brushing freely against his bare, sensitive nipples made his breath catch.
His chest jiggled slightly with his first step, causing a warm, distracting friction, but it was far better than crushing himself in a bra that no longer fit.
He towel-dried his short silky black hair, leaving it damp around his shoulders, and unlocked the bathroom door.