Chapter: 71
[Ugh… Partner, save me…]
The demonic sword quivered in pain, letting out weak cries as it shook its body. Unlike its partner, the utterly thoughtless Iris totally ignored the sword’s reactions and swung her weapon.
Kugugugung!
With her swing, the half-destroyed arena that had been battling the champion crumbled even further. The only champion who had clashed swords with her for any length of time was now just a corpse rolling on the ground.
Many of the spectators in the arena tried to flee, but most of them, save for a few lucky souls, couldn’t make it out.
“What the heck is this?!”
“Damn it, let me out!”
A dome-shaped barrier swallowing the entire arena blocked their escape routes. Yet, amidst them, a select few managed to break free.
“Sis…!”
“Run, just keep running forward!”
Only pure souls untainted by ‘evil’ could escape the barrier that Iris had placed.
The spectators who reveled in the brutal games and the slaves who had previously harmed others for their own thrill couldn’t escape.
Ugh… I wanted to kill them all. This is so annoying. Damn divine power.
Deep within Iris, an inner strength that had been lying dormant began to spew out curses in a lazily disdainful voice.
Well, there are plenty more to take down.
‘It’ whispered sweetly in Iris’s ear, humming along. Urging her to hurry up and kill those terrible bastards, to wipe every trash that led her beloved brother to his death off the face of the earth.
Even without needing to hear such a voice, Iris, already consumed by rage, had no intention of stopping.
Kugung! Ka-WHOM!
With a sound that was almost unbelievable, the arena began to collapse, while a deafening explosion echoed. Countless sinners buried under the debris met their end.
Meanwhile, Ottugi, barely alive and limping back to his office, glanced out the window.
“Please, please…!”
What he was waiting for was Jiso’s reply. No doubt as soon as he sent the response, he’d rush over to the arena. This meant if the reply arrived, Ottugi might have a shot at survival.
Flap -.
“…! Here it is!”
Seeing the crow he sent out return, a smile bloomed on his face as he quickly checked the crow’s leg.
“Huh…?”
The letter he assumed was a reply was actually the SOS letter Ottugi had sent. Meaning… this letter never reached Jiso.
Ottugi had been through this a few times before.
‘Jiso… is he not here?’
Every time Jiso left for urgent matters, he never got a reply back, just like this time with the crow.
Pad-deuk.
The crow perched upon Ottugi’s desk suddenly flapped its wings and soared into the air.
Caw-caw -..
As the crow took flight, a furious attack crashed through the office. The clever crow didn’t even look back as it flew away from the collapsing arena.
—
Thump, thump.
Caked in blood, Iris was aimlessly walking somewhere. With each step, long streaks of crimson followed her.
“…Brother.”
Her steps halted in front of Lian, discarded in a corner of the corpse disposal site. As she stared blankly at Lian, her face twisted into a grimace before she sank to the ground.
Chaeng-geu-rang!
The demonic sword rolled across the floor, but Iris didn’t even spare it a glance.
“Brother! Brother…!”
She, who had coldly taken countless lives, cradled Lian with the most heart-wrenching expression yet.
Tears streamed endlessly, choking her and making her head spin. It felt like she was drowning in an endless abyss of sorrow.
Clinging to him with all her might, no matter how much she begged, nothing came back. Everything was too late. Her family, her salvation, her love — all had perished at her own hands.
As if trying to create a river from her tears, she endlessly sobbed, pressing her ear against Lian’s chest. But there was no sound. In the chilling stillness, Iris spiraled through despair, pleading, and hatred.
Had she cried so much that her young body was heating up and her ears were ringing? Iris wished to die right there on Lian’s lifeless form. If only she could return to him.
She shut her eyes tight, holding her breath like an animal searching for its deathbed.
“Ugh… where is this..?”
Was it her sheer willpower? At that moment, she felt a heartbeat that shouldn’t even be there tickle her ears. She heard Lian’s voice muttering something.
Perhaps she was lost in dreams of the past. Afraid of opening her eyes, fearing she’d wake to face his corpse, she held her breath as much as possible.
“A… Iris?”
“…!”
The moment Lian called her name, her eyes flew open and her head jerked toward the sound, instinct kicking in as if carved into her very being.
“Huh? I-Iris?”
“Gasp…”
“Hey…! I-Iris, what happened?! W-who did this to our Iris—”
As she locked eyes with him, filled with love and concern, Iris unleashed all the grief, the pleas, and the bitterness she had held inside.
“Heuuk, heuuung!”
From that day forward, Lian to her was not just her brother but also her death, her salvation, her love.
So much that she would seek to die alongside him if he were to perish.
Unbeknownst to him, Lian had become shackled by the name ‘Iris.’ Now, even against his wishes, she would never leave his side. Forever.
—
“It’s been a while since I’ve watched mosaics at work…”
The sight of those random mosaics littering the place made my head spin a bit. I wandered through the ruins of the arena, picking pockets to stuff my bag with cash.
“Hehe, I’m starting to fit into this dark fantasy world, right?”
I was seriously rifling through the pockets of the dead!
Patting myself on the back, I gathered supplies for survival on this treacherous Demon King’s turf. Luckily, I stumbled across an extra-dimensional bag. I stuffed anything that looked remotely valuable into it.
Just as I thought I had racked up sufficient loot, I sensed movement outside the wreckage of the arena. A bunch of bedraggled folks with glimmering eyes were invading the place.
They looked like the type — beggars or thieves. Getting caught would mean becoming a slave, so I bolted out of the arena.
“Hey, Iris! Put this on.”
“Okay.”
Iris nodded diligently, her gaze fixed on my face. I swapped her into some quality gear I had stashed away and draped her with a hooded cloak. Since we’d be traveling for a while, I got her a decent pair of shoes, too.
Just like Iris, I grabbed a fresh outfit before striding through the crazy streets.
“Dude, who in the world blew that arena to bits?”
“Was it a fight among the Four Heavenly Kings or something?”
“That sounds likely. Tsk, we might die if we go there now, but… the loot could be pretty sweet…”
“Come on! If we don’t check it out now, when will we ever get to raid the arena again? I’m going in!”
There were all sorts of arenas in Jiso’s land, but the main one seemed to be the one I was just in. The sheer size was a giveaway.
I hastened my pace, gripping Iris’s hand tightly. Every alley had drug addicts sprawled like fallen wheat ready to harvest.
“First, let’s get as far away from the arena as possible. This spot is way more dangerous than others.”
“Okay.”
Iris nodded faster, clearly understanding. There’s a limit to walking around, so we hopped onto a carriage, the kind that roamed the city like a bus.
I played it cool with the payment, gauging the atmosphere around me. It wasn’t too difficult to figure out the right fare with all the loud hustlers.
While we rode in the wide-open carriage, a few desperate souls attempted to hitch a ride, only to get whipped and thrown off.
“Ugh… this place is pure wild. Totally…”
I shook my head, glancing at someone whose face was a mess after rolling on the ground. Thanks to the carriage, we were nearing the city entrance quickly.
“Let’s hit a shop before we leave town.”
“Okay.”
Originally, we planned to leave right away, but we had to stop since we didn’t have camping gear. Fortunately, a nearby mercenary store came into view, and I made my way over there.
‘Sleeping bag and lantern… oh, and I’ll need this too.’
I jotted down a mental list while scanning the visible stash of goods. Cash was no issue—I had been ransacking the dead gamblers and a safe I accidentally found in the arena.
I was about to clear out the essential items without thinking.
Kpowww!
An earth-shattering boom rang out. I instantly summoned Gargandoa and looked toward the sound.
Iris stood bravely before me, wielding a sturdy iron sword she had taken from the arena.
Seeing her tiny figure bravely defend me almost brought tears to my eyes, but my head was still in the game. I had to check out the source of that massive dust cloud rising up.
“What the heck is that?”
Even from far away, I couldn’t quite make it out, but something surged up through the dust—at least ten stories high.
“A person…?”
I squinted at a silhouette zooming up above ten stories before promptly swooping down. I pivoted back towards the shop and grabbed all the items I had scoped out earlier to pay.
“Oh… goodness, thank you!”
I casually made the transaction, and the shop owner grinned wide, lobbing in a couple of freebies for me.
“Food is available at a different shop, so let’s just pop by and leave the village right after.”
“Sure thing.”
I wasn’t sure if this was a city that usually had this many incidents, but with such a ruckus going on, I had no idea when Jiso might return. He seemed quite fond of Iris and me, which meant a return to slavery wasn’t out of the question. That thought pushed me to hurry.
“Ah, there it is.”
Just as I was heading toward the store nestled inside the alley.
“Hey you!”
A punk appeared out of nowhere!
“Yo, you there, hand over some cash—”
As the punk started his shakedown…
Swish!
A sharp wind cut through the air from above. Curious, I looked up. A pitch-black shadow dropped into the alley.
“If you just hand it over—Kuh-heh!”
KABOW!
Someone in a ragged cloak landed squarely on the punk, perfectly balanced.
Sniff sniff… huh?
The cloaked figure tilted their head and quickly swung toward me.
“Huh?”
“Ah!”
As soon as I recognized the familiar red hair…
“Master!”
Jess came charging toward me, tackling me straight to the ground.
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