Riana stumbled upon Iria purely by coincidence.
The back alley wasn’t as wide as she imagined, and Iria had been lying in the same spot for three days.
“Iria! Iria! Wake up! What’s going on?!”
It had been quite a while since Iria disappeared, leaving Riana behind at the inn.
During that time, Riana hadn’t exactly been living the easy life. She had money from Iria, so she didn’t need to steal, but her mind was restless.
She was still scared of Iria but felt guilty at the same time.
Even if an accident had happened, Iria was still her friend.
Plus, she had helped Riana numerous times. Without her, she probably would have died in the back alley.
Seeing the friend who saved her sprawled out in such a horrific state made Riana’s heart ache.
She couldn’t shake off Iria’s face from their last conversation.
Now that she thought about it, she had never seen Iria truly smile. Even before the accident, Iria always seemed sad or bitter.
Iria, in her current state, was completely broken. It was hard to believe she used to move around just fine not too long ago.
There was no life in her dim eyes. What kind of time had she spent to end up like this?
“Iria, just get up for a sec…”
Riana softly called her name.
Iria showed a faint reaction.
Her murky eyes turned toward Riana.
“Mmm, uh… e…”
Iria moved her lips.
Riana couldn’t understand what she was saying.
It sounded more like a painful groan than actual words. She wasn’t in a normal state.
At Riana’s continued calls, Iria started moving.
It was instinctive rather than rational movement. After all, Riana was giving off a smell of blood.
In the unsafe Dusty Lane, it was common to get injured, big or small. But the timing… could have been better.
In front of Iria, who was on the brink of starvation, Riana’s scent triggered something in her.
And just like that, Iria’s consciousness vanished from this world.
“Iria? Are you okay?”
“…”
“Iria?”
No response came, even after calling out.
After getting up, Iria looked at Riana.
“Yikes?!”
Iria’s red eyes looked more hollow and dangerous than anything, causing Riana to instinctively back away.
What stood in front of Riana was not a human. It would be more accurate to say it was a completely different being than the Iria she knew.
Would talking to her yield a response? Did she have any reason left to retain her sense of self?
Not a clue.
The current Iria looked extremely dangerous. Every part of Riana’s instincts screamed at her that she shouldn’t approach.
“I-I’m sorry. Maybe next time…”
Feeling a rush of danger, Riana stepped back, but it was too late.
Iria was faster, grabbing her wrist. There was no control over her strength. The force that came from her subconscious wasn’t human.
“W-What! It hurts!!”
Riana screamed, but Iria couldn’t hear her. It was simply instinct driving her to pull in her prey.
Crack! went the sound of Riana’s wrist bone breaking.
A scream echoed through the dark back alley. It was the alley where red eyes sparkled.
“Ugh, ugh?!”
Riana was caught by the monster.
A creature with silver hair and red eyes.
It was the same sight that haunted her nightmares when she had taken down a crime organization before.
She had seen Iria tear apart humans. If she didn’t run, she would be next.
But fleeing was impossible.
The monster held her hand tightly and wouldn’t let go.
“AAAH! Iria! Stop! Please!!”
Riana screamed, but the monster didn’t relent.
Eventually, Riana collapsed to the ground, staring up at the silver creature looking down at her. Those chilling red eyes swept over her.
The monster leaned closer to Riana. Their breaths nearly touching.
Riana’s heart raced faster than ever. Her pupils dilated, instinctively causing her to curl up.
There was no chance to escape now. Cornered, Riana had one last tiny regret.
She shouldn’t have touched Iria lying there.
She shouldn’t have felt sympathy for a monster that kills humans.
With tears flowing, she remained trapped.
But all that mattered to the monster was that it enveloped Riana with both hands and opened its small mouth.
Chomp! Two fangs pierced her skin, and the sound echoed.
Today’s back alley reeked of blood.
*
The unconscious monster lost all sense and moved purely on instinct.
She targeted the human before her to fill her growling stomach. She bit down on her neck, lapping up the spilling blood with her tongue.
The whole process was brutally done. Just like a predator wouldn’t care for its meal while feasting.
If the blood flow slowed, the monster immediately pierced another spot to make it bleed again. If the amount of blood wasn’t satisfying, she rebit another wound to keep the flow.
Needless to say, Riana felt pain. It was a horrifying agony she had never experienced in her life.
Tears welled up in her eyes.
“It hurts! It hurts so much, Iria!! Please, please stop!!”
She shouted loudly, but her voice didn’t reach the monster. It merely continued to feast instinctively.
Riana resisted fiercely, but it was futile against the monster’s overwhelming strength. She was too weak to push Iria away.
As the bleeding continued and her wounds deepened, Riana’s cries began to diminish.
It was proof that her life was fading.
“I-Iria… save me…”
“…”
“Ha… ugh…”
The monster didn’t stop its meal until Riana’s life force was completely drained.
Her outstretched hand fell to the ground, and her eyes lost their spark.
And then.
She stopped breathing.
In that way, Iria consumed her friend. The back alley was cloaked in crimson magical energy.
“…”
Despite having killed her close friend with her own hands, Iria still hadn’t regained her senses.
Her consciousness was gone, yet her body moved of its own accord.
It was as if the instincts that Iria had suppressed with her rationality had emerged raw and unrestricted.
With cloudy eyes, Iria wandered through the streets of the back alley.
This back alley had an entirely different atmosphere than usual.
Because the unconscious Iria lost control of her magical energies, the alley was already drenched in black sludge.
The magical energy within Iria was more vast than any monster.
It spread wide enough to cover the entire back alley. The residents who hadn’t managed to escape were being engulfed by the magic.
The spread-out energy was just like Iria’s eyes.
If a human lacking any resistance to mental attacks came into contact with her magic, their memories would be completely drained.
Unconscious Iria put all the humans within her range to sleep.
She covered the bodies of the sleeping humans with magic to absorb their life force all at once.
This could also be seen as a meal, but it was more efficient than sinking her fangs into just one, as she could absorb many at once.
The back alley monster walked toward where the human energy was strongest to consume more.
The streets were divided between unconscious humans and those resisting the magic. The ones with strong resistance.
“What the…”
“Run! Something dangerous is coming!”
It all happened in the blink of an eye as Iria’s magic blanketed the area.
Even the humans with strong resistance could do nothing. They, too, were ensnared in confusion and unable to move from their spots.
In the midst of it all, Iria walked on.
The silver-haired girl draped in rags seemed to exude a thick scent of blood.
“Help! My feet are stuck in this black mud!!”
“Sorry, but I have my own problems! I can’t help you!”
Two humans.
Iria reached out her hand toward them.
And then.
“Ugh!!”
“Ughh!!”
The magical energy that spread across the area shot up like black spikes, piercing through their bodies.
It wasn’t a fatal blow, hence they wouldn’t die immediately, but it wouldn’t be long before they did either.
Even those with strong mental fortitude would be drawn into a dream realm if they barely came into contact with the spikes. Just a little touch, and they would be forever asleep.
The current Iria aimed to consume all humans in the back alley.
It was to regenerate her body, which had been injured from repeated suicide attempts.
The intense magical energy affected not just humans but also inanimate objects.
Buildings in the back alley began to crumble one by one. Humans screamed and rushed out from the burning structures.
But escape was impossible.
The moment they stepped out of the buildings, they came into direct contact with the magic and were pulled into a dream.
It didn’t take long to turn the entire street into chaos.
That day, Iria killed every human in the back alley.
