Changing The Villain's Fate

Just as Iris had finished constructing a new dagger made out of the eye and the spine from the giant blue crab she had just killed, just as she was about to pick it up and then get back to cultivating for the rest of the night, the swish of a dagger being waved into the air could be heard behind her.

So Iris picked up her newly forged dagger and quickly turned around to try and block the attack.

While she did manage to slightly block the attack from directly slicing through her entire body, since she had got caught off guard, the dagger had ended up cutting through parts of her shoulder.

"What's this? Were you hiding your cultivation level the last time we had met? Seems like I've underestimated you before." Seeing as how Iris was at around the 5th level of the Body Tempering Realm, Kedron was certain that Iris had hidden her cultivation level beforehand.

However, that still doesn't change the fact that he was going to murder Iris in cold blood today and use her head as a souvenir.

"Be grateful that you get to die in my hands today. Nobody's ever managed to escape from me before and live to tell the ta-" Before Kedron could finish talking however...

"Where's Ronald." Iris interrupted Kedron's speech and asked in a cold tone.

"Ronald? The Young Master of the Kuangge family? What's he got to do with you?" Hearing the word Ronald come out of Iris's mouth, Kedron became suspicious.

Since the Kuangge family is considered to be one of the biggest families in the US, it was understandable that danger always lurks around the corner for all of the family members of the Kuangge family.

So if this girl infront of him wanted to kidnap or even kill Ronald for whatever reason it may be, then he needs to eliminate her immediately.

"I want to see him." Iris stated.

"And do what?" Kedron became more wary and another dagger appeared on his other hand seemingly out of nowhere.

"None of your concerns." Iris replied back.

"Haha really? Well you will never be able to see him again." Kedron said in a wicked tone.

"Why!?" Iris's body couldn't help but visibly shake when she heard what Kedron said.

"Because..." Kedron didn't say anything further but instead just silently stare at her.

Shortly afterwards, a dark, ominous-looking black fog had started to appear seemingly out of Kedron's body and quickly started to cover Iris's surroundings.

Iris tried to quickly lunge at Kedron in order to try and stop whatever it was Kedron was doing, however, when she had appeared infront of him and tried to pierce through his heart, Kedron's body suddenly dissipated into the black fog.

Having no idea where Kedron might show up next, Iris clutched her dagger even tighter and tried to look around the black fog.

But since the black fog was just as thick and darker than the night sky itself, not only did she have an extremely hard time trying to see through it, but she also had some difficulty breathing as well.

And as the seconds had continued to pass by, it felt like the air around Iris became heavier and denser until finally, she couldn't take it anymore and started coughing.

Using this as an opportunity to strike, Kedron appeared right behind Iris and lunged his dagger towards her neck.

Before his dagger could reach her neck however, Iris swiftly ducked and then spun around, intending to counterattack.

Kedron, who wasn't surprised by her quick reaction speed and exceptional situational awareness anymore, sweep kicked her legs, causing her to tumble to the ground.

Afterwards, Kedron kicked her stomach as hard as he could and sent her completely flying through the forest, resulting in her crashing through multiple tree trunks.

When the kick's momentum had died out and she had crashed onto a tree trunk without actually breaking it this time, Iris couldn't help but clutch her stomach using her arm that wasn't holding the dagger and vomitted out blood.

Iris knew that if she keeps this up, then she was going to end up actually dying to Kedron.

But how was she even suppose to defeat him at her current state?

Not only was her body still aching painfully from everything that's happened so far, but even if Iris wasn't actually wounded, Kedron still completely outmatches her in terms of physical ability.

The only advantage she had with her at the moment was a dagger that could most likely cause some damage to him... assuming that she could even hit him.

While Iris was trying to come up with ways she could turn her current situation around and kill him however, she could feel her consciousness starting to fade away.

Was this really the end of the road for her?

Was she just going to just die like this without even being able to make sure that Ronald was safe and sound?

As Iris continued to have thoughts like those, all of a sudden, the tree trunk she had been leaning her back on, the dark fog that had surrounded her, the grass that was currently dyed with her blood, pretty much everything around her had started to disappear...

Until all she could see left was... nothing.

There was no moon, no sky, no trees, no grass, not even a floor that she could stand on.

Everything around her was just completely black.

For some reason though, she could somehow freely move around and stand up with her own two legs.

Not only that, but her body wasn't in any pain at all.

'So is this what happens when someone actually dies?' Iris thought to herself and started to roam around the endless abyss.

And after cluelessly roaming around the abyss for god who knows how long, a shadowy figure could be seen from a far distance.

So she quickly sprinted over to the shadowy figure.

However, as she had gotten more close to the shadowy figure and its appearance started to slowly reveal itself, Iris's eyes started to shake intensely.

"Ronald..." Iris muttered quietly.

While Iris could easily recognize that it was Ronald, she couldn't help but feel extremely shaken up when she saw the kind of appearance Ronald had.

Parts of his hair had gone missing, one of his arms had been completely severed off, parts of the bone from his torso and legs are exposed out in the open, multiple holes where bones had been shattered were visible all over his body, and there were countless scar marks around his entire body, with many of them looking to have caused severe internal injuries.

Furthermore, one of his eyeballs had gone completely missing and his eyeball that remained was completely red.

And yet...

Despite all of that...

Ronald's face was just as calm and composed.

"Ronald..." Iris spoke again, but this time with tears welling up in her eyes.

Immediately afterwards, she tried to move her body towards Ronald in order to embrace him, but for some reason, she couldn't seem to move her body at all.

"I'm sorry, Young Master... I'm so so s-s-sorry!" Knowing that she was part of the reason why Ronald had suffered in the past, tears were flowing out of Iris's eyes uncontrollably.

"It's alright." Ronald looked at Iris and lightly smiled at her.

""How... How can you be fine? And why are you smiling? You're..." Iris struggled to find the words she needed to say.

"I'm used to it all." Ronald calmly said.

"Used to it all...?" Iris questioned.

"Yes. My whole life has been filled with suffering, and yet I don't mind it... Because I know that someday, this will all be over... And when that day comes, I'll finally be free." Ronald showed a look of longing in his eyes.

"Free...? W-why are you not free now?" Iris questioned with a trembling voice.

"That's because... I'm a villain." Ronald said with a faint smile on his lips.

"A... villain?" Iris echoed the word.

"Yes. I am a villain."

"W-what do you mean you're a villain? Why would you call yourself a villain?" Iris sounded confused.

"Because I'm someone who opposes the protagonist, that's why I'm considered a villain." Ronald paused for a brief moment before continuing on.

"And because I'm a villain, not only am I hated by the entire world, but I also have... or had to suffer because of it." Ronald announced.

"B-but I don't hate you! I love you, Ronald! So please...!" Iris cried out loud.

"It's... too late for that."

"No, n-no! It's not! Please...!" Although Iris had no idea what he meant by that, she still pleaded anyways.

"There's nothing you can do. This is the fate I'm bounded to." Ronald stated.

"A fate you're bounded to..." Iris repeated multiple times.

Then after repeating it multiple times like a old broken record...

"Then I'll change your fate." Iris announced with unwavering determination in her eyes.

"Haven't you been trying to do that already?" Ronald asked.

"I thought I was... but all I was doing was trying to protect you... but now I can see what I must absolutely do." Iris stared directly into Ronald's eyes.

"I see... however, you do realize that I'm just a figment of your imagination, correct?" Seeing the intense gaze in Iris's eyes, Ronald couldn't help but say.

"I do, but that doesn't mean that I won't save you, the real you." Iris said back with even more determination.

"Is that so, you're quite delusional then, but good luck." Ronald's disfigured body then evaporated into thin air, leaving only Iris behind.

Then a few seconds later, the entire black void around Iris started to disappear.

Suddenly, Iris found herself laying on solid ground once again...

Only this time, instead of trying to protect Ronald like she had always done...

This time she will try to change his fate.

The Villain's Fate.