Intermission: Iris' Excuse

"Damn it. Damn it!"

Iris had been born in a clan with much better connections compared to the Heaven clan, but after losing in a battle to determine the clan leader, she was forcefully married off. Even so, she hadn't given up her ambitions and worked tirelessly as Nate's wife and Nathan's mother.

'And this is how I'm repaid?!'

Just thinking about what she just went through had her shaking in rage.

She had managed to escape the destruction of the Heaven clan after noticing that it would definitely fall and that the Clite clan would never let them off, and finally reunited with her son after much hardship. But what did he do?

"Leave. I never want to see you again."

With cold eyes that she had never seen before, he pushed her away.

"Ho-how could you say that? It's your mother, you know."

In a state of disbelief, Iris took a step towards Nathan, but almost instantaneously, Nathan took out his spear and touched her slender neck with its tip.

"I'm serious. It's for your own good, mother."

Without wasting another glance on her, Nathan left the desolate area into the darkness of night.

'I can't believe he treated me like this... Me, his own mother! What an unfilial child! And after all the sacrifices I made to make him grow strong, how could he be so ungrateful?!'

Both due to the shock she felt from Nathan's treatment of her, and how she distraught she was now that she had been abandoned by the last person she thought of relying on, Iris could do nothing but sit there and mumble her frustrations. After her long and rough journey, she could no longer afford to wear her favourite traditional gowns and forced herself into a cheap, long dress, but even that was dirty and worn.

Iris felt lost. So lost in fact, that she had forgotten where she was. This was no high-class inn or safe zone, it was just a wide alley at night. She didn't have the funds for an inn to begin with, but perhaps if she had kept her wits things would have been different.

"Hoh? Hehehe, what do we have here?"

Suddenly, she heard the deep voice of a man approaching her from behind. She flinched and frantically turned around to face a drunken man with his hairy, muscular forearms exposed. The moment she realised that this man was at the very least at mid Soul Realm, Iris slowly took a step back with a polite smile on her face.

"How may I help you?"

"Hic*, uh, how 'bout you help me have some fun?"

Iris felt chills as she saw the look in his eyes and hurriedly tried to run away. However, even though he was drunk, the man was still a few levels above her. In one movement, he caught up to her and pushed her to the ground.

"Haha!"

He wasn't sober enough to cast a simple paralysis spell, but his strength was enough to restrain her.

"No, no!"

With one hand he restricted her hands, and with the other he ripped off her dress.

"Stop! You beast!"

"Kuku, I'll show you a beast."

The man leaned over and forced a kiss on her lips while using one hand to fondle her breasts. After that, it wasn't much longer until he enjoyed the rest of her body. Eventually, Iris stopped trying to struggle and tears ran down from her empty eyes. But when she saw the greedy smile on his face as he ravaged her, Iris felt a crazed anger being born from within her.

'Why, does trash like this, have the right to do this to me? And why, should I allow?!'

"Hoh, looks like you're enjoying it too."

As the man felt Iris being more active in their sexual exchange, he let go of her hands and embraced her without restraint. However, as their intercourse got more exciting, the man started feeling strangely sluggish.

"Huh? What's, happening to, me?"

He wanted to pull out, but Iris kept him trapped in sensual pleasure until he was completely shrivelled up like a raisin. As Iris looked down on his corpse, she felt nothing. This wasn't the first time she had killed someone, but after executing a demonic art to extract his essence through his discharge, she felt neither regret nor accomplished. She didn't feel glad that she found this art while training Nathan, nor sad that she had used it. Not just her mind, maybe even her heart didn't know how to feel.

She took off everything the man had, including his clothes and his money and left the alley. The clothes that were too big for her attracted more hungry eyes, but she managed to make it to the nearest inn without getting attacked a second time.

Of course, the rowdy men drinking liquor on the first floor took quick notice of her, but it seemed that they were well-behaved enough to not try and share her up here. Still, she might not be as lucky the next time she walked through.

The innkeeper/bartender didn't say anything unnecessary as he took her money and gave her the key to a room. When she finally made her way to her room, Iris dropped face-first into the washed-out bed. As she thought back to what she just went through, Iris' shoulders trembled. Then, muffled sounds could be heard from her mouth. And finally, she raised her head to the ceiling, and laughed manically.

"Ku, kukuku. Ha, hahaha!"

She didn't even realise that tears ran down her cheeks, she only continued to laugh.

'Why did I waste all that time scheming? Didn't elder brother tell me, power is everything!'

The next level used to always be so far away, but now the second level in the Soul Realm seemed to be within reach.

'I was doing everything wrong. I said that I would use everything I had to fulfil my ambition, but wasn't I still holding back? This body, with this body I'll rise to the top no matter what it takes!'

Whether or not it was possible didn't matter. Plans, could be made on the spot. Morals, she had long thrown those away. Betrayed by her own life choices, Iris found a new path. With her own hands, she embraced depravity.

It was at this time, that the first sign of a demonic cultivator, a faint black sigil, appeared on her back.

The very next day, Iris came down the stairs in a simple dress that she made from the clothing of the man she killed.

"Good morning."

Unlike when she came in last night, Iris appeared with a bright smile and looked even younger than before. While sexual desire was inevitably drawn out when the men saw her, they also felt humbled before her beauty.

"G-good morning."

There were some that shook their heads and tried to ignore her, while there were also those who blushed and tried to respond. It had been quite some time since she had seen a sight like this, so a bit of genuineness showed in her smile.

'Oh, look at the little pigs oink. How cute.'

Three days after Iris awakened to her new perspective, eight dead men were found with their life essence drained and a beautiful maiden in the Soul Realm had left the city under the protection of an all-male team of workers.