Chapter 103 : Sacrifice & Resolution (Part 1)

15 Minutes before the tragedy happened.

In the Viorgrand Kingdom, which takes place in the castle where the royalty stayed. The Elf Queen, The Ruler of this Kingdom–Erna Liv Viorgrand was standing at the terrace where she could see her Kingdom from above her castle and guarded by two guards, along with the Adventurers team that were left there to protect the Kingdom.

Worried and nervous, could be seen through her expression and the others as well.

The team still cannot believe that they were left behind, while their leader–Crimson a.k.a Kiritsuka Rei were fighting against a monster that could swallow up an entire army.

Meanwhile, the brother of Iris–Albert couldn't help but feel worried about his little sister while he stood there looking at where Iris left the kingdom to fight the monster.

The vice-team leader–Fang approached the lone man and asked him, "Albert-sama, is everything alright?"

"Yes, I am fine...although I am quite worried about her now." Albert answered as he couldn't hide the fact he's really worried about her.

Fang nodded, "Indeed...it hasn't been that long since they have arrived at the location but I am sure they are alright since they already planned everything beforehand."

"I hope so too, but somehow...I couldn't help but feel like she might be going far, far away from me." Albert spoke as he folded his hands and clenched his arms.

Fang could only look at him, then he glanced at his team. His team was the same, they were nervous and worried, since they couldn't be of any help here.

"How about you? Your leader went off alone to fight such a gigantic monster, aren't you worried?" Albert asked him.

"Well, it's a lie if I said that I am not worried...but knowing him...he doesn't want us to get in his way."

"Really? How rude, despite having such a strong ally as yourself."

Fang laughed, "I am flattered, but I think you misunderstood the way he is doing."

"What is that?"

"I think...he just doesn't want us to get into danger."

"Him? That cold-hearted guy who crushed and cut those freaking bandits into pieces?" Albert raised his brows, unconvinced.

Fang smiled awkwardly, "Uhhhh...yeah, well it's just my instinct telling me, somehow he is pretty distant from us Adventurers...like he has a goal that is completely different and out of this world."

"A goal..."

"Yeah, although despite the differences, I wanna catch up to him as soon as possible, that is why me and Andrew there received training for us." Fang spoke.

"He trained you both? Really?"

Fang looked proud of himself, "Fufu~ look! After many years training my sword, I have finally achieved [Aura] as a [Warrior], Andrew too."

"Isn't that amazing?!" Albert was surprised at the fact that a B-class Adventurer like him would achieve [Aura] that could only be achieved by training with an expert.

'Then does that mean...Crimson, is an expert that could teach someone about [Aura]?' Albert thought.

"Although it's not as amazing as him, but for sure...I will catch up to him if I work harder." Fang spoke with a wide grin, as if to try to lighten up the mood.

Albert widened his eyes and nodded with a smile, "Indeed, I can't wait to go home and start training, so I could match my little sister and him."

"Ouh! We will do our best then!" Fang shouted.

"Although don't you dare target my little sister." Albert spoke in a threatening tone towards him, breaking the nice bonding atmosphere between them.

Meanwhile, The Queen–Erna were staring at the direction where Rei headed off.

The Princess–Ruru approached her, looking concerned that her sister might have been a bit too worried.

"Onee-chan? Are you okay?" Ruru asked her.

"Mm? Ahh, yes I am fine~" Erna answered but there was a bit of a lack of focus because she kept staring at that one direction.

"Are you perhaps...worried about them?" Ruru asked her once more.

"Is my face that easy to read, just like others?"

Ruru waved both of her hands, "N-no, I mean...I just felt like you might be worried if Onii-sama caused a problem."

Erna giggled, "Fufufu~ that is true~ thinking about his stubbornness, I can imagine he will cause problems to him."

Ruru laughed, "Pft~ hehehe~ that's true~"

The tense atmosphere that was around these sisters, finally lightened up due to their talking about their brother. As they calmed down, Erna looked in the same direction again.

"Still...I would be worried since he's my family, and you too Ruru." Erna spoke.

Ruru looked down a bit, "I-...I'm..."

"I know, I know the answer and I will answer it again, I know you love this country more than anyone that you decided to risk yourself to get out of the village without knowing how." Erna spoke.

"But still..."

"Don't let your regret blinded your path, and do your best to do what is right for you."

"Onee-sama..."

"Now, let's pray for our brave warriors who were fighting against those monsters–!!"

When Erna spoke those words...

*SWOOSH* *BZZZTT* *BZZZTT*

A sudden wave of powerful energy just spread and hit the kingdom, and...

It is enough to pressurize the whole kingdom.

Heavy.

That's the only thing they could feel from this far, as if something heavy just weighed down their whole body.

Including the Adventurers team.

*CLINK*

*CLACK*

They immediately draw their weapons and ready for combat that would come to them.

Erna already created a barrier around them.

The pressure coming from this energy was still able to slip into the barrier and cause them to feel weakened a bit.

"What happened..." Albert spoke.

"I don't know...but something must happen from that place." Fang answered.

'Crimson...is this the best choice?' Fang thought as he endured

the pressure.

He's reminded of his talk with Crimson from a while ago.

******

It was the night before they departed, Rei was having a discussion with his team about him going alone to fight [Jormungand].

[Are you sure, it's fine for you to fight it alone?] Fang asked.

[Yeah, I need to face it alone.]

[But we are a team Crimson-san!] Andrew argued.

[I know, but if you guys got caught by the miasma or injured, it will affect our teamwork, especially since you never faced a large monster like that before.] Rei answered.

[But...] When Andrew was about to say something, Fang raised his hand to stop him.

[Crimson...are we a hindrance for you?] Fang spoke as if he noticed this from a long time ago.

[....] Rei didn't answer him immediately, [Yeah... you are all a hindrance to me.] Rei coldly spoke to them.

It hurts when he spoke something like that in his cold tone towards them as if they weren't needed to help him at all despite they have worked together for quite some time.

[I see...then that decides it.]

But only Fang, who's smiling at him.

[Fang-san!]

[But promise you that you will come back safely.] Fang's smile dropped and spoke to him seriously.

[....I cannot promise you that, but I will come back for you guys, I mean...I do still want to continue our adventure.] Rei answered him.

With those words, it lightened up the mood but the concern about him still remained.

******

Back to the current time, only Erna remained on her spot. Her eyes grew wide as if she saw something unbelievable.

"No...it can't be."

Erna mumbled as her face slowly turned into fear.

"We must WARN THEM!" Erna frantically shouted at them as her face looked more terrified than usual.

The Adventurers team looked nervous when she saw her terrified look, as if she just saw something she shouldn't.

"What do you mean–"

"If you do not tell them they all will die! Especially Crimson and Eindride!!" Erna spoke.

In that moment, they will soon know what kind of existence that Rei gonna face now.

******

Now, we are back at the East side of the forest, towards an underground area created by the explosion that was caused by Iris.

She had just finished her conversation with the [Demon God, Ars] and was now standing in front of the corpse of the monster she defeated a few minutes ago.

[The Spider Queen, Arachne], the spider monster that had the ability to create her own army and destroy her enemy with her big size as well as deadly poison that contained many debuffs.

But this monster was destroyed when Iris exploited her weakness by throwing [Salamander Bomb] towards the cave filled with her eggs and burned them along with Arachne.

The corpse from that monster that was scorched black from the cause of the bomb, currently emitting a dark energy from around its body.

A new [Quest] appeared in front of her eyes.

=======================================

[Notice!]

[Quest : "Subjugate the Demon Spider"]

[The Demon God, Ars], giving player "Yomi" a quest, which is to subjugate a monster called [The Demon Spider, Arachne]. A monster that was evolved through the blessing of [The Demon God] himself, into a [Cursed] being–a [Demon].

[Requirements]

Target : [The Demon Spider, Arachne] [1/0]

Reward:

● Skill : [??????]

● Title : [??????????]

=======================================

A named monster that had both [Unique] and [Boss] traits on it, now added with a new trait which was [Cursed] being that came from one race.

[Demon].

The monster that was considered dead before, now arose from death caused by the [Blessing] that was received from [Demon God, Ars].

Iris gulped when she saw the quest details, "This is..."

"Ojou-sama!" Silvi called her.

Iris turned to them and she could see that Silvi and Harson were able to talk now, since the world returned to its original state.

"You guys–"

*RUMBLE* *RUMBLE* *RUMBLE*

As the ground shook, it finally began.

The transformation.

*RUMBLE* *RUMBLE*

*Unforgivable...*

A voice rang through their head.

*Unforgivable...*

It's getting louder.

*Unforgivable...*

And that voice came from...

*UNFORGIVABLE!!*

The corpse of the [Spider Queen, Arachne] started moving.

Iris and the others suddenly felt the pressure of a pure killing intent from that corpse.

*SWOOSH*

They immediately jumped away, around 100 meter away from the corpse after they felt something like that.

"Ojou-sama...what just happened." Harson asked her since he was uncertain of this situation, like Silvi.

Iris didn't know how to answer that.

'This is...different from the game.' Iris thought.

'Right now...what am I facing!'

*RUMBLE* *RUMBLE*

The body continued to move as it slowly tried to get up from the scorched body.

*How dare you...to kill all my children*

Arachne spoke.

*CRACK*

The sound of something cracking reached their ears...

*How dare you...to destroy my home.*

*CRACK* *CRACK*

As the voice began changing and twisted into a voice filled with anger and grudge

*I will not forgive you...I will not forgive you...I will not forgive you!! YOU!! HUMAN!!–*

*CRACK*

The sound that came from its body...that started to crumble.

*BUUSHHH*

Just right before the corpse could even stand, something came out from the corpse's head.

A hand to be more exact, that seemed to look like an insect arm but it's the same size and same complexion as a humanoid being.

*CRACK* *BUSSSSHH*

Followed with the other hand, after that...

*CRACCKKK* *BUSSSHHHH*

The corpse's body was split open and something finally came out from it...leaking out a strange yet strong...[Dark Energy].

The thing that came out looked disgusting yet elegant. Not only that, this one appeared to be humanoid sized and had a female body without clothes but this skin-like armor covered most of the private parts of the body, while the arms and legs looked different.

Dark skin, like the ones on her body, but the difference is there are something resembling blades on her forearms. Meanwhile, her legs were the same on its forelegs although her knees were covered with sharp-looking spike.

On top of that...this thing appeared to have more than two or four limbs. 12 pairs of limbs to be exact, including a pair of arms and legs, then another pair of [Spiders Legs].

Her face looks like a normal any woman could have but the only thing is different are is her pair of [Eight Eyes].

Iris who saw this immediately sensed something was wrong, the corpse of the [Spider Queen, Arachne] for some reason changed into nothing but an empty husk.

And something came out from that body.

Like a butterfly that came out from its cocoon, but the only thing is different is...a disaster was born from it.

As she figured the situation out, she felt something similar happened again this time.

"Ha...why do I always meet such strong monsters like this." Iris sighed as she felt her body begin to sweat.

Yes...she knew.

'I can tell...from my eyes, without even checking her status I can tell.'

The name appeared above the head of the monster, in [black color].

This time, there's no error as the name was shown to her.

[Demon Spider, Arachne].

Just like the first one she met in the city, [The Prototype Ashura, Styx].

But there was one thing that was certain, there's something different.

And that is...

*Unforgivable...*

The unforgettable grudge she had...towards Iris.

*Unforgivable...Unforgivable!*

Who killed all her children along with her past self.

*UNFORGIVABLE!!!*

She began to shout as the ground began to shook and she released some sort of her dark energy aura from her body.

'This is...!' Iris could tell something different than what she had ever faced before.

First, the emotion that was shown from this monster spread out was not [Fear] of death or her own survival.

But...

'It's [Anger]...the anger of her children getting killed, was the trigger that evolved her into that being.'

'Not to mention, with the help of the blessing she got from [Ars], it revives her from her death which is very absurd to think something like that could happen.' Iris thought,

'It is true that three of us managed to save our strength, but that doesn't mean it's full, even if we banded together one of us might die...and I won't let that happen.' She bit her lip, not knowing what to do

'But this monster...clearly becomes a [High-class Demon] just like [Styx]. I can defeat it using [Light Magic] but I don't know how to use it properly.'

'But...from the information I received, the moment I used [Take Over], the skill I used was completely different and the control from the mana and the opposite element...is ridiculously insane.'

'I cannot deny it...[Iris May Welford] the soul within me who came from the future...is much stronger than I thought, to think she was able to use [Light Magic] as if it was her own from the start.'

'Compared to me now...who is just her replacement, I...' Iris looked at Silvi and Harson as they stood in front of her.

Iris bit her lower lips harder, 'Yes...these connections don't belong to me, I am just a replacement for her.'

'Now...I know the truth, I don't need to hold back.' Iris then took a step forwards to face the strong pressure wave that weightened their body.

"Ojou-sama!" Silvi and Hanson called her name.

"Seriously...in the end you called me that name." Iris looked at them.

Silvi and Harson who looked upon her expression, widened their eyes when they saw something.

A smile with a faint of sadness appeared on her face.

As her hair flew in the air because of the wind created from that pressure.

"Ojou-sama...what are you–" Silvi spoke.

"This might be a farewell, I thank both of you for following and trusting me all the time." Iris' smile faltered. "It is time for me…to be gone."

"Ojou-sama...what do you mean–" Harson spoke but he was cut off when he saw the expression on her face that tried to tell them that she's about to die or…

...disappeared before them.

*GRRRRR...YOU HUMAN CHILD!! I SHALL HAVE YOUR HEAD AND FEAST ON IT FOR MY NEW CHILDREN!!!*

*SWOOSH*

Arachne immediately jumped from her spot towards Iris.

*SHING* *SWOOSH*

As she stretched out her sharp left arm and swung it with her claws when Iris wasn't looking.

'Now...I am ready.'

Iris spoke as her eyes changed into red the moment she turned her head towards the upcoming attack.

.

.

.

.

'[Take...Over].'

******

As if the time had stopped like before, a notice appeared in front of her.

[Notice!]

A change have appeared from emergency skill [Take Over]

At that moment, her skill description showed her something.

=======================================

[Take Over]

Active Skill

Duration : 15 min. => ?????

Cooldown : ????

A skill that allows a soul from someone to come and possess one's body. All skills from [Passive] and [Active] would be temporarily increased into Max level.

Penalty: Decrease -50% overall status for 1 hour

=======================================

The description didn't change that much, but the duration of the skill turned into [?????] which means it's uncertain when she's going back to normal.

Then a voice came in...

'Are you sure it is fine?' A woman's voice asked her through her mind.

'You seem to know of my identity now, and since you knew already...there's no going back.' The woman spoke.

'I know...but this body belongs to you.' Yomi spoke as if she knew where this voice came from.

Yes...the real Iris May Welford appeared in front of her. She had the same build as her, the same face and the same color of hair, but her eyes were red.

Iris looked upon her, 'Are you sure? isn't the connection between you and the others, are the one you built for two years.'

'You knew...' Yomi widened her eyes.

Iris giggled, 'Fufufu~ even if I am asleep, I still have ears and eyes you know, although the way you play your cards is amazing~ I am proud of you~'

'Ummmm...hehehe~ I never thought I would get complimented by someone like you~' Yomi looked away shyly.

'And...thank you for saving my family, even though you did replace the position that should belong to me...but I owe you still.' Iris spoke.

'It's okay, I owe your family...they were...good people.' Yomi spoke with a smile.

Iris looked at her 'You won't regret it? I mean...don't you want to go back and be by his side?'

Yomi shook her head, 'I know, but I cannot guarantee if he is alive...it's just unrequited love after all. I adored him and loved him, and I felt guilty that turned him into that state...'

'Maybe this is my punishment...but I won't consider it, since knowing him he would sacrifice himself for me.'

'Then I shall do the same, if it's to save them...I will risk my life for them to be like him.'

Iris widened her eyes and smiled upon her, 'It seems I am starting to learn, where your strength comes from...and [her] strength too.'

'[Her] strength? Do you mean–'

Iris put her index finger on Yomi's lips to stop her from saying that name, 'Shhh~ you cannot say her name~' Iris spoke with some sort of devilish smile on her current expression.

Yomi just nodded.

'Good~ and now, are you ready?'

Iris pulled her finger away from her lips then Yomi looked straight into her eyes.

'I am...ready.' Yomi spoke.

Then Iris raised her hand towards her, 'Hold it, and I will take over this madness.'

Yomi looked at her and slowly raised her hand, 'Yes...please save them.' then...

*THUD*

Yomi held her hand.

Then her vision slowly became fuzzy as her body weakened and fell towards Iris in front of her.

Iris smiled widely and stroked her hair gently. 'Sleep well~ I will take care of them...for you, my dear Yomi~♡'

Then finally, Yomi's consciousness fell into deep sleep while Iris' eyes glinted red.

The [Take Over]

.

.

.

.

Finally [Start].

******

*SLASH*

After that, her eyes were wide open. The same thing happened once more, as if it was a normal thing to happen again.

Silvi and Harson widened their eyes as they saw it

*SPURT*

Green blood spurt out from the left arm that was clean cut by something when it was about to strike Iris' face off.

Arachne, who evolved by the blessing of [The Demon God, Ars], turned into [Cursed] being, a [Demon], that should be something to fear of…

Lost her left arm.

Arachne couldn't understand what happened, without even noticing, she already lost her left arm. That was until her eyes fixated on something.

Arachne's eight eyes widened when she saw...

Her left arm was being held by someone she was going to kill.

Yes...it was Iris who held the decapitated left arm on her left hand.

*CLINK*

While her other hand was holding the hilt of her rapier that was on her waist, as if she just unsheathed it and sheathed it back in the blink of an eye.

Arachne couldn't see her expression because it was hidden with her hair.

Then when she lifted her head...

"Aha~♡ Is this an encore?~"

Arachne felt something within her when she met her gaze, as she suddenly...

*SWOOSH*

Jumped backwards very far away from Iris and landed with such a terrified expression.

"Haaa~♡"

Iris suddenly yawned, it sounded almost like a moan but she just yawned and stretched her neck side to side.

*CRACK* *CRACK*

"Such a long sleep, but after waking up again..." She looked around her, "The same scenery, although it's daylight. But this place is just ruins, like the last time....and~"

Then she directed her eyes at something in front of her.

"A [Demon]~ or a [Demon Chimera]? Since I can feel something mixed in your core~" Iris spoke with a smile as her eyes glinted.

Arachne shivered, as if her gaze was an invisible blade that went through her.

Then...the monster realized something had gone wrong.

*You....Who are you? You are not that human child.*

Arachne asked.

The same question asked by the people who are present in this place.

Iris simply smiled, the same smile she always did but...

She didn't seem like herself.

"Me?~"

As she pointed herself.

"Child?~ Oh right I still looks like a child, where is my manner~ I almost forgot to introduce myself~"

She acted innocent like a little girl who is gonna introduce herself in child-like manner.

"My name~"

As she spoke, her lips curved into twisted wide smile.

"[Iris May Welford]~♡"

And when she spoke her name, her eyes complete turned into red...

"And the one will hunt you~"

...like the blood, that she's gonna spill.

To be continue…