Side Story Chapter 4
As she felt the sunlight beyond her closed eyelids, Iris opened her eyes with a dazed expression.
Her neck felt unnecessarily stiff.
Of course it would. Her bed and pillow were made of books. Even an iron man couldn't endure a month in a place like this.
“…Cough.”
She felt like she coughed up some dust.
How long had she slept?
She had fallen asleep as the day was just beginning to break, so it must have been about two hours. She scratched her messy hair and got up from her sleeping spot.
The journey to the washbasin was not easy. Iris almost tripped a couple of times over thick books and only arrived after bumping her head against the wall once.
Splash-As she splashed cold water on her face, catching it with both hands, her blurry mind belatedly awakened.
After a quick wash, she looked in the mirror and saw a woman with an unbelievably haggard expression.
“Hmm.”
Iris was satisfied with the look but felt it was still a bit lacking. The idiot reflected in the mirror needed to suffer a bit more.
“Hard to tell which of us is the vampire like this.”
A ridiculous voice came from behind, and Iris formed a faint smile at her lips.
“I have been mistaken for one before.”
“When was that?”
“Well… a long time ago.”
Charles rolled his eyes.
Then, without asking further, he changed the subject.
“How long did you sleep?”
“About six hours.”
Charles didn't bother to pressing more to the obvious lie. He already knew how meaningless such arguments were.
It wasn't his role to worsen the condition of a woman whose spirit was already being eroded by trivial disputes.
“Breakfast is ready.”
“Can you bring it to me?”
“Knowing you'd say that, I already put it on the table.”
“Thank you.”
Iris smiled brightly and reached for the toast and espresso placed on the table. She quite liked the food of Earth, especially this bitter coffee. Even more so that it had an awakening effect.
“What are your plans for today?”
While having a simple meal, Iris opened a book again and answered without taking her eyes off the page.
“Just a bit more reading… Hmm. I have an appointment in the evening.”
“Evening… Ah.”
Charles nodded.
“That was today.”
Iris nodded, and a brief silence fell.
Iris quickly finished two pieces of toast. Charles handed her a wet tissue to stop her from licking the grease off her fingers. Since when had the Master known for being flawless become so sloppy.
…Of course, he wasn't disappointed in that. If there was anyone Charles was disappointed in, it would be himself.
He remembered Iris's appearance from the middle of the night.
She was drenched in cold sweat, as if she'd woken from the worst nightmare.
Since then, Iris had changed. She often wore a fabricated smile, zoned out frequently, and became stricter with herself.
‘Stricter?'
No. That was an understatement.
Iris behaved as if she loathed herself more than ever. Yet, unable to die, she seemed to present herself with a different kind of hell every day.
It was the most dreadful kind of self-torture Charles had ever seen. He couldn't even begin to imagine how much Iris's mind had deteriorated or what perspective she had of the world now.
“…Please let me know if you need my help anytime.”
Iris's gaze briefly turned to him, and she gave a faint smile.
“Of course. Thank you.”
He knew it was an empty statement.
They had had this conversation dozens of times already.
“…Stay strong, Master.”
Still, it was better than saying nothing, so Charles said it every day.
***
As the sun set once more, Iris closed her book.
“Hmm…”
She stretched for the first time that day. Her stiff body and joints screamed in protest.
“So uncomfortable. This body.”
Muttering softly, she opened the door.
Beyond her room was a world filled with violet mist. Countless holes, with no discernible pattern, punctuated the area, each leading to different locations.
It was a place so complex that even the keenest guide couldn’t discern directions, but Iris was familiar with it. She walked through the seamlessly blended space and soon found the place she desired.
A mansion shrouded in night,
It was her destination, untouched for a long time, with no flames flickering and dust accumulating.
Tap—
She stepped into the central hall of the mansion after leaving the mixed world.
“Did it have to be here of all places?”
A brusque voice immediately reached her ears.
Down the hallway to the left,
A white-haired elf was leaning against the wall. The moonlight beyond the window illuminated her, making her already stern expression even more pronounced.
“You arrived quickly, Snow.”
“I had nothing else to do.”
It wasn't wrong.
Snow,
Once the head of the Anti Circle Alliance, she was now all alone. It wasn’t that her faction had disbanded. Rather, Snow had abandoned them.
Iris’s gaze slowly dropped from Snow's face to her shoulders, arms, and finally to her hand.
“Have you gotten used to your left hand?”
“Hmm. Well……”
Snow trailed off, flexing her hand before shaking her head.
“You didn't summon me to ask after my arm.”
“True. But the others haven’t arrived yet…”
“I am here.”
An irritable, rough voice.
A red-haired woman was perched on the central staircase.
“For the record, I arrived first.”
Not Nix,
It's Torkunta now.
“So, everyone is here.”
“Everyone? All I see are three washed up rags.”
Snow's self-deprecation amused her, and she let out a low laugh. Torkunta’s expression grew uncomfortable at the cynical remark but didn’t argue. The past years had crumbled their lofty pride like sandcastles. There had been enough reasons for that.
That was why Iris liked them. Was it camaraderie born of shared suffering… or perhaps something different?
“The night is deep. Lately, my hobby is sleeping. I enjoy sleeping as long as possible. When I’m awake…”
She trailed off, but Iris could guess the unspoken words.
─I feel like I’m going crazy.
“…Anyway, I’d prefer if we got to the point, Black Witch.”
“I can’t even understand why it’s just the three of us. What commonality do we have?”
Torkunta’s words prompted Iris to respond.
“We do have a commonality. We did not agree with Diablo’s claims.”
Both Snow and Torkunta’s eyebrows twitched simultaneously at that.
“You can say that for me and this elf. But not for you, right? Haven’t you been moving with that skeleton since that day?”
“I didn’t think it was necessary to oppose him outright. Especially since most of my subordinates were swayed by his rhetoric.”
Iris nonchalantly replied and continued.
“We have several other commonalities… but let’s move on for now. The reason I called you here is simple. I want you two to be my right and left arms.”
“……”
“……”
Chilling silence.
“You don’t seem to be missing any arms.”
Torkunta was the first to speak. She didn’t hide her discomfort.
“It’s merely a figurative expression. Was it too much for a drake to understand?”
“…I said it because it was absurd.”
Snow, seeming to feel the same way, tilted her head.
“Right and left arms. I don’t quite understand what you mean by that. Explain.”
“As you know, with the occurrence of the Great Fusion, independent universes began merging into one. Consequently, secrets that were once unknown and should not be known to mortals became accessible to everyone.”
The moment Iris snapped her fingers, a crack appeared in the space behind her as if responding to her action.
“And thanks to my inherent spatial abilities and the coordinates I learned from the Great Priestess, I was able to access the Void Record. It's quite an interesting library. I intend to share the vast information there with you.”
“Share?”
“Yes. Snow, you might be able to fully heal your damaged arm and reach a higher level. Torkunta, you might achieve the separation you’ve been longing for.”
“…!”
Torkunta’s eyes widened in surprise, but Snow remained indifferent. Without showing excitement or joy, she spoke in a lukewarm voice.
“…I don’t see the connection. What does that have to do with making us your right and left arms?”
“Because I need power.”
Iris murmured.
“The Great Fusion. Even when tracing back through the history of the universe, it’s an unprecedented event, but this is only the beginning. The truly astounding events haven’t happened yet. To prepare for that, I need to stockpile power.”
Yes. Iris Peacefinder has a mission.
Even if she no longer deserves forgiveness, she cannot commit any more sins.
She must become stronger.
The path he walks always requires strength, and powerlessness is a sin.
Iris had experienced that far too many times in her long life.
So.
“Let’s grow stronger together.”
Power was needed.
***
The Red Knight El liked the snowy plains in the southern region of the Void World.
At the very least, this place resembled her homeland the most compared to other places in this world.
Of course, there were some disappointments.
It did not snow here. There was no chilling sky that froze one’s chest, nor could one find the tough weeds that occasionally poked their heads out in the snowy fields.
A world called a dumpsite.
A world that remained stagnant and unchanging.
A world at a standstill.
There was a change in such a place.
[…….]
El watched her own breath and suddenly lifted her head.
─Snowflakes were falling from the sky. Faced with this weather phenomenon she had never witnessed in thousands of years, El was rendered speechless.
That wasn’t all.
The sky started to take on a dark bluish hue, creating a scene resembling the midnight sun. It looked like a dark watercolor painting. Though it was impossible, it seemed as if day and night were occurring in this Void World.
In disbelief, El removed her helmet and looked up at the sky again.
“……”
She pricked up her ears.
…She could sense the presence of life. As she turned her gaze, a small rodent-like creature suddenly poked its head out from the snow.
An animal that shouldn’t exist in the Void World.
It was a creature from the outside world, long forgotten—
“Is this your doing?”
This wasn’t a soliloquy.
El was questioning someone.
A bothersome cohabitant who had been staying in these snowy plains for some time.
Hwaaah!
That presence soon revealed itself.
A figure flickered in the white night sky.
It couldn’t be called a solid form, but it was clear that at least the will of that being existed there.
[It wasn’t me.]
The Ruler, Sun God, answered as he manifested.
El was silent for a moment before speaking again.
“…It’s impossible. This animal being here.”
Her unique choppy, hard to understand manner of speaking continued.
“What's happening? What exactly is going on?”
[It has entered the next stage.]
“Next stage?”
[Do you know? Outside this place, in the Three Thousand Worlds. There is currently an unprecedented event called the Great Fusion occurring there.]
What is he talking about?
El had asked about what was happening in the Void World, not the Three Thousand Worlds.
[Don’t you understand? They are connecting… The Great Fusion is no longer confined to the Three Thousand Worlds. Everything you are witnessing now is evidence of that.]
“Does that mean…”
[Yes.]
The Sun God continued in a low voice.
[The Three Thousand Worlds and the Void World are merging…]
*****
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