Iris rubbed her eyes, sat up, and muttered to herself, "It feels great to dominate the weak! I really wish I could meet you in my dream and train you to be my mount. That way, it would compensate for my inability to fly."
"Gurgle, gurgle..." Suddenly, Iris's stomach growled twice, and she touched her belly, realizing that she was hungry.
She hadn't eaten for a while, and with the recent battles, she was starting to feel weak.
She took out some chunks of meat from her storage space, smeared them with blood, and threw a piece into her mouth to chew and swallow.
After finishing a piece of meat, Iris felt much better with her previously empty stomach satisfied.
After eating, Iris stood up slowly, dusted off her clothes, and the white blaze lion turned back into a white flame, returning to her wrist.
Iris shook her left hand, and a white flame emerged, illuminating the surroundings.
She looked around and found that the cave was dark with uneven walls, as if spiders often crawled out to eat rocks outside the cave.
Iris continued walking forward, and soon, she saw a three-meter-high staircase.
"It seems that the diary didn't have any mistakes," Iris murmured to herself and walked towards the staircase.
Along the way, she saw many corpses, piled up densely like mountains. Iris didn't pay attention to them and continued walking.
After walking for a while, Iris faintly heard the sound of clanging, like the collision of metal and the friction of metal.
"Could there be someone here?" Iris wondered and continued walking. After about two hours, Iris saw a giant iron gate. This gate was ten zhang tall and three zhang wide. It was an extremely heavy door with many locks on both sides, and these locks were strange. They were engraved with some complex patterns, like some kind of runes, but Iris didn't recognize any of them.
"Clang, clang..." The sound of metal impact came from behind the gate.
Iris was in no hurry to go in. She knew there was a tiger-like demon beast nearby. If it turned out to be a dead end inside the gate, that would be tragic.
She planned to deal with the demon beast here first before entering the gate.
"Roar~" Accompanied by a roar, a tiger-like demon beast leaped out from above the gate. It was at least fifteen zhang in length, covered in pitch-black fur.
Its eyes gleamed with ferocious green light, especially on its back, where two large wings grew. The spikes on the wings were like sharp swords, shining coldly and extremely intimidating.
Its claws resembled blades, and every swing could create a sonic boom.
When this tiger-like demon beast saw Iris, it immediately opened its mouth and let out a tiger roar. It then spewed out a gust of wind that rushed towards Iris.
The icy wind tore through the air with a sharp whistling sound towards Iris.
The gust of wind was as fast as lightning, and within a blink of an eye, it had reached in front of her.
Iris couldn't dodge in time, but at this critical moment, the phantom of the white flame bird appeared in front of her. The collision between wind and fire created strong fluctuations, and ripples of white residual flames spread out in all directions.
The gust of wind was easily blocked by the white flame bird without harming Iris in the slightest.
The phantom of the white flame bird slowly disappeared.
Looking at the white flame bird in front of her, Iris marveled, "Such strong defense."
"Come on, little kitty, I will definitely make you my contract beast," Iris picked up the pale blue long sword, pointing at the tiger-like demon beast and said.
Her provocative words made the tiger-like demon beast extremely irritable.
It let out a loud roar and swiped its claws at Iris.
Iris sneered, swung her long sword horizontally, and a blue sword aura instantly sliced through the air, slashing towards the tiger-like demon beast.
"Boom!" A muffled sound occurred as the sword aura collided with the beast's claws.
In this clash, Iris didn't gain the upper hand. Her long sword was pushed back, and the force on the demon beast's claws was incredibly strong, leaving bloody marks on Iris's wrist.
"Hisss~" The pain caused Iris to suck in a cold breath, but it also ignited her fighting spirit.
A determination filled her brows, and her eyes became sharp.
"Owoooo..."
The tiger-like monster let out a deep roar and lunged towards Iris, moving as fast as lightning.
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!"
Iris tightly gripped her sword with both hands and unleashed six fierce sword techniques in a row, blocking all of the tiger-like monster's attacks.
As their claws and swords clashed repeatedly, a white flame ignited in Iris's left hand, intending to burn the tiger-like monster to charcoal.
The monster had its own plan. It had gathered a powerful gust of wind in its mouth and intended to catch Iris off guard, dispersing the flames on her body with a gust and then swatting her with its claws.
Both of them were trying to use dirty tricks to kill each other.
In this way, a vampire and a monster fought each other, constantly attacking. Since the monster was a creature of pure strength, there was no tactic to its fighting, just relying on raw power.
Iris, on the other hand, could only dissipate the monster's power using the second sword technique from her sword manual, Rainfall Break.
As time went on, Iris gradually fell behind, her blood spattering onto the ground.
"Boom!"
Iris was forced back several steps, nearly falling to the ground. She looked up at the tiger-like monster with a bitter expression on her face.
If it weren't for this damn collar, Iris would never have chosen such a reckless fighting style. And now, it had only led to her getting injured.
Once I get out of this damn place, Liran Day will definitely kneel before me and sing "Conquer"!
"Owoooo!"
At this moment, the tiger-like monster let out a roar, once again conjuring a powerful gust of wind in its mouth.
"Buzz~"
This gust of wind, mixed with wind blades, viciously blew towards Iris.
Iris had no fear at all. She plunged her sword into the ground and exclaimed, "Gale!"
The sword emitted strong gusts of wind, spreading out in all directions.
"White Flame Bird!"
The phantom of a white flame bird suddenly burst into brilliant flames on Iris's body, illuminating the surroundings.
Those flames seemed alive, dancing and floating around Iris. A huge white flame bird emerged from her body, with wings spread out, obscuring the sky and enveloping Iris within.
"Die!" With a furious shout from Iris, the white flame bird followed the path of the gusts and dove towards the tiger-like monster.
The wind created by the monster couldn't dissipate the image of the white flame bird. As the white flame bird approached, the tiger-like monster began to panic, wanting to escape. However, the gale kept it firmly imprisoned, leaving it unable to break free.
"Boom!"
A loud bang rang out as the tiger-like monster's body exploded, turning into a mist of blood in the sky.
The white flame bird circled in the air for a moment before returning to Iris's body.
Iris looked at the mess of flesh on the ground, feeling satisfied. She had finally eliminated this guy.
"Hoo~ Hoo~" Iris breathed heavily, sweat beads covering her face. The consumption just now was too great, and now she was at her limit.
Blood dripped from her right wrist onto the ground, staining the floor red.
Iris used her sword to cut off a piece of fabric from her black robe and bandaged her wrist. Her movements were skillful, as if she had done this many times before.
She had run out of bandages, so she had to make do with a simple wrap using the fabric strip to prevent excessive bleeding.
"Roar~ Roar~" While Iris was tending to her wound, a low growl came from behind the door, accompanied by the sound of chains on both sides of the door.
Iris paid no attention to the noise inside the door and sat on the ground, resting. She had already made up her mind that there must be some creature chained inside the door, be it human or monster, and she would rush in and kill them.
Iris was not a kind person, and who knows what kind of vile being was locked inside the door?
An hour later, Iris had almost recovered her strength. She stood up, holding her sword, and walked to the front of the door.
In the next second, a giant monster, firmly bound by chains, suddenly appeared in front of Iris. Countless eyes sprouted all over its body. Under the gaze of its golden pupils, Iris felt her head explode in pain and fell to the ground, clutching her head.
This guy looks too fictional, with octopus-like tentacles for a chin and limbs, looking extremely ugly and hideous.
At this moment, horrifying images flashed through Iris' mind. She seemed to see this giant beast breaking free from its cage. It wreaked havoc on the city's buildings, slaughtering creatures, and the sound of death echoed in her ears. This scene sent shivers down Iris' spine.
"Let me go~ Let me go~" The beast in the cage pleaded to Iris.
Iris felt as if her soul was being drained, stumbling towards the iron chains that trapped the giant beast.
At that moment, the white flame in her left hand ignited, causing her pain and bringing some clarity to Iris. Her legs still involuntarily moved towards the chains, the only thing she could control were her left and right hands, while her thoughts became more and more confused.
Just as Iris was about to reach the chains, she suddenly swung her sword and gouged out her own eyes, with blood dripping onto the chains. Her consciousness gradually cleared, returning to its normal state.
"Ah~"
Iris screamed in agony, blood filling her eye sockets, looking incredibly terrifying.
Suddenly, Iris started laughing manically, the sound being extremely horrifying.
"Haha, hahaha! You wanted me to set you free, right? Well, I won't! Since I can't go out, I'll stay here with you!"
Iris' laughter was filled with madness, as if she had gone insane.
"Why? Why? Release me, and I promise I can let you out." Seeing Iris' appearance, a deafening roar came from inside the cage.
Although Iris was now blind, she could still hear. "Angry? Your anger is useless now, so just stay obediently inside! You're miserable, and I'm comfortable! Hahaha!"
"Roar~"
Another terrifying roar echoed from inside the cage, causing the entire mountain range to tremble.
"Scream! Louder, the more agonizing the better, it excites me!"
"Roar!"
"Roar, roar!"
"Roar, roar, roar!"
"Roar, roar, roar!"
"Roar, roar, roar!"
"Roar~"
"Roar!"
Although Iris feared death, it didn't mean she was weak. When faced with right and wrong, she still knew how to choose. Perhaps influenced by Lilia, as the ruler of a nation, she should step forward in the face of a crisis, even if it meant dying.
Whether helping the giant beast leave this place would allow Iris to live or not, it was hard to say. It's possible that she could be slapped to death with a single blow. Besides, there were still her cherished two summon beasts and that someone outside.
It seems that Iris would have to break her promise with Xingli.
"Xingli, I'm sorry!"
Iris silently apologized in her heart, lying quietly on the ground, with not much food left in her storage space. Iris planned to rest, fill her stomach, launch a verbal attack on the beast in the cage, and then use it as a cushion.
After careful thought, using it as a cushion wouldn't work. What if it caused some damage and released the beast? It would have been pointless to gouge out her eyes.
Recalling her lifetime, although she had done many bad things, it was mostly out of necessity. She wanted to survive. She may not be a good person, but she didn't want to be a criminal for all eternity.
She hoped to have a better reincarnation in her next life, with parents who would love her. She didn't want to engage in opportunistic and malicious acts just for survival.
