“Well, well, well. If it isn’t the demon king’s most treasured wife. Nice to meet, I am Vaztil Oquez,” a demon approached Iris, noticing that she has stirred awake.

Iris' hands were chained above her head against the dungeon wall, and she was lucky enough to not be engaging in the demonic orgy. Vaztil clearly saw the disgust written on her face and gave a sinister, satisfied smile.

“Oh, don’t worry. We’re saving the best for last, my Queen,” he leaned forward, grabbed a bundle of Iris’ red hair and brought it up to his purple lips.

C-2, who is this crazy bastard?

[According to the original plot, he was the previous demon king’s general, General Vaztil Oquez. The Target defeated the previous demon king and ate him, thus claiming the title of the demon king today and banished the demons who were loyal to the predecessor. He then expanded his domain and control over the humans. However, as Host can see, there are demons who are trying to overthrow the Target.]

Where are we currently located?

[Host is currently being held captive in one of the rebellion factions’ secret bases down south of Ove. The main stronghold is west, however, the land that the Target is currently fighting in is one that belongs to the Holy Church, which is northwest of the stronghold.]

So, they’re currently leading him astray on purpose, Iris thought to herself.

“While I’m here, I’ll let you see something amazing,” Vaztil leered, and with the wave of his hand, a smoke mirror appeared.

And appearing within the mirror was a gruesome fight. One figure was wreaking havoc among the ocean of demons, slaughtering all upon his path. And that one figure was a one-man army. His black hair looked like black smoke, swaying in the air while his once handsome face was distorted. The figure who was soaked in the bloodbath had protruding canine teeth while his true face was revealed. Covering the entire left side of his face was an extremely ugly scar, looking like someone dug really deep into his skin, dragging the scar from his forehead down to his neck; his left eye was most likely blinded from this injury but it didn’t look like it hindered him at all.

In comparison to his fake skin, instead of being gorgeously handsome, he was at most, slightly above average-looking. He had a pair of almond eyes with well-defined features, however, the scar was too overpowering that if one was to see him, the scar was all they would’ve focused on. His body was now much taller than when he had the appearance of a human man; he was perhaps at least 7 feet tall and had the lower body that resembled a stag if it stood on its hind legs. However, instead of hooves, it took the appearance of paws that belonged to a large cat.  

His fingers were claw-like, ripping through the flesh of his enemies as he devoured them. It was truly a gruesome sight, but Iris couldn’t look away. Through the battle, Iris could sense Rius’ unstable blood-thirst and his anxiety. She needed to get back to him as soon as possible!

Vaztil saw her expression and thought she was scared shitless so he smiled happily with a big teethy grin. He softly caressed her cheek, leaned in and took a whiff of her scent.

“Hm~! Ah~! Still a virgin. I’m surprised that the demon king has held himself back all this time. He must really treasure you,” said Vaztil.

Iris glared at him. 

“But don’t worry. We’ll change that here,” Vaztil said as he looked over to one of his minions. “Be sure to serve her well.”

A warp portal opened and Vaztil walked through before the portal closed. 

“Where’s he going?” Iris’ voice trembled, pretending to be frightened of her current situation. 

“General Oquez? Hehe, he went to enjoy the show,” the minion smiled as he eyed Iris with lecherous eyes.

Iris rolled her eyes in mind.

“P-p-please! Stop-!” Iris heard a familiar voice call out. Chills ran down her spine as she searched the orgy.

And sure enough, at the center of it all was Elena. The female lead was being fucked broken!!! Tears rolled down her cheeks as snot was smeared all over her lips. Damn, this world was pretty harsh to the female lead despite being this world’s beloved child.

Alright, I guess it’s time to leave, Iris thought to herself as she stretched her neck from side to side, rolling it around.

With the training she received from C-2, and the memories she absorbed from the original, Iris knew she would be able to leave unscathed. Just as the minion reached over to tear at her clothes, a tremendously heavy pressure came upon them, making all those present kneel in fear and cold sweat.

*CLANK, CLANK!* The sound of chains hitting the ground echoed throughout the dungeon. “That feels so much better.”

Those who tried going against the pressure had their bones shattered immediately as beads of sweat began forming on their skin. They’ve never felt such pressure before. It was much more intense than that of their own general and the current demon king!! How could there have been such a powerful person hidden away all this time?!?! Iris thought this strength was due to the original, however, that was only part of it. Her true strength came from her soul, but C-2 was not going to tell her that.

Iris snapped her fingers and the pressure was taken off the women who had been violated over and over. They gasped for breath, breathing heavily as saliva dripped from their lips.

“Sorry, my control is not quite perfect. But it’s getting there,” she said as she took off her outer robe and wrapped it around the shoulders of the female lead.

Iris held out her right index and middle fingers in front of her and chanted a spell. Underneath her, a transmutation circle formed, and it was a big one, stretching to be about 15 meters in diameter. Iris had counted; about 45 out of the 100 wives were here, Iris included. Observing the women there, Iris noted that these were some of the most beautiful women of Ove. Such a shame that it was their unparalleled beauty that got them into this kind of situation.

“I’m returning you all home,” she said. And with a flash, all of the violated women were returned to their homes, shocking the life out of those who saw their current violated appearances.

“Now that all of the troublesome people are out of the way, I have a place I need to be,” Iris smiled with a cold glint that flashed in her eyes.

This was one of the many sides to Iris. Although tried she remained gentle and compassionate throughout most of her life, she did have her own principles, morals and a bottom-line tolerance for certain things. And when wrongly provoked, she would unleash a storm. 

But now wasn’t the time to show off her skills; she needed to return to Rius. She conjured a transportation array and disappeared, taking the pressure with her. When she was finally gone, it was only then the demons were able to catch their breath. Never in their wildest dreams would they have ever thought they’d provoke something even more terrifying than the demon king, Holy Church or the mage Merlin Weiss!!

***

When Iris arrived at her destination, she was met with a barren land filled with corpses of demons and humans. However, these human corpses weren't just any ordinary humans, they were people who belonged to the Holy Church, Holy Priests.

“Miss Iris!” she heard a familiar voice call out to her.

Behind her, she saw Gotoh, her corpse chauffeur.

“Where have you been?! Our king’s gone mad!!” he yelled out before a thundering roar pierced through their eardrums.

“It was a diversion! They took me down south!”

“He’ll slaughter anyone who goes close! Best stay out of the way until he calms down,” one fo the ghost advisors spoke.

“The last time I saw him like this was 200 years ago when he battled the previous demon king,” another added. “He was like this for 7 days and 7 nights!”

Iris looked off into the distance, there, she saw Rius still slaughtering a horde of mindless demons and advancing Holy Priests.

“I’ll be fine! Leave before the Holy Bishops arrive!” Iris remarked and darted off towards Rius.

When she arrived, the wave had just been fully exterminated by Rius. And injured underneath the foot of Rius, was Vaztil, covered in blood and bruises, yet he looked unfazed. Rather, he looked like he was enjoying the uncontrollable rage of Rius. Rius' strong foot had him locked in his position as Vaztil smiled.

“Rius!!” Iris called out to him as he was just about to end Vaztil’s life.

As soon as he heard her voice, his movements came to a halt. Vaztil also looked over, shocked that she was there, looking as unviolated as ever. Now that she was there, Vaztil’s plans have been soiled - his plan was to have Rius start up trouble on the land owned by the Holy Church to void the peace treaty they have in order to have humans retaliate then convincing them to join forces to take Rius down.

Within a blink of an eye, Rius appeared before Iris, his body hovering over her as if she was prey. His eyes were bloodshot and his pupils were slitted like a snake's. He was covered in blood from head to toe as blood was dripping from his canine teeth and lips. The metal smell invaded her nose, but she resisted backing away. She got on her toes and cupped his face, whispering softly, “It’s alright. I’m here. I won’t leave you.”

Rius was like an animal whose instincts have taken over. His claw-like hands grabbed her wrists, pulling her hands from his face as he sniffed them. Unsatisfied, he moved towards her neck and sniffed some more. Iris hugged his blood-soaked head, injecting her soothing mana into his body.

When Rius finally regained his control, his eyes widened as he broke free from Iris’ embrace. Iris looked at his expression. Rius’s had the look of shock and fear written all over him. He then slightly cowered his head, moving his gaze from her, trying to wipe the blood away from his skin to hide his deeds, like a child who was trying to hide what they've done. But no matter how hard he tried, the blood would not go away. Rius’ very figure was telling Iris that he was ashamed to have let her see him in this state and in this appearance.

Iris walked over to stop him from his frantic movements. “Rius.”

She held onto his arm and pulled him to look at her. “Look at me.”

Reluctantly, Rius rigidly turned to look at her. Although he saw his horrid looking appearance reflected in her eyes, he did not see disgust or fear in them.

“Well, well, well. Seems like there is more than meets the eye to you, my queen,” Vaztil smiled. “Oh, they’re finally here.”

Iris had sensed the presences of the Holy Bishops and quickly casted the transportation spell, taking her and Rius back to his palace.

***

When Iris and Rius returned, many of the servants anxiously swarmed around them.

“Leave us,” Iris commanded firmly.

The servants bowed their heads and left swiftly. Iris led Rius to the royal bath. Layer by layer she peeled off his blood-soaked clothes, or whatever was left of it, and saw all the ugly open scars Rius had all over his body. Iris placed her fingertips on his skin, casting a healing spell that closed all of his wounds.

The royal bath was essentially a large, hot spring pool that had steps that led down to the waters. After all of the wounds closed, Iris took Rius by his hands and led him into the pool, facing him as she stepped backwards into the water. The entire time, Rius had his eyes locked on the petite young woman, not looking away; not once. Rius was still in his demon form, but Iris did not care, tending to him carefully, washing away all of the blood and wiping his face clean. 

When she turned around to grab the shampoo to wash the blood from his hair and looked back, Rius had already transformed back into his human form with his fake skin, which no longer had the scar on his face. Iris said nothing and continued with her work.

After she was done, she clothed him in one of his cotton robes and brought him to his bed. When they returned to his room, Rius held his head down the entire time, not daring to look Iris in the eyes. Bringing her fingers to touch his forehead, she insert a bit of her internal mana to circulate his mana. After a while, she removed her fingers.

“Get some rest. We’ll deal with the aftermath tomorrow, okay?” she said softly, as if coaxing a child.

Just as she was about to leave the room, a strong grip caught ahold of her wrist, twirling her around so that she was facing Rius as his head buried against her stomach. His grip around her waist tightened as he cuddled in close to her.

“I thought you left me… I thought you didn’t want me anymore… I thought I had lost you…” he mumbled over and over again.

Iris listened to him ramble on as she gingerly stroked his head.

“Don’t leave me. I promise I’ll be better. I promise I’ll make you happy. Please, don’t leave me,” he continued as if he was saying a prayer. He sounded very much like a child who was afraid of not being loved.

Iris had encountered this countless times, and every single time, it broke her heart. She tried moving but Rius would only tighten his grip, afraid to let her go. 

“Rius, it’s alright. I won’t leave.”

It was only after she said that a few times that he finally loosened his arms. Iris gently scooped his face so that they were sitting within her palms, lifting up his face to see her. He looked up into her eyes. Iris smiled softly. She then leaned forward, closed her eyes and pressed her forehead against his, and from that a faint light glowed.

She was going to enter into his memories. In his memories, she saw a youthful young man born of a noble family. From a young age, he had always had feelings for a certain young maiden, one that he was engaged to from a young age because of an agreement between the parents. The young man could not be much happier. The young maiden was beautiful and graceful in every way; a peerless beauty that was unmatched. The young man was well aware that he was not the most dashing or handsome, but he was glad that the young maiden was willing to be with a man like him.

However, upon the night of their marriage, he caught the sight of his fiance, running away with another man. But that man was not just any man, it was his best friend. Angered, he chased after them, but he never thought that they’d retaliate by killing him. His beloved fiance was frightened by him and slashed his face with a knife while his best friend gave the finishing attack, blowing a hole through his stomach. As he laid on the ground dying, his fiance and best friend ran away. In the rain, he was left to die. He never treated his fiance bad, so he couldn't understand why she'd do this to him. As he laid there all alone on the cold, muddy ground, he could feel the hate and anger welling up inside of him. It wasn’t long until he was approached by a mysterious mist.

It was a demonic mist demon. It struck a deal with the young man. The mist demon was willing to give the young man power in order to take his revenge, and in return, the mist demon wanted a vessel to recuperate. Drowning in despair and hate, the young man agreed. This was the origin of Rius' path to becoming the feared demon king of today. Given the power while the mist demon remained dormant, the young man took his revenge and began his conquest across Ove. Although the mist demon laid dormant, its demonic mana was slowly chipping away at the demon king’s rationality, making him have sudden outbursts or unstable mana.

However, now that Iris was there, controlling the unstable mana, Rius was able to hang on to his rationality. However, she could sense the impatience of the mist demon to fully recover and awaken to take control of this vessel, completely destroying the soul of its vessel.

Iris opened her eyes and slowly moved from him. She looked down at him and used her thumb to caress his face.

“I want to see you,” she said.

“... You’re already looking at me,” he said softly.

Iris shook her head. “I want to see the real you.”

Rius hesitated briefly, however, seeing Iris like this, he could not refuse. Stripping the fake skin off, he revealed his true face, which was covered with the ugly scar on the left side of his face. His blinded left eye was closed as he observed her with his right eye. Iris lifted her fingers and gingerly traced the scar. 

Iris smiled and kissed his left eye softly. Rius felt like he was going to burst out crying. No one has ever treated him so tenderly after his mother died. Seeing his childishly watering eyes, Iris let out a soft chuckle and brought her lips to his. As soon as they touched, Iris stretched her tongue into his mouth, entangling her tongue with his. Rius was frozen stiff when she did that, but he quickly returned and deepened the kiss, gently holding his hand behind her neck. Rius has certainly kissed hundreds of women before, but this was the first time he experienced that such a kiss could convey so much love; the love he yearned for.