Iris smiled as she touched his blood-soaked arms, “me too.”

“Insolent brat!!” the Pope yelled from above.

“Men!” King Aslan shouted. 

The Yvaris knights and mages knew their King’s intention - get rid of Iris Lovett; she was no longer apart of humanity and has chosen to side with the demons. Seeing their tender and touching reunion, Tezu was smart enough to read the air around them and tried his best to hold off the attacks while the couple continued with the lovey-dovey forehead touches and passionate kiss. Many of those who witnessed the scene their face twisted in disgust. To think such a human could kiss a monster.

Iris was the first to move away from Rius in his monster-like form that held no trace of humanity. She gently caressed his cheek and he leaned into her palm.

“You’ve gotten skinnier,” said Iris sadly.

“And you’ve gotten more beautiful,” Rius said sincerely.

Iris chuckled. But then her smile faded slowly as she walked forward and placed her hand on his chest. She then looked up into his eyes. They both knew… at any moment now, the mist demon was going to be reborn and Rius was going to be lost forever. Although Rius was not  showing it, Iris knew he was in extreme pain. He has suffered against the humans while he was also fighting against the demon inside of him. Rius was nearing his limit.

“If you guys are done with your touching reunion, I’d like some help!” Tezu spoke through his gritted canine as he was being pushed back.

Iris and Rius shared a look and both smiled. Whipping out of the air, Iris conjured a glowing double headed spear.

“Iris!!!” Merlin yelled. “Are you really going to fight?!”

Iris spared merlin a glance, but it was a meaningful one. “Of course. After all, it was King Aslan who made that decree. So, I won’t hold back either.”

Iris had joined the fight. She began dominating the battlefield while Gotoh tried tending to Rius’ wounds. Iris was light and swift on her feet. She conjured many magic spells effortlessly to fend for herself. 

The Pope was beyond furious as veins became visible to the eye on his temples.

“If you’re not going to do anything and let that troublemaker daughter of yours run havoc, I’ll deal with this myself!” he yelled as he too, conjured his own magic spells and aimed them at Iris.

But Iris dodged them flawlessly and countered them, shooting back at the balcony, which only angered everyone else who was there. She was going to attract all the attention so that Rius could recover. 

Prince Callum, his two brothers and the Pope joined forces to fight against Iris. The royal family were also mages, so they were able to fight against Iris as well. However, Iris was doing quite exceptional, being able to hold her ground against four mages.

Although Iris wanted to let Rius recover, he was dragged into battle by Merlin and King Aslan. Iris growled, but then gasped. She saw the spell Merlin was conjuring. It was a spell she recognized - it was a spell that was used to dispel evil spirits which had possessed another’s body! However, for Rius’ case, it was different! Making her decision, she abandoned her fight with the royals and made a break to where Rius was. 

It’s true that Rius currently had something occupying his body, but it was no simple malicious spirit. It was something more dangerous than that! It’ll only cause a repercussion!! Merlin released the shot just as Iris reach Rius, however, she was a step too late. The aftershock of the impact sent Iris flying, but she quickly recovered. 

“RRRRRRROOOOOOAAAAAARRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!” Rius hollered in pain gripping his head, banging his forehead against the concrete ground with blood gushing out from the impact.

His body once again has changed, sprouting out from his back looked like two more pairs of hands, yet they also did not look like hands as blood poured from their emergence. The freshly sprouted arms were black in color and dangled lifelessly as Rius tore at his own flesh as if he was mad.

“Rius!” Iris shouted but before she could move, the Pope grabbed her by her red hair. She was so fixated on Rius’ current state that she forgot to watch herself. 

“You bitch! Interfering with this war and siding with a demon will send you straight to purgatory!! You’ll never get the chance to be reborn as human!” the Pope cried.

Iris winced in pain before looking over to the Pope. “Heh, I never planned on going to heaven anyway,” Iris smirked.

The Pope’s expression twisted, “Why yo-!”

“Augh-! AHHHHHHHHHH-!” a large figure suddenly tore the Pope away from Iris as she heard the Pope shriek among the sounds of tearing flesh.

It was extremely gruesome, but Iris managed to pull through by telling herself that this was just like being in those 3D gory movies in her past life; that all of this was just a game and that there was no need for her to be startled or frightened. This was something Iris was very good at in her previous life - separating one thing from another; the mind from the body and so forth.

The Pope’s body was ripped to shreds with blood splattered across the pavement with intestines thrown across the floor. The Holy Priests and Bishops watched on in horror, unable to move from their spots. But they weren’t the only shocked ones, the royals from Yvaris and Merlin as well. 

“Rius,” Iris whispered softly.

Instantly, Rius stopped tearing at the Pope’s body as well as stuffing his face with the flesh. He turned over to look at Iris. Nothing but worry was written over her face. Rius’ eyes were no longer red but black entirely. Iris walked towards Rius with her hand extended. Rius looked down at her hand before looking back up to her face.

“You’re stronger than him,” she told him.

Rius stretched his monstrous arm over to grab hers but slightly hesitate upon seeing how deformed he has gotten. Just before he was about to withdraw his hand, Iris grabbed his hand.

“I’m here.”

Rius looked over to her and saw the unwavering resolution in her sparkling eyes. She was always there when he needed her most. She was the light in his life. The sole purpose as to why he wanted to go home. Home was where she was. Just before Rius’ other hand was about to touch Iris’ cheek, it was blown clean off and she was snatched away.

Being clutched and thrown over the shoulder, she saw who was carrying her as they were soaring through the sky away from the battlefield - her senior disciple, “Jack! What are you thinking?!”

“RRRRRRROOOOOOAAAAARRRRR!!!!!”

“Master Weiss’ orders! Can’t you see?! He’s no longer just a demon! He’s on the verge of becoming something worse than a demon!!”

“We need to kill him now!! We can’t let him be reborn into a calamity!!” Merlin’s voice resonated through the air, letting every single knight, mage and holy apprentice know of the current situation. “Ignore the rest!! Taking down the demon king before he becomes a calamity is top priority!! Fight with your life on the lines or else it’ll be the end of all your loved ones!!!!!”

Tezu and Gotoh were also heavily shocked by the turn of events. Their King has been driven mad as a flurry of attacks were thrown his way, keeping him from going to where Iris was, and Merlin was the one to assure that he wouldn’t escape. However, Merlin could sense the irritation and anger from the monster on the verge of rebirth. 

If they didn’t finish him off before he was reborn, the whole world’s finished! Merlin lifted his staff to cast a spell, but as soon as the spell array was formed, Rius let out an ear-piercing roar, using its sheer force to shatter the array, causing backlash against Merlin, injuring him. Merlin coughed out blood, but he knew what he needed to do.

King Aslan flew up to where Merlin was, “A calamity, you say. Like the one from ten thousand years ago from those books?”

Merlin furrowed his brows. “He needs to die before that happens!”

The sky rumbled. Suddenly, everyone felt a sudden influx of mana surging around them. A light glowed from within the clouds. A pillar of light pierced its way through the clouds and landed where Rius was rampaging. As soon as the pillar touched the ground, everyone was blown away except for Rius, who was pinned down from the immense force. Everyone looked up. It was Iris!

Using all her mana, she casted a spell to try and repress the uncontrollable energy within Rius.

**BOOOM**CLAP**

When the pillar of light was slammed against the ground, it caused the ground to shake as a crater was formed. Everyone was baffled and speechless. Iris quickly descended from the sky and rushed over to Rius’ collapsed body, which has momentarily reverted back to his human form with ragged clothes. She held him in her arms and checked the energy inside him. She placed a cap on the turbulent energy, but it can only hold him off for so long. Once the cap has broken off, he’ll be reborn as a calamity and Rius would be lost forever.

“Rius,” she softly said his name as she cradled him in her arms, slightly heaving from her last spell. For this temporarily sealing spell, she used almost all of her mana, leaving her weak and drained - this spell took way too much mana from her. From how things were going, looks like Iris was going have to resort back to her original plan. 

“Iris,” she heard Merlin’s stern voice.

She looked over to see his dark and twisted expression. “Step away from him. He’s no longer the demon you once thought he was. He’s on the verge of becoming a calamity. Move away from him, NOW!”

Merlin rarely raised his voice, so Iris knew that Merlin was dead serious. But she understood why. 

“My dear Iris,” King Aslan began. “You know it has to be done.”

The royal princes moved in and drew their swords on her. 

“You heard the king,” said Prince Callum.

Elena, this world’s beloved female lead finally made her appearance, weaving her way through the crowd standing behind Prince Callum.

Iris tightened her grip on Rius. “He’s not my king.”

Suddenly, and transportation array appeared underneath the two of them and they vanished.

“Wha-?! Where’d they go?!”

Everyone was thrown into disarray.

“Don’t worry. I caught a wisp of Iris’ trail,” said Merlin.

Jack appeared only to receive Merlin’s death glare that chilled him to his bones. But it wasn’t his fault, he just couldn’t win against Iris.

***

When Merlin and everyone else arrived where Iris and Rius had transported to, they noticed how thick the mist was surrounding them. There were many jagged looking shapes and shadows surrounding them. Upon a closer inspection, they noticed that these jagged looking shapes used to be stone pillars that held up the ceiling. The location they arrived upon was rich in mana, flowing to the pores of their bodies, filling them up with energy.

It was eerily serene. The only sound that could be heard were the streams that ran underneath the broken tiles and the soft sounds of scurrying animals. Moss had long grown on many of these stones, signifying that this place has been abandoned for a very, very long time. It has even become home to many animals, even a doe was spotted.

As Merlin scanned their surroundings, he was quite confused as to why Iris chose such an abandoned place. As he had everyone scatter out, just as he was walking, his foot hit a block of stone. Looking at the moss that was going on this stone, his attention was then caught by the writings written on the floor. After examining the writings, his eyes widened in shock.

“This was the Temple of the Druids,” said Merlin.

An ominous feeling crawled upon Merlin, making him restless. Suddenly, his senses spiked and he followed his instincts. King Aslan noticed his quick movement and ordered everyone to follow after.

They tore their way through the dense forest and came upon a large opening. This area had the most concentrated amount of mana, almost to the point that it was suffocating. The opening had a giant round, smooth surfaced stone placed at the center like a stage. Written on the sides and on the surface were runes that attracted mana. This was a meditation stone. There, sitting at the center of the stage were two figures. 

Merlin was beyond horrified as he looked at the blood markings on the meditation stone. He then saw the bloody hole beside Iris’ heart. Blood dripped from her lips and sweat beads formed on her forehead. But despite her suffering, she was still holding the person in her arms very gently, as if she was afraid to wake him. However, Rius was actually in a deep sleep at the moment, and that’s what Iris wanted. Using her bloody fingers, she touched Rius’ sleeping face once more as a gentle wind blew.

“IRIS!!!!”

She looked up to Merlin. Despair was written all over his face. Everything was coming together. This location, the blood array, the blood which was used to draw this array! She was going to sacrifice herself for him!

“WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING?!?! HE’S NOT WORTH IT!!”

Iris said nothing. In response to Merlin, which answered all the questions Merlin had, Iris smiled. It was a completely sane smile; a sincere and beautiful smile. Through this silent exchange, Merlin understood her intent and her feelings entirely.

Merlin was going to step in to intercept but Iris had already placed a barrier up. Merlin began pounding on the barrier, telling her to stop while the others began attacking the barrier with their spells and weapons. Iris ignored them all and looked back down to the serene face of Rius. Her smile deepened.

“I’m sorry, Rius. But I’m gonna go first,” Iris smiled.

“NNNOOOO!!! IRIS! DON’T DO IT!!!” Merlin yelled.

Saying the final words to the spell, the blood in the meditation stone began to glow. Iris shifted over and placed her lips over Rius’. The pact has been sealed. Iris withdrew her mouth from his and a dark, wisp-like energy was being sucked from Rius into Iris. She felt the energy surge through her like adrenaline, pulsing through her blood but at the same time, she felt a heart wrenching pain attack her as veins popped out and became visible on her skin, showing the stress she was enduring.

“Ngh-!” Iris gritted her teeth in pain. C-2 was willing to give her a special painkiller that weakens her injuries by 50%, but Iris didn’t want that. She wanted to feel the full strength of the pain; she wanted to be assured that she was still alive.

The ground trembled as the thunder rumbled. Suddenly, *CRACK* the ground underneath their very feet had split open! The ground underneath the lake floor also cracked open and collided against one another, turning into jagged rocks, not being able to withstand such raw and tremendous energy. Iris’ body glowed as lightning struck her before ricocheting off into the bystanders like a thousand lightning bolts that snapped and explode upon impact. The once beautiful land turned into hell on earth with magma flowing and fire spreading across the land. The final lightning struck, sending out a deafening sound wave that was accompanied by a ground-shattering shockwave. 

Within moments, the chaos finally came to a halt. It arrived in a strange and frightening calm manner, like the calm before the storm. Many lives were lost and many were injured from this simple action of the hatching of the calamity.

*Step, step, step*

Merlin heard the soft footsteps that echoed throughout the air. And each step brought a pressure so intense that many found themselves kneeling on the ground due to the sheer force surrounding this calamity.

There was a light at the top of the rubble. Within that glowing light was a person. The person’s entire body was somewhat transparent, glowing as rainbow-colored pulsing veins could be seen running through her body, making her entire being looking like that of a glowing jellyfish. Her hair was no longer a red flame, but white flames that danced in the air. There were two long horns that had sprouted from the side of her head, curving upwards as her legs took the form of large cats that stood on their hind legs, but compared to Rius’ transformation, her form was beautiful and was filled with heavenly grace. Her fingers had turned into translucent claws while the whites of her eyes turned black, leaving her purple-iris colored eyes to pop out like crystals in the dark. Behind her was three floating rings that glowed with a heavenly light. Her new transformed mana manifested into a hundred wings. Although she had completely shed all of her clothes, there was grace in the way she moved, carrying the person in her arms. Suddenly, sprouting out of her back was a pair of golden wings. As soon as those wings appeared, the mana surrounding her manifested and produced the image of a hundred wings unraveling behind her, showing what kind of power she possessed in a blinding manner. Her light illuminated the darkness as if it was day. 

Despite being in the face of a heavenly looking person, the bells were ringing like crazy in everyone’s head, that this was beyond bad news!! Death was inevitable. With the birth of this calamity, the true battle has only just begun.