Chapter 165. Collapse
It was only natural, really.
The dinosaur couldn’t answer Iris’s question.
It wasn’t intelligent enough to communicate with other species.
Iris must have known that too.
Yet she kept throwing questions at the dinosaur.
【Pururu】─B-b-but… What’s going on? This is scary…
【Hwang Mir】─Iris looks really pissed off…
【Mysticism】─😨😰
【Yumi】─I guess she’s got a complex about her appearance.
【Bubble Bubble】─Looks like you definitely shouldn’t call her ugly.
【Rizenova】─From the looks of things, it must be the same Iris who was dispatched to Kendra. Surely, not all of the Irises would react this sensitively to an insult about their appearance.
【Luna-chan】─You never know. They could all be similar in temperament.
The dinosaur remained silent until the end.
Then, suddenly, Iris’s barrage of questions stopped.
Soon after.
*Whirr!*
A beam of light gouged out the dinosaur’s eye.
─［Grrraaaaaagh!!!］
The dinosaur screamed in agony, writhing in pain.
But its screams didn’t last long.
The next beam sliced the dinosaur’s face into a hundred pieces.
【Mysticism】─🤢 Gross.
【Pururu】─Ugh.
【Yumi】─That’s cruel…
【Hwang Mir】─This is just sad…
【Bubble Bubble】─It’s what it deserves. It shouldn’t have attacked first.
【Rizenova】─Indeed. More than calling her ugly and recoiling, it’s only fitting that it receives punishment for swinging its tail at Iris.
【Luna-chan】─If you try to kill someone, you should be prepared to die too.
The dinosaur lay dead.
Though it was clear it had stopped breathing, Iris continued to unleash beams, ripping apart the dinosaur’s body.
It seemed her anger still hadn’t subsided.
I cautiously called out to Iris.
“…Iris.”
─［Response.］
“Don’t let the reaction of the one you just killed get to you. To my eyes, Iris, you’re the coolest and most beautiful.”
─［Acknowledged.］
【Pururu】─“Acknowledged,” lol 😂
【Mysticism】─😶
【Hwang Mir】─Am I imagining things, or does she suddenly seem to be in a better mood?
【Mysticism】─She seems happier. 🙂
【Bubble Bubble】─But what would happen if Gauntlet called Iris ugly?
【Luna-chan】─I doubt she’d attack him. She’d probably just sulk.
【Yumi】─She might even go to extremes. Hearing something like that from the one she likes most could break her heart.
【Pururu】─But doesn’t Iris lack emotions?
【Rizenova】─Lately, it seems like she might have them after all.
Perhaps my compliment had worked.
Iris stopped tormenting the corpse of the already-dead dinosaur.
Her anger seemed to have calmed down.
Her voice also returned to its usual steady tone.
─［Moving.］
Turning her gaze away from the dinosaur’s body, Iris left the area and calmly flew to another place.
After that.
As we explored that world, we encountered countless other creatures.
Most of them resembled dinosaurs.
And each of those creatures reacted exactly like the first dinosaur had.
After seeing Iris, they’d scrunch up their faces in disgust, as if they’d seen something grotesque, then launch the first attack.
Not just one—every creature we came across did the same thing.
─［Grr!］
─［Eliminated.］
─［Graaaaa!!］
─［Eliminated.］
─［Kyaaaargh!!!］
─［Eliminated.］
─［Screeeeech!!］
─［Eliminated.］
Naturally, they were all eliminated.
Iris wouldn’t leave anyone alive who insulted her appearance.
─［Eliminated.］
─［Eliminated.］
─［Eliminated.］
Iris grew less and less emotional as she went.
At first, she seemed incredibly angry, her voice cold as she slowly tortured her prey rather than killing it instantly…
But whether she’d grown used to other creatures’ reactions or simply resigned herself to it, she now dispatched her enemies cleanly without showing any hint of displeasure.
─［Eliminated.］
─［Eliminated.］
─［Eliminated.］
【Pururu】─Whoa, she’s just killing everything.
【Mysticism】─😨 Iris is terrifying.
【Hwang Mir】─Iris is incredibly strong. She’s one-shotting everything.
【Yumi】─She’s an S-rank. Of course, normal creatures don’t stand a chance.
【Rizenova】─To the creatures of that world, Lady Iris is nothing short of a disaster…
【Bubble Bubble】─That’s a real Demon King for you.
【Luna-chan】─If this Iris had come to Elemencia, she’d be called the Demon King of Massacre. Just like in that world, she would have roamed, slaughtering countless humans who showed discomfort at her appearance.
【Mysticism】─🙄
【Mysticism】─She wouldn’t kill humans! Gauntlet would stop her.
【Luna-chan】─If we assume she isn’t a monster tamed by Gauntlet.
【Mysticism】─😮
─［Eliminated.］
─［Eliminated.］
─［Eliminated.］
Although Iris was wiping out every creature she encountered, she wasn’t engaging in indiscriminate slaughter.
She was only attacking after observing their reaction.
But since every creature reacted the same way, it was almost indistinguishable from a massacre.
“Iris, you’re not mad, are you?”
─［Calm.］
Her tone was normal, without any chill.
But I could tell.
Even if she wasn’t acting emotionally, she was deeply wounded.
I cleared my throat and gently spoke to soothe her.
“…How could they react like that upon seeing you? This world must have a strange beauty standard.”
─［Agree. Incomprehensible.］
“Iris, do you know what ‘inverse beauty standards’ are?”
─［Inverse beauty standards. Unknown.］
“It’s when the standards for beauty and ugliness are reversed. From the way they all react, this world must have inverse beauty standards.”
─［Certainly.］
【Pururu】─“Certainly,” lol 😂
【Bubble Bubble】─Does Gauntlet actually believe that?
【Yumi】─Do you think he’s serious?
【Hwang Mir】─He’s just trying to comfort her.
【Mysticism】─😇 Gauntlet has such a kind heart.
【Luna-chan】─Iris must be exhausting to be around.
【Luna-chan】─I wonder if Gauntlet’s other monsters feel cautious around Iris? If they say she’s ugly, she might freak out.
【Pururu】─Gauntlet’s monsters never insult her looks.
【Rizenova】─Some even tease Lady Iris by calling her ugly sometimes. But if they’re close, it seems she doesn’t mind.
【Yumi】─Oh, I’ve seen that too. Snake Head once called Iris ugly, but she just laughed it off as a joke.
As the assistants said,
Even if I or our monsters called Iris ugly, it wouldn’t be a big problem.
She takes those words as jokes, not serious insults.
Even if she knew we were serious, she wouldn’t attack us.
And honestly, Iris likely acknowledges that her appearance is ghastly.
No, she’s definitely aware of it.
Otherwise, she wouldn’t be so sensitive.
In other words, she was simply denying and refusing to accept the reality.
─［The ones who are wrong are the creatures of this world. Their sense of beauty is abnormal.］
“That’s right.”
─［Our species is beautiful.］
“…I think so too.”
─［Even Merino Ula said, ‘Iris is beautiful-nyang!’］
“Merino has a good eye.”
【Hwang Mir】─Huh? Just now, the part about Merino, that was her voice exactly.
【Pururu】─A true impression master.
【Rizenova】─Lady Iris can perfectly mimic other voices.
─［This world isn’t worth exploring further. It’s full of primitive creatures who know nothing of beauty.］
Iris declared she would stop exploring and turned her body.
─［Returning.］
She returned to the original place, where Hedgehog was.
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Iris had returned.
Hedgehog hadn’t moved from her spot and was still dancing with the spirits.
─［Doomba, doodoom-ba! Doo-doo-doo-doom-ba!］
─［Doomba…］
─［Doodoomba…］
【Pururu】─Still dancing? How does she not get tired?
【Mysticism】─🤭
【Yumi】─SSS-rank beings don’t get tired.
【Hwang Mir】─The spirits seem exhausted, though.
【Rizenova】─Not tired—they just don’t want to dance.
The spirits half-heartedly wiggled their hips.
Annoyed by their lack of enthusiasm, Hedgehog stopped dancing and scolded them.
─［How long have we been dancing, and you’re already slacking off!? Unacceptable! I’m summoning Abyss Lord!］
Doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doom-ba.
Hedgehog bounced her hips thirty times at high speed.
Then black particles gathered in the air,
─［Doom.］
forming into a mass.
─［Doom.］
Condensed darkness.
From within, a figure emerged, seated in the lotus position.
─［Ba.］
Abyss Lord had been summoned.
─［Is it dance time?］
As Abyss Lord appeared,
the sky crumpled like paper, and the earth cracked like glass.
With the summoning’s impact, it seemed as if the world’s laws had collapsed, distorting and wavering.
At that moment,
─［Warning.］
Iris raised her tentacles and spoke.
─［Existence unsustainable. This world cannot withstand Abyss Lord’s presence. Dimensional collapse. Annihilation. End.］