"Damn it! Damn it!"
Iris had been born in a clan with much better connections and wealth compared to the Heaven clan, but after losing in a battle to determine the clan leader, she was exiled with only her most trusted servants. Even so, she hadn't given up her ambitions and worked tirelessly as Nate's wife and Nathan's mother.
'And this is how I'm repaid?!'
Just thinking about what she just went through had her shaking with rage.
She had managed to escape the destruction of the Heaven clan and finally reunited with her son after much hardship. But what did he do?
"Leave. I never want to see you again."
With cold eyes that she had never seen before, he pushed her away.
"Ho-how could you say that? It's me! Your mother, you know!"
In a state of disbelief, Iris took a step towards Nathan, but almost instantaneously, Nathan summoned his spear and touched her slender neck with its tip.
"I'm serious. It's for your own good, Mother."
Without wasting another glance at her, Nathan left the desolate area into the darkness of night.
'I can't believe he treated me like this... Me, his own mother! What an unfilial child! And after all the sacrifices I made to make him grow strong, how could he be so ungrateful?!'
Both due to the shock she felt from Nathan's attitude, and how distraught she was now that she had been abandoned by the only person she thought of relying on, Iris could do nothing but sit there and mumble her frustrations. After her long and rough journey, she could no longer afford to wear her favourite gowns and forced herself into a cheap, long dress, but even that was dirty and worn.
Iris felt lost. So lost in fact, that she had forgotten where she was. This was no high-class inn or commercial zone; it was just a wide alley at night. She didn't have the funds for an inn to begin with, but perhaps if she had kept her wits, things would have been different.
"Hoh? Hehehe, what do we have here?"
Suddenly, she heard the deep voice of a man approaching her from behind. She flinched and hurriedly turned around to face the drunken man with his hairy forearms exposed. The moment she realised that this man's cultivation was at the very least at mid Soul Realm, Iris got up and slowly took a step back with a polite smile on her face.
"How may I help you?"
"Hic*, uh, how 'bout you help me have some fun?"
Iris felt chills as she saw the look in his eyes and tried to run away. However, even though he was drunk, the man was still a few levels above her. In one movement, he caught up to her and pushed her to the ground.
"Haha!"
He wasn't sober enough to cast a simple paralysis spell, but his strength was enough to restrain her.
"No, no!"
With one hand he restricted her wrists, and with the other he ripped off her dress.
"Stop! You beast!"
"Kuku, I'll show you a beast."
The man leaned over and forced a kiss on her lips while using one hand to fondle her breasts. After that, he gleefully enjoyed the rest of her body. Eventually, Iris stopped trying to struggle, and tears ran down from her empty eyes. But when she saw the dumb, greedy smile on his face as he ravaged her, Iris felt a crazed anger rise from within her.
'Why? Why, does this trash, have the right to do this to me? And why, do I have to allow it?!'
"Hoh, looks like you're enjoying it too."
When the man saw the fire in her eyes, he mistook it for passion, so he let go of her hands and embraced her without restraint. However, as their intercourse reached its climax, Iris suddenly bit into his neck and tore off a significant portion of his flesh.
"You, bitch..."
With one hand trying to stop blood running from his neck, he tried to choke her with the other hand, but a simple wind spell was all it took to pierce his heart. Once she was sure that he was dead, Iris used a demonic art to absorb his cultivation, allowing her to finally progress to the fourth level of the Soul Realm.
"Ha. Hahaha. Hahahaha! To think it was this easy."
She didn't even realise that tears ran down her cheeks; she only continued to laugh.
'Why did I waste all that time scheming? Didn't I learn my lesson when I lost to Elder Brother? In this world, power is everything!'
As Iris looked down on the man's corpse, she felt exhilaration. This wasn't the first time she had killed someone, but she usually took lives with indifference. However, the pure hatred she felt for the man transformed into ecstatic pleasure after killing him and draining his essence. This revenge satisfied her far more than even making love with Nate had, and it also taught her a lesson. If she had no one to depend on, then she could only depend on herself.
Iris took off everything the man had, including his clothes and money, and left the alley. She modified the clothes so that they would suit her, but she exuded an alluring atmosphere that attracted lustful gazes. Iris ignored these gazes and entered the nearest inn without getting attacked a second time.
Of course, the rowdy men drinking liquor on the first floor took quick notice of her, but it seemed that they were well-behaved enough to not approach her. Still, this didn't mean she would be as lucky the next time she walked through.
The innkeeper/bartender didn't say anything unnecessary as he took her money and gave her the key to a room. When she finally made her way to her room, Iris dropped face-first into the washed-out sheets. As she thought back to the danger she just went through, Iris' shoulders trembled. Then, muffled sounds could be heard from her mouth. She was snickering, but at whom, even she didn't know.
'I was doing everything wrong. I said that I would use everything I had to fulfil my ambition, but wasn't I still holding back? My cunning, my beauty, my body; even if I have to sell my soul, I will regain all that I lost.'
Whether or not it was possible didn't matter. Plans could be made from now on. Morals; she had long thrown those away. After experiencing the consequences of her own life choices, Iris found a new path. Willingly and without a hint of hesitation, she embraced depravity.
It was at this time that a faint black sigil appeared on her back.
The very next day, Iris came down the stairs still wearing the simple dress that she made from the clothing of the man she killed.
"Good morning."
Unlike when she came in last night, Iris appeared with a bright smile and looked even younger than before. While sexual desire was inevitably drawn out when the men saw her, they also felt humbled before her beauty.
"G-good morning."
There were some that shook their heads and tried to ignore her, but there were also those who blushed and tried to respond. It had been quite some time since she had witnessed a sight like this, so a bit of authenticity appeared in her smile.
'Oh, look at the filthy pigs oink. How cute.'
Three days after Iris awakened to her new perspective, eight dead men were found with their life essences drained, and a beautiful maiden in the late Soul Realm had left the city under the protection of an all-male team of workers.