Chapter 50 – Examination
The next day, Iris brings Senna to the largest church in town. Receiving special treatment from the Head Priest, they bless Senna. However, there's no change in Senna's condition, much to Iris' dismay. The priest found nothing wrong to begin with and healed Senna simply to appease the Royal Family. Senna just sighed seeing the Lich's Blessing still attached to her magic core.
Looking at the altar's statue of Remilia, Senna sighs. She quickly composes an apology message to Ariel and waits for her angry response. While she waits, she tries to calm down the enraged Iris, who is shrieking at the head Priest. After some coaxing and apologizing, the two leave the church. Iris has thankfully flipped from enraged to embarrassed as Senna pats her head.
Senna checks, but sees no response from Ariel despite the time that's passed. {She must be really mad? This is my second message since I arrived on the Icen Continent, but both of them have been ignored. I sent the first one when I first arrived, so it's been about 3 weeks with no response? Do I have no choice but to ignore it and wait until she responds? I guess I can try praying and see if Remilia can mediate the situation?} Senna looks at Iris quietly walking alongside her. {Best leave it for when I'm alone.} Little did she know that her delay would be the trigger to a chaotic battle with the entire kingdom at stake.
Senna drops off Iris at the castle before heading to the Guild to take on some requests. Due to the late start, Senna only takes some simple, short jobs. One of them was cleared in record time even for her. Several years ago, a piece of the mountain peak was somehow blasted off and embedded itself into the land of a local farmer. The chunk of rock required at least 50 adventurers to assist in the removal process, something the farmer was able to pay for.
The process was easily completed by Senna since she only had to store the mass of rock away. Both of them greatly benefited from the exchange. The farmer got his unused farmland back and Senna was introduced to a shop that she could buy produce wholesale. To her surprise, she found rice being sold, so she manages to buy a metric ton of rice much to her delight.
She returns to the castle mid-afternoon and goes on a cooking spree creating one dish after another. A small frenzy occurs as everyone in the castle struggles to taste each dish. Senna naturally duplicates some of the better and well received dishes storing them for future use.
At dinner time, Senna calmly eats while the Royal Family devours some of Senna's leftover cooking. When everyone is almost finished eating, Senna asks to speak to Captain Lewis. King Victor stops Senna from leaving, so they can have a proper talk. She shrugs and decides to have the conversation in the dining hall.
When Lewis enters, she spreads 10 short rods on the table. "I made these after extensive testing. You can use it to identify anyone in the Capital with that poison and locate culprits too."
"Oh. That's useful." Lewis responds picking one up. Senna explains how the depressed portion turns yellow if someone holds the tumor like poison and red if they are actually a monster in disguise.
"Even so, it will be difficult to identify everyone. The town is extremely large." King Victor comments.
"I thought about that too. It would be best to gather everyone in town. The identification portion is the most problematic portion after all. So why not hold a fighting tournament? Entice the town to participate and give out prizes to the winner. It will provide good entertainment to everyone watching." Senna suggests.
"It's a good idea... But there's nowhere in town to hold such an event." King Victor rubs his chin thinking.
"That's fine. I can build a temporary coliseum right outside of town for the event. It will be large enough to give everyone a nice view of the battles. In exchange, I plan to only give the minimal support for the actual capturing process. I've interfered a lot with the guards' work, so it would be best to let them handle things in this case." Senna proposes.
"You say minimally, but who will provide the antidote?" Lewis retorts.
"I found a good business in town. I'll pass on the recipe to them, so they can start creating them." Senna replies.
"Such a large event will be very useful for identifying everyone, but it would be best to try and capture the culprits too." Sebastian cuts in.
"I agree, but the flaw is that a packed venue like this makes it easier for bystanders to get hurt. If the culprits start to attack, then it will be too chaotic." Senna sighs. "That's why you should think up a plan if you wish to capture them when you have the chance. I'll help with the preparations. I'm working on a way to use the antidote as a weapon."
Lewis groans imagining the damages when they self-destruct. “It’s a tall order to safely subdue them without injuries.”
"Everyone should just eat Senna' cooking. Then everyone will too busy eating to fight." Princess Liliana remarks looking mournfully at her empty plate.
"""...........THAT'S IT!!!!""" They ignore Liliana's comment at first, but as they process her words, they realize how effective the plan would be. The deliciousness of Senna's food is addicting to say the least, so utilizing it on the citizens would create the best effect.
"Can you do that at least?" King Victor asks.
"Sure. Pay for the ingredients though. I can't easily fund that many people." Senna nonchalantly replies.
They discuss the details a bit longer until the Queen interrupts them. "That's enough talk about the city. It's best to move onto other business." Queen Helen signals her husband with her eyes.
"Ahem. Senna, we feel we haven't properly rewarded you for all the work you've done. With your restrictions, we thought long and hard about what to give you... and wish to betroth Iris to you." King Victor exudes a generous aura as he motions to Iris, who blushes furiously.
The atmosphere becomes joyous for a brief moment before grinding to a screeching halt. "ARE YOU FUCKING STUPID?!" Senna roars out without restraining her malice in the slightest. They look at Senna and see no hint of joy in Senna's face.
"W-what?" King Victor questions stunned at Senna's anger.
Senna stands up slamming the table. Cracks form around the newly formed handprint embedded on the table. "What the hell are you thinking offering up your daughter like that?! I can't believe you'd try and destroy her life like that trying to rope someone to your kingdom?! Moreover, it's someone like me that's a DAMNED DANGER MAGNET!!! My own survival becomes a question when trouble arrives! Pushing your daughter with me only puts her in the same danger without a nigh impossible chance of living! So I'll say it again, YOUR BLOODY HONEY TRAP IS FUCKING STUPID!!!"
Everyone blankly stares with their jaws hanging as Senna openly and directly denounces the King. Iris snaps out of her stupor first and raises her hand. "…S-Senna."
"What?!" Senna's sharp gaze snaps towards Iris. The annoyance in her voice is only half repressed.
"...Um...T-th..." Iris stumbles over her words under the heat of Senna's enraged glare. "This was my idea."
"...Hmmmmmm....Then should I give you a good whack to wake up from your dreams?" Senna shoots Iris a glare. Everyone including Iris goes pale hearing Senna threaten Iris with a hit. The image of Iris' head bursting like a tomato instantly appears in their minds.
"B-b-but last night y-y-you said..." Iris clings onto her last shred of willpower to maintain eye contact with Senna.
"This and that are different. I only said 'someone like you' as a joke. By no means do I actually want someone to bind their life with mine." Senna slams the table again making them flinch as the cracks multiply spreading throughout the table. Senna's gaze softens slightly seeing Iris trembling like a newborn lamb. "Haaaa......you are a princess. You have a well-established life set for you. To throw all that away for the life of an adventurer is foolish. In fact, it's more than that. Because you're a princess, you've lived a sheltered court lifestyle. You have no real survival skills in the wild."
"E-even so! I want to learn! I-I-I WANT TO BE WITH YOU!!!" Iris hardens her will and confesses her feelings.
Senna locks eye contact with Iris, but clicks her tongue when Iris doesn't back down. "Tsk. Stubborn..." She sighs as she runs through different counter measures in her mind. Her mind clings onto one thought that appears as she expands and twists on the idea. She mentally gives herself a nod satisfied with her plan to turn away Iris. "Fine. If you're really that determined, then you're going to have to prove it."
"O-okay!" Iris firmly stares back maintaining eye contact with Senna. "What do I have to do?"
"I'm going to see just how firm your resolve is, so go change into something you can easily move in. You're going to need it." Senna sternly orders.
"Yes!" Iris happily jumps up. She excuses herself and dashes out of the room with Iru following behind her.
Senna gives a deep sigh after the door slams shut. "Are you really serious in allowing her to follow me?" She kneads her forehead asking with her head down.
"Yes. More than anything it's something she wants." King Victor replies.
"I seriously doubt it is love considering the time I have spent with her. It feels more like gratitude and repayment towards your savior." Senna groans feeling a headache developing. "Nevertheless, even if she comes with me, I don’t plan on staying here forever. I have to learn and focus my own plans."
"Even so, you will have to return at some point so Iris can see her family." Queen Helen retorts. Senna sighs only giving a silent acknowledgement.
"But first, she needs to show that she has enough resolve to follow me. Her life would be at risk if she lacks the determination." Senna adds on.
"I don't think there's anything to worry about. Once my daughter decides something, she follows through." Queen lightly chuckles.
"I'll be the one to decide that." Senna refutes. She gives another heavy sigh before standing up. "Liliana."
"Eh? Yes!" Princess Liliana jumps to her feet hearing her name being called.
"I'm going to use you to test your sister. Follow me." Senna motions to follow her. Liliana's smile blossoms hearing that she can help Senna and Iris. Senna stops along the way with a parting comment. "You can watch, but you can't interfere. This is a test that you yourself encouraged."
Queen Helen watches as Senna shuts the door behind her. "Is this really alright? That didn't go as smoothly as intended."
"It will be alright. I don't believe she means them any harm after everything she's done." King Victor replies confidently. He's inwardly sweating thinking he pushed Senna too far. Of course, he doesn't show any trace of it to the Queen.
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***
In the Training Field, Captain Lewis gives out the order to clear the field. When Senna and Liliana arrive, the field is completely empty with the knights standing on the edge waiting to find out what's happening. Senna signals Captain Lewis making everyone leave and begins her preparations.
Iris and Iru appear a short while later. Iris presents herself wearing the commoner disguise she wore previously, a one piece dress with a skirt that extends to her knees. Senna sighs seeing Iris' interpretation of 'easy to move in'. She decides to push forward since most women she's met in Remia prefer wearing attractive dresses to catch the attention of others. Pants are typically only used by adventurers on a mission or during the snowy season.
"Senna is something wrong with my clothes?" Iris asks seeing Senna sigh after looking at her.
"No, it's fine." Senna extends her hand and snaps her fingers at Iris. A short flash of light surrounds her body as her clothes change. A leather chest plate, gauntlets and a helmet appear on Iris' upper body. Her lower body is dressed more lightly in thick leather pants and boots. "This is more appropriate."
"Was there any point to changing beforehand if you were going to change the Princess anyways?" Iru complains. Iru and Iris had argued for some time on the most appropriate dress to wear.
Senna simply shrugs in response. She turns her attention to the Royal Couple and Captain Lewis. She points a staff that appears in her hand at them. "Do I have your word that you won't interfere in this test? If you plan to jump in and interfere, then you're wasting everyone's time." She sternly complains to them.
They look at one another before King Victor carefully responds. "Yes, you have our word." Senna looks at the Queen and Captain and receives an affirmative nod.
Senna turns her gaze to Iris. "I will thoroughly test your determination. I have no intention of holding back and Will. Make. You. Suffer." Senna stresses every word as she glares at iris.
Iris involuntarily shivers feeling as if she's a mouse standing before a hungry predator. Even so, she feels an instinctive pull towards Senna. She takes a deep breath gathering her resolve as she steps forward. She meets Senna's blue and gray eyes and nods. "Yes. I'm sure."
Senna shakes her head giving up on this method to coerce Iris to quit. "Fine." She snaps her fingers lighting up the training field. Translucent walls spring from the earth forming three enclosed rooms. Each of the rooms spans about 40 meters across providing ample room to move about. The other contrasting feature among the rooms is that each one of them is colored differently. The leftmost room has a translucent blue color, the middle a yellow color, and the rightmost room a red stained color.
Senna snaps her hands again forming a straight, white arrow starting from the blue room and progressing through the yellow room into the red room. In the last room, it diverts to the left where a small glass bottle sits in a small window shaped alcove. The arrow turns back to the right wall ending at a door. "Start from the blue room, go through the rooms, grab the potion in the red room, and return here. Understand?"
Senna looks back and sees everyone with a complicated expression. "It can't possibly be that easy, can it?" Lewis asks.
"What do you think?" Senna retorts with a dark smile.
"...Then it must be filled with traps ... and monsters..." Lewis bitterly responds. Everyone gasps as they stare at Senna, then at Iris.
"B-B-But Senna, I-I-I don't know how to fight monsters." Iris starts to shake at the thought of fighting monsters.
"There are no traps." Senna responds with a warm smile. "I need to give you a fair chance after all. My goal is to test your determination and nothing else. Your goal is to get the potion and get out. That's all. As for everything else, you'll have to deal with it. Understand?" She produces a short sword and forcibly hands it to Iris.
Iris blankly stares as the short sword is pushed into her hand. A mixture of fear and worry well up from the depths of her body. A sheltered princess like her has to face an unknown number of monsters and by Senna's words they definitely won't be weak. The idea of backing out appears in her mind, but she forces herself to stifle the idea. Senna's stern but serene gaze tells her everything she needs to know. The second she backs out, the path to follow Senna will shut forever. Her reason argues that it isn't worth it to go with Senna, but her instincts scream at her to absolutely follow Senna.
"Understand?" Senna sternly repeats the question seeing the dread well up in Iris' face.
Senna's words act as the catalyst for Iris' inner battle. Her reason and instinct fought back and forth evenly matched. However, her instinct explodes with strength after hearing Senna’s voice, overwhelming her reason. No matter what, she feels she has to follow Senna. The infatuation that she feels inside her heart tells her that she absolutely doesn't want to lose the chance to be with Senna. Iris meets Senna's gaze nodding her head.
Senna sighs seeing Iris being such a tough nut to crack. "Fine. Then make your preparations. After all, Princess Liliana's well-being rides on your success."
"......What...? Liliana....?" Iris' passionate feelings abruptly halt at the unexpected name.
"AHHHH!!!" Liliana lets out a sharp cry. As they turn their heads, they see Senna stabbing a dagger into Liliana's arm. Senna calmly retracts the dagger and flicks away the blood.
"Senna! What are you doing?!" Queen Helen cries out rushing over to Liliana. "Dear, are you okay?" She squats down and looks at Liliana's arm. A bit of blood marks the cut, but the skin around the wound has turned a mottled gray.
Queen Helen grabs a handkerchief and wipes away the blood feeling a rough texture. Before she can wonder about touch of Liliana's skin, Helen feels something tighten around her hand. She looks down to see her handkerchief hardening and transforming into stone. She lets out a yelp dropping the handkerchief. As it hits the ground, the handkerchief shatters spreading stone shards in every direction. "SENNA!!! What's the meaning of this?!" The Queen's face is twisted in rage looking particularly demonic.
"Petrification poison. Liliana's body will gradually transform into stone until she becomes a statue." Senna calmly explains.
"I won't allow it! Get rid of this poison!!" Queen Helen yells hysterically.
"I have your word that you wouldn't interfere with the test. Deal with it." Senna brushes off the Queen's anger as if it were nothing.
Queen Helen shoots her husband a look. Receiving the signal, King Victor steps forward. "Senna."
Senna shoots him a particularly stern glare. He instantly withers under her glare afraid to say anything further. "If you're going to cause a commotion, it would be best to stop watching and wait for the results." She turns to the pale Iris. "And you should stop lingering if you don't want your sister to die."
"Y-Yes." Iris weakly nods and quickly walks to the entrance of the room.
"SENNA!!!" Queen Helen shrieks seeing her demands ignored.
Irene steps forward. "Your Majesty." She takes Queen Helen's hand firmly gripping it. "Please follow me."
"Irene! Why aren't you saying anything?! What kind of maid are you to let Liliana get hurt like this?! You should be doing something to help Liliana!!" Queen Helen shrieks at Irene with a particularly vicious gaze. Irene leans forward and whispers in the Queen's ear. The Queen's rage evaporates in an instant and is replaced with a blank look. "...What?" Irene takes the chance to lead the Queen back into the castle.
"You should follow them." Senna comments to King Victor, who's looking torn on what to do.
"What about Liliana?" King Victor asks. His expression is calm, but his voice betrays his worry seeing Liliana's forearm turn to stone.
"She stays here." Senna replies sternly.
"…Fine. I'm trusting in you Senna." King Victor mutters separating from the field. Senna stares straight ahead without averting her gaze. After he leaves, she lets out a short sigh before fixing her expression.
Liliana has a pained look on her face, but doesn't complain any further about the injury. Iru passively watches the scene noticing something wrong, but chooses to focus on Iris.
Iris enters the first room initiating the test. The door slams shut as she steps into the room as orbs of light illuminates the room. She takes a look around the room, but her sight freezes at the figure in the very center of the room. "That's..."
"ROOOAAAAARRRRRR!!!!!" It lets out a loud bellow as it charges at Iris.
"AAAHHHHH!!!" Iris tries to escape, but is impeded by the sealed door. The thudding noise of the beast behind her gives her no time to think. She runs to the corner of the room and curls up into a wall.
***
"SENNA!!! WHAT IS THAT?!" Iru shrieks seeing the imposing monster chasing Iris.
"What you ask? It's a tiger monster. Ah. Do you not have tigers in the area?" Senna blandly replies. Partway through she remembers that she hasn't found a book on local monsters yet, so her knowledge is still incomplete.
"I know what a tiger is, but how can you call that a tiger?!" Iru points at the 'tiger' chasing Iris. It was easily 9 meters long and surpassed 3 meters tall when standing on all fours.
"It just is. Iris will have to deal with it." Senna shrugs apathetically.
Iru grits her teeth and gives Senna a powerful slap. "What's wrong with you?! Why are you acting so crazy?! Just stop this and let Iris out?! Look at Liliana!! Don't you feel anything seeing her like this?!" Iru points to Liliana who's repressing her tears seeing her hand become completely petrified.
Senna sighs. "
The sound of grinding metal accompanies the tiger's roar. Iris waits for the accompanying pain, but feels nothing. She timidly turns her head only to see a chained collar restraining the tiger. The tiger roars angrily at being unable to reach its prey. It slams a paw down shattering the stone ground beneath it.
Iris turns her head back seeing stone bits flying her way. She feels a spray of pebbles scattering over her back, but thankfully nothing injures her. Iris opens her eyes once again and sees Senna and Liliana waiting for her on the other side of the transparent wall. Senna's expression is stern and solemn, while Liliana is teary and disturbed. Liliana mouths out for help.
Iris fear cools down when she remembers what's waiting for her. "I can do this. I can do this." She motivates herself as she gets to her feet. Turning around, she quickly scans the room. The room is mostly devoid of anything special features. At the other end of the room is the open door to the next room. A stone pillar in the center of the room holds the other end of the chain restraining the tiger preventing it from reaching the corners of the room. However, it gives enough length to reach the center of each wall.
Iris readies the short sword in her hand and tries to approach the tiger. Before she can try to attack it, it reaches out its paw trying to crush her under foot. "Wah!" She quickly jumps back afraid of getting hit. She covers her face again and feels a flurry of stone and pebbles striking against her armor. A few deeper thuds are heard, but she only feels a light impact.
"This won't work." Iris mutters putting her arms down. She looks at her sword and realizes how short it is. "What do I do?" She bites her lip looking at the roaring tiger in front of her. Her view wanders and locks onto the rocks amidst the broken floor. "Would that work? …I have to try."
Iris quickly grabs some of the palm sized rocks scattered across the floor. With a small pile of rocks by her feet, she throws one at the tiger. Unfortunately her first throw goes way off the mark without even brushing by the tiger. She reluctantly gets a bit closer before trying again. Iris' aim improves after several throws with one of them clearly aimed at the tiger's head. Unfortunately, the tiger anticipates her throw and swipes the rock down to the ground crushing it.
Iris groans seeing her plan going so poorly. She looks at Liliana's increasingly petrified body and sees her arm fully transformed. "Isn't there something I can do?" She groans looking around the room. Her gaze wanders all around the room, but finds nothing new that she can use.
The tiger raises its body slamming down both claws onto the broken floor. Iris backs up seeing it struggle again. The tiger smashes the floor even further scattering rock and dust in every direction. Some dust flies into the tiger's nose making it inadvertently sneeze.
Iris gasps as an idea forms. "Even if it doesn’t work, I have to try it." She motivates herself as she chants the incantation for a basic
The second she cast the spell, Iris escaped darting directly for the next room. She runs at full power trying to ignore the enraged feline behind her. Unfortunately, the tiger recovers enough of its vision to start chasing Iris. The ground rumbles with each step and the tiger pursues Iris. She feels the heat of the tiger’s breath as it catches up to her with the large contrast in size. A sense of dread and danger fills her body as she realizes that she can’t reach the door before the tiger overtakes her.
In that moment, a loud rumble erupts behind her as the tiger leaps into the air. Iris jumps to the side rolling away from her original location. The sound of screeching metal roars throughout the room forcing her to cover her ears. “RAWCKKKK!!!” An odd noise is heard above her as she quickly stands up. At that moment, the tiger crashes to the ground on its back producing a large quake. Unprepared for the impact, Iris is lifted off of her feet tumbling to the ground too. The entire room rumbles to the point that someone else observing would fear that the room would collapse.
Iris lands awkwardly, but without any further injuries. She quickly gets to her feet and assesses the situation. Iris’ jaw drops seeing the tiger lying on its back unconscious. The collar tugs tightly into the tiger's throat with the chains stretched to their limits. "Did it go too far with that jump?" Iris looks at the unconscious tiger with a wry smile. She strongly shakes her head after finishing that thought. "That's not important right now. I need to worry about myself and finish the test. Senna will probably make sure it doesn't die...I hope..."
Iris quickly runs around the tiger and into the next room. The instant she passes through the doorway, a stream of fire barrels in her direction. "AH!!" She quickly leaps to the side avoiding the stream of flames. A wave of heat washes over her body as the flames lightly singe her hair.
Iris scrambles to her feet, but quickly regrets discovering the source of the flames. Her knees weaken seeing the monsters prowling the room. Six canine heads stare at her with a vicious gleam. However, only two bodies fill her vision. Each body has three heads connected to it, with every head poised to attack. The legends of the demonic monster, Cerberus, instantly enters Iris' mind.
As Iris begins to panic, all six heads release a stream of flames forward, left and right with only the center head aiming at Iris. In a moment of panic, she falls over as she attempts to avoid the flames. Crashing to the ground, Iris avoids the main body of the flame breath, but she distinctly feels the licks of fire scorching her back. Iris winces at the burning sensation, but quickly crawls out from fire breath only to see another fire breath moving in her direction.
Iris jumps to her feet only to be knocked into the air as something strikes her in the back. Her body passes through one of the flame breaths igniting her clothes and hair. Unable to recover from the surprise attack, she lands directly on her arm hearing a distinct crack. Her mind momentarily blanks as the pain from her burns are overridden with the new pain from her broken arm. When she suppresses the searing pain, Iris looks up and finds a third, larger Cerberus looming over her.
Without any threatening warning, the new Cerberus leaps in front of her and swings a paw down smashing her leg. "AAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!" Iris screams unable to handle the crushing pain. After the overwhelming pain, she feels her body move involuntarily along with a feeling of weightlessness. Iris quickly blinks away her tears as she feels the increasing danger of death.
{Am I going to die?} The sense of impending death starts to become far more realistic for her. She sees the Cerberus carrying her in its mouths. The center head grips her waist while the left head grips her good arm. Her view of the last head is blocked by the center head, but she feels her remaining good leg restrained in place, not to mention the wet warmth of its saliva.
Iris resigns herself to her failure. An arm and a leg are broken, while the remaining good limbs are restrained within the Cerberus’ mouths. She tries to think of something to break out of the situation, but comes up with nothing that can allow her to succeed. Her physical abilities were her only reliable skill in the test. Her magic had gotten a lot stronger since she had woken up, but she hadn't studied or practiced it at all. From the time of her Identification ceremony to her illness, her magic was too weak to fully cast a Basic tier spell. She had learned the basic spells, but was forced to give up on casting them on a normal level because they couldn't be improved for further consideration. The only
Iris catches a glimpse of Senna watching her progress. No panic can be seen on Senna's face. Her expression is extremely serene with a trace of a smile. In contrast, Liliana next to her is becoming increasingly panicked as the petrification spreads across her shoulder into the rest of her body. Iris stifles a groan seeing Liliana's condition. Iris makes her decision to quickly end things to prevent Liliana from suffering anymore. "Senna! I give up!" Iris reluctantly voices her forfeit as loud as she can.
Senna's voice echoes through the room allowing Iris to clearly hear every word. "No way. It's still too early~"
"Eh?! But I give up!" Iris cries out. Her cry agitates the Cerberus making them crunch down on her arm and leg in retaliation. "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!" She screams as her arms are crushed to a pulp. The overwhelming pain causes her to momentarily black out.
The center head becomes annoyed at Iris' loud scream and tosses her away. For better or worse, she flies through the doorway to the final room. Her mangled limbs hit the doorway on her way through jolting Iris awake with a new wave of pain. Her consciousness returns, but her vision is distorted from the tears and blood staining her face.
"I warned you didn't I?" Senna voice comes in at that moment. "I fully intend to make you suffer."
Before she can fully comprehend Senna's words, a large figure looms over her body. She rapidly blinks her eyes, but quickly regrets her decision. The sight of the monstrous creature only heard about in legends sends her hopes spiraling to the pits of despair. The scarlet scaled body towers over her resembling an impenetrable fortress. It's long neck looms over her staring with its yellow eyes. "D-D-Dra-Dragon..." Iris meekly squeezes out the name of the menacing reptile before her.
The dragon reacts to her voice bathing Iris with a breath of pure flames. The searing pain of her flesh being cooked makes her want to scream at the top of her lungs. However, when Iris opens her mouth to scream, the flames directly enter her mouth multiplying the pain even further. Iris shuts her eyes and mouth trying to endure the burning pain when the feeling of weightlessness fills her body.
As she tries to open her eyes, a piercing pain fills her body as multiple sharp implements dig into her stomach. Her vision goes white as she realizes what happened. The dragon wasted no time in picking her up and directly bit into her body. Her thoughts fade to black as the pain becomes too much forcefully cutting her consciousness as she faints from shock.