The confused dark elf lieutenant had yet to respond, but Iris was confident about what she was seeing. Trembling eyelids hinted at her distress as she shakily descended from the bed. Rushing to her, the dark elf lieutenant draped a coat over the princess, who was drenched in cold sweat.
“Did you see it in a dream?” the dark elf lieutenant asked cautiously.
“I see it even now,” Iris gasped while taking deep breaths. The spectacle, which seemed impossible, remained vivid before her closed eyes: the impenetrable darkness of the deep sea and, somewhere within, a massive door — or perhaps she should call it a gate?
Iris shuddered as she spoke, "Tell me, Sephia. We found it, haven't we? There’s no way we haven’t! If nothing has changed from yesterday, why would my dream alter?" she demanded desperately.
Sephia flinched at the sudden outburst but quickly composed herself to support the distressed Iris. “Please, my princess, calm yourself. Your eyes—”
“No, I won't open them,” Iris interjected, still keeping her eyes tightly shut. “I don't want to… open them.”
She feared that upon opening her eyes, the vision would vanish. It was a fear Sephia struggled to comprehend. Or rather, it was the fear within Iris that she couldn't fathom.
“As for your question...” Sephia began cautiously, her voice trembling slightly. She wrapped her hands around her lord’s quivering shoulders as she continued, “I can't say for certain. The sixty-third sector. I don’t know if there’s something there, but the divers exploring it have not returned.”
This wasn't the first time.
After forcing the harried dwarves to mass-produce the diving suits, the pirates under Iris’ command had been sent to comb the depths of the Solgalta sea. However, many pirates had perished during the exploration. Despite these suits being crafted from special materials and imbued with the Dark Power of Iris and the Dark Elves, it couldn’t be helped how frail human bodies were. Although many of the pirates had great stamina, and some were even capable of handling mana, the deep, unfathomable abyss was merciless and quickly broke down human bodies.
There were always those who failed to return from their dive. Some even cut their own oxygen pipes, perhaps maddened by the fear of the impenetrable darkness of the abyss. Some even spoke of seeing phantoms in the murky waters.
“It’s different this time around. None of the five divers who entered the sixty-third sector have returned. The strange thing is… that their oxygen pipes remain connected. Yet, no matter how much we pull, they won't budge,” Sephia explained.
“We've found it. We definitely must have,” Iris quivered with excitement. She started walking blindly, still keeping her eyes closed.
“My princess, where are you going?” Sephia asked in alarm, rushing to her side.
With a sudden flare of determination, Iris brushed away Sephia's supporting hand. “Where do you think? Isn't it obvious where I must go?”
“Please, my princess, please calm down. How do you intend to use the Demoneye without even opening your eyes?” Sephia implored.
The sixty-third sector was a long way away. It would take well over two days, even by ship.
It would only take a single step if Iris used her Demoneye of Darkness, but after serving Iris for a long time, Sephia knew all too well the conditions for activating the Demoneye of Darkness. The power that granted such leaps required its user to keep their eyes open at all times.
"It's alright," Iris whispered, though her eyes remained shut. "There's... there's no problem."
She herself couldn't pinpoint the reason behind her assurance. Yet, something told her all would be well, and she never contemplated the risks of treading into the unknown.
Though Iris' eyes stayed closed, the Demoneye was directed towards her destination.
Crack!
Space itself tore open before Iris. Darkness poured from the widening chasm.
Sephia was astounded by the sight. In the hundreds of years she had served Iris, never had she seen such an event during the activation of the Demoneye of Darkness.
"Princess!" Sephia cried out in alarm, reaching out to stop her.
Iris pushed Sephia’s hand away. She staggered towards the encroaching darkness. As Sephia hurried after her with horror, a thick wall of shadow rose to block her path.
"Do not follow,” said Iris.
"But, my princess—" Sephia’s plea was cut short.
"I must go forward," Iris stated firmly.
What did she mean by that? Sephia gazed at Iris' silhouette beyond the dark veil. Yet, Iris didn't look back. She continued to face the unseen with her eyes still closed.
Step by step.
With each movement forward, the darkness spread and tore further.
Then, a “gate” appeared in front of Iris, asking her to enter within. Without hesitation, she stepped towards its depths.
Whoosh!
Though invisible to the eye, the darkness seemed to echo around Iris, wrapping around her like a comforting blanket. Initially, she felt a warmth akin to being swaddled. But as she proceeded, the warmth vanished, replaced by a crushing pressure that threatened to shatter her.
Even breathing became almost impossible, and with every breath she took, it felt as if her lungs were being torn apart. The taste of the salty ocean overwhelmed her, and the immense pressure of the deep sea seemed intent on breaking even her fortified form, which she had trained for hundreds of years. Yet, Iris enveloped herself with the armor of Dark Power, resisting the immense pressure.
Everything before her was pitch-black. Perhaps it was due to her closed eyes, but more so because this place was a lightless abyss.
Yet, Iris began to move again. Just because it was dark and her eyes were closed didn’t mean she couldn't perceive anything.
At the ocean's very floor….
Stood a colossal door. Or could it even be called a door? For a door implied something that opened and closed. But can something be called a door if it never opened again once shut?
No, it wasn't a door. It was a seal, a mechanism to lock something away forever. It was something never to be opened — an eternal seal in the abyss.
'What... what is this?' Iris' eyes remained shut, but she gazed intently at the seal.
The seal was something she hadn’t seen in her dreams. Only after waking from the dream did its image imprint in her mind. The seal was right there, at the base of the boundless deep sea. It was unmistakably real.
Iris could not dare to fathom what lay beyond that seal. She could scarcely imagine what kind of an unimaginable abyss the depths of the ocean might lead to. In fact, she did not even want to imagine it. The moment she contemplated the reason behind her fear, a chilling shiver was sent down her spine.
She already knew the answer but had been turning away from it. She didn't want to confront it because of the sheer terror it instilled.
The core of the dream, which felt so familiar and warm and was always consistent, had taken a dark turn this night. In the midst of the hazy fog came a heartbreaking wail, full of anguish and sorrow.
And finally, within that cry, she had managed to discern the single phrase: ‘I am sorry.’
That voice — she remembered it. It was the voice of her father, the Demon King of Fury.
What could he possibly be apologizing for? That very phrase spurred Iris to unravel the mysteries of the dream.
In the dream's end, her father kneeled. As Iris and her siblings approached him, the dream world was submerged in water. Everything drowned and disappeared. But Iris and her siblings couldn't reach their father. In the distance, his wails echoed, consumed by grief. He had failed to save his children.
Was he apologizing for not being able to save them?
Or perhaps, even worse, he might have chosen not to save them. He might have forsaken them with his own hands.
The raw emotion in that agonizing cry was impossible to misinterpret. Though she was only feeling it by instinct, she felt increasingly assured of her finding.
She had been abandoned.
Now that she knew the whole truth, the dream had always been a nightmare. How pitiful it was that she would feel warmth and longing in a dream where her father had forsaken her.
‘No,’ Iris clenched her fist.
The warmth and longing she felt in the dream wasn't a wretched illusion. Though these visions and feelings weren't in her memories, she was sure of everything she saw and felt in her dreams.
If she was so certain, then fear had no place in her heart. The father from an age long past might have abandoned his children, but the Demon King of Fury from three hundred years ago had risked his life for them. It was almost laughable to be held back by fear after coming this far.
The overwhelming impulse and emotions she currently felt had no clear origin. But from the beginning, that didn't matter. There were multiple reasons for her to come to the Solgalta Sea, but even without those reasons, Iris would still have been drawn here.
"Father." No voice could be heard in the depths of the sea, but Iris still called out, lips quivering.
She believed that all the dreams she had and the visions she now saw were shown to her by her father. If all this was his doing, then Iris didn't want to be afraid.
In that moment of resolve, Iris felt something she shouldn't be able to in this place. A pressure that seemed to crush her, and within the barrier she had put up, she felt warmth. It felt as if someone was embracing her from behind.
‘Ah,’ Iris was shocked.
A realization sent shivers through Iris. As was the case with her Demoneye, her Dark Power too was inherited from the Demon King of Fury. Though he had perished three hundred years ago, he had always been with her.
Slowly, she opened her eyes, which glowed a vivid red. Only upon opening her eyes did she see the seal at the ocean's depth.
What lay before her was different than what she saw with her eyes closed. Perhaps… it was the consequence of an unfathomably long passage of time. The desolation was such that, at first glance, the boundary between the environment and the seal was indistinguishable. It felt as if someone was pushing her back. Slowly, Iris descended towards the seal unobstructed.
Suddenly, an unseen, strange force pulled at Iris, causing her to plummet.
‘I see.’
Yet, she remained unshaken, surveying her surroundings.
Pirates, seemingly 'frozen' near the seal, caught her eye. They were the same ones who had dived into the sixty-third zone upon her command, that is, this very place. Despite the crushing depths, they neither floated nor succumbed to the water's pressure. What was even more peculiar was that their oxygen tubes connected to an overhead darkness.
This very darkness was a creation of her Demoneye; still, Iris couldn't intervene with it. The darkness, the connected pirates, nay, the very space itself was held by a more omnipotent power.
‘Yet... I can still move,’ she thought. Ordinarily, no being could enter this domain. The mere approach would ensnare and halt everything in its place.
Iris looked around while narrowing her eyes. Her Demoneye ached, and the warm Dark Power surrounding her became imbued in her irises.
There was a jolt in her mind. And then, she began to see them.
Chains.
Invisible, intangible chains filled the space. Their countless movements felt like waves melding into the sea. The place where Iris stood was brimming with these chains.
Swallowing hard, Iris continued her descent, thinking of what she saw, ‘These chains….’
Among the Demon Kings of Helmuth, only one wielded chains as his power — the Demon King of Incarceration, whom Iris had met ages ago.
Thousands of chains trailed behind the Demon King of Incarceration, entwining into what looked like a cloak. And when he stretched out those chains, the chains dominated the very space, capturing everything within.
This place… was no different. With the heavily chained seal before her, Iris swallowed once more.
She couldn't be sure of what lay behind it. However, she felt that the seal was meant to bind something.
It was a seal that should never, could never be broken. But now, Iris felt remarkably free. The chains couldn't bind her essence, and the impenetrable seal didn't rebuff her approach. Her eyes had turned pitch-black, and the embracing veil of Dark Power dispersed around her, pushing the chains away.
Booom….
Iris reached the colossal seal.
She didn’t need to ponder on how to unlock it. Since ancient times, this seal had awaited its sole key. She realized this instinctively, almost fatefully.
Darkness surged from her completely darkened Demoneye as she stretched both hands towards the seal.
With a roaring sound, the seal opened, and Iris was cast into a pitch-black abyss. However, as she plummeted, the seawater didn't pour in with her. She looked up, sensing the oddity. The chains were densely packed, preventing the seawater from falling.
She burst out laughing, "Ah... Ahaha, ahahaha!" Now she could speak, and she threw her arms open wide in exhilaration.
It was impossible to see the bottom of the endless chasm. While she couldn't discern what lurked in the abyss below the deep sea, Iris was sure of one thing: the moment she saw the very bottom, her being would transform.
She would become the Fury of this era.