Puppet Knight Iris

Chapter Eleven: Puppet Knight Iris

Covai whipped his head around, his gaze meeting Iris's eyes, which shone like a constellation.

"You're supposed to be dead!!" Covai's voice cracked, hitting a pitch that made it break, "Why are you here!!!"

Iris tilted her head, her face devoid of any emotion. "This is my home, sir. You, a stranger, appearing here at this hour is the anomaly."

"…"

Covai gulped down large amounts of air, sweat and blood mingling on his face once more.

"Then, can I leave?"

"No, you can't," Iris's voice was almost completely flat. "You killed my father, and you killed my mother too. But those aren't the issues. My hatred for you vanished long ago when my head was smashed in."

"Then why won't you let me go!!" Covai's expression was contorting, a sign that his mind was on the verge of collapse.

"Because my master is angered by your actions," Iris said softly. "He actually sent me to punish you, but I am neither a judge nor a priest, so I don't have the authority. Therefore, I can only send you to a more authoritative being—Lord of Prosperity."

"You, you are true evil spirits, you are devils from the abyss!!"

Covai finally felt the scythe of death poised at his throat.

He suddenly grabbed a book from the table and, with all his might, hurled it at Iris.

But unfortunately, his action didn't even manage to brush the hem of the girl's clothes. He missed completely, falling to the ground with his face covered in blood and grime.

"Truly unsightly."

Iris gave his performance a score of zero.

Then, she opened her hand, revealing a dark red kitchen knife that couldn't reflect light even under the dim candlelight, and slowly walked towards the man.

"No, don't come near me!!"

Covai, snot and tears streaming down his face, crawled backward on all fours. But as his back touched the cold wall, his mind suddenly stabilized.

"The Divine Lord will bring divine punishment upon you," he said. "Your souls will be pressed to the bottom of the abyss, burned by eternal flames, never to recover."

"Never to recover!!!"

The kitchen knife plunged into Covai's left rib, but it caused no damage to his body. However, the man's roar abruptly ceased, his eyes quickly dimmed, and all life drained from them.

"Perfect."

Iris gave herself a perfect score for dispatching her father's killer in one blow. As for the man's final nonsensical ramblings, she completely ignored them.

Nothing was more painful than one's own mother helping others kill her child—even though she had forgotten that feeling now.

Iris picked up the package containing almost all of Lizer's family's assets and floated down the stairs. She arrived before Linton, about to report her achievements, when a hand, which seemed to come from nowhere, grabbed her. Then, she was abruptly pushed forward, colliding with something soft.

The next moment, she felt the ceiling become a vortex. Many familiar things were gradually filling her, bit by bit, making her thin soul increasingly plump.

Until at a certain point, after those inexplicable things filled her completely, Iris felt as if her very existence had vanished.

She forgot what she was supposed to do, why she was here, and… who she was.

Linton watched Iris, who lay flat on the ground, with a hint of nervousness.

The black runes on her body were gradually dimming, but they weren't disappearing; rather, they were slowly merging into the deeper parts of her body. Her beautiful eyes were also regaining their brilliance, until at one moment, like a flower bud after the arrival of spring, they finally bloomed with the beauty they were meant to possess.

[[Class Quest: Perfect Puppet] Complete]

[Rewards have been issued]

Linton let out a long sigh of relief.

Wait a minute!

What's going on?

He had just watched the [Puppet Iris], which had already reached legendary rank, suddenly drop back down to epic rank.

What was happening?

His confusion lasted only an instant before he immediately understood the reason.

When Iris stood up, every inch of her beautiful features was etched with fury.

She sprang up from the ground and charged towards the stairs.

Linton quickly followed, afraid that the life-sized figure he had just created would run away.

Iris's target was clear: the study on the top floor.

She precisely located the man leaning against the wall, now completely silent, and then proceeded to kick every inch of his body.

"Never to recover, huh!"

Crack—

"Pressed to the abyss, huh, burned endlessly, huh!!"

Snap—

"And you thought I was weak, huh!!!"

Crack-crack-crack—

Only after the man's body was no longer recognizable as human did Iris, panting heavily, slowly stop her violent actions and look at Linton.

Linton's eyelids twitched.

Whether it was because his connection with Iris was tied to their souls or because he strongly disliked Covai, he felt no dissatisfaction with Iris's destruction of the corpse. Instead, he felt a joy akin to a parent whose child had scored a perfect hundred on an exam.

Wait, I've never been a dad, how would I know what it feels like for a child to get a perfect score?

Regardless of the emotion, seeing someone who had just violently desecrated a corpse staring at him would stir something within him, even if her beauty was perfection itself.

"Feeling any better?"

Linton asked first.

He had already sensed the reason for Iris's quality regression.

After regaining her emotions, the perfect creation was infiltrated by impurities, naturally disqualifying it from bearing the name "Perfect."

However, in Linton's own opinion, he preferred someone with rich emotions over a "puppet capable of emotional exchange."

Iris looked at Linton and said softly, "Thank you."

"No need to thank me. I made you into a puppet, setting you apart from the world. It's already quite good that you don't hate me."

Iris shook her head. "If it weren't for you, I would have had no chance for revenge. I know what's most important, I'm not that foolish."

"Then what are your plans for the future?"

As soon as Linton spoke, he realized the awkwardness of his question.

His conversation with Iris had been too natural, causing his mind to short-circuit. Just a moment ago, he had mentioned making her into a puppet, and now he had forgotten that fact.

"Uh, I mean..."

"Thwack—"

Linton tried to explain, but he retracted his words before they could be uttered. His gaze then softened as he looked at Iris, who was kneeling on one knee. The clear moonlight streamed through the glass window, falling onto the kneeling girl's back, as if draping her in armor predominantly silver in color—even though she could no longer wear the knight's medal already engraved with her name.

"Iris Lizer, I pledge my loyalty to you. Here, I swear upon the stars, from this moment on, you shall wear the glorious crown bestowed by the gods, and I shall bear the fiery sins surging from the abyss!"

Linton remained silent.

The candlelight flickered in the study, casting two human-shaped shadows.

One was Linton's, and the other... was also Linton's.

This week, I hope this chapter gets recommended. I implore all readers to support me by increasing the read-through rate. Thank you so much, orz!!