“Your final challenge is to defeat your father.” The being’s voice echoed.


    “How!! I can’t do anything against him!!”


    “Hehe, I don’t know. That is for you to figure out.” The being spoke sarcastically.


    Her dad reached close proximity and lunged at her, his weapon gleaming a dim white light, a characteristic of him.


    Iris dodged; her instincts moved her to the left, which only caused her dress to be caught.


    Iris''s dad fixed his footing, raising his two blades directly at Iris.


    Iris is feeling overwhelmed and can only try to run away.


    Iris’s dad lunged, his movement creating the image of a butterfly.


    Iris can only dodge a few as she is struck with many attacks, causing her limbs to be profusely bleeding; she has hit a dead end; there is nothing left for her to do. The discrepancy of abilities is too much for both of them.


    Iris hadn''t learned the movement of the butterfly nor the rose movement from her mather; she was completely untrained, fighting against someone who was close to reaching the pinnacle of the natural arts and the greatest user of the butterfly movement.


    The more Iris got attacked, the more the room became blurry.


    Iris continued to defend her dad’s precise attacks; his movement was unrefined; however, Iris was still no match for his powerful attacks. For every attack, there are hits of white that show his blessings.


    Iris saw how an attack was aimed at her heart; without having a second thought, her body naturally dropped on the grass. She began rolling around, propelling herself with her hands to try and create a larger distance from her father.


    Iris rapidly stood up, looked back, and saw her father sprinting towards her, his movement confusing and unexpected; however, she knew that it was all calculated.


    Her dad launched his weapon towards Iris, which caused Iris to propel herself to the left, only leaving her arm scratched from the attack.


    Iris closed her eyes, and in the next second saw how her father was now an arm''s length from her, his blade aimed directly at her stomach. There was no possibility in where Iris could dodge this attack; she could only close her eyes as she began to feel the sharp pain.


    Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.


    The blade halfway inside Iris, her father kicked her, which sent her flying away, leaving a trail of blood.


    “Ahh!!” Iris never expected the pain to be that severe; she expected the pain to sting; however, the blade managed to trigger her whole nervous system to break down; and her legs gave up.


    The constant bleeding caused Iris to twitch around on the floor, trying to calm the pain and the profuse bleeding, but no matter how many flowers she began plucking, they did nothing to stop the pain; only the bleeding relaxed.


    She looked up, her face full of tears, seeing how the one who cared for her would be the one who would take her life away. He gave her life and will be the one to take it away from her.


    Her dad, seeing Iris on the ground, extended his hand and launched the other sword, preparing it to be the finishing blow.


    Iris closed her eyes; she had not agreed to her death, but there was nothing for her to do. The speed of the blade and her current state created an environment to produced certain death.


    Boom!


    Iris rapidly opened her eyes, her eyes in full surprise as the heart pendant created a shield protecting her body; she began to feel a surge of power, her wounds sealed.


    She quickly stood up, her hands glowing a light pink light.


    Her dad looked at her in surprise, which caused him to create two blades. Iris, seeing this, wasted no time and unconsciously launched herself at her father, her arms extended.


    Before her dad could extract his newly created weapons, Iris collided with him, her hands creating a shield that sent her father flying.


    Iris started running to finish her father finally and to put an end to both of their suffering.


    The second she arrived, she looked down and saw her father lying there without moving; she carefully arrived close to his head and created a small shield to try and kill it.


    Her hands trembling, she raised her arms and prepared herself to finally end this.


    Slash


    Iris, with her hand up, looked down, seeing how her father moved out of the way and, in the process, cut her leg.


    Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!


    Her heart began racing; the pain was too much for her. She looked up with tears and agony on her face and saw how her father looked down at her, his arms up, prepared to kill her in the same style she thought of killing him.


    “Ahh!!”


    Boom!!!


    With a cry, she unleashed something brewing deep inside her, a burst of energy that destroyed her father.


    Iris was also sent flying, her leg now appearing to regrow.


    She began crawling to where the only remaining part of her father was his torso; all of his limbs exploded.


    She arrived at her father''s body and began crying on his chest. She wept, all of the pent-up fear from seeing how a copy of him tried to kill her and grieving his death.


    She looked up and imagined his face. Looking at her, he had the same warm look he always had.


    Iris’s leg finally healed; she stood up and finally grabbed the key that the explosion created. She looked down, her face full of grief, and turned around to open the last door.


    Iris reached the door, taking a deep breath, her hands trembling as she turned the key. The door opened, releasing a powerful blue light that consumed her.


    She stepped inside, her heart pounding with a mix of grief and relief. She looked back and saw the world around her begin to dissolve, the flowers and the bloodstain fading into nothing.


    As the light faded, she found herself in a new environment, a beautiful green forest; the fresh air and birds chirping made her feel liberated.


    “I finally left.” She whispered, her voice breaking as tears streamed down. She fell to her knees, her body shaking with cries of excitement.


    “Congratulations, Little Iris. “ The beings'' voices shook the forest. “You’ve earned your right to live—for now.” His voice deepened, “But remember, we are always watching. Get stronger, or our next encounter will be your last.”


    Iris’ heart raced as the voice faded, returning the sounds of nature to run the forest. She moved her hands and felt something. She looked and saw a beautiful crimson flower.


    Iris grabbed the flower and inserted it into her hair just as her mother had always done. She clenched her fist, her tears drying as her eyes were filled with determination.


    She looked up at the sky, seeing a crow pass. “I’ll be ready,” she whispered. “No matter what, I will have my revenge.”