Chapter 418: Memories With The Otherworlders
Ever since she noticed the existence of these special individuals called otherworlders, Iris, as curious as she could be, decided to meet one or two.
One of the factors in how she confirmed their existence, aside from observation, was that she sought information from some people who stood on the same platform as her, and they told her that otherworlders actually existed.
All over the planet, there were only three people who entered the Enlightenment Realm. Iris was one of them and, apparently, the newest member of the group. With that said, Iris took an interest in these otherworlders, as they had the potential to reach that realm.
Five hundred years after the First Pope, Iris reincarnated herself through her abilities, and she was reborn as a human child. The reason she had gone through reincarnation was because she wanted to be at the same age as the otherworlder.
She could choose which parent she wanted to be born to, and she became the child of a wealthy and influential family for a better start. She was living a peaceful life as a cleric at the church, as it was one way to avoid marriage.
In addition, she intentionally showcased that she had excellent proficiency in light magic in order to get promoted to the lofty position of the Priestess. In that rank, she was absolutely free of marriage, as the church wanted their figurehead to be pure.
Throughout her life, Iris diligently searched for this otherworlder without success. It was not until she was around fifty years old that she finally found the whereabouts of that otherworlder.
All of a sudden, the humans were surprised by the frequent and sudden invasions of the demons, as they had never seen them act so aggressively before. The humans were taken aback, and the demons overwhelmed the humans in no time. In just a few years, the demon territory took over several nations.
On the other hand, Iris took that opportunity to check on the demons. To her surprise, she did not expect that the next otherworlder was not a human being at all. In that era, the otherworlder was the demon lord who led that mighty demon army.
But when she remotely got to know the true nature of the demon lord from afar, she was disappointed by his awful behavior. That turned her off, and she decided not to approach him in person, much less interact with him.
Since her years of effort were wasted, she planned her fake death. She used the human-demon war and personally participated in the battles. By creating a perfect copy of her current body, Iris was able to leave a corpse before she reverted back to her former glory, leaving the otherworlder unattended.
After that, Iris was not seen in the human records. Roughly five hundred years later, she repeated the life cycle once again, and she effectively reborn herself as a human again.
And in a relatively short time, around seventeen years later, it was not that challenging for her to find out who the next otherworlder was.
Hearing the feats and successes of that person, such as wiping out a horde of demons with just one slash of his blade, Iris was so certain that she did not have to check on him. At that time, the one who bore the title of Reincarnator was a man named Alfred.
On the day when Iris approached and met him in person, she suddenly felt something different that she had never felt before. When her eyes locked on his, Iris's heart skipped a beat. She felt love for the first time, as far as she could remember.
Since it was the first time she felt that way, she did not know what to do. As a member of the proud dragon race, she recomposed herself and decided to make acquaintance with Alfred in the meantime.
In order to get close to him, she joined him in his rallies against the demons. Due to her proficiency and talents in magic, she was unanimously chosen to personally accompany Alfred alongside two other members, a swordsman and a female support healer.
The four of them overpowered the demons and effectively pushed them back. The humans gradually reconquered their lands from the invaders. The more they reclaimed towns and cities, the more confident and stronger they were.
The reconquest was mostly successful, and the humans regained most of their former territories. In just a few years, the humans had fended off the demons on the continent except for the ones defending some of the significant dungeons, and the demon lord was hiding inside the biggest dungeon at that time.
Sieges occurred around and inside the dungeons. However, no matter how hard the demons tried to defend the lines, the humans still overwhelmed them in no more than a year, even with the advantages of the dungeon, such as terrain change and resurrection.
The last battlefield was in the 70-floored dungeon, and the hero's party was about to face the demon lord. When that time came, Alfred killed the demon lord, and the reign of the demons on the continent finally came to an end.
After that fight, Iris confessed her love for Alfred, and so did the healer. Unfortunately for her, Alfred kindly rejected her feelings, and he chose the other one instead. It hurt Iris, but she eventually accepted it as she could not force him to reciprocate her feelings.
Meanwhile, the swordsman conveyed his love for her, but Iris just flatly rejected him, leaving him heartbroken before he left the party and married the princess of a reconquered nation.
After the war with the demons, they set apart and had their own lives. Alfred conquered the dungeon and got married to his lover afterwards. He made the empire and renamed himself Alfred Dixon, to which he explained it meant Alfred the Son of Richard.
Upon learning the perks of the dungeon, he then established the Adventurers' Guild to give jobs to his people, supporting the economy of the empire. Ever since the guild was established, the average adventurers became stronger and stronger as they needed more power to make more money.
As for Iris, she was still in contact with Alfred and his wife for years. Iris got so close to him that Alfred told her about his secret that he was actually an otherworlder. Iris was engrossed by his stories and could not stop asking him about his world and himself.
Even though it was short, Iris cherished that time and held a special spot in her heart.