(MC POV)
Those people started to surround the girl though they made sure to maintain their distance as though they were afraid of her.
I guess they thought she killed that old guy at full power and he was supposed to be the strongest person around here, making them think that she must be stronger than anyone else here right now.
They must also be used to outsiders watching their business since literally no one even paid any attention to us even though we were doing nothing to hide our presence at all.
The girl glared at them and flew higher up into the air, summoning several balls of fire around her.
"I will take into account the fact that all of you have served me before and grant you a chance to leave before I kill anyone else who remains."
Obviously that was a bluff since even I could tell she was no match for the guys around her. But the fact that the old man was killed by her must have made those guys believe in her threat and they only needed a second to look at one another before they bolted with their tail in between their legs.
The girl watched them leave before floating back down towards us, her face showing a rather complicated expression as though she did not know what she should do.
"Who are you?"
"Ara, ara? It seems like the people of this World truly are lacking in manners, Master. Don't they know they should introduce themselves first before asking for someone else's name?"
The girl gritted her teeth but slowly let out a breath before nodding at us, "I am Long Er of the Divine Long Family, only daughter of my father who was the patriarch of the Divine Long family. Now who are you?"
"Ufufufu~ As expected of you, even with this you still manage to be exceptionally rude~"
The Long Er girl looked like she was about to start arguing with Iris so I decided to step in between them to prevent it from escalating into a conflict.
I cleared my throat, "Ahem… You can basically see us as travellers from far away. We came here to relax, you see and we're just passing through."
She scowled, "That doesn't answer my question, mortal."
Well, I tried.
Iris flicked her hand at her and the girl's limbs suddenly spread themselves apart as though they were being pulled by invisible ropes.
She gasped and tried to break free, only to realise she could not budge an inch.
"Ara, ara? Master, I think being nice to these kinds of things won't work. We have to make them understand through fear."
Umm… I can't deny that such people only understand power… But what do you have in mind?
'Ufufufu~ Is Master allowing me to do whatever I want with her?'
Hmm… You know what? Yeah. Go ahead.
'Ara, ara? Thank you, Master~ I won't let you down~'
Not really sure how she could let me down anyway but I continued munching on the popcorn that Iris made while she made her way towards the girl.
"What have you done to me?! Stop this or you'll regret it! Don't you know what it means when I tell you I'm a daughter of the Divine Long Family?! You're going against a literal God!"
The girl's eyes started to glow and fireballs started to form around her, only to immediately fizzle out of existence when Iris went up to slap her across the face.
That action was so unexpected that I almost choked on my popcorn.
Iris giggled, "Ufufufu~ This face slapping thing is certainly appealing, I can see why so many people like to do it~"
The Long Er girl took a moment to recover from her shock before screaming, "How dare you?!! Even my own father has never hit me before! Who do you think you are to hit me on the fa--"
The slap Iris gave her next was even harder than the first one, leaving a prominent red hand print on the side of that girl's face.
I turned around to check that Cai Hong was indeed still asleep, though the Qilin was watching the scene unfold with what I assume to be curiosity.
Turning back, I found Iris was just continuously slapping the girl every time she tried to rage at her.
"How dare you?! I'm going to burn you with--"
Slap!
"Don't think that I won't--"
Slap!
"When I get out, I'll--"
Slap!
"You bit--"
Slap!
"I'LL KILL--"
Slap!
I have to say… This girl is resilient, I'll give her that.
Iris isn't lightly slapping her face either, she was hitting the girl hard enough to leave marks and the only reason why her cheeks weren't swelling up was because of her divinity.
Iris smiled at the girl, "Ara, ara? You really are quite an interesting thing. At first I thought of you as just another insignificant existence in this Universe, but I think I can liken you to one of those interesting rocks that Master has kicked up in His path~"
If you knew Iris, that was actually a really big compliment, but obviously this girl did not know Iris so it sounded more like an insult instead.
"How dare you mock me?! If it weren't for these invisible chains, I would have killed you ten times over!!"
Iris gasped, "Ara? Is that so? Are you claiming to possess more authority than I do? I would very much like to see your attempt in that case~"
She nodded at the girl and freed her from her invisible binds, letting her drop on her butt on the ground.
The girl actually let out a shriek and quickly flew up into the air while dusting her rear frantically.
"Eeek!! How could I have touched something so filthy!! Eww, eww, eww!!!"
Huh… I get it now… The people from those Divine Families think that since they have stolen the divinity of the Gods of this world, the ground is so far beneath them that touching it is like losing their divine status or something.
I wonder where that leaves us?
Iris waited patiently for the Long Er girl to recover with a smile on her face.
"I'll show you what you've done!! You'll regret this!! Ignite!! Dragon Heart!! Domain of Fire!! Burn all to cinders!!"
The image of a dragon appeared above her head and I felt the temperature of the surrounding area increase.
Before it could reach a point where everything burst into flames however, there was the sound of glass shattering as Iris Ended her domain as casually as one might blink.
The girl paused and stared at Iris for a moment before roaring again, "Ignite! Dragon Heart! Domain of Fire!! Burn all to cinders!!"
Once again, the area heated up but Iris Ended it even faster this time.
"Im…. Impossible! Why is… Why is my domain… This can't be possible!! How can you break my domain so easily?!!"
Without even acknowledging her confusion, Iris simply flew up to her slowly and… Slapped her across the face.
I have to remember to head pat Iris later.
By the way, this popcorn is really good~
