Chapter 74: You’re a… complete Nightmare!
They thought they had her cornered, but it turned out to be a dead end. They had not read the situation properly. The major cause of their defeat was that they had not expected the power of Stelcis to be this "strong".
They had pushed back too hard after cornering them. If the enemy had been at the level they had anticipated, they would have been able to finish her off right there.
–But results were results.
They were going to be killed here.
It was a defeat.
Completely and utterly.
As he crawled closer to Iberis, who had attempted to stand up and failed, her face collapsing to the ground, Raffi gritted his teeth. Her Bandersnatch was barely maintaining its hold. It was flickering as if it was ready to disappear, straining to stop the bleeding.
No, it would be better if it simply disappeared.
Iberis has taken too much damage.
If it continues at this rate…
Raffi gulped his saliva, then watched the Mock Turtle eyeing him with folded arms and Stelcis standing there minding her tattered clothes, before he stood his ground to protect Iberis.
Then he raised his voice.
"… You're a… complete Nightmare!"
Upon hearing this, the smile on Stelcis' face retracted. She lifted her hand to halt the men and women around her who were approaching Iberis to finish her off, and then regarded the Mock Turtle beside her.
"What do you suggest, Mock?"
"You can do whatever you please… Stel. You can capture them before they die, open their head or chest and devour them alive."
"Are you sure about this, Mock?"
"I have a bad feeling about this. You can call it a hunch…" The Mock Turtle spoke quickly and then gently retreated. The space behind her wavered like the surface of the water.
"Wait!" Raffi went pale and shouted. If the Mock Turtle used her mysterious ability to mask herself, there really would be no chance for a victory.
Unexpectedly, the Mock Turtle halted and glanced at Raffi with crossed arms. Her eyes stared at him suspiciously.
"…You really do not know when to give up. Is there something you want to say?"
Raffi said to her in a hushed tone as she spat out the words.
"… This is strange."
When Raffi mentioned this, the Mock Turtle tilted her head.
"… What?"
"You and Stelcis… we thought you were the Original Nightmare and Stelcis was Alice's doppelganger. But from that point on, we were dead wrong."
"…"
The Mock Turtle's complexion shifted. Looking at that, Stelcis gnashed her teeth. The surrounding men and women observed them as if they were bewildered, and Stelcis yelled out to interrupt them.
"Shoot them down!"
"So you're an Original Nightmare too, Stelcis!"
All the surrounding men and women simultaneously readied their guns. Raffi let out a screeching yell.
"You are a real 'Nightmare', 'an enemy of humanity'!"
"Don't bother with them, just do it!" Stelcis hysterically bellowed. In an instant, the blasting sound of the stun guns deafened the surroundings.
◇
A series of explosions resounded overhead, and a plume of rubble descended. Philrain was cowering in a corner of the dimly lit underground tunnel, with Alice in her arms. She was already at her physical limit.
She had called Iberis' mobile device countless times but received no response.
No way…
Did they get killed…?
Both Iberis and Raffi.
Black anxiety was spreading through her heart. For a brief moment, the image of Iberis, suspended with her limbs severed, like in the human factory, flashed across her mind.
After shaking her head to rid herself of the drowsiness, exhaustion, and fear, Philrain called out to the trembling Alice.
"Master Alice… let's get farther away, shall we? It's not safe here."
"…"
Alice was mumbling, muttering something with her vacant eye. Her crushed right eye was bleeding through the bandage, and her remaining left eye was out of focus. She had been in this state since earlier.
When she moved her ear to her mouth, her voice was muffled, as if she was talking to someone.
"… Yeah… Yeah… Yeah…"
She can hear her nodding periodically. Philrain swallowed her saliva and grabbed Alice by the shoulders, jolting her roughly.
"Get a grip!"
Her scream reverberated through the underpass. The echoing voice struck Alice's eardrums, and she glanced up to see Philrain with her left eye. Her eyes gradually regained their color and focus.
"… Phil ...?"
"…?"
Philrain was sobbing, with large tears and snot running down her face. She gritted her teeth and let out several gasps of air before she clutched at Alice's clothes.
"Please… get a hold of yourself… Master Alice…"
"… Why… are you crying…?"
When asked in a vague voice, Philrain murmured in a whisper.
"… Lady Iberis and… Raffi are both… fighting. They may have already… been killed… I can't contact them…"
"…"
"Please hang in there… please. We have to get away from here… We have to get out of here, fast…"
Philrain closed her eyes and began to shed tears. She seemed to be at a loss for words. Alice watched her with her remaining left eye, then took a breath… and smiled softly.
"It's okay, Phil."
Philrain raised her tear-stained and snotty face, looking at Alice.
"Eh…?"
"It's okay. The two of them will not die, and neither will we. I'll protect you."
With a haggard look upon her face, Alice smiled and then rose slowly and sluggishly to her feet. From her right eye, a pale Bandersnatch began to rise like steam. The bandage started to scorch, revealing a pitch-black "hollow". After a beat, Philrain was astonished and grasped Alice's hand.
"No, Master Alice! This is not an opponent that can be dealt with by force alone. We have to get out of here!"
"I know. That is why I was having a 'conversation'."
After saying that, Alice grabbed Philrain's hand back.
"We have to go pick up… Jack."
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone