The blonde man was sitting on an old wooden fence, from where he stood one had a perfect view over the town of Pandemonium. Despite being actively evacuated due to the supernatural destruction that had plagued the town, its many lights still shone brightly in the winter evening, outdone only by the setting sun itself that painted the sky in a mix of red and orange. “She was right, this is a nice view.” Looking down at the stone staircase he had ascended not long ago, he could see his loyal knight, the Knight of Black, standing on its last step. Suddenly, a high pitched voice called out to him from below, stating his name clearly.

Averting his eyes from his loyal companion, looking further down the staircase, he could see a group of four people. So those were the heroes who had come to stop him? A young woman with jet black hair, her eyes a dark green, looked at him with an uncertain look on her face. Next to her, a taller girl whose hair was a mix of red and pink and pink stripes stood, her expression was one of pure determination. A few steps below the two women a pair of men could be seen, one had golden blonde hair not that dissimilar to Junsei’s own while the other had no hair at all and instead had a powerful beard. The blonde man was the leaner of the later two, with the other man almost looking like a weightlifter. Junsei recognized these people, they had been with Kigura before the old samurai had been purified from this world.

“So, you are still trying to stop me after having seen that?” Although it was a question, it was only rhetorical in nature, it wasn’t like there existed any chance that they were going to try and negotiate a truce or swear their allegiance to him upon hearing those words. No, they were far past the possibility for anything like that and the red haired girls next words confirmed it. “Couldn’t call ourselves heroes if we didn’t.” Although she wanted to say magical girls, as a sort of inside joke, it wouldn’t make much sense given that half of their group were male.

As Alice heard the girl next to her speak, she thought about what the words meant. While she wouldn’t really consider herself a hero, when she thought about what she had done during the last few weeks and what she was about to do, using that term didn’t seem entirely wrong. Shooting a worried glance towards Jonathan, she suddenly felt shame, if anyone had the right to call themselves a hero it was him. She was suddenly awakened from her inner monologue as Junsei responded to the group. “And if you are the heroes then I must be the villain. What a narrow minded worldview…” He got down from the fence that he had been sitting on, now standing on the cold ground behind the black knight. “...but you aren’t wrong. It’s a fate I have come to accept.”

Sensings that things were approaching their inevitable conclusion, the black knight who had previously been idle began to slowly walk towards the group. They moved with a low tempo and the group would have plenty of time to escape if that was what they wanted to do. But each and everyone of the four of them knew that was not an option. Taking a step forwards, Alice would be the first to slowly walk up the stairs to the challenge that was awaiting them, the other three following her closely. Eventually, when Alice was about five meters away from the black knight, she would make her move. In an instant a wave of darkness shot out from the girl at supersonic speeds, the goal of the attack being to hit before the opponent could even react. Being not only incredibly fast, but carrying a decent amount of force as well, Alice's attack was a technique she had spent a considerable amount of time practicing. But, to her great disappointment the dark knight cleaved the very darkness in half using their gauntlet with a swift movement that surpassed the eye. It was in that instant clear to everyone here just how vast the gap between them and the two opponents before them were.

Not letting herself be dissuaded by her opponent, Alice would raise her hand and as she did the very earth below the black knight became dark. The next instant, countless spears made out of shadowy material appeared where the knight had been previously, her opponent’s sheer speed allowing them to jump into the air to avoid the attack. The black haired girl was quick to react and before gravity was even allowed to begin pushing the knight downwards she would have already used her superhuman powers to push herself into the air. While she did not possess superior speed or power over her opponent, her opponent seemed to possess a manifestation that only enchanted their physical characteristics. Therefore, they would be unable to maneuver in the air, unlike Alice who could still move thanks to her shadows. From the girls back, two dark wings emerged but before they could even flap even once the black haired girl had thrown a spear made out of shadows towards the black knight. She fully expected the knight to somehow deflect or block the attack, but what her opponent did next shocked Alice, even when she knew she was up against a superhuman monster.

With an ear-deafening explosion, the knight of black was propelled through the air and avoided the spear. It took the green-eyed girl a moment just to realize what had happened, the knight had kicked the air with such force that they created a sonic boom and propelled themselves away from the trajectory of her attack, crashing down towards the city of Pandemonium at hypersonic speed as a result. Seeing the black knight fly downwards, Alice would shoot a quick glance towards the rest of the group. The three hadn’t even begun approaching Junsei yet, likely waiting for her to remove the knight of black from the picture. Alice knew that she had to face this foe on her own, their plan would never work otherwise. She felt anxiety in her heart as her black wings carried her downwards towards Pandemonium, uncertain about whether she was even going to survive or not.

Seeing Alice fly after the black knight, Evelina took that as the starting shoot for her own part of the plan. Although every move felt like it was weighed down, almost like she was moving on the bottom of the ocean. Even as Evelina knew what was causing this feeling, she did not want to admit it. It was fear, she had witnessed firsthand the destructive power this man possessed and one wrong move or a bit of bad luck was all that was needed for her to end up dead. Running towards the blonde man, Evelina could see Oda pass her in the corner of his eye. His jet-black, almost armor-like skin shot past her like a projectile and towards the opponent. With his claws stretched out towards the man, it seemed almost like the blonde guy was about to be shredded apart by Oda’s superhuman might. But before that could happen, just when the beast-like man was about to slash down on his foe, the man clad in white slapped him away. It was a simple movement, not something you would expect to carry any notable amount of force, yet as it made impact with Oda’s right shoulder he was sent flying as his arm was dislocated. If anything, it was another statement about how far the gap between them and their opponent was.

But, as he had made Oda fly through the air like a fired bullet Junsei had failed to anticipate the actions of the red-haired girl. It was not until the very last moment that he realized that space itself looked like it was tearing apart in a straight line, a straight line that went from the girl's right hand straight through his shoulder. He had but a split instant to react, not enough time to dodge so the man was forced to do the second best thing he could think of; deflect it. With superhuman speed his left hand shot up and slapped away the rift, or to be more precise, it crashed into the spatial anomaly and as it did, the anomaly itself was pushed away from the man, harmlessly cutting the air next to him in half. Evelina could feel a cold sweet roll down her forehead as she saw that, just how in hell were they supposed to be able to succeed against someone like that? Even with the plan they had devised, victory seemed to be anything but assured against someone who could so blatantly break the laws of physics.

It appeared like their opponent had no intention of taking the offensive, for after Junsei had deflected the attack he did not make another move, simply waiting for his opponents to try and attack him again. Attack him they did, for in less than a single second both Oda and Evelina had recovered from their initial failures and were now charging the blonde man head on. Evelina had her axe ready and was coming in for a downward swing from above while Oda was lunging towards the man, aiming to hit him with a right hook straight in the jaw. Jonathan could do little but watch from the sidelines, knowing full well that attempting to interfere could mortally wound him or worse. Therefore, he saw it, even though they should have been moving far faster than the human eye could perceive. The soldier saw how Junsei moved his arms, grabbing both Oda’s hand and Evelina’s axe as they moved towards him, and stopped them in an instant. The next second, he had thrown Oda towards the sky and grabbed ahold of Evelinas wrist, throwing her up as well almost immediately after.

The two collided with a heavy thud while in the air, in just an instant, gravity would do its work and force them both down back to the earth again. Jonathan looked in both amazement and horror as Junsei pointed a single finger towards the sky, straight towards the two people flying in the air. In that instant, the soldier realized what was about to happen. Call it gut instinct or veteran experience, but he could see in the blonde man’s eyes that he was about to end the lives of those two right then and there. In a panic, Jonathan pulled out a simple handgun that he had hidden within his jacket. He knew that it was capable of doing little more than irritating someone with a manifestation but that might be all that was needed for his friends to survive. Pulling the trigger once, a single bullet was fired towards the man, it ended up hitting him straight in the temple, bouncing off like it had hit a steel wall. Slowly, Junsei turned his attention towards Jonathan. The lone soldier had no chance against the monstrous power that man possessed and even as his heart was beating like crazy with adrenaline, the bearded man was still somehow able to maintain a stoic face as death itself stared him down.

Even as Junsei turned his finger towards him, Jonathan's expression did not change even though he knew that he was inevitably going to die in just a second. At that moment, looking down at the battlefield below him, Oda came up with an idea that was both genius and insane at the same time. He grabbed onto Evelina’s ankle and threw her down towards the ground with all his force. Crashing into the ground the next instant, kicking up a cloud of dust she had landed just behind the expressionless man. As he felt the shockwave of something crashing down on the ground behind him, Junsei lowered his finger and turned around to assess the situation. Before he had even finished turning around Evelina’s palm would smack onto his chest. Although she had moved quickly, the attack had lacked force and the blonde man was left unharmed. Looking at the red haired woman right before him, Junsei expected her to retreat, or follow up with another attack, or maybe throw a feint towards him. But she did none of that and instead remained motionless where she stood. It was strange, almost like she had a death wish, but if that was the case then he wouldn’t be one to deny her.

Forming his right hand like a finger gun and pointing it towards her abdomen, the emotionless man would shoot ray after ray of pure light through her. Every attack caused his finger to recoil like he was firing a real pistol and before long the woman's stomach was filled with holes, painting the ground under her in a crimson dye. Yet, she did not let go, keeping her hand firmly planted on his chest. That’s when she did something unexpected, for Evelina began laughing. At first it was nothing but a slight chuckle, but after a few moments she was letting out a bellowing cackle that filled the area. Junsei didn’t like that, he felt like she was making fun of him.

With a single slap delivered by the outside of his hand the red-haired woman was sent flying several meters away before hitting the ground and continuing to slide for the same amount of distance before finally coming to a stop. Truth be told, Evelina wanted to stop herself since laughing at someone, even if they were your opponent, was never a nice thing to do. But to her it had just been so funny, how this man who supposedly had might comparable to a demigod didn’t even realize when he had had his own strength split time and time again. She had used the same technique that allowed her to defeat Maru-Maru on Junsei and it seemed like he was a lot slower when it came to realizing what he had been victim to.

Looking up, the blonde man saw a beast with black skin, the transformed state of Oda Kaguri tumbling down towards him. For Junsei that worked perfectly, Evelina’s sudden laughing had frustrated him and he needed something to act as an outlet for those feelings, for that purpose Oda’s body was perfect. The beast-like man was clearly attempting to hit Junsei with a drop kick from above, but it was quickly interrupted as the white-clothed man grabbed onto his ankle and threw him down into the ground. As Oda crashed into the ground he did so with enough force to bounce back up immediately afterwards, something Junsei used to connect a straight punch with the man's chest and send him flying.

For the first time in how many years, a real emotion was visible on the blonde man’s face; irritation. Slowly sitting up from where she laid on the ground, Evelina would chuckle a little although she would cough up blood almost immediately afterwards. Despite the blood, a smug expression was residing on her face. It seemed like her opponent had finally realized what she had done. Under normal circumstances, Junsei would have turned the man to shreds with his first attack alone. But thanks to Evelina being able to weaken him, even when he was being serious with his attacks Junsei was unable to deal any sort of lasting damage that Oda’s regeneration couldn’t deal with.

But, if using his fists were ineffective then all he needed to do was use his manifestation for its destructive power far surpassed that of Junsei’s physical might. Turning his index finger towards Oda, who had landed on the ground on all fours, Junsei realized something. The tall bearded man who had shot him just moments prior was gone, he thought it to be strange but did not pay it much thought. He might just have gotten scared and ran off or something along those lines. The very next moment, Junsei could feel a pair of strong arms putting him in a chokehold from behind. The pressure weighing down on him wasn’t anything superhuman and slowly the blonde man would raise his arm towards his throat, clearly intending to break his opponent's hold with his superhuman strength. Shooting a quick glance towards Evelina, Jonathan could see a smug expression and just like that any doubts about what he was about to do evaporated. The veteran soldier pressed down on the device that he had been holding in his left hand and in the next instant, the entire area exploded as his bomb vest detonated.

A great smoke cloud filled the entire area as dust and dirt was kicked up in the air, Junsei felt relieved. Although he could feel a slight tingling sensation it was nothing compared to the state any ordinary man would have been in by now, turned to ash by the powerful explosion. He felt confident, this had been their grand plan to beat him? Yet even after weakening him and sacrificing two of their fighters, those who opposed him had been unable to even scratch the man. As to be expected, Junsei was of a completely different caliber compared to other manifestation users and had been ever since he was born. In just a moment the dust would settle and he would be able to see the battlefield again. But, at that moment a strange shadow appeared within the cloud of dust right before Junsei. It was not until the very last instant that he realized what it was. It was that man who had turned into a beast, a beast whose skin was jet black and was more similar to a suit of armor than anything else, a beast who had golden veins throbbing all over its body and a beast who held an immense amount of energy within its mouth. Truth be told Oda had been charging up that blast for several moments, even before Jonathan pulled the trigger and detonated his vest. He knew that if he tried to hold back the energy for another second it would burst in all directions, so he released it.

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A bright beam of pure condensed energy was released straight in Junsei’s face, the distance between the two being less than even half a meter. It was a point blank attack that did not leave any room for interpretation whether it hit or not. The golden-eyed man would stare right into the mouth of his opponent as his face was hit by the powerful energies of Oda’s manifestation. As the beam covered his vision, the world began to fade to white as the outlines of everything around him started to disappear, blending together into an endless sea of white purity.

Alice looked at the knight before her. Their black armor was reflecting the light produced by a nearby streetlamp perfectly, hinting that it had been the subject of continuous maintenance and cleaning. After she had landed on the ground, a few meters away from her opponent who was lying on a small crater in the middle of a small cement road on the outskirts of town, a steep hill behind them. After propelling themselves through the air the knight had made no attempt at regaining their balance while in the air, resulting in them crashing into the ground and ending up in the position they were in now. The black wings on Alice’s back began to fade away and before long they were almost completely gone. The way her opponent lied there, staring at the sky without moving a muscle freaked Alice out. Had they given up on fighting her or were they doing something else? She couldn’t tell but what she knew was that her opponent was still alive, there was no way something like that would be able to seriously wound someone of the knight's caliber.

She had been right because in the next moment the knight started to get up slowly, she couldn’t explain why but as she had looked at the armored foe staring up at the sky Alice felt like they were contemplating something. Regardless, the black knight was getting ready for battle as they conjured their spear from god knows where. Alice had long ago stopped questioning the logic behind something like that, something that both Mifuyu and Kigura had been able to do as well. Within the realm of manifestations, common sense and logic wasn’t something that should be used but if Alice were to make a guess, maybe those who practiced with weapons until they could as well be considered another part of the body gained such an ability. Regardless, the reality she was now facing down was that the knight had armed themselves, meaning they were finally going to fight her for real. As expected, a sharp thrust was thrown towards the black-haired girl in the next instant at great speed, with her only being able to dodge it at the last second. Despite reacting so quickly, Alice was still grazed by the attack and a small strip of red blood was created on her cheek.

She did not wait for the enemy to get another attack in before launching her own counter-offensive, in an instant dozens of dark spheres emerged from Alice’s body as she jumped back. Having the range advantage, staying close to the enemy was nothing but foolish. The spheres of darkness would float in the air, preventing the knight of black from rushing straight at Alice or they would collide with multiple of the spheres. Even though it hadn’t been demonstrated yet, the girl who wielded darkness had condensed great energy within each sphere and all that was needed was a single touch for it to be unleashed in a fierce explosion. Looking intensely at her foe, Alice tried to predict what their next move would be. But, she could never predict what the knight did next. Rushing straight towards Alice, paying no mind to the explosion going off one after another at point blank range the knight moved forwards without a hint of slowing down and before long they were once again within melee range of their opponent.

The anxious girl knew the danger she was in as the black knight closed the gap between the two, yet she did not let her fear get in the way of her actions and in the next instant she stomped the ground with such force that the pavement underneath cracked. As she did, dozens of sharp shadows would shoot forth from underneath the two of them, each and everyone being directed towards the knight of black. Yet, as they made contact with the black each and every one cracked, the force they carried was reflected back on themselves as they made contact with the opponents armor.

Alice was no fool, she had known that this would happen and the move had never been meant to injure her foe. It had been meant to block their movements. Manifesting another pair of black wings, the young woman would rise into the air as she was beginning to gather energy between her hands, a black sphere with a purple outline starting to take form. Watching their opponent, the knight of black almost immediately began to force their way through the forest of black stakes that had been created, showing them aside with overwhelming physical force.

Yet, in that time, the few seconds that was required for the knight of black to remove the physical obstacle blocking their path Alice had managed to gather enough energy to use her triumph card. An technique she had been slowly but surely practicing ever since she first learnt to use her manifestation, at first it was useless but after countless hours of training it was something that could not only rival Evelina and Oda in terms of destructive power, but far surpass either two of them in terms of reach and width. Looking up at their opponent, the knight had apparently realized that attempting to dodge was pointless as they were now simply standing in place, waiting for their opponent to unleash the inevitable.

Finally unleashing her attack, the ball of darkness would expand as she raised it above her head and in the next instant she threw it down on the black knight. The sphere, which was more reminiscent of a black hole rather than anything else, swallowed up the entire road and even parts of the buildings on the other side of it, the immense force of the attack being concentrated inwards like gravity that would crush down on whatever was inside until nothing remained. Alice could feel sweat slowly make its way down her forehead, having used up no little amount of energy in the fight so far, with her triumph card having been especially draining.

Suddenly, she could hear a loud explosion from the top of the hill she had been fighting beneath, looking back up the cloud of dust that appeared could only mean one thing and indeed, the next instant a beam of golden energy emerged from within which meant they had been able to pull off their plan. Alice felt tears forming in her eyes, she knew that there was no other way but for Jonathan to die, but the fact that it had become reality was taking a toll on her. Looking down, back towards where there should have been nothing but a huge hole in the middle of the street, the black-haired girl could feel a cold shiver run down her spine.

For in the middle of the crater, although their armor was buckled and scratched and although a small puddle of blood had formed beneath them, the black knight remained standing. Looking straight at Alice, slowly at first, flames would begin to form around the armored foe like an aura. The black-haired girl realized now that her opponent hadn’t had a physical-focused manifestation, rather the difference between the two had simply been so great that they didn’t need to use their manifestations true power, much like Junsei.

With a fluid movement of their spear, a small wave of flames was spawned in front of the knight. The wave continued towards Alice, increasing in both size and intensity as it traveled. She knew instantly upon seeing it that if she made contact with that sea of flames she would be scorched to the point where standing straight and even more so fighting would become an impossibility. Flying away, back up towards the top of the hill she could feel how the flames were steadily gaining on her. Yet, she could not allow herself to be consumed by this expanding wall of fire. Just as she thought the flames would finally catch up to her, when she was straight above the top of the hill, the flames suddenly died out and disappeared. Most likely, the black knight's power only extended so far.

But, what met her eyes when she looked down on the scene below turned the situation from dire to hellish. Evelina was lying on the ground in a pool of her own blood and although she was still moving, it was clear that she could die at any moment. The blonde man who they had given up so much in an attempt to kill was stumbling around, looking lost and confused but otherwise unharmed from where Alice was in the sky while Oda simply looked at him without having reverted to his human form. Although her mind told her to use what little power she had left to take down Junsei, Alice’s heart said something completely different. Without even thinking, she followed her heart and swooped down towards Evelina.

Landing next to the red haired girl, she could see in detail the wounds she had suffered. It was like she had been shot time and time again by a sniper rifle, almost a dozen round holes lining her abdomen and stomach. She was losing blood rapidly and from the looks of it she wouldn’t last long. Sitting down next to the girl, Alice held her upper body tight as tears began dropping down her face, falling down and mixing with the blood that was staining the ground beneath them.

As Evelina laid there in Alice’s grasp she thought about what to say, maybe she should encourage her to keep fighting, maybe she should compare the situation to one of those magical girl mangas they liked so much, maybe she should try and pull one last gag before she died. Her vision was getting blurry, she knew that this was it for her. But, as she laid there thinking she couldn’t find something good to say. She felt like opening her mouth was accepting death, she felt like speaking would be the very act that allowed her to die. But Evelina wasn’t satisfied with a death like this, she wanted to at least make an impact, something that would change the course of destiny. Simply fading away now would be unbefitting of someone like her, so she placed her right hand on Alice’s cheek, the blood on it mixing with the blood from Alice’s wound. “This border between us…” As she spoke, the red haired girl was coughing up blood between the words but still she carried on.

“Up until now, I have only used my power to create borders, to split things apart. But what if I could destroy these borders instead, this border between us… I wonder.” She looked straight into Alice’s green eyes, what she was thinking about was completely illogical, something that shouldn’t be possible even within the world of manifestations, something that could only be considered a miracle if it succeeded. But, the young woman did not let that stop her for as she laid there she thought back on all the times the protagonists of her favorite manga had overcome a situation like this trough some miracle and as she looked at the black-haired girl, she realized that she was never meant to be the magical girl that defeated the ultimate evil in this story. After another moment a satisfied smile appeared on Evelina’s face, for even if it was her last moment she knew that she had succeeded. A part of her will, her manifestation, would live on inside Alice. Although the girl probably didn’t know it yet, her manifestation was no longer fully her own. Therefore, when Evelina faded from consciousness and passed on from this world to the next, she did so with a smile on her lips.

He trembled. Junsei could only remember one moment when he felt this powerless before, for to him the whole world was nothing but a sea of unending white. He felt the soft earth beneath his hands, hands that should have been pale and emerging from his white clothes. But he could not see even his own hand, the man’s sense of vision had completely disappeared. He was afraid, the impenetrable fortress that was Junsei Seijin had been hurt for the first time in his lifetime. But, even if his vision was gone he could still hear. Sounds of a girl sobbing, the sound of a monster breathing and the silent howling of the cold wind. He stood up, he could feel the ground beneath his feet, he could feel that he was standing straight. Slowly but surely, the blonde man created a mental image of the situation he found himself in. He imagined the beast-like man standing about a dozen or so meters away, the girl sitting on the ground and… slow footsteps approaching from down the hill. The footsteps were familiar, after all they belonged to someone who Junsei had been with for over 50 years at this point. Turning towards the source of the footsteps, Junsei painted a mental image of the knight of black ascending the staircase that led to the top of the hill.

He thought about what to do, continuing to fight in this state was out of the question, having both lost his eyesight and the majority of his power. Then, the only option that remained was to withdraw. Although it would hurt his pride, compared to the fear he felt over not being able to see that was little more than an afterthought. Focusing strength in his legs, the blonde man would jump away, flying in the air like an arrow for several seconds before descending towards the earth. He was uncertain about whether he had made enough distance between himself and the enemy, at the same time it did not seem like they were intending to go after him. Looking at their leader's escape, the knight of black would remain still for a moment. Oda looked at the person clad in black armor and their eyes met for a split second, the eyes he saw beneath that helmet were crimson red. They simply stood there like that for what felt like an eternity before the knight looked towards the direction their master had gone. The next moment they would jump away just like their master had done, leaving Oda and Alice all alone.

The blonde man didn’t dare revert to his human form or even move until he was absolutely certain that the knight had disappeared. Rushing over to Alice and Evelina, Oda looked down on the two girls, Alice was clutching the young woman's body like she was unable to let go of her friend. He wanted to say something, give her words of reassurance yet the blonde man could not bring himself to speak for he knew that he would utter nothing but lies. There was no coming back from this, there was no ‘everything is going to be alright’. Evelina was dead, that was an inevitable fact of reality. Although he felt like he should comfort Alice in some way, the blonde found himself unable to perform the simple movements that would entail. He was feeling like this entire situation was unreal, like he had found himself in some sort of bad dream. After a few moments that felt like a thousand years, the black haired girl stopped crying and stood up, holding her friend's body in her arms. Soon thereafter she began walking down towards the city of Pandemonium. He was simply left powerless to do nothing but watch as Alice slowly but surely started to disappear from his vision, down towards the abandoned city.

Alice had only walked this path a few times before, yet, it was a path she could never forget. It was the small road that led through the area of Pandemonium where most of the villas were located. Here, she had met Evelina for the first time and it was here her friend had lived. Although she had never been inside the red haired girl's home she knew where it was and as Alice now walked through the desolate streets of the city she knew for certain that she was slowly but surely making her way towards that house. After some time, she stood outside a blue brick wall, the gate had been left open. Stepping inside it, she could see the garden that surrounded the house. There was nothing outstanding, a few flowers had been neatly grown in one of the corner areas while the remaining space was occupied by grass. She looked straight ahead, being stared back on by the wooden door at the front of the building. Taking a step forwards, the black haired girl would hold the dead woman with one arm and knock on the door with the other.

She then waited, after a few minutes without a response she knocked again. Still, no one came and she was left all alone with her dead friend on the porch. As she stood there she thought about what Evelina’s parents might say when they saw her, countless possibilities ran through her mind yet she eventually realized that none of them would come true. The house was empty, she should have realized it long ago. There was no light emanating from within, Evelina’s parents had probably been one of the first to flee the city. She felt like the physical strain she had been holding back ever since she evaded death at the hands of that black knight came rushing back all at once. Losing all the strength in her legs, Alice slumped down on the floor with her head just centimeters away from Evelinas. She thought about what she had done right before she died, it was still a mystery to Alice just what she had done. “Just what did you have in mind?” She almost cried as she uttered those words, yet, the black-haired girl stopped herself from doing so. The time for tears had passed.