Alice slapped a hand over her mouth. Shit, that’s mean, isn’t it? But I mean, just look at his hair!

His hair in question was sticking up at all sorts of peculiar angles, jutting out like a porcupine’s quills. Alice found her eyes lingering on the brown-colored hair, trying but unable to look away.

“W-what?” The boy stuttered, a look of bafflement crossing over his face.

“Hm?” Alice said noncommittally, finally letting her gaze drift downward. Her eyebrows shot up upon seeing the leather armor he wore; more so when she noticed burnt marks and numerous tears and scratches. “You okay?”

The boy didn’t respond this time, continuing to stare at her open-mouthed. Alice shrugged. If he wasn’t going to talk, neither was she. Grabbing the basket from the rocky river-bed, Alice dipped it into the river.

“WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE!?” He suddenly unleashed an abrupt outbreak. Alice shrieked, the basket slipping through her fingers and tumbling into the river. Alice lunged for it but her finger-tips barely skimmed the side before the currents whisked it out of her range.

“Come on, what’s the deal!?” Alice shouted. “That was important!” I swear, if Blanche gets mad at me because of this idiot, I’m going to be pissed. “You’re the one who came rushing out the bushes like a maniac!”

He stumbled backwards, brought low by her verbal onslaught. Alice scoffed, taking a step closer to the brink of the river. “So? Why did you come rushing out of nowhere?”

Alice was fairly certain she could handle this boy if he tried to kill her. Based on his tattered armor, she presumed he was some sort of warrior, but an inexperienced one due to his age. Coupling that with his easy-to-startle nature, Alice was confident he didn’t have anything that could counteract her Skills.

The bush rustled again and Alice stiffened, eyes instantly darting over. She didn’t miss the way the boy let out a sigh and sagged, the tension leaving his body. So, it’s his allies then. Alice took a couple steps back, eyes locked onto the bush. Better take it carefully. I don’t know if—

An arrow shot from the bush and Alice fell to the floor, hearing it whiz through the spot where her head had been. Glancing upwards, she spotted the sunlight glinting off metal and her eyes widened. Immediately, Alice began rolling to the side, hearing a barrage of arrows sink into the rocks. Alice grit her teeth, feeling the rocks dig into her shoulder blades. She couldn’t keep this up.

Damn it! I need to get up! The moment she heard an interval between the arrows hitting the ground, Alice jumped to her feet—

—only to nearly get impaled through the chest by a spear. Alice narrowly dodged to the side, trying to gain distance to reevaluate the situation—she’d massively underestimated the opponent—but a series of sword slashes forced her back.

Alice snarled, weaving and ducking underneath spear and sword attacks. They were good, she had to grant them that. They were perfectly in sync, alternating seamlessly to prevent Alice from adapting. Further back, Alice caught a glimpse of even more people, crowded around the first boy she met.

Damn it, this is bad! Alice forced herself to take a breath and activated her skill. [Abyssal Black Arrow!].

A lone fiery black arrow was brought forth into this world and Alice cackled in triumph. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw both the spear and the sword rushing for her. Grinning, she let the arrow loose at the spear; the long reach the spear had was troublesome.

Just as she hoped, instinct took over and they blocked the arrow with the spear. The spear’s wooden shaft was ignited, black fire flaring down the length of it. The wielder shrieked and dropped the spear onto the rocky ground, where it turned to ash.

Now that Alice only had to deal with the swordsman, the fight went much easier. No longer feeling pressured, Alice took the initiative, pushing the swordsman back by summoning a relentless onslaught of [Abyssal Black Arrows]. Thus far, he was able to block all of them with his steel blade but black sparks threatened to ignite his leather armor.

As she advanced onto the swordsman, forcing his back to a tree, Alice noticed the spear wielder signaling to his teammates. Alice turned around just in time to see the tip of an arrow milliseconds away from entering her brain.

While her body was frozen stiff with panic, Alice’s mind was haywire. Is this how I’m going to die? No. No! I haven’t done anything yet, I haven’t helped the world! NO!

Alice felt the very tip of the arrowhead touch her forehead. Then in the next instant, the feeling was gone. Am I….dead? That was the only explanation Alice had as to why she didn’t feel any pain. The arrow entered her brain and killed her right away.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

…strange. Why did she still feel the wind caressing her skin with its gentle breeze? Tentatively, Alice cracked open her eyes and took in the view in front of her.

The arrow was a mere inch from her face, her eyes crossing as she tried to stare down the arrow tip. Realizing the futility of that action, Alice stared beyond the metallic tip and arrived at a beefy hand, clenched tightly around the shaft.

Blanche had arrived.

Tears sprung to life unbidden in the corner of her eyes as the gravity of the situation slammed into Alice. She’d been about to die! Her legs shook and Alice barely stopped herself from tumbling to the ground. She looked to Blanche to find solace in a familiar face.

He was pissed. Harsh lines were etched into his face, and his gaze was sharp enough to cut clean through diamond. Thick veins bulged on Blanche’s forehead, neck, and the back of his hand; he clenched his hand a little tighter and the arrow snapped in two. He opened his hand, letting the shattered fragments clutter to the ground.

“Explain this, Baron.” Blanche forced through gritted teeth, anger brimming just under the surface. Alice was so taken back by the sheer amount of rage Blanche was giving off that it took her a second before she realized what Blanche said.

“Wait, you know these bastards!?” Alice yelled, aghast. Blanche didn’t look at her as he replied, his intense glare focused on who she presumed was ‘Baron.’

“Yeah, I’ve run into these fellows a couple of times while I scavenged this area in the past. They’re good people, so I’m willing to let you explain yourself: why’d you attack my apprentice?” Alice noticed Blanche already had his sword drawn at his side, the blade glowing to signalize his Technique activating. A chill ran through her as she realized Blanche was willing to fight them head on if he didn’t like their answer.

“You can’t, Blanche. They’re too strong,” Alice whispered, tugging on Blanche’s sleeve. She had faith in his combat prowess, having seen them close up and personal. However, he was about to go up against at least a dozen people, several of whom were highly skilled. If Alice lost against them and she’d beaten Blanche, what chance did the dwarf have?

The man she assumed to be Baron stepped forward, away from the comfort of his group despite muttered protests. Reaching up, he unclasped his helmet and took it off, revealing a dirty-blond mess of hair and eccentric blue eyes. At his signal, the others in his groups followed suit, some with more reluctance. How come only some of them have helmets? Alice wondered, trying to find the differences.

“I apologize for our hasty actions, Blanche. We shouldn’t have attacked your apprentice without provocation. But you have to see it from our perspective as well. Your apprentice wandered into our hunting territory and made an aggressive gesture towards one of our rookies.” Baron said, motioning at the rookie in question, who was eyeing Alice warily and hiding behind his teammates.

The sheer audacity of Baron’s statement shocked Alice into silence for a few seconds before she spluttered, her anger turning her words intelligible. “What do you mean by ‘aggressive gesture!?’ I asked him what he was doing and walked towards him! I’m sorry that walking is a crime now!” Alice snapped, stomping her foot and causing a cascade of pebbles to fall.

Baron remained unperturbed by her cries while the boy flinched like he’d been struck. The girl next to him wrapped her arms around him and whispered sweet nothings into his ears. Alice crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. Big baby.

“Were you not the first person to yell? Besides, this is our hunting ground. You would do well to show us respect.” Baron said in a clipped tone. Alice grinded her teeth but held her tongue.

I mean, he’s not wrong. Calming down, Alice could see the merit in his arguments and a light blush spread across her cheeks. Maybe I was a little hasty…but wait! That doesn’t mean they need to kill me!

Opening her mouth, Alice tried to state her point when something slapped over her mouth. Grunting, Alice realized it was Blanche’s hand, clasped tightly across the lower half of her face. Alice struggled helplessly against the superior strength of the dwarf, punching him in the shoulder but he didn’t react in the slightest.

“Enough is enough. Let it go, Alice.” Blanche whispered out the corner of his mouth.

Alice stared at him with incredulous eyes. Was he kidding? They tried to kill me! Because I yelled at somebody! Sure, maybe I shouldn’t have shouted at him but does that warrant death!?

Alice roughly tore Blanche’s hand off, taking in greedy lungfuls of air. She spun onto Blanche, ready to demand an explanation for why she was supposed to ‘let it go’ when an eerie noise filled the forest.

It started off low in the background, blending in with the rustling of leaves and chatter of small woodland animals. Then it gradually increased in both volume and intensity, so subtly that Alice couldn’t even hear it through the veil of anger that covered her.

Until at last, it split the air like a knife, stabbing terror into the hearts of everybody present. Alice’s knees buckled and she almost fell to the rocky bed; several of the other group did collapse. The forest went pin drop silent as every creature seemed to stop breathing, and the leaves stilled. Blanche, along with Baron and a few other members of the party were the only ones that remained on their feet. Alice observed Blanche, noting how he had whipped out his sword and was gripping it with both hands, so tightly that his knuckles went white.

Most of all, Alice heard her heartbeat pounding against her ribcage like a giant banging against doors. She knew that sound. She’d heard it just a few days ago.

The chilling hiss was heard again, seemingly boring straight into Alice’s mind like its source was right next to her. Alice noted with dull horror that the treetops miles away were shaking intensely—like a creature of enormous proportions was making its way through.

“Oh fuck.”