"…………"

As the lifeless body of the man in black collapsed heavily onto the cracked ground, the atmosphere in the courtyard seemed to freeze instantly.

The girl, unable to process the situation, stood paralyzed, staring at the splattered blood, unable to utter a single word. Meanwhile, the other "enemies" who had been trying to approach Alice instinctively took a simultaneous step back.

Yes, Nisha, with its extraordinary ability to mimic, had faithfully followed its young mistress's wish, "knocking out" the leader of the men in black. Anyone could tell that this unfortunate man would never wake up again.

"I… this… this… Nisha, we… we killed someone! We killed an Imperial soldier!"

Alice’s face turned pale as she recalled the gruesome scene of flesh and blood bursting like fireworks. Even though the shield around her blocked the metallic smell of blood, witnessing death for the first time left her unable to accept such a horrifying reality.

Attack, slaughter, death… None of these should have anything to do with a middle school girl.

Even in war zones, the bloodstained flames of violence should never touch children.

Yet here, in the warm courtyard of her own home, just moments ago, a group of assailants had mercilessly opened fire on an unarmed girl. And Nisha, as if smashing a watermelon, had "exploded" the body of a living man with unnerving efficiency.

Unlike the cheerful, exaggerated battles in anime, these bullets, like a metal storm, were real military firepower, capable of tearing apart mechanized armor. The leader of the men in black, hit directly by Nisha’s attack, hadn’t even left a complete corpse behind.

"We killed someone! What now? I haven’t even found out where my father is. Nisha and I have broken Imperial law! Those guys were shouting Imperial Army slogans of honor just now. The one I just killed… was a real Imperial soldier!"

Fully grasping the severity of her situation, Alice’s mind was flooded with chaotic thoughts.

Even as Nisha continued to face the barrage of bullets from the men in black with the same calm demeanor, Alice couldn’t figure out how to deal with what had happened or how to move forward with her life.

According to the laws of Astralis’ royal court, killing an Imperial soldier under any circumstances was equivalent to treason, a crime of the highest degree.

Even though those men had been the first to attack so ruthlessly, the aristocratic courts would never listen to a commoner’s defense. Moreover, these men had already been ordered to "deal with" her.

It was only at this moment, faced with such unprecedented bloodshed, that Alice realized clearly that perhaps, ever since the deafening sound of the first gunshot shattered the silence, her peaceful life had been irreversibly lost.

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"My father always told me to stay calm no matter the situation. Alice, calm down. Think carefully, think carefully. These guys are real soldiers. They came to my house to kill me. No matter who they are, I… I have to protect myself. They’re attacking Nisha. I have to… I can only kill them!"

Perhaps it was because she couldn’t smell the blood, or because Nisha’s actions were so clean and decisive, or maybe because, being so young, Alice still didn’t fully grasp the concept of "killing."

Whatever the reason, Alice, despite her age, seemed to possess an extraordinary composure.

In less than ten seconds, after taking several deep breaths, she had already snapped out of her gentle fantasy.

Especially when she realized that the bullets fired by the men in black were hitting Nisha's body, Alice, who had "accidentally" killed one enemy, felt a rising fury, as if there was nothing left to lose.

"Either way, killing one bastard is already enough to be condemned as a traitor to the Empire. Killing a few more won’t make a difference. If someone storms into your house, ready to kill you and your family, who would stop to think about the consequences while fighting for their life?"

For a fleeting moment, Alice recalled a scene from a public trial she had seen on TV as a child: a rebel leader being judged.

A scarred, middle-aged man was dragged into an aristocratic court. From beginning to end, he roared repeatedly, "If someone breaks into your house to kill you, you don’t think about the consequences!"

Though he was inevitably sentenced to death, his expression of overwhelming hatred left a deep impression on young Alice.

Yes, now someone was trying to kill her.

This was no time to think about "consequences" or any other trivialities.

"Nisha, these guys… these guys are despicable enemies. We have to kill them, just like… just like Father kills fish!"

With a trembling voice, Alice gave an order so terrifying that even she found it hard to believe.

Her fine eyebrows quivered as she panted heavily.

Kill…

This was an order to kill, a true command for slaughter. The girl had never imagined she would one day make such a terrible decision.

However, immersed in the moment, as those forbidden words left her lips, Alice realized that, in the end, killing was just another simple phrase.

Yes, in the end, it was no different from gutting a fish on a cutting board.

"…………"

"Bang!"

Nisha, lacking the capacity for deep thought or understanding concepts like death and murder, couldn’t grasp the idea of "right or wrong."

Even as the girl struggled to adapt to the immense psychological shift, the little ghost calmly followed her will.

After all, besides serving as a towel rack for wet towels, Nisha was almost always eager to fulfill Alice’s requests.

Killing a "fish"? How simple!

Nisha had seen kitchen knives at home and had witnessed Dr. Elock’s precise skills when slicing fish into three parts.

So, almost instinctively, Nisha transformed its flat tendrils into a blade, flawless and molecularly sharp, and…

"Slash! Slash!"

The impossibly swift cuts sliced through the cold air, and Nisha, wielding its impossibly sharp and indestructible blade made from its own body, dashed toward the nearest man in black without hesitation.

The fight was brief and decisive.

With a metallic sound, and before even a scream could escape, the second man in black, unable to outrun Nisha’s absurd speed, was split in two, along with his bulletproof armor.

Soaked in the blood that sprayed out, the little ghost immediately lunged toward the third enemy.

It was a feast of carnage and a macabre dance.

From the perspective of ordinary people and security cameras, the obviously well-trained soldiers now looked like helpless prey being hunted down. Despite their nearly superhuman combat skills, they were doomed to fail.

After all, within a radius of about ten meters, any bullet or grenade fragment approaching Alice mysteriously lost its momentum.

And any living body that got close to her was "mysteriously" turned into trembling chunks of flesh, drenched in blood.