Alice was unstoppable.
Nobody inside the Outer Court could stop her. The Valkyries guarding the entrance all died in battle. Though they managed to stall Alice for a while, Alice was now standing inside the Outer Court.
Nobody could stop Alice. She could decimate every folding door. Blood was dripping off her blade. The remaining maids and male servants inside the Outer Court were quivering on the ground. Alice wasn't interested in them. She didn't come to kill them, and she wasn't revolting. She even stopped to give the painting of Her Majesty at the entrance of the Outer Court a deep bow with an absolutely solemn expression.
There was now no one left who could stop Alice in the Outer Court. Alice just had to ascend the stairs, stand at the door and smash it to pieces with a single punch. Then she just needed to pick her target up from his bed as if she was picking up a bird.
All of the Prince's mana had been sucked out by Luna, so he was incapable of putting up a resistance against her now. In fact, he couldn't even stand up. Luna is not a combatant and can't even drag him away to escape. Freya was probably being violated by some tramp.
Her target couldn't escape, and nobody could stop her. The job was so simple Alice wanted to burst out in loud laughter. It was far too simple. Had she known it would be so simple, she wouldn't have needed to concoct a plan or needed Castell's weapons. She just needed to come knocking on her own. She, alone, was enough.
That was how it supposed to go. There wasn't supposed to be anybody who could stop her.
However, Alice stopped in her tracks. She saw a small silhouette desperately trying to move chairs, bookshelves and other furniture over to create a barricade to the Prince's room. She continued to move things similarly to a diligent ant over and over and only stopped once the corridor was virtually completely blocked. Alice didn't stop her; instead, she watched her struggle with curiosity.
She watched her futile efforts.
This must be how God feels when he sees man struggle in pain. The corner of his mouth crept up into a smile as he watched the weakling's futile efforts. He would then extend his fingers out to pinch the weakling's creation and destroy it.
"Luna."
Luna shuddered and looked in her direction.
'Yes. That's the look.'
That's the look of despair and terror. That's the look. That's the look that brought her joy. If determination and steadiness spurred on her fighting spirit, then that gaze was the greatest entertainment for a hunter. Hunting is enjoyable, precisely because you get to relish the look of despair and terror of the prey.
Her Majesty was hunting, and so was she. She had to kill her prey, too. She was going to rip her prey's head off and turn it into her glory, her glorious trophy from her battle!!!
Alice walked up to the barricade Luna set up. She grabbed the leg of the chair in front of her, and then laughed before pulling apart the barricade Luna desperately struggled to put together along with her hope. It was comparable to a kid watching a castle he built get stomped to pieces.
She was small in stature, but she appeared as a giant to others, because she had power.
"Move, Elf."
Alice gripped Luna shoulder and aggressively threw her aside. Luna fell into the rubble of her barricade and groaned due to the pain. Alice looked at the door to the room before her. As she went to strike, she saw a drawing of Her Majesty hanging on the door.
She couldn't disrespect Her Majesty even if it was just a drawing of her. She had to politely knock and only enter after being permitted entry or opening it with a key.
She could've smashed the door down. She could've smashed the obstacle; however, she couldn't violate the drawing.
"Elf, give me the key."
Alice turned her head to look at Luna. Luna slowly got up from the rubble with a wooden stick in hand. Her eyes were full of fear. Alice walked up to her and repeated herself in a cold tone, "Elf, give me the key. In exchange, you can leave. I won't kill you."
"That's impossible…"
Luna bit down on her lip as she looked at Alice with her terrified eyes. But despite her fear, she looked straight at Alice. She refused to avert her gaze. She was scared. Her enter body quaked. Her rationality and survival instincts were screaming at her to run; but, she didn't take one step away, nonetheless. She tightly gripped the wooden stick. The wooden stick in her hand was insignificantly comical. It was the equivalent of firewood.
"Hmph!"
Alice dealt Luna a heavy punch to her gut, which sent her flying. Luna crashed into the wall and slowly slid down onto the ground as blood came out of her mouth. She curled her body up in pain while quivering all over. Her blood and tears were coming out of her eyes and mouth. She couldn't even shout. Her organs had been severely shattered.
Alice walked up to Luna's side, grabbed her hair and lifted her head up. She looked at Luna's scrunched up face due to the pain and indifferently demanded, "Give me the key."
Luna struggled. Her shaky eyes were brimming with tears, and she couldn't see Alice clearly. In a muddled tone she replied, "Imp-…ossible……"
*BANG!!*
Luna's forehead smashed into the marble floor with a loud noise, causing even the candles on the wall to tremble with fear. Alice emotionlessly yanked Luna's hair up and smashed her head into the ground hard over and over as though she was vandalising a toy.
Luna's red blood stained the ground. Alice lifted her head up again. She took in a deep breath while looking at Luna whose face was literally bloody all over and warned, "I'll give you one last chance. Give me the key."
Luna was so weak now that her body couldn't even tremble. Her vision was just a blanket of dark red.
'Am I even breathing? Am I still alive? Who am I?'
The repetitive banging caused her to question if she was still alive, while her eyes that were covered with blood obstructed her vision, so she couldn't see Alice's face or even hear anything.
"Imp-…"
But even if she couldn't remember anything, even if she were to be reduced to mincemeat, she remembered one thing, and that was His Majesty's smile.
She would never forget the one she loved, the man who saved her…
Would you forget the sun?
'Sorry… Your Majesty…'
'I might… not be able to be your side anymore in the future… I kept asking you if you would abandon me, but I never thought that I would be the one to leave you one day… I wasted your gentleness. I haven't repaid your kindness yet. I haven't seen your child come to this world yet…'
'Yet… I have to go…'
Alice sighed. She raised her fist up high, aimed at her toy's head, and then like a child, who was sick of his toy, destroyed her toy.
'Sorry… Your Majesty…'
The sound of her fist ripping through the air created a whistling wind…
'I love you… Your Majesty…'
All of her pain disappeared in an instant. Around her were bright lights…
She could seemingly sea a sea of flowers and she was dancing alone in it this time. His Majesty stood next to her and held her hand with a bright smile. His gentle smile was warmer than the sun, giving her the urge to hug him tightly, never letting go…
"Luna….."
"Your Majesty… I love you…"
"I was wondering where it was. So it was here… Lucky I didn't hit so hard the first time, or I would've shattered it. That would've been unfortunate."
Alice stood up and looked at the sticky piece of metal in front of her. She snickered, and then kicked the limp body of flesh away. She then coldly remarked, "I never expected an elf's heart to be red, too…"
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