Chapter 1155: Mask Off

Without hesitation, the Queen snapped her finger and clenched her fist. In that instant, emerald energy covered her arm as she took a heavy step forward.

"What a energetic kid. Doesn’t she know the difference in power?" Alice yawned.

Though she was lacking a physical body, that didn’t prevent her from utilising her casting methods. Even if it’s simply reduced to simplified Void control and Holy energy.

In the first place, the girl in front of her wasn’t exactly strong.

Treating it as playing around with a kid, Alice pointed her finger down and a portal opened beneath the Queen.

Her foothold disappeared. Her body tilted forward.

"Ah-" She widened her eyes.

Wanting to correct herself at the last second, she tried to twist her body but Alice was fast.

Creating a portal above her, Alice smirked and snapped her finger.

A small localised explosion. Not big enough to harm her or here clothes, but enough to generate the force needed to push the girl slightly.

It interrupted her adjustment as she completely lost control of her fall.

Once half of her body was through the portal, Alice framed the entire scene between her fingers.

Two portals that linked up to form a never ending tunnel was captured then condensed.

*Clap~

Pressing her palms together, Alice dusted herself with a satisfied smile as both the Queen and the two portals disappeared.

"Wha-What did you just do!?" Yuna stammered as she quickly rushed over to grab Alice only to stare awkwardly as her hands phased through Alice’s body.

"Hm? I’m just letting her fall for a bit. Who tries to attack so seriously after just being called a kid?" Alice shrugged.

They didn’t even try to evaluate the difference in strength between them and simply lashed out.

With that kind of emotional control, what are they if not a kid?

[Honestly you’re no different.] Cayla sighed, massaging her temples.

’Yeah well I’m like 12. Tough sh*t.’ Alice countered with a yawn.

"Hey Alice?" Solana called out.

"Hm? What’s up?"

"What do you think the law is for assaulting and trapping royalty?"

Tilting her head Alice folded her arms.

"Well if we’re talking about Royalty then probably execu- ahhh wait a minute." Her mind finally caught up as Alice immediately snapped her fingers, opening the portal while creating a cushioning effect so that the Queen didn’t die from slamming into the ground too hard.

Seeing her dishevelled hair, the tears in her eyes and the overall look of frustration, Alice couldn’t quite see what some would call the ’royal’ presence.

In fact, even now, she looked like a simple kid in Alice’s eyes.

Yuna immediately helped the queen up before going down onto one knee.

"Don’t say anything! I don’t see why a Lord would bow down to a simple kid!" The Queen pouted, glaring at Alice who hovered lazily in the air with her cheek to her palm.

"Your high-" Yuna shut herself up when the Queen shot her a glare as well.

"You! What’s your name!" She pointed at Alice.

"Alice Agnelia, successor of the Abyss, destroyer of souls, consumer of mead. I have slain countless foes, Lords and Apostles tremble beneath my blade. Mine is the power to consume and adapt. I am voracity incarnate. I have witnessed the turning of fate and upheaval of order. I have seen the face of the one behind the chaos and my blade yearns for his neck." Alice decided to act a little theatrical to towards the young Queen on a whim.

Especially since her reactions are rather amusing in her eyes.

Like a rabbit trying to stand up to a wolf. Its body trembling, eyes turned upwards.

Yet refusing to run.

"Now then, pray tell what is your name?" Alice threw the question back at the Queen.

Opening her mouth, the Queen hesitated, her face turning paler by the second.

Solana expressionlessly shook her head.

"If you’re going to be a scaredy cat you can’t expect to face the Elders properly."

"Shuddap Lana! T-The elders haven’t killed Apostles though!" The Queen trembled with tears in her eyes.

"Ahhhh!!! I pointed at them Lana! Am I going to die?!"

"Probably. Honestly if she was in a bad mood she’ll mutate your physical body, making sure you feel every single second while healing you at the same time. Increasing your sensitivity to pain. Once your physical body is broken she’ll probably drag out your soul and torment you that way. Honestly, I’ve never seen anyone as scary as herself. I’m am practically trembling in my boots." Solana spoke emotionlessly as though reading off of a prewritten script.

And yet every word she spoke seemed to only amplify the trembling of the Queen’s body.

"Are you two coordinating this??? I know Solana is stupid when it comes to saying things but you too?" Yuna looked at Solana and Alice helplessly.

Ever since Alice came back from saving Feris, her filter had just been reduced to dust.

There is no delay between action and thought.

She simply does then realises what she did.

Alice only stuck out her tongue with a giggle, not taking offence at her remarks.

After all, she too knew her own condition but what could she do about it?

Honestly, if she saw the Zenia family now, going berserk and losing reason would happen 100% of the time without fail.

There will be no control, there will be no talk.

The moment she see’s the Zenia family emblem, whoever is wearing it with one exception, would be killed on sight. Traitors of humanity deserves no quarter.

Even if the enemy is her own biological father.

While Alyss may have some thoughts, Alice herself couldn’t care less.

To her, he was simply another head she needed to claim.

Another soul she needed to torment.

Narrowing her eyes, Alice imagined her own father in front of herself.

Ah~ How she hoped that day would come soon.

What should she do first? Ahhh there’s so much to do hehe~

Should she maim him first. Remove his motor functions so that he can’t run away.

Ah!

But where’s the fun in prey that can’t run? She needs him to feel the desperation~ She wanted him to run, to cry, to panic!

But~ She had to be careful.

She couldn’t put him over the edge. Push him too far without hope and he’ll take last stand.

No no, she can’t have that. She had to keep a delicate balance so that he believes he can’t beat her but someone else can.

What a predicament. Torturing people properly is such an act of art.

To control the exact punishment so that they didn’t go insane.

Ah!

There’s one she could test on isn’t there? No... rather than test it’s more so reflection?

Perhaps experiencing is the best way for someone to understand.

Yes, exactly.

What she needed to do was let her father experience everything she felt.

Not just her, what Alyss felt. What they experienced together in those cruel ten years.

The feeling of tubes worming their way through your insides, foreign blood twisting through your veins, skin peeling back to reveal the crystalised flesh. Insects growing behind your eyes, worms drilling through your brain. So much. So so much.

There was so much she needed to do.

So much she needed to refine.

So much she needed to understand so that she could properly let him experience the fear and panic she felt in that moment.

Ah~ She couldn’t wait but she had to hold herself back.

Right, holding back.

A difficult task but she can do it. For the sake of her goal.

Alice turned her gaze and looked deep into the Queen’s eyes.

There, she saw her own reflection.

". . ."

Ah- I’ve gone insane.

Alice could see it.

The thick blush on her face, the glowing crimson eyes. The wide smile revealing a set of sharp teeth and a mouth salivating at the thought of torture. The twisted aura around her, the shadow hiding the rest of her face with the exception of her eyes and smile.

"Pft-! Hahaha..." Alice leaned back and closed her eyes.

"HAHAHAHA!!!" She laughed uncontrollably.

No one could talk. The eerie aura around Alice was thicker than ever. She looked like a broken doll that could only laugh, like a delicate watch trying to carry out its job yet struggling to keep up.

"What the hell is going on with me? What even am I? AHAHAHAH!!!" Alice clutched her stomach.

She became deeply aware of her own psychology in this moment.

Now that she was responsible for her own Abyssal power and Eldritch nature, it wasn’t an exaggeration to say the overlap between her and Alyss had ended.

Everything in this mind, everything in this body sealed by the Golden chains were the foreign elements introduced by Nyer.

Alice could tell.

With this separation, something that disappeared from her mind.

Something that held her back simply wasn’t there before.

It was Alyss’s influence at a subconscious level.

When mixing black and white, you get grey. It doesn’t matter how much white or black you mix, it won’t ever separate the two.

But she did exactly that. She removed and separated the mixture.

Such evil, such cruelty. Her mind spun with wonderous new ways of torturing her enemies.

Methods to gain power in order to consume even the gods. The desire and ambition to fulfil her own instincts.

"This is my unfiltered nature?" Alice posed a question to herself.

She looked within herself.

What did she see for this world?

What did she see for her own future?

Was it still the harmonious everyday life she wanted with Allura?

Yes/NO!

A sea of flames, a world of destruction and carnage. Tragedy of the highest degree. She wanted to make Nyer regret, she wanted the Doctor to cry out in despair, she wanted her ’father’ to beg.

This is her pleasure.

A single tear fell as Alice’s laughter slowly died out into an eerie calm.

When one realises the face behind the mask...

What use is it to hide and pretend to be ignorant?

Alice couldn’t.

She realised it in this moment.

She was never ’human’. She had been the monster wearing a human’s face.

Alyss had allowed her to feel human.

And now...

She was simply another monster. A monster of adaptation that did anything and everything to survive.

Sealing her sister’s name, her appearance, her inner personality.

A grand act of trickery to deceive and buy herself that little bit of time to survive.

And now... could these people have the heart to kill her?

Alice looked at Allura, another tear fell.

They couldn’t.

They couldn’t kill the monster that she was.