90
Chapter 90
Swoooooosh-
Parang's consciousness sprinted through the endlessly long tunnel at incredible speed.
Strangely enough, the sensation was exactly like swimming in water, so even though she saw the exact same scenery no matter which way she looked, she could still feel the speed.
'It's longer than before this time.'
Since doing nothing would be boring, Parang roughly organized what she had seen in the previous memory inside her head.
The most concerning thing was, of course, Alice's condition.
'Just what in the world happened.......'
The appearance of Alice that Parang had seen was closer to a spirit or a ghost rather than a human.
From the tentacle that bound Alexandra, to her ability to create Capulus, and even her attitude that made it seem like she knew the future.
Even if they were to reunite with Alice, it seemed highly unlikely they would meet her in the exact same state as when they first parted ways.
'No. I should be grateful just to be able to meet her.'
How desperately had everyone wished for a reunion with her, their friend, all this time? No matter what Alice looked like, Parang was fine with it.
'We'll be able to meet again soon, right?'
Alexandra's memory was definitely from a long time ago, and it was true that the Alice living within it was also from quite a while back.
Parang had no way of knowing what had happened to Alice in the meantime, but she decided to just think of it that way.
That they would be able to meet soon.
Anyone would have done the same.
'And then, um.......'
The next thing on her mind after Alice was naturally Han Siwoo.
'What the heck is he thinking.......'
The person she thought she would have the least to do with in her entire life was currently making Parang's head ache the most.
Just what was his damn plan, and why was the original work subtly changed to such an ambiguous degree—neither completely twisted nor following its exact path?
How much did he know, was he alive or dead, god damn it.......
Parang clutched her head once again.
'If I knew this would happen, I would have paid a bit more attention.......'
They say karma mostly builds up without you even realizing it, and it turned out that saying wasn't wrong at all.
'After that is the Ascension Ritual, and also.......'
As she haphazardly organized various things as they came to mind like that, she suddenly saw the end of the tunnel.
'Am I heading into Alice's memory now.'
Gulp, Parang swallowed her saliva.
It had been a long time since she felt this nervous.
And then, Whoosh!!
Her darkened vision was instantly dyed with light, and Parang burst out of the tunnel.
'Phew......phew......where is this.......'
She quickly looked around her surroundings first.
'Here......here......huh......?'
"Where......is this......?"
What appeared before Parang was a long hall that stretched endlessly straight ahead.
On the Floor was Marble polished to such a shine that it was hard to tell if it was a Mirror or stone.
On both sides of the walls, Doric Stone Pillars, similarly made of Marble, stood lined up.
Standing tall towards the ceiling without a single inch of error or the slightest tilt, the pillars emphasized their flawlessness, giving off a slight sense of pressure even to Parang, who had seen all sorts of sights with her own two eyes.
In the center, a black Carpet that looked luxurious at a glance stretched straight out just like the hall, and solid black Curtains hung uniformly across the walls.
At first glance, it was a sight where one couldn't tell if this was underwater or above ground at all, but Parang could immediately tell that this place was underwater, specifically a space beneath the sea.
'Th-those are......!'
Because what Parang saw there wasn't just Marble and Curtains.
'St-statues......!'
About thirty to fifty Statues, the Statues, were kneeling in two rows along the hall at regular intervals.
Parang had hunted roughly ten thousand Statues. She could tell just by looking whether they were merely kneeling Statues or Statues.
'What on earth is.......'
The fact that these things existed meant that this place was under the sea.
'Is this somewhere in a Hive, or an Objet?'
For now, as far as Parang knew, a Hive that looked like this did not exist. However, there was a precedent of a 'hidden space' being discovered in the previous South China Sea Hive.
Well, putting aside where this was, it seemed clear what kind of place it was.
Was Hunter genre the only thing Parang had read? She had naturally read many fantasy Novels as well.
And the sight unfolding before her eyes right now was an exact replica of the 'Audience Chamber' that usually appeared in those fantasy Novels.
And the fact that this place was an Audience Chamber meant that if Parang turned her head back here.......
'Ali......ce......?'
It was the same as saying she could see the Queen's Throne.
'Th-this is.......'
She had actually expected it. Even while diving, the space Parang fell into was an Audience Chamber, and this was Alice's memory.
It meant that Parang also knew that if there was a place for Alice to be here, it was only the Throne behind her.
However, actually seeing it in person was quite different from merely expecting it in her head.
'Gasp......!'
Parang sharply inhaled a breath for a moment.
Whether this was fortunate or unfortunate.
At the very least, Alice did not exist in the worst form Parang had imagined.
That is to say, she wasn't sitting loftily on the Throne like a true Queen, looking down at the Monster Fish with her body completely twisted.
However, her appearance wasn't exactly dramatically better than that either, so Parang was simply a little flustered.
Gurgle-
She was floating inside a Cocoon filled with purple liquid.
Thump- thump-
The Cocoon, made of a black membrane, was filled with purple liquid and had grown upon the Marble Throne.
Thump- thump-
As if screaming to be noticed that it too was alive, the Cocoon pulsed steadily, clearly revealing the silhouette of the woman lying quietly inside.
'Damn it, I can't see the inside properly.......'
Parang shifted her angles this way and that to examine the Cocoon, then,
'Wait, I don't need to do this, do I?'
She soon realized that she was in a state akin to a Spirit Body and simply shoved her face right into the Cocoon.
And from inside that Cocoon.
'Gasp......!'
She made eye contact with Alice.
Eyes wide open and staring straight ahead to a chilling degree, eyes emitting streams of fierce momentum along with a purple glow.
'H-how......!'
Too startled, Parang hurriedly tried to pull her body back, but discovered something.
'Wait, this is.......'
[ Status Window: Alice Melville ]
'Status Window.......'
Looking closely, Alice hadn't been making eye contact with her.
She was merely looking at the Status Window floating before her eyes.
Her Status Window happened to be located exactly where Parang had thrust her face in.
'That startled me.......'
Taking a brief moment to catch her breath, Parang changed her posture and read down Alice's Status Window.
[ Status Window: Alice Melville ]
[ Personal Skill: Undersea Para!&$^!*# ]
[ Skill information cannot be confirmed. ]
[ Penalty information cannot be confirmed. ]
[ Skill ]
[ Clairvoyance(S), Fisheye Lens(S), Splendid@$& ...... ]
[ Status Effect ]
[ Fusion, Mutation, Binding, Snare ]
'Hmm.......'
Static noise kept cutting into the text, making it difficult to recognize, so Parang slightly furrowed her brows to read it with difficulty.
'Fusion, and Mutation.......'
It seemed to definitely have a connection with this damaged Status Window.
Could it be that because she underwent Fusion and Mutation with another entity, her Status Window was also corrupted?
Thinking about it that way, it did look like that.
Parang looked at Alice with a pitying gaze.
Mixing and undergoing a Mutation with an unknown entity must certainly be a Pain one wouldn't even want to imagine.
'Back then, just a little more.......'
Shake, shake.
Parang forced herself to shake off the thoughts that were trying to drag her down a dark path again, and focused back on the memory.
Then, she saw something she hadn't seen earlier.
'This is.......'
As she turned her gaze away from the Status Window and her eyes, she saw countless threads Binding Alice.
Looking like purple Blood Vessels, they didn't just stop at tying Alice down; they were embedded into her limbs, seemingly constantly injecting something.
Parang's insides boiled with rage.
In context, it seemed certain that the things flowing into Alice's body through those threads were related to the 'Fusion' or 'Mutation' mentioned in the Status Window.
'What on earth is.......'
Seeing as the Statues were kneeling outside, this place likely seemed related to the Statues, and furthermore, the eye that controlled them.
'Then is this thing being injected into Alice.......'
She didn't want to accept it, but it was probably related to that eye, or perhaps even a part of it.
'Anyway, how in the world did she get out of here.'
Alice looked to be in a very weakened state just at a glance.
Just as Parang was about to fall into thought over how she could have escaped this place, when she seemed to have a hard time even escaping the Cocoon, let alone shaking off the Statues outside.
Rumble-
'Huh?'
Rumble-!!
It felt like the sound of the ground rumbling could be heard from somewhere.
Craaash!! Crash!! Craaaaaash!!! Ruumble!!!!
"A-aah!! Wh-what is this!!"
Suddenly, along with a loud explosion like a thunderclap, the Cocoon containing Alice began to shake violently.
Alice must have been just as startled as Parang, as her eyes grew even wider than before.
When a startled Parang went outside the Cocoon to assess the situation, the entire hall where Alice was located was shaking fiercely as if it was about to collapse at any moment, and the Statues that had been kneeling without a single movement were running around in all directions in confusion, not knowing what to do.
"Wh-what in the world is this situation......!!"
And within that chaos, very carefully.
Snap- snap- crumble-!!
Tearing open the Cocoon that had grown on the Throne, Alice Melville's eyes looked outside.