Lunar Eclipse (7)
Lunar Eclipse (7)
Viktor stood before Jersian.
A few minutes earlier.
Upon arriving at the scene, the boy first headed to Alice's side.
Then, he immediately cut down the vampires that had been surrounding her.
The white clown mask that was pulled down looked calmly at the girl.
"Alice-yang."
"Vi, Viktor-nim···? You came!"
"I entrust the people in the Cathedral to you."
"Huh?"
Thump-.
With only that short request, a hand pushed the girl's shoulder.
Alice was subjected to a [Wall Penetration] judgment and teleported on the spot.
The girl ended up sprawled in some corridor.
"Uh, uhh···?"
As she looked around, she soon realized she was indoors.
It was the Cathedral building that Viktor had just torn through moments before.
More precisely, its underground, the place where the kidnapped people had been imprisoned.
There, villagers who had just been freed were huddled together, murmuring.
'The villagers···? Did Viktor-nim free them?'
There had to be at least 300 people.
Only then did Alice grasp the situation.
The words, 'I entrust the people in the Cathedral to you.'
'Certainly.'
Even if they gathered together, they would just become targets for the Ghouls again.
There was a reason Viktor had looked at the girl.
'Someone needs to lead them.'
They needed someone to command the situation.
Someone to shake off the swarming Ghoul horde and evacuate these people to safety.
Viktor had entrusted that role to Alice.
'He entrusted it to me.'
The girl steadied her wavering heart.
She was briefly concerned about Carmilla, but erased her from her mind.
Viktor arriving at the scene meant his plan was proceeding properly.
Alice believed in the boy.
That alone was enough for her to spring into action immediately.
"E, everyone! Please pay attention···!"
Alice, drawing the people's attention.
Piercing through the murmuring atmosphere, her thin voice rang out.
"I am a member of the Slayers! M, my name is Onion! I am a subordinate of Captain Garurik, who just saved you all!"
"S, Slayers···?"
"That's the person from earlier! The one who got us out of the underground···!"
"That person even cured the people who turned into Ghouls!"
"Same affiliation? Did you come to rescue us?"
"Indeed, they both wear similar masks······."
Fortunately.
Perhaps because Viktor had given some prior hint, the people listened quietly to the girl.
In that sense, naming the organization 'Slayers' was the right answer.
Alice explained the situation step by step.
'First, we need to get out of the Cathedral.'
It was Viktor's instruction.
To somehow get the people out safely and evacuate them outside the Cathedral.
'But... there are too many. At least 300, it seems.'
Outside, Ghoul hordes were still loitering.
Sending out unarmed civilians wouldn't solve anything.
Alice fell deep in thought.
'The problem is what happens after leaving the Cathedral. We'll definitely be pursued. We can't just leave this many people standing exposed in the middle of the street.'
They needed a shelter.
A space to hide from the pursuers' eyes, and to hold out even if discovered.
They needed to endure there until the current situation was resolved.
So, the immediate consideration was: was there a building nearby that could accommodate this many people?
'Ah... the Grain Warehouse!'
As she roughly mapped the area in her head, Alice quickly recalled a building that fit the conditions.
The Grain Warehouse.
It was close too.
Less than 500 meters from the Cathedral.
Alice plotted an escape route heading there.
"Everyone! From now on, you must f, follow me! So no one gets left behind, please t, take good care of each other···!"
She acted swiftly.
She deployed Trump Cards around to aid the people's evacuation.
And so, Alice took the lead, stepping onto the path toward the Grain Warehouse.
Whenever Ghouls tightened the encirclement, the Trump Soldiers blocked them.
-Grrrr...!
-Kkigik, kkigigiik!
-Kyungkyung! Kkeuk, Kyung!
Perhaps because the commotion drew attention.
The eyes of the nearby Ghouls focused on them.
They tried to move as quietly as possible, but with numbers this large, it was difficult to maintain.
With every step, she couldn't shake the feeling they were being surrounded.
'No good.'
A chill ran down her spine.
Due to the overwhelming numbers, the Trump Soldiers were gradually being pushed back.
'If this continues... people will start getting hurt soon.'
The people who trusted and followed her.
Sturdier men took the lead, and when Ghouls approached, they would swing clubs to fend them off, but even that would become difficult as their numbers grew.
Alice grew anxious.
'We still have about 5 minutes until we arrive....'
A mere 500 meters.
Even with a large group, it was a distance that would take at most 20 minutes.
A path she would have walked thoughtlessly under normal circumstances felt impossibly distant.
Ghouls were lying in ambush even in the gradually curving alleys.
-Wha, what the...!
-Be careful over there! They're jumping out one by one from the path openings!
-Let's each guard a direction and stay alert! At this rate, we'll all be eaten!
The people began to murmur.
They had encountered an obstacle.
Alice clenched her fist, calculating the remaining distance.
'I need to find a way.'
They lacked firepower.
The number of soldiers was insufficient to break through this encirclement.
In that situation, Alice had no choice but to make a decision.
'A way....'
There was only one path she could try walking now.
The crown floating above her head.
Transparent jade eyes shimmered gently.
Alice hesitated, then gritted her teeth.
'I'll do it.'
This was no place to retreat.
Here, even if she had to push herself, she had to fulfill the role entrusted to her.
The girl gently closed her eyelids.
And so, she sank into a faint consciousness.
-Alice-yang.
-I entrust the people in the Cathedral to you.
Words whispered like mere fragments.
Yet, they were words sufficient to push the girl's back.
'I don't want to disappoint him.'
The role he entrusted to her as if it were natural.
As if it were natural, she wanted to show him she could do it.
Because he believed in her.
Because she didn't want to disappoint him.
'I can do it.'
Kuuuu-!
The black crown began to shake violently.
Actually, when practicing with Viktor, she had succeeded a few times.
Although that success rate was low, not even reaching 10 percent.
'I must not fail this time.'
A situation driven to the extreme.
Such a desperate stand, on the contrary, pulled the girl's mental strength to its limit.
Dreams sprouted festeringly from her fingertips, and white cracks spread around the crown.
'Do it calmly. Draw on the memories of practicing with Viktor-nim...'
Something unimaginable for the her of the past.
Originally, the moment she faced an obstacle, she would have been terrified and curled up.
Far from confronting the Nightmare, she would have looked around for somewhere to hide.
But not anymore.
-Alice-yang.
-Learn how to control Nightmare Transformation with me.
Because there was someone who taught her how to confront it.
Because there was someone who firmly held her.
Because there was someone who promised to come and save her, even if she fell into the abyss.
-If you succeed in controlling Nightmare Transformation, you won't be tormented by Nightmares anymore.
-You'll be able to live an ordinary life like other children.
-I will give you such a life.
Only that person said it.
Only that person held her.
Thus, Alice tightly grasped that white hand.
Beside her flowing black hair, a crimson-black mist fiercely surged.
"Awaken...!"
Chwarurureuk-!
A sound like cards being flipped sequentially.
From the writhing mist, white soldiers soon sprang forth.
<[♠̶̲̰̞̳̭̬̞̯̃̿͛͢͞]>
<[♥҈̧̜̮̫͖̫͉̳̰̀́́̒̄̑͊͝]>
<[♣҉͉̰̤̖̝͉҇͌͋̍̑͢ͅ]>
Trump Cards.
The remaining number of cards after excluding the four Queens and two Jokers.
48 cards.
The number of soldiers, which had been a mere nine, doubled.
The Nightmare, having far surpassed its limit, seemed ready to break free from control at any moment.
Jet-black shadows sizzled and bulged as if about to transform into grotesque forms.
"Awaken...!"
However, the Queen's shout did not permit it.
A voice that did not tremble, did not cry.
The girl's resonance awakened the Nightmare.
The consciousness that had been tug-of-war tipped toward awakening.
On the front line where Nightmare and Dream mingled, a slender sword was swung there.
"Awaken!"
Alice.
The girl who was always swept away by Nightmares.
Only today, however, the dream does not become a nightmare.
<[♠]>
<[♥]>
<[♣]>
A scene blooming pure white.
Cheeok-!
The chaotic cards all aligned at once.
They knelt straight down just like that, paying respect before their monarch.
"......."
Hwiiii-.
The jet-black queen's banner fluttering.
Alice.
The epithet the world had previously bestowed upon her.
For embracing the night, they called her by that jet-black light.
"This is my command."
Black Queen.
The monarch who governs all dreams.
"Protect the people."
A clear instruction.
The Queen's resonance became the finishing blow, completely driving out the Nightmare from the soldiers.
Thereafter, the Trump Cards scattered in all directions, aiding the people's evacuation.
The Ghoul horde that had been tightening the encirclement was mercilessly cut down.
-The path is open! Everyone, quickly, into the Grain Warehouse...!
-We're almost there! Don't push, move slowly!
-Sturdy men stay until the end, elderly and children go in first!
A neatly cleared path.
The surging crowd maintained order and safely entered the Grain Warehouse.
She had evacuated them without leaving a single straggler behind.
"Haa...."
Alice, who entered last.
Only after closing the door and giving a few more commands to the soldiers could she finally collapse.
The mental strength poured out in a short moment, the power continuously being consumed as the soldiers moved.
It felt like her consciousness might snap at any moment.
'Not yet....'
But she gritted her teeth and endured.
The girl staggered slightly but stared into the distance beyond the window.
The plaza where Viktor and Carmilla remained to fight.
With a faint breath, Alice murmured.
"......Viktor-nim."
Please.
Wishing that the two of them would also be safe.