Act 3: Chapter 38: The Ugly Struggle of The Corpse Doll


    The exploding ck me rushed toward me at once.


    That moment, I stopped the invocation of the 《Short Gate》 at once, and changed it to 《Dimension Pocket》instead.


    I took out the 《Distorted World of Cursed Mirror》 from inside and used it as my shield.


    I thought that the mirror that trapped those devils could protect me from Red King’s suicide attack.


    But then, I realized that a single mistake might release the devils in this mirror into this world, the moment I realized that, it was already toote.


    The impact of the st made me feel like my arm got hit by a giant, hot arm.


    My entire body was assaulted by intense heat, and fell down to the ground.


    Though my position was supposed to be high in the sky, I got knocked down on the ground by the st in just a second.


    I crashed against the rubble, shoulder first.


    A huge crater was created on the ground due to my fall.


    I heaved a sigh, barely keeping the 《Distorted World of Cursed Mirror》 in my hands.


    It would be a disaster if I identally let go of this mirror.


    I let out a cough and exhaled ck smoke from my mouth.


    Yeah, that st and crash that followed caused my HP to hit the rock bottom.


    But, I survived.


    I might be dead for real if I got caught directly in the st without this 《Distorted World of Cursed Mirror》 I got from Lunaire.


    「A-Are you alright, Kanata!」


    Be rushed toward me in a hurry.


    「Yeah, I survived somehow…」


    When I tried to stand up, my feet tripped and I fell right there.


    It seems the damage on my body was worse than my estimation.


    I looked at my body to see if the st damaged Lunaire’s robe but the robe turned out to be just fine, only soiled by some soot.


    I heaved a sigh.


    「Stop forcing yourself! Oi, the adventurer over there! Don’t just staring absentmindedly, call white magician to heal him quickly, his life is in danger!」


    … Though I started to have a better opinion about Be and felt that we might be able to get along, it seems he still looked down on adventurers.


    「Rather than worrying about me, how’s the condition of Kotone-san and the other people who turned into puppet?」


    Right after I asked Be, I felt something suddenly hug me from behind.


    From their stature, they might be a kid hiding under the rubble around the area.


    No… They’re by no means children.


    Their strength was too strong for a child.


    When I turned around, the first thing that I saw was lined up sharp teeth and a pair of eyes that red at me.


    That person’s long tongue licking my cheek.


    「《Corpse Doll, Alice》…!」


    Most of her right side was crushed and bleeding heavily, it might be because she got hit by the Red King’s stray bullet.


    But, she clearly exhibited physical strength higher than normal level 600 .


    She was stronger than the current me whose HP hit the rock bottom and suffered serious injuries from the battle against the Red King.


    「FUFUFUFUFUFUFU, AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Surprised? This kind of feat is a piece of cake with 《Puppet Coffin》. I used it in conjunction with 《Ghoul Doll》 of spirit magic to raise my strength. You’ve never expected that I’m going to ambush you in this kind of situation, right?」


    Alice bit my head.


    Blood flowing out from the teared skin.


    I was speechless.


    She might be a mere level 600 lich but, the current she could easily kill this greatly weakened me.


    「I have never expected that not even the Red King can defeat you! Ahahaha! Too bad for you though, you’re going to be my puppet. I lost the 《Red Authority Cane》 but that’s a trivial matter. As long as I have you, I can join the 《Invisible Hand of God》.」


    「Invisible hand… Of God?」


    「It’s okay, Kanata. You can get along with 《Ares Hand》 forever. Inside my dream, that’s it.」


    Alice’s tongue licked my blood as she spoke.


    It seems Alice wanted to turn me into her puppet of her 《Puppet Coffin》.


    I can’t let her do that.


    Though I could be resuscitated immediately right before I died with the 《Ring of Uroboros》, I would be in my weakest state and Alice would kill me till I exhausted my mana.


    In the first ce, the 《Ouroboros Ring》 might not be able to show its effect since Alice wanted to use 《Puppet Coffin》 instead of killing me but still…


    「You really are not scary at all when you’re already on the verge of death like this! Haha, victory is… Mine!」


    Be grasped his sword, pointing it at Alice.


    「B-Be-san…!」


    Alice looked at Be with a bored look on her face.


    Surely, Alice was already on the verge of death.


    Her current strength was nothing more than forcing her already tattered body to move with unusual strength with spirit magic.


    But in turn, doing so would cause her other status to plummet.


    「But, uhm, I think it’s still impossible for you Be-san, I’m really happy to see you willing to risk your life trying to save me but, it’s still impossible for you…」


    「… It seems you really have a natural talent for pissing off people.」


    Be’s face twitched, lookingpletely annoyed.


    But his expression went back to normal immediately and he didn’t waste any second to throw his scabbard at Alice.


    When Alice caught the scabbard, Be had already arrived right before her.


    Alice’s eyes opened wide in shock.


    「Misdirection arts. Surprisingly effective, isn’t it? Well, I’ll be ashamed of my status as a knight if I let can’t do anything in this situation!」


    Be’s downward shnded on Alice’s body.


    His sword’s de got repelled by Alice’s skin but the impact was enough to sway Alice.


    「 Impossible… I, to this kind of small fry…」


    Though Be revealed a smile upon hearing that, his expression turned into that of fear in the next moment.


    「Just kidding, that attack is nothing.」


    Despite therge wound on her face, Alice didn’t react at all.


    And sent Be flying in the next moment with a casual swing of her arm.


    「Ahahaha! Too bad, small fry! You might be able to defeat me if your level is a little bit higher though!」


    That moment, I heard footsteps from behind.


    When I turned around, I saw Pomera’s figure already running toward us with her big cane raised overhead.


    「SEYAAA!」


    The heaviest part of her big canended right on Alice’s crown of the head.


    Due to previous damage when she used the same part to send Alfred flying during their duel some time ago, the hastily fixed cane broke for real this time.


    How did Pomera arrive in this … That moment, a realization came upon me.


    She might be the white magician who got called by the passerby who got ordered by Be.


    He might be hiding when he saw that I got caught by Alice.


    Alice’s body fell to the side due to Pomera’s blow.


    Alice red at me from the ground, she tried to reach at me with her trembling hand.


    「Fu, fufu, I’ll give you onest piece of advice, Kanata… You, who turned your de toward the higher existence, will end in the most tragic way sooner orter. And when that happens, you’re not the only one who got involved. That’s why even I have to live in hiding in ordance to the flow that they decided.」


    The moment she finished speaking, Alice’s arm fell on the ground like a puppet with its string cut.


    One of the fortes of the 《Puppet Coffin》 was its ability to manipte its target till they died.


    Alice died for real this time.


    With this, the other 《Puppet Coffin》 would be forcefully terminated too.


    Will Kotone and co return to normal with this?


    「Uhm, I just hit her reflexively but, am I doing the right thing?」


    Pomera asked me fearfully.


    「Yeah, thanks a lot, Pomera-san. Honestly you arrived right on time.」


    We have no other choice but to kill Alice.


    I mean she was too dangerous since even when she lost the ability to move, she could force her body to move with other spirit magic.


    Even if we cut her limbs, she might be able to attack with magic.


    It was literally impossible to catch her alive.


    「O-Oi, Kanata… I did my best too, you know? I’ve created the opening for that girl tond her finishing blow you know?」


    Be dragged his body to our ce.


    「… I’ll thank you properly. Rather than me, please take a look at Kotone-san and co’s condition first. They might be buried under the rubble of the copsed building.」<blockquote>===


    THE NEW PROJECT:


    <strong>Journey of The Childhood Friend Who Got Betrayed by Sword Saint</strong></blockquote>


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