Alice was struck with the sudden realization that she was facing an opponent more skilled than her. Never before had she come up against such a formidable opponent within Everwhite. It meant that a student from Everwhite had the ability to render the rank two completely helpless.
In her squad, Alice knew that she was the strongest. She possessed a strength that was unmatched, yet she kept her voice down. The reason why she didn't talk much was that she liked to humble herself and also because of the girl named Jessica. Whenever she saw her, it gave her an uncomfortable feeling. That was why she never showed her full strength.
Alice's bloodline was steeped in the art of warfare, with generations of military heroes flowing through her veins. Her training had been rigorous and unrelenting, honing her combat skills to a razor's edge.
Alice had thrown herself into the crucible of training with the Empire's elite warriors, immersing herself in their world of bloodshed and battle. Day after day, she faced their relentless onslaught, feeling the fiery heat of their killing intent bearing down on her with each passing moment. As a result, she had become attuned to the faintest hint of murderous intent, able to sense and preserve it with ease.
Despite her finely-tuned senses, Alice found herself unable to detect even the slightest trace of malice emanating from the sniper's position. It was as though the shooter had vanished entirely into the surrounding environment, becoming one with the very air itself. Alice knew that marksmen were notorious for giving themselves away with their unspoken bloodlust, a telltale sign that a deadly strike was imminent. But this particular sniper remained hidden.
As if struck by an icy gust of wind, Alice felt a shiver run down her spine, setting her nerves on edge. A single droplet of cold sweat traced a meandering path down her ribs, a silent testament to her mounting fear. In this instant, the sniper could have been drawing a bead on her head, waiting for the perfect moment to unleash a deadly barrage. Alice felt as though she was trapped in a hunter's cage, a helpless bird awaiting its inevitable demise.
"Arugh...!" With her heart pounding in her chest, Alice drew upon her inner reserves of strength and channeled her magic through her body. Frost formed at her feet, and a trail of glittering ice spread out before her like a frozen river, leading the way toward the abandoned hospital building. With a swift, fluid motion, she slid along the slick surface, her movements graceful and fluid like a figure skater. Within moments, she arrived at her destination.
Alice poised herself to deliver a powerful kick, ready to burst through the door. But before she could even make contact, a sudden, thunderous thud echoed through the air, causing her to whip her head around toward the source of the noise.
A cloud of swirling snowflakes erupted into existence, momentarily obscuring Alice's vision like a curtain of white. Within the mist, a shadowy figure loomed, its features indistinct. But as the snow dissipated, Alice's eyes gradually adjusted to the sudden change in lighting, revealing the figure's identity before her.
"You're..." Alice muttered.
Recognition dawned upon Alice as she realized the identity of the person before her. It was the same girl she had encountered before, stumbling and intoxicated in the hallway, causing a raucous disturbance that had drawn the attention of everyone in the vicinity. The image of the girl colliding with Jona was seared into her memory.
But the person standing before her now seemed like a wholly different entity, as if a switch had been flipped and a new personality had emerged. The change was so profound that if someone had claimed that this person was a mere twin sister of the drunken girl, Lilith would have readily believed them.
"Oh? You know me?" Ellia raised an eyebrow while asking.
Alice remained silent, her eyes narrowing as she raised her assault rifle and unleashed a barrage of bullets toward Ellia. The air crackled with the sound of gunfire, but to Alice's shock and frustration, none of the bullets found their mark. As the last round ricocheted off a nearby wall, Alice braced herself for a counterattack, her body coiled like a spring. But before she could make a move, she saw the cold metal of Ellia's Initiator assault rifle aimed at her forehead, the muzzle staring down at her.
Without hesitation, Ellia squeezed the trigger of her weapon, unleashing a hail of bullets at Alice. The sound of gunfire reverberated through the air like thunder as the bullets whistled toward their target with deadly intent. But to Ellia's surprise, Alice's wrist flicked upward in a fluid motion, conjuring a shimmering wall of ice that rose up to meet the incoming projectiles. The bullets struck the icy barrier with a deafening clatter, ricocheting off in all directions like a swarm of angry bees.
Just then, the once-solid ice wall shattered into a thousand razor-sharp shards, hurtling toward her with deadly velocity. The shards sliced through the air like miniature missiles, their crystalline edges glinting menacingly in the light. Ellia tried to dodge the icy shrapnel, but it was too late. The shards tore through her flesh like a hot knife through butter, leaving deep, jagged wounds that gushed blood like fountains.
Despite the gaping wounds on her body, Ellia remained eerily composed, her face a mask of indifference. Her eyes flickered briefly with a faint red glow, a sign that her nanobots were hard at work repairing the damage. The tiny machines swarmed around the wounds like a horde of microscopic ants, weaving together flesh and sinew with deft precision. In a matter of seconds, the wounds had closed completely, leaving no trace of the brutal attack. Ellia stood up straight, her body unmarred and flawless once again.
Ellia looked up and realized that Alice had already gone inside the building. "Aerie...!" Ellia shouted in realization as she rushed inside.
Meanwhile...
"Shit...! How did she survive that?!" Alice gritted her teeth in frustration as she bounded up the crumbling staircase, each step sending a shower of dust and debris cascading down around her. The sound of her boots pounding against the metal steps echoed through the empty stairwell, the noise reverberating off the peeling walls and rusted handrails.
A hail of bullets suddenly ripped through the air from behind, puncturing the walls and creating new windows that allowed shards of bright sunlight to pierce through into the dimly lit stairwell.
"Damn, she's fast!" Alice yelled as she sprinted up the stairs. Alice suddenly felt a frigid object pressed against the back of her skull. Her body tensed as she slowly turned her head, catching a glimpse of Ellia's steel gaze as she brandished her weapon with deadly precision, ready to unleash a hail of bullets into Alice's brain.
'Since when?' Alice's heart pounded as she stared down the barrel of Ellia's gun, her mind racing with fear and panic. But then, she remembered all the grueling hours of training she had endured.
"I didn't train for nothing!" With a scream that echoed in the stairwell, Alice lifted her palm upward, summoning all her strength to create a thick barrier of ice. The ice grew and expanded rapidly, forming a towering wall that seemed impenetrable. Its surface was covered in intricate patterns, resembling sharp icicles that seemed to glow with a faint blue light. It was a formidable shield that could stop even the most powerful attacks, as strong as a fortress wall.
Ting! Ting! Ting!
The sound of bullets hitting the ice echoed in the stairwell. The ricocheting bullets almost hit Ellia, but she quickly dodged them with her quick reflexes.
"Stop trying! You can even begin to dream of getting pas-" Alice's scream was cut short as a searing pain ripped through her skull. For an instant, time seemed to stand still as she felt herself falling forward, a spray of blood and fragments of bone painting a macabre picture on the icy wall she had just conjured. It was as if the world had gone silent, except for the sickening sound of her body hitting the hard ground with a thud. 'From behind...?'
"Sorry about that..." Alice heard before her vision went dark.