"Bring out Alice…" A low male voice drifted out from behind the White Knight's mask. He said so, thrusting his sword into the ground, looked around again ambiguously, and fell silent.
"You damn Nightmare…!"
One of the priestesses with a handgun issued an order in a voice that resembled a shriek. Their guns, surrounding the White Knight, opened fire at once. Their aim seemed to be accurate. All of the bullets landed on the White Knight's body… and were sucked in and "disappeared" as if they had been melted.
"Get Lady Iberis! Hurry!"
One of the priestesses shouted out. Several of the girls backed away, firing as they went. The White Knight took a small breath, huffing as he stood leisurely, exposed to the storm of gunfire.
"I shall not say it again… bring out Alice."
The voice was cold and iron-like. Even under the gunfire, not a single scratch was found on the white armor. As if he hadn't even been bitten by an insect, he drew his sword, which was stuck in the ground.
"… Quiet down. You trash!"
The voice was low, but it reverberated throughout the area. He roared broadly, like a wild beast. The air around him resonated with a pounding sound, sending the interior of the shelter into a huge deflection. Some of the priestesses, suppressing their ears and dropping their guns, yelped and backed away.
"Brainless blood bags who can't even reach Her Majesty's mercy…"
The White Knight slowly strode forward, saying this in a provoking manner.
"Fire! Don't stop shooting!"
One of the girls raised her voice loudly. Therefore, the girls attempted to retrieve the gun that fell…
All at once, blood sprayed from their necks.
The girls collapsed to the ground, with faces indicating uncertainty as to what had occurred. Their severed bodies and heads tumbled to the ground in disarray. As the blood rained down like a fountain, the White Knight moved forward in slow motion. The girls' complexions shifted as they witnessed more than half of the priestesses being reduced to corpses in an instant. Some of them began to shiver and even fell on their buttocks.
A few feet away, a group of men with guns stepped into the room in a disorganized pattern. They gasped at the sight of the corpses of the priestesses lying there, their heads and bodies split in two, and the blood-stained floor.
Then a man who seemed to be the captain yelled. "Back off, priestesses! You'll be our eyes!"
The White Knight slowly stepped forward and seized one of the priestesses… by the head, who was sitting up and quivering. He lifted the screeching priestess, who was flailing her legs, lightly using her head as a fulcrum.
"Save me… save me…!"
There was a simple sound, like an apple being crushed. The girl whose skull had been destroyed in a heap was tossed aside, jerking and twitching. Then, after a heartbeat as if trying to flee, several of the maidens collapsed, blood splattering from their necks just as before. Small heads rolled around like balls.
A screech resounded through the hellish, bloody devastation of the auditorium. The White Knight, his white armor stained red with blood, swept away the spinal fluid gray matter from his hands. He then held his double-bladed long sword in the middle position and lowered his back. He then positioned his double-edged long sword in his midsection and lowered his hips.
The "shadow" at his feet rustled. It was merely a shadow, but it began to spread around him, changing shape like an amoeba.
"Fire! Fire!"
The men drew the triggers of their guns while protecting the priestesses who were evacuating as they tumbled. All those bullets were sucked into the White Knight's armor and disappeared right before they struck it. However, if one were to examine it closely, a shadow was moving to cover the "shadow" that the bullets were hitting.
"Sacrifice yourself to my Dáinsleif."
He uttered this in a low voice and swung the long sword he wielded in his midsection to the side. In an instant, the sword, which should have been only as long as his height, grew to more than ten times its length. A portion of the men, as well as the priestesses who had taken refuge there, were ripped from their torso and blasted away, slamming into the wall.
"What the…!"
"Get back! Get back!"
Blood sprayed all around them like a fountain. The surviving men and priestesses begin to retreat, their voices rising like a wail.
The White Knight swung his lengthened sword and it returned to its original length in the blink of an eye. He scanned his surroundings and was about to say something… when he caught sight of the entrance to the auditorium. His eyes met Iberis', who maneuvered the wheelchair by herself, glaring at him with icy gazes.
"…"
With a slight tilt of his head, the White Knight let out a small laugh.
"Are you Alice…?"
He asked, and Iberis stood up on fluctuating legs, stomping on the pool of blood while she said.
"Yes, I am. I'm Alice. Though I'm not sure that's something the stupid Nightmare would have been willing to remember."
The White Knight regarded the Bandersnatch on Iberis' leg, then settled his sword lower on his hips.
"Was it you? The one who slaughtered my ally, the Hatter."
"…"
Iberis listened in silence and thumped her foot on the ground.
"If you have something to ask me, come at me. If you could hurt me, I'd be glad to enlighten you."
"Interesting."
The White Knight remained in his stance and slowly took a step forward. He stomped on the priestess' head in the direction of his movement, kicked her body aside, and his sluggish body suddenly sped towards Iberis like a train, with terrific momentum. Iberis saw it coming and kicked the ground with her fluctuating legs. Her petite body levitated softly in the air, spinning like an acrobat and leaping over the incoming White Knight.
"Die… Nightmare!" Iberis shouted in the air and swept her right leg wide. A screeching metallic sound echoed, and her legs instantly lengthened.
And the moment that she thought that she was going to penetrate the White Knight's armor… precisely through his neck, the White Knight turned around with a reaction speed beyond human nature and unceremoniously reached out and caught Iberis' Bandersnatch. He then swung the Bandersnatch around Iberis' body and hurled her over the wall on the other side of the auditorium. Iberis was flung with tremendous speed and collided with the wall, resulting in a booming sound and a cloud of dust.