It was an overwhelming mass of "abomination" that none could resist. A tremendous amount of "something" emitted screams and instantly spread out in a fan-like pattern over a kilometer in front of them, causing everything to cave in.
Shattering, trampling, and twisting buildings, underground tunnels, and the power cables beneath them, Alice and Iberis' Bandersnatch "crushed" and shattered everything in its path.
Right before their eyes, the ground was gouged to a depth of over five meters, forming a huge crater. Before all the people who were too stunned to speak, the Jabberwock rushed up the crater and leaped out. The Jabberwock's crushed body seemed to have recovered instantly yet the Bandersnatch he was clad in was gone.
"Jack," Alice said briefly, and Jack, with a yell, brandished his Dáinsleif and aimed it at the Jabberwock that had sprung at him.
The massive sword pierced through the Nightmare's torso and went directly into the rubble at its side as if it were an animal specimen. Alice did not bother to inspect the Jabberwock there, but rather swiftly launched herself upon the ground.
She then ran towards the cratered ground a short distance away, where something had fallen with a thud. The power of the Bandersnatch had strengthened her muscles; the speed of the lunge was astounding.
From the empty space fell the Mock Turtle, whose body was crushed to a pulp, and Stelcis, who shook her with tears.
The area was too expansive and too high-density. They were unable to prevent Alice and the others from launching an attack that was far beyond their expectations. Although Stelcis seemed to be recovering, the Mock Turtle didn't seem to have time to heal herself.
She reached out a trembling, shattered hand to Stelcis. Then she uttered a hoarse cry.
"Stel… safe…?"
"Mock…! Hurry, quickly heal your injuries!"
"I.. am… sorry, I can't… go 'over there' anymore…"
Mock Turtle was smiling with a bloodstained face and shoved Stelcis with all her might.
Again, a huge explosion sounded; debris fragments, dust and smoke. Then, a plume of smoke billowed out as if it had exploded.
Stelcis, who had been pushed and tumbled on the ground, caught a glimpse of a dark, swirling mass of evil "something" impaled on the spot where she had been. There was no sign of the Mock Turtle.
That girl was.
She was underneath it.
It took Stelcis a few seconds to realize this fact.
I understand.
I understand it.
But her brain refused to accept it.
She swept her twisted Bandersnatch down on the Mock Turtle like a mallet, crushing her as if she were an insect. Alice swung her arms wide and stepped forth.
–What the hell?
–What is happening…?
With Stelcis slumped in a daze, Alice stopped in front of a mangled, "I don't understand what is happening" object before her eyes. She then seized a bloodied palm-sized ball of… "Mock Turtle core" and shoved it into her clothing pocket.
There, at last, Stelcis came back to her senses. What was dominating her mind and her heart was wrath.
Abhorrence.
Suffering.
All the despair she could handle, she let out with a scream, and fired her Bandersnatch at "Alice".
–Gryphon.
That was her real name.
She can take over other people's Sevens and evolve them, turning them harder and faster than normal. The Bandersnatch, sharper and swifter than usual, rushed at Alice with lightning speed that was unstoppable. Alice grinned with an eerie smile as a pale flame erupted from her right eye.
A hemispherical Bandersnatch membrane materialized in front of her eyes, blocking all attacks. The screeching cry resounded and the area was intermittently met with sparks, roars, and bursts of ripping air.
Stelcis' attack was full force; the evolved Bandersnatch was supposed to surpass and excel any and all Bandersnatch attacks.
Like a machine gun, the Bandersnatch struck Alice's Bandersnatch, sending cracks through the membrane. The next moment, however, her face tightened as if it had been frozen.
As if unconcerned with Stelcis' onslaught, Alice was watching her with her remaining "hollow" left eye. There was nothing there anymore. Not even light. Yes, it was a mass of despair. An overwhelming, horrendous "emptiness"…
It swirled in the depths of Alice's hollow eyes. She stretched her right hand straight out to Stelcis in front of the Bandersnatch shield that was about to be breached.
"Die."
Through the booming noise, Stelcis' ears distinctly picked up the 'voice'.
It was sonic speed.
The moment she thought she heard the voice, Alice's Bandersnatch was released in a whirlwind, shattering Stelcis's Bandersnatch. It was far beyond the speed of visibility, and almost instinctively, Stelcis reacted by ripping her right arm from her shoulder and sending it flying.
The Nightmare, in the form of a small girl, was blasted away with a conical motion, slammed into the crater, and tumbled around.
It was no such thing as an impact. A wave of air at the speed of sound exploded, destroying both of Stelcis' eardrums, as well as her semicircular canals. She couldn't even make out what was happening with one of her eyes. Her eyeballs were ruptured. Blood gushed into her mouth, probably from broken ribs lodged in her lungs.
Without any emotion, she rolled on the ground and vomited blood all over the place. The pain rendered her unable to comprehend anything.
She lacked the ability to regenerate to some extent that the Original Nightmare possessed. As she clawed at the ground with her fingers and struggled to rise to her feet, her eyes caught sight of Alice standing in front of her.