"What is it that you want?" I demanded, my voice sharp with suspicion.
"The poison, this setup. They're all targeting the brat's body," I continued, my frustration evident.
The brat, seemingly ordinary, held a secret that made him valuable to these people. But I, with my Alice, was the true prize.
"First of all, allow me to introduce myself," the man muttered, suddenly gesturing and bowing elegantly as if he belonged to nobility.
"You may call me Charles—"
My annoyance boiled over, prompting me to hurl a handful of dead rose petals at him. The petals scattered in the air like a dark omen, and I could hear him groan in annoyance, though his grin remained firmly in place.
"Quite uncouth, aren't we?" he remarked, rising to his feet with determination.
"You tell me about it," I responded with a scoff, placing my hand instinctively above level beneath my chest to retrieve a portion of my Alice, a symbol of my power and defiance.
"Ahem," he cleared his throat, continuing. "We're here to take you to our facility. Just you, without your companion," he muttered.
"Can you hear me?" The sudden voice in my mind startled me. Lucian. He was reaching out to me. "They... they are holding the missing students. Can you help them?"
Help them? My mind reeled. Here I was, struggling against the poison coursing through my veins, and Lucian wanted me to prioritize others? Was he thinking straight?
"So, what do you say?" Charles interrupted my thoughts, his voice dripping with a mix of urgency and arrogance. I couldn't help but laugh in response.
"Hahahaha!" I chuckled, feeling a surge of defiance rising within me. Both this brat and Charles thought they could control me? They were sorely mistaken.
"Oh, why are you laughing? Did you find my words funny?" Charles inquired, his tone laced with irritation.
My hand instinctively rose to cover my face, my mind ablaze with frustration and defiance. "Hahaha. Amusing," I managed to choke out between fits of laughter. But there was something strange happening to me—I couldn't stop. It was like something inside me was fueling my thoughts, driving me to the brink of madness.
"Amusing?" Charles repeated, confusion evident in his voice.
The laughter continued, uncontrollable and manic. My eyes began to glimmer with an eerie red light, a sign of the destructive aura of my Alice that was starting to emanate from within me.
"Boss, the meter is detecting a destructive aura of Alice coming from that guy," I heard someone mutter, their words barely registering in my frenzied state.
Fear. They should fear me. Why would I ever comply with their demands? I was powerful, capable of obliterating anyone who dared to stand in my way.
"Make a distance. He... he seems to be berserking," Charles ordered his men, panic lacing his voice. But before they could even take a single step away, I locked eyes with them, and with a thought, vines of thorns erupted from the ground, piercing each of their bodies.
One collapsed with a thud, his head severed clean, while another writhed in agony, limbs torn asunder.
I couldn't help but laugh, the sound echoing off the walls as I realized there was no escaping this. Something was wrong with this body, something beyond my control.
"HAHAHAH!" My laughter reverberated through the room, a stark contrast to the fear that gripped Charles. His eyes widened in terror, his body trembling uncontrollably.
"What's wrong? Did your bravado suddenly desert you?" I taunted, relishing in his visible fear, his shallow, erratic breaths betraying his panic.
A surge of power coursed through me as I slowly approached him, my very presence causing the dead rose petals to swirl around me in a macabre dance.
He curled up like a frightened child, a stark contrast to the arrogant demeanor he had displayed moments ago.
"What's wrong, rat? This not what you expected? All of your men are either in heaven or in a fate worse than hell," I jeered, my voice dripping with contempt.
This was my moment to assert dominance, to show him the true extent of my power.
"This world is full of people like you, I'm just doing a favor for the world itself," I declared, lifting Charles' chin with a firm grip, forcing him to meet my gaze. "Now let's see what I can actually do to you."
"Ah. I know. Have you heard of a person who turned into a nightshade?" I continued, a wicked gleam in my eyes.
"W...what are you?! Like I'm gonna lose to something like you!"
Charles retorted, his voice laced with defiance. But I hadn't expected him to retain such a strong will to fight back. In a desperate attempt, he pulled out a syringe filled with a strange liquid, aiming it towards me. However, before he could make a move, I unleashed my power, and vines swiftly snaked out, slicing through his arms with a sickening crunch.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Charles screamed hysterically, tears streaming down his face as he cradled his injured arms. "It's hurt, it's painful! My arm, my arm!" he cried out in agony.
The syringe rolled to my feet, and a curious impulse took hold of me. With a sinister grin, I picked it up, inspecting the contents with morbid fascination. "Why do you possess such a thing?" I mused aloud, before abruptly plunging the needle into Charles' neck with a forceful jab.
"AAHHH!!" he screamed once more, his cries echoing through the room as the strange liquid coursed through his veins, its effects unknown but undoubtedly agonizing.
"Now, let's see what that liquid can actually do." I waited for a couple of minutes as his skin began to crack, and a lava-like substance flowed beneath the surface.
"AHHH!" He screamed in agony, tears streaming down his face as the sensation overwhelmed him. I smirked, observing his suffering with a sense of satisfaction.
"Is that all? Everyone here is weak and unworthy of my attention." I glanced back at the crystalline petal, a glimmer of anticipation in my eyes. "Now, with you under my protection, Ms. Rabbit, I can finally end you."
My grin widened as I summoned my Alice, forming thorns and vines into a deadly weapon. "Off with your head—"
But before I could strike, a voice interrupted me.
"Cerberus. I command thee, cease thy existence!"
"What the..." My body began to glow with a crimson light. "Wait! I'm not done yet! Not until I've killed her!"
And then, everything went black. I blacked out.