Alice could not help but notice the beautiful night sky. There were more pressing matters but that was the first thing that caught her eye.
"Hey, Diane, wanna go star gazing sometime?" Alice asked and Daine looked at her weirdly.
"Now is not the time to be exhibiting your weirdness." She said, and Alice laughed.
"I guess so. From the look of things, that guy is here to kill us." She said.
The red-haired guy threw the roof aside, shaking the ground on its impact, and then, he jumped into the room.
"They said it's you, the girl who cleared the dungeon that was SSS grade." He said, and both girls exchanged glances. What was this lunatic talking about?
"Hey, I understand you're here to kill us and all but can you at least let us spend the money we got our hands on? I don't think my soul will rest in peace if I die without spending it." Alice said and Diane shook her head.
This girl really didn't know when to tone down her weirdness.
The crazy red-haired guy looked at her weirdly.
"I don't see it." He said and marched towards them. "How could you have pulled that off with this puny body?"
Alice gulped, feeling a bit anxious but compared to how Diane was taking it, she looked pretty fine.
The pressure from the red-haired was so great that Diane could no longer move her lips to speak. It was terrifying. Her legs went weak with fear and she crumbled to her knees.
But Alice wasn't feeling that terrifying aura. All she saw was a crazy lunatic who was there to kill her, and facing a strong opponent like that, she wasn't confident she was going to survive.
Yet, she couldn't go down without a fight.
"Hey, wanna talk this over?" She asked and Diane managed to roll her eyes in her direction, wondering how she was still doing okay with a terrifying aura like that approaching them.
"I still don't see it." The red-haired said and stood in front of Alice.
'Dammit, who sent him? I'm pretty sure I haven't done anything to the 'big bads'. So who sent this guy to come kill me?' Alice thought, gritting her teeth. 'His aura isn't that intimidating so maybe he's an A-class or B? I can't tell. It's not showing.'
She glanced down at Diane who was still shaking.
'Ah, what's wrong with Diane now? I can't believe she can't handle this. Or is she just scared that the Grim Reaper's at our doorstep? Well, it's about time.' she glazed her eyes away from Diane and then to the scary man in front of her.
He wasn't glaring and there was no anger in his eyes. Rather... She could say he was amused, staring down at her weak little self while he stood mighty before her.
"Hahahaha!" He suddenly started laughing. "It seems you're not as weak as you look." He said. "Even with the amount of aura I'm releasing, you're still able to stand before me unscathed. It's hard to find a puny thing like you handle an S-class Awakened's aura."
'What? Did he say S-class?' her eyes widened. 'Is he messing with me? I haven't met any S-class Awakened before but I should at least be able to tell if I meet one.'
"But it ends here." He suddenly grabbed her neck. "I don't know the sort of tricks you played but you're going to tell me how you did it before I snap your neck."
Alice grunted, grabbing his hand.
'Is he planning to choke me to death?' she thought, her hands clenching hard on his.
"Hm?" He looked at his hand. Her fingers were digging deep and he could actually feel it to his bones. "So, you're an awakened after all." He said and tightened his grip around her neck, intending to crush her neck. "Your tricks aren't going to work on me." He said. "I'll break your neck right here and right now and prove that you used tricks to clear that dungeon."
"What are... You... kegh! ...talking about?" Alice struggled.
She could feel her breath leaving her lungs, getting suffocated like that.
At that point, her neck should've snapped but she had no idea the amount of strength this crazy guy was using on her and thought he was just trying to suffocate her.
Then, in the chaos, Diane got up, snatched Alice's money from her pocket, and made a run for it.
"Oh, look at her go." The crazy guy said, but Alice didn't take it lightly. She was furious.
That money was the only legit money she had made in a while, even if it did involve stealing a bunch of weapons she found lying on the ground.
She intended to spend it on chicken and maybe visit a PC room. No, she would just spend it all on chicken.
She wanted to spend her own money for once and that thought pumped her up.
She didn't think she would succeed, seeing she was up against an awakened but she decided to give it her best shot. If she was going to die in the end, she could as well die trying.
While he was distracted staring at the fleeing Diane, Alice grabbed the hand around her neck and swung her body with all she had, giving a full leg sweep across his face.
Shockingly, it worked. She sent him flying across the room and into the wall, breaking it in the process and causing the very foundation of the building to shake.
She was shocked. But she had no time to dwell on her shock at the power she manifested and instead focused on getting her money back from that thief.
This was why she didn't trust anyone.
Diane ran with the money.
'She's going to die anyway. I'll just help myself to the money she can't spend. I'll make sure to buy incense and burn them for you once you're dead, Alice.' she thought as she ran but out of nowhere, a heavy wind blew past her and the person she saw in front of her was no one other than Alice, glaring dangerously at her as she breathed heavily.
She had this look like she was about to make a kill.
"Well done, Diane." She said and stretched out her hand. "Now, hand it over while I'm still asking nicely."