Assassination Threat? 2

“Oh my, oh my. Why the long face?”

“…”

Taylor’s face crumpled at Fira’s annoyingly relaxed words.

I’m about to burst because I haven’t seen Alice for a week!

From Taylor’s perspective, things seemed to go wrong ever since that woman, Pyon Dunhill, arrived.

It hasn’t been long since they met.

At most, an hour or two in real time.

But in virtual dungeon time, Taylor had already been with that woman for a week.

‘Where did Alice go…!’

At first, Alice told her that she didn’t have to call her “sister,” but Taylor, who wanted a sister she could respect and rely on, soon found it comfortable to call Alice “sister.”

For the past four weeks, Alice had taken care of Taylor to an extent that couldn’t be compared to that scoundrel Dehite. She even paved the way for Taylor, who had no friends, to mingle with the mainstream of the class.

On the outside, she always seemed easygoing, so honestly, she felt more like a reliable older brother than a sister, but her appearance was so doll-like that even Taylor, as a woman, was captivated.

Anyway, Taylor was quite looking forward to the virtual dungeon with Alice.

The liberal arts class only takes place for three hours in reality, but in the virtual dungeon, those three hours are about 24 days.

Taylor’s plan was to stay by Alice’s side during that time, fulfilling the family bond she hadn’t properly felt, and to go through thick and thin with Alice in the dangerous virtual dungeon, watching each other’s backs, but it was ruined from the start.

“Why were you summoned next to me instead of Alice!”

“Oh my, oh my. This girl also has a fragile soul that gets hurt, you know? If you show how much you dislike me, my heart aches…”

“Oh, really? Sorry…”

Fira Dunhill chuckled inwardly, mocking this young girl.

Spending a week together in the virtual dungeon, Pyon teased Taylor, hunted monsters together, and pretended to be weak.

Of course, the experience of a First-Class Overseer didn’t go anywhere, so she subtly induced Taylor into conversations on various topics, obtaining various information, including the ecology and situation of the Arbentaine Family, and Alice’s whereabouts.

From the fact that Alice killed the eldest son of a meritorious family on her first day at the Academy, to the fact that she is now the adopted daughter and successor of the Arbentaine Family, suspected of being the center of that rebellion.

‘I don’t know if our Alice is bold or crazy… I didn’t know she would beat the successor of a meritorious family to death on her first day at the Academy.’

Even Fira thought Alice was a truly unpredictable child, but she didn’t know she would point a knife at the center of the rebellion from the first day of her infiltration mission.

Well, as a result, it’s good that she became the adopted daughter of the Arbentaine Family, which is the center of that rebellion…

‘If this was intentional, our Alice is definitely a genius!’

Of course, Alice is not really a genius.

Alice often showed more of an impulsive and childish boyish side than a meticulous and calm one.

It’s fortunate that the results are always good, but if Fira had been by Alice’s side, she might have screamed, “Are you crazy?” at the behavior of constantly requesting Duel Trials from the first day she came to the Academy.

‘By the way, this little lady is from the Arbentaine Family, a meritorious family, but she’s below standard?’

Here, what Fira meant by “below standard” was not Taylor’s martial abilities, including talent or powers.

The upper class.

Especially if they are from a meritorious family, they are so arrogant that it’s hard to even breathe in the same space, but Taylor felt more like a resident of an ordinary residential area than a lady from a meritorious family.

Fira, except for the administrator, was virtually the strongest and most noble aristocratic lady in the Ark, so she could tell at a glance whether Taylor’s small gestures or speech had the aristocratic air full of elitism.

That’s not to say that Fira doesn’t like Taylor.

In the first place, Fira also hated the Dunhill Family and despised the hypocritical behavior of the upper class.

‘She’s surprisingly fun to tease~’

Fira felt that a week with Taylor was quite fun.

Fira, a First-Class Overseer and Beelzebub herself, was not impatient, and anyway, Alice would show up and reveal her face without any problems.

Rather, Fira found it quite cute that Taylor glared at her with an angry expression, saying, “I’m Alice’s sister, so don’t even think about approaching my sister!”

Alice, rather than Taylor, had more unexpectedly aristocratic aspects.

‘Anyway, nothing serious is going to happen to our Alice.’

With that, Fira adjusted her strength to the level of an Academy student and worked hard in the virtual dungeon with Taylor.

At first, Taylor tried to push Fira away unilaterally, but the difficulty of the virtual dungeon was quite harsh for Academy students. Eventually, Fira saved Taylor, who was being chased by a wave of over 300 monsters, and the two became temporary companions.

They hunted the swarming monsters and made a campsite in a suitable place to live, avoiding the extreme environment.

It was not enough to call them friends, but Taylor must have unconsciously grown fond of Fira as they ate and slept together.

“So, what was that thing about…”

“What are you talking about?”

“Alice… and that responsibility, marriage, and stuff…”

“Ah.”

Come to think of it, she said those words outside.

From Taylor’s point of view, Fira, who suddenly appeared, felt not only annoying but also like she was trying to take away the precious family she had barely made.

“Hehehe~ Isn’t it obvious? Alice is now the adopted daughter of the Arbentaine Family, but in fact, we are promised to be married!”

“Liar.”

“Oh my, it’s true.”

“No, Alice doesn’t like your face.”

-Squeak.

It was clearly just a child’s stubbornness and unfounded nonsense…

But Fira was clearly scratched just now.

What?

This girl is very pretty, you know?

I think I’m pretty too!

It’s small now because of the disguise, but my chest is huge!

My body is maggot-like, but it’s much cleaner and more hygienic than a human made up of billions of symbiotic cells!

I can fix my human appearance forever if I want!

All sorts of words flickered in her mouth, but Fira, who was on an infiltration mission, bit her lip tightly.

She couldn’t blurt out such important information…

“No, what’s wrong with this girl’s appearance that Taylor is saying such harsh things!”

So Fira decided to object to the appearance criticism, which was the only part she could talk about.

“You look like an evil young lady at first glance. Even from afar, you have a roll-bun hairstyle and act like a young lady even though you’re not an aristocrat, do you know how mean you look?”

“Wh, wh, wh… What…!”

“Alice said she likes me. Even when other ladies in the class tried to get along with Alice, Alice said she liked me more than them. So you probably won’t be Alice’s type either.”

“……”

At those words, Fira suddenly felt depressed.

Me.

Do I look that mean…?

“Ah, ah… sob… sob…”

“Oh, oh? Why are you crying?”

“Hic, hic…”

But as soon as Fira really started crying, Taylor’s face immediately fell into a state of panic.

“N, no! No! What I just said was a lie! It’s a joke!”

It seemed that as her body became younger, her mind also became younger.

★

★

★

“Die!”

Gresus Reikingdon shouted bravely, but in fact, his insides were gradually burning.

‘No, it’s been 24 days, why is that woman still okay!?’

Gresus was getting more and more impatient with Alice, who was easily dodging his ice spike barrage.

Why can she dodge my attacks so quickly?

No, how can she even move in the first place?

Is that really the movement of an Academy student?

‘In the first place, she hasn’t eaten or rested for 24 days! It wouldn’t be strange if she collapsed right now!’

The moment Gresus and the other Academy students entered the virtual dungeon, Gresus used the code he had received from the professor in advance to trap Alice inside the virtual dungeon.

Originally, this code was secretly obtained from the Coffee Tree, the anti-rebellion faction of Ruincrest, for the purpose of talking to and interrogating Alice.

However, Gresus deliberately attempted to assassinate Alice, not for the sake of talking to her, but out of a desire to take her place.

He increased the time multiplier much more by adjusting the code.

He intentionally removed supplies, including water and food, from around Alice.

The safety devices of the virtual dungeon were also completely disabled, so Alice would have received the stamina consumption, stress, hunger, and nutritional loss that others did not receive, without any filters.

No matter how talented and outstanding an Awakened is, rest, sleep, and nutrition are essential for a human being. No one would think that Alice’s condition would be normal, since she hadn’t been able to rest properly or even eat for a whopping 24 days.

‘That’s right. I’m supposed to win. It doesn’t make sense if I lose.’

The reason why Gresus shouted “Haha! Die!” like an idiot as soon as he met Alice was not only because he was a young and simple, well-raised young master, but also because he thought he could easily kill Alice, who hadn’t eaten or rested for the past 24 days.

He was confident.

He thought he could kill her with just a touch.

-Fzzzt!

But as the number of ice spikes he fired increased little by little, Gresus began to feel uneasy.

Let’s say the first few shots were luck.

He could understand that Alice was dodging the dozens of shots after that because her basic abilities were outstanding.

But now Gresus was squeezing all of his mana… He was even infinitely increasing his mana with the source code, firing dozens of ice spikes per second at Alice.

And Alice was easily dodging all those ice spikes by a hair’s breadth.

“How can you dodge them!!!”

-Kwaaaang!

The farm of colors was now covered with Gresus’s ice.

Alice, avoiding all the attacks by a hair’s breadth on top of it, leaned against an icicle, leisurely touching her hair.

“Ah, can’t you control the ice you’ve already fired?”

“…”

“There’s no way the ice spikes can be torn into hundreds of pieces and explode, or the coldness of the spikes can be transmitted to me, or anything like that?”

“…Ha.”

Only then did Gresus realize.

He thought the reason Alice wasn’t fighting back was because she had no stamina, and she was tired because she couldn’t eat.

But looking at that face… Seeing that the face of a woman who hadn’t been able to rest or eat for 24 days was too clean and intact, Gresus now realized that Alice had been playing with him.

‘No, I have an attack nullification system using the code. In the end, she’s the one who’s going to give up…’

[Self-Destructive Cold]

-Kwaaaang!!!

At that moment, all the ice spikes around Alice shattered and caused a huge explosion.

The cold air burst out and spread like shrapnel in all directions, and even if there was nothing to freeze, this cold air froze the air and space entirely. The frozen things burst on their own as if committing suicide.

“That’s not how you use ice.”

At the overwhelming sight, Gresus looked at his arm, which he couldn’t feel.

It was pierced.

The safety system.

It was neatly pierced by something called Self-Destructive Cold, and one of his arms was frozen and breaking off on its own.

It was so neatly frozen that he couldn’t even feel the cold or the sensation of his arm breaking off.

He couldn’t even guess why she was still okay even though she hadn’t eaten or rested for 24 days…

‘That’s not a student…!’

What was certain was that this was not a feat possible for an Academy student.

‘I have to run away!’

The Coffee Tree or his father would definitely say something, but right now, he had to escape from the virtual dungeon using the code and flee to his family in reality.

Now that she had seen his face, it was certain that Alice would immediately request a Duel Trial if they met in reality.

“Oh, are you going to run away?”

As soon as the young master, who had been so high-spirited at first, became less talkative, Alice noticed that Gresus was trying to run away.

“Okay, go ahead.”

Alice waved her hand as if to say goodbye.

“What are you doing? Aren’t you going? If you don’t go, I’ll kill you?”

“…Tch, just you wait!”

“Yeah, yeah. Go on, hurry up. If you don’t go, I’ll make you beg me to kill you~”

At that sight, Gresus wondered, what is she up to?

She noticed that I was running away, so why is she just standing there?

Is it because she’s going to kill me anyway if we meet in reality?

‘Now that it’s come to this, I have to go to my family! I have to submit a leave of absence from the Academy and go back right away! No matter how strong that woman is, she won’t be able to break into the Reikingdon Family!’

Of course, he would be scolded for disobeying the Coffee Tree’s order to meet and talk with Alice, but that was not important now.

Gresus immediately activated the code in his hand.

[Code: Emergency Escape]

“…?”

And nothing happened.

Originally, Gresus should have returned to reality with nausea and a distorted space.

But Gresus was still in the farm of colors, with Alice in front of him.

“What are you doing? I’m telling you, if you don’t go, I’ll make you beg me to kill you?”

“…Wh, what!”

Gresus entered the escape code again.

And his body was still in the farm of colors.

No, he felt that his position was slowly changing towards Alice as he activated the code.

“Th, this crazy! Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! Why isn’t it working!?”

He pressed the code 10 times in a row.

He moved 10 meters forward towards Alice.

Now, without having to enhance his eyesight, he could see Alice’s face very well.

“If I were you, I would apologize or do a naked dogeza.”

“…”

“Wasn’t life the most important thing? Oh, as expected of the proud bloodline of a high-ranking aristocrat of Ruincrest!”

Alice clapped her hands and smiled.

Her smiling face was so beautiful.

It was a doll-like appearance that went beyond the category of pretty, to the point where he wondered if he would be charmed, but Gresus began to chatter his teeth in fear.

‘N, no! Safety device! That’s right! I can return to reality even if I die here! I have to, I have to commit suicide right now…’

“Yap.”

-Snap!

And as Alice snapped her fingers again, Gresus felt his senses become more sensitive.

‘No, it’s not that my senses have become more sensitive… The senses in the virtual dungeon, which were dulled by the safety device, have become real senses!’

Senses that were 100 percent synchronized with reality without any safety devices or systems.

“As expected of a proud Ruincrest aristocrat! Then, with respect…”

【Multipurpose driving tendrils. Activate torture mode.】

Numerous mechanical tendrils with surgical electric saws, scalpels, thorns, and tongs popped out from behind Alice.

“Bon appétit~”