The scene in front of the Wolves' Den was Arabella Housekeeping—consisting of Ulrich, Milo, and Kiki—versus a vast horde of mage bandits called the Nightbanes, numbering in the hundreds.
Though Ulrich had taken out an appropriate number of them, there were still more as far as the eye could see. Even past the trees all around the edges of the clearing, there seemed to be more hiding and entering.
Who exactly were these Nightbanes, and how did they sneak in without running into Code or Havoc, who had gone on a jog not too long ago? Even this close to the Valley Kingdom walls, the other Guilds would have noticed—an alarm even—but nothing was done…
Regardless of the fact, the three maids of Arabella Housekeeping were holding down the fort. Behind them, on the other side of the open wall that Drakthor had blown up, Alice had shuffled closer to see.
Just before she stepped outside, Milo said to her, "Stay in there, Miss Alice. Let the maids do the cleaning." Her head was faced slightly back, cigarette in mouth.
They did all this… for me… Alice thought. No… I'm sure they also have their own reasons, but… Here I am, a member of the Black Wolves, and I'm still as helpless as before… I can't just sit back and watch… But what can I do? I'll only get in the way… Her mind scattered, contemplating.
Meanwhile, Kiki shouted to the army, "We will give you one last chance. You can either walk away, or we can mow you down here and now before breakfast like we did your leader. Choose wisely."
The Nightbanes had halted after Drakthor was shot upward; some were even looking up at the sky, and they smirked when they faced back to them, baring wicked smiles. Like they knew something they didn't, ignoring Kiki's warning and beginning to take up arms again.
"Something's off… I know they outnumber us, but it's like they didn't even care that we beat their leader. What are they looking at—"
When Milo faced up, her dark green eyes widened in shock, witnessing something in the sky… "Kiki!" she shouted, cigarette jumping out of her mouth.
When Kiki looked up, she gasped. "No!"
"I thought we won?" Ulrich uttered.
When all their eyes found it, a black armored dragon was raging down toward them; the sound was like a falling meteor roaring through the air.
The Nightbanes advanced upon its—Drakthor's—arrival, flanking the maids from below on all sides.
The Arabella Maids began fighting them off as he neared, opening a part of his black armor from the helm; with the way it opened, it resembled a dragon's mouth. "You really thought that was all it would take to defeat me? You deserve this fate… I will show you what an utter loss looks like, with you at the end of it," he roared.
A purple aura charged from the armored dragon's mouth. It condensed, becoming a void overhead.
The Nightbanes scattered once it neared, with the maids, collected back-to-back.
"It was a distraction!" Milo shouted.
Then from above—
"Dragonscale Magic: Hellfire's Beam!"
Drakthor's attack unleashed, and the purple beam shot out wide, enveloping them—blasting the ground below along with them three.
It cratered immensely, causing a shockwave that blew wide-range gusts. Alice shrieked and covered her eyes as the winds forced their way past her, inside the Den.
She shouted to them, "KIKI! MILO! ULRICH!"
When the blast subsided, Ulrich was back to his human form, Milo was on her side, her hair covering parts of her face, and Kiki was face flat on the ruined ground.
And in one fell swoop, Drakthor had defeated Arabella Housekeeping, leaving them out cold from the aftermath.
"No… No, no, no! Kiki, Milo, Ulrich! Get up! Get up!" Alice wailed.
Drakthor then hovered over them with black armored wings flapping as he observed the unconscious maids. "It was a valiant effort, but alas, you fall short."
Focusing his attention on Kiki now, who was the only one that was barely hanging on, he said, "This 'strength' still not good enough for you, little maid?"
She staggered raising her head, wanting to get a glimpse of Drakthor when he spoke. Her vision went in and out, and she couldn't even hold her head up straight to see him. She uttered words, though only a whisper to herself, "Master… Greed…"
"You are less than worthless if you cannot back your words with your actions. This is what happens when you pick fights you cannot win. Not to worry, though." His dragon-like head turned to face his men. "I will still take you in… My men love a doll." He mocked as all the Nightbanes sniggered at his words. Each thinking about what they would do to both Kiki and Milo specifically…
"And the fat one can be dinner to the beasts!" He chuckled, mocking the three maids lying there.
Alice was horrified, hiding behind a wrecked wall. She teared up as she overheard the Nightbanes' depravity. If she didn't do anything, they would—
"Oh, hello, Miss Alice… Still hiding?" Drakthor said unexpectedly, his deep, chilling voice etching itself into her ears, and his large face hovering just over her from the other side of the wrecked wall.
She trembled uncontrollably as she turned with a look of horror on her face. And he gave her a foreboding, sinister smile in return.
"Miss Alice, Miss Alice… Stay here, Miss Alice! We will take care of it, Miss Alice!" he continued to mock. The laughter of his men rang in her ears.
Alice had begun to fill with a tempest of feelings. Along with fear and hesitancy, there was also a feeling of anger and resentment—anger at what he had done, at what he and his men were planning to do. And resentment at his return. This was not the first time she had escaped from him, and this was exactly the reason she had run away in the first place.
"Come now, Alice, don't make this any harder than it has to be. Your 'bodyguards' can't save you now. Your Guild has left you for dead. No one is coming to save you."
Though she was scared, her body moved instinctively. She picked herself up and ran toward the center, just before the dusted, sweeping staircase full of debris. Drakthor did nothing as he slowly picked up his head to watch her struggle, eyes following her like a monster playing with its food.
"You can't run, Alice. No matter where you go, you can't— wait…" He stopped, realizing she was heading for a door… "Oh no, you don't. You're not going anywhere."
He raised a large hand, protruding his black armor. It extended to the door that Alice was heading for, blocking her path before entry like spiked wings in her way.
"Damn it!" She said. To her right, there was another door; she ran to that too, but once again, the black armor made it first. She found another, but again the result was the same.
"I told you, you're not going anywhere…" Drakthor said, his armor blocking every possible door for her to go through. The only way out now was the open entrance Drakthor occupied.
Alice continued to shudder, frantically assessing her situation. But with nowhere to go. Nowhere to run. Her thoughts went back to yesterday. She was, ironically, standing in the same spot where she had been training with Code the morning before.
***
**Yesterday**
"Again," Code said from outside the double door entrance as Alice failed for probably the fifth time in a row.
When she raised her hands, the walls and room started to distort like a wave in a flutter of colors. She held it for longer this time, but still—the result was the same.
Warp! The room returned to normal, and nothing had changed.
"You're thinking about it too much. Do you normally expend that same effort when you simply walk through a door and activate your magic?" Code asked sternly.
"N-no… When the door opens, we're just in the Pink Room," Alice said.
"I didn't need an explanation. I just need to know if you do or not. So then… If the answer is no, why do you have to try so hard to turn the room you're currently in into the Pink Room?" he asked, bridging another question.
"Because… I just can't. My abilities don't work that way. I'm telling you, my magic only works when a door is present."
"Bullshit. You can, you just don't want to."
"H-how would you know? Our abilities are different," she said back hesitantly. Unlike the others, she couldn't speak to Code with the same tone. Though she respected both him and Greed equally, she couldn't seem to cross that line with Code like she could with Greed.
"That's where you're wrong. When you're in your Pink Room, you can do basically anything in there, right?"
"Y-yes."
"In that case, it's the same—if not better than my ability."
"How so?"
Code stepped inside from the double door entrance. When his foot made contact with the carpet, a white pentagram formed just above the floor, expanding outward, and passing under Alice's feet. When it reached its desired size, it disappeared completely—or rather, it became invisible. Once the pentagram was cast, he snapped his fingers, and he and Alice switched places.
Alice now faced the double doors looking out, and Code faced the entrance stairs as they stood back-to-back, yards apart.
"My ability, much like yours, only works within a certain space. They are both a form of Alternate Space Creation magic. Once I cast this pentagram, I can perform certain alterations to my environment—like what I did just now, switching our places. After that, I can then control it. But this only applies to any moving object or objects that can be moved; it doesn't include the ground or walls. Those I can control at will if they are within my field. That would need a much bigger pentagram backed by an incantation or hand sign."
"Like what you did in the Valley with that giant pentagram and the building that slammed into Syemore?" she asked.
"So, you saw that… Precisely." He turned around to face Alice now. "I was only able to perform such an intense spell because I had previously laid out my pentagrams all over the Kingdom and then activated them all at once at the precise moment. And thanks to the awakening I had, it made it much easier to accomplish." After he said this, he raised a hand, and Alice began to float midair. Unsurprised, she crossed her arms and allowed Code to carry her there with his magic for a moment—turning her to face him.
"The pentagram on the floor, invisible to you now, is also called a mana field. Mana fields exist only in certain areas of the world… Or so I thought. At first, I thought they were an anomaly—a natural occurrence that happens randomly in areas with highly condensed mana that we can simply tap into. But that's not the only way they are harnessed." He waved his hand gently as he proceeded to carry Alice, hovering her from one short distance to the other. "Tell me. Where else does mana come from?"
"From the caster," Alice answered.
"Correct. So, if mana comes from the caster, doesn't that mean that anyone can create mana fields at will?"
"Yes?—" She was unsure.
"No," Code corrected.
Confused, Alice raised an eyebrow, trying to understand. She still floated comfortably in the air with her arms crossed, thinking.
Code continued, "Typically, when one 'casts' mana, it comes out in the form of their magic ability. It's the same as a gun infused with mana; mana goes in, a mana bullet comes out. But let's say you put mana onto the gun, as opposed to into it, and instead of it shooting, it disassembles instead, and you can now do what you want with all the pieces without the mana being dispelled. This is our magic. This is Alternate Space Creation. And this is how we use it as opposed to mages who can just cast spells at will."
Alice was starting to piece it together, but she still didn't understand the overall picture. She remained as she was and continued to listen.
"When you open a door, and your Room magic activates, you are casting your magic—infusing mana into the space where your Pink Room appears on the other side. What you need to do is infuse your mana onto the space you are in at this moment."
"Okay… But that's easier said than done. You saw me struggle like five times already. How exactly can I infuse my mana onto this space?" Alice asked. "It feels impossible."
"If it was impossible, you wouldn't have created a distortion. So it is possible," he replied. "Let me ask you again. Do you normally expend that much effort when you cast your magic?"
When Code said this, it clicked for her. Uncrossing her arms and putting one fist into her palm, she said, "Oh! I get it. It's the same process I use when I open a door, but this time I just need to envision the space here and now!" Her excitement quickly faded as she realized something obvious. "Ugh… I feel like that's what I've been trying to do this whole time, though. I'm back at square one…"
"Understanding how your ability works is the first step to unlocking its true potential."
"Yeah, well, what am I supposed to do knowing that? How can I apply it?"
Code closed his eyes and released her from her suspension, letting Alice free as she gracefully landed on her feet. "When a normal mage casts magic, they don't envision it before they cast. They execute, then see it happen. With mages like you and me, we first have to see the end result, then execute backward. It's the opposite. When I cast my mana field, I think of every detail first, and then when I cast, it comes out in the form of a pentagram. Basically, you have to think and execute at the same moment. Just as they don't have to think when they cast a spell, we don't think when we envision. This is called an 'opposite spell cast'. That's what creating mana fields is, and that's how you bring it to you rather than you going to it. When you enter your Pink Room through a door, what you see next is the specific space you entered from, correct? Well, what space are you in when you bring the room here?"
Alice was amazed at Code's knowledge on the whole topic, but more so at how he was able to recall every detail of his pentagram before summoning it.
"Wait, so did you memorize every detail of your pentagram in order for you to cast? Is that what you mean by 'envision?'"
"Yes."
"Then why can't I just summon my Pink Room when I was trying earlier? I know that room inside and out!"
"Sure, you do. Like what part of the room you're entering from when you go through a door." Not a question.
Alice nodded.
"All right, well, I'm not asking you to enter. I am asking you to spawn."
Alice finally got it, but the words that followed didn't exactly say she did. "I-I think I understand…"
"Well then, if you can't confidently say you can do it after understanding, we're done for the day… Study the image of your Pink Room first, designate a spot—usually the middle—and then try this again once you know it by heart."
"I-I can keep trying! We don't have to call it!"
"No, if your magic is anything like mine, it uses up a lot of mana… The drawback with opposite spell casting is that when you envision your mana field, you are also envisioning how much mana you will be using. It's predetermined. That's why calculating how much to use beforehand is crucial. If you are constantly having to recreate your mana field each time, and you're not careful, you'll dry up. Almost like when you don't know how much you drank until you stand…"
"I'm underage… I wouldn't know."
Code glanced at her and then scratched his head. "Oh yeah… right… Forget it then. Anyway, it's better to cast once, and with the desired amount you need rather than using it multiple times and then fainting because you've simply run out much mana. You already tried about five times. The lack of execution is what's letting you try again, but if you keep trying and failing as a result, it's the same as using up mana after one successful execution. Think first before executing, but think fast. The enemy isn't going to wait for you to figure out what your Pink Room looks like," Code said lastly before walking up the stairs and waving a hand to Alice.
She looked at her hands and thought to herself. Of course, she knew what it looked like, but only where she would end up. She had to think of it like Code thought of his mana field—as a whole.
***
**Present**
Think first before executing, but think fast…
That was only yesterday, but all she thought of were those last words.
Her enemy wasn't going to wait. Drakthor had closed off all routes for her to enter through any door, so she couldn't use her magic. Now… Now was the perfect time to use the skill Code was teaching her—a skill she didn't even know she could perform… But Code said she could, and that's all her faith was riding on right now.
She stood there, knees scarred and skin dirtied, smudges on her clothes—she dared to close her eyes then. Even with Drakthor just outside, and his large frame shadowing over her with the rising sun's rays etching from his silhouette.
She was more than afraid, but now wasn't the time to run. No one was coming to save her, and even if they were, she couldn't just sit and wait for them to come. How many more times was she going to play the role of the damsel in distress—waiting for her knight? No… Right now, she had to be her own knight.
Drakthor's malicious smile reverberated its own ominous aura. She felt it through her goosebumps, as if it were tearing at her skin. Fear and doubt combined to form a new monster in her head, but this one was one she felt she could overcome.
You scare me, but…
She raised a petite leg as if to step forward, her hands gripping her skirt so tight. Her dirty combat boots caught the dust, piercing the smoke that hovered over the floors she stood on, and then scattered it away as it neared the ground. "I'm going to do it anyway!" she said with determination, her baby blue eyes glowing in defiance. Attempting an opposite spell cast, the way Code taught her, she took that literal step of faith…
Tap… The only sound as her boot touched the floor.
Drakthor watched as if waiting for something to happen. Seconds passed. And still nothing…
And then he laughed murderously. "You scared me for a moment there, Alice, girl… I thought for a second you were going to try something. Guess it was all for show."
Alice's face flustered; her eyes twitched, and her body trembled. That fear she felt had come back and came back with a vengeance. That's what Drakthor saw anyway…
When he stepped his large armored foot over the cracked wall, he stood only feet away from her.
"Now you're mine, Room girl." His large hand reached for her.
But just as it made it, Alice disappeared in a cloud of dust.
"What!?" He uttered, hand passing through her.
He looked around, and windows of another world opened in random places from all over. The walls and the staircase now became wavy. Colors changed from their original hue, and the open wall behind him was now completely sealed with another color…
"No! How!? There was no door!"
When Alice appeared again, it was to his right. He swung at her, but it went completely through. Then again, to his left. And then again in front of him. There were now multiple Alices surrounding him. He fumed, swinging his arms in a rage.
The room then took on a different characteristic, shattering its exterior like glass, revealing that all-too-familiar color fully, which was this place's name…
"Well, Drakthor, to be honest, I didn't know if I could do it. But now that I have you here, what better way for you to go out than in this place?"