Right now, the scene in front of the Wolves Den court clearing 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 a suitable number of them, there still seemed to be 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 here without running into Code or Havoc, who went on a jog not too long ago? Even this close to the Valley Kingdom walls, the other Guilds would have noticed, but nothing was done…
Regardless of the fact, the three maids of Arabella Housekeeping were holding the fort down. 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."
Milo's head faced slightly back, cigarette still in her mouth.
They did all this… for me… No… I'm sure they also have their own reasons, but… Here I am, a member of the Black Wolves, and I'm still helpless… I can't just sit back and watch… But what can I do? I'll only get in the way…
Alice's thoughts scattered as she contemplated what to do. Meanwhile, Kiki shouted to the Nightbanes, "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 their steps backward after Drakthor had been shot upward; some were even looking up at the sky, and they smirked as they faced back to the maids, baring wicked smiles in their direction. It was like they knew something they didn't, as they began 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 looked up, her dark green eyes widened in shock as she witnessed something in the sky…
"Kiki!—" she shouted as the cigarette jumped out from her mouth.
When Kiki looked up, she gasped and took a step back, "No!"
Ulrich followed sight, "I thought we beat him?"
When all their eyes met him, Drakthor was like a black armored dragon in the sky raging back down. He sounded like a falling meteor as he roared down through the air.
Right then, the Nightbanes advanced as well—flanking them from below on all sides.
They began fighting them off as Drakthor neared, opening a part of his black armor where his head was. With the way it opened up, it resembled that of 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."
A purple aura began to charge from the mouth-looking part he opened. As it continued to condense, it became a dark purple orb overhead. When the three of them looked up, the Nightbanes scattered away once again.
"Their flank was a distraction!" Milo said. Then from above…
"Dragonscale magic: Hellfire's Beam!"
When Drakthor unleashed his attack, the purple beam shot out over all three of the maids, blasting them along with the ground they stood on.
It cratered the ground even more than it already had been, causing a shockwave that blew wide range gusts all around. Alice shrieked as she covered her eyes, and the winds forced their way to her and inside the Den. The blast lasted about ten seconds.
Alice shouted to the three maids who were caught in it, "KIKI! MILO! ULRICH!"
When the smoke subsided, Ulrich was back to his human form, Milo was on her side with her hair covering parts of her face, and Kiki was face flat on the ruined ground.
Drakthor had defeated Arabella Housekeeping in one fell swoop, leaving them out cold from the aftermath.
"No… No, no, no! Kiki, Milo, Ulrich! Get up! Get up!" Alice wailed. But to no avail.
Drakthor then hovered over them with black armored wings flapping as he observed the three unconscious maids. "It was a valiant effort, but alas, you fall short."
Focusing his attention on Kiki now, who was the only one of the three that was barely hanging on, he said, "This 'strength' still not good enough for you, little maid?"
She staggered as she raised 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. But 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 snickered and all his men chortled sickeningly at his words. Each thinking about what they would do to both Kiki and Milo…
"And the fat one can be dinner to the beasts!" His uncomfortably large voice echoed in haunting laughter as they mocked the three maids lying there.
Alice was horrified, hiding behind a wrecked wall. She teared up as she overheard the Nightbane's depravity. If she didn't do anything, they would—
"Oh, hello, Miss Alice… So, this is where you're hiding?" Drakthor mocked; his deep, chilling voice etching itself into her ears and his large face hovered just over her, to the side of the pieced wall she leaned up against. She trembled uncontrollably as she turned with a look of horror on her face. 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.
At this time, Alice was filled 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 to the maids, and 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 began to pick herself up and run back toward an opening by the dusted sweeping staircase full of debris. Drakthor did nothing except watch her as he slowly turned his head in a drawn-out manner. His eyes followed her like a predator playing with its prey.
"You can't run, Alice. No matter where you go, you can't— wait…" He stopped himself, realizing she was heading for a door… "Oh no, you don't. You're not going anywhere."
He raised a large hand, and black armor protruded from him, extending to the door that Alice was heading for. When she had finally made it, the black armor had beaten her there, spreading out like spiked wings in her way.
"Damn it!" She said. To her right, there was another door, and she ran to that too, but the black armor, like a wave, made it there first, once again. She found another door, but again the result was the same—her efforts were futile.
"I told you, you're not going anywhere…" Drakthor's armor had blocked every possible door for Alice to go through. The only way out now was the open entrance Drakthor occupied.
Alice's body continued to shudder as she frantically assessed her situation. Nowhere to go. Nowhere to run. But her thoughts went back to yesterday. She was, ironically, standing in the same spot where she had been training with Code just the morning before.
***
**Yesterday**
"Again."
Code said from outside the double door entrance as Alice failed for probably the fifth time in a row from the inside of the Den entrance hall.
When she raised her hands, the walls and room started to distort in a wavy-like fashion—changing colors all the while. She held it for longer this time, but…
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?" Code asked sternly.
"N-no… I just think of the place, and when the door opens, we're in the Pink Room. After that, it's relatively easy to use my magic in there." Alice responded, thinking that's what Code wanted to hear.
"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."
"Bullshit. You can, you just don't want to." Code replied, still stern, unapologetic.
"H-how would you know? Our abilities are different," she said back to him 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 now from the double door entrance. When his foot made contact with the carpet, a white pentagram formed under his foot and just above the floor, expanding outward, right 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.
Right then, Alice faced the double doors looking out, and Code faced the entrance stairs as they stood back to back yards away from each other.
"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 activate 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 in 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 in the air, hovering her from one short distance to the other, "Tell me. Where else does mana come from?"
Alice answered, "From the caster."
"Correct. So, if mana comes from the caster, doesn't that mean that anyone can create mana fields at will?"
"Yes?—" she was unsure of her answer.
"No." Code corrected.
Confused, Alice raised an eyebrow, trying to understand. She still floated comfortably in the air with her arms crossed.
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 into 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 into this space?" Alice asked. "It feels impossible."
"If it was impossible, you wouldn't have created a distortion. So it is possible," he replied. "You envision first before you cast."
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 envision the Pink Room before I open a door, but this time I just need to envision the space here and now!" Her excitement quickly faded as she realized, "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 now?
"Just envision the room." 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. 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 exact 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."
Alice was amazed at Code's knowledge on the whole topic, but more so on 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?"
"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, am I right?"
Alice nodded.
"Alright, 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 picture it, 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 with the desired amount you need before using it rather than using it multiple times and then fainting because you simply used too 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.
Right now, her enemy wasn't going to wait. Drakthor had closed off all routes for her to enter through any door to enable her to 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 in this moment.
As she stood there, knees scarred and skin dirtied, smudges on her clothes—she dared to close her eyes in this moment. Drakthor was just outside, 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 is 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 onto her. 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 pixie skirt so tight. Her dirtied combat boots caught the dust, piercing through the smoke that hovered over the floors she stood on, "I'm going to do it anyway!"
She said with determination, her baby blue eyes glowing in defiance against Drakthor, her oppressor. 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…
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 shook. That fear she felt had come back and came back with a vengeance. That's what Drakthor saw anyway…
When he stepped a giant black armored foot over the cracked wall and back into the entrance hall, he stood now only feet away from her.
"Now you're mine, Room girl." His large, armored hand reached for her… But just as it made contact, Alice disappeared in a cloud of dust.
"What!?" He said as his hand went right through her.
Then, as he looked around, windows of another world opened in the most random places all over. The walls and the staircase he stood in front of now became wavy. The colors changed, and the open wall behind him was now completely sealed.
"No! How!? There was no door!"
When Alice finally appeared again, it was to his right. He swung at her with a large arm, but it went completely through. Then again, to his left. And then again in front of him. There were now multiple Alice's surrounding him. He fumed and swung his arms around like he was berserk.
The room then took on a different characteristic, shattering its exterior like glass, revealing that all too familiar color, 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 with my magic?"