Chapter 36: A Season of Despair and Helplessness

Chapter 36: A Season of Despair and Helplessness

"The trigger word for this talisman is the ancient Hermes word 'light'," Klein said, extending a hand from behind Leonard to hand Alice a talisman. "When we rush out later, throw this talisman at Megose and the child in her belly..."

"What about the Captain?" Alice suddenly interrupted Klein.

"The Captain told me that as a Night Watcher, you must not only believe in yourself but also in your teammates," Leonard answered her. Alice looked at Leonard, who had already put away his usual nonchalance and was now unusually serious and solemn.

"...Alright." Alice agreed, closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and then indicated that she was ready.

They walked out together. Leonard wrapped an extraordinary item that Alice did not recognize around his hand, spreading his fingers. Klein held a metal thin piece similar to Alice's in his hand.

Dunn noticed their appearance and seemed to understand something. As the three launched their attack, Dunn agilely rolled behind a chair to avoid their direct assault and then retreated to their side after the commotion.

Alice stared blankly as sunlight pierced through the ceiling, merging with the golden thin piece to form a glowing sphere that expanded.

With a loud "boom," Alice felt the house shake. She could hear the glass groaning under the strain, but she kept her eyes fixed on the dazzling, flame-encircled center of the light sphere until tears streamed down her face.

As the light gradually faded, Alice saw the soaring flames and the black ashes drifting in the middle of the fire. Everything seemed to have vanished in the intense light just now.

However, Alice knew that this was not the case—the long-suppressed agitation turned into fear, which seemed to find an outlet at this moment. Reminded by a strong sense of crisis, Alice instinctively rolled to the right without thinking. A sharp white bone knife, as long as an arm, struck heavily where Alice had been standing, leaving a deep mark on the ground.

No further reminders were needed; everyone noticed the figure at the end of the white bone knife—that was Megose, who should have turned to ashes.

Her clothes had not survived the explosion, her skin was charred and peeling, and her head had turned into a ball wrapped in a layer of charred skin, with flames flickering in her eye sockets.

Her left arm had transformed into the handle of the white bone knife, eerie yet sacred.

In the still-shaking room, Megose raised the bone knife again, this time targeting Klein.

"Submit!" Leonard shouted in a voice filled with strong blasphemy, a power he had just stolen from Megose.

Unsurprisingly, Megose was controlled by her own power. She bent slightly, her legs trembling, giving Klein the chance to dodge the knife.

But—it was meaningless.

They all realized that they lacked the means to deal with the child in Megose's belly, and once the child was born, they would be doomed.

Megose wouldn't even allow them the struggle before death.

Megose's head suddenly exploded, blood and brain matter mixed with charred skin splattering everywhere, freeing her body from control.

Immediately, Megose's body turned into a cannonball, crashing into Leonard, who was momentarily stunned by the blasphemous words. Dunn, who was nearby, tried to intervene—they shared the impact, were thrown against the wall, and passed out with blood spilling from their mouths.

"Wah!"

In the silence, the cry of a baby suddenly came from Megose's belly.

Alice and Klein, still conscious, felt dizzy, their tracheas constricting, making it hard to breathe.

A blood-red shadow appeared before Alice's eyes, and she felt warm, sticky sensations on her ears, face, and under her nose, knowing it was blood from burst vessels.

In the semi-transparent red shadow, Alice saw Megose's headless body stand up, turn around, and walk towards them step by step.

Megose's knife slashed at Klein, and this time, with no one to help or protect him, Klein's clothes were torn, and his body was nearly split in half.

Ignoring Alice's futile interference, Megose swung the knife down on the temporarily incapacitated Klein, splitting him in two.

Then, Megose turned her headless body towards Alice.

Am I... going to die? Alice thought despairingly as Megose approached her.

"Clatter—"

Alice's mind buzzed, and she suddenly heard a sound as if from a great distance. Before she could identify it, she saw Megose lunging at her.

—Then, bizarrely, she tripped and fell.

Even more bizarrely, as she fell, the bone knife that was her left arm slashed across her waist, cutting herself and the child in her belly in half.

...For the second time.

Alice stood stiffly, watching the motionless Megose on the ground—this scene was so familiar.

The last person to die like this was a "lucky one."

"Clap, clap, clap." Slow applause sounded. Alice stiffly turned her head to see a figure in a trench coat clapping as he walked in.

Alice recognized the face—it was Ince Zangwill, who had escaped with 0-08.

Alice finally understood that he was the mastermind behind everything, the source of all coincidences.

Is this the power of 0-08? Creating coincidences?

"This is not the luck a lucky one should have—but how long can your luck last?"

Ince Zangwill's voice and attack came simultaneously. Facing him, Alice realized her powerlessness for the first time.

Ince Zangwill didn't even need to summon the dead to attack her. As an extraordinary being lacking direct combat abilities, she was utterly defenseless against him. Even luck was useless at this moment.

At the end of this story, Alice only had time to see Ince Zangwill's pale hand reach into her chest and pull out a still-beating heart.

Then, there was nothing but deep, silent darkness.

Here should be a "The End" (just kidding).

(End of Chapter)