A mortal wound.
No matter who you were, having your chest pierced clean through was undeniably a mortal wound.
As the spatial magic dissipated, a massive hollow was left in Alice's chest, blood flowing from it ceaselessly.
Her body lay supine in the air, beginning to fall.
Her eyes closed, a slight smile touched Alice's lips.
Down on the ground, the adventurers, battered by the Black Dragon's Meteor Volcano, had no energy left to spare for the situation in the sky. Everyone was frantically focusing on healing.
Of course, not everyone was ignoring the aerial battle.
Lefiya had sunk to the ground, her eyes vacant as she stared at the severely wounded Alice high above.
Finn looked up, his lips trembling, his pupils contracted to pinpricks. He never could have imagined that the Black Dragon, previously so inactive, would prove this overwhelmingly powerful once it got serious.
The might of that single spell surpassed even what Riveria was capable of.
Level 7? No.
It was likely Level 8, or even Level 9. In short, this Black Dragon was an existence more powerful than all of Orario combined, perhaps even all the people in the entire world.
Never mind that one of its eyes was blinded, one claw severed by Alice, and one wing torn and tattered from their assaults.
Looking at it now, the Black Dragon essentially bore no real injuries.
The blinded eye wasn't even damage they had inflicted this time. It was completely fair to say the dragon had just been toying with them until now.
Alice drifted downward like a withering flower.
But as Finn watched her falling speed, a light sparked in his eyes.
It was far too slow. Lefiya knew Alice's weight was slight, incredibly so, but even accounting for that, she shouldn't still be drifting this slowly in the air.
And if you looked closely…
You could see that Alice's descent seemed to have almost halted.
[...]
'You idiot! Why did you take a mortal wound head-on with your own body? You didn't even try to dodge!'
Her own voice… no.
It was 'Alice's' voice, sounding directly in her mind.
"But if I didn't, how else was I supposed to get you guys to come out?" Alice's lips curled into a smile. The sensation of her life ebbing away had already vanished; she couldn't feel it at all anymore.
"Besides, I'm so weak. I couldn't even perceive the Black Dragon's attack properly."
'It's because you, this dummy, never joined a Familia! We specifically picked this world for you. With your talent, if you'd just taken a Falna, you could have grown strong quickly. But you just had to refuse!'
The voice, identical to her own, was filled with a mix of exasperation and frustration.
"So that means you really have been watching me from who-knows-where, right?"
'More or less. Though it's just me who can observe you. The others can't.'
"Because you're my template?"
'No… It's because I am 'Alice,' and you are also 'Alice.''
'Enough of this. No time for more chatter. This world has two wills. One of them has already begun to reject you. Prepare to leave. If you had accepted a Falna and gained the other will's protection, you could have stayed a bit longer.'
'Someone will come to save you in a moment. In the next world, please don't be so willful, okay?'
"Hmm… We'll see about that~~~"
Alice's mood was remarkably cheerful, even with the mortal wound still present.
'Sigh… I really don't know how your personality turned out like this. I'm not this foolish.'
"I'm not foolish…" Alice pouted slightly, feeling a bit displeased.
'You've wasted the best growth catalyst, so from now on, you'll have to work hard to get stronger on your own, understand? I can't stay in contact with you for long, or you'll start to assimilate with me.'
'Since you chose to study the Seven Luminaries magic, Patchouli will come to assist you. Listen to her, okay? Don't do anything as worrying as this again!'
Hearing her own voice in her head, earnestly lecturing her, felt a little strange to Alice.
But since this other 'Alice' meant well, she replied obediently, "I understand."
At the same time, Alice felt curious about just how Patchouli would manage to arrive.
Then—
Suddenly, the entire world shifted to monochrome. Time stood still. Every living being in the world was frozen.
Only the gods gathered atop the Babel Tower could still move.
But even they were utterly shocked by the current situation.
And as for Alice…
A rift suddenly tore open in the air. A gap. Different from Alice's own gaps, this one was edged with cute little ribbons on both sides.
Within the gap, countless eerie, blood-red eyes peered out. If you looked closely, you might even spot humanoid figures wearing sacks marked with the character for 'Sin' over their heads.
"Patchouli, hurry up. Maintaining a cross-world gap like this is difficult, even for me. I can't hold it against the world's pressure for long." A mature, enchantingly seductive voice emanated from within the gap.
This voice felt both familiar and strange to Alice.
The next moment, a cute young girl in loose sleepwear drifted out from the gap, floating directly before Alice.
The instant the girl appeared, Alice recognized her. This was the Mistress of the Seven Luminaries, Patchouli Knowledge.
Patchouli floated right up to Alice. Without a single word, she reached out, gently cupping Alice's face.
Then, to Alice's utter astonishment, Patchouli softly pressed her own lips against Alice's.
"Mmph?!"
Alice was completely unprepared. How could Patchouli, upon their very first meeting, just kiss her like this?
But a moment later, Alice understood the meaning behind Patchouli's action.
A vast, yet incredibly gentle, flow of magic power passed from Patchouli's body into her own through their connected lips.
The coldness she had felt from blood loss and fading life was instantly and utterly dispelled.
At the same time, visible to the naked eye, the gaping hole torn through her body by the dragon's claw began to repair itself at an incredible speed.
The healing of the wound inevitably brought strange sensations. The rapid regrowth of flesh and tissue caused an intense, wriggling itch. With her body regenerating at such a breakneck pace, the itching sensation was magnified, overwhelmingly so.
Alice couldn't help but want to cry out, but with her lips sealed by Patchouli's, all she could manage was a deep, flushed blush and a muffled, trembling moan.
"Mmmm~~~~"
--+--
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