Alice marched toward the horizon. As she reached the outer borders of Blackilion, the very air began to curdle, turning chilling and heavy. The stones beneath her feet felt cold, as if they were draining the warmth from the world.
"Where are you heading, girl?" a voice rasped. A man wearing a jagged mask stepped from the shadows, blocking her path.
Alice didn't slow down, letting her murderous intent bleed into the air. "Does it concern you where I am heading? Get the hell out of my way."
The masked man flinched, sensing the raw power radiating off her. "You are heading into a nest of monsters. Try not to get yourself killed."
"Hmph." Alice fixed him with a death stare, a dangerous, predatory smile tugging at her lips. "I won't be the one dying today. I'm only going there to kill."
The masked man felt a primal instinct scream in the back of his mind: If I speak again, my head will be served on a platter. He retreated into the gloom without another word.
"What a bloody nuisance," Alice muttered, her eyes igniting with a faint glow as she continued her trek.
Eventually, she reached the Great Wall—a colossal mountain of stone with a gate so massive it made the Clock Tower's entrance look like a toy. A soldier clad in a heavy black coat stood guard, his eyes narrowing as he spotted the lone woman. The air grew thick with a crushing pressure; a terrifying aura preceded Alice like a physical wave.
"Don't come any closer!" the soldier roared, his voice trembling. "One more step and I'll tear you apart! State your purpose! Who are you?"
Alice ignored him. She didn't break her stride.
In response, a writhing, ink-black shadow—shaped like a massive serpent—slithered from the soldier's feet. The ground shook violently under the weight of his dark magic, but Alice moved forward, unbothered. The shadow snake lunged, wrapping itself around her body in tight, suffocating coils.
"Who will be sad if I kill you?" the soldier hissed in a devil's crawl.
Alice smirked, and the atmosphere turned so terrifyingly cold that frost began to form on the soldier's armor. "My family would be sad!" she shouted.
Her power detonated. Her eyes erupted into a brilliant, glittering display of emerald and orange. The veins in her hands throbbed with a fiery light. Within seconds, the dark serpent didn't just break—it was incinerated by the heat of her mana.
Before the soldier could blink, Alice moved with the speed of a lightning strike. She reappeared instantly, her hand gripping the soldier's head. With a surge of her concentrated strength, she slammed him into the earth. The impact sounded like a thunderclap, shattering the ground into a web of deep craters. The soldier was dead instantly; his very soul had been extinguished by the impact.
"Such a piece of cake," Alice hissed. "Fools. Why don't they just make way?"
She approached the massive gates and pressed her palms against the cold iron. A shocking red wave of energy erupted from her body, and with a thunderous, groaning creak, the gates swung open.
Alice stepped through, and her breath caught.
The view was breathtaking. It wasn't the dark, dusty wasteland she had imagined. Instead, the region was vast, bathed in a dazzling, golden light that felt warm and cozy. From her vantage point on the mountain path, Blackilion looked like a shimmering paradise.
"This place... it isn't what I imagined," she muttered, her heart fluttering. "Why isn't it gloomy? Why is it so beautiful?"
As she descended into the forest, she noticed the trees and mud were different from Albelion—vibrant, healthy, and full of life. Eventually, she reached a small, peaceful village. The people looked normal, just like those in her home region.
She approached an elderly man. "I... I've lost my memories in an accident," she said, softening her voice into a sad, low tune. "Can you tell me how to reach the Capital?"
The old man looked at her with a calm, relaxing gaze. "The Capital? Oh, little girl, that is far. So very far. It would take months to reach it on foot."
Alice's mind raced. Months? Just how vast is this region?
"Is there any faster way?" she asked.
"The Capital guards come here occasionally to collect gold and cotton," the old man explained. "They travel with great merchant carriages. If you speak with them, you might find passage. But tell me, child... why do you wish to go to the Capital?"
Alice's lips curled into a sharp, confident smirk.
"To teach someone a lesson they'll never forget."