CHAPTER 888: ADELA’S END

Alice already knew her body would be rooted in place while the strange being inside the casket lifted Adela up. Coating her body with blood, Adela began to twitch as the second arm pushed the casket open.

The head that creeped through gave Alice the shivers.

Hairless with a mix of loose yet tight skin.

That wide smile with the row of disgusting teeth and long serpentine neck.

"Disgusting as always." Alice grumbled while Adela took a step forward and grabbed a blood blade from the pool.

The instant Alice was given back her movement, she dashed to the right and threw the pills into her mouth.

Just eating one wasn’t enough. These pills only took effect once the entire bottle was eaten.

Strange but Alice wasn’t going to question it.

With the empty bottle in her hands, she tossed it towards Adela while jumping into the air.

Pale Lance!

*BANG!!!

Firing her spell, Alice’s eyes snapped to the blade above her as she raised her rapier and used it to push her body off to the side.

’Three swords in the air, Adela has her own weapon. Then the bald head will fire an attack that covers most of the garden.’ Alice analysed her current situation.

Based on her memories from the last fight, this arena had two safe spots from the beam attack.

One at the base of the casket and the other behind a broken statue.

If she chose the casket location, Adela would stand at the boundary of the casket safe stop without approaching further.

But whether or not that would be the same for the statue safe spot Alice wasn’t sure.

What she was sure of, though, was that choosing the casket was not an option.

Especially if the hands within grab her like last time.

Guaranteed death.

Rushing forward, Alice slid under a horizontal slash before swiping up with her hand.

Pale Lance!

*CLANG!!!

Adela parried the strike but her body was lifted up from the momentum.

Adjusting her footwork, Alice readied her rapier and stabbed up!

Giving Adela space would only allow her to use the three hovering blades. But if she was to keep the distance between them short, she’ll be able to focus on Adela.

Yet as she was about to unleash her second strike, Alice noticed a growing shadow below her.

’Above!’

*BANG!!!

Alice was barely able to roll to the side when she noticed the casket beast’s arm where she was a moment ago.

A new attack she hadn’t taken into account.

’So the casket covers close quarters while the blades cover distance. Tch, what an annoying boss.’ Alice creased her brows.

Taking deep breaths to recover a bit of her stamina, she reached into her pocket and pulled out some healing grass.

It didn’t seem like the head was charging up the attack for now so she didn’t have to worry. Instead, she needed to focus on Adela.

The main question on her mind though...

’If I kill Adela, would the fight end. Or do I have to kill the baldy...’

If it was the latter, this fight could drag on far beyond what she was ready to challenge.

Even with the healing grass and her managing her stamina, she was already beginning to feel light headed.

All this running was starting to get to her, especially since she wasn’t able to raise her stats past the limit yet.

With her only having access to tier one Embryos, one bad hit was all it took for her to die.

Scratching her hair, Alice let out a sigh before focusing her gaze.

*BANG!!!

Right as Adela slashed towards her using one of the floating blades, Alice threw a Pale Lance towards the nun.

Ducking under the swing, Alice watched as Adela parried her spell.

’If I don’t use a Pale Lance to occupy her, she’ll try to catch me off guard by attacking right after I dodge the first. But without Pale Lance, I also miss out on an attack opportunity.’

The more she watched Adela fight, the more she was beginning to understand this boss.

Moments of opportunity, traps, move sets and how to bait out certain attacks.

Jumping back, Alice tried the same approach once more, expecting Adela to react the same.

Instead, she pulled her arm back and slashed using her blood blade.

"!!!"

Quickly dropping to the ground, Alice watched as an arc of energy rush past her head.

Following the first strike, two more were on the way as she quickly threw herself to the right.

Rolling across the blood and mud, Alice ignored how her current state and focused on dodging.

With the third strike avoided, Alice noticed Adela jumping into the air and preparing for a fourth and final strike.

The energy coursing through her blade dyed the entire arena in crimson as Alice understood that this attack would probably destroy an area around her.

Meaning, she had to dodge!

Alice jumped back but Adela didn’t attack.

Her eyes focused on Alice.

’Sh*t... It’s a delay.’ Alice realised before her foot even touched the ground.

She had jumped back a tad too early.

If nothing else changes, by the time she is able to dodge again, Adela would’ve landed her strike.

Alice’s finger twitched.

If death was approaching... she might as well take a gamble!

She flicked her finger, Pale Lance was summoned and spun 180 degrees, targeting Alice instead of the boss.

Gritting her teeth, Alice fired!

Adela slashed towards the ground as a bloody flower began to erupt in an area.

*RUMBLE!!!

The ground trembled as Adela stood in the wreckage of her attack.

Yet to her surprise, Alice wasn’t there.

Pinned against the black fences, Alice could be seen with Pale Lance embedded deep into her shoulder as blood poured from her wound.

*COUGH!!!

Wiping away the blood on her lips, Alice began to laugh as she reached into her pocket and stuffed healing grass into her mouth.

As her spell faded away, her wound started to heal albeit very slowly.

There was a slight hint of insanity in her eyes as her grin widened.

"Ah~ So spells can be used like this as well. I was hesitant but seems like my gambled paid off. But man! This sh*t stings like a b*tch!" Alice laughed, clutching her shoulder.

Her healing was slow... too slow.

Adela was already walking towards her.

She couldn’t take another hit from the Pale Lance. She didn’t have the durability to survive a second one.

However, now that she was aware of the delay, Alice won’t be caught by that anymore.

Picking up her rapier, Alice narrowed her eyes at Adela.

"Anything else up your sleeve? If not, shall we end this song and dance?"

Stomping down, Alice rushed towards Adela.

Tossing her rapier into the air, she grabbed it with her mouth before aiming her palm.

Adela prepared for the cast but Alice adjusted her footwork and cancelled!

Crossing the distance, Alice spat out her rapier and prepared to slash.

Adela went for a parry but Alice only smirked.

Pale Lance!

*BANG!!!

A Pale Lance crashed into Adela from the left. Alice faked not being able to use her arm!

Adela crashed against the ground and Alice jumped on top of her.

Unleashing several stabs against the nun, she stabbed her rapier against the nun’s throat, pinning her against the ground.

Letting go, she aimed at Adela’s head.

Pale Lance!

Pale Lance!!

Pale Lance!!!

Rapidly firing three spells, she removed her blade and jumped back.

The hovering blades swung above Adela in an attempt to push Alice off but she was no longer there.

The creature in the casket reared its head back as energy charged towards its mouth.

Alice took cover behind the statue while swallowing the white pills.

Feeling her energy regenerate, she watched as Adela dragged herself back onto her feet.

Despite her face being in shambles from the attacks, she continued to stumble towards Alice.

’Tch is it the casket after all?’ Alice furrowed her brows in annoyance.

Despite the wounds she inflicted on Adela, the casket was unharmed and still energetic as ever.

*BOOM!!!

As the pillar of light erupted from the beast’s mouth, the entire garden was covered by flames.

With Adela not being in the safe zone, Alice could see her flesh being burned away, leaving a charred mess behind.

She opened her mouth but no words were spoken.

Alice simply aimed her finger towards Adela.

Pale Lance.

*KRK!!!

As the final Pale Lance stabbed through Adela’s torso, she collapsed on the burning ground. Her body breaking away from the edges, leaving behind a pile of ash.

With Adela’s body now gone, Alice peeked over her cover, towards the casket.

"!!!"

She felt a chill.

Did... the Casket’s smile just grow wider?

Little by little, the head retreated back into the casket as the fingers closed the cover.

Alice found herself rooted, unable to move, forced to watch as her enemy retreated into safety.

Once the beast was completely sealed into the casket, it sunk into the ground, taking the mound of flesh with it and left behind the branch where the butterflies perched once more.

Only after the danger was gone was Alice finally allowed to move again.

Letting out a sigh of relief, she glanced at entrance and saw that it was no longer blocked off.

Her view was still obstructed but it seems like the garden was a ’no fog zone’.

Walking over to the pile of ash, Alice could see several Embryos and items hidden within.

First, was as Rolo mentioned. The unique Embryo belonging to Adela. A black and white outer shell with shimmering blood trapped in the middle.

Second, Adela had dropped around ten tier two Embryos.

But buried the deepest was two items.

A key and a necklace with a strange icon.

There was nothing else in the ash and Alice rested at the campsite.

As she sat down, fog condensed.

A single figure stepped through.

Monika.