NPC Code: Red Riding Hood

There was nothing else stopping us from entering that door and facing Alice once and for all. And in the end, I kept Alice's message to myself. It was a tough decision for me, since knowing that idea would lead us to a different plan.

I also told Match about Alice's message. When she read all the contents, Match looked at me in the eyes, wishing to say something. However, Match shook her head and said nothing about the matter.

Match carried on as nothing had happened, even after reading the texts from Alice. I could only guess that her heart shattered when I tried to lie about this to the team.

There was a part of me that wanted Match to side with my thoughts. However, Match was also a different person, which would have a different mindset. I cannot control her thoughts even if I tried.

Our team finally entered the other room, with all our magic circles prepared in our arms. Those magic circles mostly came from Match, since she was the only one who could shield our bodies. Her skills were too valuable in our team, which Okami never ceased to stress out.

Okami and I also activated our stealth skills, which allowed us to blend in with our surroundings. He strictly mentioned playing the role of a rat that would find some weakness against Alice while the rest of them could fight her. I could also hit Alice on the sides if I found any opportunities. But it was better to conceal me from Alice than let her know my position.

As soon as we arrived at the other side, a butler welcomed our presence. The man wore a prestigious black suit and tie befitting a classy servant inside a castle. He even had a white cloth resting in his pocket, which made the man extravagant in front of us. But there was one thing I noticed about Alice's butler.

This man was not a human, but a puppet made by Alice. There were hints of skin used for the servant, but it never hid the arcanic strings coming from the butler's back. Those cords made of mana did not appear visible to the naked eye. Only those who could perceive magic would notice those bluish strings attached to the butler's back.

Match, Okami, and I were the only ones who recognized those arcanic strings. But we kept quiet about it since that thought did not matter to us, anyway.

It was what Alice had mentioned earlier. Her personal butler appeared before us and would escort our team to confront Alice. The man marched towards us and lowered his head to greet us.

"Is this the team you choose to fight Alice?" the butler asked, whilst looking at the ground. "I need to assure all members involved in this fight."

It was a fair deal since we were guests inside Alice's castle. She even offered us countless things before this fight could even happen.

Okami nodded and answered, "Yes. We are not hiding anyone else besides these guys."

"Very well, Fenrir. I trust your words. Before fighting Princess Alice, please have a brief chat with her. This might be your ultimate battle against her. One of you will die eventually after this fight. And if you won, Alice would hand over the obelisk to your team," the butler brutally confessed, as he finally raised his head.

Okami met the butler's gaze and replied, "Okay. If there's a way to get the obelisk without clashing our fist, that would be great."

"I believe that is not an option I could consider, Fenrir."

After their exchange, the butler lowered his head and gestured his hand. He suggested that we should follow him behind, as the butler walked straight towards another room.

As soon as we stepped foot inside, a glass window of some sort greeted our faces. There was also a figure resting on the middle, with various chains locking the shape's limbs. When we squinted our eyes, a pale face of a woman addressed us. As the girl lifted her head, the window behind her shone some light inside the room.

"Alice…." Okami murmured, and prepared himself to attack.

But before Okami could even pounce for an assault, the butler restrained Okami's movements without lifting any finger. Okami could only groan to himself as he desperately tried moving his body.

"Do not attack Alice when the fight has yet started," the butler commanded, as he glared at Okami.

"Release him from your trap, servant. I don't want you hurting my precious guest, especially Fenrir. If he wants to attack, let him be. I would even invite him to attack me anytime before I could even make a move. With that smurf account, I doubt his friends and Fenrir could land an attack against me," Alice remarked, as she slowly walked her way in our direction. "Come on, Fenrir. I know you want to land a hit against me."

"Will gladly do that!"

As soon as Fenrir shouted those words, Fenrir dashed straight towards Alice and slashed her using his claws. A violent high-pitch sound reverberated throughout the throne room, with Fenrir's growl followed afterwards. After that attack, Fenrir returned to his position with us and watched Alice's reaction.

Judging that strike Fenrir did, it was one of his special moves that could instantly kill any soldier who stood in our way. But when Fenrir did that to Alice, nothing happened. Alice did not even receive a scratch after accepting a direct attack coming from the strongest player in this game. If Fenrir attacked me with the same technique he would have already killed me effortlessly.

It just showed how powerful these two creatures were before me.

"I told you, Fenrir. Your attacks cannot penetrate my body," Alice said.

Within a few seconds, Alice's face finally revealed itself in front of us. And it was not what I had expected.

Alice had golden, fluffy hair falling from her shoulders. She wore an elegant dress that had white and blue colours. Although some of her fabric had scratched on it, the dress was enough to show Alice's royal side as a princess. That girl also looked like she was around my age, especially with her baby-looking face. That expression was the only human-like feature Alice had among all the skin covering her body.

Alice also had some strings attached elsewhere. I could only guess that those cords linked around the puppets inside Wonderland. As I gazed behind her, Alice had some chains tied up around her hands. And when I used my system to analyse those rods, my system only told me that it was a lock of some sort to suppress magic.

If we could fight Alice right now, our team would battle against her with 50% of Alice's power. Thanks to those chains attached to Alice, she cannot use any decisive blows that could wipe out the entire place or the game.

I could not fathom how strong Alice could be if we could fight her with full power. Even before the clash started, we would all die instantly without having any fighting chance against Alice.

"Your Alice…." I whispered instinctively, while watching the scene unfold before me.

"And you're Red. Red Rose," Alice commented, while gazing in my direction. "I've heard a lot about you from someone you know, especially the death of Clementine."

Okami glanced behind and met my eyes. But I glued my orbs at Alice, who mentioned something that caught my interest.

"How did you know Clementine! And what do you want from us!" I shouted, and prepared my penitent's blade.

"You won't kill me with that dagger, Red. If Okami can't deal any damage against me, I doubt your toy could," Alice mocked, and made a smug look on her face. "I know because I share the same experience as you. I don't usually say this, but I have an information broker that kept me posted. You know this creature since it's someone you know."

All Alice mentioned did not make sense even after listening to her words. It was difficult for me to maintain a straight face when I finally confronted Alice. Mixed emotions swam across my mind, filling me with doubts and questions without their answers.

"Here's the deal. If all of you live after five minutes fighting against me, I will personally deliver the obelisk to your hands. But if someone dies during those minutes, I have no other choice but to continue the fight and kill all of you. Sounds like a deal, right?" Alice suggested, while levitating from the ground. "The choice is yours, Fenrir. Do you accept my offer, or are you willing to kill me with these chains wrapped around my neck?"

Even with those suppressants, Alice could wield her arcane perfectly without any external tools. If those were just the regular mages, they would have suffered exhaustion, and eventually kill them.

However, Alice was on a different level…..I did not know how we could kill this puppet with our bare hands.