“Eh, Elise!?”
The Heart Soldier who was about to strike my neck turned pale and hastily looked around. I clenched my heart, praying desperately for someone to come quickly, but there was only an unsettling silence.
The Heart Queen seemed startled too, but when nothing happened, she revealed a despicable smirk and spoke.
“Where are you spouting that disgusting nonsense from!? That lunatic listening to you is absurd! What are you doing?! Strike that brat’s head off immediately!”
“…”
Even after the queen’s command, the Trump Soldier remained frozen, his eyes filled with terror as he stared at something in the darkness between the giant weeds.
“What are you fools doing!? You imbeciles!!”
The queen, enraged, jumped off her carriage and snatched the heart-shaped sword from the stunned Trump Soldier.
“I’ll k*ll you myself! You’ll pay for mocking the most beautiful being in the world—ME! You’ll regret never entering MY chambers in this lifetime!”
Frustrated by her oversized head preventing her short arms from lifting the sword, she awkwardly adjusted her stance.
Raising the sword to avoid hitting her head, I tightly shut my eyes. Is this it? Dying at the hands of this hideous, terrible, personality-deficient queen? Sob! Parents, forgive your unfilial child! I’m leaving first!
As I imagined the sharp blade slicing my neck, suddenly…
“Keeheheheh! As expected! I knew it would be like this! Kekekekeke!”
A familiar insane laugh rang out nearby. Opening my eyes with a surging heart, there stood Elise, blocking the queen’s clumsy sword swing with her staff.
“ELISE!!!”
The queen’s face turned beet red as she screamed furiously.
I… I survived! Who would’ve thought I’d be so glad to see this crazy woman?!
“So THIS was why you ran away? To lead me to these brats! You truly ARE the Black Reaper!”
“B-Black Reaper? T-That girl!?”
The queen’s face went slack with shock, mirroring the expressions of the surrounding Trump Soldiers.
“K-k*ll her! k*ll her now! k*ll that boy IMMEDIATELY!”
What is this nonsense about a reaper? This is the first I’ve ever heard of reapers in Wonderland! And I’m just an ordinary human, for crying out loud!
The Trump Soldiers’ eyes suddenly changed, and without hesitation, they charged at me with their spears.
“Aaaah! Wait a second! There’s definitely some kind of misunderstanding here—I’m NOT the reaper!”
Clang! The spears aiming for my body were deflected by Elise’s effortless swing of her staff, creating a metallic clang as the soldiers fell back. The queen tumbled across the ground, a dirty shoe print on her abdomen where Elise had kicked her.
Elise flashed crimson eyes and charged at the defenseless Trump Soldiers, shouting,
“Come at THIS reaper then!”
Punch! A Trump Soldier’s paper-thin body tore apart with one blow from Elise’s staff. She giggled eerily, scanning the remaining soldiers before twisting her neck grotesquely.
“Kekekekeke! You’re all white? White? Whiter? White rabbit!? It’s a WHITE RABBIT!!”
“AAHHH! S-Someone save me!”
The Trump Soldiers helplessly flailed against Elise’s frenzied attacks. Their thrusts came slower than molasses to her, and she mercilessly countered with her staff.
Punch. bl**d and torn flesh splattered everywhere, making my skin crawl and stomach churn.
Now’s my chance! This is the perfect opportunity! I crawled along the ground, trying to escape this horrific scene. Then I noticed someone else in the same predicament.
The queen, dragging her magnificent red dress, fled with her massive head bobbing up and down. Having witnessed Elise’s brutality, she panicked and tried to run somewhere.
“Protect me! Protect me from that lunatic!”
Trump Soldiers gathered to shield her, only to be flattened en masse by Elise charging forward like a fearless general.
“Kekekekeke!”
Seeing her reveling in slaughter, I resolved to escape as soon as possible and slowly rose to flee. Just as I turned away…
“Hah! This ends NOW, Elise! I prepared this especially to capture YOU!”
On the carriage, the queen aimed something strangely familiar at Elise – a weapon that fires bullets faster than the speed of sound when the trigger is pulled. A g*n. Watching her finger slowly squeeze the trigger, myriad thoughts raced through my mind.
Could Elise dodge a b*llet? She has abnormal abilities, right? No way, that doesn’t make sense. She’s still human. Getting shot would definitely be dangerous.
Why am I even thinking about this? I should just run away. What happens to her isn’t my problem. Both the queen and Elise are certifiably insane and equally dangerous. Why would I care if they harm each other?
Just quietly run away, stupid. Don’t you want to go home?
Yes. I want to go home. I deeply realize that escaping now is the only way to survive.
Yes. Run. Don’t look, don’t listen. Just RUN to survive. Escape from this bizarre and grotesque fairy tale world and return home!
So… So…
“GAH!! Screw it! I don’t care anymore!”
Grabbing a large rock nearby, I spun around and hurled it with all my might toward the queen’s big head.
Tang! A deafening crack echoed through the bushes. Smoke curled faintly from the g*n’s barrel.
“KYAAA! My hair! Someone threw a rock at my BEAUTIFUL hair! AAAAH! It’s bleeding! bl**d on my precious head!!”
The queen dropped the g*n and clutched the shallow cut on her scalp, sobbing loudly while tears streamed down her face.
Eh, what about Elise?
Frantically scanning the massacre scene, everyone seemed shocked by the sudden gunshot.
A drop of bl**d trickled down Elise’s previously unblemished cheek.
She touched her face, staring curiously at the bl**d on her fingers. Then she turned to look at me, her manic expression replaced with a simple, innocent smile.
“Thank you, Dark Reaper. Because of you, I survived.”
“Eh… Uh-huh.”
Why does my face feel so hot? What’s wrong with my head? I gave an awkward smile, and her expression immediately darkened as she glared at the queen.
“Meeting the Dark Reaper certainly means the story is nearing its end, doesn’t it? Right, d*mn Queen?”
“HIIEEEK! P-Protect me! Protect me!!”
The queen shrieked fearfully, calling out to her soldiers. Regaining their senses, the Trump Soldiers tried to block Elise again, but she stomped on the nearest face and demonstrated incredible jumping ability.
In an instant, she leaped over the soldiers’ defenses and landed on the carriage, grinning as she pointed her staff at the queen.
“Kekekekeke! Let’s end this pesky karmic connection once and for all!”
“H-Hold on! I-I was wrong! Really! E-Elise, calm down! I’ll help you find the W-White Rabbit, I swear!”
“Hmm~? Not interested. Because…”
She glanced at me and gave a bone-chilling smile.
“I have the Dark Reaper now.”
Punch! Crunch! Snap. Everyone froze at the scene. The beautiful red throne was drenched in its owner’s bl**d. The queen’s horrifying execution took place right where she used to mockingly overlook everyone.
“Kekekekeke! d*e! d*e! d*e!!!”
The queen, who adored the color red so much, became entirely red. Her arm fell limply to the floor, twitching in d*ath throes. Her enormous head collapsed under the staff, spilling brain matter mixed with bl**d. The massive brain was reduced to minced meat.
The Trump Soldiers and I turned ghostly white. With every downward swing of the staff, more bl**d oozed stickily and chunks of flesh flew everywhere.
Thud. Something rolled into my foot – the queen’s bloodshot eyeball that had been pleading for mercy moments ago.
I locked eyes with the dying queen for a moment before turning and running away without looking back.
“Ah, AH! This place is INSANE! Totally insane!! Please send me home!!”
