Chapter 76

“Cough!!!”

“Ggghhhhhhh!!!!”

The White Shark Pirates screamed as they collapsed onto the floor.

Despite being classified as formidable forces ruling the seas, they were utterly powerless against the Pirate King’s subordinates, who were several tiers above them in basic combat ability.

“Kill all the resistance! Spare no one, take their lives and loot their riches!”

“Understood, Vice-Captain!”

Under Lemain’s orders, the White Shark Pirates were quickly being wiped out.

Most of them met their end attempting futile resistance, while the few who surrendered were left beaten and became captives.

However, even as she watched her once comrades being decimated in real-time…

Cheshire felt no particular emotions at this moment.

All her emotions related to the White Shark Pirates stemmed solely from her mother… Elise.

Whether it was the aftermath of being resurrected or the sting of betrayal, she couldn’t say, but now the ‘emotion’ she once had for her mother had completely vanished.

At this moment, there was only one thing left for Cheshire.

“Cheshire!”

A voice calling her name.

Cheshire paused and looked back briefly.

There stood a friend.

No… now, simply referring to her as a friend felt insufficient.

She was the one who had given her life meaning…

She was the one who had brought new life into her…

To her, Cheshire smiled gently and said.

“It’s okay… I’ll be right back.”

“… O-Okay… Be careful. Contact me immediately if anything happens.”

“Yes, Lady Auriel.”

With those words, Cheshire, wielding her axe, began to head off somewhere.

Without paying any mind to those dying right beside her, she entered the building.

In this moment,

It was to finish what she needed to do.

‘Everything is for my friend… for my mother… for Lady Auriel…’

*

“What… What did you say?”

A clear voice echoed in her ear.

Being directly contradicted by that voice, Elise could only stare blankly for a moment.

Then,

“W-Wait… Say that again. W-What do you mean?”

“I told you to shut up, Elise.”

A chilling voice rang out once more.

Yet, from this, Elise realized that the voice did not belong to the new Cheshire standing before her but rather came from behind.

“!”

There stood a familiar being, wielding an axe.

It had the exact same appearance as the greatest masterpiece she had created.

Cheshire…

Seeing the doll she had discarded days ago return to her, and now in a pristine state with no injuries whatsoever, Elise’s face was gripped by a profound shock for the first time.

“A…no… how are you?… If you had that much injury, you should have…”

“I’m sorry. I’m still alive. I returned from hell thanks to the grudge I bore against you.”

Cheshire spoke with a blank expression and a dry voice.

She then adjusted her grip on the axe in her hand.

Gazing at her creation, now showing clear hostility, Elise was momentarily overwhelmed with confusion.

“W-What… what is this? Y-You dare point a knife at me… at your mother?”

It was unthinkable.

A mere creation aiming a weapon at its master.

Such a thing had been rendered completely impossible from the moment it was initially created.

It wasn’t just an action; it was impossible even in terms of thought.

Cheshire had conditioned herself to obey her every command unconditionally, giving her unwavering loyalty.

For Cheshire to now express clear hostility toward her…

This was something that could never happen within the rules she established…

One could say it was a miracle, while from her perspective, it felt like a curse.

“Damn it!!”

Panicking, Elise grabbed the staff beside her.

She immediately unleashed magic at the Cheshire in front of her.

“Shutdown Mental Out!!”

The emergency stop magic implanted when she created Cheshire.

It was meant to be used in case she went rogue and began attacking other subordinates, but never did she expect it would be needed to prevent this creature from ‘rebelling.’

Anyway, this should stop her core circuits and revert her to a perfect human state.

Not knowing how things had come to this, she thought she should check on the unconscious creature’s condition.

As Elise cautiously approached the standing Cheshire…

“Ugh?”

-Hwoosh!!!

In the next moment, Cheshire swung the axe, enveloped in a gray-hued magical energy.

Despite the stop command being given, seeing her attack, Elise was struck by even greater horror.

“What… What is this? What is… happening… Ugh!”

-Bam!

While trying to evade the attack, Elise fell to the ground.

Normally, she would have used a magical barrier, but there was no mental or physical energy left for her to do so.

She had just expended most of her magic creating the new Cheshire.

As she lay helplessly on the ground,

Cheshire raised the axe coldly.

“Die. Elise.”

“A… Aah…”

Cheshire readied a strike filled with magical power.

Elise’s face froze in rigidity at the rebellion of the doll that usually showed her absolute loyalty.

At that moment.

“Mo… Mother, please step back.”

“!”

The newly created Cheshire stepped in front of Elise.

Having only been completed and begun moving for less than thirty minutes, she lacked even combat ability or magic.

Yet still, she stepped forward to protect her mother.

According to the knowledge she had just acquired a moment ago.

Seeing that scene, Elise pushed aside the conflicting emotions she had felt for a moment,

and began to assess the situation based on her unique composure.

‘Even if that child, who hasn’t mastered combat, steps up, it will only buy time… Tsk… I worked hard to create her, only for her to break so quickly…’

At least since her body was mixed with adamantium, even without magic, she should be able to endure to some extent.


Thus, leaving her new daughter in position, Elise began to think about slipping away.

But then…

“Step back, sister. We do not need to fight.”

“S-Sister…?”

“Yes. I am your sister, a being created just like you and abandoned by our mother. Look, doesn’t she look just like me?”

“A…”

Cheshire pointed to the mirror beside them.

As they looked at the reflection, the newly-created Cheshire was astonished to see a being with the same face and body.

Having been born less than thirty minutes ago, she still had a malleable mental state like a child.

For her, encountering an identical existence began to turn her thoughts toward curiosity and confusion.

“Si-Sister? B-But why… Why is my sister attacking Mother?”

“That’s…”

As she did, Elise gazed over at her sister Cheshire with an emotionless expression.

Then she responded to her sister’s question with a cold voice.

“Because our mother is a fake.”

“A fake?”

“!? W-What…?”

With an unwavering voice, Cheshire spoke of a falsehood.

For Elise, who had implanted the function to dodge answers but not to lie, this was yet another shocking moment.

‘What… What the hell is going on?… How did things come to this?’

At that moment.

“A fake… Does that mean…?”

“That means that she is not our mother. She told me that our mother would never abandon us.”

Along with that statement, Cheshire began to envelop her axe with magical power once more.

As she slowly passed by the new Cheshire, who no longer obstructed her, she said.

“But she abandoned me… And all the beings like you, my sisters… every last one of us.”

“T-That can’t… How… How could Mother…”

“! F-F-Falsehood! Don’t believe her! D-Daughter! I am your mother! I created you and love you more than anyone in this world—!”

“Elise.”

“!”

Cutting Elise off, Cheshire raised her axe.

Then she spoke—

With a face that showed not a hint of expression.

However, there was clearly visible anger within.

“To us… there is no function for lying.”

“!”

The heavy implications contained within those words.

In that moment, Cheshire’s assertion that she did not consider her mother as such meant…

That whatever the case, there was absolute sincerity behind her declaration.

With such an unnecessary advancement, having learned that she does not lie, Elise stood there momentarily in a daze…

And then, without a hint of hesitation, Cheshire swung her axe.

-Crack!!!