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Chapter 50 Part 7 – Alisa and Scarlet in the previous「108 times」. The Queen and the Maiden of Salvation. Malice is like a burning fire.

Alisa convulsed with laughter, but all the members of the bandit chivalric order were all frozen.

They did not know how Alisa did it, but it was clear that she had done it and they understood that with a single whim of hers, they could be subjected to the same thing. Every last one of them threw down their weapons and fell flat on the ground while trembling. They realized that this was the only way for them to survive.

「Ahaha!! A fitting end for a fool. Scarlet has little royal blood? Lineage is nothing before talent and character. Your only value is that you made me laugh at your final moments. Now I just have to make sure I never see your disgusting face again. And while I’m at it, I’ll squeeze every drop of blood that you consider as your backing out of your body.」

Alisa snapped her fingers.
The client’s limbs bent at impossible angles.
Blood spurted from his eyes, nose, and every other hole, his bones shattered, and his body was folded. Soon, the client became a bizarrely shrunken object with only scraps of clothing and pieces of bone protruding from here and there. The bandit chivalric order nearly vomited from fear as they were shown the moment when a person’s dignity was crushed with the snap of a finger.

Alisa laughed for a moment, then slowly approached the kneeling leader and asked him.

「…… You guys have seen my identity. So it’s over for you. Tell me if you have a wish, I’ll grant just one of it.」

Alisa traced the leader’s forehead with her fingertips in amusement.

「Fold」, 「Choke」, 「Decapitation」, 「Hemorrhage」 ……

The words she traced with her fingers was a cruel question about the kind of death he would like to meet. Sweat broke out on the leader’s forehead. He felt as if his head were on the guillotine. One answer could annihilate everyone in this place.

「…… Please give me the opportunity to kiss your hand in allegiance ……」

In the midst of the fear that made him feel as if he were about to faint, the leader struggled to get his voice out from the back of his throat. She was an extremely unreasonable opponent, but he sensed a dignity that could not be concealed from her. This person must have come from a much more noble lineage than the client. If I could move her heart, we might be able to escape death. A true noble would not be cruel or crude ……. If I could make her interested, she probably would not arbitrarily take away our lives.

…… It was more like a hunch than an educated guess, but it turned out to be correct. Alisa quietly removed her fingers from the leader’s forehead. Her hand remained extended before his eyes. The leader rushed to take her hand and kissed the back of it reverently.

「…… You want to swear your allegiance to me, a person you just met? Do you expect me to trust such a frivolous person?」

The leader gulped down his saliva in response to her cold question.

「Our master has not been settled yet. We have been looking for a master to serve. We may be barbaric and of humble origins, but we are well versed in that side of the world. I thought I might be of use to you.」

The leader was truly thankful that he had learned to speak in a knightly manner in order to take the entrance examination for the Imperial Guards. Alisa’s killing intent faded and she began to laugh out loud.

「…… Okay then. Although it’s an obvious lie, I’ll take it. Well, this might be an interesting twist for 「this time」. I’ll let you live for having at least a modicum of courtesy, unlike that fool. But keep in mind that I can kill you all at any time.」

Alisa casually thrusted her hand into the trunk of a tree beside her.
The faces of the members of the bandit chivalric order stiffened and their eyeballs nearly popped out of their heads in surprise. The reason was because Alisa’s slender hand was easily embedded up to her elbows.

「Fufu, if you master the invisibility technique 「Subtle Beauty」, it can be an evasive technique that can make its way through everything. And if you wanted to, you can also penetrate objects and attack with it. Burn this scene into your memory.」

When she pulled her hand out, there was not a scratch on the bark of the trunk. But when Alisa opened her palm, there was a chunk of the tree core with the tree rings engraved on it. Alisa had grasped only the center of the tree without even making a hole. It was a mind-boggling sight. The piece of wood in her grasp was crushed without a sound and carried away by the wind like a cloud of sand.

「C-Can I ask who you are ……」

Stunned, the leader asked unintentionally.
Alisa’s mouth formed an arc like the crescent moon.

「I’ll tell you. My name is Alisa Diamondi Noel ……」

Hearing Alisa’s true name, which they had never expected, the bandit chivalric order were shocked.
Getting an intuition that the name was not a lie, the leader shuddered. He himself did not know whether this was due to fear or elation.

The master he has chosen was a true monster. This was no longer on the level of mere villains. His temples ached because his blood began to roar. He was delighted to meet and to serve a being that he could obey without reason. He glanced to the side and saw several people who were similarly entranced and fascinated by Alisa.

Including himself, this bandit chivalric order was the outcasts of society. Not because of their circumstances, but because they lack morals by nature and cannot belong to a normal group. The reason why the leader was rejected by the three old warriors who were in charge of examining the applicants for the enrollment in the Imperial Guards was because they saw that the evil that had burrowed into his heart cannot be remedied. His normalcy was a camouflage that he had acquired for the sake of making a living. There is a greed-ridden beast deep inside his heart that even he cannot tame.

But in front of Alisa, a monster that transcends both evil and good, even this beast will bend its knee unconditionally. She would become the absolute master of their evil selves. He indulged in the sense of relief he felt.

「…… I’ll tell you one thing in advance, I have no interest in political power. I don’t want to get ahead. I don’t care if I’m bad or good. I don’t care what other people think of me.」

The members of the bandit chivalric order gasped. They realized that Alisa had seen through their hearts.

「…… The only one I’m really interested in is Scarlet. So I stand before Queen Scarlet as the〈Maiden of Salvation〉. I’m going to set this whole kingdom on fire and dance with her in the midst of it. …… If that’s okay with you, follow me.」

Alisa sweetly smiled.
It was like the smile of an affectionate mother that attracts them to fall down with her.
That’s why it was so endlessly frightening.

「…… I’ll let you witness how the world breaks down. You hate the normal world of splendid people and their gentle and kind ordinary life. Because you, the outcasts, couldn’t be part of the circle even if you wanted to. …… Fufu, you fools. If you can’t enter the circle, then you can just break it. Life, the world, and memories are most beautiful when they’re shattered ……」

Alisa chuckled. A dreadful atmosphere swirled through the air.
Alisa waved her hand in the air. By extension, the power of her fist penetrated the thicket of treetops in the forest, creating a long, black tunnel. It was as if a jet-black laser beam had run through it.

A small, soundless crack appeared in the wall of the second floor of the Duke’s mansion in the distance. The thin, sharp shockwave struck the glass rose, a memento of Scarlet’s father, that sat on top of the fireplace in the room. The brass stem and leaves shook slightly, and only the petals shattered into dust. They twinkled down around Scarlet as she slept on the sofa.