Thanks for the invitation. I'm in Type-Moon, inheriting the legacy of Zi-O.

"That's more like it!" Mordred happily shouldered his sword and slashed at one of the soldiers.

The attack was extremely simple; the soldier thrust his spear at her in response.

Now that Mordred had launched the first attack, the numerous soldiers also began to move, advancing towards Mordred with mechanical steps.

Mordred swung his sword down, aiming at the tip of the spear thrust out by his opponent—

Just as the weapons were about to collide, Mordred suddenly reached out and grabbed the grip of the other man's gun.

Mordred's hands, covered in armor, remained unharmed. His eyes widened in fury, and he suddenly exerted force on his hands.

He actually cut the opponent's spear in half, then swung his sword and hacked the opponent into pieces. At the same time, he held the spear tip in his hand, turned it upside down, and stabbed it into the bodies of several soldiers who wanted to attack from behind.

Lacking any sense of reason, Mordred's attack pierced the abdomens of three soldiers.

Then, she raised her leg and cut the soldier who was thrusting his spear at the other side in half, the sound of the parts falling to the ground echoing around her.

In the blink of an eye, most of the soldiers who had surrounded Mordred were gone.

"Seriously... this is too weak..." Mordred didn't even bother to swing his sword. Seeing the soldiers charging at him, he could easily smash them with just his fists.

Then she saw that the soldiers that had just been shattered were reborn the next second. Even if Mordred completely destroyed their parts, they would emerge from the empty air.

In the blink of an eye, the [Ace Soldiers], which had previously suffered heavy losses, returned to their original size and surrounded Mordred once again.

“However… this is a bit tricky…” Mordred finally drew his sword as he looked at the soldiers around him.

Alice, an ordinary girl

Meanwhile, Nianzhuo was walking on a narrow path that was getting narrower and narrower.

The surrounding scenery kept changing, gradually transforming into something like a fairy tale world.

Giant mushrooms, beautiful flowers, delicious candies... these plants, which seemed to have been magnified countless times, made Nianzhuo a little flustered.

But he kept walking, walking, until he reached the end of the path.

Then he saw—a girl under a white parasol at the end of the path.

She was holding a picture book, reading it with great interest.

"..." Nian Zhuo now had the chance to shoot Tong Yao dead. His hand was on the trigger of the Time Gun Sword, he released it and then gripped it again.

He stood there, where the girl could see him at a glance, hesitant.

In the end, he couldn't pull the trigger. Nian Zhuo put away his gun and walked to the table under the parasol.

"Hmm...?" Hearing the clinking sound from Nianzhuo's armor, Tongyao looked up. "Ah... it's big brother..."

A happy smile appeared on her face as she sat in the chair, swaying her little legs.

"Big brother... did you come to play with Alice?" She looked at Nianzhuo expectantly, but was met with a shake of the head. "Ah... I see..." she said, somewhat disappointed.

"You—" Nianzhuo looked at the short girl in front of him—"Why didn't you run away?"

He actually saw it. After realizing it was him, the girl's body visibly trembled, and her hand holding the picture book clenched tightly instantly.

Even so, she still greeted Nianzhuo with a smile, seemingly without any fear.

"...Because, if big brother wanted to kill me, he'd have plenty of opportunities, wouldn't he?" Shaking her head mischievously, Tong Yao snapped her fingers, and instantly a chair appeared on the other side of the small table. "Quick, quick~ Big brother, sit down too~"

"..." Looking at the child's natural nursery rhyme in front of him, Nian Zhuo remained silent for a while, and finally took the watch face off the driver at his waist, and the silver armor dissipated from his body.

Nianzhuo pulled out a chair and sat down opposite Tongyao.

Seeing Nianzhuo engrossed in reading the nursery rhymes in his picture book, Nianzhuo also picked up a book from the desk.

“…Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland?” Nian Zhuo read the book’s title out somewhat strangely, feeling a sense of unfamiliarity.

He had heard of the movie before, but he hadn't read much of the original novel.

"Yes~" Tong Yao quietly took away the other books on the table, leaving only the picture book in her hand and "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" in Nian Zhuo's hand. "But, big brother didn't come here to read books, did he?"

“Yes.” Gently placing the book aside, Nianzhuo looked into the girl’s pink eyes. “I have some questions I want to ask you.”

"Then... if I answer these questions, will big brother let me go?" With a smile, Tong Yao asked a somewhat cruel question, "I just want to find Alice..."

"...I'm sorry, I won't let you go." Nian Zhuo stared directly at her, but his words were still filled with murderous intent. "If I don't kill you, the entire city's citizens will be plunged into disaster because of you, so I will not hesitate to wield my blade—" As he spoke, Nian Zhuo picked up the book "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" that he had just put aside and pointed it at the nursery rhyme.

"But before that, I want to know... what kind of person is Alice, who can make an unnamed book so devoted?" As she slowly placed the book on the table, the smile on Tong Yao's face gradually disappeared.

"Big brother... do you want to know about Alice?" With a slightly hoarse voice, Tong Yao raised her head, her eyes following the man in front of her. "Big brother... are you really willing to listen to Alice...?"

“…At least for now.” Nian Zhuo didn’t say much, but… crossed his arms and looked at Tong Yao, whose eyes were shining with a strange light. “So, tell me about it, Tong Yao.”

Nian Zhuo had a question after encountering the Demon Book.

Judging from its strength, it is a very troublesome enemy. If it wanted to, it could easily put the people of this city to sleep in an instant.

But he still went to search house by house, which was what Ling Nianzhuo really wanted to ask.

Who exactly is Alice, the girl whom even a magical book capable of instantly destroying a city would go to great lengths to find?

“…Thank you.” Tong Yao let out a long sigh of relief and pointed to the book in Nian Zhuo’s hand. “However, before that, please read the book in your older brother’s hand.”

"This... *Alice's Adventures in Wonderland*?" After receiving the other party's approval, Nian Zhuo coughed twice, then turned the pages. "Well then, excuse me—"

Time passed slowly, and Nianzhuo gradually became engrossed in the book in his hands, while Tongyao held her cheeks and watched Nianzhuo read.

"Phew..." Nian Zhuo let out a long sigh of relief and closed the book.

"So, so, what do you think of this story, big brother?" As soon as the book was closed, Tong Yao couldn't wait to ask.

"It is indeed a very good story. To be honest, Alice in this work is very lively and has a childlike innocence." Nian Zhuo did not hold back his praise; the stories in this book are always so captivating.

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland tells the story of a little girl named Alice who follows a red-eyed rabbit in a tuxedo on a journey through Wonderland. She encounters many strange people and events, first falling down a rabbit hole, drinking a potion that shrinks her, and then eating a cookie that makes her grow very large. She constantly changes between being a giant and a dwarf. Size is a constant source of confusion for Alice, something she frequently encounters in Wonderland. Later, she encounters potions and treats at the rabbit's house, and the mushroom that makes Colonel Caterpillar's left side grow larger and his right side smaller. Alice says she doesn't know who she is, as she can't maintain a certain height for more than 10 minutes, so she's unsure of her identity—a lost yet innocent fairytale.

"Right, right~!~" Tong Yao had an expression that said, "I knew it," but then her smile gradually disappeared, turning into a very sad expression. "My master... just like the protagonist in the book, is named Alice..."

“...Is that so? Then I think she must be just as naive as the protagonist in this story.” Nian Zhuo nodded in understanding. Since there was no hostility for the time being, Nian Zhuo chose to listen and gently put the book aside.

"Mmm!" Tong Yao nodded vigorously, pointing to her face at Nian Zhuo, "Alice (I) am Alice...!"

“...Is that so?” Nian Zhuo nodded, indicating that he understood.

The personality and appearance of the grimoire are probably a reflection of her master.

"...But Alice (me), she's actually connected to this city too, you know?" Cupping her cheeks, Tong Yao said to Nian Zhuo, who was still her enemy, "Although I remember I'm British, I've completely forgotten my real name~"

With a flick of her tongue, the nursery rhyme casually revealed a somewhat cruel truth.

“…I see.” Nian Zhuo nodded, looking at the seemingly innocent girl in front of him, somewhat incredulous. “Alice, who exactly is she… no, now I should ask, what kind of person is the Alice you’re looking for?”

“...It’s a ghost, isn’t it? Alice (me) her.” As she said this, Nursery Rhyme even made a face at Nianzhuo.

"A ghost...? So, Alice has... left?" After thinking about her words, Nian Zhuo decided it was better not to ask too pointedly.

"—Yes, Alice, she's dead." Compared to Nian Zhuo, Tong Yao's words were even more... direct and heartbreaking. The girl, who looked to be less than ten years old, casually uttered the word 'dead'.

“Alice was just a little girl at first.” Cupping her cheeks, Tong Yao gently stroked the cover of the Alice picture book that Nian Zhuo had placed on the table with her other hand. “However, her country and town were hit by war, you know?”

"Let me think... it should be called World War II, that's how it's recorded on the computer." Tong Yao nodded, her fingertip lingering on the girl in the blue dress in the picture book. "Back then, everyone thought the war was about to end."

"The end of World War II...?" Having grasped the timeframe, Nianzhuo silently noted down the information.

“Then—” Tong Yao’s eyes widened, and her other hand clenched involuntarily.

Firelight, firelight, countless flames shooting into the sky.

Mechanically winged birds swooped down across the sky, dropping deadly spheres one after another.

The wails, the cries... all sorts of sounds seemed to return to my ears.

Mom and Dad... but there were no sounds of Mom and Dad—a girl with pink and white hair stood beside the ruins after the explosion, watching the bright red blood flowing from under the wooden beams.

"Ah... Mom and Dad... are dead." With her face covered in black dust, the girl slumped to the ground in front of the ruins where her parents were buried.

The parents, who were packing their things, heard a piercing scream coming from above, so they dropped everything and pushed her out.

Then, the flames bloomed on their own houses.

Yes, I am now homeless.

Realizing this fact, Alice collapsed to the spot, letting the wailing crowd around her kick her aside and discard her like a rag doll.

Suddenly, Tong Yao smelled something burning.

The sensation came from my left arm.

"Ah...it's my own arm..." She watched as her left arm was pushed onto the still-burning ruins. Her clothes were burned, and flames were mercilessly licking her skin.

Even if the mechanical removal was just an instinctive action, Alice could no longer feel pain...

Click—At the same time, there was a soft sound of something falling to the ground in front of me.

His lifeless eyes looked in that direction, where a book with a charred corner lay.

It must have been accidentally kicked out by someone while running away. By the light of the fire, you can see a blonde girl wearing a blue dress on the cover.

"That's... from my mom and dad... for me..." Finally, Alice made a move. She slowly crawled towards the book and picked it up from the dusty ground.

Wiping the dust off the cover, Alice read the name of the picture book in her hand.

“Alice in Wonderland…” Then she remembered that this was a gift from her parents…the last gift they ever gave her.

"Ah...ah..." Only then did tears finally appear in Alice's eyes. She clutched the picture book tightly to her chest and wept in front of the raging ruins.

A sharp cry came from beside her ear, and Alice looked up.

The black, spherical object rapidly magnified in her eyes.

Immediately afterward, next to these ruins, another rampant flower burst forth.

“…So, this is what Alice is like—” Nian Zhuo said softly, and at the same time, he saw that as the nursery rhyme’s fingertips stroked the seemingly brand-new picture book “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” that Nian Zhuo had just placed on the table gradually developed some scorch marks.

The paper gradually yellowed, and even developed black scorch marks on the sides and corners.

On the cover, a blonde girl wearing a blue dress and a white apron has some dark red dots on her body.

Especially the short rabbit in a suit who shook hands with her, now completely invisible due to the black scorch marks, leaving only a pair of white ears, which looked particularly eerie.

“…These dark red dots, is it congealed blood…” Nian Zhuo nodded, guessing Alice’s fate. “So…she was hit by the bomb again…”

"No, that's not it?" As if she could read Nian Zhuo's mind, Tong Yao kicked the stool and shook her head. "Alice didn't die, did she?"

"Hmm?" Nian Zhuo looked up again at the nursery rhyme in front of him. "So, Alice survived the bomb blast..."