WeTried Translations
Translator: Coughing Baby
Editor: Coughing Baby
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 41: ■■■’s Nightmare (6)
──────
"Come forth, knight of wicked aura!"
Why?
Alice was practically a complete stranger to Ranne.
At Viktor's request, Ranne had stayed by Alice's side for a few days, but even that had not been two weeks.
And yet, she had stepped forward without hesitation for someone like that. She had to be insane.
No one could do something like that without being insane.
"Northern warriors are neither craven before the strong nor miserly toward the weak...!"
Still.
"My name is Ranne Kihano! I am known as Don Quixote de La Mancha!"
Alice saw it.
Those shoulders, trembling faintly but unmistakably.
"Called by the stars, I shall stand here and ward off this evil!"
The girl was shaking.
Fear filled her eyes.
But she did not show it.
Even so, she pronounced every word clearly.
All to protect someone behind her.
-Alice.
A back.
Ranne's small, frail back overlapped with someone else's.
-Alice.
-R-run as far away as you can. Your sister will be fine.
-You have to run really far, far enough that those people will never find you.
Her sister, lying there covered in blood.
The hand of someone who, even with death at hand, had neglected her own condition.
The hand that had instead wiped away Alice's tears, as though apologizing.
-It's okay. Everything will be okay.
-Your sister will get some sleep, then I'll definitely come after you...
Ranne's back resembled someone Alice dearly missed.
That was why Alice's legs froze.
She could not bring herself to run.
Running away and leaving someone behind was one of her deepest traumas.
<!dlrow eht ot lepsog citsatxe eht daerps llahs I>
"Ghk...!"
Ranne was already clashing with the Red Knight.
The sound of steel striking steel rang out.
BANG, BOOM! CRAAASH-!
It was not an even fight in the slightest.
Ranne's wounds only continued to pile up.
<!sseniloh ot netsil ,sbmaL>
CRAAASH-!
After exchanging only a few blows, the girl was already exhausted.
Perhaps because of the dense demonic energy, even breathing hurt deep in her lungs.
Ranne cried out and charged.
'Kihano Style Spearmanship, Second Form.'
-Awl-
But.
Perhaps the opponent had been too much for her after all.
Ranne could not hold out for long and was sent flying.
She landed at Alice's feet and lay sprawled on the ground.
"Lady Ranne..."
Why?
Why was this happening?
Alice could not understand.
-R-run...
Ranne met her eyes and mouthed the words.
Even now, she put others first.
Alice quietly pulled her into an embrace.
<.dlihC>
Before long.
The red armor stood right before them.
It was so tall that Alice had to crane her neck to see all of it.
'Why is it always...'
She had thought her life was unhappy enough, yet more misery kept being written into it.
It felt as though the world could not bear to leave her alone.
Every sound around her seemed to be laughing at her.
She was sick of it.
'Why?'
The warmth in her arms.
Ranne had lost consciousness.
The Red Knight raised its sword above its head again.
She was sick of it all.
'Why... Why do things like this keep happening...?'
A life endlessly sinking for reasons she did not know.
Something inside Alice was about to break.
Hot tears streamed down her face.
At last, she burst into tears.
Even then, whispers filled her ears.
<WelcometoWonderlandWelcometoWonderlandWelcometoWonderlandWelcometoWonderlandWelcometoWonderlandWelcometoWonderlandWelcometoWonderlandWelcometoWonderland>
The nightmare she had spent her entire life running from.
The promise she had made to her sister.
The promise that, no matter what happened, she would not let herself go.
Now, it had become meaningless.
<Welcome to Wonderland.>
Alice went limp.
Her gaze blackened and died.
Her blue eyes became lifeless.
Her lips began to murmur.
<Welcome to Wonderland.>
"Fine..."
<Welcome to Wonderland.>
It was the end.
Words offered to the nightmare she had desperately turned away from.
"Do whatever you want."
<Welcome to Wonderla......>
<......>
<......>
<......>
Silence.
For a brief moment, the girl's mind became still.
A few seconds later, a red voice flooded her thoughts.
The world blurred as though fog had settled over it.
Her vision warped.
The Red Knight, sword raised, also flinched.
Was it because of the ominous presence swirling within the barrier?
The Red Knight stiffened and looked around.
CRUNCH-!
The next moment, the Red Knight's head caved in.
A monstrous bird that had appeared from nowhere was devouring it.
The Red Knight staggered and resisted, but the giant beak only kept chomping.
'Dream.'
Alice's dormant ability.
The power to bring her dreams into reality.
Looking up at the grotesque bird, the girl quietly murmured its name.
'Jabberwock...'
The monster that often appeared in her dreams.
Alice's deepest nightmare had escaped into reality.
And it was not just one bird that had emerged from her.
Something drifted softly down from the sky.
Glittering crowns.
Grotesque beings with no faces, only distinct silhouettes.
Each wore a crown upon its head.
They were the Queens from Alice's nightmares.
They descended gently and looked up at the struggling Red Knight.
<[◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆]>
Noise that could not possibly be human language.
When they muttered something, grotesque creatures poured from the mist.
It was as though playing cards, chess pieces, and humans had been mashed together at random.
The bizarre creatures surged forward.
Yet they marched in orderly ranks, like a single army.
<[♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥]>
<[◆◆◆◆◆◆]>
<[□□□□□□□□□]>
As the Queens muttered one after another, countless soldiers rushed at the Red Knight.
The armor soon toppled over with a crash.
The Red Knight could not even resist.
Its limbs were torn off, its flesh stripped away, its organs ripped out.
The Apostle of the Evil God convulsed stiffly several times before going still.
CRUNCH, SNAP! SQUELCH, SQUELCH...
Madness.
A scene steeped in nightmares.
"......"
At its center sat a black-haired girl.
A single crown floated above Alice's head.
It was a crown made of nothing but sticky blackness, so dark it looked like a shadow.
It stained the girl.
Her silhouette darkened more and more.
Dark red tears of blood dripped down her cheeks.
'Nightmare Transformation.'
Alic■ looked completely consumed by the nightmare.
She had lost control of her body and could not move as she wished.
It was as though she had become a puppet of the nightmare.
Ali■■ let all strength leave her body, as if she had given up.
Ranne's body, which she had been holding as she trembled, fell to the ground.
'...It's over.'
There was no taking it back.
She had finally surrendered her body to the nightmare.
Her consciousness grew hazy, and her vision darkened.
If she closed her eyes now, how many more terrible things would she do?
The nightmares she could not control.
How much despair would they create?
'Big sister...'
She dwelled on the promise she had failed to keep.
Now that her rampage had begun, there was nothing ■■■ could do to stop it.
She could only pray for her breath to leave her as soon as possible.
The world was quiet.
■■■ tried to let go of her consciousness.
And so, she would become the final Queen...
"Oh dear."
A voice suddenly rang out.
Someone stood before ■■■.
It was a familiar voice, and the girl could not help but freeze.
"......?"
When she lifted her eyelids, a familiar smiling mask filled her vision.
A dead person.
Someone ■■■ had personally confirmed was dead.
She had watched him be crushed beneath the Red Knight's foot, reduced to a lump of flesh.
For a moment, she wondered if this was part of the nightmare too, but he looked far too real.
"Miss ■■■."
The boy was smiling.
More precisely, it was his mask that was smiling.
"So this is where you were. I've been looking for you for quite a while."
That soft, distinctive tone.
The clown stood only a step away from ■■■.
He rummaged through his clothes and took out a sparkling potion.
"Oh, Miss Ranne is here too."
Then, without a care, he opened the cap and poured its contents over Ranne.
The moment the sloshing liquid touched her, her injuries began to heal at once.
Color visibly returned to Ranne's face.
The boy even seemed to be humming.
"How...?"
■■■ could only stare in disbelief.
Rather than shrinking back among the nightmares, he looked as relaxed as if he were in his own home.
The nightmares that had been eagerly tearing into the Red Knight's corpse seemed to notice the boy's presence only then.
Their gazes turned toward him.
"It looked like you needed some help."
"......"
Unconcerned, the boy tilted his head cheerfully.
A playful smile seemed to show through the mask.
<[□□□□□□]>
Perhaps unable to bear it any longer, the White Queen, who had been standing still, rushed at the boy.
Her silhouette coalesced into a mass of white.
The hand that had been tearing apart the Red Knight's armor lunged for him.
■■■ nearly cried out for him to be careful.
But.
"Don't get distracted."
The boy did not even glance at the White Queen.
Without turning his head, he casually swung his scythe once.
Thud.
A simple flick.
The White Queen rushing at him was torn apart.
Her silhouette was not merely torn apart; it completely evaporated.
SHWAAASH-!
"Look at me."
"......"
A [Queen], one of the highest-ranking beings among the nightmares.
He had erased one of them with a single gesture.
Yet without the slightest reaction, he only looked down at ■■■.
Swipe.
The clown's hand rested against her cheek.
Warmth.
The girl flinched without meaning to.
Soft. His gentle hand brushed the corner of her eye.
He wiped away the bloody tears that had fallen, then slowly made her meet his eyes.
"Miss ■■■."
Why was it?
-■■■.
She remembered her sister's words.
Words she had thought were so foolish, so unreal.
-When you live long enough...
-Maybe someday, you'll meet someone who'll save you.
The mask was smiling.
The clown crouched before ■■■, as though trying to meet her at eye level.
"I can help you."
"......"
There was no need to ask with what.
The boy's finger pointed at the crown, the symbol of Nightmare Transformation.
"That power... Wouldn't you like to try controlling it?"
Controlling her Nightmare Transformation.
At the offer, ■■■ could only stare blankly.
Footnotes:
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