The situation on the battlefield changes in an instant; one moment, the Silver Knight gravely injures Alice, and the next, Alice's counterattack engulfs everyone.

Bologue is wrapped in layers of flesh and blood, with sharp, acute pain spreading from all directions. He can clearly feel the writhing of tentacles within his body as they crawl along the seams of his flesh, clinging to his bones, gnawing away at the bone and simultaneously corroding his marrow.

It's a sensation beyond description, as if he's being dissected alive. The tentacles then entwine around Bologue's heart, sucking the blood with every heartbeat.

This terrible experience ranks among the top five of Bologue's misfortunes, yet none of these is enough to shake his spirit. Soon, through the layers of gaps, he vaguely sees.

"Aimou..."

A dull moan of pain comes from his throat, as Bologue watches Aimou save Teda, then is herself surrounded by flesh and blood.

Bologue musters his remaining strength, trying to reach out, but it's a futile gesture. Darkness swiftly covers Bologue's vision, sealing him into a scarlet hell.

Aimou lacks the sharp senses of humans, but now Aimou feels a drowning sensation, just like a human.

She feels as if she's being dragged into a scarlet viscous sea of blood, attempting to resist, but the flesh easily penetrates her body, leaving her with little strength to fight back.

This is the weakness of a First Stage Condenser; apart from its Extraordinary Power, the essence of a First Stager is no different from a mortal.

The reason Bologue can battle so fiercely is largely due to his Undying Body, and Aimou as well, using her resilient and powerful Alchemy Body to close much of the gap with her enemies.

But what Aimou is facing now is not a conventional enemy, but a potential, awakening Calamity.

Alice is not the main body of the Calamity, just the incarnation of its heart, yet, even a part of the incarnation shows enough terrifying power.

Ravenous consumption swallows all essence; in the blink of an eye, Aimou's arm, like the Silver Knight's armor, is eroded into an ashen hue, then collapses into fine dust.

The Touch of Death reaches the Constant Motion Core, covering that tough and tight metal shell. Aimou feels this unsettling sensation for the first time, a fear as if her heart is being tightly gripped by a cold hand.

Great fear bursts in her heart, the continuity of her free will is gravely threatened, silently screaming.

Aimou feels she's going to die, literally, with her consciousness extinguished, leaving no chance of revival.

In this moment, Aimou thinks about many things, past memories flashing by.

Aimou has read many books that record the various reactions of humans before death—some cry in terror, some repent their sins, some are cold and cruel, some poetic... Aimou feels her reaction is different from them all.

Extreme fear vanishes in an instant, Aimou's mood is calm, as if she is embracing not death, but an unreachable beautiful dream.

Aimou still has many regrets, but at this moment, she feels those regrets are not important now; she just needs to accept this end calmly.

A turbulent heart achieves absolute peace.

But the anticipated death does not arrive.

The scarlet entity stops extending, and the scattered dust freezes in mid-air.

Aimou witnesses this scene of hell that engulfs everything, and also sees Teda's bewildered and dazed gaze in the distance. She tries to move, but remains tightly trapped.

Is this death?

Such a thought rises in Aimou's mind. She is just an Alchemy Puppet, not truly human, so she can't think of an answer for this ultimate destination of death.

Now Aimou feels peaceful, she calmly accepts all this, and then a mutation occurs.

The rigid body regains its senses, and Aimou gradually regains control over her body, struggling with all her might in this stagnant world, inch by inch crawling out of the scarlet entity.

Standing on the accumulated flesh and blood, Aimou realizes just how corroded she has become; the entire outer casing of her right leg has been completely eaten away, revealing the internal structure, and her right foot has completely disappeared, turned to dust and scattered.

A large hole has been corroded in her abdomen, the internal machinery has turned to dust, only the metal spine remains upright, but there are many tiny holes on its surface as well. If time continues to pass, the fracture of the metal spine is just a matter of time.

The corrosion on her hands varies, and Aimou did not expect such a resilient alchemical alloy to be unable to resist Alice's devouring.

After all, alchemical alloy can only physically resist attacks and cannot immune to an attack directly targeting the "Cold Iron Soul."

Continuing to examine upwards, Aimou finds her chest has also shattered, under the metallic shell, revealing the dark chest cavity, along with the faintly glowing Constant Motion Core. On the surface of that Alchemy Heart float many red fluff and radiant roots.

Aimou guesses that this phenomenon of time stasis might be triggered by the Fantasy Species, Alice's erosion triggered the Time Reversal.

So... she will still die.

Aimou's own ether retains less than one-tenth after Alice's plunder, and once the Fantasy Species activates, it will inevitably consume her Philosopher's Stone.

Everything will start over, but Aimou will die.

Aimou fell silent, she looked behind her to see Bologue engulfed by flesh and blood, with only one hand and half a face exposed, and she could see his furious eyes, as if screaming something.

Seeing Bologue like this, Aimou felt a strange sense of satisfaction, an individual's will being cared for and recognized, which was an incredibly scarce feeling for Aimou.

"I read a similar scene in a book, where some people experience certain things and cease to fear death."

Aimou's voice was relaxed, as if speaking to Bologue, even if he couldn't hear anything now, Aimou felt saying it meant it was said.

"Because they know, even when cold death arrives, somewhere in their heart, a bit of warmth continues to comfort their spirit."

Aimou felt she had received such comfort, unafraid of what was to come.

She felt at ease, with only tranquil peace in her heart, Aimou enjoyed this feeling, untroubled by worries, free from joy and sorrow.

The only slight regret was that Aimou ultimately didn't want to sacrifice Alice's Philosopher's Stone.

From the very beginning, Aimou knew she was only borrowing the will born from this Philosopher's Stone, everything she had now was borrowed from a deceased person.

Enjoying this brief moment was already the greatest blessing for Aimou, and she couldn't bring herself to usurp the last spirit of the deceased.

Aimou pondered, as her hand slowly reached into her chest, grabbing the heart entangled by flesh and blood.

The last defense of the Constant Motion Core had not yet been breached, and Alice's Philosopher's Stone remained in a safe state.

"Why are you doing this?"

A deep voice sounded, Aimou looked around warily, then she found the source of the voice.

At the core where flesh devoured everything, the head held aloft by a single hand was looking at Aimou, with a face similar to hers, smooth white skin with youthful vitality, a pleasant smile slowly revealing.

"Why do you want to save him? Wouldn't it be better to let him die?" asked the suspended head.

Aimou did not respond, she looked straight at Alice, somewhat unable to understand what was happening.

Aimou thought this was an anomaly triggered by the Fantasy Species about to perform Time Reversal, so she prepared to remove the Constant Motion Core to protect the Philosopher's Stone from depletion.

But within this Time Reversal exclusive to her, Alice spoke, no longer a monster but an aware being able to communicate.

"This… isn't Time Reversal?"

Aimou soon realized this issue, gazing at Alice with some terror, unspeakable secrets surfacing in her mind, delivering a heavy blow.

"You are not Alice."

Alice was already dead, her body became a vessel for the Immortal Heart, transformed into the current monster, and her soul inside Aimou's chest continued Aimou's existence.

The entity was definitely not Alice, just some monster relying on Alice's shell, an evil, frantic will.

"Does it matter who I am?"

Alice laughed, and her dangling arm pulled her back into the darkness, the next moment the flesh around Aimou started to squirm, then familiar faces emerged from the flesh. Alice traversed through the flesh, appearing easily in every corner.

Aimou tried to retreat, but she found her body losing control again, standing stiffly in place, allowing Alice to approach, uttering those blasphemous words.

"Who I am doesn't matter, Aimou."

Alice smiled at Aimou, and a pale, slender arm stretched out from the flesh at her feet, extending to caress Aimou's face gently.

The cold touch penetrated deep into her consciousness, Aimou's gaze entirely captivated by Alice, unable to even blink or shift her eyes.

"You only need to know one thing, Aimou."

As Alice spoke, her head separated from the flesh, another arm lifted it up, placing it in front of Aimou.

The lips moved up and down, Aimou could see the sharp teeth within, sticky clots of blood, and even surpass the limits of her body to smell the pungent scent.

"I am the only one extending a helping hand to you."

Alice smiled, promising Aimou a beautiful future, reaching out to twist fate, awaiting Aimou's response.

It was time to make a choice.

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