Chapter 48: The March Hare’s Riddle

Alice pushed off the ground, leaping into the air. She spread her wings, allowing herself to float upwards.

The beastification potion, concocted by a Divine-rank witch, did not truly elevate the user’s power to a mid-tier. Instead, it merely granted them temporary, partial abilities of a magical beast form.

As was the case with Alice now, her precognition and divination abilities remained firmly at the Eighth Tier. She merely possessed the Sixth Tier magical beast form and a fraction of its power temporarily.

Using the beastification potion, Alice could utilize the succubus form’s levitation, charm, and hypnosis. However, she couldn’t employ high-tier skills like Dream Weaver.

The succubus form did not allow for prolonged flight like a harpy, but it did permit one to float at a low altitude for about ten seconds.

Alice thus lifted herself into the air, gaining a vantage point over the entire alley.

Yet, facing today’s opponent, simply hovering at a low altitude was tantamount to suicide.

While flying might render opponents without anti-air capabilities helpless, her current adversary was a master of throwing daggers. For that person, the hovering Alice would be nothing more than a perfect target. She wouldn’t even have time to reach the rooftops before being struck down!

However, this was precisely Alice’s intention.

Her opponent seemed to possess a special ability to conceal their presence for short periods; Alice’s eyes and ears couldn’t detect the slightest trace. Yet, from the previous encounter, it seemed the person would reveal themselves the instant they launched an attack.

‘Invisibility,’ the Duchess had taught her, ‘is an ability of a blessed one on the ‘Assassin’ pathway.’

Standing on the ground, Alice would be unable to discern her opponent’s direction, making it impossible to cast her charm spell effectively.

For charm to work, she needed the target to see her eyes. If the opponent silently circled behind her for a sneak attack, she might be decapitated before her ability could even take effect.

Therefore, she flew into the sky to look down. This way, if the invisible assassin were to aim and cast their gaze upon her, Alice would be fully prepared to unleash her charm. This was a technique the Duchess had taught her.

“I see them!” Alice exclaimed, having spotted her target.

A figure clad in night clothes stood in the alley, a dagger clutched in their hand, poised to throw. But the moment they looked up at Alice, their movements froze, caught by the charm.

For some inexplicable reason, despite the person not being masked, Alice found she couldn’t discern their face.

Seizing this opportunity, Alice descended, intending to approach the individual at close range to amplify the charm’s effect.

However, the moment her feet touched the ground, mere steps away from the opponent, a chilling sensation of death once again engulfed her.

This premonition sharpened her alertness. Then, she witnessed the opponent’s wrist, holding the dagger, twitch.

They had actually broken free of the charm on their own!

Alice instinctively dodged, allowing the dagger to graze past her side. When she looked again, the person had vanished.

The chill of death surrounding her intensified abruptly, becoming several times stronger than before.

Alice realized she had underestimated her opponent. To break free from a ‘Succubus’ charm independently, this individual either possessed specialized resistance or was a powerful being above the Sixth Tier!

The witch’s precognition screamed that the next attack would undeniably be fatal!

‘It’s over,’ she thought, overwhelmed by despair at the inescapable situation.

Yet, in that moment, the fierce will to survive spurred her mind into a final struggle. A vision suddenly flashed before her eyes.

It was the divination she had performed before coming here, a memory of the Mad Hatter smiling and saying to her:

“Why is a raven like a writing desk!?” In that critical instant, Alice blurted out the words without thinking.

*Swish!

The blade, tearing through the air, abruptly halted, emitting a vibrating hum.

It was a short sword, stopped precisely at Alice’s neck. A mere push would sever her throat and artery. Had the blade not stopped, Alice’s entire head might have been lopped off.

The owner of the short sword, the assassin, had appeared beside Alice at some unknown point.

Upon hearing those words, the assassin froze the hand that was meant to take Alice’s life.

Alice nervously held her breath, raising her hands to signal her complete lack of combat intent.

In the split second before her potential death, she suddenly grasped the meaning of the divination’s outcome.

The Mad Hatter’s peculiar riddle was, in fact, a recognition password.

The assassin’s halt indicated that they acknowledged this password.

This assassin must have been allied with the Mad Hatter; there was no need for them to fight to the death.

The chilling sensation of death receded, but Alice dared not relax, as the assassin’s blade remained in place.

Two seconds later, the silent assassin moved behind Alice, seizing her hands and twisting them behind her back. With one hand, they secured her wrists, while the other held the short sword, wrapping it around Alice’s shoulder. They held her tightly from behind, maintaining the blade at her neck.

In this position, Alice could neither cast charm nor retaliate.

“Don’t move recklessly. Answer my questions. Resist or lie, and you will die. Understand?” The assassin spoke, her voice slightly hoarse. Only then did Alice realize the assassin was a woman.

“Ask away,” Alice replied.

“Are you a witch?” the assassin began.

“Yes.”

“Where did you learn that password?”

“A man who called himself the Mad Hatter told me.”

“What is your relationship with the Mad Hatter?” The assassin’s questions came rapidly, but fortunately, Alice had no intention of lying, so she managed to keep up.

“He could be considered my benefactor, I suppose…”

“Benefactor? Elaborate.”

“I was unjustly imprisoned in a detention center, where I met him. He gave me a ‘Mark of Sacrifice,’ and it was thanks to that I was able to escape the cell alive.”

“Hm?” The assassin detected something. “The incident that occurred in the ‘Rabbit Hole’ previously, was it connected to you?”

“Yes.”

“Then why did you seek me out? Merely to express gratitude?”

“That is only one reason.” Alice chose her words carefully. “After I became a witch, I divined some matters related to the Mad Hatter. I hope to speak with him.”

“What did you divine?” the assassin pressed for details.

“To be honest, the results of the divination cannot be explained in a few words. I hope to tell him in person,” Alice said. “I want to see him.”

She wasn’t about to reveal everything at once. She deliberately refrained from mentioning the contents of the divination, as well as Queen Isola and the Duchess, who were hidden within the Empire.

Her purpose for this journey was to meet the Mad Hatter.

After several seconds of silence, the assassin released Alice and withdrew the short sword.

“May I turn around now?” Alice asked cautiously.

“As you wish,” the assassin replied coolly.

Alice turned, finally getting a clear look at the assassin’s appearance.

A tall woman, appearing to be in her early twenties, dressed in a form-fitting night suit with a hood covering her hair.

Alice noticed the woman’s eyes glowed with an eerie red. She stared intently at Alice, her gaze subtly tinged with an abnormal frenzy, as if she might charge forward at any moment to fight Alice again.

Alice felt unnerved by her stare, but in the blink of an eye, the eerie red receded from the female assassin’s eyes, and the madness within them vanished without a trace.

“Come, walk this way. You go first, stay within my line of sight,” the female assassin said in a calm tone, pointing to a nearby single-story house.

“Alright, um…” Alice began, intending to ask for her name.

“March Hare.” The female assassin, sensing Alice’s question, answered preemptively. “It’s my codename within the ‘Tea Party.’ You can just call me March Hare.”