That was a bit tough, Alice thought as she dusted herself off.
They had just finished their hardest rift yet—an A+ ranked rift.
It was difficult, but with the help of Neraxis, they were able to conquer it. By now, the world had begun to call them heroes, as they were the main ones responsible for clearing these rifts.
Aside from that, Alice felt much closer to Neraxis than ever before.
But that wasn't because she liked him herself. Instead, it was because of this:
It went up again... I fucking hate this feeling... Alice thought with a grumble.
She felt butterflies in her stomach every time she talked with Neraxis, and she didn't need glasses to tell he liked her too.
After all, he still thought Alice was Zaria—and the original Zaria was the supposed Zed who had died a year ago under the government's roof.
It was a difficult memory override, and Alice had skimmed off many years of her life. However, in the end, she felt like she was losing herself.
Zaria's calm and loving nature combined with... me... isn't exactly meshing well, Alice thought as she turned to her party members.
By now, they had a couple more people.
Jeremy as a secondary spearman and Leo as a master swordsman who rivaled Lar.
Jeremy wasn't on a high horse like the others. However, Leo was just as cocky as Bale.
Nonetheless, Alice put that aside as she approached Neraxis and placed her hand on his shoulder.
"You did good this time again. I honestly thought you were going to get injured by how wildly you were fighting," Alice remarked with a giggle.
"Sorry," Neraxis apologized. "I promised I wouldn't..."
Alice frowned and proceeded to accept. However, a shocking sight soon entered her vision.
W-What? Wait... Alice waved her hands in the air, shocked.
This not only meant she had less than 5 years to live, but also she could no longer control Neraxis.
There were a couple of incidents over the years, and most of them were due to his recklessness.
Therefore, Alice altered his memories. Instead of having affection for Zaria, what he felt was loyalty.
And since to him, Alice was Zaria, she was the brunt of that loyalty.
However, now that it was failing, she had no choice but to rethink her choices.
How am I supposed to control him now...? Alice pondered.
Suddenly, Neraxis flicked her hand off his shoulder as he began walking away.
But it wasn't in the direction of the city. Instead, it was right where they had just destroyed the rift.
Lar and the others soon ran over, grim looks on their faces.
"I'm getting some bad readings. There's a rift that's about to form. I think we need to evacuate," Lar stated, glancing toward Neraxis. "Leave the idiot."
"Come on, man..." Jeremy muttered. "The least you can do is tell him as well. Should I go do it?"
Lar stared at him for a few moments before letting out a sigh. "Suit yourself. We're leaving."
With those words, Lar nodded at Alice and the others before walking away.
Normally, Alice would be able to talk to Neraxis by using their connection. However, since the skill was now gone, she couldn't do that anymore.
And frankly, she didn't want to stop what was about to happen. After all, he had been a burden on her ever since Zaria died.
Yet as she returned her gaze in his direction, she suddenly saw a monstrous figure in the distance.
It seemed like a werewolf with dragon scales, but that wasn't what was truly shocking.
In fact, it was the face that had been etched onto the chimera's body.
It was Zaria with her usual red hair. Yet, her eyes were closed.
However, in the very next moment, they opened, revealing some kind of blue crystals embedded in them.
Before they even knew what to make of the situation, those crystals lit up, as a dozen arrows formed in the sky and traveled toward Neraxis.
He had a blank expression on his face, but if Alice didn't know any better, she'd wager he was slowly beginning to remember Zaria.
Nonetheless, Neraxis dodged all the arrows as he slowly approached her with the scythe. But to Alice's surprise, he didn't strike her down.
Instead, he let her shoot an arrow straight through his body, narrowly missing his heart.
Soon, Jeremy ran in as he hurled his spear straight toward the chimera.
It let out a piercing noise which caused Alice's feet to buckle and blood to drip from her nose and ears.
The same applied to Lar and the rest. However, Jeremy seemed the most affected.
His eyes literally burst, and blood leaked from all his orifices.
Yet, when another row of arrows flew toward him, he couldn't dodge—so he was pierced with every single one of them.
Soon, he dropped to the ground, lifeless, and only then did Neraxis snap out of it as he jumped up and slashed his scythe in chimera Zaria's direction.
Since he was vastly stronger, she was cut in two without even being able to react.
Surprisingly, Neraxis didn't stop there as he infused his scythe with giant green flames and sent them toward the chimera.
However, chimera Zaria seemed to only be a decoy, since the moment her body was destroyed, a giant blue column burst into the sky.
And of course, the sky soon cracked, revealing the silhouettes of a dozen monsters—each of whom would be considered a major threat if they were to get out.
But since there was no way to keep them from coming, Alice and the rest of the heroes could only watch as they glided down, landing beside Neraxis.
Yet he seemed unfazed, as in the very next moment, he twirled his scythe in an arc, killing dozens of those strong monsters in an instant.
"He's gone berserk..." Lar muttered with a sigh as he tapped Alice on the shoulder.