Chapter 75: Bonus Chapter 9

The Unknown Chain

X - X - X

Alice rubbed her eyes when the sun rays hit her in full force. The curtain was drawn before so someone must've pulled them back to the window's sides. Grumbling to herself she throws the cover from her body, revealing her wearing a white pajama. She tries to move but feels pain on her stomach. Lifting her shirt up a bit she can see that her abdomen is wrapped by gauzes. She wondered why her stomach was wrapped by gauzes but immediately recalled the events happening right before she passed out.

The battle against Tumour Face.

She lets out a sigh of exhaustion, visibly still tired after the brutal combat against the Chain. Turning to the side of the bed, letting her legs dangling off the floor, she pushes her feet into the white furred bathroom sandals. She located the bathroom and walked to there. Turning the sink on she splashes her face with warm water to get rid any cobwebs left in her head.

"Alice! You're awake!". She flinched when she heard her name. Turning her head around she sees Oz standing in the doorway. Oz smiles and waves at her. "Good morning Alice! How are you doing?". Alice couldn't help but to return the warm feelings with her own. "I am doing fine. How about you?". Oz let out a small chuckle. "I am doing fine too but don't be concerned about me because your condition's much more important".

Alice feels the temperature of her body rises a bit upon hearing those sweet words. "T-Thank you Oz. That's nice of you" She said turning her head away from him trying to hide her red cheeks. Damn him and his caring demeanor. "If you want to, I can call one of the maids to help you take a bath and replace those gauzes" He offered. Alice nods in response. "Yes please if you may Oz" she answered politely. Oz let out a large smile before fleeing the scene to call some maids to help her out. Alice continues to gaze onto her own reflection in the wide spotless mirror.

A moment later, a maid comes to view. "Hello Miss Alice, how may I be in service?" She asked while bowing in respect. "You may help me taking a bath and replacing all the current gauzes. I am sure Oz had told you that prior to coming here". "Yes Miss Alice, it will be done" The maid starts to take Alice's pajama off.

For the next 20 minutes she let herself sank in the loving care of the maid. Her scalp being massaged, her long hair being treated with affection and love. The maid also made sure that she was careful around her abdomen as it was the center of her current painful predicament. She washed her entire body twice in warm water. Alice almost fell asleep several times during the bathing session.

She then felt she was being carried out from the bathtub into the chair that had been prepared for her. The maid carefully and softly dried her hair with the towel making sure it's not wet anymore before she moved to drying her body. Then she slowly combed her hair and remade her braids. She then applied perfume to Alice's body to make her smell nice. The scent was a strawberry scented perfume.

Carefully she dressed her with her normal attire and as a final touch she applied lipstick to Alice. "There you go. All set Miss Alice. I hope you like it" She declared happily. Looking to the large rectangular mirror she sees her own reflection. She is beautiful. "Thank you. You may leave" Alice said with a smile. The maid smiles back and bow to her before leaving.

Exiting the bathroom and her room, she makes way around the Vessalius Mansion. The garden looks like a good place to bask in the sunlight. But before she could go there, she hears muffled voices coming from one of the closed room. Intrigued, she tip toed to the door and place her ear against it. She could make out some sentences.

"This is not a Chain from the Abyss! This is an otherworldly abomination!"

"How can you be so sure? It must be a Chain! There's no other explanation"

"It is not a Chain! Normal Chain once killed would be returned back to the Abyss! But this… this remained here. We even can brought it back here for further examination"

"The Abyss itself is an ever changing dimension. I am not surprised that it managed to produce an all new unique type of Chain"

"I agree with Barma"

"Eavesdropping on an important meeting? That's not a nice thing to do Miss Alice" A voice she knew all to well startled her. She swings her first around only to be caught by none other than Xerxes Break himself. "What do you want Clown?!" Alice hissed. "If you want to enter, you can join the meeting as well since Oz is there right now" He answered.

"Then why aren't you in there?" She asked. "I was supposed to fetch you from your room after you were finished taking a bath. But I found you were missing and instead, I find the person I was looking for was eavesdropping" He smirked smugly.

"Fine, let's go inside" She sighed. Opening the door, she could see Rufus Barma, Bernard Nightray, Oscar Vessalius, and Sheryl Rainsworth. Gilbert and Oz are seated next to each other beside Oscar. Sharon waves at Alice and motions her to sit beside her. Alice obliges and sit right next to her while Break stands behind Sharon.

"Well, now that everyone's here, let's continue" Oscar said. "Miss Alice, may you inquire what happened during the fight?" Oscar asked. "The Chain was a powerful one. Even I struggled to defeat it. It managed to land a critical hit on me as I currently have a bruise on my abdomen" She explained. "From one account, it was said that the Chain was able to release a rather powerful and deadly move, which was erupting tendrils from its body and used it to impale its victims, is that true?" Rufus asked. "Yes it's true. It was used twice during the fight. The first one was meant to end the fight quickly by trying to impale all three of us. Me, Gilbert and Oz. It failed. The second time was when I got impaled by it using its arm. I managed to cancel the attack by killing it through beheading. Should it succeeded, I would sustain an even worse injury".

The room is filled with murmurs, discussing the Chain's ability.

"I heard that despite its heavy and massive stature, it was able to move around rather quickly" Bernard said. "Yes it's true. It moved around quickly. His body consisted of hardened muscle mass meant to enhance its lethality in combat".

"From your observation, could this… unknown Chain originated from The Abyss?" Rufus asked. Alice sighs in response. "I don't know. But I am sure that thing, is not from The Abyss. Normal Chain would simply return to The Abyss once defeated. But that thing… stays here. In this world".

Leaning back on her chair, she muses. "Perhaps there are far greater and more powerful things than The Intention of The Abyss itself. I wonder if we are facing a greater threat than The Abyss itself. One that's even worse than Glen Baskerville himself".