Dorothy was playing a game.

The hero in the game brandished a sword, and said, let’s defeat the evil monsters for everyone.

Dorothy looked at the knife placed beside her and thought.

If she too, held a knife and stabbed bad things, could she become a hero?

And not long after, screams were heard.

…

POV Switch – Alice

“To summarize, in the near future, an anomaly will surge, and a singularity beyond control will arrive. The Institution plans to use the illusion collapse phenomenon. At this point, the tale devil named Dorothy will summon Oz and turn back time?”

Roughly summarized, that’s it, but isn’t a lot missing?

As if representing my feelings, Ha-rim raised her hand and spoke.

“How do they plan to use the illusion collapse phenomenon?”

“It seems to be related to Dorothy, somehow.”

“It will probably be related to summoning Oz as well.”

All we can guess are fragmented pieces.

It all seems to make sense, but unless we meet that girl Dorothy, this curiosity won’t be resolved.

“First, it would be best to inform others of this fact. “

Since we’ve obtained information, we need to share it.

Rather than contacting everyone individually, we’ll need Ariel, who can gather the devils all at once.

I used a telephone monster, unaffected by radio waves or other phenomena, to contact Ariel.

Ring ring… Click.

“Hello, Ariel?”

Ariel answered the phone.

However, only silence filled the receiver.

For some reason, it sounded like a strong wind was blowing.

The moment I was about to call Ariel’s name again.

“Good timing calling, Alice. That thing you were preparing last time. You can activate it, right?”

Ariel got straight to the point.

I was a bit flustered, so my answer was a little late.

That thing I was preparing was probably referring to the castle I had laboriously built by gathering the tale devils and making them work.

That’s possible with the power of Little Red Riding Hood and Peter Pan, and if there’s enough activation time.

“…If there’s enough time, it’s possible.”

“Good. Make sure to activate it somehow. And one more thing. Absolutely do not come to help us!”

“What?”

“If we all gather, we’ll be annihilated together by Dorothy.”

“Time’s up.”

“…I’ll trust you.”

Ariel, who had only said puzzling things, soon hung up the phone.

At the end, a calm girl’s voice I had never heard before came through.

Telling me not to come rescue them, what kind of crisis are they facing?

If the tale devils are gathered, they’ll be annihilated by Dorothy.

Dorothy is trying to kill the tale devils.

How should I take this?

…

POV Switch – Ariel

We were wandering the changed world to complete the mission given at the tea party, searching for the ‘Ruler’ who was the cause.

Humans who had turned into illusions could be seen sporadically.

Perhaps because they were originally human, they didn’t seem to try to harm each other unless there was an accident.

Just as I was about to appreciate that sight for a moment.

Suddenly, a massive storm blew in.

“Ugh!”

“Watch out!”

Jack quickly pulled me out of the storm.

A sudden storm in this world where it neither rained nor thundered.

Could this phenomenon also be related to the Ruler?

But something’s strange.

This storm… somehow, it’s not unfamiliar.

It feels like I’ve seen it many times, over and over again.

A memory…? No, it’s not something that beautiful.

I felt something was off, but it’s worth investigating.

To find out if this storm was only happening here, I sent an invitation to Pinocchio.

I was planning to ask her to make a storm-tracking radar or something.

Because Pinocchio is the best when it comes to the versatility of abilities.

“Strange. I sent a letter to Pinocchio, but there’s no reply.”

Is it because it’s an ability that activates with a different mechanism than the tea party invitations?

The letter ability, where you put a letter in a glass bottle and it floats through the air as if it were the sea to find its destination, is indeed easier to lose unlike the invitations.

Still, I can’t imagine Pinocchio losing something…

“Hmm! It’s because Ariel kept pestering him to make a massage chair last time!”

“Even so, why wouldn’t she answer my call now, in an emergency?”

No way… could she have been attacked?

“Something must have happened. Could it be the work of a powerful Ruler?”

While I was inwardly thinking about unsettling possibilities, Jack smacked my back repeatedly.

Putting aside the pain, my chest is shaking.

This kid, even if he’s a brat, lacks consideration for a lady. How embarrassing, really…

“Look over there! That huge thing…!”

I understood Jack’s excessive reaction.

When we dig through the Institution for information, very rarely, information about Rulers comes in.

Direct information is hard to obtain, but fragments of it can be recognized.

“That thing… it’s one of the Rulers. It’s the one that had indirect records when I accessed classified documents. Even if it’s not the Ruler who caused this current situation, I don’t think it’s unrelated.”

“Indeed…! Ariel. Are you going to catch that thing?”

Jack suggests capturing the ruler.

I thought for a moment, then shook my head.

“Even if I’ve gotten stronger, I have no intention of being arrogant. Let’s quickly inform Alice.”

There’s a difference in strength even among Rulers.

Even though I blew away that zombie angel, it’s uncertain if I can beat this Ruler.

If I’m with Alice, we could probably win with relative stability.

Just as I was creating an invitation to enter the tea party space.

Slice.

The Ruler’s head flew off in an instant.

“Eh?”

Jack, with his mouth wide open, was about to say something.

I hastily covered his mouth and said in a very small voice.

“…Jack. Don’t say anything!”

A being, floating aloofly above the head of the Ruler that had become a corpse.

The moment we saw that girl, we felt our hearts sink.

Even though we have no memory of it, we’ve seen that child before.

And we’ve also been killed by that child.

Learned fear crept out, and slowly, as if even the sound of the invitation tearing might be heard.

I tore it very slowly.

“…!”

Our eyes met with the girl’s.

She’s looking at us with a smile.

Rip!

Simultaneously, the invitation tore, and Jack and I were able to move to the tea party hall.

“Phew…”

The tea party hall is a space that cannot be invaded without meeting certain conditions.

I felt relieved.

In just a short while, I was drenched in sweat.

Jack, still with a pale face, spoke.

“…I remember. I’ve been killed by that thing before.”

“You too?”

It wasn’t just a feeling.

I too became certain that I had been killed by her.

It’s contradictory, but I’ve definitely died several times.

“…First, should I call the other tale devils?”

As I was creating the invitations, I hesitated for a moment… Is it okay to call them?

Just that brief encounter was enough to create doubt.

If all the tale devils gather, can we beat that thing?

“Hi.”

“!!!”

No way. This is a place you can’t come to without my permission!

My thoughts were stunned, but my survival instincts were faster.

I unconsciously dodged the girl’s slash.

The slash easily destroyed the unique space known as the tea party hall.

Crash!

With the sound of space breaking, we returned to the place where we had encountered her.

“Jack’s atmosphere has only changed a little… Ariel has changed a lot.”

To think she’s casually talking to us after just trying to take our lives.

Is she out of her mind?

Normally, I would’ve cursed her out, but I felt I shouldn’t run my mouth carelessly in front of this girl.

“Th-that’s right.”

“Um… right… who were you again?”

When Jack asked, the girl smiled brightly and answered kindly.

“From some point on, you acted as if you knew me, but in the end, you couldn’t remember my name. Hi, I’m Dorothy. I’m playing the role of Dorothy. I’m in the middle of saving the world.”

Dorothy.

This girl is the last tale devil.

Why has she appeared only now?

“I’ll ask, Dorothy. Why are you trying to kill us?”

“Hmm… Killing tale devils doesn’t make me level up, but… it’s better to have no variables. If you guys killed monsters, then I’d have to kill you too.”

Level?… Is she speaking in game terms?

Is this girl still mistaken that this world is a game?

We fell into a game, but that place was never anything like a game.

It was a hellish place where living humans had to suffer.

If she had a sound way of thinking, she naturally should have felt it while killing things.

That it’s reality, not a game.

At Dorothy’s chilling words, I stepped back.

“I can go anywhere. So even if you run, it’ll be useless.”

…She can go anywhere.

Is it the ability of those red shoes?

It’s probably not a lie.

Because she followed us after we tore the invitation.

“How many times have you killed us?”

“I haven’t really counted, but if I had to say, wouldn’t the ones born most recently have died the least?”

She’s killed us countless times.

It made my heart sink again.

It’s not an absurd story.

This fear that Jack and I feel tells us it’s the truth.

Loop.

We are repeating our actions.

In that loop, have we never all faced Dorothy together?

If we lose even when facing her together, is there any meaning in calling the tale devils?

Doubt and fear try to consume my thoughts.

The swirling waves. The falling rain.

But I am a dragon.

I will no longer be submerged in a puddle of my own making.

I asked Dorothy.

“…Including you, there are a total of six tale devils. Have you killed all of them?”

“Yeah. You could say that?”

…!

There are a total of seven tale devils.

I realized it by testing her.

Among the tale devils Dorothy mentioned, Alice is missing.

It was then.

That a telephone suddenly grew from my body like a vine.

“Hmm?”

Ring ring…

This bizarre type of phone is probably a monster…

It’s Alice.

“Is it okay for a moment?”

“Yeah. If it’s just for a moment.”

Though she looks like she’s about to kill me right now, Dorothy just smiled as if intrigued and gave her permission.

I can’t read her at all.

“Hello, Ariel?”

…Words don’t come easily.

If only Alice hasn’t experienced the loop, this will be her first time meeting Dorothy.

If so, what should I do?

What should I say so that Alice can stop Dorothy?

I broke the silence and opened my mouth.

“Good timing calling, Alice. That thing you were preparing last time. You can activate it, right?”

“…If there’s enough time, it’s possible.”

“Good. Make sure to activate it somehow. And one more thing. Absolutely do not come to help us!”

Dorothy’s overwhelming power, which is presumed unbeatable even if all tale devils except Alice attacked her.

One misstep, and even Alice could be taken down.

Considering Alice’s characteristic of getting stronger the more she prepares, I judged that buying time was the way to increase our chances of winning.

“What?”

“If we all gather, we’ll be annihilated together by Dorothy.”

So don’t come to rescue us!

Because this time, she’s not an opponent we can beat impulsively.

Sorry, Jack.

If this turns out to be my wrong judgment, I’ll apologize.

But if it’s true that we’re looping, there must be a way to return even if we die.

“Time’s up.”

“…I’ll trust you.”

After saying those last words, I hung up the phone.

Dorothy raised her knife, spun it around distractingly, and slowly approached me.

“That’s a voice I haven’t heard before, isn’t it? Is that Alice?”

She knows the name…?

“So you knew.”

“I heard about her from that devil uncle. The uncle said I’m her prototype. That’s really new!”

Dorothy knows about Alice.

However, it’s certain she hasn’t seen Alice until now.

When she suddenly brought up Alice’s name, I wondered if I had misjudged, and my blood ran cold.

“After killing you guys, I’ll have to go meet her quickly.”

“…I have no intention of dying easily!”

The moment Dorothy raised her knife, I also took out my trident.

I parry the blade.

I swung my spear with only that thought, but before I could react, the knife was at my neck.

“Ariel!”

Whooshー!

If Jack hadn’t pulled me back, I would have been hit.

There was no time to be surprised by every little thing.

Spinning my spear, I parry Dorothy’s knife.

Clang!

Dorothy, her arm knocked aside, smiled and glanced at me.

“Jack!”

Jack, holding his axe, uses all his might to engage Dorothy.

Simultaneously, I summoned Sirens and set the stage.

Sing, my Sirens.

Confuse Dorothy!

Musical notes floating in the air rushed towards Dorothy, and I had Jack fall back again.

“You haven’t changed, still using tricks with songs.”

Dorothy didn’t even block the attack and took it directly.

As if she was tired of dodging.

I didn’t expect it to work anyway.

Not only Sirens, but I also summon Kelpies to aid in the confusion.

If I summon all water-related monsters, the opponent will surely try to wipe them all out with a big attack.

Sure enough, Dorothy grasped her knife and raised it towards the sky.

The sensation of air being sucked into the blade.

This is what I was aiming for.

As Dorothy’s slash flew, Jack immediately grew a beanstalk.

Jack’s beanstalk absorbed all the impact as if absorbing moisture.

Since a plant that absorbs evil bears fruits of evil, what grew on the beanstalk was something containing the impact intact.

“Fruit of Evil!”

The fruit that forms deals the same damage to Jack and the target.

However, if I add my power, the result is different.

“I will handle the sorrow.”

I’ve altered Jack and Dorothy’s fate.

So that the fruit of impact goes towards Dorothy without affecting Jack!

No matter how strong she is, her own attack will hurt.

“You two get along well.”

Boom!

The fruit exploded, and the damage went entirely to Dorothy.

Right after Jack and I were pushed back by the greater-than-expected impact, I checked Dorothy’s condition.

“Jack didn’t seem to be able to handle his abilities, but he’s using them well. And Ariel has become incredibly strong.”

Dorothy just stood there, maintaining her smile.

It’s not that the ability didn’t work.

It just meant her slash wasn’t swung strongly enough to injure herself.

She wasn’t even taking this seriously.

“Want to try this?”

Instead of a slash, Dorothy summoned a storm that pulverized the area like a blender.

Swallowing the curses about to erupt, I shout to Jack!

“Jack!”

“Got it!”

Jack enveloped himself in plants and created a wall.

Hoping it would hold even for a little while, I use the Sirens, Kelpies, and the summoned sea monsters as power to call forth the stage.

Pillars rose, piercing the ground, and a stage was formed.

Dragon’s Gate.

My own stage where I can exert my abilities to the fullest.

From my elevated view, I confidently shouted towards the storm that had pierced through Jack’s plants.

“I will control your storm!”

Dragons control the weather.

The Imugi that could only bring rain is no more.

I controlled the raging storm by holding my trident straight up.

Swoosh…!

I immediately focused the storm back onto Dorothy and sent it flying.

With this, surely…!

Crack!

Suddenly, the stage collapsed.

“…!”

In a single blow.

Casually walking through the raging storm.

She had destroyed the Dragon’s Gate.

Jack. Where is Jack?

I urgently searched for Jack.

“I dealt with him first.”

“Jack!”

Jack was slumped against the wall.

Seeing that his wounds aren’t regenerating, it seems it’s already too late.

My fists trembled with resentment and sorrow.

“Are you sad? There’s no need. This is inside a game. Everything is just a fleeting illusion.”

Sorrow. That word shakes me.

If this phenomenon is repeating, there must be a way to turn things back.

The important thing is to prevent this death from happening one more time.

I took a deep breath and stood confidently before Dorothy.

Because I am a dragon.

Because I can handle sorrow, I grip my spear and once again thrust it at Dorothy.

Even if it’s useless, as a dragon, I…

Clang-!

Thud.

Dorothy’s knife easily parried the trident and pierced my body.

A scream burst out from the coldness of the embedded knife.

It hurts. So much… my vision is blurry.

“I don’t know what game you were playing or what hardships you went through…”

“Hmm? You’re saying strange things. I came down to this world through the Hellgate.”

What…?

“You think you broke out of a terrible game world and came to reality, but this place is still a game. That’s why I think this world is beautiful.”

I try to argue, but I’ve already lost too much blood.

It’s not regenerating either.

Is it that child’s ability?

In the world that was turning completely black, Dorothy was smiling, looking somewhere else entirely.

“…Alice, huh. I should go pay her a visit..”

…

POV Switch – Alice

“Alice… what happened to Jack and Ariel?”

To the children asking with anxious faces, I could only answer with a hardened expression.

“They were taken down. By Dorothy.”

Even telling me not to come rescue them.

There must have been a reason they said they trusted me.

The goal has become clear.

Find a way to turn everything back, and defeat Dorothy.

“Let’s go.”

Ariel died! Jack died too. It’s so sad…

As always, if you spot any mistakes, feel free to let me know—and I hope you enjoyed the read!

—Chip