Miko could feel that something in the surroundings had changed.
When Takumi chose not to investigate the ruins of Fujihana Middle School and instead insisted on digging deeper into the secrets hidden within this building, some things lurking in the darkness and spying on them seemed to become active.
They appeared to be filled with extreme dissatisfaction over this decision and were attempting to take some sort of action.
Were they the same three things she had seen before?
Takumi had said that the information they collected likely contained deliberate guidance.
And now it really seemed those things had been scheming behind the scenes?
Those things had intentionally tried to lure them toward Fujihana Middle School?
Thinking this far, Miko could not help but feel lingering fear rising in her heart.
But compared to matters they did not yet need to face, the thing directly before them now was far more worthy of attention.
Whoosh—
As cold wind raged around them, the girl intensely experienced a sensation of falling far stronger than when she had jumped down from the third floor before.
The footsteps of the Aberrations had already begun gathering above them.
Those security guards who had previously acted lazily, along with the director who had failed to notice their actions earlier, now seemed to have been alerted by something.
All of them were converging toward the elevator.
But their speed was already nowhere near enough to catch Takumi and the others.
Because after destroying the elevator floor, the group had decisively chosen to leap straight downward, plunging into the darkness below.
"Uu…"
Driven by an instinctive fear of falling, Miko subconsciously clung tightly to the person beside her—
To Takumi, who had deliberately waited a moment for her before jumping down together with her.
"Don't be afraid. It's okay."
Takumi casually reassured the girl, his gaze still fixed tightly on the darkness below.
Mai and "Gotō No. 1" were falling alongside them nearby.
The four figures had already been completely swallowed by the darkness, with no way of knowing what kind of place they were falling toward.
What appeared first afterward was meaningless static.
A shrill, ear-piercing impact crashed into them.
The sound seemed mixed with the agonized screams of countless people at the brink of death, overflowing with endless pain and despair, to the point it nearly shattered the listener's mind and thoughts entirely.
Takumi's brows knit tightly together. Relying on his extraordinary willpower, he directly resisted the mental assault while simultaneously using the watch's will-sharing function to shield Miko, who was clinging tightly to him in his arms, from the impact, taking on double the burden by himself.
Mai had already activated the blessing that controlled her own personality, ensuring that even if the mental assault destroyed her ability to think, she would still recover rapidly.
As for the girls remotely controlling "Gotō No. 1," the connection between them and that body had already been severed. By temporarily "disconnecting from the network," they blocked the damage from the mental assault, though naturally that also meant they could no longer know what was happening inside.
Bzzzz—
Amid the piercing noise, Takumi began seeing countless images.
Fragmented scenes from the past.
Alice singing on stage.
Alice smiling as she met her fans.
Alice softly humming while cradling a blood-soaked doll in her arms.
[Everyone, come become Alice's friends together~]
The girl whispered happily.
And amid the spreading crimson, one mutilated corpse after another had already stopped breathing.
She was smiling.
Wearing gorgeous dresses.
Wearing cute skirts.
Gracefully dancing upon the stage while leisurely singing.
That voice intoxicated countless people.
Many who had seen her true nature still refused to repent, even willingly helping her, becoming assistants to that monster wearing human skin just like Fujii Hiroshi had.
The color red.
All Takumi could see was an endless, all-consuming crimson that drowned out his vision.
And when Miko opened her eyes, she too saw those things at that moment.
Saw the things that had been buried away.
The things that had been hidden.
The things no one remembered anymore.
The things that had been buried together with this twisted Instance, deep within an abyss no one could ever reach.
That was singing.
A soft, drifting song, like some gentle illusionary dream.
It was Alice—the idol adored by countless people—singing.
That was silence.
Utter silence without a single sound.
It was...
A group of silent people...
A group of people who had never fallen in love with Alice, merely remaining silent.
That inhuman charm seemed incapable of making those people submit.
No matter how beautiful the song was, it could not move those silent people.
Why?
Alice seemed confused.
Miko could not help widening her eyes as well, trying to see those people clearly.
And so she saw them.
Men in filthy construction uniforms.
Middle-aged women wearing aprons stained with grease.
Young children.
Women carrying babies in their arms.
Men with wedding rings wearing numb expressions.
Elderly people with snow-white hair...
One missing-person flyer after another fluttered out around those silent figures.
Father.
Mother.
Son.
Daughter.
Husband.
Wife...
They remained silent.
Yet they were asking questions.
They searched.
Searching for the family members who had disappeared without a trace.
And they saw the only possible destination that trail pointed toward.
Saw the national idol called Alice—the person their loved ones had come into contact with before vanishing.
[How could someone as kind and wonderful as Alice ever do something bad?]
[This is definitely all your fault. You just don't love Alice enough. You couldn't tolerate your relatives, your family, your loved ones loving Alice, so that's why they ran away from home.]
[That's right. Alice has done nothing wrong. Alice has never done anything wrong. The only ones at fault are all of you. Go love Alice. Go become Alice's friends. That is the only way you can atone for your sins.]
Standing before Alice, Hiroshi spoke with absolute conviction.
[That's impossible. How could a great idol like Alice ever do something like kidnapping? You people are obviously trying to frame her!]
[There's no other possibility. Why is it that other fans are perfectly fine after meeting Alice, but your family members disappeared after meeting her? The only explanation is that you people did something wrong! You must be secretly plotting something to frame Alice!]1
[Go cool your heads in prison first, you damn criminals. Besides causing trouble for society, what use are people like you?!]
The police officers cursed furiously, staring at those silent people as though looking at mortal enemies.
[Ahh, how could something like that be possible? Impossible, impossible.]
[Alice is the most perfect idol. She's someone everyone would deeply love. There's no way she'd ever do anything bad.]
[If you people want dirt on someone, couldn't you at least pick someone else? This is way too low even for you. Huh? Family? Relatives? Are your family members more important than Alice? Tch. Not that Alice could ever possibly do anything bad in the first place, but even if she really had, you people should be grateful for it. Though something like that could never happen anyway. Ahh... I really hope one day I can become Alice's friend. Ahhh, Alice...]
The newspaper reporters dismissed them with contempt, then directly exposed their identities and photographs after they left.
Why wouldn't you love Alice?
Why would you slander Alice?
Why can't you become Alice's friends?
It seemed as though everyone was asking those same questions.
The idol named Alice was loved by more and more people. As long as her face appeared on a television screen, countless figures would gather around it, one intoxicated admirer after another flocking toward her.
It was as if "loving Alice" had already become the common sense of the entire society—the common sense of everyone.
Even those who had initially remained firm gradually began to change to varying degrees. Some started being drawn in by the girl's smile and singing voice, slowly forgetting the family and friends they had lost, forgetting the fact that those people had vanished after coming into contact with Alice.
And yet, even so, there were still some people who never changed.
Even with the idol's charm practically capable of destroying human reason, there remained an extremely small handful of people who never changed.
In a world overflowing with fanaticism, those people were so insignificant, so utterly unimportant, that almost no one noticed them at all. Even when they tried to make themselves heard, the only result was silent suppression.
But even so, someone still noticed those silent people.
[How strange. Why don't they like Alice?]
The girl softly laughed as she spoke, sounding somewhat interested.
[Idiots incapable of appreciating her can rot on their own. Though... if that's the case, then intense rejection—especially emotions like disgust and hatred—might be capable of ignoring Alice's charm? Maybe it's because Alice is still "human" right now? Hmph. Looks like I'll need to be more discreet in the future.]
The fanatical number-one fan muttered with tightly furrowed brows, seemingly somewhat emotionally unstable.
[...So it really was her? She really exists? What exactly is going on here...? Don't worry. I'll investigate this. If she really did something, then I'll make sure she faces legal punishment.]
And lastly, there was a man whose voice sounded calm and clear-headed, someone who seemed noticeably different from the other police officers.
Miko could not see his face clearly.
But she saw the handgun hanging at his waist—a black pistol that had been meticulously cleaned and maintained.
Thud!
Amid the heavy sound of impact, Takumi slowly rose to his feet.
And Miko, still somewhat dazed after being held in his arms until now, was gently set back down by him as well.
Mai and "Gotō No. 1" were nearby. All four figures had reached the ground completely unharmed. Aside from "Gotō No. 1," who was still disconnected and lying limply on the ground without moving, everyone else had already begun observing their surroundings, confirming where they were.
This was a stage.
An extremely lavish stage, filled with obviously expensive decorations and furnishings that were still being carefully maintained even now.
The red carpet was as crimson as blood.
And when Miko turned her head, her gaze fell beneath the stage.
She saw guests filling every seat.
Every single one of them was smiling happily.
Every single one of their skulls had been hollowed out, leaving behind only bloody cavities.
Every single one of them stared at the stage beneath the lights with intoxicated obsession.
Countless umbilical cords rose from the seats, forming a writhing world of flesh and blood.
And at that moment, the muttering voices those people endlessly repeated—voices that sounded almost like soft calls—entered Miko's ears.
Entered the ears of everyone present.
[Alice～]
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