The third floor was abnormally quiet.
The irritating mist showed no signs of dispersing here either.
It looked like a floor in a normal school, just quieter and emptier.
This was the final floor.
Sen Getsusa shook the bracelet on her left hand a few times—the purple tassels clinked crisply against each other in the wind.
[Vishanti's Dream]
[Filter Screen: Upon entry, the wearer's face and posture will be concealed by Vishanti. Any existence with an energy level lower than Vishanti cannot see through the force field.]
Sen Getsusa's small face began to distort.
Her whole body curved into a black-hole-like vortex in a strange arc, constantly drawing in the surrounding light.
The girl's body seemed to stretch and then shrink, being pulled into the center of the vortex like a phantom.
Immediately following was the sound of shattering glass.
Then, it was reassembled.
Sen Getsusa touched her face.
If a second person were present, they would discover with horror that the humanoid creature before them seemed to be hidden within a layer of constantly writhing grayish-white glass.
Everything was hazy and blurred.
"Alright, let me see who exactly is causing trouble..."
The deeper she went, the dimmer the light became.
The clean and tidy brick surface beneath her feet disappeared, replaced by a deep purple creep. When she stepped on it, sticky filaments would cling to the soles of her shoes, pulling out long strands of mucus when she lifted her feet.
My new shoes!
Sen Getsusa pouted.
But... eh?
These seem to be Senior's shoes?
Squish, squish, squish.
Squish, squish... It's a rare opportunity to mess up someone else's things.
As the girl continued forward, the surrounding walls no longer maintained their original form.
Large areas of creep covered everywhere within Sen Getsusa's sight. On the ceiling, dense clusters of deep yellow insect eggs hung precariously overhead.
The girl felt as if she were in a nest with tender red and moist, sticky textures. She could even hear the thumping heartbeats of the larvae inside the eggs above her.
In a daze, increasingly complex and dense giant holes and lung-like respiratory organs began to appear one after another.
Walking here gave one the illusion of gradually stepping into an abyss.
Rustle, rustle.
Sen Getsusa took out her phone, and the flashlight illuminated the darkness.
A group of shiny black beetles screeched piercingly, crouching in the holes of the lung-like organs to peer at the girl.
When the light shone over, the whole swarm suddenly went crazy, extending countless thin insect legs and swarming into the holes above.
Sen Getsusa walked along, using the light to disperse the swarms of insects.
Gradually, the ground became more open.
This was an incredibly large area of creep.
It was probably a concert hall or a rehearsal room, but in any case, its original form was no longer recognizable.
Creep and strange organs tightly covered the hall. On the ceiling, a giant peach-pit-shaped pink tumor was continuously dripping mucus.
Ugh... Smacking her lips, the girl turned her gaze toward the center.
"Komuro Yota...?"
Sen Getsusa was surprised.
This Boy had once secretly asked a senior student to look for information about her. Of course, anyone who has been to school knows there are no secrets.
So Yuno Gasai found out.
And so, there was no "after that."
However, Sen Getsusa still remembered the name.
He... was also infected?
Looking around, at least twenty or thirty young men and women were kneeling in the center of the creep. Some had their backs to Sen Getsusa, while others faced each other, heads bowed and hands clasped, humming something.
It sounded like the buzzing of insect wings.
It was irritating and anxiety-inducing.
Further back, a white worm with a massive body twisted slowly. Inside the transparent body, there was a small human figure.
The girl lifted her foot, and the dense fungal colonies behind her slowly closed, sealing the path she came from.
Two people wearing masks looked over from a distance.
Masks?
A man and a woman watched her silently. In their view, Sen Getsusa at this moment was like a television with the wrong frequency, her entire being appearing distorted and glitched—
This uninvited guest's form was obscured by spiderweb-like spatial fragments.
"Welcome, strange Ritualist."
"Was it you who defeated the Son of the mist?"
The person wearing the Hannya mask spoke first. He walked over through the mucus, bypassing the praying students, and stopped five or six meters away from Sen Getsusa.
His male voice had a very gentle and approachable tone.
He bowed slightly and politely stepped aside, opening his hands to Sen Getsusa: "We welcome any Ritualist who holds no hostility."
"Whether chaos or order—"
The man confidently conveyed the ideology of himself or the organization behind him to Sen Getsusa: "You see, we are human, and whether it's order or chaos, they are ultimately different from us."
"Then..."
The man left her hanging, but Sen Getsusa continued to watch him silently.
"So, humans should naturally be closely united with one another, don't you agree?"
"This... Mister?"
"Or Miss?"
Sen Getsusa nodded and gestured with her hands for the man to continue.
"Therefore, whether you belong to order or chaos,"
"I think we have no reason to be enemies."
"The organization behind me can provide you with information that ordinary people simply cannot access."
"And this can make you stronger, allowing you to surpass those Ritualists of the same level more quickly..."
Hannya's seductive speech seemed to have even infected himself. He stated passionately, "Our goal is to transcend order and chaos!"
"Why should we kill each other?"
"This is a conspiracy of order and chaos!"
"Only power itself is real!"
Sen Getsusa remained noncommittal. She looked up at the crowd still piously kneeling: "How do you know I'm not from the official side?"
The girl's voice had a neutral tone, blurred and unclear.
The man behind the mask could hardly hide his smile: "Because we know the field teams of the 'Ritual Institute' too well."
"Today, only White Torch can come."
He took two steps forward, approaching Sen Getsusa: "And for us, who are blessed by the mist at this moment, White Torch..."
"Is nothing to fear."
Step.
He continued forward.
"So, strange Ritualist, what is your choice?"
The buzzing of wings appeared again.
A palm-sized, disgusting fly landed on Hannya's shoulder. Its abdomen kept writhing and bulging, and its two giant compound eyes were dense and terrifying.
The black fly moved, and at the man's signal, two thin antennae extended from the fly's abdomen.
They wriggled in front of Sen Getsusa.
It seemed to be a tube used for injecting something.
"Open your mouth and accept the gift of the mist."
"Or, choose to become an enemy of the 'Masquerade Ball'."
The cards were on the table. Hidden within the man's seductive words were murderous intent and danger.
Sen Getsusa tilted her head. She looked at the information displayed on the purple projection and chuckled.
To the man, this laughter sounded eerie and hoarse.
"Eh, asking someone to open their mouth as soon as you meet is very rude, Mister."
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