After finishing their police questioning, Erika and the others gathered in a relatively uncrowded waiting room.
The hospital was as noisy as ever, and for some reason, the staff directed harsh glares at their group loitering there.
Well, from their perspective, Erika and her friends must seem like harbingers of doom.
After all, on top of being swarmed by the media which was already a hassle, two murders had occurred in such a short period.
They were in a complete panic trying to deal with it all.
And on top of everything else, missing persons and people supposedly dead were mixed into the chaos—even though it was already late enough to be called the dead of night, there was no sign of their work ending.
However, Erika was well aware of her own situation.
After all, since defeating Ooki on the second floor of the academy, she had been moving practically non-stop, despite taking a few breaks.
Settling things with Marin, defeating the rotting Giraiguu, destroying the Kaigyo's fang, escaping to the outside, rescuing Daichi and Kiori, and then the final showdown with her parents.
Since it had mostly been enjoyable things, she hadn't felt a sense of fatigue yet, but she had a feeling her brain was about to short-circuit soon.
To untangle these threads that felt like they were about to get knotted up, they needed to gather like this and organize their information.
"Even though we finally escaped, it really doesn't feel like we can settle down at all."
Mitsurugi complained grumpily.
Erika reacted to that.
"You say that, but your expression has changed quite a bit, Mitsurugi san."
"Does it look that way?"
"Ai thinks you're relieved to have reunited with your family."
"Yeah, your face looks softer."
Being pointed out like that, Mitsurugi squished her own cheeks with both hands.
"Well, of course... I got out of a place where rotting corpses were walking around, I'm at least going to feel relieved. But even I'm feeling a bit restless. It seems like Kuragane san and Hiyami san have a lot going on with their families, so I guess they can't really relax either, right?"
"I had anticipated it to some extent."
"I was prepared for it, too."
"You two sure have some nerve. But since you called everyone together like this, there must be something else, right?"
Then Akabane spoke up, looking anxious.
"As for me, I just want to avoid my wife and daughter getting caught up in anything."
He had come here alone.
It seemed his daughter was waiting with his wife in a different location.
Putting himself in his wife's shoes: her husband and daughter were simultaneously caught up in an incident and their whereabouts were unknown for a long time.
The wife left behind must have been dying of anxiety, and since they had only just reunited, it would be too cruel to leave her completely alone, so he probably left his daughter behind.
Normally, Akabane would probably want to return to them immediately—which is likely why he was fidgeting.
"When it comes to our connection with the Kaisei kyou, you're practically an outsider, Akabane san, so we don't expect you to force yourself to fight. It's fine if you focus on protecting your wife and daughter, and if you need power, I'll allocate some skills to you."
"Thank you. But even if I don't fight, the Kaisei kyou will probably target us indiscriminately anyway, won't they?"
"Yeah, probably..."
"To prevent that, we need to take the initiative and crush them."
"Are you going to fight again, Big Sis?"
Hiiro looked anxiously at Yoshino, who was bravely clenching her fist.
Yoshino gently patted her sister's head.
"Of course I'm going to fight. To protect your safety, Hiiro."
"What about Ai?"
"Of course I'll protect you too, Ai chan. And for that, we have to thoroughly crush the Kaisei kyou."
She seemed much more proactive about fighting than before.
Even though the enemies were humans, not monsters.
The fact that Kiori and Chihiro got involved, and Renjo's death, must have influenced her to no small degree.
"I don't know if this will be helpful for that, but—"
Ruka, whose expression was darker than usual, brought up a topic.
She had only just lost her mother moments ago; Erika had told her she could rest if it was too much, but Ruka had shaken her head.
With a grim expression that seemed to say she also bore responsibility.
Perhaps concerned for her mental state, Marin stayed constantly by her side, holding her hand.
"The explosion we encountered before coming here... it seems it was a failed experiment by the Kaisei kyou."
"I totally thought Setaguchi had blown himself up for us."
"I thought the same as you, Erika senpai."
"If that's not the case, what on earth are those guys doing?"
"I'm the only one who knows his contact info, so he'll probably let me know if there's any movement."
"Well, that's fine, but... so what was this experiment?"
"It seems they're trying to summon a new God to replace the Giraiguu we defeated by opening something called a 'Gate'."
"A new God, huh... They never learn."
Saying that, Erika let out a light sigh.
Then, Gii and Yumemi looked at her simultaneously.
"Guu... could that be..."
"It might be that piece of meat my parents had."
"The possibility is high."
"I heard a brief explanation from Erika too, but it's a power that opens holes in space, right? What exactly does that do?"
Rea asked Erika.
However, she didn't fully understand the ability herself.
"I think it opens a hole within a few meters of the user and connects it to another location."
Currently, the range was still in the realm of speculation.
But since Yumemi's parents hadn't launched long-distance attacks after escaping far away, Erika theorized that the location where a hole could be opened was limited to a few meters—or perhaps 'within visible range'.
"So it connects to another location, not an alternate dimension."
"I just heard this from a police officer."
Right then, Kiori, holding a notepad, interjected into the conversation without missing a beat.
Naturally, Chihiro was standing next to her, her arm intertwined with Kiori's as if it were the most normal thing in the world.
The two had overcome the incident and finally regained their peaceful daily lives—or so it seemed, but it appeared they had been having a tough time answering the police's exhaustive questioning until just moments ago.
Since she was the only person who witnessed Renjo's death right in front of her eyes, it couldn't be helped, though.
"There's an uproar going on outside the hospital because they found excised human internal organs. Could that be related?"
In exchange for her trouble, it seemed she had shrewdly gathered information like a true reporter.
The moment she heard that, Yumemi's hair color turned blonde.
"Probably, it's my guts."
"Whoa, you turned blonde?!"
Chihiro leaned back in surprise.
Kiori, having been beaten to the punch, couldn't voice it, but she looked equally surprised.
"It's not the first time I've seen it, but it's still surprising."
Marin crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes.
Even though she had seen it once, it was only that time when they faced the Kaigyo's fang.
It was practically her first time seeing the phenomenon properly.
And of course, it was a completely new experience for Kiori and Chihiro.
"H-Hey Kiori, what is that? What's going on?!"
"Calm down, Chihiro. It's probably some kind of paranormal phenomenon."
"That doesn't explain anything at all!"
"I don't completely understand the mechanism myself, so it's only natural to be surprised. It seems there are people here who don't know me, so I shall introduce myself. My name is Nemusia Adrak. Queen of the now-fallen Adrasia Kingdom, and currently, only my soul is freeloading inside Yumemi's physical body."
"H-Hello... wait, what's the Adrasia Kingdom?! A country on Earth?"
"I'm curious about that too, but you just said your innards were taken..."
"How are you alive with your guts pulled out?!"
"Now, now, calm down, both of you."
Despite being bewildered herself, Yoshino soothed her two friends.
Then Nemusia answered Chihiro's question.
"Think of it as a dual personality where the appearance changes. Naturally, Yumemi is listening to this conversation as well."
"Mysterious things really do exist..."
"The world is a vast place."
Passing beyond surprise, Kiori and Chihiro were deeply impressed.
Yoshino couldn't help but smile wryly.
"Ahaha... In short, they used the power of that new God to open a hole inside Nemusia chan's body, excise a part of her internal organs, and throw them outside."
"That is likely the case."
"Just hearing about it makes Ai's stomach hurt."
"Ugh..."
Ai and Mitsurugi instinctively clutched their stomachs.
"So Yumemi san's parents also used those holes to escape outside, then."
"They also used them to redirect attacks to other places to avoid them, so that thing is surprisingly versatile."
Hearing Rea and Erika's words, Daichi furrowed his brow.
"Can they really do all that with just a piece of meat?"
"It seems more adept at combat than Giraiguu. If your head is scooped out by the first strike, it'd be instant death with no way to counter."
Marin was the leader of the party.
Including Erika, who was in the same position, they absolutely had to prevent these two from taking an attack.
"Furthermore, if they can use such power with just a tiny fragment, then if the 'Gate' Ruka spoke of is completed—"
"They might become an even more powerful enemy."
"But, as of right now, they've failed."
That's why the explosion occurred.
However, Erika didn't seem very optimistic.
"Erika, is there something bothering you?"
Nemusia, returning to Yumemi's form, asked Erika.
"An explosion of that scale, people might have even died. The drive to push the experiment forward forcibly to get closer to completion? I thought that kind of thing was creepy."
"Our opinions match, Erika senpai."
"You think so too, Hiyami san?"
"It seems they obtained data regarding the method to open the Gate from the ritual conducted at the academy."
"Even though it ended in failure, it still served as a precedent, huh. Moreover, the method of excising a part of Giraiguu and using it as a tool was established long before the ritual. I think Yumemi chan's parents used that same method with the piece of meat."
"In other words... what does that mean?"
Rea tilted her head with a plop.
It was Marin who answered.
"A micro-gate just large enough to extract a piece of meat could be opened previously. What's happening now is not an experiment to open a gate from zero. It's an experiment to expand it to a size that can bring some kind of organism from 'over there'."
"Exactly. That's why I think they might be able to open it easier than we expect."
"Ah... plus, those guys aren't just focusing on this Gate thing, are they?"
"It's just as Kiori san says. Even though they're this cornered, they're simultaneously creating things like those Blood Sheep. They might have a surplus of personnel."
"Whoa... Does that mean we need to hurry and stop them?!"
Rea panicked.
However, Erika herself didn't seem to be in much of a hurry.
"Well, I'd like to stop them if possible, but they're basically opponents on the same scale as Giraiguu, right? As long as we figure out the trick behind their abilities, I think it's not impossible to defeat them."
"Having their God killed right in front of their eyes must be unbearable for them. We might be able to use that to aim for the collapse of the Kaisei kyou."
"So, does that mean it'll be resolved if we defeat whatever God-like thing comes out?"
Yumemi's proposal wasn't wrong either.
But Erika placed a hand on her chin and groaned, "Hmm," looking troubled.
"Erika, is there still a problem?"
"It's not that I'm sympathizing with it, but before Giraiguu learned the taste of humans, it wasn't a creature with such terrible taste, right?"
"That's true. In its case, it had been interacting with humans for decades, so it understood Japanese and knew the taste of human souls."
When Yoshino said that, Gii puffed out her cheeks in dissatisfaction.
As someone who was used conveniently as a part of Giraiguu, it was probably a hard pill to swallow.
"Of course, I think that thing deserved to die. After eating that many sacrifices, there's no reason not to kill it."
But the moment Erika said that, Gii's cheeks deflated and she floated a "Gishishi" smile.
"But the next opponent is different. It probably hasn't been interacting with the Kaisei kyou for years like Giraiguu did—"
"Even if it is summoned, it has no reason to obey the Kaisei kyou. No, even before that, they probably won't be able to communicate with it, so we don't even know if they have a way to establish mutual understanding."
Erika pointed at Marin as she spoke, nodding, "Right, right, exactly."
"So I was wondering what the Kaisei kyou plans to do with a monster they suddenly summon."
"Could it be they'll use those Blood Sheep to control it?"
"Those things can only control humans at best. Maybe the Kaigyo's main body could have done it, but..."
"Maybe their goal is just to summon it and let it run rampant."
At Ruka's words, Erika tilted her head, "Hmm."
"Will it go that smoothly? The Kaisei kyou guys, even though they do things on a grand scale and produce tons of victims, their ultimate goal is vague, isn't it? Things like the True World, or unidentified organisms beyond a Gate."
"Come to think of it, even at Fantasy Land, they easily believed I was Giraiguu."
"It was the same with Hiiro, and even on the third floor, the teachers were convinced it was the True World. To the point where Ae thought it was ridiculous."
"I think it's because they're chasing after some intangible delusion shared among the believers. That being the case, even if the Gate experiment has started, there might not be a need to panic and rush."
"Then what are we going to do now?"
Erika answered Rea's question immediately.
"Rest."
Without any joking, with a thoroughly serious expression.
"Huh?"
"Let's all just rest for now. Even though we finally got outside, we've been so busy we haven't even had a proper sleep. It's already been hours since the date changed, you know? It's going to get light soon. I think we should sleep before that happens, and we can think about what comes next after."
"That's a rather laid-back idea."
"Because it would be troublesome if people pushed themselves, thinking 'Is it okay to rest at a time like this?' By the way, Gii is tracking the movements of Yumemi chan's parents, so if there's any movement, the information will come to us automatically—ah, by the way, what are those guys doing right now?"
"They fled into a hut somewhere. Probably one of the Kaisei kyou's hideouts."
"Any sign of other believers?"
"No, it really feels like a hideout."
"A hideout, huh... Normal people don't secure places like that. They were given that piece of meat and those Blood Sheep, they might surprisingly be close to the core of the Kaisei kyou. Is anyone else in the hideout?"
"No one. They're communicating with someone, currently on standby. Probably wary of us tracking them."
"Then they won't move until they feel safe, we'll have to wait until tomorrow or later. That being the case, let's sleep. We'll sleep in soft beds for the first time in a while, and then wake up and spend time with our precious people. That'll clear our heads and make us feel refreshed. Isn't that what everyone wanted to do when we escaped?"
From Erika's perspective, it was obvious that everyone present was exhausted.
She herself, perhaps due to the excitement of witnessing her mother's death and her bloodshot eyes, was in a strangely high state, like passing the point of sleepiness.
She didn't feel sleepy, but she decided it was better to sleep and rest to regain her normal judgment.
"It's true the Kaisei kyou's existence is unsettling, but we're the ones who repelled the Kaigyo, you know? In the end, they're just humans. There's no need to be scared of them. Right?"
There might be those who wonder if it's really okay to just leave them be and rest.
However, they didn't know the whereabouts of the so-called Cardinal anyway, and Setaguchi and the others who supposedly betrayed them hadn't shown any major movements.
Rather than rushing forward in a panic, it's also important to stop and wait for the battle situation to change.
Well, the possibility that Erika, having completed most of her revenge, was just taking things quite easily—could not be denied.
◆◆◆
Since it was difficult to go outside while dodging the media's eyes, the families of the patients were also allowed to rest at the hospital.
Furthermore, it seemed the media was also swarming the homes of the survivors and their families, so even if they returned, it wasn't an environment where they could spend time peacefully.
Originally, because many patients had evacuated from Hikarinomiya City, there were quite a few empty beds.
Sleeping in clean air for the first time in a while was unexpectedly comfortable—Erika was flanked by Yumemi and Gii on both sides, but she was still able to sleep soundly.
By the way, Rea apparently spent the time with her father.
And the next morning, Erika was woken up by Ruka.
Looking at the clock with blurry vision, the time was 10:00 AM.
Because they went to sleep late, her body still felt sluggish.
If she hadn't been shaken awake, she probably would have slept until past noon.
"Morning... what's wrong, Hiyami san."
As Erika sat up, Yumemi and Gii also sleepily opened their eyes.
"We got contacted by Setaguchi. I thought it would be better to talk together."
At those words, Erika woke up instantly.
Smiling as if to say 'This looks fun', she left the room together with Ruka.
◆◆◆
"Attacking people indiscriminately is quite problematic."
In a dim room lined with sci-fi-esque capsules, a middle-aged woman wearing a robe spoke.
"Good grief, using my Goddess in such a way is the height of blasphemy."
Another person, a petite man in a white coat standing next to the woman, spat out those words while looking at a pile of collapsed Kaisei kyou believers.
His bangs were long, almost completely hiding his eyes, but it wasn't hard to imagine the hatred oozing from his gaze.
Countless holes were opened in the believers' bodies, and furthermore, lumps of meat that seemed to be the corpses of Blood Sheep were spilling out gloopily from their ears.
"But that ferocity has its uses. You did well, Tohru."
"To receive praise from Lady Layla, this too is entirely thanks to the Goddess."
The man called Tohru lovingly stroked the capsule.
It was filled with liquid, and a lump of meat floated within it.
A Blood Sheep—the main body of it.
Perhaps unable to hold back just touching it with his hands, Tohru eventually rubbed his cheek against it, staring at the Blood Sheep with bloodshot eyes.
"Haaaaah... Please look at this, the sexy curves of this large intestine. The pulsation of the stomach. And the way the blood vessels of the heart bulge! Could there possibly be anything else as beautiful as this? No, there is not! It does not exist! It could not possibly exist! Transcending the ugly existence known as humans, a true Goddess! For that is exactly what the Blood Sheep is!"
"You really do love that thing, don't you."
"Yes, I love her. Giraiguu's power flows within her, a truly perfect existence... To think that this has found its way into my hands, it is truly destiny. It would not be an exaggeration to say it is the very meaning of my birth into this world...!"
"However, I must tell you something cruel."
Tohru slowly shifted his gaze toward Layla, his voice trembling.
"Please stop."
"You already understand, don't you."
"We haven't gathered all the data yet."
"But the signs are there. Unfortunately, the Blood Sheep is not Giraiguu's main body. Most likely, it was injected with power right before death, an existence akin to a battery."
"You're wrong, she is a Goddess! The Goddess is a Goddess!"
"Eventually—it will exhaust its power and end its life."
When Layla declared that, Tohru's lips began to tremble.
Soon, his teeth began to chatter, and tears rolled down his cheeks.
Then, he strengthened his embrace on the capsule, pressing his face forcefully against it.
"Oooooooh! Giraiguu, why! Why do you give me a Goddess only to try and take her away!"
"If that is Giraiguu's choice, we have no option but to obey. Let us move to a stronghold even Setaguchi (the traitor) and the others do not know."
"I have no intention of doing that. I will end my life here, together with the Goddess."
"But, if you do that, reaching the True World will be—"
"I don't care!"
Tohru stubbornly refused to leave the spot.
Layla sighed.
"Foolish. Will you follow after your brother, who was killed by the sacrifices, and your traitorous father?"
"I am different from them. I wish to perish having completed my own dream. Even if... I cannot reach the True World."
"...And yet, it is the same. Very well, you may remain here. You two, follow me."
Where she pointed, stood the figures of a middle-aged man and woman.
The Ikuna couple.
The two of them looked at Layla, their eyes sparkling like children.
"Y-Yes, we will follow you anywhere!"
"It's like a dream... To be directly acknowledged by Her Eminence the Cardinal...!"
Layla—was the Cardinal herself, having come to Japan from the European headquarters.
She was a person of authority said to be the practical Number 2 of the Kaisei kyou.
She rarely visited the Japanese branch unless something extraordinary happened.
For the Ikuna couple, who were nothing more than mere believers, she was truly an existence above the clouds.
Following behind Layla, their figures were exactly like dogs.
Having discarded both their daughter and their pride for the sake of their faith, it was a form that should be called a pathetic shadow of their former selves.
If one discards their pride, will they not look unsightly?—It wasn't that kind of story.
"Uoooooh... Goddess, Goddeeeess... Please, let us make many of your flowers bloom at the very end. No, no! I don't want it to end! Let's make more children! If it helps, you can use my stomach!"
Tohru, crying and wailing effeminately, was also finished in a different sense.
But, to begin with, this was a secret facility of the Kaisei kyou.
There were only believers of that crazy cult here.
There was no way there would be any sane humans.
Setaguchi Hiroshi, who had barely escaped the "laboratory" with his life and was now hiding in the shadows with his shoulders heaving, was also one of them.
"To think they already had something like that... the power of God? No, what is God? Who is God... Ah, I don't understand. Was it foolish to even try to understand God...?"
After being threatened by Erika, Hiroshi ordered his subordinates to go around crushing the Kaisei kyou's strongholds.
In fact, hundreds of believers had already been murdered, and their "purification" was going smoothly.
But this time was different.
At that research stronghold where the main body of the Blood Sheep was located, Cardinal Layla happened to be visiting.
If they killed her, surely their souls would be completely purified.
Believing that, the traitorous believers used the believers parasitized by Blood Sheep as human shields and pointed their guns at her.
However—not a single one of the countless bullets fired grazed her.
They were swallowed by holes that opened in space, and inversely, struck them instead.
Naturally, the Blood Sheep squad was also annihilated in an instant, their entire bodies riddled with holes.
Hiroshi, who hid immediately, didn't escape unscathed either, bleeding from his abdomen and sporting a pained expression.
With trembling hands, he took out his smartphone and checked if a reply had come from Hiyami Ruka.
He, the Archbishop, and the Hiyami couple had a long-standing friendship.
Of course, their daughter was included in that, and for Hiroshi, she had become the only means to contact "God".
And finally, there was a reaction from the other side.
Moreover, it was a voice call.
"God, please help me!"
His first words were a tearful plea.
Then, Erika replied.
『Yes, I am God.』
She was clearly messing with him.
But even that voice was salvation for the current Hiroshi.
"Aaah... God. I am currently infiltrating a Kaisei kyou hideout for the sake of purification. However, Cardinal Layla used a wicked power and massacred all our comrades."
Hearing that, Erika was surprisingly taken aback, thinking, 'He really still believes it.'
She cleared her throat and deliberately deepened her voice.
『Layla, is that the Cardinal's name? Describe her features.』
"Yes. A middle-aged woman wearing a robe with long chestnut hair. She is about to leave this research stronghold right now."
『Where is she heading next?』
"I do not know..."
『Hmph, is the woman alone?』
"No, it seems she is taking Ikuna Yumemi's parents with her."
『I see, then there is no problem.』
"Do you know their destination?"
『Because I am God.』
"As expected..."
『...Nfuh』
She barely managed to hold back the laughter that almost escaped.
『By the way, where and what are you doing right now?』
"I have lost all my comrades and am hiding alone inside the facility. Could you please help me?"
『Very well, then do as I say.』
"Y-Yes!"
『Are you contacting me with a smartphone?』
"Yes, I am."
『Does that smartphone contain the Kaisei kyou's classified data?』
"No, not on this. We do not digitize classified information to store it."
『Then is it at your home? Tell me the detailed location.』
"But why now..."
『Do you doubt God?』
"N-No, that's not it! There is a shelf at the end of the hallway on the first floor. There is a switch for a hidden door under the vase placed there, and a safe is located beyond the opened door."
『What is the passcode for the safe?』
"That is—"
Hiroshi answered the numbers exactly as told.
He seemed completely convinced that God would save him if he did so.
"Is this satisfactory?"
『Ah, it is sufficient.』
"Then—"
『By the way, Setaguchi, why do you seek salvation?』
"Because my life is in danger."
『I should have told you. You are all irredeemably tainted. Even if you are purified, you are not existences that should be allowed to live in this world. At best, you can only barely avoid falling into hell.』
"B-But... I have not yet finished purifying myself."
『So you seek salvation from God?』
"P-Please, I beg of you. Even now, footsteps are approaching! This is the facility where the main body of the Blood Sheep is located. Most likely, a parasitized human is searching for me—Hya!"
It seemed he had been found.
After letting out a strained voice, he stood up and began running down the hallway.
"Please, God, if you help me I will do anything! I don't mind killing even more believers for the sake of purification!"
『Even more? You are mistaken, you yourself have hardly killed anyone yet.』
"Ah—"
Hiroshi was at a loss for words.
Indeed, he spoke as if he had reflected on his actions before the new God and turned over a new leaf, but he hadn't executed it with his own hands.
Considering his age, it couldn't be helped in a way.
But Erika had no need to compromise there.
"I have been issuing orders! I should have been useful in conducting purification more efficiently and erasing tainted souls from this world!"
『What kind of purification is it without killing with your own hands? Did you think you were in a position to give orders to others even at this stage?』
"I am deeply sorry! But, but I am about to be caught, and—I don't want to! Anything but falling into hell! God, God please, before the Blood Sheep catches me—Uwaaaaaaaah!"
Finally, a Blood Sheep grabbed Hiroshi's shoulder.
He fell and smashed his face hard against the floor.
The pain caused him to drop his smartphone, and it rolled far away.
"God! Please, I don't want to die yet. I don't want to go to the False World!"
Hiroshi screamed as loudly as he could so it would reach God.
The Blood Sheep straddled him and bit into his body.
"Gaaaaah! S-Stop it! I, I am still—!"
『Heh, fufufu... ahahaha...』
Then, laughter began to echo from the smartphone.
It wasn't a loud voice, but it clearly reached Hiroshi's ears.
"Why... salvation... God, please, with your wonderful power, s-save me...!"
He reached his hand toward the device and squeezed out a voice as if clinging to it.
In response, Erika—
『THERE'S NO WAY GOD EXISTS, YOU IDIOOOOOT!』
She hurled full-force abuse at him with enough momentum to sever his outstretched arm.
Hiroshi's eyes widened in shock, involuntarily letting out a "Hah...?"
『Purification of sins? Like hell you can do that by killing people. I just thought it'd be a pain to crush the Kaisei kyou myself, so I made you mutually destroy each other. You just blindly believed the fabricated story of a kid young enough to be your grandchild and went around killing your comrades.』
His brain refused to comprehend.
More than the pain of being eaten, his heart was being hollowed out completely.
『No matter what happens, the sins you committed won't disappear. You should just get eaten to death by the Blood Sheep like that, fall into hell, and suffer for eternity with your son.]
"Th... that's... agyah, gi... that can't be!"
Pitiful screams and squelching chewing sounds echoed in the hallway.
『Oh, right. We'll make good use of the classified information you gave me, so don't worry.』
Erika left those final words and unilaterally hung up the call.
All that remained was a powerless old man who had lost all his backing, and the monster eating him.
"What the hell is this... My life, devoted to faith, what, for what purpose—Uwaaaaaaaah!"
Even more Blood Sheep appeared and devoured his body greedily.
Seconds later, his death throes faded, and a few minutes later, even the chewing sounds ceased.
The only thing remaining was the messily devoured corpse of a man.
◆◆◆
When the call ended, Ruka smiled with a "Heh."
"You cut him off surprisingly quickly."
"Even though he was useful, I just hated the fact that he was still alive."
Erika returned the borrowed device to her and let out a breath, "Phew."
"Well, the end was fun at least, so let's call it a win."
"What are we going to do about Setaguchi's house?"
"You know more about that, right, Hiyami san?"
"I know the location, but it's a matter of how to get inside."
"Ah, right. Then how about we have Gii tag along?"
Gii, who had been standing next to them before they knew it, watching the outcome.
Erika walked behind her and hugged her body.
Gii naturally placed her hand over Erika's hand, which was resting on her stomach area.
"Me?"
"Yeah, Gii can do pretty much anything."
"Are you relying on me?"
"A whole lot."
"Gishishishi, then I'll do my best."
In fact, Erika's trust in Gii was quite high.
If she asked her to do something, she would invariably produce results exceeding expectations.
Moreover, she possessed a certain level of cruelty, and Erika also liked the "dirtiness" she showed, untainted by platitudes or goodwill.
"If she's coming along, we'll have the strength of a hundred men. Then let's head out immediately."
Ruka also valued Gii's abilities based on her past track record.
With that body that could freely change shape, bypassing a lock would be a piece of cake.
"Can you get outside without being seen?"
"If we're moving in the flesh, there's no problem."
Their physical abilities far exceeded those of humans.
While their movements would be severely restricted if accompanied by non-combatants, Ruka and Gii should be able to reach Setaguchi's house in no time.
"Come to think of it, you're right. Then Gii, before we leave, could you tell us the location of that facility?"
"Understood. My clone remembers it perfectly."
Even while Gii was sleeping, her clone continued to monitor the Ikuna couple.
In other words, they knew the location of the stronghold where Setaguchi died and the main body of the Blood Sheep was—and of course, the location of the other stronghold the Cardinal and the others were currently heading to.
After hearing the story from Gii, Erika called out to the members who would be heading to the Kaisei kyou's stronghold together.
◆◆◆
Including Erika, there were five people gathered.
Oogi Rea, Shimakawa Daichi, Ushizawa Ai, and Mitsurugi Fuyu.
Upon seeing their faces, Daichi tilted his head.
"Why is it just us?"
"Nostalgic faces, aren't they."
"Ai thinks, it's the people who were in the nurse's office at the very beginning."
Yes, the people gathered here were all the ones who had huddled together in the nurse's office on the first floor.
"So that's why it was me and not Yumemi san."
Rea, who had been brought here right after planning to say good morning.
Erika directed a slightly uneasy look at her.
"Hehe, are you thinking I might be jealous or something?"
"It's not exactly that, but..."
"True, I was a bit disappointed that I wasn't just called because 'you like me', but—"
"You were?!"
"Haha, just kidding, just kidding. But I'm simply happy to be able to act together with you, Erika."
"I'm glad... But just so you know, it's not exactly a pleasant place, okay? Like I said earlier, it's supposedly a place with the 'main body' of the Blood Sheep."
"I'm used to seeing monsters."
"Ai is fine too, if anything the air is so clean it feels strange."
"That school smelled rotten no matter where you go. I wonder if getting used to it is a good thing."
Erika had been thinking something similar.
Of course, the air here was far more comfortable, but it would probably feel strange for a while.
"But still, is there a reason why you gathered the people from the nurse's office?"
"Hmm, there is one, actually. The facility we found isn't very big. The Blood Sheep seem to be guarding it, but it's on a level where I could easily suppress it by myself. So I thought it would be fine to bring Ushizawa san and Mitsurugi san along, but..."
"I was wondering why you brought us when we can't even fight. You were being considerate."
"Which means we weren't called here as combat strength either, right?"
"In the end, Ai still doesn't know why we were gathered."
"You'll understand when we get there. Probably."
Erika seemed a little lacking in confidence.
Did that mean there was a possibility they wouldn't understand even if they went?
However, they understood they weren't gathered meaninglessly.
The gathered members decided to follow Erika for the time being and head to the stronghold together.
Discussion
No comments: