"Ahahahahahahaha! Look, everyone! Finally, we've finally done it! We've succeeded in bringing the descent of Giraiguu sama!"
The Cardinal's laughter echoed through the laboratory where the Gate was placed.
Before the anomaly displayed on the screen, the Ikuna couple and the believers smiled, while others shed tears and clapped their hands.
Furthermore, cheers akin to screams rose, and the space was enveloped in a vortex of jubilation.
"Now, let us summon more and more. To transform this place into the True World!"
"Finally, we too can reach the True World at last!"
"That's right, Mr. Ikuna! At the African branch, the True World conversion by Giraiguu sama has already been executed. At the headquarters as well, the 'selection' by Giraiguu sama has begun!"
"We, we actually accomplished it!"
"Yes, oh yes, Mrs. Ikunaaaa!"
"Uwoooooooooooh!"
A bizarre, feverish excitement enveloped the area.
Looking at this situation, they were probably the most frantically overjoyed people in the entire world.
◆◆◆
Meanwhile, the ordinary people who knew nothing of the circumstances were terrified.
[P-Please look, everyone. The city... has vanished. Due to a mysterious object that suddenly appeared, an entire city has been completely wiped out.]
A newscaster, gripping the script with trembling hands, reported with a look of profound grief.
[Currently, unidentified organisms are appearing all over the world and attacking humanity. The entity that appeared in Japan seems to be silent for now, but it may only be a matter of time. Just what in the world is this? Could this be the end of the world!]
Naturally, that was not written in the script.
But he couldn't help but say it.
Similarly, on the internet, videos of the monsters from around the world were spreading, being shared, and sparking fierce debates.
They're invaders from space.
Subterraneans have appeared.
They must be demons summoned from another world.
No, just as the Kaisei kyou said, the God known as Giraiguu really exists—
A further wave of chaos, powerful enough to blow away the exposure of the Kaisei kyou's evil deeds revealed by Hiyami Gosei's press conference.
However, this was not what the Kaisei kyou desired.
They merely sought and clung to "power" like beasts.
They possessed neither the means to control it, nor even the means to communicate with it.
◆◆◆
[wah, waah, waaaaahhh!]
Several minutes after its appearance, the giant infant, which had shown no movement, suddenly began to cry.
The piercing sound echoed throughout all of Hikarinomiya City, rattling the windows violently.
"Oh dear, it started crying."
"It's really loud, but it sounds exactly like a baby."
Just as Rea said, even though it was supposed to be a creature from another dimension, its appearance resembled a human's, and its cry was exactly like an infant's.
Almost as if it were mimicking one.
"I wonder why it's purple..."
"Come to think of it, the meat Yumemi's parents had was green!"
"Isn't that it? The belly button."
At the spot Erika pointed to, an umbilical cord extended from the anomaly's abdomen.
Only that part was green, not purple.
"So they tore off a piece of the umbilical cord and were using it."
"Maybe it's crying because that hurts."
"I wonder. Yumemi chan, do you know what it's saying?"
"No, no, there's no way she'd understand that!"
Perhaps it was the nature of a Kansai native, but Daichi, who had been staring in dumbfounded shock just moments ago, suddenly retorted.
However, Yumemi answered Erika's question as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"It seems to be saying, 'Where's my mom?'"
"Wait, you can understand it?!"
"Because she had me learn the translation skill."
"Ah, the one you mentioned earlier. Does that work for things other than foreign languages?!"
To the surprised Rea, Erika explained her reasoning.
"It's a skill meant for people caught up in the Kaigyo's Gangrene, after all. See, remember how various worlds were mixed together in there?"
"Like Nemusia, there's a possibility of encountering people from different worlds."
"Exactly. So I thought it might let us talk to those interdimensional lifeforms too, and since Yumemi chan had spare skill points, I had her learn it."
Additionally, the fact that Giraiguu understood Japanese was another reason that led her to hypothesize, 'Communication might be possible.'
Most likely, when it first encountered humanity, it didn't understand the language.
However, as they repeatedly offered sacrifices and interacted with it, Giraiguu gradually came to understand Japanese—or rather, human language.
In other words, it meant they possessed high intelligence.
"Then will our calls reach them as well?"
"We won't know unless we try, Sister."
"You can just call me Marin. We're going to be together for a long time, after all, Yumemi san."
"You can call me sister-in-law, you know."
"That overlaps with 'Sister'."
"Hehe, there's no need to be shy."
"...Just try it."
Marin instinctively held her head.
It seemed that between Yumemi and Marin, Yumemi was one step ahead.
Giggling, Yumemi spoke to the anomaly through the window with that same playful expression.
"Helllooooo!"
Daichi immediately retorted, "There's no way it can hear you."
Of course, Yumemi didn't think it would hear her just from that either—but the anomaly changed the orientation of its body and stared directly at them with open eyes.
"It seems it got through..."
Yumemi looked at Erika with eyes that seemed to say, What do we do now?
But Erika looked satisfied.
There was no need to be intimidated.
If worse comes to worst, it's an opponent they can slice to death, and more importantly, she felt no malice from it.
If they play their cards right, they should be able to end this peacefully, and cruelly.
◆◆◆
At the Kaisei kyou's stronghold, they were attempting to communicate with "Giraiguu" using a pre-constructed device.
The device was meant to interfere with the target by emitting special ultrasonic waves—but of course, there was no way it would work.
It seems they tried to figure out the target's means of communication based on the properties of the extracted green piece of meat, but there was no way they could determine that from an umbilical cord.
After all, it was something hastily thrown together to be ready in time for the Cardinal's arrival in Japan.
"Giraiguu sama isn't answering us very readily, is it."
"There is no need to rush, Mr. Ikuna. The flow of time for God and humans is different; ten minutes for us might be less than a second for Giraiguu sama."
"I see, as expected, how profound... When one becomes a Cardinal, their thoughts truly reside in a different dimension than ours."
"Hehe, now that Setaguchi is dead, you two might be the ones to become the next Archbishops, you know? This is no time to be overwhelmed with emotion."
"We, Archbishops?!"
"We did it, dear!"
"Yes, raising our daughter for 16 years was worth it...!"
Holding hands, the Ikuna couple shed tears.
But at that moment, "Giraiguu" showed movement.
"Lady Layla! There is movement from Giraiguu sama!"
At the report from one of the researchers, Layla tightened her expression and directed her gaze at the monitor.
"Did our voices reach it?"
"No—it appears to be looking toward the hospital where the sacrifices are."
Hearing that, Layla smiled.
"I see, it is going to erase the obstacles in order to create the True World first."
◆◆◆
『Daaa, daau?』
The anomaly, which had stopped crying perfectly upon hearing Yumemi's voice, tilted its head and spoke to them.
Erika asked Yumemi beside her.
"What is it saying?"
"It seems to be saying, 'Who are you?' I'm Yumemi, um... Do you understand your current situation?"
Once the actual conversation began, Erika decided to leave it to Yumemi without interrupting.
『I don't know. I was with Mama, and suddenly I was in a place I didn't know.』
"You got separated from your Mama, huh. Don't worry, we want to return you to where you came from."
『Really? Why am I in a place like this?』
"It seems bad humans summoned you to use you. We want to stop that... Oh, right, do you know what a human is?"
『I know. The creatures that evolved from us.』
"Eh...?"
Yumemi instinctively froze.
She felt like she had just been told something completely outrageous, but for now, she decided not to think too deeply about it.
"I'm glad you know. It seems you guys came to this world through a Gate made by those bad people, the Kaisei kyou."
『A Gate... something like a hole? An imitation of our power?』
"If you didn't pass through it of your own free will, then that might be the case."
『That's mean... why... Mama, I'm lonely, Mama... WAAAAAAAHHHHHH!』
The anomaly began to cry again.
The volume was so intense that Erika instinctively grimaced.
Directly beneath the anomaly, windows were shattering from the vibration of the sound.
Yumemi consulted with Erika.
"It seems to be lonely because it got separated from its mother."
"Does it seem like we can reason with it?"
"That should be fine, it doesn't seem like a bad kid. But what should we do from here?"
"If that green piece of meat is its umbilical cord, there's a high chance it has teleportation abilities. Therefore—"
Then, while Erika was speaking, the anomaly floating in the sky vanished.
The next moment, it appeared right in front of the hospital.
From somewhere inside the building, screams of "Iyaaaaaaah!" could be heard.
With that size, it couldn't be helped that they were terrified.
Erika, too, involuntarily jolted when a baby's face suddenly appeared in a massive close-up right outside the window.
『Tell me how to get back. My power can't open a hole. I can't go back to Mama.』
"U-Um, about that..."
"We're planning to steal the Gate the Kaisei kyou used, modify it, and connect it to your side."
"Eh, we can do that?"
"If we max out the Mechanical Engineering skill, we should be able to. We'll decide who does it later."
"Understood. We're going to steal the Gate the Kaisei kyou made first, modify it, and connect it to your world."
The entity's speaking style was just like a child's, but its intelligence didn't seem as low as its appearance suggested.
It seemed to clearly understand the meaning of Yumemi's words, too.
『...I can't do that.』
"That's why we'll do it."
『Can I go back to Mama?』
"Of course! Could you tell it that we have a favor to ask in the meantime?"
"Um... in the meantime, we have a favor to ask you."
『What is it? If it's something I can do, I'll do it.』
◆◆◆
Layla and the others watched the figure of Giraiguu clinging to the hospital with bated breath.
Why wasn't it killing them?
Was it because the flow of time was different for God and humans?
But that figure—didn't it look exactly like it was exchanging words with someone? Such anxiety began to well up.
To begin with, they were aware that they were being cornered.
They were just filling that void with Layla's presence, the summoning of Giraiguu, and the hope of reaching the True World.
Because of that, they were mentally unstable enough that despair would seep through the cracks at even a slight "unexpected event."
Furthermore, in the next moment, "Giraiguu" vanished.
"It teleported again—find out where it went!"
"Y-Yes, ma'am!"
Even Layla's voice lacked its initial composure.
With cold sweat on their foreheads, the researchers hacked into the various cameras installed in Hikarinomiya City to search for "Giraiguu's" figure.
"Giraiguu sama is nowhere to be found!"
"That's impossible! There's no way it would abandon us!"
"Lady Layla, there's a communication from the European headquarters."
"At a time like this, what is it?!"
"They report that the Giraiguu sama summoned in Japan has appeared before the Giraiguu sama summoned in Europe."
"Are you saying it teleported to the headquarters?! I see... so that's it."
"Do you understand what this means, Lady Layla?"
"Of course, Mr. Ikuna. The headquarters houses numerous holy relics, and the Pope himself is there. Giraiguu sama was drawn to that holiness!"
"I see, as expected, the Pope is truly magnificent...!"
Not only the Ikuna couple, but the others applauded and praised Layla.
Basking in that sound, she seemed to be immersed in ecstasy.
However, a loud voice from a believer shattered that comfortable space.
"Lady Layla!"
"You're being loud."
"I sincerely apologize! But something terrible has happened."
"What is it, did Giraiguu sama and the Pope finally meet?"
"After the Pope made contact with the two Giraiguu samas—"
The believer's face turned pale as he spoke with a trembling voice.
"He was reportedly murdered."
At the same time, an image sent from the headquarters was displayed.
There lay the figure of the Pope, his upper half "teleported" away, leaving only his lower half, dead.
"...Huh?"
Layla froze with her mouth wide open.
◆◆◆
After teleporting from Japan to the European headquarters, the infant anomaly called out to the spaghetti monster.
Coincidentally, the two seemed to know each other, and the spaghetti monster stopped attacking people the moment it saw the infant.
『Calm down, calm down.』
While the infant spoke with a "voice," the spaghetti monster seemed to communicate by changing the shape of its tentacles.
However, it wasn't something simple like forming letters; it was a shape devoid of any discernable rules.
But for some reason, the people watching felt a sensation of information flowing directly into their brains—though without the translation skill, that information was nothing more than a meaningless jumble.
『I was surprised at first too, but it's okay.』
『I know people who want to send us home.』
Go home—hearing that, the spaghetti monster showed particularly large movements.
It seemed to be happy.
『But they said they have a favor to ask in return.』
『There are these bad people called the Kaisei kyou who brought us here.』
『They want us to erase (kill) the important people there.』
『Apparently they're comrades of this thing.』
Directly beneath the infant, the dead upper half of the Pope fell with a wet splat.
『They said if we don't erase them, they'll try to drag us out here again.』
『Of course, those people are fighting hard too, but...』
『Since the Kaisei kyou is all over the world, it seems it's difficult with just their power.』
The spaghetti monster moved.
The negotiation must have been successful; the infant grabbed the edge of a tentacle, teleported, and vanished together with it to somewhere else.
Their next destination was Africa, where that tree had grown.
◆◆◆
In this way, the infant called out to its comrades who had been summoned all over the world.
『Ah, I'm scared... just by me shifting slightly, these fragile humans break. I was just surprised, I just sneezed, and an entire city vanished. I'm scared, I'm scared...』
As expected, everyone seemed to be "frightened," and some even harbored guilt for erasing the diminutive lifeforms known as humans.
By the infant calling out to them, they seemingly regained some composure.
『Attribute confirmed. Depth measurement. Above threshold, coordinates, shared.』
They gathered while faithfully carrying out Erika's request.
『Let us call out. Let us call out. As a final mercy. Can you hear me, humans? Can you hear me, adorable humans? From now on, you are going to die.』
They didn't involve any more unrelated, ordinary citizens beyond that—and eventually, led by the infant, they converged on Hikarinomiya City.
『HUMANS, SLOW. THEY ARE STOPPED. HOW PITIFUL.』
By that time, the executives of the Kaisei kyou all over the world had been pierced by mysterious light, vaporized, and breathed their last.
Silently killed by the "Gods" they themselves had summoned, the organization quietly collapsed.
Excluding the members of the Japanese branch.
◆◆◆
After the infant left Hikarinomiya City, Erika and the others left the hospital.
The reporters seemed to be completely engrossed in the monsters that had appeared in the sky, so they were able to go outside freely.
"Is the situation really getting better...?"
Yoshino said while looking up at the sky on their way to the stronghold where Layla and the others were, in the bus arranged by Ruka.
The monsters the infant had brought back were gathered in the sky above Hikarinomiya City.
A giant purple infant, a tree with a blue trunk, spaghetti, an eye monster that vanished when you blinked, a comet-like band of light, and a V-shaped metallic lifeform reminiscent of a tuning fork.
They shared not a single shred of similarity, possessing overly distinctive appearances; just looking at them would make one conclude that communication was impossible.
In reality, they possessed clear consciousnesses and were actually quite easy to reason with.
『HUMANS, SLOW. THEY LOOK LIKE THEY ARE STOPPED.』
"The light person is saying we're moving too slowly."
"Tell them we're moving fast for humans."
"Got it. We're trying our best to hurry in our own way!"
When Yumemi answered from inside the bus, the tuning fork monster said:
『You must not rush them; humans are adorable creatures. They are different from us.』
"We can all hear the voice of that silver person..."
As for the tuning fork, it seemed to understand Japanese just like Giraiguu.
Not only Rea, but everyone present could hear it.
『Adorable humanity. You are necessary for us to bestow our affection upon. The voice—the sound—Riiiing—』
"Fwaaah... Somehow, hearing this sound is making me sleepy too."
A pleasant vibration that seemed to resonate directly in the brain.
It seemed to be a friendly monster, but Erika actually felt that this type might be the most dangerous.
It was fine now since they weren't hostile, but if it intensified this vibration, it could probably destroy human brains and kill them.
『Numerical measurement. Danger level setting. Allowable limit exceeded. Danger. Humans, danger.』
The next to make a sound was the eye monster.
It emitted an electronic, beeping voice, and only Yumemi could understand its meaning.
『Oh, are there humans capable of killing us? But there is no hostility; as expected, they are adorable, aren't they.』
『As long as we can go home, that's fine. We won't do anything unnecessary. I want to see Mama.』
『That is true. Breaking the equilibrium is not a very good thing, after all.』
Listening to the monsters' conversation, Erika and the others arrived in front of the building where the Kaisei kyou survivors were hiding.
It was an unremarkable warehouse belonging to a certain company.
Just like the previous Blood Sheep stronghold, a facility with a Gate existed underground here.
◆◆◆
Reports of the deaths of Kaisei kyou executives poured in to Layla one after another.
It was an amount of despair far beyond what could be papered over with hope.
"Lady Layla, what is the meaning of this?"
Yumemi's father clung to Layla.
"Ah... well... Mr. Ikuna. This is... this is..."
She covered her face with both hands, trying to come up with an "excuse."
"Please tell us, Lady Layla!"
Yumemi's mother clung to Layla.
"Mrs. Ikuna... Haha, yes, well... I will tell you... I will tell you everything!"
Half-desperate, she shook off the Ikuna couple, spread her arms wide, and screamed toward the heavens.
"I am the one chosen by Giraiguu sama, the one truly fit to become Pope! That is what this means, isn't it, Giraiguu sa—"
In the direction of her gaze—from even further beyond the ceiling, a single knife was released.
The blade pierced cleanly through Layla's glabella.
The last executive of the Kaisei kyou—Cardinal Layla—fell backward and died instantly, a broken smile plastered on her face.
The blood spilling from her head slowly spread across the floor.
As the Ikuna couple and the remaining believers stared blankly at the red liquid, the room suddenly shook violently.
An explosion occurred on the ceiling, and countless pieces of rubble rained down.
"U-Uwaaaaaaaah!"
The Ikuna couple held each other, their bodies trembling violently.
The believers panicked, fleeing blindly in a pathetic display.
And from the opened hole, Erika and the others appeared.
Behind them, the figures of the "Gods" summoned from the Gate could also be seen.
"I wonder if the Gate got damaged."
Yoshino said worriedly as she landed, and Erika replied.
"I shifted the target area, so it should be fine."
"But Kuragane senpai, couldn't you have come down a bit more carefully?"
"Gii told me, but the procedure to get to the basement is a pain in the neck."
"It was super hard for me to memorize too."
"So breaking in is faster, basically."
The situation was already a guaranteed victory.
Erika exchanged words with Shimakawa and Gii with plenty of composure.
Meanwhile, the Ikuna couple spotted Yumemi among the figures that had appeared and directed their gazes at her.
"Yumemi..."
A pathetic expression, as if begging for forgiveness.
Yumemi felt anticlimactic, having fully expected to be glared at with eyes full of hatred.
But, perhaps being hated would have been better.
"Save us, Yumemi."
"Yes, please, let us go. We didn't mean any harm."
The words directed at her were, incredibly, begging for their lives.
Lacking faith, pride, or anything else, an utterly pathetic display of parents.
"You did all that without meaning any harm?"
Yumemi was disappointed from the bottom of her heart.
And as if pouring oil on the fire of that disappointment, her mother pulled out the green piece of meat she had kept hidden.
"We were just facing our faith head-on, that's alllllll!"
In a flash, Yumemi's hair color changed.
And faster than the power could be released, Nemusia unleashed magic.
The lowest rank wind attack magic, Wind—but for that very reason, its activation speed was fast.
Fired like a quick-draw from a gun, the blade of wind sliced off the mother's arm gripping the meat.
"Fools, did you think I would fall for the same trick twice?"
"Don't get in our way, you demon!"
"Hmph, you look far more like a demon yourself. Besides, I have no intention of getting in the way. Because the one who will deal the finishing blow is your daughter."
She switched back to Yumemi.
"Realize."
She summoned her own weapon.
A silver knife, similar in shape to Erika's.
The blade that corrects reality, Realize.
Holding it, Yumemi ran toward her parents.
"Realize it! What you have done, the weight of your sins—!"
And she raised the knife right in front of them.
But—suddenly her arm grew heavy.
Memories of fifteen years came rushing back.
She felt pathetic.
Why couldn't she just tear through everything like Erika did?
But she and Yumemi were different.
Even if it was a lie, the "white" that had undeniably existed refused to let her become pure "black" like Erika.
"It wasn't a lie... loving you, that wasn't a lie!"
"Yumemi, we truly loved you as our daughter—"
Seeing through Yumemi's hesitation, the Ikuna couple tried to carve out an escape route.
They were like incarnations of evil.
Unable to watch any longer, Erika hugged Yumemi from behind.
"I'm sorry I'm so pathetic."
"It was exactly because you're like this, Yumemi chan, that you saved me, right? So this time, I'll save you."
"You've already saved me enough."
"I'll save you as many times as it takes. Because we're family."
Gently placing her hand over Yumemi's arm.
Drawing Yumemi's heart toward the black.
"We love you. Truly, seriously, as family—"
"A, gi."
The blade swung down.
With that single stroke, the heads of the two fell.
Their bodies also collapsed, and a massive amount of blood spurted from the cross-sections.
"I can't believe it was a lie, either."
Watching the tainted fountain, Yumemi spoke.
"They're the family I spent fifteen years with, after all."
She tried to separate her feelings.
She had even voiced that she had separated them.
However, the deeply ingrained memories wouldn't allow her to do so.
She needed a resolution in her own way.
"That's why, I've decided to believe that my parents died on the day I was kidnapped. They died, and the Kaisei kyou swapped them out with different people."
"That might be true."
Otherwise, it would be impossible to pretend to be "good parents" and spend over ten years without being suspected.
Setting aside whether that was the truth or not—there shouldn't be any problem with Yumemi convincing herself of that.
Yumemi stood frozen in front of the corpses.
Seeing that, the infant called out to her.
『You killed Mama, didn't you.』
"Yes, I killed her. You and your Mama get along well, don't you?"
『Yeah, we get along great. Mama is always kind.』
"Cherish that Mama of yours."
『Okay... humans are sad, aren't they.』
"Not necessarily. The family that loves me is right here, after all."
Yumemi intertwined her fingers with Erika's and smiled warmly at the infant.
『Humans are difficult, aren't they.』
The infant said, looking troubled.
◆◆◆
Once the Kaisei kyou was taken care of, Mitsurugi, Ai, and Hiiro got to work modifying the Gate as a trio.
The monsters watched them from inside the warehouse, packed in tightly.
『HUMANS. STILL SLOW. STOPPED.』
『That's just because you are too fast. Come now, let us cheer them on together. Do your best, do your best, adorable humanity.』
A gentle tone resonated from the tuning fork.
Mitsurugi involuntarily held her head.
"The cheering is echoing inside my head...!"
"Strangely, Ai feels motivated, which is scary in its own way."
"I'll cheer for you too so I don't lose out! Do your best, Ai! Go, go, Ai!"
"Hiiro... Ai naturally feels motivated now!"
Huddling close together, Ai and Hiiro worked harmoniously.
Mitsurugi narrowed her eyes enviously.
"With so few single people around, I'm starting to feel out of place."
Erika spoke from behind the complaining Mitsurugi.
"What about Shimakawa kun?"
"Don't just haphazardly try to pair people up!"
She didn't think he was a bad guy, but it seemed Mitsurugi wasn't interested in Daichi.
After letting out a light sigh, she grabbed her tools and returned to work.
"I mean seriously, this power is creepy."
"What does it feel like?"
"Knowledge I shouldn't have just bubbles up in my head, it feels like someone from outside the world is pouring it in."
"It can't just come from nothing, so it's probably stored in the 'system'. The knowledge of the hundreds of millions, trillions, quadrillions of worlds that have perished so far."
"That's way too mind-boggling... Ugh, enough thinking! I need to focus on the work!"
Erika also felt bad making the infant and the others wait too long.
Since she shouldn't get in the way, she decided to wait for the completion a short distance away from the Gate.
◆◆◆
The modification was completed about three hours later.
To finish this quickly starting from zero without any blueprints, skills truly were a terrifying thing.
Perhaps because of that, even though she had completed it, Mitsurugi looked up at the Gate with an unconvinced expression.
Well, Ai and Hiiro flirting next to her might have also been a reason for that expression.
『Thank you, humans.』
The infant said.
Mysteriously, the voice was heard not only by Yumemi but by everyone.
It must have learned a little Japanese from the tuning fork.
Following that, the tuning fork spoke to them.
『It was unfortunate about "him," but I believe it was a happier end than being absorbed by the Kaigyo. You have our thanks.』
"You know about the Kaigyo too, not just Giraiguu?"
She had completely assumed that only Hikarinomiya Academy had been swallowed by the Kaigyo.
Did similar things happen in other dimensions?
『HUMANS. SLOW. WE CAN SEE BEYOND THE LIGHT AS WELL.』
『Not everyone can see it. But we can see it, because that is—』
Once again, a voice was spoken in words only Yumemi could understand.
Reacting to that, the tuning fork said in Japanese:
『Which is happier, I wonder. Knowing, or not knowing. What do you think?』
"We're talking about the Kaigyo, right?"
『About its nature.』
"You're putting on airs. Do you know something?"
『THERE IS NO POINT IN SPEAKING OF IT NOW. THE KAIGYO HAS ALREADY LEFT. IT HAS MEMORIZED THIS WORLD. IT WILL NEVER BITE AGAIN.』
『But since we rarely have the opportunity to converse with adorable humanity like this.』
『THAT IS YOUR HOBBY.』
『Indeed it is. For example, what if that were a luxury cruise liner?』
It was a completely out-of-the-blue story.
But since the Kaigyo itself was that kind of existence to begin with, it was merely a question of whether one could accept it or not.
Erika asked the tuning fork.
"Are you saying it's something artificially created?"
『It is a mobile theater designed to enjoy watching people suffer from Gangrene.』
"That's the worst."
『But depending on how you look at it, that might be better. After all, if you call it a fish—』
At that moment, strangely enough, Erika felt as though the tuning fork smiled fearlessly.
『There is not just one Kaigyo. More numerous than the stars, they swim in the sea.』
That was the worst possible scenario.
It was unbelievable—or rather, she didn't want to believe—that countless numbers of a monster they couldn't even scratch a single one of existed.
"That gave me the chills."
『I imagine so. Therefore, we shall depart without saying anything further. Hopefully, different space-times will never cross paths again—』
"I plan on destroying everything once this is over. Right, Erika."
"Of course."
『THAT IS GOOD. THE FASTER THE BETTER.』
『I don't want to be separated from Mama ever again, either.』
Then Mitsurugi called out, "We're ready~!"
Since it was dangerous, Erika and the others stepped away from the Gate.
Consuming a massive amount of electricity, the Gate activated, sending sparks flying.
Eventually, the generated energy tore space apart, creating a portal.
The monsters vanished into it, as if being sucked in.
After everyone had passed through, they stopped the Gate, and the tear naturally vanished.
Silence rushed back into the space that had been so noisy just moments ago.
"They're gone."
Rea said in a drained voice.
Erika chimed in as well.
"They're gone, huh."
"Gii... is it over with this?"
When Gii said that, Yumemi muttered while looking at the remains of her parents huddled in the corner of the room.
"Yeah... it's all over. Everything."
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