Project Alice-02 (1)
After that.
We tore through the maze-like corridors with unstoppable momentum.
Maybe it was because Caitlin had taken the lead, but we managed to get through without much damage.
'Should I call it fortunate? That failed product from earlier didn't show up again either...'
Pajijijik-!
Fierce currents burned the chimeras alive.
With that slaughter behind me, I glanced down at the shining Balloon Sword.
'It's better than I expected.'
Energy, mana, fatigue, every kind of tangled problem had been solved in one go.
Considering the skill was still only grade B, and that it was going to keep growing, this was absolutely a tier-one item.
'If I raise it to its peak later, nothing among support items will be able to keep up, will it?'
At this rate, it might really become the Absolute Balloon Sword.
After that string of pointless thoughts, we crossed the vast space.
Maybe an hour had passed like that.
Then, all at once, the maze-like corridor came to an end.
A huge door, firmly shut, blocked the path ahead.
"This is..."
Had we arrived? Finally.
As I muttered in front of the door, my teammates also looked up at the massive gate.
"Viktor, don't tell me this is..."
"Yes, I think this is the path we've been looking for."
An exit, or the boss room.
Tense air passed between the kids.
In the middle of it, a sharp breath sounded. It was none other than Alice.
"Ugh..."
"Sir Viktor! Miss Alice's condition is...!"
The girl had been complaining of motion sickness the whole time.
Now she was staggering so badly that Ranne had to support her.
As if something engraved in her instincts was reacting, cold sweat poured down her pale white forehead like rain.
"We need to hurry!"
"......"
"Sir Viktor?"
"......"
"Sir Viktor!"
"......Yes, let's move."
The sight of her made my chest ache.
Was I doing something terrible to Alice?
The thought passed through me for a moment, but I soon clenched my fist and shook off the distraction.
'In the end... the key is with Alice.'
I wasn't the person who gave the answer.
If I had to put it into words, I was closer to the person asking the question.
Whatever waited beyond this point.
All of it was my question.
And at the same time, writing down the answer was the kids' role.
'We can't back down now.'
Kooong-.
I placed my hand against the thick door.
Unlike its heavy appearance, the gate pushed open easily with only a bit of force.
Kugugugu-!
As if it had been waiting for us to come.
I led my hesitant teammates forward, beyond the dark backdrop.
""......""
It was a space as deep and wide as the deep sea.
The corridor we had walked through until now had been quite large too, but compared to this place, it felt like a drop in the bucket.
The space was dark as if night had fallen, and cold as if deep-sea water had pooled over it.
All around us stood people wrapped in black robes.
Hundreds of silhouettes were lined up in a wide circle, showing no movement at all.
"They're all dark mages. Everyone, stay alert."
""......!""
At my words, my teammates flinched.
They raised their energy, preparing to fight at any moment.
Step, step-.
We walked between those Cultists.
It was a pitch-black space, but there was one spot where a single light shone.
'Found it.'
That spot looked like the only lit stage on an otherwise dark set.
Inside that small space stood a single table.
And sitting in front of that desk was someone.
"......"
It was a man wearing a white gown, like a doctor.
He sat there with his face buried deep in a chart.
We stopped in front of that desk.
"......Ah."
Flinch-.
The moment Alice saw the man, she froze in place.
She stopped, unable to move forward or turn back and run.
Even with her mask on, I could almost see her expression.
Her face must have been deathly pale.
<You have arrived.>
Tuk-.
Then the man at the table set the chart down.
He rose to his feet with a grotesque voice.
As his body turned, his shabby gown fluttered slightly.
<I never imagined you would make it this far.>
The man had no face.
No eyes, no nose, no mouth, and no ears.
No, rather than a face, it looked like an empty blank.
Not human.
A human that had once been human.
And so, a human that had given up being human.
""......""
An unpleasant air crawled down my spine.
Maybe the kids were pressed down by that atmosphere, because they couldn't open their mouths easily.
By the time the uneasy silence churned our stomachs, the man stood there limply as he looked at us.
<Ah... uninvited guests. My dear pieces of meat.>
<My name is OZ. I am a mage who governs life.>
<At the same time, I am also the master of this deep sea.>
The man greeted us with proper etiquette.
That perfect etiquette only made the uncanny feeling worse.
<I have so many questions I wish to ask you. How you discovered the existence of this space, how you entered it, what organization you masked people belong to, how you broke through the corridors packed with chimeras, how you took the shortest route through these maze-like paths without being blocked even once...>
"......"
<I am terribly curious about so many things.>
It was smiling.
It clearly had no face, but he was definitely smiling brightly.
<But before that, if there is one being I wish to greet first...>
The man's head turned.
Past me, toward the little girl being supported by Ranne.
<Alice.>
"Ah, aah..."
<It has been a long time. I never imagined you would come here on your own two feet.>
Alice couldn't answer.
She only trembled and clung tightly to Ranne, who was supporting her.
As if she wanted to hide even a little, Alice concealed herself behind her golden hair.
<Alice. Alice. A child who should never have been born.>
<But a child who was still born by my hands.>
Alice could not answer. The man who introduced himself as OZ simply continued speaking.
As if he was truly delighted, joy filled his mouthless face.
<My lost creation... the vessel and trace meant to accept the great soul of the Black Queen.>
Words that made no sense.
Maybe my teammates sensed that something was very wrong, because they moved to shield Alice.
"Miss Alice, I think it would be best if you stayed behind me."
"What the hell? Do you know that bastard? Why is that thing acting all familiar and running its mouth...!"
"This is an unbearably foul stench. A soul rotting, flies swarming, a smell that could make one vomit at any moment."
As the kids stepped forward and added their own words,
Alice suddenly squeezed out a murmur, and it stopped everyone's thoughts.
"Fa...ther..."
Father.
"......What?"
"Father... Did you just call that thing that?"
"Miss Alice! I don't know what that thing is, but you must not be deceived so easily!"
The kids panicked, but Alice only lowered her head deeply.
The bastard sneered as if observing the situation.
<Ah... so you escaped to that world.>
<You wedged yourself among those ordinary humans and pretended you were an ordinary human too?>
Kahahahahahahahahahaha-.
A laugh that felt like it was tearing at our ears.
<With a body that became the root of the Nightmare, you were enjoying such childish games...>
<Even after killing your beloved older sister with your own hands.>
<Miss Alice? Don't you think that is shameless?>
Scorch marks.
Pitch-black scorch marks remained in the girl's eyes.
In the broken charcoal, only white remnants welled up like tears.
<When you are not even human.>
"No..."
<Miss Alice... no, should I call you what I used to call you?>
<Alice-02.>
The truth about something.
The man casually trampled the girl's dying embers and extinguished them.
<An experimental subject born during the Chimera Project.>
<Something that is neither human nor even a doll.>
<For someone like you to appear while blending in among ordinary humans... how laughable.>
At last, the bomb went off.
The teammates protecting Alice had no choice but to freeze.
"......What did that thing just say?"
<From the look of it, you hid it thoroughly from the other humans?>
Swarming malice.
Alice staggered as if she would choke on it.
Behind my stunned teammates, I silently stared at the girl.
'Alice.'
Her real name was Project Alice-02.
A biological weapon the Cultists had been developing for the Apocalypse.
'And the second Alice.'
That was the girl's identity.
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