Vol 3 Chapter 6 (2/2)
I activatemy sword The sword touches shi+ro's neck, and I say
”Why are you not dodging?”
”I should ask you too, why didn't you kill me?”
””
”See, even when our interests are not aligned, you couldn't killfrom Taikou Pharmaceuticals is a lie”
” huh?”
”But you didn't killto You can't kill the coether in the labyrinth”
”What the hell are you?”
I push ainst shi+ro's chest
”What if I really cut you?”
”Well, I'll just die I suppose”
”Huuuuuhhh?”
”Besides, you didn't cut me If you had intended to, you would have abandoned me to my death way before I made a mistake in Asahi Momoka's labyrinth, and if you hadn't saved ers then But yet, you saved me”
””
”A nice guy who saves a stranger, tries to act cool and wants to kill his coh”
On hearing his words, I say tiredly
”Well fine Just as you said, I'm soft”
shi+ro then says
”Then we'll nickname you Softie”
Yousuke then quips in as well
”Softie”
Himi too says
”Ah, ah, erhm, I think I'd find the soft shi+nnosuke-san way cooler, you know?”
Finding that cool = it's not e but theyou it's not e --- that's what it means
”Buh-fuh”
Gunjou then laughs out behind me
Anyhow, this is pissingpissed It's the same ere at the karaoke These fellows did whatever they wanted withan enka in the end
But, since there's no helping it whatever I say, I continue
”I got it It's fine then It's fine so let's uys really?”
On hearing that, contrary to his previous defiant attitude, shi+ro answers simply
”I'm with America's Rorand Inc It's a corporation connected to the ician Third Major”
”Hm So, why did you come to japan?”
”It's because of a strange mission It's a mission to pursue a mad scientist whose identity is unknown and who isthe world in the shadows”
But that's probably just a mission There's no reason to risk his life and increase his co that mission Therefore, shi+ro probably has another objective
I ask
”So, aside from your mission, what's your objective?”
”Hn? Ah, I'm here to completely take over a certain corporation”
But, before he can finish, shi+ro's words got cut off
Because there is the sound of an explosion
Followed by screams
”I, I don't want to die!?”
”Nooooooooooooooooooooo!?”
”Wait, wait, please, Kujaku-sama, please save me!?”
We turn around in the direction of the voice
Right noe are inside the safe zone behind a hidden door that forony from outside
Bang bang bang, our room shakes from the explosive sounds
Gunjou says
”That was”
shi+ro says
”The Valor team is outside”
Yousuke says
”What sound is that? Is the Valor team under attack frootten their hands on the irl called Kujaku is killing off eye-witnesses?”
From the voices heard, that is a possibility too It sounds like the voices are begging Kujaku for their lives
In order to bring ic back froirl needs to be restrained Following that, the redients that would be turned into 'Magic Converted froirl
She will definitely not be killed
Since if she is killed, then the ic can't be extracted
Thus, once she's restrained, she will be bounded for life inside the ic She will be used like a lab rat
And, there is a possibility that Kujaku has restrained my little sister She has plenty of time to do that
Reason being, since the time I was knocked out, till the time I reached here, it has already 1 month and 1 week
And, she has started killing the eye-witnesses
She has started killing eye-witnesses in order to hog the power for herself
In other words
My little sister
Has already been captured by Mitsutomo Group
”damn”
I arab my shoulder and arm
”Stop shi+nnosuke!”
”Please stop shi+nnosuke!”
”Let o!”
I cry out
Hiers,
”I'll start activating ic to check”
But, an explosion reverberated again right before us The room shakes The safe zone wall that's in front of us is blown apart
The wall flies towards me and Himi,
”Kya”
”Spider Legs switch!”
Yousuke yells
He spreads his hands apart, and deploys his protection ic
Sos of a spider appears, and threads start dancing out, creating a barrier of threads to protect us from the explosion
If not that, we ht have been thrown out and receive the full blast of explosion which would probably kill us
shi+ro says to me
”Idiot! Teamwork first! Remember ork so hard to act buddy-buddy and become comrades!”
Following that,
”That's right shi+nnosuke I understand how you feel, but please just come down!”
Gunjou says to me, and I brush both their hands aside
”I get it!”
Gunjou hollers
”You don't get it at all!”
shi+ro pats my back and says,
”All right! If you get it, it's fine! The situation is chaotic, but we have five people with a balance in both offense and defense! If so, we'll be able to deal with it! Until we get a grasp of the situation, don't go out Step back!”
Then, he yanks me from behind, and I fall back Each and every one of us take our positions correctly
The defensive ic specialist, Yousuke
The ic specialist, me
The ic specialist, Gunjou
Wide area destructive offensive ic specialist, shi+ro
Support ic specialist, Himi
In this order, we take our positions
Each and every one of us is too excellent, and despite such an abnormal situation, I can feel a sense of security that I have never felt before
Comrades
Meaningless friendshi+ps
But yet, it is true that with such a group coht be able to deal with al, we have proven that none of us would stab another of us in the back
And, if we add Kiri, who is balanced in both offense and defense, to Yousuke's side, our holes would even further decrease but ---
” I wonder whether Kiri has already been killed”
”Who knows”
shi+ro replies I look at the star ht noe have no idea what kind of situation we are in Despite the fact that the wall has been destroyed, we are unable to see what's outside due to the cloud of sand that formed from the explosion
Outside, the explosions continue on unchecked
Shrieks can be heard
”Noooooooooo!”
”I don't want to die!”
”Escape switch! Escape switch! Escape switch! Why! Why can't I activate ic!?”
Voices like those
Judging fro her
The subordinates' 《Headphone Fuzz》 could have been modified such that the Escape switch can't be used
But in that case,
”I wonder whether our eneht the other time?”
Says Yousuke
In that case, we can take theh Kiri is not with us, Gunjou is Even in a head on clash, on't get overwheluess
On top of that, ill launch a surprise attack on our opponents The other side has yet to notice us
I say
”Isn't it better if we go out now? If they aretheir own comrades ---”
shi+ro says
”If we save those subordinates ere deceived by Mitsutoht become our allies?”
”Yeah”
”That's a good point But, that's provided that the Mitsuto their comrades If it's not”
But, at that moment, Himi says
”I have finished scanning the surrounding map! This is not a massacre!”
”Then what is it?”
Kimi replies to my query
”In front, the labyrinth guardians ---in! Only 8 hu away towards here!”
”Wha”
I look at the faces of my comrades
Yousuke says
”If we go out, we'll be killed Leave the Kansai team”
But shi+ro cuts him off
”What if Kiri is a the 8 people?”
”Then should we all die together!? Our comrades' lives are at stake Evaluate this calmly, shi+ro”
”Kuh”
shi+ro looks at me and Gunjou
It's a difficult call Kiri ht not be outside at all
If we stay here, we h this alive
But, the answer appears right away
Himi says
”The enemy has noticed us!”
”damn!”
shi+ro extends his right hand backwards,
”Thousand Deities Flash Of Light switch!”
He throws his spear at the wall behind us, in the opposite direction fro in A hole opens
I bellow at that
”We're getting out! Those who are alive link up, and escape to the upper level!”
I dash out of the rooantic tree
Once I get out, the scenery outside enters my vision
The sky is blue and clear, like that of good weather
The sun rays shi+ne down on us
The grass plains are so eht
Those grass plains are stained bright with red
It is stained with bright red blood of people
The ene in are soldiers with torsos in the for cards, as expected of what you would find in ”Alice in Wonderland”
All of them have heart marks There are none with spades, clubs, or diamonds Since my little sister Saki loves heart marks
And as expected, they swing their spears with heart-shaped tips, tearing apart people
By the time I come out, there are only three people left
And I know the faces of all of them
The members of Valor team named Mitsutomo Kujaku, Makoto, and Zakki
Kiri is not a them
I look at my armband
On doing that,
””
A starthe wiser
My little sister probably killed her
”damn, damn, damn, damn!”
I groan I glare at the labyrinths guards sent out by my little sister
Several card soldiers raise their spears
Kujaku stops in her tracks Her unifor hair Clear cold eyes
Even in this situation, she reh class, noble birth
She calhtens her back,
” haah I' away Makoto, Yamazaki, I'll hold them off here Please escape”
She says
Makoto turns around with a surprised face,
”N-No way, don't push yourself Kujaku-sama!”
”Let's escape together! If we just get away a little further, we ht be able to use our Escape switch”
But Kujaku ignores them She just extends her left hand out She adopts a pose as if she's pulling the drawstring of a bow,
”Wailing Summer Rain switch”
She says
Then, in the sky, several gigantic arrows of light appear They nurand that if all of them rain down, it looks like they can take down about a hundred of the card soldiers
It's an aic
Just like shi+ro's ic that probably needs tiive-and-take nature, it probably requires her to sacrifice so and fulfill some difficult conditions before she can activate it
But the card soldiers look up And they all raise their spears at once And throws them up at the sky
At the same time, Kujaku hollers
”Rain down!”
Instantly, the gigantic arrows fall like rain
However, the spears clash with the arrows
Explode
Explode
Explode
The spears number two hundred
But there are only thirty arrows
Then, the sky clears up, and sadly, it see came down
The card soldiers look at Kujaku again
Kujaku stands rooted, tiredly
She has given up
” it, didn't work it's my loss huh We shouldn't have laid our hands on Apocalypse Alice yet”
About ten of the card soldiers ready their spears
Kujaku does not resist
Spears are thrown
”Wailing Summer Rainswitch”
” Acceleration switch”
I murmur
Instantly, ic
In an instant, for a second, my speed is faster than even that of God And I was before Kujaku in an instant
”Wha”
Kujaku exclaims in surprise
I swing my Demon Sword switch I have already seen the weak points of the spears I brandish my sword at the points where I can ward off the spears
I swing, swing, swing, swing my sword
The spears got deflected before ht While the wind of the blasts reached me, the blast impact didn't
On top of that, shi+ro juht hand
”Thousand Deities Flash Of Light switch!”
A gigantic rotating spear with a drill tip appears
”Impale theeeeeeeeeeeeeemmm!”
And he throws it
The card soldiers react and throw their heart spears at it, but the drill spins the spear as it pierces forward
Doh-doh-doh-doh-doh-dohn, one by one, the spears clash with shi+ro's spear and explode, but shi+ro's spear does not disappear
shi+ro's reat power in one shot
The card soldiers are unable to render it inoperative
The soldiers get bored by the drill The drill explodes Several card soldiers got annihilated
But, that's about all They are two hundred strong
I turn around and say
”All right, let's get out of here!”
Kujaku looks at me with a surprised face, and then says,
”Why are you”
”It's not like I' Kiri but, ere also discovered So”
At that rabs the hair of Kujaku and says
”Leave that for later, let's get out of here now!”
Kujaku's face then turns into even greater surprise
”Gunjou, why are you still”
But, we can no afford the leisure to talk
This Valor tea Then, if we join hands, and properly work together in guarding one another, there is a high possibility that we can get out of here
Thus,
”Let's go!”
We are just about to dash off in a breath
””
However, at that moment
From behind me
Fros out suddenly
”Ah, ah, you aren't allowed to escape”
On hearing that voice, I can no longer move Because I know it Because I know that voice No, ic that is stopping er listens to me
My brain is bri My heart races madly I can't remain calm
””
I turn around
The card soldiers irl appears fro them
As if she came out froirl who's wearing a cute dress
I call out the nairl
” Saki”
She has grown up Her appearance looks like that of a eleven, twelve year old noever, there's no doubt about it She is Saki My little sister
Dragged along in the tight grip of the right hand of that little sister of mine, is the neck of Kiri The star mark has disappeared, but Kiri is alive She looks at us Her face becomes teary as she looks at me Get out of here, her lips move
That would probably be the better choice In this situation, there's no way I can save my little sister I can't save Kiri as well The place is too bad Furthere numbers of card soldiers
Despite all this,e On top of that, I can't activatewith it; in the capacity of a weapon, there's no ic worse than this
””
However, even so, I cancel the cursed song of Acceleration switch that's playing inslot
The song of Holy Sword switch starts playing in my head
【Deceiving the night ♪
Beguiling the world ♪
The darkness that saves the girl of the endless night ♪】
It's the irl from the labyrinth
I will save my little sister here
I will save my little sister here
Thus,
Dragged along in the tight grip of the right hand of that little sister of mine, is the neck of Kiri
” sorry everyone Please get out of here I'll remain here”
I say
shi+ro then says behind me
”What the heck are you talking”
”My little sister's here! I I'll save, my little sister here”
But, Gunjou co beside me
”Then, hurry up and do it!”
shi+ro then goes on to say,
”For real? At this tiht have a better chance at it than running away”
Yousuke too stands beside,
”crap, damn you, if we survive this, I'll make sure you treat me lunch a hundred times!”
Then, the card soldiers raise their spears all at once Facing us
Kiri hollers
”No! Get out of here! You can't win!”
We should really be fleeing
There's absolutely no chance of winning If the card soldiers' can be held with just these few people, Kujaku's teauess
But, they were almost completely annihilated
But they couldn't hold them off In other words, our current action is the same as suicide
But yet, my Hero team comrades surround me
I say in exasperated voice
”You guys are really morons”
shi+ro then says
”Not as moronic as you”
Gunjou says
”For real”
Yousuke then says,
”Let's save that for later, hurry up and get going Go finish it off!”
I then nod,
”Holy Sword switch”
While
A silver sword appears in ht A sword of hypocrisy that resembles a sword that a hero carries
The card soldiers turn to me and throw their spears at me
But I didn't look at the with the Holy Sword activated
I am useless I am defenseless I am powerless
But my comrades are with me now
shi+ro, Yousuke, and Gunjou protect me from the spears
My little sister did not move
Sheface, and did not move
I start swinging my sword at my little sister
However, the card soldier that's just besidehis spear at me
But,
”Nine-Fold switch”
Kiri says A japanese sword appears in her hands and blocks the spear of the card soldier The spear explodes, but Kiri's sword absorbs all of the blast impact
With that, I reach my little sister
After spending ten years, I finally reach her
shi+ro yells
”Do it!”
Gunjou yells
”Please do it!”
Yousuke yells
”Just do it idiot!”
Himi yells
”Please!”
Kiri says with a completely limp, exhausted face
” shi+-shi+nnosuke-kun”
In order to answer their calls, I swing my 'Holy Sword down at my little sister ---
♦
♦
♦
In the next instant
With the power of the Holy Sword, I enter the heart of Saki
The inside of my little sister is pitch dark
Deep inside the darkness, Saki sits alone
She sits hugging her legs to her chest
The same as Gunjou and Asahi Momoka
I call out to Saki
”Saki”
She then looks up
”Ah ~, you finally ca”
She says fa snooze
I shrug my shoulders
”Sorry”
”I've been waiting for ten years”
”Yeah”
”Even though I can't sleep in a dark roohts, and it's always dark you know!”
”Then you never even sleep a wink?”
”No I do sleep when I get tired though”
”You do sleep huh”
”But because you weren't here Onii-chan, I got really sleep-deprived”
She says with an angry face
Like before, she has a naive, innocent, cheery face No but, she really has grown up a little She's also taller
”Sorry I'm late”
I say again
Saki then smiles and shakes her head
”But since I'ive you Onii-chan, you really did come after all”
” well, even though I really gave it my all to reach here, you know?”
”I saw Onii-chan, you've been shedding tears, hollering, and wanted to give up many times, but still, you work hard andall this while”
I cockthat
”Y-You can see all that?”
Saki then smiles
”I can After all, my disease infected you that time”
”Eh?”
”And, didn't we ain in your dream?”
”Plan? What, are you talking”
”About how to turn the whole world into a labyrinth About how to turn everything into Apocalypse Alice About hoe can encroach the whole world with the sickness of us Arisu siblings We talked about those stuff”
”Wait, you”
My little sister stands up, and approaches me
I take a step backward
”And, with the blueprint I gave you, you ht?”
”What on earth are you say”
”Onii-chan, you don't need to worry about anything else, so just quickly cut me Then, I'll be set free Away froirl will be able to roam freely outside The human world will then end Since I will encroach the outside world and turn all of it into a labyrinth”
My little sister grabs my arm
”Let o”
But, o She merely smiles innocently,
”I'ainst me, Onii-chan”
My right hand that is holding the Holy Sword is grabbed Slowly, Saki brings the sword closer and closer to her neck
”Stop”
I say but she says in return
”Don't you want to save me?”
”I want to save you”
”Then cut me”
”But, you aren't Saki”
”Fuh-fuh-fuh, I am Saki”
”Who are you?”
Then, my little sister replies
”Alice Apocalypse Alice --- isn't that the naave me? That's why I made the labyrinth that way And the world will become like it too So that everyone can stay in the world of the fairy tale country”
”Release my little sister!”
I bellow
But Saki just sly That face may bear a little resemblance to mine
Then she says,
”But with this, Onii-chan, your role has ended”
She then wrenches the Holy Sword switch towards her
And cuts the skin of her neck
My little sister then s that ---
”See you, Onii-chan I love you”
That was all she said and she disappeared
With that, it ended
Everything ended
I can only murmur,
”What in the world happened”
But no answer came
My little sister had told ic made under the direction of the labyrinth disease that had infected me
Then, I couldn't save Saki?
My little sister disappeared, and in concert with that, the darkness in s also starts to vanish
But, right now, I did not knohat I had done
Did I save my little sister?
Or, did I end up doing so that cannot be undone?
With those questions still in my mind, I was driven out of Saki's heart ---
♦
♦
♦
””
I return to consciousness
As I open my eyes wide, the scenery before me is not that of the inside of the labyrinth
It's reality
I have returned to the real world
It's noon on the outside world
The blue sky can be seen
The clamors of the streets
Zoom of the cars
Voices of people
Saki's labyrinth --- Apocalypse Alice disappeared, and this place has turned back into the streets
”shi+nnosuke!”
I can hear Gunjou's shout
I turn around, and there stood the figures of my comrades
Gunjou's there
shi+ro's there
Himi's there
Yousuke's there
Kiri lies tired on the ground looking up at me
On top of that, Kujaku, Makoto, and Yamazaki are also there
They are saved All of them are saved
shi+ro says
”You did it You finally saved your little sister”
But I can't answer hi her Besides, if I did save her, where is my little sister?
I look aroundfor my little sister But what's around me is just the scenery of a normal reality
Taxis and trucks driving along the roads
Old lady walking her dog
A feer
However, behind that girl,
””
Is a strange lifeform
A rabbit
In the real world, a rabbit stands in a suit with a finely woven heart It takes out a pocket watch with its right paw, looks at it and says
”Yaah yaah, yaah yaah”
All the members of the Hero team notice it
They look at the rabbit
Then, behind the rabbit, a large-sized bus explodes, and turns over A single soldier with the body of a card stands beside it
Further away, in the sky, soon is flying
What a ridiculous sight A dragon fro in the real world, invoking a strongly eerie, unpleasant feel
On top of that, several on
shi+ro looks at that and says
”What, is that?”
Gunjou says
”What in the world has happened?”
But I recall the words that my little sister just told me
”Then, I'll be set free Away froirl