Chapter 111

Project Alice-02 (9)

It happened in an instant.

The enormous thing swimming overhead. The shape that had covered the sky was torn in half.

‘Leviathan.’

A monster that claimed thousands of victims in the story.

The ruler of the deep sea, swimming through the heavens.

Despite its lowly birth as a chimera, it was a monstrous existence, savage enough to bite most Apostles to death.

And yet, even all those grand descriptions were split open by a single rupturing sound.

Cr-r-r-runch-!

The sound was loud enough to tear through eardrums, and the space shook as if caught in the aftershock.

Even in death, a being of high rank left behind a noisy death cry.

Was the sound of flesh tearing really allowed to be this majestic?

As that useless thought crossed my mind, red contents scattered through the sky.

“......”

I quietly looked up.

Blood, entrails, and chunks of flesh floated in the air.

They filled the sky so densely that they even reminded me of the Milky Way.

Though it might have been far too disgusting a sight for such a beautiful comparison...

‘End.’

It was dead.

That was the end of it.

Ding-!

[The target has been ■■■ ■■!]

-Disease name: ■■■

-Description: A disease found in some ancient records. Living creatures infected with this disease suffer a weakening of the cohesion between their cells, along with the pain of their entire body being torn to pieces. At the same time, the body splits cleanly in half lengthwise. It was a strange disease that existed in ancient times, but in the modern era, it has been eradicated and remains only in records.]

A disease name whose pronunciation I could not even guess.

The monster’s end was absurdly empty.

I calmly stared at the corpse that had been split neatly in two.

‘Did it work?’

In the end, the whole situation had played out in the palm of my hand from start to finish.

I had been building up to this from the beginning.

There was no cleanup to worry about either.

I did not need to worry about the disease that struck the monster spreading.

The disease I used this time was not something that could infect anyone else.

Tap, tap.

I brushed off my hands indifferently.

When I turned around, a white shape shimmered in my vision.

<......>

It was The White Knight.

Clad in white armor, drifting like pale mist.

It stood there motionlessly, as if waiting for something.

Its pure white head was turned toward me.

‘Is it demanding payment?’

An Apostle of the Evil God.

Commanding them required a considerable number of offerings.

Just like during the lunar eclipse, when Jersian sacrificed every Vampire in the city, including himself, to summon The Black Knight.

“The price.”

Anyone who failed to uphold a contract with an Apostle met a terrible end.

Well, fortunately, this place was piled high with things to offer.

I pointed toward the sky.

“They are all yours.”

<......>

I handed over Leviathan’s corpse, still floating there with overwhelming presence.

On top of that, I added thousands of chimeras and the corpses of the Cultists.

The White Knight silently looked them over, then began spilling pale mist from between its armor.

Dreamlike smoke wrapped around part of the space.

The blood-soaked chunks of flesh were swallowed by the mist.

Immediately afterward, they were absorbed into The White Knight by some principle I could not understand.

Crunch! Crck, cr-r-rack-!

For a while, bizarre rupturing sounds flowed through the silence.

Only after it swallowed the final drop of blood did its predation end.

The White Knight withdrew its smoke, then turned to me and left behind a single short phrase.

<It has been fulfilled.>

Immediately afterward, the white armor lost its shape and collapsed.

As fleetingly as a mass of smoke breaking apart.

‘Looks like it was satisfied.’

Honestly, I had wondered what I would do if it threw a fit and said it was not enough, but thankfully, the offering seemed to suit its tastes.

An Apostle speaking in human language was rare unless the contract had been pretty damn satisfying.

If I compared it to my past life, it had given me five stars and even left a full review.

Soon after, The White Knight vanished completely.

When I opened my eyes again, I was holding only a single book in my arms.

[The White Knight's Demise]

-Category: Book

-Grade: ???

-Status: Unavailable

-Description: A contract that can manifest an Apostle of the Evil God. It can summon [The White Knight], one of the Four Knights of the Apocalypse, who governs plague. This item is exclusive to the Cultist faction. It cannot be used by anyone who is not affiliated with the Cultists.

The ancient book still carried an ominous aura.

The only thing that had changed was the message attached like a footnote beneath the item description.

Ding-!

[Time remaining until reuse: 666 years]

The time limit displayed in the status window was absurdly long.

A limit that existed in name, but made reuse impossible in practice.

I had expected as much.

‘As I thought... reuse will be difficult.’

I was not especially disappointed.

It had been used at the perfect moment, exactly as I had planned.

I casually stored the book, now little more than scraps, in my inventory.

Immediately afterward, the sinister energy writhing through the entire space sank away as if by magic.

“Whew...”

Only then did I let out a breath.

Beads of sweat ran down the inside of my mask.

‘That was rough. Rough.’

As I breathed deeply, I felt eyes on me.

My team members had frozen in place.

The kids were dazed for a long while.

Their faces said they could not even begin to understand what they had just seen.

Caitlin went without saying, and even Ranne, who was used to my eccentricities, stood with mouth hanging wide open.

““......””

Only Carmilla wore a calm expression.

That made sense, since Her Highness had once witnessed a similar scene on Purgatory’s 70th floor.

She seemed to be taking it as just one of those things.

Instead of being shaken, Carmilla took care of Alice, who had fallen asleep off to one side.

I stood there awkwardly for a moment, then placed my index finger in front of my mask.

“What I showed you today is a secret.”

““......””

No answer came back, but I took that as agreement.

‘Looks like they were seriously startled.’

Well, I had torn apart a monster the size of Lotte Tower right before their eyes, so it made sense.

On top of that, I had summoned an Apostle of the Evil God and even controlled it like one of my limbs.

It was exactly the kind of situation where the thought, ‘What the hell is this bastard?’ would naturally come to mind.

Admittedly, even from my point of view, this performance had been a bit much.

‘I can explain this later. For now...’

There was something else I needed to prioritize.

I looked down at the thing still sprawled like a larva beneath my shoe heel.

“Ahem.”

<......>

OZ.

The man I had beaten completely in this game.

To check his reaction, I leaned in slightly and asked.

“How does it feel? The project you spent years preparing was smashed to pieces in an instant. Any thoughts?”

<......How surprising. The stolen Apocalypse. To think you had it.>

“I meant to use it for a good cause. And it really was used for a good cause, wasn’t it?”

<Were you a member of the Cultists? Only those who have accepted the evil god's will should be able to contract with an Apostle...>

“Who knows. I don’t think I’m obligated to tell you.”

Stab.

The pitch-black scythe dug into the man’s abdomen.

His regeneration had already reached its limit.

At this point, I could kill him if I wanted.

The collapse of the project had probably weakened his influence over this clone as well.

“If I kill this clone, the main body will take a decent hit too, won’t it? Judging by the quality of the clone, I’d say about thirty percent damage to the soul?”

<You know far too much. It seems you planted a spy in the Cultist faction.>

“That’s right. So many I can’t even count them all. Why don’t you manage your household a little better?”

<I will keep that in mind. Since things have come to this, I suppose I should start by shaking down my closest aides.>

Of course, that was a lie.

He was fooling himself all on his own, so I had thrown out a rough bluff.

Lies became more believable when you mixed them in casually like this.

“Now die.”

<Ahh... the moment of farewell. I already miss the day we will meet again.>

“That is extremely creepy. I barely held back what was about to come up from my stomach.”

<How long has it been since I met such an enjoyable opponent...? This is my complete defeat.>

“It won’t be only this time. Next time, I’ll put your main body on the execution platform.”

<I will be waiting in the Graveyard of Life. With a wonderful gift you will like.>

“A gift?”

A face without eyes, nose, or mouth.

Even so, the man was smiling grotesquely.

It was only a feeling, but that ominousness seemed to have physical form.

<Let us leave that as a pleasure for later.>

<But I promise you.>

<I am sure both you and Alice will like it.>

<And next time, I will be sure to drive that child into despair and bring about the complete manifestation of The Queen...!>

“Activate. Thorn.”

Puhwaaaak-!

The man could not finish speaking before his body burst apart.

His flesh was reduced to rags along the surging thorns.

This time, the pieces of flesh did not squirm and regenerate.

Instead, they melted like water and poured down in a horrible shape.

‘Done.’

The clone hunt had succeeded.

I barely steadied my legs, which nearly gave out beneath me.

Maybe because I thought it was finally over, the strength was leaving my muscles.

‘Not yet.’

I bit my lip and pulled myself together.

There was still the finish left.

Only a few seconds after OZ’s clone vanished.

Kugugugugu-!

The space suddenly began shaking as if an earthquake had struck.

The floor cracked, and rupturing sounds echoed from the ceiling.

The space had begun to collapse.

Crack, kuung-!

“H-huh...?”

“Fuck, why is this happening all of a sudden!”

“Viktor! Something is strange!”

In a way, it was the obvious result.

This space had been maintained by the Cultists’ project and OZ’s existence.

With the project suddenly destroyed and OZ gone too, it could no longer endure.

Naturally, the price was the collapse of the space itself.

“Everyone, follow me!”

There was no time to discuss it with my team members.

With that short order, I crossed the wide corridor.

Kuuuuung-!

The tremors grew worse and worse.

We had to find the right point and stay there.

Unless we wanted to be trapped in this facility and sink into a gap no one would ever find.

“Here! Stand side by side.”

Fortunately, the point was not far.

We stood leaning against one wall, holding each other’s hands.

If we stood here, we could be flung outside at the same time the space collapsed.

“It’s coming...!”

The island where we had originally been before entering the field.

We would be sent into the deep sea, not far from that point.

Kugugugugugu-!

The collapse approached.

‘Of course... this isn’t the end.’

We would be thrown into the deep sea.

My companions and I were exhausted to the bone.

If we were expelled into the deep sea in this state, could we make it back to the island in one piece?

‘Impossible.’

We would probably just flail weakly until we drowned.

Or, since the deep sea was full of magical beasts, we might get attacked by them.

Was there really no way?

‘As if.’

Didn’t I say it?

This whole battlefield was already under my control.

“Everyone, take a deep breath!”

“......!”

----!

The next moment, the collapsing space swallowed us.

My team members were pulled along as if being sucked somewhere.

Then cold water wrapped around my whole body.

When I opened my eyes, I saw the scenery of the deep, dark sea.

The kids flinched in panic, then held their breath as if trying to conserve air.

‘Good.’

At that moment of crisis.

I pulled out what I had kept tucked into the front of my shirt all this time.

It had been useless in another space, but now that we were out, I was certain it would work.

-Separate from the tag game, if a situation arises where you need help, please press the Crystal Orb at any time to call the faculty.

Beep.

The Crystal Orb we had been given separately for tag.

I lightly operated the button and called.

Splash-!

Not even a few minutes later, a shape descended into the deep sea almost as if teleporting.

The blurry figure snatched us up and dragged us toward land.

The surface above our heads drew closer in an instant.

‘Ah...’

The back of the person pulling me and my team members up.

Along the current, red hair spread out like flower petals.

I smiled faintly.

‘Big Sis.’

As expected.

Our professor was the best.

===

It was Carmilla and Caitlin.