[Collapse of Hope]
Thanks to Utsusemi-san playing an active role on the surface, the number of self-defense forces has decreased significantly.
And the number of allies has already decreased to the point where they can be easily counted.
For the time being, the enemies inside the hideout have been annihilated somehow, and we are now gathering in the conference room.
“I will explain the situation again,” I say, and every member nodded.
The amount is 18 people. Even though the non-combatants are also here, the members present are only 18 people.
The injured and medical personnel in the medical room on the first basement floor were all killed.
Kemuri-san did it. If I was late in killing Kemuri-san, the people in the medical room on the second basement floor would have been annihilated as well.
There are practically no people on the third basement floor and onward.
The total number of members remaining in the hideout is over 50.
More than half of them is injured; the situation was hopeless.
Just that, the enemy is no longer the Self-Defense Forces.
“Currently, there is Shido-san’s Infinite Corridor deployed on the surface, so we can’t expect the arrival of reinforcements. At the same time, we cannot escape from here either.”
Thanks to that, it should be okay to assume that there is no reinforcement for the Self-Defense Forces either.
“I don’t think that meant Shido-san betrayed us,” Roll says so to me.
I ask back, “Why?”
“Because she… she was the one who raised me since I was a child you know?”
“Kemuri-san and Chiyaku-san have protected us so far as well, but they betrayed us, right?”
Well, I understand Roll’s feelings.
I can calmly analyze the situation, but the other members who have been here for a long time cannot.
It was the same as Desuko-san’s case, the shock of learning that Kemuri-san and the others had turned traitor should be immeasurable.
Roll casts her eyes down. I continue,
“For the time being, let’s just look at the current situation and assume that Shido-san is an enemy.
The situation has grown worse due to the betrayal of Kemuri-san and Chiyaku-san. I managed to kill Kemuri-san, but Chiyaku-san and Shido-san are still in this Derrida.”
The Infinite Corridor can only be deployed from the inside.
Therefore, if Boss is outside Derrida, it will be impossible for him to get in unless the Infinite Corridor is unraveled.
However, in case that the Infinite Corridor has been deployed since the beginning of the battle, it would be strange.
Shido-san’s Infinite Corridor should be a trump card that has an extreme stamina consumption. To keep deploying it for more than two hours… is impossible, I think.
“Obviously they’re going to come to kill us, so even though the Self-Defense Forces is mostly annihilated, they should still be preparing some sort of plan…
So… do you all want to fight back?” I throw a question.
The remaining path is withdrawal. But I can’t decide that at the drop of a hat.
Because everyone here has been in the organization for much longer than I am.
“I… don’t want to. Chiyaku is one thing, but there is no one who can beat Shido here,” Byakurei said.
As he said. There is no ability user who can defeat Shido-san here.
She is an ability user who has the ability to control the distance itself.
She can easily repel a thrown knife, and she can dodge our attacks like a walk in the park.
However.
“We can’t get out of here unless we defeat Shido-san.”
“We can probably wait for her stamina to run out. There’s no way she can endure for that long.”
“But she has already kept up the Infinite Corridor for at least more than an hour, right?”
The proof of that is the reinforcement hasn’t come yet.
They should already be here, considering so much time has passed.
“To begin with, why did they betray us?” Hikisaki-san brings up the topic I don’t want to talk about the most.
Thinking about something like that now is useless.
However, it is something that everyone is curious about.
“Maybe they are connected to the Self-Defense Forces.”
The door of the conference room opens. The one who appears is Utsusemi-san who is covered in fresh blood.
Everyone turns their gazes to him.
Connected to the Self-Defense Forces; that is hard to imagine.
If that is the case, they can just leak the location of the hideout, they don’t need to do it in such a roundabout way. And they must have other ways to do it as well.
“Anyway, there’s no use thinking about it now.”
I look closely at Utsusemi-san’s expression.
He has a face that says that he doesn’t really care about why they turned traitor.
Yeah, there’s no need to think deeply about it.
“I’ve cleaned up most of the enemies on the surface, but what to do from hereafter?” Utsusemi-san turns to me.
Honestly, I would like the executives, namely Byakurei-san and Utsusemi-san, to decide.
Utsusemi-san and Byakurei-san are aware that they are suspected, though slightly.
That’s natural. When the executives betrayed us in quick succession, it would be unavoidable for both of them to be directed with suspicious gazes.
“For the time being, we have to find Shido-san,” I’m also worried about Chiyaku-san’s movement, who withdrew earlier.
“Haa—, finding Shido you say, are you insane? How are we going to do that?”
As Byakurei-san said, that would be difficult if she is seriously hiding.
However, she is deploying Infinite Corridor while maintaining a distance in the surroundings where sounds can’t reach her. I want to believe that it is possible to find her.
“If she finds that we get closer to her, she will just widen the distance, so I have no choice to go to the surface and try to detect her…”
“She’s not necessarily on the ground y’know. Maybe she’s hiding inside the hideout.”
What Utsusemi said is… undeniable.
Anyway, we have to try whatever we can do.
“…Then, Roll and I will go to the surface and see the situation for now. Will you search in the hideout with the remaining members in the meantime? If you find her, please contact me or Roll.”
If Shido-san is in the hideout, we can do something about her even if we can’t reach her.
When every member nod, we start to move.
Roll and I leave the conference room and run down the corridor.
“Just in case, let’s go out from evacuation exit.”
We will stand out if we exit from the central doorway now, and I’m also worried about the remnants of the Self-Defense Forces.
“…Okay,” Roll’s voice is a little spiritless.
“…………”
Roll is unstable. I chose to act together with her because she’s my partner, but looking at her condition, I don’t think I can expect a tag combination from her right now.
Should I have chosen another person?
……No, at least on top of being my partner, the one who I can cooperate with the best is Roll. It’s not a wrong choice.
Returning to the evacuation exit on the second basement floor, Roll and I go out to the surface using the grappling gun that I had left there earlier.
“Shion,” After we get to the ground, Roll calls my name.
I want to hurry, but I stop and look back.
“Shido-san… I wonder if she really betrayed us.”
I don’t know.
“Roll, right now…”
“Isn’t it strange? Why did the executives turn traitor in quick succession? What is their intention…”
“It’s wrong to try to look at this situation in a good way, Roll… How many people have died because of them?
There is the corpse of Face Punch-san ahead.
I’ll just put it straight, their intention is to obliterate us.”
“But I don’t want to think that Chiyaku-san and Shido-san are enemies… No matter what you say, for me, they are family, you know… This place is… my home you know.”
“…………”
I totally got it wrong. This organization is what supported Roll up till now, huh.
…In that case, I wonder what is the difference between Tameiki-san, Byakurei-san, Utsusemi-san and the executives that have turned traitor?
It is no exaggeration to say that Tameiki-san has been around since the formation of Anonymous; what is the difference between her and the other old timers?
Not good. It’s not time to think about that.
“I wish… I can live like Shion too.”
“……Let’s go.”
“Yeah.”
I reach my hand out to Roll. Roll claps my hand as if giving me a high five and goes ahead.
Passing the place where I fought Kemuri-san earlier, we stand in a place where we can overlook the village.
At the same time, I expand my sound detecting field.
“…”
The sound that I sent out stretches far beyond. Without any interference.
I realize it then.
The Infinite Corridor is not deployed.
……What is going on.
“The Infinite Corridor is not deployed,” When I look at Roll while saying that, I notice that she is staring at a part of the village.
I follow her line of sight. It leads to the village square about 100 meters away from the central entrance.
There are the figures of Shido-san and Chiyaku-san who is treating her.
“…!”
What the heck is going on…?
I squint and try to look at their appearances. However, due to the distance, I can only see them vaguely.
That attire and black hair… that is Shido-san, right?
I try to listen to the sounds there, but I can hear nothing, as Chiyaku-san is just treating Shido-san silently.
“Roll, let’s go back for now. Now that the Infinite Corridor is cleared, we can withdraw…”
“Shion. I’m going… to confirm it.”
What are you saying? – When I think so and turn to her, Roll rushes out without waiting for my reply.
“…! Roll!”
Rushing out of the forest, Roll immediately runs to the two’s side.
“You’re kidding me…”
Astonished, I take out my phone from my pocket.
I tap Byakurei-san’s name registered on the phone and make a call. But it doesn’t connect.
Looking at the screen, the signal reception status of the phone is out of service.
“Dammit!”
Is the communication antenna destroyed …?
In that case…
I throw the unusable phone away and put my right hand on the ground.
Then.
――Sound-Shot
A roaring sound echoes in the forest, and the birds fly into the sky all at once.
The vibration is transmitted to the ground. I wanted to send a sound directly, but since the underground is multi-layered, it’s tough from here.
However, if I make such a sound, they should be able to tell that this is my rescue signal.
The people around Utsusemi-san’s level should… noticed it.
I stand up to and run down the mountain to follow Roll.
Chiyaku-san has noticed us with the Sound-Shot just now. Shido-san remains lying down.
Roll dodges Chiyaku-san’s blood spear that she released from a distance. I use my knife to ward off the blood spear that has passed Roll and came to me.
However, because its power is higher than I expected, the knife is flung off my hand.
“ng…!”
Running through immediately, I reach Roll’s side.
However, there we are surrounded by countless blood blades.
“Roll!”
“Ah…!”
I hug Roll standing next to me and fire Sound-shots in every direction, dispersing the blood blades.
“Hah…! Hah…! Look…! Those two are enemies! Fight them!”
The dispersed blades are reforming in the air and aiming at me and Roll again.
I lower my body and run.
Chiyaku-san’s attack is almost equal to a one-shot deathblow. If you receive even a single drop of that blood, just like Heartbeat-Shot, you will be broken to pieces from inside your body.
I have no more stamina to use the Silent World.
However, the Distortion Sound can be used without the Silent World.
However, in that case, the range will be short. It can’t be used at this distance.
Roll’s reaction is delayed by one tempo.
A little more… just a little more…!
*Stab* A blood blade stabs into my shoulder.
“Guu …!”
Crap.
When I think so, Roll jumps out in front of me.
She deals with the blood blades that came one after another.
*Swish* Her cheeks is cut. And a blood blade passed by the side of my neck.
The wound on my shoulder hurts severely. The invading blood of Chiyaku-san proceeds, heading toward my heart.
“Guuuuaaaaaahhhh!!!”
Jumping out of Roll’s back, I barely get Chiyaku-san into my range.
――Distortion Sound
The blood that is flying in the air falls to the ground.
The pain that pierces my body disappears.
The Sound-Shot that I try to release continuously doesn’t come out. It can’t be helped. I have overused my ability.
I feel dizzy. Chiyaku-san, who is about 10m away, looks hazy.
“Hah… hah…”
“This is… I see…”
Chiyaku murmurs, staring at her right hand with a surprised face.
“Haven’t you become a rash one, Shion-kun?”
I’m not. There is a chance of winning now.
“Hah… hah… with this… can we finally have a calm talk, I wonder.”
When I say such words while behaving like I have room to spare, Chiyaku shrugs her shoulders and smiles.
Of course, we are not going to talk to each other. The only thing left to do is to deliver the final blow after all.
“I wonder about that. You can’t fight anymore, right?”
However, there is Roll.
Roll, please. End her now while her ability is blocked.
With that in mind, I look at Roll.
However, she keeps standing still.
“Chiyaku-san, why do you do something like this…?”
I feel a furious anger at Roll who opened her mouth and said that.
Dammit, to ask such a silly thing in a life-or-death situation…!
I can’t maintain Distortion Sound for long…!
“To hell with her reason! Quickly kill her!” I shout.
“Shut up, Shion!”
I’m silenced at her angry look. I have no choice but to keep quiet.
Tears is filling her eyes.
“…For me, that is something I care about.”
“Right… I have to answer that… right…”
*Thud* The one who is struggling to lift her body is Shido-san.
I open my eyes wide.
Crap, the Distortion Sound doesn’t reach Shido-san.
I take a step towards her slowly and carefully. At that moment,
――The scenery flows.
“Dam………!!”
Shido-san and Chiyaku-san is far behind. The step I took, that was less than a meter, was transformed into a distance that drove me to the edge of the square.
Of course, both of them are out of Distortion Sound’s range.
It’s a complete failure.
[Collapse of Hope]
Thanks to Utsusemi-san playing an active role on the surface, the number of self-defense forces has decreased significantly.
And the number of allies has already decreased to the point where they can be easily counted.
For the time being, the enemies inside the hideout have been annihilated somehow, and we are now gathering in the conference room.
“I will explain the situation again,” I say, and every member nodded.
The amount is 18 people. Even though the non-combatants are also here, the members present are only 18 people.
The injured and medical personnel in the medical room on the first basement floor were all killed.
Kemuri-san did it. If I was late in killing Kemuri-san, the people in the medical room on the second basement floor would have been annihilated as well.
There are practically no people on the third basement floor and onward.
The total number of members remaining in the hideout is over 50.
More than half of them is injured; the situation was hopeless.
Just that, the enemy is no longer the Self-Defense Forces.
“Currently, there is Shido-san’s Infinite Corridor deployed on the surface, so we can’t expect the arrival of reinforcements. At the same time, we cannot escape from here either.”
Thanks to that, it should be okay to assume that there is no reinforcement for the Self-Defense Forces either.
“I don’t think that meant Shido-san betrayed us,” Roll says so to me.
I ask back, “Why?”
“Because she… she was the one who raised me since I was a child you know?”
“Kemuri-san and Chiyaku-san have protected us so far as well, but they betrayed us, right?”
Well, I understand Roll’s feelings.
I can calmly analyze the situation, but the other members who have been here for a long time cannot.
It was the same as Desuko-san’s case, the shock of learning that Kemuri-san and the others had turned traitor should be immeasurable.
Roll casts her eyes down. I continue,
“For the time being, let’s just look at the current situation and assume that Shido-san is an enemy.
The situation has grown worse due to the betrayal of Kemuri-san and Chiyaku-san. I managed to kill Kemuri-san, but Chiyaku-san and Shido-san are still in this Derrida.”
The Infinite Corridor can only be deployed from the inside.
Therefore, if Boss is outside Derrida, it will be impossible for him to get in unless the Infinite Corridor is unraveled.
However, in case that the Infinite Corridor has been deployed since the beginning of the battle, it would be strange.
Shido-san’s Infinite Corridor should be a trump card that has an extreme stamina consumption. To keep deploying it for more than two hours… is impossible, I think.
“Obviously they’re going to come to kill us, so even though the Self-Defense Forces is mostly annihilated, they should still be preparing some sort of plan…
So… do you all want to fight back?” I throw a question.
The remaining path is withdrawal. But I can’t decide that at the drop of a hat.
Because everyone here has been in the organization for much longer than I am.
“I… don’t want to. Chiyaku is one thing, but there is no one who can beat Shido here,” Byakurei said.
As he said. There is no ability user who can defeat Shido-san here.
She is an ability user who has the ability to control the distance itself.
She can easily repel a thrown knife, and she can dodge our attacks like a walk in the park.
However.
“We can’t get out of here unless we defeat Shido-san.”
“We can probably wait for her stamina to run out. There’s no way she can endure for that long.”
“But she has already kept up the Infinite Corridor for at least more than an hour, right?”
The proof of that is the reinforcement hasn’t come yet.
They should already be here, considering so much time has passed.
“To begin with, why did they betray us?” Hikisaki-san brings up the topic I don’t want to talk about the most.
Thinking about something like that now is useless.
However, it is something that everyone is curious about.
“Maybe they are connected to the Self-Defense Forces.”
The door of the conference room opens. The one who appears is Utsusemi-san who is covered in fresh blood.
Everyone turns their gazes to him.
Connected to the Self-Defense Forces; that is hard to imagine.
If that is the case, they can just leak the location of the hideout, they don’t need to do it in such a roundabout way. And they must have other ways to do it as well.
“Anyway, there’s no use thinking about it now.”
I look closely at Utsusemi-san’s expression.
He has a face that says that he doesn’t really care about why they turned traitor.
Yeah, there’s no need to think deeply about it.
“I’ve cleaned up most of the enemies on the surface, but what to do from hereafter?” Utsusemi-san turns to me.
Honestly, I would like the executives, namely Byakurei-san and Utsusemi-san, to decide.
Utsusemi-san and Byakurei-san are aware that they are suspected, though slightly.
That’s natural. When the executives betrayed us in quick succession, it would be unavoidable for both of them to be directed with suspicious gazes.
“For the time being, we have to find Shido-san,” I’m also worried about Chiyaku-san’s movement, who withdrew earlier.
“Haa—, finding Shido you say, are you insane? How are we going to do that?”
As Byakurei-san said, that would be difficult if she is seriously hiding.
However, she is deploying Infinite Corridor while maintaining a distance in the surroundings where sounds can’t reach her. I want to believe that it is possible to find her.
“If she finds that we get closer to her, she will just widen the distance, so I have no choice to go to the surface and try to detect her…”
“She’s not necessarily on the ground y’know. Maybe she’s hiding inside the hideout.”
What Utsusemi said is… undeniable.
Anyway, we have to try whatever we can do.
“…Then, Roll and I will go to the surface and see the situation for now. Will you search in the hideout with the remaining members in the meantime? If you find her, please contact me or Roll.”
If Shido-san is in the hideout, we can do something about her even if we can’t reach her.
When every member nod, we start to move.
Roll and I leave the conference room and run down the corridor.
“Just in case, let’s go out from evacuation exit.”
We will stand out if we exit from the central doorway now, and I’m also worried about the remnants of the Self-Defense Forces.
“…Okay,” Roll’s voice is a little spiritless.
“…………”
Roll is unstable. I chose to act together with her because she’s my partner, but looking at her condition, I don’t think I can expect a tag combination from her right now.
Should I have chosen another person?
……No, at least on top of being my partner, the one who I can cooperate with the best is Roll. It’s not a wrong choice.
Returning to the evacuation exit on the second basement floor, Roll and I go out to the surface using the grappling gun that I had left there earlier.
“Shion,” After we get to the ground, Roll calls my name.
I want to hurry, but I stop and look back.
“Shido-san… I wonder if she really betrayed us.”
I don’t know.
“Roll, right now…”
“Isn’t it strange? Why did the executives turn traitor in quick succession? What is their intention…”
“It’s wrong to try to look at this situation in a good way, Roll… How many people have died because of them?
There is the corpse of Face Punch-san ahead.
I’ll just put it straight, their intention is to obliterate us.”
“But I don’t want to think that Chiyaku-san and Shido-san are enemies… No matter what you say, for me, they are family, you know… This place is… my home you know.”
“…………”
I totally got it wrong. This organization is what supported Roll up till now, huh.
…In that case, I wonder what is the difference between Tameiki-san, Byakurei-san, Utsusemi-san and the executives that have turned traitor?
It is no exaggeration to say that Tameiki-san has been around since the formation of Anonymous; what is the difference between her and the other old timers?
Not good. It’s not time to think about that.
“I wish… I can live like Shion too.”
“……Let’s go.”
“Yeah.”
I reach my hand out to Roll. Roll claps my hand as if giving me a high five and goes ahead.
Passing the place where I fought Kemuri-san earlier, we stand in a place where we can overlook the village.
At the same time, I expand my sound detecting field.
“…”
The sound that I sent out stretches far beyond. Without any interference.
I realize it then.
The Infinite Corridor is not deployed.
……What is going on.
“The Infinite Corridor is not deployed,” When I look at Roll while saying that, I notice that she is staring at a part of the village.
I follow her line of sight. It leads to the village square about 100 meters away from the central entrance.
There are the figures of Shido-san and Chiyaku-san who is treating her.
“…!”
What the heck is going on…?
I squint and try to look at their appearances. However, due to the distance, I can only see them vaguely.
That attire and black hair… that is Shido-san, right?
I try to listen to the sounds there, but I can hear nothing, as Chiyaku-san is just treating Shido-san silently.
“Roll, let’s go back for now. Now that the Infinite Corridor is cleared, we can withdraw…”
“Shion. I’m going… to confirm it.”
What are you saying? – When I think so and turn to her, Roll rushes out without waiting for my reply.
“…! Roll!”
Rushing out of the forest, Roll immediately runs to the two’s side.
“You’re kidding me…”
Astonished, I take out my phone from my pocket.
I tap Byakurei-san’s name registered on the phone and make a call. But it doesn’t connect.
Looking at the screen, the signal reception status of the phone is out of service.
“Dammit!”
Is the communication antenna destroyed …?
In that case…
I throw the unusable phone away and put my right hand on the ground.
Then.
――Sound-Shot
A roaring sound echoes in the forest, and the birds fly into the sky all at once.
The vibration is transmitted to the ground. I wanted to send a sound directly, but since the underground is multi-layered, it’s tough from here.
However, if I make such a sound, they should be able to tell that this is my rescue signal.
The people around Utsusemi-san’s level should… noticed it.
I stand up to and run down the mountain to follow Roll.
Chiyaku-san has noticed us with the Sound-Shot just now. Shido-san remains lying down.
Roll dodges Chiyaku-san’s blood spear that she released from a distance. I use my knife to ward off the blood spear that has passed Roll and came to me.
However, because its power is higher than I expected, the knife is flung off my hand.
“ng…!”
Running through immediately, I reach Roll’s side.
However, there we are surrounded by countless blood blades.
“Roll!”
“Ah…!”
I hug Roll standing next to me and fire Sound-shots in every direction, dispersing the blood blades.
“Hah…! Hah…! Look…! Those two are enemies! Fight them!”
The dispersed blades are reforming in the air and aiming at me and Roll again.
I lower my body and run.
Chiyaku-san’s attack is almost equal to a one-shot deathblow. If you receive even a single drop of that blood, just like Heartbeat-Shot, you will be broken to pieces from inside your body.
I have no more stamina to use the Silent World.
However, the Distortion Sound can be used without the Silent World.
However, in that case, the range will be short. It can’t be used at this distance.
Roll’s reaction is delayed by one tempo.
A little more… just a little more…!
*Stab* A blood blade stabs into my shoulder.
“Guu …!”
Crap.
When I think so, Roll jumps out in front of me.
She deals with the blood blades that came one after another.
*Swish* Her cheeks is cut. And a blood blade passed by the side of my neck.
The wound on my shoulder hurts severely. The invading blood of Chiyaku-san proceeds, heading toward my heart.
“Guuuuaaaaaahhhh!!!”
Jumping out of Roll’s back, I barely get Chiyaku-san into my range.
――Distortion Sound
The blood that is flying in the air falls to the ground.
The pain that pierces my body disappears.
The Sound-Shot that I try to release continuously doesn’t come out. It can’t be helped. I have overused my ability.
I feel dizzy. Chiyaku-san, who is about 10m away, looks hazy.
“Hah… hah…”
“This is… I see…”
Chiyaku murmurs, staring at her right hand with a surprised face.
“Haven’t you become a rash one, Shion-kun?”
I’m not. There is a chance of winning now.
“Hah… hah… with this… can we finally have a calm talk, I wonder.”
When I say such words while behaving like I have room to spare, Chiyaku shrugs her shoulders and smiles.
Of course, we are not going to talk to each other. The only thing left to do is to deliver the final blow after all.
“I wonder about that. You can’t fight anymore, right?”
However, there is Roll.
Roll, please. End her now while her ability is blocked.
With that in mind, I look at Roll.
However, she keeps standing still.
“Chiyaku-san, why do you do something like this…?”
I feel a furious anger at Roll who opened her mouth and said that.
Dammit, to ask such a silly thing in a life-or-death situation…!
I can’t maintain Distortion Sound for long…!
“To hell with her reason! Quickly kill her!” I shout.
“Shut up, Shion!”
I’m silenced at her angry look. I have no choice but to keep quiet.
Tears is filling her eyes.
“…For me, that is something I care about.”
“Right… I have to answer that… right…”
*Thud* The one who is struggling to lift her body is Shido-san.
I open my eyes wide.
Crap, the Distortion Sound doesn’t reach Shido-san.
I take a step towards her slowly and carefully. At that moment,
――The scenery flows.
“Dam………!!”
Shido-san and Chiyaku-san is far behind. The step I took, that was less than a meter, was transformed into a distance that drove me to the edge of the square.
Of course, both of them are out of Distortion Sound’s range.
It’s a complete failure.
