A piercing scream echoed in Takakai's ears.
During that seemingly endless fall, Takakai could feel the monster still trapped within his body letting out an extremely shrill wail.
"Tsk tsk, someone's having a complete meltdown," he couldn't help but comment softly.
[Impossible... impossible impossible... Alice did nothing wrong, Alice just wanted to make friends, Alice just wanted companions, Alice did nothing wrong did nothing wrong did nothing wrong—]
The noisy voice made Takakai feel like his eardrums were about to burst. But honestly? His current mood was nothing but pure delight, so much so that his facial expression had completely twisted into the kind of exaggerated look only seen in anime.
The surroundings were becoming increasingly fragmented.
Just like the final scene replay in Nutty Putty Cave, the originally intact dungeon setting was undergoing violent collapse, gradually crumbling to pieces.
However, while Nutty Putty Cave's destruction was due to one of its core remnants, Andreas, having his dying wish fulfilled and finding peace, the reason for this place's transformation was clearly because of changes among the victims.
Takakai could see those gradually dissipating victims—the restless souls harmed by Alice, and the students of Fujika Academy. These figures were shedding their original restraints as the court's judgment was carried out under the players' control, beginning to break free from this dungeon and attain true peace.
[This can't be... this can't be... Alice did nothing wrong... Alice did nothing wrong...]
The voice inside Takakai screamed and howled.
This behavior was truly unsightly.
But rather than saying it was throwing a tantrum after failure, it would be more accurate to say its long-held beliefs had been shattered.
For this thing called [Alice], it genuinely believed its acts of torture and killing were ways of making friends—correct, beautiful and perfectly justified behavior. Even though opposing voices had always existed, because supporters remained who kept affirming its actions were right, this perception of its had never changed, only growing increasingly stubborn over time.
But now, all its beliefs had been crushed.
Such thorough, absolute destruction was a first-time experience for it. No... actually the second time, but the first person to make it taste such defeat was just one individual. This time however, it found the entire world standing against it, countless voices drowning it out, turning it and its supporters into the minority, completely demolishing everything it had built. Such failure was something it had never experienced before and could never accept.
[Alice... was a good child...]
[Alice was always obedient... Alice always listened to the teachers...]
[Alice always did as everyone expected... why was Alice wrong...]
The falling finally stopped.
Takakai stood up from the shattered ruins, rising from the stinking pile of building debris and human corpses, Alice's pitiful voice still ringing in his ears.
"Just shut up already, what's the point of all this nonsense?"
Takakai cursed without hesitation, but after taking just one step forward, he stumbled and fell back to the ground.
The ruins were still shaking violently.
As the dungeon's collapse accelerated, [Fujika Academy] was gradually heading toward destruction.
Shadows expanded overhead.
Takakai looked up to see the school building collapsing toward him.
"Holy sh—"
BOOM!!!
With his Blessing activated, Takakai swiftly dodged just before the building came crashing down.
[Alice wanted friends... Alice just wanted friends...]
The monster's voice in his mind was growing fainter.
Takakai froze momentarily, realizing Alice's presence was weakening—its power had diminished to the point where it could no longer break free from his body or control him even without his active suppression.
This is... so that's how it is. This thing operates on [perception equals existence].
After brief contemplation, Takakai finally understood [Alice]'s fundamental nature and unique traits.
Neither human nor supernatural entity, Alice was a complex informational entity combining traits of both. It could possess human intelligence and emotions alongside a monster's terrifying powers and rule-based characteristics. However, the tradeoff was that its existence depended entirely on others' [perception] of it.
Previously, the deceased students and victims had all provided [perception] of Alice, sustaining its existence. But now with the dungeon itself destroyed and more entities freed to find peace, the sources able to perceive Alice were dwindling, causing it to grow weaker and lose its original power.
It was certain that once the core remnant found peace and this dungeon completely collapsed, after Takakai absorbed those researchers and other scumbags who supported or created Alice into his watch, Alice—now completely devoid of perceptual sources—would dissipate into nothingness, equivalent to death.
However, players still remembered it, and netizens worldwide knew of a censored version of Alice. But judging from its current state, it seemed ordinary human perception couldn't sufficiently sustain its existence—unless the perceptions were extreme, like fans' worship or victims' hatred and fear, they couldn't maintain this twisted entity. So even if some memories of it lingered, that wouldn't change the fact it was now facing annihilation.
[Alice... what exactly did Alice do wrong... Alice always did as everyone said... always worked so hard to make friends...]
The muttering voice continued.
Takakai sighed again, finally growing impatient.
"Stop pretending, alright? Did you think I wouldn't realize? You've always known exactly what you were doing, fully aware of your true nature. What's the point of keeping up this act now? This outcome is nothing but what you deserved."
As he spoke, Takakai stepped forward and soon found Miko lying unconscious in a pile of rubble.
It seemed she must have sensed something when the world shattered earlier, otherwise she wouldn't be in this state. Come to think of it, despite falling from what would equate to dozens of stories in height, Takakai remained completely unharmed even without activating his Blessing, and now Miko showed no injuries either—as if some force had protected them?
[Alice... was wanting friends... wrong?]
Finally realizing Takakai was addressing it directly, Alice spoke up in confusion.
"Your idea of 'making friends' was torturing others, making them wish for death. Did you truly not know whether those you 'befriended' ever considered you a friend? Just die quietly already—I'm thoroughly sick of you."
After confirming Miko was unharmed, Takakai prepared to carry her to safety while responding to Alice.
But at that moment, intense hallucinations suddenly overwhelmed everything.
Takakai found himself back in Fujika Academy's classroom, sitting in Class 2-15 with sleeping students around him and candles still burning.
As if everything had reset, as if nothing had ever happened.
Takakai merely scoffed, and instantly the illusion shattered.
"You can no longer cloud my senses."
He spoke softly, only to be met with Alice's increasingly hysterical screams.
[No no no... Teacher! Teacher! Become Alice's friend! Teacher understands Alice so well, you can definitely be Alice's friend! It's possible! It must be possible!]
Drip—
A drop of water landed on Takakai's forehead.
All light vanished.
He was back in Nutty Putty Cave's narrow crevice, reliving the nightmare of being trapped in the rock fissure for over a month with no escape.
But this vision too disappeared moments later.
"Alright, that one was actually scary. If you'd led with it earlier, you might have actually fooled me."
Takakai sighed, then saw terrifying porcelain dolls emerging from all directions, while scalding hot water poured down from above.
Naturally, this scene also failed to last.
The Alice sealed within him seemed to have merged somehow with the one parasitizing his mind, allowing it to create nightmares from Takakai's memories. This thing certainly had some tricks left for its final struggle—but Takakai knew it had reached the end of the road, and would no longer be fooled.
Tap—
Footsteps approached from behind.
Takakai turned to see Hirano Sousuke walking toward him, calmly reloading his pistol.
Alice's shrieks reached an ear-piercing crescendo.
Countless images and sounds interlaced, nearly tearing apart Takakai's senses.
But he simply stood up, faced Hirano directly, and waited motionless with perfect calm.
The gun rose.
The trigger pulled.
Bang!
The bullet passed through Takakai's body.
Yet he remained standing, completely unharmed.
A golden-haired Alice stumbled backward, clutching the bullet wound in her chest before collapsing to her knees, looking up in stunned silence at Takakai—and at Hirano who now stood beside him, his gun still steadily aimed.