Bab 68: Alice. I will definitely protect you.
"We were under surveillance. I couldn't say anything indiscreet. But Iberis, I'm glad you figured out my intentions."
Raffi opened his mouth, raising his upper body on Philrain's lap.
"B-But… the ability of the Original Nightmare here is concealing the shelter from other enemies…"
"Philrain, you have to remember carefully. The Original Nightmare devours humans. And there is no exception to that rule for this particular Mock Turtle as well."
"… No way…"
"The citizens that were brought to this place are in danger. They'll be sacrificed."
"That's the gist of it," Iberis spoke in a light tone and turned the handle. In the narrow air duct passageway, the bike with its lights on is speeding away. "The bishop must be rescued immediately… or she will be exterminated."
Iberis mentioned impatiently, and Raffi gritted his teeth and said.
"… That may be already too late. Our best course of action is to kill the Mock Turtle first."
"… I-In other words, this place is…" Philrain put her hand on her cheek and muttered with a pale face. "The Original Nightmare's… nest…?"
"It's nothing but a feeding ground, hidden beneath the term 'paradise'. That doppelganger… woman named Stelcis likely knows what she's doing." Raffi replied nonchalantly. Iberis rode the bike through the wire mesh in the corridor and leaped out of the vehicle into what appeared to be a warehouse within the shelter.
She then parked the air bike in a corner of the area where containers were lined up. Switching off the engine, she retrieved a portable emergency light from the back of the bike and activated it in the darkness.
"This bike is too conspicuous. Let's hide it here."
"Isn't… something quite foul-smelling here…?" Philrain pinched her nose and frowned at the rising odor. Iberis did not answer but stepped forward a few steps with fluctuating feet. She then directed her light to the surroundings and scanned them. Raffi stood by her side, looking around indifferently with his cat's eyes.
"Master Alice…? Are you okay? Hang in there, please."
Philrain shook her by the shoulders, and Alice turned her vacant left eye to her, her face bright red as if a fever had swept over her.
"Phil…? My head hurts…"
"We need to be off this place… can you move?"
"… Somehow…"
Iberis shot a sideways glance at Alice who staggered to her feet and then pressed her nose.
"This is the source of the smell." She said plainly and pointed the light at her surroundings. Looking at her line of sight, Philrain let out a small cry.
There were numerous chains hanging from the ceiling. At the end of the chains were claws, and some sort of sandbag-like object was hanging from them.
Swaying and swinging, it was as silent as a psychidae amidst the sound of the air conditioning running. But the moment Philrain caught sight of it, she recognized "what" it was.
–A human being.
Yes, that was a human…
A human torso, with both arms and legs savagely amputated, was hanging with a claw inserted into the neck.
Stripped naked, the corpse of the person was still dripping warm blood…
People of all ages, both men and women, were there.
No matter if they were children or adults; they were all in despair, fear, and extreme pain, with twisted, bleary-eyed expressions of desperation.
"This… is… this is…"
"This… is the Nightmare's 'bait' processing facility. After giving them a terror and murdering them, do they preserve them… Hard to say…" Raffi gnashed his teeth and stated in a hushed tone. While suppressing the rising nausea, Philrain supported Alice and advanced to the back of Iberis and others.
"It's… unforgivable. This is not a poultry farm, where on the surface a hypocrite offers hope, but behind the scenes breeds food. This is just…" Iberis retorted in a small voice, grinding her teeth together. "This is not what humans do…! That woman is no different than the Nightmare…!"
"Don't get emotional, Iberis. The enemy Seventh manipulates your perception of herself and those around her. We have to be vigilant."
"I know…"
Iberis swallowed her words and forced herself to look towards Philrain and Alice. Then she approached Alice, who was lying face down and breathing heavily and crouched down. Iberis peered into her face and softly remarked.
"… Alice. I will definitely protect you. Keep this with you."
With a small mobile device in her hand, Alice watched her with her vacant left eye.
"I'm not suggesting that you join me. Protect yourself. If you ever feel anxious, you can always call me. I swear I'll be there."
"Master Iberis…"
Iberis restrained Philrain from speaking out and turned her back on them.
"… Raffi and I are heading off to save the surviving citizens and the bishop. You have to take Alice and remain hidden in a place far away from here."
"… No way, with only the two of you…"
"I'll be fine."
Smiling, Iberis started to run after confirming that Raffi had rushed up to her shoulder. Then she dashed up the wall and slipped her body into the ventilation duct's entrance.
Alice gripped the communication device that had been handed to her and halted as if she were in a state of collapsing. The heat in her right eye seemed to be growing, and her consciousness was drifting into a cloudy trance. While supporting her, who was shaking her head dizzily, Philrain commented.
"… Master Alice. Let's leave this place. We need to take cover first."
"… Yeah…"
Giving a small nod, Philrain pulled Alice's hand and walked away through the corpses.
◇
"… Is this good? You didn't follow Alice." Iberis asked in a whisper as she moved through the service entrance. Raffi was leading the way ahead of her as he made his reply.
"To protect Alice, the enemies in this shelter must be defeated promptly. Following her will not accomplish that."
"… Yeah. I've asked a strange thing."
Iberis said, then stopped at the grid pattern area. Then she crouched and glimpsed below. The room was close to the storage facility for corpses.
There were four white walls on all sides, and the room resembled a factory. There was a conveyor belt in operation. And a number of what seemed to be bags of corpses were being carried down the line.
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone