Fragments of the past were continuously being pieced together.
Those things buried deep within history, traces that had once been nearly impossible to uncover, began surfacing faster and faster after the "surface layer" occupied by Alice shattered apart, allowing Takumi's group to dig ever deeper into the truth.
In a certain sense, it could even be said that Alice herself had been the greatest obstacle within the Fujihana Middle School Instance. Once that monstrous thing ceased to exist, the Instance itself no longer had much difficulty left to it.
Still, after truly seeing that core obsession—after seeing the reason why the man named Hirano Sōsuke could never rest in peace—Takumi had to admit that he genuinely had a headache coming on.
Because this obsession could be said to have absolutely nothing to do with "Alice."
And yet, at the same time, Alice could also be said to remain an essential part of that obsession.
Hirano Sōsuke himself had once been one of Fujihana Middle School's "Bad Students."
During the final period, when Fujihana Middle School had almost completely transformed into something aberrant, he had been one of the extremely rare lucky few—fewer than ten every year.
Only after entering that hellish place did Sōsuke learn what kind of school it truly was.
And he had been told that the lives of his entire family depended upon his performance there.
At the time, still only a middle school student, Sōsuke had desperately struggled to achieve high rankings and become one of the top Outstanding Students.
But after unintentionally violating school rules several times, he was gradually pushed deeper and deeper into the ranks of the Bad Students.
If that teacher had not protected him, he never could have survived that dark place known as Fujihana Middle School.
And precisely because he had survived there, he actually knew of Alice's existence.
He knew about that invisible monster born from among the Outstanding Students—a being ordinary people could not see.
He knew just how terrifying its charm was.
And time after time, whenever he encountered that thing, he would lose himself completely.
That teacher protected him over and over again, shielding him from the cruel, insane researchers and from Alice herself.
Even in the end, when Alice completely lost control and destroyed the entire school, the teacher—who had already been marked for disposal by then—still managed to escape, bringing him along through a hidden door and out of that hell.
No…
He knew the truth.
He had actually never escaped at all.
Anyone who stayed in a certain area of that school for more than two hours would form a strange connection with it.
No matter where they went afterward, they would ultimately return there in the end.
Even now, with Fujihana Middle School reduced to ruins…
Even now, with nobody left to drag him back there…
Every time Sōsuke fell asleep, he would still dream of returning to that school.
Dream of still being a powerless student.
Dream of his parents and family being tortured and murdered.
Dream of the moment the entire school descended into hell.
Even after so many years had passed.
Even after growing into an adult.
Those nightmares still remained with him.
Yet in the end, Sōsuke did not choose to isolate and exile himself from society the way his teacher had, returning only once a year to mourn at the school.
He wanted to do something for other people.
He wanted to help those suffering people who lacked the power to save themselves.
So he chose to become a police officer.
Helping every person who came to him for aid.
Expecting nothing in return.
Always smiling brightly.
Always continuing to move forward.
By that point, the marks left upon Sōsuke by those past hardships had nearly disappeared entirely.
It almost seemed as though he had escaped all the nightmares of his past.
As though the only thing left in this world was the grown-up version of himself.
Until the existence known as "Idol Alice" was brought to his attention by the people seeking his help.
Only then did Sōsuke discover that, at some point, such a girl had appeared.
A nationwide sensation.
Someone who had driven countless people across the country into madness.
From ordinary citizens to the nation's prime minister, it seemed as though every single person had already had their soul stolen away by that girl.
Even though she never made any effort to hide her cruelty.
Even though the evidence she left behind was beyond counting.
Nobody paid any attention to the victims begging for help.
Of course Sōsuke understood why.
After all, back during his time at Fujihana Middle School, if his teacher had not helped him, he would have died long ago after suffering one mental collapse after another.
No one understood the terrifying power of that monster more clearly than he did.
But the current Sōsuke would no longer be bewitched by that thing.
After truly enduring and adapting to an entire year under that monster's influence…
After spending many more years maturing mentally…
The Hirano Sōsuke of today would no longer be deceived by Alice's illusions or that demonic charm.
If someone was going to eliminate that monster…
Then he was the best choice.
And also the only choice.
But…
Did he truly possess the courage to do such a thing?
The shadows of the past once again returned to his side.
The nightmares he had once endured resurfaced together with the reappearance of that figure.
And in the end, he still took that step forward.
Beforehand, he thoroughly investigated the concert venue.
He memorized several of the passageways in the stadium's backstage area.
Secretly made copies of the keys to those security and fire doors.
Secretly smuggled ammunition into various hidden corners throughout the backstage area.
He even repaired and modified a scrapped secondhand motorcycle, then hid it near the backstage section.
Once all preparations were complete, he pretended to be a fan who had obtained a front-row concert ticket.
He invited fans whose seats were supposedly close to the fake seat assignment he had fabricated to participate in an event together, then knocked them unconscious and imprisoned them, taking their tickets and sneaking into the venue in their place.
Then, at the very moment Alice stepped onto the stage and came closest to him, he stood up and opened fire.
Within an extremely short span of time, he fired multiple shots in succession to ensure she was killed.
After that, he fled toward the backstage area, using his familiarity with the environment to engage in a prolonged chase against the pursuing fans, killing a considerable number of them along the way before successfully escaping on the motorcycle.
He had guessed that Alice would have some sort of contingency prepared.
So that night, he went nowhere else.
Instead, he remained atop a building facing the ruins of Fujihana Middle School.
Those fans being controlled carried Alice's corpse back to the school.
And with gun in hand, he followed them into the school as well.
The people who had already been completely brainwashed and deeply influenced by Alice for years were beyond saving, so Sōsuke felt absolutely nothing when killing those fans.
As for Alice, who had transformed back into a monster once more, he had originally assumed he would either die together with it or be killed by some method of its own.
But in the end, he still walked out of that school alive.
And from that day onward, the monster known as "Alice" never again returned to the human world.
As the story of a hero defeating a monster, things should have reached a perfect conclusion there.
But if everything truly could have ended so perfectly, Takumi would never have witnessed everything that happened afterward.
Sōsuke was arrested.
More than thirty fans had died at his hands.
The corpse of Idol Alice had vanished without a trace.
The torture and interrogations he endured did not follow proper procedure whatsoever, but compared to what he had suffered at Fujihana Middle School, it was hardly worth mentioning.
And so, in the end, his former colleagues failed to obtain anything important from him.
The secrets that were meant to rot inside his stomach were secrets Sōsuke would never speak aloud.
But that was not the true issue.
When Sōsuke sat in the defendant's seat…
When he was shackled in handcuffs and chains…
When he stood trial…
What concerned him was not any of that.
The power of "Alice" was nearly impossible for ordinary people to resist.
But unless someone chased after Alice every single day like those fanatics…
Unless they remained constantly by her side like Fujii Hiroshi, subjected to her influence every waking moment…
Then merely being exposed through newspapers, television footage, and similar forms of indirect contact produced only a corresponding mental distortion.
That distortion certainly existed.
But it was not enough to truly alter a person's core personality.
Especially…
After the death of "Idol Alice," that influence weakened even further.
Which meant he understood very clearly that the judges in the courtroom, along with the others involved in the trial, had actually already regained their senses.
Aside from the fanatics whose personalities had already been irreversibly twisted beyond salvation, everyone else had awakened.
Everyone else had regained their reason.
Even if their affection for Alice had not entirely faded, at the very least, some of them should already have realized what had truly happened.
And yet he was still guilty.
The focus of the charges was not the fans he had killed.
It was Alice.
Those victims…
Those victims' families…
Even after the Alice who had brought them unbearable suffering disappeared, they still failed to receive the justice they deserved.
Alice remained innocent.
Even with all the evidence laid out plainly before everyone's eyes, people still chose to turn a blind eye.
Why?
His question never received an answer.
Not until after he was "executed" and awakened inside a hospital.
Not until he saw Fujii Hiroshi standing there alongside several elegant-looking people in suits.
Only then did he finally understand that Alice's disappearance had not brought an end to the nightmare.
It had merely marked its beginning once again.
The experiments had resumed.
Hiroshi had obtained support from those at the top, allowing him to continue his research.
And the victims would remain trapped in darkness.
Because in order to cooperate with Hiroshi's experiments, Alice's beauty and kindness would continue to be glorified.
None of the filth would ever be exposed to the public.
Those who had lost the people dearest to them would even suffer even crueler persecution.
Several of them had already been tracked down by Alice's fanatics.
Some did not survive.
Those fortunate enough to live were sent to psychiatric hospitals, where within days they completely lost their minds.
And then, one day, they simply vanished without a trace.
In the end…
Nothing had changed.
He had prevented that monster's power from spreading even further across Japan.
He had extinguished the brewing catastrophe before it could fully emerge.
And what he received in return was merely the expansion of human desire once again.
Was I wrong?
Was the choice I made not the correct one?
It was my recklessness that caused all of this to begin again.
More people will suffer because of it.
And this time…
There will no longer be a teacher like the one who once protected me to protect them.
Was I actually the one in the wrong?
Shouldn't I have done that?
I…
I… no…
I refuse to accept it.
I will never accept it.
Even if I have to go to hell—
Then all of you can come with me.
I will never surrender to you!
I will never compromise with you!
Never!
Never!!!
The flames burned fiercely.
Within those flames, that terrifying incarnation had nearly taken everything away.
But not them.
Only those silent people remained standing off to the side.
He did not blame them for remaining silent from beginning to end, because on Judgment Day, they too had suffered even more than he had.
Still, whenever he looked at them, he hesitated.
And then hesitated once again.
After all, the suffering they endured had ultimately been brought upon them by him.
What he had wanted to do was protect them, yet in the end, he had harmed them instead.
Was everything I did really the right thing?
Could it be… that I truly was wrong?
I…
…
…
Takumi sat quietly in his seat with his eyes closed.
{How did your investigation go over there?}
Maki's voice echoed through the mental link inside his mind.
{Well… how should I put it? There are still some missing pieces I haven't fully connected yet, but at least I already know how to destroy the Fujihana Middle School area}
There seemed to be an indescribable emotion hidden within Takumi's reply.
{What do we need to do?}
The girl continued asking.
{We need to give those people justice. We need to define this entire incident once and for all. We need the victims themselves to speak out—and let their voices drown out every other voice}
{In other words, we need to completely overturn the way this Instance currently is. We need to flip everything that presently looks so ordinary completely upside down}
{Only then will the people who deserve to go to hell truly be sent to hell}
As Takumi spoke through the mental link, he slowly opened his eyes and looked toward the elevated seat where the judge sat.
A cute young girl with long golden hair and an inhumanly enchanting beauty sat there, idly swinging her feet back and forth in boredom.
Then, the moment Takumi looked at her, the girl smiled faintly—a smile filled with utterly undisguised malice and amusement.
[So, teacher… did you miss Alice?]
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