Gunjou"s story ended.

The story that took place after I lost consciousness.

A story about what happened to Kiri, Shiro, Yousuke and Himi.

Her story was well organized, crisp, and easy to understand.

After that, Shiro and the rest fought the rabbit and won. During then, he saw Gunjou protecting Shinnosuke and decided to just go on ahead leaving them there. Since it was dangerous to bring the immobile Shinnosuke along as they advanced in the labyrinth.

Thus, after Shiro told the unresponsive Gunjou that they would find Kiri and ask her to undo her magic on Shinnosuke, they disappeared into the inner parts of the labyrinth.

As I listen until here, I ask.

"All that happened a month ago?"

"...... yeah."

Gunjou nods.

"But no one returned."

"Yeah."

"Then everyone has already died?"

But on hearing that, Gunjou points to my left arm. To the armband where 『Cla.s.s 5』 is written.

☆ marks are present on it.

There are five ☆ marks.

The same number as those who infiltrated the labyrinth.

It is showing that Shinnosuke, Shiro, Himi, Yousuke and Kiri are alive and active in the labyrinth.

Somehow, everyone is alive.

On looking at it, I can feel a sense of relief from the depths of my heart.

"Aah, I see. I have this. I have never had comrades so I forgot about it."

I then look at Gunjou and say.

"Ah, but there is no ☆ representing you, which means you aren"t a comrade."

She ignores me.

Gunjou says.

"So what"re you going to do?"

I answer.

"There is only Escape, right? Only a fool will risk his life for the sake of others."

Gunjou then says.

"You are that fool."

"The one who calls others a fool is the fool ~"

"You risk your life for your little sister."

"My little sister is not "others"."

"Y-You risk your life...... to save me......"

"I just wanted to sleep with you. It"s just s.e.xual desire. Hurry up and let me do you."

On hearing that, Gunjou glares at me sharply and with her face beet red for some reason, she says.

"...... if that"s what you desire, you can do as you like. Since you"re my life savior, if that"s what you really want......"

I feel exasperated. Why do I always spout such meaningless, rotten words so lightly?

"I take that back. I have no interest in breastless shrimps."

However, ignoring me, while still glaring at me, Gunjou continues.

"But what you want is not me. It"s your little sister, right?"

"............"

"You want to save your little sister, right? If that"s the case, then I"ll risk my life just once for that purpose."

On hearing that, my face turns to one of bewilderment.

"Why"re you willing to go that far?"

"Because you saved my life."

"Are you an idiot?"

"I want to say that to the you before you came to save me."

That goes the same for me. When did you become such an naive, goody, sweet guy? It might just be as sweet as honey with sugar added into it.

Gunjou says.

"Hey, can I ask something?"

"No."

But Gunjou asks.

"Did you tell anyone else about your little sister?"

"Hn?"

"Did you tell it to Shiro, Himi, Yousuke or Kiri?"

I shake my head at that.

I have never told anyone about that.

Gunjou"s face seemed to brighten at that.

"Y-You only told me huh."

"You"re really irritating."

"I"m not!"

"What the h.e.l.l"s wrong with you for crying out loud."

"Then, if you haven"t told them...... Shiro, Yousuke, Himi, Kiri...... they"ll surely try to make use of your little sister."

Well, that"s to be expected, I suppose.

Apocalypse Alice is the world"s highest ranking labyrinth that anyone in the world would want to get their hands on.

If one can raid it and bring back magic from it, then one might be able to get one"s hands on a ma.s.sive amount of power that could change just about anything.

Mitsutomo Group.

Kowloon Devils Group.

Taikou Pharmaceuticals.

The j.a.panese government.

Shiro and the rest probably also belong to some organization. Even if I can trust Shiro, I don"t know whether or not I can trust the organization behind him.

Everyone is targeting my little sister.

If I don"t hurry, my little sister might just be taken to a place where I can"t reach, there is a possibility that she will be used, or ended up getting killed.

Gunjou says.

"You won"t Escape, right?"

I nod.

"I have been living for just that sake."

"For the sake of saving your little sister?"

On hearing that question, I look hard at Gunjou and say.

"It"s about time for you to go back, right? There"s no need for you to tag along. The situation"s worse than expected."

Upon saying that, I ponder a bit on Gunjou"s situation.

Gunjou probably has nowhere she can return to after Escaping anymore.

Since she has turned into an eternal labyrinth once.

That"s the same as getting branded by the world as a calamity. On top of that, there has been no precedence of a labyrinth diseased girl getting severed from the labyrinth and returning back to normal.

Thus, if she were to go back, she would definitely be used as a guinea pig.

Or, she would be killed by the Mitsutomo Group. Since she is no longer a daughter of the Mitsutomo Group. She has fulfilled her usefulness as an experimental animal by connecting the labyrinth to Apocalypse Alice.

If word of this gets out to the public, it will look bad on Mitsutomo Group.

Thus, she would be killed the instant she leaves the labyrinth.

She no longer has a place to go back to.

Well, that goes the same for Shinnosuke, Shiro, Himi, and Yousuke.

Mitsutomo Group has a policy of killing eyewitnesses.

Therefore, if I get out of here, I will have to seek protection from an organization that is antagonistic towards Mitsutomo Group; I consider all those for a bit.

For example, Taikou Pharmaceuticals where my cousin Yayoi is at, should be uninvolved in the incident this time.

At that thought, I grimace.

"Eeh ~, seeking refuge with her? You must be kidding me."

I groan.

Gunjou says to me with a bewildered look.

"What?"

"Nothing, I"m just rambling. And Gunjou. Sorry. You shouldn"t Escape after all."

If you get outside, you will probably get killed by those you think of as family --- I can"t really say this last part to her.

However, as if she has misunderstood something, she say beaming.

"Ah, you"re finally getting honest about it?"

"Hn? Ah ~, no."

"You really want this super elite Mizuiro Gunjou to help you, right?"

"Ah ~, erhm, well......"

"Jeez, you should have just asked honestly right from the beginning."

"Shut up."

I press against her lovely mouth that"s babbling irritatingly.

"Mmmmphf...... hey, don"t stuff your hand over my mouth!"

She says angrily to me.

I wonder how she can remain so energetic in such a situation.

Right now, we"ll be killed if we Escape and retreat. And if we move forward, there"s a rank 666 tough labyrinth waiting for us, we"re really getting cornered here.

A bit of fatigue wells up in me. I relax my body a little. The magic placed on me has started to completely leave me perhaps?

"............"

I touch the area of my chest where the sword had pierced through. There is no sign of any wound. From what Shiro said based on Gunjou"s account, this is some kind of restraining magic.

But I wonder why did I lose consciousness for a month. The magic"s effect can only be sustained by the will of the caster.

In other words, does that mean that Kiri has been continuously sustaining this magic for a month"s time?

But for what?

Why did Kiri persist in doing such a thing?

"............"

Or, could it be that the reason behind my unconsciousness is not because of Kiri"s magic?

I ponder about that.

Since just now, my little sister appeared in my dream.

Since my little sister who has become the labyrinth called Apocalypse Alice, appeared.

And I remember about the time when I was a kid, when my little sister got the labyrinth disease.

I remember the words she said with a teary face.

"Don"t touch me! The disease will...... the disease will infect you, Onii-chan."

Unconcerned, I touched her. I tried to save my little sister. But, she could not be saved. My little sister had said this worriedly.

"....... aah...... aah, what should we do? You got infected by a bit of it. By a bit of the Apocalypse in my head. But the time limit"s already up. I can"t be myself any longer. Bye bye, Onii-chan."

However, up till now, there has been no peculiar symptom of any sort. Despite my sister saying that I got infected, I have been living my daily life without paying heed to it.

But, right now, this place is connected to the Apocalypse Alice. And,

Can this really be due to Kiri"s magic?

Or is there another reason?

Could I have gotten infected by the Apocalypse Alice......?

"............."

I thought it"d be fine if I got infected. I did not want my little sister to suffer by herself.

I say.

"It"s about time we exit this room. We don"t have time to tarry around here."

I have already tarried long enough. Since I had been sleeping for a month.

Gunjou answers.

"We"ll go together."

I glance at her with half-opened eyes and say.

"Fool."

"Like I said, I could say the same to you!"

While talking, we kick the wall. The wall shakes and turns again, and we exit to the corridor outside.

"Where is the Apocalypse Alice connected to?"

"It seems like we can enter another labyrinth from the floor above."

"Hm. You have the map?"

Gunjou nods.

"It"s inside my head. But beyond that......"

"You have no clue?"

"Yeah. Since it"s not my labyrinth."

It"s the labyrinth my little sister Saki made.

"Then let"s first get there. By the way, are the monsters conjured by you still around?"

But she shakes her head.

"No. The moment when I got stabbed by the knife, all of them disappeared."

"Then, the only thing we have to be worried about are those rabbits."

I snap my fingers. Activate my 《Headphone Fuzz》. Both the Demon Sword switch and the Acceleration Switch.

After that, we return to the former large hall.

The rabbit is not there.

We advance along the corridor.

But the rabbit is not there.

We ascend the stairs to the floor above.

But the rabbit is not there.

Gunjou and I tense our bodies and slowly move forward, but there is no enemy at all.

"............"

And then, we suddenly reach the place where it is connected to another labyrinth.

"It"s probably there."

Gunjou points.

I look in that direction and there is a hole in the wall. In the labyrinth made by Gunjou, the surface of the wall is composed of paintings of sea and blue skies with a calmly moving scenery but on the other side of the hole in the wall, it is a completely different scenery.

Gra.s.s grows.

In the middle of the sea where the horizon can be seen, a hole opens, and what comes after that is a strange scenery encroached by a forest.

"Well then, that"s the Apocalypse Alice?"

Gunjou shakes her head.

"No. That"s still part of my labyrinth. It is the place from where we can infiltrate the Apocalypse Alice. By the way, you should know this but this place is......"

"76 floors above ground?"

"That"s right. But Apocalypse Alice is......"

I nod. Apocalypse Alice is not a tall labyrinth. In other words, if this room is connected to the Apocalypse Alice, it will be a straight drop 76 floors down to enter Apocalypse Alice.

I look at Gunjou and say.

"Eh, don"t tell me there"s a slide here on the 76th floor?"

Gunjou then looks up at me, shrugs her shoulders without answering me.

In other words, there"s a slide.

"For real? If we slide 76 floors down, can we survive?"

We approach that hole. There is indeed a slide there. A sharply angled slope. The exit is far away and cannot be seen. But more disturbing than that, once we descend, we won"t be able to get back again.

I peer down,

"...... I now know why Shiro and the rest didn"t come back."

It might be because of this steep slope that they were not able to come back.

I say.

"If there"s a wall en route this......"

It will be an instantaneous death from the sudden impact.

But Gunjou replies.

"The slope will get more gentle the further we descend."

"Did you make it that way?"

"Yeah, probably. I don"t know. Even now, I don"t know how it got connected to Apocalypse Alice......"

"You don"t remember?"

"Yeah."

But Gunjou probably did that. No, it was Kujaku"s magic that made Gunjou do that --- it might be better to put it in this way.

It seems like Mitsutomo Group is already able to do things like, invade the heart of labyrinth diseased girls, create and erase labyrinths, invading into other labyrinths and decrease their difficulty.

There"s really an outrageous magic. It"s something that greatly surpa.s.ses the magic technology that"s deemed possible in the world.

And if they are able to do this much, they should already be able to save labyrinth diseased girls. They should have already been able to develop technology to save them.

But yet, they have never announced that they have saved someone. Even when the technology to save someone is there, there is no one who would attempt to save them.

What only exists is ambition. More power. Stronger magic.

More, more, more, more.

"d.a.m.n, I look like a fool when I rejoiced at the completion of the Holy Sword switch......"

I hit the wall of the labyrinth made by Gunjou.

At that moment, Gunjou looks up at me and says.

"...... but thanks to that, I was saved."

I smirk and reply.

"Yeah. Somebody like you."

But I can"t save my little sister......

"Hey, don"t say somebody like me, would you?"

Even as she is saying that, Gunjou"s face does not appear angry. She looks like she"s being considerate, and worried.

Gunjou looks intently at me and says.

"I can understand your anxiety. She"s family after all. Even for me......"

"You had a big sister, right? She died during a labyrinth raid. I know. I"ve seen your data in cla.s.s."

Hearing that, Gunjou"s eyes waver a little. She then says,

"....... yeah. She"s my own blood relative."

She said.

She said that her big sister was her only blood relative. In other words, it seems like she knows that her parents are not her real parents. It seems like she knows that she is no lady of the Mitsutomo Group.

I look intently at her with half-opened eyes and say.

"......... meh. So you knew?"

Gunjou then smiles with a face that seems to be mocking herself.

"....... if they find out that I know about it, then I"ll be killed. So you"re the only one I told."

"............."

"Since you told me about your little sister."

I look hard at Gunjou. With golden hair, strong-willed eyes. But she"s no strong-willed girl. She"s always afraid of something. The need to get stronger. The need to answer more expectations. To get recognized by her parents --- she was so fearful that she would puke in the toilet. I finally understand the reason behind that.

Because she knew that if she did not answer their expectations, she would be killed.

I recall her profile that I learned during cla.s.s.

Her recent actions were written in it.

I recall her expression when we skipped training and went to the karaoke. She was stupidly having fun. Maybe that was her first time at the karaoke. That was the same for me.

I say to Gunjou.

"...... aren"t we just licking each other"s wounds?"

She then nods readily.

"Maybe. But I was happy that you came to save me. So much so that I almost have tears of joy......."

"Then cry."

She ignores me again.

"That"s why this time...... this time, I"ll be the one to protect yo......"

I cut her off and say.

"You don"t need to force yourself. The possibility of dying from this is on the high end."

I say as I point to the suicidal sharp slope.

But Gunjou pouts a little at that,

"But there"s no place for me to return to."

She says a little adorably.

"Are you a runaway girl from an abusive home?"

"Ah-haha."

But that is no laughing matter. She will just be killed if she goes back. She no longer has any allies.

No, if she has any allies, they would just be the group with everlasting summer in their brain matter, and who had risked their lives to save her.

For example, like the hot-blooded idiot Shiro, or the good-natured Himi, or the bespectacled Yousuke, or the big-breasted Kiri.

"............."

And also, the soft me who"s softer than even candy floss.

Gunjou looks intently at me with an earnest face and says.

"...... anyway, I"ll save your little sister!"

"Who the h.e.l.l you think you are?"

Gunjou then grins,

"The super elite with the backing of more than 20 corporate sponsors, Mizuiro Gunjou-sama."

"Shut up runaway kid."

"Fuh-fuh-fuh."

She laughs.

She"s strangely happy. Maybe it"s thanks to losing a home to return to, her face looks as if she has put down a heavy baggage that she had been carrying all this while.

With that, she peers into Apocalypse Alice and says.

"...... we might be attacked by enemies as we descend. But, with the two of us......"

"We can do it? What kind of formation should we use? You are only good at long range attacks, right? Then I should be the vanguard."

But then, how is it going to be?

I visualize.

I activate my Demon Sword switch.

And behind me, Gunjou will continuously keep her Sea Moon Wheel switch activated and have them flying ahead of me.

I will use my Demon Sword switch to cut down only the enemies that get past Sea Moon Wheel switch ---

That will probably be the safest way to descend the slope.

However, in order to do that, it"s important for the two of us to not get separated as we slide down. Once we get separated, we"ll be defenseless.

Thus, while we slide down the 76 floors, we have to advance while sticking close to each other.

But our weights are different. Obviously, our descending speeds will be different.

In other words ---

At that moment, she moves. She goes around my back, gets onto my back. She then grabs my hair,

"All right, Shinnosuke unit, go!"

She says something irritating, and following that, I turn around, grab her slender thighs extending from her skirt.

Then,

"Kya."

She says, and jumps off my back.

With a beet red face, she says.

"W-Wh-Wh-Whaaaaaaaat"re you trying to do!?"

"Don"t act high and mighty and ride on my back."

"Even so, there"s no need to grab my thighs, right!"

"You are too heavy so I just want to check how much fat you have."

"I"m not heavy!"

"You"re 35 kg anyway right."

"How did you know my weight!?"

"I heard it in cla.s.s. By the way, if you don"t eat properly, your b.r.e.a.s.t.s won"t......"

"Shut up shut up shhuuuuuuuuut uuuuuuup!"

She tries to punch me.

I grab her arm.

"I"ll kill you!"

I reply to the glaring Gunjou.

"Whatever, but if we are so boisterous while we"re on our way down, we"ll get separated. Once we get separated, the plan"s done for. We"ll abandon each other then. Get it?"

Maintaining her glare, Gunjou says.

"I"ll definitely not get separated from you!"

"I hope so. While we"re descending, I might use Acceleration switch if needed. Hold on tight when that happens."

Once again, I turn my back to her.

Gunjou then says.

"I"ll kill you if you touch my legs."

"Then I"ll touch your b.u.t.t."

"I"ll kill you!"

While saying that, she jumps onto my back again. As I thought, she"s as light as a feather.

Beside my ear, she utters in a strong-willed yet adorable voice.

"Sea Moon Wheel switch."

Upon doing that, light blue ball-like objects appear before my eyes. They start to spin and turn into discs.

The circular discs hover in the air as if protecting me.

I look up,

"Don"t let them hit me."

"If you touch my b.u.t.t, I"ll have them hit your neck."

"Your b.u.t.t doesn"t look that high-cla.s.s to me though."

While saying that, I start taking a step into that large hole right in the middle of the wall.

The hole for us to invade Apocalypse Alice.

The bottom of the hole cannot be seen as expected.

There is also no sign of the enemy.

But, it"s not like it"s dark. Even though the hole should have been surrounded by walls, from the gaps in the vegetation, sun rays seem to be seeping through; like I thought, that resembles the ill.u.s.trations in the "Alice in Wonderland" that Saki and I read a long time ago.

Apocalypse Alice is encroaching into Gunjou"s labyrinth.

In that case, I don"t know what kind of attack will come.

I look hard at the deep bottom of that hole.

Gunjou"s adjusted breathing reaches the tip of my ear. Her breath touches my ear.

While feeling that, I say.

"Gunjou."

"What?"

"I"m sorry if I get you killed."

"...... it"s fine, we"re in it together."

"Then let"s go."

"Yeah."

"Make sure you don"t let go."

On hearing that, her left arm tighten on my neck.

"Got it."

She says.

After ascertaining her hold, we ---

Jump onto the slope that will lead us into Apocalypse Alice.