Chapter 303 The Defendant Must Appear

Takumi merely watched all of it in silence.

He continued walking through the darkness without saying a word.

Continuing onward through that seemingly boundless void—an endless darkness where nothing existed and no end could be seen.

There no longer seemed to be anything ahead worth searching for.

And yet his footsteps never stopped.

One step.

Then another.

Takumi had no idea how long he had been walking.

But in the end, he finally reached his destination.

He arrived at the school standing at the end of the darkness—the one lit by warm lights, filled with noisy voices.

Crossing the athletic field, he saw groups of students playing around on the courts.

Behind the glass windows of the swimming pool building, boys and girls in blue school swimsuits were stretching and warming up.

People were hanging freshly washed clothes from the windows of the dormitory building.

And inside spotless classrooms, students were already swaying their heads as they recited their lessons aloud.

None of them had faces.

All of them were pale, hollow remnants.

All of them were Alice, turning toward Takumi with quiet, giggling smiles.

All of them were ignorant children—mere middle school students. They had entered this school dreaming about their futures, only to be dragged into a cruel tragedy they were powerless to resist. In the end, they became nourishment. They became nourishment for Alice. And all that remained now were these lingering fragments.

And at this point, if they still possessed any wish… any lingering obsession…

Then it was probably nothing more than "rest."

But even something as simple as that was impossible for them now, because they had already become part of Alice herself.

As long as that artificially created evil thing continued to exist, they too could only continue existing—remaining forever within this endless darkness.

Perhaps…

The reason Hirano Sōsuke became the core obsession of Fujihana Middle School, rather than sharing equal status with Alice and turning the place into a dual-core Instance, was because these lingering remnants yearning for rest had influenced things as well?

Back then, after killing Alice's body and chasing those four fanatic followers back to the school, what exactly happened afterward?

What happened that allowed Sōsuke to escape alive from the aberrationized Alice and walk out of those ruined school grounds?

The answers to those questions probably could not be found here.

Takumi could already vaguely sense the presence of Alice.

She was here.

And yet she was not here.

He had sealed her Obsession Item, making it impossible for the Aberration itself to manifest anymore. But even so, this Instance still retained powerful traces of her existence. Unless she truly vanished completely, the lingering obsessions here would never find peace no matter how long she remained sealed.

"…"

In silence, Takumi slowly opened his eyes.

The dream was over.

But there was none of the refreshing clarity that usually came after sleep—only even deeper exhaustion, along with a faint soreness spreading through his body.

As expected, sleeping on a hard wooden desk really was a terrible choice.

Thinking that, Takumi pushed himself upright from the desk, just in time to see Miko rubbing her eyes as she sat up from her chair nearby.

Compared to before they had fallen asleep yesterday, the chairs had clearly been moved closer to Takumi. Combined with the dark circles around Miko's eyes, it was obvious she had not slept well at all last night. She had even secretly dragged her chair nearer to him, probably because being closer to Takumi made her feel safer.

Mai slowly walked over from nearby, her expression serious as she looked at both Takumi and Miko.

{Let's go. The court session is ready to begin.}

Speaking through the mental link, Mai led the two of them back toward the courtroom.

The doors opened.

The previously empty courtroom was now filled with countless figures.

Through the efforts of the Red Moon-level players and the Shinomiya Group over the course of an entire day, an exact replica of the courtroom inside the Instance had been constructed in the real world. Then, through the power of a spatial-type Obsession Item, the courtrooms from the two separate worlds had been forcibly overlapped here.

Next, the trial would begin on the real-world side.

From the judge to the lawyers to the audience, every role would be played by Red Moon-level players. All ordinary civilians within several kilometers of the stage in the real world had already been evacuated, and every player participating in this trial had fully prepared themselves for a brutal battle.

In the more than two years since the Sacrifice Game first appeared, even when players successfully cleared Red Moon-level Instances, at most they only managed to seize the core Obsession Item.

As for truly resolving the core obsession and destroying a Red Moon-level Instance itself—not a single player had ever accomplished that.

After all, understanding a core obsession, comprehending the obsession itself, and attempting to resolve it was simply too dangerous. Combined with the restrictions imposed by the Red Moon-level classification, even top-tier players lacked both the ability and the confidence to attempt something like this.

But now, with all these players joining forces…

Perhaps today, everything would finally change.

Takumi walked into the audience seating area and sat down in one of the empty seats left open among the projections.

Miko carefully followed beside him and sat down at his side.

[All personnel are present. Court is now in session!]

The judge slammed down the gavel.

With that sharp echo, the lawyers, jurors, and everyone else who had long since prepared themselves began acting out their assigned roles according to the procedure, step by step overturning those absurd trials from back then.

The Aberrations formed from the victims and their surviving family members silently entered the courtroom, quietly watching everything unfold.

Meanwhile, Takumi's brows had already tightly furrowed.

It wasn't working.

Even though the proceedings had not yet reached halfway, he could already sense from the aura of those Aberrations that this ritual reenactment was not working.

Something was missing.

'This ritual is missing a crucial element. Even if we complete the entire process, it still won't work.'

The fact that Hirano Sōsuke still had not appeared at the scene was already clear evidence of that. No matter how long this trial performance continued, it would never achieve the intended result.

That missing piece had to be restored.

That missing link had to be filled in.

And the thing that was missing…

[Hehehe… Teacher, you know very well what it is, don't you?]

Within his field of vision, Alice sat in the defendant's seat, lightly laughing as she spoke toward Takumi.

That's right.

If there truly was something missing, then it could only be that.

Takumi could not help but close his eyes again, letting out a weary sigh tinged with heaviness.

"Senpai, what's wrong?"

Miko noticed the shift in Takumi's mood and turned toward him with concern.

"The killer has to appear. If the culprit doesn't manifest, this ritual cannot produce any effect."

Which meant the seal on Alice would have to be undone.

And most likely, the four Obsession Items would also have to be reunited, allowing the fully restored "Idol Alice" to reappear and stand in the defendant's seat herself.

Only then would this ritual truly take effect.

But if Alice's Obsession Item were really taken out of the watch, then either the surface-layer version of Fujihana Middle School would immediately reappear…

Or Hirano Sōsuke would manifest on the spot and begin slaughtering everyone.

So…

What were they supposed to do now?

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