Raffi drew in a breath and resumed.
"Of course, the contamination wasn't entirely Archi-Alice's fault. The wonderland was already gone out of control before she committed suicide. Archi-Alice's suicide was definitely a clear trigger, but… something called 'Apocrypha' was released into the support system."
"Apocrypha…"
"It was a virus that interfered with the consciousness of all humans in M.O.R.S. in order to wipe them out. In the blink of an eye, Apocrypha began to sweep through wonderland. Yes… 'The demise of Apocrypha' means that not a single person in M.O.R.S will be left, and both Nightmare and this world will perish, along with the virus, until there is nothing left."
Alice remained silent for a while, but eventually, she quietly asked Raffi.
"So it was Lewis who introduced the virus into M.O.R.S.?"
"He calls himself Lewis Carroll, but that's not his real name. His actual name is Charlot Marvel. He's the one who developed this M.O.R.S."
"Eh…?" Jack uttered in a stunned voice. "Why? Why would the developer of this system do something like this?"
"… I don't know."
Raffi shook his head slowly.
"Believe me. I swear I don't know either. I really have no clue what Lewis… Charlot Marvel is planning to do with this M.O.R.S. that he created and turned it into hell…"
"So you kept replicating 'us'… the Alice series. In search of the power that can bring an end to hell…"
"…"
At Alice's words, Raffi fell silent for a time. Then he looked straight at Alice with an indescribable, helpless, seemingly sorrowful look in his eyes.
"It's somewhat different…"
"…"
"I escaped the contamination and survived without being able to save Archi-Alice. I've lost most of the administrative authority too. I wished for power, that's for certain. But… it's more than that…"
Raffi's arms were trembling. He said in a hushed voice, tears welling up in his eyes.
"I wanted to meet 'that girl' again…!"
Upon hearing this, Alice gritted her teeth hard and stood up. The IV stand collapsed with a violent thud.
"Because of your ego… we are…!"
"…"
"How many of us have you duplicated and let us die… yet only you live… and survive! How dare you feign ignorance of…!"
Rainbow-colored fluctuation emerged from Alice's agitated figure. However, a gentle squeeze of her hand brought her back to herself. It was Jack behind her, reaching out and wrapping his hand around Alice's.
"Alice. Stay calm."
"Guys… what are you talking about…?"
There, the noise seemed to have awakened Philrain, who rushed over with an unsettling voice. Then she clenched her fists and looked at Alice, who was glaring at Raffi.
"Master Alice…?"
"It's okay, Philrain. Alice is not doing anything wrong."
Raffi spoke, looking up at Alice and the others.
"… This is my atonement, too. I've resolved to do this. For you, I'll give you access to the outside. I'm going to make sure that those in the real world would capture the 'main body' of Charlot Marvel."
◇
The Jabberwock was walking down a dimly lit corridor. It was like an underground passageway, with black drops of water occasionally dripping from the ceiling. Nearly broken light bulbs were attached to each of the electrical wires, generating a strange, buzzing sound.
After a short walk, the Jabberwock brought himself to a halt. Then, without looking back, he opened his mouth.
"How long are you intending to follow me…?"
"That's no good, slipping off like that."
A soft youth's voice broke out. Before he knew it, a tall, slender man with the head of a horse stood a short… distance behind the Jabberwock. He was wearing a white suit. The horse's head was white as though it were translucent. And between his eyebrows, a single sharp horn gleamed.
The Jabberwock turned and met the pitch black eyes of the horse-headed monster… the Unicorn. Then he said in a heavy voice.
"Slipping off…?"
'You're planning on heading off to fight Alice ahead of time, aren't you? It's not right. That is very wrong. Everything has its sequence. And there is an order… You know that, right?"
"…"
The Unicorn approached the silent Jabberwock and patted him on the shoulder.
"You know, Master Lewis has chosen me to fight next. So the next one to deal with Alice would be me."
"Is that so…"
The Jabberwock let out a small breath. At the next moment, his eyeballs were tinged with red. And then the Unicorn twisted his body at a speed he could not even react to and struck him with the capacity of a backhand blow.
Under the pressure of the fist, a shockwave was generated. The sound of air bursting could be heard belatedly… Before he realized it, the Unicorn had blasted off like a bullet to the back of the corridor, his neck bending in a peculiar direction.
The shockwave produced by the Jabberwock's swinging arm gouged the wall like a drill, sending up a cloud of debris and dust. The other side of the corridor exploded with a roar as if a bomb had been detonated after a delay. With the wind directly upon him, he attempted to step out…
"So wait."
A light-hearted voice called out from behind him, halting his movement. On the neck of the Jabberwock was a sharp, gleaming silver sword… with its blade pointed at him. He looked at it sideways and fell silent.
The Unicorn, which was supposedly sent hurtling backwards as the wind slammed against his body, stood comfortably and tapped the Jabberwock on the shoulder with a thud using the wide middle part of the saber in his right hand.
"Didn't I just mention that I'm the next one in line?"
"…"
"You're no match for Alice, you know. The Duchess's overwhelming force was no match for you, was it? Now it's my turn. Shall I say it again…?"
The Unicorn put his mouth close to the Jabberwock's ear and licked it.
"You can't slip off…"
The Jabberwock turned around, gritting his teeth. Yet behind him, the Unicorn was already out of sight.
He clicked his tongue and was about to reach into his suit pocket when he… felt a cut on his cheek where the saber that the Unicorn had thrust earlier had likely grazed it, causing black blood to flow out. Then with his fingertips, he gazed at the black blood for a while, before turning his head and heading back the way he came. The noise of the aisle walls collapsing reverberated through the dark space.