93
Chapter 93
"Al, Alice......?"
Even knowing she couldn't hear her, Parang softly called out Alice's name.
That was just how shocking the sight unfolding before her eyes was.
Alice's body, which had been so frail that a single tap seemed enough to shatter it, was rapidly recovering with every bite she took of the Kraken's tentacle.
Her emaciated limbs regained their vitality, new flesh filled in her gouged and torn skin, and a healthy flush returned to her pale face.
But at the same time, Alice was gradually turning into a being that was not a human.
A pale purple radiance began to emanate from her entire body, and her skin, which had only just regained its color, quickly turned as white as a midwinter snowfield, rendering her recovery meaningless.
And, the status window.
[ Warning: The influx of an unknown entity has been confirmed. ]
[ Warning: The incomplete completion of fusion has been confirmed. ]
[ An excessive amount of memories has been injected. ]
[ ■■■ ■■■ ■■■■■■■. ]
[ Failed to define the user. ]
[ Redefining the user. ]
[ Identifying user...... ]
'Failed to define? What kind of nonsense is that.'
Parang bit her lip as she looked at Alice's status window, which was only spouting incomprehensible words.
'Memories injected? And what is with that broken text......'
Had Alice become the kind of existence that even the status window couldn't define?
Alice's eyes were tightly shut as she held the tentacle and eagerly ate it.
Parang could only watch the sight with anxious eyes.
Like that, after what felt like an eternity, Alice devoured the Kraken's tentacle entirely.
'.......'
A suffocating silence continued for a moment.
"Ugh, aagh, aaaaaaagh......!!"
Alice suddenly grabbed her head and began to wail.
Shutting her eyes tightly and tearing at her head with both hands.
As she rolled around on the floor and slammed her head against the nearby wall, streams of tears flowed from her eyes, their source unknown.
The sheer destructive power she displayed was unimaginable for someone who had been dying just moments ago, haphazardly shattering and destroying the nearby statues and buildings.
After a long while, just as Parang, who had been holding her breath and watching the scene without being able to say or do anything, unconsciously covered her mouth.
Alice's rampage stopped, and she began to pant heavily as if exhausted.
And, a little more time passed before Alice opened her eyes and spoke.
"......Parang."
"W-What?!"
Parang was startled out of her wits by Alice's voice suddenly speaking to her.
Alice was talking to her when she was merely looking into her memories; was this even possible?
'I-Is she talking to herself?'
Flustered, Parang looked around here and there, but she couldn't find anything that would make Alice think of her.
"I am calling you, Parang. I know, it must be confusing."
Even as she said that, Alice looked straight ahead and pinpointed her exactly.
"A-Alice......? H-How in the world.........."
"There are things I want to tell you. However, I won't be able to hear you. I'll just tell you a few facts that you might be curious about."
"U-Uh? Yeah......."
The current situation was so absurd that Parang could only nod with a dumbfounded expression even after hearing Alice's words.
"After eating this...... Kraken, it seems I've gained an ability similar to foresight to see the future. I'm confused too, so I don't really know what's what, but through some method I don't know yet, you'll come to see my memories of right now."
'Some method she doesn't know yet.......'
Parang couldn't know exactly what kind of future Alice was seeing, but she could tell that it was highly fragmented. After all, it meant Alice at this point didn't know she would end up using the 'Evidence'.
"The reason I grabbed my head and rolled around just now was because an overly massive 'memory' entered my mind."
'A memory.......'
Parang recalled the message she had seen on the status window.
'In this context, it's safe to assume it's the Kraken's memory.'
Anyway, a Kraken's memory—just what kind of information could it contain?
'I didn't even know it was an entity capable of having memories.'
"And, the reason I specifically addressed you is......."
Here, Alice seemed to hesitate for a moment before continuing.
"......It's just that, I saw a future where someone was viewing this memory, and you were the only one there. So, I called you. There's no other reason. And."
Alice closed her eyes for a moment as if focusing on something.
"And, yeah. There are three things I need to tell you."
Parang focused more than ever, perking up her ears to listen to those words.
"First of all, yeah. Soon, meaning based on your timeline viewing this memory, soon. The Monster Fish Zone will rise. To a depth shallower than you could ever imagine."
However, the first thing Alice said was so shocking that Parang couldn't help but doubt her ears.
'The Monster Fish Zone? It's going to rise? U-Uhm, why? How? By how much? C-Can't it be stopped?'
"It can't be stopped. So prepare as much as you can. I believe you'll do well. I'll also try my best from my end."
Even in her urgency, Parang tried her best to engrave the contents of the conversation into her mind for now. The Monster Fish Zone rising. Even if the Monster Fish Zone only rose to around 100 meters, no, 200 meters underwater, Monster Fish could still reach the surface.
If that happened, the oceans across the entire Earth would turn into a living hell. A massive disaster would occur.
'I have to prepare.'
If such a disaster couldn't be stopped, she at least had to prepare so that people wouldn't be swept away.
'I should inform Cylo, and do what I can on my end.'
Having organized her thoughts, Parang waited for Alice's next words.
"Are you done organizing? I waited exactly thirty seconds. Next is my turn to speak......."
Parang listened closely once again.
"Hmm...... It seems you have something to take care of right away after viewing this memory, Parang. Right?"
'If it's something I need to take care of right away.......'
She was probably referring to the matter regarding Association President Natsuko. Since the Evidence to be used to eliminate her had finished being repaired.
"Once you wrap that up, come to the place we parted ways that day at noon, five days from now. I trust you know where I'm talking about."
'The place we parted ways.'
There was only one place where Parang and Alice had parted ways.
The place where Alice and Parang were exploring together that day.
The place where Alice was dragged deep into the ocean.
That place she could never forget for the rest of her life.
Parang silently nodded.
"Come alone if possible. Please."
'Alone? But why.......'
It was a bit puzzling. Just like her, the others in Oceanus would be just as happy to know that Alice was alive and that they could see her again.
"There's a reason it has to be this way. I also want to see the others so badly. However, for that day, I need you to come alone first."
'.......'
Parang nodded for the time being. If she was saying it like that, there had to be a reason.
"And, the last thing is a simple favor. You know that photo we took when we all gathered together last time, at your house."
'If it's that kind of photo....... Ah.'
There was exactly one. The photo they had taken together at Parang's house.
The very year Alice went missing, on Parang's birthday.
The photo they took to commemorate everyone gathering at her house to celebrate.
She must be talking about the photo where everyone was smiling happier than anyone else in the world.
"I want you to always carry that photo with you. Even when you enter the water, when you're outside, or when you go somewhere. Absolutely. Please keep it on you."
'A photo......? Out of nowhere?'
Question marks popped up in Parang's mind one after another, but since Alice, who had seen the future, was insisting on it, she figured there must be a reason and decided to do so for now.
"And lastly, truly, I want you to never forget that you are my most precious friend in the world, no matter what anyone says. That's all I wanted to say. Bye. See you later."
"W-Wait a minute!! I still have things I want to hear......!!"
Parang hurriedly tried to reach out to Alice, but her consciousness was already being sucked away somewhere.
Just like when she entered the memory inside the 'Evidence'.
Like that, Parang's consciousness returned to reality.
#
The bottom of the Mariana Hive.
Inside the Cave serving as her dwelling located in the deepest ocean, Alice plopped down onto a chair crudely carved from stone.
She coyly crossed her legs and wiggled her pure white feet, which glowed with a pale purple light.
That sight made her look like a solitary princess sitting alone on a Throne.
'She must have seen it all by now.'
She closed her eyes and focused her mind somewhere for a moment.
Countless futures flashed through her mind.
Ruin. Ruin. Salvation. Repetition. Salvation. Repetition. Emptiness. Ruin. Salvation.......
The innumerable endings that this World could face.
After quietly counting them, Alice opened her eyes again.
'Right. Just like you said, if we don't want to be ruined, we have to move and struggle. Parang.'
As she waved her hand a few times, rumble— Boulders detached from the Cave's wall and clumped together, eventually forming the shape of Capulus.
"Open your eyes."
As if a noble Queen were giving an order to her subject, she spoke to that Boulder, and.
Rumble—
Eyes formed on what was nothing more than a blank T-shaped Boulder, and soon it floated up on its own and went outside.
It was the moment Alice's eyes, drifting across the vast ocean, increased in number.
'Status Window.'
Ever since that day, the day she survived by eating the Kraken, Alice developed a habit of calling up her Status Window whenever she felt anxious.
[ Status Window: Alice Melville ]
[ Personal Skill: Reader of the World ]
[ You have seen something you should not have seen. ]
[ Take responsibility for this. ]
[ Skill ]
[ Reading the World(S), Bookmark(S) ...... ]
[ Status Effect ]
[ Incomplete Fusion, Monsterization, Complete Eye Opening, Memory Injection: Yoo Parang ]
It wasn't as if this improved Alice's condition, or had some sort of psychotherapeutic effect.
It just simply reminded her once again.
About the things she had to do, and about the precious friend she absolutely had to save.