If you hate me, you can hate me.

There were no further words to be said. All Philrain could do was stare at Alice, who covered her face and groaned.

A few moments later, she opened her mouth to speak to her again. Then her mobile device made a small electronic beeping sound.

"… This is…" Muttering softly, Philrain let out a suppressed voice. "… The terminal reaction of… Lady Iberis is nearby. It appears that the power supply is still active…"

Her final words faded into the background as if she had no confidence in them.

Maybe it was only the terminal. Perhaps that was where Iberis and Jack had died. That was what she thought.

Alice stood up, gripping the debris. And then she approached Philrain and looked at her face. With a haggard face, the girl gasped for breath.

"Let's go…"

Saying in a small voice, the girl nodded. Holding hands, the two girls stepped towards the dark, caved-in ground.

◇

"… beris! Lady Iberis!"

A voice shouted in her ears, and she opened her eyes. Feeling intensely weary and tired, the ringing in her ears was rumbling, as if she had been knocked on the head. Every part of her body ached. Staggering, she raised her upper body.

"…"

With a rough breath, Iberis looked at Philrain, who was calling her name as if she were covering her.

"… Phil…?"

"Thank goodness… you're alive…!" Philrain shouted and hugged Iberis tightly. Having felt the touch of her warm body, Iberis stared around in disbelief, wondering how she could still be alive.

A little further away, Alice was left standing there. Iberis opened her mouth when she noticed her fully wounded appearance. Her faint voice broke out.

"Why are you two…?"

"We're here as reinforcements. What happened to the… plan?"

When Philrain asked, Iberis pressed her head and continued.

"I think the… Nightmare has been defeated, but not by… me, by Jack…"

At the mention of Jack's name, Alice raised her head as if she had been played. She stumbled closer to Iberis and kneeled in front of her.

"… What about Jack…?" She asked in a trembling tone. For a while, silence enveloped the surroundings.

Iberis watched Alice for a moment, but eventually averted her gaze and bit her lip. Alice gritted her teeth and reached out and grabbed her by the chest.

"Answer me…! Where is Jack!"

"… He is…" Iberis said in a small voice, keeping her gaze away from Alice. "He was caught in a… explosion battling the Nightmare…"

"…"

"I watched him get swallowed by the waterway…" Tears welled up in Iberis' eyes. With tears trickling down her face, she continued. "… I didn't manage to… do anything… I'm sorry…"

"It's a lie…"

With a broken smile, Alice released her grip from Iberis' outfit.

"Jack…? Jack!"

Then, ranting in a screeching voice, she tried to run towards the caved-in ground.

"You can't, Master Alice! It's collapsing!"

Philrain caught her hand and stopped her. Alice stared in that direction for a while, listening to the sound of the helplessly devastated ground and the vein of water coursing underground… and eventually fell to her knees and slumped her shoulders.

"… I am sorry…" Iberis repeated in a low voice. Alice didn't respond to that, but stared at the ground.

Then Philrain noticed a human-sized figure lying on the ground some distance away. She approached it and gasped. There was a white corpse with its arms and legs missing and its skin flayed. It was completely stationary, with no sense of any movement.

"This is…"

Looking at Philrain, who muttered, Iberis' eyes went wide. But she turned her head as Alice did, and then muttered in a faint voice.

"… Right… the Red Queen is dead and you've been freed… thank goodness…"

"The Red Queen…"

"Yes. We should get out of here together."

Fluctuation gathered in Iberis' legs, creating her feet. While caught in the rubble, she managed to stand up and approached Alice, looking down at her.

"Let's go…"

Her small voice called out to her. Alice glanced up at Iberis and shook her head. Upon seeing this, Iberis twisted her face into a pained expression.

"We have to go…"

"I… I should die too…" Alice muttered and laughed in a broken, strained voice. "I… will go to Jack's place too…"

"I know… exactly what you mean. I understand that too."

Alice bit her lip as Iberis quietly affirmed her words.

"… What do you understand…?"

"…"

"You who failed to protect Jack! What can you understand!"

Being yelled at, Iberis didn't say anything back but looked down at Alice.

"… If you hate me, you can hate me. I'll let you kill me. But…"

After a considerable time, Iberis continued in a stifled tone.

"Not right here. We're both wounded. If you want to kill me, let's change the place and time?"

"…"

"I promise you… I'll let you kill me whenever you want…"

Tears flowed from both of Iberis' eyes. At the sight of this, Alice swallowed the words she was about to utter.

"So please… Let's leave here together…?"

For a fairly long time, silence enveloped the two of them.

Alice's vision became distorted. Her heart palpitated faster and her ears began to ring.

Despair.

It was despair.

The thread of tension that had been holding her back suddenly snapped, and Alice fell helplessly to the floor.