Branch D-02, part 5 (after battle)

Ah~ That felt real good.

<I'm dying over here...>

What an amazing clock you've got~ I haven't seen that kind of technology anywhere.

That has to be on the level of a S-Singularity... Which Wing could be behind it...

Hopkins stared at my head with palpable greed.

I tried to ignore it, but looking at his stuffed pockets again...

Dante? Why are you clutching your head like that?

<I-it's nothing.>

Miss Faust, is it within our manager's capacity to use the clock's power to restore the lives of the guides, should they perish?

The clock only works for us Sinners.

Aw, gee~ I s'pose that's for the better.

Imagine you're dragged right back to life with a gaping hole in your stomach. Wouldn't that suck?

Nah, y'know what, dying from getting a hole punched in your gut's a pretty lucky way to go. You'd be a goner in seconds―

<Huh...? Wait―!>

Ah.

A tendril erupts from the wall and penetrates Aya's abdomen in an instant.

All units, prepare for battle.

... What'd I tell you?

I've always... been a... lucky girl...

AYA!!

Her life is already cut short.

......

Come, now... You've got to keep it together, especially in times like these, yeah?

B-but...

That was a rather unusual form of attack. It is likely that we are facing an Abnormality.

Executive Manager. Orders, please.

I felt pity for Yuri; she looked at Aya's corpse and then back to us, tears welling in her eyes. Nevertheless...

<... Yuri, Hopkins, and Aya. Those three I can't revive.>

<We have to fight now if we don't want any more casualties.>

A wise decision, Executive Manager.

You can make sense of that ticking...?

Outis leveled a fiery glare at Hopkins, but soon reminded herself of her priorities and took a sharp breath before bellowing out:

... The Executive Manager has given their command, lackeys!

Surround the enemy in formation. The target is the Uniform ahead!

... Okay.

To be honest... I'm not sure if you can say that thing has a "form."

The shadowed entity, its silhouette greater than a human's by several orders of magnitude, filled the room as its tendrils extended insidiously toward us.

It... was approaching, invoking in us a sense of terror unlike any foe we've faced thus far.