I Wanted a 2D Harem Isekai, Got a Rule-Horror Game Chapter 272: I Have Witnessed. Now I Bear Witness—You Must W

Amidst the intense pain, Alice's giggling suddenly amplified inside his mind, as if a dozen Alices were screaming right beside Takumi's ears, making it feel as though his eardrums were about to rupture.

Uncle Cat had already begun its attack. Only Miko could see and hear the rules governing this thing—but at this point, Takumi could no longer hear the girl's voice at all.

The timing couldn't have been worse—it struck precisely when Miko had just perceived the aberration's rules and was about to share that information with the others. You sneaky bastard… no way you haven't been watching us for a while, just waiting for this exact mont to make your move.

"Break!"

Before Takumi could act, he suddenly saw a crack tear through the fairy-tale world before his eyes, and everything reverted back to the rooftop's original state.

It was Kumagai Mai.

Half of her face had almost completely turned bronze, and blood poured endlessly from the torn flesh. The Bronze Eye emitted a faint glow, shredding the illusions ahead of her. A fragnt of Uncle Cat's form was exposed—and then fully revealed under her gaze.

Clatter—

Blood-stained black chains shot out, wrapping tightly around the aberration's body.

With a furious shout, Mai actually yanked the thing into the air with her bare hands and slamd it toward the edge of the rooftop, intending to throw it off entirely.

At that mont, Takumi saw a line of text appear on the ground beside him.

The instant he saw the words forming, he already sensed sothing was wrong. Guessing what might happen, he imdiately shut his eyes.

But then he realized that Miko wouldn't have his reaction speed or analytical instincts—so he rushed toward Mai without hesitation.

At the sa ti, a massive wolf that existed only in the shadows lunged toward Mai.

The line read: [Red chili, packs a punch; you hear the sound, but never eat it.]

The answer was firecrackers—a riddle Mai had obtained in the Dormitory Building. According to the rules, this riddle must never be revealed to anyone. Alice had exploited that rule, forcibly leaking it to summon an aberration that would target only Mai.

Blood sprayed into the air.

The shadow wolf bit into Mai's left shoulder. With a horrific crack of tearing bone, half her shoulder—and her entire left arm—was ripped clean off.

The aberration bound by chains failed to be thrown off due to her shift in balance, only rolling to the edge of the rooftop.

Bang!

A blood-red glow surged into Takumi's eyes.

Without hesitation, he activated Hedda's Blessing. With inhuman speed and strength, he dashed forward, grabbed the chain, and pulled again—trying to fling the aberration away.

[ow~]

Takumi staggered and collapsed to the ground.

With that shrill cry, countless wounds erupted across his body. Not far away, Mai was injured again, dropping to one knee.

"We're experiencing what that thing went through before it died—dismber it, now!"

Even covered in blood, Mai still maintained the power of her Obsession Item, forcibly tearing open part of the illusion covering the entire rooftop.

The shadow wolf had been frozen in place by her, trembling violently as it struggled to break free and attack again.

Takumi took a deep breath and forced himself back to his feet. anwhile, Mai, gripping the chain with one hand, slamd the struggling aberration down onto the ground.

A surge of danger struck.

Takumi barely managed to turn his head in ti to see a black shadow flash past him—then it was instantly immobilized. In the distance, Mai's eyes began bleeding, veins bulging across her face as her condition worsened drastically.

"Hurry!"

Her voice remained calm, as if she weren't the one gravely injured.

Takumi swung his machete. In that instant, he accelerated sharply—one powerful strike cleaved a massive wound into the aberration.

Twisted flesh surged, trying to grab him, but Hedda's Blessing held firm, protecting his body. He kept swinging—strike after strike—hacking the thing into seven or eight pieces until it beca writhing chunks of rotten flesh on the ground.

"Hah… hah…"

The burst of high-intensity exertion took its toll. His breathing grew heavy.

The Rescue Team Badge activated, repairing much of the damage to his body.

Turning around, Takumi looked at Mai—still clutching the chain with one hand, panting heavily, her condition clearly deteriorating. He stood up and moved toward her, intending to give her a healing tablet. At this point, he had already decided to abandon reviving a second Red Moon-level player this run, saving all remaining healing items for her instead.

"Don't cut it—!"

Miko's voice suddenly rang out.

Both Takumi and Mai froze, turning toward her.

The illusion covering the rooftop had dissipated further without them realizing it. Pale-faced, Miko erged from the distorted scenery, shouting urgently: "Don't cut that thing! Uncle Cat ford before Fujihana Middle School was destroyed—your blade isn't very effective against it! And—and if it's attacked, especially with lethal damage, it'll trigger its chanism!"

Takumi couldn't tell whether this warning ca from Miko herself—or if Alice was playing with their minds again.

But the pieces of aberration he had just cut apart, which had been lying on the ground, began moving again. From within them, cat paws and human limbs erged, propping up the shattered flesh as it stood once more.

[ow~]

The cries echoed again.

[ow~ ow~ ow~]

More and more cat cries filled the rooftop.

They were small cats of different patterns, completely unaware.

They were students who had been drawn in, secretly feeding them, mimicking their cries.

What remained in the end were only mutilated corpses. Endless pain lingering at the mont of death—and the hatred born from that suffering.

Trying to kill them was like what Sanchez had done in Shirakawa Apartnts—attempting to destroy Takeda Saori's corpse with boiling water. It only further stimulated the aberration, pushing everything toward even greater loss of control.

Bzzzt—

A crackling noise ca from the Dormitory Building's broadcast system.

[Disciplinary Office report, Disciplinary Office report—based on student reports, there are students illegally present on the rooftop. All teachers, proceed imdiately! All teachers, proceed to the rooftop to apprehend violators!]

One aberrant presence after another began converging.

Takumi collapsed to his knees again. His ribs shattered, blood pouring from countless wounds.

Scenes of cats and students dying replayed relentlessly in his mind.

Their overwhelming hatred manifested as tangible psychic assaults, striking him again and again.

"Hah… ngh…"

Struggling, he forced himself back to his feet.

His entire body was nearly soaked in blood, yet through the combined power of the Rescue Team Badge and his berserk blessing, he barely held himself together—just enough to avoid being torn apart instantly.

Then he turned his head toward Miko.

The connection of shared consciousness between them was still active.

Even though his attention had been diverted for a mont during the earlier attack, Takumi no longer dared to be certain whether Miko was still herself. At the very least, however, he could still determine her exact position—he wouldn't be misled by the illusions.

If Alice had already possessed her…

No—at this point, making arrangents centered around Miko herself was no longer aningful. From the mont Alice seized the opportunity and launched that sudden attack, they had already been dragged into her tempo. Focusing on Miko now would likely only lead them straight into her next trap.

The entrance leading to the underground floors of the Dormitory Building had to be inside the building itself. The other three areas were already sealed off. It was impossible for the dormitory to contain so inexplicable zone that connected to all sealed areas while remaining isolated from them. The first floor had already been confird as a dead end—so the next place to verify was the rooftop.

And the fact that Alice chose to attack precisely at this mont, neither earlier nor later, was itself sothing worth noting. Not to ntion, based on Takumi's observations from his previous two runs, the Alice in the underground area likely could not leave its designated zone—at least not before completing possession.

So then—was the rooftop itself part of the underground area?

Very likely. The boundary of what counted as the "underground area" might completely overlap with this place—or even if not, the difference might be no more than a single wall.

Sowhere on this rooftop, there had to be an entrance.

There weren't many places left to search. Only three directions remained: the signal tower, the electrical room, and the area near the entrance they had co from.

Alright—head to the electrical room first!

"Kumagai-san, can you still keep going?"

Gritting his teeth, Takumi ran forward while shouting back.

"Cut the crap—move faster!"

Mai's Bronze Eye shone again, tearing apart the illusions ahead of him and revealing the real path.

Without needing explicit communication, she had already understood Takumi's plan—he intended to rely on the protection granted by his blessing to tank the aberrations' attacks and buy ti to locate the entrance.

"Cough…"

More blood spilled from the corner of her mouth.

She could feel that the Bronze Eye she carried was nearing its limit from continuous use—it was on the verge of losing control.

She couldn't allow it to go out of control here. It was a Red Moon-level Obsession Item. If it lost control on the rooftop and summoned sothing, this kid—and his little girlfriend—would definitely die.

Tap—tap—tap—

From behind, near the rooftop entrance, she could sense more and more aberrations gathering behind the closed door.

She had already destroyed the lock, but whether that would truly hold them back—she had no certainty. After all, aberrations couldn't be judged by common sense. The teacher-type aberrations weren't much of a threat, but the Level 0 entity still guarding the door—that was sothing their current team absolutely could not face.

In that case… this would do.

"Hey, kid."

Takumi heard Mai's voice from behind.

Calm. Steady. Completely devoid of emotional fluctuation—as if she had prepared for this long ago.

"Live well. Treasure your life. Unless there's absolutely no other choice, don't ever think about ending it all. You saved this life of mine—now I'm giving it back to you. Do your best and hold on. People like us… we survive one ti if we can. If we can't, then we go all out and that's that. Right?"

She spoke quickly, yet her tone remained steady. A frank smile rested on her lips—as though she had repeated these words countless tis in her heart. Or perhaps… because she had once heard soone else say them to her.

"I once bore witness. Now it's your turn to witness. And… I hope you'll never need soone else to bear witness for you."

As she spoke, Takumi suddenly realized—

The aberrations were no longer locking onto him.

All the entities on the rooftop shifted their attention, focusing entirely on Mai.

This was her blessing.

A blessing from an unknown source. Through it, she could sense the positions of the aberrations targeting her. She could reduce her presence, avoiding becoming their primary target—or… she could do the opposite.

Amplify her presence.

Make herself the top priority for every aberration.

At that mont, every aberration in the entire dormitory building focused solely on Kumagai Mai. Even the fragnts of the "cats" right beside Takumi completely ignored him.

Then—

She slamd her fist into the rooftop.

Boom!

With a violent explosion, she shattered the ground, collapsing a section of it. Her body fell through, dropping into the Level 0 area below.

The fragnts of the "cats" followed. The aberrations that had forced open the rooftop door—teachers and the entity behind them alike—all leapt down, pouring into the hole after her.

Aside from the lingering illusions, nothing remained on the rooftop to interfere with Takumi.

"Alice—I request, in the na of your friend—co save my life imdiately!"

In the next instant, even the illusions vanished completely. The rooftop returned to normal.

From the hole in the ground, Takumi could clearly hear several Alices in Level 0 letting out shrill screams. They had already been in chaos trying to reclaim the doll from the rescue team mber—Mai's words further disrupted their rule system. Even the Alice on the rooftop was severely affected, losing the ability to maintain the illusion.

Takumi saw Miko lying unconscious on the ground.

"…"

Without a word, he picked her up and sprinted forward.

He rushed into the electrical room first—searched it, found nothing—then ran to the signal tower. There, he discovered a well-hidden sensor slot. After swiping the magnetic card, the ground beside the tower sank inward, revealing an elevator platform.

Bzzzz—

With a harsh chanical whine, a control panel rose from the platform. Its crude tallic structure carried a faint sense of science fiction—but Takumi simply put away the card without comnt, holding Miko as he stepped forward.

He didn't look back at the hole in the rooftop even once.

Stepping onto the platform, he activated the controls. The platform descended—slowly at first, then faster—plunging into the darkness below.

What he did not see—

Was that in his arms, the unconscious Miko briefly curled her lips into a faint smile within the darkness of the elevator shaft.

And then, just as quickly, it vanished—like it had never been there at all.

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