'I'll definitely hit it at such a close range,' Kirino thought. 'If I could only knock down its feet...' "Whuooo!" she yelled as she charged. The beast's tongue came shooting toward her. Her eyes widened in shock. "!?" its tongue slammed into her, knocking her harshly to the ground. "Kyaaa!"
"Kirino—!!" Miyauchi shouted.
"Ah," she groaned, glaring up at the beast. "Ah... Ugh..." 'Why!? Why was I attacked!?' she wondered. 'I aimed directly at the blind spot behind it, then how did it know...' "!?" she gasped when she realized the eye on the left side of its left head was fixed on her. 'That eye is looking at me!? Oh my God...! The eyes in its three heads are all able to look at different angles simultaneously!? If that's the case, then it can have a nearly 360-degree field of vision!? So it has known everything I was doing, right from the start...' She became aware of a strong pain in her arm. "Ah... Ow... Uh... My arm..." It was clearly broken.
"Kirinooo!" Miyauchi shouted, charging the beast as it roared again. 'You son of a bitch! I'll fight it out with you with my full power!!' She punch and kicked it repeatedly with all her might, but it was no good. She barely had time to flinch when hit her with its front leg. "Ugh!" Tokiwa jumped up its arm until she was high in the air.
'If I could only blind its eyes...' she thought with gritted teeth, aiming her sharp stick at it's left eye as she fell. "Gua!" She was instantly hit straight in the gut by the tongue and knocked away.
"Ah..." Suzuki said nervously as he watched her fall.
"Ah, oh..." Takahashi cried with tears streaming down her face.
"They were knocked away in an instant, all three of them..." Mariya said.
"We... We have to go help them..." Takahashi said.
"But, how..." Tooru asked.
Miyauchi saw something hit the ground near her. Smoke came pouring out of it, enveloping the area around her with smoke.
"!?" she said. "Smoke...!?" she coughed. "Wha... What's this...!?" She was surprised when a pair of hands grabbed her. "!" she looked up at the person holding her. "Eh?" It was Akira.
"Pull it together, Miyauchi!!" he told her.
"Sen... Sengoku!?" she said.
"Are you okay? Can you stand up!?" Rion asked Tokiwa, helping her.
"Ah... Yeah..." Tokiwa said.
"Ow... Mm..." Kirino groaned as Kokonoe-sensei picked her up.
"It hurts? Hang in there," he told her. Akira helped Miyauchi walk.
"We need to hurry up," Akira said. "Can you run?"
"Yeah... I guess so..." Miyauchi said. "You're a great help, Sengoku... What's going on? What's with the smoke...?" The beast roared. It sounded like it was frustrated because it couldn't find them.
"Oh, this is..." Akira said.
"Heh heh heh..." Kokonoe-sensei laughed. "It's a smoke ball! Made it myself."
"Kokonoe...?" Miyauchi said.
"The main materials are potassium nitrate and sugar," Kokonoe-sensei explained. "The reaction of this mixture can produce smoke that is five hundred times greater than its original volume. The sugar was made out of the sap. And the potassium nitrate can be found in the 'guano' which is formed by the fossilization of animals' feces and corpses. I found some of it here and there near the coast and also in the caves. I was thinking about finding a good chance to use it. Hahahahaha!"
"You really are a 'mad scientist'... Thanks to you, we could escape," Miyauchi said.
"Yeah," Akira agreed. He looked at the injured girls. 'What a fierce fight! The three of them were beaten without any chance to defend themselves.' "..." He looked back at the beast, which he could just see through the smoke. "Hey, Miyauchi, what the hell is that...?" The beast roared.
"... I don't know," she replied. "It came out of that trap all of a sudden. Mariya was also shocked and had no idea about it..."
"He didn't know anything about it either!?" Akira said. "..." He wracked his brain for an answer. "No way... could it be..."
"Eh? Could it be what?" Miyauchi asked. "Sengoku... did you just figure it out...!?"
"... I think so," Akira said. He remembered everything they had seen in the under ground facility at the pyramid. "I'm afraid... that monster might be a failed creature."
"A failed creature...!?" Miyauchi asked.
"... Yeah. It was probably made by the scientists in those experiments for making extinct animals, but it turned out to be a failure... It's the product of those evil experiments. A horrifying mixed DNA monster!!"
"RAWRRRR!" the beast roared fiercely.
"So there could be other monsters like this still hanging around nearby...?" Miyauchi asked.
"... Probably. We don't know anything about them," Akira said. "Let's get out of here now!"
"... We can't, Sengoku..." Miyauchi said.
"Eh!?" he said.
"... Sakuma fell down into the trap..." Miyauchi told him.
"Did you say Yuki...!?" he asked, alarmed. "Then how is she now?"
"I don't know," Miyauchi said. "I didn't hear from her after that... and I have no idea what's going on down in there..."
"No... Dammit..." Akira cursed.
"Yarai-kun...!" Torako called, trying to get him to respond. "Pull yourself together, Yarai-kun... Yarai! Can you hear me...?"
"..." Yarai kept his head bowed. He couldn't look at her after what he did.
"You're so disappointing!" Mami said.
"... Mami-san...?" Torako said, looking at her.
"Yarai-kun, what are you doing!?" Mami asked. "I'm really sorry for what's happened... and I can also understand you taking any risk to save someone really important to you. You've lost your mother twice, and now Sensei, who you love as your mother, is in danger of dying too... But look at yourself. I know you have your reasons, but again, what are you doing!? You're hurting others for some stupid reasons and all for your own good... but you couldn't do it in the end. And now you're acting all upset like some tragic hero...!?!"
"..." Yarai couldn't dispute that.
"You know what? Everyone here is much better than you," Mami continued. "Because at least they won't be selfish and take advantage of someone else to make themselves happy! ... Have you ever seen... Sengoku-kun's body? There are wounds all over his body! That is because Sengoku-kun is always standing in front of us, risking his life to protect us from danger! He's been working so hard, all for the sake of everyone else with his short body!!" Tears formed in her eyes. "He works harder than anyone else... with all the effort he can muster...!! Yarai-kun... you're strong, aren't you!?! You're much more powerful than everyone else, aren't you!?! You're such a strong person... Then how long are you going to keep groveling like that!?!" She yelled the last part. Mami was breathing hard from her rant.
"..." Torako stared down at Yarai. "Get up," she said. "Get up, Yarai-kun. The truth is, you want to help Sengoku-kun, right? I believe in you, so get up."
"..." Yarai clenched his fists and stood up. He remembered how Kurusu-sensei had also told him she believed he was the one who could get everybody out of there. He raised his head.
Meanwhile, the others were doing their best to outrun the beast.
"Waaaaa!!" some cried.
"Kyaaaaa!!" others screamed. It let out another roar.
"Don't get scattered, everyone!" Akira said. "Help out anyone that can't move!"
"It... It hurts..." Suzuki said, wincing with ears in his eyes from the pain of being hit by the tongue.
"Hang in there, Ryouichi-kun..." Kashiwagi said anxiously, helping him limp away.
"Shit, the smokescreen has disappeared. Is it all out already, Kokonoe!?" Akira asked.
"Don't be stupid. How could I possibly make a large amount!?" Kokonoe said. "It's a lot of hard work, you know. Even that small lot was troublesome..."
"Wh-What should we do, Sengoku!?" Murayama asked.
"..." Akira looked around. 'Everyone's badly wounded... especially Miyauchi, Tokiwa, and Kirino... of all people... for these three, the ones with the best reflexes, to get injured the most... We can't make a move, with things like this! And furthermore, what happened to Yuki after she fell into the trap...? We can't just leave Yuki behind and escape...' "Murayama! Take care of Miyauchi," he said, handing Miyauchi over to the other boy.
"Eh...? What about you!?" Murayama asked.
"I'm going to check on Yuki!" Akira declared.
"Eh!?" Murayama said.
"Everyone, help out the ones that are injured, and get away from here," Akira ordered.
"You... You're going to go alone!?" Murayama asked. "Th-That's too dangerous! The place were Sakuma fell, is behind that monster!"
"I'll be fine... I have an idea..." Akira said.
"I-Idea? Huh...?" Murayama said. Akira ran forward towards the beast. "Hey...! Sengoku!" His eyes widened. "!? Eh!?"
"W-Why is he... charging straight towards the monster!?" Mariya asked.
'It has a field vision of 360-degrees... so it wouldn't have mattered which direction I had come from!' Akira thought. 'So if that's the case...' The beast roared and shot its tongue out at him.
"Se-Sengoku!" Mariya and Murayama yelled. Rion was scared for him. But Akira dodged. He hit the ground and rolled between the beast's legs until he was out behind it.
"Whoa... he did it!!" Muryama exclaimed. "Sengoku... he rolled through the gap in between the monster's legs... and made it through past its back all in one attempt!" Akira ran to the trapdoor hole. He dropped to his knees beside it.
"Yukiii!" Akira yelled. "Answer me, Yuki...!! Yukiii!" His only answer was silence, and he couldn't see through the darkness in the hole. 'There's no response... what happened to her!? Did she lose consciousness when she fell in there...? The depth of the trap is about five to six meters... there should also be a cushion of animal bones... However, if she had a bad landing, then...' A shadow fell over Akira. 'Wait... a shadow...!?' The beast loomed over him. "!!" he gasped in alarm. "Shi... Shit." 'I was so focused on Yuki... when did it get so close!?' The beast's tongue shot out and whipped him to the side. "Gaaaaaa!" he yelled as he crashed into the ground and skidded across it.
"Sengoku!" Mariya, Miyauchi, and Murayama yelled.
"Gu... Ha..." Akira groaned, breathing hard. 'This... This is its tongue!? It feels like I got whacked by a lead pipe!' The beast raised its paw and brought it straight down to crush him. "Gu...!!" He managed to move out the way at the last second. "Haa..." The beast glared down at him. 'Sh... Shit...' He gritted his teeth.
"Noooooo, stop~!!" Rion yelled.
"!?" Akira said, startled when he looked over and saw Rion running toward him.
"A-Akira-kun!!" she cried with tears in her eyes.
"Ri-Rion!?" Akira exclaimed. 'Rion... what are you doing...!?' he wondered, holding his arm.
"Akira-kun... Are you all right!?" Rion yelled.
"Ri-Rion... no... don't come over here..." Akira told her. He tried to get up. "Gu...!!" 'My... My body won't move...!'
"GOOOOOOH!" the beast roared, and turned its attention to Rion.
"Ahh!" She cried.
"Stooooop!!" Akira yelled.
"... Leave it to me!" Yarai said.
"!?" Rion and Akira gasped.
"!!" Rion exclaimed as he ran past her, charging the beast. He dodged its attempt to hit him with its tongue and jumped up, putting himself level with its face. He gripped his keys tightly and punched the beast, slashing it across the face.
"GYA! GAAAA!" the beast roared in pain.
"A-Amazing!!!" Rion said. Yarai landed back on the ground, standing in front of Akira.
"... Ya... Yarai!" Akira exclaimed. "You... why did you...?"
"..." Yarai kept his eyes on the monster. "... Hmm. You look pathetic, Sengoku. What's with this sorry state you're in? Try to limit this stupid look to just your face."
"Wha...?" Akira said, taken aback. 'Oi, oi, oi! Yarai... he's totally different from how he was just a little while ago, isn't he!?' Akira managed to push himself up into a half-kneeling position. He grinned. 'I see. I don't know what happened, but... this bastard... it looks like he's recovered, huh...' He stood up, still holding his shoulder. "... All right. Well, then... shall we start our counter attack...!?"
"Akira-kun!!" Rion said, still concerned.
"Get back, Rion!" Akira told her. She reluctantly did as he asked. "Our opponent's a ridiculous monster, Yarai..."
"Yeah..." Yarai agreed.
"Thanks to those three heads, it has a 360-degree vision," Akira said. "We can't approach it so carelessly. Even if we can get near it somehow... attacks from that powerful tongue will start flying. And if you manage to slip through, like you did just now, with just a single attack, you can't hope to inflict much damage on that sturdy body. It's quite a formidable opponent."
"... I have an idea," Yarai said.
"Eh!?" Akira said.
"If everything goes well, we might be able to beat it," Yarai said.
"That... That would be..." Akira said.
"It's sink or swim," Yarai said. "You help from below." Yarai charged at the beast again.
"H-Hey, Yarai... just what...!" Akira yelled. "Ku...!!"
"GOOOOH!" the beast roared and shot its tongue out at Yarai repeatedly, but Yarai dodged every time.
'As I thought... this guy's amazing. Deftly dodging that high-speed tongue... He's closing the distance!" Akira thought. 'But what is he going to do!? It'll just end up like last time...' "Eh!?" he said when Yarai jumped up.
"Haa haa," Mami panted as she ran beside Torako. They were trying to catch up to Yarai. "..."
"What is it, Mami-san?" Torako asked. "You look bothered."
"Ya-Yarai-kun isn't angry, is he?" Mami asked. "I... I... I got excited and said those things..." Torako looked at her and smiled.
"Mami-san, thank you," she said.
"Eh?" Mami said.
"He'll be fine. His face when he set off was like his old self," Torako said, looking ahead. "In such situations he... always does something amazing, after all!"
"Eh!?" Mariya exclaimed. "What... What is that!?!" Yarai was kneeling on the back of the beast's neck, with some of the fur from its mane wrapped around one hand for a hold. "Yarai... is riding on top of that monster's back!!"
"GAAAAAAAAAAHH!" the beast roared.
"Huh...! So that's it!" Mariya said, getting it.
"Mariya!?" Suzuki asked.
"There's just one! Just one place where attacks are effective against that monster!" Mariya said.
"Only one place!?" Murayama asked.
"The weakness common to all vertebrate animals... It's the neck!!" Mariya said.
"Ne-Neck!?" Murayama asked.
"Yeah!" Mariya said. "The neck, which connects the head portion and the torso, is where the blood vessels, nerves, and other vital structures are located. To animals, the neck which isn't protected by bones is the most vulnerable part of the body. And not only that! It's the most difficult place for animals to attack!" The beast tried to hit Yarai with its tongue and missed. "Look! It's been swinging its tongue around for a while. That's the only place where it can't see properly. That monster's eyes can't reach behind its head!" 'Not only did he figure out its weak point in such a short period of time, he actually put this knowledge into practice. As expected, this man is something else...' Yarai punched the beast on top of its head.
"It's only concentrating on what's happening up there!" Akira said as he stabbed its paw. "It's not paying attention to down here!!"
"GOOOAAAAAHHHH!" the beast roared.
"Awesome!" Yamato cheered.
"It looks like it's working!!" said Takahashi.
"If things keep up like this, they might defeat that monster!" Miyauchi said.
"Eh!?" Oomori and Rion said, excited.
"Alllll right! Go Yarai!" Suzuki said. "Give 'em my part, too."
"..." Miina watched and smirked. "Chance!" he said. "Hey, you! Strip!" he told Suzuki.
"Eh!?" Suzuki said.
"I'm telling you to give me that uniform!" Miina said. Suzuki gave him his jacket. "Fufufu... Watch carefully!"
"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!" the beast roared as Yarai attacked from above, and Akira attacked from below.
'Something's strange!' the two of them thought.
"GAAAAAAAAHH!" the beast roared again, swiping at Akira with its claws.
"!!" Akira gasped. He quickly dodged. "Whoa!" 'Claws!? It's the first time it's using this attack.'
"Whoa!" Yarai said as the beast tried to shake him. "Damn!" 'It's strange. This thing, it's almost as if...'
"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" the beast roared, throwing him from its neck. The hair in Yarai's hand snapped off as he was thrown clear.
"!!" Yarai exclaimed. "Ku..." He put his hands on the ground and caught himself, putting his feet down and sliding back on them. "Shit!"
"Ya-Yarai!" Akira said.
"W-What!?" Murayama said.
"Yarai got thrown off!" Takahashi said.
"What happened!?" Kashiwagi asked.
"!!" Akira and Yarai said when the monster charged at them.
"Whoa!" Yarai said as they both dodged.
"Close one!" Akira agreed. The beast turned around, facing them again. "!! It's coming again!"
"Damn!" Yarai cursed.
"GARURURURU!" the beast roared.
"As I thought..." Akira said.
"Yeah, no doubt about it," Yarai agreed.
"H-Hey! Something's weird...!" the president said.
"Yeah, it's totally different from before!" Seigou agreed. "That monster's movements... have sped up!"
"... This is bad..." Mariya said.
"Eh!?" Suzuki and Oomori said.
"It might be regaining control of its body," Mariya said.
"What are you talking about, Mariya!?" Miyauchi asked.
"Most likely, it was hibernating underground for a long time. That's why, after it had just woken up... it was basically still in a lethargic state," Mariya explained. "But, as its body warms up... it starts to recover its previous movements."
"What? But then..." Miyauchi said.
"Yeah..." Mariya agreed. "It'll quickly become... stronger and stronger...!!" Yarai managed to get back on its neck while Akira dodged another attack, but Yarai was quickly thrown.
"Guu!" he grunted as he hit the ground.
"Yarai!" Akira said.
"Damn! I can't ride on its back anymore!" Yarai said.
"Ku...!" Akira gritted his teeth. 'What do we do!?'
'It sure is noisy here,' Miina thought, crawling across the ground near the beast, hiding under Suzuki's jacket. 'Fufufu... It's like that animal doesn't even notice I'm here. In the end, it only has the brain of a beast. There's no way it could do something like find a hidden me! Look! Here it is! Child ninja arts, hidden Miina technique!!' He was right next to it now. 'Oooh! Close enough.♥ I came at it from the other end.♥' He raised the sharp stick he had brought with him. 'Its heart... will be pierced by Miina-sama's Longinus!' "Yaaah!" he yelled, stabbing the beast with the stick. The beast's eyes locked onto Miina. The stick hadn't done any damage. "Eh?" Miina sweated nervously. 'It won't pierce?' The beast moved and turned its head toward Miina. Miina stared up at it in shock. Torako and Mami arrived just in time to see the beast snap its jaws shut around Miina, swallowing him whole.
"!!" Torako and Mami gasped.
"!?" Akira, Rion, and Rei, the dark-skinned girl, exclaimed.
"Eh!?" Mariya and Oomori gasped.
"Miina was... Eaten!" they cried.
"Mi... Miina was eaten..." Akira said as the beast swallowed, shocked. The beast opened its mouth and roared.
"Ah! Aaah!" Rion screamed with tears running down her face.
"No... No way!" Rei cried with tears forming in her eyes.
"Miinaaa!" Isurugi Miina screamed, also crying.
"Nooooooooo!" Oomori yelled with tears in her eyes.
"..." Yarai stared at the beast.
"Ooooh!!" Akira yelled next to him.
"!" Yarai said when Akira charged at the beast.
"You bastaaaard!" Akira screamed at it.
"Sengoku!?" Yarai called.
'How dare you!' Akira thought, glaring at the beast. 'How dare you do that to Miina!'
"Damn! Sengoku, wait!" Yarai yelled, going after him. 'He's losing sight of himself!'
"Aaaaaaaaaaaah!" Akira yelled as he ran at the beast with his sharp stick raised. He was knocked back by a swipe of its huge paw and was sent flying. "Gaah!" He hit the ground, bounced, and rolled. "Gaaaah!"
"Se-Sengoku!!" Yarai said. He kneeled down next to him. "He-Hey! Get ahold of yourself!" Akira coughed. 'We have to pull back for now! I have to draw it away somehow!' "!?" he gasped with a furrowed brow when it charged at them. 'Shit! It's so fast! It's already all the way here!' "Whoooa!" he yelled, holding onto Akira as he tried to dodge the beast, but still got clipped hard as it went past them, making them flip over. "Uh... Ugh! Shi... Shit!" Yarai groaned, holding his head and trembling slightly as he tried to move again.
"Yarai-kun!!" Torako yelled.
"Ya-Yarai!" Kokonoe-sensei said.
"Akira-kun!" Rion screamed.
"..." Torako gripped her spear tightly in her good hand. She couldn't wield her spear at full strength. Her eyes met Yarai's. He didn't want her to come over. He wanted her to stay where it was safe. Torako gritted her teeth. If she went out half-assed, she would just create another victim and cause more problems for Yarai.
"Sengoku, get up... It'll come back soon!" Yarai said, picking himself up. "Sengoku...?" Akira was shaking, holding onto a small shoe. 'A shoe...? Where did something like that...? Was it from that child that was eaten just now? Was it stuck in its mouth? Maybe it fell out after that body blow just now?'
'Damn it!' Akira thought, gripping the shoe. He remembered how cheeky Miina always was. "Damn it!" he cursed with tears in his eyes. "Damn it!!"
"Ah! Ah! Wha-What happened?" Suzuki asked. "They got beaten, both of them! Wha-What do we do?"
"Even if you ask that..." Kashiwagi said with tears streaming down her face.
"ROAR!" the beast roared and growled, looking straight at them.
"Hiii! It's coming!!" Suzuki said.
"It's already hopeless, we're next!" Kashiwagi cried.
"...!" Suzuki realized something was off. "Eh...?" The beast was just sitting there. "It... it's not coming...? What happened?"
"It... It's not moving!" the vice president said.
"Eh? Huh?" Koyomi said.
"What is it...?" Tooru asked. "What in the world happened?"
"..." Mariya stared at the beast.
"GRRRRRR!" it growled, but it didn't move from that spot.
"Unh! Ugh!" Tokiwa groaned, while Morita tried to comfort her.
"Gu! Ow!" Yamato moaned while Oomori tried to help him. Akira and Yarai retreated to stand closer to the others.
"Injuries?" Torako asked Yarai.
"I'll be fine," he said.
'That's not what I was asking,' she thought, looking him over for wounds.
"Hmm... This is..." a middle-aged looking man who was wearing a shirt with flowers on it said, examining Kirino's arm. "The ulna seems to be fractured. Let's stabilize it with a stick."
"You... You seem to know quite a lot," Kokonoe-sensei remarked.
"Ah... Um... I used to do judo, so I know how to handle fractures," the man in the flower shirt said.
"Regardless... What exactly is going on?" Miyauchi asked. "That animal... it's not moving from there!"
"Um... Hey," Suzuki said. "This is our chance. Let's make a run for it now. Yeah, that'd be good!."
"You moron! What about Sakuma!?" Miyauchi asked. "Are you going to leave her to die?"
"Well then, what are you saying we should do!?" Suzuki asked. "At this rate, we'll all be eaten too! Just like Miina!"
"..." Miyauchi gritted her teeth. Everyone was worried about that.
"Hmm... a live human being swallowed whole, huh?" Mariya said. "I wonder what would happen with that?"
"Eh?" Miyauchi and Suzuki said.
"Ma-Mariya?" Miyauchi asked.
"... Normally, swallowed food is passed through the esophagus, and carried to the 'stomach'," Mariya said.
"Eh...?" Miyauchi said.
"Then, due to the strong muscles of the stomach wall, you would be suffocated or crushed to death," Mariya continued. "However, the definitive cause of death... would likely be digestive fluids. Stomach fluid is composed of hydrochloric acid and digestive enzymes. It's an incredibly acidic fluid. The strength of this digestive fluid varies depending on the animal, but... it's said to be particularly potent in animals that swallow their prey whole. For example, in snakes, chicks and other animals that are swallowed whole are reduced to goo in as little as a few hours!"
"So... by now, Miina..." Miyauchi said, grimacing.
"Ugh!" Takahashi, groaned as she covered her mouth as if to stop herself from throwing up.
"Stop it!" Rei yelled.
"Rei-san!' Takahashi said.
"I don't want to hear that kind of talk!" Rei said with tears streaming down her face. "Why are you saying such cruel things? After all, the people that have died can't go back home anymore!"
"Re-Rei-san..." Miyauchi said.
"Died? What are you talking about?" Mariya asked.
"Huh?" Rei said.
"Don't mistake my words! I haven't given up on Miina yet!" Mariya told them.
"Huh!?" Miyachi said.
"Wha-What are you saying!?' Rei asked.
"I was thinking about it," Mariya said. "Why hasn't it been moving for a while now?"
"Eh?" Rei said.
"And not just now... It's movements have been strange ever since it appeared. And what's the reason for that?" Mariya asked.
"That's... because it was hibernating and just woke up, right?" Miyauchi said.
"That's it! In all likelihood... since it just woke up, it can't control its body how it wishes,' Mariya said. "If that's the case, what about its organs?"
"Huh!?" Miyauchi said.
"What I said earlier about the stomach applied to healthy animals," Mariya explained. "After awakening from a long sleep like that, the organs also shouldn't be functioning normally. Is that why... it's just sitting there, not moving?"
"..." Miyauchi and the others stared at the beast. It growled but didn't move.
"Have you heard this story before? About the man swallowed by a whale?" Mariya asked. "In the later half of the 18th century, there was an incident where an English whaling vessel was attacked by a sperm whale. And a member of the crew who had been spilled into the ocean was swallowed. A harpoon was deployed, but... the whale vanished beneath the waves. Half a day later, the whale had succumbed to its wounds, and washed up on shore. They sliced open the stomach immediately. And the crewman, who was breathing faintly, came out. Somehow, he had survived being in the whales stomach for more than fifteen hours! And that's not all. There are other similar stories."
"... So... So then...?" Miyauchi asked.
"Miina...?" Rei said.
"Yeah!" Mariya confirmed. "Right now, we might still be able to save her!"
"Right... Right now?" Miyauchi asked.
"Bu-But, really? Wouldn't she have dissolved awhile ago?" Suzuki asked.
"I know our chances are slim, but..." Mariya said.
"We'll do it!" Akira said, holding his side. Rion was supporting him.
"Se-Sengoku!" Mariya said.
"If there's a chance, then we have to do it!!" Akira said. "We're going to save her!"
"Se-Sengoku!' Mariya said.
"Bu-But...!!" Suzuki said. "How the hell do we do that!? Miyauchi and the others were done in! And you guys weren't a match for it either! We're all injured now, and there's hardly anyone that can move freely anymore! And moreover, it... it's just going to get stronger, isn't it? There's no hope of defeating it or anything like that! There's no way to save Miina!"
"....." Akira and the others stared at him, starting to feel hopeless.
"Nope, there is a way," Yarai said, stepping forward with Torako.
"Eh?" Akira said, looking behind himself at him. "Ya-Yarai!"
"That kid gave us a hint," Yarai said. "Before being swallowed by it!"
"Eh?" Akira said.
"What was it?" Miyauchi asked.
"However..." Yarai said. "However, this will... require everyone here to risk their lives!!"