Inside, everyone stared at the collapsed Rion in shock, worried for her.
"A... Akagami...?" Miyauchi said.
"Ri-Rion!" Akira yelled, running over to her. "What's wrong? Hang in there, Rion..."
"Wait, Sengoku!!" Mariya shouted, rushing over to stop him from touching her.
"!? W... What is it, Mariya?" Akira asked anxiously. "Get out of the way!"
"..." Mariya stared at Rion with an incredibly worried expression on his face. 'It's strange. It seems that under a little while ago Akagami was doing fine. Was it by chance? Or is there something else...?'
"Mariya, hey!" Akira said.
"!!" Mariya gasped when he saw the problem. "E-Everyone, look at this!" He pointed to Rion's neck.
"Huh?" Akira said as he and everyone else looked where he was pointing. There was something blue and nasty-looking on Rion's neck.
"!?" they all gasped.
"Wh... What is that!?" Akira asked. The blue thing slowly crept further up Rion's neck. "It's... It's moving... Is it living...?"
"It's a strange color, blue-ish..." Mariya said. "That color... it seems like I've seen it somewhere before..."
"!" Torako gasped, looking extremely troubled and concerned. "We all have... That bottle of blue stuff in the church!!" She gritted her teeth. 'Mariya-kun was right! It was something dangerous after all... Could this be what killed all those people at the gate and in the cars...!?'
"...!?" everyone said.
"Th-That broken bottle...?" Miyauchi said.
"It does look just like the color of the paint that was inside of it..." the vice president said.
"But the contents of the bottle were dried up..." Rei said.
"Wasn't it not dangerous?" the president said.
"N... Now that I think about it, when we were leaving the dining hall, there was something staining Rion-chan's shoes, and Rion-chan wiped it away with her hand. That stain's color was that kind of blue..." Yuki said nervously.
"So, when the bottle broke, it stuck to Rion, and she's been carrying it with her all the way here?" Akira said. "Damn, that thing like dried-up paint was the contents of the bottle itself!" He was horrified.
"B-But... could it exist in that kind of situation?" Mariya asked. "To think there would be a creature like that in existence..."
"... It isn't... a type of myxomycete, is it?" Yarai asked.
"... Myxomycete...?" Mariya said, looking at him. "If... If that's it, then there's a possibility..."
"...? H-Hey, what is that 'myxomycete' thing...?" Miyauchi asked.
"Myxomycete is another organism that both animals and plants possess within them," Yarai said. "Myxomycete that were just born grow while moving about in an amoeba state and eating bacterial and organic matter. Before long, when it matures, it changes into a form like a mushroom and the spores scatter. When it gets cold or dry or when the environment is bad, it lies dormant. For years it goes on sleeping in a form like dried paint... And once it's environment had improved again, it revives in its original amoeba state and becomes active again."
"..." The others stared at him.
'That fits...' Torako thought.
"Myxomycete, huh... It certainly resembles it," the president said.
"Th-Then we have to hurry up and do something—" Akira said anxiously.
"We can't Sengoku!" Mariya said.
"!?" Akira said.
"Think about it! This thing that was clinging to Akagami... It's possible it has turned into a biohazard!" Mariya said grimly.
"Bio... hazard...?" Akira said, startled.
"Yes...! Listen, Sengoku, if this is the thing that was in the bottle, it's likely only an hour at most has passed since it came in contact with Akagami," Mariya said. "That it could bring about symptoms in such a short time that a person collapses... It's not likely to be an ordinary pathogen."
"..." Akira was horrified.
"Besides, there's something else that's odd."
"Something odd...?" Akira asked.
"Although 'myxomycete' has a term for fungus in it, bacteria and mold are entirely different organisms. Essentially, they're organisms without toxicity," Mariya said.
"No... toxicity?" Oomori said, looking alarmed.
"What does that mean? Right now Akagami is really..." Miyauchi said anxiously.
"That's why I said it's odd!" Mariya said. "It's possibly a kind of biological weapon. It was born because of this island's DNA! If that's true, then the skeletons scattered around the tower are the work of this thing!"
"..." Everyone stared at him in shock.
'A thing like that is clinging to Akagamai? Th-Then Akagami is...' the president, vice president, and Miyauchi thought grimly.
'Rion-chan...' Oomori and Yuki thought anxiously.
'Akagami...' Mariya thought, gritting his teeth with frustration, wishing there was something they could do. Rion lay on the ground, huffing and puffing, doing her best to keep breathing.
'Rion...' Akira thought, gritting his teeth. There had to be something they could do.
'Akagami-san...' Torako thought, furrowing her brow and frowning with concern. 'There must be something we could do... maybe if we could get it off of her...?'
"Anyway, we can't have anymore victims beyond this..." Mariya said with regret. "If it's caused by a myxomycete then as long as we don't come in contact with it, it shouldn't spread. There's no other way to look at the situation right now."
"N... No way..." Akira said.
"Akira... ku..." Rion said weakly.
"..." Akira looked down at Rion and suddenly got a determined expression on his face.
"... ? Sengoku...?" Mariya said when Akira moved past him. Torako grabbed Akira to stop him.
"Let go—" Akira started to yell at her, but she cut him off.
"I know what you're going to do... I'm going back to the dining hall. Wait until I come back," Torako said.
"Huh?" Akira said.
"There might be something we can use to scrape it off her..." Torako said. "A spoon or a cup or a jar... Something that will let us get it off of her without touching it directly..."
"I don't think there's any point in doing something like that," Yashiro said. "That people can collapse just from it clinging to them means it's probably a toxin that soaks in from the skin."
"But I want to try and do something," Akira said. "There must be at least something we can—"
Without warning, Yuki fell over. Everyone looked at her, shocked.
"!?" they all gasped.
"H-Huh...?" Yuki said, looking confused. It seemed it had just caught up with her.
"Yuki...?" Akira said, horrified that she seemed to be showing the same symptoms as Rion.
'It can't be...! Why even Sakuma...' Mariya thought anxiously.
Outside, people were screaming.
"Uwaaaaah!"
A giant beast, larger than anything they had ever seen before was headed their way.
"It's... It's coming this way!" Kokonoe said. "It's huge!" The beast came crashing out of the forest, knocking down trees that were in its way. As Miina had feared, it was the paraceratherium. It let out a loud roar.
"W-We were wrong about it!" Kairi said, pointing up at the enormous beast.
"It's not a megatherium!" Miki cried.
"What is that?" Yamato asked, frightened. "It's too big."
'It really is—' Miina thought, taking a step back in terror.
"Kukuku. Good going, Kubo-kun..." Nishikiori said as Kubo untied his restraints while everyone was distracted. "I've been waiting for this! This adventure's... finale!" He stood up dramatically, free of his restraints.
Inside, they were panicking.
"Yuki!" Akira exclaimed.
"Sakuma!" the president yelled.
"..." Torako was shocked. How did it jump from Rion to Yuki?
"What's wrong, Yuki...! Wh-Why... not just Rion, but even Yuki...? Wasn't it that you couldn't get infected without touching someone?" Akira asked, alarmed.
"How did this happen, Mariya!" the president yelled.
"I... I don't know..." Mariya said. "It can't be an airborne infection..."
"Calm down, everyone," Yarai said.
"! Ya... Yari..." Akira said.
"That girl was in both the dining hall and the stairs with Akagami... It would have plenty of chances to infect her," Yarai said.
'... He's right...' Torako thought, feeling relieved, then feeling sorry for Rion and Yuki.
"Now that I think about it, that's true..." Akira said.
"All right, I'm going to the kitchen!" Torako said, determined to do something.
"Me, too—" Akira said, starting to get up.
"You stay here with Akagami-san. Keep her company," Torako said, just don't touch her."
"... Right," Akira said, remembering how Rion had made the effort of calling out to him. She would probably feel better if he stayed with her.
"..." The president looked at Yuki. "Who else is going?"
"I am," Yarai said. He'd rather put worrying on the back burner for now, but he could tell he wasn't going to talk Torako out of this, so he should go with her.
"I'll go, too!" Miyauchi said.
"Me, too," the vice president said.
"I guess I'll go, too, though I think it's pretty useless..." Yashiro said.
"Then... I'll keep Sakuma-kun company," the president said, sitting as close to her as possible without getting too near.
'President, you...' Akira thought, picking up on the look in his eyes. The president was clearly in love with Yuki.
"W-Wait! Shouldn't we remove it as fast as possible? Rather than wait... please use this!" Oomori said, holding out her scarf.
'That's Towa-san's beloved memento that Oomori-san is giving us...' Akira thought.
"... I think it would be better to use something less permeable," Torako said. "There's a chance we could still come in contact with the myxomycete if it seeps through the fabric."
"You're probably right," Mariya agreed.
"Ah! Yes! O-Of course..." Oomori said. Akira smiled gratefully at her anyway, knowing how much that scarf meant to her.
"Thanks," Oomori-san. Akira said.
"All right, let's go," Yarai said, unwilling to waste any more time. He took the lead and Torako, Miyauchi, the vice president, and Yashiro followed.
Outside, everyone was cowering in fear of the mighty paraceratherium. It roared. People screamed.
"Uwaaaah!"
"I-It's huge!"
"What is that thing!?"
"It's coming!" Mutou yelled.
"Hiiiii!" Suzuki cried with tears in his eyes.
"This way, everyone!" Kokonoe yelled.
"Huh?" Kirino said as they and everyone standing with them turned to look at him.
"Get over here quickly!" Kokonoe yelled. Seigou and Miki were lighting the bonfires.
"Th-That's right, the fire!" Mutou said.
"B... But, will this be okay? It's much larger than the megatherium!" Segawa said, moving quickly with Matsumoto and Shigeno, who were helping Kurusu-sensei escape, to join everyone at the fire.
"Like I know! But, if it doesn't work, we've got no choice," Kokonoe said, gritting his teeth and hoping for the best.
"It... It's here!" someone yelled.
"Burn more!" Kokonoe said. The fire in front of Kokonoe, Suzuki, Segawa, and Kirino was destroyed in an instant by a single stomp from one of the paraceratherium's feet.
"Uwaaah! Run!" Suzuki yelled, fleeing.
"Iyaaaaa!" Segawa screamed.
"It wasn't afraid of the fire..." Yamato said, alarmed.
"W-What are we going to do?" Murayama asked.
"There's nothing we can do..." Takahashi said, terrified.
"Kyaaaaaa!" a young voice screamed.
"W-What?" Kokonoe said, turning around to see that Kubo and Saitou had beaten up the three lolicons and Miina so that they were left lying on the ground. "!?" Nishikiori was grinning deviously as he held Isurugi Miina with one arm while holding a knife to her face with his free hand. "Ni... Nishikiori! You bastard, what are you doing at a time like this—"
"Kukuku... It's because it's a time like this!" Nishikiori said.
"What?" Kokonoe said incredulously.
"Listen! I've found the 'rule' for surviving on this island! This girl has it! Hahahahaha!" Nishikiori declared confidently.
"Wh... What are you saying?" Miina said, picking himself up off the ground.
"Kukuku... You don't get it? This girl is special!" Nishikiori said. "The granddaughter of the Isurugi-zaibutsu is the one deeply affecting the creatures on this island. Do you understand what that means?" he asked while other people were screaming and running around, trying to get away from the Paraceratherium. "Old man Isurugi couldn't kill his granddaughter! There's something set up so that at least his granddaughter wouldn't die! If we've got her we're saved!" Isurugi Miina tried to struggle to escape from him, kicking his leg, but he paid her no mind. "That's not all!"
"Huh?" Miina said.
"Eventually, Isurugi was going to come and get this girl... and if that's the case, he prepared a way for her to return!" Nishikiori said, looking at Miina with a really creepy look on his face.
"Be able to go home...? What are you talking about? Idiot, she lost her memory..." Miina said as the lolicons helped each other stand up again.
"Sooner or later, she'll remember. Until then, I'll be with her," Nishikiori said.
"That's... That's just what I'd expect of Nishikiori-san," Kubo said. He and Saitou were standing right behind him.
"That's right. Let's keep that girl hostage," Saitou said. "There's nothing we're afraid of—" A dark shadow fell over them.
"Hmm?" Kubo said. Before they even had a chance to figure out what was happening, the Paraceratherium's foot came crashing down on top of them, completely crushing everything under its foot in an instant. Nishikiori's eyes widened in shock.
'!?' Nishikiori thought as he looked back behind him. "Huh? Kubo-kun? Huh? Huh? Hang on... Can't you see it? It's Isurugi Miina, the real one!" Nishikiori yelled, holding her up for the creature to see. The Paraceratherium's foot came racing toward him. "Uwaaaaah!"