"So we can't get out, is that it?"
Halfling Young Lady asked worriedly. Shade shook his head.
"For various reasons, the life forms of the few of us are perfectly normal right now. Even if we leave this place, we won't pose a threat to the world. So I think we need to prove to the Factory's keeper that we're normal. There's a small chance we might be released."
"And the likely outcome?"
Gina's tail tip poked Shade's arm.
"The likely outcome is that they'd rather kill the innocent than let a potential threat go. For the world's safety, the lives of a few individuals need not be considered."
Shade said this, yet still failed to see the figure he had expected amid the thin Blood Mist flowing around them.
He exchanged a glance with Madam Gustav and understood from the Old Witch's frightened eyes that she had long guessed what they would have to face in the end. Everyone fell silent. A moment later, Miss Feliana spoke first.
"Can you feel it?"
"What?"
Gina asked instinctively, then noticed Miss Bladewei trembling against her with her eyes shut.
"It feels like... we're being watched."
The three Magic Eyes on the shield had all gone dim. Gina dazedly looked around again and realized that the world, once almost entirely filled with red light, had already darkened. Bright red had turned deep crimson. At the same time, Gina heard the sound of tides, as though the ocean were right beside her.
Red liquid crashed against her feet wave after wave. The tail that had been wrapped around her waist loosened until it hung naturally, its tip drooping into the liquid as well.
She too felt that she was being watched. The source of that gaze seemed very, very far away, yet also