(hug)
As this group of people surged out in pursuit, the living room immediately became spacious and silent. Only the three innocent Experience Participants remained.
The three looked at one another for a moment, then instinctively followed after them. Although the killer's identity had already been confirmed, the terrifying aftereffects left by that madman still seemed to linger around them. At a time like this, staying with those reliable-looking people from Tokyo was safest.
Kobayashi the Painter, who was seriously injured, had long since been arranged in another room. This living room that had once been fitted with bombs became empty in the blink of an eye.
Yet very soon, one Leg-Clinging Shikigami after another, invisible to the naked eye, flew in through the cracks. They gathered in a corner, forming a lump of Puppet Clay.
That lump of clay rapidly rose and took shape. In the blink of an eye, a curly-haired man in a black suit, matching tie, and sunglasses appeared in the living room.
Matsuda Jinpei adjusted his sunglasses and glanced outside.
Once it had confirmed that everyone had run far away, it furtively crouched down, swiftly lifted the carpet and floorboards, and began construction.
The dense woods blocked everyone's view, forcing them to spend some time figuring out which way Eiji Toyono had gone.
"Over here!" Hattori Heiji spotted him sharply. "He went to the lakeshore!"
The group thundered after him toward the lake. But just as they neared it, they heard the roar of a Motor—Eiji Toyono had actually forced his way aboard that flooded boat. And the boat, to its credit, really did cut through the water at a speed no slower than when it had been intact, carrying him toward the middle of the lake in the blink of an eye.
"That