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However there must not have been time for proper maintenance The speed dropped and Ange Machina and Lucia were dropped to the ground before arriving back at the headquarters

Ow That was a hell of a way of sending us back

It was a very Miss A thing to do But more importantly

Where are we Oh is that the mall over there

They had apparently made it back to the city They had fallen near SeeD WalK the shopping mall that the angels like Ange often used

It had been closed for a while after the destruction from Black Cat’s attack but it had reopened before summer break It was once more a place for countless families to make nice memories

Or it should have been

The outdoors hall was large enough to hold a small concert and the center was connected to the food court a floor below It was still warm for fall so the outdoors hall had been remade into a beer garden during the evening hours and it should have been full of office workers on the way home from work But it was empty

The three exchanged a glance wondering if it was closed today

Ange and Machina only looked puzzled but Lucia’s expression was darker He looked down at the floor where the tile was engraved with a grid of small grooves to let rainwater drain off

His face stiffened further when he saw the black stains there

This is odd said Ange There’s no one down here either

They descended the stairs to find the food court deserted

No customers would be one thing but there were no workers in the restaurants either Yet the lights were on and the grills were still active

Was everyone evacuated because our ride was mistaken for a missile

Negative the government is unaware of any of this and there would be more of a commotion outside if that were the case

The mall was quiet Eerily quiet

There was an arcade near the food court and the game cabinets there were all still powered on The mall’s speakers were playing ambient music based on a forest or the waterside which only increased the eeriness of the deserted building Ange did not know much about the human world and Machina did but they both thought of the same name the Mary Celeste

But for warriors like those three learning they were in an emergency situation actually helped them avoid panicking

They calmly calmly observed their surroundings and noticed a few odd things within the food court Some chairs were toppled and a few people’s worth of underwear and other clothing was lying on the floor There were also black stains dotting the chairs and floor

What is this black stuff Succubi

Negative The ratio of materials is similar but there is no life activity in these

They investigated in their own unique ways Machina analyzed the materials and Ange produced fire from her back to heat them enough to burn a demon

The materials analysis told them nothing and there was no response to the fire so these did not seem to be demons However

These are human bodies said Lucia after scooping some up on a finger and licking it Just with the Fruit of Knowledge removed

H-human bodies All of these were people

Ange was shocked at the identity of what she had been investigating and she gasped when she looked again at how many stains were scattered throughout the mall

Those were all people It did make the most sense given the odd state of the mall though

Ah ahh ahh yess That’sthat’s so good

When they focused their ears they heard someone’s voice All three of them moved toward the voice and peeked into the arcade adjacent to the food court

Ah Nikki shouted Lucia

A girl who looked somewhat young for her flashy clothing was half naked and down on all fours

This was Niki Hozumi a classmate of those three and a member of the rock band Lucia had performed with at the cultural festival a few days ago

His voice did not seem to reach her and she was wiggling her hips side to side while on all fours

The three of them gasped when they saw the man firmly holding those hips

It was that young man The one who resembled Mutsuki and that Micha had called Avalon

Sob wahh Papaa mamaa

They had not noticed before due to all the noise from the arcade cabinets but there were still a few people in the arcade

A boy of about 5 was crying in front of the bathrooms on one side of the arcade Ange and Machina hurried over to help him but then they realized there were still two adults in the diaper changing room next to the bathrooms Ahh what what I’ve never felt anything like thiss

Ahh I-I’m so close Ahh I’m cumming

A different man and woman were in there with them for a total of four people

A young woman was having sex with the young man named Avalon and a somewhat older man in his thirties was having sex with a woman who had long platinum blonde hair

That shockingly beautiful face was Lilith’s Ange and the others had only seen her for a moment but they could tell right away

The boy was crying papa and mama at what those two were doing They must have been his parents

Ah ah ah ahh I’m cummiing

Hozumi let out a cry while her slender body arched backwards

At that very moment her body burst into a black liquid

There was no blood She was transformed into a black stain on the carpet before Lucia’s eyes like she had been a water balloon all along

Then a glowing speck floated up from the stain Was it an apple seed The man having sex with her grabbed the tiny speck of light with a satisfied look

The man and woman in front of Ange and Machina also achieved climax and collapsed into a black liquid The boy gave a quiet shriek at seeing his parents burst into nothingness

After retrieving the specks of light from those two as well the two Avalons and the one Lilith smiled in satisfaction They vanished like mist without even glancing over at dumbfounded Ange and the others The only people left were Ange Machina Lucia and

Does it sadden you boy

The boy had nearly fainted after seeing his parents disappear but another Lilith appeared right behind him

Papamama

The boy could not find the words to express the tragedy that had befallen him so Lilith gently smiled and rubbed his cheek

There is no need for sadness for I shall love you I can love you more than your father or your mother ever could so you need only love me in return

The boy finally remembered how to cry and clung to her blonde hair with tears spilling form his eyes

Wait Get away from her

Ange realized what was coming so she shouted in anger

But the boy showed no interest in her words and indulged in the arms embracing him

A moment later there was a splatting sound and he became a black stain

The human world has this idea known as a brain in a vat

After confirming no one else was around the thought of staying in the mall made them sick so they left The pleasant evening breeze of early autumn helped them forget the reality around them

The first to speak was Lucia

The idea is that you are nothing more than a brain in a vat and the world you know is no more than electrical stimuli given to that brain Of course it’s not meant to claim this is true It’s more of a joke showing that thoughts are a subjective thing and all scientific theories can be explained away as only existing in that vat if you remove that subjective element It was quiet outside as well

This city was not a metropolis and there was not a full shopping district around the mall so the only sounds would be the people passing by So when there were no people passing by everything was so quiet the autumn wind sounded far too loud in their ears There are sometimes science fiction stories based on that joke They present humanity as existing in a vat where they are shown a false reality instead of the real one The person who develops a way to place themselves in the vat could just enjoy the perfect world they have created for themselves but for some reason they decide they want to share that happiness with everyone else and work in secret to turn all of humanity into brains in vats and they attack as a giant robot brain for the final battle Are you saying that’s what Mutsuki is doing