battery=01:28:13

Cold wind echoed through the waterways. The wind stopped suddenly in an instant.

Lilith stopped moving.

I asked "Lilith?", while she twitched her nose, turning around to look at me with moist eyes.

"Do you hear anything?"

Lilith listened while saying quietly. I adjusted my auditory settings to the most sensitive value as well.

I could hear the sound of the rain, wind, flowing water, and—

Human footsteps.

Footsteps of many people.

"It seems like they're still chasing us."

Lilith bit her lips.

The matter that she was thinking about was transmitted to me through her trembling shoulders. Since the military is here, that would mean that the force that could block them is now gone. However, Lilith and I did not mention him again. If we mention him, Lilith would cry, and I would feel pained as well.

We speedily walked forwards. Using the illumination from my visual settings, we continued to walk in the pa.s.sages of the waterways. Sometimes, I would hear the voices of men reflected in the pa.s.sages.

"Look!"

Lilith said in a low voice.

"The exit."

I looked at the ceiling. There was a ladder on the wall, and a hole above it. It was similar to the hole that we entered through.

"Are we already in Oval City?"

"Yeah, we're probably in the city now."

"What should we do?"

"We can only go out. ...... We'll get noticed sooner or later if we continue to stay here."

From just now, the voices and footsteps of the men was getting louder and louder.

"Hold me tightly."

Carrying me on her back, Lilith grabbed the ladder on the wall, climbing upwards one rung after another. After thirty seconds, the round metal cover appeared above us. That lit would be the exit from the waterways.

In the stead of Lilith who lost her left arm, I extended my arm, carefully pushing away the cover of the waterways. Light shone in gradually from the seams.

When the lid was half open, Lilith poked her head out.

"Right, that's lucky!"

She opened the cover completely, allowing me to go up first, then jumped out after me.

Probably because it was already daytime, the long-awaited world on the ground looked exceptionally piercing. The place where we came out from was an alley located between buildings with trash scattered all around, and dirty water on the ground. Are the sounds coming from a distance sound of an engine?

Lilith closed the cover of the waterways, then shouted in a triumphant voice as though she was encouraging herself.

"Right, this is the second act of the escapade!"

At that moment, I thought that we finally escaped the military's clutches.

However, we were too naive. I should have thought that the military would have posted people at the entrances of the waterways if they were careful.

"Then let's go, Iri—"

Her words were interrupted before she even finished speaking.

Two rays of light penetrated her body.