on stage.

Brilliant lights come on, accompanied by the prelude to a well-known song.

A familiar figure appeared in the limelight.

Although the venue is not too big, it can accommodate at least nearly 2,000 people, and with the music playing and heating up in front of it, the atmosphere is warm and lively.

And on top of the hustle and bustle, where people's eyes meet, is Aono's predecessor and friend, Amamiya Hitomi.

It can be seen that the predecessors of Amamiya also put a lot of thought into preparation.

I put on a slightly exaggerated but unexpectedly suitable outfit and put on delicate makeup.

Among the many idols on stage, their appearance is one of the best!

Naturally, it took away the attention of many viewers.

"Huh? Who is that idol, and how does it look like I've never seen it before? ”

"It's a fresh face!"

Several fans were curious in the audience.

"It's a newcomer called Amamiya Hitomi, right? It is said that he also worked as a cowherd for a while before. ”

Immediately, knowledgeable fans came out to explain.

"Looks like a potential newcomer."

"Huh? Cowherd......"

Hearing this word, the expressions of many fans changed slightly, even they still have some small opinions about people who are engaged in this kind of work.

But......

"Whatever! Isn't it okay to be good-looking? ”

There are also some female fans who obviously don't care about such small details, and stare at Amamiya Hitomi with great interest.

"His looks are very good for my appetite."

"Love, love."

I have to say that Hitomi Amamiya has definitely honed her singing skills, and as soon as she opens her mouth, she has a feeling of "grabbing her ears".

It's a rough person like Aono, who can hardly appreciate the quality of the songs, and he can feel that the predecessors of Amamiya sang it very well!

Other fans, seeing that this newcomer is both powerful and good-looking, where will they care about his former identity, and they have turned fans one after another.

"My brother sings well, right?"

In the audience, Amamiya Ren turned her head with interest and asked the two of them.

Big-eyed and shiny, obviously proud of his glorious brother on stage.

Qing Ye was also relieved in his heart.

Amamiya's long-standing dream has finally been further advanced, and as a friend, I naturally have to be happy about it.

It's just that.

Looking at the shining figure, an inexplicable suspicion quietly emerged from Aono's mind.

- Is Amamiya's predecessor's dream really to become a glorious idol?

This thought came without warning, without any tenable reason, but it ran rampant into Aono's heart like a mud truck.

And it made him wonder even more.

Hitomi Amamiya's dream never seems to be an idol.

The matter of "debuting and becoming an idol" seems to be a decision made in itself to achieve one of his wishes.

But what could that wish be?

The pain for no reason, similar to this suspicion, broke in.

Unlike before, this time the pain came more suddenly and more violently!

It's like there's a miniature bomb that detonates directly inside his brain, so much so that at this moment? Aono's eyes were distracted.

Also at this time? An unexpected exclamation was made in the audience.

And that's not all? Can Aono's vision still be dull? The expression on Amamiya's face changed from joy to stunned? And then little by little it turned into panic.

The speed of time, for Aono? There seems to be a brief period of condensation.

And stuck in this space? He's the only one!

Aono tried to turn his head and look at the stage to see what was really going on there.

But even the "turning" movement became surprisingly slow, waiting for his peripheral vision to catch a glimpse of the stage.

The giant metal crossbar that fell from the sky? has fallen to the top of the stage.

The smoke began to spread.

A smashed circuit? There was a "stinging" electric sound, and a small explosion occurred.

The dazzling lights were quickly extinguished in a very short time, and the entire gymnasium was scrapped along with the electrical circuits in the stadium.

Thereby? Inside the gymnasium, it turned into an eerie darkness.

"Aono ...... Aono-kun! ”

An anxious cry from Yukie Kanda? At this time, it was finally belatedly passed to Aono's ears, and he returned to his usual state.

Screams, screams, cries...... The people in the stadium were already frightened by what was happening in front of them.

Who didn't think of it? A sudden disaster will bebeclose them? Even if they are all educated to avoid risk? But in the face of real disaster? People's spirits are still very fragile.

Being in a dark environment makes panic and other emotions constantly amplified.

There were not irrational people in the crowd, but their strength was too weak compared to the chaotic crowd, and they were quickly overwhelmed by the chaos.

The noisy noise, like a tide, poured into Qingye's ears in an endless stream.

To outsiders, this is a series of changes over a period of time, but for Aono, it seems that only a short second has passed.

In the last second, it was still a lively and laughing concert.

In the next second, it became a cruel and chaotic hell on earth.

[It's so noisy. 】

Aono thought.

He felt a little disgusted, even a little bit of disgust at the messy, irrational two-legged creatures...... The urge to get them clean.

'No, I'm going to save ...... Amamiya senpai! ’

A sober thought, with difficulty, drove him to do so.

Just the birth of this idea was extremely difficult, so he subconsciously ignored Kanda Yukie and Amamiya Ren around him.

"Brother...... Brother! ”

Amamiya Rei had a crying tone in her tone, and despite the surging crowd around her, she staggered towards the stage.

"Hey, calm down!"

Although Kanda Yukie doesn't like Amamiya Rei, if she breaks through like this, she can't rest assured anyway, so she has to hurry to catch up.

Even if Aono-kun's state is very strange now, at least his life will not be in danger compared to Rei Amamiya.

In the dark, Aono could still see easily, so he easily passed through the crowd and came to the vicinity of the stage.

Most of the people I met along the way were desperate to squeeze out, trying to escape from this dangerous place as quickly as possible.

Crowding and shoving, as well as a handful of people taking advantage of the chaos, caused new casualties to begin to emerge among the people.

The smell of fresh, bloody blood that burrowed into Aono's nostrils, can testify.

However, the bloodier place is still on the stage.

The support shelves made of alloy materials are naturally extremely heavy in order to support the roof of this stadium.

It fell from a high place again, and landed on the stage without hindrance, smashing the stage out of the deep pit, and most of the original structure was destroyed.

It's just that Aono doesn't care about these at all.

All he cares about is - find Hitomi Amamiya and save him!

According to the memory, Amamiya Hitomi's position on the stage, Aono easily crossed the obstacles around him and came there.

Unexpectedly, in the process, Aono actually met one or two dying idols, who happened to be in the corner of the stage, forming a safe dead end, so that they did not die under the sudden collapse, but most of them suffered minor injuries.

"Help Me ......"

"Please, help me."

They pleaded, but Aono turned a deaf ear and moved forward with a blank face, a glimmer of hope rising in his heart - perhaps, Amamiya Senpai......

This glimmer of hope was quickly cut off, in front of Aono's eyes.

A corpse that was losing its temperature, its back up, lying under a metal frame.

The pungent smell of blood spread all around.

Aono walked closer.

The ostentatious costume belonged to Hitomi Amamiya, with a big hole in his head, and his lower body was crushed into something similar to meat paste.

Even though his face was stained with blood and dust, it was still clean, and at least Aono could easily recognize him.

There was still a little excitement on his face to sing on stage, and there was an incomprehensible stunnedness.

His eyes stared blankly ahead.

He stretched out a hand, as if trying to grasp something, but his cold and stiff fingers couldn't grasp anything.

"Amamiya-senpai."

Aono heard himself make such a sound.

More than once.

"Amamiya...... Predecessor? ”

But there is no response—indeed, where can a dead man speak?

Aono bent down and carried away the shelf that was pressing on Amamiya Hitomi's body in a violent way, but he could only see a more bloody and blurry picture, and the continuous loss of blood, gathered into a terrifying pool of blood.

Breathing is cut off, and body temperature disappears.

Aono finally confirmed that Amamiya Senpai, dead.

[Why?] 】

He asked blankly, this should have been a small step to realize Amamiya Hitomi's dream, and it was a concert worth being happy about, how could it ...... Is this what happened?

Was this really his dream? ’

'Hitomi Amamiya is looking for ...... Who's coming? ’

Confused questions flashed one after another.

It was as if a thick and savage tentacle had unreasonably inserted into Aono's brain, stirring up without any scruples, and grabbing what he needed unscrupulously.

Aono lost the ability to think, and walked behind him in a daze.

"Save ...... Help me......"

"Ask for ...... You ......"

The survivors in the corner of the iron frame screamed in a slower voice.

When the amount of blood loss is too large, even calling for help becomes a luxury.

Aono still didn't react at all.

Even because of their screams, there was a bit of absurd but real anger.

[Why, you are the ones who survived? 】

He slowly reached out his hand, wanting to end their lives.

But after a long silence, Aono still didn't do it.

But when he walked back in a daze, the second round of collapse happened!

The ground shook, and the top of the arena, more for support, fell.

The crowd grew chaotic and panicked.

Panic has always been a contagious emotion.

And darkness is undoubtedly its best medium.

Although there are a lot of lights on the mobile phone, the sporadic light is only enough to illuminate the footsteps under the feet and cannot dispel people's fears.

A new round of screams came as scheduled.

Aono keenly picked up familiar calls.

The state of confusion dissipated for a moment, and Aono unconsciously quickened his pace.

But, it was still too late.

In the dark environment, Amamiya Rei's body was full of traces of being trampled, and like her brother, she lost her voice.

In a crowded crowd, swimming against the current is an extremely dangerous thing in itself.

As long as one is careless and falls to the ground, it will encounter countless trampling and collisions.

For some reason, Kanda Yukie was also pierced in the chest by a falling iron rod.

With her abilities, it shouldn't be difficult to dodge or catch these falling things.

Aono only glanced at it and understood why.

In the vicinity, there is not a single corpse of other spectators.

The answer is obvious - Kanda Yukie, who wanted to protect their safety as much as possible, was seriously injured in a moment of negligence.

"Ao, Aono-kun ......"

The little girl's face was as white as gold paper, so white that she had lost all color.

But when he saw Aono coming, he still showed a reluctant smile, as if he wanted to comfort him and say something like "I'm fine".

"No ......"

Aono continued to walk towards her.

But at this moment, Kanda Yukie's complexion changed suddenly.

"Ahem!"

She coughed up blood and said firmly.

"You, you're not...... Aono! ”

Aono was stunned, then lowered his head.

It was discovered that his hands, no longer human arms, had begun to swell rapidly, like bloated corpses.

The skin cracked, sprouting sprouts from the muscles, and the living sprouts cheered and formed a bright and moving flower of flesh.

The bones began to alienate, like the growth of spores, expanding and spreading little by little.

Even without looking in the mirror, Aono could imagine that his face would no longer be a handsome beauty, but an ugly and terrifying monster in a strange aberration.

His size was rapidly expanding.

More than a small stage, and envelop the bodies of those who have not escaped from the audience, encompass them, and obtain fresh and beautiful nutrition.

- Isn't it a lucky thing that they are insignificant, uncaring beings, to be absorbed by Him in this form?

All kinds of treacherous powers are integrated into this terrifying body.

The black mist spread, obscuring His countenance and becoming part of His power.

Instead of feeling uncomfortable, Qingye, who can become this ghostly appearance, feels an extraordinary pleasure and comfort from it, as if all the previous pain and doubts have come to naught.

In His eyes, the world is also evolving in a direction that ordinary people cannot understand.

Abstract, unusual, but perhaps...... More realistic!

That is, to be able to see a more "real" world.

[Great, I gradually understood everything! 】

He exclaimed.

That's the posture He really should have!

That human appearance, those so-called emotions, in His eyes now, are worthless! It's all scrap that can be discarded!

Soon, he will be larger than the arena itself.

Ayaka Hino and others rushed to the scene.

And they were amazed and frightened.

"This is the culprit of this incident!"

"How could it be...... So powerful? “

Ayaka Hino made a conclusion.

"Monster! He's a monster in every word! ”

All of a sudden.

Just after Aono heard the word "monster", there was a brief lucidity, like a cold "swish" rushing to his brain—assuming that he still had such a structure as "brain".

I thought of a story that I heard out of nowhere.

The end of the story is-

- "It turned out that the real him, when he returned home that day, along with his body and soul, was devoured by the man-eating snow monster.

And now it's just a monster in human skin. ”

Is the so-called "crossing" that he has always identified really "crossing"?

Perhaps the soul of the "Aono" was devoured by some unspeakable monster back then!

After that, "Aono" was just an outlier in human form!

Fear swept through his heart, almost destroying his sanity.

The huge monster has become more powerful, and the level of indescribable is enough to drive people crazy just by seeing it.

But in the next moment, time seemed to stop.

Everything in this world, still.

The wriggling flesh, the fleeing crowd, the transcendents struggling to resist, all froze at this moment.

'So, is this just fear? ’

Aono came to his senses completely.

What made him sober up was nothing else, but this emotion called "fear" or "fear", in the real world, he unlocked almost all emotions, but he didn't know what "fear" was, that is, this abnormal, against his inner will, made him truly sober.

It turned out to be just a dream. ’

Now, it's time to wake up. ’

So, Aono opened his eyes.

Beside him was something hot and bright.