I became a heart-stealing thief in Azure Files

The meaning is clear: place your hand here and then undergo authentication.

"If my guess is correct..."

Momoi seemed to realize what she needed to do next and looked at Amamiya.

"In the real world, we also need to undergo authentication before we can awaken Alice... At that time, only Sensei passed the authentication process..."

"Could it be that……!"

Considering the potential pitfalls that might result from failed authentication, Momoi was cautious and didn't make any rash moves immediately.

"It's rare to see Momoi using her brain."

After making a lighthearted joke about Momoi, Amamiya stepped forward, bowed, and placed her right hand on the corresponding position of her palm.

"Target is... Target is... █████ (Jok)... No access permission, authentication failed. Remaining authentication attempts: 2"

Hearing the words coming from some ancient instrument with reverberation and echo, Momoi couldn't help but feel a chill.

Thankfully... I didn't do anything reckless and go up there to try it.

Otherwise, wouldn't we be wasting a verification opportunity?

Amamiya calmly withdrew his hand and shrugged at Momoi and her group.

Then he looked at Alice.

"It's obvious... this 'certification' was specially prepared for Alice."

"Let Alice give it a try."

With a solemn and serious expression, Alice stood in front of the pedestal, trying to match her right hand with the palm lines on the pedestal.

"..."

"Testing in progress..."

"Detection complete. Target: AL-1S, access granted. Authentication successful."

"AL-1S...?"

Alice didn't quite understand what the certification pedestal was saying, so she didn't retract her hand and tilted her head slightly in confusion.

"Voice recognition, confirm eligibility. Welcome back, AL-1S."

The next second, the heavy stone gate made a loud rumbling sound, began to fall stone fragments, and started to shrink to both sides.

"Wow... It's open! It's open!"

“AL-1S…I remember, this is…”

"That's right, it's the special logo we saw when we discovered Alice..."

The three members of the gaming club each made different moves amidst the 'earthquake'.

With a loud 'boom,' the stone door opened completely, followed by a burst of blinding white light.

Everyone instinctively raised their hands to shield their eyes, waiting for the white light to dissipate.

Their vision cleared again, and what appeared before them was...

A stone platform with an ethereal beauty, like the place where a hero's sword lies dormant.

In the center of the pedestal is a reclining chair that looks like it was made using some kind of ancient runic technology.

And on the recliner...

Lying there was something that looked like it was in a deep sleep...

She was like a girl sculpted from the same mold as Alice.

As the heavy stone door was opened, the sleeping girl, as if half-awake, slowly opened her eyes from her 'slumber'.

Her eyes...

Along with awakening, a dazzling pink hue appeared.

Chapter Thirteen [The Ark of Atlahasith]

It was clearly the [Sacred Ruins] where the hero drew the holy sword...

But at this moment, with the awakening of a girl who was almost identical to Alice except for her pink eyes, the atmosphere gradually became tense.

In the silence, the girl with pink eyes spoke in a peculiar, seemingly lifeless, reverberant, mechanically synthesized voice.

"you……"

"who is it?"

It's obvious... this is a question for Alice, who is surrounded by everyone in the very center.

who are you?

who I am?

This is the most classic of the three philosophical questions, seemingly the simplest and easiest to answer...

This is actually a rather 'complex' problem.

Who exactly am I?

Does this 'body' truly contain a 'soul'?

Should my soul be called by this name?

This 'cage' is made of flesh and bone, or rather... intricately constructed from mechanical metal and circuit boards...

What exactly is "inner self"? And who is it?

"I……"

Alice's words were unusually tinged with a remarkably human "hesitation."

“I am... Alice.”

"Hehe...a very 'unique' answer."

"A girl who looks like Alice," she said, and then gracefully flipped down the steps.

A faint black flame naturally awakened around her during this process, solidifying into a pure black object that appeared to bear some battle damage...

Like a princess, wearing a black long-sleeved dress.

"I've been waiting for you for so long... AL-1S. No..."

"Alice".

She spoke slowly and deliberately, repeating words in what was described as a "gentle tone" that inexplicably sent chills down one's spine.

It can be so abrupt that it can awaken the "uncanny valley effect" in everyone.

"..."

"You're quite 'satisfied' with your current 'life,' aren't you?"

"Starting up."

"Execution Protocol ATRAHAS".

"How... are you familiar with this 'command format,' Alice?"

Amamiya silently observed Alice's reaction at this moment... At this moment, she had closed her eyes, seemingly reacting to the rather sarcastic remark about 'resembling Alice'.

'ATRAHAS...?'

Because of the Persona system, Amamiya had some understanding of the mythological system and knew this keyword.

In short... the Sumerian epic of Gilgamesh recounts how the gods decided to unleash a great flood upon human civilization. However, among them, one god named Ea felt compassion for a man named Atla Hasis.

The deity revealed the secret of the great flood to this person. The person then built an ark and survived the flood.

Actually...

It does share some similarities and differences with the story of Noah's Ark as recorded in the Bible.

"...Alice! Alice?!"

Noticing that Alice seemed to be reacting, Momoi immediately rushed over and nervously tried to shake her: "...Did you remember something, Alice?!"

"If you remember anything... could you tell us?"

"..."

Alice remained standing there, showing no reaction to Momoi's words.

Although the atmosphere seemed unchanged, everyone clearly realized that 'danger' was gradually spreading.

"AL-1S, the Princess of the Nameless Gods... Don't you think... this brief 'playing house' should end?"

"Hehehe... Alice, let me tell you the truth..."

"You are not a hero."

"He's nothing but a demon king with amnesia... Once his shackles are broken... he will indiscriminately and without exception destroy everyone and everything he once cherished..."

"You are merely a cold machine, born with the concept of 'destruction'! The glorious adventures and legendary tales that belong to heroes have never been yours!"

"enough!"

Momoi suddenly aimed angrily at the "girl who looks like Alice" whose words were becoming increasingly heated, and fired without hesitation.

"Stop adding your own drama here... Alice is the hero we found, the most indispensable member of our game development department!"

The bullet struck the face of the 'girl who resembled Alice,' but was deflected by an invisible barrier and bounced off.

Not even a spark flew.

Alice simply wiped her cheek, shrugged, and walked towards Alice while laughing mockingly.

"The reason why villains always spout nonsense before a battle is because they can often crush those maggots who dare to overestimate themselves and oppose them..."

"Whether it's based on reason, emotion, or strength..."

"If there were no 'games'... if it weren't for the so-called 'happy ending,' if it weren't for the influence of the 'metanarrate'..."

"How could they possibly lose to those overconfident ants?"

As 'Alice' draws closer...

Little Green and Yuzu both tried to pull Alice back—but they soon discovered that Alice's body seemed to have suddenly become as heavy as a standing stone pillar, so heavy that they couldn't move her no matter how hard they tried.

Yuzu even used magic to increase strength or reduce gravity, but... Alice remained motionless, as if fixed to space.

"Alice... watch out...!"

Unable to pull Alice, they could only watch helplessly, and in desperation, they had no choice but to grit their teeth and temporarily retreat.

"See... now, the fact that you can't influence her in the slightest is the most compelling proof..."

"There are no 'Gamers' (Gams) in this world...and there are no 'miracles or magic'..."

"The miracles of youth and everyday life that you expect are nothing but hypocrisy woven by arrogant humans for unbearable fantasies and to escape reality."

"..."

Alice remained in a 'closed-eyes-on-wait' state, making no movement, until 'Alice' raised her hand and touched the tip of her index finger to Alice's brow.

Like ripples created when a calm pool is touched.

The black and red ripples spread out at that moment.

"So... it's time for this 'dream' to end, isn't it?"

"My dearest... Alice."

'Om—'

Accompanied by a high-frequency sound wave that caused dizziness and tinnitus, 'Alice' gradually dissolved...

No, more precisely, she transformed into a viscous, writhing, blackish-red sludge, like a slime, which completely devoured Alice, who had entered 'standby mode'.

Only then did Amamiya step forward, summoning her Persona to block the scorching waves that suddenly spread out with this change.

"Alice is not some 'Demon King of Destruction'... She is, and will always be... our [Hero]!"

—In fact, he could have interrupted Alice's speech and transformed while she was speaking.