The Monster's Room - Chapter 72
Marie couldn’t understand.
At first, she thought the monsters would attack her. Yet, the actual target of the monsters’ attacks was the child. The monsters didn’t hesitate to sacrifice themselves to block the enemy.
Swoosh!
Even J, who hadn’t been able to stop the two, defended Marie from the dark force that seemed to be launched by the Nightmare. Yes, Marie was being protected.
“Why?”
Marie’s question mirrored that of the Nightmare’s master. Why? The only one who could answer her was the Marionette Troupe Leader, who could communicate verbally.
<Because we love you!>
“…Even after the brainwashing was lifted?”
<Ha ha!>
Suddenly, the Troupe Leader burst into laughter.
<What does that matter?>
“What…..?”
Marie was taken aback by the unexpected response. The child, who was also restrained, was equally confused. She had wondered why the attitude hadn’t changed even after the brainwashing was lifted, but she never imagined it would remain so unaffected.
<We are already in love.>
“But….”
<What more could be needed?>
The brainwashing was gone. The voice is gone. The pressure to love the woman before them was gone. The will of the monsters had become their own.
So did that mean they should abandon their love?
The stitched-up mouth of the Troupe Leader twisted in a strange manner.
Of course not.
No matter how it started, the result was ‘love’. Once established, it became fixed and unchangeable. There was no room for human morals in this process. That was a human perspective, and the monsters’ perspective was different.
Once they had something, they never let it go.
That was their greed.
Even if their lovers, still somewhat human, found it difficult to understand.
<Hmm, indeed.>
The Troupe Leader decided to be more considerate of his lover.
<If you’re worried about the brainwashing being lifted, I should mention that it was actually briefly lifted at first!>
“What?”
<It wasn’t completely, though!>
In the early stages of falling into the Nightmare, the Iron Horse Knight and the Marionette Troupe Leader didn’t remember Marie. This was because they were consumed by the Nightmare, which allowed them to briefly escape Marie’s brainwashing.
How had Marie faced them after everything was forgotten?
<You came to us first.>
The Troupe Leader remembered.
<You loved me even when I couldn’t remember you.>
The one who asked if he was lonely.
The one who intertwined her fingers with his.
<It’s the love you gave me. Why would I give that up?>
That love, that sweetness, the Marionette Troupe Leader would never let go, and the Iron Horse Knight would be the same.
<We can never give up.>
Thud.
Despite a side of his face exploding, the Troupe Leader continued to smile.
<Monsters never give up what’s theirs!>
Marie knew he had reached his limit. The Iron Horse Knight had pulled out so many iron spikes from his body that his form was barely visible.
<So the Lady can’t leave us either!>
Whether it was frightening or terrible.
The grotesque and obsessive appearance.
Ironically, Marie read love in that. Destructive and horrific as it was, it would never abandon her.
What Marie had always wanted was there.
“….Yes.”
Her lovers.
“I won’t leave.”
Marie felt tears welling up again as she approached the structure. She felt J’s panic and his attempts to pull her back, but she had no intention of fleeing from what she loved.
“So let’s stay.”
The monster that had been sleeping within Marie stretched.
“Let’s be together.”
▉▉together.
The freed monster savagely tore into the Nightmare.
* * *
John Doe was waiting for the alarm. This alarm, which went off every time the child dove into the Nightmare, had two effects.
One was forced summoning.
He had trained the alarm to make the child wake from the nightmare and return to reality immediately. Indeed, Mary Hunt would emerge from the nightmare as soon as the alarm rang. John Doe realized that waking the child forcibly would also awaken the monsters.
This was the final effect he aimed for.
Monsters that escaped the Nightmare couldn’t distinguish between reality and the Nightmare. John Doe planned to use that confusion to his advantage.
– Did you buy enough time?
“……!”
– Did you think I wouldn’t notice?
But what he hadn’t anticipated was that the monsters were far more cunning than expected.
– But you’re not the only one who bought time.
“What……”
The scheme wasn’t the only thing he had overlooked.
– Now.
Crunch.
A hole had appeared in the heavily fortified control room door, which was sturdier than most containment cells.
John Doe suddenly recalled something he had momentarily forgotten.
The screens that had been experiencing static. The approach from outside to inside. He realized that it was a collaboration between Spiegel and something else, and confirmed this through the black screen.
Ring.
He saw something emerging through the hole in the door on the screen. It was the arrangement Marie had secretly smuggled out before he launched his assault. It was a monster that was light enough to move easily and, with a bit of caution, safe.
“SCP-▉▉▉1……”
Ring.
The fluffy cotton doll was toddling towards him.
Ring.
