Fremd Torturchen - Volume 2 - Chapter 7

7

A Mage Is Born

“Damn right. I had this idea, see— Will you hear me out? I can just give the Kaiser my pain. If I do that, I should be able to grant him a human’s pain without having to hurt others.”

That was the answer Kaito had given when Vlad asked him how he planned to fight the Grand King without taking anything from others.

Dark magic was accompanied by pain, and the power of demons demanded it. And Kaito’s body was accustomed to pain.

Those were the three points that Kaito had drawn his conclusion from.

It was a method that wasn’t available to Elisabeth Le Fanu, the Torture Princess. She wasn’t contracted to a demon. Demon flesh had spread it roots throughout her bone and sinew, and she generated mana within her own body. In Elisabeth’s case, self-harm would do nothing but cause her pain; she wouldn’t be able to accept anything from others and still offer it up as human suffering. However, even though Kaito was contracted with the Kaiser, the two had yet to completely fuse, so the method was available to him.

Still, as Vlad had said, it was a plan utterly devoid of sanity.

Taking on the pain of hundreds of people wasn’t a sensible course of action. The shock would cause cardiac arrest in most people, which would lead to a drop in blood pressure, rapid loss of consciousness, and likely death. However, Kaito was immortal. His soul was housed in a doll of Elisabeth’s design.

As long as all his blood didn’t flow out of his body, he could come back to life as many times as he needed. As a result, he’d been able to continuously supply the Kaiser with pain.

At that point, it became a matter of whether or not his soul could endure the agony.

And Kaito Sena was well accustomed to pain. He’d placed his hand on the door that Elisabeth would never have told him to unseal and then boldly cast it open.

The Kaiser had called Kaito “Accumulation of Seventeen Years’ Pain…”

…and praised him as a madman.

Kaito stood on the battlefield, his beastly arm raised straight ahead. The unflattering butler uniform he’d been wearing up until then had been completely replaced with a military outfit that looked right at home on the field of battle.

Shadows swirled around his beastly arm, the proof of his contract with the Kaiser. It caught the flames as though caressing them and then swallowed them whole. Still limbless, faint tears welled up in Hina’s eyes as she looked up at him. “…Master Kaito.”

“I’m sorry you ended up like this… It’s all my fault.”

Kaito knelt to the ground. He then held the newly lightened Hina in his arms, cradling her as he would something precious. He gently pressed his face against her lovely silver hair. She closed her eyes and then nuzzled her cheek against him.

After taking in his smell, fat tears began streaming down her cheeks.

“Oh, Master Kaito…I can smell your scent, I can feel your warmth. I beg of you, don’t apologize. Being able to see you again brings me nothing but absolute joy.”

“I’m really, really sorry. Up through the very last minute, I didn’t know if I’d make it in time…so no matter how much I wanted to, I couldn’t make any promises.”

Kaito spoke softly. Would his method even work? Would the accumulated pain be enough to let the Kaiser wield the necessary amount of power?

Until he tried it out for real, it had been impossible for him to predict.

The amount of pain he could collect from single-mindedly torturing himself—which he’d actually done while he was waiting for the Grand King to show up—was a far cry from what could be obtained by harvesting the suffering of many foes at once.

Hina wielding the ax capable of sending pain to Kaito and fighting the thousand enemies had been indispensable to his plan. But he’d had to gamble on whether or not he’d be able to successfully save her.

Consequently, when he’d asked her to help him, “Could you die for me?” had been the only thing he’d been able to say. He hadn’t been able to give her any clumsy excuses or optimistic promises about their prospects.

Even so, she’d nodded in agreement.

As a result, he’d stacked Hina’s chips atop his own, slid them across the table, and ultimately came out victorious in his mad gamble.

Kaito raised his left hand, bristling with demonic energy, and fixed his gaze on the Grand Marquis. Hina, being cradled in his other, squeezed out her voice through her gasps.

“Master Kaito…did you merge with a demon? With the Kaiser?”

“Nope. But because I didn’t have enough mana to even make a contract, I had to give up the flesh and blood in my left arm, leaving the demon’s flesh in its place. Because the blood running through me is still Elisabeth’s, I can pull out more of the mana within it than before. And one other thing.”

At that point, Kaito stopped talking.

The Grand Marquis had made his move. In order to carry out the Grand King’s order, he attempted to remove the interloper—Kaito. The man, still clad in black, cylindrical clothes, bobbed through the air with the beak of the crow mask covering his wide-open face. He tried to spew yet more flames.

Kaito calmly watched the Grand Marquis. The amount of mana at the Grand Marquis’s disposal was far beyond what Kaito commanded.

I may have collected all that pain, but I still don’t have enough power.

There was no way he could reach the lofty heights Elisabeth stood upon, and he was a long way off from matching the Grand Marquis as well. However, there were two facts that stood in his favor.

The first was that the Grand Marquis was still in his human form.

The Grand King might not have wanted something so hideous serving her, but in any case, the Grand Marquis still hasn’t revealed his fully fused form. He isn’t operating at max power.

If he wanted to win, now was his chance. Kaito snapped his fingers.

Darkness and azure flames swirled, gathering the corpses of underlings scattered around him and piling them up as though with a magnet. Their limbs cracked and bent as they formed a giant tower.

It was a technique he was modeling after one that the necromancer Marianne had once used.

Then he gave his order.

“La (become).”

As he did, the Grand Marquis released his flame. The stacked corpses’ flesh burned up in a flash. However, their bones and bodily fluids had been strengthened by magic, hardening like tempered glass and repelling the flames. Additional flames swirled within the Grand Marquis’s mouth as he tried to follow up on his attack. However, right before he could, the flames blinked out.

“…Did it work?”

Snapping his fingers, Kaito let his defensive barrier of bones collapse.

After confirming what had happened, his lips curled into a wicked grin.

The Grand Marquis’s neck was snapped horizontally. Blood spurted out of his torn carotid artery with every heartbeat. A massive hound was resting its leg lightly atop the nape of his neck, as though holding down a plaything.

The black dog, whose eyes burned with hellfire and who had attacked the Grand Marquis from behind, grinned as it bit his body from the head down. The Kaiser then tossed the Grand Marquis casually into the air and caught him in its mouth. As though it were eating a snack, the Kaiser crunched down on the Grand Marquis’s body.

Kaito finally listed the “one other thing” he’d mentioned earlier.

“Like Vlad, I can call upon the Kaiser for help.”

“The Kai…ser? Why is the Kaiser here…? Damn you, Vlad! Vlad, are you listening? No…you should be dead. But this situation! Surely you must have made a copy of your soul or something, no? Oh, this is just dreadful… What in the blazes have you done?!”

The Grand King was screaming. The fact that she’d immediately suspected Vlad, despite the fact that he was dead, went to show just how well she knew her old friend. In response to her cries, Kaito drew the clear stone from his pocket.

…Is he planning on coming out?

As he wondered, Kaito ran magical energy through the stone. The next moment, black feathers and azure rose petals swirled, and an aristocratic phantom appeared nonchalantly.

As he stood grandly atop the battlefield, he gave a light shrug.

“Well, well, it’s been a while, Grand King. I’ve been hearing quite a bit about you. You’ve been running a bit wild, haven’t you? Good to see you’re doing well.”

“Is…is that all you have to say?”

“Hmm? That was a fairly conventional greeting, no?”

“What do you think you’re doing, Vlad?! Allowing Elisabeth’s servant to form a contract with the Kaiser?! Because of you, demons are fighting other demons! You’ve gone mad!”

“Well now, this is a surprise. I’d rather not think that anyone who made a contract with a demon was could possibly be considered sane.”

Vlad stroked his chin in contemplation. The Grand King clutched her broken fan even tighter as her lips quivered in hatred. Seeing her bald-faced indignation, Vlad nodded once and loudly clapped his hands together.

“While it seems that you’re rather displeased, I ask that you do overlook this! After all, I currently find myself sealed within a stone, nothing more than a pitiable replica of a soul—indeed, an inferior version of what ‘I’ once was. Given my current situation, I’m more loathe than ever to give up sources of entertainment.”

“Even so, you—you wretch—you mean to say you’re betraying me?”

“Betrayal is such a rude way to put it, I should think. When I was alive, I put a great deal of thought into the future—and of course, into you as part of that—as I commanded the demons. However, you refused to rescue me, instead choosing to live freely and value yourself above all else. I believe most would describe that as breaking off our friendship. And more power to you! People should live their own lives. I died, you lived, and you chose to use our brethren to your own ends. And it was your right to do as such. But for you to do so and then accuse me of betrayal for simply living as I see fit is rather vexing.”

“You abomination, that’s your logic?!”

“I mean, just look at the boy!”

After having carefully laying out his shameless reasoning, Vlad suddenly pointed at Kaito.

He then began boasting, like a breeder who’d just found a good puppy. His expression seemed practically innocent.

“If Kaito Sena descends into evil, that would be splendid—he will no doubt become my successor. However, if he sees his obstinance through, then my investment will have been for naught. It’s an all-or-nothing gamble. I was never much of a gambler in life, but this is rather entertainingly mindless fun. If there ends up being a victim or two or several along the way, then so be it. Indulging and stealing are at the core of demon philosophy, are they not?”

“You plan to steal from me, too, then?”

“You pierced your own comrades with your needles when you could have simply taken over in my stead and unified them. Don’t you think it’s odd, then, that you so fervently wish not to be betrayed? And it’s not as if I intended to betray you—as a side note, shall I tell you my true feelings on the matter?”

Vlad looked at the Grand King with eyes full of affection. When he spoke, the camaraderie in his voice was probably the exact same as it had been back in the days that they had livened up balls together.

“I would love if you let go of your grief and died to your heart’s content for me.”

“Oh, I’m well aware… Oh yes, I knew, Vlad; I always knew! I knew that was the kind of man you were! That’s right… Ever since then, there hasn’t been a single person deserving of my trust…! Oh, my poor, ugly gardener…”

The words tumbled out of the Grand King’s mouth. Deep hatred and a complicated sadness crossed her face.

“…Why did you have to die on me?”

Her lip trembled a little bit.

With the Grand Marquis and Marquis having met their untimely ends, the Grand King was out of pieces to play. She had no demons left that she could force to spit out their hearts.

From her perspective, although the foe before her was far lower-class then she was, he was endowed with the Kaiser, whose abilities would normally be far greater than hers. However, her expression suddenly did a complete about-face.

She laughed proudly and then grabbed the collar of her dress with both hands.

“Fine, then—good, evil, it’s all the same.”

Then the Grand King pulled her scarlet dress down. Her bountiful breasts popped out. As her surviving underlings began raising their voices in excitement, she revealed her ample bust. However, her flesh started making a ghastly creaking noise, caving in, and dissolving.

Her naked body, which looked like that of a goddess or a personification of beauty, was breaking down.

Her skin rotted, her flesh peeled off in chunks, and her ribs became exposed. Her atrocious transformation spread. From within the frame of her crinoline dress, her legs rapidly became slender and skeletal as well.

As she shed her unseemly flesh, what remained of the Grand King’s lips curled into a sweet smile.

“No matter how I amuse myself, live out my days, and die— that’s all there is to the world. That’s all there is to me. As such, I shall smile till the end. Oh, and lover boy? Make no mistake…”

For the first time, the Grand King turned her gaze to Kaito. Her scarlet eyes pierced through him. Her cheeks continued to erode, and her soft lips had split vertically and were dripping away.

But even though only her skull remained, her voice called out from somewhere and made her declaration.

“…You may have become a decent man, but the fact remains that I hold the advantage.”

She laughed. By this point, her top half was completely skeletal. Suddenly, her scarlet dress began expanding. Her skeleton and the cloth grew in sync. Her rings popped off, and she loudly crushed her palanquin.

A few of her underlings got caught beneath it and were crushed to death. Their screams were ecstatic. The surviving underlings fell to their knees and prostrated themselves.

What remained was a massive skeleton wearing a fluttering crimson skirt, its birdcage-like frame peeking out.

Her form was grotesque, yet somehow, she retained her elegance.

While releasing an aura that would drive fear into any who saw her, her teeth rattled and clattered.

“Now, lover boy, rejoice. I, Fiore, the Grand King, have forsaken my unparalleled, world-famous beauty in order to face you.”

The skeleton gave a refined bow as she made her declaration. Still holding Hina, Kaito’s whole body went tense. Vlad, who was standing beside him, shrugged and spoke in an exasperated tone.

“Forsaken her beauty, eh…? Now see, this is what makes women so troublesome.”

“Y’know, Vlad… I’m pretty sure this happened because you pissed her off.”

“Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha, perish the thought. This was bound to happen sooner or later. So what do you intend to do? The Grand King’s power is mind control. In a one-on-one battle, her power is far below that of the Kaiser. However, that was only the case when I was his master. With you at the helm, the Kaiser is fairly clearly inferior—oh, careful there.”

“Cease your falsehoods—you say I would lose to that fool?”

The black dog’s jaws gouged Vlad’s back once more. Ignoring their little comedy routine, Kaito gently set Hina on the ground. Before she could say anything, he snapped his fingers.

The strengthened bones from earlier danced and then formed a protective hemisphere around her. Hina frantically called out:

“Master Kaito, I can still—”

Her voice faded to a mumble as she was enclosed in bone. After casting a lingering, affectionate gaze toward the bone wall, Kaito wrenched his eyes free.

Shaking his head, Vlad continued speaking.

“Well then, shall we put an end to the tomfoolery and get serious for a moment? The only one who could hope to defeat the Grand King in that state would be Elisabeth, if she were freed from Sacrifice…so it seems there’s little left for me to accomplish here. Best of luck. Go give it your all.”

“Wait, you’re just gonna rile her up and then bail?”

Declining to respond to Kaito’s exasperated question, Vlad transformed into black feathers and azure flower petals and vanished. The Grand King puffed up her chest and cast her arms wide.

Kaito snapped his fingers. Abruptly, the executioner’s blade that decapitated the Marquis flew through the air. It split into four and then spread out around Kaito.

Kaito carefully stopped them and gave his orders to the Kaiser.

“Sorry, but I’m going to have to devote all my attention to protecting myself. You should just focus on snapping her spine. If we can’t break her stance, we’re doomed.”

“Now then—I look forward to seeing if you can defend against her attacks or not, boy. Mind the needles. If she pierces your neck, I shall eat you myself.”

With a “geh-heh-heh,” the Kaiser left behind a human laugh as he raced across the ground.

The Kaiser then circled around to the Grand King’s back and leaped. However, the cloth of her crinoline dress suddenly moved and took on the form of a human woman. Then, like a shadowgraph or a puppet show, it attacked the Kaiser.

He took a sharp turn to avoid the fabric twining around him and then calmly dug his claws into the scarlet curtain. But even after being shredded, it just took on a new, slender human form.

“Time for chaos! Time to play!”

As it did, the Grand King’s main body swung its arms. Her sharp fingers bore down on Kaito.

Kaito snapped his fingers a second time and then a third. As if driven by unseen threads, the executioner’s ax’s blades slid forward and loudly repelled the Grand King’s five slashing fingers.

It sounded like a sword fight, and the noise echoed across the battlefield.

As though he were playing the keyboard, Kaito focused intently on turning back the fingers’ terrifyingly fast yet elegant attacks. He repelled a finger flying toward his right arm, blocked an attack from overhead, and diverted a finger that had circled around behind him. At the same time, he had to swipe away thin needles that were aiming for the nape of his neck with his beastly left arm. However, at the end of the day, Kaito was no more than human.

If you were to ask him, he would say that he was carrying out his defense with obstinance alone. His level of battle experience was overwhelmingly lacking.

Seeing that Kaito was already at his limit, the Grand King opened her mouth wide. Her teeth flew out and then exploded at Kaito’s feet. His right leg got blown off. However, darkness and azure petals swirled and reattached it before he could lose too much blood. As they did, the Kaiser grabbed him by the collar in his jaws and jumped.

“—!”

“I shan’t permit you to die in as ungainly a manner as that! You fool! Dying to one as inferior as the Grand King is a disgrace!”

The Kaiser’s rebuke drilled into his skull. A bombardment followed after them, and Kaito blocked it with his blades. However, all he was doing was defending. Like it or not, he realized that he had yet to land a single blow.

To make matters worse, while the Grand King had abandoned her human form, she still wasn’t fighting seriously. She rattled her jaw to provoke Kaito.

“How adorable, lover boy—where is that charming demeanor of yours? When are you going to show me whatever it was that drove that girl so mad for you? I don’t like to be kept waiting, you know.”

“At this rate, I’m done for—I guess people have limits, after all.”

“Oh my, you’re giving up already? In that case, do you plan to let me make you cry?”

The Grand King asked her question in a voice oozing with honey. It was unclear if she was using magic for the sole purpose of giving herself a voice, but now that she’d taken on her demonic form and lost her vocal cords, her whispers shook the air.

Kaito briefly shook his head at her blatant provocation.

“Nah, I’ve got no reason to cry. I’ve already got a woman I admire, and I’ve already got a woman I love.”

“My, I’m jealous. What’s your plan, then, lover boy?”

The Grand King asked her question while reaching out her arms and cleaving the earth in an attempt to crush Kaito and the Kaiser together, raising great clouds of dust as she did. The Kaiser leaped, barely avoiding her hand, and put some distance between them and the Grand King.

“Well then, boy, do as you please.”

The Kaiser opened his mouth and hurled Kaito away. Kaito almost crashed into the ground but was able to catch himself in a cloud of azure petals at the last minute. He stood upon solid earth once more.

Right before the Grand King could crush him flat, he spread his arms wide like a stage magician.

“I plan to do this.”

Then the executioner’s ax’s blade he was controlling sliced through his chest.

Blood spilled forth.

A massive amount of blood.

Kaito dropped to his knee as he endured the incredible pain that shot through him. The sensation was almost nostalgic.

Blood and viscera sloshed out of the wound in his chest he had made himself. His blood was tinged with heat, and it transformed into flower petals—this time, crimson—and danced into the air.

As she followed the trail of crimson up into the air with her hollow eye sockets, the Grand King let out a puzzled voice.

“You, what are you…? A suicide attack? No, that’s not it. What is this?”

The petals ignored her, flying off in an unexpected direction.

As they flitted through the air, they left the Grand King behind and eventually blew their way as one toward the fortified castle.

As though announcing the arrival of spring, the stream of petals entered a bedroom through its cutout window. The way the crimson petals surged together resembled cherry blossoms raining down from their trees.

At their destination—the top of a bed—slept a girl boasting peerless beauty.

The Torture Princess was in a deep, deep slumber. A single petal caressed her neck with a sharp motion and left a sizable cut on her pale throat.

Then the petals flooded the wound. They rushed into her body, one by one.

It was the exact same as the way Elisabeth had once forcibly given Kaito a blood transfusion upon Clueless’s torture rack at the Church. Kaito’s blood was flowing into her body.

Far away, down on the battlefield, Kaito donned a thin smile, his stomach still torn open.

“…Finally, huh?”

This was his true objective, the real reason he’d formed his contract with the Kaiser.

Kaito had realized a few key facts.

First of all, Sacrifice was a spell that dammed up the flow of mana in one’s body, rendering it unable to be freely used. But the mana itself was still there.

Second, the only way to dispel Sacrifice was to drive blood with mana more powerful than Elisabeth’s into her body.

Third, the blood running through Kaito’s body was Elisabeth’s, and thanks to his contract with the Kaiser, its power had been increased.

Eventually, almost all the crimson petals swarming around her pale neck had vanished.

The few remaining petals rested upon her face. Suddenly, the runes covering her skin began to crawl. After writhing like a snake in agony, they began gently fading away.

Before long, they were completely gone.

Elisabeth’s body was freed.

However, she was still asleep. Then suddenly, her lips parted slightly.

With a small puff, Elisabeth sent the flower petals that had been resting atop her face fluttering into the air. She slowly reached out a finger and traced the cut on her neck, closing it.

Then she scooped up a single petal and pressed it lightly against her lips.

Kaito’s blood gradually made her lips flush.

Finally, as though she’d awoken from a century-long slumber, Elisabeth Le Fanu opened her eyes.

She was silent for a moment.

Eventually, she made a deliberate noise and removed her finger from her lips.

Then she spoke in a calm, gentle whisper.

“What a foolish man. After this, it’s the Ducking Stool for him.”

The next moment, the Torture Princess vanished from atop the bed.

All that remained were a few crimson flower petals.

A storm had arrived. Anyone would have thought that.

After all, if not a storm, what else could it have possibly been?

Immense shadows and innumerable crimson flower petals whipped about, far more than what had appeared alongside Kaito. They magnificently, floridly painted over the space.

The maelstrom made a loud, rumbling noise as they forcefully permeated the space. It looked as though a thousand roses had scattered, like ten thousand flowers had been torn to pieces.

The Grand King spoke in confusion as the petals pranced around her.

“This isn’t… It can’t be… This shouldn’t be possible!”

The storm began contracting and shrinking. The wind and darkness compressed with alarming force. Petals shot across the ground and carved a crimson glyph into it. Atop that, the petals began taking on the shape of a person.

A moment later, they exploded outward.

Chains gushed out from within the mass. Streaks of silver cleaved through the air, tolling like bells ringing in the New Year.

Along with the thousand rattling chains, a beautiful woman appeared.

Her sleek black hair fluttered, and her bondage dress–clad body curved seductively. The mantle-like fabric adorning her back waved in the wind, and her heels dug into the earth.

She held the Executioner’s Sword of Frankenthal in her hand, and with it she sliced the air.

As she did, the gusting wind vanished as though it had never been there. The woman opened her crimson eyes. Her beauty was unparalleled and world-famous. She looked at the Grand King.

Then the Torture Princess, Elisabeth Le Fanu, spoke at last.

“IIIIIIIIIII’ve made a full recoveryyyyyyyy!”

Out of all the things she could have chosen to say, that’s what she went with?

That candid remark was the first thing that crossed Kaito’s mind. However, Elisabeth didn’t notice his frigid gaze. Without a shred of elegance, she cracked her neck.

“Ah, what a bother. I overslept, and now I find myself thoroughly exhausted. And my body rather aches.”

Elisabeth exaggerated every motion as she rotated her shoulders. After cracking her neck one more time, she swung her sword. Stopping it cleanly in midair, she pointed it at the Grand King.

Her gaze silently pierced the Grand King with beast-like intensity.

“It seems you’ve had quite the run of the place up till now, Grand King.”

“Damn you, Elisabeth.”

“Now that my servant, the most foolish man in the world, has returned my power to me, I’m sure you can guess at your fate, no? Your mind control technique is truly superb. I find it difficult to believe that your prowess in combat could possibly match it. That is exactly why you made use of Sacrifice, is it not?”

Elisabeth smiled maliciously. The Grand King offered no answer. She simply took a step backward.

The ground rumbled as the massive skeleton withdrew slightly. She surveyed her surroundings in bewilderment. The Kaiser stood before her, his eyes burning with hellfire, as did Elisabeth, resplendent in all her pride.

Eventually, a word dribbled out of the Grand King’s mouth.

“…Elisabeth.”

“I told you, didn’t I, Grand King? Evil carries with it retribution. Your punishment has caught up with you at last.”

“ELISABEEEEEEEEEEEEEEETH!”

“How pleasant it feels to hear you cry out my name, Grand King Fiore!”

Elisabeth brought down the Executioner’s Sword of Frankenthal. Following her command, the thousand chains wound around the Grand King. Their pointed tips bound her arms, waist, and neck to the ground like wedges. She struggled violently, but the chains refused to break.

Elisabeth raised her sword high.

Then as she yelled, she brought it down, as though carrying out an execution.

“Ice Sculpture!”

An intense chill coiled around the Grand King. While Kaito tried to keep his gaping wound closed with what little mana he had remaining, his eyes went wide.

Sparkling snow crystals danced around the Grand King. However, her bones felt nothing. She rattled her teeth, as if in disappointment. As she did, though, a massive statue of a goddess appeared beside her. The beautiful statue had snow-white skin and hair, and she smiled kindly at the skeletal woman.

Then the statue tilted the water jug she was holding over her.

Each time the water rained down onto the Grand King, it froze over. Her underlings, who were still prostrating themselves around her, were immediately encased in frost. The Grand King was going to be sealed alive inside an ice sculpture.

She seemed to have realized the fate awaiting her. If she were trapped in the ice and the sculpture were smashed, it would be all over for her. She turned her hollow eye sockets toward Elisabeth.

Elisabeth was still smiling. Distress ran across the Grand King’s bony face. The composure she’d maintained up till now was gone, and her teeth rattled unbidden for the first time.

“No… I can’t meet my end here, not in a place like this… Oh, Pierre…”

That had surely been her gardener’s name.

The Grand King’s eye sockets were empty, yet Kaito could clearly see something resembling fear in her expression.

The next moment, Elisabeth began rebuking the Grand King.

“How pitiable you are, Grand King, to retract your own words like that.”

“…”

“Good, evil—it’s all the same. No matter how we amuse ourselves, live out our days, and die—that’s all there is to the world. You were the one who said that, were you not?”

Elisabeth’s criticism was cutting.

Her scornful tone made it clear that she was asking why the Grand King was complaining. They both went quiet. Before long, though, the Grand King broke the silence, her shoulders trembling.

“…Ha-ha-ha… Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha, ha-ha.”

Her scarlet dress shook as her chest heaved with laughter. The Grand King raised her voice in amusement.

“Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha, ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha, well said, Elisabeth Le Fanu! Indeed, everything is as you say!”

She laughed, her voice ringing gracefully. She scowled at her surroundings, as though to say she had nothing to fear or to be ashamed of. If she’d still been holding her crow-feather fan, she’d probably have made a show of unfurling it and covering her mouth.

As the ice hardened around her, the woman who’d lived and breathed evil made her proud declaration.

“Quite so—I, Fiore, the Grand King, intend to laugh all the way to the grave.”

And just as she’d said, the Grand King didn’t scream or plead once.

She was still alive when the ice fully encased her. Sealed in ice, her fate was the exact opposite of her friend who’d been burned at the stake.

Still in her hideous form, she was transformed into a sculpture.

Then the chains swung.

Silver chains struck the Grand King’s sculpture and smashed it to pieces. Chunks of bone sheathed in ice went flying and then transformed into black feathers as they whirled into the air. Then the feathers fluttered down upon the battlefield like snow, carpeting the corpses of the underlings and familiars.

In the midst of all that was Elisabeth, who had closed her eyes, opened them, and thrust her fist into the air.

“How weak!”

The battle against their most terrible foe ended.

As the reality of that fact sank in, Kaito snapped his fingers. The bones surrounding Hina dissolved and crumbled to the ground.

Seemingly pleased with the Grand King’s death, the Kaiser gave a deep laugh. Suddenly, though, he raised his snout and turned to face Kaito. As his eyes burned with a sinister glow, he spoke deep and bluntly.

“Bear this in mind, O Accumulation of Seventeen Years’ Pain. I find your perversion pleasant. On the other hand, I do not take kindly to your refusal to destroy this world and mankind along with it. However, through no fault of my own, my power has been called into question, so I shall continue aiding you as you butcher the remaining demons to demonstrate my strength. I look forward to seeing how far your warped determination can carry you.”

Geh-heh-heh-heh-heh-heh, fu-heh-heh-heh-heh-heh, geh-heh-heh-heh-heh-heh.

The Kaiser vanished, leaving behind his humanlike laughter. The afterglow from the hellfire in his eyes hung in the air and then disappeared as well. Kaito shook his head a little and then surveyed his surroundings.

Suddenly, his eyes met Elisabeth’s.

“Um—”

“Mm—”

She stared directly at him. He returned her gaze. Neither said a word.

After a long, long silence, however, Kaito was eventually the first to lose his patience.

“I’m really sorry.”

“I’ll have your head.”

Their exchange was concise. Elisabeth seemed serious. Sensing how earnest she was, Kaito raised his arms. Elisabeth approached him with long strides. Then, with one hand, she hoisted him up by his collar. Her beautiful face twisted fiendishly as she laid her rage bare.

“What possessed you to make a contract with a demon? And the Kaiser, no less! Hmm?! What on earth was going through your mind? I’d been led to believe that there was some gray matter lurking in that skull of yours, but clearly, I was mistaken! Even idiocy should be practiced in restraint!”

“Wh— It’s fine! I didn’t hurt anyone, and now you’re safe!”

“That’s precisely the problem, you imbecile!”

The emotion in her voice was stifled, and it hit Kaito unexpectedly hard.

Elisabeth put more strength into her slender grip. Her crimson gaze landed on Kaito’s left hand, the one that had transformed into that of a beast. As she glared at it, she quietly continued.

“’Tis not what I resurrected you for, nor why I made you immortal.”

“Elisabeth…”

“Fool.”

Kaito lowered his arms and then let the tension drain from his body. He obediently let Elisabeth hang him up in the air. Right as he was about to say something, he heard the sound of weeping.

The two of them looked to the side in surprise.

The next moment, Elisabeth tossed him away. He almost tumbled to the ground, but he managed to land safely. They both rushed forward, making their way over to Hina, who was still lying on the ground.

“Forgive me, Hina! Your wounds no doubt ail you! Oh, your beautiful limbs, what have they—? Nay, ’tis no matter! I shall mend them for you, leaving nary a scar! Worry not!”

“Hina, are you okay?! Does it hurt? It does, doesn’t it? I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.”

“N…no, that’s not it. That’s, nod, id.”

As Kaito held her up in his arms, great, big tears came streaming out of Hina’s eyes. Kaito and Elisabeth tilted their heads to the side, unsure of what she meant. Hina’s face was as scrunched up as a child’s.

Hina struggled to elaborate through her sobs.

“I’b so habby… So habby that you’re okay, Baster Kaito, and that you’re bedder, Lady Elibabeth. Thank, thank goodness…”

“Hina…”

“…Thank you, Hina.”

Elisabeth pulled a clean handkerchief from a swirl of darkness and mopped up Hina’s tears. Kaito gently stroked her silver hair. Hina beamed through her tears.

The three of them huddled together on the remnants of the battlefield.

It had finally gotten quiet again.

For the three of them, it was the first peaceful moment in a long, long while.

The minute they returned to the castle, Elisabeth got to work on Hina’s treatment. Carrying the limbless Hina in her arms, she made her way to an underground chamber, kicked out Kaito, who’d followed along, and closed the door.

For a short while, thunderous noises rang out from the door’s far side. It sounded less like medical treatment and more like construction work.

On the near side, Kaito stood at rapt attention.

An indeterminate amount of time passed.

Eventually, the closed door opened as violently as the noises within had been.

Elisabeth was cradling Hina in her arms. Her thin, pale body was clad in a fresh maid uniform and had four proper limbs fastened to it. Tears welling up in his eyes, Kaito spread his arms wide and dashed over to her side.

“Hina!”

“Fool, don’t go touching her so carelessly! She’s but temporarily pieced together. The gears within her are in a dreadful state of disarray. For the time being, she needs to let her automated maintenance and repair functions do their work.”

Elisabeth pressed her foot into his face, and Kaito stopped in his tracks. As he was about to rub his crushed nose, she made an announcement with a quiet expression on her face.

“I should warn you, but Hina is about to enter a deep slumber.”

“A deep…slumber?”

“She needs to realign her interior mechanisms, after all. While she does, she’ll need to put a halt to all other functionality. Come now, gently lift her. You’ll need to carry her. Gently, mind you.”

Urged on by Elisabeth, Kaito gingerly reached out.

He picked up Hina ever so carefully and held her in his arms. She opened her eyes a hair and gave him a drowsy smile.

He carried her as he would something extremely fragile. After making his way upstairs, he set her down on the bed Elisabeth had been occupying until just recently. He asked his next question in a bewildered voice.

“When you say a deep slumber…how long is that gonna be?”

“There’s hardly cause to sound so miserable. While I can’t give a firm estimate, it shan’t take long. This isn’t good-bye.”

Kaito softly stroked Hina’s cheek. Her head trembled as though it tickled, and she weakly opened her mouth. She spoke in a sweet, hoarse, barely audible voice.

“My deepest…apologies… It seems…I will be taking…a short leave…”

“I’m so sorry, Hina. Is there…is there anything you want?”

“Anything…I want?”

“If there’s anything you want, I can get it for you while you sleep. Can…can you think of anything?”

Flustered by the abruptness of the situation, Kaito continued his line of questioning. Hina closed her eyes and pondered for a moment.

Eventually, she smiled and gently murmured.

“In that case…may I make…one selfish request?”

“Yeah, anything.”

“I wish…to become a family with you…Master Kaito.”

Hearing Hina’s words, Kaito’s eyes went as wide as if he’d been struck. “Family,” he dumbfoundedly repeated. Up until then, it had been a word that had brought him nothing but misery.

Hina knew that. That was precisely why she continued, her emerald eyes brimming with love and affection.

“Unlike…human women…I cannot bear children… But I wish…to become…your family, Master Kaito… I don’t want you…to be alone…anymore.”

“Hina…”

“I want…to become…your family… One that…properly…loves…”

“D-don’t be ridiculous, Hina… You always have been… From the moment we met, you’ve been my companion, right?”

As he spoke, Kaito choked back tears. Hina bore a tender smile. Kaito caressed her cheek again and again. He spoke once more, repeating himself with a voice full of heartfelt love.

“You’re my beloved wife, aren’t you?”

“Ah…so…I am.”

After mumbling about how happy she was and how it was like she was living in a dream, Hina fell into a deep slumber.

“…Sniff…nn…hic…unh…nn…sob…”

Tears that even his own painful deaths never brought out were now rolling down Kaito’s cheeks.

All the things he’d lost and all the things he hadn’t been able to obtain streamed through his mind.

Elisabeth said nothing. She simply waited for him to calm down.

At the end of the battle, after the insane choices he’d made,

Kaito Sena had finally found a family.

Eventually, Kaito roughly rubbed his eyes and stepped away from Hina. His eyes still red, he spoke a few words.

“Sorry, that was kind of pathetic… I’m okay now.”

“Hmph, I saw nothing… Nay, I shall say this. ’Tis no shame in crying when one must.”

Kaito turned toward Elisabeth. She wasn’t looking at him. She was staring off into space. Her lips upturned, she bluntly repeated herself.

“’Tis no shame in crying when one must. Go ahead and cry.”

“Yeah, you’re right… Thanks.”

Kaito laughed weakly and nodded.

Then Elisabeth suddenly turned to look at him, her black hair fluttering. She frowned intensely.

“Your smile is sickening.”

“Well, that’s rude.”

“Indeed, but complimenting you would be far stranger! At any rate, excellent as my bedchambers are, I really ought to get around to repairing that window.”

“Can’t you just fix it with magic?”

It happened then, with the two of them having just begun their conversation.

A shrill noise rang out, like something scraping against glass, and shattered their brief peaceful moment. Hearing the grating noise, Kaito called out.

“Make it stop! It’s gonna wake up Hina!”

“Worry not. During the mending process, nothing can possibly wake her. But what is that noise?”

A milky-white orb was racing above the forest. It was one of the Church’s emergency contact devices, and it made its way through the broken window before stopping in front of Elisabeth and Kaito. Feathers plopped out of its sides. Then it reverted to an ordinary jewel and fell into Elisabeth’s palm.

Hundreds of glyphs raced across its surface. After deciphering the message, Elisabeth’s eyes widened.

Feeling an ominous premonition, Kaito nervously raised a natural question.

“Elisabeth, what does it say?”

“Oh my…this is a surprise, even to me. Even with the high odds I’d be done in by the Grand King, I can see why they sent for me.”

She shook her head side to side. Then she made a quiet announcement.

“The capital is under attack, with as many as a third of its citizens having been slaughtered—and Godd Deos numbers among the dead.”

Kaito swallowed hard. The capital held three-tenths of the population and was supposed to be a cornerstone for humanity’s continued survival. And Godd Deos was a man who’d been in a position to trade his life to seal away the Torture Princess, if the need ever arose. Kaito himself had talked with him just a few days ago.

If a man as powerful and important as that had been killed, just what state exactly was the capital in?

As if in response to Kaito’s inquisitive gaze, Elisabeth went on.

“The capital has been practically destroyed—at this rate, it and all the paladins will be annihilated.”

Her words rang in a new battle against the demons,

as well as the beginning of the end.