from the titan, miss, you once managed to reach me through Bandersnatch and Gargantua. And as you were before, you would have remained composed even in the face of Deus Ex Machina's parts combined. So what's this sorry shit? I told you not to go, didn't I?" "Graaaaaaaaaah, ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" Jeanne received a low, terrified roar in reply. Her words didn't seem to have reached Izabella. Jeanne's rose eyes narrowed just a hair. Izabella's entire body undulated. Her flesh was rapidly expanding. Muscle fibers began wrapping around her still-exposed ribs. When they were finished, they'd formed sets of winglike, fleshy protrusions. Her body's damage was forcibly being compensated for, but it was impossible to completely negate the wounds from the blows she'd received. Izabella drew back even farther. Even while she was retreating, her movements took on a frailer quality to them. Jeanne gazed expressionlessly at the veritable wounded animal before her. When she whispered next, her voice sounded truly young. "...I told you." "Gah, ah, ahhh, grahhhhhhhhhhhhh, gyah!" Izabella recklessly leaped at the giant only to be brushed away like a flea for her troubles. The arc she painted through the air on her way to the icy ground was almost comical. Bones and flesh writhed beneath her skin once more. However, her regeneration was growing more and more chaotic. Strange convulsions ran all across her body. Izabella managed to lift herself off the ground, enduring no small amount of pain as she did. She looked ready to leap again. Jeanne spoke coolly, directing her words at Izabella's trembling back. "I think that's enough, little lady. Just submit to your pitiful, tragic rest." "Gah, ah... Gaaaaaaaah!" Izabella let out a meaningless moan. Jeanne opened her mouth. Before she could say anything, though, she showed a rare moment of hesitation. After closing her mouth and opening it again, the whisper seemed to practically spill unbidden from her lips. "You are a leader, though perhaps only in name, no?" When it did, Izabella stopped in her tracks. Her silver hair violently shook as she suddenly turned to look over her shoulder. When she did, she focused her blue and purple eyes on Jeanne, just as she had once before. "Ms....Izabella?" "Izabella..." Kaito and Hina both reflexively called out her name. She gave no reply. However, the light of reason had faintly made its way back into her eyes. It was fleeting, though, and ephemeral. She was on the verge of being ruled by nothing more than her base animalistic instincts of pain and starvation and the fear of death. Her face morphed unattractively back and forth. From senseless beast to human, from human to beast. Once her internal battle had finished, Izabella's trembling legs set into motion. She sat down in place. Her silver hair gently sagged as she bowed her head and went motionless. It was as though she was asking that they cut off her head and be done with it. "Impossible... How can this be? How can she retain her sanity even after being transfigured so?" Elisabeth's voice was filled with disbelief. Her words echoed Kaito's sentiments as well. Jeanne remained silent. Her rose eyes, though, opened wide in what could only be described as bafflement. She seldom showed anywhere close to that much emotion. The next moment, her eyes rapidly set into motion. She cast her gaze away from Izabella, focusing it on the Grave Keeper with such intensity that sparks seemed likely to start flying out. The scarlet-clad girl, for her part, replied to the hostile stare with a warm smile. Seemingly having come to understand something by that, Jeanne nodded. "I see. So shit was weird from the start, huh?" That's right... Now that I think about it, the signs were there. As Jeanne spoke, Kaito realized something. All the transformed people they'd seen had had their eyes engorged, congested with blood and sometimes even ruptured. Yet, Izabella's eyes had been just as beautiful as ever. Coming from someone who knew what she'd looked like originally, Kaito felt the state of her transformation had seemed near-absolute. In truth, though, the degree to which she'd been transformed was probably comparatively lighter. In all likelihood, the paladins on the verge of death had had their skin melting off beneath their armor. Kaito tumbled out of Hina's arms. He unconsciously covered his mouth. Was it because Izabella resisted? Or...did the Church do that intentionally? Either way, she must not have eaten much of the demon meat. But in the end, what difference did that make? The fact that she was beyond saving remained unchanged. That was what the rational part of his brain determined. At the same time, however, a wave of discomfort ran over him. She...should be, but... There's something off about Jeanne. There could be little doubt that the golden Torture Princess was even more rational than Kaito was. At the moment, though, she had completely laid off the attack. She merely blinked, her rose eyes flashing. "...This falls outside my expectations. But not yours, I suppose?" Jeanne continued staring at the Grave Keeper as she murmured. The young girl offered no reply, instead just continuing to smile her perfectly unnatural smile. Her gaze was affectionate, so much so that it evoked the image of a saint. It was an expression one would hardly expect to come from the one who'd birthed this hellish situation. Jeanne turned back toward Izabella once more. Her whispered voice had a rare tone of bewilderment to it. "It seems that I do have the power to save you, little lady." "What?!" Kaito couldn't stop himself from letting out a shout. As he did, Deus Ex Machina moved. Despite its considerable mass, it gave off no noise or presence as it advanced. And then the giant ruthlessly crushed Izabella. "W-wait, you, you just said you could save her! You said you can save her, didn't you?" "Yes, I can save her. And this is a necessary step in doing so." After returning to his senses, Kaito shouted out yet again, to which Jeanne replied coolly. However, it certainly didn't seem that way to him. Deus Ex Machina slowly lifted its fist. Unsurprisingly, Izabella's body was almost completely crushed. She was just barely breathing, but now it was even harder to imagine her ever getting back to normal. "Allow me to reiterate myself. This is sufficient. The bits I smashed weren't necessary, see?" "Unnecessary?" "Now, all I have to do is remove them." Kaito asked his question in an uneasy tone, but Jeanne replied with conviction. His reaction was one of blank shock. If Jeanne did that, Izabella would definitely die. After all, she would end up losing over half her body. But Jeanne unconcernedly laid out a means by which to preserve Izabella's life. "Then we can do our best to supplement the places where the demon meat set its roots in with parts from Deus Ex Machina." "Wait, is that even possible?" "It is. They're weapons designed for combat, but they can alter their forms as they please. They can even act as human organs. However, in doing so, we would lose access to a powerful weapon." Kaito's eyes went wide in comprehension. Unlike Elisabeth, who summoned her torture devices each time, Jeanne used Deus Ex Machina as a more conventional weapon. Whether or not someone could mold the mana drifting around in higher dimensions into a form suitable for combat depended heavily on their inherent nature, after all. Deus Ex Machina was designed to circumvent that restriction. If we lose it, the strength at our disposal will invariably suffer. But... Kaito looked over at Izabella's crushed body. Then he turned his gaze to the Grave Keeper, who was looking at Jeanne like a shepherd watching over a lost lamb. Kaito suddenly recalled the inscrutable declarations she'd made. "For the sake of the world, for the sake of the people, our revered Saint fell into slumber and shed tears of blood! That is what flows through the roots of the Churchâ€”her unrewarded love, her noble self-sacrifice! In the name of faith, in the name of the world, she cast herself aside! And what could that be but the most desirable trait possible for those chosen to possess! I have sacrificed everything, discarded even my ego! Can you, the chosen ones, say the same? "Please, show me tragic devotion befitting the favor you've received! Show it to me, if you'd be so kind!" Is this what she was talking about? It would appear that the Grave Keeper was asking them to demonstrate their devotion by sacrificing Deus Ex Machina to save Izabella. However, there were still mysteries left to solve. For example, the Grave Keeper had said that she no longer had any intention of fighting them. In other words, she shouldn't have had any reason to want to whittle away the Torture Princess's strength. If that was the case, then, why was she doing it? What was the Grave Keeper's goal? As that question rattled around in Kaito's head, though, he was suddenly interrupted. "What to do; what to do?" A distracted murmur echoed out. Kaito's eyes went wide. Of all the things she could be doing, Jeanne was standing before Izabella's crushed frame with her arms casually folded. Her words and demeanor made no sense to Kaito. In his mind, there was only one logical path to take. His voice grew rough as he pointed at Izabella's dying body. "What the hell are you talking about?! What is there to think about? You can save her, can't you?!" "Indeed. I can save her." "You said she was your first love, didn't you?!" Kaito's scream was so forceful, he risked damaging his throat. As far as he was concerned, the things Jeanne was saying were unforgivable. She had had nothing, and now she'd finally found someone precious to her. Choosing to cast her aside was a choice he refused to get behind. He refused to approve of it. Hell, he didn't even want to try to understand it. There's no wayâ€”not that! A beast-like growl slipped from Kaito's mouth, to which Jeanne replied with an unfalteringly calm gaze. When she spoke, her voice was just as calm. "Allow me to ask you a question, then, mister. Is that deed truly more worthy than bringing about salvation?" The moment she did, an answer burst forth from Kaito's brain, one that ran in stark contrast to his emotions. It wasn't. There was no person so valuable that saving them was more important than the entire world. That fact was the same as it had ever been. There were no exceptions. All he had to do was look over his shoulder at the corpses he'd piled up. Giving special treatment to a single person would be wrong. And right now, the world's fate hung in the balance. Now was no time to complain or nitpick. They simply needed to do what needed to be done. That was the only correct answer. You should know that, Kaito Sena. Yeah, I know. I know all too well. THAT'S WHY I DON'T KNOW, GODDAMMIT! "Screw you. Shut up." Kaito violently repudiated the correct answer he'd arrived at. Jeanne blinked. Kaito's reply had hardly constituted an answer. Yet, in a way, it had conveyed everything. His composure fracturing, Kaito racked his brain. Jeanne, Elisabeth, they're all the same. All they can come up with are correct answers. Elisabeth, the raven-haired Torture Princess, showed no signs of bearing regrets, nor did she ever try to cast aside her sins. But what about Jeanne? If she did bear regrets, what would she be left with after the world was saved? If she won't have anything left, then... ...then at that point, what had she really even saved? That instant, a shout exploded from Kaito's lungs. "Don't listen to me!" "...Pardon?" "Don't listen to anyone! Think about it yourself! Think about it yourself, all on your own! Don't let anyone else