happily, and Kaito stifled a scream. The blood, which had poured down on the summoning circle, breathed fresh energy into its magical glyphs. The two clock hands loudly snapped together. The beasts' howls grew louder. The sound of a door opening rang out from somewhere. The cell door of something that ought not arrive in the world of man had temporarily been thrown open. An incomparable hound, spurred on by the praises of all the beasts of the world, raced down the path it had once before. The sound of its indomitable footsteps echoed in Kaito's ears, and its damp breath brushed against his nose. Vlad released Kaito's hand, and it vanished into the maw of the beast that had appeared from the summoning circle. The first-class hound's sleek black hair glistened as it elegantly forced its body through the air. A roar that sounded like human laughter rang out. Geh-heh-heh-heh-heh-heh, fu-heh-heh-heh-heh-heh, geh-heh-heh-heh-heh-heh. A human voice could be heard overlaid in it. *** The Kaiser's wrathful howl filled the room. Without a shred of hesitation, the hound opened its jaws toward Vlad Le Fanu, its eyes and mouth burning with hellfire. Its fangs mercilessly skewered his body. But Vlad simply stood there, calmly shrugging his shoulders. "So sorry, but I no longer have a physical form. Dear Kaiser, surely you knew that this body was nothing more than a phantom, no? Hehâ€”when I think about it like that, perhaps being dead isn't so bad after all." "Quit flapping your lips, you lowly scrap of meat who went off and died beyond my reach. Your ungainly death has sullied the name of the Kaiser and sullied my pride as a hound. Do you think you are forgiven, Vlad? Do you think that is something I shall forgive, Vlad, O He Who Rears Hell Within His Mind? I listened to the speech you gave when you refused to merge with me, and I approved it. I did not want to sully myself with a lowly human form. However, O Arrogant Mage, know shame for showing me an end such as that!" "What's done is done, my friend. Would you be so gracious as to give this lecture to the 'me' from before? While I could certainly muster up an apology even now, I'll be damned if I let you hold me accountable." "Hey, uh...Vlad...?" "What is it, my dear successor?" "...So...the Kaiser can talk?" Kaito posed the question despite his shock. In the past, Kaito had only ever been able to hear his voice in the roar that sounded like laughter. He'd had no idea that demons could talk like people. However, when he listened closer, those words weren't truly reaching his ears. The Kaiser's words were simply resonating in Kaito's mind. "Ah, that he can. Although to be more precise, I should say that he can send words directly into his contractor's mind. Aside from him, the Grand King, the King, the Grand Monarch, and the Monarch can all use human speech as well. Although the Monarch is a bit suspect in that regards." "That's a surprise... Do demons and humans have similar thought patterns?" "That isn't itâ€”before they're summoned, they exist in a higher dimension. They don't possess human thoughts, they cannot use speech, and they aren't equipped with senses. When the higher-ranked demons materialize, they reflect their summoner and lower themselves to a point where they can understand each other as simple, evil souls. If they didn't, we humans wouldn't even be able to comprehend their existences." "...So they use their summoners as reference points to restructure themselves?" "Indeed. Hence, as I was the one to call forth the Kaiser, I influenced him a great deal. Well, that would explain his pride. However, some of the other unsummoned demonsâ€”ones with the power to rival Godâ€”could no doubt force all the creatures of our world to understand them without needing to lower themselves and would come already furnished with overbearing intellect and vocabulary... But it will take another two thousand years before any who could summon them willâ€” Oh, careful there." As Vlad spoke, the Kaiser's jaws made another attempt to gouge his body. His phantom form wavered for a moment but quickly returned to normal. Vlad shrugged. Even so, the hound's attacks didn't subside. It appeared that the Kaiser was in a violent tempest of rage. "Would you be so kind as to give that a rest? Even if my death did cast doubts on your strength, that has little to do with me now... Oh, well, I suppose saying that was just fuel on the fire, wasn't it?" The Kaiser's fangs dug into Vlad again and again. Kaito thought back to how Vlad and the Kaiser had been defeated. The Kaiser had been powerful enough to completely overwhelm Elisabeth and Hina. But due to the death of his contractor, Vlad, the Kaiser lost his anchor to this world and subsequently vanished. "He has his pride as a first-rate hound to consider," Vlad had once said. Vlad's death had no doubt made a mockery of the Kaiser. "Unforgivable, unforgivable, unforgivable! What an unforgivable, puny creature you are! I shan't forgive you for this, Vlad!" The Kaiser was mad with rage. But after learning that his command of the human language was solid, some of Kaito's tension had faded away. Even if the Kaiser was a demon, at least he could communicate his intentions. As if having read his mind, the Kaiser lifted his head and looked at Kaito. His gazeâ€”that of a creature on a whole different level than the rest of the hideous, unseemly demonsâ€”pierced through him. Assailed by a strong aura of "death," Kaito's stomach dropped. The Kaiser narrowed his eyes and then spoke in a low voice. "Ah, the one I let grab my tail. You possess a false body. So your blood is that of a witch, and your heart is that of a man? Your soul is worthlessâ€”and yet intriguing. Very intriguing. Its form is warped. Very well, you will do. Yes, you will do nicely." "Won't he, Kaiser? I thought he might catch your eye, given your repulsive taste." Vlad spoke jubilantly, practically singing. He walked along the black dog's flank and then placed a phantasmal hand atop Kaito's shoulder. Gracefully presenting Kaito, he urged the Kaiser on. "Now then, shall we get on with the ceremonial trial?" The black dog offered no reply, simply expelling air through his nose. In the next moment, the Kaiser bore down on Kaito, his movements possessing an efficiency that bordered on beauty. Although it was filled with azure flames, his gaping maw smelled surprisingly like that of an ordinary dog. ...Huh? Then the black dog's jaws crunched mercilessly down on Kaito. It hurts. It hurts so much. The pain was the only thing occupying Kaito's thoughts. The black dog's jaws had bitten off the bottom half of his body. Vlad was standing overhead and saying something in a bewildered tone. "Well now, this is unfortunate. Did he fail to meet your interest? Even so, doing that out of the blue was a bit ruthless... My, my, I didn't expect him to die in such a manner before even getting started. How disappointing." Kaito was twitching and convulsing at Vlad's feet. Each time he did, filth and blood spilled out of his torn entrails and onto the floor. Normally, losing that much blood would be enough to make his soul fade away. However, possibly because he was in the middle of summoning the Kaiser, his soul, which was being used as an intermediary, got caught in the black dog's fur and stopped there. Terrified due to being trapped halfway between life and death, Kaito tried to scream. However, all the air was leaking out of his abdomen, and he couldn't gather his voice. "Ahâ€”... Ahâ€”... Ahâ€”..." "Well, I suppose it can't be helped. This, too, is a valid way for the curtain to fall. Bets can be won, but tragically, they can be lost as well. He was lacking in both fortune and ability. That was all there was to it." With affected movements, Vlad shrugged his shoulders. His body was beginning to transform into black feathers and azure flower petals from the toes up. It seemed that he was quickly giving up on the plan of using Kaito's mana to remain in the world. His judgment was as gracious as always. Then Vlad vanished, leaving Kaito without even enough time to beg him to stay. The black dog, too, turned tail and began making his way back down the path he had come from. The wicked energy that had kept Kaito's soul in place left as the fur it had been wound through faded away. Kaito's soul began leaving his body along with his blood. The next moment, instead of a light at the end of a tunnel, Kaito was assailed by an intense vision of the future. Hina's probably going to find my corpse after this. Given Elisabeth's current status, it would be impossible for her to summon Kaito's soul again. Hina would apologize to Kaito for making him wait a little bit, assist Elisabeth in fighting the Marquis and the Grand Marquis, and get destroyed. And the Torture Princess, too, would have all the pain the world had to offer bestowed upon her by the Grand King before being brutally killed. She would die a lonely, solitary death. The only thing that would go on would be the world of man. All would be well in the name of their God. That's no good. I can't let that happen. Iâ€”! Kaito didn't want to die helpless like that, not being able to give anything back to the other two. Awash in despair and his own lamentations, Kaito fainted in agony. The moment he did, the blood in his body began releasing a strange warmth. His entire body began heating up, as though it were transforming into flame. It was like some sort of magic had gone and activated on its own. As he was being toyed with by that sensation, Kaito's field of vision went dark. In the deep darkness, all he had left was the unpleasant pain of the heat within his body. When he came to his senses, he found himself lying atop a damp tatami mat. ...H-huh? Flies buzzed noisily over his eyes. He surveyed his surroundings. A dirty fluorescent bulb was swaying from the ceiling. The cracked window was covered in packing tape, and his ripped-out teeth rolled about beneath the tea table. The bits of his gums stuck to them were raw. Then Kaito looked at his body. The shirt stuck to his scrawny torso was hardened from all the sweat and vomit staining it. His right arm was covered in shallow lacerations, and his left arm hung unmoving and was covered in dark-red stains. His ankle was twisted at an odd angle and had stuck that way. And it was possible that the pain in his stomach was due to a ruptured organ. This is...the room I was in when I died back in Japan... Wait, did I do something? Kaito tilted his head to the side. When he'd been assailed by despair and regret, his blood had released so much heat he'd felt as though it were burning up. He could only conclude that he'd subconsciously activated some sort of magic. Don't tell me I went back in time? That was the conjecture Kaito arrived at based on the scene around him and the familiar pain racking his body. Maybe souls had no conception of time. Only bodies, living in reality, were bound by that concept. Maybe his soul, on the verge of fading from the golem body Elisabeth had made, had burned up the remaining mana in its blood and gone backward in time. Although his brain was addled by pain and malnutrition, that was the conclusion Kaito arrived at. "In that case...no time to waste,