Vlad's face. Hina was making no efforts to hide her revulsion, and Izabella was wearing the expression of a child who'd just been struck by a parent. Something that shouldn't exist, exists. Faced with that irreconcilable contradiction, Kaito felt a wave of vertigo. Elisabeth shook her head from side to side as she cast a sidelong glance his way. Then, with a displeased look on her face, she posed a question to Jeanne. "Without a contractor, Diablo should be unable to manifest in this world. Who, then, is this thing's contractor? My power is all but supreme, and not even my body could withstand such a feat. Nor is it possible for Vlad, nor the Grand King, nor you. The vessel would shatter. No man should be qualified." "That isn't the case, though. A person with such power does exist, a person that even the stray sheep are familiar with." Jeanne's answer bordered on singsong. Kaito and Elisabeth furrowed their brows. If such a person really existed, they'd have to be a pretty big deal. Ignoring their doubts, though, Jeanne launched into a seemingly unrelated story. "The Saint manifested God through her body, saved the world, then fell into an eternal slumber. Because of that, it can be said the world of man was built atop her suffering, her devotion, and her sacrifice. That forms the basis of the Church's doctrine. But therein lies a contradiction. The Saint manifested God through her body and rebuilt the world. In that case, though, who was the one who destroyed it?" "...That would be Diablo, naturally. No. Wait." Elisabeth covered her mouth. Kaito, too, noticed the contradiction. "Diablo can only interfere with the world of man once God has abandoned it." If that was the case, then the Saint shouldn't have been able to manifest God. After all, once God abandoned the world, then as one of his creations, she, too, would have been a target for destruction. The mystery had been dangling right in front of everyone's noses, yet none of them had even noticed it. The world had been saved once. But what had happened right before that? "Exactly, miss. Normally, there's no way that God could have responded to a human's summons and dwelled within their body. All humans would have been destroyed the moment he abandoned the world, after all. In other words, the order is backward." "...Backward?" "Even though God had yet to renounce the world, Diablo destroyed it anyway. That was why God appeared in response to a human's summons, and that was why He rebuilt it. The girl who carried God within her body, the girl who wasn't destroyed, was the only person left in the world. But if she could summon God, she would also have been able to form a contract with a demon of equal power. In other words..." The chains on Jeanne's wrists rattled and jingled as she raised one index finger in front of her lips. Then, as though she were telling them a secret, she divulged the truth that had been hidden for so long. "First, the girl formed a contract with the mighty Diablo. While it's unclear what her objective was, she was unable to maintain control and ended up destroying the world. In her regret, she summoned God, formed a contract with Him, and rebuilt the world. But she was unable to endure her two contracts, nor was she able to die, so instead, she fell into a deep slumber. That is what it all means." And in that moment, one of the fundamental doctrines underpinning human society crumbled at its very foundation. A crack formed in Izabella's expression. But Jeanne didn't stop, instead making one last declaration. "The Suffering Saint, the one venerated by the Church, is none other than the first demon's contractor." And because of that, the Church had hidden away the first demon, the one she'd called forth. The alchemists must have obtained its flesh before its existence had been covered up. Then, knowing it would one day awaken, they went into hiding and began preparing countermeasures. And for some reason, the Saint's apostle, the Butcher, had bided his time before giving the demon's flesh to those wishing to form contracts. Kaito and Elisabeth thought back on what the Butcher had told her. "It's a nonsensical little fairy tale, and one that's gone on for a very, very long time. There are those who've worked to bring these events about, and those who've worked to prevent them." "In the course of the slaying of the fourteen demons, the chessboard sustained heavy damage. The upper echelons of the Church, a number of their fanatics, and some of those who wish to escape the burden of having to restore the Capital seek to awaken the first demon, expand the destruction, and in doing so, urge God to rebuild the world. They believe that when the destroyed world is restored, the righteous devotees will remain." "There's no way. That line of thinking is way too optimistic." Kaito replied, his voice cold. Of all the people present, his knowledge pool was the shallowest. But despite that, he was confident in his assertion. Ever since he'd seen La Mules firsthand, he'd known. God created the world, and Diablo destroyed it. That was all there was to their respective existences. The fact remained that neither was an entity man was meant to interact with. "Yes, very much so. Rebuilding is the act of blotting out the current painting, then drawing a new one atop it." Jeanne reaffirmed Kaito's sentiments. Kaito envisioned the scene in his mind. People were frolicking atop a massive canvas and painting a picture. But now, warped fissures ran across the painting. Then someone sitting in front of the canvas abruptly picked up a brush. And the first thing they did was paint over the picture with black. "If a new world is born, then all humanity with the exception of the Saint, the painter, will perish. I was created to prevent that. But my knowledge of the common world is lacking. The alchemists lacked the power to accompany me, instead choosing to die and become my nourishment, but their final request to me was that I made sure I found suitable servants." After having heard what Jeanne had to say, Kaito was now keenly aware of the difference between Jeanne's "salvation" and the Church's. One side wanted to preserve the world as it was, and the other wanted to build the world anew. I still don't know what motive the Butcher had for selling demon flesh, though. No matter what reason he may have had, though, the seeds of evil he'd planted had successfully borne fourteen demonic fruits. And he'd described Kaito and Elisabeth's resistance as "unexpected." Not knowing that the stage they'd been fighting atop had been prepared long before, the two of them had taken up the sword and fought. Countless people had died in the course of their desperate resistance. But apparently, their efforts had changed nothing. Right now, the final flower was trying to bloom. And Jeanne was trying to nip it in the bud. Then the maiden of salvation who proclaimed herself the saint and the whore gave her haughty continuation. "Now, dear Lovers, you understand the truth, and the gravity of the situation. Kaito Sena. Elisabeth Le Fanu. I know that the two of you are destined to fight each other to the death. But now you must throw that all away and serve me as faithful slaves." She turned her rosy gaze directly on the two of them. And when she did, Jeanne de Rais, the artificial Torture Princess, went on as though it were only natural. "At this rate, our world will be destroyed, and not so much as a trace will remain." Her words rang out through the chamber like a final verdict. Afterword Hello, Keishi Ayasato here. We've finally arrived at Volume 4. Thank you all so much for buying the fourth volume of Torture Princess. The new Torture Princess has finally arrived, and we've entered a new chapter of the story. A number of the world's secrets were all revealed at once this timeâ€”what did you all think? The upcoming twists and developments will build right off the big events that just happened, so I suspect things will continue on at a nonstop pace from here on out, too. To tell you the truth, I'm actually working on Volume 5 as I write this afterword, and I'm planning on pounding out page after page after page, so please look forward to the story's continuation. Also, I had the rare chance to write an extremely lovey-dovey scene in this book, which was a lot of fun. I hope we meet again in the next volume, where you can find out, among other things, if the two of them are able to continue enjoying their filthy normie lives. Oh, and while we're on the subject of Torture Princess, it was fortunate enough to receive a manga adaptation! The wonderful Hina Yamato is in charge of the adaptation, and it's being serialized by ComicWalker and Nico Nico Seiga. Elisabeth is more beautiful than ever, and the Knight's underling and Iron Maiden are drawn in such detail and with such impact. I'm filled to the brim with gratitude. Hina Yamato is such a skillful craftswoman, and the manga was so wonderful that I found myself engrossed to the point where I read through the whole thing in one sitting. It would make me oh-so-very happy if you all checked it out. The official Twitter account, @goumonhime, is also up, so please take a look at that as well. In addition to the manga adaptation, I was given the privilege of writing a series of short stories. At the time of this writing, Chapter 1: Kaito's Daily Routine (Frontside) just came out. And if there's a Frontside, there must, of course, be a Backside as well. In it, I decided to take a look at the daily lives of Kaito, Hina, Elisabeth, and the other characters. It's coming out alongside Hina Yamato's manga adaptation, so I hope you all look forward to it. It's going to be a heartwarming story, but perhaps a little disquieting as well. And as always, Ms. Ukai drew a beautiful illustration for it! Truly, it's a feast for the eyes! Back when I was in Torture Princess's planning stages, I never dreamed it would become a mixed-media franchise. I'm so deeply grateful for these unexpected opportunities I've been receiving. All this is thanks to Ms. Ukai, Ms. Hina Yamato, my editor O, my designer, everyone involved on the publishing and the mixed-media sides of things, and above all else, all of you readers. Not a day goes by where I don't feel thankful. The only way I can think of to repay you is to write the most interesting stories I possibly can, so I plan to keep working as hard as I can. I'm going to give it my all! And as always, thanks to my family for all your support. And I'll sneak in an extra big thanks for my sister, who always gives me advice when I need it most. And one last giant thanks to my readers! It brings me such happiness to have my story read by so many people and in so many ways, both through novels and through manga. I'm going to go full speed ahead on the future volumes, so I hope you all look forward to it. And on that note, I pray we will reunite someday. As the world's skin peels back, the story will continue until it reaches its end. Thus, He Spoke He dreamed. A dream of long, long ago. He was being held up in a pair of warm, white arms. From the moment he was created, he had been complete. He was unseemly, and completely different from all other living creatures.