was already dead, she had nowhere to run. As long as she had vast quantities available for her consumption, she had little reason to inquire about their quality, nor did she have any need to consider the bill that might eventually come due. She could simply make like a swarm of locusts, descending and eating ravenously until nothing remained. Then, upon finishing one bloody plate, she could just toss it aside and move on to the next one. She would devour and devour with no regard paid for maintaining the world's balance and, in doing so, make herself ruler of the dining table. Elisabeth gave her tongue a small click. "Ah, I see... That explains her vast reserves of mana, I suppose." "We thought she had started a war on us, but we're not the only ones who have suffered losses. The mixed-race folk are in shambles as well. Lewis's grim legacy is loose. This is no longer a rebellion." Izabella shook her head, her jewel-like eyes burning with an unmistakable fury as she laid out the horrible truth. "Alice Carroll's only goal is to destroy the world." There was a truth Elisabeth knewâ€”a truth that Kaito Sena himself was living proof of. The "conception" possessed by those who met cruel deaths could form the basis for limitless magical growth. But what if there wasn't anything that the person in question wanted to accomplish? A hollow vessel had the power to change its shape at will. It was impossible to tell what it would give the world and what it would do. Would it love or would it hate? Would it be just or would it be evil? Lewis failed to see the implication...failed to notice the danger. As did Alice herself, for that matter. "This time, I'm going to accomplish everything I set out to do." Nobody even considered what would become of the script if that "everything" took a turn for the worse. Lewis's story of repentance, dreams, and hatred had laid the foundation. Once he was done atoning for all the people he hadn't been able to save, he dreamed of creating a perfect utopia. Just as Vlad pointed out, though, that dream was based on lies and self-deception. And on top of that, Alice was terribly young, and in the end, the innocence of her youth let her see through Lewis's smoke and mirrors. She had, in the truest sense of the word, inherited his hatred. Now she was trying to grant his most fervent wish. Love, hate, justice, and evil had nothing to do with it. Her sole aim was for everyone to die. That was all. And nothing more. Alice Carroll had broken beyond repair. Nobody could put her together again. All this was happening because Lewis had been killed. But that wasn't the whole story. The mixed-race people being killed had started it as well, as had Alice'sâ€”that was, Sara Yuuki'sâ€”brutal death. By now, they were all avengers. Everyone hated everyone. And the world kept on turning, just as properly as ever. And in that moment, a thought crossed Elisabeth's mind. A thought she couldn't afford to harbor. "...Why should Kaito have toâ€”?" "Elisabeth." Then, out of nowhere, she heard Kaito Sena's voice. It was the voice of one who had died to save the world. And it was a voice of one she adored dearly. "Please, never come to loathe this world again. No matter what happens, never internalize sin again. You and I worked together and protected this world. Please, never think it's not worth saving." *** It was like he had read Elisabeth's mind. She gasped. She was a hair's breadth from barking out an angry reply, but she stopped herself. Kaito Sena wasn't the one who'd said that. The words were his, but they were coming from the mouth of another. The speaker's gaze was gentle, and Elisabeth saw herself reflected in the woman's ashen eyes. The Torture Princess sighed, then posed a question to the Saint. "That's his message, then?" "It is. However, there's more. And if anything, the continuation is the most important part...but it would be best delivered after the current situation is dealt with. If this goes on, many will perish. It's an act of blasphemy against the world for me to be concerned about that, I know. But the necessity remains." "Aye... 'Tis imperative those fixed batteries be destroyed." Elisabeth shook her head, then clapped her cheeks to fire herself up. The Saint replied with a small nod, clutching at her tattered cloak as she turned her focus to the batteries. Elisabeth followed her gaze. The fixed batteries were lethally impeding their ability to fight Alice, and the reincarnators were beyond saving. Granting them a swift death was their best recourse. However, Elisabeth knew it wouldn't be that simple. A young girl stood smiling before the batteries. It was Alice Carroll. The Fremd Torturchen. If they wanted to make it easier to kill her, they needed to get past her first. A contradiction among contradictions. However, this was no time to be holding back. Elisabeth snapped her fingers with a bellow. "Splendid Executioner: The Boondock Saints!" "Oh my, it's so sparkly!" Alice's reaction was as innocent as could be. She held her hands up over her head, and a light flashed from between her fingers. Slabs of metal tumbled one after another from the eddy of darkness and crimson flower petals, each a massive blade designed to assemble into a grand executioner. As the metal purposefully wove itself together, it headed for the fixed batteries and obliterated themâ€”or rather, it tried to. However, the parts were struck before they could fall into place, and the hard metal shattered in midair. The pieces shifted back into crimson flower petals and splayed out like splashes of blood. But it wasn't a bombardment that had felled them. It was a lance strike. "My White Knight." Before Elisabeth's eyes, Alice was sitting astride a knight's horse. She was the very image of a fairy-tale princess. The knight guarding his young liege was picturesque as well, clad as he was in his pure-white armor. He glared down at everything that entered his gaze as he raised his helmet's visor. There was no emotion in his eyes, but his features bore a striking resemblance to the human half of Lewis's face. It had taken but a single strike from his lance to shatter the Executioner before it could finish forming. Alice chuckled. "Say, did you know? In the strange, strange world of Through the Looking-Glass, the White Knight is the only one who fights for Alice's sake from the very beginning. I would've liked for Father to get a chance to read Alice's wondrous stories. But now he can't. And he never will." Midway through, her voice took on a cold harshness. She stopped swaying her legs back and forth. As though reacting to his master's displeasure, the White Knight raised his lance aloft. Elisabeth immediately sensed the danger she was in. She mentally splayed out her hand, and the Torture Princess selected the appropriate card. "La Guillotine, Saint of Beheadings!" "And that's why it's time for me to get serious," Alice declared with a vacant look in her eyes. Elisabeth cast her spell. Six black-and-crimson swirls materialized in front of the Saint's briar wall. At the moment, that was the most Elisabeth was capable of deploying at once. A white doll burst out from each of them and landed heavy on the ground. They were white maidens, each made to embody the holiest of saints. Upon seeing them, the bona fide Saint narrowed her ashen eyes a smidgen. Before her, the maidens raised their heads. Their straight-cut silver hair swayed briskly. Without a moment's delay, Elisabeth clicked her heels. The maidens crossed their pale arms atop their chests, then spread them wide. Rectangular blades shot loudly from their elbows. The Knight gave his lance a mighty swing, and a fierce shock wave slammed into the blades. The first pair shattered, the second pair split, the third pair burst, the fourth pair split, and the fifth pair twisted. Only the sixth pair made it to Alice. "Too bad, so sad." Alice smiled and gave the blades a little poke. They crumbled into chunks, spilling down atop Alice's knees and bursting into crimson petals as they landed on her blue dress's skirt. Meanwhile, La Guillotines fell victim to the lance's aftershock as well. Their heads came off, their torsos contorted, and their limbs were shredded to ribbons. The maidens collapsed. Elisabeth fought to quell her panic, then let out a low murmur. "No match, huh? I see she's been eating well." This was no longer the same Alice Carroll as before. No more was she Alice, Lewis's beloved daughter. What was she, then? She was nothing and no one. Alice's white hair bobbed as she recited lines as though to introduce herself. "Beware the Jabberwock, my son! The jaws that bite, the claws that catch! ...Hee-hee, just kidding." She blinked her red eyes and smiled. A thought crossed Elisabeth's mind. What was Alice now? If she were forced to do the impossible and define her... ...then 'twould be "something that ought not to exist in this world." This was the result of an alien reincarnator having fulfilled a narrow set of conditions. She may not have been on Kaito Sena's level, but all the same, the world wasn't built to contain one such as she. The Saint's voice was dispassionate and barely louder than a whisper. "Well, this is a problem. The longer we remain at this standstill, the more people will perish, and the worse the situation will become." There was no sign of fear in her gaze, but her gray eyes wavered ever so slightly. Elisabeth nodded in agreement. The destruction was spreading, and Alice was only going to amass more mana as she claimed more victims. At the moment, though, the biggest problem was their current position. The thing was, they were standing before the temporary royal castle. It was the most strategically important location humanity had. The saints' greatest forcesâ€”La Mules, La Christophâ€”are already dead. And Vlad is no more. That leaves me, Izabella...and Jeanne de Rais, who's doubtless observing from some vantage point. If the three of us fall...mankind will be left without a path to victory. Elisabeth furrowed her brow as she thought. They had countless pieces at their disposal, but only a few assets with any real strength to them. The vast majority of their pieces were all but useless. It was the same reason why Kaito Sena had had to become the Mad King, way back when. Elisabeth could tell by that point, the plan to apprehend Alice and forcibly transfer Diablo to her was a pipe dream. The situation as it stood was that if they failed to kill her here and now, and instead fell in the process, humanity would not survive. Then there was the matter of those who felt the need to move about freely despite their complete and utter uselessness. "Lady Saint! We never expected to find Your Holiness in a place like this!" "What are you all doing out here?!" Izabella barked at the paladins. "Get back underground and protect the king!" "Butâ€”!" Despite her sharp rebuke, that was one order they were loath to follow, even coming from their esteemed commander. The small group had successfully made their way to the Saint unharmed. In all likelihood, Alice had spared them because she found them amusing. "But we have to help the Saint!" they argued back at Izabella. All emotion vanished from the Saint's ashen eyes, and she responded to their pleas in a voice void of warmth. "Did you people not hear of my loathing? I never loved you, and even now your faith is nothing more than a nuisance to me. Nearly all the tales your Church shared of me were rooted in mistakes and