she saw her face. Long ago, when a solitary genius destroyed the world, atoned, and hated, she probably wore the exact same expression. "Let me tell you something about me, Elisabeth. I was powerless to do anything. Yet for the longest, longest time, I only wanted one single thingâ€”I wanted to protect the world. I can't believe it took me so long to remember, but...I once...had a dream." Droplets of blood, too many of them to count, rained down from her body. A change began taking place in the ground. Briars began growing from the bloodstains, like the earth itself had just received mana from the heavens. They grew at a shocking rate, faster than they ever had before. Roses bloomed all over. Petals fell from the sky, painting a pattern of azure and crimson roses onto everything they touched. The wind carried them, and the magic propagated. After spreading outward without end, they began glowing. The lines spread all across the Capital, and at the center of them all, Alice's childish face contorted. "What is this? Why, I don't even know. I can't decipher the pattern, no matter how hard I look. What's...going on?" "My technical command is still unparalleled, if nothing else. I lost most of my mana when I transferred God and Diablo out of my body. I suppose I only have myself to blame. Now I find myself in a state where I can be forced to yield in the face of overwhelming violence. For now, though, I ask that you accompany me, O ye who would replace me as the enemy of the world," the Saint intoned. The cold, rational part of Elisabeth finally realized somethingâ€”there was no need to actually stop her. During the battle, the Saint had determined that she couldn't hold out for long, and so she'd made her choice. And part of that choice had involved using a once-in-a-lifetime technique to draw the largest teleportation circle anyone had ever seen. Roses rained down from the heavens, and countless petals danced through the air in celebration. It made for an extravagant, gorgeous sight. It was like they were trying to paint a beautiful painting atop a canvas with nothing on it. Their painting had nothing but beauty, but oh, how beautiful it was. "What was your real name, Saint?!" Seized by impulse, Elisabeth shouted. This was her last chance. She needed to know. Just as the Mad King was Kaito Sena, so too must she have had a name. Whether or not ignorance was a sin, it was certainly at least sad. Elisabeth couldn't let things end without anyone having ever heard it. A look of mute shock crossed the Saint's face. A few seconds later, her expression softened for the first time. And then she merely shook her head. She murmured gently. "I never gave him a name." And so it's fine. This is right. "What could possibly be right about that?!" Elisabeth screamed. Long ago, Kaito Sena had once expressed a similar sentiment about the Butcher's decision. However, the Saint stubbornly refused to give them her name. She only opened her mouth a single time more. And from her soft lips, the True Message came. Elisabeth's eyes went wide. However, she didn't have time to reply. The petals' dance grew into a storm, and the light flashed. It wasn't just in the plaza thereâ€”everyone attacking the Capital got sucked in. The Saint's smile faded from view, as did the tears running down her cheeks. She was losing the last vestiges of her human expression. And there, at the very end, she murmured as though she could hear something. "You're right... I had fun, too... And so..." Thank you so much for being born unto me. And as she spoke to the empty air, the Saint vanished and took Alice with her. To fight on her own, and to die alone. "That didn't...just happen, right? Lady Saint... Lady Saint!" "We just bore witness to a miracle. For what would you call that, if not a miracle?!" The various paladins' shouts echoed through the space where their foe no longer was. As they clamored, they stared straight ahead. Alice and the fixed batteries were still alive. The Saint was going to die by their hands. That was a certainty. However, that meant that the Capitalâ€”and the worldâ€”would survive for that much longer. On top of that, the scene before them was well deserving of being called a miracle. It wasn't clear how it worked, but even now that the light had died out, the briars still remained. Their vines were wound in intricate patterns, and they stretched into the sky in the shape of a cross. And what's more, the entire sublime fixture was still covered in azure and crimson flower petals. Each time the wind blew, it filled the air with a dancing cloud of colors. As the petals landed among her raven locks, Elisabeth had a thought. True enough. This is a miracle. In the end, the sinner who tried to save the world, that solitary genius, powerless to do anything, had brought about the impossible. 2 Chaos Returns Long ago, the Saint thought once more in that blank, white world. Why had she tried to save them all? Given how things had turned out, it couldn't be described as anything other than a flight of fancy driven by a serious case of arrogance and conceit. A fatal mistake, one brought about by the sense of omnipotence that accompanied the possession of great power. Yet in her heart of hearts, she couldn't bring herself to consider what she had tried to do as worthy of scorn or rebuke. It had been clear as day that if she hadn't done anything, the world would have fallen into ruin. And it was just as evident that, even knowing that fact, nobody else had tried to act. That was why she had fought on her own for so long. To save them all. However, she had been assailed by profound regrets. After all, what had she been left with after salvation had been carried out? In the end, what of hers, what of anyone's had she been able to save? Nothing. Nothing at all. Just like when she was young, she hadn't been able to save anything. But this, this nowâ€”this was different. It was an inelegant conclusion, to be sure. And it had come far too late. People might well point fingers and laugh at her. But that was fine. She had finally regained that which she had forgotten. And she had managed to salvage one thing from that long, long suffering and those many, many failures. She had protected that which the child she abandoned loved. In the end, perhaps she merely wanted someone to say it to her. Perhaps she wanted to think it about herself. Thank you so much for being born. At long last, the solitary genius realized that, and in doing so, the Saint finished carrying her burden. That, and that alone, was enough to give meaning to her entire tragedyâ€”her entire farce. "And I lived happily ever after." A new miracle had taken place, and the Capital was saved. However, things were far from over. All those who hadn't borne witness wanted to know the truth. What had just happened exactly? And just what kind of peril was confronting the world? It was imperative that they explain the events to the young king Maclaeus Filliana. Powerful people were going to come to him looking for answers. The Church, in particular, was going to be abuzz like a poked beehive. It made sense, after all. The Saint had sacrificed herself and gone willingly to her death. It wasn't hard to imagine how people would react to something like that. Elisabeth knew all that, but she chose to neglect her reporting duties regardless. The Saint may have completely stopped her in her tracks, but the time that buys us is limited. 'Twould make for a fine joke if I were to spend that time all tied up alongside Izabella. The Saint had turned her life into a precious hourglass. There were a million things they needed to do while the Saint held Alice at bay at their teleportation destination, and their sand was running out. Elisabeth started out by having Izabella give her info on all the towns and villages she'd gotten distress calls from. Then she left the plaza, which was still astir regarding the miracle, and put down the remaining demon grandchildren and fixed batteries as fast as she could. With their foes in disarray, now was their best chance to thin their ranks and cut off the accumulation of pain at the source. As she did, she sent out a message. I presume the Saint is fighting Alice and her company at the spot where she herself was sealed awayâ€”the abyss in the World's End. The question becomes, then, how should weâ€”how can weâ€”spend this time she's bought us? Elisabeth looked at the ceiling as she sank into thought. It was adorned with living flowers. After teleporting and teleporting and teleporting some more, she had ultimately made her way to a darkened manor. Its long hallways were coated in a thin layer of dust. She leaned clandestinely against the white wall. Then she silently watched the flowers daintily sway as she waited for her message's recipients to reply. Suddenly, though, she heard a laugh that sounded almost human boom from close by. She cast her gaze in the corresponding direction, then scoffed as she spotted a particularly dense patch of darkness. "Hello, Kaiser. And what exactly have you been doing all this time? Lazing about, no doubt." "What an insolent tongue you have, foolish child. Would you like me to make offal of it? Perhaps I should just crush your skull between my jaws," the Kaiser replied. He revealed himself from the darkness and melted into view. He was a black dog the size of a small cow, and he flashed his jagged fangs. Elisabeth, wholly undaunted, just gave him another scoff. "Ha. If you wish to try me, then by all means, do so. Unlike your former contractor Kaito, you'll find me a good deal harder to gobble downâ€”as you're well aware. Now, I ask you again. What is it you've been doing?" "The stage wasn't suitable for me, is all. A more fitting moment is yet to come. So to kill time, I was simply watching people suffer. You know, like going out to watch a show." Geh-heh-heh-heh-heh-heh, fu-heh-heh-heh-heh-heh, geh-heh-heh-heh-heh-heh. The Kaiser laughed, his voice shrill and cacophonous. Elisabeth shrugged. In truth, her comments had been toothless. She knew full well that the Kaiser's presence wouldn't have been enough to tip the scales. He could have forced Alice into a war of attrition like the Saint did, and perhaps he would have done an even better job than she had. However, it was as he said. Doing so would have taken him off the board for good. And besides, no mere human could give orders to the Kaiser and expect him to follow them anyhow. As yet, 'tis still unclear who his contractor is, and his aims are just as opaque. Elisabeth stared intently at the Kaiser's sable frame. She was on the verge of asking him the answers to those questions, but he spoke first, cutting her off as though to say he couldn't be bothered explaining himself. "I have a question for you, foolish child." "And what might that be? I must say, I never took you for the inquisitive type." "It's true. I'm not, by nature, but something about the situation piqued my curiosity." The black dog slapped the ground lightly with his sleek tail. The hellfire in his eyes flickered. Looking at him, he seemed like one who had transcended mortal understanding, yet the words the supreme hound spoke next had a shockingly human feel to them. "The Accumulation