in his mad gamble. Kaito raised his left hand, bristling with demonic energy, and fixed his gaze on the Grand Marquis. Hina, being cradled in his other, squeezed out her voice through her gasps. "Master Kaito...did you merge with a demon? With the Kaiser?" "Nope. But because I didn't have enough mana to even make a contract, I had to give up the flesh and blood in my left arm, leaving the demon's flesh in its place. Because the blood running through me is still Elisabeth's, I can pull out more of the mana within it than before. And one other thing." At that point, Kaito stopped talking. The Grand Marquis had made his move. In order to carry out the Grand King's order, he attempted to remove the interloperâ€”Kaito. The man, still clad in black, cylindrical clothes, bobbed through the air with the beak of the crow mask covering his wide-open face. He tried to spew yet more flames. Kaito calmly watched the Grand Marquis. The amount of mana at the Grand Marquis's disposal was far beyond what Kaito commanded. I may have collected all that pain, but I still don't have enough power. There was no way he could reach the lofty heights Elisabeth stood upon, and he was a long way off from matching the Grand Marquis as well. However, there were two facts that stood in his favor. The first was that the Grand Marquis was still in his human form. The Grand King might not have wanted something so hideous serving her, but in any case, the Grand Marquis still hasn't revealed his fully fused form. He isn't operating at max power. If he wanted to win, now was his chance. Kaito snapped his fingers. Darkness and azure flames swirled, gathering the corpses of underlings scattered around him and piling them up as though with a magnet. Their limbs cracked and bent as they formed a giant tower. It was a technique he was modeling after one that the necromancer Marianne had once used. Then he gave his order. "La (become)." As he did, the Grand Marquis released his flame. The stacked corpses' flesh burned up in a flash. However, their bones and bodily fluids had been strengthened by magic, hardening like tempered glass and repelling the flames. Additional flames swirled within the Grand Marquis's mouth as he tried to follow up on his attack. However, right before he could, the flames blinked out. "...Did it work?" Snapping his fingers, Kaito let his defensive barrier of bones collapse. After confirming what had happened, his lips curled into a wicked grin. The Grand Marquis's neck was snapped horizontally. Blood spurted out of his torn carotid artery with every heartbeat. A massive hound was resting its leg lightly atop the nape of his neck, as though holding down a plaything. The black dog, whose eyes burned with hellfire and who had attacked the Grand Marquis from behind, grinned as it bit his body from the head down. The Kaiser then tossed the Grand Marquis casually into the air and caught him in its mouth. As though it were eating a snack, the Kaiser crunched down on the Grand Marquis's body. Kaito finally listed the "one other thing" he'd mentioned earlier. "Like Vlad, I can call upon the Kaiser for help." "The Kai...ser? Why is the Kaiser here...? Damn you, Vlad! Vlad, are you listening? No...you should be dead. But this situation! Surely you must have made a copy of your soul or something, no? Oh, this is just dreadful... What in the blazes have you done?!" The Grand King was screaming. The fact that she'd immediately suspected Vlad, despite the fact that he was dead, went to show just how well she knew her old friend. In response to her cries, Kaito drew the clear stone from his pocket. ...Is he planning on coming out? As he wondered, Kaito ran magical energy through the stone. The next moment, black feathers and azure rose petals swirled, and an aristocratic phantom appeared nonchalantly. As he stood grandly atop the battlefield, he gave a light shrug. "Well, well, it's been a while, Grand King. I've been hearing quite a bit about you. You've been running a bit wild, haven't you? Good to see you're doing well." "Is...is that all you have to say?" "Hmm? That was a fairly conventional greeting, no?" "What do you think you're doing, Vlad?! Allowing Elisabeth's servant to form a contract with the Kaiser?! Because of you, demons are fighting other demons! You've gone mad!" "Well now, this is a surprise. I'd rather not think that anyone who made a contract with a demon was could possibly be considered sane." Vlad stroked his chin in contemplation. The Grand King clutched her broken fan even tighter as her lips quivered in hatred. Seeing her bald-faced indignation, Vlad nodded once and loudly clapped his hands together. "While it seems that you're rather displeased, I ask that you do overlook this! After all, I currently find myself sealed within a stone, nothing more than a pitiable replica of a soulâ€”indeed, an inferior version of what 'I' once was. Given my current situation, I'm more loathe than ever to give up sources of entertainment." "Even so, youâ€”you wretchâ€”you mean to say you're betraying me?" "Betrayal is such a rude way to put it, I should think. When I was alive, I put a great deal of thought into the futureâ€”and of course, into you as part of thatâ€”as I commanded the demons. However, you refused to rescue me, instead choosing to live freely and value yourself above all else. I believe most would describe that as breaking off our friendship. And more power to you! People should live their own lives. I died, you lived, and you chose to use our brethren to your own ends. And it was your right to do as such. But for you to do so and then accuse me of betrayal for simply living as I see fit is rather vexing." "You abomination, that's your logic?!" "I mean, just look at the boy!" After having carefully laying out his shameless reasoning, Vlad suddenly pointed at Kaito. He then began boasting, like a breeder who'd just found a good puppy. His expression seemed practically innocent. "If Kaito Sena descends into evil, that would be splendidâ€”he will no doubt become my successor. However, if he sees his obstinance through, then my investment will have been for naught. It's an all-or-nothing gamble. I was never much of a gambler in life, but this is rather entertainingly mindless fun. If there ends up being a victim or two or several along the way, then so be it. Indulging and stealing are at the core of demon philosophy, are they not?" "You plan to steal from me, too, then?" "You pierced your own comrades with your needles when you could have simply taken over in my stead and unified them. Don't you think it's odd, then, that you so fervently wish not to be betrayed? And it's not as if I intended to betray youâ€”as a side note, shall I tell you my true feelings on the matter?" Vlad looked at the Grand King with eyes full of affection. When he spoke, the camaraderie in his voice was probably the exact same as it had been back in the days that they had livened up balls together. "I would love if you let go of your grief and died to your heart's content for me." "Oh, I'm well aware... Oh yes, I knew, Vlad; I always knew! I knew that was the kind of man you were! That's right... Ever since then, there hasn't been a single person deserving of my trust...! Oh, my poor, ugly gardener..." The words tumbled out of the Grand King's mouth. Deep hatred and a complicated sadness crossed her face. "...Why did you have to die on me?" Her lip trembled a little bit. With the Grand Marquis and Marquis having met their untimely ends, the Grand King was out of pieces to play. She had no demons left that she could force to spit out their hearts. From her perspective, although the foe before her was far lower-class then she was, he was endowed with the Kaiser, whose abilities would normally be far greater than hers. However, her expression suddenly did a complete about-face. She laughed proudly and then grabbed the collar of her dress with both hands. "Fine, thenâ€”good, evil, it's all the same." Then the Grand King pulled her scarlet dress down. Her bountiful breasts popped out. As her surviving underlings began raising their voices in excitement, she revealed her ample bust. However, her flesh started making a ghastly creaking noise, caving in, and dissolving. Her naked body, which looked like that of a goddess or a personification of beauty, was breaking down. Her skin rotted, her flesh peeled off in chunks, and her ribs became exposed. Her atrocious transformation spread. From within the frame of her crinoline dress, her legs rapidly became slender and skeletal as well. As she shed her unseemly flesh, what remained of the Grand King's lips curled into a sweet smile. "No matter how I amuse myself, live out my days, and dieâ€” that's all there is to the world. That's all there is to me. As such, I shall smile till the end. Oh, and lover boy? Make no mistake..." For the first time, the Grand King turned her gaze to Kaito. Her scarlet eyes pierced through him. Her cheeks continued to erode, and her soft lips had split vertically and were dripping away. But even though only her skull remained, her voice called out from somewhere and made her declaration. "...You may have become a decent man, but the fact remains that I hold the advantage." She laughed. By this point, her top half was completely skeletal. Suddenly, her scarlet dress began expanding. Her skeleton and the cloth grew in sync. Her rings popped off, and she loudly crushed her palanquin. A few of her underlings got caught beneath it and were crushed to death. Their screams were ecstatic. The surviving underlings fell to their knees and prostrated themselves. What remained was a massive skeleton wearing a fluttering crimson skirt, its birdcage-like frame peeking out. Her form was grotesque, yet somehow, she retained her elegance. While releasing an aura that would drive fear into any who saw her, her teeth rattled and clattered. "Now, lover boy, rejoice. I, Fiore, the Grand King, have forsaken my unparalleled, world-famous beauty in order to face you." The skeleton gave a refined bow as she made her declaration. Still holding Hina, Kaito's whole body went tense. Vlad, who was standing beside him, shrugged and spoke in an exasperated tone. "Forsaken her beauty, eh...? Now see, this is what makes women so troublesome." "Y'know, Vlad... I'm pretty sure this happened because you pissed her off." "Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha, perish the thought. This was bound to happen sooner or later. So what do you intend to do? The Grand King's power is mind control. In a one-on-one battle, her power is far below that of the Kaiser. However, that was only the case when I was his master. With you at the helm, the Kaiser is fairly clearly inferiorâ€”oh, careful there." "Cease your falsehoodsâ€”you say I would lose to that fool?" The black dog's jaws gouged Vlad's back once more. Ignoring their little comedy routine, Kaito gently set Hina on the ground. Before she could say anything, he snapped his fingers. The strengthened bones from earlier danced and then formed a protective hemisphere around her. Hina frantically called out: "Master Kaito, I can stillâ€”" Her voice faded to a mumble as she was enclosed in bone. After casting a lingering, affectionate gaze toward the bone wall, Kaito wrenched his eyes free. Shaking his head, Vlad continued speaking. "Well then, shall we put an end to the tomfoolery and get serious for a