clicking sounded out from beside him. Kaito's eyes went wide. Silky black hair was fluttering right next to him, as was a dress with its inside dyed scarlet. A woman wearing a provocative bondage dress passed from his side and began walking in front of him. Kaito tried to call out to her pale back. But before he could, her usual chilly voice rang out and interrupted him. "Do not make light of me, Kaito. Just who do you think I am?" She looked over her shoulder, straight at him. Her crimson eyes blazed with pride. Then the woman who had been forsaken by all of creation made her firm declaration. "I am the Torture Princess, Elisabeth Le Fanu. I am the proud wolf and the lowly sow." Upon hearing those words, Kaito closed his eyes. Then he nodded with a faint, defeated smile on his face. After slowly opening his eyes, he found himself involuntarily blinking repeatedly. Elisabeth was standing before him and giving him a gentle smile. Kaito released the tension from his shoulders and, without hesitation, extended his hand toward Elisabeth as though inviting her to dance. And just like before, she laid her hand on top of his. Kaito enveloped her pale palm in his beastly left hand. Then the two of them began walking in the howling dog's direction. "...H-hwah!" "I see you've finally risen, O unworthy master of mine. Had you taken but a moment longer, I was thinking of devouring you whole." "You really must do something about that temper of yours, Kaiser. But the fact remains that you successfully woke up my dear successor and my precious daughter, and for that I am grateful. It would be rather dull for them to die here, not to mention the fact that I'd be taken along as well." As he awoke, Kaito turned toward the obnoxious voices. Ignoring the man and the beast, he looked over his surroundings. The King's faces had vanished, and the fleshy walls had returned to their original state. But he and Elisabeth had toppled over and were being sucked into the floor. Creepy red fibers had already started crawling their way across their bodies. If he'd been out any longer, he would have been in trouble. As he ripped apart the muscle fibers, which had even begun burrowing under his skin, Kaito spoke in an annoyed tone. "...Hey, Kaiser. I'm glad you called for me; that was helpful. But would it have killed you to drag me out before I got like this?" "I said that I planned to consume you if you failed to wake, did I not? That was the point at which I intended to retrieve you." "Are you kidding me? I'm begging you, man, do something about that temper of yours. I can't shake the feeling that you're really gonna eat me one of these days." Kaito plucked out the roots of the flesh that had been ensnaring him. Blood gushed out from the little holes they'd bored in his skin. However, Kaito didn't particularly care. He looked to his side, then called out to his partner in root plucking. "...Elisabeth." She didn't respond, simply rising to her feet without a word. As she wiped away the filth from her dress, Elisabeth turned toward the demonic fetus. After staring intently at it for a moment, she gave Kaito his orders. "I will deal with this thing. Your task is to kill the King and Grand Monarch before they can attack." "All right, got it." Her voice was as cold as always, as though nothing had happened. Kaito nodded. The two of them stood back to back. They both raised their arms, as though carrying out executions. Then they spoke in unison. "Behead." "â€”La (rend)." Kaito and Elisabeth swung their blades. The loud, splattering noise of meat being cut echoed across the room. The hearts in front of Kaito tore, and blood began gushing out of them. As their chunks scattered around the room, two corpses rolled pitifully atop the mess. Their bodies were dissolved, but they could just barely be identified as a man and a woman. The King and Grand Monarch were dead. Realizing that marked the end of their long battle, Kaito breathed a sigh. As he did, a tense voice called out from behind him. "...I cannot kill it." "Huh?" "My blade cannot pierce this baby!" After hearing Elisabeth's words, Kaito whirled around. The fleshy cocoon pulsated. It should have been cut clean through, but it didn't have so much as a scratch on it. Then it swelled from within, and red cracks started appearing on its suspiciously shining surface. Then its membrane tore, and a gray hand extended out from within. All at once, the amniotic fluid rushed out and soaked Kaito and Elisabeth's feet. Kaito stared in mute horror at the scene that unfolded before him. Something had flopped out onto the floor. An innocent laugh, one that fit neither the time nor the place, rang out. "...Ha-ha!" Before their very eyes, a demonic baby had been born into the world. 7 The Final Battle The baby's body was warped. Its head was far too large, and its abdomen was swollen like a pregnant woman's. Furthermore, its shoulder blades were overgrown, making it look almost as though it had wings. It began trying to crawl. However, it was largely unsuccessful. Its efforts only produced more sickening sounds of flesh slapping against flesh. Eventually, it looked up and weakly stuck its hands out in front of itself. "Ma-ma, hya-hee...hee-hee." Even though it had just been born, it was already calling for its mother. But there was no way of knowing what mother it was referring to nor how it was even forming words in the first place. "Pendulum." Without a shred of hesitation, Elisabeth snapped her fingers. A blade hanging from a chain swung down from the fleshy ceiling, then stopped in midair. It changed directions, then went flying toward the baby. Then its blade collided with the baby's massive head. There was a distorted splorch. But the baby was still alive. "Ahh-haa!" The blade had definitely sunken into the baby's head. But it hadn't broken the skin. *** "Hee-hee-hee-hee!" The baby laughed, having mistaken being attacked for some kind of game. After grabbing the blade with its fat fingers, the baby pulled it from its head. Then it yanked down, hard. Its silver chain loudly snapped. Elisabeth's eyes went wide. The blade and chain fell quickly, slicing through the organs directly under them and crushing them. A massive avalanche of brain tissue rushed forth. It seemed that the baby had taken an interest in it. Grabbing a handful of the gray matter, the baby shoved it in its mouth and stuffed its cheeks full. Munch, munch. "Is it...eating that stuff?" Kaito's murmur was full of disgust. But the baby didn't swallow the brains. After coming into contact with the baby's saliva, everything it had chewed on had turned gray. The dust, which looked like ashes of the deceased, gently piled up. Apparently, the baby wasn't "eating" so much as "destroying" its target. It was impossible to guess which of its other actions were connected to destruction as well. As it meaninglessly transformed the brain tissue in its mouth to ash, the infant giggled with pleasure. As he watched it, a thought crossed Kaito's mind. That thing isn't good or evil. It lay far outside any framework of human morality. The problem was that they weren't able to kill it. The baby bit and tore at all the organs around it. It then began chewing on the blade and turning it to ash as well. Elisabeth hurriedly snapped her fingers and made the torture device vanish. Having had its toy confiscated, the baby nearly threw a tantrum. However, it quickly grabbed onto another chunk of meat. Kaito carefully observed it. At the moment, the baby didn't have a complete ego. But living things have a tendency to grow. What in the world would it become by the time it reached maturity? Or I guess what I should worry about is...what happens when it gets interested in us? Right as that fear crossed Kaito's mind, the baby lost interest in the lifeless meat. It turned its large head and looked directly at Kaito and Elisabeth. As it did, Elisabeth and the Kaiser exchanged a fleeting glance. Ash tumbled out of the baby's bloodstained mouth. Even though it had only just been born, its entire body released an aura of death as it laughed. "Ahyah?" "We must abscond at once, daughter of Vlad!" "Obviously!" The Kaiser shouted, and Elisabeth responded. Immediately afterward, the Kaiser grabbed Kaito's collar in his teeth and tossed him into the air. Elisabeth jumped on the Kaiser's back. As he'd aimed, Kaito fell directly behind her. Then the Kaiser took off at a terrific speed. "Hwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! Urkâ€”" Kaito almost bit his tongue at the sudden acceleration. As the Kaiser sprinted along on his sturdy, muscular legs, a revolting noise came from behind him. Kaito turned to look. The baby was chasing them. When Kaito saw the way it moved, he felt goose bumps appear over his entire body. The baby didn't even know how living things were supposed to move their bodies. The way the baby completely ignored the natural bends of its joints made its movement akin to that of a mollusk. It spilled blood and shaved away at the ground as it went. But for whatever reason, the Kaiser made his way not toward the entrance to the mass of flesh as he fled from the baby but deeper within. Kaito shouted out in panic as he clung to the Kaiser's thick neck. "Weren't we supposed to be running away?!" "Not on your life, boy! I cannot abide that shameless fool survivingâ€”it's a blight on the pride of demons! For the sake of our pride, I will have you end that thing!" "But how?!" "Worry not. The daughter of Vlad has an idea. I shall tell you this while I have the chance, boy!" "What?" "Try not to die, O unworthy master of mine!" On that ominous note, the Kaiser came to an abrupt stop. Kaito and Elisabeth went flying into the air. Elisabeth landed atop the meaty floor gracefully, and Kaito somehow managed to land as well. The pathway in front of them was blocked off by a wall. They had reached a dead end. It would appear they were in the deepest part of the fleshy mass. When Kaito turned around, he found that the baby was already coming into view. Assailed by primal fear, he snapped his fingers. But between its fat, pudgy fingers, the baby caught the blade that Kaito had materialized. "Ooh?" With a confused expression on its face, the baby gnawed on the tip of the blade. Ashes spilled out of its mouth. Kaito choked back his spit out of tension and hopelessness. We can't let that thing get outside. But we can't just let it eat us, either. What is Elisabeth planning on doing? "Pillory!" Elisabeth shouted as he was thinking. Darkness and crimson flower petals swirled around the baby. Two long horizontal planks with two holes in each appeared. They snapped open, then clamped shut around the baby's wrists and ankles. The planks caused its limbs to stick out. Having had its hands and feet sealed, the baby tilted its head to the side. But the planks' power would only be enough to hold the baby for a moment. As that misgiving crossed Kaito's mind, Elisabeth spoke. "'Tis enough." It was as though she'd read his mind. At the same time, the fleshy walls surrounding Kaito began to tremble. He looked around in a panic. They'd held their rigidity up until then, but the flesh was beginning to go limp and wriggly. Unable to maintain its posture, the bound baby tumbled from side to side. The walls began restlessly