"I shall be the White Rabbit. You shall be Alice. Your goal is to pursue me. I, and I alone, shall fight you all the way to the World's End. If I kill you on the way there, the win is mine. If you kill me and reach the crystal, the win is yours. In exchange, though, you shan't lay a hand on another living soul." "Ah, I see. Well, that's fine. I'll just kill them later. What about the people who help you, though?" "...Any who choose to involve themselves of their own volition are fair game. If you wish to kill them, then so be it. But you have to agree to leave everything else until afterward." That was the promise Elisabeth hoped to get out of Alice. And there was a pressing reason behind her proposal. Once Alice began her massacre, the world was done for. The Fremd Torturchen had finally become everything Lewis had hoped she would. It was similar to what would happen if Kaito Sena had wanted to destroy the world. Alice might not have been quite on his level, but what she'd been on the verge of starting was certainly in the same ballpark. For now, Elisabeth needed to delay Alice's rampage for as long as she could. "As the Torture Princess, I've gone all inâ€”how could the Fremd Torturchen possibly reject my wager?" "All right, Elisabeth. If you're willing to insist that hard, I'll play with you. I do want to give you an extra-special death, after all. For starters, you should go on back to the Capitalâ€”and when the time comes, I'll chase you." And with that, Alice accepted Elisabeth's invitation to the stage. Then she vanished. Leaving behind nothing but a promise to play a twisted game. Alice was gone. All that remained where she'd stood was a vast, devastated wasteland. Elisabeth let out a small exhale. She surreptitiously wiped away her sweat. That was close... It could all have ended right then and there. She was running on empty at the moment, and Izabella and Jeanne didn't stand a chance against Alice on their own. If Alice had killed Elisabeth, then turned her attention to the othersâ€”Izabella and Jeanne, the beastfolk, the Three Kings of the Forest, and the backup saintsâ€”and began her slaughter, they would all have been done for. The mere fact that Elisabeth had managed to secure that promise from her had been a stroke of good fortune. If nothing else, they had gained the new leeway that the game afforded them. At the same time, though, all that had done was delay their execution. Jeanne narrowed her eyes a bit, then tilted her head with the same expressionless look on her face as always. "What are you up to, you inscrutable lady? Buyin' us time ain't gonna be enough for us to take Alice down. It doesn't make much difference when we get smoked, you feel me? You got some sorta idea cookin' in that head of yours?" "Nay. But in a way, you could say I do." It was kind of an absurd thing for Elisabeth to say, given the imminent peril they were in. The women of gold and silver exchanged a glance. Elisabeth squeezed her eyes shut, then opened them back up. The words were all but impossible to believe in. At the moment, there were so few sureties in that world of theirs. Justice had perished long ago. Nothing was truly "good." Everyone was flying the flag of revenge. Places all over had been turned into hells on earth. It was so impossibly hard to find anything worth believing in. And yet even so, Elisabeth spoke. "That woman told me Kaito Sena's True Message." The Saint had stubbornly refused to give them her name. In the end, she'd only opened her mouth a single time more. And from her soft lips, the True Message had come. The Torture Princess relayed it. "'Do whatever you can to buy some time. Even a little will do.'" Just a little longer, Elisabeth. The words were clumsy, and they were fleeting, but at the same time, they represented a definite source of hope. 7 The Young King's Decision It's time for a story about a boy. The boy was a sad little person. He was timid, and cowardly, and gloomy to boot. Normally, it was hard for people like that to live exciting lives. However, this particular boy had been born as the heir apparent to the human throne. Although he himself never wished for anything of the sort, he was forcibly coronated and made to serve as king by those around him. On top of that, the boy didn't have a single person who believed in him. As he lived his solitary life, he ultimately made the choice to give in to his destiny. In the world, there was a single nitwit of a king. With great resignation, the boy chose to live a life that would be mocked in just that way. But the world betrayed that expectation, and the boy's destiny was radically transformed. It's time for a story of a hero. The world once very nearly met a tragic end. However, that seemingly immutable fate was altered by a single person. And the one who accomplished that miraculous feat was a boy who had reincarnated from another world. He got a chance at life, then had a number of experiences, some horrifying and some irreplaceable. Then after a long series of battles, he obtained a colossal amount of mana and used it to save someone precious to him. And while he was at it, he saved the world. By sacrificing himself. After burdening himself with God and Diablo, the boy fell into a deep slumber at the World's End. Thanks to his deeds, the people of the world managed to avoid the apocalypse. The greatest good for the greatest number was, surely, the greatest outcome. One could say they lived happily ever after. As an aside, there was also one little fact. Hardly any knew it, and it was of little true importance. As it turned out, though, the boyâ€”the human kingâ€”admired the hero deeply. Thus did the story of admiration and folly and love come to its end. And with it, for the first time, the story of Maclaeus Filliana the Craven King began. "It was the first time I ever had something I wanted to become. It was the first time I'd ever admired someone like that." "It was the first time I realized that it didn't matter that no one else believed in me." "I just had to become someone that I could believe in." "We don't have any problems with you buying time on your own. If anything, I think it's admirable." "But we're not about to sit here and let you choose the crystal as the finish line for your game!" "The same goes for that drivel from the Mad King! Who would ever be willing to put their faith in something so vague?!" "And how the hell could you let her set the Capital as your starting line?!" A chorus of angry shouts echoed through the provisional royal castle. After the battle against the Sand Queen and her encounter with Alice, Elisabeth had returned to mankind's territory. Once she got there, she gave her report about the promise that had been made. The reactions she got were about what she'd expected. As everyone dumped their verbal abuse on the Torture Princess, Elisabeth shook her head. It was all very grating on her ears. She knew that all their complaints were legitimate, but at the same time, she didn't hear any of them offering up better alternatives. After all, there wasn't a single person in the world who could take Alice in a fight. If they wanted a different method, though, Elisabeth herself had long since thought of one. We could simply let Alice carry out her massacre. Then, while she was preoccupied, Elisabeth would take Kaito Sena's crystal and hide it as well as she could. From there, all they would have to do was wait with bated breath for that "just a little longer" to pass. Compared to Elisabeth's game, that method would provide far greater security for the crystal and make averting total destruction that much easier. However, it also carried the serious possibility that by the time the end came, humanity would have suffered too great a blow. Even if some form of salvation were to come, it would be pointless if most of the people receiving it were already dead. And what's more, there's no telling what state God is in over Kaito's body. 'Tis crucial we consider the possibility that if the destruction crosses a certain threshold, it will commence with the reconstruction... And even if it doesn't wake, the rebuilding efforts to come will demand considerable manpower. Even if the mother yet lives, a world without children has no future. Either way, they had no choice but to trust Kaito Sena's words. And if they wanted to take the option that prevented a massacre from occurring, offering the crystal up as a prize would be an essential part of that. After all, that was the bait they needed to get Alice to come running. From there, all they could do was buy as much time as possible before Alice reached it. That said, Elisabeth was going to have a hard time pulling that off on her own. Still, she couldn't exactly just go up and ask others for help. Any who took part in this upcoming battle would be heading to their deaths. There wasn't a soul who stood a chance against Alice, and that was even before taking the Sand Queen's battle into account. As the voices of dissent filled the air, Elisabeth quietly spoke. "I hear no alternate suggestions, so this is the way it shall be. Now, I can't promise any will survive, but...if there are any who would be willing nonetheless, I beseech you to lend me your aid. As for everyone else, I recommend you find somewhere you can hide in utter silence." Elisabeth had more or less resolved to fight this battle alone. At the moment, her mana reserves had largely recovered. Her encounter with the Grand King had led her to start keeping stockpiles of her own blood, and the transfusion had worked wonders. Now that she could stand on her own two feet again, she had no intention of lambasting any who chose to flee. She owed her life to Kaito Sena. His love had saved her. That meant that all of this, everything that was happening and everything that was going to happen, was her story. Averting her eyes and passing the buck wasn't an option. Silence descended on the room. However, there was one person who moved. It was the human kingâ€”Maclaeus. He solemnly rose to his feet, then laid a hand atop his chest and spoke. "Anyone who wants to run should run. The Fremd Torturchen will probably come to the castle first, so I'm going to stay here. That way, I'll be able to send out evacuation orders as Alice and Madam Elisabeth fight. I can handle communications on my own, so by all means, if you want to go, then go." "Maclaeus?" Elisabeth looked at him in astonishment. It was true enough the kingdom of man could replace their leader with little trouble. There were plenty of other people who could serve as king. Back during Ragnarok, though, the Craven King had fled. By all rights, Maclaeus should've been more scared of what was going on than anyone. Elisabeth shot him a questioning glance. Are you sure about this? However, he didn't answer her. That in and of itself was his answer. There was no need for him to put it into words. Maclaeus had steeled his resolve. He squeezed his fists tight in a way