Queen. All she needed to do was draw his attention her way. However, she didn't get a chance to activate so much as a single torture device. For the Sand Queen did something wholly unexpected. "Gu............Gu r u............Gi.........Ru r u.........Rurururu......Ru.........gi............" After a bewildering cry, she hung her head low. Then she ran her long tongue across the lake of spilled blood. Dark mana welled up within, and the surface of the lake burst into flames. The Sand Queen slowly began submerging herself in the black fire. Her mind'sâ€”Aguina'sâ€”destructive impulses clearly weren't being directed at the hidden demi-human village. "Ah, I see... Broken as you are, you would still choose as such," Elisabeth murmured quietly. She analyzed the spell that had been cast on the black lake. Although the Sand Queen's method deviated from the norm, she was trying to teleport. And with Aguina being the blood purist he was, it wasn't difficult to guess what destination his unconscious mind would choose. He would head to the lands of the purebloods' biggest threatâ€”the humans. Elisabeth reached her verdict instantly. The Sand Queen's already begun her teleportation, and stopping her halfway is beyond us. She hurried over to the lake. As she ran, she conjured up a whirl of black darkness and crimson flower petals and, without slowing down, drew Executioner's Sword of Frankenthal from within. She gave it a firm swing downward. The swing sliced her own left arm clean off. Her blood poured out and splattered atop the parched sand. Elisabeth didn't close the wound. Not right away, at least. Instead, she splashed its gushing crimson flow into the black lake. It was like watching a dance. Or like someone mixing poison into water. "â€”La (become)." The spell she wove was one the Torture Princess rarely used. She was tampering with the Sand Queen's teleportation magic. The Sand Queen had less blood at her disposal than the beastfolk did when they sent the Three Kings out of their nation, and furthermore, she had no incantations to support her. Thanks to those vulnerabilities, Elisabeth was able to successfully influence her spell. In doing so, the Torture Princess skillfully shifted the destination site. The Sand Queen dived into the blackness none the wiser, and her massive frame vanished completely. The moment it did, the ground around the lake's perimeter began violently moving. Sand spilled into the newly formed hole like it was being swallowed up by an ant lion pit. As the quicksand swirled in every direction, it made its way down into black depths and began filling in the lake. With one of her arms missing, Elisabeth quickly lost her balance. Fortunately, Lute was able to catch her just in the nick of time. "Ho-whoop!" With a strange cry, he yanked her back to safety. However, the excess momentum caused him to collapse on his backside. He got sucked up in the sand's flow like so many ants. On seeing that, Elisabeth calmly conjured up a rope. She started by tying off her left arm to stop the bleeding, then threw the other end at Lute and caught him by the tail. She reeled him in like the catch of the day. "I appreciate the save!" she shouted. "Now, get on back here yourself, Lute!" "Oh, what a shameful way for me to get caught! Thank you for the assistance. I must say, though... Owwwww." Having his beloved tail squeezed like that brought tears to Lute's eyes. Yet somehow, he managed to drag himself back up. That was when a vermilion, lizard-headed demi-human chose to pop up. "I would ask if you two are all right...but I can see the answer for myself!" It was Randgrof. Elisabeth was surprised. Apparently, he had chosen not to hide with the other purebloods. His good nature was clear to see, as was his sense of duty. He helped Lute to his feet. Then he plucked up Elisabeth's arm before the sand had a chance to swallow it up and offered it back to her. He seemed a little daunted, but he spoke up all the same. "I imagine a mage like you can reattach it, no? Come on, we need to get out of here!" "Nimbly done. You have my thanks. Let us be off, then!" Elisabeth loosened her rope, then forcibly pressed her arm against her stump and squeezed down on the seam as she fell back alongside Randgrof and Lute. Once they'd reached a safe distance, she turned to look back. Her eyes went wide. Both the black lake and the fire were gone without a trace. In their place, a hexagonal tower of sand rose high into the sky. It was the exact same shape as the demi-human sanctuaries, and it was cracked on the edges like over-pounded sugar candy. Then, all at once, the tower crumbled. A dry yellow wind blew past. When it faded, there was nothing there. Abruptly, Randgrof fell to his knees. He must have heard Lute's shout earlier, as he let out a vacant murmur. "Father... Her Majesty the Sand Queen... What the hell is even happening? I don't..." Elisabeth and Lute had no reply to that. They just stared at the space before them. The Sand Queen had vanished off to the human lands. And with her, she had brought death and destruction anew. A calamity cometh. A calamity cometh. To all the people of the land. It was like an apostle's proclamationâ€”the calamity that was the Sand Queen was on the move. By all rights, she should have already been burning the human territories to the ground. However, Elisabeth had interfered with her destination site and changed it to a mountain range far to the east. There were no houses there, nor did anyone harvest any natural resources from the area. It was about as far from human habitation as you could get. That bought humanity a little time to try to come up with countermeasures. However, preventing the Sand Queen's invasion altogether had been beyond Elisabeth, and the prospects of them being able to stop her en route were slim. After all, her wounds had already been patched up. Furthermore, she still had enough mana in her to wreak all manners of destruction. The broken toy had been repaired, and her key had been wound back up. What was mankind to do, now that they were faced with this new peril? Elisabeth turned her thoughts as fast as they could go. I doubt we've any option but to destroy her reactor again... She has her scales, but we hold a better picture of her weaknesses than we did before. It shan't be easy, certainly, but we've no choice but to try. Damn it all. If this were the final battle we had to face, that would be one thing... Elisabeth ground her teeth. If they threw the saints and everything else they had at her, they actually stood a pretty good chance. The problem was, the Fremd Torturchen was waiting right in the wings. It was all too easy to imagine what would happen if Alice came back right in the middle of their battle with the Sand Queen. Mankind simply lacked the power to take both of them on at once. If that happened, there would be no way for them to escape annihilation. They needed to kill the Sand Queen, and they needed to kill her now. Elisabeth thought back to Kaito Sena's True Message. "Fool. You would ask me to believe in you, even in a situation such as this?" she muttered. She was still drenched in her own blood. She stared off into empty space like an infant. However, she soon shook her head. This was no time to waste dwelling on idle thoughts. She needed to get back to the Capital as fast as she could so she could tell them about the situation. Conveniently enough, her surroundings were already splattered with her blood. She began drawing a teleportation circle. Then Lute interrupted her. His voice was oddly grave. "Ah, I see. Fate can be a funny thing, can't it? Maybe this was what my people's turmoil was leading to. It made us think long and hard about the weight of our own lives, and maybe that will be what lets us make a choice we won't regret." "What are you on about, Lute? Don't tell me you're going to get all gloomy and muddled on me." It wasn't like him to be so roundabout with his words. Elisabeth couldn't help but be a bit worried about him. Lute looked up. The look in his eyes was firm and unclouded. He straightened his posture and spoke with deep solemnity. "I can't make any promises, Captain Elisabeth, but the world is in peril again, and the end is nigh. My people and the demi-humans were once sworn friends, and I believe we have it in us to make the right decision." Elisabeth was about to reiterate her question, but she stopped. There was a strange sort of drive burning in Lute's eyes. He closed his mouth and said no more. It was obvious that she wasn't going to get any clearer of an answer out of him than that. Randgrof, who'd been listening to their exchange from the side, wore a similar expression to Lute's. Still silent, he clenched his fists tight. He didn't seem any more likely than Lute to give voice to his thoughts. Realizing there was nothing to be done about it, Elisabeth turned back. Petals scattered as she completed her teleportation circle. The florid crimson splashes hardened into walls, obscuring Lute and Randgrof from view. The two of them saw her off through to the very end. And all the while, they were brimming with a tragic sort of bravery. "...and now the Sand Queen is on the move. We need to deploy combat assets so as to intercept her." As soon as Elisabeth returned, the first thing she did was explain what had happened. She was in the underground tomb, standing before the round table in the royal council room. The moment she entered that cramped chamber, she immediately laid out the situation. When she ended on the news of their new foe's march, the conversation came to a standstill. Maclaeus, his attendants, a smattering of aristocrats and high priest representatives, and Izabella all stared at her in disbelief. When Elisabeth arrived, they had still been discussing Alice and the Saint's death. However, it was hard to fault them too much for that. The Church and its religion had been the cornerstone of human society for many years, yet now their central pillar, the Saint, had chosen to sacrifice herself and perish. If anything, it would've been stranger if their discussion hadn't been in disarray. Now Elisabeth had dropped yet another bombshell in their laps. With how somber the room was, it was like the world was ending or something. Suddenly, one of the high priestsâ€”an elderly man who'd stayed neutral during the schism between the reconstruction sect and the moderatesâ€”rose to his feet. He thrust one of his withered fingers at Elisabeth. "What?" she responded. "If you've something you wish to say, do at least try to be quick about it." "Why couldn't you have been the one to die?" he spat, the crinkles in his face quivering. Ah. Elisabeth nodded. The question was one born of abject hysteria, but it wasn't completely without merit. Even Elisabeth found it somewhat odd that she was the one who'd been left behind. That said, it was the Saint herself who had determined that the Torture Princess was a piece better suited for a protracted battle. That was all there was to it. However, the high priest was clearly unconvinced. His scarlet vestments swished as he prattled on. "Why is Her Holiness the Saint gone, yet the Torture Princess draws breath? And not only did the peerless sinner have the audacity to survive, she even comes