that was when the tale of admiration, folly, and love ended, and when the tale everyone built up of repentance, hatred, and dreams began. Or perhaps, it was the story of a young lady left alone and a story of a child who was abandoned, a tale of a woman who was once a monster and a girl who became a monster herself. And so too was it the story of the legions who were foolish and unchanging in their ways, yet were worthy of protection precisely because of that. In short, it was a story of the masses. A story of the fate of those who hated, and loathed, and loved, and feared, and sorrowed, and grieved, and yet made their choices all the same. It was a story that would never be remembered as a tale from long, long ago. For it was a horrible, wretched little anecdote. One that was far too twisted to pass off as a fairy tale. It was, in the end, a story that needed to come to an end. And so she took up her sword. And so they drew their blades. It's time for a story. A story of repentance, hatred, and dreams. A story in which she and they dreamed of saving the world. A story they dreamed with all their might, even if it meant throwing themselves to the wolves. A calamity cometh. A calamity cometh. To all the peoples of the land. And that calamity's form was that of a little girl. They didn't even have to wait for evening to fall. When the adorable little girl made her descent, the sky at her back was still a pale blue. As promised, Alice arrived in the plaza just before the royal tomb. She did a twirl for no particular reason, and her dress's frills spun in a circle around her. The Saint's blood she had previously been drenched in was all gone. Now she was the spitting image of an envoy from the heavens. Despite the fact that she was calamity given flesh, Alice was wearing a great big smile. She called out, her voice light and cheery. "All right, Elisabeth! I came, just like we promised!" Light crackled across the air, burning bright as it seared its way toward Alice. The attack came in the form of a divine beast, and it had been summoned forcefully without even the use of a chant. However, Alice didn't so much as deploy Humpty Dumpty in her defense. She simply let out a quiet murmur, as though she'd foreseen the attack. "White Rabbit Hole." A black hole opened up in the air, soundlessly carrying the light and heat away to some wondrous land. In the same breath, Alice wordlessly called forth her knight, and the White Knight made his majestic arrival with nary a sound. Alice slung herself onto his steed's back. The Knight swung his lance diagonally and carved his weapon through the empty air just as silently as he'd made his appearance. The shock wave from the strike traveled all the way to one of the graveyard's far-off knolls and exploded against it. After a brief moment of stillness, the entire knoll got blasted away. Fire began raging off in the distance. Nobody there could have possibly survived. Alice held down her hat as she watched the destruction play out. She let out a loud shout. "You're supposed to start with introductions! But now, see, the dummies who tried to help you are all dead! Why don't you come on out now, Elisabeth?!" "Impressive as always, I see. Measuring you by this world's framework is an exercise in futility. The way you defy all limits and boundaries you should be restrained by, why, it's like dealing with God or Diablo if they were given free will." When the dust cloud settled, there stood Elisabeth. The Torture Princess's black hair fluttered behind her as she and the Fremd Torturchen squared off. Alice smiled again, then replied in a lilting tune. "That's right. Did you only just realize it, Elisabeth? I'm the bringer of the end of days, the new crisis, the Beast of the End. Or maybe I'm the one who delivers the final judgment. It doesn't really matter. What matters is, when Father died, I finally understood something. If I wanted to, I could and can destroy anything." Alice softly closed her eyes. Her voice rang with a deep regret. "I wish I'd realized it back when Father was still alive. Then I could've destroyed everything except the two of us." If she'd done that, Alice wouldn't have had to be alone. But time only marched in one direction. Just like the White Rabbit was late, Alice had been too late as well. That was why she wanted to carry out Lewis's final wish. She intertwined her fingers as though in prayer. "There was someone who loved me. There was someone who stroked my hair. There was someone who forgave me. He was the first person in all the world who did that. And this is what he wanted." This is what I want. So, "Please, everyone, let's all please die together." Her voice echoed out pleadingly. She looked like she was on the verge of tears, and she was making the request with utmost sincerity. Elisabeth sighed. She thrust her finger straight at Alice. Then the Torture Princess gave the same bold reply she once had so long ago. "Hard pass!" "...I beg your pardon?" Alice gave her a look of absolute displeasure. A childish rage flared up in her red eyes. Elisabeth ignored her and snapped her fingers. A large hound appeared by her side. The flesh on his back churned. With a horrible noise, his ribs extended out into the sky, and membranes spread across them and formed bat-like wings. The Kaiser laughed in a voice that sounded almost human. Elisabeth didn't care one bit about Alice's displeasure. She spoke, proud and unfaltering. "'Tis time for our game, Alice. I shall have difficulty besting you on my own, no doubt, but...a promise is a promise. Now come! The dawn is nigh! Come end my long nightmare, if you can!" "Oh, you don't have to tell me twice! I'm going to end this, Elisabeth! Right here, right now!" Alice shouted back. The White Knight readied his lance. Elisabeth leaped atop the Kaiser's back. She soared high into the air. The Knight swung his lance to the side, and the Kaiser responded by giving his wings a powerful flap. The two shock waves slammed into each other. However, the White Knight's blow won out. That was when Elisabeth called out the name of an old, familiar torture device. "Iron Maiden!" A maiden with golden hair and a scarlet dress manifested in the air. She spread her arms out lovingly, embracing even that invisible shock wave and killing its momentum. However, doing so destroyed her, and she plummeted downward. But she wasn't the only attack being deployed. "Ah, aah, ah, AH, ahh, AAAAAAaaaaaaAaAaAaAAAAAA!" There was an eerie solemnity to the voices. They sounded just as much like a scream as they did a hymn. A flock of birds. A school of fish. Rainbow light. Drops of blood. The attack slammed into Alice hardâ€”from the side. "Huh?" As far as Alice knew, she had already finished killing the saints. That was what made it the perfect surprise attack. Some of her white hair burst into flames, and she hurriedly put it out. Meanwhile, the White Knight held his shield forward. A great bow shot slammed into it, and the arrow's powerful poison began eating away at the shield's metal. Then another barrage of great bow arrows came flying from a different direction altogether. The White Knight swatted them all down. Although Alice was unharmed, her red eyes were as wide as dinner plates. She let out a dumbfounded murmur. "You're kidding... Just how many people do you have?" "I told you, did I not? On my own, I would've had trouble besting you. But with allies, 'tis a whole different story. We intend to face you until death claims usâ€”O haughty judge, O ye who would name herself the end of days' reprisal." The Kaiser fluttered his wings, and Elisabeth came to a stop in the air. However, the situation hadn't changed. Things were still just as critical as they were before, and the tables remained utterly unturned. Yet Elisabeth made a bold proclamation. "Welcome, Fremd Torturchen. Welcome to Wonderland." The Torture Princess bore a vicious grin. She was majestic in her brazenness, almost as though she truly believed that victory was all that awaited her. Lance strikes carved through the air. The thrusts were aimed at the saints, who were in the middle of dispersing. However, not all the attacks proved fatal. Part of that was thanks to the priests' barriers, but more than anything, it was due to the paladins, who were working together to move the saints around. And the method they were using was as simple as could be. They had loaded the saints and priests onto carts and were pulling them through the areas of the city that had already been evacuated. It made for an absurd spectacle, and "irreverent" didn't even begin to describe it. Surely there had to be a limit to how ridiculous a tactic could be. At the same time, though, it was proving surprisingly effective. The saints' second biggest problem might have been their lack of endurance, but their biggest flaw was how immobile they were. A stationary target was just asking to be killed. Once it got moving, though, it was a different story. As the paladins raced atop the cobble paving, one of the youngsters among their ranks called over. "La Dhruv, are you holding up all right?" "I... Yes, I'm...still...fine," replied the old man with the belly full of fish. He rubbed his transparent stomach and nodded. He had used up all his mana during the fight against the Sand Queen, but he had largely recovered. The mana from the high priests and the blood transfusions had done the trick. Now he was good to fire off multiple shots in succession again. The old man, La Dhruv, had fought under the Mad King's command during Ragnarok as well. The bombardments the saints fired off in that battle were the stuff of legend, even to that day. Now La Dhruv was willingly staring death in the eye yet again. The young paladin stole a glance back at the man he was risking his life to cart around. He went on, almost unthinkingly. "Forgive me, but I have to ask...why?" "Just shut up and run, you dolt! You'll bite your tongue!" the man's superior snapped at him. "No, it's, fine," La Dhruv said, cutting in. He gently answered the question with one of his own. "Why, what?" The young paladin faltered for a moment. However, not wanting to have any regrets, he let his doubts spill out. "I, um, I heard about what happened with Madam Elisabeth and La Filsell. And about how you spent all that time with La Filsell afterward... That's why I was so surprised when you all volunteered to put your lives on the line and carry out this miraculous bombardment. I just wanted to ask, why?" he asked timidly. The fact of the matter was, this was a battlefield. It wasn't the kind of place you went to fight on behalf of someone you hated. La Dhruv gave the young man's question an understanding nod. Then, abruptly, his face underwent a shift. All of a sudden, La Dhruv was youthful again. All his wrinkles and age spots were gone. Young and beautiful, he spoke. "We listen to all voices. Not just La Filsell's lament, but also La Christoph's prayer...as well as the Saint's final words." "You heard Her Holiness?!" "Let me tell you something rather blasphemous. We may be saints, but just like