snake's belly went limp. Golden light poured from its body in place of blood. Elisabeth furrowed her brow, then looked over in the direction of the most likely culprit. However, Vlad wasn't the one she had to thank. He hadn't so much as moved from his spot. He had merely thrust out his arm, as though calling something. There was a rare serious look in his crimson eyes, and he was staring at the empty sky. It was a peculiar gesture, but it seemed to have done the trick. Upon further inspection, the snake had been pierced through by a beast's fangs. A displeased voice rumbled up, as though coming from the bowels of the earth. "After all this time, this is what you call me for? I am not a snare for snake hunting, and you would do well not to treat me as one." The voice belonged to a black dog the size of a small cow. Each of his eyes burned bright with hellfire. After pinning the divine beast's tail in place with his forepaws, he ripped through its torso with his jaw, swallowing it down without allowing it so much as death throes. Divine beast or not, the gap between its power and his was unimaginably vast. Elisabeth pressed down on her shoulder as she called out his name. "...It's been some time. It wouldn't have killed you to show up a tad sooner, though, Kaiser." "Ha, it seems you don't know your place. Would you like me to pick up where the snake left off?" The Kaiser, supreme hound and strongest of the fourteen demons, snorted derisively. His existence was the primary reason Vlad hadn't been executed. After the end of days, the Kaiser declared that he had grown bored of humans and disappeared. It was a completely demonic yet utterly un-demonic act of capriciousness. However, the fact remained that Vlad was the one who'd inherited his contract from the Mad King. And executing the Kaiser's contractor was easier said than done. If they tried to behead him or trigger his self-destruct device, there was a fair danger that the executioner would find themselves on the business end of a black dog's fangs. Of course, in his case, even if Vlad were about to be executed...would he show up? One wonders...'Twould depend...on his mood...no...doubt... Ah, this is bad. I feel faint... Elisabeth took another look at her wound. Crimson streams were pouring out from between the fingers she was using to press down on it. Dark magic matched up poorly against divine beasts. She was losing too much blood. Elisabeth leaned back against the shattering teleportation circle's wall, then slid down until she was seated atop the icy ground. She took a moment to think back on what she'd just seen, blurry as her vision had been. "That...was..." The young saint girl's eyes had been burning with a brutal, intense hatred. 5 The Beastfolk's Decision The red room was deathly quiet. The chessboard was a mess, and the pieces were in utter disarray. Plus, there weren't even any players. All that remained by the desk was a cold cup of tea. At the moment, that place, that place where nobody ought to beâ€” â€”had a visitor. A woman had appearedâ€” â€”in that room, farther than the World's End. To. Fro. Chitter. Chatter. There was a voice. It wasn't clear if it was a dream or reality, but there was definitely someone singing. It was a young girl, her voice loud and full of pride. She called out, her tone that of a person dashing through a field with deranged abandon and laughing their head off. "Come now," she was saying, "let's be good girls and sing a song." "Holy, Holy, Holy! "Lord God Almighty, thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. "Amen. "Hallelujah." The last line was the Grave Keeper's final statement. It was odd. Why did people say hallelujah and wish blessings on one another? Why did they sing songs so rife with contradictions? Why did they give such perverse orders? How could they do all that yet remain utterly blind to their own sins? Until the day of your death, try to do some good at least. And if you cannot do good, then die. However, the very premise was flawed. What was "good"? What did the world that turned ever so properly deem good? At this point, is anything truly "good"? "...eth...sa...beth... Lady...Elisa... Lady Elisabeth!" "...Hmm? What's going on there? You're making a racket." Upon hearing someone call for her, Elisabeth suddenly came to. When she did, she discovered a pair of emerald eyes wet with grief blinking right beside her. They weren't human eyes; they were actual jewels. It made for a beautiful sight and one that stirred up a wave of nostalgia in Elisabeth. When she saw them, she finally understood her situation, which came as a great relief. It was a delightful silver-haired maid peering straight at her. "Oh, Hina, it's you. In that case, all is forgiven." Elisabeth let out a small breath, then shook her head. Pain's aftertaste still lingered in her body, and she felt as though she'd just had the most horrible nightmare. However, she was unsure how much of it had been a dream and how much had actually been real. Wanting to know where she was, she glanced around. Upon doing so, though, a deep furrow made its way across her brow. "...Wait, where are we?" The room was red. It was dyed all over with the color of fresh blood, and it was the kind of room that burrowed its way into your eyeballs and chipped away at your brain. A chessboard sat atop the plain desk at its center. Elisabeth stood and walked over to it. Upon peering down at it, she couldn't help but scrunch up her face. The pieces' arrangement was a mess, and even at a glance, it was obvious that the game was in a state of abject chaos. And to top things off, there weren't even any players. All that remained by the desk was a cold cup of tea. The oddest thing, though, was there were two pieces submerged in that cup. Elisabeth plucked them out. A red droplet dripped down her wrist. That was not tea in the cups. It was blood, and it dripped off the sword-brandishing boy piece and halberd-wielding maid piece as they rose. As she looked at the strange designs, Elisabeth finally realized something. "Wait... Hina? Hina?!" Hina was Kaito Sena's eternal lover and beloved automaton bride. She was also the Torture Princess's maidâ€”a kind woman and one whom she held great affection toward. However, she was also someone who had no right to be there. After all, she and Kaito Sena were locked in a deep slumber within a crystal. Elisabeth whirled back around as though she'd been struck. She stared intently at the maid standing there. Hina gave a pained smile. However, she then abruptly looked down and bit her lip as her silver hair draped in front of her face. She gripped the hem of her maid uniform's skirt. Elisabeth hurriedly rushed over to her. She had a million questionsâ€”where they were, for example, and why Hina was thereâ€”but she immediately discarded them all. Hina was mourning right before her eyes. That was the only thing that mattered. Elisabeth stroked her cheek, then stroked her head through her soft maid cap. "Come nowâ€”there's no need to be so sad. A smile suits you far better, does it not?" Hina's eyes went wide. She said nothing, and tears began streaming down her cheeks in large drops. Seeing that sent Elisabeth into a tizzy. "What's going on? What's wrong? Is it something I did?" All of a sudden, though, Hina grabbed her hand. Elisabeth's eyes went wide. Hina desperately squeezed her hand, tears still pouring down her face. Then, for some reason, she began talking just about as fast as her mouth would let her. "There are a lot of sad things happening to you right now, Lady Elisabeth. Sad things, and painful things, and difficult things, and horrible things, and unforgivable things... And I'm certain there will only be more of them from here on out! But please, Lady Elisabeth, you must believe. And no matter what happens, you mustn't forget." Hina raised her downturned face with great vigor. Her tears gleamed like tiny stars as they scattered through the air. Elisabeth had no time to so much as get in a question edgewise. As though pressed for time, Hina continued her fervent plea. "We... That is, Master Kaito and I, we love you so much! So please, you must protect this world of yours. Please...if you remember nothing else, remember that." "How could I possibly forget?" Elisabeth's statement rang with a certain coldness. Hina gasped. However, Elisabeth quickly gave her a smile. The Torture Princess then returned her grasp, clasping Hina's hand in both of hers. Elisabeth gently stroked the back of Hina's hand. The Torture Princess made her calm proclamation. "I love you, too, Hina. I could never forget that...not even if I wished to. Nor shall I. Never, ever, ever." Thus did Elisabeth make her promise, her tone reminiscent of a child's. Hina blinked. At long last, a smile spread across her face, like a beautiful flower opening its petals. However, her expression quickly darkened again. With her face scrunched up like she was going to resume crying, she untangled her hand from Elisabeth's. Her fingers' faint warmth grew distant. Puzzled, Elisabeth finally asked a question. "...Hina, what's the matter?" "It's time for us to go our separate ways, Lady Elisabeth. Someday, I'm sure...we'll... No...no, perhaps not. Please, though...please do take care of yourself." Little by little, Hina's voice grew fainter, and her face etched with its childlike sorrow grew more and more distant. Eventually, her familiar visage disappeared from view entirely. Elisabeth reached out, but those slender fingers of hers were nowhere to be found. "Wait," Elisabeth tried to beg her. "Don't go." But her voice wouldn't come out. Everything was growing hazy. For a moment, she thought she saw a shadowy figure. However, that too soon fluttered away into the darkness. It was unclear how much was dream and how much was reality but either way, everything came crumbling down. Elisabeth called out desperately to the figure she hoped beyond hope was real. "Don't go, Hina! Don't go!" "......eth...sa...th......beth...Elisabeth!" "Hina!" Elisabeth sat up with a start. Her head smacked into someone, hard. "Hey, ow!" they yelped. She tilted her head to the side. Hmm? She heard an oddly familiar voice as well as an oddly unbefitting quote coming from it. Right in front of her, the usual suspect was rubbing his jaw. "Goodness, these surprise attacks are starting to get to me. That was a sincere cry I let out there." "Calling that 'sincere' is about the scariest lie I can imagine." Hearing that man say "ow" like that was unsettling in the extreme. What if that wasn't a lie, though? Elisabeth's face paled a little. Perhaps she was overreacting, but the prospect was scary enough to warrant it. Vlad shrugged discontentedly at his beloved daughter's words. "You know, I'll remind you that you're the one who head-butted my jaw. Well, no matter, I suppose. The long rebellious phase marches on, and it's up to my paternal love to be equal to it. You were tossing in your sleepâ€”is something wrong?" It was unclear if Vlad's allusion to his "paternal love" came from a place of sincerity or mockery, but either way, Elisabeth decided to refrain from attacking him over it. She pressed down on her forehead. She had just been having a dream; she was sure of it. A lonely, nostalgic nightmare. And yet she couldn't remember so much as a single detail about it. "...No, 'tis nothing. I think." "Are you sure? But Elisabeth, youâ€” Heh. You