to accentuate his androgynous beauty. He was the Kaiser's first contractor, the former leader of the fourteen demons, and Elisabeth's foster father, whom she had burned to death. Vlad Le Fanu. A smile was plastered across the man's childish face. Kaito reflexively let out an exasperated remark. "Someone's in a good mood." "And oh, how very! After all, I am but a child graciously bequeathed a brand-new toy! And yet even so, you will be pleased to hear that thanks to my astounding judgment and competencies, I have faithfully carried out every one of your orders! Why, I should think it only reasonable to allow yourself a little merriment in consideration for my labors... Although, it does seem you've died again. Can you stand?" Vlad courteously extended a white-gloved hand to Kaito. After hesitating for a moment, Kaito took it. Until just recently, that action wouldn't have been possible. After all, Vlad Le Fanu's real body was dead. All that was left of him was a replica of his soul. But now he was no mere phantasm. After helping Kaito to his feet, Vlad spoke with sincere delight. "Being able to move as I please really does stir at my emotions. Truly, being alive is a wonderful thing." And with that, Vlad Le Fanu nodded, a broad smile spread across his face. The man who'd once been burned down to his very bones had attained flesh once more. 6 Vlad and the Kaiser The man who had once been burned to death had risen from the ashes. He had been resurrected through the same method that was keeping Kaito alive. He hadn't technically come back to life, of course; no method existed in this world that could completely revive the dead. Vlad's current state was nothing more than that of a degraded replica of the actual man's soul. He'd simply been transferred from the jewel he'd been sealed in into a golem body like Kaito's. However, being able to move around freely supposedly felt as if one had been resurrected. Everything's more or less in order...or at least, it looks like it is. After carefully inspecting Vlad, Kaito decided he'd passed muster. The fact of the matter was, Kaito himself was the one who'd given Vlad his body. If there were any problems with it, things could end badly. After all, Vlad Le Fanu was practically a demon himself. If the situation had been any less drastic, the prospect of freeing his soul and giving him a body would have been unthinkable. Kaito thought back on the details that had caused him to make that insane choice. The real Vlad had died with the replica of his soul still trapped within that jewel. He was more powerful than even Elisabeth, yet he hadn't given his own replica a body. Kaito suspected the primary reason for that was so that his replica would go undetected during the Church's investigation after his death. Vlad was probably also concerned about the possibility of having his own replica revolt against him if he ever accidentally activated it while he was still alive. The replica was a degraded version of Vlad's soul, designed to pass along Vlad's will to future generations. It was able to act as an intermediary for the demon he'd once contracted with, but it was inferior to the actual Vlad in a number of respects. However, the two of them thought in exactly the same ways, meaning there was a chance it would betray him. After all, it was Vlad. There was a good chance he'd gleefully seize the opportunity to kill "himself." Actually, it was a downright certainty. The real Vlad had no doubt known that and, as such, had left nothing behind for the replica. As a result, the Vlad within the jewel couldn't so much as move around on his own without Kaito's help. Just a little bit ago, Kaito had agonized over whether or not it was prudent to change that condition. Vlad Le Fanu was evil to the bone. Kaito couldn't let his guard down around him for a moment, something Vlad was well aware of. That said, it was hard to ignore Vlad's talents, either. The fact that he'd stood atop all fourteen demons was a testament to his profound leadership skills. Why, the Kaiser himself referred to Vlad as "He Who Rears Hell Within His Mind." The way he thought was completely divergent from your everyday person. In other words, he was evil incarnate. And just like Vlad, Diablo could easily surpass the limits of human imagination. It was impossible for normal people to anticipate what it would think or do. Sometimes, the only thing that could defeat one evil was another. Given the current situation, Kaito didn't have the luxury of worrying about the future. At the moment, they were in dire need of manpower. If Vlad could move around on his own, his usefulness as a pawn would increase. And so in the end, Kaito had decided to give Vlad a body. However, it had come with a condition. "Make sure you don't get carried away and try to do anything evil. Your head'll fly right off." "And therein lies the problem! I mean, I must say, I'm impressed with how you think, but still!" Vlad, seeming strangely excited, pointed at Kaito. The two of them bantered aimlessly as they walked through the forest. The trees around them looked like miniature versions of the World Tree, each one of them sporting an intricate array of foliage. The farther they went, the more shoe prints started appearing on the soft ground. Pure water seeped up from the earth, filling the indentations halfway. "Your body is designed such that as long as it doesn't lose an excess amount of its creator's, Elisabeth's, blood, your soul will remain withinâ€”in other words, it's a kind of quasi-immortality. And now that you've obtained her heart and can generate limitless mana, that sole weakness of yours has been rendered null. Yet still, you chose to use a different method when you were creating my body. To think you would not transfer my soul but embed the jewel itself within my body! And you even had the gall to set a condition that would cause my head to self-destruct, jewel and all! I must say, my dear successor, you really do play dirty!" "Are you complaining?" "Oh, perish the thought! I find it ever so delightful!" Kaito reflexively knit his brows. It would appear that Vlad was thoroughly enjoying his current situation. He was as inscrutable a man as ever. Perhaps sensing Kaito's doubts, Vlad curled his lips slightly. "Up until now, I've stood on the side that toys with the lives of others. I've held their flimsy hearts in my hands, caressing them as long as I pleased. Now that I find myself a victim of that same treatment, I'm hardly in any position to complain. Being able to experience sensations yet untasted in an unforeseen way is a delicacy, no matter what kind of sensation that may be." "So in other words, you're not just a sadist, but a masochist, too?" "Ha-ha, a crude way to put it, perhaps, but wholly accurate!" "You weren't supposed to agree, dude. That's creepy." "Perhaps you find that difficult to understand, my dear successor. Normally, the two dispositions are at odds. But while I consider ruling to be my natural role, being forced to yield and made to bow my head is hardly unpleasant, either. Without supping on hardship myself, I would never know its true flavor. And what is life if not a constant voyage of learning?" "Didn't you die, like, forever ago?" "That's precisely what makes it so interesting. Compared with who I am now, the living 'me' lacked a certain sense of playfulness. Hmm, you can hardly blame him, though, given that he'd been betrayed by his beloved daughter, captured by the Church, and only just made his escape. Why, I feel downright sympathetic toward the man." Vlad shrugged aloofly. Not even his old, actual self was safe from his mockery. It was truly impossible to figure out how his mind worked. Astounded as he was, though, Kaito closed his mouth, offering little in the way of a response. And there was a good reason for that. The sound of swords. The sound of flesh tearing. The sound of magical flames surging upward. The tumult of the battlefield had come into earshot. ...Almost there, huh? The main body of the World Tree was surrounded by both a deep forest composed of younger trees, as well as a strangely circular river, which was filtered and circulated through the roots. Those two lines of defense served to separate the World Tree's hallowed ground from the rest of the world. However, therein lay a fatal weakness. The river's full circumference was too vast for the soldiers to patrol it. And because of how erratic the underlings' arrival locations and flight paths were, it was difficult to carry out a more focused defense strategy, too. Furthermore, it took four soldiers to safely kill a single underling, so a spread-out battle could well lead to them getting completely wiped out. Given all those facts, establishing a defensive line turned out to be a major challenge. However, Vlad had come up with a diabolical plan to break through the deadlock. He'd inflicted massive, linear damage to the forest surrounding the World Tree. In fact, he'd burned down enough trees to make a path right to it. The underlings weren't capable of complex thought, so they naturally flocked to the opening in order to avoid the forest's sacred aura. It then became possible to defend against these foes, but the plan drew an understandable amount of backlash. The beastfolk in the army practically started an insurrection. If things had gone poorly, we'd have had bloodshed on our hands...and probably worse. Good thing Vyade worked so hard to back us up. If Valisisa had been the one to find out, there's a good chance she woulda killed me. After they'd gotten help from the second imperial princess and suppressed the rioting, the defensive front had solidly held the line. That said, showing up directly at the front line would have been dangerous. Instead, Kaito had teleported to the forest's outer limits and walked to the battlefield on foot. Vlad must have sensed that Kaito would stop by to check up on the war efforts. Then he'd come and fetched Kaito from where the man had predicted he'd arrive. The front line should have been coming into view any moment. As he walked restlessly, Kaito shot Vlad a question. "Anyway, given that you came all the way over to pick me up, I guess things are probably going okay... The fourth wave was different than the other ones. How are things on the ground?" "Ha-ha-ha-ha, how very like you. Always so quick to change the topic. As for your question..." Suddenly, Vlad stopped talking and snapped his fingers. Azure petals and darkness whirled violently around his elegant palm and the white glove surrounding it. Then the trees in front of them toppled over. Their branches were cleaved up, like they'd been struck down by blades. All at once, Kaito's field of vision expanded. A wide riverbank burst into view. After taking a moment to catch his breath, Kaito whipped his head around. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Vlad, who for some reason was puffing out his chest proudly. "...it would be fastest for you to see for yourself." "Well, that doesn't look good." Before he had time to think, Kaito let out his honest impression. The spectacle spread out before them was rather grim. A clear river flowed calmly on the other side of the riverbank surrounding the forest. Or at least, it was supposed to. Now, though, parts of it had hardened into blotchy red-and-black chunks. Compared with the holiness of the