in time. However, leaving this bizarre situation as it was wasn't the greatest plan, either. In spite of that, though, the teleportation circle began activating on its own. Lute made to dash out. In a flash, Elisabeth reached her verdict. She grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back to her side. "La Christoph! ...Rgh, Madam Elisabeth, why?! La Christoph's going toâ€”!" "No. Stay. If we flee the circle now, we'll never make it out in time. We shan't know what's happening, nor whose work this was, but...we can't stand to lose any more valuable personnel." "Butâ€”!" "La Christoph is already dead. If your sole objective is to save him, you'd best cast it aside. All it will bring about is more bodies." Elisabeth's voice was cold and hard. Lute gulped and went silent. With his shoulder still in her hand, he ground his fangs and stopped trying to move. Meanwhile, Elisabeth continued staring at the dark figure's back. The short, tattered-clothed figure stooped over a little. They were looking at La Christoph, and when they did, the saint seemed to see inside the figure's hood. His remaining right eye went wide. His collapsing face curled into a grotesque smile. Seeming somehow relieved, he let out a murmur. "Ah... So...y...ou.........came..." As disjointed and faltering his voice was, it sounded remarkably calm. The next moment, his right eye rapidly swelled up from within and ruptured. Blood and putrefaction fluid dribbled down his cheek like tears. Elisabeth shifted her gaze toward Alice. Alice was in the middle of struggling to reattach her severed arm. Plus, La Christoph's body was about to give out. Now was their only chance. However, she was aware that La Christoph's consciousness would be hazy, so she knew she had to call out to him. Even though she also knew that doing so would spell his death. "La Christoph, now!" "...Ah...yes. Thank you...for telling...me. I will put an end...to this." The Torture Princess had told the dying man to die. La Christoph opened his mouth and spoke with unbelievable clarity. He imbued his prayer with his firm will as he brought it to its close. His closing words were ludicrous, a prayer that would never be granted. "â€”And may salvation find us all." Suddenly, his back split open. Flesh and spine came bursting out, and a voice outside the range of human perception split the air. Something had broken free from the cage that was La Christoph and was beginning to take flight. A pair of golden wings unfurled. They belonged to a massive bird, larger than even the ones La Mules had once wielded. Appearing to have deemed La Christoph's innards a hindrance, it sprayed them across the room. As it did, a red wall rose up to obscure Elisabeth's vision. Yet even so, she saw it all the same. When the man who'd devoted his life to prayer and devotion met his end, it was hideous, gruesome, and surprisingly tranquil. La Christoph quietly closed what little remained of his eyelids. His face was that of one who didn't doubt for a moment that his prayer had reached God. And his expression was that of a boy looking up at the stars. He smiledâ€” â€”knowing that God was with him. 11 Her Quiet Murmur "...Father? Hey, Father?" "Alice, don't force yourself to talk. You may be accustomed to pain, but I'm sure this is harsh, even for you." "Oh, no, I'm fine... If I'm not talking, I won't be able to keep calm. That was awful. Truly, truly awful. Dark magic doesn't work right against sacred beasts. Even though I used Humpty Dumpty, my legs and arms are lying all about, like in Mother Goose's 'The Untidy Man.' Why, it's a wonder I even survived. But I'm just glad you didn't get hurt, Father. You didn't get hurt, did you?" "No. Thanks to you, I'm fine. I'm sure everyone will sing your praises, saying I don't deserve to have a daughter half as wonderful as you." "Tee-hee. Well, that's good, then. I got a compliment from you, Father, and that's plenty enough for me. It was awful, though, the way the lizard man survived by sneaking into our egg." "He is working with us, you know. Please find it in yourself to forgive him." "Oh, all right... By the way, Father, were you looking for a friend?" "...What makes you think that?" "Well, it looked like you were trying to get along with that bird guy... So I was wondering if you'd wanted to be friends with him." "I suppose I did. But I misjudged him. He, too, was one who was taken from, but he and I weren't able to understand each other. "The two of us could never have become friends. The cloths we were cut from were simply too different." "Oh, I see... Well, that's sad." "And I'm sure you're disappointed, too, no? You'd been looking forward to it so much, but you weren't able to make the friend you'd hoped." "Ah, that's right! That's right; Elisabeth was horrid! She would get mad out of nowhere and go on and on about the most confusing, incomprehensible things! I was so sure she'd be able to understand my pain. So why, I wonder?" "That should go without saying, I think. Your very existence lay outside her ability to comprehend, young lady." "Shut up, lizard man. Next time you talk out of turn, it's off with your head! But that's right... Maybe she just got the wrong idea about me." "...The wrong idea, hmm?" "She's too far away to talk to now...but you got the wrong idea about me, Elisabeth. We're the same, he and I. Kaito Sena's position and mine are opposites, that's all. And good and evil can change ever so easily. "I'm sure you know that, too. "So I'm confident that it won't be long." The image of burning gold was covered up by a crimson wall. The bloody hue filled Elisabeth's vision. Soon, small fissures began spidering their way across the wall. Then with a sharp crack, it shattered, exposing a sight that Elisabeth was quite familiar with. It was a well-sanitized room that had been built in a massive recess inside a tree. Cots were lined up at regular intervals atop its smooth, level floor, and flower-laden vines hung from the ceiling as makeshift curtains. They were in the area that had once been set up as the World Tree's interim infirmary. Even after the end of days was averted, they'd decided to have it continue operating as is as a countermeasure against exceptional disasters. At the moment, the room was filled with the smell of disinfectantâ€”but that wasn't all. There was also the rusty reek of blood. Elisabeth quickly glanced around the room. There were drops of blood on the floor between the cots, and the infirmary's patients were all huddled in a corner. Due to Elisabeth and Lute's abrupt arrival, they were looking at them with shock on their faces. What exactly happened here? What had happened, and how had it ended? A few healers were about, cleaning the soiled ground with hygienic masks covering their mouths. One of them looked up. After giving instructions to the other confused healers, the goat-headed woman walked over to Elisabeth and Lute and removed her mask. "I can't say that's the way I expected you to come back, Lute. In theory, only those who've received permission from the World Tree itself can teleport in or out of it. It came as quite a surprise, seeing you appear like that." "Ain? You're back from your dispatch already?! And that blood... What in the world happened?!" It was Lute's wife, Ain. Upon hearing her words, Elisabeth frowned. It was true; the Three Kings of the Forest's home, the World Tree, was no easy place to invade. Yet she and Lute had been sent there directly, and by a mysterious individual who'd been dressed the same as the Butcher, no less. In short...whoever they were, they had the World Tree's blessing? "The group of demi-humans who took refuge in the World Tree was suffering from acute fatigue, so I was asked to return at once. Also, I heard that our people had been attacked, so I knew we would need skilled healers. I came back as quickly as I could, but...as you can see, the situation turned ugly." "What happened? You're not hurt, are you, dear?" "If I were wounded, do you think I would be so negligent in treating it?" "No, I suppose not... Then whoâ€”?" "Some of the demi-humans turned on you, then?" Elisabeth cut Lute's question off with one of her own. Lute's shoulders jolted. It was an obvious conclusion to draw. After all, there was no way that Aguina Elephabred was the sole demi-human who'd turned against the three races. Plus, the World Tree was hard to attack and easy to defend. However, nobody would have expected an attack from within, and the demi-humans from the first sector, the royalty, and the high officials had already been invited to evacuate here. For the traitors, it was the best opportunity imaginable. It still wouldn't be easy, but if they could cause a panic and kidnap the Three Kings of the Forest during the mayhem, victory would be theirs. However... "Given that you're spending your time cleaning, though, I take it you avoided the worst-case scenario." "I see it won't be difficult filling you in. After they arrived, and while they were being led to the area with the guest quarters, the demi-humans turned on us. The human king came running, but they captured him, then began making their way to the lower levels. Some of them even tried to use themselves as suicide bombers to stop our forces from pursuing themâ€”but before they could, their explosives were all disabled. We had Madam Izabella Vicker and Madam Jeanne de Rais to thank for that." Elisabeth nodded. That made sense. Jeanne turned into an idiot when it came to matters involving Izabella, but for everything else, she was quick on the uptake and calm and decisive when she acted. Throwing her for a loop was no easy task. If the hostages she'd been charged with protecting turned on her, she wouldn't hesitate to demolish them. "The human king is safe now. Most of the fighting happened around the guest quarters, but a group of demi-humans who'd been brought to the infirmary tried to take the other patients hostage by force, so we had to deal with them." "Hmm? You mean to say the carnage here was your doing?" "Not to worry. Most of this is from little more than nosebleeds. We may have caused hemorrhaging in a few lungs, but nothing serious enough to do permanent damage." Ain was forthright with her answer. Beastfolk healers couldn't use magic, but their skill with herbs was unparalleled, and they had extensive knowledge of the three races' physiologies. Plus, although Elisabeth hadn't known about it, it would appear they also went through regular military training, perhaps so as to be able to function better when they had to serve as battlefield medics. A pained look crossed Lute's face. It looked like the two of them might have quarreled about the subject in the past, but now it had come as the situation's silver lining. However, Ain's gaze darkened. "That said, the situation quickly got messy. The thing is, not all the demi-humans were working with the traitors." "...They weren't?" "Many of themâ€”women, children, the king's relatives, and the likeâ€”hadn't been apprised of the coming rebellion. Is that about the shape of it?" "That's right. They were shocked, and some of them even tried to protect us. At first, we couldn't make sense of any of it. At the moment, most of the insurgents are imprisoned in the cells...but the ones who hadn't known about their plans are being held together in the central plaza, and the Three Kings