fingers. And yet in spite of that, Elisabeth wasn't dead. Kaito had swapped out her demonic flesh for completely normal flesh that still generated enough mana to sustain her vital functions. No mere mage could have pulled off a feat like that. At that point, Elisabeth came back to her senses. She lashed out at Kaito Sena. "You utter fool! Nobody asked you to go that far! Nobody asked you to shoulder all that!" "I mean, you say that, Elisabeth, but you're pretty beat to hell yourself. I gotta say, it's not like you. Here." Kaito Sena snapped his fingers again, and all the wounds on Elisabeth's body vanished in an instant. She blinked. It was only then that she belatedly realized that, at the moment, God and the world loved Kaito Sena with all their heart. In fact, he and God were now one and the same. His smile was the same as ever, but Kaito was something more than human. He had ascended in every sense of the word. A smidgen of despair flitted through Elisabeth's mind, but her thoughts were soon interrupted. "Why... I was supposed to be powerful... You're Kaito Sena! You're Kaito Sena, right?! What did you do?!" Alice screamed. Her voice was filled with a mix of awe and dread. Kaito quietly returned her gaze. He closed his eyes for a moment, then nodded, as though he'd just learned everything there was to know about her. "The Fremd Torturchen, Alice Carroll, Sara Yuuki... Ah." "See, you got to see him! You got to see him, Elisabeth. So why... Why? Why is it just me... Father, FAAAAATHER!" "You don't even understand the weight of your sins, do you?" Kaito remarked. "I can't just kill you. Killing you wouldn't resolve anything. So instead, let's do this." Kaito Sena snapped his fingers once more. The moment he did, Alice's golem body was transformed into a human one, and all her mana faded away. However, she didn't have a chance to get startled by her transformation. The next moment, she vanished altogether. Alice had been sent somewhere else. Elisabeth's eyes went wide. That "somewhere else" wasn't even in their world. Kaito's new influence even extended to other worlds. As he performed this outrageous feat, he choseâ€”for some reasonâ€”to wipe some dust off his uniform. "All right, next up..." He scratched his cheek, then nodded. A long sword dropped into his hand. The inscription etched in its blade seared itself into Elisabeth's eyes. "All things are pardoned unto me. But I am ruled by none." Elisabeth was struck by a terrible premonition. She shouted at Kaito once more. "Kaito, wait! What exactly are you intending to do?!" "...Ah, right. I should've figured you'd notice." Kaito smiled awkwardly. Seeing that made Elisabeth feel like she'd just been stabbed in the chest. His smile hadn't changed a bit. Despite all the changes he'd gone through, he was still the same person. He was, and would always be, her foolish servant. For even with all that power, Kaito Sena was just Kaito Sena. And because of that, she needed to stop him. She faced him and ran her mouth a mile a minute. "I shan't allow it. Not after you only just got free of that crystal. I shan't allow it, not on my life." "But you get it, don't you, Elisabeth? People have been freed from Diablo's influence. And I've ordered God not to begin the reconstruction, but...as long as I'm around, someone's always gonna show up who tries to use me for evil. Either that or I'll just end up becoming this world's new god." Kaito paused for a moment. Elisabeth could all too easily imagine things playing out that way. People would doubtless flock to him and revere him in God's place. He gave his head a sad shake. "I'd just as soon avoid that whole mess. No good can come of having higher entities remain here." "Perhaps...but...why would you go to such lengths to protect this world?!" "Well, that's an easy one. Isn't it obvious?" Kaito smiled gently, just like he had the last time. He was the strongest person in the world. He had surpassed even God. And yet with a look of utmost admiration in his eyes, "It's because you live here, Elisabeth." "What do you intend to do about your promise?!" Elisabeth shouted the same thing she had once before. She grabbed his hand tight, desperate not to let it go. Kaito Sena could have shaken her off with ease, but he stayed put. She went on, shouting so hard she was liable to hurt her throat. "You told me, did you not?! You said you would remain by my side! You and you alone!" "And hey, you bringing me back to life and summoning me here must have been some kind of fate... So until you start walking the road to Hell, I'll try and stick by your side for as long as I can, even if I'm the only one." It was a promise the two of them had exchanged long ago. Throughout Elisabeth Le Fanu's bloody life, she was accompanied by a single foolish servant. The two of them had thought that sounded just fine. "Don't worry," Kaito had once said. "I plan on keeping it." And after preventing the reconstruction, he had gone to his slumber inside the crystal. The fact that he was shouldering the weight of the world meant that he wasn't even able to die. That had been his way of staying by Elisabeth's side. But now all he said was, "I'm sorry." With that, Kaito Sena spun his sword around and laid its slender blade against his own neck. He spoke in the voice of a person waving good-bye. "Good-bye, Elisabeth. I love you." And with that statement, full of an almost-childlike tenderness, Kaito Sena sliced open his artery. With the death of their contractor, God and Diablo vanished. Now their ability to interfere with the world was sealed away, and a blinding light seared Elisabeth's gaze. Tears gushed from her eyes and sprayed through the air. Her body felt like it was burning. Yet she refused to release that hand. She refused, in no uncertain terms, to let go. Then she could see nothing, and with that, the world was well and truly saved. And they all lived happily ever after. 12 A Little Vignette In a city made of concrete and asphalt, there sat a little street corner. On that corner, a police officer took a young girl into protective custody. She was a pretty girl with red eyes and white hair. However, her outfit was filthy, as she'd fallen over on the road. Rain streamed down as she gazed up vacantly at the sky. The officer helped her up, but she offered no reaction. Upon determining that her life wasn't in any immediate danger, the officer took the girl in to the police station. However, they couldn't figure out who she was, and the girl wouldn't tell them what happened. All she did was mutter. "Father..." "Can you tell us where your father is right now?" The girl still didn't answer. She just went on with tears in her eyes. "I have nothing. I've been left without a single solitary thing. And yet, "There was someone who cherished me. "There really was." The girl just kept repeating that over and over. As for what would become of her, there was no way for people from other worlds to say. From there, the rest was up to her. And that was all there was to that unremarkable little vignette. 13 Elisabeth's Story She was back in that old familiar castle. When she woke up, her dim-witted servant was screwing up breakfast. Beside him, her lovely maid smiled as she lifted up the dishes she'd remade into masterpieces. Elisabeth licked her lips with anticipation, and the Butcher came over to peddle his meaty wares. Their conversations were light and lively, and the hours went pleasantly by. She was dreaming. She knew she was dreaming, but she dreamed nonetheless. If she could, she'd have liked to stay in that dream for the rest of her days. But she had to wake up. For she owed her life to another. And so, Elisabeth slowly opened her eyes. The first things that entered her vision were the live flowers hanging from the ceiling. Ain and Lute were standing beside her. Upon seeing them, Elisabeth started to quietly close her eyes back up. However, Ain was one thing, but the other's person's presence didn't make sense. Her eyes snapped open, and she sat up with a start. Lute was supposed to be dead. Yet there he stood. The one difference was that one of his arms and one of his legs had been replaced with wooden prosthetics. His tail, now noticeably shorter than before, curled up as he spoke bashfully. "Sir Aguina Elephabred saved me." He went on to describe how, when he was inside the Sand Queen flesh blob, he'd heard a voice. "I said I would congratulate you if you became a father, did I not?" "I lost mine. But you didn't. This is no time for you to die." Then, before the blob had a chance to explode, Aguina had spit him out as far as he could. Later, the beastfolk medics had found him collapsed while they were gathering up the dead bodies. In her arms, Ain was cradling a young babyâ€”a copper-furred child with the head of a wolf. By the look of it, the child took after Lute. "It's a boy," Ain said, then described how he was growing up healthy and strong. For some reason, Elisabeth's body hadn't aged a day. However, Ain and Lute told her, ten months had passed. They explained to her what had happened. Nobody with Alice's mastery over dark magic had shown up since, and by all accounts, the world had well and truly been freed from the threat Diablo posed. In the interim, Maclaeus Filliana and the surviving Kings of the Forest had forged a new treaty, and now all the races' survivors were working together as one to rebuild. "So what exactly happened at the World's End?" Ain asked her. However, Elisabeth didn't tell her the specifics. She simply gazed off into space as though searching for someone. She looked down at her palms. All the warmth they'd felt was gone now. Then, finally, she spoke. "We needn't worry about God and Diablo anymore," she said. That was all she told them, and she did so with a smile. More time passed. The red sun had just sunk in the sky, and darkness was beginning to overtake the area. A single figure was running through the night. It was a man, clad in a ne'er-do-well's stereotypical droopy hood. He was frequently glancing about as he ran. It seemed his well-practiced movement was paying off, as he didn't see any sign of his pursuers. Certain he'd successfully made another escape, he breathed a sigh of relief. That caused him to let his guard down. A slender figure fell on him from above. Someone had descended like an arrow from the rooftops, mercilessly landing on him high-heels-first. He let out an ugly scream when his attacker trampled his stomach. The voice that rang out was as cold and as sharp as a knife. "'Twas obvious your crimes would catch up with you. So why did you think you could escape me? 'Tis precisely what's so irksome about you weaklings who fail to grasp the difference in strength between you and your superiors." The man frantically looked up at his foe. Her resplendent black hair glittered in the moonlight, and her skin, which her risquÃ© bondage dress lay bare, was captivatingly awash in the light as well. The man let out a cry filled with awe and despair. "E-Elisabeth!" "Precisely. I am the Torture Princess, Elisabeth Le Fanu." A