express my gratitude to my readers once more. The curtain has finally closed on Kaito Sena's story. Thank you all so much for accompanying me on his journey. I was able to write almost everything about him that I wanted to, a fact that fills me with emotion. As for Torture Princess as a whole, it will continue. It will continue. (That part's important.) To tell you the truth, after I submitted my plot outline for Volume 6, my editor mentioned it would make for a good stopping point, so if I absolutely wanted to end the series there, I could. But I still had various things I wanted to write about her and her acquaintances, and about this event and that event, and the various characters doing this, that, and the other thing, so I asked to be allowed to continue writing. Since then, I've submitted my whole outline for the plot to come, and I got my editor's seal of approval. The content and pace should be just about the same as it has been up until now, so I hope that news brings you all some relief. However, if you want to just close the book here and call that the end, that's a perfectly valid choice, and this would be the volume to do it. As an author, though, it would bring me utmost joy if you were to come along with me, watch over the characters, and see the fate of this world until the true end. I intend to keep writing to the best of my ability, so I hope you'll join me. Please, I beg of you. The story up until now has been for his sake. From now on, though, it will become a story for the other protagonist's sakeâ€”for her sake. And as long as the story continues, there's one thing I feel I must say. The true hellâ€” â€”has only just begun. Part 2â€”The Torture Princess Arc Prologue 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 dark mage's stereotypical droopy hood. He was frequently glancing about as he ran. It seemed the magical traps he'd been laying about had completed their tasks, 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. Although he narrowly avoided having his neck broken, he let out an ugly scream when his attacker trampled on his stomach. The voice that rang out was as cold and as sharp as a knife. "Squealing like a pig is unbecoming. '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 laid 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 sadistic smile spread across the beautiful woman's face. As she pressed her foot down on the man, she made her bold declaration. "I am the proud wolf and the lowly sow." "I caaaught him." "Excellent work!" As she made her listless announcement, Elisabeth kicked the bound mage forward. The beastfolk replied with their thanks as they approached their captured foe. A deer-headed soldier dragged him down to the dungeons. Elisabeth rotated her shoulders in exasperation. Lute walked up to her and handed her a hot cup of tea. "I would expect nothing less. With this, we can strike another name off the most wanted list. He gave us the slip when we busted up the last demon-worshipper site, you see, and sniffing him out was beyond us." "Well, the blame for that hardly rests with you. I was conveniently able to trace his traps back to him, but...such a trick can only be performed if one possesses a proper grasp of magic. Anyhow, that's all, correct? I shall be taking my break now. And my dinner, albeit a late one." "Oh, Ms. New Captain! We're getting off, too, so if you don't mind, we could eat togethâ€” Hwah!" The new recruit, with his characteristic notched ear, let out a jovial remark. However, Lute immediately snatched him up by the nape of his uniform. The legs of the coyote-headed recruit dangled. Lute shook his head, as though instructing him not to get in her way. The recruit didn't seem to understand, but he obediently went quiet. Elisabeth drank down her tea as though nothing had happened. After giving the cup back to Lute, she began walking. The moment she did, though, the door was violently kicked open. The voice that rang out seemed somehow puppetlike, yet at the same time, it was strangely obnoxious. "Pardon me. Elisabeth! Is Elisabeth Le Fanu around? Listen to what I gotta say for a minute, ya bitch!" "Ah. 'Tis Jeanne... I see you've made your way here from the Capital again. When you leave, I do expect you to mend the door on your way out. How many times does this make, anyhow?" "Don't worry about that; just listen. I don't understand what's going on in my little lady's head. On some days, she's kind to me, and on others, she seems wholly uninterested. Why, today and yesterday, she barely even greeted me. Women, I'm tellin' ya! Like, does she hate me? She doesn't hate me, does she?" "The way I'd heard it, Izabella's been up to her ears in work since yesterday. And besides, she's never been much of a clingy type. I'm off now. Good-bye." Waving her hand in exasperation, Elisabeth grabbed the basket from the table. Jeanne seemed to be on the verge of launching into another tirade, but Lute signaled to Elisabeth with his eyes that he could take it from there. She left the room. Then after successfully escaping into the hallway, she dropped a jewel onto the floor. It was a magical device she'd created by taking a gem already rich in mana, then carving spells and pouring blood into it. The moment it landed, a teleportation circle appeared on the ground. Crimson flower petals and darkness sprayed up as far as the eye could see. Cylindrical walls the color of fresh blood formed around her. Then fine cracks ran across them. Once the circle had vanished, nobody remained within. Thus, Elisabeth vanished from the beastfolk lands. She arrived in a place that had neither day nor night. Elisabeth surveyed the pure land crafted from snow, water, wind, and mana. Above her was a milky-white sky blanketed in a rainbow-colored film. Neither the sun nor the moon was visible. Everything around her was beautiful and empty. The delicate snowflakes crunched under her feet as she walked. Eventually, she arrived at a strange sight. There were two pillars of ivy toppled over, like corpses of giants. The two of them were lying on top of each other and propping each other up. Because of that, there was a shrine-like cave at their center. She boldly sat down in it, surrounded by ivy decorated with azure and crimson roses. While magically maintaining her body's temperature, she opened up her basket. Inside it were a variety of sandwiches packed with fruits, vegetables, and meats. She nodded as she glanced fondly at them. Normally, the beastfolk preferred mild flavors. Compared with the dishes in the early days, though, Elisabeth's meal was seasoned fairly heavily, and the serving size had gone up as well. She gestured at it and spoke: "Behold this transformation. And I uttered nary a complaint. Kind, isn't he? 'Tis little wonder you all got along so handsomely." Her tone seemed to indicate she was talking to someone. However, there was no response. As she imagined Lute going out of his way to pop into the kitchen, Elisabeth began eating her sandwiches. As she did, she snapped the fingers on her free hand and retrieved the personal documents she'd been secretly keeping. She went over her recent thoughts. "Little has changed from the information I reported previously. No incidents of note have occurred, at any rate... Ah, but there is some good news. Although they yet continue, the mixed-race murders have subsided dramatically over the last year. 'Tis a natural result of the situation calming down, but still. That said, there is something strange that's caught my attention about the way it's subsided. The result itself is auspicious, but I shall have to analyze it later. Now, as for today..." The way she was talking really did make it seem like there was someone else there. However, the only reply she received was silence. At Vyade's suggestion, she was working under Lute's command to preserve the public order. The world's wounds were deep, and the new way people perceived God and Diablo had given rise to a number of new catastrophes. The reconstruction sect had scattered across the land and acquired greater influence, and demon worshippers had begun running rampant. The Torture Princess's job was to operate behind the scenes and bring them to justice. However, there was no shortage of paladins and other humans who refused to accept her, so she was working out in the beastfolk lands. The soldiers who'd survived Ragnarok seemed to carry a certain sense of guilt, and they were generally kind to her. And the new recruits held a great deal of admiration toward the actions she and her servant had taken, so they tended to approach her with a degree of familiarity as well. It was, all things considered, not entirely unpleasant. However, Elisabeth did her best to keep to herself. In order to best protect the world, 'tis best to avoid nurturing new bonds. There was no way of knowing whom or what she would eventually have to sacrifice. And there was also the possibility that everyone would eventually find themselves needing to kill the Torture Princess. Such were Elisabeth's concerns. For the moment, though, unstable as the world was, things were peaceful. She secretly found that miraculous fact quite pleasing. After all, this ugly, selfish world was the very one he'd chosen to protect. "Now then, I suppose dinner's over. 'Twas a fine meal, but...surely, not a dish exists in this world that compares to the ones you made, Hina." Elisabeth quietly murmured, but after a moment, she shook her head and withdrew the thermos from her basket. She heartily drank down its contents. Suddenly, she let her body go limp. A small thump rang out as her back collided with something. As she leaned against the transparent crystal, Elisabeth quietly closed her eyes. Two people were sleeping inside the crystal at her back. They were as silent as ever, and unchanging smiles adorned their faces. Elisabeth remained facing forward. She refused to look back. However, because nobody was listening, a few words suddenly fell from her mouth. Her words were like a drop of blood, shed straight from the heart. "...I wish I could see you." Of course, from within the crystal, Kaito and Hina offered no answer. It had been three years since that fateful battle. "You can see them; you can!" The voice that echoed through the castle sounded like a bell ringing. As she heard those words, which seemed almost to be a response to the murmur she'd made a while back, and gazed at the scene spread out before her, Elisabeth narrowed her eyes. What had happened? For a moment, she wasn't totally sure.