your body, but the magic that method will unlock for you is tragically limited. Creating mana itself from the pain of others is far more efficient. In order to do that, you must either consume the meat of a demon...or summon one yourself." Vlad looked at Kaito, gauging his response. However, Kaito offered no answer. Vlad shrugged and then resumed walking. He waved his white gloved hands in the air like a conductor. "Hearing that all of a sudden no doubt leaves a vague impression. To that end, I'm going to give you a chance to test it out. After all, I am something akin to your teacher. And what is a teacher if not one who looks after their pupils?" *** "I and he no longer have any relation to each other. However, even without a contract and even with my death having caused him to return to a higher dimension, we spent enough time united that I can at least reach his tail. Demons feast on the pain of men. Using him, even if all you can manage is to reduce the pain you just felt into mana, it should prove rather interesting indeed. Now then, time for your real practical exam!" Vlad stopped in his tracks and then clapped his hands loudly. Sparing not a thought to the possibility of Kaito refusing him, Vlad turned to him and made his theatrical declaration. "At this moment, you shall take your first step toward greatness!" "Man, you just love the sound of your own voice, don't ya?" For the first time since he'd arrived in the darkness, Kaito spoke. His voice was low and hollow. As he looked at Vlad, Kaito's eyes were full of fierce animosity. Vlad smiled and then tilted his head as if to ask Kaito what he planned to do. Of course, Kaito had already made up his mind. He took a step forward. He felt as though the young red-haired boy who had wished him happiness was watching him. The boy looked at him with eyes that questioned whether or not Kaito was really okay with this and a gaze full of worry and reproach. Yeah, Neue, I know. This is a mistake. Understanding that, Kaito spoke. "If you've got something I can use, then hand it over already. I need it, for the sake of my future." "A most splendid answer!" The next moment, Vlad reached out his hand and thrust it inside Kaito, into his very soul. Kaito could feel a hand squish around in his abdomen. He was assailed by a sharp pain as azure flower petals and darkness swirled around his organs. A sinister light flashed behind his eyes, and his nasal cavity was filled with a sharp animal stench. A roar rang in his ears, and his leg brushed against high-quality fur. He could feel canine footsteps vibrate throughout his whole body, as they were causing the ground to shake and the air to vibrate. Finally, he felt damp, rusty breaths near his face. Is it sniffing me? The first-rate hound was appraising the being before it. It was checking to see if it was a person or if it was food. ...And then... "Congratulations. You passed the first test." Before he'd noticed, Vlad had vanished from the darkness. A black dog's tail, unconnected to anything, was dangling in the air in front of Kaito. Dumbfounded, he raised his palm. Then, using the pain gathered within itâ€”not just his but the pain he'd magically caused in the underlings, as wellâ€”Kaito grabbed onto the tail. Geh-heh-heh-heh-heh-heh, fu-heh-heh-heh-heh-heh, geh-heh-heh-heh-heh-heh. He could hear humanlike laughter. Then Kaito opened his eyes. "...Huh?" When he came to his senses, Kaito found himself back on the roof of the lighthouse. The crimson sea was still spread out before him. There was nearly no change in the position of the tide. Apparently, not much time had passed. Elisabeth and Hina, their faces grim, were still carrying on their discussion. "Then, what if we were to develop the animal execution and the catapult simultaneously?" "It will be rough, but that seems to be the best option... Failure is a possibility, but there's nothing to be done for that." As he blinked, Kaito looked Elisabeth over. The force within her body was definitely weakened. However, it still boasted a thorny, dark, roselike beauty to it. When I look closely, I can see that even now she has enough mana that I wouldn't normally even be in the same league as her... That's the Torture Princess for you. Now, as for me... Kaito looked down at his hand. He could still clearly feel the velvety sensation of the black dog's tail in it. Furthermore, there were sticky black hairs mixed in with blood pouring out from the wound. Huh...I guess that really wasn't a dream. Frowning, he focused his attention on the uncomfortable sensation and checked the quantity of new mana swirling within his body. His calculations functionally amounted to sticking his hand in a pool of water to tell how deep it was. When he was finished, he nodded. All right, with this, I can pull it off. Kaito silently drew near Elisabeth and then touched the back of the large raven roosting on her arm. He ran his hand along its beautiful feathers, as if he were comforting it. His blood stained its feathers, and the dog hairs extending from his palm twined around its wings. As he did, its spine began to warp. As the violent magical energy forced its way inside, the raven underwent a transformation. "Hmm? ...Whâ€”?!" Elisabeth looked up with a start. When she saw how the raven had mutated, she looked as though she'd been punched in the gut. After she looked doubtfully at Kaito, her eyes gradually filled with comprehension and rage. "Kaito, you wretch...!" Elisabeth's arm shot out like an arrow, and she grabbed Kaito by the collar. As she did, the raven's transformation continued. For an instant, hellfire burned in its jet-black eyes. Its small, slender face burbled and squirmed horrifically and transformed into that of a hound. The raven was on the verge of resembling a gargoyle, with the head and torso of a beast and the wings of a bird. However, the transformation settled into a gentler configuration. At the end, the raven was left several times larger than it had been originally, with enormous wings, cruel talons, and a sharp beak. It was a creature without peer, one who readily resembled raven royalty. The raven flapped its wings boastfully. Elisabeth, on the other hand, was trembling with anger. She raised her arms, and Kaito's toes dangled in the air. She screamed in rage. "What have you done?! What is that power?! Where did you obtain it?!" "Wait, Elisabeth...more importantly... Could you make three more of the base birds? With my technique, I can strengthen them, but I can't make them from scraâ€”" "You fool! There are some things you mustn't involve yourself with. Who knew you were so insipid?!" "I haven't...obtained it...yet... It's supposed to be...a trial..." "This is preposterous... Vlad should be dead! Why, then?" "Elisa...beth... We can talk later. Now, we should focus on the ravens. At this rate, both of us are gonna be in deep shit." Kaito made his argument dispassionately. As she looked at his calmâ€”and in a sense, insaneâ€”demeanor, Elisabeth ground her teeth and roughly set him down. Coughing, Kaito gave a light nod. Yeah, that makes sense... I expected her to be pissed. Everything, including Elisabeth's reaction, was unfolding within the bounds of his expectations. He had no reason to be afraid. Feeling another pair of eyes on him, Kaito turned. For some reason, Hina looked to be on the verge of tears. Unsure of how to respond to her, he elected to wave to her. He then turned his gaze back to Elisabeth, serious. She was clicking her tongue, her face twisted in anger. However, frustrated as her expression was, she once more called forth the swirl of darkness and petals. "After this, I expect you to tell me everything. And should you refuse to talk, I'll break out the thumbscrews." As she made her furious declaration, Elisabeth created ravens one after another. Insisting that he'd confess without need for torture, Kaito touched their backs as though baptizing them. Eventually, the four kingly ravens were completed. "Sky Burial." As Elisabeth spoke, the four birds took off in a circular formation. They flapped their wings harder than any raven should have been able to, crossing the sea and closing in on the jellyfish. The four of them perched atop its translucent flesh and then dug their talons in and grabbed. They then each flew off in a cardinal direction. The jellyfish's skin tore, and seawater and bodily fluids came spilling out. "Urgh... Ah, ahhhhhhhhh, ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" The jellyfish screamed as it writhed in agony. However, even with the flesh pulled to its limit and starting to rip, the ravens showed no signs of stopping. As the jellyfish lost more and more seawater and fluid, it eventually ripped open into four sections resembling flower petals. Massive decomposing chunks of flesh were expelled and floated gently on the water's surface. At the same time, the seawater it had vomited out rushed violently toward the lighthouse. "Hold tight! 'Tis every man for himself!" On Elisabeth's mark, the three of them leaped into action. The wave of seawater that had billowed forth from the jellyfish was taller than the lighthouse. If they'd been ordinary people, they would have had no choice but to simply be engulfed and swept away. All three of them grabbed hold of the sturdy saint statue and used their mana to help fix themselves in place. Countless corpses washed by them as the bloody water rushed up and surrounded them. Hey, if this is all there is, then we'll probably get away with only a couple of the buildings on the coastline getting washed away! As he desperately held his breath, Kaito felt relieved at that. Then a fish locked eyes with him. Upon further inspection, while it was indeed a fish, it was also not. It was swimming easily against the current, and it looked at Kaito and the others with a solemn male human face. In fact, human faces were sprouting all over its fat body. There was no vitality whatsoever in its dull eyes. It slowly opened its plump, odious lips. Then the human-faced fish spat out its heart. "...............Huh?" A certain scene flashed back across Kaito's mind. A naked man had been inside the Grand Earl's flower. He'd hidden his real body within the petals. However, after the Grand Duke's jellyfish had been ripped open, nothing like that was there. If the Grand King had forced the Grand Duke to change even his form and ordered him to vomit out his heart... And if the flashy show the Grand Earl and Grand Duke put on had all been a trap... "Elisabeth!" The heart ruptured. Hundreds of arms passed through the wave and swam through the water. The crimson arms latched onto Elisabeth. All the power went out of her body. Kaito quickly grabbed her from behind before she was swept away by the wave. However, his own hand was about to slip off the saint statue. "Master Kaito!" With astounding reflexes and grip strength, Hina caught him by the collar with one hand. Before long, the torrent of water passed. The rooftop was riddled with crimson puddles and piles of dead fish. Kaito shook Elisabeth's limp body as it lay slumped over on the ground. As Hina ran her drainage systems, she knelt beside them. "Elisabeth! Elisabeth, c'mon, snap out of it!" "Lady Elisabeth, please respond! Lady Elisabeth!" She didn't reply. She had fought so heroically, yet she gave no response to their cries. The jellyfish's body, torn but not collapsed, was transforming into black feathers. Eventually, they collapsed in a surge and floated gently down