duty. True, it might not normally seem like any of my concern, but I heard him just as well as anyoneâ€”'this here will be our daybreak.'" That line was part of the statement the boy proclaiming himself to be the Mad King had made. Back then, the child who'd died a meaningless death in another world had spoken words of encouragement to the three assembled races. "There's no need to be ashamed. Take up your swords and ready your spears. Our mission is to murder God, and to murder Diablo. Prayers won't bring us salvation; screams won't bring us mercy. The only thing we have to rely on is our own strength. "This here will be our daybreak. Let Ragnarok begin." "The sun has in fact risenâ€”thus, we must do everything in our power not to let it set." And with that, the man who normally had no interest in anything but blood purity gave her a meaningful smile. 9 The Choices They Made The mean old lizard said to a Queen of Hearts, That he met in the castle, "Let us both go to law: I will prosecute you. â€”Come, I'll take no denial; We must have a trial: For really this morning I've too much to do." Said the Queen of Hearts to the mean old lizard, "Such a trial, dear sir, With no jury or judge, Would be wasting our breath." "I'll be judge, I'll be jury," Said the mean old lizard: "I'll try the whole cause, and condemn you to death." Oh my, Father, it's not like you to look so sullen. What's wrong? "What's with that weird song," you ask? It's not weird. That's rude, Father! ...Hmm-hmm, well, if you say so. Oh, you want to know if I came up with it? Well, sort of, but also, not at all. The thing is, I based it off the Mouse's poem from Alice in Wonderland. So you see, I came up with it, but also, I didn't. Is it an ironic song, you ask? Oh, sure, maybe. Is it a happy song, you ask? I don't think so, no. Um, well, I just swapped words in and out as I pleased to help kill time while we waited, so I can't say for certain myself, but... ...maybe it isn't a sad song, so much as it is a lonesome one? Trial, judge, jury... There were a lot of hard words I didn't understand, but back when I first read it, I made sure to look aaaall of them up. Impressive, right?! Hee-hee...and, um, I found out that one person can't do all those things alone. That means the lizard's a liar. And lying is such a lonesome thing to do. Death is oblivion. But it isn't the end. Even if someone died, as long as the world was still there, a part of them lived on. Kaito Sena is dead. Yet even soâ€” He'd left traces of his life etched vividly in the world. And it would seem that the painful way he'd lived his life had influenced some most unexpected individuals. The first was Maclaeus Filliana. In a surprising turn of events, the real king had ended up coming to admire the false one. Learning the specifics of Kaito Sena's heroic life had helped him find the resolve to change his passive, unmotivated lifestyle. And the second was the demi-human high official Aguina Elephabred. The words the Mad King had left him with had driven him to come save Elisabeth and La Christoph. As someone who'd inherited the Sand Queen's blood, it was his duty as a blood purist to value his own safety over that of members of other races. For him to risk his life over a non-demi-human was beyond unthinkable. His actions were an exception among exceptions, to the point where they bordered on sacrilege. Yet in spite of that, he seemed sure of them. Aguina's robe fluttered as he took the lead and strode off down the hallway. Although he left Lute to man the rear, he didn't look particularly worried about running into new foes from the front. He shouted back to the others. "Make haste, everyone! Sir Lute, that goes double for youâ€”you may be heading up the rear guard, but shouldn't a military man entrusted with defending his nation like you are be able to pick up the pace a little more than that? Is that long tail of yours getting in the way, perhaps?" "Sir Aguina, I say! You would go so far as to besmirch my fine tail? We wolffolk take great pride in our... Hmm? Ah, now that you mention it, they're starting to nibble on it, aren't they? Hey, unhand me at once! Off! Off, I say!" "...That is why I mentioned it, yes." "Elisabeth, I'm concerned that you've forgotten, so allow me to remind you once more that I'm perfectly capable of walking on my own. I would greatly appreciate it if you were to stop dragging me. I'm starting to worry about my scalp being torn off." "You can walk, but you can't run to save your life! And besides, you were long overdue for a haircut anyway!" Elisabeth's group had quickly become quite lively. Aguina was leading up the vanguard and guiding them back the way they'd came. As they whizzed past the lizard carvings on the walls, wet, sloppy noises echoed out from behind them. The babies had made their way out of the banquet hall. They crawled across the floor on their ashen limbs, the ones with umbilical cords still attached to their "mothers" ripping and tearing the cords as they went. The babies' movements were surprisingly clumsy, but terrifyingly fast all the same. It was like they defied every law reality attempted to enforce. One of them reached out and tried to grab Lute's tail again. All the fur on his body bristled up, and he quickly accelerated. The babies apparently found that amusing, and they cackled behind him. Elisabeth clicked her tongue. "Tch, 'tis naught but a hassle that we were unable to finish them off quickly! Why, I've half a mind to crush the lot of them like bugs!" "I empathize wholeheartedly, but I do ask that you restrain yourself. I would rather that we not get buried alive along with them. Plus, think of how expensive the villa would be to rebuild." "That last part is the least of our concerns at the moment, is it not?" "I'm told that you humans are in dire financial straits, and our belts are just as tight." Aguina readjusted his spectacles as he gave his detached response. Elisabeth clicked her tongue again. Her original plan had been to kill all the babies inside the hall. But as Aguina had pointed out, their only option at the moment was to flee. Perfected demon grandchildrenâ€”vessels with power that bordered that of the ranked demonsâ€”would have been one thing, but there was next to no chance the Torture Princess and the saints' representative could lose to incomplete, part-human vessels designed for breeding instead of fighting. However, even Elisabeth had been forced to admit that continuing to fight wasn't an option. The reason was simple. At that rate, the building was liable to collapse. They'd reached that verdict shortly after Aguina showed up. The babies had just started to regroup. The way they were reaching out their fleshy gray arms seemed almost innocent. La Christoph narrowed his eyes. The skylarks, following his lead, began flapping their wings in unison. He began chanting his prayer once more. Before he could get far, though, Aguina hastily rushed to stop him. "Not so fast! Please look over there!" "Don't just come butting in. What in the world are you...? Ah, I see. Well, that's not good." After looking at what he was pointing at, Elisabeth quietly nodded. Part of the wall had been completely obliterated, and large cracks were running up the support pillars around it. As they looked at the alarming spectacle, Aguina went on. "The eastern villa isn't nearly as fortified as the temple, and the banquet hall in particular wasn't designed to endure violent combat. Continued bombardment will likely push it past its limit. And with the stargazing tower situated atop the hall...depending on how it fell, it could very well destroy the entire villa." "Allowing the damage to spread that far would be a problem indeed... Besides, using a saint's power indoors was nigh suicidal to begin with. 'Twas an oversight on my part. Now, I would offer to use my torture devices, but then their individual resilience becomes an obstacle." Elisabeth cast a fleeting glance at the ground. Aguina gave a small nod of agreement. The entire stone floor was covered in cracks and fissures. It looked like an egg that was about to split open. The blame there lay squarely with Elisabeth for having dropped her Holy Water Sprinklers and caused them to bounce and roll around. Any sort of large-scale attack ran the risk of destroying the villa, but anything less than that was liable to be ineffective. That being the case, though, what was the best way to take them all down without damaging their surroundings? Whatever their plan was, its first step would almost certainly involve gathering all the babies in one place. "Hmm... I've a number of ideas, but there are simply too many foes here for any of them to work. What to do, what to do?" "Hraaaaaaagh!" Elisabeth began thinking of ways to go about attacking them. Meanwhile, Lute continued his desperate struggle. It looked like the babies were grouping up again. Lute was doing his best to keep them at bay with his sword, but he wasn't having much luck. In fact, the babies seemed to merely view him as an exciting new toy. Aguina, paying no heed to Lute's continued plight, raised his hand. "I have a clever idea, actually. What do you say?" "You? A government pencil pusher who knows next to naught of battle?" "None other. These are our lands, Madam Elisabeth, and as such, we hold the advantage." Aguina proudly adjusted his spectacles. Elisabeth harrumphed, then went silent. However, she quickly gave her answer by grabbing La Christoph by the collar. Lute, sensing her intentions, drove the nearby babies back with a tornado-like slash. And as for Aguina, he'd already set off without waiting for their responses. Elisabeth turned around, then called back to Lute as she followed behind Aguina. "Make haste, Lute!" "As you wish!" "Ah, so it's back to this again." La Christoph obediently let Elisabeth drag him off. His expression was the very image of resignation. That was how they began their dramatic escape. Now, though, the situation had changed. Elisabeth and the others ran into the entrance hall. She raised her head and looked around. The first thing she spotted was the large staircase leading to the chamber the king stayed in when he visited. The passageway to the concubines' and children's living quarters was tucked quietly behind it. And if you went to the left, you could reach the dining hall. All they had to do was open the main entrance, and they'd be outside. They could probably also find the servants' passageway if they looked for it. Whichever they picked, though, the babies would invariably follow them. Elisabeth narrowed her gaze. A teleportation circle would allow us to flee immediately...but even here, we're still too close to those creatures. 'Twould be an unmitigated disaster if Alice were to take notice and interfere with the circle. And besides, we chose to investigate the babies of our own volition. 'Tis our duty to thin the enemy's ranks while we can, but... ...If the demi-humans ended up demanding compensation for the damage Elisabeth and the others caused, that would be a problem in its own right. After all, they were a famously stubborn people. As Elisabeth pondered, La Christoph raised his hand. Still slanted