moment? The only one who could hope to defeat the Grand King in that state would be Elisabeth, if she were freed from Sacrifice...so it seems there's little left for me to accomplish here. Best of luck. Go give it your all." "Wait, you're just gonna rile her up and then bail?" Declining to respond to Kaito's exasperated question, Vlad transformed into black feathers and azure flower petals and vanished. The Grand King puffed up her chest and cast her arms wide. Kaito snapped his fingers. Abruptly, the executioner's blade that decapitated the Marquis flew through the air. It split into four and then spread out around Kaito. Kaito carefully stopped them and gave his orders to the Kaiser. "Sorry, but I'm going to have to devote all my attention to protecting myself. You should just focus on snapping her spine. If we can't break her stance, we're doomed." "Now thenâ€”I look forward to seeing if you can defend against her attacks or not, boy. Mind the needles. If she pierces your neck, I shall eat you myself." With a "geh-heh-heh," the Kaiser left behind a human laugh as he raced across the ground. The Kaiser then circled around to the Grand King's back and leaped. However, the cloth of her crinoline dress suddenly moved and took on the form of a human woman. Then, like a shadowgraph or a puppet show, it attacked the Kaiser. He took a sharp turn to avoid the fabric twining around him and then calmly dug his claws into the scarlet curtain. But even after being shredded, it just took on a new, slender human form. "Time for chaos! Time to play!" As it did, the Grand King's main body swung its arms. Her sharp fingers bore down on Kaito. Kaito snapped his fingers a second time and then a third. As if driven by unseen threads, the executioner's ax's blades slid forward and loudly repelled the Grand King's five slashing fingers. It sounded like a sword fight, and the noise echoed across the battlefield. As though he were playing the keyboard, Kaito focused intently on turning back the fingers' terrifyingly fast yet elegant attacks. He repelled a finger flying toward his right arm, blocked an attack from overhead, and diverted a finger that had circled around behind him. At the same time, he had to swipe away thin needles that were aiming for the nape of his neck with his beastly left arm. However, at the end of the day, Kaito was no more than human. If you were to ask him, he would say that he was carrying out his defense with obstinance alone. His level of battle experience was overwhelmingly lacking. Seeing that Kaito was already at his limit, the Grand King opened her mouth wide. Her teeth flew out and then exploded at Kaito's feet. His right leg got blown off. However, darkness and azure petals swirled and reattached it before he could lose too much blood. As they did, the Kaiser grabbed him by the collar in his jaws and jumped. *** "I shan't permit you to die in as ungainly a manner as that! You fool! Dying to one as inferior as the Grand King is a disgrace!" The Kaiser's rebuke drilled into his skull. A bombardment followed after them, and Kaito blocked it with his blades. However, all he was doing was defending. Like it or not, he realized that he had yet to land a single blow. To make matters worse, while the Grand King had abandoned her human form, she still wasn't fighting seriously. She rattled her jaw to provoke Kaito. "How adorable, lover boyâ€”where is that charming demeanor of yours? When are you going to show me whatever it was that drove that girl so mad for you? I don't like to be kept waiting, you know." "At this rate, I'm done forâ€”I guess people have limits, after all." "Oh my, you're giving up already? In that case, do you plan to let me make you cry?" The Grand King asked her question in a voice oozing with honey. It was unclear if she was using magic for the sole purpose of giving herself a voice, but now that she'd taken on her demonic form and lost her vocal cords, her whispers shook the air. Kaito briefly shook his head at her blatant provocation. "Nah, I've got no reason to cry. I've already got a woman I admire, and I've already got a woman I love." "My, I'm jealous. What's your plan, then, lover boy?" The Grand King asked her question while reaching out her arms and cleaving the earth in an attempt to crush Kaito and the Kaiser together, raising great clouds of dust as she did. The Kaiser leaped, barely avoiding her hand, and put some distance between them and the Grand King. "Well then, boy, do as you please." The Kaiser opened his mouth and hurled Kaito away. Kaito almost crashed into the ground but was able to catch himself in a cloud of azure petals at the last minute. He stood upon solid earth once more. Right before the Grand King could crush him flat, he spread his arms wide like a stage magician. "I plan to do this." Then the executioner's ax's blade he was controlling sliced through his chest. Blood spilled forth. A massive amount of blood. Kaito dropped to his knee as he endured the incredible pain that shot through him. The sensation was almost nostalgic. Blood and viscera sloshed out of the wound in his chest he had made himself. His blood was tinged with heat, and it transformed into flower petalsâ€”this time, crimsonâ€”and danced into the air. As she followed the trail of crimson up into the air with her hollow eye sockets, the Grand King let out a puzzled voice. "You, what are you...? A suicide attack? No, that's not it. What is this?" The petals ignored her, flying off in an unexpected direction. As they flitted through the air, they left the Grand King behind and eventually blew their way as one toward the fortified castle. As though announcing the arrival of spring, the stream of petals entered a bedroom through its cutout window. The way the crimson petals surged together resembled cherry blossoms raining down from their trees. At their destinationâ€”the top of a bedâ€”slept a girl boasting peerless beauty. The Torture Princess was in a deep, deep slumber. A single petal caressed her neck with a sharp motion and left a sizable cut on her pale throat. Then the petals flooded the wound. They rushed into her body, one by one. It was the exact same as the way Elisabeth had once forcibly given Kaito a blood transfusion upon Clueless's torture rack at the Church. Kaito's blood was flowing into her body. Far away, down on the battlefield, Kaito donned a thin smile, his stomach still torn open. "...Finally, huh?" This was his true objective, the real reason he'd formed his contract with the Kaiser. Kaito had realized a few key facts. First of all, Sacrifice was a spell that dammed up the flow of mana in one's body, rendering it unable to be freely used. But the mana itself was still there. Second, the only way to dispel Sacrifice was to drive blood with mana more powerful than Elisabeth's into her body. Third, the blood running through Kaito's body was Elisabeth's, and thanks to his contract with the Kaiser, its power had been increased. Eventually, almost all the crimson petals swarming around her pale neck had vanished. The few remaining petals rested upon her face. Suddenly, the runes covering her skin began to crawl. After writhing like a snake in agony, they began gently fading away. Before long, they were completely gone. Elisabeth's body was freed. However, she was still asleep. Then suddenly, her lips parted slightly. With a small puff, Elisabeth sent the flower petals that had been resting atop her face fluttering into the air. She slowly reached out a finger and traced the cut on her neck, closing it. Then she scooped up a single petal and pressed it lightly against her lips. Kaito's blood gradually made her lips flush. Finally, as though she'd awoken from a century-long slumber, Elisabeth Le Fanu opened her eyes. She was silent for a moment. Eventually, she made a deliberate noise and removed her finger from her lips. Then she spoke in a calm, gentle whisper. "What a foolish man. After this, it's the Ducking Stool for him." The next moment, the Torture Princess vanished from atop the bed. All that remained were a few crimson flower petals. A storm had arrived. Anyone would have thought that. After all, if not a storm, what else could it have possibly been? Immense shadows and innumerable crimson flower petals whipped about, far more than what had appeared alongside Kaito. They magnificently, floridly painted over the space. The maelstrom made a loud, rumbling noise as they forcefully permeated the space. It looked as though a thousand roses had scattered, like ten thousand flowers had been torn to pieces. The Grand King spoke in confusion as the petals pranced around her. "This isn't... It can't be... This shouldn't be possible!" The storm began contracting and shrinking. The wind and darkness compressed with alarming force. Petals shot across the ground and carved a crimson glyph into it. Atop that, the petals began taking on the shape of a person. A moment later, they exploded outward. Chains gushed out from within the mass. Streaks of silver cleaved through the air, tolling like bells ringing in the New Year. Along with the thousand rattling chains, a beautiful woman appeared. Her sleek black hair fluttered, and her bondage dressâ€“clad body curved seductively. The mantle-like fabric adorning her back waved in the wind, and her heels dug into the earth. She held the Executioner's Sword of Frankenthal in her hand, and with it she sliced the air. As she did, the gusting wind vanished as though it had never been there. The woman opened her crimson eyes. Her beauty was unparalleled and world-famous. She looked at the Grand King. Then the Torture Princess, Elisabeth Le Fanu, spoke at last. "IIIIIIIIIII've made a full recoveryyyyyyyy!" Out of all the things she could have chosen to say, that's what she went with? That candid remark was the first thing that crossed Kaito's mind. However, Elisabeth didn't notice his frigid gaze. Without a shred of elegance, she cracked her neck. "Ah, what a bother. I overslept, and now I find myself thoroughly exhausted. And my body rather aches." Elisabeth exaggerated every motion as she rotated her shoulders. After cracking her neck one more time, she swung her sword. Stopping it cleanly in midair, she pointed it at the Grand King. Her gaze silently pierced the Grand King with beast-like intensity. "It seems you've had quite the run of the place up till now, Grand King." "Damn you, Elisabeth." "Now that my servant, the most foolish man in the world, has returned my power to me, I'm sure you can guess at your fate, no? Your mind control technique is truly superb. I find it difficult to believe that your prowess in combat could possibly match it. That is exactly why you made use of Sacrifice, is it not?" Elisabeth smiled maliciously. The Grand King offered no answer. She simply took a step backward. The ground rumbled as the massive skeleton withdrew slightly. She surveyed her surroundings in bewilderment. The Kaiser stood before her, his eyes burning with hellfire, as did Elisabeth, resplendent in all her pride. Eventually, a word dribbled out of the Grand King's mouth. "...Elisabeth." "I told you, didn't I, Grand King? Evil carries with it retribution. Your punishment has caught up with you at last." *** "How pleasant it feels to hear you cry out my name, Grand King Fiore!" Elisabeth brought down the Executioner's Sword of Frankenthal. Following her