world kept on turning, just as properly as ever. And in that moment, a thought crossed Elisabeth's mind. A thought she couldn't afford to harbor. ...Why should Kaito have to protect a world such as this? Why did the person she loved have to die? Why, for something so worthless? The expression vanished from Elisabeth's face. However, she immediately dashed forward. Hesitation wasn't in the Torture Princess's nature. She did a forward roll, practically dancing her way across the field of death. "Madam Elisabeth!" the knight she helped back on the stairs shouted. He rushed forward to try and back her up, but a blast struck him head-on and vaporized him in the blink of an eye. Elisabeth could tell what had happened, but she didn't look back. She knew that if she stopped, she would meet the same fate. She ran with all her might. The blasts came in straight lines, so it was simple enough to dodge them. The fixed batteries almost resembled religious icons, and the Torture Princess deftly wove her way between them. As she pushed on forward, there was one thing she was sure of. Alice needs to die. She had become something that could not be allowed to continue living. Killing her would ruin Elisabeth's plan, but she was well past the point of worrying about that. She raced onward, eventually reaching her target. Elisabeth drew her long sword from a swirl of black darkness and crimson flower petals. Her glossy hair swayed behind her as she appeared before the girl. Alice, for her part, was waiting for the Torture Princess without so much as a shred of fear. Her arms were spread wide, and a broad smile sat plastered across her face. It was like she was greeting a playmate and for a moment, time seemed to stand still. Elisabeth's sword was raised aloft. Alice had her spoon in hand. Crimson and azure petals were cascading all around them. The Torture Princess gathered all the rage swirling in her heart, then brought her sword down andâ€” Epilogue 1 The room was red. It had no windows. It had no doors. Nobody could leave it. And nobody could come in. It was almost like a graveyard. Or perhaps a prison. And yet now its nonexistent door was open. Kaito Sena slowly rose. He no longer bothered to look at the chaotic chessboard. However, he did turn to the seat across from him and gently patted his bride's head. Hina gave him a small nod. With that, Kaito Sena started walking. Hina called out toward his resolute back. "You're going?" "Yeah, I'm heading out." "Well, good luck." Then she went on: "Please do give my love to our beloved." Epilogue 2 Right before Elisabeth and Alice's blows met someone reached out and caught them. The ensuing gale force sent the person's tattered cloak flapping about. Their hood hung low, obscuring their face, but whoever they were, they had just caught the blades without so much as breaking a sweat. Elisabeth frowned. She could tellâ€”if the person hadn't stepped in, she was the one whose chest would have been gouged out. She looked at the newcomer holding the blades. They really did resemble the Butcher...except for their hands. Their hands were human. This time, she had no choice but to admit it. A hot tear casually rolled down the Torture Princess's cheek. And with a thousand different emotions swelling up inside her, Elisabeth Le Fanu spoke. "Kaito, is that you?" Epilogue 0 This is a story from a short while earlier. A story of repentance, dreams, and hatred. "This can't be happening... This isn't happening, is it, Father? It isn'tâ€”it isn'tâ€”it isn't. Hee-hee, of course it isn't." Lewis's daughter let out a deranged laugh. As Lewis's guts spilled out of him, he felt a certain truth deep in his bones. Vlad Le Fanu's words had been completely true. At the end of the day, what Lewis had could hardly be described as paternal love. If being a good father had been his goal, then he'd gone about it in all the wrong ways. If he truly loved her then he should have comforted Sara Yuukiâ€”Aliceâ€”and showered her with affection and support. He should have chosen to just live, and each of them could have helped to heal the other's scars. And of course, he definitely shouldn't have made any of those terrible weapons. They had been controversial even among the other mixed-race people, but Lewis couldn't help himself. He made sure to sow every seed of revenge he could find. He may have called Alice his daughter, but he certainly didn't treat her like one. Unlike Vlad, Lewis had some semblance of morals, yet he had gone and made the Fremd Torturchen anyway. That was a sin that went beyond the pale. There was no way for him to apologize. Not the slightest chance for atonement. And the cruelest part of it all... "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. Even though I loved you, I still... I'm sorry, Alice." ...was that his love was true. To him, she was his joy. She was his hope, his salvation, and his beloved daughter. Meeting her was the first time Lewis had known joy. And the moment she became his daughter was the first time he learned what love was. That was all thanks to a single young girl. That was all thanks to her pure, innocent smile. He still had time. He still had a chance. What message should he leave her with? What was it he could only say now, in his final moments? Lewis hesitated. However, his mind was being assailed by unrelenting heat and pain. He didn't know what to do. He didn't know what to say. He didn't know anything. Alice's smile became his sister's semen-drenched face, then his brother's hanged body. He remembered the day he held Alice tight as she sobbed during a nightmare. "I love you, Father." She smiled. "It's all your fault," his brother screamed. Family really was a beautiful thing. He wished he could have been with them longer, much longer. No, wait, he had a daughter now. Did he? He did. And so... And...so? Then he spoke. "Please, daughter, carry out my dream for me." And with that, the foolish man died. He remained a hopeless fool until the bitter end knowing full well how irredeemable he was even despite his love for his daughter. His daughter looked up at the sky. She was alone now. She blinked, her red eyes glowing from the fire all around her. Lewis hung motionless in her arms. His body was cold and hard. She gave a small, definite nod. Young as she was, she knew. This was what death was. Now he was like she had once been. And he would never move again. Alice didn't cry. She merely parted her arms. Lewis's corpse crumpled to the ground, but she no longer paid it any heed. After all, it was nothing more than an object now. Instead, she just looked up at the sky and laughed. Happily, happily. Merrily, merrily. She laughed and laughed and laughed and spoke. "I see, I see! Don't worry, Father. I understand completely!" It's time for everyone to die together! Afterword Hello, Keishi Ayasato here. I don't know about you all, but my cat's been shedding like crazy this summer. Each time I looked down, I found I was covered in a sheet of white fur. As for Torture Princess, it's finally reached Volume 8. Dear me, how auspicious. Of course, because of the way it ended, I felt like I was raising a death flag for myself just by writing it. That said, it was also the volume where both I and Elisabeth came to understand what losing Kaito Sena truly meant, and I think I was able to convey everything I set out to in it. I was also really happy about being able to write about what became of all sorts of different members of the cast. Now, I don't know if all of them are truly happy with how things turned out for them, but all I can really do is write clearlyâ€”and, to the best of my ability, compellinglyâ€”about the way they choose to live their lives, so that's what I'm going to keep doing from now on. I hope I'll be able to do them justice in the next volume as well. I hope you'll read it and bear witness to their destinies. And I truly do hope you'll enjoy, even if only a little. Now then, as is custom, I have some people I'd like to thank. To Saki Ukai, for the breathtaking-as-always cover and all the other beautiful illustrations; to my editor O, for putting up with all the trouble I caused you this time; and to Hina Yamato, for the wonderful manga adaptationâ€”I would like to thank you all so much. I'd also like to extend deep thanks to everyone else involved in the process, as well as my beloved family, particularly my sister. And more than anything, I would like to express my gratitude to my readers once more. Looking back, Torture Princess has come quite a long way. I fully believe that it's thanks to you all that the story was able to make it this far. Thank you so much for accompanying me on this journey. Now, I've mentioned this before on Twitter, and some of the clever ones among you probably realized on your own, but Torture Princess is structured in three-volume arcs. Volumes 1 to 3 were the Foolish Servant arc, Part I. Volumes 4 to 6 were the Foolish Servant arc, Part II. And sure enough, Elisabeth's story, the Torture Princess arc, is going to last from Volumes 7 to 9. So before I wrote Volume 6, I wrote up a three-volume plot outline that ended on Volume 9 and sent it over to my editor. In other words, what I'm saying is this: Whenever there's a beginning, there must always be an end. The next book will be the series finale. It's going to pick up where Volume 8 left off and go full throttle until it hits the finish line, so I imagine it's going to be a bit of a challenge to write. But I intend to give it my all. If you don't mind, I really hope you read it through to the end. This I humbly beg of you. There was something he once said. "We gotta bring this story to an end." There was something she once said. "Would it not be better for a world such as this simply to end?" There was something she once said. "Please, you must protect this world of yours." This is a tale that lies beyond the one of admiration, folly, and loveâ€” â€”and it's one of repentance, dreams, and hatred. I hope you'll accompany me one final time. The Final Miracle It's time for a story of a boy. His death was as meaningless as that of a wormâ€”a death most pitiful, most unseemly, most cruel, and most gruesome. Ordinarily, there is no life after death. But because his soul was summoned to another world, the boy received precisely that opportunity. In truth, he had no desire to be brought back to life. Nevertheless, as soon as he was made flesh again, he was made to serve an overbearing master. That master was the very person who summoned him: the Torture Princess, Elisabeth Le Fanu. She had the pride of a wolf and was as lowly as a sow, a sinner ordered by the Church to butcher fourteen ranked demons and the people who had formed contracts with them. Once the task was complete, she herself was destined to face execution. She brought the boy back, and when all was said and done, he made the choice to continue serving her. Throughout Elisabeth Le Fanu's bloody life, she