get some damn advice?!" "You know, I'm still waiting for you to apologize about that," Elisabeth noted. "Can it, bitch. One thing at a time." "...Y-you were smashing down doors? Anyhow, I thought that changing my lifestyle and behavior just because I was in a relationship would come across as insincere, but...if it made you feel insecure, then I was putting the cart before the horse. I'm truly sorry." Izabella scratched her cheek and gave Jeanne an apologetic bow. Jeanne began vibrating. Her expression couldn't keep up with all the powerful emotions welling up inside her, and as she shouted, she seemed liable to explode at any moment. "But you never answered my c-c-confession!" "I did! I told you, 'I've acknowledged your feelings, and I appreciate them.' If I was turning you down, I would have said so!" "Surely you could have picked something a little more romantic, you dumbass! Fuck I love you!" Meanwhile, Elisabeth and the Kaiser shared an inane little exchange of their own. "That girl is quite something... Even her normal speech is starting to sound like that." "What do you mean by 'like that,' Kaiser?" "You know, I'm not quite sure myself." Elisabeth couldn't begin to tell if Jeanne was acting angry or being bashful or what. All she knew for sure was that Jeanne was puffing up her cheeks and swaying side to side. That was when Elisabeth realized something. The wound on Jeanne's neck was completely healed. A small piece of metal had come off Izabella's hand and carefully sealed up the fang wound. Like Waltz, it was a technique that only the two of them could have pulled off. Ah, Elisabeth thought, satisfied. There really hadn't been a need to cry. Izabella was still worried about Jeanne's wound, but she steeled her resolve all the same. She had caused her lover to worry, and no person half as earnest as her would be able to forgive themselves for something like that. She reverently took Jeanne's hand in hers. Then, as Jeanne went still, she pressed her lips against Jeanne's fingers. It was beautiful and heartwarming, like a scene plucked straight out of a fairy tale. Izabella then spoke, the words coming from the bottom of her heart. "My dearest beloved. You cast aside your weapon for me, saved me, sacrificed yourself for me, and fell from the sky into my arms. And in that moment, you were the most beautiful star I had ever seenâ€”a light that shone for me and me alone. I ask of you this: Will you stay by my side for the rest of our days?" Jeanne shook violently and nearly keeled over. It was far too much for her heart to take. However, she valiantly fought to stay upright. In spite of herself, Elisabeth found it somewhat impressive. This time, it was Izabella who had gone a bit overboard. Jeanne, not sure how to respond, lapsed back into her strange heretical dance. She squeezed her fists and eyes tightly shut. In the end, she shouted but a single word. "Marriage!" "Of course! We'll have a big ceremony in the Capital!" The two of them exchanged a firm embrace. Hmm, Elisabeth thought. Technically, Jeanne had been in a life-threatening situation. And now the two lovers had both successfully survived. Not only that, they'd finally managed to communicate their feelings to each other. Jeanne cried in joy, and Izabella gently stroked her fair back. Viewed objectively, the whole situation was downright moving. However, both members of the audience felt as though they'd been left completely in the dust. Elisabeth shook her head from side to side. Then she looked over at the Kaiser and shot him a question. "What exactly did I just witness?" "Hell if I know." And at the end of the day there was really no other way to put it. 13 Something Broken At that point anyone who saw what was atop the chessboard in that red, red room would surely cry out. "Oh God, it's horrible." "What did I just see?!" "You saw it, too, right? That girl's eyes?" "Please, someone, anyone, make her close them." "I feel like I just got cursed." It was a later time and, moreover, a different place. Namely, the royal castle. Specifically, the chamber that sat before the Room of Pain on the underground tomb's lowest level. Watched over by the rows of coffins and generations of deceased royalty stood two people. Elisabeth Le Fanu and Maclaeus Filliana. The Torture Princess and the human king. Officially speaking, the Torture Princess was on the Most Wanted list, meaning their rendezvous was by necessity a clandestine one. That was what made that section of the tomb such a perfect spotâ€”because the kings' corpses were interred there, the entire chamber was sealed off. Even with the death of its former Grave Keeper, Vlad Le Fanu, it was unlikely that anyone else would come down. There, the only company was the dead. A large crystal gleamed under the room's hemispherical ceiling. The dappled light it cast made the entire room look like the bottom of a pool. Even so, though, it was still dim, and their expressions were grave. Elisabeth spoke first, her tone detached. "How many dead?" "We don't have hard numbers yet, but it looks to be over a third. The situation is grim." Elisabeth nodded. If anything, that was lower than she'd expected. She thought back. After returning to the settlement, Jeanne and Izabella had aided in the retreat, as had Elisabeth, albeit from the shadows. By that point, though, many of the beastfolk and humans had already made their escape. That was thanks to some decisive action from the Three Kings of the Forest, who had quickly decided to devote their full efforts toward protecting the survivors. Furthermore, the Sand Queen didn't pursue them particularly far. The mixed-race people had wanted to give chase, but the Queen herself refused. Her priority had been protecting the demi-human settlement. Apparently, the mana in her corpse had taken on some of her personality. And as a mother, that personality was intent on protecting her children. It was also unclear whether or not Satisbarina's son had survived, but at the moment, that was the least of their worries, and they didn't exactly have the means to look into it anyway. Most of the dead beastfolk and humans had yet to even be identified. And then there were those who'd been reduced to ash, those who would forever be listed as missing in action. "The beastfolk trump card was bested, our foes have obtained a new weapon...and the Fremd Torturchen grew stronger still. We were successful in slaying Lewis, but even so, 'tis unclear which way the scales will tip." Elisabeth crossed her arms. Their overwhelming advantage had been overturned in the blink of an eye. Now it was impossible to say which of the scale's plates weighed heavier. Everything was in absolute chaos. This is what happened when rage was met with rage. The two would clash, and sparks would go flying every which way. Now the true battle, the one they'd anticipated all along, was beginning. The curtain had raised on a grand, all-encompassing war. And ironically, it was a war nobody had ever wanted. Even the mixed-race people would be hard-pressed to say that this was the outcome they had sought. Elisabeth shook her head. Then she posed another question. "...I know not her name, but last I saw, that saint girl was still alive. What became of her?" "If it's La Filsell you're asking about, she's resting in a Church clinic. She fractured half the bones in her body and suffered serious organ damage, but she narrowly escaped death. I hear that La Dhruvâ€”a fellow saint whose divine beasts take the form of fishâ€”is keeping her company as she recovers." "...The saints sympathize with her?" "By and large, yes. But many of them are condemning her actions and calling her attack on Jeanne de Rais uncalled for. I don't foresee this causing any problems with our ability to secure their assistance. They understand what La Christoph stood for and how he viewed salvation." ...Do they, though? Privately, Elisabeth wasn't so sure about that. For many of the saints, having their prayers granted left their bodies horribly disfigured. To them, God was all they had. It wouldn't be strange in the slightest if more of them resisted the prospect of having their connection to Him severed. These were people who didn't even have families. If anything, it would be strange for them not to balk at losing the one absolute bond in their lives. It was impossible for outsiders to understand just how alone saints were and how important their faith was to them. Suddenly, Elisabeth turned her gaze to the wall farther in. There was a carving there of the Saint embracing a blob of meat swaddled in cloth. And beside her stood her demi-human servant. He, too, had ended his life while blindly believing in his mother. However, he left the world without a single regret. Elisabeth wordlessly shook her head. She turned her gaze back away from the carving and began thinking. A way to sever our connection to God and Diablo, eh...? Due to the fuss around Izabella and Jeanne's engagement, Elisabeth had almost missed her chance to explain her plan to them. But explain it she did, and she was set on carrying it out. It was unclear if it would actually work or not, but she knew she had to go for it. Even if doing so would end up sending her to her eternal rest. Maclaeus cast his dull green eyes downward. That information was precisely why he had sought that meeting with Elisabeth out. He hesitantly spoke. "I heard about your plan from Vicker... Are you serious about that?" "Aye. You've realized, too, I imagine? That until we're freed from the system of God and Diablo, we shall never obtain true peace. Not until the end of time." Maclaeus's expression darkened when he heard the certainty in Elisabeth's tone. Patterns of light from the crystal danced on his face. Deep down inside, that was something he already knew. Mankind's sole available path was both treacherous and paved with blasphemy. The Torture Princess thought back to the plan she'd laid out right before teleporting away from Jeanne's birthplace. The first hurdle they had to clear was also going to be the hardest. We have to capture Fremd Torturchen Alice Carroll, otherwise known as Sara Yuuki, transfer just Kaito Sena's contract with Diablo into her body, then kill her. In other words, they would return Diablo to whence it came. That would leave only God behind. After that, even if someone managed to summon Diablo, they could use God to keep it in check. Then, if they eventually developed the ability to perfectly control God's power without having it run amok, it would be possible to rid the world of Diablo's influence for good. All they needed to do that was to get God to recognize its every act of violence, including the lesser demons' acts of destruction, as "destruction carried out before the reconstruction." That way, God would reject them as being violations of the system. And with Diablo unable to commit acts of destruction, God's ability to influence the world would be severed in turn. Once that happened, the world would be free from its role as the higher beings' sandcastle. The infinite cycle of being endlessly destroyed and constructed anew would finally end. The one rub was that no mage alive had the power to completely control God. Their only choice was to stake their future on finding a solution to that issue during the reprieve that temporarily getting rid of Diablo would buy them. It was a dangerous gamble, to be sure. However, mankind had already come up with a way to create the Fremd Torturchen. It would probably involve