was simply a natural part of the process involved in granting her true wish? If that was the case, though, then what did the Saint actually wish for? "Ah!" At that moment, Kaito's thoughts were forcefully interrupted. An incredible amount of heat was coming off the stone in his pocket. He was about to click his tongue in annoyance, but then he realized something. Vlad's never been this insistent about wanting to come out before. So what could it be that Vlad wanted to tell him? Kaito hurriedly ran mana through the stone. Azure petals and black darkness fluttered up through the air. When they vanished, they left behind a man in aristocratic attire. Unlike usual, he didn't move to strike a dramatic pose. Vlad's limbs dangled loose as he turned to face Kaito. Upon getting a look at Vlad's crimson eyes, Kaito gulped. Fierce madness and burning thoughts were swirling within Vlad's gaze. "...Why?" "Um..." "Why did you so obstinately refuse to let me out until now, my dear successor?" "M-my bad. I had no idea you actually had something you wanted to tell me." "Well, what's done is done. And perhaps it's fine. I've yet to get all my thoughts in order." Vlad ignored Kaito's apology and began mumbling to himself. He clutched at his raven locks like a man possessed. As he ruined his normally impeccable hairdo, he started laying out his thoughts. "If one is lost, they need but retrace their steps. Where did the malaise originate? Right, from the Grave Keeper's words and deeds. It seems that we've all been dancing atop the Saint's palm. Since when, though? The golden Torture Princess was created to stave off the restructuring. Was that part of her design? Or was it not?" Another chill ran down Kaito's spine. That wasn't something he had even considered. There were those who'd worked to bring about the restructuring and those who'd worked to prevent it. What had the Saint thought of each of the groups? "When the alchemists created their golden Torture Princess, they were aware of the black Torture Princess and used her as a reference. However, there was no need for there to be two of them. The alchemists could just as easily have gone to the ebony Torture Princess and sought out her aid. They hadn't expected her to exist, and they chose not to rely on her. They had their pride, after all; it was the sole end their clan had been living toward. Instead, they tried to have their golden Torture Princess take the black Torture Princess on as a follower, and in doing so make it so their creation was the primary force to prevent the restructuring. But what if, say, she anticipated their pride?" "If the Saint predicted that another Torture Princess would be created... Then what?" "Then there would be 'two.' The Grave Keeper even said it! What we need to pay attention to is the resulting number!" Vlad shouted like a madman. Hina reacted to his menacing demeanor by positioning herself in front of Kaito. Kaito, shocked, ruminated on what the Grave Keeper had told him. "The fact that the whelp served as a guide was proof. The fact that he sought 'two' was proof." "In the end, those who sought to prevent the restructuring and those who sought to bring it about arrived at the same methodâ€”'finding the Saint.' And the Butcher said that the black Torture Princess's resistance was unexpected. Up until she arrived, he probably was simply aiming for the world's restructuring. But if his objective changed upon the arrival of the black Torture Princess and the creation of the golden Torture Princess that accompanied it, if it took on a form closer to that of the Saint's true desire... Oh, oh, that's it!" "What is?" "The 'significance of the two.'" Vlad's eyes widened, and his words served as the trigger that set Kaito's thoughts into overdrive. Why had the Butcher, and the Saint, needed two people? What was the meaning behind that number? What will happen when she assembles those two unbelievably powerful women? What will she be able to do? Kaito spun around. Elisabeth and Jeanne had just reached the crystal. The two of them smoothly raised their arms, and gold and crimson flower petals began swirling. As he gazed at their elegant backs, Vlad spoke in a hoarse voice. "The two Torture Princesses. God and Diablo." Kaito didn't fully understand what those words signified, but their ominous nature was all too clear. Vlad's murmur had an almost prophetic ring to it. Dull as he was, Kaito could understand that much. Something irreparably wrong was happening, here and now. And once it occurred, it could never be undone. It was something he had to stop at all costs. "Stop, stop, run, get away from there! Elisabeeeeeeeeth!" Kaito screamed, driven by impulse alone. His voice tore violently through the still, quiet air. Elisabeth's black hair fluttered as she turned. Her beautiful crimson eyes landed on Kaito. Her expression was annoyed, confused, and a little bit listless. It was the same face as it had always been, yet, for some reason, it seared itself into Kaito's eyes. And then, suddenly, something grabbed her wrist from behind. Kaito was sure of what he'd seen. Two white arms had extended out from the red crystal. Fingers so pale that they seemed almost dead wrapped tightly around the ebony and golden Torture Princesses' wrists. Elisabeth's and Jeanne's eyes opened wide. At some point, the surface of the crystal had turned soft and blurry and begun vibrating. After the arms came out, they were followed by a head. The woman slid out from within the crystal as though it were birthing her. Then she toppled awkwardly to the ground. She shook her head, spraying red droplets around her. Kaito immediately realized: They were the tears that had been running down her cheeks. The Saint then lifted her head. The whisper that came from her lips had a strangely sweet echo to it, and it traveled like a wave, reaching all the way to Kaito. "Ahhh...you've finally come." My new Saints. *** It was a declaration pregnant with unfathomable madness and a terrifying degree of volition. In the next instant, crimson and gold flower petals began pouring out from her palms. The two hues swallowed up the Torture Princesses. Elisabeth tried to summon a torture device, but petals rushed at her hands and lips, sealing them off. Jeanne's eyes began wandering. She was searching for Deus Ex Machina. Right now, though, it was serving as parts of Izabella's body. No longer could it come to its master's aid. "I see. This falls outside my expectations." As she murmured, Jeanne gave a faint laugh. Those proved to be her final words. The crimson and gold petals completely engulfed the two Torture Princesses. Even so, the naked woman refused to release their wrists. Red, capillary-vessel-like tubes tore as she wrenched even the tips of her toes free from the crystal. Now fully free, she looked up and parted her lips. Her rows of startlingly white, well-formed teeth came into view. "Ha-ha... Ah-ha-ha-ha, ah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!" The Saint began laughing uproariously. The sound of her mad laughs tore through the air. As he shuddered, Kaito got ready to level an attack at her. However, he stopped. He couldn't sense any power coming from the cackling woman. She's just...a normal woman. She had already transferred the things that had made her into the Suffering Saint. She'd transferred them into the two Torture Princesses. The next moment, Kaito heard a voice deep in his eardrum. Hina pressed down on her ears, and Lute gave a small yelp. It was being conveyed in every imaginable language, in the words of men, of demi-humans, of beastfolk, of animals, of fish, of bugs, even in languages from other worlds. It was transmitted to every living creature in a mysterious form they could all comprehend. The voice belonged to one who'd been sleeping far, far away, deep in the bowels beneath the Capital. "Good morning." Kaito understood on instinct alone. Freed from its contractor's order, the first demon had vanished from its cradle. And when it had, it had transferred into the body of its new contractor: Elisabeth Le Fanu. 9 In the Midst of Demise His voice solemn, Vlad began speaking. It was no fairy tale. The entire situation had been a farce. "It all began when the Butcher sold me the demon meat entrusted to him by the Saint." With that, the man responsible for part of the world's reconstruction had set the ball in motion. By eating the demon meat and collecting the pain of others, Vlad had been able to summon the Kaiser. Then he'd gathered up other people who wanted to summon demons and guided them on their ways. And the demon army fourteen strong had arisen. At that point, the Butcher's goal had simply been to have the mighty band of demons overrun the world, then to wake up the Saint once the world was in a state where she could wield the power of restructuring. The reason he'd picked Vlad was likely because Vlad had both the power and the inclination to unify the demons. But then someone had appeared, someone who opposed his dreadful plot. The woman who'd eaten demon meat, tortured her people, and obtained the power to fight back. The Torture Princess, peerless sinner that she wasâ€”Elisabeth Le Fanu. Under the orders of the Church, she had begun hunting the fourteen demons. After hearing that Vlad had been captured, the Butcher had made his way to Elisabeth's side, then taken stock of the situation. At around that time, another faction had made their play as well: the alchemist clan that had hidden themselves away long ago. Knowing that the first demon would appear, they devoted many generations to working toward preventing the world from being reconstructed. Upon seeing the fourteen demons run rampant, they realized that the time was upon them and used the ebony Torture Princess as a reference to create the golden one. However, the fact that their pride and obstinacy led them to entrust matters to their own masterpiece instead of giving the raven-haired Torture Princess their support proved to be a fatal blunder. Once the Butcher learned of the two Torture Princesses, he changed his plan in order to take advantage of the alchemists' goal and use it against them. After inviting the Torture Princesses to the World's End, he sacrificed himself to bring them face-to-face with the Saint. The Grave Keeper, having sensed the Apostle's plan, got to work as well, and the two Torture Princesses were left with no way to avoid being captured. And then, finally, the Saint used them as exceptional vessels, transferring the contracts with God and Diablo she bored into their bodies. "What, then, was the Saint's true wish?" The Butcher had originally been following the Saint's orders and trying to bring about the world's restructuring. At the last minute, though, his objective changed into transferring the contracts binding the Saint over to them. But those contracts were too much for the Torture Princesses to withstand. Within the next ten days or so, the world wouldn't even be reconstructed; it would simply meet its demise. "Given all that, we can deduce that the Saint's objective wasn't the restructuring itself. In all likelihood, she merely needed the world to sustain fatal damage from the demons before she could wield God's power. Only at the time of restructuring could she awaken with the ability to use both God's and Diablo's powers as she pleased. And that would also be the only time she could abandon their strength." If she abandoned her contracts during the restructuring, when the world was still a blank canvas, everything would undoubtedly perish. But in exchange, she would attain a brief moment of freedom. But by transferring her contracts to the Torture Princesses,