he paid no heed to her words and kept running. He had a single destination in mind. The square where the Monarch was imprisoned. When Kaito reached the square, he found himself once more enduring the glares of the paladins manning the perimeter. He began carefully observing the priests' barrier. Staring at it, he gauged its strength. Then, once he was satisfied, he asked to be let in. He received a dirty look but was able to enter successfully. Once he was in, he headed for the section of the plaza that had been curtained off to conceal it from people's eyes. The Monarch was sitting inside a thorny cage that Kaito had crafted with magic. A group of paladins was standing guard over it and directing uneasy, hateful glances at the Monarch's melted body. Before they could call out to stop him, Kaito snapped his fingers. When he did, a swirl of darkness appeared above the cage, and supple muscles and sleek fur began knitting together. The horrific black dog Kaito had secretly tasked with watching over the Monarch made its appearance. Lying sluggishly on its belly, the Kaiser swung its tail back and forth. "You're late, O unworthy master of mine." "Yeah, I just got back." Shocked by the Kaiser's sudden appearance, the paladins all let out distressed shouts. Ignoring them, Kaito called out to his beast. "Looks like I'm gonna have to do it after all, Kaiser. Let's go." "What a self-centered man you are, and what a colossal fool. But you amuse me. I have no objections. But get permission from the mice first. I don't care for their shrill squeaking. The fuss they make is disagreeable." With that, the Kaiser snorted. Kaito nodded, then turned around. As he'd expected, Izabella had been informed of the Kaiser's manifestation and made her way inside the curtain. "Kaito Sena! Even if you're just using it as a guard, you need permission before youâ€”" "Izabella, there's something I need!" Beating her to the punch, Kaito nimbly intercepted her reprimand. Faced with a request, Izabella politely stopped speaking. Not missing his opportunity, Kaito spoke quickly. "Seal the curtain and cast a silencing spell on it. And I need you to make sure Elisabeth doesn't get anywhere near the spot." "What's this all of a sudden? What in the world are you intending to do?" "At the end of the day, my power's just a stopgap. So before we fight the King and the Grand Monarch, I want to build up as much mana as possible. But because of how much pain's involved, there's a good chance Elisabeth will try to stop me. Please." "I can't in good faith give you permission to do something your master would prohibit." "That's just a pretense, though, right? What reason do you have to doubt me? You got a report from the familiars they had observing my fight against the Grand King, didn't you? If I was planning on making a run for it and abandoning mankind, I'd have done it back then. You should already know that I wounded my own body in order to use the magic I saved Elisabeth with." "That'sâ€”" "Dark magic requires pain. This is necessary for me. If you don't trust me, you can put as many guards on me as you want. And if I do anything suspicious, feel free to stop me." "Kaito, stillâ€”" "La Mules is dead. If the Torture Princess screws up, who do you think's next in line to fight?" For the people affiliated with the Church, the wound from having their ultimate weapon, the Shepherd, commit suicide was still fresh and raw. Kaito didn't hesitate in stabbing at it. He also purposely gouged at Izabella's conscience. "Who the hell do you think is gonna end up getting sacrificed for the sake of all the heretics and people who call him a monster?" "...And you're saying that this is truly necessary for you to fight against the demons?" "Yes. I promise I'm telling the truth." "I understand... While I will personally be one of your watchkeepers, you have my permission. However, Godot Deus has the final say inâ€”" "Permission granted. Do as you wish." Suddenly, a calm, deep voice rang out. Izabella spun around. Kaito confidently locked eyes with the voice's owner. A priest whose face was concealed by a deep crimson robe was reverently carrying a jewel. A phantasm of Godot Deus floated above it. Narrowing his eyes as though trying to gauge something, he spoke. "Servant, I can more or less guess what your objective is. However, there are bound to be benefits as far as our current battle against the demon goes. You have my permission." "Thanks a bunch. This is gonna be good for you guys, too." "I wonder about that... However...ah, yes. There is one thing I'd best tell you." "What's that?" "Under normal circumstances, the Church does not permit replicating souls." Kaito frowned, confused by the expected statement. Unable to make out the true meaning of Godot Deus's words, he urged Godot Deus on. "...So?" "Once this matter is resolved, all the reproductions of Godot Deus's soul, myself included, are slated to be destroyed." Kaito was shocked. The stone in his pocket holding Vlad's soul rattled around, as though Vlad found this topic to be of great interest. Kaito sorted through the pieces of information that he knew. Reproduced souls are nothing more than degraded versions of the person from when they were alive. Still, though, they have wills of their own. Destroying a stone with a copy of someone's soul inside was practically the same as executing a person. The way Godot Deus had diedâ€”committing suicide so he wouldn't be of use to the demonâ€”was enough to let Kaito understand the resolve that members of the Church held. Once again, Godot Deus was marching toward his own death. At the same time, Kaito thought about why Godot Deus had told him that. Godot Deus worries for the people and trusts in God from the bottom of his heart. But he has a self-serving side, too. That helped Kaito realize that the resolve the Church possessed and the sacrifices they were making couldn't possibly have been his sole objective. Wait, could you be...? Kaito stared at Godot Deus, trying to figure out what he was thinking. However, it was clear to see that he didn't intend to say anything more. Eventually, Kaito stifled his conjecture and spoke. "Sorry. I know that we're not the only ones being sacrificed." "You have nothing to apologize for, servant. However, I wish to witness it. Though it may be for the sake of fighting demons, I wish to witness what it is that you intend to hide yourself from Elisabeth's gaze in order to do." "Yeah, go for it. Watch to your heart's content." With that, Kaito nodded. After checking to make sure that the paladins keeping watch over him were in place, he turned back toward the Monarch's cage. The drooping man was hanging his head from atop the cage's metal floor. Snapping his fingers, Kaito whispered. "â€”La (rend)." The next moment, blood spouted from Kaito's own arm. He started carving at his body with azure flower petals. Seeing his sudden, brazen self-mutilation, some of the paladins let out cries. Ignoring them, Kaito's fingers danced as he manipulated his blood. He used the spilled streaks of crimson to paint a magical formula at his feet and on the floor of the Monarch's cage. Interpreting its meaning, Izabella called out in a strained voice. "Are you mad?!" It was Kaito's second time drawing it, but anyone knowledgeable about magic would be able to easily tell how repulsive it was. This was a procedure that converted another's pain over to himself. His eyes filled with compassion and dry composure, Kaito whispered. "I'm going to torture you now. It won't be much help, but here's something to set your mind at ease." He raised his arm overhead. The corners of his mouth curling up unpleasantly, the Kaiser smiled. The Monarch slowly turned his dissolved head to the side. Swinging his arm down like a conductor, Kaito made his declaration. "This is gonna hurt me just as bad." The Monarch's torso tore open. And at the same time, Kaito's chest ripped apart. *** The Monarch let out a scream of pain. Blocked by the silencing magic, his bloodcurdling voice vanished before it could make it through the curtain. However, it forcibly burrowed its way into the ears of the paladins within. Their faces contorted in unison. Kaito delicately carved into the Monarch's body. He lopped off his arms, gouged out his eyes, and pulled out his innards. But because he was fused with a demon, the transformed Monarch didn't die. In addition, the magical formula was regenerating his body. *** As he screamed, the Monarch rocked his cage like a madman. Kaito ignored his wordless pleas. He waved his arm without pause. The Monarch's organs danced through the air, his cheeks were gouged out, and his legs snapped into fourths. As the Monarch's torture continued, just as Kaito had promised, he himself experienced the same pain. Occasionally, the pain would cause Kaito to die of shock. When it did, he would revive himself, satisfied with his results. Man, this really is more efficient than just hurting myself, isn't it? While he was dying and reviving, the magic he'd fired off ate away at the Monarch. It was a much more efficient way of gathering pain than simply tormenting his own brittle body. As Kaito and the Kaiser suffered more and more pain, the amount of mana at their disposal gradually grew. As they watched the ghastly spectacle unfold in front of them, one of the paladins muttered: "...This is madness." When he heard them, Kaito elected to remain silent. He had no words to refute them with. He was well aware of how insane it was. His resolve and determination firm, Kaito continued the torture. A vision of the young boy who'd died for his sake, Neue, cast a questioning look toward him for the umpteenth time. But Kaito didn't turn to return his gaze. Just a little more, and he would reach the amount of mana he'd determined was necessary. Just a bit more, just a little more... Fighting to pour crimson water into his cup, Kaito desperately struggled to make it overflow. Eventually, morning broke. As the sun rose, Kaito lopped off the Monarch's head. The demon, who'd chosen a life of devouring people and in the end was granted acute pain, was finally released. He toppled over onto the stone floor. Blood dripped out of his pitifully convulsing body. Several times more blood was spread around the cage. The paladins were silent. Either fear or disgust had robbed them of their voices. Amid the overwhelming silence, Kaito quietly murmured. "Good work, Monarch." With a bloody hand, he swept back his bangs. Clotted blood stuck to his cheeks. Even assailed by unimaginable pain, he hadn't screamed once. His face stained with blood, he smiled. "Now then, onto the King and Grand Monarch." 5 Their Respective Pride Thinking back, it had been a while since Kaito had been reincarnated into this world, yet it felt like it had passed in a moment. He ruminated about the days they'd spent fighting the fourteen demons. The twisted, joyful life they'd shared sandwiched between them was finally coming to an end. "...The final battle, huh?" As he murmured, Kaito opened his closed eyes. This place was the final step on the stairway leading up to the gallows. The Torture Princess and her servant had reached their ultimate destination. The stone road leading to the mass of flesh extended out before him. Without warning, the ordinary, commonplace road became steeped in gray halfway down its length. The boundary line was directly in front of Kaito's face, as clear and obvious as though it had been drawn with