Fremd Torturchen - Volume 9 - Chapter 5

5

A Valorous Charge

Randgrof Elephabred held his father in disdain.

In a sense, that wasn’t how he really felt.

On an intellectual level, he held a great deal of respect toward his father. If he didn’t, he never would have taken Aguina’s advice to move to the hidden village. His father was easily an accomplished enough man to be worthy of his admiration.

At the same time, though, Randgrof did not have a high opinion of his father.

For Randgrof Elephabred knew.

He knew that Aguina Elephabred was a kind, loving father.

But he also knew that the man was capable of making unbelievably vile choices without an ounce of remorse.

Randgrof grew up under the watchful eyes of his mother, who was wise yet was also a bit of an oddball, and his wet nurse, who was calm and gentle. He didn’t even interact with his father that much. But before he knew it, he had realized something.

His father was a monster.

Someday, he was sure to sell his own master out for thirteen coins of gold or commit some other equally grave sin.

And at the same time, Randgrof knew.

His father was a hero.

Someday, the people might well hail him as their one and only savior.

It could just as easily play out either way.

For that was the kind of person Aguina Elephabred was.

And that wasn’t all. Aguina was a man saddled with a tremendous contradiction.

If he became a monster, he wouldn’t regret a thing, and if he became a hero, he would take no pride in the fact.

Everything Aguina did, he did for his race. No matter what became of him, all that would remain was his anguish.

No amount of grieving, boasting, laughing, or crying would change who he was or what he needed to do.

Those words were straight from the horse’s mouth. And Aguina was right.

None of that would’ve changed the aggregate amount of anguish he would have borne.

That was the thing Randgrof hated most about his father.

For he was wrong. Wrong beyond belief.

“Look, Father, if I may be so bold, all I wanted was to help you bear that anguish.”

“Either that or for you to just be my father.”

“You could’ve just not been an enemy of the world or a hero—and I’ll confess, that’s all there was to it.”

“Nevermore.”

Elisabeth called forth a massive raven.

Crimson flower petals and black darkness swirled through the air, and the ebony bird burst out of them with its lustrous wings spread wide.

As it glided forward, Elisabeth leaped astride it. However, the raven’s nature was to be used for torturing people. It wasn’t meant to be ridden. The bird let out a loud caw! of protest at the unexpected weight.

Fraught as her attempts at steering it went, Elisabeth did eventually manage to get the raven under control.

After catching up to the summoned beasts by some miracle, she decelerated.

Eventually, she ended up side by side with her men, causing several of them to notice their captain’s arrival. Some of them hung their ears, others balled up their tails, others still slouched awkwardly, and all of them averted their gaze.

Elisabeth was livid. They were in no position to go and pretend they hadn’t seen her. In fact, she had half a mind to go kick some sense into them, but the other half just barely won out.

Instead, she cut through the thick air and made for the front of the pack. She pulled up alongside the fastest of the beasts.

“By the look on your face, you already know what a scolding you’re about to get… Oy, Lute!”

“Captain Elisabeth!”

To her surprise, Lute gave her shout an immediate response. He turned and met her eyes.

Meanwhile, Randgrof continued clinging tight to his back. He clearly wasn’t used to riding the summoned beasts, and his posture was downright precarious. Elisabeth’s sleek black hair blew back in the wind as she glared at the two of them.

When she shouted, it was directed at them both.

“You’re an absolute dunce! And that goes for you as well, Randgrof. What the hell do you two think you’re doing?!”

“We’re no dunces, I promise! Please, just hear us out!”

Surprisingly, the reply she got back was calm and collected. It seemed they had some sort of plan.

She frowned contemplatively, then went quiet for a bit.

As the silence wore on, the summoned beasts continued making their way onward. The sound of their spry footsteps overlapped with the noise of the flesh blob’s writhing.

Lute hurriedly explained himself amid the ever-thickening fumes.

“With the Sand Queen’s original form, her ears were too far from the ground for us to try calling out to her! But now there’s a good chance that her entire body is like a big sensory organ! As Sir Aguina’s son, Sir Randgrof’s voice may well be able to get through to him! If nothing else, it’s worth trying!”

“You would try reasoning with that horror?! Aguina’s mind is broken! This is no time for naive hopes!” Elisabeth barked back.

At the moment, Aguina himself was the one forcing the Sand Queen’s corpse to undergo an even more profane transformation than it already had. The situation was far too grim to be expecting any miracles. However, Randgrof felt otherwise.

“I’m well aware of that! But the thing is, my father was obsessed with blood purity, and he lamented the future more than any other! It’s not his emotions I’m counting on—it’s his sense of reason and his broken thought processes!”

Elisabeth narrowed her eyes. It was true that Aguina was one of most fanatical blood purists there was. That was the whole reason he’d become an enemy of the world. It stood to reason that a pureblood voice—one that shared his own bloodline, no less—would carry special weight with him.

Even so, the odds of success were slim. Elisabeth started to go on.

“But, even so—”

“And more importantly, as things are, we’re of no use in the fight. So…this is fine,” Randgrof said firmly. He was prepared to place his own life on the scales of victory to try and tilt them in their favor.

Elisabeth narrowed her eyes once more. Randgrof had a point. She herself had realized the same thing.

The counterweights are practically weightless.

The Sand Queen’s body had melted away, and her new form was simply absorbing their poison arrows. There was nothing for the small folk to do. Lute and Randgrof were nothing more than powerless pawns, and in the grand scheme of things, them dying would change nothing.

In contrast, the Three Kings of the Forest were heavily wounded, and every bit of stamina they had to expend cost them dearly. There was value in having Lute and Randgrof put their lives on the line to test this idea of theirs. However, that was only true if the person performing the calculus had no feelings at all.

Elisabeth clamped her mouth shut, and when she opened it, it was the Torture Princess who spoke. “I’ve no intention of dying alongside you, you know.”

“Of course! We knew that all along, ma’am, and we leave the Fremd Torturchen to you!”

“And what do you intend to do about Ain? About your child?”

That question, however, came from Elisabeth. A certain rational goatwoman healer rose to the forefront of her mind, as did the eagerly awaited child now gestating in her womb.

Lute’s snout contorted in anguish. However, he glared forward with steel in his eyes. His gaze was fixed on the hideous flesh blob writhing before them. As he spoke, he pointed at the comprehension-defying quagmire of a battle raging on before them. “I’m sure Ain will understand. Well, no. She’ll be furious. But she’ll see why it was necessary. If that monstrosity is still here when the Fremd Torturchen arrives, our future will be consumed by darkness. And besides, it’s not just me. Sir Randgrof has a boy and a girl, too. We all do. Yet we came to this fatal battle anyway—to secure a future for those very same children.”

His words were foolish, there was no mistaking that. It was an absurd thing for someone as powerless as him to say. However, Elisabeth knew.

Most of their world’s people clung desperately to life in the ugliest way imaginable. Nobody wanted to die.

They would kill others, they would drench themselves in blood, and they would shout at the top of their lungs.

I don’t want to die / So you should die instead / You should die in my place / Someone other than me should die

It was all perfectly illogical. However, the fact that the fear of death could overcome any and all morals was plain enough to see.

That was what had ultimately led to an avenger sitting in the judge’s chair. Everything that had gone down had happened because of the three races’ sins. Even in a world like theirs, though, there were still some people who were willing to throw themselves to the wolves in order to protect those who needed protecting.

Who could possibly mock resolve and determination such as theirs?

How could they, in a world where nobody wanted to die,

and where everything was loathsome,

and where people killed each other?

“That’s right, we’ve made our choice!”

“We are the Peace Brigade, and it is our pride to serve at the pleasure of Lady Valisisa Ula Forstlast and Captain Elisabeth Le Fanu! We know what it is we need to protect!”

“Please, Captain, let us do this!”

This is our chance, her men pled desperately. It was aggravating, how shrewd their blunt sincerity could be. However, Elisabeth gritted her teeth. Her men had decided to do everything that was in their power. They’d chosen to fight to the bitter end.

That meant that this entire act

was their story.

Elisabeth pursed her lips. She cast her gaze downward and recalled something.

It was a thought she’d had some time ago.

The soldiers who’d survived Ragnarok seemed to carry a certain sense of guilt, and perhaps because of that, they were generally kind to her. However, Elisabeth had done her best to keep to herself. If she wanted to best protect the world, she knew it would be best to avoid nurturing new bonds.

There was no way of knowing whom or what she would eventually have to sacrifice.

Now, though, Elisabeth was struck with a bitter realization.

I was mistaken, completely and utterly.

Now, it was precisely because she was proud of them with all her heart that she was able to make the decision to send them to their deaths.

Elisabeth nodded—and her expression did a complete about-face.

The grin she wore now was majestic and cruel.

With it, she laughed off both their tragic resolve and her pained decision.

“Very well! If you wish it that dearly, then live as you please, and race on unfettered! Your death is yours to die! Now, be proud, for the Torture Princess rides with you, and laughs at any and all! Onward, I say, onward and onward and onward yet more! Even if none grant you leave, even if none recognize your deeds, follow your hearts and bet all you have on that slimmest of chances anyhow!”

“Of course, ma’am! As members of the Peace Brigade serving under Captain Elisabeth, we wouldn’t have it any other way!”

“The odds may be long, but we’ll be damned if we don’t beat them anyway!”

One after another, they drew their swords, and the sound of blades leaving sheaths filled the air. Elisabeth did likewise and drew Executioner’s Sword of Frankenthal. The flesh blob turned its attention their way, but Elisabeth swung down her sword without a moment’s hesitation anyway. Lute took that as his signal, and he let out a battle cry.

“CHAAAAAAAAAARGE!”

They all sped up.

Just as the boy who’d once waved his hand did.

All to protect those who needed protecting.

The flesh blob swung one of its arms.

The subordinate riding to Elisabeth’s right had his torso blown clean off.

Just like before, the flesh blob was practically toying with the Three Kings of the Forest. This time, though, it had turned a few of its arms on the Peace Brigade. The fleshy tentacles’ insides were lined with teeth, and due to the speed they traveled at, merely so much as brushing up against them was enough to shave through the beastfolk’s body with comical ease. Flesh and blood sprayed through the air. In the blink of an eye, it was over. By the time his insides started spilling out, the attack was already finished.

Organs tumbled out of his body as his lower half continued onward. However, his legs soon convulsed and sent him tumbling to the ground. Several of the others glanced over at the man who’d fallen victim, but none of them made to stop their summoned beasts. Elisabeth didn’t so much as look back.

And thus, they rode on.

Another arm came their way.

This time, it was a sheep-headed soldier who was reduced to nothing more than meat. He was the one who’d once smiled cheerily and said, “We all know how much you love to eat!” Elisabeth would never get another chance to angrily threaten to dock his pay.

They would never laugh together or talk to each other again.

Even so, nobody stopped. If they stopped to scream, the dead would have died in vain.

So they all charged onward.

Charge, charge, charge, charge, charge, charge!

Don’t look back. Cry not. Bear no regrets.

No miraculous salvation is coming. You chose this knowing that full well.

All you can do now is do what you resolved to do, even in the midst of hell.

A vast shadow loomed over Elisabeth and the Peace Brigade’s charge.

They were getting closer to the flesh blob, and the arms—perhaps sensing danger—shifted up their pattern. They began obstinately focusing all their efforts on Elisabeth. New tentacles swooped in at her from all directions.

“You would aim at me, even unconsciously? Well, I daresay you’d best stop underestimating the Torture Princess!”

Elisabeth chopped off the arm straight ahead of her.

For the two arms behind her, she conjured up chains to dash them against the ground, then used her raven to dodge the myriad ones on her flanks. Her elaborate flight path caused the arms to all get tangled up in each other, and Elisabeth pulled well ahead of them.

“Gi…… Guuuuuu…… Uuuuuuuuuu………”

As soon as she did, a bizarre voice rose up. Just like before, though, it quickly exceeded the range people could hear. Elisabeth looked and discovered that the flesh blob had caught the white deer right as the King was about to topple over. Waves of flesh undulated across the blob as it gradually ate away at its foe.

Elisabeth knew they couldn’t afford to forsake the white deer. She snapped her fingers and deployed a new spell.

“Cat’s Paw.”

Five eddies of crimson petals and darkness manifested in the air. A pointed, rake-shaped implement extended out from each one.

The implements got to work tearing at the flesh blob from all sides. Then they sank deep into its surface, and once they got far enough in, they froze in place and held the flesh blob still like a pair of forceps.

The white deer kicked desperately with its forelegs. Eventually, it managed to wriggle away from the blob.

Once it was free, the ancient wolf lashed out once more. It stuck its arm in the flesh blob’s newly opened section and used what remained of its bony fingers to scratch away at the blob’s insides. It was trying to find the blob’s mana reactor so it could puncture and destroy it.

The flesh blob struggled in what looked like agitation, and a moment later, a bombardment from the saints exploded across its surface.

Apparently, some of them were still up and fighting. Elisabeth was surprised; she’d have thought that they’d have thrown in the towel by now. Given the animosity La Filsell had shown her, this was well outside her expectations. She muttered a few dazed words of praise. “I’m impressed you all would surpass your limits so…”

The flesh blob screamed and thrashed violently in agony.

That sent out a series of tremors. However, the Peace Brigade’s summoned beasts managed to endure them. They swayed precariously but continued rushing onward nonetheless.

Taking care not to let any of its finger bones break, the ancient wolf mashed its arm in even harder.

Then

a muffled snapping sound rang out.

“What?”

“Don’t let your guard down, you dimwit!”

Lute reacted with surprise, and Elisabeth let out a shout. Her aerial vantage point had let her see everything. The blob’s arms had circled around the ancient wolf’s back and pierced the King’s chest through.

They writhed within the ancient wolf’s body as though to return the favor. Then they ripped something out and cast it aside.

That something was the ancient wolf’s still-beating heart. It toppled emphatically to the ground, crushing some ten beastfolk as it landed. Blood gushed from its arteries and ran between the trees. Ridiculously enough, the heart cast a glittering rainbow trail in the empty sky above it.

The ancient wolf looked up high to the heavens. They slowly lowered their gaze. The King surveyed the beastfolk around them. After casting an affectionate look at them, it apologetically closed its eyes.

One of the Kings was still now.

A scream rose up as the beastfolk collectively cried out. However, Lute and the others didn’t grieve, and they didn’t stop.

If anything, they did the opposite.

At this point, there was nothing they would pause for.

No matter what happened, they would never break their stride.

“Fan out!”

As the blob drew nearer, Lute raised his arm and gave an order.

The remaining twelve men quickly heeded it and split into four groups.

At the center of the four, Lute and Randgrof rode alone. Now that the arms had downed the ancient wolf, there were far more of them to spare. They lunged at Lute and the others, and Elisabeth pinned them down with her Cat’s Paws.

She had already burned through the majority of her mana reserves, so deploying a third torture device was out of the question. Instead, she summoned even more Paws. She knew that if their titanic foe managed to roll over on them, it would wipe them out.

By anchoring down the main body, the Torture Princess was able to hold the arms in place as well. However, several of the arms split off.

One particularly thick arm swung down toward Elisabeth.

“ !”

There was no time to dodge, and it was too powerful to block.

Upon realizing that, Elisabeth focused her attention on the arm in front of her.

She held Executioner’s Sword of Frankenthal aloft and plunged it into the arm. Then she forced her raven onward, carving through the fleshy arm from within.

“HraaaaaHHHHHHHHH!”

With that, she sliced the arm in twain vertically down the middle.

Venom spilled out and completely drenched her clothing. Her flesh burned as she fell back. Ignoring the searing pain all across her body, she focused a healing spell on her lungs and her lungs alone. Then she turned her gaze back up.

There were other arms swinging at Lute and the rest as well. However, their aim was lacking.

The Peace Brigade nimbly steered their summoned beasts and dodged the blows. Once they did, though, one of the arms headed straight for Lute and Randgrof. It started picking up speed.

Then a sword sank into the arm with a thunk.

The black-and-white-spotted Brigade member had thrown his weapon, and the arm changed its target. The black-and-white-short-haired soldier was a man who prided himself on his composure. He murmured a quick beastfolk prayer. Then he went on. “Ah…damn it all. It looks like this is as far as I go. My apologies for jumping ship early.”

He gave them a weak smile. A moment later, his torso went flying off.

He would never get the chance to follow another order.

Elisabeth kicked aside the chunks of blob arm still lying on her. As she did, she saw more men die in her peripheral vision. Her bull- and goat-headed subordinates crumpled to the ground, summoned beasts and all.

Elisabeth totaled up the rest, her internal monologue practically a scream.

Only…nine remain!

She forced her raven to change course. They flew at a blistering clip.

By that point, Elisabeth had fully mastered how to manipulate her avian mount. She soared freely through the air, dancing circles around each of the arms and baiting—forcing—them to turn their focus on her.

Her young, coyote-headed subordinate with his distinctive notched ear couldn’t help but let out a yelp. “Captain, you can’t! It’s too dangerous!”

“Look at me, I’m right here! Come and try me! Kill me, if you can! See if you can lay the Torture Princess low!”

Elisabeth flew, higher and higher and higher still. Waves of arms gave close pursuit.

The fleshy tentacles surged at her as one. If they caught her, there would be no way for her to avoid being mashed into a pulp.

Then the Torture Princess snapped her fingers.

Cat’s Paws collapsed down from both sides.

The Paws skewered the arms, piercing them all at once and shredding them to bits. Elisabeth took advantage of the opening that provided to descend so fast it looked like she was in free fall. She was out of peril, but getting there had required putting a tremendous strain on her body.

She vomited up the blood surging from her stomach, then brutishly wiped her mouth clean.

While the Torture Princess had been performing her death-defying dance, the Peace Brigade had continued their charge.

Just a little farther and they’d be at the flesh blob.

Its vile, pulsating form was right before them, dimly glowing and covered in blood and fat. Just its appearance alone was enough to inspire physiological revulsion in any and all who beheld it. However, Randgrof didn’t falter.

Instead, he rose to his feet. It clearly took everything he had to maintain that unstable posture atop the summoned beast’s back.

Then he called out.

“Father, please, hear me out! What you’re doing won’t save our people! Even if you massacre all the humans and beastfolk, all you’d be doing is leaving us for the Fremd Torturchen to slaughter! No one will survive! That’s a fact, and if you’d come to your senses, you’d realize it! Listen to me, Father!”

And upon hearing his heartfelt, soulful cry,

the flesh blob froze for a second.

But only for a second.

The blob swung its arms even more violently than before. The sweeping blow came hurtling toward the Peace Brigade.

With no time nor ability to stop on a dime, four more of them—including the youngster who’d just shouted—got reduced to carrion.

“Sure enough, there’s no reasoning with it,” Elisabeth muttered grimly.

As she did, she noted with some surprise the disappointment in her voice. Although she hadn’t consciously realized it, apparently even the Torture Princess had been hoping for a miracle. In a sense, that just went to show how close they’d been.

The flesh blob had reacted. Randgrof’s voice had gotten through.

It hadn’t accomplished anything, but even just that much already bordered on miraculous.

Aguina was serving as the monster’s mind, and by all rights, he shouldn’t have been in any state to even process language. However, that wasn’t how Randgrof had seen it. His expression was marked deep with dejection and despair.

Elisabeth decelerated, then turned toward him and shouted.

“Turn back, Randgrof! All you’ll do now is throw away more lives! Turn back while you yet draw breath!”

“But, I’m not… I can’t…” Randgrof hung his head. A moment later, though, he shook his head and fixed his gaze straight ahead. Then he took everyone by surprise by raising his voice and grabbing Lute by the collar. “I’m not finished yet!”

“Sir Randgrof, I say, what are you—? WHOA!”

“I’m fully aware of how rude I’m being! Forgive me!”

With that, Randgrof tossed Lute off their summoned beast’s back and grabbed hold of the leather reins himself. However, he had no idea how to properly lead or direct the beast, so he simply resorted to kicking its side.

The beast began accelerating at breakneck speeds. Onward and forward Randgrof charged.

One of the arms lashed out at him, and he dodged it by the narrowest of margins. However, the next one came barreling at him head-on.

Elisabeth gallantly dived in front of it. Her corroded black hair fluttered behind her as she lopped the arm off. As she and Randgrof passed each other by, he gave her a shout. “You have my thanks!”

“If you wish to go, then go. ’Tis best to bear no regrets.”

She could have stopped him. However, she said nothing to that effect.

His charge was an act of supreme folly. All that awaited him at its end was death.

The Torture Princess knew that.

She knew, and she let him go anyway.

Elisabeth left Randgrof to gallop on away.

Randgrof didn’t fear that which awaited him. His own father was the man behind the Sand Queen’s transformation, and yet even so, there was no hesitation in Randgrof’s expression. It was as though he had always known that his father might someday become a monster. He raced all the way up to the flesh blob and drew his sword from its sheath.

Then he raised his arm aloft and hurled his sword at the blob.

“LOOK AT ME!”

The blade pierced the blob’s flesh. Blackened blood trickled down its length.

That was enough to get all the blob’s eyes to turn and look Randgrof’s way.

Despite the clear animosity he was facing it with, though, the flesh blob didn’t turn its arms on him. Instead, it froze again.

Elisabeth had trouble believing it until a certain morsel of information wormed its way out of the depths of her mind.

A tranquil song echoed in her ears.

—Her ever-closed eyes watch over her sheep

—Ensuring all her descendants are honest and true and good and resplendent

—Please, my queen, know it is true, believe in us as we believe in you

The blob is a monster that sees all, to be sure…

…but it was also an entity that cast judgment on all those it observed.

To wit, because the song influenced it and provided the inspiration for its transformation…

This was no miracle. Nothing of the sort. The monster had always retained both the ability to look at people and the intellect necessary to cast judgment on them. And Randgrof was no beastfolk.

He was an honest, true, good, resplendent descendant of the Sand Queen.

And on top of that, he was Aguina’s son.

The flesh blob’s eyes widened even further, then spun in their sockets. It didn’t know what to do. Eventually, it decided to simply get out of Randgrof’s way. It reached its arms toward the wounded white deer.

Before it had a chance to avert its gaze from him, though, Randgrof made his move.

He pulled something out from his pocket.

This time, Elisabeth felt as though she heard her own voice echo back in her ears.

“’Tis a wretched sight when one tries to kill themselves by blade and fails to finish the job.”

“I won’t fail. What son of yours ever would?”

Randgrof laughed. He held his knife at the ready.

His hands were trembling.

“This is the one thing I can do to make sure you don’t have to bear that anguish alone. Witness me, Father.”

And in one clean stroke,

Randgrof Elephabred slit his own throat open.

Blood gushed forth.

Some of it sprayed onto the Sand Queen.

The air froze.

Or at least, everyone there could have sworn it did.

The summoned beast shook its body. Randgrof’s corpse, so sorrowfully light, tumbled to the ground. The Sand Queen immediately reached an arm out, catching his chest so gently and delicately it was almost funny. However, doing so caused the arm’s teeth to damage it, spreading more and more blood across Randgrof’s body.

Tears poured from each of the Sand Queen’s many eyes.

She was grieving the death of an honest, true, good, resplendent descendant. Translucent droplets splashed against the ground.

As they did, the colossal hawk drilled its beak forward once more. However, the Queen ignored the attack against her person. Her body shook.

Then something rose up to its surface from within. A new transformation was taking place.

When she saw what was happening, Elisabeth gasped.

A key change had taken place in the flesh blob. Now a male figure was rising up on part of its surface. Based on the amount of mana contained within, Elisabeth immediately understood what had happened. The direct spiritual hit she’d suffered had caused the source of the Sand Queen’s mana to change its shape and make an appearance.

Now the part of her she’d kept so deeply hidden away was out in the open.

The man-shaped core tried desperately to reach out its arms. However, it was unable to reach even the corpse immediately beside it.

Its hands drifted helplessly through the air. And that was when a bellow rang out.

“HRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”

Lute rushed forward, shouting at the top of his lungs. He dashed at the flesh blob with sword in hand.

It was a sad, pathetic attempt at a battle charge. Everything had happened so suddenly that Lute hadn’t even had time to put together a plan. His mad dash had come far too late. The man was about to recede back into the fleshy depths, and that would spell their doom.

They were out of options—or so it seemed. But instead of faltering, Lute called out to Aguina.

“I’ve been meaning to tell you—we’re expecting.”

The man came to an abrupt stop. He looked back and forth between Lute and Randgrof’s corpse. In the end, his gaze settled on his son.

Lute’s blade drew ever closer to him. However, the man didn’t move. He just waited for the blow that would mark his execution. Lute continued onward toward his unmoving opponent. When he spoke next, there was no falsehood in his voice. “You prayed for us to be blessed with a healthy child, and that’s something I will never forget.”

The blade struck true.

Lute’s slash cleaved the thing shaped like Aguina in half from top to bottom.

In that moment, the Queen’s parts continued moving.

However, her reactor itself was destroyed.

That was too close for comfort, Elisabeth thought from atop her raven.

If she, the white deer, or the colossal hawk had tried to destroy Aguina, he merely would have retreated back into the blob. Just now, though, he had allowed the slash to cut him clean in two. And it was all because Lute was the one who’d called out to him.

They were both fathers, and that was what had sealed the deal.

The man-shaped figure trembled, then melted away.

All of a sudden, the flesh blob swelled up. Its skin grew taut, and blood vessels began bulging up on its surface.

This was different from the earlier transformations. This was a destructive growth—growth that signaled its demise.

Lute hurried back. However, he didn’t make it in time, and one of his arms got caught in the expanding flesh. He struggled like his life depended on it. He even kicked and punched the flesh, but all that accomplished was getting one of his feet trapped as well.

Elisabeth forced her raven into a nosedive. If she used a Cat’s Paw, she could cut around Lute and free him from the blob. She quickly conjured up a rope. It was the exact same trick she’d used back when Lute fell on his backside.

“You saved us!” she shouted. “Now, get on back here yourself, Lute!”

“Oh, what a shameful way for me to get caught!”

After sharing pretty much the exact same exchange they had earlier, Elisabeth wound the rope around his wrist. This time, though, a staggering amount of force yanked her forward. The intensity with which the flesh blob was trying to swallow Lute up was simply too great.

Elisabeth fell over, and the force from the impact caused her raven to crash-land. She found herself getting dragged toward the blob, so she plunged her sword into the ground in an attempt to resist.

However, the handle slipped out of her blood-slick grasp.

Lute stared at her. The blob had already swallowed half of his body.

A determined expression crossed his face, and he reached his arm out as far as it could go. Then, after snatching hold of the belt around Elisabeth’s neck, he hurled her as far away as he possibly could.

It was like it was all some sort of gag.

“You! Utter! Fool!”

“I leave the rest to you, Madam…no, rather, Sir Kaito’s beloved—as well as our beloved Captain Elisabeth!”

Lute spoke with a look of clear relief,

and just like that,

the flesh blob swallowed him up.

Elisabeth landed hard and tumbled violently across the ground. She quickly raised her wounded face and stared blankly at the scene before her. Like it or not, she could tell exactly what had happened.

My raven was swallowed up, too. I shan’t have the mana to deploy any meaningful torture devices for some time.

In short, she had no way of saving Lute.

She dragged her venom- and crash-landing-battered body to its feet and began walking.

The retreat she was beating was a pathetic one hardly befitting the Torture Princess. But as she tripped over her own feet, she hurried on anyway. Even as she coughed up blood, she ran away like a woman possessed.

Those who owed their lives to another had a duty to fight.

Stopping and putting down her burden was an option denied to her.

Somehow or other, she managed to get out of range.

Her vision blurred as blood dripped down into her eyes. As she rubbed them the way a child would, she looked up and observed the flesh blob’s final transformation.

The blob swelled and swelled and swelled,

and, with a pop,

it burst.

Afterward, all that remained

was the foul sea of flesh expanding outward.