It seems the fighting has finally ended. I couldn't see quite well since I'd fallen down in the middle of it (and then got buried in Seigi, Swordia and Poran), but Lizel-senpai just fired off an amazing shot, and I'm guessing she hit Yotaka, since things seem to have calmed down.

With Top Runner finally getting more stable, the girls were finally able to get off of me. By the time I got up myself, Neith had already stopped Top Runner inside the mansion. I guess we should check if the fight really is over, it'd be bad if we were caught by surprise later.

So we all went down from Top Runner and Neith dispelled it. It wasn't long until we found where Yotaka had landed.

As luck would have it, she had happened to land on some extravagant bed. There were a lot of arrows piercing her, but the biggest one was going through her stomach and the bed, making it so that she couldn't move.

"Gah! Hahaha! You really are something else, Lizel."

She's still alive?! I thought she'd be dead with all that, but I guess she's really tough. And it looks like I wasn't the only one surprised. Rather, it seemed that only Lizel-senpai wasn't surprised.

That being said, it's clearly a fatal wound. I mean, most of her stomach area, and everything inside it, is simply gone. Even if she somehow miraculously survived, she would probably never walk or fight again.

Lizel-senpai walked up to Yotaka. I don't fully understand the circumstances, but it seems there's some sort of family rivalry, so maybe she wants to show respect for Yotaka's last moments?

"Still, it's a shame. If you're still that powerful without your magic circuits, imagine what you'd be able to do with them. It's such a shame that you-"

*boom*

Before Yotaka could finish, Lizel-senpai readied and fired another shot. Yotaka's whole head was gone. She was clearly dead now. I don't think there's any coming back from that.

Lizel-senpai's standing seemed unstable. I think she's out of mana. I managed to catch her before she lost her balance.

"Lizel-senpai, what was that?"

"I figured I should at least ease her pain. And part of me was also afraid she'd somehow recover, so I figured it was best to make sure she died."

I mean… I can't say I don't get it. If nothing else, Yotaka kidnapped Lizel-senpai and Poran. Depending on how things went, maybe I'd be the one killing her, so I can't really blame Lizel-senpai. What I mean was something else.

"I mean the thing she said about Lizel-senpai's magic circuits being gone."

"Come to think of it, she also said something like that during the fight."

"Lizel, are you okay,,,?"

"Can we leave that for later? For now, we should…"

That's when we noticed someone else in the room. Yotaka's Ace, Iratsume. Because of her sudden appearance, we got ready to fight, but that didn't last long.

She didn't look angry or anything. Actually, it seemed she could barely see us. She was looking straight at Yotaka's now dead corpse.

She walked up to her, got on the bed, and just stared at what was left of Yotaka for about a full minute. Then, Iratsume took out a knife from somewhere. Does she still intend to fight?

"Everyone, mistress Yotaka is dead. Your lives are once again your own to do as you please."

She activated some kind of magic that transmitted her voice to the whole mansion. Of course, I couldn't make out what the maids were saying, but I could hear a lot of commotion.

Iratsume then put the knife to her own neck. Is she going to kill herself? I was about to go stop her, but then Lizel-senpai stopped me.

It was only then that she finally seemed to take notice of us.

"Your things are in the basement. All traps are disabled, so feel free to look around and take whatever you want. Miss Yotaka no longer needs anything."

That was all she said before she slashed off her own neck. As she bled out, she simply lay down next to Yotaka. I can't imagine her death was quick, but she didn't seem to struggle for her life.

At that point, there was nothing any of us could do for her. None of us knew how to use healing magic, so we couldn't save her. We simply left the room, it was the least we could do.

"Iratsume has been Yotaka's servant as far as I've known, so at least since we were all kids. She was probably conceived and raised to be Yotaka's servant. As far as she was concerned, her life ended when Yotaka died. You can't say she wasn't a splendid servant."

"I understand… but I still don't like it."

I figured I was already used to the idea that people would die during this Devil King War. Or better put, that, after you become strong enough, you get to pick and choose who lives and dies. But seeing someone commit suicide in front of me hit differently.

There was no need for her to do that. It's not like we'd backed her into a corner, I'd be fine with letting her go if she promised to not try to take revenge and stuff like that. But then, when she cut her own throat, it felt like I was part of the reason that drove her to that, which I guess isn't wrong.

"It's fine if Yuuto doesn't like it. Like I said before, all you have to do is become Devil King and change what you don't like."

I suppose Lizel-senpai is right. It's unfortunate, but what's done is done. There's no taking back.

Looking out the window, I could see some maids running off. I guess not everyone stayed because they wanted to. Some were even carrying stuff, I imagine they plan to sell it or something.

I guess nothing is black or white. I never knew Yotaka personally to say if she was a good or bad person, to me she was just the person who kidnapped Lizel-senpai and Poran, an enemy to defeat. But to Iratsume she was everything, while to these maids that were running away, maybe she was a bad person that was keeping them captive. Who knows really?

I thought we should take a little breather before getting our stuff, so we entered a room and rested for a bit.

The mood was quite heavy. I guess everyone felt Iratsume's death. I tried thinking of something to talk about, but the only thing I could think of is that I made Neith into my Card. Might as well take this chance to update Lizel-senpai. Maybe she could even help me convince Neith to stay.

"Lizel-senpai, while we were locked up in the basement, I made Neith into my Card so we could do Healing Lovers to escape."

Everyone's faces got red. I guess it's a bit of an embarrassing memory. Only Lizel-senpai seemed… confused?

"Neith, as in, this Neith here?"

"Yeah. Who else?"

"That's just not possible, Yuuto."

"What? But I did."

Why is Lizel-senpai doubting me? I hope she didn't think I was so helpless I'd never get a Card without her telling me to.

"… Maybe I forgot to tell Yuuto, but it's well known you can't take another Devil King Candidate as a Card. It's just not possible. If it was, then there's no reason why the current Devil King would have been the only one to win without killing off all other Candidates."

"That's also what I thought. But I clearly saw him do it with my own eyes."

Seigi told Lizel-senpai. Is that why she was so surprised back in the cell? Come to think of it, is that why Ruki thought that me taking Neith as a Card was a joke? Did I do something amazing without realizing it?

"Lizel… it's true… I really became Yuuto-kun's Card."

"… What?"

At least I succeeded in getting everyone's minds off of the recent events. But it looks like I opened a whole other can of worms.