While his neck was undergoing strangulation, Sena Kaito thought to himself... I knew this was going to happen eventually.

Having lived this long was already a miracle. His right arm was densely covered with lacerations while his left arm was a mess of bloody flesh and unable to move. His broken ankle was twisted in a bizarre way and the splint applied several months ago still had not been taken off. His belly had been hurting intensely starting three days ago. The organs inside could very well have ruptured already.

Seventeen years old and three months, Kaito's life had been wrecked on a whim, arbitrarily destroyed.

He had lived a life akin to livestock, aware that he was merely meat on someone's plate, but powerless to escape. In fact, Kaito's body was not going to be eaten, but would probably end up buried somewhere, or burned until not even bones remained, to be scattered in the mountains or the sea.

Amid heavy suffering that persisted endlessly, these thoughts occupied his mind. At the same time, his organs and blood vessels were being crushed progressively by big strong fingers. Widened so much that they were about to burst, his eyeballs were overflowing with viscous tears.

Even though he struggled madly, kicking the other person's body desperately, digging his fingernails like crazy into the hand that was gripping his neck, but fueled by a drug-induced frenzy, the other party—in other words, his father—had lost all sense of rationality and pain. His swollen tongue stuck out desperately, trying to lick oxygen, moving haphazardly as though in deep thirst. At that moment, a part of Kaito separated from his body to calmly observe the situation. However, the chaotic feelings in his mind were swirling madly like an explosion... I-don't-wanna-die-I-don't-wanna-die-I-don't-wanna-die-I-don't-wanna-die-Don't-kill-me.

However, the flesh of his throat was practically crushed. His vision vanished, then lights flashed in what ought to be a scene of true darkness.

What appeared before him resembled the flashbacks that people commonly spoke of.

However, this was an extremely evil scenes, completely different from what people usually described.

For as far as he could see, everyone was dead.

Men, women, children, old people... All of them had been abandoned in extremely bizarre states of death. Resembling broken toys, their hands and feet had been severed, their bellies torn open, their limbs pulled off, their ears, eyeballs, teeth and tongues all lost.

In front of Kaito, was a mountain of corpses that had been completely deprived of their human dignity.

Cawing crows were pecking at the corpses to fly off with scraps of human flesh. Darkness dominated the view where he could see countless mouths. A crowd dressed in black hoods were raising their fists, howling at the top of their voices. Kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill... An inordinate amount of blood lust and hatred were directed a girl.

In front of them was a black-haired maiden suspended in a straitjacket. The hundreds of chains dangling from the gallows had her body tied up securely, suspended in midair with her limbs spread out. It was like a butterfly had collided with a spider's web. With her sleek black hair fluttering in the wind, the maiden looked up.

Her face, whose sublime beauty sent shivers through one's body, turned, showing her crimson eyes to Kaito. Simultaneously, Kaito gasped.

The expression on the maiden's face was not a victim's expression.

Kaito did not register in her eyes. Fearlessly, she glared at the crowd that was directing their grudge and blood lust at her.

On that flawlessly beautiful face was a smile both evil and cruel.

Kill, kill, kill, kill, kill... Amid the resumed shouting, she completely embraced the crowd's desire for execution and smiled. It was a mocking smile, very ominous, extremely beautiful and all-accepting. At that moment, an authoritative voice shook the sky.

—At least do a little good before you die.

Precisely at that moment, crack...

Back in the real world, Sena Kaito's neck snapped completely.

The adolescent who had been killed—Sena Kaito—slowly opened his eyes. Images of flames from a torch were imprinted onto his retinas. By the time he came to his senses, he discovered he was inside a room of stone. He knew he had been killed but did not think this was the underworld. His mind in muddle, Kaito found standing before him the girl whom he had seen earlier.

She was no longer kept in restraints, but based on her appearance, one could say that she was restrained in a way.

Her slender body was dressed in black bondage dress with only leather straps across her chest. Under those criss-crossed straps, her well-shaped breasts were mostly exposed. Her waist and lower torso were covered by black fabric. Extending under the short skirt, her beautiful legs were wrapped in sheer fabric that resembled stockings. The inner side of the skirt's black hem was dyed scarlet, extending long behind her like a cape. Although this attire was quite sexy in many ways, unbelievably, the viewer did not gather a seductive impression.

Wearing that bondage-style dress, she seemed as dignified as a queen in formal attire.

Soft and fluttering, her long black hair was an excellent match for her face. Kaito had never seen anyone so beautiful throughout the course of his brief life. However, in those ruby-like eyes of red, the diabolical glint of cruelty flashed.

Suddenly, this peerless beauty opened her dainty lips. Staring straight at Kaito, she spoke in a commanding tone:

"O innocent soul that has been murdered brutally, you shall work for me as my servant henceforth."

Who the hell would ask a murdered victim to work for her? Extremely confused, Kaito could not help but smile faintly, finally noticing the fact that he could breathe now. In front of Kaito, she declared solemnly.

"I am 'Torturchen' Elisabeth Le Fanu, both a proud wolf and a lowly sow."