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Chapter 47 Part 4 – A memory from the previous「108 times」. Beyond sorrowful. The men risk their lives to challenge the monster called Alisa, who is playing with fate.

「…… No way, that’s impossible ……」

Arnold grunted.
He would not have been so surprised if a piano had sounded in an unoccupied, abandoned house.
Unlike a piano, a pipe organ cannot be played by the performer alone.
It requires a person who constantly pumps air through a large bellows.
Such intricately intertwined, long, and heavily resonant tones can only be achieved with the assistance of many people.
It should never have sounded in a perishing castle on fire.
The grim melody seemed to have wandered into the world of nightmares.

Arnold felt as if his feet were shaky.
Arnold entered the chapel where the music was coming from, as if he were being drawn in.
The historic chapel has not lost its dignity, even though the castle was on the verge of falling.

The light shone through the stained-glass mosaic skylight.
The long and narrow space with rows of pillars on both sides reminded him of a corridor for giants.
Red benches were lined up in layers like rippling waves.
The space, which could have accommodated hundreds of people, told of the history of this place, which was used not only for worship but also for the ceremonies of the castle.
One step higher, in the dark recesses, was the altar. There was no one there.

Arnold twisted his neck to look up at the ceiling and stepped fearfully into the middle of the chapel.
The pipe organ is often installed above the entrance to the chapel, directly opposite from the altar in the back, for acoustic reasons.
The sound was coming from a mezzanine level aisle flanked on both sides by stone pillars.
Arnold’s prayer of hoping that his conjecture would be wrong was not heard.

To reconcile the avant-garde impression of the numerous silver pipes crammed into the chapel’s massive appearance, angel statues and elaborate designs were clustered around the chapel. The keyboard and performer’s seat is directly beneath it.
The luxurious blonde hair and ominous jet-black dress swayed in the air.

「…… Alisa …… why are you ……」

Arnold tremblingly muttered the name he did not want to say.
The woman sitting there was Alisa Diamondi, the〈Maiden of Salvation〉.

Despite Arnold’s sorrowful cry, Alisa smiled and slid her fingers across the keys.
A musical background is a requirement for the nobility, especially for a young lady.
But Alisa had no talent except for dancing.
Her awkward performance with a single finger always drew the ridicule of the other ladies around her, and she would play along with them with a small, forced smile. Once, she was bullied into being dragged out to the center of a joint concert and subjected to the scorn of the discerning nobles for so long that she was left trembling with tears in her eyes.

And yet, now Alisa was playing with unleashed, overwhelming performance, her fingers gliding through the keys of the pipe organ with ease.
The stop levers next to the keyboard were hectically moving in and out, creating countless instrumental echoes.
Her toes magically created waves of intensity.
It was an outstanding performance that even an amateur like Arnold could recognize at a glance.

Arnold was stunned and fell to his knees on the floor of the chapel.
He could no longer think about how Alisa had arrived here.
The young ladies that taunted Alisa were no match against her skills.
She was on the level of a court musician. She had the aura of a top-notch musician who could make the audience gasp with her performance and her backside alone. No, it was more like the devilish brilliance of an ominous winter night.

The pipe organ sounded. Arnold groaned.
Alisa has been acting as an incompetent young lady.
Arnold was confronted with the cruel reality that he had been deceived.

「…… Fufufu, it’s been a long time since I’ve been able to play without restraint so I got a bit excited. Come on, let’s hear the tone for which your whole existence hangs on.」

Somehow, in the midst of the rising tones of the organ that shook the whole castle, Arnold heard Alisa’s cold voice clearly.
He saw Alisa slam her hands on the keys.
A melody of madness roared out, a mixture of the roar of a raging beast and the high-pitched scream of a child.
It was the organ’s doom.
Alisa stood up and laughed loudly, her blonde hair puffing at the infernal music.

「…… Ahahaha!! How lovely. Dedicate your final movement as an instrument to me ……!!」

「……!?」

At that moment, Arnold felt something disturbing and reflexively jumped away, covering his face with his arms. The pipe organ exploded with the strange sound. The keys flew through the air, and the sturdy framework distorted and burst apart. It was literally shattered into small fragments. It was so terrible that even a direct hit by lightning would not have resulted in this.

Although the explosion was located on the mezzanine floor, the stone walls and floor of the entire chapel were covered with debris.
Alisa, who was at the center of the explosion, should have been reduced to a bloodied piece of flesh and would not have been able to retain her original figure.
But Arnold had no time to check.
With a creaking sound, the metal pipes, each over ten meters long, fell off the walls, one after the other, covering his field of vision. If he gets caught in it, he will die.
The first one grazed Arnold’s ear, which he barely avoided, and ripped a few strands of his hair out.
The sound of metal clanking, falling, and the exhaust sound from the blowhole were absurdly intermingled.
The metal tubes of different lengths struck erratically, bouncing on the floor and on protrusions on the way down, and even Arnold, who had excellent dynamic vision, had trouble dodging them as they rolled by. It was impossible to intercept them with arrows.

「…… Alisa ……!!」

And yet, Arnold jumped up and ran to help Alisa.
Even though he knew he had been tricked, he had not lost his love for Alisa.
However, his feelings and feet became frozen still.

Alisa stood unharmed in a part of the mezzanine floor that miraculously remained unbroken.
With her familiar blonde hair, blue eyes, black ribbon, and hair ornament resembling a golden bug, Alisa looked exactly the same as usual.
But the atmosphere she had was that of a different person.
It was not because of her jet-black dress.
In spite of being in the center of the explosion, Alisa looked so composed, without her dress getting damaged, her hair disheveled, or even a hint of cold sweat. Something that is impossible for a normal human.

Arnold had seen only one such woman.
A woman with the heart of a demon, who would not be shaken in the slightest, not even by the life or death of a human being.
A monster who played with Arnold’s family, gleefully sending them to their deaths, and made Arnold bear a vow of revenge.
A person of absolute power who laughed as she turned her back on the fire. A being who had left Arnold with a scar on his heart that would never go away.
Arnold was speechless for a while.

Alisa smiled at Arnold.

「…… Did you like it? Arnold. Alisa’s performance was pretty amazing, wasn’t it? Actually, Alisa is really good at playing musical instruments. …… This really brings me back to that time in the execution site, the excitement and smell of it. That time when Arnold’s beloved father, mother, and younger brother lost their lives. The moment when things are about to break is the most beautiful. …… Why are you silent? Don’t tell me, not only the family you love has been burned, but your own voice as well? You can’t do that. You have to take care of yourself. After all you need to give your screams and cries of anger as much force as you can. …… Eh, Arnold, are you crying? It’s okay, if you’re sad, you don’t have to hold it in. Come, I’ll let you cry on Alisa’s chest……」

It was Alisa’s usual tone of voice that Arnold was familiar with.
The worried gaze of a woman in love.
It was the very words and actions that had supported Arnold’s heart during his difficult times.
However, the words that came out of her lips cut into his heart.
Her outstretched hands were filled with maliciousness, just like claws.
Arnold’s heart was torn to shreds, as were his memories.

「…… Alisa was …… the queen in the …… execution site ……!! You’ve been deceiving me all this time ……!!」