Strike the Blood - Volume 1 - Chapter 4

CHAPTER FOUR 

THE RIGHT ARM OF THE SAINT 

1 

That day, after school. Asagi Aiba was arriving at her part-time job, still in her school uniform. 

Twelve levels under the Keystone Gate. The Security Section of the Gigafloat Management Public Corporation. 

As what one might call the nucleus of Itogami Island, security was extremely strict in this area, but Asagi easily passed through each gate with one swipe of the System Administrator ID Card prepared just for her. 

Though normally, such a card was not issued to anyone short of the mayor, the blunt truth was that if Asagi was serious, she could easily disable security of this magnitude. Knowing this full well, the public corporation’s director had given her the card as a special case. Such special privilege was recognition of Asagi’s superior genius as a programmer. 

“Hiya, m’lady. You seem displeased. Your fine beauty will go to waste.” 

As Asagi sat down and logged in at her terminal, her assistant AI spoke to her in an overly familiar manner. 

The artificial intelligence Asagi had dubbed Mogwai was the avatar of five supercomputers holding all of Itogami Island’s city functions within their grasp. Though its operational capacity was no doubt on par with the world’s most powerful computers, it was said to be difficult to handle because of its…quirks. But for some mysterious reason, Asagi rather liked it. 

“Oh, shut up. Cut the boring flattery and the helpful spirit act, ’kay?” 

“Heh-heh. Concerns about love, I presume? It seems that genius programmers’ affairs of the heart are different from those of mere mortals.” 

“Oh, stuff it or I’ll upload a virus.” 

Asagi began her work while shooting the breeze with the AI. 

The job she’d accepted for today was cleaning up after the explosion incident in the warehouse district the night before. Hundreds of detailed subjects, such as managing the maintenance of destroyed pieces of the electrical grid and water and sewer systems, rearranging the service schedules of transport facilities, calculating restoration estimates, and so on, all required the writing of new, custom programs. 

It was a job that would take a group of dozens of excellent programmers a full half year, but Asagi and Mogwai teamed up would need about three days. 

With Asagi’s skill, she could have chosen any number of higher-profile jobs, but Asagi rather liked having a part-time job where she could use one of the world’s top supercomputers as her personal chew toy. 

Her lone regret was that taking this job meant she had no free time to help Kojou with his homework. She thought, feeling a bit wistful, it was a bit of a shame to have ripped up and tossed away that World History report… 

But that was Kojou’s fault any way you sliced it. Plus the idiot had skipped school so early in the term and never even made it back. 

She didn’t even need to confirm it. That transfer student Himeragi had been with him, after all. 

What surprised Asagi had been how much it burned her inside. 

A disagreeable thing was a disagreeable thing, but she didn’t think that Kojou, of all people, had the resourcefulness to skip a class to go out on a date with a younger girl. There had to be some circumstances involved. 

What put Asagi in a bad mood was that Kojou hadn’t told her those circumstances, instead trying to cover things up with a clumsy lie. She vaguely realized Kojou was just trying to be considerate of her feelings, but she really didn’t like that. 

There was one other thing she didn’t like: the girl, Yukina Himeragi. 

Asagi had no evidence to back her intuition, but Kojou probably had a weakness for her type. 

She behaved with a resoluteness that didn’t feel feminine in the slightest and spoke very frankly. No doubt the athletic aura she gave off appealed to Kojou, who’d played basketball day and night when he was in middle high. 

On top of that, Yukina looked beautiful to Asagi even in spite of their being the same gender. Though Kojou didn’t appear to pay attention to the opposite sex at all, even he might fall for an opponent of that level. 

“Not that I think I’m giving up anything in style points…” 

Lost in her work, she didn’t even seem to realize she’d spoken out loud. The AI’s sharp ears picked up on it. 

“Well, in this world there are rascals who go for all kinds of things.” 

“Don’t answer when I’m talking to myself.” 

“I’m just having a conversation with my partner.” 

“None of your business. And when did I turn into your partner, anyway?” 

“Isn’t the reason it’s not going smoothly because you’re not honest with yourself?” 

“Y-you don’t have to tell me something obvious like that. But…!” 

Asagi’s hands unwittingly stopped tapping the keyboard as she raised her eyebrows in annoyance. 

It was the moment right after when a dull vibration and impact shook the room Asagi was in. 

Asagi let out a brief yelp. Itogami Island, floating on top of the Pacific Ocean, didn’t have any earthquakes. It was the first impact Asagi had felt since she’d immigrated to the island. 

“Mogwai, what was that just now?” 

“…Well, this is unexpected. Intruders.” 

The AI spoke with something like admiration. Asagi furrowed her eyebrows in surprise. 

“Intruders?” 

“Yes. They are in combat with this building’s security forces. The vibration from just now was from a support pillar being cleanly broken during combat.” 

“Broken… You’re kidding, right?” Asagi murmured in a low voice as her face changed color. 

This was no ordinary building. This was the Gigafloat’s underground infrastructure section. Its main support pillars, designed to hold up tens of thousands of tons, were not so easily destroyed, even with explosives. 

“It’s not just the support pillar. There’s quite a bit of damage to the upper floors as well. I believe it is still safe here for now, but it might not be possible to escape. The elevator shaft was also destroyed.” 

“You mean I’m shut in here?” 

“The emergency stairs are still intact, but I do not recommend using them right now. Not unless you want to meet the intruders in person. The security forces have already been routed.” 

“Routed?” Asagi asked back, dumbfounded. Even in peacetime, the Keystone Gate was garrisoned with nearly a hundred and fifty security personnel. And they had been beaten? 

“Who are these intruders? A terrorist group? Or are we under attack by a Dominion army?” 

“Err, no. Neither…” 

The AI replied to Asagi, who’d expected some kind of demonic military incursion, with an oddly human-sounding tone. 

A fierce explosion shook the room once more. 

“…There are only two intruders. One a mere human; the other, a homunculus.” 

2 

Keystone Gate was the name of the giant composite structure located at the center of Itogami Island. 

At twelve stories, its aboveground section was the tallest building on the island. You could look up from pretty much anywhere on the island and see its majestic reverse-pyramid shape. 

Within the facility were government administration offices, including city hall, and numerous hotels and commercial facilities built one after another, functioning as the island’s nucleus in both name and fact. 

On the other hand, the giant construct also fulfilled one other, crucially important role, performed by the forty levels under the surface of the water as well as the Gigafloat Management Facility. 

This structure, just under two kilometers in diameter, bound together the four Gigafloats that together composed Itogami Island. 

Keystone Gate was designed to absorb the effects of ocean currents, wind, waves, and so forth, such as bending and vibrations between the Gigafloats. Without this, the four districts of Itogami Island would suddenly collide, or perhaps break apart, drifting atop the Pacific Ocean. It was a critical facility, truly worthy of the name keystone. 

Furthermore, it was heavily defended. 

Itogami City was under the jurisdiction of the Island Guard, four hundred and forty men strong, divided into three battalions. One of those battalions was assigned to guarding Keystone Gate. This included a platoon of sixty Counter-Demon Agents, numbers equal to those of all CDAs under the jurisdiction of a typical midsized prefectural police headquarters. 

Such a large number of personnel had been assigned to protecting Keystone Gate in anticipation of assaults by large-scale terrorist organizations. 

In simulations, they could hold out for several days, even against a company of beast men troops from the Dominion. 

That was why, that day, people were in utter shock. 

That a mere two intruders had shattered the security forces and penetrated the gate— 

They had already broken through the tenth underwater level’s airtight bulkhead, heading for the gate’s central section, having not made a single demand. 

“—Complete. The airtight bulkhead’s seal has been destroyed.” 

The homunculus girl, shrouded in Beast Vassal armor, made an austere report. 

Right now the girl appeared to be wearing a twelve-foot-tall golem, glittering in rainbow colors, as armor. A single brush of its fingertips instantly destroyed the barrier protecting the seventh level’s airlock. 

This was the work of the DOE sealed within Astarte’s body. 

Completely merged with the man-made Beast Vassal “Rhododactylos,” she was able to neutralize various mystical forces and slice through barriers. 

It was this ability in particular that Eustach the Armed Apostle had long sought. For it was this, the power to destroy barriers, that was indispensable for the achievement of his fondest wish. 

“Go, Astarte. That which we seek lies beyond.” 

“Accept.” 

Quietly murmuring, Astarte climbed over the destroyed bulkhead. 

Ahead was the central section, under the jurisdiction of the Gigafloat Management Corporation, extending down to the twenty-fifth floor underwater. 

If damage was inflicted on this block, it was possible that severe damage would be caused to the inhabitants of Itogami Island. 

For hospitalized patients, a power outage could be fatal; food could no longer be preserved in the fierce heat of Itogami Island. Here on the Pacific Ocean, three hundred kilometers from the mainland, it was not possible to evacuate some five hundred and sixty thousand inhabitants in a short time frame. 

That was the very reason why it had been a target of terrorism time and time again and why security had been beefed up to cope with it. 

It had been the Island Guard’s finest that awaited Eustach and Astarte’s arrival into the central section. There were two CDA squads and one heavy, mechanized platoon. 

“Hmm… An adequate response for an emergency situation. They are well trained.” 

As they spotted Eusatch and Astarte on the path below, they engaged with one great volley. 

These were Blessed Bullets for use against demons. Even Eustach’s armor-enhanced clothing would not emerge unscathed from a straight-up hit. Eustach slipped behind a wall to avoid direct hits but appraised with a very calm voice, “Still, it is all for naught. Exterminate them, Astarte.” 

“—Accept. Execute ‘Rhododactylos.’” 

The humanoid Beast Vassal, glimmering in rainbow colors, assailed the mechanized troops as they continued to fire. 

The giant moved with unimaginable agility. The Beast Vassal’s overwhelming power mowed them down. 

The barriers that protected the mechanized forces shattered like thin glass; now defenseless, they were dispatched with the greatest of ease. 

Having determined that normal Blessed Bullets were having no effect, the CDA fired ballista at Astarte. These were small-scale siege weapons that launched javelins, but when their heads were charged with ritual power, they became powerful weapons against demonkind—enough that their use had been treaty-restricted, being able to inflict lethal wounds to beast men and vampires in a single blow. The javelins, glimmering with a dark gray light, assaulted the humanoid Beast Vassal with a speed rivaling that of a bullet. 

And then the armor deflected them as easily as raindrops. 

The unbelievable display made the CDAs stop dumbfounded in their tracks. 

Only Eustach made a quiet smile. 

A Beast Vassal, being a mass of magical power, could not be damaged save by even greater magical power. 

However, Rhododactylos was now neutralizing the magic power of all attacks, and reflecting them back. 

Now no one could stop the Vassal Beast—or its lord, Astarte. Not even the Beast Vassal of a Primogenitor. 

The CDA continued to resist, but with their most powerful weapons rendered powerless, their chances of victory were nil. 

With overwhelming physical might, Astarte’s Beast Vassal annihilated them. 

This was no longer combat. It was a one-sided slaughter. 

“Hmm, a wise decision.” 

No doubt they’d noticed that Eustach was the one giving orders to Astarte the homunculus. The several surviving CDAs attacked Eustach directly. 

“However, I cannot be defeated by such dull skills. Compared to that Sword Shaman girl, ’tis mere child’s play.” 

A grand smile came over Eustach’s face as he struck back. 

His physical strength amplified by his augmented robe, swinging his metal bardiche, swept the security force’s Counter-Demon Agents away. He had been an exorcist sufficient to be granted the title of Armed Apostle by Lotharingia. His might far surpassed that of the average for National Counter-Demon Agent. 

“—Perhaps things have been put in order?” 

Eustach spoke coldly as he looked around at the completely silent security forces. 

The vestiges of scattered bullets and of the Beast Vassal’s destruction had changed the floor from a battlefield into a ghastly ruin. All members of the elite force, over sixty strong, had fallen, heavily wounded. No one moved aside from the two intruders. 

No— 

In a place a short way from the battleground, one girl stood. 

She was unarmed. All she had was a cell phone and a little notepad computer. From her posture, she had no combat training; he felt no magic power from her. She was neither combat personnel nor demon, a mere human being. 

She had the aura of someone in the passageway by chance who’d come to see what was going on and had happened upon the battle. 

As Eustach gazed at her trembling form, his face scowled in suspicion, for the uniform she wore greatly resembled that of the Lion King Agency’s Sword Shaman. 

Though the chance they were comrades was not high, perhaps it was best to neutralize her just in— 

Amid his thoughts, Eustach shook his head. 

It was not necessary. Even if the Sword Shaman herself came after him, she could do nothing against Eustach and Astarte. Not anymore. 

Besides, to take the girl’s life here was meaningless. 

She would die soon enough as it was. Not only her but every person who lived on this island. 

Yes. This forsaken land built by criminals, Itogami Island, would soon sink into the sea. 

3 

Kojou Akatsuki awoke amid the thin darkness of twilight. 

He faintly heard a sound. He didn’t recognize the landscape, but it seemed to be a park near the coast. 

His outstretched arm felt cold, perhaps because he was lying atop the concrete on his side. That made it a less comfortable place to sleep. His cheek conveyed pleasant warmth. 

“Senpai… Would you mind getting up already?” 

Kojou suddenly heard a voice above his head. It was Yukina’s voice, seeming to pout somehow. 

“Sorry… Five more minutes.” 

Feeling like he was watching a dream, Kojou’s lips meekly made the request. It’d be a waste to pull away from this tranquil warmth that seemed to envelop his head. But… 

As Kojou heard a “Good grief” and a light sigh above his head, something pinched his cheek. 

“Do not get carried away. This isn’t the time or place to be doing this.” 

With an “Ow,” Kojou opened his eyes without thinking, realizing the unexpected existence of a girl at point-blank range looking down at him. 

“H-Himeragi?” 

“Are you finally awake, Senpai? Making someone worry about you that much… You’re really quite something.” 

Yukina spoke in an uncommonly sarcastic tone. 

Seeing her expression, Kojou remembered what had happened. He and Himeragi had encountered Eustach at the pharmaceutical company lab; then he’d sustained an attack from a battle-axe meant for Yukina. 

A blow powerful enough to slice through his heart and smash his torso to bits. 

It wasn’t a wound even a vampire could survive. 

“I see… I died, didn’t I?” 

“Yes.” 

Yukina bit her lip as if remembering what she’d seen at the time. And as her face seemed close to tears once more… 

“A little while after you died, your wounds healed on their own… Even the blood spatter came back, as if time was rewinding itself…” 

“So that’s why I’ve been sleeping here for a while, huh?” Kojou asked while pressing on his right shoulder. The shoulder, which ought to have been severed by the bardiche, was attached to his torso, which should have been torn to pieces, not even a flesh wound remaining on either of them. 

Of course, his uniform shirt was still wrecked, but it was still wearable—as long as he didn’t mind looking a bit like an anarchist. 

As Kojou’s fingers wandered, seemingly confirming the state of his wounds, Yukina glared bitterly. 

“If you’re going to come back to life, please say that before you die. How much do you think I worried about you…!” 

As Yukina spoke, she held Kojou’s head and began beating it with her fist. As Kojou was about to object to the absurdity of that, he realized his head had been resting on her lap. Yukina had been here the whole time until Kojou revived. 

As Kojou looked up at Yukina’s tear-filled eyes, he made an exasperated sigh. 

“Sorry I made you worry, but I didn’t know. So this is what that Avlora was talking about.” 

“Avlora? The prior Fourth Primogenitor said something about…?” 

As Kojou slowly rose up, Yukina watched blankly with wavering eyes. 

“Yeah… She said, to the Primogenitors, immortality isn’t a power, it’s just a curse.” 

“Curse?” 

“Primogenitors don’t die. Even if you impale their hearts or crush their heads, they still live on. To live alone for centuries or even millennia, even if you want to die… Yeah, you can’t call that anything but a curse.” 

Yukina watched silently while Kojou grumbled as if making a sigh. 

Even though vampires were said to be ageless and undying, that did not mean they were completely invulnerable. In particular, their brains, which controlled their magic power, and their hearts, which governed the circulation of their blood, were lethal vulnerabilities. 

Even for the Elders, receiving severe damage to either meant certain death. 

However, as the Fourth Primogenitor, Kojou’s body was different. 

Even his completely destroyed heart had regenerated; most of the blood he had lost had flowed right back into him. 

But there would be no coming back if he managed to get himself turned to ash like vampires in legend. 

“Even so, why did you shield me like that?! Curse or not, you had no proof you could come back for sure! What if you didn’t come back to life?!” Yukina asked Kojou with a tone of genuine anger. 

“Well, that’s true, but I’m still glad.” 

“What are you glad for?!” 

“Er, that you’re all right.” 

A curious expression came over Yukina as the words came casually out of Kojou’s mouth. 

She had an expression like that of a broken doll, too anguished to either laugh or cry. 

“…And…that makes you glad?” 

Yukina’s lips weaved the words without emotion. Kojou tilted his neck a bit, seeming perplexed. 

“Eh?” 

“You would have been better off not shielding me. Have you forgotten already? I came here to kill you, Senpai.” 

Yukina murmured expressionlessly, seemingly without emotion. 

Kojou’s eyebrows grimaced as if to say, The heck are you talking about? 

The aura Yukina gave off that moment was just like that of the girl called Astarte. Just like the sad homunculus girl, bound by the orders of her creator. 

“What that Armed Apostle said is the truth. I’m a disposable tool. I realized it long before, but I just didn’t want to admit it. My biological parents sold me for money; I was raised as a mere tool for fighting demons… That’s why, even if I die, no one will be sad, but you’re different, aren’t you, Senpai…?” 

“Himeragi…” 

Hanging her head in shame, Yukina turned away from Kojou, seemingly holding back tears. 

Kojou finally understood why Yukina had hesitated in the middle of the battle with Eustach. 

Only fourteen years of age, a Lion King Agency Sword Shaman bearing enough combat ability to overwhelm a Lotharingian Armed Apostle. Wielder of a demon-slaying spear, a combat expert raised solely to fight demonkind. 

That was why, faced with Astarte, likewise constructed as a tool for combat, Yukina had seen that they were alike. That was why Eustach’s words had hurt Yukina so much—they’d hit too close to home. That was the cause of her hesitation. 

Kojou thought that maybe he had been the reason Yukina was so hard on herself. In the several days since he’d met her, she’d continued to watch him the whole time, seeing him struggle to live as an ordinary human being in spite of having obtained the power of the Fourth Primogenitor. 

Yukina had abandoned a normal, everyday life to obtain her combat prowess. 

And here was Kojou, who had been granted power mightier than anyone’s, who’d chosen that banal, everyday life. 

Perhaps to Yukina, Kojou’s actions looked like a rejection of how she’d lived her life until now. 

That’s why she’d said it. 

That it should have been her who died, not Kojou… 

“…” 

As Yukina remained motionless, still covering her face, Kojou gazed at her with a puzzled expression. 

And he realized he was faintly indignant. 

It wasn’t that he didn’t understand how Yukina felt, but her reasoning was messed up any way you looked at it. 

It wasn’t a good thing for her to be hurt instead of Kojou. What the heck is she saying? he thought to himself. However, right now it was probably difficult for Kojou to convince Yukina with mere words. After all, in a manner of speaking, his very existence was causing her pain. 

The sight of Yukina’s curled back felt all too ephemeral, as if she’d disappear the moment he took her eyes off her. She was like a little lost girl in tears. 

That was irritating Kojou more and more. 

“Now, hold on here, Himera…gi!” 

“Eh…?” 

As Yukina kept her back to him, Kojou tried to gently reach out and touch her shoulder. However, sensation apparently hadn’t returned in full to Kojou’s barely regenerated flesh and blood. As he tried to stand up, he lost his balance, falling right on top of Yukina. 

Yukina’s body went rigid at Kojou’s completely unanticipated action. Pressing down on her as if embracing her tightly, the incident put Kojou in rigor as well. 

Even so, Kojou couldn’t abandon Yukina now, so he remained locked like this without moving. 

“Um… What are you doing, Senpai?” 

After a while, Yukina asked him with a low voice that seemed angry. Kojou replied with an intentionally pained-sounding voice. 

“Er, it’s aftereffects from when I almost died earlier, so…” 

“You’re lying, aren’t you?” 

“Er… Yeah.” 

Without a word, Yukina, still held down, continued to glare at the silent Kojou. For a while Kojou wondered how he could excuse himself, but he changed his mind midway. 

In this situation, he thought it best to lift Yukina’s spirits, even if it made her a little angry in the process. 

And so, with Yukina’s body still rigid, Kojou gently brought his face to her neck. He took in a deep whiff of the scent of her hair. The odd sensation from the nape of her neck made Yukina let out a yelp. 

“You smell good, Himeragi.” 

Kojou informed her of his thoughts with frightening bluntness. Yukina’s shoulders trembled a little. 

“Wh-what are you saying, all of a sudden?!” 

“Your hair’s so silky, too. It feels good.” 

“Please stop that! Wh-where are you touching?!” 

“You’re softer than I expected, Himeragi. And really light…” 

“S-Senpai! Th-that tickles, geez!” 

“…You really do smell great.” 

“So you really are a pervert…!” 

With tears welling up at the edges of her eyes, Yukina made a yell devoid of strength. 

Kojou still had his lips right at Yukina’s ear. 

“Yeah, that’s right. Pervert is fine. So don’t go saying you should’ve died instead of a pervert like me.” 

“Th…that has nothing to do with it, does… Ah, aah!” 

As Yukina attempted her rebuttal, Kojou put his tongue against Yukina’s neck and blew his breath onto her. Yukina’s body twisted as if desperately trying to escape from within Kojou’s arms, but her struggles were weakening. 

“Besides, I don’t at all get this thing of you being raised to be a tool, Himeragi.” 

“Eh?” 

“I mean, you’re so cute, Himeragi.” 

“Quit saying things like that right n… A!… St!” 

As Kojou gave the nape of Yukina’s neck a long-winded lick, strength drained out of Yukina’s entire body. Somewhere along the way, her white skin had developed a pinkish tinge. 

“Yeah, maybe it wasn’t your parents who raised you, Himeragi, but I can tell just by looking that the folks at High God Forest took really good care of you. I mean, you said yourself you had fun training to be a Sword Shaman, didn’t you?” 

“I get it… I get it already, Senpai… Please forgive me! I can’t take any more of…!” 

“R-right.” 

As Yukina asked in a frail voice, Kojou’s arms around her loosened a little. 

After all, if he’d let her go completely, he’d have fallen right on top of the exhausted girl. 

“…” 

Breathing rather roughly, Yukina touched up her uniform without a word. 

Then, her eyes still moist from tears, she glared sharply at Kojou. 

“This time I know for certain. You truly are an indecent person, Senpai.” 

“Er, no, I don’t really think so. Besides, what you were doing there, Himeragi—” 

“Hai? I did…what?” 

“…Er, never…mind. Sorry, I got carried away.” 

“Well, reflect on it! Goodness…” 

Yukina made a violent sigh as she spoke. 

Seeing that Yukina was somewhat noisy and rather resolute, and therefore back to her usual self, a smile spontaneously came over Kojou. 

Seeing this, Yukina glared at Kojou with her eyes half-closed. 

“And what are you grinning at?” 

“Er, I was thinking you really are cute, Himeragi.” 

“………” 

Yukina silently poised Snowdrift Wolf. Kojou inhaled as his expression changed. 

“W-wait… Put that spear away!” 

“Seriously, cut it out already! This really isn’t the time and place for us to be doing this. Have you forgotten why you almost died?” 

Yukina spoke with a hard voice, her blade still aimed at the nape of Kojou’s neck. She seemed quite confused as to whether she should be angry at him or at herself, or simply blush. Judging that it would not be wise to provoke her further, Kojou tightened up his expression. 

“Okay, got it. Suppose you’re right… Er, by the way, where is this? Where’d the old man and the girl go?” 

“This is a public park behind the Sfelde Pharmaceutical Lab.” 

Yukina slowly lowered her spear. 

As she’d indicated, Kojou could make out the outline of a familiar building behind him. 

“As that artificial Beast Vassal’s attack set off the building’s alarm systems, I carried you here while you slept, Senpai. I do not know where the Lotharingian Armed Apostle and the girl have gone.” 

“I see… Kinda worried about that. They said something weird, after all.” 

Kojou’s face grimaced as he muttered. 

They’d said, take the treasure, sink the island. Certainly that’s what they’d said. 

From the words alone, it sounded like nothing but a foolish fantasy, but it was beyond dispute that Eustach had a clear objective and had prepared accordingly. There was every possibility they’d already made their move. 

The sun was already sinking under the waterline; darkness was enveloping the area. 

Having been killed by Eustach, it’d taken Kojou some four or five hours to recover. He hoped it would not prove a fatal delay. 

“Right… The news…” 

“Huh?” 

Kojou dug out his cell phone and looked it over as Yukina made a somewhat dubious face. Maybe she didn’t know that you could check the news with your cell phone, but he had no time to explain now. If Eustach had already started a disturbance, there was a high probability there were already reports about the incident. 

With that thought, Kojou looked over the screen, inhaling a bit. 

What he saw was an endless list of e-mail notifications… 

The senders were mostly Yaze and Rin. 

Their e-mails were to tell him that Keystone Gate had been assaulted by someone and that Asagi, at her part-time job inside the Gate, was still trapped inside. 

4 

On the floor the intruders had passed through, they saw a tragic scene. 

More than sixty security personnel were laying all over the area, gravely wounded, the scent of their lost blood filling the air. About ten of them could somehow move on their own power. However, they no longer had any combat ability remaining; their hands were full from performing field medicine for their comrades. 

The only unwounded person left was Asagi, gazing at the tragedy in a daze, half-absentmindedly. 

That was when Asagi’s cell phone rang. The facilities within the Gate had suffered severe damage from combat with the intruders, but somehow the cell phone relay station had emerged unscathed. 

With a sluggish, robotic motion, Asagi checked the screen of the cell phone. 

When she saw the name that was displayed, her eyes suddenly came back to life. 

“—Kojou?!” 

“Asagi…! I’m so glad! Are you all right?” 

She heard Kojou’s voice via the cell phone. For no real reason, that somehow brought tears of relief pouring out of Asagi. Her voice rose shrilly, as if she’d plotted to vent her anger the entire time. 

“Geez, what the hell…? I’m not all right at all! The Public Corporation got attacked, there’s a lot of people hurt. I’m trapped in the rubble of a building… What’s wrong with those people?!” 

“You saw the people who attacked? A hard-ass old man in priest robes, right? A humanoid Beast Vassal, too.” 

“You know them?!” Asagi asked back, dumbfounded. At the same time, fierce concern advanced upon her. 

Why would Kojou know what those who’d attacked Keystone Gate looked like unless he’d somehow come across them before Asagi had? If that was the case— 

“Yeah. I almost died thanks to those two.” 

“Almost died…?! Kojou, you…,” Asagi simply exclaimed at Kojou’s blunt confession. Normally he’d just make some banal joke to make light of it, not that she’d have believed a word of it, having seen the atrocity the intruders had committed with her own eyes. There was no doubt Kojou really had stared death in the eye. 

But Kojou spoke with the same laid-back tone he always did. 

“Anyway, looks like you’re okay right now. More important, where’d those two go?” 

“Down. They seem to be headed toward the lowest level of the Gate.” 

Asagi spoke as she got back on her normal track. She wasn’t the only one who’d been through something horrible. Kojou understood. She felt like that thought alone had rescued her. 

Asagi opened the notebook computer that she’d been hugging like a protective charm the entire time. 

She accessed the maintenance division’s server and checked the situation inside the Gate. 

Opening every bulkhead along the way, the intruders had already reached the thirteenth level. What lay ahead was a structurally reinforced area, but their arrival at the bottommost level was now a simple matter of time. It might have taken them two hours at the most. 

“The lowest level… Huh. Do you know what’s there, Asagi?” 

“Like I should know. The only thing that should be on the lowest level is the Anchor,” Asagi answered while tapping her keyboard. 

“Anchor?” 

“Anchor Block. You know that Itogami Island is formed of East/West/North/South Gigafloats, right? It’s kind of like a platform for holding the linked main cables in place.” 

“…And there’s something real important about that?” 

Kojou asked like something in his gut just wouldn’t settle down. With a “Huh?” Asagi scowled. 

“As if. It’s just a stupidly tough mass of steel. It soaks up all the Gigafloat shocks and vibrations from waves and wind to keep Itogami Island from breaking apart.” 

Itogami Island’s four Gigafloats separating was a last resort to avoid the sinking of the entire island. Furthermore, the connecting sections had gaps and flexibility suitable to protect against dangerous vibrations from windstorms and uncomfortably high waves. That meant the four Gigafloats were always supporting one another, just like how a table’s four legs kept it stable. 

Put another way, the entire burden of keeping Itogami Island together fell on the place where the Gigafloats were connected. 

“…So what’s that precious treasure the old man talked about…?” 

“Precious treasure? Whaddya mean?” 

“I dunno, but apparently the old man came to this island to get it back…” 

“Even if he said that, no one would put anything valuable like that in the Anchor Block. You wouldn’t be able to look at it or take it back, after all…?” 

Asagi sank into thought as she realized Kojou’s words were bugging her in an odd way. 

The precious treasure part bothered her. It was difficult to believe a priest learned in the strict tenets of Western religion would go raiding the Demon Sanctuary of another country out of lust for material possessions. 

No, in the first place, what did treasure mean to a man of the cloth…? 

“Asagi?” 

Concerned that Asagi had gone quiet, Kojou called out to her. 

Asagi took a deep breath as if to shake off her doubts. 

“Hold on. I’m checking something—wait, the hell?! This is military secret–level firewall, isn’t it?!” 

Asagi was beside herself at the deep red alert displayed on her computer screen. There was a happy glint resting somewhere in her eyes. Her competitive spirit had been piqued. 

“So you can’t find out what it is?” 

“Like hell I can’t. Who do you think you’re talking to—Mogwai!” 

Asagi summoned the AI, which had settled on silence, with one press of a hot key. The supercomputer’s avatar casually appeared atop her screen. 

“You’re a real slavedriver, m’lady. Really, I was built so that I couldn’t lay my paws on something like this, but…my partner requests it, so I guess I must.” 

“Ah, you get it, don’t you? So break that firewall, now!” 

The AI grumbled in a listless tone as Asagi punched in her administrator override code. 

Before the AI executed the order, its aura shifted for just a moment. 

“I’ll break it, but…you’ll regret this.” 

What does he mean? thought Asagi. A moment later, her eyebrows shot up. 

“Eh? This is… No way, you’re kidding me…” 

All Asagi could do was murmur as she looked at the image from the Anchor Block in shock. 

5 

“So that’s…what it is…” 

Kojou slowly lowered his cell phone, his call to Asagi finished. 

They’d finally solved the puzzle. Everything was connected together. 

Eustach’s objective in coming to Itogami Island. Why he sought the power to break barriers. 

Kojou understood all of it. 

Certainly it was as the man had said. If he succeeded in his objective, an unbelievable disaster would befall this island. The island really might sink. 

What Eustach was after was in Itogami Island’s lowest section, the Anchor Block—and within it, the keystone at the center of the main pillar from which Keystone Gate derived its name. 

“Senpai…let’s go. We have to stop them.” 

Yukina got up, staring intently at Kojou as she spoke. Kojou looked back as if perplexed by her words. 

“Stop? Us, stop that old man…?” 

“Yes. According to Aiba, it’ll still take a little time before they arrive at the lowermost level. We can probably still reach them in time with Aiba’s cooperation.” 

Yukina looked dead serious. With Asagi able to access the management corporation’s main server, they’d know every route in the entire Gate. On the other hand, Eustach and Astarte seemed to be taking a stupidly blunt, straightforward approach, breaking every bulkhead along the way. With Asagi farming out the shortest routes to them, they should be able to circle ahead with time to spare. 

“But the two of us go, and do what…?” 

He spoke with honest doubt. Seemingly in surprise, Yukina stopped moving. 

“I’ll go save Asagi. On the way I’ll get Nagisa and my mom, who has a lifestyle like a stray cat, off the island. But that’s the most I can do.” 

“Senpai…what are you saying? Itogami City’s Island Guard can’t stop that homunculus’s Beast Vassal!” 

“Haven’t you lost sight of what you’re here for, Himeragi? I tried to catch the old guy because it was legitimate self-defense, but that’s not necessary now.” 

Kojou spoke with a devil-may-care tone. 

Though the culprits in the demon hunting case, they’d revealed themselves through causing such a huge uproar. There was no longer any reason for Kojou and Yukina to apprehend them. 

For that matter, since the damage to the Island Guard had demonstrated how dangerous Eustach and Astarte were, Kojou’s actions in wrecking the warehouse district would be accepted as unavoidable much more easily. 

“I can’t stop the Armed Apostle old man… I know that all too well from what Asagi told me. And I don’t understand it, but what the old man’s doing, in one sense it’s just…!” 

“Even if that’s the case, to put everyone living on this island in danger is…” 

“Wrong… Yeah, it might well be…but who’s right can’t be decided by me. I can’t make that choice. I…mustn’t make that choice!” 

Kojou groaned his words as if someone were wringing them out of him. Yukina listened in silence. 

It’d be like declaring himself emperor. 

An emperor’s decision set people in motion. An emperor’s decision changed history. 

But was there any evidence to prove that decision had been just? 

To set the world in motion meant the consequences for the world were on your shoulders alone. 

A normal human being couldn’t prepare himself for that. He’d break under the weight of the decision. 

The battle with Eustach was no longer a duel between him and Kojou Akatsuki. 

That Lotharingian Armed Apostle had declared war against all of Itogami City. 

This wasn’t a battle a mere high school student was permitted to involve himself in. 

Kojou Akatsuki could no longer fight him. To challenge Eustach in battle, Kojou would have to himself accept that he was not a mere high school student but a being equal to an entire national army by himself—a Primogenitor, he who should rule a Dominion. 

Yukina preserved her silence, seemingly seeing through all that troubled Kojou. 

“…” 

Finally, without a word, she lightly spun the silver spear she held. 

The spear turned one and a half times—turning the spear tip toward her. 

And so, Yukina rested the blade on the part of her neck. 

Without a sound, she gently pulled the spear. 

A thin red line ran across Yukina’s skin. Drops of blood finally began to emerge. 

“Himeragi…wh-what are you doing?” 

Kojou was seized by shock as he watched Yukina’s bizarre conduct. She seemed to have lost her mind, as if that austere expression she’d worn up until now was just a lie. Yukina’s breathing was ragged as she looked back at him. 

“Senpai. Please…drink my blood.” 

Her voice conveyed quiet determination. 

Kojou stiffened completely. He couldn’t understand why Yukina would say such a thing. 

“Senpai, you said that…your Beast Vassals didn’t recognize you as their lord because you have not yet drunk human blood, yes?” 

“Y-yeah. I did say that, but…” 

“So please drink my blood, here and now.” 

“Hold on. It’s just a hypothesis; there’s no guarantee that just by my drinking blood they’ll serve here and now…” 

“If the possibility exists, that is enough.” 

“Why do I have to do a thing like that?… Even if the Beast Vassals won’t serve me—” 

“That is a problem, since I cannot stop Armed Apostle Eustach by my power alone.” 

Yukina spoke, interrupting Kojou’s words midway. 

“Huh?” 

“To defeat a Beast Vassal with magic-canceling ability on par with Snowdrift Wolf’s, a stronger mass of magical energy is necessary—a Primogenitor-class Beast Vassal. Senpai, you’re the only one who can stop them.” 

Yukina’s intensity, leaving no room for dissent, made Kojou recoil in spite of himself. 

“Er, but…I don’t intend to fight the old man and the girl. That’s for people who aren’t us to think about, isn’t—” 

“You’re lying.” 

“Yeah?” 

Kojou began an immediate rebuttal to Yukina’s one-sided scolding, but his argument died on his lips. 

That was because Yukina’s eyes were gently watching him as blood continued to flow from her neck. 

“I don’t have any doubt you really do want to stop them, for you have that power, Senpai… Deep down inside, even you want to use the power of the Fourth Primogenitor any way you like, don’t you, Senpai?” 

“No way. Since when have I wanted to do something as bothersome as that…?!” 

“Senpai, if you want to protect the people of the island, please do as you like. If you can’t bear the responsibility by yourself, I’ll bear it with you.” 

“Huh…?” 

For some reason, Yukina smiled gently as Kojou stared at her. 

“Of course I will. Have you forgotten? It’s my duty to watch you, after all—” 

As she made her declaration with an unruffled expression, Kojou watched her for a while, dumbfounded. 

Thrusting her spear into the ground, Yukina loosened the chest ribbon of her uniform. 

Then she undid the buttons, exposing her breasts. 

In so doing, she exposed her white flesh, her slender collarbone, and, of course, her slender neck. 

And Yukina slowly stepped forward, as if posing for Kojou to admire. 

As she looked down at Kojou, his vision was compelled toward the tidy underwear she wore and the modest bulge of her breasts. He let out a light yelp. 

“H-Himeragi…?” 

“Senpai, you said earlier that I’m cute, didn’t you…” 

“Y-yeah…I think I might have, but that and this are—” 

“So please take responsibility and act accordingly.” 

“Wha…? Whaaa?!” 

“Or…am I just not…good enough?” 

Yukina softly pressed her own breasts as she murmured in a timid voice. 

Kojou realized that her slender shoulders were trembling bit by bit. 

Bashfulness…or rather, fright, he thought. Yukina was really afraid, too. Afraid of offering her own blood to a vampire and afraid of exposing her flesh before Kojou like this— 

She was a Sword Shaman of the Lion King Agency. A Counter-Demon Attack Mage dispatched solely for the purpose of watching Kojou—a vampire who, originally, would have been merely a target for her to destroy. 

And now it was as if she was offering up her own body to Kojou. 

Surely this was more for Kojou’s sake than for protecting the people of Itogami Island, so that Kojou would not someday regret his decision—his decision not to wield the power of the Fourth Primogenitor. 

“S-Senpai?” Yukina called out in a voice of surprise as Kojou suddenly embraced her. 

Kojou could feel faintly warm, pleasant scents coming from her slender, quivering body. The clean scent of her hair, and other sweet scents of her body. And the smell of blood— 

His canines, no, his fangs ached. Lust was the trigger for vampiric behavior. Vampires only drank blood from targets they recognized as desirable. Surely Yukina had seduced him with all her might in full knowledge of that. But… 

She doesn’t get it, Kojou thought. 

“Ah, ow… Sen…pai…” 

Yukina didn’t understand just how desirable she was. She didn’t understand at all just how hard it had been for Kojou to restrain his vampiric impulses around her. 

Yukina closed her eyes intensely, enduring the pain. Yukina’s lips let out frail sighs. 

Finally, embraced by Kojou’s arms, all strength drained out of Yukina’s body. It was as if both of their shadows melted together under the peaceful crimson moonlight. 

6 

This place, constructed too deep underwater for light to reach it, was easy to think of as an eternal prison. 

Keystone Gate’s bottommost level was in the middle of the ocean, some two hundred and twenty meters below sea level. 

The exterior wall, built in the shape of a cone to resist high water pressure, gave off an aura a bit like the biblical Tower of Babel. 

The level’s role was much like how the head of a violin held the spools for the violin strings. By keeping the connecting wires from the four Gigafloats in tune, the entire island’s vibrations could be controlled and rendered harmless. 

The wire cables arrived via the Gate’s walls and were wrapped around the lowest level’s supporting pillars. The cables were composed of about sixty-five thousand steel strands. The ridiculously huge winch was controlled by a motor with an output equal to a power plant’s. 

It gave off the oppressive feeling of an engineering room with an overwhelming mass of steel and imbued with an explosive level of power. And the building was enveloped by fierce water pressure. All of these things seemed to change the atmosphere drifting over the level into something…denser. 

The bulkhead sealing off the lowest level gave off a creak somewhat like a shrieking sound as it was wrenched open. 

The rainbow-colored, glimmering, humanoid Beast Vassal had ripped open the seventeen centimeters thick armored wall like it was a tin can. 

The Beast Vassal’s lord was visible, shut away in the center of its torso. 

She was a girl with long, velvet hair and pale blue eyes. The homunculus, Astarte. 

The form of a man with a muscular body, wrapped in the robes of a priest, appeared behind her— 

Having arrived at the Gate’s lowermost level, the Lotharingian Armed Apostle, Rudolf Eustach, was deeply moved as he slowly looked all around. 

“Complete. Objective has been confirmed.” 

Astarte made her report while still enveloped by her own Beast Vassal. 

The infection in her voice, meager to begin with, had now completely lost all emotion. 

A Beast Vassal was a beast summoned from another realm. To give it physical form, its lord had to shave off a piece of his own life span. Though there were different varieties of Beast Vassals, it was said that a normal human would lose his entire life from summoning one for but an instant. To a Beast Vassal, its lord’s life was simple food. 

Even a homunculus lord was no exception. 

Astarte had been granted a life span far in excess of a normal human’s to attune her to symbiotic life with a Beast Vassal; however, little remained even of that. She had used too much of the Beast Vassal’s power to invade Keystone Gate. 

“…” 

However, Eustach walked toward the center of the lowermost level without even a passing glance at Astarte. 

There rested the end point of the four wire cables stretching from each of the four Gigafloats. 

All were secured with an anchor with a machined head. It was a metal platform built in the shape of a small reversed pyramid. 

Like a post, a single pillar was thrust down into the center of the anchor to secure it. 

The diameter was not even one meter wide. 

However, to link Itogami Island together, it continued to support the weight of several million tons, even now. 

A translucent stone pillar resembling obsidian. A keystone. 

“Oh… Ohh…” 

Eustach’s mouth let out a voice containing both grief and delight. 

His entire body shaking, he fell to his knees on the spot. Tears poured ceaselessly from his eyes as he gazed up at the stone pillar. Then his sadness and happiness finally turned into loud, ragged laughter. 

“The immutable body stolen from the Lotharingian Church… Long have we awaited the day when it shall be returned to us! Astarte! Nothing remains in our path any longer. Tear apart that accursed linchpin and bring justice upon this degenerate island!” 

As Eustach commanded his homunculus servant, his voice rose in loud laughter. 

However, Astarte did not move. In an emotionless voice, she reported, still enveloped by the materialized Beast Vassal’s armor. 

“Reject. Error in preliminary conditions. Further, request reselection of command.” 

“What?” 

Clutching his giant battle-axe, Eustach rose to his feet. He realized why Astarte had refused his command. There was someone standing atop the stone pillar secured by the anchor. 

A boy wearing a shredded uniform and a girl wielding a silver spear. 

“Sorry, gonna have to make you cancel that order, old man.” 

The Fourth Primogenitor—Kojou Akatsuki—smiled with a languid expression. 

“The relic of a saint who serves the Western European Church’s ‘God’…” 

Kojou seemed to be looking at the stone pillar known as the Keystone with compassion. 

Someone’s “arm” was floating within the translucent pillar. 

It was a slender arm, dried up like a mummy’s. 

Its wrist bore a cruel scar that seemed like a vestige of crucifixion. This was the corpse of a martyr who had suffered and lost his life for his beliefs. 

It was a manifestation of the holiness of God within this world and an object of worship to many. 

It was a corpse said to be so holy that it would never rot and said to have brought about numerous miracles. 

One part of that saint’s corpse was sealed within the stone pillar. 

“They call this a ‘holy relic,’ huh. So this is what you’re after.” 

Kojou spoke as if in a sigh. 

The existence of this holy relic was the secret Asagi had discovered through breaching a powerful firewall. Itogami Island, a giant, artificial city, was being supported by a “miracle” brought about by this holy relic. 

“The city you now call Itogami Island was designed over forty years ago.” 

Eustach recited the tale in a low, solemn voice. 

His tone carried dignity worthy of a Lotharingian bishop whose teachings guided a multitude of believers. 

“It was a design to build a new city, an artificial floating island atop the ley lines—dragon lines in the Orient—that ran on top of the ocean. At the time, this was an epochal concept. As spiritual energy flowing along dragon lines is linked to the liveliness of the residents, everyone thought this would lead the city to prosperity. However, the construction went poorly, for the naked power of the dragon lines that flowed over the ocean far exceeded people’s expectations.” 

Kojou nodded silently at his words. 

So that was the reason Itogami Island had been constructed above water far to the south of the mainland: the existence of dragon lines—giant spiritual channels that flowed across the surface of the earth. 

Places built on top of dragon lines were full of spiritual energy. That alone made possible spiritual techniques and magical experiments more powerful than the norm. These were ideal conditions for the research on demons conducted in the Demon Sanctuary. So the Gigafloat project was indispensable for constructing a city on top of dragon lines. 

“The city’s designer, Senra Itogami, knew this very well. He elected to separate the Gigafloats into four—representing the four Celestial Animals of feng shui governing east, west, north, and south, using them to attempt to control the linked dragon lines in a more harmonious manner. However, even so, a single, insurmountable problem remained.” 

“The strength of the keystone, huh…” 

Eustach replied to Kojou’s murmur with a solemn nod. 

“Precisely as you say. The designer, Senra Itogami, required a keystone in the center of the island to represent the Yellow Dragon—he who governs the four Celestial Animals. However, the technology of that time could not construct materials strong enough to withstand that. Consequently, he stained his hands with an abominable heresy.” 

“Sacrificial components…” 

It was Yukina who made the frail utterance. 

The designer of Itogami Island had resolved a question of engineering through reliance on necromancy. 

Human sacrifice. 

He realized he could he could employ the heresy of sacrificing living humans to increase the strength of his structures. However, dragon lines were flows of natural energy; their untamed power placed an enormous burden on the Gigafloats’ connecting section. 

The keystone needed to withstand that burden; half-baked necromancy wasn’t going to cut it. He needed power on par with a miracle from God himself. Hence… 

“What he selected as the sacrifice to support his city was the relic of our patron saint, usurped from our Church. This deed—the trampling of our faith for the creation of an island where foul demons may run rampant—cannot be forgiven.” 

Eustach declared this in a calm, reverberating voice as he poised his battle-axe. 

His actions indicated the end of the tale. Eustach’s objective was to recover the holy relic. He had no reason to force combat with Kojou and Yukina. That’s why he answered Kojou’s question. 

At the same time, it was to demonstrate his justice—to prove he was in the right. 

He could no longer be dissuaded. There was no way to overcome his determination. 

“Consequently, we shall recover the holy relic by force. You would do well to withdraw, Fourth Primogenitor. This is a holy war between us and this city. We shall brook no interference, even from you—” 

“I understand how you feel, old man. What that Senra Itogami guy did was definitely the lowest of the low.” 

Even so, Kojou stood before the bishop, protecting the keystone. 

“But does that justify killing five hundred and sixty thousand people living on this island, not knowing a thing, for the sake of your revenge? The same goes for the people you hurt to get here. Don’t go dragging in people who’ve got nothing to do with it!” 

Perhaps what Eustach was doing was just. Or perhaps he truly was mistaken, but that didn’t matter anymore. 

If it was the decision of Rudolf Eustach to destroy the city… 

It was the decision of Kojou Akatsuki, of his own free will, to stop him. 

“If one compares this scale of sacrifice to what would be required to redeem this city, it is not even a speck,” Eustach announced coldly. 

It was Yukina who blocked his path. Her silver spear facing the armed apostle, seemingly to restrain his movements, she yelled out in a voice as clear as a bell, “The use of sacrificial components is now forbidden by international treaty. The usurping of a holy relic for that purpose all the more so…!” 

“And what of it, Sword Shaman? Are you saying I should sue in the courts of this nation?” 

“With the technology that now exists, it is surely possible to construct a keystone strong enough to link the island together. The keystone can be exchanged and the holy relic returned to—” 

“Would you say the same thing if it were your own blood relatives suffering from being trampled upon by others?” 

Unconcealed anger seethed out of Eustach’s voice. 

Momentary hesitation ran down Yukina’s back. Raised as a Sword Shaman, Yukina did not know the faces of her relatives. 

Eustach was provoking Yukina in the full knowledge of that. 

“Old man… Why, you…” 

Kojou, indignant, moved to close the distance with Eustach. 

However, Yukina stretched out her left arm to stop him. She made a strong smile, as if to say, I’m okay. The eyes she looked at Kojou with contained a mysterious gentleness. 

Hmph, Eustach crudely snorted. 

“It seems any further words shall be fruitless. We shall recover the holy relic. If you stand in our way, we shall simply remove you by force—Astarte!” 

“Accept. Execute ‘Rhododactylos,’” Astarte, who had maintained her silence, responded with a twinge of sadness in her voice. 

The glimmering of the rainbow-colored Beast Vassal increased proportionately to the increase in the force of the magic energy spread about by it. 

“So it’s this in the end, is it…?” 

Aah, said Kojou, smiling with a heavy sigh. 

His fangs peeked out from between his ferociously twisted lips. His eyes were dyed a dazzling crimson. 

“…But have you forgotten, old man? I still owe you one for you slicing my chest apart. Let’s get that settled before all this stuff about revenge on a guy who bought it ages ago.” 

“Damn you… That ability has…” 

Eustach’s expression twisted. 

Lightning enveloped Kojou’s entire body. This was not anger allowed to run amok. This was a Beast Vassal that had awakened with its lord’s blood, responding to his will. 

“So, let’s get this party started, old man—from here on, this is my fight.” 

Kojou roared as he presented his lightning-shrouded right arm. 

At Kojou’s side, Yukina wielded her silver spear with a teasing smile, as if cuddling up beside him. 

“No, Senpai. This is our fight—!” 

7 

It was Yukina who struck first. 

Wielding her silver spear, the Sword Maiden headed toward Astarte at what seemed like the speed of light. The homunculus girl used the Beast Vassal, whose giant humanoid form enveloped her, to counterattack. 

The great blows of its fist caused the entire structure to shake. 

Astarte’s Beast Vassal was not a humanoid-shaped life form. It was a dense mass of magical energy materialized in that shape. 

Its fists were equal to the rounds from the most powerful of Black Magic Cannons; its kicks, superior to the explosions brought about with arcane rituals. 

And its arms were able to rip apart thick bulkheads made of specially reinforced alloys. 

This was the overwhelming power that pulverized the Island Guard’s CDAs in a single blow… 

But Yukina deftly deflected the attack. 

Snowdrift Wolf—or rather, the DOE infused into the Schneewalzer, fended off the materialized Beast Vassal’s tyranny and aimed to rip its flesh apart instead. 

However, the Beast Vassal’s flesh, enveloped with an identical divine oscillation, withstood Snowdrift Wolf’s slicing blow. 

Snowdrift Wolf’s attack, powerful enough to inflict fatal damage to a demon, made only a shallow wound upon the Beast Vassal’s body, which it regenerated instantly. 

Yukina was superior in combat skill, but she did not possess the offensive power to destroy her opponent. 

On the other side, though Astarte possessed overwhelming destructive power, Yukina’s skill with the spear and unarmed martial arts made her all but untouchable. Their duel was at a complete stalemate. 

However, that was what Kojou and Yukina had been aiming for. 

“Ooooooh—!” 

Pale blue lightning scattering about, Kojou rushed Eustach with his fist. 

While Yukina drew Astarte off, Kojou would defeat the homunculus’s master, Eustach. That was the plan Kojou and Yukina had thought up. 

Kojou couldn’t fight Astarte’s Beast Vassal with its magic energy reflection. Having said that, even Yukina’s weapon couldn’t defeat it, either. 

However, if Eustach, who was dishing out the orders, fell, Astarte would surely halt. After all, Astarte herself had no desire to bring harm to the residents of Itogami Island. The short conversation Kojou and Yukina had shared with her made them certain of that. 

Therefore, for her sake as well, Kojou had to defeat Eustach here and now. However… 

“Hnn!” 

With unimaginable nimbleness, Eustach’s huge body evaded Kojou’s blow, counterattacking with his battle-axe. The air pressure from the axe alone ripped the cuffs from Kojou’s school uniform. He could taste the axe’s sharpness on his tongue. 

Fast and heavy. If it hit Kojou cleanly, no doubt it’d split his body in two just like it had during the day. So there was no way he could let that attack hit him. 

Eustach made a hearty laugh as if Kojou’s impatience was all too clear to him. 

“Certainly that is impressive magical energy, but such clumsy attacks cannot touch me. Your thoughtless movements are like those of an amateur, Fourth Primogenitor!” 

“They’re not like—I really am an amateur!” 

As Kojou rebutted, he increased his speed. Certainly, in terms of martial arts Kojou was an amateur; in terms of a vampire, incompetent. However, though he had a few blanks, the footwork he’d honed in basketball was still good to go. Evade the pick, defend your own goal. Move quickly and balanced. And feint. Kojou was well versed in how to fight bigger and tougher opponents than he was. 

“Hn… This is—!” 

He tossed the ball of magical lightning he’d created at Eustach like a sharp pass. The frivolous attack gave off an air of Kojou borderline playing around. However, it made the Armed Apostle’s expression stiffen. 

“I take back what I said. I accept that you are not an enemy to underestimate… Consequently, I shall face thee with appropriate resolve!” 

“What…?!” 

The incredible dark energy bursting from Eustach’s entire body drained the blood from Kojou’s face. 

Radiance leaked out from every gap of the Armed Apostle’s vestment. The armor-reinforced clothing under the vestment emitted a golden light. Sharp pain ran through Kojou’s eyes as they looked upon that radiance; Kojou’s light-bathed skin burned. 

“O holy garb, ‘Alcazava,’ crafted by the technology of Lotharingia—may thy light remove all obstacles before me!” 

Eustach increased the speed of his attacks. His plated armor augmented his physical strength. Kojou, his vision robbed by the golden light, evaded his attacks mostly on intuition. Fresh blood scattered from his cut cheek. 

“That’s playing dirty, old man—so you still had a trump card like that hidden away!” 

Kojou unwittingly raised his voice in rebuke. However, Eustach did not halt his attacks. He leaped around time after time but the slices had both power and speed behind them. However unsightly, it was all Kojou could do to run and escape. 

“Senpai…?!” Yukina yelled out as she looked at Kojou, now purely on defense. However, she, too, was at her limits just to contain Astarte. Besides that, with Eustach strengthened by the armor’s power, even Yukina probably had little chance of victory. 

Kojou winked at Yukina, as if to say, Don’t worry, as he slowly rose upright. 

Eustach stayed his attack, probably out of prudence at the strange aura Kojou gave off. 

“If that’s how it’s gonna be, I’ll use this with no restraint, either. Don’t die on me, old man!” 

“Hnng…?!” 

Eustach leaped back, instinctively sensing danger. 

His eyes beheld Kojou thrusting his right arm out, fresh blood spurting from it. 

“Kojou Akatsuki, successor to the bloodline of the ‘Kaleid Blood,’ releases thee from thy bonds—!” 

That fresh blood transformed into glimmering lightning. The light, heat, and shock wave of the lightning was incomparable to that which had come before. This was the same Beast Vassal of the Fourth Primogenitor that had devastated the warehouse district. 

But unlike before, the light did not burst indiscriminately in all directions; instead, its shape condensed, changing into that of a giant beast. 

This was the Beast Vassal’s proper form. The true form of a Beast Vassal of the Fourth Primogenitor, completely within Kojou’s grasp. 

“C’mon, Beast Vassal Number Five, ‘Regulus Aurum’—!” 

What had appeared was the Lightning Lion—a mass of magical energy in the form of raging lightning, as huge as a main battle tank. Its entire body emanated a radiance that dazzled the eyes; its roar shook the air like thunder itself. 

Kojou had inherited twelve Beast Vassals from the previous Fourth Primogenitor. 

But, in the end, drinking Yukina’s blood had only made this Beast Vassal of lightning recognize Kojou as its lord. 

However, he had expected as much. 

For, over the space of several days since meeting Yukina, the Beast Vassal of lightning had become livelier for some reason, to a very unusual degree. 

And at the warehouse district, it had run amok for the sake of protecting Yukina. 

Now he understood the reason full well. This Beast Vassal had been fond of Yukina since the moment they’d met. For it was attracted to the scent of her blood— 

“So this is your Vassal Beast—! It is reckless to use such power in an enclosed space such as this!” 

One of the Lightning Lion’s front paws swung downward, aimed at Eustach. 

The attack only scratched him. From that alone, Eustach’s huge physique was thrown several meters back. 

A lightning-generating shock wave scattered sparks all over his plated armor; the lightning’s high temperature melted the blade of his battle-axe. 

The attack’s aftereffects were felt by Keystone Gate as well. 

The great electrical currents released ran along the Gate’s exterior wall in all directions. The emergency lights and security cameras placed across the area were blown away without a trace. The winch that secured the wired cables let out a groan as well. Neither would emerge unscathed from prolonged combat. 

“Astarte—!” 

The Armed Apostle finally called his servant. Nothing existed that could counter the tyranny of Kojou’s Beast Vassal, waving around explosive magical energy rivaling a natural disaster, save her Beast Vassal’s “Rhododactylos.” Surely he had determined it was so. 

Shrugging off Yukina’s attacks, the Beast Vassal-shrouded Astarte stood before Kojou’s own Beast Vassal. 

Partially disregarding Kojou’s will, “Regulus Aurum” went on the attack. The giant Beast Vassal’s front paw turned into lightning and slammed down upon the Beast Vassal in humanoid form. 

That instant, the rainbow-colored light that enveloped Astarte’s Beast Vassal increased in radiance. 

The spiritual resonance wave barrier withstood the attack of Kojou’s Beast Vassal and reflected it back—! 

“Whoooah?!” 

“Eyaaaaah!!” 

The uncontrolled magical lightning discharged, raking the ceiling, punching through and breaking apart the thick ceiling of the Gate’s lowermost level with ease. Kojou and Yukina yelled out as they ran around to escape from the incessant downpour of debris. 

“Shit…! No good?! So even my Beast Vassal can’t break her barrier…!” 

Kojou groaned as fierce uneasiness assaulted him. 

Even having taken a blow from “Regulus Aurum,” Astarte’s Beast Vassal was undamaged. Even if the attack was repeated over and over, it would probably end with the same result. 

And the structure probably couldn’t endure further combat. If the exterior walls of Keystone Gate were breached, seawater, propelled by the water pressure at two hundred and twenty meters below sea level, would no doubt rush in all at once, crushing Kojou and the others. Yukina would definitely die instantly; even Kojou’s fate was uncertain. 

“Senpai…” 

Yukina gently approached as if to support Kojou against the debris trying to bury him. Even her expression bore heavy signs of fatigue—naturally, having been fighting such a powerful opponent in the flesh. 

“Sorry, Himeragi. We might not be able to beat them…!” 

Kojou’s voice shook with anger, as if directed at his own inadequacy. 

One step. Just one step farther, and they could save the island. And yet they could not reach it. 

However, Yukina, looking up at the frustrated Kojou, smiled vividly. 

“No, Senpai. In this fight, victory is ours.” 

As Kojou said, “Eh?” Yukina stepped in front of him, leaving no time for a rebuttal. 

“—I, Maiden of the Lion, Sword Shaman of the High God, beseech thee.” 

She danced with the silver-colored spear, like a swordsman praying to the gods for victory. Or perhaps like a maiden to whom victory was foretold. 

“O purifying light, O divine wolf of the snowdrift, by your steel divine will, strike down the devils before me!” 

Alongside her solemn chant, the snowflake spear began to emit a shine. 

That dim white light was a spiritual resonance wave that could rip apart any barrier. However, its form was different from Astarte’s. It was slender, sharp, like a shining, glittering fang— 

“…No!!” 

Having realized Yukina’s objective, Eustach heaved back his axe to throw it at Yukina while she was defenseless. However, a sphere of lightning released by Kojou attacked Eustach as he did so. Protected by plated armor as he was, it was not a fatal blow. However, it interrupted his motion for an instant. 

That instant, Yukina dashed. Like a supple, pale white she-wolf, she danced in the sky without a sound. 

Astarte’s response lagged behind Yukina’s speed. 

Both were imprinted with the same DOE. However, while Astarte’s was a huge Beast Vassal with a barrier enveloping its whole body, Yukina’s spear’s power was concentrated on a single point: slender, sharp, for the sole purpose of penetrating the opponent’s barrier. 

“Snowdrift Wolf!” 

The next moment, the silver-colored spear pierced Astarte’s defensive barrier, deeply impaling the faceless head of the human-shaped Beast Vassal. That moment, Kojou, too, finally understood the meaning of Yukina’s words. 

Even though the barrier had been pierced, Yukina’s spear had done little damage to the giant Beast Vassal. However, the spear continued to deeply impale the Beast Vassal’s head, even now, inside the materialized Beast Vassal’s body, where the defensive barrier would have no effect. 

The long metal shaft was as if a lightning rod, beckoning for the lightning— 

“‘Regulus Aurum’!” 

Faster than Kojou’s command, the Lightning Lion moved at the speed of light. 

Yukina had already released her spear, leaping in midair. 

And then Kojou’s Beast Vassal bit down on the shaft of the spear she had left behind. 

The magical energy of the Beast Vassal transformed into lightning form poured into “Rhododactylos’s” body. 

The way to defeat a mass of magical energy was to smash it with stronger magical energy— 

This time, the overwhelming magical power of the Primogenitor’s Beast Vassal instantly burned away and annihilated Astarte’s. 

“Astarte—?!” 

Having lost her Beast Vassal armor, the homunculus girl slowly collapsed onto the floor. 

Eustach moaned, dumbfounded, as he gazed upon the scene. 

The annihilation of Astarte’s Beast Vassal, with the ability to destroy any barrier, meant the collapse of Eustach’s ambition to release the holy relic from the keystone. 

Before Eustach’s wavering eyes, Yukina landed without a sound. 

The distracted Eustach was slow to react. 

Yukina pressed her palms against the torso portion of the armor-reinforced garb that shrouded him. 

“Distort—!” 

It was the Sword Maiden palm strike that penetrated armor to convey damage directly to the human body within. 

As Eustach made a pained guhh, his tall body bent over. And— 

“—It’s over, old man!” 

Kojou added his own strike, punching the Armed Apostle in the face. 

It was a forceful blow with only might behind it, not magic or spells or any other power of a Primogenitor. Consequently, it was an attack no arcane art could defend against. 

Eustach’s sturdy body flew back. It bounced several times over, finally collapsing onto the floor. 

He slowly outstretched his hand toward the keystone; then, his strength seemingly exhausted, he fell silent. 

8 

An eerie silence came over the Keystone Gate’s lowermost level. 

Eustach did not move. Even if he regained consciousness, most likely he had no intention of continuing to fight. His defeat had been assured the moment Astarte had fallen. 

Eustach’s holy war was over. 

Even so, Yukina remained in a fighting stance, as if to guard against a counterattack from him. 

“…” 

Without a word, Kojou looked over the area. The Gate’s bottommost level had taken severe damage. Even so, the keystone was intact; the wire cables were virtually undamaged. They’d protected the island, if barely. 

Having confirmed this, Kojou met Yukina’s eyes. 

He unwittingly let out a small smile. 

Yukina did the same. Yet in an instant, like a flower blooming shyly in winter, her beautiful smile inevitably vanished from her lips. 

They had won a victory. However, that didn’t mean they’d achieved anything in the process. 

A great many people had been hurt. And even now, the holy relic slept within the keystone. None of the distortions that enveloped Itogami Island had been resolved. 

Even so, having seen her smiling face just now, Kojou was just a little satisfied. Just for that, he thought, this battle was not in vain. 

And, it wasn’t as if he hadn’t saved anyone— 

“…” 

Kojou made a shallow sigh as he looked over the fallen Astarte. 

She was heavily exhausted, but she was still alive. 

She didn’t seem to be suffering any significant effect from the lightning released by Kojou’s Beast Vassal, either. 

When surrounded by metal, a substance that easily conducts electricity, the person on the inside is unaffected by lightning strikes. The phenomenon was known as “Faraday’s cage”; likely the Beast Vassal surrounding Astarte had produced the same effect. 

The girl was a homunculus, granted a life span far in excess of that of a human being. 

However, so long as the Beast Vassal dwelled within her, her life span wouldn’t last beyond a few days. 

But, if something could be done about the Beast Vassal, she’d be able to live a longer life. 

The fallen Astarte was clothed in something like a thin surgical gown. 

However, with her now seeming like a wounded fairy, he couldn’t form any lewd feelings while looking her over; it was painful just looking at her all-too-frail form. 

Well, can’t be helped, Kojou thought. He turned toward Yukina. 

“Himeragi.” 

“Yes?” 

“Sorry. Just for a sec…okay?” 

Yukina gave a mystified look back as Kojou walked closer, speaking those words as he strongly embraced her. 

Yukina’s lips let out a Wha? in a small voice. 

She seemed in quite a bit of confusion at Kojou’s unanticipated behavior, but her body only stiffened a little bit; she didn’t really try to resist. She awkwardly leaned toward Kojou, entrusting the weight of her body to him. 

“S-Senpai…” 

Yukina seemed bewildered as her body quivered. She was so soft. So warm. She smelled faintly of sweat and blood. Kojou’s entire body took it all in, seemingly coveting everything about her. 

He understood the reason why Yukina was bewildered. 

It wasn’t an issue of what would happen to her right away from having a vampire drink her blood. It was said humans felt pleasure and ecstasy from being drunk from, but that was as simple as that. 

The problem was if blood plasma from the vampire’s own body flowed from his fangs as they still pierced, and into the other person’s body. Those who received blood from vampires became “Blood Servants.” 

That didn’t mean it was guaranteed to happen. That probably changed according to the phases of the moon, the condition of the human being’s body, and one’s ability to resist dark forces. However, if vampiric behavior was done over and over, eventually the other person would become one of the undead. 

That meant living together as partners for the rest of one’s eternal life. 

“Senpai…you can’t… We’re not…ready for…” 

Yukina tried to rebuke Kojou, her voice frail. 

But contrary to Yukina’s words, there was no resistance in how she acted. As Kojou thought that a rather mysterious thing, he squeezed Yukina strongly. Yukina gently moved her hands to Kojou’s back as well. 

“—Thanks, Yukina. I can do this now.” 

His vampiric impulses having been sufficiently heightened, Kojou promptly let go of Yukina. 

“Eh…? D-do what?” 

Yukina looked back at Kojou with an absentminded expression. The slight flush on her face was rather cute. 

“Er, um… Senpai?” 

However, as Yukina did so, Kojou quickly turned his back on her, leaning over the fallen Astarte. 

Kojou gently picked up the slender homunculus girl, piercing the girl’s exposed neck with his fangs. He then drank up the girl’s body fluids. 

After a long, long silence, he slowly drew his lips back from Astarte. 

There was no change in the fallen Astarte’s form. However, he had surely finished all of what he had to do. 

Still holding the half-naked Astarte, Kojou sighed with relief. 

Next to him, Yukina remained impressively unemotional as she picked up the silver spear. 

“Senpai…what are you doing?” 

The cold tone in Yukina’s voice was identical to that from when they had first met. 

Somehow, Kojou felt a glacial chill up his spine as he turned his face to her. 

“I, ah, I thought I’d put her Beast Vassal under my dominion. It’s like a magical energy allowance, or a Beast Vassal rental, see… In other words, if this girl’s Beast Vassal isn’t draining its direct host’s life directly, but consumes my life force instead, this girl’s life span will be a lot longer than it is now, right?” 

“So you’re saying that, in other words, you drank her blood to save her life.” 

The tone of Yukina’s voice was filled with unconcealed, cold anger. Kojou, not understanding the reason she’d become angry, made a timid nod. 

“Th-that’s what it is. To seize control rights over her Beast Vassal, I had no choice. Right, no choice.” 

With his words, he firmly pressed the justice of his own cause. Surely there had been nothing mistaken about what he’d done. To the contrary, it should have been praiseworthy behavior. 

However, Yukina’s expression did not change. Indeed, emotion had completely vanished from her. 

“I see. If that is so, why did you direct such lewd behavior at me?” 

“Er, ah. I didn’t do that out of any lewd feelings, but… In other words, to drink blood, I have to work myself up a bit—” 

Kojou’s unsteady words faltered. Sexual arousal was the trigger for vampiric impulses. Having said that, he couldn’t just feel up Astarte’s frail, wounded body like that, so he had no choice but to elicit Yukina’s cooperation. 

“I mean, certainly you’re not an all that sexy type, Himeragi, but there wasn’t anyone else, so I had to work with what I had… I just needed to get your help, a bit.” 

“…Work with what you have…is it? There was no one else, so you had no choice…” 

Yukina was looking down as her shoulders began to tremble. As she did so, Kojou realized his verbal slip. The way he’d put that just now was mean-spirited, but he didn’t know how else to explain it. 

Finally, Yukina’s icy expression shattered, her eyebrows shooting up as she glared. 

Her face was in a rage, even as she seemed she might to cry at any moment. 

“Senpai, you can sink to the bottom of the sea for all I care! Idiot—!” 

As she yelled, Yukina swung the broken Snowdrift Wolf downward. 

It was Itogami Island’s deepest section. On the lowest level, some two hundred and twenty meters below sea level, the cries of the Fourth Primogenitor reverberated all around— 

9 

Island South, residential district. There was a lone girl at the edge of a window of a nine-story apartment complex. 

She was a girl in the low teens who gave the impression of being a bit underdeveloped— 

Nagisa Akatsuki. 

All she had on was a thin shirt in place of pajamas. 

The silver moonlight passed through the material, highlighting the contours of her slender body. 

Her hair, worn down, was unusually long. It reached almost all the way to her hips. 

Perhaps that was why she gave a different impression than her usual appearance, with her hair worn up. Her usual aura of cheerfulness was hidden away; her cherubic face had an adultlike calm across it. 

Her long hair swayed without a sound from the sea breeze that blew in through the open window. 

She was looking at the inverted-pyramid-shaped building at the center of Itogami Island—Keystone Gate. 

Being the highest building on the entire island, she could see it quite well from the edge of the window. 

Nagisa Akatsuki silently gazed at the building. 

Tonight, the night of Itogami Island was dark. 

With its lights extinguished, one could think of the majestic Keystone Gate as melting into the night sky. 

For just a single instant, there was a pale glow, as if it had been struck by lightning. 

Watching this, the girl’s lips formed a mysterious expression. 

She made a smile as if she knew what that glow represented. 

“Regulus Aurum… So you have finally awakened…” 

Nagisa’s tongue calmly spun the words. 

It was a calm voice, as if it were not her speaking, but another person. 

But her expression seemed somehow amused. 

“So even that boy finally got a little motivated. Heh-heh… Wouldn’t be any fun if he weren’t…” 

A fiercely mischievous light dwelled within her refined eyes—a light that resembled flickering flames. 

However, when the breeze blew next, both the adultlike calm and the ferociousness vanished from her body. Seemingly forgetting why she’d been there to begin with, the girl closed the window and let out a small yawn. Rubbing her sleepy eyes, she returned to her own bedroom and bed. 

Her face was the same as always: that of an innocent, young girl. 

“Mm, Kojou-kun…” 

Mumbling her big brother’s name, seemingly out of habit, she closed her eyes. 

Looking like she was watching a pleasant dream, Nagisa Akatsuki fell asleep.