Strike the Blood - Volume 13 - Chapter 4

CHAPTER FOUR 

THE ROSES OF TARTARUS 

1 

Island North was a research and development district with corporate and university facilities built side by side. 

This area contained dense clusters of multiple unadorned buildings erected on artificial soil. In one sense, the futuristic district felt the best suited as part of an artificial isle out of everywhere in Itogami Island. 

A single girl stood in the corner of a plaza on the highest stratum. 

She was a plain-looking student, wearing glasses with her Saikai Academy uniform. 

A flock of seagulls was gathered around her. 

These were silver seagulls, polished to a brilliant luster—a flock of shikigami born from spell scrolls, over two hundred of them, perhaps even three. 

All by herself, the girl was controlling this vast number of shikigami. 

Their purpose was to observe and search for sorcerous criminals. 

When the shikigami, scattered to every corner of Itogami Island, returned to the girl who controlled them, each and every one reverted to the spell scroll from whence they came. Then they returned to the tome the girl kept spread before her. 

When she finally finished stuffing the birds back into the tome, she quietly closed the book. 

She proceeded to turn around. 

Standing in the direction of her gaze was a young man with a delicate-looking face. 

He wore a black Chinese outfit, somehow reminiscent of what a martial artist or mystic of ancient times might wear. Without fanfare, he held a black spear with opposing tips in his hand. 

He was Meiga Itogami, escapee from the Prison Barrier— 

And the oddly shaped spear the young man wielded was named Fangzahn. 

“I thought it was about time you made a move, Shizuka.” 

Meiga Itogami spoke in a whisper as the only dull-white seagull that had not vanished rested on the fingertips of his left hand. He had wrested the girl’s right to control the shikigami away from her. 

However, Meiga displayed not even a hint of pride in this feat as he inquired in a gentle tone, “Tartarus Lapse. I do not suppose the Lion King Agency can simply let them go?” 

“I suppose not…but I thought, before disposing of them, I wanted to meet with you.” 

Koyomi Shizuka—titular head of the Three Saints of the Lion King Agency—spoke in a polite tone one might even consider meek. 

“Please tell me, Meiga Itogami. What are you thinking? If Tartarus Lapse’s objective was to destroy Itogami Island, surely you would drop everything and move to crush them. Yet, you observe in silence, even as they target the Priestess of Cain, the very deity you worship—” 

“You have come to ascertain my true intentions, then?” Meiga asked, amused. 

Koyomi nodded slightly. “It is MAR that gave you shelter as a fugitive from the Prison Barrier, correct?” 

“Magna Ataraxia Research Incorporated, you say?” 

“As an international conglomerate and a financial sponsor of the Gigafloat Management Corporation, even the Island Guard and Attack Mages cannot easily lay a hand upon the group—it is thus that you, despite being a fugitive at large, have gathered various information and have been able to move freely within the island. Am I mistaken?” 

“I see… An amusing supposition.” Meiga feigned innocence as a smile came over him. Then he shrugged. “However, it is best not to carelessly speak of this in a public place. I will not be responsible should you and the Lion King Agency make such accusations at the cost of your own reputations.” 

“I suppose not. Besides, I do not think a for-profit corporation such as MAR would shelter a fugitive for no benefit to itself,” Koyomi said in a sober, serious tone. “If so, it would mean you have promised something to MAR of commensurate benefit.” 

“Commensurate benefit?” 

“Yes. A commensurate benefit amounting to a vast amount of profit for them in the future. For example—yes, if you were to expose the entire plan your grandfather left behind, for instance.” 

“The revival of Cain the Sinful God…? You overestimate me, Koyomi Shizuka.” He smiled at his own expense. “I do not think the wild delusions of a single sorcerous architect hold such great value. Furthermore, his final masterpiece is being destroyed at the hand of terrorists this very moment.” 

“Certainly,” said Koyomi with a nod. “Akishige Yaze, famous friend of Senra Itogami, has been killed in an explosion, and Itogami Island itself is on the verge of being destroyed—I do not think these present circumstances are what you aspired to see.” 

“Yes. It is precisely as you say.” 

The young man dressed in black replied calmly. In contrast, Koyomi shook her head in refutation. 

“However, it is a different matter if even Tartarus Lapse’s actions are part of Senra Itogami’s plan. Perhaps Tartarus Lapse is acting for your benefit without even being aware of it.” 

“Employ a group of Demon Sanctuary destroyers, you mean? And why, exactly, would I indulge in such risky methods…?” 

“That is what I have come to determine, Meiga Itogami.” Koyomi gently touched her glasses, training a powerful gaze upon the youth. “After all, the Lion King Agency silently consents to your and Akishige Yaze’s plan because it judges the existence of Cain the Sinful God as a powerful restraint against the Dominions. However, if you are carrying it out without any meaning behind it, we cannot simply stand back and watch.” 

“Hmmm.” 

“Are you not using Tartarus Lapse to move your own plans forward? The revival of the Sinful God, in other words, the recommencement of the Cleansing—” 

“You have become talkative since I’ve last seen you, Shizuka…” Abruptly, the tone of the youth in black…changed. The spear he so bluntly carried gave off an odd-sounding whoosh that seemed to slice through the wind. “Allow me to pose a single question of my own. Do you remember Touka Fujisaka?” 

“Fujisaka… Miss Touka…” 

The name, unexpectedly on Meiga’s tongue, clearly unnerved Koyomi. Her eyes opened wide and wavered, and her lips trembled like those of a frightened child. 

“Yes. The previous Koyomi Shizuka—the Sword Shaman of the Lion King Agency who stood back and watched your mother die.” 

Though his expression had changed little, a hue of powerful emotion came over Meiga’s eyes. 

It was the hue of long-suppressed hatred seemingly bubbling to the surface. 

“You’re wrong… It was Miss Touka’s mission to…shield the Priestess of the Sacrifice…” 

Koyomi retreated half a step. Touka Fujisaka, Sword Shaman of the Lion King Agency—the girl who, by rights, would have been in Koyomi’s place as one of the Agency’s Three Saints… 

Seven years prior, she had infiltrated a village of ritualists worshipping a heretical goddess, losing her life as a result. She had fought them alone, and died, to rescue the young girl who would have been slain as a sacrifice to that goddess. 

Immediately after that, Meiga Itogami slaughtered numerous Attack Mages and was confined in the Prison Barrier as a sorcerous criminal. 

“To shield the priestess, you say… Ha.” Meiga laughed, greeting Koyomi’s excuse with visible scorn. “Yes. Come to think of it, Motoki Yaze is shielding the Priestess of Cain—it seems you are rather fond of the lad. Had I killed him back then, this might have turned out somewhat more…amusing… Ha-ha… What a pity.” 

“Meiga Itogami, you—!” Koyomi shouted, feeling that she had been backed into a corner. 

The world was enveloped in sudden tranquility—broken by a boom. There was the eerie sense of an anomalous interval being jammed into the continuous flow of time. The absolute right of initiative from time that ought never have existed—this was Koyomi Shizuka’s ability, dubbed Paper Noise. 

Meiga abruptly realized that his entire body had been riddled with countless bullets. 

The impact from the shots sent Meiga’s body flying backward. 

In her hand, Koyomi Shizuka was wielding an automatic pistol designed for military use. Meiga was unable to detect when she had ever drawn the weapon. 

“As expected of…Paper Noise… I tried to nullify the spiritual energy with Fangzahn, and it hardly mattered…” 

Meiga wobbled as he rose back up, clutching the smoldering chest of his Chinese attire. 

Meiga Itogami’s black spear—Fangzahn—was a scrapped weapon of the Lion King Agency able to nullify any kind of spiritual or magical energy. So long as the black spear was active, Meiga could not be directly harmed by any kind of attack spell. 

But even with Fangzahn’s abilities, he could not stop Paper Noise. Meiga, unable to defend via sorcery, had no defense against the bullets that, rightfully, did not exist until he had already been shot. 

“Previously, I warned you… My ability cannot stop you short of killing you,” Koyomi said as she loaded the pistol with fresh ammunition. 

Unable to bind Meiga by ritual spell, the only sure means of capturing Meiga was to take his life. She had appeared before Meiga because she had planned to kill him from the start. 

“This is why you are the head of the Three Saints of the Lion King Agency, with even vampire primogenitors giving you a wary eye—” 

It was to this Koyomi that Meiga displayed a smile of apparent praise. 

“But the Fourth Primogenitor gave me a very important hint. Namely, if you enter my attack range, it is possible to take you down with me.” 

“…” 

A suspicious expression came over Koyomi as Meiga Itogami raised his right hand toward her. In that hand, he held a small remote control with only a single switch. 

It did not look like a lethal weapon, and even if it was a weapon, it was an absolute certainty that Koyomi’s attack was faster. Even though he understood this, Meiga Itogami smiled wryly, as if sure of his impending victory. 

“Then, if the time lag of the counterattack is so close that it might as well be zero, it should indeed be possible to break your absolute attack—” 

“—!!” 

Before Meiga was even finished speaking, Koyomi’s entire body was bathed in light. 

Without a sound, she was engulfed in an enormous explosion. 

It was a scalding beam of death from the heavens far above. He wondered if Koyomi truly noticed that she’d been struck by an anti-ground laser cannon fired from an orbital track around the Earth— 

“That was the Gigafloat Management Corporation’s trump card, an anti-ground laser fired from an orbital attack satellite…” 

Meiga’s body rolled over the ground, bathed in backwash from the laser-cannon attack. His skin was scorched by hot wind as an enormous hole was gouged in the soil of the artificial isle. 

And all sight of Koyomi, there at ground zero, had vanished without a trace. 

The anti-ground laser attack’s speed was virtually identical to the speed of light. Even Koyomi’s absolute-initiative attack ability could not fend off such an onslaught. The remote control Meiga held was the trigger to activate the satellite. 

“Farewell, daughter of the accursed tribe… Feel my wrath for robbing me of the only warmth I have ever known…” 

Meiga discarded the remote control, its task fulfilled, and slowly rose to his feet. Though his entire body had been peppered with dozens of bullets, he showed no sign of feeling any pain. There was virtually no bleeding from the wounds so cruelly blown open. 

Dragging his pitch-black dual spear along, the wounded Meiga walked forward. 

Beneath the dazzling, midday sun, a thick darkness fell at his feet. It resembled a shadow of death. 

2 

Motoki Yaze raggedly breathed out as he hid in the shadow of an apartment building. 

The incendiary chemicals scattered around the area had left a burnt stench hovering in the air. Nearly three minutes had already passed since the assassin’s first sniping attempt. 

During that time, she had fired four times in total. To a sniper, living by the creed of one shot, one kill, the exceptional circumstance could only be called a failure. 

Even so, there was no sign of the sniper taking her leave. Even then, frigid bloodlust refined to the point of a needle remained unceasingly trained upon Asagi. 

Yaze detected that the source of that bloodlust was on the move. 

“The hell, that sniper plans to circle around this way…?!” 

Yaze clicked his tongue a little as he predicted the sniper’s movement path. She was leaping from the top of a building under construction to the top of a different building next door. 

After that, she jumped to a mansion beside it—with incredible speed far beyond that of a normal person. 

She was not beginning to run because her sniping had failed. She was moving to a fresh sniping position, meaning to strike Asagi down, this time for sure. 

“Shit, she’s fast… A beast person, then…?!” 

Yaze’s murmur was tinged with nervousness. 

A fully equipped anti-materiel rifle weighed close to fifteen kilograms. Carrying that and hopping from building to building was not something a normal human being could pull off. However, with a beast person’s strength and agility, such off-the-wall feats were child’s play. 

Furthermore, one ought to be able to deal with the drawback of an anti-materiel rifle, immense recoil, making accurate sniping fire possible— 

“This is bad. At this rate, we won’t be safe here! Gotta run for it!” 

“M-Motoki…?” 

When Yaze suddenly and violently rose to his feet, Asagi looked back at him with worry visible on her face. Isn’t hiding here safer? she seemed to be pleading. 

“You said the other side’s on the move… How do you know something like that…?” 

“Ah… Well, it’s a little knack that I have. Was pounded into me since I was a little brat.” 

“For this sort of thing?” 

Asagi looked at Yaze, her expression half belief, half disbelief. 

Of course, Yaze was telling her a huge whopper. No “knack” existed that could track a sniper’s movements. 

Yaze was using sound to detect the sniper’s movements. He’d dubbed the hyperreactive ability Soundscape, a product of the psychic ability Yaze had possessed since birth. 

Employing that ability, Yaze could accurately grasp the sniper’s movements at over a kilometer away. The sniper’s position. The direction of the rifle barrel. The sounds of operating the firearm. And even the sniper’s breathing and the sound of her beating heart. 

The problem was, an anti-materiel rifle’s rounds traveled faster than the speed of sound transmitted through the air. The timing of when the bullet was being fired was the one thing Yaze’s ability couldn’t pinpoint. All Yaze could do was flee from the firing line before the sniper took the shot. 

“Anyway, let’s run. Staying here is bad. We’ll get Mrs. Asako and other people involved.” 

“What do you mean, run? Down the street? If it’s a sniper after us, isn’t using the underground roads better?” 

“No can do. You haven’t forgotten what happened to my dad, have you?” 

Yaze’s rational retort made Asagi sink into silence. 

Itogami Island, an artificial construct, had a netlike array of underground roads for maintenance use. Certainly, if they used those, they would probably escape from the sniper. 

But the terrorist group attacking Itogami Island included a serial bomber. 

If they had planted bombs on the underground roads, there was no defense against it, for the powerful echoes inside the underground roads rendered Yaze’s Soundscape useless. 

“Asagi, can you get ahold of the Island Guard?” 

“I think that should work… Yeah, it’s all right. Transmissions haven’t been cut.” 

Asagi spoke as she looked at the screen on her smartphone. In spite of someone trying to take her life, Asagi was surprisingly calm. She’d always been a calm girl with a good head on her shoulders. Perhaps the various incidents taking place of late had inured her to this level of trouble. 

“Then, call ’em straight away. Blasting that damned cannon makes the sniper’s location loud and clear. If the Island Guard comes running, it’s game over.” 

“Hear that, Mogwai?” 

“Kinda sorta.” 

The sarcastic AI spoke up. 

“But unfortunately, it’s gonna take some time till the Island Guard gets there. They’re not really in any position to run over right now.” 

“Excuse me?! Why the hell not…?! An unregistered demon is on a rampage with an anti-materiel rifle y’know?!” Yaze screeched. “That’s a top-priority target, dammit.” 

However, Mogwai’s reply was blunt. “If you go out onto the main streets, you’ll get the picture soon enough.” 

“Whaddaya mean…?!” 

As Yaze spontaneously talked back, a civilian house’s concrete wall shattered. It was an attack from the anti-materiel rifle. With the interceding cover pulverized, Yaze and Asagi’s position was exposed for all to see. 

“Asagi, run!” 

Yaze shouted as he tried to shove her forward. Is the sniper trying to herd us toward an escape route? rose a suspicion in the back of his mind, but he had no time to dwell on that. 

However, before Asagi had gone thirty meters, her legs stopped as she visibly gawked. 

A huge explosion erupted in the road, sending asphalt fragments flying through the air. 

“Motoki!” 

“A vampire’s Beast Vassal…?!” 

Realizing the cause of the explosion, Yaze exclaimed in a low, muffled voice. Emerging, seemingly to clog up the road, was an enormous beast enveloped by glimmering demonic energy. 

It had to be close to two meters long. It resembled a grizzly bear, but naturally, no such creature was possible from the natural world. It was a mass of dense demonic energy taking solid form—a vampire’s Beast Vassal. 

“Losing control in the middle of the city like this?! You’ve gotta be kidding me—?!” 

Even Yaze was thrown into confusion by the unexpected situation. 

The vampire who was the Beast Vassal’s host had collapsed on the sidewalk. The man had no visible injuries, but the metallic wristlet clasped around his left wrist was giving off a strange red light. And the Beast Vassal was not protecting its host; rather, it simply continued raging around in agony. Control had been completely lost. 

Losing control of a summoned Beast Vassal due to physical distress—though not absolutely impossible, the timing for such an accident was unbelievably awful. 

They couldn’t run down that road. Judging as much, Yaze curved toward an alley, but… 

“Wait, Motoki. That one’s no good, either!” 

It was Asagi who hastily urged him to halt. 

Yaze soon understood the reason why. There were fine cracks running all along the top of the road. And at the center of those cracks in the ground was an enormous man, his height over three meters tall. 

Collapsed in the yard of his own home, the giant was at the center of a vortex of incredible magical energy. 

“Gigas Spirit Magic…?!” 

Yaze murmured in astonishment. It wasn’t just the vampire behind him and the Gigas. Here and there, demons had begun engaging in abnormal actions as far as his eyes could see. 

Beast men were transforming in agony right in the streets. Vampires were losing consciousness after turning into mist. Elves were indiscriminately summoning elemental spirits—one could only think that every registered demon on Itogami Island was running amok all at once. 

“What the hell’s going on, Mogwai?! What happened?!” 

Asagi quickly yelled in the direction of her smartphone. The reply from the AI was calm and collected enough to really annoy her. 

“Exactly what it looks like. Across virtually all of Itogami City, demons are having their minds jacked and entering a berserk state. The Island Guard is fully mobilized to contain the situation, but if anything, they’re gettin’ overwhelmed.” 

“So that’s what you meant when you said they weren’t coming to help us…!” Yaze scratched at his head in annoyance. 

Demons within the Sanctuary were all going berserk. He’d never heard of such a situation before, but it was clear this was a man-made phenomenon—the work of the Demon Sanctuary wrecking crew. 

The demons living on Itogami Island didn’t exceed even 4 percent of the total population, but that was still over twenty thousand people. If they began rampaging all at once, the Island Guard alone couldn’t hope to deal with it. Not only would there be civilian casualties, but in the worst case, the destruction of the artificial isle itself was a complete possibility. 

“What caused the rampage?” 

“Who knows. What do you think, li’l miss?” 

Mogwai replied to Asagi’s question with a question of his own. Asagi replied instantly, with barely a hint of hesitation. 

“A delayed-effect virus.” 

“Keh-keh. Agreed.” 

“…What do you mean by that?” 

Yaze, the only one not grasping the situation, asked as a perplexed expression came over him. 

“It’s the demon registration bracelets. They’re embedded with circuits so you can activate simplified magic, like monitoring a demon’s vitals and individual location data.” 

“Wait, you’re telling me someone pumped a virus through those circuits?” Yaze gasped and shifted his attention to the vampire still lying on the sidewalk. 

They had metal bands on them, demon registration bracelets clasped over their wrists. Red light continued to flash from the slits in the geometric shapes carved into their surface. 

“Simplified circuits or not, pretty much all demons wear those things on them twenty-four hours a day. It’d take a powerful catalyst for this kind of ritual. If it’s enough to make ’em fall asleep, no reason you couldn’t do it.” 

For some reason, Mogwai said that proudly. 

Yaze shook his head, apparently finding it unbelievable. 

“So they infected every demon registration bracelet on the island in one go… How?!” 

“They used the Island Guard’s network,” Asagi explained, oddly calm. 

Yaze looked at her in surprise. 

“The Island Guard? …Come to think of it, yesterday you said there was a ruckus over the Island Guard’s HQ being hacked…” 

“So the culprit’s real objective wasn’t taking over the Island Guard’s servers but getting the demon registration bracelets infected with the virus.” 

“Even you didn’t realize what they were up to…?” 

“How could I? By the time I arrived at Island Guard HQ, the enemy’s real program had finished its job and erased itself without a trace, to make sure no one would notice.” 

Asagi’s lips tapered in a visible pout. 

Mogwai let out a hearty “Keh-keh,” sticking up for Asagi as he said, “Those bracelets have all kinds of stiff protection around ’em, so normally, you can’t do somethin’ like that, even if you know the theory of how. The culprit’s got some serious skills.” 

“For that matter, there’s no merit to hacking the registration bracelets, so no one does it. Normally,” Asagi added. 

“Well, sure. Indiscriminate terrorism is just about all you could use it for…” 

Yaze sighed briefly as he ran his eyes over the pathetic state of the island. 

The memory capacity a demon registration bracelet came equipped with probably couldn’t execute a complicated spell. Making demons lose consciousness and causing them to go berserk was probably the most they could accomplish. But even so, as tools of sorcerous terrorism, it was fair to say that the menace they posed was terrifying. 

“Hey, Mogwai. Can’t you do something about the virus thingy?” 

“No can do. Right now, the bracelets are cut off from the Island Guard network, so there’s no physical access route.” 

“So with the connection cut, you can’t send a vaccine program in either, then?” 

“Well, it’s not that breaking into bracelets set to independent activity mode ain’t possible, but…” 

Mogwai’s suggestive murmur made Yaze’s breath catch slightly. 

“Got it… C, then…” 

“C, you mean the computer room they dragged me into a while back?” 

A dubious expression came over Asagi as she looked at Yaze. Room C—this was a special section built in Keystone Gate’s Floor Zero. 

Hermetically sealed off from the outside world, the chamber was packed with the five supercomputers that administered Itogami Island, the nervous system to which every computer system on the island was connected. Its stout exterior shell was said to be able to take a direct hit from a nuclear bomb and water pressure on par with twenty thousand meters under the sea. 

And commands sent via C had the highest privilege-access rights to every terminal device owned by the Gigafloat Management Corporation. Naturally, the demon registration bracelets were no exception. 

Of course, entry into Room C was severely restricted; even senior management of the Gigafloat Management Corporation and the mayor of Itogami City were not permitted entry. 

Rumor even had it that C was an urban myth and did not really exist. 

“I see… That’s why they’re after Asagi…” 

“Huh?” 

An uncomfortable look came over Asagi as Yaze stared at her intently. 

“Keh-keh.” Mogwai laughed with delight. 

Yaze covered his eyes with a look of anguish. “As the registered user, you’re the only one authorized to enter C. If you die, there won’t be anyone left to stop the demons’ rampage.” 

“Huh…?!” 

Asagi’s eyes flew wide open. 

“What the—? This is news to me! Why would you make a system that’s personalized and not even tell the person—isn’t that nuts?! You did that completely without my consent…?!” 

The indignant Asagi hauled Yaze up by his chest. 

She might have been an accomplished hacker, but she was fundamentally an ordinary high school girl. Her programming work for the Gigafloat Management Corporation was nothing more than a part-time job for a little spending money. She’d never intended to bear a heavy responsibility that could decide the very fate of Itogami Island, let alone sought to put her own life in peril as a consequence. 

However, in reality, without her being aware of it whatsoever, she had somehow been registered as the proper user for C, and a sniper was after her life because of it. Of course Asagi was angry. But— 

“Urk…!” 

Grabbing hold of the raging Asagi, Yaze rolled onto the ground. 

A bullet passed above both their heads, gouging a hole into the residential wall behind them. Fragments scattering from the impact of the shot showered down on Yaze’s back like scattered hail. 

“I’ll listen to any complaints you have, but first, we’ve gotta do something ’bout this situation. I’m bringing you with me to Keystone Gate, whatever it takes!” Yaze yelled as he forcibly dragged Asagi to her feet. 

“If I don’t, this’ll seriously be Itogami Island’s final day.” 

As Yaze murmured, a strange aura began swirling above his head. The demonic energy emitted by the raging demons was saturating and covering the sky above the island. 

He had no idea what situation that foreshadowed, but he was certain of one thing: It wouldn’t end with anything good. 

“Give me a break…,” Asagi murmured, copying the habit of a close friend of hers. 

“Took the words outta my mouth.” 

Yaze nodded, concurring from the bottom of his heart. 

3 

Dumbfounded, Yukina gazed down from the roof of a nearly destroyed building. 

Demonic energy was running wild from every street and block. 

Among them, it was indeed the vampire Beast Vassals inflicting the most spectacular damage. If fully unleashed, even the Beast Vassals of comparatively young vampires had enough might to blow away an entire residential home. However, this paled in comparison to the Beast Vassals of the Old Guard, with combat capability on par, or greater, than that of a state-of-the-art battle tank. 

However, there was no organization to the places the Beast Vassals were summoned—or their targets. Yukina did not think that their power was running amok with any kind of conscious purpose. It was not of the demons’ own will; they had simply lost control. Someone had possessed them, making their demonic energy go berserk. 

“How is…such a thing possible…?” she murmured haltingly as she continued to prop up Kojou’s wounded body. 

A force of over twenty thousand demons’ demonic energy had run amok—an enormous calamity without precedent. How can such a thing be stopped? she pondered, but no answer was forthcoming. 

The Island Guard was moving to contain the situation, but the insufficiency of their fighting strength was plainer than an open flame. Furthermore, the Gigafloat Management Corporation that commanded them had lost numerous senior managers, remaining in a state of chaos to that moment. 

Even if she requested aid from Lion King Agency HQ, it was futile to expect reinforcements. 

The seas around Itogami Island remained sealed off via Senga’s Eight Trigrams Formation. Everything was proceeding according to the scenario Tartarus Lapse had drawn up. That fact left Yukina in despair. 

“What can I…? What should I do…?” 

Stricken by a bottomless sense of emptiness, Yukina unwittingly cast her eyes downward. 

Perhaps apprehending December or Senga might ameliorate the situation, but now that Itogami Island was in extreme chaos, finding them was nigh impossible. 

Natsuki might have been able to offer advice had she been there. But at that moment, she too remained unable to move. Asagi was under attack by a sniper, with it unclear whether she was alive or dead, and Kojou had fallen, gravely wounded and on the brink of death. 

“Senpai…” 

Yukina held Kojou’s head to her chest as she leaned forward. 

She was the only one uninjured and able to move, and yet she could do nothing, save pathetically watch the sight of Itogami Island collapsing. Yukina’s powerlessness had been made painfully apparent. 

Her eyes grew hot. She let out a brief sob, hanging her head. And then… 

That was when someone’s very, very cold hands gently caressed Yukina’s cheeks. 

“That’s some face you’re making, Himeragi.” 

The supposedly unconscious Kojou opened his eyes, calling to her in a small, raspy voice. Yukina, taken completely off guard, gazed at the sight of him. 

“Senpai…?! You’ve returned to consciousness already…?” 

“Somehow, yeah…” 

Koff! went Kojou as he unsteadily sat up. 

Though many of his internal organs had ruptured due to the dozens of bullets he’d taken, Kojou’s body had mostly finished regenerating in that brief span of time. Compared to the previous times he’d nearly died, his recovery speed had plainly quickened. Kojou’s power as a vampire was increasing. 

Though that fact invited worries of its own, it wasn’t the time or place to ponder them. 

“Damn, that bastard Senga pumped me full of bullets without holding back one bit. Hurt enough to die from.” 

Kojou spoke resentfully as he patted his tattered parka. 

His words, both buffoonish and exceedingly blunt, allowed Yukina to let go of a breath she’d been holding in. Kojou looked back at her with a mystified look and said, “So, Himeragi. Why are you crying?” 

“I am not crying,” replied Yukina in a flat tone, gently averting her face. 

“Mn? …Um, but…” 

“I was not crying. So there.” 

“Nah, your eyes are totally red.” 

“A vampire is not in any position to talk. More importantly, senpai, the city!” 

“Whoa!” 

Kojou, looking at the city streets below them, cried out from tremendous shock. 

Roads and buildings were being destroyed by the demonic riot, and fires were breaking out in urban areas all over. He heard the sounds of human screams and ambulance sirens coming ceaselessly from within the city. 

“The hell is this…?! What happened while I was asleep?!” 

“The registered demons have lost control of their demonic energy. I’m not sure of exactly how this was orchestrated, but I have no doubt that it is the work of Tartarus Lapse.” 

“So they forced the demonic energy to run amok, huh? Come to think of it, it’s a little like what December did to me.” 

“Yes.” 

Kojou’s murmur made Yukina nod. During their first fight with December in the warehouse district, she’d employed mind control on Kojou to hijack command of his Beast Vassals. 

The phenomenon erupting on Itogami Island very much resembled the situation back then. It probably wasn’t a coincidence. Perhaps they had reverse engineered the ability of December’s Beast Vassal and fashioned a ritual to reproduce it. 

“And Asagi…?” Kojou asked with a hard look. 

Yukina shook her head without a word. In these chaotic circumstances, Yukina had no means by which to determine whether Asagi was safe. The shikigami she’d released to search for her had already been lost, swept up in the demonic energy rampage. 

Kojou silently twisted his lips. To the sniper after Asagi, the several minutes Kojou had been unconscious were more than enough time to complete her mission. In the end, Kojou had been unable to stop Tartarus Lapse’s sniper. Regret and despair over that fact weighed heavily upon Kojou’s heart. 

It was a moment after that when Kojou heard a snarky, synthetic voice. 

“It’s all right. Li’l miss Asagi is still alive… Somehow or other.” 

“You’re…Mogwai?!” 

Kojou’s cell phone, LCD screen cracked, was speaking in the voice of Asagi’s AI partner. 

“Keh-keh.” Mogwai laughed at the surprised Kojou. “I’ll skip the fine details. Asagi’s heading for Keystone Gate. The demon riot happening in the city was caused by hacking the demon registration bracelets.” 

“Hacking?” Kojou tilted his head, completely beside himself. “You mean the demon registration bracelets got jacked? People can do that?” 

“Well, someone can. And right now, the li’l miss is the only one who can stop it.” 

“So that’s why Senga and the others are after Asagi…!” 

If that abnormality was caused by Tartarus Lapse hacking, that explained Asagi coming under sniper fire. Senga and the others feared Asagi’s genius-level programming abilities. 

If she got to Keystone Gate safe and sound, Asagi could put a stop to the demons’ rampage. 

That would likely inflict fatal damage to Tartarus Lapse’s plans. 

“Tell us where Asagi is, Mogwai. We’ll back her up.” 

“The feeling’s appreciated, but I’ve got a different request for the Fourth Primogenitor an’ company.” 

“…Request?” Kojou echoed back. He didn’t think any action took precedent over keeping Asagi safe when someone was after her life that very moment. 

However, Mogwai continued, speaking for once in a dead serious tone. “For now, could you…stop Itogami Island from being smashed to bits before the li’l miss can do something about the bracelets?” 

“Itogami Island, smashed to bits…? How…?” 

“—Look up, Bro.” 

Prompted by the AI’s voice, Kojou turned his face upward. He was at a loss for further words… Itogami Island’s sky was covered in mysterious hieroglyphics in a radius reaching dozens of kilometers. 

This was both like a dense aurora and a vortex of demonic energy. Perhaps one might say it looked like a beautiful flower garden—crimson, ethereal flowers borne of demonic energy. 

“Roses…?” 

“No, senpai…this is a magic circle. One of unbelievably high density…,” Yukina corrected in a quivering voice. 

Her words made Kojou realize the true nature of the roses for himself. The large-scale phenomenon was the result of merging multiple layers of complex symbols atop one another. It was a magic circle large enough to envelop the entirety of Itogami Island. The vast demonic energy furnished by the Demon Sanctuary was what made its materialization possible. 

The crimson magic circle was absorbing the demonic energy of the twenty thousand registered demons living on Itogami Island to take form. 

Their collapsing unconscious left and right was probably not caused by the demonic energy running amok alone. It was because the magic circle was draining their energy. 

“So those are the Roses of Tartarus…” 

Kojou’s entire body trembled with fear. 

Even he, lean on knowledge of sorcery, could understand just how dangerous that magic circle was. The vast demonic energy swirling above Itogami Island that moment rivaled that of the dark god Zazalamagiu before. 

“But what do they intend to do by gathering up so much demonic ener…?” 

Yukina seemed to realize something, her breath catching as she looked up, her face pale. 

From the roses formed via magic circles, countless rose petals were fluttering downward. These, in turn, were collections of demonic energy so dense that they could take physical form. Finally, they changed to adopt the forms of sentient beasts. 

“It couldn’t be?!” 

“Beast Vassals—?!” 

Yukina and Kojou shouted out simultaneously. 

The Beast Vassals borne from the Roses of Tartarus unleashed howls bathed in demonic energy. The shock wave transformed into incandescent flames, falling toward the urban areas of Itogami Island. 

4 

The Beast Vassals wrought from the scarlet roses numbered six. Each had a total length of around three to five meters. Their materialization was incomplete, but they maintained virtually perfect bestial contours. Though their strength did not quite reach the level of Old Guard Beast Vassals, there was no doubting they were formidable. 

Pitch-black flames wreathed in demonic energy burned the ground of the artificial isle. It wasn’t in a district with a high population density, but that did not change the fact the situation was dangerous. 

And what truly surprised Kojou was that the Beast Vassal summoning was still ongoing. As demonic energy caused the scarlet petals to bloom and scatter, the number of Beast Vassals increased; one here, one there. They proceeded to flutter down toward the ground of Itogami Island, spreading unlimited destruction to and fro. 

“Who the heck’s summoning them…?” 

Kojou’s face twisted in fear as he posed the question to Yukina. December had to be a powerful Old Guard vampire, but he didn’t think a single person could summon Beast Vassals in those numbers, let alone control them all; that seemed an impossibility. 

“I believe the magic circle itself is acting as the host. It is using the demonic energy drained from demons throughout the city to indiscriminately summon Beast Vassals.” 

Yukina replied with a stiff expression. No way, went Kojou, looking back at her in surprise. 

“How do they plan on making the Beast Vassals do as they’re told?” 

“No, control is unnecessary. At the very least, not to Tartarus Lapse—” 

“You’re telling me they wanted indiscriminate attacks…?!” 

Every drop of blood in Kojou’s body froze in fear and anger. 

December and her group’s objective was the destruction of Itogami Island. They weren’t even trying to use the Beast Vassals summoned by the Roses of Tartarus for precise attacks. Now Kojou finally understood why they were called a Demon Sanctuary wrecking crew. 

Indiscriminate Beast Vassal summons via the demonic energy drained from registered demons—this was the ultimate demolition job, one that could only be realized in a Demon Sanctuary. This was the truth behind the trick they’d kept shrouded in mystery. 

“Senpai!” 

“Got it! C’mon over, Regulus Aurum—!” 

Kojou shot the lightning lion toward the Beast Vassals flying to and fro overhead. Servants of primogenitors were materialized, high-density masses of demonic energy. Furthermore, normal weapons could not inflict damage upon them. It was said that there was no way to defeat Beast Vassals save through smashing them with stronger demonic energy. 

The only weapons that could oppose Beast Vassals were the large-caliber sorcerous weapons in the Island Guard’s possession, powerful sorcerous objects in the possession of some federal Attack Mages, and vampiric Beast Vassals. 

However, the Island Guard’s guardsmen were busy suppressing the rioting demons and engaging in search and rescue; they had nothing in reserve to fight Beast Vassals. The same no doubt went for federal Attack Mages. 

And thanks to Tartarus Lapse’s hacking, registered demons had virtually all fallen into an unconscious state. That moment, the only one left who could stop the Roses’ Beast Vassals was an unregistered vampire lacking a demon registration bracelet—in other words, Kojou. 

Fortunately, the power of those servants couldn’t hold a candle to the Beast Vassals of the Fourth Primogenitor. That single blow from the lightning lion ripped them to tatters, whereupon they vanished. 

He could push them back, no problem. Yet, a moment after Kojou judged it to be so— 

“…They came back?!” 

The Roses’ familiars, surely shredded by the lightning lion, returned to their bestial forms. 

Kojou ordered his own Beast Vassal to attack once more, but the result was the same. No matter how much the lightning lion destroyed them, the Roses’ Beast Vassals kept increasing in number. 

“The summoning is ongoing.” 

Yukina kept her gaze on the crimson magic circle as she murmured ruefully. The Rose petals scattered with increasing speed, perhaps to counteract Kojou’s attack. It continued propagating Beast Vassals, their numbers already exceeding dozens; she could no longer keep an exact count. 

“The more I smash ’em, the faster more of ’em come?! Then—” 

Kojou summoned a new Beast Vassal. This was a gleaming, two-headed quicksilver dragon Beast Vassal—the dimension eater that consumed space itself. 

The enormous, open maws of the twinned dragon mercilessly charged into the magic circle covering the very sky. They shaved away the magic circle along with space itself, distorting it in the unsightly fashion of a flower being eaten by an insect. 

But this too was for a single moment alone. With the vast demonic energy supplied to it from the ground, the magic circle restored itself, and the Roses’ Beast Vassals’ numbers increased further still. 

“Erasing space itself—and still no good…?!” 

Kojou’s voice was racked with urgency. The Roses’ Beast Vassals could no longer be held back by the lightning lion alone. One part of the Beast Vassals descended toward the ground as the other part of the horde bore down on Kojou and Yukina. 

“Shit! C’mon over, Mesarthim Adamas! Sadalmelik Albus! Natra Cinereus!” 

Kojou clicked his tongue as he summoned new Beast Vassals. 

The bighorn sheep constructed of diamonds scattered its crystal gemstones about; the silver, shelled beast transformed buildings into mist to protect the city. Then, the giant water maid restored the destroyed city in twisted form. 

It was far from a complete job, but this was the limit of Kojou’s current abilities. 

Fundamentally, the all-too-powerful Beast Vassals of the Fourth Primogenitor could be used for nothing save destruction. The slightest slip in control and, far from protecting the city, the enemy Beast Vassals would be destroyed utterly—and all of Itogami Island with them. 

“This ain’t…good… Figures I’ve pissed ’em off…” 

Kojou gritted his teeth as he glared at the approaching Roses’ Beast Vassals. At that moment, Kojou’s hands were full with intercepting newly emerging enemies and protecting urban areas. There was nothing left in the tank to summon a new Beast Vassal to protect Kojou himself. 

However, the Roses’ familiars were clearly aiming at Kojou, thoroughly singling him out as an enemy for destroying their brethren to that extent. 

The Roses’ incomplete Beast Vassals had various forms. One was like a bat; another was like a ravenous bird of prey. Perhaps their movements were so simple because they did not possess complete sentience. All they were doing was enveloping their entire bodies in demonic energy flames, charging straight toward their targets. 

Among them was a single, small Beast Vassal that looked like a dinosaur; this one swung flame-enveloped talons down toward Kojou’s back. Just before striking him, one flash from a silver blade struck it down. 

Yukina’s demonic energy-nullifying spear impaled it. Snowdrift Wolf, called the Lion King Agency’s secret weapon, was the purging spear that could annihilate even a vampiric primogenitor. The glow of the Divine Oscillation Effect wrapped around its silver blade, smashing the Roses’ Beast Vassal like fragile sugarcane, whereupon it vanished. 

“Himeragi…! Sorry, you saved me there!” 

“Think nothing of it. I am your watcher, so it is only natural. More importantly, senpai…” 

“I get it. At this rate, the city won’t hold together long enough for Asagi to reach Keystone Gate,” Kojou muttered, wiping fresh sweat from his brow. 

The Beast Vassals of the Fourth Primogenitor that Kojou had summoned were being overwhelmed. However, fresh Beast Vassals wrought from the magic circle in the sky above, seemingly without limit, had nearly descended all the way to the city. Try as he might, it was impossible for Kojou to intercept them all alone. 

The amount of demonic energy in the Fourth Primogenitor’s possession was nearly limitless, but the willpower with which Kojou controlled it was not. Controlling the too-powerful Beast Vassals chafed at his nerves, accelerating his rate of fatigue. The way things were going, it was only a matter of time before even Kojou’s Beast Vassals went berserk. 

“What should we do, Himeragi?” 

“That’s… If we cannot halt the Roses of Tartarus’s supply of demonic energy, defeating the caster controlling the Roses is the only…” 

“Caster…?” 

“Yes. There must be a caster maintaining the magic circle that robbed control of the demon registration bracelets.” 

“A caster… I see, the one Senga called Raan must be her…” 

Just before the Roses activated, Senga let a command fly to his comrade through use of an earphone mic. The order went to the final member of Tartarus Lapse, who they’d met at the animal hospital. She was probably the hub keeping the magic circle going. 

“But how do we find out where she is…?” 

“I am sorry… Senpai… I tried using search rituals, but I do not have the strength to see all of Itogami Island…” 

The dejected Yukina looked down as she shook her head, about to cry. As a Sword Shaman, Yukina specialized in close combat against demons. Complex ritual spells were outside her specialty. 

“Nothin’ you need to apologize for, Himeragi. Not like I can do it, either.” 

“No, but…” 

“In the end, nothing we can do but wait for Asagi to do somethin’ about the hacking, huh…? It’s gone exactly like Mogwai said. Crap!!” 

Kojou let loose a throwaway laugh as he spread both arms wide. The sarcastic AI had no doubt told Kojou and Yukina to protect the island because he’d figured from the start that this would happen. 

But maybe even the world’s best supercomputers couldn’t predict the Roses of Tartarus turned out to be a summoning circle that’s this much of a pain in the ass, thought Kojou. 

The damage to the urban areas was clearly increasing. The propagation of the Roses’ Beast Vassals increased, their current destructive power thoroughly rivaling that of Kojou’s own. Kojou could no longer protect Itogami Island by himself. 

It’s no good, thought Kojou, struck by a premonition of despair. And then… 

With an incredible roar, a giant beam of light raced across Itogami Island’s sky. 

5 

It was a large-scale ritual cannon reminiscent of a warship’s main artillery. 

It had an overwhelming amount of magical energy rivaling even the Beast Vassals of a primogenitor. The attack engulfed dozens of Beast Vassals summoned via the Roses of Tartarus, not even having time to scream before being erased. 

“Der Freischötz…,” Yukina belatedly murmured as she realized the true nature of the sudden ritual spell cannon attack. 

A single arrow flying at high speed had created the enormous beam. The whistle embedded in its tip was employed to chant spells at too high an intensity than could be reproduced by human beings. 

It was a spell arrow from Der Freischötz, a prototype area-suppression weapon granted to a particular Shamanic War Dancer of the Lion King Agency. 

The fresh whistling arrow flew in, echoing with a special type of strange sound. 

This strange sound created countless small-sized magic circles, each of which transformed into an arrow of light, precisely shooting through the Roses’ Beast Vassals descending upon urban areas—the projectiles struck nothing else. 

“Multi-lock with killer bullets… This technique; it couldn’t be…” 

“Amazing,” Kojou whispered, eyes wide. Yukina, right beside him, felt just as compelled to watch the events in the sky. 

Both of their fields of view caught a small black silhouette that resembled a bird. It seemed to cut through the atmosphere, gliding just over the surface of the ocean. As it approached the island, they realized that this “small” silhouette was actually quite large. 

Its serpentine body resembled the long-extinct dinosaurs; its giant wings had a wingspan of over ten meters. It was a dragon with a mane the color of steel. 

“Kojou! Yukii!” 

One of the girls riding the dragon’s back waved a hand toward Kojou and Yukina. 

Kojou knew her name. He’d met the Sword Shaman girl on the mainland only a few days earlier. 

“Yuiri?! And Sayaka…and Shio, even…!” 

Yukina’s eyes went wide with surprise. In addition to Yuiri Haba, there were two other girls on the dragon. Each held a silver bow at the ready. These two were Sayaka Kirasaka and Shio Hikawa, Shamanic War Dancers of the Lion King Agency. It was they who had unleashed the spell arrows that had shot down the Roses’ Beast Vassals. 

“You’re…Glenda, right?!” 

“Daaah!!” 

The silver dragon began to transform as it fluttered down to the building upon which Kojou and Yukina stood. The enormous dragon was transforming into a long-haired, small-statured girl. 

Of course, once her transformation had finished, the girl wasn’t wearing a stitch of clothing. Kojou stiffened as the buck-naked girl embraced him. 

“Aaaaagh?! Wait a… What are you doing, Kojou Akatsuki?!” 

“Glenda, wait! Clothes—put on some clothes!!” 

Sayaka and Yuiri both nervously raced to Kojou’s side. 

Shio, coldly glaring at Kojou, approached Yukina. “Yukina Himeragi, it seems you’re all right. Can I ask you to explain the situation?” 

“Yes, Shio. But how on Earth did you get to Itogami Island…?” 

“We were close to Itogami Island in the first place. Thanks to the Eight Trigrams Formation obstructing us, we couldn’t get close, but somehow, we managed to decipher it, and then—” 

“You managed to decipher an Eight Trigrams ritual…from the inside…?!” 

“Ah, er, well… It’s not as if I did it by myself…” 

The glimmering praise from Yukina brought an uncomfortable-looking expression over Shio. Apparently, she was struggling with explaining that her accomplishment was actually a joint effort between her and Sayaka—a very Shio-like thing to strain herself over. 

Then, seeing Shio and Yukina speaking on such warm terms, that very Sayaka nervously barged right in. 

“What are you doing getting friendly with my Yukina, Shio Hikawa?!” 

“Because, Kirasaka, you got distracted by a man and took your sweet time!” 

“Excuse you?! I’ll have you know, it’s not as if I was distracted by him that much…!” 

“Nah, you were totally focused on him. Felt like nothing else was in your sights at all.” 

“That’s not true! And if you’re going to say that, Yuiri Haba is a lot more—” 

“Yuiri has nothing to do with this!” 

For a time, Yukina watched dumbfounded as her two seniors glared at each other forehead to forehead. But judging it to be no time for such things, she quickly regained her senses. 

“Um… May I explain…?” she began, clearing her throat. 

Noticing this, Sayaka and Shio hastily composed themselves. 

“—The situation, as you can see, is an indiscriminate attack with all of Itogami City as the target. The instigator is a Demon Sanctuary demolition group calling itself Tartarus Lapse. Known members include a vampire calling herself December, a feng shui practitioner named Takehito Senga, a pyrokinesis-wielding homunculus teenage boy named Logi, as well as a sniper.” 

“Also, a hacker who took over the demon registration bracelet system,” Kojou added, Glenda still climbing all over his back in the meantime. 

“Demon registration bracelets… I see; so that’s it…” 

“That must be where the demonic energy to summon the Beast Vassals is coming from…” 

Shio and Sayaka nodded with instant comprehension. Though there were numerous flaws in their cooperative spirit, they were indeed excellent Attack Mages. 

Kojou continued. “Asagi’s headed to Keystone Gate to do something ’bout this. Until then, we’ve gotta protect the island from these Beast Vassals, but—” 

“In other words, we need to search for the caster controlling the magic circle?” Sayaka interrupted. The way she readily voiced the plan was enough to shock him. 

“You can do it?” 

“But of course.” Looking back at the surprised Kojou, Sayaka thrust out her chest with pride. 

Shio followed up without missing a beat. “Shamanic War Dancers of the Lion King Agency are experts in ritual spells and assassination. Of course, we learn methods to counter ritual spells as well. Tracing a caster is the most basic of the basics.” 

“Wait a… I was planning on saying that…!” 

“Reverberate—” 

Taking spell scrolls from the breast of her uniform, Shio began an abbreviated chant. The spell scrolls transformed into a flock of countless birds, scattering to every corner of Itogami Island. 

“Aww, sheesh…!” 

Sayaka, too, scattered spell scrolls about, seemingly to spite Shio. The numbers of shikigami produced by the two Shamanic War Dancers totaled just over a hundred. They lined up in orderly rows as they began circling the sky above Itogami Island, tracing the demonic energy from the Roses of Tartarus to search for the caster’s location. 

“Now, then. We need to buy some time until we can pinpoint the caster’s location.” 

“Yuiri, sorry, but I’m counting on your support. Looks like it’ll take a while to charge the ritual energy again.” 

Sayaka and Shio both spoke to their comrade as they poised their respective silver recurve bows. 

The enemy servants Sayaka and Shio had destroyed had already finished regenerating. The pair intended to shoot them down once more. 

“Rosen Chevalier Plus—Boot Up!” 

Yuiri drew her sword from the instrument case she carried on her back. Like Sayaka’s Lustrous Scale, this sword was instilled with a ritual to slash through space itself; it was a holy armament powerful enough to even cut through Beast Vassals. She no doubt intended to intercept any approaching Beast Vassals from the Roses until Shio and Sayaka could ready their spell arrows. 

“I’ll protect Kirasaka and Hikawa. Relax for a bit, ’kay, Kojou?” 

“Er, but…” 

“You must be tired. You’re sweating a lot.” 

When Yuiri pointed it out, Kojou finally realized just how worn-out he had become. He’d been continuously using five Beast Vassals of the Fourth Primogenitor to protect Itogami Island. 

He’d fought December before that, too. Unsurprisingly, his body had reached its limit. 

“Yukii, take care of Kojou, please?” 

Yuiri left those words behind as she raced ahead. 

Reflexively, Kojou began to follow her, but Yukina stopped him. 

“Senpai, I must have a word with you.” 

Looking pressed into a corner, Yukina beckoned Kojou with her hand. 

She practically dragged him toward the stairway of the half-broken building. 

6 

Yukina dragged Kojou into the corridor of the building’s top floor. It seemed to be some kind of import-export company warehouse; perhaps the employees had already finished evacuating, because Kojou couldn’t feel the presence of a single soul around them. 

The walls of the dimly lit corridor were cracked, and from time to time, they could hear the sound of explosions through those cracks. Sayaka and Shio were in the midst of their battle against the Roses’ Beast Vassals. 

When Yukina stopped, still with her back to him, Kojou asked her, “Himeragi? What’s up with bringing me to a place like this? You fine just leaving Kirasaka and the others like that?” 

His words elicited a twitch from Yukina’s shoulders. She trembled. She stared at the ground. A little sigh escaped her lips as she finally settled upon something. She turned toward him. 

“Senpai.” 

“Y-yeah?” 

Yukina came off as oddly more formal than usual, which made Kojou tense. As he waited for her, she silently closed her eyes and clasped both hands together in front of her chest, raising her chin up ever so slightly. 

It was as if she wanted Kojou to kiss her. 

“Errr, Himeragi…?” 

“It is fine.” 

Yukina’s pink lips trembled before his bewildered eyes. Her whisper-like voice sent Kojou’s heart into a somersault. 

“Huh?” 

“I mean, you may drink…my blood… P-please don’t make me say it again…” 

“Blood? Ah, blood… That’s what you meant…” 

Geez, don’t scare me like that, he thought, letting go of a held breath. His feelings were mixed, somehow both relieved and disappointed. 

“Er, wait. You want me to drink your blood—here?” 

“Yes.” 

Yukina still had not opened her eyes. Kojou couldn’t help being captivated by her beautiful eyelashes. 

“Er, but Kirasaka and company are, like, right beside us…” 

“I understand. That’s why I would appreciate if you made it quick…” 

Faint redness speckled Yukina’s cheeks as she made her request, urging him to hurry up. Eyes shut, completely defenseless, she drew closer to him. Kojou spontaneously pressed Yukina back by her shoulders. 

“But why…all of a sudden like this…?” he asked. 

“Do you remember? About Miss December’s ability…” 

“The ability to control Beast Vassals… No… That’s not right…” 

Kojou vaguely mulled the words over. Yukina neither affirmed nor refuted them. 

The bare visage December had hid behind a helmet and goggles was the spitting image of the girl Kojou had seen countless times in his dreams. 

Avrora Florestina. The previous Fourth Primogenitor who had granted Kojou her power and vanished. 

The twelfth Kaleid Blood— 

December looked just like Avrora. 

“If my guess is correct, it will be simple to seal Miss December’s Beast Vassal.” 

Yukina opened her eyes, staring straight at Kojou from right in front of him. 

“Senpai, you simply need not grant her the right to control the Fourth Primogenitor’s Beast Vassals. If your power as a vampire is strengthened, you should be able to nullify Miss December’s ability—” 

“Ah… So that’s why you’re telling me to drink your blood all of a sudden.” 

“Th-this time is a special case—an emergency situation, so…” 

Cheeks still red, Yukina couldn’t hide her concern. 

Her gaze fell to her own breasts, and after that, she looked at Kojou with upturned eyes. 

Yukina was a pretty girl, but not the type you could call sexy. Her slender body still looked much like that of a child’s, something she herself was no doubt well aware of. 

And vampiric urges—a vampire’s thirst for blood—was triggered not by hunger, but by lust. In other words, for Kojou to drink Yukina’s blood, he had to feel sexual arousal toward her. 

“Am I not…good enough?” Yukina asked in a tiny voice. 

“No, no.” Kojou shook his head. “It’s not that you’re not good enough, Himeragi… It’s just, this situation is a little, you know…” 

He grimaced as he stared at the cracked walls and the stairway behind him. He was in a bind; practically right beside them, Sayaka and the others were engaged in deadly combat with ferocious Beast Vassals that would not cease, yet, he was being asked to drink a girl’s blood. 

The best example he could think of was if you were commanded to eat a meal on a battlefield with cannon fire being exchanged overhead. No matter how grand the feast before your eyes, it just wouldn’t seem very tasty. 

“So you are heedful of what is around us and cannot concentrate, then?” 

Yukina nodded, accepting his words. Guess she understands, thought Kojou, sighing a little in relief. 

“Understood. Then, senpai. Please close your eyes.” 

“R-right.” 

Kojou did as Yukina told him and closed his eyes. Once Yukina saw he had done so, Kojou felt like she was moving somehow. All he could hear was the faint sound of fabric shifting. Of course, he knew that there had to be some reason behind her actions; he just hadn’t the foggiest idea what she was thinking. 

When an unexpectedly long period of time passed, and Kojou naturally began to feel anxious, he felt some kind of soft fabric covering his eyes. Kojou realized he’d been blindfolded. 

“Himeragi? What is…?” 

“Please pay no heed. It is my uniform’s interior. My handkerchief was not long enough, so…” 

“Eh? By uniform interior, you mean…?” 

Realizing that it was the camisole Yukina had been wearing all that time, Kojou was ferociously thrown into confusion. He was being blindfolded by a girl’s camisole— What kind of situation is this supposed to be?! he thought. 

“It smells kind of nice, actually… Like soap.” 

“Please do not smell it! I do not need an explanation, so…!” 

“Uh, even if you tell me not to… After— Wait, what’s this…?” 

Kojou tried to wrap his head around it all as he realized Yukina had grasped his hand. She proceeded to guide Kojou’s fingertips so that they touched something. 

What he felt seemed highly magnetic—a smooth softness that seemed to wrap around something. Amid the coolness, he felt a faint warmth residing within, the comfortable temperature specific to human flesh. His palm was unwittingly drawn in. 

“H-Himeragi… Don’t tell me this is…” 

The realization that he was touching Yukina’s bare waist left Kojou at a loss for words. 

Perhaps the blindfold robbing him of his sight had made his sense of touch far more acute than normal. The pleasant tingles from the touch of his flesh against hers were transmitted through the nerves of his fingertips. 

“How…is it…?” Yukina asked, fervently suppressing the shyness in her voice. 

Kojou tried to come up with a reply, but he was too moved to easily put it into words. 

“Yeah, it’s amazing. I’m not sure what to really say, but I feel like I could do this forever.” 

“Um, please do not touch too much… It tickles.” 

Yukina’s tone relaxed as Kojou’s words put her at ease. 

Perhaps it was tension that made Yukina breathe just a little faster. Kojou’s refined senses conveyed her body temperature, the smell of her hair, her breathing, and even the beats of her heart. 

Yukina’s lithe, supple body was both taut and soft. Her musculature drew beautiful body lines and an exquisite physique, and under that glossy skin stretched blood vessels, and within them coursed sweet blood— 

The instant he traced that image in the back of his mind, Kojou’s entire body was stricken with carnal thirst. 

“S-senpai?!” 

Kojou put his arms around Yukina and enthusiastically drew her in. Both his hands were free to stroke Yukina’s entire body to his heart’s content. He rubbed his cheek against her ear, and breathed in the sweet scent of her hair. Then he gave her defenseless earlobe a soft nibble. 

“That’s—not…!” 

Yukina arched back as if struck by a powerful electric jolt. Kojou’s right hand held her close by her exposed shoulder blade. Simultaneously, Kojou’s left hand gently wrapped around the swell of her breasts. 

“W-wait, please… You mustn’t… N-no…” 

Yukina earnestly engaged in defiant behavior. However, behind those words, her resistance was frail. Still blindfolded, Kojou’s lips sought out Yukina’s neck, largely guided by instinct. 

Kojou’s sharp, elongated fangs broke Yukina’s skin and sank into her— 

“…!” 

Within his arms, Yukina’s shoulders trembled slightly. Kojou politely lapped up her blood as it flowed out. Yukina was a Sword Shaman—a priestess possessing great power. As he took in her blood, infused with spiritual energy, his own demonic energy boiled throughout his entire body. 

Kojou felt as if the beasts sleeping within his blood had let out a cry of joy. 

Even so, Kojou’s thirst had not abated. His vampiric instincts wanted to consume more of Yukina’s blood. 

Desperately defying the craving, Kojou pulled back his fangs. He sensed that if he continued any further, Yukina would be in grave danger. 

Embracing the consenting Yukina, it was a moment later when he felt both her hands wrap around his back. 

“No, senpai… Don’t stop… Please, drink more…” 

She pressed her entire body against him to stop him from pulling away. Kojou felt throbs of joy from the last traces of Yukina’s blood as he weakly shook his head. 

He had already taken quite a bit of her blood. She had to be near her limit. 

It wasn’t as simple a matter of the dangers of excessive blood loss, either. There was even danger of Kojou’s vampiric acts causing a permanent change in her anatomy. 

That danger was of pseudo-vampirization, transmitted through blood—turning her into Kojou’s Blood Vassal. 

“No, Himeragi… Any more, and your body’ll…” 

“But at this rate, you might not be able to defeat Miss December… So…” 

Yukina’s body underwent tiny spasms several times before strength rapidly drained from it. 

Blood was rushing to her flushed cheeks, and she continued to breathe raggedly. Her endurance was indeed at its limit. 

“Himeragi…” 

Kojou removed the makeshift blindfold. He laid Yukina’s body down on top of a nearby sofa. 

Having taken off her uniform and camisole, Yukina’s breasts were covered only by a simple bra. Her skin was so fair it was almost translucent; the faint-pink hue made it surprisingly pretty. 

Thanks to that, Kojou’s vampiric urges were stimulated once more. The unbearable dryness in his throat drew out a moan. Then— 

Clatter! went the loud, suspicious sound Kojou heard from immediately behind him. 

“Dah…?” 

“Glenda, don’t…!” 

When Kojou looked back, he caught sight of Glenda and Yuiri, poking out only half of their faces from a pillar’s shadow. 

They’d probably been peeking, watching Kojou drink Yukina’s blood the whole time. 

Yuiri’s face was beet red to the tips of her ears from arousal. 

For her part, Glenda looked like she’d tried to view Kojou and Yukina from closer range, and Yuiri had put her in a headlock to stop her. The earlier sound had been caused by Yuiri’s sword when she’d fallen over in the scuffle. 

“Miss…Yuiri…?” 

Yukina slightly opened her eyes and looked at Yuiri, who nervously shook her head. 

“Y-Yukii, I’m not… I didn’t mean to peek… Um, Shio and Sayaka seem all right, and Glenda was tired, so I thought I’d let her rest with you and… I didn’t mean— I didn’t see anything!!” 

As Yuiri continued her excuses, a deep-crimson fluid trickled over her mouth and dripped from her lips. Her own blood. 

Perhaps it was from shaking her head too hard; perhaps it was due to mental agitation and arousal. A line of blood ran from her nostril. 

Seemingly drawn by the scent of that blood, Kojou walked in Yuiri’s direction. 

“K-Kojou… Wait… Eh?” 

As Yuiri inched away, for some reason, Glenda was pressing on her back. It was as if Glenda was appealing to Kojou to put on a new show. 

“Senpai… This is an emergency, so this time only, I shall grant a special exemption. This time only…!” 

Yukina’s cheeks puffed up in dismay as she haltingly spoke in a resigned voice. 

Those words unshackled Kojou, and he drew close to Yuiri. 

“Y-Yukii…?! Permit what? And Glenda, what are you grabbing me for?!” 

Kojou chased Yuiri, bewildered, into a corner. As if to indicate her resignation, Yuiri raised both hands up to her shoulders and shook her head as she said, “Wa…wait, um… It’s not that I don’t want to; it’s just my first time… I’m not emotionally prepared for…” 

“Sorry, Yuiri. Just bear with it a few moments.” 

With Yuiri abandoning resistance, Kojou gently lifted up her small, fine chin. 

Kojou harshly thrust his fangs into her quivering, slender neck. 

“N-no way… D-don’t look, Yukii… Ah…” 

After initially stiffening from momentary pain, Yuiri finally sank her body into Kojou’s. Her voice had begun to mix with sweet, outward breaths. The fresh blood coursing into the Fourth Primogenitor’s body quenched his thirst. 

Gazing at Kojou and Yuiri with half-lidded eyes, Yukina let out a soft “Goodness,” sighing and pouting. 

7 

Even then, the magic symbol covering the whole of the island’s sky continued summoning Beast Vassals. 

Sayaka and Shio dispatched the still-descending horde with their ritual spell cannons. Finally, additional servants were created, and these, too, intercepted. The cycle repeated over and over. 

Though they were holding up tactically, Sayaka and Shio of course understood that they could not keep fighting forever. Even with the aid of holy armaments, the pair’s ritual energy had limits. On top of that, few spell arrows remained. When either one was exhausted, they would have no further means of defying the Beast Vassals from the Roses of Tartarus. There was only one way to save Itogami Island—they had to find the caster controlling the magic circle and neutralize her. 

“Kirasaka, how many spell arrows do you have left?” 

Shio kept her silver recurve bow—Freikugel Plus—poised. Her breathing was slightly ragged, and her expression was thickly colored with fatigue. Consecutive uses of the ritual spell cannon attack had taken quite a toll on Shio’s body. 

The same went for Sayaka. The might of her Der Freischötz made the extraordinary rate of spiritual energy depletion that much worse. 

Even so, Sayaka hid her fatigue and replied as if she was fine. 

“With the spares, six left! You?” 

“Same here. Feels like I can hold out for about three, maybe four more minutes.” 

“Aww geez… There’s no end to them…!” 

Even as she complained, Sayaka unleashed a fresh spell arrow. The sight of its beautiful arc seemingly flowing through the air captivated even Shio. 

That was why there was a momentary pause in Shio’s thought process. 

“…?!” 

She suddenly realized that the maw of a creepy Beast Vassal resembling a deep-sea fish was drawing near above her head. 

It was far too close for Shio to reload a spell arrow in time. Knowing this, her expression froze over. 

It was completely her own fault. An apprentice Attack Mage, Shio knew her lack of real combat experience was the culprit. If a vampiric Beast Vassal squished her flat, as a flesh-and-blood human being, she would be taken out with ease. 

“Shio Hikawa—!” 

She saw Sayaka look back and shout, but Shio felt like she was watching the action in slow motion. Sayaka’s expression contorted out of urgency, leaving Shio calmly gazing at it. So even she can make a face like that, Shio thought, feeling introspective. 

If I die, Yuiri will probably be sad. 

That she would deeply regret. 

On the other hand, Shio felt a strange sense of déjà vu. 

She had faced death like this but a few days before. At the time, a middle-aged man calling himself Gajou Akatsuki had saved her. And now— 

“Al-Nasl Minium—!” 

With the sound of an incredible boom, the enemy Beast Vassal before her eyes vanished. It had taken a roar from an enormous bicorn that mowed it down, blowing it away. 

“Huh…?!” 

A beautiful Beast Vassal with a scarlet mane had appeared to protect Shio and Sayaka. This was not like the crudely summoned, incomplete Beast Vassals from the Roses of Tartarus. This was a vampiric primogenitor’s Beast Vassal, and the powerful demonic energy dwelling within was in a different league altogether. 

“You all right?! You’re…uh, Shio, right?” 

“Kojou…A-Akatsuki…” 

Shio was on the verge of collapse when the boy in the tattered parka held her up by her back. 

For a moment, she saw traces of his father on the side of his face. Shio hastily shook her head to clear the image. 

It was Kojou—previously assumed to be resting—who had rescued Shio a hairsbreadth from disaster. 

She did not know what had happened in the brief span of time since Yukina led him away, but she did know that his purportedly depleted flesh was brimming with vast demonic energy. 

“Th-thank you, Kojou Akatsuki. You saved me.” 

“Sorry for putting it all on your back. I’ve got this!” 

Kojou shot Shio a worry-free smile before he trained a hostile gaze over their heads. 

Responding to Kojou’s will, the scarlet bicorn unleashed a howling shock wave at the Roses’ Beast Vassals, trampling them flat. Its might was overwhelming. The Roses’ Beast Vassals blotting out the sky above were whittled down before Shio’s eyes. 

“Sayaka—!” 

“Sorry we’re late, Sayaka!” 

Yukina and Yuiri raced after Kojou, returning with Glenda in tow. 

Looking back at the girls, Sayaka had the faint sense that something was off. She furled her brows. Somehow, Yukina and Yuiri both gave off a different air than before they’d vanished from sight. Sayaka thought they seemed lost in space…and their clothes were disheveled. 

“Yuiri Haba, your face is red. Are you all right? Your eyes seem wet…and Yukina’s, too?” 

“W-we’re all right, really. It’s nothing.” 

Yuiri became peevish, refuting her as she subconsciously touched a hand to her neck. Seeing this, Sayaka gasped. She had a pretty good idea just why the air given off by Yuiri and Yukina was different. 

“Kojou Akatsuki, don’t tell me you… Again—!” 

Sayaka was already marching toward Kojou when Shio grabbed her attention. 

“Kirasaka, I’ve located the caster! Three o’clock, range 6,200!” Shio called out. 

Sayaka bit her lip, shifting her thoughts in the direction Shio had indicated. It just wasn’t the time to chew out Kojou and the others. 

“—Range 6,200? On top of the sea?” 

Sayaka deployed one of her shikigami, using it as a medium through which to pinpoint the enemy’s location with spiritual sight. 

Over there, a strange island floated. Its ground was as artificial as that of Itogami Island, but the greater half of its surface had already sunk into the sea, exposing the rest of it like a twisted, crescent moon. 

The small amount of ground left above the water’s surface contained rows of destroyed buildings. The place, abandoned by even the Gigafloat Management Corporation, seemed like an uninhabited ruin. To think a creepy city like that existed on the water’s surface but a few short kilometers from Itogami Island… 

“Island Old Southeast…the abandoned district…!” 

“Abandoned district?” Sayaka echoed, astonished. 

Kojou nodded with a complex, hard-to-read expression. It was a strange expression mixing both fondness…and regret. 

“The abandoned Itogami Island District Twenty-Seven. The world’s first artificial isle ruin. Sank into the sea just nine months ago.” 

“Why would they be all the way out there…?” Sayaka asked, skeptical. 

However, Kojou gave a faint laugh that seemed to be at his own expense. Indeed, he seemed to be reproaching himself, as if saying Why didn’t I realize it sooner? If December would appear in one last place, it couldn’t have been anywhere else— 

“Let’s go, senpai.” 

Yukina stood beside Kojou as she addressed him. Kojou tossed her a quick “yeah” and a nod, but his movements came to a halt as a perplexed expression came over him. 

“How do we even get there…?” 

Kojou turned his eyes toward the abandoned district, murmuring as if completely at a loss. 

The connecting bridge between the abandoned district and Itogami Island proper was long gone. The only way to cross to the abandoned district was by boat. 

That said, he didn’t think they’d be lucky enough to find a boat for hire or a captain willing to head out to a place like that—even if Itogami Island was not in its current state of extreme chaos. 

Perhaps Yuiri saw that Kojou was in distress, for she posed a question to the dragon girl. 

“Can you still fly, Glenda?” 

Glenda exclaimed “Dah!!” and adopted a dramatic pose of unknown origin as she made a fervent nod. 

“Th-then you’re taking me with—” 

Sayaka, slow on the uptake, hurriedly tried to assert her own existence. It was Shio who interrupted her. 

“Wait, Kirasaka!” 

“What?! You have a problem with th—” 

On reflex, Sayaka tried to speak her obligatory complaint, but the look on the side of Shio’s face made her swallow her words. 

Shio was shaking with visible fright as she gazed above their heads. 

A bizarre shift was occurring in the magic circle covering Itogami Island’s sky. 

All the rose petals scattered, changing form into four individual spheres. 

They looked like gigantic seeds. This was the final form of the Roses of Tartarus. Its proudly blooming crimson rose petals fell away, from which new seeds had been born. 

The innumerable enemy Beast Vassals had their demonic energy stolen by the seeds, seemingly shriveling away as they vanished one after the next. The demonic energy being absorbed by the seeds was already on a scale beyond that which Sayaka and Shio could comprehend. 

Enveloped within the abnormal amount of demonic energy, the seeds cracked. 

From the magic circle’s broken shell emerged four beasts. 

One was a bird of prey; one resembled a crocodile. Yet another looked like a dragon, and the last one appeared as a tiger. They were enormous monsters all, surpassing twenty meters in total length. Just like vampiric Beast Vassals, these were masses of dense demonic energy. 

“The Four Holy Beasts…!” Yukina exclaimed as she gazed up at the beasts’ forms. Kojou knit his brows at the unfamiliar term. 

“The heck are they?” 

“They are the four mythological beasts governing the four corners of the sky—the very symbols of feng shui’s power.” 

“As I recall, the city was built to correspond to the Four Beasts to begin with, wasn’t it…?” Sayaka murmured, unable to contain her fright. 

East, West, South, North—the four gigafloats comprising Itogami Island were supposedly designed adhering to feng shui to stabilize the artificial island. Takehito Senga, a preeminent feng shui practitioner, could not possibly have been ignorant of that fact. And the Roses of Tartarus ritual had been created with Senga’s cooperation. 

“If they manifested using the artificial isle’s construction, those Four Holy Beasts are bigger monsters than a primogenitor’s Beast Vassals. They should be able to annihilate even Itogami Island itself!” 

“So this is Tartarus Lapse’s main event…!” 

Kojou sighed deeply, visibly annoyed. Even among his experiences to date, the situation was extremely bleak. 

“Are you prepared, Shio Hikawa?” 

“Are you? You know what we have to do, right?” 

Sayaka and Shio glared at each other as they raised their respective recurve bows. 

Then Shio turned to Yuiri. “We’ll buy you time. Yuiri, take Kojou Akatsuki and the others with you, okay?” 

“Yeah, got it. Glenda, please!” 

“Dah!!” 

Commanded by Yuiri, Glenda stripped off her clothes with great delight. 

Then a silver dragon emerged, carrying Kojou and the others as it soared into the sky. 

8 

The bullet gouged a hole in the asphalt road. 

It was precise shooting with an anti-materiel rifle, punching right through a faint gap in the guardrail. Bathed in fragments of the shattered bullet, Yaze tumbled spectacularly. 

“Owwww!” 

“M-Motoki?! Are you all right…?” 

Head down in the shadow of a building, Asagi moved back in Yaze’s direction. Stay back, said the shooing movement his palm made toward her as Yaze gave an impetuous smile. 

“Don’t worry. Fragments came flying my way; that’s all.” 

Yaze’s ankle oozed with fresh blood as he pressed a hand to it and shifted his gaze toward the other side of the street. 

An incredible number of Beast Vassals were rampaging in the sky above the island, but in contrast, the surface had quieted down a great deal. That was due to most of the berserking demons losing consciousness. 

Somehow or other, Kojou and the Lion King Agency bunch were holding off the horde of Beast Vassals summoned by the magic circle. But that state of equilibrium probably wouldn’t hold for long. If they didn’t break up the demon registration bracelet hacking, Tartarus Lapse’s attack would be endless. 

“More importantly, Asagi. What was your time in the hundred-meter sprint?” 

“Hundred-meter?” Asagi looked taken aback by Yaze’s sudden question. “When I was timed back in spring, I was right around thirteen seconds, I think.” 

“And that’s without spikes…? You really are a chunk of wasted high specs…” He exhaled, exasperated. “That’s a track-and-field club time.” 

Naturally, Asagi looked peeved. “What was that for? Is this really the time to pick a fight with me?” 

“Sorry, sorry. More to the point, you see that white building straight across the next intersection?” 

“The stupidly big one on the right side?” 

Asagi lifted her head up and saw the entrance to the building for herself. It was a branch office of the Gigafloat Management Corporation. 

“Underground, it has a passage connected straight to Keystone Gate. It’s a secret passage built for emergency situations like this. Even most people in the Corporation don’t know about it.” 

“So if we get there, no more danger of being sniped?” 

“Yeah. And since they don’t know we’re heading for the passage, they can’t have planted a bomb there beforehand. Right, Mogwai?” 

“Well, I suppose not,” Mogwai replied bluntly in response to the proud rise in Yaze’s brows. “But the problem is you’ll be a sitting duck for the sniper while crossing the intersection. Even with li’l miss’s legs, it’ll be about seven secs’ worth. I don’t think that sniper’ll let that go to waste.” 

“Seven seconds…” 

Yaze sensed Asagi swallowing hard. 

It was a wide intersection with two car lanes each way and not a single shred of cover anywhere. A female high schooler at a full sprint would make a fine target for a sniper. 

There were a number of abandoned cars parked nearby, but that anti-materiel rifle probably had enough might to punch through civilian cars like paper. 

“So there’s no other path?” 

“I won’t say no, but if we take the scenic route, we’re playing into their hands. No time for it, either.” 

Yaze looked up at the magic circle in the sky as he frailly shook his head. 

At some point, the horde of over a hundred Beast Vassals had vanished from sight. In their place had appeared four enormous individual spheres. It wasn’t clear to Yaze exactly what was happening, but he was sure it was nothing good. 

“So on my signal, run. If you get underground, Mogwai should know all the routes from there. I’ll leave getting to C to you.” 

“All right, but…what are you going to do?” 

“I’ll play decoy and draw the sniper’s attention to me. My leg’s like this either way, see?” 

Yaze spoke in a lighthearted tone as he pointed to his own ankle. 

Asagi made a startled gasp as she looked at the bloody wound, her breath catching. It sure didn’t look like he’d been hit by a mere flying fragment. The wound reached close to the bone. 

“Motoki… Don’t tell me—you were shot…?!” 

“Just a graze. Don’t worry. More to the point, get ready. Mogwai, I’m counting on ya to support Asagi.” 

Yaze didn’t give her any time to argue. 

She sighed dramatically, wordlessly lowering her posture. She wasn’t wearing running shoes, but she paid it no heed. She concentrated her mind on only one thing: getting across the intersection with all her strength. 

“Keh-keh. Leave it to me. Startin’ the countdown. Let’s do this—” 

Mogwai began counting the seconds. Yaze took a capsule pill out of his pocket, stuffed it into his mouth, and bit down hard. Asagi closed her eyes and quietly steadied her breaths. 

Then the fateful moment arrived. 

9 

Carly—the Tartarus Lapse sniper—was a beast person but an exceptionally weak one at that. 

She had neither a perfect human form, nor was she able to transform into a beast. No matter how long she grew her hair, it was impossible to hide her large, puppylike beast ears. 

Her upper-body strength and agility were around three to five times that of a normal person. As beast people went, it was the very bottom of the scale. It wasn’t particularly rare for an ordinary human male who’d done bodybuilding to a certain degree to bench press in Carly’s league. 

On top of having such a frail physique, Carly had been subjected to harsh abuse from a very young age. She was criticized as incapable and showered with physical violence. Always, in human and demon society both, she was exceptionally alone. 

Even when she arrived at a Demon Sanctuary, nothing about her environment changed. Abandoned by both of her birth parents, suffering from hunger, Carly was simply waiting for the cold to grant her a frigid death—and then, December came for her. 

So she became a member of Tartarus Lapse, and she learned how to snipe from Senga. 

Ironically, her physique meant she had heaven-sent talent as a sniper. 

The arm strength to withstand a powerful anti-materiel rifle’s recoil, the delicate fingers to manipulate a human weapon—Carly, this so-called weak and frail beast girl, had a perfect individual balance of these two elements. Also, her senses of hearing, smell, and night vision were excellent, even by beast-person standards. As a sniper, she was a potent weapon. 

At some point, Carly surpassed even Senga to become Tartarus Lapse’s mightiest sniper. 

She felt no guilt about killing people whatsoever. 

For the first time since birth, her existence had meaning—in assassinating for this group. 

Carly had no interest in Tartarus Lapse’s aims. Nor did she bear any grudge against Demon Sanctuaries. 

Carly killed people, for no reason save to make December happy. 

She kept on sniping, to prove she belonged at December’s side. And yet— 

“Why…?!” 

Asagi Aiba dodged the bullet Carly had fired. 

It was a precision shot using a faint gap in the guardrail. The angle and timing were both precisely according to her calculations, a blow that should have been absolutely unavoidable. And yet, Asagi Aiba had not been struck. 

It was because the boy at Asagi Aiba’s side had managed to shield her. He’d moved as if he knew what Carly was doing the whole time. 

He probably wasn’t a normal human. He had to be using some kind of ability. Maybe it was ritual spells or sorcery—or even Spirit Sight or super senses. Whatever the case, it apparently wasn’t a strong enough power to actually stop her shot. 

Carly switched rifle magazines. The magazine had a capacity of five shots—and the one she’d just loaded was her last. Despite this, she wasn’t nervous. Even if she had one shot remaining, that would be enough. If she put the last bullet into her target, that was victory. 

Even if she had to use every last round, she would strike down Asagi Aiba—such were Carly’s composed thoughts. 

“Intercepting…,” she murmured to herself, her only audience, as she adopted a firing posture once more. 

Asagi Aiba was cutting across the road, trying to enter the building ahead of her. The width of the road, sidewalk included, was about thirty meters. She’d have five to six seconds of available sniping time, plenty to spare as far as Carly was concerned. If she wanted to, she could pump every last round into her target. 

It was not logic but instinct that told Carly her prey was on the move. 

The first to leap out was the boy accompanying her. It was plainly a diversion—he was a decoy. Carly didn’t even place her finger on the trigger. Her breathing did not go astray as she waited for Asagi Aiba to appear. And then— 

“Urk—?!” 

The instant Asagi Aiba leaped out into the intersection, Carly was ever so slightly shaken. A dazzling beam had entered Carly’s field of vision through her scope. 

Headlights—coming from a number of cars abandoned in the intersection—began pulsating all at once. The completely unexpected glimmering threw off her concentration. 

“Hacking…!” 

Cars equipped with a remote control–key feature could have their headlights operated even from outside the car. Someone had used that function to impede her attacks. 

It was no more than a simple flash in the eyes, but it was decently effective for distracting a sniper. 

It took Carly about two seconds to assess the situation. Asagi had already arrived near the center of the intersection. But even so, Carly’s overwhelming advantage had not shifted. 

As the uniformed girl ran, the beast girl aimed precisely at the hacker’s back. 

She put her finger on the trigger, applying only a tiny amount of force. 

In an instant— 

“Oh, no, you don’t…!” 

With a shout that tore through the air, a fierce gust of wind assaulted Carly. 

The impact sent her body rolling. Her unleashed bullet bounced off the road, far from its mark. 

When Carly, beside herself, rose to her feet, she saw a strange silhouette borne from refraction of the air. 

The contours of the silhouette greatly resembled those of the boy protecting Asagi Aiba. 

“Air elemental?! No, a wraith?! Do you think that’ll work—?” 

Carly drew a weapon from a hip holster. This was a large-caliber automatic pistol—a sidearm for personal defense. Its bullets, bearing high penetration and suppressive power, blasted apart the clone the boy had wrought from the atmosphere. The blow had to have passed through the cloned body, causing a backlash to the caster’s own. 

However, the boy’s clone did not relent. 

“Wha—?! Destroying a clone should inflict considerable damage to the caster—then, how?!” 

With incredible force, the mass of gusting wind reformed, attacking Carly once more. She struggled against the blow as she sprayed the remainder of her bullets at it. 

Head. Abdomen. Then heart. She blew away every vital point she could think of. 

The mass of gale-force winds fought on, but it no longer had the power to maintain a humanoid form. The hand it stretched toward her dissipated, vanishing from sight. 

“I did it… Resuming the assassination.” 

She lifted up her rifle once more. Asagi Aiba had already entered the target building. It was no longer possible to snipe her. The only option remaining for Carly was to pursue her and finish her off face-to-face. 

But when the assassin tried to drop down from the building, there was a quiet voice in her ear. 

“I’m not through with you…!!” 

It resembled a whisper from a ghost. 

“Eh?!” 

Carly’s body wobbled from the powerful impact to her rear. The supposedly destroyed mass of gusting wind took the form of a boy and threw a punch at her. 

As a result, the heavy anti-materiel rifle slipped out of her hands. It slammed into the rooftop’s fence and proceeded to fall down to the ground. 

“My…gun!” 

Carly instantly leaned out, trying to grab hold of the rifle. 

To Carly, that anti-materiel rifle was the symbol of her link with Tartarus Lapse. If she lost it, her connection to December would be severed, too. This fear robbed Carly of her composure. The opening it left proved decisive. 

“Oooooooooo—!!” 

The mass of wind howled with the boy’s voice. Wielding the last of its power, it hurled an invisible shock wave that struck Carly like a sledgehammer. 

From the roof of the building she’d chosen as her sniping position, the beast girl floated aloft. 

Buffeted by wildly raging air, Carly could not regain her balance. A powerful downward gust slammed the defenseless girl into the ground. 

Her small-statured body bounced off the surface. 

As she coughed, blood trickled from the girl’s lips. 

The anti-materiel rifle, broken into several scattered pieces, rolled right beside her. Desperately, she tried to reach a hand out to it, whereupon the exhausted girl’s movements came to a halt. 

“Not…in a place like this…! …I’m sorry, December… I…” 

Carly, powerless, forgot the agony assailing her entire body. 

A vortex of wind passed over her head…and vanished. 

10 

Collapsed on a sidewalk curb, Motoki Yaze continued to violently vomit. The vomit was red with blood. 

The causes were twofold: the damage backlash from Aerodyne being destroyed and overdosing on the boosters. 

“…I guess I overdid it a little. Man, this hangover’s a killer…,” Yaze murmured in a sardonic tone as he rolled onto the ground. 

His body was already exhausted enough that he couldn’t move, but after everything, that was just peachy to Yaze. 

Tartarus Lapse’s sniper had been defeated, and Asagi was already headed to Keystone Gate. He’d somehow managed to protect her. It wasn’t that he was proud of that fact. What he felt was less a sense of accomplishment than relief he’d fulfilled his duties to the barest minimum. 

Going the extra mile for Asagi was a trait he’d retained from preschool onward. High-maintenance childhood friend, he thought, letting a pained, bloody smile trickle out. 

As he did so, a flickering figure drew near. 

It was a homunculus boy who possessed an androgynous air. He seemed to be flickering because of the mirages swaying around him. High-temperature air he generated with telekinesis enveloped the boy’s entire body. 

“It was you…?” 

The homunculus shot Yaze a look brimming with hostility. 

Yaze looked back at him with a neutral expression. He simply didn’t understand the question. 

“You’re the one who took down Carly?!” 

The boy questioned him a second time. Yaze unwittingly let laughter slip. He finally realized just who the boy was. 

It was Tartarus Lapse’s pyrokineticist—the serial bomber who blew up an underground parking lot and Yaze’s very own father with it. Yaze owed him revenge for his father, but the boy owed Yaze revenge for his teammate. A Demon Sanctuary wrecking crew member against a Demon Sanctuary hand-raised spy—they’d be trying to kill each other no matter how the two met. 

And in that moment, Yaze had no power left to fight him. 

He didn’t even have enough stamina left to stand. 

“Sorry, I’m leavin’ the rest to you… Don’t make my childhood friend cry, Kojou…” 

Like a soliloquy, Yaze murmured his friend’s name as he listlessly closed his eyes. Incandescent flames swirled in vortexes within the boy’s outstretched palms. They were the flames of a homunculus constructed as a military weapon. No doubt they could turn Yaze’s body to ash in a single second. 

Nor did the boy seem likely to hold back against a defenseless human opponent. 

When they reached a critical mass, the boy unleashed the mass of flames in Yaze’s direction— 

However, Yaze was not assailed by the impact he had expected. 

“Uh…?” 

Yaze faintly opened his eyes. His vision was obscured by the sight of wings. Huge, rainbow-colored, radiant wings had spread forth, shielding Yaze from the flames. 

“—For once, you have worked rather hard, Motoki Yaze. You have my praise.” 

The surprised Yaze heard an arrogant voice behind him. There was a ripple-like shimmer in thin air, and a small, doll-like woman emerged out of the blue. 

With a twirl of her lace-edged parasol, Natsuki Minamiya landed. 

“Natsuki…? What are you doing here…?” 

With a flabbergasted look, Yaze called out his homeroom teacher’s name. 

She let out a snort of visible displeasure. 

“With that rifle blasting around the city in broad daylight, I could find them in my sleep. Right, Astarte?” 

“Affirmative,” replied the homunculus girl appearing with Natsuki in a reverential tone. 

The girl was clad in a maid outfit with a particularly open back. The rainbow-colored wings that had saved Yaze had sprouted from her petite shoulder blades. The wings infused with vast demonic energy moved freely, seemingly of their own will, blocking the flames the serial bomber boy had unleashed. 

“You’re called Logi, yes? Now, what will you do?” Natsuki’s challenge was as icy as her tone. “Politely surrender and spit out Takehito Senga’s location, and I will do you no harm.” 

“As if I’d—!” 

Logi flew into a rage and unleashed his flames once more. However, the effect was the same. Astarte’s wings blocked the flames and proceeded to toss them into a safe direction. 

“Not willing to talk, it seems. Then, it cannot be avoided— Astarte, I leave this to you.” 

Natsuki commanded the homunculus girl in a dignified voice. 

Astarte’s large light-blue eyes wavered as she nodded. 

“Accepted.” 

That instant, a new wing emerged from Astarte’s back. No—this was no wing, but an arm: a giant Beast Vassal arm longer than Astarte was tall. 

The Beast Vassal emerged from within the body of the girl that was its host, adopting a perfect, manlike form: that of a gleaming, rainbow-hued, humanoid Beast Vassal. 

“A homunculus, using a Beast Vassal…?!” 

The flames unleashed by Logi assaulted Astarte again and again. 

The high temperatures melted the asphalt of the road surface, causing fierce explosions in the ionized air. However, Astarte, enveloped by the Beast Vassal, emerged unscathed despite showing no signs of defending herself. 

Astarte was, in truth, a man-made biological experiment in symbiosis with a Beast Vassal—the world’s only homunculus within which such a beast dwelled. Physical attacks were useless against Rhododactylos, her Beast Vassal. The boy’s pyrokinesis was unable to harm Astarte in any way. 

“Why?! You’re the same as me, an experiment built to be a weapon, aren’t you?! Then why are you working for a Demon Sanctuary’s sake…?!” 

“Affirmative, you and I are the same.” 

Astarte acknowledged Logi’s words. Though her voice was low in intonation, a faintly sad echo was mixed with it. 

“I, too, once attempted to destroy this island.” 

“Then—” 

“It is because they stopped me at the time that I was able to meet precious people again, something I thought lost to me.” 

Astarte’s eyes should have been emotionless, but there was a glint of powerful will within them. This was not out of emotions of anger or pity toward Logi. It was the powerful desire to save the boy who was of her kind. 

“That is why, this time, it is I who shall stop you— Execute, Rhododactylos.” 

Astarte’s Beast Vassal threw a punch at the flame-wreathed homunculus boy. The youth’s small physique was sent flying with ease. 

“The hell is this…? Dammit all…” 

Falling limply onto the road, Logi ceased moving. 

Astarte looked down at him for some time, not speaking a single word. 

11 

December looked longingly at the sea from a lonely plaza. 

Once, the place was surely a thriving market bustling with a great many people. Colorful wagons decorated with popular artwork left behind were vestiges of a once-jubilant atmosphere. 

However, at that moment, December and Raan were the only ones in the plaza. 

A mountain of trash was piled in a corner of the plaza—immobile construction equipment and car parts, and televisions, fridges, and other domestic appliances. Probably, just after Island Old Southeast was condemned, heartless people had used it as an illegal dump. 

A brand-new antenna and communications device was mixed in with the trash, active along with a large, waterproof computer. December and the others had hidden them under the rubbish beforehand. One of the network cables connected to the computer stretched under the muffler wrapped around Raan’s neck. 

“The Priestess of Cain has entered Keystone Gate.” 

Raan, wearing a thick coat, remained seated with a screen on her lap as she spoke in a voice that varied little. 

Through the connectors to her neck and back, she could link her brain directly to the computer network. As a result, Raan had obtained hacking abilities incomparable to those of the average technician. It was because of her that hacking the demon registration bracelets had been possible. 

Even so, Asagi Aiba’s abilities far outclassed Raan’s own. 

“Program: Roses of Tartarus network occupation rate has fallen to 77 percent. Responses from four thousand eight hundred demon registration bracelets have been lost.” 

“I see… So even you can’t stop her. That’s Asagi Aiba for you…” 

December made a lonely smile as she listened to Raan’s report. 

Even if she had expected as much, Asagi Aiba’s arrival at Keystone Gate had greatly changed the state of the battle nonetheless. The virus infecting the demon registration bracelets would be removed: It was just a matter of time. When that happened, the magic circle in the sky would be cut off from its supply of demonic energy, and the Four Holy Beasts would be unable to maintain physical form. 

Could they destroy Itogami Island before that happened…? Tartarus Lapse’s battle now revolved around that very simple question. 

She’d already lost contact with Carly and Logi. The assassination of Asagi Aiba had failed. 

“Understood, Raan. You’ve done enough. Run. It’s okay; I’ll take care of the rest.” 

December called out to the girl in the scarf. However, Raan’s expression did not change. She shook her head a little and said, “I’m sorry.” 

“Raan…?” 

“I won’t run away. I don’t want to let go… It feels…good…” 

Raan spoke absentmindedly as her mind remained connected to the network. The sight unnerved December. The Priestess entering Keystone Gate meant that C had begun to go active. 

It wasn’t simply a matter of snatching back control of the demon registration bracelets. 

The will of C had begun to infect Raan through the network. 

“No, Raan! You’re up against a monster with the entire island in its grip. Even your brain can’t handle that level of traffic!” 

December grabbed Raan’s shoulder and gave it a fierce shake. However, Raan did not respond. Her pale skin was showing a rose color as her gaze wandered; she seemed intoxicated. 

“So this is…the memory of C… A…ah… It’s so pretty…” 

“Raan! Cut the connection, Raan!” 

As December shrieked, her palm jerked back with a dazzling spark. Unable to cope with the influx of information beyond her brain’s limits, Raan’s body had begun to go berserk. 

“Thank you…December… I…understand…” 

“Wait, Raan! Raan, don’t go!” 

December yanked out the network cables connected to Raan. 

That instant, Raan’s body fiercely convulsed, tumbling to the ground like a marionette with her strings cut. 

“I’m sorry, Raan… I love you so much. Carly, Logi…everyone…” 

The girl continued her anguished moans as December laid her down. She gently put the girl’s askew scarf back in order and gave her hair a gentle stroke. 

“…The inside of Raan’s brain has a nervous system sixteen times more detailed than that of a normal person. It gave her information management capability on par with a military strategic computer.” 

December began talking to no one in particular. Her voice carried mysteriously well over the strong coastal breeze. 

“Of course, there’s no way a living person’s brain can handle that amount of information. Cellular metabolism alone will burn the nerves out with no time at all. That’s why she was granted a dead body animated by necromancy. I suppose you could call her a Frankenstein Monster—Brain Mod Version.” 

Without a sound, December stood up and turned around. Her rainbow-hued, gleaming blonde hair fluttered in the wind, fanning outward. Her blue eyes, radiating like flames, gazed straight toward a single boy. 

“Do you really find it strange that I want to destroy the Demon Sanctuaries that gave birth to girls like her? What do you think, Kojou Akatsuki?” 

“It’s not up to me to decide that.” 

The boy spoke quietly, seemingly cutting all hesitation aside. 

The silver-colored, winged dragon had landed in the lonely plaza. It had transported him to that forgotten, ruined artificial isle. Kojou Akatsuki, Fourth Primogenitor… The World’s Mightiest Vampire. 

“Maybe those kids have a proper and just reason to be angry. Maybe, just like Senga said, this island’s going to create a huge number of victims.” 

Kojou looked up as he spoke. The Four Holy Beasts wrought by the Roses of Tartarus were enveloped by demonic energy flames as they gazed down upon Itogami Island. Their materialization was not complete. Their bestial contours were holding at a level one might call seven-tenths’ worth. That was because Sayaka’s and Shio’s ritual spell cannon attacks had destroyed part of the magic circle, impeding the Four Holy Beasts’ summoning. 

Furthermore, the Roses of Tartarus themselves had slowly begun to vanish. The demon registration bracelets were being restored to proper functionality, cutting off the supply of demonic energy from the service. There was no doubting it was Asagi’s work. 

“But however much you people wanna destroy Itogami Island, I wanna protect the people living on it just as much! That’s why I’m stopping you here, Tartarus Lapse! From here on, this is my fight!” 

“That’s your reasoning?! I can’t accept that—!” 

December yelled back, digging in against Kojou’s words. 

The shadow of a Beast Vassal rose up behind her. The demonic energy unleashed from the Beast Vassal’s eyes caught Kojou’s mind in its grip, causing Kojou’s body to waver. It was a mental attack via Beast Vassal, a powerful will trying not only to take over Kojou’s flesh and blood, but even the Fourth Primogenitor’s Beast Vassals— 

It was a dazzling silver flash that cut the powerful, dominating power short. 

“No, senpai. This is our fight.” 

Silver spear raised, Yukina stood to shield Kojou. 

The battle at the warehouse district had proven it: December’s attack couldn’t work on Yukina. 

That was because Yukina’s Snowdrift Wolf nullified the Beast Vassal’s mind control power. 

“Urk!” 

Discerning she was at a disadvantage, December stretched a hand toward the mountain of illegally dumped garbage. On her signal, the spell embedded within the garbage activated. 

With a vibration like an earthquake, the mountain of garbage swelled up, from which emerged numerous giant humanoids enveloped by metallic scrap. These were golems—Takehito Senga’s Stone Sentinels, wrought via tactical qimen. 

With a roar, the golems that had no right to be alive bellowed. 

The Stone Sentinels clad in metal armor assaulted Yukina with agility completely at odds with their enormous bodies. But one of the steel golems’ giant arms was smoothly severed, falling to the ground and left behind. 

It was not Yukina who had cut the Stone Sentinel’s arm. It was the other Sword Shaman, wielding a long, silver sword. 

“W-we’re here, too, you know…” 

Yuiri landed in front of Kojou and Yukina, meek despite showing up to their aid. As if cheering Yuiri on, Glenda went “Dah!” and energetically thrust a fist into the air. 

December had called forth four Stone Sentinels. These monsters, having trampled the Island Guard once before, were thoroughly thrashed as Yuiri drove them back. Faced with Yuiri’s Rosen Chevalier Plus and its pseudo-spatial severing ability, the steel golems’ armor bore no meaning. 

December stood rooted to the spot, dumbfounded at the loss of her trump card to the unexpected emergence of an ambusher. 

“It’s over, December,” Kojou spat with a glare. 

December replied with an undaunted smile. “Not yet, Kojou Akatsuki! Even with the Roses of Tartarus scattered, the summoned Four Holy Beasts still remain. The power summoned by my teammates—the power to destroy Itogami Island!” 

“What…?!” 

December’s Beast Vassal unleashed its demonic energy, not at Kojou but toward the Four Holy Beasts on standby in the sky above. 

The Four Holy Beasts’ summoning remained incomplete. But even if they were only 70 percent materialized, the demonic energy the beasts possessed was vast. If unleashed indiscriminately, Itogami Island would no doubt sustain catastrophic damage. 

However, with the Roses of Tartarus lost to them, did Tartarus Lapse have any means left with which to control the beasts…? The instant Kojou harbored that doubt— 

“Come forth, Dabih Crystallus—!” 

For the first time, December completely unleashed her own Beast Vassal. 

It was a huge Beast Vassal reaching dozens of meters in length, an ichthyosaur with beautiful, silver crystal scales. It had front legs like translucent wings and radiant, glimmering liquid crystal pillars that spiraled like the horns of sheep. 

The malignant aura enveloping the Beast Vassal greatly resembled those of Kojou’s own. The weight of its presence, making the very air tremble—the density of demonic energy—it had a makeup identical to the Beast Vassals of the Fourth Primogenitor. 

December’s Beast Vassal could control even the Beast Vassals of Kojou, the World’s Mightiest Vampire. 

Of course it could. It was one of them. 

“A Beast Vassal of the Fourth Primogenitor, huh…? I figured it’d be something like that…” 

Kojou snarled, forced back by the increase in the power of December’s demonic energy. 

There existed a being capable of controlling the Beast Vassals of the Fourth Primogenitor besides Kojou, legitimate heir to the power. He knew what she truly was. 

“I should have realized it immediately when you called yourself December,” Yukina said, her silver spear raised. “In ancient Rome, the New Year began with the third month of the year—therefore, their calendar is two months off from that of the current era. December, a word indicating the twelfth month, would then indicate the tenth month.” 

“Tenth… The tenth Kaleid Blood, then?” Kojou murmured, pained. 

In truth, the Fourth Primogenitor was an artificial vampire created in ancient times as a god-killing weapon. With the time of the war known as The Cleansing long passed, the Fourth Primogenitor was sealed, its duty having come to an end. 

The people who feared the revival of the Fourth Primogenitor sealed its twelve Beast Vassals, each in a different place. For the sole purpose of trapping the Beast Vassals inside them, they created new artificial vampires—twelve girls, dubbed the Kaleid Bloods. 

“So, December, you were made to seal the Fourth Primogenitor, just like Avrora…!” 

“You really don’t understand anything, do you, Kojou Akatsuki? Not even who you are…” 

December giggled, smiling teasingly at him. Her face looked just like that of the girl called Avrora Florestina in the past. 

“You might be right.” 

Kojou accepted the girl’s words. The ceremony reviving the Fourth Primogenitor had robbed Kojou of the majority of his memories. That’s why he hadn’t realized December’s true nature until the very end. 

“Unlike Dodekatos, I awoke long in the past, long enough I can’t remember it clearly. Around forty years ago, I learned of the existence of Tartarus Lapse, and together with them, we destroyed three Demon Sanctuaries. I wasn’t part of the Blazing Banquet, because the Third Primogenitor had me in captivity at the time.” 

“The Third Primogenitor… So Giada protected you from all that…” 

“Protected… I suppose that was the end result. Thanks to that, I was able to reunite with Raan and the others.” 

December lowered her eyes, laughing. Besides her, and the as-yet-unseen Hektos, the other sealing units had all vanished due to the Blazing Banquet, enveloped in the very same Fourth Primogenitor revival ceremony that had laid waste to Island Old Southeast— 

“The Third Primogenitor released me and told me to go to Itogami Island. She really likes you, Kojou Akatsuki. I think, just a little, I understand why.” 

“December—your body’s…” 

The small-statured girl’s body was enveloped by golden particles and began to crumble away. This was not the normal vampiric transformation into mist. Her very being was vanishing from the world. 

“We, the Numbered, are the very seals of the Fourth Primogenitor’s Beast Vassals—when the seals are released, we can only vanish. I was prepared for this from the moment I decided to come to this island. I am a little disappointed, though. If the Roses of Tartarus had activated fully, I wouldn’t have had to release the seal.” 

December smiled with a sunny expression. Then, proudly, she pointed a finger overhead. “I sealed—and in some sense, I myself am—Beast Vassal Number Ten, Dabih Crystallus, the Beast Vassal governing the Charm ability vampires possess. That’s why I can do…this.” 

The Four Holy Beasts that had appeared in Itogami Island’s sky gathered around, seemingly protecting December. 

These Four Holy Beasts had been summoned via Itogami Island acting as a sorcerous device; they were Beast Vassals without any host. With the Roses of Tartarus lost, there ought to have been no one able to control them. 

But December’s Beast Vassal could dominate even them. 

“You say you want to protect Itogami Island? Come and beat me, then. If you can do that, I’ll recognize you as the Fourth Primogenitor!” 

“December, wait—!” 

When Kojou tried to stop her, she collapsed, drained of strength. 

The quartet of Holy Beasts controlled by her Beast Vassal moved to take her place. 

The target of their attack was Kojou—no, it was the very artificial ground upon which Kojou and the others stood. With the demonic energy the Four Holy Beasts possessed, the backlash from attacking Kojou alone was enough to leave Itogami Island in ruins. 

“Shit! C’mon over, Natra Cinereus—!” 

Kojou summoned his own Beast Vassal. Enveloped by dense silver mist, the shelled beast intercepted one of the Four Holy Beasts—a pitch-black crocodile with a great maw that seemed to part the very sea as it charged in. 

Kojou had no room for holding back, and against these enemies, he didn’t have to. Unleashed without limitations, the two masses of demonic energy collided, greatly rocking the already largely destroyed ground of the artificial isle. 

The shark’s maw tried to bite apart the shelled beast, but, bathed in glimmering demonic energy, it dissipated. Kojou’s Beast Vassal held more power than the incompletely materialized Holy Beast. 

However, December had more than one of the Four Holy Beasts at her command. 

While Kojou’s thoughts were on the shark, a crimson bird of prey breathed fire from behind him. That fire transformed into an incandescent fireball, dropping toward Kojou’s head. 

“Rosen Chevalier Plus—!!” 

It was the arc let loose by Yuiri’s sword attack that halted the Holy Beast–unleashed fireball in its tracks. It was a wall generated from pseudo-spatial severing. The wall only remained in effect for a single second. However, that was plenty of time for Kojou to regain his balance. 

Saved my bacon, Kojou conveyed to Yuiri with a glance as he ferociously bared his fangs. 

“C’mon over, Al-Nasl Minium!” 

The scarlet bicorn Kojou summoned charged straight into the Four Holy Beasts’ bird of prey. Eating the mass of shock waves head-on, the fiery bird of prey’s wings scattered in every direction. 

However, there was no time to take a breath, for the two remaining Holy Beasts had begun their descent. A pure-white tiger—Byakko—headed at Kojou from above. And the divine dragon—Seiryuu—aimed at Itogami Island itself. 

The Four Holy Beasts possessed enough might that even a single direct hit on the center of the artificial isle could sink the entirety of Itogami Island. The other Holy Beast attacks were decoys. Itogami Island had been December’s only real target from the start. 

Impeded by the white tiger’s attack, Kojou could not stop the blue dragon. There was no way he’d make it in time— 

That instant, when everyone with Kojou shared that despair, a beam of light assailed the divine dragon in its flank. 

Another attack immediately followed. Sayaka and Shio were using their ritual spell cannon attacks. 

Of course, even area suppression weapons from the Lion King Agency did not have enough power to defeat the Four Holy Beasts. Even so, the attacks had enough effect to make the blue dragon falter for a second. That second determined Itogami Island’s fate. 

“Al-Meissa Mercury—!” 

With the blue dragon stopped in its tracks, the twin-headed dragon Kojou summoned ripped into its throat. This was a blow from the Dimension Eater, which shaved away space itself. The blue dragon’s giant body vanished, unable to even let out a death cry. 

Only one of the Four Holy Beasts remained. With the white tiger pressing on him before his very eyes, Kojou turned his right arm, bathed in demonic energy, toward it. 

“I, Kojou Akatsuki, inheritor of the Kaleid Blood, release thee from thy bonds!” 

The enormous white tiger was brought to a halt, seemingly blocked by an invisible wall. The vast demonic energy unleashed by Kojou had staved off the white tiger’s advance. The collision of vast demonic energy caused the very air to creak, filling the surrounding area with pale lightning bolts. 

But then, Kojou’s spell chant halted. 

He dropped to his knees then and there, his entire body assaulted by pressure it could not endure. 

The abnormal demonic energy of the Four Holy Beasts was attacking Kojou with a mental attack rivaling even the Fourth Primogenitor’s magic resistance. It was Dabih Crystallus’s mind control. The Charm power of December’s Beast Vassals was impeding Kojou from summoning one of his own. 

Still, Kojou continued unleashing the power to fend off the white tiger, even as he sustained December’s mental attack. It wasn’t like back during the battle at the warehouse district. This time, Kojou had overwhelming domination, complete control over his own Beast Vassals. Even December’s power could not break that control. It was the effect of the powerful spiritual energy Kojou had taken into his body—thanks to Yukina’s and Yuiri’s blood. 

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

Across that battlefield, with vast demonic energy swirling about, a girl’s serene voice echoed forth. 

It was Yukina, raising her glowing silver spear high as she broke into a sprint. Her eyes were set upon the Beast Vassal of the Fourth Primogenitor covered in quicksilver scales. 

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

The purging spirit spear with the power to destroy even a vampiric primogenitor impaled December’s Beast Vassal. 

The pressure binding Kojou’s entire body vanished, and the air was filled with a pale beam of light. 

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

The Beast Vassal, enveloped by a golden radiance, emerged in front of Kojou. In an instant, its roar pulverized the final remaining Holy Beast, burning it down to the last fragment. 

This time, the fragmented magic circle swirling in the sky above Itogami Island vanished. 

The tremors in the artificial isle halted, and a gentle coastal breeze of stagnant air washed over them. The dazzling rays of the sun illuminated the side of Kojou’s face. Gloomily gazing up at the merciless sunrays, he let out a long sigh. 

“Senpai!” 

“Kojou!” 

“Dah?!” 

Yukina and Yuiri, and Glenda, too, rushed toward the wobbly Kojou. Don’t worry, spoke the languid smile Kojou shot toward the girls wearing such worried faces. 

Seemingly dragging his exhausted body along for the ride, Kojou stood up and slowly walked forward. 

His gaze was trained upon the girl enveloped by golden mist. 

Looking back at the approaching Kojou, she made an ephemeral smile. 

“I guess you win… Kojou…” 

“December—” 

“I have one final request, Kojou. Raan and the others…Carly and Logi… I want you to get them to a proper research agency. At this rate, those kids aren’t going to live very long…” 

“…Got it.” 

Kojou gave a strong nod that seemed to say It’s a promise. There was no need to even say it out loud. He couldn’t just let them die. Their crimes were too numerous for that. On top of paying for those crimes, they would get another chance. A chance for them, demonic abuse victims, to live happy lives… 

Surely, on Itogami Island, that would be possible. After all, the island was a Demon Sanctuary— 

“I made a promise, Kojou. I grant you the power of the tenth Beast Vassal.” 

“Wait, hold on… December… I never asked for…” 

Kojou picked up her small, fading body. Kojou hadn’t fought her to take her power for himself. He didn’t want her to disappear. 

But all December did was narrow her eyes in amusement. 

“It’s all right. You don’t have to make a sad face like that. After all, I’ll always be by your side… So before my mind vanishes, I choose to be inside of you—” 

“December…!” 

Strength faded from December’s fingertips as they reached out, touching Kojou’s cheek. She transformed into golden mist, vanishing within his arms. 

“You protected the Twel… Avrora, Kojou Akatsuki. She is your hope… That’s why I…” 

Those were the final words of the tenth Kaleid Blood—the final words of December. 

From behind Kojou, without a single word, Yukina and the others watched as Kojou silently bit his lip. 

12 

“So you are no more… December…” 

Takehito Senga quietly murmured as he sensed the auras of the Four Holy Beasts dissipate. 

The lines of power coursing in and around Itogami Island were returning to their normal state. The Roses of Tartarus had disintegrated, and Senga’s Eight Trigrams Formation lay broken. It was safe to assume that December had fought the Fourth Primogenitor and lost, already absorbed by Kojou Akatsuki. 

He knew for certain that Carly, Logi, and Raan had already lost. Tartarus Lapse had been defeated. 

“The Fourth Primogenitor’s power rivals even that of the Four Holy Beasts… It seems he is not called the World’s Mightiest Vampire for nothing. But this, too, serves Tartarus Lapse’s objectives. Isn’t that right, December?” 

Senga was murmuring to himself, just for his own benefit, as he stepped into a corridor. The place Senga headed toward was the nucleus of Itogami Island—Keystone Gate’s bottom floor. 

This was where the keystone linking Itogami Island’s four gigafloats together had been placed. Once, an Armed Apostle of Lotharingia had assaulted that place with a particular objective in mind. Had he destroyed the keystone, Itogami Island’s own mass would collapse upon itself. It was Itogami Island’s greatest vulnerability. 

The block was strictly sealed away, and one hand was excessive for counting who could step into the chamber. Even the vaunted Natsuki Minamiya, with the power to control space, could not enter without advance permission. The interior of Keystone Gate was covered in powerful walls, and numerous barriers had been layered atop one another to repel intruders. It was said that the only ones able to lift those barriers were Senra Itogami, designer of Itogami Island, and his famously close friend, Akishige Yaze. 

“Ah, that’s right. There was one more exception.” 

“—?!” 

The voice suddenly reverberated in the supposedly desolate corridor, causing Senga to halt in surprise. 

It had echoed from Senga’s intended destination. In other words, it reverberated from Keystone Gate’s bottom floor. 

“Senra Itogami’s sealing ceremony was performed by an influential feng shui practitioner working at a university in Europe at the time… Your mentor, I suppose? Naturally, you would have access to that data. Isn’t that right, Takehito Senga?” 

“How…did you know I would come here…? No…” 

Senga howled as he glared at the figure appearing before him. He subconsciously drew his concealed pistol. 

A man wearing traditional Japanese clothing gazed up with a sharp look in his eyes, watching Senga’s consternation with visible delight. 

He was about fifty years old. He certainly was not a large man, but his presence felt incredibly powerful. He gave off an air reminiscent of a sword master from the middle ages. 

“How are you alive, Akishige Yaze?!” Senga asked in a raspy voice. 

Because there stood a man who should have been buried under a pile of rubble from an underground parking lot set to explode. 

It was Akishige Yaze, the Honorary Chairman of the Gigafloat Management Corporation…and the one man standing in the way of Tartarus Lapse’s plans. 

Senga didn’t wait for Akishige Yaze to reply before pulling the trigger of his pistol. However, Senga’s bullets were deflected before ever reaching his opponent’s body, sparks scattering in their wake. 

It was as if a blade invisible to the naked eye had struck every last one of them down— 

“I see… You’re…a Hyper Adapter…!” 

Senga’s cheek twitched when he realized the true nature of the indecipherable phenomenon. 

Akishige Yaze was a natural-born psychic who did not rely on sorcery or spellcraft. 

Naturally, that power did not require a spell incantation, so there was no time lag before it activated. It was doubtlessly due to that power that he had survived the explosion in the underground parking lot. 

“Sealing off Itogami Island, throwing the Gigafloat Management Corporation into chaos, and purging it of dissenting elements—you and your people have done truly fine work. You have my thanks.” 

“What…?” 

Akishige Yaze’s dignified voice made Senga’s shoulders quake in terror. The man before his eyes was thanking Senga and the others…for good work that had lived up to his lofty expectations. 

“It can’t be… You used us—from the very beginning…” 

As Senga spoke, fierce pain ran through him as if his body was on fire. It was an attack from Akishige Yaze’s unseen blade. Countless more blades assailed Senga’s staggering body. 

Fresh blood spewed forth. He crumpled on the spot. 

“Now everything has been put in order. You’ve been of great service, Tartarus Lapse.” 

Akishige walked past the fallen Senga, proceeding on his way. 

Senga let out a despairing murmur as he reached a hand out toward the man’s back. 

“Wait, Akishige Yaze… Do you, descendants of the Sinful God…truly desire the slaughter of demons this much?!” 

Akishige Yaze did not reply to Senga’s question. All that reached Senga’s ears were the man’s ever-receding footsteps. 

In his mind, growing faint from blood loss, Senga finally realized the error he had committed. Tartarus Lapse’s entire existence had been a mistake. And it was too late…for everything. 

“U…uoooooooooo?!!” 

Senga’s sad, painful scream reverberated across the desolate corridor. The sound of his lament heralded the beginning. 

Of everything.