Strike the Blood - Volume 16 - Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE 

THE COLLEGE OF MAGICAL ARTS 

1 

The stench of the sea breeze was stagnant within the old building, seemingly an abandoned factory. 

Rays of afternoon sunlight filtered through the broken windows, reflecting off the white dust hovering in the air. 

It was a poorly lit passage in the shadow of a rusted steel pillar. Crouched down on the cracked concrete floor, the small-statured figure was surveying the situation around her. The girl’s large eyes gave the impression of a mischievous kitten. 

She was wearing a low-cut workout top and other sporty articles. Metal covered the back of her gloves, and her armored-toe, high-cut boots were oddly eye-catching. Most noticeable of all were the pointed, bestial ears sprouting from her head. 

The girl’s irises were wide, as if she was peering deep into the night. Her curly, chestnut-colored hair swayed with a flutter, and her ears twitched in surprise. She had detected the presence of an anomaly concealing itself on the other side of a wall in the building. 

“Target acquired. Seems to be lurking in the next room over. Can you tell, Ruirui?” 

Nodding at the girl’s words was a boy on standby outside the abandoned factory. He had the air of an honors student, a subtle gentleness coming through his actions even while he peered through the scope of a sniper rifle. 

“I’ve spotted it, too. That’s Ms. Magatoki’s Type Fourteen Armored Shikigami. It walks on two feet and its max armor thickness is ninety millimeters. Whaddaya wanna do, Squad Leader? It’s a pretty tough one.” 

“Yuno, any other bogeys in the area?” asked a third person listening to their radio exchange. 

She was a white-haired girl clad in a coat with metal shoulder guards and a cobalt-blue wimple. Her name was Shizuri Kasugaya Castiella, a transfer student dispatched from a small country in southern Europe. She was a paladin-in-training and an expert in anti-demon combat. 

“Mmm, doesn’t seem to be any. None active, at least,” Yuno said, quietly leaning out from the shadow behind the pillar, her animal ears twitching. 

Yuno Amase was an L-type—a so-called beast person; her vision and hearing were tens of times sharper than those of a non–beast person’s. 

Shizuri smiled at the report. “ Bene . Well then, let us launch a surprise attack before the target notices us. Yuno, keep the target occupied. Rui, cover fire, please. I shall approach and handle the direct strike.” 

“Roooger that!” 

Yuno let her canine teeth poke out slightly in an aggressive smile. Her gloves made a creepy little squeak as she clenched her hands. 

“Roger from me as well. I will prepare a ritual for slowing it down.” 

Rui Miyazumi, the boy with the sniper rifle, attached a slender torpedo-shaped cylinder to the gun’s barrel. It was a military spell-fragmentation round, which deployed a ritual for capturing demon beasts from its point of impact. 

Noticing that her squadmates had finished their preparations, Shizuri said, “I’ll let Yuno decide the timing for when we begin our attack. Capisce?” 

“Gotcha,” replied Yuno innocently. 

In the midst of this was a fourth person, standing behind Shizuri. Bewildered, he nervously chimed in, “Wait a sec. What about me? What should I do…?” 

“…Oh right, you’re here, too, Kojou Akatsuki.” Shizuri looked back at him, seeming to just remember him that moment. 

Compared with Shizuri and the others’ apparent familiarity with combat, the boy had zero defenses. He bore no weapons such as a gun or even a single piece of protective equipment. All he wore atop his standard-issue uniform was a gray military parka. He was also not very perceptive of his surroundings, standing wide-open like an amateur on the field of battle or a civilian who’d wandered into the fray. 

“Your role is to support us. Please politely stand there, and do not get in the way.” 

“You make support sound easy, but what am I supposed to do, exactly?!” 

Shizuri’s cold dismissal left Kojou further at a loss. Unable to watch Kojou so conflicted, Rui narrowed his brows slightly as he maintained his sniping position. 

“Kojou. Sorry. If your hands are free, I’d like you to buy some bread for me. This week, there should be kinako bread on a limited-time sale; so if you please.” 

“I’d like something to drink. Sweet, but not carbonated,” Yuno added as she continued crawling ahead on all fours. 

“R-right,” Kojou muttered, nodding for a second before suddenly objecting, “Wait, that means I’m just your errand boy!” 

That ain’t what support means, y’know. 

However, Yuno ignored Kojou’s plea, crudely kicking off from the concrete floor. 

Leaving behind an afterimage, her tiny body accelerated like a hunting dog that had picked up the scent of its prey. 

Using the walls and steel girders in the factory, Yuno made small corrections to her trajectory as she sped toward a huge, solitary doll left in place. 

It was about four meters in height. Covered in thick armor, it gave off the impression that it was less of a doll and more of a four-limbed tank. It bore no visible weapons, but the sheer size of the metal construct was plenty menacing in itself. The silver-colored knight statue sensed Yuno’s approach and whirred to life. In contrast to its weighty appearance, its movements were bizarrely smooth. 

Even so, Yuno was undaunted. Making no effort to slow down, she approached the doll head-on, performing a somersault as she pounded a heel strike into its steel-helmeted cranium. Sustaining that single blow from the small-statured girl, it faintly wobbled. 

“Let’s gooo! White Rabbit Kick Number Six: Falling Moon! And, from there—” 

Using the recoil from the heel drop, Yuno vaulted into the air once more. The doll stretched an enormous arm right before her eyes. However, Yuno slipped past it with movements befitting a ninja. Then, she slammed both of her palms into the doll’s now wide-open chest. 

“Lion King Fist Number Four: Clawed Star!” 

As Yuno’s voice resonated, a heavy blow simultaneously penetrated the doll. Using the acceleration from her fall, the shift in the doll’s own center of gravity, and her own brute strength as a beast person, she launched a fresh attack. Heavily thrown off balance, the doll crashed through the building’s wall before hitting the ground and rolling onto its back. 

“It’s in my line of fire. Yuno, stand back.” 

“Roooger!” 

Yuno evaded pieces of rubble flying in various directions as she retreated, putting distance between herself and the doll. As if to pursue her, the doll leaped back to its feet with unbelievable speed. It was then that the spell-fragmentation round from Rui flew in. 

With a pale glow, its spell barrier deployed and enveloped the doll, becoming invisible chains that sealed the huge silver body’s movements. 

“Shizurin, the rest is up to you!” 

“As if it even needed to be said—!” 

As Yuno left the field, Shizuri ran straight ahead to take her place. She was wielding a silver mace: a close-combat weapon with a meter-long metal flange at the tip. With Rui’s ritual spell having halted the doll’s movements, Shizuri mercilessly swung her mace down toward its head. The blow triggered the fuse of the explosive inside the mace. A flash of light erupted along with a roar, and explosive flames engulfed the doll. 

The ground seemed to ripple as it shook, the roof of the abandoned factory creaking from the blast winds. 

Sparks and hot air blew even as far as the corridor where Kojou was standing. 

Still surrounded by flames, the doll did not move. Its armor broke, fragments scattering apart as they became a shower of scrap metal. 

“Well… ’Twas nothing, really.” Shizuri, lying on the ground to avoid the blast wind, held her flapping wimple down with a hand as she exhaled. 

Having been in the thick of the explosion, she was, of course, not in tip-top condition. 

Thanks to protective ritual spells, her body was unharmed, but the coat she had worn was torn and ripped, and even the clothing under it was singed. It was sad to see her pale white skin exposed from the gaps of her torn-up stockings. 

Convinced the matter was taken care of—she had surely felt the doll fall to her blow—she tossed away the mace’s shaft, its tip having broken off even before the explosion. She then began touching up her disheveled clothes. 

It was a fatal opening. 

“Squad Leader, it’s not over! The doll’s magical energy hasn’t vanished!” Rui shouted as he loaded another spell-fragmentation round. 

Giant footsteps echoed once more. Waving away the smoke lingering after the explosion, the enormous silver doll emerged right before Shizuri’s eyes. 

“Wha—?! That shouldn’t be…!” 

Shizuri threw herself at the ground and into a roll, just barely evading the doll’s colossal downswing. Its head, despite having taken an explosion point-blank, was largely unharmed. Only the silver helm was lost, exposing the chiseled face beneath. 

It was a crude human face, seemingly made from glazed mud. 

“It can’t be… This doll has scapegoat rituals inscribed on its armor…?!” Shizuri sharply bit her lip as she realized the reason behind her failed attack. 

Charms, amulets, scape dolls—ritual spells on such things activated when the main body was attacked, transferring the damage to the item instead. It was a very common tactic with numerous variations. 

This doll had such rituals inscribed on every piece of its armor, and thus had it withstood Shizuri’s attack. Like reactive armor on a tank, the scapegoat inscription had likely employed recoil and shattering spells to mute the blow of the explosion. 

Once you understood it, the trick was simple. However, the simplicity of the trick was what had brought Shizuri to the brink of peril. Surely a doll, nothing more than an artificial construct, would never employ a scapegoat ritual—Shizuri was paying the price for that arbitrary assumption. 

“Shizurin!!” 

To support her fallen squadmate, Yuno went punching after the doll once more, but her mighty blow was only able to make the enormous silver body tremble slightly. She grunted, tapering her lips in chagrin as she evaded the doll’s counterattack and put distance between them. 

It was too huge to destroy with brute strength, even from a beast person. They’d known that from the start. That was why Shizuri had resorted to the crude method of explosives. However, the mace had already been broken. 

“Not good… This doll is a higher level than expected. We can’t engage it with our current equipment.” Rui fired a fresh spell-fragmentation round, but the doll’s movements were dulled only slightly. Unfortunately, the force of his sniper rifle was insufficient to inflict any further damage. 

“We’ll pull back and regroup. Yuno, retreat ahead of us!” 

“But, Shizurin, then you’ll be…!” Yuno opened her eyes wide at her friend’s plea. 

Their opponent’s monolithic frame was far more agile than they had expected. Thanks to the earlier explosion, their escape route was buried under a pile of rubble. Unless someone served as a decoy, safe retreat was impossible. 

“I can handle this much on my own with ease!” 

A stout smile came over Shizuri’s lips as she drew the sword at her hip. It was beautiful, with a blade that resembled flickering flames, but Yuno didn’t think it could penetrate the thick armor covering the doll. 

Shizuri boldly stood straight in front of it. She was drawing its attention so that Yuno might escape. Of course, Shizuri engaging in such action in the narrow confines of the abandoned factory exposed her to even more danger. 

Kojou found himself sprinting forward before he could comprehend the situation. 

“Huh?! Akatsuki…?!” 

Rui was the first to notice Kojou’s unexpected move. Even he was not composed enough to hide being shaken by the newbie—so fresh they’d forgotten he even existed—charging toward the front line. 

“Ah, Kojou Akatsuki?!” 

“Kojikoji, what are you doing?!” 

Shizuri and Yuno stopped moving when they realized Kojou was drawing near. 

At that moment, Kojou was completely unarmed. He was not equipped with a weapon to penetrate a doll’s armor, let alone proper defensive gear. Even so, Kojou did not slow down. Vaulting over a collapsed wall, he approached the doll until he was forty to fifty meters away. If the doll detected his presence, it would surely hone in on him and attack across that distance in the span of a single second. 

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

Standing still, Kojou raised his right arm overhead. Gushing out from his entire body was a torrent of demonic energy resembling a blast of wind. The incredibly oppressive power made the air shudder and made Shizuri’s cheeks go pale. 

Kojou Akatsuki was the Fourth Primogenitor: the World’s Mightiest Vampire, served by twelve enormously powerful Beast Vassals. 

And it was one of those Beast Vassals of the Fourth Primogenitor, each said to rival a natural disaster, that Kojou summoned at that very moment. 

“Please stop, Kojou Akatsuki!” Shizuri shrieked. 

The doll slowly turned toward Kojou. Its creepy, monstrous gaze was reminiscent of that of a Grim Reaper as it studied Kojou’s wide-open body. 

It was this silver doll at which Kojou glared, thrusting his right hand toward it. 

“C’mon over, Beast Vassal Number Five, Regulus Aurum!” Kojou howled, ferociously baring his fangs. 

Demonic energy coalesced at a single point, adopting the form of an enormous, phantom beast—or so it seemed, when suddenly the space in front of Kojou’s eyes seemed to shimmer, twist, and distort. 

A poof rang through the air as Kojou’s demonic energy dissipated. 

All that was left was cold tranquility. 

“Er… Huh…?!” With his right hand still dramatically thrust forward, Kojou cried out in bewilderment. 

However, the fact that his Beast Vassal summons had misfired remained unchanged. 

“What do you think you’re doing?!” Shizuri angrily shouted at Kojou as he stood there astonished. 

“Er, ah, that’s…” 

Kojou subconsciously let his gaze wander all about as he stammered apologetically. As he did so, his field of vision abruptly darkened. Before he realized it, the steel doll’s huge frame had reached right in front of Kojou’s eyes and nose. 

“Run! Quickly!” 

“Huh?!” 

Shizuri’s shout set Kojou into motion, hastily turning his back toward the enemy. 

But it was too late. 

The doll’s fist shot out with the force of a cannonball straight toward Kojou’s back. 

“U…uooooooooo!” 

Kojou’s voice did not make it to the very end of his cry. His bones were broken, turning into a spray of fresh blood. It was over in an instant, leaving him with no time to even feel the pain. 

“Ah… Kojou Akatsuki…” 

The murmur trickled from Shizuri’s lips, but there was no one left to respond to her call. 

His flesh had been annihilated, ruined beyond the point of remaining in recognizable shape. Kojou Akatsuki was dead. 

“No… noooooooooooooo—!” 

Shizuri’s roar echoed through the abandoned factory that reeked of blood. 

The long sword Shizuri clenched in her hand wavered menacingly like a flame. Its undulating blade was enveloped by a vermilion glow. Shizuri’s eyes were dyed crimson, and then… And then…… 

2 

The next time Kojou opened his eyes, he was lying on a hard, plywood sheet. 

The scents lingering in the air were a mix of antiseptic and the sweet smell of shampoo. 

As Kojou lay there, a girl was resting atop his chest, producing the soft sounds of sleep. 

She’d probably fallen asleep at some point while sitting in the chair at the bedside. Hair as white as snow tumbled out from the gaps in the blue wimple on her head. Still unable to grasp the situation, Kojou hazily surveyed his surroundings. 

It was a cramped, rather Spartan room. The bed was placed in the center of the room, with light-green curtains swaying over the windowsill. There was a bottle of mineral water and a glass on top of the bedside table. Also, there were medical diagnostic devices he did not recognize. 

When he looked harder, he saw a number of cords stretching from the diagnostic devices wrapped around his upper arm. It seemed that this was a hospital, and a very stereotypical medical facility at that. 

It was still dark outside the window. He figured it was just after daybreak. 

“I see… I…” 

Recalling the scene immediately before he lost consciousness, Kojou let out a tired sigh. Kojou had died once-over from being punched by that Type Fourteen Armored Shikigami contraption. 

The fact that Kojou’s body, squished by that mass of steel and torn to shreds, had recovered in such a brief period of time was no doubt due to the shocking regenerative ability possessed only by vampire primogenitors. 

Though the stupid-sounding title of World’s Mightiest Vampire rang hollow to him, at the very least, he was forced to accept that the immortality part was indeed fact. 

“Ah, Kojikoji, you’re awake?” 

The door to Kojou’s patient room opened and Yuno entered, carrying a paper Post Exchange shopping bag. 

Her wavy chestnut-colored hair was the same, but the bestial ears that should have been poking up from her head had vanished. She’d released her bestialization. Instead of the low-cut athletic outfit she had been wearing, she now wore a regulation school uniform. 

“Guess that’s the World’s Mightiest Vampire for you. Incredible regenerative power, huh? 

“Normally you’d be totally dead… Ah, I suppose you were dead till just earlier.” Yuno smiled cheerfully, her voice completely sincere. 

Rather than voice a single word of complaint at that, he settled for the single, pouty murmur of “Who’s Kojikoji supposed to be?” He sluggishly sat up, his bandage-covered torso coming into view. “Come to think of it, what about the doll? What happened to that monster?” 

“Shizurin beat it.” Yuno pointed to the girl still sleeping on the bed. 

“Kasugaya… Cas did it all by herself?” 

Kojou drew his brows together in surprise. At the very least, right up to the point Kojou expired, the doll should have had Shizuri backed into a corner. He didn’t think it was a situation that could be turned around that easily. 

Rui entered shortly after Yuno. “That’s because Squad Leader’s Hauras is a magic sword that amplifies its power by consuming the demonic energy of opponents it slices—Gisella’s secret armament. No doll for mock combat is going to hold up against that.” 

He had changed into a school uniform as well, but the impression he gave off was the same as during combat. Thanks to the glasses he only wore when he was reading, his honors-student vibe increased all the more. 

“Magic blade… Well, it certainly looked like an expensive sword…” 

“Yeah. That said, since she used it during a mock battle for combat evaluations, our team got docked major points and we’ll have to retake it. We’ll be writing self-reflection letters until nightfall today too, y’see.” 

Slumping his shoulders with a pained smile, Rui put down the bundle of printouts he’d been carrying. They included apology letters for having used a secret armament without permission, reports related to accidents during training, request forms for reimbursement for hospitalization and injury treatment fees, and paper for handwritten self-reflection letters. 

Apparently, these dozens of documents were all to be written up that day. 

Rui seemed to have already finished writing some fraction of the documents thereof. 

“Sorry… This being my fault and all,” Kojou said. 

“Don’t worry about it. It wasn’t your fault you couldn’t use your Beast Vassal, Akatsuki.” 

“I’m a bit disappointed, though,” Yuno said. “I kinda wanted to see what a Beast Vassal of the Fourth Primogenitor looks like.” 

They both smiled at his apology and shook their heads. 

It had been about half a year since Kojou had joined their squad, and he felt like he’d done nothing but cause them trouble in all that time. He felt grateful that they still showed consideration to him as a fellow teammate even so. 

“Ah, that’s right. Give Squad Leader a word of thanks later,” Rui said. “She’s been glued to your side the whole time until you came back to life.” 

“…She was?” Kojou asked in suspicion. 

Because Shizuri was so overly serious, Kojou thought she must have found him, the one holding the team back, rather annoying. 

“Seemed like Shizurin was pretty down about it, you see. She said Kojikoji dying was her fault.” 

“That’s…unexpected. Didn’t think Cas was the sort of girl to have something like that on her mind.” 

In the first place, the cause and fault of Kojou dying rested solely with him ignoring her orders and racing out in front of the doll strictly on his own judgment. There was no reason whatsoever for Shizuri to feel responsible. 

But when he saw she was sleeping right beside him on the bed, he realized the comment of Shizuri being glued to his side must have been true… 

“…Who is this Cas of which you speak?” asked that very Shizuri softly, sounding a bit sleepy still. Apparently, she’d awakened at some point, listening quite intently to Kojou and the others’ conversation. 

“Are those the words one speaks to his savior, who gathered his scattered pieces of flesh and brought them all the way to the hospital?! Is this not exceptionally rude, you incompetent vampire?!” 

“Er, but, you know, Kasugaya and Castiella are a mouthful, so…” 

“That’s Castiella! Cas-ti-ell-a!” 

Bringing her face right before Kojou’s eyes, Shizuri emphatically sounded out her own name so that Kojou wouldn’t forget it. The bridge of her nose and her white skin broadcast her noble features. The eyelashes on the rims of her almond eyes were long, and her eyes were a deep blue, reminiscent of a tropical sea. 

If she could just keep quiet, she would be a delicate beauty, but with her elegant eyebrows raised and her white teeth bared, she resembled a small animal one never tired of looking at. Kojou felt he was dealing with a haughty, prideful cat. 

“If it is so difficult to say, I do not mind if you call me Shizuri, Kojou Akatsuki—Sorry, Kojou,” she corrected herself, trying to speak more casually. 

“Ah…er, that’s a little…” 

“Are you dissatisfied about something?!” Shizuri exploded as her rare act of compromise went to waste. 

Watching her squadmate, Yuno narrowed her eyes with amusement. “Pffft—” 

“What is it, Yuno?” 

“Ah. It’s nothing. Well, Kojikoji’s corpse was definitely pretty gross, with the bones and even the internal organs showing. Thanks to that, I’ll never be able to eat beef again.” 

“Hey, cut that out.” 

Yuno’s indiscreet comment made Kojou shudder. Yet, the twisting in Kojou’s stomach came out as a low growl. The word beef reaching his ears had provoked his empty stomach. 

“You were dead until not long ago, and the first thing you want to do is eat?” Shizuri exhaled in visible exasperation, turning a scornful gaze his way. 

“Oh, shut up. Coming back to life really burns through your stamina!” he retorted, cheek twitching. 

As a matter of fact, Kojou hadn’t had a bite to eat since the previous morning. He would’ve been hungry even without his body draining his physical energy to restore his flesh. 

“The school cafeteria should be open now. How about we grab a bite?” Rui suggested gently. 

The hands of the clock placed in the patient room indicated that it would soon be 7 AM . It was around time for the dorm students to rub the sleep out of their eyes, get up, and head to the cafeteria. 

“Oh, okay. That’d be great.” 

With a stretch of his back, Kojou pulled off his blanket. 

That instant, he felt the oddly cool, liberating feeling of air against bare skin. 

“Aaah!” 

Opening her big, black eyes even wider, Yuno stared at Kojou’s lower body with keen interest. Shizuri’s facial expression froze, her entire body going stiff as a rock. 

Noticing the girls’ reactions, Koujou finally realized that he was completely naked. Thanks to the bandages wrapped around his entire body, it felt like he had been wearing clothes. Most likely, the clothes he’d been wearing at the time had been rendered unsalvageable the moment the doll pulverized his entire body. 

“Wh…what do you think you’re doing?! You incompetent vampire…!” 

Shizuri, forced to look at Kojou’s naked body up close, reflexively unleashed a mighty punch. 

The next moment, Kojou, struck in an unguarded part, and Shizuri, touching that part with her bare hand, forgot all about being in a patient room as they screamed simultaneously. 

3 

’Twas a midsummer island— 

On four sides, a small, volcanic island was surrounded by open water as far as the eye could see. 

Spread in the center of the island was a mountainous region of bare rock, a sea of trees spread over the base. 

This was Onrai Island. Its total population was approximately six thousand, about half of which was composed of demons and families thereof, or researchers of those demons. Onrai Island was a model city for the peaceful coexistence of man and Demonkind—Japan’s one and only Demon Sanctuary. 

“Oh… Nice view…” 

Kojou let out his carefree impressions as he gazed down at the horizon from one of that island’s hills. 

The observation platform Kojou stood on was about seven hundred meters above sea level. He could see a harbor, a shopping center, a town hall, and a tiny settlement centered on corporate and academic laboratories below. 

At a place slightly removed from these stood an educational institution surrounded by tall walls. 

This was the College of Magical Arts—“the College” for short—a comprehensive high-end educational organization for the sake of training Attack Mages. This was Kojou’s current place of residence. 

The time was barely past two PM . The tropical sun rays were powerful, but the ocean breeze felt comfortable. 

Kojou was leisurely leaning against the guardrail as he took in the breathtaking sight from the top of the hill. 

There was a voice behind Kojou, tinged with anger and apparent scorn. 

“Just when I wonder where you’ve run off to… Kojou Akatsuki!!” 

“Geh?! Cas…!” 

“Who is this Cas?! And why are you taking an unauthorized break here?!” Shizuri jabbed a finger toward him, her demeanor matching her hostile tone. She wore an Attack Mage High instructor’s gym suit. 

She was somewhat out of breath. Kojou guessed she had run up the mountain road without taking a single break. 

When morning classes at Attack Mage High were over, Shizuri had dragged Kojou all the way to the summit for outdoor running in the name of endurance training. 

“I can’t help it, geez! How am I supposed to keep up with a stamina nut like you?! And this was mostly climbing, not running! How many kilometers is it to the summit?!” 

“Stamina nut…?! Don’t you mean you’re just weak?! To think you’re called the World’s Mightiest Vampire!” 

“If you understand that then don’t make a vampire run in the heat of the midday sun!!” Kojou yelled. He grumbled to himself, “You’re gonna reduce your subordinate to ashes.” 

For a time, Shizuri glared at Kojou with pursed lips, but in the end, she lowered her shoulders with an air of resignation. “If we must rest, then we will do so. We shall take a break of ten minutes only.” 

“O-okay.” He exhaled, both in surprise and relief at Shizuri making an easy concession for once. 

Kojou had washed up on the shores of Onrai Island around half a year prior. It was Shizuri who had found him nearly drowned on the water’s edge, and she had saved him. 

Ever since, she had monitored all Kojou’s conduct as his self-described watcher. Afterward, she had enrolled Kojou in Attack Mage High and put him in her own squad. 

She had two reasons for keeping Kojou under observation. 

The first was that Kojou had lost the vast majority of his memory prior to reaching Onrai Island. All he remembered was his name and the title of Fourth Primogenitor. As for how he had obtained the power of the World’s Mightiest Vampire and why he had collapsed on an Onrai Island beach—Kojou himself could not provide those answers. 

Due to the vast demonic energy he possessed, the loss of his past and purpose made him a dangerous vampire. It was only natural to monitor him. 

Shizuri had another reason to observe Kojou: She was a Gisella paladin. Even though she was still a squire, Shizuri had been granted the secret armament Hauras because she was the most powerful class of Attack Mage, capable of destroying even a vampire primogenitor. 

If, in a worst-case scenario, Kojou were to run amok, Shizuri could surely put a stop to him. Supposedly, she had been granted approval to terminate Kojou should he run amok. Kojou couldn’t act high and mighty to a girl like that. 

“Now that I think about it, does running and weight training even work for vampires? Doesn’t an immortal body also mean it doesn’t grow?” Kojou asked in a languid tone, facing Shizuri. 

Meanwhile, she was continuing her stretches in earnest seriousness. 

Even now, Shizuri was still wearing her wimple. At first, the clash between that serene headdress and an exercise T-shirt creeped him out, but now he couldn’t raise a word of complaint. 

Shizuri blinked with a slightly dubious air at Kojou’s question. 

“Certainly in the case of Old Guard vampires, their endurance does not rise from them honing their bodies.” 

“I knew it! Then isn’t this completely pointless?!” 

Kojou’s expression was aghast as he looked back at the treacherous, arduous path they had been climbing. 

Though Kojou did not exactly hate physical activity, he had no interest in mountain climbing, particularly once he’d judged such training meaningless. 

However, Shizuri shook her head with a solemn expression. “No, what is important is the state of one’s mind. If one’s spirit is honed through training, this will add to your power as a Demon, affecting the body in turn.” 

“…You’re saying my body will change to match my mental image?” 

“Yes. Indeed, this is hardly limited to vampires. For those with a vulgar heart, it is indecent even to be looked at by them. Know this and repent,” she murmured, staring squarely at the lower half of Kojou’s body. 

Her raw disgust caused Kojou’s temple to visibly twitch. 

“How long are you gonna hold a grudge about that?! In the first place, I’m the one who was exposed! I’m the victim here!” 

“You are the one who made me look, are you not?!” 

“It’s not like I meant to! This is like saying, Kasugaya, your breasts are puny, so your heart is puny, too!” 

“Th-they are not puny!” 

Shizuri covered the chest of her T-shirt as her face grew beet-red. 

Shizuri most certainly was not unstylish but compared with the equally small yet curvaceous Yuno, it was undeniable that her physique was relatively flat. 

Shizuri’s tone softened. “…Why did you do such a thing anyway?” She let out a sigh. 

“I told you it wasn’t on purpose.” Kojou grimaced. “Man, that’s rude.” 

Shizuri shook her head. “I mean about the mock battle yesterday. Even though you can’t summon your Beast Vassals, you jumped right in front of that doll unarmed. You were basically saying, Kill me, please. Fatalities in combat training are unheard of.” 

“Even I don’t know why I did it,” Kojou said roughly, avoiding her eyes. “It’s just, at the time, my body moved on its own. Probably figured I couldn’t just abandon you and leave you by yourself in a place like that.” 

“To die for that accomplishes nothing,” she said bluntly, exasperated. 

“Yeah, I suppose you’re right about that. Just…” Cutting himself off, Kojou nodded with a guilty look on his face. 

Certainly, his action would have seemed reckless to any third-party observer. But at the time, Kojou had been sure of it—sure that he could summon a Beast Vassal of the Fourth Primogenitor and destroy that doll. 

He did not know the reason his Beast Vassal summons had ended in a misfire. He didn’t think it simply failed. He’d felt an unpleasant resistance, like something had blocked it. It wasn’t that he’d lost the power; something had sealed the power away. He figured it probably had something to do with him losing his memory, too. 

“Your memories prior to coming to this island have yet to return, correct?” 

Shizuri, perhaps thinking along the same lines as Kojou, posed the question with tenderness. 

“I can’t remember a thing,” said Kojou with a casual shake of his head. “I expected comin’ back to life after dyin’ once might change something, but…” 

“How simplistic of you.” In an exaggerated motion, Shizuri put a hand over her eyes and sighed. 

Oh shut up, thought Kojou, silently pursing his lips. 

“Now that we have established the insufficiency of your power, let us recommence your training,” Shizuri spurred him on from behind. 

“Yeah, yeah,” he said reluctantly. 

They were about halfway up the road to the summit. Ahead, the air would grow thinner, and both road and incline would grow more precarious. It would be true hell from that point on. 

“Kojou.” 

Just when Kojou, wanting to get the training over with already, began climbing the sandy rock, Shizuri abruptly called him to a halt. 

“What?” asked Kojou, warily looking back. For some reason, Shizuri was standing there with tension all over her reddened face. 

“I will at least…express my appreciation for your feelings and intent to help me. Grazie … Th-thank you…” 

Shizuri looked away from him. Kojou wasn’t used to this kind of behavior from her. While he stood bewildered, she suddenly overtook him, sprinting ahead as if to flee. 

“Ah… Hey, wait, Cas! I don’t know how to get down from here on my own!” 

“Who is this Cas of whom you speak?!” 

As Kojou chased after Shizuri, she quickened her pace even more. 

The sunlight shone upon that narrow mountain road as a pair of angry voices echoed for quite some time. 

4 

Splattered on top of the large plate were chicken wings stir-fried in garlic butter. Added to the dish were spicy mushrooms, potatoes, broccoli, and Caesar salad on the side. It was a dish cooked paella style. 

“Deliiiish!” Yuno let out a cry of exultation as she euphorically bit into a chicken wing. 

They were on campus grounds. The Kasugaya Squad was quartered in an old-style house with an earthen hearth. By regulation, the students all lived at the College in quarters assigned on a per-squad basis. 

The student cafeteria was only usable on weekdays at breakfast and lunch. All other meals were paid for and cooked by the students themselves. And as a result of a strict decision by the lottery system, it was Kojou’s duty to cook for the Kasugaya Squad that day. 

“Kojikoji, you’re totally useless in combat training, but you get full marks on cooking! The skin’s so criiispy, and the tender insides are so juicyyy… Super light on the soy flavoring for the meat, too.” 

“This cooking ain’t anything complicated. I fried it after letting it sit in sauce overnight, that’s all.” He brought over some chilled barley tea and added quietly with a grimace, “And sorry for bein’ useless.” 

Rui deftly stripped the meat from the bones. “It really is delicious, though. Where’d you learn to cook like this?” He clearly admired Kojou’s culinary skills. 

Kojou lightly shook his head without any particular thought. “Nah, it’s nothing. I picked it up on the fly when I was helping Nagisa do it…” 

“Nagisa? Who’s that?” 

“Huh?” 

Rui’s very natural question caused Kojou to lift his head in surprise. He’d subconsciously said the name aloud, but the instant he tried to remember who that person was, the memory grew hazy and vanished. 

“Ah… Um, I’m not sure.” 

Perplexed, Kojou shook his head. Normally, he didn’t give it any conscious thought, but from time to time, just like that, his amnesia was rubbed in his face, like it or not. Even the ring of the name Nagisa already felt like it concerned a complete stranger. 

“Heh. Hmm, maybe Kojikoji’s old flame? Really makes you think, huh, Shizurin?” Yuno shot an amused smile at their squad leader, trying to lighten the conversation. 

Shizuri, who had been apathetically nibbling on her chicken wings up to that point, made a ferocious cough. 

“Huhhh?! Me?! What for?! It is not something that concerns me whatsoever!” 

“Heh… If you say so. I see. Shizurin doesn’t dwell on her boyfriend’s past…” 

“Why are we talking about this?!” Shizuri shouted. “And what boyfriend?!” Her face was beet red. 

Shizuri, having aimed to be a paladin in earnest from a young age, had built up no immunity to teasing about her love life. 

“As a Paladin of Gisella, I am observing the Fourth Primogenitor—nothing more! If anything, I am watching vigilantly for the perfect opportunity to eliminate him!” 

“Eliminate…?” 

Still carrying teacups for the meal, Kojou winced at her choice of words. Of course, he understood Shizuri’s position, but her stark aggression was naturally hard to endure. 

“No need to be so concerned,” Rui said, noticing Kojou’s stress. “It isn’t rare at all for demons with a danger-level rating above a six to be monitored in an isolated Demon Sanctuary like this. Though not many become targets for elimination…” 

“And if you graduate with Attack Mage certification, you will be automatically removed as a target for observation,” Yuno added, mouth full of a chicken wing she’d grabbed. 

“Graduate…,” murmured Kojou to himself. 

The students of the College numbered some four hundred in total. Approximately 30 percent of that total had achieved apprentice Attack Mage status, such as Shizuri and Rui. The remainder were beast people, vampires, and other demons. 

The student body comprised a large number of demons because obtaining Attack Mage certification granted demons the right to travel to the mainland. Put differently, until they formally became Attack Mages, demons were forbidden to leave Onrai Island. “A symbol of coexistence with humanity” sounded nice and all, but the Demon Sanctuary was, in actuality, a prison for demons. 

And really, even though the College told Kojou he was an Attack Mage candidate, that simply wasn’t true. 

Half the reason Kojou had been forced to enroll was that they couldn’t just let the Fourth Primogenitor walk around as he pleased. 

Though in the first place, without any memories, Kojou neither had anywhere off the island to go to, nor acquaintances he might wish to meet. Perhaps that was the reason he couldn’t take the Attack Mage High curriculum all that seriously. 

“Miyazumi, what made you want to become an Attack Mage?” Kojou asked in all seriousness. 

Rui was an ordinary human, and Kojou had heard both his parents were researchers. They had nothing to do with Attack Mages. Surely he could graduate normally without deliberately aiming for a perilous line of work like that of an Attack Mage. 

“I had an interest in Carceri to begin with. The only way for a normal person to enter a Carceri is to become an Attack Mage. Hence, the College.” 

“The what?” 

“They went over this in class any number of times. Or did you already forget?” Shizuri glared at Kojou, exhausted with him. 

Kojou hastily shook his head. “Ah, er, I remember. I remember that. The forbidden grounds of Onrai Island, right?” 

The areas known as Carceri were natural caverns under the jurisdiction of the College. Dense demonic energy filled the interior, which supposedly gave rise to numerous peculiar phenomena. 

“It’s just, I don’t really get it. Why would there be a dungeon built right in the middle of these school grounds? I mean sure, it might be convenient for Attack Mage training, but…” 

“You have it precisely backward.” Her cheeks still stuffed with potato, Shizuri explained in a sober and serious tone. “The Carceri were not made for an educational institution. They existed in this land from the beginning. The College, and the Demon Sanctuary itself, were built in order to keep the Carceri sealed.” 

“Ah, okay.” It made perfect sense to build a facility to seal a dangerous place and use that place to train the people needed to keep it that way. “So there’s monsters roaming around the Carceri ?” 

It really does feel like a dungeon in a video game, Kojou thought. 

Rui made a pained smile as he nodded. “The Debris, yes. You’ll meet them in combat exercises, like it or not.” 

“Gotcha…” 

“Don’t die next time, Kojikoji. Debris are a lot tougher than the Shikigami from yesterday,” Yuno said, poking at a sore spot for him. 

“Not like I died ’cause I wanted to, sheesh.” He grimaced. 

Yuno broke into giggles, but a serious expression abruptly turned serious. “Come to think of it, have you heard about the rumor that a ghost turned up in the Carceri ?” 

“…A ghost?” His expression was tired. “That’s no big deal.” 

It was an underground labyrinth monsters came out of. He didn’t think a ghost or two were worth anyone getting excited about. 

However, Yuno lowered her voice, as if telling a scary story. “Well, it seems to be a ghost of this really pretty girl. Last week, a boy from Squad Four ran across her staring right at him from inside the darkness with this really sad face. She said, Not here, and vanished, apparently.” 

“The hell…? Man, that’s creepy.” 

Kojou shuddered faintly. Setting aside undead that possessed no intelligence, a spirit that was bound to the earth but was also connected to the modern era, made it a genre Kojou had real trouble with. Separate from any actual danger such a thing might pose, he didn’t have a very good feeling about encountering a ghost while patrolling the labyrinth. 

“That’s so stupid. He must have seen it in a dream. If not that, then he just made it up,” Shizuri interrupted. 

Yuno made a leering grin. 

“Ah, Shizurin, are you nervous? Could it be you’re afraid of ghosts?” 

“I am n-not nervous whatsoever!! If you do not believe me, I would be happy to head into the labyrinth right this minute to prove it!” 

Shizuri stood up, looking pale, but she had a hand on the hilt of “Hauras,” which rested nearby. 

Yuno, with a sparkle in her eyes, exclaimed, “Ah, Shizurin, behind you!!” 

“Nyaah?! Nyaaaah?!” 

Fear ran through Shizuri as she whirled around and let out a shriek, waving around her beloved flaming blade all the while. 

Kojou instantly hit the floor to avoid being caught up in her attack and looked up at Shizuri with tears in his eyes. “Give me a break,” he muttered, making a quiet sigh. 

5 

Kojou waited right until lights-out before slipping out of his own room. 

Stepping into his sandals, he exited the old-style house that constituted their quarters. 

With nothing to obstruct the midsummer sky, stars glittered above. Lacking streetlights, the path was dark, but being a vampire, Kojou could see just fine. He walked up the narrow, unpaved hill road with a hum, and when he had just about reached the top, he noticed a slender silhouette. It was a girl with white hair wearing a wimple. 

“Huh? Cas?” Kojou suddenly called out. 

“There is no one named Cas here!” Shizuri whirled around, shoulders trembling. 

Wearing a reddish-brown shirt, she had been standing still at the entrance to a grove devoid of human presence, seemingly at a loss. 

“What are you doin’ in a place like this?” 

“N-nothing whatsoever. I had business with the post office,” Shizuri replied, her right hand gripping a white cylinder, unadorned save for an address written on it in some foreign language. He figured it was addressed to her family living somewhere overseas. 

“And just where did you think you were going?” she asked. 

“Figured I’d go buy something to drink.” Kojou pointed toward a school building in the distance. 

For cultural reasons, Onrai Island had no 24-7 convenience stores or similar facilities. But vending machines situated on school grounds were like oases to students at night. 

“My throat felt a little dry. Might’ve overdone the chicken wing seasoning a bit.” 

“O-oh, I see. In that case, since I happened to be heading to the post office, I shall accompany you!” Her voice took on an oddly enthusiastic tone. 

Kojou looked back at the expression of relief on Shizuri’s face and fixed a suspicious stare at her. It wasn’t technically wrong to say she happened to be on her way, but the post office and the vending machines were in practically opposite directions. It had to be a rather large detour for her. 

And why had Shizuri been standing idly in a place like that to begin with? 

“Cas, don’t tell me you were…afraid of going to the post office by yourself after listening to Amase’s ghost story…?” 

“Wh-what kind of stupidity are you speaking?! It is utterly impossible for a paladin such as me to be afraid of a made-up story like that! As the watcher of the Fourth Primogenitor, I am merely—” 

“I get it! I get it already, so don’t shout it out loud at night. You’ll bother the neighbors!” 

“Th-this is because you made an assertion so far off the mark!” 

The reason for Shizuri’s nervousness was clear; she desperately continued making up excuses. That said, in the dead of night, the briar-infested forest surrounding Attack Mage High’s school grounds was actually quite creepy. Even Kojou, a vampire, could pick up on that, so he could certainly understand Shizuri feeling frightened. 

“Come to think of it, you wear that thing even late at night, huh?” 

As they were plodding down the gravel road within the forest, Shizuri grasped the hem of Kojou’s T-shirt as they walked, seeming a little sullen as she pressed a hand to her wimple. 

“Is that a complaint concerning my attire?” 

“Not really, but doesn’t it clash with a jersey? Looks kinda stuffy.” 

“It is none of your business. This wimple identified me as a paladin, after all.” 

“Okay. Seems a bit of a waste to me, since your hair’s so pretty and all.” 

“Huh?” 

Kojou’s nonchalant comment made Shizuri open her eyes wide in surprise. 

“My hair is…pretty…?” 

“Well, yeah, I think so. Oh…if that bothers you, I’m sorry.” 

“N-no… It does not particularly bother me…” Shizuri’s voice was so quiet. She lowered her eyes. Her expression said, I do not know how to react to that. 

In the next moment, she violently collided with Kojou’s back, letting out a Nyah! -like shriek. 

“Wh-what is the big idea?! Why did you suddenly stop?!” 

She pressed a hand against her reddened nose, glaring at Kojou. However, he gave no reply at all, his attention completely focused on the bizarre scenery displayed in a corner of his vision. 

He was looking at the corner of the track and field grounds late at night. There stood an old wooden school building that doubled as a training facility. The College’s school grounds had a number of abandoned buildings like this that served as stages for mock battles. 

That school building was blanketed with dazzling light. Mysterious, violet flames filled the school building, gushing out from the building’s foundation. It was creepy. 

The violet flames leaked out from the gaps in the windows, suddenly enveloping the entirety of the structure. 

“What the heck is that…?!” Kojou murmured in astonishment. 

The ground shook with a roar. Unable to withstand the pressure from the flames, the walls of the school building flew apart. 

Amid the falling beams and debris from the crumbling roof, the violet flames swirled in a vortex, finally transforming into an enormous monster. 

“That’s not…someone who stayed behind to study until this hour of the night, right…?” Kojou asked casually. 

“Of course not!” Shizuri’s voice went shrill. “I do not know about the much-rumored Beast Vassals of the Fourth Primogenitor, but even the instructors at Attack Mage High cannot wield spells that would blast an entire school building apart!” 

“Then what the hell is that monster?!” Kojou bared his teeth in annoyance as he replied. 

The violet monster kicking remnants of the school building away had an eerie form that was neither beast nor insect. It resembled a vampiric Beast Vassal, but it was far larger and exceedingly violent. Furthermore, unlike Beast Vassals, it had no vampire to act as its host, making it an uncontrollable monster. 

“It is…a Debris,” Shizuri murmured weakly, seeming to wring her own voice out of her. 

Kojou gasped, drawing in his breath. “That’s a Debris? Don’t they only appear deep in the Carceri ? How did one come out on the surface?” 

“I do not know! However, at this rate, the town will be in danger—!” 

“The town…?!” 

Because her back seemed to be against a wall, Shizuri’s words made Kojou finally grasp the gravity of the situation. 

The violet-colored monster had emerged from the corner of the College’s school grounds. If it climbed over the six-meter-high wall, what rested ahead was the town in which Onrai Island’s civilian populace dwelled. 

The walls surrounding the College had barriers spread across them to prevent intrusion, but he didn’t think the barriers could withstand this monster’s offensive power. 

“Kasugaya…can your magic sword take that thing down?” 

“Magic sword? Are you referring to Hauras?” she asked. After a brief silence, she nodded. “Yes. A Debris is a mass of demonic energy, therefore Hauras can most certainly destroy one.” 

“Got it. Then go back to the quarters right now to get it.” 

“What do you intend to do?” 

Shizuri looked at the side of his glaring face with concern. 

Kojou listlessly shrugged and gave a heavy sigh. “Can’t let that monster off campus, can we? Someone’s gotta grab its attention.” 

“You can’t…possibly mean facing a Debris all by yourself?!” She gaped at him. 

“Nah,” Kojou said, shaking his head. “It’s on such a huge rampage that other students and instructors should notice right away and come running…probably.” 

To Shizuri, he sounded utterly irresponsible. She stepped closer. 

“But…!” 

“Hey, I’m the World’s Mightiest Vampire. No need to worry. We proved yesterday that I’ll come back even if I’m torn to shreds, right?” 

“H-how much of an idiot are you?! Just because your body has returned from death once or twice does not guarantee you will come back if a Debris eats you!” 

“That doesn’t mean I can abandon the people of this island, dammit!” 

Shizuri’s voice caught in her throat. Kojou was the immortal Fourth Primogenitor and a student of Attack Mage High. Between Kojou’s safety and the lives of civilians, it was crystal clear which ought to come first. 

“So go get that sword quick, ’kay? I’ll buy as much time as I can till then.” 

A rash smile came over Kojou’s face as he turned toward the Debris once more. 

“I ask that you do not forget those words!” 

Shizuri turned around and raced in the direction of the old house that was their quarters. 

“Leave it to me.” 

He had no basis for those words, but he approached the Debris nonetheless. 

The flame-engulfed school building was about four hundred meters away. Even at that distance, Kojou could keenly feel the Debris’s demonic energy cast around indiscriminately. It was not an opponent an incomplete vampire, unable to even summon his Beast Vassals, could properly fight. 

“So the only option is to grab its attention and run for it, huh…?” 

Feeling half-despondent, Kojou unleashed his own demonic energy. In the half year since he’d arrived at Attack Mage High, even he had learned a minimal level of control of his demonic energy. 

That didn’t mean he could make use of any proper magic, but it should have been plenty to provoke a Debris. And yet… 

“Wha…?!” 

The Debris’s oversized head swiveled in Kojou and Shizuri’s direction. Then, it did something Kojou never expected. 

Its entire body changed into a violet beam, and the Debris…leaped. 

Not toward Kojou but toward Shizuri as she hurried back to their quarters— 

“That’s crazy! Why is it aiming for Cas—?!” 

Kojou spun around, aghast. The Debris-turned-beam mowed down the trees and chewed up the ground’s surface as it chased Shizuri. Kojou had no way to stop it. 

“Cas, dodge!” 

“Huh?!” 

Shizuri, sensing a strange aura, came to a stop before Kojou’s shout could reach her. As she did so, the Debris, transforming into a beast once more, slammed an enormous foreleg into her. 

“Cas—!!” 

Kojou screamed, his face twisting in despair. A single blow from the monster had been able to instantly blow a school building apart. With Shizuri defenseless, there was no way she could endure such a blow. 

“Ah…” 

However, the violet flames brightened and Kojou saw Shizuri in the middle of them, standing rooted to the spot in a daze, her eyes wide. Enveloped by the purple flames, she stood there, unharmed. 

It was a diminutive figure who had sliced the Debris’s attack apart, saving Shizuri— 

A black-haired girl wielding a silver-colored spear. 

She possessed a divine beauty, but at the same time, it was terribly frightening. This was an existence that was not of that world. 

Impaled by the girl’s spear, the Debris dissipated, leaving pure-white particles of light behind. 

The girl’s eyes gazed at Kojou through the purple burning flames that remained. 

“I’ve finally…found you…” 

The girl’s lips wove words with something that was not a proper voice. For no reason he could fathom, Kojou was ferociously unnerved by those words. 

He did not recognize the uniform. He did not recognize the girl. Yet, for some reason, the girl’s presence felt so terribly familiar to him. 

“Who…” 

…are you? Kojou tried to ask in response, but the instant he tried to do so, the girl’s contours crudely twisted. 

Turning hazy like mist, the girl melted into thin air and vanished. 

“………” 

Leaving a brief final murmur behind, she completely vanished from sight. 

All that remained were the still-burning remnants of the school building and the forest trees destroyed by the Debris, as well as Kojou and Shizuri. 

“You alive, Cas?” Kojou asked his dazed squadmate. He slumped his shoulders. Geez. 

Even though Shizuri’s shoulders trembled slightly, her breathing was normal. She nodded with confidence. 

“Yes, I am indeed. However, who was that girl just now…?” 

“Who knows? Maybe it’s the ghost Amase talked about?” he joked. 

A Debris that should never have appeared on the surface had done exactly that and been defeated by a girl who should not have existed. Plus, the Debris had tried to attack Shizuri. It was all so confusing. 

If there was one saving grace, it was that Shizuri was safe and sound. 

She coldly looked up at Kojou, asking without emotion, “Kojou, do you… Do you know that girl?” 

“Nah.” He shook his head and closed his eyes. 

I don’t get it. 

He didn’t recognize the uniform. He didn’t recognize the girl. Yet, that faint, almost illusory voice stayed in Kojou’s ears. 

What stirred in Kojou’s chest was that voice, one he shouldn’t have been able to hear. 

Without a doubt, she had called out to Kojou just before completely vanishing. 

It was a familiar voice; one he could never forget. 

“Senpai,” she had said. 

Intermission I 

Raindrops dotted the boy’s cheeks. It was the warm rain peculiar to tropical countries. 

A strong sea breeze was blowing, causing the mangrove trees to sway. 

The surface of the sea resembled the total darkness of night against the bone-white sandy beach. Collapsed on the outskirts was a boy with an average face wearing a military-gray parka. 

His uniform was scratched and torn all over. The dark red spots on it were surely signs of recent bleeding. 

However, under the fabric, the boy’s body had no wounds visible to the naked eye. It was as if he’d just finished regenerating, and he now had new skin. 

“U…gggh…” 

Then he let out a ferocious cough and violently vomited up sea water. 

Displayed in his teary vision was a lonely, unfamiliar island. The force of the continued downpour increased, making the boy’s face twist with terror. 

He didn’t know why he was in such a place nor did he know his own identity. 

Abruptly, without any underlying thought, the boy shifted his gaze toward the cape. It was as if he’d known what was about to happen from the very beginning. 

“I have finally found you, Kojou Akatsuki.” 

He heard a girl’s voice over the sound of footsteps on drenched sand. The voice had a cold tone full of caution. 

Opening his eyes wider, he beheld a delicate silhouette. It was a young girl dressed in a hat that made her seem part nun, part knight. 

Her faintly blue, large eyes stood out among her features. Even in his night vision, the color of the hair poking out through the gaps of her wimple was vividly white. 

“…Kojou…Akatsuki?” 

As the girl’s eyes coldly looked down at him, the boy turned to her, perplexed. He could not immediately grasp that she was saying his name. 

“Do you not remember? That is your name, is it not? Fourth Primogenitor, Kojou Akatsuki?” 

The girl’s brows glowered at him with a measure of irritation. 

“I’m…the Fourth…Primogenitor?” 

“Yes. You are the fourth of the original vampires, which should not exist. You are immortal and immutable. You have no brethren by blood, order is not among your desires, and you are served by twelve Beast Vassals that are destruction incarnate. You drink people’s blood, thereby slaughtering and destroying them. You are a cold, heartless monster astray from all doctrines of the world—that is what you are, Kojou Akatsuki.” 

“So, I’m a vampire primogenitor, huh…?” 

Still resting upon the sand, the boy gazed at his own palms. Deep in the back of his mind, he had the strange sense that his supposedly interrupted memories were continuing once more. 

“Do you remember now?” 

The white-haired girl asked in a cold, standoffish tone. “Yeah,” said the boy, tossing a smile toward her. 

He was not shaken. But something resembling unease ate away at him. He was irritated by the fear that he’d forgotten something important to him—something terribly crucial… 

“Who are you?” 

The words left his lips without much thought. His head was reeling, as if a powerful dizziness was overtaking him. He felt like he’d done this before. 

Yes—Kojou knew the answer. He knew the name of the white-haired paladin upon which the transparent rain droplets fell. 

“My name is Shizuri Kasugaya Castiella—” 

The tip of the unsheathed sword in the girl’s hand touched Kojou’s neck, pulled toward it like a magnet. 

It was a vermilion long sword that gently billowed like a flame. The blade of Gisella’s secret armament, Hauras, consumed the demonic energy of the opponents it sliced. 

“I am your watcher.” 

Her tone was severe. Her long sword remained pressed against Kojou’s neck. 

Kojou silently closed his eyes. Like déjà vu, the girl’s words echoed in his mind over and over. 

However, as if erased by the sound of the rain, that faint sense promptly vanished. 

“…Gimme a break.” 

Kojou’s barely audible murmur vanished into the predawn sky.