Strike the Blood - Volume 16 - Chapter 5

CHAPTER FIVE 

THE MIRAGE PALADIN 

1 

A humid breeze graced Kojou’s cheek. 

The air was filled with the thick scent of life. Trees and grasses, lichens and mushrooms, densely piled fallen leaves, and the microorganisms that propagated beneath. Beasts, too—this was the scent of a rain forest. 

Kojou opened his eyes amid that powerful scent. 

What he saw beneath his eyes was a muddy, watery surface. He seemed to have been snagged by tree roots along the bank while unconscious. He was in an open space at the edge of a swamp. He recognized the terrain. 

This was the second stratum of Onrai Island’s subterranean labyrinth. 

It was where Yuno had been attacked by a Debris, and where Rui and Nozomi had been slain. What is this, an auto-save point? grumbled Kojou inside his mind. 

As he grasped the circumstances, the first thing he remembered right away was Kako’s smug smile as she abducted the then-unconscious Yukina. Kojou took deep, repeated breaths, somehow managing to subdue the demonic energy threatening to explode along with his anger. 

That wasn’t enough to quell his annoyance, but it did bring him back to rationality to some extent. All Kojou would achieve by giving in to his emotions and running amok would be to further amuse Kako. 

What barely kept Kojou grounded in reason was his certainty that Yukina was in no immediate danger. If the intention was to hurt her, his adversaries would not have gone through the trouble of knocking her out and bringing her here. Kako surely could have killed Yukina anytime she wished. He didn’t really get why, but certain circumstances seemed to prevent Kako from harming her. 

Pulling himself up with the help of unstable tree roots, Kojou somehow managed to set his feet onto solid ground. 

From the feel of the tree bark to the unpleasantly humid air, it was terrifyingly real, indistinguishable from actual reality. This was no doubt the work of the nano- shikigami Asagi had mentioned. Even if he knew it was virtual reality in his mind, he could not completely divorce himself from the sensations being conveyed to his body. It seemed that there really was no way to completely escape from that world without dealing with the one Kako had termed its creator. 

“I have finally found you, Kojou Akatsuki.” 

While Kojou leaned against a tree trunk with such thoughts in his mind, he suddenly heard someone calling his name. 

The branches of densely packed trees parted, from which Shizuri emerged. At some point, she’d put on her wimple, and her long sword was sheathed as she gripped it in her right hand. 

“Cas…” 

“That’s Shizuri Kasugaya Castiella to you!” She strictly corrected his address of her, but she looked relieved nonetheless. “It would seem you too were brought back to Onrai Island.” 

“Guess so… Dammit, what’s that crappy instructor up to…?!” 

His previously forgotten anger burning once more, Kojou audibly clenched his teeth, snapping the tree branch nearest him. Now that he knew it was a construct, he would tolerate no complaints about despoiling the environment. 

“The saving grace is that our memories are intact, it would seem.” Shizuri gave him a somewhat exasperated look as she spoke soberly. 

Certainly, it would not have been strange for Kojou and Shizuri’s memories to have been stolen exactly as she’d just implied. In that case, they might well have ended up reliving Onrai Island life from the auto-save point onward. 

Clearly, that was preferable from Kako Magatoki’s point of view. In other words, she couldn’t do it even if she wanted to. 

“Maybe it’s because of the weird smoke Lydianne pumped out,” Kojou murmured, unsure. 

“Smoke?” Shizuri shot him a doubtful look. 

However, given the circumstances, Kojou didn’t think the smoke Asagi and Lydianne had spread was a normal smoke screen. If anything, it was far more natural to think that was some sort of nano- shikigami countermeasure. 

“Maybe it was some kind of nano- shikigami vaccine or something. That’d be why we can enter the barrier, but we aren’t getting inconvenient effects like having our memories altered or our abilities limited.” 

“Could such a high-end thing be produced in such a short amount of time?” 

“Er, well, it seemed like even Asagi had a tough time with it this time around…” 

“A ‘tough time’…” Shizuri’s mouth dropped open. 

He could understand her disbelief. Kojou couldn’t think of any other reason why Kako hadn’t altered their memories. 

“Well, I suppose we could chalk it up to that shitty instructor’s whim, too.” Kojou grimaced. It wasn’t that he hadn’t considered her not swiping their memories because it was simply too much trouble. Percentage-wise, that might have been the likelier reason. 

“That ‘shitty instructor’…deceived us all, did she not…” 

Listening to Kojou’s insult, Shizuri bit her lip and cast her eyes downward. The fact that someone she’d trusted had betrayed them no doubt still weighed upon her. Meddlesome to the core, that made Shizuri weak at detecting malice in others. 

Shizuri was still like that when Kojou placed his hand on her head. He stroked her hair right through the wimple. 

“Don’t worry about her. It’s not your fault you were tricked by her.” 

“P-please do not rub my head in that overly familiar manner! It is not as if I am depressed!” 

She was no doubt well aware that the rubbing was consoling her. Shizuri’s face was red to the tips of her ears as she feverishly shook her head. Even so, she made no move to brush away the hand with which Kojou was stroking her head. 

“Then fine. Saves me the time and trouble.” Kojou nodded in relief as his expression tightened. 

Shizuri, acutely sensing the aggressive aura churning within him, sullenly narrowed her eyebrows. “Time and… Kojou, what exactly do you intend to do?” 

“I told her already: I’ll give the creator of Onrai Island a beatdown and set the people living on this island free. Himeragi’s on my mind too, plus who else is gonna save Miyazumi and Amase?” 

“Onrai Island’s…creator…” Shizuri prevaricated, hesitant. It didn’t feel like she was uncertain of something; rather, it felt like she wasn’t sure whether to say it out loud. 

“Cas, do you know something?” 

“I…have a suspicion of who the creator might be.” 

Shizuri ignored his use of the nickname, sounding like she was mulling something over. 

“Really…? Who?” 

“The last Paladin of Gisella—Shinako Kasugaya. She saved my life, and she was the proper wielder of Hauras.” 

“Shinako Kasugaya …?” 

The name she spoke threw Kojou off a little. She was connected to Gisella and bore the name of Kasugaya, yet it was the first time Shizuri had spoken that name in front of Kojou. Upon further reflection, Kojou didn’t know a single thing about Shizuri’s family background. 

Shizuri, sensing Kojou’s bewilderment, gave a little shake of her head. 

“She is not my biological sister. I…took her family name for my own. I, an Ogre orphan knowing not even the faces of my parents, took up the name of Kasugaya.” 

So that’s it , thought Kojou, nodding silently. If those were her circumstances, he could understand the reason why Shizuri hadn’t spoken a word to him about her family. He could also understand the pride she bore toward the name. 

Kojou had a mountain of things he wanted to ask, but he posed the question he thought most crucial among them. “Err…what’s your basis for thinking she’s Onrai Island’s creator, then?” 

Shizuri firmly closed her eyes, as if trying to recall painful memories. “I am merely stating it is possible. Are you familiar with the city Iroise?” 

“…The Demon Sanctuary in Europe, right? I heard it was Gisella’s home base.” 

Kojou gave the most basic answer he could. He did not mention Tartarus Lapse because he could not judge whether Shizuri knew of it or not. For that matter, it was possible she remained unaware that Iroise had been destroyed. 

But Shizuri’s next words brushed that last concern aside. 

“Many of the residents of Onrai Island are likely survivors of Iroise, same as I.” 

“Survivors?” 

“Yes,” said Shizuri with a nod. “That day, we were at the harbor, waiting for an evacuation ship. Many Japanese school students and their families were gathered there waiting for an evacuation ship arranged by businessmen of Japanese descent. When everyone was relieved that a ship had finally arrived, huge Beast Vassals descended from the sky—” 

“The Four Holy Beasts of Tartarus Lapse, huh…” 

Kojou forgot himself as a pained expression came over him. 

These were powerful phantom beasts summoned by absorbing vast quantities of spiritual energy from dragon lines, and the demonic energy of the Demon Sanctuary residents themselves. Having actually fought the Four Holy Beasts himself, Kojou was acutely aware of just how terrifying they were. As a resident of Iroise, Shizuri must have found encountering the Four Holy Beasts to be nothing short of a nightmare. 

“I…do not remember what happened after that.” 

Shizuri gave a sad shake of her head. 

“However, if, at the time, Shinako created Onrai Island and moved the evacuees to it, that would explain my survival.” 

“So she created Onrai Island… Wait, could she even pull off something like that?” Kojou couldn’t help doubting that. 

Creating a barrier world required skill in spatial-manipulation magic and a vast quantity of demonic energy. Even if Shinako Kasugaya, a proper paladin, knew spatial manipulation magic, he didn’t think she’d have the off-the-scale demonic power required to create Onrai Island. 

“Shinako possessed the means to acquire the requisite demonic energy required.” 

Shizuri lowered her gaze to her very own hand. In it, she gripped the long sword she said Shinako Kasugaya had entrusted to her. Hauras—the secret armament of Gisella that stole the demonic energy of the opponents it sliced, changing that into its own power. 

“So she consumed the demonic energy of the Four Holy Beasts with Hauras…?” Kojou asked. 

“ Sí … probably.” Shizuri nodded tentatively. 

Using the demonic energy of the Four Holy Beasts made constructing a barrier world possible. If Shizuri’s theory proved true, that meant Shinako Kasugaya had saved six thousand islanders—fortuitous news from Shizuri’s perspective. 

Shizuri’s expression did not brighten. If Shinako Kasugaya was truly Onrai Island’s creator, why had she not freed the islanders now that the menace of Tartarus Lapse had passed? She did not know the reason why. 

“The geography of this island, volcanic mountains excepted, greatly resembles that of the Demon Sanctuary of Iroise. How could I have forgotten even something like that…?” Shizuri murmured in a lost, forlorn tone of voice. 

“I’m pretty sure that was the effect of the nano- shikigami . If they could even alter the Fourth Primogenitor’s memories, no way a normal person or Demon could fight it no matter how hard they tried,” he said in an effort to console her. It was crude logic short on eloquence, but somewhat surprisingly, Shizuri made no rebuttal. Shaking her head, Shizuri seemed to brush her hesitance aside as she turned and stared straight at Kojou. 

“The seventh stratum.” 

“…Huh?” 

Kojou looked back at Shizuri with a bewildered face, unable to keep up with the dramatic leap in topic. 

“That is both a place present on this island and a place one no one can reach. It is also the location of Onrai Island’s most powerful concentration of demonic energy. If Shinako is truly present, that is where she will be.” 

“I see… The deepest part of the Carceri …!” 

Kojou’s expression unconsciously sharpened. There was no firm proof, but Kojou instinctively knew Shizuri’s deduction was correct. The seventh stratum of the Carceri , a place no one had ever reached, was the perfect environment in which the creator of Onrai Island could lie low. The Carceri might well have existed not to shut the Debris in, but to protect that creator. 

“It would seem my supposition that the creator is in the seventh stratum is correct…” 

Shizuri made what seemed like a pained smile as she drew her sword. 

Kojou realized it a second later. There, in a rain forest that was gloomy even at the height of day, black shadows were sloppily crawling toward them. It was a horde of the Larvae he’d grown far too accustomed to for his own liking. 

“It feels kinda like someone doesn’t want us getting close to the seventh stratum.” 

A dry laugh bubbled up at the horde of Larvae, vaster than any before it. The timing was far too good to be coincidental. There was no longer any room to doubt that Kako was controlling them. 

Did she really not want Kojou and Shizuri to approach the seventh stratum no matter what, or did she simply hate their guts? Either way, the pair had only a single option: to bust through. 

“Stand back, Cas. I’ll do it.” 

With a shimmer, demonic energy gushed out from Kojou’s every pore. 

If that’s how Kako wanted it, Kojou was under no obligation to hold back. No matter how many Larvae pressed upon them, all he had to do was sweep them aside with a Beast Vassal. The wound gouged into him by Snowdrift Wolf had by no means completely healed, but it had erased the nano- shikigami interference. Kojou could sense that the Beast Vassals were there, ready to answer his call. 

Perhaps overwhelmed by Kojou’s demonic energy, Shizuri backed up a step. From the right arm Kojou raised overhead, he unleashed particularly dense demonic energy. This became a crimson cloud, weaving the form of a huge Beast Vassal. 

It was a moment later that tiny sparks were scattered within the rain forest. 

“—Kojou!!” 

While Kojou was preoccupied with the Larvae, the sniper-rifle bullet flew at supersonic speed, precisely slipping through gaps in the trees, and with pinpoint accuracy, punched through his heart. 

2 

Yukina awoke sitting on a chair. 

It was an extravagant, antique chair fit for a queen. The armchair was upholstered entirely in red velvet fabric. 

Faint light illuminated the chamber, vast and reminiscent of a church interior. 

Yukina sat in the center of that chamber. 

She was not bound. Her clothes were not askew. Her silver spear had been placed at her feet. Not even the damage from Kako Magatoki’s palm strike remained…aside from an unshakable sense of defeat. 

The ceiling was high and arched. The walls had serene openwork sculptures placed against them. 

The solemn reverberations of an organ echoed beautifully within the stonework structure. 

A boy in a tailcoat was playing the organ. 

His physique was as delicate as that of a girl of similar age. His hair was blond and seemed to flicker like a flame. His skin was white. He looks like her, thought Yukina. 

She had not intended to be captivated by the boy for all that long, but at some point, his performance had apparently come to an end. Once he had played his final note, he turned around to face her. 

“It seems you are awake, Yukina Himeragi.” 

She shot to her feet as if she had been fired from a cannon, picking up the spear that had been laid beside her. Fear raced through her entire body, enough that if she did not summon all her willpower, she would not have been able to stand. 

It was not that the boy was trying to overwhelm her. He was smiling pleasantly, in fact. Just like the very existence of a powerful weapon instilled fear in people, Yukina was instinctively afraid of the potential power resting within him. 

“Who…are you?” 

Yukina diligently kept her voice from trembling. She felt cold beads of sweat course down the nape of her neck. 

“I call myself The Blood…the King of All Vampires, though the ‘King’ part is self-applied.” 

The boy shook his head, speaking at his own expense. 

Yukina was unsure of how to respond. 

Given his title, she had no doubt he was a vampire. However, even to Yukina’s Sword Shaman eyes, his abilities seemed unfathomable, beyond any conjecture. 

Yukina knew only two other people who gave off an air similar to his. 

One was Giada Kukulkin, the Chaos Bride. 

The other was Kojou Akatsuki. 

“This is the center of Onrai Island, the seventh stratum of the subterranean labyrinth known as the Carceri . I had not anticipated inviting you here. Allow me to apologize for the mistake.” 

His tone was gentle. On the surface, his apology did not seem like any kind of performance. The polite treatment he had given Yukina put weight behind his words. 

“I take it you sponsored the Witch of the Dusk?” she asked in confirmation, lowering her spear. 

She was still afraid of the boy, but she regained her composure, sensing that holding a conversation with a blade pointed toward him would be rude. 

“You are indeed wise,” he politely said. “Yes. I am indeed Kako Magatoki’s client. I have provided her with a portion of my nano-automata technology and a temporal manipulation ritual grimoire as recompense.” 

“Temporal manipulation ritual…?!” Yukina’s expression froze in surprise. 

Magic to control the flow of time was considered super-advanced, on par with teleportation. As far as Yukina knew, only Koyomi Shizuka, aka Paper Noise, had completely mastered the art. If Kako Magatoki could employ temporal manipulation, it meant she possessed a power equal to that of the Three Saints of the Lion King Agency. She must have been the one to warp the flow of time for Onrai Island. 

“The power granted to the Witch of the Dusk is not as convenient as you might believe.” The boy smiled. She suspected that was out of consideration for her fright. 

“Within a world one perceives as real, such as Onrai Island, it might be possible to experience months of time in only a few hours, but in the real world, her influence would be restricted to her own mind and body at most. Well, I suppose such compensation is only fitting, given the job I hired her to do.” 

“Job…?” 

Yukina shot the boy a reproachful look. As the one who had hired Kako Magatoki to do this job, he was the ringleader behind the current uproar. That meant it was him, not Kako, who had been the impetus for Kojou becoming involved in the incident. 

The boy calmly accepted Yukina’s stare, nodding without a single shred of guilt. 

“Do not be concerned. I have no intention of harming Kojou Akatsuki. In the first place, it is impossible to harm an immortal such as him—am I mistaken?” 

“You might be correct, physically at least.” Yukina coldly glared at the boy. 

“Hmph,” said the boy, looking pleased. “Precisely. Even if his body is immutable and eternal, his spirit is not. If wounds were to make him forget that spirit, even his mind would completely turn into that of a monster.” He lowered his voice. “Therefore…why not break him before that happens?” 

“…Break him?” 

In contrast to the weight of his words, the boy continued with an almost casual air. 

“Yes. He should know the fear and despair of losing the ones he loves. He should know overwhelming despair and regret sufficient to crush his soul. Wounds that will never heal should be carved into his mind before he ultimately succumbs to weakness…before his softness invites the worst of all possible results.” 

“You cannot mean…this is why you had him brought to Onrai Island…?!” she reproached. 

The boy nodded deeply. “In these three days, he has experienced death nine times. During the course of this, he has lost many comrades. These include friends with which he trained as fellow Attack Mage candidates, reliable seniors, and perhaps someone he might even call his lover?” 

He sounded amused, though indifferent, as if speaking of the untimely deaths of people—people he knew by name—like they were strangers. To him, Kojou’s anguish was someone else’s problem. 

“He does not remember. However, he subconsciously accumulates the memories. They are surely eating away at his mind from within, like a slow, long-acting poison.” 

“When you say the Witch of the Dusk’s work…you intend to allow her to kill Miss Kasugaya?” 

Yukina realized what the boy was after. Because Kojou possessed an immortal body, his greatest fear was not that he would be hurt—it was that he would lose the people around him. Through the artificial world known as Onrai Island, the boy had given Kojou close friends. The boy had given him these comforts for the sole purpose of ripping them away. 

And at that moment in time, the one in the position closest to Kojou was no doubt Shizuri. Killing her would wound Kojou’s spirit. That was the request the boy had placed in Kako’s hands. 

“A Prison Barrier is a world materializing in the creator’s dream. So long as it is within a dream, the dead can be resurrected any number of times. However, I will make Kojou Akatsuki end the dream world of his own volition. The tragedy that decision summons forth shall not leave him unscathed, I imagine.” 

“I will not allow you do as you please, The Blood.” Yukina tightened her grip on her spear. 

In the real world, the environment surrounding Kojou had not changed in the slightest. Kojou had his little sister, the one he loved most, and his other family. He had his allies, including Yukina, on Itogami Island— the combat strength wielded by the Fourth Primogenitor was maintained, undamaged. 

On the other hand, if he lost Shizuri, Kojou would most definitely be hurt. Using that wound to warp Kojou’s personality, altering it in a direction more convenient to himself—this was The Blood’s desire. 

“Yukina Himeragi, do you intend to save Shizuri Kasugaya?” 

Even with Yukina’s spear turned toward him, the boy’s expression did not change. With that beautiful, charming smile still on his face, he turned a finger toward the church’s altar. 

“Then, I shall warn you that such an attempt is futile. You cannot save her. Of course, neither can you save Kojou Akatsuki.” 

“No, it’s not possible…” 

A wooden box resembling a casket lay open on the altar. 

Amid the flowers packed within the wooden box, a single woman rested within. She was young and wearing a long wimple, clutching a long sword against her chest. Realizing her identity, Yukina was at a loss for words. 

“No… How…?” 

“Please convey what you see here to Kojou Akatsuki. Hate me. Fear the name of The Blood—” 

The boy’s tone changed ever so slightly. It was a solemn tone befitting his right and proper power. 

Within Yukina’s own cognizance, the contours of the boy, still sitting in the chair, flickered. It was neither illusion, nor spatial manipulation. Yukina realized that he was employing a more frightening power to depart from that world. 

“Wait! Please, The Blood! Wait!” 

Yukina wondered whether she should use her spear to nullify his power by force—and that hesitation, lasting for not even a tenth of one second, meant her chance to hold him in that world had been lost for eternity. 

Enveloped by a phantasmal light that resembled an aurora, the boy vanished from sight. 

“We shall meet again, Yukina Himeragi. On the day of reckoning that shall inevitably arrive—” 

Dumbfounded, Yukina stood rooted in place as the last of the boy’s words echoed in her ears for some time. 

3 

From Kojou’s back burst flesh, blood, and rib fragments. He’d been sniped at long range using an anti-demon silver iridium–tipped bullet. Kojou and Shizuri knew only one person from Onrai Island capable of the shot. 

“Rui?! Why?!” Shizuri exclaimed as she clutched the wobbly Kojou to her. She couldn’t believe their ally could do such a thing. 

“Kojou! Hang in there, Kojou!” 

Caring nothing for how it sullied her coat, Shizuri desperately propped Kojou up. The shocking spectacle before her eyes had no doubt rendered her knowledge of Kojou’s immortality meaningless. As a matter of fact, the wound was so grave that any vampire short of a primogenitor might well have perished instantly. 

“…Well, that figures. They ain’t gonna let us get to the bottom of the Carceri that easy,” he murmured between pained breaths. He sounded calm, casual—like this didn’t affect him personally. 

He coughed up blood. 

“Is this the time to act composed?!” she shouted in a frenzy. 

When Kojou tried to lift up his face, Shizuri forced him back down. She was on guard for Rui’s second shot. 

Certainly, lying on the surface of the ground made sniping them more difficult. But during that time, the horde of Larvae closed the range. The sniper was there to support the Larvae. 

“I’m glad, though,” Kojou said. 

“Wha—?!” 

“I don’t know if it’s regeneration or resurrection, but I mean, Miyazumi—he’s alive.” 

“That’s…!” 

Kojou’s completely unexpected assertion silenced Shizuri. Even if his memory had been altered, confirmation that Rui had survived was without doubt good news. 

“Gotta say, though, that damn teacher got us good. If that’s how the other side wants it, time our side got serious, too. No worrying about holding back.” 

Enduring the pain of his wounds, Kojou thrust his right arm out. The previously impeded process of summoning his Beast Vassal was completed in an instant, and a mass of incredible demonic energy appeared without warning. 

“C’mon over, Beast Vassal Number Two, Cor-Tauri Succinum!” 

Everything around them looked warm from an amber glow. A ferocious heat wave blew forth. 

Kojou had summoned a minotaur borne from incandescent magma. 

Splitting the ground with its enormous ax, the torrent of magma that gushed forth mowed the rain forest down. Of course, the horde of mere Larvae was burned away without a trace. It was a crude method he had used because he knew Rui the sniper was nowhere close. 

“This is… This is the true power of the Fourth Primogenitor…” 

Shizuri blinked, forgetting herself as she stared at the sight of Kojou’s rampaging Beast Vassal. 

A fair percentage of the rain forest had already been reduced to ash, and the flames spread, burning more still. The power of the Beast Vassal of the Fourth Primogenitor had altered the topography in an instant, causing the entirety of Onrai Island to shudder. 

“Well, yeah… Ergh… This is tougher than I thought…” 

As he released his summons, Kojou collapsed in a heap. Even though vampire primogenitors boasted immortal bodies, sustaining enough damage to send the heart flying took an appropriate number of hours to heal. If his blood circulation remained stopped, his physical movement would naturally be hindered. At the moment, it took all Kojou’s focus to remain conscious. 

“Kojou…your wound…!” 

“That’s ’cause that jerk Rui really pumped one into me good.” 

The backlash from summoning the Beast Vassal caused the once-relenting bleeding to grow fiercer once more. 

In addition to Rui’s sniping, his wound from Yukina’s Snowdrift Wolf had yet to completely heal. Kojou was in a worse state than he’d anticipated. 

Even so, Kojou felt some measure of relief that the horde of Larvae had been swept away. The conflagration caused by his Beast Vassal had also made the air unreliable. Even Rui would be unable to keep sniping with his vision like that. 

However, before Kojou and Shizuri could devise a way to flee under cover of smoke, a new menace emerged overhead. 

“It’s not over, Cas! Incoming!” 

“Beast Vassal…?!” 

Shizuri’s expression twisted out of shock. Beating away the black smoke covering the sky, a harpy enveloped in flame was heading straight for Kojou and Shizuka. It was Nozomi Kamikiba’s Therese. 

“Don’t tell me, even Kamikiba has been…?!” 

The Beast Vassal assaulting them gave Shizuri no time to recover from her inner turmoil as she slammed her long sword into it. 

Normal physical attacks were ineffective against Beast Vassals, as they were masses of demonic energy. But Shizuri’s beloved sword easily bit into that Beast Vassal’s flesh. With the initial strike, the blade consumed the opponent’s demonic energy; with the second, power-augmented strike, it sliced through the harpy’s torso. Its own demonic energy consumed, the harpy’s enormous body was sent flying. 

“Cas, get down!” 

Immediately after Shizuri finished her attack, something flew over Kojou from behind. Shizuri rolled to the ground spectacularly, but she did not have any free time to speak a word of complaint, for as she tumbled, a metal boot just barely grazed past the top of her head. 

“Yuno?!” 

Yuno, who’d approached under cover of smoke, unleashed a spin kick with the agility distinctive of beast people. Shizuri blocked it with the scabbard of her sword. The left and right hooks that followed sent Shizuri rolling to dodge them. 

They were movements without a single shred of elegance fit for a paladin, but the situation was too dire for her to care. Losing sight of her target, Yuno’s fists cut through the air. That wasn’t all, though… 

“Haaaaaaaaaa—!!” 

Shizuri somehow managed to block the great sword that Okurayama swung down with a mighty war cry. The force of the blow, as if a massive boulder had crashed down, racked both her arms with a searing pain. If Hauras had not just consumed the demonic energy of Nozomi’s Beast Vassal, it might well have split asunder. Such was the incredible blunt force of the blow. 

“Ughh—Hauras!” 

Making the long sword emit all its remaining demonic energy, Shizuri blasted Okurayama back. His huge frame collided with Yuno, sending both tumbling to the ground in a heap. 

Shizuri got nervous as she stared at Hauras. Having wrung out all its demonic energy, the long sword’s blade had lost most of its luster. In its present state, Hauras probably could not withstand Okurayama’s next attack. 

“No, you did great, Cas! C’mon over, Natra Cinereus!” 

Wobbly from blood loss, Kojou wrung out the last of his strength as he embraced Shizuri and held her close. 

All sight of the pair was obscured by silver mist. It was the transformation into mist ability distinctive of vampires— 

Spawned by a Beast Vassal of the Fourth Primogenitor, it spread across the area with ferocious vigor, completely burying the greater portion of the second stratum of the Carceri in dense mist that reduced visibility to zero. 

4 

“Vampiric mist transformation… To think you could cover an area this vast…” 

Shizuri’s eyes were still wide with fear and awe as she sank down to her butt on rocky ground. 

The dense mist spawned by Kojou’s Beast Vassal had dissipated as suddenly as it had sprung forth. However, they had not materialized in the same place as she had initially been. They had moved while still transformed to escape Okurayama and company’s pursuit. 

“This should buy us a little time…” 

Still lying faceup, his energy seemingly spent, Kojou spoke in a frail, raspy voice. 

They had moved several kilometers at most, but they’d done so while Kojou kept the Carceri covered in mist so that none might see. Even opponents of Okurayama and the others’ caliber surely wouldn’t be able to catch up immediately. 

“You certainly have a point…,” she agreed, but she was tentative anyway. 

She surveyed the landscape around them with a somewhat cold look. The walls wet from humidity…the white steam…the distinctive scent wafting up from the water’s surface…the bath water maintained at a temperature of forty-one degrees Celsius…and, finally, the changing rooms divided by gender—she and Kojou were both familiar with this open hot spring bath. 

“So why go straight to OS Base?” 

“I couldn’t think of anywhere else we could take a breather. It wasn’t that I was aiming for a hot spring specifically…” He looked awkward despite defending himself. 

OS Base was on the first stratum of the Carceri . As a matter of fact, he had not chosen that place as their destination out of any special motive in mind. To Kojou, a Carceri neophyte, it was the one and only observation post he was familiar with; that was all. 

“Well, let us set that aside for the moment. Besides, we should be able to replenish supplies here.” 

A somewhat suspicious look still hovered on her face, but Shizuri made a show of shrugging her shoulders, seemingly having no intention of pressing the point further. The provisions officer of an observation post kept it stocked with every type of ammunition in use. It wasn’t a bad choice for Kojou and Shizuri, neither of whom was carrying proper gear at the moment. 

“First, treatment is necessary, I imagine. I will be right back with a first aid kit,” Shizuri said before heading to the changing rooms. 

Kojou’s blown-out lungs and heart had already begun to regenerate, but he still couldn’t move properly. Even having bandages wrapped around him and nothing else would probably provide some peace of mind at the very least. 

Just when she was arriving at the changing room entrance, Shizuri halted in apparent surprise. 

The door to the changing rooms had vanished. Not only the changing room door, but the entire observation post structure was nowhere to be seen. There was only a collapsed structure, abandoned and left to rot for what seemed like decades. 

“How…?!” 

Shizuri’s face went pale at the sudden change in the base, impossible through natural phenomena. Someone had altered time through deliberate action. 

The aging of the base had caused its stock of medical products and ammunition to rot, rendering them unusable. The aim had likely been not to hinder Kojou’s treatment but to stop them from obtaining weapons. 

This was not Kako Magatoki’s doing. Had it been, she would surely have had Larvae attack directly rather than use a roundabout method like aging the facility. 

“The will of the creator, I’ll bet. Really doesn’t want us getting to the lowest stratum, it looks like.” 

The enemy’s oh-so-blatant handiwork brought a pained, slightly exasperated smile over Kojou. He felt like he was clearly sensing the heretofore ambiguous creator for the very first time. All over again, it sank in that Onrai Island was a world created according to someone’s will. And then— 

“I am…thoroughly fed up…!” Shizuri muttered under her breath toward the creator who’d intervened seemingly out of spite. 

Kojou’s expression hardened as he imagined he heard a lid suddenly ripped off and sent flying. Shizuri’s shoulders trembled as she gritted her teeth. Perhaps truly feeling the creator’s existence had given her an outlet for all the anger that had been piling higher and higher up to that point. An aura of seething rage was gushing out, flicking around her entire body. 

“C-Cas?” Kojou called out meekly. 

Shizuri stripped her coat off right before his eyes. Next, she removed and cast aside the school uniform jacket, too, popping the buttons of her blouse out one by one. Then, after a brief pause, she plucked off the wimple she was wearing. Her long, pure-white hair spread with a flutter, leaving her jade horns exposed. 

“Wait a… Cas, what the hell are you doing?!” 

Flustered, Kojou had no clue why she was acting this way. 

Shizuri swung around powerfully, glaring straight at Kojou. Thanks to the collar of her blouse being wide open, the white nape of her neck, her collarbone, and even the cleavage of her modest breasts were on full display. 

With Kojou lying faceup, Shizuri proceeded to mount him. 

“What you were about to do with Kamikiba?!” 

Shizuri brushed her hair away from the nape of her neck. Her eyes were aggressive, but there was no hint of desperation within them. Her serene expression, bolstered by a clear sense of duty, was the same as always. If he had to note a difference, it would be the seemingly embarrassed reddening of her cheeks. 

“Are you saying you want me to drink your blood…?” he asked in a daze as he stared at her. 

Certainly, now that obtaining weapons and ammunition was no longer an option, healing the wounded Kojou was their one way of breaking out of the corner into which they had been backed. However, he’d never thought for one second that the stubborn, self-styled paladin would be the one to suggest such a thing. 

Then, perhaps as a roundabout way of brushing off Kojou’s question, Shizuri drew her face closer to Kojou’s with visible annoyance. 

“A-are you dissatisfied?! Certainly, compared with Kamikiba, my breasts are small, and I have no experience in such things, but—” 

“Erm, well, with the way you’ve acted, I’d be more shocked if you actually had any experience in this area…” 

“I—I did not mean that kind of experience! Ah, er, I do not mean as in, my not being a virgin, though of course I do not have such experience either…” 

As Kojou teased her to conceal his own embarrassment, Shizuri’s entire body blushed intensely when she realized just what she had confessed. Eyes bashful and tearful, she put her hands around Kojou’s neck. 

“D-die—!!” 

“You’re the one who spilled the beans, dammit!” Kojou let out a suppressed yelp as Shizuri fervently wrung his neck. 

A moment later, Kojou, blanched from labored breaths and blood loss, felt warm droplets fall onto his cheek. 

He suddenly realized that strength had drained from both of Shizuri’s hands. Her firm expression had contorted into a bare, timid face appropriate for the girl’s age. A flood of tears coursed down her cheeks, falling on Kojou like rain. 

“Please… I have nothing else I can offer you…” 

Shizuri’s voice trembled as she sobbed. 

“This is our fault… I know this is selfish of me to say after involving you in Gisella’s and Iroise’s problems. But please. Lend us a little more of your strength…” 

The girl let her head hang frailly. Kojou watched her in silence. 

Her white hair, containing no trace of any other color. Her skin, white as the very snow. Even with her face contorted and wet from tears, Shizuri was an attractive girl indeed. Her beauty was not in her appearance but in her soul. 

It was not for her own sake she sought Kojou’s aid, but that of Iroise’s six thousand captive islanders. Even if she thought of herself as a false paladin, she had never ceased acting like one. Her obstinate, awkward way of living overlapped with the image of Kojou’s other observer just a little. 

Mixing a pained smile with an exhale, he gently stretched his hands out toward her and then… 

“Ack!” 

Shizuri let out a cry as her entire body twitched and went rigid. Kojou’s left and right hands were each touching one of Shizuri’s horns. 

“Wh-where do you think you are touching?!” 

“I was right. These horns really are pretty. They’re smooth to the touch, like they’re drawing in the tips of your fingers,” Kojou said as he stroked Shizuri’s horns with his fingers. He thought her reaction was rather dramatic. 

Apparently, her horns were not simply part of her bones but sensitive organs like the tusk of a narwhal. 

“Th-those are sensory organs that detect auras and demonic energy! Don’t touch them so firmly or—!!” 

Kojou stroked Shizuri’s horns more gently this time. Shizuri bit her lip as she endured the stimulation, the ticklish mixed with the unsavory. Her breathing became shallow, quickening as her flushed cheeks grew sweaty. Finally, her strength seemingly exhausted, she slumped against Kojou in a heap. Maybe I overdid it , reflected Kojou, realizing that her entire body was twitching. 

Fortunately, there was no sign of Shizuri having actually lost consciousness. Combing her white hair upward, Kojou smiled powerfully as he whispered right into her ear. 

“Don’t go saying stuffy things like lend us your strength after all this, Squad Leader. We were both wrapped up in this a long time ago. Let’s send that shitty instructor flying and save everyone… Himeragi and all of Onrai Island’s people.” 

“Yeah.” Shizuri weakly nodded. 

Kojou gently drew his lips to the white, defenseless nape of her neck. His bared, tapered fangs punctured her sweat-drenched skin, and fresh blood trickled out. 

“Thank you, Kojou—” 

Kojou sank his fangs into Shizuri, listening to her voice, no longer coherent, until the very end. 

5 

Shizuri had not lost consciousness for even ten minutes. Realizing that she was still resting on top of Kojou, she hastily hopped up and collected the tunic she had herself stripped off. 

Kojou had already finished regenerating the heart that Rui had blown away. The wound from Snowdrift Wolf was gone, too. Upon confirming this, Shizuri let out a sigh of relief. 

“I believe you understand, but not one word of this to anyone?” 

Averting her eyes, those were the first words she spoke to Kojou. 

“You mean earlier? If you mean whether you’re a virgin or n—” 

“No! I mean the a-activity you and I engaged in!” Shizuri angrily shouted at Kojou with enough force, she seemed ready to bite his head off. 

“Ohhh.” He sluggishly shrugged. “I won’t tell. By the way, Cas, your underwear is surprisingly cute.” 

“I-I’ll kill you!!” 

Shizuri hid the frilled bra visible from her open collar as she put a hand to her sword. 

“W-wait, calm down, you idiot!” 

Sensing her bloodlust, Kojou leaped back; that instant, something tumbled from his uniform’s pocket. It was an electronic device small enough to fit in a palm. 

“What’s this…?” 

Shizuri kept her sword drawn as her eyes rested upon the machine. It was a rectangle with rounded corners reminiscent of a large eraser—a plastic panic buzzer. 

“Come to think of it, that shitty instructor gave this to me, didn’t she…?” Kojou grimaced as he picked up the panic buzzer and stared at it. 

It wasn’t that he had no suspicions. How had Shizuri and Kako been able to track Kojou so precisely after he’d returned to Itogami Island? How had Rui and the others determined Kojou’s location inside the rain forest? 

“Perhaps that is not a panic buzzer but a tracking device instead?” 

“That jerk got me good…!” 

Kojou threw the panic buzzer to the ground and proceeded to violently crush it underfoot. The cheap plastic case was crushed with ease, scattering its internal components all around. 

“So they must have realized we fled here a long time ago. We should go—and quickly.” 

“No. Unfortunately, it’s too late for that,” Shizuri said as she peeked through a crack in a rotted wall. 

Stepping into the base-turned-abandoned-cabin, Kojou unwittingly let out a sigh. 

Countless humanoid silhouettes were standing on the rocky ground all around the base. Most of the corporate-hired guards were cast as being garrisoned at Onrai Island. Kojou saw recognizable faces to and fro. They were probably the college’s Carceri search team. 

“It feels like Onrai Island’s entire population is in the Carceri now.” 

Kojou raised his voice in annoyance. He had no doubt that Kako, judging that Larvae weren’t going to get the job done, had instigated them to attack instead. 

As a matter of fact, her means were very effective. The far-too-powerful Beast Vassals of the Fourth Primogenitor were largely useless in combat against human beings. Kojou might have been fine with burning Larvae away, but he could not help but hesitate to do the same against living human beings. The fact they were being controlled made that doubly so. 

“You cannot turn into mist and escape like before?” 

Shizuri looked up at Kojou as she posed the question. Faced with her expectation-filled eyes, Kojou grimaced slightly. 

“Ah… About that… I can do that, but whether we’ll end up exactly like we started is a bit iffy, you see. Even without that, the space here is kind of unstable…” 

“You involved me in an ability that risky…?!” 

Shizuri glared at Kojou aghast. He awkwardly averted his eyes. If he used the Beast Vassal of mist transformation there, it was certain that the assailants outside would be caught up in it. If it was just Kojou and Shizuri, fine, but he didn’t think the Beast Vassal would restore people with enmity toward Kojou, its host, to their original forms. After all, indiscriminate destruction and slaughter were the true nature of the Beast Vassals of the Fourth Primogenitor. 

That said, if they didn’t do anything, the situation would only worsen. The assailants had already finished surrounding the base. Even if they were to try and break through, some kind of trigger was required. 

“This is getting pretty bad…” 

Here and there, Kojou could see people bearing rocket launchers, machine guns, and other heavy weapons among the assailants. If bathed in concentrated fire, Kojou had no confidence he could protect Shizuri—or even himself. 

“Shit…!” 

Kojou resolved to summon a Beast Vassal, sink or swim. In virtually the same moment, Shizuri narrowed her eyes, realizing that something was off. Above the heads of the assailants surrounding the base, several gun shells sailed, scattering white smoke. They were smoke rounds from a tank. 

“What the…?!” 

Enveloped by smoke and seemingly in a daze, the assailants’ movements came to a stop. 

Kojou knew this sight, as if they’d suddenly awoken from a dream. He’d seen the same look on Shizuri’s face when she woke up free of the nano- shikigami ’s spell back in the clinic room. 

“Kojou! Look!” 

“Eh?!” 

Turning his eyes in the direction Shizuri pointed, Kojou let out a little voice. He realized that a crimson robot tank was approaching, scattering smoke rounds as it did. 

“Sir Boyfriend! Lady Cas!” 

They could hear Lydianne’s voice, altered to sound deep and throaty, coming from the external speakers. The robot tank resembling a tortoise deftly moved its four legs, sprinting across rocky ground with surprising speed. They also beheld the sight of Asagi stylishly seated sideways across its back. 

The assailants in their dazed state made no move to bar the girls’ path. The time required for the robot tank to arrive at Kojou and Shizuri’s position was not all that long. 

“So you are both safe. ’Twould seem that we have made it in time.” 

Joints stiffly creaked as the crimson tank came to a halt. 

“So you two were thrown over here, too…?” 

Kojou was still standing stiff and dumbfounded as he somehow opened his mouth. It seemed that the gate Kako had forced open in the clinic room had indeed enveloped Asagi and Lydianne, tank and all. 

“Indeed. We have been searching everywhere for thee. Though I must say, this Onrai Island is a place of great natural beauty.” 

“I feel sorry for worrying about you when you were spending months on a southern climate island like this. I suppose you have some really juicy memories of this place?” 

Asagi glared with half-lidded eyes at how Shizuri was standing so close to Kojou. She had an artificial smile on her face as she posed the question, like she wasn’t actually smiling at all. Kojou’s expression contorted into a bitter one. 

“Like hell. How many times do you think I died here? I had to do exercises that made no sense; I had a fussy person watching everything I did… It wasn’t amusing one bit!” 

“This is not the time to speak of such things. More importantly, what was that smoke just now?!” 

Shizuri posed the question to silence the trivial verbal argument that had begun between Kojou and Asagi. 

“’Tis ANN.” 

Kojou raised an eyebrow at Lydianne’s far-too-curt explanation. “…ANN?” 

“Anti-nano- shikigami nano- shikigami —they are nano- shikigami that nullify other nano- shikigami . After spreading a certain number of them about, they engage in self-propagation. We have calculated that in half a day, all the original nano- shikigami in this world will be nullified. As the ANN shall automatically annihilate themselves if their nano- shikigami prey are not present; thou needst not be concerned about side effects.” 

“I don’t really get it, but it sounds like a nano- shikigami ’s mortal enemy.” Kojou nodded, having understood the gist. 

So the smoke barrage Lydianne had used back in the clinic room really had nullified the nano- shikigami , preventing Kojou and Shizuri from being brainwashed. 

“But,” Asagi explained, “releasing the residents of Onrai Island from the nano- shikigami doesn’t rescue them from the island. In the end, the nano- shikigami are nothing but a support system, separate from the magic that created the barrier world.” 

Kojou had assumed as much. “Meaning that in the end, gotta smack the barrier world’s creator around in person.” 

“—If that is the case, maybe it’s my turn next?” 

Kojou and Shizuri heard a voice from behind and the air seemed to shimmer like a mirage. Appearing there was a faceless blue knight carrying a short-haired girl. 

“Yuuma! You’re safe, too!” 

When Yuuma dropped down from the blue knight’s arms, she and Kojou greeted each other with a high five. Except for Yukina, all the people present at the clinic room had been confirmed safe and sound. 

“It’s thanks to the thinning of the nano- shikigami density reducing the power of the creator’s influence. At this point, I can move around this world freely to some extent through my own power alone. Your destination is the stratum at the bottom of this underground labyrinth, right?” 

“Can you transport us there?” 

“As far as the entrance. Probably.” 

Yuuma looked back at the surprised Kojou, showing off a smile with a twinge of pride. Kojou and Shizuri exchanged a glance; both nodded to each other. 

“Sorry, but us two are busting out of here ahead of you,” Asagi said, keeping things realistic. “If this world’s going to collapse, we need to at least be somewhat prepared over in the real world, right? If the nano- shikigami completely stop working, a large-scale barrier like this won’t hold for long.” 

“Mm. And Hizamaru’s battery neareth its limit.” 

Onrai Island would soon collapse. Kako Magatoki had acknowledged as much. The effect from the anti-nano- shikigami nano- shikigami was only speeding up that process by the slightest of margins. 

To be blunt, not even Kojou and the others knew what would happen when Onrai Island collapsed, but if six thousand people were suddenly cast into the real world, some kind of countermeasures surely needed to be employed beforehand. Failure to do so would result in enormous tragedy. Now that they’d finished spreading the ANN around, Asagi and Lydianne had nothing left they needed to do in that world. 

“Got it. You two head back first.” 

“Sorry about that. For that matter, you all come back soon, okay?” 

“Please convey our best regards to Lady Sword Shaman.” 

“Leave it to me,” said Kojou, displaying a nod to Asagi and Lydianne, who somehow sounded concerned as they spoke. Asagi, who had a worried expression hovering over her even so, gasped and lifted her face, almost as if she’d suddenly remembered something. 

“More importantly, Kojou. You’re not actually thinking you can go drinking Yuuma’s and Kasugaya’s blood just because Himeragi and I aren’t around, are you? S-so indecent…!” 

“What the—?! I’m not drinking any more blood, geez!” 

“Any more …?!” 

“Yuuma, please.” Kojou joined his hands with Yuuma’s before Asagi could say even more unnecessary things. 

“Well, all right.” Yuuma strained a grin, commanding her Guardian to open the gate. 

Asagi was still facing Kojou, trying to say something to him, but she was swallowed up by the shimmering hole bored into thin air. She immediately vanished from sight, returning to Itogami Island. 

“…Your friends are good people,” Shizuri said, smiling. 

Watching Asagi and Lydianne vanish along with the ruckus, Shizuri smiled in apparent amusement as she spoke. 

“I wonder about that,” Kojou muttered, shrugging his shoulders, his face tired. “I think they’ll become your friends, too, as soon as we return to that world.” 

“…That would be most splendid.” 

Kojou thought she sounded so lonely. He glanced back with a questioning look. As she hung her head, he was unable to read her true thoughts. Yuuma silently watched Kojou and Shizuri remain like that for a brief time. 

“Let’s go, Kojou. The truth awaits,” Yuuma gently said after a while. 

With that, she opened the gate to the depths of the Carceri . 

6 

Once the boy calling himself a king had departed the church, Yukina was all alone, standing rooted to the spot. 

She could vaguely guess the reason why the nucleus of the barrier world dubbed Onrai Island was a church. 

This was because the church was a scene from the memories of Onrai Island’s creator. 

The church’s religious imagery greatly resembled that of the Lotharingian Orthodox Church. The minor differences in design were no doubt due to the imagery being that of the heretical faction known as Gisella. 

In other words, the creator of Onrai Island was somehow related to Gisella. 

“………” 

Without a word, Yukina approached the wooden box resting upon the altar. 

The corpse of a woman had been placed within the box. Yukina did not recognize the face of the woman, still beautiful in her eternal slumber. She was a young woman in her mid-twenties or so. 

She wore a white coat and a wimple. The hair peeking through the gaps of the wimple was close-cropped and black . 

Furthermore, the woman held against her chest only the scabbard of a long sword. The scabbard, broader than that of a normal sword, was no doubt constructed to accommodate a special, rippling blade. 

When she read the characters stitched to adorn the back of the wimple, Yukina grew grave. 

“…Shinako…Kasugaya…” 

She could not sense the presence of a soul from the decomposing-yet-beautiful woman. She was most certainly dead. This showed that it was not possible for her to have been Onrai Island’s creator. 

There was only one person left on Onrai Island who was connected to Gisella— 

That instant, Yukina understood the whole of the secret Onrai Island kept hidden. 

She clenched her silver spear, captive to a sadness that had nowhere to go. 

It was the next moment that explosive demonic energy welled up outside the church, shaking Onrai Island. 

This was the power of Severing, which could rend the world itself asunder— 

This was demonic energy from a Beast Vassal of the Fourth Primogenitor. 

“C’mon over, Minelauva Iris—!” 

The enormous Valkyrie summoned by Kojou slammed her rainbow-colored sword of light into the barrier on the fifth stratum of the Carceri . The thick, bulwark-like barrier was shattered to smithereens with that single blow. 

Aftershocks from that slicing blow ferociously made the entire Carceri quake, causing walls and pillars propping up the fifth stratum to crumble. Fearful of being caught up in a cave-in, Kojou and the others hurried to advance deeper still. 

Shizuri looked back at the collapsing tunnel behind them as she spoke in a sober tone of voice. “…I had never imagined I would be entering the deepest part of the Carceri in a manner such as this.” 

She seemed to finally be accustomed to the mass destruction wrought by Kojou’s Beast Vassals. Her voice was neither angry nor exasperated, tinged only with an air of resignation. 

The area ahead, the cavern sealed by the bulwark, became a stonework chamber. It was by no means broad. In spite of that, Kojou’s vision grew hazy at the edges, making it unclear to the naked eye just how far they had yet to go—the chamber was strange like that. 

Kojou had heard that the interior of the bulwark was a nest of Debris, but none were present. The center of the open space contained only a single structure: a small building resembling a church. It seemed that this was the end point of the Carceri . 

“ Carceri …hmm,” Yuuma murmured. The gloomy way she spoke made Kojou and Shizuri turn toward her. 

“The word Carceri means ‘prison’ in Italian.” 

“…Prison?” 

Kojou and Shizuri glanced at each other’s faces. 

Had there truly been a nest of Debris in that place, neither would have questioned the term. A term for “prison” meaning a cage for Debris would have felt completely apt. 

However, there were no Debris. If they were purely under Kako Magatoki’s control, that was only natural. Then, who was being held captive in that prison…? 

A voice that seemed to have a sarcastic laugh mixed in provided the answer to Kojou’s question. 

“That’s right. And the person inside that prison…is a criminal.” 

A witch wearing a black dress as if she was in mourning emerged, seemingly melting into Kojou’s hazy vision. It was Kako Magatoki. 

“Instructor Magatoki…!” 

Shizuri instantly put her hand to the hilt of her sword. As she went on guard, Kako narrowed her eyes and looked back in amusement. 

“I don’t mind if you call me Kako.” 

“Oh shut up, you shitty instructor!” Kojou yelled, emphasizing his vile insult toward her. “So you’re the one controlling it all…the Larvae and the Debris and all the people of Onrai Island… I bet you’re the one who sent Miyazumi and Amase after us, too!” 

He locked eyes with Kako, and he glared at her the whole time. 

Through dispersal of nano- shikigami , she’d stolen the islanders’ memories and made them internalize the means of manipulating their senses. If the purpose was maintaining the prison barrier, no such function was necessary. In other words, the nano- shikigami existed not to construct Onrai Island, but they had been brought onto the island to hijack it . 

“Onrai Island is a much smaller place…a reproduction of Iroise’s scenery, a little peaceful world, wasn’t it? Larvae and Debris didn’t exist here. It’s you people who took it over, turning it into a scary place with the College of Magical Arts and the underground labyrinth, right?” 

“As that was what the sponsor hired me to do…,” Kako said without a single iota of guilt. From her words, Kojou knew that his deduction was correct. 

“Sponsor…?” 

“Yes. The magic known as a Prison Barrier is so convenient. No matter how much you kill or destroy, you can rebuild it over and over.” Kako languidly flipped up her dirty blond hair. “Thanks to that, it was easy to fulfill the sponsor’s request.” 

Her replying to Kojou’s questions so politely was not an action inspired by an amiable spirit. She spoke because knowing the truth would hurt Kojou and the others even more. 

“The request…was to instill despair in you. How did it feel to have your comrades die before your eyes one after the other?” 

“What did…you just say…?” Kojou let out a low growl. 

In the back of his mind arose the sights of Rui and Okurayama losing their lives right before him. Even if they were the virtual deaths of people who would return with magic, their fear and pain were real. If those things had been arranged solely to instill despair in Kojou, it was an altogether too heartless and cruel way to speak of them. 

Kako, for her part, calmly smiled as she gazed at the conflicted Kojou. 

“Perhaps you do not remember this, but you did not lose your comrades once or twice. You knew them for three months at the least, a half year at the most—comrades you had spent so much time getting to know have been taken from you, time and time again. That sense of loss, that despair, is carved into the very depths of your soul…becoming hatred toward the world itself.” 

“That’s what you… That’s all that you were…using Onrai Island for…?!” 

Kojou glared at Kako as he clenched his fists. The demonic energy he could not keep from trickling out became lightning that enveloped the entire area. 

“Rui?! Yuno—?!” 

As Kojou’s energy trickled out, Shizuri drew in a breath right beside him. 

From the mist blanketing the open area emerged the former members of the Kasugaya Squad, seemingly at Kako’s beck and call. Rui carried not his sniper rifle but twin pistols for close combat. For her part, Yuno was already wearing her armored gloves. Their emotionless eyes gazed at Kojou and Shizuri like they were enemies. 

“A fine expression, Shizuri Kasugaya Castiella.” Watching as the paladin subconsciously backed away, Kako nodded, full of satisfaction. 

Then, Kako summoned her third servant to that place. It was a small-statured figure, its entire body enveloped by a black robe. This was the enemy of unknown identity that had driven Kojou and the others into a corner in the Carceri . Its hand gripped the hilt of a single long sword still in its scabbard. 

“Unfortunately, Onrai Island has reached its limits. Therefore, I shall grant you despair one final time: despair known as the truth—or so they say!” she said with a giggle. 

The robed figure drew its sword. 

From the hilt, a crimson blade surged like a billowing flame. Shizuri just barely managed to block the shock wave unleashed by it with her own sword. Unable to fully dull the blow even so, Shizuri wobbled backward. 

“That attack… That’s impossible… Is that Hauras’s demonic energy release…?!” 

Shizuri’s voice trembled as she was still poised to block attacks. The robed figure was gripping a crimson long sword that was exactly like Shizuri’s down to the tiniest details. Its ability—devouring the demonic energy of the opponents it sliced, using it to augment its own might—was also the same. This was, without a shadow of a doubt, Hauras. 

The possessor of the new Hauras stripped off her pitch-black robe. 

Appearing from beneath it was a girl with features identical to Shizuri’s. 

She had white hair and blue eyes—and jade-colored horns jutting out from the sides of her head. The single difference was the black clothing. It was like looking at a mirror; Shizuri could not even raise her voice as she gazed at her other self. 

“Allow me to introduce the creator of Onrai Island—the real Shizuri Kasugaya Castiella.” Kako walked behind the Shizuri in black as she spoke. 

“The real…me…? Not Shinako…? The creator of Onrai Island is me…?!” 

Shizuri’s eyes wavered with fear. Dark Shizuri watched her eyes without any emotion in her own. 

Kojou and Yuuma watched in silence as the Shizuris faced off against each other. 

Kako raised an eyebrow with a questioning look. “You are not surprised, Kojou Akatsuki? I see; you must have realized it. I had forgotten that you are a pupil of Natsuki Minamiya…” Kako’s shoulders fell with an air of disappointment. 

Kojou made no reply. Kako’s words were…half right. 

The Prison Barrier magic employed by Natsuki Minamiya, constructing another realm within her own dream, was extremely specialized. The very nature of the magic meant that Natsuki herself had to remain sleeping within the barrier. In other words, the Natsuki that Kojou and others saw in their day-to-day reality was a double she had constructed through the use of magic. 

Onrai Island had been constructed using the same variety of magic as Prison Barrier. It was not strange that the creator of Onrai Island might have been controlling a double in the same fashion as Natsuki. 

Kojou had realized what Shizuri really was when he’d drunk her blood at the observation post. Yuuma and Natsuki, as witches, might well have realized at a far earlier stage. 

Even if she was a doll produced with demonic energy, as long as there was actual blood flowing through her veins to convey her life force, there was no hindrance to vampiric activity whatsoever. That was why Shizuri herself had not realized when he’d drunk her blood. 

She had not realized that she, herself, was the creator’s double— 

“A Prison Barrier is literally a dream created by its sleeping creator. You are a character appearing within that dream. You are a false paladin—your very existence is a fraud.” 

Kako continued, visibly mocking Shizuri. Dark Shizuri swung her own sword down toward her copy. 

“It is not only you that is a fraud. Yuno Amase, Rui Minazumi, all the people residing on Onrai Island— they are the haunting spirits!” 

“—?!” 

Shizuri blocked Dark Shizuri’s—the creator’s—attack with her sword, but it made a high, tinny sound as it snapped at the base. 

Still clenching her broken sword, Shizuri stumbled backward. Vitality had vanished from her face; her blue eyes were unfocused. 

“You could not accept the fact that Gisella—that Shinako Kasugaya—had been unable to protect the Iroise evacuees. That is why you built a new Demon Sanctuary of your very own, using the demonic energy from the Four Holy Beasts amassed within Hauras, you see.” 

The creator pointed her sword at Shizuri as the latter lost all will to fight. Kojou knew the color being given off by that blade. It was the same malignant radiance that had once covered the entire sky of Itogami Island—and the Demon Sanctuary of Iroise as well. It was the color of the Roses of Tartarus in bloom. 

“Here on Onrai Island, you wanted Kojou Akatsuki to be by your side until the very end, but there shall be no more of that. Shizuri Kasugaya Castiella shall be no more, slain by her own true self—” 

Kako’s words, seemingly to accentuate her fear, made Shizuri weakly shake her head. 

What rose in her eyes was despair. She knew that the world she’d believed in was a construct, and that she herself was a fraud, and the truth stabbed her in the gut. As proof, her own true self was right before her very eyes. 

No one could maintain their sanity under such conditions. 

With Shizuri’s movements halted, Rui quietly turned his gun barrels toward her. 

Lining up his aim with the defenseless Shizuri’s chest, he pulled the triggers. 

The bullets were exploded out with a roar, but something deflected them before they could reach Shizuri. An enormous diamond crystal had appeared right in front of her eyes. 

“—Like hell!!” 

Kojou leaped toward Rui, whose pistols spat fire in consecutive fashion. Every shot was impeded by the minute diamond crystals Kojou wore like armor over his entire body. 

Kojou’s fist connected with Rui’s chin, sending him flying backward. It was precisely because the opponent was his friend that Kojou had not held back. He knew Rui’s true strength better than anyone. If his initial surprise attack had failed, Kojou’s skill was insufficient to defeat Rui without injury. 

“I certainly do remember it clearly… The despair of losing people close to me, but…” 

As Kojou landed, Yuno launched a mighty spinning kick toward him. Her kick, augmented by her boots, was blocked by Kojou’s crossed arms. He didn’t forget to move an extra step closer to Yuno and glide past the point of impact. It was Yuno herself who had taught him that over and over in training. 

“Despair isn’t the only thing Onrai Island taught me. Thanks to that, I got to know these people, who I wouldn’t have met otherwise in my normal life. Attack Mage training was a fresh and interesting experience, too.” 

Kojou smiled ferociously, a sight Shizuri gazed at with astonishment. Oh, come on , thought Kojou, inwardly exasperated. If Rui and Yuno were in proper form, that’d be another thing, but there was no reason for Kojou to lose to them while they were merely being controlled. Even if it did happen within a dream, the time he’d spent with them was real enough to him. 

Yuno spun in midair, but what was thrust at him were both of her palms. It was a tricky, blunt-force maneuver that was Yuno’s personal specialty, Lion King Fist Number Four: Clawed Star— 

“I know that move, too! Don’t underestimate Kasugaya Squad’s porter!” 

Kojou swatted down Yuno’s attack with a demonic-energy-infused fist. Smacked into the ground back-first, Yuno’s small body bounced off it. 

“K-Kojou…?!” 

Shizuri stiffened in shock. No doubt she’d never even dreamed that Kojou could overwhelm Rui and Yuno to that degree. 

“Geez,” he said quietly, exhaling as he turned toward Shizuri, who continued standing in a daze. “And enough with that sorry look on your face!” 

“Unyaa!!” 

When Kojou grabbed her horns, Shizuri straightened her back and let out a silly-sounding yelp. 

“Maybe your body is a fraud, made from demonic energy, but that doesn’t mean who you are on the inside is a fraud, too, dammit! To me, you’re the real Shizuri Kasugaya, and I won’t let anyone tell me otherwise! Who can say the personality living her heart out inside a dream is the fraud, and the one watching the dream is the real one?!” 

Keeping both hands thrust into Shizuri’s wimple, Kojou peered into Shizuri’s face. Her eyes, previously in a daze, had regained their vitality. 

“You should take more pride in a dream built to save other people. And whoever tries to use what you made for stupid despair or whatever, I’ll smash ’em flat!” 

Kojou took his hands off Shizuri. However, Shizuri did not wobble. She stood firmly on her own two legs, glaring at the creator that was her own originator. 

“Tee-hee,” Yuuma giggled, passively observing, letting out a giggle full of satisfaction. Perhaps in Shizuri, she recognized herself, having once lost her own way only to be similarly lectured by Kojou. 

He turned around and glared at Kako. He curled up the corners of his lips in an impetuous smile, baring his fangs. 

“Now, let’s get this show started, you shitty teacher… From here on, this is my fight!” 

Kako’s face twitched as Kojou’s glare seemed to shoot right through her. 

The change took only the tiniest of moments. Yet, that very second the Witch of the Dusk had tangibly lost her composure. Noticeably ashamed of that, Kako activated a large-scale spell. 

From an enormous gate, Debris spawned—wanderers of the Carceri , Beast Vassals without a host. 

But a silver flash cut those malevolent monsters down. 

They had not been destroyed; they had been dissipated. The demonic energy that had brought the Debris into being had vanished as if it had never been there to begin with. In truth, the flash that felled the Debris was a small girl wielding a silver spear. 

“No, Senpai. This is our fight—!” 

Yukina Himeragi, emerging from within the white mist, was surrounded by a serene aura as she glared sternly toward Kako. 

7 

“Himeragi, sorry I’m late.” His eyes on her, Kojou spoke briefly—bluntly and short of an actual apology. 

“Yes. I was delayed in freeing myself as well.” 

Yukina’s reply was brief as well. Her voice seemed to proclaim she saw right through precisely how much Kojou had been hurt and how much he had repeatedly pushed himself beyond reason to arrive at that place. 

The pair understood each other without a need for words. It left Yuuma making a pained smile and Shizuri dumbfounded—or perhaps it was an exasperated expression rising over her. 

“This time, I am just a tiny bit angry myself.” Yukina shifted a glacial stare toward Kako. 

Kako made a face as if she wanted to click her tongue. It seemed she had a good idea why Yukina would be so upset. 

Without warning, Yukina swung her spear toward the space behind her. With a dazzling flash, the single arc she traced rent the misty air covering the church at the center of the open space. 

This was not one of the powers of Yukina’s spear. The abilities of Snowdrift Wolf were to nullify demonic energy and to rend any kind of barrier. The might to slice space itself apart was utterly beyond it. 

However, this was an alternate realm constructed from demonic energy. Snowdrift Wolf’s ability to nullify demonic energy was the same as the power to erase the world itself. 

“I am the one who watches him. You abducted Akatsuki-senpai without my knowledge. You created artificial despair in an attempt to hurt Senpai. And even here and now, you continue to deceive Miss Kasugaya!” 

As Yukina swung her spear, the mist brightened, and the world it hid came into view. 

This was the seventh stratum of the Carceri , the deepest portion, said to have been visited by none. 

Ahead of the stonework chamber was green-covered earth brimming with flowers. Upon a gentle slope, a great throng of people lay with their eyes closed. Their numbers surely comfortably exceeded five thousand souls. 

They looked like dead waiting to be buried, but Kojou realized that they wore peaceful expressions. 

They were merely asleep. 

They were simply dreaming— 

“The residents of Onrai Island are not haunting spirits. They are just like Miss Kasugaya. They are here in the deepest part of Onrai Island, continuing to dream.” 

Having finished destroying the barrier, Yukina stabbed her spear into the ground. 

Kako touched her hand to her cheek, annoyed. Even so, she made no effort to repudiate Yukina’s words. 

To save six thousand evacuees from Iroise’s destruction, Gisella had employed the Prison Barrier ritual, transferring the people into the barrier world. 

Likely, Shinako Kasugaya was the one to prepare the Prison Barrier. All Shizuri had done was carry on the caster’s—Shinako’s—will, taking over control of the demonic energy maintaining that barrier. 

But with Shinako’s death, Shizuri was unable to unlock the barrier world and free the people within. And for that six-year span of time, Onrai Island had persisted, adrift in another realm. 

Meaning, it was Kako Magatoki, the Witch of the Dusk, who had located Onrai Island and used nano- shikigami to carry out her own objectives. 

“What Miss Kasugaya did was not futile at all. She saved the evacuees of Iroise…as a Paladin of Gisella.” 

A crack ran along the surface of the ground at Yukina’s feet. The earth of Onrai Island quaked ferociously. 

The propagation of the anti-nano- shikigami spread by Asagi and Lydianne, as well as Yukina’s destruction of the barrier, had accelerated the destruction of that world. There was but one additional condition necessary to liberate the barrier world—waking up Shizuri, the creator. 

“So that…was the reality all along.” 

A sigh trickled out from Shizuri’s lips. Gradually, it changed into laughter. It was the voice of the normal Shizuri Kasugaya: as dead serious as she was domineering, enough to think her wholly impertinent yet meddlesome and soft-hearted to the core. 

“Even if it is inside a dream, I am myself. I have finally had my fill of continuing to sleep. It is high time to smack myself awake with my own two hands!” 

Shizuri strongly gripped her sword hilt with both hands. The long sword supposedly broken off at its base was enveloped in a crimson radiance that restored it to its former state. In truth, Onrai Island was the dream of its creator. In other words, it was a world where reality was what Shizuri, an offshoot of its creator, willed it to be. That moment, the creator’s power to influence that world was exceeded by Shizuri’s own. 

“Goodness… It seems I’ve somewhat failed. I really had thought I’d finally obtained a wonderful laboratory…” 

Kako languidly shook her head. Her words were no admission of guilt toward Kojou and the others. Even though she rued not having quit while she was ahead, she surely did not have the slightest intention of ceasing resistance and surrendering. 

Her use of the word laboratory made her position crystal clear. She was a former officer of LCO. Apparently, she too remained loyal to the tenets she learned from LCO’s self-righteous sorcerers: that there was nothing too criminal or taboo if it was for the sake of their own research. 

“So on that note—or so I would like to say, but it would seem you will not let me escape.” 

Pulling a grimoire out from thin air, Kako opened it with a callous smile. 

At the same time Kako activated her magic, malevolent demonic energy gushed out of the sword of the creator—the Shizuri in black clothing. This energy became a vortex above Kako’s and the others’ heads, transforming into an enormous beast. It was a ferocious, three-headed dog tens of meters in length. It was a pitch-black Debris with flames swirling around it. 

“That’s a…Debris…?! What’s this demonic energy…?!” 

Looking up at the rampaging, ferocious, pitch-black hound, Kojou’s eyes grew grave. 

This phantom beast was beyond the scale of what a Witch could summon as a familiar. Its vast demonic energy rivaled the Beast Vassals of the primogenitors themselves. Also, Kojou knew of beings that greatly resembled them. 

“I see… Debris are actually Tartarus Lapse’s Beast Vassals!” 

Kojou’s shocked exclamation made Kako smile and nod. Kako was calling forth the power of the Four Holy Beasts’ demonic energy—which Shinako Kasugaya had sealed with Hauras at the cost of her life—and controlling them as so-called Debris. 

Yuuma spoke as she walked in front of Kojou. “This world is on the border of day and night, life and death, dream and reality… Controlling those things is her true power. That is why they call her the Witch of the Dusk, She Who Rules the Twilight.” 

Behind her slowly arose the form of a faceless blue knight. Yuuma’s duty was to hunt LCO remnants. Capturing Kako had been her original objective. 

“Correct, Witch of the Blue. Beast Vassals without hosts and varieties of undead are all my faithful servants, you see,” Kako said, displeased. She’d no doubt realized that Yuuma, a witch on the same level as her, had commanded her own Guardian to interfere with Kako’s spatial manipulation. 

Unless and until Kako defeated Yuuma, she could not leave Onrai Island. Kako’s plan, running away while her Debris ran amok, had already fizzled out. 

That being the case, Kako’s option for her next action was limited to one. 

“Crepuscule!” 

Kako summoned her own Guardian. Its entire body was covered in black mist. It was a devil’s vassal with the appearance of a skeleton. Gripped in its hands was an enormous scythe reminiscent of that of a Grim Reaper. The monster, resembling a devilish creature that appeared during the twilight, suited the Witch of the Dusk well. 

“Kojou, I’m leaving the summoned beast to you. She’s mine—!” 

Yuuma ordered the blue knight to attack. Its downward-swinging sword was swallowed up by thin air, with the blade alone protruding from the air at Kako’s back. It was a surprise attack using spatial manipulation. Even a master could not see it coming, yet Kako evaded the blow with incredible reaction speed. 

“…?!” 

The giant scythe blow unleashed by Crepuscule was in turn just barely blocked by the blue knight. As the blue knight was thrown heavily off balance, Kako’s Guardian added another fierce attack. 

“Snowdrift Wolf!” 

With Yuuma’s Guardian backed into a corner, Yukina gave support, assaulting Kako’s Guardian from the flank. Yet, the Grim Reaper easily parried aside even this, slicing toward Yukina in turn. 

Yukina defended against that attack, moving as if she knew it was coming in advance. The special ability of the Sword Shamans of the Lion King Agency was to peer a brief moment into the future. Even with that Future Sight ability, she could not keep track of Kako’s Guardian. Yukina and Yuuma’s tag team was just barely fending off Crepuscule’s slicing attacks, too vicious for the naked eye to track. 

For his part, Kojou did not have the luxury of lending the pair his support. 

The pitch-black Debris was rampaging above the six thousand evacuees that remained asleep. 

It was no doubt Kako’s original intent to have the Debris assault the evacuees, using the opportunity to flee. Cor-Tauri Succinum, Al-Nasl Minium, and Dabih Crystallus—Kojou had summoned the three Beast Vassals comparatively suited to defense to fend off the Debris, yet even so, it took everything he had just to keep harm from befalling the evacuees. Thanks to the cross fire of flame spewed out from the creature’s three heads, he didn’t have a clue how to counterattack. Such underhanded means were very much like Kako. 

“Miss Yuuma! The book the Witch of the Dusk possesses is most likely a temporal manipulation ritual grimoire!” 

Yukina endured the Grim Reaper’s attacks as she conveyed the information she’d gleaned from The Blood. 

“Temporal manipulation ritual?! I see; she’s accelerating herself—!” 

Comprehension rose into Yuuma’s eyes. 

Kako’s Guardian specialized in manipulating others, so there had to be no way it was combat-oriented. The proof was in the fact that its one-sided onslaught had failed to defeat Yuuma and Yukina. 

What made Kako’s Guardian a menace was its overwhelming speed—and, now that they knew it was the grimoire granting it, coming up with a countermeasure was not all that difficult. 

“Le Bleu!” 

Along with her Guardian, Yuuma vanished from sight, only to appear above Kako’s head. Then, swinging an arm downward, Yuuma unleashed an invisible shock wave. 

It was a surprise attack delivered from a blind spot, yet Kako’s Grim Reaper easily obstructed it. 

“A teleport and a shock wave created by spatial contortion? It’s like a cheap knock-off of Natsuki Minamiya. Do you truly intend to capture me with borrowed power?” 

Kako spoke to Yuuma in a taunting tone of voice. Yuuma used a second teleport to put distance between herself and Kako. At first glance, Yuuma’s attack had been completely meaningless, a futile expenditure of demonic energy. And yet… 

“I don’t deny that it’s borrowed power, but you’re wrong, Kako Magatoki!” 

Yuuma touched a hand to the ground at her own feet. Demonic energy coursed atop the stonework, changing only a portion of their surface to a different color. Emerging over them were characters arranged in meticulous lines—text recorded in a grimoire. 

“The original wielder of my power isn’t Master Minamiya, it’s Aya Tokoyogi—Kako Magatoki, you’ve let me see your grimoire!” 

The lines of text completely materialized, sending a powerful surge of demonic energy scattering about. 

A so-called grimoire was an “object of power” that had accumulated its own demonic energy through powerful thoughts from people over long months and years. Under normal circumstances, merely copying the text did not grant the power in and of itself. Yet, in spite of this, the lines of text Yuuma had written were emitting a surge equal to Kako’s own grimoire. 

“Grimoire reproduction?! I see, because you are the Witch of the Notaria’s daughter…!” 

Kako’s expression twisted in unease. Yuuma’s mother—Aya Tokoyogi, dubbed the Witch of the Notaria—possessed the power to reproduce any grimoire from her own memories. 

Through using a copy of the temporal manipulation ritual, Yuuma was canceling out Kako’s magic. This returned Kako’s Guardian from its accelerated state back to the normal flow of time. 

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

Using that momentary opportunity, Yukina danced, her lips weaving a solemn chant. Explosive ritual energy coursed into her silver spear, further amplifying the ritual engraved within. 

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

Yukina’s demonic-energy-nullifying spear became a flash of light, running Kako’s Guardian clean through. Kako let out an incredibly anguished cry from the pain coursing backward from the devil’s familiar. 

In that instant, the attacks from the Debris under Kako’s control came to a halt. To Kojou, searching for an opportunity to counterattack, his long-awaited moment had arrived. 

“C’mon over, Regulus Aurum—!” 

Kojou’s newly summoned Beast Vassal became a bolt of lightning, punching through the pitch-black Debris. 

The Debris’s sundered flesh became countless black rose petals dancing in the sky, all of them gradually crumbling to dust and vanishing into thin air. 

“It’s over, teach…” 

Breathing raggedly, Kojou turned back and looked at Kako, on the ground with an anguished expression. Somehow, Yukina and Yuuma were safe and sound. Both were pretty exhausted, but he couldn’t see any eye-catching external wounds. 

However, Kojou had no time to feel relieved. Onrai Island’s ground began to quake. 

The vast demonic energy maintaining the barrier having dissipated, it had finally begun to collapse. 

As Kojou and the others swallowed and watched, Shizuri addressed the creator. “It’s time to wake up, isn’t it, Shizuri?” 

The girls with white hair raised their swords against each other. The pair’s poses were mirror images, perfectly identical. 

The girls cautiously closed the distance, simultaneously raising their swords high. 

That instant, a holy chant quietly flowed from the white-clothed Shizuri’s mouth. 

“—This fang is the light rending our darkness. This breath is the flame that sweeps away evil. Thy name is that of the fire-eating snake. Born from the soul of a Saint, thy blade is immutable.” 

It was a holy chant permitted only to a Paladin of Gisella, true wielder of the secret armament, Hauras. When, for the first time, Shizuri spoke those words of her own volition, the eyes of the creator—the other Shizuri—faintly wavered. 

Who moved first? 

The girls’ swords swung downward. The pair’s forms overlapped, becoming a single silhouette. 

That instant, Kojou’s and the others’ fields of vision were dyed white. 

The ground at their feet vanished, enveloping them with a floating feeling. 

A powerful sense of dizziness and disorientation assaulted them. It felt like they were falling without end. 

It was as if Onrai Island had awoken from a very long dream. 

Kojou could not see either Shizuri. He did not know the outcome of their battle. 

But just before he lost consciousness from the impact, Kojou was certain that he’d heard her voice. 

“Victory is ours,” she said.