Strike the Blood - Volume 17 - Chapter 3

CHAPTER THREE 

THE BROKEN HOLY SPEAR 

1 

In a lantern-lit room in a building resembling a Shinto temple, three figures sat facing each other. 

One was a young woman who hid her face behind a thin silk fabric that resembled a veil. She was wearing a priestess outfit luxuriously decorated with gemstones and gold leaf. This was Koyomi Shizuka, aka Paper Noise. She was one of the Three Saints at the head of the Lion King Agency, said to be feared even by the vampire primogenitors. 

Sitting to Koyomi’s right was a small-statured girl with pure-white hair. This was Shirona Kuraki, another of the Three Saints. Her attire was that of a monk, colored white and black with an assortment of showy symbols. 

“So a Schneewaltzer has been lost, then? This has become rather troublesome.” 

Shirona spoke with a tone reminiscent of an old woman’s. This indicated that she was speaking not as the girl she currently looked like, but as the will of the Kuraki, passed down generation upon generation. 

“The situation?” Koyomi asked this of the last of the Three Saints of the Lion King Agency, an enormous man in a black ceremonial court robe situated to her left. Munechika Hedate was his name. 

Among the humans gathered in that place, he was the eldest, yet he displayed no sign of taking the pair of girls lightly. Koyomi and Shirona not only were born from families that had served the Lion King Agency since antiquity, but were acknowledged as possessing the intellect and might worthy of the title of Three Saints. 

“Apprentice Sword Shaman Yukina Himeragi, together with her target for observation, the Fourth Primogenitor, came into contact with a demon beast. The damage seems to have been incurred during subsequent combat. The circumstances are detailed in this report.” 

Koyomi handed a small LCD screen to Shirona and Hedate each. Taking these, the pair mentally read the thoughts inscribed into the liquid crystals via psychometry. The fact everyone present was a high-end psychic made such exchanges possible. 

“A demon beast, is it?” Shirona murmured curtly. Is not combat with a demon beast, an action Yukina Himeragi took on her own personal judgment, removed from the mission of watching the Fourth Primogenitor? was her implicit message. 

Given that engaging in demon beast countermeasures was the Bureau of Astrology’s jurisdiction, Shirona’s criticism was certainly not off the mark. However, Koyomi quietly shook her head. 

“The Fourth Primogenitor was already engaged in combat with the demon beast. Yukina Himeragi’s response was within the parameters of her mission. I cannot accept reprimanding her for conduct in violation of her mission, even for the use of the Schneewaltzer.” 

“Does this mean you find some fault in the Type Seven’s maintenance?” Hedate inquired. His words represented the opinion of the engineering team leading weapons development for the Lion King Agency. The loss of the Schneewaltzer had come as a particularly heavy blow to them. 

But Koyomi weightily dismissed his words. “Her Type Seven underwent a complete overhaul immediately following the Onrai Island incident. I believe a deep deficiency in maintenance in such a brief span of time is highly unlikely.” 

“Then does the problem lie in a deficiency in the wielder’s skill?” Shirona probed. 

“No. I absolutely would not put it in such terms.” 

Koyomi took out a fresh electronic tablet device in reply to Shirona’s misgivings. What was displayed upon it was not top-secret information. They were readings from a public utility spiritual energy sensor built on Itogami Island. 

However, neither Shirona nor Hedate could conceal their surprise when they saw the readout. 

“Are these numbers genuine?” Hedate asked in disbelief. 

“Multiple measuring devices placed on Itogami Island gave identical readings,” Koyomi replied, calmly stating the facts. 

“Hmm.” Shirona narrowed her eyes, amused. 

“This easily surpasses Type Seven’s design limits.” 

“This is no doubt the cause of the damage. The Type Seven was unable to withstand Yukina Himeragi’s amount of spiritual energy, on par with a Faux-Angel.” 

“Yes, I see.” 

Shirona nodded, and even Hedate fell into an accepting silence. 

When Yukina had used the Schneewaltzer, her amount of spiritual energy had already exceeded human limits. Such a level should have already caused an upper-dimensional shift to occur from the spiritual energy running amok, resulting in her dissipation. Thanks to becoming the Fourth Primogenitor’s virtual Blood Vassal, she had escaped dissipation, but the warping caused by such coercive means was surely linked to the damage to the Schneewaltzer. 

“Now, then… It is regrettable that our Lion King Agency has lost a precious Schneewaltzer, but there is a more urgent matter to attend to. How should we deal with the Fourth Primogenitor, I wonder?” 

Recovering from his surprise, Hedate brought them back to the original matter for discussion, his tone calm and befitting the elder he was. 

The Schneewaltzer was the Lion King Agency’s secret weapon, a purging spear able to destroy even a vampire primogenitor. The observer they had granted this to was eternally at the Fourth Primogenitor’s side, and it was this situation—having the tip of a lethal blade constantly pressed against the Fourth Primogenitor’s throat—that reassured the leaders of the Japanese government about his existence. 

However, now that this blade had been lost, the situation would greatly change. 

Shirona sighed. “There are two other wielders of Type Seven—but neither can commit to monitoring the Fourth Primogenitor at all times.” 

The spear dubbed Snowdrift Wolf was not the only Schneewaltzer in the Lion King Agency’s possession. However, the other wielders had been dispatched to Oshu and Izumo; the menaces the Lion King Agency had to face head-on were not limited to the Fourth Primogenitor alone. 

“However, Type Six and Type Six-Plus aren’t strong enough to face a vampire primogenitor,” Hedate murmured bitterly as he closed his eyes. 

This meant the area suppression weapon Der Freischötz and its mass production models, Freikugel Plus and Rosen Chevalier Plus. Both were divine armaments effective even against high-end vampires but did not have the capability to destroy a primogenitor. At best, they could only neutralize one temporarily, making them markedly inferior to the Schneewaltzer in that regard. 

“Excluding the already scrapped Type Zero, the ones potentially capable of dealing with a primogenitor would be Type Nine, and the experimental stage Type Sixteen, but…” 

Koyomi gently declined the suggestions. “Type Nine is a divine armament for mass combat. It is unsuitable for a Sword Shaman, premised upon individual action, let alone for the watcher of the Fourth Primogenitor.” 

Hedate stroked his chin, understanding this full well. “But Type Sixteen is not yet at a level usable in actual combat, is it?” 

“Correct.” 

“Then what shall we do?” 

“I believe we should employ Type Thirteen,” came Koyomi’s emotionless suggestion. 

What made her words difficult to deal with was not the brevity of them but that she had invoked the name of a particularly dangerous prototype divine armament. 

Hedate closed his eyes. “I suppose we have no choice. Who will wield it?” 

Shirona’s lips curled upward into a sarcastic smile. “Granting Yukina Himeragi the Type Thirteen on top of a Type Seven will no doubt be greeted with dissatisfaction. It will not be amusing for us if people think of Endou’s apprentices as the only excelling ones.” 

“This has been coming since the instant they realized the position of the Fourth Primogenitor’s observer was a plum position, I take it?” 

Yukari Endou had been the only one in favor of sending a prime prospect pupil of hers to watch over the Fourth Primogenitor, a duty once seen as on par with human sacrifice. However, the Fourth Primogenitor had averted the danger of the war of the primogenitors, and now that he was considered the proper liege of his own Dominion, the value of the title of his watcher had changed dramatically. 

That meant Yukari’s and Yukina Himeragi’s influence had increased, and more than a few people had belatedly sensed danger from this shift. 

“But what a pity. Yukina Himeragi has built such a good relationship with the Fourth Primogenitor.” Shirona lowered her eyes in regret. 

Koyomi silently concurred. As a matter of fact, to date, Yukina had produced results beyond their highest expectations. In particular, her adopting the intimate position of his companion so swiftly was, as far as the Lion King Agency was concerned, a most auspicious miscalculation. 

Understanding this full well, Hedate solemnly shook his head. “It would seem Representative Oshima is dissatisfied with this.” 

“…Does he believe there is a possibility she will betray the Japanese government?” Koyomi’s tone was icy. 

Yukina Himeragi had no blood relatives. She knew that, thanks to this, some were spreading baseless rumors that she might betray the Lion King Agency someday. 

Koyomi could only call such reasoning foolish. 

History was rife with examples of relatives sharing the same blood coming to despise one another; similarly, it was not rare for strangers to form bonds deeper than that with one’s own siblings or parents. Her mentor, Yukari Endou, and the friends who had studied at High God Forest with her—one might say that the Lion King Agency itself was Yukina’s blood relative and, as such, were the fetters that bound her. To doubt her loyal spirit was to attempt to shatter those bonds themselves—a foolish action indeed. 

Perhaps his view was near to that of Koyomi’s, for Hedate shifted his argument ever so slightly as he replied. “Until now, he had not put it in quite these terms, but he harbors doubts toward our power to hold the Fourth Primogenitor in check.” 

“Meaning, aside from the issue of combat capabilities, then? And so, what of Yuiri Haba? The man is easy to read.” Shirona made a small, scornful laugh. 

Hedate did not reply to her. Rather, he turned directly toward Koyomi’s silk-covered face. 

“Lady Shizuka, your thoughts?” 

“It may not be necessary to rush to a conclusion. No, if anything, this is an answer that the three of us should come to by ourselves,” she replied, doing her best to evade the real point. 

“Ah. I see.” 

“Understood.” 

Shirona and Hedate nodded, seemingly comprehending all. 

Yukina Himeragi was still of use to them. That was Koyomi’s message. 

2 

“Those were deeply intriguing images.” 

He gazed down at the beautiful nighttime landscape from the top floor of a skyscraper. Sitting in a leather office chair, the man curled the corners of his lips up in satisfaction. 

He was a light-skinned Asian man characterized by gentle eyes and his slight, seemingly ever-present smile. He was Shahryar Ren—president of Magna Ataraxia Research, one of the world’s few international sorcerous corporate conglomerates. 

Beneath his eyes spread the streets of the special administrative district of the Five Dynasties, Bauhinia. 

Blessed with a fine natural harbor, it was a free trading city with dense construction and an equally dense population. Somehow, the lively air resembled that of the Far East Demon Sanctuary of Itogami Island. It was the richest city in East Asia, and MAR’s global headquarters. 

“Temporarily or not, fending off the Fourth Primogenitor’s Beast Vassals displays higher capabilities than anticipated. Causing cells to go hyperactive via absorption of magical energy—it would seem that the validity of your theory has been amply proven.” 

Tilting his crystal brandy glass, Ren pleasantly aired his thoughts. 

The holographic screen atop the desk was displaying the unknown demon beast that had appeared on Itogami Island. 

It had beaten away the Island Guard’s perimeter, broken the Bureau of Astrology’s spell, absorbed the spiritual energy of a spiritual reactor, and given the Fourth Primogenitor a very hard time of it. The video had recorded the incident from start to finish. 

Of course, such information had not been released to the public. A video like this was absolutely unobtainable except by someone who was lurking there and recording it at the time. 

A man and a woman regarded Ren with politeness that could not conceal their tension and delight. 

“We are deeply honored, President.” 

“The knowledge we gained concerning that project served its purpose well.” 

They were probably twin brother and sister. They wore matching white gowns, and their heights and faces greatly resembled each other. They appeared to be around twenty years old. In contrast to their long, simple bangs and their plain outfits, the glimmer in their eyes somehow shined with the ambition that came from engineers alone. 

“The Primogenitor of the End… Project: The Blood, is it?” Ren murmured with deep longing, gazing at the moon through the skylight. 

MAR’s Itogami Laboratory had obtained a cell sample of a certain artificial vampire. The technology from the Devas they had obtained from those cells had been employed in that Unknown. 

“However, Mr. President, are you truly all right with this?” 

“The surfacing of the experimental subject and the forced halt of the spiritual reactor have caused no small amount of damage to our corporation…” 

The twin engineers timidly sought Ren’s confirmation. 

Itogami Island’s Island North, the point where the Unknown had surfaced, held more than a few facilities connected to MAR. Though there had not been any casualties, the delays in shipments and the insufficiency of spiritual energy associated with the shutdown of the spiritual reactor were deeply reflected on the business side of the ledger. The loss in share value could not have been slight. 

“I do not mind. Chaos and fear are the very reasons Demon Sanctuaries exist. The existence of the experimental subject has surely inflicted quite a jolt to every sorcerous manufacturing corporation. Just how far will this hasten the development of human technology…? Considering this, the smashing of an artificial isle or two is a small price to pay.” 

“Y-yes, sir.” 

The president of MAR’s reply, made in a detached tone, caused the twins to straighten their backs, their adoration evident. The gleam in their eyes grew sharper and more dazzling still. Ren smiled, loving that glimmer, which seemed akin to madness. 

“Ah, yes. The Gigafloat Management Corporation has deemed that the experimental subject shall be referred to as IX-4. Subsequently, we shall defer to their decision.” 

“IX-4…” 

“The fourth subject of Grade Nine.” 

The twins nodded in apparent pride. 

Unknown demon beasts were assigned a danger metric graded on a scale from one to ten. Their demon beast had been acknowledged as posing a menace next only to Grade Ten’s Leviathan—a living creature created by the gods themselves. Furthermore, IX-4 was in the middle of growing. 

“Now then, thanks to the labors of the Fourth Primogenitor, our IX-4 has fallen into a state of sleep. I take it this does not mean all is finished?” Ren teasingly narrowed his eyes, gazing at the twins with an expectant expression. 

“Of course not.” 

“The plan for the experimental subject’s…er, IX-4’s new evolution is already under way. We are likely to be able to report good news within seventy-two hours.” 

“I see. I am looking forward to it. I expect much from you.” 

“Thank you very much.” 

Bowing with ferocious smiles, the twin engineers left the room. Ren watched them go with an artificially smiling face from which his true emotions could not be read. 

Exactly when the twins had completely left, the air behind Ren shimmered. Having completely concealed his presence up to that point, Ren’s secretary came into view seemingly out of thin air. 

He was a young man wearing a tailcoat more suited to a butler than a secretary. 

“I beg your pardon, President. I come bearing a message from Laboratory Chief Mimori Akatsuki,” said the secretary without any elaborate preamble. 

Ren made a thin, pained smile. “Chief Akatsuki? What does she want now?” 

The secretary nodded, replying with a slight hesitation in his words. “She…says she wishes to make use of the stake.” 

“…The stake?” There was genuine surprise in Ren’s voice. 

However, he cleared that hesitance away in an instant as he began to understand what Mimori Akatsuki was asking of him, especially at this precise time. His expression shifted to one of amusement. 

“So that is what it is. Certainly, we do not wish for the Empire of the Dawn to be weakened by this situation.” 

“Then—” 

“Yes, I permit it. Tell her that she may use her authority as she pleases.” 

“As you wish.” The secretary courteously bowed. It was a gesture completely devoid of openings. 

“Ahh, that’s right. Incidentally, how is his mood?” 

Just as the secretary was ready to erase his presence and vanish, Ren called out to him on a whim. 

The reply came immediately: “I wouldn’t quite call it superb, but he appears considerably satisfied with the current demon beast incident. It fulfills his desire to drill the Fourth Primogenitor, after all.” 

“That is good.” 

Ren smiled with a sober expression. The secretary’s presence had vanished, but Ren was tempted to hold him back no longer. 

“Now, then. So far, all according to plan. If there is one wildcard, it is this girl’s existence.” 

The video on the holographic screen atop the desk was paused, still displaying the Unknown. Looking up at the demon beast from directly in front was a girl wearing a high school uniform. 

The girl glared at the demon beast, seemingly taming it with her eyes, which glowed like a crimson flame. 

“This vampire with the same face as Yukina Himeragi…Who is she?” Shahryar Ren murmured to himself, posing the question to no one in particular. 

He gazed at the transparent ice in his glass, as if thinking of the artificial isle floating on the Pacific Ocean far, far away. 

3 

“Kikimora?” 

Asagi’s eyes opened wide as she stared at Kojou. 

They were on the third floor of the special classroom building. It was an empty classroom that should have been slated for the Demon Sanctuary Research Club. 

Thanks to the Dem-Club not having been recognized as a proper school club, it was only the trio of Asagi, Yaze, and Kojou gathered there. Since they couldn’t use the air-conditioning, they were burning up. 

Amid the languid glare of afternoon sunrays, Asagi, the collar of her uniform boldly open, drew her face to Kojou’s with an oddly serious expression. 

“She really said that? Kikimora?” 

“Yeah.” Kojou subtly averted his gaze from Asagi’s collar as he nodded. 

That was whom Fake Yukina had stolen Kojou’s cell phone to speak to. Since it had been one brief instant, he suspected the possibility he might have misheard, but Asagi’s strangely serious reaction put that notion to rest. 

“You know about it, Asagi?” Yaze stared at her, surprised by how unexpectedly quickly Asagi had bit. 

“Well, yeah,” she said, sourly twisting her lips. “Kikimora is a codename for an AI I was developing as a hobby.” 

“…AI?” 

Kojou and Yaze shared a glance with rather dumbfounded expressions. Rather than Kikimora being the name of an AI, the fact a high school girl had developed something like that as a hobby was what took them aback. 

However, Asagi paid no heed to their bewilderment as she puffed her chest out with a small measure of pride. 

“Yes. Version Seven of the Spriggan Series. Compared to Mogwai’s all-purpose capabilities, Kikimora was designed to be specialized for hacking and electronic warfare.” 

“Hacking…,” Kojou said, beginning to understand. “I see, that’s how Fake Himeragi was able to stop the spiritual reactor, then?” 

Asagi pressed her cheek against her palm as her other hand operated her favorite smartphone, checking the activities of the AI. 

“Yeah, that’s left here in Kikimora’s activity log. But this is messed up. There’s no way this could happen.” 

The way Asagi vigorously shook her head made Kojou prompt back in a daze, “Wh-what?” 

“Information about Kikimora hasn’t been released publicly yet. No one should know about it except me. There’s no way she could have even known Kikimora existed. On top of that, she’s been assigned administrator rights. I mean, what the hell?!” 

“Er, even if you ask me that…” 

“There’s zero intrusion attempts logged. There’s no sign of retaliatory measures. Nothing triggered the firewall or the quantum labyrinth. Don’t tell me it was through a security hole left in the module I wrote? To think someone could do that besides me… Really got me good!” 

“Wait. For now, just calm down, Asagi.” 

With Asagi’s irritation bare, Kojou felt like he was dealing with a ferocious beast as he earnestly tried to soothe her. Apparently someone helping herself to the AI she’d built in complete secrecy had been a spectacular blow to Asagi’s pride. She had none of her usual composure. 

“Errr, could you do the same thing Fake Himeragi did?” 

“Of course. Who do you think made Kikimora in the first place?” Asagi replied to Kojou’s rude question with such force, she practically bit his head off. 

“Then what about if you taught someone how to use it?” 

“Why or how could I ever teach Himeragi’s impostor how to do something like that…?” 

“It’s just a hypothetical. Could you?” 

With Asagi glaring at him so close to his own face, Kojou was fairly rattled. 

Asagi touched a hand to her lip. “Mmm,” she went, sinking into thought. “Well, it’s not impossible. She’d have to have the latest supercomputer architecture and would have to know the custom programming language I used to design it, though.” 

“…I don’t really follow, but I gather it’s close to impossible.” 

Kojou had a mild headache as he shook his head. Though she showed little appreciation of the fact, Asagi, known as the Priestess of Cain, seemed to be from another dimension compared to normal information technologists—practically a goddess on Earth. At the very least, to break the security of a program she designed required both being an engineer on Asagi’s level and knowledge before the fact. 

He didn’t think Fake Yukina, appearing on Itogami Island no more than two or three short days prior, was afforded any such opportunity. Still, the fact remained that she’d controlled Kikimora. 

However, Asagi sighed as if blowing all those concerns away. 

“Oh well. The result is, thanks to her, a huge spread of the damage was prevented, and I’ve taken Kikimora’s administrator rights back.” 

Kojou seized his chance to force a change in subject. 

“So what happened with the demon beast? This IX-4 thingie…” 

“The Island Guard is monitoring it around the clock,” Yaze replied, “but there’s no sign of it waking up at the moment. It’d be great if it just played nice forever, but…” 

No doubt this was Gigafloat Management Corporation insider information. 

Through the mind control of Kojou’s Beast Vassal, the Unknown that had been dubbed IX-4 continued sleeping like the dead. Even Kojou, host and master of the Beast Vassal employing that mind control, had little idea when it might awaken. 

The Gigafloat Management Corporation seemed to be fully mobilizing its researchers inside the Demon Sanctuary in search of a way to completely neutralize the demon beast, but no reports of import had been sent up as of yet. 

“I really don’t have to be close to the demon beast?” Kojou asked for confirmation, restless. The prospect of the demon beast running amok without him being nearby was hard on his psyche. 

Yaze shook his head with a neutral expression. “Seems that according to what the Bureau of Astrology says—you keeping guard would backfire. After all, the Fourth Primogenitor is the largest source of demonic energy on Itogami Island. Who knows what effect you’d have just from being nearby?” 

“That doesn’t mean we can let it sleep smack in the middle of a city forever, right?” 

“We’ve gotta wait for the researchers to finish analyzing. Whether we want to ship it off or kill it, the thinking is that it’s reckless to try either without nailing down what the thing’s made of.” 

“…Well, ya got a point there.” Kojou slouched his shoulders slightly in a show of understanding. 

That he harbored complex feelings about killing it, demon beast or not, was because he considered it a living creature. He resisted the idea that causing annoyance to human beings was reason enough to arbitrarily kill it. That said, the fact remained the demon beast posed a formidable danger. Nice if we could find a way to mutually coexist, though, thought Kojou; such words felt like a prayer. 

“Come to think of it, Kensei Kanase said something weird when we handed him that cell sample,” Yaze noted. 

“Kanase’s dad?” Kojou looked wary. 

Kensei Kanase, Kanon Kanase’s father, was a leading sorcerous engineer, to the point that he’d once served as Court Sorcerous Engineer for the Kingdom of Aldegia. But since he was a sorcerous engineer by trade, biological analysis was outside of his field of expertise. Kojou felt a vague sense of apprehension at the fact this very Kensei had noticed something straightaway. 

Yaze lowered his voice. “Apparently, the demon beast’s cells resemble that of a vampire’s.” 

For a moment, Kojou stared silently back at Yaze, unable to grasp what had just been said to him. “…Vampire?” 

“Of course, not exactly a vampire’s, but it was kind of, signs of vampire elements having been introduced to them. Apparently, we won’t know if it’s a natural occurrence or man-made until they run a bunch of tests.” 

“So you’re saying that demon beast might have the same powers as a vampire?” 

When Yaze said “man-made,” Kojou felt a hazy, unpalatable sensation deep in his chest. 

Asagi gloomily breathed out. “That I can totally accept. When you think about it, IX-4’s magic energy absorption power, that’s basically vampiric activity right there, isn’t it?” 

Yaze added, “The insane regenerative ability and resistance to magical attacks fit, too…” 

Asagi, weary, said, “I can see why the Bureau of Astrology doesn’t want Kojou anywhere near the demon beast. If we’d have known it’s like a powerful vampire, we’d never have let Kojou butt heads with it. One false move and it’d be the fight with Mr. Vattler all over again.” 

“And yesterday, the fact you managed in the end is thanks to li’l Himeragi, ain’t it?” 

“Yeah.” Kojou listlessly nodded in response to Yaze’s question. 

Risking her life in an act that unnerved even Fake Yukina, she’d ripped the magical energy straight out of the demon beast’s belly, reducing it to a weakened state. Had she not done so, Kojou surely could never have put it to sleep, even with his Beast Vassal. 

However, it cost Yukina Snowdrift Wolf. It was nothing to celebrate. 

Asagi looked toward Yukina’s classroom. “Come to think of it, what’s up with Himeragi? She didn’t seem to be with you this morning…” Yukina’s absence had clearly been weighing on her mind the whole time. 

“Himeragi’s taking the day off,” Kojou replied, keeping his emotions out of it. 

“Her? Really?” 

Asagi’s surprise was plain. She’d probably never even considered that Yukina, normally stuck to Kojou like glue, had decided to remain at home. 

“Apparently she has a guest.” 

“A guest?” Asagi remained interested still. Kojou, meanwhile, wore a complex expression. It was a face that indicated he didn’t have a solid grasp on his own feelings. 

“Can I ask you one thing, Kojou?” Yaze asked seriously, staring at the side of Kojou’s face. Then, without waiting for Kojou to reply, Yaze shifted his attention beyond the window. “That girl—who is she?” 

Turning in the same direction, Kojou beheld a slender figure standing on the roof of the neighboring campus building, with the school yard separating the two. 

She had short hair with long bangs on both sides. The girl’s face made her seem strong of spirit. She was wearing an unfamiliar uniform from a high school beyond the city. 

Like a huntress taking aim at her prey, she kept a silver bow poised as she glared straight at Kojou. 

It was the second Shamanic War Dancer of the Lion King Agency that Kojou knew personally— 

Shio Hikawa. 

4 

Yuiri was standing facing Yukina Himeragi in the apartment’s living room. 

She was Yuiri’s junior from the Lion King Agency’s Attack Mage Development Facility, known as High God Forest. Like Yuiri, she was an apprentice Sword Shaman, but Yukina had been thrown into actual combat sooner. 

Yuiri was by no means a large girl, but Yukina was even more delicate than she was. Her black hair fell down her shoulders without any adornment. She had a fair face and large eyes. Though it was said that many powerful psychics were beautiful, she was in a league of her own. Even Yuiri, of the same gender, felt in danger of falling for her if she lowered her guard even slightly. 

Thanks to the two having few opportunities to meet face-to-face previously, both were somewhat tense. That this did not turn into a painful silence was doubtlessly due to the overly serious air Yukina gave off. 

Yukina presented Yuiri with a thick stack of notebooks. “These are my observation records concerning the Fourth Primogenitor to date.” 

When Yuiri took the topmost one into her hand, her eyes went wide at the contents filling the page. Her face twitched. 

“Eh? These are all records of Kojou? Yukii, you wrote these? Er, Yukii, you’ve been observing him for about half a year, haven’t you?” 

Yukina had employed regular university notebooks, but the number of them filled out here was simply bizarre. Even her estimate put it at over sixty. Furthermore, every page was filled corner to corner with methodically written words that suited Yukina perfectly. 

Written in the notebooks were Kojou’s daily activities. 

From the moment he rose from bed in the morning to when he went to bed at night. His activities that day. His outfit. The details of his meals. Conversations. Naturally, even she cut out certain private elements, but that meant she’d recorded virtually everything else down to the finest details. In particular, she had reproduced Kojou’s conversations with other girls to the point of outright tenacity. Yuiri’s own exchanges with him were among them. The way the emotions of the girl voluminously recording all this were not reflected in the text whatsoever was actually a little creepy. 

However, Yukina lowered her eyes in apparent embarrassment, as if to say that all of this was woefully insufficient. “Yes. I am sorry for not sending it. What is not recorded in the notebooks is here.” 

“Th-there’s more…?!” 

Yuiri meekly peered into the massive tote bag Yukina brought forward. 

Within that bag were various items that could not be recorded in notebooks—candy box mascots and crane game rewards that she’d apparently been given by Kojou, stubs for tickets for movies they’d seen together, coupons for restaurants they’d gone to, an album with a wealth of photographs, a false identification document that for some reason treated him and Yukina as husband and wife, all carefully maintained like an insect collector’s specimen case. 

Furthermore, Yukina presented Yuiri with another notebook. It seemed that she’d gone out of her way to write this one for Yuiri’s sake. 

“This is a manual on how to deal with the Fourth Primogenitor. This assembles everything you should be careful of when monitoring Akatsuki-senpai in one place.” 

“R-really. So when Kojou plays rock-paper-scissors, he’ll start with scissors fifty percent of the time… His taste in porridge, how thick he likes his Calpis, recommended pizza toppings… It’s so…heavy… Love is so heavy, Yukii…” 

It was as if something weighty had slammed into Yuiri as she sank to the floor then and there. 

The tenacity with which Yukina observed Kojou clearly surpassed the boundaries of zeal for her mission. If Yuiri had to describe this, it was closer to the obsession of a stalker. Frankly, it scared her a little—no, it scared her very much. Can I really do this in her place? thought Yuiri, genuinely concerned. 

However, Yukina blinked hard, seemingly mystified. “Love? I am merely acting as Akatsuki-senpai’s observer…” 

But she immediately realized something and corrected herself. 

“…No, I am not his observer anymore.” 

“I see… Because Snowdrift Wolf broke, huh…” 

Yuiri’s heart sank as well. The silver spear dubbed Snowdrift Wolf was a divine armament with which Yuiri had a fair bit of a history. Had she been compatible with it, it may well have been Yuiri and not Yukina who had been assigned to be Kojou Akatsuki’s watcher. 

“I am sorry.” Yukina strongly pursed her lips. 

Her junior’s back-to-the-wall demeanor made Yuiri nervous instead. 

“There’s nothing to apologize for. I heard it wasn’t your fault it broke, Yukii, and the Three Saints haven’t blamed you at all, have they?” 

“No. But in the end, I have caused you and Miss Hikawa all this trouble, so…” She lowered her head, crestfallen. 

Yuiri hastily flung her hands around meaninglessly. “Nah. This isn’t trouble for me, not one bit! If I told Glenda I was coming to see Kojou, she’d be all jealous, you know. As for Shio, well, of course she’s a little bit worried, but that’s, you know, because she wasn’t the one picked. I think she wanted to brag to Miss Kirasaka.” 

Yukina giggled, finally making a tiny smile. 

Shio, Yuiri’s friend, was the rival of Sayaka Kirasaka, Yukina’s former roommate. Just thinking of the sight of the two facing off about something or other must have subconsciously alleviated her tension. 

At the moment, that very Shio was conducting observation of Kojou in Yuiri’s stead, substituting for the already substitute watcher. 

Furthermore, Glenda was holding the fort at Demon Beast Park over at Blue Elysium. Of late, she’d gotten along very well with the feeders working at Demon Beast Park, which had led to her diligently assisting them. It made Yuiri and Shio feel a little left out, but seeing Glenda having fun with the demon beasts she was so fond of, they came to feel that it was simply meant to be. 

“But are you really okay with this, Yukii? Me switching places with you—” 

“It is what the Lion King Agency has ordered…” Yukina nodded, resigned. That did not quell Yuiri’s concern. “Besides, it is not as if I shall never see Akatsuki-senpai or everyone on Itogami Island again.” 

“I suppose you’re right.” 

Yuiri strongly agreed with Yukina’s words. It was different from when Yukina’s spiritual energy had gone berserk before, leaving Yukina in danger of fading away. Losing Snowdrift Wolf didn’t mean that Yukina’s life had been exposed to peril. 

If she continued in her missions as a Sword Shaman, there would no doubt be chances to visit Itogami Island and reunite with Kojou and the others someday. After all, this was a Demon Sanctuary, and Yukina was an expert in anti-demon combat. 

“Actually, the written order to take over responsibilities hasn’t formally arrived yet,” Yuiri said hesitantly. “All I was told is that I’m ordered to support the Fourth Primogenitor observation mission to make up for the loss of combat strength from the damage to the Schneewaltzer.” 

Perplexed, Yukina asked, “Miss Yuiri, you’re not going to become Akatsuki-senpai’s watcher?” 

Yuiri awkwardly shook her head. “That’s what I meant to do, but I’m a little unsure that I’m up to the task. They are going to hand me a new Fourth Primogenitor Countermeasure divine armament, though…” 

She pulled close an instrument case standing against the wall. It was a soft, flat case meant for carrying keyboards. 

The sticker for storehouse management purposes was stamped with the characters TYPE-13. Seeing this, Yukina’s eyes widened in vivid surprise. 

“Type Thirteen? I had heard it was a failure.” 

“Apparently it’s more like it doesn’t officially exist.” 

Yuiri removed the case’s lid. Resting inside transparent packing material was a two-handed sword much larger than Rosen Chevalier Plus—beyond the hilt, it was a full meter long. 

However, what was odd about the sword was that it had no blade. It was not that the blade was folded; the metal was not in the form of a blade to begin with. Instead, it was a thick, flat, hexagonal length of metal without any tip and with all edges blunted. It was a lead-colored mass of steel that could neither cut nor thrust. 

In spite of this, Yukina and Yuiri gazed at the divine armament with grave looks in their eyes. 

“So this is Heidenröslein…” 

“Yeah, but I’m scared of it, so I really don’t want to use it. Maybe if it’s against a vampire primogenitor, it can’t be helped, but I’m glad they didn’t take my Type Six-Plus away.” 

They weren’t empty words; Yuiri was genuinely afraid. 

A silver long sword was sheathed in a separate instrument case. 

This was Yuiri’s beloved Rosen Chevalier Plus. Based on appearance alone, Type Six-Plus’s polished, razor-sharp blade felt far more frightening. However, when Yuiri looked at her beloved sword, her expression was one of trust, with no unease or dread whatsoever. 

This conversely expressed precisely how dangerous the Type Thirteen gear was. 

In one sense, it was only natural. Just like Snowdrift Wolf, the bladeless great sword was a secret weapon of the Lion King Agency, able to destroy even a vampire primogenitor. 

“Since it’s you, Miss Yuiri, it will surely be all right.” 

Yukina strongly smiled in an effort to cheer the worried Yuiri onward. 

Having been raised at High God Forest together, she knew Yuiri’s might and exploits well. No matter how much danger and might lurks within Heidenröslein, if you are the wielder, it shall never be misused. That was the eloquent message spoken by Yukina’s forthright eyes. 

“Thank you.” 

Yuiri bashfully lowered her head. Then, the next instant, smiles vanished from both their faces. 

Slightly raising their hips, ready to move at a moment’s notice, they shifted sharp gazes, Yukina to the apartment’s entryway, Yuiri to beyond the window behind her. 

“Miss Yuiri.” 

“Yeah.” 

Yuiri responded to Yukina’s brief call with a tiny nod. They’d sensed ritual energy concealed in the surrounding area. It was so faint that Yuiri would never have noticed it had she not been there together with Yukina. 

This room is surrounded. The instant they were certain of that, Yuiri and Yukina were assaulted by the powerful sense that something was very wrong. 

It was the unpleasant feeling that something had forcibly wedged into the world time that had not existed. A grating noise rang in Yuiri’s ear, and by the time that noise had vanished, Yuiri and Yukina were surrounded on all sides by figures bereft of thickness as if they were paper dolls. Despite the lack of such thickness, the blades of the katanas they wielded were very real. 

“Shikigami…?! When did they…?!” 

“This technique, could it be…?!” 

Yuiri and Yukina exclaimed simultaneously. Neither Sword Shaman, both possessing Spirit Sight, had been able to detect the sudden attack. That fact slammed home into Yuiri the despairing chasm between her level skill and that of the assailant’s. 

“I ask that both of you do not move.” 

There was a quiet, whisper-like voice from behind Yuiri. 

When Yuiri turned around, she set eyes upon a girl in a priestess’s attire, her face covered with thin silk. In terms of age and stature, she was little different from Yuiri. But the overwhelming sense of awe emanating from the opponent made Yuiri’s voice tremble. 

“Th… The Three Saints…” 

Koyomi Shizuka, head of the so-called Three Saints of the Lion King Agency. Yuiri had encountered her numerous times, but taking the full brunt of her lethal aura was a first. That was all it took for Yuiri’s body to freeze up, seemingly bound hand and foot. 

“Attack Mage Himeragi. For suspicion of assault, theft, and treason against the Lion King Agency, I hereby place you under arrest.” 

“Treason? Me…?” Yukina was dumbfounded. 

Koyomi had to be sending the same lethal aura Yukina’s way, but Yukina was managing to withstand the pressure, if not by much. It was the difference between her and Yuiri’s experiences. It was not the first time Yukina and Koyomi had been foes. 

Frigidly gazing down at that very Yukina, Koyomi continued. “At eleven hours and seven minutes today, on a road within Itogami City, Lion King Agency staff were assaulted, and robbed of the Schneewaltzer they were transporting.” 

“The Schneewaltzer they were… Huh?!” Yuiri exclaimed, forgetting her fear. 

Koyomi was saying that the fragments of the damaged Snowdrift Wolf had been stolen. And furthermore, that Yukina was the culprit— 

“According to the testimony of the assaulted staff and security camera imagery, we have determined that the culprit is you—Yukina Himeragi of the Lion King Agency. Do you have anything to say?” 

“H-hold on a second, please!” Yuiri shrilly objected. Her sense of duty to convey the truth won out over her fear toward one of the Three Saints. 

“Attack Mage Haba? What is it?” 

Koyomi looked at Yuiri with a dubious expression. As her throat trembled, Yuiri audibly gulped and nodded. 

“Yukii… Umm, Attack Mage Himeragi cannot be the culprit. I have been with her for the entire morning today. She could not have possibly attacked anyone.” 

“Are you testifying that she has an alibi?” 

“Y-yes…!” 

The gaze through the veil shot right through her, but Yuiri nodded firmly even so. 

Koyomi seemed hesitant as her motions came to a halt. The silence that followed continued for five seconds at most. However, to Yuiri, it felt like she’d been under questioning over the span of several days. 

Koyomi made a slight sigh. The shikigami surrounding Yuiri and Yukina vanished as if they had been nothing but an illusion. 

“Very well. I shall temporarily defer Attack Mage Himeragi’s arrest. However, until she is cleared of suspicion, the two of you are under arrest and under my supervision. Have I made myself clear?” 

“Y-yes!” 

Yuiri jolted into a straighter posture as she spoke. 

However, Yukina said nothing in reply as she looked up at Koyomi. The expression she wore was not one of defiance. Yukina’s eyes felt like they were searching not for Koyomi, but for some other person. 

“Concerning what you said earlier, the security cameras were displaying me, I take it?” 

“Yes. Quite clearly at that.” 

Koyomi nodded in reply to Yukina’s inquiry. 

The reply threw Yuiri into confusion. Koyomi was saying that not only had eyewitness testimony, but even images had confirmed that Yukina was present at the scene. However, that Yukina had been together with Yuiri was an unmistakeable fact. 

“Concerning this, does anything come to mind?” Koyomi asked, staring at Yukina, perhaps harboring the same doubts as Yuiri. 

“…” 

Without a word, Yukina proceeded to firmly nod. 

5 

MAR’s Itogami Laboratory was constructed in the district at the center of Island North, not so far removed from the site of the demon beast uproar. Including the affiliate hospital to which it was connected, it harbored nearly a thousand researchers, making it one of the largest research organizations within the city. 

To the sorcerous corporate conglomerate MAR, the results of its Demon Sanctuary research constituted critical information one might even call its corporate lifeline. Analysis of demonic abilities and biology and employing this to develop industrial and medical products—it was said that the horde of products originating from Itogami Island constituted over sixty percent of the massive corporation that MAR had become. 

Naturally, entry points into the laboratory’s interior came furnished with a security presence rivaling that of a military base. 

Security was especially strict for the highly profitable medical department. In addition to armed security pods that kept watch twenty-four/seven, it came with demonic security personnel patrols and even magical fortifications, pretty much the finest anti-intrusion measures anyone could imagine. 

In such a secure building, Mimori Akatsuki, chief of the Medical Department, saw that in her lab room an unfamiliar person had arrived without warning. She was a small-statured schoolgirl in uniform, and she resembled the friend of Mimori’s daughter. 

“Hellooo! Ice cream deliveryyy! ?” 

The girl with the same face as Yukina Himeragi was carrying a refrigerated bag in one hand. Mimori greeted the girl, who hadn’t been questioned prior to reaching all the way to the laboratory, with no particular show of surprise. 

“Oh my, Yukina? All alone? What’s wrong?” 

“I came because I wanted to ask you a favor, Gra… Miss.” 

The girl smiled amiably through the glass, lowering her head in a polite bow. 

Mimori, amused, raised an eyebrow as she looked at the girl. No one had accompanied her. Mimori’s son, whom she was always with, was probably still at school. 

“A secret from Kojou, is it? Mmmm? Hold on a sec, I’ll open up.” 

Mimori operated a remote control on her wrist. The glass-constructed door opened without a sound. 

The girl showed no particular wariness as she boldly strode inside. 

This was the laboratory that had been granted for Mimori’s individual use. It was broad enough that its floor surface could cover an entire basketball court. Usually, some twenty assistants were there with her, but that day, Mimori was the only one in the lab. 

Perhaps it was a simple coincidence—or perhaps the girl had been aiming for just that moment. From Mimori’s point of view, one guess was as good as the other. 

“It’s been a while. I come bearing gifts,” the girl said as she presented the refrigerated bag. 

Mimori took it, raising a little “wow” of admiration. “This is brand new from Lulu’s, isn’t it? Cherry raspberry and chocolate royal!” 

The girl grinned. “Yeah, it went on sale today.” 

Mimori happily opened the lid of the cup, immediately using the attached spoon to bring the new ice cream flavor to her mouth. The feeling of raspberry ice cream melting in her mouth brought a satisfied smile over Mimori. 

“So why did you come to see me, Miss Impostor Yukina?” 

“Darn it… There’s really no fooling you, huh?” The girl with the same face as Yukina stuck out her tongue without the barest hint of guilt. 

Mimori made no move to rebuke her, raising her nose with a proud ahem. “Whatever I look like, I am a Demon Sanctuary doctor, after all. I can tell humans and demons apart at the very… Oh my.” 

Still examining the girl, Mimori was in the middle of proudly rambling when her eyes narrowed, as if noticing something. She brought another spoonful of ice cream to her mouth as her free right hand touched the girl’s hand. 

“You’re… You couldn’t be…… Heh…I see now. My, my, my, my…” 

Even as surprise colored her eyes, Mimori made an amused, deeply satisfied smile. 

Mimori’s demeanor was as if she saw right through everything about the girl. “Hoo boy,” the girl muttered with a deep sigh. 

Mimori was a Hyper Adapter—a naturally-born psychic. 

Her specialty was medical psychometry. From a simple touch, she could extract information from a body of which even the patient was unaware. That made discerning who she was, and how she had come to be born, the sort of thing Mimori could practically do in her sleep. 

“You’ve already realized that much? That’s Gra…er, Miss, for you.” 

“Oh, stop acting like we’re strangers. Just go ahead and call me Mimori. Oh, that’s right. Since you’ve come all this way to play, I really need to give you some allowance…” 

“Um, Mimori…” 

Mimori was working herself up like a little child as the girl timidly called out to her. However, before the girl could state the purpose of her visit, Mimori took a small case out of a desk drawer—a platinum case about as large as a jelly roll. 

“Or was this what you were after, I wonder?” 

Mimori opened the case’s lid. The girl’s eyes bulged when she saw what rested inside it. 

“Sheesh, there’s no beating you, Mimori.” 

Respectfully accepting the case offered to her, the girl blushed as she lowered her head. Mimori must have realized the purpose of her visit the moment she’d arrived at the lab. 

“But is it all right for me to just take this and go…? This is confidential MAR material…,” she asked with worry. 

“It’s fine. I’ve received permission from the top.” Mimori sounded unconcerned. 

This time, the girl was genuinely shocked, gaping at Mimori with amazement. 

Mimori said she’d received permission to take out the confidential MAR material. That meant Mimori had a precise understanding of what role that which rested within the box would play. 

“Does this mean you meant to hand it to that person from the beginning?” 

“Yes, because it’ll be inconvenient for me if she’s removed from the picture. I wouldn’t be able to see my adorable granddaughter’s face anymore, you know?” 

Mimori, still savoring the ice cream, smiled at the girl, who strained a smile in return and shook her head. 

It was dangerous to remain there any longer. If the conversation continued any further, it seemed like she’d carelessly talk about things she couldn’t afford to bring up yet. 

“Well, then…,” the girl began, ready to depart. 

Mimori picked up on that melancholy with ease. She made no move to stop her. 

Just before leaving the lab, the girl glanced back at Mimori. “Um, when it comes to Kojou and the others, can you keep my identity—?” 

“A secret, right? Of course. I won’t tell Grandpa, either.” She winked. 

The girl nodded, then practically fled, racing out of the laboratory. 

6 

In a lavish living room on the topmost floor of an apartment building, Nina Adelard said with bitterness in her voice, “He is cheating on her…?” 

She was a beautiful doll not even reaching thirty centimeters in height. This was what had become of the Great Alchemist of Yore, over two hundred and seventy years of age. Having lost her proper body due to certain circumstances, she had reconstituted her body with the meager amount of liquid-metal remaining and was now a freeloader at the Natsuki Minamiya residence. 

“What a completely inexcusable husband. How can you not defend your bride at a time like this? And in contrast, the younger sister-in-law’s behavior is truly praiseworthy. Indeed, it warms my breast.” 

Nina continued to lie slovenly on the sofa as she prattled off commentary at the television. The screen was showing a soap opera for housewives. 

Reina entered the living room at the exact moment the broadcast switched to a commercial. 

Since two days before, she, like Nina, was living at Natsuki’s own home. Or perhaps it was more precise to say that rather than it being her residence, she was using it as a safe house. 

“Nina, I’m back—” 

“Ohh, ’tis you. Have you obtained that which you sought?” 

Nina looked over with a toss of her lustrous hair. Even if Reina had the same face as Yukina, her gaze showed no particular sign she minded. It wasn’t that Reina had given a detailed explanation of the circumstances, but she hadn’t lived over two hundred and seventy years for nothing; it took more than that to shock Nina. 

Reina put down the luggage she’d been carrying. Nina knelt beside her. 

“Yes, thanks to you… Er, what are you watching?” 

“Mm. A rerun of a soap opera drama where a young wife is bullied.” 

“Wait… The Great Alchemist of Yore watches soap operas…?” 

Reina stared at Nina and shook her head with an exasperated expression as if asking herself, Can I really trust someone like this? 

However, Nina regarded Reina with a defensive look in her eyes. “It cannot be helped. Kanon, Natsuki, and Astarte all went to school, so I am bored. I have already read enough alchemy magazines to be sick of them.” 

“So that’s what those magazines are. And they have idols on the covers…” 

Who reads this stuff anyway? thought Reina as she gazed earnestly at one of the magazines placed on top of the table. 

While she did so, Nina opened the luggage that Reina had returned with. 

It was a hard case used to carry a guitar. Reina had seized it from the Lion King Agency transporter she’d robbed. 

The case contained countless broken metal fragments and the shaft of a half-destroyed spear. They were the remains of Snowdrift Wolf. 

“Hmm… This is definitely Yukina’s spear.” Nina’s tone turned to one of admiration. “This is quite a spectacular display of destruction yet again.” 

Reina peered at the side of the alchemist’s face. “So? Can you fix it?” 

“Mmm. I cannot.” 

Nina replied instantly and without hesitation. It was Reina who was thrown off instead. 

“Wh-why not?! This is just normal metal, right?” 

“Certainly, the materials themselves are special yet mundane metals. Steel, carbon, magnesium, molybdenum, vanadium, chrome, silicon, after which, sulphur and phosphorous, is it?” 

Nina checked the metal fragment by touch as she spoke. To a master of the alchemical arts such as her, divining the composition of a metal was no more difficult than identifying the components of a salad by sight. 

“Then—” 

“Even if the materials themselves are normal, the human who forged this spear was not. To the outermost edge of the crystallization, it is inscribed with an incredible number of curses—nay, prayers. Was this madness, or purity, perhaps? I know not who it was, but his sheer tenacity was sublime. Small wonder none have mastered it beyond Yukina.” 

For once, Nina spoke in a serious tone of voice; she simply could not repair it. Even she who was called the Great Alchemist of Yore viewed the smith who had forged Snowdrift Wolf as worthy of admiration. 

However, Reina glared at Nina with despairing eyes. “In other words, you got beat, Nina?” 

“Pardon? I said the issue was tenacity, not victory or defeat. I am merely saying that the technology involved is rather time-inefficient,” Nina retorted in a fit of pique, well aware that Reina was poking at her sore spot. 

Reina stifled a laugh, making a pfft noise. She broke into a cold smile as she theatrically spread both arms wide. “You mean you’re not good enough to put it back together, right, Nina? Wow, I’m surprised. Nina Adelard of Parmia isn’t all that… Aww, and I had such high hopes, too.” 

“I never said I could not put it back together…! It is a simple insufficiency of fuel!” 

“…Fuel? I thought everything you needed for materials was right here.” 

Reina suspiciously looked down at the remnants of the spear. 

The staff of the Lion King Agency had gathered up all the components of Snowdrift Wolf down to even the smallest fragment. Since it was not necessary to produce new metal, the alchemical materials required for fuel ought to have been minimal. 

“In this particular case, the fuel is magical energy, you see. Just as the manufacturing of metals requires heat and electricity, alchemy requires magical energy. I suppose if you offered four or five spiritualists in spry health, it would be sufficient…” 

Naturally, Nina’s haphazard explanation caused even Reina to frown. “This alchemist is…off her rocker…” 

“’Tis true,” Nina coldly asserted. “And besides, what of the Divine Oscillation Effect? That is a ritual inscription even I cannot reproduce. It is an inscription that nullifies magical energy, after all. This has been destroyed so spectacularly that I cannot speculate upon the shape of the original inscription.” 

“Ahh, that’s not a problem. I have the original inscription right here.” 

Reina smoothly pulled a silver rod out from the cleavage of her uniform. 

One end was sharpened to a point, making it into a short stake. Strange symbols were etched into its surface, not even two centimeters in diameter. When Nina noticed the symbols, her eyes wavered with shock. 

“This is the…primogenitor-slaying holy spear? Where did you acquire this?” 

“Yeah.” When Nina subconsciously closed the distance, staring at it, Reina slowly shook her head. “This is precious… Avrora—she left this. For us…” 

“Avrora… I see. This is the spear that slew the previous Fourth Primogenitor, then…” 

Nina’s comment made Reina laugh without a word. 

The metal stake was inside the case she’d received from Mimori Akatsuki. 

Once, the girl called the Fourth Primogenitor had that purging spear thrust into her own body to destroy the entity Root controlling her from within. It had remained in MAR custody even after Avrora had lost her physical body. 

The symbols etched into the surface of the stake were the same as the one used for the Divine Oscillation Effect ritual for the Schneewaltzer of the Lion King Agency. To be more precise, the symbols on this stake were of the original ritual; the Schneewaltzer employed nothing more than a mere replica. By embedding the stake into it, the impossible-to-repair Snowdrift Wolf would be resurrected—and in a more complete state than before it had been damaged at that. 

“Yes, yes. The construction of the parts where this spear and the inscription come into contact can be refashioned like so, perhaps? This way should increase the ritual energy conversion rate, yes…” 

In front of Nina, transfixed upon the stake as if entranced by it, Reina wrote something on a sheet of memo paper. It looked like meaningless scribbles, yet Nina uttered, “Ooh,” gazing with deep interest. 

“Hmm, how intriguing. The principles for efficient spiritual energy conversion circuits utilizing the Bhavagna Theory were only unveiled this year. I believe I heard it would be ten…nay, twenty years until they could be put to practical use.” 

“Heh… Really now?” 

When Nina knitted her brows and voiced her suspicions, Reina grinned and smiled as she sidestepped the issue. Nina tapered her lips in dismay, but she made no effort to force the issue of where her circuit map had come from. 

“In that case, ’twould be better to alter the spear’s materials themselves myself…” Nina composed a complex formula on the blank part of the memo paper. 

“Mm, yeah,” said Reina in agreement, pleased as she watched. 

“Yeah. Moegi said that, too. Huh. I forgot.” 

“…So what of the all-important magical energy?” 

A serious expression came over Nina as she posed the question to Reina. Apparently, getting such a precious primogenitor-slaying holy spear into her hands had motivated her sufficiently to repair Snowdrift Wolf. 

But even with the materials all in place, she didn’t have the magical energy for making the alchemy happen. 

Alchemy was not the magic of producing something from nothing; in the end, it was technology. Producing something high in value required paying something of commensurate worth. 

“If you need fuel, it’s right here.” 

Reina smiled coyly as she presented her own right hand. 

Then, with a fragment of Snowdrift Wolf, she made a deep slash into her own wrist. Fresh blood dripped down, drenching the scattered fragments of the silver spear. 

“A maiden’s pure blood—and the blood of a vampire directly descended from a primogenitor—” 

Reina’s eyes glowed crimson as she laughed. 

Seeing this, Nina, too, made a coy, ferocious grin. 

7 

Bathed in the tiring rays from the waning sun, Kojou was walking toward the monorail station. 

It was his usual route. The route home from school. 

If there was one thing different from the norm, it was that Yukina was not beside him. That and the fact Shio Hikawa was right behind him. 

Shio, seemingly on guard and ready to draw her weapon at any moment, was keeping watch over the slightest movement of Kojou’s hand or foot. It felt like she was a prison guard moving a prisoner, or a stalker with her eyes on her prey. 

“Hey, Shio…” 

Kojou, naturally fed up with this behavior, called out to her. 

“Wh-what?” 

Wincing, Shio moved a step away from him. A weary sigh escaped from Kojou’s lips. 

“I imagine you’re trying to be considerate or something by being a few paces behind… But it’s kinda…like, there’s a lot of people around us staring, and we’ve been really standing out for a while here…” 

“O-oh, is that so? Certainly, attracting attention makes me a failure as your observer… However, if I distance myself from you too much, then I may be too slow in dealing with any emergencies that might arise.” 

Shio hung her head as she began earnestly thinking things over. 

Her overly serious reaction to his words definitely made her feel like Yukina’s senior. The furtive behavior smacking of mild androphobia—fear of men—was reminiscent of Sayaka back when they’d first met. 

“Er, could we just talk normally while walking around?” 

Kojou’s inoffensive proposal to resolve the dilemma caused Shio to lift up her head in apparent surprise. 

“It isn’t…prohibited exactly… Did Yukina Himeragi always do that with you?” 

“Well, most of the time, yeah.” 

Furthermore, Kojou didn’t think of Yukina as an impartial observer. She felt more like a meddlesome little sister following him everywhere he went. Of course, if he said that to the girl concerned, she would without doubt get angry… 

“Just what kind of conversations did you have?” 

Shio, seemingly drawn in by Kojou’s words, posed that question. 

“If you’ve gotta ask, at this time of day, it was pretty much always about what was on the menu for dinner.” 

“Dinner…?” 

Perhaps Kojou’s answer surprised her, for Shio’s face looked like she’d been bewitched by a fox. 

“Oh, right. Shio, sorry but can we take a detour? My little sister asked me to buy ingredients for her… Er, aw crap. I gave the supermarket coupons to Himeragi.” 

“Yukina Himeragi went to the supermarket with you?” 

Shio blinked, further and further perplexed. Kojou casually nodded. 

“Yeah. Since she always eats dinner at our place, we’re pretty much always buying things together.” 

“She joins you for dinner…? Wait, that’s basically like living under the same roof…” Shio wobbled, strangely assaulted by dizziness. 

Kojou waved a hand, dismissing the claim. “Nope, nope, nope. I mean my little sister’s there with us.” 

“Meaning that the entire family is involved…?” 

Placing a hand on a road sign like she was drunk, Shio gasped, seeming nervous as she glared at Kojou. 

“Do not tell me that if Yuiri becomes your watcher, you intend to develop a similar relationship with her?” 

“…Ah, yeah. I hadn’t thought about that.” 

Kojou had thought a little bit about how to deal with Yuiri once she became his watcher in Yukina’s place, but he wasn’t doing a good job of picturing it. 

“But, well, we can at least eat together today. Shio, you can join, too.” 

“M-me?” She hesitated at his sudden proposal. She opened her mouth to reflexively decline, but the words that actually came out of Shio’s mouth were unexpected. 

“Don’t tell me Mr. Gajou will be there with us?” 

“Dad? He doesn’t come home much at all, so no. If you need him for something, I can call him up right now, but—” 

Kojou pulled his cell phone out of his parka pocket. 

Lately, Gajou Akatsuki seemed pretty busy running around investigating New Itogami Island. To Gajou, a researcher of ruins of the Cleansing to begin with, Cain’s legacy, the so-called Ark of the Sinful God, was a treasure trove of research material. 

Even so, if Kojou told him he could meet a pretty girl like Shio, there was no doubt he’d come running home. Kojou couldn’t help but think that would be a problem in itself, but still… 

“N-no, it’s fine. It’s not like I came here to meet him. No, really.” Shio hastily shook her head. Her cheeks were reddened as if she was blushing, but thanks to the evening sun, Kojou did not notice. 

Breathing deeply over and over to calm herself, Shio then said, seemingly as an afterthought, “Hey, Kojou Akatsuki.” 

“Mm?” 

“Are you really all right with this? With Yukina Himeragi about to be relieved from her duties observing you?” 

The question brought out a solemn expression from Kojou. 

After but a brief silence, he spoke in a blunt, dismissive tone of voice. “For better or worse, it’s not for me to decide…” 

“Th-that is certainly true, but you and Yukina Himeragi have overcome battle together any number of times, yes? Even if it was part of her mission, she exposed herself to danger, got wounded, had you drink her blood, nursed you when you were ill, until death do you part—” 

“That got a little weird partway through…” 

The way the shaken Shio was running her mouth with meaningless things made Kojou smile weakly as his tension was stripped away. 

“A-anyway! Are you all right with Yuiri taking Yukina Himeragi’s place just like that? Does it not pain your heart…? I mean certainly Yuiri’s cute, she has a nice personality, she’s not as stylish as Kirasaka, but she still cares about that sort of thing… However…!” 

“Like I said, whether or not Yuiri takes Himeragi’s place isn’t up to me to decide…” Kojou’s voice turned ragged, his irritation apparent. 

Still, Shio did not falter, closing the distance with Kojou. 

“Yukina Himeragi merely feels responsible for the fact Snowdrift Wolf was broken. She has it in her head she cannot fulfill her mission without that spear…” 

Shio was about to say more, but her words abruptly trailed off. 

There was a faint whiff of bewilderment and surprise in the eyes with which she looked up at Kojou. 

“Kojou Akatsuki… Could it be…that you…” 

But Shio was unable to voice that flash of insight. 

That was because someone was rushing over, her pained voice calling out their names. 

“Shio! Kojou!” 

“Y-Yuiri?” 

Rushing over from the monorail station at incredible speed was Yuiri Haba, carrying an instrument case on her back. Her face was pale, and her big eyes wavered nervously. 

“What’s wrong? Why are you here? Done already?” 

Shio asked Yuiri, racing over and out of breath, with an expression of unease. Perhaps her best friend’s nervousness was contagious; Shio’s own voice was faintly shrill. 

“Have either of you seen Yukii?” 

“…Yukii?” 

“What’s up with Himeragi?” 

Yuiri’s question made both Shio and Kojou tilt their heads. It was Yuiri herself Yukina should have been with so that her mission of watcher could be handed over. 

Yuiri lowered her eyes in anguish. “Sh-she’s gone.” 

Shio was still confused as she put an arm around the girl’s shoulders. “Gone?” 

“I don’t really get it, but they say Yukii robbed the broken Snowdrift Wolf, but she was with me the whole time, but after hearing that, she said she had to go search for it and—” 

“Sorry, Yuiri. I don’t understand a word of what you’re saying…” Shio stared at her best friend in desperation. 

Kojou put two and two together. “Himeragi’s impostor stole Snowdrift Wolf? And she left to get it back…?” 

Yuiri’s big eyes opened wide, indicating loud and clear that Kojou had precisely expressed her thoughts. 

“Yeah, that!” 

8 

Inside the demon beast observation tent, Kiriha Kisaki elegantly tilted her coffee cup. 

Placed in front of her was a rich chocolate cake from a famous, high-rated shop in Itogami City. The thick, bitter, pitch-black cake should have been exactly to Kiriha’s liking, but for some reason, on that day alone, it remained upon the table virtually untouched. 

Sami, typing out reports on her favorite notebook PC, turned her way and called out with a smile, “Is something wrong, Kiriha?” 

The fact that Sami, in her late twenties, used polite speech with Kiriha, who wore a high school uniform, was unnatural if you stopped to think about it rationally, but none of the Bureau of Astrology staff pointed out the peculiarity. 

“Of course not. Seeing that demon beast helpless and unable to move a muscle has healed my psyche,” Kiriha replied with a listless wave. 

It was four hundred meters or so between the sleeping Unknown and the observation tent. From that distance, they could race over immediately if anything went amiss. 

Since the perimeter around the Unknown that had been dubbed IX-4 was actually assigned to the Island Guard, the Bureau of Astrology was there in a simple advisory capacity. This was because the numerous wounded among the Bureau of Astrology staff from the last battle had put them in a state where continuing the mission independently would be very difficult. 

Though one might try to blame this on a diminishment of Kiriha and the Bureau of Astrology’s standing, that actually was not correct; the Island Guard’s number of wounded was overwhelmingly greater. Even inside the Bureau of Astrology, opinion had taken hold that since it was against a monster even the Fourth Primogenitor had been unable to kill, a certain degree of damage was to be expected. 

Not that this brightened Kiriha’s spirits any. 

“I suppose you are displeased at remaining in the Lion King Agency’s debt?” 

When Sami asked the question, making no effort to conceal her smiling face, Kiriha glared at her in silence. The fact she made no effort to refute Sami’s words was because she was well aware that clumsy excuses would have the opposite of the intended effect. 

If it had been Kojou Akatsuki’s exploits alone, even that would have been better. After all, the Fourth Primogenitor was an inhuman monster every bit as much as that demon beast. 

However, Yukina Himeragi had played a major role in neutralizing IX-4. Furthermore, the price she paid for it was losing her Schneewaltzer. That left Kiriha deeply in her debt, exactly as Sami had said. Kiriha did not care much for that. In one sense, what she felt was humiliation. 

“I have good news for you, Kiriha. A disposal plan for IX-4 has been settled.” 

“Disposal?” 

Kiriha prompted back. Kill it here, was what she meant. Sami nodded. 

“Yes… To dispose of the demon beast by killing it here, rather than moving it elsewhere.” 

“I do not mind, but how?” Kiriha shot Sami a doubtful stare. 

After a brief silence, Sami perused the plan that had only just arrived. “Have you heard that the demon beast’s cells are of a nature similar to vampires?” 

“Of course I have. You can’t be serious.” Kiriha curled her lips. “In other words, we employ means meant for destroying a vampire?” 

“Precisely. Generally speaking, there are only three means by which to be rid of a vampire with primogenitor-class strength. One is exile into other-dimensional space. It is the means to which the Fourth Primogenitor sentenced the Duke of Ardeal, but we cannot employ that method here.” 

Kiriha kept quiet and nodded. If it had been merely a matter of dumping it into some unknown alternate dimension, rather than enclosing it in a Prison Barrier, this method might have been a bit of time and trouble, but the Bureau of Astrology could have pulled it off on its own, without any need to borrow the Beast Vassals of the Fourth Primogenitor or the power of Natsuki Minamiya. 

But they could not use such means on IX-4. 

Teleportation magic would not trigger against a demon beast that absorbed magical energy, after all. 

“Another method is purification through a vast quantity of spiritual energy. Attack Mage Himeragi has proven that this method is effective. However, now that the Schneewaltzer has been lost, we cannot employ that method.” 

“I suppose not.” Kiriha sulked. 

The only equipment able to employ spiritual attacks on par with a Schneewaltzer was the Völundr System of the Kingdom of Aldegia. That was one more ritual that Kiriha’s Ricercare could not emulate. 

“Accordingly, we are putting the third method into effect this time.” 

“Cannibalism…” 

Kiriha circled ahead of Sami’s words. The surest method to destroy an undying vampire was through vampiric activity, exhaustively consuming the opponent’s very existence. 

However, cannibalism was only possible for a vampire of equal or even greater strength. If a weakling tried to consume a higher-ranking opponent, it would be the opponent consuming his or her existence instead. 

A vampire stronger than IX-4 did not exist on Itogami Island. Barring the Fourth Primogenitor, the World’s Mightiest Vampire, at least— 

“You don’t intend to have Kojou Akatsuki consume it, do you?” Kiriha hastily pressed. 

“No. After all, cannibalism runs the risk of the predator being consumed by the prey instead… Naturally we do not wish to take such a risk.” 

Kiriha nodded, relieved. “Of course not. That demon beast acquiring the power of the Fourth Primogenitor would be a nightmare.” 

“Therefore, we will have IX-4 consume itself.” Sami grinned wide. 

“…Through entosis, I gather?” 

Entosis was a phenomenon by which cells fed upon other cells. The cells thus fed upon were eventually dismantled and eliminated. It greatly resembled one vampire committing cannibalism against another. Through employing this commonality, they meant to make IX-4 destroy itself on both a physical and a magical level. 

“Fortunately, it has been established that IX-4’s resistance to mental attacks is not particularly high,” Sami continued. “We will take advantage of this weakness to infect it with a curse, and thus induce the cells to begin eating one another.” 

Kiriha followed up where the tangible means were concerned. “I do not think it is a poor idea, but how do you intend to insert the curse?” 

Even if it was in a sleeping, unresisting state, Ricercare could not drive a fatal curse into IX-4. The creature spanned over fifteen meters; it was too large. That said, she didn’t think a normal ritual spell attack could punch through that demon beast’s magical defenses. 

Spurred by Kiriha’s misgivings, Sami put on an air of great importance as she continued. “We have received permission to use Flat.” 

For a moment, Kiriha went rigid, as if some sore spot had been poked. It was an honest reaction uncharacteristic of her. 

“Ah…I see. That…is good. Very good.” 

Kiriha giggled, the corners of her lips curling upward. 

Flat was a slaughtering weapon in the Bureau of Astrology’s possession—said to be the most powerful cursed armament that could be carried by a single person. It was also said that its might was so immense that it had been used in actual combat only twice in the preceding decade. Such a rare, precious weapon had been approved for use. 

Now that the plan against the unknown demon beast had been finalized, Kiriha’s mood finally recovered. 

Just then, a large truck she did not recognize approached the demon beast. 

“What is that trailer?” Kiriha asked, feeling it tug slightly at her mind. 

It was rare for a large eighteen-wheeler to enter the cramped tunnels of Itogami Island’s third stratum. The cargo in the trailer was apparently machinery covered in a waterproof tarp. 

“Emergency repairs for the damaged spiritual reactor were scheduled. It is a little ahead of the scheduled time, though,” Sami replied in a businesslike tone of voice. 

“Emergency repairs to the spiritual reactor… Hmm. A laudable thing.” 

Kiriha exhaled as she gazed indifferently at the exterior wall of the damaged spiritual reactor. 

Even if it was an emergency situation, leaving a spiritual reactor that could be reactivated damaged like that was a problem in itself. The decision to conduct minimal emergency repairs while the demon beast was behaving itself made logical sense. 

The trailer passed through the Island Guard checkpoint, moving right up beside the demon beast as it continued to sleep. 

There was nothing suspicious about its movements whatsoever. 

And yet, Kiriha leaped to her feet—not due to some logical reasoning, but purely because of her intuition as a Priestess of the Six Blades. 

“Sami! Call back all staff able to move with their combat gear immediately! Warn the Island Guard as well!” 

“K-Kiriha…?” 

Naturally, Sami was dumbfounded at Kiriha’s hostility. However, Sami’s hesitation lasted for only a single moment. She instantly switched gears and sent Kiriha’s orders flying the bureau staffers’ way. 

The waterproof tarp over the trailer’s cargo was violently torn from the inside out. 

What came out of the tarp was not construction equipment like bulldozers, but a three-headed robot tank with dark green anti-ballistic armor. And soldiers were manning its machine gun turrets. 

“All Bureau of Astrology members, arm for combat! Our foe has arrived.” 

Kiriha smirked as she gripped her forked spear. 

Those who had created the artificial demon beast and induced it to attack Itogami Island had finally revealed themselves. 

Bathed in a hail of gunfire from the assailants, the Island Guard began to engage. 

Amid that storm of gunfire and angry shouts, the enormous demon beast continued to slumber.