Strike the Blood - Volume 19 - Chapter 4.2

2

The sudden, abrupt rainfall characteristic of Itogami Island lifted, and a vivid dusk sky spread forth.

The red-dyed sky was the background as a horde of individuals became visible upon the rooftops.

From a distance, they appeared to be a group of powerful men organized akin to an army. There were close to a hundred people in all. It was probably the biggest group of demons on Itogami Island.

“So they’re already on the move. Fast.” Yaze sighed with irritation as he peered through a spare pair of binoculars from the school.

The retreat of the alliance of four ruler candidates from the Tensou Academy Domain, resulting in it shooting up in the rankings, was about two hours prior. It was easy to imagine that other forces did not look upon Yume’s precipitous acquisition of power with amusement. Nor was it hard to guess that others would emerge to beat her down before she became an even greater menace.

All that said, even he hadn’t expected them to move with this kind of speed. Perhaps they thought to smash Yume and company before they could regroup from exhaustion incurred during the fighting.

“The group using the home improvement center parking lot as a forward base is the Sanctuary Liberation Front commandeth by Lionel Yoshitani, second place in the rankings,” Lydianne reported from her tank. “Formed around a core of former Island Guard demon soldiers, they are in the running for the top ranking. In quality of troops, they are mightiest among all the domains.”

The title former Island Guard raised a murmur among the students inside the command tent.

Even if the Order of the End had easily sent them packing, the Island Guard was formed of anti-demon combat professionals. With their command structure fractured, they had their backs to the wall and had been virtually annihilated as a unified force, but most Guardsmen were still fighting valiantly on every corner of Itogami Island trying to protect the populace.

However, some members had abandoned their duties to participate in the Electoral War. The Sanctuary Liberation Front was a group of such corrupted former Guardsmen.

Just having such a group set eyes upon them was dangerous enough, but what made it even worse was that the Sanctuary Liberation Front was not the only group targeting Tensou Academy. There was an enemy ruler in sight on the opposite edge of a canal, directly across from the SLF’s camp at the home improvement center.

“Who’re they?” Yaze asked.

Lydianne turned around the tank’s main camera. “The Paradise Company Domain, fourth place in the rankings. They seemeth to be merely observing for the moment. The ruler candidate is President Hakusan Shitara, a dwarf, so he mayeth be the type to solve problems with money rather than force of arms.”

“…So if he sees an opening, he plans to take us down from behind? Disgusting bastard.” Yaze clicked his tongue with a touch of scorn.

Perhaps that candidate planned to let Tensou Academy and the Island Guard duke it out and then launch an attack when both sides were depleted. Such efficient methods really did suit a merchant.

Lydianne concurred with Yaze’s impressions from within her tank. “Indeed. The Paradise Company is a business rival of Didier Heavy Industries.”

Yaze’s face soured further. “I see. So they’re used to civil conflicts.”

A business rival of Didier Heavy Industries meant that the Paradise Company was an arms trader. Naturally, they would have a vast amount of war-related know-how, too. They’d pay for it if they thought of the firm as a simple import/export company.

“Whatcha gonna do, li’l ruler? Go and smack them around first?” Ki asked without the slightest hint of tension in his voice.

He was lying under the command tent, stuffing his cheeks with a tasty snack allotted to him. It was a cupcake baked by an ordinary Tensou Academy student in the home economics classroom. It was a special privilege from being in a domain that was chiefly a girls’ school.

“We can do no such thing.” Yume looked back at Ki with a cheeky, irritated expression. “Our opponent is a large-scale domain with ten thousand subjects. In numbers of combat-capable demons and their equipment, they far outstrip us. We cannot attack them and leave the domain’s defenses thin.”

“One volley from Leviathan and you could mop this up in an instant.” Ki took another gulp of snacks.

Yume glared at him.

“They acknowledge this as well, which is why they employ the commercial facility as a shield,” Lydianne said with a laugh, trying to mediate.

The home improvement center the Sanctuary Liberation Front was using as a base was an important supply depot for supplies needed for day-to-day life in Island West. If they carelessly attacked and damaged it, there would be profound consequences for Itogami City residents. To gain the support of subjects, it was necessary to leave the structure unscathed. As a result, Yume’s trump card, naval bombardment, had been sealed away.

“I have to say, this is getting a little boring,” Zana cut in. She sounded displeased while she dangled a knuckle weapon from a finger and twirled it around. “Can’t they hurry up and attack? Or do they plan to just glare at us forever, I wonder?”

“I’m pretty sure they’re waiting for nightfall,” Ki said.

Zana appeared mystified. “Night?”

“Whether beast people or vampires, their real strengths come out at night. In contrast, our li’l ruler’s bedtime is nine o’clock at night, yes?”

“Dorm lights are turned off at ten PM!” Yume retorted, tired of being treated like a child.

Yaze wearily touched a hand to the back of his head. Setting the bedtime part aside, it was plain that a prolonged battle was to the Tensou Academy Domain’s disadvantage. Besides Ki and Zana, everyone was tired from the combat during the day, and more importantly, their combat strength was overwhelmingly thin.

“What’ll you do? Take a nap now while you have the chance?” Nagisa asked out of consideration for Yume.

Yume frailly shook her head. “But the enemy might well launch a surprise attack so…”

Her sense of responsibility as a ruler candidate was getting in the way and stopping her from saying she needed rest. But if Yume’s endurance was whittled away like that, they’d be playing right into the Sanctuary Liberation Front’s hands regardless.

Maybe we should insist she rest, thought Yaze as his mind began to wander.

Suddenly, Lydianne’s tank gave off a piercing sound of alarm.

Instinctively sensing that something was wrong, Yaze subconsciously looked overhead.

The dusk sky was dyed red. That sky swayed like the surface of the sea during a night storm. There was a dazzling flash of light. The sky was covered in a rainbow-colored aurora.

“How mysterious…,” Lydianne said. Unable to bear the tank’s onboard sensors pleading in unison, Lydianne muted the alarm sounds.

“Yazecchi… What’s that?!” Nagisa exclaimed, anxiously waiting for his answer.

Yaze vaguely shook his head. “A teleport…maybe?”

Ki stepped in, turning serious for a moment despite licking a cupcake wrapper. “No…it’s not. It’s a gate between two interconnected worlds.”

Yaze looked at him in surprise. “Interconnected worlds? You don’t mean…Natsuki’s Prison Barrier?”

“I see. The Witch of the Void was on this island, wasn’t she?” Ki made a heavy nod. “But it doesn’t seem these are mere escaped convicts.”

“…Huh?”

Yaze stared up at the sky once more.

The rainbow aurora was pouring down on all of Itogami Island like rain. Countless figures emerged, slipping out from that curtain of light.

The Prison Barrier was an otherworldly prison constructed inside Natsuki Minamiya’s dream. If that gate was open, the figures emerging from within had to be fiendish sorcerous criminals that no normal penitentiary could hold.

However, the appearances of those who emerged from thin air differed from what Yaze had imagined.

Some were tall. Some were short. Some were humanoid. Some were shaped very differently. Their appearances varied, but they all had two things in common: their white robes and their animal skull–motif masks.

“Those masks…! The Order of the End…?!”

Yaze turned a ghastly pale. The people emerging from the void gate were without a doubt wearing Order of the End outfits. They numbered in the hundreds, if not the thousands.

All at once, they fluttered down toward Itogami Island, gazing at their surroundings from up high through their creepy-looking masks.

Island West, where Yaze and the others were located, was no exception. Several of the acolytes landed inside Tensou Academy school grounds.

Others landed at the camp of the Sanctuary Liberation Front targeting Tensou Academy.

“What…?!” Lydianne let out a bewildered cry as a massive explosion occurred inside the home improvement center parking lot where the SLF had set up camp.

Unit members caught in the explosion were rolling on the ground and on fire. The Order of the End had made a move.

“The Order of the End’s attacking the Sanctuary Liberation Front?” Yaze muttered to no one in particular, and none replied to his question.

Ferocious combat had broken out all over Itogami Island. The Order of the End acolytes were assaulting subjects near where they had emerged, and the ruler candidates of those domains counterattacked as a consequence.

“Are they attacking indiscriminately…?!” Yaze’s voice trembled as he gazed at the flames continuing to rise up all over the place within the island.

The screens of every monitor placed inside the tent switched off all at once.

In the center of the blacked-out screens, the first things that popped up were characters that read, CONGRATULATIONS! The next sentence displayed continued with, MOVE ON TO THE NEXT STAGE.

Nagisa anxiously peered at the monitors. “The next stage…? What does that mean?”

Within those screens, the form of a small-statured, beautiful boy emerged. He had golden hair like a shimmering flame—The Blood. He began speaking.

“To all those aspiring to be Itogami Island’s new ruler.”

His eyes remained closed as he smiled in amusement.

“Now the real Electoral War begins. However, the rules have not changed. I have merely raised the difficulty ever so slightly. Your duty is to protect your own subjects while robbing opposing ruler candidates of their domains and subjects.”

The Blood’s speech was airing all over Itogami Island from every broadcast device on the isle. Naturally, most of the city residents were anxiously listening. The Blood seemed to find this amusing as he continued.

“However, you must not be careless. My Order of the End acolytes are assaulting the subjects of all domains without distinction. Powerless rulers who cannot protect their subjects are not qualified to rule Itogami Island.”

“Lady Yume!” Lydianne shouted before The Blood had even finished his speech.

Yume was already on the move. The Order of the End’s acolytes were indiscriminately attacking subjects.

“Council President! Please call everyone in the domain and have them take shelter inside the Tensou Academy school building!” Yume instructed.

“U-understood.”

The high school girl began preparing for an in-school broadcast. She was trying to organize a general mobilization of students to guide surrounding residents to shelter.

Tensou Academy Domain’s fighting strength was insufficient to protect the entire domain from the Order of the End’s assault. There was no guarantee they’d be safe inside the school, either, but it was far better than remaining out in the city.

“Lydianne, confirm the locations of the acolytes that appeared inside the domain! And request assistance for a counterattack from demons in our affiliated domains!”

“Aye! Consider it done!” Lydianne nodded with her tank.

Busting up the alliance of candidates that morning meant that the scope of Yume’s ruled domains had broadened considerably. This meant the demons under her command had increased, but whether demons who had surrendered a scant two hours before would obey Yume’s orders was anyone’s guess.

“This ain’t good. There’s just too damned many of them…,” Yaze muttered under his breath. “Can’t defend against all that.”

Sending the Order of the End acolytes packing without sacrificing the citizens of Itogami Island was despairingly difficult, and that was putting it lightly.

On top of that, it wasn’t just the Tensou Academy Domain in a perilous position. The Order of the End considered all residents of Itogami Island to be targets for attack.

Amid that situation, Ki, supposedly having nothing to do with any of this, for some reason sank into thought with a serious expression on his face.

“Hey, Zana… What do you think about this?”

“Hmm… It does feel a little off.” Making a small, sexy gesture, Zana tilted her head.

“Off… What’s off?” Yaze asked.

Butting into a conversation between the First Primogenitor and his partner was a terrifying act unthinkable under any set of norms, but for whatever reason, he didn’t feel like he needed to hold back. Maybe the pair just acted too naturally. The possibility that the enemy was so overly formidable that it had numbed Yaze’s senses also ran rather high.

“It’s, like, they’re totally all over the place. Style-wise, I mean.”

Yaze had no idea what she was saying whatsoever. “Style?”

Ki stepped in to elaborate. “With spells, there are quirks and fads. Even for spells that have the same effects, Japan’s ritualists and Western sorcerous engineers differ in the tools and rituals they employ. It’s not just a matter of countries or peoples, either—styles of magic change according to the era. It’s the same for demons like beast people, too. For example, these days beast people don’t roar when they bestialize, ’cause that’ll only make them a target for snipers. Intimidating people with your size was in vogue up to the Middle Ages where fighting was done mainly with swords.”

“Even with vampire Beast Vassals, there are fads that go out of style in every era.” Zana pointed toward urban areas as she spoke.

Beast Vassals summoned by the Order of the End were attacking a unit of the Sanctuary Liberation Front on the street close to the home improvement center. Of course, these were Beast Vassals Yaze was unfamiliar with.

“Bloodlines and affinities differ, but on a basic level, the form a Beast Vassal takes is the product of the host’s mental image. There’s the Four Great Elements fad, the Physical Attack Type Revival—about three centuries separated the two.”

“Okaaaay…”

Naturally, hearing the words didn’t mean Beast Vassal fads rang a bell with Yaze. These were probably subtle differences that a beginner just couldn’t pick up on. Regardless, that wasn’t the crux of the matter.

“So what you mean by the styles being all over the place is that…”

“These acolytes aren’t from the same era. Right, there’s a little something I want to confirm—”

Ki nonchalantly shifted his gaze behind him. Yaze looked back in turn.

Of the acolytes pouring down from the rainbow-colored aurora onto the Tensou Academy school site, one appeared upon the school building’s roof. He wasn’t even thirty meters from the command tent Yaze and the others were in.

Nagisa let out a small scream; Yume blanched and went on guard. Lydianne urgently whirled her tank about, training the barrels of her machine guns onto the acolyte.

But Ki’s attack was swifter.

He released an invisible shock wave with a thrust of his fist, and the acolyte’s mask was smashed apart. With just the release of the demonic energy riding his fist, the acolyte some thirty meters away was sent flying.

With his mask broken, the acolyte’s figure was enveloped by a rainbow-colored radiance once more.

His contours shimmered like a mirage, finally dissipating without a sound. The only things left were the concrete from where Ki’s attack had gouged the rooftop and fragments of the broken mask.

Ki waved his hand dismissively. “It’s just like I thought. These people don’t properly exist in this era and world. They’re just borrowing power from those masks in awful taste to temporarily materialize.”

Yaze was still standing in a daze as he looked back at the nonchalant First Primogenitor. “Then, if we break their masks—”

“They’ll be forced back into the Prison Barrier. But they know that. You won’t be able to break their masks that easily. Might be faster to just kill ’em all to save us trouble down the road.”

“You’re the only one who thinks that’s faster…!” Yaze groaned. He shifted his attention to the sky.

The sky far above Itogami Island was still swaying like the surface of the sea as the rainbow aurora continued spitting out acolytes of the Order of the End.

During that time, several more landed within the Tensou Academy Domain.

“Baby Yume! Tanker!”

“I told you to please cease calling me that!” Yume complained.

“So we commence our destruction of the masks. Aye!”

Yume leaped off the roof, taking the demon beasts with her. The demon beasts under her control made a coordinated assault on the acolytes, ripping off and destroying their masks.

Lydianne switched her machine guns to rubber bullets and began to snipe the acolytes.

Neutralizing acolytes was no easy feat; they were highly capable in combat, but if all Lydianne had to do was destroy their masks, she could handle that.

The number of acolytes appearing inside the domain steadily decreased, and an air of relief began to flow inside the headquarters.

“This gonna work…?”

Watching Yume’s efforts through the fence bordering the rooftop, Yaze let slip an optimistic murmur.

As if to make sport of his utterance, a fresh explosion erupted behind Yaze. It came from the Tensou Academy Domain’s border, in the direction of the canal connecting the artificial isles.

A group had demolished a tall wall enveloping Tensou Academy to invade it. These were not Order of the End acolytes. It was a mixed unit of beast people and vampires clad in black suits as if they were someone’s bodyguards.

“The Paradise Company! To think they would invade a domain at this precise moment…!” Lydianne exclaimed.

A ruler candidate higher in the rankings with the Tensou Academy Domain in his sights had slipped in during the Order of the End attack to launch a surprise assault.

Their target was not the school building Yaze and the others were at but rather an urban area at one corner of the domain.

There, a young girl could be seen at the head of the demon beasts fresh on the heels of retreating acolytes.

Yaze and Nagisa both shouted.

“Dammit! Their target’s—”

“Yume!”

If their ruler candidate were to fall, the Tensou Academy Domain would be picked apart. The candidate of the Paradise Company had been eagerly eyeing the exact moment Yume was isolated within the chaos of combat.

Yume realized an enemy was approaching, and she whirled around. Fleeing was impossible now.

The beast people of the Paradise Company eliminated the demon beasts protecting Yume. Confirming this, the vampires summoned Beast Vassals one after another.

The gunnery from Lydianne’s tank had no effect upon beast people.

Yume could only open her eyes wide in fright, watching rooted to the spot as the enemy Beast Vassals neared.

With a brief click of his tongue, Ki began raising his right hand, but he stopped halfway.

He’d spotted a figure suddenly descending from the heavens to stand before Yume in her moment of peril.

This was a black-haired, small-statured girl. She wore a Saikai Academy uniform and gripped a silver-colored spear in her hands. With finely polished movements akin to dancing steps, she beautifully twirled her spear about, thrusting it into the horde of Beast Vassals.

The Beast Vassals let out agonized roars, with demonic energy flames scattering from them like fresh blood as they vanished.

Yume called out the girl’s name in surprise. “Miss Yukina…?!”

“Are you all right, Yume?” Yukina Himeragi smiled with relief as she confirmed that Yume was safe and sound. “On the way here, I had to be wary of your pursuers noticing me. I am glad I made it in time.”

“Miss…”

Tears were welling in Yume’s eyes. Her fear of being killed by Beast Vassals, and the heavy weight of a ruler candidate continuing to hold up a domain all by herself—these pressed down on her all at once, preventing her from being able to hold her emotions in check.

“It is all right now. We will protect you.”

“Yes…!”

Yume brusquely wiped her tears away. Then, a questioning look immediately came over her face. She apparently had misgivings about Yukina’s use of the plural we.

However, Yume’s misgivings immediately melted away.

Fresh reinforcements arrived, following in Yukina’s wake. A girl appeared, also wearing a Saikai Academy uniform.

Her white hair danced in the wind, and she gripped a crimson long sword. Turning her blade, which resembled a flickering flame, toward the Paradise Company combat personnel, she boldly introduced herself.

“I am ruler of the Saikai Academy Domain, Shizuri Kasugaya Castiella! I have come to aid you in the name of justice!”

“Eh…?”

Yume voiced her bewilderment at the appearance of a ruler candidate unfamiliar to her.

However, the chaos among the Paradise Company was far greater.

With their Beast Vassals having been annihilated in seconds, the vampires had completely lost all will to fight. The subsequent appearance of an unusually confident ogre girl shook the psyche of the remaining beast people.

To begin with, the failure of their initial surprise attack meant they had no reason to continue fighting. And so, the combat personnel of the Paradise Company turned their backs to Shizuri and ran; it was every person for themselves.

Shizuri swung her crimson long sword as she chased after the fleeing assailants. The spectacle made it difficult to tell just who had assaulted whom.

“Somehow, we made it…” Yaze was still crouching against the fence bordering the rooftop as he slumped, drained of strength.

The First Primogenitor and his partner were right beside Yaze, bouncing amused conversation between them.

“Hee-hee… So that girl really is the Fourth Primogenitor’s companion.” As Zana murmured, her gaze was trained upon Yukina, lowering her spear at the time.

“Don’t break her yet, Zana. I’ll run out of playmates,” Ki said.

“Hmmm, what to do?” The beautiful redhead smiled teasingly back at him. Then, she turned her eyes toward the other ruler candidate besides Yume. “Hey, more importantly, isn’t that girl…?”

“A white-haired ogre…and with Hauras, at that?” Ki narrowed his eyes upon Shizuri and the long sword she wielded.

Sharp, gleaming fangs poked between the lips with which he made an impetuous smile.

“That’s a Demon Sanctuary for you. No boredom here. It was well worth coming all this way.”

As Yaze overheard this, he realized that the tips of his own fingers were trembling.

It was the first time he’d felt true terror from the vampire primogenitor before him.