Strike the Blood - Volume 20 - Chapter 2.4

4

She awoke to a sweet scent tickling the back of her nostrils.

Through her hazy vision, she glimpsed candy packages of differing colors displayed in a row on a shelf. Shio Hikawa narrowed her eyes as she picked up one of the pastel items she’d been stuffing her cheeks with.

“…Gummies?”

Sitting up with bewilderment, she glanced around her.

She was inside a convenience store illuminated by emergency lamps.

The shop was deserted, and its entrance and windows were shuttered. Instead, one of the walls was broken, from which outside air was blowing in. Apparently, it had ceased operating after getting caught up in the opening phase of the Electoral War. Shio had passed out in a corner of that store.

“I see… I…used up all my ritual energy…”

She shook her head a little at the folded recurve bow she was clenching in her hands.

While fleeing from the horde of Beast Vassals the Second Primogenitor had summoned, and the Fallen Dynasty’s pursuing troops, Shio had employed ritual energy beyond her limit. She must have collapsed in the process.

At some point, the sun had completely set. That meant, at minimum, she’d been sleeping five to six hours straight. On top of that, her entire body ached like her muscles were on fire. She’d overused her physical enchantment.

The silver lining was that she had no external wounds, but for the time being, fighting at full strength would be out of the question. Can I really protect Avrora from the Second Primogenitor in this state? When that thought crossed her mind, she gasped and lifted her head.

“Avrora? Where are you? Avrora Florestina!”

Wobbling as she rose to her feet, Shio called out the name of the girl she was supposed to protect.

She vaguely remembered that just before passing out, she’d fled into that convenience store with Avrora in order to lose their pursuers. The problem was what had happened after that.

Since Shio hadn’t been able to move, Avrora might have left her to head off on her own. It was also conceivable the Second Primogenitor had captured her alone. Of all the possibilities she could think of, that was the worst-case scenario. In her current state, Shio’s odds of rescuing her again were practically zero. As fear and regret afflicted her, Shio’s shoulders trembled.

As if responding to her call, something moved on the other side of the store shelves. She heard a light patter of steps as a tiny silhouette poked its head out.

“…A dog?”

Shio was staring at an unfamiliar puppy who was amiably wagging its tail.

It was a Havanese with golden fur. Though it seemed reserved somehow, it approached Shio nonetheless. In her mind, the sight overlapped with that of the girl she knew as Avrora.

“Avrora…is that you? What are you doing, looking like that?”

She squatted down and picked up the puppy.

Apparently, vampires of the Third Primogenitor’s bloodline had the ability to transform into ferocious beasts and birds of prey. If this was true, it would not be so strange if an artificial vampire like Avrora could do the same.

Having convinced herself of this, she addressed the canine.

“Sorry to make you worry like that. I’m all right.”

Shio was speaking quite seriously when the Havanese began licking her cheek.

She laughed and squirmed. She was happy that she’d finally conveyed her feelings to the girl. No matter what form Avrora might take, Shio was simply happy to know she was safe.

“Ah-ha-ha…cut it out, Avrora. That tickles.”

“Uu…uu…”

“Uu?”

Hearing an odd voice from behind her, Shio turned around with the dog still in her arms.

A blond girl wearing a hooded coat was standing there wearing a particularly conflicted expression. Unable to comprehend what was occurring, Shio looked between the girl’s face and the puppy’s.

The blond girl—the real Avrora—opened her mouth in a timid pout.

“Th-the little one I am not.”

“Oooops…r-right. I thought that was strange. Oh, and this guy’s a boy, too…”

Shio swiftly put down the Havanese. He raced around Shio’s feet with apparent regret. Avrora glared at him with a twinge of jealousy before offering Shio something in her hand: an unopened plastic bottle.

“This is?”

Shio asked as she took the PET bottle.

Her reaction caused Avrora to glance at her with upward eyes.

“Wintry drops that gush from the Spirit Peaks—may they heal thine thirst.”

“A mineral water PET bottle…er, merchandise from this store?”

“Th-there is no need for concern. The treasures Mimori left are abundant.”

Speaking these words, Avrora pointed to indicate a pouch suspended beneath her collarbone. It was the sort of purse one wore around the neck. The interior of the pouch was chock-full of small change. The sight of her looking proud as she showed this off was just adorable. She was like a little girl who’d been entrusted to run an errand for the first time in her life. It seemed she’d picked up enough common sense to know paying for merchandise was the right thing to do.

“Mimori Akatsuki… Kojou Akatsuki’s mother, huh?”

Shio recalled Mimori Akatsuki as she poured the mineral water Avrora handed her down her throat.

Shio and the others had met Mimori in the dead of the previous night. It had been right around the time one day changed into the next.

While visiting Blue Elysium during their time off, Shio and Yuiri had wound up saving Mimori and Avrora from a group of armed pursuers. As far as the two girls were concerned, this development was a completely unanticipated turn of events, but apparently it was actually part of a plan Mimori had concocted. For some reason, she’d been aware of their visit to Blue Elysium.

Mimori had made two requests of them.

The first was to protect the recently awakened twelfth of the Kaleid Bloods from her MAR pursuers.

The second was to bring her to Kojou Akatsuki’s side.

Thus, she entrusted the girl named Avrora to Shio and Yuiri. No, it was more accurate to say that she pushed her onto them.

But since she told them doing so was required to bring the Electoral War to an end, there was no way they could refuse.

Even if that weren’t the case, as members of the Lion King Agency, they couldn’t simply abandon a Kaleid Blood, a portion of the Fourth Primogenitor.

After handing over Avrora to Shio and Yuiri, Mimori Akatsuki had immediately set off somewhere to draw away the men running after her. She was very much a whimsical woman dancing to her own tune.

Shio didn’t know where she ended up after that.

And then Shio, Yuiri, and Avrora had crossed over to Itogami Island, only for the Second Primogenitor to give chase.

“Thank you. That was good.”

Drinking the bottle dry, Shio smiled at Avrora. As a matter of fact, the replenishing mineral water did make her feel like she’d recovered a fair bit of physical energy.

“Indeed.”

Seeing that Shio was satisfied, Avrora nodded with delight. It was the reaction of a puppy being praised for doing a trick. You really wouldn’t think she was a piece of the World’s Mightiest Vampire.

“The first thing we need to do to rendezvous with Kojou Akatsuki is escape the Second Primogenitor’s sphere of influence. Can you walk?”

“O-of course.”

Even as an expression of worry came over her, Avrora nodded as stoutly as she could. Then, however, she immediately lowered her eyes, seemingly in consideration for Shio.

“But the sword maiden and the dragon girl…”

“I think the Second Primogenitor captured Yuiri and Glenda.”

Shio murmured this casually as she gazed at the lack of a recent call history on her smartphone.

It had already been half a day since Yuiri and Glenda had taken on the role of decoys and had gone their separate ways. Since there had been no contact from them since, it was natural to conclude they were in a situation where communication wasn’t permitted. At this point, all Shio could do was pray for her friends’ safety.

“Their sacrifice adds to the crimes weighing upon mine shoulders.”

Avrora spoke in an exceedingly dejected tone.

“It’s not like that. We’re the ones who weren’t powerful enough to keep you from going through all this peril.”

Shio shook her head and gave a frail reply, saying it to herself more than Avrora.

“We’ll definitely save them. But we can’t do that now. To resist the vampire primogenitors, we need the power of a fellow primogenitor—to save Yuiri and Glenda, I need to get you to Kojou Akatsuki.”

“Kojou…”

Vitality returned to the girl’s eyes the instant his name came up. Her reaction surprised Shio a little. As far as Avrora was concerned, the boy named Kojou Akatsuki really was something special.

The moment the vampire got psyched up, something fell out of her coat pocket. It was a small pouch of colorful candies, a package of gummies that had already been opened. Apparently, she’d eaten these to soothe her empty stomach while Shio had been out.

“I—I have already offered fair compensation…!”

Avrora hastily excused herself, probably assuming Shio was going to scold her for laying hands on the merchandise without permission. When she tried to lift up the pouch, her face that of the most pitiable girl in the world, gummies spilled out from her hand.

Seeing this, Shio burst into a fit of laughter.

“I’m a bit hungry, too. Go ahead and eat whatever you like. I’ll pay for anything you can’t cover.”

“W-woooow!”

Avrora’s eyes glimmered at Shio’s generous proposal.

As Shio observed the girl peruse the sweets, she abruptly realized how strange it was that there were still untouched goods left in the shop.

The convenience store had suspended operations because the busted wall prevented it from closing securely. Under normal circumstances, it wouldn’t have been strange for heartless people to have seen it as a target ripe to plunder and loot it completely, so the risk should have been even greater since the Island Guard was all but destroyed.

The simple reason no one had done that was because they hadn’t needed to.

Certainly, the effects of the Electoral War had interrupted the flow of goods, but MAR was providing an abundance of foodstuffs and supplies in their place—and virtually for free at that. She’d heard that MAR was also shouldering the costs for repair and compensation of homes and stores destroyed in the proceedings.

Lifelines such as power and water utilities were functioning without any issues at present. Hence, the ordinary citizens of Itogami Island could spectate the Electoral War like it was some kind of sporting event.

However, even an enormous conglomerate like MAR wasn’t so rich that it could simply shrug off such vast expenditures. Neither did she imagine that the Order of the End was paying them enough that the profits outweighed shouldering that burden.

If that was the case, then why on earth was MAR cooperating with the Electoral War—?

Shio stopped breathing as she searched for an answer to that question.

She had a very bad feeling about this. She was worried they’d missed something, something critically important. There could be another dark side to the Electoral War that she wasn’t yet aware of.

However, before she could arrive at the truth behind her anxieties, Shio’s thoughts were pulled back to reality.

Because suddenly, Avrora cowered on the spot and loosed an agonized moan.

“Avrora…?”

“Uu…ghh…”

When Shio rushed over, Avrora squirmed around as though trying to thrust her away.

The air around Avrora grew frigid as her unintentional dispersal of demonic energy pricked at Shio’s skin.

Demonic energy was pouring from Avrora’s body. She wasn’t doing this consciously. Somehow, an external stimulus had forced it into an agitated state.

“Demonic energy…resonance? Has something happened to Kojou Akatsuki?!”

Shio’s palms broke out in a sweat.

Something with even greater demonic energy than the Beast Vassal inside Avrora, who was a piece shorn from the Fourth Primogenitor, was trying to awaken. It was as though a beast were responding to the distant howls of its comrades.

But this phenomenon was also dangerous; it could potentially expose them to enemy forces.

“Be…still…Glacies…!”

Hugging her narrow shoulders, Avrora let out a pained wail. Then her emission of demonic energy abruptly terminated; perhaps her request had rung true. Quiet returned to the dimly lit interior of the store.

Unfortunately, they didn’t have the luxury to bask in relief.

Avrora had been suffering from the resonance for an entire minute. That was plenty of time for the Second Primogenitor to figure out where she was.

“Let’s leave the store, Avrora. They might have deduced your location.”

“Under…stood…”

Avrora wobbled as she rose to her feet. Approaching the broken wall, Shio held her silver recurve bow at the ready. Then she poked her head out of the gap to examine the state of the street outside.

It hadn’t even been two minutes since the demonic energy resonance phenomenon occurred, three at most. There had to be at least a little time before the Second Primogenitor’s subordinates showed up.

But in the brief moment that passed through Shio’s mind, the nighttime street brightened with a dazzling radiance.

A mist of fresh blood swirled out from thin air and changed into the form of a beast.

It had become a carnivorous dinosaur that walked on two legs. Though comparatively small for one, it still easily exceeded three meters in length.

Its body flickered like a flame, indicating that it was a beast summoned from another world. In other words, it was a mass of demonic energy so dense as to possess sentience—a vampire’s Beast Vassal.

“A dinosaur…! Summoned by the Second Primogenitor?!”

Shio exclaimed in a low voice and bit her lip.

It was indeed possible for a vampire to send their Beast Vassals somewhere instantaneously, ignoring terrain and distance. Shio’s plan to flee before the enemy arrived had been torn to shreds.

However, the dinosaur-type Beast Vassal had yet to notice Shio and Avrora inside the convenience store. Since the Second Primogenitor was controlling it from a far-off distance, even she couldn’t have ascertained Shio and Avrora’s precise location.

Maybe we can just wait for it to go by, Shio thought, but a moment after embracing that slender hope, Shio beheld an incredible sight.

The puppy with golden fur was barking right at the Beast Vassal.

The canine continued to yap with sharp ruff, ruff sounds as the Beast Vassal glared at it darkly.

The dog must have been operating instinctively to instill fear in the familiar. However, it had the complete opposite effect. Reacting less to the sound than to the puppy’s hostility, the Beast Vassal automatically entered an offensive stance.

“The little one is…!”

Raising her voice in a plaintive cry, Avrora rushed out toward him.

“Wha…?!”

Shio gazed dumbfounded behind her. Certainly, with Avrora’s power—if she unleashed the power of the Beast Vassal of the Fourth Primogenitor slumbering within her, she could save that little puppy.

But if she did that, Avrora would not go unscathed.

In the worst-case scenario, she would vanish then and there; and with its host lost, the twelfth Beast Vassal of the Fourth Primogenitor would begin running amok. Itogami Island itself might get blown away in the process.

The only way to keep the girl from using that Beast Vassal was for Shio to defeat the dinosaur beforehand.

“I, Dancer of the Lion, Archer of the High God, beseech thee!”

Holding her silver recurve bow in place, Shio notched a cursed arrow. Pouring all the ritual energy into it that she could muster, she aimed to the limits of her precision.

Even with Freikugel Plus’s maximum power output, it wouldn’t be enough to win in a head-on collision with a primogenitor’s Beast Vassal. Wringing out her ritual energy to the greatest extent possible, she could only focus all its power on a single point.

“Let there be light—!”

Unleashed with a roar, the cursed arrow generated countless overlapping magic circles.

After amplifying Shio’s ritual energy several times over, the arrow transformed into a ray of light that pierced through the creature’s heart.

The collision between vast demonic energy and ritual energy was a tug-of-war lasting for but a single moment.

After what felt like an eternity, an incredible explosion erupted.

Itogami Island’s artificial soil shuddered and trembled. The glass of the buildings in the area shattered all at once. The beam blinded Shio’s vision. By the time the light had faded, the Second Primogenitor’s Beast Vassal had vanished without a trace. All that remained was a fan-shaped crater in the ground.

“Shio!”

Returning with the puppy in her arms, Avrora let out a yelp as she saw her protector fall to her knees.

“Don’t come any closer, Avrora…! You need…to get away, at least…”

Shio shouted this, mustering up the little strength left in her.

The carnivorous dinosaur Freikugel Plus’s ritual spell artillery attack had destroyed was already starting to regenerate. Destroying a primogenitor’s Beast Vassal was truly impossible with solely the power Shio possessed.

She didn’t have the ritual energy remaining to let loose another artillery shot. The only thing she could do was to make Avrora run as far away as possible.

The other girl, however, extended a hand to Shio in a desperate plea.

“Unacceptable. Thy duty was to lead me to Kojou’s side and save the sword maiden thereafter, was it not?!”

“Sorry…but as I am now, I…”

Shio frailly shook her head, trying to rebuff Avrora.

The Second Primogenitor’s familiar had already finished regenerating; the eyes it turned toward Shio and Avrora glowed like flames.

Despite knowing it was futile, Shio pulled out an offensive ritual spell tablet and went on guard.

The next moment, a voice rang out in their ears.

“—Don’t move, either of you.”

“Huh?!”

Shio and Avrora obeyed, suddenly prodded by a call out of nowhere that lacked any sense of tension. It was the voice of a boy Shio didn’t recognize.

Suddenly, a gust of wind erupted before her eyes, sweeping up dust to rob her of her vision and leaving her bewildered.

She could no longer see her opponent, but that surely went both ways. Instead, she heard footsteps off in the distance. Then she heard voices that were just like Shio’s and Avrora’s.

It dawned on Shio that the voices were fabrications. Someone was manipulating sound to make it seem like she and Avrora were running away.

Yet the blowing wind was nothing but that. She didn’t sense any magical energy whatsoever. In a blinded state, even a vampire primogenitor wouldn’t be able to discern that the footsteps were fabrications.

And so, the carnivorous dinosaur departed, chasing after the false sounds of its targets.

After checking to ensure the Beast Vassal’s aura had vanished, a slightly absent expression came over Shio. Avrora, puppy in hand, sank down and sat, exhausted.

“Man, seems like I just managed to fool it. Maybe that Beast Vassal’s intelligence was dino level, too?”

From across the still-raging dust storm, they heard a flippant voice.

Shio lifted her face and examined the speaker.

He was a high school–age boy wearing rugged-looking private wear.

His hair was short and combed back. He wore thick, over-the-ear headphones. Nothing on his person came across as a weapon. Neither did he seem to be a wielder of ritual spells, and yet…

“Thou…! Why art thou…?!”

Gazing up at the boy, Avrora opened her eyes wide in total surprise. Shio couldn’t hide her bewilderment over the girl’s unexpected reaction.

“Well, that makes me happy. So you remember me, Avrora baby?”

Looking back at the befuddled Avrora, he narrowed his eyes with what seemed like nostalgia. Then, pulling off his headphones and placing them around his neck, he turned toward Shio and offered his right hand in the chummiest of fashions.

“Motoki Yaze of the Gigafloat Management Corporation. I’ve come to lend you a hand, Shio Hikawa.”