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Strike the Blood - Volume 21 - Chapter 1.2




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2

From what they could make out, there were easily over five thousand rioters besieging Keystone Gate. It looked like around half of them were demons. Although they didn’t appear to be professional demon mercenaries with high-end combat abilities, their agitated state and loss of all restraint meant their momentum was not to be underestimated.

The numerically inferior robot tanks and security pods were unable to stop the resilient beast people and gigas from charging in. Even helicopters engaging them from above were being shot down by spells and vampiric Beast Vassals one after the next.

The rioters were trying to get rid of the MAR Inc. forces occupying Keystone Gate, but since they had no chain of command to speak of, friendly fire and falling-outs were happening all over the place. Small fires had erupted as a consequence of the fighting. As things stood now, approaching Keystone Gate’s entrance and getting sucked into the upheaval seemed like a good way to get killed. A future where the mob mistook Kojou and Yukina for MAR Inc. staff and mauled them to death seemed entirely in the cards.

“These guys were taking part in the Electoral War, right…?”

“Yes. More than likely.”

“So what made them make a push for Keystone Gate after all this time?”

“…Yes, I wonder…?”

Kojou’s question left Yukina at a loss. The annihilation of The Blood meant that the Electoral War on Itogami Island was as good as over. Kojou, the victor, had lost his powers as a vampire, and Avrora, the new Fourth Primogenitor, had fallen into Nod. The competition had ended without a true victor.

Even if rioters claimed the Electoral War was still ongoing, three well-known primogenitors were still on Itogami Island, and no half-baked fighting force stood a chance against any of them. There shouldn’t have been any reason for the surviving ruler candidates to raid Keystone Gate.

“—I think it’s ’cause they found out MAR was backing the Order of the End all along.”

Suddenly, Kojou and Yukina heard a voice at the balcony where the two of them should have been alone. It was a boyish manner of speaking, but the pitch was that of a young girl’s.

“It’s one thing for Demon Sanctuary insiders to stir things up, but dancing to the tune of outsiders didn’t sit well with them, I guess. Sure is a pain in the butt, huh? I kinda get how they feel, though.”

“…!!”

Turning toward the girl, who’d shown up out of nowhere, Yukina reflexively went on guard. She might have assumed that the rioting demons had surged up the fire escape.

Yet when Yukina moved to draw her spear from her guitar case, she stopped in surprise.

Before her eyes stood a girl with a boyish air wearing a sports brand parka. Her beautiful face made her seem difficult to approach, but she wore a friendly smile on her lips.

Floating behind her like a ghost was a faceless knight clad in blue armor, a type of devil familiar known as a Guardian.

“Yuuma…!”

“Miss Yuuma?”

Kojou and Yukina spoke the girl’s name in surprise.

“Heya, been a while. Glad you two are all right.”

The girl smiled and raised her right hand in amusement.

Yuuma Tokoyogi. That was her name.

The daughter of the general of the criminal organization LCO, she’d inherited the title of the Witch of Notaria, along with its demonic possession. She’d also been friends with Kojou before he moved to Itogami Island.

“Yuuma, glad to see you… You’re all right, then?”

Kojou rushed close to Yuuma, placing his hands on her shoulders without reservation. It was the kind of closeness you would have with an old friend of the same gender.

Yukina grimaced with dismay at Kojou’s completely guileless action. They didn’t know why Yuuma had appeared at the Keystone Gate just now. He couldn’t exactly blame her for flashing him a look that seemed to say, Would you be a little more cautious?

For her part, even Yuuma hadn’t expected Kojou’s reaction. Her cheeks reddened as if he’d shaken her composure slightly. Seeing this, Yukina’s expression hardened further.

Yuuma made a strained, blushing grin as she looked up at Kojou and shook her head.

“That’s because I was totally on the sidelines of the Electoral War. Or more accurately, I couldn’t lay a finger on the Order of the End.”

“Couldn’t lay a finger?”

“The restrictions of your contract with your devil, I take it?”

Why? pondered Kojou with a tilt of his head when Yukina inquired in his place.

Yuuma lightly shrugged her shoulders with a nod.

“Bingo. The contract I made with my devil to become a witch was to bust Mom out of the Prison Barrier. The Gigafloat Management Corporation promised that if I helped out their Attack Mage Association investigations, they’d release Aya Tokoyogi, but, well…”

“I get it… Since the Order of the End stole the management rights for the island, the Gigafloat Management Corporation lost the ability to decide whether to let her go.”

“Yeah, that’s really rough,” went Kojou, sympathizing with Yuuma.

By obtaining a devil’s familiar known as a Guardian, witches could draw on powers that surpassed human limitations; the cost, however, was being bound to a pact with the devil for the rest of eternity. If a witch defied those terms, the Guardian would instantly change into an executioner and strip its former master of her soul.

With her mother Aya Tokoyogi effectively taken hostage, Yuuma couldn’t lift a finger against the Order of the End. That meant she could scrupulously avoid cooperating with them in any way, but she couldn’t openly interfere with their actions.

“Well, that’s why the most I could do was pretend to be a spy and quietly rescue employees who were trapped in Keystone Gate, I guess.”

Yuuma lifted one of her eyebrows ever so slightly. Kojou looked at her in surprise.

“You helped the staff escape?”

“Yeah, like Director Kazuma Yaze, his homunculus secretary, and whoever.”

“Mr. Kazuma? This would be Motoki Yaze’s elder brother?”

“I see… So he’s safe, too.”

Kojou glanced at Yukina and let out a sigh of relief.

Ever since his identity as the Fourth Primogenitor had been revealed to Kazuma Yaze, Motoki Yaze’s older brother and upper management, the man had helped Kojou a great deal. He’d gone missing after the Order of the End’s onslaught, so Kojou and others had been quietly concerned for his well-being.

“Director Yaze is in Stratum Zero of Keystone Gate right now.”

Yuuma pointed at her feet. Kojou lowered his gaze in response.

“Stratum Zero… Wait, you don’t mean he’s at the bottom of the sea…?”

“Apparently, Cain’s Coffin was built to safeguard critical Itogami Island data for just this kind of emergency situation in the first place. Aiba should know a lot more about it than I do, though.”

Yuuma explained this in a casual tone.

Keystone Gate’s Zero Stratum lay zero meters off the seafloor at the very center of Itogami Island. Inside was a secret base in which the submarine known as the Coffin was concealed. A submarine protected by a powerful magical barrier at the bottom of the sea, four hundred meters below sea level, was something even the Order of the End would have a difficult time laying their hands on.

So Kazuma had evacuated aboard the sub with critical Gigafloat Management Corporation data in tow.

“You can access all of Itogami Island’s info networks right from the Coffin, see. Even though it’s at the bottom of the ocean, it can monitor the island’s situation around the clock. He’s already aware that The Blood has been destroyed and Kojou’s relinquished the power of the Fourth Primogenitor.”

“…Eh?”

Kojou gasped at Yuuma’s offhand comment.

Kojou went rigid as the girl drew her face close to his and stared. Behind the teasing glint in her eyes was a note of utter seriousness.

Yuuma abruptly broke into a smile.

“Hee-hee, it’s true. You really have completely turned back into a human, huh?”

“You can tell?”

Startled, Kojou looked down at his body. Vampires were a demonic race, and they could be distinguished by a few obvious physical traits. Kojou had yet to notice anything that had changed since he’d lost the power of the Fourth Primogenitor.

“At the very least, I don’t feel any magical energy past that of a normal person, even up close like this.”

Yuuma took another step forward. She was so close that all she needed to do was stretch a little and their lips would be touching.

Sensing her sweet, flowery scent, Kojou suddenly tensed up. Belatedly, it dawned on him that she was someone of the opposite gender.

“Yuuma? Um…your face is kinda close…”

“Yeah. I brought it there.”

Yuuma spoke without the slightest hint of guilt as she licked her glossy lips. When Kojou subconsciously tried to take a step back, he found that she already had a firm grasp on his wrists.

“Um, ah…Miss Yuuma…?”

Finding something suspicious about what the other girl was doing, Yukina spoke to her in a very reserved voice.

Yuuma looked back at Yukina, smiling boldly and provocatively.

“Eh?”

Kojou was suddenly taken off guard by the soft sensations coming to him through the palm of one hand. Yuuma had wrapped her hand around Kojou’s right palm before pressing it against the swell of her breasts.

Still failing to comprehend what was happening, Kojou groped her breasts. Yuuma gave off a slender image, but she really was well-endowed. Even through her clothes, he could keenly feel just how comfortable their softness and elasticity felt in his hand. Kojou remained halfway in a daze as he savored the sensation.

“Miss Yuuma?! Wh-what are you doing with Akatsuki-senpai?!”


Yukina forced her way in from the side and pried him off Yuuma.

“What do you mean what…? I just thought I’d seduce him a little.”

As she watched the other girl’s indignation with amusement, Yuuma replied in complete composure.

Yukina’s lips twitched in anger.

“S-seduce?! N-now you’ve said it! Just because Akatsuki-senpai is human again doesn’t mean you can pursue him so flagrantly…!”

“…!”

Her intent had been to scold Yuuma, but this only caused the Witch to burst into a fit of laughter. Yuuma’s demeanor only made Yukina open her eyes even wider.

Kojou exhaled in annoyance as he went, “Now, now,” trying to soothe the agitated, panting Yukina.

“Calm down, Himeragi. She’s just up to her old pranks.”

“Now, that’s harsh. I’m pretty much always serious with you because you never treat me like a girl, Kojou.”

Yuuma closed one eye and leered at him. Her expression was playful, in complete contrast to her statement.

“So? What are you scheming this time?” Kojou prompted back with a pronounced lack of enthusiasm. Yuuma touched a hand to her chest with a less confident expression.

“I thought I’d check whether you’d have a vampiric urge episode, but maybe I’m just not sexy enough for the job? Himeragi, wanna try it with me?”

“I’ll do no such thing!”

Yukina instantly shot her down. Kojou wearily curled his lips.

“I think it’s pretty clear now that I’ve let go of the Fourth Primogenitor’s power, I ain’t getting vampiric urges anymore, so take a step back already.”

“If you’re not going to have vampiric urges, then you shouldn’t be that worked up. Or maybe you’re a little self-conscious about me?”

Kojou tried to thrust her away, but she put his arm in a lock and pressed her body against his.

When Yukina saw this, her temples twitched rather spectacularly. At this rate, it was only a matter of time before she really blew a gasket.

Yuuma reluctantly let go of Kojou. She must have noticed the ice-cold lethality hovering in the air, too.

“Well, that’s enough for now. If I get too carried away, I’ll upset Kojou.”

“Why do I have to get upset over you?”

He glared at Yuuma with half-lidded eyes. She wore an expression like that of a child caught with her hand in the cookie jar.

She smiled with blatantly feigned innocence.

“Setting aside the fact you’ve really lost your powers, I’m relieved.”

“Relieved?”

“Kojou, you’d be surprised how many sorcerous criminals have a grudge against the Fourth Primogenitor. I was worried how they might act if they knew you didn’t have powers anymore.”

“That’s—”

Yuuma’s assertion gave Kojou a pronounced chill. As the Fourth Primogenitor, he’d definitely earned the ire of quite a few demons, ranging from criminal organizations conducting international terrorism to nobles in the Dominions. To be blunt, if they attacked him to take revenge, he wouldn’t last two seconds in his current state.

“But if Himeragi’s with you, it’ll be all right, I guess? Take good care of him.”

“Er…y-yes… I understand.”

When the topic suddenly shifted to her, Yukina nodded with all the force she could muster on the spot.

Though it somehow came off like Yuuma was testing Yukina, Kojou wondered if that was just the thick layer of gloss she’d smeared over genuine feelings.

“I guess if I’m talking about danger, the same goes for Itogami Island, though?”

Yuuma’s smile abruptly vanished.

“The whole justification for recognizing this island as an independent state was it being the Fourth Primogenitor’s territory. Now that it’s lost its main backer, nothing’s gonna be the same. The fact that the Fourth Primogenitor’s gone makes this place a target for countries the whole world over.”

“Itogami Island’s…a target…?”

Blood drained from Kojou’s whole body.

The rest of the world already viewed Itogami Island as a threat because it was the Altar of The Cleansing. On top of that, now everyone knew it was the key to the gate to Nod.

Itogami Island’s threat level had vaulted even higher. But at the same time, its value as a Demon Sanctuary had plunged.

Neither the government of Japan, which had once relinquished its territorial rights over Itogami Island, nor the Holy Ground Treaty Organization, which had decided to postpone dealing with the issue, were likely to remain silent. He didn’t think the Dominion forces would just let it go, either.

The possibility remained that a ferocious territorial struggle that put the Electoral War to shame would break out on Itogami Island in the not-so-distant future.

The island no longer had the World’s Mightiest Vampire to keep these forces in check. That was because Kojou had cast the power of the Fourth Primogenitor aside—by ceding it to Avrora instead.

He couldn’t help feeling somewhat responsible about this, but still.

“You’re wrong. That’s not true.”

Kojou pleaded his case to Yuuma with an earnest look in his eyes. The Fourth Primogenitor hadn’t ceased to exist by any means.

“The Fourth Primogenitor—Avrora—is in Nod. MAR President Shahryar Ren used the Keystone Gate to open the way, and then she got sucked into it.”

“And?”

Yuuma posed the question in a very gentle tenor. It was the voice of a kind older sister lending her voice to the words of her unreasonable younger brother.

“I’m going to Nod to bring her back. If the Fourth Primogenitor is there to lead the island, that will stop it from getting pulled into a war, right?”

“Unfortunately, I can’t accept your proposal.”

The Witch coldly shook her head. The invisible line her demeanor drew between the two of them left Kojou perplexed.

“…Yuuma?”

“I can’t let a civilian who has nothing to do with this do something dangerous like that—that’s the Gigafloat Management Corporation’s view, at least.”

“I’m an…unrelated civilian…?”

Kojou stared at Yuuma, bewildered. He was shaken when he realized anew that without the power of the Fourth Primogenitor, he really was just a weak human being.

He hadn’t wanted the power to begin with. The grandiose title of World’s Mightiest Vampire meant nothing to him. If relinquishing the abilities of the Fourth Primogenitor had allowed him to save Avrora from disappearing, he’d make the same decision a hundred times over.

However, this had resulted in Avrora plunging into Nod after being manipulated by Shahryar Ren. In that moment, he’d been powerless to bring her back. That was where Kojou’s decision had led.

“What good does it do for a powerless human to go to Nod?”

Yuuma thrust that cruel question into the aghast Kojou, driving the nail deeper.

“But…if I don’t…bring Avrora back, she’ll…”

Kojou glared at Yuuma as he spoke. Somehow, though, his gaze seemed hollow, and his voice had lost its initial force.

Yuuma gently lifted both hands, wrapping them around Kojou’s cheeks.

“…!”

He tried to shake her off, but Yuuma pulled Kojou close with a surprising amount of strength. She made like she was going to kiss him before she froze, a soft smile coming to her lips.

“Yeah. I didn’t hate the Fourth Primogenitor Kojou, but I really like the human one better. Being under the sunlight suits you.”

She smiled fondly at him and touched a finger to his lips.

Her words silenced him. Yuuma was an old friend, so she knew what he’d been like before he transformed into a vampire.

“Later,” she said, gently thrusting him away.

Yukina propped up the tottering Kojou as their fields of view distorted, as though they were witnessing a mirage. It was the prelude to a spatial control spell.

“Yuuma!”

“…Himeragi, take good care of Kojou, ’kay? Keep a good eye on him for me so he doesn’t do anything stupid.”

She raised a finger in front of her lips with a suggestive little wink.

Yukina widened her eyes in surprise.

“Miss Yuuma?!”

“Stop!”

Kojou was stricken by a floaty feeling, as if he’d been cut loose from gravity. Yuuma was about to teleport the pair outside of Keystone Gate.

“Bye-bye, Kojou. Treasure the everyday life you finally got back, ’kay?”

Her whisper-like voice gently echoed in his ear, but he could no longer see her. The next instant, Keystone Gate also vanished from view. Kojou and Yukina were hurled onto a desolate urban road lined with trees.



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