Strike the Blood - Volume 21 - Chapter 5.2

2

Shio Hikawa had lost her father at the age of six. He’d worked as an Attack Mage for the police and had lost his life shielding civilians during the suppression of a sorcerous terrorism incident.

Her memories of her father were already vague, and she barely remembered speaking to him at all. Nonetheless, Shio imagined it had a lot to do with her setting her mind on becoming an Attack Mage for the Lion King Agency soon after.

The black shadow served by twelve Beast Vassals landed at the center of the open area.

It had misshapen horns and an exoskeleton-like armor. Crimson eyes glowed from within.

It was a grotesque monster, seemingly the incarnation of the hatreds of all peoples.

“That…terrifying sight… Is that really Kojou Akatsuki…?!”

Both Shio’s hands trembled as she stared at the pitch-black monster. She wasn’t afraid. She was quivering with intense anger.

“Shio! Let’s go!”

Yuiri raised her silvery long sword and leaped toward Kojou. She and Shio were facing off against Beast Vassals encircling him. Their plan was to peel the creatures off him and pin them down. Shio understood that was her role, but she just couldn’t take her eyes off Kojou.

Initially, she’d thought Kojou was just an average boy.

He was lazy, hadn’t learned any magic at all, and even his grades were just barely acceptable. His face was, well, okay, but she really didn’t think he was a good match for an amazingly beautiful girl like Yukina. He was an ordinary person you could find just about anywhere. Any resemblance to his ridiculously audacious father was strictly in passing. That’s what she’d thought.

And yet, Yukina, Sayaka, even Yuiri—all those girls had fallen for Kojou after getting to know him. Even Glenda was fond of him. This had been utterly incomprehensible to her.

The day the Unknowns attacked Itogami Island, however, her entire conception of him was flipped on its head.

He’d defeated the nigh-immortal demon beasts with the brute force method of feeding them his own demonic energy.

His accomplishment left her feeling awed and dumbstruck. One false step and he would have been the one eaten, but Kojou had carried out such a dangerous maneuver without the slightest hesitation.

That was when Shio finally realized her mistake.

She’d thought that the boy with the power of the World’s Mightiest Vampire was mediocre. That itself was not normal in the slightest.

Kojou didn’t use the power of the Fourth Primogenitor for himself. The thought never even crossed his mind. But if someone else needed saving, he would put himself in harm’s way.

People who acted that selflessly were either mere idiots or the truest of kings. Kojou lived so recklessly that Shio couldn’t just sit back and watch.

She had the power to support him, too. She wasn’t the weak little girl she used to be.

“Rosen Chevalier Plus, Boot Up—!”

Yuiri raised her long sword and faced off against a Beast Vassal.

To the front of her was an enormous minotaur. It was the vampiric Beast Vassal of the earth, epitomizing the tales associating vampires with tainted soil.

Yuiri used a pseudo-spatial severing bulwark to stop the battle-ax made of pitch-black magma in its tracks, then—

“Boot Up—!”

She drew a second long sword from her hip. Shio was dual-wielding a pair of Rosen Chevalier Pluses. Unlike Sayaka’s Lustrous Scale, these weapons were lightened, mass-produced versions whose transformation mechanism had been scrapped, making such a brute-force technique possible.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!”

Yuiri’s second slash rent the minotaur’s huge frame diagonally from the shoulder on down.

This had virtually no effect against the Beast Vassal since it was an amalgamation of demonic energy. Nevertheless, her attack could buy time until the creature regenerated.

That’s my Yuiri, thought Shio with a smile. She was proud of her best friend’s kindness and strength, hence—

“—Request confirmation! Freikugel Plus, Armbrust Mode, Unlock!”

Shio poured all the ritual energy she could muster into her weapon. This was no bow, however. This was Freikugel Plus’s alternate, concealed form—a siege crossbow.

She combined the mass-produced versions of the Type Six sword and bow, changing them into an arbalest capable of erasing time and space itself.

“Freikugel Plus, Armbrust Mode, Active.”

In the arbalest’s line of fire was an enormous, shelled beast enveloped by pitch-black mist. This was the Beast Vassal governing a vampire’s ability to turn into mist, and it could turn everything it touched to vapor. It probably had the widest attack range of The Blood’s twelve Beast Vassals. Since its body was composed of mist, physical attacks would be ineffective, but with Shio’s crossbow—

“Eat this!!”

The beam Freikugel Plus unleashed transformed into a spear that impaled the Beast Vassal. Anything the blast touched disappeared without a trace. The beam had taken a bite out of the Beast Vassal’s shell-encased body, along with the very space it occupied.

“Seems like it’s working…right? Question is how long we can hold out,” Shio murmured as a stout smile came over her face.

Though both Shio and Yuiri’s attacks were effective against even these powerful Beast Vassals, each said to rival natural disasters, this equilibrium would not hold for long. Their ritual energy was limited, whereas the Beast Vassals had an inexhaustible supply of demonic energy at their disposal. If Kojou wasn’t back to normal before they hit their limits, the Beast Vassals would annihilate the island that very night.

“Yukii, please…!”

She saw Yuiri speaking as if in prayer.

Shio added a plea to Yuiri’s and raised her crossbow once more.

“—Awaken, Rheingold!”

Natsuki commanded her shadow in a lofty tone.

Out from the rumbling earth emerged an enormous knight statue clad in golden armor.

It was a golden clockwork knight. From within the pure darkness encased inside of the thick armor, a monstrous roar emanated, along with sounds of enormous gears and pistons in motion. This was a devil’s familiar, the Guardian of a witch, and the symbol of the power Natsuki had obtained with her pact at the cost of selling her soul.

Natsuki stared at the twin-headed dragon ahead. This Beast Vassal governed vampiric avarice and gluttony. The abominable pitch-black dragon dropped precipitously toward her.

She shot steel chains out from thin air, but the dragon consumed the bonds with its giant maws before they could wrap around it. Even the Dromi, sorcerous devices of the gods themselves, were no more than cotton candy to it.

“The Dimension Eater, able to consume space and anything within it? I imagine even Gleipnir cannot bind it.”

Natsuki snorted sharply as she teleported to put distance between herself and the twin-headed dragon’s jaws. If she unleashed her Guardian’s true power, it was hardly impossible to subdue it by force, but that would cause immense damage to the surrounding area. Natsuki was young but had sacrificed too many of her wishes to a devil—enough that they could bring great disaster unto the world.

As long as she kept her Guardian sealed, it would not have the strength to deal effective damage to the two-headed dragon.

In that case, thought Natsuki as she deployed a spatial control magic circle right in front of her. From this, she summoned a jet-black bulwark to serve as a shield against the Beast Vassal’s attacks.

The dragon tried to consume Natsuki despite her shield, but the instant it tried to clamp its jaws down on it, the creature let out an agonized roar.

“—Take a bite out of your own body.”

A cruel smile came over Natsuki’s beautiful, doll-like face as she spat out the words.

She had used her bulwark to warp space and link it to the dragon. Natsuki gazed pitilessly at the Beast Vassal driven mad from consuming its own flesh as she shot out her chains once more.

“Kiriha Kisaki, I’m leaving that one to you!”

“…Huh?”

When Sayaka Kirasaka spoke up and turned her defenseless back toward Kiriha, the other girl stared, scarcely able to believe her eyes. Sayaka and Kiriha weren’t friends—far from it. In fact, they weren’t even coworkers in the same organization. She still resented Sayaka for sending her flying and preventing her from accomplishing her mission. To be fair, though, Kiriha had pounded Sayaka and knocked her unconscious prior to that. Either way, their mutual animosity remained unchanged.

In spite of all this, Sayaka had just entrusted Kiriha with her back. The word naive didn’t even begin to cover it. Idiotic was her honest impression.

What irritated Kiriha above all else was that she understood exactly how Sayaka felt. She didn’t like Sayaka’s personality. She didn’t like that her breasts were bigger and her legs longer than her own. Sayaka’s silky hair, long eyelashes, and graceful nose bridge really got on her nerves. Nevertheless, Kiriha had to acknowledge that she was so capable, she could let Sayaka have her back and trust everything would be all right—

“Well, since you’re the one asking, none of that really matters… Really throws me off my game.”

Truly irritating, Kiriha thought as she lifted her lead-colored forked spear.

Her hands were tied. She truly had no choice in the matter but to protect Sayaka from the oncoming Beast Vassal before them.

Before them was a pitch-black mermaid—an Undine. The artificial ground she touched broke down and reverted to mere soil. It was quiet destruction without sound or heat, but its incredible force was terrifying. The Beast Vassal epitomizing a vampire’s regenerative ability was able to revert anything it touched to atoms. For all its lack of visual spectacle, it was perhaps the most troublesome of the twelve.

“This black liquid… It’s an ultra-reversion ability, it would seem…”

Kiriha pouted as she watched the mermaid corrupt the earth. It had the power to change the shape of any substance, which from a different angle, was the power to destroy any substance. Stopping its attacks would be no easy task.

Kiriha, however, curled up the corners of her lips as she thrust her forked spear into the body of the slithering Beast Vassal. Ting, went the ear-grating, vibrating echo as the resulting explosion blew the creature’s body back.

This was the resonant destruction ritual that Unknown IX-4 had controlled. Kiriha’s Ricercare could reproduce any ritual her opponents had used in battle.

Its anger over the interference plain, the mermaid focused all its attention upon Kiriha.

She beat back every single one of its blows. The resonant destruction’s super-oscillation fended off the mermaid before it could activate its ultra-reversion. However, the Beast Vassal was too huge for Kiriha’s strikes to reach its torso.

“This isn’t cutting it… And it’s got such ridiculously destructive capabilities. But…”

Kiriha sighed slightly as she gazed at the chipped tip of her forked lance. The slightest of touches from the Beast Vassal had reduced its ritual magic–reinforced metal to this state. She knew these things were strong, but the Beast Vassals of The Blood were more destructive than anything she could have imagined.

Seizing the moment, Kiriha opted to retreat before her forked spear became completely useless. The least she could do was lure the Beast Vassal away from Sayaka.

The thing was, she and Sayaka were on the cape of the artificial isle. Kiriha was sprinting toward a dead end, and the mermaid would make up the distance in no time. Despite this, she wasn’t showing any signs of anxiety.

After all, if she closed the distance, that meant she could predict the enemy’s route of moment.

“How unfortunate… Quelling big ones like you happens to be my specialty.”

Murmuring quietly to herself, Kiriha activated the ritual spell she’d prepared.

A number of containers scattered around the area split open to reveal a variety of weapons.

These were giant lances with steel-colored tips, their length exceeding five meters with ease. They probably weighed a hundred kilograms or more. Their thickness was over three times that of any normal lance. They were arrayed to surround the jet-black water maid.

Kiriha was a Priestess of the Six Blades of the Bureau of Astrology, a specialist in anti–demon beast combat. If anything, fighting an opponent far larger than herself was her specialty.

“Hmph, a healing Beast Vassal. Your abilities really get on my nerves—Flat!”

Detecting Kiriha’s ritual energy, the lances fired as a single volley accompanied by trails of light.

With a roar sufficient to paralyze the eardrums, the massive container yard shuddered as blast winds raced across its surface.

Flat, the trump card of the Bureau of Astrology, was actually a railgun on par with naval guns of cutting-edge warships. Miniaturized or not, the lances firing supersonic rounds pulverized the huge water maid with overwhelming kinetic energy.

All the same, a Beast Vassal was a mass of demonic energy, so physical attacks were meaningless. Though the water maid had scattered to pieces, it would soon revive as if nothing had happened. But that was more than enough time.

“You sure like making a scene, Bureau of Astrology.”

Sayaka glanced at Kiriha’s valiant fighting while firing a silver ritual arrow. Der Freischötz was a ritual spell artillery cannon. Its shots had enough might to rival large-scale ceremonial ritual spells, but the violent winds unleashed by the pitch-black Beast Vassal batted it away with ease.

“Figures I’d get pushed back in a head-on clash.”

Sayaka murmured ruefully while darting to escape the Beast Vassal’s counterattack.

Her opponent was a pitch-black bicorn enveloped in raging winds. The Beast Vassal represented the vampiric ability to manipulate storms. It was a simplistic foe that could do nothing but scatter strong winds, but it could cause so much damage she would have preferred not to fight it regardless. To be blunt, she wanted to cut and run, but…

“Kojou Akatsuki… Yukina…”

Sayaka turned toward the center of the open area. She could make out Kojou, transformed into a grotesque monster. She also saw Yukina charging into a horde of Beast Vassals in order to save him.

Sayaka clenched her left hand, upon which she wore a silver-colored ring.

She couldn’t let the bicorn get in Yukina’s way.

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

Sayaka raised her bow, despite the fact that it left her completely exposed.

The pitch-black bicorn’s attacks were just like her artillery blasts. For all its power, Shio’s crossbow attacks couldn’t reach this Beast Vassal. Only Sayaka, who had the longest attack range, could hope to stop it.

“Most Brilliant Flaming Horse, Illustrious Kirin, He Who Governs Heavenly Thunder, pierce these evil spirits with thy wrath…!”

Her silvery recurve bow unleashed a ritual spell artillery shot with all the ritual energy she could pour into it.

The bicorn calmly intercepted the blast head-on. The gale unleashed by the Beast Vassal blew Sayaka’s blast like it was nothing, and the accompanying shock sent her flying back and rolling to the ground.

A tiny stone dancing in the wind made a shallow gash Sayaka’s cheek. Nevertheless, she wore a smile on her face.

“You let your guard down…!”

The ritual spell artillery attack that should have dissipated instead assaulted the bicorn from an unanticipated direction.

Sayaka’s Lustrous Scale had one more ability—pseudo-spatial severing.

Der Freischötz was able to employ spatial severing of its own creation to freely alter the angle and trajectory of its own ritual spell artillery attacks.

The shot she’d fired head-on was one of three arrows Sayaka had fired simultaneously. This was Full Burst, the ritual spell artillery attack Shio Hikawa specialized in. It was slightly inaccurate, but if Shio could manage to land it, then Sayaka could, too.

The initial attack had been offset by the Beast Vassal’s blast, but the second struck right after from an unexpected direction. As for the third cursed arrow Sayaka had unleashed—

The time-delayed third ritual spell artillery attack she’d sent flying slammed the bicorn into the ground.

“I did it…”

Sayaka sighed in relief as she stood up. The look of surprise that appeared on Kiriha Kisaki’s face when Sayaka had shot it down felt pretty good, too.

It wasn’t over yet, though. Her attack wasn’t enough to kill a Beast Vassal. That was why she’d needed to use every trick in the book to pin it in place.

Sayaka took a new cursed arrow out from under her skirt and nocked her recurve bow.

That instant, she recoiled in fear as she felt someone’s powerful gaze upon her.

There was a new Beast Vassal—a beautiful aquatic dragon covered in pitch-black scales.

“You’re not alone anymore,” he had told her.

“You’re gonna live a happy life till the day you die.”

Deep down, even Yume knew that hadn’t been a marriage proposal.

As Sayaka was fighting a Beast Vassal, a pitch-black aquatic dragon appeared in front of her. Its forelimbs were translucent wings, and it had enormous horns like that of a ram. Caught by surprise, Sayaka was unable to evade the Beast Vassal’s attack.

The instant she realized this, Yume flew out without a single thought.

She spread wings woven with demonic energy and extended the tail that were characteristic of succubi.

Even she thought it made her look indecent, unsightly. Yet he’d stared right at Yume and said, “And having a tail on you like that is kinda cute, ain’t it?”

He probably hadn’t realized how lifesaving his words had been. She hadn’t been able to give him an honest reply, but the truth was, she was so happy she could have cried right there.

When Yume said she wanted to marry Kojou, not a single person took her declaration seriously. Even he probably thought her insistence that she was his fiancée was the delusion of a child.

Beyond that, Yume had numerous rivals, formidable ones all. She didn’t think that a few years of growing would make her cuter than Yukina, smarter than Asagi, or as incredibly stylish as Sayaka. Why was Kojou surrounded by such wonderful people? It irked her. It truly irked her.

Nevertheless, he’d kept his promise.

When he met Yume, who’d wanted to die for as long as she could remember, he’d changed her destiny.

Because of him, she’d enrolled at a Demon Sanctuary school, made friends, and the Yaze family treated her like one of their own. It was fun taking care of demon beasts at school. Life on Itogami Island was very busy, but Yume could puff her chest out and firmly declare she was happy.

That was why she felt it was her turn. Even if she was young and powerless, she’d save Kojou from his plight and turn her promise of marrying him into reality.

“—This Beast Vassal!”

Noticing Yume giving off demonic energy as she approached, the pitch-black aquatic dragon turned its attention toward her.

That instant, she realized the Beast Vassal’s ability was mind control, the vampiric power of Charm. It was the same as her succubus ability.

“Yume?!”

A look of shock came over Sayaka when she realized Yume was flying right in front of the Beast Vassal. In her current situation, however, Sayaka was in no position to help.

Besides, even she couldn’t fend off a Beast Vassal’s mental attack. Yume was the only one who could stand up to it.

“I won’t let you get in our way.”

The Beast Vassal unleashed incredible demonic energy. Its physical attack power was virtually nonexistent, but its effect upon the psyche was tremendous. If she lowered her guard for even an instant, it would take her soul, leaving her an empty vessel.

Yet Yume took the Beast Vassal’s attack head-on.

A rampaging creature was no match for the Queen of the Succubi.

“Do not underestimate the power of the Witch of the Night…Lilith, the World’s Mightiest Succubus!”

Yume wrung out her demonic energy. She commanded Riru—the other her sleeping at the very bottom of her soul—to lend her strength. The power of Lilith could dominate even Leviathan, a living weapon created by the gods themselves. It was not to be taken lightly.

“I’m the one who’ll make him happy—!”

The pitch-black aquatic dragon swayed. The Beast Vassal was a mass of demonic energy so dense as to possess its own will. As long as it was sentient, however, it would still be vulnerable to Succubus mind control.

“Kneel before meeeee!!”

Yume strained her voice into a scream.

Seemingly obeying that voice, the jet-black aquatic dragon slowly sank down to the bottom of the sea.

“Your Highness!”

Sword poised, Justina glared at the Beast Vassal standing in front of Kanon.

Towering over them was a massive sheep with a body of black gemstones. Dark crystals hovered all around it. Thanks to its coat of diamonds, the divine sheep could not be harmed by any attack, and anyone who tried would have their blows reflected back at them. The Beast Vassal represented the vampiric curse of immortality.

“You must not strike.”

As Justina’s blood stirred, Kanon stopped her with a gentle tenor.

Nidaros, the sword Justina gripped, was a treasured blade with the power of purging and healing granted to a maiden in service to the Royal Family of Aldegia. But even this weapon would be unable to defeat a Beast Vassal of The Blood. If Justina attacked the Beast Vassal, the gemstone crystals surrounding the Divine Sheep would surely assault her from all sides that very instant.

“H-however, it is disgraceful for a knight to stand before her foe and not attack—”

Justina, concerned for her honor at an odd juncture, made a low growl as if ready to go in slashing at the Beast Vassal any instant.

Nina, in the embrace of Kanon’s arms, attempted to counsel Justina.

“Calm yourself, Justina. It is the duty of a loyal knight to conceal thy heart under thy blade.”

“Lady Adelard…!”

Nina’s statement didn’t seem particularly grounded, yet for some reason, her words echoed deeply in Justina’s heart. “Nina,” Justina murmured as she readily sheathed her blade. The other woman watched and nodded with visible satisfaction.

Nina, usually bored silly due to her immortal lifespan, watched a historical drama channel on cable TV from time to time. That’s probably where she’d picked up her last statement.

“…All that said, the opponent seems raring to go. What will you do, Kanon? I cannot defeat it with my heavy metal particle cannon.”

Nina set her thoughts back in order, glaring at the black Divine Sheep as she warned Kanon. Physical attacks barely affected Beast Vassals since they were amalgamations of demonic energy. It was a bad matchup even for an alchemist of Nina’s caliber.

“It is all right.”

Kanon set Nina upon the ground and touched the bracelet on her left wrist. That instant, a great quantity of spiritual energy surged out of her body.

Reacting to Kanon’s spiritual essence, the black Divine Sheep roared. It fired black diamond crystals out like bullets, and they poured down on Kanon like a storm.

These crystals never touched her. A bulwark of dazzling spiritual essence manifested to protect her.

“The Svalinn System of the Royal Family of Aldegia…? But this spiritual power level is…!”

Nina exclaimed when she realized the true nature of the shield Kanon had deployed.

The Svalinn System was the ultimate defensive ritual of the Royal Family of Aldegia. In addition to interrupting physical attacks, it also completely nullified demonic energy. Normally, it couldn’t be deployed without a battleship-class spiritual reactor, but Kanon was erecting it all on her own by using her body as a catalyst.

Pure white wings of light emerged from her back. The bracelet on her wrist emitted a pale glow as it projected a round, glowing shield. It was like something a Valkyrie would carry.

“…Faux-Angel… I see—so that bracelet has a mock spiritual pathway like the Lion King Agency’s spears?”

Nina murmured with a look of comprehension in her eyes.

Faux-Angel was a forbidden spell of the Aldegian Royal Family. It forced humans’ spiritual pathways to evolve, turning them into an angel while they were still alive. Normally, the ritual required one to consume the flesh of others and absorb their spiritual pathways. By using a powerful divine armament like Snowdrift Wolf as a substitute spiritual pathway, however, an effect similar to the Faux-Angel ritual could be achieved. Yukina Himeragi’s angelification had already proven this.

The so-called Shield of Skuld granted to Kanon no doubt had an effect similar to Snowdrift Wolf, which meant it could be used as a Faux-Angel catalyst.

“The ambient temperature is…!”

Justina shivered as she exclaimed in surprise. The temperature in the surrounding area had strangely plunged. Flakes of snow had begun to fall on the artificial isle of everlasting summer. Over the course of several seconds, that changed from light snow to an outright blizzard.

Powerful cold covered the artificial ground with frost as the water vapor in the atmosphere solidified into snow.

Kanon was the one responsible for the drop in temperature, her spiritual essence generating a field of intense cold around her.

“This is… Fimbulvetr…! Your Highness!”

Even for a member of the Royal Family of Aldegia, who specialized in magic of water and ice, this secret ritual was tricky to pull off. Justina stared dumbfounded as Kanon calmly pulled it off.

The black diamond Divine Sheep was completely enveloped in the world of intense cold Kanon had summoned. Even the gemstone crystals able to reflect any attack could not oppose an atmospheric phenomenon. The gemstones completely froze over, immobilized.

Even the creature’s attacks on Kanon were completely impeded by the Svalinn System bulwark. Immobilized by pure white ice, all the black Divine Sheep could do was let out an angry cry.

“Kano… Incredible…”

Nagisa’s gaze was sparkling as she watched Kanon subdue an enormous Beast Vassal all by herself.

Yaze made a pained smile while glancing at the side of her face.

Really, the spell Kanon had activated was powerful enough to be considered a strategic weapon. It would have been normal to feel fear and anxiety over if and when such a power might be turned upon you instead. As if to illustrate this, Yaze couldn’t stop the cold sweat that had broken out over his back.

Nagisa, though, was able to simply admire her friend for being able to control such a dangerous power. She’s a Demon Sanctuary resident through and through, thought Yaze in quiet acceptance.

In another sense, it was only natural for Nagisa to be so audacious. She was Kojou Akatsuki’s little sister, after all.

“…!!”

Yaze still had that pained smile plastered on his lips when they suddenly twitched and shuddered slightly.

His super senses had detected an abnormality in Itogami Island’s sky.

This wasn’t the gate to Nod. It was below that. A new Beast Vassal had appeared in the air around a thousand meters above the container base.

It was a great sword with a blade spanning easily over a hundred meters—an Intelligent Weapon Beast Vassal.

“This is bad…!”

Yaze’s face contorted with fear.

It wasn’t that he’d forgotten it existed. He just hadn’t been able to think of a way to counter this Beast Vassal, no matter how hard he tried.

This was the hanging blade possessing the power of gravitational control, which represented a vampire’s physical might. It was power incarnate.

If that thing dropped to the ground, its sheer mass alone would tip Itogami Island over. Combined with using its gravity control ability to accelerate, he couldn’t even conceive of the damage it would inflict.

Against that kind of mass, even Sayaka and Shio’s ritual spell artillery attacks were mere drops in the bucket. Kanon’s shield would also be ineffectual against it; even if her barrier held, the ground beneath her feet would give out before that.

“Asagi, can you stop that thing with The Cleansing—?!”

Yaze called out to Asagi, inside the tank, with a military radio he’d borrowed from Lydianne.

Her Cleansing was the only thing that stood a chance against that massive sword. Thanks to its ability to rewrite the laws of the world, it would be able to nullify even acceleration via gravity control. What coursed over the radio, though, was Asagi’s angry, shrieking voice.

“Don’t ask the impossible! I’m dedicating all my magical calculation resources to getting Kojou back to normal! There’s no way I can take something that huge!”

“Gnhhh…”

Yaze grit his teeth as he realized Asagi was backed against a wall for once. She would never lie at a time like this. If she said she couldn’t do it, she really couldn’t.

If she gave up on turning Kojou back, she could probably fend off the sword Beast Vassal, but that would leave them unable to hold back the Beast Vassals on the surface. It would be wasting all the risks the girls had taken to slow the Beast Vassals down.

“—I believe it is now the turn of she who will be Kojou’s lawful wife.”

Just then, an elegant voice coursed over the radio, taking Yaze aback for an instant.

“That voice… You’re…!”

“…Lawful wife?”

In contrast to Yaze, who was visibly shaken, Nagisa calmly poked at the statement.

Yaze continued gripping the radio as he looked overhead once again.

The enormous sword was fluttering down from the sky above. It looked distinctly larger than before. It was so ridiculously huge that the SDF helicopters flying through the sky seemed downright puny by comparison.

Nonetheless, the new silhouette roaring through Itogami Island’s sky was no smaller than the giant sword itself. It was a military armored airship with a sleek hull.

The image of a Valkyrie wielding a blade was etched into that hull. It was the emblem of the Royal Family of Aldegia.

“I see we have made it in time for the show?”

On the bridge of the armored airship Böðvildr, an amused smile came over La Folia Rihavein’s lips.

The news that the gate to Nod had opened in Itogami Island’s sky had already spread across the globe. Quite a few nations were considering making any kind of excuse to intervene in the matter. The kingdom of Aldegia, noted for its high-end sorcerous industries, was one such nation.

The Pacific Ocean was international waters, so it was not difficult to dispatch a military force over it. The problem was justifying the intervention.

Officially, Itogami city-state was still in the throes of the civil conflict called the Electoral War. Even an allied nation like Aldegia could not lightly intrude upon Itogami Island. Now that the Dominions’ primogenitors had joined the Electoral War, Aldegia could make enemies out of them with just one wrong move.

Despite these conditions, the nation had a single back door to the island.

This was the presence of Kanon Kanase. Her status as a member of the Aldegian Royal Family had been publicly announced right after the commemoration ceremony mere days prior. Moreover, she’d been granted Aldegian nationality since she was still a minor.

Other nations couldn’t publicly criticize them for rescuing a member of the Royal Family from civil conflict on Itogami Island.

This was the pretext with which Aldegia had obtained permission to enter the island’s airspace. They could claim they’d gotten involved in the conflict against their will. Such was the scenario La Folia had plotted out. Things had moved largely in accordance with her expectations.

She was getting reports from Justina, who she had sent on-site in advance. She had been surprised Kojou had relinquished the power of the Fourth Primogenitor, but in her mind, it was so very like him for that to not be the end of the matter.

He really was the only one who could toss La Folia, who was seeking renown as a master strategist, for a loop.

“Now things are getting interesting, aren’t they?”

La Folia giggled in her tiny voice.

Strained smiles of resignation came over the faces of the crew around her. They were challenging a primogenitor-class Beast Vassal with only a single armored airship intended for troop transportation. This wouldn’t usually be anything to be pleased about.

This might have annoyed them somewhat, but not a single face registered even a hint of fear. They didn’t think they’d lose, not even to a huge Beast Vassal with power off the scale.

After all, the Böðvildr had La Folia aboard. She may have been a whimsical princess with a knack for causing trouble, but her overwhelming abilities inspired faith in her followers.

“Captain, launch the starboard Dromi. We shall nullify the Beast Vassal’s gravity control. Bring us into Holy Protection Barrier range while maintaining distance from the target.”

“Aye, ma’am—spiritual reactor, maximum output. Deploy triple-layered Holy Protection Barrier!”

The captain, whose weathered appearance made him look like a pirate, sent detailed instructions toward the crew. The armored airship, exceeding a hundred and fifty meters from bow to stern, engaged in acrobatic maneuvers as it threaded through the sky and moved behind the Beast Vassal, firing huge anchors that wrapped around the enormous sword.

Pulled along by the Beast Vassal’s mass, the hull creaked, with the helmsman just barely righting the ship without it breaking apart in midair as the demonic energy–nullifying Holy Protection Barrier sealed the foe’s gravity control and thus its mobility.

As a result, the Böðvildr was being dragged and spun around the Beast Vassal to which it was attached via chains. The captain felt like a fisherman on a little boat taking on an enormous, extremely violent shark.

“Captain, how long can we hold in this state?”

The bridge was swaying in an unpleasant fashion, but La Folia inquired about this with a serene expression on her face.

“Even if the chains hold, the spiritual reactor can’t maintain this output for more than ninety seconds.”

The captain grimaced as he replied. The only reason they’d barely wrested the gigantic Intelligent Weapon under control was due to the Böðvildr’s vaunted Holy Protection Barrier. Yet if the spiritual reactor output raising the barrier to its limit dropped even slightly, the field would doubtlessly shatter.

They had to render that Beast Vassal dead in the sky before it came to that.

“Is that so? Then it would seem I must exert myself somewhat.”

La Folia gently rose from the command chair.

“Please do not do anything overly rash, Princess.”

The captain spoke in a casual tone of voice. He wasn’t seriously thinking of stopping La Folia. He didn’t think he needed to. It was just a greeting to calm nerves.

La Folia left the bridge and stepped out onto the armored airship’s topside.

At an altitude of eight hundred meters above ground level, even La Folia wouldn’t stand a chance if she fell, but the nighttime scenery beneath her was quite a view.

The chain-snared sword Beast Vassal continued to try and thrash to free itself, but the Böðvildr’s barrier’s interference kept it from moving. It wouldn’t hold for even another minute, but that was plenty of time for La Folia.

She’d confirmed Kanon had used Fimbulvetr down on the ground. She’d expected Kanon to draw out the power of Faux-Angel when she’d sent the Shield of Skuld, but even she had never anticipated that Kanon would master the Royal Family’s secret ritual on her own.

“That is Kanon for you. I cannot let her outdo me, now can I?”

La Folia smiled and gently closed her eyes. She began chanting a song of prayer to summon spirits into her own body.

“—Daughters of the gods that dwell in mine body, ye who select the dead to bring victory in the Age of the Sword!”

The spiritual energy flooding out from La Folia’s entire body was of a vastness even greater than that of the angelicized Kanon.

Protecting her was the official reason for the kingdom of Aldegia intervening in the Electoral War. But that was really just a pretext for investigating Nod.

La Folia had yet another reason why she’d undertaken this—motives separate from that of the Royal Family of Aldegia.

She wanted to prove her kingdom’s martial prowess to the entire world.

The revolt within Aldegia a few days prior had caused faith in the monarchy to plunge. Even though they’d forced the North Atlantic Empire to pay a great deal in compensation and the physical damage had been minimal, that had been nothing more than a diplomatic victory. They had needed to borrow the Fourth Primogenitor’s aid to quell a disturbance within the kingdom—this was how Aldegia was being appraised on a military level.

Aldegia was a small country. It had defended its independence despite this because superiority in sorcerous manufacturing and military might had underpinned its international influence.

This was why La Folia needed to make a showing of Aldegia’s might. She couldn’t have asked for a more perfect opponent to use the Royal Family’s power against than a Beast Vassal of The Blood.

“The time of glimmering battle has come. By the command of the golden goddess, assemble. Open the gates to Fólkvangr—!”

The song La Folia chanted came to an end.

That instant there was a golden glow in the sky.

The next moment, spirits enveloped by light manifested around the airship. They resembled armed Valkyries. They numbered in the dozens—no, the hundreds.

Spirits only La Folia could summon using a spiritual reactor she’d brought to the physical realm. The spiritual essence the horde of Valkyries gave off was incomparably greater than that of any single Faux-Angel.

“Fire.”

The instant La Folia’s utterance met the sky, countless beams of light punched through the sword Beast Vassal.

A glow illuminated Itogami Island’s night sky as if it was broad daylight. Its blade in tatters, the pitch-black giant sword was falling toward the sea.

“That princess is just ridiculous…!”

I knew that, though, thought Yaze as he sighed with an exasperated look.

All this time, he’d had a sneaking feeling Princess La Folia was keeping some kind of trump card under wraps. But in all honesty, he’d never expected something of this scale. The kingdom of Aldegia had traded blows with the Warlord’s Empire on equal terms for centuries—evidently, its power wasn’t to be taken lightly.

Regardless, La Folia’s support had successfully neutralized the Beast Vassal that had concerned him the most. At present, they were succeeding in keeping the Beast Vassals on the ground contained. It was hard fighting on all fronts, but Asagi and company would soon arrive close to Kojou.

Come on—keep it up, thought Yaze, feeling like breaking out in prayer. It was then that Astarte, who had been assigned to him as a bodyguard, abruptly opened her mouth.

“Report. New Beast Vassal materialization confirmed. Hypothesized to be the second of The Blood’s familiars, Primus Glacies.”

“What?!”

Realizing a new threat was descending from midair, Yaze felt his blood freeze.

It was a pitch-black Beast Vassal that resembled solidified darkness.

Its upper body was that of a human woman. And its lower body took the form of a beautiful fish. It had wings on its back and sharp talons like a bird of prey.

It was a mermaid. Or a Siren, perhaps?

Without warning, the Beast Vassal flung incredible cold about as it tried to trample Yaze and company, but…

“Self-defense invoked in accordance with the Homunculus Guardianship Act, Special Exception Number Two. Execute, Rhododactylos.”

Wings sprung forth from Astarte’s back to halt the pitch-black monstrous raptor.

Astarte’s gleaming, rainbow-colored wings then turned into giant arms, which wrapped around her body as it adopted humanlike form. Her humanoid Beast Vassal functioned as a transparent suit of living armor.

Aftershocks from the two Beast Vassals clashing sent Yaze and Nagisa flying, but they were not harmed, for Astarte’s Beast Vassal had shielded them.

“Miss Astarte?! Yaze, that’s…!”

“She’s an experimental homunculus with a Beast Vassal as a symbiote.”

Nagisa rose to her knee and opened her eyes wide in shock as Yaze calmly explained.

Beast Vassals were anomalies that could not normally exist in this world. Summoners had to sacrifice their own life energies to wield these creatures’ incredible destructive power while maintaining their physical forms.

It was said only unaging, undying vampires could employ Beast Vassals. Astarte was the sole exception.

“Symbiote… Wait, you can do that?”

Nagisa was still gaping as she asked him this. Yaze nodded with a pained expression.

“Yeah, but unlike a vampire with an infinite negative life force, Astarte has to whittle down her own life to supply it with demonic energy. Even right this second, she’s…”

It was around when he said this that Yaze gawked, for Nagisa had bit her lip and stood up, breaking into a run toward Astarte’s battle with the pitch-black monstrous raptor.

“—Er, hey, Nagisa!”

Going pale, Yaze chased after Nagisa and somehow managed to grab hold of her arm.

“What are you doing? Come back! You can’t do anything whether you catch up to her or not!”

“Let go, Yaze. It’s all right.”

Nagisa replied in an unexpectedly calm tone. Her arm was still trembling in his grip, however.

Nagisa suffered from demonophobia. It had markedly improved as of late, but the terror of being grievously wounded still ran deep inside her.

In fact, she was probably in physical pain just getting close to the two dueling Beast Vassals. As far as Yaze was concerned, she’d completely lost it.

Despite his objections, her expression was desperate as she shook her head.

Nagisa was afraid of demons, but she’d been fond of the homunculus Astarte since forever. Once upon a time, Astarte had been badly hurt trying to protect Nagisa. She felt indebted toward Astarte because of that. This was probably why she just couldn’t stand and watch the woman whittle her life away fighting the monstrous raptor.

“I may not be able to fight like Kano or Yukina, but I do know how to talk to Beast Vassals.”

Determination in her eyes, Nagisa glared at Yaze. Her confidence took him off guard. That momentary opening allowed her to sweep his hand aside and break into a run once more.

She slipped between the legs of Astarte’s Beast Vassal and stood before the pitch-black raptor.

“Idiot! Come back!”

Yaze shouted angrily at Nagisa. He wanted to chase after her, but he couldn’t get close. The cold the monstrous raptor was giving off was so overwhelming that just shouting threatened to freeze his vocal cords.

It was all he could do to use his control of the wind to keep Nagisa from freezing over.

“Primus Glacies…”

Nagisa called this out to the monstrous raptor. The powerful gusts of air tossed her hair to and fro. Then her hair clip fell off, and her locks danced up like a pair of wings.

The monstrous raptor did not cease its assault.

Cold so intense that even Yaze could not block it swirled all around Nagisa.

But she did not freeze. The powerful spiritual energy she’d been born with was keeping her safe.

She then emitted that spiritual energy toward the monstrous raptor.

It was like a girl offering seeds to a frightened little bird.

“That’s your name, isn’t it? Come here, Primus Glacies.”

The black bird relented, then stared down at Nagisa.

Astarte’s summoned Beast Vassal also went rigid, as if it, too, was a little confused.

Yaze froze and cleared his throat. It was then that he realized he could breathe once more. The frigid winds from the monstrous raptor had died down.

“That’s crazy… There’s no way…”

Yaze murmured this in a raspy voice. He didn’t understand what was happening. A human speaking with a Beast Vassal was completely unprecedented.

Nagisa Akatsuki must have gained this ability back when she’d brought Avrora’s soul into her body. Apparently, the Beast Vassals of the Fourth Primogenitor who Avrora sealed had slumbered within the girl as well.

“A primogenitor-class Beast Vassal…tamed by a…human…”

Yaze shook his jumbled head. They’d lost their host. They weren’t getting enough demonic energy. Other enemy primogenitors were present. The Blood’s Beast Vassals had plenty of reasons to go on a rampage. He hadn’t thought Nagisa’s offering of spiritual energy would have been enough to calm them.

But the truth was that Nagisa had indeed stopped the rampage. She’d been possessed by a Beast Vassal of the Fourth Primogenitor for so long that perhaps she really had learned a way of communicating with them. Or perhaps there was some other explanation. It could have been pure chance, the kind of thing you’d call a miracle.

“There, there, good girl.”

Nagisa smiled as she fondly called out to it like a little pet.

The image of the pitch-black bird dissolved before her very eyes.

The Beast Vassal had undone its own summons, returning to Kojou, its host.

Yaze stared at the impossible sight, dumbfounded to the very end.