Strike the Blood - Volume 22 - Chapter 1.2

2

“Ow ow ow ow…hurts like I got beat up all over…”

Kojou dragged along his tattered body as he gazed up at the late-night sky.

Dregs of demonic energy scattered by the berserk Beast Vassals still lingered thickly over the container base in Island East.

It was around half a day before Kojou woke up at the high-class hotel in Keystone Gate, right after the Beast Vassal’s rampage had been quelled and Kojou had been brought back to sanity.

“But of course…you were in a berserk stage brimming with demonic energy to the point you could not maintain human form, and on top of that, you employed all twelve Beast Vassals in that berserk state.”

Shizuri Kasugaya raised her voice in exasperation as she stood behind the tottering Kojou.

Though dressed in a bunny suit for no clear reason, she wore the expression of someone who’d just run a full marathon. He could hardly blame her, given that she’d been fighting primogenitor-class Beast Vassals head-on. It felt like her gleaming, pristine white hair had been cruelly sullied in the process.

Kojou was just as exhausted as she was. Thanks to having been exposed to enough demonic energy to transform his flesh and blood, his entire body’s cells were under incredible strain. It would take time to recover even with a vampire’s immortal flesh.

Kojou and Shizuri were the only two remaining in the ridiculously spacious container yard.

Yuuma Tokoyogi had gone on ahead to take Yukina, who’d collapsed from major blood loss, to a medical facility. Lydianne was driving her tank around the harbor outskirts with Asagi aboard, no doubt to assess the damage from the rampaging Beast Vassals.

Left behind, the tottering Kojou was making his way toward urban areas on foot. All he could do was endure the pain coursing through his body, but he was really, really hungry. His school uniform was in tatters as an aftereffect of his rampage. He would have loved a cold shower right then, because he felt icky all over from sweat, grime, and coagulated blood.

“You truly are a high-maintenance vampire.”

Approaching Kojou, Shizuri put her shoulder right against his. She gazed at Kojou and the questioning look on his face as she pulled Kojou’s arm to her as if she were about to judo-flip him on his back.

“Cas? What are you doing?”

“I am lending you my shoulder. Even if it was an emergency measure to bring the Electoral War to an end, I am your Blood Servant nonetheless.”

“Er, that’s too much. You’re all beat-up yourself, right?”

Kojou calmly pointed this out to her. Her bunny suit had distracted him from noticing sooner, but when he looked more closely, Shizuri’s entire body was covered in bandages. Her legs were shaking, too. She’d been heavily wounded in the fighting at Keystone Gate the day before to begin with. Normally it should’ve been hard for her to even stand.

Even if Shizuri’s cooperation had been indispensable to stop the Beast Vassals’ rampage, Kojou was more aghast than impressed that she’d gone onto the battlefield with her body in such a state.

Yet Shizuri forced herself to support Kojou’s shoulders, largely out of sheer stubbornness.

“This is nothing to a Paladin of Gisella!”

“You realize you have tears in your eyes, right…?”

“Ghhh…”

Shizuri’s cheeks were twitching from pain, yet she made no move to distance herself from Kojou. Giving up on persuading her, Kojou headed to the entrance of the container yard with them pressed against one another, each mutually supporting the other’s weight.

He could make out tents illuminated by floodlights on the other side of ground scarred from the Beast Vassals’ attacks.

The tents seemed to have been put up to treat the wounded and cook food for them. Lured by the scent of soup, Kojou and Shizuri quickened their pace.

“Kojou!”

Kojou suddenly heard someone calling his name.

From the other side of white steam rising from asphalt torn up in aftershocks of the Beast Vassals’ attacks, a small girl wearing a Saikai Academy uniform ran over with a nervous expression.

“Nagisa? What are you doing out here…?”

Kojou posed that question as he gazed dumbfounded at the unexpected appearance of his little sister.

He’d heard a lot of people had lent a hand to stop his rampage, but for Nagisa to have been among them was news to him. Kojou couldn’t hide how the thought of his little sister seeing him violent and having lost all reason shook him deeply.

“Never mind that, come quick! Kano’s in trouble!”

Paying her older brother’s gloom no mind, Nagisa anxiously spoke at hyper speed.

“Kanase is…? Don’t tell me she’s here, too?!”

Kojou was bewildered as his expression hardened.

Kanon Kanase, bearing the blood of the Aldegian royal family, was a spirit medium with power on par with Yukina and her peers, but she hadn’t taken Attack Mage combat training. Kanon participating in combat against those black Beast Vassals was reckless beyond all doubt.

“Please! Hurry!”

Nagisa ran off, leading Kojou and Shizuri. Kojou forgot about the pain in his body as he followed.

The white mist got thicker as they pressed on. Instead of steam gushing out of molten asphalt, the air was frigid, tingling his skin. The low temperature was normally impossible for Itogami Island’s tropical climate. However, snow was falling.

“Cosa? What is with that mass of ice…?!”

Shizuri, running alongside Kojou, halted in abject shock.

A nook outside the container yard was covered by an ice sculpture. It was a giant mass of ice, as if a raging tornado had been frozen solid.

“Don’t tell me this is…angelification?”

Kojou uttered those words because he had seen such a spectacle before.

“Angelification?”

Shizuri glared at Kojou as she echoed his words. Yeah, said Kojou, clenching his jaw as he nodded.

“Something exactly like this happened when Kanase was turning into a Faux-Angel once before, freezing everything it touched in the area. It’s not as complete as it was back then, though…”

“Faux-Angel? Where the practitioner shifts into a higher-dimensional being as an effect of high-density spiritual energy?”

A crease formed on Shizuri’s brow. The existence of Faux-Angels was an Aldegian national secret, but Shizuri already knew about Yukina as a precedent. She had to understand that using vast spiritual energy beyond human limitations ran the risk of someone vanishing from the mortal realm.

“—Affirmative. I believe it is the effect of her using a divine armament from the Kingdom of Aldegia to face The Blood’s Beast Vassals.”

The one who responded to Shizuri’s comment was a blue-haired girl waiting for them within the mist—a homunculus wearing a maid outfit.

“Astarte…!”

Kojou ran over to the girl in maid clothes.

He was worried about Kanon proceeding down the path of angelification, but Astarte’s life was exposed to just as much peril. She was an experimental, artificial Beast Vassal symbiote. A Beast Vassal forcibly implanted into her exhausted the homunculus’s life span at an incredible rate.

Until recently, Kojou had shouldered the burden of the demonic energy required to use her Beast Vassal, but that supply of demonic energy had been cut. Kojou’s spiritual pathway with her had been severed when he’d relinquished the power of the Fourth Primogenitor.

“Are you all right? No, ain’t no way you are if you used your Beast Vassal without the Fourth Primogenitor’s demonic energy—”

“I am not suffering any hindrance to operational activity at the present time. I recommend securing Kanon Kanase as the higher priority. I anticipate Nina Adelard has been frozen in Kanon Kanase’s vicinity.”

Astarte spoke in a flat tone that betrayed no emotion.

The Beast Vassal dwelling within her was whittling down her life span that very moment, yet she was telling him he should rescue Kanon first regardless, no doubt because Kanon was in just that life-threatening a situation. It seemed that Nina had been caught up in the freezing, but the nonsensical alchemist was in no immediate danger, so he decided he would save her later.

“Though…what should I do, bust the Aldegian divine arm thingy?”

Kojou inquired as he glared at the sight of Kanon deep inside the transparent block of ice. The uniform-wearing Kanon had a bracelet with a dull golden glow on her left wrist. That was probably the divine armament in question.

Kanon’s divine armament, responding to the vast spiritual energy in her angelicizing body, was continuing to emit incredible cold.

Destroying only the divine armament and leaving Kanon unscathed was a tall order for Kojou’s powers. Kojou’s Beast Vassals were excessively strong, making them unsuited to precise, pinpoint attacks. The same went for Astarte’s Beast Vassal and Shizuri’s Hauras.

“…She possesses a ring.”

Beside Kojou, Shizuri sank into thought, belatedly speaking as if she’d remembered something.

“Ring?”

“A ring identical to mine and Yukina Himeragi’s, sealing a portion of your flesh as a catalyst.”

When a questioning look came over Kojou, Shizuri thrust her left hand toward him. The silver-colored ring on her ring finger greatly resembled Yukina’s.

“I see now… That’s from the knife that Zana chick stabbed me with…!”

Kojou murmured as he recalled a vague memory from just before his rampage. Zana had given Yukina metal with Kojou’s vampiric flesh sealed inside, which they were supposed to use to assemble Blood Servants for Kojou.

Yukina had it changed into rings and had given one to Shizuri. That was why Kojou drinking Shizuri’s blood was all it took to make her his Blood Servant.

If Shizuri’s words were to be believed, Kanon had the same kind of ring as she did.

“…So, if I drink Kanon’s blood, it might stop her from angelicizing.”

Kojou glared at the mass of ice before him, quietly regulating his breath as he hardened his resolve.

With the thick ice in the way, he couldn’t tell if Kanon actually had on the ring. He could only pray she was still wearing it.

“Based on similar circumstances, I judge the possibility to be high. Accordingly, I recommend you attempt a vampiric act.”

When Astarte said that, she summoned her own Beast Vassal without giving Kojou the slightest chance to stop her. Giant, rainbow-glimmering arms spread forth like wings, clawing away at the mass of ice impeding their path.

“Kojou can save Kano if he drinks her blood?”

Nagisa questioned and worriedly gazed up at Kojou. He gave her a slight nod.

“Well…probably.”

“I’m so glad…then, please! Drink Kano’s blood quick!”

“Er…you say quick, but…”

Kojou’s lips twisted nervously as a cold sweat formed at his temples.

This was something generally misunderstood, but the trigger for vampiric urges was lust, not hunger. If you had to categorize it, vampiric acts were more similar to sexual acts. Even Kojou couldn’t just drink anyone’s blood at the drop of a hat, particularly with his little sister watching.

“Um…Nagisa Akatsuki, I would be grateful if you could move a short distance away from this place…”

Shizuri acted considerate for once and tried to get Nagisa to give them some space.

Nagisa blinked hard and looked back at Shizuri.

“Eh…? Why?”

“If you must know, this is, er…you will find out when you are older!”

“…Huh?”

Shizuri’s roundabout explanation made Nagisa suspicious. Well, her reaction was only natural. Of course she wouldn’t easily accept being ordered to go somewhere else when her older brother was trying to save her close friend.

Kojou looked skyward and sighed. Exhibiting lust for Kanon under Nagisa’s watchful eye was a pretty tall order, but that didn’t mean they had time to persuade her, either. The clock was ticking as Kanon’s angelification advanced and Astarte’s life was whittling away.

“Astarte. Can you search for Nina and get her out while I’m in contact with Kanon?”

“—Accept.”

The homunculus girl curtly assented to Kojou’s instructions. Kojou turned toward Shizuri and continued.

“Cas, your sword… It’s not dirty or unsanitary or anything?”

“Unsanitary? You are referring to Hauras? How rude! I keep it properly maintained!”

“…They say sexual desires increase when a creature’s life is in danger, right?”

“Huh? Kojou, what in the world are you thinking? You don’t mean…”

Kojou’s sudden question made Shizuri’s expression harden. According to theory, life-threatening crises stimulated a creature’s reproductive instincts for the perpetuation of the species.

On top of that, Shizuri’s Hauras was a demonic blade that stole the demonic energy of those it cut in order to increase its strength. It was entirely likely that a vampire’s normal instinct would be to drink someone else’s blood in order to replenish the stolen demonic energy.

“Sorry, but I don’t have time to worry about it. Please, watcher. Hit me with everything you got.”

A taunting smile came over Kojou as he looked at Shizuri.

“This man…!”

Shizuri’s lips twisted in disgust. Kojou was telling her to slash him in order to provoke vampiric urges toward Kanon. On top of being reckless, it was such an uncertain method that she really didn’t want to go along with it.

If it was the only way to save Kanon, though, she could understand his logic.

Since Yukina wasn’t there, the duty of cutting Kojou fell to Shizuri.

After all, Shizuri was the watcher of Kojou Akatsuki just as much as Yukina was.

“…Shizuri?”

A bewildered expression came over Nagisa as she watched Shizuri smoothly draw her long sword. No surprise she hadn’t realized what Shizuri’s objective was.

Astarte’s Beast Vassal broke through the mass of ice and exposed Kanon’s body.

Kojou and Shizuri approached Kanon, leaving the worried Nagisa watching on from behind. When he spotted Nina midway, frozen and fallen to the ground, he picked her up and tossed her toward Astarte before picking up the unconscious Kanon.

“Cas!”

“… Scusa…do not hold this against me!”

Shizuri grimaced and poised her sword. When Kojou turned toward her, she thrust her long sword’s blade into Kojou’s flank.

The malevolent, undulating, flame-like blade penetrated Kojou’s flesh with barely any resistance. Fresh blood gushed of the wound with great force. She’d delivered exactly what Kojou had ordered: a grievous wound making him feel as if his life was at risk.

“Kojou?!”

Nagisa was dumbfounded as she gasped, but Kojou had no time to consider her feelings.

“Shit, that really hurts…!”

With the long sword still stabbing him, Kojou pressed a hand to his side as he peered down at Kanon’s face.

Enveloped by the light of spiritual essence, Kanon’s beauty was positively divine. Her silver hair glowed. You could practically see through her skin. She looked like a serene work of art. Under normal circumstances, maybe that would have kept her from being a target of his vampiric impulses.

Kojou, however, had drunk Kanon’s blood several days before. The memory of the warmth and softness he’d felt at the time was still crystal clear.

On top of that, thanks to the great amount of demonic energy stolen by Hauras, Kojou was incredibly hungry that moment, hungry enough to summon his vampiric urges.

“Aka…tsuki…I am so glad…you are safe.”

Having vaguely regained consciousness, Kanon smiled weakly and looked up at Kojou.

Kojou strongly embraced her body without a word. Even on the verge of vanishing altogether, Kanon was still more worried about Kojou’s safety than her own.

“Sorry, Kanase. I still need you here in our world.”

Kojou ferociously bared his fangs. Kanon looked up at him and nodded.

“Yes…so you do.”

She offered her slender neck. Kojou’s fangs sank in. Nagisa and Shizuri watched in silence. The ring on Kanon’s finger gave off a faint, silvery glow.

Tiny fragments of shattered ice fell around Kojou and Kanon’s bodies as if they were glimmering snow.

“ So that’s all she wrote, all during the time we were mopping up after your rampage, too.”

Asagi sighed wearily as she gazed at the security camera footage playing on her smartphone screen.

This was taking place inside an elevator continuing to the central block of Itogami Island’s Keystone Gate, the Gigafloat Management Corporation’s headquarters.

“Whaddaya mean, all she wrote?! And why are you treatin’ that being on camera like it’s normal?!”

Sulking and glaring at Asagi’s exasperated face, Kojou raised his voice in outright objection. Sure, he’d drunk Kanon’s blood outdoors, but no one had said a word about it being caught on video from start to finish.

“Why so surprised? Of course there were security cameras there. The whole Island Guard mobilized to stop your rampage.”

“U…ghhh…”

Asagi’s casual and eminently correct version of events left Kojou at a loss for words.

Kojou drank Kanon’s blood inside the operational theater under Island Guard surveillance. Since he was the operation’s target, it wasn’t all that hard to imagine they’d kept tabs on Kojou’s movements with spy satellites or surveillance drones and the like. That data would technically be secret, but Asagi was the sort of person who could access such data with ease.

He hadn’t intended to feel guilt for it, but the fact remained that vampiric acts were underpinned by sexual desire. When he thought about it calmly, being recorded drinking Kanon’s blood really was embarrassing.

On top of that, right after he’d finished drinking from Kanon, Kojou drank Astarte’s blood, too. When he thought about that on surveillance, his face felt red enough to catch fire at any moment.

“In other words, that is how Nagisa misunderstood that senpai must suffer grave wounds and lose a great deal of blood in order to engage in vampiric actions.”

Yukina spoke in a calm tone. Now Kojou understood the reason behind Nagisa suddenly fetching a kitchen knife when she learned Yukina was trying to have Kojou drink her blood. Nagisa had it in her head that he needed to be wounded before he could drink anyone’s blood.

“Pretty much. Guess Nagisa can switch mental gears on a dime, just like her big brother, who acts all cool and doesn’t mind if he gets hurt if it’s to save a friend?”

Asagi looked up at Kojou with a strained, sarcastic smile.

“I’m so happy for you. She doesn’t actually think of you as the living embodiment of lust, carried away by his passions and drinking from every girl he can put his hands on.”

“What do you mean, every girl I can put my hands on…?”

Kojou sighed in exasperation. Still, he couldn’t deny that Asagi’s assertion had a valid point. Such a violent misunderstanding weighed on his mind a little, but he’d much rather be respected by his little sister than scorned.

“Setting aside how Nagisa got the wool pulled over her eyes as a result, the fact remains that you assaulted Kojou in his sleep to have him drink your blood, right, Himeragi?”

Asagi checked to confirm this with Yukina while they switched to an Employees Only elevator. Since he was taken completely by surprise, Yukina’s voice was shrill from a fair touch of nerves.

“Y-you are mistaken. No, you are not mistaken that I tried to have him drink my blood, but if I do not have a pact with Akatsuki-senpai, I cannot use Snowdrift Wolf so…you are mistaken!”

“Hey, I’m not going to stop you. It just annoys me to have you sneaking around like that. It’s not like anyone turned you down in advance.”

Asagi leaned against the interior wall of the elevator and let out a deep, irritable sigh. Kojou covered his eyes and shook his head at her statement, which seemed a bit off the mark.

“Er, this isn’t an issue of consent…”

“If you have nowhere dark and out of the way, just do it in front of everyone. If I wanted to do it with Kojou, that’s what I’d do.”

“It’s not that I want to do stuff like that with Himeragi, either.”

“…It is not that you want to do that with me, either…stuff like that, you say…is that so…”

Hearing Kojou’s words of instant rebuttal, Yukina lowered her voice. For some reason, Asagi shifted her gaze toward the obviously peeved look on Yukina’s face with apparent sympathy.

“So what then? It’s not like Nagisa’s here. You gonna do it now?”

“Eh?! N-no, that would be…”

Yukina’s cheeks reddened as she emphatically shook her head.

Asagi shrugged her shoulders a little, smiling with a hint of relief.

“That so. I’m glad. I don’t want to keep our guest waiting forever.”

“…Guest?”

Kojou squinted suspiciously at the mature suit Asagi was wearing. The kitchen knife incident with Nagisa had taken up so much of his attention that he couldn’t remember having actually found out the reason Asagi had requested his and Yukina’s presence.

Asagi looked back at the bewildered Kojou and Yukina with exasperation. Her smile faded as her face turned serious.

“A somewhat troublesome guest has come to see you.”

The stopped elevator’s doors opened. Kojou and Yukina were wary of the weighty atmosphere hovering in the corridor as they stepped into the inner sanctum of the Gigafloat Management Corporation.