Strike the Blood - Volume 22 - Chapter 4.2

2

Back on the rooftop of Saikai Academy’s school building, a girl in a gaudy outfit appeared, surrounded by the mirage-like shimmer that went hand in hand with teleportation magic.

“Good evening, Mr. Ruler. We meet again.”

Twirling her cane like a stage magician, Ladli Ren surveyed the members of Kojou Akatsuki’s group gathered on the rooftop one by one: Kojou and Yaze, Asagi, and then Shizuri, at which point she tilted her head with a questioning look.

“Mr. Motoki Yaze, representing the Gigafloat Management Corporation, Miss Asagi Aiba, Priestess of Cain and Mr. Ruler’s Blood Servant…now then, who might you be? You would appear to be ogre royalty?”

“I am Shizuri Kasugaya Castiella.”

Shizuri spoke boldly and plainly, her demeanor utterly unchanged even in the face of one of MAR’s top executives. Er, thought Ladli, looking like she was taken aback. Pfft, laughed Kojou.

“She’s my Blood Servant, too. You don’t mind if I have a bodyguard here with me, do you?”

“Blood Servant—wife, in other words? But of course. Many wives lead to prosperous lives, quite a prize…”

Ladli glanced between Asagi and Shizuri, beaming and quite proud of herself. Apparently she thought wives, lives, and prize made for quite a rhyme.

“…May I cut this woman down?”

“Calm down, Cas.”

When Shizuri mercilessly put her hand on the hilt of her long sword, Kojou stopped her with an annoyed look. Who is this Cas? said the way Shizuri bared her teeth as she glared at Kojou.

Yukina sighed a little as she gazed at the complex expressions on the pair. Yaze looked very amused for some reason as he rudely indicated Yukina with a thumb.

“And one prisoner in the custody of the Gigafloat Management Corporation.”

“…?!”

Yukina nearly blurted something out. For whatever reason, she was being treated in that place not as Kojou’s watcher but as a prisoner associated with the Japanese government.

Ladli glanced at the bewildered Yukina with a dubious air.

“…Prisoner?”

“Yeah, actually, last night, a bunch of people tried to destroy the keystone of Itogami Island on the government of Japan’s orders.”

Asagi replied to Ladli’s question. Yukina silently bit her lip.

“Oh my…I guess they struck out at the plate? The keystone they tried to destroy became their tombstone.”

Ladli commented with amusement, glancing at Yukina’s reaction out of the corner of her eye. Shizuri gripped the hilt of her sword and subdued her anger, but Asagi indulged in a giggle.

“Pretty much, yeah.”

“I see, so that is the reason why you decided to engage in negotiations with us?”

I see, I see, Ladli nodded in understanding.

It was very much true the government of Japan had used Yukina and company to attack the keystone. It might have been for the laudable cause of destroying the gate to Nod, but she’d betrayed Itogami Island all the same.

In one sense, Itogami Island joining hands with MAR in defiance was a natural decision to make. On both military and economic fronts, the only chance of defying the Holy Grounds Treaty Organization military rested with MAR and its vast number of Beast Vassal Warheads.

“Very well. May I ask, then? Do you agree with MAR’s purchase of Itogami Island, or do you not?”

Ladli posed that blunt question to Kojou.

Yukina stopped breathing as she looked over at Kojou. A smile had formed on his lips. Thanks to the unfamiliar cloak coat, Kojou seemed like a completely different person from the one Yukina knew.

“Before we do that, won’t you show us your power, Ladli Ren?”

Kojou shot Ladli an intense gaze.

“Our power…you say?”

Ladli puffed out one cheek in a slight pout. Kojou smiled and nodded.

“I mean, that’s just obvious, right? A while back we sent an HGTO fleet packing all by ourselves. Coming and bragging about doing the same thing just makes a guy wonder.”

“You would test us, Kojou Akatsuki? As a Deva, I am somewhat chagrined, but you make a reasonable point.”

Ladli strove to maintain a composed tone as she spoke. Back during the War of the Primogenitors, Itogami Island had engaged in combat with an HGTO military multinational armada, sending it running with its tail between its legs. She must have been recalling that.

Itogami Island had The Cleansing, and Kojou had his black Beast Vassals. Kojou was asking MAR if it truly had commensurate power.

To Ladli, this was most likely an unexpected proposal, but she agreed to it with ease.

“Very well. Please state whatever you desire that would satisfy your side.”

This time, it was Ladli’s side testing Kojou with a question.

Kojou nodded with satisfaction and spoke casually.

“We wanna see the might of the Beast Vassal Warheads one more time. A fleet’s too puny a target. I’m interested in what happens if you fire one at, say, a big city for instance.”

“Senpai?!”

Yukina’s eyes flew wide open as she looked at Kojou, but a cold blade was pressed to her throat before Yukina could continue with further objections. Shizuri had drawn her crimson long sword, turning it toward Yukina.

“Calm thyself, Yukina Himeragi. This is a negotiation.”

Shizuri spoke in an emotionless voice. Yukina was incredulous as she listened. She didn’t think Shizuri, self-proclaimed Paladin of Gisella, would so easily sacrifice millions of innocent people.

The same went for Kojou, but it was the government of Japan that had attempted to sacrifice the uninvolved people of Itogami City. If the Japanese government’s attempt to sink Itogami Island truly made Kojou and the others furious, the condition they’d issued was certainly not incomprehensible.

“It seems this is no mere bluff from you, Kojou Akatsuki…but are you truly fine with this? Once a Beast Vassal Warhead is fired, there is no going back.”

Ladli pressed the point with Kojou. To her, Kojou and company’s terms had to be more than a little outside her expectations, but Kojou nodded with a cold smile.

“The government of Japan laid a hand on my turf first. Even if we blow Tokyo off the map, they can’t really complain, can they?”

“Sen…pai…”

Yukina murmured in a broken voice. Not knowing Kojou’s true intent left her in chaos. Just as Ladli had said, once fired, a Beast Vassal Warhead could not be stopped. Even if the objective was to reduce the Beast Vassal Warheads remaining, blowing up Tokyo for that purpose was far too great a sacrifice. She didn’t think goading MAR into firing a warhead held any meaning.

Asagi and Yaze made no move to stop Kojou even so. Shizuri’s blade remained immobile against Yukina’s throat.

“Very well, Mr. Ruler. Just as you wish, we Devas shall demonstrate our power.”

Ladli shrugged her shoulders in a show of exasperation as she spoke. Then she looked over Kojou’s assembled group, pointing to the spherical fortress floating overhead.

“Now then, allow me to invite all of you to our Necropolis, Castle Kalenaren—it’s showtime! Just kidding.”