Strike the Blood - Volume 22 - Chapter 4.8

8

In the core of a Necropolis—

Yukina, standing in the chamber atop a cylindrical pillar, was beside herself as she gazed up at the sight shown on-screen.

At Celebes Sea and above Tokyo Bay, black smoke rose from the Necropolis’s broken castle walls. The Völundr System of the Royal Family of Aldegia had sliced through the Necropolis’s outer walls protected by otherworldly bulwarks, inflicting critical damage to each.

On the other hand, the Beast Vassal Warheads fired by the Necropolises had not produced the expected results. The girls had been recovered as girls, their Beast Vassals unsummoned. The two Beast Vassal Warheads had failed to detonate.

Shizuri, gripping Yukina’s arm, sighed with relief and patted her chest. Noticing Yukina’s glaring gaze, she averted her eyes with a decidedly guilty look.

Looking closer, she spotted similar expressions hovering over Kojou and Yaze. Yukina stopped breathing for a while, followed by her shoulders quaking as ferocious anger rippled up through her.

She didn’t think the twin Beast Vassal Warhead misfires had been the product of chance. Kojou and the others knew from the start that they would fail. That was why they’d taunted Ladli into using them.

Drawing out the Necropolises in the process—

“This is your doing, Priestess of Cain…?”

Ladli asked Asagi this in a low voice. Asagi shrugged her shoulders in a somewhat casual manner.

“Unfortunately, no. This was set up by Cain himself from the moment he took the Fourth Primogenitor, the ‘god-killing weapon’ made to destroy him, under his wing—”

“Huh? Wait a second, what are you saying—?!”

“You’re breaking character, Ladli Ren.”

Asagi smiled sardonically at Ladli, whose voice was ragged from getting so worked up. Ghh…, growled Ladli in vexation.

Ignoring Ladli, Asagi provocatively shifted her gaze to Shahryar Ren.

“Cain the Sinful God expected someone would eventually reopen the gate to Nod and bring the Beast Vassal Warheads sealed within to the surface. Shahryar Ren—he expected someone just like you.”

“………”

Ren looked down at Asagi without a word, but his calm disposition was undermined by him biting his lip so hard, it turned pale. Asagi sighed with visible tedium.

“To stop that, he had no choice but to completely neutralize the Beast Vassal Warheads. That’s why he came up with a plan to scrap the warheads entirely.”

“…Neutralize the Beast Vassal Warheads? That is…not something achievable.”

Ren spoke as if wringing his voice out of his throat. Asagi instantly shot down his words.

“No. Neutralizing Beast Vassal Warheads can be done. You already know of the precedent.”

“…The vampire…primogenitors…?”

Clench, echoed the back of Ren’s teeth.

“Vampire primogenitors are the first vampires to have Beast Vassals summoned via the warheads dwelling in their own bodies. They neutralize the Beast Vassal Warheads by taming the Beast Vassals within their own blood. The price they pay for that is accepting an eternal curse of immortality, though.”

Asagi touched her right hand to her chest to indicate her respect for the primogenitors.

Fallgazer, Chaos Bride, and the Lost Warlord—

They were the ones who’d consumed countless Beast Vassal Warheads used in The Great Cleansing of Old to become the vampire primogenitors. The vampire primogenitors were the ones shouldering the sacrifice of the calamity known as Beast Vassal Warheads for humanity’s sake.

“Neutralizing the Beast Vassal Warheads simply involves repeating the same process, making the artificial vampire girls the Beast Vassals are stuffed in their rightful hosts. That way, the Beast Vassals won’t go on a rampage even if you break the girls’ seals.”

Asagi continued explaining with delight. She stomped the floor as if unable to contain herself.

“I said already, that is not possible! Those dolls lack the ‘blood memories’ to make those Beast Vassals obey them…!”

“What if they did have memories, then? Even false, artificially created memories?”

“Wh…at…?!”

Asagi’s calm rebuttal struck Ren out of nowhere, silencing him.

Beast Vassals were information-based life-forms existing without physical form. To them, information was the feed necessary so that they could continue to exist. Accordingly, Beast Vassals instinctively acknowledged the one who fed them information as their host and obeyed that person. Joy, sadness, anger, sadness—the host’s powerful emotions, and the memories binding them together, were the finest of delicacies to Beast Vassals, and any host not sating this hunger would cease to be, his or her life force consumed to the last wisp. That was why the Primogenitors hated boredom. They needed pleasures to farm out to their own Beast Vassals.

All the same, there was no rule that said the information fed to the Beast Vassals couldn’t be fabricated.

“If you take the five hundred and sixty thousand people living on Itogami—no, if the networks are up, you have past memories from people around the entire world. We did samplings of these, created new personalities to farm out…enough for six thousand four hundred and fifty-two people…and built an illusionary school in virtual space for the girls to experience further.”

Asagi said this calmly as if it were nothing major at all. Yukina abruptly remembered something while gazing at the side of Asagi’s face.

Asagi hadn’t used her partner AI Mogwai at all in the past several days. She’d heard that Itogami Island’s main computer had been short on resources, too.

This was because Asagi was working behind the scenes to disarm the Beast Vassal Warheads. She’d given new memories and personalities to six thousand four hundred and fifty-two girls. She’d created an illusionary school for this purpose so that they could experience school life for themselves, all so that the girls gained the power of will with which to rule and tame the Beast Vassals—

“Do you mean to…save the Beast Vassal Warheads with these false memories?”

Ren spoke with a tone of bitter hatred.

“At first, fake memories are fine. If they live on, they’ll get plenty of memories on their own. I mean, these girls have an unlimited future in front of them.”

The corners of Asagi’s lips rose in a powerful smile. Besides, the girls’ experiences weren’t complete fabrications anyway. After all, the artificial vampires’ virtual personalities had been based on Nagisa Akatsuki’s own experiences.

Nagisa had used the ritual called Teokratia to implant her own memories of daily life on Itogami Island into the girls serving as the Beast Vassal Warhead icons. To these girls, the memories of Nagisa fused with Avrora’s soul had to feel nostalgic and easy to absorb. As they gained understanding of Nagisa’s feelings, the icon girls would seize their own future, a future where they lived together with the Beast Vassals they had themselves tamed—

“This was Cain’s plan? He expected Deva descendants would build an artificial island to open the gate to Nod, a plan to use this island to neutralize the Beast Vassal Warheads? A vague plan like that couldn’t possibly go this well?”

Ladli shook her head with incredulity.

Even if it was possible in theory, Cain’s plan had far too many uncertain elements. It didn’t seem even remotely realistic that he could anticipate the construction of Itogami Island thousands of years down the line and use it to realize the disarming of the Beast Vassal Warheads.

Asagi, though, proudly pushed out her chest.

“That’s what we’re here for, all the Priestesses of Cain throughout history.”

“…You’re saying, even MAR was dancing on the palms of your hands all along…?”

Ladli made a limp, pained smile. Her voice had a ring of exasperation to it.

Even Asagi’s plan to make all this a reality hadn’t been anywhere near as sure a thing as Asagi implied. She was constantly walking along a cliff’s edge, in many cases getting by only by the skin of her teeth.

Even so, the Beast Vassal Warheads really had been neutralized, two Necropolises had fallen, and the Priestesses of Cain had fulfilled their objective.

“Well…guess this means the negotiations are shot. You guys can’t use Beast Vassal Warheads anymore, so the HGTO and the Japanese government don’t have any reason to do as you tell ’em.”

An invigorated expression came over Kojou from nowhere in particular as he stripped off the stuffy mantle. In the blink of an eye, he was back to wearing his parka, rotating his shoulders as the load on them eased.

“You entered negotiations with us with this objective? You made us fire the Beast Vassal Warheads on purpose to broadcast to the entire world that they’d been neutralized…?!”

Ladli warily put distance between her and Kojou’s group and went on guard. Appearing within her hands were little sticks with spheres looking like lollipop candies on the end. These were sorcerous devices for summoning Spartoi.

“We figured you’d stick one Necropolis with protecting MAR HQ. Knowing the other would appear over Tokyo made it easy to ambush. If the three primogenitors know where the Necropolises will appear, they don’t need to be stuck protecting their own turf, now do they?”

A profound smile came over Kojou as he spoke.

Ladli gasped, her expression freezing over. The Third Primogenitor in the Celebes Sea and the Second Primogenitor at Tokyo Bay had subdued a Necropolis each. That left only Castle Kalenaren in the airspace above Itogami Island.

“—Castle Kalenaren, emergency submerge!”

Wary of a surprise assault by the First Primogenitor, Ladli forcefully lobbed a command to her subordinates in an angry voice. Kojou and the others were struck by an unpleasant, dizzying sway as the Necropolis tried to submerge into space separate from that of the real world.

“You think you can run?”

Kojou glared at Ladli and asked this. Ladli smiled back at Kojou, not the slightest bit perturbed.

“It is futile, Kojou Akatsuki. No one can summon a Beast Vassal inside a Necropolis hovering between the real world and another, even for you and your black Beast Vassals. If not, I would never have invited you.”

“You sure sealing only my Beast Vassals is enough?”

“Eh…?”

Ladli blinked hard. She was unable to immediately comprehend just what Kojou was saying. Ladli’s expression abruptly hardened.

Suddenly, ridiculously powerful demonic energy surged behind Kojou. The source of this demonic energy was Shizuri Kasugaya Castiella—or rather, the crimson long sword she held in her hands.

“Counting on you, Cas!”

“Leave it to me! Hauras—!”

Shizuri swung down her long sword with all her might. The flame-like undulating blade was imbued with dazzling, pitch-black demonic energy, which she unleashed as an explosive shockwave. Pouring demonic energy supplied by Kojou into it without any restraint, she unleashed an attack of pure, unadulterated destruction.

“Wha…?”

Ladli stood still, forgetting all about trying to stop Shizuri. The cylindrical pillars filling the Necropolis’s core shattered one after the other, crumbling down with a thunderous roar.

Kojou probably couldn’t summon his Beast Vassals inside the Necropolis. It was with this expectation that Ladli had so easily invited Kojou and the others into the Necropolis.

This was why Kojou had brought Shizuri to the negotiating table. As Kojou’s Blood Servant, she could release Kojou’s demonic energy through Hauras effectively without limit.

“Cas, you missed a few. A little to the right, one o’clock, range is four hundred meters, diagonal slash up, please.”

“Who is this ‘Cas’ person—?!”

Following Yaze’s directions, Shizuri swung her sword once more. The now pitch-black blade’s shockwave tore through the darkness, sending intense tremors throughout the entire Necropolis. Shizuri’s slices had inflicted fatal damage to the Necropolis’s power plant.

“Engines, full stop! Spiritual reactor, emergency shutdown!”

“Otherworld submerge impossible! Castle Kalenaren is surfacing!”

“Our propulsion is…at this rate…the castle will…!”

Ladli’s subordinates cried out one after the other. Castle Kalenaren’s otherworld submerging had failed, meaning it would be completely defenseless in the real world. For that matter, it had lost its buoyancy and had begun to fall to the surface.

“Motoki Yaze…are you determining Castle Kalenaren’s layout with, echolocation…?”

Ladli barely listened to the cries of her subordinates as she glared at Yaze.

“Underestimated the ‘Deva knockoff,’ did we?”

Yaze feigned innocence as he smiled.

A Necropolis’s layout was complex, its interior spaces twisting without regard for the laws of gravity. On top of that, the critical sections were protected with multiple labyrinth-like defensive walls. Even divination magic couldn’t identify the Necropolis’s weak points, yet Yaze had exposed them with ease. He was relying on mere sound echoes—no, it was precisely because he relied solely on sound echoes that he’d slipped beneath Ladli’s radar.

“Kojou! We’ve returned to the real world!”

Asagi clung to the fiercely swaying cylindrical pillar’s floor as she shouted.

Got it, said Kojou’s silent nod as he thrust his right arm forward.

“C’mon over, Primus Mercury!”

An explosive torrent of demonic energy came forth as a pitch-black Beast Vassal appeared. It was an enormous, twin-headed dragon with both necks intertwined. It took an enormous bite out of the very center of the Necropolis, the Shahryar Ren hologram included, and kept going until it burst straight out the Necropolis’s outer wall.

Moonlight illuminated the interior of the Necropolis as a powerful sea breeze blew in. They could see the nighttime skyline of Itogami Island and the surface of the sea through the rift in the wrecked outer wall.

“…It would seem this castle is done for. All hands, I entreat you to retreat!”

Ladli ordered her subordinates in a casual tone, but the interior of the Necropolis had already fallen into great chaos, Kojou questioned whether her words had really reached anyone. In the first place, there was no guarantee that the Necropolis was even equipped with escape devices.

“You will pay dearly for this, Kojou Akatsuki—”

Ladli glared resentfully at Kojou as she took out a small sorcerous device from a breast pocket. The device rested in her palm like some kind of remote control. The instant she activated the sorcerous device, the sight of her was swallowed up by a ripple-like sway. She was escaping via teleport.

“—Senpai! If the Necropolis crashes like this, it will be a disaster for Itogami Island…!”

Yukina seemed to be at the very end of her wits, withstanding the violent tremors as she closed the distance between herself and Kojou.

Having lost its buoyancy owing to Kojou and company’s attacks, the Necropolis was accelerating, pulled by the force of gravity as it fell toward Itogami Island’s urban areas. If the Necropolis crashed into the surface with that kind of momentum, Itogami Island wouldn’t stand a chance. It was the worst-case scenario Natsuki Minamiya had feared.

“Suppose you’re right. Guess it comes to this in the end.”

“‘In the end’…?!”

Yukina raised her eyebrows at Kojou’s irresponsible statement, but Kojou smiled awkwardly back at Yukina.

“Sorry, Himeragi. That’s how it is, so will you stick with me to the bitter end?”

“Senpai…? What are you saying…?”

“Talk and you’ll bite your tongue, Himeragi!”

“…Huh?!”

Yukina replied in bewilderment. Before her, Kojou quietly closed his eyes.

The next instant, his entire body unleashed a surge of massive demonic energy like never before. Touching his palms to the floor at his own feet, Kojou began summoning a Beast Vassal. Even Yukina, watcher of the Fourth Primogenitor and witness to a great many powerful Beast Vassals, was sensing demonic energy of such an incredible level for the very first time.

“C’mon over, Primus Ater!”

Kojou summoned his new Beast Vassal.

The interior of the Necropolis roared like a painful cry as it tore apart. A ridiculously huge sword with a blade surpassing a hundred meters pierced the Necropolis straight down from directly above.

Assaulted by an impact like never before, explosions began erupting all over the place in the Necropolis’s interior. The few intact remaining cylindrical pillars snapped, and the outer shell creaked.

On the other hand, a change came over the Necropolis’s movements. Its acceleration caused by the force of gravity diminished, and Yukina and others were assailed by a strange, floating feeling. Their falling speed had clearly slowed.

Finally, the Necropolis fell completely silent and began floating once more. It slowly gained altitude as if completely freed from the force of gravity.

“Beast Vassal…gravity control…!”

Yukina’s eyes blinked wide open as she spoke. The pitch-black great sword was the black Beast Vassal able to control gravity. Using its abilities, Kojou was dragging the Necropolis higher into the sky. Its destination was the giant magic symbols drawn in the night sky—the gate that continued on to Nod.

“—Lady Empress! Thou art safe?!”

As the Necropolis continued to creak, a loud, speaker-amplified voice echoed within.

A crimson robot tank with a flight unit attached roared its way in through the giant hole Kojou’s Beast Vassal had punctured. Kojou could make out Yuuma Tokoyogi on the tank’s back, too. They’d been on standby in the upper atmosphere to secure an escape route for Asagi and company.

“Looks like our ride’s here to pick us up. This is where our job ends.”

Asagi sighed with her smartphone in one hand.

The Necropolis’s interior was already in tatters. Few of the surrounding cylindrical pillars looked like cylinders or pillars anymore. The area around Kojou and company was only safe because Asagi had deployed a bulwark using The Cleansing.

Asagi could not use her ability in Nod, however. The Cleansing could not be activated without the support of the sorcerous device called Itogami Island. That was why a conflicted expression hovered over Asagi. She must have felt like she was powerless to help Kojou when he needed it most.

“Well, it cannot be helped. Our abilities cannot be employed on that side after all.”

Shizuri shot Yukina what seemed to be an envious expression. As an ogre, Shizuri would also lose her abilities in Nod, where demonic energy was nonexistent. The only people able to use their abilities even in Nod were Kojou, who’d obtained power on par with the Fourth Primogenitor, and Yukina, who wielded spiritual energy.

“—I apologize for the wait, one and all! Now, now, let us swiftly depart!”

Lydianne’s tank batted aside falling fragments as it landed.

“Might be best to hurry up. Looks like MAR’s reserves standing by in New Itogami Island are on the move. I think they’re planning to conquer the main island as a last resort.”

Yuuma, hopping off the tank’s back, spoke with an atypically serious tenor.

Kojou gasped, his expression hardening. MAR had a large force garrisoned at its staging base on New Itogami Island. Just because the Necropolis was dead in the water didn’t mean the threat they posed had vanished into thin air.

“Go get ’em, Kojou. I know you can bring Lil’ Avrora back, too.”

Kojou hesitated for a moment whether to abandon charging into Nod and move to Itogami Island’s defense when Yaze encouraged him. Kojou looked back at Yaze in surprise. Then the two bumped fists without another word.

This was probably his last chance to bring back Avrora, a chance that the combined strengths of Asagi, Yaze, and many others had provided him. Kojou couldn’t let it go to waste, no way, no how.

Besides, Yaze’s encouragement held the subtext of Leave this to us. All Kojou could do was trust them to see things through to the end.

A jet engine noise whined and echoed once more as the robot tank lifted off. Yuuma activated a teleport. The crimson robot tank was enveloped in a ripple-like sway.

“I’m leaving Kojou in your hands—”

From the back of the tank, Asagi looked down at Yukina and spoke those words. She along with Yaze and Shizuri were clinging on to the tank any way they could. A two-seater tank was carrying five people, a situation that was really pushing it.

“Yes.”

Asagi and the others completely vanished before Yukina’s voice ever reached them.

Soon after, Yukina and Kojou were struck by an intense swaying of their own. The Necropolis had made contact with the gate to Nod.

Unable to endure the warping of space, the Necropolis’s innards began to crumble. Their fields of vision darkened, and rubble poured down on them.

When Kojou seemed ready to bowl over, Yukina instantly squatted and grasped him in support. The two clung to one another as they breached the gate to Nod.