Strike the Blood - Volume 3 - Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO 

THE SAINT ON THE ROOF 

1 

The seventh day of the lunar month, the night of the first quarter of the moon… 

“H…hello?! Kojou Akatsuki?! It’s me!” 

About an hour after midnight, the sudden ringing of the phone roused Kojou from the verge of falling asleep. 

The voice he heard through the phone’s speaker sounded tight with tension. Kojou replied to the voice, one he’d become very accustomed to hearing over the last several days, with a reluctant tone. 

“…Kirasaka? Sorry, I don’t feel like dealing with you today. Later.” With that, Kojou moved to hang up the phone. 

“Huh?! W-wait, will you?!” 

The girl on the other end of the line, Sayaka Kirasaka, sounded very rushed. 

She was a War Dancer for the Lion King Agency—a specialist in curses and assassination. She was also Yukina’s former roommate. Kojou had come to know her due to an incident that had rocked Itogami Island two weeks prior. 

A one-sided grudge by the man-hating Sayaka had caused a great deal of grief for Kojou, but for some reason, she kept in touch by phone like this even after she’d left Itogami Island once her mission had ended. 

“What are you hanging up on your own like that for?! Inform me what the meaning of this is. Or does this mean you’ve done something to my Yukina again…?!” 

Her display of typical overprotectiveness toward Yukina put Kojou in a mood of deep regret. This was pretty much the only part of Sayaka’s personality he didn’t like, really… 

“It’s not… Nothing to do with Himeragi, but I haven’t done anything to bother her. Probably not.” 

“What in the…? I don’t understand a word you’re saying…” 

Suppose that figures, Kojou thought with a bit of self-reflection. 

“It’s not about her, it’s my little sister who’s in Himeragi’s class…” 

“Ah, Nagisa you mean?” 

“Why do you know about her?” 

“She was in a file concerning the recent incident. Unlike you, she’s pretty cute,” Sayaka said glowingly in a self-absorbed voice. 

“Oh, shut up,” Kojou muttered, grinding his teeth. “So…a boy in her class gave her what looked like a confession…” 

“…Did you kill him?” Sayaka asked in a suddenly frigid tone. 

Kojou was bewildered by the sudden change. “Huh?” 

“Did you kill the filthy little thief? I mean, I do understand how you feel, but I wonder if burning him to a crisp with your Beast Vassal might be overdoing it just a little.” 

“Like hell I did!!” Sayaka’s altogether too-extreme impression made Kojou feel a shiver as he shouted. “Why would I use a Beast Vassal to fry a guy making moves on my little sister anyway?! I don’t get what you’re going on about!” 

“Why not? Maybe now you can sympathize a little with the anger and despair I felt when I’d heard you’d laid a hand on my Yukina.” 

“No, no, no, Himeragi’s not your little sister, and anyway, I didn’t lay a hand on her.” 

“…You drank my Yukina’s blood, you drank my Yukina’s blood…,” Sayaka repeated the words in a subdued, resentful tone. “Shut up,” muttered Kojou again as he pulled the phone away from his ear. After a little while, he heard an “ahem” sound of her clearing her throat. 

“Well, I basically understand the situation.” 

“D-do you now.” 

“You’re one of those. What do they call them? You’ve got a sister complex.” 

“Er, no, you don’t understand one little bit. It’s not that at all,” Kojou disputed in irritation. “…It’s just, after our parents divorced there was no dad in the house, and Nagisa had a hard time for a while living in a hospital. That’s why I kinda feel like…if I don’t protect her, who will?” 

“Is…is that so…? W-well, that’s pretty…commendable by your standards…” 

Normally he’d never think about the matter that deeply, and more than half of it was born of the need to come up with an excuse at the moment, but Sayaka seemed to take it quite seriously. She murmured in a quivering voice before going silent. 

Kojou felt a little guilty and changed the subject. “Anyway, what were you calling for tonight?” 

“It’s not as if I have any business that has to do with you!” 

Sayaka’s reply came in the blink of an eye. What’s her problem? thought Kojou, beside himself. 

“Geez, don’t call, then!” 

“Th-this week I’m going to Itogami City again, so I just wanted to tell you that if you ask, it’s okay to meet up somewhere.” 

“…Did that idiot Vattler do something again?” Kojou asked with the sudden onset of a bad premonition. Dimitrie Vattler was an aristocrat of the Warlord’s Empire in Europe. He was a pureblood vampire of the bloodline of the First Primogenitor, the Lost Warlord. 

He was militant to the point you could call him a combat maniac. Sayaka was his watcher. 

But Sayaka made a weary sigh. 

“Separate case. A…VIP from the kingdom of Aldegia is coming that day, so I’m supposed to be her…escort and guide… 

“…There’s been a bit of trouble, though.” 

“Aldegia? What’s someone that far from Itogami City want here?” Kojou asked back with a dubious voice. 

The kingdom of Aldegia was a small European nation on the coast of the Baltic Sea. Known for its beautiful natural environment and high-tech industrial power, it was especially famous for production of magical products. But thanks to the great distances involved, it had no deep links to Japan. 

“I…can’t really say I don’t know the details, but they’re diplomatic secrets, you see…” 

“Ahh. Yeah, they would be…” 

Based on Sayaka’s oddly reluctant tone, Kojou took her words at face value. 

“Getting assigned escorting a VIP from another country, though, you’re really something, Sayaka. Even though you’re the same age as I am…” 

“Er, ah…thank you…” As if stricken by surprise, Sayaka spoke in a rather cute voice. After that, she hastily returned to her usual overbearing tone. “W-well…naturally. I’m not a half-baked Primogenitor like you are. This is the least expected of Yukina’s older sister.” 

Not like you actually are Yukina’s older sister, Kojou mentally interjected. 

“If you’re escorting a big shot like that, you won’t have time to meet me or Himeragi, though. I’m sure it’ll be real busy. Figures it’s a totally different situation than us.” 

“Er, yeah…” Upon hearing Kojou’s genuine words of praise, Sayaka murmured weakly, then groaned a low groan as if wanting to rebut him about something. “That’s right, that’s how it is! Go die, idiot!” she suddenly yelled defiantly and hung up. 

What the heck did she really want, anyway…, pondered Kojou, staring at the silent cell phone in bewilderment. Oh well, he immediately decided and went back to sleep. 

2 

It was the next day after classes. Immediately after finishing his lessons, Kojou headed to the middle school section. He was, of course, heading there to keep an eye on Nagisa. 

Being an artificial construct, Itogami Island had a chronic shortage of land, so the site of Saikai Academy was by no means excessively broad. Many facilities, like pools and gyms, were shared between the campuses. For that reason, Kojou encountered no special suspicion as he arrived at the middle school campus. 

He’d already confirmed that Nagisa had been in a club meeting during that day’s lunch break. Accordingly, if Takashimizu plotted to get close to her again, chances were good that he’d do it during the after-class period. 

The problem was, how was he going to keep an eye on Nagisa without her noticing…? 

“…What do you think you’re doing here, senpai?” 

Kojou, having infiltrated the campus building while avoiding prying eyes, froze in place as a sudden voice brought him to a halt. 

With a gulp, he turned his head toward the speaker. Yukina stood there with a neutral expression as he met her eyes. 

“Himeragi… Wh-what a coincidence. I was just passing through, y’see…” 

“You were just passing through the middle school building?” 

Yukina exhaled, exasperated. Perhaps he should have expected as much inside the school building, but the usual guitar case was not on her back. 

“Nagisa went to the roof.” 

“…The roof?! Dammit, that’s where…!” 

Kojou clicked his tongue and looked above his head. Thanks to having seen her behind the building the day before, he’d been sure she’d show up somewhere near the same place again that day. 

Now that Kojou was no longer making any effort to conceal that he was trying to sneak in, Yukina shot a rather frigid glare at him. 

“Senpai, you’ve got more of a sister compl— Er, you’re more of a worrier than I expected. I’ll put it that way.” 

The typically considerate Yukina corrected herself before saying “sister complex.” Kojou twisted his lips in dissatisfaction. 

“Just so you know, I worry about you, too, Himeragi…,” he informed her with the call from Sayaka the night before in mind. But even before Kojou got the last part out of his lips, Yukina’s cheeks were turning red. 

“Wh…why would you be…? I’m here because of my duty, you know. There’s no reason for you to worry about me, senpai…” 

For some reason, Yukina was lowering her face like she was blushing, mumbling in a small voice. Her rather mysterious reaction threw Kojou off a bit. 

“…She only left the classroom just earlier, so I think we can still catch her. Let’s go.” 

Yukina spoke decisively and walked in front of Kojou. Kojou was even more thrown off by Yukina’s sudden cooperativeness. 

“Himeragi…?” 

“I-I’m going with you. To watch you, of course, senpai.” 

“R-right.” 

Well, fine then, thought Kojou as he followed behind her. 

Kojou felt a little nostalgic as they ran up the stairs, a different color than the ones in the high school building. 

The door to the rooftop wasn’t locked. After confirming there was no sign of anyone in front of the door, Yukina gently pushed it open. That was when they heard a boy restraining an oddly sentimental voice. 

“…Just cooperate already. You’re gonna make a scene…” 

Kojou’s face paled at the fairly unmanly tone. Judging based on the fragments that his ears could pick up, he could only think that the boy was trying to convince someone to do something she didn’t want to. 

“Wh-what are they doing, I wonder…?” Yukina murmured with apparent unease. Kojou’s expression remained frozen in place. 

“Is that voice that Takashimizu guy?” 

“…Yes. Probably.” 

Yukina bit her lip and nodded. They couldn’t hear the words from whomever Takashimizu was speaking to. All they could hear was an occasional, delicate voice with something like a yelp mixed in. 

Kojou swallowed his spit with a gulp and pressed his ear to the gap in the door. 

“…Sheesh, I told you no. Don’t hug so tight.” 

“Ahh, sorry… I’m not really used to this.” 

“Hey, I told you that tickles…!” 

“If you’re too loud, people are gonna notice…” 

“I know, I know…but when I’m licked like that… O-ow…” 

This time, Kojou could clearly hear the voice of a girl very familiar to him. There was no mistaking that it was Nagisa engaged in “pleasant conversation” with Takashimizu. 

The instant he was sure of that, Kojou kicked the door open before his brain could catch up. 

“S-senpai?!” 

“You bastaaaaard!” 

With Yukina still pulling on him to hold him back, Kojou leaped out onto the rooftop as he bellowed. 

The shocked, wide-open eyes of Nagisa and Takashimizu turned to look at him. 

“Okay, break it up!! Do you have any idea who you’re laying your paws on here?!” 

“Eh…?! Um, uhh…” 

“…Senpai, don’t! Calm down!” 

Takashimizu retreated a step in apparent fear of the sight of Kojou’s rage. Kojou brushed off the clinging Yukina and raised his fist at Takashimizu. 

That was when a small, brown, furry animal leaped into Kojou’s field of vision. 

The round eyes of the kitten in Takashimizu’s arms looked curiously back at Kojou. Kojou stopped in place as if those eyes had pierced him like an arrow. 

The kitten mewed a small mew. 

“H-huh?!” 

With the eyes of everyone present upon him, Kojou slowly looked around the area. 

He didn’t understand what was going on in the slightest. 

Takashimizu was standing there hugging a kitten. Nagisa was letting the kitten lick her own fingers. 

Yukina was standing right behind Kojou, wide-eyed. The kitten made a meow once more. 

And there was someone else… 

There was a schoolgirl he’d never seen before standing right beside Nagisa. 

Kojou’s eyes were instantly taken in by her. 

A gentle smile came over the girl’s face; she seemed wholly out of place in this confusing situation, as if she’d wandered her way in from a completely different world. 

Her silver hair evoked a snowy plain; her pale blue eyes glittered like a frozen stream. 

Perhaps because of the color of her hair and eyes, she somehow felt like a beautiful lady of high breeding. 

She was of small stature, not much different than Nagisa or Yukina. Even so, she seemed taller than they did, which was no doubt why she had a stylishness far removed from Japanese norms. 

She was wearing a long-sleeved shirt under her short-sleeved uniform. It was strange to see anyone wearing one on Itogami Island with its year-round summer, but it matched her refreshing looks very nicely. 

“Er… Who’s that…?” Kojou asked without thinking. “Meow,” went the kitten one more time. 

The silver-haired girl said nothing, tilting her head as if a bit at a loss. The next moment… 

“…Kojou!” Her hair standing up like a hissing wildcat’s fur, Nagisa stormed her way toward Kojou. 

“N-Nagisa… What are you doing up here with a cat…?” 

“What are you doing in the middle school building, Kojou?! Shouting nonsense all of a sudden like that! It’s rude to Takashimizu and it startled the cat. Plus, it’s making trouble for Yukina!” 

Cold sweat poured down Kojou in the face of his little sister’s rapid verbal assault. 

“Er… But what about the confession reply thing…?” 

“Confession? What are you talking about…? I was just meeting with Takashimizu to ask him to take care of the kitten.” 

As she spoke, Nagisa pointed to the kitten Takashimizu was cradling in his arms. “Meow,” went the kitten as if on cue. Kojou remained unable to pull himself out of befuddlement. 

“…So what was yesterday’s letter about…?” 

“Letter? Ah… Maybe you mean this?” 

What Nagisa fished out of her uniform’s pocket was a drab, unembellished sheet of copy paper. What was written upon it was a long way from a confession of love; it was simply a list of residential addresses. 

“A-addresses…?” 

“—A list of athletics club members. Akatsu… Your little sister said that she was looking for people besides me who could take in cats, so I thought this might help.” 

Takashimizu, having recovered from his initial surprise, explained to Kojou with a politeness befitting a proper athlete. 

Nagisa lowered her head toward him out of apparent embarrassment. 

“Thank you, Takashimizu. I’m sorry, my big brother had this strange misunderstanding…” 

“No need to worry about that at all. Well, I’d better go.” 

Making an eloquent smile, Takashimizu took the kitten back to the campus building in a cardboard box. Kojou watched him go. 

“He seems like a pretty good guy.” He murmured his honest admiration, as if not involved in the matter at all. That moment… 

“Senpai…” 

“Kojou…” 

Yukina and Nagisa looked up at Kojou, simultaneously sighing together. 

As if her anger was not yet sated by this alone, Nagisa closed in on Kojou even more. 

“I cannot believe this. How’s it even possible to mistake talking about getting someone to take in a stray cat for a confession?! Wait, even if it was a confession, what were you doing coming to peek on it, Kojou?!” 

“…I’m sorry. I came right along with him.” 

“You don’t need to apologize, Yukina. It’s Kojou’s fault for misunderstanding, anyway.” 

As Yukina lowered her head, Nagisa covered for her while glaring at Kojou with puffed-up cheeks. Well, that is exactly how it happened, Kojou internally conceded. 

“I’m in the wrong about coming to peek uninvited, fine, but you never said one word about trying to find someone to take in a stray cat!” 

“Like I have to tell you. You and Yukina both live in the same apartment building I do, and we all know you’re not allowed to raise pets there.” 

“Err.” 

Kojou couldn’t come up with anything to refute the sound logic of Nagisa’s argument. 

“…What’s with that cat, anyway? You been taking care of it?” 

“It’s not me. Kanon’s been taking care of it.” 

“Kanon… Meaning?” Kojou asked, as if doubting his ears at the name he’d never before heard. Then, the silver-haired girl who had remained silent to this point gently stepped in front of Kojou. 

“Ah yes. That’s me, Kanon Kanase.” 

Speaking with a soft voice, a gentle smile came over the girl. Her words sounded like those of an affectionate mother; the gentle look on her face seemed divine. 

“I’m…very sorry. It’s really…all my fault.” 

The girl’s silver hair swayed as she bowed deeply. 

Watching the flow of her movements, Kojou was at a loss for words. 

For some reason, Nagisa and Yukina both looked unhappy as they stared at the look on Kojou’s face. 

3 

“You’re Nagisa’s big brother, yes? I’m sorry to have caused you trouble.” 

So spoke Kanon Kanase as she picked up the tote bag she’d left lying at her feet. 

Inside the bag were milk bottles for cats, cat food, toys—an excessive amount of supplies for caring for a single kitten. 

“Er, no, I don’t think there’s anything you need to apologize for, Kanase…” 

As Kojou spoke with a fair bit of embarrassment, Kanon smiled pleasantly and shook her head. 

“Nagisa has helped me a great deal when we were in the same class together until last year. Because I’m shy, and also, boys tend to avoid me, I don’t believe I’d have ever been able to hand the kitten over to Takashimizu if Nagisa hadn’t been here with me today.” 

Kojou thought Kanon’s words, which she seemed to believe in all earnestness, were a bit surprising. 

She did seem difficult to approach in some ways, but Kanon was a more beautiful girl than most celebrities. He didn’t think her reserved personality and gentle demeanor were reason enough for boys to consciously avoid her. 

“What are you saying?” said Nagisa with an exasperated, strained smile. “I keep telling you, it’s not that at all. Everyone clams up because they like you too much, Kanon. That’s why they call you ‘the Saint of Middle School.’” 

“Huh…?” 

Kanon blinked like she didn’t really get it. 

Kojou thought saint was an excellent way to describe the effect she had. In point of fact, the air Kanon gave off was a good deal more like a person of the cloth than a certain Lotharingian Armed Apostle. He could get people saying she was a nun in her day job. 

“Himeragi, you know Kanase, too?” 

Kojou quietly posed his question to Yukina. 

Yukina whispered into Kojou’s ear. “No. But I’ve heard the rumors often enough: that she has an exceptionally pretty face and is admired by all of the girls in her class. Also, they seem to levy a fine upon the boys of their class if they initiate conversation with her.” 

“I see. I don’t really get that part, but it’s quite something.” 

“Yes. But I understand why it’s difficult to engage in casual conversation. She’s too pretty.” 

“Hey, I don’t want to hear that coming from you…!” Nagisa interjected, apparently unable to hold her tongue any further. “Just so you know, every last bit of that goes for you, too, Yukina. The boys in our class set up a three-second rule, a five-second rule, an eight-second rule, and a twenty-four-second rule for being under arm’s length from you. They get a talking-to and harsh punishments if they go over those time limits. Oh, they’re running put-a-curse-on-Kojou-Akatsuki sessions, too, so you’d better watch out, Kojou!” 

“Why the heck are the guys in your class trying to put a curse on me…?” 

Kojou felt a light headache coming on as he grumbled. Nagisa went “hmph” and seemed to pout as she turned away in a snub. 

“Anyway, I need to go apologize to Takashimizu again. Kojou, Yukina, you help Kanon instead of me, all right?” 

“R-right. I can do that much, sure.” Kojou nodded as he glanced at Kanon’s bag. Certainly, it was more than her slender arms should have been carrying. He had no objection to helping her. 

“Sorry about this…” Kanon smiled bashfully as Kojou took the bag. 

Now that the misunderstanding with Takashimizu was resolved, there was no reason to stay in the middle school building. Once Yukina made preparations to leave, Kojou hooked back up with her, with both then making their way out from school. But at around the point Nagisa split off from them midway, Kojou felt like he was being watched, making him utterly unable to relax. 

Certainly, Kanon’s looks stood out a great deal, but Yukina’s looks were every bit as pretty. There was no way having two younger girls looking like that following in his footsteps would fail to attract attention. On top of that… 

“…I sense a strange presence. Please stay close to me, both of you.” 

Yukina was reacting to the bloodlust being trained upon Kojou, but as she said those words, she drew closer to him. That only created an even worse atmosphere, concentrating additional hatred from others upon Kojou. 

Feeling like a criminal on a perp walk, Kojou quietly pulled up his parka’s hood and hid his face. By the time they finally safely escaped the middle school building, Kojou’s back was unpleasantly slick with sweat. 

“I’m sorry… It’s all my fault.” 

Kanon spoke apologetically as she toyed with her own hair with a fingertip. Apparently, she was under the impression that it was just her hair that made her stand out more than other people. 

“So that hair’s your natural color?” 

Kanon nodded a sad nod at Kojou’s casually posed question. “My biological father is not Japanese. I was raised in Japan, so I have very little memory of him.” 

“That so?” 

Seeing that there were complicated circumstances involved, Kojou didn’t ask anything more. 

Rather than head to the station, Kanon was making for the hill behind the school. Inside a small park filled with green trees, Kojou could see an abandoned gray building. 

“…Is this a church?” Kojou asked as he looked up at the relief carved onto the building’s roof. 

It was caduceus—the Messenger’s Staff—with two snakes entwined around it, a symbol not usually associated with the European Church. 

“This is an abbey that took care of me when I was younger.” 

Kanon looked at the decayed garden with a bit of longing. The flower bed was buried in weeds; there was a rusted-over tricycle left behind. 

“Kanase, you’re not actually a nun, are you…?” 

“No, I’m not. I looked up to them…but…” 

Kanon quietly shook her head at Kojou’s question. Before Kojou could ask her to continue, Kanon extended a hand to the door of the building. She opened the damaged wooden door with a heavy creak of its hinge. 

“Oh my…” As she peered into the decrepit building, Yukina let slip a little exclamation. 

As she strongly looked over her shoulder, there was a glimmer of innocent emotion showing in her eyes that suited her age for once. 

“…Himeragi?” 

“Cats! They’re cats! Look, senpai, cats!!” 

“R-right. I can see that…” 

Kojou was a bit taken aback at Yukina being in such uncharacteristically high spirits. A seemingly countless number of golden eyes emerged from the dimly lit interior of the abandoned, ruined abbey. 

There were ten-odd cats, still quite young, rushing toward Kojou and the others like bird chicks greeting the return of their mother. Kojou thought the sight was less adorable than frightening, but… 

“Waah… So cuuute… There, there… There, there…” 

Yukina smiled happily as she picked one kitten up after another. Ah, come to think of it, recalled Kojou, she was into collecting cat mascots. Yukina had been cool and composed on the roof with Takashimizu, but she’d probably been fighting her desire to pamper the kitten the entire time. 

“So, umm, you take care of…all of these?” Kojou asked Kanon as the horde of kittens milled around his feet. 

In spite of all these kittens living under one roof, there was no hint of any unpleasant smell in the abbey, a clear sign someone had been frequently passing through and caring for the kittens as well as cleaning up the place. 

Kanon nodded as she prepared the cat food with a practiced hand. 

“They’re all…abandoned cats, you see. I meant to take care of them until I could find people to take them, but…” 

“Until you can find someone to take ’em? The odds aren’t good with this many…” Kojou was a bit beside himself as he spoke. Kanon lowered her eyes in dismay. 

“Yes. I cannot do it myself. That was why I asked Nagisa and others to help me…” 

“…So when Nagisa told me to help you, this is what she meant, huh?” 

Kojou sighed and slumped his shoulders wearily as he finally figured out what his sister really intended. 

Looking up and seeing Kojou like that, Kanon asked a tentative question. “I’m very sorry. Is it too much trouble?” 

“Nah,” Kojou muttered with a smile, shaking his head. “I can’t just say I don’t wanna do it after what happened earlier. Then, there’s Himeragi there…” 

“I’m so glad. I was a little worried. I’m not confident I can keep caring for all these little ones,” Kanon murmured as her pale eyes narrowed softly, giving the kittens a very fond look. 

Gazing at the side of her face, Kojou was a bit dazzled by the saintly air she gave off. 

“Kanase, I think you really would make a great nun.” 

Kanon looked up in surprise as Kojou gave her his honest opinion. 

For a moment, her expression held a faint trace of sadness. 

“Thank you very much. Those words alone are…enough for me.” 

Kanon made a soft, charming smile as she spoke. 

4 

The elevator continued downward until finally halting without a sound. 

It was sixty levels belowground. This was the Gigafloat Management Corporation Public Security Department in Keystone Gate, the central core of Itogami Island. 

She awaited the opening of the elevator door before marching into the dimly lit corridor. 

She was a small woman wearing a frilly gothic lolita outfit. 

Her cherubic face was better described as that of a beautiful girl’s rather than a young woman’s, if not that of a child’s. In spite of this, her steps seemed mysteriously full of might as she marched without hesitation down the corridor. 

“…Heya, Natsuki. Over here, over here!” Someone called out her name with an odd, overly familiar tone of voice. 

Tch. Natsuki Minamiya, not only an English teacher at Saikai Academy, but also a national Attack Mage known as “the Witch of the Void,” made an unpleasant click of her tongue. 

“First, Kojou Akatsuki, now you… I’ve told you enough times not to call your homeroom teacher by her first name!” 

As she spoke, the target of her glare was a young man with spiky hair that was combed back. He was dressed in a black suit—the uniform of the Gigafloat Management Corporation’s Investigative Division. He wore headphones around his neck while making an impudent leer. 

“I thought something must have happened to be called directly to the corporation… Your doing, Yaze?” 

“Sorry about this. We’re a bit shorthanded here, y’see.” 

Covering his yawning mouth with a hand as he spoke, Motoki Yaze led Natsuki into the center of the room. 

It was a room that greatly resembled an operating room of a hospital. A girl who didn’t look even ten years old was lying on top of a bed surrounded by high-end medical devices. Her entire body was wrapped with bandages as if she’d been gravely injured. 

And for some reason, both of her arms and legs were firmly secured with thick metallic devices. 

Natsuki hmphed through her nose as she looked down, unmoved. 

“…So this is the fifth? Looks like they really put on a show last night.” 

“Oh yeah. So far, reports coming in of two buildings half-wrecked, five set on fire, blackouts, water shortages… But still better than the alternative. It’s all commercial districts with few civilians nearby.” Yaze had a cynical look on his face as he explained. 

There had been an incident the night before in Itogami Island’s western district, Island West. 

Two unregistered demons possessing high-combat capabilities engaged in prolonged battle above urban areas. Buildings in the area caught up in that fighting had suffered heavy damage. 

This girl, apprehended with heavy injuries, was one of those unregistered demons. 

“…I heard that she was fighting someone else?” 

“We don’t know who she is. It’s been a real pain trying to track her down.” 

Natsuki raised her eyebrows, taking delight in hearing Yaze’s morose-sounding words. 

“So even you couldn’t chase her down?” 

“Ah, there ain’t no way. She’s outta my league.” 

Yaze scratched his head as he spoke. 

Motoki Yaze was a Hyper-Adapter—not a demon, but a human born with exceptional abilities. Using a type of psychic power, his special ability allowed him to extend his hearing over a wire area, enabling him to track everything within a radius of several kilometers like highly accurate radar. 

But even his ability had drawbacks. The field of delicate sound Yaze deployed was vulnerable to big explosive sounds; it wasn’t well suited to monitoring large-scale combat. 

And it had one more drawback—namely, it was powerless against opponents traveling beyond the speed of sound. 

This time, when combat had concluded, the target he was tracking left the battlefield at a speed even his ability couldn’t keep up with. Of course, this was not a feat your average demon could accomplish. 

“The report said this girl is an unregistered demon?” 

“At the very least, there’s no matching entry in Itogami City’s Demon Registry database. Well, that’s to be expected, given that she’s not a demon to begin with.” 

“…Not a demon? She’s one of your kind?” 

For once, Natsuki had a look of surprise on her face. Not many things existed that could wreck multiple buildings with flesh and blood that weren’t demons. Such feats were all the more unthinkable for ordinary humans. 

“Well, y’see, there’re faint traces of sorcerous physical augmentation, but the way the corporation sees it, she should still be thought of as almost totally human.” 

“So what, a mere human flew in the skies above a Demon Sanctuary, mowing down buildings in her wake? Don’t make me laugh.” 

“Well, there’s no doubt these folks aren’t normal. I’m not laughing, though.” 

“How heavy are the girl’s injuries?” Natsuki asked as she shifted her gaze back to the wounded girl. 

“They say she’s in stable condition for the moment. They’re using cellular cloning to replace missing internal organs.” 

“…Missing organs?” 

“Her diaphragm and a kidney… Right around the Manipura Chakra, you could say.” 

“So they were eaten…” 

Natsuki seemed to spit the words out as she murmured. 

The next moment, she heard an innocent-sounding voice from behind her. It was a melodic but sarcastic male voice. 

“…Hmph, I see. It was not her internal organs that were taken so much as her energy nodes… Or rather, her very spiritual being… Rather fascinating, isn’t it?” 

“Oh, it’s you, Dimitrie Vattler…” 

The bearer of the voice poked his head in from the corridor as Natsuki shot him a glare, an open scowl on her face. 

“What’s a bat like you from outside doing here?” 

“You’re so cold. And after your country went through all the trouble of asking me to pay you a visit…” 

The aristocrat from the Warlord’s Empire that Natsuki had called an outsider smiled cheerfully in the face of Natsuki’s hate-filled stare. 

But he was a noble, an Old Guard vampire of the First Primogenitor’s line possessing vast destructive power. 

He’d been granted his own autonomous territory within the Warlord’s Empire with vast military might. And currently, he was ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to Itogami Island. 

“Well, that’s very big of you, you snake charmer. When did you get used to being the pet of the Lion King Agency’s vixen?” 

Natsuki spoke in a taunting tone. Yaze clutched his head at the threatening atmosphere both were giving off. 

“I’ll let that pass without comment. Diplomatic secrecy, you see.” 

“A diplomatic secret of the Warlord’s Empire? So your Primogenitor cooked this incident up? Now that’s interesting.” 

“I wonder. It could be completely unrelated to him.” 

“What…?” Natsuki was in shock for a while at Vattler’s half-joking remark. Yaze watched Natsuki’s agitated reaction with a dubious look on his face. Apparently he hadn’t been told the details that would have given Vattler’s declaration meaning to him. 

Natsuki glared at Vattler, a thin haze of bloodlust rising from her doll-like visage. 

“‘Snake charmer…’ What do you know?” 

“Do you recall hearing the name Ragnvald, Witch of the Void?” 

“…An armored airship belonging to Aldegia in Northern Europe. The flagship of the Knights of the Blessed Ring.” 

“This isn’t public knowledge yet, but last night it vanished without a trace. It last transmitted its location some one hundred and sixty kilometers west of Itogami Island.” 

Natsuki’s expression turned grave at Vattler’s report, which seemed unrelated to him at first glance. 

“So you’re saying this incident is related to the Aldegian royal family?” 

“Well, there’s no actual proof. Don’t you think the timing’s a little too convenient, though? Well, either way, I’m going to just stand back and watch this time. Don’t worry, I’m not inclined to lift a finger.” 

“That’s quite a bold statement coming from a combat maniac like you.” Natsuki glared at Vattler, her eyes showing no hint of trust whatsoever. 

To an unaging, undying, long-lived, and very bored Old Guard vampire, fighting a powerful enemy was the best way to kill time and give meaning to one’s life. Surely Vattler couldn’t ask for a better playmate than an unknown monster capable of flying at supersonic speeds and wrecking buildings left and right. 

But the aristocrat from the Warlord’s Empire curled up the edges of his lips in a pleasant smile. 

“They are not your enemies. It might be unexpectedly interesting to simply let them be and watch.” 

“…And you expect me to believe one word you say?” 

“It’s friendly advice. Whether you heed it or not is up to you.” Vattler recited in an indifferent tone. Then, as if suddenly remembering something… 

“This isn’t to get payback for that information, but I have a request to make of you.” 

“I’ll hear you out at least. What is it?” Natsuki asked bluntly. For a single instant, Vattler’s blue eyes were dyed red in genuine bloodlust. 

This was no doubt meant for Natsuki’s benefit. Even the stout building that was Keystone Gate creaked from the surge of thick magical energy he gave off. 

“Do not involve the Fourth Primogenitor in this.” 

“…Kojou Akatsuki? Why?” 

Natsuki raised her eyebrows at the unexpected request. Vattler slumped his shoulders in annoyance. 

“Because he cannot defeat her. It would be inconvenient for me were my beloved Fourth Primogenitor to perish so soon.” 

5 

The next day: Thursday after classes. 

Two adorable kittens with black-and-white spots slept softly side by side in a cardboard box. A male student with delicate facial features was peering inside. This was Kojou’s classmate, Haruka Uchida. 

“Sorry, Uchida. Really saving my bacon here.” 

“It’s cool. Everyone in my family loves animals, anyway.” 

Kojou handed the cardboard box with the kittens over as Uchida spoke with a bright smile. These were two of the abandoned kittens Kanon Kanase had been caring for at the ruined abbey. He’d been calling acquaintances since the night before, finally finding someone who was able to take a couple of them. 

Yuuho Tanahara glanced absentmindedly at the playful Uchida and the kittens. She was a blunt, strong-willed girl who often blew her lid at the boys in her class, but right now she was enveloped by an adorable aura as if she was a completely different person. She’d fallen head over heels for Uchida. 

“I really didn’t expect you to get friendly with the Saint of Middle School, Akatsuki.” 

Yuuho began talking to Kojou out of the blue. 

“You know about Kanase?” 

“She’s popular with the boys in high school, too. She’s half-Japanese, right? With those looks? Just not fair.” 

“Well, I think so, too.” 

Kojou nodded in frank acceptance. Kanon was waiting a short distance away out of consideration for her senpai, Kojou. When she realized her eyes had met with Yuuho’s, she made an elegant bow, making her silver hair sway. 

“But…I kind of have a…hard time with her.” 

“Hard time?” 

Kojou was surprised to hear those words from such a willful girl. Yuuho blushed a little as she quickly said, “Ah, it’s not that I hate her or anything. It’s just, she lived in an abbey close to this school when she was a kid. Way back, I went there for this and that event, too.” 

“Right.” Kojou nodded as he recalled the sight of the ruined abbey. He realized that he hadn’t actually heard why the abbey had been closed in the first place. 

“…There was an incident, a bunch of people died… That girl was the only survivor,” Yuuho murmured, her expression sinking into gloom. The content of her words didn’t really hit Kojou at first. 

“They didn’t tell me the details, but it was apparently a pretty horrible incident. Friends of mine died in it, too… It’s a little hard for me to deal with her because I’m reminded of it every time I look at her, even though I know it’s not her fault at all.” 

Seeing how pale Kojou was, Yuuho forced out a smile. 

“Well, it’s nothing you need to worry about, Akatsuki. Just forget about it. More importantly, between the transfer student and the saint, you really shouldn’t tease Aiba so much.” 

“…It’s got nothing to do with Asagi. I got asked to help Kanase find people to take in some cats and that’s it.” 

“Yeah, yeah.” 

Yuuho irreverently brushed off Kojou’s excuses. Somehow feeling an unpleasant tug at his thoughts, Kojou thanked Uchida once more and parted ways from them. 

“So we found people willing to take in all of ’em, huh?” Kojou asked as he met up with Kanon under the shade of a schoolyard tree. Kanon made a happy-looking nod. 

“Yes. Those were the last of them. Thank you very much…” 

“Nah… The only ones I found someone to take in were those two…” 

Kojou made a pained smile as he spoke. Of course, finding homes for ten kittens wasn’t a one- or two-day job. This was the product of several days of hard work between both Kanon and Nagisa. 

“Glad we finally finished the job, though.” 

“I suppose so. Now all that’s left is the one I picked up earlier, but I can manage that on my own.” 

“…Wait, you picked up another one?!” 

Kojou was naturally in shock as he caught sight of the kitten in the blanket Kanon was holding. 

It was hard enough caring for only one abandoned cat, yet here was Kanon taking care of one after another; it had to be a considerable burden on her. It was something that couldn’t be explained by a simple love of animals; Kojou felt a fierce motive behind it. And just as Kojou was about to spontaneously ask why she was going so far… 

“…My, a delicious-looking kitten there.” 

A small woman with a parasol raised emerged from the side. 

“Natsuki?” 

“Don’t call your homeroom teacher by her first name.” 

Kojou let out an anguished groan as he sustained a ferocious elbow strike to his side. Natsuki Minamiya looked back at the suffering Kojou with an upbeat look. 

“Did you know, Kojou Akatsuki? It’s forbidden to bring small animals onto school grounds. So, I’ll be confiscating that kitten. I was planning to have stew tonight, anyway…” 

Kanon sucked in her breath with a sharp “hiu!” at Natsuki’s casually conveyed words. Seeing her reaction, Natsuki smiled at her as if she was licking her lips. 

Clutching the blanket-wrapped kitten, Kanon backed off, as if frightened. 

“…I’m sorry, I must run away.” 

“R-right.” 

Kojou sighed as he beheld Kanon running off, her silver hair swaying all the while. 

Somehow, Natsuki looked somewhat wounded as she tapered her lips. 

“Hmph. Can’t take a joke. She didn’t have to run like her life depended on it.” 

“It doesn’t sound like a joke when you say it.” 

Kojou made an exhausted-sounding sigh. Natsuki glared at Kojou like that had been beyond the pale. 

“Incidentally, who was that brat just now?” 

“Who calls students of her own school brats? Sheesh. She’s Kanon Kanase, middle school, third-year.” 

“She puts a lot of attention into her hair. Teenage rebellion?” 

“No, no, it ain’t that at all. She said her dad was a foreigner, so it’s probably ’cause of that? Not that she told me details about her dad or even what country he was from…” 

“Is that so?” Looking like she was filing that away for future reference, Natsuki said, “Hmm,” but she immediately raised her face, looking at Kojou. “Well, fine. Kojou Akatsuki, you’re coming with me tonight.” 

“…Huh?! Um, ah, what exactly do you mean by…?” 

“What’s with that reaction? I want you to help me with work.” 

Kojou made a disagreeable face as he replied with a question. “…You mean, Attack Mage work?” 

Natsuki shot him a cold look. “You know that there was combat in urban areas in West a few days back?” 

“…Yeah, I heard from class that it was unregistered demons going nuts and stuff, but…” 

Kojou made a vague nod. He remembered how Asagi had complained about the ruckus costing her sleep. 

“It wasn’t unregistered demons running wild. Don’t spread that around, though.” 

“Not demons…? Who, then?” 

“I don’t know. We’ve apprehended one of them, but their true nature remains unclear.” 

Natsuki spoke in an animated tone. Kojou had a really bad feeling about this. 

“If you captured one of them, then the other one got away?” 

“Right. And the other night wasn’t the first fighting that’s taken place in urban areas, either. There’ve been five similar smaller-scale incidents over the last two weeks.” 

“Five…?! 

“Seriously?” said Kojou, If what Natsuki said was true, that was about one urban battle every three days or so. That’s like a round-robin soccer tournament, thought Kojou with a scowl on his face. “So you figure there might be another incident just like that taking place tonight…” 

“Very perceptive, Kojou Akatsuki.” 

Elegantly inclining her frilly parasol, Natsuki made a charming, satisfied-looking smile. 

“…So all this being the case, I want you to assist me in apprehending the suspects. After all, even I have difficulty catching several suspects at the same time by myself.” 

“No, no, no…” Kojou fervently shook his head. 

Natsuki was one of the very few people who knew of his true nature. That an unregistered demon like Kojou could continue living as an ordinary high school student was thanks to the strings she was pulling as an Attack Mage. 

But the price of that was that Natsuki occasionally asked him to help her with her side jobs. Invariably, Kojou had a near-death experience as a result. 

“I get the circumstances, but why do I have to help you out? Ain’t there anyone else?!” 

“Astarte is still being readjusted. She’s only just finished healing from the gunshot wounds Gardos gave her… But if you refuse to cooperate, I suppose I’ll have to have her help, anyway?” 

Natsuki invoked the name of the homunculus she had been granted protective custody of. Kojou couldn’t help but shudder at Natsuki’s underhanded negotiating tactics, as if she was using an injured person as a hostage. 

“Also, Dimitrie Vattler gave me a warning. He said not to involve you in this incident.” 

“The heck?! Aren’t you completely ignoring his warning, then?!” 

“If it annoys him, of course I’m going to do it.” 

Pettiness notwithstanding, Natsuki grandly puffed up her chest as she spoke. 

“We’ll rendezvous at nine PM at Thetis Mall. Don’t be late. If you’re even one second late, I’ll send compromising pictures of you and Aiba in the art classroom to the cell phones of all your classmates.” 

“…Why do you have something like that?!” 

Kojou let out an unrestrained shriek at Natsuki’s earth-shaking pronouncement. 

“Because I’m your homeroom teacher. 

“Huhuun,” went Natsuki with a proud smile. Kojou couldn’t judge how much she was joking and how much she was dead serious. She really is a woman with no conscience, thought Kojou. 

“…Gimme a break,” Kojou murmured helplessly as he watched Natsuki casually walk off. 

The crimson setting sun seemed to burn into the top of his head. Night would soon visit the Demon Sanctuary of Itogami Island… 

6 

Thetis Mall was a commercial district right in the center of Island West. 

It was a convenient place with specialty shops, restaurants, and movie theaters lined up side by side, but Kojou didn’t really like how they were, quite naturally, all jumbled together. He liked even less the lethal crowd density in front of the station on Friday nights and on weekends. Natsuki appeared at the rendezvous point within those crowds just before eleven PM, or nearly two hours after the appointed time had passed. 

“…You’re late! And the heck’s with that outfit?! Aren’t you doing Attack Mage work here?!” 

Glaring as Natsuki walked over in a showy yukata, Kojou shouted, heedless of those being bothered around him. 

But Natsuki’s expression did not change. 

“Don’t get excited, brat. I saw there was a festival at a shopping district nearby. I thought I’d treat Astarte to some nighttime shopping.” 

“At least call to let me know that, geez!” 

“What are you angry for? I even bought you some fried octopus. Here, eat.” 

“…Well that’s nice of you.” 

Natsuki offered the package of fried octopus; Kojou indignantly took it. 

In front of Kojou, a little girl with what somehow seemed to be an artificially beautiful face quietly bowed her head. 

She had indigo-colored hair and a perfectly symmetrical, doll-like face. She was Astarte the homunculus. She, like Natsuki, was wearing a yukata. Her pale, lavender-colored eyes really went well with her hair. 

“We are one hour, fifty-six minutes late to our rendezvous. I apologize, Fourth Primogenitor.” 

“Nah, you don’t have anything to apologize for. …Did you have fun?” 

“…Affirmative,” Astarte curtly replied. Her tone was as robotic as usual, but she did seem cheerful. 

During that time, Natsuki’s gaze shifted to behind Kojou with an annoyed, reproachful look. 

“And what are you doing here, transfer student?” 

“I am the Fourth Primogenitor’s watcher, after all,” replied Yukina, wearing her school uniform and carrying her guitar case on her back. 

As if a matter of course, Yukina, having learned that Kojou was going to go with Natsuki out on a job, had insisted on accompanying him. 

“Well, fine. It doesn’t hurt to have another pair of hands. Why don’t you put on a yukata, too? You can rent them in front of the station.” 

“…I’m fine, thank you.” 

Though the short pause preceding her reply seemed to carry a small twinge of regret, Yukina strongly shook her head. 

“More importantly, why are you bringing a dangerous individual like Akatsuki out on an unsafe mission such as this? You do understand the enormous damage that would occur if senpai’s Beast Vassals ran wild in an urban area such as…” 

“And what would you do if he was dragged into fighting without even a clue what was going on, Sword Shaman? Don’t you think that’s even more dangerous?” 

“Th…that might well be so, but…” 

Yukina’s willfulness abated in the face of Natsuki’s unexpectedly straightlaced rebuttal. Natsuki added more, as if to press her advantage. 

“Surely it’s safer to keep something dangerous close at hand, not in a distant place where you cannot see.” 

“Uu…” 

Yukina’s shoulders slumped in dejection at how easily she’d been dressed down. Kojou, who’d just been called a dangerous individual by both girls, twisted his lips with a feeling of dismay. 

Without displaying any special pride in victory, Natsuki led Kojou and Yukina onto an elevator. Licking a candy apple she’d bought at a stall, she asked Kojou, as if she’d just remembered… 

“Did you read the data I sent by e-mail?” 

“Well, I skimmed it. Masked, was it? So we’ve just gotta capture this thing?” 

“More precisely, capture both Masked.” 

Natsuki spoke high-handedly as she replied with a tone befitting a teacher. 

Masked was a code name for the mysterious monsters doing battle over and in the skies above Itogami City. 

According to witnesses in previous cases, the Masked always appeared in pairs, with combat apparently continuing until one or the other collapsed. Naturally, Natsuki was thinking it was highly probable that two would appear simultaneously this night as well. 

“Capturing them’ll be easier said than done. I dunno what to do about guys who can fly around…” 

“No need for concern. Shoot them down,” Natsuki replied instantly and without hesitation. 

“That’s nuts,” Kojou groaned. 

“After all, if you’re letting your Beast Vassals loose toward the sky, there’ll be no ill effects on the city.” 

“Er, that might be true, but, uh…” 

“They’re monsters of no small measure themselves. Don’t worry, they won’t bite the dust that easily. Even if you slip up and kill one, they’ll just toss you in a jail cell.” 

“Don’t worry, my ass! What the hell?! Can’t I get a ‘not guilty’ here?!” Kojou clutched his head and yelled at Natsuki’s declaration, which was over the top even for her. 

The elevator kept rising until finally arriving at the top floor. From there, they switched to a service elevator and moved onto the roof. At ten stories tall, Thetis Mall was the tallest building in the area. It was an ideal location for spotting the flight-capable Masked. 

“At any rate, that is rather strange.” 

“It’s not ‘rather’… It’s totally messed up!” 

“I don’t mean your treatment, senpai, I mean that building…” 

Yukina was pointing at an office building on the other side of an intersection. 

The upper half of the brand-new structure was thoroughly gouged out; even now, rubble that had been scattered about was piled up on the roadway. The ghastly scene looked like a meteorite strike. 

“Even though there was such a large explosion, I never noticed a thing. If that destructive power had been generated by a spell or a summons, quite a bit of magical energy should have been released.” 

“Meaning, even a Sword Shaman of the Lion King Agency could not detect it…just as I suspected,” Natsuki murmured with a curious look of acceptance. 

“The magic energy detectors placed around Itogami Island’s interior didn’t respond to the Masked, either. The Island Guard only realized something was wrong when buildings were wrecked and civilian security corps kicked up a fuss.” 

“What does this mean…?” 

“I don’t know. Special kinds of spells, physical attacks… There are a number of possibilities I can think of.” 

After those words, an aggressive smile came over Natsuki’s face. 

“Well, we won’t really know until we ask the persons concerned… Don’t kill them, Akatsuki.” 

Natsuki was glaring in the direction of the sky above a giant cell tower standing outside the shopping district. 

Things enveloped in malevolent light were dancing in the dark nighttime sky. Their movements were far too unorthodox to be those of aircraft. They were bizarre silhouettes near human in size engaging in fierce aerial combat. 

“…The Masked?!” 

“They appeared sooner than I expected. Astarte, tell the corporation, ‘It’s time for the fireworks.’” 

“Accept.” 

Having received Natsuki’s orders, Astarte took a radio transmitter from a sleeve of her yukata and operated it. 

Kojou gave it a suspicious look. 

“Natsuki, what do you mean by ‘fireworks’?” 

“What, young people nowadays don’t know what launching fireworks is?” 

Spreading her beloved parasol, Natsuki smiled cutely, as if astounded at how dense he was. A moment later, Kojou heard a boom behind him. Colored fireworks bloomed into a large floral pattern in the sky. 

They were actual fireworks. The launch point looked like it was right in the opposite direction of where the Masked had appeared. 

“Now the public’s eyes should be looking in that direction. That should gloss over a few extra explosions and the like.” 

“I see… Wait, don’t tell me the night shopping you were doing was for this…?!” 

Rather than admiration, Kojou was frankly shocked at the unexpected depth of Natsuki’s preparations. 

Certainly, the great roar and dazzling flashes of a fireworks launch was ideal for hiding the existence of the Masked. Even if witnesses saw a number of flashes and explosions away from the show, they probably wouldn’t be especially suspicious. 

But Kojou took from the mere fact that such an elaborate deception was necessary in a Demon Sanctuary like Itogami Island as proof that this incident was extremely serious. 

“We’ll settle this while the public is distracted by fireworks before they can catch on. We’re jumping.” 

“Huh? Whaddaya mean ‘ju—’” Kojou looked back as Natsuki’s abrupt call to him gave him a bad premonition. 

That same moment, Kojou was assaulted by fierce dizziness. Shortly after, he felt an unpleasant sense of vertigo like he was in free fall. When that finally subsided, Kojou was in abject shock at the realization he’d been tossed right on top of a high, unfamiliar tower. 

“…Whoaaaaa?! What the heck am I doing here…?!” 

Almost losing his footing, Kojou hurried to a nearby girder poking out and clung to it for dear life. 

This was the cell tower’s skeleton of girders painted red and white. They were directly under the Masked engaged in combat. Natsuki had used teleportation magic, a specialty of hers, dragging him along for the ride. 

“Senpai, above you! Look out…!” 

Yukina, brought along for the ride with Kojou, shouted sharply as she looked above her head. 

As Kojou lifted his face in response to her voice, he sucked in his breath as he unexpectedly found himself looking at the Masked at very short range. 

Both Masked had the forms of little girls. 

But the girls had hideous, bloodstained, mismatched wings sprouting from their backs. 

The surface of their bare arms and legs bore ghastly geometric shapes, with countless ghoulish eyeball symbols on the masks that covered both girls’ heads. 

As the girls spread their wings, they launched undulating, warped swords of light, shooting down one shimmering, mirage-like wall after another. 

When the swords of light fell out of the sky, they turned into incandescent flames, setting the buildings and streets below on fire one after another. 

The battle between the two intensified, instantly increasing the damage to the shopping district. 

“…I see. Certainly creepy. I do not know that type of magical formula,” Natsuki murmured in the casual tone of an irresponsible observer. “Yes. Rather than sorcery, it is more like…the divine possession that we employ…” 

Nodding at Natsuki’s words, Yukina drew her silver-colored spear from its guitar case. 

The spear’s shaft slid to its full length; the sheathed blade deployed, extending side blades to the left and right. It was a beautiful, all-metal spear that looked the part of a glossy, modern weapon. 

“A ‘Schneewaltzer’…perfect. Lend me a hand, Yukina Himeragi. We’ll knock them out of the sky.” 

Without warning or waiting for Yukina to reply, Natsuki made a wave of her right hand. 

That instant, the space around her seemed to warp with a ripple. Then, a giant, silver-colored chain shot out of thin air like an arrow, wrapping around the Masked soaring in the sky. 

The next moment, Yukina kicked off from a steel girder, leaping into the air. 

Kojou merely held his breath and watched. 

Yukina sailed until landing on top of a chain stretched across the sky. Paying no heed to the dizzying height, she sprinted along the chain. 

“…Snowdrift Wolf!” 

Responding to the prayer Yukina invoked, her spear became enveloped in a dazzling, holy light. 

The spear she had been granted, dubbed Snowdrift Wolf, was a Mechanical Demon-Purging Assault Spear Type Seven, aka “Schneewaltzer,” a secret weapon of the Lion King Agency. It was their trump card for anti-demon combat, able to neutralize magical energy and rend through any barrier. No ward sorcery could defend against its attack. 

With the Masked bewildered by the unexpected intruders, Yukina poised her spear and thrust its shining, glimmering blade into one of the warped wings… But… 

“Eh?!” 

The moment they clashed, Yukina sucked in her breath at the bizarre feedback to her hands. 

The ominous light covering the Masked had grown brighter. That radiance had repelled a direct hit from Snowdrift Wolf. 

Sparks ferociously scattered as the blade that was surely able to rend all barriers bounced off the invisible wall. 

The black, mismatched wings spread as the Masked cried out. The chains that bound them were blown off; Yukina, caught up in the shock wave, was sent flying as well. 

“…Himeragi?!” 

“They severed Laeding…?!” Kojou and Natsuki shouted simultaneously. 

Yukina, thrown into the sky, swung her spear, using the reaction to control her direction, and landed safely upon the cell tower once more. It was a beautiful, supple martial arts technique worthy of a hawk. However, she wore a steely expression. Her Schneewaltzer, able to slay without fail even a Primogenitor, was ineffective against the Masked. 

“Are you all right, Himeragi?!” 

“I’m all right. However…” 

Nodding back to Kojou as he rushed over, Yukina looked up at the now-free Masked. 

Both of the Masked had stopped fighting each other out of vigilance against Kojou’s group’s attacks. One of the two escaped to higher altitude while looking down at Kojou and the others; the remaining one trembled with anger as she charged the tower. Below her mask, her lips burst open into a shrill cry as her entire body emitted a red light. 

“No!” 

The attack by the Masked gouged a hemispheric hole out of the cell tower’s base. Natsuki’s expression froze over as she beheld the sight. 

No longer able to support its own weight, the cell tower leaned and slowly fell, girders snapping and scattering along the way. It was falling toward a thoroughfare brimming with traffic and a gaggle of buildings on the opposing side. At this rate, great disaster was unavoidable. 

“Akatsuki, I’m leaving them to you! Don’t hold back—you’ll die if you do!” 

Leaving behind a one-sided declaration, Natsuki teleported, all sight of her vanishing. 

“Huh?! Wait a…” 

Kojou was dumbfounded as he watched the ripple in space left behind her. That’s a lot easier said than done, thought Kojou; his hands were literally full from clinging to the collapsing tower to not be thrown clear of it. 

But as the steel tower’s tilt reached some thirty degrees, its descent suddenly came to a halt. Without fanfare, countless chains stretched forth from the ground, entwining around the tower to protect it from destruction. 

Though its tilt made it look less stable than the Tower of Pisa, the steel tower somehow regained its balance and remained aloft in the sky. This was no doubt Natsuki’s doing. However, it seemed that even she could not hold up a steel tower weighing several hundred tons and take on the Masked at the same time. 

The berserker Masked plunged down toward the cell tower once more. 

Looking up and seeing that, Kojou’s eyes were tinged red in anger and fear. 

“Ah, crap! C’mon over, Beast Vassal Number Nine, Al-Nasl Minium…!” 

Responding to the call of its master, the Beast Vassal materialized from the enormous magical energy Kojou released. 

It was huge and ferocious, a two-horned horse: an incandescent bicorn, shimmering like a mirage. 

Vampires were served by the Beast Vassals within their very own blood. They were destructive magical energy given form. The otherworldly summoned beasts consumed their host’s life force from the mere act of emerging in this world. 

Only vampires, bearing unlimited “negative” life forces, could employ those Beast Vassals… It was for this very reason, vampires were the most feared among all demonkind. 

Even the weakest Beast Vassal possessed striking power rivaling that of a cutting-edge fighter plane, whereas the Beast Vassals of the Fourth Primogenitor, the World’s Mightiest Vampire, were menaces no different from natural disasters. If Kojou lost control for even a moment, worst case, the entirety of Itogami Island might be burned to a crisp. 

It was such a malevolent Beast Vassal that glared and roared at the onrushing Masked. 

The roar transformed into a shock wave cannonball, assailing the Masked straight from the front. The oscillations it gave off made the cell tower creak and shudder and shattered glass windows of buildings all around them. But… 

“What…?!” 

Even sustaining a frontal attack from the bicorn able to rend the very atmosphere, the Masked calmly continued dancing in the sky. Its flesh was completely unharmed. Even the attacks of Kojou’s Beast Vassals were ineffective against the Masked. 

“Oh no… It can withstand even attacks from a Primogenitor’s Beast Vassal?!” 

Yukina’s voice trembled as she watched, dumbfounded, as the Masked spread its misshapen wings. Having seen the destructive power of a Beast Vassal up close several times over, she was, in a sense, even more shaken than Kojou was. 

Glaring at the enemy that had impudently withstood its attack, the incandescent Beast Vassal moved decisively, launching a direct blow. However, the result was the same; the bicorn’s charge, surrounded by a ferocious oscillation wave, slid right over the Masked like water off a duck. Even if Yukina’s spear was capable of nullifying a Beast Vassal’s magical energy, this did not mean the two were equivalent in power. 

Yet even this buffeted the Masked no more than a gentle breeze. 

Just like how throwing a pebble into a lake could not harm what was reflected upon its surface, Kojou’s Beast Vassal could not touch the Masked. That fact shocked Kojou to the core. Then… 

“Not good…!” 

Realizing the Masked was forming a gigantic sword of light, Kojou’s entire body froze over. He couldn’t even calculate the casualties that releasing an attack like that in the middle of an urban area like this would cause. 

Yukina raised Snowdrift Wolf in a hurling posture, aiming to strike her foe down in midair. However, it had already been proven that her spear was ineffective against the Masked. Kojou instantly began trying to summon his second Beast Vassal. But if Al-Nasl Minium couldn’t touch his opponent, would his other Beast Vassal, Regulus Aurum, fare any better…?! 

Fighting off premonitions of despair, Kojou raised his right arm to the sky. It was the next moment when… 

“Wha—?!” 

…a beam of light flew through the sky above him, going right through the Masked, reading its sword of light. 

The beam of light was actually a small silhouette with misshapen wings—the other Masked that had been watching their battle from above. 

The first Masked let out an anguished cry as she was struck by the surprise attack from the blind spot behind her. 

The “beam” having shot through her, she crashed right into the guts of the cell tower. She writhed around as fresh blood splashed all around her. 

The second Masked pounced on her from above, using her talon-tipped arms to mercilessly gouge out her wounded comrade’s body. Ribs snapped, bare flesh rent; the misshapen wings were torn right off. 

The first Masked continued to fiercely resist, but victory and defeat had been determined by the first blow. The heavily wounded Masked inflicted only light injury upon her comrade before she herself stopped moving. 

“Was she…protecting us…?” Kojou murmured as he stared at the side of the blood-splattered face of the Masked. 

What she did couldn’t be written off as a mere surprise attack, with her picking her timing through careful assessment of the combat situation. It felt clear to him that she’d acted with the goal of saving Kojou and the others from their predicament. 

Even Yukina, keeping her guard up as she held her spear, had a faint look of bewilderment come over her. 

Right before their eyes, the plate that covered the head of the Masked came off. The metal mask was cracked all over from the attacks of her comrade. 

Symbols on the surface of her bare skin, resembling electrical circuits, illuminated her uncovered face. 

“…That’s crazy! That face… She’s…?!” 

“It can’t be…” 

The instant they beheld her beautiful, too-young visage, Kojou and Yukina were at a loss for words. 

She had silver hair reminiscent of a snowy plain and pale blue eyes that glittered like a glacier… 

Bearing misshapen wings, her bare flesh covered with bizarre symbols, it was Kanon Kanase. The middle school schoolgirl, who loved animals and who always had a gentle smile on her face, was completely drenched in blood spatter as she looked down at her fellow Masked. 

“…Kanase, stop…!” 

Realizing what she was about to do, Kojou let out a disjointed cry. 

Kanon’s beautiful visage twisted as her mouth opened wide. Growing in her mouth cavity were countless fangs like those of a great white shark. Kanon’s fangs bit into the bare, exposed neck of her comrade, lying upon the cell tower… 

“Kanase……!” 

As Kojou yelled, an incredible amount of blood gushed out before their eyes. 

Her throat rent, the body of the wounded Masked heavily convulsed. 

Tears flowed from Kanase’s pale blue eyes as she bit into the torn-off piece of flesh. 

That moment, Kojou finally understood the meaning of this battle. They were being made to fight each other so that one would consume the other. Kanon was consuming her fellow Masked. 

Kanon, having finally completed her objective, spread her wings and soared into the sky once more. 

Her form, surrounded by that malevolent light, suddenly blended into the sky and vanished from sight. 

Kojou and the others could only watch her go, shocked. 

All that remained were heavy traces of destruction and the gravely wounded Masked girl… 

A breeze carrying the scent of blood blew through the moonless sky over the city.