Strike the Blood - Volume 5 - Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO 

THE PURSUED VS. THE JAILBREAKERS 

1 

The smell of cheese wafted up from the freshly baked pizza. 

Sitting on the table, it was a simple frozen pizza that had been on hand, but it looked like a feast to the hungry. Frozen pizza formed the bulk of Mimori’s diet, so there was always a large number of them available in the guesthouse. 

Sayaka grumbled as she pinched a slice of pizza and brought it to her lips. 

“If only you really had died…!” 

The target of her sharp, icy gaze was Kojou, who was in the process of spreading some olive oil onto some pizza. 

And glaring at Kojou from the side was a sullen Yukina. 

“Yes, this time was a little…much,” she admitted. 

Kojou felt distinctly uncomfortable at having the two Attack Mage girls glare at him. “…Wha—?” 

He was certainly sorry for having made them worry. But he thought the girls were behaving rather coldly to someone who’d fainted some ten minutes before. Noticing the defiant look Kojou was giving off, Sayaka’s graceful eyebrows heavily furled. 

“What’s the big idea, getting dizzy and fainting from an empty stomach?! If you’re about to collapse, tell someone before you do it! What kind of glutton are you?!” 

“I couldn’t help it!” Kojou replied. “How the hell was I supposed to know Yuuma hadn’t eaten one thing when she was usin’ my body?!” 

Apparently, Yuuma hadn’t had a single thing to eat during the half a day that she and Kojou had swapped bodies. Furthermore, during that time, Yuuma had executed a number of large-scale spells and had engaged in spectacular combat with Yukina; small wonder Kojou’s body was famished. 

So, even after returning to his own physical body, Kojou hadn’t realized that he was starving, eventually collapsing from hunger. It was a little hard for him to accept the blame for that. 

Nonetheless, it was true that the wound in his chest had caused a great deal of misunderstanding. 

“But it’s my bad for makin’ you worry. Sorry about that.” 

Seeing Kojou meekly lower his head, Sayaka finally softened her expression. “Ah, yeah…you really did…” After that, she immediately gasped as her face reddened. “No, I mean, I did not worry about you one tiny bit whatsoever, Kojou Akatsuki…!” 

“That so. That’s good, then…” 

This time, Kojou’s easy acceptance of Sayaka’s words made her puff out her cheeks, apparently displeased. As usual, Kojou couldn’t really figure out why she reacted like this…but he thought, It’s kinda funny how she changes faces so much. 

Yukina let out a small sigh as she watched the interaction between Kojou and Sayaka. “However, it is good that the situation was no worse than this.” 

Kojou agreed from the bottom of his heart. “Yeah, definitely.” 

With Yuuma gravely wounded and Natsuki’s whereabouts unknown, Kojou being down for the count would’ve really sent them up a creek. 

For whatever reason, Kojou’s chest wound ached heavily whenever he used his vampiric abilities and was draining his strength. But if he wasn’t pushing it, the pain and bleeding were on a level he could cope with. 

Kojou gave Yukina’s clothes a long, hard look as he spoke. 

“Anyway, Himeragi, what’s with the nurse outfit?” 

She was currently wearing a nurse-style, one-piece dress complete with miniskirt. She was even wearing the kind of nurse’s cap you didn’t see often nowadays. She also had knee-high socks over her feet. 

Yukina lowered her face in embarrassment as she explained meekly, “M-Mrs. Aka… I mean, Mimori said I needed to change into this before entering the lab…” 

Certainly, the blue apron dress she’d been wearing was shredded in the course of heavy combat. Her changing into a nurse’s outfit was entirely legitimate from a sanitation perspective. However, unused to wearing the outfit, Yukina seemed quite nervous. 

“S-so, it does look odd on me?” 

Kojou’s response was frank. “No, I think it suits you really well…maybe too well.” 

Yukina gave off a prim and proper sense to begin with; the nurse outfit amplified that, almost to excess. 

Of course it does, thought Sayaka as she nodded in silent agreement. Her breathing grew ragged as she stared all over Yukina’s body, as if running her tongue everywhere, to the point Kojou thought she’d be pulling Yukina to the floor right about then had he not been there with them. 

Judging that they’d better switch from the nurse outfit to another subject, Kojou asked, “So, how is Yuuma, anyway?” 

Yukina nodded, a little relieved. 

“Her wounds have been bandaged. Her life should not be in any immediate danger.” 

Tension drained away from Kojou’s entire body. 

“That so…that’s good…” 

It was good news, if only for the moment. At the very least, they’d avoided it becoming too late to save her. 

However, Yukina bit down fiercely on her lip as she shook her head. 

“But Mimori said that…we cannot expect her to recover from her present state…” 

“So even MAR’s gear won’t cut it…?” 

“A witch’s pact is a type of super high-end magic spell that cannot be analyzed with today’s level of science. Of course, that means the curse cannot be lifted, and in the first place, there’s far too little data for a definitive diagnosis…” 

“…That’s too bad,” Kojou murmured, looking pained. 

He was ready for it, but being reminded of the depth of the situation still hurt. At this rate, they wouldn’t be able to save Yuuma from the deep spiritual damage that had been inflicted upon her. It meant Aya Tokoyogi truly had intended to toss Yuuma aside like yesterday’s garbage. 

“According to Mimori, only a powerful witch could be relied upon to save Yuuma now. She said that if there’s another witch with power equal to or greater than Aya Tokoyogi, then it is possible—” 

“Natsuki…then?” Kojou interjected gravely. 

She was a witch of power equal to or greater than Aya Tokoyogi. Besides, he didn’t think anyone other than Natsuki Minamiya would agree to cooperate in healing Yuuma. 

Sayaka calmly pointed out the problem with that: 

“But we don’t know where Natsuki Minamiya is, do we? Besides, she’s lost her magic and has the escaped prisoners after her, yes?” 

Sayaka hadn’t been there, but she’d had the high points explained to her. 

If the jailbreakers spoke the truth, Natsuki was currently in a defenseless state, having lost her memories and her magical power. If they were going to save Yuuma, they needed to keep Natsuki safe and restore her to full strength. 

“No choice but to look for her,” replied Kojou. “If we don’t find Natsuki before the prisoners do…” 

“I suppose so,” Yukina added. “If Ms. Minamiya can recover her magical power, she should also be able to restore the prison barrier to full functionality.” 

Yukina strongly agreed with Kojou’s statement. If they could get the prison barrier back to full operating condition, the escaped prisoners would be pulled right back inside it once again. 

Natsuki was the center around which the entire incident revolved. 

“But how do we look for her?” Sayaka asked, at a loss. “The city’s jam-packed with people for the Hollow Eve Festival…” 

“…Yeah, it is,” Kojou agreed, focused on the television as he spoke. “I don’t think we’ll find her by just groping around.” 

A local Itogami Island station was running a live Hollow Eve Festival broadcast. It was already past eight PM. The sidewalks along the city’s thoroughfares were packed with tourists waiting for the Night Parade. 

Under normal circumstances, the horribly stifling dresses Natsuki wore would make her really stand out in a crowd, but that wasn’t true that night. The island was brimming with tourists wearing even more extravagant costumes than she did. 

Yukina made a suggestion while divvying up the rest of the pizza. 

“How about we ask the Island Guard for help?” 

The Island Guard, in charge of upholding the law in the Demon Sanctuary, was quite likely to find Natsuki before the escaped convicts could—but that was providing the Island Guard could devote the heavy manpower necessary. 

Sayaka hummed thoughtfully and knitted her eyebrows. “I’m sure they’re well aware the prison barrier’s been breached, so we could make the request…but I don’t think we should get our hopes up. They have to be really short on manpower right now. There’s not just the escapees, there’s still LCO remnants to take care of…” 

Kojou lazily rested his chin on his palms as he contemplated it. “The Island Guard, huh…?” 

Although a police service on the surface, the Island Guard was really a private army under the control of the Gigafloat Management Corporation. Their greatest advantage came from employing the vast amount of data collected from information networks all across the man-made island. If they could provide even just suspicious-person witness reports or surveillance camera photos, those alone ought to have made finding Natsuki a breeze— 

“…Asagi might be able to search the Island Guard’s info for us.” 

“Eh? Asagi…you mean, Asagi Aiba?” Sayaka asked, suddenly glaring at Kojou in displeasure. “I’ve been wondering this for a while…what in the world is she?” 

“Whaddaya mean, what…? She’s just a student with a part-time job, right…?” Kojou had no idea why Sayaka saw Asagi as her rival to such a large degree. 

But the Gigafloat Management Corporation had rolled the red carpet out for Asagi because of her hacking skills. She probably didn’t even need to do any cracking for something as simple as finding Natsuki. 

It was then that Yukina, who happened to be glancing at the TV at that moment, suddenly murmured, “Aiba…” 

Kojou turned to her, confused. “Eh?” 

Yukina rushed to explain. “Just now, I thought I saw someone who looked a lot like Aiba…ah, there, again!” 

She pointed at the corner of the screen. Kojou made a short sound when he recognized a very familiar face as well. 

It was at the curb of a sidewalk along a major thoroughfare. A high school girl with a fancy hairstyle was standing there, mingled in with the tourists watching the parade. She had an arm around a little girl with long hair who looked four or five years old. 

“Asagi…? What the heck is she doin’ there…?” 

Sayaka inclined her head slightly, looking at Kojou like it was his surprise that was odd. 

“Isn’t she just bringing her little sister along to watch the parade?” 

Certainly, it was nothing unusual for residents of Itogami Island to watch the Hollow Eve Festival parade. If it’d only been Asagi on the screen, Kojou wouldn’t have been shaken to the degree he was. 

“N-no… Y’see, Asagi doesn’t have a little sister… ’S it a relative’s kid maybe?” 

It was Yukina who finally voiced the question Kojou was afraid to ask. 

“Senpai…doesn’t she look like…?” 

“Yeah, but…I mean, it couldn’t be…” 

The girl was like a little doll dressed in a stifling, lace-heavy dress. Plus, she had an odd aura of power around her for no apparent reason. The little girl Asagi had an arm around sure looked an awful lot like Natsuki Minamiya… 

Yes, Aya Tokoyogi had said as much: Her grimoire had stolen Natsuki’s time and experience. That meant it was more than possible Natsuki’s physical body had gone back in time, too… 

Yukina had a hand on her nurse’s cap as she murmured uneasily, “This broadcast…is this being sent to every display in the city?” 

The parade was being broadcast on the sides of buildings, the storefronts of electronics boutiques, inside rail stations, and on television screens in numerous other locations. And when you put a high schooler with showy looks with a little girl in a lace dress, they stood out even in a crowd of costumed tourists. If one of the escaped convicts after Natsuki just happened to be looking at one of those screens— 

“You’ve gotta be kidding me?!” 

This is real bad, Kojou thought as he clutched his head—only to dive for his cell phone a moment later. 

2 

Dancers dressed in risqué bikini armor performed a marvelous sword dance as they paraded down Main Street. 

Even by Night Parade standards, the “Ride of the Valkyries” was always the number one– or number two–rated program. The band accompanying the dancers was performing epic opera music, raising the tension level of the onlookers. 

Asagi heard her cell phone ringtone right before the climax of that stirring performance. Though heavily tempted to ignore it, she changed her mind midway and reluctantly pulled out the vibrating phone. But when Asagi saw the name displayed on the screen, her eyes widened. 

“Sorry, Sana. Could you come with me for a bit?” 

Asagi split off from the crowd of sightseers on the sidewalk and headed toward a quieter alley. Though she expected complaints about not being able to see the parade, Sana went right along with her. Relieved by that, Asagi pressed her cell phone to her ear. 

“—Hello? Kojou?” 

For some reason, Kojou’s voice sounded tense. 

“Asagi?! Where are you right now?” 

Bewildered by his uncharacteristic behavior, Asagi looked around the area. 

“Where…? I’m in front of the Quadra Building, not far from Keystone Gate. The main parade’s just about to pass by.” 

“That’s what I thought from seein’ you on TV just now.” 

“Eh? No way…?! You saw?” 

Asagi went “geh” with a twitch of her cheek. 

Thanks to her part-time job turning into a sleepover, Asagi was still wearing the same clothes as that morning; her makeup was all a mess, too. Letting Kojou of all people see her like that was a major blunder on her part. 

However, Kojou paid no heed to the young woman’s distress and switched to a different question. 

“You have a little girl with you, right?” 

“…Erm?” 

Asagi knit her brow as she looked down at Sana, standing right beside her. She had no idea why Kojou would react to seeing an ordinary girl with her on TV. She was pretty sure his interests didn’t run that way— 

“Well, I do, but…” 

“Who is she? Someone you know?” 

“Nah, she’s lost. She seems familiar, but I can’t really put my finger on it.” 

The phone conveyed Kojou’s sense of bewilderment. 

“…Lost? What’s her name?” 

“She doesn’t seem to remember… Ah, does this mean that you know her, Kojou? I mean, she looks just like Natsuki, doesn’t she? I couldn’t just leave her on her own.” 

“Th-that so…” 

Kojou covered the microphone on his end and began whispering to someone. Asagi frowned in displeasure. The first image that came to mind was the face of Yukina Himeragi. She also remembered Yuuma Tokoyogi, Kojou’s childhood friend. Perhaps Kojou was chattering with those girls that very moment… 

However, when she heard Kojou’s voice once more, it seemed filled with a strange tension that was far from the festival’s happy mood. 

“Look, Asagi…I want you to listen very closely.” 

“O-okay.” 

“That girl, she might actually be—” 

Sana shouted, interrupting Kojou’s words. 

“—Mama!” 

Surprised at Sana pulling on her arm in fright, Asagi turned her head and looked behind her. 

Sana was glaring at a bald man approaching them from the dark alley. 

The man was probably sixty-odd years old. He was quite well-built for his age; his bony physique was covered with simple and humble cloth. His skin was fairly sunburned. He somehow gave off the air of a serious yoga practitioner. 

When he spoke, the old man’s voice was raspy. 

“Found you.” 

His eyes were aimed straight at Sana. 

Asagi immediately stepped in front of the girl, shielding her. 

“Um? Er…mister? What is your relationship to—?” 

The old man gave Asagi a single malevolent glance. It was the kind of disinterested glance one gave an annoying weed. 

“Out of my way, girl… Hand over the Witch of the Void now.” 

Kojou’s voice came over the phone again, bewildered. “Asagi? Asagi, what’s wrong?” 

Perhaps it was the sound of a familiar voice that finally snapped her back to lucidity. 

Asagi cautiously stepped back while she warily kept her eyes on the intruder. 

“There’s this weird geezer coming our way—” 

The old man glared at Asagi and shouted, “Pest! Begone—” 

His entire body became tinged with red. This was not from blood rushing to his skin out of anger; his very body had begun to emit light like metal heated to a high temperature. 

A hazy shimmer made the air waver behind him. Even at a distance, Asagi could feel the scalding air blowing off him. 

The way the red-hot old man held super high-temperature flames within his body made him look like an Efreet. 

Asagi cried out as she realized what the old man was. 

“A Spirit Master—?!” 

Spirits were energy beings that existed in other-dimensional space. They were masses of spiritual energy of extremely high purity. 

When summoned into the world of men, elemental spirits fell apart and vanished instantaneously. High-ranking sorcerers and holy men could make use of them for attack spells, but put another way, they had no better way to employ the beings due to their natural explosive state. 

It was said that only through use of a giant warship-scale spiritual reactor could one summon a spirit and keep it stable. It wasn’t something an individual could use. 

However, there were extremely rare exceptions. These were the Spirit Masters—those who summoned spirits. 

It was said that the crown princess of the Northern European kingdom of Aldegia was able to summon spirits into her own flesh and freely wield their spiritual power. This geezer was probably a spirit summoner in a similar vein. 

Of course, what he had called up was by no means a high-ranking spirit like those employed by the Aldegian princess. Rather, it was an Efreet of far lower status. 

However, on the basis of pure attack power, it still put all other sorcerers to shame. The old man was a monster in human flesh, far more frightening than demonkind. 

Asagi’s decision came quickly. 

“Sana, run!” 

Promptly realizing that Sana was the old man’s target, she ran, pulling the girl along by her hand. Sana desperately clung to Asagi, half-dragged along in the process. 

She no longer had any time to speak with Kojou. Asagi fished out her other smartphone and shouted into the microphone as she ran with all her strength. 

“This isn’t funny, dammit—Mogwai!” 

A synthetic voice with a sarcastic air flowed into her ear. 

“I hear ya’, Li’l Miss.” 

This was Asagi’s partner—the artificial intelligence, Mogwai. 

“Situation?!” 

“All analyzed. The old man is Kiliga Gilika. He was born into guerillas in the Kabul valley in the Middle East, a monster who used a spell to transplant an Efreet into his own body to kill his enemies more efficiently. Six years ago, he was arrested on Itogami Island for attempted terrorism and sent to the prison barrier.” 

Asagi was beside herself. “The prison barrier? You mean that’s not just some urban legend?” 

It was supposedly a prison hidden somewhere in the Demon Sanctuary where the worst of the worst magical criminals were imprisoned. So did that mean the old man was an escapee who’d busted loose? It was hard to believe, but Asagi didn’t think Mogwai would tell tall tales at a time like this. 

The old man wasn’t all that fast a runner. At best, he was moving at about the same pace at which Asagi and Sana were running for their lives. However, the old man simply burned away decorative trees and signs obstructing his path, letting him pursue by the shortest possible route. At their current rate, it was only a matter of time before he caught up with them. 

“Ugh…Mogwai, calculate route! We’re heading for the utility tunnel to Keystone Gate’s Entrance E. You handle the bulkheads!” 

“Entrance E, huh? Roger that. Take a right at the next turn, down the stairs to the underground shopping center…there’s a hatch to the utility tunnel when you get to the landing.” 

Instantly reading what Asagi was planning, Mogwai immediately told her which way to flee. Fortunately, the back alleys had been largely swept clean of people while everyone went to see the parade; there was nary a pedestrian in sight to block their escape. 

Picking up Sana’s small body, Asagi ran down the stairs and immediately set eyes on the hatch. It was the entrance to a utility tunnel used for work on water lines and buried electrical cables. 

Mogwai had already used remote control to unlock the hatch. Asagi kicked the hatch open and plunged into the poorly lit maintenance tunnel. It was a long tunnel not quite two meters in diameter. 

After, Asagi ran about fifty meters down the tunnel before falling to her knees. Her endurance was finally at its limits. It was too great a burden for an ordinary high school girl running all out while carrying a little girl in her arms. 

For his part, Kiliga Gilika had already entered the tunnel in pursuit of Asagi and Sana. 

A thick shutter descended between them, seemingly meant to cut the old man off from the girls. It was an emergency bulkhead meant to protect the man-made island from fire, flooding, and demonic attack. 

The bulkhead was some twenty-four centimeters thick, made of high-strength steel imbued with magical energy. It was designed to be ridiculously tough, to the point of resisting even attacks from vampires’ Beast Vassals. Surely even a sorcerous criminal able to summon an Efreet could not easily breach it? 

Asagi looked behind her. “It’d be nice if he just gave up, but—” 

She twitched with terror, suddenly noticing that the surface of the thick, tenacious bulkhead was emitting a hot orange light. 

The super high-temperature flames under Kiliga Gilika’s control were boiling and melting the bulkhead at an incredible speed beyond her wildest expectations. 

“This ain’t good, Li’l Miss… The bulkhead’s gettin’ whittled down faster than expected. Its temperature’s gone past the design specs.” 

In other words, magic-infused steel was resistant to attack spells, but it wasn’t any stronger than the steel itself against non-magical damage. 

Gilika probably didn’t even use spells. He didn’t seem capable of anything as deft as using his summoned Efreet as a spiritual reactor to power offensive magic. He was just conducting the Efreet’s heat. But his method of attack was hard to counter precisely because it was so primitive. 

Sana seemed to have decided on something as she looked up at Asagi. 

“Mama…” 

Her expression almost seemed to be conveying, I’m staying here…run for it! 

Goodness gracious, thought Asagi as she exhaled. She embraced Sana around her small shoulders with an impetuous smile. 

“It’s all right. I’ll protect you, whatever it takes—we can’t have him looking down on us Demon Sanctuary natives.” 

Asagi picked up Sana once again. She didn’t mean it as an empty gesture. 

The bulkhead was completely melted. The shutter parted as hot, bubbling ooze, and the red-hot old man emerged behind it. Now that the bulkhead was no more, their only option left was to run. 

However, neither Asagi nor Sana had recovered enough strength to sprint at full speed. 

The raspy voice of Kiliga Gilika heartily laughed instead. “What’s wrong, girl? This all you’ve got?” 

The man was about ten meters away from them, but the heat his entire body was spewing felt right at their backs. 

Mogwai laughed with a sarcastic “keh-heh” as it reported, “He’s gonna catch up with you, Li’l Miss, in about thirteen…no, twelve seconds!” 

The old man was extending his fire-shrouded arm when Asagi beamed fiercely and stopped where she stood, turning around and glaring at him. 

“Excellent…! Right on schedule!” 

That moment, a sidewall of the underground tunnel suddenly opened; something gushed in, accompanied by a great roar. 

The old man’s body was smashed in the flank and tossed aside. 

Sana’s shocked eyes opened wide. 

Cold water droplets sprayed all around, soaking Asagi’s feet. 

It was water. An underground water vein was gushing in from the wall with incredible force, slamming into Kiliga Gilika’s body like a hammer. 

“Arrrrrrg! You little bitch…!” 

When the rushing water touched the red-hot personage, it instantly exceeded the boiling point and exploded as steam. It was Kiliga Gilika who was blown away by that shock wave. 

Furthermore, the force of the water gushing in from the wall did not diminish. Gilika was dragged into the backflow of the water, only to be slammed against the exterior wall once more. 

Sana watched it all in shock as Asagi explained into her ear, “I had the water flow reversed.” 

To stop municipal facilities from being flooded by heavy rain, the interior of the Gigafloats had drainpipes crisscrossing through them. The drainage pipes used solenoid pumps and sump pumps to prevent backflow from seawater, but Asagi and Mogwai had taken over the controls to pull seawater in and deliberately flood the underground maintenance shaft. 

With Sana still in her arms, Asagi climbed on top of an inspection ladder to prevent them from being swept up in the rushing water. This was the escape route Asagi and Mogwai had cooked up together. 

Asagi slid the manhole cover open and escaped to the surface. The subterranean shaft had already been flooded to the brim. 

Surely even Kiliga Gilika’s ability to have a super high-temperature Efreet possess him did not allow him to move freely underwater. However, Asagi’s expression remained grave. 

“I’d like to say, enjoy being flushed into the ocean…but I’m not that naive.” 

The asphalt covering the road behind Asagi and Sana was giving off a strange smell as it melted. None other than Kiliga Gilika crawled out from under it. 

White smoke was spewing from the old man’s entire body. He had a series of creepy sunburn-like splotches all over his skin. Apparently, being bathed in a vast amount of seawater had significantly weakened his Efreet. 

The old man ground his teeth as he growled, “Now you’ve really done it, girl…” 

He approached Asagi and Sana, dragging his feet with each and every step. Even worn down like this, Kiliga Gilika’s combat capability was a grave threat. And Asagi and Sana had no endurance left to flee with, nor was there any usable facility left to flee to. 

The old man’s right arm spewed high-temperature flames once more. 

“Wonderful…it’s been so long since I’ve had such lively prey. I was disappointed when I’d heard the Witch of the Void had lost her powers, but you are an enemy worthy of being burned to ash by my flames!” 

Asagi shook her head. “Sorry, but I’m not respectful enough of the elderly to waste my time with a selfish, senile geezer like you… Mogwai!” 

“Keh-keh. Ah, looks like ya’ made it in time—please ’n’ thank you.” 

It was a flat, quiet voice that responded to the AI’s verbal request. 

“Accept.” 

This voice came from a homunculus girl with glimmering, pale blue eyes. Like glittering wings, giant rainbow-colored arms spread out from her back. 

The giant arms moved like whips as they slammed down upon Kiliga Gilika. There was a dull impact sound as the air clapped, like two huge boulders had rammed each other. 

Smashed into the wall of a building, fresh blood flowed out from the old man’s body like it was lava. 

“Guah…!” 

A dazzling beam from a searchlight shone mercilessly upon him. 

As the old man raised his face, he found a giant golem had appeared before him, swallowing the homunculus girl inside of it in the process. It was a humanoid-shaped Beast Vassal, shrouded in transparent, fleshy armor. 

Behind the Beast Vassal, an Island Guard mechanized unit had deployed, weapons fully at the ready. Asagi hadn’t called them over; they’d been right there from the beginning. 

This was Keystone Gate’s E Entrance—the emergency deployment route where the Island Guard’s main force was always on standby. 

Asagi hadn’t been blindly running around. She’d used herself as her own decoy to lure her adversary right to the Island Guard’s doorstep. 

And to Kiliga Gilika’s greater misfortune, Astarte had been visiting the Island Guard’s garrison while searching for the missing Natsuki. 

The shake of the assassin’s head seemed to say, Unbelievable. 

“A homunculus…controlling a Beast Vassal…?!” 

Beast Vassals were summoned beasts from another world. They were masses of magical energy so dense that they were sentient and could turn solid. 

Though the Efreet that Gilika controlled had a ridiculous level of spiritual power, it was not a being that contradicted the physical laws of the world itself. That was why spiritual reactors and so forth could be maintained through man-made means. 

But Beast Vassals were not so gentle. 

Beast Vassals, by their very nature, were beings that did not belong in this world. Furthermore, as much as Beast Vassals possessed destructiveness far beyond the norm, the price the summoner paid to materialize them was his own life force. 

Vampires were feared as the mightiest of all demons because their infinite negative life forces, and theirs alone, allowed them to employ Beast Vassals. 

And yet, here a powerless homunculus girl was freely employing such a Beast Vassal before his very eyes— 

“This is insane!” Gilika rose and spread his incandescent flames as he moved to punch Astarte. 

It was the Efreet flame attack that could melt apart a thick metal bulkhead in a single instant. 

However, one of the Beast Vassal’s giant arms stopped the attack cold. 

“—Execute, Rhododactylos,” came the emotionless voice of Astarte. 

Kiliga Gilika’s eyes opened wide in fright. The force of the flames emitted by his flesh was weakening. Astarte’s Beast Vassal was robbing his Efreet of its spiritual strength. 

“You’re…eating…my spiritual power…?!” the old man suddenly shrieked. 

The voice of the homunculus girl in the giant humanoid Beast Vassal calmly replied… 

“Affirmative.” 

With all his spiritual power depleted, Kiliga Gilika was being pressed face-first against the ground by the Beast Vassal’s giant arm. Of course, he was no longer conscious by then. 

As he lay on the ground, the gray manacle on his left arm glowed; from it, silver chains enveloped his entire body. Then, the old man’s body sank into thin air, finally vanishing completely. 

3 

The giant Beast Vassal shimmered like a mirage and vanished, leaving only the homunculus girl in its place. Her long indigo hair swayed as she approached Asagi and Sana. 

“Miss Aiba, are you injured?” 

Asagi looked down at herself and gave a strained smile. 

“Ah no, I’m all right. My clothes are a mess, though.” 

Her street clothes looked pathetic, dirty from the maintenance shaft and drenched in seawater. She’d only just bought them, but she had no choice now but to throw them away. The sandals she’d liked so much were all scuffed up, too. At least Sana’s clothes hadn’t gotten dirty. 

“Thank you, Astarte. You being here really saved our bacon. But why are you here, anyway—?” 

Astarte briefly explained her reason for being at the Island Guard garrison: 

“I am currently searching for the instructor.” 

Asagi was well aware that her guardian, Natsuki Minamiya, also worked as an instructor for the Island Guard in her role as an Attack Mage. 

Consequently, Astarte visiting the Island Guard garrison to meet Natsuki Minamiya was not mysterious in itself. However… 

“Searching for…? Wait, you mean Natsuki’s missing?” 

Astarte nodded as she turned her sapphire-like eyes toward Sana. 

“Affirmative. However…her physical characteristics match the instructor’s to an extremely high degree. May I request an explanation?” 

“Physical characteristics match…? Oh, you mean how they look so alike?” 

Certainly, Asagi had noticed that Natsuki Minamiya and Sana resembled each other to a surprising degree, but she couldn’t give an answer she didn’t have. 

Asagi seemed to remember something while stroking Sana’s head. 

“Come to think of it, that jailbreaker seemed like he was after Sana, huh…? As for why they look so much alike, that’s what I wanna know, too, but…” 

Asagi’s words reached that point when she heard a small click of shoes behind her. It was the echo of someone agilely leaping down from the rooftop of a building and making a graceful landing. 

The sound startled Sana; she looked behind her in fright. 

The next moment, they heard a voice with a sultry air that seemed to mock the act. 

“…Hmm, shall I tell you, then?” 

A woman was standing where Kiliga Gilika had vanished from. She was a young woman with violet hair. Beyond the long coat that covered her, she was dressed only in expensive, scandalous undergarments. The outfit seemed a little too much to be a festival costume. 

The woman brushed her long hair from her cheek as she laughed in mockery. 

“It’s not simply a resemblance…she really is Natsuki Minamiya. She’s just under a little curse at the moment.” 

Her left arm bore a gray manacle that was identical to the one Kiliga Gilika had. That meant she, too, was an escapee from the prison barrier. 

All the Island Guard troops raised their weapons. Even the sight of that did not make her beautiful smile falter. The guardsmen were thrown off by her reaction; they couldn’t tell if they should open fire. 

Asagi kept her guard up. “Who…are you?” 

The corners of the woman’s lips rose in delight. “Gigliola Ghirardi—does that name ring a bell?” 

Asagi had a chill run down her spine. “…The Songstress of Cuartas Theater,” she moaned. 

Gigliola Ghirardi was a vampire—an Old Guard vampire descended from the Third Primogenitor, the Chaos Bride. And a vampire all the while, she was also a high-class prostitute involved in numerous sex scandals with royals and nobility in every nation of Europe. 

Her fortunes had changed some five years before, just after an affair with the crown prince of a small country had been discovered. Fearing a scandal, members of the royal family decided to have her quietly assassinated. Deeply enraged, she had annihilated the assassins that had assaulted her and slaughtered several members of the royal family instead, the crown prince included. 

In the vernacular, it became known as the Tragedy of Cuartas Theater. 

As a result, other prior thrill-seeking crimes by her were discovered, an international arrest warrant was issued, and finally, she was arrested—and ought to have still been in prison. 

Gigliola smiled, amused, as she watched the fright pass through Asagi. “I’m so pleased that there are still children that remember me.” 

“Why are you…on Itogami Island…?!” Asagi asked brokenly. 

The Tragedy of Cuartas Theater was an incident well-known all over the world, much reported on in Japan, enough that even Asagi, still in grade school at the time, remembered it like it had been yesterday. 

However, that was an incident in another country far, far away. Asagi couldn’t understand why she’d appeared on Itogami Island rather than in some European prison. 

Gigliola shrugged her shoulders with a frivolous air as she replied to Asagi’s skeptical question. 

“I slightly overdid it at the Hispania Demon Prison.” 

“Overdid it…?” 

Gigliola waved her hand casually. “Yes, I took over the prisoners and the guards and toyed with them as I wished, which of course became a large ruckus. In the end, the Witch of the Void was sent, and I was put into the prison barrier—” 

Asagi just stared. 

To Europe’s demons, the Hispania Demon Prison was synonymous with terror. It was said that none of the many sorcerous criminals housed there ever returned alive. 

And yet, she had said she’d taken the place over. If that was true, she was an even more dangerous being than she was rumored to be, enough that she might be able to destroy Itogami Island single-handedly— 

Gigliola spoke in a gentle tone this time. 

“So you see, I bear no grudge toward this Demon Sanctuary. If you simply hand the girl over, I shall let you go.” 

As Sana stood close, Asagi firmly embraced the child’s body and glared straight back at the woman. 

“You don’t really think I’ll just go, ‘oh, sure,’ and hand her over, do you…?!” 

Astarte summoned her Beast Vassal once more and stood before Gigliola to shield Asagi and Sana. 

“I concur. Please stand back, Miss Aiba.” 

Gigliola exhaled in melancholy as she gazed at the giant rainbow-colored Beast Vassal. 

Astarte’s Beast Vassal, Rhododactylos, had the ability to consume the magical power of other demons to feed itself, and also, to nullify magical energy. Even the vast power of an Old Guard such as Gigliola possessed could not breach the Divine Oscillation Effect that protected Astarte. 

“A Beast Vassal coexisting with a homunculus…this Demon Sanctuary has raised quite a rare breed of doll. Certainly this is annoying…but what can you do about this?” 

A crimson whip emerged from within Gigliola’s hand. It was a long whip with thorns running all along it like the stem of a rose. This was her Beast Vassal—a so-called Intelligent Weapon. 

However, she did not snap her whip at Astarte’s Beast Vassal, but rather, against the ground at her own feet. 

The next moment, a thunderous roar accompanied the staggering of Astarte’s Beast Vassal. 

“—Astarte?!” shouted Asagi. 

The rainbow-colored golem shielded Asagi as countless bullets rained down upon them. 

These were large-caliber anti-materiel rifles, man-portable rockets, machine guns, and arbalests—all specially constructed anti-demon weapons firing rounds imbued with ritual energy. 

Ordinary demons would have been blown away without a trace by such concentrated firepower, but Astarte’s golem withstood it. 

However, even she was pinned down. The incredible fusillade had completely stopped her in her tracks. 

Asagi was astonished. “Why would the Island Guard…?!” 

It was not Gigliola who had attacked Astarte, but the Island Guard’s main strike force that had sortied to capture Kiliga Gilika. The guardsmen, supposedly on their side, were hitting Astarte with everything they had. 

Astarte casually conveyed in a robotic monotone… 

“I recommend that you flee, Miss Aiba. They are being attacked by a Beast Vassal.” 

Asagi gasped and looked at Gigliola. 

“Attacked…?!” 

The tip of her whip was still impaling the surface of the ground. However, when Asagi looked closely, she saw that a countless number of branches had spread out like the roots of a plant, sprouting out of the ground to wrap themselves around the guardsmen’s feet. 

Mogwai quickly explained the situation, its voice obvious as always. 

“This ain’t good, Li’l Miss. Gigliola Ghirardi’s Beast Vassal, Rose Zombiemaker, has the ability to control minds. Looks like puttin’ all our eggs in one basket backfired on us.” 

Gigliola had said she’d taken over the Demon Prison she’d been housed in. 

The power of her Beast Vassal was to control the minds of others via a physical link, just like a parasite. The ability made her quite literally a public menace. 

In one sense, her ability made her more fearsome than a vampire primogenitor. After all, it was only by fighting in groups that mankind was able to fight demons, with their overwhelming physical superiority, on even terms. However, her ability took away human beings’ greatest weapon and turned it against them. Gigliola became more powerful in proportion to the number of enemies arrayed against her. 

Emotionlessly, Astarte stated: 

“I shall impede her progress. Please leave the vicinity with haste—” 

However, Asagi could clearly hear the urgency in the sound of her voice. 

Astarte’s Beast Vassal, which by nature could only be defeated by the impact of greater demonic energy than its own, yet which repelled all magic attacks, was nigh invincible—yet even it had a weakness; namely, that its host, Astarte, was but a frail homunculus. Her body could not endure the summons for a long duration. Without a vampiric body of her own, she simply couldn’t bear the strain of summoning a Beast Vassal for long. 

Asagi pulled Sana’s hand along once more. 

“Sana!” 

She had no idea where to go, but running was their only option. 

Astarte couldn’t strike back against the Island Guard. As long as Asagi and Sana remained there, all Astarte could do was shield them for however long she could last. 

However, Gigliola watched them turn tail with a pitying look. 

“Fu-fu… I’m so sorry, did you really think an Old Guard vampire would be served by only one Beast Vassal?” 

This said, she raised her left hand high. 

Fresh blood spewed from her palm, finally taking the form of a new Beast Vassal. 

This was a swarm of crimson bees. There were dozens of them, each a giant some five or six centimeters long. The swarm bore down on the girls, looking like something straight out of a nightmare. 

Gigliola continued her elegant laughter. 

“Get them, Aguijón!” 

As the swarm of bees overtook them, Asagi fell to her knees in despair. Even she was checkmated this time. Despite the aid of the supercomputer that controlled the Gigafloats, she couldn’t think of anything that’d get them out of this jam. 

With Gigliola having taken over the main striking arm of the Island Guard, Astarte was at her limits. Asagi, a mere high schooler, had no power with which to repel a Beast Vassal. 

“I’m sorry, Sana…” 

All Asagi could do was shield the girl’s body with her own. 

Sana offered a gentle, charming smile in response to Asagi’s motherly embrace. 

“Don’t worry, Mama.” 

As Sana whispered into her ear, Asagi’s eyes widened in surprise. Her vision was flooded with the swarm of crimson bees rushing toward them— 

It was truly the very next moment that a young man’s laughter, full of delight, reverberated all around them. 

“The Songstress of Cuartas Theater and the valiant maiden—ha-ha-ha-ha, how lovely. Truly a performance worthy of a festival, ’tis it not?” 

A torrent of magical energy so immense that it blotted out the starry sky gushed in like a beam. 

Bathed in a shock wave of destruction, the swarm of crimson bees were ripped to shreds and annihilated. But the shock wave was not sound—it was actually a Beast Vassal in the form of a giant, radiant serpent. 

Amid the darkness, both eyes glowing crimson, stood a handsome, blond, young man. 

“By all means, do allow me to participate, Gigliola Ghirardi.” 

Clad in a pure white coat, he looked like a knight in shining armor come to save Asagi and Sana. However, the aura spread about him was simply too vile for the title. 

The vicious smile that came over him was filled with excitement and anticipation at the coming slaughter. 

The beautiful vampiress voiced the aristocratic maniac’s name: 

“—Dimitrie Vattler!” 

An encounter between two terrifying Old Guard vampires… 

The sky above the Demon Sanctuary was dyed with a surge of malevolence that seemed to melt the very air itself. 

4 

Kojou stared at the screen of his cell phone and made a sound of dismay in his throat. 

“…No good, won’t connect.” 

Just before the call with Asagi cut off, it sounded like someone was attacking her and Natsuki. A fair bit of time had already passed since then. 

If the pursuer was actually one of the prison barrier escapees, both girls’ lives were in grave danger. 

Asagi was just a high school student. Kojou didn’t think she could escape unscathed from an attack by a magical criminal nasty enough to be held in the prison ward. It was even possible they’d both already been killed. 

Kojou turned to the outer wall of the guesthouse and violently pounded his fist against it. 

“Shit… What the hell’s Natsuki doin’ with Asagi in the first place?!” 

The elevator felt unusually slow. He resented all these layers of security to protect the guesthouse from intruders. 

Yukina, clutching her silver spear, grabbed hold of the cuff of Kojou’s sleeve as she spoke. 

“Perhaps it is because Asagi Aiba was at Keystone Gate?” 

Kojou glanced down at her in surprise. 

“Keystone Gate?” 

“Yes. Ms. Minamiya teleported to get away just before her magical power was completely stolen from her. That being the case, she surely chose the safest place she could think of as her destination.” 

Kojou thought back to the giant, majestic structure at the center of Itogami Island. 

“I see…because Keystone Gate’s the HQ for the Island Guard…” 

It came equipped with robust defensive systems and a large number of Attack Mages protecting it; certainly, the gate was the safest place on the island. If anything, Natsuki selecting the place as her destination was a no-brainer. 

And thanks to Asagi working at the adjacent building in her part-time programming job for the Gigafloat Management Corporation, she just happened to be nearby… 

“However,” Yukina continued, “I believe Ms. Minamiya completely reverted in age just before arriving at the Island Guard’s staging area.” 

Kojou put his hand to his forehead as he remembered Asagi mentioning that the girl seemed lost and confused. 

“And she was like that when she met Asagi…” 

Kojou could distinctly picture in his mind how that must have thrown Asagi off. 

“Most likely,” replied Yukina with a nod. 

“If even a tiny fragment of her memory remained, Ms. Minamiya would no doubt instinctively judge that she was safe with Aiba. As a result, perhaps it’s like the imprinting phenomenon that happens with bird hatchlings?” 

“You mean, you think the first thing you set eyes on is your mom?” 

“I see,” went Kojou, understanding her now. He thought that was by far the most likely possibility, whatever the truth of the matter. 

However, knowing why the two were together didn’t solve the problem whatsoever. The two remained in great peril. 

Passing through the final checkpoint, Kojou and the others finally got out of the building. 

Yukina looked up at Sayaka, standing right beside her, and asked…, “Sayaka, did you get in touch with the Island Guard?” 

Sayaka was holding her cell phone as she shook her head. 

“No good. Sounds like it’s complete chaos on their end. I’m not on a formal assignment, so I can’t use the Lion King Agency’s priority channel. At this rate, it could take hours to get through using official channels…” 

Kojou groaned as he looked up at an electronic billboard at a pedestrian bridge. 

“Damn… And the monorail ain’t runnin’, either. If it wasn’t for all the roads bein’ packed from the parade…!” 

The roads on the island were so congested that there was little hope of using a car. Unable to use the monorails, their only other option for getting around was to hoof it. 

Even sprinting at full speed with vampiric endurance, it’d take close to fifteen minutes to reach Keystone Gate. Kojou didn’t think Asagi and Natsuki would be safe that long. 

That was when Yukina tugged on Kojou’s hand and shouted, “Senpai, look!” 

She was pointing to a small corner store. 

“A bicycle?!” 

Guessing what Yukina had in mind, Kojou sprinted. There was a single bicycle stopped in front of the corner store. It was a thin-wheeled model for city riding, but it sure beat being on foot. 

Yukina severed the chain lock on the bike with one swing of her silver spear. 

“I’ll apologize to the owner. Senpai, go! With a vampire’s leg strength—” 

Then, she made a tiny cut in the tip of her own index finger and put it, complete with blood flowing out of it, into Kojou’s mouth. 

As Kojou licked Yukina’s finger, Sayaka raised her voice. 

“Ah! Ahh!” 

Her tone was disordered, a mix of anger and envy. But Kojou didn’t have any time to worry about that. 

Kojou’s body kicked into overdrive in response to the taste of Yukina’s blood. His true vampiric power awakened. Though the wound in his chest began to throb once more, Kojou ignored it and got on the bicycle. 

“We’ll come after you as soon as we can!” 

“Sorry, Himeragi. I owe you one!” 

Kojou pushed down on the pedals with all his vampiric strength. 

The bicycle flew forward at incredible speed as if it had been launched by a rocket. 

5 

The violet-haired woman continued to clutch her crimson whip as she looked at the young vampire nobleman. 

Her beautiful, sultry face revealed the tiniest bit of hesitation. 

“…Dimitrie Vattler. What is a noble from the Warlord’s Empire doing here?!” 

Vattler was a pureblood vampire, a direct descendant of Europe’s First Primogenitor, the Lost Warlord. Gigliola could not comprehend what a nobleman of Vattler’s stature was doing in a Demon Sanctuary in the Far East, far from the Dominion he called home. 

For his part, Vattler made a refined, polite smile, as he showed complete disregard for her confusion. 

“It is an honor to make your acquaintance, Gigliola Ghirardi, princess of the Chaos Bride’s tribe.” 

Vattler stepped in front of Gigliola as if he was protecting Asagi and Sana. Gigliola’s glossy lips twisted malevolently. 

“And you, of the Lost Warlord’s bloodline, do you intend to get in my way?” 

Vattler laughed, as if waiting for Gigliola to ask precisely that. 

“This is the Far East Demon Sanctuary, where our primogenitors hold no sway whatsoever. From the humans’ perspective, I, an ambassador in this land under the Holy Ground Treaty, am merely thwarting the evil deeds of a heinous criminal—a finer script could not be written. Do you not agree?” 

Gigliola’s eyes made a pointed scowl as it finally dawned on her what Vattler was really after. 

“I wonder, is your goal to hunt us prison barrier escapees…for sport?” 

The rumors of the young, handsome aristocrat being a fearsome berserker were famous among Europe’s demonkind. It was said that Vattler, bored with the passage of immortality, sought out combat with powerful opponents, even to the point of devouring fellow vampires…for kicks. 

No doubt, as far as Vattler was concerned, criminals fiendish enough to be housed in the prison ward were ideal prey. Having the law behind him was just the cherry on top. 

“I may not appear it, but I am recovering from injury,” Vattler stated in a deadly serious tone. “I was looking for an opponent suitable for…rehabilitation.” 

A thin bead of sweat rolled down Gigliola’s brow as her right hand violently cracked her whip. 

“Quite a glutton you are, Master of Serpents… However, can you defeat my Beast Vassal, I wonder?” 

In the next instant, the Island Guard troops under her control poured a hail of weapons fire upon Vattler. They numbered over 160. It was impossible for any demon to completely evade every single bullet. Besides, the weapons they were equipped with surely were powerful enough to inflict a lethal blow, even upon a vampire noble. 

Regardless, Vattler’s expression did not change. He merely raised his hand and lightly snapped his fingers. 

“Shakala!” 

A Beast Vassal resembling a sea serpent materialized and coiled around Vattler. The monster was overwhelmingly large; the view of it was surreal—as if a skyscraper had been built to overlook a canyon. 

The cruel creature’s eyes gazed down at Gigliola and the troops under her control. 

As the serpent smoothly adopted an offensive posture, Gigliola’s blood ran cold. 

“Are you sane, Dimitrie Vattler?! They’re merely puppets!” 

Looking decidedly intrigued, Vattler’s reply had a hint of sarcasm in it. 

“…Your point?” 

The giant sea serpent transformed its flesh and blood into a super high-pressure stream of water as it attacked the Island Guard. The explosive force blasted the asphalt apart; the guardsmen, protected by riot shields and armored cars, were blown away like they were made of paper. 

It was absurdly merciless destruction. 

Asagi held her breath as she beheld the apocalyptic scene. 

Even so, Vattler had apparently held back somewhat (by his standards). Of course, that was no doubt out of consideration for Asagi and Sana, not the Island Guard. The Beast Vassal he had called Shakala was capable of raising an area’s pressure to tens of thousands of atmospheres, enough to boil human beings from the inside out. 

“Did you intend to use them as human shields?” Vattler asked Gigliola, sounding distinctly bored. “Really, now…why would I be concerned about the lives of beings weak enough to fall prey to your control?” 

The Island Guard’s main strike force was virtually wiped out. That also meant Gigliola had lost her army. 

“I see…,” ground out the mage. “So that’s the kind of vampire you are, Duke of Ardeal. Just as the rumors say.” 

Vattler’s Beast Vassal rematerialized, circled in the sky like it was threatening to rain, and then aimed straight at her. 

Watching Gigliola’s lack of resistance, Vattler seemed somewhat disappointed. 

“Over already? Is that all the Third Primogenitor’s bloodline has to offer? I expected more.” 

Gigliola flicked her violet hair back and howled… 

“…Oh, it’s quite all right. Don’t worry—I won’t give you time to be disappointed!” 

Her right hand grew hazy, like a mirage, and the crimson whip shot out like lightning. 

Gigliola’s Intelligent Weapon, her whiplike Beast Vassal, was aimed at Vattler’s as it floated above her head. 

In midair, the thorny, branched whip wrapped around the giant serpent’s body. She was trying to gain command over it, too. 

Vattler smiled thinly. “I see… So it isn’t just humans that you can control, then…?” 

He wasn’t just smiling on the surface; it was the first time he’d revealed true delight. It was a dangerous smile that held ferocity in its shadow. 

A cruel smile came over Gigliola as well. 

“Know your place, Master of Serpents. Aguijón!” 

The swarm of crimson bees reemerged above her head. Their numbers were far greater than before; there might have been five hundred, even a thousand; it was a vast swarm that dyed the entire sky red. Even among the Old Guard, few vampires could summon such a number of Beast Vassals. 

A loud, vivid laugh erupted out of Vattler. “Ha-ha-ha-ha, that’s wonderful. Fine indeed. So this is the Songstress of Cuartas Theater!” 

He looked deeply delighted at a sight he was rarely privileged to see. Here he was, his Beast Vassal stolen from his control, under ferocious enemy attack—he was overjoyed that his very life was being put on the line by a prison barrier escapee, as mighty a foe as he had dared hope. 

He was still laughing when the crimson bees rushed toward him. It looked like Vattler was being burned to ash by a giant flame. It was an all-out attack by Beast Vassals too numerous to count; there seemed no possible escape. 

However, that moment, something like a jet-black vortex emerged above the male vampire’s head. It was a gigantic vortex several dozen meters in diameter. 

Gigliola’s beautiful face twisted in shock. 

“—Aguijón?!” 

Just before the swarm of crimson bees could arrive at the young aristocrat, they vanished one after another. The jet-black vortex floating above Vattler’s head simply sucked all the bees in. 

“A Beast Vassal…?! It can’t be?!” 

By then, Gigliola had surely realized that the black vortex was really a mass of thousands of intertwined snakes. Those thousands of serpents extended their necks one after another, each taking an onrushing crimson bee into its jaws and swallowing it whole. 

The new Beast Vassal that Vattler had summoned was a serpent with a thousand heads. 

“It’s been a while since I’ve faced an enemy that made me summon this one, Gigliola Ghirardi,” Vattler offered with a smirk. 

His blue eyes were dyed crimson; his long, large fangs were poking out from his lips. Incredible demonic energy had welled up into his body. 

Having consumed Gigliola’s Beast Vassal, he’d healed his wounds from the previous battle and regained every sliver of demonic power that he had lost. 

Backed into a corner, Gigliola let loose her crimson whip toward Vattler himself. 

“What…did you do…to my Beast Vassal?!” 

But Vattler’s new Beast Vassal devoured her whip in midair. The countless serpents consumed the equally countless branches of the Intelligent Weapon— 

—And not just the whip, but Gigliola’s hand with it. 

“Aaaaaaaaaaaa—!” 

Gigliola screamed as her right arm was bitten off midway. When she turned her back as if to run, the serpents assailed her, one after another. Bits and pieces of her were consumed until her entire body was dyed in vermilion. 

Cannibalism—this was the true reason the vampires of Europe feared Vattler. Vattler consumed his fellow vampires and stole their power for himself. 

Gigliola tried to transform her body into mist to flee, but Vattler’s other Beast Vassal stopped her. The sea serpent, able to freely manipulate atmospheric pressure, created a wall of dense air that would not permit her to escape. 

“Ha-ha, so you’re still alive? That’s an Old Guard for you. Truly splendid—” 

Gigliola rolled onto the ground, her body still half-solid, half-mist. Vattler’s cruel smile continued as he gazed at her helpless form. 

“N-no! Stop…! Someone help me…!” 

Gigliola desperately tried to escape, crawling on the ground with her left arm—her only usable limb remaining. Even the great regenerative abilities of an Old Guard vampire could not heal such grievous wounds in a short time span. Gigliola no longer possessed the strength with which to fight. 

All that awaited her now was one-sided slaughter. 

“…” 

In anticipation of that cruel fate, Asagi covered Sana’s eyes. She couldn’t let a little girl witness such a cruel, tragic sight any further. 

The handsome young vampire hadn’t come to save Asagi or Sana; he just wanted a fight. He’d appeared to hunt prey and then make it his own flesh and blood. 

Once the slaughter was complete, there was no guarantee whatsoever he wouldn’t go after Asagi or Sana. 

Beyond that, the Island Guard was in tatters, and Astarte, having sustained repeated assaults from them, was already at her limit. There was no one to save Asagi. 

Asagi clutched Sana in her arms and pleaded, “Someone, help me. Someone, stop him…” 

The voice that responded to her call was that of a teenage boy she knew very well. 

“Vattler—!” 

The thick, unearthly aura that filled the night sky vanished. 

The light of the moon shone down on one Kojou Akatsuki, sitting atop a bicycle that was spewing white smoke. It had been abused to the very limits of its endurance. 

6 

There was only one term for it: “a disaster zone.” 

The road had been chewed up, the walls of buildings had been cracked, and traffic lights and lampposts were all crooked. 

The Island Guard’s main strike force was in ruins. And a vampiress dressed in something like underwear was on the ground, half-alive and half-dead. 

The sole saving grace was that Asagi and the little girl she was embracing were nominally unharmed. 

Kojou didn’t have to ask who’d done all this. It took someone like a beserker vampire to look at the tragic scene and calmly smile. 

Vattler gazed at Kojou, who was all covered in sweat, and called out to him with a smile that was completely out of place. 

“Hiya, Kojou.” 

Kojou sighed in visible exhaustion as he disposed of the bicycle he’d ridden in on. 

“Like this is the place to be all casual! You totally overdid it!” 

“Hmm, did I?” mused Vattler in mock dismay as he inclined his head slightly. 

The woman in lingerie lying at his feet did ring a bell for Kojou, so to speak. She was one of the ones who’d busted out of the prison barrier. It looked like Vattler had counterattacked when one of the jailbreakers was assaulting Asagi and Natsuki, saving both of them as a result. 

If that was in fact the case, perhaps Kojou ought to have been thanking him; but seeing the nobleman’s handiwork up close, he didn’t feel very thankful at all. 

The gray manacle on the wounded escapee’s left arm emitted a glow. After that, silver chains spewed out and wrapped her up tightly; she immediately winked out. She had returned to the prison barrier once more. Seeing this, Vattler nodded in a show of admiration. 

“Oh my…the prison barrier’s system activated, did it? It’s been quite an amusing show, all thanks to you, Kojou. It’s never boring on this island.” 

“Yeah, yeah…” Blowing him off with an exasperated look, Kojou rushed over to Asagi and Natsuki. 

Asagi didn’t have her usual arrogant leer. Her hair was a mess; her clothes were dirty and all torn up. Her eyelashes were wet with tears. Even so, she looked up at Kojou and heartily chewed him out. 

“You’re late, Kojou!” 

“…Sorry.” 

Kojou made a strained smile at the first words out of Asagi’s mouth. He took hold of her hand and helped her to her feet. 

Seeing Kojou and Asagi like that, a little girl who greatly resembled Natsuki looked up with a curious expression. 

Kojou looked at the homunculus, who was sitting against a wall, and asked, “You all right, Astarte?” 

The young woman stiffly turned her head and replied rather weakly, “Affirmative. However, unable to continue combat. Rest and retuning is required.” 

“Got it. I’ll take it from here,” Kojou declared. 

Hearing this, Astarte closed her eyes in apparent relief. She slipped into sleep mode, no doubt preserving her body temperature. 

Sheesh, thought Kojou as he sighed. Asagi watched his face from the side, glaring in obvious anger. 

“Take over, my butt! What is all this?! What do you know?!” 

“Well, what are you doin’ together with Natsuki?!” Kojou yelled back instantly. 

Asagi was a normal high schooler. She had neither the power nor the training to fight off sorcerous criminals. No one would have criticized Asagi for ditching the little girl and running for her life. 

And yet, here she was, protecting a girl she didn’t know to the point of being all beat up. 

She really is quite something, thought Kojou. 

For her part, Natsuki’s eyes blinked hard when she heard Kojou’s words. 

“What do you mean…with Natsuki? Wait, you mean Sana?” 

“Sana…?” 

“Yeah. ‘Small Natsuki.’ Abbreviated to Sana.” 

“Ahh…” 

So that’s what happened, Kojou realized. It wasn’t a big surprise Asagi had noticed the little girl’s resemblance to Natsuki. The kid seemed to genuinely have amnesia, so calling her by some other name while in that state seemed like a pretty good idea… 

And Vattler, listening to their exchange of words, murmured as he realized it for himself. “Natsuki Minamiya…I see. So the escapees aim to eliminate the Witch of the Void?” 

He gave Sana a sly look. 

Kojou girded himself, ready to shield the two. “Vattler…why you…” 

Natsuki Minamiya, an exceptional Attack Mage, was one of the precious few mighty foes Vattler recognized as among his equals. Now Natsuki had lost her memory and magical power and was trapped in the form of a (very) little girl. Kojou could scarcely imagine just what Vattler might do, armed with such knowledge. 

Put bluntly, if Natsuki died here, the prison barrier would completely vanish and the prisoners within would be completely freed. And Vattler was well aware of that fact. 

If Vattler tried to kill Natsuki then and there, Kojou had to stop him. 

In other words, Kojou had to fight him. 

Wounded by Snowdrift Wolf as he was, Kojou had no guarantee he could win against Vattler; still, he had no choice but to try, even if it meant exposing his being a vampire to Asagi… 

But— 

Vattler suddenly burst into laughter, as if to mock the hardened determination on Kojou’s face. 

“Ha-ha…ha-ha-ha-ha-ha…ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!” 

It was a huge burst of genuine laughter that seemed to come from a different person. 

He put both his arms over his belly and bent over, like he was laughing so hard that it actually hurt. 

Here was a frightening noble from the Warlord’s Empire, an Old Guard vampire, overcome with mirth. Apparently seeing Natsuki like that was simply too far beyond all his expectations. 

“Oh my, just look at you. Not even a shadow of yourself, Witch of the Void—ah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!” 

Kojou called out to him with a bewildered look. 

“Uh…Vattler…?” 

Hostility, he expected, but laughter was way outside what he’d been prepared for. Kojou really had no idea how to deal with the guy at that moment. 

Vattler wiped tears from the corners of his eyes as he asked, “From the looks of it, you’re wounded, Kojou. Can you really protect her in that state?” 

He looked like he was still holding back a few more chuckles. 

“What are you tryin’ to say?” Kojou growled. 

Absolutely, Kojou was wounded at that moment, unable to fully employ the power of the Fourth Primogenitor. Put bluntly, he didn’t feel safe even fighting the surviving escapees. 

However, the Island Guard’s main strike force was already flat on its back. Even if it was beyond him, Kojou had to try. 

As if seeing right through Kojou, Vattler stated with a buoyant tone: 

“I shall grant her the use of my ship.” 

“…Huh?” 

“Of course, you can come with her. I’m sure it’ll be more fun that way.” 

Vattler’s unexpected suggestion left Kojou at a loss for words. 

But he immediately divined Vattler’s true intent. After all, the prison barrier escapees were after Natsuki’s life. Sparing Natsuki meant that they’d come running all on their own. 

To Vattler, a man who craved battle with mighty opponents, you couldn’t ask for a better situation. 

“If the escapees are coming for her, they will most certainly attack. If it’s here in the city, civilians might become collateral damage. It’s much safer my way, don’t you think?” 

“So you’re sayin’ you’ll protect Natsuki…huh?” 

Kojou bit his lip and sank into thought. It wasn’t as if he intended to trust Vattler, but he felt that it wasn’t a bad deal, strings attached notwithstanding. 

Surely even the jailbreakers wouldn’t be able to challenge a Warlord’s Empire noble so lightly. That’d buy them time to find a way to get Natsuki’s memories back. 

The problem was, if the escapees really did take Vattler on, it was entirely possible Itogami Island would suffer massive damage next time, but even so— 

Kojou sighed. 

“…Got it. You have a deal.” 

It wasn’t like he had any other choice in the matter. In the worst case, Kojou would be right by Natsuki’s side; that way, some way to deal with the situation ought to present itself. 

Vattler narrowed his eyes, delighted, and gave a satisfied nod. He looked something like a middle school boy who’d succeeded in inviting his unrequited love to visit his house. 

Maybe I spoke too soon, thought Kojou in anguish as he felt a chill run up his spine. 

“Hah?! Wait, where do you get off deciding that, Kojou?! And how the hell do you know a Warlord’s Empire noble, anyway?!” 

With Asagi’s hostility backing him into a corner, Kojou desperately tried to paper things over. 

“There’s a lot of circumstances involved. I’ll explain it all in detail later, so please, just—” 

Asagi heaved a great sigh, as if exasperated to the depths of her soul. 

“And do you really think I’m gonna just let this go?” 

Kojou slumped his shoulders. 

“…Guess not.” 

In the first place, Kojou had never thought he could pull the wool over Asagi’s eyes forever; her intuition was too good. Maybe this was when the jig would be up. 

Maybe this was the right time to tell her that he’d become a vampire. To tell her that he’d become the Fourth Primogenitor. And to tell her that what was to come was no place for a normal human being like her, and thereby blow her off. No biggie. No biggie at all. 

But if it meant keeping her safe, even if it meant losing her as a friend as the price— 

But before Kojou could say any of that, Asagi pointed at him and declared with great fanfare, “Fine, then, I’ll put Sana in your care under one condition.” 

Kojou had a very bad feeling about this. 

“…Condition?” 

Asagi bared her teeth as she hugged Sana to her. “If you’re going, I’m going with you.” 

What?! 

Kojou looked to the sky in despair. Vattler started laughing again. 

The night wore on. The Hollow Eve Festival, the celebration of monster encountering man, continued on.