Strike the Blood - Volume 5 - Chapter 4

CHAPTER FOUR 

EROSION OF DARKNESS 

1 

Mimori Akatsuki made an amused “mhmm” as she looked around the familiar sight of her guesthouse living room. 

There was a half-eaten, formerly frozen pizza on the table; the room’s lights were still on; and someone had forgotten to turn off the TV. She supposed something urgent had arisen, resulting in them rushing out in great haste. Apparently, the son Mimori had raised, Kojou Akatsuki, was living a life quite full of hardships. 

She’d expected as much ever since his little sister had gotten wrapped up in a big demon-instigated incident some four years prior, or perhaps it was when, shortly after, he’d met her. 

The young girl with rainbow-colored hair like billowing flames and eyes like fire. 

“My, my…” 

Mimori took out the freshly bought ice cream stick from the freezer and munched on it as she left the room. 

Nagisa was sleeping peacefully in the bedroom. She was in a deep sleep like she’d been given a sleeping pill or perhaps a dose of a sleeping curse. But there was no need to worry about her; there weren’t many beings on earth that could harm the girl. 

She was more concerned about the background of the two girls Kojou had brought with him. 

But before worrying about them, she had someone who required her attention then and there. 

Mimori used a corridor usually meant for research personnel only and headed toward the lab. 

Magna Ataraxia Research Incorporated, or MAR, was a conglomerate formed of multiple sorcerous product manufacturers with global reach. It was an industrial giant that made everything from pills for the common cold to military fighter jets. Even the laboratory it had built in Itogami City was big enough to have nearly a thousand researchers working there. 

However, being the opening day of the Hollow Eve Festival, there was no human presence visible inside the building. Their guards for the facility weren’t even human; instead, it employed robots using sorcerous circuitry and shikigami. They were excellent workers that never slacked off or let anything slip—unlike humans. 

On the other hand, the blunt reality was that a skilled Attack Mage or witch could wipe the floor with them…even a witch who’d lost her Guardian and had sustained nearly fatal injuries. 

“My, my…” 

Mimori Akatsuki’s smile turned strained at the sight of the unlocked, half-open door to the medical office. 

There was no sign of the patient within. 

On top of the bed were electrodes and IV lines that had been yanked out, alongside scattered bits of ritual scrolls. The floor had fresh blood spatter and stains on it. You’d think a wounded beast had just made its escape. 

“Oh, Yuu…” 

For once, Mimori looked serious as she sighed. She fished a behind-the-times cell phone out of a wrinkled pocket and began to call the police. 

Based on the state of the room, the escaped patient hadn’t gotten very far yet. Surely immediate pursuit would bring her back with ease. 

“Oh my…?” 

But the moment before the call connected, an ominous sound, like a thunderclap, echoed through the air; the lab’s lights went dark. It resembled a small earthquake, but this was a Demon Sanctuary on a man-made island; it didn’t have earthquakes. 

The phone signal went dead, cutting the call. The shikigami on patrol stopped in their tracks, too. Apparently, something had just thrown a giant monkey wrench into the magical infrastructure supporting Itogami Island. 

“The Black Bible… I see. So that’s what it is, Yuu…” 

Mimori gently touched the bed, as if she was taking in the warmth the girl had left behind. 

A second impact rocked the man-made ground. 

2 

Upon leaving the cabin, Kojou saw the deck in flames and an armored man carrying a fantastically large sword. 

“Vattler’s been…beaten…?!” 

The young aristocrat who should have been dealing with the man’s attack lay buried under a pile of rubble. Kojou was at a loss for words as he watched the unbelievable sight. The thought that the combat-loving vampire could actually lose had never occurred to him for even a millisecond. He didn’t have any idea how to respond. 

“Who the heck is that?!” Kojou finally exclaimed. 

“Bruté Dumblegraff…a mercenary formerly employed by the Western European Church, kyun!” said the backup. 

In one sense, it was quite incredible that the backup’s frivolous tone did not falter, even in this situation. 

Yet it was because of that that the armored man noticed Sana and spoke to her in a low voice that almost sounded rusty from disuse. 

“I have found you…Witch of the Void!” 

Entrusting Sana to Asagi, Kojou prepared to stand off against the armored man. Yet all the potential adversary did was watch with a slight narrowing of his eyes. Those were eyes that warned, Get in my way, and I shall cut you down without mercy. 

Kojou tossed out rather casually, “That armor’s a lot like what Old Man Eustach had. You an Armed Apostle, too?” 

He wanted any intel he could get on his enemy; it didn’t matter how. The armored augmentation suit that Rudolf Eustach, Lotharingian Armed Apostle, had worn not only enhanced his physical might, but also was equipped with special anti-demon gear he’d called Alcazava. That power potentially put him on equal footing with the likes of Vattler. 

However, the man named Dumblegraff shook his head with indifference. 

“Armed Apostle…exorcists of the church? Though not unrelated, ’tis different.” 

Kojou sighed but wasn’t particularly down about it. 

“Figures. Old Man Eustach didn’t have as much fun as you seem to be havin’.” 

Even though he was in front of Asagi, Kojou had already hardened his resolve. He’d summon a Beast Vassal. Only by using the powers of a vampire could Kojou protect the girls now. 

The problem was that he didn’t know his opponent’s capabilities. Plus, Kojou’s chest wound still hadn’t healed at all. Whether he could control a Beast Vassal in that condition was an open question— 

“Uhatsura!” 

A surge of demonic energy made the air itself shudder; the giant Beast Vassal was taking physical form. 

The creature that emerged from the void was a blue, glittering snake. However, it was not Kojou that had summoned it. It was under the control of the vampire nobleman also known as the Master of Serpents. 

“Vattler?!” Kojou shouted in surprise. 

The wounded vampire burst out of the rubble that had buried him with a feat of astounding strength and rose to his feet. 

“…Sorry, Kojou. Could you please not rob me of the playmate I’ve craved for so long?” 

His entire body was drenched in blood; his coat, originally pure white, was a mess. However, his aloof, snobbish manner of speaking was 100 percent intact. 

Vattler’s Beast Vassal roared; the deck under the armored man’s feet ruptured. 

Cracks in space itself erupted, dragging the enemy in. This was the ability of Vattler’s blue serpent. As befitting the Beast Vassal of an Old Guard vampire, its power was mighty beyond belief. 

But the man in plated armor laid his eyes upon the serpent Beast Vassal and swung down his giant sword. It was a robust slice accompanied by a fierce flash of light. That was all it took for Vattler’s Beast Vassal to be rent to pieces, crying in its death throes as it vanished. 

Kojou shuddered as he beheld the sight. 

“A flesh-and-blood human being…cutting down a Beast Vassal?!” 

As a fellow vampire, Kojou understood full well the might of Vattler’s Beast Vassal. The fact that such a beast had been felled was a rude shock. 

However, Vattler himself accepted the result rather calmly. His calm suggested he knew from the beginning what the result would be. 

“…He is a descendant of the House of Georgius—dragon slayers, in other words. They dwell in the shadow of the Western European Church, exorcists specializing in combat alone, hired by heretics—and great criminals that have destroyed numerous cities as collateral damage in their battles with dragons. They are rare and powerful enemies… Perfect, this is just perfect!” Vattler squealed, as if unable to contain the joy welling up from deep inside his flesh. 

The armored man looked upon him and curled his lips in distaste. He, too, had noticed Vattler was off his rocker. “Pathetic, accursed vampire.” 

Vattler simply summoned two new Beast Vassals in response. 

One was a great, glittering, golden serpent; the other, a massive jet-black one. Yet even though they were Beast Vassals, their nature had much in common with dragons; furthermore, their attacks were at a decisive disadvantage against a mercenary with the Dragon Killer attribute. The super high-pressure water blades the Beast Vassals unleashed were unable to leave a single mark on the man’s flesh; in turn, the man’s giant sword butchered the Beast Vassals with one blow to each. 

“So this is the immortal body of Georgius…!” Vattler remarked. 

“Indeed. My armor exists not to protect my body, but to present the impression that I can withstand battle. It serves no other purpose.” 

The man didn’t have a single scratch on him in spite of taking direct hits from Vattler’s attacks. 

Bathed in the blood of dragons, his flesh had been made as hard as steel, granting him an immortal body that could not be harmed by any weapon. He had obtained that which only heroes that had slain dragons had earned the right to— 

“…Batsunanda!” 

Vattler summoned yet another Beast Vassal. This one was a giant serpent with malicious blades in its skin, which turned its entire body into a weapon. 

“It is futile, Vattler. Your Vassals are no match for my Ascalon, no matter how large they might be.” 

The knight lifted his great sword once more. However, Vattler laughed delightedly as he gazed upon him. 

“I wonder?” 

“Mm…?” 

“Surely you, a member of the Georgius clan, are aware of why dragon slayers are extolled as heroes?” 

Both of Vattler’s eyes, narrowed in amusement, emitted a malevolent crimson glow. With his entire body drenched in blood, his great fangs poked out of his open mouth as he smiled wickedly. 

“If the Georgius are truly the strongest, then dispatching dragons is no great feat for them—yet the warriors who challenge dragons to battle are extolled as heroes. That is because dispatching dragons is difficult for them in spite of that power. In other words, many Georgius have lost their lives in the course of challenging dragons.” 

Something like a dreadful shimmer rose from the man’s entire body as he asked: 

“Do you wish to put that to the test, Vattler?” 

“But of course.” 

The nobleman smiled luridly and unleashed his attack. Countless lances, resembling pillars of ice, emerged around the Beast Vassal, surrounding it. The jagged-looking lances shot toward the knight as if they were bullets. The man swung his great sword to cut them down— 

But Vattler’s indiscriminate attack also caught the Oceanus Grave II in its destructive path. Even some distance away, the countless fragments poured down mercilessly upon Kojou and the others. 

“That was close! That bastard Vattler, he’s completely reckless…!” 

Asagi was shrieking and clutching Sana as she tried to avoid the hailstorm of debris. 

“K-Kojou, what are we gonna do here?!” 

The vampire bodily shielded both girls as he desperately cast a look around the deck. 

“We’re gonna make a run for it. At this rate, we’re gonna go down with the ship…” 

“Run? Run where…?!” 

Kojou was at a loss due to lack of familiarity with the ship’s layout. But he found an aristocrat of small stature wearing a silver tuxedo beckoning to him. 

“—Over here, Master Kojou.” 

Kojou breathed a sigh of relief as he recognized the gentle, handsome looks. 

“Kira, huh?” 

“Yes. If you are disembarking, please use the aft deck. This way.” 

Kojou and the rest followed after him. “Thanks. But is it all right lettin’ Vattler do whatever the heck he wants here?” Kojou asked. 

If Vattler kept up fighting like this, the ship would sink for sure. If that was the case, Kira ought to be abandoning ship just like Kojou and the others. 

Of course, Kira and the rest would be more than a little inconvenienced by the ship’s sinking, but… 

“Well, ah, he’s always like this, so as his comrades, we follow his lead, you see.” 

Kira’s smile was strained as he spoke, shifting his gaze toward the top of the bridge. There stood a young, handsome aristocrat—Jagan. He’d summoned multiple Beast Vassals, apparently to guard against the by-products of Vattler’s duel, which reached all the way into the city at this point. 

Looking closer, Kojou saw that a number of other vampires were deployed around the edges of the harbor. He didn’t think Vattler had any consideration for the trouble he caused others, so they’d probably set out on their own. 

“However, since the safety of the city is our first priority, we cannot spare anyone to escort you. After all, if Duke Ardeal is serious, he could destroy Itogami City in several minutes.” 

“Got it. We’ll watch out for our own necks somehow.” 

Kira respectfully lowered his head in a display of gratitude. “You have my thanks.” 

Kojou felt exactly the same way. No doubt, given his personality, working close by Vattler’s side meant nonstop anxiety for him. 

“You guys have it rough, too.” 

Kira gave him a pleasant, bashful smile. “Not at all, I’m pleased to be of some use.” 

They arrived at the aft deck, where the gangplank awaited. 

“Thanks. See ya later.” Kojou extended his right hand in thanks. Kira’s cheeks turned red as he shook Kojou’s hand. The unexpectedly soft and warm feeling surprised Kojou a little. As he and Kira ended the shake, Kojou stared at his hand in bewilderment. 

Seeing Kojou like that, Asagi glared at him suspiciously. 

“Kojou…you really don’t swing that way?” 

“Eh? Whaddaya mean?” 

A dubious expression came over Kojou, unable to process just what exactly he was being accused of. 

Even now, Vattler continued his duel with the sorcerer aboard the ship. A number of thunder-like explosions resounded, fiercely rocking the massive yacht in the process. The light given off by the raging flames dyed the night sky red. 

We should go while the goin’s good, thought Kojou as he picked up Sana and rushed down the gangplank. Welcoming them on the pier was a girl in a nurse outfit, wielding a silver spear. 

“Are you all right, senpai?” 

“Eh? Himeragi—?!” Unexpectedly finding Yukina lying in wait there was not something that set him at ease. 

Kojou was extremely grateful to have linked up with Yukina for purposes of protecting Sana. 

The problem was the fact that Asagi was there, too. It’d be nigh impossible to come up with a logical explanation as to why Yukina was walking around with a spear without revealing that she was really a Sword Shaman for the Lion King Agency. 

But Asagi did not direct her suspicions toward the spear that Yukina carried. 

Instead, Asagi looked at Yukina’s outfit and skeptically raised her eyebrows. 

“…Why are you wearing that?” 

Apparently, Asagi felt more threatened by Yukina’s silly white outfit than by her spear. 

The “nurse” was a bit thrown off by this as well. 

“Eh, this is…ah, Mimori had me wear this…” 

“Mimori, you mean Kojou’s mom?” 

Asagi looked even more on her guard as she snapped Kojou a glare. It was a look that backed Kojou into a corner with the implicit question: And when did you introduce Yukina to your mother…? 

For some reason, Kojou felt like running for the hills as he averted his eyes. But it was then that he saw something that made him freeze. 

Overhead, a crane that had become collateral damage of Vattler’s duel had been destroyed. Pieces of it were currently scattering as they plummeted toward Kojou and the others. It was a huge crane, nearly fifteen meters tall, used for moving around shipping containers. 

“Crap! Both of you, get down!” 

Kojou flattened Asagi and the others onto the ground underneath him. Even Yukina’s magic-nullifying spear was no match for the collapsing monolith. However, there was no time to escape its fall path, either. 

His only choice was to summon a Beast Vassal and blow it away—but could he do it in time? 

Kojou bit his lip in despair. 

And yet, right before his eyes, the falling crane was hit from the side with a blast so massive it altered its course. The steel structure snapped and splintered into twisted pieces. The blow far exceeded the level of a man-portable weapon; it was in the league of a direct hit from a tank’s cannon. 

“Eh?!” 

Fragments of pulverized metal rained down around them— 

Until a mass of metal rushed over and shielded them at the last moment. 

It was a red vehicle Kojou had never seen, with crimson armor covering its entire body. 

The closest thing to which Kojou could compare its silhouette was a turtle. It had a huge, round body resting on four fat, stubby legs; apparently, it could rotate 360 degrees without any problems. And where a head ought to have been, there was a large-caliber cannon installed. 

This was a Micro Robot Tank, a prototype anti-demonic weapon for urban warfare. 

They heard a bizarre voice come from it, one reminiscent of an old samurai movie. 

“Ha-ha-ha. That was quite a close call, empress.” 

The tank’s carapace opened; a girl who looked around twelve years old emerged. She was a foreign girl, with red hair that looked like it was on fire; she also wore a pilot suit from head to toe, but with a sports jersey over it that had handwritten letters reading DIDIER. 

Midway through being flabbergasted, Asagi gasped and regained her senses. 

“That speaking style…wait, you’re Tanker?!” 

The red-haired girl made a deep, polite bow from within the cockpit. 

“Indeed. It is a pleasure to meet you in real life, empress.” 

Like Asagi, Tanker was a freelance programmer hired by the Gigafloat Management Corporation. She was considered an Interceptor—a specialist in repelling intruders. No one had seen her in the flesh—or so it was said; Asagi was shocked to find she was a girl even younger than herself. 

“I am named Lydianne Didier. Mogwai asked me to come and get you. And my, I must say that is a wonderful outfit for you. That’s the empress for you!” 

“W-wait, it’s not really an outfit, it’s just a yukata…,” Asagi murmured, looking like she had the stuffing knocked out of her; maybe she was just tired of deep thinking. 

Kojou watched her from the side and slowly exhaled. “…Your friends are pretty weird, too, y’know.” 

“Sh-she’s not my friend, and I don’t wanna hear that coming from you!” Asagi retorted in a low voice that sounded like a sulk. 

“And what’d you come here for, anyway? If you’re doing part-time for the corporation, can’t you manage on your own?” 

The girl named Lydianne had a strangely serious look as she shook her head. “Unfortunately, that is no longer the case.” 

Asagi’s expression turned grave. “You don’t mean the damage from the magic erasure phenomenon’s getting bigger?” 

“It is, indeed. Apparently, a similar phenomenon was recorded once before, ten years ago.” 

“Ten years ago…?” Kojou asked. 

It was ten years ago to the night that one of the escaped sorcerous criminals had been locked away. A similar incident ten years prior…it was too much to be a coincidence.” 

“You don’t mean this is all related to that Aya Tokoyogi witch?!” Kojou exclaimed. 

Lydianne replied to him with a tone that had an audible hint of admiration. “Are you aware of the so-called ‘Black Bible Incident,’ Mr. Boyfriend?” 

Kojou considered amending with, I’m not her boyfriend, but time was precious. 

“Go on ahead, Asagi.” 

Asagi blinked, bewildered, as she noticed the atypically serious look on Kojou’s face. 

“Kojou?” 

“You take care of the island. We’ll take care of Sana.” 

Asagi nodded quietly and handed Sana, who she’d been embracing, over to Kojou. 

“Got it. Works for me.” 

Kojou was worried the backup would start saying and doing completely inappropriate things again, but even she behaved this time. 

If the info from Lydianne and Asagi was on target, Itogami Island was in imminent danger of collapse. People needed Asagi’s strength to see them through the crisis. 

A manipulator arm from Lydianne’s small tank reached out and hoisted Asagi up. The machine was still carrying Asagi like that when she turned toward Kojou and yelled, “But promise me this: When this is all over, you’re gonna go out with me for a bit while the festival’s still running!” 

Asagi’s cheeks were red, her meager courage stretched to the breaking point. But Kojou looked up at her and nodded confidently. “Yeah, we’ll go have a ball with everyone.” 

Hearing Kojou’s carefree response, Asagi’s face stiffened. 

“—Idiot!!” 

Asagi yelled indignantly as the tank whisked her away. Kojou stood dumbfounded, unable to comprehend why she was unhappy. 

Yukina lowered her eyes and let out a small sigh, as if she completely sympathized with Asagi. 

As they stood there like that, the sound of explosions continued to echo behind them without pause. 

Combat with the convicts continued. Their battles were not yet over… 

3 

On the flame-engulfed deck, the two men faced off. 

One was an escaped prisoner encased in black armor. The other was a vampire aristocrat wearing a white coat. 

They were both covered in blood, but their expressions were polar opposites. The escapee’s was twisted in anguish while the vampire smiled in mad delight as their dance of death continued. 

“What’s wrong, Georgius?” Vattler mocked. “The immortal body you’re so proud of is all bloody, isn’t it?” 

A two-headed dragon surrounded by incandescent flames floated behind him. All the scales covering its body had the dull glimmer of steel. It was a fused Beast Vassal—a fire serpent and a steel serpent that had been mixed together. 

“This is absurd… Why am…?” 

The knight kept his sword raised as he let out ragged breaths. 

Even though the fusion had spectacularly increased the Beast Vassal’s might, it still possessed the dragon attribute. Surely it could not defeat a dragon slayer. 

Yet his attacks had failed. The flames enveloping the monster repelled his sword; the steel encasing the Beast Vassal had penetrated the flesh of his immortal Georgius body. The combat power of Vattler’s attack snake had exceeded his own power— 

Despite Vattler actively controlling his Beast Vassal fusion, he rather casually put to his adversary, “The heroes that slay dragons mostly arrive at tragic ends. Some are shot from behind as a result of conspiracy; others are captured by statesmen and have their heads lopped off. Others still fall to the curses cast by their foes; others still are bathed in poison when their beloved wives betray them—do you understand why?” 

The armored man did not reply to the question. He had no spare strength with which to do so. 

“It is because heroes, in the course of obtaining power beyond that of human beings, lose something precious—that is, the knowledge of fear, deception, fraud, betrayal, and cunning toward enemies stronger than oneself.” 

The Old Guard vampire’s words rattled the knight. 

He remembered the rule of those who had gained immortal bodies—a very simple rule that he had forgotten: Just as the Georgius slew dragons, dragons slew the Georgius. Those who hunted need to be prepared to be hunted themselves. 

“You overestimate your own strength, underestimate your enemy’s power, and recklessly challenge your foe to a frontal engagement. You wallow in your own power. You are no longer worthy of the Georgius name.” 

The steel lance unleashed by Vattler’s Beast Vassal ran completely through the black armor—and the man’s body. 

The knight coughed up blood as he fell to his knees. He unleashed a slash with the last of his strength that fended off the dragon’s all-encompassing fire. 

“I thank you for having entertained me to this extent,” Vattler stated, as he gazed coolly upon his fallen enemy. “Now, then, it is time for you to return to your proper place.” 

The knight tried to stand using the great sword to support his weight, but the sword, long having exceeded its limits, shattered like fragile glass. 

The man’s manacle glowed; chains shot out. The prison barrier system activated…and dragged him back inside. 

His entire body now bound by chains, he whispered, “I see now, Vattler… You seek foes to fight…so that you may fight a more powerful foe who is yet to appear.” 

Those were his final words. The Georgius escapee was dragged into thin air and vanished. 

Vattler watched until the very end before releasing the fused Beast Vassal from his summons. 

The harbor was on fire in various places as a result of their battle. However, the damage was smaller than he had expected. Even the fire on the Oceanus Grave II had been largely extinguished. 

“Tobias, damage to the ship?” 

Vattler called the young vampire to his side to answer his question. Tobias Jagan replied immediately, like the excellent private secretary he was. 

“There is damage to the deck and one part of the residences, but she is still completely seaworthy.” 

Vattler smiled charmingly. “That is good. It is all thanks to you having been here, Tobias.” 

“Not at all,” said Jagan as he shook his head with a small measure of pride. 

“More importantly, the other escaped prisoner is still in combat with the Lion King Agency Shamanic War Dancer. What is your command?” 

Vattler licked his parched lips. “Ahh, is that so?” he muttered to himself. “It is a pity to grant her prey I have awaited for so long…” 

The look he had was filled with raw fighting spirit—a complete contrast with the image he normally projected. 

“But I shall exercise restraint… I do not like the whiff in the air.” 

A dubious look came over Jagan at his lord’s unexpected decision. “…Lord Vattler?” 

The vampire lord seemed to be musing as his gaze shifted to the southern district of Itogami Island. 

“Launch the ship. It would seem prudent to gain some distance from the island.” 

Jagan spared a stiff glance toward Kojou and the others on the docks below the ship. “Yes, immediately. However, are you fine leaving the Fourth Primogenitor behind like this?” 

Vattler brushed back his blood-drenched forelocks as he gave off a casual laugh. “Yes, we can leave the rest to Kojou… I think it will prove a far more amusing spectacle that way.” 

4 

The invisible blade, whirling around like a giant tornado, split the air as it descended. 

It was a long silver sword that blocked it head-on. 

Using ritual energy to create a virtual cut in the fabric of space, Sayaka used her sword to shoot down the invisible slice that Schtola D was so proud of, severing the entire physical impact. 

Acutely angered by this fact, the young man in dreadlocks ferociously repeated his attack. 

“What’s with that sword? It fakes a cut into space?! Well, ain’t that a neat trick, bitch!” 

“Who are you calling a bitch, fuzzhead?!” 

The ongoing combat was extremely high-level, but the conversation between them was lowbrow indeed. 

Sayaka hated men in the first place; Schtola D, whose violent words and conduct were reminiscent of an elementary grade schoolboy with superpowers, instilled nothing but disgust in her. 

“This is why I hate men! They’re stinky, barbaric, crude, ill-mannered—did I mention they stink?!” 

“I do not stink—!” 

Schtola D violently waved his arms. It looked like he was simply flailing randomly, but all of his motion transformed into giant blades that rent the very air. 

The area-effect attack had a range of dozens of meters and yet still boasted enough force to pulverize concrete into dust. 

Even for Sayaka, this was no easy opponent to defeat. He was much stronger than his bratty looks suggested. 

“Don’t tell me…you’re a Hyper-Adapter?” she asked. 

Schtola D’s attack was in a completely different category from any attack spell known to Sayaka. It was a special ability that even demons couldn’t see. That said, it didn’t seem that he was using a special weapon like Lustrous Scale… 

The only other possibility she could think of was that he was a Hyper-Adapter—a natural psychic who did not depend on magic. But— 

Schtola D refuted her idea with extreme prejudice. 

“Ahh? Don’t associate me with imitation crap like that, moron!” 

His reaction threw Sayaka off a bit. Imitation…? 

“Reverberate!” 

As she blocked the invisible slashes, Sayaka scattered metal ritual scrolls about herself. The scrolls momentarily flared with light and changed shape into birds of prey that assaulted Schtola D from four directions. 

Sayaka was a specialist in curses and assassination. Properly speaking, she was better suited to surprise attacks than face-to-face combat. However, she found it reasonable to assume that the sorcerer could not evade a shikigami assault right after finishing his own attack. And yet… 

“Bitch! You’re just pissin’ me off now—!” 

Suddenly, new arms burst out from Schtola D’s back. These weren’t physical parts of his body, but rather, illusionary arms created using psionic energy. However, the illusionary arm also launched invisible slashes, cutting down the assaulting shikigami birds in midair. 

Seeing that Schtola D now had six arms, Sayaka finally identified his true nature. 

“That power, don’t tell me…you’re a Deva?!” 

Devas were descendants of Hindu demigods that were purportedly extinct. They were remnants of an ancient race of supermen said to have had a thriving civilization prior to the dawn of recorded history. They had left behind numerous ruins and legends, but even Sayaka had never met one in the flesh until that day. 

“Finally got it right, stupid bitch!” 

With six arms to work with, Schtola D’s ferocious attacks put Sayaka completely on the defensive. 

However, now she knew the true nature of his attacks. The invisible slices were psychic blades created through the use of his natural Deva abilities. To him, able to control such a vast level of psychic energy, Hyper-Adapters really were pale imitations. No doubt the reason Yukina’s spear couldn’t completely nullify his cutting attacks was because they weren’t magical to begin with. 

On the other hand, Sayaka felt a vague, formless despair that this dim-witted, foul-mouthed man-child was from a so-called ancient race of supermen. It was, frankly, an enormous letdown. 

Sayaka’s disappointment was unknown to Schtola D as he opened his mouth wide in a hearty fit of laughter. 

“Now that you know, I’ll squish you flat, you dirty Amazon! I hate women taller than me!” 

“It’s not that I’m tall, it’s that you’re so short!!” Sayaka shouted back, extremely annoyed. 

Certainly, Sayaka was a fair bit taller than Schtola D, but it wasn’t that Sayaka was that tall—he was, however, quite unusually short. 

Apparently, the sorcerer took the matter quite personally: Even his shoulders shook. 

“How dare you…! A giant bitch poking at the thing that bugs a guy the most! You wound me…you’ve wounded me, you human mountain range!” 

“Just how big do you think I am here?!” 

His seemingly casual observation wounded Sayaka every bit as much, but Schtola D paid no heed to that as his attacks increased in force. Lustrous Scale somehow fended them off, but it, too, was close to the brink. The weapon the Shamanic War Dancer of the Lion King Agency wielded was never meant to be used exclusively in short-range combat. 

However, she’d already used up her ritual scrolls in her last counterattack. She didn’t have an opening big enough to use a large-scale offensive ritual spell. Maybe a Sword Shaman like Yukina could have leaped into his flank and smacked him down the hard way, but Sayaka’s close combat skill wasn’t on quite that level. 

“If I could just use my magic bullets…a guy like this’d be history…!” 

Sayaka bitterly clenched her teeth as she thought of the darts hidden under her skirt. 

Her trump card as an assassin was not a sword; Lustrous Scale’s true form was that of a bow. If she could only have used her whistling arrows, imbued with great ritual power, she had no doubt she could breach Schtola D’s psychic defenses. But she couldn’t use a magic bullet at this range. If she changed Lustrous Scale to bow form, she wouldn’t have any way to rip space to defend herself; at any rate, there was no way Schtola D would just stand idly by, waiting for her to shoot him. 

Exasperated, the sorcerer raised all six arms above his head simultaneously. 

“I’ll squish ya’ flat! Go, Thunder Ax—!” 

He swung all of them down at once. A giant gale erupted, putting previous ones to shame, and assailed Sayaka from above. 

“Ugh…!” 

Sayaka kept her sword raised even as she grunted in anguish. 

She blocked the attacks coming from the front, but it simply wasn’t possible to completely nullify the impacts from all the blasts erupting around her. Lustrous Scale’s spatial severing was the ultimate physical defense, but it came with the weakness of only being able to defend from one direction at a time. 

The blast winds toyed with Sayaka’s height, violently smacking her into the ground with a painful bounce. It wasn’t fatal damage, but it stunned her severely. Just sitting up took all of her strength. 

Schtola D’s shoulders rose and fell fiercely as he laughed. 

“Just look at you now, bitch!” 

Apparently, even he was tired out from having launched vicious attacks without pause. 

However, he surely had several more similar attacks left to go. Now that Sayaka was immobile, his victory was inevitable. Schtola D, too, had surely noticed that attacks creating blast winds could breach Lustrous Scale’s defense. 

Sayaka’s lips shook. 

“Blast winds…winds…” 

Schtola D raised his arms to resume his attacks once more. The invisible blades made the air shriek as wind howled all around him. 

The moment she laid eyes on that, Sayaka’s mouth began to chant without thinking. 

“…I, Dancer of the Lion, Archer of the High God, beseech thee.” 

She drew a dart from the holster on her thigh. Because she’d used a great many at the prison barrier, this was her very last dart. If she’d been able to deploy it as an arrow, that would have been more than enough. 

“Most Brilliant Flaming Horse, Illustrious Kirin, He Who Governs Heavenly Thunder, pierce these evil spirits with thy wrath…!” 

Schtola D swung his arms down, releasing the invisible flashes. Sayaka released her dart simultaneously, aiming it at the path the invisible, wind-enveloped blades took. 

Sayaka’s magic bullets did not directly attack her foes. Instead, they were catalysts used to activate spells. The sound released by whistling arrows became incantations, producing huge attack spells beyond the chanting ability of human sorcerers. 

Lustrous Scale could transform into a bow in order to grant the whistling arrow the wind pressure required for it to whistle. But that very moment, the wind was right there for the taking— 

Schtola D gazed, dumbfounded, at the giant magic circle that deployed right before his eyes. 

“What the—?!” 

He already knew what the spell was. It was a fiendish curse that was, in short, an artillery barrage. It shot out white-hot lightning indiscriminately, with the purpose of destroying an entire area. It was the secret black art this same Shamanic War Dancer had used to set the prison barrier aflame; that was how Schtola D instantly recognized it. He recognized, too, that he, defenseless right after finishing his own attack, was powerless to stop it. 

“Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit—!” 

Schtola D’s scream vanished within the giant explosion. 

The beam fired by the curse as if from a siege weapon seared his flesh; the Deva’s descendant, enveloped by flames, fell into the sea. 

5 

The aftereffects of the conflagration produced by the magic circle lashed back against their caster, Sayaka, as well. However, she fended them off with Lustrous Scale. Sayaka’s desperate measure meant that she could have easily shared in the same fate as her adversary. 

“Ow, ow, ow, ow…” 

Her entire body beat up, Sayaka rose to her feet with little strength left. However, she immediately became dizzy and slowly fell backward. She knew it was dangerous if she didn’t break her fall, but even so, she could not will her body to move. She closed her eyes and braced for the impact. 

But— 

The pain Sayaka had dreaded never arrived. 

Someone had grabbed her body midway to the ground. 

At the last moment, a very slick Kojou held Sayaka up by her back. 

“—You all right, Sayaka?” 

His breath was ragged from having run over hastily. He looked concerned as he peered at Sayaka from point-blank range. 

“Ah, Kojou Akatsuki…?” 

For some reason, Kojou was biting his lip, looking guilty. 

“Sorry, Kirasaka, leavin’ all that on your shoulders…” 

Apparently, he regretted being unable to help her in the fight against Schtola D. Actually, from Sayaka’s point of view, having an amateur like Kojou butt in would have only made her job harder, so leaving it to her was very much the right call. 

“Th-that’s not a big deal, but…why are you here helping me?! Where’s Yukina?” 

Kojou ignored Sayaka’s weak resistance and picked her up. It was a classic “princess carry” pose. 

“Hey, just behave for a bit here. You’re wounded.” 

Thanks to Schtola D’s rampage, the ground surface around the harbor was a total mess. It was hard for Kojou to even walk. Left with no other good options, Sayaka wrapped her arms around his shoulders to keep herself from falling. 

“B-but…I’m not suited to this kind of thing… I’m too big…” 

Sayaka muttered to herself, “Why do I always end up like this?” She’d become very self-conscious of her height due to Schtola D’s stupid insults. Sayaka had a fair bit of a complex about being so tall for a girl when she herself idolized that which was small and cute—like Yukina. 

But when Kojou heard her mutter, for some reason, he blushed awkwardly. 

“Well, they are pretty big, but I’m not touchin’ them on purpose here… I mean, it’s unavoidable, bein’ like this…” 

“Eh? What do you mean, touching…?” 

Touching what? Sayaka mused, inclining her head, when suddenly it hit her: Thanks to Kojou carrying her, Sayaka’s breasts were squishing right against his body. 

“Aah…! Kojou Akatsuki—!!” 

“I told ya’, it ain’t like I’m doin’ it on purpose!!” 

“Of all the things,” went Sayaka, sighing deeply. She then recalled that they’d had a very similar conversation once before. Yes, it was like that when she’d first met this man. He’d been a perv with no filter and no tact. But on the other hand, he’d treated Sayaka, a Shamanic War Dancer, like she was just a regular, everyday girl… 

Looking up at Kojou from so close, Sayaka said, “…Sweaty.” 

Kojou’s skin was slick with a thin layer of sweat from having run over to help Sayaka. As this was pointed out to him, Kojou twisted his lips in apparent minor dismay. 

“Well, of course I’m gonna get sweaty from all the stuff goin’ on. If you don’t like the smell, just move away a bit.” 

“…I don’t mind it.” 

It was an honest reply, and she moved her face closer to Kojou’s neck. Yes—she hated barbaric, tactless, smelly men, but his scent she didn’t mind at all. 

“Kirasaka?” 

Kojou looked a tad bewildered at Sayaka’s indecipherable behavior. Then, from behind his back—which Sayaka couldn’t see—they heard a small “ahem,” as someone cleared her throat. 

Sayaka slowly shifted her gaze onto a teenage girl standing there in a nurse outfit. 

She was watching Kojou and Sayaka, pressed against him in a very intimate position, with a conflicted look on her face. 

Sayaka’s face went completely pale as she asked in a rather shrill voice, “Y-Yukina? Since when have you…?” 

Yukina seemed a bit at a loss as she lowered her eyes. 

“Since about when you almost fell to the ground… I’m sorry, this is my fault.” 

Her face beet red, Sayaka hastily replied, “I-it’s all right! I’m just a bit tired; I’m not badly hurt at all! And with his attacks, you’d never have been able to get close to him in the first place—!” 

Sayaka didn’t understand why she felt so guilty right then. That was just a momentary slip, she told herself. It wasn’t as if she’d let Kojou Akatsuki into her heart; that space was reserved for Yukina alone. 

“A-anyway, can you let me down already?! I can walk on my own now!” 

“Ah, can you?” 

Kojou gently put Sayaka down on the ground. Though Sayaka secretly regretted this, she nonetheless moved away from him, as if fleeing. 

That was when Sayaka noticed the existence of a girl Yukina had along with her. It was a little girl whose face seemed vaguely familiar; her long black pigtails left a strong impression. 

“So the Witch of the Void really has…shrunk down. Seeing her in person…how should I put this…?” 

Yukina picked up where Sayaka left off. “Cuter than you expected, I imagine?” 

She was a woman who had the air of a doll to begin with; now that she was even smaller in size, she looked like a doll through and through. 

Kojou voiced his agreement. 

“Well, in outward appearance, at least.” 

At any rate, seeing her in the flesh like this, there was no doubting that the little girl was truly Natsuki Minamiya. Her appearance and the aura she gave off just had way too much in common. 

“Well, we managed to get ahold of her. What’ll we do now?” Sayaka asked as she checked the state of her own wounds. 

The incident had certainly not been resolved. Natsuki was still mini; Yuuma Tokoyogi was still gravely injured. Plus, they had several escapees left uncaptured, including the ringleader herself, Aya Tokoyogi. 

Kojou looked down at the young Natsuki as he replied. “We’ll take her to MAR. Thanks to Vattler and you, Kirasaka, it looks like we’ve taken care of most of the jailbreakers after Natsuki. If we can just get her memory back, we might be able to save Yuuma.” 

Sayaka had no particular problems with that. From a security point of view, heading to MAR was an entirely rational decision. 

However, they heard an objection to Kojou’s decision from an entirely unexpected direction. 

When Kojou and the others heard that voice, full of malignant hostility, they turned around with great vigor. 

“To save that disposable…doll? Such concern is…unnecessary.” 

Standing amid the darkness of the night was a fire-eyed witch wearing a white-and-black ceremonial robe. 

“—Aya Tokoyogi!” Yukina exclaimed. 

“You’re here for Natsuki, too?!” Kojou added, both of them shielding Sana with their bodies. 

Sayaka clicked her tongue, mortified. Now that she was out of ritual scrolls and arrows, she had no effective means to attack a remaining witch. 

However, Aya Tokoyogi gazed listlessly at their reactions to her. 

“Do not be angered so, Fourth Primogenitor. I have not come to kill the Witch of the Void.” 

Her smoldering eyes narrowed as she smiled. 

“Indeed, you have my thanks. Thanks to that woman drawing the escapees away, I have finished preparing for tonight’s festival. And even if she did betray me once, she is still my friend, one might say?” 

A crude voice thick with hostility interrupted Aya Tokoyogi’s words. 

“—Hold it right there, bitch.” 

The young man, with dreadlocks thoroughly drenched with seawater, was just climbing on top of the cliff as he glared at Aya. It was Schtola D. 

Normally, he’d have been gravely wounded to the point of being unable to move, but his beaten and battered body rose to its feet with the support of psychic energy. 

Schtola D turned his hate-filled gaze not to Sayaka, but toward Aya Tokoyogi. He’d finally realized that they’d been deceived by Aya. 

“What do you mean…drawing the escapees away? You tricked us, didn’t you?!” 

Aya smiled as she looked upon the scowling, angry face of the man-child with open scorn. 

“You are quite the fool to take a witch’s words at face value.” 

She’d sent the jailbreakers in pursuit of Natsuki and into combat against Kojou and the others. As a result, Aya had been able to move freely without anyone interfering. Neither Vattler nor the Island Guard had gone after her whatsoever. 

She’d used the prisoners. It was they, and not Natsuki, that had been the real decoys. 

Howling with rage, Schtola D raised his right arm high. 

“No one messes with me, bitch—!” 

But the invisible blade that should have emerged from gusting wind never arrived. 

Simultaneously, his wounded body seemed to lose all support as it flopped onto the ground. 

His arm tried to pull him up once more, but ended up merely clawing at the ground. 

“The hell…my power’s…sh-shit…,” Schtola D murmured weakly. 

However, he was not the only one stricken by the anomaly. Sayaka let out a bewildered cry as the tip of the sword she was gripping fell to the ground. 

“Lustrous Scale is…?!” 

The long sword, manufactured using state-of-the-art sorcerous technology, suddenly lost its shine and instantly became heavier. She was sending ritual energy into it, but there was no response whatsoever. Its holy weapon properties had completely ceased. 

Kojou noticed how shaken Sayaka was and met Yukina’s eyes. 

“…The magic vanished? No way?!” 

Kojou and Yukina were aware of the magic annihilation phenomenon assaulting Itogami Island. 

They realized that its effects had now reached as far as Island East. 

However, Aya Tokoyogi attacking at the exact time the anomaly was occurring was unlikely to be any sort of coincidence. It was better to assume that Aya herself was the very cause of said anomaly. 

For her part, Aya materialized her own Guardian. 

“—L’Ombre.” 

It was a faceless knight clad in jet-black armor. 

The knight she had pegged L’Ombre—the Shadow—mercilessly thrust his sword into the exhausted, unmoving Schtola D, then a second time, then a third—and then it stomped on the blood-drenched man. 

Schtola D’s lips trembled, barely able to make out a throwaway line. 

“You really got me, bitch… Dammit, I’ll remember this.” 

As he lost consciousness, the tip of the black knight’s sword shifted toward his back. 

“Stop this!” Kojou bellowed. “Aya Tokoyogi, you’ve gone too far yet again!” 

Seeing Schtola D being trampled made Kojou picture Yuuma, wounded and fallen, all over again. 

But suddenly seeing Kojou’s entire body enveloped by lightning, it was Yukina who gasped. “Senpai?!” 

Kojou’s crimson-dyed eyes glared at the fire-eyed witch. A gold-glimmering beast appeared as Kojou thrust his right hand before him. 

“C’mon over, Regulus Aurum—!” 

A mass of magical energy so dense that it rivaled the heat of a raging storm cloud emerged and adopted the form of a giant beast. 

This was a summoned beast from another world: one of the Beast Vassals of the Fourth Primogenitor. The destructive mass, akin to a natural disaster taking physical form, charged at the speed of light toward the witch as she stood still. Watching this, Aya Tokoyogi’s expression never changed in the slightest. 

Aya Tokoyogi murmured in visible admiration as she traced symbols into thin air. 

“So you had that much power remaining… You live up to your reputation, I see.” 

The lightning lion slashed at the glowing, radiant symbols. And then— 

“But that reputation ends now.” 

“—Wha—?!” 

Without warning, the Beast Vassal that Kojou had summoned melted into thin air, vanishing without a trace. 

They had neither heard nor felt an impact. Not even a mild disturbance of the wind remained. 

The lightning lion had been erased, as if it had never existed in the first place. 

No—it was not the Beast Vassal alone that had dissipated. Kojou’s own body had lost the surge of demonic power contained within. 

Having lost the power of the World’s Mightiest Vampire, all that remained was a high schooler’s flesh and blood. 

Sensing that enormous magical power had vanished, Yukina was beside herself as she shook her head. “No…senpai’s power is…” 

Aya Tokoyogi laughed with refined grace. 

“This is the Black Bible, Fourth Primogenitor. Itogami Island has already become my world. All supernatural power has been lost, save mine; even the power of a primogenitor.” 

Before Aya’s words were even finished, Kojou’s body shuddered with the sound of a faint, smooth impact. 

The faceless knight’s giant sword had been thrust through his chest. 

“Gahah,” coughed Kojou, blood painting his lips. The pain was too fierce for him to make more of a sound than that. Now that Kojou had lost his power of immortality, the wound was most certainly mortal. 

As Kojou collapsed onto his knees, Sayaka clutched him and shouted his name. 

“Kojou Akatsuki—!” 

It was an image of defenselessness one normally couldn’t even imagine from her. Beholding Sayaka like that from behind, the black knight raised its sword high. The scream that followed shook the night sky over the harbor. 

It came from Yukina. 

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa—!” 

With spell-reinforced might, her slender body sprinted. Her silver spear emitted a dazzling glow as it deflected the black knight’s sword. 

Bewilderment rose in Sayaka’s eyes. Yukina was fighting a witch’s Guardian on even terms. 

“Yukina?!” 

In the witch’s world, which nullified even the power of a primogenitor, Yukina alone had retained her ritual power. 

Aya Tokoyogi smiled oddly. “As I suspected. So you refuse to be governed by my world, Sword Shaman of the Lion King Agency?” 

Teleportating, Aya moved herself and her Guardian away; having lost sight of her foe, Yukina’s spear sliced thin air. 

Aya and her Guardian reappeared behind Yukina. There was only one person there, standing still: Sana. 

“You are indeed a suitable guest for my experiment. I was right to come and extend a personal invitation.” 

“Sana?!” Yukina cried. 

Yukina couldn’t attack Aya now, with the very young Natsuki taken hostage. 

Seizing the momentary opening, Aya summoned a cage. It was shaped like a birdcage but built stout enough to hold a ferocious beast. The cage, between four or five meters in diameter, materialized around the Sword Shaman and shut her within. 

The steel bars were nearly ten centimeters in diameter and were not magical constructs. Even Yukina’s magic-nullifying spear could not break them. Imprisoned inside the birdcage, Yukina bit her lip, unable to do anything other than glare at Aya. A moment later, the birdcage vanished, along with Yukina. 

They’d been carried away using teleportation. What’s more, no sign remained of Aya, her knight, or Sana. 

Kojou, covered in blood, moaned in agony. 

“You don’t mean…it was Yukina she was after…not Natsuki…? Why…?” 

He finally understood that Aya Tokoyogi had appeared to whisk Yukina away, not Natsuki. As he thought about it more, Aya had spoken to Yukina during their encounter at the prison barrier like Aya knew something about her. 

But even if Kojou knew what, he could no longer do anything about it. 

Desperately clutching her fallen friend, Sayaka was in tears as she shouted. “Kojou Akatsuki?! Hang in there, you’re an immortal vampire, aren’t you?! Hey!!” 

Looking up at her tearful face, all Kojou could murmur before blacking out was, “Sorry.”