Strike the Blood - Volume 6 - Chapter 3

CHAPTER THREE 

RETURN OF THE ALCHEMIST 

1 

It was a short time later when a large Island Guard unit swarmed the ruined abbey. Kojou and the others hid in the shadow of a vending machine as they waited for the convoy to pass by. 

It wasn’t out of any aversion to the Island Guard. The fight with Amatsuka had been legitimate self-defense, and Asagi was a mere victim of the incident. 

That said, there was no doubt whatsoever that being found there would cause a great deal of trouble for both Kojou, an unregistered vampire, and Yukina, his watcher. Plus, Asagi had just come back to life; her whole body was still covered in blood. Had they been captured in that situation, Kojou didn’t think they’d be released anytime soon. The only likely way out of it would be to bow his head to Natsuki and beg for her to clear things up. 

Fortunately, their presence wasn’t noticed; the three even managed to make it back onto school grounds. By then the city was enveloped in evening darkness, so Asagi’s tattered clothing didn’t stand out too much. 

“So about that red-and-white checkered alchemist?” Kojou asked. 

As they walked, Asagi was fussing over how dried blood was knotting up her hair. She replied, “Ah… That was an alchemist? I thought he was a washed-up actor or something. After that there was some kind of oozing monster that looked like quicksilver… I wonder where that ran off to?” 

“Er, ah, maybe a vampire and his watcher passing through kicked its ass…” 

“Huh?” 

Asagi’s skeptical reply completely threw Kojou off. 

A faint sliver of doubt had crept into his head even as he furiously tried to think of a proper excuse. If he could take Asagi’s words at face value, she believed that the ooze monster she’d seen and Amatsuka, defeated by Kojou, were completely separate—? 

Seeing Kojou at a loss for words, Yukina tossed him a life preserver: “Things were like this when we arrived, so we don’t know anything about the details.” 

“…That so. You’d think the Island Guard would be mopping things up right around now…” 

As might well have been expected, Asagi readily accepted her explanation, because she had no idea Kojou had become a vampire. It wasn’t that she was dense; Kojou’s state of being was just so far-fetched. After all, a normal human being suddenly becoming a vampire primogenitor should have been completely impossible; Asagi’s long friendship with Kojou probably gave her a blind spot where that change was concerned. 

Kojou looked sidelong at Asagi’s face as he asked, “More importantly, there’s really nothing wrong with you?” 

She had no large external injuries he could see. Even the cut on the tip of her finger had apparently healed over. That threw off Kojou and Yukina all the more, for they had been certain the fresh blood spatter all around Asagi was her own. 

There ought to have been no way a vampire like Kojou could get the scent of her blood wrong. And yet— 

“Of course there’s something wrong with me!! Look, see here, it’s not just my clothes, my bra’s been cut right in t… I take that back, don’t look!!” 

Asagi, who had been showing off the damage to her own clothing, reached critical mass with great fanfare. 

She sure looked like the usual Asagi. It wasn’t how you’d think someone who’d died a little earlier would behave. 

Feeling like an idiot for having worried, Kojou listlessly mumbled to himself, “She actually seems all right.” 

Yukina nodded in agreement. “It would seem so. But just to be safe, I think it would be best if she was examined at a hospital.” 

“I think so, too, but how the heck would we explain this to a doctor?” 

Asagi tapered her lips in clear dissatisfaction. “Hold on now. I can only imagine what a load of trouble that’d be. Maybe you two just saw wrong and I was never in any real danger to begin with?” 

She had no concept of having just come back to life, so her desire to avoid annoyances was taking precedence. But Kojou was especially resolute. 

“Well, you definitely blacked out, so it’s probably best to have a doc look at you. Post-concussion stuff can get nasty. I mean, how about I ask my mother to take a look?” 

“…Oh yeah, that’s right, your mom’s over at the MAR lab…” 

Asagi’s attitude softened just a little. She folded her arms, mulling it over. 

“Well, it’d be better having her examine me than someone else. Besides, it’s been a while since I’ve seen Mimori.” 

“Okay, let’s do that. I’ll take you as far as the lab.” 

Having succeeded in persuading Asagi, Kojou exhaled in exhausted relief. Now they were almost at an intersection leading to the station. 

As Kojou and Asagi waited for the lights to change, Yukina bowed her head in perfect politeness. “Well then, if you will excuse me, I must be on my way.” 

“Going back to the antique shop?” 

Yukina lowered her voice to a murmur so that Asagi couldn’t hear. “Yes. I must report to Master Shike and ask her to get in touch with the Island Guard. Also, there’s the small fact that the shikigami she lent us was wrecked.” 

Sorry, offered Kojou as he waved to her. After all, the cause of the Sayaka look-alike shikigami being destroyed was that Kojou had lost control of himself, letting his demonic power run amok. Odds were pretty good that Yukina’s teacher would be miffed at having had her intricate shikigami ruined. 

“Sorry, and thanks. I, um, hope she doesn’t pull any of that humiliation crap on you.” 

Yukina’s face twitched, and then she hastily shook her head. “I-I have no idea. She is rather, ah, taken to whims.” 

Though Kojou had been the one to directly wreck the shikigami, Yukina might well have indirect responsibility put upon her. No doubt she was picturing herself wearing an embarrassing outfit at that very moment. 

“Senpai… Um, are you all right?” 

“Eh?” 

“Senpai, if you hadn’t annihilated Kou Amatsuka…no, that monster, I would probably have been killed, so…” 

Kojou looked at Yukina’s worried expression and quietly smiled back at her. 

Even if it was legitimate self-defense, the fact remained that Kojou had killed Amatsuka. It was a bitter pill to swallow; Kojou’s heart felt as heavy as molten lead. No doubt Yukina had picked up on Kojou’s internal turmoil. 

But if anything, Kojou was surprised at how calm he was about the whole thing. 

“Yeah, I know. Don’t worry about it.” Kojou lightly set his hand on top of Yukina’s head. 

For a moment, an image of a girl rose up from the back of his mind. I see, thought Kojou, suddenly understanding. She was a girl with rainbow-colored hair like a surging flame, and eyes like blazing fire. She was the girl Kojou had once consumed, taking the power of the Fourth Primogenitor from her. 

This wasn’t the first time Kojou had killed someone. Maybe that explained his soberness. 

As they watched Yukina go into the distance, Asagi seemed beside herself as she said, “…You know, it’s fine to go see Mimori, but don’t tell me you want to get on the monorail dressed like this? I’d better head home first.” 

As Asagi stood still, Kojou looked at her and quietly murmured, “Ah, yeah. Got a point there.” 

Kojou could hide her tattered uniform by giving her his jacket, but there was nothing he could do to hide her blood-drenched hair and skirt. Someone would absolutely call the police if she went on the monorail dressed like that. 

Kojou looked up at the nearby road map. “It’s a bit far, but how about walking to my place? Can at least get a change of clothes there.” 

Kojou’s residence, located in Island South just like their school, would probably take about forty minutes by foot. Although annoying, it wasn’t a great distance. 

“Suppose that’s the best option. Geez, why’d it have to go like this?” Asagi grumbled, messing with her right ear. Even though she’d almost died earlier, she was apparently preoccupied with her earring. 

Watching her like that, Kojou sighed heavily. 

“…What?” 

“Well, um, I was just thinking I’m glad that you’re alive.” 

As Kojou muttered and looked away, Asagi blinked rapidly, mystified. But then, an impetuous leer came over her face. 

“Did you cry?” 

“I did not.” 

“Sorry. I’ll give you a hankie.” 

“I said I didn’t cry.” 

Kojou’s familiar reply made Asagi laugh aloud. 

And so the two began walking to Kojou’s house, the distance between them just the same as ever. 

2 

When Kojou arrived, Nagisa was waiting to greet him in an apron. She didn’t even give Kojou time to say I’m back before rushing over and burying him in words. 

“Welcome back, Kojou. You’re so late! Did you get the milk?” 

“Whaddaya mean, milk? That’s news to me.” 

“Eh…?! I texted you about it earlier!” Nagisa jabbed at him with her chopsticks. 

Kojou reached into his pocket to check his message history, but the only thing that came out was a piece of scrap plastic that used to be a cell phone. Of course, Kojou was responsible for wrecking it—it’d bitten the dust from his magical energy. 

How many phones have I gone through in the last six months? Kojou sank into depression as he counted in his head. His account balance, never high to begin with, just took another step toward zero. 

“Geez, and this time of day you can get discount milk in some places. We’re having gratin tonight… What’ll I do? Maybe I shouldn’t have thrown that other stuff out earlier? But it was thirteen days past the expiration…” 

“Oh man, that’s stretching it a bit too thin. Shouldn’t even leave that stuff in the fridge.” 

Kojou rushed to stop his sister from seriously worrying about whether or not to consume expired dairy products. Nagisa still seemed a bit hung up on it when she noticed there was someone behind him. 

“Ah, Yukina’s with you? Maybe Yukina has some milk she can spare?” 

“Er, Yukina’s not the one with me…” 

Now how am I gonna explain this? he wondered hesitantly, but Asagi shoved Kojou aside and barged into the living room. 

“Good evening. Sorry to be all sudden like this.” 

“Asagi? Whoa?! What happened to your clothes?!” 

Nagisa’s eyes widened in shock as she beheld the pathetic state of Asagi’s outfit. 

Asagi forced a somewhat amused smile. “Er… I was coming back from school when…” 

“—She was trying to cook something awful, and the pot went ka-boom,” Kojou interjected from the side, trying to sound grave. 

“What in the world?!” Nagisa asked. 

Asagi grimaced. It was such a disgraceful excuse. “Kojou?! Now wait just a…” 

“Look, I can’t tell Nagisa that you got attacked by a monster and stuff, so just deal!” Kojou hissed in a whisper. 

Resentfully, she whispered back, “Well, you could’ve come up with a better excuse than— Erg, I’m gonna remember this, you know!!” 

Even though she was a resident of a Demon Sanctuary, Nagisa had an acute fear of demons; in the past, during a major incident, she’d been gravely wounded and on death’s door from an encounter with them. Asagi, well aware of the circumstances, couldn’t make any strong objection to Kojou’s case. 

Still, she had a look of annoyance on her face as Nagisa welcomed her in. “That so. You poor thing. It’s okay, come on in, take a shower!” 

Kojou left Asagi to his little sister as he headed back to the entrance. “It’s fine if I go buy some milk now, right?” 

But Nagisa hastily called Kojou back: 

“Oh, wait. I really should go. I wanna buy some sweets to take on the field trip. If I let you do it, you won’t buy anything good, just potato chips that taste like peach yogurt and that junk.” 

“What’s wrong with peach yogurt?!” Kojou objected, somewhat sullenly. But Nagisa easily blew off her brother’s rebuttal. 

“Here you go, a bath towel and a Kojou jersey, both fresh. You can use the cosmetics on the right of the bathroom any way you like. You’re gonna eat here with us tonight, right? Well, later!” 

With the towel and change of clothes still in hand, Asagi waved politely as she watched Nagisa go. Then, as if unable to contain herself any longer, she belted out laughing. 

“Nagisa’s always such a cutie. I want her to be my little sister.” 

“Eh?” 

“Ah, I don’t mean… I didn’t mean as a sister-in-law, not yet…!” 

As Asagi hastily tried to correct herself, Kojou waved his hand impatiently. “Whatever, just get in the shower already. You know where it is, right?” 

“Yeah. Thanks.” 

Asagi headed toward the bathroom, walking down the corridor like she knew her way around. 

When she got there, she took great care to lock the changing room door and then looked at herself in the mirror. 

“Whoa, this is awful.” 

Asagi spontaneously clutched her head as she beheld the caked blood and mud on her face. When she thought of how she’d presented herself in front of Kojou and Yukina like this, she wanted to curse her own misfortune for that alone. 

Still, it was clear that the first order of business would be stripping off her makeup and tattered garments. 

Repurchasing was the only option for her bra and school uniform. However, not a single scratch remained on her body behind the spectacularly destroyed clothing. Certainly, those were miraculous odds. She couldn’t blame Kojou and Yukina for being surprised. 

Thanks to Nagisa being such a clean freak, the Akatsuki residence bathroom under her dominion was in prim and proper condition. 

Though she was a little apprehensive about using a washroom belonging to another family, washing all the grime off let her finally experience some relief. Picturing herself and Kojou meeting eye to eye after she got out of the bath, she decided to wash herself with extra care, just to be safe. 

That was when Asagi’s fingertips felt odd, as if they’d touched a foreign object. It was a cold, metallic sensation. 

“Eh…?” 

Thinking it suspicious, Asagi looked herself over in the fogged-up mirror. 

She immediately located the cause of the odd sensation. Between her breasts, a transparent red stone hung above her heart. It was a small, beautiful, multifaceted gemstone. 

She thought it was simply on top of her skin, but it wasn’t. The red gemstone was embedded in Asagi’s chest as if it was a part of her own body— 

“What…is this?” 

In surprise, Asagi touched the stone. She didn’t feel anything malevolent or frightening about it. It was simply embedded there. But the instant her thoughts turned toward it, Asagi’s vision turned dark. 

That was where her memory suddenly cut off and she sank into a deep, death-like sleep. 

3 

Meanwhile, Kojou was pouring coffee in the kitchen. 

It wasn’t the instant kind. He took the whole process fairly seriously and started with percolating some beans. 

Kojou had begun drinking coffee relatively recently—after he’d become a vampire, in fact. Suddenly becoming a nocturnal creature made going to school in the middle of the day a tough lifestyle to maintain. He’d never have been able to manage it without relying on caffeine. 

His ears picked up the sound of running water. Having a girl in your class taking a shower, separated from you only by a thin interior wall, was quite a situation by any objective measure. 

Kojou tried not to think too much about it as he brought the cup to his lips. 

“Bwah?!” 

But he did a sudden spit take, spewing coffee all over the counter—for Asagi had just entered through the kitchen doorway. 

Her hair was wet and worn down after taking a shower. Droplets flowed down her face like beads of sweat. 

But she wasn’t wearing a single thing. Not underwear, not a towel, nothing— 

She’d come out of the bathroom just like that, buck naked. 

It was Kojou, not Asagi, who was thrown into a panic. 

“A-Asagi?! Whaddaya think you’re doing?!” 

Her behavior was so far off the charts it didn’t seem real. Thanks to that, his eyes were completely glued to her. 

Asagi slowly lowered and raised her head as she gave Kojou, now frozen, a thorough once-over. “Hmm. A mere human…or not. A vampire? I see. If I may ask, is this your dwelling?” 

“Wh-wh-what is all this, now…?!” 

His secret suddenly exposed, Kojou fell into a complete panic. He had no idea how she might have figured him out. 

“Er, um, Asagi, er, are you…okay?!” 

“What is it that disturbs you so? There is no need to be frightened.” 

Asagi quietly approached him, clearly amused. 

Though she always wore showy clothing to stand out, she naturally looked good, too. Big eater that she was, her body didn’t show it; however, it did show off her good parts. Her smooth, white skin, which she took such good care of, was somewhat reddened, probably from the hot water. It was an exceedingly stimulating sight for poor Kojou. 

Lust, bewilderment, vampiric urges, suspicion, and guilt collided together, completely saturating Kojou’s brain capacity. All his worldly cravings leaked right out as fresh blood. 

“Ugh…?!” 

Kojou coughed once more, strongly spewing his nosebleed all around. As Kojou slouched forward, Asagi rushed over to his side in her bare feet. 

“Hey, vampire?! What’s wrong? Hold it together!” 

“Cl-clothes…” 

“Mm?” 

“Clothes! Clothes!!” the blood-drenched Kojou shouted. “Just put something on already—!” 

No matter how confused he was, even he realized it by now: The girl before his eyes was not Asagi. She might have looked like her, but she was a completely different person. 

“Ohh, I see. Apologies, it would seem my head was in the clouds upon waking.” 

The girl who looked like Asagi apparently hadn’t even noticed she was naked. 

Hmm. She looked around the area, finally reaching toward a flower vase resting on the kitchen table. The instant her hand touched it, the flower, a carnation, transformed into gleaming, pure white fabric. It was a glossy, silky fabric full of luster. 

The young woman wrapped it around her body, fastening it with gold-colored studs that seemed to appear out of nowhere. The outfit was still pretty revealing, but at least it counted as being clothed. 

She then announced rather proudly, “Now no obstacles remain.” 

Dumbfounded, Kojou stared at her and asked, “What…did you do, just now…?” 

“I simply used the contents of the vase to produce silk. I must note that manipulating organic matter is not my specialty, so I cannot produce anything with a complex structure.” 

“…Transmutation?! You’re an alchemist?!” 

As Kojou muttered in shock, the girl with the same face as Asagi gazed at him in amusement. “Why, does that surprise you? I am the scion of Hermes Trismegistus and master of the Magnum Opus, Nina Adelard of Parmia. A trick like this is child’s play to me.” 

“Nina Adelard…?!” Kojou nearly shouted the name to which she’d suddenly made claim. “But you were just plain ol’ Asagi till a minute ago, weren’t you?!” 

“Ahh, now I understand. Asagi is this girl’s name?” The woman taking Asagi’s appearance put a hand on her bosom. Kojou raised his eyebrows as he beheld something there that glistened ruby red. 

“That gemstone…!” 

“This? This is the so-called Hard Core.” 

“Hard Core?” 

“Indeed. It is the control module for the self-propagating, liquid-metal life-form known as Wiseman’s Blood. It’s essentially a ritual spell device for storing memories. Think of it as the physical form of my soul.” 

Soul, huh? Kojou murmured to himself. With that word, he finally felt he understood the situation. 

“So you stuffed that into Asagi’s body and hijacked it?” 

“Hijacked? That is incorrect. This is symbiosis through fusion, nothing more.” 

“That’s exactly what hijacking is, dammit!!” 

Kojou’s nosebleed had finally abated; he quickly wiped away the last remnants. Meanwhile, the woman calling herself Nina Adelard twisted her lips, sulking. 

“Indeed. However, if not for me, this girl would have died as a result of the attack from the Wiseman’s Blood.” 

“…It was you?!” Kojou hissed, shaken. “You’re the one who brought Asagi back…?!” 

Asagi being unharmed after sustaining mortal wounds was such an incomprehensible phenomenon that explaining it away as the work of the alchemist calling herself Nina Adelard made a lot more sense. 

However, the woman countered with a simple shake of her head. 

“Even the hidden arts of the alchemists cannot bring the dead back to life. All I did was heal her wounds. It was a gamble as to whether I was in time, but fortune was with the girl, and with me.” 

“That so…” Kojou bit his lip and exhaled. So Asagi really had been one step from death; really had been saved at the last possible moment. Though, he wasn’t sure he could call her completely saved just yet— 

“So you’re the one who made the Wiseman’s Blood, right? I heard you traded in your own body for that, to gain an immortal one.” 

“…Do not compliment me so. Saying that to my face, are you trying to make me blush?” 

The woman taking Asagi’s form scratched her cheek. She really did seem to be blushing. 

Kojou raggedly bared his teeth. “That ain’t a compliment! I’m trying to ask why the Wiseman’s Blood attacked Asagi in the first place!” 

“It’s the fault of the Dummy Core.” 

“…Dummy Core?” 

And what’s that, added Kojou with a look. But he gasped when he suddenly remembered: 

“Wait, you mean the black rock in Amatsuka’s chest?” 

“Oh, you know of him?” 

“Come to think of it, he’s an alchemist, too. Who is he? Some friend of yours?” Kojou demanded like a lawyer cross-examining a witness. For some reason, she seemed at a loss as she folded her arms. 

“Kou Amatsuka is my apprentice. No, former apprentice… I broke off ties with him long ago.” 

“…Apprentice?” 

“As the name implies, the Dummy Core is an imitation Hard Core. Perhaps it’s easier if I said it’s an incomplete Hard Core?” 

“Well, when you put it that way, I suppose I get it…” 

The gist was that the master, Nina Adelard, possessed the complete Hard Core, while her apprentice, Amatsuka, used an incomplete and pale imitation. 

“The Dummy Core can control the Wiseman’s Blood, but its functions are incomplete. It doesn’t take much to fully lose control. Spirit Blood was driven into Amatsuka’s sealed Dummy Core to awaken it from its sleep, starting it before I, the proper control unit, could fully activate.” 

“So it’s like your apprentice attacked when you were asleep and uploaded a computer virus before your security software kicked in…” 

Kojou interpreted the situation with his own, more modern terms. Since Nina Adelard didn’t correct him, his version couldn’t have been that off the mark. Or perhaps she just didn’t know what a computer was. 

“Then the monster Asagi saw was—” 

The girl borrowing Asagi’s appearance readily agreed. “Indeed, ’twas the Wiseman’s Blood run amok. Kou Amatsuka employed five Dummy Cores. If the Nucleus is the core, the Spirit Blood is the body. What do you think would happen if you put several souls into one body?” 

“It’d tear itself… Or I guess, it’d ‘run amok,’ huh?” 

Kojou grimaced as he spoke. The woman sighed as she nodded. 

“Both are correct. When Amatsuka tried to attack, the liquid metal body ran amok and this ‘Asagi’ was harmed as a result. I split myself off from the contaminated Spirit Blood and fled into her. Had I not done so, she would have perished, and I would have been trapped in a body I could not control.” 

“So that’s how it is…” Finally grasping the entire situation, Kojou shook his head in annoyance. 

Nina Adelard, the Great Alchemist of Yore, had her immortal body stolen via her apprentice’s betrayal, with Asagi having almost died as a result. And so, Nina had possessed Asagi as compensation for saving Asagi’s life. 

He had no intention of heaping all the blame onto Nina. But he did think Nina bore at least some responsibility— 

“Do not be concerned. I do not intend to harm this body in any way, and the consciousness of ‘Asagi’ should awaken when I am asleep. I suppose the gaps in her memory shall be somewhat troublesome, however.” 

“You can’t come out of her?” 

A somewhat disconcerted expression came over the possessing spirit as she spoke. “It is difficult, for this Hard Core is not in its complete state, and I used up nearly all the Spirit Blood at my command to repair this girl’s flesh and blood.” 

Kojou held on to faint hopes as he pointed at the silk fabric wrapped around her. “Can’t you whip something up like how you made those clothes?” 

“Just what do you think Wiseman’s Blood is? The pinnacle of alchemy, this is.” Nina’s retort sounded a little wounded. “Indeed, I would require gold, silver, and certain rare metals of the same weight as this girl. In addition, nine hundred liters of mercury, and for fuel, some forty or fifty spiritualists, and I might manage, but—” 

Kojou shouted on the spot. “Hey, that’s crazy talk…!” 

It was too high a price to pay just to create an ooze monster that went berserk at the drop of a hat. 

“Now do you understand why I kept the creation of Wiseman’s Blood a secret? The technique requires far too many sins for the mere purpose of acquiring immortality. I never sought to have a body like this.” 

“…Well, I can relate to that, a little.” 

For the first time, Kojou sympathized with the great alchemist before him. When it came to having obtained unwanted power in the form of an immortal, immutable body with enormous, nigh-uncontrollable magical energy, she and Kojou were in the same boat. 

Kojou spoke while bowing his head before her. 

“Any way you slice it, you did save Asagi, so I need to thank you for that.” 

“You are surprisingly conscientious for a vampire.” 

“It’s got nothing to do with my being a vampire. And don’t call me that. It’s Kojou. Kojou Akatsuki.” 

“Very well, Kojou. You may call me Nina, then.” Nina giggled as she spoke, adding a soft, charming smile. “Moreover, even if creating new Wiseman’s Blood is out of the question, if we can capture it and stop its rampage, I promise I will leave Asagi immediately. You will help me in this?” 

Kojou spoke without hesitation. 

“If that’s the deal, count me in.” 

But his expression immediately clouded over. If he was going to seriously work with Nina Adelard, there was something he really needed to tell her first. 

“But I have to apologize to you for something.” 

“What is it?” 

“I killed Kou Amatsuka. He was your apprentice, right…? I’m sorry. After he turned into that monster, I didn’t have any choice but to defeat him.” 

Kojou felt a heavy, dull throb in his chest as he confessed. 

He’d unleashed the power of the Fourth Primogenitor to annihilate Amatsuka after he’d turned into a bizarre monster. Kojou didn’t regret that. Someone had to do it. But that meant he had erased the existence of Kou Amatsuka for all time, nonetheless. Whatever the reason, it did not diminish Kojou’s sin. 

“Killed…? You killed him?” 

But Nina countered Kojou’s words with a tone that sounded rather dubious. The expression on her face was not that of anger or sadness; she was simply perplexed. She continued, “He is still alive, you know?” 

“…Eh?” 

“The Dummy Core he created loses its functionality upon his death. The fact that the Dummy Core is still active means his main body is still alive.” 

“Main body…?! Wait, you mean that he could split into more than one…?” 

Kojou remembered how the black stone had been destroyed when Amatsuka transformed into the liquid metal monster. But what if, just as Nina had split her own Hard Core from the rampaging Spirit Blood, Amatsuka had split himself off from his own body—? 

Then perhaps the Amatsuka Kojou had destroyed might have been just one piece split off from the whole. 

Nina added bluntly, “If he transformed into a monster, then there can be no mistake, for the man named Kou Amatsuka clings tenaciously to his human form.” 

I see, thought Kojou with a nod. Certainly, at the time Amatsuka had ranted about being unable to maintain his human form. Those words reflected the tenacity Nina was talking about. 

“Hey, what’s his goal, anyway? Does he want the Wiseman’s Blood so he can make himself immortal?” 

“I know not. Ask him yourself.” 

Seeing Nina give a flippant shake of her head, Kojou raised a brow in irritation. 

“You ditched him as your apprentice, didn’t you? Did that have something to do with this?” 

Nina flicked a bit of hair away from her cheek. “It may well have. However, I cannot recall what happened. It would seem that having been forced awake has caused gaps in my memories. Well, I am sure I shall remember in time.” 

Kojou murmured sullenly, “…Amnesia, huh?” 

According to Astarte, Nina Adelard was over two hundred and seventy years old; it wasn’t exactly surprising that your memory started to go at that age. Perhaps her odd levels of calm and confidence were products of her age as well. 

However, Kojou couldn’t reject the possibility that she knew Amatsuka’s objective and was hiding it from him on purpose. 

As Kojou’s suspicions grew, the woman taking Asagi’s form looked back at him and laughed with a pleasant oh-ho—and it reminded Kojou that she was standing there with nothing but thin silk wrapped around her. 

“Well, fine… For now, could you, uh, put on some real clothes?” 

As Kojou spoke, he sniffed and wiped away a touch of nosebleed. 

4 

Kojou brought in the cordless phone receiver from his bedroom. He had to look up the number he was calling in the phone book. 

It was an unexpectedly large amount of trouble to go through just because his cell phone had been wrecked. It definitely caused Kojou to reflect on how over-dependent he was on modern conveniences. 

However, Kojou’s labors were in vain, for all he received was a businesslike answering machine message before the connection was cut. 

“Dammit, I can’t get through!” 

Kojou roughly tossed the receiver aside as he slumped onto his rear. He’d tried to call Natsuki Minamiya. It was imperative to find the Wiseman’s Blood, still on the loose, and he wanted to talk to someone about how to deal with Asagi, too. Under the circumstances, Natsuki, with her Island Guard connections, was the only person he could count on. But no matter how many times he called, all he heard was the same answering machine message in a synthesized voice. 

“Geez, why is it a time like this when she’s not home?!” 

The self-described Great Alchemist, wearing Asagi’s face and sitting cross-legged on top of Kojou’s bed, asked, “Natsuki Minamiya, the Witch of the Void…is it?” 

She wore Kojou’s middle school track jacket and a pair of short pants. It was an uncool bit of fashion the normal Asagi wouldn’t be caught dead in, but that it suited her pretty nicely was a true testament to her ornate facial features. 

“What, you know about her, Nina?” 

“I have heard the rumors. Supposedly she is a witch of great skill that earned a name for herself in Europe. Though, from my perspective, she is still nothing more than a cheeky upstart.” 

“I bet most people look like rookies to you when you’re two hundred and seventy years old. Well, Natsuki really might leave a mark that’s remembered after time like that passes…” 

Kojou spoke with extreme bluntness as he remembered the sight of the small, little girl–like Natsuki. 

“And this witch may have located the Spirit Blood?” 

“Yeah. Well, there’s that, too, but…” 

Nina narrowed her eyes in suspicion at Kojou’s vagaries. “Do you have some other business with her?” 

“Yeah, school. It’s bad for Natsuki if arrangements aren’t made when Asagi’s absent from school.” 

Nina blinked with a puzzled look. “I do not mind going to school and impersonating ‘Asagi.’” 

She didn’t sound like she was joking. 

“Even if you’re fine with it, that’s a big problem for me! And we don’t have time for that anyway… We’ve gotta get ahold of that berserker Wiseman’s Blood.” 

“Ah, now that you mention it, that is true.” 

Nina hit fist to palm as she spoke, lacking the slightest hint of tension. Does she wanna do this or not? Concern surged within Kojou, but a fervent knock and the sudden opening of the door interrupted his thoughts. 

In poked Nagisa’s head as she said, “It’s fried gratin, Kojou! Asagi, come, too! Quick!” 

Yeah, thanks, nodded Kojou, with all the calm he could muster as he shooed his little sister away. 

“Look, Nina. Don’t talk more than you have to. Just shut up, listen, and pretend to be Asagi.” 

Nina smiled with Asagi’s face. “I am well aware. Like wine, I have grown finer with age. Copying the speech styles of today’s youth is a trivial feat.” 

She was full of confidence at least—not that she had any good reason for it. 

“Everything you say sounds so antiquated, you know!” 

Kojou was seized by even greater anxiety as he brought her out of the room. 

Four plates had been set at the dining table; the well-browned cheese on top gave off a rich aroma that filled the entire room. As Nagisa came in carrying the large plate, Yukina was right beside her, wearing an apron just like she was. 

“Er, Himeragi?” 

“If you’ll pardon me, senpai.” Yukina was setting the utensils, nodding to Kojou and Nina as they noticed her. No doubt she’d returned after making her report to the Lion King Agency. That she was wearing normal clothes underneath meant she’d somehow escaped her own humiliation game. “And, Aiba, do take care.” 

Yukina politely bowed her head at Asagi. Seeing this, Nina puffed out her generous chest. 

“Ahh, you were the Sword Sh—!” 

As Nina was speaking, Kojou brought his hand up to her face and pinched her nose. “Ah, mosquito!” 

Nina recoiled. Tears in her eyes, she glared at Kojou, but he didn’t let go. 

Yukina watched the intimate exchange between Kojou and Nina with some surprise. However, it seemed that even Yukina’s sharp intuition had not picked up on the crazy fact that a two-hundred-and-seventy-year-old Great Alchemist was in Asagi’s body. 

Nagisa giggled as she tore off a bit of lettuce from the salad. “I met Yukina at the supermarket and brought her back with me. I wasn’t sure if I should say hello or not, though. She was deeply considering the candy counter.” 

Yukina’s cheeks reddened and she lowered her eyes. “I-I mean, Ms. Sasasaki said we had to keep candy under five hundred yen in value…” 

Kojou suddenly had an epiphany and asked, “…Himeragi, you’re actually pretty worked up about this trip, aren’t you?” 

Surely Yukina, who’d spent her days at the Lion King Agency training from dawn to dusk, had next to no experience with school trips. The very fact she was trying to hide it no doubt meant she really had her hopes up. 

For her part, Yukina rocked backward for once, a sure sign he’d hit the mark. “Eh?! No, I mean, worked up, not at—” 

“What are you talking about…?” Nagisa cut in. “Of course you’re worked up. It’s a trip with everybody, time in the hot tub together, pajama parties, pillow fights…” 

“P-pillow fights…?” 

Yukina audibly quivered at Nagisa’s tone. 

“Oh yeah,” Nagisa continued. “Then, since it’s a long trip, we’ll be trading love stories in the dead of night. Consider yourself forewarned.” 

“And lots of flowers? At the park with endangered plant species, on the afternoon of day three?” 

Even as Yukina went off on a tangent, her eyes glittered with expectation. Kojou was half in shock, gazing at Yukina’s radiant face from the side. “Heh, what, did you memorize the whole trip schedule or something?” 

“No, I did not go that far. I simply remember from having looked at the trip guidebook every night.” 

The particularly blunt tone of Yukina’s words made Kojou subconsciously avert his eyes. “Th-that so?” 

There was no longer any room for doubt. Yukina apparently was way more worked up about the trip than Kojou had ever imagined. 

“Man, I really can’t say it,” he murmured. 

Yukina tilted her head with a mystified look. “Say what?” 

Oh, nothing, replied Kojou with a smile. 

No doubt Yukina thought that with Kou Amatsuka wiped out, there was no longer any danger from the Wiseman’s Blood. There might be some small details to wrap up, but Kojou and the others had no need to personally intervene. Hence, she could enjoy her vacation secure in that thought. There was no way Kojou could turn around at that point and say to her, Oh, by the way, Amatsuka’s alive. 

Besides, Yukina couldn’t use Snowdrift Wolf at the moment. Surely there was no point in putting her in unnecessary danger. 

As Kojou dwelled on such matters, Nina quietly continued her meal beside him, pretending to be Asagi. Kojou was a little jealous of how she could be so carefree, but eating meant that she couldn’t say anything outrageous. He was grateful to get through it without arousing Nagisa’s suspicions. 

But speaking of Nagisa—“Asagi, there’s seconds if you want them.” 

“Indeed, I do. Your cooking is quite delicious. It has been some time since I have had such warm hospitality.” 

Just when Kojou let down his guard for a brief moment, Nina spoke with her own tone of voice on full display. A chill instantly went over Kojou, but if anything, Nagisa’s smile grew even brighter. 

“Oh, you make it sound like a big deal. You came for a bite not long ago when we gave Kanon her party for her hospital discharge. What’s with that way of talking, anyway? Some kind of fad?” 

Kojou hastily went along with the ride. “Y-yeah, exactly. It’s all the rage in high school!” 

For her part, Nina abruptly had a fond look on her face as she looked at Nagisa. “Kanon, you mean Kanon Kanase?” 

“…Hey, Nina…! I mean, Asagi!” 

Nina ignored Kojou’s chiding whisper and asked, “Is Kanon doing well?” 

That was when Kojou finally realized it. Kanon Kanase grew up at Adelard Abbey, so Nina knew who she was. 

Nagisa spoke while stuffing her cheeks full of gratin. “She’s still doing fine. If anything, she’s more cheerful than ever lately. She seems to be getting along nicely with Astarte, too.” 

Upon hearing this, Nina narrowed her eyes a bit and whispered, “I see…” 

5 

The mass of sludge oozed through the air duct and plopped onto the floor. 

The liquid-metal life-form was glossy and jet-black. It flowed onto the concrete floor, piling higher and higher until it finally took the shape of a man wearing a white coat. It was the shape of the alchemist known as Kou Amatsuka. 

He was in an underground parking lot, situated beneath an apartment building in the residential district of Island West. The interior was lit with LED lights as countless as the stars. The railway cars were locally manufactured in the Demon Sanctuary, all high-priced prototypes. 

The apartment building had a powerful anti-demonic ward spread over it, as well as cutting edge anti-crime devices, to protect it from intruders. However, this did not prevent an alchemist such as Amatsuka from breaking in. And now that he was already inside the ward, there was no longer anything to bar his progress. 

The girl was on the top floor of the apartment building. There, she hung around idly, forgetting both her role and her crime. 

It was not that he was jealous of this. But it was simply impossible not to hate her for it. 

Such were the thoughts in Amatsuka’s head as he walked toward the elevator. However, after taking several steps, yet not moving forward an inch, he stopped once more. 

His physical body had been bound by golden chains that stretched out from thin air. 

A voice came from a corner of the parking lot, accompanied by a small silhouette in an ornate black dress that seemed to materialize out of the blue. She had long, dark hair and pale skin, and even though the sun had already fallen, she carried a lace-rimmed parasol in her hands. The woman looked like an elaborate doll, all the more beautiful and frightening for it. 

“Do you know who lives here, filthy burglar? If you do, you have quite some nerve.” 

The contours of Amatsuka’s whole body melted away, allowing him to slip out of the golden chains. 

“Ahh. So you are Natsuki Minamiya, the demon hunter…” 

Even as she beheld the bizarre scene before her, the woman in the dress did not alter her expression whatsoever. “To think one could escape from Laeding, chains forged by the gods, in such a manner. Perhaps you should switch careers and become a stage magician? You might make a very good living at it, Kou Amatsuka.” 

“So I’ve heard.” 

Amatsuka’s right hand stretched out like a whip, wrapping around one of Natsuki’s slender ankles… Or it would have, had her form not shimmered like a mirage at that very moment, moving behind him. “Futile,” she spat. “Physical transmutation cannot affect my body, alchemist.” 

“So it would seem.” Amatsuka was not particularly perturbed as he slowly turned around. Judging that a straight fight was not to his advantage, he reached out to the parking lot air duct with tentacles, but every last one was repelled with a tinny, high-pitched sound. 

“I see… The barrier around the structure is not to prevent intrusion, but to keep captured prey from escaping. A wise decision.” 

“The vengeful queen of Aldegia asked me to capture you, after all. I’d meant to haul you straight off to the prison barrier, but you’re just an offshoot, aren’t you?” 

Once again, chains shot out from four directions, but this time they pierced Amatsuka’s body. Yet, there was no blood. The young man reverted to liquid form, freeing himself from the chains with ease. 

“Are you intelligent enough to answer my question, at least? Why are you still after Kanon Kanase? Surely you stole what you needed from her father?” 

“Because someone thinks that she’s in the way.” 

“…What?” 

For the first time, Natsuki’s expression wavered. 

Aside from her un-Japanese silver hair and blue eyes, Kanon Kanase was merely a student, not standing out in any way. Her personality was reserved; she looked docile to the point of timidity. But she had a secret. The blood of the Aldegian royal family flowed through her veins, making her a powerful spirit medium since birth. 

If judged by her potential power alone, her spiritual strength was top rank, even by Demon Sanctuary standards, enough that her body could accept divine energy from the higher planes. 

Amatsuka touched his own chest as he spoke. “Besides, it is more than a little unfair that she be the only one to survive. This time, the tragic play from five years ago shall play until its conclusion.” 

The center of his chest contained a black gemstone. This, he crushed with his bare hand. 

“Why you…” 

This time, Amatsuka’s body completely lost all human shape, changing to that of a complete monster—an amorphous metallic life-form. From it spewed countless tentacles, bearing down on Natsuki, ready to rip her to shreds. 

“Ha-ha-ha-ha. You got carried away with yourself, Witch of the Void! Hurting this doll’s body will inflict considerable damage upon you, I’m sure. I’ll break it here and now!” 

The chains at Natsuki’s command couldn’t stop liquid-metal blades. Fully aware of this, Natsuki exhaled, gazing coldly down at the monster that was once Amatsuka. 

What emerged from behind her, ripping through the fabric of space, was a giant hand enveloped by golden armor. It was her Guardian—a mechanical, demonic knight. The giant golden arm created a wall of shock waves that blew back the countless blades rushing toward her, sending Amatsuka’s body flying along with them. 

Natsuki’s response was cold. “Hmph. Though I’d love to simply burn you in the fires of Hell, Hell is too good for a soulless shell. As it turns out, I was looking for a sample of Spirit Blood anyway.” 

With one wave of a golden hand, the ground below what had been Amatsuka transformed into a bottomless swamp of void. The clump of liquid metal furiously changed shape, but it could not escape the pitch-black mire. 

Natsuki was called the Witch of the Void because her specialty was spatial control. She had altered space itself to build an inescapable trap. 

“—Astarte, I’ll leave the rest to you.” Sounding bored, Natsuki called out to the homunculus girl waiting behind her. 

Astarte walked forward, replying in a flat, mechanical voice, “Accepted: Execute Rhododactylos.” 

As usual, she was wearing a maid outfit with the shoulders and back heavily exposed. From her pale, open back emerged a pair of giant, rainbow-colored wings. The wings changed into ghoulish, monstrous arms that thrust into the mass of liquid metal to pin it down. 

The entire body of the monster that was once Amatsuka shuddered and roared. “OOOOOOoooooo—!” 

The liquid-metal life-form, presumably able to slip past any physical attack, could do nothing against the assault from the “weak and helpless” homunculus. 

Astarte was the prototype for a man-made Beast Vassal symbiote, making her the world’s one and only homunculus able to summon a Beast Vassal. And the Beast Vassal she commanded drained the magical power and life energy from others. 

Natsuki, sounding like she’d already lost interest in Amatsuka, murmured, “A self-propagating liquid-metal life-form, yes? Perhaps it treads surprisingly close to an immutable body, but it’s outmatched here.” 

The surface of the metal lost its luster, cracking apart like rusting steel. Having been robbed of all its magical energy, it reverted to a simple lump of metal. 

“Five years ago…was it?” 

Natsuki picked up a piece of the smashed and discarded black gemstone. Sighing softly, she tipped her head back to regard the ceiling. The top floor of this building was Natsuki’s home, where she lived with a girl to whom she was the guardian—a certain Kanon Kanase, once known as the “Faux-Angel.” 

6 

In a corner of an abandoned warehouse, Kou Amatsuka seemed to stagger as he sat down. In one hand, he held a container with a fragment of the broken Dummy Core. 

There was a single line of blood flowing from his human forehead. His real body, resonating with a fellow Dummy Core, had been hit by the resulting backlash. 

“Ow-ow-ow… You’re as good as they say, Natsuki Minamiya…” 

Rising slowly, Amatsuka spoke as if it wasn’t his problem. But in the pale moonlight, the side of his face looked white as a ghost’s. 

The right side of Amatsuka’s body was a liquid-metal life-form almost identical to the composition of Wiseman’s Blood. By splitting off a piece of it and giving it a Dummy Core, he was able to produce clones of himself. But by the same token, making each clone literally meant losing a part of himself. 

Though he could restore lost mass by fusing with other metal, it also meant diminishing the purity of the Spirit Blood. Repeated cloning had already pushed Amatsuka’s body close to its limit. 

“—Yeah, sorry. I wasn’t able to get Kanon Kanase. My bad.” 

Amatsuka was speaking to someone, but there was no one else standing in the abandoned warehouse that was awaiting demolition. Rather, he was speaking to the silver cane in his hand, specifically a skull engraved into the handle. 

“No need to worry. I have other ideas when it comes to fuel.” 

As Amatsuka spoke, he gave his right wrist several twists. It was the same piece the Sword Shaman of the Lion King Agency had lopped off several days prior. Her spear, able to nullify magical energy, was more or less the mortal enemy of Wiseman’s Blood, a sorcerous life-form. But put another way, without that spear, she was no threat to Amatsuka whatsoever. 

“The Wiseman’s Blood with the Dummy Core that got away should have begun to grow by now. It’ll show itself sooner or later, no matter what I do.” 

Amatsuka glared at the grim skull engraving as he left the lonely building. 

Perhaps he’d only imagined it, but he thought he’d faintly heard the skull laughing at him— 

“I know. Just make sure you don’t forget your promise.” 

That said, Amatsuka made his way back to the city once more. He had work to do—namely, destroying the one he had once called his mentor, and taking back what he’d lost five years before. 

7 

The next morning, around five AM, Kojou was in the apartment lobby seeing his little sister and her classmate off as they went on their field trip. 

His exhausted face was the product of not having slept a single wink the night before, having spent it all with Nina Adelard in search of Wiseman’s Blood. 

More accurately, “search” had meant going onto the roof to help Nina as she tried a variety of suspicious-looking scrying rituals, but that had tired him out nonetheless. Yukina seemed about to catch on several times along the way, forcing him to employ special effort to pull the wool over her eyes. Just imagining what she might do to him if she caught him alone, on the roof, with the woman wearing Asagi’s face was frightening enough. 

In the end, Nina hadn’t been able to find any sign of the Wiseman’s Blood, even after three AM. If her spells could be compared to a submarine’s sonar, the Demon Sanctuary apparently put out too much “noise” for it to be effective. 

So after Nina and Kojou dragged their tired bodies back to the apartment and Kojou thought he could finally get some sleep, Nagisa had come in to slap him awake. 

Nagisa, wearing clothes for cool weather that looked out of place on tropical Itogami Island, buried Kojou and his bloodshot eyes in conversation. 

“Understand, Kojou? When you go out, make sure the fires are out and the door is locked. Do your homework as soon as you get back from school. Also, there are side dishes in the fridge for today and tonight. Don’t forget to take a bath and brush your teeth, and try to wake up on time so that you’re not late for—” 

“I feel like it was just yesterday that Himeragi was saying all this stuff…” 

Man, do I look that flaky? wondered Kojou, frowning. 

Yukina stood beside Nagisa, smiling broadly as she listened to the brother-sister exchange. In annoyance, Kojou replied, “Never mind me, you be careful out there. I mean, it’s been a while since you were off the island.” 

“Oh, it’ll be all right. Just wait for the souvenirs. Oh, wait, ick, I forgot something!” 

Nagisa checked her pockets. “My wallet!” she shouted as she ran back inside. With a loud patter of hasty footsteps, she hurried back to the elevator bank with liveliness you wouldn’t expect from someone who had lived in a hospital a couple years before. 

Kojou sighed with an exasperated look as he watched his little sister go into the elevator car. 

“Restless, isn’t she?” 

Having something like this happen right before she left made him even more anxious about whether it would really be all right. 

Nagisa had a lot of luggage with her, probably because she wasn’t used to trips. In contrast, Yukina only had a single brown travel bag with her. Maybe it just felt like she had less with her because she wasn’t carrying that black guitar case on her back like she always did. Yukina, wearing a somewhat large coat over her school uniform, appeared a little younger than usual. 

Looking like that, Yukina seemed to hesitate as she called out to Kojou. “Ah, senpai. About the substitute watcher for while I’m away…” 

Ah, thought Kojou, pressing a hand to his head with a groan. The ruckus with Nina Adelard had made him completely forget about that remaining concern. 

“Right, I did break Professor Kitty’s shikigami and all…” 

“…Professor Kitty?” 

Yukina did a double take. 

“A-anyway,” she continued after a moment, “the rituals for making a shikigami from scratch take too long. They’ll be sending a replacement from High God Forest after all.” 

“So they’re sending one straight from headquarters, huh? It’s going to take some time, then?” 

“Yes. The replacement will arrive this afternoon at the absolute earliest.” 

“This afternoon…huh?” 

So I can move freely until then. Either way, they couldn’t just sit on their hands with the Wiseman’s Blood off its leash. If they could wrap things up before the substitute watcher arrived, then— 

Yukina’s gaze sharpened, as if she could see Kojou hardening his resolve. “You seem rather excited about this somehow…” 

As usual, she had razor-sharp intuition. 

“Eh?! No, that’s not it at all! I was just thinking, like, I could sleep till noon now, or something…” 

“Senpai…” 

Yukina glared at Kojou like she was staring at a high-maintenance little brother. “Please behave yourself while I’m gone. The alchemist is gone, so there should not be any direct danger, but I have a bad feeling about things somehow.” 

“G…got it. I’ll be careful.” 

Her words gave Kojou a chill up his spine. 

Yukina didn’t know that Amatsuka was still alive. And yet, her Sword Shaman spiritual senses told her the danger still existed. 

It was then that Nagisa, out of breath, arrived back and took Yukina by the hand. “—Sorry to make you wait. Let’s go, Yukina. Later, Kojou! I’ll be back soon!” 

Kojou made a perfunctory wave to the pair before heading back to the apartment. 

Yawning as he entered the elevator, Kojou was just arriving at the seventh floor when he realized he’d faintly heard a scream. It had come from room 704—Kojou’s apartment. 

“—Nina?!” 

Kojou unlocked the front door and rushed into the apartment. 

Nina ought to have been sleeping on the bed in his room; it’d taken quite a lot of effort to bring her in there without getting busted by Nagisa and Yukina. And there she was, kneeling on the bed, looking up at Kojou with tears in her eyes. The woman wearing Asagi’s face spoke with a voice that was half-cheerful, half-scared. 

“K-Kojou…” 

She was pressing down firmly on the bust of the T-shirt she was wearing in place of pajamas to hide her breasts from his gaze. It was rather adorable, exaggerated behavior from the self-described Great Alchemist. It was as if she was an ordinary high school g— 

Kojou was seized by sudden concern and asked timidly, “Wait, you’re…Asagi?” 

The body that looked like Asagi shuddered and nodded awkwardly. 

“Wh…why was I sleeping in your bed…?!” 

Kojou clutched his head. That idiot… Why did she have to sleep at the worst possible time?! 

Nina had hijacked Asagi’s consciousness the night before. Asagi had been taking a shower at the time. And then the next moment, as far as she knew, she had woken up on top of Kojou’s bed… 

No doubt, from Asagi’s point of view, there was only one possibility for what had happened to her. 

Asagi’s voice quivered as she looked down at the disheveled bedsheets. 

“Kojou…don’t tell me you…” 

Bright morning sunbeams shone in through the window; a seagull cried out from somewhere. 

Kojou desperately pleaded, “Wait, calm down, Asagi. Just listen to me! You have this all wrong!” 

He could foresee Asagi flying into a complete rage now. Anyone would be angry at having been dragged off to bed while unconscious. Of course Asagi would be, too. However— 

“H…huh…? Sorry, I just… This shouldn’t be happening…” 

Kojou stared as a flood of tears began to fall from Asagi’s eyes. Asagi herself seemed surprised at how she couldn’t control her own emotions. This was a first for her, yet she didn’t remember a thing about it, which must have come as a great shock. 

…Well, not that anything had actually happened to begin with, but regardless… 

“No, you’ve got this all wrong!!” 

Kojou desperately tried to find an explanation that might persuade her. Naturally, he came up with nothing. He couldn’t exactly tell her that she’d almost died and as a result, her body had been taken over by an alchemist. Kojou, his mind going blank from trying to think up some excuse, suddenly turned toward the nearest wall and smacked his own face against it, hard. A dull thud echoed as the concrete structure shook; the impact sent Asagi into shock. 

“K-Kojou…?!” 

“Look, just believe me! I didn’t do anything. You’ve got no reason to cry at all!” 

“I-is that so?” 

“If I’m lying, I’ll treat you to an all-you-can-eat buffet.” 

“R-right.” 

“A lot of stuff happened and you got tired and slept, that’s it. It’ll pass soon.” 

“R-right… I, I understand. Wipe that blood already, your face looks scary…!” 

Apparently shock therapy had fulfilled its purpose and brought Asagi back to normal operating condition. And what’s more, she tentatively believed Kojou, too. 

Oh, yeah I bet it does. After he nodded, he wiped off the blood that was liberally flowing from his sliced forehead. Cuts to the head tended to bleed a lot, but Kojou still did a double take as he looked at how it turned his towel bright red. It’d worked, but he’d overdone it. He was worried he might have cracked his skull, too. 

Asagi looked up at Kojou as he brought the heavy bleeding under control, sighing a bit as she asked, “Hey, Kojou?” 

Maybe because she was looking at Kojou with a tearful face, her shy expression seemed oddly adorable. 

“What?” 

“You…really didn’t do anything?” 

Kojou was hastily rummaging in his closet for a spare towel as he said in a throwaway tone, “I told you already, no. I wasn’t exactly in any condition for that either.” 

As he spoke, Asagi put her chin in her palms with an oddly sullen look. “That’s kind of depressing and annoying at the same time…” 

Kojou didn’t quite catch the words Asagi had murmured and looked back at her with a towel pressed to his head. 

“Ah?” 

Asagi glared at Kojou before breaking out in an elegant smile. She bared her teeth with a teasing sound before quipping, “You klutz.” 

The hell’s that for? Surprised, he was ready to retort off the cuff when, a moment later… 

“—!” 

Kojou’s entire body stiffened from an incredible pulse of magical energy it had detected. 

A great explosive roar bellowed like a thunderclap, making Itogami Island’s artificial ground shake. Kojou rose back up from the ground like he’d been given a stern kick, pulling himself to the window to look outside. 

At some point during that, Nina Adelard had awakened. With Asagi’s face and voice, she announced, “The Wiseman’s Blood is on the move…” 

Kojou could say nothing. All he could do was gaze at the city, dumbfounded. 

At the far corner of his vision, faint black smoke was rising up from a coastal area. Ground zero for the explosions was probably the harbor district in Island East, with its piers and airports serving as the entrance to Itogami Island. 

It was also the location of the ferry Nagisa and Yukina were heading toward. 

8 

A young man was standing atop a giant crane, one that stood at the harbor’s breakwater. 

He wore a boy’s uniform from Saikai Academy, and had his short, spiky hair combed back, with a pair of plain headphones over his ears. His mouth was full of small capsules. 

Motoki Yaze bit down on the capsules with a hard crunch. 

“So it’s on the move…” 

Looking down from the crane, there was no visible disturbance in the area. However, Yaze was a Hyper-Adapter—a natural psychic not reliant upon magic. With his hearing augmented by the drug he’d just taken, his range was acute enough to pick up the drop of a pin or the slightest difference in air pressure within a one-kilometer radius. 

He could even detect the liquid-metal life-form wriggling its way through the man-made island’s aqueducts… 

Yaze drew up the pin microphone on his chest. “Hey… Can you hear me? Captain, the target’s coming out of the aqueduct. Send Blue Team to B7. Send Green Team to B9. Have Second Company seal off the marine park, please.” 

He was communicating with the Island Guard’s law enforcement unit, which had already deployed two companies’ worth of manpower to the harbor area. 

He heard the unit captain’s voice through the osteopathic receiver, filled with naked anger. 

“Roger that, Heimdall.” 

Of course, Yaze was not the target of his ire. The captain’s hatred was directed toward the metallic life-form known as the Wiseman’s Blood, and the alchemist who controlled it. 

The Island Guard had already lost twelve members through the course of the incident. It was the worst number of fatalities caused by a single criminal all year. Even during massive, national-scale events such as the raid on Keystone Gate and the Black Death Emperor Front terror incident, they had not suffered such losses. 

Furthermore, this criminal was not a man fighting for faith and pride like the Lotharingian Armed Apostle or the Black Death Emperor Front. He was a filthy, rotten burglar who’d stolen a locked-away magical device to satisfy his own selfish greed. The captain was indignant that such a man had slaughtered his comrades. 

That’s not good, murmured Yaze to himself. High morale was a good thing, but losing your cool in the process was decidedly not. After all, this wasn’t an opponent that could be overwhelmed with numbers alone. 

“The target’s a liquid-metal life-form. Don’t get funny ideas about bullets bringing it down. Bide your time and wait for the Attack Mages to arrive.” 

Yaze dished out orders again, but this time there was no response. Yaze clicked his tongue a little. It wasn’t a very good situation. He really had a bad feeling about it, in fact. 

As Yaze scowled, he heard a sarcastic synthetic voice coming from his chest. 

“Keh-keh… Wiseman’s Blood on the loose, huh? This is getting pretty interesting.” 

It was the voice of the avatar of the five supercomputers that held all of Itogami Island’s vital functions in its grip, the artificial intelligence Asagi had dubbed Mogwai. Apparently it had taken the liberty of eavesdropping on Yaze’s radio conversation. 

“Not at all,” Yaze replied listlessly. “Maybe it’d be different somewhere else, but this is a Demon Sanctuary. We’ve got plenty of ways to neutralize even immutable self-propagating life-forms. We could chuck it into another dimension, smash it with Beast Vassal–level magical power…” 

“So the big shot from the Warlord’s Empire is sitting this one out because he’s well aware of that?” 

“…Probably. That’s all the better from where I’m standing, but…” 

As Yaze spoke, he glanced over at an elaborate ship floating on the surface of the sea, caressed by the morning breeze. The name of that ship, moored on the shoreline of Itogami Harbor, was the Oceanus Grave II—the personal mega yacht of the Duke of Ardeal, Dimitrie Vattler. 

Yaze had been quietly afraid that he, a well-known battle maniac, would display a personal interest in the Wiseman’s Blood. But there had been no sign of Vattler making a move. No doubt he thought that a sorcerous life-form created through alchemy was not sufficient for his purposes. 

“More importantly, Mogwai, you knew that the Wiseman’s Blood was sealed away in the ruins of the abbey, didn’t you?” 

“Now that you mention it, I did.” 

To Yaze’s pointed words, the artificial intelligence’s reply was casual. 

“So why didn’t you tell Asagi? She almost died as a result.” 

Yaze clenched his teeth. Asagi had been his friend since elementary school. Not that they had an amorous relationship, but she was still his friend, as close to him as any sibling could be. 

And she had one additional role to play—one most critical to the Demon Sanctuary. 

“Keh-keh,” laughed Mogwai, sounding terribly human. “But she didn’t die, did she?” 

Yaze’s eyes faintly wavered. “You mean, you expected what happened, up to and including Nina Adelard bringing Asagi back to life?” 

“Who’s to say? You can say anything you want after the fact. Keh-keh…” 

Yaze clicked his tongue in irritation. “What’s your goal here?” 

“Don’t worry, Yaze, my boy,” Mogwai said, rich with implication. “That girl is my precious partner. She won’t die as long as she’s on this island.” 

Yaze’s entire body shuddered when he guessed the meaning of those words. The artificial intelligence had just stated that he truly would protect Asagi’s life…by any means necessary. 

“More importantly, the show’s starting,” Mogwai announced. 

“Yeah.” 

Yaze shifted his gaze down. The asphalt ground was rupturing as a glossy mass of liquid metal emerged from the aqueducts. 

Itogami Harbor’s warehouses held large quantities of steel and precious metal brought in from outside the island. It wasn’t very hard to guess that a liquid-metal form desperate to feed on heavy metals would show up there. 

The Wiseman’s Blood freely altered its own shape, changing the location of its center of gravity to roll forward. Its speed was not all that quick. Its quaking movements were erratic, like a drop of rain rolling down a glass panel. However, the metallic life-form that had emerged was about the size of a midsize truck. It probably had a mass of several hundred metric tons. The size and weight alone made it a menace. 

The metallic life-form smashed with ease through the simple barricades the Island Guard had erected. Bullets, mines, gas, and electrical shocks—all failed to show any sign of affecting the amorphous opponent. 

Yaze gazed at the remnants of wrecked magic circles and said with displeasure, “I expected physical attacks would be ineffective, but to think that ritual wards had no effect, either…” 

“That’s because Spirit Blood, produced through alchemy, is more like a chimera or an Automata than a sorcerous life-form. You’re not dealing with a golem or a zombie here.” 

The artificial intelligence spoke with the detached air of a spectator. Coldly, Yaze declared back at it, “If that’s the case, then we’ve still got a shot at this.” 

There was already a unit deployed along the thing’s course. Instead of barricades, armored vehicles resembling water trucks barred its path. They were able to spit out water at dozens of standard atmospheres’ worth of pressure, but Yaze didn’t expect such a meager flow of water to affect an immutable metallic life-form. 

However, the liquid fired from the barrels was so cold it kicked up an incredible amount of white vapor. Simultaneously, magic circles appeared on top of the street, trapping the metallic life-form in a net of extreme cold. 

When Mogwai spoke again, its tone was one of admiration. “I see. You’re freezing it to stop it from moving.” 

The lustrous, jet-black surface of the liquid metal was now covered in pure white snow. Its frozen body had lost its fluidity, making it unable to stretch its tentacles to attack. 

Yaze casually explained, “It’s liquid nitrogen at ?196 degrees Celsius combined with freezing spells. Even if alchemy put it together, it’s still metal in the end. Not even Wiseman’s Blood can ignore the laws of physics.” 

At normal atmospheric pressures, mercury solidified at ?38.83 degrees Celsius. He’d expected that Spirit Blood, possessing a body formed of the same liquid, had the same weakness. 

“Well, that sure ended in a hurry,” Mogwai murmured in disappointment. 

Even if they couldn’t destroy it, Wiseman’s Blood was harmless if you could keep it immobile. Indeed, it would serve the Demon Sanctuary well as a priceless research sample. All they had to do was hunt down Kou Amatsuka and the incident would be wrapped up. 

“That’s just fine. I have regular classes waiting for me after all this. Besides, I don’t know how long Kojou will maintain his sanity taking care of Asagi.” 

“Keh-keh, jealous, are we?” 

“Oh, please,” muttered Yaze, shrugging his shoulders in response to the tease. “It’s not that. I’ve got my own arrangements. Though, I suppose I will be annoyed if he scores before I do with my sweetie…” 

Yaze looked around to get off the crane. But the next moment, his extended hearing detected an odd set of footsteps. The left foot was flesh and blood, but the right footstep was metallic. And he was carrying a silver cane in his left hand— 

The man, wearing a bizarre red-and-white checkered hat, was making his way toward the frozen metallic life-form. 

“Don’t tell me he’s—?!” 

“Kou Amatsuka?! A Dummy… No, the real one?!” 

Mogwai whistled as its voice spiked. This was the sole apprentice of the Great Alchemist, Nina Adelard. He was also the criminal who had betrayed her to awaken the sealed Wiseman’s Blood. The alchemist Kou Amatsuka, a wanted fugitive, was walking right under the Island Guard’s noses. 

Amatsuka ignored the bloodthirsty Island Guard unit and spoke to the frozen metallic life-form instead. 

“Ahh, Senmu. You seem to be in good health. How does it feel to have the immortal body you desired?” 

The next moment, the surface of the metallic life-form cracked, emitting a ghoulish roar that made the very air tremble. 

“A…AMATSUKAAAAAAA—!” 

“Ha-ha, this is quite something, Senmu. To think you’d remember me even after taking this form? I am honored.” 

A sadistic expression came over the young man as he laughed, taunting. In response, the dark shimmer of the metallic life-form grew more intense. 

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA—!” 

As the metal form cracked apart, countless tentacles burst out from within. These turned into giant blades and began indiscriminately slashing apart the warehouses and buildings in the area. 

Only the metallic life-form’s surface had been chilled, apparently. The Wiseman’s Blood created an internal cavity to insulate the interior, protecting the main body from freezing in much the same manner as a thermos. 

Yaze desperately yelled into the microphone, “Captain, more liquid nitrogen! If you keep freezing it, you can hold it in place—!” 

But the order never reached the Island Guard in the confusion. Instead, they turned toward Amatsuka and the metallic life-form, bathing them in a fusillade. 

Having lost their comrades to the alchemist and the monster, fear and hatred had filled the armed guardsmen with a killing rage. 

A madman’s smile came over Amatsuka as countless bullets rained down upon them. “Ha…ha-ha…ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!” 

A change took place as the Wiseman’s Blood was bathed in gunfire. The glossy surface’s glow intensified, turning scarlet like anger. The Spirit Blood, diluted due to the Dummy Core, was regaining its purity. It was as if it feasted on the anger and hatred of man— 

Yaze, finally realizing the alchemist’s goal, yelled, 

“Crap—! Cease fire! Amatsuka’s after the bullets!” 

The Island Guard’s Anti-Demon Unit employed high-purity electrum chips and Silver-Elysium-tipped bullets. 

Both possessed properties that made them exceptional catalysts for use in alchemy. 

The Wiseman’s Blood was being hit by concentrated fire amounting to dozens—no, hundreds—of kilograms of bullets. That was more than enough raw resources for an alchemist to use top-level magic. 

Amatsuka had caused numerous fatalities among the Island Guard and sent the Wiseman’s Blood running amok. It was all to bring about this exact situation—all to gather the resources he needed for his alchemy. 

Amatsuka continued to laugh loudly as he gripped the cane in his left hand like a spear. 

“Your blood, as I promised! Now, return to life just as you desired, Wiseman!” 

Then, he thrust it down into the Wiseman’s Blood with all his might. The black gemstone in its way shattered, and the cane was pulled deep into the innards of the Spirit Blood. 

Atop the gantry crane, Yaze leaned forward and muttered, “Wiseman…he says?! Don’t tell me that thing’s—!” 

The ritual Amatsuka had performed brought about a lethal change in the Wiseman’s Blood. The metallic-crimson life-form was enveloped by light as something emerged from within, like a hatchling breaking the shell of a warm egg— 

“This is bad! Run, Yaze, my boy!!” Mogwai shouted in warning, its voice filled with uncharacteristic urgency. 

“What?!” 

Yaze lifted his face with a gasp. 

But then— 

A flash of light emitted by the Wiseman’s Blood silently swept across his field of vision. 

There was an explosion. The enormous crane came crashing down like a log pile as flames enveloped the harbor district.