A War of Primogenitors

by Gakuto Mikumo

  “…Let’s get changed ourselves, huh?”

  “I suppose so. Ordinary swimsuits, for now…”

  They nodded with a twinge of guilt, and both Yuiri and Shio put on suitable swimsuits they had picked. Yuiri’s was an orthodox swimsuit with frills. Shio chose a simple monotone bikini. Putting on jackets to counter sunburn, the girls headed toward the pool.

  3

  The front gate of the pool was ten minutes from the demon-beast-related research facility via automated electric cart. Including pools designed to look like a great wave had crashed against a shore and waterslides that exceeded two hundred meters in length, the nine varieties of pools, featuring something for every taste, was Blue Elysium’s greatest selling point.

  Notwithstanding that Itogami Island was in the tropics, the February temperatures made it a little too cold to go swimming. Thanks to that, there were fewer guests than one might normally expect. Monopolizing a huge pool felt exhilarating. It was easy to understand why Glenda was so worked up.

  “Did you learn anything about Glenda?” Yuiri asked quietly, watching the girl head off and leap into the pool after some warm-ups.

  Shio, dipping her toe into the water to test its temperature, shook her head.

  “Apparently, it’ll be a good couple weeks before a detailed conclusion comes back. They don’t have many dragon-cell samples to begin with, so individual variation is pretty high, and that makes analysis take longer. They did draft a summary of what they know here and now, though.”

  “These are Glenda’s analysis results?”

  Gazing at the screen of the tablet handed to her, Yuiri’s expression stiffened. Upon it was data comparing the genetic information from cells taken from Glenda with those of other living creatures.

  The knowledge of demons Yuiri possessed was all related to fighting them; she was ill versed on their biology. Despite that, even she could immediately tell that Glenda’s analysis results were abnormal.

  Her cells resembled neither humans nor other dragons. The estimated density of the genetic information was dozens of times greater than normal living creatures, if not more. Dragons included, no living creature existed among Demonkind that held genetic information within their cells to such an extent.

  If there was a living creature that rivaled her results, it would probably be the cells of Wiseman’s Blood—the God created via alchemy.

  “Glenda is a new genus beyond any evolutionary tree ever known to have existed. Furthermore, there are traces of magical manipulation at a molecular level.”

  Shio spoke with a somewhat conflicted expression, prompting Yuiri to lift her face in surprise.

  “You mean…just like a homunculus…?!”

  “Yeah. Glenda is an artificial dragon made by…someone. That’s if the analysis results are correct, mind you.”

  “Creating a dragon—you can do that?!” countered Yuiri, half beside herself.

  “With humanity’s current technology, no way. But with the scientific strength of the Devas… Not that I get why they’d want to a dragon in the first place, though…”

  “Maybe…because they’re cute…?”

  “Well, that’s…not impossible…”

  Lounging poolside, Shio crossed her arms and began to mull over the issue with a pensive look on her face. While she did, Glenda rode a kickboard, going in circles within the flowing pool. It was a scene with no tension whatsoever.

  “Treasure…maybe?” Shio hesitantly murmured.

  “Eh?”

  “Prince Aziz of the Fallen Dynasty said dragons guard treasure.”

  “But there wasn’t any treasure in Kannawa Lake, was there?” Yuiri prodded, at a loss.

  “Yeah. But if Glenda is a treasure herself, then…,” Shio said nonchalantly. Of course, she probably didn’t seriously believe it herself.

  However, the words made Yuiri gasp, her eyes widening. “I see… Come to think of it, Major Azama of the Self-Defense Forces said something like that, I think. Like, ‘Glenda is the protector of the legacy Cain left behind, the vessel for the God’s information’ and stuff…”

  “The God’s…information…?”

  “No way,” said Shio, about to dismiss the notion with a laugh, when suddenly, her expression hardened. Reaching her hand toward the instrument case at her side, she pulled out the silver recurve bow folded and holstered within.

  Yuiri did likewise, opening her instrument case and smoothly drawing out a long, silver sword.

  The barrier Yuiri and Shio had deployed around the pool beforehand had alerted them to the presence of an intruder: a terrifyingly powerful Demon, at that.

  “Shio!”

  “I know! What’s with this ridiculous demonic energy…?!”

  “Glenda, get over here! Quickly!”

  “Dah?”

  Perhaps noticing Yuiri’s and Shio’s anxiety, Glenda immediately approached the side of the pool.

  A moment later, under the afternoon sunrays pouring down upon them, a pitch-black mist coalsced.

  “…!”

  Nocking a metallic curse arrow to her recurve bow, Shio gasped in abject shock.

  The mist then increased in density, changing into a human form.

  Standing there was a tall, slender man with a very dark appearance. He wore a well-tailored, old-fashioned coat, and his hair was so black that it seemed woven from the very darkness of night. His face was youthful and refined, but the quiet dignity shrouding his entire body produced a bottomless sense of implicit force. Even from a distance, they could clearly sense that this was a supernatural being incompatible with humankind.

  This was an Old Guard vampire that had lived for many years. Furthermore, he was a being of limitless danger close to that of a primogenitor.

  “Attack Mages of the Lion King Agency, are you not…?”

  The man spoke coldly, gazing indifferently at Yuiri and Shio, who put up their guard.

  Yuiri remained silent as her shoulders trembled. Fear kept her from raising her voice. Yuiri, a Sword Shaman of the Lion King Agency, was overwhelmed by the man’s presence. Surely the same went for Shio.

  The black-haired man did not give off the impression of someone crude or violent. If anything, his manner was calm and intellectual. In spite of this, Yuiri felt fear, for who could be calm in the face of a walking calamity.

  “I hereby demand that you hand over the Dragon of the Swamp.”

  Speaking those words, the man indicated the steel-haired girl with his eyes, causing Glenda to freeze in fear.

  Yuiri shifted to shield Glenda, turning her silver sword toward the man. “Who are you? And what do you want with Glenda?” she asked as she glared at the dark-haired man.

  Surprisingly, the man’s expression did not change. Yuiri’s blatant wariness didn’t seem to have any effect on him, and he looked plainly at the girls as he replied.

  “My name is Velesh Aradahl, of the bloodline of the First Primogenitor, the Lost Warlord.”

  “Velesh…Aradahl…?”

  “His Excellency Aradahl, the Duke of Severin?!”

  Yuiri and Shio spoke in hushed voices as they gawked. Duke of Severin of the Warlord’s Empire, Velesh Aradahl—of course they knew his name.

  After all, he was the chairman of the Imperial Assembly of the Warlord’s Empire—the vampire seen as the de facto second most powerful man therein, next to the primogenitor himself. He was a major player in both the worlds of politics and finance, with influence on a global scale.

  He was also well-known as a warrior, having left incredible exploits on battlefields of times past. It was said that even Dimitrie Vattler paid Aradahl appropriate respect. Such a legendary vampire stood before Yuiri and Shio at that very moment.

  “The Holy Ground Treaty Organization has determined that the Dragon of the Swamp poses a grave threat.” Heedless of the pair’s bewilderment, Aradahl one-sidedly made his case. “I shall now retrieve her, accordingly. Your cooperation would be most appreciated.”

  “T
he Holy Ground Treaty Organization…declared Glenda a threat…?”

  Shio’s voice quivered as she parroted the words back. The Holy Ground Treaty Organization was an international agency administered by the Holy Ground Treaty allied nations, which included the Dominions. It held the right to take countermeasures against grave sorcerous menaces and possessed military strength for this purpose.

  But naturally, the Holy Ground Treaty Organization only dealt with large-scale sorcerous crimes on a grand international scale. She couldn’t just blithely believe that Glenda’s existence posed such a risk.

  “If you do leave with Glenda, what do you intend to do with her?” Yuiri asked.

  As if he had anticipated that very question, the black-haired vampire calmly replied, “The Japanese government has failed to neutralize the Dragon of the Swamp. Accordingly, we shall do so in its stead.”

  “Neutralize…? You can’t mean…,” murmured Yuiri, fear apparent in her voice.

  “Seal her, dismantle her. Either way, it has nothing to do with the two of you.”

  “Now that you’ve said that, there’s no way we’re handing her over!” replied Shio, half shouting.

  “Is that so? How unfortunate.”

  Aradahl’s expression didn’t waver in the slightest. He simply waved his left hand.

  In the next moment, a sword appeared at his side with a blade that reached seven, perhaps eight meters in length. The giant, translucent blade materialized from dense demonic energy. This was a vampiric Beast Vassal—an Intelligent Weapon.

  “Glenda, get back—!”

  Yuiri called sharply toward the steel-haired girl as she leaped forward.

  The giant blade Aradahl had summoned flew like a bullet, rending the air in its wake. The Intelligent Weapon’s target was Glenda. Its purpose was to rip right through Yuiri’s shielding body to reach Glenda behind her.

  “Rosen Chevalier Plus, Boot Up—!!”

  Yuiri slammed her long sword into Aradahl’s Beast Vassal.

  No normal weapon could fend off a Beast Vassal, a mass of destructive demonic energy. However, Yuiri’s Rosen Chevalier Plus was the exception to the rule. The pseudo-spatial severing created in the wake of Yuiri’s attack formed an absolutely invincible defensive wall that even the Beast Vassal’s attack could not slice apart.

  “Request ID confirmation! Freikugel Plus Proto Three, Unlock!”

  “Confirmed—Freikugel Plus, Active.”

  At the same time Yuiri was stopping Aradahl’s attack, Shio was releasing the safety on her recurve bow. Shio’s Freikugel Plus was the completed area-suppression weapon that was the pride of the Lion King Agency. Producing high-density spell chants via whistling arrows, it could create large-scale ritual spell artillery on a scale beyond human limitations. Its might was said to rival even that of vampiric Beast Vassals.

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

  So powerful that its use was strictly limited, it was this Freikugel Plus’s ritual spell artillery that Shio was releasing from all limitations. She had judged that there was no other way to defeat Aradahl. Surely no one could blame Shio for that snap decision.

  But.

  “Shio, don’t—!”

  Yuiri screamed at Shio. The power of a Sword Shaman of the Lion King Agency allowed Yuiri to peer an instant into the future. However, Yuiri was not in time to stop her. Shio had already launched her artillery attack…

  “Let there be light—!”

  “Gouge, Invidia.”

  The whistling arrow unleashed by Freikugel Plus drew an immense magic circle in the air, creating ritual spell artillery in the form of a beam of light. It was a great sword the color of choking darkness that blocked that artillery attack. Aradahl had summoned a new Intelligent Weapon.

  The frontal clash between immense ritual energy and demonic energy spanned but a single second.

  Aradahl’s Beast Vassal sliced Shio’s artillery attack apart. With pressure exceeding the ritual energy’s critical limits, it was blown away, becoming a shock wave as it dissipated. Violently raging air ravaged the poolside concrete, blowing away every parasol and bench around them.

  Yuiri deployed a pseudo-spatial severing defensive wall, but even Rosen Chevalier Plus’s abilities could not fend off a shock wave that had turned into a waterspout.

  Batted around by violent winds on all sides, Yuiri and Shio were sent flying, at the complete mercy of the magic. Their insides were shaken to the point that they could not breathe. Every bone in their bodies cried out. They had only managed to remain conscious from the jolt of hitting the water.

  “Yuiri! Shio!”

  With Yuiri and Shio in danger of drowning, Glenda held them above the water’s surface as best she could. Glenda, who had already been in the water, got off lightly compared to them.

  Yuiri and Shio were severely injured. They’d taken the full impact of the explosion, and every joint in their bodies was screaming in agony. Contusions and sprains had completely wrecked their bodies with far too many abrasions from the concrete fragments to count.

  For his part, Aradahl was largely unharmed. Amid the still-raging violent winds, the only thing astir was his dark hair. Yuiri and Shio no longer had the strength to protect Glenda from his attacks.

  “Glenda…run…,” muttered Shio with a pained cough.

  Glenda’s eyes opened wide in surprise. “Shio… Yuiri…”

  “Run to Itogami Island. Kojou and Yukii will help you…okay?”

  “Uu…” Staring at Yuiri and Shio, their bodies mangled, Glenda shook her head in reluctance.

  “Go, Glenda!” Yuiri spoke the words in a strong tone, as if she was scolding Glenda.

  “…Dah!”

  Even though Glenda’s eyes were teary, she nodded deeply, her mind apparently made up.

  From the back of her swimsuit, large, steel-colored wings spread forth. Enveloped by the radiance of magic, Glenda’s body was changing into its enormous dragon form. With movements so elegant, reminiscent of a beautiful swan, she glided across the surface of the water and leaped into the air. It was some eighteen kilometers between Blue Elysium and Itogami Island. On her own, Glenda would surely reach it.

  “—Dance, Ghoula!”

  Aradahl summoned a new Beast Vassal, intent on chasing Glenda down. As Glenda danced in the sky, the giant sword scattered flames all around as it shot out toward her. The sentient great sword accelerated as if it were a cannonball, attacking the silver-colored dragon from behind like a hungry shark.

  Glenda, defenseless just after lifting off, had no chance to evade it. The pitch-black blade ripped through the air with a great roar, surely about to mercilessly impale the dragon through the back—

  As Yuiri and Shio drew in their breaths, an amber-colored net deployed in the sky, protecting Glenda. It was a net made of incandescent magma.

  Tracing a geometric shape reminiscent of a spiderweb, the thread held Aradahl’s Beast Vassal in place.

  “Nephila Ignis—”

  Poolside, with violent winds still raging, a gentle voice echoed forth.

  Shrouded in a silver mist, a short, handsome, androgynous youth emerged. There was a huge, gleaming, amber-colored spider at his feet. The youth controlled the incandescent spider that had caught Aradahl’s great sword and saved Glenda.

  “So you’ve come, Kira Lebedev—”

  Aradahl called out the small-statured person’s name. He was Kira Lebedev, Count of Voltislava. Like Aradahl, he was an aristocrat of the Warlord’s Empire. And yet, that very Kira had impeded Aradahl’s attack, lending a hand to aid Glenda in her escape.

  “Did Vattler put you up to this? Damn him, what does he intend to use the Dragon of the Swamp for?”

  “I believe you are well acquainted with that lord’s personality, are you not, Your Excellency Aradahl?”

  Kira spoke those words gently while smiling. Aradahl clicked his tongue, looking disgruntled.

  “Then that is all the more reason I cann
ot allow the Dragon of the Swamp to escape—Ghoula!”

  Aradahl’s Beast Vassal rotated in midair, slashing the incandescent spiderweb apart. The flaming great sword proceeded to divide into countless short swords. As Kira stood on the ground, these poured down onto him from overhead, impaling his body from all directions.

  However, even with his entire body impaled by the Beast Vassal, Kira’s peaceful smile did not falter.

  His entire body suddenly lost its shape, transforming into what seemed like shadowy ooze. Then, the ooze proceeded to flow into the pool’s drainage grate.

  “Deionika Nox… A dummy mirror image!”

  Brusquely clicking his tongue once more, Aradahl looked up at the sky above the sea.

  During the time Kira had held Aradahl’s attention, Glenda in her dragon form had already flown far over the ocean. Through manipulation of a clone created by a Beast Vassal rather than direct combat, Kira had successfully slowed Aradahl down.

  “Glenda… I’m so glad…”

  Once she saw that the dragon girl was safe, Shio smiled weakly. Then, as if her marionette strings had been cut, she fainted, floating on the water’s surface, depleted of strength.

  With Shio in that state, Yuiri kept hold of her as she somehow managed to reach the side of the pool. However, she no longer had the strength to pull their bodies to the surface.

  “Yukii…sorry to…drag you into this…”

  Recalling the sight of her junior on Itogami Island, Yuiri made a tiny apology within her heart. By sending Glenda to Itogami Island, Yuiri was involving Yukina in the fight against Aradahl.

  This she did, knowing full well that Yukina’s target for observation was a vampire as dangerous as Aradahl, or perhaps more—

  “Ko…jou…”

  Murmuring the boy’s name, Yuiri feebly closed her eyes.

  Then, bathed in the sunlight reflecting off the surface of the water, her consciousness sank to the bottom of somewhere cold and dark.

  4

  Humming a tune that was not quite the right melody, Mimori Akatsuki stepped down the stairs.

  She was in the deep subterranean section of Magna Ataraxia Research Inc.’s Itogami Island laboratory—a place known as the Coffin Room for short. The devices were all brand-new, but the strict isolation measures surrounding it left it an oddly cold place.