“Shit… Vattler…!”
Kojou kicked down a nearby door and rushed inside the ship.
The strange scent grew thicker still. It was the scent of human blood.
He recognized the extravagant bar lounge in which he caught sight of people lying in a heap. Fresh blood was coursing from the people who lay around him, spread wide like shadows cast by the setting sun.
“Representatives from HGTO non-signatory nations, I see. They are still alive, barely. But…”
Having chased after Kojou, Natsuki grimaced as she raised a sour voice. Astarte immediately began administering first aid, but the casualties were simply too numerous.
The fallen were affluent politicians and black-suited bodyguards. All lay with their respective throats torn, causing them to lose a great deal of blood. When Kojou searched in earnest, they numbered over a hundred. If he did a full search of the ship, he would probably find several times more.
However, compared to the gravity of their wounds, very little blood had splashed onto the floor. This indicated that the one who had inflicted these wounds had consumed the vast majority of the blood that had flowed out of them. The tragedy had no doubt played out behind Asagi’s back.
“What’s the meaning of this, Vattler…?!” Kojou snarled, violently pounding a fist against the ship’s inner wall.
Opposed to the Holy Ground Treaty Organization, the non-signatory nation representatives were allies there at Vattler’s invitation. Vattler had personally attacked his own comrades in arms. Kojou didn’t think even a cruel fighting-obsessed man like Vattler would do something like that without a reason behind it.
“Their reward for desertion before the enemy—”
The reply came from a youthful vampire’s soft voice.
“…?!”
Kojou shifted his eyes in the direction of the voice. A blond, young aristocrat was standing right beside a piano at the back of the bar lounge. His pure-white suit was marred with blood spatter.
“They’d grown weak in the knees at having earned the Fourth Primogenitor’s ire. They tried to run, so I passed judgment. Is it not a suitable end for cowards that would sully our sacred battle?”
The ghastly aura rising from his entire body made Kojou back away without being aware of it.
The mask of the annoying, sarcastic strategist had been cast aside. The true face of the aristocrat of the Warlord’s Empire had come to the fore.
This cruelty and violence was Dimitrie Vattler’s true nature. So long as he remained undefeated, Itogami Island would never know peace.
“Natsuki… Astarte… Hurry and get these people to a hospital.”
“What?”
“I’m sending this jerk packing—!”
As Kojou thrust his right arm out, crimson mist surged out of it. This mist transformed into an incredible torrent of demonic energy, which then took the form of an enormous beast. Simultaneously, the shadow of an enormous, phantasmal beast floated in front of Vattler. The two simultaneously summoned Beast Vassals collided head-on inside the ship.
“Regulus Aurum!”
“Batsunanda!”
Kojou had summoned a lightning lion that glowed brilliantly. Its lightning-imbued attack was blocked by a serpent Beast Vassal with countless swordlike scales. The resulting shock wave blasted the cruise ship’s upper deck away. But both Kojou and Vattler were unharmed. When Vattler flew through the enormous hole gouged into the ceiling on his way topside, Kojou instantly pursued.
“Al-Nasl Minium! Cor-Tauri Succinum—!”
The shock wave unleashed by the scarlet bicorn ripped the top deck apart, and from magma spat out by the minotaur came an enormous ax with which it attacked Vattler.
“Manashi! Shakala—!”
Vattler summoned two new Beast Vassals with which he parried Kojou’s attacks. However, Kojou’s attacks did not end there. Twisting Vattler’s counterattack down with pure force, his defenses were pulverized obstinately, cunningly, cruelly, savagely, coarsely, and mercilessly, one-sidedly pounding his attacks home. All at once, countless wounds were carved into Vattler’s suit, and fresh blood spurted from his torn skin.
“I barely recognize you, Kojou… Aradahl honed you well.”
What rose to the corners of Vattler’s blood-drenched cheeks was a smile of pure delight.
Even while being peppered with Kojou’s attacks, Vattler was smiling.
“Yes, Kojou! This is the power of the Beast Vassals of the Fourth Primogenitor, said to rival natural disasters! Show me, show me more!”
“Shut the hell up!”
Hit by a shock wave unleashed by the bicorn, Vattler’s body sailed into the sky. He was sent flying several hundred meters and touched down atop a ruin on the artificial isle.
Kojou leaped in pursuit of him.
Enveloped in Kojou and Vattler’s fighting, the once-beautiful Oceanus Grave II had changed into something that almost felt cruel to look at. The bridge and observation deck had vanished without a trace, and innumerable cracks ran across the hull, to the point Kojou found it mysterious that the ship remained afloat. Though concerned for the casualties still inside the ship, all he could do was pray that Natsuki and Astarte had safely rescued them.
“So enjoyable, Kojou. Truly, this has brightened my mood…”
Though wounded in intense combat, Vattler spread both arms wide in a theatrical gesture. His gaze was aimed not at Kojou but at the multinational armada floating far off at the water’s horizon.
“I really would love to continue playing with you like this, but some very scary people are watching, you see. I suppose it is finally time for me to test my new power—”
“What…?!”
Kojou’s expression froze as he instinctively grasped that the air around Vattler had shifted.
An icy chill ran up his spine. He did not know what Vattler was trying to do, but it was clearly something horrible. The Blood Memories of the Fourth Primogenitor bespoke its terror.
A spiraling vortex of vermillion radiance enveloped the Beast Vassals that Vattler had summoned.
This glow was formed of minute particles of light. Complex magical symbols were carved upon their interior sides. As their bodies absorbed the countless particles, Vattler’s Beast Vassals increased in power. The creatures and particles fused together in perfect harmony, finally transforming into a giant, dazzlingly glowing serpent, hundreds of meters long. From the sky far above, it gazed down upon Kojou—and roared.
“This power! It’s…The Cleansing…?!”
As the vermillion serpent spat out a dazzling beam of light, Kojou summoned a new Beast Vassal to block it. The bighorn sheep with a body of diamonds deployed a gemstone bulwark in front of Kojou.
This was the Beast Vassal of Retribution, which could block any attack and repel its might back at the opponent—
But the beam of light unleashed by Vattler’s Beast Vassal smashed and pulverized Kojou’s bulwark apart.
“Gu…oa…!”
Hit head-on by the full-force attack, Kojou was slammed into the ground.
Blood erupted from his mouth as well as his freshly opened wounds. The supernatural power-erasing radiance of The Cleansing had robbed Kojou of the demonic energy within him. He could neither summon a new Beast Vassal nor even rise to his feet. His vision darkened as his consciousness wavered.
“Farewell, Kojou…,” Vattler murmured in a tone tinged with what almost sounded like loneliness.
With Kojou deprived of his bulwark, the red beam increased in vigor, pouring down upon him. The power of the Fourth Primogenitor, and Kojou’s very being, would be annihilated—but the moment he thought this…
“Rosen Chevalier Plus, Boot Up—!”
Leaping into the light was Yuiri Haba, dressed in a swimsuit and a parka. The silver long sword in her grip created a gash in space itself, interrupting the light of The Cleansing.
“Glenda, please!”
“Daaaaaaahhh!”
Letting out a strange roar
, a steel-colored dragon flew in, threading its ways through gaps between the ruined buildings. In the single second before the spatial severing vanished, the dragon picked up Kojou and Yuiri, proceeding to flee higher into the sky.
“—Freikugel Plus, Full Burst!”
Riding on the dragon’s back, silver-colored recurve bow poised, was Shio Hikawa. Simultaneously, Shio fired her three nocked ritual arrows in a single volley. Sailing off with a roar, the whistling arrows deployed three magic circles simultaneously, unleashing dazzling beams of light, thunder, and a smokescreen of dense mist all at once—
Vattler’s Beast Vassal unleashed vermillion beams of light, erasing the magic circles. But by that time, the steel-colored dragon had already vanished from sight with Kojou in tow.
“It would seem the amusement will run a little longer…”
Releasing his Beast Vassal from its summons, the blond vampire strained a smile. He refrained from immediately pursuing the boy out of respect for the cleverness and courage of the girls who had rescued Kojou from peril.
Besides…, Vattler thought, turning his eyes toward the water’s horizon once more.
His opponents were not limited to the Fourth Primogenitor alone.
CHAPTER SIX
HOMECOMING
1
The vermillion bullets trailed beautiful, geometric streaks of light as they flew. In truth, these bullets were collections of light particles enveloping magic symbols within. This was The Cleansing—the forbidden spell wrought by the Sinful God for his revenge against the gods.
The places touched by those bullets were instantly transformed into gold. The Cleansing was a spell that rewrote the world. This was not transmutation of matter; it was rewriting the world so that it had always been gold to begin with.
Since The Cleansing interfered with the world itself, Snowdrift Wolf’s Ability to nullify demonic energy was ineffective against it. Yukina’s spear could not block the red bullets.
Even so, Yukina did not falter, slipping her way through the bullets as they poured down like rain.
“Aiba! Please stop this!”
Yukina was staring toward the robot tank that Asagi was piloting. It was a bluntly designed machine, a fair bit larger than Lydianne’s Hizamaru.
The scarlet bullets were being fired from the two antipersonnel machine guns with which the machine came equipped. Unable to use magic herself, Asagi was using the robot tank as a catalyst to draw upon the power of The Cleansing. The attack patterns were more limited compared to ones controlled by a spellcaster herself, but in contrast, the lag between shots was minimal. The mobility and defensive power of the robot tank itself was more menacing still.
“Provided senpai defeats the Duke of Ardeal, we can save Itogami Island without a war!”
Using a ritual spell to physically enhance herself to the absolute limit, Yukina chased after the robot tank. Offensive spell tablets she spread in midair transformed into silver-colored wolves. The two wolves grabbed hold of the tank, attempting to crush the antipersonnel machine guns with their jaws.
“Like I’ve been saying, that makes this all meaningless!”
Crashing her own machine into the wall of a ruin, Asagi shook Yukina’s shikigami off. Showered in the special bullets, the shikigami lost their supernatural power, returning to the spell tablets from whence they came.
“Say Kojou becomes king of Itogami Island as the Fourth Primogenitor. What happens to him after?! Can he go back to being a normal high school student then?! Saving Itogami Island by sacrificing his sense of belonging, that’s no solution to anything! Don’t take away Kojou’s home!”
“Aiba…don’t tell me that’s why you’ve chosen to cooperate with the Duke of…”
Learning Asagi’s true feelings for the very first time, Yukina’s movements halted for a moment.
Now that she thought about it, everything made perfect sense.
Asagi was an ordinary high school girl who just happened to be a little better with computers than other people. There was no reason she’d be capable of deciding to make enemies of half the world just to protect the island on which she was raised. It was not Itogami Island that Asagi was protecting, but Kojou’s place to come home to. From the beginning, she’d been acting for Kojou’s sake alone.
Yet, even once she knew Asagi’s true feelings, Yukina did not lower her blade.
“Senpai…! He chose to protect Itogami Island even so! Even if it means his identity is exposed, even if it means shouldering the destiny of its entire populace—!”
“I told you: I’m not letting that happen!”
Micro-missiles scattered from the missile pods on the tank’s back.
The left and right sides of the craft each shouldered a twenty-four-barreled missile pod. From every direction, a total of forty-eight missiles bore down upon Yukina alone. Even the Sword Shaman, with her Ability to peer into the future, could not escape a physical attack from every conceivable angle.
“Urk—”
The silver spear Yukina gripped unleashed a dazzling, pale light. The spiritual energy Yukina amplified through her spear coursed backward into her body. The purified spiritual energy opened Yukina’s internal pathways to a higher dimension, and what coursed back through these pathways was vast divine essence exceeding all human limitations. This was a side effect of the Divine Oscillation Effect ritual from within Snowdrift Wolf—Faux-Angelification of its wielder.
The outpouring of divine essence formed pale wings that mowed down every last missile flying through the air.
“Sh…she shot down The Cleansing’s bullets…?!” Asagi exclaimed in shock.
The crimson particles embedded into the missiles were being dissipated by Yukina’s wings. Even The Cleansing could not erase divine essence coursing in from a higher dimension.
“Whether senpai is Fourth Primogenitor or king of a Dominion, isn’t that fine?! I will protect senpai’s place here! That is why I am in this Demon Sanctuary… That is why I am his watcher!”
Advancing down the path of Faux-Angelification was a dangerous act that culminated in the final annihilation of the mage. Her pact with Kojou had diminished that possibility, but even its effect had its limits. Yukina had put her divine essence to maximum throttle with full knowledge of that fact, for she knew it was her one and only means of resisting Asagi.
“What the hell are you…?!”
Yukina’s declaration made Asagi’s voice tremble. For once, she was genuinely unnerved.
“And what’s with those wings?! What are you, an angel?! What, you have a cute face, so the rules don’t apply to you?!”
“Aren’t you the cute one, Aiba?! They say you’re more beautiful than actual idols! And smart! And stylish! And senpai depends on you!!” Yukina retorted, baring her own emotions as well. She no longer had any idea what she was saying.
Regardless, it seemed to have rubbed Asagi the wrong way, for the tone of her voice jumped higher still.
“Hey, you’re the one Kojou depends on! I don’t know about this watcher business, but whether it’s the high school or the middle school campus, you’re always together, lovey-dovey, lovey-dovey, lovey-dovey!”
“Aren’t you clinging to him at high school all the time, Aiba?! You’re always glancing at the side of his face in the middle of class, you eat lunch with him at noon, you even indirectly kiss him by sharing drinks—”
“How do you know that?!”
Asagi’s robot tank collided with Yukina. The resulting impact sent sparks flying from the robot tank’s joints. Lubricant flowed out from various parts of the machine, and overheating sent coolant gushing out as white smoke. Both antipersonnel machine-gun barrels were warped in the process, and the remaining missiles were already exhausted.
Crawling out of the cockpit hatch, Asagi glared at Yukina. “And another thing, I never got anything like a ring from Kojou!”
“This ring was provided by the Lion King Agency! It doesn’t hold a candle to your earrings!” Yukina re
torted. Anyway, she’d already released her angelification.
“Yeah, you say that, but Kojou put that ring on you, didn’t he?! It’s not fair!”
“What about you, Aiba? Always calling senpai by his given name like that?!”
“Oh… That bothers you? Who would have guessed…”
“Ngh…”
Realizing her own verbal slip, Yukina’s cheeks flushed as she averted her gaze.
Without a word, Asagi shrugged, sighing as she put a hand to her cheek. Perhaps she thought it was all pretty stupid. It wasn’t as if arguing with Yukina was going to improve the situation in any way.
And then…
“?!”
In shock, Yukina and Asagi looked to the sky in the direction where Kojou ought to have been fighting Vattler. Rising high in the sky was a serpent stretching hundreds of meters long.
Even for a vampiric Beast Vassal, its enormity was off the charts.
Beast Vassals themselves were concentrated masses of dense demonic energy. When materialized, even the Beast Vassals of the Fourth Primogenitor were dozens of meters long at best. Yet still, they possessed the might to wipe entire cities off the map. Yukina could not even imagine what kind of destruction would be wrought if that serpent released all of its demonic energy at once. What horrified her even more was the vortex of scarlet light swirling around the serpent.
“—Why is The Cleansing…?! I didn’t program anything like that…!” Asagi shook her head, aghast.
Yukina was completely at a loss for words. At that point, Dimitrie Vattler had achieved total mastery of The Cleansing. And he had infused that capability into his own Beast Vassal. He was using the world-rewriting power of The Cleansing to augment it.
To make matters worse, he was not limited to only one Beast Vassal.
One after another, the curved necks of enormous serpents rose up, scattered across the ruined city. The eight serpentine Beast Vassals that Vattler possessed were emerging all over the artificial isle, haughtily gazing down upon their surroundings.
It was a surreal spectacle that felt as if they were watching the end of the world.
A War of Primogenitors Page 25
