Kojou could only grimace in silence.
Since the dawn of recorded history, humankind and demonkind had waged incessant conflict against the other, and only in recent history had they achieved something resembling peaceful coexistence. Thanks to the Holy Ground Treaty, formed some several decades prior, peace had finally become a reality.
This had come about because of the efforts of the First Primogenitor, the Lost Warlord, and because humanity was tired from a long war. However, the more practical reason why the treaty had been signed was that the science and magic humans possessed had evolved to the point of rivaling the military might of demons. In short, there was a concern that human and demon civilizations would both collapse.
And what would happen if either camp obtained a weapon powerful enough to throw the balance of power askew? There was no point imagining—the result was all too clear.
“I get why the thing at the bottom of Kannawa Lake is dangerous,” Kojou said after a long sigh. “But what does that have to do with Nagisa and Avrora?”
“…The Lion King Agency is not considering digging up the relic of The Cleansing,” Natsuki replied, shrugging. “Their objective is to neutralize it—to seal away the relic about to awaken at the bottom of Kannawa Lake—this time forever.”
“Seal? Wait—about to awak— Er… What the hell?! That’s news to me!!”
In his surprise, Kojou pressed closer to Natsuki. Finding his approach annoying, Natsuki brushed Kojou aside with her left hand.
“Do you understand at least a little why I cannot let you go to Kannawa Lake?”
“Because you don’t know whether the relic will respond to my demonic energy and just wake up faster.”
“Correct.”
“……”
Kojou bit his lip and grunted quietly. “Ugh.”
However, he felt everything making sense deep inside of him. The Lion King Agency was a government organization. They acted with the objective of preventing large-scale sorcerous disasters and sorcerous terrorism, or so he had been told.
If an incident like that was happening at Kannawa Lake, on one level, their actions were entirely rational. He also thought that Gajou trying to take Nagisa there indicated a gross inability to read the mood.
“But isn’t it just as dangerous to bring Avrora close to it?”
“It might well be.”
Surprisingly, Natsuki did not refute Kojou’s misgivings.
“However, even the Lion King Agency cannot use a ritual to seal a god-killing weapon of ill-known provenance. Hence, why they set their eyes on Nagisa Akatsuki.”
“What for?!”
“Avrora Florestina knows a ritual to seal a god-killing weapon.”
Natsuki’s unexpected answer struck Kojou completely out of the blue.
Properly speaking, Avrora, one of the twelve Kaleid Blood vampires, was not the Fourth Primogenitor. She was a vessel built to contain the accursed soul of the Fourth Primogenitor—Root Avrora—that made it a god-killing weapon.
As a result of Kojou’s actions and those of Avrora’s herself, the soul of Root was annihilated, and she had been liberated from her duty as a sealing vessel.
However, that did not mean Avrora had lost her functionality as that sealing vessel.
“They want to use the ritual for sealing Root on the relic at Kannawa Lake? They can do that…?”
“Certainly, it is a poor gamble. But if it succeeds, no human lives will be lost. Furthermore, the Avrora Florestina possessing Nagisa Akatsuki is a psychic remnant unable to take physical form. Her effects on the relic are likely to be minimal.”
“And what happens if they fail?”
When Kojou suppressed his emotions and posed the question, Natsuki displayed a sarcastic smile.
“Let’s see… Best case, they might be able to tame it, much as you did with Avrora Florestina.”
“And worst case?”
“That goes without saying—war.”
“Wha…?!”
Natsuki’s reply was exceedingly simple; moreover, it was oddly persuasive. Natsuki and the Lion King Agency had fully anticipated the worst case long before, hence why they had made their move.
“The negotiation condition presented by Hisano Akatsuki was to free Nagisa Akatsuki of Avrora Florestina. The Lion King Agency likely has some sort of plan to save your little sister.”
“Hisano… You’re sayin’ Grandma’s the one pullin’ the strings?!”
Astounded, Kojou widened his eyes. But when he thought about it calmly, it immediately made perfect sense. In spite of Gajou’s wariness about being tailed, the Lion King Agency learned Nagisa’s movements for one simple reason: Hisano had leaked the information to them from the inside.
“Surely, it is not so surprising. In the first place, was Gajou Akatsuki not taking Natsuki there so she could be examined?”
“Shit…! But if they save Nagisa, what happens to Avrora’s soul?” he asked, clenching his fist once more.
Natsuki calmly shook her head. “There is nothing to be done. That girl no longer exists. That which is chipping your little sister’s life away is nothing but a psychic remnant. It is a fragment of a soul that is already lost.”
“…Why didn’t you talk to me about this in the first place?!”
When Kojou glared at Natsuki in rebuke, Natsuki’s expression turned haughty.
“Relax. This is my dream world. I will make you forget about all this before you leave this place, like a dream you cannot remember after awakening.”
“Don’t give me that crap…! There’s no way I can back down after hearing all that!”
Giving into his emotions, Kojou tried to grab Natsuki by her shirt. However, his hand was repelled by Natsuki’s barrier before he could touch her. Groaning from the pain, like from an electric jolt, Kojou brought his face closer to Natsuki’s again.
“And besides, if you end up fighting this relic, aren’t you gonna need my power?!”
“Do not get a thick head, brat. What can a shrimp unable to lay a finger on me do against a god-killing weapon?”
Natsuki’s beautiful lips curled upward. This time, Kojou was sent flying, making an unsightly crash against the wall.
With his powers currently stripped from him while inside the barrier, Kojou was unable to defy her. And yet, Kojou did not relent, raising his face with a ferocious smile.
“Ain’t it a little too soon to say I can’t lay a finger on you?”
“Oh really…? Would you like to try escaping the Prison Barrier right now, then?”
Kojou replied to Natsuki’s taunts with a nod. “If we get out of here on our own power, you’ll let us go to the mainland, got it?”
“Our power…? Interesting. We shall see.”
6
“Black Thunder—!”
With an earsplitting cry, Yukina leaped with agility that surpassed human limits. She worked her way through countless Natsuki afterimages, lashing out with spear blows resembling rays of light.
“Hmph, a physical enchantment. Certainly, you are fast, but—”
The small-statured witch easily deflected Yukina’s blow, using the momentary opening to brush the girl aside with her left hand. Yukina was unable to evade the shock wave thus released, interrupting her string of attacks.
“The way you fight is too honest, transfer student. It is easy to discern your target.”
“Gah…!”
With Yukina’s mobility reduced, Natsuki sent her teddy bear-like familiars barreling toward her. The familiars self-destructed faster than Yukina could mount a counterattack. Yukina, sent flying by the explosive pressure, was heavily off-balance when silver chain spears shot out of thin air poured down on her.
It was a Priestess of the Six Blades in an old-fashioned sailor uniform who rescued Yukina in her moment of peril.
“Mist Leopard—Twin Moons!”
She knocked Natsuki’s silver chains down using her forked spear in a slicing attack. The resulting cracks in space also
fended off the blast waves from the familiars.
“Kiriha…!”
“I am sorry, but that was my last pseudo-spatial severing. Ricercare’s ritual energy depletion rate far exceeds the original’s.”
Kiriha’s statement was blunt while she lowered her forked spear—its glow now lost. The pseudo-spatial severing ability, able to sever Laeding and block the invisible shock wave, was an exceedingly effective weapon against Natsuki. Now that it had been lost, they could not help but be at a disadvantage.
“No, you have done enough.”
However, Yukina stood up with a charming, forceful smile.
Kiriha looked back at her in surprise and said, “But we will be whittled down at this rate. The Witch of the Void has a wealth of composure like an instructor’s.”
“I wonder… Does she really?”
Yukina spoke with an oddly reserved tone. Kiriha looked at her suspiciously; Yukina behaved like she did not think her words were mere trash talk.
“If Ms. Minamiya is merely preventing senpai from escaping Itogami Island, the fact that he is locked in the Prison Barrier means her objective has already been achieved. She has no reason to fight us.”
“…Certainly, you might have a point. If she teleported to Keystone Gate, there would be nothing we could do.”
“Yes. Yet, in point of fact, Ms. Minamiya remains here. I believe she has a reason why she is unable to teleport at this time.”
“…?!” Kiriha’s lips trembled slightly.
It was Natsuki’s illusion that had made Yukina realize it. This was Natsuki, someone who teleported with the same ease of breathing. There was no need for her to rely on an illusion to evade Yukina’s attack; she needed only teleport somewhere beyond the reach of Yukina’s spear.
However, Natsuki had used the illusion. Moreover, she was avoiding the use of teleportation, even to the point of fruitlessly dragging out the battle. Even if Natsuki could still teleport but had merely deemed it best not to, it must have had some external cause.
“You believe she acts like an instructor training us to conceal a tangible weakness?” concluded Kiriha, her lips forming a broad smile. Her face broadcast great happiness at the prospect that Natsuki’s composure was hollow. She nodded. “I see, a Beast Vassal of the Fourth Primogenitor…!”
“Yes.”
Yukina glared up at the small-statured witch hovering in midair. Behind Natsuki, above the ocean, was the lightning lion, trapped by a net of thorns.
“That the Beast Vassal has not dematerialized means that senpai has not given up on breaking out of the Prison Barrier, doesn’t it? And to continue to keep senpai’s Beast Vassal bound, you are unable to use teleportation. Am I wrong?”
“Hmph… Akatsuki being such a sore loser certainly was unexpected. For some reason, the idiot actually believes you will rescue him.”
Natsuki affirmed Yukina’s words with surprising frankness. Knowing this does not change my absolute superiority in any way, spoke her demeanor.
“In other words, Yukina Himeragi, if I capture you and drag you into the Prison Barrier, that idiot will finally give up.”
Yukina listened to Natsuki’s nonchalant words with a powerful glint resting in her eyes.
“Unfortunately, I believe that to be beyond your means.”
“Just so you know, even if I can’t teleport, I’m very strong—”
Before her words even reached Yukina, Natsuki gave Dromi physical form.
This steel-colored anchor chain had a diameter of ten centimeters and was hundreds of meters long. It was impossible to tell by sight how many hundreds of tons it weighed. Natsuki waved the extraordinarily huge anchor chain like a whip, sweeping it at Yukina and Kiriha.
“Tch!”
It was Kiriha who struck back against it. With her blade, purportedly unable to use pseudo-spatial severing, she severed the flying chain at its base, proceeding on with a leap toward Natsuki.
“So you did have strength left, Priestess of the Six Blades.”
Natsuki lifted her chin in delight. Kiriha thrust her spear toward the defenseless Natsuki. It was at a lethal distance where even an illusion would be insufficient to escape. But:
“How unfortunate, Kiriha Kisaki.”
“Oh n—?!”
Kiriha exclaimed as she noticed the silver chain wrapped around her ankle.
Natsuki had strewn silver chains under the sand around herself beforehand—a trap Kiriha had leaped right into.
Kiriha abandoned her attack on Natsuki and severed the silver chain around her ankle. Had her decision come a single moment later, Kiriha would have most surely been struck with an additional blow by Natsuki.
During that time, Natsuki escaped beyond Kiriha’s range. And this time, Kiriha had truly hit the bottom of the ritual energy stored in Ricercare. That surprise attack had been her last chance to defeat Natsuki.
“That is enough to break even my heart… The difference in combat experience is too great…” Kiriha dropped to one knee on the sand and spat the words. She felt like that single instant had shaved several years off her life span.
With Kiriha like that, Yukina reluctantly spoke to her from behind. “I am sorry, Kiriha. Could you buy me just ten seconds?”
“Excuse me?!” Kiriha’s eyes flew wide at Yukina’s incomprehensibly selfish request. “Are you trying to be funny?! Ten seconds against that witch is putting my life on the line, you know?!”
“I know. But please.”
When Kiriha vented her naked irritation, Yukina looked straight back at her as she spoke. Faced with Yukina’s obstinate demeanor, the poison seemed to drain from Kiriha as she sighed deeply and said:
“Your personality is…far beyond my expectations. I sympathize with the Fourth Primogenitor somewhat.”
Kiriha tossed out that sarcasm-laden line, stubbornly rising to her feet. Then Kiriha tossed away her gray forked spear. Either way, with its ritual energy spent, Ricercare was useless against Natsuki. Even knowing this, it was a highly resolute decision.
The decisiveness of the Priestess of the Six Blades brought a wary look over Natsuki’s face. Kiriha, seeing this, smiled broadly as she said, “My shadow is mist, yet not mist. Blade, yet not blade.”
With that quiet chant, Kiriha’s entire body melted into the scenery around her, vanishing from sight. Using an illusion spell, she had manipulated the refractive properties of the air, rendering her own body transparent. Simultaneously, she had activated a concealment spell, blocking all trace of her aura.
“May it cut like a dream and sound the song of disaster—”
When her incantation was complete, Kiriha had completely vanished from sight. Even Yukina’s Spirit Sight could not detect her presence. It was a frighteningly complete level of ritualistic camouflage.
“Hiding yourself to restrict my movements— Not bad.”
Natsuki murmured words of praise as she summoned a horde of familiars once more. She no doubt intended to use the beasts’ senses, far surpassing those of human beings, to locate Kiriha.
“Too late—!”
However, Kiriha appeared right before Natsuki’s eyes before the familiars could materialize.
Heedless of the familiars surrounding her, Kiriha thrust her weaponless left hand toward Natsuki and commanded, “Fiery Lightning—!”
Then she slammed condensed, high-density ritual energy into Natsuki like a transparent hammer.
Kiriha’s point-blank attack sent the familiars flying as well. Knocked away, the familiars exploded with tremendous roars, sending Yukina’s black hair flapping in the blast winds.
“I see. Employing ritual camouflage for a surprise attack to buy time—”
Natsuki had only needed to retreat a little to evade being caught in the familiars’ explosions. Kiriha, buffeted by the blast winds, was in no position to give pursuit.
Even so, Kiriha smirked.
As Natsuki retreated slightly, a dazzling ritual symbol emerged under her feet.
The pu
re-white sand swelled and seemed to explode, with a black, metallic leopard emerging from within. They were autonomous shikigami that had activated when they sensed Natsuki’s approach. They attacked Natsuki from her blind side, independent of Kiriha’s will.
With Natsuki unable to teleport, there was simply no way she could evade the attack. The black leopard’s steel fangs glimmered as they attempted to rend the small-statured witch’s flesh apart. However, it was Natsuki who spoke next.
“—Or so you feinted, using yourself as a decoy for your own trap. A fighting style suited for experts in anti-demonic beast combat, but alas.”
The following instant, it was Kiriha who was slammed onto the sandy beach.
“Guh-ah!” Kiriha coughed, the wind blown out of her, which her ears heard only belatedly.
Natsuki, of course, was without a scratch; Kiriha’s trap hadn’t been destroyed—the shikigami hadn’t reacted to Natsuki at all. Kiriha’s shikigami had responded to the golden knight construct appearing behind Natsuki. Natsuki’s Guardian crushed Kiriha’s shikigami in its grip, blowing Kiriha away with hand pressure alone.
“I praise you for forcing me to use my Rheingold, Priestess of the Six Blades.”
Natsuki spoke plainly as she examined Kiriha, covered in sand below. She spoke with the disinterested tone of a teacher praising a student barely avoiding a failing grade.
“Having made me go this far, I will not forgive a disgraceful defeat, Yukina Himeragi!!”
Kiriha’s face contorted in humiliation as she looked behind her where Yukina ought to have been. Then, when she caught sight of the girl, Kiriha was at a loss for words. The Sword Shaman of the Lion King Agency was simply standing there in a daze, dangling her silver spear from her right hand.
During the time Kiriha had earned by risking her life, Yukina had neither engaged in a scheme nor laid a trap; she had simply stood there, absentminded and defenseless.
To Natsuki and Kiriha, the wholly emotionless look of her eyes resembled the water of a windswept lake.
She had beautiful skin and glossy lips. Her face, fair far beyond the norm, somehow seemed fantastical, beyond the realm of humanity.
“Tch…”
When Natsuki noticed the change in Yukina, her face registered nervousness for the first time. Setting eyes upon Yukina, standing there wide open, she launched a barrage of silver chains that bore down like the rain. Simultaneously, countless chains attacked from every fathomable direction—the sheer volume well beyond what human reaction speed could cope with.
The Fugitive Fourth Primogenitor Page 16
