“Why, you…?!”
Kojou’s look became grave as he snarled. He didn’t think she was some innocent bystander if she knew Natsuki Minamiya’s alias.
“Senpai, please, get back…!”
Yukina drew her silver spear and raised her guard.
If the woman had used sorcerous means to suddenly appear, chances were high she’d used a teleportation spell or something along those lines. If so, chances were equally high that she was a formidable foe on par with Natsuki Minamiya.
Yukina glared, defensive against any kind of sorcerous sneak attack. However, the woman did not employ any spell. In a dignified voice, she merely levied a command Yukina’s way.
“Stand aside, Yukina Himeragi—”
That instant, the Sword Shaman’s entire body shuddered as if struck by an electric jolt. The tip of her spear, pointed toward the woman, swayed heavily from bewilderment and fear.
“That voice… You cannot be…!”
Yukina was petrified as the woman ignored her question, shifting her gaze.
Concealed behind the veil, the woman’s lips loosened into a slender smile as she stated:
“It is a pleasure to meet you, Fourth Primogenitor. I am called Koyomi Shizuka, one of the current Three Saints of the Lion King Agency.”
“…Three Saints…of the Lion King Agency?!”
Kojou’s level of wariness rose by leaps and bounds when he grasped just who this dignified girl was. With Kojou on the verge of leaving Itogami Island, there was only one reason someone from the Lion King Agency, besides Yukina, would appear. She stood before Kojou as his enemy.
The woman in the priestess outfit stated calmly, “Unfortunately, by unanimous decision of the Lion King Agency, I have come to bind you to this soil.”
“Senpai! She’s dangerous—get away from—!”
“Flee, Kojou Akatsuki!”
Yukina and Kiriha shouted simultaneously.
For her part, Yukina thrust her silver spear into the ground, deploying a magic-nullifying defense ward around them. Kiriha leaped out of Kojou’s arms and deployed her gray forked spear.
The next moment, the world was governed by silence once more.
Kiriha’s body was sent flying as if struck by an invisible maul.
Pure-white sand scattered all about as Yukina collapsed to the ground.
Then Kojou was slammed into the concrete water-break hard enough to half bury him in it.
“Wha…?”
Kojou coughed, a large amount of thick blood pouring out of his throat.
Meanwhile, sound returned to the world.
Kojou didn’t know what had happened. What he did know was that this was a completely different kind of attack than any normal spell. It wasn’t like Natsuki’s teleportation. The fact that the woman called Paper Noise had not walked a single step was proof enough.
It wasn’t that time had stopped. It wasn’t that she’d moved it frame by frame. It was more like…
…she was able to insert time that shouldn’t exist, anytime and anywhere she wished—
Paper Noise.
“Please forgive me—”
At some point, Paper Noise had moved in front of Kojou. She held a silver spear in her right hand.
This was the secret weapon of the Lion King Agency that had rightfully been in Yukina’s hands mere moments ago. In the hands of Paper Noise, Snowdrift Wolf—the primogenitor-slaying holy spear—glowed with a dazzling pure-white light.
Then, without any hesitance, without a sound, she swung that spear downward.
Gently, under afternoon rays of sun like those of midsummer, silence befell Itogami Island—
Afterword
Once again, there was a bit of a delay after the publication of the prior volume. It’s been a while. Well, one way or another, Strike the Blood, Vol. 11 has finally made it to the shelves.
This volume has a fugitive theme to it, finally escaping the confines of Itogami Island. In a sense, Kojou has been protected by the Demon Sanctuary’s safety net to date, but now that he must venture outside it, the circumstances around him will undergo heavy changes whether he likes it or not.
Those once considered allies suddenly turn into foes, or perhaps one ends up fighting side by side with former enemies. In hindsight, the peculiarities of the Demon Sanctuary were set in stone, so I was like It’d be nice to show off a new Strike the Blood world, and a meandering plan was formed.
To symbolize the various difficulties that Kojou and others must confront in the days to come, I first had to make someone unexpected stand before them as an enemy… That was the premise under which I used Natsuki, and really, it was fun to put her to work—she’s so powerful that she hasn’t had much screen time. I also wanted to portray Asagi’s domestic environment, and I even managed to bring Kiriha back into the picture. From here, I’ll be freshly portraying that which awaits Kojou and crew on the mainland from the next volume onward. Expect great things.
By the time this book hits stores, I believe the last volume of the Blu-ray and DVD of the Strike the Blood anime will be on sale. Every volume comes with a novella I’ve written under the title of Strike the Blood APPEND.
The first to fourth volumes form one collection, The Right Arm of the Saint (Cont.)—The Dollmaker’s Legacy, and the fifth to eighth form Saikou Festival’s Morning and Night, a school festival story. When working on the Strike the Blood series, I’ve had unexpectedly few chances to write short stories, so personally speaking, I had a lot of fun writing them. One way or another, I wrote nearly enough for two stand-alone books, so I’d be happy if you picked them up when you have the chance.
Now that I’m taking a breather from all the anime-related work, I hope I can get my book publication pace fully back in order. I ask for your best regards moving forward.
Thanks as always to Manyako for handling illustrations and to TATE-sensei for handling the comic version in Monthly Comic Dengeki Daioh.
And let me express my gratitude to everyone related to the creation and distribution of this book from the bottom of my heart.
Of course, all of you who have read this book have my unreserved gratitude.
I hope to see you again in the next volume.
Gakuto Mikumo
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The Fugitive Fourth Primogenitor Page 18
