Labyrinth of the Blue Witch

by Gakuto Mikumo

Octavia murmured as a look of envy subconsciously came over her.

  “Yes, truly. I must say, the power of the Blue Witch is great indeed—”

  They’d been lent No. 539 from LCO—but it was not the sisters who were actually controlling it. The Meyer Sisters belonged to First Branch, Philosophy. It was a powerful faction dealing with causality and metaphysics, but it had little interest in spells affecting physics like those for spatial control.

  However, the other witch LCO had dispatched was the actual reader for No. 539. She was the new girl, a specialist in spatial control spells granted the title of Blue Witch.

  Emma smiled as she spoke sourly.

  “Naturally. She’s a witch made and born for this sole purpose, after all. Let us make fine use of her, at least until we find it.”

  Yes—the girl was a disposable tool. She was merely a convenient puppet. A smile came over Octavia as well, like she was flattering her sister. But…

  The next moment, the sisters’ smiles froze like ice. They noticed that cruel bloodlust had been trained upon them.

  Their beautiful eyebrows rose as they turned their heads.

  “Who’s there?!”

  “How dare you sully my work of art with your filthy shoes—!”

  Their previously relaxed demeanor was no longer anywhere to be found.

  An intruder was walking right in, trampling on the ward they had made with a magic circle drawn with fresh blood. He possessed an extraordinary degree of magical power.

  A cloud of miasma arose from the magic circle; a translucent tentacle sprouted out of the cloud.

  It was the Monster of Ashdown they had used to wipe out the Island Guard unit the day before. It was the Meyer Sisters’ Guardian. It had automatically begun to intercept the alien presence it sensed entering past the ward. Countless tentacles rushed toward the intruder, smashing his body flat—

  Or so they thought. That moment, he released an incredible blast that blew the Guardian’s tentacles away.

  The witch sisters’ faces twisted in astonishment.

  “Wha—?!”

  As the ragged pieces of flesh that were once tentacles poured all around, the intruder gave them a frosty glare as he continued walking as if nothing had happened.

  He wore a pure white, three-piece suit. He was a handsome blond, blue-eyed man. Great fangs protruded from his boldly, charmingly smiling mouth.

  “What a pity. I thought I’d let you go if you amused me a little more, but here you are, quietly holed up and buying time. My estimation of the Ashdown Witches has taken quite a hit.”

  “Y-you’re…?!”

  “D-Dimitrie Vattler…?!”

  The witches spoke the man’s name with halting voices. The prestigious name of Dimitrie Vattler, Master of Serpents, an aristocrat of the Warlord’s Empire in Europe, was well-known among LCO operatives, and not only because he was an Old Guard vampire. A lover of conflict, he was a rare breed of combat maniac who would consume even his own vampiric brethren for the sake of his own pleasure. To the demons and witches who operated in Europe, his existence was synonymous with terror.

  Encountering the Master of Serpents in a Demon Sanctuary at the ends of the Earth was the worst digression from the plan imaginable. Easily bored, he might have killed them on the spot out of sheer whim.

  Vattler completely disregarded the existence of the witches as he gave the still-running grimoire a look. But No. 539 only held his interest for a brief moment.

  “So that’s what’s causing spatial anomalies all across Itogami Island…”

  Visibly deflated, Vattler murmured with a simple shrug of his shoulders.

  “Quite some magical power, but you’re using it like a crystal ball, aren’t you? I suppose you’re searching for something precious sealed away inside the Demon Sanctuary. I expected more… What a pity.”

  A wave of dense demonic energy gushed out of his right arm. The interference caused the grimoire to cease functioning.

  Vattler did not do it out of any desire to save Itogami Island. He was merely swatting flies that were annoying him after having flown all that way for nothing. That was all it took for him to smash the Meyer Sisters’ plans there and then. The scarlet witch, quivering in fear until then from the overwhelming irrationality of it all, roared. Emma tried to restrain her sister.

  “Octavia, stop, please!”

  But the scarlet witch had activated her own grimoire the moment she shouted in rage. It was Grimoire No. 193, the abominable text that had brought about the so-called Ashdown Tragedy.

  “Monad has no window, it is only a symbol—!”

  A cloud of miasma gushed out of the magic circle in response to Octavia’s chant. The cloud changed into tentacles once more. However, the color of the tentacles was different from before. This was a repulsive spotted pattern mixing black with scarlet.

  The Guardian’s tentacles were imbued with a special property while receiving magical energy from the grimoire. No. 193’s ability was “Expectant Harmony.” With it, no attack could harm the Guardian, nor could any defense fend off the Guardian’s tentacles.

  Even Dimitrie Vattler had no way to destroy the mottled, now-invincible tentacles. Or so Octavia firmly believed when, a moment later, Vattler’s indifferent voice pierced the scarlet witch’s ear.

  “Takshaka!”

  The next instant, Octavia shuddered at the incredible shock wave the vampire aristocrat unleashed. It was an overwhelming torrent of magical energy that put the output of her grimoire to shame.

  Finally, the torrent took the shape of a giant snake. This was one of the nine Beast Vassals that served Dimitrie Vattler. It was a beast summoned from another world possessing power equal to that of a natural disaster. The great, malevolent serpent, colored green and reaching tens of meters in length, unleashed a beam of light from its eyes, burning the mottled tentacles away.

  It took but an instant. The witch sisters’ Guardian was annihilated; the magic circle drawn with fresh blood was also burned away. Vattler had overcome the ability of Grimoire No. 193 with brute force backed up by his vast demonic power.

  Octavia frailly moaned as Emma supported her from behind.

  “Wha…?”

  She felt like she was watching a nightmare.

  Among all familiars employed by humans engaged in the magical arts, witches’ Guardians were in a class of their own. Put another way, a Guardian was the avatar of a devil, able to fight an ordinary vampire’s Beast Vassals on more than even terms. It was said that support from a grimoire made one able to hold its ground against even an Old Guard vampire. Having seen such a Guardian smashed to pieces before their eyes, the witch sisters completely lost all will to fight. Vattler was simply that much of a monster.

  “I wanted you to struggle a little more, but…ah well. Bye-bye!”

  With a look of obvious disappointment coming over him, Vattler commanded his Beast Vassal to attack.

  To the immortal vampire aristocrat, deadly combat was one of the few pleasures that let him truly feel alive. Vattler preferred that his opponents be powerful. That didn’t mean the mere presence of powerful magical energy; the important part was simple willpower. Vattler highly prized a strong will that would resort to any tactic and any strategy to defy destiny. That was what made the Fourth Primogenitor and the teenage girls around him so exquisite. The Lion King Agency shrine maidens and the princess of Aldegia—what means would they employ to come after Vattler when the time came for him to seriously go after Kojou Akatsuki’s life? Even just the thought of it thrilled him.

  In contrast, these witch sisters had quickly lost their will to fight. Vattler saw no point in letting them live; besides, he wasn’t the type to grant a single shred of mercy to begin with. But—

  Just before the witch sisters were to be swallowed whole, something deflected his Beast Vassal’s attack.

  The corners of Vattler’s lips curled up in apparent delight as he murmured.

  “Oh my.”

  A teenage b
oy wearing a black suit had emerged out of thin air to shield the witch sisters. He was a high school student with a languid face.

  Vattler kept his Beast Vassal on standby as he provocatively asked…

  “You’re…not Kojou. Who are you?”

  The teenager in the black suit had the same face as Kojou. The scent of the blood flowing through him was the same as Kojou’s. However, the air about him was plainly different. It was like someone else was in the driver’s seat.

  And the technique he’d employed was spatial control—the same skill used by the Witch of the Void.

  The youth in the black suit went down on his knees, bowing toward Vattler with deep respect.

  “If you will excuse the intrusion, Duke of Ardeal, my name is Yuuma Tokoyogi, daughter of Aya Tokoyogi, ‘the Witch of Notalia.’”

  “Really,” remarked Vattler, making a charming smile. “So you’re the daughter of LCO’s leader.”

  The Witch of Notalia was the Great Librarian who governed the criminal organization LCO. She was on a completely different level than the Meyer Sisters, who were mere operatives of First Branch.

  However, if he wasn’t mistaken, she’d been captured and remained imprisoned there on Itogami Island.

  She’d been locked away behind the prison barrier inside the Demon Sanctuary.

  “I have borrowed the body of the Fourth Primogenitor to aid me and my brethren in locating the prison ward hidden in the Demon Sanctuary to breach its seal and free my mother. I would ask you to overlook our efforts.”

  Vattler dismissed his Beast Vassal upon hearing Yuuma’s words.

  “So LCO is doing all this to release those locked away in the prison barrier?”

  A welcoming smile came over him.

  The prison barrier was set up to house fiendish demons and sorcerous criminals no normal prison could hope to contain. LCO’s goal was to rescue the Witch of Notalia, the Great Librarian, being held there.

  But breaching the prison barrier surely meant simultaneously letting loose other legendary criminals as well. It was virtually certain the Demon Sanctuary would become a battleground.

  It was an ideal circumstance for Vattler, who craved fighting powerful opponents. Yuuma was simply asking Vattler to let it happen. Vattler also took a liking to the sheer insolence of her conduct.

  Yuuma raised her pleasantly smiling face and took Grimoire No. 539, which had fallen to her feet, into her hands.

  “With the vast magical power of the Fourth Primogenitor and my specialized skills as a witch, even the impregnable prison barrier shall fall. I trust that Your Excellency shall not be bored even if this proves not to be the case.”

  The grimoire, having returned to the hands of its proper master, emitted a glow as the magical power of the Fourth Primogenitor poured into it.

  Vattler smiled as he looked on, ferociously baring his fangs.

  7

  Around that time, Kojou and the others were at a café in a shopping district on the west side.

  The time was just after midday. The district, full of a festive atmosphere, was brimming with stalls and food carts, with the streets jammed with costume-wearing tourists.

  Up on a stage, a Mr. Pretty Girl contest with cross-dressing teenage boys was apparently being held, broadcast live on the side of a building that served as a giant LED screen. Man, if I entered right now I’d win by a mile, thought Kojou ruefully.

  “This pumpkin pudding is quite tasty,” Yukina remarked.

  “I had some of that earlier. The pumpkin pie here is pretty good, too,” Kanon replied. Yukina and Kanon, sitting at the same table, were divvying up the sweets served in a heap atop a large plate. If four people ordered, you had ninety minutes to have all the cake you could eat. Seeing both cosplay-wearing girls eat their sugary food with uncharacteristic vigor tempted him to smile.

  “Would you like some more, Fourth Primogenitor?” Astarte asked Kojou.

  “Yeah…thanks.”

  Kojou made a melancholic sigh as Astarte went to get black tea from the drinks bar.

  “I suggest we add more sweets. Three more orders are necessary before the cake buffet price ceases to exceed the cost of ordering separately at this store’s normal prices.”

  “R-right. In that case, let’s get some chiffon cake and some scones… Hey!”

  Kojou’s voice turned hoarse as he pounded the table out of the blue. Yukina and the others stopped eating in surprise and lifted their faces. Only Astarte continued drinking her black tea at her own pace, her expression unchanged.

  “Why are we chilling out having a cake buffet in a place like this?! We still don’t have a clue what Yuuma stole my body for!”

  “T-true. But the other stores were all full…,” Kanon pointed out.

  “Supplemental. According to an investigation by the Saikai Academy newspaper club, thirty-seven out of forty-two respondents reported they were satisfied with this store’s cake buffet, a highly positive ranking.”

  “Hey, I never said I was complaining about the taste of the food here…!”

  Kojou, still inside Yuuma’s body, clutched his head and groaned. Yukina slid a new offering of cake before him.

  “For the moment, please eat this and calm down.”

  “Dahh!”

  The desperate Kojou grabbed the cake and wolfed it down in one gulp.

  Even that very moment, Yuuma was using Kojou’s body to prepare for some kind of conspiracy. The increase in the frequency of spatial anomalies in the Itogami Island region was proof enough. They still had no idea where Nagisa was, nor did they have any word from Natsuki. It wasn’t the sort of situation that fostered calmness.

  Despite that, Yukina spoke in a composed tone of voice.

  “Even if we went searching for Yuuma, we don’t have any leads. Besides, if the spatial distortions grow even larger, hasty movements are far too dangerous.”

  “Ugh,” went Kojou, at a loss for words. Yukina’s logic was compelling.

  Setting aside Astarte the homunculus, Yukina, a Sword Shaman, and Kanon, carrying the blood of the Aldegian royal family, were both powerful spirit mediums. Both were beings who attracted the spatial distortions. With the inside of Itogami City turned into a labyrinth, recklessly moving around was dangerous.

  Indeed, Kanon had already caught Kojou in a spatial distortion leading to the bath at the Himeragi residence. There was no guarantee it wouldn’t happen again. Of course, it was also possible Kojou’s own magical power had been at fault there, but that wasn’t the point.

  “Besides…I already have a way to break Yuuma’s spell, actually.”

  “Huh?”

  Yukina’s sudden confession left Kojou at a bit of a loss. If you had a convenient way like that, why’d you keep quiet ’bout it till now, he pondered…and then he saw it.

  Yukina’s gaze had shifted onto the silver spear standing beside her.

  “Snowdrift Wolf, huh…?”

  “Yes,” Yukina said with a small nod.

  Her spear could negate magical energy, indiscriminately annihilating any spell or ritual. No matter how powerful Yuuma’s spatial control, so long as it was maintained via a spell, Yukina could no doubt wreck it with one blow. As a result, Kojou’s and Yuuma’s minds would return to their own physical bodies. Apparently, Yukina had realized that and had opted for chilling out with all-you-can-eat cake instead.

  “However, a forced end to such a high-intensity spatial control ritual would result in a proportionate backlash to the caster. Irrevocable nervous system damage could well be inflicted.”

  Kojou looked back at Yukina with a shudder as her frightening words sunk in.

  “Huh?”

  One stab to Yuuma’s body from Snowdrift Wolf would stop Yuuma here and now. But that apparently meant frying Yuuma’s entire nervous system in the process.

  Even if Yuuma was a witch, her body was still that of an ordinary girl. She didn’t have a vampire’s regenerative abilities like Kojou did. If she took that much damage, i
t was pretty much certain she’d die in the process. Even if she did survive, she probably wouldn’t wake up again, ever.

  “W-well, of course we can’t do that!”

  Yukina watched the indignant Kojou as she spoke.

  “Yes. It is a method I wish to avoid if at all possible. If I cannot employ Snowdrift Wolf no matter what, the only option is to target your body with her still inside, senpai. After all, even if you die for a little while you will revive, so that would minimize the backlash to Yuuma’s body.”

  “Hey, wait. Isn’t that predicated on my going through pain enough to kill a guy when I get back to my own body?!”

  Kojou complained while putting his chin in his palms. He didn’t even want to imagine the pain of having his entire nervous system ripped apart, but it couldn’t be helped if they had no other options.

  They were waiting for Yuuma to use Kojou’s body to create an incident.

  When they noticed the incident, they’d rush to the scene. Then Yukina would stab Kojou’s body.

  It was slipshod and unreliable as plans went, but it was equally true that they didn’t have any better ideas. Apparently, eating cake, waiting, and hoping was the best they could do at the moment.

  Yukina haltingly murmured, seemingly in an effort to comfort the sullen Kojou.

  “Um, this is just my feeling, but I don’t think Yuuma will use your body in a destructive manner. After all, Yuuma trusts you, as shown by her leaving her body in your hands.”

  Kojou made a small, pained smile at Yukina’s clumsy attempt to console him.

  “…Suppose so.” Her intuition probably ain’t wrong, he thought.

  Kojou didn’t know why Yuuma had stolen his body. Even so, surely Yuuma had no intention of hurting him. It was a baseless assumption, but even now, Kojou trusted Yuuma at least that much. She was, after all, his friend.

  Kanon, silently listening to the conversation at that point, watched the side of Kojou’s face as she spoke.

  “I don’t really know the circumstances, but I’d like you to return to your normal self…”

  As if somewhat bashful, she lowered her eyes and added in a small voice…