“Huh…?!”
“You don’t need to be that surprised, sheesh. It went off somewhere for a little while, but it’s been on its way back, right? I think you should be able to see it with the naked eye by now—”
“…”
Kojou silently shifted his gaze in the direction of the harbor. From his current location, he couldn’t see the harbor due to Keystone Gate being in the way. However, what about the view from the restaurant on the topmost floor of the building Kojou and company were at just a little earlier…?
It was surely a fair distance from there to the harbor, but still—
“Don’t tell me she saw Vattler’s ship…? What kind of eyesight does that girl have…?”
Murmuring this, Kojou hung up. He heard Asagi’s protesting voice for one last moment, but he didn’t have any time to care.
Kojou was the one who’d told Celesta about the Oceanus Grave II. It seemed plausible that, noticing Vattler’s return, Celesta was rushing to his side without a thought to the consequences. From her perspective, Vattler was an individual worth hurrying for—and in the first place, beyond Kojou and the others, he was the only person on the island she could rely on.
Right around then, Kojou and Yukina saw Kanon and Astarte running toward them. Both were out of breath, probably from running around searching for Celesta.
“—Sorry, you two. We probably know where Celesta is. Kanase, Astarte, can you head home now? We’ll be in touch when things settle down.”
Having said this, Kojou brought his hands together toward the pair.
In reality, they didn’t actually know where Celesta was. Even narrowing it down to the harbor left a wide area to search, and to start with, they had no proof Celesta was really headed there. Nonetheless, he’d decided he could not expose Kanon and the others to further danger.
With Kojou in that pose, Kanon lifted Nina up and presented her to him.
“Um, I’d like you to let us help…just a little more. I believe the director might be helpful.”
“Nina…?”
Kojou stared at Nina’s little body with a half-doubting look. He didn’t think the liquid-metal doll not even thirty centimeters tall would be much help at that point. A look of incomprehension came over Nina, perhaps wondering why Kanon would say such a thing.
“It’s all right,” Kanon said, smiling. “Miss Celesta put on a ring made of Wiseman’s Blood, so I believe the director should be able to find out where she has gone.”
“…Ohh!” Nina exclaimed, snapping her fingers in admiration. “I see.”
Wait, you didn’t even realize it, Kojou wearily thought as he looked down at the self-proclaimed Great Alchemist of Yore.
5
Celesta Ciate was standing on a pier outside the harbor.
She was wearing leather sandals and a colorful, embroidered dress. Her trademark honey-colored hair was flapping in the strong ocean breeze.
She leaned over a rusted railing as she gazed absentmindedly at a ship floating in the bay. It was an extraordinarily large, privately owned cruise ship, the Oceanus Grave II—if the words of Kojou Akatsuki proved true, Dimitrie Vattler would be aboard.
I want to meet Dimitrie Vattler, she had thought. He is the savior who rescued me from despair in that blood-drenched temple. But…I don’t want to meet him, she also reflected. I feel like, if I meet him, everything will come to an end. All of this tranquility, like a brief, happy dream—
“Celesta—!”
Kojou called her name. With annoyance, Celesta looked over her shoulder in the direction of the voice. Kojou, out of breath from running, saw for himself that Celesta was all right, so he stopped, seemingly exhausted of strength. Yukina, standing still at his side, took a handkerchief out and began meticulously wiping his sweat-covered brow. They’re acting intimate even in a public place, thought Celesta, twitching an eyebrow.
She’d figured they’d probably catch up eventually, but it had been much faster than she’d anticipated.
They’ve probably been looking for me pretty desperately. Grudgingly, she could not fail to acknowledge that this made her just a little bit happy, but she covered up that emotion with a glare at Kojou.
“What did you come for?! Are you a stalker?! You really are a pervert, aren’t you?!” she accused.
“Oh, shut up! What do you think you’re doing?! Running off on your own like that—what would you do if you couldn’t meet Vattler, huh?!”
Kojou replaced Celesta’s barbs with one of his own.
“Th-that doesn’t have anything to do with you!”
“Like hell it doesn’t, idiot.”
“I-idiot…?! Did you just call me an idiot…?!”
“I’m here because I want to save you! Come with us already!”
“What the hell?! That doesn’t make sense!”
Celesta continued giving Kojou an annoyed glare, even while feeling overwhelmed by his unnerving bluster. However, he did not avert his eyes.
Finally, Celesta seemed to relent, her cheeks puffing up in a pout as she belatedly murmured, “I remembered.”
“Ah?”
“Memories from before Lord Vattler rescued me. Just a little, though.”
“Then that means…”
Kojou broke off what he was going to say halfway. He knew that Celesta’s last memory had been of someone trying to kill her in that temple.
“They…abducted me from my village and took me to a run-down temple deep in the forest. They meant to use me as a sacrifice.”
Celesta put her fragmented memories into words.
The silhouette of the Oceanus Grave II had triggered the return of her memories. She’d seen the ship once before, probably right before being transported to Itogami Island after the tragedy at the temple.
“By them, you mean the beast men? Zazalamagiu worshippers?” Kojou asked belligerently.
However, Celesta shook her head. “You’re wrong… Those were the people…trying to protect me…”
“…What?!”
“The people trying to sacrifice me were…soldiers. A woman…was giving them orders.”
Celesta closed her eyes as she remembered the scene.
A large number of beast men had gathered at the temple to rescue the kidnapped Celesta. Then they were killed—by soldiers bearing modern equipment and using bizarre tactics.
If Dimitrie Vattler had not appeared at that moment, the beast men would have certainly been annihilated, and then Celesta would have been killed, too: offered as a sacrifice to a dark god—
“A woman…? Soldiers…?”
Celesta’s confession shocked Kojou. His reaction was so intense that it confused her.
“Wait, don’t tell me it was that Angelica Hermida chi—”
With a sober expression, Kojou pressed Celesta further, and the next moment…
“—Senpai!”
With a ram to his side, Yukina shoved Kojou—hard.
Kojou, having no clue what was going on, was bowled over on the spot. Then, with incredible force, something sailed just past him into the area he’d stood but a moment before.
Concrete fragments blew into the air, scattering as far as fifteen meters from where they’d been standing.
He’d taken gunfire—from a faraway sniper.
“Himeragi?! Was that—?”
Kojou got up, whipping his head around in astonishment.
“We are surrounded! But…when did they…?!”
Yukina drew her spear from the case on her back. However, before she could deploy her weapon, several figures appeared around Kojou and the others: a woman and two men. They were probably all foreigners.
Though they wore plain gray clothing, the pair of men oddly stood out. Both men had shaved heads and were nearly two meters tall. One had a beard, and the other wore a sunglasses-shaped device over both of his eyes.
For her part, the woman’s appearance stood out even more than the men’s. She had a tall, model-like figure and an artificial kind of
beauty. Even though she wore an extravagant, fur-trimmed coat, Kojou could tell that it concealed a well-honed physique underneath.
The woman drew a compact submachine gun from under her coat.
Even to Yukina, possessing Spirit Sight that allowed her to glimpse an instant into the future, the submachine gun’s high rate of fire was a grave menace. The woman, well aware of that, trained the barrel onto Yukina. The failure of the initial sniping attack had allowed her to accurately assess Yukina’s capabilities.
“Don’t move, any of you.”
The woman spoke in fluent Japanese. The instant Kojou lowered his posture, seemingly about to come punching, she riddled the ground in front of his toes with several bullets.
It took a few moments for it to sink in that the woman had aimed and shot instantly. Her shooting was fearsomely quick and highly accurate.
“That was a warning. The next shots won’t miss.”
The woman calmly continued to speak in a businesslike tone, neither a bluff nor intimidation, simply stating a fact.
“You’re…Angelica Hermida?” Kojou glared.
“Hmph.” The woman narrowed her eyes in displeasure. “To think someone in the Far East Demon Sanctuary would know my name… It would seem you are no mere civilian.”
“So you are,” Kojou said, accepting the fact.
Angelica Hermida had probably been monitoring Kojou and the others for a good while. Perhaps they’d been looking for the right time to abduct Celesta. However, their plans had changed, and they’d come after the girl hastily. That was because Kojou had spoken Angelica Hermida’s name.
Now that he knew her identity, the odds were high that he would take some sort of countermeasure against her. She had no doubt thought, if that were the case, better to execute the abduction of Celesta before such preparations were in place.
Though truthfully, Kojou was in no position to stop her, having no idea who or what Angelica Hermida was, but—
“Well, fine. We have but one demand. Hand over Celesta Ciate. I wish to avoid unnecessary combat. I would be grateful if you simply complied,” Angelica stated.
Kojou bit his lip. They were facing three opponents, all armed with guns. Even with Yukina’s combat capabilities, it was impossible to take them on and protect Celesta.
The Sword Shaman was an expert in anti-demon combat. The gear the Lion King Agency had provided her was intended solely for fighting demons. Fighting trained soldiers was outside her expertise.
If Kojou used his Beast Vassals, it was probably possible to overcome the predicament, but he didn’t think Angelica Hermida would just stand by and watch until he finished summoning one; more likely, they’d turn him into Swiss cheese the instant he moved to summon one. They were between a rock and a hard place.
“What do you…plan to do with Celesta?”
Kojou, backed into a corner, spoke in a wrung-out, broken voice. However, all he received in return was Angelica’s scornful gaze.
“We’re the ones asking the questions.”
“…What?!”
“I’ll say it once more. Hand over Celesta Ciate.”
Kojou silently shifted his gaze and looked at the expression on Celesta, who stood right beside him. What hovered in Celesta’s eyes was pure fear toward Angelica and the others.
The instant Kojou saw that, his resolve hardened. No, he’d decided long before: The whole reason he’d chased after Celesta was to keep her from making a face like that.
“I don’t wanna.”
Kojou boldly smiled as he spoke. That was his answer at that moment, and probably, too, the answer Yukina hoped to hear—
“Is that so? A pity.”
Without fanfare, Angelica Hermida waved her left hand—not the right one holding the submachine gun, but the left, purportedly holding nothing.
In that instant, a giant, invisible blade swung down on Kojou and Yukina.
Yukina blocked the unseen slash with her silver spear. Angelica’s blade, woven from magical energy, dissipated as soon as it came into contact with the magic-nullifying Snowdrift Wolf.
However, even Snowdrift Wolf could not erase the kinetic energy from Angelica’s slash. The recoil from warding the blow sent Yukina flying several meters nearby before she somehow landed on her feet.
Kojou, however, had been unable to evade or block Angelica’s attack.
“—Senpai?!”
Yukina’s breath caught when she saw Kojou stagger.
Then, before her very eyes, fresh blood gushed from Kojou’s neck.
A deep gash ran from his left shoulder down to his right flank.
It was as if a giant ax had chopped into him, with the wound running all the way to Kojou’s back.
“Noooooooooooo—!”
A scream gushed out of Celesta’s mouth.
Then, Kojou slowly fell to the ground.
CHAPTER FOUR
THE INCUBATOR
1
“Guh-oh…!”
Globs of blood poured out from Kojou’s throat. With his legs drained of strength, he fell to both knees.
The ferocious pain alone made his entire body’s nerves feel like they were set ablaze. His vision was completely dyed crimson.
“Kojou!!”
Caring nothing of sullying her freshly bought clothes, Celesta crouched down at Kojou’s side. It was thanks to her that Kojou barely managed to remain lucid. Using what little sensation remained to him, Kojou pressed his right hand against the wound. I’m all right, he said, showing her a fierce smile.
“That attack…?!”
Yukina, mindful of Kojou’s wounds, was unable to make a move. Both her hands were going numb as they gripped the silver spear. Even Yukina’s Spirit Sight had been unable to detect the invisible slash. Furthermore, its force was in a completely different league than a mere thrown weapon such as a knife. It was a heavy attack, reminiscent of a guillotine blade falling upon the necks of the condemned.
“Ho… So you blocked my blade. Not bad at all for a civilian.”
Without giving Yukina any time to think, Angelica unleashed her slashing attack once again.
Naturally, even Yukina could not completely parry the unseen attack. Snowdrift Wolf’s barrier had its hands full blocking the demonic energy of the blade. The undiluted impact of the blow sent her body flying once more. Though her movements softened the blow, the wear and tear was piling up all over her body.
Her managing to avoid taking lethal damage in spite of that was due to her experience facing a foe using a very similar technique. Angelica’s invisible slash felt like it shared traits with the attack called Thunder Ax. However, this one was a step above in might, with enough destructive power that one hit could put even Kojou, the Fourth Primogenitor, out of commission.
“—Bouiller, Mathis. Secure Celesta Ciate. I’ll play with this little girl a bit,” Angelica Hermida ordered to the two men working under her.
Though the word play rubbed Yukina the wrong way, the cruelty in Angelica’s eyes betrayed no joy from making light of Yukina. All she was radiating was pure, undiluted killing intent.
Her thought process was simple. Angelica saw Yukina, able to block her unseen slash, as an irregular variable impeding the completion of her mission. Therefore, Angelica would eliminate her then and there. Furthermore, she left no openings whatsoever. She was a different kind of opponent than any Yukina had faced before.
“Roger.”
Angelica’s men approached Celesta from both the left and the right. Their movements showed no carelessness. However, they were wary only of Yukina, still combat capable, and of Celesta running away.
Kojou had already sustained lethal damage. It was practically a miracle that he was still conscious. Even beast men with tenacious life forces or Old Guard vampires could not continue fighting in that condition. Their judgment was based on their abundant combat experience. That was the only thing left that Kojou could count on.
“Like hell you will—”
“�
�K-Kojou?!”
Before Celesta’s shocked eyes, Kojou transformed the left side of his body into mist.
Kojou took his arm, now a mass of mist, and slammed it into the ground. That instant, the ground he’d touched also transformed into insubstantial mist. Having lost their footing, the men tried to instantly leap back.
But the indiscriminate mist Kojou had unleashed was far quicker.
“Take a bath in the ocean, fellas—! C’mon over, Natra Cinereus!”
A giant, hazy silver shadow emerged behind Kojou.
Natra Cinereus, fourth of the Beast Vassals serving the Fourth Primogenitor, governed the vampire ability to transform into mist. However, its ability applied not only to Kojou himself, but to all matter around him. Also, there was no guarantee that anything it turned into mist would ever return to its prior state. It was a destructive, troublesome Beast Vassal, well suited to the Fourth Primogenitor, destruction incarnate.
Once, when Kojou had been wounded, the Beast Vassal had run amok on its own to transform a part of Kojou’s body into mist. That was why Kojou had taunted Angelica and eaten her attack.
He’d let his own body be wounded, and his own Beast Vassal run wild. Backed into a corner, that was the only plan left to him. But…
“A vampire! Tch, Boland—!”
Angelica Hermida shouted into a transmitter implanted in her head. A moment later—
“—Gah?!”
On the verge of his counterattack, Kojou rolled to the ground, fresh blood gushing out.
A large hole had been gouged out of his torso, completely obliterating his heart.
The blow instantly made Kojou’s mind go blank for a moment, releasing his Beast Vassal from its summons. The mist-transformed ground became matter once more, though warped and twisted like hardened lava.
“The sniper?! Oh no—?!” Yukina exclaimed when she saw Kojou’s wound.
Angelica Hermida had one last subordinate. He’d taken aim at Kojou with a sniper rifle from the top of a lighthouse some distance away. And at Angelica’s command, he’d accurately blown away Kojou’s heart, and nothing else. His sniping skill was terrifying.
Kojou had only transformed the left half of his body into mist. His right half had remained solid to shield Celesta from being turned into mist herself. They’d taken advantage of that weakness.
Bride of the Dark God Page 12
