“A girl has to be emotionally prepared! And my hair is a mess, and these clothes are so cheap—”
“Er… I’m the one who paid for those clothes, you know…”
Celesta’s self-deprecating line was like another wound to Kojou.
“More importantly, are you really all right…? You were hurt so badly…,” she said.
“I’m not all right whatsoever. It hurts everywhere, and my clothes are a mess.”
Kojou tugged on his ripped, shredded parka to demonstrate. There was a huge slice into the collar, and big holes had been burned open in the front and back. It was a miracle that his clothes were holding together at all. He’d rather liked that parka, but he had no choice but to buy a new one.
“S…sorry.”
With Kojou down in the dumps, Celesta quietly spoke to him from behind. The admirable words were so unlike her that Kojou doubted his own ears for a moment.
“Eh?”
“I said I’m sorry! And thank you! For protecting me… That…made me happy…”
Celesta bashfully intertwined the fingers of both her hands as she spoke sulkily in quick succession.
Her downturned expression made Kojou’s eyes open wide as he stared at her. Even after Celesta walked off, the sheer shock of it left Kojou unable to move for a while.
Yukina gazed at Kojou’s face with half-lidded exasperation.
“You seem quite taken by her, senpai… How indecent.”
“I’m not taken, and it ain’t indecent!” Kojou hurriedly insisted, his cheeks unintentionally flushing.
It was a five-minute walk to the pier where the Oceanus Grave II was moored.
No matter how often Kojou saw it, the enormous ship was majestic. Last he knew, part of one deck had been destroyed, but at some point, repairs had been finished, and it looked more dazzling than ever.
It was that stunning viewing deck to which Vattler led Kojou and the others. With the sun behind them at an angle, the vast sky and the water’s horizon spread before them.
And there, dressed in gold-embroidered clothing, an eccentric group awaited them.
They numbered nine in all. All were male, but their ages were all over the place, ranging from white-haired old men to young men barely in their twenties. They must have been VIPs, because they all wore various jewelry and gemstones in addition to the gold embroidery.
The vivid brown color of their skin somehow came off as similar to Celesta.
“What’s with these guys?” Kojou murmured unwittingly.
Yukina, right beside him, replied in a low whisper, “Demons. Probably beast men, I think.”
“Beast men…?! Wait, you don’t mean…”
“Yes. Please be careful, senpai.”
Kojou was shocked as Yukina issued caution. It wasn’t just Angelica Hermida after Celesta. High-end beast men capable of divine bestialization had gone after her first.
With Celesta shuddering, freezing up from fear, Kojou and Yukina stood to each side in a defensive posture. However, as if to mock the pair for their vigilance, Vattler smiled warmly and stated:
“There is no need for concern, Kojou. They are no enemies of yours.”
“…Not enemies…?”
Hearing those words did not immediately put Kojou at ease, especially with Vattler providing the guarantee. But:
“They are descendants of the beast-man priests that governed the ancient Central American city-state of Ciate, one of the world’s oldest beast-man tribes. Incidentally, in their homeland, beast men were revered as servants of the gods.”
“Priests of Ciate, you say…?! Then the god that they worship…would be—”
An ill feeling crept over Kojou. The city-state of Ciate—he remembered that name, part of the information that Asagi had dug up. And the god worshipped by the people of that city was—
“The Deity of Darkness—Zazalamagiu.” Vattler laughed, unable to repress his surge of joy.
Vattler, a battle maniac, could scarcely hope for a better foe than an ancient, dark god that once killed over two million people. He’d spare no effort if it meant fighting such a powerful opponent.
Don’t tell me he’s seriously trying to resurrect a dark god, thought Kojou, fear running up his spine.
“You’ve gotta be kidding me… Zazalamagiu’s a dark god of destruction and disaster, ain’t he?! How the hell are worshippers of his on our side?!”
“As I would expect of you, Kojou. So you knew of Zazalamagiu. However, it seems you have a small misunderstanding.”
“Misunderstanding?”
“Certainly, they are priests that serve Zazalamagiu, but that does not mean they want the dark god to appear—quite the opposite. It is their duty to keep Zazalamagiu sealed, you see. In a city deep in a tropical rain forest, they have continued the ceremonies that have kept the raging god bound for over a millennium, an unsung task unknown to all.” Vattler turned to the priests and asked, “Isn’t that right?”
They nodded in a dignified manner. Apparently, Vattler wasn’t pulling the wool over Kojou’s eyes.
“Zazalamagiu’s true nature is a mass of energy without material form. Just like Itogami Island right here, Ciate existed atop a dragon line nexus. However, due to the nature of the geography, the energy did not flow out, but rather, built up over time. I’m sure you can imagine what would happen if such energy exploded?” Vattler explained in a jovial tone.
Kojou silently nodded.
The energy that flowed from dragon lines was said to bring prosperity to a city. The place Itogami Island had been constructed, floating on the Pacific Ocean far from the mainland, was at such a crossroads between dragon lines atop the ocean.
However, if that power surged to excess, it would invite disaster. At the top of a list was an ancient civilization, a kingdom said to have been destroyed by such dragon line power running amok, sinking into the Atlantic Ocean in a single night.
“I see… So that was the big disaster way back…”
“Yes. But there is one more reason Zazalamagiu is referred to as a dark god. The people of Ciate built a sorcerous device for materializing dragon line energy in their very own temple.”
“Materialize… Wait, what the hell for?!”
“To control the power of the dragon lines. It’s just like our vampire Beast Vassals. Condensed magical energy achieves sentience and takes physical form. And if you can make it take material form, you can control it.”
“Then…what the hell’s with Celesta?” Kojou asked.
If the dark god was really an accumulation of energy from the earth, what did Celesta, a mere human being, have to do with it?
“She is the bride of Zazalamagiu, an individual beloved by the dark god. She embraces the egg of the Deity of Darkness, absorbing dragon line energy, waiting eagerly until it is time to hatch.”
Yukina, standing close to Kojou and continuing to protect Celesta, interrupted with a look of surprise. “Absorbing…dragon line energy…?! Then Your Excellency sent Celesta to Itogami Island because…?!”
“Yes, because this is the place with the strongest dragon line flows in this world. Zazalamagiu’s egg will crumble if it is split off from dragon lines for too long, after all. That would not leave the bride unscathed. Therefore, I had to put her in suspended animation and have her brought to this island.”
Vattler’s mood did not seem particularly dampened as he replied to Yukina.
Kojou remembered the sight of Celesta stuffed into a suitcase. She hadn’t been merely sleeping back then; she’d been put into suspended animation and then revived when she’d arrived at Itogami Island, itself atop dragon lines.
“…Why did you go through all that trouble to get Celesta out of the country?”
Kojou shot Vattler a reproachful look. Vattler’s reply was pure and simple.
“Because there were people after her.”
“What?”
“You’ve seen them yourself, Kojou. The CSA is after Zazalamagiu. Their special forces
attacked the Temple of Ciate, slaying a large number of priests in the process. I had to bring the bride out of the country to ensure her safety.”
“Special forces— You mean that Angelica woman and her people…?”
They were Sorcerous Troopers, with special combat devices embedded into their mechanized flesh. With their combat capabilities, they could probably roll over a beast-man tribe. Celesta’s testimony, that a female soldier had killed the beast men, backed that up.
“What do they want to wake up a dark god for?!”
“The CSA is involved in the civil war within the Chaos Zone. They provide money and arms to the rebel army and stir up the populace. Angelica Hermida is an expert at special operations of that kind.”
“The…Chaos Zone…”
What does that have to do with Celesta? Kojou thought in confusion. A single girl, and the giant issue of a war—the scale of the two were so far apart that Kojou couldn’t connect them.
Vattler gazed at the perplexed Kojou, shaking his head with visible delight.
“But no matter how much backing the CSA gives them, the civil war in the Chaos Zone won’t last for long. After all, the Chaos Bride resides in that nation. At the moment, she’s an amused spectator, but she’ll move immediately if the blood of her citizens is actually shed. That will be the end of the rebel army. Well, it would be a different story if they had a weapon that could take on a vampire primogenitor… Yes, such as…”
Vattler chuckled aloud with a smile rich in implication.
“…Zazalamagiu?! They want to use a dark god as a tool of war…?!” Kojou shouted, scowling.
The disconnected gears in his mind suddenly came together. He ought to have realized it the moment he learned of Angelica Hermida’s identity.
It was only a few days ago that Yukina had wondered if the CSA had gotten its hands on a trump card for opposing the Third Primogenitor. There was probably no being more suitable for taking on a vampire primogenitor than a dark god that had once slaughtered millions.
“An ancient dark god versus the Third Primogenitor—that matchup is rather interesting and eye-catching, but unfortunately, this is not something we can ignore.”
“Damn right!”
Kojou’s fist shook with surging anger that had no outlet. He, too, knew the combat capabilities of Giada Kukulkin, the Third Primogenitor, very well. She was a monster controlling twenty-seven Beast Vassals with destructive power on par with natural disasters. He couldn’t even conceive of the casualties in the surrounding areas if she and Zazalamagiu went toe to toe.
Vattler watched Kojou’s vivid anger and broke into a satisfied smile.
“It seems your thoughts and mine are aligned, Kojou. A fight with a dark god is such a wonderful event. It would be boring to let others handle it.”
“That’s not what I meant! I meant stop the dark god from getting summoned!” Kojou yelled at Vattler, who’d reacted exactly as he had feared.
To vampires bored with long, nigh-eternal life, risking their lives in battle against a powerful opponent was the only supreme pleasure remaining to them. And even among the vampires Kojou knew, Vattler’s urge to do battle was extraordinarily strong—hence, why he was called a battle maniac.
“Hmm. If that is what you think, then it cannot be helped.”
However, Vattler readily accepted Kojou’s assertion, defying the latter’s expectations. Even so, the smile that came over Vattler’s lips was both handsome and cruel.
“But are you really fine with that? Halting the advent of Zazalamagiu means, in other words, killing Celesta Ciate.”
“What…?”
“Celesta Ciate is the icon of Zazalamagiu. So long as she draws breath, the egg of Zazalamagiu will hatch someday. Destructive dragon line energy will accumulate until it reaches that point years, perhaps decades, into the future.”
Kojou was conflicted as Vattler’s blue eyes stared straight at him.
“—But she can be killed as she is now. The effect on the world should be no more than that of a large volcanic eruption. The accumulated divine essence will return to the dragon lines, and the Deity of Darkness will resume its long sleep once more. That is how the priests of Zazalamagiu have kept the god sealed.”
Vattler looked at the line of beast-men priests with visible delight. They listened to the exchange between Vattler and Kojou in silence. Toward Celesta, their eyes reflected reverence, awe—and the clear desire to kill.
Yukina propped up the girl’s back, and Kojou shifted, hiding the two behind his back.
“So they want to kill Celesta…and they wanted to from the start…”
“I suppose so,” Vattler replied in a lighthearted tone. “But you would be wrong to reproach them. They had no other way of controlling the dark god. Besides, being a sacrifice does not necessitate an unhappy life. Every bride in history has died satisfied. Even if that was false happiness created by ritual magic—”
“So that’s why Celesta has no memory…!” Kojou snarled, shielding the quivering girl.
It wasn’t just fear of the attack that had made Celesta’s memories of her past so vague. Celesta’s memories had been stripped from her using ritual magic—by the very same priests who’d protected her.
“I eliminated the CSA forces in the Chaos Zone during the time I had you take care of Celesta Ciate. If the dark god does not appear, the civil war in the Chaos Zone will soon come to an end without the Chaos Bride having to lift a finger. That is why…,” Vattler continued, his amused smile like that of the serpent that tempted the denizens of Eden, “…the rest is up to you, Kojou. Kill Celesta Ciate—and stop the resurrection of the dark god? Or await the advent of the dark god here on Itogami Island? Choose whichever you wish.”
Kojou bit his lip in silence. Celesta’s shoulders shuddered. Her chilly fingertips frailly grasped his sleeve.
“Wait, Vattler…lemme ask one thing. If Zazalamagiu materializes, what happens to the bride…to Celesta?”
Kojou put his faint hopes into the question.
Vattler had called the thing inside Celesta the egg of Zazalamagiu. Egg was probably just an allegory; more likely, it was a magically created proto dark god. The egg, existing in another dimension—higher-planar space—was beyond Kojou’s reach.
However, if the dark god materialized, the so-called egg would cease to be connected to Celesta. If that was the case, and they defeated Zazalamagiu when he descended, they ought to be able to free Celesta—
Vattler smashed Kojou’s fleeting hopes with ease.
“No matter how excellent a spiritualist, she is not a vessel sufficient to accept a god. The bride will be annihilated, unable to endure the impact of Zazalamagiu’s emergence— Well, it is natural to think that. In the first place, I do not think Celesta Ciate’s mind will hold together that long.”
“…Lord…Vattler…”
Vattler’s indifferent reaction elicited a faint trickle of a sound from Celesta. To her, amid loneliness and worry, Vattler’s existence was her final place of refuge. However, Vattler didn’t want Celesta at all; he only wanted the dark god inside her. That fact backed Celesta’s psyche into a corner, opening cracks in the process.
“So that means Celesta dies either way…?”
Kojou desperately sank into contemplation. There has to be another way, he stubbornly believed. Don’t let him fool you, he told himself. There had to be an answer somewhere. An ideal solution—one where the dark god did no damage, yet Celesta lived.
Yukina kept Celesta, trembling with despair, on her feet. Her own fingertips trembled as she clenched her spear.
This was the purging spear, Snowdrift Wolf—able to nullify magical energy and rend any barrier. However, not even her spear could save Celesta. Evil or not, Zazalamagiu was a god, and Snowdrift Wolf, wrought from artificial divine essence, could not negate a real god’s power.
Even so, Kojou desperately continued to speculate.
Something’s fishy about this, his subconscious pleade
d. He understood Angelica Hermida’s objective as well as the true nature of the beast-men priests. Kojou couldn’t think of any motive for Vattler to deceive him on those fronts.
But something tugged at the back of his mind. If the objective of the beast-men priests was to kill Celesta, then who were the beast men that raided Yukina’s apartment…?
Why would they try to capture Celesta alive instead of killing her right there?
If their objective was to keep the dragon lines of their own city from running amok, sending Celesta to a foreign country fulfilled their mission then and there. If anything, it was far better for them if Celesta was to die on foreign soil. They hadn’t killed her—but why?
Maybe returning the favor to Vattler for saving them? Or—
That was when a low, guttural voice echoed from atop the ship.
“No…you are wrong, vampires of foreign lands. It is not so.”
The youngest man among the priests transformed into a beast as he laughed.
An absurd amount of foreign energy spewed from his flesh: divine bestialization. No one seemed to understand his reason for doing so.
“You never had that choice to begin with—”
Vattler was the first he attacked.
With his claw, shrouded by incredible demonic energy, the divine beast gouged the Master of Serpent’s flesh from the back; unable to even look back at the ambush, his upper body broke to pieces. Demonic energy flames burned everything, leaving not even a single scattered cell from his lungs, his heart, or his skull.
“…Vattler?!” Kojou shouted as he witnessed the end of the young aristocrat.
Then Kojou was assaulted, struck by a blow to his side. Another priest had used divine bestialization, mowing Kojou’s body down. The Fourth Primogenitor, his left side deeply gouged, tumbled onto the ship’s deck.
“Senpai?!”
Yukina’s expression contorted in grief. It was all so sudden, even she had been unable to move.
Then—
“N…n…o…oo…ooooooooooooooooo…!”
Celesta let out a wail.
Bride of the Dark God Page 14
