Strike the Blood - Volume 10 - Chapter 4

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. 

“Gu…oh…!” 

Having lost his heart, Kojou could no longer even stand. He desperately tried to remain sitting up, but lifting his head was all he could manage. With Kojou in that state, the bearded man went on the offensive. He stripped a glove off his right hand—a stark, metallic prosthetic. 

“That was a hit, Boland! I’ll handle the rest—” 

The man turned the palm of his false hand toward Kojou’s head. There was a gun barrel embedded in the center of the palm. At that range, there was no way to escape being shot. And if his head was completely crushed, even the healing ability of the Fourth Primogenitor would surely require considerable time to revive him. Even if Kojou returned to life, he could protect Celesta no more. 

“—?!” 

A roar rang out as a searing blast grazed Kojou’s cheek. 

However, it was not Kojou who was blown away, but rather, the man pointing the gun barrel at him. 

“Irrlicht!” 

Together with the cold reverberation of the young man’s voice, a giant bird of prey emerged, surrounded by a ray of light. From the sky far above the harbor, the huge creature, its wingspan reaching several meters, blew away the man with the prosthetic hand that was below it. 

Though the man escaped a direct hit by a hair’s breadth, the ground at his feet was scorched at very high temperature, instantly melting. 

The bird of prey was a vampire’s Beast Vassal—a mass of flame reaching tens of thousands of degrees Celsius. 

“That Beast Vassal’s…?!” 

Kojou and Celesta gazed in astonishment at the unfamiliar Beast Vassal appearing right before their eyes. 

The man who appeared at their side had a handsome face reminiscent of a cold, sharpened blade. 

“A disgraceful sight, Kojou Akatsuki—” 

The young man looked down at the fallen, bloodstained Kojou, speaking with visible scorn. Kojou knew that face well. 

“Tobias Jagan?! What are…you doing here…?!” 

“Orders from His Excellency, Vattler. I have been monitoring these people from Zenforce. It seems the protection of Celesta Ciate really is too much for the likes of you.” 

Jagan waved his right hand. The incandescent raptor transformed into a beam, racing a distance of several hundred meters to destroy the lighthouse at the end of the pier—the lighthouse where the sniper who’d shot Kojou was lurking. 

“Zenforce…?” 

“CSA special forces. They’re too tough for you. If you understand that, stay there crawling on the ground like a worm and behave yourself! Anmauth!” 

Leaving the sniper to the raptor, Jagan summoned a new Beast Vassal. 

This was a steel-colored, humanoid ape reaching a total of four to five meters in height. It was a steel golem, taking physical form via dense demonic energy. It swung down both arms, resembling giant steel clumps, at the man with the prosthetic hand, carving the ground. 

The man with the prosthetic glared at Jagan, controller of the Beast Vassal, smiling with obvious delight. 

“A subordinate of Dimitrie Vattler? I’m grateful.” 

“Grateful…you say?” 

“Taking on a civilian brat was making me feel bad. But I can kill a Warlord’s Empire aristocrat with a clean conscience!” 

“Cease your prattle, brute!” 

Jagan’s expression twisted into anger, perhaps from sensing an air of contempt from the man’s words. As he did so, the man with the prosthetic vanished before him. He’d leaped with such incredible speed not even a vampire’s quick reflexes could keep up. 

The attacker appeared behind Jagan and opened fire. 

Jagan was too slow to evade it. However, a moment before the shells fired at him would have ripped his body apart, the golem standing beside them reached out with a steel arm, intercepting all the bullets. 

“I see… You’ve fused magic objects with cybernetics. You’re the Sorcerous Troopers the CSA is so proud of.” 

Even seeing the incredible physical capabilities of the man with the prosthetic brought no major change in Jagan’s expression; it grew a little sharper, but that was all. 

“But your brain’s still human, isn’t it? Wadjet!” 

Jagan’s crimson eyes unleashed a ghastly, demonic light. This was the glow of the invisible Beast Vassal he had dubbed Wadjet. It invaded the minds of those whose eyes he met, taking them over— 

“Mathis—!” 

Realizing the nature of Jagan’s attack, the man with a sunglasses device over both eyes called out the name of his comrade. However, the man with the prosthetic did not respond. Jagan’s Beast Vassal had already seized control of his will. 

Jagan’s opponent did not move when the steel golem went to strike him. 

It was an attack from which there was absolutely no escape. However, the man with the prosthetic hand just barely evaded the lethal attack. His movements were unnatural, like those of a marionette manipulated by unseen strings. 

“Tch…automated evasion, is it?!” 

The mechanical body of the man with the false hand had evaded Jagan’s attack independently of the man’s own will. Jagan clicked his tongue as he realized this. 

The man in sunglasses moved, taking advantage of the opening Jagan had left. The flesh over both his shoulders tore open, exposing the magical devices embedded within. The bizarre devices were like countless vertical metal plates arranged sideways. 

“You were careless, Count Jagan—” 

The man’s magical devices, resembling radiator fins, unleashed a vivid, rainbow-colored shimmer. The ground touched by that shimmer was charred instantly. 

The magical devices produced an incandescent luster to eliminate their target, turning it to ash. Kojou didn’t understand how it worked, but there was no doubt it was a magical device built for the sole purpose of killing demons. 

“Ugh…” 

The unexpected force of the sunglasses man’s attack made Jagan twitch. He hadn’t thought that special forces soldiers, not even sorcerers in their own right, would employ offensive magic to that extent. Compatibility and magical energy of no small measure were required to activate powerful magical devices. Apparently, they’d cleared that limitation through paying the cost of mechanizing their own flesh and blood. 

But by the time he understood that, it was too late. Taking advantage of Jagan’s momentary lowering of his guard, the shimmering attack’s large radius left him no room to flee. The rainbow-colored radiance enveloped Jagan— 

Or so the sunglasses man thought, when a giant thunderbolt appeared without warning, transforming into the form of a dazzling lion. The lightning lion dispersed the rainbow-colored shimmer, saving Jagan. 

“Regulus Aurum!” 

On one knee, Kojou had summoned a new Beast Vassal. 

His destroyed heart had already regenerated. Properly speaking, rather than an actual heart, it was more like an insubstantial pacemaker built out of a mass of demonic energy, but if it let him move his body, it was good enough for him. 

His severed left shoulder had somehow finished reattaching. It wasn’t perfect, but he could fight—the product of the super-healing ability, akin to a curse, that vampire primogenitors possessed. 

“Kojou Akatsuki, why you—!” 

“I’m…returning the favor from earlier, Jagan…,” Kojou announced triumphantly. 

Jagan trembled in humiliation, shooting a glare at Kojou. 

“How absurd! I did not require your aid! You’re just in my way!” 

“Not only are you all talk, but you’re a sore loser, too…” 

Fresh blood trickled down Kojou’s lips as he replied in kind. The wounded state of the Fourth Primogenitor’s body made controlling a Beast Vassal a heavy burden, after all. Still, Kojou’s and Jagan’s Beast Vassals had disrupted the cohesion of Angelica’s unit. 

“Senpai!” 

The Beast Vassal’s high temperature caused Angelica to lose sight of Yukina, who seized the opportunity to rush to Kojou’s side. 

“…You’re okay, Himeragi…?” 

“Yes, I am. But at this rate, your endurance will—” 

Yukina propped up the wounded Kojou. Without a word, Celesta lent Kojou her own shoulder. 

Controlling the overly powerful Beast Vassals of the Fourth Primogenitor took an incredible toll on Kojou’s endurance. If combat became prolonged, the heavily wounded Kojou would be at an overwhelming disadvantage. Worst case, his Beast Vassal might become uncontrollable and run wild, potentially placing Yukina and Celesta in danger. 

“Mathis, can you move?” 

With one man drawing off the Beast Vassals, Angelica was getting her unit back on its feet. The man with the prosthetic hand, robbed of his mind by Jagan’s attack, had rebooted, regaining his sanity. 

“I’m all right, Major. The proxy bought it, but it’s not a problem.” 

“Very good. Team up with Bouiller and take down the vampires. Boland and I will handle the Beast Vassals.” 

“Roger—” 

Accepting Angelica’s instructions, the male duo began moving against Kojou and the others once more. 

Fear crept into Kojou’s face. Thanks to Jagan’s timely aid, their forces were more equal, but protecting Celesta put heavy restrictions on how Kojou could move. And if they took an attack that threatened to envelop Celesta, Kojou had no option besides shielding her with his body. Understanding this, Angelica’s subordinates shifted to a position from which they could aim at Kojou and the others in confidence. 

Then, in confusion, they stopped moving, because Celesta had acted contrary to expectations. 

“Wait—” 

She walked forward, spreading her arms wide as if to shield Kojou and the others. The men could not launch their attacks out of fear of a direct hit on her. 

“Stop this! I’m the one you’re after, right?! Then—” 

“Celesta! Come back!” 

“Celesta, you mustn’t!” 

Kojou went after Celesta with his wounded body. Yukina simultaneously leaped after her. 

“Do it.” 

Seeing that both were defenseless and in their line of fire, Angelica gave her men the order to attack. The man with the prosthetic turned his gun toward them. Then— 

“Nuoo?!” 

It was the man with the false hand who groaned in agony from being riddled with automatic weapons fire. The unanticipated barrage came from atop the ocean. The large-caliber machine gun’s barrage traveled faster than the speed of sound. They finally heard the gunfire after a brief delay. 

“What…?!” 

Angelica Hermida looked over her shoulder. 

The person manning the machine gun was a woman aboard a small motorboat. She was a young woman wearing yellow-colored “camouflage” that really, really stood out. The woman piloting the boat was wearing blue camo fatigues that were just as noticeable. Both had shockingly good looks. 

“Enemy reinforcements? The so-called Island Guard? No…” 

Angelica’s eyes narrowed when she noticed new figures coming onto the pier. 

The two girls moving to encircle Angelica and her men were teens wearing white and black camouflage, respectively. She didn’t think they were proper guardsmen, but nor were they mere civilians. Their movements were clearly those of trained soldiers. They were probably equal to Angelica’s unit if judged by training level alone. 

“Lord Fourth Primogenitor~~. Are you all riiiight?” 

The last to land was a girl in crimson clothes. She was carrying a giant weapon embellished with urban camouflage. 

“Th…they’re…!” 

Kojou murmured in abject shock when he realized just who the mysterious girls were. They were the Maid Brigade from the Oceanus Grave II. 

Though he was calling them maids in his mind, they weren’t actually servants; rather, they were the daughters of royalty and key ministers born in nations bordering the Warlord’s Empire. He’d heard that they were originally handed over to Dimitrie Vattler as “hostages” to ensure the safety of their home nations. However, Vattler’s fetish was not hostages or women but combat, so he’d ended up treating the girls as simple guests. 

As a result, with an abundance of free time, the girls had done as they’d pleased, attempting to seduce Kojou to move up in the world, and had become famous on video-sharing websites, even transferring to Saikai Academy, but— 

“A guided missile launcher?!” 

Angelica’s lips trembled with dismay when she looked at the weapon the girl in red camouflage was carrying. Sorcerous Troopers could withstand attacks on the level of rifle bullets with ease, but even they could not shrug off hits from heavy machine guns and missiles. Fighting all that firepower in addition to fending off two noble-class vampires put them at a disadvantage. 

“Tch.” 

Further combat would be fruitless. Judging this, Angelica Hermida instantly revised her tactical objective. 

Namely, from annihilating the enemy to capturing her target. 

Trusting in the speed of her machine-enhanced flesh, she would secure Celesta Ciate, who was standing still in a daze, and flee. It was probably possible to shake off enemy pursuit, using her two subordinates as sacrificial pawns if need be. 

Having calculated all that in an instant, Angelica lowered her center of gravity, preparing to accelerate. A moment later— 

“Oh, no, you don’t. I won’t let you take her, Angelica Hermida.” 

Suddenly, the ground around Celesta Ciate was set ablaze. 

Angelica clenched her teeth when she realized the density of the demonic energy packed into those flames. An amber Beast Vassal of burning lava coiled around Celesta, apparently to protect her. Naturally, even Angelica didn’t think she could leap into molten magma and recover the girl alive. 

“Dimitrie Vattler—,” Angelica murmured when she caught sight of the man controlling the new Beast Vassal. 

Enveloped by golden mist, a blond, blue-eyed vampire appeared at the end of the pier. Wearing a three-piece all-white suit, a handsome smile came over him as he gazed at Angelica. 

“Retreat. Boland, cover us.” 

Angelica Hermida ordered her subordinates before leaping away herself. Landing on the rooftop of a warehouse outside the harbor, she vanished from Kojou’s sight. The men under her had already finished pulling out, too. Seeing that the enemy had completely bugged out, Kojou released his Beast Vassal from its summons. 

Relief came with the simultaneous return of pain over his entire body, and Kojou collapsed on the spot once more. 

“Aww… Is it over already?” 

The girl in the red camouflage suit lowered the missile launcher, having lost her opportunity to let it loose. 

2 

One of Vattler’s subordinates must have set up a person-repelling barrier. In spite of combat that extravagant, there was no sign of the Island Guard rushing to the pier. Or perhaps Angelica Hermida’s people had interrupted communications or taken some other measure beforehand. 

When it came to destroying evidence, the Oceanus Girls were apparently no slouches. The girl wearing blue camo was hacking the crime prevention cameras with a notepad PC she’d fished out. Kojou, still propped up by Yukina, watched the scene, feeling like he’d seen such a thing somewhere before. 

“Heya, Kojou. It seems you protected Celesta just as I had hoped. As expected of my beloved.” 

Vattler addressed Kojou with his annoying, theatrical manner of speech. 

“That’s really creepy, so don’t say that even as a joke,” Kojou vented indifferently without even looking at him. 

Vattler studied Kojou’s reaction, chuckling in even greater apparent delight. 

“You also did well, Tobias. What of Bloodstained Angelica?” 

“…All was as you anticipated. They are indeed tenacious—however, on a squad level, not opponents requiring your personal attention. The fool of a Fourth Primogenitor ended up like this, though.” 

Jagan stood ramrod straight as he replied. The edges of his words oozed with enmity toward Kojou. He was no doubt dissatisfied that Vattler had entrusted the protection of Celesta not to him, but to Kojou. 

“The problem is how the CSA intel branch will move. They must be using a civilian corporation as a front for operations on Itogami Island—” 

“I see. If Angelica Hermida requests support from them, it might get interesting,” Vattler said, smiling as if he was licking his lips in anticipation. 

Kojou exhaled painfully. It seemed nothing good would come of leaving the man to his own devices. 

“Wait, Vattler.” 

“…Mm? What is it?” 

A charming smile came over Vattler as he glanced over his shoulder. 

Kojou felt Celesta’s breath catch behind him. But to Kojou, who knew what Vattler was like on the inside, that smiling face was just fishy. 

“Would you mind explaining what’s going on here? All of it.” 

“Of course. However, let’s change locations first. Setting aside treatment, you will require a change of clothes, won’t you?” 

Vattler pointed in the direction of the docks as he spoke. His very own Oceanus Grave II was docking at the harbor right around that time. Certainly, Kojou couldn’t exactly go out on a stroll wearing bloodstained clothing. The invitation to Vattler’s cruise ship seemed his only option. Besides, with Angelica Hermida after her, Celesta would find the interior of the ship to be the safest location on Itogami Island. 

However, she remained hidden behind Yukina’s back, seemingly unable to meet Vattler’s eyes for some reason. If anything, she appeared to be avoiding him. 

“—Hey, Celesta. What’s wrong?” 

Kojou found her behavior odd. Celesta made a start and shivered a little. She awkwardly turned her head, moving like a gear that had run out of oil. 

“Wh-what?” 

“Whaddaya mean, what? You’ve finally been reunited with Vattler, your idol, right? Be happy and stuff.” 

“I—I am happy. Vattler looks as handsome as always… Ahh… So cool…” 

“So say hi to him or something.” 

Kojou slumped his shoulders in exasperation. Even his left shoulder, sliced off by Angelica Hermida, had recovered to where it could move that amount. 

“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 pleaded. 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. 

3 

The color of the sky abruptly changed. 

The serene, blue afternoon sky shifted to an ominous reddish-purple, like the crack of dawn. The clouds swirled in a tornado-like vortex, and lightning flashed a countless number of times. A fierce wind suddenly began to blow, rocking the hull of the Oceanus Grave II. 

“Lord…Vattler…… Kojou…” 

Celesta Ciate murmured with a hollow, overwhelmed expression. 

Vattler, who had kept her spirit aloft, had been slain; Kojou had sustained grievous wounds and was on the brink of death. The spectacle decisively shattered Celesta’s already fragile psyche. Kojou, recipient of the curse of immortality, would not die from wounds that shallow, but such reasoning did not mitigate the terror of seeing Kojou’s scattered pieces of flesh. 

The wind raging all around Celesta sent Yukina, who had been guarding her, flying. 

“A…aaah…” 

Floating above Celesta’s head was a strange sphere that seemed like a hole carved out of thin air. Disgusting speckles appeared on its surface, and it continued to eerily wriggle around like the internal organ of a living creature. 

The sphere was not even a meter in diameter. However, it felt like it was growing, feeding on the air itself in the process. 

The strongest impression given off by the sphere, which seemed to be projected from Celesta, was that of an egg. The egg from which some grotesque, otherworldly creature would be born— 

“Heh…heh-heh…heh-heh-heh-heh…” 

The divinely bestialized man laughed as he beheld the remains of Vattler that lay at his feet. The expression that came over him was not exultation in victory but unease. It changed into the frail smile of a small man desperately trying to justify his impulsive act of slaughter. 

“How frail, vampire. So even the Master of Serpents of the Warlord’s Empire falls to the claw of a divine beast…” 

The divinely bestialized man seemed to speak more for his own benefit than anyone else’s as he stomped on Vattler’s remains. 

“Why you—!” Jagan yelled, enraged as he started toward the divine beast. He glared at him as he materialized an incandescent bird of prey. But— 

“Wait…Jagan, don’t!” 

Kojou, fresh blood still spurting from his wounds, rose to his feet and just barely stopped Jagan, for the other divine beast had moved in front of Celesta. 

In that moment, even with the bizarre sphere summoned, Celesta was defenseless. If she sustained a serious attack from the divine beast, her life would be snuffed out like a candle. 

“Don’t move, vampire scum. If the bride dies like this, who knows what the dark god possessing her might do. You can’t touch us without blowing the whole island away.” 

The second divine beast spoke with a tone that sounded lively somehow. His belly had a deep burn scar carved into it—left by Nina’s particle cannon. They were indeed the divine beasts that had attacked Yukina’s apartment. 

“Why…have you…?” a priest asked, voice shaking. 

It was the reaction of someone who could not understand the sudden betrayal by his comrades. 

“Don’t take it personally. We’ve lived our entire lives tied to the middle of a rainforest pampering little girls possessed by a dark god. She offered us treatment suitable for superior beings like us. All we have to do is hand over one little girl.” 

“You fools…,” the eldest priest murmured in apparent pity for the traitors. 

Having come this far, Kojou finally understood the whole story. Why did Angelica Hermida know the precise location of Zazalamagiu’s temple? Why had she found Celesta so easily on Itogami Island, a place she had never visited? 

That was because she had turncoats among the beast-men priests; they knew Celesta’s scent. That explained the attack on Yukina’s apartment, as well as their pursuit of Celesta as far as the docks—a simple feat for a beast man’s sense of smell. 

They’d sold their pride as priests, lured by the sparkle of gold. Small wonder Kojou had sensed something off about the beast-men priests’ conduct. Their acts had been inconsistent from the start because they had traitors among them— 

“You old bags of bones, what are you…?!” 

It was the first traitor whose voice trickled out in shock; before the eyes of those taking Celesta hostage, the priests carved out their own hearts. 

Kojou and Jagan were bewildered as they, too, stared. It had happened in an instant, with no time to stop them. 

“So all goes as Dimitrie Vattler intended, does it…? Regretfully, the duty of our tribe has come to an end. We have failed to prevent the emergence of the Deity of Darkness—” 

The priests hurled their very own hearts into the sphere above Celesta’s head. 

“Don’t tell me you’re performing the ritual to summon the Divine King—!” a divinely bestialized man exclaimed in fear. 

One second later, absorbing the priests’ blood, the egg shuddered with an audible thump like a heartbeat. 

“With the despair of the bride and our priestly blood…the summoning ceremony is already complete.” 

The eldest priest smiled with visible satisfaction. 

His flesh dissipated, spewing fresh blood all the way. 

The egg ate him, Kojou realized. 

From the wriggling, speckled surface of the sphere, whiplike tentacles had reached out, snatching the priest up in an instant. 

Nor was the eldest priest the only to be consumed. One by one, tentacles snatched the other priests, pulling them into the sphere. Then… 

“S…stop…stoooooooop!” 

“S-save me…uaaaaaaaa!” 

…the tentacles enveloped the divine beasts’ bodies, too. 

The green tentacles were actually vines: ivy-like plant tendrils. These writhed around the huge divine beasts like snakes, pulling them into the sphere, which increased in size as it consumed the priests. Already, the sphere was over seven meters in diameter, growing large enough to cover the deck of the Oceanus Grave II. It seemed to be the seed of a monster, yet also a gate to another world. 

Celesta, no longer conscious of her actions, slowly spread both arms to her sides. Then countless vines entwined her entire body. 

“Wa…it…Celesta…!” 

Kojou instantly reached out toward Celesta when he realized what she was trying to do. She intended to go inside the sphere. 

However, before he could touch her, countless whiplike vines struck him. He groaned aloud in agony as the vines wrapped around his limbs and tried to tear them off. 

It was Yukina’s clear voice that stopped Kojou’s receding mind at the precipice. 

“Snowdrift Wolf—!” 

The silver spear lashed out, cutting asunder the vines, which were magical energy in material form. 

Kojou slammed onto his back, coughing violently. 

“Are you all right, senpai?!” 

Yukina twirled her spear around as she landed by Kojou’s side. “Probably,” Kojou said weakly as he forced himself to sit up. The wounds all over his body were slow to heal. That figured for a wound from a divine beast, but the damage from Angelica’s attacks earlier also hindered him. He’d lost too much blood. 

Celesta had vanished, already brought into the sphere. At that moment, Kojou and the others had no means to save her. They did not know how to stop the dark god from becoming incarnate. 

What’ll we do? wondered Kojou, gritting his teeth at his own powerlessness, when suddenly, Yukina touched the tip of her spear to her own wrist. Droplets of fresh blood poured from the shallow cut in her pale flesh. 

“Himeragi…?!” 

“I apologize, senpai. Right now, this is all I can—” 

Kojou was dumbfounded as Yukina sucked blood from her wound and pressed her lips upon his, blood included. The taste of her blood flowed into Kojou’s mouth, spreading within him. 

“Senpai, I am leaving the rest to you!” 

“Himeragi?! What do you think you’re—?!” 

When Kojou tried to stand, Yukina delivered a violent kick to his abdomen, sending him flying. Kojou, cast out of the viewing deck, proceeded to fall down the stairs. 

“Hime…ragi…… Celesta…” 

The last thing Kojou saw was Yukina’s back as she sliced apart the incoming vines and leaped into the sphere. 

The disturbance in the heavens grew fiercer still. 

Violent winds swirled in the reddened sky. The tall waves that came crashing made all of Itogami Island shudder. 

Amid it all, the egg floating in thin air began to pulsate violently. 

4 

“So this is the revival of the Deity of Darkness that destroyed the city-state of Ciate, huh…? Quite a sight.” 

Motoki Yaze murmured with a strained smile as he gazed at the sphere floating in the red sky. He was a young man with short, spiky hair, wearing headphones around his neck. 

He was sitting on the roof of Itogami Island’s central airport terminal, the place Natsuki Minamiya had encountered Angelica Hermida not two days earlier. 

The huge pier where Kojou and the others were fighting was two thousand meters away. However, even from that distance, the bizarre hole carved into thin air had grown large enough to make out with the naked eye. 

Standing beside Yaze, Natsuki Minamiya kept her parasol over her head as she remarked, “You’re very relaxed about this, Yaze. That entity must be a wild card for you lot.” 

Yaze looked up at his diminutive, doll-like homeroom teacher and carelessly shrugged his shoulders. “Pretty much. That’s why some of them figure the information’s really valuable.” 

“Hmph. Troublesome for you.” 

“That’s the position I’m in. Can’t be helped.” 

Yaze scratched his head as if poking fun at his own expense. 

The flip side of his position as Kojou Akatsuki’s friend was that Yaze was assigned the troublesome task of monitoring the Fourth Primogenitor. In that role, Yaze had been completely blindsided by the Celesta Ciate incident. 

High-ranking beast men with the ability of divine bestialization; Dimitrie Vattler, noble of the Warlord’s Empire; Bloodstained Angelica with her Zenforce—they were monsters, each and every one beyond reach of the combat capacity in the Gigafloat Management Corporation’s possession. 

Hence, Yaze could do nothing about the situation once he realized Celesta Ciate’s true nature. He’d be lying if he claimed he could watch Kojou suffer like that, offering no aid, and not hate himself in the process. 

But it was true nonetheless that the incident provided a precious opportunity for a “rehearsal.” 

“—So what’s the Corporation AI’s analysis of that round thing?” the homeroom teacher asked. 

“Ahh, a kind of defense field created for letting that Zazalamagiu thingy descend to Earth. Kind of like an egg. They figure there’s some kind of ‘core’ for the dark god inside of that thing. So they’re prepping a laser attack satellite.” Yaze checked the time on his wristwatch. “About ninety minutes to go.” 

The space-to-ground laser cannon built into an orbital satellite was one of the Gigafloat Management Corporation’s aces up its sleeve, but the system was not yet complete. Its power generation capacity and the height of its orbit meant it took three hours to set up a single, precise shot toward Itogami Island. It was anyone’s guess as to whether it’d make it before Zazalamagiu took physical form. 

Whether the laser bombardment could destroy the egg was another matter altogether. 

“And the means to stop the dark god from materializing—?” 

“Unclear at this point. We checked info in the other Demon Sanctuaries, but there’s nothing but old records anyway. Guess we’ve gotta count on Himeragi.” 

“The Schneewaltzer of the Lion King Agency—that’s reckless, like trying to hold back spillage from a dam with a single stick,” Natsuki said, furrowing her brow. 

Even Yukina’s magic-nullifying spear was at a disadvantage versus a foe brimming with divine essence. If Zazalamagiu fully materialized, there was surely nothing she could do. 

“I’m sure she’s buying time trusting that Kojou can manage somehow. As a matter of fact, she’s given us extra time to deal with the thing. That girl’s got guts…” 

“You seem to really like that about her.” 

“Well, I won’t deny it. She reminds me of my childhood friend and all.” Yaze smiled a bit. 

Natsuki snorted, unmoved. “To what degree will Itogami Island be affected if it materializes completely?” 

“If it’s just the egg, it’s no big deal.” 

Climate change is a bit of a bigger deal, Yaze thought, words he kept to himself. 

“If it continues growing at its current pace, we calculate it’ll be over ninety-six hours before it affects gigafloat functions. As long as we’ve got ritual spell camouflage, most of the citizens won’t even notice it’s there.” 

“—And if the dark god descends?” Natsuki asked without a single twitch of her eyelids. 

“Haven’t calculated that.” 

Yaze’s reply was blunt. 

For the first time, Natsuki’s expression shifted as she asked, “Is that to say, the scale is too large for even the Corporation’s AI to predict?” 

“Nah. It means there’s no point calculating it. At this rate, Zazalamagiu will burn up all his spiritual energy before he completely materializes, destroying himself.” 

“Really now,” Natsuki murmured in visible admiration. “So the transfer student’s reckless efforts are not in vain.” 

“Yeah. Well, in the first place, the thing’s cut off from its own temple and was summoned without proper fuel or a proper ritual. It’d be pretty weird if it could draw on its proper strength, all things considered.” 

“I see. But I don’t like it. Damn that Vattler… Did he predict this result from the beginning? If so, why did he…?” 

Natsuki was murmuring to herself. Suddenly, the look in her eyes grew graver. 

Yaze immediately noticed the shift, too. 

From inside the sphere floating in midair, green tentacles spewed out, wrapping around Island Guard vehicles surrounding the pier. The tentacles easily hoisted the armored vehicles, each weighing fourteen tons, and proceeded to pull them into the sphere. 

“It ate the Island Guard?!” 

Yaze fell to one knee, visibly irate. Natsuki’s lips twisted in annoyance. 

“I see… So that’s your move. Damn that dark god.” 

“Natsuki…what was that?!” 

“That sphere intends to fuse with Itogami Island.” 

“Fuse…?” 

Natsuki’s words threw Yaze for a loop. Zazalamagiu was nothing more than a collection of energy spawned from dragon lines that had been given form by a giant sorcerous device constructed in the Temple of Ciate. Fusing with Itogami Island shouldn’t have been in the dark god’s tool kit, but— 

“It intends to use all of Itogami Island’s residents as fuel to make up for the magical energy it lacks,” Natsuki explained. “Certainly, if it does that, it might endure the materialization process. Not as the proper Deity of Darkness, but as a simple monster—what would emerge would truly be a dark god.” 

“Fuel… You can’t mean…” 

“It probably means…all of Itogami Island will be consumed,” she calmly declared. 

Yaze stopped breathing for a moment. Natsuki Minamiya was not the sort of person to crack a joke at such a serious time. If she said all of Itogami Island would be consumed, then consumed it would be. 

“…They’re reacting quickly. So even the Corporation has begun to sweat?” 

A horde of unmanned helicopters was taking off from the corner of an airport runway—Island Guard attack helicopters. Of course, Zazalamagiu was their target. However, it was far from clear whether the Island Guard’s anti-demon gear could defeat a dark god. 

“Natsuki…?” Yaze looked up at his homeroom teacher. 

Natsuki, who hadn’t stirred an inch in all that time, abruptly began to walk forward, swaying her parasol. 

She was staring at the sphere as it began encroaching upon the harbor district. There was a tall woman standing on top of a wrecked Island Guard armored vehicle—a woman with a fur-trimmed coat, with large-statured men flanking her. 

“I have no interest in exterminating fantastical monsters. I have my own job to do—” 

Leaving those words behind, Natsuki vanished. All that remained was a ripple in the place where she had stood. 

Yaze slowly rose to his feet and put a hand into his pants pocket. The smartphone he took out was not a type he was familiar with. 

“Well, then…this has become a bit of a mess. Mogwai…how’s Asagi doin’?” 

The liquid crystal display was still locked when Yaze spoke to it. The phone app was not running. However, he immediately heard a reply, spoken by a strangely human-sounding artificial voice. 

“Very upset, I’m sorry to say. Fit to be tied. Well, she’s locked in C without a clue why, so no surprise there.” 

The badly sewn mascot character laughed as it appeared on-screen. 

“Sheesh… Maybe I’d better buy the Empress some cake to improve her mood,” Yaze sullenly murmured to himself before cutting off the conversation. 

He looked from the date displayed on the screen to the sphere floating in thin air in the distance, clicking his tongue in annoyance. 

“I’m counting on you, Kojou. It’s too soon…” 

Yet, there was no way for Yaze’s faint murmur to reach him. 

The wind sweeping around him blew stronger—