Strike the Blood - Volume 12 - Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO 

BATTLEFIELD OF WHITE MIST 

1 

On the bridge of the airship elegantly dancing in the sky, La Folia Rihavein sullenly pressed a hand against her cheek. She had silver hair and azure eyes—the young princess of Aldegia of Northern Europe, said to be the second coming of Freya. 

The affectionate smile that came over her lips was just like the image she projected to the wider world. However, in that instant, it was a faint, fleeting smile, one that somehow seemed frightening. 

It was the very elegance of her appearance, combined with the malice oozing from her smiling face, that invited terror. 

“How unfortunate. To take a leave of absence and come all the way to Itogami Island only to find Kojou absent…” 

So spoke La Folia as she turned a glacial gaze toward her subordinate. The gaze seemed to shoot through the female knight with short silver hair like an arrow, prompting her to hang her head in shame. 

That knight was Interceptor Knight Kataya Justina—the agent under La Folia’s command stationed at Itogami Island for the protection of Kanon Kanase and other matters. 

“I am very sorry. I, Kataya Justina, shall never live down the shame of having been tardy in my report to my princess. Accordingly, I shall atone for this failure by cutting my belly and—” 

“Please don’t. You’ll make a mess of the airship.” 

When Justina drew a dagger and spoke with tragic resolve, La Folia coldly rejected her offer. 

“B-but, my princess—” 

“Your failure is inescapably tied to an unexpected success. In light of this, I shall overlook the matter. It would seem that the world has become a rather interesting place.” 

Perhaps teasing Justina had improved her mood, for La Folia seemed to have regained her usual disposition. 

The armored airship Bö?vildr was currently high in the sky over a lake in the mountains. Their altitude was some 2,500 meters off the ground, a position from which they were able to see from the foothills of Mt. Fuji to the Tangiwa mountain range. 

The measuring instruments of the Kingdom of Aldegia, which boasted high-quality sorcerous technology, had firmly grasped the existence of a vast source of demonic energy emerging from Kannawa Lake. They had also granted the provisional name of “drones” to the demon-beast swarm also present. 

To the bridge crew, La Folia inquired, “Incidentally, have you caught sight of a certain lord?” 

It was a young knight sitting in the executive officer’s seat who replied with a tense look. 

“He disembarked to act on his own. He stated there was something he wished to investigate.” 

“I see… He anticipated this turn of events from the beginning, it would seem…,” La Folia murmured with an inquisitive glint in her eyes. 

Justina gasped, seeming to realize something as she lifted her face and said, “Princess, then perhaps the destination Kojou Akatsuki left Itogami Island for…” 

“Yes, most likely.” La Folia’s expression was one of amusement. “Can we descend to Kannawa Lake, Captain?” 

“That will…likely be rather difficult.” 

The captain, with a rugged face like a pirate from older times, greeted the whimsical princess’s question with a shake of his head. 

“Why not?” she asked, slightly inclining her head with a small pout. 

“These drones are not enough to breach the sacred wards of the Bö?vildr, but it seems something worse lurks within that mist.” 

The captain pointed to a corner of the long-distance viewing monitor on the bridge. A unit of unknown origin was deployed in open ground amid the mountains some two kilometers removed from Kannawa Lake. They included one large-scale trailer and two armored cars for a total of three vehicles. The number of personnel was small-scale, but the sight of them lurking under the mist somehow felt eerie. 

“Who are they? It is not a JSDF unit?” 

La Folia touched a hand to her lips, her interest piqued. 

The objective of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces’ unit surrounding Kannawa Lake was undoubtedly to seal the demon beasts that had emerged. With combat having already broken out, there was no reason to keep a small force deployed in ambush like this. 

They were clearly separate from the JSDF, belonging to a different, unknown command structure. If anything, they were behaving like enemies. 

“I am mindful of just what that trailer is carrying. Have you finished analyzing it, I wonder?” La Folia calmly smiled as she posed the question. 

“There’s no beating you, princess.” 

The captain shrugged his shoulders as he ordered a subordinate to switch the screen. The rainbow-colored 3-D image displayed magic-energy density from real-time data analysis. 

An unfamiliar silhouette emerged from where the unit of unknown origin was hiding. It was an enormous demon beast reading, its size incomparable to that of the drones. 

“Captain, what is this?” 

La Folia’s eyes glimmered as she beheld the truth behind the soldiers in ambush. 

The captain knit his brows as he replied, “From the silhouette, it appears to be a wyvern.” 

“Wyvern? That is an especially rare, endangered species, is it not?!” Justina asked in a grave tone. 

Wyverns—these were two-legged, winged dragons with a high level of flight ability. They were less a lower species of dragon than demon beasts that merely resembled dragons in appearance, but even so, their wingspans reached forty to fifty meters, and they were a fiendish species, possessing great combat ability. 

Wyverns had made their savage might known in the Middle Ages, but environmental destruction leading to reduction in habitat and rapacious hunting had reduced their numbers in recent years to the verge of extinction. In Japan, their only current habitats were the Demon Beast Park of Blue Elysium and a few other similar locations. That made it all the more unfathomable that wild wyverns might have survived living so close to human habitation. 

“Mere wyverns are not enough to take on Bö?vildr. However, their biological wall spells and their demonic-energy makeup is completely different from normal demon beasts. This goes well beyond being ‘just’ a new genus,” said the captain, wary. 

“Tee-hee.” La Folia giggled. The look on her face was like a kitten excitedly staring at a ball rolling around on the ground. 

“So it is an artificially created new genus…or something other than a wyvern. Either way, it is intended for combat…in accordance with a certain lord’s expectations, it would seem.” 

Justina looked up at her liege with a fearful expression. “P-princess?” 

The knightly order to which she belonged, serving as La Folia’s escorts, endured being flung this way and that by her whims. If something happened to La Folia, the crown princess, Justina slitting her belly would be nowhere near sufficient atonement. 

Whether she knew of the female knight’s mental anguish or not, the princess began putting her beloved spell gun in order. 

“The Duke of Ardeal’s cruise ship would appear moored in Tokyo Harbor, but the Nation of Neustria’s tilt-rotor aircraft has been sighted over Kannawa Lake airspace, has it not? Naturally, the eyes of various persons from Lotharingia and the Chaos Zone are sparkling as well. Tee-hee… This has become most amusing, Justina.” 

“Princess, please… Please exercise prudence…!” 

The knight was practically prostrate as she made a fervent plea that echoed throughout the armored airship’s bridge. 

The pale-blue fuselage slowly began its descent. 

2 

Hisano Akatsuki ran across the frozen white embankment of the dam. 

Over her shoulder, she was carrying an unconscious, white-haired girl. Shirona Kuraki was completely defenseless during spectral projection, leaving Hisano to defend Shirona’s real body all by herself. 

With a roar, one of the houdas attacking them tumbled onto the ground. A string of naginata attacks unleashed by Hisano had brought down the silver creature. Even if the person she carried was a petite girl, it was a remarkable feat. 

However, Hisano’s expression was grave as she looked down at the houda she had slashed to ribbons. She’d realized that the blade of her naginata, its hardness supposedly reinforced with ritual energy, was slightly chipped. 

“Too hard… So this is why mere bullets are useless against them…” 

With agility unthinkable for an old woman pushing seventy, Hisano climbed over the dam’s frozen gate. 

In various places around the mist-enveloped dam, Self-Defense Forces continued to battle the houda swarms. Ordinary rifle rounds were unable to penetrate a houda’s scales; hence, why every unit was waging a difficult battle against the demon beasts. The Special Attack Mages were equipped with high-agility vehicles intended for reconnaissance as their main striking power—woefully insufficient firepower for taking on the swarms of demon beasts. In terms of fighting strength, they were just barely holding their own, but it was only a matter of time until the encirclement was breached. 

Even the scenic parking lot where the field headquarters had been placed was under fierce attack by the houdas. Nearly ten of the steel-colored creatures, each four to five meters in length, were on a rampage. 

Without the slightest hesitation, Hisano flung herself in the middle of that demon-beast swarm. Still shouldering the unconscious Shirona, she swung her naginata, handling it with incredible ease. 

“So it will not hold until the end. Getting old is a terrible thing—” 

Right around when Hisano was cutting down the sixth demon beast, the blade of her naginata shattered. She could not maintain the supply of ritual energy required for the enchantment, resulting in the blade losing its reinforcement. 

“However, it would appear that striking the internal organs is rather effective. If I think of this as fighting monster crabs, I believe I can manage.” 

Hisano sent the seventh attacking creature flying with her bare hands. The eyes of the members of the Special Attack Mages went wide as they marveled at Hisano’s overwhelming combat ability. 

With the broader number of houda now reduced by half, the Self-Defense Forces had combat capacity to spare. The demon beasts were bathed in concentrated fire from heavy weapons, falling one after another. Seeing for herself that the houda swarm was beginning to disperse, Hisano finally lowered her weapon and headed into the command tent. 

When she entered the nearly smashed tent, it was a female SDF officer in camouflaged fatigues who addressed her. “So you made it out safely, High Priest Akatsuki?” 

The individual was doubtlessly working as Azama’s aide-de-camp. She had sharp eyes, a neutral expression, and gave off a fairly unapproachable air. 

As Hisano set the unconscious Shirona down in a chair, she gave Hisano a perfunctory salute and said: 

“I am Special Captain Mikage Okiyama of the First Battalion. As the whereabouts of Major Azama are currently unknown, I have taken acting command of the regiment.” 

“…Major Azama has disappeared?” 

“Yes. Considering the situation, it is even possible he was killed in action…” 

“I see,” said Hisano with a sigh. 

The damage from the houdas’ surprise attack in the vicinity of the headquarters was enormous. It would be a failure unlike the capable Azama but, in a situation where the commanding officer might be a casualty, Mikage Okiyama had apparently responded according to standard operating procedure. 

“What is the situation?” 

“It is not good,” replied Okiyama in a businesslike tone. “The chain of command has fragmented due to the dense mist. Nor can we hope for air support with this level of visibility.” 

“Even I did not expect the houda to have such numbers…” 

Hisano murmured, her expression grave. Even Kamioda Temple lacked any record of the houda actually appearing. Even to Hisano, the living calamity freed from Avalon was an unknown quantity. 

“Our estimates were off, same as yours,” Okiyama replied, calm and rational to the end. “At present, we have a crippling lack of firepower for dispatching such large demon beasts. If we could at least restore cohesion between the various units, we might be able to cope even with the gear on hand, but—” 

“Cohesion, you say. If that is the case, I believe we can manage.” 

“Eh?” 

For the first time, the fully confident demeanor with which Hisano made the statement brought a perplexed look over Okiyama’s face. Thanks to the mist, infused with powerful demonic energy, communication via radio and spellcraft was being obstructed. She did not believe there was any remaining way to communicate with the units scattered across the area around the lake. 

Right beside Okiyama, the white-haired girl, finally returning to consciousness, meekly raised her hand. 

“Um… I…I can do it.” 

“Lord Kuraki?” 

Okiyama looked at Shirona in surprise. 

“But how will you relay commands?” 

“I will take direct…control…of them…” 

Shirona closed her eyes. Her hair, independent of gravity, danced upward without a sound. 

From there, invisible spirit threads stretched forth, and it felt like the entirety of Kannawa Lake had been covered in netting. The threads of spiritual energy wove a giant network together through which she was able to take hold of each individual. 

The next moment, the movements of the Self-Defense Forces members…changed. 

The auto-cannons of the surviving armored units spewed flames. Precise shots penetrated the houda hiding in the thick mist. She’d used the visual information of other soldiers in the vicinity of the houda to calculate their exact positions. Similar scenes occurred to and fro within the encirclement. 

It was perfect coordination without a single hint of time lag. 

Units that had annihilated the enemies before their eyes shifted to protecting units short on fighting strength. The medical unit went in motion to rescue the wounded that had gone missing. Even if radio communication was available, maintaining such tight unit cohesion was no simple task. The will of a single individual, Shirona Kuraki, dominated the entire field of battle. She was like an elite chess player manipulating every pawn on the board. 

“So this is…the power of the Three Saints of the Lion King Agency…” 

Okiyama murmured, looking completely taken aback. This was an ability that could simultaneously command hundreds, even thousands of soldiers at a time. In a sense, given the realities of modern society, the ability was far more frightening than direct combat potential. 

Assassination, organized crime, information gathering, controlling politics and commerce—depending on how one used this ability, one could control entire nations. Perhaps she ought to say as expected of one of the Lion King Agency’s Three Saints. She absolutely could not pass off talk of the so-called mightiest Attack Mages of Japan as a mere empty boast. 

“I am sorry, Hisano. I…misread the true nature of Avalon…” 

Perhaps the stabilizing of the battlefield had given her room to work with, for Shirona switched to her inner personality. 

Shirona Kuraki was a descendant of a clan with great power, heiress to over a millennium’s worth of memories and spiritual energy. These women, cursed from the moment of their birth, could be said to be much like the immortal vampires in that regard. 

It was the old personality inside Shirona that made a weak laugh at her own expense. 

“It was just as that girl…as Yuiri Haba said. Avalon was not a seal at all. It was using us, draining knowledge from the priestesses we sacrificed to it to judge when the time was nigh…like a plant using insects to carry its pollen.” 

“So it was not the sacrifices’ spiritual energy it craved, but their knowledge?” 

Hisano’s eyebrows faintly trembled. 

If Shirona’s assessment was fact, the Lion King Agency’s operation had been flawed from its very conception. And the thing inside Avalon had obtained the knowledge of the Twelfth sacrificed to it. That is what had caused the calamity to awaken. 

“Captain Okiyama, I will leave this place to you.” 

“High Priest Akatsuki, where are you going?” 

Okiyama inquired unemotionally as Hisano picked up a spare naginata. 

Hisano quietly gazed at Kannawa Lake, enveloped by cold air, as she said, “If the legends are true—that the houda are merely the prelude of the calamity—the next thought is obvious, is it not? Namely, the houda have a master still lurking at the bottom of the lake.” 

“You are saying that…these demon beasts are merely parasites lurking in the true calamity’s shadow…?” 

Okiyama shook her head as if to say Unbelievable. 

“That is absurd…the only beings that would be served by such numbers of demon beasts would be on the level of a vampire primogenitor…” 

“…Which means we are fighting a foe that rivals a vampire primogenitor.” 

Hisano casually made the declaration with a pleasant smile. A moment later… 

“Aaah…!” 

…Shirona fiercely recoiled as she let out a cry. Hisano could sense a backlash of demonic energy. The countless spirit threads Shirona had deployed were beaten away, with the reaction causing her to faint once more. 

For one instant alone, an enormous figure was visible amid the cold, white mist. 

It was a black, malevolent figure that looked like calamity given form. 

Shirona was able to freely control thousands of troops, but put another way, she could be neutralized by an enemy that even thousands of troops could not defeat. The black silhouette crawling within the mist seemed to be just that kind of foe. 

“What…is that?” 

There was no answer to Okiyama’s question. There was only the calamity’s enormous roar, making even the frigid air shudder… 

3 

Shio Hikawa was surrounded by pure-white mist as she walked onto the vast, icy plain. 

Kannawa Lake was a large body of water, a reservoir of over sixty million cubic tons, but it was completely frozen from shore to shore. 

Thanks to the increase in volume from freezing over, the surface of the lake had swelled into a treacherous mountain of ice, which, along with a cold wind mixed with icy snow, hindered Shio’s advance. 

Using her little remaining ritual energy to protect herself from the cold, Shio desperately climbed over a swell in the ice, whereupon Shio’s ears caught the voice of a middle-aged man that held little sense of tension. 

“Hey, Shio—” 

“D-do not address me in such a familiar manner!” 

Shio shouted, glaring at Gajou as he tagged along like it was the obvious thing to do. What really got under her skin was how the frozen surface of the lake, causing Shio all kinds of grief, seemed to bother Gajou very little. 

“Li’l Shio, then. Whatever works, but you really shouldn’t push yourself. You don’t have much ritual energy left, do you? If another big swarm of those monsters attacks, we’ll die. I’m serious.” 

“That doesn’t mean I can just leave Yuiri out there. And why did you come this far with me anyway?!” 

“I’d like you to stop lumping us together like we’re partners united by fate or something,” Shio grumbled, seriously annoyed. 

However, Gajou paid Shio no heed as he said, “Well, I’ve gotta take care of my daughter. Besides, well, I’d be able to handle most things if it was just me by myself.” 

“What the…? Are you trying to say I’m holding you back?” 

Shio stopped in her tracks, surprisingly annoyed. 

Gajou smiled and shook his head as he put a hand into his coat and said, “I’m not sayin’ that exactly. I’m saying to pick your time and place for being reckless. You can’t save anyone if you die first, you know.” 

“That doesn’t mean I can just let Yuiri be. And why are you coming along with me in the first place?!” 

I really would rather you didn’t say things along the lines of It’s like our fates are intertwined or something, thought Shio, earnestly annoyed. 

Nevertheless, Gajou was heedless of Shio’s sentiments. 

“Well, I have to look after my daughter. Besides, well, I should be able to manage on my own for the most part.” 

“What do you mean by that? It’s like saying I’m in the way.” 

Shio unwittingly halted her feet as something snapped inside her. 

Gajou smiled and shook his head, putting a hand inside his coat as he said, “I’m not sayin’ anything like that. It’s just, you need to pick your time and place to be reckless. You can’t save anyone if you run off and die first, right?” 

Then, with the single-shot grenade launcher he’d just drawn, he pointed behind Shio’s back and fired. He blew off the head of the steel-colored demon beast lurking under the ice with Shio in its sights. Its head rolled onto its side. 

“Sheesh.” A thin trickle of sweat came over Gajou’s brow as he sighed. As he did so, Shio gazed up at him with a teasing look. 

“Well, you’re pretty worn out, too, aren’t you? I don’t think that your Death Returnee power is convenient enough that you can use it without a cost.” 

“Oh, you really are a sharp one. You’re worried about me, aren’t you?” 

“Wh-who’s worried about you?!” 

“Well, I figure that hag was keeping me isolated in that cell to have firepower on hand because she had some idea what was coming…” 

Gajou shamelessly laughed, making that bold declaration as he discarded the grenade launcher. 

“So the fact that I’m being allowed to run across the battlefield means that hag is backed against a wall. Risky or not, I have to at least get Nagisa outta here.” 

For a moment, the sight of Gajou valiantly smiling captured Shio’s attention. Perhaps that was why her caution eased up for a moment, for Shio’s foot slipped, grandly throwing her off-balance. 

“Aaaah!” 

“Whoa there.” 

Shio was on the verge of slipping down an icy slope into a deep crevice when Gajou easily picked her up with his right arm alone. 

“Whew… You all right, Li’l Shio?” 

“I’m all right… I’m all right, so put—me—down…!” 

“You’re so light. Have you been eating properly?” 

“Sh-shut up! Let me go, you middle-aged lecher!” 

“Sheesh… This lake’s frozen down to the lake bed, by the looks of it.” 

Gajou languidly exhaled as he gazed down the crevice spread before his eyes. It was an amazingly deep crevice, like the damage left behind after some kind of giant monster crawling out from the depths. 

The crevice ran forty or fifty meters straight down, but even so, he couldn’t see the bottom. There was no doubt: Every last drop of water bottled up by Kamioda Dam had been completely frozen. Someone’s magical energy had frozen the entire dam. 

“But how…? Nothing short of a primogenitor’s Beast Vassal should be able to do this…” 

Shio shuddered and shook her head as it sunk in that she was on-site at an unprecedented sorcerous disaster. 

Gajou smiled as if it was someone else’s problem. “A primogenitor’s Beast Vassal, huh. If so, it means that’s precisely how.” 

“…Gajou Akatsuki?” 

Unable to discern the meaning of Gajou’s assertion, Shio peered at the side of his face. However, Gajou remained silent, glaring into the pure-white mist. 

“Nagisa…huh?” 

Gajou murmured, speaking in a low, guarded voice. When she heard him, Shio noticed, too: A petite figure was calmly crossing the ice, approaching the pair across where the crevice had opened. 

“No, not her…” 

Gajou, still holding Shio, set her down as he continued to glare at the figure. 

The girl approaching them was wearing a white priestess outfit. 

Her face was indeed Nagisa Akatsuki’s. However, the color of her hair was different. It was pale, blonde hair, changing color with the angle of the light, almost like looking through a prism. The rainbow-colored hair resembled a billowing flame. 

“Who are you…?!” 

Shio unwittingly let her voice trickle out. The girl in the white priestess attire gazed at Shio with eyes like pale-blue flames. Shio shuddered, her spine freezing from the malevolent demonic energy she sensed from the girl. 

That instant, Shio, as an Attack Mage, instinctively realized: It was this girl who had brought about the bizarre freezing phenomenon— 

“Looks like you’re finally awake, princess.” 

Gajou spread both arms wide as he addressed her, seemingly to display a lack of hostility. He spoke with the fondness of one greeting an old friend. 

“You are…” 

The girl in white attire trained her blazing eyes upon Gajou. 

“So you remember me, Sleeping Beauty?” 

Gajou sent a gentle smile her way. 

The girl’s rainbow-colored hair swayed as she weakly shook her head. 

“Why do you smile?” she asked in a broken voice. “I…have no words with which to atone… Whatever scorn, resentment, or curses you bear toward me, I resign myself to them.” 

“Don’t get me wrong, princess. None of us have a grudge against you. Not me and certainly not Kojou.” 

Gajou Akatsuki made this statement with strength in his voice. Shio listened with bated breath to the precarious balance of the conversation between the pair, as if walking a tightrope across a pit of spikes. 

“Is Nagisa safe?” 

When Gajou asked that, a smile trickled onto the girl’s lips for the first time. It was a lovely, fleeting, beautiful smile; the sort meant for someone precious. 

“The soul of the gentle priestess is…right here—” 

The girl closed her eyes, pressing both hands to her chest. 

Then, as if drained of strength, she immediately collapsed. 

Shio finally let go of the breath she’d been holding. As the girl’s mind dissipated, the powerful, oppressive feeling making Shio cringe thinned in equal measure. The cold hovering in the air around them seemed to soften as well. 

“Gajou Akatsuki… Who…was that, just now?” 

Shio asked in a hard, tense voice. 

Gajou did not reply to Shio’s question as he picked up the sleeping Nagisa Akatsuki. 

“Sorry, Li’l Shio. Can I trust you to take care of her?” 

“I don’t mind that at all, but…what do you intend to do?” 

Shio knit her brows as she rebutted. Just what did Gajou Akatsuki plan to do that involved leaving behind the daughter he’d finally gotten back? For no discernible reason, her heart was terribly astir. 

“I’d like to say I’ll look for Yuiri baby for you in your place, but…can’t you feel what’s in the air?” 

“…In the air?” 

When he said it, Shio finally noticed. The air was faintly shuddering. The hard, frozen surface of the lake was swaying in an irregular manner. It was a strange tremor, as if some collection of enormous mass was raging in the distance. 

“Is…something there…?!” 

For a single moment, Shio saw the shadow of something resembling a pitch-black fortress through a break in the mist. 

It had enormously broad wings resembling warped blades. It had four limbs so stout that they made armored vehicles seem delicate. It had a head like a ferocious carnivorous lizard. It had sharp fangs and crimson eyes. 

Though it was her first time seeing one with her own eyes, even children knew the name of the greatest of demon beasts. 

“No way…” 

Shio’s lips twitched and trembled. 

With heavy white mist swirling around it, a pitch-black dragon loosed a terrible roar. 

4 

The pain on her cheeks woke her up. Someone was rudely slapping Asagi’s face. The high-pitched voice of a younger girl continued ringing in her ears. 

“Empress! Empress…!” 

“Can you stop calling me that already…?!” 

With Lydianne’s palm slapping her over and over, Asagi sluggishly lifted her head, glaring at her with tearful eyes. 

She was in the copilot seat added to the micro-robot tank. The redheaded girl had opened the scuffed-up armored hatch and was peering at Asagi’s face with a worried expression. 

“Empress, are you all right?!” 

“No, I am most certainly not all right. I hurt all over. It sucks. So much for the air balloon. It almost got both of us killed.” 

Asagi let her complaints pour out as she crawled out of the tight copilot seat. 

Launching at a thousand meters aboveground, the robot tank had fired its stabilizing boosters as it deployed its four emergency parachutes, lowering their speed of descent as they set down in the Tangiwa Mountains. However, that was all that had gone well. 

The initial trouble came from the air currents raging in the mountainous area they were attempting to land in. Incredible crosswinds ripped the parachutes away, sending the tank crashing onto its side, which rendered the air cushion for landing and leg shock absorbers utterly useless. 

The fact they were landing on a forested mountain with densely packed trees didn’t exactly help. The elasticity of the trees had bounced the robot tank around like a pinball several times, finally ending in a fall to the bottom of a deep gully. That was as far as Asagi remembered. 

“No, no, ’twas most unexpected to have landed in a ravine. I shall make a note of revising the watertight construction upward. However, ’twas fortunate we had the high-spec pilot suits, no?” 

“Wait, is this designed like a school swimsuit because the tank was expected to sink?!” Asagi exclaimed as she looked down at her thoroughly drenched pilot suit, exasperated to the core of her being. 

Since they’d fallen into the mountain stream coursing through the bottom of the ravine, the non-waterproof pilot seats were flooded with water. They were saved by the fact the water happened to be shallow; otherwise, they might well have drowned. 

But just as Lydianne had boasted, Asagi didn’t feel very cold in spite of the water flooding. The fact she’d sustained an impact like that and walked away with only minor scrapes was no doubt thanks to the pilot suit’s high levels of water and wind resistance. 

That said, they couldn’t know how long they would remain safe stuck at the bottom of a ravine like that. The water of the mountain stream was cold—it was the middle of winter, after all—and perhaps it was just her imagination, but she felt like the water level had increased since she had awoken. 

“So what now? Is this tank still usable?” Asagi put her disheveled hair in order as she returned to the pilot seat. 

They were deep in the mountains in a ravine without even a name, far removed from the main thoroughfare. There were cliffs standing to both the right and left, terrain impossible for human beings to climb without specialized gear. Even if they tried to call for aid, Asagi doubted the signal would reach. If Lydianne’s tank wasn’t mobile, she and Asagi would immediately join the ranks of the victims. 

Though busted in various places from the impact of the fall, the tank’s electrical systems seemed to have remained intact. Lydianne switched circuits and brought up the maintenance console. 

“Self-diagnostic in progress. The electrical system is all green. If we cut off the damaged modules, I believe restarting is indeed possible. Rechecking various sensors is required, but that is within the realm of what can be compensated for with software.” 

“Okay, I’ll handle that part.” 

“My deepest thanks. Then, I shall begin the reboot process forthwith.” 

Asagi spread out her own terminal and connected to the robot tank’s sensor systems. As an experimental prototype, it was possible to adjust the software of Lydianne’s Hizamaru in the field without any great difficulty. With Lydianne and Asagi, top programmers in and out of the corporate world, teaming up together, even wholesale rewriting of the operating system wouldn’t take that much time. 

“Ohh… Here we go. That’s Tanker for you… She writes such pretty code. Since it’s like this, I can just do the minimum necessary corrections…… If I handle this part with a parallel process, I can use the resources freed up to stuff an auto-adjustment package in here like…so.” 

In the blink of an eye, Asagi had isolated the damaged sections of the robot tank; she then proceeded to put together correction programs for each individual section. It was time-consuming, but it was not difficult work for her. Humming, she typed away at the keyboard, and once 80 percent or so of the work was completed… 

“Ugh…” 

Asagi squirmed, rubbing both legs together as she felt her back shiver. That feeling persisted when Lydianne turned back to her with a look of concern. 

“If you must pee, Lady Empress, I believe it is healthier to pee rather than hold it.” 

“It’s not that!!” Asagi shouted, her face beet red. “It isn’t that. I’m like, what’s going on—isn’t it getting weirdly cold around here?” 

“Now that thou dost mention it, it is odd. The heater is fully operational, and yet…” 

“The water temperature’s dropping below freezing… Geh?!” 

When Asagi checked the number on the temperature sensor, she gawked, eyes widening. 

Lydianne’s red robot tank had come to a stop in a narrow mountain stream. The surface of the water was beginning to freeze. A powerful cold coursing upstream from Kannawa Lake had finally reached as far as the ravine. White mist was mixing in with the air, causing visibility to progressively worsen. 

“Tanker! This is bad. The river’s started to freeze!” 

“Understoodeth!” 

Lydianne tossed the maintenance console aside and restarted the robot tank. 

Thanks to the water flooding, the engine stalled several times along the way, but somehow, she managed to get the main generator restarted. The water’s surface had turned to sherbet by the time the robot tank hoisted itself up, making a crunchy sound as it walked toward the riverbank. The river was freezing faster than Asagi had expected. If she’d noticed any later, she and the tank would have both frozen over. 

“Seems like we’d better get the hell out of this ravine, whatever it takes.” 

“At thy command. I will use the wires. Empress, please fasten thy seatbelt.” 

“It’s going to be all right this time, isn’t it…?” 

Asagi slid into the copilot seat and securely fastened her seatbelt. she closed the armored hatch as well. Thanks to the impact of the crash, the hatch was terribly bent, but it was enough to lend her some small comfort. 

“Rest thy heart at ease. Hizamaru was originally developed for urban combat. It was designed to climb perpendicularly up tall buildings. It can climb diminutive cliffs like these before breakfast.” 

“Not that I can trust a single word you say at this point…” 

“…Nnngh?!” 

“What now?! What, speak of the devil and…?!” 

“Unknown threat identified! ’Tis the demon beasts!” 

“Huh…?!” 

With haste, Asagi switched to the external camera feed. Silhouettes of the steel-colored demon beasts emerged from within the cloud of pure-white mist—the same demon beasts that had taken out Asagi and Lydianne’s tilt-rotor aircraft. The distance between them was some two hundred meters. The enemy hadn’t noticed Asagi and Lydianne—yet. 

“The ones from earlier were still around?!” 

“She who striketh first wins! I shall launch a surprise attack!” 

Lydianne used the Hizamaru’s remaining rocket booster to force it up from the ground. The hull of the robot tank creaked from the impact of its violent, high-speed landing. 

“Start-up confirmed. All weapon locks released, auto-fire control… Ah?!” 

“Wait, Tanker! Hold on a sec! Cease fire!” 

“…Empress?!” 

Lydianne raised a voice of displeasure at Asagi forcing her way into the system, ordering her to cease fire. Asagi understood how Lydianne felt, pouting at her golden opportunity for a surprise attack having gone to waste. 

“L-look there! There’s a civilian! If we fire now, we might hit him!” 

“Ah…?! Mnnn… Certainly, he seems like a child most out of place.” 

You’re a child out of place, too, Asagi retorted in her mind as she enlarged the monitor image. It was a boy of about twelve or thirteen, standing on a worn-down mountain road that wasn’t even paved. 

He had beautiful black hair and brown skin. Furthermore, his eyes were gold. She felt a strange majesty from the boy’s appearance that belied his face, which still bore traces of childhood. He looked like a young, highly temperamental lion. 

The boy was only several meters from the demon beasts. If they carelessly opened fire with the robot tank’s weapons, he’d be caught in the blast, for sure. 

“What’s he doing there all by himself…? Doesn’t look like he’s a mountain climber, either…” 

The boy was unarmed. However, he showed no signs of fear. Even as he glared at the demon beasts, his face was composed. Somehow, that felt eerie. 

But that didn’t mean they could just abandon him to his fate. Even if it meant them running a fair amount of risk, Asagi felt they ought to get out in front of the boy, challenging the demon beasts to close combat— 

Just as Asagi was about to tell Lydianne that, the robot tank’s warning siren sounded. The radar was responding to objects blanketing the sky above. 

“Empress, reinforcements cometh!” 

“Reinforcements?! There’s other demon beasts, too?!” 

“’Twould seem they are allies from the same swarm.” 

“Wh…what’s with all these guys…?!” 

Asagi felt blood draining from her entire body as she gazed at the enemy swarm displayed by the monitor. Put together, the numbers of flying steel-colored demon beasts numbered nearly twenty. Such numbers were beyond what a single, damaged robot tank could deal with. 

However, it was not Asagi and Lydianne at their estimated landing point, but the boy standing there defenseless. 

“Don’t tell me…they’re all after that kid…?!” 

Asagi gritted her teeth as she was struck by both conflict and righteous indignation. Both Asagi’s desire to save the boy and her fear of death jostled inside her. Suddenly, she heard Lydianne’s voice. 

“Empress, forgive me.” 

“Huh?!” 

“Boy, we cometh to thine aid! Retreat while we acteth as thine shield!” 

Dumbfounded, Asagi was thrust against her seat by sudden acceleration. With a sudden dash, the robot tank hurtled forward to shield the boy from the demon beasts. 

“Wha… What are you doing?! Do you even have a plan?! It’s common sense to secure a line of retreat in situations like these! At this rate, we all are going to die for nothing!!” 

Gunfire and explosions drowned out Asagi’s rapid-fire, rambling shouts. Lydianne had fired every one of the robot tank’s weapons in an all-out volley. 

However, even a barrage of such force did not put a stop to the demon beasts’ momentum. Crushed by the onslaught of demon beasts, the robot tank’s entire hull screamed out. Joints unable to take the strain emitted sparks, and the armor let out disagreeable echoes as it was torn. 

“To fall in the line of duty is to die a warrior’s death. ’Tis not a bad way to go.” 

“How do you figure that?! From where I sit, it’s definitely the worst!! And in the first place, you’re not a warrior, and neither am I!!” 

As the robot tank anguished, its main gun blasted one demon beast out of the sky. However, that was as far as their counterattack went. The pilot seat monitor was buried in alarms from the accumulating damage, and the trusty Fire Control System stopped responding as well. 

“Nooooooooo—!” 

Asagi’s scream mixed in with the sounds of ringing alarms. 

It was then that, with a boom, Asagi’s vision shuddered, as if they’d been sent flying. A second later, blast winds assaulted the robot tank, slamming into it from the side. 

A dazzling, golden radiance filled the monitor displaying the front. The beam of light baring its ferocious fangs was actually a giant golden jackal, woven from dense demonic energy. 

Its glimmering forelegs transformed into tornadoes, mowing down the steel-colored demon beasts. 

“Wh-what the…?” 

Asagi gazed at the surreal scene, her eyes widening in amazement. 

The swarm of monsters that the state-of-the-art robot tank had been at such pains to fight was dispatched by the golden beast with ease. The radiant, glimmering beast was, in fact, a vampire’s Beast Vassal—a summoned beast from another world using demonic energy to take physical form. 

“My, my… You embarrass yourselves, waving around a contraption like that before me. It is far too insolent, you humans.” 

The boy served by the golden jackal glared at the robot tank as he spoke. The faint, pained smile coming over his lips was somehow eerie to behold. 

“But no matter. Impudent though it was, I praise the spirit with which you attempted to offer yourselves for my benefit.” 

With a light wave of his hand, the boy commanded the golden jackal to attack. 

By the time Asagi realized what was happening, it was all over. The golden beam raced across the sky, blotting out the swarm of demon beasts, leaving not even fragments of flesh behind. 

“A vampire’s…Beast Vassal?! And what’s that ridiculous power…?!” 

Asagi murmured inside the immobile robot tank, dumbfounded. 

To Asagi, raised in a Demon Sanctuary from a young age, vampires were not rare beings by themselves. She’d seen numerous Beast Vassals in the flesh with her own eyes. That was why Asagi understood that the Beast Vassal the boy controlled was extraordinary. That golden jackal was clearly a cut above a normal vampire’s Beast Vassal. 

So far as Asagi knew, the only vampires served by Beast Vassals of this caliber were Dimitrie Vattler, Giada Kukulkan, and Kojou Akatsuki, the Fourth Primogenitor. 

In other words, the boy possessed power on par with a primogenitor. 

“My Lord, you… Your appearance—could it be…the Caucasus’s…?” 

Crawling out from the tank’s hatch, Lydianne’s eyes went wide as she stared at the boy. The boy’s face grimaced ever so slightly as he looked back at Lydianne and said, “To think there would be someone who knows my face in such a backwater place in the Far East?” 

I miscalculated, his exhale seemed to say. 

“Caucasus…the Fallen Dynasty…?! Don’t tell me you’re…” 

Asagi gasped, lifting her face up. The Caucasus region was ruled by the Fallen Dynasty, the Dominion governing the Middle East. Even in that place, the vampires with power rivaling a primogenitor numbered very few—let alone with the appearance of such a young boy. To Asagi, only a single individual came to mind— 

“Indeed, my name is Iblisveil Aziz—a direct descendant of Fallgazer, the Second Primogenitor, ruler of the Eight Northern Provinces. Know this name well.” 

In what seemed like a practiced manner, the boy shook his head in exasperation as he introduced himself. 

5 

“—Achoo!” 

Yuiri Haba woke herself with a sneeze. Cold cut through her entire body like a knife. Lying faceup, she had a thin layer of snow on top of her body. 

“I’m…still alive…” 

Sneezing once more, Yuiri sat up and gingerly surveyed the state of the area around her. 

Yuiri was at the center of Kannawa Lake—specifically, on the floating altar for the ceremony to seal Avalon. 

However, the raft supporting the altar had been splintered apart, and the sacred ropes and offerings spread around the altar had been blown away without a trace. They’d taken a direct hit from the vast demonic energy gushing from inside the lake. 

“What was that power…? If it wasn’t for Rosen Chevalier Plus, I would’ve died, for sure.” 

Now that she had returned to the world of the living, fear of death made Yuiri’s shoulders tremble. 

Rosen Chevalier Plus, granted to Yuiri by the Lion King Agency, was an armament that could create an emulated cut in space itself. For but a single second, the cut in space served as an impenetrable bulwark against any kind of attack. It was because that bulwark protected her that Yuiri was unscathed in spite of taking a direct hit from that scale of demonic energy. 

The end result demonstrated that Hisano Akatsuki was correct in ordering Yuiri to serve as Nagisa Akatsuki’s escort. 

“Er… Nagisa?!” 

Yuiri, suddenly snapping back to her senses, was beside herself as she gazed about the altar’s remnants. 

The physical body of Nagisa Akatsuki lay on the altar as the pivotal key to the ceremony. Naturally, if Yuiri was alive, Nagisa Akatsuki, who Yuiri had shielded, had to be alive as well. 

In point of fact, the bed upon which she had lain was still in one piece. In spite of this, Nagisa Akatsuki was nowhere to be seen. She had vanished somewhere during the time Yuiri had been unconscious. 

“She’s not here?! How?! Where could she have gone…?!” 

Unwittingly, Yuiri had tears in her eyes as she searched for any trace of Nagisa. 

The area around the altar was a wide, icy plain. The vast demonic energy that had explosively discharged from the bottom of the lake had frozen the man-made lake completely. Thanks to the dense mist, visibility was terrible; even Yuiri’s Spirit Sight as a Sword Shaman could not find Nagisa Akatsuki through it. 

“R-right, the radio!” 

Yuiri pulled a sturdy radio out from her coat pocket. She’d borrowed it from the Self-Defense Forces before reporting for escort duty at the altar. Though somewhat bewildered by the unfamiliar device, she pressed the switch just as she’d been taught. However, the only thing coursing through the speaker was annoying white noise. 

“Why… Why can’t I get in touch…?!” 

Yuiri was still standing there helplessly as she murmured in a voice that made it seem as though she was about to fade away. 

Mist infused with demonic energy, which covered the surface of the lake, possibly the work of the earlier surge of energy, made her unable to use reconnaissance shikigami. Even if that was not the case, Yuiri was no specialist in long-range control spells. If only Shio was here at a time like this, she could not help thinking strongly to herself. 

“So cold…” 

Yuiri, exposed to the frigid wind, unwittingly blurted out that frail murmur. 

One way or another, in that situation, it wasn’t possible for Yuiri to search for Nagisa Akatsuki by herself. She was chagrined at having been unable to fulfill her duty to protect the girl, but finding Nagisa Akatsuki came before Yuiri’s pride and reputation. It was no doubt best to return to the SDF operational headquarters for the moment and request reinforcements. 

Visibility was still awful, but Yuiri was able to rely on her intuition to discern the direction back to HQ. The fact that the surface of the lake was frozen made the trip much easier. Though it was work to walk over such cold footing, Yuiri headed to the shore on foot. If she advanced three hundred meters or so forward, land would finally come into view. 

To the best of her knowledge, the SDF had a ground unit deployed in reserve on the dam’s gently sloped concrete rampart in case of emergency. It was a Special Attack Mage platoon with combat strength of nearly forty people. 

However, through the dense mist, Yuiri was greeted by the sight of wreckage of light-armored vehicles as well as numerous wounded soldiers lying on the ground. 

“No way…” 

Yuiri clenched the cuffs of her coat as she let out a whimper. She didn’t know the extent of the damage to the unit. However, she could see that it was virtually destroyed. Having desperately walked there in search of reinforcements, Yuiri took the blow hard. The situation was apparently far worse than she had imagined. 

And then— 

“Demon beasts?!” 

Sensing an odd buzz of wings within the mist, Yuiri hurried into a combat stance. 

These were the never-before-seen monsters that had attacked the Self-Defense Forces. The demon beasts were a mix of hornet and serpent encased in steel scales. Perhaps this was the type Shirona and others had called houda. One among their number bared its fangs and headed Yuiri’s way. 

The aura given off by the snake-hornets somehow felt artificial, different from the demon beasts Yuiri knew of. Thanks to that, Yuiri was slow to react; she had no time to draw Rosen Chevalier Plus from her back. 

“—Crouching Thunder!” 

Yuiri let her right leg loose to kick at the head of the demon beast flying at her with a bizarre sound. It was a mighty blow infused with ritual energy. 

But the attack did not penetrate the snake-hornet’s armored shell. Recoil from the blow sent Yuiri flying instead. 

“So hard…! Then, the sure way to defeat it is from the inside…!” 

Somehow regaining her footing, Yuiri slipped into the snake-hornet’s flank. 

Yuiri had a particular junior student float into the back of her mind. Destroying the internal organs was that girl’s combat specialty. Yuiri had seen her fleeting, delicate form strike down stout beast men several times before. 

Admiring the sight, Yuiri redoubled her own special training. This was her first time using it in a real battle, but— 

“—Distort!” 

Yuiri slammed lethal ritual energy into the demon beast, rupturing its interior. The metallic snake-hornet’s huge frame seemed to tremble as its movements came to a stop. 

“It worked! I can do this—!” 

Yuiri used the momentary opening from the demon beast’s halt to draw Rosen Chevalier Plus. 

That instant, the battle was as good as over. No demon beast existed that could withstand the Rosen Chevalier Plus’s space-rending attacks. All she had to do was swing the blade down, and there was no doubt the snake-hornet would be cleaved in two. 

“…!” 

But Yuiri, still on the icy plain, stopped in her tracks. 

A new swarm of snake-hornets appeared, almost as if to support their wounded comrade. They bore down on Yuiri, one after another. They probably numbered seven—no, they numbered more than eight. It was as if the entire sky was buried in steel. 

“No way… I can’t deal with this… I just can’t…!” 

Naturally, even Yuiri’s body froze, fear rendering her unable to move. Any way she looked at it, the numbers were simply too great. There was no mistake: It was this great swarm of demon beasts that had nearly shattered the Special Attack Mage unit on top of the rampart. 

“I can’t… But…!” 

She knew from the earlier skirmish exactly what combat capabilities these demon beasts possessed. Their strength was not off the charts, but they were dangerous enough opponents to give a Sword Shaman of the Lion King Agency a run for her money. Furthermore, they were attacking in a pack. Even armed with Rosen Chevalier Plus, Yuiri could not cope with such numbers by herself. 

That didn’t mean Yuiri had the option to cut and run. She couldn’t even conceive of the damage the snake-hornets could inflict on ordinary citizens if they broke through the SDF encirclement and reached urban areas. 

Before that could happen, she had to whittle down the number of houda then and there to the greatest extent possible. 

Yuiri steadied her breathing, glaring at the swarm of demon beasts with heroic resolve. 

However, it was not Yuiri who assaulted the snake-hornets. 

Suddenly, their swarm was sent in disarray. Then, they moved behind Yuiri, seemingly out of fear. They looked like a flock of sheep frightened of a wolf’s approach. The demon beasts seemed to be fleeing as they took to the skies. 

“Th…they ran away? Why?” 

Freed from an excess of tension, Yuiri’s strength left her as she wilted on the spot. The cold of the ice was invading her thighs through her tights, but she had no time to worry about that. 

Yuiri was still in that position when she sensed something unexpected moving in the corner of her vision. Looking back was largely subconscious on her part. The instant she did, however, Yuiri was stunned. 

“Huh?!” 

A lone girl was standing in the cold, pure-white mist. 

The girl was even smaller statured than Yuiri. She seemed to be skipping as she came Yuiri’s way. An amiable smile came over her face. She was a lovely girl, with long, steel-colored hair that reached as far as her ankles. 

And what rocked Yuiri more than any of that was the fact that the girl wasn’t wearing a single stitch of clothing. Furthermore, the girl didn’t seem to mind. 

“Wh…why are you…naked…?!” 

Yuiri pointed at the girl as she posed the question. She did this not out of wariness, but out of an outpouring of concern for the girl. 

The long-haired girl stared at Yuiri’s face in surprise, blinking her eyes as she adorably tilted her little head. 

“Mii?” 

“……Mi?” 

Yuiri, beside herself, unwittingly posed that “question” back to her. Seeing Yuiri’s reaction, the girl’s eyes widened in visible delight. Her eyes, too, were like metal, a beautiful hematite color. 

“Right, first of all, put on this coat!!” 

Yuiri stripped off her own coat and put it over the girl’s shoulders. It was a short, sturdy dress coat, but it was a little big for the girl, neatly covering her all the way down to her knees. 

“Ohh—” 

Apparently, the girl was very fond of the coat warmed by Yuiri’s body heat. She excitedly clenched the cuffs as she happily waved both arms up and down. 

“You don’t have any shoes, so I’ll carry you on my back. Get on.” 

Yuiri then turned her back toward the girl. It hurt her to see the girl walking barefoot on top of an icy plain. 

“Back…?” 

For a while, the girl stared at Yuiri with a questioning look, as if she didn’t understand the meaning of the word. But she finally figured out what Yuiri intended, swinging both hands high and leaping onto the middle of Yuiri’s back with considerable vigor. 

“Back!” 

“Whoa?!” 

“Back! Back!!” 

Wobbling, Yuiri stood up with the girl on her back. And atop Yuiri’s back, the girl was merrily making a fuss. She was waving her body all around as Yuiri wobbled, putting one foot forward after another. 

“What’s with this girl…? Shio, save meee…!” 

Yuiri was half in tears as the girl was in an ecstatic mood on her back. Yuiri dragged her silver-colored long sword along as she headed for the rampart, her initial destination. 

On top of the rampart, it was even worse than she’d expected. 

The armored vehicles destroyed by the houda were cruelly exposed on their sides. Numerous casualties were lying on the frozen ground, and the air was filled with the scent of gunpowder and blood. 

But Yuiri rested just a little easier, for the medical unit had already arrived. Medics were applying first aid to the troops and were loading the wounded onto field ambulances. 

As Yuiri returned, a woman in a dougi approached her. It was an old woman with white hair carrying a naginata. 

“So you were safe, Yuiri Haba.” 

“Miss Hisano!” 

When Hisano addressed her in a composed voice, Yuiri bowed with the mystery girl still on her back. “Yuiri, Yuiri,” went the girl, making a fuss on her back; Yuiri’s face immediately reddened. 

“Um… Miss Hisano, I’m sorry. I lost sight of Nagisa…!” 

“I know. You have performed your duty well.” 

Hisano gently spoke the words to Yuiri, who felt pangs of guilt. Then Hisano shifted a suspicious gaze to the girl on Yuiri’s back. 

“And she is?” 

“Er, um… I don’t know. I spotted her just now and brought her here for her protection, but…” 

Yuiri explained in an awkward tone. It was true that she couldn’t just leave the girl out there, but if Hisano told her This isn’t the time or place, there wouldn’t be anything she could say in reply. 

However, Hisano did not reproach Yuiri in any way. She looked like she was mulling something over as she stared at the girl’s steely eyes. The girl hid behind Yuiri’s back, almost like she was afraid. 

“It seems she is rather fond of you, Yuiri Haba.” 

“Y-yes. It would seem so. I wonder why…?” 

Yuiri replied thus, feeling like she was at least half-asking herself. 

“Hmm.” Hisano sighed. “Yuiri Haba, I entrust defending the wounded Self-Defense Forces to you. Take that girl with you and retreat as far as Gotemba. This comes from Shirona as well.” 

“Retreat?” 

Yuiri echoed the word in bewilderment. Though she was a Sword Shaman belonging to the Lion King Agency, Yuiri was currently on loan to Kamioda Temple. If Hisano ordered her to retreat, she had no option but to obey, but… 

“But the search for Nagisa…” 

“I will handle that,” Hisano sharply rebuked. Then, she stared at Yuiri with a sober look in her eyes as she said, “More importantly, under no circumstances are you to take your eyes off that girl. I am counting on you.” 

“O-of course.” 

Yuiri was still in the dark, but she nodded, overwhelmed by Hisano’s intensity. Even as she did so, the steel-haired girl sitting on Yuiri’s back cheerfully raised her voice. 

“Yuiri… Yuiri…”