Strike the Blood - Volume 20 - Chapter 4.3

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When he arrived at Keystone Gate, Kojou found enough wrecked weaponry to fill the entire corridor to the brim. They were the remains of military-grade armed security pods and anti-demon robot tanks—all MAR’s latest models.

Parting the wreckage as he advanced farther in, he caught sight of a pair of acquaintances. It was Rui and Yuno, his former Team Kasugaya teammates, engaged in a fierce bout against two security pods.

“Miyazumi! Amase!”

“Akatsuki? What are you doing here?”

Pistol-form Spell Throwers raised, Rui turned around in complete surprise. If they were cooperating with Shizuri, they of course knew about Kojou’s circumstances, too. In spite of them fighting so that he wouldn’t use any demonic energy, the man himself had shown up on the battlefield. Small wonder Rui was shocked.

But from Kojou’s perspective, Rui and Yuno being there was the surprise.

“Kojikoji, run!”

Yuno shouted at the perplexed Kojou.

When he looked back, grotesque shapes rose into his field of vision; a horde of Unknowns. He didn’t understand the circumstances very well, but apparently Rui and Yuno were fighting MAR automated combat weaponry and Unknowns at the same time.

“Nah…these guys bein’ here is a huge help!”

Glaring at the approaching demon beasts, Kojou grinned ferociously.

Pitch-black wings shimmering like flames shot from his back. These sliced through the air as if they were sentient beings to pierce straight through the Unknowns’ bodies.

Skewered, the creatures writhed and screamed.

“Whoa, what’s with that getup…?! Kojikoji’s hobby?”

“No one has hobbies whacked enough to grow stuff like this!”

Feeling emotionally drained from Yuno’s misunderstanding, he continued deploying the jet-black wings.

The Unknowns, which had enough life force to be practically immortal, began to decompose on the cellular level at an incredible clip. Kojou was sucking out their demonic energy reserves with his black wings.

This way, he could compensate for his lacking demonic energy to postpone the start of the Blazing Banquet a little longer—the Unknowns’ appearance had unwittingly worked out in his favor.

At the same time, Rui and Yuno gained more room to breathe with less enemies to worry about. Instantly seizing upon their advantage, they destroyed one MAR-manufactured automated machine after another.

The fact MAR was so blatantly involved in the occupation of Keystone Gate made Kojou blast past surprised all the way to astonished. The fact that the Unknowns had shown up meant they didn’t think there was a need to hide it any longer.

“Where’s Cas? Wasn’t she with you?”

He asked this as Rui and Yuno continued fighting. Rui fired off a burst of spell rounds as he glanced back.

“We were separated. Squad Leader is fighting the president of MAR by herself.”

“MAR’s…president?”

Kojou’s eyes widened. Naturally, he didn’t think a big shot like him would come to Keystone Gate himself.

“Go ahead of us, Kojikoji! Go save Shizurin!”

Yuno encouraged Kojou as she kicked apart a security pod.

“Got it; leave the rest to me!”

With that, Kojou ran off deeper into Keystone Gate. His wings sliced apart the MAR-manufactured automated weapons trying to bar his path.

“Leave the rest to him, he says… Sure got reliable all of a sudden.”

Yuno narrowed her eyes, deeply moved as she watched from behind him. It was the sort of expression a mother would make as she watched her own child grow.

“I suppose you’re right. That being the case, all we need to do is secure an escape route—though that may prove somewhat difficult.”

Rui let out a small sigh as he glanced up at the sky through the crevice in the ceiling.

The din coming down from above was created by an MAR transport helicopter. They were probably bringing in automated weapons to reinforce the others. This move perfectly demonstrated the strength of the conglomerate’s convictions; it showed that MAR would not let anyone take Keystone Gate, no matter the cost.

By contrast, Rui was just about out of spell rounds. Yuno’s endurance was also at its limit. If they mistimed their retreat, they could wind up getting wiped out entirely instead of securing an escape route.

But even as he looked on morosely, flames suddenly spewed from the descending transport helicopter. Components scattered along with exploding flames, and the helicopter fluttered and spun as it crashed into the canal.

“Eh? Why…?”

Yuno blinked in total surprise. Then her bestial ears twitched as they picked up something.

Behind Rui and Yuno, from the direction of Keystone Gate’s entrance, they heard the voices of multiple people. After that came the sound of explosions, gunfire, and even sorcery and vampires summoning Beast Vassals.

“This is…”

Rui and Yuno traded glances.

Pouring in from the entrance all at once like an avalanche were ruler candidate demons from all across Itogami Island. They’d noticed the abnormality at Keystone Gate; it had apparently served as a signal for them to band together.

The duo didn’t know what they were after. Perhaps they wanted to win the Electoral War; perhaps it was to give the Order of the End a pounding and bring the conflict to a close. Or maybe they were simply going with the flow, rampaging as they pleased.

But they did know one thing for certain—even MAR could not halt their momentum.

The Electoral War had unmistakably begun moving to its final act.