Strike the Blood - Volume 21 - Chapter Ep

OUTRO

Shahryar Ren, president of Magna Ataraxia Research, leisurely descended a flight of stairs in an enormous ruin. He was completely surrounded by darkness, yet he showed no sign of being inconvenienced.

In the dark, his eyes glowed red like some kind of nocturnal predator, and his pale skin made him seem like one of the walking dead.

“We are still unaware of Dodekatos’s…no, the Fourth Primogenitor’s whereabouts?”

Ren inquired about this with a businesslike tone toward the subordinate following behind him.

The MAR special forces commander wearing steel-colored camouflaged fatigues seemed fairly tense as he shook his head. The combat squad President Ren had ordered into Nod consisted of around four hundred soldiers. At present, nearly half were conducting an investigation inside the ruins to determine the location of the vampire called Dodekatos.

“At present, there is no report she has been located. All units of the Second Armed Reconnaissance Battalion are continuing the search.”

“Hmm. What do you think, Kreyd?”

Ren nodded vaguely and shifted the conversation to the other person behind him.

Standing there was a man of great stature wearing a lizard skull mask over his face, the Flame Dragon who was the sole survivor of the Order of the End.

“…It is likely the work of Glenda.”

His vocal chords bore little resemblance to a human being’s, so the Flame Dragon replied in a guttural voice difficult to make out.

The previously emotionless Ren faintly scowled as he glared at Kreyd.

“The dragon with a steel-colored mane… Just who is she?”

“I have heard she is…Cain’s familiar… Even I know…no more.”

“I see. I suppose this should have been expected of the Guardian of Cain’s Legacy. At the very least, she is likely far better versed in the layout of Senra than we. Small wonder we have not found her, search as we might.”

Ren coldly smiled. The artificial isle of Senra floating in the Great Sea of Nod, the landmass upon which Itogami Island was said to be based, was still enormous even in its ruined state.

If Glenda truly had lived in the same era as Cain, it was quite likely she knew every nook and corner of the city like the back of her hand. That would make sheltering Dodekatos out of their sight an easy task.

The real issue was that he did not know Glenda’s objective. Even if the dragon was following Cain’s last wishes, he didn’t think this constituted a reason to shield Dodekatos. After all, Dodekatos was currently the Fourth Primogenitor—the very culprit in the murder of Cain the Sinful God.

“What will you…do?”

Kreyd asked this in a low voice. As a fellow dragon, Glenda’s association with Cain must have felt deeply disturbing.

“We will continue the search. There is no reason to be hasty. Her free will has been frozen. She poses no threat to us.”

Ren touched the dagger in his pocket. This dagger, inherited from the Devas, was a sorcerous device for controlling the Kaleid Blood series. Although there had been no guarantee the device would have worked on Kojou Akatsuki, a former human being, the fact that he’d mysteriously handed his Beast Vassals to Dodekatos had resulted in Ren’s plan advancing much more smoothly.

“In any case, Dodekatos’s role has come to an end. We have any number of replacements for her.”

Arriving at the bottom of the stairs, Ren touched the control panel standing before him.

That instant, the interior lighting of the building thought to be a ruin came on. They were at the lowest stratum of the huge structure at the very center of the artificial isle Seram known as the Goplam. Though it had lain in ruin for centuries—no, millennia—this section remained active.

“This is…the true Legacy of Cain…?”

Looking around the underground chamber illuminated by those lights, Kreyd let out a muffled growl.

The special forces commander was at a loss for words.

It was a giant cylindrical space like a gargantuan missile silo. Its walls were completely covered with rows of translucent crystals resembling gemstones.

The horde of beautiful crystals, which changed color with the angle of the light, made each seem like part of a giant work of art or reflections from an assembly of mirrors, almost like an amusing device that displayed beautiful patterns—a kaleidoscope.

“Yes. This is the ultimate sorcerous weapon Cain sealed at the cost of his own life, an abominable, dark legacy capable of burning the world to cinders, and the accursed power I should be the one to inherit—Beast Vassals.”

Approaching one of the crystals, Ren stroked its surface like it was an old friend.

Hovering inside the translucent crystal, sleeping with her blazing blue eyes open, was a beautiful girl.

The twelve pitch-black Beast Vassals vanished from sight the instant Kojou returned to his human form. They had not completely dissipated by any means but had recognized him as their new host and master and had gone back into his blood.

“…Why’d they suddenly decide to do what I tell ’em?”

Kojou asked this while putting on a fresh school uniform Nina had whipped up with alchemy in place of the one in tatters from his turning into a monster. He was in a field clinic tent placed close to the container base. Yaze had arranged its placement with the Island Guard beforehand.

There were a number of other similar tents in the surrounding area, plus Gigafloat Management Corporation employees and harbor-related staff running around in a big hurry. It seemed they had to begin repairing the facilities destroyed by the Beast Vassals’ rampage that very night. Kojou felt pretty apologetic due to his substantial responsibility in the matter.

“It’s because you drank Kasugaya’s blood.”

Asagi bluntly replied with this while violently operating her laptop PC.

She was hurrying to get the damaged harbor back on its feet as much as anyone. She apparently had to work for free for a while to make up for monopolizing Itogami Island’s network in preparation for The Cleansing. Kojou felt even worse when he’d heard that part.

“Cas’s blood…er, wait, just from that?”

Kojou cocked his head while putting a hand over his mouth. Even if he had halfway lost his sanity, the fact remained he’d bitten deep into Shizuri’s arm and drank her blood.

When told that unlike normal vampiric acts, there might be a scar from it, Shizuri had replied with a laugh, saying, “I do not particularly mind.” Immediately after, though, she added, “So long as you properly take responsibility,” sticking her tongue out toward Kojou in a suggestive way that was pretty terrifying.

Either way, he didn’t think her blood alone had all the demonic energy twelve Beast Vassals craved.

Kojou’s dubious expression conveyed this message when Asagi said, “Here,” tossing her own smartphone toward him. Its screen displayed the Electoral War rankings app.

“Congratulations, Vampire K. A. (age seventeen), resident of Island South.”

“…Huh?”

Kojou scrolled down the screen, clueless as to what she meant by “congratulations.” At the top of the rankings was a face shot of a boy who didn’t seem particularly photogenic. There was a mosaic blocking his eyes, but Kojou would never mistake the person’s identity.

“—Wait, this is me?!”

“Hey, I gave you a pseudonym. People probably won’t even realize it’s you.”

“Like hell they won’t?! Wait, how did I become number one in the Electoral War?! On top of that, I’m like three digits ahead of second place, so it’s a runaway victory or something?! The heck happened to the other primogenitors?!”

Kojou shouted in a shrill voice as his hand holding the smartphone trembled. He had no idea what had happened to bring this about in the mere half a day he’d been out of it.

“The First Primogenitor wasn’t participating in the Electoral War to begin with. From the beginning, the Warlord’s Empire was subordinate to the Tensou Academy Domain.”

“Now that you mention it…”

Asagi’s explanation made him remember that for himself. He didn’t know what that man had been thinking, but he hadn’t tried to be Itogami Island’s ruler from the very start. For some reason, he’d snuck into Tensou Academy over in Island West and supported Yume as one of her subjects. The primary schooler Yume ought to have been number one in the ruler rankings as a result.

“Second place in the ruler rankings is Island North after Natsuki put under her thumb. When you add the Second Primogenitor in East and the Third Primogenitor in South, it gets you close to ninety percent of Itogami Island’s total subjects.”

“I see.”

“So we had all of them become Kasugaya’s subjects.”

“…Huh?”

Kojou said this back, dumbfounded. He could understand Yume and Natsuki cooperating with Shizuri. As her subject, the First Primogenitor couldn’t go against whatever Yume decided, so that made sense at least. He didn’t think getting the Second and Third Primogenitors to agree to obey Shizuri was any simple task at all.

Asagi, though, shook her head like this was no big deal.

“Giada was cooperative from the start, and the Second Primogenitor responded to negotiations. Miss Haba needed some good stomach medicine thanks to that, though.”

“Stomach medicine…?”

He didn’t really get it, but he felt he had a general grasp of things. No doubt Asagi had put the super-serious Yuiri through the wringer, shoving some sort of extremely difficult dilemma onto her.

Kojou naturally gave Asagi a reproachful look for this. Asagi looked back at him, exhaling with a twinge of dismay.

“So, Kojou, when you drank Kasugaya’s blood and turned her into your Blood Vassal, you became the victor of the Electoral War. You remember what the victor gets as a special commemorative prize, right?”

“…The demonic energy of the subjects…!”

Kojou shuddered, feeling goose bumps all over his skin.

Via their demon registration bracelets, the rulers participating in the Electoral War were able to draw a portion of the demonic energy of their subjects. If he had the demonic energy of every demon living on Itogami Island, maybe it was enough to sate the appetites of The Blood’s twelve Beast Vassals.

“That’s how it is,” said Asagi with a smile. “Right now, you’re ruler of Itogami Island in name and fact. Your Beast Vassals are being supported by the entire population of Itogami Island. Don’t forget that, Mr. K. A.”

“Beware of The Blood.

“Protect the white-haired girl, would you?”

Yukina suddenly remembered the words spoken to them by La Folia’s twin little sisters just before they left the kingdom of Aldegia. It was because of Shizuri the ogress that they had been able to halt the rampage of The Blood’s Beast Vassals.

If she hadn’t become ruler of Saikai Academy to protect it out of her personal sense of justice, they probably couldn’t have been saved—not Yukina and the others, not the island.

Ki Juranbarada’s actions remained a mystery as well.

For some reason, he had acted as Yume’s subject from the beginning, making no move to become ruler himself. That was why Yukina and the others had been able to get his people to become Kojou’s subjects without any resistance. Thanks to a pot of curry, they’d conciliated with the Second Primogenitor without any kind of troublesome deal.

Perhaps his choosing Yume as his ruler was insurance just in case? Had Shizuri not become a ruler, the role of having Kojou drink one’s blood would probably have fallen to Yume instead.

If so, he’d set the entire thing up from the beginning.

All to make the boy named Kojou Akatsuki the true ruler of Itogami Island—

“Truly, you were reckless.”

The black cat sighed heartily in exasperation as she watched the blood-ridden Yukina being carried into the medical tent.

Naturally, Sayaka was completely pale as she tearfully cried out. Yuiri and Shio ended up dragging her out of the tent by force so that she wouldn’t get in the way of Yukina’s treatment.

Are you an idiot? said the single scornful glance Kiriha gave Yukina, after which she scribbled something onto the bandage wrapped around Yukina’s wrist and left. Yukina thought it best to pretend not to notice the healing charm on the underside of the bandage differing from those utilized by the Lion King Agency.

Yukina only heard after the fact that it was actually Nagisa who’d treated her while she was unconscious from blood loss. Yukari was apparently shocked by the ritual, so high-level that one would never think it was done by a complete amateur like Nagisa. Thanks to that, Yukina could already move her left hand without any difficulty. There was barely even a scar, which made her feel a little apologetic given the heavy injuries the other girls had sustained.

Yuuma had apparently headed on back early, figuring Kojou would chew her ear off when she got busted for bringing Nagisa to such a dangerous battlefield. Yukina could only admire how well she understood Kojou’s sister’s complex personality.

Natsuki and Yaze were apparently occupied with a secret meeting with La Folia, who’d touched down by that point. Yukina was a little uneasy about that, but there was nothing she could do. She could only pray she would not become wrapped up in the girl’s schemes.

Yume and Didier were sound asleep from fatigue in the next tent over from Yukina. She was hardly surprised a pair of primary schoolers had difficulty remaining up at that late hour.

And then…

“…Himeragi, are you awake?”

Yukina hastily tried to sit up when she saw it was Kojou who’d come to check on her.

“Hey, lie down already.”

“No, the wounds themselves are quite minor…”

Yukina looked up at Kojou’s awkward show of consideration and broke into tiny laughter.

“What?”

“Er, I mean, how is the state of your body? It was supposed to have completely returned to how it was, but is anything different from before?”

Yukina gazed intently at the bewildered Kojou, checking on that with a serious look on her face.

On the outside, the current Kojou did not differ from the Kojou whom Yukina knew in any way. According to simulations using Asagi’s magical calculations, even the parts Yukina couldn’t see ought to have been faithfully reproduced down to minute details. It didn’t look like his personality had changed, but perhaps something felt off that only the boy himself could detect.

“Ahhh, that. I heard from Asagi. You’re the one who turned me back, right, Himeragi?”

Kojou stroked his own cheek and head as he tried to wrap his head around the whole thing.

“I can’t really tell there’s anything like that, so who knows. What do you think, Himeragi?”

“I think it is quite a shame since you were more attractive as a human being.”

Yukina commented on this in a subdued voice. Judging from Minami Shindou and Shio’s reactions when they’d met him at Saikai Academy, Kojou apparently had more animal magnetism with the girls before he turned into a vampire.

When Kojou heard Yukina’s words, he was shaken far more than she’d expected.

“You’re serious…”

“Ah, I’m joking. It is a joke.”

Kojou was so crestfallen that Yukina hurried to follow up.

As a matter of fact, Yukina felt closer to the current Kojou than to the Kojou who was bright and cheerful in the morning. For some reason, she could feel comfortable being right beside him, and it would be inconvenient for her to have even more girls getting closer to him.

“I am very sorry. This was all because I was unable to stop Miss Zana from—”

When Yukina saw Kojou had somehow managed to recover, she formally bowed her head. Yukina’s carelessness had been the cause of both Zana’s kiss and her stabbing him with a knife.

Kojou, though, seemed a little beside himself as he shook his head.

“Hey, Himeragi, that’s not your fault any way you slice it. I’m the one who took the First Primogenitor up on his offer.”

“That…might well be the case, but…”

Yukina awkwardly hesitated with her words. Yes, Kojou really had gone along with Ki’s deal. He wanted the power with which to bring Avrora back from Shahryar Ren.

Indeed, he’d gained it. Even if they were incomplete prototypes, he’d gained power rivaling that of the Fourth Primogenitor’s Beast Vassals.

“Guess technically he made good on his promise?”

Kojou commented on this as he stared at his own palms.

Yes, he’d obtained power, but this was no more than the end of the beginning. He’d wanted the power for the sake of rescuing a single girl.

Without a word, Kojou looked up in the direction of Nod, floating up there in the sky.

As he did so, Yukina spoke.

“Senpai. Would you drink my blood?”

“…Huh?”

Dumbstruck, Kojou opened his eyes wide as he looked back at Yukina.

“Er, um,” went Yukina, nervously raising both hands.

“If I do not become senpai’s Blood Serv— Vassal, I cannot use Snowdrift Wolf…”

“Er, I can’t, though. Himeragi, didn’t you just faint from losing too much blood?”

Kojou cited a most sensible reason as he declined Yukina’s wish, but she would not back down. She was worried that if she didn’t return to being Kojou’s Blood Vassal while she could, he might leave her behind when he went off to Nod.

“It will be all right if it’s only a little. I received treatment from Nagisa, too, after all.”

“All that did was close the wound. It didn’t put any blood back into you. Plus, I guess I don’t need any more tonight?”

“…Excuse me?”

Kojou’s offhanded slip of the tongue made Yukina’s eyes run cold. By not needing any, he probably meant he’d already had his fill, yet so far as Yukina knew, Kojou should only have drunk from Shizuri that night and only a little from her arm at that.

“Senpai, surely you are not saying you drank blood from someone else during the time I was asleep…?!”

“Ah…er, well that couldn’t be helped. They said I had to form a spiritual pathway between me an’ Astarte so her life span wouldn’t get whittled down just from having that Beast Vassal in her, and that Kanase was in danger of fading away ’cause she’d used the Faux-Angel ritual and stuff so…”

Kojou readily confessed, figuring she’d find out whether he tried to hide it or not.

Now she understood. Certainly, one could fairly say such situations made it unavoidable. However, as his watcher, Yukina was unable to go, Ah, is that so? and accept it just like that.

“If it was only Miss Astarte, that would be one thing, but Kano even…!”

“Come to think of it, there was something I kinda wanted to ask you, too, Himeragi…”

“Do not change the subject!”

Yukina glared at Kojou with raised eyebrows. However, Kojou looked back at Yukina with a serious expression. It seemed something was genuinely bugging him.

“Why are you…dressed up like a bunny girl?”

“Bu…!!”

Yukina’s face froze in mid-exclamation.

After a long, silent gap, her eyes fell down to her own outfit. Only the white cuff on her right wrist remained. Her bodysuit left her chest and shoulders heavily exposed and made the modest cleavage of her breasts and her body lines very distinct to the eye—

“Y-you are mistaken, Akatsuki-senpai! This was for the purpose of seducing you…”

“Seducing…me?”

Kojou blinked hard.

“Senpai, you are mistaken. I mean, this was all for getting you to drink Miss Kasugaya’s blood when you were berserk. Yaze said Akatsuki-senpai would definitely fall for it; that is why… Anyway, you are mistaken—!”

Yukina’s teary-eyed shout echoed through the Demon Sanctuary’s night sky.

The sky continued to a foreign land.

A land where an inverted, steel-colored city floated in the sky, quietly looking down at the surface as the true terror within remained asleep—