A War of Primogenitors

by Gakuto Mikumo

  “Nagisa, don’t—!”

  From behind them, Kojou could hear Kanon Kanase’s scream. Kanon, an excellent spirit medium, realized what Nagisa was trying to do.

  Nagisa looked back at Kojou and Kanon. For one brief moment, she showed them a brilliant smile.

  Then, she turned to the front and declared in a cool, clear voice…

  “Please, Miss Avrora! C’mon over, Alrescha Glacies!”

  The demonic energy felt nostalgic to Kojou. From Nagisa’s petite figure surged crisp, cold air. Using Kojou’s body as a catalyst, both girls unleashed all their remaining demonic energy.

  What appeared was an enormous silhouette reminiscent of a glacier.

  The upper torso was a human female. Its lower body had the form of a beautiful fish. There were wings extending from its back. It had sharp talons, like a bird of prey. It was a mermaid of ice, or perhaps a Siren—

  This was the twelfth Beast Vassal of the Fourth Primogenitor, the World’s Mightiest Vampire. Its name was Alrescha Glacies.

  “—?!”

  Both wielders of enormous demonic energy, the great black blade and the monstrous ice bird, collided head-on, and it was Nagisa’s Beast Vassal that emerged the victor.

  Aradahl, reeling from the backlash from the excess power of the overwhelming attack, took an icy stake to the heart and doubled over in agony.

  “Avrora… Nagisa…”

  Strength drained from Nagisa’s fingertips as she gripped his hand. Nagisa’s face was pale, seemingly drained of blood, and her fingers turned as cold as ice.

  Nagisa, no more than a mere human, had controlled the power of a Beast Vassal of the Fourth Primogenitor, unleashing its full might upon Velesh Aradahl. The cost of such a reckless act was high. Despairingly high—

  “Nagisa…please…open your…eyes…”

  All the strength gone from her body, Nagisa crumpled, and Kanon held her tight in Kojou’s stead. For some reason, the earnest voice with which Kanon called out felt…distant.

  You are not alone…

  He felt like he heard Natsuki’s voice. Her words had been the truth. It was Avrora and Nagisa who had granted him a chance at victory. Aradahl had not gone down no matter how much demonic energy Kojou assaulted him with, yet, those two girls had brought him to his knees.

  Kojou finally understood. Why was it he could not defeat Aradahl? What was the true reason he couldn’t fully control his Beast Vassals—?

  “So that’s…it…”

  Kojou rose unsteadily to his feet. With unnatural movements, the blood that he had shed was drawn back into his wounds, time seeming to rewind as the wounds carved into his entire body vanished without a trace.

  “So that’s how it is… If I’d just listened to your voices sooner… Nagisa wouldn’t have had to…”

  Kojou’s voice was gentle. If anything, the demonic energy trickling out from him was tranquil. It was like the momentary lull before the arrival of a tremendous storm.

  Simultaneously, the injured Aradahl rose to his feet. Noticing that Nagisa had collapsed, an expression of relief came over him. Kojou himself could not employ Alrescha Glacies—therefore, his victory remained assured. His expression was one completely confident of that fact.

  The white mist was thinning out. It was about time the throng of spectators on the extravagant ship received the conclusion they desired. As if responding to their expectations, Aradahl summoned the Beast Vassal of the enormous sword once more.

  “Awaken, Archadia—!”

  Aradahl’s attack was swift. Perhaps being injured by Alrescha Glacies had made him more cautious. Without warning, the single blow he unleashed must have exceeded the speed of sound.

  But his attack never reached Kojou.

  This was because Aradahl’s Beast Vassal had been slammed into the ground before it could strike. The front paw of a lion shrouded in lightning had intercepted the saw-bladed long sword.

  The lion, sprinting while wreathed in purple lightning, shot the supersonic blade down, proceeding to trample it into dust.

  “Regulus…Aurum?! What have you done, Kojou Akatsuki…?!”

  Aradahl’s handsome face twisted in pain. His right arm, scorched from the shoulder down, vanished. The lightning lion Kojou unleashed had wounded not only the Beast Vassal, but Aradahl himself.

  The reason it had ended at just the right arm was because Kojou had held back. Kojou had missed the attack on purpose. Surely it was none other than Aradahl himself who understood this best of all.

  “Enough. This meaningless duel is over, Aradahl.”

  “What…?!”

  “You’re definitely a terrifying opponent. You’re the strongest I’ve faced until now. I can’t hold a candle to you—but the same can’t be said for the Beast Vassals of the Fourth Primogenitor.”

  The voice with which Kojou murmured was tinged with regret. He remembered Iblisveil’s words.

  “It is not I whom you should be asking for advice—”

  He was right. Iblisveil wasn’t the one Kojou should have relied on.

  He should have relied on something closer—something within himself.

  What determined the strength of latent demonic energy was the net weight of one’s personal history. In other words, it was the sum of one’s combat experience. The reason vampire primogenitors were so feared was because of the vast, off-the-scale Blood Memories they possessed.

  Furthermore, Beast Vassals were masses of demonic energy with minds of their very own. The Beast Vassals of the Fourth Primogenitor, or rather, the girls in which they had been sealed, had lived for a very long time.

  The combat experience they possessed far outstripped Kojou’s. Kojou would never match Aradahl as a vampire. Yet, even Aradahl was no match for the Beast Vassals of the Fourth Primogenitor.

  Nagisa and Avrora had gambled their very lives to convey that to Kojou.

  Kojou didn’t need to “control” them. He merely needed to lend his ears to their voices and command them.

  Trample the enemy before me—

  “Spelbia! Ghoula!”

  Having finished mending his right arm, Aradahl ignored Kojou’s words and commanded his own Beast Vassals to attack.

  The air twisted as one blade made a surprise attack, with the other bearing down as a horde of dark short swords.

  However, Kojou intercepted them like it was nothing.

  As one blade rent space itself, a twin-headed dragon covered in quicksilver scales gouged out the extra-dimensional space in which it hid. The dense mist spewing from a shelled beast corroded the horde of short swords to mere blade shards.

  “Urk…!”

  Sensing that Kojou was counterattacking, Aradahl attempted to turn his body into dark mist to escape. But raging around him was a violent wind imbued with demonic energy. A scarlet bicorn shimmering like a mirage formed a bulwark of raging winds, preventing Aradahl from escaping.

  “You think you can run?” Kojou spat without emotion.

  Materializing once more, Aradahl’s entire body was impaled with countless slender, pointed stakes made of magma. Aradahl cried out in anguish before falling silent. Tormenting a vampire’s immortal body with an eternity of pain—Aradahl himself had taught Kojou this tactic.

  “Surrender, Aradahl. We’re all pretty pissed. If you want this stupid duel to go on any longer—”

  Burning with anger, Kojou summoned a pale-blue water maid—an Undine. This Beast Vassal, governing restoration, could roll back Aradahl’s personal history, annihilating his very being.

  However, just before Kojou could unleash it—

  “That is far enough, Kojou.”

  Someone’s powerful hand grabbed hold of Kojou’s right arm, stopping it.

  Shrouded in golden mist, a smile of satisfaction rose over Dimitrie Vattler as he stood.

  Kojou’s eyes burned crimson as he glared at Vattler, violently brushing off his hand. However, the blond man looked back at Kojou with a gentle expression. Then, the Master of Se
rpents of the Warlord’s Empire solemnly declared, “This duel has ended.”

  Kojou’s expression seemed dazed as he listened to the words. He did not understand what was being said to him.

  Aradahl had not yet acknowledged defeat. Kojou had to defeat him. He had to protect Glenda. And he had to get Yuiri and Shio back. Why? Because he had promised these things—

  With such thoughts inside Kojou’s jumbled mind, Vattler gazed at him with amusement.

  Then, once more, he gently made another declaration.

  “Victory is yours.”

  4

  Kojou released his Beast Vassals from their summons.

  Freed from the stakes of magma, Aradahl, having lost their support, fell to the ground. Even so, he tumbled with grace. He glared at Kojou with burning eyes as he thrust one hand into the rubble.

  “Do not interfere, Vattler… The outcome is not yet decided…”

  Even as he violently coughed blood, Aradahl asserted he would continue the duel. However, Vattler gazed down at his compatriot with an indifferent smile.

  “Obstinate even on the verge of death, aren’t you, Aradahl? Do not be concerned. The opponent is the World’s Mightiest Vampire. Your approval will not be diminished by this defeat. All the guests are more than satisfied.”

  “Silence… I did not fight for the sake of your trivial approval.”

  Aradahl turned bloodlust toward the smiling Vattler. The statement, with Aradahl’s typical bluntness, made Vattler raise his voice in a laugh of delight.

  “You have done your job just as I expected. Your role has come to an end.”

  “My role…you say… Vattler, why you…!”

  Even though he was having trouble breathing, the look in Aradahl’s eyes was grave. He had realized the possibility that the duel over the dragon girl had been orchestrated from its inception.

  Seeing for himself that Aradahl’s will to continue fighting had trailed off, Kojou let out a small sigh.

  It was then that he felt the air ripple right by their side.

  “—Kojou!”

  A ripple-like teleportation gate spread forth. Appearing from within it was Glenda wearing a white dress. Next to appear was Yukina, wearing her familiar outfit. Lastly, Natsuki emerged, wearing a heavily frilled outfit.

  “Kojou! Kojou, you won!”

  Heedless of her dress being sullied, Glenda clung to Kojou with tears in her eyes. “Guoh!” coughed Kojou, his breath constricted by the impact. The wounds inflicted by Aradahl were yet to be healed.

  “Senpai…your wounds…?!”

  Seeing the blood coursing from Kojou’s body, Yukina’s expression was grave. Glenda, too, asked “Does it hurt?” with a misty-eyed look of obvious concern.

  “I’m fine. More importantly, Nagisa—,” Kojou said in a raspy voice. “Please.”

  Yukina nodded without a word.

  Nagisa’s eyes were closed as she remained limp in the embrace of Kanon’s arms. Her pale skin felt cold, devoid of the warmth of life. Her splayed limbs were completely limp, making her appear like a soulless doll.

  Though the recoil of using a Beast Vassal was what caused her to faint, there was nothing Kojou could do. Even though he was called the World’s Mightiest Vampire, the power the Fourth Primogenitor possessed was only suitable for destruction. As a trained spirit medium, Yukina was probably the only person present who could aid Nagisa.

  However, when she tried to rush over, the girl in the yukata checked Yukina with her eyes and opened her mouth.

  “This one’s time is at an end. Currently, ’tis only the power of the Valkyrie priestess that tethers her soul.”

  “…Are you saying…Nagisa can’t be saved…?”

  Kojou glared at the girl calling herself Hektos. Her glimmering blue eyes narrowed, and the girl with rainbow hair coolly nodded her head.

  “Should we dost wield the power of the Beast Vassal residing in the vessel of our flesh, the arrival of such a conclusion is…inevitable.”

  “Why, you—”

  “Senpai, don’t!”

  Flying into a rage, Kojou tried to grab Hektos by the collar, but Yukina grabbed onto him and held him back.

  Blaming Hektos was not going to save Nagisa. Kojou knew that, too. Even so, Hektos was surely connected to Nagisa having appeared in that place.

  “Miss Justina, may I ask you to call an ambulance?”

  With difficulty, Kanon averted her eyes from the sight of Kojou being so distraught and called out to her female knight bodyguard. “As you command,” said Justina, on standby behind Kanon, stooping as she took out a radio.

  “No need to call them. I will take her.”

  Natsuki spoke those words as she placed a hand on the comatose Nagisa’s shoulder.

  Kanon, guessing what Natsuki had in mind, instantly nodded without hesitation. The next instant, the sight of Nagisa and Kanon slowly melted into thin air and vanished.

  “Y-Your Highness…?!”

  A nervous expression came over Justina as the principal she was allegedly protecting disappeared from sight. Natsuki looked back at the clamor made by the female silver-haired night with visible annoyance.

  “I am sorry, but Kanon Kanase will need to remain with her for the time being. After all, it seems that the spiritual energy Kanon is sending to Nagisa Akatsuki is what is keeping her alive at present.”

  “Kanase’s… I see…,” Kojou frailly murmured as he closed his eyes.

  The blood of the Royal Family of Aldegia flowing through Kanon’s veins probably made her a top-class holder of spiritual energy, even by Itogami Island standards. Even if, unlike when she’d been turned into a Faux-Angel, that power stopped at the edge of human limitations, it did not change the fact that the spiritual energy she possessed was far beyond the norm. By lending Nagisa that spiritual energy, Kanon seemed to be just barely keeping her from wasting away.

  “I have sent them to my barrier. A temporary measure, but she should be secure for the time being.”

  Natsuki bluntly supplemented her words. My barrier no doubt referred to the special, otherworldly space known as the Prison Barrier. Within that world, created to imprison sorcerous criminals, there was no flow of time. At the very least, Nagisa’s condition would probably not worsen so long as she was in there.

  “Sorry…Natsuki. Thanks…a lot…”

  Though Kojou was deflated and on the verge of collapse, a look of relief came over him as Yukina held him up. Glenda, copying Yukina, was holding on to Kojou’s other arm. With the aid of both girls’ hands, Kojou somehow managed not to fall on his face.

  For his part, Aradahl had already finished mending his flesh and was standing up. The sight made it hard to tell just who had been victorious.

  Natsuki arrogantly glared up at Aradahl as she suddenly posed a question.

  “Now then, answer me, Velesh Aradahl—why did you try to take this dragon hatchling into your custody? What is the reason the Holy Ground Treaty Organization fears Glenda?”

  “…Holy Ground Treaty Organization?”

  Kojou knitted his brows at the unfamiliar name.

  “You know about the Holy Ground Treaty, do you not, Kojou Akatsuki?”

  “W-well… yeah.” He nodded. “I know that much, at least.”

  The Holy Ground Treaty was a peace treaty, the signing of which had brought the wars between humankind and Demonkind to an end. In exchange for recognizing that demons had rights identical to humans, Demonkind committed to observe international law.

  Had that treaty not been formed, the killing between humans and demons would no doubt be ongoing to the present day. Nor was it likely that the Demon Sanctuary of Itogami Island would even exist.

  “The Holy Ground Treaty Organization is an international agency composed of signatories of that treaty. Their objective is to maintain peace between humankind and Demonkind, and so, bring about their peaceful coexistence. The Warlord’s Empire is one participant. Japan is another.”

  “…So you were try
ing to capture Glenda for this Holy Ground Treaty Organization? Why?” Kojou turned his eyes toward his defeated opponent.

  Aradahl was the chairman of the Imperial Assembly of the Warlord’s Empire. However, the involvement of an international agency like the Holy Ground Treaty Organization turned the whole story on its head.

  “I will be the one to answer that question…”

  As Kojou and the others stood there confused, Vattler drew their attention to him with a frivolous tone. The gazes of everyone present turned toward the youthful, golden-haired male vampire.

  “Vattler, stop!”

  Aradahl spoke in a sharp voice. However, heedless of him, Vattler continued.

  “The objective of the Holy Ground Treaty Organization is to maintain peace between humans and demons. It was granted the right to employ military force to eliminate obstacles to this objective.”

  “Military force?”

  “The Holy Ground Treaty Organization Military—by which I mean them.”

  Aiming his reply toward Kojou, Vattler tossed a smartphone his way. A low-resolution image was displayed on its high-precision screen.

  It was an overhead image captured by a military satellite.

  A fleet was pictured. There was an enormous aircraft carrier equipped with a full flight deck. In addition, it had an entourage of escort ships. He could see armored airships among them as well. Even from just what he could confirm on the screen, their numbers exceeded twenty. It was a great fleet able to conquer a small nation with ease.

  In a corner of the screen, he saw that the date was February 13—the very same day. There was some degree of time lag due to the satellite transmission, but the image was apparently being streamed in close to real time.

  “Just a bit earlier, the Holy Ground Treaty Organization sent a dispatch to the Japanese government. To wit—the artificial isle known as Itogami Island has been determined to be a large-scale destructive sorcerous device forbidden by the Holy Ground Treaty. The gist is, they are saying they will proceed to destroy Itogami Island,” Vattler stated, exaggerating his sympathy.

  It was Yukina who was terribly unnerved by his words. “Itogami Island… A large-scale destructive sorcerous device…?!”