“I see. That is their thinking… So they are treating Itogami Island not as Japanese soil, but as a giant device. For, if it is a simple device, they can destroy it even without the Japanese government’s consent.” Annoyed, Natsuki snorted.
“The hell does that mean?” Kojou looked between the two girls. “Wait… A sorcerous device? Itogami Island’s just gigafloats, isn’t it?”
“Meiga Itogami proved that Itogami Island is an altar that can be employed to reproduce The Cleansing…” His teacher glared at him as he spoke in bewilderment.
The forbidden formula to revive Cain and rewrite the world itself—Kojou was familiar with that power.
“The Cleansing is a vile sorcerous calamity that, if unleashed, would have repercussions on a global scale. And Itogami Island is a requisite component of that calamity. The Holy Ground Treaty Organization’s judgment is not an irrational application of law. Though, it is rather arbitrary of them.”
Vattler, nodding deeply in agreement with Natsuki’s explanation, turned his eyes toward the water’s dark horizon.
“The Holy Ground Treaty Organization’s extraordinarily convened international armada has already been assembled off Iwo Jima. At the earliest, they will likely finish the encirclement of Itogami Island tonight.”
“What about us…the residents of Itogami Island?” Kojou’s voice was tinged with nervousness.
Itogami Island was an artificial isle floating in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Its population was roughly 560,000 people. Of course, if Itogami Island was destroyed, they would not go unscathed.
“You have been granted twelve hours before the attack commences,” Aradahl answered. “Take shelter during that time wherever you might.” The emotionless, businesslike tone with which he said it was clearly intentional.
“…Twelve hours…?”
Kojou was speechless. Far removed from the Japanese mainland, travel to Itogami Island was restricted. It was impossible to evacuate 560,000 people in a mere half a day’s time, something the Holy Ground Treaty Organization was likely well aware of. They hadn’t meant to let Itogami Island’s residents escape to start with.
“Is there any way to make the Holy Ground Treaty Organization reconsider its decision?” Yukina asked in a hard voice. However, Aradahl merely shook his head.
Natsuki gave a cold smile mixed with self-derision. “If the Japanese government has the courage to defy the organization, it might be another matter, but that is surely a thin hope. Only a fool would make an enemy of the world for the sake of a single artificial isle.”
Kojou trembled with anger that lacked an outlet. Glenda gazed upon this with a look of concern. Her beautiful, hematite-reminiscent, steel-colored eyes beheld the sight of the wounded Kojou within them. That instant, Kojou came to harbor a faint suspicion.
“Wait a minute, Velesh Aradahl… So why did you try to dispose of Glenda? Right before the attack on Itogami Island like this…”
If Itogami Island was destroyed, Glenda would not be safe, either. Why had he tried to kill Glenda in spite of this? Even to the point of taking the unnecessary risk of a duel with the Fourth Primogenitor—
“Because she is the guardian,” Vattler answered for Aradahl, who remained silent.
Aradahl’s expression froze from shock. Kojou and the others did not notice.
“Guardian…?” Kojou repeated.
He stared squarely at Glenda. I don’t know anything, said the shake of Glenda’s head.
Vattler was the only calm one as an intoxicated smile came over him. He smiled like a scientist whose grand experiment had come to an end, delivering the answer he had desired.
“Yes… The guardian of the legacy left by Cain the Sinful God—the vessel for his information.”
Aradahl and Natsuki had a dramatic reaction to those words.
“Vattler, why do you know about that?!”
“Tch—so that’s how it is, Master of Serpents!”
Aradahl summoned a sword Beast Vassal, and Natsuki unleashed silver-colored chains. Both were immediately shot down by a torrent of demonic energy Vattler had unleashed. The offensive demonic energy finally changed shape into a serpent that was dozens of meters in length. It was a Beast Vassal of the Master of Serpents.
“Kojou Akatsuki, protect Glenda! The Cleansing is what Dimitrie Vattler’s really after!”
Natsuki looked back at Kojou and shouted. Before Kojou could comprehend the meaning of her words, Vattler commanded his Beast Vassal to attack.
“Shakala—”
“Snowdrift Wolf!”
When the Beast Vassal finished completely materializing, it opened its enormous maw and attacked Kojou and the others. It was Yukina who intercepted it. Drawing the silver spear from its case, she intercepted and struck the serpentine Beast Vassal head-on.
The vast demonic energy scattered about by the Beast Vassal was rent by a dazzling silver flash, dissipating in the blink of an eye. Yukina’s spear, granted the name of Snowdrift Wolf, was a secret weapon of the Lion King Agency, a purging spear able to rend any barrier and nullify demonic energy.
“The Schneewaltzer… Well defended, as I might have expected.”
Vattler clapped his hands in a show of praise for Yukina. During this time, silver chains unleashed by Natsuki entwined around Vattler’s wounded Beast Vassal while Aradahl’s swords bore down on Vattler himself.
Even so, Vattler’s smile remained unchanged as he simply raised his right hand without fanfare. It was a polished and annoying gesture, as if he was ordering wine at a restaurant—
“Then, how about this?”
As Vattler stood defenseless, he came to be surrounded by a malevolent, vermillion radiance. Natsuki’s chains bounced off; Aradahl’s sword Beast Vassal vanished without a trace.
The radiance covering Vattler was, in truth, a veil of minute particles lined with ancient magical characters. Each and every one of those particles was its own magical circle imbued with powerful ritual energy. These vermillion particles of light began increasing in density and brilliance.
“That power…!”
“This cannot be…The Cleansing…?!”
Kojou and Yukina gaped. This was the vile forbidden spell left behind by Cain—The Cleansing, sorcery that could rewrite the world itself. Kojou and Yukina had previously tasted its might, so they knew painfully well that neither the Beast Vassals of the Fourth Primogenitor nor the demonic energy-nullifying Ability of Snowdrift Wolf could fend off that vermillion radiance. The only thing that could oppose The Cleansing was the vast divine essence Yukina gave off when in her angelicized form.
“I see, Master of Serpents—you robbed Meiga Itogami of his Blood Memory, did you not…?” Natsuki said.
“Correct, Witch of the Void.”
Vattler bared his long canine teeth as he smiled.
Blood drained from Kojou’s whole body. He’d consumed the missing Meiga Itogami, obtaining Meiga’s knowledge of The Cleansing for himself—that was what Vattler was saying.
It was not that he felt sorry for Meiga Itogami. He was a sorcerous criminal, and in one sense, a dead man already. Vattler drank Meiga’s blood, thereby inheriting his memories.
All to obtain a new power.
As if to show Kojou that this was the true nature of all vampires—
“But who is running the sorcerous calculations for The Cleansing…?”
The final question Yukina voiced carried a hint of fear.
Kojou’s heart raced.
The Cleansing, the magic of the Sinful God, demanded the expenditure of incredible demonic energy commensurate with its power and enormous sorcerous calculations completely impossible for humans. Even if Vattler was a vampire, it wasn’t the sort of thing you could use by yourself.
The artificial isle of Itogami Island had been designed as an altar for the activation of that Cleansing. The dragon lines coursing atop the Pacific Ocean provided the mystical energy required to activate it. The artificial isle also possessed five
supercomputers with which to conduct the sorcerous calculations.
Though, however excellent an altar Itogami Island might be, that was insufficient to control The Cleansing. The only one capable of completely controlling the magic of Cain was a genius programmer with a godlike level of skill. And no cybermancers of that scale had been confirmed to exist……except for one.
Accordingly, they called her…
…the Priestess of Cain.
“No way…”
Before Kojou could say more, Vattler unleashed his attack. Vermillion radiance covered the entire breakwater, transforming it into a beautiful crystal of ice beneath Kojou’s and the others’ feet.
This was an attack via The Cleansing, transforming the very essence of matter.
This crystal cracked, shattering into smithereens. Fragments of ice danced up like snowflakes. Kojou and Yukina fell like radgolls.
Glenda let go of Kojou’s hand, instantly reverting to dragon form. But before she could spread her wings, a giant arm reached up from within the shattered ice and grasped hold of her.
“Glenda…!”
As he sank into fine particles of frost, Kojou desperately reached out with his hand.
In reality, the giant arm that had caught hold of Glenda was a metal manipulator arm. A crimson robot tank had emerged from under the breakwater’s surface to carry out Glenda’s kidnapping.
The robot tank was also enveloped by the malevolent radiance of The Cleansing. And upon that tank’s shoulder was a lone girl, sitting with her legs crossed. It was a high school girl with an extravagant hairstyle.
“Asagi…why would you…?” Kojou murmured in a daze as he stared at the girl on top of the tank.
As Kojou did so, Asagi looked down at him, lips unmoving. He felt like he heard the girl’s voice.
Sorry…
The breakwater turned ice crystal began to collapse. Seawater forcefully flowed in from the cracks, further accelerating the collapse.
The robot tank upon which Asagi rode accelerated, vanishing into the twilight.
Vattler was no longer in sight, either. The only ones left on top of the breakwater were Natsuki and the wounded Aradahl.
“Senpai—!”
Thrusting her silver spear into a block of ice, Yukina earnestly reached a hand out toward Kojou.
However, as he floated amid the freezing seawater, Kojou didn’t even notice.
CHAPTER FOUR
A WAR OF PRIMOGENITORS
1
In a cabin near the ship’s hold of the cruise ship Oceanus Grave II, Shio, wrists still bound, peeked out the window. The arrival of night had darkened the harbor, so it was difficult to tell what was going on outside the porthole.
“It’s gotten quiet. Do you think the duel is over?” murmured Yuiri, dressed in a swimsuit, and with nothing else to keep her warm save a jacket.
Like Shio, both of Yuiri’s hands were tied behind her back. They had lost to, and were subsequently captured by, Velesh Aradahl back at Blue Elysium. They had been treated more politely at the start, but having ignored instructions and plotted to escape several times, their treatment had devolved to the current situation.
Incidentally, due to Shio’s particularly obstinate attitude, they had been threatened with having to wear frilly magical-girl cosplay outfits the next time the pair attempted to escape. Hence, Shio and Yuiri were in a situation where they could not casually attempt an escape.
“I wonder if Kojou Akatsuki lost…,” Shio said in a frail voice.
She and Yuiri had been informed beforehand that Kojou Akatsuki and Aradahl were to duel over Glenda. Powerful demonic energy had jostled back and forth ceaselessly until moments before, but it had completely come to a halt now. The duel had probably been decided.
“No way. Kojou is the Fourth Primogenitor, the World’s Mightiest Vampire.”
Yuiri pouted a bit as she refuted Shio’s words. For some reason, Yuiri had been soft on Kojou Akatsuki since the incident at Kannawa Lake back at New Year’s.
“But the opponent is the First Primogenitor’s right-hand man. It seems like Kojou Akatsuki doesn’t have a complete command of his vampire powers, either. If he has to follow a duel’s rules, wouldn’t you normally think he’d lose?” Shio rationally pointed out. Then, like she was speaking to herself, she added, “Besides, Kojou Akatsuki’s a bit of a flake. For a primogenitor, he’s not very dependable.”
“What can you expect? He’s still young. You comparing him to Gajou makes me feel sorry for him.”
“W…we’re not talking about Gajou right now!” Shio’s voice went shrill. However, Yuiri took Shio’s objection in stride.
“If Kojou really does lose, what do you think will happen to us?”
“…I don’t know. Since there’s the Holy Ground Treaty, I don’t think the treatment will be that awful, but it is a fact we attacked the Duke of Severin, so…”
Having spoken those words, Shio bit her lip. The Lion King Agency had assigned Shio and Yuiri the mission of guarding Glenda, but using that as justification to engage a VIP of the Warlord’s Empire in combat sounded a bit thin. The two were still only apprentice Attack Mages, and they’d failed in that very mission of protecting Glenda. If the Warlord’s Empire blew it up into an international incident, the chances the Lion King Agency would cut them loose were high.
“So they really will interrogate us—to make us tell them secret information of the Lion King Agency…”
“Uh, n-nah, I’m sure they wouldn’t. It’s not like we know much secret information to begin with—”
“Then, human trafficking or something… Selling us to a sex industry of some sort…”
“Th-that’s stupid. Even nobles of the Warlord’s Empire wouldn’t stoop to something like…”
Shio hid her own internal worries as she retorted. At present, Shio and Yuiri were not in the custody of the famously well-mannered Aradahl, but the highly notorious Dimitrie Vattler. To be blunt, she had no idea how Vattler meant to treat them once the duel was over and their value as hostages had come to an end.
“Shio.”
Noticing the sound of footsteps approaching the cabin, Yuiri spoke in a quiet voice, nodding guardedly to Shio.
“Get back, Yuiri.”
Shio approached the cabin door. From that position, was the crew member guarding them to enter, she could instantly attack and take the person hostage, but Yuiri shook her head to dissuade Shio from such thoughts.
“Shio, don’t! If we resist, this time they’ll put us in cosplay outfits!”
“It’s better than being sold as slaves!” Shio yelled, more for her own benefit than anyone else’s. Certainly, the day pictures of them in magical-girl cosplay outfits would be distributed to those close to them, she felt she would lose something precious to her as an Attack Mage, but that didn’t mean she could just take being kept captive.
Thus resolved, Shio girded herself as the cabin door opened right before her eyes. Entering was a silver-haired youth, his confident stride betraying no openings. He was a vampire with a handsome face reminiscent of a cold blade.
“A-a man…?!”
Shio was shaken, freezing up at the Demon’s unexpected appearance. Having lived and trained at an all-girls’ boarding school, her case might not have quite been on the same level as her classmate Sayaka, but Shio had a somewhat difficult time dealing with men nonetheless.
Perhaps astutely sensing Shio’s fear, Yuiri stood up with trembling legs and stood before the young man.
“Don’t lay one hand on Shio. Do with me what you like, but at least spare Shio—”
“Y-Yuiri, you idiot!”
Shio hastily tried to push Yuiri back, resulting in both trying to shield the other. The vampire youth gazed gloomily at the pair, sighing at the sight of them getting worked up on their own.
“Oh my, Count Jagan…have you done something to these girls?”
The woman who entered the cabin next looked up at the youth, posing the question with v
isible amusement. Wearing a blue suit, the beautiful woman gave off the air of having a good head on her shoulders. Her words made Shio and Yuiri realize the silver-haired youth’s identity: Tobias Jagan. He was an Old Guard vampire, aristocrat of the Warlord’s Empire, and said to be Vattler’s confidant.
“Don’t ask me. They started a ruckus all by themselves.”
Jagan spoke with a sour tone. His hands gripped a silver long sword and a recurve bow in its folded form. These were Rosen Chevalier Plus and Freikugel Plus—Yuiri’s and Shio’s weapons, supposedly lost during combat with Aradahl. Jagan bluntly placed both atop the cabin’s sofa.
It was a moment later that the woman in the three-piece suit beckoned with her hand, and a small figure came rushing in. Her steel hair flapped all around as she pressed herself hard against Shio and Yuiri, like a dog embracing its master.
“Yuiri! Shio!”
“Glenda?!”
“You’re all right?”
“Dah!”
The small figure was actually Glenda. She was wearing an expensive-looking white dress and a pretty tiara. A joyful smile came over her, with her entire body projecting an expression of happiness.
“Kojou won? Against the Duke of Severin?” Yuiri asked.
“Yes. He performed splendidly.” The woman in the suit smiled warmly.
“I do not recognize that pathetic fighting as victory. Aradahl is too soft,” Jagan said with the tone of a pouting child. Apparently, he was loath to accept Kojou’s victory over Aradahl.
“Are you letting us go, then?” Shio, confused, sought to make sure.
The woman in the suit nodded. “Yes. However, before you go, would you care to have dinner with us?”
“Dinner? Food?” Glenda’s ears perked up as she turned to listen. Her long, steel-colored hair swayed back and forth like a dog’s tail.
“Yes. And there is someone who wishes to meet with you,” the woman in the suit stated in a highly suggestive manner. Yuiri nodded deeply.
“Let’s go, Shio.”
“Yuiri?”
“There’s no reason for you to deceive us at this point, is there? They could dispose of us at any time if they wanted to.”
A War of Primogenitors Page 14