A War of Primogenitors

by Gakuto Mikumo

  “Public announcement…?”

  “Rumors have already begun to spread. They have no doubt determined that they cannot hide it any longer. The spread of incomplete information runs the risk of sparking a panic.”

  “But there’s no guarantee telling them the truth won’t cause a panic either?” Kojou retorted.

  “I suppose not,” replied Natsuki, unmoved. “Therefore, they surely intend to guide the course of the chaos. The damage should be minimized that way.”

  “So that’s how it is… Dammit…”

  Kojou grudgingly agreed. The Holy Ground Treaty Organization launching an attack on Itogami Island was not something they had vaguely predicted, but a decision made on the spot—that was the unvarnished truth. And it wasn’t just the Gigafloat Management Corporation that lacked the power to defy that decision, but the Japanese government itself. It was a fundamentally unresolvable issue. At present, all the Corporation could do was seek to minimize the casualties by any amount possible. A public announcement would no doubt be for that purpose.

  In the first place, just how many residents of Itogami Island could flee in the little time remaining?

  “Himeragi, any word from the Lion King Agency?”

  “From Master, nothing… And this is on a scale beyond what a single Sword Shaman can deal with…”

  Yukina hung her head and clenched a fist. The Lion King Agency was meant to deal with terrorism caused by sorcerous criminals. By nature, an international armed conflict was beyond the scope of the Lion King Agency’s jurisdiction by its very nature.

  Kojou wore a serious expression as he stared at Yukina, shaking his head.

  “Nah, that’s not what I mean. If it’s just you, can’t they give you a way to get out, Himeragi? Like, take some sort of special route for government people. Sword Shamans are crucial for the Lion King Agency’s combat strength, right, Himeragi? And you’re not from Itogami Island to begin with…”

  Yukina shot a bewildered look at Kojou as he stated this calmly.

  As someone related to The Cleansing incident, Kojou felt a fair bit of responsibility for Itogami Island’s present situation. Even if the Holy Ground Treaty Organization Military’s attack was unavoidable, he at least wanted to get as many people off the island as he could—and for that sake, his resolve was hardened, even if it meant taking on a multinational fleet.

  All the same, even with the power of the Fourth Primogenitor, it was likely impossible to destroy that vast armada. After all, the Holy Ground Treaty Organization was backed by the genuine vampire primogenitors. The odds of Kojou returning alive were virtually zero. He couldn’t drag Yukina into a reckless battle like that.

  Either way, if Kojou, her observation target, was to die, she’d lose her reason for being on Itogami Island. So before it came to that, he wanted to at least allow her to escape.

  “Kojou…by any chance, are you…an idiot?” Nina gave Kojou a look of pity as she spoke, exasperated from the bottom of her heart.

  Natsuki turned a gaze upon Kojou that was even colder. “I see. Aiba casting you aside makes complete sense.”

  “Concur. Recommend immediate rescindment of statement followed by apology.” Even the ever-emotionless Astarte spoke in a frigid tone.

  The girls’ hostility threw Kojou for a loop.

  “What…? I’m not saying anything weird, dammit. Rather than stay here for the sake of some stupid mission, isn’t it better for Himeragi to go back to the mainland right—?”

  “I—!”

  Instantly, Yukina shouted, flying into a rage as she forcibly interrupted Kojou’s words. In the period that Kojou had known her, it was the first time he had seen her emotions shown so openly. Her incredible force of presence took Kojou aback.

  “Um, huh?”

  “…As I still have the stupid mission of being senpai’s watcher, I shall stay until the very end! The very end, you hear?!”

  Yukina’s explosion of anger was only for a single second. She immediately suppressed her emotions, glaring at Kojou as she spoke. Her tone would not take no for an answer.

  “Uh…but…”

  When Kojou tried to rebut her even so, one glare cowed him into silence. Kojou looked up to the heavens in apparent resignation. It was the next moment that the image on the television screen suddenly changed.

  “So it has begun.”

  Natsuki quietly murmured as she tilted her cup of black tea.

  The scene displayed on-screen was a press conference. A young man wearing a suit was sitting there, surrounded by a number of microphones. It was Kazuma Yaze, city manager of the Gigafloat Management Corporation and older brother of Motoki Yaze, Kojou and Asagi’s classmate.

  “We interrupt this program for an urgent announcement. The Gigafloat Management Corporation is currently conducting a special press conference directed at all residents of Itogami Island—”

  A male announcer with a tense expression faced the camera as he read from a script.

  The image suddenly became jumbled. A digitally created darkroom giving off a cyberspace-like image came to be displayed in the image’s stead. A desk that looked straight out of a news studio was hovering in midair. And sitting at that desk was a girl very familiar to Kojou.

  “A…Asagi?”

  “Aiba…?!”

  Kojou and Yukina said her name simultaneously. Wearing a suit resembling a newscaster’s and highly conspicuous red glasses, Asagi stared at Kojou and the others through the camera on her end.

  “Citizens of Itogami City, good evening. This is Asagi Aiba.”

  Asagi spoke in an intellectual voice she rarely employed. Kojou knew that if one had to pinpoint her true nature, this was it. Asagi had given off exactly this impression of a mature and serious girl the first time Kojou had met her.

  “In place of the Gigafloat Management Corporation and the government of Japan, I would like to make a very important announcement. First, please look at this image—”

  An image floated onto the screen behind Asagi showing the multinational armada of the Holy Ground Treaty Organization Military. Compared to when Kojou and the others had first seen it, the number of warships had clearly increased.

  “Some of you are likely already aware of this, but six hours prior, the Holy Ground Treaty Organization declared to the Japanese government that it has determined Itogami Island to be a large-scale, destructive, sorcerous device.”

  Viewer comments submitted to a social networking feed were scrolling along the side of the screen.

  At first, the comments were mostly either singing Asagi’s praises or making fun of her before they finally changed to serious ones. They immediately realized that Asagi’s live broadcast was not some kind of elaborate joke.

  “In addition, it stated that twelve hours after its declaration, made at six PM Japan time, the fleet composed of the various nations contributing to the Holy Ground Treaty Organization will execute an attack upon Itogami Island.”

  Suddenly, the viewer reactions were drenched in shock and bewilderment. Heated arguments were arising from all over the Internet. The program Asagi had put together had likely paved the way for a good percentage of them.

  As if to bolster her argument, data spread out behind her with tremendous force.

  “Unfortunately, it is exceedingly difficult to evacuate all of Itogami Island’s residents in the little time that remains. Furthermore, there is no city inside Japan that will take the over twenty thousand demons present on Itogami Island.”

  Asagi then broke off her words. The exceedingly impactful declaration accelerated the pace of the viewer comments scrolling on the screen. Amid that vortex of blame and anger, Asagi smiled beautifully.

  “In the face of the Holy Ground Treaty Organization’s act of heavy-handed tyranny, I hereby propose a war of resistance—”

  “War of resistance…?!”

  Yukina drew in her breath in apparent fright.

  “She wants to fight that armada?! How…?!”

&n
bsp; Kojou exclaimed in a daze. The Gigafloat Management Corporation only possessed the meager combat capability to deal with sorcerous criminals within the island. There was no way it could defy that powerful multinational armada.

  As if to answer this misgiving, a new figure appeared at Asagi’s side. It was a young male vampire, his body clad in a white three-piece suit. The social network comment feed was blanketed with shock once more.

  “This operation is underpinned by an alliance with His Excellency Dimitrie Vattler, ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary from the Warlord’s Empire. Furthermore, starting with the Moscow Empire and the Confederate States of America, twenty-two countries across the globe have pledged their support.”

  A number of lights flashed on a world map displayed on the screen. The red lights indicated the national territories that had announced their support for Vattler. In contrast, the national soil of the Holy Ground Treaty nations was blotted out with black. Thus, the world had been divided into two camps, red and black, with Itogami Island at the center. The neutral nations, displayed in white, felt overwhelmingly few.

  “No one will be forced to participate in this Itogami Island defense operation. Those who wish to evacuate, please escape Itogami Island as swiftly as you can. We will support and assist your safe evacuation to the greatest extent possible.”

  Asagi grinned as she spoke those words. The powerful glint rising into her eyes was one Kojou knew well.

  “However, please rest easy. We possess enough combat capability to resist the Holy Ground Treaty Organization’s tyranny. Please behold: the altar of the Sinful God, protector of Itogami Island—”

  Asagi gently touched the screen of a smartphone she had placed on the desk.

  That instant, an incredible shudder raced through Itogami Island. Raging, violent winds from the four corners of the Earth made the entire artificial isle tremble like a leaf. It was an impact that fundamentally differed from that of an earthquake, a typhoon, or any similar natural disaster.

  If Kojou had to use a metaphor, it was as if an enormous, invisible hand was lifting the entire island onto its palm. No, the contours of the island really were rising above the water’s surface. Aerial footage from unmanned aircraft conveyed the state of affairs in rich detail.

  Emerging from the parting surface of the sea was an unfamiliar, steel-colored rampart.

  The interior of the rampart was clustered with buildings large and small, looking like resplendent palaces and plazas.

  Others still were enormous turrets and gun fixtures. He could see facilities resembling harbors and runways, too.

  The sight resembled an ancient ruin and, at the same time, a near-future spaceship.

  The air warped. Suddenly appearing over the ocean’s surface was an enormous artificial isle dwarfing Itogami Island.

  With Itogami Island at the center, the steel-colored gigafloat swirling around it like a nebula buried the surface of the nighttime sea.

  “It’s the same…the same thing I saw in Nod…”

  Assaulted by a sense of déjà vu, Kojou rose to his feet.

  The sight of that city was familiar to Kojou. Amid the encroachment of Nod, created by a sorcerous device of the Accursed Soul, he’d seen the lingering vestige of that city for only a second—just long enough to carve it into his memories.

  “This is the Legacy of the Sinful God…,” Yukina murmured, almost sighing at the sight on the screen.

  The beautiful yet malevolent scenery of the artificial isle broadcast that it was at once a city and a citadel built for war. The Legacy of the Sinful God was a giant military fortress.

  This was probably the actual weapon used by the armies of Cain, the Sinful God, for the war, and the spell, bearing the name of The Cleansing. Asagi and Vattler, masters of the new Cleansing, had summoned the fortress city once more.

  This, using the power of the dragon girl who was its guardian—

  “Now I get it, Asagi… This is what you needed Glenda for…!”

  The sight of Asagi and Vattler had already vanished from the television screen. All that was being displayed was the scenery of the giant fortress city.

  Somehow, the sight felt nostalgic to Kojou as he simply stared in a daze.

  3

  “And we’re good!”

  Vika, the blond beauty of the Oceanus Girls, switched the microphone off as she spoke.

  They were in a simplified broadcast studio aboard the cruise ship Oceanus Grave II. The live pirate broadcast they’d conducted by hijacking Itogami Island’s broadcast network had just concluded.

  “Great work, everyone. That was dead-on. The response on the net is incredible.”

  The girl, with a blue tablet in hand as she played the role of director, brought Asagi a cold bottle of mineral water. Asagi downed the bottle in a single swig before flopping limply over the desk.

  “Who would have thought idol status would come in handy at a time like this?”

  With their role at an end, she tossed the conspicuous glasses aside, sighing with a complex set of feelings.

  Just a short time ago, Asagi had been pressed into service as a local idol, becoming the symbol of Itogami Island’s restoration. Thanks to that, she’d become incredibly famous, something that had caused Asagi herself no small amount of grief, but it had resulted in that triumph. Surely no one would listen to an ordinary high school girl proposing a war of resistance on the TV.

  “What’s the Holy Ground Treaty nations’ reaction?” Asagi asked Lydianne while she removed her stuffy jacket.

  “Just as Sir Mogwai simulated. At the moment, various nations appear to be biding their time. Should there be actual damage to the multinational fleet, some nations may cometh forward and respond to negotiations, but…”

  “If we overdo it, we’ll just make Itogami Island seem more dangerous. Tough spot to be in, huh.”

  These words spoken, Asagi put her cheek against her palm.

  The multinational armada approaching Itogami Island had been formed ad hoc from national militaries. Their goal was the destruction of Itogami Island, but at the same time, they were extremely fearful of depleting their martial strength.

  No country actually wanted casualties among its own soldiers. If they became aware that Itogami Island’s resistance was fiercer than expected, exposing their soldiers to danger, the general public and opposing politicians in those nations surely would not remain silent. The voices blaming governments for frivolously engaging in military actions would doubtlessly become loud. Using those cracks to sue for peace with them was Asagi’s plan.

  To make that plan a reality, Asagi had to play up Itogami Island’s combat strength as much as possible while keeping the damage to actual living people to an absolute minimum. If a great number of casualties were incurred, it would spur hatred toward Itogami Island, and Asagi feared that this might plunge them into a genuine war.

  To be blunt, it was a dangerous gamble. Even so, there was no other way to save Itogami Island.

  “Mogwai, status of the Legacy?”

  Asagi lifted her face and called out to the smartphone.

  “Keh-keh-keh-keh,” went the AI taking the form of a badly sewn teddy bear, laughing with even greater delight than usual. The five supercomputers that controlled Itogami Island had already finished connecting to the Legacy of the Sinful God, working out its various functions along the way.

  “Well, it was left abandoned for thousands of years. I tried getting its self-repair function going, but the demonic energy reactor is empty. Seems like it’ll take a while to charge up, too.”

  “Itogami Island is full of spiritual energy for large-scale sorcerous experiments, right? Can’t you manage somehow?”

  “Complete restoration is off the table, but if it’s a portion of the defense systems, that I can do.”

  “I’ll settle for that. Do it.”

  “Aye, aye.”

  Responding to Asagi’s laid-back order, Mogwai began booting up the Legacy.


  Returning the unresponsive smartphone to her pocket, Asagi went back to her own cabin. Lydianne followed along in her crimson robot tank. She probably meant to serve as Asagi’s escort.

  Yuiri and Shio were waiting in the cabin for Asagi and company.

  Glenda was curled up on the bed, making little snores here and there. Unsurprisingly, Yume looked sleepy as well. Lydianne was probably fine because she was used to being up late at night.

  “Asagi…!”

  “So this artificial isle is the Legacy that Glenda was protecting?”

  Noticing Asagi, Yuiri and Shio rushed over, posing their questions.

  “Well, yeah,” said Asagi as she smiled vaguely. “In the alternate dimension they called Nod, it was, like, a city to protect humanity, a fortress, a shelter, that kind of thing—in modern language, feels like we’d call it Cain’s ark.”

  “Ark…,” Yuiri murmured with a hardened expression.

  “However, instead of animals, ’tis packed with a horde of ancient weapons,” Lydianne teased. Seeing the tense expressions on Yuiri’s and Shio’s faces, Asagi forced a smile as she shook her head.

  “The gist is, this is one part of the magic called The Cleansing. With that world-rewriting power, we reeled in Cain’s entire legacy. This city is Cain’s armory. With the people and the troops all gone, they’ve been pretty lonely holding the fort.”

  Listening to Asagi’s explanation, Yuiri and Shio met each other’s faces in silence. Glancing at the sleeping Glenda, Shio posed a question in a quiet voice.

  “What does it mean…Glenda’s the guardian?”

  “Exactly what it sounds like. The guardian of the route to where the treasure is kept—it’s easier to say that she’s the one who knew the spatial coordinates where Cain’s ark had been sealed inside of Nod. Cain entrusted his own legacy to her.”

  “I see… So that’s why Glenda went into the encroachment of Nod back then…”

  Haltingly, Yuiri mumbled to herself. She seemed to be remembering some past event.