Pulling away from Kojou, Hektos drew closer to Nagisa as the latter floated on the water’s surface. Her white fingertips undid the ribbon of Nagisa’s uniform. Nagisa’s white neck poked out from the uniform’s open collar. Her blue veins stood out against her white, blood-deprived flesh.
“Now I get it… I just have to take the Beast Vassal that’s possessing her for myself…”
The exceptionally simple answer made Kojou put a hand over his own eyes.
From the back of his throat, a dry laugh trickled forth. The entire reason Nagisa was on the brink of death was because she, a mere human, had a “monster” dwelling inside her—a Beast Vassal of the Fourth Primogenitor. So all he had to do was return it to its rightful place. Kojou, the Fourth Primogenitor, needed only to consume it.
But it was Nagisa herself who rejected that answer.
“Kojou…you can’t…”
The supposedly comatose Nagisa faintly opened her eyes, weakly shaking her head left to right.
“Nagisa, you’re conscious again…?”
“If you do that, Miss Avrora will vanish… This time…for good…”
“However, should Nagisa Akatsuki expire, Dodekatos shalt as well,” Hektos whispered into his ear as Kojou sucked in a breath.
Staring at the unnaturally pale face of his little sister, Kojou clenched his teeth. If he released the twelfth Beast Vassal, the soul of Avrora that was its seal would dissipate. It was something he’d known from the start.
“Do I have to…kill Avrora…again…?”
Kojou’s hands fiercely shook. It was with those hands that Kojou had once shot Avrora.
And this time, the decision to rob her of her very soul pressed upon him. He knew this was against Nagisa’s wishes, but there was no other way to save her—
“Nay—”
As Kojou anguished, Hektos wrapped her tiny hands around his fingers. Lifting his face in surprise, Hektos smiled as she gazed back into his eyes.
“Dodekatos shall not perish, for she is our hope.”
“Hope?”
“Indeed. Accordingly, it is I who must perish—”
As the perplexed Kojou stared at her, Hektos shifted her gaze before his eyes. It fell upon the sight of Yukina, standing still and drenched. Hektos turned to face her, drawing her face close enough to share each other’s breaths.
“Priestess of the sword—first companion to the fourth of the primogenitors till the end of time. I entrust my Beast Vassal to thee.”
“Eh?”
Yukina’s body went rigid as Hektos wrapped both arms around her. It was the kind of gentle act of affection reserved for one’s child. Then, Hektos drew her lips close to Yukina’s ear. In a faint voice, she whispered something to her. Yukina’s eyes burst open in shock.
“…!”
Trembling, Yukina stared at her. Hektos nibbled on Yukina’s right ear.
“Hektos! What are you planning to do with Himeragi…?!”
Kojou hurriedly raced over to the pair. Looking back at the nervous Kojou, Hektos smiled with delight. She readily let Yukina go, this time to be embraced by Kojou instead.
“Fear not. Mine blood and soul now belong to thee.”
Speaking those words with sweet, upturned eyes, Hektos undid the buttons of Kojou’s uniform. Gently pressing her hand to Kojou’s newly exposed chest, she buried her face into his neck. Kojou grimaced as he shuddered in naked pleasure. She was licking him.
“H…Hektos…get off! Himeragi’s… Himeragi’s watching, so…”
“’Tis fine. Allow others to behold our revelry—incidentally, thine little sister as well,” Hektos said suggestively with a glance toward Nagisa.
The eyes of the supposedly unconscious Nagisa had opened wide once more. Surely it was not Kojou’s imagination that her eyes glowed blue.
“Awaken, Dodekatos…nay, the Twelfth, Avrora. For if thou dost not, he shalt be mine.”
Hektos thrust her fangs into Kojou’s neck. With an eager sound, her tongue lapped up the fresh blood that flowed forth. As Nagisa’s eyes beheld this, a glint of powerful emotion resembling jealousy came to rest in her eyes. An icy Siren wavered as it floated in midair—an illusion of Avrora’s Beast Vassal.
“Very good, Dodekatos…,” Hektos quietly murmured as she continued to touch Kojou’s neck.
“Hektos…don’t tell me…you’re…!”
Kojou gasped and looked down at her. He’d realized her intent.
A powerful hunger and thirst struck him. He felt a powerful urge to drink the blood of the vampire girl in his arms. This, too, was Hektos’s doing. She had sipped Kojou’s blood to awaken his instincts as a vampire.
“Ask thyself, Kojou Akatsuki. When thou fought Root during the Blazing Feast, why didst Enatos and Pemptos take thy and Dodekatos’s side…?”
“…?!”
The question shocked him.
Certainly, that pair had lent him their aid when Kojou had challenged Root, the genuine Fourth Primogenitor, in combat. The Beast Vassals had defied their host and master, Root, of their own will.
“Because in Dodekatos, we see our hope.”
Hektos defenselessly exposed her own neck before Kojou. Drawn toward it, Kojou plunged his fangs into her neck. Her delicate body trembled as she, sounding satisfied, continued her words.
“Among us dolls, living with our Beast Vassals for an eternity, yearning for our own destruction, only she… Only Dodekatos desireth to live. It is with thee she wishes to live in this world, together—”
Hektos’s Blood Memory flowed inside Kojou.
These girls, the twelve Kaleid Bloods, were created as avatars—mere dolls within which to seal the Beast Vassals of the Fourth Primogenitor.
When the seal of a Beast Vassal was released, their avatars of flesh became empty vessels. However, Hektos had never unleashed her own Beast Vassal even once in all that time. Her Beast Vassal remained sealed.
If Kojou was to consume Hektos’s soul in that state, all that would remain would be a husk. This was her true objective—and her desire.
“Dodekatos…my beloved, final sister. I bequeath this final flesh of mine to thee—accept it,” Hektos gently called out to Nagisa.
Then Kojou heard a solemn chant echo forth.
“—I, Maiden of the Lion, Sword Shaman of the High God, beseech thee.”
“Himeragi…?!”
Yukina, standing to his left, raised a hand high as she stared at Nagisa, hovering on the surface of the sea.
The ring on Yukina’s ring finger glowed crimson. This was the ring sealing the pact between Kojou and Yukina—the sorcerous device crafted from Kojou’s rib. Through the spiritual pathway thus formed, Kojou’s demonic energy coursed into Yukina.
“Come forth, Beast Vassal Number Six, Minelauva Iris—!”
Responding to Yukina’s summons, what manifested was a knight clad in iridescent armor—a Valkyrie. Enormous wings of fire spread from her back, and her hand gripped a long sword that radiated golden light.
The rainbow Valkyrie’s sword of light swept forth, across Nagisa, floating in the water, and the Siren of ice both.
Minelauva Iris was the Beast Vassal of Severing; its sword of light severed not only matter but also the laws of fate. It severed the phenomenon of Nagisa being possessed by Avrora. The two souls yoked together had been slashed apart.
Released from Nagisa’s spiritual energy, the twelfth Beast Vassal returned to its proper place—in other words, to a vessel for sealing a Beast Vassal, the body of the sixth Kaleid Blood.
All signs of the Beast Vassals had vanished.
The nighttime sea returned to calm once more.
The rainbow-haired girl within Kojou’s arms made quiet sounds of sleep. What came over her lips was a satisfied smile, taking visible pride in her victory.
Using her very own body, she had resurrected Avrora. That had been Hektos’s desire. Kojou knew this, for she had entrusted him with her Blood Memory. Her wish had been granted.
“Hektos…”
He spoke the name of the girl who was no longer with them.
As the girl drifted into slumber, the faint twinkle of the predawn sky shone brightly against the side of her face.
9
From atop a tower built in a ruined city, Yume Eguchi gazed at the sea.
A slender, serpentine tail was poking out from the hem of her school uniform’s skirt. Translucent wings woven from demonic energy spread forth from her back. Using the power of Lilith—the World’s Mightiest Succubus—Yume was communicating with Leviathan.
As she did so, a thin mist rose up directly behind her.
The mist gradually became denser, transforming into a man wearing a military uniform. His face was unfamiliar. He was an assailant—a vampire of the Holy Ground Treaty Organization Military.
“I’ve found you, succubus—!”
As Yume turned around, fear plain on her face, the vampire man trained a rifle on her. He was a special forces soldier dispatched to eliminate the succubus.
With Leviathan blocking the way at Yume’s beck and call, the HGTO Military armada was unable to close with Itogami Island. The two escort ships engaged in forward reconnaissance had been sent packing with their tails between their legs. After all, Leviathan was a living weapon from the Age of the Gods. At the very least, humanity possessed no weapon that could oppose it in undersea combat.
Accordingly, the HGTO had issued an order to its soldiers: Eliminate the succubus controlling Leviathan.
But before the rifle could fire a single round, a huge beast appeared in front of Yume. It was a steel golem about four to five meters tall.
“Anmauth!”
Emerging to shield Yume was a young silver-haired man, ordering his golem to attack.
“Urk…!”
The vampire soldier summoned his own Beast Vassal as well. This was an imposing bull, its entire body engulfed in flames—a will-o’-the-wisp. However, the steel golem swung a fist downward, pulverizing the head of the bull in a single blow.
“Tobias Jagan?! Damn you, you lend a lowly succubus your aid—?!”
The vampire soldier half screamed while shouting abuse at Jagan. Likely, he was a vampire of the Warlord’s Empire, the same as Jagan. As the First Primogenitor was part of the HGTO, Jagan’s actions in opposition to the organization were tantamount to treason against his primogenitor.
However, Jagan smiled coldly at that soldier with obvious scorn.
“Stop yapping, you lowly Holy Ground Treaty Organization mutt—!”
Jagan’s steel golem seized hold of the vampire soldier. It proceeded to crush the soldier’s torso and violently slam him into the ground.
Even so, the soldier was alive, vampiric undeath at work. That said, he had already lost all strength with which to continue fighting. He changed his form into a grimy mist and began to retreat.
At virtually the same time, incredible explosions erupted all over the ruins. These were from Nalakuvera gunnery attacks. The Nalakuvera under Lydianne’s remote control seemed to be driving the vampire soldier’s unit off.
“You two runts safe?” Jagan asked gruffly, turning toward Yume, who stood rooted to the spot. His choice of words was rude, but he was technically showing concern for them.
“As expected, most splendid, Count Jagan.”
Lydianne, piloting her crimson robot tank, called out from a nearby plateau. Even during that time, the Nalakuvera’s attacks continued. This no doubt meant a considerable number of units had been aiming at Yume.
“I am sorry to make you do all this for my sake.”
Yume bowed her head to Jagan.
Oddly, she sensed no fear from having people after her life. That was likely a product of her past experiences. Right after Yume’s power as a succubus awakened, family members and friends had been bathed in it, engendering ugly, repulsive emotions that far outstripped mere bloodlust.
“Cease the servile phraseology. It vexes me,” Jagan replied. Although he acted sour, his voice felt unexpectedly kind.
“It is because His Excellency Vattler acknowledges your power as the Witch of the Night that he commanded me to protect you. Though I do feel somewhat deprived facing only bottom-feeders such as the one from a moment ago.”
“R-right.”
Yume nodded and broke into a little smile. She knew Jagan was trying to praise her in his own way.
Yume had people who would protect her now. That was why she wanted to protect them in turn—and to protect the Demon Sanctuary of Itogami Island in which dwelled the people who had aided and accepted her.
“But do not lower your guard. We are only using Leviathan until the primogenitors come out. If they come out, run immediately. If you don’t, you’ll die. You and Leviathan both.”
“U-understood, Tobias.”
“Tobias…?!”
Jagan’s facial features, sharp as a drawn knife, twitched and slightly wavered at hearing the girl call him by his first name. Reflexively, he opened his mouth to lodge some kind of complaint but turned his face without saying a word.
Having returned to the top of the tower, Lydianne asked, “…So Sir Vattler doth truly intend to fight the primogenitors?”
“Of course,” came Jagan’s immediate reply. “That’s why His Excellency desired this battle.”
Yume felt a twinge of unease as she lowered her eyes. Having obtained the knowledge of The Cleansing, Vattler’s power probably rivaled that of the primogenitors. The emergence of power that surpassed the primogenitors’ meant the loss of the global balance underpinned by the three Dominions.
“A new age of war ariseth, then? Well, this be not my personal concern but…art thou truly fine with this, Lady Empress?” Lydianne murmured as if speaking only to herself.
In the silence, Yume felt like she heard mocking laughter in her ear.
“Keh-keh…”
10
Dragging their tired, sluggish bodies, Kojou and Yukina returned to the sandy shore.
Kojou laid down Hektos, and Yukina laid Nagisa, upon dry rocks.
“Kojou…is Miss Avrora…?”
Nagisa asked in a voice on the verge of vanishing. Even if she’d awoken from her coma, her depleted endurance was yet to return. Even so, warmth had returned to her skin, and her cheeks had grown faintly pink. Freed from Avrora’s possession, she was apparently able to supply herself with spiritual energy.
“Don’t worry. She’s right here.”
Kojou put Nagisa’s hand atop the still-sleeping Hektos. Inside Hektos rested Avrora’s soul. Nagisa must have understood this, for she smiled weakly.
“I see… Sorry, Kojou… It’s my fault she…”
Her lips quivered. “Sorry.” Her eyes closed once more.
“Nagisa? Hey…?!”
Kojou couldn’t help being worried at the sight of his little sister falling unresponsive. Yukina put a hand upon Nagisa’s chest and determined it was rising and falling in an easy rhythm.
“It is all right. She’s only sleeping. More importantly, senpai, you should put some clothes on her.”
“R-right…”
Kojou picked up his parka from where he had left it on some rocks and handed it to Yukina. She gently set it on top of the girl who was once Hektos. Meanwhile, Kojou picked up the clogs that Hektos had kicked off.
“’Tis not I who shalt save this one,” Hektos had said. But she’d lied. Kojou had done nothing. It was indeed Hektos who had saved Nagisa and Avrora both. As Avrora slept, Kojou placed the clogs beside her, murmuring a small thank-you.
“Come to think of it, you all right, Himeragi? Summoning a Beast Vassal of the Fourth Primogenitor and all that…”
“Miss Hektos loaned me her power. Besides, I am senpai’s Blood Bride, after all…,” Yukina said, touching her left ring finger without realizing it. Then, for some reason, her very own words seemed to make her cheeks redden.
“Ah, erm, I don’t mean bride as in a wife, but in a pure, magic-related sense…”
&nb
sp; “Yeah, I get it. You don’t need to put any special emphasis on it like that.”
“Haaah… I…see. Is that so?”
When Kojou casually replied, Yukina glared at him with half-lidded eyes as she raised a voice that was suddenly sour. Kojou did not notice this as he gazed at Nagisa’s and Avrora’s sleeping faces with a conflicted expression.
“For the time being, we’d best get these two to a hospital—”
“Yes. I am concerned for Kano as well.”
“That said, no choice but to wait till Natsuki comes back, huh? Himeragi, aren’t you feeling cold wearing that?”
“No, why would……? Wearing what?”
Yukina began to smile and shake her head, but she stopped and suddenly seemed confused. Realizing where Kojou was staring, she gasped and covered her own breasts. Yukina’s seawater-drenched school uniform clung tightly to her skin, making the curves of her body, and the lines of her underwear, highly visible through the fabric.
“Just where were you looking while you said that?!”
“Wait a— I’m just worried about you!”
“Ugh… Fine. I was already well aware senpai was that kind of person.”
Her cheeks still puffed out in a pout, Yukina circled around Kojou’s back. Then, she drew her body against his back. The touch of her skin against his back made Kojou unwittingly straighten his posture.
“H-Himeragi?”
“I thought so. You are rather cold, aren’t you?”
“Er, I’m not really…”
“This being the case, I believe warming each other kills two birds with one stone. Also, this way, I will not have senpai’s indecent eyes watching me.”
“Hey, wait a…”
Even though Kojou’s lips twisted, he made no further retort; he realized this was Yukina’s way of being considerate toward him.
Certainly, they had saved Nagisa and Avrora—but only because Hektos had sacrificed herself. Kojou could not save her. That fact tormented him.
Though, if Hektos saw Kojou like that, she’d probably smile. It wasn’t like she was dead. Hektos’s Blood Memory was inside Kojou. The same went for December and all the other Kaleid Bloods.
A War of Primogenitors Page 19