As if desperately trying to escape from that horde of Beast Vassals, a single bird danced in the sky.
No—it was no bird. It was a dragon with a steel-colored mane.
The dragon’s right and left front claws held a boy and a girl, respectively. Recognizing their appearances, Yukina and Asagi raised their voices.
“Miss Glenda…?! Senpai?!”
“K-Kojou and…Yuiri?!”
Yukina and Asagi could only watch as the dragon, flying at a speed beyond its limits, lost its balance, fluttering as it fell into a gap between some buildings. They faintly heard the sound of girls crying out.
“…!”
The two met each other’s faces. Then, they ran toward where the dragon had crashed.
2
“To think a New Blood less than two hundred years of age could trade blows with me to this extent… Quite impressive.”
A giant sword Beast Vassal continued to hover above Velesh Aradahl’s head as he quietly spoke.
Countless scars had been left in the landscape of the steel-colored ruin, seeming as if invisible fangs had gouged holes into it. These were traces of two vampires wielding vast power having clashed head-on.
Aradahl’s flesh was covered in cuts. The sleeves of his old-fashioned coat had been cruelly burned black. However, the wounds of Kira Lebedev, standing before him, ran far deeper. He had already lost his right arm, and he bore grievous wounds all over his body. Some looked as if he had been impaled so deeply that the wounds ran all the way to his back.
Aradahl and Kira were separated by about seven hundred years—the varying degrees in damage reflected the difference in combat experience between them. Nor was further combat likely to alter the course of the battle.
Even so, Kira had not lost his will to fight. In contrast to Aradahl, whose Beast Vassals outnumbered his, he employed illusions and traps, obstinately hanging on.
“Why do you fight for Vattler’s sake to this extent, Kira Lebedev? I do not think you are as deeply committed to fighting like Vattler and Jagan, and yet…”
“I wonder about that…”
Kira smiled a bit as his own blood drenched his cheeks. Seeing that Kira was hiding his chest under his torn clothing, Aradahl narrowed his eyes with a suspicious air.
“But what I do bear is a sentiment that…this is the only way I could come up with to be of aid to him… And once more, it would seem I have fulfilled my duty.”
“What?”
Upon hearing Kira’s suggestive remark, Aradahl lifted his face. In the direction of the Oceanus Grave II—where Kojou Akatsuki had purportedly been heading—an enormous serpent was being born.
The serpentine Beast Vassal, shrouded by a crimson vortex, burst into the heavens. Aradahl instinctively knew what it was.
“Vattler…infused the power of The Cleansing into his Beast Vassals…!”
As if responding to Aradahl’s words, the serpent Beast Vassal spat out a beam of light.
The crimson beam stretched forth toward the HGTO Military’s multinational armada. The Beast Vassal’s attack, imbued with vast demonic energy, could probably annihilate even the largest aircraft carrier in one blow.
But just before that light engulfed the armada, an enormous, irregularly shaped monster split the sea as it emerged. It was a sea monster with malevolent wings and countless tentacles—a Beast Vassal controlled by a primogenitor.
The Beast Vassal’s wings blocked the beam, altering its course and deflecting it up into the sky.
The collision of vast demonic energies created ferocious waves upon the sea’s surface, but the warships floating behind it were safe. The primogenitor’s Beast Vassal had just barely managed to protect the multinational armada.
“That’s our primogenitor for you. He masterfully deflected that blow…but how long can he keep it up?”
Kira quietly let out a sigh. Was it a sigh of admiration or of pity?
The enormous wings of the primogenitor’s Beast Vassal, torn off at their base, dissipated. A number of its tentacles seemed to have been lost as well. Even the nigh-invincible Beast Vassal of a primogenitor had been unable to completely withstand the vermillion beam containing the power of The Cleansing.
The serpentine Beast Vassal was drawing demonic power from the artificial island to unleash a fresh attack. The sources of The Cleansing’s power were the dragon lines that flowed in the seas surrounding Itogami Island. The capacity of that demonic energy was effectively inexhaustible. Even with the might of a vampiric primogenitor, could such power truly be resisted…?
“Vattler…!”
Aradahl’s expression twisted as he gazed at the despairing sight.
“I see… So your duty was to slow me down.”
Meanwhile, Iblisveil was indeed watching that same preposterous battle.
Vattler had no doubt required a certain amount of time to completely master the power of The Cleansing. For that reason, he had employed Leviathan and the Nalakuvera to keep the multinational armada at a distance.
Now that his objective had been fulfilled, there was no reason for Iblisveil to fight Jagan any longer… For even if Iblisveil defeated Jagan and arrived on Vattler’s doorstep, his chances of victory were slim.
“Victory is ours, Prince of the Fallen Dynasty.” With half his body cruelly mangled, Jagan smiled, clearly proud of his victory. “His Excellency Vattler has obtained power that surpasses that of the Cain of old. Even our primogenitors cannot stop him now.”
“I do not think those fossils will go down so easily,” Iblisveil replied, unmoved, as if it had nothing to do with him.
“Either way, it is unproductive to continue our blood sport any further. Nor do I wish to miss the long-awaited fight between Kojou Akatsuki and Vattler.”
“Kojou Akatsuki, you say…?”
Jagan’s pain-filled eyes looked up, carefully scrutinizing Iblisveil. He wobbled to his feet on his regenerated legs.
Iblisveil smiled.
“Why are you so surprised? Is it not Kojou Akatsuki’s duty to defeat Vattler, who has obtained the knowledge of Cain? For he is the Fourth Primogenitor—a god-killing weapon created for the express purpose of killing Cain.”
Wrapping his entire body in golden mist, Iblisveil vanished from sight. He seemed genuinely intent on heading off and spectating as Kojou and Vattler battled.
“I bothered to lend him a hand, after all. I shall be most entertained.”
Somehow, Iblisveil’s voice sounded distant at the end.
Jagan pushed up his blood-drenched bangs, murmuring under his breath to no one in particular.
“Kojou…Akatsuki…”
3
“Kojou—!”
It was Asagi who arrived first at the dragon’s crash site. When the robot tank came to a halt, its strength seemingly exhausted, she jumped down from it and rushed to the injured Kojou’s side.
“Asagi…”
Yuiri Haba, supporting Kojou with her embrace, was half in tears as she looked up at Asagi. Staring at Kojou, whose eyes were still closed, Asagi understood what Yuiri’s expression meant.
Kojou was in a pathetic state. Both his legs had been torn to shreds, and most of what was below his knees was not in its original shape. Muscles of his left arm had been shredded off, exposing the largest bone. The reason there was little bleeding despite that was because the sinews around the open wound had been desiccated like a mummy.
Glowing vermillion particles were floating around the wound site. Vestiges of The Cleansing were erasing supernatural power, obstructing his vampiric regeneration ability.
“—This is the High Priestess’s curse,” Asagi murmured as she realized the truth behind the spell that had wounded Kojou. If one thought rationally, it was quite simple.
Asagi had not written any program to augment Vattler’s Beast Vassals. Someone had executed a program in Asagi’s place. On Itogami Island, there was only one person capable of controlling The Cleansing besides Asagi: the High Priestess, former
partner of Meiga Itogami—the Priestess of Abel.
A guinea pig of MAR research to bring people back from the dead, she hated everything in that world. If she learned Vattler’s objective was to engulf the world in the fires of war, no doubt she helped him with glee.
“A program that does nothing more than make Cleansing energy amplified from Itogami Island flow into Vattler’s Beast Vassals… It’s so simple that I can’t mess with it from the outside…”
How can this be? Asagi bit her lip. The calculations the High Priestess had put together were barely worthy of being called a program. All she’d done was create a channel for magical energy to flow into. If this was a computer, it would be like bypassing the circuit board and plugging directly into a high-voltage power source.
Fine control of such a thing was a hopeless prospect. For that matter, Asagi was skeptical that, once it had begun, it was even possible to interrupt the flow of such an enormous quantity of magical energy.
The bigger problem being, since the program could not be touched from the outside, Asagi had no way to heal the wounds that had been caused by Vattler’s attack.
“Senpai…!”
As she caught up, Yukina drew in her breath when she saw the fallen Kojou. No doubt Kojou’s atrocious state had been a blow to her as well. However, without a word, Yukina shook her head and glanced around the area.
“Yuiri, where is Shio?”
“Shio said she’ll be a decoy until Kojou recovers, then she went all by herself—”
“…!” Yukina’s expression hardened.
The enormous serpentine Beast Vassals were raging indiscriminately all over the ruined, gray city. Even Vattler, their host and master, was having a hard time controlling their power. Just the squirms of the light-enveloped Beast Vassals were causing enormous damage to the ruined city.
However, the Beast Vassals’ attacks were not pointed in Kojou’s direction—thanks to Shio acting as a decoy to draw their attacks away. More precisely, there was no one other than Shio who could be a decoy. Only the ritual spell barrages from Freikugel Plus were capable of drawing the serpent Beast Vassals’ attention.
“Aiba, please take care of senpai—”
“…Huh?”
Yukina one-sidedly left those words behind, rushing away before Asagi could reply. She was heading off to support Shio. At present, if there was anything that could block the attacks of Vattler’s Beast Vassals, it was the divine essence from Yukina’s wings as a Faux-Angel.
She knew that even if she stayed behind, she could not save Kojou. That was why she had left Kojou in Asagi’s care, for she believed that Asagi was the only one who could save him—
“This is wrong…!”
The silver-haired dragon girl was squeezing the wounded Kojou’s hand. Wearing Yuiri’s parka, Glenda had countless abrasions over her whole body, no doubt wounds incurred as she fled from Vattler’s Beast Vassals.
“The Cleansing is Cain’s…! It hurting Kojou is just wrong…!”
“Glenda…”
Yuiri lowered her eyes in visible anguish.
Her silver long sword was half broken, with the remaining body of the blade lacking part of its edge—backlash from fending off an attack from Vattler’s Beast Vassals. The supernatural power-nullifying particles of The Cleansing had passed through the pseudo-spatial severing to inflict damage upon her sword.
Yet, even incurring such peril, Yuiri and the others had saved Kojou’s life.
Girls that had been merely swept up in the course of events—
And Asagi was one of the conspirators who’d involved them in that war. Well aware of this, she strongly clenched a fist. She knew what she had to do. She needed to bring that stupid war to an end.
“Yuiri, sorry, but can you and that girl move away for a little bit?”
“Eh? S-sure.”
A confused look came over Yuiri as she guided Glenda away, putting some distance between them and Kojou.
In their place, Asagi knelt at Kojou’s side. She took a deep breath to calm her feelings, and gently drew her face closer to Kojou’s. Then, Asagi’s palm smacked the defenseless side of his face.
“Kojou, wake up! Wake up, dammit!”
The crisp slap echoed across the ruined city.
Asagi unleashed her merciless palm strike a second and third time. Normally, this was not how one would treat the wounded, but if Kojou remained unconscious, everything was over, either way. It was no time for her to be choosy about her methods.
“A-Asagi?!”
Yuiri’s eyes bulged as she stared at the incredible scene before her. Glenda was rigid with fear. However, neither girl made any move to stop Asagi, who couldn’t quell the tears running down her face.
“Open your eyes, Kojou!”
Strength drained from the hand with which Asagi had slapped Kojou repeatedly. She grabbed hold of the collar of Kojou’s uniform, calling out his name in a tearful voice. She remained like that when a frail voice reached Asagi’s ears.
“…Heya…Asagi…”
Kojou’s bloodied right hand brushed away the sideswept bangs covering Asagi’s cheek. Through her watery eyes, she stared at Kojou’s weakly smiling face.
“Crying again, huh…?”
“Huh? What are you talking about? I’ve never cried in front of you, even o…”
Asagi vigorously rubbed her eyes but swallowed down her words of rebuke to Kojou midsentence. She recalled the backdrop of a dimly lit hospital waiting room.
In that room, there was a girl crying in the hospital all alone…and a dense boy who’d gone out of his way to speak to her. Come to think of it, that was when Asagi had begun to think about Kojou often.
“What the…? Geez, how long are you gonna remember that for…?”
Asagi wiped away her tears once more. Her smudged makeup must have made her face look pretty terrible, but at least she and Kojou were looking rough together. Asagi gently closed her eyes, placing her lips over Kojou’s.
“A-Asagi…?”
Asagi’s sudden action brought a thoroughly perplexed expression over Kojou. Yuiri’s and Glenda’s auras conveyed their own surprise. However, the most nervous one there was Asagi herself. She didn’t know what to do next. If I’d known it would come to this, I’d have asked Tanahara or someone for a detailed, step-by-step explanation, she thought.
“Sorry… I seriously don’t know what to do… What would make you happy and stuff…? Maybe, touch my breasts?”
Asagi’s mind was reeling as she spoke those words before undoing the buttons of her school uniform. Next, she unhooked her bra. Then, she forced Kojou’s hand to caress her chest.
“Huh…?!”
Light returned to Kojou’s hollow eyes. Perhaps that indicated he was feeling better, but Asagi was in no condition to calmly assess the matter.
“Eh…ehh…?!”
Yuiri, incredibly unnerved, instantly covered Glenda’s eyes.
“?!”
Asagi’s slightly sweaty skin came into contact with Kojou’s palm, cool to the touch. She instantly let out a tiny voice. It didn’t feel at all like she’d imagined. Kojou’s hand was large, tough and rigid, his fingers strong and a little scary. However, she did not find being touched by him to be unpleasant.
“What do I do…? This is really embarrassing… My heart really might be all aflutter…”
“Wait, what’s with you, Asagi…? Why are you doing this all of a…?”
“Um… I want you to drink my blood. It’s okay if it’s you, Kojou, so…!”
When she actually put it into words, it sounded like an extremely awkward confession. She was belatedly assaulted by fear that Kojou would dislike her for it. However, now was no time to blush.
“I don’t understand much about this Priestess of Cain stuff, but if you drink my blood, I think you’ll gain the power to resist The Cleansing, too, Kojou. That’s why—”
“Asagi… So that’s why you’re doing this…”
A mix of appa
rent regret and guilt floated up into Kojou’s eyes. Asagi hastily shook her head. That wasn’t the reason for her actions.
“M-maybe you don’t want to do it with me after all this time…but I’ve tried my best to…make you really see me as cute, Kojou… That’s why I…”
“Stop it.”
Kojou spoke two short words of rejection. For a second, Asagi’s heart stopped.
“……Huh?!”
While her face was taut, Kojou gently stroked Asagi’s hair. His previously blood-drained cheeks reddened as his eyes swayed with visible tension.
“You don’t need to say stuff like that. I mean… I think you’re cute…because you’re you.”
“…!”
Asagi covered her mouth. Normally, she’d say something flippant to gently deflect Kojou’s words, but her voice was stuck in her chest. In place of the words, all that flowed were tears.
“A-Asagi?”
Asagi’s unforeseen reaction made Kojou nervous. He seemed genuinely flustered, as if he really didn’t understand what was happening.
“S-sorry… I’m kind of…relieved…”
After a weak sob, Asagi spoke the words in a delicate voice. Kojou deeply exhaled in relief.
“I’ll be as gentle as I can, but it might hurt a bit at the start.”
“Yeah, It’s fine. I’ll hang in there. Do what you need to do, Kojou…”
Asagi brushed her hair back, exposing her pale neck. Kojou’s lips closed around her neck with unexpected strength. The bite merged with gradual pain to form a single sensation that spread throughout Asagi.
Yuiri’s eyes seemed to sparkle as she stared.
Her eyes still covered, Glenda tilted her head. “Dah?” she muttered, confused.
4
Shio Hikawa stood on the roof of a ruined building, silver recurve bow raised.
“Let there be light—!”
Pouring in her dwindling spiritual power, she shot a ritual arrow toward the sky. Her target was a serpentine Beast Vassal shrouded by vermillion radiance, so enormous that missing a shot would take considerable effort.
The arrow traced a magic circle in the sky, which then unleashed incredible thunder and beams of light.
A War of Primogenitors Page 26