A War of Primogenitors

by Gakuto Mikumo

  Shio’s objective was to lure the Beast Vassals’ attack as far away from Kojou Akatsuki and the others as possible. It was not necessary to cause damage to the Beast Vassals. For that matter, even a direct hit from Freikugel Plus probably would not inflict wounds upon these opponents—

  “Figures, this is rough going…”

  Shio made labored breaths as she counted the few remaining ritual arrows.

  Shio was a Shamanic War Dancer of the Lion King Agency, an expert in curses and assassination. Drawing an enemy’s attention and sniping from a concealed position were some of her specialties. However, that was provided the opponent was human or an ordinary Demon. Naturally, using herself as a decoy against off-the-scale Beast Vassals reaching hundreds of meters in length was a first for her.

  Shio’s attacks were ineffective against the Beast Vassals. However, a single graze from the opponent’s attacks would vaporize Shio without a trace left behind. Even a single momentary error would be the death of her. Furthermore, she was facing eight opponents. The exceptionally harsh situation was whittling down Shio’s mental and physical endurance.

  That said, it would be overly cruel to Shio to blame overwork for the accident that settled it.

  One Beast Vassal had interfered with another’s attack—

  Vattler’s serpent’s attack came into contact with a different serpent, curving the arc of the attack at close to ninety degrees.

  “Oh n…!”

  Shio was unable to evade the vermillion beam flying at her from an unexpected direction.

  In the first place, each attack was strong enough to sink an enormous warship in a single blow. Any single streak of light scattered due to the interference was more than enough to annihilate Shio. All she could do was stand in a daze, her gaze fixed upon the vermillion radiance washing over her—

  “Snowdrift Wolf!”

  A small girl enshrouded by the dazzling light of the Divine Oscillation Effect wielded her spear to protect Shio. Transparent wings formed of divine essence were floating up from her back.

  Surely it was not Shio’s imagination that the side of her already pretty face felt positively divine. In her current state, she was toeing the line between humanity and divinity.

  “Y-Yukina Himeragi?!”

  “Are you all right, Hikawa?!”

  Yukina waited for the Beast Vassal’s attack to subside before looking back at Shio.

  “I shall buy time from here. Please retreat.”

  “No, Himeragi. That divine essence, it’s a side effect of the Schneewaltzer, isn’t it?!”

  Shio’s concerns skipped straight to Yukina’s physical condition.

  The Demon-Purging Assault Spear Type Seven Schneewaltzer was a powerful divine armament with the side effect of transforming its wielders into Faux-Angels. That was why the Schneewaltzer was sealed away and considered the Lion King Agency’s secret weapon.

  It was only recently that Shio and Yuiri had learned of this. And now that she knew, Shio could not expose Yukina to the danger of fading away. Though she didn’t dote on the girl like Sayaka Kirasaka did, Yukina was still her junior in the Lion King Agency all the same.

  However, Yukina continued to grip the silver spear as she made a small but stout smile.

  “It’s all right. I have this ring, after all—”

  “This isn’t the time for fairy-tale talk like that!”

  Naturally, Yukina showing off the ring made Shio indignant. Maybe such a thing made her feel better, but she hardly thought a mere ring could prevent Faux-Angelification. Yukina’s large eyes blinked several times in mild nervousness.

  “It—it’s not a fairy tale! What I mean by a connection between senpai and me through this ring is a magical link, so—”

  “That explanation is totally straight from a fairy tale… I’ll do you a favor and not tell Yuiri about it.”

  “Eh? Yuiri…?” Yukina blinked and tilted her head.

  As they spoke, one of the serpentine Beast Vassals turned its head in the pair’s direction. Its emotionless, enormous eyes caught sight of Shio and Yukina, and its maw opened to unleash a scarlet beam of light—

  An instant before it could, an enormous magic circle was drawn against the sky, spitting out countless thunderbolts to blind the serpent’s vision.

  “A ritual spell barrage! Kirasaka…?!”

  Shio exclaimed as she realized which caster was behind the attack. The only casters capable of unleashing such large ritual spell barrages were Shio and her fellow Shamanic War Dancer, Sayaka.

  With the Beast Vassal bathed in that ritual barrage, its attack was delayed. A woman with beautiful silver hair used that brief span of time to walk in front of Shio and Yukina. Shio was very familiar with her, a worldwide celebrity: Princess of Aldegia, La Folia Rihavein—

  The beautiful princess extolled as the Second Coming of Freya wielded incredible spiritual energy to deploy a clear-blue bulwark in front of Shio and Yukina.

  “Yukina, please lend me your strength.”

  “Y-yes!”

  Yukina, deducing what the smiling princess had in mind, infused her bulwark with divine energy. Originally, becoming a Faux-Angel was a ritual passed down within the Aldegian Royal Palace. The compatibility between the bulwark spread forth by the Aldegian princess and Yukina’s divine essence was exceptionally high.

  The girls’ bulwark deflected the vermillion beam of the serpent Beast Vassal, sending it bouncing off at an angle.

  “Yukina, what of Kojou Akatsuki? Is he safe?”

  Sayaka gripped her silver recurve bow as she asked Yukina the question. Yukina was still reinforcing the bulwark when she looked back a little hesitantly, as if trying to choose her words. She wasn’t sure whether to convey the extent of Kojou’s wounds.

  “He is…in Aiba’s hands for the moment.”

  “Eh?! Is—is that going to be all right…?!”

  Yukina’s roundabout explanation made Sayaka’s expression cloud over. She gave off the impression of being worried about something that didn’t quite pertain to Kojou’s physical condition.

  “Yes…well, probably… Um, senpai was on the verge of death, so…I really cannot take issue with…”

  A similar expression came over Yukina as she made that fractured reply. It sounded like a wife and a mistress discussing a cheating husband. Don’t make this so hard for Yuiri, thought Shio, sighing.

  “With the Priestess of Cain… I see, that may well prove a wise decision,” La Folia said, giving a little “tee-hee” and an amused smile.

  Then, she shifted her gaze to the serpentine Beast Vassal standing tall on the other side of the bulwark. Realizing that its attack had been warded off, the serpent was trying to unleash a red beam toward Shio and the others once more.

  “The issue being: Just how can we get ourselves out of this situation…?”

  However unyielding La Folia and Yukina’s bulwark, it could not block a Beast Vassal’s attack over and over. Shio and Sayaka had few ritual arrows remaining. She did not think there was any way to flee from Beast Vassal attacks that could reach all the way to the water’s horizon. Shio desperately searched for an escape plan while they endured the despairingly overwhelming power being unleashed by the enormous Beast Vassals.

  Then—that overwhelming power suddenly dissipated. The air, creaking under the dense demonic energy, relaxed, and color returned to the world.

  Gradually, the eight serpentine Beast Vassals thinned, melting into thin air.

  “The Beast Vassals…vanished?”

  Shio murmured in a daze at how the curtain had so suddenly fallen.

  All that was left was the skyline of the ruined city.

  5

  It was several minutes later when Kojou completely regained consciousness. He suddenly realized that Asagi, who had so boldly undone her school uniform, was lying upon Kojou’s chest, making cute noises in her peaceful slumber.

  It wasn’t that he was unaware of what had happened. Indeed, that was the proble
m.

  He felt like he’d woken up from a very pleasant dream, but apparently, the dream was real. Kojou went beet red as he recalled the conversation he’d had with Asagi from those vague memories.

  As Kojou sat up, he heard an almost deliberate throat clearing from right beside him.

  Yuiri Haba, wearing a swimsuit, was sitting next to Glenda, whose eyes were still covered. For some reason, he felt like Yuiri, with her honor student ambience, had a slight redness to her cheeks.

  “Oh… Yuiri…?”

  “G-good morning, Kojou. B-been a while!”

  Yuiri spoke to him, deliberately wearing a composed, smiling face. Then, she awkwardly let her gaze wander.

  “I-it’s all right. I didn’t watch. I didn’t see a thing. Glenda neither.”

  “R-right.”

  Wow, she’s a really bad liar, thought Kojou, but he was grateful Yuiri was considerate. Apparently, she was going to act like she hadn’t seen anything that happened between Kojou and Asagi.

  “Er, Yuiri, why are you in a swimsuit…?”

  “Eh?!”

  Yuiri checked her own outfit and let out a brief yelp. She was wearing a frilly bikini with a rather pretty design. It wasn’t particularly exposing, but it still felt like an odd outfit to wear in the middle of a ruined city.

  “Y-you’ve got it all wrong. It’s the same outfit I was wearing when I was captured on Blue Elysium. I actually wanted to wear a plainer swimsuit, but I thought that’d make me stand out even worse at Blue Ely, and… S-see, I lent it to Glenda for now, but I was wearing that parka over it until just earlier… It—it doesn’t look weird?”

  “Nah, I think it’s cute…”

  Kojou voiced his honest appraisal without thinking too hard. Indeed, the fairly restrained design of the swimsuit suited Yuiri’s trim appearance nicely.

  Yuiri, covering her breasts in embarrassment, glared at Kojou with upturned eyes.

  “Haaah… Kojou, you’re such a villain… So naughty.”

  “What for?!” Kojou’s voice went ragged at being blamed for no good reason. He was still in that state when Glenda came close and hugged him tight.

  “Kojou…! Does it hurt? Do your wounds hurt?”

  “Sorry for making you worry, Glenda.”

  Kojou stroked Glenda’s head with his left hand, which had finally healed. His pair of ravaged legs had finally mended to the point of being able to stand on his own two feet. Torn flesh cried out in unending agony across his entire body, but everything seemed tolerable in one way or another.

  “Kojou, can you move?”

  A serious look came over Yuiri as she peered into Kojou’s face. Kojou froze when the cleavage between her surprisingly bountiful breasts, contrasting her neat and tidy appearance, leaped into his vision.

  “Yeah, seems to be all right… I’m still a little short on blood, though, so I’m a little wobbly.”

  “Um, ah, Kojou.”

  “Mm?”

  “If…if my blood will suffice, you could…”

  “—Yuiri!”

  Just before she was about to say something, someone called out Yuiri’s name. When Kojou lifted his face, his vision beheld a girl with a short bob wielding a silver-colored recurve bow.

  “Sh-Shio?!”

  Yuiri backed away from Kojou and Glenda in a panic.

  Yukina had returned along with Shio. La Folia and Sayaka followed in their wake. Apparently, the girls had rendezvoused together somewhere unbeknownst to Kojou.

  “Senpai, you’ve regained consciousness? Are your wounds…?”

  Yukina began rushing over to Kojou in concern, but partway, her movements came to an abrupt halt. Emotion vanished from Yukina’s gaze as it fell upon Asagi, sleeping against Kojou’s chest with her clothes disheveled.

  “………”

  “H-Himeragi… Wait, you’re wrong! I didn’t strip her; this was…out of my hands… You’re assigning blame based on a misreading of circumstantial eviden— Witness! I demand the right to call a witness!”

  Kojou’s eyes were full of desperation as he sought support from Yuiri.

  Shio glanced at Yuiri with a questioning look.

  “What happened, Yuiri?”

  “Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha…”

  Yuiri tried to paper it over with a frail laugh. Asagi, still in Kojou’s embrace, might have sensed the ominous atmosphere flowing through the area, for she opened her eyes, rubbing her neck in the process.

  “Mm… What is it…? What’s wrong, Kojou……? Hyaa?!”

  Asagi still seemed a bit sleepy when she lifted her face, but let out a yelp when she noticed Yukina and company’s presence. Realizing her uniform was still askew, she emitted a brief, odd-sounding Nyah! and hurriedly righted her clothes.

  “Er, ah, Himeragi? Why are you…? What about Vattler’s Beast Vassals?”

  A perplexed expression came over Asagi as she looked up at the sky. Yukina, too, seemed conflicted as she gave a little shake of her head.

  “They suddenly vanished…”

  “…Vanished?” Asagi murmured, sharply narrowing her eyes.

  Kojou remembered seeing Vattler’s Beast Vassals just before losing consciousness: enormous serpentine Beast Vassals that had absorbed the power of The Cleansing. Even if Vattler had released them from their summons, he didn’t think masses of demonic energy of that extent would just vanish without a trace.

  It would be like trying to put out an oil-field fire. Even if the summoning was simple, there should have been no way to release the demonic energy unless it was done gradually over several days.

  Even La Folia, with her extensive knowledge, and Sayaka, with her expertise in assassination, seemed unaware of why the Beast Vassals had dissipated.

  As if to smash that momentary silence asunder, the small sound of a phone ringing hailed from the robot tank Asagi had been driving. Asagi tilted her head as she rose to her feet, doing a little heave-ho sound as she stuck her head into the tank’s cockpit. When she came down from the tank once more, she had her usual pink smartphone in hand.

  The smartphone’s screen was displaying the face of a classmate Kojou knew very well.

  “—Yo, Asagi. Nice expression. Did something good happen?”

  Motoki Yaze was addressing Asagi in his usual flippant tone. Kojou felt like there was a slight lag to the conversation; maybe the line was running through a Gigafloat Management Corporation orbital satellite.

  “Sh-shut up. This is normal, totally normal. More importantly, what the hell do you want?! I’m kind of in the middle of something—”

  “Hey, hear me out. This is about that Vattler guy’s Beast Vassals vanishing.”

  “…?!”

  Asagi drew in her breath with a start. Kojou and Yukina unwittingly perked up their ears.

  “Why do you know about that?” Asagi asked in a small voice.

  “Nothing big,” said Yaze, as if he was puffing his chest proudly. “About ten minutes ago, we cut off the dragon lines flowing around Itogami Island. I can’t say it’s completely down to zero, but the threat of The Cleansing should be at a bare minimum right about now.”

  “—Yaze? Why do you know about The Cleansing…?”

  Kojou wedged himself into the conversation. He knew Yaze was deeply related to the people running the Gigafloat Management Corporation, but it was still news to him that Yaze knew top-secret information like that about The Cleansing.

  “I’ll tell you all about it when this is all over, Bro.”

  Yaze seemed just a little guilty as he looked back at the surprised Kojou and smiled. Kojou groaned and swallowed down the countless questions rising in his mind. In their place, he asked the one thing that mattered right then.

  “Cut off the dragon lines… You can do that?”

  “—That is what I came to do.”

  Speaking those words, a girl with light-olive skin and honey hair moved her pretty face in front of the camera. A youthful, slightly saucy smile suited to her age came over her glossy lips.
>
  Kojou knew her face well.

  “Celesta…?!”

  “Making a pathetic face as usual, Kojou Akatsuki. Is Plain Girl there with you? And who is that girl with the awful hair? Have the girls in your entourage grown even plainer in my absence?”

  Speaking in the same haughty tone as when they first met, Celesta Ciate poured on the insults. Overhearing this, Asagi’s temple twitched. The air seemed to crackle.

  “Excuse me?! Who the hell are you, some acquaintance of Kojou’s?! Just because your hair is a bit pretty, your eyelashes are nice and long, your eyes are big, and your breasts are huge…… Wait, what the hell’s with this girl?!”

  “Hey, don’t blame me!”

  Unable to come up with words she could use to disparage Celesta, Asagi grumbled a “Grrr” as she wrung Kojou’s neck in outrage.

  “Celesta Ciate…the Bride of the Dark God. I see…,” La Folia murmured as if she understood.

  That was when Kojou remembered, too. Once, Celesta Ciate was known as the Bride of the Dark God; this was an alias given to a great calamity born from a distortion of dragon lines. Similar to Beast Vassals, sentient masses of dense demonic energy, spiritual energy accumulated by dragon lines manifested as the Deity of Darkness to spread calamity across their world.

  Celesta had been its icon—a special priestess with the power to amass destructive dragon-line energies into the so-called egg of the Deity of Darkness.

  “Don’t tell me…you’re planning on creating a new Deity of Darkness?” Kojou stared at Celesta with wide eyes.

  Certainly, if she employed her abilities, she could plug the dragon lines in Itogami Island’s environs. All she had to do was temporarily take the energy coursing along those dragon lines and fill her own body with it. However, this was a dangerous gamble that potentially risked giving birth to a new Deity of Darkness.

  “I most certainly am not! Therefore, I can only cut off the dragon lines for forty, fifty minutes longer at the most. Please stop Lord Vattler within that time. I do not wish to see him start a war.”

  “…Got it.”

  Kojou nodded. It wasn’t that Celesta was ignorant of the danger of creating a new evil deity in the Deity of Darkness’s place. Even so, she had lent her power for Kojou’s and Itogami Island’s sakes.