Bluesteel Blasphemer Volume 2

by Ichirou Sakaki

  “Ulrike...?” It was Yggdra’s familiar who had reached out to him.

  “I do not understand exactly what’s going on, but I gather you must return to Friedland with haste, correct?”

  “Yeah, I—”

  “Then I may be able to lend you my aid.”

  “Huh...?” Yukinari furrowed his brow.

  What could Ulrike—no, Yggdra—do to help him get back to Friedland faster? Yggdra was a giant tree who couldn’t go anywhere at any speed. And while Ulrike and the other familiars had stupendous mobility, that was all they had.

  “Come,” Ulrike said. “I shall explain on the way.”

  ●

  Seeing the thing up close brought home how absurdly large it was. Yggdra was a gigantic tree, and her control extended to almost all the vegetation in the area. If necessary, she could even accelerate the breakdown of cells in order to rebuild plants in another place or in the required shape.

  Perhaps what was happening now was an application of that ability.

  Two huge trees—smaller than Yggdra, but appearing centuries old nonetheless—shot out thick branches from which dangled a vine large enough to be a rope. And on that rope—no, that vine—all the familiars were pulling.

  The familiars had human form, but their strength exceeded that of a person. It was a wonder the branches supporting the vine didn’t break; the vine itself could be heard creaking. It was basically...

  “A slingshot? No, more like a bow...”

  Even Yukinari was wide-eyed. The apparatus was like a bow, but dozens of times the size of any bow any human had ever used.

  “Yes,” said Ulrike, “so it is. But it does not shoot arrows.”

  “You mean to launch me out of this thing all the way back to Friedland.”

  “I do.” She nodded and smiled. She had the look of a child who had thought up a fun prank—and in fact, if Yggdra was to be believed, this might really be the personality of the girl Ulrike showing through.

  “You’ve gotta be nuts...”

  “This from the man who thought he would simply blow away a mountain.”

  “Well, you’ve got me there.”

  Yukinari had already turned the gunpowder under Yggdra’s mountain back into earth. Although given how damp the area was, it probably wouldn’t have exploded even if he’d just left it there.

  “The form you assumed in our battle—it had a beautiful set of wings. I don’t suppose they’re only for decoration?”

  “I don’t know if I’d call them decoration, but they’re not exactly made for flapping...”

  The real purpose of the wings was to help disperse the huge amounts of waste heat that could quickly be generated by physical reconstitution. This was why everything around Yukinari seemed to be enveloped in a haze when he assumed the form of the Bluesteel Blasphemer.

  “But you can move them of your own volition.” For gliding, at least, they would probably fit the bill. “That is all you need do. Now, then—Yukinari.”

  Ulrike indicated the vine that the other familiars were pulling on. To his surprise, Yukinari saw that the half-globe he had created to protect Dasa was already attached to it. That was what they would use to hold him.

  “Young girl. Dasa, is it not?” Ulrike, who herself looked hardly older than ten, turned to Dasa, who stood beside Yukinari. “You should remain here. This will prove dangerous for a normal person.”

  “I... won’t,” she replied immediately. This response seemed to flummox even Ulrike.

  “H-Hang on a second, Dasa. I know how you feel, but—”

  “Yuki.” Dasa held fast to his sleeve and shook her head. “I won’t let you... go alone.”

  “But—”

  “I’m on your... side, remember.”

  Yukinari said nothing.

  “I’ll always be... with you.” And then she stretched out her hand and touched his cheek. “I’ll go... anywhere with you. Otherwise, I... can’t be there for you, Yuki.”

  “......All right.” He heaved a sigh, gave a small shrug. “She can be pretty stubborn. And I don’t have time to try to talk her out of it right now. I’ll take responsibility for whatever happens—so send the two of us together.”

  “So I shall. Only be careful not to drop your cherished ally.”

  “Sure thing.”

  Ulrike nodded, and Yukinari focused his consciousness. A bluish-white light enveloped him, melding with the black that rose up to cover him. Soon his body was encased in blue and black armor, and then his wings emerged, looking like they were made of pieces of glass.

  “Here goes.” Yukinari took Dasa in his arms and then climbed into the half-globe. Dasa, for her part, wrapped her arms around his neck. And then...

  “Fire.”

  There was no countdown, just that single word. The next instant, the familiars let go all at once, the vine propelling Yukinari and Dasa into the air with tremendous force.

  Yukinari’s vision dimmed, presumably the result of all the fluids in his body—especially his head—being forced into his lower body by the acceleration. He was blacking out—or in this case, graying out. It was the sort of thing fighter pilots experienced at 3 or 4 g.

  “Hrgg... gg...” In his arms, Dasa groaned with the pain of it. He couldn’t blame her—Dasa had never so much as ridden in an airplane, let alone been flung through the sky. They had no windscreen, and in fact, they were very lucky they hadn’t fainted clean away.

  It’s all right. We’re all right...

  He couldn’t say the words as they flew, so he hugged Dasa tighter instead.

  And then, when he judged they had gone as high as they could, Yukinari spread his angel wings. Man-made wings that sparkled in the sunlight as he drifted on the wind. He and Dasa danced through the air; they could see everything spread out below them. Yukinari caught a tailwind and steered them toward Friedland. He did everything he could to control their descent, his wings jingling and groaning.

  “...We’re going to make it.” He hugged Dasa tighter still as the conviction welled up within him. The Bluesteel Blasphemer glided through the sky, heading for where Friedland waited to be rescued.

  ●

  There was a screech, and the wall of the building caved in. The birdlike demigod had finally gotten tired of waiting. Enraged at being unable to find Yukinari, it began attacking any structure within reach.

  As strong as it was, its birdlike body was light, meaning the demigod didn’t have the power to destroy the sturdy brick and stone buildings. But wooden doors and shutters were vulnerable, especially around their hinges. The demigod seemed to have figured this out.

  It stuck its head into a broken window. “Brains! GIVE ME your brains! I shall eAt thEM, and grOw stroNger...!”

  The townspeople had followed Fiona’s evacuation order. They’d thought they were safe inside the buildings. Now they screamed and fled to inner rooms. The giant beak pecked away, seeming large enough to swallow a child whole, and all anyone could do was tremble at the sparks.

  And then...

  “Brains! Braaains, slurp slurp! EaT ThEM, groW smaRTer...!”

  Suddenly, the silhouette of the face in the window seemed to shudder, and then several more monstrous birds, considerably smaller than the demigod, sprang from its head. They ranged from hawks and falcons, large birds of prey, to smaller avians—with a shiver, they separated from the demigod’s head and entered the room.

  Familiars.

  A demigod’s body was formed from a core whose divinity attracted other creatures, which then became spiritually bound to it. It was like a whole flock moving as a single organism. If it wanted, the demigod could command its familiars as if they were arms or legs.

  In a panic, the townspeople tried to shut their doors and go farther into their houses, but even interiors were no longer really safe. Houses or shops with basements might still manage, but hiding in a wooden shed would be no use. Not with the demigod breaking off pieces of itself, sending its familiars through doors and windows an
d cracks in walls.

  “Over here...!”

  Berta had been slow to run. Or more precisely, she had been gathering up the orphans, who had been wandering around with no idea where to go, and now they were crouching in a half-wrecked shed. It was only a matter of time.

  Just across the way, she could see a tough-looking brick storehouse. On the floor just past the entrance was a way into the basement. If they could just get over there, they would be saved—probably. But she could also see the demigod’s familiars coming toward them.

  By herself, she might have made it, but running with two or three of her “little sisters” in tow would be impossible.

  “Big Sis Berta, I’m so scared...”

  She patted the little girl who clung to her on the back. “It’s all right. I’ll stay with you.”

  “Are we going to be eaten? Is that bird gonna eat us?”

  “That’s not the honored erdgod, is it?”

  Berta bit her lip. The girls at the orphanage had been indoctrinated by the priests to believe that being offered to the erdgod was an honor, so they had comparatively little fear of being eaten by the deity. But by the same token, this meant that if some other creature got to them first, it could undo their whole reason for living.

  “Big Sis Berta...”

  The time for assurances had passed. The demigod and its familiars would notice them soon. Berta had fled here in such a hurry that she had left behind the Durandall Yukinari had given her. Not that she would have really known how to use it if she’d had it.

  In the end, she was just a helpless little girl. Still no use to anyone. Still not fit for anything but to be eaten by a god.

  In that case...

  “Listen.” Berta pried the girls off her one by one and looked each of them in the face. “You see the brick building over there? When I say ‘run,’ you run to it as fast as you can. There’s a big square door just inside, kind of a lid. Open it, and go in. If you fall, don’t cry, just get up and keep running. You understand? Can you do that?”

  None of the girls said anything, but as Berta looked at each of them, they nodded at her with fearful faces.

  “Okay, then. Here we go.”

  Berta stepped away from her little sisters and looked down the street from the shadows of the rubble. There was the demigod, many of its familiars alongside, heading right for them.

  “Run!”

  As she shouted the order, Berta began walking toward the demigod and its pack of familiars. She held her arms out so they could see her clearly, as if to say, Here I am!

  If she deliberately went to the demigod, it would eat her first; that would buy them some time.

  Or so she’d thought.

  To Berta’s astonishment, several of the familiars flew past her at high speed.

  “Wait! Huh...?”

  Before she could stop herself, Berta spun around to see where the creatures were going, and she realized her own stupidity.

  The girls were running, just as she’d told them to do. One fell down, but instead of crying, she got up again. But the motion had actually drawn the attention of the sharp-eyed demigod and its familiars.

  Birds can catch bugs in their beaks in midair, or pick out prey on the ground while flying at high speed. When it comes to spotting moving objects, their vision is vastly superior to a human’s. If something attempts to run away, a bird will go for it almost instinctively.

  “No...! Stop...!”

  Several of the familiars were homing in on the girl who had fallen. Even at a run, Berta wouldn’t reach her in time.

  At the same moment, she heard the demigod screeching behind her. “Grey matter! I shAll sip sip sip iT!”

  The whole area was thrown into shadow. She realized she was directly beneath the demigod.

  There was no hope anymore. Not for her sisters. Not for her.

  But just as Berta was about to give in to despair...

  A gunshot.

  “You moron! Run already!”

  There was Fiona, leaning halfway out of the open door of the storehouse, brandishing Durandall.

  Of course, she had had no more training with the weapon than Berta; her chances of hitting the flying demigod or its familiars were vanishingly small. Fiona worked the lever and fired again, but there was no sign that she’d hit anything.

  “Screee?!”

  “Gyaaa!”

  But the quailing of the familiars was obvious even to Berta. They remembered. They remembered the pain Yukinari’s gun had inflicted on them when they had been part of the demigod’s body. The familiars knew that when the humans used that thunderclap-loud device, they could be hurt.

  And then—

  “You all truly are useless, aren’t you!”

  To Berta’s surprise, Arlen came jumping out past Fiona. He wore no armor and carried no spear, but instead he, too, had a Durandall in hand. He dashed for Berta’s little sisters.

  “You little country shits are trouble! Did you even think about what would happen when you ran out here?!”

  Berta watched, amazed, as he all but flung them into the storehouse. He didn’t exactly throw them so much as sort of slide them, but what Berta saw was her little sisters giving a shout as they bounced once and then rolled into the storehouse.

  Knights were used to wearing full body armor and carrying long spears and heavy shields; it wasn’t a difficult matter for one of them to pitch a few undernourished little girls into a doorway.

  “I, Arlen Lansdowne, a knight of the Missionary Order, will be more than a match for some familiars!”

  He leaped at the enemies, using Durandall to cut them down. “Don’t just stand there, girl!” he shouted. “Run!”

  “Berta!”

  Arlen’s and Fiona’s voices brought her back to herself.

  “Brains!”

  But as she made to run, Berta was thrown to the ground by a powerful gust of wind that struck her on the back. The demigod above must have given one great flap of its wings.

  “Ow...”

  She landed faceup, staring into the sky. A massive body hung above her, like a lid over the heavens. Slowly, so slowly, it descended. Several familiars surrounded it. The massive talons that were its weapons stretched toward Berta’s head...

  “Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!”

  The next second, Berta couldn’t see the demigod anymore. A trailing scream cast it out of the way.

  “...Huh?” she asked dumbly.

  It wasn’t only the demigod she’d lost track of; its familiars were also flopping around on the ground. Perhaps things that happened to the main body had an effect on the familiars as well.

  The demigod let out a bellow of rage. “Graaaaaaaaaaaahhhh!” It tumbled through the air as if it had been struck with a giant steel staff, colliding with a nearby building. The demigod wobbled back through the sky, shedding feathers, blood, and the bodies of destroyed familiars.

  “L... Lord Y-Yukinari...?”

  She could see him on the demigod’s back. A weird knight in blue and black armor, with wings of dark crystal.

  The one she worshipped. Friedland’s protector god.

  “The Blue Angel...!”

  “Yukinari!”

  Arlen and Fiona sounded as surprised as Berta.

  They could make out Dasa up there with Yukinari atop the demigod. The two of them had something like a dark-gray rope, which they had wrapped around the demigod’s huge body and were twisting tight.

  “Graaaaahhhhhh!”

  The demigod struggled, trying to throw off Yukinari and Dasa, but they held tight to the rope and were never in danger of falling off. Instead, there was another roar from their guns, and more blood and feathers and familiars fell from the monster.

  “Lord Yukinari is—!”

  “The honored erdgod has returned!”

  Perhaps drawn by the demigod’s scream, people were looking out from doors and windows. Several missiona
ries also appeared, weapons in hand. They had known they couldn’t stand against the demigod, but the familiars that came plummeting down? Those they could handle.

  “Stay alert, one blow could be the end of you!”

  “As if a few familiars could—!”

  The knights had come to Friedland as invaders, but just as Arlen had said, they were always enemies of erdgods, demigods, and xenobeasts. The people of Friedland were potential converts, future believers. It was practically the knights’ duty to fight in this battle.

  “Lord Yukinari...!”

  Berta sat up, looking at the savior who had single-handedly turned the tide. How many times had he now saved her when she had been on the cusp of death?

  “Oh...”

  How foolish she was. She belonged to Yukinari, and yet she had been about to offer herself up to the demigod of her own volition. Yes, she had been trying to save her little sisters from the orphanage. But didn’t it also show her failure to trust Yukinari? She should have had faith, to the last moment, that he would arrive and save them. She was his, a shrine maiden whose first duty was to serve him.

  “My... Our... god.”

  A fate too awful for humans to bear is called despair. And one who can lift humans out of despair, they call a god.

  Hope is the light that cuts through the frozen darkness of wretchedness.

  The black and blue armor, almost dizzying to behold, looked to Berta like the shining of hope itself.

  ●

  “You sonuva—!” Yukinari pulled hard on the wire as he fired Durandall. “This time I’m gonna turn you into roast chicken for real, so just—die—already!”

  But the unsteady footing meant his bullets had no hope of reaching the core, the kill shot. Yukinari, still holding Dasa under his left arm, bounced on the demigod’s back like he was at some sort of otherworldly rodeo.

  “Dasa, are you okay?”

  “I’m o...kay...!”

  After Yggdra had launched them into the air, they’d flown clear to Friedland, where Yukinari had spotted the demigod attacking the town and delivered a body blow on the way down. Once it had figured out that it only needed two wings to control its position in the air, the demigod seemed to get distracted by something on the ground.