The Amphisbaena Read online

  INTRO

  The girl awakened within the light.

  Pure white walls, dazzling lighting—even the air lacked a single particle of dust.

  The electronic medical devices on the bed the girl lay upon watched silently, like wood carvings. A verse from ancient holy texts had been engraved into the marble floor.

  This was both an isolation chamber for a special patient and a solemn, holy sanctuary.

  “…Test subject XDA-7, consciousness level rising.”

  Somehow, it hurt to listen to the cold, inorganic voice coming from somewhere far off.

  The gray manacles into which both her arms had been inserted made a faint but hard metallic creak.

  “Blood pressure, heart rate both rising. Body temperature up point three degrees. Blood cortisol spiking. In accordance with standard rule 2,544, requesting hymn from protocol chapter six, verse one, to chapter nine, verse eleven.”

  “…Permission granted. Commence the hymn.”

  Majestic music poured down from above the anguished girl’s head.

  The stanzas of the countless melodies were repeated in canonical style. The reverberations of synthesized voices singing holy verse accompanied the sublime pipe organ. As if responding to the singing voices, the text carved into the floor glowed with greater intensity.

  As an aura of serenity filled the room, the girl slowly stopped moving.

  She was a silver-haired girl. It seemed certain that she had not yet reached the age of fifteen.

  Her body was clad only in a deep blue patient’s gown and a metallic black mask. The mask bore countless eerie images of eyeballs.

  Her bare arms and legs were pale and slender enough to look frail. Bizarre brands appeared on the surface of that white skin. They looked like interconnecting electrical pathways: an elaborate magical formula.

  The brands flickered in tune with the synthetic chorus that poured down from above.

  “Continue the chant. Administer painkillers and tranquilizers in parallel and resume subliminal suggestions.”

  The girl heard the indifferent back-and-forth between the sorcerous engineers while in a light sleep.

  She no longer felt pain or sadness. A beautiful light and a flood of sound enveloped her.

  The divine pulses created by the sorcerous runes would eventually alter her very nature, shifting her to a higher, more spiritual existence: a being of grace and purity near that of the omniscient God that ruled heaven itself.

  Right now, she was not human; she was a servant of God blessed through the power of sorcery.

  Then why…? wondered the girl.

  Why is there an aftertaste of fresh blood on my tongue…?

  Flames enveloped the entirety of the ship as it cruised through the sky at an altitude of a thousand meters.

  The ship was over 170 meters long. It was a giant armored airship covered in a shell formed of a special alloy, outfitted with four turboprop engines and twelve machine-gun turrets.

  Upon its stabilizer wings, the image of a Valkyrie bearing a sword was emblazoned—the symbol of the royal family of the Northern European kingdom of Aldegia.

  The spindle-shaped hull was painted pale blue like a glimmering glacier with golden ornamentation at its edges. This was a flying fortress exclusive to the royal family and the loyal knights that served it.

  But at that moment, the beautiful ship looked pitiful, bearing countless wounds.

  “Whew… What a pain.”

  The tall woman stood atop the deck of the burning ship. Her entire figure was clad in a red bodysuit. Her right hand gripped a long spear.

  And her charming eyes were dyed scarlet, as if dripping with blood.

  The white fangs that poked out of the gap between her lips revealed her true nature. She was a full D-type—a vampire.

  “Sheesh. You’re making me work here. This is really getting on my nerves…”

  The woman walked upon the deck, dragging the spear in her wake.

  The tip of the crimson spear scraped the ship’s armor, scattering sparks about with a shrill sound.

  She was the one assaulting the ship—the one responsible for mercilessly destroying the splendid vessel’s hull and enveloping it in a vortex of flames.

  “…Who…are you? Who hired you?”

  Standing before her was a knight, his body clad in augmented armor trimmed with gold. His epaulets bore the crest of Aldegia.

  They marked him as a member of the Royal Bodyguard and the commander of the flying airship’s military escort.

  “You struck knowing the Ragnvald is protected by we Knights of the Second Coming?!”

  Though he bore wounds over his entire body, the knight glared ferociously at the woman. The sword he wielded emitted a pale light.

  The vampire woman listlessly stopped in place, giving the knight before her a look of obvious scorn.

  An explosion detonated behind her. One of the gas bladders that kept the hull aloft had been destroyed. As the giant armored airship’s hull lost precious buoyancy, it began tilting ominously.

  The knight’s shoulders shook with rage as he watched the golden ornaments of the ship fall away.

  The woman flicked her long, waving hair in annoyance.

  “I told you, didn’t I? Just hand over the rotten little bitch you zealots are protecting already. If you do that, your deaths will be quick and painless…!”

  Before she finished speaking, her arm howled and roared as if ripping through the very air. The long, crimson spear released a surge of explosive magical energy as it assaulted the knight.

  “Don’t get carried away, vampire scum!”

  The knight squarely withstood the blow.

  The crimson spear was thrown back, a side effect of the incredible demonic energy. Watching this with no special sign of surprise, the woman sighed dejectedly.

  “Huh…? That’s Aldegia’s Völundr System thing? It certainly is a bother. So lame…”

  “Did you think you could bring this ship down, filthy jackal? You shall do as you please no further, demon!” The knight pointed the pale, shimmering tip of his sword at her.

  The Völundr System was cutting-edge knight gear developed by the kingdom of Aldegia. The powerful tactical support system used spiritual energy transmitted by the reactor of the mother ship to turn a mundane weapon into a magical one, temporarily giving it the might of a Holy Sword–class weapon. Thanks to this system, the Aldegian Knights of the Second Coming had gained great fame on the battlefield. Some even called them the mortal enemy of demonkind.

  However, even faced with the radiance of the pseudo–Holy Sword, the woman’s expression did not falter. Still listlessly holding her spear, she shot the wounded knight a look of open ridicule.

  That moment, a black silhouette appeared behind the woman’s back. It was a beast man with jet-black fur.

  “…Sorry to keep ya waitin’, BB!” the beast man called out to the woman in a sober tone. The scent of blood wafted up from his entire body: blood spatter from the crew of the airship he had attacked. There were still pieces of raw flesh stuck to the sharply tapered tips of his claws.

  “Yes, welcome back. Where’s the Aldegian sow?” the woman asked without looking. The beast man quietly shook his head.

  “Not here. The bridge was empty, too. There’s one lifepod missing. Looks like she got away.”

  “So this was all for nothing? Good grief. I wonder if they’ll even pay us. Well, that’s fine…,” the woman said, openly disappointed. As the bloodlust on her beautiful, corrupt face vanished, the crimson spear evaporated from her hand as well. Her arrogant demeanor told the knight leveling his sword at her that his existence was insignificant to her.

  “You dare mock me…?!” the knight howled, raising his pseudo–Holy Blade high.

  The woman shot an annoyed look back at him and laughed derisively.

  “I’ll concede that the Völundr System packs a punch. Your run-of-the-mill demon couldn’t even get close to that light, could they?”

  As the knight yelled and unleashed his attack, the vampire woman evaded it with ease. Then, she operated a cell phone–sized device with practiced ease. The word Advent appeared on the device’s screen.

  A moment later, the sky above their heads was filled with light.

  “But I’m so sorry…your opponent isn’t a demon.”

  As if tearing apart the dark nighttime sky, something descended from a rip in a cloud. It was a small silhouette enveloped by a malevolent light. And a number of warped wings with red blood vessels running all over them sprung out of her back.

  “What is that…?!”

  The knight’s sword lashed out toward the airborne silhouette.

  The spiritual energy of the pseudo–Holy Blade became a ray of light that assailed the shadow. This was a spiritual, purging light able to repel any demon. But the instant the blade of light was about to make contact with the airborne silhouette, it smashed against something like a glass wall and winked out.

  “That’s insane,” gaped the knight, as the red-clothed woman laughed with what almost seemed like pity.

  The airborne silhouette descended at high speed, drawing near to the damaged airship. The pulses of magical energy it scattered about became a raging gale that shook the ship’s hull.

  The knight unleashed another slashing attack. But no matter how many times he did, the result was always the same.

  The spiritual light of the pseudo–Holy Blade could not touch the hovering silhouette. It was as if the sun itself was mocking the light give
n off by this pale, man-made imitation…

  This was a power that could nullify the purging effect of spiritual light. In other words, it demonstrated that the silhouette hovering before his eyes was not an evil being. This malevolent monster was an existence far holier than that of the man-made, pseudo–Holy Blade fueled by a spiritual reactor.

  “This…can’t be an…”

  Only then, when the monster landed on the flying ship’s deck, was its form fully exposed to him.

  Its bare arms and legs bore eerie runes. Its wings looked as if they’d been sprayed with acid. A bizarre mask covered its head. But even so, its aura was all too serene, even divine…

  “An…gel…?!”

  The winged monster raised a clear, singing voice as it released a dazzling beam. It was a purifying light that burned everything away.

  The red-clothed woman and the beast man had already fled. Without even time to register this fact, the knight’s consciousness was enveloped in a burning light. The beautiful armored warship exploded and broke apart, its wreckage falling into the dark nighttime sea.

  CHAPTER ONE

  FRIENDSHIP, LOVE, AND OTHER CIRCUMSTANCES

  1

  It was not actually the first meeting between the two of them.

  However, the first memory she—Asagi Aiba—had of Kojou Akatsuki was that night at the dimly lit waiting room in the hospital.

  That night, Asagi was sitting on a bench all by herself, gazing absentmindedly at the laptop open on her lap. She was wearing a Saikai Academy middle schooler uniform, with plain, black hair.

  It was sometime after nine PM. There were no longer any outside guests visiting patients. It was dark outside the window; the hospital was quiet. The still-young girl was illuminated only by dim emergency lights.

  Kojou, who just happened to be passing by, suddenly halted, his eyes glued to the side of her face.

  Half of the reason was that he thought he’d seen the girl before.

  The other half was that she looked like she was crying.

  Noticing Kojou gazing at her like that, Asagi suddenly lifted up her face.

  He hadn’t expected her to glare straight at him with firm, tear-moistened eyes.

  That surprised Kojou a little. When he’d seen Asagi Aiba in class, she seemed nothing more than a mature girl who didn’t really stand out much. “You’re…the newbie in my class at school, right?” Asagi asked in an unexpectedly peaceful tone.

  Kojou made a short sigh. “At least call me a transfer student. It’s been almost two months since I transferred over.”

  “Oh… Well, not like it matters, anyway,” Asagi shrugged indifferently. He didn’t learn this until later, but apparently she’d lived on the small, artificial island known as Itogami Island from since she was kindergarten age. Certainly, Kojou’s having come to the island less than two months before made him nothing more than a Johnny-come-lately from Asagi’s perspective.

  “What happened to your glasses?” Kojou asked, as he realized what was different from the way she normally looked in class. So far as Kojou could remember, Asagi was always wearing a pair of plain, unfashionable glasses.

  But Asagi dismissively shook her head. “They’re just for show. It’s not like my eyes are bad.”

  “Is that so? Just seems…” Like a waste of your good looks, Kojou was about to say but thought better of it and swallowed his words; it wasn’t any of his business.

  Asagi shot him a suspicious glare, her eyes narrowed. “More to the point, what are you doing in a hospital at this hour? Sprained a finger?”

  “…I wouldn’t come to a huge hospital like this for a finger sprain, y’know.” Kojou grimaced as he replied. Apparently Asagi knew that Kojou was a basketball player, at least. She made a somewhat mischievous smile, even with her eyes still red and puffy from crying.

  “So what is it? Player on your team got life-threatening injuries?”

  “Cut that out. Got nothing to do with that.”

  Kojou lowered his voice as his lips made a serious, disagreeable twist. He tried to convey things as casually and factually as he could, as if to not make things any graver than they were.

  “My little sister’s hospitalized… Been that way ever since we came to this island.”

  “Is…that so…?”

  Asagi’s expression didn’t change. But he didn’t think the faint wariness and hostility toward Kojou in her voice was just his imagination.

  “Why are you standing up? Sit, would you?”

  Folding the notebook computer on her lap, Asagi pointed to the seat right beside her.

  “Er, but…”

  “It’s fine. I’ll feel pathetic if I’m just sitting here crying all by myself.”

  “My being here isn’t gonna help anything, y’know.”

  She’s got another thing coming if she’s expecting me to console her, thought Kojou as he spoke, but Asagi leered at him.

  Despite her obvious beauty, her smiling face was awfully plain and frank. “It’s fine. After all, if you tell anyone else, I’ll be the one making you cry.”

  “The heck’s that? Aren’t you treating me a little rough here?”

  “Put up with it. It’s your fault for seeing me cry in the first place.”

  Her irrational declaration brought a strained smile to Kojou’s face. He was relieved that she didn’t seem at all concerned about the opposite sex. Her attitude was refreshing. He felt like he was dealing with a guy he’d known for years.

  That memory was before the youth known as Kojou Akatsuki was to be called the Fourth Primogenitor, the World’s Mightiest Vampire…

  2

  —So that’s how it was.

  Kojou gasped and lifted his face as the soft sensation of her lips and the teasing tone of her voice came rushing back to him.

  He was in a packed monorail station. The unenthused train conductor spoke rapid-fire in a sleep-inducing tone. Outside the window were the man-made skyline of Itogami City and the morning sun shining upon the open, blue sea. These were the familiar sights of the Demon Sanctuary.

  Feeling an itch in his nose like he was about to have a nosebleed, Kojou sighed. A dream, huh?

  “Senpai.”

  “Whoa?!”

  Kojou made a vivid yelp as Yukina Himeragi called out to him from point-blank range.

  Yukina hmphed, her lips twisting in displeasure as she looked up at Kojou.

  She was a middle school schoolgirl in uniform with a black guitar case on her back. She had a refreshing beauty to her, almost too nicely arranged. He ought to have been a little more used to seeing her, but when she suddenly popped into his vision looking like that, he got nervous for no good reason. However, she had not the slightest inkling of the effect she had.

  Yukina spoke to the shaken Kojou in a blunt, dubious tone. “We’re going to arrive at the station shortly.”

  Right on cue, the monorail was just beginning to decelerate before reaching the next station. This was the station closest to Saikai Academy, where Kojou and Yukina went to school. This was the normal time slot for the school commute, so there were a good many other students on the train at the same time as they were. Numerous jealous and hate-filled glares fell upon Kojou for being able to go to school with a girl as pretty as Yukina.

  In reality, Yukina was simply performing her duty as watcher, but under the circumstances, no one would believe any such claim. Nor would they believe that the guitar case Yukina carried over her back contained a demon-slaying spear said to be able to kill even a Primogenitor.

  Gimme a break here, Kojou murmured internally as he made a frail sigh. “R-right. Sorry. Dozed off a little there.”

  “I can see that.”

  “C-can you now.”

  “…Is something on your mind? You seemed to be having a nightmare of some sort.”

  Yukina had an overly serious expression as she inquired. Kojou’s expression wavered once more. Of course, he didn’t say something like, Oh, I was remembering how I got kissed by my classmate.

  “N-nah, nothing like that at all. Just surprised me, that’s all.”

  “…Did something happen with Aiba?”

  “Eh?!”

  How did you know? Kojou nearly said, furiously swallowing down the words. Yukina’s spiritual sensitivity as a Sword Shaman was not to be underestimated.

  As Yukina drew closer, staring intently at him, Kojou averted his gaze as a cold sweat came over him.