Strike the Blood, Vol. 7: Kaleid Blood Read online

Kojou listlessly rested his chin on a hand and glared at him. “Do what you want. I didn’t invite you in the first place.”

  With only the smallest hint of regret, Kira smiled pleasantly and courteously bowed his head. “I am sorry. Then, if you will excuse me…”

  “Ah, yeah. Later.”

  “Yes.”

  With that exchange of oddly amiable pleasantries, Kojou good-naturedly bid them farewell. Asagi glared at Kira’s back as he left, as if on guard.

  Yukina watched them leave with an identical look of suspicion. “Those two are nobles of the Warlord’s Empire, are they not? Why were they with you—?”

  Kojou scowled as if something had caught in the back of his mouth. “I’m not too sure myself. From what they said, apparently Vattler wrote for ’em to protect me if he disappeared.”

  Yukina looked conflicted as she let out a murmur. “…The Duke of Ardeal has disappeared?”

  Her bewilderment was entirely natural. Dimitrie Vattler might be a whimsical vampire, but his conduct was easy to understand. His goal was to fight strong opponents—period. To a vampire aristocrat with a nigh-unlimited life span, fighting a powerful foe able to threaten his own life was the greatest, and only, way of killing time.

  Vanishing without a word to his subordinates was uncharacteristic behavior for a man who viewed combat as the highest form of amusement. What Kojou understood even less was why he’d assign his own subordinates to guard Kojou.

  He didn’t think there were all that many opponents capable of harming the Fourth Primogenitor and World’s Mightiest Vampire. And if such a powerful foe were to arise, it would be Vattler himself merrily rushing to challenge him.

  Asagi, listening in on their conversation, looked at Yukina with a provocative smile.

  “Well, I was thinking it could be something like that, anyway. So, Miss Himeragi, you do know Mr. Vattler? This is a good chance, so how about I finally ask it: What’s your relationship with Kojou? What are you hiding? Mr. Vattler and Kojou don’t have that kind of a relationship, right?”

  From the side, Kojou instinctively retorted, “—Hey, what do you mean, that kind?!”

  Apparently, Asagi still suspected that Kojou and Vattler were in some kind of amorous relationship. He couldn’t dismiss it as a complete misunderstanding, but it was a rather dangerous one nonetheless—

  Yukina, receiving Asagi’s gaze head-on, said, “Understood.”

  The girl’s unexpected reply startled Kojou. “Uh…um, Himeragi…”

  Yukina continued, “However, before I answer, would you consider a request of mine?”

  “Ugh,” Asagi groaned as she faltered, perhaps not thinking Yukina would attach a condition. In spite of that, Asagi recovered and nodded, having come too far to back out now.

  “S-so that’s how it is? Fine then. Let’s do this.”

  “Please do. There is something I would like you to look into, Aiba.”

  For some reason, invisible sparks were flying as Yukina and Asagi glared at each other. A strangely tense and oppressive atmosphere began to hover over the waiting room, and Kojou was beset by a vague urge to flee for the hills.

  Then, as if to forestall Kojou from doing so, Yaze suddenly began smoothly backing away.

  “Ah… Excuse me.”

  “Y-Yaze?” Kojou asked.

  “Sorry to interrupt with everyone worked up, but my stomach hurts all of a sudden. Gonna go to the john for a bit.”

  “Th-that so. Then I’ll go with—”

  Kojou immediately tried to piggyback on Yaze’s escape, but Asagi cut him off.

  “You stay right here, Kojou!”

  “Please stay right here, senpai!”

  Vetoed by both girls, Kojou groaned and stopped moving.

  “Sorry, Kojou. See ya later!” Yaze said.

  Kojou sighed in exasperation as Yaze seized the chance to make his getaway.

  Asagi got her beloved notepad PC out. “So what did you want me to find?” she asked Yukina.

  You couldn’t tell from her gorgeous looks, but Asagi was actually a world-renowned hacker known as the “Cyber Empress.” If she felt like it, she could probably access the most confidential files of the North American Union’s intelligence agencies.

  And so, Yukina calmly made her request.

  “The incident four years ago. I want to know if the terror incident really happened as claimed, and if senpai and Nagisa were truly caught up in it by chance…”

  6

  Tobias Jagan was leaving the MAR-operated hospital when he sullenly spat out, “I can’t stand it.”

  He was directing his anger at Kojou Akatsuki, of course.

  “—He lacks class, ambition, and grandeur. Can someone like that truly be the Fourth Primogenitor? We need to guard him? His Excellency’s whims are truly vexing.”

  “It looks to me as if you get along with him surprisingly well,” Kira said in his energetic, prepubescent voice.

  Jagan twisted his lips in anguish, appearing wounded as he immediately fired back an objection.

  “Don’t even say that as a joke, Kira. It disgusts me.”

  “Ha-ha…”

  Kira laughed merrily as he leaped off the ground. The off-the-charts strength peculiar to demons vaulted him to the roof of a neighboring building six stories high.

  “Besides, we do understand the reason His Excellency commanded us to guard him.”

  Jagan landed right beside Kira, grimacing from the strong sunbeams as he strained his eyes.

  “Yes, that we do.”

  He was glaring at an organic jumble of buildings—Island North’s research and development district. It was a futuristic, heavily mechanized mini-city that strongly reflected its artificial island roots. Atop a gray transmission tower that loomed above its peers was a girl with a white hood pulled over her head.

  The girl was gazing down at the MAR-operated hospital, monitoring Kojou Akatsuki’s location like a sniper in pursuit of her prey.

  The instant Jagan was sure of her, he unleashed his Beast Vassal.

  “Irrlicht—!”

  A giant bird of prey materialized from a flash of light with immense demonic energy. Its body was composed of highly concentrated magical flame reaching tens of thousands of degrees Celsius. This became a searing beam that instantly traveled the several hundred meters toward the place where the girl stood.

  Beautiful fireworks scattered against the backdrop of the blue sky, with a shock wave following a moment later in its wake.

  The ultra-high temperature created by Jagan’s Beast Vassal did not cause anything as crude as an explosion. By executing a slash like a sword master, he had instantly sliced through the steel tower with the precision of a plasma cutter. Of course, no living creature should have been able to survive the aftermath of such an attack.

  None save the girl before their eyes, in all likelihood—

  The edge of the girl’s hood fluttered as she landed on the roof of a nearby building.

  “A rather rough welcome.”

  The attack from Jagan’s Beast Vassal hadn’t even scratched her. A delighted smile came over the girl’s beautiful, fairy-like visage.

  “Perhaps I should have expected as much from Vattler’s right-hand man, Tobias Jagan?” she said.

  Jagan had recalled his Beast Vassal and had it stand by overhead as he glared at the girl.

  “That was your one warning. The next shall strike you instead.”

  He was not disturbed that the girl knew his name. He believed she had just saved him the chore of stating it himself.

  Kira moved into position to cut off the girl’s retreat and inquired, “We know that you are tailing the Fourth Primogenitor. May we know the reason why? Along with your name and affiliation.”

  Vattler had commanded Kira and Jagan to guard Kojou Akatsuki. In other words, he had anticipated the arrival of an enemy endangering the Fourth Primogenitor.

  If that was the case, this girl must be that enemy. Anyone who could sustain a Beast Va
ssal attack and still smile calmly was certainly a foe powerful enough to warrant the pair’s combined strength.

  However, the girl’s shoulders shook as she burst into giggles.

  “I, tailing the Fourth Primogenitor, you say…? It seems you do not know anything. Vattler did not tell you?”

  “…What are you trying to say?” Jagan’s hostility oozed out of every word.

  The girl’s apparent attempt to undermine his trust in Vattler got on his nerves. But she continued warmly, as if to mock Jagan’s indignation.

  “I suppose Vattler dispatched you to guard him. If you wish to protect the Fourth Primogenitor, I am no enemy of yours. Or do you intend to waste the consideration I have shown Vattler?”

  A bewildered expression came over Kira.

  “…What do you mean by this? Do you know the Duke of Ardeal’s whereabouts?”

  The girl’s statement implied she knew exactly what Vattler was up to. Seeing Kira try to soberly extract information rather than rush to kill her, the girl gazed at him as if to say, Good boy.

  “Do not be concerned,” she replied. “I have not killed him. As I expected, not even my power can completely destroy that one with ease. I shall release him once I have finished my business.”

  Jagan’s handsome face twisted ferociously.

  “You took His Excellency captive?”

  “Indeed,” she murmured, apparently wondering what was surprising about that. “You do not believe me? Or rather, is there any credible proof the likes of Vattler can stand against me?”

  A faint trace of doubt came across Kira’s face.

  “Who are you…?”

  He didn’t think the girl possessed the power to face Kira and Jagan, two pureblood vampires directly descended from the Lost Warlord, let alone someone with Vattler’s level of might. It was unthinkable that Kira and Jagan wouldn’t know the name of someone so powerful.

  But the vampire’s veteran combat instincts told him that the girl’s unbridled confidence was probably not unfounded.

  Jagan, finally at his wits’ end, coarsely spat, “Enough of this. Back off, Kira. There’s no reason to put up with this farce any longer.”

  His crimson-dyed eyes radiated a ghastly, demonic light. This was the glow of Wadjet, an invisible Beast Vassal, permitting Jagan to enter an opponent’s brain through the eyes, seizing control of his opponent’s mind—

  The glow of Jagan’s eyes increased.

  “You will speak of everything you know, woman!”

  The girl calmly looked back at him with admiration.

  “Oh, a mind-control Beast Vassal? That is the Warlord’s bloodline for you. It seems you possess a rare power—”

  Jagan’s body snapped backward before the girl had even finished speaking.

  “Wh…at?!”

  Jagan’s lips let out a loud guoh as the backlash of vast demonic energy drove him to his knees. He covered his left eye.

  “It can’t be… Your eyes… Why you…!”

  The girl had resisted the Beast Vassal attack, and the recoil had struck its summoner, Jagan. She stated in a sympathetic tone, “Do not take it personally. It is you who gazed into my eyes.”

  The eyes visible under her hood emitted a pale blue light. That glow had blocked Jagan’s Beast Vassal’s attack, leaving Jagan to suffer the consequences.

  A moment later, an energetic cry came from Kira as a bloody mist leaped from the tip of his finger.

  “Nephila Ignis—”

  The scorching cloud transformed into lava, covering the area around the girl like a spiderweb.

  “Kira, what are—?!” Jagan exclaimed.

  “Move back, Jagan. I shall deal with this—” Kira asserted with a calm laugh.

  A beautiful, glimmering amber spider emerged at Kira’s feet. It was a Beast Vassal with molten rock coursing through it.

  The creature’s webs were scorching lava, too. They formed a beautiful geometric formation as they completely enclosed the white-robed girl. If she so much twitched a finger, she would surely be burned to a crisp by the lava threads around her.

  The girl impetuously scrutinized the network of amber webs that left her no avenue of escape.

  “So this formation is a single Beast Vassal? Impressive indeed.”

  Within the cage Kira had deployed, she could neither transform into mist, nor employ spatial control magic. It was impossible to escape from the formation.

  “I, too, have only one warning. Surrender now,” Kira said quietly.

  His voice was tinged with the worry that he would have no choice but to kill her if she didn’t.

  However, her piercing eyes twinkled as she burst into laughter.

  “Your warning is unnecessary, Kira Lebedev. You cannot harm me. Even if it is to protect your comrade, you shall pay for baring your fangs against me.”

  “—?!”

  That instant, Kira was struck speechless at the massive wave of demonic energy from the girl. The threads of lava around her, part of the flesh of Kira’s Beast Vassal, were ripped asunder. Unable to withstand the demonic power of the girl’s newly summoned Beast Vassal, it had blown apart from the inside. The girl’s violence declared, If the formation is inescapable, simply rip it apart.

  Even Jagan was virtually lost for words at the cataclysmic energy of the Beast Vassal that had appeared.

  “That’s a Beast Vassal?! That’s crazy, this power is—!”

  The monster was bizarre, amorphous. It boasted a density of demonic energy far surpassing that of Kira’s and Jagan’s Beast Vassals, likely surpassing even Vattler’s fused one. The only beings that could control Beast Vassals of such a scale were the primogenitors, the oldest and mightiest of all vampires.

  “This puts my plans in slight disarray, but it cannot be helped,” she declared. “No, you left them as guards in anticipation of this, damnable Master of Serpents. A fine nuisance you are.”

  The girl laughed haughtily as she unfurled her might.

  The explosive demonic energy made the sky above the Demon Sanctuary quake, filling it with pale blue lightning.

  7

  Jagan and Kira weren’t the only ones who had detected the mysterious girl’s attack. Motoki Yaze, a Hyper Adapter, had picked up the presence of Kojou’s pursuer through the Soundscape deployed around him.

  Yaze had tentatively guessed that Jagan and Kira would engage the girl in combat, but the scale of the Beast Vassal the girl had summoned was leaps and bounds beyond his expectations.

  “Hey, Mogwai.—What the hell is that?! No one told me about this!” Yaze shouted at his smartphone.

  He was speaking to the artificial intelligence Asagi had dubbed Mogwai, the avatar of the five supercomputers that administered Itogami Island.

  Mogwai replied in an oddly human-like voice, “Ahhh…to be honest, I’m surprised, too. There’s no record of entry, and the magical power wave is off the charts, so I can’t analyze it. She’s a complete unknown.”

  Yaze didn’t think he was genuinely surprised, but his claim that he lacked data was probably true. Mogwai had no reason to deceive Yaze in a situation like this.

  “What about images? Can’t you do a body structure analysis?” he suggested.

  Mogwai should have an enormous stockpile of photographic data on Itogami Island’s residents from surveillance cameras all over the island. Matching the girl to one of those images was likely to provide some sort of lead.

  Naturally, Mogwai must have had the same thought. His reply was accordingly swift.

  “There’s only one hit. She matches the sample with 98.779 percent certainty—”

  “And the sample’s name is Avrora Florestina?”

  “Got it in one. The twelfth Kaleid Blood,” Mogwai replied with amusement.

  Without thinking, Yaze slammed a fist against the building wall beside him.

  “That’s crazy…!”

  “Keh-keh… It couldn’t really be Avrora, huh? So who is she, then? She’s a monster that can squash nobles fr
om the Warlord’s Empire flat. Maybe she’s the real thing after all…?”

  Mogwai posed the question as if he’d sensed the doubt troubling Yaze’s heart. The rainbow-colored hair like surging flames, the blazing eyes, and the fairy-like, youthful beauty—they were all specific to a girl who had once visited the island, one deeply connected to Yaze himself. And yet…

  “Yeah, well, that isn’t possible…and you know the reason as well as anyone, Mogwai.”

  “I suppose. But if the girl is an imposter, what are you gonna do about it?”

  Mogwai’s verbal jab left Yaze’s words stuck in his throat. Yaze’s role was as a mere observer. Even with his heaven-sent skill and backup from the Gigafloat Management Corporation, there was no way he could hope to fight a monster like that head-on. It was a fact he resented at the moment.

  “So all I can do is watch without lifting a finger, again…?”

  Mogwai answered with some pity. “Ah…doesn’t look like you can do that, either.”

  Just when Yaze was going to ask Mogwai what he meant by that, a voice suddenly said from in front of him—

  “No, I suppose not.”

  What the—? Yaze inhaled. A lone man was standing just a few paces away on the lonely roof of a building. He wore loose, black, Chinese-style clothes, giving off the air of an ancient hermit. However, that was all that stood out about him. Even close up like this, his presence was surprisingly difficult to sense.

  Yaze was shaken by the impossible truth.

  “You got close to me, and I didn’t notice…?!”

  With his abilities amplified, Yaze could discern the footsteps of each individual human being within a radius of several kilometers. Even with the mystery girl holding his attention, how could he possibly have let someone get this close to him without realizing?

  The young man gazed unemotionally at Yaze as he drew his weapon. It was a short, metallic spear, just barely exceeding a meter in length. Both tip and shaft were composed of uniform blackness, as if they absorbed all light falling upon them. And then, he drew another just like it—

  The young man touched the short spears in his left and right hands together to create a single spear—a bizarre, long spear with tips on both ends—and said, “Your ability is somewhat of a nuisance to me. This is where you depart from the stage, Motoki Yaze. There will be only one observer.”