Strike the Blood, Vol. 7: Kaleid Blood Page 13

  “—!”

  Yukina’s gaze sharpened further at the young escapee’s mention of the Lion King Agency. It was not out of anger, for she had understood from a single glance that the wicked spear he wielded was constructed from the same technology as Snowdrift Wolf.

  No, what threw Yukina completely off was not the spear but the faint scent of what stained the spear—very fresh blood.

  “What have you done with Yaze—?” Yukina asked.

  Yukina’s question made Asagi’s shoulders tremble. In this situation, if the young jailbreaker had laid a hand on someone, the odds were high that it was Yaze, who’d never returned to the courtyard.

  Meiga gently smiled, almost charming, as if to confirm Yukina and Asagi’s worst fears. “It’s all right. He is probably not dead…yet.”

  “Urk—!”

  The next moment, Yukina leaped at him like she’d been shot out of a cannon. In her mind, there was no point continuing the conversation. First, she needed to render him powerless.

  Yukina’s blow, faster than a demon’s reaction speed could handle, knocked down the man’s spear, then struck him in the side of the head—or so she thought.

  She stopped moving, in shock at the lack of feedback from her own spear.

  “Eh?!”

  The young man calmly spoke to Yukina from behind.

  “What is the matter?”

  He had done nothing save make a single step to the side to evade Yukina’s charge.

  “Impossible,” she uttered.

  Without a doubt, her Spirit Sight had seen the young man’s next action. It should not have been possible for Yukina’s attack to miss.

  The young man’s tone of voice sounded patronizing, as if he was scolding a bungling pupil.

  “I suppose I should warn you that you cannot defeat me. It is precisely because you are an excellent Sword Shaman that you cannot do me any harm.”

  From the beginning, the young man had not regarded Yukina as any match for him.

  Yukina quietly intoned a chant.

  “—I, Maiden of the Lion, Sword Shaman of the High God, beseech thee.”

  She poured all the refined ritual energy inside her body into Snowdrift Wolf, changing its glow to a Divine Oscillation Effect that cut away magical energy. Surely, whatever sorcery Meiga Itogami had deployed, its effect would vanish within that glow.

  However, the beautiful radiance emitted by Snowdrift Wolf winked out before touching the young man’s body. It was not his spell that had been negated, but Yukina’s Divine Oscillation Effect instead.

  Seeing Yukina too shaken to move, Meiga smiled as if to mock her.

  “…Fangzahn is a failure. Type Seven nullifies warped magical energy and amplifies your spiritual power as a priestess—however, Type Zero nullifies both magical and spiritual energy. And so, this spear was sealed away, for it was too dangerous.”

  “But…with both spiritual and magical energy cut off, how can you be…alive…?”

  Nervousness crept into Yukina’s voice. Just like how all things possessed yin and yang, the end and the beginning, spiritual and magical energy were the opposing poles of life itself. Whether one was human or demon, one could not survive when cut off from both spiritual and magical energy. It was less a matter of being alive or dead—without either, one could not even exist.

  The young man turned his spear toward Yukina.

  “Such is my physical nature. No supernatural power affects me. My flesh makes me nothing but a spectator so far as they are concerned. Indeed, were it not for this spear, this condition would be quite useless. However…”

  Yukina’s Spirit Sight could not predict his next action. Certainly, it was as Meiga had said. His spear was the mortal enemy of a Sword Shaman employing Spirit Sight, for the more exceptional the Sword Maiden, the greater the power she lost as a result.

  None of the martial art skills she had acquired through long training had been stolen from her. But Yukina, lacking the reaction speed brought by seeing into the future, and unable to amplify her physical strength through ritual spells, was reduced to a fairly athletic but otherwise normal girl. Could she really defeat an escapee from the prison barrier in her current condition?

  Yukina resigned herself to a suicidal attack just before Asagi wildly shouted:

  “Stop it, now!”

  Then, suddenly, a ferocious gunshot echoed through the room.

  “That’s far enough. Hold it right there!” Asagi continued.

  Asagi had her notebook open as she gave Meiga a threatening look. At her feet sat a colorful machine like a loyal guard dog, an MAR security pod with its gun barrel trained on Meiga.

  Asagi had gone through the laboratory network to hijack control of the security pod. The unmanned attack robots were ineffective against vampires, but they were more than capable of inflicting fatal wounds against an ordinary human being.

  Asagi kept her finger on the keyboard as she solemnly announced, “If you can nullify magical and spiritual energy, that means you can’t block physical attacks, right? Take one step, and I’ll have this security pod turn you into Swiss cheese.”

  Yukina stared at the side of her face, dumbfounded. Asagi’s knees were faintly shaking. She certainly felt fear. Of course—she was an ordinary high school girl with no combat training whatsoever. However, that ordinary high school girl had saved Yukina in her moment of need.

  Meiga was just as surprised as Yukina was, suddenly raising his voice in laughter.

  “Ha…ha-ha-ha…ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!”

  Although, this was not a laugh of scorn nor was it resignation. It was a laugh of unbridled joy.

  “Is something funny here…?” Asagi asked, obviously irritated.

  She might have thought he was making fun of her. Meiga slowly shook his head, lowering his spear in a gesture of solemn respect toward Asagi.

  “So in that brief span of time, you hacked into a security pod with heavy protections, reprogramming it to do your own bidding… It seems you truly have no idea what astounding ability you possess…”

  “Huh…?”

  Asagi listened to the young man in black’s praise with complete befuddlement. No doubt she was unsure how to react to his complete reversal.

  Yukina was just as perplexed. Certainly, Asagi’s hacking skills reached a plateau above all common sense, but she couldn’t fathom why Meiga admired them to that degree.

  Meiga smiled pleasantly in satisfaction as he separated his twin spear once more.

  “I have seen your work before. It is your power that He has awaited.”

  Then the spiritual and magical energy he had previously blotted out returned. Yukina had regained her power as a Sword Shaman, but Meiga, too, was able to employ ritual spells. Countless glyphs seemingly drawn in ink floated into the area around his body.

  “A spatial control ritual—?!” Yukina exclaimed.

  “What the hell?! That’s not fair!” Asagi shouted.

  She commanded the security pod to open fire. Her targets were the short spears in Meiga’s hands. However, the bullets bounced right off the ritual spell barrier deployed around Meiga.

  With a calm voice, the black-clothed young man said, “Well, then. We shall meet again, Asagi Aiba, Cyber Empress—or rather, Priestess of Cain.”

  With that, he vanished. Yukina and Asagi could do nothing but watch, astounded.

  11

  Kojou could hear sirens from somewhere, no doubt the Island Guard’s public order unit. Even if MAR hadn’t sent word, two primogenitor-class Beast Vassals clashing in an urban area naturally resulted in the Island Guard running over.

  The MAR grounds had been reduced to a pathetic sight. The once-beautiful courtyard was burned to a crisp, ripped down to the innards of the artificial island. Rows of structural glass had been smashed to smithereens, particularly at the medical wing on the verge of collapse at the center of the destruction.

  Although, if one looked solely at the results, the damage could be co
nsidered nominal. After all, two vampire primogenitors had fought head-on, yet that was as far as the damage went—

  As Kojou and the rainbow-haired girl stood amid the still-smoldering remnants of vast demonic energy, he heard a witty and polished male voice.

  “As expected of a battle between our revered primogenitors—I must say that I am most satisfied.”

  Finally, with an ear-piercing sound like that of glass scraping glass, a rift opened out of thin air.

  Then a golden mist appeared. The fog brightened and changed into a handsome man: a blond, blue-eyed vampire aristocrat.

  The girl clicked her tongue in annoyance.

  “To think that you made your own way out while my Beast Vassal held you captive… First, I suppose I should call it splendid. I imagine you could have escaped even sooner. Does the fact you did not escape mean that you aim to take my head as I sleep, Vattler?”

  Vattler, now completely materialized, lowered his head in a gesture of respect.

  “Surely you jest, Your Highness.”

  His words seemed courteous, yet they did not carry a single whiff of submission. It was a gesture befitting such a snobbish, aggravating vampire.

  The girl sighed with a twinge of exasperation.

  “Such an unpalatable man. Small wonder you are a confidant of that damnable Warlord. I wish I could make my own daughters learn a thing or two from you.”

  Kojou expressed some doubt as he asked Vattler, “Highness?”

  Based on their conversation, it seemed Vattler had already fought the girl, who had then held him captive somewhere. But to Vattler, the rainbow-haired girl was apparently someone worthy of great respect.

  Yes, he had definitely said that Kojou and the girl were primogenitors, plural—

  “It is you, is it not?” Vattler inquired. “She is the ruler of the Chaos Zone in Central America, served by twenty-seven Beast Vassals, the formless Third Primogenitor of a thousand guises…the Chaos Bride.”

  Instead of denying Vattler’s deduction, the girl laughed teasingly.

  “I do not like being addressed by such a bombastic name. You may call me Giada.”

  At some point, the girl’s hair color had changed, from a blond that reflected the colors of the rainbow to a lustrous, emerald green. The glow of her pale blue, flame-like eyes changed to the jade of a deep lake.

  Her outward appearance was still young, but the fleeting, fairy-like beauty had vanished. What emerged in its place was a powerful but lovely beauty reminiscent of a wild leopard. She looked like a completely different person than she had a few short moments before. This was no doubt her original appearance—the true form of the Chaos Bride, the Third Primogenitor.

  “Impersonation…?” Kojou asked. “A transformation ability? You used that power to turn into Avrora?”

  “I apologize for my impoliteness, Kojou Akatsuki. It was not my intention to mock you,” Giada replied quietly. The girl’s jade eyes looked straight at Kojou, as if probing deeper into him. She continued. “But I thought this would be the easiest way to make you serious.”

  Kojou’s voice shook with quiet anger.

  “…Yeah, I suppose so… Thanks to that, I remember. Everything—all of it.”

  He didn’t direct his anger at Giada; he was indignant at his past self and enraged at himself for forgetting all about that incident—Nagisa and the girl sleeping in the block of ice. His battle with the girl taking Avrora’s form had dredged up his memories from where they had sunk into the sea of oblivion, along with the anger and despair frozen with them.

  “Is that so? Then my role ends here.”

  Then a cruel glint appeared in her eyes as she glared at the half-destroyed medical wing building.

  “However, I believe the humans of MAR should pay an appropriate price for toying with the remains of poor little Avrora—”

  Kojou’s eyes were filled with silent rage as they shifted toward Giada. “Stop.”

  Their gazes crossed like clashing blades.

  “You’re not involved, so hands off. This is my fight,” he said.

  Giada nodded in satisfaction.

  “…A strong spirit. So this is why Vattler has taken a liking to you. Very amusing. Then I shall leave this in your hands, Kojou Akatsuki. Sooner or later, my Chaos Zone shall paint it with blood. You should reclaim that which you have lost before this comes to pass.”

  The girl became insubstantial, seeming to dissolve into thin air and vanish. She’d no doubt used the power of the same Beast Vassal that had shut Vattler in a space in another dimension.

  The vanishing of her presence made the air around them feel lighter somehow. The Chaos Bride possessed a sense of overwhelming might far beyond Kojou’s expectations.

  Vattler shot Kojou a sympathetic glance.

  “A frightening old crone as always, yes? You’ve gone through quite an ordeal, Kojou.”

  The words seemed like a joke, but Kojou sensed it was mixed with an echo like a smoldering flame. Vattler, a cannibal combat maniac, no doubt saw Giada as one of the enemies he would eventually consume. And Giada, fully aware of Vattler’s schemes, had let him go. Perhaps both of their abominable demonic instincts craved ever more powerful foes.

  Kojou’s face scowled in annoyance.

  “You’re not one to talk here, geez.” Then he added with an extremely grudging tone, “…But you saved my bacon back there, so thanks.”

  Hearing Kojou’s words of admiration, Vattler murmured, “Hmm?” with a small smile. It was a wry one that seemed to say, Ah, you noticed?

  At the end of her battle with Kojou, Giada had said she was out of time. By that, she probably meant Vattler’s return from other-dimensional space. If Vattler and Kojou fought her at the same time, even the Third Primogenitor might get the short end of the stick. That was why she was compelled to give up fighting with Kojou at that point.

  If combat had continued at that rate, even if Kojou did manage to survive, the damage would have been far more extensive. Consequently, Vattler had saved Kojou and Itogami Island both.

  The Duke of Ardeal opened his arms wide as an invitation and said dramatically, “Ha-ha, how reserved you are, Kojou, my beloved Fourth Primogenitor!”

  Instinctively sensing danger, Kojou unwittingly retreated a step.

  “Kojou!”

  A third party interrupted Kojou and Vattler’s fight, changing the looks on their faces. The girl had extravagant hair, wore a Saikai Academy school uniform, and was using her favorite notebook as a shield to check Vattler’s advance.

  “A-Asagi…?”

  “I knew it! The two of you really are…!”

  “Eh?!” The gaze Asagi directed at Kojou, as if she had witnessed something highly impure, prompted a vehement, shrill reply. “Y-you’re wrong. This guy’s sayin’ that stuff all on his own—”

  “Is that so?!”

  Asagi glared at him, clearly with her guard up. Thanks to having hidden so many things from her, Kojou had completely lost her trust. Clearing up this misunderstanding would be no easy task.

  Vattler seemed fairly bemused as he looked at the interaction between Kojou and Asagi.

  “I’m really sorry, Kojou. I would like to speak words of love in leisure, but I am concerned for my subordinates. I shall leave the cleanup in your hands.”

  “Eh?!”

  Vattler’s unhesitating words made Kojou even more nervous.

  A large Island Guard force would soon be pouring in. The MAR facility was in ruins. There were numerous wounded. The damage to the facility wouldn’t be a mere one or two hundred million yen. And Giada, the culprit, had long fled. Was he telling Kojou to take responsibility in her place…?

  “The Priestess of Cain… Lovely. This should be fun. It is time you prepared yourself for the inevitable.”

  With that, he transformed into mist and vanished.

  Kojou, left behind and drenched in despair, looked up at the needlessly clear, blue sky. Next to him, Yukina got his attention.

&nb
sp; “Senpai, that girl…?”

  Yukina was staring at the girl lying in the giant block of ice in the medical wing’s underground facility.

  With a broken voice, Kojou spoke the name he had once forgotten.

  “…That’s the real Avrora, the twelfth Kaleid Blood.”

  Asagi drew close to Kojou and gently tugged at his sleeve.

  “Is she sleeping?”

  “Nah.” He shook his head.

  Inside the eternally frozen block of ice, the girl’s eyes were closed.

  Her hair was all the colors of the rainbow, billowing like flames. She had fleeting, fairy-like beauty. Once, those very lips had smiled when they spoke Kojou’s name.

  But she would never open her eyes again.

  “She’s already dead.”

  A silver light glowed in the chest of the girl in the ice. It came from a small, metallic stake, apparently impaling her heart.

  Painfully, Kojou lowered his eyes and murmured…

  “I killed her with my own hands—”

  CHAPTER THREE

  THE JESTER REMINISCES

  1

  Motoki Yaze was twelve the first time he visited Keystone Gate. It was a springtime day just before he enrolled in middle school.

  The Demon Sanctuary of Itogami City was formally a part of the Tokyo Metropolis, but the Gigafloat Management Corporation ran the special administrative district. The Yaze family currently headed it, and Akishige Yaze, who happened to be his father, was the corporation’s chairman. He had been called in personally in his father’s name.

  He passed through multi-layered security checks before arriving at the corporate offices, only to be greeted by an unexpected individual—Kazuma Yaze, his half brother who was more than ten years his senior. Kazuma was an elite with a master’s degree from a North American Union university, and presently was employed as something resembling Akishige’s personal secretary, working in research conducted in total secrecy at a university inside Itogami City. Both his ability and his exploits marked him as Akishige’s likely successor.

  Sitting in the middle of a ridiculously large room, Yaze carelessly echoed back to Kazuma, “—Kojou Akatsuki? Who’s that?”