CHAPTER ONE

AN AWFUL MORNING

1

A quiet predawn breeze blew across the reflective surface of the sea.

Against the background of the faint white glow of the water’s horizon hovered the mirage-like shadow of a city.

This place was called Itogami Island. It was an artificial isle constructed from carbon fiber, resin, metallic alloys, and sorcery, floating on the Pacific Ocean.

A single demon beast spread its enormous wings, gliding atop the air currents as it approached the heavily mechanized city. It was a dragon covered in metallic scales.

“—Reverberate.”

A Shamanic War Dancer of the Lion King Agency riding atop the creature’s back—Shio Hikawa—chanted the incantation with a solemn tone of voice.

Drawing spell tablets from her breast pocket, she transformed them into seabirds one after another, whereupon they took flight.

These were simplified shikigami possessing no combat capabilities. Their uptime was also short, but it was plenty for reconnaissance purposes.

The materials she’d used to craft the spell tablets by hand weren’t proper gear from the Lion King Agency but instead store-bought ink and paper. That was why the seabirds’ silhouettes somehow looked like scribbles. Shio had a hard time with making spell tablets—or rather, with aesthetics in general.

Nevertheless, they faithfully obeyed Shio’s commands and approached Itogami Island.

Through borrowing her familiars’ vision, she would be able to ascertain the state of the island. That was her objective.

She would have loved to locate Kojou Akatsuki’s whereabouts, then set off to rendezvous with him as soon as possible, but—

The instant that desire crept into her thoughts, pain resembling static electricity grated against her nerves.

The shikigami she’d sent out had come under attack. Since Shio was the caster, the impact of the blow had transferred to her.

After the first one fell apart, it was all downhill from there. In less than thirty seconds, every last one of the twenty shikigami under her control were shot down and annihilated.

“Shio…?!” asked Yuiri Haba, looking back to see Shio staggering and moaning in pain.

Yuiri was cute but earnest-looking and an excellent Sword Shaman to boot; Shio was proud to have her as a partner. To reassure her gentle-hearted best friend, Shio forced herself to smile back.

“I’m just a little numb. No problem…but this is a bind. Itogami Island’s airspace is filled with sorcerers’ familiars. Slipping shikigami past them without getting spotted might not be possible.”

“That figures, with the Dominion armies coming and all.”

Mindful of the sea breeze putting her forelocks askew, Yuiri glared at Itogami Island as it floated on the sea.

Yeah, Shio nodded. Then she shifted her eyes toward the final passenger.

Supported in Yuiri’s embrace while straddling the dragon’s back was a small, blond, blue-eyed girl.

Actually, it would be closer to the truth to say she wasn’t straddling so much as desperately clinging to the dragon to avoid being thrown off.

The girl was wearing a baggy, hooded coat. For some reason, she had a Saikai Academy uniform on underneath it.

Seeing her body shrunken in fear like that, no one would think her the World’s Mightiest Vampire—or at least a single portion of him.

Shio and Yuiri, her escorts, felt like they could scarcely believe it themselves.

“Avrora, are you all right?”

“Uu,” went the girl, trembling slightly as Yuiri swiftly stroked her back.

“Th-this chaotic…shaking is…”

The girl wove her words with a pained, broken voice.

Looking back, Yuiri saw that her face was pale, and her blue eyes seemed lost and adrift. The rumbling of the dragon’s back must have made her dizzy and queasy. In other words, she was car—dragon-sick.

“Just hang in there a little longer. How about you try loosening your skirt? And try to look as far into the distance as you can.”

“…Under…stood…”

Raising a voice so frail it threatened to vanish that very moment, the girl drooped, slouching her shoulders.

Since she was seated in front of everyone else, she would most certainly take down everyone with her if she vomited. For that reason, Yuiri nursed the girl with a look of deadly seriousness. Somehow, the dragon the girls were riding—Glenda—seemed a bit concerned.

“The last Kaleid Blood…huh?”

Gazing at the limp, dragon-sick girl with conflicting feelings, Shio unwittingly mumbled this to herself.

This was Avrora Florestina—the twelfth Kaleid Blood.

Such was the name granted to her. A Beast Vassal of the Fourth Primogenitor, part of the World’s Mightiest Vampire, was sealed inside her body.

Shio and the others were heading to Itogami Island, which had transformed into a perilous battlefield, to link up Avrora with Kojou Akatsuki wherever he might be.

However, Shio quickly began to regret having accepted the role.

It wasn’t because she was unreliable. Of course, that wasn’t to say she lacked uncertainty altogether, but if anything, what Shio felt was a vague sense of fear.

No one knew what would happen when the awakened Avrora came into contact with Kojou Akatsuki. Perhaps her existence might be the trigger for some kind of irrevocable calamity.

On top of that, conditions on Itogami Island were far from normal. It was at the height of the Electoral War—and now that all the primogenitors were gathered, it had turned into an extremely dangerous zone, a veritable powder keg.

The prospect of tossing the last Kaleid Blood into that mess made her wonder if she was tossing a defenseless little fish into a tank full of hungry sharks.

A tiny fish that just might be carrying enough poison to contaminate that entire region of the ocean.

“Say, Yuiri. I wonder, is it really all right to bring this girl and Kojou Akatsuki together?”

Lowering her voice so that Avrora wouldn’t overhear, Shio whispered into Yuiri’s ear.

Yuiri nodded solemnly, as if to say, I was concerned about the very same thing.

“Yeah, it’s kinda worrying… Avrora is really cute and all.”

“Cu…te?”

The unexpected praise from her best friend struck Shio by surprise, causing her to let out her voice like a complete idiot.

For her part, Yuiri’s eyes seemed to glimmer with delight for some reason.

“I’ve always found it strange, you know. I was like, why haven’t Kojou and Yukii hooked up?”

“Hooked up? Yukina Himeragi is Kojou Akatsuki’s watcher, you know? Fraternization… Wouldn’t that be…indiscreet?”

“What are you talking about, Shio? Duty is duty, and romance is romance. I mean hooking up with someone would be hugely advantageous for observing him!”

“Er, something like that isn’t an issue of advantage or disadvantage.”

“I mean, think about it. This is Yukii. He enjoys the company of that adorable creature twenty-four hours a day. It would be impossible to NOT fall in love, right? No way could I hold out if it were me. I’d be proposing to her and scheduling a marriage venue on day one.”

“…You’re turning into Kirasaka, Yuiri.”

Shio sighed, chiding her best friend as the latter breathed raggedly.

“Himeragi is certainly pretty, but the two not dating shouldn’t be any surprise. She has a right to choose her significant other herself, and there might be other people Kojou Akatsuki likes as well—”

“Yes! That’s it, Shio!”

Yuiri seemed worked up as she shouted, thrusting a pointing finger straight at her friend’s nose.

“Eh?”

“I mean the part about Kojou liking other girls.”

Yuiri drew her face close to Shio’s, conveying this in a tiny voice. Glancing to the side, she fixated the tip of her gaze on Avrora’s curled back.

“…You’re not saying she’s the one Kojou Akatsuki is in love with?”

“The odds are pretty high, right?”

“I mean, well…they were close enough she passed on the abilities of the Fourth Primogenitor to him…”

Shio folded her arms, staring at Avrora.

To the average person, this prone blond girl suffering from motion sickness would seem beautiful and utterly harmless.

According to the Lion King Agency’s files, Kojou Akatsuki had apparently spent roughly half a year with her from autumn of his third year in middle school onward.

Shio and Yuiri didn’t know about the pair’s relationship during that time. But if one went by Yuiri’s prior line, Shio found it unnatural for Kojou Akatsuki to spend half a year with an adorable creature such as this and not fall in love for her.

At the very least, there was no mistaking that Avrora was extremely partial to him. Otherwise, there was no way he would have become the Fourth Primogenitor.

“This really is bad, huh…”

Yuiri murmured this in an atypically serious tone.

“Hm? What is?”

Shio prompted back with a questioning look. Avrora and Kojou Akatsuki having a good relationship was hardly a bad thing for them. With Itogami Island currently under the Order of the End’s occupation, they should have welcomed the opportunity for less fuss and muss with open arms.

However, Yuiri seemed even more distressed as she lowered her eyes.

“I mean, if Kojou and Avrora become an item, won’t that break Yukii’s heart?”

“B-break her heart? But we don’t know for sure that Himeragi likes Kojou Akatsuki yet, right?”

Shio’s shaken voice went shrill as she made that rational assertion. Yuiri shook her head, exasperated.

“What are you talking about, Shio? It couldn’t be more obvious.”

“Is—is that so?”

“There’s no doubt whatsoever. You can’t fool a Sword Shaman’s intuition.”

“R-right…”

Somehow, the other woman’s conviction clicked with Shio.

Then Yuiri made a tiny sigh.

“Think about it. Think how Yukii would feel, having to watch Kojou once he and Avrora are joined as a happy couple.”

“Th-that certainly does seem cruel…”

Shio pressed a hand to her chest as a terribly painful feeling came over her.

She could picture Yukina staring at Avrora and Kojou Akatsuki with melancholy eyes once they’d become a couple. In that mental image, she seemed less watcher and more…stalker.

“On top of that, since we’re the ones bringing Avrora to Itogami Island, she might think we’re directly responsible for that…!”

“Ghh…”

Writhing as Yuiri’s words tossed her an anchor, Shio somehow managed to put her feelings in order.

“Th-that doesn’t mean we can’t just stop and not make her meet Kojou Akatsuki! Relying on him is the only way to put an end to this Electoral War mess…!”

“Uuu…you might be right… The Blood is bad enough as it is, and now we have all the primogenitors gathered here, too. I don’t know what to do anymore…”

At a loss, Yuiri shifted her face toward the heavens.

On top of the Order of the End, commanded by The Blood, Itogami Island was also under occupation by the primogenitors forming the three pillars of Demonkind and their respective military forces. As things stood now, it would be impossible for the Lion King Agency to produce a breakthrough in this situation, even if they invested all their combat capabilities into trying.

No matter the danger, and no matter the unhappiness visited upon Yukina Himeragi, they had no choice but to depend on the power of the Fourth Primogenitor.

As Shio muttered this to herself, Glenda’s huge body suddenly trembled with fright. At some point, they’d arrived at a spot from which they could make out Itogami Island’s buildings with their naked eyes.

Despite the fact it was prior to dawn, birds were dancing in the sky above the island.

To be exact, they were things that merely resembled birds.

Some were flying demon beasts that should not have existed in Japan. Others were airborne creatures produced from magic spells. They comprised a horde of familiars belonging to sorcerers fighting in the Electoral War. These were what had shot down Shio’s shikigami.

“Glenda, lower your altitude! Take the indirect path through the New Itogami Island ruins to hide your route!”

“Dah—!”

Yuiri swiftly issued commands. The dragon sent a short roar back in a high-pitched voice that clashed with its huge, steel-colored body.

During that time, Shio drew out new spell tablets, chanting multiple invocations at once.

The six spell tablets changed into six seabirds that soared upward, surrounding Glenda in the process.

Each of the seabirds held a tiny crystal fragment in its beak. Using those crystals as catalysts, Shio deployed a barrier. She was performing a ritual that fused flying shikigami with a moving obstruction. Although this high-level spell was virtually unprecedented, using multiple rituals in parallel was Shio’s personal specialty.

“This is stealth-type ritual camouflage…?”

Yuiri let out a gasp of admiration as she gazed at the seabird familiars soaring around them.

The barrier Shio had deployed obstructed people’s visual recognition. It would allow them to conceal Glenda’s form on her approach to Itogami Island. Shamanic War Dancers had developed it for the Lion King Agency to use during assassination missions.

“Yeah. But even if it blocks people’s vision, it won’t have any effect on familiars or cameras on drones. We have to rely on your eyes for those, Yuiri.”

“Got it. Leave it to me.”

With a firm nod, Yuiri drew out a spell tablet of her own. As a Sword Shaman of the Lion King Agency, she possessed the Spirit Sight, an ability that let her peer into the immediate future. With this, she could shoot down the drones before being spotted, allowing Glenda to slip through the surveillance net in the sky above Itogami Island. This was the operation Yuiri and Shio had thought up for infiltrating Itogami Island. It was a rash plan with many uncertainties, but this was the only way they could arrive on Itogami Island without Avrora’s presence being detected.

“Let’s go, Glenda…quietly, ’kay?”

Yuiri called out to the dragon with a tense tenor to her voice.

“Dah,” went Glenda’s brief reply as she slowly turned about.

They were several kilometers away from Itogami Island proper. The warehouse district on the coast was clearly visible, even to the naked eye.

But the familiars flying overhead were increasing in number as well.

Shio focused on maintaining the ritual spell camouflage, while Yuiri squinted toward thin air. Perhaps their tension was transferring to their companion, for Avrora’s body clenched and stiffened as well.

Glenda, however, somehow seemed to be enjoying herself as she swayed her enormous body and skimmed the water’s surface. Maybe she thought of the situation like playing hide-and-seek out on a picnic.

“Incoming…!”

Noticing a horde of familiars approaching, Shio put more strength into her fingers to keep the ritual barrier held together.

The demon beasts resembled huge eagles and owls and had wingspans between two and three meters. Their sharp talons and horns indicated that they could fight just as well as they could soar through the skies. They were probably familiars of well-known sorcerers.

The familiars went right past Glenda’s huge frame as the trio slipped by.

For an instant, Shio was too tense to breathe—

Ultimately, however, the demon beasts never noticed the dragon’s presence thanks to the ritual camouflage.

In subsequent encounters, other creatures passed over Shio and the others without noticing them. Their success wasn’t solely on Shio’s barrier. It was Glenda’s ability to fly through the sky without scattering heat, demonic energy, or a single sound around her that also made pulling the wool over their eyes possible.

“Those emblems… They’re from the Fallen Dynasty Sorcery Corps…!”

By observing the forms of the familiars zooming by, Shio had deduced their master’s identity.

A creepy symbol was engraved on each demonic beast’s collar: six eyes placed in circular patterns. Apparently, this was the unit insignia of the Sorcery Corps under the direct command of Fallgazer, the Second Primogenitor.

It was obvious that the place they’d chosen as their landing point was under the Fallen Dynasty’s rule.

While they wouldn’t have been able to survey the area via shikigami beforehand, this was the absolute worst scenario they could have stumbled into. Even among the three Dominions, the Fallen Dynasty was the nation most shrouded in mystery, and the Japanese government had virtually no interaction with it. Aside from the Second Primogenitor being someone with a moody personality, Shio and Yuiri completely lacked any knowledge of it.

They didn’t have a clue how anyone would negotiate their release if the Second Primogenitor captured them.

“Minus ten seconds! UAV two kilometers in front!”

Yuiri’s sharp cry disrupted Shio’s distressed hypothetical. There was nothing in the airspace before their eyes. However, Yuiri had made out an unmanned aerial vehicle that would appear there ten seconds hence with her Spirit Sight.

“Got it. Let’s get a little dramatic!”

Shio drew a silver recurve bow from the instrument case on her back. Nocking a ritual arrow into place, she pulled the drawstring.

“—Let there…be light!”

The ritual arrow that Shio loosed composed a giant magic circle in the middle of the sky. It instantly unleashed incredible, thunderbolt-like rays of light. A dazzling orb suddenly appeared in midair, then enveloped the UAV that came flying in, jamming its internal electronic devices. As the magical energy flew apart with a roar, it snagged the attention of all the familiars on patrol nearby.

Using that opening, Glenda busted through the surveillance net, penetrating Itogami Island’s airspace in an instant.

“We slipped through!”

Confirming that things were clear as far as she could see, Shio let out a sigh of relief.

Looking down, she noticed Island North’s warehouse district drawing closer. If they could slip into the shadows of the buildings, they wouldn’t need to worry about the familiars’ surveillance anymore.

“I’m so glad—…good work, Glenda!”

As if to reward the steel-colored dragon, Yuiri gave her a stroke on the neck.

However, the beast made no reply. Instead, she folded her enormous wings and suddenly accelerated. Shaken by the unexpected plummet, Avrora shrieked with a “Hii!”

“G-Glenda… What’s wrong, Glenda?!” asked Yuiri in bewilderment, on the verge of falling off.

The next moment, a shroud fell over their vision.

“Wha…?!”

As Glenda glided through the sky, a huge silhouette danced above Shio and the others’ heads, practically on top of them.

It was a fantastically shaped bird.

The creature’s enormous body rivaled that of a dragon. It had the efficient wings characteristic of birds of prey and a spectacular tail resembling that of a peacock. But its ferocious, bestial hind legs were more like a lion’s, and its head resembled a fearsome canine.

“The Simurgh?! What’s such an impossibly rare divine bird doing in a place like this?!”

Shio’s voice quivered with shock.

The Simurgh was a legendary demon beast said to dwell in the Spirit Mountains of the Middle East. It was the king of all avian creatures, possessing great intelligence and an immortal body; apparently, almost no one had ever caught a glimpse of it.

An unfamiliar figure was on the back of that proud, immortal divine bird.

They were small, poorly matched to the demon beast they rode as a mount.

By appearance, the figure looked in their teens at most—virtually no different from Shio or Yuiri.

In spite of this, they exuded an overwhelming sense of presence.

The figure wore a magnificent dress of crimson and gold. She had long violet hair tied in pigtails, with a refined visage and fair skin.

Her blood-colored eyes narrowed with delight as she smiled.

It was a smile filled with bloodlust and joy, so disturbing that none seeing it could fail to be aghast.

2

“First, for slipping past my Sorcery Corps, allow me to praise…you.”

With a laugh and a lighthearted tone of voice, the girl on the back of the divine bird spoke.

Mysteriously, even though Shio and the others were flying at high speed, they could hear her voice with perfect clarity.

But it was her statement that shook Shio far more than that. She had identified the Sorcery Corps of the Fallen Dynasty as hers.

“A metallic dragon, plus Attack Mage girls… A rather amusing combin…ation. Most interest…ing.”

She raised her right hand aloft as she praised them with an innocent smile on her lips.

The next instant, a crimson mist enveloped her entire body—a miasma of fresh blood imbued with dense demonic energy.

The spreading blood mist distorted in thin air and filled their vision, then took on the form of countless beasts. These masses of demonic energy were so dense as to possess sentience—a vampire’s Beast Vassals.

“Beast Vassals?!”

“She summoned that many all by herself…?!”

Yuiri and Shio exclaimed this simultaneously.

The Beast Vassals resembled prehistoric winged dinosaurs. Their numbers cleared a hundred with ease. Compared to Glenda in her dragon form, their frames felt on the small side, but since they were collections of demonic energy, size didn’t correlate at all with their combat prowess. Besides, there were simply too many of them. There was no need to even try to calculate the difference in combat strength. It was clear at a glance they had no chance of winning in a straight-up fight.

“Avrora, hold on tight!”

“I-indeed…!”

Taking heed of Yuiri’s warning, Avrora desperately clung to Glenda’s back.

At almost the exact same moment, the dragon engaged in highly acrobatic evasive maneuvers.

At this juncture, their precious ritual spell camouflage was worthless. Shio released the barrier, using its spiritual energy to scatter as many shikigami as she could create instead. As far as she was concerned, no matter how little they helped, the more chaff thrown up against the demon beasts, the better.

“Rosen Chevalier Plus, Boot Up—!”

Drawing her beloved sword from her back, Yuiri turned toward the direction of Glenda’s advance and swung her blade downward.

Rosen Chevalier Plus, which used ritual magic to rend space itself, was one of the few divine armaments effective against vampiric Beast Vassals. She shot down one of the winged dinosaurs circling in front, which allowed Glenda to break through the encirclement by force.

“Hurry, Glenda!”

“Dah!!”

Not even waiting for Shio to speak, the dragon earnestly flapped her wings to shake off the demon beasts’ pursuit. Since they weren’t bound by the laws of physics, however, the Beast Vassals’ speed proved overwhelmingly superior. They surrounded Shio and the others more and more, barring their escape route.

At this rate, it would be only a matter of time until they were captured—the instant Shio thought that, Glenda roared.

“Wh-what the…?!”

“Glenda?!”

She let out a cry that sounded like a girl’s shriek, sending Shio and Yuiri into confusion. Up to that point, she’d never screamed that way while in dragon form.

But she hadn’t just let loose a shout. In response to the dragon’s roar, space shimmered, then a steely shadow spread forth from out of nowhere.

Pouring out of that shadow was a new horde of demon beasts.

They were grotesque monsters with heads resembling those of hornets and bodies like serpents, plus wyvern-like wings. They belonged to a new genus of demon beast whose existence had yet to be announced to the world—but Shio and Yuiri knew their names.

After all, they had encountered identical demon beasts once before.

“H-houda?!”

“Don’t tell me, she summoned them from Nod…?!”

Yuiri and Shio were beside themselves as they gazed at the horde of creatures that had suddenly manifested.

At the bottom of Kannawa Lake in Tangiwa, these demon beasts from Nod had protected the sealed Glenda—and now the dragon had summoned a fresh horde of them after falling into peril.

Shio and Yuiri hadn’t noticed until this very moment that their mount possessed this ability. In fact, it was highly probable that Glenda herself hadn’t known.

Although her letting them loose wasn’t a cause for celebration, there was no doubt whatsoever the emergence of the houda at that very moment had saved the trio.

While the demon beasts fought the houda, Glenda was approaching Itogami Island’s urban areas. If she could hide in the shadows of the buildings, even Beast Vassals would have a hard time keeping up with her. If the girl launched indiscriminate attacks enveloping urban areas that might be another story, but short of that, this had to be their chance to escape.

“Shio! That bridge!”

“I get it…! Glenda, please!”

When Yuiri pointed at a bridge spanning the canal inside Itogami City, it was all Shio needed to know exactly what she was planning.

To shake off the demon beasts pursuing them, the steel-colored dragon dived as far as the surface of the canal all at once. Kicking up water spray in place of a smoke screen, she crept under the huge bridge.

“Glenda! Revert!”

“Daaaaaaahh!”

The instant she hid under the main girder, Yuiri gave the signal for Glenda to release her dragon form.

Her wings vanished into thin air, and her tail was enveloped by a silver twinkle as it, too, faded away. Then her huge body precipitously shrank and transformed into the figure of a naked girl. Of course, this meant everyone riding tilted forward as they were cast into the air. It was like going from a drop to an almost dead stop before switching to a rise, but the blow was pronounced nonetheless. They lost their breaths from the drop and the sudden deceleration.

“Hold on, Avrora Florestina!”

Using physical enchantment to boost her strength to its limit, Shio supported Avrora as the latter almost went flying. In turn, Yuiri wrapped Glenda in an identical embrace, before making a heavy landing atop the foot of the bridge.

“Urk…let there be shadow—!”

Although her bones and tendons rippled with unpleasant sounds, Shio ignored them as she instantly began unleashing spell tablets. Pouring the scant remainder of her spiritual energy into it, she created a large shikigami.

This familiar adopted the form of a mock dragon like Glenda, then flew out from under the bridge in Shio’s and the others’ stead. Acting as a decoy to draw away the other demonic beasts, it proceeded to fly over the ocean.

“Are you hurt, Avrora…?”

Letting out short, ragged breaths, Shio asked that of the blond-haired vampire in her arms.

“N…no tortuous fall from heaven may harm mine flesh…”

Avrora coughed weakly as she replied, her almost-inaudible tone contrasting with her elaborate vocabulary. As demons went, vampires were far from the stoutest. And since she hadn’t received training of any kind, the reckless, abrupt deceleration she’d just spoken of must have been a considerable burden.

“I’m glad. Glenda’s all right, too, huh.”

Confirming that the demon beasts had passed them by, Yuiri let out a sigh of relief.

She was grimacing ever so slightly from dropping on a maintenance landing under the bridge. Her leg hurt from when she’d cushioned Glenda upon impact.

“Yuiri, your leg…”

Realizing that her friend was dragging her right leg, a look of worry came over Glenda.

Yuiri put her own school blazer over Glenda while giving her a strong smile.

“I’m all right; it’s just a minor twist. More importantly, we have to get out of here fast.”

“Yeah…but it doesn’t seem like they’ll let us go that easily.”

Shio bit her lip as she looked behind them.

Mixed in with the sound of the wind blowing under the bridge was a faint flapping of wings and a jeering voice.

“You will not get…away.”

The voice of the girl in the red dress made Shio and Yuiri reflexively draw their weapons.

Dancing from the skies above, the Simurgh elegantly came to a quiet stop, hovering above the canal water’s surface.

The figure sitting sideways atop its back broke into a bewitching grin. Though the decoy shikigami had fooled the demon beasts, apparently their master wasn’t so easily fooled.

“Dragon of the Swamp, familiar of Cain the Sinful God, to think we would meet in such a…place.”

The girl in the red dress stared at Glenda, the corners of her shapely lips rising like those of a cat.

The former dragon’s silvery hair seemed to stand on end as she glared at the girl to intimidate her. But it was readily apparent that this was nothing more than a hollow threat.

“I guess the houda from earlier made her take interest in Glenda, huh?”

“We’re lucky she didn’t notice Avrora instead.”

Yuiri replied to Shio’s murmur with a tiny voice.

I wonder, went Shio as she twisted her lips. Certainly, the girl in the red dress had yet to notice Avrora’s presence. But if she captured Shio and the others here, it amounted to the same thing. It was only a matter of time before her identity would be exposed.

However, Yuiri was thinking along different lines than Shio.

“Sorry, Shio. Glenda and I will be decoys and buy time. While we’re doing that, take Avrora and run.”

“Yuiri?!”

Shio looked at the face of her best friend in surprise.

“No! There’s no way I can let you…!”

“You mustn’t forget our objective. It’s to take her to Kojou, right?”

“Ghh…”

Yuiri’s calm assertion left Shio’s words caught in her throat.

Let everyone get captured right then and there or have only Shio and Avrora escape—there was really only a single option. To allow Avrora to escape safely, the moment when the girl in the red dress’s focus was trained upon Glenda was their sole opportunity.

“Are you done…conversing? Do make this…entertaining.”

The girl in the red dress mischievously inquired, as though mocking Shio’s melancholy.

Spreading both arms wide, a mist of fresh blood enveloped the girl once more. The miasma then transformed into new Beast Vassals, which dropped to the ground and surrounded Shio and company.

Shio wondered if it was right to compare them to birds walking on two legs. It would probably be more accurate to say they resembled deinonychus or the velociraptor.

Each Beast Vassals’ body length was under three meters. However, they were easily more than two hundred strong in number.

“Don’t tell me… Are these all her Beast Vassals…?!”

Shio felt dizzy from sheer despair.

Vampires weren’t limited to one Beast Vassal a person. The Fourth Primogenitor had twelve Beast Vassals. It was said that Ki Juranbarada, the First Primogenitor, was served by no less than seventy-two.

But the amount of Beast Vassals that the girl had summoned before their eyes was literally on another level.

This was different than a single Beast Vassal divided into pieces, like Velesh Aradahl’s Ghoula.

No, this was a horde of Beast Vassals in the hundreds, and each member possessed its own complete sentience so they could hunt based on individual judgment. And this girl was able to summon and freely control them all by herself.

The vast, off-the-charts amount of demonic energy she exuded made her identity crystal clear.

This was Fallgazer—

Aswadguhl Aziz, the Second Primogenitor, ruler of the Dominion known as the Fallen Dynasty.

“Don’t, Yuiri…! She’s—no, that lord is—”

“Go, Shio! Quickly!”

Shielding Glenda behind her back, Yuiri hurled a silver spell tablet and turned it into a shikigami. As the familiar took the form of a wolf, the bewildered Shio and Avrora mounted its back and set off running.

She’d turned her blade against the Beast Vassals of a vampire primogenitor—of course, Yuiri had to have understood the implications of that. Even so, the two girls had remained behind so that Shio and Avrora might escape.

“Dah!!”

Glenda transformed into a dragon once more to hold the horde of Beast Vassals in check. Perhaps she was trying to summon another mob of houda. Cloaked in the shadow of the enormous dragon, the silver shikigami Shio and Avrora rode sprinted off, climbing over the embankment to slip into the warehouse district along the coastline.

A large explosion echoed. Shio no longer had any idea what was happening behind them.

“Shio Hikawa…I…”

Head beneath a hood, the vampire girl swayed on the shikigami’s back as she raised a quiet voice. She probably felt responsible for leaving Yuiri and Glenda behind as they fled.

“It’s fine, Avrora.”

Still tightly clenching a fist, Shio put her other hand on the girl’s shoulder.

“It’s Yuiri. She’ll be all right… She’ll be all right.”

Murmuring these words as if trying to convince herself of that, Shio steered the familiar Yuiri had entrusted to her as they continued to escape.

A cold, hazy morning’s mist enveloped the girls in white.

3

The lightening sky poked through the gaps of the shut curtains.

It was a small classroom in a section of Saikai Academy, a clubroom for the Demon Sanctuary Research Club, or Dem-Club for short.

Roused from her nap, Asagi Aiba, wearing a gym suit in place of a nightgown, sipped on some banana juice and watched the video feeds on PC monitors that filled up an entire wall.

The screens were displaying a local Itogami Island comedian. The morning talk show they were on had changed its programming to do a special broadcast on the Electoral War.

“So let’s begin the show where you get your Itogami Island Electoral War news faster than anywhere else, Electoral War Digest— Yes, today’s topic is none other than the vampire primogenitors and rulers of the Dominions joining the fray. And what a surprise that is.”

After the comedian babbling in a needlessly high-energy voice passed off the topic, a university professor taking the role of commentator started speaking.

“I suppose you’re correct. Five months ago, the Third Primogenitor met envoys from the CSA face-to-face, but the last time the First Primogenitor’s presence was confirmed was during the Fourth Dnieper Conflict some eight years ago. It’s actually been twenty-two years since the Second Primogenitor has been in foreign lands.”

“Can we take that to mean this Electoral War is just that important?”

“Yes. This is not an issue of a single Demon Sanctuary called Itogami Island, but rather it is likely the turning point that will determine the world’s power balance going forward.”

“Wow, that’s heavy. So this really is a conflict that the whole world is watching. Without further ado, I’d like to show you the ruler rankings. First, there’s been a major shake-up in grade C group two—”

Gazing at the music chart–style show as it introduced the various ruler candidates, Asagi sipped longingly at her now-empty juice box.

“…What’s he going on about? We’re the ones caught up in all this. Who cares about the rest of the world?”

“Keh-keh… Well, don’t say that, li’l miss. It’s really only the demons punching it out in the Electoral War, so to most of the regular subjects, it’s someone else’s problem.”

Hovering in a corner of each monitor was an avatar shaped like a badly sewn teddy bear, mouthing off to her with a rather sardonic tone. Asagi sullenly knit her brows.

“It’s not someone else’s problem at all, sheesh. Who knows when someone’ll be blown away by a stray bullet?”

“Flip that on its head, an’ it means stray bullets are the only thing they got to worry about. If you think of it as a slightly rambunctious festival, it’s hard for them to get worked up about it. Hell, if these people had nerves so sensitive that this much bothered ’em, I don’t think they’d be livin’ in a Demon Sanctuary to begin with.”

“Uu…well, that might be true but…”

Asagi vaguely beat around the bush.

Mogwai, the badly sewn teddy bear, had spoken the truth. Now on their fourth morning of the Electoral War, the trouble-accustomed residents of Itogami Island had begun quickly acclimating to the situation.

Enterprises and stores had closed for business without warning, but MAR had announced it would compensate them for profits lost during that time, along with insuring the full cost of any homes destroyed in the ensuing violence.

It was inconvenient not to be able to walk around at night, but on the flipside, the tangible damage didn’t extend much beyond that.

The Electoral War system had been set up so that the risk of harm to ordinary civilians without a will to fight was low. Since the residents inside each domain were the source of the ruler candidates’ power, courting their displeasure would result in the demonic energy provided by the demon registration bracelets to be cut off, which would put them at an immediate disadvantage.

On the other hand, even if an enemy force invaded your domain, so long as gaining new subjects was the objective, the interlopers could scarcely afford to harm the general populace. Thanks to the residents’ ability to freely alter their “recommended ruler,” they could not be suppressed through fear.

The ruler candidates were not in a contest for territory but for the support of the people living there—in other words, the Electoral War was a sort of popularity contest. Even the primogenitors, who possessed inexhaustible demonic energy to begin with, were superficially obeying the rules of the Electoral War, at least for the time being.

Understanding all of this, the residents had begun not merely quietly observing the Electoral War but seeing it as a game to be enjoyed to the fullest. The winner of the Electoral War became the subject of betting—and T-shirts, acrylic charms, and similar goods related to popular rulers had swiftly begun making the rounds in the marketplace.

And more than all of that, numerous sorcery-related corporations had pushed into the information-gathering field to obtain lucrative data from demons locked in mutual combat. That’s just how the Demon Sanctuary rolled.

“…So what’s the actual situation like right now?”

Asagi was crushing the tip of her straw between her teeth as she posed the question.

Mogwai gave an amused keh-keh laugh and switched one of the monitors to a map of Itogami Island’s urban landscape.

Divided into colorful regions, the map had undergone a great change since the day before.

“After all, we’ve got the vampire primogenitors throwing in. The small, weak domains below C rank have had their subjects completely overtaken, so they’re basically destroyed.”

“Ahh—…well, you’d figure that would happen.”

Asagi sighed slightly. With the Dominion military forces joining the fray, many ruler candidates must have lost their morale and given up without a fight. As a result, the Electoral War faction map had undergone a massive reorganization before even half a day had passed.

“Most of Island East’s main facilities have come under the occupation of the Fallen Dynasty’s airship unit. The Second Primogenitor’s domain has a tentative ruler ranking of eight. In combat strength alone, it’s clearly A-class, but the turf they have in the east doesn’t have the pure population numbers for that.”

“I don’t think they’re very worried about rankings, though. With primogenitor-class demonic energy, what they’d suck up from the subjects doesn’t even amount to a rounding error.”

“That’s how it is. Case in point, the First Primogenitor doesn’t even have his own domain.”

“He doesn’t have a domain?”

Mogwai’s unexpected report made Asagi gasp in disbelief.

“Yeah. The Tensou Academy Domain is treating the First Primogenitor and the Warlord’s Empire unit as guests.”

“Tensou Academy… You mean they’re freeloading off Yume?

“What in the world is he thinking?” Asagi muttered to herself. Certainly Yume Eguchi, who could control even Leviathan as the Witch of the Night, was powerful; in terms of pure combat ability, however, she was no match for a vampire primogenitor. The First Primogenitor, Ki Juranbarada, surely had no reason to rely on her.

Of course, getting the backing of the First Primogenitor wasn’t exactly a bad deal for Yume but—

“Thanks to that, the Tensou Academy Domain stands as the undisputed leader of the ruler rankings. At this rate, that li’l miss’ll be the next ruler of Itogami Island.”

“Not that I have a problem with that…”

Asagi let out a languid sigh as she spoke.

“And Kasugaya?”

“Our li’l ruler is a tentative fourth place. Part of that comes down to the depletion of combat power of domains in the upper ranks, but managing to repel that Chaos Zone invasion really does seem to have had an effect.”

Mogwai asserted this in a grandiose tone.

The prior evening, around the same time as the Order of the End’s attack, the Dominion under the Third Primogenitor’s command known as the Chaos Zone had declared it was interceding in the Electoral War, beginning its invasion with Island South. It then launched a surprise attack on Itogami Island’s coastline using large submersible aircraft carriers that had surfaced.

Since it was in Island South, Saikai Academy had been at risk. However, the Saikai Academy Domain had the good fortune of having Asagi Aiba, the Priestess of Cain, on campus grounds.

After obtaining permission from Shizuri, the ruler, Asagi had been able to employ a limited version of her Cleansing abilities.

Since Mogwai’s powers were split between her and performing calculations, she hadn’t been able to hope for The Cleansing to have anything like its real power, which could rival the primogenitors themselves. But even then, it was complete overkill for sending the Chaos Zone’s minions packing. Thanks to Rui Miyazumi, Yuno Amase, and Misaki Sasasaki’s efforts on top of that, they succeeded in driving the Chaos Zone out of Saikai Academy Domain. They’d managed to protect their own independence.

That being said, Asagi mused with a sigh.

“Even if we drove them back, that was only one unit, right? We don’t have any idea what’s coming next time. Plus, our ruler, Kasugaya, is still MIA, and who knows how long the Third Primogenitor is going to behave herself…”

“Ahhh, about that Third Primogenitor.”

Mogwai spoke in a nonchalant, gossipy tone of voice.

“You have something on her movements?”

Asagi gave the familiar avatar a nakedly wary glare. For some reason, Mogwai’s tone sounded almost giddy.

“Yeah. I’ve finally deduced her whereabouts.”

“Where is she?”

“Right outside. She’s at the Saikai Academy front gate.”

“Haah?!”

Bolting from her seat on reflex, she yanked open the window curtains.

Asagi saw the schoolyard illuminated by the light of dawn.

Standing out in the open in front of the firmly shut gates was a girl with light green hair.

Although the girl had bodyguards, they didn’t have even a single weapon on them. That’s because her attendants were a pair of leopards.

Noticing Asagi leaning out of the window, the girl—Giada Kukulkin—narrowed her jade eyes and made an oddly amiable wave.

“She told me, ‘Bring out your ruler. I have spare time, so I have come to play.’”

Mogwai delivered this report to Asagi, eager to see how she would react.

Asagi put a hand to her forehead, as though enduring a dizzy spell, and exhaled deeply.

4

The Chaos Zone was an enigmatic Dominion based chiefly in Central America.

The majority of the realm consisted of highlands that were more than ten thousand meters above sea level; it also included vast wastelands and tropical rain forests, plus treacherous mountain ranges that rebuffed invasion by external foes.

On the other hand, it was blessed with an abundance of subterranean resources such as precious metals and crude oil, plus sorcerous natural resources like dragon lines, both of which bolstered its military might. On top of that, the territory’s interior contained numerous ruins of the Devas, which had apparently enabled it to develop its own independent branches of magic.

Additionally, it had built up favorable relations with the various demon tribes native to the continent of South America, whose total military might was utterly unknown. They might have been inferior in breadth to the Warlord’s Empire or the Fallen Dynasty, but this was why it was widely feared as the Impregnable Dominion.

Its monarch’s name was Giada Kukulkin, the Third Primogenitor, otherwise known as the Chaos Bride—

For some reason, this same Giada had come to visit Saikai Academy at the crack of dawn and was now stuffing her cheeks with the cafeteria’s breakfast special.

“The dishes in this nation are delicious, but the quantity is slightly lacking.”

Nibbling at eggs on toast, which she’d folded in half, she gave the ketchup on her finger a little lick. For the monarch of a powerful Dominion, she was far more easygoing than you’d think.

“I think so as well, Chaos Bride—”

Sitting right in front of Giada, Asagi put on a strained smile in agreement. Saikai Academy’s campus cafeteria was proud of the cheapness and volume of its menu, but it was a little insufficient for a voracious eater like Asagi.

Fixing her gaze upon her host, the Third Primogenitor raised an eyebrow with deep interest.

“How unexpected. You look upon me yet are not surprised?”

“I have had a prior opportunity to look upon Your Ladyship.”

Asagi replied, choosing her words with great care.

Even though she was an unaging, undying primogenitor, Giada Kukulkin was quite young to the eye. On top of that, she was wearing a school uniform–style miniskirt and blazer. Thanks to her outfit, she didn’t look like anything more than a slightly flamboyant student from overseas at a distance. Surely it wasn’t strange to find that unexpected.

Still, Asagi had little idea what her actual age was.

Giada might have looked like an innocent girl, but she also came off as a mature, seductive woman.

Her long hair was as green as a polished gemstone, and her eyes shone with jade. She had a bestial beauty full of vitality. Asagi felt it was insolent to try and measure the age of a demonic queen by the same standards as human beings.

First and foremost, studying under Natsuki Minamiya had taught Asagi that people whose appearance differed from their chronological age were hardly rare on Itogami Island—that was her impression, at least.

As if reading what was on her mind, Giada made a wry, charming smile.

“I see. But I do not care for that bombastic alias. You, Priestess of Cain, may call me Giada.”

“You know about me…?”

The fact a vampire primogenitor had grasped the identity of a mere high school girl left Asagi a little shaken.

For her part, Giada seemed exasperated as she burst into a bit of laughter.

“As if I could forget the girl who picked a fight with the Holy Ground Treaty Organization head-on?”

“Ah…er, I’m kind of—sorry about things back then…”

“Why apologize? Those events were truly thrilling. You brought great merriment to me.”

“R-right…”

Asagi nodded vaguely, feeling a little awkward. That sure didn’t seem like a compliment to her.

The two women were sitting across from each other on the cafeteria’s broad, open terrace.

Civilians from the surrounding areas sheltering at Saikai Academy were peeking in on Asagi and Giada’s conversation from the cafeteria windows. Giada didn’t seem to particularly mind. Perhaps she was used to being showered with attention.

The only attendees present at the conversation were Giada’s two leopards, waiting on her right and left. She made a suggestive smile as she looked down at them.

“But to think that an institution of learning would prove to be your territory. No wonder my blood daughters were unable to fell this place. It would have been more amusing if Kojou Akatsuki had been here, though.”

“Er…um, Giada, why did you join the Electoral War now of all times…?”

Suspecting that the conversation was heading toward ominous places, Asagi hastily changed the subject.

During the war of the primogenitors roughly three months prior, it had been Giada herself who’d first recognized Itogami Island as the Fourth Primogenitor’s territory. She couldn’t help but think of the woman laying her hands on Itogami Island now as a kind of betrayal.

Giada, however, peered into Asagi’s eyes without the slightest shred of guilt.

“One of my goals is you, Priestess of Cain.”

“Eh…?!”

“Was it not you who proved that Itogami Island, the Altar of The Cleansing, is a powerful enough weapon to rival the Holy Ground Treaty Organization’s multinational armada? This is an opportunity to legally obtain it. I have no reason to watch in silence. The other primogenitors are surely thinking the same thing.”

“This is because of…me…?”

Naturally, even Asagi couldn’t retain her composure in the face of Giada’s assertion, which she never saw coming.

But from one perspective, the logic was obvious. The primogenitors, each ruling their own vast Dominions, had no reason to risk their lives over the right to rule a puny artificial isle in the Pacific. What they wanted wasn’t the ruler’s throne but Itogami Island, the sorcerous device for The Cleansing.

“Of course, I am not saying that is the only reason. This uproar has granted me, the Warlord, and Fallgazer a rare opportunity to try and kill one another—”

She smiled ferociously as she spoke. To the unaging, undying vampire primogenitors, a lethal contest with life and death as the stakes was the last great pleasure that remained.

Shudder, went her chilled spine as Asagi prompted back with a shaky voice.

“And The Blood…?”

“Mm?”

“Defeating him isn’t one of your objectives?”

“Ahhh…you are referring to Kenon, I take it?”

Giada murmured this with a tone of indifference. Asagi grimaced at the unfamiliar name.

“Kenon…?”

“Number Zero of the Kaleid Bloods—the prototype for the Fourth Primogenitor. There is no need for us to deal with that defective piece of trash. Nor is there any reason for us to care what the likes of him has planned.”

“That’s terrible…!!”

Despite herself, Asagi grew angry at Giada’s dismissive behavior.

If Giada, the Third Primogenitor, stopped The Blood, then Itogami Island’s Electoral War would come to a grinding halt. She had the power, and surely the responsibility, to carry that out.

After all, the other three primogenitors had lent their aid to the construction of the “god-killing weapon” known as the Fourth Primogenitor. If The Blood really was Kaleid Blood Number Zero, Giada wasn’t uninvolved where he was concerned.

The Third Primogenitor comfortably let Asagi’s gaze of reproach wash over her as she laughed.

“Well then, now that my belly is full, let us finally get to the point. Following the customs of this Electoral War, I entreat thee. Priestess of Cain, would you join my forces?”

“You mean for me to become your subject?”

No longer even trying to hide her rage, Asagi glared straight at her.

Giada calmly nodded.

“Indeed. Do this, and I shall guarantee the safety of the people of this domain.”

“I am grateful for your exceedingly generous words.”

Asagi smiled with a frigid expression.

“But I refuse. If you wanted to form a nonaggression pact, that I would think over.”

“Oh really…”

Giada’s lips curled in visible delight. Sniffing a provocative air toward their master, the leopards on both of her flanks slowly raised their heads.

“Do you intend to engage the other primogenitors without my protection?”

“Sorry, Giada, but you have two misconceptions.”

Asagi stood and put distance between her and Giada. Nevertheless, the two leopards didn’t take their eyes off her for a single second.

“First, I’m not a citizen of Saikai Academy Domain. The ruler of this domain is Shizuri Kasugaya. I’m only here as a guest.”

“Hmm. Come to think of it, I do recall that being mentioned.”

Keeping her legs calmly crossed, Giada glanced at a smartphone she produced from her breast pocket. She was apparently verifying Asagi’s statement with an application MAR had provided her with for the Electoral War. Watching a primogenitor operate her own smartphone was quite surreal.

Asagi took out her smartphone as well. But she wasn’t aiming to check the Electoral War app. Her smartphone was actually the weapon she wielded as the Priestess of Cain.

“My true ruler is Kojou Akatsuki. I have no reason to accept protection from you.”

“Interesting. Then are you going to make an enemy of me here and now, Priestess of Cain?”

A delighted smile came over Giada as she bared her pure-white fangs.

The two leopards on her flanks crouched low in tandem with her.

Their forelegs transformed into lithe female arms.

The metamorphosis was not limited to the arms alone. Their tails vanished, their skeletal structure changed, and their hind legs, torsos, and heads all morphed into humanoid shapes. The beasts had changed into beast people—no, vampires.

Including Giada herself, the vampires from the Third Primogenitor’s bloodline in the Chaos Zone were all endowed with the power of transformation. The girls serving as her bodyguards had used that power to transform themselves into leopards.

The two nimble, leopard-headed vampires sprinted toward Asagi from left and right. Their speed was overwhelming, beyond anything humans could replicate. Asagi couldn’t even react to that kind of swiftness.

But the girls weren’t able to lay a finger on her.

This was because a small figure in a cook’s apron leaped out from behind Asagi to bar their path.

“Branch Number Six from Tiger King Fist Number Four—Skyrend Claw!”

Sprouting bestial ears, the girl—Yuno Amase—slammed demonic energy–infused palm strikes into Giada’s underlings. She’d been lurking in the campus cafeteria kitchen so that she could protect Asagi. You could call it a surprise attack that made the most of home domain advantage.

Her armor-penetrating martial technique sent both leopard-headed vampires flying. Still reeling as they landed on their feet, the pair tried to regroup, but this time bullets making nary a sound careened straight through them.

Rui Miyazumi had sniped them from standby atop the campus roof.

He’d blasted them with glue rounds infused with chemical compounds. The flying chemicals from the shot scattered over the entirety of both vampire’s bodies, impeding their movements.

Then, as she received Rui’s supporting fire, Yuno used the momentum of her surprise attack to launch a strike toward Giada. Or attempted to, rather. But—

“Lion King Fist Number Two—”

“I see, a modern arrangement of kung fu based upon the movements of the Twelve Beasts. You have quite a bit of skill for one so young.”

“…Eh?!”

Yuno’s lethal blow against Giada, who was still seated in her chair, cut through nothing but air.

Rui’s timed snipe shot flying in was also deflected before it reached Giada. The vast demonic energy available only to vampire primogenitors had become a bulwark to protect her.

Suddenly, the chair Giada had been sitting on softened and sank down to the ground’s surface. All at once, she realized that the entirety of the café terrace site had turned into an unknown, swampy environ.

“Nn…?!”

Instantly leaping into the air and abandoning her seat, Giada was assaulted by fresh figures on all sides.

The attackers all bore the same face, that of a young woman wearing a Chinese-style kung fu gi who had donned her dumpling-style hair in a triple braid—Misaki Sasasaki, middle school teacher at Saikai Academy.

The myriad Misaki clones launched countless blunt strikes at Giada from all sides, which turned into beams of light before assaulting her.

This technique was impossible to achieve with afterimages generated from high-speed movement or illusion spells. No, these clones were the real deal, and together they formed an unavoidable attack coming from every direction.

But after a battle that didn’t even span a single blink of an eye, it was Misaki who spewed out fresh blood.

“Ms. Sasasaki?!”

Asagi let out an unmitigated shriek upon seeing Misaki sent flying like a doll and crash into a wall.

The clones vanished, and the swampy scenery returned to the café terrace of old. Misaki, supposedly fallen and coughing up blood everywhere, also vanished from sight as the real, unscathed Misaki appeared right before Giada.

“Divine Mystic Arts… You employ a rare technique, woman.”

Landing as if nothing had happened, the vampire exhaled in a show of admiration.

Misaki dramatically lowered her shoulders, then gave the grin of a child busted for a prank.

“That’s the Third Primogenitor for you; I’d expect nothing less of the ancestor of martial arts. And you even managed to evade the Twenty-Four All-Directional Fists? It’s a completely simultaneous attack from multiple dimensions, though.”

“Yes, to be quite honest, that did take me by surprise. This island has quite the cast of characters gathered on it. I’m rather entertained.”

Giada’s fangs poked out of her little smile.

That moment, a pure-white mist enveloped her body.

The mist was so explosively cold it seemed set to freeze the world itself. In a split second, it encased the café floor, the walls, and even the surrounding air in ice. This ivory miasma was the Beast Vassal of Giada Kukulkin, the Third Primogenitor.

“Very well. Take pride in the fact that you compelled me to employ a Beast Vassal—go, Ixquimilli!”

“—Mogwai, bulwark!”

Asagi angrily shouted into her smartphone. Directly after, a crimson radiance pushed back the cold rushing in like a billowing wave; Asagi had activated the forbidden spell, The Cleansing.

By all rights, The Cleansing was an incantation so great it could rewrite the very order of the world. Asagi, not even a common mage, could only use a fraction of its power, which still didn’t amount to a skimming of its surface. Furthermore, the effects of the Electoral War were greatly constraining the computational capacity of her partner, Mogwai, resulting in rather difficult conditions for sealing the power of a primogenitor’s Beast Vassal.

“This is rough…!”

Mogwai’s complaints trickled out from the speaker of the smartphone. Even with the maximum might that she could draw from the greatly reduced Cleansing, stopping the cold from the Beast Vassal that Giada had summoned would take every last shred.

“A phenomenon-altering barrier, is it? But do you think you can defend against my Beast Vassal alone in your current state?”

Seeing straight through Asagi’s limits, Giada asked this of Asagi.

But although Asagi’s expression was tense, she wasn’t nervous. Even facing off against Giada with the obstruction between them, her tone remained composed to the end as she spoke.

“Giada Kukulkin, this is your second misconception.”

“…What?”

“Not all the primogenitors are necessarily our enemies. Saikai Academy is allied with another domain. That’s the Tensou Academy Domain to which the First Primogenitor belongs—!”

“The First Primogenitor, you say…?!”

Giada’s eyebrows trembled ever so slightly.

As if waiting for that precise moment, a new Beast Vassal appeared above her head, a long sword with a serrated, wiry, whiplike blade. This was an Intelligent Weapon–type Beast Vassal, which was able to rend its foe of its own volition.

“—Awaken, Acedia!”

“Tch!!”

Clicking her tongue in annoyance, she slammed the mass of cold into the sword.

In terms of simple volume of demonic energy, Giada’s cold had an overwhelming advantage. But since The Cleansing had whittled away her Beast Vassal’s power, it could not force back the sword Beast Vassal.

The air cracked as the two Beast Vassals collided before they vanished simultaneously, apparently having offset each other. A second later, the crimson bulwark also vanished. Asagi/Mogwai had exceeded their computational power, so they could no longer maintain The Cleansing’s activation.

“An ebon-bladed Beast Vassal… Aradahl, is it?”

Giada posed the question as she slowly looked behind her.

Standing in the Saikai Academy courtyard was a tall man with long black hair wearing an old-fashioned long coat. This was Velesh Aradahl, a chairman of the Imperial Assembly of the Warlord’s Empire—and a close confidant of the First Primogenitor, the Lost Warlord.

“Pardon my impoliteness for intruding upon the field of battle. I have come to represent my primogenitor, the Lost Warlord.”

Aradahl touched his hand to his chest with reverence, but somehow, he also spoke with the demeanor of a man in despair. Surely, deep in his heart, he had no desire to recklessly make an enemy of the Third Primogenitor. In fact, Aradahl had become the Sakai Academy Domain’s ally merely on the whims of the First Primogenitor.

Soldiers dressed in extravagant military uniforms stood in attendance behind him. They comprised the Vampire Corps of the Warlord’s Empire.

“How intriguing…”

Giada licked her lips with the tip of her tongue as she slowly glanced around the area. To her front was Asagi; behind her was Aradahl and his vampire subordinates. On top of that, Misaki Sasasaki, a wielder of the Divine Mystic Arts, was also in attendance.

On the other hand, Yuno and Rui had completely overwhelmed the two subordinates Giada had brought along. At the very least, she was at a numerical disadvantage.

Despite these odds, as the Third Primogenitor, she commanded twenty-seven Beast Vassals. Summoning several of them would easily evaporate Asagi and company’s advantage.

But there was no guarantee that Aradahl’s liege, the First Primogenitor, would simply watch that in silence.

In the worst case, a full-scale conflict could break out between primogenitors right then and there.

Giada looked back at Aradahl’s stony expression with a broad, amused smile.

“I would love to hold a decisive battle here, but taking you on with a wielder of The Cleansing just seems like too much trouble. And there are others drawn to trouble here as well.”

With a strained smile, she shifted her gaze to the roof of the middle of Saikai Academy some two hundred meters away. A small figure stood on the roof—but not one of a Saikai Academy student.

He was a young foreigner with beautiful black hair, olive skin, and eyes of gold. He came off like a temperamental young lion, yet his youth also held an aura of mysterious dignity.

This was Iblisveil Aziz, prince of the Dominion the Fallen Dynasty—

He was observing the battle between Giada and Asagi’s side, looking for an opening in the victor he could exploit.

Giada noticed this, yet remained utterly composed; she really did have nerves of steel befitting the title of Third Primogenitor.

“A fine negotiation it was. We shall someday meet again, Priestess of Cain—farewell.”

Transforming into gleaming viridian mist, Giada vanished from sight, as though she’d melted right into thin air.

At some point, the leopard-headed vampires caught by the glue rounds had also vanished. Giada had probably taken them with her.

“Hah…so tired… I mean really, doing that this early in the morning…”

Left behind, Asagi flopped into the closest available chair and stared up at the sky.

That was how the fourth day of the Electoral War started for Saikai Academy Domain.

5

“Grounded Lightning—!”

The blunt attack unleashed from Yukina’s right palm punched through the jaw of the young beast person. From his expression, the beast person seemed not to even comprehend what had happened as he flew hard through the air, eyes white as he fainted.

Stepping right over their compatriots, fresh enemies assaulted her. This group of violent demons wearing street gang-style attire were rogue ruler candidates who had lost their domains and subjects.

“Aww, crap! There’s no end to ’em! What hole did these guys crawl out from?!”

Kojou lamented as he desperately dodged a ball of fire shot at him via magic spell.

At present, Kojou and Yukina were in the northern section of Itogami Island. They were inside a station connecting Island East and North for transferring between monorail lines.

The Electoral War had brought monorail travel to a halt. That meant the terminal should have been sparse on guests. It was with that expectation Kojou and Yukina had opted for the monorail’s elevated bridges as the best way to move around. Encountering rogue ruler candidates in such a place was an unfortunate accident for both parties.

“They seem to be demons that set up camp in Island East. I suppose the rumors that the Second Primogenitor appeared in the east were true.”

Clutching her silver spear, Yukina breathed hard as she spoke. The group of delinquent demons they’d encountered weren’t especially battle hardened, but there were just too many of them. To Kojou and Yukina, worn down from fighting the Order of the End the night before, they were troublesome foes indeed.

“So Fallgazer’s army pushed them out, and they fled here into Island North, huh—”

Kojou twisted his lips in visible annoyance as he spat out the words.

“—Geez, this ain’t no joke. Giada settin’ up in Island South is bad enough as it is! Plus, the First Primogenitor went over to Island West, right?”

“Yes. It seems that he’s been staying in Yume’s domain since before you and I returned to Itogami Island.”

Yukina answered while standing back-to-back with him. Irritated, Kojou grimaced.

“What the hell is that guy thinking?”

“I don’t have the slightest idea, either… However, it appears that Yume and the others get along very well with him…”

“…No choice but to trust him for the time being, huh?”

He sighed deeply, suppressing his inner bewilderment and concern.

They’d only exchanged a brief conversation in an Aldegian airport, but for better or worse, the man going by Ki Juranbarada, who Kojou had encountered, possessed a sunny, jovial disposition.

Kojou didn’t know why the man had come to Itogami Island, but as far as he could tell from what Yukina had told him, he hadn’t approached her out of some weird scheme. For starters, he was so powerful that if he and Kojou happened to confront each other, he wouldn’t even have to take Yume or Nagisa hostage beforehand or anything of the sort.

“What’s with all these people already—?!”

The angry voice of the other girl with them in the station pulled Kojou out of his scattered thoughts and back to reality. Using her undulating long sword, the white-haired girl wearing a long wimple—Shizuri Kasugaya—was engaged in a slashing contest with a lizardman swordsman.

“There she is! It’s the white-haired ogre, Kazugatani!”

“The ruler of the Saikai Academy Domain who sent the Third Primogenitor packing?!”

When they’d noticed her presence, the group of demons had gone after her all at once, completely ignoring the other pair. Their target was Shizuri, not Kojou or Yukina. They’d been driven out of their domains, so if they could defeat Shizuri, a fellow ruler candidate, they would steal the right to rule Saikai Academy Domain from her. That was why they had attacked Kojou and the others at the drop of a hat when they’d bumped into each other at the station.

“Kasutaniii! Your head is mine!”

A beast person from one of the various strains of werewolves assaulted Shizuri from above with nimble movements.

“K-Kasutani…?!”

Lips twitching, Shizuri blocked her enemies’ blows. Hearing them butcher the pronunciation of her Japanese family name was making her see red.

“You won’t get away, Kasuyaaaaa!”

“Take this, Kasutaaa!”

“I-it is Kasugaya! Shizuri Kasugaya Castiella!”

Shizuri swung her sword in anger, enraged at them changing how she was addressed like some demented game of telephone. Her hair was disheveled, and her breathing was ragged. She seemed even more exhausted than Kojou and Yukina. Maybe that was why she came off as unable to concentrate on the fight in front of her.

“You all right, Cas?!”

“But of course! No matter how many they may be, foes so base are unworthy to face a Paladin of Gisella!”

Shizuri glared back at the concerned Kojou and shouted in anger. It was obvious that she was putting on a strong front. She was near the limits of her endurance.

Tch, went Kojou’s harsh click of his tongue. He did a quick head count of the demons continuing to bear down upon them.

Even just from what he could make out, the delinquent monsters targeting Shizuri were over fifty strong. Their strength would surely have given out if they had taken them on one by one. At this point, all Kojou had left to draw on was the inexhaustible demonic power of the Fourth Primogenitor.

“Aww, crap— C’mon over, Sadalmelik Albus!”

Kojou summoned his own Beast Vassal in a fit of desperation.

In a burst of pale light, a Beast Vassal with a transparent body that looked like flowing water appeared.

Its upper body was that of a beautiful woman; its lower half, that of an enormous serpent. Its hair was composed of countless flowing snakes.

It was a pale Undine—a water maid.

“Wha…?!”

“The hell is thaaaat?!”

The sudden appearance of the powerful Beast Vassal caused the delinquent demons to fall into panic.

Unlike the other Beast Vassals of the Fourth Primogenitor, Sadalmelik Albus did not possess explosive attacks that scattered its targets to the winds. Instead, the Fourth Primogenitor’s eleventh Beast Vassal possessed the powers of healing and regeneration. Any matter enveloped in the water maid’s transparent flesh returned to its origins on an atomic level, reverting to its proper state.

Creatures reverted to before they were even born. Resilient castle walls became clumps of soil. High-end cities transformed into barren wastelands. Advanced civilizations morphed back into prehistoric times—hers was a destructive power that returned everything to nothingness.

The water maid aimed her destructive healing beneath the feet of the delinquent creatures surrounding Kojou and company—to the monorail station itself. The building’s walls turned to collapsing sand, as though time itself was being rewound; similarly, the steel girders supporting it were dismantled down to iron atoms.

The collapsing station engulfed the helpless, densely packed group of delinquents, who subsequently plummeted toward the surface of the earth. There, a large hole had opened to reveal the white, frothing surface of the sea. Kojou’s Beast Vassal had already destroyed the artificial soil they would have landed on.

“You overdid it, senpai…damaging Itogami Island so badly again…”

Lowering the spear she wielded, Yukina turned her reproachful gaze toward Kojou.

The greater part of their foes, who’d suddenly plunged into the sea, were in a state of terror. They no longer had the luxury of going after Shizuri.

They’d paid a significant price for that victory, however. The monorail station was now half-wrecked, and part of the rail itself had vanished, as though it had been cleanly cut away. Since the monorail itself was shut down, there was no immediate effect upon traffic, but it’d probably take a considerable expense to fix.

“Not like there was any alternative. If you wanna complain, complain to the shitty brats who caused this stupid mess.”

Kojou languidly leaned against a wall as he made that lazy rebuttal.

“In other words…The Blood?”

Yukina sullenly pursed her lips. Kojou nodded with displeasure.

“Guess the point of this Electoral War was to draw the primogenitors to this island and make me fight ’em. There’s stupid, and then there’s that. Besides that, they sure fell for it awful easy.”

“I…suppose they did.”

The monsters who’d fallen into the sea were engaging in unsightly competitions to crawl up the coast ahead of the others. Yukina exhaled powerlessly as they did this beneath her gaze.

“However, the current situation on Itogami Island is moving according to The Blood and the Order of the End’s plans. So long as the primogenitors are on this island, it will be difficult to bring the Electoral War to a close.”

“Difficult? If we captured The Blood and took back Keystone Gate, wouldn’t that settle things right there?”

Kojou seemed a little surprised as he prompted back. “No,” replied Yukina with a grave shake of her head.

“If it came to that, the three primogenitors would surely move to hinder you, senpai. If the Electoral War ended, they would lose their justification for remaining on Itogami Island.”

“So, what, the reason Giada attacked me was to bail The Blood out of a jam…?”

Kojou ruefully clenched his back teeth as he recalled his encounter with Giada Kukulkin the previous night.

When Kojou had tried to pursue The Blood as he fled, Giada’s Beast Vassal had attacked him by surprise to impede him. That was not a simple declaration of war; she’d done it with the express aim of letting The Blood get away, thereby prolonging the Electoral War.

“Also, now that all the primogenitors have gathered upon the island, The Blood has no reason to show himself in front of you any longer, senpai. After all, his objective is to make you fight the other primogenitors, to prove that the Fourth Primogenitor is the strongest—”

“So he’s decided to watch from up high until the Electoral War ends, has he?”

“Yes. Most likely.”

Yukina lowered her eyes with a stiff look on her face.

Kenon—Number Zero of the Kaleid Bloods—had stated that his objective was for the Fourth Primogenitor to be regarded as a symbol of fear. If that was true, he would not fight with Kojou in the future. After all, his real desire was for Kojou to battle the other primogenitors and emerge victorious. That was his sole motivation behind crafting a “Colosseum” for the vampire primogenitors.

“In either case, it’s difficult for us to conduct a search for The Blood’s whereabouts as we are now.”

“Yeah…”

Kojou grudgingly agreed with Yukina’s analysis.

“Well, fine. I’ll leave all the thinking about annoying stuff for later. For now, let’s get movin’. It’ll be real trouble if other ruler candidates spot us.”

“Move…you say?”

Yukina knit her brows, conflicted. Kojou turned his eyes toward the wreckage of the elevated bridge.

“But it’s impossible to ride the monorail line to cross over into Island South now. After having used such spectacular demonic energy, the Chaos Zone units have surely detected your presence, senpai.”

“So we can’t return to Saikai Academy, huh?”

Kojou lowered his shoulders with regret as he gazed at the soil of the artificial isle on the other side of the canal.

Saikai Academy Domain was completely isolated, its surroundings under occupation by forces from the Chaos Zone. Kojou and his friends had been in the middle of heading to Island South’s eastern coast. But their unexpected encounter with the stray ruler candidates had completely foiled their plan.

“The Tensou Academy Domain is pretty close by, but I would prefer to avoid encountering the First Primogenitor in such a depleted state. After all, we’re completely in the dark about his objectives…”

“Ki Juranbarada, huh… What do you think, Cas? You’ve met the First Primogenitor, too, right?”

Kojou tossed his voice toward Shizuri’s back. However, Shizuri said nothing in reply. She was still holding her drawn sword, as though she were dazed.

He found this suspicious as he approached her.

“…Cas?”

“Y-yes!”

After he spoke her name in her ear, Shizuri lifted her head in surprise.

A guilty look came over her face as she realized that Kojou and Yukina were staring at her with concern.

“Scusa…I’m sorry. I was somewhat lost in thought.”

“About the swordswoman from the Order of the End? She used a blue demonic sword that was quite similar to yours, Miss Kasugaya—”

Yukina asked that out of apparent consideration for Shizuri. Kojou stared at Shizuri, a little surprised. He recalled that Shizuri’s movements had lost some of their luster in the middle of that engagement.

“Was it someone you know?”

“No. It’s not quite like that… It’s just…”

Shizuri tried to gloss things over, but she trailed off when she glanced at Kojou’s and Yukina’s worried faces. With a single brief sigh, she rephrased things in a quiet tone of voice.

“She, too…is an ogre.”

“Ogre? You mean you’re of the same people? But that doesn’t mean you’re family or anything, right?”

“I do not know. However, that woman clearly knows me… She spoke as if she despises me. And then there’s that demonic sword she possesses…Hauras. It should have been passed down through Gisella since it’s so valuable, but…”

“I see… That would weigh on your mind.”

Kojou made a low noise as he grasped why Shizuri was bewildered.

During the collapse of the Demon Sanctuary of Iroise some six years prior, Shizuri had lost all her companions in Gisella, whom she’d thought of as her own family. To her, the last Paladin of Gisella, Hauras symbolized her bonds with her companions.

It was little wonder, then, that Shizuri had been shaken upon learning that the Order of the End possessed something very much like her precious demonic blade.

“Let’s think of a way to look into that ogre and her demonic sword. Perhaps it might help us determine the Order of the End’s whereabouts.”

Yukina proposed this in a very serious tone of voice.

“Y-yes… Grazie…thank you.”

For once, Shizuri politely nodded, smiling as she regained her poise.

“Now, then,” said Kojou with a drop of his shoulders, trying to restart their conversation about where to go from there.

But in that instant, Kojou’s heart pounded with a heavy thump.

He felt like a bolt of lightning had slammed down right beside him. A numbing, electric pain made his skin tremble.

That blow was unlike anything Kojou had felt up to that point—somewhere on Itogami Island, a powerful demonic energy on par with his own had been unleashed. No, it wasn’t in a single place but multiple places at once.

“The hell…?! What’s this feeling…?!”

Clutching his chest, Kojou fell to his knees.

His field of vision constricted and reddened. Like a fish flopping around on land, his throat tightened up, leaving him unable to breathe. He seethed with irritation and anger that had no outlet. And then, he felt overwhelming terror.

“Could those be…Beast Vassals of the Second Primogenitor…?”

Yukina exclaimed in surprise as she glared above the sea to the east.

Countless black shadows hovered in the sky above Island East, a horde of flying dinosaurs so enormous that she could make them out even from a great distance away. It was vast enough to fill the sky.

“It’s not just in the east…!”

Shizuri looked behind her and shouted. As if it had conspired behind the scenes to adopt the exact same timing, a fresh source of demonic energy appeared from Itogami Island’s south side, the direction of Saikai Academy.

“Gu…ooooooooooo!!”

As the twin demonic energies manifested simultaneously, Kojou felt as though his entire body were being ripped apart.

Just then, the intense pain activated a bizarre sensation that overtook him. A ferocious sense of hunger, a desire to consume everything to the last… A deep desire blazing within him surged up from the innermost depths of his flesh.

“Senpai?!”

“Kojou?! What are you doing?!”

Yukina and Shizuri gazed dumbfounded at him, both of his eyes dyed red and fangs bared.

A crimson mist enveloped his entire body. The miasma gushed forth like flames, tracing a strange pattern in midair.

“This is…bad… Get back, Himeragi…! You too, Cas…!”

Kojou warned them in a nearly incoherent voice.

Even he didn’t know what was happening to his body. But he knew what it was trying to make him do. What this incredible sense of hunger craved was power—the force that was the source of a vampire’s demonic energy.

“Is it…the same…as back then…?”

Amid his thinning consciousness, Kojou remembered. This was a memory of fear, a memory of the day the natural disaster known as the Fourth Primogenitor assaulted that very Itogami Island.

As he lost his sense of reason, nothing entered his vision save the sight of the girls in front of him. He wanted to greedily devour every aspect of them—he could not defy that sweet temptation.

The tiny remaining portion of Kojou’s true personality shouted at the corner of his mind, Kill me!

Kill me, before I do something that can’t be taken back.

Surely, the silver spear Yukina possessed could do it. Surely, Shizuri’s sword could do it.

But before he could voice the plea, Kojou leaped toward them.

A shocked expression came over Yukina as she poised her spear, a mostly subconscious movement. Reacting to Kojou’s bloodlust, her body had subconsciously adopted a stance to intercept him.

But he never entered her range. A shock wave slammed into him from the side and sent him flying before he got in close.

“Gaah…!”

The rippling strike was unavoidable; it was as if space itself had transformed into a giant maul.

Buffeted by the swaying of space itself, Kojou couldn’t even yelp as he vomited blood all over the place. The attack had done enough damage that any normal person would have died on the spot.

The bloody miasma enveloping Kojou’s whole body vanished, and the pattern behind his back dissolved.

Freed from his demonic energy’s rampage, he fell like a puppet with its strings cut, rolling onto the floor.

“Senpai!”

Gasping as she came back to her senses, Yukina raced over to the fallen Kojou’s side.

He couldn’t even lift his head as he responded to her with a shaky, groaning voice.

Wounds lined his body and he was thoroughly beaten up, but the violent sense of hunger he’d experienced just moments before had vanished entirely. Apparently, bathing him in even greater demonic energy from up close had decreased the influence of the other primogenitors’ demonic energy.

“Have you awoken yet, Kojou Akatsuki?”

With a gentle, ripple-like sway in midair, a witch resembling a little girl appeared.

This was Natsuki Minamiya, the Witch of the Void—preeminent wielder of spatial-control magic.

However, her current form differed somewhat from the form Kojou and the others were used to.

Her long black hair and extravagant dress were the same as usual, but there were now thorny vines stretching forth from her shadow that were wrapped all over her.

It looked dangerous, as though some terrible beast lurking in her silhouette was attached to her own body.

Just what had happened to her during the time the Order of the End held her captive?

“Natsuki…Minamiya… What…is that form?”

“A few things happened on my end as well.”

When Shizuri posed that question with visible concern, Natsuki glanced at her and lobbed an indifferent reply.

“Sorry, but I can’t tone down my power for the moment. It’s healthier for you if you don’t rampage any further.”

“…Ain’t like I…wanted to rampage in the first…place.”

Wheezing with every breath as he replied, Kojou fainted again, depleted of strength. The wounds Natsuki’s attacks had inflicted ran deeper than they looked.

“K-Kojou?!”

“Senpai, please hang in there! Senpai!”

Shizuri and Yukina sat up his motionless body and shook him violently.

On top of an unknown influence driving him berserk, he’d sustained a blow from the warping of space itself. Even an immortal vampire primogenitor wouldn’t escape that unscathed. No wonder his friends were flustered.

For her part, Natsuki looked down at Kojou with a neutral expression and murmured to herself.

“I see. So this is your final desire, ‘The Blood’…”

As Kojou had rampaged, a strange pattern had floated up behind his back just before he lost consciousness.

This was the same pattern that the vampire known as Root had once created—eleven pitch-black wings.