Chapter 48

Prologue An off-road bike raced along a desolate, cracked highway. The driver was a tall boy wearing a high school uniform. A similarly dressed girl was perched on the rear seat—her long hair was a fashionable bleached blond. The medium of the water dragon Acedia. Sumika Kiyotaki. “There she is, Zen! Up there!” Sumika yelled as she looked up at a building near the road. A young woman stood on the rooftop of the half-crumbled building. A slender, beautiful woman. Yet her right eye was inhuman: it was like a snake’s and glowed gold. “Miyabi Maisaka! Hold on tight, Sumika!” Zen Sagara hit the gas. The bike kicked up gravel and rubble as it sped toward the building. Miyabi Maisaka, medium of the wind dragon, Ira, working together with her Lazarus, Douji Yamase, had created a Ploutonion in Yokohama just four days prior. After Yahiro Narusawa defeated Douji Yamase, Miyabi escaped and had been missing. Zen and Sumika would have never found her had it not been for Galerie Berith’s survey drones. Still, as though mocking her pursuers, Miyabi kept jumping from building to building, leaping over gaps tens of meters wide. Sumika was shocked by the woman’s supernatural abilities. “No way! Miyabi’s able to do that sort of thing?!” “That’s Ira’s Regalia. She’s got it down pat, even without a Lazarus!” Zen clicked his tongue. The wind dragon had the power to control that element. However, unlike the Lazarus, the mediums had regular human bodies—they normally weren’t able to make much use of their powers. A human’s brittle cells could not withstand the recoil of the Regalia. Miyabi’s body was able to surpass these limits, though, because it was draconized. At the very least, her right eye and left leg were already completely transformed. She no longer had reason to fear the Regalia’s recoil. The physical capability to jump between buildings was also a side effect of her draconization. It would not be an easy task to catch up to her even with the mobility of an off-road bike. Not to mention… “What?! What’s that sound?!” Sumika frowned at the noise coming from overhead. “A helicopter…! They’re picking Miyabi Maisaka up!” Zen groaned as he looked up at the aircraft’s silhouette. It was a jet-black military chopper. Zen had seen it a few times before: Ganzheit’s liaison aircraft. “No, Zen! You can’t attack the Ganzheit chopper!” Sumika shrieked as she realized Zen intended to stop the bike. Ganzheit was a supranational organization that knew about the dragons since ancient times and had been preparing for their reemergence. Apparently, Miyabi was following Ganzheit’s orders when she generated the Ploutonion in Yokohama. Fighting them head-on wasn’t ideal. Zen and Sumika’s patron, maritime company Noah Transtech, was a member of Ganzheit. But even so, they could not allow Miyabi to escape. She had betrayed her Lazarus and lost her reason to live—she was a ticking time bomb. Who knew what she’d do if they took their eyes off of her. Zen and Sumika had remained in Yokohama to track down Miyabi. “I won’t attack it.” Zen unsheathed the blade attached to the bike’s front fork. An ancient small sword. He held up the sword and pointed it at the approaching helicopter. The blade turned a foggy white for one instant before water drops surfaced on the steel. The following moment, the drops turned into a torrent of cold air blowing white mist. Using the steam in the environment, he created a massive volume of liquid nitrogen and liquid oxygen. Acedia’s—the water dragon’s—Regalia. Dense fog created by the sudden drop in temperature covered the ground and spread throughout the area. One could only see a few meters ahead. Not even the most skilled pilot could get the chopper near Miyabi now. It could crash into a building if they lowered altitude carelessly. “Wait, Zen! Now we can’t see where she is, either!” “Not true.” “Huh? Oh, I see…” Sumika smiled in relief upon realizing why Zen remained calm. A thick ice wall surrounded the building Miyabi stood on. He had captured her in an ice prison, building and all. Zen and Sumika opened a hole in the ice wall to enter the abandoned building. They climbed the dusty stairs until they reached the uneven rooftop five minutes later. Miyabi Maisaka stood atop the wrecked building with a stumped expression on her face. The ice wall made from Zen’s Regalia was over two meters thick. Not an easy thing to break through, even with Miyabi’s draconized powers. “It’s been a long time since I’ve been followed around by a fan like this. Stalking isn’t good, kids.” Miyabi slowly turned around upon noticing Zen and Sumika’s arrival and jokingly rebuked their actions. “Sorry, Miyabi, but we can’t leave you be.” “We need to ask you some questions. We’ll have to restrain you.” Sumika and Zen spoke grimly. Miyabi brushed her long hair aside in annoyance before smiling. Out of the blue, a strong wind blew in a vortex around her. Ira’s power. She was about to shoot shock wave–bullets. But before she could, Zen closed the distance. “It’s useless, Miyabi Maisaka!” Zen used the impact of a steam explosion to propel himself. Miyabi wasn’t used to battle and lacked the reflexes to react. Zen charged through the weak, incomplete shock waves and landed right in front of Miyabi. Immediately, he brought his small sword’s hilt to Miyabi’s defenseless neck. Suddenly, a sword appeared before his eyes to block the attack. A double-edged sword over one meter long, resembling a giant spearhead. “…What?!” Zen’s sword bounced back with a sharp metallic ring, forcing him to retreat. A young man in a black hoodie, around Zen’s age, had blocked his attack. “You…!” Zen gripped his sword tight as his eyes grew wide in shock. Miyabi, too, stared at the young man’s back with surprise. Not even she had expected the sudden backup. The boy in the hoodie glared silently at Zen as he pointed his long sword at him. His eyes were devoid of hostility, though—his goal there was unclear. He looked like a mindless drone. “You shouldn’t hurt womeeen!” A gleeful voice rang out from somewhere behind Miyabi. It belonged to a short woman dressed in a youthful, university-student-style outfit stood in a corner of the rooftop. Her under–five feet height and baby face made it hard to determine her age. Her image contrasted with the tall and mature Miyabi, but the two had a certain something in common—a dragon aura. “Nina…Himekawa…!” Zen muttered her name. The baby-faced woman grinned, as though praising the boy for getting that right. “Zen, she’s…?” “Yeah, another Japanese survivor…and Luxuria’s medium,” Zen answered Sumika’s question. It was their first time meeting in person, but Zen knew of her. Her looks perfectly matched the description Yahiro Narusawa had given him. There could only be one reason why she had appeared there—to get a hold of Miyabi Maisaka. She must have arrived in Ganzheit’s liaison chopper. “How did you get through my ice wall?” “Hee-hee… That’s a seeecret!” Nina evaded Zen’s question with a giggle. There was no trace of destruction in the ice cage surrounding the building. That’s why Zen hadn’t realize they were approaching. They’d slipped inside like magic. “I have no idea what you’re here to do, but would you mind handing Miyabi over?” Sumika asked with a friendly smile. “Sorryyy. I’m here to see her, aaactually,” Nina refused with a smile. Zen clicked his tongue. “Ganzheit’s orders?” “Would you leave if I said so?” “No. Now that we know that they’re trying to replicate the J-nocide, we have no reason to trust them.” “Of course.” Nina shrugged. Everything changed a second later. Out of nowhere, Miyabi glared at Nina with a betrayed look on her face and clutched at her throat in pain. Her graceful body swayed as though she was fainting. Nina held her up with both hands as Miyabi silently collapsed. As though Nina had known that would happen all along. “Miyabi?!” “Nina Himekawa, what’d you…?!” Sumika shrieked and Zen approached Nina, practically burning with ire. Then the boy in the black hoodie blocked his way. “Don’t touch her.” “Tsk!” Zen dodged the boy’s long sword by jumping back. He did so instead of blocking with his own blade. He had a hunch that he mustn’t touch that sword; his Lazarus instincts told him so. “Hisaki, let’s not waste this opportunity. Catch them, too!” “Got it, Nina.” The boy immediately followed Nina Himekawa’s command. His loyal hound-like behavior only enraged Zen further. “Hisaki Minato… Luxuria’s Lazarus!” “Kurao-no-Nuboko.” Hisaki ignored Zen’s yell and stabbed his long sword at the surface beneath their feet. The rooftop’s floor turned a purple color as though corroding, turning into liquid. The marsh dragon’s Regalia: marshification—the power to melt anything at a touch. “Marshification… Of course. You melted my ice wall to get inside.” Zen calmly observed as the corroded area spread farther and farther. Luxuria’s power to directly transform matter was formidable indeed. Who knew how effective the Lazarus’s regenerative power would be if marshification melted his body? Not to mention there was no stopping the corrosion so long as Hisaki kept touching the floor. It was a fearsome power to be paired against. “But it’s all meaningless if I just freeze it.” Zen pointed his sword at his feet and activated his own powers. A white mist of intense cold air froze the liquefied rooftop, stopping the marshification. Zen’s Regalia, functioning on liquid as well, was the perfect rival against Hisaki’s. Sure of his superiority, he walked nonchalantly toward Hisaki. “A-ha-haaa… Yeah, people uuusually think that,” Nina said playfully. Zen was taken aback by her composure. The next moment, his vision wavered. His entire body went numb, and strength faded from his fingertips. His throat convulsed as he gulped, trying to take in oxygen. “Zen… Sorry… We messed up…” “Sumika?!” The girl behind him collapsed with a gentle thud. Upon seeing that, Zen finally realized: Luxuria’s marshification didn’t melt the floor. Hisaki’s Regalia turned the whole field into a swamp. A marsh spurting dangerous gases that led to suffocation. They had melted the floor to distract him. Their real aim was to neutralize Zen and Sumika with the gases. The Lazarus’s regenerative powers were useless if the gases remained nonlethal. His abilities couldn’t prevent him from losing consciousness. “Never step carelessly into a swaaamp! You never know what dangers you may fiiind!” Nina said blithely. “You…sly…” Zen spat hoarse insults as his consciousness slipped away. Yahiro confirmed that there was nobody around before he opened a rusty metal door. There was just one small bed inside the freight container. A petite person lay on the bed. A beautiful, doll-like girl with white, almost transparent hair and skin. She had electrodes all over her body and an IV inserted in her thin arm. Her lips were pale blue, and her childish visage was like fragile glasswork. In stark contrast, multiple cuffs and heavy chains were attached to her feet, similar to a dangerous criminal or a wild beast in transit. The restraints signified the risk she represented despite being unconscious. Yahiro knew the reason for the restraints: she was a dragon medium. Sui Narusawa had opened a giant Ploutonion in the middle of Tokyo and caused the J-nocide. But now, she was defenseless. Yahiro had rejected the dragon Sui tried to summon through him, and the vast dragon aura she’d poured into his body had been burned away by Iroha Mamana’s flames. Sui was now so weakened from the effects of that experience that she could not stay awake. “Sui…!” Yahiro glared at his sleeping little sister as he unsheathed the knife he had concealed on his person. The knife was small, less than fifteen centimeters long. Laughably unreliable when compared to the uchigatana he normally used against the Moujuu. Still, it was good enough to slay the small girl in front of him. For the past four years, Yahiro had crawled through life in despair with only one purpose: to kill her. To make her pay for the sin of killing 130 million Japanese people. To take revenge on her for using him. Those long days of humiliation would end if he only stabbed the knife into her heart. It would all end if he killed Sui Narusawa. And yet, Yahiro could not bring himself to kill his little sister. If he did, he would not be able to bring back the Japanese people. He needed Superbia’s Regalia to bring those who’d turned into Moujuu back from the underworld. What do I care? It didn’t really matter to him if all the Japanese died out, not if it meant he could take his revenge on Sui. Honestly. Yet, he faltered as the image of another girl’s face crossed his mind. She wouldn’t want him to kill Sui. And she would lament wasting the chance to restore the Japanese. “Agh…” Yahiro slowly lowered his right hand. He would not have hesitated to kill Sui then and there had he not met Iroha. And just the thought of it made him feel cowardly. Yahiro gritted his teeth as he sheathed his knife and turned his back on Sui. It’s not the time for revenge yet…he told himself as he left the container. His mind was clouded, so he did not notice the small whisper as he left. “Dear…Brother…” The girl’s lips trembled as she sighed the words out. A single tear ran down her cheek. Like a child frightened by nightmares. Sui Narusawa cried in her sleep.