7 Ayaho Sashou was woken by frantic announcements and incessant sirens. She sat up, feeling a bit dizzy. The fatigue and slight fever would not leave her body. She was told it had to be mental exhaustion, and so she’d stayed in bed for the last few days. It was convenient for her that way. She wouldn’t have to see Yahiro and Iroha together so long as she stayed cooped up. It hurt her to see those two get along. She was becoming aware of her feelings for Yahiro, not that she was jealous of Iroha or wanted to fight her for him. She realized those two were meant to be. Still, she couldn’t accept it that easily. Maybe telling him her feelings would solve things, but she lacked the courage and hated herself for it. In any case, this was not the time to worry about that. It sounded like fireworks outside—cannon fire. A battle was taking place. The earth shook frequently, so hard it swayed the heavy body of the armored train. She was scared to go out, but she didn’t want to die there alone. Ayaho got off the bed and put on her shoes, still in her pajamas. She tightly gripped the crimson crystal Yahiro had left in her custody and moved to the following car with faltering steps. The door was flung open the next moment. “Ayaho! We’re coming in!” Two people entered from the end of the corridor. A small girl with hair dyed blond and a tall Asian man. “Rinka…and Mr. Wei…?” She found it a strange pairing at first, but soon she realized it was not that weird. For Yang Wei, a Galerie operator, to be guarding Rinka, meant that not even the armored train was safe. The Yáo Guāng Xīng had gotten itself into a dangerous situation while she was in bed. “Thank goodness you’re awake, Ayaho.” “What happened, Rinka…?” She asked her sister two years her junior, trying to keep the anxiety away from her expression. Then Wei cut in. No time for detailed explanations, it seemed. “Sorry, but move to the briefing room in the third car, now. We’re under attack by Moujuu.” “…Moujuu?” Ayaho gave him a look of confusion. After years of living with Iroha, she couldn’t grasp the danger of the situation right away. Yet Wei mistook her confusion for fear. He put on a cool smile and shook his head gently to put her at ease. “Oh, don’t worry. They’re not actually after us. It’s just that you’ll be safer in a better-armored car. Just in case.” “Okay. Um… Thank you, too, for coming, Rinka.” Ayaho smiled weakly. Then Rinka took her hand and pulled her over to the third car. This was the operator’s standby room as well as the briefing room—the second-most secure car after the command center in car number two. Iroha’s siblings were supposed to stay in this car until the Moujuu attack ended, with Wei guarding them, but he was not in the best condition, still wounded after his fight with the Fafnir soldier in Yokohama. “Don’t worry. We’ve got Iroha on our side,” Rinka said cheerfully, concerned about Ayaho’s silence. “Is she outside, fighting?” Ayaho looked out the window. The Moujuu had already gotten inside the station. She could see soldiers, in uniforms she had never seen before, fighting back desperately. The Galerie operators were also there, protecting the Yáo Guāng Xīng. It wouldn’t be strange for Iroha, dragon medium, to be in the middle of the fight. “Not really fighting. She’s trying to talk with the Moujuu like usual. She’ll be fine. Yahiro’s with her,” Rinka replied, full of confidence. “Yahiro’s…with…” Ayaho stopped when his name was casually brought up. Even in this moment, they were together. And Ayako could only watch from afar, for she lacked the power to stand by their side. The fact shook her to her core. “Um, Mr. Wei, who are they…?” Rinka asked with surprise, looking away from Ayaho’s face. Soldiers with strange equipment charged against the Moujuu herd entering the station. They carried oddly big and distorted handguns that still looked incapable of dealing with the giant Moujuu. Ayaho was shocked to see what happened next. The Moujuu melted down like mud upon being shot. The Moujuu herd was frozen over by a surge of cold air fired from the gun. The soldiers’ astounding powers mowed down the giant beasts. Ayaho watched, at a loss for words. The soldiers fought in a style similar to Yahiro’s—facing the spectral beasts with their frail human bodies—but they fought even better than he did. They were trained soldiers, and they did not hesitate to massacre the Moujuu. “The Relict Regalia…?!” Wei muttered as he saw the stones embedded in the back of the soldiers’ hands. “Relict…Regalia…?” Ayaho subconsciously repeated the words. Then her heart pounded harder. She felt something with tremendous pressure flow across her body. The crimson shard she unconsciously still held in her right hand began burning. “Ow?!” “Ayaho?!” Rinka noticed Ayaho crouching and approached her with concern. Ayaho shoved her away and ran in the opposite direction. She instinctively feared she would drag her into whatever was about to happen if she stayed there. Rinka was frozen in shock as a steel-blue blade projected toward her face. Thorns sharp like blades pierced through the walls and floor of the Yáo Guāng Xīng. Endless blades grew all over like quartz pillars in a limestone cave. “That crystal…! Why is Vanagloria’s Regalia showing up here?!” Wei stared in disbelief at the crystal in Ayaho’s hand. The crimson crystal glowed so brightly they could not look directly at it, all the while it let out a shrill vibrating sound that shook the glass all around. The vibration extended to the blades inside the Yáo Guāng Xīng and the armored train itself. “Is it resonating with the CFA’s Relict Regalia?!” Wei ground his teeth as he surmised the cause of the phenomenon. The crimson crystal Yahiro had left in Ayaho’s hands had been dormant up to that point, indistinguishable from a regular rock. But now it appeared to be awakening under the influence of other Relict Regalia activating nearby. “Who…are you?” Ayaho asked the strong presence she felt from the crystal. It did not reply. Instead, something hot flowed into her body. “Th-this isn’t good.” Wei grimaced with desperation as he shielded a terrified Rinka behind his back. The armored train’s floor and walls morphed around Ayaho. Saber Hills and Blade Groves was the name of this Regalia. The mountain dragon could freely manipulate metal refined from minerals and create blades for both attack and defense. Ayaho, however, could not control it. In fact, her fear only made the power go berserk. At this rate, not only Wei and Rinka, but everyone else on the train would be harmed. “U… Waaaah!” Ayaho screamed, crystal in hand. Immediately, a tremendous amount of dragon aura oozed from her body. “Argh!” Wei drew his handgun. The most surefire way of stopping the crystal’s rampage was to get rid of its owner—kill Ayaho. But could he really kill the girl under the protection of Vanagloria’s power with just a handgun? Despite the hesitation, Wei pointed the gun at Ayaho’s forehead. Then, before he could pull the trigger, someone grabbed his gun from the side. “Stay back, Galerie Berith.” “Auguste Nathan…?!” Wei frowned as he looked up at the man. Nathan paid him no heed and walked up to the anguished Ayaho. The crystal acted in self-preservation and shot a barrage of blades at him. He brushed them aside with his bare hand. The shrill sound of steel breaking pierced their eardrums as Ayaho’s defenseless form was revealed. “…!” Ayaho looked up with fear, and Nathan gave her a calm smile. The next moment, she slammed into the floor. Nathan had swept her legs out from under her without moving a finger and knocked her unconscious. Rinka screamed at the sight of the heartless act, and even Wei, who had been intent on shooting her dead, winced. Nathan ignored them as he walked over to Ayaho’s limp body in silence. “Who would’ve thought you’d be compatible with the Relict Regalia…” Nathan sighed. As he looked at her, he noticed the crimson crystal was no longer in Ayaho’s hands. In its place was a tattoo on her arm: an eerie, scarlet pattern like the marks of a dragon’s claws. 8 Miyabi Maisaka sat in the cabin of a black military chopper. Nina Himekawa and Hisaki Minato accompanied her. They had saved her from Acedia’s medium, Sumika Kiyotaki, and her Lazarus, Zen Sagara’s, pursuit. They were now heading west. As expected of a Ganzheit craft, despite the crude exterior, the cabin was luxurious and comfortable. It had thick, cozy seats and was surprisingly soundproof for a helicopter. There was also a large display at the front, which at that moment showed a white-haired old man wearing a frock coat. “Looks like you got the job done, Nina.” His hoarse voice came through the speakers. Nina nodded and waved amicably at the camera on top of the display. “I diiid… We got Maisaka saaafe and sooound.” “Thank you. Douji Yamase died without leaving a Relict Regalia behind. We couldn’t lose Ira’s medium like this.” “Hee-hee, I knooow. And I’m hoping for a gooood reward.” “We’ll try to live up to your expectations.” The old man nodded solemnly while Nina maintained her usual expression. Hisaki remained beside her in silence. The old man silently observed them, his gray eyes showing no emotion. “Although you would have come in contact with Miyabi Maisaka even without our request. Am I wrong?” “Maybe so, since she is one of us. But you helped out with the chopper!” “…I see. You’re as smart as they say, Nina Himekawa.” “Don’t worry. My wish won’t get in the way of your goals. Maaaybe.” Nina smiled. The old man beyond the screen kept his expression unchanged. “Let’s hope so, Luxuria’s medium.” He gave Miyabi one glance before cutting off the call. The display went dark and silence returned to the soundproof cabin. “…That was Alfred Salas, from the Salas Foundation, wasn’t it? I believe he’s CERG’s board chairman,” Miyabi asked Nina once the call ended. Nina turned to look at her and narrowed her eyes. “Yes. He’s a descendant of merchants of death—people who amassed fortune by selling bombs in past wars.” “Sounds like you don’t like your employer.” Miyabi smiled wryly at the woman’s ruthless description. CERG—the European Organization for Graviton Research—was Nina’s patron. It was thanks to Alfred Salas that she, as a Japanese person, could live freely in her country now. And they pushed work on her in return, such as picking Miyabi up. “But it’s fine. Now I know why you saved me. Salas couldn’t be closer to the core of Ganzheit.” “You sure know a lot… You’re not a journalist for nothing, I suppose.” Nina’s eyes widened in admiration. However, Miyabi knew the flattery was empty. Ganzheit’s composition was top secret, but once you got inside the organization, it was not that hard to look into. Especially when you had the title of dragon medium. “Should we really have left Zen Sagara and Sumika Kiyotaki behind?” Miyabi asked as she looked back. After she neutralized them with the gas, Nina didn’t try to take them along. Miyabi found it strange that she would leave them on the abandoned building’s rooftop. “I was not ordered to capture them,” she said cheerfully. “And to be honest, I can’t actually handle their powers. I can neutralize them like you saw, but killing them’s another thing entirely. All the Lazaruses are way too tough.” “Yes… I know.” Miyabi chuckled and shrugged. Zen Sagara came back after being thrown into a Ploutonion, and Yahiro Narusawa turned himself back into a human after being halfway transformed into a dragon. Killing a Lazarus under protection of their dragon medium was not easy, even with the power of another dragon medium. “I must say I’m surprised. I pegged you as more arrogant and egocentric, Nina Himekawa,” Miyabi said provocatively as she pulled her hair up. Hisaki frowned immediately; he could not stand hearing Nina get criticized. Nina herself, on the other hand, shook her head without a care. “You’re not that wrong. I didn’t save you for Salas’s sake, but mine, you see.” “What do you mean? Salas also implied the same thing…” Miyabi got on the defensive. Nina smiled but it didn’t reach her eyes. “There’s something I want to confirm, and I won’t let you go until I can hear it.” “How scary. I don’t think there’s anything I could tell you that you don’t already know.” “But there iiis… Something only you can tell us, because you are the oldest of the dragon mediums we know about. I’m twenty-two, by the way.” Nina made two V-signs and shoved them in Miyabi’s face. The boastful gesture irritated her. “…You sure you’re not looking for a fight?” “I am most definitely not.” Nina shook her head, offended. Miyabi sighed. “What do you want to know?” “Let’s seeee… How abouuut you tell us where you were nine years ago?” “…Nine years ago?” Miyabi blinked at the random topic. “Yes. Five years before the J-nocide. Around the time Sui Narusawa and Iroha Mamana were seven or eight. I doubt they’ve forgotten everything, but I imagine their memories are hazy.” Nina peered into Miyabi’s eyes. “Us, though, we can remember clearly.” “Nina Himekawa… What are you…?” Miyabi felt the hair on the back of her neck stand on end. Nine years prior, Nina Himekawa was already thirteen. And Miyabi was seventeen. Naturally, she vividly remembered what happened to her that day. What happened in the world before then. “Would you mind telling me about what you remember of the previous world, Ms. Miyabi Maisaka?” Nina asked in a serious tone. A heavy silence filled the cabin. The jet-black chopper continued its flight westward as the dusk dyed the sky bloodred.
Chapter 51
12 min read