Chapter 69

Rosé recovered her calm and joyfully sang, “La vengeance est un plat qui se mange froid. Revenge is most satisfying when served after you’ve forgotten about it, Iroha.” “Huh?” Rosé, normally reserved, muttered with a flood of emotion: “It is time for revenge.” 3 The first change Yahiro noticed was a quake. There was an intermittent shaking like an omen before a big earthquake, but the thunderous roar that followed told him it was caused by an explosion. Someone was bombing the armored vehicles in the Galerie’s camp. “Cannon fire? No…bombs? What’s going on outside?” The hotel’s windows rattled from the blast’s shock wave. The explosions filled the night sky with bright white flashes from time to time. A disaster was taking place around the Kyoto Station. One could also hear a scattered noise like rain—probably machine-gun fire. “Sounds like Rosy began the revolt,” Giuli said. “Revolt?” Yahiro was worried, but the girl was smiling. “The Far East Branch betrayed HQ. No, that’s not the right term. We never were on that man’s side.” “What?” Yahiro looked at her with confusion. Giuli was a Galerie executive, and the owner had just praised her achievements, but now she declared the company was their enemy. How could he not be confused? Before Yahiro could process it, gunfire sounded in the hotel hallway. The wall immediately began crumbling. The guards screamed as rubble fell over them in a shower of bullets. They were nonlethal rubber bullets, but enough to neutralize. Yahiro was frozen in place as the attackers who defeated the guards came into the room. He yelped at the sight of them. It was Yang Wei’s squad, and Iroha’s siblings. “There he is! Yahiro!” “Ayaho, over here!” The first to find him were Ren and Rinka. The older girl in the sailor uniform hurried behind them when she heard her name called. “Yahiro, are you okay?!” “Ayaho… Why are you here…?” Yahiro was bewildered by the dagger drenched with scarlet in Ayaho’s hand. It was Ayaho’s Regalia that had wrecked the wall and taken down the operators. They were there to help Yahiro escape. He couldn’t believe that they would make such a dangerous decision on their own. “Giulietta asked me to wait for her signal, then break through the wall of the room you were locked up in.” “Giuli…? Why?” He glared at her. Giuli shrugged with a chuckle. She seemed to be enjoying Yahiro’s confusion. “Nathan told you, didn’t he? There’s no loyalty in Ganzheit.” “But your efforts were recognized. They gave you a promotion… Even Josh was happy to hear you got a bonus.” “Josh was a cop.” “Y-yeah?” Yahiro was taken aback by the change in topic, but Giuli paid no attention as she continued. “Josh had this childhood friend who was drugged and locked up by a cartel. As an undercover cop infiltrating the cartel, he found her and tried to save her.” Giuli paused and shook her head. That was enough to know how the story ended. Josh quit the police and became a PMC operator. “You know who was behind that cartel? Eusebius Berith.” “So Josh…joined the Galerie for revenge…?” Josh had been friendly with Yahiro and attentive with the kids from the moment they met. Hearing about the man’s tragic past left Yahiro at a loss for words. “Paola’s hometown was razed in a coup by an armed group Galerie sold weapons to. Wei’s brother was a politician before he was jailed on false charges and killed in prison because he tried to uncover the corruption of a minister backed by Eusebius. Everyone in the Far East Branch has been through something similar. Rosy and I gathered people like this on purpose. Including you.” She looked into his eyes. Right? If Ganzheit’s warmonger faction provoked Sui to cause the J-nocide, then Giuli was right—Yahiro was also a victim of Eusebius Berith. And that would explain why they insisted on getting him to join them. “Let’s go then, Yahiro. It’s time for revenge. We’re gonna help Karura Myoujiin, right?” “…All right. But what about Nathan’s bomb?” “Bomb? Oh, you mean this?” Nathan stood up and grabbed the collar on his neck, then pulled it off before Yahiro could stop him. “Nathan…?!” A flash dyed Yahiro’s vision white. The sensor in Nathan’s collar activated and triggered the explosion. A blast shook the air. Yet the shock wave was far smaller than Yahiro imagined. The explosion was contained in a sphere floating before Nathan’s eyes, then the remaining fragments fell to the floor. Only the smell of gunpowder remained. “I can’t stop the explosion, but I can suppress the impact. I wouldn’t use this method to escape unless in the middle of a commotion like this, though. It’s too flashy,” Nathan said, like it was nothing. “Your Regalia again… You’re crazy, man…” Yahiro sighed in bewilderment. The power of the Relict in Nathan’s body was that of an invisible repelling barrier. He contained the shock wave of the explosion by shaping it into a sphere. He could have taken off the bomb and escaped at any moment. He simply didn’t because he found it unnecessary. “No troubles now. Let’s go meet with Rosy,” Giuli said once the bomb was dealt with. Yahiro nodded with a frown. Gunfire could still be heard outside the hotel, the sound of Galerie operators—humans—fighting each other. Yahiro asked himself, could he fight a normal human? Not even a Lazarus, let alone a Fafnir soldier. Should he be taking lives when he couldn’t die himself? Giuli read his mind and poked his back. “Don’t worry. You don’t have to kill any humans.” “Huh?” “HQ’s operators are all pro mercenaries. They don’t do any job outside their contracts. They were hired to fight Moujuu and rival organizations. There’s no reason for them to join a House Berith infight. Not unless they’re attacked first.” “Then who is Rosé fighting against?” “That man’s—Eusebius Berith’s direct subordinates. And it sounds like that’s done already.” A bigger gunshot sounded and one man on the street was blown away. A precise sniper shot from an anti-materiel rifle. The bullet pierced the authoritative-looking man during a momentary opening as he tried to board a tank. Naturally, it was Rosé’s doing. Only she could shoot a bullet with the precision to hit in the small gap of a tank’s hatch. The fight ceased with the commander’s death. HQ’s operators threw away their weapons one after the other, and silence returned to the surroundings. “Is it…over?” Yahiro muttered, worried that it seemed to end a little too quickly. Even if the Far East Branch was meticulously prepared, could they really defeat HQ so easily? Wei, who had escorted Ayaho and the kids there, responded to Yahiro’s question. “There’s little resistance because Eusebius himself isn’t here. He is commanding the attack on the Myoujiin.” Come to think of it, there were few operators and tanks in the camp. Eusebius had already taken half of his troops to encircle the Myoujiin. “And that’s how the revolt succeeded?” “Unfortunately, yes. We must admit that the revolt only took place because victory was assured.” “Rosé.” Rosé jumped off the building she had sniped from, holding the rifle in her arms. “Well, our revenge is only beginning. Good job, Rosy.” “Thanks. Once we finish negotiating with the operators who surrendered, we’ll go after Eusebius. You’re coming, right, Yahiro?” “Of course,” he replied without hesitation. The rest of the operators moved on to prepare for the following operation without a moment to rest. Eusebius didn’t know about the twins’ revolt yet. The Far East Branch would be at an overwhelming disadvantage if he noticed and called for reinforcements. They had to take care of him first. They were running against time now that the rebellion had begun. “Yahiro!” Iroha ran through the crowd of operators busily moving every which way, two Moujuu following behind her. Without stopping, she threw her arms around Yahiro. A vein appeared on Ayaho’s temple and Ren and Rinka gasped. Iroha didn’t notice the kids behind him and just looked up at Yahiro point-blank with teary eyes. “Thank goodness you’re okay. I was so worried…” “Y-yeah… Good to see you’re fine, too,” Yahiro replied nervously, hyperaware of his contact with Iroha’s surprisingly delicate body and her sweet smell. “I had Nuemaru and Kuro with me, after all.” She let go of Yahiro and proudly picked up the two Moujuu at her feet. Suddenly, she frowned and looked around. “So where’s Sui? Is she okay?” “No… She…” “She isn’t here, unfortunately. They already took her,” Rosé responded instead. “According to the transmitter on her life-support device, she is heading in the direction of Osaka. They must be taking her to the Melora Electronics lab.” “Melora… The bunch who were researching the Relicts in Nagoya, right?” “Yes. After Liu Ryland’s failure, the research department of Melora fell under Ganzheit’s control. That would be the best place to treat Sui Narusawa.” Melora Electronics was a multinational corporation from the Chinese Federation that investigated technology to artificially reproduce Relict Regalia. They got on the Galerie’s bad side after trying to steal Ayaho’s Vanagloria’s Relict. They had already dissolved as a company, but the technology they were researching was useful. Ganzheit went for it and bought their research division. “Can we reach them in time?” “Paola’s squad is already following them. We’re sending reinforcements, too, so they should have enough manpower,” Rosé reassured Yahiro. He was still terribly desperate, but he sighed and tried to relax. The current priority was Ganzheit’s attack on the Heavenly Imperial House. He understood the focus wasn’t on Sui. There was also no guarantee that he would be able to reach them in time, so it was better to leave that up to Paola. Then, the black Moujuu in Iroha’s arms began to tremble horribly. “Whoa?! Wh-what happened, Karura?!” The Moujuu left Karura’s control for a moment and tried to escape Iroha’s arms, but she held it tight. It quickly calmed, but the twins did not let Iroha’s comment slip by. “Karura? Are you Karura Myoujiin?” “Huh, you’re hairier than I expected. And what a big mouth you have.” Rosé and Giuli weren’t particularly surprised as they addressed the black Moujuu. “Not to eat you with, so don’t worry. Giulietta Berith, Rosetta Berith.” Karura concluded there was no need to hide it any longer and spoke through the Moujuu. Despite her joking response, there was a hint of anxiety in her voice. “I would’ve preferred to introduce myself over some tea, but there is trouble.” “Trouble?” Rosé repeated, looking at Kuro. The trouble must have had to do with why she lost control of the Moujuu, meaning something had affected her Regalia in the Myoujiin territory. Karura sighed and confirmed it. “It appears Miyabi Maisaka has joined the Ganzheit troops surrounding the Myoujiin.” “Miyabi Maisaka… Ira’s medium?” “She can cancel the illusory barrier with her power to control the wind. We cannot stop Ganzheit’s invasion.” “So there isn’t much time left before the Heavenly Imperial House falls?” “There is some history between Miyabi Maisaka and the Heavenly Imperial House…or rather, me, personally.” Karura’s tone turned self-deprecating. Miyabi Maisaka had said she once invaded Heavenly Imperial territory. She met Karura and went through a battle so fierce it draconized her right eye and left leg. This was the history between them. Now, with the help of Ganzheit, she had Karura cornered. “Got it. Let’s split up, Rosy,” Giuli decided with a clap. She knew there was no time to waste. “Yes. You take Yahiro and Iroha to the Myoujiin, then. I’ll wrap things up here in the camp before going after Sui Narusawa. Is that okay, Yahiro?” Rosé looked at him. Honestly, he couldn’t stop thinking about Sui, but his Lazarus powers were indispensable for fighting Miyabi Maisaka. “Okay. Take care of her, Rosé.” Yahiro felt weird after saying that. He sounded like a brother worried about his sister. “Let’s go, Kuro… I mean, Karura,” Iroha told the black Moujuu and smiled broadly. Karura looked at Iroha with fascination through the Moujuu’s eyes. 4 Paola Resente found the corps transporting Sui Narusawa near the border between Kyoto and Osaka. The university ahead had a medical facility used by Melora Electronics. Eusebius’s men meant to take Sui Narusawa to the former university site for experimentation. “We caught up to them, ma’am,” said a big, tough-looking man. Paola’s subordinates were mostly men too chivalrous for this day and age. I wish they would stop calling me that, Paola thought while asking for details. “How many?” “Three Strykers, one of which is equipped with a medical module.” “That’s…fewer than expected.” “There are no more vehicles within three miles. Let’s just be grateful for this blessing.” “Okay. Send the drone to attack, but don’t hit the one with the medical module.” “Roger.” Paola’s subordinate sent the orders to the AI-controlled drone, which was already airborne. It shot two explosive air-to-surface missiles that had been developed to assassinate dignitaries. Still, they were over 45 kilograms and flew at nearly 400 kph, making them capable of neutralizing armored vehicles. The two missiles equipped with laser guides hit the two vehicles. One of them overturned. The other, at the rear, spun into the road shoulder. The center vehicle with the medical module stopped as the others were incapacitated. Paola’s armored vehicle accelerated toward the enemy squad. “Everyone prepare for combat. Take them down,” Paola commanded as she picked up her trusty rifle. Squad Two pursuing Sui Narusawa consisted of only nine people, Paola included. Although the enemy forces were smaller than expected, they couldn’t afford to let the battle drag on. Better to subdue them in the chaos from the surprise attack. “Galerie’s Far East Branch Sergeant Major Paola Resente here. Cyrille Ghislain, can you hear me?” Paola called the enemy commander via radio while her men left the vehicle to surround them. “Giuli and Rosé order you to disarm and surrender. We’ll give you thirty seconds,” she added while calculating how long it would take to encircle them. She didn’t seriously think Cyrille would surrender. She was only buying time to secure their advantage. However, contrary to her expectations, the enemy counterattacked. An operator came out of the armored vehicles with a giant gun in hand. They fired without aiming at Paola’s soldiers—and they didn’t fire bullets. The ground they shot at rose explosively, countless blades emerging from below. Paola jumped off the vehicle before the blades pierced it. “Boss!” “I’m fine. Return fire.” Paola shot at the enemy without hesitation as soon as she stood from the cracked asphalt. Her subordinates attacked at the same time. The gunner was hit by dozens of bullets and blown away. And yet, the operator survived. They rose like a zombie drenched in fresh blood. Lazarus-tier regeneration. “Goodness… Lady Giulietta and Lady Rosetta have rebelled? Are you here for Sui Narusawa?” A butler jumped down from the medical module–equipped armored vehicle. Cyrille Ghislain looked at the encirclement and shook his head. “I am surprised at the timing, but infighting in House Berith is basically tradition. You think Monsieur Eusebius wouldn’t be prepared?” “Relict Deservers…” Paola muttered as she shielded herself behind the armored vehicle. Their opponents were operators with the power of a pseudo-Regalia achieved by mass-producing artificial copies of the Relict. Their combat skills far exceeded those of regular soldiers. It was only natural that Galerie Berith’s HQ would have obtained the artificial Relict technology after seizing Melora’s lab. Sui Narusawa’s transport forces only seemed thin because they had Relict Deservers with them. Indeed, multiple. Four more operators exited the vehicle to join the first. All of them held giant handguns equipped with artificial Relicts. “I will give you a warning. Disarm and surrender. We don’t intend to hold you accountable for Lady Giulietta and Lady Rosetta’s orders,” Cyrille said calmly, sure of his overwhelming advantage. Yet Paola only glared glacially back at him. “We’re not just…following orders.” “Hmm?” “We’re from the Darren Republic. Are you familiar with a place called San Cabezas?” “Cabezas… I see, so it’s a personal grudge.” Cyrille sighed, unamused. He remembered the name of the town that had been wiped off the map with the weapons they sold. The massacre there had left that big of an impression. “Then I shall try to persuade you no more. We’ll show you mercy by sending you to your fellow countrymen. Die.” “Only one dying here is you.” Paola pointed her gun at Cyrille. The Deservers guarding Cyrille all aimed at Paola and pulled their triggers. The armored vehicle would not save her and her men from their Regalia. But the attack didn’t work. A giant explosion blew them away before it activated. “Wha…?!” Cyrille scowled in pain under the boiling vapor. An explosion of steam blew his underlings away. The water that had accumulated in the ditch on the side of the road boiled, expanded suddenly, and blew up. “Yes. Just as Rosetta Berith said, artificial Relicts lack power and precision compared to the real thing.” “But don’t you think their guns look kinda cool? Look at that sick shine!” A man and a woman appeared from behind Paola, commenting casually as they regarded the Deservers thwarted by the explosion. One was a tall boy with a serious look on his face. The other was a girl wearing a flashy school uniform. The boy shot liquified cold from the point of his Western-style sword to freeze the Deservers before they could regenerate. “Acedia’s medium and Lazarus…! What are Sumika Kiyotaki and Zen Sagara doing here?!” Calm disappeared from Cyrille’s face for the first time. This pair was unrelated to the Galerie; there was no reason to expect them to be here. “What do you think? They hired us. You think we weren’t gonna help a friend in need?” Sumika replied, baffled by the question. “I personally don’t like helping Narusawa, but I owe Iroha Mamana,” Zen grumbled. Zen and Sumika had been pursuing Miyabi Maisaka on their own and ultimately arrived in Kyoto around the time the Far East Branch began their revolt. Somehow, Rosé had been following their movements and asked for help to take Sui Narusawa back. Zen and Sumika’s ties to her left them with no choice but to accept. In the end, they joined Paola’s troop to face Cyrille. “Help a friend in need…?” Cyrille glared at them in disbelief. House Berith used even its own flesh and blood as mere tools; he could not understand why they would act without regard for loss and gain. “The twins had already considered that Ganzheit had mass-produced Relicts. Of course we would take countermeasures. Ready to die now, Cyrille Ghislain?” Paola gave one last warning. “You guarantee my safety if I surrender?” Cyrille asked with resignation as he reached for his pocket handkerchief with his right hand. “Of course,” Paola said while simultaneously pulling the trigger. She aimed not for his right, but his left hand. It was obvious he was trying to call attention to his right while drawing his gun with his left. Before he could, Paola’s bullet blew it off, wrist and all. “Y-you whore…!” Cyrille shrieked while holding his bloody left arm. The artificial Relict–encrusted handgun fell to the ground. He tried to pick it back up, but Paola fired again. “Giuli and Rosé said not to trust you in the slightest, Cyrille Ghislain.” Paola’s subordinates fired in unison as soon as she finished talking. Cyrille’s body spun in the air as dozens of bullets ravaged him. And still he did not die. In fact, his body doubled in size as hard, reptilian scales grew over it. “He lived… That’s no Relict…! The F-med…?!” Paola scowled as she observed the transformation. The forbidden drug that draconized a soldier’s body by utilizing the dragon factor extracted from a medium’s blood—the Fafnir med. Cyrille took it to extend his life and obtain supernatural power. “You…plebeians…!” Cyrille roared, baring his giant fangs. He dashed forward, charging at Paola as soon as there was a pause in the concentrated gunfire. “Zen!” “I got it! Icefall!” Zen used his Regalia again. He liquified the air current and manipulated it to smash into Cyrille. The butler-turned-Fafnir soldier’s body froze over until he became an ice sculpture. Still, he fought containment, determined to attack Paola. “It’s over.” Paola put a bullet between Cyrille’s bloodshot eyes. The butler’s frozen body was smashed to pieces at the cellular level. Not even a Fafnir soldier could survive that. “You okay, ma’am?” “Yes. What about our objective?” Paola asked her worried subordinate. “We’ve secured the target, but would you mind making sure it is her?” HQ’s operators had surrendered after Cyrille’s death. Paola’s subordinates captured them and opened the hatch of the medical module in the armored vehicle. “Sui Narusawa. She’s still asleep?” Zen frowned. He had mixed feelings about seeing Sui connected to life support. She was not an object of protection for him—she was a target of hatred. However, because he had heard she was the key in resurrecting the Japanese, he could not kill her. Spitting curses at her would do nothing, either, as she was unconscious. Zen was having trouble sorting out his clashing emotions. “We won! Gotta tell Iroha and put her at ease.” Sumika grinned and took out her phone. She snapped a picture of Sui and added a filter while Zen and Paola watched, baffled. Then their expressions stiffened in fear. Paola didn’t need to be a dragon medium to physically feel the potent dragon aura. “Sumika!” “Huh?! What?!” Zen grabbed Sumika and threw himself to the ground with her. Paola dropped subconsciously—her instincts honed in battle told her she would die otherwise. A thunderbolt dyed the surroundings white. The ground shook. The blast blew the armored vehicle with the medical module away, and Sui was thrown to the ground, along with her stretcher and life support. “Argh…” Paola grimaced in pain as debris rained down on her. Galerie Berith’s operators were equally taken down by the blast. Paola had no idea what happened. It was as though lightning had struck, but there was no rain or storm clouds. Dust whirled madly after the blast and someone appeared from the eye of the storm. A young couple. “Ha-ha, she’s really here. Sui Narusawa. I told you, Kaname.” “Yes. I suppose we could trust that old man’s intel after all.” The two of them spoke with inappropriate glee, enveloped in dense dragon aura. A gaunt, short boy and a pretty girl in a hakama skirt were relaxed enough to seem defenseless, and yet they struck fear in Paola. It was as though she was staring at a wild beast free from its cage. “Who…are you…?” Still hunched with one knee on the ground, Paola glared at them. The girl in the hakama glanced at the boy beside her before bowing gracefully. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Galerie Berith. Acedia’s medium. My name is Kaname Kashima. This is Toru Natazuka. We are Tristitia’s medium and her Lazarus.” “We’re taking Sui Narusawa off your hands. Oh, but first…” The boy looked at them with a languid expression that changed into an eerie, hollow smile. “How about we take this opportunity to kill you?” 5 A bluish-white flash enveloped Toru Natazuka’s body the moment he finished speaking. High-voltage lightning ripped through the air as it scattered indiscriminately. “Sumika, come!” “Zen?!” Zen pulled Sumika close and unfolded all the dragon aura he could to resist Natazuka’s inescapable lightning strike. He pulled a mass of water from underground and created a giant ice wall. The water on the ice’s surface worked as a conductor to divert the lightning to the ground. Zen exhaled heavily, pale in the face. He was lucky that the battle took place by a river. The pair with the water dragon’s powers would have been defeated had they come across Natazuka somewhere dry. “Oh, you blocked that? Impressive.” Natazuka stared at Zen, his eyes glowing in response to the resistance. “Let’s see how you deal with this, then…” Natazuka raised his hands in front of his chest and created an electric sphere between his palms. The tremendous voltage turned the air within the sphere into plasma, taking the shape of scorching flames. One could only imagine the amount of heat that would spread to the surroundings were this fire released. Driven by terror, Zen launched a stream of liquified air at Natazuka. The lukewarm water spear missed Natazuka as he dodged with lightning speed. “What was that? That’s it?” Zen was paralyzed with fear when he heard Natazuka’s voice come from behind. Natazuka’s movements, enveloped in lightning, were too fast for Zen’s attack to keep up. Natazuka reached his electrified arm toward Zen, who was at a loss. Zen’s ice wall would be useless if Natazuka poured the electric current into him directly. Nothing guaranteed that his Lazarus powers could regenerate his body if it burned on a cellular level. Even if he managed to survive, it would take him too long to recover. However, Natazuka’s right hand did not reach Zen’s body. His whole arm was blown off at the shoulder before it could. Paola Resente and her subordinates shot cover fire with their high-caliber anti-Moujuu rifles. Natazuka clicked his tongue while holding his razed right shoulder. “Get rid of those pests, Kaname,” he groaned as he looked at Paola’s rifle. Their fire continued, but no bullet hit him again. A powerful electric field whirled around him to divert their trajectories with electromagnetic induction. “Very well. I shall take them on.” The hakama-clad girl, Kaname Kashima, unwrapped the long weapon she held in her arms. A jet-black naginata, a polearm with a beautiful mother-of-pearl inlay. Zen and the rest were bewildered that one would try to use one naginata to fight PMC operators who were armed with cutting-edge rifles. But the next moment, Kaname launched herself with superhuman speed at the Galerie. “Sumika!” Zen shouted. He noticed the attacking girl was aiming for her fellow dragon medium. Sumika was ignorant in matters of battle; she could not keep up with Kaname’s speed. She could only stay frozen in place, waiting to be killed, until Paola saved her. Paola stepped into Kaname’s path and stopped the naginata with her rifle. Sparks erupted at the clash, and Paola’s rifle was sliced in half—too powerful a strike from what one would expect from Kaname’s slight stature. “Watch out. Stand back,” Paola warned Sumika. “Not bad, for a human.” Kaname spun the naginata with the momentum of the recoil. Paola dodged the butt-end strike coming from below while pulling out a handgun and knife. Her CQC stance was masterful. This style would compensate for the knife’s short reach with her gun. However, Kaname had the upper hand with the thunder dragon’s speed; she could easily dodge bullets, even at point-blank range. “Ma’am!” The naginata’s blade made a shallow cut on Paola’s right shoulder. Her subordinate yelled at the sight of fresh blood. The scream stole Zen’s attention from where he was battling Natazuka, and the latter did not miss his chance. “Looking away? Are you kidding me?” “Argh?!” Natazuka charged with lightning speed again and unleashed a flash before Zen’s eyes. Zen’s shocked muscles stiffened, making him unable to block. Yet, as though Zen planned this, he created a giant shock wave and an explosion of steam in an effort to at least bring it to a tie. Natazuka was blown backward by the oppressive vapor. “Zen?!” “I’m…fine! What about him?!” Zen propped himself up with his sword, terrible burns all over his body. Zen gave the explosion some directionality, and still came out injured. Natazuka couldn’t possibly be unharmed. “Ha-ha! Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! So you can fight after all!” Natazuka stood back up despite the foul smell of burned flesh, a smile of unbridled joy carved into his face. “Zen, was it? You’ve killed, haven’t you? And not just one or two people.” “Shut your mouth…” Zen’s shoulders trembled at Natazuka’s cutting remark. Yes, Zen had killed before, during the intense era of the Japanese Hunt. Zen had been sheltered by a small religious organization in southern Europe and worked as a soldier there. He had given refuge to Japanese people stranded overseas, but the religious organization was run by a local criminal group. They gathered the Japanese to sell them as toys for the rich, workers in the sex industry, or organ donors. The Japanese people Zen put his life on the line to save were tools for profit. When he found out, despair and wrath overtook him, and he swore revenge. He massacred everyone in the religious organization and took down the criminal group’s top brass one by one. Naturally, a single Japanese survivor couldn’t annihilate a criminal organization. Zen would have run out of power and died in the middle of his quest for revenge had he not met Sumika right after she awakened as a dragon medium. These were terrible memories he could never forget. Natazuka toyed with his pain as he cackled and asked, “What’re you mad about? Am I wrong?” “I said shut up! What the hell do you know about me?” “I know how fun it must’ve been. How good it felt, crushing the weak under your overwhelming power.” “You bastard…!” Flooded with fury, Zen unleashed his Regalia. Piping-hot steam surrounded Natazuka to boil him alive, but he escaped before the heat reached its peak. “Zen! Don’t listen to that nut!” “Nut…? You know we’re birds of a feather.” Natazuka had a hurt look on his face as he replied to Sumika’s attempt to calm Zen down. Then, he popped up behind Zen and whispered to him with lips curled. “Or do you think yourself a superhero?” “—?!” Zen wavered. He had thought himself a savior of Japanese people, but only ended up making their lives worse. The mistake left a scar deep within him that Natazuka was now gouging with precision. He struck at the Lazarus’s only weak point—his heart. But… “Zen…! Don’t forget you saved me, Zen!” Sumika shouted as she witnessed tattered Zen stand against Natazuka’s fierce attack. She was only one person, but one person who was demonstrably saved by Zen’s actions. Without regard for his own life, Zen had rescued her from the brothel she had been sold to—in her eyes, he was undeniably a superhero. Her genuine feelings restored his will to fight. Zen’s Regalia boosted its power in response to Sumika’s trust. “Tsk. You’re stubborn. Haah… What a drag!” Natazuka sighed, unamused by this show of their unwavering bond. What killed the “hero,” the Dragon Slayer, was the oath between a dragon medium and Lazarus. Once broken, it turned into a curse. The Lazaruses lost their immortality the moment they lost their dragon medium’s trust. Zen would not lose his oath to Sumika so long as he remained her hero. Annoyed by the realization, Natazuka glared at Sumika behind Zen’s back. “Fine. I just have to kill Acedia’s medium first, then.” Lightning enveloped Natazuka’s body as he groaned. Electric Goreclad. In exchange for giving up all defense, it gave the Lazarus acceleration beyond belief. “Stop, Natazuka!” Zen yelled as he noticed the man was aiming for Sumika. Natazuka shook his head with a sadistic smile on his face. “No way.” Zen created an ice barrier to protect Sumika, but Natazuka broke through it with ease. Zen’s Regalia wasn’t fast enough to keep up with the attack. But just as Natazuka began to taste victory, his ears were greeted not by Sumika’s death screech, but by Kaname’s fearful cry. “Toru!” “Huh? What?” Natazuka stopped for one moment, and a white flash pierced his torso. It was a snake; a phantasm of a snake, without a real body. It had the girth of a human arm, and gnawed his side. “What?! A snake?! What the…? Where did it…?” Natazuka tried brushing it away with his electrified arm, but the snake squirmed before he could, as though swallowing something. In that moment, the electricity covering Natazuka’s body weakened as all dragon aura left him. “You… Sui Narusawa…?!” Natazuka turned around with a stagger. The snake was a strand of hair. Sui Narusawa was on the ground after Natazuka’s attack blew her stretcher away. Strands of her long white hair turned into a snake, as though it had come alive. The snake cracked like a whip and pulled a chunk of muscle from Natazuka’s side. All electricity surrounding his body vanished as a screech of agony escaped his throat. “You…piece of shit! Fuck, fucking bitch!” Natazuka fell to his knees and the white snake wrapped around him again. He tried to hit it with a lightning strike, but only a few sparks came out of his hands. “Get away from him, you monster!” Kaname turned her back on Paola and charged at the snake with her naginata held high. The phantasmagorical snake writhed as it released Natazuka’s body, taking a huge reserve of dragon factor from the Lazarus with it. “Gwah…” Natazuka spat out a clump of blood. Kaname ran up to him and propped him up. “We’re leaving. Can you jump, Toru?” “Fuck… You’re gonna pay…for this…” Natazuka glared vile daggers at Sui. Sui opened her eyes and slowly stood up, unfazed by the glare. Her characteristic red eyes looked down on bloody Natazuka with glacial scorn. The snake phantom was already gone, but the overpowering aura remained around her. Even Sumika and Zen, equal dragon medium and Lazarus, were overwhelmed. “Guh…!” Natazuka couldn’t move at lightning speed with his Regalia now. Kaname knew this and used her own bit of Tristitia’s power. She enveloped both of them in bluish-white lightning before running away at high speed. Using that much power would be a huge load on her non-Lazarus body, but she had to do it to escape. Sui watched them go with an unchanging expression. Then, barefoot, she took a leisurely step forward. “Wait. Where are you going, Sui Narusawa?” Zen called out to her with a hoarse voice. Sui just woke up from a coma; she shouldn’t have much energy. And yet, Zen felt a chilling dread in the pit of his stomach. Sui just dealt with Natazuka as if she were swatting a fly. There was no guarantee she wouldn’t do the same with Zen. Sui looked at them with indifference, then laughed. An array of small Ploutonions appeared around her, and Moujuu came crawling in droves from within. The Moujuu were driven by senseless ire to attack them. “Sui Narusawa…!” The howls of the emerging Moujuu drowned out Zen’s yell. Sui disappeared with the mob into the dark.