— — — — — —
A crimson mist of blood swept down from the sky, slamming into the vehicle. In the blink of an eye, it swallowed the entire car whole.
As the bloody haze churned and spread, a monstrous creature half human, half bird emerged from within it, letting out a shriek steeped in raw sorcery.
A familiar— Also known as Beast Vassal.
In the world of Strike the Blood, vampires themselves weren't especially impressive. Their physiques were unremarkable, their magic reserves limited, their speed nothing to brag about.
And yet, through their familiars, they became the undisputed apex of demonkind.
And right now, without warning, one such familiar had launched an attack on Ryo's vehicle.
"Oi, oi, oi! You're not planning to take Shizurin down with him too, right?!"
On the roadside, inside a residential building less than six hundred meters from the attack site—
A beastkin girl with brown cat ears stared at the engulfed vehicle, then screamed at the tall girl beside her.
The girl in a sailor uniform, with long jet-black hair, amber eyes, and a graceful figure, merely glanced at her once before turning her attention back to the demonic bird familiar in the distance.
"Don't just ignore me like that!" the cat-eared girl, Yuno Amase, yelled, tugging at her hair in frustration.
"Calm down, Yuno," said the armored man beside them, shorter but solidly built, his tone grave. "If you're not prepared to take out the hostage along with the target, you won't be able to save Shizuri."
"WTF!" Yuno snapped back. "What kind of Russian-style rescue op are you pulling?!"
The three of them were upperclassmen from Onrai Island's Magical Arts College, elites whose overall strength ranked near the top of the entire school.
They were acting together this time due to an emergency summons from their instructor.
"There's no need to show mercy to terrorists who've invaded Onrai Island," Shido Okurayama said sternly.
"I already told you, Shizurin is inside that car!" Yuno screamed, on the verge of losing it.
Just then, Nozomi Kamikiba let out a muffled groan.
"What's wrong?" x2
Shido and Yuno, who had been arguing moments ago, both turned toward her.
Nozomi, usually calm and composed, suddenly flushed red. Then her face drained to a sickly pale, blood seeping from the corner of her mouth. "Something's wrong with the familiar!"
Shido reacted instantly, snapping his gaze back to the vehicle shrouded in blood mist.
Yuno's fur bristled all over. Her cat ears shot straight up as her body tensed like a drawn bow, ready to strike.
Pop.
It sounded like a suction cup being pulled free.
The blood mist surrounding the vehicle suddenly froze, then, as if an invisible eraser were at work, it was wiped away bit by bit until nothing remained.
The entire sequence took less than two seconds.
At the same time, Nozomi felt her connection to the familiar snap completely. Her composure shattered as she shouted a warning. "Run! We can't win!"
Nozomi was a vampire of the old era.
Within the vampire hierarchy, only Elders and Primogenitors ranked above her.
She was certain that if the enemy was a vampire, they had to be an Elder-level monster. And if it was a human, then they were undoubtedly among humanity's absolute strongest.
Either way, it was far beyond what their hastily formed three-person team could handle.
Nozomi turned instantly, preparing to leap toward the rooftop to the right.
Yuno was a beat slower, flipping down from the roof and aiming to escape through the alleyways.
Shido moved last, jumping toward the rooftop on the left.
Three directions, chosen without a word, spacing themselves apart by instinct and experience.
But the moment they moved, their vision blurred.
When clarity returned, they found themselves standing in the middle of the road.
Right in front of them loomed a colossal lion formed entirely of golden lightning, its massive body towering over the surrounding houses.
Electric arcs crackled across its form, sending blinding sparks through the nearby power lines.
And with those sparks came something far worse.
A suffocating pressure of magic, thick and heavy like the depths of the ocean, so dense it made breathing impossible.
…I can't breathe.
Shido, Yuno, and Nozomi all clutched their throats as their faces rapidly shifted from blue to ashen white.
Within that sea of terrifying magic, Nozomi stared at the lightning lion in horror and blurted out, "A Primogenitor?!"
No way…
Yuno's mind completely broke.
She'd expected this mission to be difficult. She hadn't imagined it would be this bad.
Shizuri had been taken by a Primogenitor? Who the hell could rescue her from that?!
Beside her, Shido said nothing, but his body trembled violently under the crushing pressure of the magic.
Click.
The vehicle's door opened.
The sound, along with the sudden easing of the magical pressure, drew their eyes forward.
A young man stepped out of the car, black hair, black eyes, a faint smile on his face.
He looked harmless enough. Friendly, even.
But the abyssal magic rolling off him, the same source as that of the familiar, left the three of them utterly speechless.
A Primogenitor…
And not just one's bloodline, but the Primogenitor himself.
What kind of luck did it take to run into one of only four such beings among over six billion people?
And the worst part?
They were on opposite sides.
Clack.
Shizuri stepped out after him, flanked on both sides by two girls, clearly under guard.
"Shizurin…" Yuno murmured, staring at her friend.
Shizuri met her gaze, then guiltily looked away.
At that moment, Ryo's eyes shifted slightly toward Nozomi.
"Oh? Juranbarada's bloodline."
"I pay my respects, Your Majesty."
With the pressure lifted and her breathing still uneven, Nozomi bowed, her manner impeccably proper.
Juranbarada was the name of the First Primogenitor, the Lost Warlord.
Anyone who dared speak a Primogenitor's true name so casually was undoubtedly one of the other three.
The only question was whether this man was the Second Primogenitor, or the legendary Fourth.
And would invoking the First Primogenitor's thin ties spare her from punishment for this offense?
…Unlikely.
The thought left Nozomi with a bleak expression.
Ryo gave her no more than a passing glance. He then looked over Yuno Amase and Shido Okurayama, before turning his gaze toward a dark alley formed by two houses along the road.
"..."
After a brief silence, someone stepped out of the shadows on their own.
The moment she saw who it was, Shizuri couldn't help but cry out, "Instructor…"
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