The Amphisbaena by Gakuto Mikumo Page A

side. At this rate, great disaster was unavoidable.
    “Akatsuki, I’m leaving them to you! Don’t hold back—you’ll die if you do!”
    Leaving behind a one-sided declaration, Natsuki teleported, all sight of her vanishing.
    “Huh?! Wait a…”
    Kojou was dumbfounded as he watched the ripple in space left behind her.
That’s a lot easier said than done
, thought Kojou; his hands were literally full from clinging to the collapsing tower to not be thrown clear of it.
    But as the steel tower’s tilt reached some thirty degrees, its descent suddenly came to a halt. Without fanfare, countless chains stretched forth from the ground, entwining around the tower to protect it from destruction.
    Though its tilt made it look less stable than the Tower of Pisa, the steel tower somehow regained its balance and remained aloft in the sky. This was no doubt Natsuki’s doing. However, it seemed that even she could not hold up a steel tower weighing several hundred tons and take on the Masked at the same time.
    The berserker Masked plunged down toward the cell tower once more.
    Looking up and seeing that, Kojou’s eyes were tinged red in anger and fear.
    “Ah, crap! C’mon over, Beast Vassal Number Nine, Al-Nasl Minium…!”
    Responding to the call of its master, the Beast Vassal materialized from the enormous magical energy Kojou released.
    It was huge and ferocious, a two-horned horse: an incandescent bicorn, shimmering like a mirage.
    Vampires were served by the Beast Vassals within their very own blood. They were destructive magical energy given form. The otherworldly summoned beasts consumed their host’s life force from the mere act of emerging in this world.
    Only vampires, bearing unlimited “negative” life forces, could employ those Beast Vassals… It was for this very reason, vampires were the most feared among all demonkind.
    Even the weakest Beast Vassal possessed striking power rivaling that of a cutting-edge fighter plane, whereas the Beast Vassals of the Fourth Primogenitor, the World’s Mightiest Vampire, were menaces no different from natural disasters. If Kojou lost control for even a moment, worst case, the entirety of Itogami Island might be burned to a crisp.
    It was such a malevolent Beast Vassal that glared and roared at the onrushing Masked.
    The roar transformed into a shock wave cannonball, assailing the Masked straight from the front. The oscillations it gave off made the cell tower creak and shudder and shattered glass windows of buildings all around them. But…
    “What…?!”
    Even sustaining a frontal attack from the bicorn able to rend the very atmosphere, the Masked calmly continued dancing in the sky. Its flesh was completely unharmed. Even the attacks of Kojou’s Beast Vassals were ineffective against the Masked.
    “Oh no… It can withstand even attacks from a Primogenitor’s Beast Vassal?!”
    Yukina’s voice trembled as she watched, dumbfounded, as the Masked spread its misshapen wings. Having seen the destructive power of a Beast Vassal up close several times over, she was, in a sense, even more shaken than Kojou was.
    Glaring at the enemy that had impudently withstood its attack, theincandescent Beast Vassal moved decisively, launching a direct blow. However, the result was the same; the bicorn’s charge, surrounded by a ferocious oscillation wave, slid right over the Masked like water off a duck. Even if Yukina’s spear was capable of nullifying a Beast Vassal’s magical energy, this did not mean the two were equivalent in power.
    Yet even this buffeted the Masked no more than a gentle breeze.
    Just like how throwing a pebble into a lake could not harm what was reflected upon its surface, Kojou’s Beast Vassal could not touch the Masked. That fact shocked Kojou to the core. Then…
    “Not good…!”
    Realizing the Masked was forming a gigantic sword of light, Kojou’s entire body froze over. He couldn’t even calculate the casualties that releasing an attack like that in