— — — — — —
"What the hell?!"
Natsuki shot to her feet the moment she sat down in the theater, her face turning stormy.
The soundproofing was excellent, but it couldn't hide the fact that an attack had just erupted nearby. The violent tremors, along with the warning alerts from the magic detection systems, shattered the calm inside the cinema. Panic spread fast.
Before security could step in to manage the crowd, Natsuki turned sharply to Ryo.
"Did Asagi message you?"
"No." Ryo casually pinged his phone with electromagnetic sensing and shook his head.
Natsuki blinked, stunned. "How is that possible? She should be in the Development Bureau monitoring the whole island right now."
On a major holiday like Christmas, the Development Bureau didn't get days off. And as its head, Asagi Aiba was supposed to be stationed in the underground headquarters beneath Keystone Gate.
Yet now, in the face of what looked like a terrorist attack on Itogami Island, she hadn't sent him a single message.
The implication was bad. Bad enough that even Natsuki couldn't brush it aside.
It likely meant the entire island surveillance system had been hijacked.
"There has to be a problem at Keystone Gate."
Reaching that conclusion, Natsuki looked at Ryo, who remained infuriatingly calm.
"What are you standing around for? You're the boss. Time to move."
"Relax."
Ryo patted Celesta's back, soothing the frightened girl trembling from the aftershocks. At the same time, he was steadying Natsuki too.
As the biggest boss of the Dawn Empire, he was the anchor. If he panicked, everything else would unravel.
"I've already placed people across the island. This is just a minor disturbance. Worst case, a few buildings get wrecked. Nothing truly serious."
Then he smiled, a teasing edge in his voice.
"Compared to Keystone Gate, though, you should probably be more concerned about the Prison Barrier."
"The Prison Barrier?"
Natsuki froze for a second, then frowned.
"There's barely anyone in there except the few prisoners I tossed in over the past year."
"It's not like someone would try a jailbreak right now, of all times."
The last time Ryo had come to this world, he'd struck a deal with the demon bound to Natsuki. In exchange for elevating its rank, the demon loosened all the contract restrictions.
Now Natsuki no longer needed to remain inside the Prison Barrier in a dormant state to maintain it. She could operate freely while still partially controlling the barrier's inner workings. The dreamlike prison world had basically become her portable warehouse and temporary holding cell.
The current inmates weren't even high-level magical criminals. They were just ordinary offenders being stored there temporarily while Itogami Island's new high-security prison was still under construction.
The truly dangerous mage criminals from the past were long gone.
Under those circumstances, who would bother breaking in?
If someone wanted to stage a jailbreak, it would be easier to wait until the new prison was finished. Storming the Prison Barrier was far more troublesome.
Ryo shrugged. "Who knows? If I could understand what idiots were thinking, wouldn't that make me one too?"
Natsuki rolled her eyes.
"You say that, but I get the feeling you understand them just fine."
She was teasing him. And the fact that she could tease him meant she was already calming down.
Yes, the island was under attack. But if Ryo said he'd prepared, then things were under control.
She knew his standards. If he called it "preparations," then the defensive force was at least five-digit level by Little Garden's scale. Anything lower probably wouldn't even register in his eyes.
"So what now?"
Her expression turned oddly amused.
"Let's go take a look."
Ryo stood, lazily dusting off his pants.
"What about her?" Natsuki pointed at Celesta, who still looked pale.
Ryo paused, glanced at Celesta, and clicked his tongue. "Still pretending? The rat's already in the trap. You can stop playing asleep."
Celesta's expression shifted. Her eyes went blank, then her voice changed, thick with grievance.
"I just don't want to admit that I'm reduced to using such an ugly woman as my vessel."
"She doesn't even have one billionth of Al-chan's cuteness."
"This is the worst proxy I've ever had in my life."
According to Article 19 of the Little Garden Divine Pact, a God-King may choose proxies to descend into lower worlds. Each world can host at most one proxy per God-King, and each God-King can have no more than six.
In the world of Strike the Blood, Celesta was the newest proxy of Algol.
"You're being a little harsh, don't you think?" Ryo muttered, pulling a bottle of toner from his Gift Card.
Celesta's eyes lit up instantly. She snatched it and even patted his shoulder approvingly.
"Excellent. As expected of the man chosen by me, Algol. You truly understand my heart."
Ryo twitched, half amused, half speechless. "Your choice of words is interesting."
"Anyway, let's finish the last piece of our puzzle, then return to Little Garden."
Ryo took hold of Natsuki with one hand and Algol with the other.
The next second, the three of them vanished from the cinema.
---
Inside the Prison Barrier.
A gloomy castle built from stacked stone bricks loomed in the darkness.
The Vampire King Kenon and Clade walked through its corridors like regulars returning to a familiar haunt.
"Just as I thought. Every Prison Barrier in the world is built from the same template," the ancient dragon Clade muttered.
"The technique was originally created by our lord Cain to seal away demons from other worlds. And now it's used by witches to imprison members of our Order of End. How ironic."
"Time really is a terrifying thing."
"Less philosophizing. We're almost at the lowest level." Clade reached the bottom of the staircase and called back over his shoulder.
Kenon sighed and quickened his pace.
"The lowest level houses both our comrades and the most vicious mage criminals. Before we touch the deepest seal and alert Natsuki, we'll release them to create chaos."
He stepped forward into the cell block.
Row after row of massive metal cages came into view. Damp, stale air clung to the stone walls.
And that was it.
No prisoners.
No movement.
Nothing at all.
Kenon froze.
"…Whatthe hell is going on?"
.
.
.