Damn, it's cold... I guess it does get cold at night.
Huh? Himeragi?
Himeragi?
Hey!
Himeragi?
Kanase?
What, now?! You've gotta be kidding!
Huh?
Don't move!
H-Himeragi?!
Don't move!
Turn around and I'll stab you!
I know you'll come back to life!
Um... Himeragi-san?
What are you doing here?
If you turn around now, I'll really be mad!
Um... could it be that you were bathing, too?
If you had just told me...
If I had, you would've come to peek at me!
Just like now!
I wasn't peeking at you!
Not at me, huh? I see.
Just who were you peeking at, then?
There was a girl over there who looked like Kanase...
She was a little bigger than Kanase, though...
Hey! I just meant she looked more mature!
Like, her age!
A more mature Kanase-san, eh?
Bigger, eh?
I'm only telling it like it is!
I'm not mad or anything.
Could I borrow your jacket?
You can look this way now.
D-Don't stare, though...
R-Right...
Okay, let's look around.
That bigger Kanase-san couldn't have gone far.
You believe me?
Even though it can't be helped that you'd come peeking at me,
you're not the type to make up meaningless lies.
I do believe that.
That sound...
A boat!
Is it here to save us?
Wait a minute, Senpai!
That's...
Magus Craft!
Did they see us?
Get down!
Those are real bullets...
Shooting first and asking questions later?!
Senpai, don't move from here, no matter what!
Himeragi!
Resonant Thunder!
Himeragi! You okay?!
I thought I told you not to move!
Himeragi!
You can't be serious...
I didn't hold back!
I'm sorry, Senpai...
We're surrounded.
Damn... Should I use a Familiar?
But then it'd be a massacre.
Are you two all right?
A curse gun?
Come this way, while you can.
Quickly!
Who are you?
La Folia Rihavein.
We meet again,
Akatsuki Kojou.
Huh?
You are Akatsuki Kojou, aren't you?
The Fourth Progenitor who turned up in Japan.
Yeah, I am...
That was my last bullet.
Who are they?
Magus Craft's automata.
They were after me, I'm sure.
Automata?
So that's why they...
That boat is unmanned.
Your Familiar could sink it, right, Akatsuki Kojou?
But couldn't we use it to get off this island?
We can't. It's remotely operated by a mother ship.
The automata still on board are a greater threat.
Senpai, they're coming.
No time to hesitate, huh?
Sorry, but that's how it goes.
Come, Regulus Aurum!
Very impressive, Akatsuki Kojou.
Regulus Aurum...
Avrora Florestina's fifth Familiar, right?
So, just who are you, anyway?
I told you, I'm La Folia Rihavein.
La Folia, eldest daughter of King Lucas Rihavein of Aldegyr.
I am a princess of Aldegyr.
Man, I'm beat. These clothes make my shoulders all stiff.
So how's our artificial angel doing?
I heard that mask of hers was shattered in the fight.
There's no problem.
From the moment she attained level 7 status, I predicted that the blinker,
her thought constraint system, would be rendered ineffective.
You predicted it?
Then how do you intend to control that monster?
She may be artificial, but she is a messenger of God.
Once an Angel Faux of this level has been unleashed,
she is as a natural disaster.
Controlling her like a tool is unthinkable.
Wait just a minute! We can't sell that, then!
No need to worry.
Just think of her as a type of bomb.
An awakened Angel Faux fights enemies as her instincts dictate,
and when she has completed her duty, she achieves Ascension...
Literally.
Well, in that case, they might be worth selling.
So the only one to survive was your daughter, then?
How do you feel?
I predicted that, as well.
The difference is in her physical body.
So even if she's an illegitimate daughter, her royal blood is still potent?
Did you come here only to discuss such pointless matters?
We've apprehended the Fourth Progenitor.
So it was the Fourth Progenitor who disrupted the previous ritual...
He had a Sword Shaman from the Lion King Organization with him.
Whether he's the real deal or not,
this will be the ideal gold finish for our new product.
Where?
The experimental facility, the Goldfish Bowl.
We could just sink the whole island.
Very well.
He would make a perfect catalyst for her final evolution.
Then that's that.
Oh, right... I'm told that La Folia has washed up on the same island.
Most suitable, don't you think?
Now there's no need to hesitate in using XDA-7, Kanase Kanon, to her limits.
Yes...
You're right.
Kanase!
Onii-san...
You really are a princess...
What should I call you? Your Highness?
I'm just La Folia, Kojou.
I don't want my friends from other countries to be so formal with me.
Same goes for you, Yukina.
What? But...
How about a nickname, then?
Like... I know. Something Japanese-style, like Foli-rin.
Despite appearances, I'm well-versed in Japanese culture.
I don't mean to be forward, but I'd rather call you by your name, La Folia.
So the thing about you being attacked
by Magus Craft on your way to Itogami Island was true, La Folia?
Yes.
They're after my body...
The Aldegyr royal family blood.
Blood?
Kanase Kensei of Magus Craft
was a royal court mage in the palace of Aldegyr.
So, many of the magical techniques he knows
require one of the royal blood as a spirit medium.
I suspect that's why he risked such danger to attempt to kidnap me.
What's the connection between you and Kanase?
Why do you two look so much alike?
Kanase Kanon's real father is my grandfather.
Fifteen years ago, he had an illicit affair with a Japanese woman living in Aldegyr,
and the resulting child was Kanase Kanon.
Wait a second... You mean Kanase is...
That makes her my aunt.
She has no claim to the throne,
but without a doubt, she is of the royal family.
R-Royal family?
Her existence was recently discovered,
and the royal palace is currently in chaos.
At any rate, I couldn't simply ignore her,
especially after I learned that she was Kanase Kensei's adopted daughter.
But it looks like I was too late...
Yeah.
When we saw her, Kanase...
...had been turned into some kind of monster with wings.
She fought and killed one of her own kind.
I see...
So Kensei has made an Angel Faux...
Angel Faux?
An artificial angel...
A magic ritual that Kensei was working on.
He forces humans to undergo artificial spiritual evolution,
with the goal that they will be reborn as higher beings.
Himeragi?
A boat.
Automata again?
Damn it... If they're gonna keep coming, I'll just send them all flying!
No, wait a minute, Senpai.
That's...
It's been a long time, Kanase Kensei.
Seven years, is it?
You've grown quite beautiful, Your Highness.
How dare you speak to me that way.
Where is Kanase Kanon, Kensei?
We procured seven bodies for the Angel Faux project.
Kanon defeated three of those and,
including the others that she killed, has obtained six spiritual centers.
What you call the Angel Faux ritual is, in practice, just poisoning people.
By taking the spiritual center from an enemy and putting it in her body...
Spiritual evolution becomes possible without surpassing the human body's capacity.
That means we can create an entity much closer to God...
In other words, an angel.
That's why Kanase-san killed her own comrades?
How could you...
You call that...
...an angel that has spiritually evolved?
And how is Magus Craft involved in this?
Yeah, you know, this company's financial condition is in real trouble!
What?
So we had no choice but to develop battle automata,
but their sales were lousy, too.
That's why we wagered the company's fortune on artificial angels as weapons.
Weapons?
You mean you guys...
Anyway, now that you know the story,
I'll tell you what we want.
First, princess of Aldegyr,
stop resisting and surrender to us.
Do that and we'll even let you live.
Of course, we'll make you feel so good, you'll wish you were dead.
And I'll give you two a special chance.
Kanase-san!
Kanase!
Fourth Progenitor, dear boy,
hate to bother you, but would you give her a real fight?
It won't do your Sword Shaman any good to interfere.
Quit playing around! Why should I do that?!
It'll be our sales pitch.
"Our angel was able to destroy the most powerful vampire in the world!"
You intend to sell Kanase-san as a weapon?
Basically, yes.
If you have no intention of fighting, that's fine with me...
But just look at her. She's all ready to go!
Are you all right with that, Kensei?
Go, XDA-7.
This is your final ritual.
If Kanase-san is an artificial angel made by magic,
then I just have to sever that magic with Schneesturm Wolfin!
It's no use.
Divine vibrations generated by a human
cannot injure an Angel Faux with the powers of a real god.
Your fight is not with her.
Jagura! Skewer her!
Is that a Familiar taking the form of a spear?!
It's called an intelligent weapon.
It's not that rare at all!
Well, I guess I'll finish my job here.
What's wrong? Can't fire?
That's... Angel Faux?!
Be careful, Senpai!
Her target is...
Stop it, Kanase!
Come, Regulus Aurum!
Al-Nasl Minium!
It's no use, Fourth Progenitor.
Kanon has already reached the heights of a dimension apart from our own.
No matter how strong your Familiars are,
they can't destroy a being that doesn't exist in this world.
Kanase!
Senpai!
Kojou!
Senpai!
Over already?
For the most powerful vampire in the world,
that was way too quick...
What's going on?!
I don't know.
She shouldn't have reached the stage of Assumption yet.
I'm outta here! I don't want to get caught up in that!
Senpai! Akatsuki-senpai!
Angel Faux...
No... Kanase Kanon.
You are...
Senpai! Senpai!
Senpai!
No one here but automata...
Man, maybe I shouldn't have believed Kojou's friends after all.
Is this really Possession Mask's research facility?
Yes. There were top secret experimental blocks in the ship's hold.
I'm pretty sure this is the place.
Are you... the Witch of the Void?
Good work, War Dancer of the Lion King Organization.
Now I have conclusive evidence.
Magus Craft will be driven into a corner soon enough.
If you were watching, you could've helped me.
Then, as a reward for your effort, I'll give you some information.
Less than one hour ago,
the Coast Guard received a distress signal from an Aldegyr rescue pod.
Princess La Folia is alive?!
Yes, and it seems she's on the same island as Kojou and his observer.
Kojou, Yukina, and the princess are together?!
Th-Then, we have to go get them right away!
That would solve our problem, right?
If only it were so easy...
Huh?
Look.
It appears that idiot is caught up in some kind of trouble again.
Next Time
No, Senpai...
Please, not that!
The princess is watching...
The Amphisbaena IV
"The Amphisbaena IV."