Where's Mother?
She is within the prison barrier.
Prison barrier? What's that?
A prison in a demon district in the far east.
A place of eternal exile sealed within a realm separate from our own...
Aya-sama created you as a trump card to help her
escape from that prison.
You are the Blue Witch, protected by the Blue Knight.
But
what will happen to me once I fulfill that purpose?
Do I have a reason to live,
other than the program assigned to me?
I cut my hair that day
because I wanted to be like you...
I never thought I would actually become you.
Yuuma! Give me back my body!
I will, very soon.
But could you wait just a bit longer?
I think I'll find it soon...
Look, Yuuma...
Hey, Kojou.
You're looking rather adorable these days.
Vatler! Why are you here?!
I'm waiting for the prison barrier to be opened.
Prison... barrier?
She borrowed your body because she
needed immense magical power to break the barrier!
Isn't it exciting?
Vicious magic criminals who have been sealed away in another realm
will all be set free at once.
What?!
But relax, Kojou.
I'll take responsibility and eliminate them, of course.
Idiot! You expect me to relax?!
Senpai!
Himeragi!
Have a look, Onee-sama.
She would make such a lovely corpse.
You're right, Octavia.
Let's rip off her arms and legs.
La Folia!
Sayaka-san!
We came to help you, Akatsuki Kojou.
You really are a handful, you know.
Without me around, you cause nothing but trouble for Yukina...
Um... who are you?
Uh... that girl is Akatsuki-senpai right now.
Some things happened, and he's a girl now.
Wh—
What the hell?!
Yeah, that about covers it.
This is quite a problem, Sayaka.
I can't produce an heir with him like this.
How can you say that so casually?!
They got us.
That's the prison barrier?
It hasn't fully materialized yet.
Kanase Kensei?!
I requested his temporary release.
Under the present circumstances, he is essential.
It was his magic that allowed us to warp here.
So the seal on the barrier hasn't been broken?
No, at the moment,
this might be likened to viewing ruins
on the sea floor from above the surface.
A greater power is needed to bring it above the waters.
Oh, no! Number 539 is...
I have no further need for this.
Sorry, but I'll be going in.
Yuuma...
Wait!
Damn!
Kensei, can we follow her?
Unfortunately, no.
However, it is possible to open a gate near the prison barrier.
Do it, then. Kojou!
You and Yukina should go.
We'll take care of the witches.
Take care of us, you say?
Against a witch who's obtained the Fourth Progenitor's magical power,
only Yukina's spear
and you, Kojou, the real Fourth Progenitor, stand a chance.
Got it. Thanks.
Let's go, Himeragi!
Yes!
We're going, Sayaka.
Okay!
Le Bleu...
Yuuma!
Here already?
You're fortunate to have such good friends, Kojou.
Don't talk like you have nothing to do with that!
You're one of my friends, aren't you?!
I'm glad to hear that.
You still think of me as a friend?
I'm used to seeing witches.
That makes no difference to me!
Even if I'm a tool born for the sole purpose of breaking
the prison barrier?
What?
I was a test tube baby forced to grow at an accelerated rate.
Becoming a witch and breaking the prison barrier
were both programmed into me by my mother.
Was meeting me part of your mother's plan, too?
No, Kojou.
That alone was my choice.
There is nothing that I can call my own,
except the fact that I met you.
Didn't I tell you?
You're all I have.
In truth, the original plan was to sacrifice
100,000 citizens of Itogami Island to break the seal on the prison barrier.
But when they found out you had acquired the powers of the Fourth Progenitor,
the Library changed the plan.
Thanks to you, no one has to die.
Thank you, Kojou.
That's...
Regulus Aurum!
It can't be!
I haven't stolen your authority over it.
I've only distorted
space-time to call forth a Familiar that you used in the past.
Only for this one moment.
Yuuma!
Even Le Bleu couldn't control it?
But it looks like the sacrifice was worth it.
So even if the barrier is lost,
the prison won't be set free?
Still...
This is where you were, after all...
No way... Why are you...
It's an honor to meet you,
key to the prison barrier...
Witch of the Void.
Damn it! They won't go down!
This will never end at this rate.
With the defensive magic they're using, we can't take them all out at once.
Have a look at this, Onee-sama!
It seems they were all talk.
Now, shall we make sacrifices out of them?
Yes, Onee-sama.
We'll drive the branches of our guardian up from that exquisite hole,
tear them apart, mix their organs together,
and turn them into a lovely wad of meat!
The witch of the void, Minamiya Natsuki,
is the jailer, the door, and the key
to the prison barrier.
Natsuki-chan?
"Prison barrier" itself is the name of
the magical technique used to seal magic criminals.
She is the only one who can use it.
She has been here all this time,
sleeping in here alone for ten years.
That can't be right!
Natsuki-chan has been working as a teacher at our school!
The Minamiya Natsuki you know is an illusion produced by her own magic...
A mere dream of a sad little girl.
If she is killed, those held within the prison barrier will be set free.
Including the mother I've never met...
Once you free her, what then?
If that's the only reason you were born,
what happens when you complete your mission?
Kojou...
Will your mother praise you? You know she won't!
She'll discard you like that book you were using, and that'll be it, Yuuma!
I know that.
I know better than anyone that there's no meaning in what I'm doing.
Then...
But I can't defy what's been programmed into me!
If I acknowledge that it's meaningless,
then the fact that I was born into this world...
Everything about me will be meaningless!
You're wrong! You said it yourself!
You've got me!
I acknowledge the meaning in your existence!
So you don't have to follow some stupid program!
You've always been the kind of guy
who could say things like that so easily, Kojou.
Thank you.
That's enough for me.
Yuuma!
Branches of their guardian...
That means it's not a mollusk,
but a plant...
Sayaka.
The Meyer Sisters once caused an incident
in which a huge forest was destroyed overnight, correct?
The Ashdown Tragedy?
If we assume
this guardian is a demon monster created from all the trees in that forest,
then its overwhelming mass makes sense.
You're saying...
No matter how many we cut down, it's useless.
Looks like the little girls have given up, Onee-sama.
How foolish.
Laughing too much will make your wrinkles show,
old ladies.
Wha—
That was a far less interesting setup than I thought.
Yes. Knowing their true nature gives us innumerable options.
What?!
Now then, I'll launch the first attack.
And I'll finish them off.
Daughter of the gods, that is within me...
Destroyer of the shield, hail and storm,
bringer of victory and deliverer of death!
The light of the spirit's divine protection?
It can't be... the false holy sword?!
I, War Dancer of the High God, as a dancer of the Lion, beseech thee...
Enku of the Aurora, Qilin of radiant light,
thou who doth rule thunder and the heavens,
come clad in raging fire
to pierce Hell's monstrous demons!
What is going on?!
They're placing a horrid curse on our forest!
Our forest...
Our Ashdown guardian is...
I am the Fourth Progenitor's observer, sent by the Lion King Organization.
I'll be taking back Akatsuki-senpai's body.
Is that spear a Schneewalzer?
If you attacked my real body with that,
you could easily finish this, but you won't.
Because you've been deceived by Kojou, too?
N-No!
I just determined that this is the best course of action under the circumstances!
Plus...
There's not that great a difference in difficulty.
You're definitely a Sword Shaman of the Lion King Organization.
But...
There's no need to put up a naïvely honest fight with you.
Senpai!
Sorry, Yuuma.
I clearly remember the face you make when you try for a three-point shot.
Kojou...
Yuuma?
What's going on?
Yuuma-san's body is reaching its limit!
Yuuma-san! Stop this now!
It doesn't matter.
My mission is nearly complete.
I'll finally be free!
Then... you leave me no choice.
I, Sword Shaman of the High God, as a priestess of the Lion, beseech thee...
Dawn light of exorcism, spirit wolf of snowy mist,
grant me the divine might of thy steel,
that I may smite a hundred evil spirits!
Himeragi!
You are a kind girl.
That's a demon-slaying spear that can kill even a Progenitor.
You don't know if Kojou can come back to life after that.
That's why you couldn't pierce his body.
It'll be the same, no matter how many times you try.
You realize that, don't you?
Yuuma, I'm going to defeat you and return to my own body.
In this body, I can't drink Himeragi's blood like I always do.
Let's go, Yuuma.
From this point on,
this is my fight!
Didn't I tell you that I know you?!
Le Bleu!
It didn't work?!
No, Senpai.
We've won!
Ow...
Welcome back, Senpai.
How vexing...
The two of us, defeated by such fools...
Yes. See you at the airport.
I was able to contact the knights.
I'll leave this country in about 15 minutes.
What? So suddenly?
Once I leave,
as my guard, you'll be free.
You can enjoy the festival, or go help a certain someone.
I appreciate it, Princess.
You missed my heart?
Yes. This won't be a fatal wound for a vampire.
But it hurts so much, I wanna die...
I know, I know.
Just put up with it for now.
Um, listen, Himeragi-san...
Your blood...
I'm not giving you any!
And did you have to say something that sounded like you drink it all the time?
I just meant, I can recover if I have your blood,
so you could stab me to your heart's content.
Regardless, please don't say things
like that around other people ever again!
Not to Yuuma-san or anyone else!
Oh, right! Where's Yuuma?
Yuuma!
Yuuma, are you okay?
I... failed?
No. You've been released.
Released?
Yeah.
Oh...
I'm... free...
Case closed, I see.
Natsuki-chan! You're awake?
I was preserving my strength,
but I took a direct hit from your Familiar.
Even I couldn't get through that unscathed.
But that wasn't m—
Ow! That hurt!
What are you going to do, daughter of Tokoyogi Aya?
You wish to continue?
No, I'll stop.
I have
no reason to do anything with the prison barrier anymore.
Well, ready to go back?
Yeah. You have to show me around the festiva—
Yuuma!
Mother...
You would go this far?
I have waited for this moment...
For you, such an alert girl,
to let your guard down.
Using your own daughter as a decoy...
You... brute...
Natsuki-chan...
Idiot...
Don't address your teacher... with "chan"...
Natsuki-chan!
Next Time
Y-You're Senpai's mother?
Pleased to meet you.
What? A psychometrician whose powers are activated by fondling breasts?!
Like mother, like son, indeed...
The Observers' Banquet I
"The Observers' Banquet I."