On a deserted stretch of coastline, a potential large-scale crisis was snuffed out before it could even begin.
Thanks to Kaiser's earlier warning, Natsuki Minamiya had already captured the entire LCO—Library—team, including the Meiya sisters. The only one left, Yuuma Tokoyogi, was stopped mid-operation by Kaiser himself. Even the contingency left behind by Aya Tokoyogi was wiped out in one stroke.
An upheaval that could have swept across the entirety of Itogami Island was erased without a trace.
The LCO's rescue plan had been ten years in the making—one that, in the original events, had brought endless trouble to both Kojou Akatsuki and Natsuki Minamiya. Yet here, it had been quietly strangled in the cradle. Fate, it seemed, had a strange sense of humor.
However, while Kaiser was facing off against Yuuma, another figure—one who could cause an entirely different wave of chaos—slipped into Nagisa Akatsuki's room.
"It seems you've been living quite comfortably, Number Twelve."
A fairy-like girl swayed her head of gold hair, each strand shimmering with rainbow light, as she appeared soundlessly at Nagisa's bedside. Her flame-lit eyes glimmered with danger as they lingered on the peacefully sleeping girl.
"I had no intention of disturbing your slumber. After all, for you—originally just a monitor and vessel—to become the ultimate victor of the Blazing Banquet, and the new Fourth Primogenitor… that was beyond anyone's expectations."
"You should have vanished along with the other base bodies, never to be drawn into this world's vortex. You were meant to face the challenges of the Fourth Primogenitor as a Godslayer Armament, nothing more."
"Now that you've somehow survived, I had no reason to hasten your death. I only intended to wait until you fulfilled your mission and passed that power to the one truly destined for it—so that the real Fourth Primogenitor could walk the world again."
The fairy-like girl sighed softly.
"But who could have foreseen it? That a being even older and more mysterious than us would appear?"
"A King of Beasts whose power might surpass our own. What will his presence bring to this world, I wonder?"
"Let me borrow your power for a while… so I can see for myself."
With that, she reached out and touched Nagisa's forehead.
In that instant, Nagisa's eyes snapped open.
Her pupils burned with the same flame-light as the girl before her.
Her hair lifted as if caught in an invisible current, golden hues shimmering like refracted light.
Her once-bright, cheerful expression went blank. All warmth drained from her presence, replaced by a distant, ethereal aura.
Boom!
A torrent of magic exploded outward, knocking the fairy-like girl's hand away and whipping the air into a violent gale that rattled the entire room.
Nagisa rose unsteadily, like a spirit medium possessed.
"Awake at last, Number Twelve?"
The fairy-like girl ignored her own hand—its skin burned away by the surging magic—and smiled radiantly at the strange new presence standing before her.
Nagisa, eyes blazing with flame-light, stared back coldly, and—astonishingly—anger flared within them.
"Using that form… do you mean to insult me?"
The words were not Nagisa's own.
It was unmistakable—this was the voice of the soul sleeping within her: Avrora Florestina.
The true Fourth Primogenitor had awakened—summoned by the fairy-like girl.
"Angry, are we?" The girl ignored Avrora's oppressive magic and smiled. "Don't be like that. I'm hardly the only one to use this appearance."
"As vessels for the Twelve Beasts of the Fourth Primogenitor, didn't all of you base bodies share this form?"
"Too bad—the other eleven have all been reclaimed by you. And you, the last survivor and victor, willingly sought death, abandoning your original body. That means everyone who bore this form has vanished."
"So why not let me use it? Wouldn't it be a shame for such beauty to simply disappear?"
Avrora's power surged even more violently in response.
"We have all passed on. This form should fade into history as well. Why awaken it? Why awaken me?"
Her icy words chilled the air, frost creeping across the walls.
"I am fated to vanish soon enough. When I do, this girl will live."
"To wake me is not only to hasten my end, but hers as well."
"What exactly are you trying to do?"
The girl only smiled brighter.
"Just making use of you, Number Twelve."
Her tone was merciless.
"The girl you inhabit, and you yourself, are deeply tied to that King of Beasts."
"We intend to test his measure—to see if he is truly a variable in this world."
"And for that, I need your help."
Avrora's gaze turned glacial.
"I refuse," she said without hesitation. "I will not help you harm one who shares my fate. And I will not harm the girl who bears me."
She knew too well—any use of her power would weigh heavily on Nagisa's body, bringing her one step closer to death.
Helping this girl was out of the question.
"So you choose to oppose me?" The fairy-like girl's voice was still playful. "Aren't you afraid that fighting me will shorten your vessel's life as well?"
"Then I suggest you step aside," Avrora said flatly. "Don't force me."
"That would be boring," the girl replied with a shake of her head. "If not for another purpose today, I might have enjoyed a fight with you."
"With your full power as the Fourth Primogenitor, you might have been enough to entertain me after these endless dull years. But right now, trapped in a spirit medium's body, you'd be too restrained to fight freely."
"A battle like that might be disappointing. So I'll stick to my plan."
Avrora's instincts screamed a warning.
She released as much magic as she could without harming Nagisa's body, the icy form of the The Bewitching Princess of Azure Ice beginning to take shape behind her—
—but the girl moved first.
Still smiling dreamily, she spoke a phrase—a chant, or perhaps a command code.
Avrora froze in place, eyes widening.
She could not comprehend what had just happened.
The girl, as if to herself, began to explain:
"As an artificial vampire, the Fourth Primogenitor was fitted with several safeguards to protect its creator."
"Mode: Logic Bomb—to protect classified data. Mode: Freeze—to strip away self and use the body as a pure magic source. Mode: Root—a virtual persona embodying the weapon aspect of the Fourth Primogenitor…"
"Your self-sacrifice erased Mode: Root. The loss of your original body nullified the Logic Bomb. But Mode: Freeze seems to have been faithfully inherited by your soul."
Avrora's heart went cold. She understood now.
"Fortunately, as one of the three who created the Fourth Primogenitor alongside the Devas, I remember exactly how to activate Freeze Mode."
She stepped forward, tilting Avrora's chin until their flame-lit eyes met.
"From now on, you're mine, Number Twelve."
"No—Avrora Florestina."
"Even if you chose self-destruction, the final victor of the Blazing Banquet deserves our respect."
Her words acknowledged Avrora as a life in her own right—not just a vessel or base body.
"Rest assured. If we succeed, you may yet find salvation."
Leaning in until her lips nearly brushed Avrora's ear, she whispered,
"Ready?"
"The entanglement between the Fourth Primogenitor and the King of Beasts—after four years, it begins again."
"It's your turn now, Avrora…"
With the girl's laughter in her ears, Avrora's will was stripped away. Her eyes went blank.
Moments later, the two vanished from the room without a trace.
"…Nagisa?"
Kojou Akatsuki stood in the doorway, one hand still on the knob, staring blankly.
The room was empty, cold air lingering in the disarray—no sign of life anywhere.
Half an hour later, Nagisa's room.
When Kaiser returned and found the same scene Kojou had, he was silent.
Magic residue still clung to the air, frost dusted the floor, and a chill seeped into the walls.
The girl who should have been sleeping here… was gone, as if she had never existed.
"Senpai…" Yukina Himeragi arrived, calling softly to the unmoving figure in the room.
"…Where's Kojou?" Kaiser asked without turning. "He's unharmed?"
"He seemed… unsettled," Yukina admitted. "I put him under for now."
"And Yuuma Tokoyogi?"
"She hasn't woken. I left her with Kojou." Then, hesitating, "Senpai… what happened here?"
Kaiser didn't answer—not because he wouldn't, but because he didn't know.
Why had Nagisa suddenly vanished? Had she been in danger?
Avrora's magic and the power of the The Bewitching Princess of Azure Ice were still here. That much was clear—Avrora had awakened. But why? What had forced her to use her Beast's power—and why had she disappeared afterward, without a single trace?
Even if she'd been attacked, there should have been signs. But there was nothing—no hint of a second presence.
Until those questions had answers, he could say nothing.
The only thing certain was that something big had happened—something that shouldn't have, at least not now.
"…We'd just dealt with the LCO," Kaiser muttered. "And now this?"
He didn't feel anger. Or sorrow.
If anything, he was frighteningly calm—almost as if he'd always known something like this would happen around Nagisa.
With the soul of the Fourth Primogenitor inside her, she was destined to attract the schemes of many—including the Lion King Agency. This was simply another plot.
"Yukina." Kaiser finally turned to her.
"Take Kojou and Yuuma to Master Yukari."
Yukina almost blurted out the obvious question. "And you?"
His answer was simple.
"I'm going to find her."