Biagio was furious.
As an elite member of the Roman Catholic Church who had risen to the rank of bishop before the age of forty and was now commander of the strategic-class large-scale spiritual item, the Queen of the Adriatic Sea, Biagio Busoni possessed boundless pride.
Once this holy war of suppression concluded, a cardinal's seat would already be beckoning to him. As long as he attained the rank of cardinal before turning fifty, then even the position of Pope would no longer be an extravagant dream for him.
Failure? Sorry, he had never considered it. The thought of the great Roman Catholic Church suffering defeat had never once entered his mind.
But now, the setback in the assault on the Banda Aceh fortress base had delivered a very real and vicious slap to his arrogant face.
More than ten thousand ordinary fanatical believers, several thousand knightly warriors, several thousand Orthodox magical combat troops, nearly a hundred modern warships from secular national navies that had gathered in response to the Roman Catholic Church's call to "suppress heresy," tens of thousands of magical alchemical summons... and a whole series of special units such as the Agnese Force.
One could truly say they were overflowing with talent and possessed overwhelming military might!
And the result? Heavy losses, without advancing a single step!
What the hell was this?!
Yes, judging purely by battle results, their achievements were substantial. Not only had they smashed apart Academy City's bridgehead fortress facing the Indian Ocean and bombed it into ruins, they had also destroyed hundreds of thousands of Academy City combat units.
But anyone with eyes could tell how inflated those achievements were.
Did the losses of military robots, giant powered suits, and unmanned armored vehicles really count as losses to Academy City? They had barely killed any actual people...
Their greatest achievement had come right at the beginning, when the Queen of the Adriatic Sea's bombardment of ice and the magical combat troops' assault had fortuitously broken into the surface fortress' control tower and killed Kihara Gensei, a member of Academy City's darkest underground faction, the Kihara family, a pioneer in brain science research, director of the Advanced Education Department's Kihara Research Institute, and chairman of the special academic corporation RFO.
That old bastard had truly been troublesome, wielding psychological abilities, freezing abilities, wind manipulation, and all manner of bizarre technological creations. If the magical combat troops that broke in had not been elite enough and coordinated so seamlessly with the knights, he really might have escaped.
If that had happened, they would have had absolutely nothing worth showing for this battle.
Whether Biagio was furious because the Roman Catholic Church's authority had been tarnished, because of his own side's casualties, or because this black mark threatened his future career, only Biagio himself knew.
At the same time, Biagio also felt deeply terrified.
If he returned empty-handed despite commanding such an enormous force, he could not even imagine what would happen to his future within the Church.
So he had to break through. He had to!
Unfortunately, before Biagio could finish throwing his weight around in front of his subordinates, the magical real-time communication spell specially established between him, as commander of the holy war suppression fleet, and the Vatican in Rome was suddenly severed from the other side.
How could that be possible?
For an instant, Biagio froze where he stood.
"Prepare to attack!" he shrieked in a piercing voice. "The entire fleet is to prepare for attack! I want all of Banda Aceh blown into the sky!"
Since you want to trade attacks, then come on!
It never occurred to him that the Vatican might have been attacked and destroyed. Instinctively, Biagio assumed this was one of Academy City's schemes, severing the holy war suppression fleet's connection with the Roman Catholic Church's headquarters before preparing some massive attack against him.
"Agnese Sanctis, I order you to activate Destruction Mode and release the restrictions on the Cross of the Appointed Time!"
Pointing at a petite nun on the deck, Biagio barked the order.
"But... Bishop Biagio, your previous order was to suspend operations and rest. Our allies have already withdrawn to recover, and we've been bombarding them for an entire day. Agnese desperately needs rest right now."
Several nuns immediately stepped forward and shielded the petite nun named Agnese, protesting his order.
"I'm... I'm fine, Angelene, Lucia..."
Panting heavily, the nun Agnese crouched halfway to the ground. Her reddish-brown hair was braided into pencil-thick locks that strongly resembled Rastafarian dreadlocks, and she wore the standard habit of the Catholic Church.
Yet her clothing also carried a distinct personal style. The sleeves were so long they nearly covered her fingers, while the lower half of her habit's skirt had been removed, leaving it short enough to expose her thighs. On her feet were thick-soled cork platform sandals.
She was none other than the leader of the Agnese Force—Agnese Sanctis. At this moment, however, she was obviously exhausted beyond measure.
Ever since the failed retrieval operation and their subsequent framing for acting without authorization, her Agnese Force had been assigned to labor aboard the Queen of the Adriatic Sea to compensate for the Roman Catholic Church's losses.
They had barely been allowed to rest. After the Roman Catholic Church went to war with Academy City and deployed to Banda Aceh, an entire day of continuous high-intensity combat had already pushed her to the limit.
"Hmph. If you still have strength left, stop dawdling! This holy war cannot be allowed to fail..." He strode forward and roughly shoved aside the nuns blocking the deck.
After learning that Agnese's mental "Destruction Mode" happened to align perfectly with the Cross of the Appointed Time, granting her compatibility with the Queen of the Adriatic Sea's large-scale spell, Biagio would never admit that he had felt the slightest bit jealous.
"What a ridiculous performance... Those old fools actually sent a useless piece of trash like you to command the Queen of the Adriatic Sea fleet. What a colossal waste."
At that moment, a woman dressed in yellow robes interrupted Biagio's order and leapt onto the deck of the Queen of the Adriatic Sea. Strangely, the defensive spell gave no reaction whatsoever. Even more bizarrely, the snowflakes surrounding her body parted naturally, not a single one landing on her.
A strange smile hung on the woman's face. The tongue piercing connected to a chain bearing a cross revealed her identity.
Vento of the Front.
"Lady Vento..."
The moment he saw her, Biagio recoiled repeatedly like a mouse confronted by a cat, panic spilling openly across his face.
No matter how arrogant he was, he would never dare act presumptuously in front of God's Right Seat, the true power operating behind the Roman Catholic Church.
With his exaggerated movement, the four overlapping necklaces around Biagio's neck, stacked like tree rings, swayed violently. Each was strung with dozens of crosses. Such excessive ornamentation carried not the slightest trace of sanctity. Combined with the ingratiating expression now on his face, it instead gave him an especially mean-spirited appearance.
"Trash... It was all because of the big talk you spewed that I was supposed to rendezvous with the Queen's Fleet around the Japanese archipelago and destroy Academy City. And what happened?! You're still spinning your wheels in Banda Aceh!"
Without giving Biagio any chance to continue running his mouth, Vento of the Front raised her leg and kicked.
Thud!
Biagio screamed on impact. Like a kicked ball, his body was sent flying, smashing apart several sections of ice railing before sliding down and leaving behind a scattering of gold and silver ornaments.
The empty boast this bastard had made before the war had seriously screwed over Vento of the Front.
'I will hold a fleet review in Academy City.'
Just look at you, planting a death flag like that.
The Vatican authorities had forwarded that declaration to Vento of the Front, who had only retreated from Academy City a few days earlier. At the time, she had actually believed it and stupidly waited around the Japanese archipelago, only to be hunted day and night by Academy City and Anglican Church forces until she was left in an utterly miserable state.
That woman wielding a long sword and dressed in those punkish ripped jeans had caused her no small amount of trouble.
If you're this useless, you should've said so earlier. I would've come over directly, taken command of the Queen of the Adriatic Sea myself, and saved us all this garbage.
"If you can't do it, then don't make ridiculous boasts... All you do is cause trouble!"
With that, whether it held any particular meaning or was simply due to her mood, Vento of the Front gripped the enormous spiked hammer in one hand and spun it around with a whirling sound as she continued speaking.
"The Vatican City was destroyed...? Divine punishment from an angel? Impossible. Still, good riddance to those useless old fools."
"It's confirmed to have been done by Academy City's Rank 1 Level 5 esper. Tch! Academy City really has been conducting blasphemous research that violates Christian doctrine... Something as profane as the Science Side really should be destroyed after all!"
"Fine, no problem. I'll assist with your plan... All the conditions needed to destroy the Science Side and save the world are already in place. All that's left is to obtain the knowledge of Index Librorum Prohibitorum and the vessel of Imagine Breaker... Mm. The Bethlehem Plan will definitely be realized."
Her voice sounded almost like she was talking to herself, but it was very likely being transmitted through some form of communication magic as she spoke with Fiamma of the Right. Before long, Vento of the Front had effortlessly taken command away from Biagio.
"Stinking woman! You're inside this turtle shell too, aren't you?!"
Without wasting words, Vento of the Front simply signaled for Agnese to handle support. She was no useless fool like Biagio who required someone else's strength just to use a spiritual item because of some so-called compatibility requirement. The next moment, the rattle of chains came from her tongue.
"Then let's fire a few more rounds. Whether as the opening to our second clash or the beginning of the Bethlehem Plan, how could we possibly go without fireworks?!"
Then, the chain tipped with a tiny cross extended outward.
Transparent material, like ice.
A cross decorated like some kind of anchor.
Bzzzz!
...
The lowest level of the Banda Aceh fortress' underground base.
Affected by the massive magic circle formed by the Queen of the Adriatic Sea and its more than one hundred ice escort ships, this tropical region near the equator was, against all common sense, covered in white snow. The sky resembled an enormous white curtain. It was truly a sight one might never witness even in an entire lifetime.
Clank, clank!
As the hydraulic mechanisms slowly rotated, an enormous iron door gradually rose, revealing the spacious silver-gray harbor behind it, filled with a distinctly technological atmosphere. This underground harbor was another route for supplying personnel and materials to the Banda Aceh fortress' underground base.
Dozens of Academy City's newest submarines surfaced at the underground docks. Countless loading and transport robots efficiently transferred supplies into storage yards, while another fresh batch of military robots and powered suits disembarked from the several-hundred-meter-long submarines.
"Wow! Even more robots!"
Deep underground, embedded within the rock strata, a "miniature Misaka Mikoto" pressed herself against a thick bulletproof porthole and threw both hands into the air as she cheered. "Misaka Misaka says while looking down over the underground harbor!"
"You're so damn annoying, brat. Get back inside the safe room already!"
Behind her, Accelerator irritably scratched at his hair and snapped, "What an disobedient little brat! I must've been out of my mind to let you come with me..."
"Mmm..." Last Order ran up in front of Accelerator and puffed out her cheeks adorably. "Shouldn't it be that you can't bear to be separated from Misaka instead? Misaka Misaka says with some disappointment."
"Yeah, yeah... You're right. I really must be out of my mind. And if I want to use my ability or even speak, I still need to borrow your calculation power. What a damn mess!"
Seriously, Selene had sent him here with a single order, and Accelerator felt like he'd been royally screwed. Leaving Last Order behind in Academy City's shelter would only make him worry. It wasn't that he distrusted Yomikawa Aiho or Yoshikawa Kikyou, but the two of them simply couldn't protect Last Order.
If anything, with all the Level 5s fighting side by side here, together with Kamijou Touma, allies from Necessarius of the Anglican Church, and various other powerful figures who had arrived as reinforcements, Accelerator could say that, in a certain sense, this was actually the safest place around—safer even than Academy City under Selene's personal protection!
"Stop running around." Accelerator impatiently grabbed Last Order by the collar and began dragging her toward the safest room in the entire base. "Get inside already."
"There's no need to be so overprotective. Everyone here is a kind and reliable big brother or big sister, so Misaka Misaka will be perfectly fine," Last Order muttered. "Misaka Misaka demands freedom and liberation!"
Accelerator rolled his eyes. "Who's protecting you? I'm protecting myself. If something happens to you, I'm finished too!"
"You're doing it again."
Last Order did not care about Accelerator's tone in the slightest. Instead, she grinned and poked a finger against his chest. "Don't be so shy, Misaka Misaka says while poking you with a finger."
"Is that guy really Accelerator?"
In the dining area of the underground base's lounge, Shokuhou Misaki stared with wide eyes. On her tray, unusually, sat a spoonful of high-calorie, high-protein food. She had no choice but to eat. After fighting for an entire day, she was completely exhausted.
Please. Mental activity was exhausting too. Though her actual body was physically weak and the effective range of her psychological abilities was not particularly large, Shokuhou Misaki had unquestionably been the MVP when it came to defending the base.
Thanks to her psychological disruption and interference, the Roman Catholic Church's magical combat troops had repeatedly been caught and annihilated under concentrated heavy fire from the base's stationary AI-controlled defenses before they could break into the underground facility.
After learning that Kihara Gensei had been killed during the Roman Catholic Church's attack and decapitation strike, becoming the highest-ranking researcher Academy City had lost in battle thus far, Shokuhou Misaki's mood had honestly been sparkling all day long.
"That's why people can change. No one is born evil."
Sitting across from her, Misaka Mikoto withdrew her gaze with a complicated expression.
"Don't let your guard down." Lighting a cigarette, Stiyl looked deeply melancholy. He had never expected that he, a genuine genius magician, would end up reduced to being little more than a bystander in this war, just like Kamijou Touma.
Yes, Kamijou Touma could nullify magic, but the enemy also had ordinary modern warships...
Just then, Kanzaki Kaori, who had been quietly eating to replenish her energy, frowned. She raised her head, her violet pupils constricting slightly, then suddenly shot to her feet as her long sword slid a fraction from its sheath with a metallic ring.
"They're coming!"