"Index!"
Bang!
In that brief moment of dazed shock, Kamijou Touma instinctively tried to rush forward. But in the next instant, a blast wave tore through layer after layer of shattered composite ice walls and pulverized the brick-and-stone floor beneath his feet.
It felt as though he had been struck by a sledgehammer. Combined with the force of the blast, Kamijou Touma's body tumbled uncontrollably until his abdomen slammed into a protruding mound of earth with a heavy thump. He rolled across the ground, then shakily forced himself upright.
That attack had smashed through several church buildings. Logically speaking, forget his internal organs, even his spine should have been crushed with a sickening crunch. Yet strangely enough, the force that should have reduced a human body to pulp had merely knocked him down.
"Oh? You can still stand...so this is the power of Imagine Breaker? It actually distorted the judgment of Yours Truly[1]'s Holy Right."
"Ugh...cough, cough."
Although he had absolutely no idea what the Holy Right specifically was, Kamijou Touma's ability to sense the warning signs of danger told him that he had survived Fiamma of the Right's sneak attack.
"Fiamma of the Right!" Kamijou Touma abruptly raised his head and roared with fury. "Come out!"
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. If that's your final wish, how could someone as merciful as Yours Truly possibly refuse to grant it?"
Crack crack crack crack!!
A deep rumbling noise echoed out, like enormous stone gears meshing together.
The raised platform where the little white-clad nun lay curled on the ground was suddenly illuminated by magical fluorescence. Because they were high in the sky, nothing like a horizon or surrounding buildings blocked the view, and the arched structure itself was simply far too enormous.
"Submit from the bottom of your heart. Welcome to Yours Truly's castle—the Star of Bethlehem."
Under Kamijou Touma's furious gaze, a red figure slowly stepped onto the dome of a church structure that was continuously assembling and extending behind the raised platform. The vast magical radiance in the sky illuminated the man's openly malicious smile. "And now, every condition is finally in place."
"What a stupid woman. Toyed with from beginning to end without even realizing it. Barbarians are barbarians. Those Anglo-Saxons on the British Isles actually stored something as important as Index Librorum Prohibitorum inside the brain of an idiot with no awareness of what she possessed, and then somehow even let her escape."
Fiamma of the Right curled his lips into a grin, lifted one leg, and planted his foot on the unconscious Index as he mocked her.
"Though I suppose it worked out nicely. At least it benefited outsiders like you and Yours Truly. Wouldn't you agree, bearer of Imagine Breaker?"
"She's different! Someone like you could never understand Index! I swear...bringing me onto this place will be the biggest mistake you've ever made! I'll defeat you! I'll smash that disgusting face of yours to pieces!"
"Hahaha...hahahaha! Are you planning to make Yours Truly laugh to death and win that way? Smash my face, huh?! Come and try it! On the contrary, brat, for the sake of Yours Truly's goal, that right hand of yours is absolutely indispensable."
Faced with Kamijou Touma's declaration of war, Fiamma of the Right froze for a moment as though he had just heard the greatest joke of the century, then burst into exaggerated laughter.
Still smiling, he spread his hands and muttered to himself:
"Well, whatever. Whether it's Sasha Kreutzev, the medium with a special constitution capable of housing an angel's power, Index Librorum Prohibitorum with knowledge of one hundred and three thousand grimoires—John's Pen Remote Control—plus the ritual site, the Star of Bethlehem, and that right hand of yours that houses the mechanism capable of adapting to the release of Yours Truly's power..."
"It's time for the supporting cast to leave the stage."
"As for your so-called strongest Rank 1, hmph! Those old fossils in Vatican City may all have been stubborn vermin, but they were still bishops and senior clergy of my Roman Catholic Church. Selene, was that her name? The Full Moon Goddess?"
Thinking of the angel currently rampaging through the Roman Catholic Church's headquarters and territories, Fiamma of the Right's expression darkened.
"Blasphemer. Godless heretic. The only angel can be me! She slaughtered the believers of my Roman Catholic Church at will, killed my fellow member of God's Right Seat, destroyed the Vatican, forced the Russian Orthodox Church to surrender, and attempted to completely destroy faith in the Roman Catholic Church...hehe. She has no chance now!"
"Watch closely. The only one capable of saving this world is Yours Truly...no one else possesses that qualification!"
Fiamma of the Right raised the spiritual item in his hand that resembled a combination lock and grinned.
The spiritual item was a cylindrical ring-shaped metal ingot covered in numerous Latin letters resembling numbers. Rather than being individually engraved, it was more accurate to say that, like an LCD display, it showed only the letters currently required.
It was none other than the British Royal Family faction's John's Pen Remote Control, stolen from Buckingham Palace.
"This will mark the beginning of a new era!"
Click!
The scale engraved with Latin letters rotated with the sound.
Kamijou Touma's pupils instinctively contracted, and he immediately charged toward Fiamma of the Right atop the raised platform. He had no idea what combining all these things would accomplish, but it definitely couldn't be anything good! The instant Kamijou saw that short staff—
"Index!"
The last of his reason vanished. Rage erupted like a volcano as Kamijou Touma roared.
Unfortunately, although he possessed abilities such as Imagine Breaker and Premonition Perception, his physical capabilities were ultimately only those of a slightly stronger-than-average high school student. Across the enormous fortress platform, a distance of several hundred meters was more than enough for Fiamma of the Right to complete the activation.
Then—
Bzzzt—!
On the cold floor before them, the silver-haired nun abruptly opened her eyes. What flickered within them was cold and mechanical, a color even quieter and calmer than the gears of a clock carving out the passage of time.
"Warning. Chapter Four...connection from user confirmed. Beginning automatic elimination of the designated hazardous factor."
Under Automatic Writing Mode, Index's normally young and gentle voice became as sharp as an icicle.
The next moment, BOOM!
With a tremendous roar, the two magical formations inside Index's eyes instantly expanded. Two overlapping magical circles, each more than two meters in diameter, appeared before her. As though each were fixed directly onto one of her eyeballs, when Index lightly moved her head, the floating magical formations moved with her.
"&&$$##@@?...?&&$$##@@..."
Index began to sing—a "song" that the human mind could no longer comprehend.
Pitch-black lightning that completely defied scientific principles erupted in an instant, blasting the advancing Kamijou Touma away.
Crack crack!
Chunks of hard rubble larger than his entire body scraped past Kamijou Touma's face. He hurriedly ducked, covered his vital areas, and rolled across the ground.
Bang bang bang—!
The rubble smashed into the building walls behind him like torrential rain before clattering to the ground with terrifying noise.
"Hahahaha...so this is the strength of Imagine Breaker's host? Weak, weak! Far too weak! Weren't you going to smash my face in, brat?! Come on! With that ridiculous appearance of yours, are you planning to act like a circus monkey and amuse Yours Truly?"
"What a waste."
Fiamma of the Right sneered and tightly clenched the spiritual item in his hand. Raising his right hand, his face twisted savagely. "Awaken, Archangel Gabriel."
"Sweep away every irrelevant supporting character. Purge this world!"
The moment Fiamma of the Right finished speaking, BOOM—!!
The sky abruptly changed. This time, an enormous magical formation enveloped the heavens themselves. Stars blossomed in broad daylight as the world turned to night. Vast and intricate azure magical patterns spread like black paint spilled across the heavens, transforming the entire sky into darkness.
High above, the brilliance of the Star of Bethlehem had completely overwhelmed the sun.
"What is that?"
It was a tremendous spell that seemed to hold the positional relationships between Earth, Moon, Sun, and stars in the palm of its hand. Witnessing it, Kamijou Touma, who had only just climbed out of the surrounding devastation, froze completely.
It wasn't because he couldn't understand the phenomenon before him.
It was because he had seen something like this before.
An angelic spell.
"Sasha?"
Within the pitch-black night sky behind Fiamma of the Right, where blue points of light gathered between the gaps in the magical formation's patterns, a petite figure could be seen. Her entire body was wrapped in a restraint-like bodysuit, while long golden wavy hair covered her eyes. It was unmistakably Sasha Kreutzev.
Except she had clearly already lost consciousness.
Immediately afterward—
"Aaaah—!!"
With the shriek of the Archangel descending into the mortal world, enormous wing-like structures extended from the gathered blue lights. At a glance, they seemed to slice the sky horizontally in half. Asymmetrical wings formed from obsidian-like ice crystals, each stretching for several kilometers, unfurled across the air!
Riiiip—!
Only a moment later did the explosions reach Kamijou Touma's ears.
Following the sound, he saw the Academy City formation of supersonic unmanned combat aircraft sweeping toward the Star of Bethlehem aerial fortress explode one after another, dozens of them shattering completely.
Several large stealth bombers were probably manned aircraft preparing to land and provide support. Their main wings and fuselages had already been sliced into multiple sections. Through the ruptured airframes, he could faintly see heavy armored weapons detonating inside the cabins as crew members and personnel bailed out with emergency parachutes.
And the destruction did not stop.
Within only a few blinks, Kamijou Touma heard successive explosions and the heart-rending screams of personnel echoing along the straight passages stretching several kilometers around him. The Academy City armed forces that had been brought aboard the Star of Bethlehem aerial fortress were being annihilated.
Only now did Kamijou Touma finally get a clear look at the Archangel Gabriel floating beside Fiamma of the Right.
They possessed a graceful figure far more voluptuous than that of their medium vessel. A blue-and-gold ring of water hovered above their head, while their entire body was covered in a smooth layer of pure white fabric in place of skin. Every facial feature was represented solely through the contours and depressions of that fabric.
The fabric hanging from the back of their head flared outward like the mouth of a trumpet, taking the place of hair. Skin and clothing had completely fused into one, while golden lines resembling leaf veins spread across the white fabric's surface, fastened in place by pins of the same color.
Kamijou Touma's face had gone pale. Whether from the cold or something else, he couldn't tell. At that moment, Fiamma of the Right's voice reached him.
"My, my. In this situation, should I call her Sasha Kreutzev...or Gabriel?"
After casually tossing the expended medium vessel, Sasha Kreutzev, at his feet, Fiamma of the Right leisurely descended from the raised platform and strolled toward the battered Kamijou Touma. It was obvious he was enjoying himself immensely.
Perhaps the comparison was inappropriate, but at this moment Fiamma of the Right resembled a peacock spreading its tail in courtship, proudly displaying his overwhelming and unrivaled power.
Using Sasha Kreutzev as a medium, Fiamma of the Right had summoned an angel. Unlike during the Angel Fall incident, the angel had not possessed her body. This time, a pure angel had manifested directly.
But the two were still bound together, linked like a soul separated from its body. That meant if Kamijou Touma used Imagine Breaker, harming either one would also harm the other.
The thought alone made Fiamma of the Right want to burst out laughing.
"Use your Imagine Breaker! Let me see your resolve! Come!" His expression was so infuriating that he almost looked ready to shove his face directly in front of Kamijou Touma's fist.
He had investigated Kamijou Touma and Sasha Kreutzev. The two had fought side by side before. In that case, let Yours Truly see whether you can truly bring yourself to kill a comrade.
"If you won't make a move, then Yours Truly will. Archangel Gabriel, purge the heretics aboard the Star of Bethlehem!" Fiamma of the Right cheerfully pointed his finger at Kamijou Touma.
Yes, yes, that's exactly the look. How delightful. I love seeing you desperately wanting to hit me while being completely unable to.
"All for that ridiculous ambition of yours, you dare disregard the lives of so many people...you deserve to die!!"
His face flushed red, Kamijou Touma shouted words filled with a rare degree of outright hostility.
For the first time, he desperately missed Selene.
Selene, hurry over here with your invincible spatial ability already!
He clamped his left hand around his own right wrist like an iron vise, leaped forward, and drove his right fist toward Fiamma of the Right!
"Too slow, too slow. Weak and powerless."
Wearing an expression of deep disappointment, Fiamma of the Right leisurely dodged the punch. "Given up already? Tch. Looks like I overestimated you."
"..."
Kamijou Touma remained silent. Compared with Fiamma of the Right's agile and ever-changing movements, his actions resembled those of a clumsy toddler learning to walk. Yet he continued throwing punch after punch, making attacks that seemed completely futile.
"Boring."
Seeing Kamijou Touma refuse to say anything, Fiamma of the Right seemed to lose interest. He picked at his ear and yawned in boredom. "The magical formation for correcting the four great elements is already complete as well. In that case, I'll be taking your right hand."
Fiamma of the Right suddenly raised his third arm. An enormous translucent outline appeared as five twisted masses of light began to gather and take shape.
Whoosh—!
The bizarre crimson claw met Kamijou Touma's fist, and an explosive shriek like the air itself crying out suddenly erupted.
Shhk!
The crisp sound of flesh and bone being torn apart rang through the skies above the Star of Bethlehem.
"AAAAAAAHHHH—!!"
Blood mist sprayed from ruptured vessels as the black-haired, spiky-headed boy was hurled backward. But Fiamma of the Right's attention was no longer on him, because in the space between his right arm and shoulder blade, a dark-gold spear had already pierced straight through his right shoulder joint in an instant, ripping flesh apart and wrenching tendons and bone out of alignment.
Radiating an ominous and terrifying aura, purplish-red luminous patterns instantly spread across his entire upper body, reaching all the way to his neck and cheeks.
"You really took your sweet time. You kept hesitating forever, unwilling to use that Holy Right of yours. I nearly fell asleep waiting."
Along with a suffocating pressure around his neck, a tall, curvacious figure slowly materialized behind him, crimson eyes lighting up from behind his rigid head and glittering like stars.
[1] [Yours Truly]: Ore-sama (俺様) is a pompous, highly arrogant way to say "I" or "me"