Hummm!
The entire sky darkened in an instant.
The next second, the sun's blazing radiance formed a series of dazzling halos in the clear atmosphere. Cotton-like clouds dotted the crimson sky, only to ignite and burn away completely amid a thunderous roar!
The light was dazzling, as though a second sun had erupted in the stratosphere, transforming into an enormous fireball that swallowed every other color!
Whoooosh!
A powerful hurricane swept across the northwestern tip of Sumatra and the azure waters beyond the mouth of the Banda Aceh River. Shattered ice floes, twisted shipwrecks, and ruined combat equipment were violently scooped into the air, rattling in the wind as vast quantities of snow and black soil whirled through the sky.
The surging waves battered everything within reach. At the entrance to the underground base beneath the mostly collapsed Banda Aceh Fortress, the tiny Misaka known as Last Order clung desperately to a broken metal railing, now reduced to half its original length, and cried out from behind a protruding reinforced-concrete barricade.
"Waaah... What's that thing? Is it Big Sis... Cough, cough... Mmmph... It's so big, so bright, so dazzling..."
The moment she opened her mouth, the raging wind rushed straight down her throat, choking Last Order and sending her into a fit of sneezes that left her nose running. Before she could finish shouting, the personal security robot behind her forcibly pressed a pair of military goggles onto her forehead.
"Huff... I mean, huff... Why did you have to run so fast? You're such a tiny little thing, yet you're just like Misaka..."
Her breathless panting made her sound as though she were on the verge of exhaustion.
Shokuhou Misaki, also wearing military goggles, no longer cared about the layer of grime covering the ground, formed from spent cartridge cases, motor oil, and accumulated dust. She dropped onto her backside behind the barricade beside Little Misaka. Yet she was given no chance to rest. Catching sight of another pressure wave approaching from the corner of her eye, she hurriedly shoved Little Misaka's head back down as the girl continued peeking over the barricade.
"Misaka Misaka expresses her dissatisfaction, because Misaka is Misaka!" Last Order muttered with her head tucked down. "Big Sister Shokuhou is such a hopeless athle..."
Bonk!
"Oww!"
"Seriously, if you get kidnapped again, I'm afraid Accelerator will tear me apart with his bare hands." Her eye twitching, Shokuhou Misaki lowered the hand she had used to deliver the chop and pulled Little Misaka closer.
Seriously, after Index had slipped away and gone missing, she was terrified that Last Order might get some impulsive idea and run off too. She knew perfectly well how pitiful her stamina was. Even running fifty meters was practically enough to kill her.
"That enormous thunderstorm earlier disrupted the electromagnetic field. My mental connection with the others was interfered with and temporarily severed. Aren't you worried about their safety, little one?"
"Hehe! Misaka Misaka is completely confident, because Misaka can still feel that he's connected to Misaka's network. Besides, there's really no need to worry about Misaka. Misaka is very obedient! Hmm, Big Sister Shokuhou obviously wanted to come outside herself."
"Let's hope so."
Looking at Little Misaka, who had wrapped both arms and legs around a metal pillar, and the lively smile on her face, Shokuhou Misaki managed a smile of her own and rubbed the girl's little head.
"This is ridiculous... Is this really the world I know?"
Carefully peeking out from behind the barricade, Shokuhou Misaki stared blankly at the sky through the specialized lenses of her military goggles. Clouds and lightning were swallowed and pushed aside by the sun's light and heat, leaving the horizon ablaze with crimson.
The abrupt transition from Academy City's relatively peaceful environment into an all-out war between the science side and the magic side had already opened her eyes. Watching magicians clash with modern military hardware was astonishing enough.
But with the successive appearances of Vento of the Front and Fiamma of the Right... Shokuhou Misaki had finally realized that there was always someone stronger out there.
Nothing heard secondhand could ever compare to the shock of witnessing something firsthand.
"Has the fighting already escalated to the point of using nuclear weapons...?" Shokuhou Misaki murmured. Suddenly realizing something, she hurriedly issued an order to the security robot behind her. "Bring us two sets of the highest-grade radiation protection suits available in the base."
"Understood."
A cold, mechanical synthesized voice responded, "Security Robot B-3-22J-1213 reporting. No high-energy radiation hazardous to the human body has been detected at present. However, for safety reasons, I recommend that both of you return to the underground base's safe room and take shelter."
"No high-energy radiation dangerous to humans? In other words... someone caused that deliberately?!"
Shokuhou Misaki's breathing suddenly grew rapid and heavy. Her pounding heartbeat seemed to echo the tremendous, thunderous rings of fire spreading across the heavens.
...
"It's Selene. She's here."
At one corner of the cross-shaped floating island that formed the Star of Bethlehem fortress, Misaka Mikoto lay flat on the ground to avoid the shock wave. Although her side had also been caught in the blast, and the earthshaking rumble had left her entire body stiff with terror, that did not stop her from excitedly announcing this to the people beside her.
Such an overwhelming entrance, such tremendous power seemingly embodying destruction and devastation itself—Misaka Mikoto's instincts told her it had to be Selene.
In the next instant, a piercing sound exploded beside their ears like a shrill steam whistle. The deafening noise hammered against the eardrums of everyone who experienced it, like an invisible blade capable of piercing their bodies and stabbing straight into the depths of their souls.
The fanatics who had believed themselves courageous enough to sacrifice everything for their "holy war" trembled in terror and helpless confusion. Even the survivors from Academy City's side stood frozen like wooden statues, as though a paralyzing spell had been cast upon them, unable to move a muscle.
"Hey, hey, Number One! Isn't she supposed to be a spatial-type esper? Even a Level 5 pyrokinetic couldn't pull off something like this, right? Has she already reached the realm of Level 6? Or was that a nuclear missile...?"
Mugino Shizuri lay pressed against the ground, holding down her long, brown hair as it whipped wildly in the wind. Struggling to keep her eyes half-open, she stared toward the crimson radiance that filled her entire field of vision, even though they were at the opposite corner of the Star of Bethlehem fortress, nearly forty kilometers away. Her disbelief was unmistakable.
"Heh, heh."
"Huh? What's so funny?"
Hearing a snicker, Mugino Shizuri shot an irritated sideways glance at the brown-haired boy beside her. By using wings and barriers created from Dark Matter, he had at least managed to maintain some semblance of dignity amid the hurricane.
"To think there are still people in this day and age who believe that young lady is merely a spatial-type esper."
Kakine Teitoku narrowed his eyes and grinned as though he had heard a particularly amusing joke. "Spatial abilities are nothing more than the most superficial manifestation of the powers that young lady possesses."
"Make no mistake, that's a nuclear fusion reaction. Do you seriously think that young lady is still a mere mortal like us? No. For people like us, a single bullet could take our lives if we let our guard down. But that young lady? I've personally watched her chew enriched uranium like candy, simply because she was curious."
As he spoke, a certain fanaticism crept into Kakine Teitoku's expression. Fear, terror, yearning, admiration... Perhaps it was a mixture of all of them.
Wondering how I know?
After all, Selene had personally assigned him the task of collecting radioactive materials and enriched uranium back then.
Hearing this, Accelerator unconsciously tightened his grip on his cane before relaxing it again. The fierce wind tossed the white hair hanging over his forehead, revealing a pair of uncanny eyes resembling blood-red pigeon-blood rubies.
"The position of vice chairman, huh... Not bad. That position should be enough for me to protect the little brat, Yomikawa, and the others..."
Putting the matter out of his mind, Accelerator gave a derisive chuckle and forcefully planted his technologically advanced cane against the ground. With a tremendous cracking roar, a thousand-meter stretch of the fortress was violently ripped upward and hurled in a controlled direction. The debris piled into a mountain before him, blocking out the sunlight generated by the nuclear fusion reaction.
"Being handed something out of pity isn't my style."
He turned his gaze toward the other side, where his opponent had been battered and left covered in wounds.
Her tongue chain had been torn apart.
Exposed among ruins formed from knife-sharp ice, the Queen of the Adriatic Sea had already collapsed by more than half, its moonlike radiance fading. Vento of the Front leaned on her long-handled, spiked war hammer, crouching in the melting snow without moving a muscle.
The metal cane in Accelerator's hand tapped rhythmically against the ground, producing a series of crisp sounds. "If you want a higher position, let your accomplishments on the battlefield speak for themselves. That's what she said, right?!" The white-haired boy broke into a grin as innocent as a child's.
"Then I'll earn it myself!"
With a furious roar, Accelerator leaped upward amid a cloud of dust, tracing an impossible trajectory across the sky toward Vento of the Front, who was already approaching her limit.
"You're mine!!"
You've got to be kidding! You're still going to fight in a situation this dangerous?
Why the hell are you trying so hard?!
Witnessing this, the surviving magicians and knights of the Roman Catholic Church's magical combat units, who were themselves struggling miserably against the aftershocks of the battle raging around Fiamma of the Right, were beginning to lose their nerve.
The psychological intimidation of thunder roaring directly overhead was already terrifying enough. The fusion radiance that followed threatened to crush their spirits entirely.
Drip, drip...
"Damn it! What the hell is Fiamma of the Right doing?! Don't tell me he's lost?" Although Fiamma of the Right's presence had weakened for a while, the magical power that erupted afterward had grown even stronger. Just what was that bastard doing?
Clutching her mouth, gray, filthy snow and crimson blood trickled between Vento of the Front's fingers. She struggled to stand, but there was truly no strength left anywhere in her body. Even her magical power was almost completely exhausted.
"I refuse to accept this! Science—"
BANG!
She did not even have time to finish shouting.
The woman in yellow was sent flying nearly a hundred meters, crashing straight into the middle of an ice sailing ship that had partially fused with the fortress. The enormous structure, which served as a medium for constructing the gigantic ice-sealing magical ritual, snapped completely into two sections.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!"
High above the Star of Bethlehem fortress, the angelic ritual had been thrown into disarray and altered. Gabriel, the Power of God, who had only moments earlier been arrogantly slaughtering and suppressing Academy City's forces, let out an incomparably shrill, piercing scream.
The sound was beyond human comprehension, registering in human ears as something resembling a jumble of noise.
As the purplish-red currents of Honkai energy mingled with the surging platinum waves of the AIM diffusion field, the enormous magical patterns forming the Bethlehem ritual began to glow with an eerie radiance.
Gabriel's feminine body, covered in broad swaths of white fabric adorned with golden lines resembling leaf veins, began visibly breaking down and disintegrating. Her obsidian-like crystalline ice wings, each spanning dozens of meters, crumbled away piece by piece. Beneath her mangled flesh, granulation tissue writhed, while red blotches began appearing on the blue ring of water hovering above her head.
RUMBLE!
An even more terrifying brilliance engulfed the sky in that direction. Boundless light surged forward with such overwhelming force that it threatened to vaporize everything in its path. The sun that Selene had transformed into collided directly with the massive impact unleashed by the supreme, tree-shaped throne entwined around the Nine Worlds. As the two terrifying torrents of energy clashed, it seemed as though everything was about to be annihilated!
In the blink of an eye, a gash hundreds of kilometers long was torn across the sky.
Withdrawing his sidelong glance, Fiamma of the Right assumed an expression of intense seriousness and concentration. "It's ready."
Obscure and profound incantations flowed from his lips. The Star of Bethlehem, the angelic ritual, the Holy Right, and the Christian magical rituals spread across the entire world to correct the four great elements and save the world... At this moment, every last one of them converged upon Fiamma of the Right.
Hummmm!
"The one resembling God, Michael, used his right hand to slay the leader of the fallen angels," "The Son of God used his right hand to heal the sick," "The Holy Scriptures were recorded using the right hand," and countless other miracles of Christianity manifested simultaneously!
The Christian miracles, mottled with purplish-red patches, converged upon Fiamma of the Right atop the elevated platform like swallows returning to their nests, sinking into his skin.
Enormous translucent outlines and distorted masses of light were likewise drawn by an invisible attraction. They gathered around Fiamma of the Right like a raging flood, pouring into his "third hand."
Gradually, surrounded by Honkai energy, AIM diffusion fields, and divine power, Fiamma of the Right slowly raised his right hand and lifted his head. At the same time, he closed his eyes slightly, as though embracing the approaching end.
"He has already fulfilled his mission."
An unusual change. An unusual magician.
A man with waist-length silver hair abruptly intruded into the violently turbulent space-time. He gazed at the body he was currently using, which was also gazing back at him.
He moved his fingers, slowly grasping something invisible. No, more precisely, it was something that did not exist in the real world.
There was a sensation of a nonexistent, strangely shaped silver staff slowly extending outward.
...
The Indian Ocean.
Although it was broad daylight, the sky had appeared somewhat dim due to the recent abnormal celestial phenomena and the unprecedented brilliance of the stars. Suddenly, it lit up in an instant, as though not even the smallest corner of darkness had been spared.
Just like the flare reactions erupting from the sun, explosive miniature fusion flares struck this region.
This was a genuine natural catastrophe descending upon the world!
Boom!
With each tremendous explosion, crimson fireballs expanded violently outward, sweeping an area more than ten kilometers across with intense heat. Every living creature in the centralmost region was instantly vaporized.
Enormous, clustered columns of water resembling layered confectionery rose from the ocean's surface.
The "filling" consisted of pitch-black seabed mud hurled upward by the violent explosions. The "body" was formed from vast quantities of snow-white spray, while the "outer layer" was misty steam produced by the extreme temperatures. Together, the three created a striking contrast of colors.
It was a breathtaking sight.
"Ollerus, now this is getting interesting!"
"Come on, what do you think of the vast arena I've found for you? The immense Indian Ocean in the Southern Hemisphere! Nothing but ocean as far as the eye can see. No troublesome towns to hold you back, and not even any cats or dogs. Surely this is enough room for the great 'Emperor of Good People' and 'Friend of Animals' to show what he's capable of?"
Murmuring in an excited voice, Selene spread her arms, growing even more enthusiastic. As her deliberately theatrical, earthshaking laughter rang out, hurricane-like shock waves swept across the empty ocean!
With a snap of her fingers, countless newborn, scorching stars blazed into existence.
Rumble!
The towering columns of water shooting toward the heavens were like exotic flowers blooming in Selene's hands. In an instant, they burst into magnificent bloom, dazzling beyond description. Their petals scattered and vanished without a trace, leaving only enormous spiraling vortices reaching down toward the seabed.
"What a belligerent fellow... And 'Emperor of Good People' and 'Friend of Animals'? This is the first time I've heard either title. I'm hardly worthy of such honors. Stand aside, Selene. I have no desire to be your enemy, but Fiamma of the Right cannot die yet."
"Then you'd better hurry. Fiamma of the Right is an absolutely crucial part of the chairman's plan."
You want an explanation? Well, that's Aleister's plan. Whatever happens, it has nothing to do with me.
Whenever there was blame to be assigned, Selene simply dumped it on Aleister. After all, he was already carrying so much blame that adding a little more would hardly matter. His reputation was already as black as it could possibly get.
Selene figured her own reputation might still be worth salvaging, at least a little.
As explosions erupted one after another, mud and chunks of blackened, dried seabed sediment flew in every direction. A faint scent of ozone lingered in the air. To evade Selene's fleet-battery-like bombardment, the blond man's expression darkened beneath his thin, pale-blue shirt as he flicked his fingers.
"Hliðskjálf." An obscure Norse incantation flowed from the man's lips.
Clang!
The descending Voidstar Anchor struck the man's slender body, scattering a shower of sparks and producing a metallic collision.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
"Go!"
The next instant, cyclones of impact comparable to the overwhelming barrage Selene had unleashed surged into the heavens.
"Odin's Throne, huh?"
Odin's Throne was Ollerus' signature magical ritual. It originated from Odin's supreme throne in Norse mythology, upon which, according to legend, one could observe any location throughout the Nine Worlds.
Naturally, a spell bearing such a name was immensely powerful, although the legends certainly exaggerated things.
By putting knowledge from numerous original grimoires into practical use and converting life force into an "inexplicable power," Ollerus had forcibly transformed Hliðskjálf, a throne that originally possessed no offensive functions in Norse mythology, into an attack spell.
It required no movement whatsoever to activate, and both its power and effective range were difficult to determine. Anything struck by it would experience an equal impact across its entire structure, from its surface to its center.
Because there were no preparatory movements, the target had absolutely no way of knowing when the attack would activate, how to defend against it, or which direction to dodge to avoid being struck.
Selene's choice was simple.
I won't dodge.
Crack!
A cyclone of force came crashing down, blasting straight through the small island reef where Ollerus stood.
Was that my own attack?
Holding a handleless pillar of light, Ollerus looked up in astonishment, only to be struck squarely by the impact of his own counterattack.
"My, my. It looks like the chairman's plan has finally begun."
Crushing a condensed cyclone with her bare hand, Selene watched the blond man's expression turn utterly grim. She lightly covered her lips with one hand while pointing toward the brightest star in the clear heavens above.
The true Star of Bethlehem!