Part 5
Cardinal Pietro Yogdis moved from the center of a church in the Vatican to a window. He could not see the situation in Russia from there and he would receive reports from his subordinates who were monitoring it magically. Yet the old man still moved toward the window. He could not help but do so because he had felt the pressure of incredible power.
It was a torrent of divine power.
It was an archangel.
It was Gabriel.
"Ohh…"
A sound of admiration leaked from the Cardinal's throat. He was surrounded by priests and bishops. Some slowly crossed themselves and others recited verses of the New Testament. They were constantly being watched over by their great Father, but it was rare to be given a chance to feel the strength of that existence. For those pious men, it was a scene where one could shed tears without being ashamed.
But…
Pietro Yogdis held different feelings from the others.
He did not know the details of the plan being carried out by the man behind it all. Nor had he cooperated with him. But he understood what Fiamma of the Right was doing. And if the things he would carry out would work in Pietro Yogdis's favor, he did not care what they were.
In other words, he just wanted a chance to steal the position of pope.
He just so happened to have the same type of ideas as a certain Russian Orthodox bishop.
(I was a little worried when I saw the records of what the Academy City forces were doing in Russia, but now our victory is more or less confirmed! The papal conclave is beginning as I expected. I will be the one who guides the world as the next pope!!)
Signs of coming riots could be seen all over Italy, but the Cardinal did not care. The sudden change from day to night must have caused quite a bit of chaos. It was the same as how the existence of Halley's Comet had created society-wide unease. However, it did not matter. Roman Catholic agents were hidden among the people to ensure that the rioting did not exceed a certain level and even if it did exceed that level, there was something more important. He had to solidify his own position first. As such, he would send Roman Catholic forces to silence people if need be. Then, there would be no problem. The damages would stay within acceptable bounds and the bodies would be cleaned up along with the rubble. And then Pietro Yogdis would be in the world's closest position to the Lord.
But…
"Cardinal Pietro Yogdis!!"
Suddenly, a warrior priest who looked out of place in that church rushed in.
"It's an emergency!! The papal conclave will be temporarily postponed! We will strengthen the defenses, so you need to get down to safety!!"
"…"
His irritation grew slightly.
He lowered his gaze from the heavens down to the earth. His view of the city of Rome was blocked by thick walls, but he could hear some kind of uproar. It was a riot. It seemed the people who should have just been rioting in Rome had flowed into the Vatican. Apparently, the Roman Catholic agents hidden among the people just were not enough to stop it.
"The papal conclave will continue as planned."
"B-but…!!"
"Have a Roman Catholic unit suppress them. A mob can be silenced with a baptism of blood. The flow of events here must not be overturned."
"I can't do that!! If we give that order, it will be starting a competition!! We can defend against that group, but we cannot aim for them!!"
"What?"
Pietro Yogdis's expression clouded over.
He could not understand the man's response. With the pope gone, Cardinals like him should have had the greatest authority. Any order he gave should have been absolute.
But the warrior priest was not obeying him.
The priest expressed the reason why.
"It's the pope…" He seemed to be squeezing out the words and yet his tone of voice made it sound like he had been waiting for it to happen somewhere in his heart. "The pope calmed the rioting people with a few short words!! He is headed here now! We have no way of stopping him!!"
What the pope had done in the city of Rome had not been anything special.
He had called out to the people, approached, spoke, and given them time to slowly calm down.
That was all.
Normally, someone who had done that would likely have been ganged up on by the 50,000-strong riot. His words could have even caused a catastrophic explosion.
And yet he stood before that special wartime group mentality that had an odd heat to it and that both saw fighting as the norm and deemed those who stood in their way to be evil.
His words had returned the humanity to all of them. He had not shaken their feelings by any magic means and he had not read some speech calculated to affect their group mentality. The words of a single old man had merely spread throughout the area and then guns and blades were lowered one by one.
Of course, the world was not constructed on a simple balance between good and evil. There were Roman Catholic agents hidden within the people who had fanned the flames of the riot in the direction they wanted. They did not want a chaotic riot to spread, but they deemed the people being silently drawn in by the power of the pope to be even more dangerous. That was why they had tried use a single gunshot to overturn the situation they deemed unfavorable. By applying another stimulus to the calmed crowed, they hoped to bring things back even stronger than before. In a time like that, a simple gunshot was much more effective at creating a large panic than some unknown bit of magic. The Roman Catholic Church had standardized spells that used their great group that numbered up to 2 billion, but they chose a single gunshot for that reason.
And yet…
(No…)
The professional assassins were unable to reach into their pockets. No one was able to aim for and shoot the pope who had calmed the people by saying he would resolve everything.
Fear was at the root of it.
A lead-like weight at the bottom of their guts stopped even the fingers of true assassins.
Those assassins had continued fighting despite their fear countless times, but there was something odd there they had never experienced before.
(The small flow of events this man has created must not be stopped…!!)
And the pope's advance began.
A large number of people including obvious assassins and not-so-obvious assassins blocked his path. However, the pope said nothing. He made no motions. He merely advanced. With just that, the people created a path for him. Some dropped weapons and spiritual items and a few even made tearful repentances. People started following behind the old man. They were not being ruled by feverish hearts that were full of swirling emotions. They merely walked quietly behind him.
The warrior priests who guarded the main gate into the Vatican crossed themselves upon seeing the pope's return.
A voice prayed that his visit would change things for the better.
The old man continued forward.
Each step was a man's resistance to the great monster that was a world war.
He was fighting to test his worth as a human by using weapons of reason and philanthropy rather than swords and guns.
"…No…"
Pietro Yogdis shook his head as he saw the old man enter the church.
His expression was that of a child about to burst into tears.
"No!!!!! I-I…I will be the next pope!! It has already been decided!! You are nothing but a ghost! There is nothing left for you to do!! K-kill him. It was his fault that the Roman Catholic Church fell into such chaos!! Once I am pope, I promise you I will make you much, much wealthier than you are now!! So kill hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!!"
"…"
"What are you doing!? Warrior priests, what do you think you were given spears for!? Strike your enemy!! Skewer the ignorant masses that follow him, too!! You must!! This is the only way for me to heal this world!!"
"Do not worry." The solemn voice of an old man instantly silenced Pietro Yogdis from his rage. "If you are going to carry out the papal conclave, I have no intention of stopping you. If you wish for me to take responsibility for the chaos in the church, I will willingly head for gallows. I am no longer the pope. I have come here to stop this war as a single believer named Matthai Reese."
"What…?"
"St. Peter's Basilica was half destroyed by Fiamma, but below it is a great library filled with a vast amount of knowledge that England's Index Librorum Prohibitorum was once guided to. I wish to view what is kept there. A strategy to oppose Fiamma's temple may be sleeping there."
Matthai Reese then stepped forward.
Pietro Yogdis moved back like he was a magnet being affected by an approaching magnet with the same pole pointed toward him. But he soon hit a wall. The old man further approached the Cardinal who was shaking his head.
He would be killed.
That was what he naturally assumed. After what had happened, that was the obvious result. Matthai Reese had no weapon or spiritual item in his hands, but that did not console him even slightly. He knew how skilled the other man was at magic. Without using those things, he could give a single order that would cause the people, the warrior priests, and the bishops to all lose their senses and tear Pietro Yogdis to pieces. In the end, he had no true allies.
And yet…
Matthai Reese placed a hand on Pietro Yogdis's shoulder. That was all. It was a gentle action. The man who had cast aside his title of pope then spoke to the man who had tried to steal it.
"You did a fine job of ruling over two billion followers during these tough times. It was clearly your abilities that allowed everyone here to live on while I slept. As you said, I was an incompetent leader. If it had just been me, the damages would likely have been greater and more widespread."
He was smiling.
It was not an act meant to deceive or a twisted smile filled with irony or scorn. The simple believer known as Matthai Reese blessed Pietro Yogdis's advancement from the bottom of his heart.
"Call me once the papal conclave begins. I'll vote for you. You took the full brunt of all the pain and made countless extreme decisions to protect everyone's lives, so you have what it takes. I may not be able to do much, but I will help you advance on that path."
After saying that, Matthai Reese quickly turned around.
"This is a fight to make sure you survive, so make sure not to die before this war is over."
Matthai Reese had abandoned his title of pope, but Pietro Yogdis saw everything he desired in that strong back.
Pietro Yogdis had been putting all his efforts into his own fortune, so he was unable to watch that old man head off for a new battlefield where he would fight for those who believed. Instead, he broke down crying.
Part 6
"Sasha Kreutzev…?" Kamijou Touma muttered while sitting on top of her.
He couldn't gather his thoughts.
The archangel being called Misha Kreutzev was even then flying through the artificial night sky and crushing the Academy City forces.
And yet Sasha Kreutzev was before his eyes.
The blonde girl with her slender body bound in that restraint-like outfit looked slightly puzzled.
"My first question: Why do you know my name?"
"Where do I start…? Umm, I actually met you at the end of August, but it was technically Misha Kreutzev that I met, so I have never directly spoken with you. Anyway, I heard from Kanzaki and Tsuchimikado that the pre-switched out body belonged to someone named Sasha Kreutzev."
"…"
Before he finished speaking, Sasha twisted her body to roll and shook Kamijou off of her. Kamijou yelled out and suspicious eyes stared at him from behind long bangs.
"My first response: I have decided that I will not get a proper explanation out of you. A supplementary explanation: I have concluded that the odds of you being an enemy are exceedingly high as you are aboard the Star of Bethlehem. You are probably a member of the personnel come to capture me after I fled from the ceremony room."
She pulled a saw and an L-shaped crowbar from the belt at her waist.
Kamijou's face paled.
"Wah!! Is this just how you act whether you're Misha or Sasha!? And what is that angel, anyway!? Is it actually unrelated to you!?"
Kamijou was speaking mostly out of panic, but Sasha fell silent. She took a few steps back in the same way a cautious animal would.
(...It does not change the fact that he is suspicious, but he seems to know something about my "condition".)
What stood out to her was the mention of the end of August.
At around that time, an odd "condition" had come over Sasha. When she drew near spiritual items or the magic power of others, she felt a pressure in her chest. According to the Russian Orthodox analysts, it was a response to having a large archangel-class power put inside her body.
Sasha glanced down at her torture saw.
(I could make him talk here, but I can't figure out if he is merely an idiot or if he is intentionally making himself sound like he doesn't know what he is talking about. There may be a shorter way to getting the answer I want than just asking him.)
As Sasha silently came up with that plan, Kamijou asked her a question.
"Do you know who Fiamma of the Right is? He's the one who captured you in the Elizalina Alliance and brought you here."
"…?"
"I'm sure he's doing something." Kamijou looked over toward the door of the stone room. "If he wasn't, that monster would not have appeared. Fiamma referred to you as the medium for the angel or something like that. I'll be blunt. Did he use you to call in that angel?"
Summoning an angel.
If you called it that, it might sound kind of stupid. However, Kamijou knew just how fearsome a being like that was. He had seen it magically during the Angel Fall incident at the end of August and scientifically with Fuse Kazakiri on September 30th.
What Fiamma was doing was a threat of that level.
And at the same time, Kamijou knew that an angel was not something so easily controlled. There had to be some sort of foundation. With Misha Kreutzev it had been the magic circle of Angel Fall and with Fuse Kazakiri it had been the AIM diffusion fields. And if it was supported by some kind of large-scale preparations, it would no longer be able to function in that world if he eliminated those preparations.
He knew the key to stopping it.
It was Sasha Kreutzev.
If the appearance of the astounding angel had started with her, she may have come into contact with some kind of important spiritual item. Assuming there was something like that, Sasha might know what he had to destroy in order to stop the angel.
"Listen. Anything you know is fine. I need to know where the magic—do you call it a ceremony in this case?—anyway, the place on the Star of Bethlehem where the actions to call in the angel were carried out. And I need to know the process as well. Don't worry, I don't need anything detailed. I just want to know what tools were used and in what way."
Of course, Kamijou did not have a good understanding of magic.
However, his right hand could negate and destroy any phenomena or items related to supernatural powers whether he understood them or not. If he just destroyed everything Sasha mentioned, he might be able to destroy Misha.
Of course, Sasha was still suspicious of Kamijou.
However, she could feel the vibrations from the archangel flying around and sending large-scale attacks toward the Academy City forces in the sky and on the ground. As what they wanted seemed to be the same, Sasha started speaking.
"…My second response: When I awoke, the ceremony was already complete. That may have been why I was able to escape. A few Russian Orthodox magicians are here in addition to the leader, so I normally would have been unable to escape. However, I rushed out of the ceremony room right when they were relaxing over having gotten past one of their major difficulties."
"That's fine. Did you see anything in the ceremony room before you fled?"
Kamijou doubted Fiamma would leave an opening like that and he also wasn't sure if you could really "flee" from him as he could fill in a gap of a few kilometers in an instant, but he didn't mention either thought. Perhaps Fiamma had determined that there was nowhere to escape to while trapped on that sky fortress.
Sasha seemed not to have noticed Kamijou's thoughts and she continued.
"My third response: The ceremony room was in the Christian style. It was oddly made with an especial focus on the great element of fire… Other than when using one to its extreme as an attack, ceremonies usually gain an effect by using all four great elements together, but that man known as Fiamma's ceremony room was exceedingly uniform in that one color…"
Her explanation continued.
However, Kamijou suddenly looked down at his right hand.
There might be another way.
Fiamma had used Sasha to call out that archangel. This time, the pure archangel was exposed externally rather than residing within Sasha like it had during Angel Fall. But if Misha had been called out using Sasha, then the odds were good that the same set of rules would apply. Sasha was necessary to stabilize the existence of the archangel.
If so, Sasha and Misha might be connected like someone having an out-of-body experience. If that were the case, Kamijou could use Imagine Breaker. By touching Sasha, he might be able to directly damage Misha. After all, it seemed angels were giant masses of magical power.
(…Even now, Misha Kreutzev is doing all sorts of damage to the area. Academy City forces, Russian forces, and maybe even surrounding villages are being damaged.)
Kamijou opened and closed his right hand as if seeing how it was doing.
(So I need to try everything I can. We're the only ones that can do anything right now!!)
"A supplementary explanation: The ceremony room is on the rightmost end of the Star of Bethlehem from the perspective of the direction it is travelling in. Most likely, that location is used to signify the Archangel Michael who symbolizes fire. It is a very thorough method, but the angel flying around the battlefield is Gabriel. Gabriel signifies water which seems quite odd to me as—Hyawan!?"
Suddenly, Sasha's back stiffened and she let out an odd shout.
It was because Kamijou had stretched out his arm and touched her cheek.
Not noticing that Sasha had begun to tremble, Kamijou then touched her head, her shoulders, her sides, her stomach, her thighs, and so on.
"…No. Not here either. Or here. Or here. Dammit, there's no change in Misha. Is this method not going to work? I guess I'll test her back as well just to be sure. And what's with this crazy outfit…?"
"…"
As Kamijou muttered to himself, Sasha silently swung around her L-shaped crowbar.
As if she were striking him with the back of a sword, she got a nice clean hit with the horizontal strike. The corner that bent at a right angle struck Kamijou in the temple.
"…My second question: Do you possess the same soul as Vasilisa?"
"Gyabh!? What? Cough! What's a Vasilisa!?" Kamijou vaguely shouted as he rolled around on the floor with his arms and legs twitching.
Sasha swung down the corner of the crowbar twice more, but she must have decided that beating him beyond repair would not get her anywhere because she put the instrument of torture back in her belt while blushing profusely.
"My fourth response: This Fiamma person's ceremony room was quite high class, but the spiritual items used were quite popular ones. I do not believe that he could control an existence on the level of an angel with what I saw."
It was possible the special item was Sasha herself and tools with normal functionality were all that was needed to draw out her functionality.
"However…A supplementary explanation: There was a single spiritual item I had never seen before."
"A spiritual item!?" Kamijou repeated.
It may have had to do with Index's remote control spiritual item.
"My fifth response: Specifically, it was a staff. No, the symbolic weapon of fire is the rod or the staff, so that in itself is not surprising."
"So what made it stand out to you?"
"A supplementary explanation: Normally a staff being used as the symbolic weapon of fire is made from a red-colored main body with a bar magnet on the end. However, this staff had something else there."
"?"
"A further supplementary explanation: It was a cylinder about the size to hold in one's hand with many different thin rings on its side. It was reminiscent of a dial padlock. It was placed at the center of the ceremony room."
"…"
Kamijou knew that spiritual item.
It was Index's remote control spiritual item.
Kamijou initially assumed Fiamma must have used the knowledge of the 103,000 grimoires to summon Misha Kreutzev, but then he noticed something odd about Sasha's explanation.
Fiamma had controlled Index by operating the spiritual item in his hand. He should just been able to get the information he needed that way.
Why had he gone out of his way to use it as a part of the staff?
Kamijou thought for a bit and then spoke.
"Is he controlling Misha Kreutzev by using the spiritual item's ability to control someone remotely?"
Part 7
"So things are finally turning around," muttered Russian Orthodox Bishop Nikolai Tolstoy within a Moscow palace.
He was holding a communications spiritual item in the form of a book.
It was connected with Fiamma of the Right.
"The appearance of Misha Kreutzev has been confirmed even here. I cannot believe that you can keep all that Telesma in one place. Of course, it is not a problem as it can be used to fight in this war. Hurry up and have Misha Kreutzev crush the Academy City forces."
Nikolai had a great number of maps and documents spread out on the table before him.
"The vast majority of their forces are unmanned units using AI and remote controls. Start by destroying this command location. Top priority goes to destroying the EU war front pressing in towards Moscow from Eastern Europe. Once that is over, eliminate the aerial forces passing over the Arctic Ocean. I will send you the maps and movements of the troops. Once you see them—"
"Heh heh."
At that time, Nikolai clearly heard Fiamma laughing.
"You have the incomplete archangel of water in your grasp and that is all you can think of?"
"What are you saying?"
"Now I can see why you only made it up to bishop. There are many irrational things in this world, but that seems to be correct. The position of Patriarch does not suit you. The church would certainly begin to fall apart."
"What are you saying, Fiamma!?" Nikolai yelled back after being jabbed straight in his complex.
However, there was no change.
Fiamma of the Right's laughter did not stop.
"Hey, Nikolai. Did you think I of all people was using what I had at my disposal for the sake of Russia? Of course I wasn't. If anything, it was the opposite."
"You bastard…"
"I use what I have at my disposal for my own goals. Buying time is difficult, Bishop Nikolai Tolstoy. And a role like that does suit you. Now you can just fight Academy City on your own and be destroyed on your own."
"Heh."
Nikolai's emotions exploded.
However, the primary emotion was not rage.
It was joy at seeing that what he had prepared for just such a moment had not gone to waste.
"Are you an idiot, Fiamma!? You have made a fundamental mistake! Did you forget that your floating fortress was created with Russian Orthodox spells!?"
"…"
"The 200 magicians I sent to you were all acting as my pawns. Did you think I would not add in any tricks? With a single order from me, that fortress will immediately fall apart and the countless parts will rain down on the surface."
While members of God's Right Seat could use special magic normal people could not, they could not use the spells that normal magicians could. That was one of the reasons Fiamma had asked for help from Russian Orthodox magicians. In other words, normal spells were necessary for the construction of that fortress.
And the same applied to the removal of the traps Nikolai had made sure were mixed in with the construction spells.
"What will you do, Fiamma?" Nikolai asked in a teasing manner.
That man continued to rise in position by taking advantage of any situation, so he was used to that kind of strategy.
"I don't know what you want to use that fortress for, but it must be a necessary part of your plan since you took such meticulous care in getting it up there. Can you really let it be destroyed?"
Nikolai knew he had won.
He had the absolute advantage.
"If you go along with what we in Russia want, that fortress will not be destroyed. I'm just saying that things have an order of priority, Fiamma. Russia comes first. If you have time left over after that, then you can carry out your own plan. Of course, that's only if it does not cause Russia any trouble."
"Ha ha," Fiamma laughed quietly.
Nikolai frowned.
That wasn't what he had expected.
That had not been a laugh of desperation. Fiamma had uttered the type of laugh that one gave after hearing a bad joke.
In other words, it had been a sarcastic laugh.
"If that was the only plan you could come up with, then you aren't even fit for the position of bishop."
Immediately afterwards, a sound like some kind of fiber being ripped apart filled Nikolai's ears. He had a bad feeling. The magical lines needed to disassemble the fortress's construction spells were being severed.
"A mere member of God's Right Seat cannot use normal spells. While that's true, it doesn't add up, does it? After all, why do you think I attacked England in order to gain the remote control spiritual item for the 103,000 grimoires?"
"You don't mean…?"
His throat went dry.
He could feel the advantage he thought he had slipping from his hand like a lively fish.
"Of the four great elements, I rule over fire, but it does not end there. I have determined that each of the four great elements is at the farthest point in its directions but also has the other elements within it. I have gathered everything I need to use magic."
"You can use it…? You can use magic other than your power as a member of God's Right Seat!?"
"While all that did have to be detached in order to become The One Above God, it's basically an issue of using the right thing at the right time. If you divide things up appropriately, it is not impossible to store up knowledge as a human. And once it is all complete, the sacred light will naturally wipe away the human knowledge like the puny darkness it is."
Fiamma continued speaking in order to finish off the shallow bishop.
"In other words, my request for magicians was a means of gaining knowledge of the techniques for the necessary spells and to make you Russians lower your guard. …So unfortunately for you, your role ends here. The lifeline you tried to cling to has just been destroyed. I'll take care of the 200 magicians, so don't worry about that. Just accept defeat."
The connection ended.
It had been severed from the other side.
Nikolai felt as if he could clearly see the difference in value between himself and Fiamma. One was the head of God's Right Seat, an organization that could influence the fate of the world. The other was just one of many disposable bishops.
Nikolai Tolstoy thought about that for a bit.
And then he completely exploded with rage.
He threw the book-shaped communications spiritual item onto the table and grabbed a cell phone. The phone had a chip for encrypted communications used by high-level government officials. As he operated the phone, he gave an order to a subordinate.
"Bring out the 'reserves'."
That word held dreadful meaning.
Nikolai ignored how much of a dilemma that order would put Russia into as he yelled.
"Blow that fortress away!! Now!!"
Part 8
Index and Stiyl's battle continued within St. George's Cathedral.
However, the battle was not an equal one.
There was no way a mere magician like Stiyl could be a good match for the grimoire library who could freely use 103,000 grimoires.
"Chapter 13, Verse 9. Maintaining my reach with projectiles."
The red wings on Index's back burst off.
The dancing red lights that were like sprays of blood flew towards Stiyl like lasers. It wasn't just one or two shots. Dozens of attacks came from countless angles at the same time.
"…!!"
Stiyl was not immediately killed due to the blessing of the area he was in.
Because the floor on the first floor had collapsed, Stiyl had fallen into the underground spiritual item vault.
He immediately grabbed a spiritual item and passed magic power through it which activated it.
The block-shaped stone named Hrungnir's Stone glowed bluish-white and successfully repelled four of the red lights Index had fired.
The remaining ones flooded in and destroyed the bluish-white light and the spiritual item itself.
Stiyl barely managed to evade the killer beams of light by twisting his body.
(From what I can see, the control of her physical body is being carried out by her brain. The remote control spiritual item is only used to send out the necessary signals to her body which input the necessary parameters for her movement. In that case, Index's movements should stop if I knock her unconscious.)
He hated having to put more of a burden on her, but he had no choice. Stiyl checked on the rune cards in his pocket. They weren't all flame ones. With a focus on people clearing fields, he had cards that created other effects. Depending on the arrangement, he could create many different effects and some of those effects involved mentally binding a specific person.
He had been postponing using it because he couldn't calculate the risk to her without knowing how the remote control spiritual item worked, but he could not put it off any longer. He needed to quickly incapacitate Index and mentally bind her.
The problem was…
(How am I supposed to get close to her with these constant attacks!?)
At that very moment, a great noise resounded throughout the area.
It was the sound of the door to the underground spiritual item vault being thrown open and a number of nuns rushing in.
"Stiyl, we'll cover you!! Make your preparations!!"
"Stop!!" Stiyl yelled out, but it was too late.
"Chapter 8, Verse 43. Refinement of magic power detected. Those holding the power within them are recognized as enemies. Commencing elimination of their actions."
Sparks flew from Index's forehead.
Immediately afterwards, a huge fan-shaped shockwave shot out. The nuns were protected by spiritual items to a certain extent, but they were completely blown away. The door to the underground spiritual item vault was destroyed and Index's enemies were pushed away as if by a bulldozer.
(The primary battle members have gone to the Strait of Dover or overseas. Most of the people still here deal with transmissions and communications. They'll all be defeated at this rate!!)
Index looked around the area.
She looked at the walls and the ceiling…and she detected the magic power beyond them.
"Chapter 8, Verse 47. Beginning elimination of all elements likely to help the enemy."
She fired thick beams again and again. They mercilessly pierced straight through the walls and ceiling that were protected magically and destroyed the magical constructions within St. George's Cathedral.
(This is bad. At this rate, the large scale spiritual items supporting those on the front lines could be damaged!!)
At that time, Stiyl saw someone standing at the edge of the destroyed portion of the ceiling. It was Laura Stuart, the Archbishop at the top of the Anglican Church.
(Is she here to help…?)
Stiyl had a slight hope, but he realized he was wrong immediately afterwards.
She lightly waved her hand showing something off.
(That's her remote control spiritual item!!)
Of course she was not there to help.
What she was wordlessly expression was rather simple: If you don't do something soon, I'll use this.
Stiyl gritted his teeth.
He had a pretty good idea what would happen to Index if the burden of the remote control spiritual item being used were added on top the burden she already had.
He pulled a rune card from his pocket and forced magic power through it.
A flame sword appeared.
As if drawn in by it, Index turned her gaze in his direction.
"Chapter 20, Verse 6. Top priority target reset. Reanalysis of the highly dangerous element complete."
After waiting for his opponent's focus to be drawn to him, Stiyl ran for the underground spiritual item vault's exit. Staying there would increase the damage done. He had to start by bringing her to a more suitable battlefield.
Stiyl heard the girl's merciless voice from behind him.
"Preparations complete. Commencing attack."