Part 1
Misha Kreutzev.
The shape of the angel's body was not unusual. It looked just like the body of a 20-something year old woman. Unmistakably this was Gabriel, the only angel in Christian lore said to have female attributes.
But when you looked closer, you could see that she was not human.
The entire surface of her body was covered by slippery cloth of an unknown material, her face had no eyes or nostrils, only shapes that superficially resembled such parts created from the ridges and depressions across the surface of the cloth. The cloth spread out around the back of her head in a way as to resemble hair.
There was no noticeable difference between the "skin" and the "clothing", the two seemingly blended into one. What looked like gold leaf veins ran across the white cloth surface and occasional identical colored pins held them in place.
The overall color of her attire was more grey than white, but a bluish glow radiated outwards from her entire body, not unlike the glow of a computer screen.
Wings of ice.
About a hundred of them. The sizes ranged from a few dozen meters to well over one hundred meters in length. They resembled nothing less than countless gigantic swords of ice piercing through the sky. The beauty of the crystalline wings was similar to the beauty precious gems like diamonds held for humans.
But.
Throughout the frozen landscape of Russia, all the Academy City troops who beheld the sight of the archangel were not mesmerized by its beauty. For they knew the horror of that shape. No, rather, they had been forced to learn firsthand the horror that was the Power of God.
BOOM!
Flapping those countless wings of ice, Misha flew down at the snowy landscape. The angel's movements were simple and direct: fly straight down towards the closely packed armor divisions of Academy City, and as she crashes into the ground like a meteor, pound the ground around her with hundreds of wings of ice. With this crude but efficient method of attack that resembled nothing more than a giant stamp descending on the land, Misha crushed the Academy City troops, who had effortlessly defeated the mighty Russian army, like a bunch of ants.
"UWAAAA!!!!"
"RETREAT! WE'RE TOO CLOSE!!!"
"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS THING?!!"
The surviving tanks retreated furiously, turned their turrets to aim at the angel, and fired. The sound of the cannon fire felt as though it would shake up one's inner organs into a mess, and multiple armor piercing explosive rounds rent the air as they flew towards their target.
Misha didn't even bother to turn.
The wings that were like towers of steel flapped once, faster than the speed of sound. With this one supersonic flap, the air was compressed into a wall of wind that knocked the tank rounds away as if they were nothing. Misha did not continue the attack, for she did not adhere to battle tactics concerning victory or defeat.
"anhwrREPEATnxdp"
Whoosh! Before the deflected tank rounds exploded, Misha was already 1000 meters above the ground again. With the current situation the troops were in, they would not survive another assault. The surviving troops were scattered around the perimeter of the giant crater that formed from Misha's first attack. Misha chose her target. And just like before, Misha dived towards the ground at horrifying speeds.
"nipsergREPEATnsig"
"sbrgREPEATsmntph"
"nithgREPEATgbsvrfl"
Just like that, Misha continued to literally stamp the Academy City troops out of existence. Misha had no concept of "friend" or "foe" and as such, even the Russian tanks and troops milling around on the surface were crushed into oblivion.
It was a scene of total destruction. A crewman emerged from the crushed hull of an Academy City tank, only to come face to face with a Russian soldier who was almost fainting from exhaustion. However neither pointed their gun at each other. The Russian soldier just stared up at the sky, dazed, and the Academy City trooper completely understood what was going through the Russian soldier's mind.
This was not a war anymore. The term "war" was just one of the many aspects of human life. This was a true apocalypse. In front of an apocalyptic event such as this, humans were powerless.
"hbsugneznzfREPEATsboisnegrgrer"
This was what the angel was speaking. The human ear could not hear it, nor could their minds understand it. The sound was just like if one's throat had been pierced with a knife. As the troops looked skywards, the angel of destruction would come crashing down. Misha's movements did not change, not even her attack patterns. It seemed as though, to the angel, all this was just a boring chore to be done as fast as possible. The soldiers staring up at the angel knew that when Misha's face turned towards them, death would come to them in an instant as she crashed down on top of them like a falling star. We're next. They would think. To survive up till now was already a miracle. Our luck must have been used up already.
"..."
The tank crewman sat resignedly on the ground, and gave a faint smile of defeat. The expression of the Russian soldier was identical. The next instant the angel came crashing down. Mercilessly. Its goal, to kill all life on the frozen tundra.
BOOM! The sound of the explosion echoed across the land. However, this sound was not caused by Misha impacting against the ground, but was caused by a person colliding with the archangel.
The Russian and the Academy City crewman could not understand what was happening. They hadn't even registered the fact that they were still alive. The one fighting the archangel was a….. girl?
A blonde girl clothed in a fiery red dress, wielding a shining sword of light in her right hand. 3000 meters above in the sky, far beyond the habitat of humans, this girl flew around like a rocket, fighting the archangel. For the first time, Misha changed her course. She headed for the ground, slowing down. This time, there was no gigantic explosion and no crater formed. Misha bounced once, twice, three times on the ground, before stopping herself by thrusting her countless wings into the ground around her. Around her, the remnants of the two armies struggled frantically to run away.
What was this?
What happened?
Even though the Academy City troops were moving again, before Misha could have time to ponder these questions, the woman in red who had assaulted Misha in the sky landed close to where the tanks were.
She did not have a parachute. Rather, she just floated down towards the ground, as if on invisible wings.
"Wha-what?"
The tank crewman sat on his buttocks, shivering in fear as the woman in red landed behind him. However she paid him no heed. Focusing only on the archangel, she casually swung around her sword of light. Focusing only on that horrible figure whom the soldier didn't want to look at for even one second.
"Sigh, even though they said the Power of God was summoned, this being is no different from your run of the mill monster… I wanted to meet a real angel and ask them about some of heaven's secrets, but it looks like this…. thing won't be able to understand even simple language…"
The woman said disdainfully. And then…
"Even if you're a princess, how about you show some self-control? ...Not that I'm one to talk seeing as I let you convince me to come to this place that even Napoleon would give up on."
"Wh-when did they come and where did they come from?"
After hearing this second voice, the tank crewman turned his head, and saw a pale faced woman dressed in white. And she was not alone.
"Now that I think about it, for the conflict to erupt now just signifies how serious the situation has become. As expected, the enemy has prepared a trump card on the same level as, no, superior to Curtana…"
This time it was a man's voice, a very tall man dressed in a Western suit standing in front of several thousand people. It was hard to believe that they were there, for the surroundings had nowhere near enough cover to have hidden all those people…
For the man in the suit, now should not be the ideal time to be listening to the back and forth insults of the woman in red and the pale-faced girl, but still, he traded opinions with them.
"Is your Spell of Thororm ineffective against it?"
"The bad news is, it seems the gap between us is too big. And those ice wings may not even be weapons, but just an extension of its body."
"What is Necessarius doing? Why don't they send over that Saint?"
"For her, aiding the wounded for both the Academy City and the Russian troops would be her highest priority. For her, fighting is just another method of saving people, and in this situation, 'finding another way to stop this war' would be more important."
Hearing Knight Leader's words, Carissa bit her lip. The Holy Woman of Versailles raised her eyebrows.
"For the Anglicans, this would be normal, wouldn't it?"
Ignoring the glare of the Second Princess Carissa, the Holy Woman of Versailles continued.
"Up till now the Anglicans have killed too many people…"
"I know that even without you telling me…" Carissa snapped back.
"Hmph, in the end we'll just have to think of a way to bring this thing down."
Vroom! Once again, the sword of light slashed the air. Facing the pale-faced girl carrying that over-ornamented sword, Carissa spoke.
"Come on, you Frenchie, let's go."
"Hmph, ever since I channelled all of France's power into Durendal, I've been dying to use it on that thing."
An unearthly noise echoed across the land, as Misha started to pull her wings of ice out of the ground. Carissa pointed her sword of light at the angel, and spoke in a commanding voice.
"Come, you beast. I'll show you that I too, wield the power of an archangel!!"
Part 2
The second princess of England, Carissa.
The holy maiden of France, the Holy Woman of Versailles.
Their battle plan was simple. Charge at Misha Kreutzev and initiate a full on frontal attack.
BOOM!
The sound of the explosion was slower than the movement of the two on the battlefield. In reality the sound wasn't an explosion at all, but a supersonic boom caused by the two women's charge. The two of them swept towards Misha Kreutzev in a pincer attack formation. Like a giant pair of scissors, they aimed for her head.
All eyes were on the two as they rushed at the archangel, burying their swords into the mass of frozen wings. In an instant, Misha came impossibly close to the verge of death, as the two's blades cleaved through her countless wings like lawn-mowers cutting through grass.
Then, Misha's hands moved outwards.
Like the movement of subway doors closing, she curled her fingers into fists.
A very simple movement.
A moment earlier Curtana and Durendal had been cutting through the frozen wings of death, and now they could not even scratch the palm of the archangel's hands. The two blades had been stopped completely. Misha slowly turned, and her eyeless sockets seemed to stare at Carissa.
BOOM!
Another explosion, this time from Carissa and the Holy Woman of Versailles releasing explosive energy from their swords to escape from Misha's grasp. Although they did not fall over, they skidded back a large distance from the force of their explosions, their hands still numb from it.
"hboirgFIRSTnbugbPRIORITYvoraghv"
Misha Kreutzev tilted her head slightly as she spoke and she turned her body toward Carissa.
"nriosgnATTACKiorseorg"
Misha raised her palm.
Something happened.
WHOOSH!!
Something flew past Carissa's face, and the mountain behind her was vaporized. She could not react at all. Misha realized this, and readjusted her aim, moving her palm a little bit.
"GET OUT OF THE WAY YOU BARBARIAN!"
The instant before the shot was fired, the Holy Woman of Versailles moved at supersonic speeds. Circling around from the back of Misha, she kicked out at Carissa from the sides, knocking her away to safety. For most people such a humiliating treatment would have had the two engage in fierce battle, but for those two, this would be considered an act of kindness.
The two girls got out of the way just as Misha fired that "thing" from her hand.
Snow and dirt flew everywhere, but the two were unharmed.
"What is that? I can't see it at all…"
"The Power of God is a messenger angel. She must be good at manipulating information. She must be obscuring our sixth senses of premonition and intuition. It seems like we can only rely on our 5 normal senses for this fight…"
"hbwioraATTACKnbsitbgEFFECTIVEorargwerge."
"That's no good, it seems like she's got a loose tongue now."
"It's your fault for allowing her to become so cocky you barbarian."
CRACK!
The wings of ice on Misha's back began to expand. The two girls were filled with a sense of foreboding. It seemed to be similar to the attack Misha fired from her palms, the purpose of the wings most likely was to disrupt one's sixth sense.
The two were at a disadvantage.
If they were to launch an attack without the capability to read the movements of the enemy, they would be cut down for sure. But at the same time, they were unable to react to the enemy's attacks and were completely defenseless. Just as the two prepared themselves for the inevitable, the wings of ice moved. Over one hundred wings moved in unison towards the pair at over supersonic speeds.
"-!!"
RAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!!!
Innumerable sparks flew. The situation was just like being fired at by a Gatling gun shooting at 6000 rounds per minute. The girls' faces were pale as they dodged the countless projectiles. Even though their physical capabilities were far beyond normal humans, without their sixth sense, the chances of dodging such a barrage for an extended period of time were nil.
Even if a chance was to appear for them to launch a counterattack, they did not have the energy left to mount an assault. Dodging Misha's attack was eating through their stamina. This was a completely unfavorable situation for them; they could not find an opening at all.
"What are you doing you barbarian?! Didn't you say Curtana had the power of an archangel just like the enemy?"
"That's just on paper! It's not a problem of 'power' but a problem of 'technique' and 'knowledge'. If you haven't noticed, I'm not an archangel! I can't compete with a real archangel! What about your Durendal?"
"Just relying on the power of the 'artifact' is not enough! Remember, our goal is the impossible dream of taking down an archangel!"
SCREECH!
The sound of something scraping together. That depression in Misha's face where her mouth should be moved ever so slightly.
"bhrovINCREASEgbATTACKeoiwvpghSPEEDrug"
"This bastard! She still has energy left-!!"
Carissa wore an expression of shock, as Misha's movements far exceeded her calculations. Over a hundred wings of ice, directed not at her and the Holy Woman, but rather, at the surviving Russian and Academy City soldiers.
"That bastard!"
As fast as she could, the second princess of England moved at supersonic speeds, putting herself between the archangel and the surviving troops. To save the lives of innocent people from the wrath of an archangel, she put her life on the line. Misha Kreutzev struck without mercy, for this was the moment she had been waiting for. The entire landscape shuddered with the impact.
Carissa clenched her teeth, blood coming out from her mouth. She could hear the sound of bones breaking. Even though she used Curtana Second to take the brunt of the attack, the force of the wings pressing her into the ground made her fear for her life. She thought that she would be squished to death, intestines spilling out all over the place. However the scariest part wasn't that. In the bleeding palm of Carissa's hand, the shard of Curtana Second had shattered under the immense pressure.
"bndgCONFIRMEDeworiEFFECTIVE"
Misha coldly spoke. Once again, hundreds of frozen wings crashed down. This time, Carissa did not have the sword of light in her hands. Even the shard of Curtana Second from which the blade was formed had gone.
This time, even the sound vanished.
Everyone watched speechless. The Holy Woman of Versailles and her French forces, the English forces led by Knight Leader, plus the Russians and Academy City troops for whom magic was not even a confirmed existence yet. All stopped their motions. However, this reaction was not towards the destructive power of Misha Kreutzev.
"….yes, my sword is created by using the power of the Curtana Second shard to borrow the power of England's warriors. If the shard is broken, this power vanishes."
The voice of the girl in red echoed across the land. The voice of the second princess of England, who governed all 'military affairs'.
"However, who said one was only limited to possessing one shard of Curtana Second?!"
VROOM!
The blade of light reignited. Or more correctly, blades of light, for Carissa was wielding dual swords of light now. Around her waist, ten more shards were tied in a belt.
"As a princess who gambled the fate of her own country in this war, I shall not go down so easily!"
"hdtrnDAMAGEbgurgCONFIRMEDhtr"
With a high pitched noise, Misha repositioned all of her ice wings at once.
"bauoCONTINUEgrlnATTACKjjyhbasedfvgCERTAINtgseagtrrhgsDESTRUCTIONyr"
Carissa smiled coldly. Even though she was horribly injured, her legs shaking, her smile would not go away. Next to her, the Holy Woman called out.
"How long do you think we have to hold out for?"
Behind them, the soldiers were in retreat. No matter if they were Russian or from Academy City, with the aid of the British and French troops, they quickly made their escape from the battlefield. Survivors were rescued from crushed vehicles, and the injured were placed on those that could still move.
"We have to hold until they reach someplace safe. If even the other side of the earth is not safe, then we hold until then."
"You're remarkably calm."
"Heh, I don't know about that."
Once again, the two women engaged the archangel in combat. Both Carissa and the Holy Woman were not without injuries. Faced against the supersonic wings of the angel, and stripped of their sixth sense, even as they dodged fatal blows, their bodies steadily collected minor wounds. They were injured more by shards of broken ice than by the direct blow of one of the massive wings.
As it was, it was impossible for them to have come out unharmed. The two of them had already used up most of their energy and their movements were visibly slower. If the battle dragged on, they were sure to receive a fatal blow in the end. However, even if they wanted to commit suicide, the girls did not venture directly in front of Misha. Instead, they pulled back a small distance away for a breather.
"Now…."
From between her breasts, Carissa took out a small communications device.
"I still value my life, so I think it is time for Plan B."
"….Could you not hide stuff in that sort of place? As another member of the same sex I think you have very serious problems."
Ignoring her, Carissa spoke into the device.
"All missile squads are to be on standby, ready to launch the surface-to-air missiles."
Behind a hill some 5 kilometers away, various trucks with missile launchers and radar arrays mounted on them were congregated. The most important were the trucks with mounts containing 20 cylindrical missile launchers. The attack was not a scenery-destroying launch of one or two missiles. Each missile truck fired their payload of 20 missiles. Their jet trails leaving white streaks in the air, over one hundred missiles soared into the sky.
At first, Misha did not even turn her head to observe the launch. Most likely she did not regard them as a threat. But very soon she realized the circumstances. These missiles were SAMs, surface-to-air missiles. That is, they were not targeted at Misha who was on the ground, but rather, the giant aerial target that was the Star of Bethlehem.
"Although I don't know if you understand our language, let me say a word."
Carissa flourished her sword, a wicked smile on her face.
"Are you sure you should be lazing around here? Defending that place, shouldn't that be your highest priority?"
"bruzeroiutgLOSSraoijcng"
"Aw, don't be mad."
Faced with the killing intent radiating from the angel, Carissa spoke casually.
"After all, wasn't this the tactic you used just before?"
BOOM!
The sound of an explosion. The archangel had aimed a small explosion at the ground. Carissa and the Holy Woman of Versailles instantly were on guard, leaping back to put distance between themselves and Misha. There was not enough time for them to get back in formation. Misha Kreutzev looked up at the sky, and with one flap flew up into the air. Like a rocket she flew towards the Star of Bethlehem to intercept the SAMs. The Holy Woman of Versailles lowered Durendal, looking at the scene.
"I don't think that level of bombardment will be able to down the flying fortress."
"Even if it only knocks it off course, that is enough. Angels are angels, they have to follow their orders. They judge and move according to their orders. It is easy to guess that the angel's highest priority is to guard that flying fortress vital to her master's plan."
As Carissa spoke, she wavered unsteadily on her feet.
"Hmph, it seems the price I paid was higher than I expected"
Because of her fight with such an unnatural being such as an archangel, and the strain of having to maintain the power output of Curtana Second, her body was at its limits. However, she could not retreat here. War was not such a simple thing, and the second princess of England in charge of 'military affairs' knew this well.
"SAMs are also a resource of the country, we don't have an unlimited supply of them. We can't expect to occupy her forever. Take the chance now to retreat the injured."
After ordering her subordinates with the communications device, Carissa fell into deep thought.
"That damn monster…"
She coughed up the blood that was starting to coagulate in her throat. The sword of light that the second princess of England held was a national treasure that held immense power. However, it was still a man-made item holding man-made power. Compared with the power of a true archangel it was nothing.
"How will we deal with that thing… I see no way how it can be defeated by mere humans…"
Part 3
Tremors could be felt throughout the entirety of the floating fortress Star of Bethlehem.
Kamijou Touma, who was currently on the Star of Bethlehem, dared not imagine what was happening on the ground to cause such powerful tremors that could be felt even here.
"...it's still rising huh.."
Kamijou said, looking out the windows as he ran through the stone corridors. It was hard to grasp how high they were by looking at the empty sky, but by looking at the clouds and the distance they were from the Star of Bethlehem Touma saw that it was continuing to ascend into the night sky.
"My first response: The original Star of Bethlehem was a celestial body witnessed by a prophet. By observing it, the prophet predicted that the Son of God shall be born under its light."
"So this is an artificial star? Somehow this gives me a bad feeling. Let's just hope this thing doesn't fly into outer space, nor turn into a giant asteroid and usher in a new Ice Age..."
In front of him, the corridors groaned as they constantly shifted shape and form. However the changes did not have a feeling of random suddenness like an explosion. It was more of the feeling of a star settling and cooling down after birth.
The total size of the structure was approximately 40 kilometers across. Touma guessed that they were towards the rear of the structure. The "ceremonial altar" that Sasha mentioned was at the very end of the right wing of the fortress. Since Fiamma's objective was there, he must be somewhere there in person. To stop the Archangel Misha Kreutzev, they had to head towards the "ceremonial altar", but the distance was too big for a high school boy to easily get across.
(Sasha escaped from the ceremonial grounds on the far right and made it all the way to me.)
Putting aside the possibility of Sasha having a superhuman movement speed, there must be some sort of high-speed transportation mechanism inside the Star of Bethlehem.
"My second response: From a human perspective, to have to go all the way back there after I purposely escaped from that place, I don't like the idea...."
"Then... Sasha, you could just stay here and wait."
"My third response: If it was possible this wouldn't be so hard..."
"You've got a point.... we have no way of getting out of here without a parachute. If I beat up Fiamma before I address this problem..."
Touma said, as he walked with Sasha towards the center of the fortress.
"This fortress is several tens of kilometers across, plus it is the enemy's territory. We'll just be wasting our strength if we aimlessly run around."
"My fourth response: I don't think I have enough stamina for that. As for transport, there's some here."
Finally, they found a transport train. Touma was not sure if it was really for transporting objects, as there was only one carriage. Even though it was a train, it seemed more like a car on rails. Obviously it was not a magical object.
Sasha got on and looked back at Touma.
"My first question: Are you not getting on?"
"No, I'm coming on..... Why would there be a train in this sort of place....?"
"My fifth response: I have difficulty answering that as well...."
Thinking back, in Fiamma's base, it looked as though work had been done on it, there were support shafts and the like everywhere. It probably was built with combination in mind.
".... Lessar said before, there are around 200 magicians in the Russian Orthodox Church... to guarantee the effective operation of the facilities, they had to preserve the existing jobs"
Touma got on the train. Although Sasha and Touma both had no idea how to operate the train, after they inputted their desired destination, the machine automatically went to work. It was just like operating an elevator.
The rail car lurched violently and began to move. Soon the roof above Touma and Sasha's heads disappeared and they were given a vista of the sky.
The sky was pitch black, an empty void without a single star.
"The Star of Bethlehem...."
Sasha whispered, staring up at the eerie scene.
"My first personal opinion: The star that heralded the coming of the Son of God. Fiamma of the Right is exposing it through artificial means, huh."
Even though the cloud cover below them was very thick, there were gaps everywhere, through which tiny pinpricks of light could be seen. Those were not nightlights, and Touma guessed they were gunfire or perhaps fires. He had seen a similar scene once on the television. A satellite was sending images of fires in the Amazon forest. Touma ground his teeth in anger.
Suddenly, one of the red glows near the surface started getting closer, and Touma could see vapor trails behind it. As the object got closer Touma could see it was a cylindrical shape.
"Surface-to-air missiles....??!!"
There wasn't just one or two. 50, no, 100 missiles flew through the air at them. It must have been a counterattack. A few of the missiles streaked towards Touma and Sasha. At this rate they would be receiving a direct hit. Even if the missile missed them, the track the car was running on would almost certainly be destroyed, perhaps even the rock underneath them, and Touma and Sasha would fall to their deaths. Even if they wanted to take evasive maneuvers now, it was impossible. Inside the narrow confines of the car carriage, there was nowhere to run.
BOOOM!
The windows of the carriage shattered, and a violent wind swept throughout the carriage. Even with his hands over his ears Touma felt stabbing pain in his eardrums. Then he noticed. This was not the effects of being hit by a missile. If they had been hit, the carriage would have been a smoldering wreck now, and there would have been no way for Touma and Sasha to survive.
Something had stopped the missiles.
Touma saw the culprit.
Inside the carriage, with temperatures dropping below freezing point, Touma stopped breathing. Their savior was none other than the archangel, Misha Kreutzev. The monster with giant wings of ice flew along the carriage at the same speed. Touma did not care anymore about those exploding missiles in the distance. Extreme fear had gripped his mind. The archangel continuously flapped its wings, intercepting the innumerable amount of state of the art missiles.
"..."
Inspecting her from close range, she was a remarkable creature indeed.
When looking at her from afar, Touma only thought of her as A winged being with the outline of a human. From close range, she resembled and yet did not resemble Sasha at the same time. Touma estimated her to be about two meters tall. Going by Kanzaki's description, Power of God resembled a female angel. However, her expressionless face reminded Touma of an unfinished mannequin. That featureless face of hers with only depressions and rises in the cloth covering her entire body gave Touma an unnerving feeling just by looking at it. It wasn't to say that it didn't look feminine. Certainly it was more feminine than masculine.
It was hard to tell the skin and clothing apart. A smooth white fabric wrapped around the contours of her body. Everywhere across the cloth were fastened golden safety pins. The entire body was composed entirely only of two colors, white and gold. However because of the silvery white glow emitted from the angel's body, overall she looked more silverish in color.
Her hair was composed purely of the white fabric fanning out behind her head. There were lotus motifs on the top, and Touma guessed it had some religious significance. Bobbing above her head was a small halo composed of water. Touma did not know how or why, but it seemed the halo rotated faster or slower in accordance with the angel's behavior. Touma wondered what Sasha, a devout Christian, felt as she looked at the angel. Touma and the angel's "eyes" met. Her face was only a collection of indents, and there was nothing you could really call "eyeballs". However Touma felt a cold, uneasy feeling down his back as he stared at the depressions where her eyes should be.
Misha Kreutzev tilted her head slightly. Suddenly, the wings behind her back tensed, and Touma could tell that she was going to attack the train any time now.
"....this is bad....!?"
Fiamma of the Right had said Kamijou's right arm and Sasha's body were necessary for his plan. However, Misha Kreutzev may not know. She focused her gaze on Touma's right hand. The right hand that could banish any supernatural power.
To her, you could say that she was attracted to it because it was her greatest enemy.
Misha Kreutzev raised her wings.
SCREEAAAK!
An earsplitting sound of stone on stone. Or that was what Touma, who's heart was still in his throat, had thought. However that was not the case.
The noise was not that of Misha Kreutzev attacking Kamijou Touma. You could say it was the opposite. The noise was that of someone coming in from the side at horrific speeds, kicking Misha Kreutzev out of the way.
"M-my second question: What just happened?"
Sasha stuttered in fear and confusion. It was impossible for there to be an existence which could attack and harm an archangel. However, just as preposterous was that they were 5000 meters up in the air. It was impossible for most magicians to reach this high in the air.
However Kamijou Touma knew of one existence which could do both these things. Capable of defeating even Saints, and the only one capable of countering the magic of Misha Kreutzev. An existence created by science.
Created by the concentration of AIM diffusion fields. Emitting violet lightning, tens of wings emitting from her back.
"Kazakiri Hyouka....!"
Touma yelled into the ferocious winds whipping the air around the carriage.
"....that person, why is she here...?!"
Touma did not think she could hear. However, for an instant, her eyes looked at Touma, and Touma could see a faint expression on her face. Then she was dashing off towards Misha with a battle spirit that Touma had never seen before.
On the 30th of September, when Kazakiri became an angel for the first time, she had been controlled by someone else. However in the moment their eyes met just then, Touma felt something was different about her. Even though her hair was shining gold, a halo was around her head and purple wings of lightning sprouted from her back, Touma saw that she was "human".
She was unquestionably the Kazakiri Hyouka that Touma knew. To stop Misha's advances, the teenage girl placed herself between the archangel and the carriage. Ahead of them, Touma could see the next entrance into the interior of the Star of Bethlehem. But just as they were about to reenter the fortress. Touma could see that Misha had recovered from the blow, and was preparing to counterattack.
Kazakiri responded, and one of her feathers transformed into a bizarre sword of light. Touma did not know what happened next, for they were plunged into darkness as the carriage entered the tunnel. However the next instant a massive shockwave rent the air, and the carriage, along with its passengers, were blown into the air.
"Dammit!"
Even though he rushed to the back of the carriage, Touma still couldn't see what was going on outside.
"...What is going on?!....."
Huge explosions and pressure waves rocked them thrice more. It seemed they hadn't finished fighting yet. Touma did not know why that soft-spoken girl, formed by the concentration of AIM diffusion fields in Academy City, was there, or how she knew how to fight. There was just one thing to do. Not just for Index, but to protect her friends as well, Kamijou Touma had to bring down Misha Kreutzev as fast as possible.
Part 4
Kazakiri Hyouka.
For her, with those supernatural wings erupting from her back, this was actually her first time in the air. At first she doubted her wings could even allow her to fly. However it was not a problem now. She did not need to "learn" how to use her powers. It was as if those wings of hers, emitting purple lightning, gained the power of levitation just by her wishing it.
Protect my "friends".
The Kazakiri who had come there with this intention, did not find "that girl". However she found another "existence" similar to hers. An "existence" currently trying to kill Kazakiri's former savior. 5000 meters up in the air, Kazakiri glared at her enemy. That being similar to her.
The being at once so different to humans, yet resembled a member of the female gender. The being from which countless wings of ice sprouted, and a halo around her head. A being filled with unimaginable power, one which could easily wipe out humankind. Faced with her foe, Kazakiri thought these thoughts. Then another thought popped into her head.
Just like an angel.
Whether this thought was aimed at her opponent or at herself, Kazakiri did not know either. Perhaps all that could be used to describe the "existence" could be used to describe herself, and vice versa. Kazakiri slowly realized this. What was the opponent thinking? Had it thought of something? Had she found something deep within herself? The two creatures in the air finally began to move once again. In her hand, Kazakiri held a sword which contained the same power in it as her wings. Facing her, the unarmed angel raised its right hand, and grasped a blade of ice from midair. No signal was required. They moved in unison and met in a mighty collision.
BOOM!!!
An omni-directional blast wave expanded from the colliding angels. The air was almost like a solid wall, spreading out great distances. Even the gigantic floating fortress shook with the impact. A large number of its buildings were flattened, but the debris did not fall to earth. Rather, it floated in the air as if it was weightless, before being sucked back towards the superstructure of the fortress.
No time to pay heed to such minor details however.
The battle continued. As their swords clashed, the two monsters' wings flew towards each other, seemingly alive, and crashed together. At supersonic speeds, countless blades attacked both combatants from all sorts of angles. However, victory was not determined in that instant, for both of the monsters were attacking in similar fashion. Wings of ice shattered into millions of pieces, and wings of purple lightning blew apart into particles as they traded blows. The remnants of these broken wings dispersed rapidly from the pair, filling the air with shining particles of ice and lightning. The effect was rather like the shower of feathers left after a flock of birds take flight.
While striking out with countless wings, the Archangel of Water raised her blade of ice, lashing out at Kazakiri's head. Kazakiri parried the blow and prepared for a new assault. The face of her foe was expressionless. Like a puppet, its eyes, nose and mouth were not discernible from the rest of the face save for shallow depressions and bumps. It was almost as if the enemy was wearing a mask. The depression that Kazakiri guessed was a mouth twitched, and Kazakiri could hear a voice. It was not a voice speaking in any human language, and probably was inaudible to humans as a whole. She couldn't understand every word, but Kazakiri could get a general idea of what the opponent was saying.
"bhbo…return…hrobp"
The voice carried a tone of emotion. If she could feel the emotion, then she could somewhat decipher the otherworldly language.
"Revert. frPlace. Correct. Alignment. ujj. Heaven. Original. Position."
It was a bit garbled. The outline of the body of the angel of ice shuddered slightly. Because she too did not have a body of flesh and blood, Kazakiri was able to see the composition of the shell of the other angel.
"…Opposing powers…forcibly put in one container?"
Kazakiri could see fire. Fire that was as incompatible with water as oil. Two different powers were contained inside the angel. At this rate, the angel which could be considered somewhat beautiful, would not be able to maintain her physical form. A container could not contain two powers at once. At first glance it would seem that Kazakiri, who was formed from the AIM diffusion fields of various espers with different powers, was being hypocritical. However when it came down to it, the AIM diffusion fields that maintain Kazakiri's existence were much more similar in comparison to the two contained in the angel of ice. The speaking angel emitted an aura of anger.
"Return. Must. Plan. Go. Right. Use. Advantage. Contact. Plan. Help."
"….. Even if it's for this that you are willing to harm my friends, I will stop you with all my power!"
"Harm. Ignore. Priority. Return. Correct. Position. Must. Obstruct. Evil. Intention. Judge. All."
A massive surge of power radiated from the angel of ice. With even greater force, the blade of ice swung down once again, colliding with the sword of Kazakiri, and both angels were forced back from the impact. Misha waved the sword over her head. At this time. Misha suddenly turned her head from Kazakiri, her attention elsewhere.
"Capture."
She spoke. The archangel who was oblivious to all but her goals spoke.
"Necessary. Report. Lamb-skin. Found."