Only a god could stand against a god.
In the Tokyo metropolitan area, the person closest to a god was, of course… Lyudmila.
Even if she was only a Second Sequence Saintess.
But—
Lyudmila's power couldn't be measured by Sequences alone.
Especially now that the true god dwelling within her, Saint Michael, the Saintess of the Holy Royal Court, had been awakened.
"Leave it to me—"
Lyudmila heard Saint Michael's reply.
She clasped her hands over her chest in prayer, and the holy Saintess closed her eyes.
When she opened them again, the gentle pale gold of the Saintess's eyes had turned a blazing gold.
The girl who always struck Su Yuzu as soft and easy to bully now wore a firm, aloof expression.
Her blazing golden eyes opened. The Saintess—no, Lady Saintess—had flames of light flowing in the depths of her dazzling gaze.
This was the first time Saint Michael had taken hold of this body again since Su Yuzu had bullied and forced her out.
It was also… the first time she had faced an Aberrant in this form.
With Saint Michael's descent, the brightness of the entire erosion domain seemed to rise by several degrees.
Saint Michael looked up at the enormous spherical silver metal apparatus before her.
It was nothing like the relationship between the Sword of Erasure and Sakura Mai.
Saint Michael could hear and see everything happening around her. As for the dangers and details of the surroundings, she would only catch them more precisely than Lyudmila did.
Of course, when it came to Su Yuzu's Combat Records…
Saint Michael, of a higher Sequence and even keener in her senses, might well be brought down sooner than Lyudmila.
"This thing…"
"Will it really work?"
"The power of Sun Esper doesn't come from sunlight alone. There's also faith, and the Rules of the world," Saint Michael said to the researcher beside her, who was wearing a heavy anti-erosion-domain combat suit.
The female researcher only gave Saint Michael a thumbs-up.
"Don't worry—"
"If it were just a plain old artificial sun, it'd be nothing more than ordinary technology."
"But!!!" When it came to her own creation, the researcher's expression turned feverish and fervent. "Now—"
"What stands before you…"
"…is the most cutting-edge device the Technology Division of humanity has ever produced."
"Modeled on the power with which you crushed the darkness eighteen years ago—"
"The most powerful Concept Armament ever built."
"Apart from eating a teeny, tiny bit of electricity, it's flawless." Stroking the frame along the edge of the huge silver metal sphere, the woman looked almost intoxicated. "If the Eldest Young Lady hadn't forbidden it…"
"I'd drop it straight onto those wretches' Aberrant home turf."
"A filthy place like that should have a surface temperature of 6000°C."
A bead of cold sweat suddenly beaded on Saint Michael's forehead.
Even with Lyudmila's understanding to cushion it, Lady Saintess still couldn't quite grasp the worldview of these researchers.
But—
Since the other party was beating her chest and swearing there was no problem, Saint Michael could only choose to believe her.
She turned around to face Kujou Iruka.
Then… just before the "Artificial Sun" started up, she suddenly seemed to remember something and looked back at the woman.
"Oh, right…"
"This Concept Armament…"
"What's the longest it has ever run before?"
Saint Michael had no wish to turn into Ultraman, with only three minutes to fight.
"None~" The woman gave Saint Michael a big, bright smile.
Cold sweat was already streaming down Lady Saintess's forehead.
But the researcher didn't seem to mind at all. "Starting up this big fella takes the power supply of an entire city, you see…"
"Even if the Eldest Young Lady has money to burn, she won't let us squander it like that."
"So… this thing has never been started up!?" Saint Michael suddenly understood why the Inquisition's judges had wanted to burn these researchers' predecessors back in the day.
"Relax! There's definitely no problem!"
The woman flashed Saint Michael a dazzling smile, her gleaming white teeth looking so… healthy, even in an erosion domain.
Boom—
A tremendous roar thundered from the front lines.
Saint Michael watched the man in heavy armor give everything he had to protect the petite girl in his arms.
"Lady Godmother!!!"
"Where is your authority!!!" she shouted at the Seat of Evil.
"If this old lady's authority were still around, would I be putting up with this crap!!!" The Seat of Evil coughed up a mouthful of blood, slapped the head of the man beside her, and tried to drag him into another charge.
Her power… had all been traded away to that pair of sisters by that naive little airhead.
Otherwise, how could she, the Seat of Evil, the most dangerous Seventh Sequence Esper and Aberrant in human history, have been grabbed by the ankle and flung away by some brat of a girl!?
Only… this time, Soga Ishikawa Irube seemed unable to hold himself up any longer.
Ragged, heavy breathing came from beneath the thick armor. "I'm… sorry…"
"Lord Seat of Evil…"
"I think… I think… I can see Father…"
But the old master of the Ishikawa family had passed away many years ago.
The Seat of Evil's expression suddenly grew heavy.
Without the power of the Supreme Lord, wearing this suit of armor was nothing but a burden that held her back.
That was why she had chosen Soga Ishikawa Irube, the only one who seemed to suit the Seat of Evil's armor, as its wearer.
Sitting on Soga Ishikawa Irube's shoulder, the Seat of Evil felt as though she had truly gone back to long, long ago, when she was still in the Holy Royal Court, still its Godmother, still someone with no combat ability at all beyond the power of Rule.
The strongest paladin of the Royal Court had always let her sit upon her shoulder.
There was a yellowed photograph that had captured Kirishika's smile.
The woman holding a parasol, with a dignified and gentle, maternal smile, was not the Lady Godmother of later years.
She was the paladin the Lady Godmother had raised with her own hands.
And then… one day…
The paladin corps of the Holy Royal Court went to subdue a Sixth Sequence Catastrophe Beast, and never returned.
That same day, the Holy Royal Court's Lady Godmother…
never returned either.
In her place was the Seat of Evil, clad in the blackened armor of her dearest friend.
His crimson eyes had already clouded over. Looking at the Seat of Evil, Soga Ishikawa Irube seemed to see his own daughter.
"Kiyomi…"
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