Toaru Majutsu no Index

Volume 10, Chapter 8: The Reason for the Clenched Right Fist. Light_of_a_Night_Sky.

Part 1

“Touma isn’t around, huh?”

At the arena, Kamijou Touya gave a suspicious remark under the dusk-lit sky.

The matches were over, and the students were heading back. The spectators were heading out of the stands, and the area was surrounded by noisy chaos. Several security guards were frantically leading the crowd, as Touya and his wife, Shiina, were the only ones standing at their original position, like they were a twig in the midst of a river called the ‘human wave’.

There was an Academy City teacher in front of them.

The unbelievable thing about this 135cm tall petite lady was that she was Kamijou Touma’s homeroom teacher. As they had met in an interview during the first semester, the two guardians weren’t too surprised. This teacher seemed to have changed her clothes, as her cheerleader clothes had an aroma of insect repellent.

But more importantly,

“Ara ara, why wasn’t my son participating in the matches? Was he unable to participate due to some injury or serious illness?”

Shiina said in a rather uncomfortable manner.

The one who had first suspected that something was amiss was her. She mentioned that she did not see her son during the team matches, but both of them always felt that it was their fault that they could not spot their son. In the end, both of them were very depressed for being such irresponsible parents.

But both parents had only just confirmed that during the ‘ladle match’, a relaxed match that involved balancing a cooking ladle on a ball with a 2cm diameter and running 100m with it. In this match that required telekinesis to balance the plastic ball, or any fire ignition or wind to blow the ball away—there was still no sign of Kamijou Touma.

Clad in cheerleading attire, Tsukuyomi Komoe’s face went green.

She frantically swung her hands that were holding pompons.

“This...er...is that...we have already requested for help from the security guards as well...”

Hearing the teacher’s words, Shiina frowned.

“Guards? Like...the police in this city. Maybe my son got involved in something that prevents him from participating in the matches?”

“No...it’s not like this. Your son was running around quite energetically with a priest, so I guess that he’s not in any dangerous situation...”

Shiina, who was still wondering what was going on, tilted her head slightly. Though it was an unconscious movement, Komoe-sensei dejectedly dropped her shoulders when she saw that.

“...I’m really sorry. I’m the one who’s looking after your son, yet I couldn’t grasp his whereabouts.”

“Please don’t...”

Seeing Komoe-sensei lower her head like this, not moving at all, Touya and Shiina looked at each other, not knowing what to do. To this couple, as they understood their son’s character and ability (though they still hadn’t recognised it), they didn’t blame the teacher, instead hoping that the other person would clearly explain this.

“...(Though he isn’t here, he might be making trouble for some other girl. Hm, you’re really good at this.)”

“Ara ara. Touya-san, what did you just say?”

“Nothing.”

“However, I do feel that this aspect of Touma is genetically derived from you.”

“If you’re going to say that, why are you still making such a scary face, okaa-san!?”

Seeing the tip of the spear being pointed at him, Touya frantically backed away from Shiina. He then turned to Komoe-sensei, who’s head was still down and was looking like she was going to cry any moment.

“Then...let me ask something. Ah, sensei, please look up.”

“Eh...ah, okay. What’s the problem?”

“Did Touma do this on his own? He wasn’t forced to run around, right?”

“Hm, yeah. That’s right.”

Her reply was somewhat hesitant.

Sensei said that when she met the son, it seemed like he knew something. The reason why her reply was hesitant was likely because this could heavily involve the son and other students, so she couldn’t tell Touya this.

Such a kind and gentle teacher, Touya thought as he nodded his head.

Thus, he decided not to pursue the matter further.

“If so,”

Kamijou Touya looked up at the sky.

Looking up at the dusk-lit sky with the first star beginning to shine, he said,

“That means, to Touma, it’s something much more important than the matches.”

It was a voice of someone recollecting some painful memories.

“If so, there’s no reason for me to stop him, is there?”

Part 2

The colours of dusk appeared in the sky.

The asphalt ground looked like it was natural, like it had already been down there right from the start, like it was erased completely with an eraser. The plants didn’t grow here, there was nothing that could block the wind, as the slight breeze brushes her face. The smell of engine oil permeated the air, it was the atmosphere of this country’s urban terrain.

A sonic boom could be heard from above.

Looking up, the gigantic body of a plane flew through the sky at a low altitude. Maybe it was because it was Daihaseisai, there were a lot of planes flying around.

There was no one around.

The first reason was that this wasn’t some area that was meant to attract others. The second reason was that currently, the global scale sporting event Daihaseisai was underway. Compared to coming to this sort of place, it was much more meaningful to head to the arenas.

Thus, she was the only one on this asphalt road.

Because of the lengthened shadow cast by the setting sun, the shadow was of a woman holding a large Cross. The owner of this shadow slowly pulled away the Cross from her shoulder, and placed her hand on the white cloth wrapped around the Cross.

The cloth unravels in a ‘walam’ sound.

This 150cm long, 70cm wide, 10cm thick pure white marble cloth appeared, with only the bottom of the Cross as thick and sharp as a sharpened pencil.

The ‘Apostle’s Cross’.

On first glance, one could feel the weight of this thick stone item. Even after more than 1,800 years, this antique still looked as good as new, as if it had been shaped inside a plastic mold. Though it was a large stone item, being passed down from person to person over such a long time, the interior had not deteriorated the slightest bit.

Such perfect preservation was not due to the tool’s own defensive effect, but rather that it wasn’t revealed in history at all.

She used two hands to grab the white Cross that was as smooth as the skin of some rich Missy, and slowly lifted this Cross that had nothing on it. The weight of the Cross as transferred from her arms to her back, waist and legs.

Without hesitation, she swung the Cross onto the ground.

With the increase in speed due to the enormous weight, and the sharp tip at the bottom,

The ‘Apostle’s Cross’, with all the conditions met, pierced through the asphalt ground without any resistance, deeply into the ground of the capital of Japan.

“Let the sky be the ceiling, and let this place be a safe haven for the living. Please grant me protection, O twelve Apostles.”

The line that stabilised the ‘Apostle’s Cross’ was different from how she would normally say this.

The Cross that was erected on the asphalt ground activated by itself, as it moved by itself adjusting the angle as if the ground was mud.

She looked up at the sky.

Though it was not completely night yet, the first star was starting to twinkle.

“Then...”

A magician was standing on the large experimental runway.

On this ground that no ordinary person could enter, the place looked like a grassland held by tar. The even asphalt ground continued on until the end of the horizon.

“I’m all done here. In a few minutes, the world will change.”

Part 3

To the citizens of Academy City, the 23rd district was a foreign place.

(So wide...)

Walking out with Stiyl and Tsuchimikado, Kamijou couldn’t help but think this.

One could see a slightly circular horizon that was like foreign pastures. However, this horizon wasn’t of the green of grass, but the black and gray of asphalt and concrete. Half of this large area was runways and satellite launch areas, with the high perimeters surrounding this limitless space.

The buildings, which included the control tower and the experimental areas, were rather large, several times the size of the school. However, the surrounding lane was so thin in comparison, that it was like it had been placed there suddenly. The basic scale was just too unfamiliar.

Tsuchimikado looked at the bus stop in front of the terminal.

“...Though this is a top secret area, there are still buses that lead to the ordinary airport. The buses are driven by drivers nya, so this is probably to prevent any corporate spies from getting off the bus midway through.”

The sonic boom of the plane cut through Tsuchimikado’s words.

Kamijou inadvertently looked up at the sky. Mini-Cessna planes were flying over in threes, slowly ascending into the sky.

“The basis of security here is the ‘sky’. This is just a deceptive show of strength, since the area they have to guard is too big.”

That was true. In fact, till the end of the horizon, it would be difficult for them to completely patrol this area by human means. Also, the place was full of runways, there was no shade to hide in, and there was no way to hide from the satellites.

“But, isn’t it a little too hard to get to that Ironhide whatever Airport?”

“Well, Oriana still has a way.”

Stiyl echoed Kamijou’s words.

“Tsuchimikado, if there is a way, then hurry up and say it, we don’t have much time.”

“Nya, it’s that.”

Tsuchimikado said as he pointed to the sky above.

From above, there was the sound of air colliding.

This time, it was not the Cessna planes, but giant passenger jets with four engines each. The machines releasing this sonic boom slowly descended on a runway of the ordinary International Airport.

“To prevent colliding into each other, when other planes are flying in, they’ll change the patrolling routes that they would monitor, then—”

Tsuchimikado’s words were interrupted.

Wave after wave of passenger jets and mini-planes crossed the sky.

“—the sky here is unexpectedly crowded. If we can use the passenger jets to our advantage, we can use the blind spots left by the satellites and proceed on. The problematic ‘Ironhide Institute of Aviation Technology’ is rather close to this place, so it should be possible for us to get there by just walking nya.”

For various reasons, Kamijou and company were running on the gray ground.

Tsuchimikado, who was running in front, would sometimes trip up due to the change in centre of gravity. It was like someone sleeping in a lesson. However, even in this situation, Kamijou would be overtaken in a race by him if he was not careful. Such evidence showed how athletic Tsuchimikado was.

He followed Tsuchimikado’s lead, passing below several planes that were passing through. They could avoid the surveillance, but to run across this place, where there was no cover, it was rather thrilling on certain levels of significance.

In this place where there was nowhere to hide, there was still no sign of Oriana.

She must have reached the destination.

Kamijou continued to run as he pulled out his phone. The time on the display was 5:40 PM.

(There’s still...20 to 80 minutes left.)

This was the time left before the ‘Apostle’s Cross’ was activated.

Once the spiritual tool was activated, Academy City would be taken over without any warning, even psychologically, no matter how unreasonably suppressed they were, nobody would feel that it was strange.

Though the situation was critical, Kamijou knew that no matter how anxious he was, he couldn’t stop the procession of time. As he continued to run, he could see the gray walled segment ahead. On the other side of the wall, it should be the ‘Ironhide Institute of Aviation Technology’ where Oriana was waiting.

They immediately got to the bottom of the perimeter.

The metal mesh fence was about 2 metres tall. Tsuchimikado grabbed onto the fence with his hands and feet, and just as he was about to get over it—

From the corner of his eye, Kamijou noticed that something was shining.

It was stuck between the metal wires—a flashcard that was slightly drenched in saliva.

Normally cautious, Tsuchimikado wouldn’t possibly overlook this. However, his consciousness may have been blurry due to the pain of the wounds.

“Eh?”

“TSUCHIMIKADO!!”

Just as Kamijou shouted,

BOOM!!

The entire row of wire fence became orange due to the intense heat.

Tsuchimikado, who was grabbing onto the fence with his hands and feet, jumped away as if he was electrocuted. He frantically left the metal fence, rolling on the ground, maintaining his distance. The Daihaseisai tour guidebook in his hand was released due to the impact, emitting black smoke before being swallowed by flames.

“GYAAAHHH!!”

A sizzling sound could be heard from Tsuchimikado’s hands and feet, and they began to emit smoke like incense. The eyes underneath those shades were tightly shut, as he painfully gritted his teeth.

The things that were torturing his hands and feet were burns.

To Tsuchimikado, who preferred to engage in close range combat, it was like his weapon was destroyed by the enemy.

Tsuchimikado continued to struggle as he tried to stand up, but his wrists and ankles seemed stiff. It was like he was struggling in the mud. He couldn’t stand up like he wanted to.

“Hurry up and go, Kami-yan...”

Tsuchimikado pressed onto a hand with his other injured hand.

“...We’re not going to get anything done by standing around here, hurry up and destroy that flashcard. You two, hurry up and go!!”

“But what are you going to do? Oh yeah, Stiyl, can you use your magic to heal him?”

“If they’re burns, it is possible—”

Stiyl and Kamijou turned their eyes from Tsuchimikado, who was on the ground, to the metal fence.

“—She’s waiting for us! Prepare your right hand, Kamijou Touma!!”

“!?”

Kamijou jumped back in shock and turned his head around.

About 500 metres away from the wire fence, the blond lady was reclining on the wall of a small building that has a mini runway inside.

Oriana Thomson.

She was holding a flashcard with green words that was held by the metal ring.

Oriana silently placed the card next to her mouth. At the same time, Stiyl shouted out,

“KAMIJOU TOUMA!!”

“I GOT IT!!”

Kamijou tried his best to get to the flashcard stuck on the metal fence. The wire fence was turning red as it overheated, but immediately reverted back to its original color and temperature the moment he touched it. Without confirming it, both of them climbed up the fence.

(If Oriana takes the preemptive strike now, Tsuchimikado won’t be able to get away now with his hands and feet injured...!)

He climbed up the fence.

(That means that we have to attack first! We can’t make any more sacrifices, not like Fukiyose-san or Himegami!!)

And leaped over.

At the same time, Oriana, who was far away, tore the flashcard.

The spell activated, and a blue and white light surrounded Oriana. She opened her arms wide, floating into the air, as if she was showing off some new clothes that she had just bought.

After that,

500 metres away, where Oriana was, an explosion could be heard. With her as the centre, the surrounding air started to stir around as if a circle was being drawn. An invisible hammer started to attack, ignoring the distance. This clockwise winding pressure hammer cut down every single construct surrounding her, whipping up the asphalt and moving towards Kamijou.

“!!”

Kamijou immediately readied his right hand.

With a ‘pacha’ sound, the high-pressure wall was gone. Oriana, who was 500 metres away and looked like a small dot, hastily prepared another flashcard. Even so, it was still unable to prevent the asphalt ground from flipping up. Just as the stone tsunami was looming over,

“My hand brings fire, shape into a blade, and bring forth thy judgement!”

The card with runes on it fluttered in the air.

At the same time, a red flame sword appeared in Stiyl’s right hand. He swung the sword at the tsunami of stone, completely ignoring the fact that Kamijou was right beside him.

“EH!?”

As Kamijou frantically got down, the flame sword collided with the rock fragments. After that, the flame sword lost its shape and exploded. The directional flames avoided Kamijou, who was below, and hacked horizontally at the asphalt wall, which exploded all over.

Kamijou, who lost his balance, got up and ran without tumbling.

Stiyl began to chant a new spell, creating a new flame sword.

Oriana started to play around with the flashcard in her hand.

The battle between the trio was about to begin.

The time was 5:50 PM. there were still 10 to 70 minutes before time was up.

Part 4

The place where Kamijou and Oriana were was near an experimental area. During Daihaseisai, ad hoc studies should probably be suspended. There were no workers on the runway, and no lights inside the building.

This wasn’t as huge as an international, instead feeling like a mini-runway for home-made planes like Cessna planes. The three parallel runways were 30 metres wide and 700 metres long.

The buildings themselves were the control towers on both sides of the runway: a fish-slice shaped board that was mechanically supported. Instead of saying that it was research on planes, this place seemed to be focused on runway research. Each of the three runways had a giant fan, jet propeller, and other additional facilities.

But, because of the attack that Oriana let loose, the control tower machinery was destroyed, the experimental bodies that collected the data were blown apart, the asphalt ground was destroyed, as if someone was farming on it.

Both sides were running on this destroyed rubble.

The distance between both sides was about 300 metres.

“Ho.”

In this situation, Oriana Thomson smiled.

There were 250 metres left.

“I do feel that a battle between ladies is more interesting. As expected, that Saint didn’t come in the end.”

She put a flashcard next to her mouth.

200 metres left.

“There’s no additional security guards or magicians coming, huh? Hoho, it’s more interesting to have more people.”

A smile crept onto her face.

150 metres left.

“Ah ha! Seems like there’s only three of you left, huh? Oh my, oh my, nee-chan was really tricked!!”

Oriana delightedly exclaimed and she tore another flashcard in half.

“And one of you is definitely out of this match! I always thought that his mind was the clearest...or is it because of that? To stand at the most dangerous position so as to let his comrades avoid the trap? WAHAHAA!!”

With Oriana at the centre, the sound of glass breaking spread all around. After a second, the sound bounced back like an echo. At that moment,

All the sounds vanished.

There were definitely planes flying around all over the place, but the sounds seemed like they had been blocked out. It was like the volume of a television set being cut off.

Stiyl, who was running alongside Kamijou, pulled out another rune card.

“Is it a boundary? This cuts off all forms of communication, no matter physical or magical!”

“!?”

Kamijou wanted to look around, but the enemy was right in front of him.

Stiyl, who was beside him, couldn’t confirm it either. The duo were running side by side, closing in on Oriana. She continued to maintain that smiling face, responding quickly with that flashcard of hers still in her hand.

The 100 metres was closed up.

Kamijou and Stiyl were thinking separately about attacking Oriana from both flanks. As the range of the flame sword was longer, and Stiyl, who was aiming, was much quicker.

“Hah!!”

Breathing in and making a sharp sound, the flame sword swung downwards.

With a “Humph”, Oriana tore another flashcard.

A water ball the size of a basketball appeared on her right hand. Oriana then proceeded to catch the flame sword with the water ball.

There was no explosion.

Before that, the water ball on Oriana’s hand changed shape, wrapping around Stiyl’s flame sword.

“!!”

Just before Stiyl was feeling surprised, the vine made by the water ball wrapped around his wrist, and extended onto his arm, before wrapping around his entire body, from the head to the feet. Stiyl, who was wrapped in a 3cm thick water body, lost his footing and collapsed onto the ground. He used his other hand, which was empty-handed, and pressed his throat.

(If this keeps up, my breathing...)

“Stiyl!!”

Kamijou changed direction, instead of running at Oriana, he was now running at Stiyl, who was on the ground.

“Oh my, this nee-chan isn’t so simple to let this happen, huh?”

She turned her body around, using her left leg to kick at Kamijou’s waist. His body suddenly froze.

“UGH!!”

Just as he was about to regain his posture, Oriana gathered her entire weight on her shoulder, ramming it towards Kamijou. Kamijou frantically used his hands to block, but the impact came from below. On being hit by an impact that could break even a door, Kamijou’s body flew backwards. His body struck the sharp and uneven surface of the asphalt ground, and a sharp pain could be felt.

Facing Kamijou, who was lying on the ground, Oriana pulled another flashcard to her mouth.

Just as she was about to bite and tear the flashcard,

“Destroy!!”

With this sound, Stiyl, who was lying beside Oriana, let the flame sword explode. The water surrounding him scattered in all directions.

A new flame sword appeared in Stiyl’s right hand, and maintaining a low posture, he swung at Oriana from below. Facing the sharp tip of the sword that was aimed at her chest, Oriana moved her left foot backwards, as if she was letting someone else by on a narrow road.

Just this alone wasn’t going to avoid Stiyl’s attack.

Corresponding, Oriana used the hand with the flashcard to slam it into Stiyl’s chin. It felt like a lightly clenched fist, like she was begging. Stiyl, who was trying to counterattack, struck towards the fist with his entire weight.

BOOM!! An explosion could be heard.

Stiyl’s upper body leaned back, as he landed on the ground without any resistance; the flame sword in his hand vanished. Oriana looked away from Stiyl, who was on the ground, as she slowly revealed a smile and looked at Kamijou. Even if he was outside the enemy’s noticeable range, Stiyl didn’t seem capable of launching a surprise attack. His black coat and red hair were fluttering around, as if it was being blown by a breeze.

“Cheh!!”

Kamijou frantically tried to stand up, but his body started to tremble.

Seeing Kamijou like this, Oriana gently smiled.

“Your waist is as weak as usual. To fight with nee-chan like this, even a child can grow up much more easily.”

“You’re too noisy...”

Kamijou re-clenched his fists.

“I’ll stop you here; I won’t let you activate the ‘Apostle’s Cross’. If you’re going to cause chaos in Academy City and destroy Daihaseisai, I’ll definitely stop you.”

“Isn’t it too scathing to say that? This should be nee-chan’s best performance. I don’t know what the British Puritans told you, but the ‘Apostle’s Cross’ isn’t some evil thing. All religions wish for the happiness of people and the World. To this kind of religion, by using the ‘Apostle’s Cross’ that can change everything ‘in the most favourable manner’, maybe it can destroy the wall between the magic and science sides, and lead humans to happiness?”

Hearing Oriana say this while she was toying around with her flashcard, Kamijou’s lips curled up.

He stared at the damaged runway, and revealed a grim smile.

“Well said. Because I can’t see the wall between the magic and science side, so this doesn’t feel surreal to me, but I know this is a good thing. However—”

He paused at this moment, glanced at Stiyl who was still on the ground, and affirmed the strength in his five fingers.

He clenched his fist even tighter.

The human hand that could be used to do other things was now a weapon.

Kamijou said,

“To me, the balance of the science and magic side, as well as the domination of the world, those are just trivial things. What troubles me is that you’re using the ‘Apostle’s Cross’ here. Do you know what that means?”

“Hoho, of course I do. You think, what is this nee-chan working so hard for? It’s to use the ‘Apostle’s Cross’ to control Academy City. But you don’t have anything to worry about. Control isn’t such a nice word, but no matter what, everyone will be happy. And nobody would question that happiness, such a wonderful world is waiting...”

“I’ve never heard about this before!”

Rage could be implied from his tone.

He then silently and firmly exerted strength into his fist again.

“THAT ISN’T THE PROBLEM HERE!! THE TROUBLESOME THING IS THAT YOU HAVE DESTROYED DAIHASEISAI!! DO YOU UNDERSTAND THAT? STOP USING THE MAGIC OR SCIENCE, MAGICIANS OR ROMAN CATHOLICS, ‘APOSTLE’S CROSS’ OR SOME LEGENDARY SPIRITUAL TOOL TO TRY AND CONFUSE ME!! YOU THINK YOU CAN BEAT OTHERS WITH THESE BIG-SOUNDING WORDS!? ALSO, YOUR REASONING IS COMPLETELY INVALID, IT’S JUST SOME RADICAL SAYING!!”

Kamijou roared.

He faced the enemy in front of him.

“What am I thinking? It’s nothing compared to that gibberish that you’re saying. But even for an amateur like me, EVEN I HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY!!”

He continued to shout at Oriana,

“So many people worked so hard for Daihaseisai, to make a wonderful memory out of today! So many people are taking part in Daihaseisai, and everyone put in all their efforts for this! WHY MUST IT BE DESTROYED BECAUSE OF YOU GUYS!?”

Every single word continued to motivate this boy.

Kamijou Touma used his entire strength to interrogate Oriana Thomson.

“No matter how stylish the religion is, can you beat these words now!? Is all the value that you are holding on worth this little!? For someone like you who can’t even break through this simple and boring logic, YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO TAKE WHAT’S VALUABLE TO OTHERS!!”

“...Thanks for your little suggestion.”

Oriana’s eyes lost their smiling expression.

It was a smile left behind after losing that happiness, the smile called cynicism.

“But, do you think that these sort of feelings can shake this nee-chan? If my thoughts are to be hurt just like this, this nee-chan wouldn’t have taken action in the first place.”

She continued to flip her flashcard around.

“So this nee-chan won’t stop here. I won’t be able to stop here as you please, understand?”

“...Just like that?”

“What?”

Facing a scowling Oriana, Kamijou continued,

“I don’t know what you’re trying to say to me, no matter what you’re trying to do to me, I won’t mind as long as it’s not overbearing. But,”

Kamijou paused for a beat,

“Just now, those words, can you say it in front of Fukiyose-san and Himegami, whom you injured?”

Oriana Thomson remained silent.

She revealed a smile that had half her face twitch.

“In the end, this is all I want to say. If you say that you’re not going to do anything else, then I won’t pursue this matter anymore. Hurry up, take the ‘Apostle’s Cross’, and scram.”

Kamijou clenched his right fist.

Then he said,

“But, if you’re going to continue doing things in this city, and even intend on casting magic on those people who are injured and can’t move—”

A glow appeared in his eyes.

It was a strong light called will.

“—I’LL IMMEDIATELY SMASH THAT NONSENSICAL ILLUSION OF YOURS COMPLETELY!!!”

Part 5

The sky was dyed red. The ‘Apostle’s Cross’ would be activated within the next hour. It could be five minutes later, or an hour later.

In the orange sky that was gradually turning purple, the first star started to shine. However, it was the only one shining. It was impossible to confirm the formation of the complex constellation.

Just when nobody knew when it was the end of the world.

Kamijou Touma and Oriana Thomson were engaging in a fierce fight.

“!!”

There were still around 3 metres left. Facing Kamijou, who was still clenching his fists, not letting go of his target, Oriana continued to maintain a minimum distance as she moved backwards, tearing another flashcard apart with her mouth.

The spell was activated.

Unnatural blue flames spurt out from the ground, getting between Kamijou and Oriana. However, Kamijou didn’t stop in his tracks, instead hitting the flame wall with his right fist.

The flame wall seemed like it was going to avoid Kamijou’s fist, as it bent backwards, forming a ‘[’ shape.

“!!”

Kamijou’s fist cut through the air, and the flames that were bending towards the sides strongly wrapped around his body.

His centre of gravity was already tilting forward, and now he could no longer back away.

Even so, his right hand couldn’t reach it.

There was not enough time for him to swing his right fist around to block whichever wall.

If so.

(Got to move forward...)

Kamijou gathered his strength on his feet that were going to be tripped up by the flame wall in front of him.

(A little further!!)

He continued to move forward like an arrow, swinging his fist at the deepest part of this ‘[’ shaped wall.

PAM!! With the sound of a balloon being burst, the flame wall scattered all around.

Oriana Thomson was just ahead.

She tore another flashcard.

She completely ignored Stiyl, who was right beside her, aiming only at Kamijou.

But just as the spell was being activated, Kamijou leapt into Oriana’s arms. The asphalt road spike that she originally intended to release fire from an unexpected place, like attacking an enemy with artillery, using the largest angle.

This time, Kamijou clenched his right fist again, and swung it at Oriana’s face again.

But,

Just as the fist was about to make contact, Oriana used those long legs of hers to trip Kamijou from the inside to the outside. Kamijou lost his balance, and the fist that was supposed to hit ended up hitting the sky. In order to avoid this fall, Kamijou placed a knee on the ground to support himself.

“Oh my, your head is in a rather embarrassing position.”

Oriana slammed another kick into Kamijou’s face.

“GYAA...AAHHH!?”

Kamijou couldn’t help but cry out, as the spinning kick sent him flying aside.

(Not enough...)

Kamijou used the momentum as he rolled back up. At the same time, Oriana tore another flashcard. She tossed a softball-sized glass ball from her left hand. On the other hand, Kamijou picked himself up from the rubble of the asphalt ground, and did a flying tackle.

Clang!! The glass ball was destroyed. The fragments moved inwards, piercing through the rubble of the asphalt ground, landing straight onto the ground.

(Just this alone isn’t enough.)

Kamijou used this time to rush back at Oriana.

In contrast, Oriana rushed back into Kamijou’s arms at a terrifying speed.

“Wha...!!”

There was no time to even dodge or block.

Oriana, who was closing in at such a short distance, tore another flashcard with her mouth. Her hand slipped from Kamijou’s abdomen to his chest.

In that instant.

The feeling of a bluster. With a ‘bam’ blunt sound, Kamijou’s body arched back in a ‘[’ shape, and floated up with his chest as the centre. He continued to gulp heavily down his throat, and as his feet left the ground by 40cm, he was completely unable to move around with his body.

“Dong.”

With the sound of a fool being hit, Oriana sent another punch into Kamijou’s chest.

“Eh...ugh...!!”

With a muffled sound, the fist sent Kamijou flying backwards by 3 metres.

(I can’t beat Oriana with just this...!!)

Lying on the ground, his hands supporting him, Kamijou felt the bitterness as he gritted his teeth.

Oriana specialised in using close ranged combat with her body, and long ranged combat with her spells. No matter how much Kamijou waved his hands and feet around to fight, or how many times he missed by a step, it was like there was a protective barrier between both of them, his feet normally being dodged at the last minute.

If so, he couldn’t attack Oriana like this.

No matter how much he tried to chase her, no matter how much he tried to hassle her, no matter how he desperately swung his fist, it was the same.

“Hoho! Seems like the sky’s going to be dark soon.”

Oriana Thomson closed in on Kamijou.

Such a seemingly defenseless action had in fact no blind spots.

(Damn it...)

Though it was too late, he realised that this was Oriana’s battle plan. Oriana didn’t use her best moves right at the start. She maintained an appropriate balance of power between the two of them, and when the enemy got carried away and missed, she gave a strong counterattack. This was probably a battle technique that she had learnt to minimize the using of her spells, since she ‘couldn’t use spells that she had used before’.

She wasn’t mocking the enemy.

To Oriana Thomson, it was the best blueprint for her.

“At this time, kids should be heading home, right? Or are you going to have an exciting night with this nee-chan?”

Facing Oriana, who was approaching him, Kamijou rolled on the ground, and maintaining a low posture, leaped up at Oriana.

The fierce conflict between these two was renewed.

Kamijou dodged and blocked the enemy’s attack, but his fist still couldn’t hit her.

(One more step...)

He clenched his fist, attacking from the blind spots, enduring the pain.

(There’s still one step, if there’s any...if there’s any way to help me gain advantage!!)

He continued to swing his fist, strongly wishing.

Just like this, he continued to repeat this attack that seemed to be blocked by an invisible wall, one that couldn’t hit the enemy.

Part 6

Stiyl Magnus’ consciousness was still murky.

(Ugh...ah...)

His world was upside down, his jaw felt painful, and he felt that he lost his balance. It took three seconds for him to realise that he had fallen.

The strength in his hands and feet was gradually recovering, but it was still too slow.

In contrast to his large physique, he didn’t have the strength required for close-ranged combat. It wasn’t because Stiyl didn’t train himself, but rather it was a fundamental issue.

He was using runes cards and codified spells, which required a lot of magical power. Magic wasn’t created from nothing, it was a power that could only be created by undergoing different magical exercises within the body.

To an ordinary magician, this wasn’t too difficult for them. But for people who used a pope-level spell like Stiyl’s ‘Innocentius’, it was a different thing altogether. Repeating the same mundane motion over and over again, and the magical ‘activity’ would pressurise Stiyl’s body. Thus, he would use up more energy. In other words, this meant that his insides and outsides were working at the same time.

Unlike Kanzaki Kaori, he wasn’t a Saint chosen by God.

Unlike Tsuchimikado Motoharu, he wasn’t a genius magician who specialised in a certain type of spells.

Even so, he had a reason to fight.

Thus, he had learnt all about these runes from the Christian organisation and got the pope-level spell ‘Innocentius’. The price was that he had to abandon any possibility of close ranged combat, to the state where he couldn’t light a fire without using rune cards.

But the reaction caused by this determination was now corroding his body.

(Damn...it...)

His consciousness was wavering.

In this situation, he could hear the sound of a fist being swung and spells colliding. That amateur was still fighting. Even if he was hit, even if he was knocked down, he wouldn’t back down, he wouldn’t give up. He would grit his teeth and clench his fist.

The amateur who he could never be like.

No matter how much time passed, he would never be able to reach that position.

Still,

‘One of the five elements that constructs this world, o great creator of flames.’

He had the spells that he had learnt in order to protect a certain girl.

To fight against those who trampled on that smile. For this purpose, he had endured blood-shedding pain to learn this flame magic. This was the result of him putting in all his effort to learn this magic, with a slight feeling pushing him forward.

“The light of salvation that gives birth to life, the light of judgement that punishes evildoers.”

Stiyl Magnus knew.

Such a spell was already useless. There was already someone standing beside that petite girl. Thus, this spell was completely useless now.

“While bringing peace and stability at the same time, it also destroys the cold and dark misfortune.”

Even so, this spell was also able to protect people other than that girl.

For example, a wide-eyed teary petite girl whose hands were dyed in someone else’s blood, and had to depend on something that was so completely useless and such a stupid technique.

For example, a girl who was not a magician, but because she had a Cross on her chest, she had been misidentified as one, and was now in her own pool of blood.

“Fire is the name, sword is the title!”

However, such an action wouldn’t bring Stiyl any consolation. It was like making a cake for your favourite person, only for it to be eaten by a complete stranger who tells you that “it’s delicious”. No matter how someone praised you for it, it couldn’t hide that empty feeling inside.

“Show yourself.”

Even so, if he helped them, he could still protect that certain girl’s smile in the end.

If protecting Academy City could protect that person’s smile,

Stiyl Magnus would gladly accept this task.

Using all his strength just to help some other unrelated people.

And because of this slight lingering feeling, he had to beat this enemy now.

“‘Swallow thyself’, turn it into power—‘Innocentius’!!”

From the insides of his robes, a large number of cards flew out. The runes flew out like a paper avalanche, and with him as the centre, they stuck onto the cracked and devastated ground.

The flames shot out.

The flames were released like a red lotus, moving inwards, and disappearing. In the middle was a black humanoid figure, the 3,000 degree Celsius god was standing just beside him.

“...Go, ‘Innocentius’—”

The magician said as he slowly got up.

He supported himself with his hands and feet, standing up in a shaky manner.

Even so, he would not bend that axle of his body and soul.

He shouted out to the sky.

His sorcery name,

“FORTIS 931!!”

The thing that he had sealed onto his soul, on this ‘Innocentius’ that he had worked so hard to set up was...

(-"I PROVE WHY MY NAME IS THE STRONGEST HERE!!"-)

Part 7

The sky was gradually turning deep purple.

As if ink had smudged through the back of a paper, the stars were starting to appear in the sky. Right now, there were two or three lights. In another 10 minutes, the sky would likely be full of stars. The stars wouldn’t start shining when it was night time, more accurately they were always shining, but didn’t really stand out because of the sun. Thus, as the sky grew darker, the first class stars, second class, third class, and so on would all appear in the sky.

As the glow of the night sky was about to appear.

Oriana Thomson glanced around and saw the light of the flames that covered the slightly dark sky.

“STIYL!!”

Kamijou noticed this abnormal change as well, but the other person carried a smile that was different from Oriana, a cynical one, and without turning back, shouted out his own sorcery name. As if it was responding to him, the intensity of the light increased.

“!!”

Right now, Oriana was facing a pursuing Kamijou, as she continued to retreat. At this moment, the large humanoid figure got behind her, and made a sound that indicated that it was consuming oxygen. Its large orange arm swung down.

“This nee-chan...has no interest in getting tortured by a candle!!”

She moved aside, dodging Kamijou’s fist, and using this movement, moved to Kamijou’s right.

As if she was planning to use the boy as a shield, Oriana moved Kamijou around, using him to block the incoming flame god that was coming in from another side.

“...”

Stiyl, who was standing slightly farther away, frowned.

“Die together.”

“WAAHHH!!”

Kamijou frantically backed away, and after that, ‘Innocentius’ right arm swung to the side. The abnormally long arm burned the back of Kamijou’s hair, aiming towards Oriana’s upper body.

Even though the boy was in a position where he would definitely be consumed by the flames.

“Wha...!!”

At the moment when a really surprised Oriana jumped back,

“THAT’S DANGEROUS, IDIOT!!”

This time, Kamijou swung a right hook at the giant flame god’s right arm. The large arm was extinguished, but it then continued on in an abnormal manner.

3,000 degrees Celsius, hellish flames that would melt any skin on even the slightest contact.

(Ugh!!)

Even if she knew that it wouldn’t hit her, Oriana’s movements froze as the flames moved in an unexpected manner. In the meantime, Kamijou took a huge step and moved in front of her.

(Oh no...)

Just as Oriana was about to use her hand to block.

The fist that had all of Kamijou’s weight on it was swung towards her defence. Because of the explosive sound just now, Oriana had no time to dodge. Numbness and pain could be felt in both her hands.

“!!”

Oriana thought, this was really bad.

Oriana, who would normally maintain this distance and fight back with magic or physical objects, didn’t want this to become a simple grappling or punching match. Though she disliked the difference between genders, facing someone whose style of combat was to use his own fists, it was foolish for her as a female to fight physically when she normally fights intelligently.

Oriana was unable to interpret Kamijou’s movements, so she continued to move backwards, as if she was bending her body back.

“Dust to dust, earth to earth. Red Vampire Hunter Cross!!”

A new flame blew everything apart.

Stiyl, who was holding a red flame sword in the right hand, and a blue one in the left hand, rushed in fast to Kamijou’s back.

(Oh no...!)

Oriana bit her tongue. Though being hit once or twice by the boy’s fist wouldn’t cause any critical injury, the flame swords were different. Their explosiveness was much more dangerous than their cutting capability, such that she would be reduced to nothing with even the slightest touch, not even her bones would be left.

(I should first settle that magician—)

Oriana’s concentration moved from Kamijou to Stiyl.

“Eh...?”

Another one followed up.

As Stiyl continued to run, he tripped because of the debris on the asphalt floor.

“Go back home, you stinking magician!!”

Kamijou shouted as he extended his fist towards Oriana.

Oriana, who was stunned, immediately regained her concentration and protected her face.

“Shut up, amateur!”

Stiyl, who had fallen behind Kamijou, knocked the flame sword onto the ground. With a loud explosive sound, a large and strong gust surged forward like a wall. Kamijou, feeling the pressure come in from behind, lost his balance and missed his target.

The fist passed through the gap in Oriana’s defence.

It hit somewhere slightly below the face—the middle of her chest.

Dong! It sounded like someone stamping hard onto the ground.

“Ke...Ah...AHHHHHH!!”

Oriana’s breathing was interrupted, as she backed off and fell. She couldn’t breathe properly as she continued to roll backwards, trying to maintain the distance. She wanted to tear a flashcard, but her mouth was trembling so much that she couldn’t do it properly.

It was a direct hit.

The reason was simple, because she couldn’t anticipate Kamijou and Stiyl’s movements.

If they were just working individually, Oriana would definitely read them, lure them, counter them, and win without even a scratch.

But—

“Innocentius!”

Stiyl gave the instructions, and the giant flame god continued to advance. Just as Oriana was about to turn around and dodge, Stiyl moved in from behind and chanted a new spell.

“O flames, give the pain of a giant—”

This was the spell that he needed to chant in order to create his main weapon, the flame sword. Just as Stiyl was about to pass by Kamijou, however,

“Stop blocking, idiot!”

“How about you get aside!!”

The duo’s teamwork rating was 0, as both their powers were obstructing each other. But their messy movements were still directed at Oriana.

(I can’t read them...!?)

She finally tore a flashcard after much difficulty and blocked the flame sword with the ice sword that she created. However, Kamijou knocked into Stiyl’s back, and was absolutely merciless towards his own ally. No matter what, it looked like he was attacking Stiyl. With this increase in force, Oriana heavily bent backwards. At this moment, the flame sword that Stiyl continued to use broke.

It was one thing if they were just assisting each other, but in this situation, they were basically pulling each other down. It was like getting involved in their own battle. However, this made it harder to read.

As both sides weren’t targeting Oriana, she couldn’t tell when the real attack would come. The timing was extremely tight, it was like a bullet bouncing about in a small and enclosed room.

“WOOOHH...!!”

Oriana, who was still backpedalling, continued to swing her ice sword amidst this chaos.

She was aiming for Stiyl’s waist.

However, this wasn’t the real target. Even if the enemy could dodge the ice sword, she could instantly manipulate the ice particles and assimilate them into a sword, and redirect it in the direction where Stiyl dodged. In this situation, Oriana’s wrists could no longer withstand the sudden change in centre of gravity, and she nearly broke her wrists.

(Anyway, I have to hit you! Let this nee-chan’s move render you weak on the waist!!)

The ice sword was attacking at a terrifying pace, piercing towards Stiyl’s waist.

Just before that.

“!!”

Kamijou, who was behind, got in front and blocked the ice sword with his right hand. In an instant, Oriana’s weapon was destroyed.(Normally...they would be arguing. But to think that they would be helping each other even now?)

Before she could even express her surprise, Kamijou and Stiyl were already prepared to make their next move.

Kamijou Touma was bending low, readying his right hand.

Behind him, Stiyl Magnus was also clenching his fist.

Maybe both parties had no plans at all,

But this was a partnership formed by blind attacks on each other.

—Both of them were working together, launching their attacks at the same time.

Kamijou and Stiyl’s fist were coming at the same time.

Oriana Thomson thought about which side should she be blocking, and responded too late.

Bonk!

Being punched in the face and abdomen, Oriana’s body strongly flew back.

“Eh...ack...!!’

She slammed into the ground hard. She felt that she was showing an extremely ugly movement as she was knocked down. She couldn’t breathe properly, her balance was unstable, and the strength was now gone from her legs.

In this blurry vision, Oriana saw it.

They were coming in from the front.

Obviously, she knew what the ‘enemies’ now would do if she was to let her guard down. Even if she knew this, Oriana couldn’t get up due to the impact she had suffered. Her confused brain was unable to issue commands to her weak and powerless body.

(I lost...?)

She saw the flashcards which were attached to the metal ring, drop in front of her.

The flashcards which signified her power.

(I’ve...already...lost...?)

This fact made her hands even weaker. Amidst this blurry consciousness, she intended to hand her body over to this weakness that was striking like waves.

(The...solution, what would happen...)

A certain thing caught Oriana’s attention, which was gradually heading towards darkness.

A doubt that she had repeated for countless times.

Oriana thought about it. She almost vomited it out, but swallowed it again.

She again reaffirmed the bitterness of that question.

(This...nee-chan...wishes...for an absolute solution...)

Regarding Oriana’s actions, everyone had different views about them. Some were thankful, and some would leave in vengeance. What should she do? To not get the answer when she was troubled. Everyone had different views about it, what an individual did, somebody else would perceive it differently. No matter how firmly Oriana believed in her rules, not everyone would accept it, which would cause differences.

In this world, there was nothing that was absolutely correct.

As long as everyone had their own thoughts, this would happen.

(No matter whether it’s the emperor, pope, president, fuhrer, prime minister, it doesn’t matter. I want to fight for others...)

It was not that she didn’t want to know the answer.

It was because there was no answer, that she decided to create her own answer.

An answer that nobody would doubt.

An answer that everyone would be satisfied with.

(I want to win...)

Oriana extended her trembling hand forward.

So she was been working hard till now. If so, what was Oriana doing here?

(...So, give me a clear guide. To be able to let everyone be happy, being able to avoid creating conflict due to the differences in values, I want such a wonderful world!!)

She again repeated this wish of hers.

Oriana opened her eyes.

The blood flowed into her head. Due to this reaction, her heart started to beat.

(I want to win...)

Oriana extended her trembling hand to the ground.

Her feet couldn’t move, she couldn’t support her own weight. Thus, she did something much simpler and yet more effective.

(I want to win, I want to create an answer! My...my name is—)

The flashcards attached to the gold ring were on the ground.

Oriana Thomson again grabbed the weapon which she had once let go of.

“—BASIS 104, "FROM THE FOUNDATION TO CARRY"!!”

Part 8

Kamijou heard this cry.

It was not Japanese, nor was it in simple English. It was of an unknown foreign language.

Stiyl realised earlier than Kamijou the significance of that name.

“GET DOWN, AMATEUR!!”

Stiyl kicked Kamijou’s back, and without caring that he was on the ground, immediately summoned ‘Innocentius’, which was on standby. Just as the giant flame god covered his front like a shield.

Tch!

On the floor, Oriana Thomson used her mouth to tear another flashcard.

BOOM!!

Fresh blood scattered all over the place.

What Oriana released was an ice ball the size of a soccer ball. The ball left her hand, and from the centre, exploded out. The large amount of shrapnel rained down in a fan-like shape.

The hail of blades almost pierced through Kamijou’s head, as he still remained on the floor.

It then pierced through Stiyl Magnus, who was behind him.

The sound of these sharp blades cutting through flesh was unexpectedly hard and blunt.

Or was that the sound of bones breaking?

Stiyl bent down on his knees before lying flat on the ground. Blood was streaming out of his body. ‘Innocentius’ painfully twisted its body before vanishing in all directions.

No words.

Not even a groan.

“St...”

Kamijou looked up in disbelief.

“STIYL—!!”

“Where are you going?”

A certain voice prevented Kamijou from getting to Stiyl.

Kamijou turned around. Oriana was standing 7 metres away from him, holding tightly onto the flashcards.

“Boy, your target...should be me, right...”

“You...you...”

Kamijou carelessly let this out.

The sky was gradually turning from purple to the dark blue of the night sky. There was almost no time left till the constellation appeared. Though the amateur couldn’t really see when would the sun set completely, there seemed to be around 5 minutes left.

The ‘Apostle’s Cross’ could be used.

This was the most important thing that he had to remember.

“Stop messing around. How many people do you want to hurt before you are satisfied?”

But this was what Kamijou Touma could let out first.

These words came out before his brain could even process them.

He couldn’t just leave Stiyl lying on the floor. However, Oriana was not giving him time to do any emergency procedures. Thus, he had to get rid of the person that was blocking him.

In contrast, Oriana smiled,

“This nee-chan is forced to do it anyway.”

That kind of expression looked empty, as if some part of it was blown away, and the rest of it was erased.

“I hate this, that’s why I have to battle. You people may think that I am stupid, but don’t look at me like that, I have my own reason. Come on, boy. You’re the last chess piece left to defend Academy City. As long as I beat you, this nee-chan’s mission is done. After that, the Roman Catholics’ ‘Apostle’s Cross’ will show what nee-chan wanted.”

“What...purpose?”

Kamijou exerted more force into his fingers.

“You already said that you’ll let others decide the future, and yet you’re talking so selfish and ignorant. Fukiyose fell, Himegami was attacked, Tsuchimikado’s hands and feet are injured, and Stiyl was used as a shield! These aren’t of your own intention, but under orders by the Roman Catholics? How can you let such shallow thinking take away other people’s happiness!?”

“This nee-chan is...”

Oriana carefully measured the distance as she silently muttered.

It was not that she had rigour left, but rather, she was trying to conserve her energy.

“...It’s alright no matter who it is. No matter whether it’s the Roman Catholics, or if it’s anyone else. It’s not important to listen to someone else, it’s the same as selecting a politician. To you little boy, should it be too hard? But, a politician and an artiste are different, right? A politician doesn’t choose by his own interests. As long as it’s someone who can make this nee-chan happy, it’s alright even if he’s the prime minister, right?”

She repeated her shallow breathing, as if she was going to cough out blood.

Oriana Thomson wasn’t someone without her own personal goals.

As long as she could achieve this personal goal, she was willing to listen to anyone.

“To be honest, this nee-chan has no qualms with being allies with Academy City. But because this nee-chan has links with the magic world, I turned out to be theirs...no matter what, the ‘Apostle’s Cross’ can fulfil this nee-chan’s wish.”

“Your aim? That’s the emperor who gets world domination, and becomes as stupid as an idiot?”

Facing Oriana, who was carefully measuring the distance, Kamijou didn’t care as he took another step forward.

As both of them had different viewpoints, Oriana let out a smile.

“That’s why I say, that is the business of this nee-chan’s superiors. This nee-chan isn’t unhappy about whoever’s giving the orders. As long as it can protect this nee-chan’s daily life, it’s alright no matter who gets dominated. Think about it, boy. On this planet, how many religions believe in considering good and evil?”

“...”

“The answer? Many, very many, so many that you can’t count them all. And the most fundamental thing is the Christian’s ‘Structure of faith’. After that, there are many more explanations. In the end, everyone has few morals. To simply put it, it’s like a ‘Roman Catholic, Oriana Thomson Sect’.”

Oriana held tightly onto the flashcard, as if she was going to crush it.

Like Kamijou, she took a step forward.

“I say, boy. There are many developments in this world that nobody can imagine. For example, giving a seat to an old lady while on a double decker bus, only to have a seat that’s used by a terrorist hidden underneath it. Or to bring a lost child back to Church, only to find out that he’s an escaped British Puritan magician, and in the end, that child was sent to the execution tower. Listen to me, I just helped a child retrieve a balloon from a tree today, but is this really related to ‘happiness’? This nee-chan can’t really tell anymore.”

She said these words.

Matching the firmness in these words, Oriana again closed in.

There were still 6 metres left between them.

“Boy, can you imagine it? The feeling of realising that trap when everything’s over. Though I know I have to do it, I still get that feeling of seeing the person in front of me getting hurt when everything’s over. I can’t do anything, and yet I have to do something. Then what is this nee-chan supposed to do?”

Hearing this.

Kamijou Touma still continued to approach in a similar manner.

There were now 5 metres left between them.

“Don’t you find it strange? People should love their neighbours, and yet they can’t protect the person beside them. So this nee-chan hopes that anyone other than nee-chan, even if I don’t know who that person is, I hope that the person controlling this world from somewhere can give me the answer.”

Oriana gritted her teeth slightly.

As if she was trying to get rid of this bitter feeling, she again closed in.

There were now 4 metres left between them.

“It’s alright no matter who it is, please dominate and standardise the messed-up stands and views of this world.”

This was Oriana Thomson’s goal

Because of the word ‘coincidence’, Oriana, whose good intentions had been betrayed, didn’t want to be betrayed again, and didn’t want this sort of betrayal to hurt anyone beside her.

However, this goal was too great, it was impossible for Oriana alone to do it.

Thus, she was putting this hope onto someone stronger, more powerful, and superior.

An absolute solution.

In order not to create a tragedy because of a mistake, a misunderstanding, or just a brush through.

“This nee-chan...wants to protect everything.”

She made a stand.

As if she was going to use everything she had.

“Thus, I have to use the ‘Apostle’s Cross’ to take over Academy City. By doing this, all the expanding views will merge together.”

What Oriana wanted to say was ‘get out of my way’, not to get involved in this, and her own way was the ‘right’ way, thus many people would be saved, and there was nothing to refute it. She was expressing all these ideas wordlessly, like a wall ahead.

However,

“Is this all what your ‘goal’ is about?”

Kamijou took another huge step forward.

There were now 3 metres left between them.

“If so, then someone like you is too cheap. I know that you aren’t a bad person, but to call yourself justice is too cheap. To go for this level of ‘goal’, to hand over everyone in Academy City over to you, I won’t allow it.”

“What did...you...say?”

Oriana’s eyebrows collapsed.

This minor change destroyed her beautiful round face.

“Boy, stop saying this when you haven’t seen the real world yet. There’s no anguish, groans, or cries of rage, not even the sound of someone begging for forgiveness... there’s just ‘discontent’! There’s no hope for a 10-year old child, there’s no despair for a 100-year old person! Both of them can only look stunned as everything happens around them! Just because you have never seen that expres—”

“If it’s just that.”

Kamijou interrupted her and took another step forward.

There were now two metres left between them.

“This is still no reason to just choose Academy City as an attack target. To use an excuse like jumping off a building because of someone, such a fact has never changed. Never.”

—For example, a lady named Orsola Aquinas.

She specialised in evangelising the Gospel to unknown land. In the past, a certain nun named Agnese Sanctis had mentioned this. Was this the result of trying to unite all the ideals and faiths that were going about, working hard to ensure that everyone’s happy?

—For example, a boy named Tsuchimikado Motoharu.

He should know that no matter how humans try, it was impossible to unite society as a whole. Thus, he chose to work for Academy City and the British Puritans in the shadows, trying to ease the differences and misgivings with society that most people would easily have.

Even if their methods were different.

Their actions were to protect those who were there for them.

These things called thoughts weren’t something that could be classified crudely by religion or international borders.

If one’s values and stand had a form, everyone would have it. Though this thing may cause conflicts, on the other hand, it caused conflicts because it was important.

No matter who the person was, there were some things that people could not let aside.

It was because Orsola and Tsuchimikado knew this that they wouldn’t go over that line. They wouldn’t choose to step over the line like that, to destroy the values that other people had, to use a simple method that only benefited oneself. They wanted to use their own methods to confront other people’s values and beliefs.

Thus, Kamijou said this.

It was his own values, stand and beliefs that had been shaped through pain.

“Your questions are something that everyone feels, and everyone’s way of dealing with it is different. It’s not because of a large ‘goal’, and I could have granted your wish without any conditions.”

Kamijou said as he clenched his fist tight, moving forward at the same time.

There was now only one metre left between them.

“I don’t know such difficult things like having a personal viewpoint and values. But, I hate it when Stiyl and Tsuchimikado are hurt. I want to go out and see the night tour with Index and Himegami, I want to run wild and have fun with Aogami Pierce and Komoe-sensei. If all these can be combined together into a ‘thought’, I’ll do my best to protect it.”

There were now at a distance where a punch could connect.

“There are many things that I’m also unable to succeed in. It was the same with Agnese. However, even if I were to stay around and do nothing, it’s not going to do anything! Even if I fail and fall, when I fall, the events will still carry on. I tell myself to get up and protect the others! No matter what the outcome is, no matter how everything doesn’t go the way I plan it, even so, those who are hurt by the people who betrayed them should have more reason to stand back up! The most important thing is that everyone can laugh and have a wonderful life!! You have no right to abandon other people’s lives midway through!”

Kamijou Touma finally said,

“—What do you want now, Oriana Thomson? To hand yourself over to others just because of a single mistake? Or are you going to make that mistake and after that, helping others who made the same mistake!?”

“Ha.”

Oriana laughed.

This was different from the previous ones. There was no sense of danger hidden in it, it was a very ordinary smile.

After that, she inhaled deeply.

“!”

She tore another flashcard.

A certain spell was activated, but Kamijou swung his right fist at the spell’s main body.

An explosion occurred between them, and both of them were sent flying away by the power of the Imagine Breaker. A bluish-white flash occurred during this shockwave, as Kamijou inadvertently backtracked by 2 to 3 steps. Oriana followed suit as well.

The distance between the two increased back to 3 metres.

Oriana pulled the flashcard to her mouth, but this time, she was not just using one spell. Instead, she pulled the metal ring that was attached to all these thick pieces of paper.

Several pieces of flashcards were released all of a sudden.

Oriana swung her right arm that was holding the metal ring to the side.

“With this, everything will be over.”

The pieces of paper were scattered around like snow.

In a horizontal manner, text font words appeared on these pieces of paper like blades appearing on snow.

In pitch black, the words read ‘All of Symbol’.

“Using all my talents—”

As if she was repeating this sentence, the avalanche of paper created a pure white explosion. The flash distorted itself like melted candy, grafting onto Oriana’s right arm. The explosive flash that stopped there looked like it was trying to resist getting pulled by Oriana, like stretched-out chewing gum.

Oriana pulled her right arm back.

“—Release all the souls and destroy the enemy ahead!!”

After that, she strongly swung her arm down like she was pitching, and a strong white-coloured explosion occurred beside Kamijou.

BOOM!! Oriana heard this sound.

The white light that was stretching like candy maintained its shape as it swung around. There was no definite shape, and this contraption would often change into random shapes. With its movements, the air that touched the light was sucked in at an extremely fast speed. It was unknown which one was distorted, the light or the gravity, as the scene in front suddenly changed.

The real identity of that white light was a large ‘gravity’.

All the matter that touched the light was sucked in and crushed by the pressure. As all the matter was being compressed in such a short time, from the outside, it looked like it was being eaten by a large space.

As all the air had been removed, in order to fill up the void left behind, all the gas matter started to move about violently, and even the original light and gravity would be sucked in.

(Come on.)

Oriana waved all her flashcards to create her largest spell, showing a smile of despair. A flash of light started moving in a clockwise direction, aimed at Kamijou. Seeing the asphalt road being dragged up by the air and being crushed by the light.

(If so, everything ends here, right?)

Facing this strike that was coming in horizontally, the boy swung his right hand up without hesitation.

“WOO—OOOOOOOOHH!!”

He released a cry.

With the sound of glass breaking, the pure white light broke apart upon touching that hand.

Hearing the sound of something being spat out,

Whoosh!

Everything that had been compressed in the white light released.

“!!”

As Kamijou hadn’t foreseen this happening, his thoughts went blank.

Like air.

An air body flying about all over the place like the mouth of a balloon being released, regaining its original shape, and the force released blasted against Kamijou like a storm.

Like the asphalt road.

The pieces of rock that had been crushed by the huge pressure, and were now stones the size of beans, like popcorn regaining its original size. The stone pieces that were released were now riding the storm and acting like bullets.

The stone storm continued to rage.

With a blunt ‘tong’, a piece of the asphalt road the size of a fist hit Kamijou’s right fist. Before he could even feel pain, more stones directly hit his abdomen, chest, thighs—till the moment the back of his head was hit; he couldn’t even feel pain anymore.

(This...person...to think that she actually predicted that...it would be destroyed by the Imagine Breaker...!?)

“GYYAAAAHHHH!!”

With blood scattered all over the place, and the feeling of his skin getting peeled, Kamijou’s body was about to fall to the side. He knew that his vision was tilted slightly, but he didn’t know what could be done to correct it.

As his thoughts started to vanish, Oriana, who finished using all her flashcards, came running over.

She was planning to deal the final blow. Not by magic, but to crush Kamijou’s bones with her fist that was as hard as granite.

The strength in his legs was gradually disappearing.

It was difficult for him to even stand.

In this situation, it would be impossible for him to even block Oriana’s attack, let alone dodge.

If he was going to be hit like that, Kamijou’s body would be crushed.

(Damn...it...)

―Fukiyose Seiri said,

Have you ever thought about making Daihaseisai a success?

―Himegami Aisa said,

Komoe-sensei and Stiyl are arguing, please come and stop them.

―Stiyl Magnus said,

Don’t expect too much.

―Tsuchimikado Motoharu said,

If we catch her here, everything will be over.

The thing that each of them actually wished for was all to preserve the smiles of the people, both the citizens of Academy City and the tourists who were there for Daihaseisai. Though the scale and quality may differ, everyone wanted to maintain and protect the lives that they had now.

Kamijou himself had said it before.

He had told Himegami Aisa, who was on the ground in blood, that he would go to her room before the night tour started. This wasn’t just a battle with this magician, it was also the realisation of having to battle for others.

This was regarding the feelings of these people who express their own views.

(How can I—)

With his shaky consciousness, Kamijou gritted his teeth.

Forcefully.

(HOW CAN I LET IT END HERE—!!!)

“GYA...AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!”

His legs finally started to move.

His vision that was tilted to the side was supported by the earth.

Oriana Thomson was just ahead.

She was about to swing her fist down.

“Wh...why!?”

Her eyes widened in surprise. Most likely, she hadn’t expected a counterattack. Oriana, who was focusing on attacking, didn’t have time to set her defense up.

In his blurry consciousness, Kamijou Touma clenched his right fist in a refined manner.

Forcefully, firmly, not willing to let go.

After that.

Both parties exchanged fists.

Kamijou Touma’s strike hit Oriana directly on the face.

The magician’s body rolled backwards in a forceful manner.

Part 9

Oriana Thomson was on the ground, not moving at all.

At this moment, Kamijou knew that the boundary that she set up had vanished. The engines could be heard as the planes buzzed around, as if he suddenly recalled something.

The surrounding runway of the experimental airbase looked like it had been plowed through, the control tower and support frames were bowled down. The mini-plane in the air finally hovered up frantically. After a while, the guards would arrive.

“Stiyl!!”

Kamijou shifted his body that was completely covered with wounds to the rune magician, who was lying far away. Stiyl was covered in ice fragments, and now the ice was almost melted. Maybe it was because the ice block that was covering the wound had melted, there was more blood flowing out of the wound.

Stiyl couldn’t get up.

But, as he lay on the ground, his eyes started to blink slowly.

“...Don’t worry...about me, I can do this on my own.”

He moved his bloody lips.

“More importantly, the ‘Apostle’s Cross’, force Oriana...to say where...it is...our ultimate objective...is to prevent that spiritual tool from activating...”

“But!”

Just as Kamijou was looking around, looking for something that could be used as a bandage.

“There’s nothing to worry about. Everything will be over soon.”

He could hear a voice.

It was the voice of a female. One that seemed older than Oriana.

Kamijou looked around, there was no new person around. The voice came from near where Oriana was lying.”

“...The boundary that prevents communication is cut...”

After much difficulty, Stiyl managed to say these words.

Kamijou thought, this must be a spell meant to replace a wireless walkie-talkie or cellphone.

(If so, the one speaking is...)

Lidvia Lorenzetti.

Like Oriana Thomson, she was also responsible for planning to activate the ‘Apostle’s Cross’ inside Academy City, the person who wanted to dominate this entire area to take over the entire science faction.

She said,

“After a while, the ‘Apostle’s Cross’ will activate. Academy City will work to the Roman Catholics’ favour. Thus, you don’t have to worry even if you’re hurt. No matter what, including those wounds, the entirety of Academy City will be reversed.”

That meant,

The ‘Apostle’s Cross’ was not with Oriana, but with Lidvia.

At the same time,

“YOU PLAN TO GET RID OF US MEDDLERS HERE!?”

Kamijou inadvertently shouted out.

Lidvia remained unmoved as she said,

“You seem to be mistaken. I just want to say, we’ll take care of your wounds, and treat you. Of course, if these are beneficial to the Roman Catholics.”

What?

Kamijou couldn’t help but frown.

“...Ignore her, Kamijou Touma.”

Stiyl, who was on the ground, softly whispered.

“Since they’re going to use the ‘Apostle’s Cross’, Lidvia and the spiritual tool should be somewhere close by. With your right hand, you can definitely destroy all the spiritual functions. So hurry, Lidvia should be somewhere near this runway—”

“—To avoid any misunderstandings, let me tell you first.”

Lidvia seemed to intend to shut Stiyl up as she said,

“The ‘Apostle’s Cross’ is not in Academy City.”

Kamijou inadvertently turned to look at Oriana, who was on the ground.

Lidvia’s voice, which was coming from there, coldly stated,

“You people seemed to have checked all the ‘observatories’ in Academy City, but that was just a decoy. Seems like you weren’t able to consider the ‘observatories’ outside Academy City.”

The outside.

It took several seconds for Kamijou and Stiyl to understand these words.

“The Holy See, which was created by the ‘Apostle’s Cross’, once occupied 47,000 square kilometers of land at its peak. Right now, it’s at 200 square kilometres. Of course, we have calculated, even if it’s outside Academy City, it can take over the entire city.”

“Damn it.”

Stiyl blurted out these words.

Now lying on the ground, he couldn’t even move his limbs as he would like.

“We...were tricked, Kamijou Touma...hurry up and contact Tsuchimikado! Oriana must have...purposely attracted our attention...right from the beginning!!”

“That’s right. Her mission is to investigate the related personnel and combat capability, and to divert all the attention in the wrong direction. If she really wanted to hide, she could have used the ‘dispel bystander’ spell or any spell that can remove her presence. However, there won’t be any fish if there’s no bait. Thus, she purposely appeared here.”

The nun’s voice steadily continued.

“It takes a long time to use the ‘Apostle’s Cross’, but the main point is that the ‘observatory’ has to be fixed. The most worrying thing is for all your main combatants to know where all the ‘observatories’ are beforehand.”

Lidvia Lorenzetti calmly revealed the truth,

“To us, it’s important to prevent this from becoming the focus, so Oriana purposely moved around Academy City, doing things that looked like there was a purpose behind them, to force all your combatants to focus solely within Academy City. I have the ‘Apostle’s Cross’, and before the time came, I was waiting in a hotel outside Academy City all this while, and in fact, the ‘Apostle’s Cross’ was to be set up outside Academy City. Seems like our plan wasn’t discovered.”

“This...”

Kamijou gritted his teeth, but he couldn’t think of any specific countermeasure.

“I wanted Oriana to not use any ‘dispel bystander’ or ‘presence cut’ spells. At first, when the ‘Chaos and calm on the surface’ was destroyed, it was the preparation phase to begin battle. That time, we panicked. If Oriana was caught too early, we wouldn’t be able to achieve our objective.”

To plan out all this elaborately, was it because she had all the trumps?

Lidvia’s voice continued to ring inside Kamijou’s ears.

“Too bad. Unfortunately, she was beaten. However, the ‘Apostle’s Cross’ will change this situation such that it would be beneficial to us. In conclusion, her failure is nothing but a trivial matter. As long as we can use the ‘Apostle’s Cross’ from outside Academy City to take over Academy City, we can turn this situation around, and it will end up being as we planned it in the beginning.”

Though Lidvia’s words were mild, they made Kamijou feel that all their efforts up till now had been wasted.

Kamijou used his trembling hand to pull the handphone from his shorts pocket. Just as he was looking for a record of Tsuchimikado’s number on the handphone display,

“It’s useless.”

Most likely, besides the voice, it also showed what was going on. Lidvia dully said,

“For you to try and locate me now, it’s a little too far. Even if you have reinforcements on the streets, I believe that everything would be over before they could arrive.”

“...(The long range strike... ‘Red spell’ won’t work?)”

Stiyl continued to lie on the ground as he spoke in a barely audible voice.

“...(First seeking, then attacking. Right now, Tsuchimikado is unable to...use spells consecutively. We’re lucky if he can even squeeze one off with his current state...)”

“Damn it! What can we do now!?”

Kamijou roared, but he couldn’t think of any concrete plan to fight back.

In this atmosphere of despair, only Lidvia Lorenzetti’s voice echoed throughout.

“How do you view the changes to Academy City after the ‘Apostle’s Cross’ is used?”

Hearing this, Stiyl moved his lips.

“...Compared to Sodom and Gomorrah (Note: These were the legendary cities that indulged in promiscuous acts. God sent sulphur and fire down onto these cities, destroying all the land, the people, and even the living things down there.)...it might be a little better. But what you people are doing...is no different from destroying those cities. To the Roman Catholics, you’ll send all those irritating places...into oblivion, and then use force to display God’s power...at his end, St. George...did something similar to the Roman Temple.”

“This is your misunderstanding.”

Lidvia immediately said,

“To us, the most important thing is to yield the rampant science faction, that’s all it is. Right now, science is arrogant, like the old Roman pagans. So we have to act like what they did in the past, to deny all of what they believe in, to use our power to demonstrate God’s authority.”

Her tone had changed.

The words that were cut halfway were now completely linked up.

“Science’s views, science’s views, science’s views...the word ‘science’ here is no longer just simple knowledge, but a pagan cult in itself. Unfortunately, people will just believe the words ‘Science’s views’ without any condition. They never used their own eyes to confirm it, how stupid is that?”

That true, Science may have been heading in the wrong direction at times.

Even if Science was correct, how could anyone say that Science was the absolute truth? One had to think through it before calling it Science.

Common knowledge and Science—if so, would continue to improve over time. Till 1930, nobody had discovered Pluto. That had also been a time where people said that blue-ray diodes were impossible.

Even if Science as correct, the scientific framework may be imperfect. If one was to add in the words ‘Science is correct’ without thinking, it was like saying that ‘the teacher is never wrong’.

“We feel that it’s the Science side invading the Church, and so we can’t let this slide. Human hands have stained God’s almighty name, so it’s right to clean with human hands, right?”

Kamijou didn’t even bother with Lidvia’s words.

It was impossible to talk with her.

Kamijou pulled out his handphone and confirmed the time. The moment he looked up at the sky, the sky had turned completely purple.

Like ink smudging through the paper, stars were scattered everywhere in the sky.

This was the worst situation.

It was almost over.

“We’ll take you in, and won’t destroy Academy City. Such a boring festival like Daihaseisai is only a perfect demonstration site for us to force the Science side to submit to the Church. We’ll let you forsake this pagan religion before accepting you as our dear fellow comrades.”

Stiyl moved his wounded body and pulled a blood-stained rune card from his arms. Like Lidvia, he may have been trying to use a communication spell.

“Go...call...Tsuchimikado.”

Stiyl tried to squeeze out a voice.

“...It’s called the ‘all-around reality array’, right? That spell that searched out Oriana’s counterspell. Use it on Lidvia’s message, and find out where she is. After that, I’ll use my communicating spell, and call my allies outside to...”

“There’s no use. There’s only 120 seconds before the ‘Apostle’s Cross’ is used. No, it’s 107 seconds now. I can say this now: checkmate.”

107 seconds.

Even if they found out where Lidvia was, nobody could get there. They would use up all their time by just calling the injured Tsuchimikado here.

Stiyl Magnus gasped.

On the other side of the communicating spell, Lidvia Lorenzetti revealed a smile.

Kamijou gritted his teeth as he looked up at the purple sky that was becoming starry.

(Is there any way...)

The feeling of not giving up continued to circle around him.

(...IS THERE AN ULTIMATE TRUMP CARD THAT CAN REVERSE THIS SITUATION!!)

Kamijou racked his brain as if he was desperately grasping at straws. —The ‘Apostle’s Cross, the most important spiritual tool that the Roman Catholics had could take over 47,000 square kilometres of land. It was a spell that used constellations, not using just the constellation\'s location, but its appearance in the night sky. After investigating the characteristics and features, they had chosen the most effective one out of the 88 constellations, and now they were ready to collect the starlight on the ground.

“—!!”

Kamijou Touma grabbed his phone.

“Tsuchimikado! Don’t ask anything. Listen to me. How many possible places outside Academy City can they use the ‘Apostle’s Cross’ and still take over Academy City!?”

“Wha...at are you...saying, Kami-yan?”

This interrupted voice probably indicated that he did not know what was going on here.

However, Kamijou had no time or intention to elaborate. He again shouted,

“NO NEED TO EXPLAIN THE SPECIFICS. AMONG ALL THE CONDITIONS THAT I MENTIONED, WHERE’S THE FURTHEST POINT!?”

“...There should be 5 of them outside. Among them...the one furthest away is north of Academy City, about 1,700 metres away...Kami-yan, what’s going on...”

“Sorry, Tsuchimikado, I don’t have time to explain it.”

After apologising, Kamijou hung up the phone, ignoring the other person’s questions. After that he activated the search function of his communication function. It was the electronic version of the Daihaseisai tour guidebook.

(I know the distance. The time...there’s 55 seconds left. Can it work!!?)

“Right now, it’s impossible to do anything. So let me destroy that last hope of yours, I’m now no longer at that aforementioned location.”

Kamijou ignored that voice which seemed to be lying as he continued to operate his phone desperately.

On the display, it was the map of Academy City.

(Not this.)

Kamijou closed the tab and opened a new one.

(Not this. Not this either.)

He closed the screen, and opened another one. This map was only meant for those who had lost their guidebooks and needed information, so it couldn’t fit in all the contents of that thick guidebook. It was inconvenient too, and Kamijou still couldn’t find the information that he wanted.

Even so, Kamijou continued to work on the phone.

When he finally saw the display, the phone in his hand dropped.

Klak Klak.

The light sound of plastic dropping rang on the evening runway. But, that was just it. Kamijou wanted to pick up the phone, but he couldn’t do so. His trembling fingers couldn’t move successfully, and he couldn’t even do a simple action.

There were still 40 seconds till everything was over.

These last moments would just be wasted by Lidvia’s words.

“No matter what, no matter what method you use, it’s impossible to get to where I am now.”

She continued in her polite tone, as if she was bowing over and apologising.

“Everything is over. Including you people, I’ll make this world a better place.”

As if he had given up, Kamijou let out a ‘ha’ laugh.

“That’s right, everything is over.”

There were still 20 seconds left.

“Ahh, damn it, saying that I’ll keep my promise.”

In his vision, it was not the stars that were about to appear.

“That’s right. Even though I was confident and agreed with Himegami, I ended up like this. I’m really disappointed.”

He looked at the handphone that was lying on the ground.

“You think so too right, Lidvia?”

There were still 5 seconds left.

“Even when I have broken your illusion.”

“What?”

Just as Lidvia raised her doubt.

Dong!!

A strong bright light appeared from the ground, and the darkness in the night was eradicated immediately.

It was the light released by the light bulbs, neon lights, laser lights, focus lights and many more that were set up all over Academy City. Though the 23rd School District had nothing to do with Daihaseisai, the nearby International Airport started to shine like the decorative lights on a Christmas tree. Fast-paced music could be heard from afar with many electronic tunes. It sounded like the background music at a children’s theme park.

“It’s exactly 6:30 PM now.”

Kamijou Touma picked up his handphone, and looked at the screen.

On the simple digital edition of the guidebook, the words were written ‘night parade’.

“Don’t you know when the night parade starts?”

“What...”

Light continued to cover Academy City.

Before he realised it, the stars that had been shining in the night sky vanished upon the appearance of the ground lights. It was like a metropolis, where it was impossible to see the stars due to all the light. The weaker starlight was absorbed into the strong floodlights.

“Really...I already promised Himegami to visit her at the hospital before this starts, and in the end, I still couldn’t make it. Damn it, I really lost face there.”

Kamijou clicked his tongue bitterly.

“That’s right. According to Tsuchimikado, the furthest location outside Academy City which can still take over Academy City is about 1,700 metres away. If it’s just that distance, with this large amount of light in Academy City, it should cover the entire sky.”

Then, Kamijou continued,

“If even the furthest place can be covered, no matter where you are, the other places will be covered as well, right? Lidvia Lorenzetti.”

“—”

The remaining 5 seconds had passed.

But there was still no change to the world.

“Thinking about it, we’re all boring supporting roles.”

This was the moment when a most-powerful spell that used starlight,

Succumbed to all the artificial light released.

“For me, not being able to catch you now, I can’t say anything big. But didn’t you not look down on Daihaseisai’s authority? Haven’t you now lost to all the light that everyone released? The security system, what balance between Science and Magic, these are all decorations for today. You should have checked out who’s the main character for Daihaseisai.”

It was not Kamijou Touma, it was not Stiyl Magnus, it was not Tsuchimikado Motoharu, it was definitely not Oriana Thomson, and definitely not Lidvia Lorenzetti. They were Fukiyose Seiri, who wanted Daihaseisai to succeed, Himegami Aisa, who was in her own blood due to coincidence, Tsukuyomi Komoe, who was crying as she tried to save her student who was drowning in her own blood.

These people gathered together to protect Daihaseisai.

Using this large amount of light. The intention to use this light to create wonderful memories.

“...”

Facing Kamijou’s words, the other party had no reply.

Right now, what was Lidvia thinking as she looked up at the sky?

“So how? Seems like you can’t shake Daihaseisai anymore, right? I don’t know anything about the power balance between the Science side and the Magic side, but if you destroy the ‘Apostle’s Cross’, get out of here quietly, and not do anything to Academy City, I won’t have anything with that. What do you think?”

“...You think so?”

A low tension could be felt in Lidvia’s voice.

It felt like she would explode the moment she moved a finger.

“I’m a respected Roman Catholic, and I don’t feel that I did anything wrong to Academy City. It’s meaningless to accept your proposal.”

“Really?”

Kamijou quietly replied.

He shifted his vision slightly.

Tsuchimikado Motoharu was climbing over the fence and approaching. The only man who could use a spell to detect the magic source was slowly moving over.

Even if Tsuchimikado was to accurately find the ‘observatory’ where the ‘Apostle’s Cross’ was used, before Kamijou and company could head there, Lidvia would likely escape with the ‘Apostle’s Cross’. It was already difficult for them while they had their chase, and there was a considerable time and distance for them to cover in order to get outside.

But, there were many magical organisations of different sizes waiting for this opportunity outside the city.

No matter what they thought about Academy City, it was a righteous cause for them to capture Oriana and Lidvia. And also, it was disturbing that the whereabouts of the ‘Apostle’s Cross’ was still unknown. Regarding this, they would be able to settle the situation regarding Lidvia by asking for help from the British Puritans.

Thus,

By using the ‘all-around reality array’ that Tsuchimikado prepared, letting Stiyl know the source of Lidvia’s communicating spell, contacting the English Puritans reinforcements that were waiting outside Academy City, and then letting them do their thing, everything would be over.

Besides that, Kamijou Touma had nothing else to do.

Finally, he laughed, and said,

“Go run and scamper around as if you’re running in a sports meet, Lidvia Lorenzetti.”