Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 07/Chapter 2

Title - Chapter 2: ローマ正教　The_Roman_Catholic_Church.

Volume 07

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Next Chapter → 3

Part 1
The sun has set, as night arrives.

However, the night doesn’t bring about peace. Anieze, who’s dressed in black robes, continues to issue orders to the other nuns wearing the same monastic clothes through hand signals and foreign language. At the same time, she’s holding a quill pen, and writing rapidly on a small notebook. “It’s like a telephone.” Index explained. As long as one writes words on that notebook, similar words will appear on other notebooks. “Rather than calling it a telephone, why not call it an e-mail.” Kamijo secretly thought.

Among this black organization—they should be official nuns from the Roman Catholic Church, some of them jumped into the triangular hole that the perpetrators that kidnapped Ursula cut open, into the sewer. Some of them opened up their maps, using red ink and quill pens to draw lines on the map. Kamijo cannot tell if they’re anaylsing the enemy’s escape route, or if they’re setting up positions to monitor the enemy and encircle him.

This is a noisy and chaotic night. Kamijo, Index and Stiyl can only stand around and watch from afar. Kamijo can’t speak any foreign language (he doesn’t even know what language they’re speaking), and so he can’t take part in the conversation. As for Index and Stiyl, they’re trying not to cause any confusion with the Roman Catholic nuns, who follow a different command structure altogether, and thus chose to watch from afar.

Kamijo endured his ever-growing hunger, and says,

“Oi, what did Index and I come here to do? Aren’t the people from the Roman Catholic Church supposed to do this mission? If we can only foolishly stand around, what’s the point of coming all the way here?”

“About this, our reinforcements should have arrived by now. I don’t know why those Knights haven’t arrived yet. Stiyl laments, puffing out white smoke. “Also, we’ll definitely be useful in this situation. No, more accurately, she’ll definitely be useful.” The ‘she’ that Stiyl mentioned should be referring to Index.

“She?”

“That’s right, because this concerns a magic book, the original copy of the ‘Book of the Law’.”

For his own interests, Stiyl brought this conversation to a close (Seems like he doesn’t intend to explain further.) So, Index continued off from where Stiyl left off, making a simple explanation.

The ‘Book of the Law’ is rumored to be a magic book written in codes that no one in the entire world can decode, the contents of the book is rather precious. Once someone can interpret it, she’ll be able to gain tremendous power. And until now, there’s finally a girl who found a way to decode it.

But, the Amakusa Catholics have stolen this ‘Book of the Law’ from the Roman Catholics, and also the girl who knows how to decode it, Ursula Aquinas.

The girl that Kamijo met on the road was Ursula. She escaped in the midst of the confusion in the battle between the Amakusa and the Roman Catholics. As for the ‘Book of the Law’, it’s still missing, but it may have ended up in the hands of the Amakusa.

(Amakusa……?)

Kamijo felt that he heard this name before.

However, Kamijo decides to leave this aside for now, and asks,

“Nobody can interpret it? Not even Index?”

“No way. I tried, but its different from ordinary types of codes.”

“But, is this ‘magic book that nobody can decode’ really that valuable? Since no one can decode it, can it possibly be just gibberish?”

“Maybe.”

Index honestly replies. However, by not refuting these claims, it makes Index seem like an adult trying to cajole children. It’s like an expert not sharing his own views with a layman.

Stiyl spits the cigarette that he finished smoking, putting it out by stepping on it, and says,

“It’s said that the spells recorded in the ‘Book of the Law’ are too powerful. Once used, the world supported by the Christian Church will be doomed. No matter whether this legend is true or not, it is best if we can keep this book sealed forever. One sect even believes that whoever reads this book will be able to use the Angelic spell freely, a spell that far exceeds human limits.

On hearing this, Kamijo froze up.

“An……gel……?”

“Hm? Maybe for an atheist like you, it’s hard to imagine what an angel looks like.”

Stiyl laughed. However, he was wrong.

Kamijo understands what an angel is. He still remembers what that angel with the so-called ‘God’s power’ did. That night, the sky above the seaside was covered by a large vortex of magic spell instantly. One single word from the angel is enough to turn half the Earth to ash.

Also, for all the spells that the angel has, that’s only the tip of the iceberg.

Such a powerful magic can be controlled freely by humans?

“But……since no one has been able to decipher the ‘Book of the Law’, how would they know if it’s a bluff?”

Disturbed, Kamijo swallowed his saliva as his asks. Index nods her head like an innocent boy, and replies,

“Mm. However, Touma, it is undeniable that the ‘Book of the Law’ has a tremendous amount of power. The person who wrote this ‘Book of the Law’ is rumored to be the most powerful magician ever. This man is even qualified to be recorded in the New Testament. He was active about 70 years ago, but during the past 70 years, the evolution of magicians has surpassed the progress gained throughout history these several thousand years. Among all the magicians in the world today, about 20% of them are his followers, and almost 50% of all the magicians are affected by him to some extent.”

As Index looks rather serious, Kamijo couldn’t interrupt.

“I feel that the name ‘Book of the Law’ isn’t just for show. Even if the power of this book is even larger and scarier than that of legend, I won’t be surprised.”

A group of nuns clad in black robes ran past them, making loud footsteps.

“Who……is that ‘he’ you are referring to?”

“Edward Alexander, also known as Crowley. He’s now buried in a cemetery in a certain town in Britain.”

Stiyl lights another cigarette, and continues on,

“Anyway, according to history, this guy is the scum of humanity. During one of his trips, in order to carry out a magical experiment, he used his wife who accompanied him around the world as a medium to contact the guardian angel, Aiwass. And when his daughter Lilicia died, he remained unmoved, continuing on with his research on magic theories. In order to carry out the experiment, he even used a group of girls as old as his daughter as sacrifices……however, he managed to define a so-called different world—a ‘different but overlapping world’ similar to Heaven and Hell, and manages to open new grounds in the magic rituals. Just by these points alone, his contributions cannot be denied.”

At this moment, the wind changes direction. Stiyl moved away, not wanting Index to breathe in the second hand smoke. However, the second-hand smoke floats in Kamijo’s direction, making him cough really badly. Seeing this, Stiyl however reveals an evil smile, puffing out white smoke even harder like a wild beast.

“Anyway, there are too many legends about this guy. It’s the same with the ‘Book of the Law’. Rumors has it that every time there seems a situation where there’s no way out, he’ll use the ‘Book of the Law’ to carry out divinations, and decide on what to do according to its contents. In other words, this is a magic book that can decide the fate of the strongest magician in the world. It’s almost equivalent to mastering the entire history of the modern Western. So, one shouldn’t view the ‘Book of the Law’ too lightly.”

Stiyl seems rather irritated as he twists his mouth.

The three Roman Catholic nuns who ran past them just now sprinted back again. One of the nuns smelled the tobacco smoke, and subtlety. Her hands are holding a large gear with 1 metre diameter. It’s either a weapon or something else……

“If it’s such a scary book, why not destroy it as soon as possible? Since it’s a book, won’t burning it do the job?”

“A magic book cannot be burned. Especially for the special class of original magic books, the words, paragraphs, chapters will be converted into a magical code, using small amounts of energy released by nature or lifeforce as its power, like an automatically powered magic spell. So the most we can do is to seal it.”

Index reveals a smile which seems to have profound meaning, and says,

“However, if it’s an original manuscript written from my memory, such a phenomenon won’t occur.”

“An ‘auto-powered magic array’ has to be activated by the weak magical energy released by humans. The magic that an author possesses is like an engine’s starter. A magician writing a magic book will unconsciously input some magic together with the text onto the paper. No matter what type of stationery or materials used, this phenomenon will always occur, thus it’s unavoidable. However, she’s unable to use lifeforce to create magic, so this problem won’t occur. She can be considered to be the ideal candidate as the keeper of the Magical Library…… It seems like everything was planned, and it really makes me feel unhappy about it.

“Oh…… So this is how it is? Index?”

“Erm……hm……? What’s a starter? And what’s an engine?”

Stiyl’s explanation, however, made Index feel puzzled.

After that, Stiyl impatiently explains to Index what an engine and a starter is (and for some reason, he looks rather happy). Kamijo watches Stiyl and Index as they have their conversation, and his heart feels even heavier.

From the start, Kamijo thought that this isn’t a big deal. Up till now, he thought that rescuing Ursula, who has been abducted, will be enough.

But looking at things now, the situation isn’t that simple.

Kamijo has seen how capable an ‘angel’ is. He saw first-hand the ‘God’s power’ that Misha Kruezhev used, one that can turn half the Earth into ash.

And Kamijo understands this group of species known as ‘magicians’. The magicians he met before don’t even know the meaning of the word mercy. In order to get whatever they want, these people will give all they got.

This group of magicians……if they were to use the ‘Book of the Law’ and obtain the angel’s magic, what will they do?

(Damn it……)

Index said that the original copy of a magic book cannot be burned.

Because the original copy is like an auto-working magic array.

But, Kamijo’s right hand has an inconceivable power.

If he were to use the power of his Imagine Breaker, maybe he can……

(Oh man! Looks like I can’t back out midway through!)

Part 2
After giving orders in a foreign language, Anieze went back to where Kamijo and the rest are, her mini-skirt shaking around, and her sandals, with those extremely thick soles, making a tapping sound like those of horseshoes.

This girl, who’s younger than Index, made Kamijo feel rather perturbed. After seeing some inexplicably young nuns from the British Puritans and the Russian Orthodox Church, Kamijo understands that there’s no such thing as an age priority in the Magical world (However, Misha’s inner and outer appearances are completely different). Moreover, this girl was shouting and directing orders at several subordinates in a foreign language, and giving out the same orders to others through other methods of communication.

However, to Kamijo, the biggest problem isn’t the ‘high position and large power’ that this little girl has, but rather her ‘foreign language’. At this moment, Kamijo thought, ‘Since I can’t speak foreign languages, I’ll have a showdown using the most hot-blooded and high-speed body language!”

Anieze gazes at Kamijo’s eyes, as if she’s going to use a foreign language to start a foreign cultural exchange with him. Kamijo got ready as well, preparing to show off his most dramatic actions.

“Ah……erm…… I really want to start explaining the situation right now, may I ask if you guys are prepared?”

“……”

Such strange Japanese.

The surprise that Kamijo felt cannot be described by pen or ink.

No matter how mindful someone is of his or her unique culture and characteristics, one shouldn’t be speaking this sort of Japanese.

Seeing this Roman Catholic nun in front of him all frozen up, her legs shaking, and her face flushed red, Kamijo understands at this point, ‘Being nervous when talking to a foreigner for the first time’ is an universal quasi-truth.

“It……it makes me nervous to show my lousy Japanese in……in front of a Japanese. Ah, can you speak any other languages? It’s best if we can speak some language that’s far away from our cultures, like Albanian or Berber……”

Because she was nervous, she spoke really fast. Index stood next to her and spoke to her in a foreign language, something like ‘Calm down, calm down, take a deep breath’. In another corner, Stiyl’s face is rather gray as he lowers his head, muttering, “Never mind, don’t mind me, I was just thinking of another person who speaks weird Japanese as well.”

Anieze places her hand on her almost flat chest, took a few deep breaths, and barely kept her emotions under control. Her two feet, which are wearing those sandals with 30cm thick soles, are swaggering around like a drunk because of nervousness.

But in order to do her mission, she straightened herself up, and says,

“I’m sorry. Now, let me repeat myself, we should discuss about the situation now and the actions we’re going to take later AHHHHHHHHH!”

Anieze, who ignored the fact that she’s on an unstable platform, tries to straighten her back and hold her head high, did not manage to finish what she wants to say, and fell backwards. “WAAAHHH!!” She screams as she swings her arms wildly. Amidst this confusion, she grabs onto Kamijo’s arm.

“Woah!”

In the end, even Kamijo was pulled onto the ground. This sudden action made him unable to react to protect himself, as his entire body falls flat on the asphalt. It hurts to such an extent that he’s about to roll on the floor. Suddenly, Kamijo realizes that there’s a piece of floating fabric covering his head.

It was Anieze’s skirt.

Kamijo looked up, and several centimeters in front of him was an entire delightful scene of paradise.

“WAAAAA……..AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!”

Panicking, Kamijo tries to move his head away. At this moment, Anieze also senses something was amiss, gives a loud, piercing scream “AHHHHHH!!!”, and presses her skirt down tightly using her two hands. Of course, this is a defensive action under desperate situations, but such an action only caused Kamijo’s head to be stuck under her skirt, making him unable to move.

Kamijo heard Index shouting at him as his entire range of vision is blocked by the skirt and thighs.

“Tou…..toutoutoutoutouma! This sort of prank is really too much!”

“Please don’t get too sensual when we’re doing a mission, now hurry up and stand up.”

Stiyl raises his leg to his waist before kicking Kamijo, which finally freed him from the terrifying prison formed from Anieze’s skirt and thighs. However, Stiyl seemed to enjoy this kick a little too much, and it seems that he felt compelled to do this after hearing Index cry out.

Having been kicked, Kamijo coughs as he shakes his head.

At this moment, Kamijo and Anieze, who has fallen onto the asphalt, stared at each other. Anieze is trembling throughout, her face is flushed red, and tears are forming on her eyes. When Kamijo saw this, he became desperately pale.

“Sor……sorry……”

“Never……never mind……I fell down myself. Maybe it’s because I’m too nervous, and then I lost balance……um, can you stand up?”

Anieze uses her feet, with those sandals with 30cm thick soles on them, to support herself, and stands up steadily. She then stretches her hand out to Kamijo, who is lying on the ground. Kamijo looks like he has just seen a glimmer of light in the midst of some dark clouds, and held his hand out, grabbing Anieze’s hand. Index is rather unhappy with how this scene went.

After calming down, Anieze’s body is still rather stiff, though she’s not nervous when she speaks.

“Okay, now I’ll start on the ‘Book of the Law’, Ursula Aquinas, the Amakusa’s actions and our future course of action.”

Maybe it’s because she’s afraid to fall down again, Anieze, who’s trembling terribly, cannot help but stretch her hand out again, wanting to hold onto Kamijo’s shirt. But she stopped halfway through. Besides, grabbing onto a boy whom she’s unfamiliar with is inappropriate, and also, the boy just clearly saw quite a scenery under her skirt. Anieze groped around in the air, before she gently grasp onto a corner of Index’s nun robe.

“Right now, we can confirm that Ursula Aquinas has fallen in the hands of the Amakusa. As for the location of the ‘Book of the Law’, I’m afraid that they may have taken it as well. The enemy we’re facing, the Amakusa Catholics, have about slightly less than 50 people. They use the sewer to escape in the day, but it’s unlikely that they’ll stay in the sewer throughout the night.”

“In other words, there’s not even a single clear clue?”

Index asks. The way Anieze is pinning herself close to her seems to make her uncomfortable.

“Yes. Although we tried to use some remaining traces of magic to find out the Amakusa’s whereabouts, it was not successful. To be expected of the Amakusa Catholics, a sect that specializes in enhancing stealth.”

Anieze’s body sways as she points to that equilateral triangular hole.

“But we have another group to set up a perimeter. Maybe we might get something.”

“A perimeter……how large is it anyway?”

Kamijo tilts his head as he asks. Index looks at him, her eyes seems to be telling him to save her by pulling away Anieze, who is clinging on her. However, he pretended not to notice her.

“With this place as the centre, a radius of about 10 kilometers, including 132 roads and 43 sewers. With our manpower, setting such a perimeter isn’t a difficult thing.” Anieze says as she clings onto Index. “Anyway, once the Amakusa tries to bring the ‘Book of the Law’ and Ursula Aquinas back into their base, it’ll be detected by our network. According to the information that we gathered, the base of the Amakusa is located in Kyuushu…… Unfortunately, we’re unable to confirm the accuracy of this report. And if they’re not trying to get past us, but to ask Ursula the way to decode it on the spot, the situation will be even tougher to handle.”

“You don’t have to worry about this. I believe Ursula is not that stupid that she can’t resist those magic spells that allows people to read minds. And if they were to try and use force, the location won’t be ideal for them.”

Stiyl blows out some white smoke, and continues,

“To them, the number of enemies near them are too many, so they can’t carry out their work peacefully. Interrogating Ursula, getting the method to decode the ‘Book of the Law’, and printing out manuals on how to decode it; all these cannot be completed in one day. If they want to break through her heart’s defense and force her to sell out information without her committing suicide, the best method of interrogating her is to ‘make her tired’ or ‘prevent her from sleeping’ without directly interacting with her. However, this will take at least a week. Not letting her sleep for one or two days isn’t even a form of interrogation. By forcing her not to sleep for at least 120 hours, her sanity will begin to deteriorate.”

Stiyl says this nonchalantly while Kamijo gets goosebumps just by hearing this.

Besides fearing this expert in witch hunting and religious trials, Kamijo is afraid of what those guys who kidnapped Ursula will do to her. Also, from what he heard from Anieze, there are almost 50 members of the Amakusa.

The Amakusa Catholics.

However at this point, Kamijo thought of something—he heard Kanzaki Kaori and Tsuchimikado Motoharu mention this ‘Amakusa’ group before. What he heard at first was that Kanzaki was originally the leader of this group, and left them in order to protect them.

In the past, Kanzaki really wanted to protect this group of people, but now, they dare do this sort of thing for their own selfish purposes?

(This shouldn’t be the case……)

Don’t tell me that these guys changed?

After Kanzaki Kaori left them, these guys whom she's protected have fallen?

“What’s wrong, Touma?”

Index asks suspiciously, tilting her head to one side, and knocks into Anieze, who’s clinging onto her.

“Nothing. Oh yeah, now what do we do? Those guys from the Amakusa will be immediately found out on the perimeter, right?”

“Ah, yeah, that’s right.”

Anieze still seems to be nervous, as her entire face is almost touching Index’s face. She continues,

“Basically, you guys just need to be the backup……however, though the possibly may be small, there's still some danger that they might use the spells from the ‘Book of the Law’, so it’s best if an expert of the magic book were to settle this—”

“Ahhhh! This is unbearable! It’s really hot!”

Index swings her arms around, and after a while, says to Kamijo,

“However, will the Amakusa be found out that easily? Touma?”

“If you’re asking me, then who can I ask? Speaking of which, if 40 to 50 guys of a mysterious organization were to walk on the streets, won’t it be rather striking?”

“Touma, the Amakusa doesn't have a fixed attire, do they? They’re a group of people highly specialized in hiding their whereabouts and covering their own tracks. Even if they’re to walk on the streets, outsiders won’t see them as different from ordinary folks.”

“……”

“What’s wrong, Touma? Why are you staring at me so suspiciously?”

“Nothing.” Kamijo replies. Looking at the people around him, none of them are dressed normally. What Index said about ‘not different from ordinary folks’ doesn’t seem convincing to him.

“Anyway, the Amakusa specialize in ‘hiding’ and ‘escaping’. After stealing the ‘Book of the Law’ and kidnapping Ursula Aquinas, they’ll expect the Roman Catholics to hit back in full force. If this were a planned operation, then they might have rehearsed this.”

Anieze, who’s still clinging onto Index, looks puzzled as she says,

“But……but then, no matter what, they can’t possibly escape our perimeter……”

“It’s possible. There’s a type of magic for this.”

Index replies without hesitation. At this moment, Anieze takes a deep breath.

“This is a spell that can only be used in Japan only. Basically speaking, there’s special places called ‘portals’ all over Japan. One can use this ‘map magic’ to travel from ‘portal’ to ‘portal’.”

“Is that the Dai Nihon Enkai Yochi Zenzu that—Ino Tadataka created?”

Stiyl seemed to have thought of something, giving an ugly expression as he mutters.

Kamijo is extremely confused now. He asks,

“Who’s this Ino Tadataka? Is he another famous magician?”

Once this question was asked, everyone turned and gazed at Kamijo coldly.

“Erm, Touma, he’s the first person to create the first map of Japan using modern surveying techniques. It’s even recorded on ordinary history timelines.”

“Seems like you have completely no clue about history. I believe you’ve even forgotten who the previous five prime ministers were?”

“……Even an Italian like me also knows.”

Kamijo, who’s completely embarrassed now, is bombarded and pulverised by the voices around him.

“Anyway, this Japanese map that’s created in the Edo period has a special mechanism. Everyone should be clear about this ‘Idol Theory’ right? Except……for Touma.”

There’s supposed to be only a few people who understand this magical term, but it seems to be common knowledge to all these people around him. Kamijo feels that he’s in a situation where he’s fighting alone.

“For Touma’s sake, I’ll give a brief explanation. This Idol Theory is a form of basic knowledge that allows us to put the power of God and angels to good use. Following this theory, if one were to build a duplicate of the cross when ‘Christ’ was crucified, and put it on the roof of a church, they’ll get some Holy power from those actual Cross wielders. Although the power of the duplicate is not even 0.000000000001% of the original, and even the legendary strongest duplicate ‘Holy Manger’ has only a small fraction of the power, if they were to get even 1% of the power of the original, their power can match even those of the twelve apostles.”

All over the world, from the ones on the church to the ones hanging on the nuns’ necks, there are a lot of crosses. But even with the power split away with so many duplicates, the power of the ‘original’ is almost limitless. Maybe it’s like how the sun can provide solar power for electricity, Kamijo guesses wildly.

“And according to our hypothesis, this ‘Idol Theory’ can be switched around. In other words, not only will the original cause some effect on the ‘Idol’, the ‘Idol’ can also affect the original.”

“Hypothesis……? Do you mean that it’s still unconfirmed?”

“There’re some ‘exceptions’ that cannot be explained, so right now, it’s just a hypothesis. But using this hypothesis, people claim that they’ll receive divine judgment if they treat the Bible badly. This isn’t unreasonable, however. In the Bible, there are many instances where several ‘Idols’ from different Greek religions that are against Christians being struck down and destroyed by lightning. The ‘Stepping on Fumie’ in Japan is a method designed to ‘affect the original badly by stepping on the duplicate’ (Note: ‘Stepping on Fumie’ is a method to check whether the people are Christians during the Japanese Edo period, where there was a wave of persecution against Christians. The idea is that by drawing a picture of Jesus Christ or Saint Mary on a piece of paper, and putting it on the floor to force the people to step on it, the people who don’t dare to step on it will be identified as Christians.)

Index frowns as she says this. As a treasure house of knowledge, she does not seem to like saying uncertain words like ‘what if’ or ‘according’.

“Ino Tadataka used this ‘Idol Theory’ in the opposite manner. He understands that the real one and the idol will affect each other, so he plotted 47 ‘portals’ on the Dai Nihon Enkai Yochi Zenzu that originally didn’t exist on the Japanese islands. Thus, these entrances that allow people to come and go as they please appear in modern Japan.”

Kamijo’s mind tries hard to arrange this extremely strange information that Index told him.

The Japanese islands and that intricate map of Japan that the guy called Ino Tadataka made can actually affect each other. Once one randomly draws a teleport entrance on that map, they’ll appear on that real island as well.

In other words, everything that they draw on the map will become real?

“Hey, that’s too scary, isn’t it? If one were to use an eraser to erase that map, wouldn’t every Japanese and city disappear as well?”

“It’s not like that, Touma. Listen to me, the condition for being an idol is being a ‘duplicate’. As long as there’s a slight difference in the level of magic used between the idol and the original, the idol will lose it’s purpose. So the ‘Idol Theory’ can’t be used to solve everything. Once the original ‘image’ is changed, the theory cannot be used.”

Index solemnly explains. There was a group of magicians in the past who tried to use a stone sculpture that look like the ‘Son of God’ to control the ‘Son of God’ in the heavens, but it ended up in failure.

“Looking at it another way, this is where Ino Tadakata is really impressive. He added some things on the duplicates that the original didn't have, yet he’s able to maintain a perfect balance between the duplicate and the original. In the entire history of Magic, he’s the only one who managed to accomplish this. If he were a sculptor, maybe he might even be able to control the ‘Son of God’ or even an ‘angel’…… of course, just being able to manipulate the map of Japan is pretty impressive.”

“……However, do the Amakusa know how to use this magic that uses the Japanese map?”

“The answer should be affirmative. Ino Tadakata, who lived in the Edo period, was very interested in the cultures of other countries. His clan even intended to sell the Dai Nihon Enkai Yochi Zenzu to Siebold (Note: Siebold was a German doctor and biologist who came to Japan during the Edo period.) When Christians were persecuted, he might have gained some knowledge through some Dutch knowledge (Note: During the Japanese Edo period, the Dutch were the ones who taught the Japanese all sorts of Western knowledge.) Even if he were to meet the Amakusa secretly for the interest of knowledge, it isn’t strange.”

Forgetting about the minor details, basically, the Amakusa have a magic spell that allows them to teleport themselves all over Japan. So, breaking through the perimeter is easy work for them.

Hearing Index’s explanation, Anieze was stunned.

Kamijo rearranges this information that he heard, and says,

“Then what do we do now? The Amakusa might have escaped through the ‘portal’ right? Since there are a limited number of ‘portals’, should we just check all the ‘portals’ in one go?”

“It’s impossible. Actually, on the Dai Nihon Enkai Yochi Zenzu, the people later said that they can only find 23 of them. But when the black ships (Note: They refer to the Western ships that came to Japan during the Bakumatsu era), the manual clearly states that there’re 47 ‘portals’.”

The locations of more than half of the portals cannot be identified.

Thus, they can’t determine the whereabouts of the Amakusa.

“Besides using the special teleportation magic of the Dai Nihon Enkai Yochi Zenzu, the base of the Amakusa is famous for being a secret. This is understandable, because outsiders cannot even determine their escape routes. Just now, Anieze said that their main base is ‘reported’ to be in Kyuushu, but it’s almost impossible to verify it. There are too many places that are suspected to be the main base of the Amakusa. As for where the real one is, nobody knows. Maybe these reports are all false, or maybe these places all have the capability to be a main base.”

Anieze looks pale.

Her hands, which were clinging onto Index’s body, are now grabbing Index’s shoulders. She exclaims,

“Then……what should we do? Since you know about this, why didn’t you tell me? We can’t determine the ‘portal’, and we can’t find their main base! In this situation, if they were to get into the ‘portal’, it’s all over! If we are to take action before they enter the ‘portal’, there’s still a chance that we can intercept them! Why do you still look so calm?”

“Because there’s no need to panic.”

Index calmly replies. When Anieze heard this, she was stunned.

“The Dai Nihon Enkai Yochi Zenzu is measured and mapped out using the location of the stars. So the ‘location of the stars’ is extremely important, and this is the condition for using this special magic. Basically, there’s a time limitation. If the time isn’t right, the special teleportation magic cannot be used.”

Index gazes at the stars, her silver hair swaying around in the air.

“Looking at the location of the stars right now……the time now is approximately 7:30pm. The only time which they can use the special teleportation magic is a short period of time after the date changes, which means that there’s around four and a half hours to go. Also, the location of the ‘portal’ which they can teleport to is fixed. Among the 23 ‘portals’ that the descendants could find, only one is located within our vicinity…… of course, they might use other ‘portals’ that we don’t know of.” Index says rather confidently.

Every time this kind of situation occurs, Kamijo feels that he and Index aren’t really living in the same world.

“Where will that ‘portal’ appear?”

“Touma, do you have that thing that can allow us to see a map? Lend me lend me.”

Kamijo thought, “She must be referring to that GPS satellite function.”, and hands his handphone over to her. Index receives the handphone, but she looks like she doesn’t know what to do with it, so Kamijo had to use it for her. Index continues to give him directions like ‘a bit right’ or ‘move down a bit’, and finally points her slender white finger on a point on the map.

“It’s here.”

Part 3
“Our scouts have reported that there’re two suspicious characters there. They’re likely from the Amakusa, but we currently haven’t ticked them off yet.”

Hearing Index’s explanation a while ago, Anieze gave the orders, and within 15 minutes, she got a report from her subordinates. (It’s really easy to do things when there’re so many people.) Kamijo thought. The ‘Angel Fall’ situation was a whole lot more troublesome even though both situations are rather chaotic.

“However, there’s no sign of any of the main forces of the Amakusa, the ‘Book of the Law’, or Ursula.”

“Of course, it’ll be very obvious if they were to rush in at the same time. And it’s still ‘business mode’ over there.”

Although Kamijo doesn’t know what time it is, it’s not even 8pm now.

If the Amakusa wants to use the map magic created by Ino Tadataka to escape, they have to head towards the location where the ‘portal’ is. Kamijo and the rest intend to attack the Amakusa before they reached the ‘portal’, and get back the ‘Book of the Law’ and Ursula.

“Because they might use other ‘portals’ that we might not know of, or even not use any special teleportation magic, before we find the main forces of the Amakusa, I can’t gather all my people in one group. If we don’t maintain the perimeter and search for them within the area, we’ll probably let them escape. However, that’s where they’re most likely to appear." Anieze says worriedly.

However, Index does not seem to mind, and says,

“You’ve done the right thing. Besides, even I don’t have any concrete evidence.”

“Because of this, including me, the number of people that can be deployed is 74. Right now, we’re re-arming our weapons and equipment. So with this amount of manpower, if we’re to meet the main force of the Amakusa, we won’t have a sure chance of winning. So you guys have to take care of yourselves, I’m sorry.”

Up till now, there are only less than 50 people in the Amakusa, and yet they’re able to fight it out against the Roman Catholics for so long. So, Anieze isn’t just saying this to be humble.

Stiyl lights another cigarette, and says,

“You don’t have to worry. There’s no notice from the ‘Knights’ who have agreed to arrive, and we’re sorry about it. So we won’t burden you guys. Oh yeah, how long does it take for the preparations to be complete before we leave?”

“Beside the weapons and equipment, we still need to bless everyone here by pouring holy water and reading bible scriptures……” Anieze thought for a while before saying, “Around 3 hours……we’ll likely finish by 11pm at the latest.”

“If we are to count in the time it takes for us to travel, it means that we have only 30 minutes to settle this? Oh well, at least we may end up arriving there earlier than the Amakusa’s main force; so far we’re just waiting around aimlessly.”

Just like this, the time of operation has been set to 11pm.

Anieze claps twice, and after giving orders in a foreign language, all the nuns in black robes got into action. The 74 strong group of nuns split into small groups ranging from 2 to 4 per group. Each group then proceeds on to do its own job.

For someone who has seen lone striders like Stiyl, Tsuchimikado and Kanzaki — or to put it crudely, magicians who are stubborn and lonely, the orderliness of the Roman Catholics surprises Kamijo.

Anieze and the nuns participating in the ‘Retrieval of the ‘Book of the Law’ and Ursula operation’ got into their preparations for war, and those who have finished their preparations take turns to eat or sleep. Kamijo is intrigued, not understanding why these people can still sleep before a battle. But Anieze says that when the battle is a stalemate, nobody will even dare to wish for a good nap on a comfy bed, so they can only dare to take 10 to 20 minutes of nap to replenish their energy. To them, this is already basic knowledge.

(Seems like this is a specialized group of people who are really used to fighting for a long time.)

Kamijo thought, his mind running wildly.

As for Kamijo, Index and Stiyl, as they have nothing else to do, they can enjoy their dinner and take a little nap. Kamijo thought,

(Maybe this is the hospitality that Anieze shows to her guests.)

Notably, they have to take their dinner and sleep inside a tent. This is supposed to be the capital of Japan, and yet they’re setting up their own tent. This is really unexpected. However, come to think about it, if these 70+ people wearing such strange clothes are to gather in a multi-chained restaurant or a hotel, and are preparing for war, then that’s an even more amazing sight.

(Come to think about it, we’re starting at 11……then can I make it school tomorrow? AH! Wait! The due date for the submission of the summer holiday homework should be approaching soon right?)

Kamijo hastily looks in the direction of Academy City, not knowing what to do.

Because of several complicated reasons, Kamijo has not completed his summer holidays homework. So, Komoe-sensei gave Kamijo a ‘punishment assignment’ (she made it specially for Kamijo), and the last day of submitting this assignment is tomorrow.

(AHHHHHHHH!) Kamijo turned gray as he screamed within his heart. To be honest, Kamijo himself thought that he could complete it. Until today, Kamijo, who had been working hard, had to block Index’s ‘‘Play with me’ attacks’ and fend off the calico cat, Sphinx’s ‘‘Give me food’ attacks’ in order to complete his homework. Just with Kamijo’s abilities alone, it may not be enough. But yesterday, Kamijo begged Misaka Mikoto to teach him how to solve these questions (Although Mikoto was grumbling, she still stayed with Kamijo for many hours), and thus, the rate at which Kamijo was solving those questions went up, and thus there’s hope that he’ll be able to complete it today. But now, the bubble of hope has burst.

(Oh man! Oh man! I’ll be scolded! What to do? What to do? It’s not just Komoe-sensei, even Mikoto will be angry! Ahhhhhh! Haven’t said this for quite a while……Such misfortune!)

Kamijo’s entire body is trembling as he slightly tilts his head upwards, looking up to the night sky. He continues to tell himself that the transparent liquid flowing down from the corner of his eyes is just sweat.

Kamijo dejectedly walks towards a corner of the campsite, got a piece of bread and a bowl of Italian soup, which he doesn’t know the name, and ate as he looked around.

In this abandoned car park at the ‘Gloaming House’, there are small semi-circular tents set up everywhere. But no matter how anyone thinks, there’s no way this car park can fit everyone in. Seems like some of them will be sleeping inside the building. Besides, all the Roman Catholic nuns will be busy preparing, so it’s likely that more than half of them won’t have time to sleep.

Seeing these people being so busy, Kamijo is embarrassed and does not dare to sleep. However, according to Stiyl, people who have nothing to do and keep moving around will cause them more trouble.

(Come to think of it, wouldn’t the police notice a group of people living in a dump? Or did they use something like a spell that will turn away passer-by?)

Kamijo went from the campsite to his own tent, snuggled his body under the futon, and thought about all these things. Stiyl’s sleeping just beside him, and Index seems to be sleeping in another tent. In order to protect Index, Stiyl actually intended to sleep with Index in the same tent, but was rejected. Later, Kamijo saw Stiyl feel chagrin as he mutters to himself, “If Kanzaki, who is of the same gender, were around, it'd have been alright...” as he places rune cards near her tent. It’s said that ‘Innocentius’ will become stronger the more rune cards there are, and Stiyl seems to be grumbling because there’s a limited amount of space which he can stick inside the small tent.

Kamijo rolls around in the tent, unable to sleep. It wasn’t because he wasn’t tired, or wasn’t overly nervous because of the upcoming battle, but because he couldn’t sleep alone when there’s so many people busy working outside. Even more-so, once he tries to think of how they are dressed, he’ll only think about Ursula, who’s dressed in the same nun robes.

“……I should just go help them.”

Kamijo got out from under the futon. Stiyl’s irritated voice rang beside him.

“Do whatever suits you, but please don’t use your mysterious right hand to destroy their artifacts. ……If they’re broken, you have to pay them yourself, it’s none of the British Puritan's business.”

After listening to this seemingly sarcastic reminder, Kamijo got out of the tent.

The summer night is extremely hot. The nuns are running around, busy doing their own things. Some of them are carrying a lot of silver candlesticks, some of them are carrying stacks of old Bibles, and some of them are carrying large wooden wheels that seem to be used for horse carriages. Kamijo thought: "What use do these things have?"

(Is there something which I can help in……eh?)

Kamijo suddenly realizes that something was strange, and stopped. Beside the tent which he just walked out from, the tent filled with rune cards that Index was in, the zipper to the entrance is open, and there’s no one inside.

(Now where did she run off to—WA!)

Seeing that Index’s tent is empty, Kamijo moved towards it before the feeling below his feet was gone. Actually, he got careless, and has already stepped into the equilateral triangular hole made by the Amakusa.

(Oh no! ……I’m about to fall in—!)

“Swish!”

Before Kamijo can fall entirely into the sewer, a nun grabbed Kamijo’s waving hand in the nick of time. The nun pulled Kamijo out and told him off in a foreign language, but Kamijo does not understand what she’s saying.

(Oh man, have I started to give them trouble already?)

A dejected Kamijo turned around again to look at that triangular hole which he nearly fell into, and observes it carefully.

The Amakusa have been lurking in the sewers since a while ago, and launched a sneak attack from below. Up till now, Kamijo thought that this place can be considered to be the Roman Catholics’ base, and no matter how one moves around, there shouldn’t be any danger.

But thinking about it carefully, the danger can still be nearby. The Amakusa could have set something that can destroy this Roman Catholic command base before they escaped, making their escape a lot easier.

(Come to think of it, even if they to launch a stealth attack, they wouldn’t attack a layman like me, right? No matter how hard I think, they’ll choose an important place to attack, like the command post.)

The problem is, Kamijo is unable to identify which tents are important, and which ones aren’t. He sees one in front of him that’s a lot bigger than the rest. Kamijo casually thought, “That tent looks like it’ll most likely be attacked.”

Suddenly, an extremely loud crashing sound came from within that large tent.

Then, a girl’s scream was heard.

“……!?”

Kamijo feels the water content in his throat evaporating. Those wild thoughts that he had a while ago now comes running back into his mind.

The Amakusa can launch a direct attack from below.

To Anieze and the rest, the more important the tent is, the more likely it will be attacked.

(No way, don’t tell me it came true……)

“Damn it!”

Luckily, that tent is rather close to Kamijo. He clenches his fist as hard as stone and rushed forward. Although there are many nuns around, they’re too shocked by this unexpected situation to respond. Kamijo runs to the entrance of the tent and pulls the zipper.

“Amakusa!”

Just as Kamijo shouted, suddenly, a heavy object came rushing out of the tent and crashes into Kamijo’s belly. It was a heavy and warm object that brought some humidity.

(WAAAHHH……!)

An indescribable feeling flows throughout Kamijo’s entire body, his fine hairs standing still. Kamijo quickly raises his fist, and is about to swing it down……

Before realizing that it is Anieze Sanctis, now entirely naked, who’s clinging onto his waist.

“………………………………Eh?”

A loud voice boomed inside Kamijo’s head, and then it became blank.

Anieze, who’s completely naked, is wet, her skin is dripping wet and moist. White steam continues to evaporate from her slightly pink and soft skin, and while clinging onto Kamijo, she continues to tremble. She buries her face into Kamijo’s stomach, shutting her eyes and muttering some foreign language. Seems like she's confused.

Kamijo doesn't understand a single thing that Anieze says. Anieze points her finger at something, so Kamijo turns to look in the direction she is pointing at.

In one corner of the large tent is a small slug.

Anieze points to that small slug while speaking in that foreign language that no one is able to understand.

“Wait……wait wait, Anieze! Let me go first, and put on some clothes! Also, I can only understand Japanese!”

Kamijo blushes as he shouts. Once Anieze heard this, her trembling stopped.

She lifts her head in fear.

And looks at Kamijo.

The next moment……

Anieze fainted, and fell backwards.

(WAH!)

The floor is made of hard asphalt. Kamijo quickly grabs Anieze, who’s about to fall onto the ground. An amazing sensation passes through Kamijo’s shirt, making him feel weird. Overall, Anieze is a lot slimmer than Index, so she’s a bit skinny, but this makes her soft parts more pronounced.

(Ugh……!?)

Kamijo, who’s still hugging Anieze, looks up, and trembles.

Actually, there’s a large golden basin in the middle of the tent, and above it, hanging from the roof, is a metal can. Attached to the bottom of the metal can is something that looks like a shower nozzle, and there’s a tap above it. Seems like it’s a simple set-up for a shower, and by turning the tap, hot water from the metal can will flow out from the nozzle. And right now, hot water is now flowing out of it.

In that large, golden basin in the middle of the tent, covered in hot water, is a silver-haired, emerald-eyed nun.

“……Touma.”

The nun spoke in a very low voice. Of course, she’s not wearing anything. Whether it’s her wet hair, her flat chest, or her little bellybutton that’s now filled with water, they’re all in full view. As her skin colour is originally white, after washing it with hot water, her skin is rather reddish.

“Wait……wait wait, wait a minute! I thought that the Amakusa attacked, and was worried, so I rushed in, so I hope you can carefully re-evaluate this……”

“Sniff—“

“...? “Sniff?”

Startled, Kamijo observes Index’s every movement.

“—Sniff Sniff…… Sniff Sniff……”

(SHE……SHE SHE SHE SHE SHE SHE SHE’S CRYING!?)



This completely unexpected situation made Kamijo tremble mysteriously. Large teardrops continue to flow from the corners of Index’s eyes, and she uses her hands to wipe them away.

Suddenly, Kamijo finds that there are many people looking at him coldly.

Over a 100 nuns are labeling Kamijo as: 'This is a guy who would make a young and naked girl cry (And even our superior is naked and has fainted beside him.)'

Kamijo went pale.

“Wait……please……please calm down, Index-hime! This isn’t like you! You aren’t like this normally! See, Kamijo’s head is here, right? Come bite it, quickly, bite it……eh? Wait……wait! Why do you look so serious all of the sudden? I……I’m just joking! Please don’t give me that feeling like you’re going to chew on a thick slab of beef—WAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!”

“Didn’t I tell you not to cause them trouble? Hm? Why are you holding your head and crying?”

Stiyl, who’s lying inside the tent, coldly asks Kamijo, who is barely dragging his body back into the tent. As the tent’s entrance is zipped up, Stiyl knows that there’s a commotion, but he doesn’t know that this has something to do with Index. If he were to know about it, the next scene would probably be one where a crazed priest wielding a flame sword chases after Kamijo. Kamijo was told by Anieze, who voices her displeasure, “We’re about to discuss battle tactics, please LEAVE.” Of course, he doesn’t want to cause anymore trouble.

Kamijo strokes his scalp and snuggles under his futon. As long as he can get some time, whether it’s five minutes or ten minutes, he should quickly rest and get some sleep. It’s said that this is common knowledge for all magicians. However, before the pain goes away, Kamijo can’t sleep.

“Hey, Stiyl.”

“What? I’m rather annoyed right now. If there’s anything, we can talk later.”

“I'd like to ask you something.”

“Their ability to handle danger is so lousy. So what if it’s the ‘Book of the Law’? They’re already panicking like this over just a magic book. This is really unthinkable. Compared to this, that girl who possesses 103,000 magical books in her brain — who knows how many magicians have coveted her……”

“Which girl do you like?”

“EH?”

Hearing Kamijo ask this question, Stiyl took in a breath of cold air, his body trembling slightly.

During nights in training or camp, this question will always be raised. This seems to be something unique only to Japan.

“Answer quickly, I still have other questions to ask.”

“The lady whom I respect is Elizabeth the First, the lady whom I admire is St. Martha; it’s said that she subdued a dragon with a prayer full of love and compassion, and is really admirable. Any other questions?”

“The Amakusa Catholics, isn’t it the organization which Kanzaki was serving in?”

“……”

Stiyl squints his eyes, and remained silent. He stretched his hand, wanting to get a cigarette stick, but realizes that smoking while lying on the ground isn’t good, and pulls his hand back.

“Who told you this? That Kanzaki most likely won’t say where she’s from. Did Tsuchimikado tell you this?”

“Ya. That’s when you became the owner of the seaside resort.” (Note: In volume 4, the resort owner appeared as him, contrary to the anime which had Kanzaki appear as him. The anime made a few other switches besides him, too.)

Stiyl looks like he doesn’t understand. Kamijo didn’t bother, and continues:

“In other words, the Amakusas are Kanzaki’s compatriots, right?”

Kamijo pauses at this point, obviously looking perplexed. “……Should we continue to take action? Like that time against the ‘Misawa Cram School’?”

Kamijo and Stiyl once fought on the same side before.

That battle can only be described as appalling. There’re many people injured, some even lost their lives. From that moment, Kamijo vaguely understands what a battle between different magical organizations is all about. In the real magical world, not a single hint of innocence is allowed. Thus, magic specialists like Index and Stiyl are born.

But,

Since these people know how cruel a battle is between magicians, wouldn’t that create any sense of compassion?

“Of course.”

However, Stiyl answers without hesitation.

“Isn’t it obvious? I’ll do anything to protect that kid. Even if I’m not ordered by my superiors to do so, or even ordered not to, it’s the same to me. I can kill anyone, whether it’s burning them alive, or burning their corpses into ashes; whether it’s in front of that kid, or somewhere where she can’t see me.” Stiyl says in a self-depreciative manner, “Don’t get the wrong idea, Kamijo Touma. That I’m lying now right here, right now, it’s all for that kid. Once you have no more value to that young child, I’ll burn you to crisp anytime.”

“……”

Kamijo can’t help but swallow his saliva.

This is the sole conviction that Stiyl Magnus has.

Being one of the British Puritans, becoming an extremely strong fighting magician, being ordered to bring back the ‘Book of the Law’ and Ursula……all his actions are based on his conviction.

“A long time ago, I swore: “―Sleep well, even if you forget everything, I’ll remember it forever. I’ll live for you, and die for you.”.”

This made Kamijo tremble.

But Stiyl’s words are filled with passion.

Kamijo ponders carefully on how to answer.

If he isn’t careful, it will be disrespectful to Stiyl.

“But even so, why must you get Index involved in this?”

“The one who planned this wasn’t me. If possible, I would not have gotten her involved as well.”

Stiyl says calmly.

“Also, I can’t settle this on my own. If I do, that child will be seen as ‘useless’ by my superiors. As of the situation right now, if we can’t let them see the value that Index has, it’s likely that she’ll be brought back to London. But right now, to her, not being able to live in Academy City is much more painful to her than anything else.”

Stiyl’s voice is filled with frustration and reluctance.

They’re both members of the British Puritan Church. For Stiyl, he must be hoping to bring Index back to Britain.

But Stiyl Magnus replies with such reluctance.

“Let’s sleep, there’s only 2 hours left before the operation starts. We’ll get nightmares if we continue to talk.”

After saying this, the rune spellcaster shut his mouth and eyes.

In a few hours, it’s going to be a battle for keeps. In such an intense atmosphere, Kamijo thought that he won’t be able to sleep, and didn’t expect that after getting under his blanket and closing his eyes, he’ll fall asleep. Maybe it’s because the preparations for Daibahoshisai took more out of him than he expected, as Kamijo soon falls asleep.

(Uh……ah......?)

Sensing that something heavy is pressing against him, Kamijo wakes up. At this moment, a message inside Kamijo goes: something as heavy as a human is pressing on him, the blanket has risen for some reason, and his body feels some warm and soft skin.

In addition, there’s subtle breathing from under the blanket.

(Wai—wait wait……oh no, no way? Oh man, I forgot that the tent doesn’t have a lock!)

In his dormitory, Kamijo will normally hide inside the bathroom, and after locking the door, will sleep inside the dry bathtub. The reason is simple, if he doesn’t do this, Index will snuggle into Kamijo’s futon while she still dazed and sleepy. Because of this, Kamijo is grateful that the bathtub is large enough.

Besides this sin—that Index keeps snuggling into his futon—which will cause a severe adverse emotional impact to the young and healthy boy, Kamijo Touma, the more important thing right now is that Stiyl is sleeping beside him (and he was rather stern as he gave a relentless speech before he slept). If this continues, Kamijo will likely die in Stiyl’s hands later.

Kamijo, who’s drenched in cold sweat, suddenly notices that the tender flesh of the girl is constantly rubbing against him.

The rubbing of different body parts together causes Kamijo’s heart to stop beating.

“……(Wooo……wooaahhhh! Wait a second, wait a second! Index! Coming from the side is enough, but isn’t it too much to press onto my body!?)”

Kamijo hastily whispered (Or Kamijo thought, but it’s actually very loud), voicing his objection.

“Hm……Touma, what are you saying……?”

Suddenly, a familiar voice came from the entrance of the tent. It’s Index, half asleep and dazed, her eyes half-opened, as she unzips the entrance to the tent, preparing to enter Kamijo’s futon.

“Eh?” A large question mark appeared inside Kamijo’s head.

“Umum… Papa… Iononpossomangiarealcunopiuqualsiasipiulungo…”

The face that is revealed from inside the futon belongs to that of Anieze Sanctis.

Anieze, who’s still sleeping soundly, does not realise that she’s less than 5 cm away from Kamijo’s lips.

(No way? Another person who snuggles into other people’s futon when she’s sleepy and dazed? Didn’t this girl order me to leave their bathing area a while ago?)

Kamijo panics as he pulls away from this pair of peach-like lips that are approaching him. He then crawls while under Anieze’s body. However, the moment Kamijo tugged at the futon, it’s lifted open.

“Wa!”

Kamijo is stunned. Anieze, whose entire body is revealed from within the futon, is wearing only a white laced bra and a pair of panties with small bow ties on both sides. Maybe she’s used to sleeping like this, as her nun robes are neatly stacked and placed in one corner of the tent.

Stunned, Index stares at Kamijo and Anieze.

“……‘Papa’?”

“Wait! Index, I’ve no idea what’s going on! I don’t have a quirk of why I'm being called this by a young girl!”

Because of the incident involving Anieze—which ended up with him having bite marks all over his head—Kamijo is frightened, and trembles, trying to explain his actions. Index observes Kamijo’s frightened expression closely, and says,

“Woah……this……should probably be a dream…… “

“Eh?”

“Um, even if it’s Touma, he can’t possibly have so little integrity. So this must be a dream. Um hum.”

“Yeah……yes yes! It’s a dream, it’s a dream! How can a real man like Kamijo Touma, who’ll forever treat nuns nicely, do such a shameless thing!?”

Kamijo continues to misguide Index, who’s sleepy right now, like a hypnotist.

“Hm, ya, since it’s a dream, there should be no problem. It’s alright no matter how hard I bite. Since it’s a dream, it’s alright if I take this opportunity to vent all my daily dissatisfaction. Mm mm.”

“EH? AH…… what? Wait, Index! You’re wrong! This is a real and authentic……”

Kamijo frantically tries to correct himself, but it was too late. Index bites on his head with all her strength. The scream of the healthy high school boy, Kamijo Touma, made Anieze, now clad in her underwear and lying beside him, wake up in shock. As for Stiyl Magnus, who’s sleeping in the same tent and is annoyed, he takes a glance at Kamijo and the rest, turned over to the other side and continues his sleep.

Part 4
11pm. It's nighttime now.

The substitute supreme Pontiff, Tatemiya Saiji, together with 47 members of the main force, are gathered around the 'portal' of the special teleportation magic, the 'thumbnail tour'.

However, this isn't some mysterious forest or mountain. They're at a large snack-theme amusement park called 'Parallel Sweets Wonderland'.

This snack-themed amusement park is built and financed by 4 large snack manufacturers, and the area is as large as an electrical plant. There are 75 stores from 38 different countries in the park. Throughout it, there are several donut-like watercourses that are linked to each other like the 5 rings on the Olympic logo. On the outside of the watercourses, there are several snack shops like those of hawkers (but they're top quality). On the inside of the circular watercourses is a square, where many snack manufacturers showcase their products and carry out activities. As it is almost the end of summer, it seems like they're carrying out the promotions for ice products and frozen deserts.

Although the location of the 'portal' that Ino Tadataka set does not change, the development of the city is changing everyday. Some 'portals' are located within certain rooms in certain condominiums, or even some large gold vault in a certain bank; it's already impossible to use them for teleportation. In comparison, this 'portal' is the most accessible.

The Amakusa members, who have infiltrated the ‘Parallel Sweets Wonderland’, are holding hands as they prepare for this ‘thumbnail tour’.

The conditions for using this ‘thumbnail tour’ are that it can only be used at midnight, but the ritual to prepare it has to be complete before that. As the timeframe which this ‘thumbnail portal’ can be used is only 5 minutes long, so it’ll be too late if they wait until midnight to begin the ritual. However, the ritual has to be finished exactly at midnight, so, if necessary, they can first finish it, then activate it at midnight.

All these preparations for the ritual do not require any weird magic arrays or chanting of spells.

Besides infiltrating a theme park that isn’t opened for service, these people aren’t really that weird. There are young people gathered in groups of 4 to 5, talking together; some are occasionally taking out French fries and hamburgers from the paper wrappers to eat; some are discussing in front of the theme park’s introductory board; others are standing and flipping through travel guidebooks. Their actions seem so normal.

Their attire is much more normal than Index or Stiyl. One girl is wearing a cutie top and a pair of short jeans. A boy is wearing a mixed coloured shirt and baggy black pants, and a lady is wearing a costume with her overcoat slurry over her shoulders…and so on. The only weird thing is that around 10 people are carrying sports bags, containers used to store musical instruments, surfboards, all sorts of bulky luggage. These are the ones responsible for transporting the weapons.

Only people of the same trade will understand that all their attire and actions are carefully planned.

There’s a magical meaning behind everything.

The numbers of males and females, the age difference, the colour combinations of the clothes, the act of having 4 to 5 people gathering together, the contents of the discussion, the religious ritual that ‘eating’ represents, the ingredients used for the hamburgers, what ‘eating meals’ means in magical terms, the numbers where they stop, the act of reading, adding up all the page numbers together…

All these are classified as ‘codes’ or ‘logos’. All the actions that the organization is doing creates a spell and a magic array. Like this, the spells of the Amakusa uses things from everyday life which originated from several abandoned religious rituals that are choreographed again, so people can’t tell that they ‘used magic’. Such a trait originates from the Bakumou era, where they had to hide to avoid persecution.

(It’s about time…)

Tatemiya Saiji stands alone, and far away from everyone, swinging the sword in his hand horizontally.

The street lights made of metal lose their light, breaking into half and leaving behind a diagonal cut.

(Please watch carefully, this is the Christian sect that has many religious values mixed into it — the Amakusa Catholics.)

He lifts his hands, looks into the night sky, and mutters softly.

Part 5
It’s like an abandoned ruin covered by the night sky.

This is what Kamijo thinks when he looks at ‘Parallel Sweets Wonderland’, 200 metres in front of him, where the special teleportation portal is. All the lights inside have been turned off, and what originally is a bright and vibrant theme park is now pitch black. Although it was originally designed to excite and delight people, right now, it’s giving an opposite effect. The warm, moist and yet uncomfortable wind blows all of Kamijo’s sweat away.

Kamijo turns his eyes away from the ‘Parallel Sweets Wonderland’ and looks beside him. Several nuns dressed in black robes are gathered in a large car park of a department store. This is another strange scene.

Then, Kamijo turns to look at Index. Index continues to write on her palm using her thumb, likely to simulate how everything will go in her mind. Seems like she’s not willing to let Kamijo get involved in this battle between spellcasters. As there are less members of the Roman Catholics being involved in this, who originally have a lot more than how many they have right now, which also means that the danger is much larger; Index is now a lot more anxious than she was a few hours ago.

And on the other hand, Stiyl is standing behind Index, smoking a cigarette like usual. Of course, he is most likely thinking about ways to protect Index.

Anieze walks towards Kamijo and company, her thick-soled sandals continues to make that tapping sound.

Right now, she seems like a completely different person. That look that seems like she’s going to cry anytime, like she was bathing or when she was sleepy inside Kamijo’s futon, seems to befit her age. But right now, she’s like a person who will forget all emotions when she’s working. That sense of nervousness that causes her legs to tremble so badly that it looked like she’s going to fall is now all gone.

“We have found the Amakusa’s main forces at ‘Parallel Sweets Wonderland’, but there’s no sign of the ‘Book of the Law’ or Ursula. Although the probability is low, this may be a diversion by the enemy. So, I can’t remove the perimeter or recall our patrol squads. Right now, we can only use all the manpower we have right now.”

Anieze says firmly, as if it’s a foregone conclusion.

Kamijo repeats her words in his head, and says,

“To us, now knowing who’s taking custody of the ‘Book of the Law’, or even where Ursula is in this area, is a huge bother to us. Is there any way we can save her? If we spend too much time looking for her, won’t the Amakusa take her away and escape, or even use her as a hostage?”

‘Once the enemy is really pressured, they’ll take a hostage to shield themselves.’ To Touma, this is almost like a golden rule.

Touma thought about Ursula. That’s a girl who lack common knowledge, ignores what other people say, and will get lost if no one keeps an eye on her. No matter what, Kamijo does not want to see her being threatened by the enemy with sharp knives and guns.

However, Anieze says without hesitation,

“If they are to move out of ‘Parallel Sweets Wonderland’, our perimeter will pick them up. As for the hostage……I guess the Amakusa won’t use her as a hostage.”

“Why?”

Puzzled, Kamijo asks.

“The Amakusa’s main objective is to ‘find a way to read the ‘Book of the Law’ with Ursula’s help. If they use her as a hostage, and kill her in the process, all their plans will go to waste. Since they want to use the power of the ‘Book of the Law’, they’ll want to ensure Ursula safety through any means.”

Stiyl shakes the cigarette in his mouth, and says,

“My guess is that since they lost Kanzaki, the Amakusa want to use the ‘Book of the Law’ to replenish their fighting strength. And since they’re using such tough means, I guess that they’re really hard-pressed. In other words, if they fail in their attempt to steal the ‘Book of the Law’, they won’t be able to make a comeback next time. So they’ll pay extra attention regarding Ursula’s safety.”

“……In other words, this means that we have to save Ursula before the Amakusa destroys everything indiscriminately?”

Kamijo feels that this is really a dilemma. If they pressure the Amakusa too much before they find Ursula, the Amakusa will probably kill her in the process; but if they take it too easy, there will be less time to look for her. Also, the difference in battle strength between these means that there’s no room for them to make any mistake.

Anieze seems to understand this slight dilemma, and says,

“At this moment, I’d like to divide our numbers into two. 80% of our main forces will act as bait, and attack the Amakusa head on. During this time, please act as guerrillas and investigate the inside of ‘Parallel Sweets Wonderland’. Once you find the ‘Book of the Law’ and Ursula, take them back.”

Anieze taps the soles of her sandals onto the ground, and says,

“They can only use the special teleportation magic before 12:05 am. If we can’t retrieve her past this time, we’ll treat it as ‘Ursula is not in this area’. At that moment, please leave this place. Once we defeat the Amakusa, we’ll do a thorough search in this area.”

In other words, if Ursula is not found before that time, but she’s ‘really in this compound’, she’ll be facing grave danger.

Looking at the ‘Parallel Sweets Wonderland’, trying to find someone isn’t going to be easy. According to Anieze’s information, there are 75 stores inside this compound.

Kamijo nervously swallows his saliva. At this moment, Index says,

“We also can’t just leave the ‘portal’ of the special teleportation magic unattended. If we don’t destroy it, the Amakusa might take Ursula away and escape through the ‘portal’. Although Touma can easily destroy an already opened ‘portal’, the ‘portal’ only opens at midnight. If we are to try to stop this magic, we have to destroy all the tools used for this ritual. The problem, however, is that the Amakusa are best at disguising things; trying to find these things won’t be easy.”

“Finding the ‘Book of the Law’ and Ursula, destroying the ‘portal’……seems like our schedule is rather packed.”

Stiyl says as he spits the cigarette onto the ground, and steps on it to extinguish it.

Anieze sees that everyone has done their mental preparations, and raises one hand. The nuns behind her, numbering more than 70, raise their weapons, and the ice cold clang of metal echoes throughout the night sky.

These people have all sorts of weapons. There’re simple weapons like swords and spears, there’re weapons that can barely be called weapons like silver rods and giant crosses, and there’re stranger weapons for purposes unknown, like gears as tall as humans and torches. Aneze also receives a silver rod from a nun beside her.

“……This is unforgivable.”

Anieze Sanctis places the silver rod against her shoulder, looks at the darkness in front of her, and says viciously,

“The promotion of Christianity is originally to save humanity, and yet these guys are using their power for such a meaningless purpose. Once they use violence for such a trivial matter, others will use even more meaningless violence to stop them. Why can’t they understand such a simple chain reaction?”

“……”

This is truly a simple truth; to outsiders, it’s reasonable; to insiders, it’s rather easy to understand. Of course, Kamijo himself will agree wholeheartedly to this.

“Maybe I’m a bit disrespectful……but not just the Amakusa, I don’t have a good impression on all magicians, especially those modern Western magic societies that appeared at the beginning of the 20th century that twists Christianity or use some backdoor tricks. The most notable examples are those who falsely use those magic arrays with Archangel’s names like ‘Demi-gods’ and ‘Power of God’. Even if we’re to ignore the 20th century, the alchemists who signed agreements with royalty during the witch-hunting era used such a high-sounding rhetoric like ‘These are teachings of Christianity and not witchcraft, and so I’m a loyal servant to God.’”

Anieze taps her sandals again, and says,

“These people love to memorise the Bible from the beginning to the end, sieving through every word of God, and find loopholes in it. This is what they call ‘Black Magic to Christianity’. These aren’t scary ‘outside enemies’, but rather, despicable ‘thieves from within’. Magicians are like those politicians who’ll exploit any loophole within the Law, and cause the downfall of a country. Just when we are following orders and queuing up to buy bread, these magicians will blatantly cut in line, which will cause all sorts of ridiculous problems. What I mean is not that the magicians cannot have their bread, but that their act of cutting queue has to be condemned.

Now that Anieze’s talking about Christianity, Kamijo has nothing to say upon hearing this. However, what Anieze wants to emphasize is that she can’t forgive the Amakusa for destroying (At least, this is what Anieze feels) the order that everyone follows. However, Stiyl Magnus, a real magician, who’s stood nearby and listens to Anieze’s emotional speech, only reveals a delirious smile and a nonchalant look. As for Index, she looks as if she doesn’t know what to do.

(‘Necessarius’ is composed entirely of magicians, these words should be rather harsh to them. Come to think about it, women really are creatures who’ll change really fast. Anieze was nervously shaking around a while ago, and now she’s completely changed. This is unbelievable.)

Kamijo looks around him, trying to find something else to talk about, and ends up looking at the Roman Catholic nuns around him.

“To be honest, even though you humbly say that you can’t gather all the people, it’s remarkable that you can gather this number of people on just one order.”

Kamijo says in a surprised and admiring tone. Once Anieze hears this, she smiles and replies,

“Our specialty is that we have a lot of people. Our compatriots are in 110 countries throughout the world, and even in Japan, so there’re many of our Church Ministries there. Also, we’re building a new house of God, called the ‘Church of Ursula’. If I remember correctly, it’s located near here. Once it’s complete, it’ll be the largest Church in Japan. It’s about the size of a baseball stadium."

A soft sound came from the soles of Anieze’s sandals.

“Church of Ursula?”

“Yes. Ursula once went to 3 pagan countries to preach Christianity to them, therefore her contributions are large, so the superiors specially allowed a Church to be built in her name. Doesn’t she speak Japanese really well?”

Now that Anieze mentions it, this seems to be the case. But the number of foreigners who speak Japanese so fluently around Kamijo are too many, so he didn’t notice it too much. Of course, to Kamijo, who can only speak Japanese, this is a good thing.

“After the Church is built, we’ll be sending invitations. However, before this, let’s settle the problem before us, and not let this bother us.”

Anieze reveals a smile full of self-confidence. She carries the seemingly heavy silver rod over her shoulders, and stamps her heals onto the ground, creating a danging sound. The soles that are 30cm thick bounced off, leaving behind a pair of ordinary sandals. Seems like the soles work like the zips on the nuns’ robes, as one can choose to remove them any time.

“……Since it’s easier to walk like that, why won’t you normally just take them off?”

“Shut up, it’s called a sense of beauty. Wearing thick-soled sandals is my own style.”

Part 6
11:27pm

Kamijo, Index and Stiyl arrive at the metal fence near the workers’ entrance to ‘Parallel Sweets Wonderland’.

Although they aren’t on the battlefield yet, Kamijo is feeling jumpy, as if the air is filled with static electricity. Maybe the enemy is monitoring their actions from within the darkness on the other side of the wired fence. Although the enemy is only hiding in a corner of the compound, the entire area seems to be one large stomach of the enemy.

(Such a scary place……)

For a girl to be left here alone, it must be really uncomfortable for her. Also, the girl might be surrounded by several vicious criminals wielding swords or spears.

Deep inside, Kamijo cursed. If he had known that this would be the outcome, he would have brought Ursula back to Academy City with him in the beginning. Right now, Kamijo is really regretting it.

“Hey, Stiyl…”

“What?”

“Do you think that we can finish everything within this time limit? Destroying the ‘portal’, finding the ‘Book of the Law’, rescuing Ursula, everything?”

Hearing Kamijo’s question, Stiyl became silent. Index looks nervous as she turns back and forth, staring at these two.

“……To be honest, it’s difficult.”

After a while, Stiyl says again,

“We have no idea where the ‘Book of the Law’ and Ursula are inside this area. Also, in fact, we have something that the Roman Catholics don’t know about.”

Kamijo looks suspicious and puzzled.

“After this incident happened. Kanzaki Kaori, who’s originally supposed to be in England, went missing. I’m afraid that she’s going to help her former subordinates……by doing some drastic actions. So if we want to utterly defeat the Amakusa, that Saint might probably attack us.”

Being stunned and tense, Kamijo feels his throat go dry.

This magician, Kanzaki Kaori, managed to contain a real Angel during the ‘Angel Fall’ incident. Although Kamijo did not witness her entire battle against the Angel, it’s not hard to imagine how scary she is an opponent.

And he also feels that all the predictions that Stiyl made about Kanzaki is rather reasonable.

“So, I advise you not to think of executing this plan perfectly. There are too many flaws in this plan, and too many risks. Our last line of defense is to prevent the ‘Book of the Law’ from being decoded successfully.”

“If so……”

Kamijo looks at Stiyl’s and Index’s faces, and says,

“Should we put saving Ursula as our top priority?”

“I’ve no disagreements with that, since without the decoder, it’s useless even if they have the ‘Book of the Law’. Also, the contents of the ‘Book of the Law’ is memorized inside her head; there’s no value in the original to us. Since the ‘Book of the Law’ belongs to the Roman Catholics, even if we lost it, it won’t hurt the British Puritans one bit.”

“I also feel that this idea is good. Anyway, even if we disagree, Touma will take action on his own, right? Our numbers are few, so we have to work together.”

The two magicians of the British Puritans Church, Index and Stiyl, have no disagreements.

As experts, it’s expected that they know something that Kamijo doesn’t, but right now, they’re using an idea that he, a layman, came up with.

“Um, thanks guys.”

The two heard this, and are somewhat stunned. Index already has a lot of different expressions, so it’s normal; but Stiyl looks somewhat embarrassed.

Stiyl smacks his mouth and says,

“Please don’t say just disgusting things that’ll lower our morale before we attack. The battle will begin at 11:30pm, and we have to go in at the same time. Seems like it’s about time……”

“Touma, when we go in, please be careful, alright? Stay behind me and follow my instructions and you won’t get hurt.”

“Hm, what are you saying? My right hand is an iron wall against magicians! You should be the one staying behind me, and give me advice when necessary.”

“……”

“……”

Having different opinions, Kamijo and Index are now silent.

“……We’re about to begin our invasion, can you guys please get serious?”

Stiyl, who’s coldly staring at the two regarding their argument, says softly. At this moment……

BOOM! There’s an explosion at the visitors’ entrance located far away.

Looking at the flames that are rising into the sky, Kamijo is flabbergasted as he says,

“……Oi, do we have to make such a ruckus when attacking?”

“If we don’t do this, we’ll lose in terms of momentum against the enemy. Touma, don’t get careless.”

“They haven’t created any unrest yet. Seems like someone used a spell that repels passers-by and creates a fixed image. However, there’s no sign of any of the Roman Catholics’ characteristics or habits……seems like they’re of the Amakusa. Having such ability……this is really bad news to us.”

No matter what they say, it’s time for action.

Index sticks the tip of her nose onto the wire fence, silently observing the compound. After confirming that there aren’t any magical traps set, the trio climbs over the fence and into the dark compound.

The lights in the compound are off, so this place forms a mass of darkness within the entire city. One might even feel that the stars in the sky are especially bright. The trio enters the tour route from outside, through the gap between the shaved ice store and the almond jelly store, both of which are as large as a jeep, and got onto the tour route.

It’s a large circular road. Right in the middle is a watercourse, and the surface of the water is about 3 metres below them, so deep that they can’t see the bottom. Several small stores are arranged around this watercourse and these stores are like roadside store, only having a bar and no place for the customers to eat inside. On the inside of the watercourse is a square, with many tables and chairs placed there. Seems like they hope to divert the customers here.

“……”

If it’s during the day, one should be able to create some wonderful memories here. But right now, this place is somewhat similar to that of a world in another dimension. There’s not even any light and all the stores are now shut by icy cold shutters; it’s as if no one in the entire compound welcomes Kamijo and company. Like someone who holds a torchlight below his chin and shines his head, there is a sense of fear and suspense that cannot be described. Even Index, the gluttonous girl who'll love to come to this kind of place to eat, is now extremely tense, as she stares into the darkness.

“Touma, Touma, there isn’t much time left, we have to first find Ursula fast.”

“Ya, there’s only 30 minutes left. If we can find the exact location of the ‘portal’, maybe we can still stick around and wait, but right now, we can’t expect too much.”

Stiyl says. Maybe it’s because he’s afraid of giving his location away, since he’s not smoking. There are sounds of growls, shrieks, screams, things being destroyed and explosions. Seems like the battle between the Roman Catholics and the Amakusa had already begun.

“Right, I got it.”

After Kamijo finished saying this, he hears some sort of metal clanking against each other.

The sound seems to come from above him. Kamijo casually looks up, and……

Four youths come crashing in from the roof of the shaved ice store.

They’re wielding weapons that resemble western swords.

“!?”

Kamijo frantically pushes Index aside, and then Stiyl grabs Index’s collar, pulling her beside him.

The swords carry the reflection of moonlight as they swing downwards, as they quickly smash on the location where Index was originally at.

A boy and three girls. The four of them are about as old as Kamijo. Their attire isn't as eye-catching as a nun’s robes, but rather, those are ordinary clothes one can find on the streets. This however makes the western swords they wielding even more sinister looking.

Stiyl says reluctantly,

“‘Hand and a half sword’, ‘Bastard Sword’, ‘Boar Spear Sword’, ‘Dress Sword’…… seems like the people of this country really likes Western culture!”

Kamijo often feels that he has seen these names in several fantasy RPG games. The lengths of the four swords range between 1m to 2m, and the designs are somewhat unique. One of the even has a small, circular-shaped thing that’s like a bulbous plant on the tip of a thin blade. He really doesn’t have an idea regarding what this is for.

(Damn it, has the main force who're acting as a diversion not attracted all the enemies yet?)

The four teenagers land on the ground, separating Kamijo from Index and Stiyl. As the road is narrow, Kamijo can’t get past the four easily and get together with both Index and Stiyl. Stiyl places a rune on the ground, summons a flame sword, and then puts something out from his torso, saying,

“This is for you. Don’t lose it if you don’t want to die.”

Kamijo hurriedly takes it. It’s actually a silver cross necklace.

“This is……”

Kamijo looks up. Before he can even ask “What’s this for?”, an Amakusa girl wordlessly raises a pair of thin swords as long as brooms (it’s probably the ‘dress blade’), as she charges towards Kamijo.

“Wa!?”

Kamijo frantically jumps back and dodge the blow. The girl again steps forward, swinging her sword. Kamijo can’t react in time, and for a moment, didn’t know what to do. Luckily, he tripped and fell backwards, and manages to dodge this strike.

“Danger! Touma!!”

Kamijo hears Index scream as the girl’s ‘dress sword’ swings downwards like a guillotine. He uses the momentum as he falls to roll backwards, and barely dodges this blow.

Up till now, the enemy hasn’t used any magic.

In this situation, the ‘Imagine Breaker’ is useless. If he were to use his right hand to block, it’ll be cut in half.

“Index!”

Kamijo frantically shouts, but the four enemies are standing in the middle of the road, thus Kamijo is unable to get to Index. Stiyl raises his flame sword, standing in front of Index. Two of the enemies, who’re wielding longswords, charge forward, as if they want to stab through Stiyl and Index, who’s behind him.

DONG! There’s a heavy collision sound.

“———!?”

Seeing this, Kamijo is scared nearly to death. But upon looking at it calmly, Stiyl isn’t even bleeding. Also, the two enemies who’re charging at him just went past his body.

A mirage.

Stiyl’s afterimage leaves behind a mocking smile, and vanishes in thin air. This smile doesn’t seem to be directed to the Amakusa, their enemies, but rather, to Kamijo.

The duo then vanishes into thin air.

Right now, the four are staring at Kamijo, who’s the only one left at the scene.

(Oi……wait a minute……if you’re going to escape, at least discuss a signal and a rendezvous? Damn it, I’m now the scapegoat again? This isn’t the first time! I remember the same thing happened when we were fighting the alchemist!)

Kamijo, who’s left behind, quickly turns around and scampers away. The enemy doesn’t seem to know how to react upon seeing this. Kamijo looks back as he runs, and sees that 3 of them are running off in different directions. Seems like they’re chasing after Index, who ran away.

There’s only one enemy left.

Only the girl who had raised her sword and swung at Kamijo continues to pursue after him. She’s really fast. Even though she’s wielding a large and heavy Western sword, she’s as fast as a bird.

(Oh no……! I’ll be caught if I run straight!)

Kamijo quickly gets off the circular tour route and into some space between two stores that’s not even 70cm wide. This space shouldn’t be considered an ‘alley’, but rather a ‘gap’.

While running through this tiny gap, Kamijo suddenly tumbles forward. The shop here seems to be undergoing renovation, as a signboard is placed next to the wall, and toolboxes are placed on the ground. He was tripped by these.

(Wa……! Why do they leave these things around and not pack them nicely!?)

If he were to continue to run like this, sooner or later, he’ll be hacked down on the back by the girl. Kamijo looks at the tool boxes that were overturned, hoping to find something that can be used as a weapon. But he immediately realizes that this won’t work. Even if he were to swing a hammer wildly, he can’t possibly beat a real sword. Even if he were to randomly grab and throw some stuff, they’ll likely be cut in half by the enemy.

(……They can be cut in half? If so……!)

At this moment, the girl wielding the dress sword rubs against the ground with her soles, arriving at the entrance of the shop like a car drifting.

Kamijo frantically grabs something that’s like a toothpaste tube and throws it behind him.

The girl doesn’t even look at the tube-like thing as she raises her sword and slices it in half. Then, the girl raises her sword her and rushes into the gap.

“!!”

Kamijo quickly stands up, crossing his hands on his head.

The girl’s blade didn’t stop as she cuts the air, swinging down onto Kamijo’s head. In terms of power, it’s definitely enough to cut Kamijo’s hands and body in half.

Thunk!

Unexpectedly, the sound created when the blade hits his wrists is so dull. There’s not even a scratch on Kamijo’s skin.

The toothpaste tube-like thing actually contains grease used for machinery.

Such a highly viscous substance will stick on the blade like blood or fat, and greatly reduce the sharpness. If the girl were using a burning heavy sword like a Japanese one, even if it’s not sharp enough, it’s enough to break Kamijo’s wrists. It’s too bad, however, that the girl is using a ceremonial sword that belongs to ancient royalty. Although it’s decorated with gold, silver, and all sorts of gems, the blade is thin and long, so it lacks destructive power.

“!?”

The girl again frantically raises her dress sword.

“Too late!!”

But Kamijo has already swung his arms away, flinging the blade away, and slams into the waist of the girl viciously. With his entire weight pressing on her, the blow caused her to fall backwards. However, Kamijo is kind enough to protect the girl’s head with his hand, so the back of her head does not hit the ground entirely.

Due to this collision, all the air ran out from the girl’s lungs, and she can’t move. This is like someone who completely loses her body balance and being tossed out like a judo throw. It’s expected that she’ll faint.

“……Ouch, it hurts.”

After confirming that the girl isn’t hurt, Kamijo sits on the floor with one buttock, and looks up. Above him is a night sky cut into a square by the four walls of the construct. Such a scene is rather common in an alley.

In Academy City, street-fighting in the alleys is a lot more different than what Japan normally sees or imagine. Because for many students, as long as they can manipulate their powers well enough, they’re much scarier than guns. Besides that, several delinquents wield special weapons that aren’t inferior to esper powers. Or maybe it’s because Kamijo’s used to these that he’s able to react accordingly when facing off against a sword user.

Kamijo sits down and adjusts his breathing, observing the dress sword that the girl was originally holding. Although the blade is thin, maybe it’s because of the centre of gravity that it’s heavier than expected. After thinking about it, Kamijo feels that he can’t use the sword because he doesn’t know any sword techniques, and therefore can’t possibly beat an enemy with a sword. Also, if he were to hit the enemy with this, the enemy will definitely bleed. Just thinking about it makes him shiver. Although the sharpness has decreased by a lot, Kamijo isn’t willing to take this thing and recklessly swing it around.

Come to think about it, if he were to put the sword here, when that Amakusa girl wakes up, it’s likely that she’s come chasing after him. So, Kamijo can only drag that heavy sword away from where they were.

(Damn it, what happened to Index and Stiyl? And where’s Ursula? Should I meet up with them? Or should I find Ursula on my own?)

This is the consequence of not setting up a rendezvous. Come to think about it, Kamijo didn’t expect to be working separately from them in the beginning. After thinking about his next strategy, he drags the heavy sword back to the circular road.

Suddenly, a figure comes crashing from beside him.

(!?)

As that figure came rushing out from the shadows, Kamijo did not sense it at all. Being crashed into like this, he loses his balance and quickly throws his longsword away, trying to prevent stabbing himself accidentally as he falls.

Right now, the situation can be said to have been completely reversed. Kamijo’s the one who got knocked onto the ground, but he got into a position to protect himself, so the damage done isn’t as bad as what the girl suffered. To prevent the enemy from jumping on him, he raises his fist, preparing to fight back.

“……Eh?”

However, Kamijo releases his fist immediately. Because there something strange about the enemy in front of him. The enemy is wearing a black nun’s cap, and is wearing black nun’s robes. It’s already so hot, and yet this nun is covered entirely, from her palms to her toes. Not only that, her hands are tied to her back with white duct tape, her right hand holding onto her left elbow, and her left hand holding onto her right elbow. Even her mouth is gagged by duct tape. Looking closer, the duct tape seems similar to some type of cloth, and there’s some ink on top, with some distorted text that looks like kanji.

Anyone can tell that this is Ursula Aquinas.

At this moment, Kamijo heaves a sigh of relief, his entire body crashes onto the ground.

“Mmmm! Mmmmmmmm! Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm!”

The moment Ursula, who’s gagged up by that weird talisman, sees Kamijo, she tries to talk.

“What? Since you specially came all the way to Japan, you want to meet a real sumo wrestler? You’re really like an old granny! Not all Japanese are sumo wrestlers!”

“Mmm—!”

“Ah? Wait…..I’m only jok—!”

Before Kamijo finishes speaking, an angry headbutt meets his chest. Both he and Ursula went crashing onto the ground. At first, Kamijo can only cough and gasp for breath, but after a while, he realizes that his hands are touching something soft. Actually, his hand is placed on Ursula’s voluptuous and ample breast, the heartbeat and warmth traveling through his hands, but Ursula doesn’t seem to realize it.

(Eh? WAAA!)

Kamijo immediately went red, and quickly climbs up from under Ursula’s body, and uses his right thumb to gently remove the talisman taped onto Ursula’s mouth. Now that she feels someone touch her lips indirectly through the talisman stuck on her lips, Ursula reveals a stunned expression; but upon seeing that talisman falling on its own naturally, she’s even more shocked.

“May…may I ask…are you the mister who I met at the bus stop? Why……”

“Of course I’m here to save you! Ahhh, save the details for later, anyway, we have to get out of here!”

Kamijo looks around him, and after confirming that no one is around, retrieves the sword which he just threw aside.

Ursula doesn’t seem to be aware of what’s going on, as she mutters seemingly to herself, and not to Kamijo,

”Eh? Eh? May I ask…you’re really…trying to save me? It’s does not concern…the ‘Book of the Law’?”

“I’m too lazy to bother about that kind of thing. You think that I’ll run all the way here just for an ancient book? Do I look that carefree?”

Kamijo shakes his head as he shouts. Ursula seems scared and shocked as her body jerked.

“Ah……um……really……thank you for your grace and kindness.”

“……Ya don’t need to thank me. Oh yeah, why are you here? Where are those Amakusa?”

“The……the Roman Catholics and the Amakusa seem to be having a big fight. I escaped during this mess……come to think about it, the Amakusa don’t seem to be good at confinement and imprisonment.”

Kamijo picks up the dress sword, goes behind Ursula, and breaks the seal on her wrists.

Ursula massages her hands which were just freed, and asks,

“Thank……thank you. However……may I ask……how did you do it……?”

“Hm……?This is my special ability…… I’m not going to explain it in order not to confuse you. The development of esper powers on the Science side will probably confuse you badly. Come to think about it, why are you still here strolling around? Why didn’t you think of escaping quickly?”

“It’s not that I don’t wish to escape, but rather the two sides are fighting really hard at the entrance. Also, my hands were tied, so I couldn't get over the fence. And just when I’m looking for another entrance……!”

Before Ursula finishes speaking, Kamijo suddenly grabs her arm and runs back to the gap between the shops. Ursula sees the Amakusa girl who fainted and is lying on the ground, and nearly screams out.

“……Quiet!”

Kamijo whispers, and covers Ursula’s mouth with his right hand. He then runs to the end of the gap, and upon arriving at the end of the alley, presses his body against the wall.

Several footsteps can be heard from the circular road outside from there, and then they become softer and softer.

These people do not seem to be looking for Index and Stiyl, but rather, they’re looking for Ursula, who has escaped. Each of them are either wielding swords or axes, giving each other orders. They really look scary.

After confirming that the footsteps are now far away, Kamijo leans his back onto the wall and slowly sits down. Ursula follows suit, gracefully sitting down beside him.

Part 7
To the Amakusa, the place where Kamijo and Ursula are sitting at seems to be a blind spot. They’re at the back of a shop, and there are shrubs growing around them, so if they keep low, it’s impossible to see them from afar.

However, because of this small little safety area, Kamijo and Ursula are unable to move. Those youths from the Amakusa are running around, as their footsteps continue to be heard from the tour routes nearby. Anyone who hears these footsteps can understand that the duo will be found out if they move out.

Kamijo is worried about Index and Stiyl’s safety. Since Ursula is beside him, and they’re still inside ‘Parallel Sweets Wonderland’ and have not escaped, staying here is dangerous and meaningless. However, Kamijo is unable to contact them, and he can’t take the risk by leaving his hiding place and go look for them.

“I heard that the special magical teleportation portal can only be activated from midnight to 12:05am. In other words, as long as I hide here, the Amakusa’s plan won’t work either way. But is this a good idea……? “

Kamijo takes out his handphone, wanting to see the time on the display, but he’s afraid of giving away his location in the darkness through his screen’s light, so he stopped halfway through. He thought, it’s good if I can contact them by phone. Too bad Index’s phone was taken by that Calico cat, and he doesn’t know Stiyl’s number.

Kamijo sits down, his legs stretching forward, and incidentally touches the blade of the dress sword. The sound and touch relieves Kamijo of his thoughts and awareness, and it’s at this moment where he realizes that he’s breathing heavily. He wipes his forehead with his hand, and finds that he’s sweating so much its abnormal. Maybe it’s because he’s overly nervous that even a short amount of exercise will make him sweat as if he’s running a marathon.

“Eh?” Ursula seems to realize this, as she grabs a laced handkerchief from her sleeves. Kamijo has a bad premonition about this, and shifts his butt backwards.

“No……there’s no need for this, no need for this! A little sweat is nothing, don’t dirty your handkerchief! Come to think about it, something similar happened at the station……GwuaaaaHHHH!”

Before Kamijo finishes speaking, Ursula mercilessly presses the handkerchief, filled with flower aroma, onto his face.

“If you don’t wipe the sweat off, you may catch a summer cold! Ah, yeah, did something similar happen near the bus stop?”

“Didn’t I tell you the same thing a while back? Just eight seconds ago! You’re really an old granny who doesn’t listen to other people’s words! This is unbearable……really unbearable! Stop pressing against my mouth and nose!”

Kamijo, who’s in a slight state of asphyxia, tries to gather enough strength to escape from Ursula’s handkerchief attack, but it’s useless. After Ursula continues to wipe Kamijo’s face to her heart’s content, she reveals a dazzling smile, and asks,

“May I ask, are you from Academy City?”

“Cough cough……ugh……hm? Yeah, that’s right.”

“Since you’re from Academy City, why do you appear here of all place? Your actions should be somewhat related to the Roman Catholics, right? But, for all I know, there’s no Church in Academy City, right?”

Ursula’s tone is somewhat skeptical.

But Kamijo's attitude is somewhat melancholic.

“Oh, I’m special. There’s a friend of mine among the British Puritans. I’m roped into helping in this case for some reason, and even I myself ain’t clear about what’s going on.”

When Ursula heard this, her shoulders jerked.

It’s like she reacting to some major report.

“Hm? Are you worried? If I’m not wrong, you’re from the Roman Catholic Church, right? Is the relationship between the Roman Catholics and the British Puritans that bad?”

“No, it’s not that.”

Ursula silently thinks for a while, and then continues,

“May I confirm it again. You’re here to help on request from the British Puritans, right?”

“Yeah.”

Kamijo casually nods his head.

Ursula mutters a “Mmmmm……” sound, and doesn’t respond for a while.

After a while, Ursula suddenly opens her mouth and says,

“Ah, you’re sweating quite a bit.”

“Enough, I beg you! Stop wiping my sweat away!”

“In other words, you’re here on the British Puritans instructions, and not the Roman Catholics, right?”

“Ugh……our conversation topic jumps from one to another? Eh……it’s not really that formal. Ah, let me clarify first, I can’t help you do anything for the British Puritans, since I’m a resident of Academy City.”

“I……see.”

For some reason unknown, Ursula laughs, as if a burden has been put down.

“This is the case alright. For someone like you, you shouldn’t get involved with our side.”

“……You think so? Hm……so, for me to carry this thing around is useless.”

Kamijo says this as he looks at the Cross which Stiyl threw to him before he left. Although he has no idea what effect this thing has, the moment he caught it with his right hand, any effect would have been nullified.

“Ah, is that the Cross that British Puritan friend of yours gave you?”

“How do you know?”

“There’re many different shapes and designs of a Cross, like a Latin Cross, a Celtic Cross, a Maltese Cross, a Saint Andrew’s Cross, a Patriarchal Cross, and a Papal Cross.”

“Oh, I see. However, this thing in my hand is useless to me. It feels weird for an atheist to be holding this Cross. Why don’t I give it to you?”

Kamijo just says this casually, yet when Ursula hears this, she’s so happy that she’s about to jump.

“Ah, is that true?”

“Yeah. Although I don’t know why Stiyl would give this thing to me, there’s probably not too much significance. Also, that guy knows that I can’t use magic……that guy really likes to tease people; maybe it’s a joke. Oh yeah, this Cross should be useless now, since even though I’m clueless about magic, I’ve already touched this Cross with my right hand.”

Kamijo hands the Cross over to Ursula as he said this.

However, Ursula grabs his hand like a handshake, and wraps it around with her other hand, saying,

“May I ask you something?”

“Eh? Wha……what?”

Ursula’s hand is even softer than what Kamijo expected, making his voice tremble.

“I hope that you can help me put this necklace on.”

“Ah? Oh……okay.”

Kamijo replied. For his convenience, Ursula closes her eyes and raises her chin to allow Kamijo to put the Cross around her neck. It really looks like she’s wishing for Kamijo to kiss her. Kamijo freaks out and frantically looks down, only to look at Ursula’s chest. The already ample chest now looks much larger thanks to her posture now.

“WAAAAAAA!” Kamijo is so scared that he doesn’t know what to do.

“Hm? What?”

“Noth……nothing! Really nothing!”

“Oh?”

Ursula gives a skeptical look with her eyes still shut. Kamijo hastily unfasten the necklace. Ursula’s neck is entirely covered by white cloth, so Kamijo hangs the necklace around her neck. Up till this moment, he realizes that he should have hung it from behind. Hanging it from in front is like reaching his hands and hugging her. This makes him extremely nervous. Kamijo’s fingertips touch the back of Ursula’s neck, his hands trembling continuously, not following his commands. It took him quite a while to hang the necklace around her neck.

Ursula looks rather satisfied, as she continues to feel the Cross on her chest. Kamijo casually looks in the direction where she’s pointing at, but his eyes are attracted by her huge breasts, and so he quickly looks away. Once there’s an embarrassing thought within his head, it’ll linger on for quite some time. Kamijo can’t stand the silence any longer and decides to come up with something to talk about.

“Oh yeah, I heard you know how to read the ‘Book of the Law’.”

“It’s not exactly reading it. I would call it deciphering it……”

After Ursula slowly says this halfway through, she thought of something, and immediately turned around rigidly.

“Ah, please don’t misunderstand. I’m not asking you how to decipher it. I’m just curious, why do you want to analyze the ‘Book of the Law’? Isn’t that supposed to be a dangerous book?”

Ursula stares at Kamijo for quite some time, and finally relaxes. She says,

“On a certain level of significance, it’s to gain some power.”

She shakes her head slightly, and continues,

“Do you know what kind of thing is an original magic book? Do you know that one can’t destroy an original through any means?”

“Um. I heard of this before. The reason seems to be because the words, paragraphs and chapters will form some sort of a spell array, right?”

“Yes. A ‘magic book’ is actually a blueprint. A magic book that records lightning magic is also a mechanism that creates lightning. Especially for an original-class magic book, even if it doesn’t rely on human magic, as long as there’s a little natural energy or lifeforce, the power will be magnified exponentially, creating a semi-permanent defense mechanism.

Ursula thinks for a while, and says,

“With our spells now, we can’t destroy any magic book. The most we can do is to seal it and not allow others to read it.”

She then continues,

“However, ‘being unable to do so now’ doesn’t mean that it can’t be done in the future. Since the original is also a magic book, then as long as someone adds in a few specific words or paragraphs, it’ll be able to cause it to be ineffective. It’s like operating switches to change where a train moves to; we can use it on the magic book itself to destroy the magic array. In other words, it’s to allow the original to self-destruct.”

Finally, she says firmly,

“The power of a magic book isn’t going to give anyone happiness, and it’ll only bring about war. So I’ve been analyzing this book, hoping to destroy the original.”

Stunned, Kamijo stares at Ursula.

He originally thought that the reason why Ursula tries to decipher the ‘Book of the Law’ is to gain power, but it’s actually the opposite. The reason why Ursula is analyzing the ‘Book of the Law’ is to make the tremendous power disappear. Now that he understands this, Kamijo heaves a sigh of relief deep inside.

Dong! There’s a heavy sound that came from outside.

The sound comes from the other side of the shop—from the direction where the circular tour road is, at this moment, something came flying in from above into Kamijo’s sight.

It seems like a person.

A priest that has red hair and is wearing a black coat.

“Sti……yl……?”

Before Kamijo finishes speaking, Stiyl has already landed heavily onto the ground, as his back crashes into the shrub that’s originally covering Kamijo and Ursula. His clothes are torn badly by a sharp sword, blood flowing out profusely from his wounds.

(That sound just now came out from the other side of the shop, but he fell here? Don’t tell me he actually flew over from there?)

Kamijo conjures a horrific image in his head.

Stiyl, who’s on the ground, shouts,

“Damn it! Kamijo……Touma……what are you doing? Hurry up and run!”

“Eh?”

Kamijo is stunned. At this moment, something that looks alive pierces through a wall two stores away from him.

“!?”

Before understanding what’s going on, the wall of the store completely collapses. A silhouette appears from behind the wall like a killer whale emerging out of water. The construct which has lost its support quickly collapses behind him, as the planks that are as wide as shoulders fall beside this silhouette. But this guy is unfazed by it, even revealing a slight smile.

He's a male around 25 years old, with a tall and skinny figure, but he’s wearing a large T-shirt and jeans that even a sumo wrestler can wear. The T-shirt is white in colour, with two red stripes forming a cross on the right side of his chest. His hair is waxed extremely messily, as if it’s deliberate. The highlight however should be his hair. His hair is really so black that it’s likely that he used a black hair dye to dye it. It’s not only black, it gives off a mysterious shine like a carapace. He’s wearing basketball shoes with shoelaces so frightening long it measures about 1m. As it’s so long, even if he were to accidentally step on it, it’s unlikely that he’ll trip. There’s a rope made of either leather or another similar material hanging around his neck, with four to five mini fans about 10cm big hanging on the rope around his neck.

Nobody can guess the intentions behind his get-up.

Of course, the most unbelievable thing is what he’s holding.

A Flamberge.

A 17th century dual-handed sword that originates from France that’s about 180cm long. The unique characteristic about this blade is that the blade is as curvy as a flame. It’s said that the current design is meant to increase its destructive power.

Stiyl’s magic emphasizes on numbers to gain strength. As long as the place is filled entirely with rune cards, he’s able to use powerful magic. In other words, this battle is rather disadvantageous to him. He has no time to set the field up as he fights while moving. Also, he’s protecting Index, and there’s no other way out except to use his own body as a shield.

“Don’t bother about these unimportant things,” Stiyl says in a tone that feels like he’s going to vomit blood anytime. “……Very good, looks like you found Ursula Aquinas. You’re the same as always, I don’t know whether to call it a blessing or a misfortune……anyway, hurry up and run away! Don’t think of beating him, it’s our victory as long as we escape!”

Stiyl attempts to support his body with his heavily trembling legs, and is unable to succeed.

Tatemiya Saiji happily looks at Stiyl, and then turns to look at Ursula, saying,

“Oh yeah, why am I meeting you here again? Didn’t I tell you so many times? Ursula Aquinas, we don’t intend to harm you any further.”

His tone sounds frivolous, as if he doesn’t even want anyone to agree with him.

Ursula looks at the collapsed store, and the injured Stiyl, and the Flamberge in Tatemiya’s hand.

“The first time you said this to me, it was really full of hope. But now, I can’t trust the peace that you bring through violence.”

“Too bad. Even if you return to the Roman Catholics, what’s the point?”

Tatemiya gently waves his hand wielding the Flamberge, as if he’s trying to confirm that nothing strange is on his shoulder.

“……”

Kamijo silently stands in front of Ursula.

He does not have a weapon in his hand. Even if he’s to swing an unfamiliar weapon around wildly, he can’t possibly beat this opponent in front of him. He might as well not use a weapon which is heavy and unfamiliar to him.

Tatemiya stares at Kamijo’s face, followed by the ceremonial sword that lies beside his feet.

“No combat stance, no artifacts, and no hidden magic code on your clothes. You’re really ‘unarmed’. Hm, although I don’t feel like fighting against an amateur……seems like I have no choice. That sword, did you get it from Uragami?”

Tatemiya scowls, his expression looks severely distorted, deliberately giving off a sense of invisible pressure.

Kamijo never heard of this person called Uragami.

“If you’re referring to your subordinate, she’s lying down there. I protected the back of her head, so it shouldn’t be life-threatening.”

There’s now no sense of frivolity in Tatemiya’s tone now.

Seeing this reaction, Kamijo can already see Tatemiya’s character. He’s not a monster, he’s an ordinary man who’ll rage when his comrade is bullied.

“Since you’re someone who’ll fight for others, can you please put your blade away? I don’t really want to fight with someone like you.”

“I’m thinking the same thing, but the problem can’t be solved that easily. Although our main enemies are the Roman Catholics, since you British Puritans have joined in, I can’t just ignore this. Moresoever, I can’t let Ursula be taken away by you guys.”

Tatemiya raises the sword that’s almost 2 metre long above his head easily, swinging it wildly like a cheerleader captain waving her baton.

“Anyway, you have become an attack target of mine now. I’ll see less blood if you are willing to kneel down and surrender.”

Tatemiya laughs, though he looks regretful.

Although he says it like this, he has predicted how the enemy will respond.

Of course, Kamijo is rather scared. He’s aware of what kind of people a ‘Real Magician’ is. And among them, those ‘magicians that don’t over rely on magic’ are the hardest to take on. For someone like the alchemist, Aureolus Izzard, as he already has powerful a magic move, he won’t prepare for a second move. But for people like Tsuchimikado Motoharu, he won’t rely on his spells too much, so he’ll always use different techniques.

Tatemiya Saiji is obviously the latter. Even if he doesn’t use magic, he can use the Flamberge in his hand to hack Kamijo’s head in an instant. Just seeing him being able to beat Stiyl without a single scratch (Of course, another reason is that Stiyl is distracted, having to protect Index), it shows that he’s really good.

Fighting with him is almost futile.

Kamijo’s entire body starts to tremble.

It’s like a rather fast child racing with an Olympic sprinter.

Should he surrender?

Since the enemy in front of him can’t be beaten with abilities, Kamijo is unable to think of anything that can reverse the situation.

The problem is……

(If I surrender, what’ll happen to Stiyl?)

Stiyl bends his body, gasping heavily for breath, and glares at Tatemiya.

The reason why he decides to take part in this is because he thought that it’ll be beneficial to Index. So, he’ll never give up. The reality of despair and Kamijo’s advice are not going to stop this man, Stiyl Magnus.

But if he doesn’t give up, the outcome can be easily seen.

(If I surrender, what’ll happen to Index?)

Index looks like she’s going to rush in anytime and get between Kamijo and Tatemiya.

Once Kamijo starts fighting with Tatemiya, the option of ‘surrender’ will disappear. If so, she’ll try her best to create a chance for the outsider to the magical world, Kamijo to escape. Even if she’s unable to fight, even if both sides have their special abilities, even if Kamijo doesn’t wish for her to do this.

Finally……

(If I surrender, what’ll happen to Ursula?)

The Roman Catholic nun looks worriedly at Kamijo’s face, and turns to Tatemiya’s face.

Since Tatemiya wants the knowledge, spells and power of the ‘Book of the Law,’ he’ll probably not kill Ursula straight away. On the contrary, he’ll protect her so that she won’t get caught in the crossfire.

But, once Tatemiya Saiji gets Ursula, he’ll bring her back to the Amakusa’s main base. Over there, if Ursula refuses to co-operate and tell them how to read the ‘Book of the Law,’ one can guess what’ll be the outcome. And what Tatemiya Saiji and the Amakusa want is only how to read the ‘Book of the Law,’ and not Ursula Aquinas herself. Once they achieve their objective, it’s unthinkable what they’ll do to Ursula.

(“It’s not exactly reading it. I would call it deciphering it……”)

-What she wanted wasn't ever the power of the ‘Book of the Law’.

(“On a certain level of significance, it’s to gain some power.” )

-To prevent something like this from happening, she’s trying her very best.

(“We can use it on the magic book itself to destroy the magic array. In other words, it’s to allow the original to self-destruct.”)

-But there are people who’ll mock and trample on her hard work, or even use her accomplishments for their own gain. This man is smiling as he stands in front of Kamijo.

(“The power of a magic book isn’t going to give anyone happiness, and it’ll only bring about war. So I’ve been analyzing this book, hoping to destroy the original.”)

Kamijo stretches his leg, kicks the ceremonial sword aside, and steps forward.

No matter how sad or how awkward, the only one who can stop Tatemiya now is Kamijo.

Even so, is there any reason for Kamijo to release his fist?

“……Don’t look down on me.”

Kamijo murmurs. The fist which is already as hard as rock is now even tighter.

When Tatemiya Saiji saw this, he sighs, as if he’s trying to find regret from deep within the bottom of his heart.

“Seeing your eyes, that glare makes me feel so sad, really sad. Although the result has been settled, your outspoken personality makes me not want to kill you.”

Tatemiya gently waves the wavey broadsword, the Flamberge.

“However, since it’s already settled, this day next year will be your death anniversary!”

Just as Tatemiya says this,

Kamijo hears a loud explosion. Tatemiya stamps onto the ground with his sole, filled with energy like that of an explosion. Kamijo is so nervous that his entire body froze, and the opponent has already taken the first step. Just one step and the tip of Tatemiya’s sword will touch Kamijo.

Tatemiya raises the broadsword high, and the light that’s reflected from his blade makes Kamijo unable to move, as he feels like a frog paralysed upon seeing a snake staring at him.

He thought of raising his hands to protect himself. But that won’t be able to block the broadsword.

(Wu……ugh……! Don’t……don’t be afraid! Hurry up and move!)

Kamijo continues to give orders to his stiff body, and finally manages to take the first step. It’s not backwards, or sideways, but forward. Seeing Kamijo coming forward from slightly to the right, Tatemiya is somewhat intrigued, not understanding why an amateur would run into his attack range.

“Ho!”

Saiji breathes out some air and swings the sword down like a lightning strike.

This critical blow can cut Kamijo in half, who’s rushing in like a cannonball.

“……!”

Next, Kamijo uses his entire body strength and jumps, not ‘slightly to the right,’ but straight on towards Tatemiya’s right arm. Sweat sheds off into the air and is cut in half by the giant sword. As this jump is completely different from what Kamijo would normally do, the impact to his ankle is rather great. Kamijo does not land successfully and loses his balance, slamming into the wall of the store beside him.

“Ha!”

Tatemiya turns his body around, swinging the sword that has landed onto the ground. But upon seeing Kamijo leaning against the wall, he reveals a smile full of self-confidence.

(Here’s a chance!)

Kamijo lowers his body as much as he can.

When the enemy lowers his sword, if he were to dodge sideways, the enemy will normally cut laterally as a follow up. Because if he raises his sword and attacks again, his movements will be slower.

Kamijo gets as low to the ground as possible and rushes in front of Tatemiya Saiji.

There’s no need to think of attacks other than a ‘horizontal cut’. If Tatemiya insists on doing a ‘vertical cut,’ he won’t be able to react to Kamijo’s movements, who’ll land a punch on him before the sword lands.

Of course, as Kamijo expected, Tatemiya Saiji raises his sword and cuts horizontally.

It grazes the top of Kamijo’s head, entangling his heart in fear.

“WOO…OOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!”

Kamijo shouts loudly, clenches his fist, and dashes in front of Tatemiya.

Even Ursula, who’s on the same side as him, is scared and stunned by his momentum.

Even Tatemiya, who uses his entire strength to swing this two-handed sword, can’t dodge Kamijo’s punch.

At this moment, Tatemiya Saiji disappears.

Tatemiya, who’s supposed to be in front of Kamijo, instantly backs away for about 1m, and the sword, which is swung horizontally, is now raised above his head for some reason.

It’s like time was reversed and everything restarted.

It’s like an illusion that deliberately lures Kamijo in.

“Ah……?”

Kamijo feels a chill all over his body, and quickly rolls to the side.

DONG! The vertical strike splits the ground like paper. Maybe it’s because of too much friction, the dirt that flew looks orange, like magma.

This seriously doesn’t look like something that can occur according to the laws of physics.

(Magic……? If so……!)

Kamijo clenches his fist tightly. If that blade is made of magic, he can destroy it with his right hand. He made up his mind and swings his right fist towards the blade that flying over.

“No……Don’t! Touma!”

Hearing Index’s voice, Kamijo quickly retracts his fist. In order to protect Kamijo, who’s now wide open, the young girl rushes forward without hesitation into Kamijo’s vision.

(No way……that isn’t magic?)

Those actions that Tatemiya just used……

Moving backwards in a way that eyes can’t see, splitting the ground with a single strike.

Don’t tell me those were just simple sword techniques? Kamijo feels a chill inside him.

“No! Don’t come over! Index!”

Hearing Index’s voice, Kamijo quickly retracts his fist. In order to protect Kamijo, who’s now wide open, the young girl rushes forward without hesistation into Kamijo’s vision.

(No way……that isn’t magic?)

Those actions that Tatemiya just used……

Moving backwards in a way that the eyes can’t see, splitting the ground with a single strike.

Don’t tell me those were just simple sword techniques? Kamijo feels a chill inside him.

“No! Don’t come over! Index!”

Kamijo’s shout is unable to extinguish the girl’s determination. Tatemiya’s sword comes swinging down again, and it’s almost like sound can be cut. Kamijo, who originally believes that his right fist can neutralize the attack, didn’t come up with a plan B. Thinking about it now will be too late. Kamijo can only stare widely and watches the blade come flying towards him.

“O original flame, turn thy into light, blade of gentle protection and divine judgment!”

Stiyl suddenly shouts, creating a huge explosion. This is an explosion caused by a fire absorbing too much oxygen. The Flame Sword in Stiyl's hands pierces through the night and successfully attracts Tatemiya’s attention.

“Damn it!”

Taking advantage when Tatemiya turns to look right, Kamijo jumps away in the opposite direction, trying to pull away from Tatemiya.

But, he failed.

When Kamijo made the first move, Tatemiya, who’s looking in the opposite direction, is somehow able to catch up like a shadow. Tatemiya’ feet aren’t moving at all, and it’s like he’s skating on ice, the movements aren’t natural at all.

(Ma……gic……?)

Kamijo feels his back go numb.

When Tatemiya turned around, the large sword came swinging around like a tornado sweeping across. He frantically bends down to avoid this strike.

DONG! A heavy impact hits Kamijo’s waist, who should have avoided successfully.

Looking closer, a transparent snowball as big as a soccerball is buried into Kamijo’s body. When he looks at it, the snowball vanishes, as if someone coloured it with watercolour. Because of this blow from the snowball, Kamijo is knocked to the ground, and continues to roll.

-Let's go back in time for a moment, to when Kamijo and Tatemiya just met each other.

When the boy was about to be sliced by that sword, Index rushed forward without hesitation.

(That is……Amakusa……)

Index trembles as she runs.

Besides being fearful, she’s impressed.

The magic that the Amakusa uses isn’t really special on its own. At least not as grand, unique and powerful as Stiyl’s ‘Innocentius’ or Aureolus' ‘Alchemy’.

However, the Amakusa in turn use this point against them.

Kanzaki’s ‘Nanasen’ is probably the best example. If there’s one word that can describe the Amakusa’s basic fighting style, it’s ‘disguise’. Most of the attacks that looks like magic are just simple illusions, but among these illusions, there’s a real magical fatal blow.

Index continues to run.

Kamijo and Tatemiya seem to be standing abnormally far away from her.

Defending against magical attacks is a lot different from defending against non-magical attacks. Once you mess up, you’ll be in for some suffering.

Index’s ‘Spell Intercept’ can seal off an enemy’s magic. As a magicians needs to think to create magic, by using words or action that’ll disrupt the magician who’s chanting the spell, the magic will go out of control. It’s like challenging someone to a tongue twister; saying something different to his ear will make a person mess it up.

But, the ‘Spell Intercept’ won’t work on the Amakusa.

The spells, talismans and magic arrays that they use are too special. Their spells are made up of several religious significances in everyday business and interactions. Especially for an enemy like Tatemiya, whose magic is composed of 10 or 20 ‘Actions that have some magical meaning behind it’. The time taken for every single ‘action’ doesn’t last for a single second.

With Index’s voice and technique, it’s impossible to use ‘Spell Intercept’ to prevent the ‘actions’ in one second. Just after opening his mouth, Tatemiya’s ‘actions’ have stopped. As the conditions for activating his magic is all within his sword techniques, if one wants to prevent his magic, they have to be able to match his sword movements. Of course, Index is unable to imitate those highly-difficult sword techniques.

In conclusion, even if Index were to rush in, she’s unable to beat back Tatemiya Saiji. Besides the gulf in abilities between these two, Tatemiya’s specialities are the kind that Index has the most trouble handling. As a magic specialist, Index is acutely aware of this.

Kamijo takes a hit from the magical snowball and rolls on the floor.

Tatemiya Saiji raises his Flamberge high, like a worker raising a hammer to hammer a nail in.

Index has no way to prevent this attack.

The ‘Spell Intercept’ will have no effect on the Amakusa.

“Touma!”

But, Index’s feet never stopped moving.

She’s not thinking that much either.

Seeing Index rushing in without caring for her own safety, Stiyl Magnus is frightened to death. She does not have any combat capabilities, and if she stands in front of Tatemiya, she’ll be hacked into two within a second.

“Ugh……!”

Stiyl only has a flame sword in his hands. If he wants to activate ‘Innocentius,’ he has to quickly place rune cards, and there’s no time now.

If he were to rush in wildly now, he might be able to get in front of Tatemiya before Index does. He’ll then attack Tatemiya next, and explode the flame sword when Tatemiya blocks it with the Flamberge. This’ll likely cause a little interference.

The problem, however, is that Kamijo is now standing between Stiyl and Tatemiya.

If he were to charge towards Tatemiya, he’ll have to pierce through Kamijo first.

In an instant, the flame priest’s face becomes distorted due to frustration.

The inner conflict inside him only lasts a while. Then, a glimmer of determination appears in the priest’s eyes.

(A long time ago, I swore—)

Stiyl Magnus tries to adjust his breathing with his dry mouth.

(“―Sleep well, even if you forget everything, I’ll remember it forever. I’ll live for you, and die for you.”)

In order to protect the most important thing, Stiyl aims the flame sword at the teenager’s back.

Exhaling all the oxygen inside his body and losing consciousness at the same time, Kamijo sees Tatemiya raise the broadsword in front of him. He desperately recollects the thoughts that he lost and tries to grasp the situation.

His two legs shaking, there’s no way Kamijo can dodge Tatemiya’s next attack.

Index is rushing here, and several seconds later, she’ll get beside Tatemiya, and be killed.

Glancing behind, Stiyl raises his flame sword, but his own body seems to be blocking the flame sword’s path.

Within one second, Kamijo’s thoughts are very clear.

If he doesn’t want to lose anyone, or anything, and allow everything to end with everyone smiling……

There’s only one way.

“……Come on.”

Kamijo clenches his fist.

“Pierce me through as well, Stiyl!”

Kamijo squeezes out his last ounce of strength and dashes towards Tatemiya Saiji without hesitation.

Upon hearing this, Tatemiya Saiji is somewhat messed up.

There’s a British Puritan nun rushing in from behind him, but killing her will be easy. In order to protect the nun, the boy in front of him also clenches his fist, but he’ll be alright even after killing the boy in front of him, then the nun behind him.

The problem is the priest behind the boy.

That British Puritan lowers the flame sword to his waist, and charges toward him.

“!?”

If the priest decides to stab him with the flame sword, it’ll pierce through the boy’s body without question. But, there’s no sign of hesitation in the priest’s eyes. His eyes are as sharp as the blade of a knife, his mouth smiling like a beast, and his mind seems to only think about taking down the enemy.

In order to block the flame sword’s strike, Tatemiya raises the Flamberge.

But at this moment, the boy places his right fist backwards, preparing to strike like a hammer.

“Peh……!”

If he blocks this strike, he won’t be able to defend against the flame sword. Also, the main objective of the flame sword isn’t to hack, but to explode. He’ll probably die at once if he’s not careful in handling this. If he does not quickly activate a spell that defends against flames to defend against the flame sword first, he’ll be swallowed in the flames caused by the explosion together with the boy, who’s sacrificing himself.

(I’ve already cast a basic spell that defends against impacts earlier during our battle, a mere amateur’s punch shouldn’t be able to hurt me. What’s scary is that flame sword — got to set up an anti-flame spell first!)

Tatemiya sways the sword that was raised like a river. By removing the flame attribute from the ‘Flamberge,’ and by swaying the sword around like a river to ‘suppress,’ he manages to create a spell called ‘Suppress fire’.

(Good! The spell is complete! Once the sword stabs through, be prepared to taste my counter……!)

Tatemiya Saiji sticks his large tongue out, licking his lips greedily.

The priest charges on and slams into the boy’s back. The flame sword in his hand will pierce through the boy’s body and towards Tatemiya’s abdomen.

(I win!)

—But, things didn’t turn out as expected.

Tatemiya has already prepared an anti-flame spell, intending to send the heat and flames caused by the explosion of the flame sword back. But nothing like this happened.

The boy forcefully pulls his right fist back, ready to slam him like a hammer, and the priest’s flame sword just happens to land on his fist.

Bam! A sound similar to that of a balloon bursting is heard. The priest’s flame sword explodes into fireworks, and vanishes.

“Ah……? This is…… Wha—!?”

Tatemiya, who has already set up the anti-flame spell and thinking about a counter, does not understand a single thing that’s going on.

BAM! A terrifying sound is heard as the boy’s fist lands brutally on Tatemiya’s face.

(Ka……aaaa……! The anti-impact spell……was broken through……?)

Tatemiya’s body flies backwards. Just when he’s about to stand upright, the boy and the priest slam into him. Being hit by the weight of two people, Tatemiya’s body rolls on the ground at an astonishing speed like he was being hit by a large hammer.

Just like this, Tatemiya loses his consciousness.

Twang! The Flamberge leaves his hand and rolls on the floor.