Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 07/Chapter 4

Title - Chapter 4: 天草式十字凄教　AMAKUSA_Style_Remix_of_Church.

Volume 07

Previous Chapter → 3

Next Chapter → Epilogue

Part 1
The Church of Ursula is formed by 7 chapels.

Every single chapel is to be used as a place to carry out one of the seven sacraments. Each one isn’t of the same size, how big the construct and amount of money spent on it will differ on the frequency and the importance.

Where Ursula and company are right now is the ‘Marriage Chapel’, the place where marriages are held. This is the place where they spent the most money on, so the room is the biggest. The second largest room is the ‘Fuyou Chapel’, used to carry out funerals. Although the ‘Holy Order Chapel’ and ‘Confirmation Chapel’ are rather significant religiously, they can’t earn money from ‘ordinary folks’ like Kamijo, so the rooms are smaller. These smaller constructs are decorated with art pieces like sculptures, drawings and stained glass, and it seems that they plan to open them to the public as an art gallery or a museum, to earn extra money for the Church.

The website that Kamijo’s phone is connected to only displays this information. However, it’s incredulous for the Church members to set up an introductory website. Maybe they considered this place as a tourism site, as the webpage even reveals the scheduled plans and complete map. To Kamijo and company, this is an unexpected reward…… Of course, the website only discloses things that are ‘allowed for the public to see’.

“Peh!”

Kamijo carries an injured Ursula and runs out through the back door of the ‘Marriage Chapel’. There’s not even a single blade of grass, as everything’s covered by the flat stone floor. When Kamijo’s two feet stepped past the back door, the weapon-wielding nuns start chasing after.

Taking advantage of the battle between the Amakusa and the Roman Catholic nuns, Kamijo carries Ursula out of the ‘Marriage Chapel’. Although he’s not willing to part with Index and company, they were separated, and thus he has to run off first.

While running, Kamijo looks at Ursula’s face.

“Sorry I’m late. Are you alright?”

“……Don’t worry. This is a minor injury, I’m alright.”

Ursula’s clothes are tattered; the metal parts of the zips are broken. Every jerk causes her entire body to stiffen in pain, and it’s obvious that her injuries are serious.

But her face only shows fatigue, and not pain.

She looks like she’s going to cry, being carried by Kamijo in his arms, as she looks at his face, like a missing child finally finding his parents.

(Damn it! Isn’t the simplest reason to fight here?)

Kamijo carries Ursula as he continues to run forward.

The ‘Marriage Chapel’ is extremely large, but to fight so many enemies inside is suicidal. This isn’t a case of which side is stronger, just having everyone push someone is enough to kill him. Moresoever, Kamijo is just an ordinary high school student, he can win if it’s one on one, and it’s dangerous if it’s one on two, but he’ll have to run if it’s one on three. Kamijo’s capabilities are just like this.

However……

Running away isn’t a sign of defeat.

“Ho……!”

Just when countless pursuers are about to grab Kamijo, several Amakusa members jump in from the roof of the Chapel. The weapons that were about to pierce Kamijo’s body are sliced in half by the Amakusa members. Then, one Amakusa member viciously kicks the front most nun so hard that she flew backwards.

Shua—! The footsteps are like tides, as one group of Roman Catholic nuns surround the Amakusa members like some giant organism.

(Thanks……!)

Kamijo runs off and kicks a can that a worker threw aside. Of course, such an attack won’t hurt a Roman Catholic nun.

But seeing something fly by is bound to attract their attention.

“!?”

Just when the nuns are distracted, the Amakusa members break through the perimeter, nod to Kamijo to express their appreciation, and scamper off.

Kamijo didn’t have the time to look back. Although the nuns are wielding heavy weapons, they can’t match a person’s weight. The nuns again chased after Kamijo, trying to whittle down this lead.

The nun behind is waving a torch, and a magma rock as large as a softball flings from it. Kamijo grabs Ursula tightly and avoids it, and arrives at the rectangular ‘Holy Order Chapel’ behind the ‘Marriage Chapel’. He dashes towards the step pedals used for construction around the Chapel, and climbs up the ladder leaning against the wall to the second level. A torch-holding nun follows, and Kamijo raises his right leg to kick her down. Another nun is able to get from ground level to the second through some unknown means, and Kamijo kicks her off while she’s trying to balance on the shaking platform, causing her to fall back down.

“—”

Several nuns are standing at ground level, staring coldly and Kamijo and Ursula.

They’re beginning to realize something.

Although it’s possible to corner Kamijo when they’re chasing him like this, once Kamijo can create a one on one situation, he can continue to run.

The platform that Kamijo’s standing on is made of steel pipes, so not only are they thin and long, they’re unstable. So the nuns cannot attack Kamijo from every direction. If the nuns climb up to the long platform, they naturally have to line up. And not only that, if there are too many people on the platform, it won’t be able to handle the weight and will collapse. Unless they’re thinking of dealing damage to both sides, they can’t win with numbers.

The nuns silently think about this.

They have a common understanding without needing to talk. At the same time, they raise their weapons.

Rods, axes, Cross, Bibles, even the giant minute hand of a giant clock, they have all sorts of weapons. These weapons are aimed at Kamijo Touma, who’s above them. Red, blue, yellow, green, purple, tea, white, gold……many different colours are glowing from the front of these weapons.

(Oh……no……!?)

Kamijo holds Ursula, who’s unaware of what’s going on, and frantically runs along the metal pipes. At this moment, numerous glowing feathers of different colours attacked them. These feathers look like rocketheads attached to quills, hitting where Kamijo and Ursula were one at a time. The feathers damage the outer walls and the platform severely. DONG! Suddenly, the platform begins to shake.

In fact, the nuns weren’t aiming at Kamijo, but were aiming at the platforms below Kamijo’s feet.

They never cared about Ursula’s safety. Besides, as long as her brain and heart are still working, she’s defined as ‘not dead’.

The platform underneath Kamijo’s feet is shaking like a sinking ship.

Of course, once he hits the ground, he’ll be surrounded by several nuns.

“WAAAAAAAAHHH!”

Kamijo meaninglessly shouts. As the platform is becoming more slanted, the path he’s running is even steeper. He desperately sprints up the almost vertical platform, and the platform that was originally as high as the second level is now reaching the third level, near the roof.

Kamijo holds Ursula tightly, and jumps.

His feet land on the marble roof, at the same time, the platform built from metal pipes and metal parts collapses to the ground.

Hearing the platform that he was standing on collapse with such a loud sound, Kamijo feels chilly. He hugs Ursula and finally stops, taking in a deep breath.

“Are……are you alright?”

Ursula is worried that she’s being a burden, and looks at Kamijo as she asks uncomfortably.

“I’m alright.”

Kamijo casually answers as he scrutinizes Ursula’s condition. Ursula was treated badly and violently, as her robes were tattered, the zips are spoilt and the fabric is all messed up. This can be a rather seductive scene in an ordinary situation. But right now, Ursula’s thighs are covered in blood, swollen until they’re brown. Nobody’s going to think of anything wild.

(……Damn it.)

Kamijo didn’t say anything, as he cursed deep inside.

(No matter how big someone is, he can’t face off against so many nuns! Anieze Sanctis! To think that you ordered them to beat her like a spineless chicken!)

Kamijo is raging inside, and really wants to rush into the enemy frontlines, but he’s worried about Ursula’s safety. He has to find some place for her to rest, and treat her wounds no matter what. Kamijo frantically thinks.

But he can’t stay here forever.

In order to prevent the enemy from attacking him from below, Kamijo runs from the side of the roof to the middle. As long as he’s here, the enemy should probably be unable to see him.

“Then……”

Kamijo places Ursula on the roof that’s under construction, and grabs a toolbox nearby with both hands.

Thunk!

The next moment, a loud explosion occurs below, three nuns quickly jump towards the roof.

Kamijo uses his entire strength to push the heavy toolbox away. The box hits one of the nuns, and she loses her balance before falling down to the ground.

The remaining two nuns wordlessly land on the roof. Both of them are holding the hour hand and the minute hand of a giant clock. The bases are wrapped in bandages, probably to prevent them from falling off.

The nuns without jumping ability rush to the roof through the stairs inside, and there are many footsteps below Kamijo that can be heard.

Being at a disadvantage, Kamijo doesn’t dare to turn his neck, and only rolls his eyeballs, looking for a way out. At this moment, Kamijo, who’s standing on the rooftop, sees a nun dressed in white robes running around inside the wide compound of the Church of Ursula.

Like Kamijo, the girl is chased by several black-robed nuns.

But Kamijo, who’s overlooking from the last section of the roof, can’t help but break out cold sweat. In front of the white-robed nun, there’s another group of nuns approaching. Both sides are unaware of this, but if the white-robed nun continues to run in the same direction, both sides will meet each other.

“INDEX!”

Kamijo can’t help but shout. At this moment, the two nuns wielding the clock hands are rushing from both left and right.

The girl running on the ground does not hear Kamijo.

Part 2
As the positions of the ‘Baptism Chapel’ and the ‘Marriage Chapel’ are relatively tilted to each other, there’s a triangular atrium between them. Tatemiya Saiji continues to swing his large sword in this atrium,

Tatemiya was the last Amakusa member to retreat from the ‘Marriage Chapel’. Just like the other Amakusa members who were fighting to create enough time for Ursula to escape, Tatemiya was trying to create enough time for the Amakusa members to escape. Currently, the Amakusa members have escaped and are now fighting the Roman Catholics.

On the smooth marble floor, there’s no length of grass, and there’re stands for placing sculptures everywhere. When the Church is finished, there will probably be sculptures of Angels or the religious greats, Saints. Right now however, there are no sculptures, and they’re rather empty. All the religious art pieces are blown to dust, as if the Church is invaded by non-believers.

Tatemiya Saiji isn’t using the tactic of ‘think while I fight’ like Kamijo Touma.

Because he is able to skillfully break down the enemy’s attack rhythm. He won’t attack fully, or defend fully, he’ll keep a balance between attack and defense.

When the nuns intend to charge in, Tatemiya will step forward.

When the nuns intend to step back and readjust their attacks, Tatemiya will step back.

Tatemiya’s actions surprise the nuns greatly. The moment the nuns misjudged what the enemy’s going to do, they’ll naturally panic, and normally in this situation, Tatemiya will attack them. Even if the nuns were to carry out defensive maneuvers, they’ll be blown away if they try to block an attack from that giant sword.

But Tatemiya won’t attack back. After attacking once, he’ll step back. He’s not attacking all-out, or defending fully, but maintaining a balance between them. Using this ‘stalemate’ that wasn’t supposed to happen, he built up an invisible wall.

(This is terrible, I can’t continue to play with them like this……)

Tatemiya, though, sees his comrades waving their swords at the enemy and jumping about from the corner of his eye.

Although Tatemiya is looking rather confident and smiling, he’s very nervous deep inside. The nuns are rational enough to analyze the attacks as they fought; this is why Tatemiya’s tactic could work. When the nuns get impatient enough and decide to pull out all the stops, not caring about their comrades’ safety, Tatemiya’s tactic will fail.

Whether it’s attacking or defending, as long as there’s an imbalance, the psychological wall will dissolve in that instant and Tatemiya will be swallowed by the crowd charging forward.

It’s like fishing, Tatemiya thought. If he pulls the rod hard, the fish will struggle and end up breaking the fishing line as they escape. To catch a fish easily, one has to give it enough freedom; which is to allow the enemy to attack and let them think they have a chance.

Suddenly, Tatemiya can hear loud footsteps nearby.

“A new enemy?”

Tatemiya panics, but upon listening carefully, he notices that the footsteps are headed towards him.

Tatemiya is standing in the atrium between the ‘Marriage Chapel’ and the ‘Baptism Chapel’. At this moment, he sees the British Puritan nun in white robes standing at the apex of the triangle, which is the small gap closest to the two chapels.

She’s being chased by the Roman Catholic nuns, only to meet up with another group of them, and is finally surrounded, unable to move. The number of people surrounding her is twice that of the number of enemies in front of Tatemiya.

(Damn it! Don’t do something like this in front of me!)

Tatemiya frantically tries to save the white-robed nun, but the nuns who are surrounding Tatemiya are working together flawlessly, creating a human wall like a great creature. To them, once they take down one, there will be more comrades who can assist them in taking him down. As they can’t beat Tatemiya, they’re wishing that their comrades will quickly take down the other enemies.

Tatemiya and the nuns glare at each other.

In the other corner, Index is swallowed by a large crowd, her body gradually sinking among them.

“Let me show you……”

Tatemiya adjusts his breathing and slowly raises his sword, preparing to use a killer blow.

Suddenly, a man’s voice can be heard from above.

“Stop! Don’t get near that child!”

Tatemiya looks up, and in an instant, the second level window of the ‘Baptism Chapel’ exploded, as a firestorm erupts from inside. Next, a Roman Catholic nun is shot out like a cannonball. When she landed, she barely tries to let the joints in her legs withstand the impact, but it seems that she can’t withstand it anymore, as she collapses again and loses consciousness.

Stiyl Magnus, who’s wielding a flame sword, is standing at the window……

He says,

“In some situations, that child is much stronger when she fights on her own. We’ll weaken her fighting capabilities if we go near her. You probably don’t want to become like those people, huh?”

“What?”

Tatemiya is intrigued. At this moment……

BOOM! There’s an explosion around Index.

Index reappears, having been surrounded by tens, or maybe more than a hundred nuns all around. In other words, a section of the perimeter is blown off. In that thick perimeter, a corner is blown off by some unknown force, causing the perimeter to form a C shape. About 10 nuns experienced the impact directly, and one of them even lands at Tatemiya’s feet, several metres away. Seeing their comrade flying over their heads, the nuns fighting against Tatemiya turn to look at Index.

BOOM! Another huge invisible explosion, there’re several nuns blown into the air.

“……What’s going on?”

Tatemiya looks at the nun at his feet. Her face is full of despair, and her body curls up like a baby, her arms holding onto her head. Although she lost consciousness, she seems to be having a nightmare, as she’s still trembling. Not only that, the muscles on the nun’s legs are torn. Actually, that phenomenon wasn’t an explosion, but the nun jumped back. As if her survival and defensive instincts have gone haywire, she even does the extreme by doing something that far exceeds her physical capabilities in order to get away from Index.

Stiyl jumps down from the second level and lands beside Tatemiya.

“You’re also a Christian, and you should know that there’re weaknesses, or conflicting concepts in several Christian teachings. Many different Christian sects exist in order to patch up these weaknesses and conflicting concepts, but they’ll create their own weaknesses and conflicting concepts. This is a so-called religious characteristic.”

“……So what?”

Tatemiya gently swings his broadsword, restricting the nuns’ movements.

“That child has the knowledge of the entire world. With the knowledge of 103,000 magic books, she can make sharp criticism into ‘conflicts’ that Christianity has. This is the ‘Hell Fear’. To Christians, Christianity is like a function, and the paradox in the teachings are like holes in a cover, so the ‘Hell Fear’ is their enemy. Upon hearing this, their personalities will completely dissolve within a short time.”

Of course, this spell is useless against enemies other than Christians. As for magical authors like Aureolus, they have set up a special magical barrier to prevent their minds from being destroyed by their own original magic texts, so this spell is useless to them as well. However, there are very few people in the world who can ‘write an original magical text and not get their minds broken’ like Aureolus.

“The magical books aren’t just to only use spells. Although she has no magical power, she can use the knowledge of the magic books to attack with ‘Spell Intercept’ and ‘Hell Fear’. There’s likely no one better to be the magical library than her.” While the nuns are still panicking, Stiyl and Tatemiya unleash a furry of attacks. Stiyl lets the flame blade explode, blowing the nuns away with a flame storm, followed up by Tatemiya knocking them out swiftly and cleanly. At this moment, Index continues to send the numerous nuns around her flying with her ‘muttering’.

Tatemiya is impressed and stunned. He says,

“Come to think about it, since she’s capable of such an impressive spell, why didn’t she use it in the beginning? Even if it’s me, I’ll be devastated if I was hit by that technique.”

“That spell is rather unstable and troublesome. I believe you know that it’s easier to do a religious brainwashing to a group than to an individual. From the Science side point of view, the ‘Hell Fear’ uses group psychology to break through their own psychological defense.”

Stiyl again lets the flame sword explode, suppressing the nuns. The nuns were trying to find a chance to charge forward, but their faces are burnt by the flames, and hurried back.

“The ‘purity’ of the group’s psychology affects the effectiveness of the ‘Hell Fear’. It’s easier to use when ‘the group’s thinking the same thing’, and much more difficult when it’s a ‘complicated group with many different thoughts’, causing the ‘purity’ to drop, which makes it completely useless……in other words, when I was fighting with you, because both Kamijo Touma and I were present, the group’s ‘purity’ dropped, and so she can’t use the ‘Hell Fear’. I was assigned to be her guard because of this possible scenario.”

Stiyl plainly states,

“In other words, if you rush in now, the ‘Hell Fear’ will be ineffective.”

After saying this, the conversation stopped.

There are more footsteps now.

Looking up at the roofs of the chapels beside the atrium, there are several nuns standing above them.

Part 3
In the darkness of the ‘Marriage Chapel’, Anieze rests her back on the marble column.

Anieze is surrounded by several nuns who are protecting her to ensure her safety. But with each explosion and crashing sound, these nuns will be so scared that their shoulders will jerk violently and they will look around frantically. In contrast, Anieze crosses her arms in front of her chest, as she silently closes her eyes to rest. The position of those who are protecting and those who are protected seems to have changed.

“Don’t look so panicky, that’s too unglamorous. Especially you, Sister Angelene.”

“But……but……Miss Anieze……”

Those seemingly mocking words seem to give the nuns a sense of relief, as they look like they’ve seen a savior while they’re on a sinking ship. Maybe talking to them will relieve them of their tension.

“The battle has lasted for more than 10 minutes……even……even if we add Ursula in, we still far outnumber the enemy……don’t you feel something is wrong? Ah? Listen! Where did that explosion come from? Maybe……the enemy has turned defense to attack……!”

“……”

“Why……why don’t we take part in the battle as well? We can spare some manpower anyway……”

“It’s meaningless.”

Anieze impatiently says.

“Then……what should we do? Ursula’s been taken away……if she runs away again……”

“She can’t run.”

Anieze interrupts Angelene.

She’s so confident that she’s not willing to give an explanation.

“She’ll definitely be unable to run. In this damned world, this is predicated.”

The balance was broken in an instant.

The reason came from where Index is.

From the 103,000 magical texts, she finds the parts that are detrimental to a Christian’s mind, creating the ‘Hell Fear’, and is attacking the Roman Catholic nuns with it. During this situation, an accident happened. One of the nuns, Sister Luccia, the one who attacked Kamijo in the theme park, suddenly shouts,

“Heavy attack! Light defense! Sacrifice yourselves! Destroy the enemy of God!”

In an instant, the nuns completely froze.

Their faces silently and gradually became expressionless, and like a military salute, they neatly pull out two things from their clothes. Each of their hands is holding a rather high-class fountain pen.

(……?)

At this moment, Index is thinking that they are planning to use some magic to fire an attack at her.

But she was wrong.

The next instant……

Almost a 100 nuns surrounding Index insert the pens into their ears without hesitation.

The squishy sound resembles a person squeezing grapes.

Bright red blood spurts out from their ears.

At the same time, they pull the pens that’re inserted deeply inside their ears out, and then proceed to raise their weapons.

Although their expressions are distorted due to pain, they’re smiling bitterly like they just destroyed their desires. There’s something white on the pens that are covered in blood. They are the eardrums.

Index strongly feels that she’s going to vomit any moment.

“Don’t tell me……it’s to block out the ‘Hell Fear’……?”

When they’re unable to hear anything, the ‘Hell Fear’ cannot work.

Index realizes this chilling fact. At the same time, the nuns advance together.

“Damn it……!”

The one who realizes this first was Stiyl. He really wants to immediately get over and save Index, but the great combination attack with Tatemiya will stop working.

Stiyl continues to let the flame sword explode, letting the firestorm block the nuns’ vision. But the heat cannot reach where Index is. And by using the same attack so many times, the nuns become used to the flames and can find a way to attack them.

“Over here!”

Suddenly, a door of the ‘Fuyou Chapel’ opens, as Kamijo Touma stands at the door that’s opened outwards. Ursula, who’s injured badly, is standing behind him, using the bandaged minute hand of a large clock as a crutch. Maybe Kamijo feels that carrying Ursula around while running isn’t the way to go, that’s why he’s hiding in the ‘Fuyou Chapel’.

In this critical moment, Index, Stiyl and Tatemiya rush into the ‘Fuyou Chapel’. Kamijo hastily closes the door. Right at this moment, there are numerous blades that’s stabbed into the 5cm thick oak door.

In a short time, the door blocked the Roman Catholic nuns attacks.

But a door like this cannot withstand for much longer. Using the story of the three little pigs as an illustration, it’s like they are hiding in a straw house now.

“Seems like everyone’s okay……Ursula, can you walk?”

“You really like to worry, my injuries aren’t that serious.”

Ursula’s injuries are definitely serious, it’s just that they are hidden underneath her nun robes, so nobody can see it. Even so, she still weakly smiles at Kamijo. Although Kamijo’s feeling compassionate, he can’t do anything. So he barely changes the subject.

“……Okay, now what?”

Nobody can answer that question. Everyone present realizes that the stalemate that was originally there is gone now.

The Amakusa members out there are surviving through their own sneak attacks and escapes, they’re already busy themselves, and can’t possibly help now.

Pang! Bam! Like nails being hammered into wood, the number of holes on the wall continues to increase.

Index looks extremely pale, as she says,

“They……just……stabbed into their ears like that……my ‘Hell Fear’ cannot work……”

Maybe Index is still thinking about how the nuns stabbed their ears with fountain pens, because blood seems to have drained from her face.

“The ‘Spell Intercept’ can only work against one person at a time. It’s impossible to interfere when there’re so many people chanting their spells……”

“Oh?”

Index continues to analyze her battle capabilities, and Kamijo’s all confused now. He doesn’t even know what Index did, based on what principle.

Tatemiya then says,

“Although my subordinates are hard-working, I guess it’s hard for them to reverse the situation. Humans are at their scariest when they’re willing to sacrifice themselves. No matter how good an expert fighter is, he can’t handle a group of people rushing like a flood. It’s like how an army of ants can kill any beasts.”

His tone is full of reluctance, overlapping with the sounds of blades being stabbed into the door and being pulled out. Several eyeballs are peeking into the holes that are dug out.

Kamijo feels chilly inside his stomach.

Once the door breaks open, several hundred armed nuns will rush in like a landslide. If they can’t come up with an answer within these few minutes, everyone inside will be unable to survive.

But the more suggestions everyone gave, the more they sank into despair. Although Kamijo is as panicky as an ant on a hot pot, he’s at a loss on what to do.

“Eh……if…we have the ‘Book of the Law’, maybe we can find a spell to protect ourselves using my code.”

Suddenly, Ursula asks.

Everyone turn and look at her.

The ‘Book of the Law’.

Although it’s the cause of everything, the magic book is long forgotten by everyone. The forbidden book written by Edward Alexander……also known as Crowley, the greatest magician in the world; in it contains a strong power and knowledge, said to be able to allow humans to use the ‘Angelic Spells’. Just opening one page is said to be able to end this Christian age.

Since the ‘Book of the Law’ is so dangerous, ‘breaking the seal of the ‘Book of the Law’’ can be used as a negotiating tool.

“Too bad, the ‘Book of the Law’ wasn’t stolen; it’s all a ploy to frame us. In other words, the real ‘Book of the Law’ may not even be in Japan. They only brought a fake, the original should still be in the Vatican, we have no……”

“It’s here!”

Kamijo and Index shout out at the same time.

That’s right, the original ‘Book of the Law’ is here.

“Index, although you’re unable to decode the ‘Book of the Law’, you might have memorized it thoroughly in order to decode it, right? You do have the original text of the ‘Book of the Law’ in your head, right?”

“Un, I still remember those codes that aren’t decoded yet.”

Hearing this, Stiyl’s expression changed drastically.

“No way! If you do so, she’ll memorise the correct content of the ‘Book of the Law’! That means that even more magicians will want her!”

“Are you worrying about me?”

Index, who only treated Stiyl as ‘somebody who has nothing to do with her’, asks suspiciously. Stiyl, who treated Index as an ‘old friend’, doesn’t know how to reply, and his face is flushed red. But Stiyl smacks his mouth again, not saying anything more. Stiyl is clear that Index already knows that the magicians are chasing after her, so no reason will stop her. Beside, there’s no other way out.

Stiyl thought for a while, conflicting thoughts are inside his head like angels fighting against each other. He suddenly shouts,

“Kamijo Touma!”

“What…what now?”

“You have to be even stronger! If there’s any consequences that harms her in any way, I’ll burn your body, heart and soul till there’s not even ash!”

Stiyl then cursed, smacks his mouth again, and turns around. Index still looks like she doesn’t know what’s going on, as she’s somewhat bewildered by Stiyl’s anger. Tatemiya looks at Kamijo with a profound meaning, then turns to look at Stiyl. Kamijo thought, “Please don’t look at me like that.”

Puzzled, Index tilts her head, and asks,

“Anyway, can you tell me how to decode the ‘Book of the Law’?”

“Ah, yes, then, I’ll explain it to you.”

Being asked by Index, Ursula continues on.

At this moment, Kamijo feels sweat emerging from his forehead.

In the past, he thought that it’s only fantasy, and yet it’s about to come true now. The danger that Kamijo never ever thought of continues to appear in his mind.

Kamijo is very clear of what the ‘Angelic Spells’, that’s only rumours and speculation to the magicians, are (what an irony). At first, he saw one of the four large angels, the ‘Power of God’, summon the magic spell ‘Judgment’, billions of light bombs that nearly turned half the earth to crisp.

If they use such a spell, they can turn the tide around.

But……

Should humanity meddle with such power?

Ursula seemed to have sensed Kamijo’s worries, and says,

“We have no need to show them the power of the ‘Book of the Law’, we just need to tell them that we have decoded it and can use it anytime. If possible, I would like to avoid using this power as well.”

Ursula seriously says.

That’s right; the original reason why Ursula’s studying the ‘Book of the Law’ is to cause the knowledge inside the book to disappear. Right now, her actions are going against what she originally believes in. Also, even if they manage to get through this crisis, they’ll get harassed by magicians all over the world for having the knowledge of the ‘Book of the Law’.

She had already thought about all these. But yet she decides to do this.

Even if it goes against her ideals, even if it’s going to put her in danger, she still wishes to help Kamijo and company.

Throughout history, no one was able to find a way to decode the ‘Book of the Law’.

Even Index, who’s keeping the 103,000 magical texts, can’t decode the banned book, which is in front of her.

“The base model is Temurah, which is the switching of the location of the texts. But there’s a special rule that’s closely related to the number of lines. First, arrange the 22 lines of Hebrew text in two rows, and according to the rows—”

Kamijo feels like a duck that heard some thunder rumble, but to Index, it’s very important. Kamijo never saw her so serious before.

Right now, Index is processing and decoding the magic book that nobody has read before, forming a blueprint of the strongest weapon. On one hand, Kamijo is bewildered; on the other hand, he’s wondering if he’s taking part in a mistake that cannot be taken back.

“—In other words, the texts with different number of lines have to be changed again using another rule, so it sounds complicated. But even if the page changes, as long as the number of lines don’t change, the rule of change won’t change. Then—”

“The sentences with changes done to the positions of the words have to be rearranged according the number of pages. So then, the original content of the text can be restored. The title is ‘End of two Eras’, and the content is written in Enochian about the Human Angelification Spells.”

Suddenly, Index finishes what Ursula was about to say, as if she has read Ursula’s mind. Ursula is wide-eyed now.

“It’s alright, I know what’s going on.”

Ursula is surprised that Index interrupted her while she was conveying her own way of decoding that only she should know. She asks,

“May I ask, what do you mean by you understand?”

“Um……”

Index says with a heavy tone.

“This isn’t the way to decode it, it’s a fake answer that the author left behind.”

“What……”

Ursula went numb.

Index sadly turns to look at Ursula, and says,

“I’m sorry. I came up with this answer myself as well. Besides this answer, there’re many more fake answers out there. The most frightening thing about the ‘Book of the Law’ is that……”

Index sighs, and continues,

“There’s more than a hundred ways to decode it. And every single way of decoding it can form a text, but these are all fakes. It’s not that nobody can’t decode the ‘Book of the Law’. Actually, anyone can decode the ‘Book of the Law’, because they are misguided.”

“This is impossible……”

Ursula hoarsely croaks.

“The wrong explanation can still create a ‘text’ that someone can read; so even when one finds a wrong way of decoding it, everyone will think that theirs is the correct way. It’s normal that you fell into the trap without noticing. Besides the title on the cover of the ‘Book of the Law’, there’s also a line of English words, do you remember?”

Index painfully conveys this cruel truth.

“‘To desire, and it’ll be thy magic,’ in other words, what one perceives to be the correct way to decode it can create several ‘wrong answers’ for the ‘Book of the Law’. The ‘Book of the Law’ is such a scary book.”

Ursula Aquinas’s face shows that she has lost all hope.

This can’t be helped. She gambled her life in order to interpret the ‘Book of the Law’, thinking that it’ll bring about happiness to everyone, and destroy this magic book, the root of all evil.

But unexpectedly, the ‘way to decode’ that she so treasured the most is unable to do anything.

Not only is it unable to destroy the magic book, it can’t save her friends in this critical juncture.

“Look on the bright side. If we tell them that Ursula didn’t find the way to decode it, I wonder if they’ll be magnanimous in their actions?”

Tatemiya asks.

At the same time, a huge knocking sound came from the chapel’s doors.

“I guess it’s unlikely. Since they’ve thrown away their façade, they probably won’t hold back.”

Stiyl replies.

In this desperate situation, he gives a faint smile.

It’s useless.

Their only hope is gone.

Kamijo frantically tries to bring Index and Ursula out of the back door, but accidentally knocks into Stiyl, who’s wielding a flame sword. The rune cards, which were supposed to be the killer blow, lands on the ground without response.

BAM!

There’s an impact that’s much louder than the first, the off-type doors of the ‘Fuyou Chapel’ are knocked down. Kamijo and company only have time to say two to three sentences. A few hundred nuns are wielding all sorts of religious weapons as they rush into this church construct that’s built for funerals.

Part 4
Ten minutes later.

Only the commander of the nuns, Anieze Sanctis, is inside the pitch dark ‘Marriage Chapel’. The ten nuns that were assigned to guard her were about to collapse due to nervousness, so Anieze relieved them of their duties by ordering them to battle. Although it’s much more dangerous on the battlefield than here, they happily accepted the order. The fear of being unaware of the situation makes it even more unbearable for them.

(It’s nothing big, why so nervous?)

Anieze sighs upon remembering the sight of her cowardly subordinates. Right now, there are sounds of explosions and crashing outside the construct, but Anieze isn’t looking uncomfortable. Once someone is experienced enough, they can understand the situation just by hearing the sounds. Compared to a while ago, the enemy is in a mess right now, and can only defend.

(Eh?)

Suddenly, she hears some noise that’s uncoordinated with the battle.

It’s a set of footsteps.

The owner of the footsteps opened the huge doors of the Church.

BAM!

Kamijo Touma is standing at the entrance, but Anieze isn’t fazed. She’s not panicking, in fact, she’s smiling. For the same scene had happened before, but right now, Kamijo looks tired, and there are many wounds on him.

“With that difference in numbers, how did you get here?”

Anieze rests her back against the marble column and asks. Though Kamijo is breathing hard, he’s smiling.

“About this, we played some tactics.”

“Tactics? Hm……”

Anieze closes one eye.

“I see, I see. You’re able to appear here so smartly by sacrificing your comrades. Naturally, nobody can get here if everyone gathers to fight against my subordinates. But is this alright?”

“……”

Anieze’s statement has a mocking tone to it, but Kamijo doesn’t reply.

So now, Anieze thought that she has struck somewhere in Kamijo’s heart where it hurts, and smiles even more happily.

“Hoho, Ursula Aquinas was praising you people just now. She said that your actions are based on trust, that you’ll never lie to anyone. HAHAHA! This is too funny. In the end, you still tricked your comrades, using them as a sacrifice in order to protect your life, right?”

“No.”

Amidst this mocking, Kamijo reveals a smile that’s completely different from hers, one that’s completely free of pretense.

“Don’t think I’m like you, I trust them very much. There’re some things they can do and I can’t. So, I’m in charge of the other thing. It’s just that simple.”

Kamijo clenches his right fist.

“If possible, I hope that they can believe in me, feel that I can complete this mission, and don’t have to worry.”

“……Do you think that by beating the commander, my subordinates will stop their attacks? I’m impressed that you guys can come up with such a naïve idea. What will happen to sheep that lost their shepherd besides going out of control?”

Anieze Sanctis’ back leaves the icy cold marble pillar.

She kicks the silver staff that’s left aside on the ground; the silver staff pops up and lands in her hands.

“Alright, I’m bored to tears anyway. Idleness is a sin — I’ll crush your last hope and do it as a parting gift.”

Kamijo Touma looks around, confirming the situation.

The two of them are about 15 metres apart. As the construction inside the church isn’t complete, the interior is completely empty, and there are no obstacles. A huge group of people are fighting outside, and there are only Kamijo and Anieze in this closed room.

The silver staff that Anieze is holding is fine, and there’s a sculpture of an angel on it. The angel is in a pose like that of the Thinker, an art piece of Auguste Rodin (1840-1917, a famous French sculptor), but there are six wings enveloping the angel like a cage.

Dang! Dang! Two clear sounds can be heard.

Anieze removes the thick soles on her sandals, kicking them backwards.

“Everything is taken care of. The fifth element of the five elements. Open up, symbol of Peace and Order, ‘Staff of the Bishop’.”

She holds the staff with two hands and utters a chant. The angel wings that are curled up on the silver staff open up like flower petals. The six wings are like a figure disc of a clock, as they point outwards accurately in six different directions of equal angles.

“One of the idols. That obeys the Son of God and the power of the Cross, connecting to foreign bodies and people.”

Anieze chants on as she starts to swing the silver staff gently.

DANG! The front tip of the staff hits the marble pillar, creating a loud sound.

(……?)

Both of them are rather far away from each other. For Anieze to strike like this, it really confuses Kamijo.

Bam!

Suddenly, Kamijo vision is tilted 90 degrees sideways.

“GYAAA…AAA……!”

Kamijo feels that he’s hit on the side on his head by some sort of metal, the moment he’s aware, he’s already on the floor. He feels giddy, and looks up. Anieze again grabs the end of the staff, spins it around twice, and slams it on the marble floor.

Kamijo feels his back go numb, and quickly does a barrel-roll. In an instant, an invisible force hits where his head was originally at. BAM! With that heavy impact sound, there’s a dent and some cracks on the ground, like it was hit by a hammer.

(A co-ordinated attack? Is it an attack that’s similar to manipulating the dynamics of space?)

Kamijo understands that he can’t stay at the same area though he doesn’t know how the attack works. At this moment, Anieze pulls out a knife from her arm, and scratches the side of the staff like a guitar.

Kakakaka! Behind Kamijo, who’s running around frantically, an invisible force cuts the air.

“That stick……!?”

“Haha, seems like you finally realized it. This is like that map magic that the Amakusa used, it’s really a bother to explain it. Once I damage this staff, other objects will be damaged as well. Like this……!”

Anieze pretends to raise her knife, only to swing the silver staff around before slamming it to the ground. Kamijo is unable to dodge this attack from above in time, and his left shoulder sinks downwards in an unnatural position.

Dong! At this moment, the heavy impact can be heard.

“……!”

Such an attack can be nullified by the Imagine Breaker, the problem is ‘where the attack will come from’, so he can’t raise his right hand in time.

Kamijo stopped at this point. After Anieze raises the Angel Staff and swings it around, she slams it into the marble pillar with her full strength.

(Oh no……!)

Kamijo hastily throws himself to the side. Luckily, there’s a slight delay from when Anieze gives the order to when the attack actually happens. In other words, as long as he keeps moving, he shouldn’t be hit.

Pow!

This strike that shouldn’t have hit Kamijo cuts deeply into his left wrist and left abdomen.

“GYAAAAHHHH……!”

Kamijo is pushed to the ground by this lateral impact. He feels a sharp pain coming out deep inside his abdomen, which is the centre of the body. Although his left wrist is between the point of impact and his left abdomen, the impact slams his left wrist into his abdomen. The joint of the left wrist seems to be broken, and not only is he unable to use any strength, even the sense of pain is gone. He can only feel a burning sensation.

Anieze taps the staff on the ground.

Kamijo quickly rolls on the floor, but the impact still strikes his chest. All the air in his lungs escaped. Even so, Kamijo endures the pain as he jumps backwards, wanting to avoid the next wave of attacks.

Anieze quickly raises her knife and scratches the staff, causing a few diagonal cracks behind Kamijo.

Papapa! The muscle fibres on Kamijo’s back seem to be torn.

For some reason, like lightning and thunder, there a second delay between the damage and the pain.

“GYA…AA…AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

Kamijo continues to roll on the ground, his back hurting like it’s burnt by fire. Anieze swings the staff horizontally across, and Kamijo continues to bounce on the ground like pebbles skipping on the water surface.

“Don’t think that you can dodge them so easily.”

Anieze says this with a cold expression, and swings the silver staff.

“Although there’s a delay between the command and the execution, once I calculate and readjust the position of the attack, this can be offset. In other words, all I need to do is to predict where you will dodge to, and by setting up the attacks in the positions where you will dodge, you’ll run into the attack area. Anyway, this isn’t impressive. Those times when I missed were samples to help me correct the position errors, didn’t you realize it?”

Kamijo desperately turns his head that’s hurting and hot, trying barely to hear all these. He stumbles as he endures the lingering pain on his back.

As if she’s confident of victory now, Anieze rubs her staff with her cheeks, saying,

“I wonder if you know that in modern Western magic, there are five elements—fire, wind, water, earth and ether—that have their own symbolic weapons. A ‘stick’ represents fire, ‘dagger’ represents wind, ‘cup’ represents water, and ‘round table’ represents earth. These are the so called elemental weapons.”

Anieze chuckles.

“And this staff in my hands, is the ‘lotus staff’ that represents ether. It has a very interesting characteristic, and that is, it can change into a weapon of other elements besides ether.”

Shua! Anieze swings the staff diagonally downwards.

When the staff struck the ground, Kamijo feels chilly, and jumped backwards. But this was predicted by Anieze. The premeditated strike hits Kamijo’s head from right above. Kamijo’s legs went weak, and he almost knelt down. His body is swaying about, and he can’t maintain his balance.

Kamijo tries to swing his right arm wildly, but the impact seems to be mocking his stupid behavior, as it hits him in the stomach from a completely different direction. Kamijo’s vision is blurred down, and his legs are trembling badly.

(Ugh……damn it, I can remove it if I can touch it! How can I touch it? How can I predict where Anieze’s attack will come from? Right now, all I can do is to predict when the attack will come……)

Kamijo looks rather angry, while Anieze grins happily.

“Everything is created by the five elements. By mixing this with the ‘Idol Theory’, what will be the result? Didn’t that magical library explain the map magic of Ino Tadataka? It’s the same idea, but that magic links the ‘map’ together with the ‘landscape’. However, this five element staff represents everything, in other words, it can cause everything to be suitable for this rule. Like say, air itself…!”

Anieze raises her staff and slams it onto the pillar like a nail. The heavy impact hits Kamijo, whose reaction is slow by half a beat, in the stomach. His entire body falls backwards.

He struggles to stand up, and finds a trail of blood flowing out from the corner of his mouth.

Kamijo spits the blood in his mouth, and says,

“Ugh…… —Peh. You said what, that you hated the ‘Book of the Law’, you hated magic…and yet it seems that you enjoy using it—”

This meaningless conversation allows Kamijo to catch his breath. Anieze knows about this, but doesn’t seem to mind.

“Hahaha, I know that you’re very angry after being hit so many times. But, the Bishop staffs that the higher Clergymen use were evolved from the warhammer. The warhammer was used to destroy enemy’s armour, so what’s wrong with me to hit the enemy? Haha, come to think about it, it’s ironic that people view this metal rod as a symbol of peace and order.”

Anieze sticks her tongue out and licks the side of the staff as if she’s intoxicated. A weird tinge passes through Kamijo’s body, causing him to jump back frantically. Upon seeing his reaction, Anieze laughs.

“Besides……”

Anieze gently continues,

“Didn’t I say this before? The basic theories behind modern Western magic that was established in the 20th century were just some backdoor teachings of Christianity. Or in the words of the Alchemists, ‘these are secrets of Christianity that humans don’t know of.’”

Anieze again strikes the staff down onto the ground.

Kamijo desperately tries to escape, but his feet cannot catch up to his thoughts.

Dong! The heavy impact hits his head.

“Ugh……! What do these…got to do with me…I’m not a magician.”

“All the same. Being able to get God’s grace despite not praying to him, this is unforgivable. Isn’t it? We worked so hard for the organization, so why do we have to spend money on people like you who never did anything? Those radicals, the British Puritans and the Amakusa are the same. Any teachings outside the Roman Catholics aren’t teachings. They didn’t contribute anything, what they do end up being are obstacles. These people are like pawns who only deserve to sacrifice themselves on a mission.”

(It’s coming……!)

Kamijo grits his teeth.

Anieze’s attacks may not be as powerful as Stiyl’s flame sword or Tatemiya’s strikes, but even an ordinary person won’t be able to take it after being beaten a few times. Kamijo’s legs are trembling, indicating that his body is at its limits.

The time of attack is rather precise.

Since it’s a magical attack, it’s possible to eliminate it with his right hand.

So……

As long as he can grasp the angle and direction of the attack…

As long as he can touch Anieze’s attack with his right hand, it’s alright.

(It’s coming!)

Anieze frowns as she holds the staff around like a performer. Kamijo is unable to dodge this ‘premeditated strike’. Before he even raises his right hand, the impact sends him flying away, as he rolls on the ground. He quickly pushed himself off the ground and got up straight.

Dong! Kamijo concentrated all his strength on his legs as he stepped forward.

The distance between these two is about 7 metres now.

With Kamijo’s pace, he will be able to get in front of Anieze in two or three steps. Anieze looks rather relaxed though. It’s much easier to predict the enemy’s movements if he is to continue running forward. She tightly grabbed onto the Angel Staff and swung it to the ground like she’s hacking a watermelon.

BAM!

There’s a heavy sound.

If this strike lands from above, it’ll definitely smash his skull into pieces.

But……

(I’ve been waiting for this—)

Kamijo slammed his shoes onto the ground, and suddenly stopped moving forward.

As long as he doesn’t move forward, he won’t be hurt by the attack that’s set up in front.

(—I've been waiting for quite a while!)

Then, Kamijo clenches his right fist and swings it towards the empty space in front which he was about to ‘step into’.

BAM!

A sound that’s like a blown balloon bursting is heard. Kamijo feels his right arm touch some giant invisible bubble. The attack that should have appeared there vanishes into thin air just like that.

“WHAT!?”

In contrast to this amateur, Anieze the magic specialist is more aware than anyone else that this can’t possibly happen.

Like a cannonball, Kamijo rushes into the empty space in front of him.

Anieze frantically raises the Angel Staff in front of her.

But being caught off-guard, she couldn’t use her full strength.

Kamijo has already arrived in front of Anieze.

Anieze’s staff finally hits the marble pillar.

With a resounding crash, Kamijo’s head is tilted to one side.

But……

He didn’t loosen his grip.

Bam!

A heavy sounding hit.

The back of Anieze Sanctis slams into the wall.

She became giddy.

Old fragments of her memories that were sealed away gradually start to appear inside her heart that’s becoming empty.

(Ah…don’t tell me……)

Anieze tries desperately to seal her memories away, but like magma rising, there’s an instinct to vomit from deep inside her stomach that’s rising up, interfering with her thoughts.

(I’m going back……)

The scene in her memory is on a dark alley in Milan. All the sunlight had been robbed by tourist streets outside.

Over here, there are only people lying on the red brick ground, rodents, worms and slugs.

Over here, there is no hope.

(Am I going back there again……?)

Going deeper into the memory, this fragment pierces through her heart.

It’s the back door of a restaurant. She’s digging into the rubbish bin for scraps of meat. She’s afraid of dropping it onto the body of the slugs, the fur of the rodents, and the shed wings of the cockroaches, as she puts in into her mouth, continuing to chew, and chew, and chew.

She did the same action everyday.

(No……)

The cry in her heart awakens her from her haziness.

Her wrists are numb; her weapon is on the floor; that knife that’s used to scrape the Angel’s staff. Just like that, the symbol of her fighting spirit, the weapon that’s used to defeat the enemy, leaves her hand, and falls onto the ground.

But……

Even though she has already let go of the knife, she’s not going to let go of the Angel’s staff.

(No! I definitely don’t want to…go back to that kind of life……!)

Anieze holds on tightly as if she’s going to snap the silver staff.

Her consciousness is back.

Her fighting spirit is back.

“!!”

Kamijo Touma and Anieze Sanctis are glaring at each other.

Both of them are now approximately 5 metres away from each other. Whether it’s the fist with a shorter attack range, or the staff with a longer attack range, both can hit each other in an instant. This staring contest is like an iaido contest in an old drama, or a quickdraw contest in Western movies.

Cold sweat flows down their faces.

Their nerves are tight.

They stopped breathing.

“Humph.”

Suddenly, Anieze dully sighs as she lowers the Angel’s staff. Not only that, she looks away from Kamijo, and starts to look around.

Although it’s a perfect opportunity to attack, Kamijo remains cautious. He’s trying to find a trace of possible danger in this chance.

Anieze rolled her eyes at him, and says,

“I know you’re working hard, but everything’s over.”

At this moment, Kamijo doesn’t understand what she’s talking about.

But after thinking about it for a while, he understood what she meant.

Right now, it’s quiet inside the ‘Marriage Chapel’, not even a pin drop can be heard in this place. It’s like being locked alone inside a cinema—the terrifying silence stimulates the ears, travelling down from the head to the heart.

This silence isn’t just caused by Anieze and Kamijo not moving about.

It also includes the outside.

There are about 250 Roman Catholic nuns, together with the allied group of more than 50 British Puritan and Amakusa members combined.

The total should be more than 300, as they are supposed to be fighting outside the ‘Marriage Chapel’.

But right now, not a single sound can be heard.

What does this mean?

This means……

“……………………………………………………”

Kamijo feels a stinging sensation all over his skin.

As if she wants to remove this stinging sensation forever, Anieze Sanctis continues,

“Your original plan seems to be for you to beat me, the commander, while your comrades hold up my subordinates.”

Her tone is mixed with a sense of mockery, insult, and sympathy.

“But this illusion seems to be destroyed.”

Kamijo is stunned as he heard this.

He even forgot to breathe.

He releases his fist.

There’s no reason to battle anymore.

There’s no reason to stay here.

Kamijo can only stand around, stunned.

A particular person’s face appeared inside his head.

“Yeah.”

He gathers his last ounce of confidence, and says,

“That’s right, your illusion is destroyed, Anieze Sanctis.”

“What?”

Anieze frowns.

BAM! At this moment, the Marriage Chapel’s doors behind Kamijo are forced open.

Anieze Sanctis, who’s facing off against Kamijo, slowly looks over his shoulders, at the doors.

Her face is full of fear and anxiety.

The figures at the doors of the ‘Marriage Chapel’ aren’t her subordinates. They’re Index and Stiyl Magnus of the British Puritans, Tatemiya Saiji of the Amakusa Catholics, Ursula Aquinas, who’s in Tatemiya’s hands, and Tatemiya’s comrades.

Besides that……

There’s a humanoid monster covered in orange flames that’s standing beside Stiyl.

Anieze doesn’t know what that monster is.

But everyone who knows it calls it,

‘Innocentius.’

A flame monster with a temperature of more than 3,000 degrees Celsius. Once created, it’ll continue to implode and regenerate, melting every attack of the enemy and any obstacles, until its enemies are vanquished. A super offensive magic that follows the principle of ‘Offense is the best Defense’ to the maximum.

But even those who saw this magic before will wonder if they’re seeing an illusion at this moment.

Because the ‘Innocentius’ right now is completely different as compared to before. The density of the flames is different, the momentum is different. The heat that’s released from it distorts the air surrounding them, and there seems to be countless invisible wings behind its giant back.

“I used 4,300 rune cards.”

The red-haired priest casually says.

“This number isn’t much…but the Amakusa are really something. They used the position of the runes to form a large picture, setting it up such that there’s a magical meaning throughout this entire place. Which means that the Church of Ursula has become a giant magic array. And they even placed this construct outside the effective area in order to prevent the boy’s right hand from destroying it…such a multi-structured magic array that includes and uses so many things, although it’s unorthodox, I may end up spending a lifetime studying this and yet be unable to finish learning it.”

Stiyl proudly looks at the lump of fire in front of him.

“Thanks to them, the rune cards can be set up. Come to think about it, almost everything was set up before the battle, and we were just touching up just now, like filling up the missing parts of a jigsaw puzzle. Oh yeah, I haven’t introduced myself. I’m never the type that will run around as I fight, I prefer to stand at one point and wait. Because of some reason, I need that kind of magic.”

The doors of the church are opened, and one can see the scenery outside. On the flat stone atrium, where there’s not even a single blade of grass, there’s burn marks from the magical flames everywhere. The nuns in black robes are lying all over the place. Their flesh aren’t burnt to ash, nor are they seriously burnt.

Those explosions that they heard just now were likely from this flame monster.

The shockwaves caused by the flames pushing the air away sent the nuns sprawling onto the floor.

These nuns that couldn’t get up are just comatose.

Though there’s only a fifth of the nuns who lost their combat capabilities, the destructive capabilities of ‘Innocentius’ scares the other nuns, causing them to grit their teeth but not daring to rush forward.

Because they are clear that once they get near carelessly, they’ll be the next victim of the flames and heat.

“I told you just now that we played a few tactics.”

Kamijo viciously smiles,

“They aren’t running all over the place just to be bait. They’re just setting up the cards for Stiyl’s secret weapon…of course, not being a magician, I’m not sure of the particulars.”

Kamijo’s right hand has the ability ‘Imagine Breaker’, and is unable to take part in the setting up of the rune cards, so he’s the only one responsible for taking down Anieze. All these were a ploy to ensure that Anieze will be misled in thinking that Kamijo used the rest as bait in order to create a chance for a duel to the death with her, so that the rune cards won’t be destroyed.

Although Kamijo didn’t explain, Anieze has almost guessed what’s going on.

At the same time, she knows what she needs to do.

She carefully raise her staff, and shouts at the nuns outside the ‘Marriage Chapel’,

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING! WE HAVE MANY MORE PEOPLE THAN THEM! THESE PEOPLE AREN’T WORTH FEARING AS LONG AS WE FINISH THEM ALL!”

That’s right. No matter what anyone says, there’s a huge difference in the number of people between the Roman Catholics, and Kamijo and company. The reason why Kamijo and company are still alive is because of their tactics and running about. The Roman Catholics can beat them easily as long as they surround them, not giving them a chance to escape, and attack at the same time. Although there will be several casualties, the remaining 100+ people will step over their comrades’ dead bodies to finish off Kamijo and company.

This is the reason why Stiyl, though a professional magician, didn’t kill a single nun. Once he kills a few nuns, the other nuns will go berserk and commit a kamikaze attack, causing the situation to become even more dangerous. With his magical prowess, killing people is a lot easier for him than not killing them.

However……

The nuns, who have a huge advantage in numbers, didn’t take action.

“What are you doing……!?”

Anieze sees that her subordinates are unable to understand this simple logic, and is about to scold them.

But at this moment, she realizes the reason behind it.

Doubts.

Although the nuns understand that Anieze’s point is correct, their hearts are unable to completely believe. Their hearts are like an unstable balance, unable to decide whether to fight or run. As long as one of them takes action, the group psychology will affect the entire situation.

Anieze Sanctis remembered what Ursula Aquinas said.

“Their actions…are based on trust…”

“…compared to them…we’re truly ugly.”

Anieze lowers her head and grits her teeth, almost breaking her molars.

Since the balance is in a swing state, the problem can be solved by breaking this balance through tough measures. In other words, all Anieze needs to do is to beat Kamijo, who’s in front of her.

If she uses the power of the other nuns, she won’t be able to show her superiority. However, Kamijo is in the same predicament. If his comrades were to beat Anieze, it’ll reveal his anxiety, nervousness, and fear. At that moment, the doubts inside the nuns’ hearts will disappear, and they rush onwards with momentum like an avalanche.

In other words, this can only be settled with a one on one.

Kamijo Touma vs Anieze Sanctis.

Though the number of people on both sides total to more than 300, the two of them are in a state of isolation and helplessness.

The distance between them is now about 5 metres.

This distance is still within the Angel’s staff striking distance. But Kamijo just needs to step forward in order to say hello to Anieze’s body with his fist. The situation for both sides is rather comparable. In other words, whoever strikes first will win.

(What—What should I do……)

Anieze carefully maintains the distance between them, as sweat flows down her forehead.

Will my attack hit him first?

Anieze kept telling herself not to panic. The usefulness of the ‘lotus staff’ can’t be compared to a mere fist. As long as she estimates the position and strikes with full force, beating this ordinary man in front of her, everything’s easy.

(What…what—is the right thing to do……)

However, should she really gamble everything on just a simple hit? What will happen if he dodges it? What if she guessed wrongly? Should she first use several light and fast attacks to limit his movements just to be safe, before striking him down in one hit? The problem is that if those light attacks cannot block his attack, and he rushes forward, what will happen to her?”

But, but then, however, rather, the problem is, come to think about it…

Anieze overturns her thoughts again and again.

There’s too many tactics that she can use, but she doesn’t know which one to choose.

(Method—time, weapon…distance…how should I attack?)

In contrast……

Kamijo Touma has no doubts over his tactics.

He concentrates all his strength into his right fist.

He’ll bet his life on this hit.

He believes.

Even though he’s tired, and one leg’s in the coffin, he believes.

He believes in his weapon, he believes in the path that his weapon creates, he believes in the scene when his weapon brutally hits the enemy’s body, he believes that his victory will bring about a wonderful future.

Kamijo Touma’s actions are based on trust.

“It’s over Anieze.”

There’s no hesitation in Kamijo’s voice.

“You should be clear about it yourself, your illusion is already destroyed.”

Stiyl pinches the cigarette in his mouth, and throws it to the ground.

The two see the orange flame fall onto the ground from the corner of their eyes.

At this moment, the battle started.

DONG! A strong and powerful step is heard.

Kamijo Touma clenches his iron-like fist, and swings it at Anieze.

(What should I do…what should I do—KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!)

Something seems to break inside Anieze Sanctis’ heart.

Though the enemy’s attack is in front of her, the swaying balance is unable to make a decision. Anieze, whose mind hasn’t made a decision yet, is forced to make one. With a low self-esteem, she swings the silver staff.

One side has already bet everything on his right fist, the other side doesn’t know what to do.

It’s obvious which side has the advantage.

BAM!

A stunning impact sound.

Anieze’s body flies away, grazes past the large marble pillar, and viciously lands onto the ground.

The large impact forces the Angel’s staff to fall off Anieze’s hands. After rolling on the ground for several metres, when all the air in her lungs seems to have escaped, she finally stopped rolling.

At this moment, she has already lost consciousness.

With this, Index, Stiyl and company, and the Roman Catholic nuns surrounding them, the power balance between them is dissolved within an instant. A nun who lost all hope of winning dropped her weapon, creating a sound. A second one…a third one…finally, all the weapons drop onto the floor like a downpour.

The battle is over.

Just a single fist of a boy is able to bring down the inner mental defense of more than 200 enemies.