Carissa

Carissa (キャーリサ) is a character introduced in Toaru Majutsu no Index. She is a member of the British Royal Family and the second of three daughters of Queen Regnant Elizard. Of the three princesses, she possesses the aspect of "military might."

During the gradual descent of the United Kingdom's favor among the European nations, she launches a coup d'état along with the Knights of England using the power of the Curtana Original in an attempt to shift the balance of power away from the Roman Catholic Church, whose influence covers much of Europe. The coup faced opposition from her younger sister Villian, her allies, and Necessarius and although she usurped power, she failed to completely stop the resistance, resulting in the British Halloween. Carissa is later defeated at the Battle of Buckingham Palace.

Despite her and her allies' crimes, they are sent to the battlefield as the world falls into war, and later, does missions for the country instead of being incarcerated.

Appearance
Carissa appears as a woman in her upper 20's with blonde hair which she ties in the back. She wears a red dress composed of bright red leather which gives off a impression of bondage-related clothing, with a skirt that's supported by a wire framework and is able to contract or expanded to an unnaturally large size like an umbrella. Her ensemble is added with red gloves that nearly reaches up to her shoulders, and wears a golden crown.

The narration remarks that she is very gaudy looking compared to her sisters.

Personality
From her first introduction, she doesn't interact well with the other members of her family and looks down upon her younger sister, Villian, even openly insults her. When it comes to guests, she is very prideful of her place in history, asking Touma if he even studied history.

As it has been stated, she is possess the aspect to military might, which is displayed throughout the entirety of her debut novel. When Riméa discusses regarding France's likely involvement in the Eurotunnel bombing, she demands proof, not out of concern for the truth but the desire to do battle. She's also very patriotic, as it is her love for her country, despite despising the traditions of England, that forced her hand into waging a coup d’etat. Once the British Halloween takes place, Carissa shows her military and political savviness, quickly showing off her newly acquired political power and threatens France.

Here, Carissa assumes a more tyrannical nature and uncaring beliefs even to her own allies. However, only until after Riméa finished her investigation and broadcasted Carissa's true beliefs revealed more about her intentions and ideals, that she is willing to be marked as a tyrant for all of history so long as the country is safe and retains its honor.

In spite of this, she has a quirky side as well, not unlike her mother, as she is willing to participate in a group photo of Touma, her sisters, and her mother despite the urgency of their meeting. Indeed, she was the one who went out to pose for the picture the moment Touma took out his cellphone.

Background
Seeing the perceived weakness of the United Kingdom, with the treaties it made with Academy City and France, as well as the fact that the Roman Catholic Church tightening its noose throughout Europe, Carissa believes that the country will fall into ruin regardless of it siding with Academy City or the Roman Catholic Church. She dreams up a plan for her vision of the United Kingdom, after coming to a conclusion that England would lose all its value and even its people would be looked down upon by other EU nations, if the country continued on its current course. She decided that the most effective means of maintain England's honor and peace would be through military force through the use of the Curtana Original. However, Carissa knew well of the destruction that the Curtana, and likely replacement created, would cause as well as the present danger that a monarch in the future would abuse it. As such, she would rise as historical tyrant only to fall later but not before killing every British Royal family member that can use Curtana, sealing all the Curtanas, and any possible means of reviving them, becoming a sort of scapegoat for her country. For this purpose, she also prepared a tomb for herself in Edinburgh.

With that, she hires New Light to search for the long lost Curtana Original, and has the Knight Leader and the Knights of England come to her cause of protecting the kingdom's honor and safety in their turbulent world, though keeping her plan of "tyranny" secret from her allies. After, the Eurotunnel bombing, she becomes convinced that France is to blame, and wanting to use it as an excuse to ramp the country's aggressions against France. However, she is unable to do anything as she has no hard proof of their involvement and that the Curtana Original hasn't been delivered to her yet.

British Royal Family Arc
She first appears in the shadows, watching the report regarding the Sky Bus 365 terrorist incident, and laments the state of her country due to the fact that the Royal Air Force transportation plane used during the operation by Necessarius to stop the terrorists had parts that have come from Academy City.

Carissa is later escorted by two knights to Buckingham Palace for the strategy meeting there, sneering on Riméa's choice of not wanting knights escorting her out of concern. She then meets Touma, and seeing his unfamiliarity with her, asks if he has been taught history, and though quickly ignores him. She later turns toward the youngest sister, Villian, surprised at her arrival. She turns to Touma and Index and introduces her to them, saying that she is boring. As all of the girls have gathered, Elizard suggests they move to another room where their conversation isn't recorded and not wait for the other participants or "specialists" in order to allow them to talk without reservations, much to Kaori and the Knight Leader's chagrin, though Carissa agrees. Carissa says that as long as they have the representatives of the three factions are there it should be fine, though complains about Laura Stuart not being there, though a Saint like Kanzaki Kaori should do fine. Kaori then apologizes, saying that the Archbishop Laura is acting secretly behind the scenes as usual. Riméa says that in the end the country is a kingdom, and as such it is Elizard, the monarch, who has final say on matters. Carissa then asks Touma's role in the meeting in a manner that implied that she would rather have him left out as he isn't needed. Elizard then says that Touma is the one who saved the lives of their people from the terrorists in the Sky Bus 365 without being rewarded, and in recognition for that she is willing to listen to his opinion. Hearing that Touma is brave, she draws her face close to him, impressed by him. They later move to another room to start the meeting proper. As the Eurotunnel bombing meeting in Buckingham Palace begins, she is the most vocal of the group along with her mother and her sister Riméa.

When it was time for Index and Touma to split ways, with the former going to Folkestone in order to go to the Eurotunnel to analyze the magic there, Carissa tells Touma he can't follow. She says that Touma's Imagine Breaker may interfere with the investigation. Index and Kaori allays her concerns and tells him that he really doesn't need to do anything, with Elizard saying that he can do anything he wants until the situation is resolved. Touma, however is insistent in helping to keep England's peace, forcing them to acquiesce to his request.

Joined by Villian, Carissa and Index are in the Travelling Fortress escorted by the Knights of England towards the Eurotunnel terminal that connects to Dover. As they neared Dover, the sisters discuss their elder sister's quirk of being distrustful towards other before moving to the topic regarding the current situation of the United Kingdom. Carissa observes that the back to back attacks on the United Kingdom, the Eurotunnel bombing and the Sky Bus 365 terrorist incident, has been a blow to the country and would lead to a major riot in the population which the three factions of the country could not possibly contain. Villian knows that Carissa is blaming France for this, and points out that the Roman Catholic Church has a hand in the incidents. Carissa says that regardless of the Roman Catholic Church's involvement, sees that they still need to invade France and establish a supply line there. She says that from there they would be enable create a base right in front of the Vatican. Villian offers a compromise and that they should rather create a large supply base in the Mediterranean Sea and apply pressure to the Vatican instead of invading France. Carissa points out however that France is the one guarding the Mediterranean and that a sea base is too vulnerable than a land base. Villian is upset that the only thing Carissa to think of to solve the crisis in their country is too use military force. Carissa says that she is wont to the thoughts of military might, though points out that since Villian's quality is benevolence, then she might be able to find her own more moral solution. She says to Villian to stay focus if she wants to lead them to the best solution as they are about to find the information needed to make the decision in the Eurotunnel.

After arriving at Folkestone, Knight Leader notices the change of weight of his case and reports to Carissa that the Curtana Original has arrived. Talking to her discreetly, he reports that the Anglican Church mistakenly believes that New Light intended to assassinate a princess in order to use a large-scale European attack. Carissa mocks this and states that the spell doesn't exist. The Knight Leader notes that if it did the negotiations with their enemies would've been much easier and that they need only to ensure that people weren't killed so easily. With that, Carissa smiles and orders the invasion as she now has the Curtana Original she is now the rightful ruler of the United Kingdom. Thus begins the British Halloween.

British Halloween
As the British Halloween takes place, Index is accompanied by Carissa and Knight Leader in the Eurotunnel near the collapse portion of the tunnel. Here, Index determines that the magic used is of Roman Catholic origin and references French royalty's passing relation to it. Hearing Index's analysis that a spell related to the French royal family was used, Carissa now determines that the one at fault is a French Roman Catholic faction. Despite Index saying that the spell's used it doesn't necessarily mean that the current political power used it since the French monarchy has been ended, Carissa is adamant, pointing out that the brains behind the current political power in France have the knowledge of the historical kings of France and treasures from the royal palace. With a smile, Carissa congratulates Index for giving her the answer she wanted to hear, that France was at fault for the bombing, as otherwise she would have killed her, putting Index on guard. Knight Leader comes near and hands her the Curtana Original from the case.

Using Index's analysis as justification, now as the new sovereign of the country, Carissa orders the Knight Leader to have the Knights of England to force the military to send a destroyer to Dover Strait, and from there threaten Versailles, destroying it depending on France's answer. The Knight Leader asks if they should notify Academy City, their ally, to which Carissa's says to ignore them, threatening the connection that was established by Academy City and the Anglican Church. The Knight Leader asks if targeting Versailles is the best idea as the current political power of France is controlled in the shadows who have no permanent base, to which Carissa says that it is only because the greatest of them all is hiding in Versailles, and killing her would force the others out of hiding. Carissa orders the use of Bunker Cluster warheads. She says she will disregard the treaty that they signed to ban it with the nations of the EU as well as other unnecessary treaties. Carissa also states that she intends to cut America's economic backing to further her desire for the United Kingdom to become more independent from her neighbors. Knight Leader warns that isolating themselves after the Eurotunnel bombing and the hijacking straining the nation could make it worse. Carissa however says that all they need to do is remove the Roman Catholic Church's control from Europe, creating a structure that centered around England, solving the problems with the economy and resources, a society where England is needed by the rest of the world. Carissa comments that her mother's pacifism doesn't work in times of war and that they need to win the upcoming war without any cooperation and interference from others. Accepting, the Knight Leader begins preparations for the destroyer. Carissa comments on how she wishes that they have developed nuclear bombs, prompting the Knight Leader to say that they should use something that would not be harmful to people after the Palace of Versailles has been hit. Carissa laughs at this and says that they can send a warning beforehand as the woman they are after won't leave the palace even if they did. Carissa, still needing Index to legitimize their threat against France, then orders the Knight Leader to "put her to sleep". The Knight Leader then knocks Index out with a single punch.

As they exit the Eurotunnel, Carissa says that all it needs now to be done is to execute the rest of her family so that no one may contest her in using the Curtana Original. She is then informed that her mother has been captured in Windsor Castle, her elder sister is still missing, though likely in a nearby city or in London, and that Villian has escaped in her Travelling Fortress. Carissa doubts that her sister had the foresight in seeing the danger surrounding her, but then realizes that people who adore her for her benevolence may have helped her escape. Relieved that there aren't any Royal Maids or armed aides with Villian, Carissa is nevertheless annoyed that Villian got away. She approaches a group of servants huddled together and threatens to cut them down with the Curtana Original for letting her sister escape. At this moment, the Knight Leader intervenes advising her to lay down her arms, knowing that she won't kill him as he still is useful to her, which Carissa applauds. Carissa notes that she may not kill him but it will be different when it comes to her mother and sisters. The Knight Leader says he is only doing what he did because she shouldn't make any unnecessary judgments, otherwise he has no reason to stop her. Satisfied, Carissa sheathes the sword into the scabbard and leaves the servants alone. Investigating where Villian's carriage went to, the Knight Leader is able to determine that it is going to Canterbury where Canterbury Cathedral likely to find aid with the Anglican Church. The Knight Leader assures Carissa that the servants don't know how to use magic so it is likely that the carriage is not a dummy as it is being tracked by them. Hearing this, Carissa says she'll hold his words by his life. Just then, a sea plane flies low before them. Confused by this, they determine that it isn't of the knights nor from the military but a plane from Hyde Park's lake. As it passes, Kanzaki Kaori lands before them, determined to eliminate the center of the coup. Carissa sneers at this as she takes off on her horse to catch up to her sister. Kaori tries to stop her but Knight Leader intervenes before she can do so.

Carissa later catches up to Villian just in time for Canterbury Cathedral's magic begins working, thinking Villian's carriage is an enemy. She orders Villian to come out as she will be dead either way. Villian, though hesitant, finally complies just in time before her royal carriage is destroyed. Here, Villian sees that her sister now has control of the Curtana Original. She tells her that the Anglican Church has abandoned her because she now controls the other two factions. The Knight Leader then arrives and reports that he has defeated Kanzaki Kaori.

Carissa then orders the execution of Villian, which the Knight Leader complies, shocking Villian who has known of the Knight Leader for many years and the service he has done for her and her family. Knight Leader then orders for an executioner's axe in order for him to cut off Villian's head. With a sigh, the Knight Leader raises the axe and promises to the teary-eyed Villian that he will take care of her head with the utmost respect. Suddenly, William Orwell returns, knocking out several knights, destroying the axe, and has princess Villian already in his arms. Everyone is shocked except the Knight Leader who has expected him to come as they face him, carrying his great sword Ascalon. Seeing him and his sword, and recalling his defeat in Academy City, Carissa can only smile as she believes that he can now be killed after Acqua of the Back has been depowered to that of a Saint, something that the Knight Leader can beat. Acqua of the Back promptly uses his sword in order to get away. As the dust settles, Carissa reprimands the Knight Leader for not wanting to attack as he may hurt Villian. Carissa then orders for the Knight Leader to take both of Villian's and Acqua of the Back's heads, which he obliges. She later comes upon Acqua of the Back again, as well as Kamijou Touma, who had just found Index. Seeing the former alive, she concludes that the Knight Leader has been defeated and laments the Knight Leader's uselessness. Here, Carissa demonstrates the destructive capability of Curtana Original, destroying a part of the forest they were in, forcing Acqua of the Back to retreat with Touma and Index.

With the retreat of Acqua of the Back, Touma, and Index, Carissa is left alone. She later calls for the knights in London to report the situation there, to which the knight says they have mostly taken control of all major British cities including the capital, and that he disturbances and riots have calmed down. Carissa then reports that the Knight Leader has been defeated, shocking the knight. She then asks to be returned to Buckingham Palace via Eurostar line, to which the knight reports that the railway has been sabotaged by three different points between London and Folkestone. Carissa could only guess that the Anglicans destroyed the railways after Touma got into Folkestone, believing that they don't need the trains anymore. Here, she can only smile at the guerilla tactics the Anglican Church is putting up against them. She then requests to be transported via Air Force helicopter and says that even if the helicopter is destroyed, she has so much telesma from the Curtana Original that she won't die. Carissa is then told that there is a call from the French president, which she receives. Here, she completely mocks him and his leadership and makes a mockery of the military movements of the French as she has the destroyer in Dover Strait attack a French submarine that was aiming a nuclear missile for London, which the president foolishly claimed to be unaffiliated with them. Carissa then uses this to her advantage, forcing the president to leave the submarine to its doom lest she uses her Bunker Cluster missile on a French city for each transgression. In the end, the French president is told by Carissa to hand the decision making to the Maiden of Versailles, which greatly angers him and ends their call.

The helicopter arrives shortly afterwards, and before it can even land, Carissa easily jumps towards it and enters it in midair. She is later taken to Buckingham Palace in order to make readjustments on Curtana Original. Carissa is later seen again right after the success of the Overloading of Curtana Original, severely injured by the sword going out of control. Although the resulting loss of power for her and the knights is tremendous, they are still fairly powerful. Carissa later suspects that the knights will betray her and makes plans to act against them before they do.

Anticipating the assault on Buckingham Palace by the Anglican Church forces and the use of the mobile fortresses as well, Carissa, likely wanting to further her plans in destroying the codes and documents in the Palace that would allow for the construction of a new Curtana, deliberately refuses to move from her position in London. Anticipating them, Carissa further plays her role in looking like a tyrant. To prevent reprisals on the knights after she is defeated, Carissa "purges" the knights faction by making them think they have been severely injured by her, in the hopes of preventing them from falling apart, and consequently the country, as a whole, under the guise of retaining control over them due to their losing morale on Carissa's actions after the defeat of the Knight Leader and the overloading of the Curtana Original. She would later had them transferred to a location far from the battle that would occur in Buckingham Palace.

This however results in Buckingham Palace's security level falling, essentially making her the only one able to defend against the attack of the Anglican Church forces. Carissa's excuse for this is that she has the Curtana Original making guards useless for her. Without knights to patrol London, guard her, or to defend against the Anglican Church forces, Carissa orders the mobilization of almost 20 Griffin Sky mobile fortresses to her location. After fighting everyone on her own using her sword and the dimensional debris it creates, Carissa gets an opportunity to get to Villian. It is here that the Anglican Church forces are able to make some serious damage on Carissa. The Anglican Church forces used a combination of Villian's magic arrows fired from her bowgun and the large-scale flash spell of the Coven Compass to not only attack her but to recover their strength as well. Finally, Index uses Spell Intercept on one of the incoming large-scale flash bombardments of Coven Compass. It hits the Griffin Sky mobile fortresses and hits Carissa through an opening in Curtana Original’s defenses. Carissa is then caught in a tremendous explosion. She survives, though is not unscathed by it. Carissa then orders the firing of a cruise missile with a Bunker Cluster warhead on Buckingham Palace, seeing that the Griffin Skies have been destroyed, forcing her to use the warhead earlier. Seeing the extensive damage that it would cause, not only on Buckingham Palace but in a considerable part of London as well, Kaori tries to use a large defense barrier with a 3 kilometer wide radius. Carissa later attacks her as she tries to create the barrier, though she is able to dodge it but the construction of her barrier is delayed. Kaori tries to create the barrier again. However, it is too late, the warhead splits and is able to get through the holes of the unfinished defense barrier. In spite of this however, 200 of the missiles exploded prematurely because of the barrier, sparing London. As the missiles were set by Carissa to detonate 5 meters underground, the missiles bury themselves into the ground before exploding in Buckingham Palace. Magicians present on the scene would later use defensive spells to weaken the destruction caused by the missiles that got through.

The attack destroys the remaining Griffin Sky mobile fortresses but Carissa remains standing and with only a few scratches on her body. Despite the Anglican Church forces gaining complete numerical advantage, Carissa points out to them that they are still unable to harm her no matter how many they are. Carissa then orders the destroyer Wimbledon to fire a cruise missile equipped with Bunker Cluster warhead towards Buckingham Palace. Carissa reveals that she was planning to use it against her mother after drawing her out using the Griffin Skies, but since they have been destroyed she is forced to advance her schedule. Knowing of the destruction the missiles would cause and with only a minute before it reaches them, Kaori tries to use a large defense barrier with a 3 kilometer wide radius. Carissa tries to attack her using dimensional debris while Kaori is busy creating the barrier. Kaori is able to dodge it but the construction of her barrier is delayed. Kaori tries to create the barrier again. However, it is too late, the warhead splits and is able to get through the holes of the unfinished defense barrier. In spite of this however, 200 of the missiles exploded prematurely because of the barrier, sparing London. Though the Anglican Church forces survived the attack batters them severely, while Carissa is unfazed by it. She asks Touma if he still has some hope left and then orders Wimbledon to fire another Bunker Cluster.

Before Carissa can order another attack with a Bunker Cluster-equipped cruise missile, Riméa uses a mass communication spell in London and reveals Carissa's true motives for her coup and pleads to those who hear, specifically the knights and the Knight Leader, to save her. The knights, who have recovered from Carissa's "punishment", and the Knight Leader answers Riméa's call as well, using his magic to prevent another Bunker Cluster attack on them. He orders the knights to assist the fallen Anglicans while he engages Carissa in battle. Carissa tries to fire several Bunker Cluster missile attacks on Buckingham Palace in order to bypass his magic but is stopped by Acqua of the Back destroying the antenna that is used for military transmissions. From there, Acqua of the Back, the Knight Leader, as well as the recovered Kanzaki Kaori, does battle against Carissa in a clash of four swords. The three Saint-level magicians then fight Carissa, forcing her for the first time to be on the defensive. Despite this, Carissa manages to regain the offensive again by attacking the ordinary magicians and knights in order to ruin their synchronicity as a group.

Elizard however arrives just in time to relieve the forces against Carissa, fighting her own daughter herself with the Curtana Second. Elizard manages to hold her own with Curtana Second but it is clear Curtana Original still superior. With that, Elizard throws away her sword and uses the Union Jack spiritual item to distribute the power of the Curtana Original to the people of the United Kingdom and asking them through a communication spiritual item if they would like to help them save Carissa. Now with the aid of the empowered citizens in London, the magicians and knights present renew their attack on Carissa, who is too preoccupied in preventing the power of Curtana Original from being drained further. Because of this she cannot attack properly against them creating an opening for Touma after Index has finally finished analyzing it and used Spell Intercept on it to distribute its power. He has Acqua of the Back throw him towards her, and with his right hand, not only destroys the Curtana Original but punches Carissa in the face, finally ending her coup.

Carissa later comes to and finds herself 2-3 kilometers away from Buckingham Palace. There, she finds that though she is still holding the hilt of Curtana Original it has now been destroyed. Suddenly, Fiamma of the Right himself arrives before her. He mocks the defeated Carissa, revealing that he used his influence over the Roman Catholic Church to get the French government to cause unrest within the United Kingdom with the Eurotunnel incident. Carissa made his plan much easier than he had originally intended by distracting everyone with her sudden coup d’état. During all the fighting, Fiamma of the Right got a hold of the spiritual remote control for Index’s John's Pen mode that was within Buckingham Palace. Having achieved his goal Fiamma of the Right decides to just kill Carissa, but Kamijou Touma arrives right in time to thwart his attack. Fiamma of the Right is delighted to see that another major piece of his plan has come to him; though Fiamma of the Right says he won’t risk fighting Touma just yet since the remote control might be destroyed. For fun, Fiamma of the Right gives a little demonstration of his new toy and summons Index in John’s Pen mode to attack Touma and Carissa. Fiamma of the Right reveals he was after the knowledge of the 103, 000 grimoires held within Index, something that the remote control allows him to access. Fiamma of the Right takes his leave, saying to Touma that he is going to Russia in order to collect the "materials" and that he needs to call down an Angel—until then, Touma can hold onto Imagine Breaker.

World War III Arc
In the Battle of the Dover Strait, she commands the military forces defending against the attack by France, and as the Battle continues she becomes engaged in a duel with the leader of the enemy force, the Maiden of Versailles who has the artifact Durandal. Carissa by then used her secret weapon: a shard of the Curtana Second that was chipped off when Elizard used it to duel with Carissa during the UK civil war, and can grant the wielder from the UK Royal family the power to turn it into the best weapon to defend the wielder against an attack. Against the Durandal the shard produced a sword of light with the shard as the hilt, with the narrative description sounding close to that of a "lightsaber." Carissa mentions the power of the shard is weaker than she thought it would be, even in the hands of Royalty.

Later when the manifestation of Archangel Gabriel and its devastation of both Academy City and Russian forces ends the Battle of Dover Strait inconclusively. Carissa and the Maiden of Versailles turn their attention to the new foe, coming to the aid of the beleaguered Academy City and Russian forces. Despite the effectiveness of both Carissa and the Maiden's weapons against the archangel's wings, they prove to be unable to harm the angel itself. Gabriel unleashes a fierce counter-attack, nearly killing Carissa if not for the timely intervention of the Maiden. It proceeds to shower the battlefield with thousands of icicles, leaving no openings for either Carissa or the Maiden of Versailles to capitalize on. Gabriel then turns its attention to the forces of Academy City and Russia—Carissa is barely able to intercept the archangel's attack, wounding her heavily and shattering her weapon. As Gabriel attacks again, Carissa reveals that she possesses more than one shard of the Curtana Second, now wielding two shards of the sword in her hands with ten more tied to her belt. Carissa and the Maiden, despite their wounds, help cover the retreat of the Academy City and Russian forces, who are in turn assisted by English and French troops. Carissa declares that they will hold until the troops reach safety. Finally, she procures a communication device from in between her breasts (to which the Maiden of Versailles is quick to criticize) and orders multiple surface-to-air missile strikes on the newly-emerged Star of Bethlehem, which is enough to force Archangel Gabriel into a retreat so that it can intercept the missiles. Carissa taunts the archangel as it leaves, but thinks to herself that the angel's power is beyond any mortal reckoning and questions how it can be possibly defeated by mere humans.

Magic God Othinus Arc
She is first seen with William Orwell and the Knight Leader after being temporarily released from the Tower of London for the emergency situation involving GREMLIN. As they prepared to leave to attack Sargasso from a naval port on the northernmost edge of Scotland, they had a brief discussion as to the readiness of the group before setting out in one of their Mobile Fortresses (the Queen Mermaid and the Hotel Ariel) for the alliance's operation. The Knight leader then got the conformation to leave and begin the assault.

On route she receives word that America and Russia will be a little delayed, and though the other two can enter as the second wave of attack, they determined that they will take all glory for themselves. William Orwell asks when Touma will get here, to which Carissa states that he should arrive by the second wave, and notes that due to Academy City's Supersonic Passenger Plane he may arrive before the American and Russian forces. As the island became visible, it is bombed by several Grape Jelly bombs and the Mont Blanc bombs. As the attack takes place, William notes on how Carissa's methods never change, and warn her that due to the incident she caused in England, the British Halloween, GREMLIN may had analyzed her methods. Carissa replies that if one removes all the waste and search for the optimal usage of one's weapons, everyone will ultimately arrive at the same place. She states that a military run by a nation needs an attack method that is impossible to avoid even if one know it is coming. As the begin to land on the island, Carissa isn't optimistic enough to think that the bombing was enough to kill all the members of GREMLIN, but believed that since they still have the physical body of a human, then they can be killed.

Landing on the island, they are informed that there is no need for gas masks for there were no toxic substances detected after the bombing. Thus, they and the British forces begin their search for GREMLIN. Then, they here a voice up on a wrecked tanker in the island welcoming them and introducing himself as Loki. He comments that "Lady Othinus" gave him the task of protecting the Sargasso of the North Sea with his life. His explanation is cut short however, after he is shot through the throat with an arrow fired via the Robin Hood spell. Loki then fell from the tip of the tanker he was standing on and slammed to the ground. Carissa then ordered all of her men to continue moving forward. He then suddenly rises, explaining that he is just an illusion and the real Loki is nowhere near the area. He further explains that he was suspicious of his teammates and worried about a spy, so he created an artificial sky over the true Sargasso and altered Marian Slingeneyer's notes. Reports from the landed forces state that the teams have found no trace of the magic god or the production of the lance in the island: it is completely empty. Carissa and the others then realize they had indeed been led to a false Sargasso on the other side of the world. The illusion bids them farewell and disappears, just as the place is bombed.

VS The World
Surviving the explosion in Sargasso, Princess Carissa, Knight Leader, and William Orwell are mobilized on the Hotel Ariel to go to Denmark following the sudden changing of sides of Kamijou Touma with Magic God Othinus. They are later joined by Kanzaki Kaori. They later knock Touma after his fight with Vasilisa and Sasha Kreutzev, taking him into the mobile fortress. They later prepare to use the Curtana's shard to attack Othinus. As Touma comes to, William tells him not to get up, adding that they don't particularly care about him and that it would be best for him if he simply watched as they bring the situation to an end. Carissa also comments on Touma waking up, saying that letting him freeze on the deck would have been decent punishment for causing so much trouble around the world. He also hears Kaori responding to the Knight Leader's query about bringing him aboard by saying that they don't know what the other GREMLIN members are doing so doing so would prevent the possibility of them meeting with him. She then tells Touma where he is. After hearing of Carissa's intention to use the Curtana's shard against Othinus, Touma slams his fist into the floor, destroying it with the Imagine Breaker and causing them all to fall down to a lower level. Seeing this as a hostile action, the four move to attack him.

To her surprise, Touma moves himself into the path of her attack, such that it would kill him if it connected. Moving to avoid it, Kaori tries to incapacitate him without killing him, realizing that he was using her own trait of not killing against her. However Touma curls himself up, forcing her to jump over him and ends up colliding with the Knight Leader.

Touma once again slams his fist on the mobile fortress, causing them to all fall down again. As they land to safety on the lower levels of fortress, Carissa comments on the queerness of Touma's actions as he can't escape the fortress from 1500 meters. William comments on Touma's plan on using Kaori against them. Both Carissa and Knight Leader find out that Kaori is gone. Carissa comments that they could try searching every room in the fortress and that Touma will be cornered eventually. However, William says they don't have time for that as he already realized Touma's plan, though says that it relies on others too much to call it a proper plan. And that plan is for him to use Kaori's character and trait of saving people to help him survive and escape.

Carissa later uses her Curtana shard to attack them and Othinus from afar, though Kaori later manages to divert the power being relayed to the Curtana's shard and destroy Hotel Ariel. Touma's gamble continues even after Touma left Kaori's side, as she fights Carissa, William, and the Knight Leader on her own. They later listen to the speech by Roberto Katze and Queen Elizard regarding the need to not give in to fear and hatred against Othinus, while Kaori continues to fight the other while coughing up blood from the attacks she had received.

Return to England Arc
During the Crowley's Hazard invasion of London, Carissa remained in her cell in the Tower of London, briefly giving some advice to Orsola Aquinas who passed by.

Abilities
Likely even without the Curtana Original Carissa is quite capable of holding her own as the princess who is an expert in military affairs. Touma notes in his lopsided battle with Carissa that she likely has knowledge in martial arts. Her martial knowledge allows her to turn the tide of battle to her favor even when she is at a disadvantage, easily able to counter her opponent's tactics and abilities, as shown during the Battle of Buckingham Palace, where she alone faced off against the combined forces of the Anglican Church, the Knights faction, and the empowered citizens of London.

Curtana Original
With the Curtana Original (カーテナ＝オリジナル) Carissa represents the leader of the angels, Archangel Michael, and empowers the knights with telesma. With it, Carissa gains increased strength, endurance, speed, and near invulnerability. Along with this, Carissa can use the sword to cut dimensions, known as the All Dimensions Severing Spell, creating large and heavy dimensional debris as a result. With the latter, it is like other spells that the Imagine Breaker cannot negate at times. Kanzaki Kaori mentions that if the Imagine Breaker comes into contact with the dimension cutter attack within 1.25 seconds of its activation, it can be stopped. After that, the attack becomes after-effects of magic and can't be blocked. Moreover, the Knight Leader comments that the various effects of his Hrunting could be performed by Carissa with the Curtana Original at the same time whereas he could only use them one at a time.

Curtana Second Shards
Due to the clash of the Curtanas, Curtana Second has been chipped and fragmented in the battle. Carissa later collects these shards or fragments, and with them, can create swords of light that Carissa can wield. Like the Curtana Second, it gives her strength, endurance, speed, and near invulnerability, though is much weaker. Carissa often combines the use of the shards with a mobile fortress of the United Kingdom, allowing her to bypass the restrictions of the sword and its empowering effects being only be used in the soil of the United Kingdom.

Design evolution
Carissa's design remains static throughout the series. According to Haimura, she was designed similarly to Debora Briscoletti of the DS version of Dragon Quest 5.

Trivia

 * Comments about how her horse Alex is apparently known for only growing attached to pure maidens led Othinus to bring up the possibility that she is a virgin.

Quotes

 * (To Riméa, from Index Volume 17): "Why must you always be so depressing, sister? If you truly cannot trust anyone, why don’t you just get it over with and die?"
 * (To Touma, ibid): "It’s true that most people don’t use cell phone cameras, but wanting to leave behind as lovely a face as possible is something of a conditioned reflex. …And just so you know, this isn’t just a bad habit of mine. Look, my sister has noticed the camera and is headed this way."
 * (To Knight Leader, ibid): "Begin the invasion. I now have Curtana Original, the sword that decides the king, within my grasp. This makes me, Carissa, the ruler of the United Kingdom. Anyone that does not want to see the country decay under the rule of the previous pacifist queen, stand up of your own will. To bring about the new United Kingdom, leveling some things will be necessary and some destruction will be necessary."
 * (To Index, ibid): "Curtana Original… Since I hate the traditions of England, I really should just go ahead and break it now, but I’ll use it while it’s still useful to me."
 * (To Touma, from Index Volume 18): "What human can kill the leader of the angels?"
 * (To Touma, ibid): "I’m the head of state, you fool!"
 * (To Kaori, ibid): "As such, every organization has openings allowing the connections between individuals to be severed. Even if the magical thoughts or scientific brainwaves are connected, those openings will not disappear... And a group that is truly brought together as a single individual is nothing more than a product of dreams."
 * (During volume 20) : “Oh, no. At this rate, those French bastards are going to capture me and then gang rape me to death” -- She jokingly stated this as her troops were losing morale to keep them motivated.
 * (During volume 20): “Having me take action is actually the greatest secret plan for England ” -- As she revealed her ability to use the shards of the Curtana Second.
 * (To Acqua, Knight Leader and the others from NT Volume 8): “Gentlemen, it looks like America and Russia will be a little late. They will enter as the second wave of the attack just as I explained before. You know what we must do, right?”