Battle of Folkestone

The Battle of Folkestone is a major battle during the British Halloween, in which the forces of Carissa and the Knight Leader are attacked by Kanzaki Kaori of the Amakusa Christians affiliated with the Anglican Church. The battle is notable for the return of Acqua of the Back, saving Princess Villian and preventing her execution, and his long battle with the Knight Leader, which led to the turning of the tide of the coup from Carissa's favor.

Despite the battle ending with the retreat of the Amakusa Christians, the battle is a strategic victory for the Anglican forces. Not only does the battle end with the defeat of the Knight Leader and weakening of Carissa's control over the Knights faction, but it finally puts an end to the momentum Carissa in the beginning of her coup, forcing her into the defensive.

Background
Prior to the British Halloween, many knights including the Knight Leader escorted the two youngest princesses, Carissa and Villian, to Folkestone to get to the Eurotunnel terminal there for the investigation of the cause of the Eurotunnel bombing with the help of the Index Librorum Prohibitorum, making the area a very dangerous place for an attack. In spite of this, Carissa is still open for attack in Folkestone as she is unable to get a special fortress. To remedy the likelihood of a combined attack from the Church, the knights have to transport personnel and materials to quickly fortify a defensive position through the use of their own railway system.

Despite the dangers, the Amakusa Christians, a sect affiliated with the Anglican Church, later figures out the true cause of the chaos with the knights in the United Kingdom. Knowing of Carissa being present in Folkestone, they take a seaplane from Hyde Park in London to get there. Skimming low to avoid radar detection, the plan was for Kanzaki Kaori to land in the area and crush the center of the coup, Carissa. Meanwhile, Acqua of the Back, known in the United Kingdom as William Orwell, has returned to the country in order to stop Fiamma of the Right's plans. He is apparently nearby Folkestone during the British Halloween. With the Knight Leader apparently knowing of his presence, tasked a servant in summoning him if the servant wanted him dead and the coup to end.

Search for Villian
Prior to Kanzaki's arrival, the Knight Leader and Carissa discover that Villian's servants let the princess escape using her royal carriage after sensing the danger she was in. After capturing her mother, the Queen Elizard, in Windsor Castle, Carissa intended to execute her and her sisters so that no one may contest her in using the Curtana Original. After the Knight Leader discovers that the carriage carrying Villian is only 2000 meters from where they are and is heading to Canterbury Cathedral in order to get help from the Anglican Church, the Amakusa Christians in their seaplane finally arrives in Folkestone. Confused by this, they determine that it isn't of the knights nor from the military but a plane from Hyde Park's lake. Due to their confusion they are unable to shoot it down in time as Knight Leader had suggested. 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. Kanzaki tries to stop her but Knight Leader intervenes before she can do so.

The Amakusa Christians later hide in the forest and set their seaplane up as their temporary base of operations in Folkestone.

Kanzaki Kaori vs. the Knight Leader
Kanzaki knows not to underestimate Knight Leader, deciding to use her full strength while hopefully refraining from any lethal damage. Confident in her abilities as a Saint, she resolves to knock him out with the scabbard of her sword and capture Carissa quickly. However, the moment their fight begins she notices something invisible seeping from Knight Leader's body, and is subsequently baffled by her opponent's speed which even she cannot follow – Kanzaki compares him almost instantly to her previous foe, Acqua of the Back. Due to the powerful influence and blessing of the Curtana Original, Knight Leader brutalizes Kanzaki despite being unarmed, rendering even Kanzaki's Nanasen useless. Bloodied and driven into a corner by the fight's climax, she attempts to use Shichiten Shichitou and Yuisen but neither manage to even harm Knight Leader. She is rendered speechless by Knight Leader's incomprehensible strength, which to Kanzaki far outstrips any of her previous opponents. She is further astounded by the lack of pride invested in his own power. Knight Leader ends the fight by grabbing her sword and kicking her away, sparing barely a glance towards the unconscious Kanzaki and quipping that the power of a Saint is overrated.

Not caring whether Kanzaki is alive or dead, the Knight Leader orders his men (all 43 of them including himself) to board the carriages or mount their horse in order to follow Carissa. Knight Leader does the same, mounting a horse and leaving Kanzaki behind.

Attempted execution of Princess Villian
As Villian approached her destination 10 kilometers away, in the hopes of getting aid from the Anglican Church in order to save the servants who were left behind in her place, the Anglican Church's magic takes effect on the horses that pulled the carriage, as Canterbury Cathedral blocked its own coordinates against what they deem their enemy, the Royal Family Faction and the Knight Faction, both of which are under Carissa's control. With that, Carissa, who had just arrived, orders Villian out of the now overturned carriage. Although Villian hesitates, she opens the doors of her carriage. Immediately after however, it is crushed by a destructive pressure. 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. Acqua of the Back later uses his sword to quickly escape them, forcing Carissa to send out the Knight Leader to go after them.

Acqua of the Back vs. the Knight Leader
When the Knight Leader arrives, Acqua of the Back has already sent Villian away to the coordinates of a Necessarius hideout, the Amakusa Christians' seaplane, using his Bayard. With his Ascalon, he smashes a large rock that blocks the mountain path, trapping him but preventing the knights to go after Villian. With at most 40 knights as back-up, the Knight Leader knows that it will not be enough to take down Acqua of the Back. The Knight Leader then conjures up his own weapon, Hrunting. They charge towards each other, clashing swords with tremendous force, blowing the knights away and causing massive damage to the surrounding area. The two combatants would later leap up into the air, continuing their exchange, as the knights can only help but watch. They later end their clash as the two stand on top of trees, measuring each other. The Knight Leader says that he can feel his injuries throbbing with each strike, remarking that his defeat in Academy City may had a lasting effect on him. The Knight Leader then wonders why Acqua of the Back is going so far to protect Villian, adding that Carissa is the only one capable of wielding Curtana and that the knights have deemed her decision to be the best for England. There, Acqua of the Back laughed in amusement, mocking him for making excuses in order to justify him taking up his sword.

The duel starts up once again in midair, continuing as they fell back to the ground, ending 50 meters from where they first clashed. With Acqua of the Back close to the path where he blocked a while ago, he can only charge towards the Knight Leader. However, the Knight Leader charges toward him first. As their swords clash, so do their words. The Knight Leader asks him if protecting Villian, which represented benevolence, has enough value to be supported by him, to which Acqua of the Back says that the reason he fights is expressed with his body and sword. With a strike, Acqua of the Back manages to make the Knight Leader lose balance slightly, though he merely meets the blade with his own, and moves back from him creating a space of 10 meters between them. Seeing Acqua of the Back's actions, the Knight Leader concludes that Acqua of the Back did not need any political, military, or royal reason for him to save Villian. Guessing his thoughts, the Knight Leader poured more strength into gripping his sword. Acqua of the Back meanwhile calmly analyzed the situation, understanding that the Knight Leader is using both Curtana and Hrunting to further strengthen his ability to control different types of power within the country, allowing him to store and use massive amounts of Telesma.

The Knight Leader then speaks again, offering him the details of his magic, to which Acqua of the Back declines, knowing that he will not be defeated even if did so. Hearing this, the Knight Leader is surprised by his quick response, then says that he is disappointed that he never fought him at his peak. With a casual swing of the sword, Acqua of the Back gets injured in his side, though he manages to dodge in time, saving himself. Here, Acqua of the Back realizes that the power wasn't from Hrunting, at which point the Knight Leader talks about the lore behind Hrunting and the legend of Beowulf, where the sword is never used in pivotal battles by the hero. The Knight Leader charges toward Acqua of the Back and swung his sword to his side, which is met by Acqua of the Back's Ascalon. Suddenly, Acqua of the Back hears a noise, which forces him to move his head, at which point a light wound appears on his cheek. Here, the Knight Leader tells him on how Beowulf used different weapons in each of his battles as he pulls back his sword and swings again. Because he lost his balance, when Ascalon clashed with Hrunting, Acqua of the Back is sent flying through the air, and hits a tree and injuring his left shoulder. As he stands up, the Knight Leader offers once again to explain the details of his magic.

Despite being injured, Acqua of the Back continues to dodge every invisible cutting attack the Knight Leader throws at him, noting that he will not be able to kill him just by adding a trick to his attack range. The Knight Leader reveals that it was single attack born from combining many different spells. Here, the Knight Leader enumerates the various effects the sword gives him, including the one used to injure Acqua of the Back. Suddenly, he is again struck by a "long range" attack, though he manages to block it using his Ascalon. Knight Leader reveals that the spell is based on the sword of King Charlemagne who had a fragment of sacred spear in it. Acqua of the Back then mocks him for using French legends despite fighting the French, though the Knight Leader says his comment is pointless coming from him. Knight Leader says that he will use what he can and even points out that Curtana comes from a French word. Seeing that he can no longer hold back, Acqua of the Back finally uses the other functions of his sword, flashing different colors for each function. The Knight Leader sees that he was holding back because the sword is based on the legend of it slaying a dragon, and now he, the Knight Leader, symbolized a dragon, representing a fallen angel stained with evil.

Revealing the secrets of their swords, Acqua of the Back and the Knight Leader once again attack each other, countering each of the other's swords' unique properties blow by blow, that is until the Knight Leader gets the upper hand, injuring Acqua of the Back slightly in his side. With many other properties of his Hrunting unrevealed in combat to him, the Knight Leader asks Acqua of the Back lest he kills him. Before he makes the choice, Acqua of the Back asks the Knight Leader if he truly believes that he can save the country if he follows Carissa and kills Villian, and if he thinks that his choice is correct. The Knight Leader says that his choice is difficult to be referred to as ideal but says that he chose the most beneficial one. Hearing his, Acqua of the Back decides to beat the Knight Leader. The Knight Leader comments on how he truly doesn't want to kill Villian and that he doesn't like some of Carissa's methods, but says that the revolution has already begun and Carissa cannot be stopped by mere words. He then says that they must act quickly as if the civil war in the United Kingdom lasts too long then the country's overall power will fall and external enemies will able to defeat them, justifying that Carissa is the only capable of leading a new order in the country. Acqua of the Back mocks his reasonings, and says that his own reasonings do not need to be said.

Thus, the two once again attack each other. Acqua of the Back charges while the Knight Leader merely used the Attack Range effect of his spell, but it is however blocked by Acqua of the Back's Ascalon. Here, Acqua of the Back has determined that the Knight Leader can only use one of his sword's many effects at a time. As such, the reason the Knight Leader could not make a "certain kill" on him is because such a convenient ultimate attack for the Knight Leader did not exist. With that block, Acqua of the Back is able to come within range and attack him, forcing the Knight Leader to use the Movement Speed effect to block Ascalon. At that moment, Acqua of the Back turns his Ascalon to use the spike near the base, allowing him to attack at close quarters. Knight Leader tries to use his Enduring Solidarity effect to defend against the attack, but Acqua of the Back is however able to pierce through his defenses and hit his chest. The surrounding area explodes with so much magic power poured into the single attack.

Despite the attack, the Knigh Leader remains unscathed. Here, the Knight Leader reveals that he has developed a way to make any offensive power of any all armament he recognizes into zero for 10 minutes, making no distinction between science and magic, Thororm's Defense Formula. Here, he says that it can even theoretically neutralize a nuclear weapon. Despite what the Knight Leader says, Acqua of the Back is not deterred and continues to essay attack after attack, each one a different color and each of them were neutralized. With this, the Knight Leader tells Acqua of the Back that he will never beat him. However, Acqua of the Back simply scoffs at him for not realizing his plan yet, and mocks him for even asking. He looks at the escutcheon emblazoned on his Ascalon and is shocked. Acqua of the Back then says as the Knight Leader further questions his motives that his reasonings need not words, and that one need only to act according to their beliefs. Despite the Knight Leader finding out the reason for Acqua of the Back's motives, he is unafraid as he still has the upperhand. Suddenly, Acqua of the Back takes out an even smaller sword from the Ascalon and attacks the Knight Leader with it. Here, the Knight Leader realizes the significance of this as the legend of Thororm had been killed by a hidden blade coming out of a sleeve. The Knight Leader tries to retreat, but Acqua of the Back has already breached his defenses. Knight Leader tries to use Thororm's Defense Formula on it, but the weapon he targeted has been changed as a blade being shot upwards by him. Acqua of the Back then has the sword grip change into a mace, his favored weapon. With both the floating blade and the mace, the Knight Leader is forced to meet the weapons both. Acqua of the Back, and though Thororm's Defense Formula activated and neutralized the weapons. However, Acqua of the Back still managed to hit the Knight Leader's neck, by the clasp of Acqua of the Back's sword grip that he couldn't recognize as a weapon. Thus the Knight Leader is felled, though not dead.

Second phase of the battle
With the Amakusa Christians' plans in disarray after the quick defeat of their Kanzaki Kaori and her failure to take out Carissa, they are forced to plan their escape with their seaplane as soon as they find an opening as the knights were searching Folkestone. These are however made even more difficult by not only the presence of Kanzaki Kaori, whom the Amakusa Christians are trying to heal, but of princess Villian as well, found by an Amakusa scout after Agnese Sanctis reported that Kamijou Touma is in Folkestone, and later given refuge by them. This makes them unable to determine the Knight Leader's whereabouts, let alone engage him in combat. As such, the Amakusa Christians are forced into hiding and prepare themselves for a defensive battle. Kamijou Touma would later tell them to guard the "goal point" so that he and Index would be able to escape once he rescues her.

After Touma arrives in Folkestone via sneaking into a knight freight train, the Anglicans later sabotaged the tracks in three points between London and Folkestone.

Acqua of the Back and Kamijou Touma confront Princess Carissa
Touma would later come upon Acqua of the Back defeating several knights himself during his search for Index. Here, Touma is reunited with Index, though not much soon after Carissa appears before them, where she reveals that Acqua of the Back defeated the Knight Leader. Just before the battle starts, Acqua of the Back knocks Touma away as Carissa uses the Curtana Original to sever dimensions and create dimensional debris for the first time, the All Dimensions Severing Spell. Touma asks Acqua of the Back to buy him some time and make Carissa stagger long enough for him to destroy the sword, believing it can only sever dimensions with the edge of its blade. Carissa is unperturbed and uses the flat side of the Curtana Original to create an explosion 500 meters in radius. Touma is unable to negate it with his Imagine Breaker as the power is too great and too continuous like Stiyl Magnus' Innocentius or Index's Dragon Breath, blowing him away. At this point, Acqua of the Back takes the opportunity to take Touma and retreat with the carriage that had Index in it before Carissa noticed.

Reply from France
After the retreat of Acqua of the Back, Touma, and Index, she receives word that the French president is trying to contact her from the knights. Putting him on the line, the president of France tells her that they should cooperate with regards to the terrorist attack on the Eurotunnel, though Carissa doesn't buy it and completely mocks his words. The president however after having enough of Carissa's insults, demands to know why she deployed a destroyer loaded in missiles in Dover Strait, warning of the damage that it would cause to the relationship between France and the United Kingdom. Hearing this, Carissa marks the French president as a hypocrite as she says that she knows that there is a submarine hidden in Dover Strait which she assumes through the transmissions it has as French, and that it has a nuclear missile aimed at London, surprising the president.

Carissa points out that France is a nuclear power like the United States and Russia. She says that France borrowed the power of the Roman Catholic Church to get them to manipulate the European Union in order for them to forgo the treaty banning nuclear weapons and develop their own while at the same time rob the United Kingdom of theirs. Suddenly, the United Kingdom destroyer in Dover Strait begins firing at a seagull as a show of force. Carissa points out that their radars and anti-air defense weapons can detect and intercept foreign objects at that level of accuracy that can allow them to attack seagulls. She mocks the missiles of the president's military as old and just mere targets for their weapons. She boasts that missiles that have no concealing spells cast on them, they can easily shoot down every one that is fired on them. The cornered French president tries to make excuses that the submarine is merely using tricks to make it look French and that it is unaffiliated with France. Hearing this, Carissa says that it should be no problem if the United Kingdom destroys the unaffiliated ship out of self-defense as it is targeting their capital. She warns that if the French attempts to interfere with their operation in any way, she will take it as confirmation that the submarine is truly of France. The destroyer in Dover Strait later attacks and hits the submarine, marking the first deliberate military attack of the United Kingdom on foreign enemies in the whole British Halloween. Moreover, the French cannot aid them in any manner, as Carissa warns that for every time the submarine of unknown affiliation requests help from the French navy and for every millimeter it tries to flee in the direction of France, the United Kingdom will fire one of their Bunker Cluster missiles. She then marks the lists of targets, the first being Versailles and then Paris.

Finally, Carissa mocks the French president for being unable to protect the lives of his people as a leader. The president remains silent, but then Carissa asks for him to just leave the decisions to the Maiden of Versailles, angering the president and ending their conversation. Due to Carissa's threats, it is likely that the submarine later sinks.

Aftermath
After Carissa leaves for Buckingham Palace, Amakusa Christian scouts later try to gather information after detecting the large explosion she caused with the Curtana Original. There they later find Touma and Index and return to their seaplane base, leaving shortly afterwards. Although the Amakusa Christians failed in crushing the coup themselves, the events in Folkestone is the turning point for the British Halloween, not only because of Acqua of the Back's intervention, as a sort of spanner in the works to Carissa's plans but due to Carissa's blundering as well.

As a likely testament to her arrogance Carissa is unperturbed by the defeat of the Knight Leader and several of his knights, the return of Acqua of the Back, the escape of Villian and Index, and the likelihood of France retaliating against the United Kingdom. With the knights only choosing to side with Carissa because they believe that it will be beneficial for the country, the defeat of the Knight Leader weakens the already weak union between Carissa and the knights. This means that if the knights determine that following Carissa would be disadvantageous to the country then they can turn on her. According to Index, the Knight Leader and Carissa act as mental pillars of support for the knights, and as such if one breaks down it threatens to collapse the knights' determination. Moreover, the three faction system that is part of the United Kingdom threatens the coup itself. As the royal family handles diplomatic relations with other countries, the knights only excel in direct fighting. Index predicts that since the Knight Leader has been defeated, Carissa's defeat will lead to the end of the coup without a leader to guide them and their belief that continuing to fight would harm the country.

With Villian's and Index escape, as well as the independent escapes made by Elizard and Laura Stuart, Carissa has become more vulnerable. With her family's freedom she fails in her own desire to restrict the usage of the Curtana Original, which can only be controlled by the Royal Family. However, the greater danger her family poses to her is that now they can make an effort in defeating, specifically with Villian, who allies herself with the Anglican Church. Furthermore, the failure of Carissa to secure Index, prevents her in giving a logical justification, a pretext, for attacking France and causing the coup in the first place.

Finally, Carissa, seemingly uncaring for the Amakusa Christians that she knows is present in the forests of Folkestone, inadvertently allows them to collect and heal their fallen leader, Kanzaki Kaori, as well as that of Villian, Index, and Touma. The latter three would later become a central part of their plan to weaken Carissa further, the Overloading of the Curtana Original, with Villian specifically used for her royal blood. Carissa would later go to Buckingham Palace with the Curtana Original to make readjustments on it, as expected by the Anglican forces, falling right into their hands.