Toaru Majutsu no Index-Volume 20, War Report

In a hospital in Rome, a single room was covered in an odd atmosphere.

It was peaceful.

It seemed like the image of the person sleeping there filled every corner of the room.

The man lying on the bed was the Roman pope.

That old man who should have been enshrined in a cathedral deep within the Vatican was wearing a surgical gown and had tubes sticking into his mouth and nose.

A young priest shook his head as he entered the hospital room.

He may have been praying somewhere in his heart.

Praying that the legendary old man lying there would get up even after he had fallen victim to the chaos spreading throughout the world.

“...No one can stop Fiamma’s tyranny,” the young priest said as if he were squeezing out the words. “The Cardinals who have seen his power are either overcome with fear or are following him hoping it will be to their advantage. And of all things, some have come forward saying a new pope needs to be selected in the middle of this war. A great magical battle is occurring between England and France. Most likely, Fiamma is backing France. ...No, it isn’t just in that one place. This war is spreading throughout the world exactly as Fiamma wants.”

No response came back to the young priest.

That fact was enough to almost make the priest collapse. However, the situation did not end there. A nun burst in to the hospital room breathing heavily.

“E-emergency!!”

“We are in the presence of the pope!!” rebuked the young priest and the nun cowered a bit.

However, her face remained pale and her mouth flapped open and closed like a fish out of water.

“The people of Rome are saying they are fed up with supporting this war!! They have begun to gather together into a large group! They may be headed for the Vatican!!”

Officially, World War III was between Russia and Academy City, but the people were vaguely aware that Academy City and England were allies and that Russia and the Roman Catholic Church were supporting each other. A few units of the Italian army had actually been deployed to help with the war.

The Cardinals who governed the Roman Catholic Church had been charmed by Fiamma’s power. They were no longer of any use. The normal citizens who were acting out of proper indignation may have held the power that would actually change history.

But...

“...We need to stop them.”

“Father?”

“Historically, a few revolutions of the people have succeeded, but those only succeeded because careful preparations were made beforehand! A sudden riot like this will not change history!! At this rate, they will merely end up being slaughtered by the Roman Catholic battle units!!”

“Th-then, what do we do!?”

“They are thinking seriously about the future of the Roman Catholic Church. That is why we must hold them in check before this becomes a true riot. We can’t let them die.”

The young priest and the nun hurriedly left the hospital room, but the priest stopped at the exit. He looked back at the Roman pope who was lying on the bed and some words leaked from his mouth.

“If you could only show your face and give a few words to the people... That alone may be enough to wipe away everyone’s worries...”

The young priest shook his head as if to shake away that impossibility. He then headed for the area of Rome where the riot was beginning in order to realistically solve the problem.

The hospital room returned to its peaceful atmosphere.

And then the impossible happened.

The Roman pope’s fingertips moved.

It was just a slight twitch, but the pope’s eyelids then opened as if that had been a trigger. He pulled the tubes from his mouth and nose, sat up in the bed, and looked around. It was not the luxurious clothes of the pope, but a simple religious habit was hanging on the wall.

The pope grabbed the remote control on the side table and turned on the TV. As he listened to the news, he removed his surgical gown and changed into the habit.

The news informed him of the tragedy in the world.

A mother was shown grieving over the unreasonable violence. The announcer’s words continued adding to the unease. A girl was shown praying. The report said her father had been missing ever since an explosion occurred near their house. Someone was crying and asking why the war had happened.

The pope remained silent for a bit.

Before taking his next action, he opened a magical communication line directly within his head.

“Hi, you dandy gentleman. Do you still have your position as the Roman pope?” 𝑓𝒓𝚎e𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯𝘰𝐯𝒆𝑙.c𝚘m

“Vasilisa.”

During some talks he had gone through with the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, the Patriarch, in order to strengthen their cooperative relationship, he had secretly exchanged means to communicate with her.

“It seems the Cardinals are trying to choose a new pope. I’m sure I have already lost my authority. My words are not enough to stop this war.”

“And yet you still stood back up. Knowing that is more than enough.”

“What are you doing now?”

“Hmm?”

A loud noise was transmitted along with her voice and the pope scratched at his head.

He frowned.

That had clearly been an explosion. And it hadn’t been just one or two. Multiple explosions had come in quick succession. He heard cries of anger along with them. Vasilisa was likely having a magical battle with someone while she spoke with him.

“Do you wanna know what’s going on? I’m in the middle of making a group of rebellious subordinates cry. Ah ha ha. This perverted woman magician named Skogsfru has snot pouring down her face. You’re the type that is moved to tears by hearing that brothers and sisters are fighting, right?”

Vasilisa’s tone of voice did not change.

From that alone, the pope could tell just how one sided that battle was.

“...Go easy on them. They are your subordinates, right?”

“I thought you’d say that,” Vasilisa said while giggling in a way that made it difficult to tell how serious she was. “But how are you supposed to put an end to this war when you’re so bad at this kind of thing?”

“I just do what must be done,” the pope replied simply. “I do what must be done not as the pope in charge of two billion followers but as a single follower of the Roman Catholic Church. I promised that mercenary that if the church turned majorly in the wrong direction that I would stop it from the inside.”

After saying that, the Roman pope continued speaking under his breath.

“I contacted God’s Right Seat in order to more efficiently save the people, but it seems the Lord still has plenty more trials for me.”

The pope opened the window of the hospital room and unhesitatingly jumped out.

A new fight began for that old man.

Fiamma of the Right had returned to the base within Russia.

“Don’t be so scared, Nikolai,” Fiamma said while walking.

“You started this war,” responded the voice of a man in the prime of his life from the book-shaped communications spiritual item.

“Technically, I only suggested that you go to war. You all are the ones that officially pulled the trigger, right?”

“You suggested we go to war because Russia would not be in a good position after a war between the magic side and the science side, but look how it has turned out! Have you not heard what Academy City’s forces including their unmanned weapons are doing!?”

“That’s why I told you not to be so scared.”

“If the situation continues like this, we will both lose our strongholds. Don’t tell me you don’t understand what that means. If you do not have a plan, we’re done. Once we’re rid of you, we will deal with this war we started in our own way. And we will find the method that will bring about the least damage.”

“How pessimistic. And you were secretly preparing for war behind the Patriarch’s back, so the Russian Orthodox Church would be after you too in that situation.” Fiamma’s shoulders shook slightly with laughter. “Here’s a question for you: What if I had a hidden weapon that could turn this all around in an instant?”

“Did you get a nuclear weapon or something? Sorry, but Russia has plenty of those,” Nikolai said quickly. There was scorn in his voice. “From the test firing of ballistic missiles, we already know we can’t reach Academy City or any organizations working with them. Switching out the warhead is meaningless if it won’t hit. With their perfect interception, a nuclear weapon won’t stop them.”

“Archangel Gabriel.”

“!?”

Nikolai stopped speaking upon hearing the two words Fiamma whispered.

“Although you might know her better as Misha Kreutzev.”

“You have her?”

“I have the nun to act as the medium. What if I were to shape that base medium into the archangel and use it as my pawn? Just so you know, I can send it out at any time. Now then. Is the state of the war you’re so worried about really something that cannot be dealt with?”

Nikolai Tolstoy was the type of person who would attempt to profit from any conflict that cropped up and he immediately began his overly optimistic calculations. Fiamma heard excited speaking over the communications spiritual item, but he wasn’t really listening.

Ignoring the book-shaped spiritual item, Fiamma muttered under his breath.

“(Of course, my true goal in obtaining that is something else. The fact that I am of Michael but I can make the power of Gabriel my own shows that detestable ambiguity of the elements.)”

His thoughts cut off there and Fiamma then loudly spoke as if giving an announcement to the entire world.

“Now, it is time for the fun of Project Bethlehem.”

“...What?”

Ekalielya A. Pronskaya , the Russian Air Force pilot fighting above the Sea of Japan, frowned. The words of the man aboard one of Academy City’s large fighters were coming over the communications device in her helmet.

“Like I said: the Kremlin Report.”

They were both flying around in cutting edge masses of metal, but the enemy soldier seemed a bit exasperated.

“It’s the most important manual for the defense of Russia. If you’re in the army, I’m sure you’ve at least heard of it.”

“...”

She had heard that name before.

But it was not something that she had the official authority to view. It was something like a legend that had spread throughout the military. She didn’t even know if it actually existed. Ekalielya was not surprised that the enemy knew of the Kremlin Report. She was surprised they knew of the (supposedly) unrecorded rumors of it.

“Do you know what it contains?”

“Do I need to answer that?”

“A bacterial wall.”

The Academy City pilot suddenly changed the subject. That was how Ekalielya interpreted it, but she was wrong. There was a connection.

“It’s a killer virus that is spread through the air. It enters the blood vessels through the respiratory organs and the skin. On top of that, it can break down oil content. Not only does it kill animals, but it can also eat holes in the filters of the masks and ducts to defend against bacteriological weapons. Once it’s released, it can’t be dealt with using the normal methods.”

“What are you trying to say?”

“The Kremlin Report is a defense manual for the nuclear firing facilities. If a military force invades the country and it seems the nuclear facilities will be taken, a bacterial wall will be distributed near the facilities in order to eliminate the people there without damaging the facilities. That is what the Kremlin Report is for.”

“...”

“Of course, no evacuation warning will be sent to the Russian soldiers working at the facilities or the civilians living in the area. The manual gives top priority to safely securing the facilities. No effective vaccine for the bacterial wall has been created. It is even highly resistant to heat treatment. There was a report that extremely high concentrations of ozone could be used to annihilate the bacteria, but...it’s obvious what would happen to the infected people if that method was used.”

Ekalielya’s hand gripping the stick started to tremble slightly.

If that were true, the meaning of the war had changed.

Academy City was not fighting to make the people of Russia suffer. The leaders of the Russian army had started the war. Academy City was fighting to prevent the Russian army from continuing in that fashion and ending up going ahead with a plan that would bring suffering to the Russian people they were supposed to be protecting.

She felt the core of her heart starting to break.

But Ekalielya shook her head.

That’s right. It was possible that story was just propaganda being used to rid her of her fighting spirit.

“Those are just the words of the enemy. Like I can trust you! You’re using military force to enter my country and aim your weapons at the people there!! I’m not going to overlook your invasion because of some baseless story!!”

“I thought you’d say that,” the Academy City pilot said cheerfully. “So I prepared this.”

She heard a slight noise.

The meters and gauges on modern fighters were displayed on digital monitors. One of the small LCD monitors suddenly changed what it was displaying.

A communications port had been forcibly released and information was being forced into it.

But that was not what shocked Ekalielya.

She felt as if her heart would stop when she saw the numbers and text displayed on the screen.

“What do you think?” asked the Academy City pilot. “Are your superiors really trying to protect the Russian people?”

Second Princess Carissa also mentioned the Kremlin Report.

Carissa and the Femme Fatale were so close to each other that their noses were almost touching. As they pressed their swords together, they moved their heads even further forward than the blades.

The sword of light created from the fragment of Curtana Second and Durendal the sword of France.

As those two legendary weapons clashed, they exchanged words.

“...What?”

“As the brains, you should be able to determine whether what I am saying is true or not given the situation and level of technology in Russia as well as the degree to which Academy City has invaded. Or are you going to go the boring old route of insisting to see the Kremlin Report with your own eyes before you’ll believe me?”

A great amount of power exploded between the two blades.

They both moved back about 10 meters.

The Femme Fatale spoke quietly while holding up Durendal.

“No matter what type of justification you have, you still plan to use France as a stepping stone to interfere in Russia. And France is achieving growth from the protection of the Roman Catholic Church, so we cannot simply ignore their orders. Even if this Kremlin Report is real, it is no reason for me to hold back my blade.”

“Are you serious?”

“You started a coup d’etat and planned to conquer the people of Europe in order to protect the people of your country.”

“I had deemed that necessary, yes.”

Carissa did not deny it.

Instead of making convenient excuses, she readily admitted to her own unsightly mistake.

“But I have no intention of killing anyone whose death is not necessary for the protection of my people. Not a single one.”

“...”

“What connection is there between the protection of the French people and the suffering of the Russian people by the activation of the Kremlin Report?”

“Well...”

“The protection of the Roman Catholic Church? Is that really what you yourself wanted? Are they truly protecting you? Aren’t you even now bringing a crisis to your own people by starting this unneeded war due to pressure from the Roman Catholic Church?”

The Femme Fatale fell silent.

Carissa silently held up the fragment of Curtana Second and the sword of light it created.

“France is the only country in Europe that can make a genuine magical attack on England. Everyone knows that this isn’t the Roman Catholic Church’s war. It’s Fiamma’s war. ...If it weren’t for this skirmish we would be headed to Russia. Even now, we could still avoid the worst case scenario.”

She did not hesitate.

She couldn’t allow herself to.

“So what will you do? I had determined that France was my archenemy. Are you really this disappointing an existence?”

Academy City’s 23rd district was a collection of air and space technology and many different types of aircraft were on standby there. Normally, most of them were passenger planes used to transport personnel and goods, but it was currently dyed with the colors of the military. A large number of fighters, bombers, and transport planes were lined up and maintenance staff members were running around between them.

There was one specific bomber among them.

It was an HsB-02 supersonic bomber.

It was over 80 meters long. With its maximum speed of over 7000 kph, it could transcend the limits within the atmosphere of the earth.

It was a bomber, but it was not filled with explosives. Its bay was almost empty, but those who knew of its contents felt a chill down their backs. Something much more fearsome than a mere bomb was loaded within.

“Hm hm hmmmn,” hummed a female voice.

Along with that voice that seemed to be enjoying itself, a few sparks could be heard. There was a single seat inside and someone was sitting in it. It was a girl who had lost her left arm and whose right eye had been crushed. The edge of her yellow coat was burned black and a bluish white arm of light was sticking out of it. Countless pieces of medical equipment were lined up next to the chair and a number of tubes and cords were stuck to the girl’s body.

Mugino Shizuri.

Academy City’s #4 Level 5.

Meltdowner.

The reason it had been decided that she would be sent to the war front in Russia was quite simple.

“...Let’s have some fuuun, Haaamazuraaa.”

Meanwhile, another Level 5 boarded a different bomber.

“W-wahh!? Wh-what’s going on!?” yelled the pilot.

A group of men wearing black clothes were supposed to have boarded the bomber. They were a special unit that was going to parachute down into Russia. The unit’s orders were to confirm the actions of a Level 0 known as Imagine Breaker and to quickly attack and knock him unconscious if he were confirmed to have joined an enemy group.

They were not espers.

The bomber was supposed to hold a group of professionals who were armed with the latest weaponry and who could take out their target with superhuman movements.

So why were they all unconscious in that large space?

And who was that middle school-aged girl standing amid them with sparks crackling from her.

“Hi. I’m gonna be hitching a ride.”

“...!?”

Danger signals fired within the pilot’s mind. He tried to run out of the bomber and yell to inform others of the danger.

But sparks flew before he could.

A high voltage current regulated to not leave any after effects forcibly constricted the pilot’s muscles so he could not move even a finger.

“Gah...!?”

“Sorry about that. I’m pretty pissed off, so I can’t guarantee that I’ll hold back next time,” the girl, Misaka Mikoto, informed the pilot as he almost seemed to be hyperventilating. “Take me to Russia. It’d be great if you would just do your job as you were originally supposed to.”

“So what will you do?” said Aiwass somewhere in Academy City.

Aiwass was not human.

And across from it was another being that was not human.

“...”

She was a girl with long black hair that had a little bit of brown mixed in, cowering eyes covered by glasses, and a nice body. That was what she looked like, but she was actually an aggregation of AIM diffusion fields.

She was Kazakiri Hyouka.

As she faced Aiwass, her gaze did not hold its usual unease.

It was only a bit, but there was a core of fighting spirit there.

Aiwass spoke to her.

“A being similar to you has been confirmed to be in Russia. The being is known as the Archangel Gabriel. No, as she is still incomplete, I suppose I should call her Misha Kreutzev. At any rate, that is not an existence that can be dealt with by humanity’s current level of technology and military power. Once it begins, tragedy will come to every person in that land.”

“So you are telling me to fight?”

“That is also a very interesting option. But then there is no reason that you must choose that option.”

“...”

“So you have begun to think of a concrete plan. But you need not worry if you choose to do it. We tend to prefer this city that is filled with AIM diffusion fields, but by using the Sisters spread around the world as intermediaries and by applying directionality to the AIM diffusion fields, a belt-shaped AIM diffusion field area can be stretched from Academy City to the depths of Russia.”

“Does that...” Kazakiri hesitated and then started again. “Does that mean a virus will be sent to those people’s heads again?”

“If it is necessary,” responded Aiwass simply. “However, it will not be. It may be hard to understand with Last Order away, but your goal will most likely be in sync with what the Sisters want. Each individual unit may cooperate without an overriding order sent out from the command tower.”

“...”

“So what will you do?”

“What will you do?”

“Nothing.” It did not take even a second for the being to respond. “I only carry out actions that will bring about interesting things. The actions within Russia seem a bit interesting, but I find no value or interest in actually fighting there.”

That was Aiwass. Even if humanity was to go extinct and the world was to disappear, Aiwass’s expression would not change.

Which was more terrifying, someone who piled subtle plan on top of subtle plan to carry out a large plan or someone who held the power to destroy the world with a single fingertip but only acted on a whim or out of interest?

“I suppose I will go,” said Kazakiri after thinking for a while. “But on one condition.”

“Am I really the one you should be telling that to? I am not the one who has come up with this overblown plan.”

“Please do not touch my friends.”

“As long as they do not prove to be interesting, I won’t.”

“...If you do, I will become your enemy even if it means mutual destruction.”

“You are much too naïve if you think you can threaten me,” said Aiwass with a slight smile. “That kind of statement could very well spark my interest.”

Above the Sea of Japan, the pilot of the Academy City supersonic fighter gave a worried cry for the first time since the battle began.

“!? Evade!! Circle around noooooooooooooooooooowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!!!!!!”

“?”

Ekalielya of the opposing Russian Air Force frowned, but figured out what was going on immediately afterwards.

Something large shot by between the two planes.

An explosive noise and a shock wave sliced through the air shortly thereafter. Ekalielya’s state of the art fighter was shaken like it was a leaf. If she hadn’t been in such a maneuverable and stable Russian fighter, she would have stalled and crashed. She could see that even the over 80 meter long Academy City fighter had been affected.

“What...was that!?”

It had come from the direction of Academy City. It was probably something they had developed. Given the situation, it was probably some cutting edge aircraft. However, Ekalielya could not believe what she had seen with her own eyes. What she had just seen had clearly ignored all common knowledge of aviation. It was beyond the idea of a UFO. A UFO was usually thought of as being a metal aircraft made with unknown technology or a mystery that was still on a level where humans could more or less accept it. It was a type of craft that a living being was controlling from the inside.

But what she had seen was different.

What Ekalielya had seen for a split second as it flew past was...

“An...angel...?” she muttered. “What was that?”

“Dammit, don’t ask me. I’m just as surprised as you are.”

They had no way of knowing, but it was a being known as Fuse Kazakiri.

But this time, she was not being controlled by a third party. Her eyes held her own will. As she flew through the sky, something extended from her right hand. It was a sword. It gave her a mass of destructive power that did not suit her normal self.

It was as if her fighting spirit was displaying itself externally.

Fuse Kazakiri flew through the Russian sky faster than anything else.

With her simple desire to protect her friends, events were developing towards a direct clash between angels.

Yes.

Science and magic.

The fight would be between two angels created by those completely different methods.

Kamijou Touma headed for the center of that battlefield.

He sat within one of the vehicles in the convoy from the Elizalina Alliance. One of the trucks had been sent elsewhere with Accelerator and Last Order inside, but the rest were headed to Fiamma’s base.

Kamijou had found pieces of parchment in Accelerator’s pocket.

He hadn’t touched them more than that because they may have been magical items, but he left Index’s name instead. He left the name of the girl who would be able to tell him what the parchments meant.

“...That’s right,” he said with a small smile.

The fight against Academy City’s #1 had been unexpected, but he had gained something from it.

“What am I worrying about? Like I have any right to say any self-important things to Accelerator.”

Lessar looked over at Kamijou from the seat next to him.

While still staring forward, he smiled with enough force that it looked like he was about to punch away who he had been up to then.

“What’s all this about reasons and justifications? I don’t need any of that!! Am I not allowed to stand up to fight without a logical motive!? Index is suffering. She can’t show me her usual smile. I’ll fight with just that!! That’s enough! I’m not thinking up any excuses!! I’m not gonna spend any more time worrying and worrying about finding a logical reason!!”

There was an unknown core to his voice.

It was the same as when he had unhesitatingly stood up to the new queen who held Curtana Original during the coup d’etat in London.

“Would everything really be resolved if I just left everything to Fiamma!? Why does it matter if I have a guilty conscious regarding Index!? Whatever that bastard says, it won’t change my desire to save her!! No matter how much self-important shit he says, it won’t stop me!!”

It was back.

The driving force that gave that boy strength was back to its normal place.

“I’m not protecting her because that’s the right thing to do!! I’m not saving her because it says to in the rule book and I therefore have no choice!! I’m doing it because I want to!! So there’s no reason for me to stop!! There’s no need to argue about whether it’s right or not and there’s no need to search for material to use in that argument!!”

After yelling all that out, Kamijou fell silent.

Finally, he continued in a quiet voice.

“It’s true that I’m a horrible person. I’m a terrible person who continued to deceive Index. The way I lived my life, I may not be able to proudly say I protected her.”

Kamijou Touma gathered strength in his right fist and stared forward as he spoke.

“But the one I should be bowing my head down to for that...isn’t Fiamma.”

St. George’s Cathedral in London had become an important “invisible fortress” for the war. A large number of magicians were rushing around working to deal with the invasion from France and indirectly working to help with the situation after the large war was over, but there was one person among them all who was removed from that overall flow.

He was Stiyl Magnus.

He was a battle member of Necessarius, but he did not head for the battlefield. He had no real interest in the war. Stiyl was in the cathedral as a guard for the girl who was sleeping on a bed in the large room.

She was Index, a nun who held 103,000 grimoires in her brain.

That had happened well before the appearance of that boy with the strange right hand.

And so...

“Hell no,” the magician said strongly while staring ahead and holding a cigarette in his mouth. ƒr𝙚𝙚𝘸e𝚋𝐧૦ѵ𝒆𝒍.𝒄𝒐m

A woman with long blonde hair stood a few meters away. Her hair was so long it seemed to be about 2.5 times longer than she was tall.

She was Laura Stuart.

She was the Archbishop of the Anglican Church and the leader of Necessarius. She had enough authority that Stiyl would normally have been forbidden to speak to her on an even level.

But Stiyl’s expression was stern.

His gaze seemed to be that of one staring at his enemy.

On the other hand, Laura showed no sign of warning him about his impoliteness as she just stood there smiling.

“Oh, but I only came here to bring a gift to my cute subordinate who is suffering so much. I brought some fruit.”

“...There were two remote control spiritual items for her. Fiamma stole the one for the Royal Family, but the Anglican one was untouched. And it’s pretty damn clear who has it,” Stiyl said in a low, quiet voice. “To prevent Fiamma from misusing the knowledge of the 103,000 grimoires, you’re trying to cut in with the Anglican device, aren’t you? Currently, Fiamma’s has the stronger connection because it was activated first. That’s why you want to mess with her body in order to change the priority.”

“Oh, what an excellent idea. I hadn’t thought of that. How about we try it?”

“I said, hell no!! She’s already suffering from the great load. Who knows what could happen to her if you put an even greater load on her!!”

“Hm. Even if your delusional ideas are true,” Laura said speaking down to Stiyl, “I am the head of the church. I have plenty of people I can use. How long do you really think you can last?”

“If it comes to that...”

Stiyl spat his cigarette out onto the floor of the solemn cathedral.

He suddenly held a number of rune cards in his hand.

“...then I just have to destroy the person at the top.”

“I see, I see. That’s quite something.”

Laura Stuart shrugged and pulled a spiritual item that fit in her palm out of the fruit basket she held.

Stiyl’s expression twisted in anger and Laura continued speaking.

“But will things just wait around for you to do so?”

“What?”

Stiyl didn’t even have time to ask again.

Someone slowly got up from the bed behind him.

It was Index Librorum Prohibitorum.

She was the girl that Stiyl Magnus wished to protect more than anything else in the world. But she was acting oddly. Index looked around once with her eyes that were as emotionless as camera lenses and then moved her small lips to speak.

“...Warning... Kshhh...Chapter 4...kshhh....Verse 8. Confirming connection...with remote...user. Kshhh...Approving disclosure of information... Cutting off transmission....of information...while in operation.... Beginning automatic elimination...of dangerous element...”

With an odd noise, various lights danced around Index.

In no time at all, they began drawing complex magic circles.

An even greater load was put on the small girl’s battered body.

“What will you do, Stiyl?”

Laura’s cheerful voice echoed throughout the cathedral adding further pressure to Stiyl.

She played with history’s worst spiritual item in her hands.

“I’ll give you a chance, so do something about this. If you can’t, I’ll do something about it.”

“This is...”

Stiyl clenched his teeth.

“This is the job I have always been doing!!”

Hearing his yell, the girl with the machine-like eyes turned her head toward the flame magician.

“...Enemy confirmed. Now analyzing...the enemy’s spells and...construction a corresponding local weapon...”