novelVolume 14, Epilogue: That Answer Leads to the Next Mystery. Question
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Volume 14, Epilogue: That Answer Leads to the Next Mystery. Question.
That shock woke Itsuwa up.
She was in the Palace of the Popes. Right before she had passed out, she had been collapsed in the center of the floor... or so she had thought. Now she was right next to the wall. Her spear was next to her.
She still had some damage left so she was sluggish and found it difficult to move.
She sluggishly grabbed her spear.
She felt hot.
And then she realized why.
A few meters in front of her, the stone walls, floor, and ceiling had melted into a thick orange viscous liquid. She heard what sounded like water being sprinkled on a heated metal plate and most of her vision was obscured by white steam.
"What... happened... ?"
She looked around.
A bit away from her a powered suit lay unmoving. Next to it, the Imagine Breaker boy was lying face up. He didn't look like he was conscious. When she got near him, she saw that his skin was tinged red. It wasn't from the light; he had been lightly burned.
It wasn't enough to leave a scar.
It would have been nice if she could have put some ice on it, but she didn't have any and wasn't very good at ice magic. She searched through her pockets, pulled out a wet towel, and gently pressed it against his arm. The wound seemed superficial and she breathed a sigh of relief.
(Where is Terra of the Left... ?) Itsuwa idly thought while administering first aid. (And the C-Document? Did Terra cause all this? But this is such a different type of phenomenon from what he did before... )
Had they won or lost?
She didn't even know that.
From what she could tell, the Imagine Breaker boy's wounds were superficial. She decided to wait for him to come to and ask him what happened. And if necessary they would chase after Terra.
"..."
She hadn't been able to stay in the battle with Terra to the end.
She had lost consciousness partway through and left it all to an amateur.
Itsuwa grit her teeth at her own powerlessness.
(I have to do something... ) she thought.
But the crisis did not even give her that much time.
"Tch. This has turned into a real pain in the ass."
Tension spread through Itsuwa's body when she heard that sudden voice.
The voice itself was quite sinister sounding, but what surprised her the most was what direction it came from.
Itsuwa brought her spear to the ready and turned her eyes to look at something she couldn't believe.
It came from in front of her.
It came from the passageway that had been turned to lava.
She was sure she had heard the voice come from that direction.
Due to the enveloping steam, she couldn't make out the details of the figure.
But from the silhouette she could see, she could tell the figure was standing in a completely normal and natural way.
Even though he was standing in lava that must have been a few thousand degrees.
Even the enveloping steam was more than 100 degrees and he was in the middle of it all.
"Someone needs to tell those assholes there's such a thing as too much force. Using a blade for severing continents on a flesh-and-blood human is just wrong. I mean, how am I supposed to confirm the remains? Well, since the riots stopped after the blast, I guess the objective was carried out."
The figure did not seem to care about her.
He didn't even look her way.
His words weren't directed towards her either. He must have been using a radio or a cell phone to talk with someone far away.
(That's fine, ) Itsuwa thought.
She could tell an odd sweat was coming from her hands as they held the spear.
She didn't know how she could tell, but that figure standing in the middle of the lava was on a different level. He was past the level where you thought about how to take him on or that you might win if a miracle occurred. She felt that facing him would be like swinging her slender spear towards a gigantic piece of iron.
He spoke.
And all the while Itsuwa and her blade never even entered his field of vision.
"I'll check the area for the body, but if I haven't found it in 10 minutes I'm outta here. You can just check over the area after it cools for a hair or bloodstain to run a DNA test on or something. Ah? You want me to retrieve the nonfunctioning powered suits? Get someone else to do that. There're organizations and agencies that work with Academy City in France, right?"
He stopped speaking there.
His conversation with whoever it was must have been over.
"..."
Itsuwa held her breath like an herbivore hiding in a thicket waiting for a predator to go by.
He never once looked her way.
Even so, Itsuwa's body was wrapped in fear.
It was unfathomable.
The figure ignored Itsuwa as she held her spear in trembling hands and turned completely away from her. He seemed to be headed further into the Palace of the Popes. He disappeared into the pathway of lava.
Itsuwa did not go after him.
She couldn't even call out.
After the mysterious figure disappeared, she was too nervous to move for a short while.
In the interrogation room of the Tower of London, Stiyl Magnus and Agnese Sanctis listened to Lidvia Lorenzetti. Biagio Busoni sitting next to her seemed intent on remaining uncooperative to the end. He hadn't opened his mouth to say a single word.
"In the Christian Church, God does not appear to man after the death of the Son of God, " Lidvia's voice rang out in the small interrogation room."But in exchange, his angels start appearing before people more frequently. The story goes that the angels and the demons once had a great war. And since it was to the point that a certain theologian felt the need to divide them into 9 groups, there must be quite a large number of them."
"Where are you going with this?" Stiyl cut in, but Lidvia merely continued.
"God's Right Seat is a practical organization. If he does not appear before people, does God really exist? Or is God merely pretending to be an angel and still making contact with us? God's Right Seat asks that kind of question and thus chases after the presence of 'someone mixed in with the angels'."
In non-Christian legends, there are many stories of gods appearing on the earth in the form of humans or even creatures lower than humans.
(Maybe they got the idea from those kinds of stories, ) Stiyl thought in the corner of his mind and spoke.
"What does this have to do with the name 'God's Right Seat'? You said that that was both the name of the organization and their final objective."
"Humans cannot become gods, " Lidvia continued instead of directly answering his question."There are plenty of hypotheses about such a spell existing, but I have never heard of such a thing being accomplished. However, for a step lower – that is angels – alchemists and some scholars have reported examples of such an evolution.... Of course, those examples are extremely rare.
"In other words, " Lidvia informed them, "they want a method to become angels on top of eliminating the original sin that humans are bound by. And they do not want to become a normal angel. They are modeling it off of the one who appears on the earth in the form of an angel who is not an angel. Namely, God."
That was the arrogant will that not only wanted to use the power of God, but to take that power as its own.
Not to mention that there was no evidence that God actually did descend mixed among the angels.
Stiyl bent his lips in a smile.
"... That's quite the heretical sect."
"Currently, they are aiming for Michael, the being with the highest-level power who was created to oppose Lucifer."
Lidvia's voice was uniform.
"Lucifer is the only being that has ever been allowed to sit to the right side of God. And Michael, who defeated Lucifer and became the ruler of all the angels, is a higher being than Lucifer, who was once his equal. Or so God's Right Seat believes."
The right side.
In the Christian Church, that position indicated equivalency. The first Christian martyr, Stephen, used the word "right" when honoring god to indicate that the Son of God was an equivalent existence to God.
He used the word "right" in that way because, according to the concept of the trinity, God and the Son of God were honored as equal.
But what about an angel?
Why was Lucifer able to sit to the right side of God? And did Michael really have such enormous power that he could defeat an archangel that sat to the right side of God?
Since God was a unique being and was the greatest being in the world, there should be no one sitting in that "equivalent" right seat. Not to mention that it was hard to think that God would give that seat to one of the angels he had created as a tool and a servant.
They must have been thinking that there was some special meaning in the fact that an angel, a lower being, was given that seat even so.
"The group was created with the goal of sitting in God's Right Seat. And they believe that once they are in the Right Seat they will be able to use that power to evolve into an existence different again from an angel."
The name of that existence was...
"La persona superiore a Dio."
Both Stiyl and Agnese frowned upon hearing those words.
In other words...
"The One Above God[1]. That is what I hear it is called."
Footsteps could be heard in the Vatican's St. Peter's Basilica.
The spacing between steps was completely even, but very calm and slow. The slow rhythm indicated the state of mind of the person walking.
The footsteps suddenly stopped.
A figure had appeared before the person walking.
"Terra."
"Oh, it's you Acqua..." said the person who had been walking, Terra of the Left, as he glared at Acqua of the Back who had appeared before him.
His words felt like those of someone annoyed by having their thoughts cut off by the beginning of the conversation.
The supersonic bombers that had attacked Terra at the Palace of the Popes had been powerful, but to Terra it had all been one kind of attack and therefore easy to defend against with his "precedence". It was only multiple attacks at once that he feared.
"It looks like you lost the C-Document."
"Yeah, " Terra responded simply to Acqua's words."They used that Imagine Breaker which made recovery difficult."
"You seem to be in quite a good mood considering what happened."
"Ha ha. Acqua, that's not all I have to tell you."
Terra smiled slightly as he spoke.
"The Russian Orthodox Church has officially agreed to join with us."
Acqua remained silent for a bit.
He finally opened his mouth to speak.
"We are believers in the Roman Catholic Church. We do not celebrate having another denomination working with us."
"Heh heh. We're just using them. And I'm sure they know it, too."
Terra's expression remained calm.
He hadn't given in yet.
"In this C-Document incident, Academy City and the Anglican Church worked together in secret. Well, I'm sure neither side would admit to it though."
"Ah, and what mattered was whether the Russian Orthodox Church knew about it."
"There was already some kind of connection between Academy City and the Anglican Church. And if the Russian Orthodox Church came as a newcomer asking for cooperation, they might not be treated too kindly. And since they want to benefit from this war, they must be thinking that things won't be too good for them if the science side wins."
Currently, the power balance between Academy City and the Roman Catholic Church was very close.
The side chosen by third powers like the Anglican Church and the Russian Orthodox Church was very important.
They had wanted to get both the Anglican Church and the Russian Orthodox Church on the magic side if possible, but the Anglican Church already had connections with Academy City.
And looking at the incident with The Book of the Law and Orsola and the incident with the Daihaseisai and the Croce di Pietro it was clear that there was a deep ditch between the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Church.
So they had decided to give up on the Anglicans.
In order to prevent the worst possible situation – both the Anglican Church and the Russian Orthodox Church joining the science side – from occurring, they had needed to bring the Russians over to their side.
That was what the C-Document had been for.
Losing that spiritual item was a great loss, but they had accomplished their original objective.
"Now then. The line is now drawn between the Roman/Russian side and the Academy City/Anglican side. Well, I suppose Academy City and the Anglican Church are actually on different 'sides' in a broader sense, so their alliance could end up coming apart at the seams. And with Russia on our side, we have a stronger foothold to invade Japan from. Now I suppose you could say we can bring our blade to their throat. Perhaps we should discuss how to move our troops from here on with Fiamma of the Right. I actually wanted to have more time to watch how Academy City responds to things and to observe Imagine Breaker, but I suppose it doesn't matter."
"I see. But I have something to discuss with you first."
Acqua's voice was grave.
Terra responded cheerfully.
"What is it?"
"Oh, it's a simple matter. I have received information about you using children and sightseers on the outskirts of Rome to make some alignment adjustments for your special spell "Execution of Light". Is this true?"
"Yes, it is." Terra admitted to it surprisingly easily.
And he continued.
"Is that really something worth bringing up?"
Terra of the Left left it at that.
Acqua's eyes narrowed.
"... Were you not acting in order to save all of humanity without discrimination? Were you not acting in order to find out if the problems caused by the factions people create would continue in the Holy Kingdom?"
"Well, yes." Terra responded with the expression of someone who had been asked a stupid question."It's true that I plan to save all of humanity without discrimination. But pagans are not even human. Acqua, have you checked over the documentation? I made sure that the targets for my alignment adjustments were not believers in the Roman Catholic Church."
"..."
"Oh, are you worried about the story from Spain about the brutal criminals who weren't able to be executed? I'll tell you now that I had nothing to do with that. They were believers in the Roman Catholic denomination of the Christian Church, and therefore were those who I should save. My subordinates have a habit of bringing me criminals, but they shouldn't be doing that. The targets I use can't be Roman Catholic."
To Terra of the Left that was "without discrimination".
He said he was saving all of humanity, but his definition of who was "human" was quite restrictive. He felt that those that did not fit his definition of "human" could just be treated like animals. The clergyman was stained with that thinking to the very core.
Acqua of the Back remained silent and Terra continued in annoyance.
"Once they are sent to purgatory, the sin covering their souls will be washed away and they will be given the path to the Holy Kingdom. I am merely acting as a member of the clergy and sending them on the first step by having them surrender their lives. And those who can never go to the Holy Kingdom will not even go to purgatory. They will suffer eternally in hell."
".. I see." Acqua gave a short reply."So you have been performing maintenance on that spell ever since you started using it."
"C'mon, enough with this subject, Acqua. I have a lot to do. I have to think about how to carry out the next attack on the science side. I've found a point needing improvement... or rather, an idiosyncrasy in my precedence magic "Execution of Light". It looks like I need to make some slight adjustments."
"No, there is something you need to do before that."
Terra did not even have time to make an exclamation of surprise.
With a tremendous noise, Terra of the Left's body was truly smashed to pieces.
What Acqua of the Back had done was quite simple.
He had broken one of the pillars holding up the ceiling of St. Peter's Basilica and swung it into Terra's body with a single hand. But the overwhelming power and speed with which he had done so caused what looked like a roaring billow of wind.
Terra of the Left's miraculous precedence magic "Execution of Light" had allowed him to survive Academy City's large scale supersonic bombing, but Acqua of the Back did not give him time to use it.
A splattering sound could be heard.
Most of Terra's body was gone. All that was left was his upper chest, his right arm, and his head.
"Oh... ah... ?"
Terra looked up with the expression of someone who had no idea what had happened.
It seemed he tried to use "Execution of Light" to close up his wounds, but his head failed to activate the spell so nothing happened.
Acqua of the Back looked down at him in contempt.
Terra was still able to think.
But that wasn't due to anything Terra had done; it was due to Acqua's attack being so fast that his body had not yet had time to die.
"Fh... ha..."
Terra made noises but was unable to speak or breathe.
Acqua frowned.
Terra had been smashed to pieces, but he showed no fear of death.
His expression remained calm.
"... What is it, Terra of the Left?" Acqua asked, but he realized the answer before waiting for an answer.
The Holy Kingdom.
To Terra, death was only the process by which one found true salvation. Even if he died here, in the end he would be chosen by God in the Final Judgement and led to the Holy Kingdom. And thus Terra would be saved.
(He is an amazing man in his own way. )
He intended to be a pious lamb who kept the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church even now.
Acqua sighed as he thought about all this.
"Just so you know, there is no way you will be chosen by God. I never thought you would remain deluded at this stage. Do you really think you belong anywhere but hell?"
As Acqua looked at him with a face full of scorn, Terra's calm vanished.
It was replaced by rage.
But Acqua did not properly continue the conversation. He merely spoke in a purely businesslike manner.
"God knows all. You can ask Him for the details at the Final Judgement."
As time went on, the mass of flesh died and Terra truly became nothing more than a stain on the floor. Only then did Acqua turn his gaze away.
And once he did, a new figure appeared from behind one of the pillars.
It was an old man with a bent back – the Roman Pope.
He looked at both the human flesh on the floor and the pillar that Acqua had set on the floor.
"This is St. Peter's Basilica. I would prefer that you did not destroy it like this."
"I apologize."
Acqua obediently lowered his head to these words of criticism.
"Thinking of the historical and academic value of this place, I should have avoided having a fight here. I damaged a wonderful building."
"... This is also the greatest Roman Catholic stronghold. If you destroy it so readily, you will run into problems with its defensive functionality."
"Hm..." Acqua thought for a second.
Eventually, he spoke.
"This is a problem we run into everywhere, not just in St. Peter's Basilica. Take God's Right Seat for instance. Even with such a great organization and even though the most skilled members are gathered, if we go out of control even for an instant, anything and everything will be destroyed. Just like Terra was here."
"..."
"You hope that when God's Right Seat achieves its goal and becomes "The One Above God" it will directly save even more believers. I admire that goal, but that is not enough."
Acqua stared directly into the Roman Pope's face.
"In order for God's Right Seat to continue functioning as it should, it needs someone outside of it to watch over it and to guide it. And I think that you are the most suitable for that position."
Hearing those words, the Roman Pope smiled slightly.
"When I first heard about God's Right Seat, I was overjoyed that there was such a quick way of guiding believers, " he said as he smiled."But God does not wish for an easy path to salvation. It seems my Father watching over me truly does like his trials and tribulations."
When the Roman Pope stopped speaking, Acqua nodded.
"What will your next move be?"
"Vento cannot move. Terra was purged. That leaves only one option."
"Are you going to attack Japan via Russia as Terra suggested?"
"I realized something during all this. Civilians should not stand on the battlefield. Only soldiers need to cross swords."
It seemed that statement was implying that he would be making a move himself.
The Roman Pope mumbled to himself as he recalled Acqua of the Back's special characteristic.
"... So the man who is both a member of God's Right Seat and has the disposition of a Saint will act."
Misaka Mikoto sat stiffly while holding her cell phone.
She hadn't been able to move since she had heard the staticky words that had come from the speaker.
She could feel a cold sweat over her entire body.
Kamijou had no way of knowing, but, even though his cell phone's LCD screen had shattered and its joint had broken so it couldn't be closed, it hadn't lost its call functionality. In other words, the conversation between him and Terra in the Palace of the Popes had reached Mikoto's ear through the phone.
She had not understood most of what they had said.
No, even if she had understood it, she had forgotten most of it.
What had caused this tightening in her chest was one simple statement.
"..."
She realized that no sound came out when she tried to speak.
She moved her shaking hands and managed to turn off her cell phone. She merely stared at the phone that no longer had a connection. She thought about staying like that until her body stopped shaking, but it didn't seem like it would ever stop.
As she slowly came out of her shocked state bit by bit, she managed to move her lips. She hadn't intended to speak, but she could tell that the eerily hoarse voice had come from her own mouth.
She spoke very quietly.
"... He... doesn't remember... ?"
After saying the words, Misaka Mikoto thought again about what they meant.
(He lost his memories?)
References
1. ↑ "The One Above God" is pronounced "Kamijou", but is spelled differently from Touma's family name.
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