novelThe Beginning of the Invasion and the Counterattack (1)
| ← Ch.154 | Ch.156 → |
Part 1
Lessar was assembling small metal parts while walking through the white snow.
"... Nnn. The spare parts just aren't enough to make another Lessar Special Custom. I guess I have to go back to the old steel glove type. Damn, I should have at least documented the values for the theory behind the custom. I just happened to put the parts together right while messing around, so I'm not sure how to get the balance right again..." Lessar was staring down into the snow as she muttered."Oh, there it is. Found it."
Kamijou didn't know what she was doing, but when he got down in the same pose as her, he figured out what she was looking at.
He had thought the snow was piled up to about 30 cm, but in the place Lessar was looking in, a cave of over 3 meters clearly opened up. It was like a tunnel made of snow.
"It was originally constructed in a V-shape. With the snow piled on top, it looked flat from above."
"But trucks transporting things to the base have driven along here..."
"If the snow was normally piled on top, the snow would match the V-shape. The way the snow accumulated and its strength were magically altered. I doubt this snow would budge even if a passenger plane landed on it."
Kamijou looked down at his right hand.
"... It isn't going to bury us alive the instant I touch it, is it?"
"I dunno, but you should probably avoid touching the walls just in case, " Lessar responded off hand as she slid herself down into the opening.
Just as Kamijou was about to follow, she suddenly stopped moving.
"Oh, crap... If I had made myself slip in the snow, I could have naturally grabbed onto you and shown you my panties opening up all sorts of new paths."
"Yes, I get it. Today, you're the king. So just get going."
Two train tracks ran side by side into the depths of the cave. A freight train was stopped there. It had about 5 cars. Kamijou couldn't see any kind of power cables, so it may have used a diesel engine.
"So he's using this to secretly bring in materials."
"I'm surprised, " said Lessar looking on in puzzlement."Fiamma of the Right blew away both the Roman Pope and Second Princess Carissa in one strike each. I didn't think he was the type to get creative like this in secret. I had envisioned him as the kind of person that would just destroy anything he didn't like."
"He used the authority of God's Right Seat to control the Roman Catholic Church in order to have events proceed the way he wanted without actually doing anything himself. I'd say this is quite normal for him. The fact that he's doing things himself is proof that his usual method won't cut it anymore."
Kamijou felt they were quite lucky to have found that freight train. After all, they were still 30 or 40 km from the base. Even if they had found a way to sneak in, they would still have had to walk through the snow if they had no means of transportation. If they had to do that, they would run out of stamina before even reaching Fiamma.
"Of course, I'm sure they'll notice if we just use the freight train."
"That's why we wait until they move it. Over here. We need to hide in a random container."
As he spoke, Kamijou headed for the container linked to the front car. The door looked like it could be opened from the side. The metal door slid open similarly to the door to the back seats of a van and Kamijou and Lessar hid inside.
Lessar was staring at the general area of Kamijou's pocket.
"I've wanted to ask you this for a bit now, but what's with that frog strap?"
"It's Gekota. I don't really know much about it though."
"... A fancy mascot that you don't know anything about? Sounds like a girl to me. I may need to change my strategy. I need to hurry up and wipe all the others away..."
As Lessar muttered to herself, she glanced around the inside of the container and her expression turned grim.
"Hmm. From the symbols I can see, these are mostly Christian spiritual items. I can't tell what they're used for though, " said Lessar whose eyes must have adjusted to the darkness fairly quickly."And you seem rather used to this kind of thing."
"During the coup d'etat, I snuck onto a freight train full of knights in order to get to Folkestone."
"Oh, that's right. Floris told me about that. She said she was 'definitely going to kick that Japanese guy's ass' the next time she saw you."
"I see. By the way, why was she caught by the knights?"
As they spoke, they heard a number of footsteps and voices from outside. The two of them fell silent and focused on what they could hear.
The voices seemed to be speaking in Russian, so Kamijou couldn't understand them, but the people seemed to be opening various containers and loading boxes on them. He and Lessar hid behind the pile of spiritual items in case their container was opened, but it never happened. They heard the train's engine start from the front and the freight train lurched forward a bit as it started to move.
"... Were they Russian soldiers? Or were they magicians?"
"I'm not certain, but probably the latter. Odds are good they were with the Russian Orthodox Church. I heard them complaining about all the spiritual items."
As the two of them hid within the container, the train headed closer and closer to the center of the mysterious fortress.
And then...
"... Ahh. It's so hot in here. I guess our body heat just raises the temperature in a sealed area like this."
"No fanning yourself with your skirt in here."
"I won't. That only has an effect when you get in a surprise attack with the perfect timi—"
Lessar trailed off and suddenly stopped moving.
Kamijou realized why an instant later.
She had realized that her sweat had made her sports shirt slightly transparent. And visible below it was her small bra that didn't even look like it covered enough space to hide the tiny chips a female spy might have.
However, Lessar did not blush and try to cover her breasts with her hands.
"Dammit!! I was saving this secret weapon for a special occasion and now it's been wasted!!"
"Why the hell did you come to Russia!? I thought something seemed odd when you were fanning with your skirt before, but... huh? You don't mean... you're kidding right!?"
Kamijou started trembling, but then the train reached its destination.
The train had taken about 20 to 30 minutes to reach the center of the base.
As it stopped, they heard the Russian voices again.
"We need to leave now, " said Lessar.
"Eh? Wouldn't it be better to wait until they've left?"
"Your sense fails you at the weirdest times. They brought the train here to transport this stuff. They're going to unload everything in the containers now. They'll definitely find us here, so we need to leave before that can happen."
Kamijou realized she was right, but it took courage to jump out in an area where people were clearly moving around.
Kamijou slightly opened the container's sliding door and looked outside. Miraculously, no one was nearby. A mountain of wooden boxes was piled up on the snow and it looked like they could get through without being seen by hiding behind it as they went.
(... Chickening out will get me nowhere. )
"Let's go, " Kamijou said as he slid the door open a little wider.
He then slipped his body through and out. He jumped down to the ground from a height of about a meter and then moved over to hide behind the pile of wooden boxes. Lessar followed suit, but her movements were suppler like those of a carnivore.
On the other side of the boxes, the men were unloading items from the train, so it felt like they were surrounded by footsteps and voices. With each noise, Kamijou's body started sweating even more.
"Think about it in a positive light, " said Lessar with a calm expression."The noisier they are, the less likely they are to notice the noises we make."
The exit to the hastily made platform was about 10 meters away from the pile of boxes. He could see stairs heading up. The train station was below the snow, so the stairs most likely headed to the surface.
Kamijou and Lessar were now going to head towards the center of Fiamma's fortress.
The number of guards and the amount of danger there would surely make the train station area seem like nothing.
He couldn't let the current situation trip him up.
Kamijou focused on his surroundings and was about to head in the direction of the exit.
But then he ran across a Russian Orthodox magician.
The magician was a young man a bit older than Kamijou. He must have been one of the personnel unloading the train because he was holding a wooden box in his arms. The magician clearly hadn't expected to run across anyone because he looked utterly shocked.
The fact that the man's hands were full was a tiny piece of good luck for Kamijou.
The magician's reaction was an instant slow.
In that time, Lessar moved.
"!!"
Her action was incredibly cool-headed. Lessar moved up to the magician silently and struck his defenseless throat with her arm. Unlike a strike from a fist, the pointed strike caused the magician's body to go limp and collapse. Lessar reached out and grabbed the box he had been holding.
The man's body fell to the ground making the bare minimum of noise and the other workers continued on not having noticed anything.
Kamijou felt an unpleasant feeling running through his fingertips.
"Please be careful, " said Lessar as she lowered the box to the ground gently.
She bound the young man's ankles with a wire-like object, rearranged the pile of boxes to make an opening, and hid the man's body in it.
"... H-he isn't dead, is he?"
"That certainly would have been easier. Then I wouldn't have had to use a valuable binding spiritual item like Dromi."
It seemed the wire around the magician's ankles prevented him from moving his body at all. The way Lessar explained that so smoothly, Kamijou realized again that she simply lived in a different world from him.
Meanwhile, she moved her tail causing the edge of her miniskirt to sway.
(It isn't like me, but gaining some points in a more honest way may be more effective in the end. No, no, I'm sexy. I know I am!!)
The two of them headed up the stairs and made it to the surface within the grounds of the base. A few hundred meters ahead, they could see an iron fence barricade.
And the middle 7 kilometers of the 10 kilometer base bulged up greatly. There was about a 20 meter difference. The covering of snow made it look like there was some great form lying there.
"Aren't bases usually kept in completely flat areas?"
"That alone tells us this place isn't normal."
A large entrance was sitting open in the "wall" portion of the large difference in height most likely for bringing in the items from the freight train. Kamijou and Lessar snuck in through there.
The inside was like a Western castle. However, it was not decorated with dazzling treasures of silver and gold. The area was made of stone and was damp. It looked like the area criminals would be imprisoned in.
Candles were set on the wall at even intervals and the two of them continued on relying on that flickering light.
Fortunately, they did not run into any guards or anyone else.
It was possible Fiamma had forbidden anyone else from entering the area.
"!!"
Lessar was about to head on further, but Kamijou grabbed her shoulder.
There was a door in front of him.
Opening it slightly and peering in, Kamijou saw a vast space on the other side. He didn't know what purpose the space had, but he heard a voice coming from it. It was a familiar voice.
"(... That's Fiamma. I never expected to run into him so quickly. )"
Even someone like Lessar stiffened when Kamijou whispered that to her.
The area looked like a church being repaired because it was made of old-looking stone and had a modern metal framework stretching across it in places. Fiamma was standing atop that metal framework. He was sitting in a chair next to a table. Both of the pieces of furniture looked out of place due to how high class they were. A thick book lay open on the table and a dim light was seeping from it.
No one else was there.
Only Fiamma's voice could be heard.
Was the book some kind of communications spiritual item?
"It is necessary. This is a 'space'. Both its coordinates and its volume are important."
Kamijou's heart gave a stir at hearing that voice.
"I have no interest in any Russian palaces. If all I wanted to do was sit on a throne, do you really think I would have gone out of the way to blow away St. Peter's Basilica? To me, this place is more important than Moscow. The slight lag in learning how things are going is a problem, but in order for the plan to move forward, I still can't leave this place. You need to look at this from the point of view of Project Bethlehem."
(... )
Kamijou focused and remained completely silent. If he didn't force himself to remain there, he was likely to just run in there yelling.
"I know, I know. You never really liked the idea of this fight. No, not World War III. I'm talking about the antagonism between Academy City and the Roman Catholic Church."
Perhaps because there was no one else with Fiamma, his voice reached Kamijou's ears despite the distance between the two of them. However, that also meant there was a danger of his own words reaching Fiamma. Kamijou grew even more nervous.
Who was Fiamma talking with?
"If Academy City wins, the age of the science side will come. If the Roman Catholic Church wins, the age of the magic side will come. However, neither scenario had much profit for the Russian Orthodox Church. Even if the age of the magic side came, the Roman Catholic Church would be in charge and the Russian Orthodox Church would lose any ground to stand on."
Kamijou thought as Lessar translated the Russian.
But then his thoughts were cut off.
He had spotted another spiritual item on the table.
"That was why you quickly took measures against that. By joining with the force that would most benefit you, you hoped to gain the most when this large conflict was over. So hand over the results of the investigation already. Hand over the reports from the Russian soldiers you sent out to investigate."
It was a small cylindrical tool.
It had a number of ring-shaped metal pieces on it making it look like a dial padlock.
It was Index's remote control spiritual item.
It was the object that was making her suffer and robbing her of her consciousness.
If he...
If he could only destroy that...
"Yes, yes. Good boy.... The Elizalina Alliance, huh? So that explains why we couldn't find Sasha Kreutzev even after searching all across Russia."
Kamijou started to lean further forward.
But then someone covered his mouth from behind.
It was Lessar.
She then used her other hand to jab him sharply in the side. He was about to start coughing out of pain, but he couldn't because of how tightly Lessar was pressing on his mouth.
Strength left his body.
"No, she may be imperfect, but she's still a magician. Normal soldiers can't handle her. And it would be a problem if she were to be shot. The Russian Orthodox Church? No, Annihilatus is useless here. I don't know if they went easy on her because she used to be their comrade or if their basic specs are just that low, but they have yet to capture her.... It's a pain, but it looks like I'll have to do it myself. If it adds certainty to the plan, then it's for the best."
With his body held back, Kamijou glared at Fiamma through the cracked door.
Fiamma hadn't noticed them.
"And let me tell you one thing. I'm sure you don't intend to just remain a bishop. The highest position in the Russian Orthodox Church is the Patriarch, right? With your rate of growth, you aren't going to make it to that position before your life comes to an end. If you want to use me to that end, you first have to do work that makes me want to use you. And if you're going to hold back and try to negotiate with me, then I won't hesitate to rid myself of you and find someone else. Understand?"
Fiamma closed the thick book as if bringing the conversation to a close and then grabbed Index's remote control spiritual item.
Kamijou hadn't realized it until that point, but there was something like a steel window right next to Fiamma. Fiamma opened it and light poured into the dark room. He then took a light step outside the window.
He took another step and the remote control spiritual item was gone.
Lessar removed her hand from Kamijou's mouth and spun him around forcefully.
Kamijou was about ready to grab her by the collar.
"(... What the hell were you doing!? I was so close!!)"
"(... No, what the hell were you doing!? There are over 200 magicians in that room!)"
Hearing that, Kamijou's expression turned to one of shock.
He hadn't noticed that at all.
But when he looked back into the room, he saw a great number of what seemed to be glowing eyes in the depths of the darkness around the large space. They may have been doing some kind of work or they may have been on standby as Fiamma's guards.
"(... If you had just charged in here, you wouldn't have reach Fiamma. If Fiamma is the kind of person you said he is, he would have just run away while his subordinates dealt with us. )" Lessar spoke slowly in an attempt to calm down Kamijou."(He mentioned the Elizalina Alliance and Sasha Kreutzev. He ordered the Russian soldiers to fall back, so he may be planning on making contact with Sasha himself. If you want to take that spiritual item from him, you have no choice but to try to cut him off. If we can find Sasha Kreutzev before him, we can prepare a surprise attack. )"
"(... Dammit. )"
Fiamma of the Right was a person who had controlled a large number of people to cause the chaos that was in the world. Kamijou had known that it wouldn't be so easy to reach him, but still...
"(... I guess we need to find Sasha then. If Fiamma wants her, it can't be for a good reason. And most importantly, I need to settle this whole thing regarding Index. )"
Part 2
Hamazura Shiage drove along in the stolen car.
For the time being, he had acquired food, war funds, and gas for the car.
It was finally time to take action towards "fighting" Academy City. He had to find something in Russia he could use to negotiate with and guarantee his and Takitsubo's safety.
"... But I have no idea what exactly I'm supposed to be looking for."
"Well, it's a small piece of fortune that Academy City forces and weapons are wandering throughout Russia due to the war. Hamazura, maybe we should start our attack there."
"You're saying we capture a cutting edge military weapon and use the technology to negotiate?"
"We could also monitor the Russian military movements and pass useful information on to Academy City."
Hamazura couldn't get a good grasp of the situation.
But that was to be expected. He may have experienced quite a bit, but he was still essentially a delinquent. Armies and military weapons just didn't seem real to him. He didn't even know how any kind of "negotiation" with a giant force like Academy City would actually happen.
On the other hand, the girl who had seen the depths of the city's darkness gave him advice.
"Hamazura, we need to think about what Academy City is after in this war."
"Eh? They're defending themselves against Russia's attack, right?"
"If that were true, there would be no reason to invade Russia. They would only need to set up a thorough defensive line in the ocean around Japan. Normally, a large group of bombers and ballistic missiles can't be completely defended against, but Academy City can pull it off. While buying time like that, they could slowly manipulate the world economy to put Russia in such economic trouble that they can't continue the war."
"... So Academy City has some other goal?"
"We need to figure out what that is and head to the center of whatever it is. Imagine a balanced scale. Hamazura, you are a small weight, but you just need to get in a position where you can affect which way it tilts by which plate you stand on. If you can do that, you can demand whatever you want from Academy City."
"..."
That meant he had to head into a place where Academy City and the Russian army were battling fiercely. He would have to charge in and get that information. That kind of strategy could literally cost him his life, but he would be letting go of one of his only opportunities if he did so.
"They've been going at it pretty harshly around here. The Elizalina Alliance is it called? I think we're somewhere near there. Maybe we should go look around there."
"... Yeah, let's do that, Hamazura..."
"? Takitsubo?"
Hamazura had a very bad feeling when he heard Takitsubo's frail response.
He glanced over at the passenger seat and then slammed on the brakes.
Something was wrong with Takitsubo.
She was sweating profusely all over her body.
"Hey, what's wrong? Takitsubo, are you okay!?"
"I'm... fine. Don't worry... Just keep going, Hamazura..."
It was no joke.
Anyone would be able to tell something wasn't right. The Body Crystal must really have had a bad effect on Takitsubo. That fact was thrust before Hamazura's eyes once more, but there was nothing he could do about it. He knew it wouldn't help, but he still considered taking her to a hospital. However, a doctor from outside Academy City would not know how to heal her. And even if a doctor did, he would still be worried about her safety. Due to the war, Academy City and Russia weren't exactly getting along. And Hamazura and Takitsubo had entered the country illegally without passports.
But he couldn't just not do anything. He didn't want to leave her as she was. For sentimental reasons, not logical ones, Hamazura wanted to put as little stress on Takitsubo's body as possible. So what could he do? Searching for the means of negotiating with Academy City would require charging straight into a war-torn area.
As he tried to figure out what to do, he heard two small noises.
Someone had lightly knocked on the driver side window.
Looking out, he saw a large white man. He was probably Russian. Hamazura instinctually pulled out his handgun next to the door so the man couldn't see it. As stated before, Academy City and Russia were not getting along. It was possible someone would attack him solely for being from Academy City.
Hamazura cautiously opened the window with the handgun still hidden.
The large white man spoke.
"I have acted as a Japanese-speaking guide for tourists before. Can you understand me?"
"What do you want?"
"It looks like you need a doctor."
The man pointed with his chin towards Takitsubo in the passenger seat.
Hamazura was taken aback by that unexpected response and the man continued speaking.
"Let's make a deal. My village is out of fuel for power generation. If we don't manage to get more, we will all freeze to death. This is a diesel car, right? If you hand over the fuel you have inside this worn-out car, I will lead you to a doctor in my village for the little lady there. What do you say?"
Part 3
Had the comfort of riding in a tank really improved all that much?
The engine was loud and the space stank of a mix of oil, exhaust, sweat, and filth. And a small space packed with 5 middle aged men would probably never be exactly comfortable.
Antseka S. Kfark sighed in the commander's seat.
He was in central Russia.
There was no manual for how to deploy troops to defend that area from an external enemy. Defense was supposed to occur closer to the border and most plans had the troops deployed there or possibly cutting into the enemy nation's border.
No one had thought about enemies getting that deep into the country.
And yet Academy City had ground troops there.
In a completely unexpected turn of events, they were working from the center and moving out.
"... Dammit. They're sending more down, " muttered Antseka in annoyance as he stared up into the sky through the hatch."Fuck, how can they call this bringing in the bare minimum of defensive weapons needed to maintain peace? I'm not even sure a unit could take out a single one of those cutting edge tanks and they're dropping them down like confetti. With those specs, they're clearly for an invasion and occupation."
"Eighty percent of their 2. 3 million residents are students and yet they're still fighting on the same level as us. It just doesn't add up. Did you hear that some of those tanks can move around on their own without anyone aboard?" said one of the other soldiers aboard sounding a bit creeped out.
Antseka frowned even more.
"That's gotta just be some ridiculous rumor, but it really does seem like they can just do anything."
An Academy City supersonic bomber flew by overhead and a line of parachutes started falling down. Instead of more airborne tanks, the parachutes likely contained supplies for constructing simple bases.
Their bases had a few different stages.
They ranged from the log houses made of numerous steel plates to the shelters made of quick drying reinforced cement. Armored weapons—powered suits they were called?—constructed the bases at an astounding speed and they had been created all over Russia like roach nests.
It seemed Academy City hated to have their technology leaked outside.
As such, those fortresses likely had methods to blow them up or to recover them installed in them. Unlike the Russians who had their hands completely full with the fighting, Academy City was giving thought to after the war ended.
"There's just no end to them, " spat out one of the other soldiers."In the time we spent putting together a strategy to attack the base that appeared in front, another one was made in the back. While we were panicking over that, another one appeared cutting off our supply line. They're just too fast. Not even a merchant skipping town works that quickly."
At first, they had tried to shoot down the parachutes, but it hadn't had any effect. Even when their anti-aircraft guns and machine guns blew holes in the fabric, they grew wings like a glider or other parachutes appeared. There just didn't seem to be any limit.
Antseka and the others just felt that they couldn't get to the stage they excelled at.
They weren't idiots. They surely had more real battle experience than the people from Academy City who just persistently used technology. They were confident that they could at least fight with 50/50 results if it came down to a proper firefight. That meant it would end up a stalemate and Academy City would be unable to invade any further.
However, it never even made it to that kind of battle they knew so well.
The fight never came to those veteran tank men.
Normally, Academy City's unusual strategy would have been absolutely impossible. Given the materials, personnel, and time needed to construct the bases and the materials and energy needed to maintain the bases, building them one after another in the middle of enemy territory and connecting supply lines between them just didn't sound realistic. Any soldier or even journalist would be able to immediately see multiple issues with that strategy.
And yet Academy City made up for those weak points with overwhelming technology.
The supersonic bombers could supply large amounts of materiel and fuel at unthinkable speeds. The powered suits could accurately assemble the materials at extremely high speed. It almost seemed like some kind of joke. The soldiers felt like they needed to rewrite the texts they had read in their training days to even begin to keep up with it.
"What do we do?" asked one of the soldiers who was clearly middle aged but was still one of the younger ones in the tank."We're almost out of fuel and shells and that base has sealed off our escape and supply routes. I hope someone can come up with some kind of ground-breaking strategy for a counterattack, but..."
"At this rate, we'll be out of commission without having even run into another tank, " said another soldier sounding as if he'd had enough of the situation.
When the large number of parachutes had first started to fall from the supersonic bombers, their unit had put stopping the construction of the base at top priority. However, shooting down the parachutes had no effect and the powered suits on the ground had evaded the shells with astounding movements. The powered suits had then accurately returned fire with huge shotguns that had perhaps been supplied to help dig up the area for the shelter.
As the suits had toyed with them using their strange movements, more and more supplies and airborne tanks had been dropped down. Before Antseka and the others knew it, their movements were being obstructed by a huge difference in firepower.
He realized they had been wasting their ammunition.
If they had known the strategy Academy City was using, they may have been able to react more calmly and preserve some of their shells, but nothing could be done about it anymore.
As Antseka recalled their situation, one of his fellow soldiers looked over at him.
"I know we need to surrender, but I can't stand having this end without having done a damn thing. Let's take out at least one of them. I know it's only a drop in the bucket, but this country truly is done for if we can't reduce their forces by even a little."
Antseka looked up at the white sky through the hatch.
Even then, a few bombers were flying through the sky at over 7000 kph and dropping a large number of parachutes.
"Hey. If those had been large bunker-destroying bombs instead of supplies, what do you think we could've done?"
"..."
An unpleasant silence spread throughout the tank.
That was what the true role of the supersonic bombers was supposed to be and it was probably the simplest way of silencing Antseka and the others.
Why had Academy City gone out of their way to carry out such a roundabout strategy?
Antseka looked up into the sky out of annoyance and spat out a few words.
"So this is their humane way of using their weapons? They're mocking us."
Part 4
Kamijou and Lessar had entered the Elizalina Alliance of Independent Nations. Kamijou had thought its border would be heavily guarded because of the war, but they were able to more or less head right through.
"Unlike island nations like Japan or the UK, the land borders between countries are fairly easy to get through."
"Yeah, but that was still too easy. Given the circumstances, it wouldn't have surprised me if someone had tried to shoot us."
"They don't have the spare resources to do something like that. And you passed over quite a few borders to get into Russia in the first place, right?"
"Well, I made it here by hitchhiking with various people, so I don't really know the exact route I took."
"... Hmm. You may not have realized it because you didn't understand the language, but you might have had quite the adventure, " Lessar muttered.
They were in some sort of plaza and a number of people were walking about. It looked more like there were people of multiple races there rather than just one specific race. Kamijou wasn't sure about the specifics, but it sounded like different people were speaking different languages.
"The Elizalina Alliance is made from small areas splitting off from Russia because they disagreed with how Russia was doing things, right?"
"Technically, it's a collection of countries that did that, " said Lessar correcting him."This is a landlocked area, so any one country that splits off will then be surrounded by Russian land in every direction, so they would need permission from the Russian government to gain personnel and goods. To free themselves from that indirect control, it seems the Elizalina Alliance gathered together a few smaller countries to create a route heading outside of Russia that connects to Eastern Europe. Thanks to that, Russia has alienated the Elizalina Alliance the most of all the other independent nations."
Because of that, the Elizalina Alliance was quite narrow and stretched from east to west. It was about 300 km long. The odds of just running into the person you were searching for were quite low.
"Anyway, we need to find Sasha before Fiamma does, " Kamijou said urging himself on."But how do we go about searching for her?"
"First, we need to rent a room at an inn to use as a base."
"Yeah, we might not find her in one day with such a wide area to search in."
"Of course, we'll only be renting one room because we need to preserve what money we have. If you want to add any kind of indecent meaning into it, feel free."
"Is that just what your basic thought patterns are set to or something!?"
"You don't like the inn idea? So you're suggesting outside!? B-but that could be a problem. I have no issues with the basic idea of doing it outdoors, but it's just so cold here."
"... Okay, I get it. We need to have a serious discussion."
Kamijou grabbed Lessar, dragged her into an alley, and gave her a serious 15 minute lecture. Lessar was mentally exhausted when she returned to the plaza with the boy.
"So how are we going to search for her? Sasha is a magician, so we might be able to find her if we look for traces of anything mystical."
"I-I think I know a simpler way."
"?"
Kamijou looked confused at Lessar's response, but he noticed something odd soon thereafter.
Four or five men were hiding amid the crowd of people walking by and they were watching Kamijou and Lessar closely. They were wearing dark green military uniforms, but the uniforms made them show up even more in the white snow.
"They're the border guards, " said Lessar simply."As you just said: it was too easy. They aren't idiots. They aren't in a situation where they are even able to get camouflage that matches the environment, but they are still trying to defend their country."
"Wh-what do we do?"
"That's simple enough. We ask them."
Kamijou looked confused, but Lessar explained further.
"Fiamma used the Russian army to search for Sasha Kreutzev's whereabouts, right? That means some of them must have headed along the border to search. Even if they didn't find the Sasha, the Russian army's actions must have been noticed by the Elizalina forces, right? And now the leader of the entire war is going to be sneaking into the Elizalina Alliance. That's information we can use to negotiate with them."
Part 5
Two forces glared at each other on the battlefield that was the Strait of Dover between England and France.
An unknown semitransparent substance covered the ocean surface and tens, hundreds, and even thousands of swords crossed above it. It had gone beyond the scale of a mere battle. It had reached a point where it was clearly a war.
France had more when it came down to pure numbers, but England was the one pushing forward.
Kanzaki Kaori's presence was quite valuable.
Her power as one of the world's fewer than 20 Saints allowed her to knock back a large number of magicians with a single strike. The Amakusa Church members around her would at times support her and at times use her as a decoy to accurately strike from a different direction. This made them much more successful than their mere numbers would suggest.
"Hoo... !!"
The scabbard of Kanzaki's sword destroyed a large portion of the semitransparent land at their feet. Girls wearing black nun's habits jumped up on the smashed pieces that were flying up and attacked the French magicians from above.
They were the nuns of the former Agnese Forces.
That force with Agnese Sanctis at its center was battling in a similar fashion to the Amakusas. They also were able to work more effectively because of their intimate knowledge of how those from the Roman Catholic Church fought.
But even all that was not enough to repel the French forces.
They had no magician in an extremely special position like a Saint. Instead their strength was augmented by a large number of weapons and spiritual items they gained from the Roman Catholic Church that had over 2 billion followers. While some were the stereotypical types used by a single person like staffs or cups, quite a few odd tank-like spiritual items could be seen. Those had giant swords instead of gun barrels and armor that looked like parts off of a suit of armor.
Seeing that, Second Princess Carissa spoke sounding bored.
"This is still a test run. I'd say they're trying to scout out how much power we have."
She was still not holding any kind of weapon.
Carissa was guarded by a large number of knights and she had an elegant and solid feel to her.
She turned to Knight Leader who was at her side.
"Now then. I wonder where France's main force lies. I'm pretty sure I'm seeing knight related magic mixed in with the Roman Catholic based magicians. But that knight related magic is still at a level where it can be explained within the category of the Christian Church, so..."
"Christian-style French knights would probably be Charlemagnic, don't you think?"
"Or maybe that mastermind of a holy woman who's doing nothing but yawning in Versailles went crying to the remnants of the Orleans Knights despite how it would make her look."
"... I'd rather you did not underestimate me like that, " said a voice suddenly from an unknown source.
Carissa's eyebrows moved ever so slightly.
"My pride is not so cheap that I would leave them behind simply for self defense. In fact, I'm rather resentful that all that was resolved by a British mercenary, " said the voice.
"Oh? You seem to be a little drowsy still, so why don't you go wash your face? You may never leave Versailles, but that was all caused by your slow reaction. Just like this time."
"You cannot do anything either, " said the "brains" of Versailles quietly."We know that Curtana Original was destroyed and that the Second is with Queen Elizard. In other words, you have no real power right now. And as long as you are outside the borders of the United Kingdom, the knights surrounding you do not have all that much power either. I am aware that you love war, but are you aware that you are merely in the way?"
"You fool, " Carissa muttered.
Immediately afterwards, the knights around the second princess received a large amount of power from Curtana.
They received the power from Curtana Second. Elizard must have sent out some sort of order. However, that was not enough to explain it. Curtana's effects were supposed to only work within the borders of the United Kingdom.
"Surely you know that I was planning to head out to Europe in order to destroy all opposing forces if I had succeeded in my coup d'etat using Curtana Original."
"You don't mean... ?"
"How do you think I intended to do that? Did you think I was just going to complain about my inability to use Curtana's power outside of the UK?"
A loud noise resounded from about 10 kilometers behind Carissa.
Something was floating up there. It was a ridiculously huge construction. The mysterious structure could perhaps be referred to as a "square bubble" created from a random assortment of dozens of cubes made of heavy stone. The object did not seem to use any sort of normal construction technology. It looked both like an artificial castle and like a giant piece of quarried stone that was now floating in midair.
"That is the Mobile Fortress Glastonbury, " said Carissa."The surroundings of the fortress are forcibly designated as within the United Kingdom, so it allows Curtana's usable area to be rapidly expanded. Don't you think this large scale spiritual item is just perfect for making an invasion regardless of what your opponent thinks?"
The situation turned around.
Having gained power, the knights drew their swords to protect Carissa.
"This is not a war of attrition for the sake of defense."
A slow change occurred across the knights spread out to defend Carissa.
They went from passive to active.
The princess of military matters announced what that meant.
"This is a clean-up battle for the sake of making an attack."
Part 6
Kamijou and Lessar walked along the plaza while surrounded by numerous large men. Kamijou did not like being taken somewhere by military looking men who he didn't speak the same language as. As he nervously walked along, Lessar spoke to him sounding bored.
"It's okay. The Elizalina Alliance should want any information on Fiamma they can get. They want that information badly, so I'm sure they won't throw us into a detention facility or anything. In fact, this Alliance doesn't even have any dangerous facilities like that."
"... Really? Having expectations like that completely overturned is the usual pattern of Kamijou-san's misfortune, you know? What do we do if they're leading us to some room with chairs that have restraints on them?"
"Fine, fine. If that happens, I'll apologize by putting on a babydoll, crawling on all fours, and waving my ass.... Hm, that actually sounds pretty nice. How I about I do it now?"
"It looks like you need more lecturing, Lessar-kun. It might bother others here, so how about we head over to that alley?"
The instant Kamijou grabbed the girl and started to leave the circle of people, shouts in Russian erupted around him. A few of the large men reached for their holstered pistols.
"Wah!! Okay, okay. Damn, this just doesn't feel like a warm welcome!"
"I was joking. I don't intend to give that kind of service to the other people around here. I doubt that would benefit the UK any. I'll be a good girl for now, but when we get to our hotel room, I'll put on the babydoll and we can go from there."
As they argued back and forth, one of the men escorting them muttered something sounding exceedingly displeased. It was in Russian so Kamijou couldn't understand him, but Lessar translated it for him.
"He asked if we saved a mother and her daughters who were being transported in a truck in Russia. It seems one daughter is a 2 year old baby and the other is a 10 year old girl."
"... ? We did help with that convoy of trucks and armored carriages, but... how many people were on those things? I don't specifically remember anyone like that."
The large man spat out a few more words in response to Kamijou's puzzled expression.
Lessar frowned and then shrugged before looking in Kamijou's direction.
"He says they were his sister and her daughters."
For the man to know about that, the people in the trucks must have made it safely to a nearby town and made contact by phone or something.
It was possible the man felt indebted to them and that was the sole reason he wasn't pointing his handgun at them.
Kamijou and Lessar were brought to a rectangular building made of stone that was located near the plaza. It was probably originally a building on the grounds of a church, but it was now being used as a military facility.
The paper documents were far too cluttered for it to be called an office and the steel desks were not in uniform locations. A map of the area was stuck on a whiteboard on the wall. Magnets of different colors indicated the locations of Elizalina Alliance and Russian tanks and other troops. One of the colors vastly outnumbered the other.
A blonde woman was waiting there.
She was very thin. In fact, she was so thin that you would be worried for her health more than aroused if she were wearing a swimsuit. Her slightly sunken eyes turned in their direction and she smiled thinly.
She spoke in Japanese.
"So you say Fiamma of the Right is headed here?"
Lessar gave a whistle.
Kamijou thought the woman must be an acquaintance of Lessar's, but it seemed that wasn't so.
"That's the woman the Elizalina Alliance is named after. She's the holy woman who had the different countries break away and join together, " Lessar said.
"So you say Fiamma of the Right is headed here?" Elizalina repeated.
To meet with people who had illegally entered the country, the name "Fiamma of the Right" must have been ominous indeed to the Elizalina Alliance.
That wasn't too surprising though because he was the man who had pulled the trigger causing World War III.
If it hadn't been for that, it was unlikely the Russian army would have started invading them.
"We heard him say it himself in the Russian army base near the border, so I'm pretty sure he is."
After explaining that, Kamijou realized something.
"... Wait a second. Elizalina-san, do you know exactly who Fiamma of the Right is?"
Essentially, he was asking her if she knew about the magic side and of the depths of the Roman Catholic Church.
Elizalina responded while barely moving her lips.
"I may not be very skilled, but I am a magician."
"Even if she wasn't, she was still able to respond so quickly just from the partial reports from her subordinates. She determined how valuable we were and immediately had us brought to her, the center of the country. Just from that, it was clear she knew of magic, " added Lessar.
It seemed she knew of the legends of Elizalina's achievements.
"On the surface, she lay down the foundation for the various countries to be independent both politically and economically, but she also secretly pushed back the Russian Orthodox magicians who were attempting to damage the Alliance by occult means. If we got into a serious fight, even I may get my ass kicked."
"Oh, it was nothing that amazing. I merely made a few suggestions and helped a bit. It was nothing at all compared to my sister in France."
Elizalina brushed Lessar's words aside. It seemed she did not like having others speak highly of her.
She quickly moved back to the real matter at hand.
"Fiamma of the Right is an important figure when it comes to this war... no, to the invasion of this country. If we can use this opportunity to defeat him, the threat to the people's lives will lessen by quite a bit."
Kamijou agreed with that much, but the rest was different.
"On the other hand, I do not think that I can defeat Fiamma of the Right. It is an issue of his ability as a magician. Even if we gathered up everyone in this country, we would not be able to defeat him."
Elizalina looked troubled as she said that.
Even she did not want to just overlook that opportunity.
With Fiamma seeming to be within their grasp, they wanted to take action to escape from their crisis as quickly as possible.
She was probably only able to prevent herself from doing that because she was a skilled politician.
It may look like an opportunity at first glance, but it could actually bring on even more danger.
"The most important thing for us is the lives of the country's people. If it would only cause those lives to be lost in vain, we must avoid a fight with Fiamma."
"So you're just going to let him do whatever he wants?" asked Lessar.
Elizalina shook her head.
"No, " she immediately responded."My subordinates have informed me of the situation. The target of the Russian's - and therefore Fiamma's—search is Sasha Kreutzev. We know where she is. She is very close by. In fact, I could summon her here at any time. Now that you know that, can you figure out how I plan to defeat Fiamma while protecting the lives of the people?"
"... You're going to take us and Sasha outside of the Alliance and into Russia where we'll carry out some kind of anti-Fiamma strategy?"
"Correct, " Elizalina nodded."You can think of me as a cold person if you like, but that is just how delicate a situation this is. A single careless decision could end up killing a great number of unrelated people."
"No, " Kamijou smiled."We were actually planning to use you all to find Sasha. I'm just glad you aren't locking us up."
"The scale may be different, but it seems you too have people you must protect."
"Everyone does, " Kamijou responded calmly."Because it took me so long to realize it, I'm in danger of losing her, but I may still be able to make it in time."
In any case, they had to meet up with Sasha Kreutzev, lure Fiamma to them after leaving the Elizalina Alliance, and then defeat him. They still had the chance of creating a situation where they had more of an advantage than Fiamma, but as time went by, that chance was slipping away.
And as that slipped away, so did the odds of rescuing Index.
Having worked out the situation in his own mind, Kamijou asked Elizalina a question.
"What exactly are we going to do?"
"Come here.... I cannot guarantee our victory because of the suddenness of the situation, though."
As she spoke, Elizalina headed toward the whiteboard in the corner of the room.
And then...
"That's true. You're much too late if you're still strategizing at this stage, " said a sudden male voice.
Kamijou recognized the voice. It was a voice he would never forget.
It was Fiamma of the Right's voice.
The voice was coming from the window. Kamijou hurriedly turned around at the same time as Lessar and Elizalina moved. Lessar stuck a bar magnet on the end of a retractable baton and Elizalina took a piece of semitransparent blue cellophane that was likely a sweets wrapper and stuck it on the side of a glass full of water.
It only took a few seconds.
They were likely quickly creating spiritual items.
Immediately afterwards, fire and water shot forth.
With the roar of the air being split, the two forms of attacks rushed towards the window like an avalanche. The glass shattered, but the voice did not stop.
"This is just a greeting, " said Fiamma's voice.
A small doll made of kneaded flour was floating outside the window.
"Things have yet to truly begin."
Immediately afterwards, a vibration passed through Kamijou Touma's brain.
His vision shook for an instant and he thought his face had been punched by something heavy. When he finally realized he had fallen to the ground at some point, he also realized what it was that had hit him in the face.
It was a piece of rubble even smaller than a baseball.
About half of the ceiling had collapsed bringing down rubble.
In the opening, he saw something like a wall of orange light.
Kamijou was one of the closest ones to the scene, but he did not know that a giant sword 30 or 40 kilometers long had been swung down. After all, the base of the sword, was so far away it was almost disappearing off the horizon. A sizzling sound could be heard coming from the sword. It wiggled back and forth and then slowly lifted up much like an axe being pulled out of a large tree.
"With something this big, aiming can be a pain, " Fiamma said cheerfully.
Kamijou trembled as the giant sword that could split a mountain range in two was once more casually lifted up.
It lifted up almost completely vertically.
And then Fiamma's sword swung down all at once.
The air shook.
It was almost directly above them.
He had corrected his aim and dropped the giant sword down from directly above. The Elizalina Alliance city was sliced in a straight line and the stone building Kamijou and the others were in took the brunt of the blow causing it to be almost completely smashed to smithereens.
A cloud formed.
The difference in air pressure created by the slicing of the atmosphere created something similar to a contrail.
That strike had affected the weather.
And then...
"Oooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!"
Kamijou Touma yelled out and stuck his right palm straight up.
He could hear an unpleasant creaking noise coming from within his bones.
But that boy's seemingly ordinary arm managed to receive that strike that could slice the map in two.
(Did I... stop it?)
As it was her first time seeing Imagine Breaker, Elizalina looked shocked and Lessar seemed to find it hard to accept despite having seen the power before. However, he didn't have time to explain every little thing. Kamijou wasn't even sure none of his bones had been broken.
Then...
"Oh, and I thought you might have learned something during British Halloween, " said a voice from very nearby.
It was Fiamma of the Right.
Kamijou immediately recognized the red figure that jumped in right in front of him.
There was a disconnect between the person who activated the magic and the place the magic had been activated in.
It was similar to Second Princess Carissa when she used both Curtana Original and the bunker clusters.
It seemed he was drawing their focus with the large scale attack so he could send his true attack at their unguarded side.
"... !?"
Kamijou immediately held up his right hand, but he had only just destroyed the giant orange sword. A numb throbbing pain was still running through his arm which slowed his reaction speed. With a calm expression, Fiamma used that short time to stretch his own hand out towards Kamijou.
Kamijou had no idea what effects that mysterious hand held.
"Kh!!"
Elizalina cut in between them.
The front of her body was glowing slightly. She must have activated some kind of magic. She was a magician who had been continually using her power below the surface while allowing multiple countries to split off from the larger country of Russia. Kamijou assumed those experiences allowed her to freely use some amazing spells.
But Fiamma ignored her.
Kamijou and Elizalina were mercilessly blown away a few meters.
His breathing briefly stopped.
Fiamma started to add in another mysterious attack, but then his movements stopped. The reason was his right arm. What looked like a mysterious third arm appeared from his shoulder.
Kamijou had been saved by Elizalina's skill.
If it hadn't been for her, his body would have been split in two horizontally.
"I see, " Fiamma said as if he were impressed as he tapped at his shoulder with his left hand."That is a rather tough wall to break through easily."
At that point, the two large men who had been staying at Elizalina's side jumped forward.
"Bellagi!! Longhe!! Stay back!!" Elizalina yelled out while still collapsed on the ground, but they did not stop. And Fiamma did not hold back.
"However, it is not so tough I cannot break through it. Don't underestimate me."
All sound disappeared.
Immediately after Fiamma swung his third arm, Bellagi and Longhe were blown away to the side. The distance between them did not matter. Bellagi may have been in range of the third arm, but Longhe had clearly not been. And yet he was knocked away just the same. They were knocked away through the hole of rubble that the initial strike had created in the building.
Kamijou forced his injured body to stand.
"Fiamma!!"
"You're the main dish. I need to make some preparations before eating you."
The attacker's gaze turned in the direction of Elizalina.
Once again a mysterious pale light began to be emitted from the surface of her body.
However, the previous exchange had made it clear just how much of a difference there was between their powers. Her defensive spell had been breached. If Fiamma went all out, it was possible Elizalina would be killed.
(I have my right hand... )
Kamijou gritted his teeth while focusing on his arm that still had some pain remaining in it.
(But can I really block every single attack!? Can I really rescue Index while doing nothing but defending and receiving attacks!?)
Fiamma paid no heed to Kamijou and the others' surprise and hesitation.
He made another careless action.
"!!"
But Fiamma's right arm did not manage to grab and rip out Elizalina's throat.
It was thanks to Lessar.
The small girl cut in between them while holding something like a spear. It was the steel glove, a magical weapon that had four finger-like blades on it. Lessar forcefully swung it down like a guillotine.
"You're in the way."
The action was less like a backhand blow and more like the action of someone brushing away a spider web.
Even so, the steel glove was smashed to pieces. Lessar's small frame shot away like a bullet. Just before she struck the wall, Bellagi stretched out his arms having just reentered the building. He just barely managed to catch Lessar.
In that instant Lessar had risked her life for, Elizalina stood up to a crouched position while making complex motions with her fingers. A glow that flickered irregularly appeared at the tips of her fingers.
When Fiamma saw it, he laughed.
"You're trying to construct a spell using the 'right arm' against me?"
Immediately afterwards a beam of light shot forth from Fiamma's right arm.
Fiamma's action was not even in the same dimension as showing off his ability. It was more like he was crushing an annoying insect flying in front of his face. Whatever Elizalina did would only destroy her body further.
Earlier she had said that the full force of the Elizalina Alliance could not defeat Fiamma of the Right. That was why she wanted to carry out an interception outside of the Alliance in order to defeat him.
So by the very fact that Fiamma was standing there, Elizalina's fate may have been sealed.
But that was not what happened.
The loud sound of competing powers rang out.
It was the sound of Fiamma's beam striking Kamijou's right hand.
Kamijou had jumped in front of Elizalina and blocked Fiamma's attack, but the beam scattered in every direction as if it were escaping Kamijou's hand instead of disappearing instantly. That was nothing more than an after effect different from what Fiamma had wanted.
However, a loud noise drowned out all other noises.
The after effects of the beam that were sent to the sides blew the remains of the room's walls away and continued on into the plaza. They travelled diagonally upwards, so they did not hit any of the people in the plaza, but the stone buildings there had their roofs blown off.
Kamijou Touma and Fiamma of the Right, two people who had special right arms, glared at each other.
"Let's do this. You know why I'm fighting."
"What?" Fiamma said while looking slightly confused.
He looked over at Kamijou's right shoulder.
"I told you that you were the main dish. Are you going to force me to do this first?"
"!!"
Lessar had been blown away to the edge of the wall, but she took action. She picked up the pieces of iron that remained of her steel glove and threw them like bullets.
She was not aiming for Fiamma.
She knew that wouldn't work from the strike before.
The objects Lessar threw hit Kamijou in the side. His stiffened body bent in as he was knocked to the side. Immediately afterwards, Fiamma's right arm fell down like a guillotine. The floor melted. It was clear what would happen to a human body that received that attack.
"... G-ghah... !?"
Kamijou rolled along, broke through the remnants of a wall, and out into the plaza. Fiamma slowly walked over while Kamijou writhed atop the snow. He did not even look over at Elizalina who seemed to have been his first target. She must have been more of an annoying insect he needed to crush than an important target for his strategy.
Fiamma of the Right had two important targets.
The first was Kamijou Touma's right arm.
The second was Sasha Kreutzev.
(... Not good. He's just doing whatever he wants with no real resistance. We can't fight him while protecting Sasha with things like this. )
The one bit of luck in the situation was the fact that Fiamma had not found Sasha yet. According to Elizalina, she was very close by, but they had more options as long as Fiamma had not found her yet.
As Kamijou was thinking, Fiamma suddenly started to speak.
"Did you know that modern magician that was established at the end of the 19th century fundamentally hates working in groups? Even a genius group starting with "Golden" had an internal split caused by personality issues. The Roman Catholic Church worked at the goal of creating group fighting techniques with its doctrine at the core, but... well, you know how things are, right? Magicians value the individual. That is why the subjective targets known as magic names are still valued highly today and why the secret organization known as God's Right Seat was born."
"What are you trying to say?"
"In other words..."
Fiamma lifted his right hand up so it was horizontal.
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