novelThe Beginning of the Invasion and the Counterattack (2)
| ← Ch.155 | Ch.157 → |
He was standing in the middle of the plaza, but he paid the people in the area no heed. Those people were so trapped by their fear that they could not even run away, but he made no attempt to conceal the idea of magic while speaking to Kamijou.
"Let's say there is someone about to be killed before your eyes. And then hundreds if not thousands of innocent people will be killed in an invasion. If you were a powerful magician, do you think you would continue to hide and do nothing just because you were important to the enemy's plan?"
"!?"
Kamijou's body stiffened.
He had seen an angel in the crowd of people.
It was actually a figure wearing red. The figure's body was bound by black belts and was wearing red innerwear and a cloak. It was possible some magic was at work in order to prevent that figure from standing out in the plaza.
The figure was Sasha Kreutzev.
Upon seeing her, Kamijou forgot the situation they were in and felt erroneous relief. She was the archangel who had held a Saint like Kanzaki Kaori in check while also constructing the Sweep spell that would kill 6 billion people. The thought of receiving help from someone that powerful was certainly reassuring.
But then he realized something.
The person he was seeing was not the archangel Misha Kreutzev that Kamijou Touma knew.
She was nothing more than the Russian Orthodox magician Sasha Kreutzev.
She tried to do something.
She was a professional Russian Orthodox magician, so her skills were most likely top notch.
However...
"Today is my lucky day."
Fiamma flicked something with his finger.
Whatever it was weaved between the people in the crowd towards Sasha at the speed of an arrow and knocked her backwards at the same speed.
"I thought this would be a little harder. I never expected to get both of you so easily."
Fiamma must have been confident that his strike had completely sealed Sasha's movements because he did not head after her. He looked back over to Kamijou instead.
"..."
Kamijou stared back silently.
He didn't know very much about magical battles. However, he knew that the only thing that had a chance against Fiamma's right arm was his own Imagine Breaker. It was no time to debate whether he should do it or not. If he didn't charge in there, Fiamma would just kill a large number of people before his eyes.
It was one on one.
There was no one else and nothing else he could rely on.
And then Fiamma of the Right made an odd movement.
He unconcernedly swung his head to the side.
Immediately afterwards, something like a scratch appeared across his cheek. A strange crack ran across the wall of the building behind him.
It seemed the people in the plaza had no idea what had just happened.
The unreal scene before their eyes had paralyzed their ability to determine what was going on.
"..."
However, Kamijou gulped slightly because of his limited knowledge of magic.
Fiamma had evaded an attack.
Kamijou was surprised by the sudden attack itself, but he was even more surprised by how Fiamma had reacted to it.
"What a nostalgic face, " Fiamma of the Right said.
Kamijou turned around.
He saw the color yellow.
Standing there was a woman with piercings all over her face and heavy makeup around her eyes. Her appearance was intentionally made to bring disgust out from others. Her clothes seemed to be based on something a woman from the middle ages would wear, but it did not give an old fashioned impression due to its showy yellows. It looked more like some kind of showy punk fashion.
Kamijou Touma knew who she was.
On September 30th, she had used a spell that used divine punishment to almost completely cease all functionality within Academy City. As a member of God's Right Seat, she had showed Kamijou a conflict that crossed a certain line.
He heard a jangling noise.
She had a piercing on her tongue with a thin chain connected to it. The chain extended down to about her waist where a transparent cross that seemed to be made of ice was connected to the end. The cross alone was different from what Kamijou remembered.
She was Vento of the Front.
The first person to make Fiamma of the Right evade was a magician who was supposed to be from the same organization as him.
"I have no duty to support that kid or that Russian Orthodox nun, but I've had enough of seeing you mess around with the Roman Catholic Church."
"I heard you can no longer use your special Divine Punishment."
"Do you really think that's enough to stop me?"
With a roar, something invisible swirled up.
Two members of God's Right Seat, two magicians of a different dimension altogether who stood at the top of a church with 2 billion followers, clashed.
Part 7
Accelerator leaned on his modern cane and looked around the area.
The darker side of Academy City had placed the recovery of the pieces of parchment he had found on the freight train at the same level as pursuing him, so it was possible they were not just superstitious scribbles.
Accelerator did not believe in the occult, but they may have had something written on them about scientific technology that would be valuable even in modern times.
(... Although, I suppose that's just me trying to make sense of this logically. )
Accelerator breathed in deeply.
Due to an exceedingly subjective feeling, he found the parchments to be odd.
That feeling was one of pressure in the center of his chest.
It was similar to what he felt when Unabara Mitsuki was nearby. Accelerator recalled that boy's powers being referred to as if they were not simply esper powers (of course that could very well just be a bluff to keep what his esper power as a secret), so he wondered if there was any connection.
He was interested in where the pieces of parchment were supposed to have been delivered.
Accelerator couldn't tell what kind of information was written on the parchments, so he concluded it would be fastest to get that information out of the person who was meant to receive them. Of course, the destination might have just been a relay point meaning the person receiving them there wouldn't know what their ultimate objective was, but then he would just have to go relay point by relay point until he made it to a person who knew how the parchments were to be used.
He needed to find out if they held a clue to saving Last Order who not even the cutting edge technology of Academy City could save.
Accelerator was prepared to even directly attack a military base if it came to it, but then...
"Tch. They were already attacked."
A burnt smell permeated the area.
The area had likely originally been a Russian Air Force base. The white plain had been cut off by asphalt for kilometers and fence barricades surrounded the area. Inside were numerous runways and large bunker-like buildings made of special concrete.
Accelerator could not see anyone there.
The fence had been torn away, the thick concrete walls had been blown away, and fighters with flames spewing from them were scattered along the runways like toys. Ammunition must still have been detonating from the fires because explosions occasionally resounded like fireworks from the ruins of the buildings despite no voices being heard.
Accelerator had no way of knowing if someone who knew how the parchments were to be used had been there or if it had just been a relay point so they could be transported by air.
(... Academy City. )
However, it had not been the normal Academy City forces that were taking on the Russian army publicly. The means made it clear that an underground organization from the world of evil had snuck into Russia for the attack.
He couldn't find a single empty cartridge.
There were cracks running through the walls, but the shells that had broken through the walls had all been recovered.
Academy City liked to avoid having its technology leak out, but that was on a whole new level.
If they just wanted to take control of the base, they would not have needed the underground organization. The regular forces could have easily invaded the base.
That meant they had most likely been after the pieces of parchment that were in Accelerator's pocket.
Forces had been sent to recover the parchments themselves while a different force had been sent to the air force base they were headed for. Accelerator might be able to find a survivor if he carefully searched through the base, but he was sure everyone related to the parchments had either been killed or captured.
There was no hint there.
His last vague lifeline had been cut, but Accelerator's head was full of questions instead of impatience.
(... Are these parchments really that valuable?)
If so, what were they used for?
Were they really something Academy City wanted to get their hands on no matter what?
And could they be of any help in healing Last Order?
(That motherfucker Aiwass told me to go to Russia. Was that related to this? Aiwass did say there was a key in a 'different set of laws' than Academy City... )
He thought about it, but couldn't come up with an answer.
He ended that train of thought and moved to thinking about what he should do next.
(The trail leading to what these pieces of parchment are via Russian means was cut off here, so I guess my next route will have to be with Academy City's underground organization. If they're interfering, they must understand how valuable they are. )
As he did not know exactly who had the necessary information, there was a danger of extended fighting. With the limited battery power for his electrode, that was not a good thing for Accelerator, but he didn't really care. He would continue crushing his targets even if he had to crawl across the snow to do it.
His thoughts were exceedingly hostile.
He then recalled the weight of Last Order's unconscious form and gave a bitter smile.
"Shit..."
He had been trying to hide it up until then.
No matter how bloody a world he lived in, he had wanted to keep her from seeing it.
(... I can't keep myself in check anymore. )
Had he not spoken that last line out loud because he had not wanted Last Order to hear it? Or had it been because of the bit of unease that had passed through him?
At any rate, he could not stop there.
Academy City had many large supersonic airplanes. They could fly through the air at over 7000 kph, so they could reach the other side of the globe in only 2 hours. If the people who attacked that base used one of them, he would no longer be able to pursue them. If he was going to get a surprise attack in, he would have to hurry up and find them.
He had no time to hesitate.
But Accelerator stopped moving when he was about to turn around.
There were a number of figures standing there.
The air force base was a wide and flat area primarily made up of runways. There wasn't much space for people to hide, but about 10 figures had appeared surrounding Accelerator at some point. No, it wasn't just 10.
There were around 20 men and women who were all wearing identical clothing.
Accelerator frowned at the fact that they seemed to be wearing some kind of old religious habits as opposed to military uniforms that were collections of cutting edge technology. He felt the same pressure as from Unabara or the parchments.
One of them spoke in Russian.
"Are you with Academy City?"
"What about you? Are you the ones who attacked this base?"
"So you don't deny it."
The man lowered his center of gravity.
Accelerator took it as a sign that he was preparing for a fight to the death.
"I don't have time, " Accelerator said while reaching up for the switch at his neck and putting away his retractable cane."I'll be keeping this short, okay?"
Part 8
Fiamma of the Right.
Vento of the Front.
The confrontation between those two monsters did not involve them suddenly jumping up to the roof of a tall building and having a high speed battle that normal eyes could not keep track of.
As they glared at each other, they silently moved horizontally. They did so slowly and smoothly. While maintaining the same distance between them, they seemed to move side by side as they moved to the center of the snowy plaza.
There were no easy-to-understand explosions or beams of light.
Even so, the people were frozen in fear due to Fiamma's previous attack. The mass of people naturally distanced itself from around Vento and Fiamma like water overflowing from a bathtub as a giant sank down into it.
Kamijou could not move.
It would be better if he helped.
Between Elizalina, Lessar, and Sasha Kreutzev, he knew who he should rescue.
However, he could not move.
His mental state was similar to someone trying to rescue someone next to a bomb that could go off at any time. His focus was naturally stolen by the "bomb".
He heard a slight noise.
He thought a gust of wind had blown and next thing he knew Vento was holding something like a hammer wrapped in barbed wire in her right hand. The hammer was about a meter long and its end struck the ground.
Fiamma's eyebrows moved slightly.
"How very odd."
"What is?"
"God's Right Seat cannot use normal magic. We can only use spells that have been extremely regulated for our use. You hold the Divine Punishment spell that paralyzed Academy City, but the spiritual item that supports its activation was shattered on September 30th. And yet..."
"Is it really that surprising that I can create mystical phenomena like this?" said Vento as she rested the heavy hammer on her shoulder.
That's right. It may be easy to forget given the ridiculous feats they could perform, but Fiamma and Vento were human. They could not perform supernatural phenomena that ignored the laws of physics without using something. There had to be laws behind Vento pulling the hammer out of nothingness.
In other words...
(Vento just used magic... ?)
Kamijou's face paled as he recalled the magic she had used to knock almost every resident of Academy City unconscious.
However, Fiamma did not seem too surprised.
"Well, that still means you haven't succeeded in restoring your Divine Punishment. And even if you had, you cannot defeat me using that methodology."
"I never thought of using that against someone like you who was completely warped even in your way of thinking about malice and hostility."
"Then what do you think you can do?"
"Currently, you cannot wield the perfected version of your power as Michael."
"True. That's what I want Sasha Kreutzev and Imagine Breaker for."
"That right arm has to have limits on its use, " said Vento interrupting his casual speech.
"..."
Fiamma stopped speaking, but Vento's voice continued.
"Because you played around with those small fries, it has already begun to disintegrate into the air. There is a theory behind the superhuman powers magicians use and members of God's Right Seat cannot just use spells other than the special ones that have been adjusted for our use. Once your stock runs out, you are nothing more than a regular human."
A smile leaked out.
However, it was not on Vento's face.
Fiamma's lips curved up slightly.
"Don't tell me..."
An eerie pressure was emitted into the air around him.
He spoke as he slowly moved the fingers on his right arm.
"... you thought you could make up for the difference between us with just that."
"No."
The handle of the hammer resting on Vento's shoulder floated up slightly.
It was only a few centimeters.
"We're only just now getting to the truly interesting stuff, " she announced along with that slight movement.
Immediately afterwards, Fiamma of the Right was knocked straight back.
Kamijou was a few dozen meters away, but not even he could grasp what had happened.
The event had not been unusual due to its speed. It was the scale.
All of a sudden, a giant structure had split through the snowy earth in the center of the plaza. The object that came up diagonally was a sailing vessel made of transparent ice. It was about 40 meters long, but not all of the ship could be seen. That 40 meter figure only applied to the part visible at that time.
A cannon made of ice on the side of the ship aimed towards Fiamma.
Instead of the flames of gunpowder, ice powder shot out along with an explosive noise.
That attack of ice was the antithesis of the flames that the name Fiamma referred to and it was not merely a cannonball that was fired. It was a transparent anchor. The 2 or 3 meter mass struck Fiamma's body and knocked him a few kilometers away.
After a few moments, the noise of the impact belatedly resounded throughout the plaza.
Ignoring the uproar occurring around her, Vento spoke.
"Did you know that Biagio Busoni commanded the Queen of the Adriatic and the Queen's Fleet that protected it at Chioggia?"
Kamijou wasn't sure if there was a reason behind it or if she just liked doing it, but Vento was spinning the giant hammer around in one hand as she spoke. Her voice was almost at a whisper, but it was likely being sent to Fiamma's ears via magical means.
"That was one of the Ten Holy Spirit Spells and I was the one that readjusted it to the point that it could be used. I can't control the entirety of the Queen of the Adriatic, but I have the affinity to control one portion of that great fleet."
Kamijou heard a jangling noise.
It was coming from Vento's tongue.
"Oh, and one more thing."
A thin chain like one that would be used for a necklace stretched down from her tongue.
On its end hung a cross.
It was transparent as if it were made of ice.
The decorative cross looked somehow similar to an anchor.
"There are quite a few stories in the Christian Church of storms in the sea being calmed to protect a ship. For example, there was the one with the Son of God and the one with Saint Nicholas. The element I rule is the wind or the air, but storms on the sea are a mix of the wind and the water. Using those stories, I am able to partially interfere with the water.... Unlike the exclusivity of your fire, I can create complex and great effects like that."
There was an explosive noise.
It was the sound of the giant ice anchor exploding a few kilometers away while it was caught on Fiamma.
It was not just an explosion caused by gunpowder.
Hundreds of meter-long ice stakes were created in the explosion. The tips of the ice stakes were sharper than a steel spear and thousands upon thousands of them continued to explode outwards in every direction. The ground was gouged out and a large amount of snow and black soil was blown into the air. It was fortunate that the surrounding area was wilderness. With those numbers and that destructive force, even an underground shelter would have been turned to Swiss cheese.
The people in the plaza did not understand what was going on. However, it seemed they were easily susceptible to the hostility and killing intent packed into the mountain of ice blades that had suddenly appeared. Some of them even folded their hands and desperately prayed.
It was impossible to tell what had become of Fiamma from there.
Even if they headed closer and investigated, it might be hard to tell.
That was how much destructive force had been sent his way.
Vento of the Front indeed possessed the extraordinary power of God's Right Seat.
"If you had put together a strategy focusing solely on killing me, the result may have been a bit different, but you could not have defended against that strike with that right arm of yours disintegrating into the air like that, " she said with her tongue sticking out as if she were ridiculing him."You wasted too much ammo, you fool.... Although, I suppose I'm wasting my breath here."
"Oh, really? I'd say I'm much more careful with my possession than you give me credit for, " said a voice of unknown origin cutting Vento off.
Immediately afterwards, the loud sound of the distant mountain of ice blades being blown to pieces from within was heard. It went beyond the level of an eruption. The overwhelming force did not even allow the remnants to rain back down to the ground. The shattered pieces were swept away in the wind.
The shattered ice flew in every direction in clumps a few meters long. One of those directions was towards the plaza Kamijou and the others were in. It was like a bombardment of shells. Multiple buildings were crushed and the people in the plaza lay on the ground covering their heads with their hands. Screams and shouts could be heard in response to the unreasonable disaster.
As Vento looked at the area a few kilometers away, her eyebrows twisted in confusion.
A beam of light shot out.
It came from such a distance that Kamijou and the others couldn't see the details, but Kamijou knew that it had come from an arm. It had come from the third arm that had newly appeared from Fiamma's shoulder.
"It seems I cannot avoid having it disintegrate into the air, but I have succeeded in fixing it in that state."
Something flashed.
It was a reflection from the light of the beam his third arm had fired.
The reflection could be seen on something in Fiamma's right hand.
Its details could not be seen from that distance either, but Kamijou could guess that it was Index's remote control spiritual item.
That device allowed Fiamma to freely pull out any information he wanted from the knowledge of the 103, 000 grimoires.
"To put it bluntly, I no longer have any limits."
Vento did not stay silent.
Explosive noises sounded from the cannons on the nearby ship. A second and third anchor cut through the air heading for Fiamma.
That ridiculous barrage had been what had sent Fiamma flying a few kilometers away just a bit earlier.
However, Fiamma did not even attempt to evade.
He merely swung his right arm lightly.
"I do not need destructive force."
That was all.
The sound of one of the anchors shattering split through the air. The one anchor was destroyed in midair and the other impaled into the ground in a spot it should not have hit. This caused an explosion a few dozen meters across to occur. The scene looked like some kind of joke. Pieces of the scenery like mountains and rivers were blown away.
"If I touch my enemy, it's over, so I don't need to put any effort into destroying them."
"Tch!!"
Vento hurriedly held up her hammer and muttered something under her breath. She may have had some other trump card. Kamijou did not know very much about magic, but it felt like she was moving as if making a figure out of a string in her hands at high speed.
But...
"I do not need speed."
A cold voice cut her off.
Forcefully.
Exceedingly overwhelming.
"If I swing, I hit my enemy, so I don't need to put any effort into hitting them."
Kamijou did not know what happened.
The next thing he knew, Fiamma, who was supposed to be a few kilometers away, was situated right under Vento's chin and her body was blown away an instant later.
Fiamma's movements did not end there.
The chain attached to Vento's tongue trailed behind her as she flew backwards. Fiamma casually grabbed it in midair. The action was as carefree as someone grabbing a scrap of paper being blown in the wind.
Vento's body was still flying backwards.
Of course, the thin chain could not support Vento's weight. With a tearing noise, the piercing holding the chain in was torn from Vento's tongue.
She did not even have time to let out a scream.
The woman wearing all yellow continued flying back a few dozen meters. She struck the center of the ice ship that had appeared in the center of the plaza. The giant piece of art that symbolized a bombardment was broken in half horizontally from her impact.
Finally, Vento let out a scream.
"Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!?"
"Quit exaggerating. It's not like your whole tongue was ripped out. It was just a little tear. And the ice ship's defensive spell only started to disappear when you hit it, so you just barely managed to receive the benefit of that."
As Fiamma boredly watched Vento lying on the ground a few dozen meters away screaming, he lightly tossed up the chain he had ripped out. He swung the third arm sticking out from his right shoulder and the clear cross shattered.
The remnants of the broken ice ship collapsed into the plaza and the surrounding villagers frantically moved out of the way. Of course, Fiamma did not look over in that direction at all.
Vento tried to stand up as red stains dripped down onto the white snow below her.
"Gbh!? What... !?"
"It's quite simple. What I possess is not the right arm itself but the power that should reside in the right arm. The right is used in most Christian rituals. Archangel Michael cut down the leader of the fallen angels with his right hand, the Son of God healed the sick with his right hand, the Bible was written with the right hand, and, well, there are many others. In other words, I can freely use a great number of Christian supernatural phenomena. You can figure out the rest. You're not so incompetent you can't do that."
"Ridiculous... That right arm is...."
"That's right. It's incomplete. Normally, I wouldn't be showing it off like this. However, that isn't something you should be excited about. God's Right Seat is... no, the entire world is in an ambiguous state like that."
"... ?"
"During Angel Fall, it seems the angel that appeared in an imperfect form named itself Misha."
That alone, Fiamma said in a melancholic way.
"Mikhail is another name for Michael. It is not a name fitting for Gabriel. And yet that archangel gave its name, the name that states its role created by God, as Misha. Do you understand how important that fact is?"
Fiamma continued on.
"Vento of the Front bears wind, yellow, and Uriel while Terra of the Left bears earth, green, and Raphael, but that is slightly off. Normally, wind goes with Raphael and earth goes with Uriel."
Vento's face held an expression that looked like her heart had stopped.
Her expression seemed to be saying that the mental damage of having the pillar of her heart toppled was greater than the physical damage to her tongue.
"No one realizes it." Fiamma's words alone resounded through the area."No one realizes it and yet the world continues on. Magic is activated. Did you know that all four of the major elements have begun to distort slightly? This world is in much more of a crisis than you realize. Someone has to do something about it."
"You... don't mean..."Vento shook her head as she spoke what she had no proof of."Angel Fall left that much of an after effect?"
"Quite the opposite. It was because that distortion to the great laws existed that an opening existed that allowed such a ridiculous spell to be activated in the first place.... Do you understand now? That's enough then, right?"
With a smile on his face, Fiamma swung his third arm.
It was an exceedingly primitive motion.
There was a space of a few dozen meters between them, but that meant nothing to his ridiculous power.
But Kamijou charged in from the side towards Fiamma before he could finish the action.
"I do not need to..."
Fiamma's response was actually quite simple.
"... turn around."
He changed the trajectory of his arm.
As if it were fulfilling its natural role, Kamijou's body was knocked away. It was a primitive strike like swinging a wooden rod, but that was why there could be no doubts about it. Pain ran through Kamijou's organs and even his backbone. But it was odd. That strike had shattered that giant anchor and destroyed the ship itself in a single strike, so it should have smashed a human body to pieces.
Perhaps its given role had been automatically selected to emit the perfect amount of power to knock away Kamijou Touma.
Fiamma was not like a Saint that pushed through with power and speed.
Using a battle in an RPG as an example...
What if there was a ridiculous command of "defeat" among the usual commands of "fight", "defend", "magic", and "item".
Most likely, Fiamma would respond in the same way to Kanzaki or Acqua and he would defeat them just the same. It didn't matter if his speed or strength were inferior. His exceedingly overwhelming "power" ignored any actions taken by his opponent and simply crushed them. It was like pushing a giant wall along to flatten a sand hill made by a child.
He could not win in a direct fight.
But then, he could not fall back either.
If Kamijou did not do anything, Fiamma would finish off Vento. He might not let Lessar and Elizalina live either. He would take Sasha Kreutzev and leave.
And most importantly, Fiamma held Index's remote control spiritual item.
"..."
Kamijou's lip must have split because he could taste blood.
Ignoring that, he stood up once more.
He tightly clenched his fist.
"You're a wonderful person, " Fiamma said glancing over to Kamijou while clearly keeping Vento in range."How many people have you stood up for so far? How many incidents have you resolved by swinging that fist of yours? You truly are a wonderful person. But the most wonderful thing of all is how you have been provoked by others into heading into peril yourself and, in the end, you have accumulated all of the fruits and rewards of your actions for yourself."
"What are you trying to say?"
"Are you sure that your actions are truly right?"
Fiamma slowly moved his arm.
His third arm.
It was an exceedingly irregular object that could not be described with just magic or with just science.
"There is no fundamental difference between my actions that you are so angry about and the actions you yourself have taken. I am wielding my right arm to resolve my own problem while you wield your right arm to resolve the problems that occur around you. We both do it by shattering something that someone worked desperately to obtain. There is no difference in our methods. And I am sure.... I know that my actions will bring about absolute good."
"... Are you just telling me to ignore the fact that Index is suffering for that?" Kamijou responded without hesitation."Fuck that. You're saying that using the people of the Roman Catholic Church for your own convenience and backing the coup d'etat in England with pressure from France is for absolute good? Is there something wrong with your head?"
"So you're saying you would be doing good by stopping me?"
"This isn't an issue of 'good'."
"..."
"Index is suffering. How many people do you think are crying because of this fucking war you started? Is it so strange to want to stand up against that? Is it so wrong to want to fight for a girl who can't even open her eyes? At the very least, I'm not going to listen to the complaints of some bastard who delights in the suffering of others."
But...
"Truly wonderful."
Fiamma held his right hand out towards Kamijou while smiling.
A small tube-shaped device lay within that hand.
It was Index's remote control spiritual item.
Kamijou's expression changed and Fiamma grinned widely as he spoke.
"Is that really something you can say before a nun you have been continually lying to?"
Kamijou's shoulders gave a slight twitch.
(It couldn't be... )
"At times, I am connected to her consciousness through this remote control spiritual item. The information I see and hear is passed on to her at those times."
(He... )
"Now then. Can you say the same thing in this situation? There is no problem with being wrong. But if you truly believe what you said, then why did you continue to put on that shameless act before her?"
(He's realized it... ?)
A chill ran down his back.
It was not a feeling regarding the danger he himself was in.
It was the feeling of the invisible pillar supporting a certain girl slowly crumbling away.
Meanwhile, Fiamma lightly touched his temple with one of his normal fingers and smiled.
"You are the only one that can fully understand what you are hiding. She is the only one that can judge how she feels about those things. You seem to have been protecting her from it for your own satisfaction, but I look forward to seeing whether she judges that to have been a good thing or not."
He swung his third arm.
Kamijou was frozen in place due to Fiamma's words, so he could not react.
However, he was not aiming for Kamijou.
Fiamma's strike hit Sasha Kreutzev who was still collapsed in the plaza.
"One for now."
The next thing Kamijou knew, Fiamma's third arm was holding the small girl.
He had completely ignored the distance between them.
The arm had shot out like a whip and wrapped back up like a chameleon's tongue.
"!? Fiamma!!" Kamijou yelled having come back to his senses.
"I'd like to get the second now too, but there is a problem of compatibility, " Fiamma responded in such a carefree way that it sounded like he was about to start whistling."I want to completely seal the angel medium to transport it, but your right hand's special effect would get in the way of that. It would be difficult to transport both of you at the same time."
Fiamma turned his back on Kamijou while holding Sasha like a bag entangled in a branch.
"Don't let yourself die too easily."
Kamijou ignored Fiamma's words and charged for him.
But Fiamma did not even turn around.
"I need that right hand of yours, after all."
There was an explosive wind and Fiamma was gone by the time Kamijou could negate it with his right hand.
With the danger gone, commotion returned to the plaza.
Kamijou alone stayed motionless amid the scenery that had once more begun to move.
Fiamma's words echoed within his head.
"I look forward to seeing whether she judges that to have been a good thing or not."
Part 9
Hamazura Shiage wandered around on the snow.
He had originally been in a building, but he hadn't been able to stay still. He wasn't headed anywhere in particular. He merely headed back and forth on the snow trying to do something about the pressure that had built up in his gut.
He was in a small village.
The village only had about 50 log houses. People who did not live there weren't able to distinguish between the private houses and the stores. In fact, all the buildings seemed to be both.
"It seems they're at the limit of what they can do for that girl, " said a tall man speaking to Hamazura.
He was the man who had brought Hamazura and Takitsubo to the village in exchange for the fuel inside the stolen car.
His name seemed to be Digurv.
"These are the effects of a drug from Academy City where technology is 20 or 30 years removed from here. There's no way a small clinic like this is going to know how to treat her and it seems there is a good chance doing the wrong thing would make her condition even worse."
"I know, " Hamazura said shaking his head with an anxious expression."Even so, she hadn't had a chance to sleep on a proper bed until now. Please. You just need to stabilize her a bit. I don't want to see her suffering."
"We can do that, but what are you planning to do in the long run?"
Hamazura remained silent to Digurv's question.
Takitsubo had said there may be some secret reason behind Academy City's invasion of Russia and that if he could grasp whatever that was and get in a position where he could influence the outcome of the war, he may be able to negotiate on an even standing with the large organization of Academy City.
He had no choice but to search for it.
He had to head alone for the center of the world war before Takitsubo Rikou was absolutely done for.
That huge wall of a task before him was making him feel depressed, so Hamazura changed the subject.
He looked around the area.
"Everyone seems to be in a hurry."
"Yes, they do. It seems a nearby village was attacked by the Russian army, but they were apparently saved by an Asian boy while en route to the concentration camp. More people fled here than normally live here."
That may have been why they were so low on supplies.
"... Is your generator doing okay?"
"For now. We were supposed to get periodic shipments of supplies and fuel, but the route has been cut off by the Russian troops stationed on the roads. To be honest, if you hadn't come by there, we would have been in a really bad situation."
That was a problem that would not have existed if the war between Academy City and Russia had not occurred.
"Sorry... This is our fault."
For an instant a ridiculous delusion passed through the back of Hamazura's mind.
What if that large scale war had started because he and Takitsubo had fled to Russia? He knew quite well that the two of them were nowhere near that valuable, but he couldn't remove that last little thorn of doubt.
But Digurv shook his head.
"No, it isn't. I apologize if I made you feel uncomfortable. I understand."
"?"
"This village was being targeted by the Russian army since before World War III began. We are quite near the border with the Elizalina Alliance. This is an excellent location to build a base for invading, so we have been faced with the threat of losing this land many times. And it isn't just on the level of land speculation. They have even scattered landmines from transport planes on the pretext of preventing an invasion from the Alliance. Russia may have equipment to locate the landmines and collect them, but we do not."
Hamazura had difficulty imagining such a thing happening.
After all, it would be unthinkable for the government to do something like that in Japan.
"Don't worry about it. We treat them like point stickers. Mines are sort of similar. We can recover them and hand them over to an NGO in exchange for food and supplies. It may be safer to detonate them there, but it seems they want more obvious results from helping bring peace."
Digurv pointed towards a small building on the edge of the village. That was where the landmines were put after they had been dug up from the ground and their fuse pins had been fixed.
"... Does Russia really want to invade the Elizalina Alliance that badly? What exactly are they after there?"
"Who knows. It may not be a definite threat and the Russian government is just afraid of the country being split apart even further. At the very least, I don't think the Alliance is any military threat to Russia. I just don't think they have enough military force to go to war."
Even though he lived so nearby, he didn't know everything about that country. And Digurv seemed to be speaking as if he had been told this by someone else. He was a civilian. It wasn't easy for him to get any more information than what was shown on the news.
That was when Hamazura heard the sound of someone walking on the snow.
Digurv turned in the direction of the noise and then immediately shoved Hamazura down onto the snow. Hamazura didn't even have time to cry out in protest. Digurv pulled on Hamazura's clothes and frantically jumped behind a building.
"What? Did something happen?"
"It's a Russian soldier, " Digurv responded in a purposefully quiet voice as he held his index finger up to his lips. With an expression of shock, Hamazura slowly peeked out from behind the wall. Sure enough, he saw a man in his 20's who was wearing a military uniform and standing on the snow.
Digurv's expression turned even more serious.
"We do have anti-intruder sensors set up around the village. Did one of them fail?"
"... Hey. You said the Russian army is after this village's land, right?"
However, something odd happened before Hamazura got an answer to his question.
The Russian soldier who had been walking along sluggishly suddenly collapsed onto the snow.
Hamazura and Digurv exchanged glances, but the Russian soldier showed no sign of moving. After watching him for a full 30 seconds, they slowly headed out from behind the building.
Even after they made it right up next to the soldier, he did not attack.
When they flipped the face-down soldier onto his back, they noticed his face had turned blue and purple in places.
"He has frostbite, " said Digurv.
The soldier looked up at Hamazura and Digurv with his almost closed eyes and muttered something in Russian. Hearing that, Digurv looked over at Hamazura.
"He asked us to help him. He said he was carrying 'something' to a nearby air force base, but the base was attacked by Academy City before he got there. It seems the cold was too much for him without his outdoor gear.... We certainly have gotten a lot of visitors today."
Hamazura's face seemed to twitch when he heard the term Academy City, but he couldn't stay focused solely on that.
"... What do we do? Do we save him? He's a bit like an uninvited guest."
"Don't ask that question with that look in your eyes. It's clear he's asking for help, " Digurv said as he helped the frostbitten soldier up and let him lean on his shoulder.
Hamazura helped support the man as well and was shocked at how cold his skin was.
"Hey, Digurv. Is this really okay for you all?"
"As much as I'd like to be coldhearted, abandoning him wouldn't change anything."
They were headed for the small clinic where Takitsubo was resting.
Hamazura didn't know exactly how frostbite was treated, but he guessed that taking him before a heater or a fireplace would do him a lot of good.
(... He was carrying something, hm?)
If Academy City had attacked for a reason other than the official reason for the war... In other words, if they had attacked because they were targeting whatever it was that was being brought to the air force base, that something might work as a means of negotiating with Academy City.
And an Academy City force had attacked the air force base that something was supposed to be headed for.
Didn't that mean it was possible it hadn't made it to the unit's hands yet?
Hamazura glanced over at the side of the Russian soldier's face.
He doubted an amateur high school student like himself would be able to get any information from a professional soldier who regularly trained and who had experience in real battle. However, he may have a chance with the man in such a weakened state.
After calculating that much out, Hamazura spoke.
"... God dammit. I wouldn't be able to look Takitsubo in the eye if I did that."
"?"
Digurv looked puzzled, but Hamazura said nothing more.
There was more than one way.
There had to be some other opportunity he could use to negotiate with Academy City that did not involve using the misfortune of others.
(For now, I just have to get him somewhere warm. )
However, something rushed out of the clinic just as they were about to open the door.
It was a girl of about 10. She must have been one of the people who had been rescued from the trucks instead of one of the residents of the village. Hamazura was usually able to distinguish them based on the style of their clothes. She spoke for quite a bit upon seeing Digurv. She seemed to be passing on some kind of message and Digurv frowned. Her words might not have been getting across to him very well because she was so worked up about something.
However, Digurv's expression finally changed once he seemed to figure out what she was saying. He left the frostbitten soldier to Hamazura and rushed into the clinic.
Hamazura had no idea what was going on, but he entered the clinic with the soldier.
He was nervous.
After all, the girl had come rushing out of the clinic Takitsubo Rikou was resting in.
Something may have happened.
He had a bad feeling.
However, his expectations were wrong.
The reality was much worse.
"What's going on!? Did something happen!?" Hamazura yelled out in Japanese as he lowered the Russian soldier to the floor next to the electric heater near the entrance.
Digurv had been speaking quickly, but he finally turned around towards Hamazura. He was moving around like someone preparing to skip town.
"... Privateers."
"What?"
"It's the term for a military system from the middle ages. Governments would authorize pirates to attack ships from enemy nations in order to both cause financial problems for the other country as well as benefit from the valuables brought back to their own country. Meanwhile, the pirates would be protected by that government. It seems some pirates were even given the title of a knight."
"What about it?"
"The Russian army is still using privateers to this day, " Digurv said with bloodshot eyes and with tension and sweat on his face."There are blank units within the army. They have no official members. The privateers are often paid to attack enemy forces. There has always been a need for missions to cut off enemy supply lines and indirectly lessen the enemy's military forces, but the attack missions targeting lightly equipped people were not popular and it started spreading needless dissatisfaction. From what I have heard, this led to a dedicated unit being formed. It seems they are used for the more dirty missions. I don't really know how much of this is true though."
Digurv continued speaking.
"They are a group of people who want to act violently and who have military experience centered around Western Europe. I've heard that they recruit over the internet. Apparently, it's pretty popular because they can make quite a bit of money in a short period of time and they are not bound by military regulations. On top of that, they are given Russia's best equipment and sent out on some of the dirtier missions. If it comes down to it, the unit can be immediately done away with even in the paperwork. Any 'soldiers that caused some problems' will be recorded as having been thrown into a detention facility and the actual soldiers will have gone back to their own countries. That way, missions that would bring criticism from the international community can be carried out smoothly."
"You're kidding... Are you saying that thugs like that are headed here?"
Hamazura looked over at the Russian soldier in front of the electric heater.
"W-wait. We have a member of the Russian army here. They wouldn't just destroy the entire village, right? They'd at least check the place out first, right?"
"These are privateers. They don't care about any of that, " Digurv said shaking his head.
Even the Russian soldier gave what sounded like a moan at hearing the term "privateer".
"We've already had a few attacks from privateers, " Digurv said in almost a whisper.
He had already said that the Russian army was after the land the village was on in order to create a base from which to invade the Elizalina Alliance of Independent Nations. And he had said that they had scattered landmines from transport planes.
"However, we have always managed to detect their approach and run away before they can actually attack. They destroy all the buildings and steal everything of value, but we managed to divide things up to leave decoys. That left us with enough left over to rebuild with."
"Th-then, we just have to..."
"... The situation is different now. Because of World War III, the Russian army has given the privateers new equipment. We can't get away this time. We can't escape on foot from the armored vehicles they are using and we do not have the firepower needed to resist them."
"You've gotta be kidding..."
Digurv had said they didn't have the fuel needed to run the generator. It was possible that also meant they could not use any vehicles to escape on.
They couldn't use their usual pattern.
What would happen then?
"A distance out from here, we have steel towers that can detect someone's approach using magnetism. One has been blown away. It was most likely the privateers. They've gotten close, so we don't have time. They don't care about war treaties, so they won't capture or restrain us when they break in. They'll just kill us."
Hamazura looked over at the wall of the clinic.
There was an assault rifle leaning up against the wall. It had wooden pieces on it. He wasn't sure of the technical name, but he thought it was an AK-something-or-other. He had been surprised to see it when he had first brought Takitsubo into the clinic, but it seemed they were more ubiquitous in that area than fire extinguishers.
But he couldn't.
He couldn't defeat the privateers by running around holding that thing. They knew of the situation, so they would be taking preparations to slaughter everyone in the village.
There was no way he could fight.
He had used handguns a fair bit in the back alleys in Japan, but he had never even touched a gun that big. They were probably used in a completely different way.
"What do we do... ? Is there anywhere we can flee to!?"
"That's what we're trying to figure out now."
Part 10
Accelerator thought quietly while at the remains of the Russian air force base that had been attacked by an underground organization from Academy City.
He looked at the dozen or so men and women who were surrounding him.
They were an odd bunch.
He didn't think they were just Russian soldiers. They were wearing dark religious habits and they held special decorative swords, spears, staffs, axes, and other similar objects. Normally, he wouldn't have thought those were very logical weapons to choose. They seemed to be an era or two behind, but they blended into the Russian battlefield that was the remains of the base that was spewing flames and smoke. He felt the same pressure from them that he did from Unabara.
There was something about them.
But that wasn't his top priority.
He held a girl known as Last Order.
She was unconscious and lying limply in his arm.
Because he was holding her in one arm, he might damage Last Order if he used his reflection over his entire body. He had to focus on how he used his power.
He walked on his own two legs.
To make sure he did not hurt Last Order, he intentionally lowered his defenses.
"..."
Accelerator thought for a second and frowned.
Then he took action.
He focused his vector transformation power in his right hand for the purpose of attacking.
With a tremendous noise, he altered the vectors for his leg strength to shoot forward like a thrown spear. He headed for the man closest to him.
He stuck his right hand forward.
He just barely brushed the man, but the man flew over 10 meters before landing.
The man yelled out a word as he flew backwards.
"Vodyanoy!!"
It was most likely a codename.
The group faltered at the sight of the sudden damage to their companion, but they started moving shortly thereafter. The woman standing diagonally back in Accelerator's blind spot—probably the Vodyanoy the man had mentioned—made an odd motion with her fingers.
Immediately afterwards, the snow around her melted and turned into a spear of water that flew towards Accelerator.
The mysterious attack was not from a bullet or a bomb.
A normal person would have been too surprised to react and simply been skewered. However, Accelerator was not bothered by it. He himself was a mass of the mysterious.
He held up his right hand, the sole area his reflection was activated on.
The water spear was smashed to pieces.
The water turned to a rainbow of light that flowed diagonally back from his right hand. It acted as a wall of pressure that knocked away 4 of 5 of Vodyanoy's comrades.
Accelerator had blocked the attack, but he frowned.
He couldn't figure it out.
If his reflection had succeeded, the water spear should have head straight back at Vodyanoy and pierced her arm. Instead, it had gone astray and had disintegrated into a rainbow of light. It had been an odd phenomenon. It hadn't been something like steam created from water or ice. Accelerator had caused the reflection but he didn't understand the process by which it had turned to light.
(... What... ?)
It felt like having something you had grabbed with the tips of your fingers slipping away.
When he reflected teleportation powers, a strange phenomenon occurred in the 3 dimensional world, but this had felt entirely different.
However, he did not have time to think about it.
Vodyanoy seemed confused, too. As if to check what had happened, she created the exact same water spear once more. She watched him carefully as the attack hit as if looking for a way through his defenses.
This was convenient for Accelerator.
He held his palm forward and the water spear turned to rainbow-colored light once more.
However, something was different from the previous time.
One portion of the rainbow-colored light almost scratched Last Order's cheek.
"... You need to be careful."
A tremendous noise rang out.
It was the sound of Accelerator lightly stepping on the ground and causing a huge tsunami of snow to rise up. It swallowed up Vodyanoy and the others. Unlike a normal tsunami, it had overwhelming speed. It was faster than Vodyanoy and the others and the wall of snow knocked the attackers unconscious.
"Yeah, the right hand just doesn't suit me."
Checking that he had taken care of all the enemies, Accelerator flipped the electrode's switch and thought for a bit.
What had that water spear been?
The grasp of its vectors had been completely different from the scientific powers developed in Academy City.
Different vectors.
Different laws.
Accelerator was reminded of the pieces of parchment he had found in the freight train.
They had asked him if he had attacked the base and if he was with Academy City. That meant they were likely with Russia and not Academy City's underworld.
They may know something about the parchment.
They might even know what the pieces of parchment were used for.
There was a chance that would lead to a means of saving Last Order from the critical situation she was in.
(What a pain in the ass... )
It seemed he had to speak with the attackers he had knocked unconscious.
He had to make sure he didn't inadvertently kill them.
Suddenly, Accelerator stopped moving and looked up.
One of Academy City's supersonic bombers was flying through the sky. That alone was fairly common due to the war. However, the bomber dropped something above the ruins of the base. It wasn't a parachute. It was something equipped with glider wings that looked like a complex hang glider.
He could see a human figure.
He didn't think any further than that.
It was an enemy.
He clicked his tongue once as he came to that conclusion.
Immediately afterwards, Accelerator hit the switch on his electrode and kicked some pebbles at his feet.
With an explosive noise, the glider was shot down.
However, the figure did not fall down and strike the ground.
He saw some purple electricity sparking.
The figure's speed lowered in stages as it fell and finally landed softly on the ground.
(... The person detonated the air?)
Accelerator gave that guess as to what the figure had done, but it didn't surprise him.
After all, he himself had once jumped out of a bomber over the French city of Avignon without a parachute.
What he was interested in was the power the figure had used.
Electricity.
And it was a power Accelerator was quite familiar with.
"Who are you?"
The figure was dressed in white battle clothing that matched the snowy plain. The figure had special goggles that covered its entire face like a mask. He couldn't tell where the figure's eyes or nose were. The flat mask had nothing on it but 8 small lenses placed in a circle like the face of an analog clock. The figure's clothing had no gaps in it and could have hidden all sorts of things within. As such, he couldn't be sure at first glance, but the figure appeared to be a girl of about high school age.
An odd nervousness ran through Accelerator.
The white skin of her ear that could be seen sticking out from the mask and the swaying of the brown shoulder-length hair gave Accelerator a very bad feeling.
That's right. He had a feeling that she looked a lot like the small girl he held in his arms.
"Who are you!?"
The white figure did not remove her mask.
He could not see her expression.
The lenses arranged like a clock face moved slightly and she responded.
"Would it be enough to tell you Misaka is from the Third Season?"
Accelerator thought his breathing had completely stopped.
However, the girl who had referred to herself as "Misaka" continued.
"Hi there. Misaka has come to kill you, #1. Misaka doesn't really care about what happens with this war. No orders like that were input into her. Misaka's goal is nothing more than killing the #1. That is the reason—the sole reason—Misaka was taken from the cultivation device."
Between the lines 2
She tried to look into it, but it wasn't really something she could just look into.
(... Well, I suppose that should be obvious. )
Misaka Mikoto looked away from the PDA and sighed.
She had been trying to take classified information from the Bank, but the situation was different from usual. The security had been tightened quite a bit. The fact that they were at war was cropping up in places she hadn't expected at all.
That was just how valuable the information she was trying to get at was.
If the details of a mission were leaked out, a lot of people's lives would be at risk.
But she had managed to get some information.
She had been able to get a few things that weren't related to the war.
During the large-scale sports festival known as the Daihaseisai, Misaka Mikoto had watched Kamijou Touma's school compete. In other words, she knew the name of his school. She had checked the attendance records for the school and he hadn't been there since the day he had called her "from London".
When she checked the records further, she found out he had missed quite a few days even before that. He was definitely going to have to take supplementary lessons. It seemed very odd to her. Normally, there would have been some signs of him struggling in an attempt to prevent that from happening. It was just too weird that he hadn't been there a single time since that day.
That boy might really not be in Academy City.
If what he had said on the phone was true, he might not even be in Japan.
England was a good distance from Russia where the heart of the war was, but that was no proof that he wouldn't get caught up in the war. After all, the war was on a worldwide scale. Safe places were the exception. Academy City may have seemed peaceful, but that was because the ballistic missiles were being intercepted. Trying to find a "safe place" may have been hopeless.
(... What do I do? Do I try to go deeper for information because I know he's in a certain level of danger?)
Mikoto seriously started thinking about that, but then she gave a deep breath. She could tell her blood was rushing to her head. Even if she was going to attempt to hack in, she would certainly fail in that mental state. She decided to take a break and rest her head before trying again.
Mikoto switched the PDA over to the 1seg television.
Most of what was airing was news about the war. A lot of normal programming had been interrupted. Some variety programs were airing, but there was something awkward about them. They were avoiding the use of words that were related to war or would remind people of war.
Nothing showing would help her rest.
Mikoto started thinking it would be better to switch over to the browser and watch an internet show, but then her index finger operating the touchscreen froze.
The announcer on the news program was explaining the situation in the snowy Russia. There was no text saying it was a live broadcast, so the footage must have been taken a bit ago.
Someone could just barely be seen at the edge of the screen.
Who was that spiky haired boy who had a Gekota strap hanging out of his pants pocket?
| ← Ch. 155 | Ch. 157 → |