Biagio was furious.
As a Roman Catholic bishop who had risen to his position before the age of forty, and commander of the strategic-class spiritual equipment Queen of the Adriatic Sea, Biagio Busoni took immense pride in himself.
After this crusade concluded, the position of cardinal was already within his grasp. If he ascended to that rank before turning fifty, then even the papacy would no longer be a distant dream.
Failure? Sorry, that had never crossed his mind. The thought that the great Roman Catholic Church could be defeated had never existed in his worldview.
But now, the setback at the Banda Aceh fortress had struck a heavy blow to his arrogant pride.
Over ten thousand fervent mundane believers, thousands of knights, thousands of Roman Catholic battle mages, nearly a hundred modern warships gathered from secular nations in response to the Church's call to purge heretics, tens of thousands of magical and alchemical summoned constructs... along with numerous special forces units like the Janis Corps.
An army of elites, well-equipped and powerful!
And the result? Heavy losses, no progress!
What the hell was this?!
Sure, on paper, the results looked impressive. They had crushed Academy City's Indian Ocean forward base, turning it into a cratered wasteland, and destroyed hundreds of thousands of Academy City combat units.
But anyone with eyes could see how inflated those figures were.
Were the losses of military robots, giant powered armor suits, and unmanned armored vehicles truly significant to Academy City? They barely killed any real people...
The only meaningful result was at the very start, when Queen of the Adriatic Sea's ice cannon barrage, paired with a sudden assault by battle mages, managed to break into the surface fortress's control tower and kill a key figure of Academy City's dark side—Kihara Gensei, a pioneer in brain science, director of the Advanced Education Bureau's Kihara Research Institute, and president of the Special Academic Corporation RFO.
That old bastard had been a handful. He wielded both psychological and cryokinetic abilities, wind manipulation, and used bizarre technological constructs. Had the elite knights and mages not coordinated so well, he might have escaped.
Without that achievement, there would be absolutely nothing to show.
Whether it was fury at the damage to the Roman Catholic Church's dignity, anger at the casualties, or rage at the stain on his own career path—only Biagio himself knew.
At the same time, he was deeply fearful.
To command such overwhelming forces and still return empty-handed? He didn't even dare imagine what that would mean for his "path of the Church."
So, he had to press the attack. He must!
Unfortunately, before Biagio could finish his blustering in front of his subordinates, the magical real-time communication link between the crusade fleet and the Vatican—specifically set up for this campaign—was suddenly cut off from the other side.
Impossible!
For a moment, Biagio froze in place.
"Prepare to attack!" he shrieked in a sharp voice. "All ships, prepare to attack! I want the entire Banda Aceh blasted into the sky!"
If they wanted a showdown, then so be it!
He couldn't guess that the Vatican had been attacked and annihilated. His instinct was to assume it was an Academy City conspiracy, severing the crusade fleet's link to the Roman Catholic headquarters to catch him off guard with a massive counterstrike.
"Agnes Sanctis! I order you to enter Destruction Mode. Remove the limiter on the 'Rosary of the Appointed Time'!"
He pointed sternly at a petite nun standing on the deck.
"But... Bishop Biagio, your previous order was to suspend deployment. Our allies have already withdrawn to rest, and we've been bombarding them all day. Janis needs rest now," several nuns immediately stepped forward to block the path in front of the girl called Agnes, protesting.
"I-It's... it's fine, Angelene, Lucia..."
Panting and half-crouched on the ground, the nun Agnes had reddish tea-colored hair braided into thick, pencil-sized strands resembling Rastafarian dreadlocks. She wore the standard Catholic long robe.
Yet her outfit bore distinct personal style. The sleeves were long enough to nearly cover her fingers, but the lower half of the robe skirt had been removed, shortened enough to expose her thighs. She wore thick-soled cork platform sandals.
This was none other than Agnes Sanctis, leader of the Agnes Force—though at the moment, she was clearly at her limit.
After the failed retrieval mission and being falsely accused of acting without orders, her unit had been reassigned to the Queen of the Adriatic Sea for labor to repay the damages suffered by the Roman Catholic Church.
They'd barely had any rest. Once the war with Academy City began and they were deployed to Banda Aceh, a full day of intense combat had pushed her to the brink.
"Hmph. If you still have strength, stop stalling! The Holy War cannot afford failure..." Biagio barked, pushing aside the nuns standing on the deck without concern.
After learning that Agnes' "Destruction Mode" mindset happened to align perfectly with the Rosary of the Appointed Time, and that she possessed high compatibility with the Queen of the Adriatic Sea's large-scale ritual spells, Biagio would never admit he felt even a hint of jealousy.
"What a ridiculous performance... Those old fools sent a useless girl like you to command the Queen of the Adriatic Sea fleet? What a waste."
At that moment, a woman in a yellow robe interrupted Biagio's orders. She leapt onto the deck of the Queen of the Adriatic Sea, yet strangely, the defensive wards didn't react at all. Even the snowflakes around her parted mysteriously—not a single flake touched her.
A twisted smile hung on her face, and the tongue piercing attached to a chain with a cross revealed her identity.
Vento of the Front.
"Lady Vento of the Front..."
At the sight of her, Biagio instantly shrank back like a mouse before a cat. Panic was written all over his face.
No matter how arrogant he was, he would never dare act up in front of the real power behind the Roman Catholic Church—God's Right Seat.
The four necklaces layered like tree rings around Biagio's neck swung with his frantic movements. Each chain bore dozens of crosses. Rather than inspiring holiness, the excessive accessories and his current sycophantic posture gave him an intensely petty appearance.
"Useless trash... It was your loud boasts that made me detour to the Japanese archipelago to join up with the Queen's fleet and destroy Academy City. And this is the result?! You're still stuck at Banda Aceh!"
Before Biagio could get another word in, Vento of the Front raised a leg and kicked.
Thud—!
Biagio let out a wretched scream. Like a kicked ball, he was sent flying, crashing through several segments of ice railing and scattering golden and silver ornaments before collapsing in a heap.
That boast of his before the war had truly landed her in hot water.
"I shall hold a fleet review in Academy City."
Look at that death-flag declaration.
The Vatican had forwarded those words to Vento of the Front just a few days after her retreat from Academy City. She had actually believed it and waited like a fool in the Japanese archipelago. And then came the relentless pursuit by Academy City and Necessarius, day and night, leaving her utterly battered.
That woman with the long nodachi and the ripped jeans was nothing but trouble.
If you were such useless trash, you should've just said so. I'd have come over myself and taken command of the Queen of the Adriatic Sea. Would've saved us all this mess.
"If you can't do it, then stop running your mouth... All you do is cause problems!"
With that said—perhaps out of sheer frustration or just for the sake of it—Vento of the Front began spinning her massive spiked hammer whirr-whirr in one hand as she continued speaking.
"So the Vatican has been destroyed... Divine punishment from an angel? Impossible. Still, good riddance to those useless old fools."
"Confirmed: it was the work of Academy City's top-ranked Level 5 esper. Tch! As expected, Academy City has been conducting heretical research that violates the doctrine of Christianity... Science, that blasphemous force, is better off erased."
"Fine. No problem. I'll assist with your plan... All the conditions to destroy the Science Side and save the world are in place. We just need the knowledge from Index and the vessel of Imagine Breaker... Yes, the Bethlehem Plan will succeed."
Though it sounded like she was talking to herself, she was likely using some magical communication technique to speak with Fiamma of the Right. It wasn't long before Vento of the Front effortlessly took over Biagio's command.
"Stupid woman! You're in this turtle shell too, aren't you?!"
Without further words, Vento of the Front signaled to Agnes to prepare support. She was not like Biagio—a pathetic man who required outside help just to use spiritual equipment. The next moment, a clatter echoed from her tongue.
"Then let's fire off a few more rounds—whether as our second bout or as the start of the Bethlehem Plan! What's a war without fireworks?!"
Then a chain tipped with a small cross extended outward.
Transparent, crystalline like ice.
The cross looked like a ship's anchor.
Buzz buzz—!
...
Underground base, Banda Aceh Fortress, lowest level.
Due to the massive ritual formation generated by the Queen of the Adriatic Sea and its hundred ice-based escort ships, the tropical equatorial region had become blanketed in snow. The sky appeared like a vast white curtain—a truly rare sight.
Clank clank—!
As a massive hydraulic shaft rotated, an enormous steel door slowly rose, revealing a spacious, silver-gray port filled with cutting-edge technology. This subterranean harbor was another resupply and personnel route for Banda Aceh's underground base.
Dozens of the latest-model submarines from Academy City surfaced at the underground docks. Countless loading robots swiftly transferred supplies to staging zones. From the hundreds-of-meters-long subs, fresh batches of military robots and powered armor suits disembarked.
"Wow! More robots!"
Embedded in the rock, peeking out of a thick armored porthole, the pint-sized Misaka clone cheered, raising both hands. "Misaka Misaka looks down at the underground port and shouts!"
"Enough already, you damn brat! Get back to the safe house!"
Behind her, Accelerator scratched his head in irritation. "You never listen! I must be insane for letting you tag along..."
"Mmmph..." Last Order pouted and shuffled up to him. "You mean you can't live without Misaka, Misaka says with some disappointment."
"Yeah yeah... I really must be crazy. Not only do I need your computational support to use my ability and talk, now I'm stuck dragging you around. Damn it all."
Selene had ordered him here, and honestly, Accelerator felt like he'd been royally screwed. He hadn't dared leave Last Order behind in Academy City's shelters. It wasn't that he didn't trust Yomikawa Aiho or Yoshikawa Kikyou—he just didn't believe they could protect her.
In fact, with all the Level 5s gathered, plus Kamijou Touma, and powerful allies from Necessarius and the Anglican Church arriving to reinforce them, this was arguably the safest place on Earth—even safer than Academy City under Selene's protection.
"Stop bouncing around." Accelerator impatiently grabbed Last Order by the collar and dragged her toward the most secure shelter in the base. "Get inside, now."
"You don't need to be so overprotective! These are all kind, dependable big brothers and sisters! Misaka Misaka demands freedom and liberation!"
Accelerator rolled his eyes. "Who said I'm protecting you? I'm protecting myself. If something happens to you, I'm screwed too!"
"Here we go again."
Last Order giggled and poked his chest. "Don't be so shy, Misaka Misaka says while poking you."
"Is that really Accelerator...?"
In the dining room of the base's rest area, Shokuhou Misaki widened her eyes. In front of her was a rare treat: a ladle of high-calorie, high-protein food. She had no choice but to eat—fighting all day had drained her.
Mental exertion was exhausting too, after all. Though she was physically frail and her range of effect limited, Shokuhou had unquestionably been the MVP of defense.
Thanks to her mental manipulation and interference, Roman Catholic battle mages had repeatedly fallen prey to stationary AI-controlled heavy weapons before breaching the base, suffering crushing defeats.
Upon hearing that Kihara Gensei—Academy City's highest-ranking researcher to date—had died in a decapitation strike by the Roman Church, Shokuhou had been in a bright mood all day.
"See? People can change. No one is born evil."
Across the table, Misaka Mikoto withdrew her gaze, her expression complicated.
"Don't let your guard down." Lighting a cigarette, Stiyl looked gloomy. Never did he expect that he, a proud mage, would be reduced to a background character in this war—same as Kamijou Touma.
Sure, Kamijou could nullify magic, but their enemies also had high-tech modern fleets...
Just then, Kanzaki Kaori, quietly eating to replenish her strength, suddenly furrowed her brows. Her violet pupils narrowed. She stood up with a snap, shing! as her nodachi slightly left its sheath.
"They're coming!"
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