Vmmm!
The entire sky darkened in an instant.
The next second, blazing sunlight burst into dazzling rings across the clear atmosphere. Cotton-like clouds scattered across the crimson sky were instantly ignited, set ablaze, and burned to ash. Rumble rumble rumble—!
The brilliance was blinding, as if a second sun had exploded in the stratosphere, becoming a massive fireball that drowned out all color.
Whoooosh—!
A powerful gale swept past the northwestern tip of Sumatra Island and across the deep blue sea outside the estuary of the Bireuen River. Shattered ice floes, twisted shipwrecks, and ruined military equipment were hurled into the air, clattering noisily in the wind. Snow and black soil swirled through the sky.
Violent waves slammed against everything they could reach. Near the half-collapsed underground base entrance of the Banda Aceh fortress, the tiny Misaka Last Order clung tightly to a broken half of a metal railing, huddled behind a protruding reinforced concrete barrier, crying out in alarm.
"Waaah... What is that thing? Is it Sis... cough cough... Mmm... So big, so bright, so shiny..."
She opened her mouth, and the raging storm rushed straight into her throat, making her choke and sneeze repeatedly. Her nose ran, and before she could even finish complaining, the personal guard robot behind her pressed military-grade goggles onto her forehead.
"Huff... I say, huff... why did you run so fast. You're such a small body, just like Misaka..."
Panting heavily as if about to collapse, Shokuhou Misaki, also wearing protective goggles, ignored the grime on the ground caused by shell casings, oil, and dust. She plopped down beside the little Misaka behind the barrier. Before she could catch her breath, she saw a shockwave approaching out of the corner of her eye and quickly pushed down the still-peeking Misaka.
"Misaka Misaka expresses her dissatisfaction because Misaka is Misaka," Last Order mumbled, shrinking her head. "Shokuhou-oneechan is such a sports klutz..."
Thunk!
"Ow!"
"Seriously, if you get kidnapped again, I'm afraid Accelerator will literally tear me apart." Shokuhou Misaki twitched as she lowered her karate chop and pulled Last Order closer.
After what happened with Index sneaking out and disappearing, she was truly afraid Last Order might recklessly run off too. Given her pitiful stamina—barely able to run fifty meters without collapsing—she had no illusions about her limits.
"The massive thunderstorm earlier disrupted the electromagnetic field. My mental links with the others were interfered with and temporarily cut off. Little one, aren't you worried about their safety?"
"Hehe, Misaka Misaka is full of confidence because Misaka can still feel the network connection. Besides, there's no need to worry about Misaka. Misaka is very obedient. Mmm, and Shokuhou-oneechan clearly wanted to come out too."
"Let's hope so."
Looking at the little Misaka clinging to the metal pillar with arms and legs, her lively smile still present, Shokuhou Misaki chuckled softly and ruffled her head.
"This is insane... Is this really the world I know?"
Carefully peeking out from behind the barrier, she stared up at the sky through the specialized lenses of her goggles. Clouds and lightning were swallowed by the sun's radiance, pushed aside, and the horizon was ablaze with crimson light.
Coming from the relatively calm world inside Academy City, she had suddenly been thrown into a war between the Science Side and Magic Side. Magicians and modern weaponry clashing had already been an eye-opener.
But with the appearance of Vento of the Front and Fiamma of the Right...
Only now did Shokuhou Misaki realize—there's always a higher mountain.
Second-hand hearsay could never compare to the shock of witnessing it firsthand.
"The intensity... it's reached the level of a nuclear strike..." Shokuhou Misaki muttered, belatedly realizing the danger. She quickly gave an order to the guard robot behind her. "Bring two of the highest-grade radiation suits from the base."
"Affirmative."
An emotionless, synthetic electronic voice replied, "Guard Robot B-3-22J-1213 reporting: no harmful high-energy radiation has been detected for now. However, for safety, I recommend both of you return to the underground base shelter."
"No harmful high-energy radiation? In that case... it's artificial?!"
Shokuhou Misaki's breathing grew sharp and heavy. Her racing heartbeat seemed to echo the roaring, all-encompassing ring of fire in the sky.
...
"It's Selene. She's here."
On the edge of the cruciform floating island fortress "Star of Bethlehem," despite being caught up in the shockwaves that rattled the heavens and earth and left her body stiff, Misaka Mikoto lay prone, grinning as she spoke to the person beside her.
That grand entrance, that destructive power seemingly containing the essence of annihilation itself—Misaka Mikoto's instincts told her: it had to be Selene.
An instant later, it was as if a sharp siren exploded in her ears. The screeching sound hammered her eardrums like a mallet, an invisible blade piercing through flesh to stab the soul.
Even fanatical zealots, willing to die for their so-called "Holy War," trembled, terrified and lost. Survivors from Academy City stood frozen like statues, as if immobilized by a binding spell, unable to move a single inch.
"Hey, hey, Number One, isn't she supposed to be a spatial-type esper? This level... even a Level 5 pyrokinetic couldn't pull this off. Has she reached Level 6? Or is this a nuclear missile...?"
Mugino Shizuri lay on the ground, her chestnut hair whipping in the wind. She struggled to open her eyes, gazing at the crimson blaze filling the entire sky despite being nearly forty kilometers away on the other end of the Star of Bethlehem fortress. Her disbelief was written all over her face.
"Heh."
"Huh? What are you laughing at?"
Hearing the snicker, Mugino scowled at the brown-haired boy beside her. With wings and a barrier formed from Dark Matter, Kakine Teitoku could still maintain some semblance of dignity in the gale.
"Come on, what age are we in? People still believe that young lady is purely a spatial-type esper?"
Kakine Teitoku squinted and smirked. "Spatial manipulation is just the most basic expression of her authority."
"Make no mistake. This is nuclear fusion. You think she's still some mere mortal like us? No—for us, a stray bullet could end it all. But that young lady... I saw her with my own eyes chew on enriched uranium like it was candy, just out of curiosity."
As he spoke, a tinge of religious fanaticism crept into his expression—a mixture of fear, awe, longing, and reverence.
Wondering how he knew?
Well, the mission to collect radioactive material and enriched uranium had been issued directly by Selene herself.
Upon hearing this, Accelerator tightened his grip on his cane—then relaxed. The fierce wind blew his white hair upward, revealing his eerie, blood-red eyes like pigeon's blood gemstones.
"The Vice Director's seat, huh... That position should be enough to protect the kid and Yomikawa and the others, right...?"
No longer hesitating, Accelerator chuckled. He stomped the high-tech cane in his hand against the ground.
Crack! A thunderous boom erupted as the fortress within a kilometer radius was upheaved, ruthlessly lifted and heaped into a mountain-like barricade to block the solar brilliance ignited by nuclear fusion.
"Charity born of pity... isn't my style."
He looked toward the other side—toward someone battered and bloodied.
The tongue chain snapped.
Exposed amidst ruins piled high like blades of ice, the Queen of the Adriatic Sea had collapsed more than halfway. The moonlight-like halo had dimmed. Vento of the Front leaned on her long-handled spiked warhammer, half-crouched in the melting snow, completely still.
A rhythmic tapping echoed from the metal cane in his hand. Clack, clack, clack. "Glory belongs to the strong—achievements speak louder than words. That's what she said, right?" The white-haired boy grinned like an innocent child.
"Then I'll earn it myself!"
With a loud shout, dust flew. Accelerator leapt high, drawing an incredible arc across the sky, heading straight for Vento of the Front, who was already at her limit.
"You're mine!!"
Seriously? Even in this state of collapse, you're still going to fight?
Why are you going all-out like this?!
Seeing this, the remaining magicians and knights from the Roman Catholic Church, already battered by the shockwaves of Fiamma of the Right's battle, were at their limit.
The thunderclaps ringing in their faces were terrifying enough. Now, the nuclear fusion-level radiance was about to break their minds.
Plap plap~
"Damn it! What the hell is Fiamma doing?! Did he lose?!" Though Fiamma's presence had diminished for a while, the magic surge that followed was even stronger. What on earth was that guy up to?
Clutching her mouth, grey snow and red blood seeped through her fingers. Vento of the Front struggled to rise, but her body had nothing left to give. Her magic reserves were nearly depleted.
"I won't accept this! Science—"
Boom—!
There wasn't even time to finish her cry.
The woman in yellow was sent flying nearly a hundred meters, slamming directly into an ice sailboat fused into the fortress—one of the giant mediums used to construct the massive freezing spell. The vessel snapped cleanly in half.
"Aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh—!!"
In the sky above the Star of Bethlehem fortress, the angel Gabriel—Power of God, who had rampaged and overwhelmed Academy City forces via a corrupted angelic ritual—let out an unbearably sharp, agonized shriek.
The sound defied human comprehension, like a discordant mix of static and noise.
As the purplish-red Honkai energy flow mitigated the platinum-colored AIM diffusion field wave, the massive magical patterns forming the Bethlehem ritual began to glow with a strange, ominous light.
The Power of God, Gabriel, her form composed of flowing white garments traced with golden leaf-vein-like patterns, was visibly disintegrating. Her obsidian-like ice crystal wings shattered meter by meter. Her flesh and blood body writhed with squirming tissue, and crimson blotches bloomed on the blue halo above her head.
Rumble rumble—!
A more terrifying light swallowed the sky. Infinite radiance surged forth, domineeringly seeking to vaporize everything. Selene, now the very embodiment of the sun, collided with the massive impact stirred by the throne entwined with the Nine Worlds.
In this cataclysmic energy clash, it seemed all would be annihilated.
In just a blink, the sky was torn open with hundreds of kilometers of fissures.
Turning his eyes away from the spectacle, Fiamma of the Right now wore a focused, serious expression. "It's ready."
Obscure and profound incantations spilled from his lips. The Star of Bethlehem, the angelic ritual, the Holy Right, and the global magical system designed to realign the four elements and save the world—
In that moment, everything converged upon Fiamma of the Right.
Vmmm vmmm vmmm—!
"The right hand with which Michael slew the leader of the fallen angels..."
"The right hand used by the Son of God to heal the sick..."
"The right hand that wrote the Bible..."
One by one, miracles of Christianity manifested simultaneously.
A flood of Christian miracles, laced with streaks of violet and red, converged upon the high platform where Fiamma of the Right stood. Like swallows returning to the forest, they flowed into his body and vanished into his skin.
A massive, transparent outline—a warped mass of light—was similarly drawn in by an unseen force, rushing toward Fiamma like a tidal surge, merging into his "third arm."
Gradually, surrounded by Honkai energy, the AIM diffusion field, and divine power, Fiamma of the Right slowly raised his right hand. He lifted his chin, closing his eyes as if welcoming the approaching end.
"He has fulfilled his mission."
An anomalous transformation. An anomalous magus.
A silver-haired man, his hair reaching his waist, appeared abruptly within the violently distorted spacetime. He looked upon the physical vessel he now inhabited—gazing into his own eyes.
He moved his fingers, slowly grasping something unseen. No, more accurately, something that didn't exist in the real world.
The feeling of a nonexistent, warped silver cane slowly extending.
...
Indian Ocean.
Though it was still daytime, the recent abnormal celestial phenomena and the unprecedented brilliance of the stars had darkened the skies. Suddenly, light erupted, banishing every last shadow.
A micro-scale fusion flare blasted down with the same intensity as a solar flare.
This was a true natural disaster!
BOOM—!
With each deafening blast, the crimson fireballs expanded outward. Blistering heat swept across dozens of kilometers, and within the central zone, every living thing was instantly vaporized.
Towering columns of water rose from the sea like layered candies.
The "core" was black silt erupted by the explosion, the "body" was snow-white spray, and the "clothing" was scalding mist. Together, they formed an intense contrast of color.
Utterly breathtaking.
"Ollerus, now this is what I call interesting!"
"Come on, this grand arena I found for you—how about it? The vast Indian Ocean of the Southern Hemisphere, nothing but sea. No towns to restrict your movements, no cats and dogs to hold you back. The perfect stage for the 'Benevolent Emperor' and 'Friend of Animals.'"
With a fevered tone and arms spread wide, Selene was visibly thrilled. Amid the dramatic rise and fall of her laughter, the empty sea roared with typhoon-like shockwaves!
In a flicker, a thousand newborn searing stars lit up.
Rumble rumble—!
Each water column soaring skyward was like a strange flower blooming in Selene's hands—brief yet resplendent, scattering petals in an instant, then vanishing without a trace. All that remained were colossal undersea spirals.
"Such a battle-hungry creature... And 'Benevolent Emperor'? 'Friend of Animals'? Those titles are new to me. Can't say I deserve them. Step aside, Selene. I don't wish to fight you—Fiamma of the Right must not die yet."
"Then you'd better hurry. Fiamma of the Right is a key piece in the Director's grand plan."
You ask who? That'd be Aleister's plan—don't ask me.
If there's a scapegoat, Selene will gladly dump it on Aleister. He's used to the blame anyway, already darker than coal.
Selene figured she could salvage a bit of her own reputation.
As more explosions echoed, mud and chunks of blackened seabed were flung in every direction. A faint scent of ozone lingered in the air. To avoid the barrage that rained down like a naval bombardment from Selene, the blond man in a pale-blue shirt, his face darkened, snapped his fingers.
"Hliðskjálf · Original Text · Impact." The obscure incantation from Norse mythology flowed from his lips.
Clang—!
A falling starlike spear of illusionary light struck his slim frame, erupting with sparks and metal-on-metal sounds.
BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM—!
"Begone!"
In the next moment, a vortex of force rivaling Selene's descending barrage surged skyward.
"So, the Nordic Throne, huh."
The Nordic Throne—Ollerus' signature spell—originated from the high throne of Odin in Norse myth. It was said that from it, one could view any of the Nine Worlds.
A technique strong enough to be named after that throne had to be exceptional—though, perhaps a bit exaggerated.
By converting mythical knowledge into practical magic and transmuting life force into unexplained power, Ollerus had forcibly weaponized the originally passive "throne" into a deadly spell.
It required no movement to activate. Its power and range were indeterminate. The target would be struck equally from surface to core.
Because there was no trigger, no warning, no discernible direction, there was no way to defend or dodge.
Selene made her choice: she would not dodge.
Screech—!
A single vortex struck, blasting the tiny island beneath Ollerus clean in half.
Was that... my own attack?
Holding a handleless pillar of light, Ollerus looked up in astonishment, having taken the brunt of her own counterattack.
"Oh dear, looks like the Director's plan has officially begun."
Crushing a dense air vortex in her bare hand, Selene, now watching the completely grim-faced blond man, covered her lips with one hand and pointed skyward with the other—toward the brightest star in the clear celestial dome.
The true Star of Bethlehem!
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