Aleister's plan was both simple and complex.
With Selene's full support, many previously impossible conditions were now met.
To extend the artificial heaven across the entire globe, Aleister dispatched most of the surviving Misaka Sisters to various parts of the world, allowing the AIM Diffusion Field—or the Imaginary Number District: Five Elements Institution—to blanket the planet.
Well, perhaps "surviving" isn't quite right. From the very beginning of the "Level 6 Shift Project," Aleister had harbored not a shred of hope in its success.
It was merely a prelude.
The failure of the "Mass-Produced Espers Plan," followed by the guided intervention of Kamijou Touma to disrupt the cover story that was the "Level 6 Shift Project," served as convenient red herrings. Their collapse gave Aleister a legitimate excuse to send the remaining Misaka Sisters abroad.
After all, their lifespans were likely limited, and they required rehabilitation and calibration. Deploying the remaining Misaka Sisters to Academy City's cooperative agencies worldwide was an ideal cover to avoid public panic over a cluster of clones, and it minimized disruption to the lives of those involved. A very convincing justification.
The Misaka Sisters would serve as antennae for the Imaginary Number District's AIM Diffusion Field. In the end, the entire world would be enveloped by the field and transformed into an artificial heaven.
Within such a world, where the fundamental laws had been altered, Aleister would finally realize the wish he had pursued for the latter half of his life.
That was the original plan.
But with Selene's involvement, the plan naturally escalated.
Expansion Plan Revision 1: Selene had her eye on everything produced by Fiamma of the Right—including the "Holy Right" and the entire Bethlehem Project.
According to Fiamma's blueprint, his actions could be summarized as a series of steps to fully unleash the power of the "Holy Right" and realign the positions of the Four Elements, with the ultimate goal of "saving the world."
For Selene and Aleister, this was a perfect opportunity to reap the rewards without doing the labor. The early stages didn't conflict at all. Let Fiamma build the framework as he pleased. Once complete, Aleister would take over the fruits of his effort, changing the end goal from "saving the world" to one that aligned with the artificial heaven.
Expansion Plan Revision 2: Seizing the thousand-year-old foundation of the Roman Catholic Church, the head of the three major Christian factions worldwide.
As the world's largest Christian sect, the Roman Catholic Church played a vital role on the magic side. At its peak, it claimed over two billion followers, extending its influence across 113 countries. Its monasteries and churches formed a vast global magic network.
In the original work, the "Star of Bethlehem" fortress crashed into the Arctic Ocean following Fiamma of the Right's defeat. That fortress contained the remnants of countless important Christian buildings from around the world.
There was also that massive, awe-inspiring magic circle capable of manipulating elemental forces worldwide—the one that could "store the power of angels." It was destroyed far too easily. What a waste.
Unacceptable! Selene insisted on squeezing every last drop of value out of it. Such wastefulness was intolerable. "Aleister, go. Use that brilliant magician's mind of yours and claim that ritual system. Make it ours."
Expansion Plan Revision 3: Plotting to erode angels.
In the Toaru universe, angels are messengers of God in Christian doctrine. They are massive clumps of high-purity Telesma—the power of angels.
They have no personality or ego, acting solely in accordance with their assigned commands. Such beings can be described as "robots that operate according to God's programming."
Angels are also one of the sources of "otherworldly laws" invoked by magicians.
The angel Gabriel (Power of God), summoned by Fiamma of the Right using Sasha Kreutzev as the host, was naturally not in its complete form. Only after Fiamma corrected its distorted attributes could it return to being the true "Gabriel."
Until then, Gabriel remained under Fiamma's control—meaning it couldn't go rogue.
No matter how catastrophic its power was—able to freely manipulate celestial bodies like Earth and the Moon, halt Earth's rotation, blast away the crust, wipe out surface life, and rearrange the stars for celestial magic—
As long as Fiamma was under control, Gabriel was just a quail awaiting slaughter.
Of course, all of that belonged to the magic side and was incompatible with Aleister's construction of an artificial heaven using the AIM Diffusion Field. After all, the artificial heaven was designed to destroy those very things. Mixing the two systems was impossible—even for Aleister.
If not for Selene... Aleister wouldn't have even glanced at such whimsical plans.
But Honkai Energy—how fragrant it was!
The more he used it, the more Aleister realized just how versatile Honkai Energy truly was.
It could be used medicinally (healing diseases, enhancing the body), for enchantment (coating metal to boost all-around strength), and could even be converted into pure energy (for electricity, ignition, fuel—like oil or coal). It even had corrosive properties that affected other energy substances!
AIM Diffusion Field, magical energy—even those could be infected by Honkai Energy!
After repeated experiments, Aleister discovered that when Honkai Energy particles dispersed into supernatural energies like the AIM Diffusion Field or magical energy, the resulting aggression and corrosion were terrifying.
Compared to its stable and gentle form as Honkai Crystals, it was practically a different substance.
Honkai Energy was absolutely not as docile as it appeared to the public. Some will—or law—was clearly restricting its destructive tendencies.
Selene had granted him limited authority to exercise part of her power…
Though he had doubts, he had to admit… Honkai Energy's advantages were simply too alluring.
AIM Diffusion Field and magical energy incompatible?
No problem. Blend Honkai Energy into both sides and assimilate them—that was why Aleister accepted Selene's suggestion. It gave him the confidence to incorporate magical tools from the Roman Catholic Church and Fiamma of the Right into the artificial heaven project.
Bzzzz!Bzzzz!
Multicolored arcs of light—infused with Honkai Energy, AIM Diffusion Field, and magical energy—shot up from the ground and climbed to low Earth orbit in mere seconds, then exploded outward.
The sky first filled with yellow stars, then gradually with red, blue, and green. The Star of Bethlehem fortress looked like a massive celestial projector, giving the impression that the Four Elements were returning to their proper order.
The starlight was dazzling.
Brilliant rays quickly spread across the entire Star of Bethlehem, lighting up all the churches upon it. From a distance, it resembled a heavenly city resting atop a sea of clouds.
Even higher above, the complete activation of the Bethlehem Plan stirred the heavens. A massive star that seemed to replace the sun began to shift. Invisible waves rippled outward in all directions.
Under Aleister's control, the twisted silver staff radiated a magical brilliance not seen in a hundred years—the light of the man who established the framework of modern Western magic, the most renowned magician of the modern age.
"Imaginary Number District: Five Element Institution, deployment initiated."
"Deployment origin set to 'Star of Bethlehem.' Locking coordinates."
"Spell fusion in progress."
"Additional command verified. Target: Command tower 'Last Order.' By forcibly manipulating the Misaka Network, the directional flow of all AIM Diffusion Fields in Academy City has been successfully redirected."
"Phase One, complete."
Across the world, anchor points that had been prearranged began activating one by one.
...
Fiamma of the Right's body could no longer produce a sound.
The unleashed power ravaged his battered body, and once again, the 'Third Hand' erupted from his back. A transformation overtook his face, and even his fiery red hair turned stark white—whether it signified the exhaustion of life force or a symbol of divine power was unclear.
From root to tip, from appearance to essence, Fiamma of the Right had undergone a fundamental transformation. Above his head now hovered a small halo.
The exclusive angelic ritual of God's Right Seat to erase "Original Sin" was now fully displayed through Fiamma of the Right.
Riiip—!
The sky tore open. The original red, blue, yellow, and green sky fractured massively in all directions, spreading silently.
From within the cracks burst golden light, creating a scene as spectacular as a religious painting—this was the influence of angelic power, as if turning the mortal world into a heavenly one.
At that very moment, along Barcelona's coastline, deep in the Sea of Japan, on the Eastern European front, in the Dover Strait, across Russia's snowy plains, and in many other places—a golden arm roughly 100 meters long emerged.
Then, from within, it explosively expanded.
Purplish-red erosion spots silently spread within. Within seconds, the hand's shape collapsed and exploded.
With a creaking sound of something expanding to its limit, a massive shockwave formed. Tsunamis erupted at sea, earthquakes struck the land, avalanches cascaded across snowy terrain…
And there were those hybrid energy particles dispersing into the air.
Almost simultaneously, Academy City's armed forces, French soldiers and magicians, the Anglican Church, Knights, Necessarius, the North American coalition... all ceased launching new attacks.
Academy City.
"A-Amazing... Is this Selene-senpai going all out?"
The girl with tea-colored twin tails gaped, tugging at her own hair.
On the screen, she saw islands and coastal cities drowned by massive tsunamis and volcanic eruptions. Modern skyscrapers stood no chance against these natural disasters!
Shirai Kuroko knew that the artificial lake Selene blasted into Academy City wasn't her full strength. But as for how powerful Selene truly was—she hadn't had a clear sense. Until now. Submerging the entire Japanese archipelago—with just a snap of her fingers.
"U-uh... Shirai-san, is Selene-senpai a Level 6 now?"
Saten Ruiko swallowed hard, her expression full of panic—the classic reaction of an academic underachiever. Just one Lv2 esper nearly did her in.
Uiharu Kazari's eyes had already turned into spirals.
Selene's residence in District 7.
"Karl, our little Selene has truly spread her wings."
Katie gently rested her head against Brauchitsch's broad chest, a young mother overwhelmed with pride and emotion as she gazed at the screen. Her warm blue eyes reflected her daughter's brilliance, so dazzling it seemed unreal.
"An eagle will soar eventually. For little Selene, this was only a matter of time. She is our greatest pride."
The tall, handsome middle-aged man wrapped his arms around his wife, his words full of pride.
Indeed, this was Selene's adoptive father—Brauchitsch. After Sebas handled the Roman Catholic Church's strike force sent to capture Selene's family, he escorted Brauchitsch safely to Academy City.
"I told you back then, didn't I? Our princess is a figure akin to Queen Theresa or Catherine the Great. Selene's inner strength far exceeds ours. And her abilities... they're even greater."
Compared to Katie, Brauchitsch clearly had a better understanding of Selene's nature when dealing with the outside world. He even praised this personality, often taking Selene along to handle or observe the group's official business. During that time, Katie never stopped nagging him about it.
Sebas stood respectfully nearby, silently listening as the master and mistress of the house spoke proudly of their daughter. The loyal butler quietly ground the coffee beans.
"...."
Watching Sebas's subtly upturned lips, Alyssa pouted while cradling little Ferdinand in her arms. Tch, this is just the beginning... I could do it too. Why am I the one stuck here babysitting?
Not far from Selene's residence, in a nearby alley, a large golden retriever (or was it a golden-haired hound?) wearing a collar and backpack—with a mechanical arm inside rhythmically puffing on a Cuban cigar—stood silently guarding Selene's family.
"Noukan-sensei, the Board Chairman has begun."
At that moment, a sultry young woman stepped out from the shadows. She wore a tight office lady uniform under a researcher's white coat, as if she were participating in an internship program.
Anyone else witnessing this would've dropped their jaw. This woman was none other than Kihara Yuiitsu—the genius member of Academy City's shadowy Kihara clan, officially known as a multi-field researcher.
Yet here she was, showing absolute respect to a golden retriever.
"I saw it."
The large dog rose from its crouch and spoke in a human voice. "Imaginary Number District: Five Element Institution..."
Gazing at the hazy city projection hovering above Academy City and the AIM Diffusion Field bands like glowing ribbons, the golden retriever tossed the half-finished Cuban cigar precisely into a roadside trash can. "Come, Yuiitsu. Prepare to deploy Transport A.A.A. It's our move now."
...
Almost the very instant Aleister unleashed his signature magical brilliance, a figure was seen smiling far away in London.
St. George's Cathedral.
"We've got a reaction!! This wavelength... it's unmistakable! No doubt about it. It's the magician Edward Alexander Crowley."
Members of the Church of England's Crowley Division reacted with excitement.
Hearing this, from the shadow of a stained-glass window, Supreme Archbishop Lola Stuart's lips curled into a smile.
"...So you're still alive, after all."
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