Kamijou Touma stepped into the empty church.
He saw a terrifying thing.
On a summer night, several hundred people were gathered in this building without air conditioning. Although the place was big, it was a closed room, and warm air permeated everywhere. A strong stench of sweat spread from a dark corner deep inside, like he was stepping into the lair of a large beast.
Several nuns dressed in black robes were crowding in the darkness.
In the middle of the crowd, there was a girl lying on the ground. Kamijou saw this, and silently squinted his eyes.
At this moment, Kamijou heard a laugh, as if it was laughing at his feelings.
Turning around, it was Agnese Sanctis. Her image was completely different from before.
"I've been finding this weird."
Agnese giggled,
"How can an amateur who's not even a magician be recruited for help? Seems like… although I don't know how you do it, the 'power' you have can break any boundary. Am I right?"
"…"
"Aiya, what's wrong? Did you forget something? Or are you looking for payment? Or… if you're unwilling to leave that woman on the floor behind, you can strip her; I don't mind."
Agnese sounded very excited, as if she was drunk, looking carried away.
"Let me ask you something: you're not bothering to pretend now?"
"Pretend? Pretend what? Don't you understand the situation? Can't you tell which side has the advantage? Don't tell me that you think our positions are the same? What will you do in front of so many people? I feel like hearing what you want to say."
That was true, one versus 200 was too much of a difference. Kamijou couldn't win if he went up against so many people. Or maybe it was because Agnese understood this so well that she smugly walked towards Kamijou. Not only did she not care about her defense, she was even taunting him.
Agnese believed that Kamijou wouldn't do anything to her. Once he did, he would start a battle where there was no chance of victory for him.
"Fool, what a fool. Seems like the Anglicans are smart enough to run away. What's wrong with you? Hm, even so. What can one person do? If you want to run, do so now. This is your last chance. You should know what to do."
Hearing Agnese say this with such confidence, Kamijou weakly smiled.
"My last chance… I should know what to do…"
His voice contained a strong, strange sense of calm.
"Yeah, this is my last chance. I understand."
BAM! Kamijou Touma's right fist cut through the air.
Agnese quickly crossed her arms to protect her head. At this moment, her feet left the floor.
Agnese, who had blocked the attack, flew backwards. She then glared at Kamijou like a fierce dog.
Without a second to delay.
Without hesitation, the boy let the enemy in front of him see his realizations.
"You… bastard, you dare to do this to me—?!"
Agnese roared.
But Kamijou Touma was louder than her.
"What should I do? WHAT NONSENSE; OF COURSE I SHOULD SAVE HER!"
The two of them were rather emotional, almost at a breaking point.
In a nutshell, it was "anger", but the reasons and auras were completely different.
The muscles on Agnese's face vibrated irregularly as she muttered.
The nuns in black robes, who had originally been standing around, all turned and face Kamijou Touma, brandishing the many different weapons in their hands. They marched forward like an army, giving off a cold and scary sound all at once.
"You're really… interesting."
Agnese's voice and body trembled.
"Facing 200 people, what can you do in this condition? Let me witness it! Haha! With the vast difference in numbers, we'll beat you to dust in sixty seconds!"
After Agnese said this, the black nuns raised their weapons.
Kamijou Touma, who was alone, had no help, and was weaponless, clenched his fists.
Just when the battle was about to start…
A voice suddenly appeared.
"Really, we finally slipped past the hole in the barrier with great difficulty, and you blast it apart. At least give me some time to set up the rune cards, okay?"
"What…?"
Agnese was stunned. She turned around. Bam! As the sound of flames absorbing oxygen echoed throughout, the church wrapped in darkness was blown apart by an explosion and orange lights.
The light came from inside the church, just opposite Kamijou.
On the wall behind the podium, near the second level, there was a large hole that was to be covered with stained glass. An Anglican priest was standing at the window, wielding a flame sword. Seemed like he had climbed the construction platforms next to the outside wall to get there.
"…Stiyl?"
The cigarette-smoking priest stunned Kamijou, as he inadvertently called out his name.
"The original plan was to chase the outsider home and let the magicians handle this. A shame I had to say so many lies, and now everything's wasted."
Before Kamijou could speak, Agnese said,
"English… Anglicans? Damn it… this is an internal affair of the Roman Catholic Church! Don't you understand that you'll be interfering with internal politics if you step in?"
"Too bad; that argument is invalid."
Stiyl coldly puffed out some white smoke, and said,
"Look at Orsola Aquinas's chest; there's an Anglican cross on her neck. The outsider over there hung it on her."
Stiyl revealed a cynical smile.
"Once someone puts an Anglican cross on another, it means that the person wearing it will be protected by the Anglican Church; this means that she's been baptised and is now one of us. That cross was prepared by our Archbishop, and I was supposed to hang it on Orsola's neck… but as that order wasn't that important, I delayed this and handed the Cross to that man. I thought that when that outsider was to be captured by you guys, you'd see the Cross, think that he was 'a member of the large Anglican Church', and show mercy to him… however, due to some accidental and strange circumstances, the cross is on Orsola's neck. Right now, Orsola Aquinas does not belong to the Roman Catholic Church, but to the Anglican Church."
"So that's how it is…"
Kamijou vividly remembered how happy Orsola had been the moment he casually said that he was giving the cross to her. So there was such a meaning behind it.
Agnese was flushed red now, and was flabbergasted for a while before she said,
"You… you guys think that you're able to stand firmly with such a ridiculous argument?"
"It's really a weak base to rely on, since it wasn't done in an Anglican church, it wasn't done by an Anglican priest, and she wasn't baptized according to Anglican regulations."
Stiyl shook the cigarette in his mouth, and said,
"But at least Orsola's identity right now is rather delicate. She's a Roman Catholic who still accepted the Anglican cross, and the person who gave her this cross is someone from Academy City of the science side. As for which organisation she belongs to, I believe it's necessary to take some time to negotiate. But if you insist on carrying out a trial on her, the Anglican Church will not sit back and watch."
Stiyl jumped down from the window, and silently landed in front of the podium.
Next, he pointed the tip of the flame sword at Agnese, who was standing far away, saying,
"And most importantly, you dare to attack that child!"
Stiyl bared his fangs, continuing on,
"Don't tell me that you guys think that I will ignore this? I'm not so kind!"
"Peh! Even if there's one or two of you, what can you do-!?"
Agnese angrily said this. But she was cut off by another voice before she could finish.
"It's not just two people."
"!?"
This rough male voice made Agnese turn around again. Suddenly, the side wall exploded, forming a large hole. A tall man wielding a large sword walked in through the dust.
"Tatemiya…"
The tall man was wielding a white flamberge whose material was unknown. Kamijou inadvertently called out his name.
Tatemiya Saiji.
The current substitute Supreme Pontiff of the Amakusa Church, a multi-religion-based Catholic organization.
Behind him were the Amakusa members who had been imprisoned in the other buildings. There was around fifty of them, and it seemed like they had found their freedom.
"You don't have to ask why I'm doing this, right?"
Stunned, Kamijou said,
"Didn't you say… that the easiest time to strike is when they're moving…?"
"I thought that you'd go home quietly the moment I said that. In order to settle everything before you do anything, I talked it out with the Anglican, and now everything's wasted. Seems like you're a bigger idiot than I thought. However, I don't hate such an interesting idiot like you."
Tatemiya Saiji said this reluctantly.
Finally, footsteps could be heard behind Kamijou, followed by a familiar girl's voice.
"Really, Touma. Didn't I tell you that someone will settle this, and that you don't have to worry?"
"In… dex…?"
Kamijou sputtered. A small hand grabbed Kamijou's shoulder, and though small, it was rather forceful.
"However, seems like we can only do this… let's save Orsola Aquinas with our own hands, Touma."
"Un."
Kamijou nodded his head.
Seeing this, Agnese Sanctis gave an order angrily,
"KILL THEM ALL!"
Several hundred nuns rushed out from the darkness.
The final battle had begun.
In order to end something that shouldn't have happened, they started the final battle.