"Then bring her back, along with the Apostle's Cross," Edward Alexander said through the earpiece.
Rowan Mercer nodded. He was just about to cast a tracking spell when three figures appeared ahead of him.
Kamijou Touma and his two companions had arrived, having used Anglican detection magic to pinpoint Oriana Thomson's location.
"Misaka… you're Misaka's sister, right?" Touma blurted out. He froze when he noticed Oriana unconscious and bound on the ground. "What happened to her?"
Rowan shrugged, already improvising. "I saw her sneaking around a stairwell. She looked like another magician I'd run into before, so I questioned her. She attacked me, so I knocked her out. You know how it goes."
The three exchanged looks.
They had spent most of the day chasing Oriana, getting injured and led in circles, only for her to be casually incapacitated by Misaka's mysterious sibling.
Somehow, that felt… unsettling.
"We know her," Touma said carefully. "Can you hand her over to us?"
"Sure," Rowan replied. "I've got somewhere else to be."
He waved and vanished down an alley, Apparating out of Academy City entirely.
"Direction Manifestation. Lidovia Lorenzetti."
The spell drew him straight to a luxury hotel outside the city. Inside one of the rooms stood Lidovia, dressed in her nun's habit, with the Apostle's Cross wrapped and ready beside her.
She stiffened when Rowan appeared out of thin air.
"Who are you?"
Rowan grinned. "Lidovia Lorenzetti, you're under arrest. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you—"
She attacked before he could finish.
Five minutes later, Rowan reappeared inside Academy City, casually carrying an unconscious Lidovia and the Apostle's Cross.
He didn't return to the windowless building immediately. Instead, he sifted through Lidovia's memories.
Not just for spells. As a high-ranking member of the Roman Church, she possessed knowledge most magicians would kill for. Politics, secrets, structures buried far below the surface.
"So that's how it is," Rowan murmured.
The Roman Church wasn't just a collection of powerful magicians. Hidden within it was an inner circle known as God's Right Seat. Four individuals who had suppressed their original sin to near-nothing, reshaping their bodies to resemble angels. Each could wield angelic formulas, each corresponding to one of the four archangels.
No wonder the churches were never simple opponents.
When Rowan returned to Edward's chamber, he dropped Lidovia onto the floor.
"All done," he said. "Mind if I borrow the Apostle's Cross for a couple of days? I'd like to study it."
Edward smiled. "Keep it. It's your spoil."
Rowan blinked. "And the Roman Church?"
"They tried to seize Academy City," Edward replied calmly. "They can't complain if they lose a relic they officially claim doesn't exist."
The Cross was useless to anyone but the Roman Church anyway. It could only be activated once per year in the same location, and only by their most devout believers. In Rowan's hands, it was nothing more than a research specimen.
"Thanks," Rowan said, understanding the trade.
As he turned to leave, Edward spoke again.
"You mentioned wanting to reach Level Six. I may have information that interests you."
Rowan stopped cold.
Level Six. A state where a human mind brushed against something divine. Not a god, not a true demon, but a weapon powerful enough to matter.
Twenty minutes later, Rowan returned to his room, thoughts racing.
Edward had told him about a man named Kihara Gensei. A mad scientist. The original architect behind the Absolute Ability experiments. Tomorrow, Kihara planned to forcibly evolve Misaka Mikoto into a Level Six ability user by hijacking the Misaka Network.
The result would be catastrophic.
Misaka would reach Level Six for an instant.
Then her body would collapse and die.
Kihara didn't care. He only wanted the data. Proof of concept. A map to godhood.
Rowan was different from Misaka Mikoto. His body wasn't limited to Level Five. With every fusion, every enhancement, his potential had already surpassed that ceiling.
And as a Misaka clone, he could access the Network.
If he entered it during the forced evolution, he could experience the entire process firsthand.
Not imitation.
Understanding.
Once he knew the path, the rest would be time.