Toaru Majutsu no Index

Volume 18, Chapter 8: The Queen and the People’s General Election. Union_Jack.

Part 1

Acqua of the Back and Knight Leader stood next to each other.

Acqua held the spiritual item known as Ascalon and Knight Leader held the longsword that had once been the core of his large weapon.

Knight Leader muttered something that could have been addressed to his old friend and it could have just been something he was saying to himself.

“...It seems the time has once again come for me to entrust my back to you.”

“So you cannot switch over to Hrunting? Make sure you do not trip me up.”

“Shut it.”

After that exchange, Knight Leader swung his longsword lightly and looked forward.

He no longer had to keep a close eye on the other man as he spoke with him. Just like the times when the two of them defeated countless powerful enemies together, he almost carelessly left his trust in the man.

“Let’s go. We shall see how far each of us has grown in the past 10 years.”

With a tremendous noise, the earth split open.

The ground had simply been unable to withstand the force of the two of them charging forward simultaneously.

Acqua headed to the right and Knight Leader to the left.

As they both circled around, they swung their swords toward Carissa at a speed that was difficult to follow with the naked eye.

“Tch.”

Carissa responded to Acqua. She twisted her body to avoid the 3.5 meter sword while using the momentum of that motion to swing Curtana Original around her body. The dimensional wreckage created acted as a shield that stopped Knight Leader’s longsword.

“You’ll lose your head,” Carissa whispered to Acqua at extreme close quarters.

Immediately afterwards, two slashing attacks clashed. Acqua and Ascalon responded to the diagonal slash sent at them. Keeping Curtana Original’s power in mind, he avoided actually letting the blades strike. Instead, he made sure it was the hand guards near the base of the swords that struck each other.

(...Ow...!?)

Carissa had been fighting a completely one sided sword fight up to that point, so the unexpected recoil surprised her.

The pure shock of the impact forced the two of them backwards. Despite sliding back along the dirt, they were still within range of each other.

They used their next sure-fire attacks.

“!!”

“!?”

Paying no attention to the size of their swords, they both attacked with the intention of getting in a fatal blow. Like in a duel from a Western, the victor would clearly be decided by just a slight difference.

But...

“Don’t think that...you’re the only two fighting here!!”

“Wha-...?”

Kanzaki Kaori entered from the side despite all her wounds. She had been able to defend against it a bit with her barrier, but the blast from the bunker cluster had taken a toll on her body. Unsurprisingly, the Saint had been the first of the Anglicans to stand back up. She used her attack that could cut even a monotheistic angel, Yuisen. That was a strike that simply could not be ignored, so Carissa changed the trajectory of her sword at the last second to block it.

Of course, she was exposing her body to an attack from Acqua by doing so.

And Knight Leader moved in at the same time.

“Ooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!”

Not just one, but numerous roars created a unique vibration.

Multiple figures exceeded the speed of sound with a pleasant shock that uplifted the battlefield.

Carissa kicked at Acqua’s legs to affect his balance and the trajectory of his sword altered slightly. Not even waiting for Ascalon to miss her by an incredibly small amount, Carissa repelled Kanzaki’s Shichiten Shichitou with Curtana Original and then jumped back to avoid Knight Leader’s strike.

Unlike before, she was putting all her effort into evading.

However, those three powerful people did not leave it at that.

A storm of sparks headed in a straight line after Carissa. As the attacks approached her from different angles, Carissa kicked up the rubble and dimensional wreckage lying around and swung Curtana Original in order to block, parry, and repel each one. Acqua and Kanzaki sliced through the rubble, turned back the dimensional wreckage, and otherwise used the approaching obstructions to their advantage.

There was an instant of time between Curtana Original’s slice and the creation of the dimensional wreckage.

The four of them continued to clash at a speed that made that instant into a major delay.

The sound of someone sucking in air reached Kanzaki’s ears.

In that world in which conversations and even individual words would take too long, that had been what got Carissa’s intention across.

The second princess kicked up two pieces of dimensional wreckage that lay at her feet and crashed them together with a similar motion to striking cymbals together. They were destroyed.

Along with a shockwave, fragments spread out like a firework.

“!?”

They all stopped for an instant to brace against the shock. Carissa used the momentum from it to move 50 meters back.

For monsters like them, that was a distance that could be travelled in an instant.

“...I see...”

A single trail of blood was flowing down Carissa’s forehead.

She had not been injured by Kanzaki, Acqua, or anyone else. It had been one of the fragments from the pieces of dimensional wreckage Carissa herself had destroyed to give her time to evade.

“It looks like I’ve exceeded my limit for this game of otedama. Even with this special power, taking on 3 Saint level monsters is rather troublesome.”

“I do not believe that everything can be accomplished with only those who are special,” said Kanzaki quietly as she used a special method of breathing to restore her strength. “We are only able to go all out because there are people supporting us. Because you are currently being aimed at by magicians from all directions, you must continue to focus on possible attacks from your blind spots which limits your options.”

“Perhaps.” Carissa looked around with only her eyes. “It is true that the number of allies one has can determine the victor in the military environment.”

The many magicians stared at her waiting to fire long distance attacks at her between the Saints’ and Knight Leader’s attacks if they had an opening.

“But that is why I never once thought my victory would lie in that direction.”

An aura of sadism spread from Second Princess Carissa.

Immediately afterwards, she kicked up the wreckage at her feet with her terrifying strength. Her foot held a limited amount of the leader of the angel’s power and the heavy mass of iron she kicked shot off like a bullet despite being over 5 meters long.

She had not kicked it towards Kanzaki, Acqua, or Knight Leader.

She had purposefully sent it flying towards a group of knights working to treat the wounds of the collapsed Anglicans.

“Wha-...?”

With an explosive noise, a number of figures were knocked into the air.

In the instant it took Kanzaki to turn her gaze in that direction, Carissa had already swung Curtana Original. It created a piece of dimensional wreckage 100 meters long. It was a rectangular board that was twisted in the middle and it was a little reminiscent of a bamboo copter.

Carissa created an explosion at the end of the bamboo copter using the momentum to make the giant propeller spin. The bamboo copter was tilted at a 45 degree angle and it attacked the group like a wall that had become a giant rotating blade.

“Dammit!!”

Knight Leader exceeded the speed of sound as he jumped in front of the propeller trying to repel the rotating blade.

A shock then came from directly behind him.

It hadn’t been an attack from Carissa. He had been entirely focusing on a possible attack from her.

The attack that had hit Knight Leader had been from one of the injured Anglican magicians that was supposed to be an ally.

“...Ah...”

The magician looked just as shocked as Knight Leader.

The magician had not meant any harm; it had been a stray shot.

But Knight Leader still lost his balance as the giant rotating blade approached.

“!?”

Knight Leader frantically attempted to intercept it with his longsword, but he couldn’t get the proper strength behind it as he had lost his balance. Due to his incomplete attempt to repel the rotating blade, Knight Leader was knocked to the ground and the blade’s trajectory changed causing it to writhe around like a living creature. That led to it causing even more damage.

“No matter how concentrated the numbers of a group are, that does not change the fact that it is a collection of individuals.”

Carissa pointed Curtana Original above her head and gave a large swing. The giant piece of dimensional wreckage created was something like a giant suspended ceiling tilted at an angle. She was attempting to crush a large number of magicians from the sky with it.

“As such, every organization has openings allowing the connections between individuals to be severed. Even if the magical thoughts or scientific brainwaves are connected, those openings will not disappear.”

To protect her allies, Kanzaki tried to cut it to pieces using the wires of Nanasen, but Second Princess Carissa jumped in. Receiving a whip-like kick to the gut, Kanzaki was knocked a good ways back.

“And a group that is truly brought together as a single individual is nothing more than a product of dreams.”

After striking it with dozens of long distance attacks, the magicians just barely avoided being crushed by the suspended ceiling which created vibrations that felt like an earthquake. During that time, Acqua had moved between the suspended ceiling and the earth using multiple high speed jumps before assaulting Carissa with Ascalon.

“Also, the more a group’s numbers grow, the more openings are created to cut it apart through.”

Making a tremendous noise, Ascalon and Curtana Original clashed at a point near their hand guards.

However, now that their connections had been broken apart to that extent, they were reduced to fighting on an individual level rather than as a group. And as individuals, even Acqua, who had been damaged during the fight in Academy City, was not as strong as Carissa with the power of the leader of the angels at her disposal as long as she was within the United Kingdom.

After the sound of a few strikes being exchanged, Acqua jumped backwards. He didn’t fall, but there was a dark red stain on his side.

“Whether you gather in the thousands or in the tens of thousands, I will not waver,” announced Carissa clearly as she rested Curtana Original on her shoulder.

This was not a fight among kids.

It was not that it was impossible to get an advantage over her. If there was a chance for someone else to rise up and take that advantage, she would seal it. Because she could prevent even a large group from taking that advantage, her advantage could not be overthrown.

“I am used to fighting in a group. Don’t forget that I am the one who excels at military matters even within the skilled members of the Royal Family.”

As if those words had been a sign, the nightmare began anew.

Part 2

Some people were watching that battle.

These people were not magicians, but could not be said to be completely unrelated to the fight either. They were the servants, cooks, and gardeners who worked for the Royal Family within Buckingham Palace.

The only people who could truly get near the Royal Family were people who were trained in magic and specialized in interception known as royal maids or armed aides. However, these people were different. Most of them had been brought in by Third Princess Villian and they were complete civilians with no real connection to the Royal Family.

They had managed to get inside London, but they had been unable to get to Buckingham Palace where the center of the battlefield lay. However, their hesitation had exposed their amateurishness. After all, the place they thought was safe could be blown away by Carissa at any time if she felt like it.

They watched the battle without realizing this.

Up until then, they had been more blessed by being British than they had ever thought possible. They had been given it all by Villian, so they wanted to protect her and they honestly wanted to fight for the Royal Family.

But they had no idea what they could do with such an overwhelming scene before their eyes.

Whether it was a military coup d’etat or a large scale civil war using magic that exceeded the laws of physics, it was simply too much for those servants. They had decided to fight in the subway tunnel, but they had only been able to stand unmoving with trembling legs at the crucial moment. It was the same at this time too. There was no thought of shame or honor. Those small normal people were simply “afraid” upon seeing that battle developing before their eyes. It had exceeded the level of bravery or a sense of justice. Their reaction very well may have been the proper human reaction.

Carissa the tyrant was a symbol of despair.

Now that her true reason for fighting had been revealed, the servants trembled even more.

Even while battling the monsters known as Acqua of the Back and Kanzaki Kaori within the destroyed Buckingham Palace grounds and losing the majority of her knights, the second princess showed no sign of lessening her cruelty. In fact, she was applying even more severe and overwhelming violence to those who opposed her. Her attacks had left most of the professional magicians collapsed on the ground.

This was not an easy fight to join.

It was likely that they would be slaughtered the instant they tried. It was quite possible that they would get in the way of one of the professional magicians leading to the magician’s defeat and possibly even affecting the overall outcome of the battle.

Thinking along those lines, they had no choice but to stay where they were.

From a civilian viewpoint, they simply could not join in.

“It isn’t like we have any other choice,” someone said.

They were just regular people. Now that something like magic was being used, there was nothing they could do. There was one boy who fought with his clenched right fist despite being a normal person, but it seemed he did have some kind of special power. If they had some kind of power that allowed them to oppose magic and if they were the kind of person that would fight hijacking terrorists on an airplane, then they too would be able to unhesitatingly rush in. However, they did not have that kind of special power.

That was why they had no other choice.

“Do you truly think that?” said a voice.

The servants hurriedly turned around and saw a familiar face.

“Do you truly think that the difference between you and that boy is merely a difference between the abilities of your right hands?”

“...”

The servants remained silent after hearing the question come from someone else.

They really did know.

They knew that that boy was not fighting on the front line because of the special power within his right hand. They had a feeling it would be more accurate to say that the right hand of that boy who was fighting on the front line just so happened to have a special power within it. In other words, whether they could participate in the civil war or not was dependent on their courage and their bravery.

“Do you have what it takes?” the woman asked. “I do not care what personal feelings you may have. It does not matter what kind of subjective reasons you may have. I am merely asking if you have the tiny bit of courage needed to stand up and fight against this overwhelming fear that is threatening the country.”

Someone looked up upon hearing that question.

They all looked up, having decided that there was no need to hang their heads in shame.

Their answer was clear.

The servants decided that they would not lose to that boy when it came to their feelings. The reason they had just barely managed to stand their ground and not flee despite being aware that they were trembling from fear was because of their desire to fight. That was what had eventually led to them standing there watching the fight.

So they spoke.

They all said that they wanted to fight.

“Very well,” said the woman, Queen Elizard, as a powerful smile that looked like it should belong to the captain of a large ship appeared on her face. “Then come with me. I will make up for all that you are lacking.”

She had everything she needed.

All that was left was the come-from-behind win.

Part 3

A loud noise split the air within the Buckingham Palace grounds.

“...!!”

Carissa hurriedly held up Curtana Original, but she still felt a shock in her hands. She looked at the face of the attacker who had rushed in exceeding the speed of sound and gave her loudest yell of the fight thus far.

“So you finally show yourself, mother!!”

What had struck her sword had been the identical looking Curtana Second.

The true head of state cut in between Acqua and Knight Leader who had been on the verge of being pushed back and she swung the other sword that determined the king.

The two Curtanas pushed back and forth on each other as the two royals glared at each other.

“I don’t mind if you do whatever you want, but if you do, make sure you have a plan better than mine. I have come to stop you because it looks like you are actually going to do worse than me.”

“Ha! Do you really miss the throne that badly!?”

An unpleasant noise rang out.

Of course, Curtana Original was the stronger of the two Curtanas. The two swords were not actually locked together. The Original was slowly sinking into the Second.

When the sinking had progressed to a centimeter, the two of them took action.

They crossed their short swords at high speed three times.

Each time sparks flew from Curtana Second. It did not look like two swords made of steel clashing. It was more like a softer metal being carved away during the engraving process.

“...No matter how much preparation is carried out, the clash between groups eventually comes down to a clash between Curtanas. It almost makes all the hard thought put into this seem idiotic.”

Carissa laughed in self derision while holding the unscathed Curtana Original.

The power they each held was clear.

“But in a battle between Curtanas, I cannot lose. My Original has more than 80% of the power and your Second doesn’t even have 20%. Surely you knew that this would be decided by who had more of the power since we are both wielding the same type of power.”

In response, Elizard gave a small smile.

It was not an act. It truly was the kind of smile that felt as if it had simply leaked out.

“...You are a surprisingly small woman, my daughter.”

“What?”

“You wanted to take responsibility for this silly monarchy and protect the British people by becoming a tyrant, utterly annihilating the enemy nations across Europe, and then surrendering control of the government to the people. That plan is on a grand scale, but did you realize that glimpses of your small-mindedness can be seen on its edges?”

“...”

Carissa did not respond with words.

She instead swung Curtana Original. Elizard responded with her own sword, but the Second became damaged even more than before.

Even so, Elizard’s expression did not change.

“Do you truly want to change this country? Even if the large pillars giving shape to the government must be torn down, do you want to protect the people? Then do not rely on any already existing system. If you’re going to do it, at least go this far.”

Having said that, the queen gave a large swing of Curtana Second and then let go allowing it to fly towards Carissa. Carissa hurriedly repelled it, but she suddenly realized something.

With its trajectory changed, Curtana Second shot off into the darkness and disappeared.

Queen Elizard had let go of the sword that gave her power.

“What...are you thinking?”

That act had been so reckless and had left the queen so defenseless that Carissa put herself on guard.

With a strategy based on Curtana, that had been a completely unthinkable option to take.

The one who had chosen that option, the queen, spoke with absolute confidence.

“This is a revolution.” Elizard stood completely open before Carissa. “Never before has there been a revolution on this level. Throw out the framework. Someone who wants to overthrow the current stagnated theory cannot choose that same theory for herself. If seeing a historical first move like this surprises you, then you are still bound by the thick pillars of this country.”

(Is she trying to say there is a difference in our courage?)

Carissa decided that the queen could be simply trying to cheer up the panicked people. It was true that it had been effective. It would not have been surprising if an idiot mistook Elizard for the one in control there.

However...

(Then I will respond as a tyrant. If I cut her down before them, it will all be over!! The death of Elizard will send them into an inescapable pit of despair!!)

Having made up her mind, Carissa swung Curtana Original upwards to slice the queen in half vertically as that death would most effectively let the fear spread.

However, she then realized something.

By the time she realized it, it was too late.

“This is...it can’t be...!”

Something was wrong with Curtana Original.

As Carissa stared at the person who knew what exactly was going on, Queen Elizard spoke.

“I already told you: this is a revolution.”

The sound of cloth flapping in the air could be heard. At some point, a large piece of cloth – no, a flag – had appeared in the queen’s hands. On the front was the current national flag of the United Kingdom and on the back was the primarily white and green flag that had once been used as the national flag of Wales.

“The United Kingdom’s national flag was made from a union of the flags of England, Ireland, and Scotland. Wales had already been absorbed by England at the time the flag was created. Out of respect for each of their cultures, they are represented on either the front or back of the flag. ...It was a bit difficult recovering this from the British Museum.”

England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

The symbols of the four cultures that made up the United Kingdom.

And they were also the foundation of the power controlled by Curtana Original.

“Of course, not just anyone could do this even with this at their disposal. ...It was a mistake not to give my death the highest priority. After all, this is one of the pieces of magic on a national level that can only be used by the Royal Family.”

Elizard waved the flag and it spread out across the night sky.

“Union Jack.”

After the queen spoke the name of the spell quietly, she took a long breath.

“Hear my command,” she said raising her voice.

Her loud voice sounded as if it would remain clear no matter how far it travelled.

“Take the enormous power that resides in Curtana and those gathered by the All-English Continent which is formed by the four cultures. Take that power and release it all so that it is redistributed evenly throughout every British citizen!!”

Part 4

With Elizard’s words, Curtana Original lost its power.

No.

The power that had been stored up within it flowed elsewhere.

“Along with this power, I, Queen Regnant Elizard, give the following message to the British people.”

Curtana provided power to a pyramid made up of the queen and the knights.

But what was it that gave one the right to be a king or a queen?

If one followed that question to its extreme, one would see the true identity of the spell Elizard had used.

“A lot has happened in this day since the coup d’etat began. The military was dispatched, cities were conquered, a destroyer fired in Dover, battles were fought against the knights, and a bunker cluster was even fired on the capital. Many have received some form of damage from this while not knowing what was actually going on.”

That’s right.

Originally, any English person had the qualifications.

“But there is a power opposing you.”

The British Royal Family had been formed after many battles. If things had happened a little differently in history, some other people living in the United Kingdom could have been the ones with “royal blood” instead. With the possibility of immigrants from outside the country and political marriages added in, the breadth of the possibilities grew even further.

As such, there was a single point that was important: whether one was English or not.

It wasn’t an issue of bloodline or nationality. It mattered whether one loved England and whether one wanted England to be his or her homeland.

“I can’t reveal the specifics, but for this one night, you will all equally become heroes. You will become the kind of people that fight using those mysterious phenomena that you have seen but did not understand! Right now, you can do anything!! And I want you to choose. For who and with who will you fight? Make that decision on your own!!”

On top of all that, the queen threw one more thing out there to those people who maybe, just maybe could have become a king or queen.

She spoke to those people who may have sat in the throne had history changed just slightly.

“I give my thanks to anyone who wishes to cooperate with me! If you would rather help the coup d’etat forces, that is fine too! And it is not a problem if you would rather choose some third path instead!! Just because you have this power does not mean that you must fight if you do not want to!! Anyone who feels this is just a bother just has to silently wish to ‘return’ the power. If there is someone you trust more than yourself, then silently wish for the power to be ‘passed’ to that person!! Right here, right now, that power is truly yours. Will you fight or will you run? You are free to choose whatever you wish!!”

They had a fragment of the power they might have held.

They had real power that could be used to move or change the country.

“Do not do something because someone else told you to or because someone else told you it was the right thing to do! Reject even my own words!! Put all the information you have in the order of priority you personally feel is correct and then think over it with your own head. When you are left with your own ideas of justice, courage, and bravery, act according to that!!”

Perhaps what Queen Elizard had surrendered to them was something quite simple. It was the very foundation of a democracy and it could be interpreted as being the most important thing.

“...Aren’t you fed up with being pushed around by the people with a higher position than you?”

It was just a mere single vote.

However, those people now held a “power” that truly allowed them to influence the nation.

“Now, it is time for a great number of heroes to stand up for themselves as the people’s general election begins!!” Queen Elizard yelled.

At that time...

In a certain place, a boy looked up. Things were in a state of emergency due to the sudden terrorism and war. He had been dragged from his house by a soldier and taken to a movie theater in a truck. He had been told he would be shot if he left the building, so he had been shivering from fear in the darkness. However, he slowly stood up upon hearing a voice resounding in his head.

(...I can run. I can just leave this to someone else.)

He thought over the conditions that had been explained. Fighting was just one of a number of options. The voice telling him to think it over himself before making a decision echoed in his head.

(I will fight.)

He came to that conclusion.

As he headed from the theater into the dark stairway of a corridor that led out, the boy happened across his parents. They did not look shocked upon seeing him. They merely nodded once.

(I want to fight!!)

The boy and his parents were thinking the same thing as they headed outside through the exit.

They crossed the final line they had been told they would be shot if they crossed.

It didn’t matter if they had power or not.

They just needed the courage in their hearts to step across that line.

In a certain place, a soldier keeping a great number of civilians confined to a large hotel clenched his trembling fist. He had gone along with the coup d’etat because he had felt it was best for England, but it seemed stopping the coup d’etat would save the one who had started it. So what had he been fighting for?

The soldier pressed his back against the wall and slid down to the ground. He had lost the urge to fight and he merely watched the door of the hotel open as a number of London residents rushed out. Most likely, they would become heroes just like the queen had said. However, a puppet who had helped the coup d’etat like him had no right to do so.

Then someone stood before the squatting soldier. The person crouched over like someone getting on the same eye level as a small child and spoke to the soldier.

Most likely, the person had been one of the people confined in the large hotel. The middle-aged man seemed to be opposing the tyranny to protect his family. That proper hero who was fighting as a father turned to the villain who had confined him and spoke.

“We need your power. Fight alongside us. You were the one driving the armored truck, right? Please take us to the battlefield in that.”

For a bit, the soldier silently sat there thinking. Finally, he reached into his pocket, pulled out the key to the truck, and stood up once more under his own power.

In a certain place, the boss of a magic cabal with its headquarters in the United Kingdom sighed. The girl of about 12 was half in shock over the emergency to the magic business.

“Boss. What do we do?”

“Idiot. You aren’t hoping we’re just going to give in to our youth and take part in this war, are you? She said we could ‘return’ it, so that’s all we have to do.”

“Couldn’t we take this chance to try to analyze Curtana?”

“If we try anything, it’ll just piss off the old hag in the crown. We need to stay out of this, stay under the radar, and keep an eye on this from the outside.”

“I see. But, boss, your sister, Miss Patricia, already left looking quite excited.”

“Then get her back here, you idiot!!”

The magic cabal boss’s voice echoed through the London night.

In a certain place, Bayloupe, a girl who belonged to the organization known as New Light, lifted up her injured body. After losing in a fight against the Anglicans, she had been taken to a cathedral for both healing and confinement, but she had been shoved into some kind of hidden room when the coup d’etat had begun.

She pulled a marker out of a nearby pen holder and quickly drew a magic circle that activated a communications spell.

She didn’t even have to think about who to contact.

“Can you hear me, Lessar?”

The response came immediately.

“Yeah, I can, Bayloupe. Floris and Lancis are connected, too. Simply put, what do we do?”

“I don’t know...” Bayloupe slowly stood up as she lightly scratched her head. “Sigh. Well, it doesn’t seem quite right since we helped bring about the coup d’etat, but we do what is best for the UK. So I suppose we have no choice but to act regardless of what shame or honor says.”

In a certain place, the servants and gardeners who worked in Buckingham Palace rushed forward into the battlefield before them. The issues of whether someone was a professional or whether someone was out of place had all been resolved. Now everyone could fight evenly as long as they had the courage to take that first step.

“Lady Villian!!”

“Are you okay!? Are you hurt!?”

The third princess looked taken aback upon being surrounded by people calling her name. She had been thinking that her mother truly was different from her and that it was not at all surprising that people would gather around the queen, so the princess had not thought that anyone would gather around her.

“...Why...?” she honestly asked.

She had been saved by servants in Folkestone and some had worked with her in the subway tunnel, but this was different. In the current situation, everyone’s hearts should be focused on the queen.

So why had they turned in her direction?

“There is no longer a distinction between a member of the Royal Family and a servant. Everyone must make their own decision and use their power to help everyone else. I am just a completely useless person who could only find hope in others and run away. There is no need for you to follow me.”

“Her Majesty the Queen said we should make our own decision and use this power as we see fit,” said one of the servants while looking Villian in the eye. “So will you let us use it as we see fit? Let us show that courage we were unable to show when the coup d’etat began or in the subway tunnel! None of us here want to see you hurt. This is what we all want, but we are all fools who cannot even take up a sword and fight! So just this once let us fight alongside you!!”

Hearing that, Villian was ashamed of herself.

She was supposed to be the princess of benevolence.

How could that be if she didn’t even notice those earnest feelings so close by?

“...Then also allow me to use my power as I see fit,” Villian said as she gripped her bowgun with renewed strength.

And she added silently in her heart: (Allow me to protect the future with these people.)

“Damn you...” Second Princess Carissa said in a low voice with Curtana Original in hand.

In response, Queen Elizard held up her empty hands and smiled like the president of a large company taking pride in the company he had built up over a lifetime.

“This is quite the revolution, isn’t it? If you’re going to change history, you might as well make it something that enlivens all the people. No one will follow you if it only makes those with special privileges happy.”

The heads of state – old and new – glared at each other at close quarters.

However, Elizard met Carissa’s enraged gaze with a calm one.

“Your childish prank is over. I will now show you how to truly lead a country.”

“Don’t joke around!! What you’ve done is provide the powerless people with weapons and sent them to the battlefield while you have your fun watching them safely from atop your throne!! Do you want your position back so much that you’re willing to shove more power in the people’s bodies than they can handle in order to use them as shields!?”

“...Why can you not tell that thinking of it that way stems from your royal arrogance?”

In response to Carissa’s rage, Elizard drew back her smile.

However, this was not because she had been overpowered.

It was the opposite. The queen’s smile disappeared specifically to dominate the second princess.

“Who decided that normal people could not use Curtana’s power!? You planned to use Curtana to win the war and then allow the people to stop a runaway state. ...It is true that may have been a convenient plan, but you were still using the large amount of power granted by Curtana Original that could only be used by someone with the special privilege of doing so. You were still imprisoned by the curse of being the head of state!! Such a small change would create nothing more than a slight distortion. If you want a revolution that will truly change things, you have to throw away any fear of what will happen to your own position!!”

“What...!?”

“My lecture against a child’s ridiculous desire to kill herself is something that comes solely from my position as a mother. Also...this country is not as weak as you seem to think it is to fall to despair over it so readily. You will see now that ninety million people here wish to save you enough that they have determined to become heroes!!”

At the same time as the queen spoke those words, an explosive noise resounded throughout the area. Carissa realized that it was the sound of a tremendous number of people’s footsteps, and servants, gardeners, and others who had no real knowledge of magic rushed in making up a sizable threat.

People from across the United Kingdom were gathering beneath the Union Jack to protect their country.

Part 5

Index was feeling a little wobbly after the bunker cluster blast. She was caught up watching the scene unfold as she continued to use the knowledge of the 103,000 grimoires to analyze the spells related to Curtana Original.

In the center of her vision, Carissa was using Curtana Original to fight against Elizard who had let go of her own Curtana.

A great number of figures flew through the air either to protect the empty-handed queen or to act as weapons. The figures were not just magicians. A maid who clearly did not know anything about magic aimed for Carissa from over 10 meters up in the air and a businessman wearing a suit knocked down a giant spike that had been created out of dimensional wreckage. The mixture of the normal world and the magic world created a never-before-seen stage.

Seeing that scene, the Anglican magicians who were being aided by the knights stood up under their own power once more. It was not clear whether that was due to the Queen’s Union Jack spell or if it was due to the professional magicians’ pride not allowing them to lie idly by while amateurs fought with everything they had.

Upon seeing a large force with Kanzaki Kaori, Acqua, and Knight Leader at its center, the queen laughed and provoked her own daughter.

“What’s wrong, Carissa? You’re not looking too good! I admit that I would lose if it came down to the power held in the Original and the Second, but do you think you can maintain your advantage in a 90,000,000-to-1 game of tug of war!?”

“Shut it!! Don’t think that th-this is enough to defeat Curtana Original! My Curtana may have lost a certain amount of its power due to what happened in the subway, but it still has more than 80% of what was left over!!”

“True. But if you lose focus for even an instant, that power will be stripped away by the hands of ninety million people. Make sure you don’t get so focused on controlling things internally, that you neglect to focus on the attacks coming from the outside!!”

“!? So that’s what you’re after, you damn schemer!!”

Normal people such as students and store clerks continued to head in from the dark city of London. Some of them must have determined they were too far away, but a few dozen shots of light made tight arcs across the sky heading for Carissa.

“This is much like a large unit of a volunteer army attacking an extremely accurate piece of ritual magic that is being carried out in a large temple. Don’t forget that every bit of power you lose control over and thus slips away adds to our strength.”

“You can’t fool me!! No matter how many people it is inside, it’s still less than 20% of the total power! You cannot defeat me because I still have the other 80%!!”

Just by redistributing Curtana’s power and giving the people Telesma, the people could not use supernatural powers. They needed the magical knowledge to know how to alter that power and how to control it.

Of course, normal people did not have that knowledge.

So who was helping them do it?

“I see. Then I can’t simply leave this to the people. I really am more suited to working out in the field than just sitting on the throne anyway. ...Having a real competition like this is quite fun.”

“!? That power...!! But you threw away Curtana Second!!”

“You fool, the queen is still British. I have the right to a single vote. I can only use my fists, but I am still going to be presumptuous enough to stand on the front line!!”

Index’s gaze became fixed on one point: Queen Regnant Elizard.

If anyone was doing it, it had to be her. When she had distributed the power evenly to the people from Curtana, she had used the communications spell both for her speech and to give them all the Telesma. She had changed its properties to match the user’s thoughts and had adjusted the Telesma so it was in a “convenient form” that would remain stable as they used it. In short, she had made it possible for those normal people to use the power they had acquired to carry out the actions as they imagined them in their head.

It was a simple enough concept to put in words.

In fact, Index herself had once indirectly performed healing magic by guiding Tsukuyomi Komoe. (Despite her perfect memory, her memories of events while in John’s Pen mode were hazy.)

However, she had only been able to do that because it was one-on-one.

Guiding all ninety million of the British people and continually preventing even one of them from losing control of their power would be impossible for Index even if she used the 103,000 grimoires to their fullest.

But that wasn’t even the most fearsome aspect of it.

The students and employees who had gathered at Buckingham Palace were viewing these mystical phenomena and they were fighting to stop the conflict by using the power they had received from Elizard.

Even though they were seeing those supernatural events with their own eyes, they were all explaining it in a way they would accept.

Some people may have thought the power hidden in the human body was being awakened.

It was possible that some believed that this was happening because they had gotten an overly amazing result on from their fortune telling.

Some people probably thought Elizard was an alien queen who had come from a spaceship.

There was a possibility some people interpreted it as the queen borrowing the power of the mysterious dinosaur hiding in Loch Ness.

While all these different theories were possibly being used to explain it, most likely there was not a single person among the ninety million who was led to the correct answer of magic.

Unlike when Index had guided Tsukuyomi Komoe by bringing her knowledge of magic to the forefront, Queen Elizard had completely hidden any hint that it was magic. The magic had been brought within the people in such a way that they could freely use it but could not approach the truth of what it was. In doing so, Elizard had completely avoided the terrible risk of contaminating the peoples’ brains with knowledge from a grimoire.

Index looked around at the maids and cooks who were flying around through the air.

They did not know what it was that they were controlling.

And yet they were satisfied. They had gone beyond worrying about what rules were behind it or how it worked. They were merely giving their all to participate in this night’s Halloween party.

That was Elizard.

She was a true queen who was overflowing with magic and who ruled the country in which the Anglican Church was based.

(Could it be...?)

The girl who had completely memorized 103,000 grimoires looked out on that battle and suddenly thought of something she had never considered before.

(Could it be that one of the reasons I was created was to provide support for this...?)

Kamijou Touma was also watching that battle.

A maid who had received a weapon from an injured knight was swinging around a giant sword while a few dozen police officers attacked a giant rotating blade-like piece of dimensional wreckage with simultaneous flying kicks. Carissa was desperately trying to control Curtana’s power, so she was unable to use her sharp military talent to its fullest. She ended up merely recklessly swinging the sword around while becoming more and more cornered.

Of course, the professional magicians had not lost.

The more than 200 former Roman Catholic nuns were swinging their weapons together as a single group. A giant golem created from the objects around the area was blocking the attacks from the dimensional wreckage. A transport plane flew across the night sky, a large number of rune cards scattered about, and a giant of flames was created.

(Wow...)

Kamijou was truly amazed.

His amazement did not simply come from how Queen Elizard had turned everything around.

Kamijou’s eyes sparkled at the sight of the many heroes rushing into and filling up the Buckingham Palace grounds.

(There are just so many protagonists that Index, Kanzaki, Acqua, myself, and everyone else are being overshadowed. What’s with this country? Everyone’s a protagonist.)

Most likely, the core of that spectacle was not Queen Elizard or Union Jack.

The power was merely a means.

The core was the people who had decided to grab that power and stand up to fight of their own free will.

Kamijou looked at Carissa.

The second princess swung Curtana Original and carried out one huge attack after another. She stood at the center of a giant typhoon known as a battlefield and looked as if she was being swallowed up by the waves of people. However, she looked lonely to Kamijou. For some reason, she did not seem like a “queen” to him.

Surely, Carissa actually knew just how much there was shining within the British people. It had merely been sleeping.

That was why she had been so desperate to protect them.

It was possible that there was nothing more to the fight than that.

However, she had relied on the military too much. Her destructive attacks had not merely been aimed at those outside. She had tried to hurt the people she was supposed to be protecting. In the end, it was similar to an overly powerful magnum hurting the hand of the one who fired it.

(I will protect her.)

Kamijou Touma clenched his fist anew within the battlefield.

(I will drag her out of this ridiculous chain of negativity.)

He then once more set foot in the hellish battlefield of overwhelming strikes from Curtana Original and spiraling diversions made up of dimensional wreckage.

And then...

“C T O O C U! S A A R T S T!! (Move Curtana’s trajectory up! Stop the slice and redistribute the excess Telesma!!)” yelled Index and Carissa’s arm that was holding Curtana Original twisted up unnaturally.

Now that Index had finished analyzing the workings of the magic, she interrupted it with Spell Intercept.

“Kh...!?”

Carissa gritted her teeth and frantically attempted to regain control of the sword.

She would most likely only be stopped for a few seconds.

Kamijou clenched his right fist tighter, but he wouldn’t make it in time from where he was.

So he naturally asked for help from someone on his side of the fight.

He would participate in this ultimate night to his fullest.

“Acqua!!” he yelled and the powerful mercenary responded.

Kamijou kicked off the ground reaching a height of only a few dozen centimeters and Acqua stuck Ascalon in the gap between his feet and the ground. Kamijou landed on the side of the giant sword like it was a surfboard.

Kamijou and Acqua did not discuss their strategy or even exchange any words at all.

They didn’t have time for that and they both already knew what had to be done.

Mere words were not needed at that point. Kamijou’s resolve could be seen in his entire body and Acqua, his former enemy, accepted that resolve by lending him his power.

“...!!”

Acqua gave a slight grunt and swung Ascalon around horizontally as hard as he could.

He was injured, but he still used the full strength of a Saint. It was clear what that action would do to Kamijou who stood on the blade.

An explosive noise rang out.

Kamijou Touma’s body shot forward like a bullet due to Acqua’s great strength.

(Wha-...?)

In that instant, Carissa was literally left speechless.

She could not take any attention away from bringing Curtana Original back under control. The boy with the right hand that could negate any kind of magic flew through the gaps of his many allies in a straight line for her.

At a point that may have been less than 0.1 seconds before impact, Second Princess Carissa clearly saw a powerful smile on Kamijou Touma’s face as he tightly, tightly clenched his fist.

After flying over 30 meters through the air, Kamijou Touma’s fist struck Curtana Original.

With that one strike, that sword that determined the king shattered.

Carissa did not even have time to check on it.

The fist that had shattered the sword continued on its path and mercilessly struck her face.

Like metal balls strung from strings striking each other, the momentum was transferred to Carissa causing her to fly off into the night sky like a bullet. She struck the roof of the crumbling Buckingham Palace once, bounced off in a different direction, and flew off even further along her altered trajectory.

Kamijou heard an unpleasant noise as his bones dislocated in his wrist, elbow, and shoulder all at the same time.

However, he landed after travelling 10 more meters before his face could be distorted from the pain. Of course, his own two legs were not enough to stop him, so he rolled along bouncing a few more times.

(Is it...over...?)

Kamijou tried to speak, but his injured body could only elicit a groan.

However, the answer to his question was displayed before him despite his inability to ask it.

With a high-pitched noise, he saw the broken end of the sword pierce into the black soil. Before his eyes, it started crumbling and was swept away by the wind.

Curtana Original was gone.

It meant that both Second Princess Carissa had been defeated and that the long coup d’etat was over.

THIS CHAPTER UPLOAD FIRST AT NOVELBIN.COM