Sasha Kreutzev ran through the Star of Bethlehem.
The Star of Bethlehem: a temple so large you couldn’t find anything else like it in Crossist history. Inside, however, it was filled with a terrifying silence. Not a single warrior-monk could be seen: a fact that seemed to implicitly put on display the inner workings of the person known as Fiamma of the Right, this fortress’s architect. On a fundamental level, the man didn’t place his trust in things like friends or comrades. That was why the fortress had taken this form.
This was where Sasha had been cut off from the young student from Academy City by Fiamma’s attack.
Ideally, she was supposed to back him up right at that very moment, but she’d learned in the Elizalina Alliance of Independent Nations that she had no chance of winning in a straight fight. That man named Fiamma was an absolute monster. He’d nearly surpassed the laws of sorcery.
However.
It was a different story if she wasn’t up against Fiamma of the Right personally.
…Personal opinion. This temple and the altered night sky are deeply linked to Project Bethlehem’s foundation. And chances are high that Fiamma and the Star of Bethlehem are magically connected so he can control it.
Still carefully observing her surroundings without fail, Sasha darted through the temple’s hallways.
…As an addendum, even if I can’t challenge Fiamma in a normal fight, it’s possible an indirect attack on the Star of Bethlehem will affect him.
In any case, she needed to hurry.
She didn’t know the details of that boy’s identity, but he didn’t seem like he knew any sorcery. The Russian Catholic Church’s intrinsic principle was the inspection and removal of the occult, which meant he was someone they needed to protect. The very fact that she was using an amateur as a way to buy time against a monster of that caliber was enough to make her want to punish herself.
…But what am I supposed to target?! The Star of Bethlehem temple is huge—over forty kilometers in radius. Simply searching for an appropriate spot will take considerable time!!
In her haste, Sasha suddenly heard a strange voice from behind the pillars across from her.
“Bum-ba-ba-buummmm!!”
“?!”
Her body stiffened up like a startled cat, and she automatically pulled the L-shaped crowbar off her waist belt. But when she whipped it out for a quickdraw strike, the metal tip didn’t pierce the body of the speaker.
What it met instead was the Steel Gloves.
The Soul Arm that looked like a Frankenstein-esque mechanical arm and the crowbar customized for torture clashed, sending brilliant sparks bursting into the air.
The voice belonged to a girl whose outfit resembled a lacrosse uniform with a jacket thrown over it. Most striking was the swaying, manmade, taillike thing coming out of the back of her miniskirt.
“Man, everything was fine right up until I had to use the Steel Gloves to latch on to an outer wall when the Star of Bethlehem started rising up. I tried to construct a line to contact Bayloupe and the others on the ground, but this fortress’s defenses were tighter than I thought, and I couldn’t open up a hole. Right now, I’m in the middle of memorizing every bit of this fortress’s technology that I can—for the sake of Britain’s future. I got separated from that crucial boy, and I’ve been taking little detours to look for anyone who got lost.”
Without caring that she’d been hit by the crowbar, the black-haired girl continued. “You’re a Russian Catholic, right? You seemed distressed, so I came to give you a rundown of my pricing plans. I suggest the stopover course. And if you act now, I’ll throw in a discount.”
“…?”
As Sasha tilted her little head, the black-haired girl dexterously moved her “tail” to indicate a direction with its tip. It pointed toward the temple’s lower section. She saw several square container-like things hanging there.
“That looks a lot like emergency escape equipment. Kinda like a cross between a bus and a parachute. Well, it looks like Fiamma’s plan will work even left alone, and he would probably toss the Russian sorcerers out of the Star of Bethlehem as soon as they presented any obstructions, so I took it upon myself to show them the way before that happened. Heh-heh.”
“…Question one. What do you mean by pricing plans?”
“Don’t get me wrong! I’m not going to take any of your money. My reason for living is to do things that will be to the United Kingdom’s benefit. Instead of demanding compensation, I’d like you to promise that you’ll help if Britain is ever in trouble in the future.”
The black-haired girl spoke with a sly grin.
It made her seem like a devil when paired with the tail reaching out of her miniskirt, but the minor details weren’t exactly consistent, making her seem a bit cute. A little devil, so to speak. After all, why was she willing to do people favors based on nothing but a verbal promise?
Nevertheless, Sasha didn’t care about what was happening in Britain, so she didn’t particularly mention it. “Answer one. Swiftly have anyone escape who wishes to leave the battle front. As an addendum, I don’t plan to leave this place yet. I must at least take a parting shot at Fiamma of the Right.”
“Eh-heh-heh, roger that. I will come to collect this debt, both publicly and privately, so please do not forget.”
With a ga-gump, several containers suspended directly below the temple shot off into the night sky. The surface was embroiled in its own conflict, but it wasn’t her responsibility to worry about them after that point. They, too, were professional sorcerers, the pride of the Russian Church.
The black-haired girl, waving her tail a little, continued. “Now, what did you mean by taking a parting shot at Fiamma?”
“Answer two. I feel no particular need to answer you.”
“You seem irritated. Want some gum?”
Sasha’s face, hidden behind her bangs, clouded slightly. “…Answer three. I am unable to understand those who put synthetic substances like that into their mouths.”
“I thought Crossist followers have loved sweets ever since the days of manna in the New Testament.”
Sasha ignored the girl following her and ran farther through the Star. She hadn’t fully grasped this temple’s structure, but she had a fairly good guess as to where to find the device she was after.
Something connecting Fiamma of the Right with the temple…
If she assumed that the Star of Bethlehem had a similar layout to a “temple” using Crossist-based modern Western sorcery, then no matter how gargantuan it was, the number, color, position, and other properties of the individual parts composing it should be roughly the same.
Essentially, despite having gathered up the highest-class materials from all over the world and expanding it to maximum scale, Fiamma would still have used the same basic recipe itself. That meant she didn’t need to worry about the visual splendor and enormous size. The sorceress Sasha Kreutzev could fight against it just fine using the knowledge she already had.
And then it happened.
Sasha suddenly stopped. But this wasn’t the vital temple point in her knowledge; what she was looking at now was a window. Beyond it spread the dark night sky, and she could see another building far in the distance.
Its walls and ceiling had mostly collapsed, and even from here, she could see inside it.
Fiamma of the Right was swinging a sword, long enough that it disappeared beyond the night sky.
And.
She witnessed the moment the right arm of the boy confronting him was severed cleanly from his shoulder.