Meanwhile, Matthew Reese, the old man who had abandoned his position as the pope of Rome, had delved far below the great Vatican cathedral. His goal was to analyze the spell Fiamma had been using for his plans. The spells a single member of God’s Right Seat could use probably couldn’t have completely covered the utter scale of his project. Leaving what was central to it aside, it was highly likely he’d used an existing Roman Orthodox spell to fill in the gaps.
“Hiya, you dandy gentleman. How’s it going over there, hmm?”
“Hmph. Should I be the one you’re calling? I’m no longer the pope.”
“I thought I was speaking to the leader of the Roman Orthodox Church in both name and function. And besides, Peter Iogdis wouldn’t have been suitable for our adorable Patriarch.”
“By the sound of it, you got your audience with the Patriarch. I’ve finished sorting out the important documents myself. I’m now constructing an ultra-long-distance spell circle that can interfere with the Star of Bethlehem currently hanging over Russia.”
“Oh, how convenient. I see the Vatican has all sorts of secret tricks up its sleeves after all. If my subordinates could get that kind of funding, we could do whatever we wanted, too.”
“Anyway, how reliable is the theory that robbing the Star of Bethlehem of its power will cause the disasters on the surface to stop as well? I’m getting reports of golden arms causing mayhem from all over as we speak.”
“Hmm? It should be fine, shouldn’t it? The surface disasters are happening in response to the celestial ones, after all. I’m almost certain if we stop the celestial disasters, all the others will go away, too.”
“Fine, then. Even if we stop Fiamma, it wouldn’t mean anything if we forced sacrifices onto everyone else.”
“By the way, I take it this is all okay for the Roman Church?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Fiamma of the Right isn’t compatible with us. But the fact is he’s been giving incredible benefits to the Roman Orthodox Church until now. If you shatter that foundation yourselves, doesn’t that mean the Roman Church may not reach the same kind of prosperity as before?”
“It doesn’t matter…A power that cannot protect is meaningless. To save the people, I will hold Fiamma in check, even if it means reducing the Roman Orthodox Church’s power.”
“It sure is a crime to be so adorable.”
“…What? Now what are you talking about?”
“Oh, just our leader over here. And how maybe you had a time when you were like this, Gramps.”
“My nature did lead others to look up to me, but it never cast me in a such a light. I was chosen to be the pope, after all. They probably thought I was a stern father symbol or something.”
“Oooh, that comment is making our adorable father symbol get all angry. But he’s so cute!! And I’m going to hug him!!”
“…And that light is one mainly cast on fairy-tale heroines, is it not?”
Rather annoyed, Matthew Reese scanned the innumerable documents sleeping in the basement. There was a huge collection of books in this library, where a little girl named Index had once been invited.
If he could learn what spell Fiamma was using, he might be able to use it to mount a counterattack. He might even be able to stop this great war.
But that would mean…
“We’re contributing to our own defeat, aren’t we?” uttered the young priest who had followed after Matthew Reese.
“This isn’t a defeat,” corrected Matthew, voice firm enough to sever the hesitation of others. “We are fighting for victory. Even now.”
“That victory won’t gain us anything.”
“If you truly thought so, then you wouldn’t be taking the same action as me.”
The young priest fell silent for a time.
Only the sound of pages turning continued.
“…Will we be able to start over?”
“Yes,” said Matthew. The old man even smiled. “We certainly will.”
That was when it happened.
Matthew scowled slightly. A moment later, a stabbing headache dug from his temple all the way across his skull. The knowledge in this treasure trove was so pure they had to invite the Index of Prohibited Books here. Even the man who was once the pope would experience severe physical and mental effects from prolonged viewings.
“I can still keep going,” said Matthew Reese as the young priest hastily put out a hand to try to give him care. “I can still fight. To open a path to a hopeful tomorrow, we can’t afford to stop now.”
In truth, however, he had concerns.
Roman Orthodox secret ceremonies and Russian Catholic wisdom.
If they took advantage of their technical information used in the Star of Bethlehem, they’d be able to deal significant damage to it.
There was no clear guarantee, however, that they’d be able to tear it from the sky.
After all:
Those aren’t the only techniques being used.
He’d received a report that Fiamma of the Right had stolen the remote-control Soul Arm for the Index of Prohibited Books. Which meant the techniques being used weren’t only Roman Orthodox and Russian Catholic.
Yes.
The final key was…
“The English Puritan Church’s archbishop…”
“Hey, I have an idea. Want to play rock-paper-scissors to decide who gets to talk to that vixen?”