Bam!!
With a boom, Kamijou jumped from his nearly crumbled foothold.
To cross the fissure separating the two.
Forward, toward Fiamma—like an arrow.
✦ ✦ ✦
And then Fiamma knew.
He knew what sort of being this “enemy” before his eyes fundamentally was.
Are you…kidding me…?
Index’s remote-control Soul Arm wouldn’t make it.
This enemy wouldn’t even give him that little bit of time.
I’m using the miracles and blessings of Jesus at their full capacity and causing all sorts of phenomena—and this bastard doesn’t care?! It has nothing to do with good or bad luck—this fool has the power to personally trample over all such ambiguities…!!
“If you don’t think you can save anyone without doing things this way…”
The words came from deep within Touma Kamijou. Uniting those raging emotions together, he put all his strength into his right fist.
✦ ✦ ✦
“…then first, I’ll destroy that illusion!!”
✦ ✦ ✦
A thundering boom rang out.
Fiamma, who had never received an attack from anyone, was knocked down with sheer momentum by a punch to the face.
The vestiges of the third arm, still trying to cling to this world, vanished completely this time, melting into the air.
At the same time.
✦ ✦ ✦
✦ ✦ ✦
From his hand fell the remote-control Soul Arm that had been manipulating Index.
✦ ✦ ✦
Fiamma of the Right’s loss of the third arm visited major aftereffects on his floating fortress as well. Greater shaking was happening frequently now, inviting more unrest than before. The fortress’s ascent had stopped dead, having still been continuing until now. The source of its flotation of this much matter was steadily being lost. At this rate, it would eventually start to descend. Escaping before that was probably the only way to live.
On the ground, Fiamma looked at his own hand.
The remote-control Soul Arm was gone.
When he’d been punched, the impact had wrested it from his hand. It had fallen somewhere through one of the cracks in the floor. It was likely still inside the fortress, but he had no idea where it would have gone.
If only he had that, maybe he would have been able to counterattack with normal magic, he thought.
But he didn’t have any strength left in his limbs. Now that he’d lost the third arm, he was no different from a mere human. Even a light concussion would be enough to stop him from moving.
In his hazy consciousness, he heard a voice.
It was from the speakers set up all around the Star of Bethlehem.
“We didn’t have time, so me and—er, Sasha, was it?—and I…Anyway, we went ahead and used a container to escape. Please hurry. The Star of Bethlehem is going to start falling soon. The fortress itself is falling apart, and there are only so many usable containers left.”
He could see the fortress’s lowest level beyond the broken floor. And that was only a few layers of overlapping metal grating; the very bottom was connected to open sky. Escape containers hung from it, too, but most were unusable now. Some containers had been crushed, while the lowering hooks on others had broken and were now inoperable.
There was probably only one usable container left.
It was swaying unreliably and only about the size of a public phone booth. Not one of the larger containers that could carry over fifty people at once. Only one person would be able to ride it. Having lost his third arm and becoming a normal person, Fiamma couldn’t even get himself down from this altitude by his own power.
Touma Kamijou and Fiamma of the Right.
Which would go aboard the container, and which would perish along with the fortress?
The question didn’t even warrant consideration.
…So this is it.
That was all Fiamma thought.
If every human living in this world would refuse salvation, it didn’t matter to him anymore. They could follow their chosen path and hurtle toward extinction for all he cared.
Slowly relaxing his entire body, Fiamma closed his eyes.
And then someone grabbed his collar.
“Hey, we’re going.”
It was Touma Kamijou.
Forcing Fiamma upright, his own body covered in blood, he began to walk, dragging the limp villain behind him.
“…What…are you doing…?”
“We don’t have time. The Star of Bethlehem is starting to fall. If we don’t escape before then, we’ll be stuck here.”
“Do you not understand the situation?” accused Fiamma in his puppet state. He used his jaw to gesture toward where they were going. “The escape containers are unusable. At most, there’s one good one meant for one person. It’s me or you. It’ll only help one of us.”
“Looks like it.”
Kamijou exhaled once.
So he said, “Then you escape. Either way, there’s no time. Let’s get there fast.”
“…”
This time, Fiamma looked up at the side of Kamijou’s face, dumbfounded.
In the meantime, still dragging him along, Kamijou went down to the lowest floor and headed for the escape container.
He was serious. There was no need to posture at this stage in the game. If he abandoned Fiamma, the cause of all this, and climbed into that escape container, he could return alive. He’d be a hero, acknowledged by everybody. Nobody would criticize him for letting Fiamma die. In fact, many would doubtlessly praise him for delivering the finishing blow to the mastermind who caused so much tragedy.
And yet.
Why did he say those words now?
No matter how much he thought about it, Fiamma couldn’t find an answer. And in that time, they arrived in front of the escape container. Kamijou, with much trepidation, reached for the container door. His right hand’s power didn’t destroy the container.
After opening the door, he unflinchingly stuffed Fiamma’s body inside.
This guy was insane.
He tried to get out of the container, but being so gravely injured, his body couldn’t move.
Automatically, he shook his head.
Even he didn’t know what he was trying to reject.
“…Are you sure…?”
“About what?”
“I have no idea how large this world you talk about really is.”
“Oh,” said Kamijou, smiling a little.
Why had he smiled? Fiamma couldn’t understand.