A Certain Infinite Possibility

by Darkbetrayer

An ancient organization has emerged from hiding in order to bring the world into darkness. Will Touma be able to stop them or will his actions make everything worse. Will Touma finally develop the harem he deserves? Magic and Science will collide in ways no one thought possible. Touma X Harem (Maybe, he is really dense.)

98. S4 Battle for Australia: Counter

Hey everybody, it's been awhile since I updated this story. I have been pretty busy with several other projects, friends, work, and several other things that for legal and security reasons I can't go into. First, I would like to thank everyone for not doing a lot of flaming with the last chapter's topics. I know religion is a touchy subject for many and people seemed to understand where I was going with this. Second, the Australia arc is wrapping up nicely. Soon, we can get to important plot stuff, like the raffle and parents showing up. There are way too many ideas floating around in my brain and not enough hours in the day to write them all down. Any mind readers who can type well interested in a job? Third, this chapter is a little shorter than the last couple. Not because I gave up, but because it reached the stopping point earlier than I planned. Fourth, I do know NT18 is out. Thank you dozen or so people who reminded me about that. I have been rather busy and forgot about the release. There's a lot to learn in that one. I usually avoid talking about it too much for a while, as not to spoil it for anyone else who has not managed to read it yet. Now that my boring comments are finished, let's move to yours.

Acpeters: There were some issues the site was having when uploading new chapters. Notifications were not being sent out. Touma may be manipulated easily, but his mental fortitude is strong. He won't let that stop him and will instead work to correct his mistakes. Ruiko is going to be a star on the magic side once that story gets out.

anand891996: I'm expecting to see the webpage for that church any day now. It's amazing how things change when you look at a situation from the other side of the fence.

ultron emperor: A good villain should be likeable. True, they may have a desire that goes against the norm, but if you can understand where they come from, they are much more interesting.

Simmering Teapot: That was what St. Peter drew based on what he saw. Things get stolen a lot. Many people could have a special sword now. It's actually a pretty standard reasoning on the plagues. I had to do research on it. One line, and so many people notice it.

Salishious: I will assume your head exploded from sheer awesomeness and then inflate my ego for a bit. The shard? Who knows? Touma doesn't even know what it is for sure. I'm sure if Aleister wanted Touma to stay in AC, he would keep him there. I could see Ruiko doing that. Fiamma seems like a good guess. Who else has a super awesome sword that can only be wielded by angels? Yes, she will. See below chapter on statue. Aogami founded the church. Possibly all three.

Whwsms: Gasp! That's it. She doesn't use win, she uses purification.

Cyber Dragon: She was never actually going to die, probably. When I wrote that, I was afraid I wrote myself into a corner. Then the story went off on a tangent and it worked out. I doubt Touma would ever willingly kill God. The title was chosen for a reason. Though, it was based on the original planned ending. Jason was based on a college suite mate I knew with a few tweaks. Zach is more based on my personality. Likes to troll and make fun, but is quite serious when you have to be.

Brosephg: One day, I will get you to spoil things. Mark my words. It will happen before this story ends!

MightyImpulse: Adam's plan involves so many people and groups. What happens will probably surprise you.

Guest: 1) Thought she was? She was in the world created by the WR. 2) Haven't had time to read it yet. 3) Yes I did. 4) I never actually said that. How did you come to that conclusion? 5) I think Mesopotamia's religion is considered older. 6) Maybe. Might just change the hair color or something.

GameCguru: Who does the church of skirt flipping follow? What is their deity(s)? As far as I know Jesus did not have a harem. Ruiko is definitely up there.

wildarms13: Commentary is always fun when some people watch the scenes of others. Touma has a way with words. Actually, manipulating the IB is easy, keeping him on your side once he discovers the manipulation, well that is a mistake. I'm sure a magic god has more important things to do then follow a boy around and mess with him…. hahaha, who are we kidding. The gods probably have a game centered on him.

Ddraig99: I do have an idea for the other vampire, but two things would have to happen first.

Generation Zero: I'm glad you like Adam. He never got as much screen time as Eve. As for why he didn't use the power of a magic god, there are reasons which you won't learn until much later. He did underestimate Touma's resolve and allowed him to use Inspire. Ruiko won her battle for two reasons. She went a different direction instead of only violence. Two, she went through a lot of struggles and was saved because of her friends. She knows what it is like to be put in a corner and wanting someone to help. St. Peter could not be defeated with violence, so you have to find another way. This ending was actually hard to decide. I actually had a combat scene in the works, but it sucked and I discarded it. Julius was actually designed to be the weakest of the Fallen. His power was designed to cover a large area, not be for single person fights. He was also rash, which led to his downfall. A lot of people seem to think Fiamma has the sword. This actually makes sense. His third arm would probably allow him to wield the sword.

Jujudude: Site had problems with notifications for a bit. I saw all the comments you put on your stories recently. I make up the story as I go and sometimes get ideas based on reader's comments. That is why I encourage them because they help me too. Sure, if I take some names, I'll be sure to site you. Hmm, a signed copy, tempting. Who is the deity(s) of the church? St. Peter was a fun fight and had a lot of important information. Touma Punch, the blow that awoken the devil. You have fun with that fanficseption. Harem endings are the best. Jaune in RWBY needs one. At least 5, but Renora has to be kept too.

naruhinasakufan1: Carissa's totally in love with the boy now. A couple of chapters of character development and she will be completely under the Kami Disease. Doesn't Touma also have inspiring Speech and Not Living Your Life Correctly Punch?

xaxiel1572: Wouldn't be our unlucky hero if he didn't. I KNOW RIGHT! If those kids would quit getting involved in every little thing, they could be living their normal school life.

Guest: That one line and plenty of people pointed it out. Jason X Shirai will happen in, 2-3 chapters I think. It's not written yet, so there's only a draft in my head.

Savaris: I wait until you are busy before I post. It was pretty obvious Adam wanted Touma there because they need the IB for something. I could probably have America get destroyed in this story and it would solve one problem of mine I haven't figured out. Ruiko is so underrated in stories that don't center on her. She has so many great qualities, but also vague enough to go so many different ways. This fic is rated T, but HAND HOLDING? You disgust me. That is like the most disgusting thing anyone could ever do. How can you even suggest such a horrible thing? This story would have to be rated MMM for that kind of content. I ask myself that same question. How did I get to his point? Drugs and alcohol I'm sure played a big part in it, but I don't remember.

FrodoFighter: Your comment is a story in itself. Mafia kill people all the time for getting involved in stuff that does not concern them, even my accident. To be fair, he and Eve gave them the chance to stop bothering them in Rome and they could be left alone. But NOOOOOO, they wanted to get involved and thus understood the risks involved. I believe a giant tail is under Touma's left arm and he can use it to smack people around. Ruiko has learned a lot from Touma-sensei. Adam and Touma's interactions were fun to write. Adam knows all about the IB, yet Touma defies expectations. So experience says, when the flow goes against you, simply change the flow. Pfft, Deus ex machina? It was totally planned out and centered around several people doing things. (Whistles innocently.) This shows Ruiko has received training from the Purifier.

ddraig99: I was under the impression she was already part of it.

Syko-Soldier963: Everyone knows Shorts are more comfy and easier to wear. Kuroko was probably under some kind of spell. Adam did indeed say that. Miracles don't work on him. The magic side doesn't really know about most of that. The people who did are either dead or part of the Fallen. Eve and Adam aren't giving out that information. Besides, maybe it helps them somehow. Komori needs some alone time with our hero before that happens. Of course those two will.

Master Knight Trolling: Good point. The magic side needs to see Touma's rage manifest in the dragon form and crush all the silly enemies.

Chris: Adam's power was specifically designed to defeat Plot Armor. No miracles or special effects, just might against might. I know about the alternate worlds Touma, but I don't have a good point for it. Maybe a SS at some point.

Jeeze, there was a lot of comments.

Disclaimer: Random people do not own Toaru Majutsu no Index or any of the characters. Reading this story may cause you to burst out in laughter or start yelling at fictional characters. This may cause nearby people to assume you have gone crazy. Please read responsibly. Magic Gods own all so they can do what they want.

---

The sound of people shouting was dulled by the wind rushing pass Touma's ears.

When it dawned on him how many problems trying to jump onto a floating statue in his condition there were, Touma started to panic. He was falling with nothing to grab onto and slow down. His left arm was broken and his right hand could possibly negate his landing. The surface of the statue's arm was uneven, but the hand was open, palm up. That was what Touma was aiming to land on. The fall was a lot longer than he would have liked, but the statue rising was quickly closing the gap. One thought kept him focused and managed to hold back his fear. If I destroy this statue, this will all be over. He bent his knees slightly in midair and prepared for the rough landing.

The impact sent a jolt throughout his entire body.

He actually managed to land on the palm of the hand. His feet hit the strange substance with a dull thud. The force of the impact was too much for his knees to take and keep him standing. He started to fall forward, but forced himself to lean back. The movement caused him to fall on his butt instead. It was the only way he could fall without forcing himself to use one of his hands. He felt a sharp pain in his side, as the rib that might have been broken by one of Adam's attacks flared up again, but he forced himself to ignore the stabbing sensation. The statue was still moving upwards and he had to hurry. Touma struggled to his feet, which was difficult without using his left arm or right hand, but managed to prop himself up with his right elbow. Once he stood up, he realized the statue had finally left the pit. He briefly saw countless eyes on him when he looked over his shoulder.

One set belonged to Adam, who had just raised a hand at him.

Oh crap, he's going to knock me off, Touma thought in desperation. He raised his right hand to block Adam's magic, when Carissa and a group of knights attacked. Adam was forced to turn and deal with them instead. Touma sighed in relief, but flinched when Carissa looked at him.

"Get moving!" she roared. "Destroy Lucifer's body!"

"Got it!" Touma turned and stepped forward. The body was still moving towards the clouds and he wasn't sure how high it would go or if the direction would suddenly change. Trying to walk across an uneven surface while moving would be difficult, especially when one broken arm couldn't move very well. The slightest jolt was causing him excruciating pain, like someone was stabbing the arm constantly. I have to keep moving. Everyone else is still fighting to give me time. He took a step onto the curved surface of the arm and then another one. The substance was sturdy, but it wasn't as solid as stone. It felt more like really hard plastic. At least it wasn't slippery, or this would have been impossible. He moved as fast as he could without the threat of tumbling off the side and to his death. Luckily, the arm was getting larger the closer he got to the torso. He was almost there, when he stumbled.

The statue had suddenly stopped rising.

It laid motionless horizontally, hundreds of meters above the ground. Touma looked over his shoulder and gulped. Everyone looked like dots scurrying around on the ground. More dots were appearing as he watched. People are making their way out of Adam's maze. We can do this! He took a deep breath and turned back toward his goal. I have a job only I can do. I have to succeed or everything we have done up to now will be pointless. He stepped onto the torso and the larger flat surface was a welcome relief. The threat of falling had now significantly diminished. The cracked jewel in the center of the statue's chest was in sight. Touma took another step forward when the entire statute began to shake.

The cracked jewel started to glow.

The gold and silver veins interlaced throughout the entire structure began to glow too, as the light from the jewel traveled through them. Touma stopped and his eyes traced their patterns. The designs were hypnotic and seemed to be moving as he breathed. He shook his head to clear his thoughts, tore his eyes off the veins, and focused on his task. Is the statue awakening? I thought they needed the wings first…. Oh shit. Did Eve get the last wing? Touma was suddenly filled with dread. If Eve had gotten the wing, that means Adam also succeeded. Lucifer was about to awaken and the army below would be within range when it became complete. If the stories were true, they wouldn't stand a chance. Everything seemed to ride on him. Touma was going to smash the gem with his hand and completely destroy Lucifer before it could wreak havoc on the world. He started to surge forward again.

wdpqLEAVEhfy!

Touma froze as he heard it. A deep and resonating voice reverberated through his body, but it was also soft, as if it came from far away. He heard it, but not with his ears. It was his very body that felt something speak. The voice appeared in his mind and, while it was difficult to hear exactly what was being said, Touma understood the meaning. Touma was a trespasser on a being that was considered above him. He wasn't sure at first where the voice came from, but since no one was around him, that led to only one option. "You're alive?" he whispered.

wdpqLEAVEhfy!

The voice pushed through his body again and Touma winced. It was even louder than the first time. He still couldn't make out where the voice originated from. Touma pushed himself forward, ever closer to the glowing jewel. The entire body shook again and Touma gulped, but his resolve remained firm. "I can't. You have to be stopped before you get a chance to kill anyone."

pbwxFREEDOMkjyu!

This time the voice hurt. It wasn't physical pain, but mental. Touma felt the pain of being trapped for ages, unable to move, unable to think, and only able to feel. Pain erupted on Touma's back and chest. It felt like something had torn his skin off and stabbed him. With no warning, he collapsed to his knees as he gasped. The pain quickly faded, even before Touma could reach his hand toward his chest. He blinked the water out of his eyes and struggled to his feet once more. There was still a lingering sensation, but he couldn't see any lasting damage. Instead of trying to provoke the voice anymore, he rushed toward the jewel.

lihxDIEwqx!

Everything stopped for Touma. He barely felt anything before he fell. There was no heartbeat left in his body. Blackness engulfed his vision and breathing was impossible. As he fell, he tried to bring his right hand up, but he passed out before he could. A second later, the sound of breaking glass woke him up, followed by sheer agony. He had fallen on his left arm, but his right hand was on his chest. He yelled out in pain before slamming his mouth shut. Crying was not going to help anyone. After he took a deep breath, he struggled to his feet, staging the entire time.

juiWHYdgr?

Touma could feel the confusion at his struggle. From Lucifer's perception, Touma had no stake in this fight. The resurrection did not concern him. Yet, he was willing to fight through all sorts of pain and agony to kill him. Lucifer had done nothing to Touma and yet Touma wanted to kill him. "Because… you are planning to kill God," Touma explained through gasps of pain. He kept walking forward. The jewel was almost within reach. "Your servants… hurt my friends… hurt innocents… killed so many people. I only want… to stop you."

qmujRETRIBUTIONzqx!

The answer surprised Touma. This was not a denial or an excuse. The voice told him flatly it had been wronged, so it was justified to seek out revenge. It would have been a childish argument, if all the emotions weren't flooding through Touma at the same time. He felt the resolve, the anger, the pain, the desire for freedom of its bonds. The voice was no longer going to listen to Touma. It was about to be reborn. There was a powerful swirling emotions of desire and hatred. Whatever sentience it had was gone, lost over the years of imprisonment or possibly shattered because it was not complete. In its eyes, Touma was an insect which violated sacred grounds. Touma did not have a choice in his current situation. He stepped up to the jewel and reached down.

"I'm sorry," Touma whispered. He hated what he was about to do.

kzqIGNORANCEgyj!

The voice wasn't angry, scared, or even irritated. It merely sounded resigned, like it was arguing with a child. It actually made it easier for Touma to do what he was about to do. His hand made contact with the jewel. Along with the usual shattering sound, the jewel exploded into dust. The body shook violently for a second and Touma struggled to remain standing. Then, the statue disappeared. It literally vanished instantly. Touma looked down as gravity began to pull him toward the earth. It took another second before he realized his situation. He was hundreds of meters in the air… and was falling.

"SUCH MISFORTUNEEEEE!" he yelled as he began to descend. His body was bruised and broken, but that wasn't really an issue right now. Even if he had been completely fine, hitting the ground from this height would kill him. This was not a distance he could hope to survive. What made it worse was he was over the deep excavation site, which means the chance of being caught by an ally didn't look promising. He was picking up speed and the ground was rushing toward him at an alarming rate. It looks like this is it for me. At least I stopped Lucifer from returning. My friends will be safe now. I'll leave stopping Adam up to Carissa then. I know she will succeed, she won't accept anything else otherwise. His life began to flash before his eyes.

There were way too many unlucky moments, where he got hurt or embarrassed, but he didn't care about those. He mostly wanted to relive the moments with his friends. He enjoyed the time he spent with all of them, even if they poked fun of him a lot. Guess I won't be able to get revenge on Aogami, Tsuchimikado, and Jason. Then he saw all the female friends he made recently, Ruiko, who accompanied him to this wasteland, Misaki, who he could finally remember, Shizuri, who at least didn't try to kill him anymore, and Mikoto, who stood by him through every stupid thing he did. I'm going to miss them all. Sorry I never sorted out my feelings… wait. I never actually replied to any of them. I sort of just said 'okay' and then other stuff happened. What kind of trash am I? I can't die until I give them a proper answer. His eyes widened as he continued to fall. "Damn it! I want to liiiiiivvvveeee! I can't die without ever having a girlfriend!"

He suddenly was jerked upwards.

"Gack!" He was being pulled up by his shirt and pants. His collar had been stretched against his throat and choked him for a moment. There was also a stab of pain in his ribs again at the sudden change in direction. The ground stopped rushing toward him and he was rotated in the air, so he could see the army. He started to soar away from the hole and down toward them. Touma finally turned his head to see what had grabbed him and saw half a dozen large golden birds. Each of them had their talons embedded in his clothes. They were obviously magical, because normal birds would not possibly be able to fly while holding him. The wind whistling in his ears died down and he heard countless people cheering up at him. Most of the army seemed to have left the tunnels and Adam had his back against the pit. He was surrounded by the knights and nuns. For the first time since they encountered Adam, Touma seriously smiled. They were winning. The birds started to descend and Touma made out who they were bringing him too.

"Nice of you to drop in," Oriana laughed when he neared her. Instead of having the birds drop Touma on the ground, they brought him directly into her outstretched arms. He fell facedown into her ample bosom, while her arms went under his shoulders to keep him up. "Easy tiger, there will be plenty of time to flirt later." She must have been referencing how he didn't put up any fight to escape. Touma's face burned, when he could finally think properly, and he struggled to lift his head out of the soft pillows.

"Arm and ribs are broken," he gasped. "Pain is really bad…"

"We need a medic," Oriana called over her shoulder. "Now!"

"Touma!" Ruiko shouted and was next to Oriana a second later.

"Glad you are okay, Ruiko," Touma told her weakly.

"I heard what you were doing up there," Ruiko told him and sniffed. "You were so brave and, as Misaka-san would say, stupid."

"That's me," Touma admitted with a grin. "What about the others? Are they safe?"

"I'm here," a familiar voice interrupted before Ruiko could answer. Oriana and Ruiko turned to see Zach stopping a few feet away. "Lay him on the ground and I'll treat his wounds." Oriana gently set Touma down on his back and Zach leaned over him.

"Hey, Zach," Touma muttered. "Did we win yet?"

"Well," Zach replied and glanced over his shoulder. The fighting had stopped while Adam was staring up at the sky. A bunch of knights had been knocked out from an earlier assault, but their forces were only growing. "You destroyed Lucifer's body and managed to survive. I bet that shocked Adam. You shocked a lot of us too actually, when the body suddenly disappeared and then we heard your battle cry." A smirk appeared on his face and Touma knew what that was referring too.

"You heard that?" Touma asked embarrassed.

"Everyone heard it." Zach pulled out some strips of cloth while Touma groaned. "I'll save it for parties. Anyways, the princess is forming up everyone who just arrived. Adam is still powerful, but we are going to stop him. Thanks for all your work. Give me a second and I'll see to your injuries."

"Magic doesn't work on him remember," Ruiko pointed out. Her eyes had fallen on the cloth.

"We know," Zach brushed off her concern. "That is why we came prepared." He looked at Touma. "Grit your teeth. This is going to hurt for a moment." Touma jerked his head in response. Zach pulled up Touma's left sleeve and saw a bump under the skin. Ruiko gasped, but Zach took one of the strips and wrapped it around the arm. Once it was completed wrapped up, the cloth constricted. Touma let out a sharp gasp, but managed to avoid crying out in pain. A second later, his arm felt better.

"What did you do?" Touma asked and sat up. He grabbed his side with his hand and then looked at the cloth on his arm.

"It's one of the few ways we thought of being able to heal you," Zach explained. "Normal healing spells cover the entire body, so we had to get creative. The Princess was very specific about that. I believe her exact words were, 'the boy is going to do something stupid and end up injured. Find a way to work around his hand.' Something like that." He grinned. "Don't touch the cloth and it will continue to heal you. It's a little slower, so it takes time. Let's see your side." He pulled up Touma's shirt and wrapped another piece of cloth around his torso. There had been a very dark bruise forming on his side. "There we go." He stood up and reached out a hand to help Touma to his feet.

"Thanks a lot, Zach," Touma said gratefully and then found himself being hugged by Ruiko.

"Sorry," Ruiko apologized and let go of him very quickly. "I'm just really happy to see you in one piece."

"I'm glad to see you are okay too," Touma told her. "What about the others?"

"Misaka-san is still unconscious but okay," Ruiko said quickly. "Frenda woke up and disappeared into a group of knights. Birdway-san and Lessar are currently engaged with Adam."

"I have to help," Touma said and stepped forward.

"Take it easy," Zach told him and grabbed his shoulder, while Oriana grabbed his other one.

"This has turned into a military assault operation," Oriana added. "If you randomly charge in, you are only going to disrupt the order. Let the Princess handle this." Touma closed his mouth and admitted they were right. If the knights and Agnese Forces started casting magic over everyone, his hand would interfere with it. He glanced at Ruiko, who was watching him closely, and he nodded at her. She gripped her arms, but managed to return a smile, even if it was halfheartedly. She was trying to tell him he made the right decision. They were spared further conversation by Carissa, who had moved to the front of her forces.

"Surrender, Adam!" she yelled. "Your trap failed and Lucifer's body has been destroyed. You have lost!"

There was only silence, but many of the knights raised their weapons. Agnese whispered something to a couple other nuns while pointing. The nuns rushed off into different groups before she turned her attention back to Adam. Touma followed her example and turned his focus back to the man who caused all of this. Adam was still staring up into the sky, seemingly lost in thought. A sound came from him. It was harsh and grating. For a moment, Touma thought he had imagined it. Then he heard it again, but it was louder this time. Adam finally turned around and everyone realized what the noise was.

Adam was laughing.

The reason Touma didn't immediately recognize the sound of laughter was how unnatural it sounded. Adam must not have been used to laughing. The laughter continued and it slowly became more recognizable. It finally sounded human like, but deeper and darker. The laughter did not fill Touma with joy, but with dread. Something Adam desired had happened. The question was, what was it? Touma remembered Adam telling him about how he had been tricked by Eve. The feeling he did something Adam manipulated him into doing increase. I destroyed the body of Lucifer, so how could that benefit him?

"What is so funny?" Carissa demanded. The tension in the air thickened. Adam stopped laughing and his cold eyes turned towards her. A smile formed on his face and the temperature dropped.

"Did you not heed my earlier words?" Adam said slowly. "Everything that has happened has been part of our plans. The boy has completed my task. It was why we lured him here."

"You wanted to destroy the body of your lord?" Carissa asked in shock. A murmur rippled through the troops.

"The body was broken and decayed from being trapped in this wasteland," Adam explained. "Its former glory lost in time. A mere shadow of his former self. For our lord's return, we need a vessel, but his wings are bound to his old body. We could not create a new one while it still existed. However, it would be blasphemy for us to desecrate his remains. An angel's body can't be destroyed by normal means. Even being pierced by the Sword of God, the core still remained. There was only one true way to sever the connection between the wings and body." He raised a hand and pointed to Touma, who was far behind the lines of troops. "Imagine Breaker, once again you have demonstrated your worth to us. Without you, this would not have been possible."

"No!" Touma yelled over the shocked knights and nuns. "You have to be lying! You can't possibly create an archangel!"

"Am I really lying, boy?" Adam asked quietly, but his voice carried through the winds. It sent shivers down Touma's spine. "I told you we could fuse the wings to his original body, which was the truth, but not our intention. You know my power, so how about you say that again, if you truly believe it." Touma opened his mouth to argue. The words refused to come out, no matter how hard he tried. He knew Adam was not lying. The truth reverberated in every word. This wasn't like back at basecamp. Adam's words had the weight that could not be denied. He was aware of many people looking at him, but he still could not deny Adam's mocking response. "You are young and easily manipulated. Thank you for all the assistance you have provided us. We greatly appreciated it."

"You used him," Carissa seethed and the fingers on her hand gripping her sword had turned white.

"Of course," Adam acknowledged. "We will do whatever it takes to achieve our goal, which is why we tricked him into destroying the old body. Our ally has discovered a material to craft a brand new one, even more powerful than the original. Though, correct me if I am wrong, but did you not try to use him too?" The smile grew. "Do you really think you are better than us?" His eyes met Carissa's and she raised her sword in response. "You would fit in perfectly with our group."

"KILL HIM!"

All the troops began to move the second she shouted the command. Every one of them had been prepared to attack if Adam tried anything. Carissa's words were just another trigger. All they managed to move was a single step though, before the ground began to shake violently again. The earth rippled and churned, knocking many of them down. The roar of an avalanche echoed from the pit as huge amount of dirt and rock started to pour out of the tunnels. Clouds of dust erupted into the air as all the misplaced dirt started to reappear at an alarming rate. Whatever magic Adam had used, was being dissolved. A giant cloud of dust was rising into the air. The sun was blocked by a wall and it began to spread out. A tsunami of dirt was coming right at them.

"Get down!" Touma yelled and he wasn't the only one. Shields were raised as everyone crouched to protect themselves as much as possible from the storm. Touma used his shirt with his left hand to cover his mouth and held out his right hand. The wall hit them and Touma couldn't breathe. The storm was not magical in nature. It was a result of Adam dispelling his magic and all the dirt returning to the same general location at once. The dirt got into everything. He couldn't open his eyes at all and sounds disappeared as his ears filled up. Dirt got into his mouth and he gagged. Then as suddenly as the storm started, he felt it vanish. Touma tentatively opened his eyes and saw the storm had indeed finished. He, along with most of the troops, began to stand and Touma saw what happened. The entire pit was now filled in and there was not a single sign the maze had ever existed. What about all the people still in the tunnels? Did they… ADAM! Adam had moved from his previous location and it took only a second for Touma to locate him.

Adam was standing on a small hill in the middle of where the pit had originally been.

"I have played with you all long enough," Adam declared and raised his hands. The sky darkened as pitch black clouds began to gather above them all. Red flames erupted as a burning inferno deep within the mass began to slip free. The clouds kept growing and covered the entire area. The sun was being completely blocked. It was the same type of clouds Adam had used before the flaming hail rained down upon their base camp. As if the sky heard the collective thoughts of the army below, lightning streaked across the sky and thunder boomed. The inferno grew brighter and flashes of fire punctuated the darkened sky. Adam was preparing to rain down destruction. Some of Agnese's forces began to panic.

"Shields up!" Touma heard George and Amelia yell.

"This won't end the same way as when you hid in your camp!" Adam's voice echoed loudly above all the shouting. He lowered one arm and reached out toward the ground in front of him. The motion was followed by the sound of breaking stone. Cracks began to form all over the surface of the ground and then widened. The ground looked like it just became glass and Adam had smashed it. The cracks continued to grow and surround Adam's hill in every direction.

From the cracks, hands began to appear.

"Let's see how you fair when I level the playing field," Adam continued. Countless people began to crawl out of the ground. Mostly men, but many were also women and children. Clothes were torn and decaying, but the bodies looked fresh and new. As soon as one emerged from the cracks, others followed. "Australia is an interesting place. A harsh unforgiving climate were countless perish. It makes a nice breeding ground for mindless servants. I have access to an almost unlimited amount of corpses. This is a more fitting battle than our small skirmishes underground, would you not agree? Armies of Lucifer against your forces following God?"

"Charge!" Carissa roared the order at her knights. England's forces clashed with Adam's army of the damned. Touma could do nothing except watch the opposing armies collide. The knights were pushing forward. They had armor and weapons, while the undead bodies were mostly unarmed. A few men had emerged from the ground with rusty spears and swords, but nothing noteworthy to the knights. Flashes of light and sounds of chanting came from the nuns as they struck with magic or enhanced the knights. The battle progressed slower than it should have when the fiery hail began to fall. If the knights were not prepared with shields, the explosion when the hail hit the ground blew away several of them. Touma watched and made a fist in frustration.

This is wrong, he thought. Adam is desecrating corpses of people who had nothing to do with any of this. Sure we are winning, but destroying the bodies makes it shallow. Touma's eyes traveled toward Adam, who was still standing on the hill and watching the fighting below. An arrow engulfed with white light flew at him, but he deflected it away with his hand. Then he smiled and Touma felt his heart sink. The smile didn't reach Adam's eyes and the air grew colder again. He's up to something, but what? Adam raised his hands up into the air, and everything changed.

The sound of injured knights began to increase.

Adam's undead forces began to push back again Carissa's. Being zombies, they were much stronger than normal humans, which negated the difference between them and the knight's infused armor. Zombies were also much more resilient than people. A strike from a blade, which would have taken down a human, did nothing more than slow the zombie for a moment. They could lose appendages, get cut nearly in half, and take a stab in the heart without flinching. Even slicing off their head, which Touma had seen in many games is the only efficient way to kill them, did not halt their advance. Zach even muttered something about them not even having a false soul within them. Whatever Adam did to raise the corpses, was not anything like normal necromancy. They were a mindless horde bent on destruction. The bodies had to be completely crushed before they stopped moving, which took time. Another zombie would emerge from the ground while this was happening. If a knight was taken down, the zombies would pick up their weapon and use it against others.

"Why are they getting pushed back?" Ruiko asked Oriana desperately.

"For one the numbers," she answered. "They can replenish themselves as fast as we destroy them. Australia is a large continent with a long history, and plenty involved violence. We can't tell how long he had been gathering bodies for this moment, so we can't assume he will run out any time soon. The hail is also forcing us to act defensively. If we focus purely on offence, our back will get annihilated. Zombies are also durable, so they won't fall in one hit."

"Still," Zach mumbled. "The sudden turnaround was not expected. We knew and prepare for everything else."

"Adam raised his hands," Touma spoke up and pointed toward him. "His hands are still raised, look. As soon as he changed his posture, the flow of the fight changed." Zach and Oriana exchanged a look.

"You don't think…," Oriana muttered.

"Moses and the Amalekites?" Zach muttered back and she nodded. "I'll pass that information on to George." He rushed off into the army while Touma and Ruiko turned toward Oriana.

"Amalekites?" they asked together.

"When Moses led the Israelites from Egypt, they came across a group called the Amalekites," Oriana explained to them. "This group was violent and attacked the Israelites many times. During one battle, Moses was standing on a hill looking down at his people. He noticed something strange. When he had his hands raised, the Israelites were winning, when he lowered them, the Amalekites started to win. Naturally, he kept his hands up, but he was human. Fatigue eventually made him lower his arms. It was then others helped hold his arms up so the Israelites could win. While most of the Israelites believed the fight was won with their own strength, they were being infused with divine power." She looked over at Adam. "He's using magic, but his mana is such a warped version of Christianity, it is hard to decipher exactly what he is doing. I don't believe God would let him use divine power, so Adam must be using his own vast mana to supplement that power. Though, this is Adam we are talking about. He could have the knowledge to access it."

"So we have to knock him off the hill or get him to lower his arms?" Touma asked.

"Yep," Oriana confirmed. "That is easier said than done. Most range attacks are not strong enough for him to even flinch, let alone knock him down, and his zombies prevent our ground troops from moving forward."

"Adam really planned ahead," Ruiko muttered and flinched at the explosion when some of the hail fell nearby.

"He has been predicting all of our movements," Touma said through gritted teeth. "We are being manipulated for their goals."

"Which is why we can't let him escape this time," Oriana told them. "We can't give him time to keep planning. I'm running low on spells, so I'm in the reserve just like you." She looked at Touma. "I was never good at endurance battles. We leave that to the knights."

"Hey, Kamijou," a girl called out suddenly. Touma turned and saw Agnese rushing toward him.

"Agnese? Good to see-…" He was interrupted when she grabbed his arm and started pulling him after her.

"No time to talk," she said and continued walking. "We need you near the front."

"Wait!" Ruiko called out. "He's still injured."

"I already know," Agnese admitted and hesitated for a fraction of a second. "But this is the Princess's orders. We need his hand to reach Adam and win this."

"It's fine, Ruiko," Touma called over his shoulder to reassure her. "I'll be fine. They are professionals." Ruiko didn't look entirely convinced, but there wasn't much she could do. Oriana even put a hand on her shoulder to prevent her from speaking out again. Touma followed Agnese, as they weaved through the army. The sounds of metal banging, shouting, cries of pain, and cursing echoed all around him, but Touma kept his focus on making his way through to the location Agnese was taking him. It looked like they were heading into the center area, where Touma guessed Carissa was waiting for him. His instincts were spot on when he saw her mane of blonde hair.

"We're here," Agnese announced when she and Touma drew near.

"You may go back to your position," Carissa told her. "While I explain the situation to him." Agnese nodded, gave Touma a look with a combination of wishing him luck and nervousness, and then headed off into the army. Carissa whispered something to two nearby knights and they rushed off in different directions. "When the time comes, George and Amelia will order an all out charge against Adam. Do you know why we can't waste time on attrition warfare?" She was obviously speaking to Touma now, even if she didn't look at him. Her eyes were focused on the brawl ahead of her.

"Because," Touma responded and his thoughts turned back to what Oriana told him. "As long as Adam is standing on that hill and holding his arms up, his army will be winning."

"Correct," Carissa said with a smirk and finally turned toward him. "I'm planning to use a trick we prepared for a situation like this. It will give all of our forces a short burst of strength to assault Adam's position."

"Okay," Touma said slowly. "But why did you summon me here? Won't I get in the way of the spell? I thought that was why I was in the back."

"I am adapting to change," Carissa explained curtly. "Your hand may be essential to breaking through any surprises Adam has prepared if we do close in on him." She eyed the white cloth wrapped around Touma's arm. "Will your injuries pose a problem?"

"I feel fine," Touma reassured her. "Whatever this wrapping is, it set my broken arm up instantly." He moved it to show her. "I just have to avoid the pulse and it should be fine."

"Pulse? When you extend your hand's range?"

"Oh," Touma said and realized he never really explained it to her. "I can extend the range of my hand around me for an instant. The downside is I can't negate anything for two seconds afterwards. Adam called it something… the Roar, I believe."

"I should have remembered something as useful as that a lot earlier," Carissa chastised him irritably. "That ability could have been used on a few things." She shook her head. "Anyway, because you need to be prepared to break though Adam's defenses, we have to place you near the front. The reason you are next to me is so I can coordinate the spell to avoid you, so your hand can't interfere. The spell will affect the rest of my troops, but skip pass us." She pulled out her radio. "You may not even be needed if this works out, but this is Adam we are facing. We have to be prepared for everything." She turned the radio on. "Are you ready?"

"Amelia here, ready to go on your signal."

"George here, flags are ready."

Flags? Touma thought he might have misheard with all the sounds of battle around him.

"On my signal, reveal the Conqueror's Flags," Carissa said into the radio and disconnected. "Give them a moment to relay my order," she muttered, more to herself than Touma.

"What are these flags?" Touma asked.

"Remember how powerful the knights were in England?" she asked and he nodded. "The Conqueror's Flags are my own invention. It allows us to temporarily use the power of Curtana, even outside of the United Kingdom. Only in short bursts, so the timing has to be perfect. Each flag only affects a small area and lasts for at most a minute. In order for this charge to succeed, we are placing them periodically throughout my forces. I don't want you standing within range of any of them because I'm not exactly sure how your hand would react to the surge of Telesma."

"Why tell me all this?" Touma asked. He had been wandering about this for a while. Carissa was telling him a lot more then she used to. Before, it had been only what she needed to say to get him to talk. Now she was actually explaining everything. It was almost like she was training him in military procedures. "Normally, you would just tell me when to move."

"I almost considered that approach," admitted Carissa. Her eyes still focused on the fighting in front of her. She was obviously waiting for the right moment. "However, you have shown you are able to think strategically to a degree. By withholding information, you will most likely act in a way based on what you know and what you could infer based on what you have seen. If I tell you what is happening, you won't act stupidly and rush off on your own. Plus, this knowledge may come in useful if you ever work with me again."

"Do you believe we will have to work together in the future?" Touma asked surprised.

"Eve is still out there," Carissa pointed out. "Why? Do you dislike working alongside me?"

"It's kind of…" Touma paused as he thought of the right word. "Exhausting?" For a moment, Carissa's eyes flickered toward him and his stiffened. He wasn't sure how she would react.

"I suppose that's fair," Carissa finally spoke and Touma relaxed a hair. "I heard worse. Of course, they immediately regretted their words afterwards." Touma shivered. She held up her radio and scanned the front lines. "Deploy all the Conqueror's Flags, now!" Touma immediately glanced around in hopes of seeing what one looked like. Periodically throughout the army, flags were raised high above the troops. Touma recognized the red crosses on the blue and white background as the United Kingdom's flag. He had spent a week in England after all and learned quite a bit at a couple museums. The flags seemed to be a beacon of hope and Touma thought it was to inspire moral, along with granting them Curtana's power. When they suddenly exploded into flames, Touma jumped.

"I thought it was supposed to grant your troops Curtana's Telesma," Touma gasped. "Did Adam stop it?"

"All troops charge!" Carissa yelled into her radio before lowering it and turning to Touma. "Follow me and do not get separated." She began to rush forward and Touma had to run to keep up with her. "The flags exploded because they can't handle the transfer of Telesma for very long," Carissa explained. "It's why when we use them, we have to move immediately." Several knights and nuns parted to let them pass. "As of right now, my knights are now as strong as if they were standing in England." She gestured to the front line and Touma understood immediately.

Adam's zombies, which had been pushing England's army back, were now be blown away by the sudden surge of knights. Agnese's forces were part of the church and not the knights' organization, so they were not empowered by the Telesma. Instead, they moved aside and focused on long range attacks until the power wore off. The knights began to plow through the risen corpses Adam had desecrated and continued to close the distance to him. Carissa and Touma followed, but remained behind a solid wall of troops in case the zombies had a trick up their sleeves. Even with Telesma, as long as Adam managed to keep his arms up, they couldn't guarantee victory. Several explosions went off to the right and Touma was actually relieved.

I'm pretty sure that was Frenda, Touma thought. The knights might have explosives, but they don't use it as their main attack. In thirty seconds, they had covered over half of the distance to Adam. As long as the Telesma held, Touma believed they could reach him. This gave him a sliver of hope, but he had to keep his focus on the goal. Overconfidence was not needed right now. Adam already proved that he knew what they were capable of. It was entirely possible he had prepared something for this situation. As if answering Touma's thoughts, the sky above them roared. Instead of lightning, flames started to erupt out of the clouds. The hail had stopped, but that was only an ominous sign. The jets of flames from the clouds kept growing larger and seemed to be reaching down further and further. Touma suddenly shivered. He knew something was about to happen. "We need to fall back!" Touma shouted to Carissa over the roar of the fire above them and the battle in front.

"What are you talking about, boy?" Carissa asked skeptically, but she turned towards him.

"Adam's planning something!"

"How do you know?"

"I…don't," Touma admitted. "It's just a feeling, but Adam has been predicting our moves so far. I'm sure he knew this would happen and has a trap set up."

"You want me to order a retreat when we are so close to striking him down at last?" Carissa asked him and her voice turned cold. "If you are wrong, this could mean more of my men will die and we could possibly lose this battle entirely."

"I know," Touma agreed. "But I'm positive Adam is up to something."

Carissa stared at him for a fraction of a second, yet many thoughts were being processed in her mind. Right now, her forces were closing in on Adam and the Telesma would not last much longer from the Conqueror's Flags. If she pulled them back, they wouldn't be able to do this again, as they used up the remaining flags. The number of men sacrificed would be huge in trying to push back against his forces. However, if Touma was right and Adam was indeed planning something, she would suffer huge losses, maybe even losing her entire army. Retreat and try to keep fighting, or press forward and try to end the battle quickly. Those were her choices. Carissa had always been one to press the advantage when attacking and her instincts told her to finish this now. The only thing that caused her hesitation was the boy's feeling that Adam was up to something. The choice should have been clear, but one question was weighing the most on her mind.

How much do I trust the boy?

The choice should have been easy. Carissa had always trusted in herself. Her plans always worked out, especially in Military matters, until she met him. Touma had always exceeded expectations and predictions, and it cost her Curtana Original. She should have hated him for that, but he even admitted he did it to save everyone, including her. All the skills she had accumulated over the years could not have predicted that. She grabbed her radio and held it up to her mouth, aware several nearby knights and a couple nuns were looking at her and waiting for the order. She could only see the expressions on the nuns' faces and they had a combination of determination and shock. While they were surprised at her conversation with Touma, they were prepared to follow either order. Carissa fully intended to order her troops to press the attack with everything they had.

"All troops," Carissa ordered into the radio. "Fall back!"

"What?!" The sounds of several shocked voices were head simultaneously on the line. Carissa even shocked herself. The words seemed to have come from someone else entirely when she said them.

"Did I stutter!?" she demanded. "All troops, fall back. Shield brigade, advance and cover the retreat. Start off with 200 meters and hold for further orders!" Her eyes glanced around as her entire army began to move in the opposite direction. She glared at Touma, who gulped.

"Thank you for trusting me," he told her.

"Understand this could jeopardize everything."

"I will take full responsibility."

"Those will be fine words on your epitaph." Touma gulped. He and Carissa hadn't moved much, but everyone else had. They were retreating as fast as they could, when something happened that removed the doubt from everyone's mind about her order. The sky above them roared to life and the red inferno intensified. The clouds began to spiral and then an enormous tornado made of bright reddish-orange flames shot down.

It impacted where the army would have been moments ago.

The red and orange inferno instantly disintegrated the zombies who were trying to follow them. It didn't stop and moved in a line between the armies. Only a wide trail of scorched earth and a wall of flames were left in its wake. The flames were obviously magically maintained, as there was nothing to burn that would cause the wall to reach easily twenty meters high. Another tornado fell from the sky and left a second trail and then a third. Both armies were now separated by several walls of flames.

"My God," Touma heard someone muttered.

"We were about to be caught in that."

That boy saved us, Carissa thought in shock. If they had kept up the momentum, most of their army would have been wiped out. Because she had followed Touma's instinct so quickly, it was Adam's forces that were burned away by the fire from the sky. The flames barely reached the front lines of troops, but the heat was much greater than normal fire could every produce. If it wasn't for their magical defenses and the wall of shield troops, some of the knights and nuns would have been scorched. Carissa could feel the heat on her face from several rows back. She was vaguely aware of the many shouts and sighs of relief, along with admiration for their leaders, who the troops believed were responsible for detecting the trap. If they only knew a boy, with no magical ability, was able to sense the trap everyone else missed. A tornado from the sky and creating a wall of flames, that sounds like Adam is using this to buy time. God used it against the Egyptians to let Moses and the Israelites cross the sea. She turned to where Touma had been, when she noticed he was gone. "Where did the boy go?!" she demanded. One person pointed and she turned to see Touma running.

He was heading directly to the wall of flames.

"You idiot!" Carissa yelled at him, but he ignored her. He's going to pay for that. "Stop him!" she shouted at a couple of the knights. They were too slow and Touma slipped between the last row of soldiers.

It's so hot! The thought passed through Touma's head as he ran between the knights. He hadn't even reached the wall of fire and the heat was suffocating. He heard Carissa yell at him to stop, but he ignored her and kept going. I'm going to regret that later. When a knight reached for him, he ducked under the arm and kept running. The heat continued to increase as he closed in on the wall. He reached out his right hand and touched the fire. The sound of breaking glass went off and a segment of the fire wall disappeared. The entire wall did not vanish, which meant whatever magic was being used had either different lines of mana, or several minor spells were being cast to replicate the effect. All that mattered to Touma was the wall was magical. The smoke entered his nostrils and he almost gagged, but he choked it down.

Thankfully, the tornado infernos had destroyed the zombies in his path. There was a short opening of burnt ground and then another wall of fire. Touma negated the second one without even slowing down. Behind this one, there were two of Adam's zombies. One of them had their entire left side burnt away, but it started walking toward him. The other one was more in one piece and was faster. Touma held out his hand and made contact with the zombie. The zombie disappeared in a cloud of dust with the sound of breaking glass. Touma repeated the process and ran toward the final wall. This wall disappeared as easy as the others and Touma stepped through it. The flames behind him closed up again and Touma gulped.

If I can knock Adam off the hill, we can win. I doubt I can do that alone, but I can at least force him to lower his arms. This was the only opportunity he had to do this. Adam had planned for Carissa's forces to swarm toward his location and use the fire tornados to wipe them out. Because they had retreated and Adam's army followed them, his army was the one that was decimated by the attack. Touma figured there had to have been some kind of delay between targeting and the actual attack. Because Adam's army was in tatters, the three walls of fire were most likely designed to hold the army back while he replenished his. Touma only had a small window of opportunity to take advantage of this. He could see more people already emerging from the cracks.

"Adam!" Touma yelled as he jumped over several hands and kept charging forward. "I've come to stop this!" He finally reached the bottom of the hill Adam was standing on and looked up. There were actually a lot of zombies still standing behind the third wall, but they had separated to the sides and let him pass. I should be relieved I don't have to fight them, but the fact Adam is letting me near is more worrisome. He started to walk up the kill. It's either a trap or he doesn't consider me a threat.

"Imagine Breaker," Adam finally acknowledged. "You are persistent. Stupid, but persistent. If you had turned around when our armies clashed, you could have survived."

"I thought you implied you knew how I think," Touma retorted and kept ascending the hill. "You know I won't leave a bunch of people in trouble."

"There was a small chance you could have learned from your past mistakes," Adam pointed out. He never lowered his hands. "Now you can watch your friends die one by one."

"I won't let that happen," Touma stated and started to move faster. He felt something grab his ankle and the force caused him to fall. He turned around and saw a hand sticking out of the ground. His right hand reached down instinctively and touched it, causing it to vaporize. Touma scrambled to his feet and kept making his way toward Adam. More hands emerged from the hill and Touma could not negate them fast enough. Numbers pulled him to the ground and the zombies began to pile on top of him. He couldn't raise his hand high enough to touch any of them when a hand held his arm down.

"Sit there and let me finish wiping out England's pathetic resistance," Adam told him. "I am actually going to enjoy it. They embraced the power of Michael, the monster who struck down my lord. It is only fitting I strike them down."

"You can't let go of a grudge," Touma growled, as he struggled against the bodies of the deceased. "Can you?"

"I'm only human," Adam replied and there was the slightest trace of regret in his voice. It was a reminder to him and Touma of who he really was. Touma couldn't move, but he had one ace up his sleeve. The downside is he would not be in shape to fight Adam. The walls of fire behind him began to fade and he had to make up his mind now, or the armies would clash once more. Before he could decide, the familiar roaring sound of an engine echoed over the battlefield.

Touma glanced up and saw two jet planes making their way toward them, along with a dozen of smaller vehicles closer to the ground.

---

About time, Carissa thought to herself, as she saw the approaching aircrafts. As soon as George reported St. Peter had been defeated, they passed a message onwards to Academy City using a radio empowered by magic. Even though this was England's mission, Academy City had been working with them behind the scenes. It was how they were able to take Touma out of the city without incident and how they monitored the situation using Academy City's satellites. St. Peter's Anti-Flight spell was what caused some of Academy City's earlier scouting planes to crash. Carissa had been told until that issue was resolved, they would not receive air support. A female in Academy City told her it would take time for help to arrive, but Carissa did not believe that. She knew they had aircrafts lying in wait. Eve and Adam had been a threat to both of their groups.

Two jets flew down under the clouds. Ever since the tornados came down, the inferno in the clouds had been disappearing. They must have run out of mana or time. This allowed the jets to enter the airspace without worrying about being hit. Carissa narrowed her eyes and used magic to examine the jets from a distance. They were not passenger jets. She smiled when she saw them. Bombers. Adam's army was about to have an unpleasant surprise. The jets' engines roared loudly as they flew over both groups. Small canisters rained down all around Adam's hill, but were accurate enough to avoid any casualties on England's side.

A barrage of explosions went off all over Adam's forces. The ground shook from the impact and the zombies were blown into pieces, before eventually crumbling into dust. Adam's army had been prepared to fight against ground forces, not air. Without long range magicians, they were vulnerable to being bombarded. If Adam dealt with them, he would be forced to turn his attention away from using his victory spell, which would allow Carissa's forces to reach him. He was stuck between a rock and a hard place. The walls of fire finally disappeared, thanks to the efforts of the Agnese forces, and there was only one command left.

"All troops, forward!"

---

Frenda was unsure how she felt about this whole fiasco. She was able to blow up countless people without any repercussions. Even though they were zombies, they still had the appearance of humans. The issues she faced were with the numbers, who she worked with, and her supplies. Frenda was not use to fighting an army. Her previous experience dealt with assassinations and security against small groups. Her next issue was with the knights. Frenda was a mobile fighter who specialized in explosives and hand-to-hand combat. With the knights forming a wall, she couldn't move around like she wanted to. Her explosives also had to be thrown far enough away to avoid actually hitting her allies. All and all, it was a very frustrating situation. The numbers were also a problem because she had a limited number of explosives. She mainly used them when a large group of the zombies grouped up, but she had to act conservatively.

She had been surprised when one knight raised a flag near her. The act of raising moral seemed kind of pointless now. However, one of the nuns reassured her the flag would give the knights strength. I can't understand these muscle heads. Not that I want to. Frenda admitted she had to eat her words a moment later. The flags had burst into flames and the knights suddenly found their second wind. They started to blow apart the zombies with strength and speed several times greater than they had before. Frenda was a little irritated they didn't do this in the first place, but she accepted there was probably some trick to it. Magic seemed to focus on details more than abilities back in Academy City. Right when it seemed they were about to reach Adam, Frenda received a huge surprise.

The retreat order had been given.

This pissed her off immensely. Their goal was right in front of their eyes and now they were being forced to run away. There better be a good reason for this. Frenda was used to following orders though and retreated without a verbal complaint. She didn't want to try to stay and get swarmed by an army of zombies by herself anyway. There was always a reason for unusual orders like this and a moment later she saw why. The tornados of fire emerging from the inferno boiling up in the clouds would have wiped them all out. It was situations like that, learned from working with Shizuri, which taught her to follow those kinds of orders. Then the jets arrived and she grinned when she recognized the bombers from Academy City. Adam's forces began to get blown apart by the barrage and that was before the second wave of reinforcements arrived.

Academy City had sent a dozen or so FIVE_Overs, specifically, the Modelcase_"RAILGUN."

Looks like Academy City is finally joining the fight. Basically, I should have remembered they were working with England. At least they brought the big guns. The FIVE_Overs resembledfive meter-long praying mantises. They had two arms, two legs, and two sickles that could fold if needed to help it stand up. Translucent wings spread out from the armor. The wings used ultrasonic waves to mix the air around the body to create an air flow that had a whirlpool-like effect. This created more buoyancy, which allowed it to fly with smaller wings than what would usually be required. A large cylinder-like storage container, used to hold lots of shells, rested on its back. There was also a shield on the front side of each of its front legs, with an artificial weapon placed between those shields. The main weapons were two three-barrel Gatling railguns. It was a power suit used to replicate Mikoto's Railgun, hence the name.

The FIVE_Overs could be piloted manually or by AI. Frenda could not tell which one this time without the suits opening up. The FIVE_Overs couldn't compete with supersonic fighters built to fly at high altitudes. They were made to attack ground targets, so they were limited to flying above the ground like an attack helicopter. Which was actually perfect in this case, as Adam and his army were all planted firmly on the ground. If I remember right, they can shoot accurately up to a thousand meters. At the speed they are traveling, they should be firing any second. Adam was out in the open and Frenda was looking forward to Adam being shredded into pieces. When Carissa finally gave the charge order, Frenda was ecstatic. The FIVE_Overs would crush Adam and all his forces near him from the sky and then the knights could rush him. That is when she finally saw Touma.

That idiot! He's right in the middle of the target zone!

---

Leivinia and Lessar were also in the front lines. Lessar had lost her weapon when Adam shattered it with his bare hands, so she was stuck mimicking the spells of the Agnese forces. Besides some long range illusion spells, she didn't have a lot of experience with this. Of course, she was taught a few basic spells last night, but she was not accustomed to them. It was like using a sword when you are used to an axe. You could use the weapon, but it would be awkward and clumsy. Leivinia was under no such limitation and kept alternating between fire, wind, earth, and water attacks. Her weapon would keep changing shape based on which one was needed. Other than having to work around the clumsy knights, this battle was nothing unusual to her. Even the Conqueror's Flag was nothing that new to her, though Lessar took a moment to figure out the trick behind it. When they heard the retreat, both were slightly confused.

Aren't we winning? Lessar thought. Why fall back now?

Damn it, Leivinia growled internally. Who messed up now?

Neither regretted the order when the tornados fell from the sky and starting burning everything in their path. So the Princess knew this was coming, impressive, Leivinia thought. Lessar's thought process was a lot simpler.

Thank god we didn't run into that.

The walls of fire left behind prevented them from seeing anything past it, but they did witness a lot of the zombies get roasted into dust. The main army couldn't continue forward until the walls were taken down. All of the nuns were working as fast as they could, so Leivinia and Lessar added their knowledge to the task. They located Agnese and managed to develop a spell that started to dissolve the wall. Once they worked out the specifics, they spread it to the remaining nuns and the finally managed to take down the walls. Then Academy City finally decided to join the fight. They watched the jets bombard the remaining zombies while a dozen smaller aircraft drew close.

Those are weird shaped crafts, Leivinia thought to herself, while Lessar just looked confused. Leivinia had more knowledge with advanced technology than she did, but even she didn't know what they were capable of. I might have to investigate what Academy City has been crafting in case we need to borrow it later. She shook her head when Carissa gave the charge order. Another time then.

---

Many repeating earsplitting booms went off as the FIVE_Overs began to open fire.

The zombies were blow into pieces with absolutely no resistance. The remains might have crumbled into dust if they didn't dissolve from the energy of the rapid firing railguns. Flesh and bones, plus whatever magical defenses they might have had, were no match for Academy City's latest technology. Simultaneously, the knights were taking out the waves closest to them. Since the FIVE_Overs were up in the air and shooting downwards, as long as they didn't shoot too close, they wouldn't hit Carissa's forces. Once Adam's forces were thinned out, the FIVE_Overs turned their attention to Adam. Half of them fired directly at him and Adam was forced to take notice.

He lowered his hands and a white mist surrounded his body.

The railgun bullets hit the mist and bent to the side, away from his body.

Touma, who was on the side of the hill and being held down by several corpses, could not cover his ears. Each boom was deafening and kept getting louder as the FIVE_Overs approached. The zombies didn't seem to care and kept holding him down while the hill was slowly being torn apart by the blasts. Touma lowered his head to avoid any shrapnel from hitting him, but he kept looking up towards the fight. He could see the top half of Adam, who had a hand out to his side, with a white ball of mist forming in it. Adam's head followed one of the FIVE_Overs and then threw the white ball with a flick of his wrist. The ball flew much faster than it should have and connected with the FIVE_Overs in midflight. It stopped firing and the metal aircraft suddenly looked brown, almost like it had completely rusted. It kept moving forward from its previous momentum, but also began to fall because of gravity. It crashed into the ground and exploded in a burst of flames. Metal debris pieces flew in every direction.

"Seems like Aleister might not be to found of me," Adam said. "His toys have certainly improved." He created another white ball out of the mist and used it to take down one more FIVE_Over.

It almost looks like Adam is causing them to rust, Touma thought. He wields death, and he did mention all things will pass at some point. Maybe his magic is causing them to age and break apart because they can't die like living things. Another three FIVE_Overs were downed by Adam's magic. The sounds of battle behind him were also drawing closer. I have to hurry while Adam is distracted, or he will turn his attention to the others. He gritted his teeth and clenched his fist. This is going to hurt like hell. Another explosion went off as another FIVE_Over was knocked out of the sky. Touma was prepared to use this, but that didn't mean he had to enjoy it. He focused and felt his hand pulse and then give off light. The pressure holding him down disappeared as the zombies vanished, and then came the downside.

The cloth binding his arm and rib fell off.

The pain returned almost instantly, especially in his arm. He had been warned the cloth would regenerate his wounds, not outright heal them. He reached down with his right hand and pushed himself up, careful not to put any pressure on his bruised rip or broken arm. His arm was at least still aligned, so there wasn't a bump under his skin. He would prefer to keep it that way. He looked up and shielded his face with his arm as another barrage of railguns were fired at Adam. Dirt and rocks were thrown everywhere as the bullets tore into the earth mounds when they were being diverted against Adam's shield. Touma knew how dangerous this was going to be.

Those guns will tear me apart if I get hit, he thought nervously. My hand won't be able to protect me. His eyes narrowed and he stepped forward. Adam was turned away from him. He's not looking. It's now or never. Please let Academy City's technology be able to process I am not an enemy. He charged when the rain of bullets stopped for a brief moment. He only had to cover twenty or so meters and he had the element of surprise on his side. With all the noise surrounding them, there was no way Adam should be able to hear him coming. Touma was only a couple steps away when Adam began to turn. For the first time, there was actually a modicum amount of surprise in his eyes. Touma drew back his fist and flung it forward.

The sound of glass shattering echoed from on top of the hill, as Touma made contact with the side of Adam's face.

The white mist shield was blown away from Touma's hand and the force sent Adam stumbling forward. He lost balance and began to tumble down the hill. Once he was about half way down, the FIVE_Overs began to open fire again. Touma was forced to cover his ears with his hand as the sound shook his head. He turned away in a combination of horror and disgust. Adam's body was being torn apart by the railguns and Touma began to feel vomit arise in his throat. Adam had to be stopped, but Touma did not want to kill him. There had to be another way to end this. We stopped the battle in England without resorting to kill Carissa. Why could we not have done it here? The barrage of bullets finally died down and Touma saw his allies closing in out of the corner of his eye. A form arrived next to him and he felt a vicelike grip on his shoulder. The red armor and blonde hair told him who it was.

"Sorry about ignoring your order," Touma apologized immediately.

"I will overlook it this time," Carissa told him. "Because you produced results and you saved my forces from utter destruction." Her eyes narrowed as she watched the knights wipe out the last few zombies and start circling around the hill. The FIVE_Overs hovered nearby. Their pilots, who were either AI or remote controlled based on the fact no human body was found in the crashed ones, were not firing as long as Carissa's troops were in range. She glanced down at the shredded corpse of Adam and then toward Touma. "Your bandages came off. You need to replace them or your wound is going to get worst."

"They hurt like hell," Touma admitted. "But I think my bones are still aligned."

"Either way," Carissa told him. "We should get you to a medic. Can't have the MVP of the battle die on us." He looked up at her in surprise. "What? I give credit where credit is due." A moment later, George and Amelia showed up on the hill and a quick glance gave them the story.

"He's been defeated?" George asked.

"Looks like it," Amelia muttered. "That was a hell of a fight. Good call on the retreat order Princess."

"The boy was the one who noticed the trap," Carissa replied and crossed her arms. "I only made the call." Amelia's eyes widened in surprise. George looked stunned for a moment and then burst out laughing.

"Well done," he said and slapped Touma hard on the back. In his weakened state, Touma began to fall forward. It was only thanks to George's quick reflexes that allowed him to grab Touma's shirt and hold him up. "Sorry boy, forgot you would be tuckered out after that round."

"No problem," Touma gasped. The slap had hurt quite a bit. "Please don't do it again."

"Sweep the area for any other surprises," Carissa ordered. "Make sure there are no other surprises, and then we will take his body…" Touma stopped listening after that. His eyes fell on Adam's corpse again.

Why do I feel this isn't over, he thought to himself. The fight could not have been considered easy. Countless people had been injured, including him. It's kind of… unsatisfying. Things just fell into place too easily. I'm glad he's beaten, but it was too simple for a finale. Even if he let down his guard, he shouldn't have fallen to a punch. I know he was stronger and faster than me. Touma stared at the corpse. Something was bothering him about it. Then it hit him.

There was no blood.

The corpse was just flesh and bone, no liquid. Touma's eyes widened. For a moment, he thought the guy they had been fighting was a construct or decoy meant to take the brunt of their attacks. If this was true, that means Adam was either hiding from them or long gone. Both options were frightening. Adam had escaped from the entire army. He opened his mouth to tell Carissa, when he saw something move. It was slight, but something definitely moved. He stared at the corpse and then he started to panic. "Adam's still alive!" Carissa, Amelia, and George all turned including the nearby knights and nuns.

Adam's corpse began to rise.

Dark murky mud began to flow out of his wounds. The mud twisted into all the missing body parts. As the outline of Adam began to form, the corpse continued to rise. Once the mud was in place, it hardened and began to crack. The dried dirt flaked off and left smooth skin and cloth behind. Adam was reforming out of the earth itself. He flexed an arm and then shot a beam of light at two of the FIVE_Overs. Instead of turning brown and falling, they turned into dust. Adam's head then began to grow from his torso.

"God made the first man from dirt," Carissa muttered. "But this is insane." She grabbed her radio. "Do not consider Adam human anymore. He has begun to regenerate. We need to break him apart and find a way to stop him from returning." George and Amelia drew their weapons and stepped forward.

"You fought well," Adam's voice came out of the churning mud a moment before he finished reforming. The dirt dried out and a breeze blew the dust away. "However, play time is at an end. I have other things I need to be doing." He took a step forward and the ground beneath him rippled violently. Shockwaves ran through the earth and blew back the first couple rows of knights. White light flew from his hands at the FIVE_Overs in rapid succession. They didn't even get a chance to try to dodge in response. The shockwave hit the small hill Touma and the others were standing on and it began to shake, right before it started collapsing. It didn't fall like when they first arrived, it just leveled out, but Touma could not keep to his feet. If it wasn't for Carissa grabbing on to him, he would have fallen.

A cloud of dust filled his lung and blocked his sight.

"Ack," Touma coughed violently before the dust finally cleared. He rubbed his eyes and opened them to see Adam about ten meters away with a hand raised toward him.

"Your usefulness has been outweighed by your meddling," Adam told him. "Only death awaits you." His hand began to glow.

"Protect him!" Carissa yelled. George and Amelia jumped in front of Touma with their shields raised.

"Futile," Adam commented, slightly bored. "Die together then."

Crack!

The sound of earth breaking from behind Adam could be heard for a moment.

"Who dares interfere!?" Adam demanded. George and Amelia lowered their shields in shock and Touma peaked around them. The light around Adam's hand had faded, but that wasn't what drew Touma's attention.

A flaming sword was sticking out of Adam's chest.

"You told me once miracles would not work against you," a mildly amused voice remarked. Adam twisted his head around to see who had stabbed him. A young man with a lanky physique, golden eyes, fiery red hair, and a red suit was standing behind him. His expression was calm, but his eyes seemed to be cold and calculating. A large red hand was sticking out of the man's shoulder. It could barely be called a hand, as it looked more like a malformed giant bird talon. "So I carefully set up a plan to take advantage of your moment of weakness. I only had to devise a spell to hide my presence underground and wait."

"Fiamma," Adam growled, showing a trace of emotion.

"You did well Princess," the man turned and addressed Carissa directly. "Pushing him this far was definitely not an easy task."

"Who are you?" Carissa asked coldly.

"How rude of me. I am Fiamma of the Right and I have come to remove this evil that has plagued this land." The flames on the sword grew brighter and slightly paler. Adam's body was slowly being devoured by them. "Adam can't be killed with normal methods. With my Holy Right and the flaming sword that symbolizes the Sword of God, I will end this the same way Lucifer was struck down by Michael." The flames continued to grow and Adam's entire body was engulfed.

"Bastard," Adam whispered. "I… will… return." The flames disappeared and only a few specks of dust fell to the ground. The sword disappeared, but the bird shaped claw attached to the man didn't. Touma didn't know why, but he had a feeling this man was not friendly, even if he had helped them.

"I should thank you I suppose," Carissa said and took a couple steps forward. "But I'm more interested in why the Roman Catholic Church sent a member of God's Right Seat here." Her sword was still clutched tightly in her hand.

Roman Catholic Church and God's Right Seat? Touma thought. Oh crap, this could be bad. Please let him be on our side.

"Our job is to rid the world of evil," Fiamma explained passively. "Adam was a threat to us all. Without me, your forces would have been killed."

"Don't give me that," Carissa replied curtly. "You waited this long before showing yourself. Were you planning to let us wipe each other out?"

"I would have welcomed that gift," Fiamma admitted. "But there are two reasons. One, I waited until the perfect opportunity to strike him down. If he knew I was here, he would have taken precautions, being weakened by your constant assaults helped immensely. Two, he was a threat to my plans right then." Touma was confused at what Fiamma meant by that, but his question was answered a moment later.

"Princess," William warned and jumped up next to her. "That man is after the Imagine Breaker and will stop at nothing to acquire it."

"Aqua," Fiamma sighed and shook his head. "Or William, as you go by now. You had to speak up. This could have gone so much smoother without that comment." The red arm rose into the air.

"We are under attack by Fiamma of God's Right Seat," Amelia spoke into her radio. "All troops are ordered to engage. Take that bastard down!"

"Now we are going to have so many unnecessary deaths," Fiamma commented mildly and swung his third arm. "Hard way it is."

---

Feel free to leave a review, comment, suggestions, or ideas, I love reading them. If you have a question you wish I ask and would like a quick answer, feel free to message me directly. I try to respond to those within a day or two. Comments, I tend to respond to in the next chapter.

Jason: So are we going to just stay back here and let those three hog the TV?

Pierce: Do you really wanted to interrupt three of the strongest members of Kami-yan's harem?

Accelerator: They are not bothering me, so why should I care?

Kazari: They didn't say much since Kamijou-san fell from the statue.

Motoharu: Because I'm sure Kami-yan's declaration won't come back to bite him at all.

Pierce: Shame we can't use that line when we show up again, imagine the fun.

Jason: We are going to have plenty of chances. They should be leaving Australia once this fight is settled and then we have the raffle.

Pierce: He will be punished for daring to have all those girls when I can't get one!

Accelerator: I'm just going to be there because Fukiyose will annoy me if I don't.

Motoharu: It's definitely not to see Kami-yan's face when he sees how many girls are trying to win. Huh, huh?

Accelerator: Shut up.

Kazari: Did you guys set this up just to try to embarrass him?

Motoharu: You have been dating Kagere for how long and have to ask that?

Jason: I hide our more… extensive… antics from her… ow, fine. Yes and no. We always have ulterior motives, but we have to enjoy ourselves.

Pierce: It's all part of our master plan for him to finally realize what has been happening all around him.

Kazari: Oh… I feel I may have heard too much.

Pierce: There's no escape now.

Accelerator: You had to keep asking questions.

Oh, two more chapters till 100!