Unlimited Ambition

The coded messages in the Book of Laws have countless interpretations, and each one seems correct. When Aleister wrote this thing, it was less a benefit to future generations and more a prank. It infuriated me back then; I almost went to Academy City to fight Aleister.

Seeing that Index had guessed most of the truth, I didn't hesitate to praise her: "As expected of Index who owns 103,000 A Certain Magical Index books (although most of the original texts have already been used). You guessed half right."

"Huh? Only half?" Index was slightly dissatisfied.

"The real Argo was just a faster ship. This Sky-class battleship, however, has undergone extensive modifications, greatly enhancing its combat capabilities. It may be a little slower than the legendary Argo, but its strength far surpasses it."

As I said this, I secretly added to myself: And compared to that old relic like the Queen of the Adriatic, my ship has undergone many upgrades. Especially after I came to power, I made several major modifications to this treasure. We'll be relying on it to fight back against Heaven in the future, hehehehe.

After that, a massive warship, no smaller than a typical 10,000-ton ship, came to rest on the water. Several smaller boats were then launched and rowed towards us.

"Let's go," I said, waving my hand at the others.

"We have to ride this?! Is it really okay?!" Kenji shouted excitedly. Looking at this giant battleship and then thinking about his own submarine, Kenji just wanted to find a block of tofu and smash his head against it.

“Of course.” I chuckled. “What do you think sank the Queen of the Adriatic back then?”

Chapter Thirty: Battleship Offensive

Piloting the Skyship were the Royal Knights' naval forces. Clad in lightly enchanted half-plate armor and wielding two-handed longswords, crossbows, and scepters, these warriors exuded a very masculine aura. They were a group of men who were extremely fierce in direct combat.

This warship carried a total of 1,600 Royal Knights sailors. Four hundred were crew members, responsible for operating the ship and its weapon systems. The remaining 1,200 were combat personnel, responsible for amphibious landings and boarding maneuvers (though this is unlikely to occur in modern society).

Back then, while the Roman Catholic Church was spending enormous sums, even resorting to selling indulgences and lending money at exorbitant interest rates to raise funds for the creation of the Queen of the Adriatic, the Kingdom of Jerusalem, having received the news, also began a naval revolution. Almost simultaneously, the two sides engaged in a high-level naval arms race.

A storm was brewing in the Mediterranean. The Roman Catholic Church, with all its might, pinned its hopes on its powerful fleet. It planned to destroy Constantinople with unparalleled skill, then blockade the Dardanelles, completely cutting off Jerusalem's access to Europe.

The state religion of Jerusalem also hoped to achieve its goal in one fell swoop, successfully merging with the Eastern Roman Empire and becoming the undisputed world's leading power.

Four years later, both sides presented their finest creations. The decisive battle would take place on the day Baldwin VII entered Constantinople and was crowned Lord of the Eastern Roman Empire and Jerusalem!

Queen of the Adriatic + Queen's Fleet VS Sky-class battleships, twelve ships!

The result was obvious: to the sky-soaring warships, the Queen's fleet, forged from solid ice, was like a target floating on water. After a barrage of bombardment, it was reduced to rubble.

However, the designers of the Queen's Fleet were quite capable. The fleet's hulls, made of solid ice, could automatically repair themselves by breaking down seawater after being damaged. Therefore, despite the severe damage, the Roman Catholic fleet commander wasn't particularly worried. Blockading the Dardanelles was impossible. But managing to complete the spell, destroy Constantinople, and return home should be no problem.

"Let's cover him with a blanket."

The words of the then-commander of the Sky Fleet are now engraved on the wall at the entrance of the Royal Naval Academy in Jerusalem.

A carpet of fire descended from the sky. A hidden door at the bottom of the Sky Battleship opened, and a massive amount of Greek fire, the ultimate weapon of the Eastern Roman Empire, rained down. The secret magical fuel spread rapidly upon contact with the sea surface and ignited violently.

Fire, fire from all directions, fire everywhere you looked. It seemed as if the entire sea was ablaze. The Queen's fleet was utterly annihilated under this terrifying onslaught. The fleet was melted, the crew burned to ashes. The various magical detonations that followed provided the Jerusalem soldiers in the sky with a spectacular fireworks display.

The fire was finally extinguished three days later. At the same time, the Roman Orthodox Church's arrogant ambition to expand eastward was also extinguished.

That's about it.

When Index exaggerated the above statement tenfold and repeated it, the ordinary citizens (especially Kamijou) were quite surprised. Only Lucia and Angelina, the two nuns from the Roman Catholic Church, didn't look too pleased.

"Huh? Is everything Index-chan said true?" Last Order, who was next to me, shook my arm and asked.

"That's about it," I said to her with a smile.

"Really? That's amazing!" Last Order still had a childlike spirit and got excited easily. I looked at her slightly developing body and nodded almost imperceptibly, thinking that I could eat her sometime.

Then he nudged the other extra character and whispered, "Looks like this kid's development is about the same as yours—I mean, his physique."

"Just how perverted do you want to be?" the extra character whispered in my ear.

"That's about right, I mean compared to you," I continued to tease her.

“Like an idiot.” The extra character blushed slightly, naturally understanding the time period—or rather, the place—I meant by ‘similar to her.’

The girls were chatting and laughing, so they didn't notice our little interaction—except for Ruizi.

Seeing that I and the extra characters were chatting and laughing together, Lei Zi sighed almost imperceptibly.

"Speaking of which, is it okay as long as it's Misaka-senpai?" Ruiko thought to herself. At the same time, she lowered her head and rubbed her not-so-small breasts, then sighed almost imperceptibly.

The Sky Battleship, operating at full power, quickly arrived above the Queen's fleet. The illusionary barrier on board rapidly deployed, concealing the battleship's massive size, making it undetectable by the naked eye, magical detection, or radar.

"What's next? Should we just charge in and kill them all?" Yuriko asked, her voice dripping with murderous intent. It seemed she didn't care about wiping out the entire fleet.

“That’s not a good idea…” Kamijou objected.

“It’s very simple.” I snapped my fingers: “You just need to take one key item.”

"A key item? What is it?" Kamijou asked naively.

Seeing her boyfriend's clueless expression, Yuriko couldn't stand it anymore and said directly, "It's that nun they were just talking about." Then she pointed directly at Rukia and the other girl.

"How did that nun become a key prop?" Kamijou was still clueless.

"You're so stupid." I rolled my eyes, then tried to explain in simple terms: "Imagine the Queen of the Adriatic as an intercontinental ballistic missile programmed to target Constantinople during its creation. However, this time the Roman Catholic Church is dealing with Academy City. So the program needs to be modified. And the only thing that can be used to modify the program, the Limit Cross, can only be activated by Agnes. In other words, the biggest prerequisite is Agnes. As long as we rescue her, the Queen of the Adriatic will be useless—do you understand?"

"...This seems complicated." Kamijou scratched his perpetually spiky hair. "Could it be understood as: as long as Agnes is rescued, it's a success? A simpler way?"

"...It doesn't really matter." I thought to myself: I'm not really Kamijou's teacher, why do I need to lecture him like this? — Besides, if I were really his teacher, I would definitely beat him half to death immediately and then resign. I really don't know how his homeroom teachers at school managed to get through it.

Next, I quickly devised a battle plan: dispatch elite knights to infiltrate the other escort ships of the Queen's fleet and create chaos. The real rescue team would then seize the opportunity to enter the Queen's Adriatic fleet and rescue Agnes. Afterwards, a swift retreat would follow.

After a moment's thought, I turned to Rukia and asked, "The former members of Agnes's unit you mentioned have been assigned to various warships. Can they offer us any assistance?"

Rukia nodded: "Everyone is dissatisfied with the current situation. As long as you explain your purpose, the vast majority of members will offer their help... Of course, after that—"

"I understand. From now on, you'll be sheltering these poor little nuns, right?" I readily agreed. A few more people didn't matter; I just needed to dump them all with the Dark Knights. I doubt every nun could eat as much as Index.

"...Hmph, we won't let you do this for nothing. From now on, you can command the Yannis troops. Everyone gets what they need, is that alright?" Rukia retorted stubbornly.

I couldn't help but roll my eyes. What fighting power could these delicate nuns possibly have? Was it even worth it for me?

But then again, so you're saying I can command you? If that's the case, it doesn't necessarily only happen on the battlefield... Hehehehehe.

"Alright." I clapped my hands. "I won't say any more. Let's get to work, knights of Jerusalem."

The sailors and knights on the Sky Battleship gave me a uniform knightly salute, then cast flight spells such as Wind Wings on themselves before leaving the battleship.

"When do we make our move?" Yuriko asked, growing impatient.

"Have some patience, will you?" I scoffed. "We should wait until the jamming forces have taken effect before we act."

"It's completely unnecessary. For something of this quality, I can handle it all by myself. There's absolutely no need for anyone else's assistance," Yuriko continued to boast.

I rolled my eyes: "I know you're powerful, but even you have weaknesses, right? Vector control is indeed incredibly powerful—but you're completely helpless against attacks on the soul level. The enemy is an elite mage of the Roman Catholic Church. It's always good to be careful."

Yuriko wanted to argue, but then she remembered how badly I had beaten her in that battle, so she obediently shut her mouth and said nothing.

After a while, finally, with a series of violent explosions, dozens of warships in the Queen's fleet came to a halt and began to sink. Of course, such damage was nothing to the Queen's fleet. The self-healing spells installed on the warships activated. Afterward, the sinking slowed down. However, it would take some more time for them to be fully repaired.

"What's going on?!" Piageo, the fleet commander who was atop the Queen of the Adriatic Sea, shouted in exasperation.

"A large number of invaders have infiltrated the fleet! And they have received assistance from the former Yannis forces!" With such a large commotion, it was naturally easy to investigate, and someone quickly reported the situation.

"Damn it, I knew these bastards were unreliable, a bunch of ungrateful wolves!" Piageo cursed, then commanded, "What are you all standing around for?! First, imprison all the former Yannis troops on the unharmed fleets. Then concentrate your forces to suppress all the invaders!"

With the bishop's order issued, chaos erupted throughout the Queen's fleet. All two hundred-plus nuns from Agnes's original unit were imprisoned. Immediately afterwards, sailors from other warships rushed to the aid of the wrecked vessel. The Queen of the Adriatic's defensive capabilities were severely weakened.

Chapter Thirty-One: Things Have Gone Seriously

The rescue operation for Agnes was a resounding success. The truth is, the group of guys gathered around me combined are enough to destroy the Earth several times over. A mere Queen's fleet is no match for them. We even captured that minor fleet commander alive. We plan to take him back and interrogate him thoroughly. After all, it would be a waste to kill someone of his caliber so easily.

After that, the friendship level with Kamijou and Yuriko improved slightly. Agnes also reluctantly joined our side with her group of battle nuns. The slightly overloaded Sky-class battleship slowed down a bit. It wobbled and drifted towards Jerusalem.

Below lay the Queen's fleet, now utterly silent, and the Queen of the Adriatic, completely disintegrated into liquid water. While the remaining escort ships still possessed some fighting capability, it was no longer important. The crucial Queen of the Adriatic was silent. The Queen's fleet, existing as escort ships, was now useless.

Thus, the Roman Catholic Church suffered a complete defeat.

Meanwhile, tensions between the Roman Catholic Church and the state church of Jerusalem intensified. The previous incident involving the Book of Law remained unresolved, and this latest incident involving the Queen of the Adriatic has brought relations between the two sides to a freezing point.

Within the Vatican, cries for military retaliation were rampant within the Roman Catholic Church. The clergy stationed in Italy encountered the still-defunct Knights of Jerusalem, and a fierce battle ensued without a word. Both sides suffered victories and defeats, but the enmity only grew stronger. Of the five thousand elite knights of Jerusalem, only four thousand five thousand returned home—a reduction of ten percent.

The Roman Catholic Church fared even worse, with nearly a quarter of its armed clergy wiped out. It suffered a devastating blow.

The matter could not be resolved amicably. Both parties involved were aware of this. A war of words ensued. The Italian government accused Jerusalem of carrying out terrorist activities in Italy. Jerusalem, in turn, accused Italy of plotting to assassinate its crown prince. The war of words escalated further, with European nations joining the verbal attack on Jerusalem.

In addition, Academy City, the other party involved in the incident, also faced extremely severe criticism. Large numbers of Roman Catholics took to the streets, launching massive protests against Academy City. The Japanese government was also implicated; its export trade was essentially over, and it was best to go home and fend for itself.

The Japanese archipelago is filled with devastation.

However, these are all secondary. Aleister, an outsider, naturally wouldn't worry about Japan's economy and industry. With his capabilities, the Japanese government is nothing to him; he could wipe them out in a matter of minutes.

However, Aleister was not indifferent to Academy City's series of unfriendly actions. The Academy City security weapons exhibition, lasting for over ten days, was a clear demonstration of his strength against his enemies. Technological advancements decades ahead of the outside world had created countless unimaginably powerful weapons. The mobile suits that Academy City was so proud of were among them.

Unfortunately, such measures seem unable to intimidate his opponents. No wonder. After all, Aleister's title is the greatest (or most despicable) magician of the last century. And this year is 2059 AD. Human beings change very quickly.

Therefore, Aleister's remaining reputation was no longer enough to intimidate anyone. Even knowing of his existence in Academy City, the Roman Catholic Church still chose to take action against him.

Or perhaps, the younger generation of geniuses in the Roman Catholic Church are already itching to try their hand. After all, the title of the greatest magician holds immense appeal for those in the magical world.

Kill that guy, use him as a stepping stone, and let me ascend to the throne of the strongest mage!

Perhaps some people are already secretly shouting this out.

As the so-called government in name only, they are not afraid of Academy City.

While Academy City's technological prowess is indeed formidable, it suffers from inherent weaknesses. Its population size directly limits its war potential. Moreover, the vast majority of its population consists of students temporarily enrolled there; they'd likely all flee in terror the moment war breaks out.

Therefore, this pathetic city only requires a little force—like a small nuclear bomb left over from the last century. And then…

Boooooo

That should be enough to settle things.

Of course, the Roman Catholic Church doesn't have nuclear weapons. But they possess weapons comparable to—no, more accurately, weapons far more destructive than—nuclear weapons.

"The Right Seat of God"

Although I don't understand why I'm not among the four angels on God's right seat...

Okay, it seems I'm still on parole.

However, their strength, without a doubt, is quite considerable within the realm of "humanity." Moreover, their rise in power during their short lives was indeed too rapid. It's only natural that they became complacent and overconfident.

So, after receiving the decision from the Right Seat of God to send one of its members to destroy the entire Academy City, I rolled my eyes, secretly delighted. At the same time, I unusually and proactively connected to Aleister's communication network, preparing to give him a good, concerned, and mocking laugh.

Unexpectedly, after hearing about this, that guy didn't seem to care at all, and simply said, "An attack of that level? I was informed of this by Your Highness. Although it's quite insignificant."

...You look like you really want me to punch you.

"Is that so? However, according to the information I have, those Lv5s you have don't seem to be a match for them. Or are you going to deceive that naive little girl (Yuriko) into fighting for you again, like before?" I probed, half-sarcastically.

"No, no, no, actually I have another option, which is to involve the girl someone cares about in this matter. Then—"