Unlimited Ambition

He wasn't a soldier, nor had he ever seen a battlefield. His knowledge of the Iberian War, now known as World War III, consisted only of snippets he'd seen on television.

However, all the reports, all the words, all the adjectives, couldn't compare to even a fraction of what Kamijou had witnessed with his own eyes. Just moments before, a living, breathing human had been reduced to a pile of mangled parts, limbs, organs, and blood splattered everywhere—he had even stepped on a piece of intestine stained with feces and urine—and now, his body was covered in tiny bits of flesh! Kamijou felt himself on the verge of collapse.

The boy, Kamijou, sobbed uncontrollably. He simply followed his body's instincts, being pulled forward by Yuriko. Thanks to Yuriko's vector manipulation abilities, the two of them managed to escape unharmed amidst the hail of bullets. Otherwise, if it had been just the boy, Kamijou would have died countless times by now.

"It's Academy City! Academy City's Drive Kai! And Academy City's bombers!! Ah!!!!!" After they finally managed to reach a secluded spot, Kamijou almost completely broke down. His face was a blur of blood and tears as he clutched Yuriko's hand and cried out.

"Is that the kind of city we're supposed to protect?!" Kamijou roared.

"No, that's not it." Yuriko shook her head, then hugged Touma as if to comfort him: "The only one I want to protect is you, Touma."

"Yuriko... Waaaaaah..." Kamijou completely exposed his vulnerable side in front of Yuriko. He threw himself into her arms and burst into tears.

"Tsk, how touching." From the footage captured by the spy satellite, he clearly saw the interaction between Kamijou and Yuriko. He couldn't help but roll his eyes, then dialed Aleister's communication frequency: "Hey Chairman, you're really asking for trouble by playing with innocent high school students—especially boys like this. What are you up to?"

"So, what does Your Highness the Crown Prince think I'm doing?" Unexpectedly, that guy feigned an answer and didn't directly address my question.

"What do I care about you?!" Gu Zhen rolled his eyes. "I only care whether my plan can be realized—C Document! You bastard, since you took on this task, get to work! What's with all this dawdling?! Is that Kamijou kid really up to the task?!"

"Please rest assured, Your Highness. I believe you know what kind of person Kamijou Touma is. He will succeed—even better than Your Highness expects."

"...If that's really the case, then that would be great." Gu sighed softly. "So, the satellite laser launch platform has been fully debugged, right?"

Upon hearing Gu ask this question, Aleister once again assured him, "Of course. Based on the design of the giant laser cannon mounted on Altair II, a total of sixteen satellite laser weapons are all ready."

"That's good." Hearing him say that, Gu finally breathed a sigh of relief: "I've invested forty percent of this year's budget to achieve this plan. If it doesn't work at all, don't blame me for being ruthless."

"Of course not. Your Highness, please rest assured."

"I hope it's like you said—that we can take down Bethlehem Space Station in one hit," I muttered to myself. Aleister, on the other hand, repeatedly assured me.

After that, we ended the call.

"If he finds out you're lying to him, I wonder what he'll do."

After the call ended, Aiwass's voice rang out again beside Aleister.

"I can't help it either. The cost of building an artificial celestial realm is just too high. Even those suckers in the council can't possibly come up with such a large sum of money all at once... Besides, if this plan succeeds, it will also benefit him, won't it?"

"Really? You say it's beneficial to both sides, but all I see are two so-called allies deceiving each other. Hmph... I wonder what the final outcome will be. I'm starting to look forward to it."

"Trust me, I definitely won't let you down."

At the same time, after ending the call, Gu cursed under his breath: "Damn bastard." Then, with a "crack," he crushed the coffee cup next to him.

Beside her, Izayoi Sakuya quietly took out a napkin, wiped the coffee that had splashed on Koko's hands, and then took out a new cup to pour him a cup of coffee.

Do you really think I don't know where you spent all that money?! Do you think I'm stupid?! Damn it.

However, on the other hand, this matter does indeed benefit me. The advantages of success are obvious—Aleister didn't inform me beforehand, clearly intending to keep it all for himself.

However, I'm not a fool like Kamijou, someone he can easily manipulate. If I play it right, I might just give Aleister a hard time. That'll be when I'll show my true colors.

Hehehe, hehehehaha, hehehehe ah hahahahahaha...

Chapter Six Baldwin XIII

Kamijou suddenly understood.

Kamijou believes he has found the meaning of his life.

Kamijou sighed softly, then said: "The most precious thing a person has is life, and life is given to each person only once. A person's life should be spent in such a way that when he looks back on the past, he will not regret wasting his years nor be ashamed of having accomplished nothing."

In this way, when he was dying, he could say: "I have dedicated my life and all my experiences to the most magnificent cause in the world—the struggle for the liberation of mankind."

Although afterwards, Yuriko had a "Are you out of your mind?" look on her face, it was more important that her husband cheered up than anything else; she could just ignore the minor details.

After that, Kamijou and his companion broke into the Papal Palace. There was no lighting inside, making it appear eerily cold. Both remained vigilant and cautious as they advanced, but in the end, they didn't find a single person—

"Something's wrong!" Yuriko was a seasoned veteran, a ruthless killer. Although she hadn't faced many mages and knew very little about the unpredictable nature of magic, she still sensed that they were in danger.

Immediately afterwards, the vector manipulation ability was fully activated! In an instant, it deflected countless magical traps that were aimed at the two of them.

"Oh dear, it seems I underestimated the espers of Academy City a bit." A short, ugly, white man wearing a strange green cotton coat walked out from a corner and said this to Kamijou and Yuriko.

"Let me introduce myself. I am the Right Seat of God, the Left Seat of the Land. That is me."

As he finished speaking, large amounts of wheat flour slowly drifted down from the sky, turning the entire ground white.

"It should be fine, right? Kamijou is one thing. But that Accelerator, he's clearly a scumbag who kills without hesitation. Hmm... it should be fine, right?" At the same time, Gu muttered to himself as he spun around in his swivel chair.

I'm a little worried.

If we don't get any news of victory by today, we should send out the Dark Knights. Leonard hasn't fought anyone in years, has he? I wonder if he's still up to the task.

However, before that, there is one more thing I need to do.

I'm getting a little tired of it.

What I mean is that I am tired of the title "Crown Prince of the Holy Land".

I now desire to become the King of Jerusalem.

After all, only with a legitimate name can one speak with authority, right?

Although all of Jerusalem obeys my commands.

However, even though it's just a decoration, it looks really bad now—no, extremely bad.

Besides, that guy should know quite a bit. After all, he's already ninety-eight years old. His angelic memories should have returned by now.

Hurry up and be called by the Lord. My cheap father.

As he thought this, he walked into the deepest part of the Jerusalem royal palace, into the long-neglected, cold palace.

Since I seized complete control of Jerusalem, this place has become the bedroom of that loser, Baldwin XII. And it seems it will also become his place of death.

"Open the door, I want to go in." I gave this order to the knights who were guarding the door, who were dressed in full armor.

The knight, who looked like a steel monster, bowed respectfully to me and then slowly opened the door to the palace.

They are my personal guard: members of the Grand Guard of the Jerusalem court. Eighty of the most elite and loyal warriors. Five of them together can easily kill any saint—and eighty together can even kill an angel—I mean plural angels.

Therefore, I am not afraid that the guy will do anything wrong—in fact, he has been quite obedient during the years he has been imprisoned. No, he has been excessively obedient.

So, your memories as an angel have been restored? That's really good news...

maybe.

Stepping onto the creaking floorboards and breathing in the musty air, Gu slowly entered the palace. Then, he sat down with a pleased expression before Baldwin XII.

"So, you should already know, right? About my memories returning." I asked.

“That’s right.” Baldwin XII appeared unusually respectful in my presence: “Archangel of Light, Your Highness Lucifer.”

Gu sighed almost imperceptibly, then said, "Since that's the case, please show yourself as an angel." Gu gave this command: "Because I feel somewhat uncomfortable looking at this aged face."

"As you command," he said, then knelt before me. After a flash of white light, he returned to his normal angelic form—young, handsome, with an androgynous face that was almost indistinguishable from his own. He had pure white wings and a body that emitted a faint glow. All of this was enveloped in a white cloak.

"I'm getting a little weary. So, could you please go ahead and return to Heaven?" Although it was a question, the tone was commanding.

"But, according to God's command—"

His words were interrupted by Gu a moment later: "I will explain to the old man."

"I understand now... There's one more thing, Your Highness, please help me with."

"Oh. You mean those memories of yours that should be erased, is that right? How clever of you, a shrewd fellow who knows how to protect himself." I said, neither sarcastically nor approvingly.

"Your Highness, please forgive my rudeness." He didn't deny it at all.

Is that so...?

"I can make you a promise. When you return, I will wipe your memories clean, erasing all the unwanted parts. After all, it will also benefit me."

I made this promise.

“Then, Your Highness, I entrust this to you,” he replied, clasping his hands together as he began to pray.

"Don't worry, there won't be any pain—" After saying that, Gu drew the Heaven-Slaying Sword in an instant and stabbed it into his heart.

The next moment, Baldwin XII, who had ruled Jerusalem for over ninety years, was summoned by the Lord and returned to the heavens.

At this point, nothing on earth could hinder my progress.

After a flash of light, Baldwin XII's body turned into specks of white light and vanished from the spot. Only his jewel-encrusted crown lay scattered on the ground.

I stepped forward and picked up the crown, which represented the supreme power of Jerusalem. Then I placed it on my head.

"Baldwin XIII, huh? Seems pretty good... my new identity." I muttered to myself as I walked towards the door. I opened it with a smile and went out.

As I emerged, a crown appeared on my head, but the knights guarding the door showed no surprise. They bowed silently and then remained standing still.

“No, from today onwards, you no longer need to guard this place. You can return to the Dark Knights,” I said to these loyal knights.

Still, there was no sound. Even to my surprise, they showed not the slightest fluctuation of emotion. They simply bowed. Then they turned to the side and, in an extremely calm voice, relayed my orders to their comrades a little further away.

A new chapter has been turned in the history of the world.

Am I exaggerating when I say this?

Hehehe, speaking of which, my recent migraines have been really excruciating, the kind that could almost kill an African elephant from the pain.

The war has once again reached a fever pitch.

After Il's coronation as king, World War III entered its second phase. The Second Army Group of Jerusalem, with four million elite mountain infantrymen, bypassed the Balkan defenses with Russian assistance. They advanced south through the Polish Corridor, directly threatening Hungary, thus opening a second front.

In Jerusalem, Russia, and Britain, the European Union suffered a series of defeats on a three-front offensive. Half of Europe was already occupied by the Axis powers. Morale among the Central Powers was low; defeat seemed inevitable.

Meanwhile, Aleister City in the Eastern Hemisphere also sprang into action. Although the plan to mass-produce superhumans had failed, mass-producing ordinary clone warriors was far too easy for Academy City. Large numbers of fearless and absolutely obedient clone warriors, produced on the assembly line, swept across Japan within days.

Following this, the Academy City Council issued a special mobilization order, announcing that all Level 4 espers in Academy City could join the Academy City army to earn merits in exchange for political and economic privileges. A large number of these incited espers joined the Academy City army, including many Level 4 espers.

In addition to the several Level 5s that Academy City could control, and several hidden Level 5s, a massive army of Level 5 espers was assembled in Academy City and quickly deployed to the war. (That's why child soldiers are the most useful.)

With technological advancements decades ahead of the world, a vast army of clone warriors, and a legion of superhumans, Academy City has achieved a series of victories. Their opponents are orders of magnitude weaker than those faced by the Axis powers: in just ten days, the Academy City military has successively conquered the Philippines, Indonesia, the countries of Indochina, and Australia. They have also successfully crippled the US Pacific Fleet. Landing in the Americas is likely no longer a dream…

Chapter Seven: The Right Seat of God is Annihilated

At this point, the outcome of the war was no longer in doubt. The Alliance was dead, the Axis should rise, and the saying that the year was the Year of Ji Mao (2019) brought great fortune to the world was rampant—but basically no one with any sense believed it.

I and Aleister, however, firmly believed it.

This doesn't mean that Aleister and I were both out of our minds. Rather, it means that we were the parties involved in this matter.