The Legend of Level 0 in Academy City

A giant in transparent ice armor slowly emerged from within the wall and grabbed Toktu's shoulder.

"Hmm~~ I don't have the ability, but it does!"

With a disdainful remark, Inoue Eika first used magnetic force to extract the bullet from inside the ice wall and held it in her hand. Then, dragging her aching body, she bypassed Toktu and ran desperately into the corridor.

When Toktu appeared, he sensed the magical fluctuations ahead.

Based on his memories, he knew it was one of the pieces of equipment on the ice ship, used to protect the ice statue.

The guardian ice statue is a part of the ship that has been reshaped. It is a three-meter-tall Western-style armor made of ice, somewhat similar to the inner gun turrets of a warship.

That's why Inoue Hideka deliberately stopped to talk to Toktu and attract his attention.

Toktu's strength was less than that of a normal adult man due to his emaciated body. He could only break free of the guardian ice statue by waiting for the fat man named Padson to come to his rescue. This gave Inoue Hideka time to escape and reunite with his companions.

As Inoue Hideka ran forward, he tried his best to search for the energy fluctuations belonging to Index or Orsola, based on his memories.

Index, as the author of the Forbidden Books in the magic world, is practically an encyclopedia of magic knowledge thanks to the magical information she possesses.

She could definitely deduce the background and weaknesses of those two magicians.

Orsola will then encounter Agnes, and Touma Kamijou will also go there.

Whether it's finding Index or Orsola, at least you can temporarily reunite with either Index or Touma.

With a whoosh, Inoue Hideka dodged the attacks of the guardian ice statue by following the bullet she had launched with magnetic force, and then continued to dart around the huge cabin.

About ten minutes had passed, and Inoue Hideka still hadn't found Index or Orsola.

While using magnetic gloves can make traveling faster, there are time limitations to their use.

With the enemy still undefeated, Inoue Hideka didn't dare to use up the magnetic glove's usage time so quickly. She would only occasionally activate the magnetic glove when dodging attacks from the guardian ice statue.

Da da da!

In the empty corridor, only the rhythmic sound of Inoue Eika's footsteps echoed.

"kindness?"

Suddenly, amidst the various fluctuations, Inoue Hideka noticed one that seemed somewhat familiar.

Stopping in their tracks and carefully examining the area, they finally determined that the source of the fluctuations was Osora Aquinas, whom they had only met once.

The direction is approximately 70 degrees to the right front, within 200 meters.

Having determined the location, Inoue Hideka took another step and ran forward.

------

This is a huge square room, and also a very spacious room.

It is described as spacious not only because the room is surrounded by ice-blue walls, but also because the interior is completely empty except for a seven-meter-diameter ice sphere in the center.

Beside the sphere.

The petite nun Agnes Santis was explaining something to Touma Kamijou, and Orsola was listening intently as well.

None of the three noticed that the blond man lying on the ground, dressed in a luxurious holy robe and exuding a strong nouveau riche aura, had somehow regained consciousness.

While the three weren't paying attention, he secretly reached for the crosses hanging from the four necklaces around his neck.

A mocking smile involuntarily crept across his lips, and as his hand drew closer to the cross, his smile grew increasingly maniacal.

However, just as he confidently thought he could immediately activate the magic to make the Queen of the Adriatic self-destruct—

boom!

When the gunshot rang out—

pat!

The cross he had just grasped flew out of his hand!

Chapter 348 The Deterrent Power of a Pistol Against Ordinary Mages

Suddenly, the four people in the room turned around in surprise and looked toward the direction from which the gunshot had come.

When Touma saw the black-haired boy slowly putting away his pistol at the door, a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes before he exclaimed in astonishment:

"Yinghua?!"

“I feel like I’ve seen this somewhere before…” This was the slow-witted and eccentric nun Osora Aquinas.

“…” Agnes cautiously stared at the unfamiliar boy at the door.

Agnes will never know that the stranger she needs to be wary of just now saved her life.

If Piageo successfully activates the magic, Agnes, the key to Piageo's magic—the 'Imprinted Cross'—will definitely be harmed.

Just now, Inoue Eika stopped Piageo.

However, Inoue Hideka was not the kind of person who cared about such a so-called life-saving grace.

If he cared, he wouldn't have been able to face the less-than-friendly attitude of Fukiyori and Himegami Aisa, the two members of Kamijou's harem whom he had actually saved, without any resentment.

Ignoring Agnes's attitude, Inoue Eika then looked at Piageo, who was glaring at her, and said to Kamijou Touma:

"Touma, although I don't quite understand what's going on, I can sense magical fluctuations from the cross around that man's neck. Could you please destroy them first?"

"Damn you! You heretical monkeys!"

Upon hearing Inoue Hidekazu's words, Piageo, who was lying on the ground, suddenly became extremely angry. He pointed one of the remaining crosses around his neck towards Inoue Hidekazu's direction and shouted rapidly:

"The cross shows a rejection of malice!"

If I remember correctly, this is one of Piageo's magic spells.

'The cross shows a rejection of evil': It can cause the cross hanging around Piageo's neck, which is only a few centimeters long, to expand like an explosion, instantly growing into a cross that is three meters long and forty centimeters thick, in order to attack the enemy in front of him.

Knowing the nature of its magic, Inoue Hideka naturally wouldn't stand still and let it attack. After hearing what Piageo shouted, Inoue Hideka instantly activated the magnetic force of the magnetic gloves and appeared next to the bullet that had just been fired, not far from Piageo's side.

Then he launched a flying kick at Piageo.

While Piageo was still in surprise when his target suddenly disappeared from his spot, he felt a tremendous force coming from behind, kicking him towards the place where Kamijou Touma was.

"Touma!"

Inoue Hideka shouted, reminding Kamijou Touma to destroy all the crosses around Piageo's neck.

"Oh!"

Perhaps out of trust in Inoue Hidekazu, Kamijou Touma seemed to have forgotten about Piageo's previous attacks with various crosses, and charged headlong at Piageo, even abandoning his defense and reaching his right hand directly at the dozens of crosses hanging around Piageo's neck.

But Piageo, who was flying towards Touma's direction, wasn't idle. Although he couldn't stop his body for the time being, his hand reached for the cross around his neck, while he quickly chanted:

"The cross, with its heavy weight, corrects humanity..."

Boom!

Two gunshots rang out in quick succession, choking Piageo back down from the spell he was about to utter, replaced by his painful howls.

Four bullets left...

As he watched the blood spurt from Piageo's shoulders, Inoue Hideka silently prayed.

The pistol magazine he was using could hold 10 bullets, and after removing the ones he had used before, he now had 4 left.

The magic Piageo was about to unleash was 'The Cross Corrects Human Arrogance with Its Heavy Weight,' a magic that instantly gives the thrown cross thousands of times the force of gravity, making it as fast and powerful as a cannonball.

Therefore, Inoue Hideka spared no effort to use two bullets to damage Piageo's hands, because even Kamijou Touma could fall victim to this magic if he wasn't careful.

biu!

biu!

As the sound rang out, the crosses hanging around Piageo's neck shattered into dust one by one.

Inoue Hideka walked up to Piaget, who was lying on the ground groaning in pain, and chopped him on the neck, knocking him unconscious. Then he stood up and asked Touma Kamijou:

"Touma, where is Index?"

"Huh? This..."

Touma Kamijou had gotten separated from Index and Orsola. After seeing Orsola, he hadn't had a chance to ask Index about her. Suddenly, Inoue Hideka asked him about it, and he felt a little guilty. He touched his head and stammered, not knowing what to say.

Seeing this, Osora took over the conversation somewhat embarrassedly:

“Index lured away the guardian ice statues for me earlier, and she should still be fighting them right now…”

"I wonder if you can control those guardian ice statues to stop them from attacking?"

Upon hearing this, Inoue Hideka looked at the two nuns and asked.

"With Piageo subdued, we should be able to seize control of the fleet. I might give it a try."

Agnes realized at this moment that the short, choppy black-haired boy in front of her was obviously not an enemy, but a companion of Touma Kamijou, who had even helped defeat Piageo. Therefore, her attitude was no longer as resistant as before, and she even offered to help.

In any case, Piageo has now been subdued, and the crisis is temporarily over.

Regardless of whether Piageo's plan was thwarted or not, Piageo was in a coma, and no one could cast the "Imprinted Cross" spell to change the 'Queen of the Adriatic's' target.

"Okay, then I'll leave this to you two. There are still enemies outside, from a different faction than that man. I need to take Touma to find Index and then deal with the enemies."

"Huh? Are there other enemies? By the way, Yinghua, why are you here?"

"Hmm... I'll explain later, let's go now... Oh, wait!"

Suddenly remembering that the mage before her could use healing magic, Inoue Hideka made another request to the two nuns:

"During the fight just now, it seems like my internal organs shifted. Could you treat me?"

"Huh? Internal organs...displaced? But you don't look injured at all?"

Upon hearing Inoue Eika's words, Osora couldn't help but look at the boy's body in front of her in surprise.

Touma Kamijou and Agnes also stared at Eika Inoue with the eyes of someone looking at a monster.

------

Leaving aside the awkward situation of Inoue Hideka being treated as a monster at this time, on the other hand...

After Paterson finally arrived, Toktu was freed from the constraints of the guardian ice statue, and afterwards dared not venture into the cabin alone.

Along the way, Paterson wreaked havoc on the guardian ice statues and ice walls, and haphazardly searched the cabin for Inoue Eika and the others.

After wandering around for an unknown amount of time, they came to a room where they saw the silver-haired nun who was effortlessly dealing with the guards of the ice statue.

It's 10:30, with an hour and a half left. Red Tea is feeling a bit guilty, wondering if she can finish writing the next chapter before midnight.