Stiyl Magnus, the famed redhead fire-mage of Necessarius, walked down the streets of London in the early morning, feeling extremely puzzled.

There was nothing strange about the street itself that can send him on a state of utter confusion. Stone apartments and buildings—or what's left of it—more than three hundred years old lay on both sides of the street. Office workers and employees, with mobile devices in their hands, rushed down the old street. An London Buss transportation moved slowly forward, and workers on the street were busy dismantling a similarly old phone booth. An infusion of both the new and old history. Not what someone can call strange.

Nothing was wrong with the weather, either. There were few to no clouds in the sky that morning but the weather changed every four hours or so; thus, there were many people carrying their umbrellas around and besides, there is also the heat that made the use of umbrella justifiable. It was a hot day and as London was known for its foggy weather, that aspect of summer—the ever-changing weather—was something that could not be taken lightly. The increasing moisture caused by the intermittent rainfall, together with the Foehn wind and summer heat wave, resulted in amazingly high temperatures, so these rather enjoyable-looking tourist attractions had their own shortcomings as well. As for someone like Stiyl, who had already considered the shortcomings when he first chose to stay in that city, he did not mind it.

What made Stiyl feel somewhat fidgety was the strange girl beside him.

"Archbishop..." He called as he puts another cancer stick on his mouth.

"I thought I asked thee not to call me via that name," the girl replied as she held on to her umbrella. Dressed in a beige robe, the girl, who looked eighteen, spoke calmly in Japanese. In truth, according to regulations, a clergyman's attire could only have white, red, black, green, or purple, with threads of gold for decoration, so that girl was secretly breaking the rules. Her hair was shockingly long; it extended all the way to her ankles, then folded up and went behind her head, through the large silver hairpin that was holding it in place, and down again to her waist. In other words, its length was almost two and a half times her height.

She was Laura Stuart—the Archbishop of the 0th Parish of the Anglican Church's Necessarius.

In England, the king (or queen) was the highest-ranking leader of the Anglican Church. Archbishop Laura was considered the courier of the king, and her responsibility was to take over for the busy king and control the Anglican Church. But due to some political and magical circumstances, the power had lately reverted and now, Laura had the real influence.

But right now, the archbishop, who had such a large amount of power, freely walked the streets in the early morning without even a single bodyguard near her.

Stiyl and Laura were currently headed to a certain cathedral. At first, Laura had suggested that Stiyl meet her at the cathedral. She was supposed to have waited at the cathedral, and Stiyl was supposed to have gone there. But it seems that fate has different plans.

"Why are you talking in such a ridiculously archaic way?" Stiyl asked in a terse tone.

Suddenly, Laura stopped as she suddenly faced back at Stiyl in a childish manner, "Oh why…well…is it truly strange?!" She was panicking at her current standing position as she pouted, "I even had a local check to see if my speech is acceptable!"

"It was a gentleman named Tsuchimikado Motoharu," Laura replied in a smooth and soft way.

Stiyl grunted as he then realized why her speech looks stupid, "That guy is neither a gentleman nor a local," he snorted as he crosses his arms, "Don't use that man as an example a normal Japanese local! In fact, Kuroko from the Kamijou Faction is far more decent than that blonde."

As he spoke, Laura suddenly didn't pay attention to him as she took out what looked like a piece of paper and a pen from her wallet while pinning her umbrella between her large chest and right arm. Scribbling furiously, this act of hers made Stiyl suddenly stop his pissing contest as he returned to his serious expression. After a minute, she hands the paper to the fire mage and once Stiyl had it, he then whispered, "A communication talisman?"

Suddenly, the voice of the archbishop vibrated through the mind of Stiyl as Laura simply clasps her hands while smiling, "You know about The Book of the Law, correct?"

"A grimoire?" Stiyl grips the paper in his hands as he watches Laura slowly began to continue moving and eventually, he also started walking again, "If I remember correctly, the author was Edward Alexander. It was originally found in the Roman Church's Vatican Library. However, no one was able to decipher it."

"Even Index, who contains 103, 000 volumes?" Laura asked through the talisman as they silently pass by a gift shop.

Stiyl frowned as he didn't seem to like what Laura was implying, "What would you say if someone who could read The Book of the Law were to appear?"

"What!"

This time, Stiyl spoke rather verbally and with a loud tone as all of the sudden, he just attracted the attention of the people just innocently passing by who though he must have gone crazy when he shouted to no one—from their own perspectives. Laura must have sensed the awkward situation as she abruptly halts and turned to the sorcerer before signaling him to keep silent as much as possible. Stiyl can only sulk as they then pushed forward before the archbishop continued communicating through the talisman, "There is a Roman Catholic Sister by the name of Orsola Aquinas."

"Do they plan on using The Book of the Law as a method of regaining their power?" Stiyl asked.

"You need not to worry about that. At least not for now…" Laura looked like she had nothing to worry in life but what she was about to say next just surprised the fire sorcerer out of his wits, "…Because both The Book of the Law and Orsola Aquinas have been stolen."

"Tsk!" Stiyl felt disgusted as he stopped smoking his cigarette. In all of their talk, he didn't realize that they have just reached the gates of St. George's Cathedral—the de facto seat of the Anglican Church and, in effect, the Necessarius branch.

"How about we discuss more about this inside?"

Since the resumption of classes at Seirin High School, Kuroko Tetsuya felt peace—or at least, that's how he felt about the majority of the days between today and the time when they went to the Wadatsumi in Kanagawa to stop Angel Arc.

This meant that in the meeting that was supposed to be only between him, Kamijou, Tsuchimikado, and Kanzaki, a lot of people had been dragged in it, namely Kagami Taiga, Kiyoshi Teppei, Takao Kazunari, Shintaro Midorima, and last but not the least, Kise Ryouta. All of whom are newcomers to the magic world that Kuroko can say he has now been familiar enough with it and in one instance, Tsuchimikado had to destroy the memories of Midorima, Takao, and Kise so that the presence of the magic factions will only remain within the Japanese elements of Necessarius and the key members of the Seirin High School basketball team.

A day after Kamijou has been released from the hospital, Kuroko and Kagami had to hide behind the door of the gymnasium as Riko, who was already furious as hell, nearly killed them as Kiyoshi was busy trying to pacify her. Hyuuga also wanted to go after their heads but opted not to as after all, their two rookies are the key future of their basketball club. Luckily for Kuroko, he didn't bring his motorcycle as it would have been a collateral damage from the anger and fury that their female coach is showing right now.

But aside from their usual basketball practices, Kuroko hadn't heard anything back from Kamijou, Tsuchimikado or from the members of the Magic Factions although he did got a call from his cousin Shirai, saying that there was a crisis from Academy City that suddenly entered in form of a person. Quickly calling Kamijou for confirmation, the tealnette immediately learned that the place was infiltrated by a magical agent named Sherry Cromwell and he would have gone up to Academy City himself if not for the fact that Kagami asked him for help in his low grades and as much as he wanted to say no, he still placed basketball as his number one priority and he decided to stay and help him. To his delight, the crisis caused by Sherry isn't much devastating as Accelerator or even the Angel Arc spell and it was resolved immediately within the day.

Right now, classes had just finished and as Kuroko was already packing up his belongings, he suddenly called out to Kagami, who was already putting away his notebook and was about to pick up his duffel bag.

"Kagami-kun."

"Yeah, Kuroko?" Kagami immediately asked. He knew it must be something important.

Kuroko blinked as he replied, "I'll be attending in a short meeting with Hitomi-san's group in preparation for the report in two days. For now, please go first and I'll just catch up. Also, don't let anyone else get near my locker room."

Kagami snorted as he picks up his duffel bag, "Tsk. Why do you have to keep you M1911 gun in a basketball locker room of all places? Well, actually, why did that Tsuchimikado even gave you guns in the first place? I've known you long enough to know that you're not a serial killer nor a murderer and a war freak…"

"As he said, it's for self-defense against other magical factions. Currently, only you, me, and Kiyoshi-senpai knows the existence of the magical world aside from those in Academy City. I even had to turn down an invitation from Akashi-kun since he must ran out of patience in asking answers from Kise-kun and Midorima-kun," Kuroko explained, remembering how the blonde small forward of Kaijo nearly got stabbed in the eyes by Akashi as the former failed to explain what Kuroko was doing in Kanagawa since the blonde lost his memories about the said incident. Kuroko did pity him but it was a small price to pay to save the world from Angel Arc, "Besides, it's only small arms kept there. The Uzi submachine gun and a SAR-21 bullpup rifle were kept at home and they were also given by Tsuchimikado-kun as a form of compensation after Kamijou-kun's hospitalization. By the way, have you also kept your compensation?"

"I'm lucky that my dad doesn't live with me or else, he'd be freaking out as to why a teenager like me had a Remington shotgun!" Kagami growled, "Not to mention Kiyoshi-senpai's airhedeadness that he might end up pointing his own M1911 pistol at coach and captain."

"Kagami-kun, keep silent and let's move now," Kuroko shushed as he and the tall Seirin power forward then walked towards the door and separated when once they were outside. Briskly walking, it didn't take long before Kagami noticed five familiar people all coming from a different direction walking into the same path as the power jumper.

"Oh, Kagami!"

"Oh, Koganei-senpai…Tsuchida-senpai…Kawahara…Furihata…and…" Kagami struggled to remember one of them before he did remember, "…Fukuda…"

"So you're coming to practice, right?" Koganei asked something quite stupid although Kagami just didn't mind, "Well, we just came out of class and where's Kuroko? He better not be skipping another round of training regimen. You all know what will happen if you two skipped." Koganei then checked around just to make sure than the normally invisible Kuroko really isn't present.

"Kuroko's just attending a meeting concerning a report in our class that would be due in two days," Kagami explained, "And it's not like the runt wants to skip, you know. It's just that…things have been rather strange that it forced us to work it out…" He bit his tongue, not wanting to mention things like Angel Fall or the Russian Orthodox Church to guys like Koganei or Tsuchida lest he wanted to be called insane.

"You sure? Well, you see, Kuroko's been acting very strange…" Tsuchida said as they were already outside of the main school building, "I mean, yes, he's still the same invisible and bored-looking guy but recently, he looks as if he's on edge, like he's watching outside like a hawk waiting for his prey. And thinking about it, his basketball skills also developed abnormally fast! It looked like the said training in Academy City look advanced."

"Well…yeah…" Kagami can only nod as he wanted to kill Kuroko for leaving him in this awkward moment. Dammit Kuroko and the stupid magic world! He can only mentally rage as he grips on the handle of his duffel bag. If he remembered correctly, Tsucimikado had test-fired Kuroko's bullpup assault rifle in a way that the bullet nearly grazed Kagami's cheek and this sent him to nearly killing the blonde if it wasn't for the Blonde Backstabber's ability to keep a person sitting literally in the ground.

"By the way, who wants to have ice cream after practice?" Furihata asked rather nervously, "Me and Fukuda and Kawahara were planning to ask out both Kuroko and Kagami for an ice cream session and since you senpais are here, we might as well ask you out for cold treats as well."

"Sounds good!" Koganei cheered as he immediately accepted it.

"Let's ask coach and Hyuga first although I'm pretty sure they would accept. It's always tiring after practice so—" Tsuchida would have continued it but suddenly, a strange and foreign voice cut him off.

"I don't think that's possible, as of the moment…"

Suddenly, all the five basketball players halted on their tracks as all of the sudden, a voice none of them are familiar with suddenly joined their conversation. Feeling an intense energy coming from their backs, all of them turned and they nearly gawked when they saw a very tall, redheaded foreign man whose height immediately overshadows both Kagami and even Kiyoshi. The said man was smoking a cigarette and was sporting a black habit that makes him look like a satanic priest. He also had a barcode tattoo and rings in his hands and ears.

Scary! Was the only thought than ran into the minds of Tsuchida and Koganei as they were both shivering under the gaze of the man, who literally overshadowed them.

"I take it that you are an associate and teammate of Kuroko Tetsuya…" the man quickly glanced at Kagami, who suddenly felt a surge in his adrenaline as his instincts tell him this isn't a good scenario, "Then to cut things short, where is he?"

"Wh-What do you want with Kuroko and how do you know him?!" Kagami's muscled tense as he was prepared for a possible fight.

"It seems that you do look like an idiot, as Kanzaki and Tsuchimikado said…" The man snorted, quickly fueling Kagami's already hot-headed state, "Seeing that your IQ isn't even halfway of Kuroko's brain, I'll have to introduce myself. I'm Stiyl Magnus and I'm a member of Necessarius…"

"Necessarius? You mean…" It finally clicked on Kagami's brain as he remembered that he heard that term from Kuroko and a certain Saint with a large bust, "You belong to that maniac Magic organization who just fought off that stupid Archangel that disguised as a Russian lady from some Eastern Church?!"

"It seems that for an imbecile, you do have a sharp memory," Stiyl sounded unimpressed, "Then you're right. The reason why I'm here is because we needed his assistance again since the Imagine Breaker is stupid as you are…"

"Why you…" Fed up with the insults, Kagami lunged at the taller priest but Stiyl simply evaded it and before the Seirin ace can see it coming, he was kneed violently on the stomach. Kagami ended up crashing on the floor as Stiyl then used a magic spell that sent the hulking power forward to a deep sleep. Quickly picking up the power forward, he then pushed a letter towards Koganei, who had to be pushed forward by an equally frightened Tsuchida to get the letter.

"Give that to Kuroko. Other than that, no word should come out about this unless you five have a death wish."

As much as the five basketball cagers wanted to fight back, they can't do anything but to nod in fear.

"Thanks a lot, Hitomi-san…"

"Actually, it should be me who should be thanking you a lot!" Hitomi Sarada cheerfully hugged their talnette member, who didn't flinched although he didn't hugged her back, "I mean, you were the reason why we were able to come up with this concept. It would make our report as easy as a piece of cake and at the same time, it would interest out classmates!"

"Well, it would interest everyone except for Kagami-kun…"

"Ah yeah. That Bakagami…" Hitomi wanted to crush a piece of paper cup as she remembered a certain redhead tall student, "I'm pretty sure Hanesaki's group is now regretting in picking up that idiot Bakagami-kun. I heard that Ayano-chan had to practically drag your basketball teammate in a library so that he could come on time at their meeting."

"Well…Bakagami's a Bakagami…" Shinoda Chiyou, another female groupmate of Kuroko snickered, "I mean, he sleeps all day in class…"

"Hnnn. I guess Kagami-kun's really like that," Kuroko sighed at the ugly reputation of his best friend, "But on the other hand, he's reliable on basketball…"

"Yeah, it's pretty obvious. I mean, he thinks nothing but basketball every day and all day," Shinoda groans.

Kuroko can only sigh as he knew that the two girls got a point. "I'll take my leave now since I also need to attend to our basketball practice."

Quickly leaving the area, he then walked straight ahead as he picked up his duffel bag and proceeded to go to the basketball gymnasium. But as he was already nearing the proximity of the gym, he then heard what looked like to be a ruckus inside the gymnasium even is he still had to cover a considerable distance to reach the area. Uh, did something happened? The only time something like that happened was when he pissed off Riko by not telling her the exact reason why he as well as Kagami and Kiyoshi left for Kanagawa.

Sprinting towards the gymnasium, he then pushed the doors, only to be greeted by the sight of a worried Hyuga, a troubled Riko, a confused Kiyoshi, and a shivering certain group of five people, who looked like they had seen a ghost as they faces are pale white.

"Anou…coach…captain…what is happening?" Kuroko calmly asked them but due to his lack of presence, he instead scared the hell out of them.

"Kuroko! Konoyaro!" Riko shrieked as she held on her heart.

"I'm sorry coach but what's happening here?" Kuroko asked as he noticed that every one of the boys is still on their regular school uniforms and not on their practice t-shirts and shorts, "And why aren't you all changed…"

Izuki, who was serious for once instead of spouting his useless puns, then sent a look at Koganei, who only gulped before he then gives an envelope to Kuroko, "Ku-Kuroko…a strange man had taken away Kagami…"

"Huh?" The tealnette didn't know how to react. As far as he knows, a normal Japanese person wouldn't be able to overpower someone of Kagami's build.

"Just read the letter…" Tsuchida looked like he didn't want to relieve those painful memories some minutes back as Kuroko rips the letter open. He then read aloud:

Dear Kuroko Tetsuya,

If you value this idiot's life, then tonight at seven, come to the abandoned theater called Gloaming House. If possible, come alone but knowing that team of yours, I doubt you can keep that. You might as well tell this teammate of yours by the name of Kiyoshi Teppei to bring the weapons that Tsuchimikado gave to him.

Although he had a good idea on who it might be, Kuroko decided to ask just to make sure he wasn't wrong, "Anou…Koganei-senpai, can you describe what this kidnapper looks like?"

"Well…he was tall. Actually, he looked like he was even taller than Kiyoshi…" Koganei began to recall, "He looks like an Englishman but his Japanese is surprisingly fluent. His hair is red like Kagami's and he had a strange barcode tattoo under his right eye. He was smoking a lot of those cancer tubes and he had a lot of earrings…"

Kuroko sighed. It was him all along. "Ah, it's fine, Koganei-senpai…" the Phantom Sixth Man of the Generation of Miracles replied, "I know him personally…"

Furihata gawked at him in surprise, "Huh?! You personally knew Kagami's kidnapper?!"

"It's a long story but yes, Furihata-kun. We've met back at Academy City…" he then keeps the letter on his pocket, "By the way, me and the guy would be meeting at the abandoned Gloaming House…"

"Wait…Gloaming House…isn't that just a stone's throw away from here?" Hyuga asked, his ears perking up at hearing the familiar place.

"Yes but I need to keep walking now, Kiyoshi-senpai…"

"Hmmm?"

"Since it's a delicate mission, I needed to get those things from my locker room," Kuroko said and at once, Kiyoshi understood as he immediately got serious although this only got the rest of the team even confused. The tealnette then sprinted towards their locker room at once and he didn't waste time in opening his locker, revealing a shiny RIA M1911 with the rail mount under the barrel. I don't want to do this but the situation calls for it, unfortunately. He sighed as he then checks the double-stacked magazine if it's loaded properly. But as he was putting his pistol on his belt, a ring came out of his cellphone. Quickly pulling out his device, he was shocked to see who the caller was.

"Uh…hello, Kamijou-kun," Kuroko was surprised to hear that it was none other than a certain Imagine Breaker, "Uh…huh…uh…huh…huh, what?"

He didn't know whether he should be amused or not by what he just heard on the phone. But one thing's for sure.

It was going to be a long night.

The abandoned Twilight Theater was located some ten to fifteen minutes away from Seirin High School.

Business had stopped just three weeks ago, which was why the building still did not look damaged. Furthermore, all the interior equipment had been removed, so it seemed rather empty inside right now, and, as no one had swept the area since then, everything was covered in dust. It could not be considered a ruin, though. The place could be reopened if one cleaned it up and reinstalled the equipment.

"Let me out, you freaking priest! Let me out!"

Kagami Taiga was currently yelling in rage as he was bounded in chains by Stiyl Magnus, who was ignoring the pleas of the Seirin power forward. As the cager was struggling to escape, another captive, which was surprisingly Index, the bearer of the 103, 000 grimoires, was peacefully sitting on the floor in front of Stiyl. Currently, the three people are inside the abandoned theater of the Gloaming House as they were waiting for certain individuals to arrive.

"I think you know most of what's going on," Stiyl ignored Kagami and turned his attention to Index, who simply nodded.

"The Book of the Law has gone missing," the silver-haired nun replied in a tone of urgency, "And the only person capable of deciphering it, Orsola Aquinas, was also kidnapped, right? And apparently, the Amakusa Catholics are responsible, right?"

"And what does this have to do with Kuroko, teme!" Kagami was listening to their conversation and although he didn't understand most of it, he knew getting kidnapped just for the sake of drawing out his teammate and shadow means this business isn't just something for a prank.

"Will you just shut up there, Kagami Taiga? We don't need your mouth here in this meeting," Stiyl barked rather rudely, "You've been yapping there like a madman."

"I won't be acting like this if it wasn't for the fact that you kidnapped me and sent a note telling Kuroko to come here!" Kagami retorted with a dark expression.

Stiyl sighed as he calmed down, remembering what a certain archbishop told him…

"How on earth was it taken from that secured Vatican Library?!"

Stiyl asked Laura, who was currently eating her snack while they were seated at the porch of St. George's Cathedral.

"The Roman Catholic Church was transporting The Book of the Law to a Japanese museum," Laura began to explain as she closes her eyes and stops eating. This earned a scoff from Stiyl, who claims that it was ridiculous. "So is this why the Roman Catholic Church is requesting the help from the Anglican Church?"

"No," Laura replied as she sips her tea, "We have a much bigger problem on our hands."

"Which is?"

"I haven't been able to contact Kanzaki," Laura said with a very serious expression, "Kanzaki was formerly the top priestess of the Amakusa Church. If she were to find out that the Amakusa Church and the Roman Catholic Church have turned against each other…it would have dire consequences. I'd like you to settle this mess before Kanzaki does anything."

She then sliced a portion of her cake.

"By any means necessary."

Stiyl looked a bit grim, "Kanzaki is a Saint, one of the less than twenty in the world," he argued, "Don't tell me you want to fight her…"

"If such need arises…" Laura looked unperturbed by that possibility, "I want you to go to Academy City first and Stiyl, take this with you." Laura then stood up and pulled out an iron cross before she hands it to the fire mage.

"What's this?"

"Consider it a small gift for Orsola," Laura posed cutely before turning her back, "And get in touch with Index, her caretaker and if possible, the Seirin boys that you were babbling to me before."

Stiyl didn't know how to react on that.

"We'll need both a specialist and people who were familiar with the geography outside Academy City, won't we?" Laura smiled innocently as possible, "I think Kuroko and Kagami as well as this Kiyoshi person would be helpful in case you get engaged in a bloody battle." She chuckled in the end.

Stiyl can only huff at that meeting with Laura Stuart as he smokes another cigarette.

"Why are you dragging Touma, Tetsuya, Taiga, and Teppei into this?!" Index demanded, "I don't know myself. The latter three, I guess they're the ones who know this place quite well. As for Kamijou Touma…why do I even have to work for him…" He bitterly noted as he walks away from Index.

"So you're going to go all away to the Amakusa Church's base?" Index asked.

"No, the circumstances have slightly changed," Stiyl replied as Kagami can only listen to them, each time cursing.

Suddenly, they heard what looks like to be sounds of footsteps created by high heels slowly nearing the building. As the three got their attention on the open door in their back, the sound only got louder. After a few seconds, an individual entered, all clad in a nun's costume.

"Kuroko-kun! I don't get why you own a gun!"

"Coach's right, Kuroko! Why the hell do you have a gun in your possession?"

"Kuroko…!"

"Kuroko...!"

"Kuroko…!"

The tealnette in question can only sigh as he was tempted to tune them out while they were walking towards a certain bus station. Ever since having to bring Kiyoshi to their meeting with Kamijou, who requested to meet in a certain rendezvous, he was little surprised when his teammates and coach finally demanded that they tag along as they were curious as to what is this about again. And when Kuroko was about to cook up some made-up story Izuki noticed a bulge in Kuroko's belt and when they found out that it was an actual firearm, all hell break loose.

"Senpais…" Kuroko tried to sound as polite as possible though he himself is beginning to lose hi patience, "We're supposed to save Kagami-kun from this friend of mine, not argue whether it is right for me to bring a gun on public."

"That's because it's against the law, Kuroko-kun!" Riko shrieked, tempted to lock her shadow player in a Boston Crab position, "If we're just going to rescue Bakagami, can't we just call the police instead?!"

Kiyoshi decided to intervene on behalf of the embattled tealnette, "Riko, this is a very complex situation so I don't think calling the police would solve the problem. It's a thing that only Kuroko understands…"

"Well…bringing a gun as well as meeting a weird priest-like figure is very taxing for my brain…" Tsuchida complained as he was walking behind the large group, "By the way, who are we supposed to meet up with before we go and save Kagami's ass?"

"It's someone me and Kiyoshi-senpai knows personally," Kiyoshi can only smile as the words of their passing specialist caused everyone to give him a blank stare, "The thing is, the companion of this friend of mine is also kidnapped by the same guy so I suspect that they're being kept in the same area. And Kiyoshi-senpai, did you bring your own gun?"

"It's in my back. Don't worry, Kuroko. We got your back," Kiyoshi smiled goofily as Hyuga simply smacks him.

"Ahou!"

Looking at his watch, Kuroko noticed that it was just past 6 PM; there was still nearly one hour until the time indicated in the letter. Another thought that came up on his mind is the fact that if a battle does occur immediately, how the hell should the others fights back? He, Kagami and Kiyoshi would be fine since they have something to use as a weapon while he had brought along Kagami's shotgun which he got from his house using an extra key given to him. In contrast, the next lethal weapon the group has is Izuki's slingshot which was used in a presentation, Riko's slapping fan kept in her bag, and Furihata's staff which was also used in a school presentation. What the hell can those things do? Kuroko groaned mentally as they spotted a bus stop where they promised to meet up. Immediately leaning to a post, he then inhaled and exhaled as he then brings out a can of cold, dark coffee and began to slurp in quietly.

"Woah, Kuroko, since when did you start drinking coffee?" Izuki asked, quite surprised.

"Anou…since I started training in Academy City," Kuroko replied although he felt somewhat uncomfortable with the question.

Koganei piped in, "That's strange in itself because you used to suck up so many vanilla milkshakes before you even went to Academy City."

"Well, be happy that he ditched too much sugar, Koganei although I still can't accept the fact that our polite Kuroko-kun had a gun in his hands," Riko sighed as he decided to just go with the flow for now. Kiyoshi, meanwhile, was busy checking his own M1911 to see if he had enough ammunition while he was being watched by Hyuga, who looked a bit creeped out with his serious expression. In some ways, the clutch captain would rather have a goofy Iron Heart rather than a serious one, which says something about the kind of person Kiyoshi is.

At that moment, Kuroko found two individuals walking near the same position where they are and was elated to see who it was. Kamijou-kun and…who is that…

The individual whom the Imagine Breaker is with seemed like a foreigner, and was about as tall as the spiky haired boy. She was busy scanning around the area surrounding them, however, and it seemed like she was having trouble.

Her attire, a black nun's habit that she still wore in such hot weather, was rather unique. Naturally, the sleeves and the dress were long. Squinting, Kuroko noticed long silver zippers around the elbows and about twenty centimeters above the knees. It seemed like the sleeves and skirt of the nun's habit were detachable, though she had not done that. Her hands were covered with thin white gloves, and her hair could not be seen, for it was not only covered by a nun's cap, like what Index wore, but also a scarf. Since her hair could be covered just like that, it would seem she had short hair.

Kuroko looked at her out of the corner of his eye and thought. Uh, it's a nun...could she be a killer nun who's related to Index-san?

"Kuroko! Kiyoshi-senpai!"

The two mentioned boys blinked as the rest got their attentions captured by the arrival of the two new guests in the area.

"Kamijou-kun…" Kuroko stood up from his leaning position and quickly sprinted up to meet with the spiky haired boy, who seemed a bit exhausted from walking around the area before meeting up with the tealnette.

"Ara…ara…are you tired?" It was at this point that the nun that was with Kamijou suddenly spoke to him like she was extremely concerned of the boy's well-being. I don't know but all of the sudden, I had the feeling that the nun's as dumb as Kise-kun. Kuroko observed as the rest of the Seirin team was watching with somewhat weird faces.

"Eh? Does Kuroko also know that nun?" Hyuga asked as he pushes up his glasses.

Izuki snorted, "I don't know…"

The nun was busy wiping off the sweat from Kamijou's face that not surprisingly, she didn't noticed that presence of tealnette, who simply stared at the two.

"Uhm…Orsola…I needed to talk with Kuroko real quick…" Kamijou pleaded.

"Uhm…who…" The nun named Orsola blinked and turned, only to see a mop of light blue that she didn't noticed a while back. The moment her eye sight caught it, she felt like her heart beat exploded as she staggered back before recomposing herself, "Uh…huh…w-well, I'm sorry if I didn't see you. I'm Orsola Aquinas…"

"I don't mind. I'm pretty used to it," Kuroko noted the foreign look of the nun and deduced that she must have been Italian by origin, "By the way, I'm Kuroko Tetsuya and I'm a member of the basketball club of Seirin High School near here and…" He then calmly introduced his teammates, who all gathered near around them in sheer interest, "Kamijou-kun, Orsola-san, these are my Seirin basketball teammates. This is Hyuga Junpei-senpai, our captain. Then there's Aida Riko-san and Kiyoshi Teppei-senpai, our coach and bigman, respectively. There is Izuki Shun-senpai, Mitobe Rinnosuke-senpai, Koganei Shinji-senpai and Tsuchida Satoshi-senpai. There's also Kawahara-kun. Furihata-kun, and Fukuda-kun…"

"Ah…I see…nice to meet you, Hyuga-san," Orsola then reached out her right hand.

"A-Ahhh…" Hyuga awkwardly chuckled as he took it and shook hands, "Nice to meet you too…"

Hyuga, you're so difficult and clumsy. Izuki sighed as the nun seemed to be looking around and this caused the point guard to ask, "Excuse me, Orsola-san but you looked a bit troubled. Is something wrong?"

Kamijou decided to be the one to speak for her, "Well sirs, Orsola ran into a bit of a trouble," He then motioned to Kuroko, "Kuroko, Kiyoshi-senpai, be on guard. According to her, she's being chased by a group of magicians around here. I can't bring her to Academy City because…you know…"

The tealnette became alerted as he then cocks his pistol, "Well…I did sensed that something must be happening as Kagami-kun got kidnapped by Stiyl. He must have done that to catch my attention although I didn't know what it is for now…"

As Kuroko and Kamijou were both exchanging topics with Orsola, Hyuga suddenly turned to Kiyoshi, who was busy in checking if his shotgun is fully-loaded, "Oi, Kiyoshi, what is the meaning of this?! You can't possibly believe in what she's saying!"

"Yeah, I mean, magicians? The only magicians I know are the ones I see performing on streets…" Koganei added.

Kiyoshi sighed. As expected. They don't know yet what really exists beyond the knowledge found on text books. I guess I should let Kuroko explain this. He thought as he then realizes that if that were to happen, the possibility that another Angel Fall-like battle occurring isn't far-fetched and this time, the Seirin basketball team would be involved, "I think you should first wait and see what happens in the next 48 hours. It's something all of you won't understand for now but Kuroko and Kagami as well as myself had experienced and seen what real magic is." And then that really happens, I do hope you get to have decent weapons as much as I hate that idea.

"Te-Teppei…" Riko can only gape in surprise. This was one of the rare times she had heard him use that dead-serious voice and this moment wasn't even on a basketball game.

Stiyl and Index walked out of the theater hall of the Twilight Theater and arrived at the lobby, which seemed to be where the ticket booth had originally been. Along the way, the Fire Mage had dragged the hapless Kagami Taiga, who can only growl angrily as his face is rubbing on the floor.

A girl in a black nun's habit was walking in front of them.

She seemed to be a year or two younger than Index. Her hair was reddish, much like the hairs of Stiyl and Kagami, and was tied into many pencil-thin braids. The sleeves of her robe nearly covered her fingers, but her skirt was so short that her thighs were exposed. Looking closely, there seemed to be something that looked like a zipper on the lower edge of her skirt. It seemed like the skirt was part of a detachable dress, but only the lower half had been removed. She appeared extremely thin, as her slim waist was even slimmer than Index's, who was rather thin herself.

She was about as tall as Index, but she wore soft wooden sandals with soles about thirty centimeters thick; as she walked, they made a sound like horseshoes tapping on the ground. Those sandals were called "chopines", and had been very fashionable in Italy during the seventeenth century.

She was a nun from the Roman Catholic Church.

"The situation's a mess," The petite nun began to grunt, "Our information's all over the place too. I don't even know if we've secured The Book of the Law…"

"Oi…" Of all people present, it was Kagami who decided to interrupt, "I get that you're looking for something magical again but at the very least, can you introduce yourself? Even this bastard here had the decency to tell his name…"

"Ah…I'm sorry for the late introduction…" The redhead nun apologized quickly as she tells her name, "I'm Agnese Sanctis from the Roman Catholic Church."

"Stiyl Magnus…" Stiyl decided to go with the flow.

"Kagami Taiga…" The other redhead in the group gritted his teeth.

"Index Librorum Prohibitorum…"

"Well, what kind of spell did the Amakusa Church use?" Stiyl immediately asked.

Agnese shook her head, "To be precise, we don't have any idea on it as well. Just now, we ambushed the Amakusas as they were deporting Orsola. Although some of us managed to save her, she got taken away by them again before the rest could meet up with her. Then we got her back, but then another group of Amakusas captured her again and this went on and on and on. Because the area in which we trapped them was too big, it ended up that each group had too few people despite our large numbers, and the Amakusas got an opportunity. Just as both sides were fighting to get Orsola, she disappeared again."

Agnese's Japanese was mixed with polite honorifics and rude words.

If she learned her Japanese while doing her mission in Japan, then it seems like the Japanese people that she talked to were mostly detectives or policemen. Stiyl thought.

Is it just me or is that her Japanese is a bit…disorganized? Even Kagami was thinking the same thing and his worst subject was Japanese language.

He saw Agnese turn around to look at him. Her short skirt lifted slightly, revealing even more of her snow-white thighs. Kagami, this isn't the time to become a pervert! The Seirin power forward screeched to himself as he looked away on the opposite direction.

"What, you two fellow redheads got a problem?" Agnese asked aggressively but it quickly clicked to her mind what was wrong, "Ah, I'm sorry, it's not that I don't speak English, but my English has a very heavy Italian accent. I don't really mind if I'm talking to people of other countries, but I don't dare show my inferior English to you Englishmen."

Stiyl did not seem to mind, as he shook the cigarette in his mouth and said, "You don't have to worry about those trivial issues; we can even talk in Italian. Kagami Taiga here is only a bait and someone who's doing the dirty job so pay no attention to the barbarian…"

"Who are you calling a barbarian?!"

"Please don't speak Italian," Agnese ignored the raging Kagami as she suddenly became haughty, "If I were to hear anyone speak Italian with such a strong British accent, I'd probably laugh so much that I wouldn't be able to focus on my work. In this situation, it's better to use another language that we can communicate with, like Japanese. No one will argue if we use a language that neither of us are comfortable with."

Agnese's thick sandals continued to make that horseshoe-tapping sound.

These nun's a bit of a headache. Stiyl sighed while Index hasn't spoken yet.

Stiyl stole a glance at Index, who was still unhappy as she curled her lips, not saying a single word.

He then turned back to Agnese and said, "Then, does that mean that the Amakusa Church, who stole The Book of the Law and Orsola from you guys, is a threatening force?"

"You want to say that the largest Christian sect in the world, the Roman Catholic Church, is useless despite looking so strong, right?" Agnese spat back, "To be honest, we can't argue against that. Just by looking at the numbers and armaments, we clearly have the upper hand, but they have the geographical advantage, especially since Japan is their territory. We're really angry over being overwhelmed by a much smaller organization, but I have to admit, they're really strong."

"So it seems that they won't just surrender quietly," Stiyl pulls out another cigarette and lights it up, "But that's why we have Kuroko Tetsuya from the Japanese side. He's someone who can help us in terms of geography…"

"Oh so now, you're roping Kuroko into these?!" Kagami didn't like how Stiyl worded out his sentence.

"Can you actually shut up there, ruffian?" Stiyl insulted Kagami once more, "You know, I'm quite unfamiliar with Christian history in Japan. Do you know what kind of techniques they use? Maybe I can make use of how the enemy fights to prepare some searching or defensive types of magical circles or talismans."

Agnese seemed to find it difficult to answer the question that the priest had raised, "To be honest…we haven't yet gathered enough information regarding the techniques that the Amakusas use. Since they're derived from the Jesuits, they should be a branch of the Roman Catholic Church. But they've been so greatly influenced by the indigenous beliefs and cults in Japan and to some extent, from China that they're now completely different from the Roman Catholic Church."

Stiyl turned to look at Index, wanting to seek her some advice.

Now was the right time for Index, who had knowledge exceeding ten thousand times that of a normal person, to fulfill her role, "The special trait of the Amakusa Church is secrecy. They don't use spells or magic circles plainly. They hide all rituals and incantations in everyday actions and customs. Their version of Christianity was deeply infused with Shinto and Buddhist concepts that even professional magicians cannot discern their true identity."

Index then breathed in before continuing.

"Thus, it would put Tetsuya's Misdirection to shame in terms of plain trickery," the silver-haired nun replied, causing Kagami's eyes to widen.

Stiyl shook the cigarette in his mouth and said, "So, this is a group of experts highly skilled in Idol Theory. Hnn, seems like their specialty would be long-range sniping and not close-range combat. Hopefully, they don't have a large technique like the Gregorian Chant. I do hope Tsuchimikado had taught Kiyoshi something useful…"

Huh? What? What is this Magnus guy saying about Tsuchimikado teaching Kiyoshi something? Kagami was of course curious as he heard the words come out of the mouth of the English priest but before he can even ask anything about it…

"Oh, it's Touma and Tetsuya and Teppei! And there are a lot of people with them!"

Quickl, Agnese looked behind her and the moment she saw the large mass of people, she froze as she recognized one of them.

"Orsola Aquinas?"

If Kamijou Touma wasn't pissed before at how the things came to be, he is certainly going to be, right now.

"What is the meaning of this?!" Kuroko had to restrain the raging Imagine Breaker from physically smacking Stiyl as a while back, Kagami was finally freed and was furiously complaining about every horrible treatment that he endured, "Why did you pretend to kidnap both Index and Kagami?!"

"Oh so you saw right through it?" Stiyl mocked the smaller boy as he simply holds his cigarette, "I was just going to have both you and Kuroko assist me in finding a missing individual. And besides, Kuroko, I already expected that Kiyoshi Teppei would be with you but not this large group of useless people." He then looks disgustingly at Izuki's slingshot, "Don't tell me that this team of yours thinks that this is a mere playground…"

Hyuga got provoked at the redhead's taunts and it was only through the efforts of the similarly-incensed Izuki and Koganei that he was being restrained from attacking the Fire Mage.

"I'm sorry for this but you can't blame them, Stiyl," Kuroko politely apologized then turned serious, "If you're just going to ask for assistance, you should have just relayed to me me through phone or a text instead of kidnapping a teammate. It would have avoided such…complications…"

"I supposed you're right, Kuroko," Stiyl looked impressed at how the tealnette managed to keep his head cool while reminding him of an actual fatal mistake, contrasting to the anger shown by Kamijou, "It seems to me that I should have used more humane methods of catching your attention but right now, that can wait later. So speaking as a gentleman to a gentleman, I would be grateful if you will turn us over that sister…"

Irritated, Stiyl blew the smoke from the cigarette out of his mouth and said, "The nun beside you is the person we're looking for. Her name is Orsola Aquinas. Thanks for your help, Kamijou Touma and Kuroko Tetsuya. All of you can go back now."

"Hey. Using a kidnapping as an excuse to lure me out, forcing me to use these documents that came from who-knows-where to leave Academy City, then making me walk three kilometers under the big, hot sun when the temperature's around forty degrees Celsius... and now you're telling me to go back?" Kamijou muttered.

"Didn't I thank you already? What, do you expect me to treat you to some shaved ice?"

Kamijou Touma lowered his head, gritting his teeth. Index stood near him, her face looking pale, not knowing what to do. Kuroko and Kiyoshi were the same as they really didn't know how to defuse the now-growing tension. The Seirin basketball team, not really knowing what really is happening around them, felt no better as they tried to stand on neutral grounds and opted to just watch the ongoing drama.

Something near Kamijou's temple broke, creating a "pow" sound.

"And here I was, thinking that I'd try to get along with you even if our personalities don't match! But now I've changed my mind!"

"Stop saying all that nonsense and hand Orsola over to Agnese. Don't tell me you want me to alleviate that loneliness? Such a pity. I can't do it, and neither do I want to. That's too gross." Stiyl can't help but mock Kamijou as he blows smoke in his face.

Moved with pity over what he sees as a sadistic torture to the Imagine Breaker, Kuroko decided to speak to break the tension, "Anou…actually, there's something that I want to ask since it's been bothering me for quite some time." He then turns his attention to Orsola, "Orsola-san, can you tell me why you said that you were being hunted?"

For some reason, after hearing Kamijou's words, Orsola trembled. It seemed like she wanted to suppress her shock, but had failed to.

Upon seeing that, Kiyoshi and Kagami felt suspicious. Orsola was not looking at Kuroko but at Stiyl and Agnese, who had a poker face.

"No way. It won't be so easy to take Orsola back."

The voice came from above Riko's head. Everyone looked upward and saw a softball-sized paper balloon floating about seven meters above them. The thin paper surface of the balloon continued to vibrate as a man's voice came out of it.

Out of instinct, Kuroko. Kagami, and Kiyoshi all drew their firearms as team Seirin can only watch on both disbelief and awe at what seemed to be a display of power far beyond the imagination of an ordinary human.

"Orsola Aquinas, I believe that you yourself know this well. Instead of returning to the Roman Catholic Church, how about you join us instead, and enjoy a much more meaningful life?"

"It's the Amakusa!" Agnese yelled in despair.

Suddenly, an ear-piercing sound could be heard as the blade of a long sword sprung out of the ground between Kamijou and Orsola. Since everyone's attention had been preoccupied with the object above them, the sudden change below their feet shocked them.

Then, the same sound could be heard another two times, and two more blades came out from the ground. The three blades surrounded Orsola.

The swords were like the fins revealed by sharks swimming near the surface of the water. With Orsola at the center, the three blades cut an equilateral triangle about two meters on each side.

"Aaaahh—"

Before Orsola's voice could properly convert to a scream, her body, together with the triangular piece of asphalt, fell down into a deep abyss.

"Amakusa!"

Agnese shouted as she stretched her hand out, but it was already too late; Orsola's body had been swallowed by the darkness. Kamijou rushed to the side of the triangular hole and regretfully covered his mouth.

Bang! Bang!

Everyone from the Seirin team suddenly dropped down as Kuroko and Kagami then began fire their M1911 and Remington shotgun, respectively, in the hole while Kiyoshi seemed to be in reverie but in a few seconds, he break out of the trance and, to the slight surprise of his teammtes, began to do some weird but fast sets of hand signals as he muttered some words nobody around him seemed to understand. Kuroko saw this and slightly sweatdropped. Kiyoshi-senpai, are you sure you can do that now?

"Oi, Kiyoshi, what…"

Before Hyuga can even finish his sentence properly, out of thin air and into the scene, a phalanx of Komodo Dragons suddenly appeared in their sights and as Kuroko and Kagami stopped firing, the large lizards quickly jumped into the whole while Kiyoshi closed his eyes, seemingly trying to draw something from his mental discerning. After a few minutes, the reptiles quickly returned and as soon as they gathered around Kiyoshi, they all transformed into mist and the particles quickly accumulated into a small ball which flew directly into the right hand of Kiyoshi.

Afterwards, the small ball disintegrated.

"We're too late," Kiyoshi grimly said, "Or rather, I was too late because I hesitated to do the Hand Signs. Kuroko and Kagami were able to react quickly and thus, they managed to completely injure one of those Amakusa guys but I reacted too late and my summons couldn't last in this state of mine…"

"Summons? And what do you mean that you can't last?" Koganei asked, already exasperated by the fact that today, a lot of things had happened, from Kuroko meeting with a nun to Kiyoshi performing what looked to be a supernatural act.

Stiyl grunted as it took him a minute to recognize what Kiyoshi did, "Considering that this is your first time using magic, I think you haven't fully controlled you mana reserves and that you hesitated as well…"

Kiyoshi scratched his head as he frowned, "Uh…yeah…that must be it…"

"Damn it, what's going on?" Kamijou said bitterly. "Hey Stiyl, you'd better give me a proper explanation from beginning to end!"

"Actually, I could use some explanation to, idiot." Stiyl Magnus said in disdain.

Darkness had already arrived and the streets from the outside seemed to have been deserted.

The night did not bring about peace, however. Agnese, who was dressed in black robes, continued to issue orders through hand signals and foreign language to the other nuns wearing the same monastic clothes. At the same time, she was holding a quill pen and writing rapidly in a small notebook. "It's like a telephone," Index had pointed out.

Some among that black organization—official nuns from the Roman Catholic Church—had jumped into the sewer through the triangular hole that Orsola's kidnappers had cut open and where Kuroko and Kagami's guns barked inside while Kiyoshi's lizards traced in the smell of blood. Others had opened up their maps and used red ink and quill pens to draw lines on the map. Kamijou could not tell whether they were analyzing the enemy's escape route or setting up positions to monitor and surround them.

It was a noisy and chaotic night. Kamijou, Index, Kuroko, Kagami, Kiyoshi, Stiyl and the rest of the Seirin basketball club members could only stand around and watch from afar. Kamijou could not speak any foreign languages—he did not even know what language the nuns were speaking—so he could not take part in the conversation. As for Index and Stiyl, they had chosen to watch from afar, trying to not cause any confusion among the Roman Catholic nuns, who followed a different command structure altogether. Kuroko and Kagami were busy reloading their firearms while Kiyoshi decided to hand his gun to Riko, who nearly smacked in his head.

"Riko, you'll need this more than I do at this situation," the Seirin big man explained, "Now that the situation has—"

"Teppei, that's not what I meant!" Riko screeched, "What I mean is, how the hell are you able to perform that hand thingy power?!"

"Uh…"

"It's his mana reserves…" Kuroko sighed as he knew there is no way that they would be able to dodge this question.

"Okay, what with this thing called mana?" Hyuga asked as they ordered Kawahara, Furihata, and Fukuda to run to Maji Burger, which is actually near, for some food that they will consume for the night.

"It's a bit hassle to explain since it's quite long but…" The tealnette didn't take his eyes off his gun as he checked and rechecked it so that he won't accidentally fire it to someone innocent, "Simply put, mana is like a vital force that is found essentially in every human beings. Well, actually, vital forces can be called in different names such as mana, prana, chakra, etc. But manipulating these vital forces is a different topic. Manipulating energy sources can be a bit tricky since it would require a lot of rituals to draw out significant power beyond the limits of human understanding. Take instance for Kiyoshi-senpai's power a while back. He used Hand Signs to summon animals. What he did is actually derived from the ancient techniques from proto-Shinto shamans and Zan Buddhist monks which we call Kuji-in. The Kuji-in or "Nine Hand Seals," refers to the mudra or hand seals and gestures associated with the nine syllables themselves. From what Tsuchimikado-kun told me, Kiyoshi should be able to at least summon specific creatures and make them abide to his will though a special form of telepathy."

"A-Amazing…" Tsuchida can only gape in awe.

"That's quite informative, Kuroko-kun," Riko can only utter those words as she too, seemed to be now more than interested to know about this magical world that Kuroko got into. Even Hyuga and Izuki stare at Kiyoshi with a slight envy. If Kiyoshi can do it, then we might be able to perform magic too!

"Good thing that you're not Espers," Stiyl huffed, "Because science-derived powers and magic are two different forms of life forces. It would be disastrous for us if

Enduring his ever-growing hunger, Kamijou interrupted, "Hey, what did Index and the rest of us come here to do? Aren't the people from the Roman Catholic Church supposed to do this mission? If we can only foolishly stand around, what's the point of coming all the way here?"

"About that, our reinforcements should've arrived by now. I don't know why those knights haven't arrived yet." Stiyl lamented, puffing out white smoke. "Also, we'll definitely be useful in this situation—no, more accurately, she'll definitely be useful."

The "she" that Stiyl mentioned probably referred to Index.

"By the way, Kiyoshi," The Fire Mage suddenly faced the Seirin center, "Besides the fact that you're new to magic, you seemed a bit hurt to go all-out." He then looks down—straight to his knee. "Your left knee—you have destroyed that during last year's games, right? A reason why you didn't show up earlier during the Interhigh…"

At hearing the statement of Sityl, everyone from the Seirin Basketball team, especially the second years, only froze up as they didn't how to react on what the redhead magician said. Kiyoshi was especially dumbfounded while Kuroko and Kagami can't help but look up and stare at the seniors, as if asking some answers.

"H-How did you know that?!" Hyuga demanded.

"We extract files and information about people that work directly with us or had some connections," Stiyl explained, blowing smoke unintentionally into Koganei's face, "In Kiyoshi's case, it was a bit easy to get information about him and we only get his because of Kuroko, whose information I got from some higher-ups in Academy City. The same thing goes with Kagami Taiga. Don't be surprised then if I know something about you, Iron Heart."

"I'm beginning to feel that this guy's a stalker…" Hyuga muttered.

"Neh, Touma, can we do something about Kiyoshi's knee?"

Everyone turned to see Index pleading with Kamijou Touma as she displayed puppy eyes. Everyone's heart jumped up, especially Stiyl, who had to fight an urge to blush and do something uncharacteristic of him. Damn you, Index. Why now, of all times?! He then coughed and said, "After this, we could probably help Kiyoshi's knee to be healed faster than normal surgery here in Japan…"

Riko's and Izuki's eyes widens in both astonishment and hope at the fact that their pioneer could actually play all three years of high school basketball in Japan.

"Wow, I didn't expect some prude like you be charitable enough," the sarcasm in Kagami's voice wasn't lost to some people present.

"Don't get used to it," Stiyl barked, "I'm only compensating Kuroko here for helping out in making Index's life normal in Japan."

"Besides, you should be grateful, Kagami-kun," Kuroko chided his teammate, "It's not every day that something like this happens…ah…by the way, what is this Book of the Law that we're talking about…"

"The Book of the Law was a grimoire written in codes that no one in the entire world could decipher, so the contents of the book were rather precious," Index began to explain for the benefit of those who weren't familiar with the magical item, "Once someone could interpret it, they would be able to gain tremendous power."

"So uh…" Tsuchida decided to ask, "What's so special about this Book of the Law?"

"Rumor has it that the world ruled by Christian religion will come to an end if one were to use it," Stiyl explained.

"Then why not just burn it?" Izuki suggested, "It shouldn't be that destroy to burn an old book…"

"A grimoire cannot be burned," Index replied to the Eagle Eyed guard, "Particularly with originals, the very letters, words and sentences written in a grimoire convert to magic-like symbols by using energy leaking out from the ley lines as a power source like an automatic magic circle. At best, they can only be sealed away."

Tap! Tap! Tap!

From afar, Agenese's heels were wildly thumping on the floor as she ran as fast as she could to meet with the rest of the group.

"Ah…erm…I really want to start explaining the current situation. May I ask if you guys are prepared?"

"…"

Where the hell did she even learn that dialect?! Hyuga felt mortified as he made a mental note about how young girls shouldn't use that kind of Nihonggo.

But due to the nun's fast pace, she ended up suddenly stumbling all the way to the ground when she halted as fast as she ran. "Waaahhh!" she screamed as she swung her arms wildly. In her confusion, she grabbed onto Kamijou's arm.

"Whoa!"

In the end, even Kamijou was pulled to the ground. The sudden action made him unable to react in time to protect himself, and his entire body fell flat onto the asphalt. It hurt so much that he wanted to writhe on the floor. Suddenly, Kamijou realized that there was a piece of floating fabric covering his head.

It was Agnese's skirt.

Kamijou looked up, and several centimeters in front of him was an entirely delightful scene of paradise.

"Eeeeeeeeeeh?!'

Panicking, Kamijou tried to move his head away. At the same moment, Agnese also sensed something amiss; gave a loud, piercing scream, and pressed her skirt down tightly with both hands. Of course, it was a defensive action under a desperate situation, but such an action only caused Kamijou's head to be stuck under her skirt, making him unable to move.

Kamijou heard Index shouting at him as his entire range of vision was blocked by Agnese's skirt and thighs.

"Tou…Tou-Tou-Tou-Tou-Touma! This sort of prank is really too much!"

"Please don't get too aroused while we're doing a mission; now hurry and stand up."

Stiyl raised his leg to his waist before kicking Kamijou, finally freeing him from the terrifying prison formed from Agnese's skirt and thighs. Stiyl seemed to have enjoyed the kick a little too much, however, and it seemed that he had felt compelled to do that after hearing Index cry out.

Having been kicked, Kamijou coughed as he shook his head.

"Is this normal?" Kiyoshi asked, quite bewildered.

"Get used to it, Kiyoshi-senpai," Kuroko sighed, "As long as we're with Kamijou-kun, his bad luck is bound to really show us something strange and incredible in its own way."

After calming down, Agnese's body was still rather stiff, but she was no longer nervous when she spoke.

"Okay, now I'll start on The Book of the Law, Orsola Aquinas, the Amakusa's actions, and our future course of action."

Everyone then gathered around her as Kuroko tucked his gun in his pants.

"Right now, we can confirm that Orsola Aquinas has fallen into the hands of the Amakusa. As for The Book of the Law, I'm afraid that they may have taken that as well. The enemy we're facing, the Amakusa Church, probably has slightly less than fifty people. They used the sewer to escape earlier, but it's unlikely that they'll stay there throughout the night."

"In other words, you don't know anything?" Kuroko asked.

"We're tracking the movements of the Amakusa Church from their traces of magic but…" Agnese trailed off.

"The Amakusa Church specializes in escaping and hiding," Index completed her statement, "You won't catch them so easily…"

"B-But there's no way they can get past our net…" Agnese tried to argue.

"It's possible. There's a type of magic for that."

Index replied without hesitation. At that, Agnese sucked in a deep breath.

"There's a spell that can only be used in Japan. Speacial Movement Method: Map Pilgrimage. Basically speaking, there are special places called 'portals' all over Japan. One can use this 'map magic' to travel from portal to portal."

"Are you talking about the Great Japanese Coastal Map that Ino Tadataka created?"

Stiyl seemed to have thought of something, giving an ugly expression as he muttered.

Kagami and Kamijou were extremely confused now as the former asked, "Who's this Ino Tadataka? Is he another famous magician like you guys?"

Once that question was asked, everyone turned and gazed at Kagami rather coldly, especially Hyuga, who looked like he wanted to murder their ace.

"Bakagami! Are you not listening to your history class?!" The clutch captain roared, "He was the person to create the first map of Japan using modern surveying techniques! It's even recorded in ordinary history timelines."

"Seems like you have no clue at all about history," Stiyl smoked a cigarette, "I bet you've even forgotten who the previous five prime ministers were?"

"…Even an Italian like me knows." Agnese deadpanned.

"Oh God…" Riko looked a bit embarrassed for her team, "Bakagami! Don't go off and putting down our school! You're giving our team a bad impression!"

"I'm sorry coach but this is Kagami-kun we're talking about…"

"Shut up!" Kagami, completely embarrassed, was bombarded and pulverized by the voices around him. Thank Kami-sama I wasn't the one who's grilled. Kamijou sweatdropped. I myself didn't even know who that guy is.

"Anyway, this Japanese map created in the Edo period has a special structure. Everyone should be clear about Idol Theory, right? That's, except for…Touma and the Seirin people sans Tetsuya..."

There were supposed to be only a few people who understood that magical term but it seemed to be common knowledge among all the people around the whole team mentioned. I guess this night, we're going to learn some new things. Izuki mused.

"For their sake, I'll give a brief explanation. Idol Theory is a form of basic knowledge that allows us to put the power of God and angels to good use. According to this theory, if one were to build a duplicate of the cross on which Christ was crucified and put it on the roof of a church, some of the holy power from those actual cross-wielders will be replicated. The power of the duplicate is not even 0.000000000001% of the original's—even the greatest legendary duplicate, Holy Manger, contains only a small fraction of that power—but if someone obtained even 1% of the original's power, they could match even the Twelve Apostles."

"So in a simple analogy, it's like how the solar power generates electricity by absorbing energy from the sun," Kuroko spoke.

"That's right, Tetsuya," Index looked happy that someone non-magician actually understood it, "And, according to our hypothesis, Idol Theory can be reversed; in other words, not only will the original cause some effect on the Idol, but also vice-versa."

"Hypothesis?" Kamijou raised his eyebrows, "Do you mean that it's still unconfirmed?"

"There are some exceptions that cannot be explained, so right now, it's just a hypothesis. But using this hypothesis, people have claimed that they'll receive divine judgment if they treat the Bible badly," Index clarified, "That's not unreasonable, however. In the Bible, there are many instances where several idols from different anti-Christian Greek religions were struck down and destroyed by lightning. Stepping on Fumie in Japan was a method designed to affect the original badly by stepping on the duplicate."

"Uhm…senpais…what's a Fumie?" Kagami didn't know if he could actually keep up with this lecture.

"Ahou. You're really not paying attention to your history class! That's a piece of wooden carving of Jesus and the Virgin Mary!" Hyuga shouted at their ace, "When there was a wave of persecution against early Japanese Christians during the Edo period, stepping on Fumie was a method used to check whether people were Christians. Shoguns and their soldiers would use a carving of Christian iconology or sometimes, figures of Jesus and Mary on a piece of paper, and they would put it on the floor before forcing others to step on it. Those who didn't dare do so would be identified as Christians and weeded out."

Index nodded in approval as she continued, "Ino Tadataka used Idol Theory in the opposite manner. He understood that the real one and the idol would affect each other, so he plotted 47 portals on the Great Japanese Coastal Map that originally didn't exist on the Japanese islands. Thus, these entrances that allow people to come and go as they please appeared in modern Japan."

After hearing Index's explanation, Agnese was stunned.

Kuroko organized the information that he had just heard and said, "Then, what do we do? The Amakusa Christians might have escaped through a portal, right? Since there are a limited number of portals, shouldn't we just check all of those in one go?"

"It's impossible." Index shook her head, "Actually, people later said that they could only find 23 of the portals on the Great Japanese Coastal Map. But a manual from the time of when Western ships arrived during the Bakumatsu Era clearly stated that there were 47 portals."

The location of more than half of the portals could not be identified.

Thus, they could not determine the whereabouts of the Amakusa.

"Besides using the special teleportation magic of the Great Japanese Coastal Map, the base of the Amakusa is famous for being a well-hidden secret. That's understandable, since outsiders can't even determine their escape routes. Just now, Agnese said that their main base was reported to be in Kyushu, but it's almost impossible to verify that. There are too many places that are suspected to be their main base. As for where the real one actually is, nobody knows. These reports could be all false, or those places could all have the capacity to be a main base."

Agnese looked pale and exclaimed, "Then…it's all over for us if they jump using a whirlpool! What are you taking your time for?"

"Because there's no need to panic," Index calmly replied.

"Huh?" Hyuga looked at the silver-haired nun, "You said that these Amakusa guys can just go somewhere with this so-called Map Pilgrimage…"

"Map Pilgrimage is heavily dependent on the movement of the stars, Junpei." Index added, ignoring the looks she is receiving since she called the Seirin shooting guard by his given name, "It can only be used in a certain time. The only time the special movement method can be used is directly after midnight so we have four and a half hours left."

She then looked at Kamijou, "Touma, can we use that map thing on your phone…"

Kamijou figured she meant the GPS function on his phone and handed it to her. Index accepted the phone, but she looked like she did not know what to do with it, so Kamijou had to use it for her. She then explained as everyone stooped down as well to get a clearer view, "In this net, there's only one whirlpool they can use."

She then pointed to a certain direction.

"Our scouts have reported two suspicious characters there. They're likely from the Amakusa, but we haven't tipped them off yet."

After hearing Index's explanation a while ago, Agnese had given the orders, and within fifteen minutes, she had gotten a report from her subordinates.

It's really easy to do things when there are so many people. Kamijou thought as he sat down with the Seirin basketball team, who were busy munching their burgers and fries.

The Angel Fall incident had been a whole lot more troublesome, even though this situation was just as chaotic—in Kuroko's opinion.

Since Kamijou and the rest had nothing else to do, they had time to enjoy their dinner and take a little nap.

Remarkably, they had to take their dinner and sleep inside a tent. This was supposed to be the capital of Japan, and yet they were setting up their own tent. That was really unexpected. Come to think of it, if those seventy or so people wearing such strange clothes and preparing for war were to gather in a multi-chain restaurant or a hotel, then that would be an even more amazing sight.

"You know…" Izuki began to speak as he was busy munching his fries, "This whole thing about supernatural magic—it's quite complicated but at the same time, very nice to learn some new things that aren't normal…"

"Yeah," Hyuga nodded as he sips cola, "By the way, Kuroko and Kagami, what's with the serious expressions? About what happened to Kiyoshi, it's all in the past. We got over it."

After the whole meeting with Agnese Sanctis, the light-shadow duo begged and nagged their captain to confirm if what Stiyl said actually had some truth in it. After some moments of pleading, Hyuga finally gave in and told the whole team that what Stiyl said to them is actually the whole summary of what happened in their first year of operating the basketball club. Izuki then talked about their struggles to form the club and how Hanamiya Makoto intentionally injured their center, which sucked out some major offensive firepower for the young Seirin team last year and causing their massive defeat.

"I know but Hanamiya…" Kuroko's expression turned grim, "He's one of the Uncrowned Kings, right? We faced off against him one time in middle school and he did try to use dirty tactics on us but…by some degree of luck, he got a disqualifying foul that sent him reeling in the bench."

"Well, that's some good story to hear," Hyuga smirked and then turned to Kamijou, who was silently listening to them, "Kamijou Touma, thanks for being with Kuroko when he trained in Academy City…"

"Uh…thanks…" The spiky haired boy can only grin as he scratches his head then he felt awkward when he noticed that everyone was looking at his direction, "W-Well, can I excuse myself? I needed to go and see Index. I don't know why she hasn't returned yet…" He quickly got up and went out of the tent.

The team watched him with blank expressions before returning to their food.

"By the way, Kuroko-kun, how did Kiyoshi learned those Hand Sign techniques again?" Riko asked.

"Well…Tsuchimikado-un taught it to him one day…"

"Kiyoshi-san, I need you to learn some magic…"

"Okay. But why me?" Kiyoshi asked as they were in a deserted park not far from Seirin. They had met after the blonde called the Iron Heart to see him for an emergency meeting, "I mean, Kuroko's the one who—"

"It would be too much risk if I teach Kuroko magical techniques right now," Tsuchimikado replied with a somber tone, "Since his role for now is to guide Kami-yan from the shadows in an event of an activity involving both side but especially the magical side, him using Magic could be expose both him and Kami-yan to the public and might trigger an old-age war between science and magic. In order to protect both of them, I'm asking you to do it in Kuroko's place. I can't have Kagami doing it because he's too much of a hothead at his current state and he might end up abusing magic in a wrong way. Besides, if it's you, no one would suspect because you're not related to any magical cabals out there and that Kami-yan will be the one who'll do most of the damage…"

"I see," Kiyoshi understood now, "So what's the first thing I'll learn?"

Tsuchimikado grinned as he then steps back and clasps his hands, "First things first, there are several ways to use magic. One in which involved the use of hands. Something like you see in Naruto…" He then made several movements in his two hands while muttering, "Clone Regeneration…"

Suddenly, a smoke appeared and as it cleared quickly, Kiyoshi saw what looked like a herd of frogs jumping out of thin air.

"This is…" He didn't know what to describe.

"Well…" Tsuchimikado used the momentary smoke screen to wipe out the blood coming from his mouth, "This is just a demonstration technique on what I can do as a part magician. By the way, based on your mana reserves, you could best excel in shadow control, summoning, clones, and manipulation of your surroundings. Perhaps, it would be nice if you could specialize in taijutsu as well."

"Well…then teach me everything that I need to protect the ones I cherish the most…" Kiyoshi looked prepared as Tsuchimikado motioned him to repeat after him.

"And that was it," Kiyoshi chuckled, "It felt hell though as Tsuchimikado really drilled me every day after our basketball practice. But in the end, it did paid off as I was able to summon animals—albeit, in a slow start."

"Yeah but still…" Hyuga said, "Shadow control? Summoning? Environmental manipulation? It looks like you're playing God. You can do anything with your bare hands."

"It does have its limits, captain," Kuroko cut in, "After doing those techniques in a longer duration, he can sap out his mana easily—and in an essence, he would sap out his whole stamina. It's like playing two basketball matches at the same time. And…" he stopped, as if recalling something, "As Tsuchimikado-kun said, he can only use it on times when we're in trouble."

"But clones, huh?" Riko suddenly thought in her mind and all of the sudden, she had a cat-like grin that sent shivers to the players of Seirin. I don't know but I have a feeling that what she plans is something we won't like at all! Was the general thought that ran through the boys' minds.

"Such misfortune!"

A loud and familiar voice was heard from afar.

"Kuroko…was that…"

"Hai. That must be him," Kuroko quickly replied, "As I said, his misfortunes are amazing in itself."

Somewhere…

It was eleven pm.

A certain man, together with 47 other people, were gathered around the portal of the special teleportation magic, the Miniature Pilgrimage.

The place was not some mysterious forest or mountain, however; they were at a large snack-themed amusement park called Parallel Sweets Park.

This snack-themed amusement park had been built and financed by four large snack manufacturers, and it was as large as an electrical plant. Inside the park were 75 stores from 38 different countries. Throughout the park were several donut-like watercourses, linked to each other like the five rings on the Olympic logo. Outside the watercourses, there stood several snack shops similar to those of hawkers, but their products were topquality. Inside of the circular watercourses was a square where many snack manufacturers could showcase their products and carry out activities. As it was almost the end of summer, it seemed like they were promoting ice products and frozen desserts.

Although the locations of the portals that Ino Tadataka had set did not change, the city developed and changed every day. Some portals were located within certain rooms in certain condominiums, or even a large vault in a certain bank; it was impossible to use those for teleportation. In comparison, this portal was the most accessible.

The Amakusa members who had infiltrated Parallel Sweets Park were holding hands as they prepared for the Miniature Pilgrimage.

As conditions for its use, the Miniature Pilgrimage could only be used at midnight, and the ritual to prepare it had to be completed beforehand. As the timeframe in which the miniature portal could be used was only five minutes long, it would be too late if they waited until midnight to begin the ritual. The ritual had to be activated exactly at midnight, however, so if necessary, they could finish it first and then activate it at midnight.

None of the preparations for the ritual required any weird magic circles or spell chanting.

Aside from having infiltrated a theme park that was not open for service, those people were not really that strange. There were young people gathered in groups of four to five, talking together; some occasionally took out french fries and hamburgers from paper wrappers to eat; some were holding discussions in front of the theme park's introductory board; and others were standing and flipping through travel guidebooks. Their actions seemed quite normal.

Their attire was much more commonplace than those worn by Index or Stiyl: one girl wore a cutie top and a pair of short jeans, a boy had donned a mixed-colored shirt and baggy black pants, a lady wore an outfit with her overcoat slung over her shoulders, and so on. The only noticeable thing was that around ten people were carrying sports bags, musical instrument cases, surfboards, and all other sorts of bulky luggage; they were the people responsible for transporting weapons.

"It's about time…"

The man muttered as he stood alone, far away from everyone, and swung the sword in his hand horizontally.

The metal streetlights lost their light, breaking in half and leaving behind diagonal cuts.

"Kanzaki Kaori, I'll show you what the multi-religion incorporated Christian Church—the Amakusa Christian Church—looks now!"

The man quietly muttered to himself, as he looked up at the night sky.

Sneak Peak for the Next Chapter!

Kuroko and the rest of the Seirin basketball team, who decided to help their passing specialist, went along with the plan of Agnese Sanctis to track down the Amakusa Christians. After several violent encounters—including Kagami and Hyuga nearly getting stabbed by one female Amakusa member and Kiyoshi having to use his clones to widen their search radar—they were able to pin down Tatemiya Saiji, the substitute pope of the Amakusa Christians, and his followers. But to their shock of their lives, Tatemiya revealed that they were all fooled by the Roman Catholics. What does he means by that?