-A storm was coming.
An utterly calm expression rested on the girl's lovely face. Her eyes, which usually sparkled with stars, were now like a deep, cold pool, without the slightest ripple.
Misaki Shokuhou's delicate hand trembled slightly, transmitting a rhythm that carried an unknown signal.
Because of the earlier disaster, Academy City's armaments were already prepared and could be committed to this battle at any moment.
Accelerator and Kamijou Touma, not far away, had also noticed the situation here and turned their attention toward it.
But the girl understood that, faced with the present situation, such actions would accomplish nothing.
She raised her head and solemnly studied the monk before her, as gaunt as dead wood.
He wore the Purple Kasaya, somewhat too ornate for a monk, with the collar behind his head standing high like flames.
Judging by the gleaming gold patched onto the outside of the kasaya, an observer's first impression would probably be of profound desire rather than Buddhist nature.
The long sword he held in his hand, made of pure gold and serving as a walking stick, only reinforced that stereotype.
Yet the Bishop's appearance was enough to correct those misconceptions.
Deathly gray skin, limbs as thin as sticks... or rather, withered limbs that were nothing but a layer of human skin clinging to bone.
Even with his impossible-to-ignore presence, the impression he gave fell somewhere between a decrepit old man and a corpse come to life.
Equally striking were the eyes visible within his sunken sockets.
Their whites were pitch-black as ink, looking cold and cruel, while their irises were a violently bestial green.
Misaki Shokuhou recognized this appearance.
After learning of the connection between Demon Gods and the True Magic Side, she had used the Learning Device to cram extensively on the rituals