Toaru Majutsu no Index

Volume 22, Epilogue: Silence and the End of the Boy. Silent_to_Small_Fire.

“That bastard...” Stiyl Magnus said in almost a groan within St. George’s Cathedral of London.

He had received the report that the Star of Bethlehem had fallen and Misha Kreutzev had been crushed from above. But no matter how great a mass it was, he doubted a true angel would lose simply to great pressure. At the time of the crash, that right hand had likely been used to fight that monster.

When he thought about it, hadn’t that boy chosen that kind of method ever since he had first met him?

In order to save the girl named Index, hadn’t he unhesitatingly stepped forward tearing off all the chains even if it meant receiving a shock great enough to erase one’s memories.

A gloomy atmosphere was created in that cathedral separate from the great celebration of victory. Business-like reports continued to come in reporting that Misha Kreutzev had disappeared and that the four great elements had been reset to their proper positions.

Stiyl heard a slight noise.

He turned around and saw Index limply coming his way. Her small hands were leaning on a stone pillar and her footing was unstable as she looked over at the whiteboard.

“Where’s Touma?”

No one could answer that question.

Right after Index had awoken within the cathedral, she had been unable to get up out of the bed, but she had still managed to inform Stiyl of the frequency that would connect to the Star of Bethlehem. She had not been told of anything that had happened after that. The other priests and nuns may not have been able to tell her the truth as she made her way there. And now she had finally made it to that room. She had made it to that room where all the outcomes were known and where only a gloomy atmosphere remained.

She looked around once more looking at the faces of everyone there and asked her question again.

“Where’s Touma?”

They needed a means of escape.

Hamazura Shiage dug into the snow with a thick branch.

Just before he had been attacked by Mugino Shizuri, the Russian special unit had been bombed by a super large Academy City fighter. The steam dispenser and the other major equipment for the bacterial wall had been utterly blown away and the unit had been neutralized a bit away, but the truck they had been trying to use to escape should have just been buried underneath the snow during the avalanche.

In the end, he had found nothing.

The dissemination of the bacteriological weapon and his battle against the Number Four were over. The Academy City unit that used weapons that were not of that world tempered using Dark Matter had been defeated.

At first glance, it may have seemed like an amazing result that seemed to overturn his label of Level 0. However, Hamazura and Takitsubo had originally been searching for something they could use to negotiate with the higher ups of Academy City. They had merely ended up heading down side roads rather than heading along their intended path.

They had not found anything to negotiate with.

If they stayed there, they would be killed.

They had to leave as quickly as possible.

As Hamazura single-mindedly dug into the snow, Takitsubo and Mugino were doing the same thing with similar thick branches nearby. Mugino was Academy City’s Number Four Level 5, but due to the Body Crystal and the previous battle, she did not seem to be in a state where she could use Meltdowner any time soon.

Takitsubo readjusted her scarf that was starting to come undone and then looked over at Hamazura.

“Hamazura, what are we going to do now? Are we going to recover one of the masks that attack unit used and try to negotiate using it?”

“We’ll gather up what we can, but I doubt that’ll be enough. I’m not sure they would even send what could be their Achilles heel into the middle of enemy lines. For the deep darkness of that city, something like that would still be within acceptable limits.”

“We can use my blood as our insurance,” said Mugino joining in the conversation while moving the thick branch. “It contains the DNA map of the Number Four. If we make three chips with my blood on them and each take one, we may be able to increase our chances of holding them in check while we’re split up.”

“...God damn it.”

But Hamazura averted his gaze from them. His hands digging into the snow stopped. Takitsubo and Mugino thought he was looking at something far off in the distance, so they turned their heads to see what it was.

That was when they heard multiple footsteps kicking about the snow. The next thing they knew, a half circle of men was surrounding them at a distance of about 10 meters. It was an Academy City assassination unit dressed all in white from the tops of their heads to the bottoms of their feet. The men wore masks and goggles so not even the shapes of their faces were visible. They held carbines equipped with silencers.

They had likely been monitoring Hamazura and the others to make sure they were doubly and triply prepared.

Compared to the parts of the darks side of Academy City that had an especially large amount of power such as Mugino Shizuri or the previous masked men, those attackers were organized rather simply. That unit was aware of exactly how exhausted Hamazura and the others were, so they had sent in the most suitable force.

Their time was up.

When he realized that, Hamazura’s heart started to break even more than the weary body it should have been within. It made him jealous of Takitsubo and Mugino who were still glaring at their enemies with a fighting spirit in their eyes.

No, those two girls likely understood.

Takitsubo Rikou and Mugino Shizuri had carried out an important role to the darkness of Academy City, so they were worth using. It may not be the same as before, but there was still the possibility that they would just be “recovered”. However, Hamazura was different. It was odd that he had been standing atop the stage at all. Even if the higher ups had chosen the option to not kill them and recover them instead, that only applied to Takitsubo and Mugino. Hamazura alone would be shot to death right then and there like a piece of trash.

That was why those two were showing an intention to fight.

He was glad.

But at the same time, he felt a bit of relief somewhere within himself. If he played his cards right, he could keep the sacrifices down to a minimum. They had not found anything to use to negotiate with the higher ups due to his own ineptitude. That was why he absolutely had to prevent any more damage from being done. Hamazura now had a clear goal in his mind.

“...Honestly, you’ve made a lot of trouble for me.”

A new figure appeared approaching Hamazura and the others from among the 10 men surrounding them. It was a woman wearing an elegant suit tinged the color of chocolate. However, she had a full face helmet on her head ruining the atmosphere the suit created. Her behavior had a well-bred feeling to it which made her stand out in that environment.

“Although I suppose it’s a testament to the strength of our security that it was contained at this level.”

“Who are you?”

“Your partner,” the woman in the helmet and suit responded immediately. “You may know me best for my focus on passing orders along.”

“What’s the phrase you have a habit of using.”

“It’s always like this with you.”

After that response, Mugino and Takitsubo exchanged glances. Of course, what had happened would not be overlooked just because a common acquaintance was there. The world was not that kind.

The woman in the helmet and suit continued.

“I’m sure you have a pretty good idea how things are going to be divided up from here on out.”

“...”

“Mugino Shizuri and Takitsubo Rikou will be immediately recovered. As for Hamazura Shiage, that is where things get a bit tricky...well, he just doesn’t fit the same conditions. There is a relationship there that could give him value as a hostage for Takitsubo, but Takitsubo Rikou does not have much in the way of physical ability, so mental restraints are not really necessary. We can just isolate her in a concrete room to do research on her. If we need to force her to do something, imbedding tiny balloons in her brain and then repeatedly applying pressure and relaxation to the cerebral cortex by remote control will suffice.”

“Wait,” Hamazura said as if cutting her off. “Research? On Takitsubo? Don’t you mean Mugino?”

“I’m sure at least those two have realized it.”

“Realized what?”

“When you defeated the unit with the masks tempered using Kakine Teitoku’s Dark Matter, Mugino Shizuri used Meltdowner. But Takitsubo did not simply guide her using words. Her AIM Stalker interferes with AIM diffusion fields. She used that and it had an effect on Mugino Shizuri’s Personal Reality and partially forced her aim into alignment. ...Or perhaps it would be better to say she temporarily rewrote it with corrected information.”

(You don’t mean...)

He had heard that Takitsubo had tried to do that in order to fight Kakine Teitoku.

And Mugino Shizuri had possessed some Body Crystal.

“No.” But Mugino readily negated that idea when she saw Hamazura’s expression. “Takitsubo did not use Body Crystal. Or rather, we did not do that because we had planned to. If she had an established way of interfering with a Level 5, her role in ITEM would have been different. ...After all, she would be able to strengthen espers or send them out of control at will if she could do that.”

The woman in the helmet and suit shrugged and added on to Mugino’s comment.

“The project to make Takitsubo the Eighth was originally separate from Body Crystal. We had a result from Tree Diagram’s simulation, but the realistic conditions were too severe, so we could not achieve it. That was when we turned our attention to Body Crystal that just barely had similar effects. ...Although all the simulations using it had hopeless results.”

“...And yet you still continued to mess with Takitsubo’s body.”

“That was because the possibilities were just too valuable. After all, if she continued to evolve and become the Eighth, her AIM diffusion field would be able to be used as an intermediary to freely control other espers’ Personal Realities. I’m sure you’re not so stupid as to not understand what that means.”

If she could actually do that...

Personal Realities were the source from which all psychic powers and phenomena were brought into the real world. If they could be controlled, it would mean more than just increasing or decreasing an esper’s level. Simply put, Hamazura Shiage could be given the power of Railgun and Mugino Shizuri could be brought down to being a Level 0. Controlling them would give one the ability to switch out powers and modify the system at will. Dual Skills would enter the field of reality. In that way, reason and skill could be ignored and ridiculous results could be created.

She would be able to give someone any power she wanted at any time she wanted and she would be able to rob someone of any power she wanted at any place she wanted. If she wanted to, she could increase the number of Level 5s or she could strip any opposing esper, even the Number One known as Accelerator, of their Personal Realities and then kill them while they were defenseless.

That went even beyond becoming the Queen of Academy City.

There was only one word that accurately referred to that kind of existence.

“Takitsubo Rikou alone could carry out every function that Academy City does,” said the woman in the helmet and suit giving her response. “No, if she could instantly create whatever power at whatever level she wished and discard that power at any time if it was no longer necessary, she would be able to produce espers even better than Academy City can.”

She was a person with an overwhelming value.

She even overturned the idea that there were only seven Level 5s.

“From the beginning, Takitsubo had a rare potential, but getting her to bloom has been difficult. We dug into the research of the taboo-committing Kihara family and pulled out the Body Crystal despite knowing the risks, but the stimulus was not enough to produce the results we wished for. ...But now the path to the Eighth has been opened. It is all thanks to your lovely relationship and this cruel war.”

As far as Hamazura knew, the only time Takitsubo had seriously tried to interfere with another esper’s AIM diffusion field was when the Number Two Kakine Teitoku had been about to kill Hamazura. Had the higher ups of Academy City seen that and decided to let them go free in order to provide a chance for her to bloom?

And Takitsubo had acquired a small key.

Even if it was difficult then, she would reach the position of the Eighth if the research continued. Even without using Body Crystal, she could become that fearsome monster that could completely hold all of Academy City’s espers in her hands.

She could do that alone.

She could do it with just her one power.

She truly held the ability to equal or surpass all functions of the esper production institution of Academy City.

If that city was Academy City, she could be an Academy Individual.

But that was not what surprised Hamazura Shiage the most.

The impact of the concept of the Eighth was overshadowed by something the woman in the helmet and suit had said that Hamazura could not overlook. It was something that no esper of Academy City, even a drop out like him, could accept.

“...From the beginning, Takitsubo had a rare potential?” Hamazura said in a trembling voice to make sure. “In other words, you knew before she took part in the Curriculum? No matter how much people work or how much they study, the ones who will succeed will succeed and the ones who will fail will fail?”

That response was more frightening than hell.

Of course, Academy City had the System Scan. Various methods were used to check on the aptitude of an esper. It checked what Level they were at, what type of power they had, and whether they would grow easily or not.

However, that was supposed to just be a rough estimate. The students known as Level 0s and Level 1s believed that they could grow if they worked hard. That was why they were able to work hard. They believed it would all pay off eventually. They believed they would bloom eventually. That was all they wished for.

And yet...

Were the people who worked hard and grew from a Level 0 to a Level 3 merely people who were established from the beginning to be able to reach Level 3? Were the potentials sleeping within individual people all determined before they started studying and before they even entered the schools? Was the myth of gaining more skill by working hard just a means of manipulating the people who were at their set upper limits?

In that case, was there any hope for the people who were determined to be Level 0s from the moment they were born?

“...Come to think of it, I did find it odd,” said Mugino Shizuri as if she had recalled something. “I caught a glimpse of a project involving the Number Three once. She was tricked when she was a little kid in order to provide her DNA map. That map was used to mass produce military cellular clones. ...But when you think about it rationally, the time period does not make sense. I’m pretty sure that the Number Three took time to work up from Level 1 to Level 5. In other words, at the point when she provided her DNA map, she was not yet a Level 5.”

The idea of military clones was shocking, but Hamazura did not think it would be impossible given Academy City’s technology.

“In other words, did the researchers know from the beginning that she would become a Level 5, so they got ahold of her DNA map ahead of time?”

In response, the woman in the suit gave a heavy breath within her helmet.

“Well, there are some problems with the Parameter List. For instance, the DNA patent and the living resource of a Level 5 are very valuable, but quite a bit of money is needed to obtain them. However, with a Level 1 who possesses the possibility of becoming a Level 5 in the future, those things can be obtained much more cheaply. When a fragment of the list is leaked, problems occur where blood is shed in secret due to people trying to get rich quick off of it.”

“...”

“But if you look at everything together, I think it works out as a positive thing. Putting together complex Curriculums for people who aren’t going to grow is just a waste of time, money, and resources. By distributing what would have been wasted with a focus on the useful espers, it is all much more effective in the end.”

“You...bitch...!!”

It was Mugino who yelled out, not Hamazura.

Takitsubo tried to hold back the enraged girl. Seeing that, the woman in the helmet and suit let out a cheerful voice.

“That reaction is quite unlike you. After all that fighting, have you begun to empathize with the feelings of the weak?”

“Shut up!!” Mugino yelled with anger in her single eye. “So you’re saying Hamazura has fallen this far because you people just gave up on him!? Takitsubo and I headed down this path on our own. Our journeys and the environments that led us there were complex and I don’t think our trajectory can be corrected just by solving a single problem. But Hamazura was only pushed down this path because he had no power! You people decided that he didn’t on your own and held back on his Curriculum!! It’s true he may not have become a Level 5. He may have stopped somewhere along the way. But if you had actually given him an equal chance, he would have had the possibility to grow even if just a little!! If...If that had happened...!!”

Hamazura Shiage may not have joined Skill Out.

It may not have been necessary for him to be swallowed up by the even deeper darkness of ITEM.

He may have been able to live a normal school life rather than being forced to flee from Academy City.

He may have gotten that boring but happy life that no one else there had been able to obtain.

“It’s fine,” Hamazura said to Mugino while shaking his head.

He was glad that she had remembered how to become enraged properly.

“We are ITEM. I do not regret that, so it’s fine.”

Mugino averted her gaze as if she could not stand it.

Hamazura changed the subject while unaware what expression was on his face.

“More importantly, you said something that caught my attention.”

He confirmed the conditions in his head.

“You mentioned the Parameter List, so I’m guessing there is an actual file. Its existence could send every student living in Academy City down to the depths of despair and helplessness. I don’t know what your higher ups are trying to do, but I doubt they want to risk having the city stop functioning. In other words, we still have something we can negotiate with.”

“You may have some uncertain information, but are you saying you have a chance to obtain the real thing? The system is set up so a student like you would not be able to get his hands on it. And more importantly...”

The metallic clattering of multiple guns was heard.

The men in white battle outfits surrounding Hamazura and the others had aimed their guns.

“Did you forget? At the very least, this is the end for you.”

Mugino could not use Meltdowner.

Takitsubo’s AIM Stalker had no effect on anyone other than espers.

Hamazura could not singlehandedly take out a team of ten battle professionals.

And...

“Aren’t you the one forgetting something?”

“?”

“You may have lost sight of this because you live in such a filthy world, but this is not Academy City. We are not standing atop such a cruel stage. I am a mere Level 0. I do not have any kind of special power that would allow me to survive such a major conflict on my own.”

“...”

The woman in the helmet and the suit must have decided there was no point in listening to him any further because she raised her arm slightly.

That was all it took.

The men in white battle outfits surrounding Hamazura and the others pulled the triggers of their carbines in unison.

Sharp piercing gunshots resounded in that white plain.

The color red scattered about seeming to distort the pure white of the scenery.

Hamazura did not shut his eyes.

There was no reason for him to.

“Wha—?”

That voice of surprise came from the woman in the helmet and suit. Hamazura was the one who was supposed to collapse after the gunshots, but he did not. Nor did Takitsubo or Mugino. It was a few of the 10 men surrounding them.

At the same time, a group of about 30 men and women armed with assault rifles came from behind trees and rising hills creating an even larger ring around the men surrounding Hamazura and the two girls. They were Russian, but they did not seem to be proper soldiers. Their clothes were civilian ones, their rifles were covered in scratches, and they had an odd sense of livelihood.

“Are you alive, Hamazura!?” Digurv shouted out in Japanese.

Glickin, who was next to him also holding a rifle, clicked his tongue and spoke.

“We told you to escape, but in the end you came back. You alone we can’t abandon!! So are they with the special unit that was setting up the steam dispenser!?”

“...That’s not quite it, but thanks. You saved our lives.”

Hamazura took a slow breath and relaxed his body.

While he had been talking with the woman in the helmet and suit, he had caught a glimpse of them in the scenery. Afterwards, all he had to do was draw out the conversation until they could finish getting in place.

“...Why?” The woman seemed to truly be feeling nothing but doubt. “In the war, Academy City was so easily pushing back the Russian army. How could we be stuck in predicament like this so easily...?”

“Academy City had such an advantage during the war because the troops moved cooperatively on a large scale and looked after each other. ...An independent unit running around on it like you isn’t going to have that same invincibility.” Hamazura forced a smile out of his cheek muscles that had been completely stiff up to that point. “Isn’t that right? If every single person was invincible, Takitsubo and I would never have been able to escape Academy City in the first place.”

“Do you think you’ve won?” the woman in the helmet and the suit said with a sneer.

She did not seem to care about her collapsed colleagues.

“The system that has been monitoring you all up until now is still active. Reinforcements will be here soon. The end result will be the same.”

“Probably...but that’s why we’ll be ending this before that happens.”

After saying that, Hamazura spoke to the people from the village.

“Digurv, Glickin, you tie up the men in the white battle outfits. Watch over them to make sure they don’t make any odd movements.”

He then turned toward ITEM.

“Mugino, you restrain Takitsubo. I’m about to do something that’s going to provoke her a bit.”

“What are you...?”

The woman in the helmet and suit started to say something, but Hamazura did not give her a response.

Instead of words, he pulled out his handgun and suddenly shot her in the right elbow and right knee.

Two dry gunshots rang out and the woman’s screams continued afterwards. Hamazura’s expression did not change. He grabbed the collar of her suit with both hands and dragged her along the snow.

“...There is a slight cave about 100 meters ahead. We’ll finish this there.” His voice was completely flat and free of emotion. “An Academy City pursuit unit will be here soon. I need to get our means of negotiation before then, so I’ll do whatever it takes to make that happen. I’m after the Parameter List. You can output it on paper or give me a password so I can access the data on the network, I don’t care which. Just tell me everything you know. I’ll make sure to go far enough that you’ll be telling me before you realize it.”

“E-ee!”

“Humans really are scary.”

Hamazura brought his mouth up next to the helmet and spoke in a quiet voice so Takitsubo and Mugino could not hear.

His voice was completely flat.

“As long as they can make the excuse that they are doing something to protect those they care about, they can do any kind of cruel thing. That’s how I see it anyway. I’ll be showing you just how cruel humans can be.”

Accelerator was collapsed atop a hill.

Neither Last Order nor Misaka WORST was there. Only the white snow stretched on seemingly forever around him. At an altitude of 8000 meters, he had been struck by the mass of strange energy fired by the fortress, but not even he really understood what had happened after that. The white wings had disappeared from his back. At the very least, he understood that he was alive like that because the great destruction had been stopped at the last second.

He heard a loud noise.

It was a large transport helicopter with two rotors. As Accelerator lay on the ground looking up into the air, the giant mass of metal slowly lowered nearby. The sliding door opened and people got out. They were more like a disaster relief team than soldiers. They were wearing baggy spacesuit-like protective suits and he could see them lowering down a stretcher with belts on it.

They were recovering him.

Accelerator recalled when he had defeated Kihara Amata on September 30th. It was the same as then. A large conflict had invited in great turmoil. In exchange for taking care of the problem, he would be handed over to the dark side of Academy City where he would have to carry out dirty jobs.

In the end, no matter how much he fought it, no matter how far he fled, even if he left Academy City, and even if he escaped Japan altogether, he could not escape that giant cycle. He had vaguely sensed it before. The environment and conditions surrounding the Sisters and Last Order were much more severe even than those for himself. He doubted they could have a proper life without the backing of Academy City.

His limp body was lifted up and put on top of the stretcher. Then a number of thick belts were wrapped around him. Accelerator’s body was stored aboard the large helicopter as if they were transporting a tool...no, a weapon.

He did not resist.

With quite a bit of shaking, the transport helicopter left the ground.

Accelerator muttered blankly while still strapped in by the belts.

“Where are those brats?”

“With a different unit,” was the short response.

“Hm,” Accelerator let out a short breath. “Then promise me this. Do not send out any more orders to use that brat or the Sisters as a shield. Freeze the Third Season project. Whether it involves killing them or creating them, don’t play with even one more of their lives for your own convenience.”

“...”

“Free all the others who are in similar circumstances to mine. I won’t let you force dirty jobs in this world of darkness on anyone else by using anyone or anything as a shield. If I see even a single example, I will bare my fangs in your direction. No matter how many times it takes, I will crush you all as often as you carry out these atrocities.”

“It seems you do not understand anything. Do you really think you’re in any position to negotiate?”

“You’re the one that does not understand anything.”

With just that one statement, the researcher in the protective suit must have detected some kind of danger because he immediately moved his hand to the side of Accelerator’s neck. His esper ability had to use substitute calculations from the Misaka Network. The researcher was trying to check on the switch to the electrode that accessed the network.

But Accelerator had used that mentality against the man.

The instant the researcher’s fingertips pressed against the switch, Accelerator swung his head to the side while still strapped in by the belts. As a result, the finger held against the switch ended up sliding the switch to maximum.

His power returned.

The black belts binding his body were blown away in an instant. The man in the protective suit was blown to the helicopter’s wall and deep cracks ran across the reinforced glass in the window on that wall. The fellow researchers around him stood up in a panic, but it was too late.

“This is not a negotiation, a suggestion, a deal, an entreaty, an agreement, a compromise, or a capitulation.”

Accelerator’s arm touched the wall of the transport helicopter.

The metal wall of that military craft was destroyed as easily as tearing through paper. A great amount of cold air blew inside, but the men in the protective suits did not care about that. Terror over not knowing when the helicopter would be brought down swept throughout the helicopter.

Amid that, the king of monsters who reigned atop awed fear gave a proclamation.

“It’s my triumphant return, you fuckers.”

As he used a single finger to play with the helicopter’s bare minimum of aerodynamic balance, a smile seemed to split across Accelerator’s face.

“I think I’ll start by saving that brat and Misaka WORST.”

Fiamma of the Right opened the metal door from the inside using a trembling hand.

Due to the damage eating into his entire body, he could not stand up. He practically fell out of the escape container.

He was on top of a small mountain.

The Star of Bethlehem that he had created was nowhere to be seen. The color of the heavens had returned to normal. The sound of bombardments that had continued unceasingly before was now gone. Everything was silent and white. As he looked at the Russian scenery outside the escape container, Fiamma received a vague answer.

It was all over.

Fiamma did not know what would become of the world. At that time, he had indeed chosen the best option. Since he had been repelled, the world must have been continuing to slide down that hill. He could not hazard a guess how far it would fall or if it would digress onto a different route in the process of falling.

That boy had suggested that the world would live on.

That had not just been on overly simplistic view that did not apply to reality. That boy had stuck to it with everything he had even to the point of handing his sole means of escape to another.

Then go find out on your own from now on.

Those final words were annoyingly stuck in his head. Due to that, Fiamma now lay atop the ground instead of just becoming buried below the snow despite no longer having a goal. Of course, his path from then on would be a dangerous one. The man who had created turmoil in the world and caused a war would be pursued. He could not get help from the Roman Catholic Church or the Russian Orthodox Church. God’s Right Seat no longer existed. He had lost Index’s remote control spiritual item. Even with a special power residing in his arm, Fiamma would eventually run out of breath if he continued to fight an inexhaustible supply of enemies while in his restricted state. In that world of the victors, Fiamma would be treated as the one remaining blot.

A life on the run would likely wear down his body.

He doubted he would be able to find what that boy had suggested while stuck in a life like that.

“...”

But for some reason Fiamma did not simply abandon the chance left to him by another at the risk of that person’s life. At that time, that boy had clearly seen something Fiamma could not. He hesitated to abandon that while he did not know what it was.

He would decide what came next after heading forward.

Despite having lost everything, that thought brought strength back to Fiamma of the Right’s body and he staggered to his feet where he took his first step.

And then...

Suddenly, Fiamma of the Right’s right arm was severed at the shoulder.

He had been utterly unable to detect the activation of the magic for the strike or the preliminary signs of that activation. The attack fired at Fiamma from behind had mercilessly carved his body apart. His right arm was the symbol of his power. Having lost that arm, Fiamma screamed while scattering red blood across the white snow.

He held the wound with his other hand and turned around.

A strange magician was there.

He had waist-long pale silver hair. He had a graceful face with an expression on it that’s identity could not even be guessed. In the freezing cold, he was wearing only a green surgical gown. He had an odd atmosphere that made him seem both male and female, both adult and child, and both saint and sinner.

Fiamma knew.

Fiamma of the Right knew that magician.

But...

“...Aleister Crowley...?”

“As expected, I seem to be accurately recognized while outside my ‘container’. I use life support devices to mechanically create my life force which is the basis of magic power. That has allowed me to slip past all sorts of probes, but I suppose it should be obvious that I do not receive that divine protection while in this state.”

“You’re...I see...but there is an inconsistency in that theory. It does not explain why you are here.”

“There is nothing strange about that.” The magician who should by all rights be inside the windowless building in the center of Academy City responded as if that should be obvious. “The woman named Anna Sprengel was said to have carried out the role of the Secret Chief and of a point of contact and to have helped in the foundation of the Golden cabal, but in the end, it was said to be dubious whether she even truly existed. ...I too functioned as the point of contact for Aiwass who is one of the theories of the Secret Chief. To be honest, I do not think that is the exaggerated and much too serious role in charge of things like giving permission for the foundation of all the magic cabals in the world. In fact, I do not think there is any need to get permission for such a thing. But, well, I am the same type of existence as Anna was said to be. As such, it should not be too surprising to think that I have surpassed the realm of only being expressible as 0 or 1.”

Even then, Aleister Crowley still existed in the center of Academy City.

But at the same time, Aleister Crowley existed before Fiamma.

Multiple versions of him such as a clone did not exist.

It was just that the single one of him existed in multiple locations.

It was a phenomenon that destroyed the basic concept of counting, but that was just what the domain at the top was like. The Sephirot used various words and numbers to create an explanation of the spiritual world, but organizations above a certain level could not be explained using words, so they were intentionally omitted.

Did someone who entered that domain reach one of those upper organizations or did reaching one of those upper organizations cause one’s domain to transform into that domain?

At any rate, Crowley was in a different dimension.

He was in a higher place than Fiamma who had declared he held the power needed to save all of humanity while he was still an existence that could be counted with that world’s numbers.

“...Why?” Fiamma muttered. “I could not do it. I should have had the power needed to save this world just like the Son of God. And yet I could not do it.”

“It was not an issue of the type or amount of power. It was nothing more than an issue of how you used it,” Aleister Crowley said in disinterested voice. “My theory is that the age of Christian spells came to an end upon the completion of the Book of the Law. I actually think you did quite well. And that includes your objective of becoming The One Above God. If instead of the Aeon of Osiris...that is, the laws under the control of solely the Christian Church, you had formatted it in the Aeon of Horus that lies beyond it, you may have had your eye on a position similar to mine.”

He was the one who created supernatural powers with science.

He was the one who constructed an angel by gathering those powers.

Fiamma of the Right, the one who ruled over Michael, understood what that meant. Creating an angel was not the same thing as simply creating a new type of living creature. They were the symbols of the elements that made up the world. For a human to create one of those, it meant that the system at the base of that world was being artificially interfered with.

Gears created by human hands were being inserted into the mechanisms created by god. It was like remaking a music box into a time bomb.

It was the idea of affirming the occult and then trying to use precise equipment on it.

In an older time, just thinking of those things would get one sent to the gallows.

“...Is Aiwass that attractive an existence?” Fiamma asked. “An angel that cannot be explained by the Bible or theology is also the symbol of an element that is inside this world created by god and also outside of the hands of god. It is the beginning of the destruction of the fate established by god. ...You did not want the Book of the Law. You wanted the strange angel that granted you the Book of the Law.”

Aleister did not confirm or deny that.

“Well, I was not originally supposed to appear at this stage,” said the magician who was said to be the worst in the history of magic. “Even if you do not understand the values of things, you saw a bit too deeply into that right hand. You caught a glimpse of what is inside of it, when it would have been best for you to only have recognized it as a mere right hand that can negate supernatural powers. I simply cannot let this go. I was reluctant, but I had to make an appearance.”

“Of what is inside...?”

“And on top of that, it ended like this. He has now left my grasp. Thanks to that, I will have to take a bit of a ‘detour’. ...I see. So a being such as myself may still be able to feel common anger.”

“...”

Fiamma’s eyebrows moved ever so slightly.

He was recalling whatever it was that had flowed out from within when he had severed that boy’s right arm.

“What was that?”

“I’m sure you know,” he responded as if spitting out the words. “Other than the fact that the format you were basing it on was much too old, what you were trying to do is very similar to my plan. They are both the idea to change the world by preparing a temple filled with strange power, drawing out the power of the right arm within that temple, and readjusting the thickness of the phase itself with that power. How is Academy City different from a small world that has sealed a certain type of power? You just need to look at your own actions from a different viewpoint. Just by doing that, you should be able to understand the true nature of that power. ...If you had succeeded in doing that, you may have reached our goal before I did.”

That was why Aleister had come there.

“Those parchments. They were incomplete as they were gathered by the Russian Orthodox Church, but it would be a problem if they were analysed by an anti-magician organization such as the Anglican Church. I sent out a rather showy unit this time, but, well, all that matters is that they were recovered in the end. ...But that alone is not enough. Do you understand what I am trying to say?”

Fiamma was in the way. Aleister had come to utterly destroy even the slightest chance of his own plan being calculated out from the incomplete incident Fiamma had caused. As such, Fiamma would not even be allowed to be taken into custody by a magical organization. At that time, Fiamma came as close to the truth of the world as he ever had.

“I see.” He only had one arm, but Fiamma of the Right slowly shook his head. “...But that no longer matters.”

Oddly enough, his expression lacked the strange passion it had held up until then.

It was as if some kind of evil spirit had left him.

“When I see you, I can feel the futility of what I did. Most likely, I had that same look on my face. And someone who can truly save the world would not have that expression on his face....At that time and in that place, he stood in a position where no one could overtake him.”

He felt like he had come to a bit of an understanding as to what he had lacked.

As he thought that, Fiamma purposefully removed his left hand that was pressing against his wound to prevent blood loss. At the same time, a small explosive noise exploded out. The blood spewing out showed the outlines of a large invisible arm. It was his Third Arm. He could no longer control that power with his own will, but now he could fight.

“I believe this to be futile.”

Aleister Crowley did not seem to make any real preparations for a fight. He stretched out the fingers of one hand and slowly grabbed something invisible. Fiamma perceived something odd while the man made that pantomime-like motion. He thought he saw a staff seep out there where nothing should be. No, it indeed did not exist in the real world. And yet he saw an illusion even to the point of seeing the color silver due to unclassified information sources such as feeling a presence or an atmosphere.

It was the Blasting Rod.

That staff was from the legends of an ancient magician who Crowley, the man known as the ultimate villain, truly respected as his master.

“It is not an issue of whether it is futile or not,” Fiamma said quietly.

Most likely, Aleister would not understand even if he tried for 100 years.

If the feeling of truly wanting to save someone took precedence, it would be strange if something like the odds of winning did not end up being secondary.

Then go find out on your own from now on.

Someone had unhesitatingly answered in that way to an enemy who said he did not understand just how vast the world was. That person had to know a lot more than Fiamma. He had to know all sorts of things that were not recorded in any grimoire original. Fiamma was not even sure if he had come to understand even a fragment of that, but that was why he had the following thought.

He could not allow it to be trampled on.

Even if he had to face a true monster, he could not allow the world that boy had risked his life to save to be trampled on any more.

It was obvious at first glance who won and who lost.

Two forms clashed and one of them fell from a slope of the mountain.

Silence returned to the snowy plains of Russia.

The victor glanced down the slope and spoke as his body dissolved into the air.

“...You tried to explain that right hand, Imagine Breaker...and even The One Who Purifies God using only something at the level of Christianity. That was your mistake.”

And there was a smiling figure in distant London.

“We have a reaction!! It was only for 700 seconds, but this wavelength is unmistakable. It belongs to the magician Aleister Crowley!!”

Inside St. George’s Cathedral, Archbishop Laura Stuart’s lips twisted up creating a smile as she received that Anglican nun’s report.

That man was supposed to be dead.

That magician was supposed to have been killed by Anglican assassins.

He had been officially reported to have died over 60 years before, but a Crowley-specific post still existed in order to deal with magic cabals claiming to be his successor or the theorized survival of the man himself. And now a spiritual item set to search for him individually had produced an unexpected result.

Although for Laura Stuart, the result was “unexpected” in the same way that the theory as to the origin of the universe existed but no way of proving it had been found.

The search spell that used farsightedness was mostly useless because even the general outlines in the images that rose up were blurred. The target appeared to be speaking with someone, but neither figure’s details could be seen.

Even so, Laura was convinced with just that small bit of information.

The look of his face had changed quite a bit.

And on top of that, he had to have been obstructing anyone from recognizing him up until then by some means.

But...

(...So he really is alive.)

She used the words “really is” because she had not believed that he had ceased to exist.

It was true that the ones who had gained the most from World War III were the victors in Academy City. From then on, the relationship between the Magic side and the Science side would unavoidably tilt heavily in the direction of the Science side. The power of the Roman Catholic Church and the Russian Orthodox Church had been weakened, and while the Anglican Church had been victorious, it was nothing more than one of the three major powers of the Christian Church. On the other hand, Academy City was the single major organization at the top of the Science side. Just due to the simple distribution of power, Academy City would clearly outdo them in how much power over the world they gained with their victory.

But it would not end there.

If the identity of Academy City’s Board Chairman was as Laura suspected, she had the right to destroy Crowley. And traditionally, the assets of the target of a witch hunt would be seized by the church.

In other words, they still had a chance to completely absorb Academy City and the Science side.

Of course, even if her suspicions were correct, she doubted he would obediently go along with it all. She could not deny the possibility that a fourth great war would occur. However, that did not matter. As long as she had a chance, as long as she had the beginning of a means to bring the entire world into her hands, it did not matter at all.

The royal family had feared that, whether Academy City or the Roman Catholic Church won World War III, England would be walking down the path to being weakened. The second princess and the others had started a coup d’etat because of that.

Laura Stuart’s response to that was the following: If so, then you just need to take everything the victors have for yourself.

The right to execute the magician Aleister Crowley and to take charge of his dangerous assets belonged to the anti-magician organization of the Anglican Church.

If the Roman Catholic Church had won, the Christian world would have expanded decisively and the Magic side would have ruled the world. As such, it would have been harder for her to create an excuse as just one denomination of the Christian Church. At the very least, she would not have been able to seize things using the Inquisition.

That was what Academy City had been for.

And now things had conveniently ended up heading down a pleasant path.

“...Now then. Things are only just starting to get interesting, Board Chairman Aleister.”

“Heh heh,” came a small laugh on top of a building in Academy City.

The existence known as Aiwass laughed while looking down at its hands. It was clearly enjoying itself. Accelerator’s interference in Last Order’s consciousness had drastically reduced the power securing Aiwass’s existence. Soon, Aiwass would temporarily withdraw from the “surface”. Even so, Aiwass was cheerful.

“...You look like you’re enjoying yourself.”

That voice belonged to a girl.

She was Kazakiri Hyouka.

The gaze behind her glasses had a sharp light in it that was rare for her usually frightened self.

“I am happy,” Aiwass said in response as it lightly spread out its hands. “Or rather, I am rejoicing that the pleasant time looks like it will last even longer. Aleister is in a little too much of a hurry. It will all be over in no time at all with methods like that. It is like having someone hit a domino from the side before you have managed to line up very many of them. If I am to enjoy this situation, it is best if I temporarily head down to a deeper place. Livestock must be fattened up before they are eaten.”

“That is what you are doing this for?”

“Indeed. Regardless of whether I had appeared or not, that control tower would not have lasted long. There was a lack of strength in the lining up of the dominos. As such, I gave him the hint he needed to provide the needed strength. ...And he did well. That method was less eliminating me and more of a transference to a different domain, but, well, that was enough to be an excellent job.”

Did it have value or interest?

That was the criterion on which that existence acted and it was an existence that could easily destroy the planet were it to decide the planet were unnecessary.

“I think you should learn more about humans.”

“?”

“It is odd for you to not know in the first place. Our physical bodies are supported by their power. Enough possibility sleeps within them to give us form. It goes without saying that humans are incredibly strong beings. ...If you take them lightly, you may find yourself stabbed through the chest before long.”

“What are you saying?” responded Aiwass without holding back a sense of exaltation even while receiving Kazakiri’s gaze. “If those fragile humans could actually do that...wouldn’t that be a truly interesting case?”

Misaka Mikoto arrived at the coast.

However, it was a very different place from a beach on the Sea of Japan. It was a small fishing harbor, but she did not know if it was active at that time of year. After all, the surface of the ocean was covered in white ice. It was drift ice.

Due to the VTOL craft running low on fuel, it had been necessary to land.

They had boarded a high speed freight train, but they had still been decisively late.

They had pushed on and pushed on and pushed on in the direction the flying fortress had gone and they had finally ended up at that fishing harbor.

Perhaps due to the evacuation order just before the fortress had crashed, there was no one else around. The roads were covered in ice possibly because the cold had frozen the moisture after the tsunami had hit.

She could not find the slightest thing that would act as a clue to that boy’s whereabouts.

Mikoto looked around the area as if she was at a complete loss as to what to do, but she finally picked up a large stick. She stretched the stick down from the concrete bank and stirred up the ocean water that was wrapped in ice like a soda from a café.

Some kind of small mass of plastic got caught on the end of the stick.

“What is that?” asked the Sister from the side.

Mikoto did not respond.

She recognised it.

It was a Gekota strap that had been torn off at the string by some great force.

It was the item that the two of them had acquired on September 30th.