Toaru Majutsu no Index
Volume 12, 5: Vaguely Passing Sunset. Hard_Way,Hard_Luck.

Volume 12, Chapter 5: Vaguely Passing Sunset. Hard_Way,Hard_Luck.

Part 1

“Ohh, it’s raining, observes Misaka as Misaka looks up into the night sky. But Misaka wanted to see the moon, she says in a bit of disappointment.”

Last Order caught the raindrops on her palms along the dark street.

Since the trains and buses stopped once the curfew had passed in Academy City, most of the residents had disappeared from the streets. All that remained were the gutsier types that liked the nightlife and did not feel the need to head home that day. Even the nearby simple bus stop with a corrugated galvanized iron roof was empty.

The rain continued to fall.

It was not enough to require an umbrella, but it was still enough to keep the students enjoying the nightlife off of the streets. They must have entered some store or another rather than hanging around outside.

Accelerator’s bored eyes followed Last Order around as she restlessly wandered from place to place.

“That’s getting annoying, so stay put.”

“Oh, is that the puppy that’s been wandering around this area taking shelter from the rain in that bus stop!? says Misaka as Misaka dashes over to begin pursuit!!”

“Do I need to put a collar and leash on you, you damn brat!?”

He grabbed the back of the small girl’s neck with all his strength. He did not have the energy to chase after her again if she ran off. If she did, it was entirely possible he would knock over a nearby building in his anger.

Last Order shook her arms around.

“Misaka doesn’t need you to be so overprotective, says Misaka as Misaka asks for freedom and liberation.”

“What kind of frontier spirit bullshit is that? And if you want to see how ‘protective’ I am, just keep it up. I’ll punch you in the gut so hard you pass out. That would make this a lot easier.”

“Now, now. You don’t have to be that shy, says Misaka as Misaka taps her index finger against-...Wait, why are you clenching your fist? asks Misaka as Misaka brings out a big smile to soften your harsh emotions.”

“What a pain in the ass,” Accelerator muttered under his breath with a sigh.

Not everything about this tidy everyday life was bright and shiny. Every world had things to be dissatisfied with. A perfect world where everything worked the way you wanted it was actually a solitary place that ignored the circumstances of others.

These languid annoyances could be thought of as the contract fee required to live in this world.

Accelerator understood that.

He let out a sardonic grin inside his heart.

The effects of growing used to something were frightening indeed.

Just who did he think he was to not only accept this environment as normal but to make complaints about it?

How could he after everything he had done?

He needed to thank the god who supposedly resided above the clouds for the mere fact that he was standing there at that moment.

And as Accelerator gave deep thought to these issues, a voice reached his ears.

“Ow!! ...Misaka tripped, says Misaka as Misaka gives a report from the ground.”

“You’re just complaining.”

“I scraped myself, says Misaka as Misaka looks at her palm.”

As Last Order got up from the roadway that was wet with rain, her slightly wet and muddy palm had a slight scrape. Some red blood could be seen, but it was just seeping out slightly.

“Misaka might need disinfectant, says Misaka as Misaka grows a bit teary eyed.”

“Just spit on it.”

“Misaka might need disinfectant!! shouts Misaka as Misaka cries out the exact same line!!”

“...Just how annoying can you get? We can replace something back at Yomikawa’s place.”

“...”

Last Order remained silent.

Accelerator looked over and she began speaking while biting her small lip.

“Okay, says Misaka as Misaka accepts that. It hurts, but Misaka will put up with it, says Misaka as Misaka begins walking along behind you.”

She must have been trying to do what he had said because Last Order faced forward and did not look back at the wound on her palm.

But it looked like she had to actively avoid looking at it.

Last Order kept her mouth clenched shut and said nothing as she followed Accelerator. In exchange for the absence of words, he felt an odd sort of pressure. It was the aura of someone who could start crying at any moment.

“...God dammit.”

Accelerator clicked his tongue.

Having her make a big fuss out of it would only make everything more annoying. Accelerator used the hand not holding his modern cane to press a finger against Last Order’s forehead. He then gave a hard push backwards. He had not used much strength, but she was so caught off guard that she fell straight backwards.

“Wah! says Misaka as Misa-...!?”

Last Order waved her arms around, but she was unable to regain her balance and fell backwards onto her butt.

But she did not land on hard asphalt.

She landed on the roofed bus stop’s bench.

Last Order looked confused while glancing around the bus stop protected by the simple corrugated galvanized iron roof.

Without looking back at her, Accelerator said, “Wait there. If you go anywhere else, I’ll kick your ass.”

He spat on the street.

With an annoyed click of his tongue, he used his modern cane to head to drugstore. It was only about 200 meters away, but he still found it a giant pain in the ass to walk there.

He entered the store.

The unnecessarily spacious drugstore was filled with shelf after shelf placed freely around the store. Seeing that was enough to make Accelerator feel some pressure. But the feeling was lessened somewhat since the ceiling was about 5 times higher than the shelves.

The store was almost entirely empty due to the curfew having passed.

Due to what they sold, drugstores were required to remain open around the clock, but the look on the clerk’s face made it clear he would rather close up and go watch TV.

Accelerator was originally planning to buy disinfectant and simple cloth bandages, but he decided to just get some adhesive bandages instead. It was only a small wound. The cloth bandages would be overkill.

(Overprotective.)

A bitter expression appeared on Accelerator’s face when he remembered that impertinent term she had used.

It simply was not normal for him to be staring at boxes of adhesive bandages with a worried look on his face and a shopping basket hanging from one arm. Had a screw come loose in his mind? He tossed the package of bandages in the basket with an irritated look and used his cane to walk up to the register.

He opened his wallet to replace nothing but change.

It took him a bit to remember that his money had disappeared feeding that strange nun named Index.

“...God dammit,” he muttered and the clerk behind the register’s shoulders jumped.

It was unlikely he actually knew who Accelerator was, but the aura coming from Accelerator was simply too dangerous.

He then spotted some more colorful bandages lined up on a shelf right next to the register counter. They seemed to be marketed towards children. A number of different kits for simple injuries were lined up with them. They seemed to be leftovers from the Daihaseisai.

“What are these? How are they different from the normal ones?” he asked.

The clerk frantically answered while looking like his heart was trying to escape through his mouth. One was a disinfectant that would not sting. One was a bandage with an adhesive that would not stick to the injury itself. One was a normal cloth bandage with a sweet aroma that would mask any medicinal smell. Apparently they were all designed with children in mind.

Accelerator thought for a bit on the fact that they were made for children.

(Overprotective.)

He kicked the counter with one foot.

The clerk smiled while looking like he was about to faint. But his expression relaxed a bit when Accelerator tossed the children’s disinfectant and adhesive bandages into his basket. He may have thought Accelerator was a kid who hated scabs despite his tough appearance.

Accelerator somehow managed to scrape together enough change to pay.

Since the trains had already stopped for the day, he had no reason to avoid being left with no money in his wallet.

Accelerator left the store and walked through the slightly rainy street with the drugstore bag reflecting the streetlights. A mascot character with deformed proportions was smiling on the bag.

“...What nonsense,” he spat out.

He had asked Yomikawa if he would ever get used to doing this kind of thing, but he already knew the answer. He would never get used to it. What was he even doing? Accelerator was supposed to be standing in the position most removed from this kind of thing. There was something wrong with rushing through the streets at night while carefully carrying bandages to heal an insignificant little injury when you had killed over 10,000 human beings. It was nonsensical. How was anyone supposed to react if they saw him doing this? The only possible reaction would be a scornful laugh.

Was it okay for him to get used to this?

Was it okay for him to be worried about a trivial little scratch?

He was a monster that had spilled well over 10,000 liters of blood.

“God dammit.”

Accelerator clicked his tongue.

He had actually answered those questions back on August 31st. No matter how horrible a human being he may have been, that had nothing to do with that brat. And so he would take any action no matter how out of place it was for him if that brat was in danger.

It was a nice opinion.

But that alone was not enough.

In the end, that could be seen as forcing his own burden onto that brat.

Wasn’t that nothing more than passing the responsibility of being his driving force onto her?

(What is it that I want?)

Accelerator lightly clenched his teeth.

(Why am I so pissed? What do I feel is missing? Hah. Like I can figure it out. You know damn well you aren’t the type to try to “replace yourself”.)

At that point, his thoughts were cut off.

They were cut off by a black van slamming into his body at full speed.

It came from behind.

He was standing on the sidewalk clearly distinguished from the road.

A thick guardrail separated the sidewalk and the road.

But...

The jet black van easily tore through the guardrail and onto the sidewalk Accelerator was on. It showed no sign of using its brakes. Fragments of the van’s lights, bumper, and other parts scattered throughout the area and the windshield made a noise like azuki beans were hitting it as it shattered to pieces. Torn pieces of the metal guardrail flew through the air and struck the shutters of the multi-tenant building facing the sidewalk. Each roar of destruction seemed to bring about yet another roar of destruction.

It was as if a bomb had gone off.

And amid it all...

Accelerator calmly stood in the exact same spot and pose as he had three seconds before.

His hand was held against the side of his neck.

He audibly cracked his neck.

His slender finger was pressed up against the control switch for his choker-shaped electrode.

He had activated his reflection.

The person who stood there was now Academy City’s strongest Level 5 who could escape a direct hit from a nuclear weapon unscathed.

(What was that?)

Accelerator turned around.

He stared at the black van that had slammed into him.

A crater had been created in the middle of the metal on the front and center of the van as if a shell had hit it. The rest had crumbled up around that central crater. The destruction was to the point where it was unclear whether it should be called a van or simply called wreckage.

The sun had already set, but the headlights were off. This was not simply due to the lights breaking in the crash. They had been off from the beginning.

(It’s like they were trying to approach from behind without me noticing.)

In addition to the headlights being off, there were signs that the license plate had been forcibly changed, the airbag showed no sign of deploying despite the impact being strong enough to smash the windshield, and the keyhole on the door showed signs of having been forced open, suggesting the black van was stolen.

(I guess that clinches it.)

On top of it all, a man dressed all in black was groaning in the crushed driver’s seat.

He wore the armored outfit of some sort of special forces and had a mask that covered his entire head. To finish it off, he had thick goggles like those of a skier covering his eyes.

(They must either have some grudge against me or belong to some research institution that’s desperate to use me.)

A smile split horizontally across Accelerator’s face.

That look of joy grew and grew as he saw a military handgun grip on the man’s chest.

(They’re here. I knew these idiots would be coming. These pieces of shit want to bring me back. These pieces of trash can’t read the air, the atmosphere, the mood, or the rules.)

Accelerator raised his head.

He looked up at the man in the driver’s seat whose face was just a bit higher than his own. And he grinned.

“...You’re dead.”

A roar reverberated through the dark street.

It only took an instant.

Accelerator reached his arm in through the opening the windshield had previously been in. His slender arm headed straight for the face of that man in black as if it was being sucked in. More specifically, it headed for his mouth. He jammed the four fingers minus the thumb of that hand into the man’s mouth. His white hand broke straight through the black knife-proof mask and went straight to the back of the man’s throat. The thumb reached around below the man’s chin.

He then pulled his arm back.

With a cracking noise, the man’s jaw was dislocated.

“Ah ha ha gyah ha ah ha ha ha hee hee hee gyah ha ha ah ha ah ha ah ha ha ha ha!!”

With an explosive laugh, Accelerator pulled the man’s body out of the driver’s seat like he was catching a giant tuna with a single fishing pole. He then threw the man behind him. The man in black flew straight over the sidewalk and slammed into the shutter of the multi-tenant building.

This created a great noise like the crash of lightning.

Accelerator heard a frightened gasp from the backseat of the black van.

There was more.

Accelerator’s red eyes crawled back over.

“Hmm? This is great. Ah ha ha. Holy shit. This is fucking amazing!!”

He charged into the van through the broken windshield like a wild beast.

He ripped out the passenger seat like it was a weed and headed to the backseat. The entire van shook eerily. It was as if the metal and interior were moving out of Accelerator’s way on their own. Due to the twisted frame, the sound of bolts bursting loose and windows breaking could be heard again and again. It sounded like a steel balloon being forcibly inflated.

Another man sat in the backseat.

Before he could frantically draw his gun, Accelerator grabbed his head and slammed it straight down. With a silly-sounding noise, the backseat split open and the man’s head sank into the cotton.

Only the sound of the scratchy breath coming from Accelerator’s own throat could be heard.

“Ha ha ha. ...Ugh, I’m sick of this. I’ve lost interest. I’m not a complete monster.” Accelerator laughed. “Dammit. I won’t kill you. It’s too much of a pain in the ass. I’ll let you off easy and give you a discount: 50% off.”

“Ah...Ueh...”

The man’s voice was unintelligible, probably due to the cotton of the seat getting in his mouth.

Even so, the man in black desperately worked to get his words out.

“...Gh. 50%...off? M-money...?”

“No.” Accelerator gently shook his head. “I’ll only peel 50% of your skin off. If you survive that, I’ll let you go.”

“Ghee!!” screamed the man, sounding like some kind of insect.

Accelerator smiled.

His expression was amused, joyous, happy, and entertained. It was the expression of someone licking ice cream on the first day after their diet.

Accelerator heard the sound of something scraping across the road surface and found three other black vans coming to quick stops around him. He stared out through the broken windows at them. Were they stolen as well? He sighed inwardly while thinking about how much trouble they had gone to search out so many of the same model.

“This is getting boring.”

He cancelled his special 50% off service.

He instead grabbed the insect-like man’s head between his five fingers like it was a basketball.

A sound similar to a metal bat being swung was heard. He had casually tossed the man in black out through a broken window.

The loser slid to the side across the asphalt. Without even taking time to check on the man’s laughable state, the back doors of the three vehicles surrounding the destroyed one slid open.

But no one came out.

Instead, countless gun barrels poked out.

When he saw that, Accelerator sighed. At the same time, he swung his fist straight down as if to vent his anger. That vector-controlling strike applied fatal damage to the already twisted frame of the van, cracks ran through the various pipes, and sparks flew about.

Explosive blasts and waves of heat scattered in every direction, swallowing up the entire area.

Repeated muffled screams came from the three vans. Even though they were inside the vans and had masks covering their faces, they had still been struck by a blast of high temperature wind at close range. A few whose throats had been burned writhed around and even fell out of the sliding door they themselves had opened and onto the road.

“Thanks for the nice production work. ...You should thank me for blowing you away in such a spectacular fashion.”

A voice came from the flames.

Accelerator leisurely walked through the wreckage and the flames that spread out in a pomegranate red. He could only use his reflection for 15 minutes, but that did not seem to be a problem. In fact, he could finish everything in 10 seconds after causing disarray within the enemy to such an extent.

And then...

“This is exactly what I warned you about,” said a male voice coming from one of the vans surrounding Accelerator. “This isn’t enough to crush that brat. Don’t go soft on him just because he’s a kid. This is why I told you I should deal with him from the beginning.”

A man in black was kicked out of the back sliding door of the van that was still sitting open. Afterwards, a tall man wearing a lab coat sluggishly appeared from within. His expression showed no sign of damage. Despite being a researcher, he had a tattoo on his face. He wore mechanical gloves with a detailed form on both hands. They were known by the ridiculously long name of “micromanipulators”. As the name suggested, they were delicate pieces of technology that allowed the wearer to perform sensitive work on the scale of one-millionth of a meter.

“...”

Accelerator frowned slightly.

He recognized the researcher.

“Bh.” And the instant he saw him, he burst out laughing. “Gya ha ha ha ha!! Kihara-kun, the hell kind of pretentious entrance was that!? I wouldn’t think you were the same little intellectual who’d get scared and look away when trying to look me in the eye!!”

Kihara Amata.

He was a man who had once worked on developing the powers of Academy City’s strongest Level 5.

That meant he was one of the most skilled powers development researchers even in Academy City.

“Yeah, I really didn’t want to see you again. But it was an order from the higher ups, so I didn’t have much of a choice. Something about it being an emergency situation so they have to use every available option. Sorry, but...how bout you just let me kick your ass here?”

The man in the lab coat made a bluff, but Accelerator just ignored it.

Every single person who had taken part in researching Accelerator had been afraid of his extreme ability. To put it simply, he had never stayed in a single research facility for 2 full months. No matter how great an ambition the researcher held, they all ended up trembling in a corner of the room as soon as they saw someone whose nature vastly surpassed that.

Kihara Amata had been nothing but one of those researchers.

In fact, Accelerator knew of no other type of researcher.

With the sole exception of Yoshikawa Kikyou.

Kihara lightly shrugged the shoulders covered by his lab coat.

“Don’t say that. Who do you think it was that brought about your power?”

“Ah? What? Was that a line filled with duty and sympathy? Don’t tell me you think I’m the type of person who would return a favor. That’s just stupid. And, y’know...” Accelerator brought his left index finger to his temple and twirled it in a circle. “If you’re gonna act crazy, go do it on your own. I don’t have enough fingers to count how many researchers fucked with my body. Do you think I had any reason to remember you specifically, Passerby A? I never gave you a second thought, so get lost.”

“You really are an annoying little shit, you know that?”

Kihara wrapped his arms around his shoulders as if he was feeling cold.

A smile appeared on his face.

“I wanna kill you. I wanna kill you so damn bad. To be honest, I’ve always wanted to smash in that face of yours so bad I could barely stand it. But you were my research specimen and, more importantly, you were a kid. A terrible little brat, but a kid nonetheless. That just barely allowed me to hold back. But I shouldn’t have. I really should’ve killed you back then. Ahh...I fucked up. Ah ha ha. What was I thinking?”

As if he was inviting back a lover, Kihara opened wide the arms that wore the gloves for super delicate work that were reinforced with small motors and electrically contracting artificial muscles.

In the same pose, Kihara Amata approached Accelerator.

He approached defenselessly.

The edges of researcher’s lips twisted up.

And he said, “So I’ll just have to kill you now, you damn brat.”

The fist wearing the detailed metal glove flew towards Accelerator’s face.

Yet Accelerator’s smile did not crumble.

“What is this idiot thinking?” he muttered.

Without even thinking of defending, Accelerator opened his arms to welcome in Kihara Amata’s fist. And just as he was thinking of utterly breaking that idiot’s arm and tying it in a knot...

The mechanical fist tore Accelerator’s skin and shook his skull.

“Gah...h...!?”

The unexpectedness of the strike caused even more of a shock to his brain.

The switch on his choker-shaped electrode was on.

His reflection was active.

In that state, he should have been left unscathed even if he detonated a nuclear bomb he was currently carrying.

And yet...

For some reason, the vector reflection had not worked at all.

“Y’know...”

As his consciousness wavered, Accelerator could hear Kihara Amata’s voice.

It was the disappointed voice of someone looking down on another human being.

“I never gave you a second thought either, brat. Don’t act so damn spoiled just because you have a bit of power. Let me say it again: Who do you think it was that gave you that power? Well, do you remember now?”

“Ah...”

Before Accelerator could say anything, Kihara’s fist flew once more.

An odd noise came from the glove.

It was a strike coming down from above like he was swinging a hammer. Once again, the reflection was meaningless. When the powerful strike hit his head, Accelerator collapsed onto the wet road. His modern cane slipped from his grasp. The plastic bag from the drugstore fell to the ground and its contents scattered about.

“I’m just gonna crush you now. You’re not the real reason I’m here, so I don’t have time to play around with the likes of you.”

Kihara crushed the box of bandages underfoot.

Accelerator had bought those children’s bandages for Last Order.

The cutesy package grew dirty with rainwater and mud.

“That doesn’t suit you.” Kihara grinned while lightly stroking the mechanical glove as if to check on how his arm was doing. “Well, we’ll be retrieving that anyway, so don’t worry. You can just become a stain on the wall after I crush you. That suits you a lot better, don’t you think?”

“...!!”

Anger suddenly filled Accelerator’s mind.

Kihara had said Accelerator was not his true objective. And now he said he was going to retrieve “that” which was always with Accelerator.

His objective was her.

He was saying the person he had referred to as “that” would be dragged into the bloody world Accelerator and Kihara Amata were from.

“Don’t you...”

Accelerator began speaking while crawling on the ground.

From his position on the ground, he glared up at Kihara and the men in black who were looking down at him after defenselessly getting that close to him.

With some muddy rainwater on his lips, he continued speaking.

“...underestimate me, you lowly thuuuuuuuuuuuuuggggggggg!!”

The wind whipped up with a roar.

He had the power to manipulate vectors. He could control the directionality of anything that had even the slightest force. And the wind, the flow of the atmosphere around the earth, was no exception.

He created a local storm.

The 120 m/s blast of wind he controlled fell under the highest M7 class for hurricanes. The atmospheric violence was powerful enough to pick up a car or rip off a house’s roof, so it had surpassed the level of a standard missile.

“Die!” shouted Accelerator.

But...

“No, none of that.”

Just as Accelerator thought he heard an oddly dry beeping noise, the mass of raging wind he was controlling was blown away. The gathered wind scattered in all directions like the neck of a balloon had been opened.

“!?”

The attack he had thought was a sure thing was negated with ease.

Accelerator passed astonishment and was left in a complete daze.

“Like I said, you just need to die, okay?”

Kihara picked a metal pipe off the ground and beat Accelerator’s face with it.

An unpleasant creaking noise came from the surface of his face. He tried to cry out in pain, but the voice lacked a proper exit and came out with a muffled ring to it. When Kihara heard that, he casually tossed the pipe to the side.

“U...gh...”

Despite his hazy consciousness, Accelerator thought.

He had seen this phenomenon before.

With just a touch of his palm, that boy had easily negated the Level 5 powers Accelerator had thought were absolute. That boy had crushed his impenetrable reflection ability and sent heavy blow after heavy blow against his slender body.

Could it be...?

“Did you...develop powers in your own body...?”

“Gya ha ha! No, no, that’s not it at all. Why would I experiment on myself? That’s a job for the guinea pigs. This is nothing so amazing. It doesn’t take that much to crush you even without ridiculous powers. Why would I take such a risk just to crush a single idiot like you? Well?”

“...”

“But damn this feels good. Exterminating insects just puts me in such a good mood. And this is working great today, too.”

As Kihara spoke, he opened and closed the fingers of the micromanipulators.

Accelerator’s shoulders jumped.

It was not over yet.

He could not let himself be defeated so easily.

“Ohh!!”

Accelerator used his vector control to jump up from the ground like a spring. And at the same time he swung his arms with everything he had. The modern cane that had been affixed to his right arm fell away, but he did not care.

He reached his five fingers out toward Kihara Amata.

The first time failed.

But the second time, his fingernails touched Kihara. Accelerator poured in his power. He poured it into the gloves Kihara wore. He focused the vectors on a single point and the mechanical gloves shattered.

The fragments scattered every which way.

“!?”

Accelerator could see the surprised expression on Kihara’s face through the remnants flying through the air.

He jabbed his five fingers out toward that face.

(You’re dead now, you piece of shit!!)

That deadly hand broke through the film of mechanical fragments and shot toward Kihara Amata’s face

But...

“I see, I see. Did you think the secret to my power was in the gloves?”

His voice was perfectly calm.

Kihara easily avoided Accelerator’s strike simply by moving his head to the side.

And his usual smile appeared on his face.

“That’s not it at all! Gya ha ha! Sorry about getting your hopes up like that!!”

A fist stabbed into Accelerator’s side.

The desire to vomit exploded in his stomach, but he forced it back down.

Kihara’s laugh rang in his eardrums.

“Ha ha! How long are you going to act like you’re the strongest? You’re nothing but a pile of scrap!!”

Accelerator’s body was doubled over from the previous blow and another fist fell atop his head that was sticking forward a bit. His body collapsed to the ground like a toy.

“Your reflection isn’t an absolute barrier.”

Kihara slowly walked forward.

Accelerator could not move.

“It only reverses the vector of any force heading into it. That makes it simple to beat the shit out of you. I just have to pull back my fist the instant before hitting. You could say the trick is stopping at the last second.”

He sounded like he was enjoying himself.

His smile was that of someone explaining the trick to a piece of stage magic they had thought up.

“You end up reflecting the fist that is moving away from you. That means you actually punch yourself. Do you get it now, masochist boy!? Or is it too complex for a little kid to understand!?”

“!!”

Accelerator tried to get up, but Kihara’s foot flew his way before he could.

The sole of Kihara’s shoe stomped down on him from above again and again. As the foot stomped on him in various places, his skin was torn and blood mixed in with the rainwater.

(What...?)

He knew Kihara claimed to be using his own power against him. But Accelerator had no idea what exactly it entailed or if it was even possible in reality. However, he did know his reflection was of no use.

“Gahhhh!!”

He tried to control the vectors of the air again, but the dry beeping noise sounded again and it was blown away.

“This is the same,” said Kihara. “Your power works by constructing equations for the vectors. That means I just have to throw those equations out of order. You can’t control the wind with me around. That kind of control requires a much more complex set of equations than just reflecting. It’s the same as program code. The more lines of code, the higher the possibility of a bug...and more room for intentional interference. Basically, I can jam all of your wind attacks by sending a small sound wave out into the air. It just has to have the proper wave and directionality to sneak into a blind spot in your equations. Get it?”

He had pulled out a cell phone...no, it was the strap attached to it. It was made of a soft material and it seemed that it produced a noise when pressed. That was all it took to seal Accelerator’s power.

“Damn...it.”

“So what’s it like being stomped into the mud? I know your characteristics, your equations, your Personal Reality...everything about you. I didn’t develop your power for nothing.”

Repeated dull sounds of impacts rang out.

A few drops of blood splattered onto Kihara’s face.

Kihara continued kicking until he was out of breath and then scraped his bloodstained shoe on the wet road. He treated the stains like the ugliest possible thing to replace on his shoe.

“Hm? Some bugs sure are hard to kill. Hey, come bring that thing out of the van. You know what I mean. The thing shoved in the back. The one covered in dust.”

Kihara lightly stretched out an arm and one of the armored men headed to the back of one of the vans with pained movements. What he pulled out and handed to Kihara was a heavy toolbox filled with things like hammers and saws.

“The cruder and rougher weapons tend to work better. It’s like how a chainsaw meant for lumber gives much more gruesome results than a nonmetal assassin’s knife.”

Accelerator was not able to speak properly from where he lay collapsed on the ground.

He merely looked up at Kihara while the rain fell on him.

“Hey, Accelerator. Did you know the real reason behind her?”

Kihara smiled.

Accelerator could only image he was referring to that small girl.

“Even back at the stage of...what was it again? Oh, right. The Radio Noise development project that came before the Level 6 Shift project. It seemed suspicious from the moment they gave the go sign for those mass produced military models. After all, they should have just made clones of you, the #1, rather than Railgun, the #3.”

“...”

“So why didn’t they clone you? Why did they start with that #3? There has to be something there. Something you don’t know about.”

“Hah,” laughed Accelerator. He then muttered, “You piece of shit.”

Not only was his lip split but everywhere from the space between his teeth to the back of his neck was filled with the flavor of blood.

“Don’t get so worked up over some nonsense when you don’t know as much about that brat as I do.”

“Hm?”

Kihara grinned and grabbed the corners of the heavy toolbox with both hands to see how it felt.

Still smiling, he said, “How moving. I’m sure she’s delighted to hear it.”

Accelerator thought his heart was going to stop.

He did not move from his collapsed position.

But he still managed to turn his head just enough.

It was about 100 meters away.

There he saw...

A little girl with one arm held by a man in black and her remaining limbs dangling down.

“That completes the retrieval job.”

Accelerator could hear Kihara Amata’s voice growing more distant.

He could see three people before him while he lay collapsed on the ground. Two were men in black walking side by side. The other was Last Order who was being held like a piece of luggage by one of those men. He held her like she was a plastic bag with something heavy inside. The bottoms of her feet did not reach the ground. Her feet dangled down limply like hanging threads.

He could not see her expression from where he was.

Her head hung down and shook like a tree branch just like her arm and legs, but her bangs hid her expression. However, she did not move an inch despite being in what had to be a painful position. She was most likely unconscious. He had a feeling fresh wounds would be visible on her young body if he got closer.

Holding her by one arm must have been tiring because the man roughly shoved Last Order toward the other man. Even so, she just hung there limply without making the slightest reaction.

Kihara laughed and said, “Ahh, ahh. I guess she probably couldn’t hear you. Unlike with you, we were told to bring her back alive, but she hardly looks alive to me. I’d rather not have to make a written explanation of how she ended up dead.”

“Quit joking around,” muttered Accelerator under his breath.

She was still alive. There was no way she was dead. If Last Order did die, Accelerator would have noticed since he relied on the Sisters to help carry out his calculations...or so he hoped.

(Damn, I have no proof...)

Accelerator gritted his teeth while lying on the cold ground.

(I have no idea if I would be affected at all if that brat died! I’ve never even thought about the possibility, so of course I don’t know!!)

Paying no heed to Accelerator as he lay battered on the ground, the men holding Last Order’s limp form approached. They were probably heading for the vans.

Kihara had said Last Order was their objective.

Accelerator had no idea where they planned on taking her, but it would all be over once they shoved her into one of the vans.

That girl would once more be dragged down into a world of blood and darkness.

And...

The odds of her coming back again were probably zero.

(I won’t let you.)

Accelerator’s fingers crawled across the ground that was wet with rain.

He gathered up the last bit of power left in his battered body.

“Last Ordeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!”

He raised his head and cried out her name.

He had a feeling he saw the girl’s shoulders give a slight twitch.

He swung up an arm while lying on the ground.

He could not defeat Kihara Amata with his vector manipulation. Even if he created a raging burst of wind by controlling the air, it would immediately be jammed. He could not defeat that man in the lab coat using his normal attack methods. Also, defeating that man was not what he had to focus on now. His priority lay elsewhere.

And so...

“...!!” Accelerator clenched his teeth and slammed his hand against the wet asphalt.

A great sound of destruction rang out.

The tremendous power blasted the asphalt to pieces and the fragments flew in every direction, causing Kihara to move back slightly.

This gave Accelerator an opening of less than a second.

Accelerator used his hand to grasp the wind using that limited time.

A blast of wind surged up as he controlled its vectors.

“Tch!!”

Accelerator heard Kihara click his tongue. The spear of violent wind shot straight by Kihara and straight at Last Order who was being held by a man in black.

The wind speed was 120 m/s.

That wind burst was enough to lift a car or rip a roof off a house. He tore the girl’s small body from the thick arm of the man in black and launched her from the ground. Last Order flew over several buildings that were over 10 meters tall and disappeared into the background.

An odd coughing noise came from Accelerator’s throat.

Before he could even think of suppressing it, he coughed up a mass of blood and his face fell down to the wet road in front of him. Even though he had some battery time left, his consciousness was too faint to lend any focus to the reflection. The rainwater that was mixed with blood and mud flowed in through the corner of his lips and onto his tongue.

“Ahh, ahh, ahh, ahh.” Kihara let out a carefree comment. “She’s not a golf ball, y’know? You’re not supposed to launch people distances that are measured in yards. That was some nice distance, but who’s gonna go get her? I’m not doing it.”

“What should we do?” quietly said one of the men wearing a black armored outfit.

Kihara scratched his head with his right hand that still had the remnants of the glove on it.

“Hmm... Split into three groups I guess. One group heads after the primary target. The other two stay with me. We’ve got a lot to do with retrieving the men who were crushed by him and all.”

“But our orders had capturing Last Order as our top priority, so shouldn’t the groups-...”

“Oh?” Kihara looked at his subordinate with a puzzled look and asked, “You’re the guy who was recently brought in to replenish this Hound Dog unit, right?”

“No, um...”

“It’s fine, it’s fine. I’m not trying to pry into your identity. I don’t care about the fate of some sweaty guy. But let me fill you in since you don’t seem to understand the rules around here.” Kihara cleared his throat disinterestedly. “You people are a gathering of trash. You have no rights here. We can replace you with more trash at a moment’s notice. If you get in the way of a vitally important mission, I have no problem killing you. Do you get it now? You’ve already died once. Do you get that?”

The slimy feeling of the raindrops disappeared from the man in black’s body.

All discomfort disappeared from him.

“I put the schedule together myself. I racked my brains for the sake of those fucking brats. It’s such nonsense. And are you going to make me rack my brains to deal with you too? Hm?”

A chilly feeling seemed to emanate from Kihara’s body.

When he saw the man silently take a step back, Kihara nodded.

“Okay, as long as you understand. But we do have some leeway here, so I’ll answer your question.”

“O-okay. We are supposed to take Last Order alive, but after what happened to her...”

“Oh, I’m sure that brat thought of something. He probably launched her into a river or something.”

“Since she was unconscious, she might have drowned if she landed in water...”

“Don’t be stupid. The shock of hitting the water would wake her up. And I think she had come to before that anyway. At any rate, check around the area for something that would function as a cushion. Even if she has some skill at running away, she still has the basic specs of a kid. If you still manage to lose sight of her, I’ll be holding my sides from laughter.”

“Understood,” replied a few different voices.

Using only eye and hand signals rather than discussing it, a single group split off and disappeared down a back alley.

Kihara looked down at where Accelerator lay in a puddle.

“Now then.”

“Are we going to take him with us too?”

“No, we’ll kill him. Seeing someone working hard for that kind of reason really pisses me off. And we have no reason to capture him. He’s a real pain in the ass. It’s safest to just kill this kind of gloomy and brooding self-satisfied bastard.”

From his tone of voice, one would think he was speaking about a caterpillar on a tree.

One of the armored men held out a handgun, but Kihara shook his head. The countermeasure for Accelerator’s reflection could only be accomplished with a subtle reversal of an arm or leg. It could not be replicated with a bullet.

And it was naturally only an attack method that was possible for that man who had directly developed Accelerator’s powers. Even if others heard the explanation, they could not pull off the split second timing needed.

Kihara crouched down and lifted up the toolbox.

It was a primitive blunt weapon much heavier than a hammer.

He aimed for Accelerator’s battered face like he was trying to crush an empty can sitting on the ground.

“Since you had me off guard for a second, you really should have killed me. I don’t know if you were hoping to turn things around with that, but she’ll be nice and captured again in 10 minutes.”

“...Shut up,” spat out Accelerator.

“Oh?”

Kihara’s eyes widened. He must not have thought Accelerator was actually still conscious.

“A piece of shit like you...will never understand.”

“Is that so? Well, I’ll be killing you now, so I hope you like those dying words. It’s time for you to become a nasty stain,” said Kihara with a sneer.

“Dammit,” muttered Accelerator silently.

As Kihara had said, Last Order would definitely be captured at this rate. She could flee some on her own, but she was overwhelmingly outmatched.

(What is Yomikawa doing? And where is Yoshikawa with that handgun of hers?)

But despite those thoughts, Accelerator knew the answer. They would of course not be coming. There was no way they would conveniently show up. If people showed up like puzzle pieces to complete a means of resolving the situation whenever you were faced with something you could not handle alone, no one would ever have any real problems. Some said humanity was one big family. They said everyone could laugh together and be happy. But that exceedingly kind illusion would never actually happen.

(...Someone.)

Even so, Accelerator continued to think.

(Give me a lucky illusion... I’ll give you all the credit. You can trample over me and make fun of me all you want.)

He looked horribly pathetic lying on the wet ground with his skull about to be smashed.

(Someone...anyone...save that brat...)

He knew his hopes would never reach anyone.

Kihara mercilessly swung down the toolbox hammer.

But just before it hit...

“What are you doing there?”

“Ah?” said Kihara as he stopped his arms.

The armored men turned toward the voice.

It had come from less than 20 meters away. The person must have suddenly come out of one of the narrow side paths. The figure stood in the pouring rain of the night without an umbrella. The light of the streetlights dimly reflected off of the figure.

The figure had silver hair long enough to reach her waist, pure white skin, and green eyes. She wore an extravagant white nun’s habit with gold embroideries that looked like a tea cup. But the clothes were held together in places by safety pins, giving them a very imbalanced look. In her arms was a calico cat that looked completely out of place in that strained world.

Accelerator recalled something as he lay collapsed on the ground.

He recalled her.

He recalled her name.

Part 2

“Dammit, Index. Why do you have to disappear right after we meet up? Where did you get off to?” muttered Kamijou Touma as he glanced around every which way.

The underground mall was relatively empty since the curfew had passed. It was still a world of bright fluorescent lights where day and night were indistinguishable and the weather was a complete mystery, but the changes in the flow of people and the type of music played in the stores gave some sense of the flow of time.

Kamijou was not even sure why Index had left the student dorm and headed to the underground mall.

When they had met up, their conversation had been as follows:

“Academy City’s structure is so complicated, annoying, and confusing. It was really hard replaceing you, Touma. But that’s fine now. Let’s get home, okay?”

“Wait, why did you go to so much trouble to replace me? ...Well, if I had to take a guess, I’d say you were hungry.”

“Touma, you idiot!”

“Gwahh!! Did you just try to bite me all of a sudden!?”

“If you think the only reason I do anything is because I’m hungry, you are sorely mistaken!!”

“Yeah, but the times when you do things for any other reason are the exceptions!!”

“You are too inconsiderate, Touma. The white-haired guy I met before coming here fed me hamburgers without even asking about my situation. You need to be as nice as him.”

“Is that so? Well, I have nothing to do with someone like that. Oh, did you actually thank him? And did he give you anything else?”

“Mh. Yes, I thanked him. But now that you mention it, he did lend me this.”

“Oh, it’s just some pocket tissues.”

“Ah! He must be having trouble right now without this cutting edge daily item! T-Touma, I need to go return this!!”

“Eh? But it’s just some tissues. And I doubt he wants them back after you’ve wadded them up like-...wait, stop running off and listen to me, Index!!”

It would have been quickest to call her cell phone, but that nun had likely left it off as usual. Kamijou wandered around the underground mall and poked his head inside a nearby fast food restaurant and other stores, but he did not replace Index.

(She seemed to be looking for someone. Maybe she figured he isn’t down here anymore so she went up to the surface.)

Then again, that nun had a perfect memory, so there may have been no real reason to think she would get lost in Academy City.

Kamijou headed up the stairs and left the underground mall.

“Huh!? It’s raining...” muttered Kamijou as he looked up into the night sky.

The falling raindrops were soaking the black road surface. It was the end of September, so the air had grown quite cold.

(I don’t think I had a futon hanging out to dry. I hope Index remembered to close the window before leaving, though. Well, replaceing Index comes first.)

Kamijou headed off at random while still looking up at the night sky that was covered with a thick layer of clouds. It was raining, but not enough to need an umbrella. When he thought about how near his dorm was and the fact that the dorm umbrella stand was full because he would buy a cheap convenience store umbrella whenever it rained, he really did not feel like heading back to the underground mall to buy some rain gear.

(Is it just me or are there a lot of Anti-Skill members around here?)

Whether due to the time of day or the weather, there were surprisingly few students on the dark road. The only people he saw walking around were Anti-Skill.

The Anti-Skill members wandering around wore defensive armor made of layered plastic and shock absorbing polyurethane. Their equipment had to be waterproof, but Kamijou felt a bit sorry for them when he saw them walking around in the cold rain without an umbrella.

(Hmm. If we’re out here late enough, they’ll probably try to lead us home. I know how to slip past them...but Index doesn’t. And after speaking to her, they would probably take her to an Anti-Skill station. I need to take her home before this becomes a problem.)

Kamijou was just about to look away from the Anti-Skill members.

But before he did...

He heard an odd noise.

“...?”

Kamijou stopped moving.

An Anti-Skill member covered in defensive equipment had suddenly collapsed to the ground without warning. As he lay face down, the man sank into a puddle on the wet road. And yet he did not move an inch. No matter how waterproofed that equipment was, that was not a normal reaction. For example, would anyone be stupid enough to leap straight into a water puddle while wearing a raincoat?

(...Is he unconscious?)

Kamijou had no idea how uncomfortable the official Anti-Skill uniform was.

But if it was anything like a mascot suit at a theme park, the wearer could easily end up dehydrated and with heatstroke. Kamijou felt a bit chilly, but it was possible things were different for a person wearing all that thick equipment.

(Not good.)

Kamijou’s gaze raced around the area.

There were no normal students around, but there were plenty of other Anti-Skill members.

Even so, Kamijou still headed for the collapsed man.

And then...

It started happening all over the place

Kamijou heard a thudding noise. It was the sound of a human collapsing to the ground. And it did not stop there. He heard the sound again and again and again.

“Wha-...?”

Kamijou looked around in confusion and then froze in place.

All of the Anti-Skill members patrolling the road had collapsed. They had not been struck by any kind of impact. They had simply collapsed to the ground. And yet they were not moving a finger or even trembling slightly. Kamijou could tell even from a distance. They had been rendered completely unconscious.

“Wait...what the hell is going on!?”

He now frantically ran forward.

He headed for the first Anti-Skill member that had collapsed. The one who had collapsed face down in a puddle seemed to be a man. Kamijou thought he might suffocate in his current state, so he moved the man out of the puddle and rolled him face up.

The man’s body was heavy.

Kamijou could not tell whether it was due to all his gear or if the man was simply heavy.

(What about the others...?)

He ran around, but none of the others seemed in danger of suffocating. He wanted to drag them all to the underground mall, but he simply did not have the strength. A human was as heavy as a sandbag.

He would also have trouble calling in people to help. He was on a fairly major road, but Academy City was essentially a collection of student districts. With the exception of the entertainment districts for the teachers, most everything shut down at sunset. The only stores with lights on in the area were the convenience stores and restaurants that had been given permission to remain open at night. The last train and bus had already left and not a single car was driving down the road with 3 lanes on either side. It could not have felt more hopeless. So many people had collapsed and yet there was no sign of it causing a disturbance. Kamijou felt he needed to abandon the idea of anyone else doing something about it.

(This is the kind of situation Anti-Skill is supposed to deal with...)

Kamijou peered own at the face of one of the Anti-Skill members.

His body was so thoroughly covered in nonmetallic parts that Kamijou would not be able to tell if he was injured without removing them. But at the very least, his clothing did not appear to be dyed with red. Kamijou placed his hand against the man’s neck to see if he had a pulse as he had seen done in movies. Kamijou felt the reassuring sign of that pulse of life. He placed his hand across the man’s mouth and felt him breathing.

As far as Kamijou could tell, the man’s life was not in danger.

But if he was not injured, what had caused this?

(Was it some kind of knockout gas? No...)

If so, Kamijou could not explain how he alone was fine.

At any rate, this was not something an amateur like him should be making a judgment on.

He had to call an ambulance.

Kamijou pulled out his cell phone, dialed a three digit number, and was connected to the call center. Merely pressing the call button to that emergency number made him nervous, but this was not the first time he had called it. His mind was in a state of confusion, but he somehow managed to explain the situation.

Afterwards, he closed his folding cell phone.

After standing up, he put the phone into his pocket.

And then...

“...Ksshh...”

He heard static coming from the ground. Kamijou looked down. The collapsed Anti-Skill member was still completely motionless. What sounded like static over a radio was coming from his shoulder.

“Kssshhh....to the city. I repeat...kssshhh!! ...The gate has been destroyed! The intruder is headed for the urban area... Can anyone here me? My unit was taken out by an unknown atta-...gwah!?”

The sound cut off with a noise like a TV being turned off.

The sound had been coming from a radio. The speaker had likely been another Anti-Skill member located elsewhere. Kamijou was worried about the man’s situation, but the rectangular device was now producing nothing but flat static. At first glance, it looked like an undecorated cell phone, but it must have worked completely differently. Kamijou felt no desire to touch it.

(What was that...?)

Kamijou looked around.

He recalled one of the staticky words he had heard.

(...Intruder.)

That meant someone had come to Academy City from outside. He had no way of knowing if that was related to the collapsed Anti-Skill members before his eyes. But whether it was or not, the same fear entered Kamijou’s mind.

(Is Index okay...?)

Not all enemies of Academy City were necessarily magicians, and not all magicians were necessarily after Index. But she was still the first thing that came to his mind.

(Not good.)

Kamijou’s thoughts changed course.

Just in case, he felt it would be best to meet up with her as quickly as possible even if just to see she was safe.

But then...

“?”

Kamijou felt a small impact against his gut.

It seemed someone had run into him...but the impact had been oddly low. It had been at the bottom of his gut rather than in the chest.

He looked down.

It had been a small child that had run into him. She was quite a bit shorter than Kamijou. She looked to be about 10 years old. She had almost shoulder length brown hair.

He was pretty sure her name was...

“Last Order, right?”

“Uuh...” came her moaning reply.

Her reply was muffled because she had her small face pressed up against Kamijou’s shirt. It seemed more that she was clinging to him than that she had bumped into him. Even through his shirt, he could feel that she was trembling and that her body temperature had fallen due to the rain. She was a lot wetter than he would have thought possible from the sprinkling rain.

(What happened?)

Kamijou looked puzzled.

“Help...”

Last Order looked up at Kamijou while clinging to his shirt.

Her large eyes were horribly bloodshot and a clear liquid flowed onto her cheek.

Even though the rain was still falling on her, the line running down her cheek was clearly different.

She...

She cried out...

“Please, help him! says Misaka as Misaka begs you!!”

Two girls crossed paths, connecting the paths to two different espers.

Those two paths should have been perfectly parallel lines that never crossed.

When their paths gather at a single point, the true story begins with Academy City as its stage.

Between the lines 5

People collapsed one after another.

Amid the cold rain, the only sound ringing through the streets during that dark, dark night was that of bodies collapsing without resistance, without any great noise, without shed blood, and without a single scream. They were all adults wearing armored outfits designed to absorb shocks. The bright light of the streetlights reflected off the firearms that sank into puddles.

They were members of Anti-Skill, the group in charge of Academy City’s law and order.

After collapsing, they did not move.

Not even a finger.

Meanwhile, the sound of small footsteps could be heard.

The slender silhouette of a woman walked through the rainy city while weaving between the victims who lay collapsed and motionless on the wet roadway.

The woman who appeared below the streetlights did not have an umbrella. The narrow, threadlike rain struck her slim feminine form. She wore a women’s outfit called a kirtle that the dress was originally based off of, a narrow leather belt around the waist, and detachable sleeves that extended from her wrists to her upper arms. They looked something like a gaudier version of what bank and post office workers wore on their arms. On her head, she wore a headdress made of a single piece of cloth that completely covered her hair.

Someone with a bit of an interest in history or archeology might have recognized her outfit as that of French townspeople at around the 15th century.

But since it was primarily colored a bright yellow, it could hardly be called historically accurate.

The sound of metallic objects clinking together could be heard.

They were coming from the piercings on her face. Not only did she have piercings in her ears, but also on her nose, lips, and eyelids. When she parted her lips and stuck out her tongue, a chain fell out. The narrow necklace-like chain was attached to a piercing in the tip of her tongue and it stretched down to her waist. An accessory modeled after a cross hung at the end.

She had gone through with all of that in full knowledge that it would ruin her features.

In the Christian Church, the idea of piercing oneself with metal had deep meaning. The Son of God had died a martyr after being pierced by nails and a spear. If you carefully chose the places pierced, it was possible to freely put together different spells.

“Hm.”

The woman with holes in her face looked around the area and then kicked up a radio lying on the ground near her feet. She caught the rectangular device in one hand as it flew through the air. She frowned slightly when she felt the muddy water on it.

After spinning it around in her hand like a handgun, she brought the radio’s microphone up to her mouth.

She spoke as if whispering in someone’s ear.

“Hiiiii, Aleister.”

All she received in reply was the staticky voice of a bewildered Anti-Skill member. But she ignored him and continued speaking to someone who did not seem to be listening.

“I’m sure you can cut in on these normal lines. I’d like it if you would hurry up and speak with me.”

She then heard the sound of the line being switched over.

The sound quality grew much clearer.

“What do you want?” asked a new voice.

“If you’re willing to listen, I figure we can have a chat.”

“Just to be sure... Do you really think I will fall for such a low level provocation?”

“Oh? I crush three of your board of directors and you still call it ‘low level’?”

The woman spun the radio around in her hand.

A bit of disappointment was visible on her face.

“There are only 12 members of the board of directors, right?”

“They can be replaced. All of them if necessary.”

“Now that isn’t what I wanted to hear.”

“And I have the power to make them give in to me.”

“Y’know, Aleister. I had thought you didn’t actually exist. I thought you might be some kind of hologram or some strange machinery jammed inside a corpse.”

“Such fantastical ideas. You are more suited to being an inventor than a scientist.”

“I had decided that your views were just the combined views of the board of directors, but it looks like I was wrong. You’re showing no sign of panic.” The woman then muttered quietly, “Maybe I need to crush a few more members of the board of directors.”

The person on the other end of the radio did not say anything to stop her.

It was as if he was announcing that kind of threat meant nothing to him.

“Well, whatever. Do you know who I am?”

“No, but I am having your identity investigated as an insurgent.”

“God’s Right Seat.”

The woman smoothly voiced the name of one of the deepest portions of the magic side.

That was a name that sank into the deepest, deepest, deepest, deepest, deepest, deepest, deepest, deepest, deepest darkness of the Roman Catholic Church. Only a handful of the 2 billion members of that world’s largest sect knew of its existence, and even those that did would be immediately executed if they were deemed unworthy of that knowledge. That was how steeped in secrecy that term was.

But Aleister smoothly replied.

His voice displayed no emotion.

“Oh? I vaguely remember hearing about a terrorist group with that name.”

“Hmm.”

“If you are only trying to make a name for yourself, don’t you think this is a bit too reckless?”

“You can feign ignorance if you like, but at the very, very end, try not to regret not begging for your life here.

“Are you sure you are not taking this city too lightly?”

“Oh? Are you not aware what state your city is in? Has it already lost the ability to send out reports? My bad, my bad. I have no way of counting how many enemies I crush. Ha ha. I guess the operators have collapsed too.”

“...”

“60%. 70%. 80% is probably going too far. But either way, 100% will have collapsed before long. Anti-Skill and Judgment is what you call them, right? I’ll have your head before long since you only have those pathetic things to protect you. I hope you understand that it’s all over for you.”

“Heh.”

“?”

“If you honestly think that is enough to break Academy City’s defensive network, you truly are naïve. It seems you understand nothing about the true form of this city.”

“Is that so?”

“You are not the only one to have a trick up your sleeve. And you might be taken out before you even realize it.”

“No matter who they are, I can crush anyone who opposes me. That was decided from the moment I was born.”

It looked as if the two were holding a conversation, but each one was only speaking one-sidedly to the other.

The woman brought the wet and muddy radio closer to her mouth.

“I am Vento of the Front. The ultimate weapon among 2 billion people.” She gave her ultimatum. “I will crush everything tonight. You, Academy City, Imagine Breaker, the Index Librorum Prohibitorum...everything.”

With those words, the woman naming herself Vento crushed the radio in her grip.

The “human” named Aleister was inside a room of the windowless building.

A cylindrical life support device was placed prominently in the middle of the square space. He floated upside down inside. The red liquid filling the cylinder soaked into his entire body through his mouth and nose. It interfered with every single cell in his body.

The room had no proper illumination. Normally, the only lights were the small pilot lamps for the machines filling the walls of the large square room. Those lights would look like stars in the night sky. However, the large space was now illuminated by red warning lights that were intermittently flashing.

As stated before, the room had no proper illumination.

The red light was being produced by the countless errors displayed on the many monitors. That meant there were enough anomalies occurring throughout Academy City to produce that much light.

It was all caused by a single magician.

It was all caused by a single member of God’s Right Seat.

She had caused all this in Academy City, the city that had remained unshaken even by that Croce di Pietro.

“...”

In just a few dozen minutes, about 70% of Anti-Skill, the group meant to keep the peace in Academy City, had fallen victim to attack. Their life signals showed none had died, but if that windowless building fell before they came to, it did not matter. Transmissions reporting damage or requesting aid were being sent from around the city, but it would be too much trouble to reply to every single one.

The city was dying.

But...

Even so...

The expression that appeared on the “human” named Aleister’s face was a smile.

It was an unexplainable smile in which any and all emotions could be seen yet to which none seemed to fit.

“Interesting,” he whispered. “Most interesting. This is why I cannot give up on life. It looks like an opportunity to use it has arrived. The timing is a bit too early...but when bound to a plan, irregularities are the greatest entertainment.”

As he seemed to toy with those feelings by rolling over them in his mouth, Aleister sent countless commands from within the life support device and to the meters outside. He took control of a radio transmitter and sent out a passcode on a certain frequency to contact those that crawled through the darkness of Academy City.

“Hound Dog...Kihara Amata,” said Aleister.

After a brief reply, he gave further orders.

“It is time for the Imaginary Numbers District - Five Elements Institution...The AIM diffusion field. It may be a bit early, but use Fuse Kazakiri to crush “them”. Blow off her arms and legs if necessary, but recapture Serial Number 20001 and immediately take her to the specified point. ...Be quick but courteous.” With a smile, he added, “Now, it is time for a long-awaited and wonderful, wonderful show.”