novelOne Need Not be a Protagonist. Girls_Battle_Talk (2)
| ← Ch.076 | Ch.078 → |
He grabbed at the electrical signals running through the Dark Matter and reversed them.
A loud snapping sound rang out.
A large hole in the unnaturally perfect shape of a hexagon appeared in the puddle. The damage had been intentionally cut off before it reached the entire system of Kakine Teitoku.
"It's no use. Information is exchanged between the different blocks, but there is no direct connection. The blocks can freely communicate without any direct wiring, so your attacks cannot reach me. I suppose it is similar to an electronic wiretapping system that intentionally crosses the wires via alien crosstalk. An attack across those lines cannot reach me because the lines are not actually connected."
"Then I will destroy it all."
"As you do, I will be expanding the network. With every piece expanding at the same time, it will expand exponentially."
"Then I just have to destroy it faster than that!!"
If Academy City was viewed as a single body, this was similar to a battle between cancer cells attempting to bring down the functioning of the entire body by infinitely multiplying and elements preserving the health of the body by urging old cells to commit suicide to prevent growing cancerous.
It was a battle between the #2 who could make someone suffer by creating something and the #1 who could protect someone by destroying something.
They wielded their massive powers in the opposite direction of that power's initial image.
However...
"How much time do you have left?" asked Kakine Teitoku mockingly.
Accelerator's vector reflection and Mugino Shizuri's massive beams of light were both tearing away at his body. But something pure white was continually spreading across the walls and ceiling. Kakine felt no fear over being destroyed. He was definitively missing that instinct that any life form should have.
"Once that limit comes, you are done for. That may be the cue for the appearance of those wings that no theory can explain, but you can't use those for long periods of time or have complete control of them, can you? In fact, that unexplainable phenomenon must cause a huge amount of unexplainable consumption. Either way, you have no time left."
And...
"And I have nothing to worry about once it is just the #4 left. I don't know how much she has grown, but the basic difference in power is just too great. No matter what she has overcome, she cannot defeat me."
That comment led to Kakine's head being annihilated, but the rest of the figure simply ignored gravity and "fell" into the puddle on the wall. A new Kakine Teitoku floated up in a different spot.
"This is a difference in the freedom our powers give us. And that difference is insurmountable for you. I need not even do anything. I do not simply have an infinite supply of Dark Matter. My inspiration also knows no bounds. No matter how many cards you gather in your hand, I can push it back with brute force as numbers means nothing to me.... Nothing you do will ever even reach me. To reach me, you first need to climb over the wall of infinity that continues on eternally."
It was like continuing to do something that did not add up.
It was like being ordered to empty a swimming pool using a bucket while the water was constantly being filled by a waterfall.
"Choose." Academy City's #2's lips moved."Will you slowly dry up over a long period of time or will you die in a single painless instant?"
Countless spears burst out and rushed toward Accelerator and Mugino Shizuri.
Part 10
The final weapon she held out at Kamijou Touma was a flintlock pistol that had nothing to do with magic.
It was not even worth wondering whether he should evade to the left or to the right.
The old-fashioned pistol was relatively low power, but he had no guarantee he could block it with just the bones of his arm.
He was not a tights-wearing hero from American comics. He could not dodge a bullet flying straight at him, and repelling it with a body of steel was out of the question.
As such, he had only one option.
He forced down his passive instincts and charged straight forward. He was only a few meters away from Birdway. Just one more step and he would be in punching range. His only option was to knock the hand holding the gun out of the way before she could fire. If he managed to divert the barrel just a bit to the side, the fired bullet would fly off in a harmless direction.
(Make it... )
The extreme tension threw off his sense of time.
The movements of his arm as he desperately stretched it out felt horribly sluggish and slow.
(Make it!!)
Birdway continued to aim the flintlock pistol at him with no change of expression.
The finger on the trigger moved.
The small piece of metal that determined people's deaths activated.
"Ooooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!"
But first, Kamijou's right hand... or rather, the very tip of the middle finger just barely touched the elegantly decorated barrel. The bottom of his finger gained a very slight sense of making solid contact. It was similar to raising a fishing pole when the hook was positioned so it might or might not catch in the mouth of a large fish. If the fish coincidentally happened to move just slightly, the hook would miss and the fish would escape into the water. The fisher would lose everything.
He forcibly swung his right hand to the side.
He attempted to dig the hook deeply into the fish's mouth it had shallowly entered.
At the same moment, Leivinia Birdway's index finger finished its movement.
She pulled the trigger.
The flintlock gun barrel was knocked away from Kamijou.
(... What?)
Kamijou had evaded near death, yet an intensely bad feeling spread from his gut.
Yes...
(She pulled the trigger, but I didn't hear a gunshot!?)
"Wrong move, idiot."
He did not even have time for that girl's voice to send a chill running down his spine.
With a dull roar, a stone pillar extended up from the ground and accurately slammed straight into the center of Kamijou's chest. Not only did it knock the breath out of him, but it seemed to destroy his heart's rhythm of expansion and contraction.
"Gh... bh... !?"
He frantically tried to recover his posture, but then all strength suddenly left his right knee. The disturbance in the flow of his blood that started with his heart in the center was belatedly spreading like a wave to each part of his body.
He just barely managed to keep one leg underneath him to avoid completely collapsing.
A dull shock struck his cheek.
Calling it a slap made it sound nice, but he had more or less been hit with the grip of the flintlock pistol. It felt similar to being hit by the end of a hammer's handle.
The blow shook Kamijou's brain and he finally fell to the side onto the asphalt road surface.
His movements looked as frail as a marionette that's strings had been cut.
"At least do some research into how guns work... But I guess that might be too much to ask of someone from Japan. But you at least fought in the center of World War III." Birdway spun the pistol around in front of herself while she watched Kamijou struggle on the road surface due to temporarily losing his sense of up and down."With a flintlock gun, the gunpowder and bullet have to be inserted through the barrel before firing. The work can be shortened by switching out the fuse for a percussion cap, but you can't avoid having to load the bullet.... Do you understand now, boy? This gun cannot be fired just by pulling it out."
"Gh... gh... !!"
"All I wanted from you was an opening to get in a decisive blow. And I don't blame you for faltering at the sight of one of these aimed at you. After all, the pain and fear of guns is still etched into your body."
If Kamijou had calmly thought about the deficiencies of the flintlock design, he might have realized that. But he had not had time to think calmly. When that thing was suddenly pointed at him in the middle of a supernatural battle, he needed time to switch over the gears of his mind.
His options had been to freeze up in fear or aim for a miraculous recovery and steal the gun, but the result would have been the same either way.
Once his focus had been pointed solely at that elegant pistol, she had used magic to attack him head on.
"Now then."
At some point, a small bottle, a metal ball about the size of a pachinko ball, and a thin rod about the size of a chopstick had appeared in Birdway's fingers. The bottle was filled with a black powder.
"I'll teach you the proper way of doing it."
Birdway pointed the elegant pistol's barrel upwards, poured the powder in, and then dropped the metal ball in as if using it as a cover. Lastly, she stuck the thin rod down the barrel and used a bit of strength to force the ball and powder down.
"You really are not supposed to point this type of gun's barrel downwards. But this one isn't cheap. The bullet isn't going to fall out." Birdway tossed the rod and bottle away and aimed the gun at Kamijou where he lay collapsed on the ground."Give up on Fräulein Kreutune. I will give you a reason to give up. You have shown that you are not the type to give up even after being shot in the stomach. Then what about the leg? Once you lose your ability to move around and your ability to support the weight behind your fist, you should have enough of an excuse to just lie in a hospital bed."
"Heh..."
The symptoms of his light concussion must have been gradually softening because Kamijou was now able to look up at Birdway with hazy eyes. A slight smile was on his lips.
"Do you feel the need to go this far because you feel anything less will not make up for the damage at Hawaii and Baggage City?"
"So what if I do?"
"Then you've already admitted that you've done something horrible. In that case, don't head off in the wrong direction. Even if you capture Fräulein Kreutune, lure out the Magic God Othinus, defeat her, and bring about something like world peace... hell, even if billions of people thank you, there is no way you will feel satisfied."
"I'm sick of hearing your appeals to emotion."
"Is that so?" forced out Kamijou as he was breathing erratically."I just don't understand how anyone could try to save people purely based off of logic and efficiency. Because from that perspective it doesn't matter, does it? If you pull out that easiest of arguments, you lose all reason to save them in the first place. There is a necessary level of evil to keep money circulating enough to support a society. It's just a trivial fraction of the whole. Even if humanity goes extinct, life forms with a different type of thought process will eventually fill the earth.... Just from a logical standpoint, those arguments are good enough. If you only care about logic, you don't need to save anyone."
For Kamijou who lay collapsed on the road, Birdway's gun barrel was an absolute threat.
He would not receive another chance to leap forward and take away that elegant pistol.
"It's the same. We're the same. We want to save them, so we do. You searched out all the best logical reasons for that. But you're going about it the wrong way. What you're doing is like saving starving people by chopping off pieces of human flesh to feed them."
"But what have you managed to do?" readily replied Birdway. Her words stabbed into the core of that boy."You know nothing of the makeup of the organization known as Gremlin. You don't know where their headquarters are. You don't know who their leader is. You have only been able to chase after the members causing sporadic problems across the world. And all you've achieved doing that is getting yourself thrown about and increasing the number of victims. That is all you can do. To use your example, what you are doing is leaving the starving people to starve and simply watching as they collapse."
"Perhaps. No... You're probably right, " admitted Kamijou.
He admitted his own powerlessness.
"It's said I stopped World War III with a one-on-one fight against Fiamma of the Right, but that wasn't just my power. I only managed it because the people fighting all over the world wore down the source of Fiamma's power. What I can do alone truly is limited, and the kinds of things I can think up alone rarely work in this wide world."
But even so...
"But, Birdway. Just because my reasoning is childish and wrong and just because my argument can be easily defeated with a bit of cleverness does not mean your reasoning is completely correct."
"What?"
"If the only way to feed those starving people is to chop up human flesh, why is it that you are completely unscathed?"
He stared at her.
Kamijou Touma stared directly at Leivinia Birdway.
He stared at something deep within her.
"I have fought many different people in the past. There were very few that I was truly able to do anything about on my own. I have exposed a lot of people to danger.... But the reason they all lent me their power and the reason I am still alive today has to be because I cut my own flesh first because I was the one to make the suggestion. You have not done that."
"Are you saying I have no right to get others involved because I make the decision while looking down from above? Are you saying I can influence people's lives so long as they accept it?"
"In a way."
Birdway was a bit surprised how quickly he replied.
She had thought he would reply with some cheap argument about the basic goodness of people.
But...
"And the way to get me to accept it would probably have been much simpler than what you went through, " muttered Kamijou while lying on the ground."It didn't have to be Hawaii and Baggage City. It didn't have to be Fräulein Kreutune, the final piece needed for Gungnir."
His voice was frail.
"If you truly needed a sacrifice..."
But there was a strong core hidden beneath.
"If you needed to be able to take action up until the moment the issue was resolved and therefore could not cut off pieces of your own flesh..."
It was as if he was explaining the very, very basics to a small child who did not understand some simple matter.
"You just had to choose me. That would have been enough for me to accept it."
This time, Leivinia Birdway truly felt like time had stopped even if just for a moment.
He was not simply throwing a tantrum and saying she had to bring an end to all tragedy.
He understood tragedy was inevitable.
The boy was mad because she had moved the target of that tragedy in the wrong direction.
"Surely you could have done something, " Kamijou Touma's words continued all the while."You didn't have to use Fräulein Kreutune. You didn't have to offer up Hawaii and Baggage City as sacrifices. Surely you could have used some other means of luring out the leader of Gremlin or the Magic God Othinus herself."
"Do you understand what you are saying?"
"Even if we don't know the makeup of Gremlin, where their headquarters are, or who their leader is, we still have my right hand! You could have at least leaked false information saying it was a threat to Gremlin as a whole!! With the power of the Dawn-Colored Sunlight, you definitely could have done that!!"
"You are not a monster like Fräulein Kreutune. You will die if someone merely blocks up your nose and mouth. Do you have any idea what it means for you to stand in the center of a battle with Gremlin as an enemy of theirs they see no value in keeping around!?"
"Othinus appeared before me in Baggage City. She wanted to see what the right hand that resolved that incident could do. I was easily defeated, but she had to have at least viewed it as something she had to try out first. It may have been a thin, thin thread and it may have been nowhere near as sure a thing as Fräulein Kreutune... but why did you make the decision without me when there was another way!? Why did you choose such a fucked up method!? Why did you choose to make all these sacrifices!? Why did you choose the path that robbed everyone of their smiles!? Even if this is just me being selfish and even if it isn't realistic, do you really expect me to accept what you did!?"
"... You're insane, " muttered Birdway.
She had continually investigated the leaders and charismatic people of many eras and cultures who could have been ostracized had things been even a little different. And yet she could not help but let those words spill out.
"You're completely insane. I had glimpsed some odd things in you before, but this settles it.... Why do you just assume that you will fight? Why do you see nothing wrong with having things taken from you? You aren't some war-crazed person who has lost his place in a normal peaceful life. Nor are you some sheltered person who has never seen true battle yet wishes to join the world he sees on TV. I can't figure out what it is that drives you!"
"You want to know why?"
Kamijou thought for a bit while still in that hopeless situation.
Why had he taken part in all of the previous incidents?
Was it because he was surrounded by misfortune? Was he constantly getting wrapped up in incidents he wanted to avoid and was constantly getting stuck in positions where he would be killed if he did not resolve them?
Had it been Tsuchimikado Motoharu, Stiyl Magnus, the Anglican Church, or Academy City? Had those different people or groups made careful preparations to ensure a situation where he could not run away?
Had it been because he had never once met a simple villain of the sort seen in movies? Had it been because he was terribly reluctant to simply discard any of them?
Many different ideas came to mind. And ultimately...
Kamijou Touma shook all of them out of his head and replied.
"I think it was because I never had a single reason to abandon them."
"... I've heard enough, " spat out Birdway.
She aimed the flintlock pistol at his thigh.
This time, she would actually fire.
Her finger was on the trigger.
"I have always wondered how Academy City is able to control someone like you. The biggest threat you hold is not the power of your right hand or even that which is hidden within. Nor is it the precognition you have gained from your past experiences. Even with a right hand that can negate supernatural abilities, a normal person would not be able to accomplish much. The hand itself cannot burn anything or gather any information. And yet you have left accomplishments behind. You did not join in because of that right hand. It was you who made use of the power residing in your right hand."
"You're only figuring that out now?"
"In that case..."
Birdway's expression suddenly changed around her eyes.
She had the look of someone pitying someone else.
"... You need to be careful from now on. What you hold is not good or evil. You hold the seeds to a great wave that cannot be described in those terms. Perhaps it is the same thing that was once brought to bloom by the man who built up a city of steel and electricity or the woman who smiles thinly in the depths of an old cathedral. Or perhaps it is something that will swallow up even that giant flower. If you can completely grasp it in your hand, it will give you great power, but if you cannot, it will be indescribably disastrous for you."
"What are you saying?"
"You do not need to understand it right away. I will give you time to think on it. But my method may be a bit painful."
This time, Birdway truly pulled the trigger. It was less like she was punctuating her sentence and more like she was trying to nip a new threat in the bud.
But just before she did...
Some powerful force pulled on Birdway's right hand. The elegant pistol's barrel was moved well off to the side and the bullet was fired in the completely wrong direction.
"What?"
"Do you remember what I said, Birdway?"
A slight scraping sound was heard.
During the long, long conversation, Kamijou had slowly recovered from his concussion. As he worked to stand back up, he brought a hand to the ground and his fingernails scraped across the asphalt.
"I have fought many different people. But I didn't do it alone. I barely ever truly fought alone.... There have been people willing to accompany me on my reckless challenges. And these people are a hell of a lot more softhearted than me."
Leivinia Birdway looked up and finally realized what had happened.
On the top level of the multilevel overpass, a girl was looking down from the edge.
"Academy City's #3... Did she control my gun with magnetism or something!?" shouted Birdway before taking a large step backwards.
An extremely long arc fusion blade cut directly in between Kamijou and Birdway.
This time it was Thor.
They were fighting on the road at the top level of the multilevel overpass, but Kamijou and Birdway were standing on the wide sports arena-like area one level down. Also, one section of the road above had disappeared.
The two of them were both fighting Saints who had special power even among the magic side. They were in a situation where an instantaneous mistake could result in their bodies being pulverized, bone and all, but those two who used thunder had used what small opening they had to its fullest in order to save Kamijou from his hopeless situation.
"A lot of people have fought today. All sorts of dangerous people are gathered here thanks to Fräulein Kreutune. I probably couldn't stand up to a single one of them."
White smoke continued to rise from the slice left by the arc fusion blade. Birdway could see a figure slowly standing up on the other side of that curtain.
"But in the end, you all can only split the work up between you.... You can only function as individuals."
He had been shot in the side, he had weakened himself while continuing to act in that state and without getting any sleep at all, and he had even experienced a concussion.
And yet Kamijou Touma stood up.
"No one truly knows who Fräulein Kreutune is. And that is why no one feels any kind of attachment for her. She was only freed yesterday from being sealed away for so long, so of course no one does. But even if we do not know who she is, some of us still want to save her. No, there are even people fighting right now who know nothing about Fräulein Kreutune. They are fighting for some reason other than saving her.... But that doesn't matter. Even if they don't know the exact situation and even if all of our conditions don't quite match up, we still managed to bring about this result! A great power has moved in the direction of saving her!!"
There had been no need to hold some great objective from the beginning.
It did not matter if they were fighting for completely different reasons.
Even if they were...
Once it was all over...
If they were told their actions had inadvertently saved a woman, no one would feel bad about that. At the very least, they would feel better than if they were told their actions had inadvertently killed a woman.
And Kamijou felt that was what it meant to be human.
"Birdway, you said I am crazy for doing what I do, but you are absolutely wrong about that. In truth, anyone would want to save someone if they saw or heard that they were suffering for no good reason!!"
"You..."
"We won't lose." He slowly and distinctly held up his right fist as he stared at and spoke to that powerful magic cabal boss."There is not a single reason why we would lose to people like you who would never consider something so basic!!"
Part 11
While Rhinoceros Beetle 05 observed the intense battles on the multilevel overpass from a short distance away, it confirmed Fräulein Kreutune's location on the middle level with the naked eye.
Fremea Seivelun banged on its pure white surface from where she stood next to it.
At this point, even that was enough to have a clear effect on the cracks inside Rhinoceros Beetle 05.
"Nyah, nyah! We found her!! We need to hurry up and save her!!"
"That would increase the risk of getting wrapped up in the combat activities currently occurring in the area. Even if the others have no intention of attacking us, we cannot escape the high probability of being struck by a stray attack. In addition, it appears some of those involved wish to prevent anyone from approaching Fräulein Kreutune. There is a danger of those people directly attempting to interfere if we approach her."
And...
Rhinoceros Beetle 05's analysis indicated it no longer had the durability to withstand a battle of that class thanks to the cracks continuing to form within it.
Of course, if it informed the girls of that, there was a danger of the breadth of their actions shrinking even further. With an already risky situation, the beetle wished to avoid lessening their freedom of choice.
"Then what do we do? says Misaka as Misaka asks a question."
"I will analyze their attack patterns and calculate out how wide an opening we have.... Human vision shrinks further than people realize when they are focused on something. At first glance, this multilevel overpass looks like a wide open space, but it is actually like a labyrinth with fluidly changing routes, so if we move based on set rules, we can safely-..."
Rhinoceros Beetle 05 trailed off.
The artificial voice created by its giant thin wings suddenly stopped.
Last Order and Fremea Seivelun had suddenly disappeared.
No, that was not accurate.
Someone had entered "within" Rhinoceros Beetle 05.
In a mysterious space void of color and sound where not a single leaf on the surrounding roadside trees moved, Rhinoceros Beetle 05 focused its attention forwards.
At a spot a mere 5 meters from its cannon barrel stood a boy with brown hair and wearing a high-class jacket.
His eyes contained a dark light that was only found in those who had continuously walked down the hidden back roads of life. The thin smile on his lips seemed to contain all forms of confidence. Despite Rhinoceros Beetle 05's cannon being at such extreme close range, he did not remove his hands from his pants pockets.
In that world where all color had faded to black or white, that boy alone contained color.
It was as if he was illuminated as that world's sole king.
"Kakine... Teitoku."
Rhinoceros Beetle 05 was unable to tell whether it was actually using its wings to produce its artificial voice or not, but it muttered that name all the same.
And even as it made that deduction, it denied that possibility.
No.
That could not be true.
The real Kakine Teitoku would not expend any of his power for a mere pawn like Rhinoceros Beetle 05. If he wanted to, he could create hundreds or thousands of powerful pawns in an instant.
And yet...
The colorful monster slowly moved his mouth.
"So am I something like your aspiration?"
"..."
"C'mon, don't just sit there. I'm the aspiration you created for yourself. I'm the wall you automatically set up to define what you think Kakine Teitoku is."
It did indeed seem this was not the real #2.
This was similar to someone having a mental breakdown due to the massive stress of constantly hiding behind cover in fear of a sniper hiding in some unknown location of the darkness.
"You would know best why something like me has appeared. With a set amount of time having passed since you parted ways with Kakine Teitoku, you are turning into something else. But you yourself refuse to admit it. You are afraid of losing your powerful personality as a portion of Kakine Teitoku. You hesitate to lose it and you are frozen up with regrets.... That is why I am here. I am here to remind you what you are about to lose. I am here to supplement your data image of what your original form was."
The cracks were even now continuing to run through Rhinoceros Beetle 05 and it could completely collapse at any moment.
Its actions taken to slow the progress of the damage and to compensate for lost internal data may have been similar to those of a human holding a wound to slow blood loss. It did not matter if those actions would actually save it or not. Whether one had received a fatal wound or one's entire body had been skewered, one could not help but carry out those actions.
But...
If its wavering essence was compensated for by renewing its data image here...
"It seems you have put off killing some brat with your pathetic misconversions, but that ends here, " spat out that someone.
His tone made the beetle loathe being a part of him, but no tone of voice could have sounded more like Kakine Teitoku.
"Who are you?"
That question reached Rhinoceros Beetle 05.
It reached it.
"What should you do to act like yourself?"
In the end, the real Kakine Teitoku had not seen the need to do a single thing despite the fact that Rhinoceros Beetle 05 had suppressed the clear relationship of master and slave. He had done nothing and left Rhinoceros Beetle 05 unable to explain the logical inconsistency of its own actions. When that happened, Rhinoceros Beetle 05 would need to take a second look at its own essence in the role of slave rather than master. In that process, it would need to rewrite itself using Kakine Teitoku as the starting point.
It could be said to be similar to a computer infected with a virus that would activate when the computer rebooted.
Once that was done, one need only wait until the inevitable freeze. The passage of time and buildup of work would ultimately lead Rhinoceros Beetle 05 into a catastrophic situation.
"You must have understood this from the beginning, " announced that someone with a mocking tone. He announced the decisive factor."Your greatest enemy was not Fräulein Kreutune or the enemy beetles sent by Kakine Teitoku. It was yourself after you gained the trust of the targets and remained physically nearby.... You must have had the opportunity to explain this to the targets, but you told them there were only two threats, didn't you? Why? It wasn't because you could deny this possibility. It was because you would be forced to think about it if you put it in words."
Rhinoceros Beetle 05 searched for the words to deny it.
Rhinoceros Beetle 05 searched for the words to deny it.
Rhinoceros Beetle 05 searched for the words to deny it.
But Rhinoceros Beetle 05 was unable to speak a single word in response. Of course it could not. This was not a game where multiple players revealed their hidden cards on the table one at a time. All of the cards were known and the beetle was going over the answers all on its own.
And so it could not stop the words of that someone.
The words merely continued.
"It is easy enough to claim to be someone other than Kakine Teitoku. But who are you really? Can you truly define yourself with some other name? The titles you have acquired in this short time are 'someone opposing Kakine Teitoku's orders', 'someone working to become independent of Kakine Teitoku', 'someone who wants to become something other than Kakine Teitoku', and 'someone who originated from Kakine Teitoku'. No matter how hard you try to get around it, you cannot escape the name Kakine Teitoku. If you force yourself to deny your very core, you will lose your essence and be unable to even define what your physical body is."
He did it so easily.
He did it so definitively.
He crushed the budding hope that Rhinoceros Beetle 05 had obtained.
"That is why your true essence is that of a slave. No matter how much you struggle, you cannot reboot yourself as a new type of master."
If Rhinoceros Beetle 05 did not become something other than Kakine Teitoku, it could not refuse the order to kill Last Order and Fremea Seivelun.
But no matter what it did, it could not completely reject Kakine Teitoku.
Ergo...
Rhinoceros Beetle 05 could not protect those two girls.
"It is simple logic, " whispered that someone."As long as you are a part of Kakine Teitoku, you cannot hesitate to kill your proper target. If you are hesitating, that reluctance to kill must be coming from some portion that is not Kakine Teitoku. There is something you have gained in this short time... something that the targets trust. When you decide to kill using that excess portion of yourself, you determine that you are 'betraying' the targets."
He was about to speak a decisive statement.
He had made the running start to get there.
"So release yourself from those conditions."
That someone spoke those words that were like a password to release the safety device on some giant weapon.
"Let this kind Kakine Teitoku forcibly give you your orders. Kill the targets while selfishly resenting me."
The conclusion was clear.
Rhinoceros Beetle 05 could not become something other than Kakine Teitoku.
No matter what.
Part 12
Countless spears shot from the white puddle filling one section of the underground passageway. They accurately targeted Accelerator and Mugino Shizuri. They would be difficult to evade. And even if they succeeded, they had nowhere left to go. Kakine Teitoku's ultimate creation ability gave him as much time, resources, and physical strength as he wanted. He was the worst possible enemy for Accelerator and Mugino Shizuri who had instantaneous firepower in the form of explosive destructive power.
They would eventually reach their limit, they would eventually find themselves cornered, and they would eventually lose their lives.
Kakine Teitoku did not have to worry about when or where that eventuality occurred. He only needed to wait for its arrival no matter how long it took. He did not have to worry about his own consumption. If he merely waited for victory to come his way, his wish would be granted. It was the ultimate wastefulness, the ultimate laziness, and the ultimate desecration. The #2 had gained the ability to extend the idea of 'sitting and waiting' to a level where it threatened to bring humanity to extinction.
That may have been the source of the subconscious fear people throughout history had felt towards Fräulein Kreutune.
It did not matter if she was actually able to do it.
It did not matter if she had any intention of doing it.
People just felt Fräulein Kreutune might do it.
Those people had originally been able to gently smile, but that thought was all it had taken for all of their morals to be thoroughly worn down, gouged out, stolen, and crushed. That idea was simply too frightening.
If it had ever actually budded, billions of people would have stood up to it, but could what was nothing more than a collection of individuals truly stand up to that?
And now someone embodied that idea using a different method.
That person was Kakine Teitoku.
Those malice-filled spears and their points filled with murderous intent were produced infinitely and rushed towards their targets. Simply by repeating those countless attacks, he could safely and surely pierce his opponents if he waited long enough.
"What was the point of it all? Now that it comes to the end, I just have to wonder. The #1, the #2, the #3, the #4, the #5, the #6, and the #7... How ridiculous. So this is what it is like to leave the realm of what can be counted with numbers. I guess that was the extent of Academy City's society."
The #1 and the #4 could do nothing.
It did not matter how much talent they had or how much effort they put into extending their ability.
"I guess winning is not always a good thing. It can be disappointing. Finding out how low the wall was can be truly disappointing. I suppose I learned one thing from killing you worms."
By repeating that simple task over and over again, he would knock down and wash away the human culture that had been built up so carefully.
Or so it should have been.
The giant system that was Kakine Teitoku suddenly stopped.
"?"
A look of confusion appeared on Kakine's own face.
The points of the expanding spears stopped just before reaching Accelerator and Mugino Shizuri.
One of Mugino's eyebrows moved and she said, "Hey, what's going on? Does this mean it's okay for me to smash you to pieces? Of course, whether your answer is yes or no, I'll be turning you to ash."
"What?" quietly muttered Academy City's #2 monster as if the word had just slipped out.
No...
His lips could no longer make any movement greater than a slight tremble.
"The transmission rate is... ? But... the material data system signal... hasn't changed. It can't have changed..."
"..."
Accelerator alone remained silent.
The #1 had been continually using his control over all vectors to attack the system that was Kakine Teitoku from within.
That was the only conceivable possibility.
"It can't have... It can't have changed... and yet... What did you do? Even if you interfered with the Dark Matter's internal lines... even if you reversed the signals, you shouldn't have been able to make it past that individual block. And yet... What... what did you-... !?"
"Oh, I get it." Finally, Accelerator spoke as if it did not matter."I guess it was a part those infinite possibilities you were talking about. I see, I see... Heh heh, that makes sense. I find it hard to believe a fragment like that would appear within you, but you did say it was infinite. Something like that must've gotten mixed into that network of yours."
"What are you... What are you talking about!?"
"It wasn't me, " replied Accelerator.
His response was the simplest response there was.
"I'd say it was you that stopped you."
At that moment...
"Nyah. What's the matter?"
The white Rhinoceros Beetle 05, Last Order, and Fremea waited near the multilevel overpass while watching for a chance to approach the intense battles there.
But...
Rhinoceros Beetle 05 was unable to respond to Fremea's question.
Its consciousness was focused on the image of Kakine Teitoku that only it could see.
"... I see..."
"That's right, " responded the image.
"So... that's it..."
"So what will you do?"
Its thick horn-like main cannon slowly moved. Its aim wavered. As the master, Kakine Teitoku was giving a command to Rhinoceros Beetle 05 who was the slave. He was commanding it to quickly kill the two girls who stood nearby.
The only way to escape the basic order to kill was to acquire a personality beyond Kakine Teitoku.
But Rhinoceros Beetle 05 was nothing but a slave, so it would break apart the instant it lost the supporting pillar of Kakine Teitoku.
Therefore, Rhinoceros Beetle 05 could not reject the order to kill.
The formula was perfectly sound.
However...
"I never had to become anything other than Kakine Teitoku, " said the beetle.
"What... ?"
"There was never any need to forcibly think about acquiring a new personality."
"Wait a second. That response was not in the preset version of Kakine Teitoku!!"
The sound of cracks running across the beetle's body rang out.
The red light in its eyes flickered unstably like a malfunctioning light.
"I..."
The cracks had finally become visible on the outside of its body.
It was as if those cracks were in payment for resisting something.
But it did not stop.
Rhinoceros Beetle 05 did not stop speaking.
"I am... !!"
Suddenly, the red light in Rhinoceros Beetle 05's eyes completely disappeared.
It had ceased to function.
Or so it appeared.
But that was not the case.
"My name is..."
The light came back on immediately afterwards. But it had changed from red to green. The previous coloration that had indicated an error became a vivid green as if to announce it was now running properly.
"My name is Kakine Teitoku, Academy City's #2 Level 5 and the user of Dark Matter."
Some might have described it as a flower blooming.
The cracks continued to appear from within the white Rhinoceros Beetle 05. Without hesitation and without indecision, the beetle completely shattered. And what appeared from within those glittering fragmentary particles was...
A single white boy with a green light in his eyes.
A small cracking noise could be heard.
It had come from Kakine's handsome face in that underground passageway he had complete control over. More accurately, it came from the small crack that had appeared at the corner of his mouth.
"Don't... mock me..."
He groaned.
He muttered.
That was all he could manage any longer as authority over the giant system that was Kakine Teitoku began to transfer elsewhere, but "the thing he had been" shook off that restriction and shouted with all of his strength.
For better or for worse, the strength of his will may have been one of the reasons the #2 had been able to climb so high.
His handsome mouth split apart and his entire face opened and closed like a cheap toy.
"Don't mock meeeeeeee!! Th-this is... This is all mine. I am me!! D-Dark Matter is produced from my brain... from my Personal Reality. How could that... how could the power I brought about myself betray me like this!?"
"It no longer matters who was first, " said Accelerator as if he was singing."What the flesh-and-blood organs connect to is no longer an issue. You obtained the infinite, so you broke past the need for that kind of thing, right?"
"... !!"
The throat belonging to that which had been Kakine convulsed.
Mugino finally caught on to what was happening and tension left her shoulders.
"Ha ha. Being too powerful is its own problem, #2. When a network made up of flexibly replaceable equipment has a portion become isolated from the rest, the isolated portion becomes a small network of its own. And you have the ability to replace lost body parts like a planarian. In other words..."
"The one who stopped him is also Kakine Teitoku.... Or may be it would be better to say the one who stopped him is now the Kakine Teitoku, " said Accelerator.
It was only during that last statement that Accelerator did not smile.
He showed his respect for someone he had never seen who was not there at the moment.
"There had to have been a lot of different things that made up the whole of Kakine Teitoku. And a lot of those things would normally be invisible due to the great concentration of the whole. But when the network became isolated, things not normally seen rose to the surface. Like the gum syrup built up at the bottom of an iced coffee being scooped out."
"There would have been the cowardly side of you, the short tempered side of you, the vain side of you... and the kind side of you. But who would have thought it would be this form of the #2 that would wrest control away from the rest?"
The desire to protect someone had won out over the desire to kill someone.
The desire to create something had won out over the desire to destroy something.
The desire to stop a fight had won out over the desire to continue a fight.
"I take back what I said, " said Accelerator without hesitation. That was something he did not often say."Academy City's #2 esper power of Dark Matter is one hell of a power. It was wasted on the likes of you. And it was clearly too much for you to control."
"Ah... ah..."
"Come to think of it, " added Mugino Shizuri with a puzzled look."Do we have any proof that this one was actually the core? The #2's mind was scattered over the system, and this one was the closest to the surface. But nothing says what showed itself on the surface was Kakine Teitoku's true nature. Weren't we just battling the very outer layer of his mind this whole time? Then again, even just that was no easy task, so I guess the #2 really is no normal person.... Oh, and make no mistake. I wasn't complimenting you when I said that. I was talking about the real one."
"Aaaaahhhhh!! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!"
Each time the thing that had been Kakine forced his body to move, more and more small cracks formed. He was trying to kill Accelerator and Mugino Shizuri by any means necessary. So that he could stop them from speaking. So that he could avert his gaze from that uncomfortable information.
But he could not manage it.
That final bit of power must have finally been taken from him. It may have been a mistake that he had held that power at all, even if temporarily.
A high-pitched noise rang out.
A certain line had been crossed.
A portion of the spears broke and the destruction continued in a chain reaction. Everything that made up the thing that had been Kakine noisily crumbled. Just like a child grew into an adult and just like an adult grew into a parent, that giant system grew into something more refined by eliminating the immature portions that remained even in the core of the personality.
"I... I'm dis... I'm disappearing? I... I am... Academy City's #2... no, I went beyond that... Why is this happing... for such a ridiculous reason?"
"There will probably be nothing left to prove you were ever here, " whispered Accelerator. That someone who was continuing to collapse clearly twitched when he heard that."Even if a massive amount of data is left concerning Kakine Teitoku, that data will not be referring to you."
Those were his words.
Those were the words the living could pass onto the dead who would disappear from this world.
"But don't worry."
"Wait... no... stop..."
There was nothing he could do in that final moment.
But the thing that had been Kakine had a sudden thought.
He recalled the moment in that subway tunnel when that white Rhinoceros Beetle 05 had suddenly left his control and taken an irregular action.
He did not think that beetle had been given anything special. He had not set it up that way. The issue was who had been in that same location at that time.
A certain girl wearing a pink track suit.
Takitsubo Rikou.
She was a Level 4 with the ability to track others' AIM diffusion fields, and she also held the hidden possibility of using others' AIM diffusion fields to distort their Personal Realities.
Hadn't Kakine Teitoku once made the following estimation of that girl?
She might one day grow to be the eighth of the currently seven Level 5s.
In that case...
Whether consciously or subconsciously, the one who had incited the change in the white Rhinoceros Beetle 05 had been...
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!! H-her!! That biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiittttttttttttttccccccccccchhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!"
The #1 monster ignored that someone who suddenly cried out.
He said, "If you wish to leave some evidence behind, I will make a mark for you."
The entire underground passageway shook so roughly it seemed like the very foundation would break.
His five fingers pierced through the center of that something that was just barely maintaining its form and it finally completely shattered.
Accelerator brought his hand to his own neck.
He flipped the switch for his choker-style electrode to deactivate his powers.
While supporting his weight with his modern cane, the #1 looked around the area. With no one left to command it, the Dark Matter began dissolving into the air, leaving nothing behind.
"... So it's over."
"What's over?" said Mugino Shizuri with a shrug.
She spoke as if all that intense fighting had been nothing but a quick glimpse of scenery on the way to their destination.
"We still have a long way to go. The path ahead is especially long for those of us who have killed."
Part 13
Kamijou Touma forced his aching body along and prepared his right fist.
He was facing Leivinia Birdway.
She was a magician that could give fire, water, wind, and earth the form of deadly weapons just by swinging her form-changing symbolic weapon. She could also take the quickest route and forcibly send out a mass of that power before aligning it with an element to create a white summoned explosion.
She had a great variety of attacks and they all possessed great destructive power.
In a past event Kamijou had been involved in, it seemed she had worn down the organized power of a magic cabal and led it to destruction using nothing but those summoned explosions.
But...
At the same time...
(Her secret probably isn't the strength of her power. )
Kamijou knew little of magic, but he had picked up on some information during his long battles.
Magicians that could use massive amounts of unrestricted power from the beginning did indeed exist. For example, the Saints, the second princess of England who wielded the royal sword Curtana Original, or Fiamma of the Right who possessed the power to save the world. Those magicians could overcome an opponent with pure power alone. They may have been using up something with their attacks, but they were able to continue those overwhelming attacks to the point that it might as well have been infinite. That was just how they were.
But he had never heard anything about Birdway being that way.
He had heard she was the leader of a giant magic cabal and he had also heard magic was used to make up for a lack of natural talent using techniques. If Birdway was the head of a group that formed due to that fact...
(It's the opposite. Birdway's own strength is no greater than normal.... Without something completely crazy like being a Saint or having Curtana, there is little meaning in pushing up your own strength. That must just be how magicians are. )
So he had to think about it in reverse.
He had to figure out how she was creating such tremendous results with a normal level of power.
And in that case, the answer was very simple.
(It's a trick. )
That was the only word he could think of to describe it.
This was not simple equivalent exchange where 1 unit of power led to 1 unit of results.
This was a crazy trick like some monstrous financial deal that took a single unit and raised it up to a thousand or even ten thousand units.
A warrior could charge in with a sword and shield made of bronze or a warrior could operate a touchscreen to send GPS precision guided missiles raining down. It was the same number of people, but the level of technology could easily push the amount of power he wielded up to cruel levels. Magicians always talked about gaining power via intelligence, so they would surely be ranked according to that.
And the most extreme example was...
Index who they viewed as highly dangerous due to the library of 103, 000 grimoires she possessed.
(In that case, what is she doing? If I can destroy whatever Birdway is doing, I should be able to rob her of these hopeless attack methods... The first thing to come to mind is that form-changing symbolic weapon, but is it really that simple? If this method is what she is entrusting her life to while taking on the world, she would never let it be contained in a small handheld system like that. )
"What is it?"
Birdway changed the form of the symbolic weapon in her hand once more.
It now became a sword.
"Are you truly prepared to kill me now? Then hurry up. And if you refuse to attack first, I will."
Kamijou did not even have time to respond.
She moved.
She came in for the attack.
It started with a wind sword attempting to cut off his right arm.
Using the line being torn into the asphalt road surface as a sign, Kamijou moved to evade it rather than blowing it away with his right hand. He twisted his body to the side like he was heading for the exit in a crowded train. He used the same action to take a step forward and accelerate towards Birdway.
(Stiyl Magnus amplified the phenomenon he created by placing a ton of rune cards around the battlefield. )
The magician's weapon had already changed from a sword to a wand.
She held the wand out horizontally and spun it around once. As soon as she did, a disk of fire was created along the path it took. It expanded all at once and became a scorching wall that moved towards Kamijou.
(Yamisaka Ouma created a rope barrier to create a ceremonial grounds, Sherry Cromwell used a bunch of symbols to make the underground mall crumble, and Biagio Busoni prepared a large fleet to destroy Academy City. )
By the time he destroyed the wall of flames with his right hand, Birdway had already transformed the wand into a cup. A large tree of water appeared with her at the center and a large number of daggers grew from its branches and rained down on the area.
(There has to be something. Something that lets her carry out these extraordinary attacks! I don't know if it's a matter of numbers or scope, but there has to be something supporting Birdway!!)
He negated one of the countless daggers that had been fired and the fragments of the destroyed dagger diverted the trajectory of the other nearby daggers.
With that safe area created, Kamijou was able to get in range of Birdway.
He still did not have his answer.
But if he had to decide what to target with his fist...
"Dammit, I guess it has to be that symbolic weapon!!"
"I thought that's what you would choose."
Kamijou felt a dull shock and the fist headed straight for Birdway's weapon was knocked to the side.
It had gone from a cup to a sword.
And the wind sword created had been sent at Kamijou's right fist rather than his body.
It was the same as how Kamijou had used the fact that her magic was too powerful to completely negate.
Birdway sent powerful magic at his right hand to alter its trajectory.
(Not... good... )
An unpleasant chill ran down Kamijou's back.
His trusty right fist had lost all meaning at the last moment. Kamijou had already run right up to her and that also meant Birdway could attack him from point blank range. She could get a clean hit with any magic and any attack.
And she took action without hesitation.
"You were naïve to the end. Naïve to assume others are as goodhearted as you!!"
She swung the sword.
She swung it down from above.
And a giant wind blade appeared along that path and headed straight for Kamijou.
Kamijou practically collapsed to the side to avoid it and it just barely missed him.
(... What?)
He had survived. But he felt more confusion than he did relief.
Birdway must have felt safer when his fist could not reach her because she took two or three steps backwards. She must have carried out some kind of ceremony as she did so because several pure white summoned explosions exploded around where Kamijou lay on the ground.
He frantically created a safe area by receiving one explosion with his right hand and sending the explosive energy towards another explosion so they would cancel each other out. As he did so, his thoughts put together the puzzle at an accelerated rate.
(It wasn't thanks to my own ability that I managed to avoid that. It was because she chose an attack I've seen before. But why? She can put spells together in so many different forms, so she should have been able to use any number of attacks I've never seen before. If she had done that, I would have been swallowed up because I couldn't have reacted in time!!)
A wall of flames and a storm of stone knives headed his way, but Kamijou easily dealt with them using his right hand after standing back up. He knew those too.
And that meant...
(It isn't that she could have done something else but didn't. Was that all she could do?)
"... I've figured it out."
A high-pitched noise rang out.
It was the sound of the stone knives shattering when Kamijou swung his right hand horizontally.
He was not merely ad-libbing a means of dealing with the attacking spells. This time, he knew it was no coincidence.
"I don't actually know if it's possible and I have no real evidence to back it up, but I've figured it out. Birdway, this is what lies at the core of your attacks. This is the source of what has turned you into someone extraordinary."
"What do you know, amateur?"
"What makes you special is numbers. It's like the rune cards Stiyl uses." Kamijou once again accurately blew away a wind sword."You always use the same spells with the same motions. That's the answer. You have repeatedly done the same thing for a long time and it has built up. By making the exact same motions in the exact same way, you turn those very motions themselves into magical symbols to support you! Yourself a year ago, yourself a month ago, yourself a week ago, yourself a day ago, and yourself an hour ago. Those are the symbols you use!!"
But that was not something all magicians would be able to do.
Her motions were "the same" on a different level altogether.
If someone tried to copy their own handwriting from the past, could they reproduce it perfectly? This was the technique to forcibly draw out overwhelming results by remaining on the existing course and never being able to leave the category of "oneself" no matter how restrictive and disadvantageous that could be.
What she had built up was what made her powerful.
She had taken what everyone understood as an idea or as a concept and raised it up into its ultimate form as a real phenomenon.
She stood at the very top of those who attempted to gain the power to take on the world by polishing and improving their skills.
"You really are amazing. Especially in the way you don't show it off. You put on a cool expression and pretend to look down on the world with a cold heart, but you are actually the most passionate and the hardest working one. You embody the hope that people will eventually be rewarded if they put in enough effort."
She took on a different form from Kamijou Touma who spoke and listened in a conflict of beliefs.
Leivinia Birdway made no simple comments and yet displayed success with her actions. She showed that people could come that far based on nothing but their own efforts. That was what led people to be fascinated by her and prevented any of them from disputing whether she was worthy to stand at the top of a giant magic cabal.
But...
In that case...
"Do you really think that's the answer?" Birdway transformed her symbolic weapon from a sword to a wand and casually pointed it towards Kamijou."Were you hoping to find a structure that simple inside me? I control the largest magic cabal in England, the Dawn-Colored Sunlight!! I am always searching for something new whether it is from science or magic!!"
A flash of light surged out.
It was a summoned explosion.
The way Birdway did not rely on the strict techniques of spells or ceremonies and instead shortened and simplified that technique as if ad-libbing was the proof of how non-standard she was.
But...
"In the end, that's the same. It's the improvised, ad-libbed, off the cuff, and freestyle concert encore version.... You make it appear to be all those things, but it is actually a calculated action where you accurately repeat the proper technique. You arranged it that way to hide the fact that you can only use fire, water, wind, and earth magic using set actions!! I'm sure you could create new spells if you wanted, but then you would have to work your way up from nothing!
You can't use anything new in battle right away!!"
He could break through.
He could handle it all with just his right hand.
He could oppose the same attack with the same method.
It was like a giant plantation intentionally filled with a single crop through selective breeding being wiped out by a single type of insect.
"The real knife hidden in with the stone knives and the flintlock pistol pulled from the back were means of betraying my expectations to make me think there was more to Leivinia Birdway than there is! You were trying to make it look like you had such a free range of attacks that it was pointless to count them all!!"
He did not tremble.
The fear that caused it could not be found within him.
He had found the clue he needed to achieve victory.
That confidence gave him the strength to clench his fist even tighter.
"How many cards do you have in your hand, Birdway?"
"What does it matter to you?"
"Is it 5? 10? 15? 20? No matter the number, it doesn't matter. You don't have an endless array of attacks; you have a limited number. I doubt I've seen them all, but I don't have time to figure out how to handle all of them."
"Then you can go to your grave with this misunderstanding."
A great noise exploded out.
It was the sound of Kamijou kicking off the road surface and running toward Birdway.
Birdway did not take any further steps back.
She would meet him where she was.
(It's no good, Birdway. )
A downpour of water daggers rained down, a flame wall blocked his path, a wind sword tried to slice through the entire area. Summoned explosions appeared to fill the gaps between attacks. A steel blade rotated like a giant electric fan and an electric attack bounced around the area like a pinball. A few of the attacks were things Kamijou had not seen before, but it was not enough to corner him. He found ways to deal with them, and cornered Birdway who was losing a card from her limited hand each time he did so.
(I think I know what type of person you are now. You love effort and do not turn away from hard work... You have not tried even once to target the weak point on my side where I was shot. You have charmed the people who support a large organization with something other than your words. )
He negated many different forms of magic, he blew away many different spells, and he took advantage of many different forms of attacks.
All the while, Kamijou Touma ran forward.
His vision opened up.
This time, he had truly made it up to Leivinia Birdway.
"You are... !! You are the person who taught so many people that hard work will carry you to the top! I can't let you come to the pathetic answer that using Fräulein Kreutune is the best option!! I can't!!"
His means of attack were limited to just one.
But he constantly reached that one means out towards what he could not reach, touched that which was said to be impossible, and grabbed at something that was not there.
His hand and its five fingers could freely make any number of forms.
It now took the form of a fist.
It happened immediately afterwards.
Kamijou Touma and Leivinia Birdway arrived at the same spot.
And the conclusion was reached.
Part 14
"... ?"
On the top level of the multilevel overpass, Misaka Mikoto frowned where she stood on the road that was falling apart.
Brunhild Eiktobel had suddenly stopped those movements which contained such monstrous power. Even when Mikoto had magnetized her giant steel sword using a high voltage current so that all sorts of iron objects flew to it, the woman had used brute strength to continue to swing around that mass that had to weigh a dozen tons. But now she froze in place.
Her gaze moved from her opponent and off to some other place.
Mikoto did not view it as an opening. It was an uncomfortable silence like a bomb's timer had reached zero yet did not explode. She felt something that made her hesitant to carelessly attack, so she called out to the woman despite how out of place it was to do so.
"Is something the matter?"
"It seems one issue has been resolved, " replied Brunhild quietly."I am not sure if I should continue fighting, head over as reinforcements, or view the situation as unfavorable and make preparations to reorganize."
On the sports-arena-like area one level down, Lightning God Thor and Silvia, the Saint he was confronting, were also looking off elsewhere. However, the two of them looked less confused and more appeared to be enjoying an unexpected outcome.
"Hm, what to do now?" said Silvia with the tone of someone trying to decide whether to hang up laundry when the sky was partly cloudy."It looks like I just received justification to abandon a job that was necessary but that I was less than delighted to carry out. So what am I to do now?"
"If two Saints went after him, I'm betting you could manage somehow."
"No, " replied Silvia despite having no obligation to give an honest answer."All we need to rob Fräulein Kreutune of her power is a spell that adds a pinch of sand to the pure water that has such special behavior. But that is Leivinia Birdway's specialty. She did not fully trust us. She wanted to keep that technique a secret, so there is nothing we can do now that she has been broken."
This was not an environment where they could simply retrieve Birdway and continue their plan.
There was nothing they could do if the sole person who could carry out the spell had lost her will to use it.
That was what Silvia meant.
She scratched at her head while gathering up her long rope with the movements of a single hand.
"Dammit, this is why I said I wished I was on your side this time. Then I could have had an all-out fight without having to worry about anything."
Thor grinned when he heard that.
"It's still not too late."
"Idiot, " spat out Silvia with a hint of regret."I am not like you. I have some comfortable bonds. I have my bonds with an unreliable bastard who is negligent and a crybaby despite very nearly reaching the realm of a Magic God."
"I am a bit jealous of that." replied Thor honestly. He shrugged as he said it, but that alone was sincere."I've given everything my all to make it as far as I have, but I've never been able to find that. And that's why I am standing here."
The action they both took was quite simple.
They took a step back from each other.
That was enough to leave the complexly interwoven situation. That action signified a disarmament where the game pieces that had been optimally set up to achieve checkmate were moved to completely meaningless positions on the board.
It was a sense that only those who had headed far enough down a certain path could detect.
They gave that signal because they knew their enemy was powerful enough to recognize it.
"We will withdraw now, " said Silvia with a smile to the person who was no longer her enemy."But be careful. If what I hear is true, Fräulein Kreutune is a fully fledged monster. And that holds true regardless of how you try to treat her. A lion at the zoo will suddenly bare its fangs to the zookeeper who has been by its side for many long years. Even if the lion has no intention of doing so, its animalistic instincts and conditioned reflexes can overpower the 'safety zone' created by the attachment and experience it has learned.... Humans are in the most danger when they think everything falls into their own framework. Even if the lion has no malice or hostility, it can give the zookeeper a deadly wound when all it is trying to do is ask for food or play around."
"I know that, " replied Thor quietly. But despite understanding Silvia's warning, he still added, "But we are the people that gathered due to our dislike of calling her a wild beast and throwing her in a cage. We're all big enough fools to be willing to risk our lives a bit for her sake. So that warning changes nothing.... We will rescue Fräulein Kreutune. That is our answer."
Part 15
And...
While looking out for a chance to approach Fräulein Kreutune from near the multilevel overpass, the white Rhinoceros Beetle... no, Kakine Teitoku opened his mouth to speak.
"It appears to be over."
"Then let's go!! Let's go save our friend! Nyah, nyah!!"
"That's right, says Misaka as Misaka replies too."
But he had his own worries.
"The battles on the multilevel overpass are over, but the threat of Fräulein Kreutune herself has not changed. Are you really going?"
She was a living creature that was trying to achieve eclosion by seizing control of a giant information network by eating a certain girl's brain. That was what Fräulein Kreutune was. No matter how much one tried to beautify it, that truth would not change and that function of hers could not be changed.
Some pet enthusiasts who preferred oddities would tame venomous snakes and let them wrap around their bodies. Some would live with wild beasts and climb on their backs.
But human rules did not apply there.
Those reckless actions only worked when the animal's rules were met. The instant one set foot outside those rules, the wild beast would not hesitate to devour its owner and the venomous snake would sink its fangs into its owner's arm.
One could try to compromise.
One could try to make friends with them.
One could promise that everything would be okay.
But those words could not stop that function. No matter how much they had built up with her ahead of time, the instant Fräulein Kreutune's inherent rules activated, the possibility that she would cast all that aside and attack was not zero. It was not an issue of the good or evil in Fräulein Kreutune's heart. It was just the simple truth that she was a living creature with that function. That was why it was so powerful and that was why no one could judge her for it. Or rather, nothing would change even if they did judge her for it.
If you put a venomous snake or wild beast in jail after they attacked someone, would they reflect on what they had done? And even if they did reflect on it, would that do anything to keep their instincts and conditioned reflexes from making them attack someone again?
That was why he warned them.
Would their actions have any meaning?
And even if they did... even if some small miracle occurred, wouldn't that be nothing but a small boat in the middle of the stormy ocean? Would it lead to any real safety?
"Don't worry, " said Last Order."She is probably the same as you and Misaka. She probably does not know for sure what she is or even who she can ask to find out, says Misaka as Misaka states her prediction. But that is why someone needs to save her. You can stay here if you wish, says Misaka as Misaka gives her conclusion."
"In the first place, what do you mean she doesn't know what she is!?"
Fremea raised her voice despite likely not knowing what the other girl had meant by that.
Even so, her words struck at the center of the issue.
"She is a member of the Hamazura Brigade and our friend! Nyah!! So what are you talking about? What more could she need to know!?"
That which had become Kakine Teitoku and the command tower named Last Order fell silent.
They felt like the ability to accept someone simply as a friend even in such a complex situation and to do it like it was completely normal held some kind of great meaning.
Kakine Teitoku then resolved himself.
He made up his mind.
"Let's go. We need to save your friend."
"Nyah! Don't you mean 'our' friend!?"
Kakine stepped in front of Last Order and Fremea and proceeded carefully forward.
Last Order pulled out her cell phone.
"In the first place, what are you doing?"
"Telling her we're on our way, says Misaka as Misaka gives her reply. The security buzzer we gave her can receive emails, says Misaka as Misaka quickly moves her thumb."
Part 16
Fräulein Kreutune leaned up against a guardrail in the arena-like part of the multilevel overpass. She noticed a change. Something began vibrating within her clothes.
She pulled out a small egg-shaped device.
It was the supposed proof of friendship she had been given.
"..."
Some small words were displayed on the screen.
That was all it was, yet it was filled with something warm. It was overflowing with something that had been missing in Fräulein Kreutune's long, long, much too long time on this earth.
Thinly.
Very thinly.
Her lips moved.
That may have been the rarest thing for her in her life. Even if it had appeared on her face before with no meaning or thoughts while she emulated someone's movements as a part of her repeated simple thoughts leading her in the most comfortable direction, these movements of her facial muscles may have come from somewhere entirely different.
"... Thank you, " she muttered.
Those words naturally slipped from Fräulein Kreutune's mouth.
"Thank you so much."
She closed her hand around the small egg-shaped piece of plastic.
There was strength in her grip.
While still hanging her head down, she continued to speak.
She spoke a definitive statement.
"But I still cannot stop myself from eating you!!"
And finally...
The time came.
It was incredibly simple.
And yet there was nothing she could do to stop that horrible conclusion that was about to bloom.
Part 17
Kakine Teitoku... or rather, that which had been him... or had it simply been a portion of the outer layer of him? At any rate, the person who had used Dark Matter had been defeated by Accelerator and Mugino Shizuri. They headed up a stairway to leave the underground passageways and arrive on the aboveground portion of the multilevel overpass.
"Are you going to do anything about this Fräulein something-or-other?" asked Mugino.
"I don't care. But it seems someone I know doesn't want her to die. This person risked herself to stop me when I tried to kill that Fräulein person."
"Same here. It doesn't really affect anyone whether she's saved or killed though, so I'm not so sure it matters."
As they spoke, they made their way out into the sunlight.
The sounds and vibrations of battle had ended. Something must have come to an end. And if anything was still smoldering, they would stamp it out before moving on.
Accelerator had been looking around the area, but then he spotted something.
He gave it a second look.
He saw a tall, white figure.
"... Hey, " said Mugino as if she had seen something disturbing."What is that?"
One level above ground level was an irregular overpass that spread out like a sports arena to connect the different stops of a giant bus roundabout. The figure had long silver hair that covered her face and wore a dress-like outfit made of a thin white material. Accelerator recognized her. He had lightly held her in check when she had tried to attack Last Order.
That much was fine.
The problem was...
She was sitting down with her head hanging down, she was in a balled up position... and she was covered in something.
It covered her hands and her chest.
And it covered her mouth and her teeth.
Whatever it was, it was closer to pink than it was a pure red. It was too soft to be meat. He could hear a wet chewing sound as Fräulein Kreutune's jaw moved. She bit into something, chewed, and swallowed.
"What... is that?"
Even Mugino who had been involved more deeply in death than the average person could only mutter that in dumbfounded shock.
Accelerator was unable to respond.
Something like static had appeared at one point in his head. In no time at all, it spread explosively and filled every inch of his mind.
He could not move.
And that was why he was unable to stop the #4's words.
"I'm not an expert... but that looks like a human brain to me."
Who had Fräulein Kreutune been targeting?
What if this had been the ultimate objective of her actions?
So...
What was it she was eating?
Where was that brat?
"Ah..."
Something suddenly exceeded its capacity. Something that had been building up completely collapsed from a single blow and Accelerator's mind was filled with nothing but the color red.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!"
Something exploded.
Accelerator did not even realize his hand had reached up to the choker-style electrode around his neck.
He stomped on the ground and controlled that vector to jump straight up into the air. By the time he reached the height of the arena-like upper level, he could already feel something writhing on his back. They were likely wings. Those wings could be either black or white, but the wings that would burst out in another second would probably be dyed in a color more grotesque than any anyone had ever seen.
He did not feel he could even wait that one second.
The instant the #1's red eyes zeroed in on his target, he began moving his arm to reap that life.
But...
"Wait!! says Misaka as Misaka frantically tries to stop you to save her friend!!"
A strange phenomenon assaulted Accelerator.
A certain someone's brain was supposedly being devoured in front of him and yet he could see that familiar girl standing there when he turned his head. And she of course showed no sign of bleeding.
A question entered his confused head.
Who or what was Fräulein Kreutune eating?
Part 18
Now then.
Before the battles and before they headed to the multilevel overpass, there was a conversation.
"Damn him..."
It began with Misaka Mikoto after the Lightning God Thor egged her on. He had said something along the lines of "Hey, Miko-chan, Kamijou Touma is doing his usual thing by being nursed to health by some mysterious little blonde girl. What do you think about that?" and she had barged in on that spiky-haired boy without hesitation.
With bluish-white sparks flying from her bangs, she said, "First you leave me behind at Hawaii, then you suddenly grope my chest when we meet again, and now you're flirting with some girl like it's a normal thing! Do you never think about explaining anything or apologizing for anything!?"
As she shouted, she fired a lightning spear and Kamijou Touma collapsed to the side.
The blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl standing next to him shook her head and said something in French.
"Life is always a sudden thing. It is possible it could end right here. But I think it is only fair that I get a bit angry if such a coincidence occurred. This is my precious clue leading to Gremlin."
"Huh!? What was that? You usually block it so easily... geh!? You've been shot in the stomach!? Why didn't you say so!?"
As he lay collapsed and convulsing on the ground due to her much too unreasonable demand, Kamijou asked one thing of Mikoto.
He asked her to translate for him since he did not understand French.
The blood flowing from his side made Mikoto feel fairly guilty, so she did as she was told while still confused about the situation.
"Um... What? 'Due to being reconstructed to my normal body after being turned into a human table, I can now freely disassemble and reconstruct my body'? N-no!! That's not a mistranslation. That's really what she's saying!!"
"I-I get the general idea. I see... but that's just crazy. Even if you had to slip past Academy City's security, breaking your body down like that is crazy..."
It seemed they had come to some odd form of understanding.
A hint of jealousy appeared on Mikoto's face, but what they were talking about was so brutal she did not particularly want to know much more.
"How did she get that small?"
"Um... 'I broke my body down to the level of a few food ingredients to carry it in, but the person who prepared me did not follow the recipe so some of the ingredients were left over'?... ??? Eh? Wait a second... What are you-... ?"
"Left over?"
Kamijou frowned and listened while still collapsed on the ground.
But then he sprang up into a sitting position.
"Did you say some were left over!? So we have some ingredients to a human body that can be freely made into whatever we want at least to a certain extent? And we have the person who knows how to use them too. Wait... In that case!!"
"?"
"Hey, Mikoto! Tell Cendrillon this: I want your help. With your ingredients and skills, we might be able to save Fräulein Kreutune from having to eat someone's brain!!"
"W-what!? Cendrillon? But wasn't she the one who went on a rampage in that Hawaiian airport... ehh!? But isn't she smaller than before... !?"
"Hurry!!"
As Mikoto gave that explanation while still confused, a somber look came over the face of the mysterious short girl named Cendrillon.
Mikoto somehow managed to put her French words into Japanese.
"I doubt that detour would help with my goal. I must take my revenge against Marian Slingeneyer for deceiving me. And those ingredients are a part of me. If they are used for something else, I will no longer be able to remake myself back to normal."
"Eh?" said Kamijou without thinking."Marian Slingeneyer? I defeated her back in Baggage City."
Mikoto continued to translate as if on auto-pilot (She felt like her mind would burst if she did not immerse herself in something) and the small Cendrillon suddenly grabbed at Kamijou despite the words she understood coming from Mikoto. She started shouting something in French that the boy could of course not understand while shaking his head back and forth.
"G-gbh!? Explanation please!!"
"U-umm... 'What have you done!? That is clearly beyond the level of what you should be doing!!'"
"It just kind happened! I couldn't help it!!"
After grabbing at his collar with both hands for a while, Cendrillon finally realized that would not change the situation. She let out a heavy sigh and released him.
And then she said something very dangerous in French.
Mikoto translated it.
"I see, so the target of my revenge is already dead. In that case, I guess I have no reason to remain fixated over that."
"Hm? What???"
Kamijou did not remember saying anything about killing her, but he decided not to correct her. There were some things people were better off not knowing.
Cendrillon clicked her tongue and said, "Not only did you save my life in Baggage City, but now you freed me from the revenge I would have sullied my hands with. Ugh, you were supposed to be my enemy, so why do I keep growing more and more indebted to you... ?"
"I don't want to translate this, " said Mikoto.
"Please. We won't get anywhere otherwise."
Kamijou frantically pleaded against the sudden threat of a boycott and Mikoto finally got back to her job.
"Understood. I will pay back my debts with this, " said Cendrillon using Mikoto's mouth."What do I need to do?"
It seemed Cendrillon had snuck into Academy City by hiding inside a package. She had been in the form of cooking ingredients, so she had sent the cardboard box to someone who frequently ordered such things.
It had taken some doing to acquire that data, but it seemed Cendrillon had managed to gather data from a company outside of Academy City.
Kamijou Touma wanted her to use the leftover ingredients for something and had asked her to retrieve them, but she suddenly realized something as she ran down the road.
"... Where was that apartment?"
She had been taken to the apartment while packed inside a cardboard box, so she had no idea what path she had taken on the way there. And when she had left, she was being chased out by one of Academy City's espers who had ridiculous destructive power, so she had not had time to remember what route she took.
That meant she had to start by searching for someone that knew the way to the apartment in which she had left the leftover ingredients.
Meanwhile, Hamazura Shiage and Takitsubo Rikou walked along next to the multilevel overpass. They had ended up there thanks to a casual comment from Mugino Shizuri when the girl had met up with the two of them.
"By the way, what happened to the security buzzer you gave to Fremea? Didn't it have GPS tracking?"
"Ah."
"Ah."
An ominous creaking noise came from Mugino's high-tech fake hand when the Hamazura-Takitsubo couple (who could both be rather stupid at times) let out that sound of realization.
"Oh? So you forgot, did you? So all this time I've been killing my legs walking around and around and around and around was for nothing? Haaamazuraaa..."
"Wait, wait, I'll check it now!! I'll check the GPS, so spare me that steel fist! You'd probably knock my jaw off!!"
And once they headed after the security buzzer's GPS signal, they found themselves at that multilevel overpass.
However...
"She's not here."
"The only person here is that strange woman that tackled me?"'
The security buzzer's GPS signal pointed to that tall, pale woman, so they had to seriously think about the possibility that someone had stolen Fremea's possession. And it also looked like some kind of fight was about to break out.
But then someone completely unexpected interfered.
A young girl began speaking in French.
"Oh, there you are, you asshole. You need to show me the way back to that apartment."
"This is just a failing in my knowledge of French and you didn't just say what I think you did... right?"
A dangerous creaking noise came from Mugino as if the special makeup on her face was having trouble withstanding the movements of her muscles.
Hamazura looked confused and asked, "Do you know her?... Actually, she looks kinda familiar. Is she someone's little sister or something?"
Cendrillon ignored them and continued in French, "I left some of my ingredients in your apartment. I need them to resolve a large problem in this city."
"Tch... So was I attacked last night by someone dressed like Frenda because of that? Were they trying to prevent that issue from being resolved for someone's benefit?" spat out Mugino. But, "I don't have time for that." With a truly annoyed look, she grabbed the back of Hamazura's neck and held him out towards the small Cendrillon."Do you want to be turned to ash or do you want to get this stupid-looking boy to show you the way? It's your choice."
"Hey, wait!! What about Fremea!?"
As Hamazura flailed his arms and legs around in midair, they heard yet another voice.
It belonged to...
"I just called them, " said Yoshikawa Kikyou as she lightly waved a hand holding a cell phone."Our girl and your... what was that blonde girl's name? Well, they're together.... They also said something about being with a rhinoceros beetle, so parts of the situation are a bit unclear. But they at least seem to be safe for the moment."
"What?" Mugino gave Yoshikawa a horribly displeased look as she tossed Hamazura towards Cendrillon with a single hand."And why are you telling us that?"
"Perhaps it was unfair of me to give you my information before telling you I want something in return."
Yoshikawa's expression did not change.
Takitsubo Rikou sensed the scent of a researcher in the way she seemed used to handling espers who had great power and an abnormal mental structure.
"Academy City's #2 Level 5, Kakine Teitoku, is working to kill our girl. And if he succeeds, the odds are good your girl will be killed as well. So help me."
"He's after your brat, right? It doesn't matter to us as long as we take Fremea away from her."
"For you maybe. But what about... Fremea, was it? I doubt she would be happy about it."
"..."
"No, no, no, no!! Mugino! Don't look like she's taking Fremea hostage! This is completely normal. If Fremea's friend is about to be killed, there's nothing wrong with fighting to save her!" shouted Hamazura.
"You have an odd idea of 'normal', " said Mugino in displeasure after giving a kick to Hamazura who she had already handed over to Cendrillon.
Mugino then asked for the necessary information in annoyance.
"So where is the #2?"
"In the underground passageways at the bottom level of the multilevel overpass."
"How do you know that?"
"If you knew... well, I'm sure it would start a fight. But try to keep this in an area where Level 5s fighting will not affect anyone else. I also have to deal with the issue of Last Order being eaten."
While keeping all but what she needed for the negotiations a secret, Yoshikawa gave a slight smile and thought to herself.
(I do not hesitate to get students involved in actual battles just because they are strong. I may be naïve but I really am not kind. )
Suddenly, the mysterious French-speaking girl spoke up.
"I do not know who is protecting who, but you will need my help to keep that girl from being eaten."
"... Is my French rusty or something? Eaten... you say?"
"Don't worry. That is what I heard too."
Yoshikawa and Mugino exchanged a glance and Cendrillon continued speaking.
"Also, if you intend on protecting that girl's friend, it seems you must also protect that Fräulein Kreutune woman who is being manipulated by her desire to eat the girl.... To be honest, it doesn't matter to me. But that's what Kamijou Touma said, so I have no choice."
Hamazura thought briefly upon hearing Mugino's lazy translation.
The fact that the name Kamijou Touma had been mentioned meant that same softhearted mood that pulled others into an effort he had seen at Hawaii was at the core of this. But setting that aside...
The security buzzer had ended up with that white woman.
But what if it had not been forcibly taken?
To keep Fremea from being sad, they had to save her friend Last Order. What if the same reasoning applied to that white woman?
"Hamazura."
"... Takitsubo, can I be completely honest? This is a pain in the ass." Hamazura brought a hand to his forehead, but he did not stop there."But it means we can't overlook this."
After having Cendrillon (who had apparently heard it from someone else) quickly explain the situation regarding Fräulein Kreutune, an obvious question floated up in Hamazura, Takitsubo, Mugino, and Yoshikawa's minds.
Namely...
"How... how are we supposed to stop this Fräulein Kreutune person?"
"It is simple, " said Cendrillon easily as she pointed at her own chest with her thumb."She will eat a specific person's brain. And I left the materials needed to use that against her in your apartment."
As a result, Hamazura and Takitsubo led Cendrillon to their apartment, Mugino headed to the multilevel overpass to destroy Academy City's #2, and Yoshikawa Kikyou...
"I can't actually fight, so I'm left with nothing to do. The data analysis I can carry out is only any good for things inside test tubes."
She ended up coming with Hamazura and the others to act as a French translator for Cendrillon.
And...
They found Kinuhata Saiai cleaning up the apartment she shared with Hamazura and the others.
"I'm the only one!! I'm the only one doing any super work! Even if I handed off the dark side investigation to Mugino, super what am I doing in the middle of this once-a-year school event!?"
"Hey, Kinuhata. Why are you talking to yourself when no one else is around? Is that a habit of yours?"
Kinuhata, who had been shouting out to relieve stress, suddenly froze in place, slowly turned around, and leapt at Hamazura the instant she saw him. She beat him to a pulp with some strange professional wrestling move.
Cendrillon ignored that and headed to the kitchen space.
She pulled out some equipment that had been roughly shoved into a cardboard box.
"Here it is."
"Can you really make a human body out of this? This is so nonsensical I get the feeling the translator of the Kaitai Shinsho is going to come haunt us."
Yoshikawa looked at the items lined up on the kitchen counter with a dubious look.
As she poked at Hamazura's cheek as he lay trembling on the ground, Takitsubo Rikou asked, "What do we need to do?"
Yoshikawa translated the question into French and Cendrillon replied, "Just follow my instructions using the specified amounts.... We just have to knead together the excess brain material into a paste that has a similar structure to the person the monster is targeting."
"Oh?" said Yoshikawa before translating."I would be best for that job. I know the structure of her brain quite well."
While speaking both Japanese and French, she operated her cell phone with her thumb. She was sending an email detailing the plan to those who needed to know. The email to Last Order made it through, but it seemed the one to Accelerator did not as he was in those underground passageways.
"I don't really get it, but is all of this on Kamijou Touma's instructions? Did he say feeding this brain to her would stop that woman?" muttered Hamazura as his face paled a fair bit.
Cendrillon replied, "I do not know, but it would be a problem if she was fed too perfect a replica and it emulated the effects of the real brain. This paste is like the negative of a photograph. We will make a second replica based on it but it will be made out of candy. She will be fed the one that is pure candy."
After packing what they created in a clear bag, Hamazura Shiage headed for the multilevel overpass.
As she walked next to him, Takitsubo said, "Hamazura, do you really think this will work?"
"I have no idea. But I think there's a chance. It's a bit of a stretch, but it does make sense."
The object was too creepy to look at, but it definitely held the possibility of saving Fräulein Kreutune and keeping Fremea from losing a friend.
In other words...
Fräulein Kreutune had a function that meant she had to eat Last Order's brain. It was not an issue of deciding to or not. The impartial string of ones and zeros would make sure she continued to pursue her prey no matter what.
So what if they used that function against her?
What if they fed her a completely useless replica that was exceedingly similar to the brain she used to identify her target?
Fräulein Kreutune would continue carrying out that command until the hole was filled.
But what if they filled the hole with something else?
If her function was satisfied with false information, it would never awaken again.
Fräulein Kreutune would be able to stand before her friends without having to fear anything.
"I may have been stuck behind the scenes without anything important to do, " muttered Hamazura under his breath. But he had a small smile on his face."But getting a shitty role is no reason to slack off!!"
This was the final possibility that Kamijou Touma had reached for at the very, very end.
Many different powers were at work, traveling along the thin connections between people.
It all connected to the final moment.
They all worked for a single, true victory.
Part 19
And...
Time now returns to after the battles.
"Nyah. It's okay now."
"All the scary people are gone, says Misaka as Misaka responds too."
Fräulein Kreutune jumped in surprise when she heard those words.
She looked back down at her own messy hands.
It may have only been an excellent replica.
It may have ended without anyone being sacrificed.
But her expression made it clear she felt she was a loathsome creature for being unable to stop herself from taking the action of eating. And the fact that the person she had been trying to eat had watched her do it seemed to indicate some kind of decisive ruin.
She felt like a criminal in a crime drama after being tricked into revealing information in public that only the criminal could know.
But that was not it.
The situation was completely different.
No one was trying to blame her.
"But... I... I wasn't able to stop... I still... ate..."
"You may be a creature that ecloses upon acquiring a massive amount of information, says Misaka as Misaka gives her estimation. No one can change that and Misaka does not think it is necessarily a good thing to change it, says Misaka as Misaka repeats herself. You may have had a function that made you take the shortest route to eat Misaka's brain and acquire lots of information from the network, says Misaka as Misaka smoothly continues. But..." Last Order did not stop there."Even if your situation was not taken into account at all and whether you are good or evil was solely determined by your functions, that was only what you were a minute ago, says Misaka as Misaka makes a decisive statement. It does not apply to you now. You do not need to be afraid of anything or worry about whether you are good or evil, says Misaka as Misaka explains.... You are now nothing but our friend, says Misaka as Misaka makes her announcement."
Could it really be settled so easily?
Could it truly have such a lovely conclusion?
The method of proving that it could was simple.
"Nyah! I don't get any of this confusing stuff about functions, but we just have to test it out, right!?"
Fremea wrapped one arm around Last Order's shoulders from behind and then the two girls charged towards Fräulein Kreutune's chest.
A soft sound could be heard.
And that was all.
That target, that head, and that brain that had so heavily influenced her actions were right in front of her. And yet she was no longer ruled by that function. Fräulein Kreutune could simply embrace her friends without having to hurt anyone.
She heard a small sound come from within her own body.
Something was writhing within her. Her body was likely reacting to the information beginning to be taken in from the pink imitation. The strange sound continued and she began changing into some unknown new form in increments as small as the differences in a "spot the difference" puzzle.
Not even she knew what would happen.
But that was how it should be.
When humans put in effort, they could not decide in what way that effort would make them grow.
But...
That alone said plenty.
By adding something to her past self, she had gained the right to head in a different direction.
She could move her path far, far away from one that led to biting into someone's head and eating their brain.
"A-ahh..."
She embraced someone for the first time in her life.
Strength slowly but surely entered the arms and fingers wrapped around her friends' backs.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh!! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!"
Someone gave a quiet smile when he heard that cry.
He moved back a step.
Everything was okay now.
The problem had ended.
Conviction could lose all meaning given the right timing. With the area no longer a battlefield, the thing holding them all there was gone.
The circumstances surrounding the boy named Kamijou Touma were complex and not all of his relationships were bound with friendship. There were some who were more or less enemies and some that were connected to him by nothing but the thin thread of being a friend of a friend.
But even so...
They would naturally gather in one place to handle someone's crisis and then disappear once it was resolved.
They would head back to their individual paths and return to their proper place.
| ← Ch. 076 | Ch. 078 → |