Mikoto stepped into the lobby of Misawa Cram School and looked around to see students loitering around the lobby while chatting about mundane things. Touma or that shrine maiden girl Aisa was nowhere to be seen.
She headed to the receptionist, "I'm sorry, but have you seen a boy with black, spiky hair. His name is Kamijou Touma."
The receptionist ignored her.
"Hello? I'm talking to you!"
Mikoto clicked her tongue. It must be Misaki's Mental Out at play. She cursed herself for being too impulsive. She should have gotten more details from Lessar first before rushing into the damm building to find Touma. Now what?
A violent expansion of the air knocked Mikoto to the ground. While protecting herself with an electric barrier from the onslaught of wires, she noticed a translucent membrane protecting the people from any harm. Even the ground which should have been torn apart, and the glass that should have been shattered into pieces was also protected by the membrane.
"So you're at the 'back of the coin' just like me. What is an esper like you doing here anyway?" A lady wearing a skimpy outfit with a long Japanese sword by her waist said.
"That's what I should be asking you." Mikoto said. "Who are you and what the hell is going on? Anyway, have you seen a guy with a black, spiky hair? His name is Kamijou Touma."
"No, I have not."
"Then do you know anything about Index being held hostage in this building?"
"No."
"Then why are you in this building?"
The lady placed a hand on the hilt of her sword with a dangerous glint in her eyes, "It's none of your business."
Electricity danced around Mikoto. Why is that lady being so defensive? What is she hiding? Is she also involved in kidnapping Index and luring Touma to his death?
Lessar jumped in between the both of them, "Calm down. This Level 5 esper over here just wants to know where Touma is. She doesn't know much about Index and the Magic Side."
Kaori relaxed her grip on her sword, "I see. If you find Index, let me know." before heading further into the building through the staircase.
Mikoto heaved a sigh of relief. "Thank god you're here."
"You really shouldn't run off just like that. I wasn't even done with what I wanted to say."
"Sorry." Mikoto said. At that time she was more concerned with finding Touma and reaching the lobby before him than whatever Misaki was planning. "And what's with that sword lady anyway? Why is she being so defensive?"
Unknown to Mikoto, there was a treaty signed by Academy City that forbids them from interfering with any 'Magic Side' issues. That was why the sword lady named Kanzaki Kaori got so defensive.
Also, the shrine maiden Himegami Aisa and Kanzaki Kaori may had some history with Touma due to the war he caused, but they were more concerned with retrieving Index than bringing any harm to him. In fact, none of them were Touma's match anyway.
"I'll explain the rest along the way. Let's go."
To most people of the world including Academy City, the war Touma started was a series of natural disasters that destroyed countless lives all over the world. But to those in the Magic Side, this war was like the Sengoku Period where Touma wanted to unify and control everyone in the Magic Side just like Nobunaga Oda.
It got so serious that even Academy City got involved despite the treaty. Mikoto now understood why of all people, the strongest esper Suzushina Yuriko would end up as a disaster relief volunteer.
Touma defeated even Academy City and it was only a matter of time before he succeeded. However, one day, he disappeared and that was the end of the war. When Mikoto asked why, Lessar said it was because Touma went to save a girl despite knowing that it was a trap to strip him of his powers.
"Do you hate him for what he did? I mean, you were his ally in the war after all." Mikoto said as she walked across the corridor with Lessar. It wasn't surprising that Touma would do such a thing. Because of him insisting on saving her from the Dark Side, Touma broke up with his childhood friend turned couple Shokuhou Misaki.
Lessar smiled, "Leivina hates him to the core, but I don't. Touma wouldn't be Touma if he didn't do that innit?"
"Yeah, I do."
It was such a shame that Misaki didn't see things the same way as Lessar. Stupid bitch. What does she want to do? Change Touma's personality into something that was agreeable to her or kill him if that doesn't work out?
"Anyway, how do you know that Shokuhou Misaki was behind all this?" Mikoto said.
"Long story short, she sent me a ransom note asking to bring Touma in exchange for Index. I wasn't sure what magic Shokuhou Misaki was using, if she was actually using magic in the first place, so I referred the case to an organisation called Necessarius and they sent that swordwoman you met just now to retrieve Index."
"So does that mean Shokuhou also sent the same ransom note to the red-haired guy and Himegami? Was that why they approached Touma?"
"Perhaps. But it's more likely that they had no idea what they're dealing with so they asked Touma for help."
Lessar placed a hand on the wall, "I've never seen anything like this before. I suspect Shokuhou Misaki must have made a contract with a demon or something."
"Demons? Really?"
Mikoto shuddered at the thought of a deranged Misaki stained with blood in front of ouija boards and dancing inside satanic rituals. Well… there's really no telling how far that bitch would go just to make Touma hers again, or whatever she may be planning.
"The magic she's using is so darn dodgy that she probably made a contract with a shitty arse demon who doesn't know what it's doing."
Mikoto chuckled, "That's what Shokuhou wants you to think. Trust me, she knows exactly what she's doing."
But one thing was clear, Misaki had no intention of killing Touma. Lessar probably thought that Misaki was one of the many people who was after Touma's life because of the war he started.
Mikoto hated how Touma would always go out of his way to not implicate others in his problems even though he would butt in and get himself implicated in other people's problem even when it's none of his business.
Right now, there must be a lot of people after Touma. Some might even target the people close to him, like her or Misaki. Maybe Touma wishes to die because he thinks his death would put an end to all this.
"Is Touma suicidal because he also thinks his death would put an end to all the mess he made?"
"Exactly!" Lessar said. "That's why I want you to talk some fucking sense into him. It's ridiculous how he doesn't get that it's alright to rely on others for help sometimes."
Mikoto sighed. "And yet he expects others to rely on him. That's the part I really hate about him."
Anyway, the highest priority was to find Touma and get everything straightened out.
Mikoto surrounded herself with an iron sand barrier and deflected the barrage of green arrows from an medieval knight clad in full body metal armor. He held a longbow up and fired those arrows like a machine gun.
She understood little about magic in combat other than to expect the unexpected, pour enough energy into her attacks and pray it works. Fortunately, Lessar was here… wait, where's Lessar?!
"I teleported Lessar somewhere else so she wouldn't interfere." The knight's voice was deep but forced to be disgustingly high-pitched, suggesting that the person inside the armour was a middle-aged man controlled by Misaki.
"What exactly are you planning? Are you really planning to kill Touma?"
"As much as I hate it, Touma has to die. If he has to die either way, I might as well be the one killing him."
Mikoto swung a lightning spear from her hand and destroyed all the incoming arrows. "Fuck you!"
She then burst forth towards the knight to slash his amour, but when her spear dispersed upon contact, she leaped over the knight, dodging yet another barrage of arrows.
"Oh dear," Misaki put a hand to her mouth, "I never knew you could be so vulgar."
"Kill him? You want complete control over him, don't you?"
The knight's amour shimmered red, and repeatedly crashed into Mikoto's barrier at a very high speed.
"Honestly, I don't owe you any explanation with regards to my plans."
Mikoto dropped her barrier and propelled herself through the open exit of an corridor before running at full speed across another corridor of classrooms that seemed to stretch towards infinity.
It was a mistake to even ask. Shokuhou Misaki was never the type of villain who would gleefully reveal her plans and laugh at how dumb her opponent was the whole time.
Misawa Cram School was four buildings connected by a few skyways. Each building had 60 floors with countless classrooms on every floor. Touma could be in any one of them, and if Misaki could use 'magic' and teleport Lessar somewhere, what's stopping Misaki from teleporting her as well?
How was she going to fight against something that disgusting?
"... What do I do now?"
Misaki took away her only source of information regarding magic. There was no Lessar to help her figure out a way to defeat Misaki or find Touma.
Mikoto stopped by a cafeteria with a beautiful interior comparable to the cafes in Seventh Mist to catch her breath. Back in another cafeteria not long ago, Misaki seemed so comfortable around Touma that was almost unthinkable that Misaki would actually want Touma dead.
Misaki was definitely after something else.
As much as I hate it, Touma has to die. If he has to die either way, I might as well be the one killing him.
There was a thing in the Dark Side where if agents working in the Dark Side are convinced that someone is executed and dead, they will not go after that person again.
Was that what Misaki was planning? To "execute" Touma so as to appease the people from the Magic Side who suffered from the war caused by him?
All the students in the cafeteria stood up and stared blankly at Mikoto with silver glassy eyes.
One student began muttering, "The wings of the seraph shines brightly and the bright light is a pure white color that reveals all sins…"
Hovering in front of each student's forehead was a bluish-white orb. More and more of such orbs began to appear inside the cafeteria and around Mikoto.
Mikoto unleashed a few lightning bolts, but it seemed to have no effect on the orbs nor the students. Why was she even trying? None of her electricity will ever work against anything here.
Mikoto created an iron sand net and scooped up all the orbs before crushing it with clenched teeth. The only law of physics that magic seem to obey was power, or the amount of energy transferred over time!
She hurled herself sideways down a staircase to dodge laser beams from the students and sped off at full speed again.
Damm it.
It was impossible to systematically check every location when she had to keep retreating because of that bullshit magic.
Of course something meant to kill Touma had to be magic. Touma's own power was never something that could be analyzed by science.
Mikoto stopped by a cafeteria with a beautiful interior comparable to the cafes in Seventh Mist to catch her breath. It was the same cafeteria she stopped by with the same students inside standing up with a blank stare.
One student began muttering, "The wings of the seraph shines brightly and the bright light is a pure white color that reveals all sins…"
Hovering in front of each student's forehead was a bluish-white orb. More and more of such orbs began to appear inside the cafeteria and around Mikoto.
Mikoto left by the staircase at the side only to arrive at the same cafeteria with the same glassy-eyed students staring blankly at her and the bluish-white orb.
One student began muttering, "The wings of…"
She knocked aside the orbs with her iron sand sword and left by a different exit only to arrive at the same place again. No matter what exit Mikoto chose, there was no escaping the cafeteria and the glassy-eyed students.
Mikoto raised a barrier against the laser beams and orbs as she heard a faint giggle in the background. That bitch.
There must be a way through without killing the students under Misaki's control by crushing them with her iron sand net. She was no longer the monster who chose murder as her first option to solve problems.
"Wait..."
Shokuhou Misaki may have the ability to control minds, but she technically did so by controlling liquids in the brain.
The translucent membrane on the ground, as expected, absorbed her electricity like a sponge despite looking like a liquid coating which might or might not be related to Misaki's ability.
Lessar determined that the magic used by Misaki was dodgy just by touching it.
Maybe she could do the same in her own way.
Mikoto whipped out her PDA and placed a hand on the ground while generating electric pulses. Strange symbols mixed with binary code appeared on the screen.
What the hell? It actually worked? Expect the unexpected indeed!
The entire thing was surprisingly a computer simulation, but the magic was mostly in turning any changes made in the simulation into reality and some other unknown things. No wonder Lessar said the magic was dodgy. There was a pretty substantial amount of science mixed inside.
She clicked her tongue. While there was no way to take over the simulation, it was possible to bring it down by jumbling and altering the code and symbols.
"Better than nothing I guess."
Mikoto wiped blood off her face as she dragged herself through the empty cafeteria. The students were all an illusion turned into reality by the simulation. Even the receptionist below and the chatting students were the same as well.
Now to find Touma.
Her vision blurred and her head kept throbbing in pain. The magic within Misaki's simulation after crushing it must have done this to her somehow.
"Touma…?"
Mikoto collapsed into Touma's arms. She had finally found him.
Touma smiled. "Thanks for saving Index."
"Don't..."
Mikoto felt her consciousness slipping away.
No! This can't be happening! She still had so many questions to ask him!
"...go."
That was all Mikoto could manage before she fell unconscious.
Lessar carried an unconscious and bloodied Mikoto over her shoulders. She didn't manage to tell Mikoto that if an esper like her were to cast magic whether intentionally or unintentionally, she would suffer from a backlash.
As a reward for managing to take down the barrier, Lessar decided to shapeshift into Touma using Norse magic in front of a dying Mikoto who wasn't in any shape to be talking Touma out of suicide.
"What rotten luck."
Touma entered the lobby with Aisa.
According to Aisa from Kaori, there is a barrier in the form of a translucent membrane inside the building preventing people at the 'back' to interact with anything at the 'front'.
An analogy would be the front and the back sides of a coin. Those at the 'back' cannot interfere with anything at the 'front'. They were at the 'back' and anything else inside the building covered by the membrane would be at the 'front'."
"And you need my right hand to destroy that barrier to save Index?"
"That's right."
Touma summoned a wave of flames that shattered the people around them into pixelated dust, but the people reappeared as soon as the dust dissipated. He may have the power to negate the output of this strange Ars Magna like setup, but there was a core his flames needed to touch to take down the whole thing for good.
"Are you able to figure out where the core is located?"
"Pathetic scum." Aisa said. "No. I don't even understand what kind of magic is the barrier using. Do you?"
"All I can do now is negate magic."
Before he got his powers stripped, he had a similar ability like Index to analyze magic and counter it by accessing the knowledge stored within his Imagine Breaker. However, he could still sense that the barrier was using something beyond magic and science of this world. It was no doubt Misaki who was behind this. She kidnapped Index to lure him into somewhere inside this building.
"But can you still save Index from having her memories erased every year?"
"Aisa…" Touma sighed, "I'm sorry. I can't do that."
Aisa slapped Touma with tears on her face, "You promised! You promised you'd save Index from losing her memories! Why are you breaking your damm promise again?!"
Saving Index from losing her memories meant completely destroying the system that was restraining her from using any amount of mana she wants.
"Do you really wish to see another war within the Magic Side?"
Index with no restraints was as good as turning her into a pseudo Magic God. Whatever happens as a result of that would definitely not end up in everyone signing a peace treaty, hold hands and make the world a better place.
He was once a disgusting person who didn't care about the millions of people who would suffer from a war. Not saving Index from her annual memory erasure because of his own selfish reasons was his biggest regret. Partially removing her mana usage restriction was just his pathetic way of making himself feel better. That he actually did something for Index.
However, if saving Index now would mean that he would start another war, he would rather let the regret crush his soul for eternity.
"I don't care."
The people around them vanished, and the translucent membrane was no more.
Kaori dragged Aisa by her collar while carrying an unconscious Index over her shoulder, "But I do. The Magic Side cannot afford any more wars."
"How'd you manage to destroy the barrier and save Index?" Touma said.
"Well, you can thank Misaka Mikoto for that."
"Mikoto?"
"Don't worry, she has been safely sent to the hospital."
"You gotta be kidding me!"
Touma dashed out of the lobby. It must have been Lessar. Otherwise why the heck was Mikoto using magic in the first place?!
Misaki sat at the oak table inside the principal office while admiring the stars.
It was rather impressive that Mikoto somehow figured out that this whole thing was just a simulation powered by mana from the "Pure World" meant to trap magicians like Index and confuse other magicians who would come after Index.
The "Pure World" by nature is a magicless world using technology so advanced that one might as well call it magic, but the foundations were still based on Academy City technology, so electromasters like Mikoto with enough knowledge could easily take it down just like hacking into a computer system.
However, for anything from the "Pure World" to work in this world, there will be some elements of magic because of the Phases layered upon this world. What a pain.
Setting the whole simulation back up again wasn't very hard though, but it took so much time that by the time she was done, Index had already escaped with the magicians after her.
Misaki heard footsteps from behind, "Why are you here? Index has already been saved by someone else."
Touma sat beside Misaki as he passed her a box, "You know, all you had to do was ask and I'd come."
"Even if it means walking into a trap meant to kill you?"
"Yeah."
Misaki chuckled, "But you do realize that this is actually a trap meant to keep you alive, right?"
She opened the box to see her favorite cream cake from District 15. Touma would always walk an extra hour on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays just to get her this.
"It's fine."
Touma was only here to indulge her selfishness as always. It was the same reason why he was willing to walk an extra hour just to get her cream cake.
"Why are you still so nice to me? If it wasn't for me, you would have achieved your goal of unifying the Magic Side as its new supreme ruler."
The both of them made a contract with beings from the "Pure World" to do things they normally couldn't do by borrowing their powers.
For Touma, he made a contract with a being who calls herself Amaterasu, the sun goddess in Japanese Mythology. That was more of her choosing a suitable avatar like in a RPG to establish contact with Touma in this world than being an actual sun goddess.
The terms of the contract was that Touma would erase all magic and in exchange he could use her powers to wield the Imagine Breaker as a superuser with root privileges. Unifying the Magic Side was just part of the plan.
If he fails to fulfill his contract, he dies.
For Misaki, she made a contract with a being who calls himself Tsukiyomi, the moon god in Japanese Mythology. Just like Amaterasu, he was not an actual moon god.
The terms of her contract was to stop Touma from erasing all magic and in exchange she could use his powers to cast magic like an expert magician with no training. Her speciality was ice magic though.
If she fails to fulfill her contract, she dies.
Touma willingly let himself be stripped of his power so that he could save her from death.
All because of her selfishness to live in a world without Touma if he were to succeed in erasing all magic.
"Because I don't need a reason to be nice to you."
Misaki pressed a button on her remote with a smile, "It's time. Revelation 20:10. Activate."
Touma exploded into flames as streaks of light flashed across the night skies.
Rather than leaving Touma's fate to Amaterasu, or the magicians after him, or even Touma himself, it would be better if she decides his fate by dealing with him in her own way.
This might look like a 'spell' based on the part where God condemned the Devil into the Lake Of Fire for rebelling against Him, but it was really an exploit that nullifies the contract between Touma and Amaterasu before 'condemning him into the Lake Of Fire'.
Misaki picked up a right arm from the ashes.
Good. The Imagine Breaker has not moved on to a new host. This means that Touma is technically not dead.
As for his memories…
"I guess we'll have to enter the 'Lake Of Fire' to retrieve them, wherever that place may be among the Phases layered upon this world."
Mikoto woke up in a hospital to see a worried Kuroko seated beside her bed.
"Onee-sama, you're awake!" Kuroko said, relieved.
"Where's Touma? Have you seen him? Did you ask what happened to him? Is he really suicidal and depressed?"
Mikoto cursed herself for falling unconscious right before she could ask him those questions herself. But she somehow managed to save Index by destroying Misaki's simulation. Everything felt like a bad dream, but at least it was all over. Touma never lost his memories and still remembers her!
"Onee-sama. I… don't know how to tell you this, but he lost his memories for good."
Mikoto laughed nervously, "This must be some kind of a prank, right?"
"I'm not joking around with you."
"But how…?"
Did Misaki managed to reboot her simulation, trap Index again, and then lure Touma to a certain location using Index as bait before wiping his memories?
Misaki entered the ward with a triumphant smile, "By successfully bypassing his Imagine Breaker and then use my Mental Out to wipe his memories."
Mikoto pinned Misaki to the wall, rage seething from the electricity jumping around her body. "Why would you do such a thing to him?! Answer me!"
"Don't be so upset. He hasn't completely forgotten about you. You'll understand once he's awake."
"Shut up! Give him back his memories before I electrocute you to death!"
Misaki smirked, "Go ahead. Electrocute me. I know you're still the monster deep down inside who kills for a living."
Mikoto fell to the ground, defeated. She slammed a fist on a puddle of tears and released electromagnetic waves that destroyed the medical equipment around her. Nothing would change even if she killed Misaki.
"This isn't over yet."
There was still hope in the form of magic.
Misaki sighed as she flipped open her phone while entering a black limousine.
It would have been nice if she could work directly with Mikoto to retrieve Touma's memories from the 'Lake Of Fire', but it was better if Mikoto continues to think of her as an enemy.
After all…
"How's the progress with the Radio Noise Project?"
She was the overall-in-charge of a project that involves 20,000 Misaka Mikoto clones.
Author's Note:
This is the final chapter of the mini-arc (?) to flesh out how exactly did Touma 'turn into a shadow of his former self' as stated in the summary. I hope that this chapter clears things up instead of making things even more confusing. If it's confusing, please let me know how so that I can improve further :)
As for the beings from the "Pure World", I'll just add on and spoil you guys a little that it is them that came to Touma and Misaki on their own, and not Touma or Misaki doing some weird ritual to summon them.
Lastly, while I cannot confirm what exactly the pairings will be, it sure as hell will not be Touma x Harem. Personally for me I think there will be two endings, one being Touma x Mikoto if I complete this story as a standalone story, and the other being Touma x Misaki if I write a sequel.
I'd like to thank everyone for leaving their thoughts and opinions on this story, and special thanks to ArmoredCoreNineBall for going into details on how I can improve the story.
Hope you enjoy the chapter!
P.S. Please don't hate me for turning Accelerator into a girl.