Hello, everyone! The previous chapter had a relaxing atmosphere in the run-up to the battle. In this chapter, Touma and his allies head towards Tokyo Bay for the confrontation against GREMLIN.
Toa Solaric: Thanks, and yeah, I'm really looking forward to writing the upcoming Othinus arcs.
Aminadab Brulle: How was Mikoto like Takitsubo in the previous chapter?
LordChorizoCosmico: I'm doing well, and glad to see you are too. Yes, Touma's adventures always begin with some ridiculous event like this. Mikoto shocking them would've also been interesting. I think Kuroko only enjoys the shocks because she's attracted to Mikoto, so Lessar probably wouldn't enjoy it. Kuroko is definitely more perverted, since she's gone much further in her sexual harassment of Mikoto, but Lessar is still pretty depraved. Yes, Index biting Touma is pretty annoying, and unlike Mikoto's shocks, they actually do end up hurting him. Electrical therapy might indeed be a good way to deter Index. Touma might be able to do better with better ingredients, but his dishes are still pretty good as they are. Him cooking for the Railgang would be a fun scene, but it will probably have to wait a while, with NT9 and NT10 coming up soon. Indeed, Sphynx is more powerful than a simple cat. GREMLIN is definitely a dangerous and cunning organization. Touma is often lucky in high fights, but that definitely doesn't detract from his achievements. His efforts in school may end up being in vain, but he'll still try until the very end, with Mikoto's support. Yeah, Mikoto's swimsuit choice actually does let her use it for different kinds of situations, and she will probably model it for Touma at some point in the future. Mikoto was a little sadistic in that scene, but she got to experience Touma's brilliant brain at work, and she did reward him well at the end. GREMLIN did make a dragon, but it's nowhere near as strong as any of Touma's dragons.
Blankow: Well, Index was still nearby and could wake up at any time. But Touma and Mikoto may have fooled around a little. Yeah, he really is seen as just his right hand by a lot of people. It's good that he has people like Mikoto and Index who see past that, though. Mikoto will probably show off that swimsuit sometime in the future.
The One who saw All: Yeah, the morning scene and the swimsuit scene were pretty funny. Lessar is probably equivalent to Kuroko, though she hasn't gone as far as Kuroko. Touma's misfortune does strike in comedic situations, but not as much in serious battles. GREMLIN did create a dragon of red threads in NT8, but it's not at all comparable to any of Touma's dragons.
xellos540: Yeah, it is pretty weird with Touma having a girlfriend, but Lessar probably wouldn't let that stop her. But at least they didn't get under the blanket like in canon. Mikoto was pretty horny in her dream. Birdway did cozy back up to him pretty easily, but I guess their fight resolved their differences, since they both were still against GREMLIN. Touma meant that Birdway would hit him if she woke up and found herself sleeping next to him, even if it was her fault for being there. Yeah, Mikoto can block Index's attacks, which does help Touma a little. Perhaps 3 seconds is more accurate. Floris probably wouldn't want to go, and maybe they figured that one person is enough, especially since they needed to sneak out of Academy City on a plane. Touma is the ace Birdway was referring to, though I guess Ollerus also prepared another plan against Othinus. The floating island was made up of sunken ships, so that's why it was called that. Mikoto's skipped quite a few days already, including curfew, so this isn't new for her. The swimsuit scene was funny, even if a little contrived. Mikoto does have fashion sense, I'd say, even if she sometimes likes more modest clothes. Kagun's body was resurrected as a shell, but I'm not sure if that's considered to be alive. GREMLIN did create a dragon, but it's in no way comparable to Touma's dragons.
dragonghoul9707: I hope we get some good development for Mikoto in GT5, and if there's some KaMikoto scenes, it would be even better! We are close to the scenes where Othinus mentally tortures Touma, and her redemption will come afterwards. Mikoto will be more involved in this entire arc, though Touma won't have her direct help for the events of NT9. He will probably think more about Mikoto and what she means to him during that time. I think Maria is Seria's younger sister. The scene with Mikoto in the Santa outfit during Christmas will be fun to write with them as a couple. I'm also looking forward to writing the scenes with the Misaka Sisters in GT. Yeah, I also saw that the Mental Out manga came out yesterday with 2 chapters. I'm looking forward to reading it, and I hope that the Railgun manga also continues just as strongly. The new Railgun chapter is pretty great, and it's setting up something really big.
Stryper88: Yeah, it is tough not being able to do anything with Index present. Lessar and Birdway definitely deserved a lot of pushback for just sneaking into his bed, even in canon. Mikoto was also wearing some shorts, so it wasn't quite as sexy for Touma. Those two girls didn't really have many limits, though Birdway was much better-behaved than Lessar. Mikoto was a little mean here, but she did make up for it in the end. Maybe she should've been less passive against Lessar, but she did get to see her boyfriend come up with a brilliant solution. Touma was definitely hilarious in this chapter, it's great when he fights back against some of the BS that other people throw at him. Yes, the two mothers appear in this chapter, and they have a fun conversation. NT9 and NT10 will have a lot of action, so we'll indeed have to wait a while for some KaMikoto fluff.
rubengalihalexis: Yes, at least Lessar didn't go as far as to get under the covers with them. Mikoto does indeed help out Touma with his misfortune, and that will hopefully continue into the future. The Railgang meeting Touma's classmates would definitely make a funny scene, but it'll have to wait a while, while we get through NT9 and NT10.
Mikoto was now falling through the air after having been thrown out of the supersonic plane. She hadn't expected this to happen, but Mikoto calmly grabbed onto the string of the parachute that she'd put on earlier. However, before she could pull on it, she saw a white form nearby, which was also quickly falling towards the ground. When she saw that it was Index, holding onto her calico cat, she grumbled to herself, "Damn it!" The parachutes didn't automatically activate, so if Index couldn't figure out how to open it herself, she would be doomed.
Mikoto thus stopped trying to open her parachute, and instead stretched out her arms and legs, diving towards Index. Once she reached the other girl, Mikoto grabbed her arms and shouted, "Come here, Index!" Now that they were less than 100 meters from the ground, their parachutes would be useless. So instead, Mikoto used her magnetism to attach her feet to the wall of a tall train station building and decelerated the two of them to a stop, with sparks emitting from the bottom of her shoes. Mikoto felt bad for Sphynx, who was struggling in Index's arms due to her EM field, but at least they were all still alive.
Index took this opportunity to say, "Thank you, Mikoto." She was grateful to the other girl, since she would've been dead without her help.
Mikoto smiled and replied, "You're welcome." She then looked around at where they were and muttered, "Is this Shinjuku Station? I've seen pictures online but I haven't been here before." She wanted to drop to the ground to get a better look around, but there was a tide of people completely filling the sidewalk, as well as the gaps in the road between cars. With so many people densely packed together, she couldn't even see the asphalt beneath. Although this also applied to her, she wondered, "Why aren't they at school or work?"
Index immediately deduced the cause behind this, muttering, "GREMLIN must have done something." But even so, neither she nor Mikoto could immediately determine how or why they had caused all these people to pile into the streets.
Suddenly, a giant shadow passed over them, and they looked up and saw the dragon that had destroyed the plane earlier. But it was not attacking them, or the people or buildings down below. Mikoto thought of her mother, who lived in the city. She tried accessing her phone with her ability, but the lines were loaded, so she couldn't call her mother, her boyfriend, or anyone else. She could only connect to the disaster message board, so she set her phone to record any message that came in before releasing her control over it.
As she assessed the situation, Mikoto wondered, "Shinjuku is right in front of Academy City, so if GREMLIN is advancing from Tokyo Bay, why are they not just charging through here?" The traffic jam and people in the streets were likely caused by certain key roads and bridges being taken out elsewhere. But while this was a major inconvenience, it wasn't that dangerous. GREMLIN could have left Tokyo alone and attacked Academy City directly, or they could have indiscriminately smashed through Tokyo on their way to Academy City. But Mikoto couldn't figure out the reasoning behind why GREMLIN had taken this middle ground.
But after thinking for a while, her eyes widened and she realized what it was. If GREMLIN unleashed wanton destruction upon Tokyo, then they would face hardened opposition from the entire world. But while they weren't directly causing any major damage at the moment, they were still holding the people of Tokyo in a hostage situation where they could attack and cause great destruction at any time. Not only would this make outside forces more reluctant to attack GREMLIN for fear of those civilians' safety, but the civilians themselves would be much less likely to support any moves that could provoke GREMLIN into actually attacking. GREMLIN was thus aiming to destroy the unity of their enemies.
In any case, Mikoto knew that she and Index needed to get moving, so she exclaimed, "Let's go!" She then used her magnetism to jump from building to building.
Index kept a tight grip over Sphynx and shouted back, "Where are we going?"
Mikoto smirked and replied, "There's no chance that Touma would even think about retreating or getting to safety. Tokyo may be in chaos, but he's still going to charge towards the fight. So, the best way to meet back up with him is to continue heading for Sargasso!"
Though the surface was crowded, Mikoto was able to move quickly through the air with her powers. But she guessed that Tokyo Bay was tens of kilometers away, so it would take some time and a lot of her energy to get there. She hoped she wouldn't run out of energy just reaching the destination, since the main fight would only begin there.
The girl's thoughts were interrupted as Index exclaimed, "Mikoto, Mikoto, watch out! Something's coming!" When Mikoto landed perpendicularly on a building's wall, she saw sparks floating down from about 100 meters up. These sparks turned into giant pillars of flames when they touched the wall, and these pillars soon formed into humanoid figures.
Index examined them and determined, "It's a spell based on Norse mythology. It uses the symbols of army, enemy, flame, and heat. Is it the Muspell? This might be a group of automatic attack spells set to feel artificial hatred for those who match certain conditions."
Mikoto listened to Index's explanation and guessed, "So GREMLIN set these up to automatically track and attack anyone heading for their location?" She saw that the flame figures were hot enough to melt the glass windows of the building, so they posed a big danger if they got too close.
But Mikoto just smirked and said, "I guess it'll be a little harder than I thought to reach him." She wasn't completely sure how well her powers would work against the flame beings, but she figured that she'd be able to hold her own, especially with Index's expertise.
She pulled a coin out of her skirt pocket and fired a railgun at one of the figures. Mikoto was worried that her attack would just go through the flames without doing any damage, but the force was enough to make them burst from the inside. She fired a few more coins at some of the figures, while continuing to leap between buildings.
After a few jumps, Mikoto looked back and saw that the flame figures weren't fast enough to catch up with her, and they disappeared once they lost sight of her and Index. She soon saw a new set of sparks just behind her, but she continued jumping away from them. Thus, by the time they transformed into pillars of fire and then humanoid figures, Mikoto and Index were already far away, and the figures disappeared after losing sight of their target. By outrunning them, Mikoto was therefore able to conserve her ammunition.
Mikoto felt sad as she watched Sphinx continue to struggle in Index's arms. Although Touma was able to allow her to interact with cats, she still repelled them without the touch of his right hand. She decided to focus on getting to their destination instead, but she couldn't recognize exactly where in Tokyo they were, muttering, "If only I could use my phone's GPS." Not knowing how the Japanese capital was laid out, she could only travel east and hope to reach Tokyo Bay.
As she looked down at the mass of people down below, she thought to herself, "Is Touma really trying to break through all this? I hope he doesn't get crushed."
At that moment, multiple giant aircraft appeared in the skies, and they sent out a blast of air that knocked Mikoto away despite her magnetism. She focused hard on regaining control, and managed to stick herself to a sign attached to a wall. Once she was secure, she saw that those aircraft were in fact Academy City fighters, the same ones that had been used in Russia during World War 3.
Mikoto wondered if Academy City was finally fighting back, but then she saw a giant eagle made of red thread flying in the sky. The fighters tried to shoot it down with air-to-air missiles, but the eagle flapped its wings to knock the missiles down or send them back towards the aircraft.
Index examined the eagle and calmly explained, "That's Hraesvelgr, the great eagle that devours the dead in Norse mythology. It's so large that it flapping its wings is believed to create all the wind throughout the world. GREMLIN took portions of that legend to create this."
Mikoto found it an interesting myth, but wasn't sure if the explanation would help her figure out how to fight against it. However, she didn't need to. The fierce battle between one of the fighters and the giant eagle ended when a missile exploded and decapitated the bird.
When the body fell down, Mikoto feared it would crash into the crowd below. Fortunately, however, it landed in a wide open park that didn't have any people in it. She guessed that the people were sticking to the roads due to the lack of transportation, which would have explained why no one was gathering in the parks.
In any case, they couldn't afford to linger here, or else they could be caught by those flame figures. Mikoto continued carrying Index across the city, hoping that the fight between GREMLIN and Academy City wouldn't drag all those innocent civilians into the battle.
Meanwhile, in an indoor pool somewhere in Tokyo, Kamijou Shiina and Misaka Misuzu were watching the commotion outside. The entire road was crowded with people, and a young worker at the entrance to the pool was telling everyone to stay inside until the crowds disperse. As a result, the two women were unable to return home, and had to wait it out where they were.
Misuzu pulled out her waterproof phone and tried using it, but she soon realized, "The internet and emails are down. And the phone can only connect to the disaster message board." That meant she couldn't call Mikoto, her husband Tabigake, or anyone else.
Shiina replied, "Now we can't learn what is happening out there." She had tried to watch a 1seg news broadcast on her phone, but the lines were overburdened, so the broadcast hadn't been able to display properly. She then wondered, "So, what should we do?"
Misuzu replied, "Well, I live by myself, so I should be fine staying here? What about you?"
Shiina nodded, "Me too, Touya-san is overseas, so I can stay here." As she said this, she operated her phone, pressing multiple buttons with her index finger, and spoke into it for a few seconds. Once she was done, she told the other woman, "Okay, I sent out a message saying I'm fine, so hopefully Touma-san will see it and not worry."
On hearing this, Misuzu used her phone to do the same, announcing, "I see, I'll send a message too, I don't want Mikoto-chan to worry about me either."
As Shiina thought about the strange things happening outside, she said, "I hope our children are okay too. I don't know if whatever is going on is also affecting Academy City, but it would be bad if they also had to deal with packed roads and their phones not working."
Misuzu smiled at her friend and said in a reassuring tone, "Don't worry, they have each other, after all. I know that Mikoto-chan won't let anything happen to her boyfriend, and that he'll do his utmost to protect her too!"
Shiina smiled as well as she thought about their two children helping each other out. She said, "Their relationship's been going pretty well, I think. I haven't had the chance to call Touma-san recently, but based on his texts, they spend a lot of time together and get along really well!" She was glad that her son was treating his girlfriend properly after the warning she'd given him on their last call.
Misuzu started gushing, "I know, right? Mikoto-chan has told me about the cute dates they've gone on. And apparently, she even bought him a promise ring, and colored it with her electrical powers!" She fondly recalled how embarrassed her daughter had sounded over the phone when Misuzu had praised Mikoto for such a bold move.
Shiina's eyes widened, and she exclaimed, "Wow, how romantic! I guess their relationship is getting serious, then!" Although it seemed unusual for the girl to give the boy a ring, Shiina wasn't too surprised that Mikoto was the one to take that step.
She then brought her hand up to her chin and added, "Though she got a little evasive when I asked here how far they've gone, in terms of intimacy." From her daughter's reactions, she guessed that they might have gone quite far already, or perhaps even all the way, but Misuzu didn't have any confirmation yet. She had hoped that Mikoto would eventually crack and spill the beans, but that hadn't happened just yet.
At the mention of intimacy, Shiina chuckled and mused, "I'm not surprised she wouldn't want to go into detail. Well, I trust they will both be responsible." Turning to her friend, she asked, "So how did Tabigake-san take the news? Touya-san was very proud of his son for getting a girlfriend, but I imagine it might be different for your husband." She was a little worried about Tabigake being the stereotypical overprotective father, especially since he'd never met Touma.
At the mention of her husband, Misuzu frowned a little and recalled, "He wasn't too thrilled when I told him the news. As you can imagine, he didn't like the idea of our middle school daughter dating a high school boy. But he became more accepting when I told him it was his friend Touya-san's son, especially after I told him how Touma-kun saved me that time I went to pull Mikoto-chan out of Academy City. He still wants to meet the boy in person, but I don't think Touma-kun will have to fear for his life or anything."
Shiina grinned and replied, "That's a relief. In that case, I bet we'll be hearing wedding bells in a few years!" Despite her joking tone, she was genuinely happy for her son, who had apparently built up a much better life in Academy City than he'd had during his childhood.
Misuzu chuckled as she imagined what their children's wedding would look like. She was also glad that Mikoto had found a loving partner, and hoped that she and Touma would enjoy a happy life together.
But while the two housewives talked about such joyful topics, they had little idea that their children were at this very moment preparing to fight to save the world from GREMLIN.
Meanwhile, Touma had also managed to survive his fall from the plane, as his parachute had been caught by a steel beam being carried by a crane. The dragon which had previously destroyed the plane had then smashed the crane. But fortunately, Touma had been knocked into the adjacent partially-constructed building, rather than to the ground hundreds of meters below.
Touma had then decided to go into a subway station to avoid the crowds and travel through the tunnels towards Tokyo Bay. Several flame figures had then appeared to attack him, but he'd been able to destroy them with his Imagine Breaker. He'd then climbed into a duct so he could drop onto the roof of a train from the ceiling. But when he'd done that, he'd been confronted by a pregnant woman, who was apparently a GREMLIN magician named Freyja.
Freya had then used her magic and some jewels to create red animals to attack Touma with. He'd been able to repel them with his right hand, but she had then created a boar and made it grow much bigger by devouring her other creations. Although a single large target was easier for Touma to hit than several small targets, this boar had been large enough to completely occupy the space between the train and the ceiling of the tunnel. This had resulted in a mass of air knocking Touma off his feet.
Touma had then opened up the right side of his coat to use as a sail. This had allowed him to fall to the side, and he'd been able to grab onto the edge of the train's roof with his hands. He had then thrown his coat to blind her, and had then climbed back onto the train, knocking her onto her back.
But just as Touma had been about to deliver the finishing blow, the woman had forced him back by kicking him in his solar plexus, and he'd heard a shout, "Don't touch my mother!"
As he regained his bearings, Touma had then made a shocking realization. The magician wasn't the mother using her baby as a calculation device. It was in fact the fetus who was using magic.
Now, while Touma had an expression of disbelief, Freya explained, "There is someone I must save, no matter what. Someone in such a hopeless situation, who won't receive any comfort even after ten years of work and a hundred years of research."
Touma could tell that she was talking about her mother, who apparently couldn't stand on her own without being controlled by her child. But he wondered, "What does this have to do with GREMLIN? They want to destroy the world, so are you going along with that?" He couldn't imagine the pain the mother and child must have gone through to reach this state, but he didn't think joining GREMLIN would help them.
The woman gave a self-deprecating smile, apparently according to her child's will. She said, "Even if decades of work and research are useless, a Magic God can ignore those restrictions. It doesn't matter how evil she is, as long as the lance is completed, my mother can be saved from this nightmare!"
Touma thought about that possibility for a brief moment. Maybe Othinus would use her power, not for destruction, but to help people? But he quickly realized that this was impossible, saying, "Someone who considered the events in Hawaii and Baggage City a success could never have such a good heart. And once that lance is complete, Othinus won't have to listen to anyone else!"
Freyja replied, "That's fine. My stopgap method won't last for much longer anyway. I am controlling my mother, but it's causing her to lose her sense of self, and she'll vanish if this continues much longer. But if I'm removed, her organs won't be able to run. The only way to save my mother is to borrow that Magic God's power!"
The boy quickly argued back, "Don't you see that Othinus is just using that to manipulate you? It's the same thing as what's happening in this city. The people know something is wrong, but they won't do anything if they think it's to their disadvantage, and so there isn't any organized resistance. It's the same for you."
But Freya angrily replied, "My mother collapsed while protecting me! She could've abandoned me and returned safely to her former life, but she stuck with me!" Her words felt like a physical blow, and a high school boy like Touma had no ability to deny them. She then continued, "So stay out of my way! Until I can return her body, I won't let anyone hurt my mother!"
As she said this, Touma heard a scratching sound from below his feet. It was coming from inside the train. He realized that Freya had made use of that space while he was dangling from the side. Indeed, she had created a large number of monsters and fed them to a single monster to fatten it up, resulting in a giant red dragon that had cost 70 jewels.
Just as the train left the tunnel and appeared aboveground, this dragon ripped apart the train car that Touma was standing on, while Freyja jumped safely to the next car forward. The destroyed car was derailed and dragged along all following cars into the air. Touma had no chance of surviving the fall, and would be smashed against the ground with the back cars, unable to reach Freyja anymore.
But Touma's fall was averted by someone grabbing onto the back of his shirt. It was a girl who had fallen from the sky, who had performed the acrobatics needed to jump onto the roof of the train. It was in fact his girlfriend, who held onto Index with one hand and Touma with the other. Mikoto saved him from a hopeless situation and landed them back on the roof of the moving train, which had only two cars left.
Mikoto took the chance to scold him, "I finally caught up to you, you idiot! Just because you couldn't call me doesn't mean you should just go off on your own and get cornered. You only have one life, Touma!"
Index just sighed and said, "You know there's no changing him, so the only thing we can do is to join in the fight. Sorry, Touma, but no matter what you say, I'm not backing down this time."
As Touma listened to their words, he felt happy that they were there to help. Perhaps some people would mock him as pathetic or powerless for not being able to win this fight all on his own, and call him selfish for involving others. But, still…
At this moment, Touma's phone fell onto the train's roof, and started playing a message. He had set it to record any new messages on the disaster message board. It was a familiar voice, that of his mother. She said, "I wonder if they can hear me. Touya-san, Touma-san, is this reaching you? It looks like there's some commotion outside, but I'm perfectly fine. Don't worry about me and wait until this all dies down, okay? I'm here with Misuzu-san, so you and Mikoto-san don't need to worry about us."
At the mention of her mother, Mikoto took out her phone and checked for a message from her on the disaster message board. She saw one from Misuzu, so she opened it and heard her mother's voice, "Hello, Mikoto-chan! Don't worry about me, I'm perfectly fine here with Shiina-san. I hope you and Touma-kun are doing well."
Mikoto and Touma just looked at each other with a smile, happy that both their mothers were all right. These messages reminded Touma of something. Except for special cases like Mikoto's sisters, anyone born into the world had a mother. But Freya and her mother had never been able to experience that completely normal bond. This utter unfairness strained Touma's heart, so he turned to the two girls next to him and said, "That is Freyja, a GREMLIN magician. Her true form is the baby in the woman's womb, and it seems she used some method to save her collapsed mother, which gave her temporary control over her mother's body." He picked up his phone and solemnly asked, "Please, Mikoto and Index, help me save both of them."
Both girls were happy to hear those words, though Index was the happier one in this case. Mikoto had been able to fight by Touma's side in Hawaii, at the multilevel overpass during the Ichihanaran Festival, and most recently at the Learning Core. But Index had been left at home during all those incidents, so she was finally glad to take part in a fight.
Mikoto and Index stepped forward to protect Touma, and said in unison, "Leave it to us!" At this moment, the train shot back into a tunnel. In front of them was Freya, and behind them, that giant dragon was still chasing after the train, which it could easily smash into and destroy in the confined space of the tunnel. Nevertheless, Mikoto and Index smiled with those powerful enemies on both sides of them, since they were exactly where they wanted to be.
Freya wasn't too concerned with the arrival of new enemies. She threw another jewel, and another red boar was quickly born. Hildisvini was the beast that Freya rode in Norse mythology, so she would use it as a cushion when she fell towards the ground. Now all she had to do was wait for Nidhoggr, the giant dragon, to smash the train from behind. Her enemies would all be killed, while she would escape safely with her cushion.
But just before the dragon struck, Mikoto jumped up and used her magnetism to propel herself towards the dragon approaching from behind them. She showed no hesitation despite the danger from touching any part of the cramped tunnel wall. The girl pulled out multiple arcade coins from her pocket and fired them all at point-blank range towards the dragon. It gave out a series of loud roars, but it was soon blown up to smithereens. Once that task was complete, Mikoto was far behind the still-moving train, but she switched directions and headed forwards through the tunnel, again using her magnetism to fly through the air. It would take some time to catch back up with them, but she trusted Touma and Index would take care of the rest of the fight.
Meanwhile, Freyja watched in shock as her plan for victory crumbled. She needed to think of a new plan, but her opponents would not give her that time. She scattered lots of jewels across the roof and prepared to summon a bunch of new monsters. She wondered whether to overwhelm Touma and Index with numbers, or crush them with one giant monster.
But Index took this opportunity to act, chanting, "SFOCICRYS! (Fill in the missing gear of the song for the blessed child!)" This was Spell Intercept, which allowed her to interfere with and take control of her enemy's spells, even though she couldn't refine her own magic power.
As Touma watched Index analyze Freyja's magic, he said, "Now that I think about it, it doesn't make sense. You said you worked to protect your mother from within the womb, but how did you learn magic? Was your mother a magician? Perhaps, but since all your magic is based around giving birth to 'children,' I bet the original magic was used by your mother to make sure you'd be born safely! It wasn't magic made to hurt people, but you transformed it into an attack spell so you could join GREMLIN!"
Freyja replied in a low voice, "So what? No matter what it originally was, it failed! If I leave my mother, she'll be unable to even breathe without my support. But if I stay, her sense of self will soon fade away. Either way, I can't protect her, so I need a Magic God's power to make the impossible possible!"
The boy immediately suggested an alternative, "Then let Index help you! Her 103,000 grimoires can reach the level of a Magic God if all used together. You've reversed the situation between mother and child, so we can just take the spell meant to give a child a safe birth and use it on your mother instead."
Freyja, who was still in her mother's womb, was already hated by many people, but her mother had still protected her. Her mother had been attacked, and she'd decided to protect her child instead of her own head, which is how her own life had been damaged beyond the point of no return.
Freyja had given up after the one bright thing in her life had been taken from her, so she hadn't hesitated to take control of her mother's body and exterminate the masked attacker. Her mother had been a peaceful woman without any knowledge about magic. She had used a magic charm for a healthy birth, desperately repeating it over and over again. Freya had analyzed that magic and rewritten it to fight in this dark world, crushing her mother's ideals in order to save her.
She never saw any need to justify her methods, and she now said, "I decided to protect my mother no matter what! Even if it meant selling my soul to a Magic God and spilling innocent blood as a pawn of GREMLIN, I decided I would do it myself!" She didn't want to accept outside help.
But Touma simply said, "It's okay. You don't have to use that hostility to protect your mother. You can trust people now, Freyja."
Nevertheless, a large man and giant horse made of red thread stepped forward. Touma knew that Freyja wasn't really ready yet to trust people, but she could learn all that after being born. He said to the girl by his side, "Index, I'll take out anything that tries to interfere, so just focus on that one thing."
Index was analyzing the methods Freyja used to take control of her mother and interact with the outside world using logic and language. As Touma used his right hand to take care of those red monsters, she muttered an incantation under her breath. Freyja let out a bestial cry, but that just signalled the end of the fight.
Touma then announced, "It's over, Freyja. Let's end this and move on, so you can finally be born in the wide world ahead of you!"
The train finally left the dark tunnel and entered the sunlight. There were no longer any red monsters or GREMLIN magicians. Just a pregnant woman who opened her eyes and asked in a frail voice, "Um, where am I?" She was no longer a mother whose fetus had to take control of her to keep her alive. Instead, she was once again a normal mother, just like those found anywhere else.
Eventually, the train reached Tokyo station, so Touma and Index took the unconscious woman onto another train heading for Tokyo Bay. Once they reached the coast, they reunited with Birdway, Lessar, and Kumokawa Maria, who had been travelling by boat along a river. Mikoto caught up with them soon afterwards, and the group was finally fully reunited.
Another copy of the giant dragon, Nidhoggr, then appeared and attacked them. Mikoto fired a railgun at it and tore off its flesh, but it continued to charge towards them. But then, Kihara Kagun appeared and defeated the dragon. Maria was surprised that he had saved them, since he was supposed to be a reanimated body under GREMLIN's control, but then she noticed a scar on the back of his neck. It apparently contained a device that prevented him from doing something that was not like him.
Maria decided to take the pregnant woman and head with Kagun back into the city, and so she departed from the group. The rest of them used the boat Birdway had procured to sail towards GREMLIN's base of Sargasso. On their way, a giant 500 meter tall humanoid figure rose before them from the surface of the ocean. As the group prepared to attack it, it suddenly collapsed on its own, and they realized that someone had brought it down from within Sargasso.
When they finally reached Sargasso, they stepped onto the island, which was made up of countless wrecked ships. Touma immediately felt something wrong, as if he'd been plunged into a horrific nightmare without even realizing it. He wondered, "What happened with the lance? And the Magic God?"
He then saw a body fall from one of the wrecked ships, and he recognized it as Ollerus. He had apparently snuck onto the base, and might have been the one to bring down that giant humanoid figure earlier.
Before Touma could ponder this further, he heard a girl's voice say, "Hi there." The boy felt as if his head was being forced up to look at her, and he could no longer see or hear Mikoto, Index, Birdway, Lessar, or Sphinx, who had to have climbed aboard Sargasso with him. Were they also frozen in place like him, or had they simply just disappeared?
Magic God Othinus, who seemed to distort the world more than a black hole, smiled and told Touma, "It's already over, you were too late. But it doesn't really matter, this was destined to happen whether you were late or early."
Touma questioned in a disbelieving tone, "I was too late? Are you saying that Gungnir has already been completed?"
Othinus replied in a nonchalant tone, "Oh, the lance. Marian Slingeneyer failed. Hawaii, Baggage City, and the attack on Academy City to secure Fraulein Kreutune, all ended in failure. Ollerus destroyed it all."
Touma knew he couldn't relax, especially since Othinus didn't seem concerned or angry at all. She continued, "But none of that ever mattered. The lance was just an item to cement my power as a Magic God. If I could do that without the lance, I wouldn't even need the lance. For example, I could use the one and only means of killing me that Ollerus developed." Indeed, Ollerus and Fiamma had tried to defeat Othinus by turning her into a fairy, but that had just allowed her to become a complete Magic God by giving her a 100% chance of failure. Othinus had then used the fairy spell against Ollerus, who had once almost become a Magic God, defeating him and Fiamma.
But that was not all. Othinus then dropped another bombshell, "Also, GREMLIN's actions may have all been towards producing that lance, but there was more than one way of creating it. The method used by Dvergr Marian Slingeneyer was just another decoy. I could have made the lance on my own all along, but I gathered those weaklings so you'd focus on stopping the decoy plan instead."
Touma was absolutely stunned, and could only mutter, "You're kidding."
Othinus replied in a mocking tone, "About what? That there's more than one method of producing the lance? That my subordinates and your allies could be so easily deceived? The Norse god I took the name Othinus from was the god of war, magic, art, and also betrayal. He would deceive people to spread chaos, all in order to more efficiently collect the souls of dead warriors. All the information you know about the lance was spread by me. Even Ollerus was deceived."
Touma's brain could hardly keep up with the situation. GREMLIN, the large organization that had shaken the world so much, was just a pointless distraction to Othinus's solo effort?
Othinus then exclaimed, "Now, it's time for some fun!" Her eyepatch was pushed out from within, and a blood-covered object shot out of her empty eye socket. It was the lance, with a wide double-edged blade at the tip. Touma heard the sound of her skull cracking and breaking, as the lance emerged horizontally from her eyes socket and into the world. He could do nothing but watch, having no idea how Othinus could deal with that much pain.
But Othinus then grabbed onto the Gungnir she had produced from her body, and looked down on Touma. Her face had returned to normal. Perhaps it was elastic like rubber, or maybe she had instantly repaired her smashed and destroyed skull. She said, "Either 100% success or 100% failure would have completed my status as a Magic God, but thanks to all of you, I have gained both solutions at once! Don't think of me as a mere Magic God any longer, I will now show the world what Othinus truly is!"
At this point, Touma screamed as he was finally freed from his frozen state. He charged towards Othinus, despite knowing there was no chance of reaching her in time. But he was afraid his mind would collapse if didn't at least try to oppose her.
Othinus spun the lance around and pointed it towards the heavens, before uttering two short but powerful sentences, "These small fights are such a pain. I think I'll just end the world."
And just like she announced, everything was immediately destroyed.