A Certain More Honest Railgun

by calvinhobbesliker

The night after the penalty game, Mikoto wonders where it all went wrong. She recalls her sister telling her she wasn't being honest about Touma, and so decides to see what would happen if she takes her sister's advice the next time she sees him. Mikoto might just find that it works even better than she expects.

62. Elusive Victory

Hello, everyone! This chapter will have the conclusion of the High Priest arc.

Rekuta: Haha, yeah, I wanted to chance that scene to have Mikoto actually do it, and Touma did indeed enjoy the sight. It was brave of Mikoto to stand up against those Magic Gods, despite being very scared. Mikoto will probably want to talk to Touma about deliberately unleashing what underneath his right arm, if it does come to that. I do have some interesting plans for the Kamisato arcs, including many KaMikoto scenes.

SuddenBetrayal: I hope your holidays went well. Yeah, I didn't really buy that Mikoto couldn't control her power output at all, which is why I made that change. The Kamisato arcs will be interesting to write, especially NT15-17, where Mikoto has significant involvement. Congratulations on your new job, and I also hope that 2022 will be a good year.

MarauderPrime12: You're definitely right about that. Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Guest: Touma was already very pissed off with the High Priest for insulting Mikoto in canon, so he will for sure have a greater reaction with her being his girlfriend.

xellos540: I suppose the High Priest was able to guess what they were talking about. Concrete is processed from dirt through chemical reactions, which is why he can't directly control it. Mikoto was all in on saving that girl, though the hit was indeed brutal for her assailants. Well, fortunately, the High Priest didn't wantonly destroy the city while he couldn't find them, I suppose. Touma is usually reluctant to accept help from other people, but he has been getting better at this. Mikoto is scared of being powerless against the High Priest, but she's been trying to push down that feeling for now. Honestly, I'm now sure how it ended up helping either, except maybe it helped them realize that he could collapse the foundations of the city. And yes, we will see someone go to space in this chapter.

dragonghoul9707: Yes, the scenes with Touma at Tokiwadai in NT16 will be very fun to write. The High Priest arc will be concluded in this chapter.

---

Touma and Mikoto were now back on the acrobike, with the boy driving towards District 23. Since the High Priest hadn't found them on the boat, they would be able to evade his detection as long as Touma kept his feet off the ground.

The boy settled back against his girlfriend, and mused, "What did Nephthys mean by the process of the High Priest's destruction? She said something about the Six Paths, but I didn't really get it."

Mikoto leaned her head on his shoulder and thought about it for a bit, saying, "Hmm, I didn't really get it either. So he can control dirt and turn it into giant mud arms. But he was only able to pick up and throw those buildings, instead of controlling them directly. So his power doesn't extend to glass or concrete or anything else processed by heat or chemical reactions."

Touma replied, "That's true, but controlling pure dirt is still plenty for him. Even if the ground is covered in concrete, there's always dirt far enough underneath. Remember how he almost buried us alive in that concrete tunnel?"

The girl nodded along, but her eyes then widened as she realized something. She exclaimed, "Wait, hold on! He doesn't create those mud arms from thin air, he gathers the dirt from the ground. He's been doing that on a big scale, so he could collapse the entire city to the ground!"

The boy clenched his fists around the handlebars, muttering, "Damn it, you're right!" The High Priest hadn't gone that far yet, but given how callously he had threatened the lives of people uninvolved in the fight, there was no reason he wouldn't threaten the entire city to get Touma to be his scorer.

Mikoto started to panic, "If that happened, so many people could die! The only way to save them would be to evacuate any area that the High Priest threatens."

Touma was just as worried for everyone, but he realized, "Wait, can't you get your friends in Judgement to set up an evacuation? If we get that in motion, we won't have to worry about them and can go all out against the High Priest!"

Upon processing his suggestion, the girl grinned widely and replied, "Yes, that's a great idea! I'll message Kuroko and Uiharu-san!" She took out her phone and sent texts to her friends, briefly explaining the situation. Since they knew about magic and Magic Gods, Mikoto didn't have to come up with a cover story, and just told them the truth: that there was a Magic God who could control dirt and thus posed a threat to the foundations of Academy City. She concluded the message by assuring them that she and Touma would figure out a way to deal with the High Priest himself.

Mikoto immediately got replies from Kuroko and Uiharu expressing shock and concern. She didn't have much time to elaborate much, so she assured them that she and Touma were currently safe, and that they should not get directly involved in the fight. Once that was done, Mikoto returned her phone to her pocket. She had complete faith that her friends would get Judgement and Anti-Skill to respond appropriately to the situation.

Touma gave the girl a smirk and said, "Good job, Biri-Biri, it's very helpful having a girlfriend with connections!"

Mikoto rolled her eyes and retorted, "Yeah, yeah. So with that taken care of, let's figure out a way to end this once and for all. I think he's only tracking you and not me, so when we get to the aerospace facilities, I can go around setting up stuff before you reveal our position." Based on how the High Priest, as well as Nephthys and Niang-Niang, had mostly ignored her presence, she doubted that the High Priest was bothering to track her too.

The boy furrowed his eyebrows in thought, trying to figure out what kind of trap she could set up. He recalled, "Well, that trick you did with the iron sand did hold him back for a moment. But I don't think the same trick will work again, and it wouldn't be a finishing blow anyway."

His casual dismissal of the tactic she'd thought so hard to come up with on the fly bothered Mikoto, even though she knew it was completely true. But she had to put her feelings aside and come up with an even more clever plan. She concentrated for a bit and began musing, "Okay, so we'll be going to an aerospace facility, so there are a lot of electronics, metal things, and dangerous chemicals."

Touma wondered, "Can we use those somehow to not just stop, but destroy those giant dirt arms of his? You were able to cut one of them with your iron sand sword, but can we somehow destroy them entirely? If we can stop him from using those arms, he'll be much less of a threat."

Mikoto soon came up with an idea, "Hold on, they should have a bunch of compressed hydrogen and oxygen cylinders there. If he gathers them in his mud arms like with my iron sand, they'll burst and create a big explosion."

The boy glanced at the girl and skeptically replied, "But will a simple gas explosion really be enough to take him down?"

The girl gently shook her head and retorted, "No, but it'll set off something else! If I set it up just right, the immense heat and pressure will turn the earth in his arms to magma, and the scorching liquid rock will completely engulf him!"

Touma winced as he imagined such a fate, and muttered, "Another gruesome idea, eh, Biri-Biri? But after everything else he's already survived, I'm not sure if even that will be enough."

Mikoto bit her lip and groaned, "Ughhhh, you're probably right. He survived being spun around by that helicopter, he survived being electrocuted while wet, and he survived being hit by supersonic winds, not to mention the fairy spell."

The boy threw his head back and said, "I don't think there's any normal attack that could actually damage him significantly. And he has complete control over the dirt, so no matter where we go, he'll be able to use his powers. How on earth can we stop him?"

This last sentence of his caused Mikoto to perk up a bit, and she repeated, "How…on earth?" After a brief pause, she sat up straight and exclaimed, "Wait, that's it! If we can use his powers no matter where he is on Earth, then all we need to do is get him off the planet!"

Touma couldn't believe what he was hearing, and he reacted, "What?"

Mikoto excitedly patted her boyfriend's shoulder and said, "No, I'm serious! Academy City is using a mass driver to send a probe to the Arrowhead Comet. If we can lure the High Priest into the launch area, we could send him into space, where there would be no dirt for him to control!"

The boy wasn't sure what to make of her plan, saying, "I don't know if that's the most genius or the most insane idea I've heard. You literally want to railgun him into outer space?"

The girl laughed and replied with a grin, "Technically, a mass driver is more like a coilgun than a railgun." With this plan in hand, her worry and anxiety disappeared for the moment. She relished the feeling of the wind flowing past her face and concluded, "Let's do this, Touma! I'll set everything up, and you can take care of luring him into the launch space!"

Her enthusiasm was contagious, and Touma smiled at her, starting to come around to the plan. He then replied, "Okay Mikoto, let's do it!" Despite all the anxious and dangerous moments they had faced so far, he was glad to have her with him. With her by his side, he hoped to finally bring an end to this incident with the High Priest.

---

Touma was now alone on the acrobike, having just stopped at an expanse of asphalt in District 23. As per their plan, Mikoto had gone in ahead of him to set things up, which included making sure that he was not detected or interfered with by the security drones.

The boy now deliberately stepped off the bike and onto the ground, knowing that the High Priest would instantly detect him. Indeed, the Magic God immediately emerged from the ground, tearing it up along the way. The old man started to walk leisurely towards Touma, musing, "So you were waiting for me? Perhaps you thought you could turn things around by fighting me in an open space with no risk to the surroundings. But surely that's not all."

The High Priest didn't seem to be concerned about Mikoto's absence, and the resulting likelihood of a trap. A Magic God didn't need to worry about small things like that. Instead, he said to the boy, "I'll ask you as many times as it takes, Kamijou Touma. We in the true Gremlin wish to have as our scorer, to give us peace of mind in exchange for ruling the world's destiny. How about it?"

Touma simply replied, "No." Nothing that had happened had changed his view.

The High Priest leaned on his sword and scratched his head, muttering in a truly puzzled tone, "I see. Well, I already told you this many times, but it's only a matter of how much damage is caused before you accept."

The ground rumbled, and Touma tried his best to put up his defenses, shouting, "What are you planning now, High Priest?"

The old man summoned two giant mud arms on either side of himself, and replied, "If you thought that you'll achieve a perfect happy ending as long as you make the right choices, you're too naive! I have a deep connection with dirt, but I have not violated the conservation of mass. What do you think happens underground when this much of the dirt is pulled out?"

Immediately after he said this, Touma saw a massive cloud of gray dust appearing from over the horizon. It was clear what this meant: multiple buildings across the city were likely crumbling and collapsing. And it matched the pursuit path that the High Priest had taken in pursuit of Touma and Mikoto, tearing through Districts 7, 5, 18, and 23.

The High Priest declared in an exasperated tone, "You decided to ignore my warning, so you needlessly spread the damage. How many people do you think will be buried in the rubble?"

The destruction approached their position, and soon reached the High Priest's feet. He added, "You were mistaken if you thought you could control how much I destroyed. And it was me who destroyed all this, and don't think I wouldn't allow myself to be caught within it."

With that, the asphalt beneath Touma's feet crumbled, and gravity took its course, leaving him with nothing to do but uselessly clench his right fist.

There was already an underground facility there, 20 meters across and 300 meters deep. The High Priest was easily able to survive the fall, but Touma was in lethal danger from it. However, a large number of power cables wrapped around the boy's arms, legs, and torso, saving him from crashing to his death.

Knowing how misfortune Touma was, and how he would never plan for such a miracle, the High Priest deduced, "Oh, did you get some help from that girl of yours? So you were planning to fall down here from the beginning."

A giant arm again rose from the ground. It was made mostly of dirt, but it had a number of manmade materials mixed in as well. The High Priest challenged, "Go ahead and use whatever trap you've prepared. But I will crush it underfoot and continue on, so hurry up and despair."

But Touma was unperturbed by this. He calmly removed the cables from himself and stepped onto the metal floor. He then confidently announced, "There wasn't any damage to the people of the city."

The High Priest said in a dumbfounded tone, "What?"

The boy held up his phone and said, "We knew your arms would leave a giant empty spot underground, and we knew you would try to collapse the city for your twisted game. We were worried about that from the start, so we set things in motion beforehand."

The old man asked, "Who did you contact, who would believe you about a Magic God, and who could get so many people to move?"

Touma smirked and replied, "You'd be surprised. Mikoto's friends are in Judgement, so they were all able to use their connections to get the city moving pretty quickly. It really is a powerful weapon on its own. And though you thought Academy City's law enforcement wouldn't understand the threat of a Magic God, they're still on edge after the incidents involving Othinus and St. Germain, especially since the Christmas spirit was disrupted. The anti-crime orientation was probably also a way for us to let off some steam. For better or for worse, people are going to react in ways that the main players like us can never predict. They're not always good and not always bad, but together, they'll create a path to get through this situation!"

Indeed, though Touma didn't know the details, all throughout the city, people in Judgement and Anti-Skill, as well as ordinary civilians, were working to evacuate the affected areas.

The High Priest had mocked both Othinus and St. Germain as being beneath him, but Touma and Mikoto had been able to set up an evacuation in part thanks to their actions.

In response to this ostensible setback, the High Priest's murderous aura grew. He gave Touma a threatening smile and said, "That speeds things up. Then let's continue our one-sided game. It's still only a matter of sooner or-"

Touma took quite a bit of pleasure in interrupting him, "Sorry, but that's over too. You've done too much already, so it's time you got what's coming to you, High Priest!"

The giant arm that towered into the sky clenched into a fist, but the old man looked up at it in confusion as a very loud sound came from it.

Touma explained what was happening, "You make your arms from dirt and mud, but that excludes anything processed from it, like glass and concrete. And you can't tell when something has been mixed in, which Mikoto proved with her iron sand."

The old man observed, "But this isn't like the iron sand."

The boy nodded, "Yes, we went for something trickier here. Mikoto scattered compressed gas cylinders with liquid hydrogen and oxygen around this area. And my very smart girlfriend realized that something special would happen to your beloved dirt arms when they're exposed to a certain pattern of high heat and pressure!"

The High Priest looked up at his arm in shock, reacting, "You can't possibly mean-" He was cut off by the giant fist collapsing. A glowing orange waterfall of magma then rushed down and engulfed his entire body.

He could control dirt, but once that dirt had been melted by the heat, he was no longer able to control it. Meanwhile, Touma leapt backwards as far as he could, dropped to the ground, and covered his mouth to protect himself from what was about to happen.

The liquid magma seemed to erase all sight of the mummy, and once it reached the floor, it slowly began to spread out in all directions. It had worked, everything had gone according to his and Mikoto's plan. Touma then muttered without thinking, "Did we do it?"

He of course received no answer from the pile of magma, so he looked up and began to say, "Biri-"

But his hope and relief froze as a voice cut in, "Did you do what exactly?" Touma looked over at the pile of molten rock and felt nothing but despair, as the mummy emerged from underneath it. The High Priest's purple robe and golden sword had burned or melted away, leaving a bare body that glowed ominously at temperatures above a thousand degrees.

The High Priest then said, "What do you think a Magic God is? I am a mummy, and all of my fat, muscles, and organs have withered away. Did you really think any kind of external wound or asphyxiation would kill me? I was prepared to give up my own life and soul to achieve my goal, and I couldn't have become a Magic God without that level of resolve." As he spoke, toxic black smoke emerged from his mouth.

Touma gulped and sweated profusely, thinking back to Nephthys's advice. Could the High Priest, who controlled the Six Paths, change the value of the soul? He and Mikoto had focused on the physical implications of the High Priest being able to control the dirt, but was there some other explanation for his superhuman strength and durability?

The old man interrupted the boy's thoughts, "Someone who accepts defeat after being killed will never leave the category of magician. But such rules don't apply to Magic Gods like us."

Touma didn't immediately reply, so he continued, "Kamijou Touma, do you mind if I ask just one pointless question?"

The boy tensed up and hesitantly replied, "What might that be?"

The High Priest casually said, "It's a simple matter, there's no need to be so defensive. This chase has been so uninteresting, and so unlike you. Did all of this logical fighting come from that girl of yours? Are you being dragged along by her way of thinking?"

Touma's eyes widened in shock, and the old man noticed it with glee. He laughed, "Ho ho, I thought so. Why didn't you use your Imagine Breaker right away? That's the sensible move when faced with an impossible phenomenon that ignores the laws of physics. Even if it fails, knowing that fact would still be a step forward."

The boy didn't know what point he was getting at, but he started to have a sinking feeling in his chest. The old man continued, "You ran away as soon as you saw me? Boring. You fled all throughout Academy City? How boring. Just when it seems I've caught up, you use compressed gas cylinders to create magma? Oh, how boring! All of this was a complete waste of time, how do you think I felt having to go along with it all? I've been waiting this whole time for you to use Imagine Breaker against me just once! The one thing that was like you was your courageous dive from the rooftop at the very beginning. Everything has been so boring with that girl by your side! You're a pathetic shadow of your usual self, just using petty tricks to reduce the amount of damage!"

Touma glared at the High Priest and angrily retorted, "What the hell are you saying? There's never anything 'interesting' about fighting, and why would I be obligated to entertain you? If I can keep things peaceful and safe, that's obviously for the best! Why should I purposefully turn in the direction I know is more dangerous?"

The High Priest was unfazed by his outburst, and cooly replied, "Are you saying that because you feel your girl is still nearby? Kamijou Touma, you are neither omniscient nor omnipotent, and all you have is great talent in one specialized area. But despite this, you have risen to a place so close to guiding the world, and it's your decisiveness to do the right thing in the face of risk that's brought you so high. And yet you've been so focused on protecting something that you're abandoning that talent of yours. Don't mistake that for growth, you've become a weak and decrepit shadow of your former self!"

He paused for a moment before delivering the decisive statement, "It really is sad to see you letting that boring girl drag you around. You're not so small a human that you should be contained here."

Meanwhile, Mikoto had been standing in wait on a narrow catwalk about twenty meters above the floor of the underground space. She was supposed to unleash the final part of the plan when the time was right, but now, all such thoughts had left her mind.

If she had been standing next to her boyfriend, she would've tried to control her expression, but since she was by herself, her face looked like she had just been stabbed.

She felt the High Priest's words pierce into her ears, "If that girl is keeping you from destroying my illusions, then she's only tripping you up. I simply cannot understand it myself, it's clear that she is nothing but a burden to you. I can't think of any reason to have kept her with you all this time. Even if she is your lover, that's all the more reason to keep her out of the fight. I can understand fleeing the school with her and staying together until I lost sight of you, but then you could have let her slip into the crowd and free yourself from the annoyance. So why did you keep her with you? "

Those words were not said in a malicious tone, and it was more like he was genuinely trying to give Touma helpful advice. But that was exactly why it felt so painful to Mikoto. She'd known from the start that her title as Tokiwadai's Railgun was meaningless against a Magic God, but now it felt even worse. Touma had seen more of the Magic Side and the rest of the world than her, so doubts began to seep in about whether she was on the same stage as him.

The High Priest continued, "For example, that nun's knowledge of those 103,000 grimoires might have been helpful. And Othinus might have been able to give you accurate advice from her perspective as a Magic God. Then you would've been able to challenge me to a battle based on Imagine Breaker. That would have been the usual and proper way, but it all fell apart thanks to that girl."

Mikoto thought back on the entire fight and wondered, "Have I even been any help to him? Did I really do anything that only I could have done? He could've contacted Kuroko or Uiharu-san on his own. Maybe if Touma didn't have to worry about me, he could've figured out a way to resolve this without the city being destroyed."

The High Priest then delivered his concluding final blow, "Kamijou Touma, go ahead and say it. Go tell her curl up in the corner and stay out of your way. I have no idea why you have chosen such a pathetic girl as your lover, but at the very least, keep her out of a fight she has no business being in."

The girl gasped, but she couldn't refute his argument. Even she could tell that Touma's actions had not been like him. Immediately running away from a powerful enemy, not using his vaunted Imagine Breaker, and making his final trump card a careful plan she had devised, all were unlike him.

Touma would always act recklessly, ignore efficiency and logic, and just reach out for an impossible victory. Watching him do that had always been thrilling, if also nerve-wracking, and it was a big reason that Mikoto had fallen in love with him. But he was acting the complete opposite because of her. He'd made jokes with her all along the way, but she realized he had partly been doing that to lessen the burden on her own heart, which in turn must have increased the burden on his.

Mikoto felt extremely grateful that her boyfriend had been trying to protect her in that thoughtful way. But this was also a cruel situation, and she fretted, "I've only been a burden to him!"

Her mind had tried to seal that word away, but she forced herself to articulate it in her thoughts. No matter how painful it was, she felt she had to accept it. What if she had not been there, and someone more useful in the situation, like Index or Othinus, had been present instead? Then Touma would have been able to relax and use their strong points as well as his own to clash with the High Priest head-on. That would have been a dangerous path, but it might have had the greatest odds of victory.

But since she was present, the boy who had ended World War 3, survived Othinus's infinite hells, and successfully fought against the entire world had been dragged down and held back to this inferior position. Mikoto could only hang her head and try not to shed tears.

However, she then heard her boyfriend's voice, "Are you fucking joking, High Priest? How dare you say those bullshit things about Mikoto? You're a complete stranger, so stop acting like you know who I am. You think I could have taken the perfectly optimal path if I was with Index or Othinus instead? Don't be ridiculous!" Touma had been growing more and more furious with every word the old man said, and he was thus eager to give the High Priest a piece of his mind.

Mikoto knew that it must have taken her boyfriend a lot of courage to say that, while facing a monster surrounded by magma of over 1000 degrees. Their initial plan hadn't worked, and who knew if their final plan would work either. And yet, Touma spoke in her defense with no fear.

The boy continued in a passionate tone, "It was because Mikoto was with me that I made it this far! She kept my legs moving, relieved the pressure on my heart, and kept me in a position to make jokes. With Index, things would've been focused too much on magic. And with Othinus, I would have been crushed by despair by getting an accurate understanding of the strength of a Magic God. It was because Mikoto was by my side that I survived this long. She saved my life, and you want me to tell her to go away? She's an amazing partner and lover, and there's no one else I would rather have by my side than the girl I love! Who the hell do you think you are? You don't understand me or her, and you know nothing about human emotions, so stop pretending like you're some all-knowing god!"

The High Priest was unmoved by the boy's feisty reaction, and replied, "Ho ho, argue from emotion all you want, but it does not change the facts. She is a burden, she has little experience of the Magic Side, let alone the territory of Magic Gods. Haven't you been sick of lowering the conversation to her level?"

Touma quickly fired back, "You're completely and utterly wrong about her. So what if she isn't the utmost expert on magic? That's not what this is about."

Mikoto couldn't help but feel a little stung at that admission, even if it was accurate. But it was what came afterwards that filled her chest with conflicting emotions.

The boy continued, "Hey, High Priest! I'm not crazy enough to throw my life away for something stupid like my own pride. But you better take back what you said about Mikoto, you piece of shit Magic God! If you keep badmouthing the girl I love, the one who saved my life multiple times, then I'll go ahead and punch you, just like you want. I don't care if you're covered in magma over 1000 degrees. I don't need my Imagine Breaker, and I don't care if it doesn't work on you! I don't care if my fist burns away or my entire body bursts into flames, if you don't shut your filthy mouth, I'll punch you until you do! It might ruin my right hand, and I might have to get it amputated at the hospital, but I'll gladly trade my arm for your face. Prepare yourself, I'm going to beat you until you see the error of your ways!"

The girl was very touched at how far her boyfriend was going to defend her. But she also felt a deep anxiety in her heart. Touma had admitted out loud that she was not that useful in this situation. And yet, he had declared that he would patiently stick by her side despite that, no matter what.

Mikoto, of course, was very dissatisfied with that. She didn't want to be in a position where Touma would always have to protect her, while she couldn't do the same for him. But that was no reason to give up now. Even if she had fallen behind, that just meant that she would have to gather her strength and continue moving forward as fast as she could.

And besides, Touma was ignoring their original plan and putting his own life in danger, just to defend her honor. For now, she needed to snap him out of it so they could deal with the threat right in front of them. Once that was resolved, Mikoto could tell her boyfriend about her thoughts and worries.

Touma had clenched his fist as hard as possible, and was about to take the first step towards the burning High Priest. It was unlikely that his Imagine Breaker would negate his essence as a Magic God, and the physical blow probably wouldn't make that much of an impact.

That was why he and Mikoto had made a different plan, and she shouted down at him, "Why are you letting the blood rush to your head, you idiot? Isn't there something else you can do, other than let that magma man set you ablaze?"

The boy looked up and saw the girl who felt closer to him than his mysterious right hand. When Touma locked eyes with Mikoto, the look on his face instantly changed, as he remembered their original plan.

The High Priest noticed this change, and clicked his tongue, seemingly giving up on Touma, and deciding to find someone else to be his scorer. So instead, he dragged his burning body towards the boy.

Mikoto didn't let him go unimpeded. With a loud shout, she used her magnetism to briefly bury the High Priest in a pile of metallic rubble. She jumped down towards the ground, exclaiming, "We decided on a plan before falling down here, remember? We're trying to safely reach the end of the day!"

Touma snapped out of his rage and switched his mode from destruction to survival. He once again grabbed onto the handlebars of the acrobike, which had fallen with him. He pedalled it from the side without getting on it, and let it drag him away. Strength filled his thoughts, as he mused, "That's right, there's no rule saying I can't defeat magicians or Magic Gods without using my right hand to negate their magic. You called Mikoto's power worthless, High Priest, so it's time that very power sent you tumbling into defeat!"

The rubble that Mikoto had sent down might only delay that monster for a few seconds before he crawled out unharmed. But those few seconds were more than enough.

The boy swept Mikoto onto the bike and said to her with a grin, "You ready, Biri-Biri?"

Mikoto forced herself to grin back and replied, "If I wasn't, I'd be panicking a lot more right now. So let's hurry!"

They both clung to the bike as they sent it flying, not towards, but away from the rubble and the High Priest. They headed straight for the maintenance door so they could escape that vast cylindrical space.

The High Priest thrust his hand from the top of the rubble. His body regained contact with the oxygen in the air and thus started burning again. With resentment filling his voice, he lamented, "Boring, Boring, Boring! It looked like things were changing, but that girl ruined it again. How long are you going to delay the inevitable? What happened to Imagine Breaker? What happened to the One who Purifies Gods and Slays Demooonnns?"

Touma and Mikoto ignored his annoying rambling and vanished through the metal door. The High Priest gathered his strength, about to break through that thick door. But that was when it happened.

Some static electricity scattered throughout the space, and he sensed a stinging chemical smell. The walls of the cylinder glowed with a bluish-white light, and the smaller pieces of rubble began to float.

That strange power soon grew stronger, and even the High Priest's body, which was surrounded by metal debris and rubble, floated into the air. He started to realize what was happening, and muttered, "Ohh! Could this be…?"

Indeed, the cylindrical space was the site of the underground silo-style mass driver which was primed to launch an unmanned probe towards the Arrowhead Comet. With just enough electricity to power the surrounding electromagnets and to create a space-filling plasma flow, the mass driver would launch its target straight up into space within minutes, at a speed of Mach 20.

And so, a single intense beam of light burnt through the heavens as it and the High Priest left the planet.

---

To protect themselves from the intense light and sound of the explosion, Mikoto and Touma threw themselves off of the acrobike and onto the floor. The bike was able to remain standing because of its gyros.

They both found themselves unable to speak properly for a few moments, though Mikoto was the first to recover, perhaps because she was more accustomed to dealing with high voltage currents. She asked, "A-are you okay, Touma?"

The boy took a few seconds to reply, "Wh-where's the High Priest?"

Mikoto answered, "We used a real mass driver, so he's likely far up in space by now."

It was far too unsafe to go back inside to check, so the two of them instead used the bike to climb the stairs all the way to the top of the 300 meter pit. Because of its suspension absorbing more of the shocks, the ride was only slightly bumpy.

Once they safely reached the surface, the two of them finally stepped off the bike and onto the ground without fear. Touma was feeling very exhausted, so he leaned against his girlfriend's shoulder. He gave her a grateful smile and said, "Thanks, Biri-Biri."

Mikoto looked back at him with a frown and asked, "For what?" Right now, she wasn't feeling too well about her contributions to the battle.

Touma earnestly told her, "Without you, I would have never come up with the idea of using a mass driver. And even if I did, I wouldn't know how to properly put it into action. But thanks to you, the High Priest is no longer on Earth, so there's nothing else he can do. Man, the scope of this whole thing has gotten crazier and crazier."

The girl would've been tempted to punch him if he were speaking sarcastically, or if he had patronizingly praised her for at least making an effort. She protested, "But I really didn't do anything. I'm not talking about the rubble, or hijacking the mass driver. From the very beginning, I never had a place in the battle between you and the High Priest."

The boy again replied immediately, "Are you sure about that? It honestly doesn't matter to me who the hero is. But thanks to you, Mikoto, everything was resolved without losing anyone, and that's all that matters."

Mikoto's shoulders slumped down, and she sighed in exasperation, muttering out loud, "Honestly, you wouldn't be so hard to deal with if you weren't thanking me from the bottom of your heart." And even though she knew it was a little childish, she pouted her lips.

Touma looked at her and couldn't help but feel endeared at how cute she was. He could sort of tell that something was bothering her, so he prepared to give her a hug and celebrate ending things with the High Priest. Nephthys and Niang-Niang were still in Academy City, but for now, the destruction had stopped.

But just before he could embrace the girl, Touma looked up and noticed something ominous, "The sky's…dark?" It was still afternoon, but the sky was as dark as it would be in the evening. In addition, the sky was covered in a thick fog, and even the view of the sun was blurry. Most disturbingly, there were three rings of light surrounding the sun.

Mikoto muttered an explanation, "A Bishop's Ring. It's a blurry ring of light that appears around the sun when there's an especially large amount of space dust or volcanic ash present in the atmosphere."

Touma looked over at her with a confused expression and wondered, "Huh? Why would it be appearing now?"

The girl mused, "There are many possible reasons. A giant volcanic eruption, or when a large amount of space debris slams into the atmosphere after a rocket or shuttle accident, or when a comet approaches and scatters a bunch of space dust-"

The boy realized it immediately, and interrupted her, "You mean the Arrowhead Comet?"

Mikoto's eyes widened, and her face completely paled. It didn't take her long to determine what had happened. She clenched her fists and showed a grimace on her face, exclaiming, "Fuck! Damn it! The High Priest can control the dirt of the comet too. Why didn't I think of that, the mass driver was literally aimed straight towards it! Ugh, why am I so useless?"

Indeed, the High Priest had survived being drenched in magma, the high voltages of the mass driver, and the overwhelming air resistance of the atmosphere. And of course, being in outer space wasn't going to kill a Magic God like him. Mikoto and Touma had hoped that he would be rendered impotent when floating in space, even if he didn't die, but he had taken control of the Arrowhead Comet. And now, he was crashing back down towards Earth at a tremendous speed. He knew this was beyond anything that Imagine Breaker could deal with, so he eagerly awaited for the boy to unleash the true power of his right hand.

Mikoto looked up at the rapidly approaching orange light that was about to wipe out the entire city. She didn't know if it was going at Mach 10, 20, or even 30, but there was absolutely nothing she could do to stop it.

Touma was leaning on her shoulder, so she felt him shift slightly. He silently reached out his right hand as if to grab the comet. Even the boy himself did not fully understand what was hidden beneath his right arm, but his only choice in the moment was to rely on it. After seeing a glimpse of how the High Priest had caused his girlfriend to berate herself, he resolved to do whatever it took to finish this once and for all.

Mikoto wasn't sure what he was trying to do, but she got a good idea when she heard an ominous cracking sound coming from that arm, from her boyfriend who was right next to her, but also in a sense far away. She had been feeling doubtful throughout the contest against the High Priest, but now, it was Touma's right arm that was causing her to feel true impotence. She recalled his earlier words, about the situation not needing a hero as long as everything ended alright. But for her own self-confidence, it was already too late.

However, in the end, Touma did not need to unleash his hidden powers. He and Mikoto observed something shoot up from somewhere else in Academy City, and approach the incoming comet at similar hypersonic speeds. The two beams of light collided dozens of kilometers in the air, but it was still enough to send a shockwave throughout the city and break all of its glass windows. Fortunately, because of the evacuations that had already been taking place, the people of the city were safe.

And as for the High Priest, though Touma and Mikoto did not know this, he was killed by a golden retriever named Kihara Noukan, using a weapon known as the Anti-Art Attachment.

Once it was all over for real, Touma breathed a sigh of relief, muttering, "Whew, I'm glad I didn't have to break my right arm and use those dangerous powers. Who knows what would have happened then."

Mikoto frowned and absent-mindedly said, "Mm." She was trying to process what had just happened, and it was taking all of her effort to not completely break down.

The boy glanced over at her, noticing that she seemed to be lost in her own thoughts. Recalling what she had said upon realizing that the High Priest was returning to Earth on the comet, he gently asked, "Hey, is everything all right, Biri-Biri?"

The girl winced, knowing that she probably couldn't brush it off after calling herself useless out loud. She closed her eyes and revealed in a quiet voice, "I heard everything the High Priest said to you down there."

Touma's eyes widened in shock, and he realized, "Shit, no wonder she's feeling down." With an immense sense of dread, he remembered all the awful things the High Priest had said about his girlfriend.

Trying to console her, he began, "Oh damn, I'm really sorry you had to listen to that nonsense. But I really meant what I said there. I never would have survived without you by my side!"

Mikoto shook her head and muttered in response, "I appreciate it, Touma, but you don't need to sugarcoat it. You even said it yourself, I'm not the best partner in a Magic Side fight. I also thought we could prove him wrong by using the mass driver, but that completely backfired. And it backfired in a way that I should have been able to predict. In the end, you probably would have beaten him with those dragons or whatever else is hidden in your right arm. All I did was delay the final confrontation, when you could have fought him on your own all along."

The girl started slumping down, slowly dropping to a sitting position on the ground. She wrapped her arms around her legs and buried her face in her knees, sorrowfully saying, "The High Priest was right, I was only a burden."

As Touma looked down at her, he clenched his fist and cursed the High Priest, "Damn it, why did you have to die before I could punch you?" Now that he knew that the High Priest had made his girlfriend feel so distraught, a part of him wished that that outside party hadn't come in at the very end to deal with the High Priest.

The boy knelt down in front of her on the ground. He reached out with his right hand, placed it on top of her head, and began gently rubbing it. Touma said firmly, "You are not a burden, and you are not useless! Your plan was brilliant, and it would've worked out perfectly if the High Priest wasn't such a sore loser obsessed with having an 'entertaining' battle. And it's not guaranteed that I would have been able to stop him either. After all, Othinus easily crushed me back in Baggage City even after she broke my right arm and unleashed what was underneath."

Touma felt her head shake beneath his hand, as she replied, "No, my plan was not brilliant, I didn't even think of him being able to control the comet. And it doesn't matter anyway, you've always been able to win your fights by going straight in and reaching for a miraculous victory. But because I was with you, you weren't able to fight like that."

The bow looked at her with a frown, trying to figure out a way to cheer her up. He tried pointing out, "You know, it's not like I always just blindly charge in with no plan. And most of the time, I've had help from other people too. In fact, you've helped me out in a lot of my fights! I couldn't have won them without you, and the same is true here. It was because you were with me that I made it so far!"

Mikoto raised her head a little bit to make eye contact with him. She replied in a sad tone, "Maybe so, but this time feels different, and it feels like my role was pointless. Did I really do anything that anyone else couldn't have done?"

Touma placed a finger under Mikoto's chin and lifted her head up. He immediately answered, "Are you kidding? Thanks to your connections to your friends in Judgement, we were able to get the city evacuated, and you directly saved the people in those buildings with your abilities. If Index or Othinus had been with me instead, that would have never been possible!"

The girl gave his words some thought. She knew he made a good point, but it still didn't do much to lessen the anxiety in her heart. She admitted, "Maybe. But I sort of feel a little pathetic that I wasn't able to do more as a Level 5. Even if we were up against a Magic God." She realized that she was perhaps having unrealistic expectations of herself, but that didn't change how she felt.

The boy was happy that she at least partly accepted his argument, but it was obvious that her pride had been dealt a heavy blow during this ordeal, and he knew that it would be hard for her to recover from it instantly.

So he decided to continue supporting her the best he could. Touma scooted over to sit by her side, and then reached out to gently pull her into his lap. He wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his head on her shoulder, reversing the position they had been in on the acrobike for the past few hours. He kissed her on the cheek and squeezed her tightly against him, saying warmly into her ear, "Hey, you were extraordinary in this fight, and I won't let anyone mock your performance. Not the High Priest, and not you either. And even setting that aside, it was thanks to you that I was able to joke around and at least have a little bit of fun! There's no way I could have won if I'd been completely consumed by despair by facing a Magic God." With the trauma he had suffered from fighting against Othinus, being able to keep his morale up had been no guarantee.

Mikoto finally smiled, though it was only slightly. She placed her hands over his own, and began caressing them. She sighed and said, "Thanks, Touma. I guess some of those moments were sort of fun!"

Touma laughed and joked, "Yeah, come to think of it, this really was like a romantic drama movie."

The girl laughed as well and nodded, "It was!" She relaxed her shoulders and leaned back against her boyfriend, saying, "That was quite the angry speech you made back there! I admit, it was nice to hear that."

The boy's cheeks reddened, and he replied, "Eh, now you're making me feel embarrassed. But I wasn't about to let him say those vile things about the girl I love."

Mikoto smirked and said, "I love you too, Touma." She then turned, placed her hands on his chest, and kissed him on the lips.

Touma brought up one of his hands to hold her cheek. The two of them enjoyed the kiss for several seconds, especially after the hours of fleeing and fighting. When they separated, Mikoto got out of his lap and stood back up. She then grabbed onto her boyfriend's hand to help him up as well.

Mikoto gazed off into the distance, her thoughts drawn again to how her role had been eviscerated by the High Priest but then reaffirmed by Touma. She wasn't sure where she would go from there, but at least she was still alive to make that choice.

The boy walked back up to the acrobike, and announced, "Well, I should probably return this to my school." Touma could guess what she was thinking about, so he playfully nudged her shoulder and joked, "Will you be alright? You're not going to suddenly cut off a bunch of your hair and temporarily abandon me to get stronger, right?"

Mikoto rolled her eyes and lightly punched his shoulder, retorting, "Of course not, you idiot! First of all, it's already too short for that trope, and I already decided to grow it out a bit! And more importantly, I won't leave your side if I can help it!" Though she was worried about being strong enough to remain there.

Touma laughed and said, "Good to hear, Biri-Biri."

The girl then said in a more serious tone, "You did cheer me up, but…I'm still feeling a bit troubled about this. But I guess that's something I'll just have to deal with personally."

Touma understood that something like this couldn't be resolved so quickly and easily. So, he patted her head and said, "All right, and remember, I'm always here for you if you need it." He then got onto the bike and said, "Ready for one last ride?"

The girl got on behind him and wrapped her arms around his stomach, replying, "Let's go!" The two of them then rode off, heading back towards District 7.

---

It was now nighttime, and Mikoto was back in her dorm room. When she'd arrived, her roommate had been taking a shower, so she had gotten some time to herself. She was lying down on her bed in her pajamas, looking back on her eventful day. Her boyfriend's comforting words had quelled her uneasiness in the moment, but now that she was alone with her own thoughts, it started to come back again.

Ironically, the thing she felt the most uneasy about wasn't the unreasonable strength of the High Priest, him coming back to Earth on a comet, or him being ultimately defeated by some Academy City defense weapon. It was the fact that, even after all that, Touma still had the power to defeat him with the power beneath his right hand. Looking up at the ring on her left hand, she thought about her relationship with Touma. He was the person closest to her, but she realized with a resigned smile, "He's so far ahead of me, isn't he?"

The High Priest had said that she was too weak and useless to be a worthy lover for Touma. On the surface, it sounded like a ridiculous argument, that two people should not be together if they were not equally strong. But in a more practical sense, since Touma often got involved in fights, it could be detrimental if he had to always focus on protecting her instead of going all-out. The High Priest had argued that exactly this had happened, and Mikoto couldn't completely reject that argument, despite her boyfriend's reassurances.

At this point, Kuroko came out of the shower and sat down on her bed. While rubbing her hair with a towel, she said, "Welcome home, onee-sama. I trust you weren't injured by the downpour of glass?"

Mikoto turned on the bed to face the other girl, replying, "Oh hey, Kuroko. No, I'm fine. Thanks for your and Uiharu-san's hard work. It was because of everyone's help that the city was saved."

Kuroko became a little flustered by her praise, but she pressed a fist against her chest and said with a proud smile, "Of course, even against an all-powerful enemy, we in Judgement and Anti-Skill were able to prevent widespread destruction. And I'm pleased that you trusted us to help out with this incident. Even if the final blow was dealt by some secret weapon, it was fulfilling to play a part in ensuring everyone's safety." She had found it hard to believe at first that a Magic God was directly attacking the city, but the multiple reports of buildings being thrown and giant dirt arms appearing out of the ground quickly had left little doubt. She then grinned at Mikoto and added, "By the way, it seems that the mass driver in District 23 was launched without the probe, and there is no available security footage of what happened. By any chance, was that your doing, onee-sama?"

Mikoto chuckled and answered, "Yeah, we tried to launch the High Priest into space, but you know how well that worked out." As she said this, she couldn't hide her frustration with how that had gone down. The girl was glad that Kuroko was able to take pride in her role, but she wished she could feel just as proud about her own contribution.

Her expression didn't go unnoticed by Kuroko, who questioned, "Is something wrong?" She guessed that Mikoto was frustrated that her plan didn't fully work out, but it seemed like there was a deeper source of anxiety for her friend.

Mikoto bit her lip, pondering whether she wanted to reveal what was troubling her. She soon decided that it could help to get some advice from someone other than Touma, since her boyfriend would always just try to reassure her. She began, "So just before we sent the High Priest flying, he went into this spiel about how I was too weak to be in the fight, that I was only a burden to Touma, and that he should have kept me out of the way. That because he was focused on protecting me and following my plans, he relied too much on my abilities rather than his own."

Kuroko's eyes widened in shock in response to this. She angrily reacted, "What, how dare he say such things!" She clenched her fists against her sides, noticing just how deeply those claims had affected Mikoto.

Mikoto turned back to face the ceiling and said in a sad tone, "I don't know, Touma told him and me otherwise, but I can't help but think a part of it was true. I was able to save a lot of people with my abilities, but maybe they never would have been in danger in the first place if Touma had been able to fight like he always does. He said that I was the reason he was able to keep his spirits up, but I want to be more than moral support to him."

Kuroko looked over at her with a sympathetic expression. It seemed that Mikoto had come up with the big plan involving the mass driver, but it hadn't ended up working out. And she could imagine that Mikoto's powers wouldn't have much direct effect on a Magic God.

It was hard for her to think of a good way to reassure her friend. After thinking about it for a bit, she had the idea to relate it to her own experience. She began, "Well, as you know, I felt a similar way when you were dealing with the experiment involving your sisters."

Mikoto felt a little guilty at the comparison, and said, "Kuroko-"

Kuroko held out her hand to interrupt the other girl, "It's all right, I'm not bringing this up to criticize you. Anyway, remember when Shokuhou-san requested me to help her with an incident she was involved in?"

As soon as she heard Shokuhou's name, Mikoto narrowed her eyes at the ceiling and replied, "What about it?" She had been wary about Kuroko going along with Shokuhou, but it had ended up alright, even if Shokuhou had teased her about borrowing her friend.

Kuroko bluntly stated, "I haven't told you this before, but she actually asked me to join her clique. She told me that you prefer to work alone, since I and our other friends are not strong enough to face the dangerous enemies that you have. And that unlike my relationship with you, if I joined her clique, I would be trusted, valued, and cherished."

This information infuriated Mikoto, who immediately sat up on her bed and exclaimed, "She said what?" It was not enough for Shokuhou to have the largest clique at Tokiwadai, but she was also interested in taking in one of Mikoto's few friends?

However, Kuroko held out her hands in a placating gesture, saying, "Don't worry, onee-sama, I didn't take her up on her offer. You know what I said to her?" The girl folded her hands in her lap and shyly looked down at them, continuing, "I said that it's fine if you had battles you had to fight on your own. But if you ever needed a shoulder to rest on when you came home, I would always be there for you."

Mikoto looked over at Kuroko with her mouth wide open. She was surprised to hear such a wholesome and heartfelt sentiment. She brought her hand up to her chest and said, "Oh." She could see how Kuroko was trying to make an analogy to her and Touma, though she wasn't sure if she would be satisfied with having an analogous position.

Kuroko gave the other girl a smile and said, "And it's not as if Kamijou-san kept you out of the fight. I'm sure you contributed a lot to the battle, including saving people. And even aside from that, if your presence kept his morale up, that's a worthy contribution all on its own. Morale is a vital part of combat, and is often more important than pure objective strength."

That point did resonate with Mikoto, who muttered, "I guess that's true."

Kuroko nodded and added, "Think about it this way. Would you rather him keep you in a fight just because he needs your useful powers, or because he wants your company? In my view, the choice is obvious"

Mikoto perked up on hearing Kuroko put it so elegantly. Cheering up a bit, she answered, "When you put it that way, it almost seems silly to worry about it." However, she noted, "But Touma is going to continue facing powerful opponents in the future. I still want to be able to help and protect him."

In response to this, Kuroko smirked and replied, "I know onee-sama. You're not the type of girl who would be satisfied with just waiting at home for her partner to come home, or even with just helping him out in the cases where your abilities and talents are the most useful. You're a girl who keeps moving forward, no matter what obstacles are in your way! And if you need to get even stronger, then I'm confident that you'll find a way to do it."

Mikoto's eyes widened in surprise. Kuroko was right, just because she hit a roadblock today didn't mean the path before her was closed forever. She would just have to find a way to keep moving forward.

She stood up from her bed and crossed the distance to the other bed. Mikoto then gave her friend a hug and said, "Thank you, Kuroko."

Kuroko was startled by her sudden action, and blushed in response. But she hugged Mikoto back and said, "You're welcome."

After they separated, Mikoto returned to her bed, deep in thought. She sensed that she had just reached a pivotal point in her development. It would be hard, but she resolved to find a way to continue making progress.