Epilogue

A fractured world:

Next step

"The UN has begun to cease Academy city," the voice of the US president came through a video conference on a plane bound for England. "Up till now they've been unable to move thanks to the threat of retaliation. But this last slip up gave the window needed to take them down." Roberto said and sighed leaning back, "guess that's it then… you ever figure out who stopped the launch of the solar nuke?"

Elizard groaned and held her sinus, "No, I was actually hoping you'd shed some light on that. All we know is an encrypted signal was sent to a backdoor channel we've still yet to locate." She reclined back in the passenger seat and looked out the window.

Roberto grimaced and crossed his arms, "Unfortunately, no, the members of the 'new' board of directors that we took into custody are remaining silent. And the CIA hasn't been able to trace the signal." He held his chin, "I was actually considering getting into contact with that Uiharu girl you mentioned. She's young but I believe an exception can be given due to her skill and experience."

"You're not going to have her spy on rival countries are you?" Elizard teased with a smirk.

"No, of course not, at most I'll ask for a few of those doujins she writes" Roberto waved off Elizard's concern with a different concerning detail. "I want her to work for the UN in order to improve security and track down threats. That girl could hack Academy city satellites and next gen weapons from a laptop. Imagine what she could do with a proper set up if she worked for us," Roberto smiled chuckling.

Elizard rolled her eyes and placed a finger against her forehead, "Right… In other news, Accelerator was found in a small hospital in Brazil." She sighed, "we thought he may have stopped the launch, but he was unconscious the whole time. So it couldn't have been him, but he did note that someone used the phone Aliester gave him." She bit her lip, "Only 3-4 people can use that thing so, it's a long-shot, but we have a few suspects"

Roberto grunted, "I see… speaking of Brazil, the cats out of the bag Elizard. There is no way you're keeping a magic secret anymore. I mean… can't exactly cover up a star sized girl trying to eat the planet." He shrugged, "I mean, I was able to see her canines covering the horizon from my office here. Don't even get me started on the second and third times. Heck, there's even a few cults that have formed thanks to her, including a very prolific one in Norway."

"Your right, there is no more hiding the existence of magic," Elizard sighed and pulled her hands down her wrinkled face. "Its ironic really, that the person meant to protect that knowledge ended up being the one to reveal magic to the world. Index has failed her magic name, there can be no doubt of that. And now we need to deal with the consequences of her actions."

"There's been rioting popping up in various locations around the globe." Roberto said with a frown, "don't even get me started on the religious or political conflicts. The less said about the evangelicals the better, what about you? Can't imagine your people are taking the existence of fey lightly." The US president looked at the queen with sympathy, being the leaders of two of the most influential countries in the world. He understood how difficult it was to be in the position of power she is. Elizard's head hit the seat in front of her as she groaned, "no, they really aren't. People aren't exactly a fan of the idea that the person next to them could very well be the one to ferry them to the afterlife. Thats why im heading back there now, I need to do some damage control before things get too bad. I'm already seeing anti-fey semantics online, people calling them 'inhuman monsters' and the like." She shook her head with a sad expression, "dear lord, I hope Muireann and her friends don't need to deal with this."

Roberto grimaced, "yeaaah… um that's not gonna happen," he sighed again. "You said she's a half selkie girl right?" a nod, "and dark skinned?" another nod. "She's going to get the worst of it if a certain group with the initials of three 'k's finds her." He had an exceedingly distasteful look, "prejudice never goes away. People will always find a reason to hate, you realize the controversy around my presidency wasn't just because of my active libo right?"

"Yes, I understand that, it was just overshadowed by that stuff, I am well aware of the… less than pleasant remarks from less than reasonable people about you." Elizard grimaced, the president made a point, but they still had other matters to address. "And yet we still haven't even spoken about the worst of the effects Index had on the world." "Wait, there's still more?" Roberto had a horrified look, "what could be worse than this?"

Elizard looked solemn for a moment, "It has come to my attention that… the phases are leaking over each other," she revealed. "During their encounter with Index in Russia, Kanzaki informed me they had seen Baba-Yaga's hut before Accelerator showed up. Index hadn't summoned it, and I don't think she could have, considering she hadn't eaten Leshly or any Russian god." She crossed her arms, "apparently a Jouten was seen in Norway, and a djinn was encountered in India."

Roberto was silent, "shit… that'd explain the sudden spike in that one creepypasta. There've been sightings of that blank faced suited tentacled pedophile near schools. Apparently two schoolgirls tried to sacrifice their friend to it as well." He grimaced, "I really don't think we need anymore memetic monsters showing up. Especially considering each encounter just makes him stronger."

"You mean that monster? The almost lovecraftian one that feels like a form of Nyarlathotep?" Elizard said with shock, "... dear lord it's even worse than I imagined. Annihilatus is too busy dealing with things in Russia. And we can't spare manpower at the moment, I'll see if the Roman catholics can do anything."

"Actually, I've been meaning to establish an anti-magic branch of the FBI before my term ended. But It'd be nice to have backup, they are untested and need experts in the field." Roberto expressed, "I would have preferred it to be someone I was familiar with however." He was silent a moment before looking back at Elizard, "speaking of… how is he?"

A long silence passed as Elizard sagged back in her chair, "not good… he did lose his understander after all. He's been in the hospital for the past week as I've been going from country to country." She shook her head, "we all lost something that day Katze, but he lost the most." A long drawn out sigh, "and yet we forced him to fight for us again in spite of it."

Roberto nodded with a stern gaze, "he had a point you know… you guys have taken him for granted."

"I know"

"So, what are you going to do about it?" Roberto asked, narrowing his eyes.

Elizard took a breath, "I'm going to give him a home here in London. I know the boy doesn't want anything fancy. But he should at least be given a small mansion for all he's done for us. There's a newly freed up one near the palace, it'll be fully paid for and the cost of food for Index will be paid for by the anglicans. Any misfortunate accidents will be compensated for so he doesn't have to worry about breaking any objects." She leaned back looking at the ceiling.

Roberto made an approving grunt, "a good start, but I doubt it's enough for you."

"No… it isn't, owe that boy my life, and… yet… this is all I can do for him?" She felt tears forming, "It's pathetic Roberto, I am the queen of England. Ruler of the greatest magic powerhouse in the world. And I couldn't even beat her… foot soldiers, I wasn't worthy to fight Index. She was the demon king, and we were just the cannon fodder. Even Accelerator was merely running for his life. We were nothing to her, nothing, the only person she viewed as a threat was the very boy we were trying to save." She let out a long depressed sigh "And in the end, it was up to that same high school boy and his right hand to solve our problems"

"What about… Index you know what she did can't be excused right?" Roberto asked with a stern gaze.

Elizard frowned, "you're right… but tell me, how do you punish a god like that? Do we… as mortals even have the right to punish her? I know we passed judgment on Othinus. But we weren't even there for the fight, we were just seeing the aftermath. We had no context for her circumstances, we had no understanding of what happened. If she hadn't ended up 15 centimeters in height she could have killed us whenever she pleased. All we did was take advantage of a vulnerability so we could boost our egos." Groaning she bit her lip, "yes, Othinus committed many major crimes. But did we even ask ourselves why she was willing to go so far? No! We didn't… Index and Othinus were both equal threats. Yet we decided to save Index, despite what she did even though we gave up on Othinus. Doesn't that make us unfit to judge them? When our biases cloud our judgment so much?" She took a breath, " So, I was going to leave her to the Kamijou-boy… everything she did was out of love for him. He's the one she wronged the most so he's the one who must pass judgment on her. It pains me more than I thought possible to rely on him again. But… that boy is the only one who could save her soul. After all… he saved Othinus," her head sagged and she closed her eyes.

The US president chuckled a little, "alright… I'll see if I can keep the identity of the star sized girl a secret. Shouldn't be as hard considering people really didn't get a good look at her. And her more defining features kept changing you know? We can't have the little goddess getting flack while she's trying to reform now can we?" He smirked at Elizard and the woman looked up and flashed a sad smile back. "Now…" Roberto became serious, "how are we gonna deal with the over two million displaced students from academy city?"

"I was going to have a relief zone built in London to help them be reintegrated into society." Elizard explained and sat up, "It'll take the place of one of the old commercial districts that was destroyed during Aliester and Coronzon's… feud. Inside the zone the students will live life the way they did in Academy city. Same rules, same teaching system, they'd be allowed to freely leave the zone outside however anyone coming in who doesn't emit an AIM field needs to be checked to ensure they have no ill intentions. We'll invite some of the old teachers and scientists from the city to help us. Of course we'll interview them first, can't be having any Kihara's sneaking in. The students don't need to take part of the relief zone however. And they don't need to stay inside as long as they abide by the laws. This is meant to allow them to reintegrate themselves into society. So they need to be allowed to see how normal people behave. It's worked very well for the clones, I just hope it works for the rest of the espers."

"What about those who stay in Academy City?" Roberto asked, "The UN holds authority there. And I doubt they'll be as lenient as you with the students."

Elizard sighed, "if they choose to stay there, that's their choice. I won't force them, if other countries want to have relief camps, they can. These children need all the help they can get after what they've been through, what about you?" she asked the president of the US.

Roberto grimaced, "I like your idea, and it would definitely be a good plan. I'll see if I can set up different relief zones around the country. We can trade notes for what works and what doesn't." He smiled wryly, "no doubt there will be a lot of political issues. The parents will be overjoyed though, their kids will finally be able to come home." A beeping came chrome the call and Roberto swore. "Shit… sorry, I have a meeting to get to, theres a really dumb bill I need to prevent from passing. You good on your end?" he asked Elizard. "Yes… you can go, I have my own battle to win," Elizard smiled as the foggy city of London came into view below the clouds. The video call ended and she buckled in as the plane began to land.

The world was a mess, and it was up to those in charge to clean it up.


Night had fallen over Academy city, lying in his hospital bed Touma's eyes blinked awake. The room was dark, and not even the moon could be seen behind the clouds. And even if it could, the curtains were closed so as not to disturb those inside. He wasn't due for another checkup anytime soon, and no one else was sleeping in the room with him.

So… what had woken the boy from his sleep?

"It's my turn you flippin chopstick obsessed moron, move over!" a quiet hiss with the hint of a Scottish accent could be heard.

"What? no! you did it last time you dumb seal in heat!" another quiet whisper with a soft voice hissed. "It's my turn so you move over," some movement in the corner of his eye caught Touma's attention.

Turning his head quietly to the side he checked to see what two annoyances were fighting in his room. Standing but a few feet away from his bed, grabbing and pushing at each other's faces. A basin of water with a wet towel just between them. Was Muireann Conan, and the girl he knew as Maidono, the were both wearing maid outfits for some reason as they argued quietly.

Muireann pulled Maidono's hair back from the basin, "I am going to be serving Touma-sama as his personal maid! of course I get more turns than you!" she hissed and clicked. "So back off chopsticks!" Muireann reached out to the basin only for Maidono to grab her wrist.

"Call me chopsticks one more time I dare you!" she snapped and pulled Muireann to face her. "Nothing's saying he can't have two maids! I'll be his second maid!" She shoved Muireann back and reached for the basin. But Muireann got her in a neck hold and hissed into her ear.

"Oh boo hoo you can't use chopsticks, who the fuck cares? I've never used chopsticks it's not worth murdering people over. Besides, you don't even have a passport! How are you gonna get to England? Besides! you've got an extensive criminal record! No way you can be Touma-sama's maid, you'd cause him too much trouble." She tried to pull her down, but Maidono twisted her wrist and reversed the lock.

"I said, don't call me that sea bitch" she hissed, "and you're not innocent either, you attacked his school and caused panic across the city!" Maidono accused Muireann before the selkie kicked her in the shin and pinned her to a wall.

"Sea bitch!? oh now you're bloody asking for a fight!" Muireann growled and pushed Maidono against the wall. "You tried to crush Touma-sama between two buildings!"

Maidono kicked Muireann's ankles forcing her to step back, "You tried to stab him with drugged steel daggers!" she snapped back.

It was irritating, that's what Touma thought to himself, as much as he appreciated them wanting to take care of him. He just didn't see the point of their argument. Hell, he couldn't even feel invested enough to blush at their fluttering skirts as they wrestled. The two 'maids' snatched something from their sides angrily.

"Oh fuck you chopsticks!" Muireann insulted pulling a dagger out and aiming it at Maidono's throat.

"Back at you you dumb sea-bitch!" Maidono snapped back aiming a boxcutter at Muireann's throat.

A sigh exited Touma's lips, really? Now he had to step in to make sure no one killed anyone. He really didn't want to have to deal with the complications that would bring.

And he really couldn't handle the tears that would follow after.

Sitting up, he rubbed his head as the two girls gave each other death glares. "Please tell me theres a good reason, why the two of you are ready to murder each other over a basin of water in this Kamijou-san's hospital room?" He asked and glared at them with a disinterested gaze, "because you woke me up."

The two girls instantly returned their blades to their sides and faced him. "We are very sorry for waking you Touma/Kamijou-sama!" they said in unison and bowed.

"You can go back to sleep and forget about this unpleasant interaction" Maidono smiled and put her hands together. "I will make sure that no one bothers you" she sent a sly glance at Muireann.

"Oh? what a coincidence, I was thinking the same, Touma-sama you can go back to sleep. And I'll deal with the trash," Muireann snarkily said, glancing at Maidono.

The boy facepalmed and let out a groan, "if you think apologizing while calling me 'sama' and giving cutsey bows is gonna make this Kamijou-san forget you two were just aiming blades at the other's throat. You're wrong," he gave them an exasperated look, "first of all, I really don't care what your reasons were. This Kamijou-san would really not have to deal with a dead body in this room. Or having been in this room while he was sleeping."

Maidono's mouth opened to speak, "But Kamijou-sama! she sta-"

"Second of all!" Touma interrupted her and glared, "I already saved you two once. And this Kamijou-san would hate his work to go to waste because the two of you got into a fight and couldn't get along for whatever reason."

Muireann pouted a little and looked away, "T-Touma-sama it's really nothing you should be bo-"

However Touma interrupted her as well, "Third of all!, this Kamijou-san would rather not hear about one of you going to prison because you shanked or stabbed the other. I have enough problems as is, and I really don't need 'friend imprisoned for murder' on top of that." He pulled the blanket away and turned, placing his hand in his lap. "So, what's the issue, and why are you two at each other's throats?"

Silence fell as the two girls shifted nervously and blushed.

Touma felt like slamming his head against the bed stand, "... please don't tell me it was something stupid. Because, right now? this Kamijou-san has no patience for stupid." He gave them a deadpan as he sat there unamused.

Maidono and Muireann glanced at each other making small angry expressions as if communicating. Finally Muireann cleared her throat, "W-we were fighting over the wet towel," she began.

"More specifically, we were fighting over who got to clean your sweat off with it," Maidono finished and turned away blushing brightly.

Touma stared at them for a good few seconds before his forehead met the bed-stand and a slam was heard. The two girls jumped as Touma slowly lifted his head and glared, "Okay… right… please… enlighten this… ignorant Kamijou-san," he began quietly. "But, WHY THE HELL IS THAT SOMETHING WORTH TRYING TO MURDER EACH OTHER OVER!?" he yelled at the top of his lungs. "Seriously! I already have one fully fledged yandere goddess to deal with! don't you two go becoming proto-yanderes! this Kamijou-san doesn't want or need it!"

The two girls in maid outfits silently stood making triangles with their mouths. The silence was so deafening you could hear a pin drop on the opposite side of the room. Finally, Maidono cleared her throat and spoke, "Y-yeah… that was pretty stupid… w-why did we do that?" she asked, leaning her head towards Muireann..

The selkie made a face and groaned, "w-were we that high strung? caught in the moment? s-stressed?" she asked, listing off possible explanations.

"Horny?" Maidono gave a sly grin causing Murieann to blush further.

"Oi! Ay was naut fooking harnie choopsticks! ya hear meh!" she shouted into the girl's face. She then shook her head and looked away, "B-but, w-we both just reached for the first thing we thought of in the moment when things got heated." She scratched her chin nervously, unable to make eye contact.

Maidono twirled her hair, "th-there was likely some envy going around," she stated looking at the wall.

Muireann pouted and glared, "you met him first!" she said, expressing her jealousy. "You've had more time to get to know him, and I only met him three days ago!"

"Hey! you swooped in and gave him a hug when he most needed it when no one else thought to do it." Maidono crossed her arms, "you earned yourself big sister points with him by doing that!" she sighed. "You've done more for him than I could claim, you're a lucky sea-bitch," she snapped and turned away.

"H-hey! th-that wasn't anything special! anyone could have done that! I-I just decided to do it." Muireann tried to argue back, "Y-You're a badass darkside girl who works in the shadows. You've probably been helping him in secret since you met in December!"

Touma could feel his anger reaching its boiling point. These two girls had tried to kill each other, just because the wanted to pamper him? Yeah he was a healthy high school boy and being pampered by two cute girls seemed nice. But, it pissed him off that they'd be willing to kill for it, especially since he just lost his understander.

"Please... you two, just stop," he said just loud enough that they could hear him. The two girls fell silent as he shook there, "I... don't get why you two would do this. I don't deserve any of it, I haven't earned anything from you two. All I've been doing, was what I selfishly wanted to do, and that led to so many people suffering because I messed up. I've only recently come to terms with the fact Index loved me enough that she was willing to literally eat entire realities." A shaky breath was heard as he lay back, arm over his face. "I... I'm not strong enough to have two people I consider friends kill each other over me. Not now... not after losing Othinus, I need to come to terms with my own feelings before I can handle anymore pain."

His voice was weak, fleeting, like he wasn't even really there. It hurt the two girls to hear it, he was like an echo of his old self. There was still... some semblance of the old Touma present, but it was hollowed out, broken. A mere shadow of what they remembered, and it tore at their hearts.

Muireann's lips quivered and she opened her mouth, "B-but Touma-sama, we're not trying to repay any debt to you. It's more than that the two of us, we both lo-"

Touma cut her off, "Don't!… finish that sentence Muireann," and she suddenly fell silent. A low blue glow coming from her chest, "S-sorry, I didn't mean to do that… that wasn't an order." A small pang of guilt hit Touma having realized he had accidentally activated her binding runes. "What… I meant to say Muireann was… please… don't finish that sentence. If you finish it, I'll have to face it, and…" he took a shaky breath. "I'm… not ready to do that yet."

He wasn't ready to face the feelings of the girls he knew. Not when he had lost both his understander and the foundation of his very identity. Before he could face the feelings of those around him, Touma needed to sort through his own. The dead didn't simply come back to life, not easily anyways.

The two girls were silent, before Muireann nodded weakly. "I… understand… I hope," she looked up tearfully, "wh-when you're ready then Touma-sama. I-I'll be there, I'll… always be there for you," her words pierced him like an arrow. "So… please… take your time," she turned and began heading out of the room, "come on chopsticks, we can't help him right now."

"I… I'm sorry K-Kamijou-san… w-we didn't mean to…" Maidono trailed off, unable to finish her thought. She closed her mouth and bit her lips as tears filled her eyes. Muireann gently began leading her out of the room as Touma watched.

He smiled softly at them, but his eyes were glazed over, hollow. Not even an ember of his will could be seen in those blue orbs. "I know… it's okay, no one got hurt," and just like that he forgave them. But it only hurt the girls even more so as they saw him lay back in bed. Those eyes were like twin abysses, all the light in Touma had been swallowed up. He was empty, barely even living, he just existed now, a machine that only continued to function in order to serve a purpose.

As the door shut Touma's gaze turned to the window and he let out a long sigh looking down at his hand. A cheap silver whistle lay there and he grimaced seeing it.

Shokuhou Misaki

Right after he had sealed Index, that pink and green bastard had given him one last gift as Touma had held Index in his arms.

'Heh… alright… I'll hand it to you bastard… you did it right this time. That was pretty impressive,' he had told him. 'I guess this means my time is up, we won't be speaking again anytime soon at the very least.'

Touma had glared up at the ceiling, "where the fuck do you think you're going you imposter bastard?" He had demanded his ability but only got a short laugh as a response.

'You fucking dumbass, honestly I can't believe this no wonder Misaka calls you a fucking idiot." Kamijou no Touma had muttered under his breath, before continuing. "I only existed because of a wish you made, don't you fucking remember that you brainless ape? You wanted to fucking use your powers better shithead, so guess what? Congratulations you piece of shit, your wish has been fulfilled you moronic piece of human filth. So what the fuck did you think was gonna happen now that theres nothing keeping me around asshole?" Kamijou no touma had mockingly said to Touma with clear irritation.

"Wait what?" Touma had felt shocked at the time, "You mean to tell me you're actually going? for good this time?" He had chuckled, "good riddance then, you pink and green bastard! Maybe this Kamijou-san isn't so unlucky after all! I'm gonna throw a party once this is over!" He had been relieved that he would finally not have to deal with that son of a bitch anymore. "Maybe I'll invite Accelerator and Hamazura, no doubt Tsuchimikado will be there. Hel they can even invite their friends as well, I don't even care if this Kamijou-san gets blackout drunk after!"

But Kamijou no Touma had other ideas at the time 'Oh I wouldn't be too hasty you fucking moron, I've yet to give you your graduation gift asshole!' he had laughed. 'hope you enjoy your 15 years worth of shitty fucking childhood memories dickbrain. Not like I'll have any more need of them now that I'll be fucking dead!" He had then mockingly gasped, "oh! Make sure to tell Shokuhou hi for me, coward. And compliment her lovely new mounds, they've grown a lot since we first met' He had said those words and vanished, and not a moment later Touma's head had exploded in agony.

15 entire years worth of memories had poured into his brain from Kamijou no Touma. And he now remembered it all, his home, how he was treated like the plague. He remembered how a man had stabbed him through the shoulder. He remembered Ayu, and Seria, how they had fought to save her and ended up discovering the beginning child.

But more pressingly

He remembered Shokuhou Misaki, the 5th ranked level five who he had once saved from Deathlock. She had visited him earlier in the night and gave him the whistle he held in his grip now. At the time he had been asleep, but that may have been for the best.

She couldn't know he remembered her, Touma realized, Shokuhou Misaki was much too dependent on him. She had been waiting a full year for a miracle that may never come, she had refused to see anyone else in that time. Instead she kept pining after him from afar. It wasn't healthy, she needed to move on but she couldn't do that if Touma remembered her.

So as much as it hurt to do, Touma needed to keep it a secret. If she found out, Shokuhou would end up falling victim to a self destructive mindset. That if she waited long enough, she would always get what she wanted. She'd think her miracle had been granted and grow self entitled believing they were destined for each other. She would be unable to handle rejection and become incapable of moving on from him. And if that happened, Misaki would turn into someone like Ainmire.

And Touma could not allow that to happen.


A/N:[ Craytherlay: Weeeell! That was quite a ride now wasn't it? Gotta say I felt it kinda weird that 68 took way longer than the epilogue to complete. Granted we had a lot of different things going on such as your boss being a bitch and laying you off. Me having IrL shit to deal with… covid, the works you know.

Dragonrails: Yeah, it was a total pain in the ass, almost a full month, my time was every where and couldn't get anything done, and yeah you dealing with covid, Touma's misfortune seems to be an actual thing.

Craytherlay: I mean the Kami-yan disease surpasses fictional boundaries. So why shouldn't his literal god damn misfortune? Worst part is, imagine breaker is useless in our world. But anyways, let's put that behind us and talk about these two chapters (well last chap+ epilogue) we've written. Cause damn the little interaction at the start with Touma and Index before the ritual began went through, a lot of changes didn't it?

Dragonrails: it was a pain, but given the amountof ideas and information we wanted to give, pretty sure rewrites would've been a bitch.

Craytherlay: Would have more like, the rewrites came on a later scene. This one just kept being added to, the baseline was really just Touma literally backstabbing Index with Gliepnir saying a few things before the ritual began. But we just kept coming up with more and more ideas and adding more and more… well needed emotion to it. Of course we had to work in a TouMAN speech in there with him shattering her illusions. But the real meat came after his internal monologue to Index. Index's shock and betrayal coupled with Touma's guilt and then the 'it's not fair' speech. Boy… this shit has to hit hard or it won't be worth the effort.

Dragonrails: That speech was a pain in my ass, I liked the first few tries, but when ideas hit you, one after another it really shows the improvement.

Craytherlay: Yeah I get you, it's not a bad thing but damn is it annoying when you're typing and you go. 'Right this should be it' and suddenly your brain goes 'oooohh but would it be neat if we did this?' and you're like. 'Fuck im right that would be really neat!' like with that part just before the beginning of the 'it's not fair' speech I added last minute. Where Touma responds to Index asking if he wasn't happy in her little reality.

Dragonrails: I liked the emotions in that scene, we wanted the reader to really think and Feel for Index's character change, having her kinda throw that in Touma's face as well as the others, I hope I personally made readers tear up a bit with Index's emotion.

Craytherlay: Oh hell yeah, this chap we just wanted to keep beating on people's hearts now didn't we? Guess your sadism has rubbed off on me XD, but yeah the little back and forth there was definitely a oof moment. Especially that 'it's not fair' speech, yeah I came up with the basic lay out and tag line. But damn did you take the emotion, and crank it up past 11 all the way to 20.

Dragonrails: good! I wanted the readers to feel something!, to think about all the crap that happened, and be like 'i came here to read a story, not feel like a total weeb and cry!', her "its not fair speech" I really liked how Index expressed that to Touma, true it was probably embarrassing for her to tell him what she wanted, but we did want Index to get the point across.

Craytherlay: And that's not even the first thing she has a point on in this chapter. I wanna really thank you for the whole emphasis on comparing her and Othinus. With her more Othinus side showing a lot more now that she's so emotional. Something that was much clearer with how she kept calling Touma her/their understander.

Dragonrails: oh man to be honest, I was really debatable on it, but I really wanted Touma to see an image of Othinus as he looked at Index, as it happens in some Anime's I felt like it would fit perfectly with what you had in mind, and having her switch between words, I wanted the reader for one brief moment to assume "Was Othinus slowly taking over? Or was Touma just seeing a mere echo of his understander inside Index" So it was a tough balance.

Craytherlay: we did debate on that for a bit didn't we? I think I suggested the idea of the 'ghost of Othinus' and you agreed. But then we had trouble figuring out how to do it before deciding on using the different ways which Index and Othinus refer to Touma. Now, the sealing ritual itself was already mostly planned out by me. The specifics of course were made there, but the idea itself had already mostly been solidified by the time I reached chap 68. I wanted to make it feel that each section of the spell was building off the first, the piggy back idol theory in effect. Having the combining colors changing shades was part of that. Of course then we had the idea of having Index go through, like the five stages of grief combined with the seven deadly sins after each section.

Dragonrails: Yeah glad I didn't really touch on that subject, even when you explained it, really felt like that went over my head, that's why I said "OK fuck it, you know more then I do about piggy backing on idol theory, then I do so screw it" although I only really liked the 5 stages combined with the seven deadly sins. And that's only because I actually studied them.

Craytherlay: Yeah, looking back at it we started with the sins, and then at the final part of the ritual we did the stages of grief. But elements of the stages were in the first few parts of the ritual as well. It paired well with how I described her power slowly being sealed away bit by bit. Personally, I love how we leaned into her referring to herself as a goddess constantly.

Dragonrails: Yeah, when i brought it up, you leaned up on it pretty fast, and it made alot of sense, especially with her loss of power, this was more her I'm stubborn towards the end, and her calling herself a goddess was down right awesome, at that point that's what she literally was.

Craytherlay: yep, she wasn't wrong, even if she was very clearly a hypocrite in every sense. And then hooh boy, her calling the harem and the Kamijou faction out for their treatment of him. That was good shit, and it highlighted the core of Index despite all her death threats and… well fates worse than death, threats.

Dragonrails: You mean one of the best fucking parts of the story that we created!, yes it took awhile, yes we both had sleepless night and threatened the other on this scene, yes I had to cut off a few discord calls because you were an ass, but in the end, we fucking got it together and brought out gold! We Perfected Index's thoughts perfectly and possibly Othinus as well, I recall us discussing that despite their differences, they'ed agree to hide the harem members bodies on a different planet at some point.

Craytherlay: I'm pretty sure your being overdramatic, but who gives a fuck it's earned. Why is it the best scenes are whenever we're shit talking everyone in the series? Granted 'perfected' feels a bit strong, but it absolutely applies to something with Touma later which we'll get to. And yeah I remember us having lengthy discussions on the diff between Devourer Index and Othinus. Which played into her speech/rant at the final stage of the sealing. Where Othinus would bring Touma to the stars if he said he wanted to see them, Index would bring the stars to Touma.

Dragonrails: oh Othinus the universal speech…one moment I feel the urge to cry, man we out did ourselves not going to lie, that speech really took some time to perfect, and had the most rewrites of the entire story possibly, with so much emotion going around in the end, I felt like it deserved to be a lengthy part of the chapter, that star line still Kills me…

Craytherlay: Yeah, it wasn't even that any one version was bad, it was just we felt we needed more. We kept going, 'not good enough' and rewriting, adding, tweaking and more to that long rant. I think we ended up really getting the ball rolling after we decided to separate it into three sections. A Othinus section, where you see the more Othinus side of Index. A middle where it begins transitioning to Index signified by the terms she uses. And then a Index section where she's full on showing her selfish side and angrily ranting. And fuck, this wasn't even the best fucking part of the damn story yet. We'll get to that, and hooooh boy is it a fucking epic ass one.

Dragonrails: if I remember correctly, we had to stop ourselves, otherwise that whole scene would've been, at least another 50k added to the chapter, compared it to a Mr? Chapter at some point. I mean that 3 part segment was something I really went in depth with it, with Othinus's emotion pretty much enhancing Index's desires, I felt like the emotional Rollercoaster was a good starting point, then adding Index's background and her anger towards it, only to find something stable, I felt like it was a good middle piece, and lastly the last segment it really showed that Othinus and Index would rather see him happy then themselves, they could have anything in the world, and do whatever they wanted, but that chances when that special someone gets added in the mix.

Craytherlay: Yeah, we wanted 'it bothers me' speeches, not entire fucking Mr? Chapters worth of a single character ranting. I mean with the number of those speeches alone I wouldn't be shocked if 68 was the length of a Mr? Speech. AND THAT ISN'T EVEN THE BEST ONE! But yeah, that rant by Index was heavy, with her going so far as to compare Touma to fucking jesus with how perfect she viewed him as. Showing how she and Othinus would do anything just to make sure he was happy. And yet also showing the selfishness of Index in how she believed Touma deserved things like a castle despite earlier talking about a small cottage. It just made it hit harder when Touma ends up putting the final nail in the coffin when she tries to use esper powers to break free. Fuck I cried a few times rereading these scenes. The way you had Touma mention she didn't need to compare herself to Othi was the perfect touch.

Dragonrails: Yeah even we teared up a few times, I really liked Index's fantasy, that was a big thing for me, she wanted a family, she wanted kids, It was pretty simple to imagine, but writing it out was a different story, even admitting to wanting them to lose their lust to the other, I felt really brought a new side to Index in the story it really brought Out that "i want to be the source of your happiness" sorta vibe.

Craytherlay: And now… we get to the part we fucking had a bawl with. The Kamikoto rant… not because of any shipping. But because both Touma and Mikoto were involved. To be honest, Rails I really felt you wanted me to make Mikoto a bit too whiny. Like dude, hating Kamikoto is my job, not yours. But either way, this was the fucking best part in my eyes. Touma systematically tearing down every last person present cause he's no longer taking shit from anyone.

Dragonrails: Excuse me? Too Whiny? Her whole character is literally Whiny and probably reeks of desperation and you said I was being too harsh and I said fuck that I wasn't harsh enough, I recall you saying it was your job to be the Kamikoto hater, still think we should've added more…

Craytherlay: …like I said… keep this up and I'll be out of employment at Kamikoto haters HQ. Well anyways, lucky you I did add more at the last minute if you remember. Cause damn that first section is fire. Because of course Mikoto would question Touma and Othinus's relationship. I just wouldn't make any sense to her, and she'd be unable to accept it. From her PoV Othinus was that evil, she had no context so… yeah, we kept adding to it asking ourselves how she'd view it. And we got a long ass rant from her, and then an even longer rant from Touma.

Dragonrails: That part honestly took, more time then we originally thought, but because of Mikoto's instant need for answers, we did have to add alot more, plus having Mikoto trying to rationalize Touma and Othinus's relationship to mere Stockholm syndrome was a big banger, in that part I felt it was something she do given you were right she had no context for the relationship between them.

Craytherlay: Indeed, actually I had looked up a few things on that condition a while back. While we don't know much on it, the mere fact Touma didn't condone Othinus's actions was enough to discount it as a possibility. People with Stockholm syndrome don't just defend their captors. They outright will try to excuse their actions, Touma never did, he just wanted Othinus to have a fair trial because he had seen past her facade. Something you won't see in Stockholm victims. So having him counter Misaka and explain that felt importan. Especially because Yeah… Touma would be concerned about that so I wouldn't be shocked if he did look it up to ease his worries. But that wasn't enough for Misaka which is why I then had her basically pull the 'look at all I've done for you' card.

Dragonrails: it was a pretty big part, but having her bring up a few things she did for him, it was a good opener for Touma's comeback.

Craytherlay: and he came back hard, I actually feel some of my bias leaked through. But I do believe I had him make a good point despite it. Having him call her out on sounding like anmire was a gut puncher. And then I had him refute every last thing she claimed she did for him. Before then having him utterly demolish her NT10 argument by picking it apart piece by piece. Which yeah I feel that argument was flimsy and everyone ignored how bullshit it was and the fact there's no way it should have worked on Touma. Yeah there are definitely some points to be given to Mikoto, but she still blew her achievements out of proportion. And then I had him go on to shit talk LITERALLY EVERY MAJOR CHARACTER PRESENT.

Dragonrails: THE BEST PART OF THE WHOLE FUCKING STORY YOU MEAN! THE BEST FUCKING RANT POSSIBLE.

Craytherlay: I KNOW RIGHT!? It was about damn fucking time.

Dragonrails: Finally, we get to this, this rant may not have taken as much time as the previous rant, but this one was definitely the one we had to keep adding onto, not just because Touma went off on Mikoto and the whole damn harem pretty much, he even shit talked Elizard and Mugino without a fucking care in the world, like for real at this point Mugino could've attacked him and he be too pissed off to care and knock her out without trying. Having him go off on Lessar and Birdway was also a big point in his Rant, like damn the amount of fucks given did not exist for Touma and the amount of burns not even holy water could heal those, for one moment I felt sorry for Kanzaki, having Touma let it all out and showing the effect his words alone had a big effect.

Craytherlay: it's enough to make a grown man cry, you could practically hear the nonexistent spirit of KnT cheering his ass off in the background. Touma had had enough and just fucking tore into each of the people there individuals. I mean even Ollerus wasn't spared from it, like you said 0 fucks given and burns so bad even holy water wouldn't fix it. Index noted it before, and now Touma went and backed it up. That part on Birdway was especially neat cause… fucking yeah where was the dawn hm? It's in character for Birdway to not bring them, but that just makes her worse when you think about it. Then there's that last part of the rant, cause yeah… Touma really is just cleaning up everyone else's fucking mess.

Dragonrails: Having Touma go off Elizard was also a good point, having him bring up her authority and status of a queen, it really drove that "Whats the point of having power and still failing to get shit done" come to mind, and it was cool having him tear into Ollerus it was a good add on.

Craytherlay: That was definitely a highlight… feels kinda sad that we won't have as much to say on the most wholesome moment in the chapter. Aka, our favorite Selkie maid (now with a design ref) pulling the Onee-san card and giving Touma the hug he's needed for fucking months.

Dragonrails: That part was adorable, it made everything emotional just right.

Craytherlay: hope the readers agree… but we know they will. They've shown they love the precious selkie maid. Now… if that final BoD scene felt familiar, then you've probably watched Spiderman Far from home. I modeled the BoD speech after the mysterio speech where they share a toast. This was also the moment I felt revealing the names of each member would be a good idea.

Dragonrails: I think you mentioned that, when you re-watched the scene, it was a good call back to the movie.

Craytherlay: what can I say? It had the perfect vibe, but of course… we all knew they'd fail. But honestly having Aliester give the final blow by just casually stopping the launch felt right. The scene with Aliester and Coronzon was purposefully comedic and I hope it got a few laughs out of the readers.

Dragonrails: I Thought it was pretty funny, the readers are sure to get a few laughs just them having the mental image of their banter should make them laugh.

Craytherlay: yeah that sequence alongside the one before it had a utterly shit first version. But this actually felt right, now finally we address this epilogue. Rails, you didn't have much input here, so I'mma summ it up. I decided to start with Elizard and Roberto to have them address the aftermath. Go through some of the consequences and even drop hints as to what may happen in the future. The scene after that with Muireann and Maidono was originally an idea for a possible sequel. But we decided it'd fit in here, when working on it it was called 'may the best maid win' if you were curious.

Dragonrails: Yeah it worked better for an ending rather then an opening, it felt like a needed peaceful moment before some type of disaster appeared again, but given the ideas we've had, peace is short lived for a reason. Also that KNT part was interesting to write, him having that last word and knowing he was gonna suffer in someway was funny.

Craytherlay: I think you mean, peace was never an option for Touma. Yeah, that KnT section was the only part of the epi I think you had any input on. But it was still good input and combined with the wholesome comedic scene from before. Allowed me to address the emotional change in Touma while also setting up possible future storylines. I wonder what the readers will think of KnT's parting gift. Well anyways, I'll be remastering old chapters next now that I've completed writing this story so watch out for those. But, I hope you've enjoyed reading this tale of an infinity.]

Oh? An aftercredit stinger? Whats does this story think it is? A Marvel movie?


Come on, come on, pick up the phone already!" a Scandinavian girl's voice hissed out. "You promised you piece of shit!" she looked around frantically, sweat rolling down her dark skin. A gold saw, hammer, tongs and other similar tools associated with smithing clinked at her side. She adjusted the strap of her overalls, her white hair pulled into two long pigtails.

The cellphone in her hand continued to buzz as it tried to call a certain number. Golden eyes darted from the phone to a piece of paper in her hand. A number was scrawled there in ink, blood splattered on the paper. The girl bit her lip nervously waiting for the phone to pick up until.

"Sorry, but the phone number you're trying to reach is unavailable or out of service. Please check the number and try again later," the electronic voice said and the girl's eyes flared angrily.

She swore, throwing the phone into the boulder she was hiding behind. "Lying piece of crap! You promised you'd be there if I called you damn it!" she glared hatefully before a voice spoke behind her.

"Trying to contact Kamijou-Touma? Marian Slingeneyer?" a boy's voice said behind her. It held a Norwegian accent and was oddly calm. "Honestly I'm not even sure he has the same number anymore. Otherwise I'd have tried to contact the one who our Goddess ate the gods for myself."

Marian spun around and swung her saw at the figure standing on the boulder. But he leapt back smiling, "Damn you little shit!" she shouted and tried to run. However she was cut off as a whip cracked in front of her forcing her to turn. "Fucking," Marian swore and tried to get away, only for a gauntlet to cut off her path. "Oh you have got to be," she ducked and turned only to find herself surrounded. "Kidding me…" she hissed, turning to the leader, "What the hell do you and your cult want with… Rolf Ansgar!" she hissed.

The ginger boy smiled calmly and gestured to her waist, "that… what else would we want?" he said pointing to the blade Dainsleif. "We need that blade if we are to free our goddess from the shackles that were placed on her." His expression was innocent but that smile creeped Marian back.

"You fanatical types disgust me," Marian snarled angrily, "all it took was for her to bring you back. After you were killed by her carelessness, mind you, and suddenly you're utterly devoted to her. You're even using magic based off of her!" she gestured, noting the designs of their weapons.

The whip was shaped like an armored serpent, the gauntlet shaped like mandibles. There were daggers shaped like fangs, swords designed like mandibles. Rolf himself held a spear designed off of Index's serpentine form. The blade held between the mandibles and colored to mimic the look of her godslaying fire.

"What makes you think that was when we first learned of her?" Rolf asked with a raised eyebrow. Marian blinked in shock as the boy continued, "we knew of her before that, we just thought we were crazy."

"Hah?" Marian said in confusion, the boy was worse than she thought. He was utterly delusional how could he have known of Index befo-

"Once we gained the memories of our other selves from her world. We were terrified we had gone mad, suddenly we could remember a world where everything felt wrong." Rolf began and leaned against his spear, "so we tried to prove them wrong. We called numbers we were given in those memories. Sent emails to people we had met in that world. Visited addresses for places we had seen in that past," he closed his eyes. "If any of those numbers, emails, or places didn't work or exist. We would know those memories were fake. But," he looked into Marian's eyes, "they did… they all… did. People answered the calls, replied to our emails and visited the places we remembered from that world." He lifted the spear and drew his finger across it, "we spoke about what we had remembered. Of magic, of world war three, of Imagine Breaker, and of the Index." He smiled softly and chuckled, "I had been terrified of that me I remembered, I told them of how I had confronted Index. How I had figured out what she was, and why she had become it. I told them how in my final moments I had activated the spell that gave us these memories. And then I told them I couldn't accept it as true." Marian's eyes widened in realization as Rolf's friends closed in on her. She reached back biting her lip, she couldn't let Rolf get Dainsleif. So if there was any chance of her escaping, no matter how slime she needed to take it.

"But that's when our goddess had shown herself, her armored coils tore through the building we were sitting in. That tail tore through me and my girlfriend's bodies killing us and everyone else there. And then, just as quickly as she had killed us, she brought us back. Not wanting the world to suffer the consequences of her battle. She had created that world we remembered out of love, the purest of love for another. And she had brought us back from the dead because of that same love. A goddess like her, no matter how evil, should not be chained to the mortal realm." Rolf lifted and aimed his spear at Marian, "so… we will do anything to free her."

Marian chuckled, "heh… I see… it makes sense, there are many spells related to memories. While I don't know the specifics, I can imagine there's a few that would allow them to be transferred to a similar enough body." She smiled nervously, hand gripping her only chance at escape. "I can see you aren't gonna stop till I either give you the sword, or you kill me. I didn't want to use this, it's not been tested, but you've kinda left me no choice."

Rolf's eyes widened as Marian pulled a long gilded blade from a sheath on her back. It had nine names on one side, and nine symbols on the other. A Norwegian Valknut and an eye under an arch with seven segments. "STOP HER BEFORE SHE USES THAT BLADE!" he cried out and the other members of his cult leapt forward.

"BIFROST!" Marian raised the blade above her head. "MIDGARD!" she swung it down and rainbow light erupted out launching Rolf and his cult back. The light arched past the horizon before vanishing, taking Marian with it.

"Rolf… was that what I think it was?" a blond hair hazel eyed girl asked.

Rolf grunted as she helped him up, "Yeah it was Hella," he growled under his breath.

Getting Dainsleif would be a bit of a pain now that Marian could phase hop using the rainbow bridge.

"that was Hovuth. the blade of Heimdall, the watchdog of Asgard."

The story will continue in [Index of Devoured Realities].