Aureolus Izzard caressed Index's cheek as she laid unconscious on a large oak table inside his office at the highest level of this building. His initial plan after 4 years of intense research was to make use of Deep Blood to attract a vampire to save Index from needing to erase her memories ever again. But he heard a voice that showed him a better way of saving Index.
For a moment, the Dawn-Colored Sunlight had amassed so much power thanks to a masked figure that there was a real possibility they would become the new ruler of the magic side. But when that figure vanished, the Dawn-Colored Sunlight collapsed due to infighting and the might of a united alliance between all of the surviving rebel magic organizations. The secret behind that figure's power was a philosopher's stone. And that philosopher's stone now resides in the right hand of a boy named Kamijou Touma. What the voice doesn't seem to know that the figure was Kamijou Touma all along. His identity was exposed when he rescued the leader of the Dawn-Colored Sunlight, Leivina Birdway, from the Tower of London after the collapse of the Dawn-Colored Sunlight.
His new plan now as suggested by the voice is to use Index as bait and the boy will surely come. Then, take the philosopher's stone from the boy before he realizes it using Ars Magna. There was no reason to doubt the voice. He could feel it deep down inside his heart that the voice was sincere in helping him. All the voice asks in exchange is that he tells no one about it no matter what.
Ars Magna may be powerful, but it's range was only limited to the building he was in since it required over a thousand brainwashed students to keep chanting verses for it to work. Once he has the philosopher's stone, his Ars Magna would have no more limitations. He would then become the most powerful person in the world. Saving Index would be as simple as willing it to be.
Kaori frowned as she stepped into the lobby of Misawa Cram School. It was a large space with a receptionist desk, a staircase leading further into the building, and an elevator. Despite being almost evening, there were many students loitering around the lobby, chatting about mundane things such as 'Which cafeteria is the best in this district?' and 'What movie shall we watch today?' Her skimpy outfit and the long Japanese sword on her waist stood out from the students who was wearing plain school uniforms, but they took no notice of her. Even the receptionist did not notice her when she stepped into the lobby. It felt more like they couldn't notice her rather than intentionally ignoring her. Also, the strange atmosphere inside the building was like a tomb buried deep underground. Kaori could not detect any mana inside. Somebody had sucked out all the mana from the building, leaving behind a vacuum that a Saint like her can detect.
"If I'm correct, there should be some kind of a barrier placed inside this building."
Kaori reached for her sword, "Nanasen."
A web of wires flew out from her sword, and as the air violently expanded, the surrounding students was sliced with her attack. But the slicing attack by the wires was absorbed by a thin membrane that seemed to be covering them. Even the ground which should have been torn apart, and the glass that should have been shattered by her attack was also covered by that membrane.
Kaori heard a loud thud, and turned behind to see Mikoto who had been knocked to the ground by her Nanasen.
"So you're at the back of the coin just like me. What are you doing here?"
Mikoto got up unsteadily and rubbed her arms to soothe the pain from the impact, "This is what I should be asking you. What the hell is going on anyway?"
"I'm Kanzaki Kaori. I'm only here to retrieve a girl who has been captured. I know nothing else."
The chairman of Academy City, Aleister Crowley, informed Necessarius that Aureolus was keeping Index inside this building to 'save' her from her annual memory erasure. Many others have tried, none has ever succeeded. Not even Kamijou Touma. Aurelous will be no exception. Her mission here was to get Index out of the building. But Aurelous has the Ars Magna that can distort reality within this building with just words, so even a Saint like Kaori might not succeed.
And the troublesome thing to deal with now was Misaka Mikoto from the science side who has witnessed something that can only be explained by magic.
Mikoto fired a lightning spear at a girl, and that same membrane absorbed the attack.
"See. Everyone is ignoring us, and none of our attacks cannot harm them. What the hell is going on?" said Mikoto.
"Go home. This isn't a playground for kids."
Mikoto shot back a defiant look at Kaori, "Listen up, I'm Misaka Mikoto, the #3 of Academy City known as the Railgun. I'm here to investigate the disappearance of students from this cram school. Why don't we work together and get to the bottom of this?"
"Very well. I'll explain the situation we are in now. The barrier in this building has formed a boundary like the two sides of a coin. The students are on the 'front of the coin' and can't detect those of us on the 'back of the coin.' We, the intruders on the back, can't interfere with the people on the 'front' who are ignorant.
"This is why my Nanasen cannot harm them, neither can your electricity. In fact, there's nothing we can do to change anything inside this building."
Kaori did not want anybody from the science side to interfere in the magic side for fear of disrupting the balance between the both sides, but she had no choice. The barrier was intended to make it easy for anybody to enter, but difficult to escape. It seems as though Misaka Mikoto was unaware that she was now trapped inside, and it would be unfair to leave her all alone.
"Any plans then? I've never seen an esper ability like this before."
"It's not an esper ability. It's magic."
Mikoto looked at Kaori dumbfounded, "Magic? Now you sound just like a kid to me. Just because we don't know what kind of a scientific phenomenon is going on doesn't mean it's magic."
"Did your friend Misaki not tell you about what happened to Kamijou Touma?"
Mikoto rolled her eyes, "That fat cow isn't my friend- wait what?"
"Kamijou Touma messed with magic and was lucky that only his memories got erased."
Mikoto jumped about the corridors with her electricity as she dodged a barrage of green arrows from a figure clad in amour reminiscent of a medieval knight. He had a long bow in hand, but unlike normal archers, he did not draw the bowstring and took aim. Instead, he held it up like a machine gun and started firing.
Since Mikoto was at the 'back of the coin' she could not apply any changes to her surroundings, which was located at the 'front of the coin'. The thin membrane that protects any changes done to it was the boundary between the two. Thus, she could not use magnetism on the ground to boost her movement speed. Electricity was supposed to be very effective against the metallic amour that the figure was wearing, but it seems as though it was actually something that looked like metal, but probably isn't one because her electricity was absorbed like a sponge. Luckily, the thin membrane covering the ground provided recoil. So she was able to take advantage of that recoil to improve her mobility by controlling the recoil distance with electricity.
"You're opposing a member of the Roman Catholic Church. Give up and let me pass." The knight's voice sounded like a middle-aged man.
"How about you just sit still and wait for Kanzaki Kaori to get us all out here."
"There's a lot you don't understand, science girl."
Kaori said that help will arrive shortly before leaving to find a way to break this barrier trapping them inside this building, but its been ages and not a single soul has appeared.
I have to retaliate somehow. I cannot keep dodging his arrows and hope for that backup to arrive.
Mikoto swung a lightning spear from her hand, and destroyed all the incoming arrows. She then burst forth with the same spear towards the knight in an attempt to slash his amour, but the lightning dispersed in a flash upon contact. Mikoto leapt over the knight, dodging yet another barrage of arrows.
The knight said, "My amour is fortified by defensive magic. It's not something you can break through with mere electricity."
"More like fortified by bullshit. What's next? Abracadabra with a magic wand?"
In Academy City where all supernatural phenomenon can be explained through science, Mikoto did not believe in the occults such as magic. Yet it was magic that caused Touma to lose his memories. After seeing first hand at how fucking bullshit magic can be, she had no doubt that if Touma somehow messed up a magic ritual to revive his step sister Kumokawa Seria, losing his memories was probably the luckiest thing that happened to him.
"Enough. I have no time to waste with an ignorant science girl like you."
The knight's amour shimmered red, and he began moving at speeds faster than the human eye can track. Mikoto could still track him through her electromagnetic senses. The only problem was that there was a small delay each time she hopped from one place to another. Even if she knew he was heading towards her, she was too slow to do anything about it.
The knight slammed into Mikoto and sent her flying through the open exit of the corridor.
Mikoto chose to lie down a little while and catch her breath first. The help that Kaori promised was finally here. He was a tall man named Stiyl Magnus with a barcode tattoo under his eye. Together with that man was Touma and Misaki.
Aureolus Izzard recognized the knight as one of the Thirteen Knights from the Roman Catholic Church who was probably sent by the church to eliminate him for turning against them. If the knight knew that he had the Ars Magna, perhaps he might have been able to escape death through a nearby exit with a movement boosting spell. When the knight noticed his presence, it was already too late.
"Be crushed to death," said Aurelous.
An invisible hand crushed the knight like a soda can. The amour had been twisted beyond recognition and blood flowed out from it. If one were to peer through the gaps, only chunks of meat and bone soaked in blood could be seen.
He wanted to deal with the Level 5 electromaster next, but Kamijou Touma and Stiyl Magnus had reached her before him, so he decided to spare her life for now. There was no hurry. The voice said that Kamijou Touma won't leave until he has Index anyway.
It's been 4 years since he met Kanzaki Kaori. She was still wearing that same skimpy clothing and had a long Japanese sword by the waist.
"Enough," said Kaori. "Kamijou Touma has already killed millions of people for the sake of finding a way to save Index but failed. What makes you think you'd be any different from him? I was also Index's partner like you and Touma. I too want to find a way as well, but not like that. I'm sure Index wouldn't want to see you kill so many people for her as well."
So this was the reason why Kamijou Touma wouldn't leave the building without Index. Touma must have also realized how painful it feels not being unable to save a single girl that he was willing to kill millions. Perhaps the philosopher's stone wasn't something that could instantly save Index, but the power it grants to its owner was nothing to laugh at. Saving Index was only a matter of time with the stone.
"Kamijou Touma did not fail. He gave up. I am different from that weakling. Even if it means killing billions, I will not stop."
A dangerous glint flashed across Kaori's eyes. She rested a hand on the hilt of her sword.
"Touma was willing to admit he was wrong to go about saving Index this way and ended the war he started. This makes him much more stronger than any other person I've seen."
"You've wasted enough of my time. Now you will forget the reason why you came to this building."
Kaori burst into smoke and a small paper doll gently landed on the floor.
Aurelous clicked his tongue. A decoy spell. Even a Saint like Kanzaki Kaori was terrified of his Ars Magna. Maybe he should be more cautious like Kaori and try to see what Kamijou Touma is still capable of before moving in for the kill.
He felt a slight chill went up his spine. Was it just his imagination? It was like there was something... moving within the boundary that separated the 'inside' from the 'outside'. Was that thing the reason why the Level 5 electromaster ended up on the 'inside' instead of the 'outside'?
Mikoto smacked her forehead at how shameless Misaki was. Because Misaki had no stamina to climb more than one flight of stairs, she insisted that Touma gave her piggyback ride up.
"Maybe you won't be so out of shape if you remove some of those fats from your chest," said Mikoto. Even though she would have liked Touma to leave that fat cow alone to die, but being a shameless fat cow isn't punishable by death.
"If you kneel down and lick my foot after addressing me as Queen, I will teach you my secret on how to dramatically increase bust size within a year."
Mikoto realized what Misaki was truly after when she saw Misaki's chest pressing against Touma's back. How could she be so naive as to think that Misaki was just being lazy and shameless!
Mikoto put on her best smile, "You must be getting tired Touma. Why don't I help carry Misaki instead? I'm sure her silicone breast implants must be really heavy."
Touma raised an eyebrow, "You sure you can handle Misaki? She's really, really, really heavy."
"And shameless I might add. Just the other day, I saw her cutting the queue for ice cream using her power," said Mikoto.
"That-that's not true! Mikoto is lying! And I'm not that heavy! I'll prove it with a weighing scale!"
Mikoto might have been lying about the timing, but she could still remember like it was yesterday that Misaki used her power once to cut the queue for ice cream and claimed the last Gekota Christmas edition keychain left. Did Misaki do this to spite her on purpose? Someday, Mikoto swore that Misaki will pay for what she's done. Seeing Misaki being so flustered was a small victory.
"Hey Stiyl, mind telling us what exactly is your plan besides following you around until you find a way out?" said Mikoto.
Stiyl Magnus looked like someone who could handle at least a few flight of stairs, but he turned out to be just as out of shape as Misaki. When asked why he didn't choose to levitate instead since he was a magician after all, he said that it was a pain in the ass to explain why most magicians only choose to fly as a last resort. Magic had just reached a new level of bullshit Mikoto never knew was possible.
"The both of you should be on the 'outside' as well. I don't know how are you two somehow on the 'inside' with us," said Stiyl. "Anyway, it's dangerous here, so don't think about anything else other than getting out of here."
Stiyl did have a point considering how bullshit magic can be become, but she was a Level 5 after all. She was capable of some bullshit feats if she wanted to as well.
"Stop treating me like a kid. I am a Level 5. I have enough power to fight against an entire army alone. There's nothing too dangerous for me."
"You Level 5s are always so arrogant," said Touma. "Our opponent is someone who can turn his words into reality. I'd like to see your electricity do something against such a monster."
Stiyl said that Touma's right hand could also negate magic as well as esper abilties, so Touma had to chop his right hand off when he attempted to use magic to revive his stepsister Kumokawa Seria. It backfired heavily on Touma and this was how he lost his memories. Aurelous Izzard, or the person behind this whole thing may have the ability to turn his words into reality, but Touma could negate it easily with his right hand. So long as Touma is around, Aurelous had to be careful in making his move.
They finally reached the cafeteria. It was the same cafeteria she had lunch with Touma and Misaki just this afternoon. The conversations that those students were having irked Mikoto. It was the same kind of conversation she would sometimes hear in the library about how some people should just drop out of Tokiwadai if they were not serious about studying despite said people trying their hardest to pass.
Mikoto waved a hand towards Kuroko who was also in the cafeteria with a worried expression, but Kuroko didn't seem to notice her. Kuroko must have been on the 'outside' like the rest. Mikoto thought of calling Kuroko, but her cellphone had no signal as expected.
"Will Kuroko be alright?" said Mikoto.
"Will we be alright is the question you should be asking," said Misaki. "Your Kuroko is on the 'outside' and can leave this building whenever she wants, so she'll be safe. We on the other hand are trapped."
Mikoto clicked her tongue, "Nobody asked for your god damn opinion."
This must be how the students in Misawa Cram School ended up missing. They must have somehow accidentally wandered into the 'inside' like her and couldn't get out.
Touma put his hand on Mikoto's shoulder, "Don't worry, we'll be fine."
Mikoto's face flushed redder than tomato as they locked eyes. Touma had a carefree smile on his face as his eyes seemed to be looking deep into her soul just to be sure that his message got through to her.
"O-Okay."
It was just a shame that Touma lost his memories. If only he... no, she can't just start crying here again. Calm down. Calm down. Calm... down.
As soon as Kuroko teleported away, everyone else in the cafeteria stood up and turned towards them.
"The pure white color is the proof of purity, the mark is-"
Another voice overlapped the first one.
"The result is the future, the future is time is uniform—"
More voices started overlapping each other.
"Uniformity is all, all is created by the past, the past is the cause, cause is one. One is sin, sin are humans. Humans fear, fear is guilt. Guilt resides within oneself. If in oneself there is something one despises, the wings of the seraph shall reveal your sins and purge it from within."
On every single student's forehead was a bluish-white orb. Mikoto pulled up an electromagnetic barrier to repel the orbs that was closing in towards them. She was thankful that her powers were still of some use against the bullshit that was magic.
Stiyl said that the only way to destroy the orbs was to stop the students from chanting. Misaki could do that easily, but there was just one small problem.
"My powers won't work unless you drop your stupid barrier," said Misaki.
Mikoto was immune to Misaki's powers because of an electromagnetic barrier surrounding her as a result of her AIM field. She could drop the barrier, but does the orbs disappear immediately after the student stop chanting or was there a time lag? It was hard to say given that it was magic.
Cuts appeared all over the bodies of the chanting students. Blood leaked from their eyes, ears and noses alongside with the blood from those cuts.
According to Stiyl, espers cannot use magic and if they try anyway, the backlash will either severely injure or kill them. Mikoto thought Stiyl might be bullshitting her, but now that she had seen it with her own eyes, she had to accept the fact that she couldn't use magic to bring Touma's memories back.
Touma sighed before raising his right hand, "I may not remember much, but I think this right hand can hold off those orbs for a while."
He clenched his right hand. The electromagnetic barrier and the bluish-white orbs vanished. Misaki pressed a button on her remote and the chanting also stopped. Only one girl was still chanting and it was chanting something that pissed Mikoto off.
"Misaka Mikoto still wears Gekoto panties everyday. What a shameful, shameful girl. May God have mercy on her soul. Misaka Mikoto still-"
By the time Misaki stopped the chanting it was already too late. The damage has been done. Both Touma and Stiyl shot her a strange look and said nothing while Misaki howled with laughter.
"What's wrong with wearing Gekota panties anyway! Would you rather I wear nothing instead?!" said Mikoto.
Touma grinned with a thumbs up, "Yeah."
Mikoto hurled a lightning bolt at Touma, "You pervert!"
Touma swatted the lightning bolt away, "Relax, I'm joking. You aren't even my type anyway."
"What's your type anyway?"
"I guess the onee-san type of body? You know, the kind of body with an hourglass figure and large chest."
Mikoto disappointingly turned to see Misaki's body fitting everything Touma just said. Maybe she should start to consider if licking that shameless cow's feet and calling her Queen in exchange for the secret for her onee-san body was worth it or maybe she should punch that smug smile off Misaki's face.
Touma clutched his chest in pain as he coughed out blood.
"What's wrong?!" said Mikoto.
"Don't worry. It happens if I use Imagine Breaker to negate things that my right hand isn't touching."
"This didn't happen in the past."
Stiyl conjured a flame sword, "Haven't you forgotten. He tried to use magic to revive his step sister but it backfired on him. It's probably because of that."
A green-haired man in a white suit appeared. This must be Aurelous Izzard, the man who could bend reality to his will with just his words. Aurelous must have appeared to take advantage of Touma's weakened condition.
"All of you will die," said Aurelous.
Mikoto felt her consciousness slipping away. This can't be right. She didn't even get a chance to fight him. But what was she really expecting against someone who could kill her by just uttering a word?
Aurelous Izzard smirked at the pathetic spiky-haired boy who was clutching his chest as he coughed out blood. A pity that he could no longer handle the immense power of the philosopher's stone. He might have succeeded in saving Index if he wasn't so weak.
"Did you give up on saving Index because the philosopher's stone was finally too much for you to handle?" said Aurelous.
"I heard about you from Stiyl. You sacrificed everything just to save Index from having her memories every year. The truth is, there was never a need to erase Index's memories. The human brain can contain a lot more information than you think."
"Kanzaki Kaori told me you started a war to find a way to save Index, and now you're telling me there was no need to save Index in the first place?"
Touma wiped the blood off his mouth as he stood up, "You fucking idiot. The church is erasing Index's memories because they're afraid Index would turn against them. The alternative was to chop Index's limbs off and keep her sealed in the Tower of London forever. But what if I obtained absolute control over the magic side? Things would be different, no?"
"What you said makes perfect sense, but you haven't answered my question. Why did you give up on Index? Was it because you can't handle the philosopher's stone anymore?"
A red liquid entity emerged from Touma's right hand and transformed into a dragon with its tail still embedded inside his right hand.
"The philosopher's stone you seek used to be a parasitical entity known as the Saigyou Ayakashi, but it turned into a Cinamanti sealed away from this world together with the Magic God Saigyouji for 800 years before my right hand undid everything."
Cinamanti was a legendary artifact in Buddhist mythology that could create whatever one desires just like a philosopher's stone. A Magic God possessing such an artifact was no surprise, but what he mean by his right hand undid everything?
A dragon claw pierced through Aurelous's abdomen. It was so fast that he didn't even have enough time to think of a word to say.
"I am now unharmed."
Ars Magna did not activate. Impossible! What was going on?! He could still feel a connection to the core that was powering Ars Magna, but it was like the core was... ignoring him?
"What did you do?!" said Aurelous.
"That dragon is the philosopher's stone you seek. Feel free to take it away from me."
Aurelous clenched his fists, "Are you mocking me?"
There was nothing Aurelous could do anymore. The plan was to use Ars Magna to seal the stone within the building before killing Kamijou Touma. Afterwards, the voice would give him further instructions on how to properly wield the power of the philosopher's stone.
"I didn't do anything. It is the Saigyou Ayakashi that took control of your Ars Magna. It also wants to consume your soul for attempting to kill me. You couldn't have possibly known about a philosopher's stone in my right hand. Tell me who told you that and it will spare your life."
Aurelous thought that it must have been his imagination, but it turns out that there was indeed something moving within the boundary that separated the 'inside' from the 'outside', and that something known as the Saigyou Ayakashi was also analyzing and experimenting with his Ars Magna by intentionally inserting that Level 5 electromaster into the 'inside' before taking it away from him! How pathetic. He regretted listening to the voice and bit off more than he could chew. Ars Magna, an inferior copy of a philosopher's stone, never stood a chance against the real thing.
For someone to become a Magic God, they will have to go through a special ritual. The Magic God Saigyouji was no exception. Her corpse was used in a grand ritual to seal the Saigyou Ayakashi away from this world so that it can never harm anyone again and this resulted in her becoming a Magic God.
Touma, true to his rotten luck, touched the exact cherry blossom tree that was keeping the seal active with his right hand before entering Academy City and ever since then, the Saigyou Ayakashi has become a part of him. In exchange for his lifeforce, it grants him power beyond just negating esper abilties and magic by touching it with his right hand. For a while, it could only allow him to extend the range of his Imagine Breaker because of the Imagine Breaker negating much of the Saigyou Ayakashi's power. But the Saigyou Ayakashi was also very intelligent. It began to consume the dragons and whatever else that was also sealed within his right hand to gain enough computational power to learn how to evolve into something that the Imagine Breaker can no longer seal.
"Bring Index to me," said Touma.
An unconscious Index appeared in his arms. He could use Ars Magna despite having the Imagine Breaker. A sign that the Saigyou Ayakashi was probably very close in succeeding in its evolution. The closer the Saigyou Ayakashi is in succeeding, the more power it can give to him without the Imagine Breaker being in the way. It would have been nice if it wasn't siphoning lifeforce away from him as well but since when was he ever fortunate enough?
Touma handed Index to Kaori, "Don't worry. I'll fix Aurelous's mess with Ars Magna."
Kaori also picked up an unconscious Stiyl, "How long do you still have to live?"
"Maybe a month or two."
At the exact moment when the Saigyou Ayakashi goes from 99% to 100% success, he will die because the process will drain all of his lifeforce at once thus killing him.
What rights did he have to cry? He could have created a world where Index could live happily. He also could have also created a world where Mikoto never had to kill anyone in her life. But he couldn't accept a world where Misaki had no part in it. Misaki deserves to be happy as well.
Kaori placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, "I will be praying for your happiness no matter where you end up."
"Promise me that you will keep making memories with Index even if she gets her memories erased again for the nth time, alright?"
"There's something I want to tell you while I still have the chance. Actually, I've... always had feelings for you. I know you don't feel the same, but I just want to hear an answer from you."
Touma chuckled, "I figured just as much. You weren't being very subtle about it in the first place. I see you as a very good friend Kaori. If you wanted an answer, here it is."
Kaori smiled with tears in her eyes, "I promise, Touma. By the way, you shouldn't lie to Misaka Mikoto about your memory loss. I'm sure she'd appreciate that you tell the truth to her. Goodbye."
She then picked up an unconscious Mikoto and Misaki as well. For a Saint like Kaori with superhuman strength, carrying four person at the same time as she left through an exit was not a problem at all.
Touma let out a long sigh. He didn't have the guts to tell Mikoto that he could have erased all of the pain she has been through, but he didn't because he was too selfish to not sacrifice Misaki. He would rather pretend that he lost all his memories so that there was no need to explain anything to her. He was a selfish asshole, and that's why he ended up in such a pathetic state.
Mikoto awoke in the hospital hooked up to an IV drip. Was this Hell or Heaven or-
"Onee-sama! You're awake!" said Kuroko.
"Hey."
Mikoto didn't know how best to tell Kuroko that she had been trapped in a magical barrier and how a green-haired guy who killed her by saying the word die. But Touma must have somehow reversed everything that the guy did.
"So how's the investigation coming along?" said Mikoto.
"Every missing student was found in the lobby of the building. They don't seem to remember anything other than entering the building for lessons. There are still so many doubts to this case, but Judgement HQ has decided to close the case since everyone was found."
"It's best if you don't look too deep into it."
Kuroko eyed Mikoto suspiciously, "Do you know something that I don't?"
"Do you believe in magic?"
Norikiyo Hana did not know that she was about to become Misaki's first roommate ever. No wonder the other students were both envious and jealous of her. Neither did Hana know that being both a Gemstone and a teleporter was so rare that she might just be the only person in Academy City who had such traits. But it's not like she had a choice. Hopefully this wouldn't draw much attention to herself.
Hokaze Junko was the second-in-command of Misaki's clique and was kind enough to give her a tour around the school.
"What was that frog with a red hat on it inside your purse?" said Hana.
Junko's eyes lit up, "It's last year's limited edition Gekota Christmas version keychain given to me by our Queen. I brought it out for a walk because I didn't want it to be cooped up in a box for too long."
Humans are always such silly creatures. Perhaps this was what makes them human after all.
"Here you are, our Queen's room. Please let me know if you need anything. Have a good night."
"Thank you."
Misaki's room was about three times bigger than the other student's room. She had so much clothes and other accessories she deemed it necessary to buy a second wardrobe to keep them all. Does a person really need that many clothes?
Hana changed out of her school uniform into something more casual. It would be terrible if she accidentally started a war between Academy City and London. Alright, a plain oversized T-shirt shouldn't cause any unnecessary misunderstanding.
Hana teleported into the room of the Archbishop of Neccessarius, Lola Stuart. At the same time, she had also used her powers as a Magic God to knock everyone inside the castle unconscious before teleporting them somewhere far away from here.
"Hello, Great Demon Coronzon. No matter how perfect your disguise is, it is pointless against someone who has studied the Prajnaparamita like me."
The Great Demon Coronzon. Its numerical value is 333 and its nature was dispersion. It has the power to sever the bonds of everything in the world and break down all of creation to its natural state. A potentially useful tool in severing the bond between the Saigyou Ayakashi and Touma.
Coronzon put her comb back into the wardrobe with a nervous smile, "And you are?"
"I'm Saigyouji, a Magic God based on Mahayana Buddhism. I hope you realize that makes me as much of a demon as you. Make your next move very carefully."
To use magic is to turn one's back on the teachings of the Buddhas and fall into the trap set by the metaphorical demon Mara that exists within humanity. She became a Magic God not because she had mastered a path of magic till there was nothing left, but because she had seen magic for what it really was.
Coronzon's blonde hair tore through the air, as if it was spelling out words on an invisible whiteboard, "The Sixth Call: thy name is RZIONR, fire of fire. Obey the words that rule the tablet of the same color and reveal thy pure power before me."
Fire burst out from nothing and gathered in Coronzon's right hand. Fire of fire. A pure element that could only exist in theory like water molecules with no impurities. This was magic no human could ever possibly produce.
Hana pulled out a folding fan from a blue portal and summoned a light breeze that extinguished the pure, blazing fire. Sunyata was not the negation of existence, but she had twisted Sunyata with magic to achieve negation like the current form of Imagine Breaker.
"Today, I will make full use of the despicable power that is magic to save a boy."
Kamijou Touma may not be someone special to her, but he was her unwilling patient and as a doctor, it was her responsibility to cure Touma with whatever means possible.
Coronzon laughed so hard she was clutching her abdomen in pain. It appears that she understood the irony of putting Mahayana Buddhism and magic together. The former seeks to see through illusions while the latter seeks to produce the most convincing illusion ever. Just like a psychopath who studied medicine just so to know how best to torture someone.
Hana transformed her fan into a Eight-Fold Mirror. According to Japanese mythology, the world once plunged into darkness and chaos when the sun goddess Amaterasu went into hiding in a cave, but a Eight-Fold Mirror lured the sun goddess Amaterasu out of hiding from a cave and there was light in the world again. Might as well infuse some Christian elements into the spell for some extra firepower since Christianity was the dominant religion in today's world. Her magic isn't only limited to the sutras found in Mahayana Buddhism.
"Genesis 1:3. And God said, let there be light."
A blinding flash of light vaporized the room into nothing.
When Misaki returned from the hospital to her dorm room, it was already morning. From what she heard from the doctors, they spent the whole night before successfully stabilizing Touma's condition. Touma's internal organs were so messed up that it was a miracle he even managed to make his way alone to the hospital. What was the point of having so much power if one had no means to handle it?
She was surprised to see Hana watch Magical Girl Kanamin on TV while eating a bowl of plain cereal. For a Magic God based on Mahayana Buddhism, Hana sure was rather casual in her behavior.
"Shouldn't you be reading a sutra or meditating while chanting the sutra or something more nun-like?" said Misaki.
"Even nuns have some free time to do what they like and I was never a nun anyway. How is Kamijou Touma by the way?"
"He's fine for now, but I don't think he can hang on any longer."
Misaki left a stack of medical report detailing Touma's current condition and entered her room before slamming the door behind her. She buried her face into the pillow, crying as hard as she could. Saigyou Ayakashi was like a cancerous tumor that no doctor could remove without killing the patient. She had hoped that the Ars Magna would successfully remove the tumor from Touma. But it turns out that the tumor was so intelligent that it sabotaged the Ars Magna in advance without anyone knowing so that it wouldn't be removed from Touna.
Misaki wiped her tears with the pillow before diving into a second wardrobe and fished out a helmet attached to a remote control with a wire sticking out of the remote. This wasn't the end yet. So long as Touma is still alive, she still had a chance to save him!
Hana passed a glowing blue cube to Misaki. If it wasn't for this cube, Touma would have ended the world the moment he touched the cherry blossom tree that was sealing Hana and the Saigyou Ayakashi away from this world because a Magic God like Hana was so powerful that merely existing would destroy this world. Luckily, Hana sealed herself into this cube before being forcefully sent back to this world.
Misaki inserted the wire sticking out of the remote into the cube that contained the near infinite powers of a Magic God. It was more accurate to say that this cube was Hana herself and the purple-haired girl that looked more like a first year elementary school girl than a middle school girl was just a physical vessel. Without a physical vessel, Hana would have been stuck with being a cube forever. With this cube, her Cerebro would have enough power to be usable. Basically, Cerebro extends the range of her Mental Out to infinity, but the amount of people she can control still remains the same.
"By the way, I've recently acquired a demonic sword that might be useful in severing the bond between the Saigyou Ayakashi and Touma, so let us formulate a new approach with this information in mind," said Hana.
Misaki put on her helmet and began to scan through the minds of every human in Academy City in search of pawns she could manipulate to set up a new board that would allow her to save Touma. She did the same thing last week and found Aurelous Izzard which allowed her to set up a board where Ars Magna would remove the cancerous tumor from Touma, but that ended up as a failure.
Found you.
Her next pawn to manipulate shall be Kiyama Harumi, a scientist desperate for a way to revive her students after an experiment on them went horribly wrong.
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madtad1: Thanks!
Author's Note:
It turned out be more than 6k words. Wow. I actually wanted to update on Monday, but there was a site-wide glitch so I chose to wait until that was resolved before releasing this chapter.
Anyway, let me start off with talking about Norikiyo Hana. She's obviously a character based on Saigyouji Yuyuko, but this isn't a Touhou crossover story so don't expect Gensokyo to appear or whatnot. I don't even think that Hana would have the same kind of personality as Yuyuko. Anyway, just a little info dump here about Hana. Hana is a Gemstone who became a Magic God and that's partially because her Gemstone ability is to end the life of any living being without any exception and also consumes their souls afterwards which grants Hana a shit ton of lifeforce energy in her body. But Hana exist only to justify some later events that is going to happen, so Hana may be very powerful but she isn't going to use that power to take over the world or something.
As for Touma, he may be powerful as well, but not so powerful to the point where he alone can maintain control over everything. That was why Touma allied with the Dawn Colored Sunlight to help him maintain control over territory he has conquered. I haven't really revealed the real reason why he started the war, but it is true that Index was the one that made Touma decide that he should start this war. Touma was Index's partner after all.
I hope this chapter isn't confusing. I tried my best to make it as clear as possible, but perhaps I will only know when you read it. This marks the end of our little Magic Side Arc and the next one will be a Science Side Arc. But the next update won't be so fast since I have finals, so apologies for that.
See you.