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Table of Contents
Illustrations

Prologue: At an Early Christmas Eve Intersection –

Prepare_for_Xmas_Eve!

Chapter 1: Just Like an Amusement Park –

Red_Wear,Big_Bag,and_Flying_Sledge.

Chapter 2: A Changing Academy City, the Night Before –

the_24th,Showdown.

Chapter 3: A Dark Conspiracy and a Barrier Gone — Enemy_Use_XXX.

Chapter 4: Interaction with Another World, the Starting Point —

“R&C OCCULTICS Co.Ltd.”

Epilogue: Snow and Crimson Cover All —

White_End.(and_Merry_Xmas!!)

Afterword

Credits

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Illustrations

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Prologue: At an Early Christmas Eve
Intersection – Prepare_for_Xmas_Eve!
>>December 24, 00:00 AM

>>District 7 Station Shopping District, Academy City, Western Tokyo

The three blades of a propeller spun round and round.

Those wind turbines could be found anywhere in this city.

A total of nearly 200 samurai walked through the blowing snow of

the city late at night.

“How is this a Christmas activity? What kind of exploitative nonsense

is this?”

Pardon me. They were actually the bright and shining girls of
prestigious Tokiwadai Middle School. One of them, Misaka Mikoto,
was (bare-legged) and wearing a thick duffel coat over her blazer
uniform. Her lips were blue and her eyes stared off into the distance.
Perhaps the bare legs during a snowy night were to blame. They
were very bare.

“I’m going to die. I mean it, die.”

“Onee-sama, if you don’t stay strong, you really will take a trip to the
other side of the Sanzu River.”

The twintail underclassman who insisted on using a very Asian

allusion even on Christmas Eve was Shirai Kuroko.

Everyone loved Christmas Eve and here it was. Even that forest
animal which had made the news by finding a digital camera and
taking a selfie would learn how to enjoy itself when thrown into this
environment. Yet there was no happiness here, it was cold enough

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for the puddles to freeze, and the girls were stuck performing a
boring school activity.

The airship slowly floating through the night sky gave a weather
report on the large screen on its belly.

“The 24th will be a sunny day, but the early morning and the late
night may have some off-and-on precipitation. The predicted low is 5
below freezing, so- wow, we might have a white Christmas to look
forward to!”

“It’s already snowing,” complained Mikoto. “And that’s why I’m

going to freeze to death.”

“Let’s stop thinking about death, Onee-sama. It is Christmas Eve

already, after all.”

Yes.

What did a little snow matter? For that prestigious school with both
history and tradition behind it, Christmas was a solemn, silent, and
pure date. No one was in high spirits here. They were busy
performing some outside special service work. In other words, they
were gathering up trash from the city. You can think of it as
something like a 24-hour endurance work rally. This was well beyond
the bounds of compulsory education.

The drum-shaped cleaning robots passing by were a lot noisier than

usual. They had probably been given the ability to spray hot air at the
ground like a hair dryer in order to melt the snow. …Although if they
simply melted it and left it there, it seemed like it would freeze onto
the road as ice.

Mikoto used trash-collecting tongs, which resembled the ones used

at a bakery, to pick something up from the ground. The cleaning
robot’s sensors must have missed it with the snow making the
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ground bumpier than usual. Once she had picked it up, she found it
was the plastic wrapper for a cream-filled sweet roll. Worse, the half-
eaten sweet roll remained inside and some cream had squished out
with a color halfway between white and yellow. This was the worst.
Instead of burnable or non-burnable trash, she had found some
kitchen waste. For once, she was thankful for the frigid December
weather. If this hadn’t been frozen, it would have made for a much
more horrifying visual.

She would sort the trash later. She sighed while, unlike Santa Claus,
she filled her sack with prizes entirely devoid of hopes and dreams.

“Ugh. It’s not like Tokiwadai is a mission school, so why are we even
doing this? Is it really worth it for the prestige and status it
supposedly brings?”

“Go down that route and you will end up rejecting the entire holiday
of Christmas since it came from overseas too.”

“I thought Academy City was all about science worship and digital
atheism.”

“Say a word more and we’re cancelling Christmas Eve and going
home.”

“Whose side are you on here!?”

“On the side that lets me go back to that feminine garden and warm
myself up with a certain someone’s body heat, of course! And that
someone is you, Onee-sama!!”

That broken response started to shift the focus of conversation.

However, this crisis was also the greatest opportunity for Misaka
Mikoto. She was not about to waste this once-a-year event on dull
drudgery like she was in prison.

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The entire student body was out at once.

If she was going to pretend to get lost, now was her chance.

Suddenly, she felt a finger tracing along her spine and heard a
whisper in her ear.

“(Misaaaka-san☆)”

She realized someone was standing right behind her, but she was not
foolish enough to look back. She looked to the glass window ahead
of her and saw a girl with long blonde hair casually pressing up
against her.

That was Shokuhou Misaki.

Mikoto was Academy City’s #3 Level 5 and this was the #5. Her
power was Mental Out, the strongest of the psychological powers.

Mikoto kept her eyes on the window and mouthed her words
instead of speaking them aloud.

“(Can’t you brainwash all the teachers with ease using your Mental
Out?)”

“(They know that as well as we do. Check out the accessories on

those teachers who can use their bare hands to beat down a teenage
girl who can use warship-level firepower. They have 2mm cameras
on their tie pins or their glasses have been converted into smart
glasses. They’re covering their blind spot ability by using both human
eyes and mechanical eyes.)”

Hence why cooperation was needed.

The Tokiwadai teachers had constructed a means of using their

inferior numbers to control a group of powerful espers. Not even

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Misaka Mikoto was naïve enough to assume she could brute force
her way through this.

Mikoto could handle machines and Shokuhou could handle human

minds. Those two never normally got along, but this was enough of a
reason for them to join forces.

“(You sure do work fast, Misaka-san. We want to escape ASAP, so I’m

less worried about the teachers than that straitlaced Judgment girl
who can Teleport after us. I’m glad you restrained her for me so
quickly☆)”

“…”

“(What, surely you aren’t feeling guilty at the last second. To be

clear, I left the girls from my clique behind. Moving as a large group
would slow us down and be far too conspicuous. Letting your
emotions get the better of you will only lead to failure. And then
we’ll all be stuck sitting out in the hallway for a Christmas of
maximum gloominess ability.)”

She knew that.

She really did.

But what had Shirai Kuroko done wrong while she cheerfully
hummed alongside Mikoto? In her own way, she may have been
planning for an enjoyable Christmas with her roommate. Was it
really right to throw all that out? While feeling the pull of freedom
and the opposing pull of responsibility, Mikoto glanced over at her
underclassman’s lovely face in profile and heard the girl speaking
under her breath.

“Eh heh heh. I get to spend this special day alone with Onee-sama.
Yes, that’s right. The teachers are so strict with us that there is no
way anyone can escape the dorms. I can just sit back and watch as
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we are more or less confined to our rooms. Between Christmas Eve
and Christmas itself, that means 48 hours with Onee-sama all to
myself in a secret closed room with no prying eyes. No one can get in
from outside to interrupt us, so I can tie up my beloved Onee-sama,
lay her on the floor, put a blindfold, headphones, and a gag on her to
rob her of her usual senses, and then use lots of special oil to – eh
heh, geh heh – to not just make adults of us both, but to abandon
our humanity altogether while we crash through the door of XXX
and-”

“Shokuhou, do it now!”

Mikoto interrupted with a command to the other girl.

While still clinging to Mikoto from behind, Shokuhou Misaki pulled a

TV remote from the small bag she wore over her shoulder and gently
pressed it against the back of (daydreaming) Shirai Kuroko’s head.

She pressed a silent button and the chestnut twintails girl’s head
wobbled slightly.

Shokuhou Misaki’s Mental Out was the strongest psychological

power.

But it had such a broad range of applications that it was difficult to

control even for her, so she used different remotes as a form of self-
suggestion to create categories for her power.

And of course…

“Hey.”

The teachers knew what her power could do, so tension ran through
the one monitoring them once the blonde girl reached for her bag.
She reflexively called out in a strict voice.

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“Shirai, where did you find that remote? Was the actual digital
recorder not thrown out along with it!?”
“What?”

She was focused on the remote, but not in the right way.

However, the teacher did not notice the shift in her own thoughts.

“What remote? This is a kamaboko board.”

But the item the confused twintail girl waved in her defense was an
empty chocolate bar box.

“No, you definitely had a remote. It has to be around there

somewhere!”

“Again, this is a kamaboko board.”

“It is a remote!!”

The two of them got unnaturally particular about something

meaningless.
Meanwhile, the honey-blonde girl with the real remote in hand was
laughing. She was of course within both arguers’ field of vision, but
neither one mentioned her at all. As usual, that girl had a knack for
mischief.

The minor argument between student and teacher created a

disturbance in their ranks as the sheltered girls gathered around to
watch.

“What about the smart glasses?” asked Shokuhou with a wink.

“Already dealt with.”

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Even if they were running off, they could not just throw out the
tongs and half-filled trash bags they were using, so they left them by
the main road where the robots would find them.

Now came the tricky part.

Mikoto gave her casual response and then slipped away from the
crowd into an alley between multi-tenant buildings.

She removed the GPS tracker locked to her right ankle and did the
same for Shokuhou who had come with her and she tossed them
into the gap between beer cases piled up nearby. Then she wrapped
her arms around the blonde girl’s skinny waist and leaped straight
up. She used her power over magnetism to use the reinforced
concrete wall as a foothold and ran all the way up to the 5-story
building’s rooftop. It was a lot like using the giant lifting magnet that
cranes used to move abandoned cars in a scrap yard.

This was an example of Academy City’s esper powers.

That bizarre technology used electricity, drugs, suggestion, and all

other scientific approaches to distort the “reality” an individual saw
in order to intentionally have them make ordinarily-impossible
quantum observations so that the micro observations could produce
macro phenomena.

“But this is only Step 1☆” said Shokuhou while leaning out over the
roof’s railing.

Several girls quickly ran into the alley they had just left. These were
the high Level espers that could be seen as the royal guard of
Shokuhou’s clique, the largest in Tokiwadai.

Escaping to the roof was not enough. A mere 5 stories was

meaningless when their pursuers could find any number of ways to
climb the vertical wall in a single second.
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“Since you took this risk to escape from Tokiwadai’s watchful eyes, I
can assume you want to enjoy your freedom ability for the 24th and
25th, right? Then we need to really work at this escape.”

“Hmm. Shokuhou?”

“Of course, if a girl with your pitiful chest ability heads out into the
city alone on Christmas, you might just end up depressed at all the
happy couples you see around you. Peh heh heh.”

“There were plenty of other ways to shake pursuit, so why do you

think I immediately chose this rooftop?”

“What?”

The blonde girl blinked a few times and the demon named Misaka
Mikoto grinned back at her.

“Because this lets me cut our ties and run off the instant I don’t need
you anymore.”

“Ahh!? Wait, Misaka-san! Surely you aren’t going to abandon me up

here!”

When Tokiwadai’s Queen finally caught on, she began to panic, but
Mikoto hopped off the edge of the roof with that smile still on her
lips. She was of course alone this time. She could use powerful
magnetism to easily leap from building to building because she was
Academy City’s #3 Level 5. The #5 could not do the same.

“Ahh hah hah!! Have fun taking all the blame for yourself and
spending a gloomy Christmas seated out in the hall, Shokuhou!
Victory is mine!! Mwa ha ha ha ha ha!!”

“I-I will utterly eradicate you for this!! I swear I’ll do it, Misaka-
saaaan!!!!!!”

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There was only one response for those desperate cries: sticking out
her tongue.

She was confident Shokuhou had similarly intended to betray her the
instant they were safely away. They had never gotten along and
cooperation born of necessity would never last long.

Academy City had seemed so dark from the ground, but from up
here, it was a sea of decorative lights. 80% of the city residents were
students, so its trains and busses stopped running early, but the
college students and teachers still went out to enjoy the nightlife.
The Tokiwadai teachers had probably chosen a route that
intentionally stuck to more deserted areas so the students would not
be tempted by anything they saw.

“…”

The reality of her situation finally caught up to her.

It was Christmastime and she was free to do what she liked.

“~ ~ ~!!”

Her youthful spine trembled from the overwhelming sensation of

liberation and she just about lost control and crashed into a building
wall. She pressed the soles of her leather shoes against the wall and
used magnetism to reduce her speed while descending to the
surface level.

She raised her arms, stretched her back, and let the free night air
wash over her body.

She had assumed the shopping district would be overrun with

couples at this time of year, but there was a much wider variety of
people around. She saw a group of girls walking into a karaoke box
and she saw siblings heading back to their dorm with a whole cake

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they had bought. Based on the cake’s cardboard box, they were
apparently decorated with a parent snowman and a child snowman
who were the stars of a foreign 3DCG animated movie. She saw
plenty of people out on their own in the long line for the latest fad:
custom donuts with decorations based on your birthdate, blood
type, and lucky color.

(Hmm. I had heard on the news people treat Valentine’s chocolate a

lot differently nowadays, so maybe this is similar.)

Of course, it was unusual for elementary and middle school kids to

be out and about at midnight. Yes, the 24th was an unusual day. The
adults from Anti-Skill, the law enforcement group made up of
volunteers from the teachers, were holding megaphones in hand and
shouting from the top of their vehicles modified from SUVs.

“You can buy cakes if you like, but eating them here is against your
school rules. I repeat, you can only buy them and head home!
Pweeee!! You, the happy couple over there! I am willing to overlook
holding hands, but princess carrying her is over the line!! Do you
want me to take you into protective custody so you spend the 24th
in a holding cell!?”

Even those straitlaced teachers were letting it all happen. And the
lectures felt really performative, like the entire point was for people
to get video of it and post it on social media.

There were a lot of happy couples that Mikoto could not bear to look
at, but she at least would not stand out and gather attention for
being out alone.

There was lots she wanted to eat and to do.

She checked a roadside clock and saw it was exactly midnight.

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(This freedom only lasts for the 48 hours of Christmas Eve and
Christmas itself. I should go around doing all the things I want to do
on my own to waste some time until morning. It would be rude to
start calling that idiot up at this hour.)

That thought naturally appeared in her mind, but then she gasped.

She wanted to push her limits. There was lots she wanted to try out.
At the very least, she was sick of Christmases fully managed by the
adults. …But why did that pointy-haired idiot come to mind as the
person to do those things with? And now that his face was there in
her mind, it wouldn’t go away!? Then again, it was true he was the
only boy she could think of who she could drag around to do these
things!!

(Wait, wait.)

She decided to not look in the show windows.

Because then she would see her face reflected there.

(Wait, wait, wait!! Yes, he’s just a placeholder. Like a mannequin!

There are things I want to do on Christmas and you need a partner to
do those things. That’s all this is!!)

But it seemed Christmas Eve had already begun because a miracle

suddenly appeared in front of that dreaming girl.

It ran by at the intersection in front of her.

Kamijou Touma was running full speed with a horrified look on his
face and with a naked little girl in his arms.

“Wha-?”

Her thoughts ground to a halt.

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But the clock was still ticking in reality. While she froze up and was
left behind, the pointy-haired boy ran off while princess-carrying an
unfamiliar little girl and with a large group of delinquents giving
chase.

“Wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-what!? Hold on! What the hell kind of Christmas

Eve are you having!?”

Kamijou Touma himself had no answer for anyone asking what was
going on here.

Q. What was he doing?

She was naked.

This time, the girl was entirely nude.

Was there no limit at all to his misfortune?

“Keh heh heh.”

The little girl in his arms looked up at him with sticky eyes and her
lips formed a crescent moon slash of a smile. She was a small girl of
about 10 with milk-white skin and strawberry-red hair…but the
wicked look on her young face was the complete opposite of
childlike innocence.

She seemed delighted to have him princess carrying her.

Was that a sheet or a dress? Regardless, she held a thin and wholly
inadequate red cloth up to her chest while kicking her bare feet
around in a depressing sort of good cheer.

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“Eh heh. Eh heh heh heh. Christmas Eve with a romantic focus? It’s
barely recognizable like this, but it is rife with unexpected
excitement. Keh heh heh heh heh.”

“Hold on. Something isn’t right here. What kind of crazy personality
is this? What’s next, are you going to say you’re an extraterrestrial
queen who rode down to earth on a meteor to have some fun!?”

He had left to visit the local convenience store.

He had heard something out back and taken a peek.

He had found a little girl there.

Worse, she had pulled out a phone on a whim and used her small
hand to aim it toward a bunch of extremely “intellectual”
delinquents who were tampering with an ATM’s optical fiber to steal
the card numbers and PINs of everyone who used it.

Also, they had not stripped her of her clothing or anything like that.

She had been undressed from the beginning. The naughty girl had
been boldly walking around the city at night and secretly filming the
delinquents from around the corner to enjoy the depressing
situation herself.

Was Academy City a complete lost cause at this point?

“Hey, get back here!! Did you just film us!? Wait!!”

“Awawa! This is bad news, boss!! We’re screwed if she uploads that
to a video site!!”

“Worry more about Anti-Skill since they have handcuffs and

handguns!! And isn’t what he’s doing even worse!? How are we the
bad guys here!?”

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Those people had a lot of energy for people wearing tank tops during
winter. Their list of equipped items must have included “thick
muscles” in addition to “pants” and “underwear”. Also, reasons for
picking a fight with someone had apparently been upgraded for the
digital age. If you decided to film everything around you just because
you had a phone and nothing better to do, you might just trigger a
fight with someone. Especially if you caught them in a criminal act!

Why is this how I’m spending Christmas Eve? wondered Kamijou.

Why is this how any of us are spending Christmas Eve!? he added.
“It’s winter and it’s snowing. We can see our breath, so what in the
world were you doing!?”

“It’s not like I’m doing this because its winter. In fact, I was kind of
wishing spring would arrive before long.”

“…”

“Oh?”

Children might not seem like they noticed much, but they could
actually be quick to pick up on slight shifts in the atmosphere. The
little girl briefly stopped kicking her bare feet.

He could not engage in small talk about the spring.

Because his memories only went back to summer.
However, explaining that to her would not solve anything. For now,
he had only lost his memories and he still remembered how to read
and write and what he had studied at school, so it did not cause too
much trouble in his day-to-day life. He consciously regulated his
breathing, but the season caused trouble for him again. With his
breaths visibly white, it felt like she could see a portion of his
thoughts.

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However…

“How are you planning to get away?” asked the sticky(?) little girl
through her crescent moon smile.

She was only a little girl, but she was still a little girl. That excess
weight in his arms slowed him down. The delinquents looked like
they would catch up if he tried running full speed in a straight line, so
he zigzagged his way through small side roads and around corners to
try to escape out of sight instead of simply getting as far away from
his pursuers as possible.

“Where the hell’d they go!?”

“Send in the car! We had a self-driving car waiting, so have it cut

them off on the other side!!”

“I just sent out a drone! They can never escape our predator’s net
with my all-seeing celestial eye peering down at them!!”

(Ehh? This is why you shouldn’t give idiots all this fancy tech!! That
monkey that took a selfie with the camera it found in the forest was
better than this!!)

Also, one of them seemed to have yet to fully get over his chuuni
phase. If only they were a cute and harmless girl instead.

But regardless, these were the people who had been tampering with
the optical fiber attached to the ATM behind a convenience store.
After flunking out of Academy City’s esper development program
and being branded a Level 0, they may have decided to rely on tricks
and tools instead.

But on the other hand…

(They’re relying on tech like a self-driving car and a drone. In that

case…)
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“The subway!!”

That allowed him to escape both of those at once.

Academy City’s trains stopped running when the student curfew

came into effect, but the shops and connecting passageways within
the stations stayed open late. Kamijou ran down the stairs with the
naked little girl in his arms and finally set down that bright-skinned
luggage.

He crouched down to put himself on her eye level.

His vast experience with misfortune had taught him that life-or-
death situations were not always dramatic affairs. No matter how
stupid it all was, you would lose your life if you did not take it
seriously. Now was the time to trust in the tense atmosphere he
sensed.

“Listen, there are 6 exits from this station, but ignore them all. The
connecting passageways in here will take you to the next station
over, so you should be able to leave that station and be outside the
range of their drone surveillance. I’ll lure those idiots to the west, so
you use that opening to leave the next station over and run to
somewhere with a lot of people. Pretty much every major station
that joins with a surface line will have an Anti-Skill station. Today is
the 24th, so they’re sure to be out in the public square patrolling.
Got that?”

“I’m scared, Onii-chan.”

“Oh, shut the hell up!! I can’t compromise any more than this!!”

“Also, this strategy meeting is taking a while. Did we really have time
to stand around talking?”

“…?”

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Kamijou Touma finally realized something was amiss.

Booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooom!!!!!
!

A deafening roar reverberated in his gut.

But not from ahead, behind, left, or right. It came from above.

The fear seemed to slap him on the cheeks instead of ringing in his
eardrums, so it may have been similar to having lightning strike a
large tree not 5m away.

Lightning.

A high-voltage current.

But he was not bleeding or burnt. This was a subway station.

Needless to say, the thick ground protected him from above. That
had not immediately occurred to him, but that may have been
because his mind experienced a few seconds of confusion similar to
being hit by a stun grenade.

Yes, something had happened outside.

Kamijou looked up at the concrete ceiling.

“You stay here.”

Something highly unusual was afoot. He could no longer run away

blindly and hope to escape. If he did not get a look at this and grasp
the rules of what he was up against, he was sure to die. Even in this
world of science, that “premonition” sank into the center of his back
like an invisible needle.

He even held his breath as he placed his feet on the cold concrete
stairway.

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One step.

Two steps.

Three steps.

As he gradually made his way to the surface, the prickly feeling on his
skin continued to grow. He assumed it was due to his tension at first,
but he was wrong. This was physical. He saw a faint light like glow-in-
the-dark paint or like a fluorescent light you thought you had
switched off. The air itself was electrified.

A faint stench hit his nose.

It was an unfamiliar stench that reminded him somehow of

disinfectant. It may have been ozone.

He had to remain hidden.

He knew that intellectually, but he could not stop his biological

reactions. He gulped.

And.

So.

“Hey,” said a girl’s voice.

That was all there was. Those high-tech morons had been armed
with nonmetallic knives, batons, and even bows and arrows made
with a 3D printer, yet they all lay motionlessly strewn across the
ground around a single figure. A mass of metal sat gaping open like a
bear trap. Was that the self-driving car by any chance?

One person had done it all.

The nearby streetlights must have been knocked out of commission

because it was darker than before. Something like bluish-white will-

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o’-the-wisps were floating around, but was that St. Elmo’s fire, a
form of corona discharge? On closer inspection, he could see it was
the very ends of a wind turbine’s three blades that were faintly
glowing.

But just as firefly light was not enough to light up a dark forest, those
few points of light were not enough to prevent the area from being
engulfed in shadow.

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So at first, he could only see the silhouette of the person standing in
the center of it all.

Bluish-white electricity crackled like a bug zapper and illuminated the

energy source that could supply up to a billion volts.

He saw short brown hair, triumphant eyes, and a small build.

The triumphant girl wore a fluffy Tokiwadai Middle School duffel coat
and the bottom of a short skirt and her bright bare legs stuck out
from below that.

“Misaka?”

“I would really like an explanation for all this.”

He would love one of those too. What was a middle school girl from
that prestigious school doing out of her dorm and wandering the city
at this hour of night and why had she appeared out of nowhere to
deal with those delinquents using a high-voltage current?

Not all evil deeds were the result of some master plan. This place
was full of dangerous weapons that could be used to kill on a
momentary whim.

Or did none of that register as a threat to this girl?

Level 0, Level 1, Level 2, Level 3, Level 4, and Level 5.

80% of the city, a total of 1.8 million people, were ranked into those
six categories and she was part of the group at the very top.

She had talent only seen in 7 people within Academy City.

Of those 7, she was #3, the Railgun.

She was said to be the strongest when it came to purely electric

powers.

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“Yeah, well, explaining this could be tricky. You see, I got roped into
this all of a sudden and was just running for my life, so I don’t
actually know what’s going on. But I think I did pretty good for a
Level 0. So-”

He never finished his sentence.

His entire body was hit, not by a sound, but by a shockwave that was
unleashed after breaking through the insulation of the air. Yet
Mikoto had not been trying to attack him. Even this was only an
accident. She had simply failed to control her power properly and a
jumbled mess of electricity had shot from her bangs.

Although even that may have been enough to kill someone if it hit
them.

But Kamijou Touma was not killed.

Glowing remnants of the electricity burst from the right hand held
out in front of his face. With an estimated output of more than a
billion volts, the average radar would explode with sparks if it was
nearby when she did that. Yet he had negated it with non-insulated
flesh and blood.

So…

“A Level 0? Don’t give me that crap.”

Her voice was awfully low for a lovely girl, even if she was hanging
her head.

This was a certain boy’s one and only power – Imagine Breaker.

It only affected his right hand up to the wrist, but it could negate any
and all supernatural powers.

A belligerent look entered his eyes.

Page | 32
“I was hoping to peacefully share what information we had and do
some investigating to check on some things, but it doesn’t look like
that’s going to happen. …Man, and I really wanted to save this brute
force method for a last resort!!”

“Peacefully?”

The girl repeated the word back to him and then she finally raised
her head.

The #3 glared straight at the boy.

“What about this was peaceful!? Who is that naked girl!? Do you
even know what day this is!? Christmas Eve has already begun, so
how did you end up doing this!? Did you want to be the shining star
of the pervert world or something!? Are you stupid!? Were you
trying to get yourself killed!? And you wanted to do some
investigating!? What were you hoping to ‘investigate’ by bringing a
naked little girl into a dark and cold deserted subway station!? Well,
do you have anything to say for yourself!!!???”

Oh, no, thought Kamijou.

What do I do? This rich and violent girl is making some good points.
Maybe I took several wrong turns along the way here.
And while he stood there in a daze, a demon lurked up from behind.
The naked little girl clung to the side of his hip with only the thin and
inadequate cloth pulled up to her chest.

Her lips still formed a crescent moon slash of a smile.

Misaka Mikoto’s eyes began spinning in a panic.

“I’m scared, Onii-chan.”

“Wha-?”
Page | 33
“Go beat up the scary bad guy. Then we can have a secret nighttime
stroll together, okay? Hee hee hee. Christmas Eve only comes once a
year, but it has only just begun.”

“…!!”

All of Kamijou’s hair stood on end.

A moment later, something left Misaka Mikoto.

Or rather, a minor blue explosion burst from her in all directions.

Between the Lines 1

Academy City had a population of about 2.3 million, 80% of whom
were students.

The giant city took up a third of the Tokyo metropolitan area and the
rules differed in many ways inside and outside the walls surrounding
it. For example, law enforcement was not handled by the police.
Instead, the citywide work was handled by the teachers of Anti-Skill
and the work in individual schools was handled by the students in
Judgment.

That was why gym teacher Yomikawa Aiho was also an Anti-Skill
officer with the authority to use handcuffs and a handgun. She
normally wore a green track suit whenever she went out and, even
when she was beating down criminal boys and girls with her
transparent shield and with a smile on her face, she had sworn to
herself she would never aim a gun at a child no matter how powerful
an esper they were. However, she was breaking one of her rules
today.

She was wearing a black suit instead of her track suit.

She hoped she would not have to break the other rule.

Page | 34
Hoped very much.

“This way.”

On the instructions of a cold-voiced guide, she walked down a

winding corridor. It would be easy to get lost in here and it would be
hard to push a dolly through it. The basic principle was the same as
old samurai mansions, but the idea here was not to make wielding a
sword or spear difficult. The idea was to obstruct the movements of
indoor combat drones. Obstacles that reflected EM and IR signals
were inconspicuously worked into the architecture and the floor had
meaningless steps up and down. The benevolent principles of barrier
free design must have been turned on their head to design obstacles
that wheels and treads could not pass.

From a technical standpoint, that might sound simple enough, but

real architecture did not work the same as the bizarre mansions
found in mystery novels. The government would never allow
someone to design a building that intentionally prevented
wheelchairs and crutches from getting through. That meant
something lurked here that needed enough protection that breaking
the rules was considered worth it.

There were no security cameras.

That may have been to avoid the risk of them being hacked and
made to leak information outside.

A guard separate from her guide stood in front of a large composite

armor door. Did he spend all day here? There was a folding chair
next to the door.

Yomikawa frowned.

“I don’t recognize you.”

Page | 35
“I imagine not. You lack the authority to have seen me before.”

“Then do you serve one of the 12 Directors?”

Kaizumi.

Oyafune.

Nakimoto.

Shiokishi.

Yakumi.

Those were a few of the legendary figures that even Yomikawa had
only heard bits and pieces of info about. Academy City held all of the
planet’s technology and those 12 adult monsters formed the group
with the most power over the city. But she had no way of knowing if
the stories she had heard were true. All of those stories were as
absurd as the ones about men in black who were in contact with
aliens and Yomikawa personally had a feeling the truth was even
worse. These were the most crucial VIPs from a security standpoint,
so it was not always clear when one of them died or was replaced.

“No.”

But the man waiting at the door like a machine rejected that idea.

And…

“I work for the one and only Board Chairman and no one else.”

“…”

This was on yet another level.

Yomikawa fell silent and the man spoke in a flat voice.

It was more or less a command.

Page | 36
“You require a body search.”

“I had one done at the entrance.”

“Now.”

He was even less verbose than a bank ATM. His educational history,
skills, health, background, and behavior would have been thoroughly
investigated before he was given this job, but “never questions his
orders” must have been one of the necessary qualifications they
were looking for.

Yomikawa raised both hands in her black suit and the gatekeeper
pulled out a rod-shaped object. It resembled the colorful guidance
lights that construction workers held in their hands to guide cars, but
this was different. This was a sensor that used terahertz radiation.
Their use had rapidly spread now that plastic submachineguns and
assault rifles could be easily made by anyone using 3D printers. They
could see through people’s clothing to detect even nonmetallic
objects.

Esper powers were not the only thing to fear in Academy City.

The adults who formed 20% of the population used next-gen tech to
control the children who formed 80% of the population and had
supernatural powers.

“I will hold onto your phone.”

“If you must.”

“Please remove your tie pin. And is that your skirt’s side zipper?”

“Do you need to confiscate my bra hook too?”

The man passed the sensor over her front side and back side before
responding in a robotic voice.

Page | 37
“That will not be necessary.”

The large door opened, but there was nothing on the other side.
Only another door. The two layers of door provided extra security,
but they also prevented the guards from spying on what was truly
“inside”.

Once Yomikawa stepped into that cramped space, the door closed
behind her, its closure was confirmed, and the second door’s rods
unlocked.

She found a small room within. That must have been enough for its
occupant.

It only contained a clear table and two cheap chairs.

It was also a windowless room.

“It’s been too long,” said Yomikawa Aiho as if gently releasing her
breath.

The person with pale white hair sat in one of the chairs with his legs
lightly crossed up on the table. His red eyes glared back at the visitor.

“So what led you to ask for me in particular?”

He may have been more than a decade her junior and the barrier of
adult and minor lay between them, but she was the one who needed
to show respect here. She wordlessly displayed that with the suit.

When she spoke that boy’s new title, her voice carried a sense of
awe.

And also some disappointment.

“New Academy City Board Chairman Accelerator-san?”

Page | 38
Chapter 1: Just Like an Amusement Park –
Red_Wear,Big_Bag,and_Flying_Sledge.
Part 1
He so wanted it to be a dream.

But his sleep-deprived mind and aching muscles told him the events
of the previous night had been all too real.

“Such misfortune,” muttered Kamijou Touma in his student dorm

room.

His phone was propped up on the glass table using a stand and its
power cable was plugged in. It was invisibly linked to the room’s TV
with a short-range wireless connection, so the phone’s display was
transferred to the large LCD screen.

He was in the middle of a video chat.

This month’s data limit was being rapidly chewed through in order to
display Tsukuyomi Komoe, a 135cm and pink-haired teacher who
was full of mysteries. And given the date, she was wearing a miniskirt
Santa outfit. She apparently liked to dress up for special occasions
much like the top page of a search engine.

“Okay, it’s time for one of my special makeup lessons since Kamijou-
chan here has missed far too many days of class.”

Her voice was as sweet as candy, but there was a hint of poison
mixed in. Her perfect smile scared him. The 24th was part of winter
break, so this was supposed to be a precious holiday for students and
teachers alike. She was giving off an aura. Her anger and resentment
over him ruining her holiday seemed to waft from her body like a
dark perfume.

Page | 39
“If it was too much trouble to get us both at school for this, why even
bother with the makeup lesson?”

“Because without this lesson, you would have to repeat your first
year again. But if that is what you want, so be it. So, um, what will it
be? If you do go for a second round, you should be able to live the
life of an overpowered MC who has seen it all before.”

“Makeup lesson please!! I know full well the ‘overpowered’ life of

repeating a year will be nothing so nice! Everyone else in the class is
bound to just keep their distance!!”

Thus, he had to spend his holiday studying. Academy City was indeed
a city of schools. They did things very differently from an ordinary
shopping district where a couple would enter the karaoke box and
excitedly discuss whether to choose the fake nose glasses or the cat
ears headband for the optional joke product that came with the
room rental.

He wanted to live that life. Was he allowed to wish for something like
that?

“Academy City’s esper powers have a foundation in quantum

physics. Quantum physics is useful in describing the behavior of
subatomic particles like protons and electrons as well as the four
fundamental forces of the strong force, the weak force, gravity, and
electromagnetism, but you will almost certainly never be aware of
the changes caused by the observations you make in an ordinary life.
You can’t make an apple disappear by willing it to disappear, after all.
You can think of those changes like imaginary numbers – they are
necessary to explain the way the world works, but you are never
really aware of them. Normally, anyway.”

She had complained about having to give this makeup lesson, but
once she got going, she proved herself to be a true teacher.

Page | 40
Her words flowed smoothly, but she changed her intonation on the
important terms so they would stick out in Kamijou’s mind.

That made it easy to take notes and mark up his text with a
highlighter. That provided an odd sense of accomplishment, so it was
a lot like working out the structure of a dungeon in an RPG that
required manually drawing out the map.

Of course, this was not unique to this special Christmas Eve lesson.
Komoe-sensei must have always taught like this in the classroom, so
the horrific state of Kamijou Touma’s attendance record could be
seen in how he was only really noticing it now.

“Academy City’s espers forcibly alter this to draw out phenomena

that cannot be explained with Newtonian physics. In other words,
supernatural phenomena. Drugs, electricity, suggestion, and other
methods are used to distort how people perceive the world and that
forces them to make observations outside of the norm. By bringing
that from the microscopic and up to the macro world, we make
esper powers a reality. Ksh.”

“Hm? Komoe-sensei???”

The footage had grown pixelated for a moment there.

Kamijou had a bad feeling about this and called out to her, but the
Santa costumed teacher did not seem to mind. Or had his voice not
reached her?

“The filter used to – ksh – distort the esper’s perception is known as

their Personal Reality, but those are all unique and no two people
have the exact same one. Ksshh. That is one of the tricky aspects of
esper development. Ksshh!! But don’t worry! There is no such thing
as wasted effort!! You might be ranked as a Level 0 for now,
Kamijou-chan – ksshh!? – but if you work at your strong points, you
will surely- kssshhh!!”
Page | 41
“Wait, wait, wait! What is going on!? Ahhh!”

Kamijou Touma screamed.

The footage on the TV entirely froze for a few seconds and then it
transformed into a bunch of white alphanumeric text on a black
background. A bunch of incomprehensible English text was followed
by a countdown. He apparently had to select an option and he was
given 10 seconds to do so.

But this was new.

Computers were one thing, but he had not known that phone OSs
had crash screens. He knew the hardware was fragile, especially the
LCD screen that was easily broken, but he had thought the software
was fairly robust and it would only reboot quickly if it ran into
trouble. It felt like seeing your usually reliable dorm manager laid up
in bed after coming down with a cold. It was actually kind of
adorable.

Also, the phone’s crash screen was not the well-known blue one. To
reiterate, it was black. Why was she trying to be so stylish during an
emergency like this? Was she dressing up somewhere she thought
no one would ever see? It was a lot like deciding to help out by
washing off the dorm manager’s sweat and accidentally seeing some
shocking underwear. It was awkward. M-miss manager!! I thought
you were more the kind and gentle type!!

“…”

Ten seconds passed while Kamijou used those ridiculous thoughts to

avoid facing the reality before him. The TV and his phone had both
gone dark and refused to do anything.

It felt like some kind of punishment.

Page | 42
Did cutting-edge phone OSs dislike wishy-washy guys? Had that kind
and gentle dorm manager (who could not hide the sexy allure hidden
below the surface) finally grown fed up with him? If so, his life truly
was devoid of hope.

“Umm.”

He had no idea what to do.

So he called out to the girl playing with a calico cat in a corner of the
room.

“Index, how about we head out for a bit?”

Part 2
There was a girl known as Index.

Strictly speaking, her name was Index Librorum Prohibitorum.

At first glance, she looked like a small girl with a childish build, long
silver hair, and a white nun’s habit, but she was actually a strange
person who worked as a grimoire library by memorizing at least
103,001 grimoires. She belonged to Necessarius, the 0th Parish of
the Anglican Church. You might be wondering what that is, but that
sort of thing apparently existed in the wide world beyond Academy
City’s walls.

That is, magic.

That other supernatural power stood opposite of the esper powers

that Academy City had introduced to the world using science.

“Christmastime♪ It’s Christmastime♪”

The clear winter sky meant it was cold enough for a lot of the
previous day’s snow to remain on the ground, but the girl in question
was smiling and singing to herself with the calico cat riding on her
Page | 43
white hood. She had come here from England, but this song was in
Japanese. Kamijou had no idea where she had picked it up from.
Since she had a perfect memory, she could accurately memorize it all
by overhearing it for a moment as the in-store music being played in
an electronics store shown on TV.

Incidentally, someone who had mastered all forms of magic was

known as a Magic God.

And there was apparently a risk of someone turning into one of

those if they used all of the grimoires contained in her head.

“Hm, hm, hmm♪ Hydrogen♪ And helium♪”

“Wait, Index. What happened to Christmastime?”

(Damn, I managed to restart my phone by holding down that weird

button for a bit, but it won’t connect to Komoe-sensei. What is
causing this!? Is one of our devices busted!?)

“Listen, Index. We need to stop by Komoe-sensei’s place first. I need

to meet that goddamn teacher in person and figure out what
happened to my makeup lesson. Because this is a crucial issue that
could get me held back.”

“Touma, let’s buy a turkey!! It’s fascinating how they’re selling them
on the roadside!!”

“Are you even listening!? And those aren’t like cakes. I mean, doesn’t
it scare you how cheap they are? Are those turkeys they sell at
discount stores even real? They can design how meats look in the
factory, right!? Convenience stores even sell these mysterious salad
chickens that have all the bones removed and are shaped like gold
bars. Those supposed turkeys might use some other kind of meat
altogether, like how the negitoro at a conveyer belt sushi place might
actually be moonfish.”
Page | 44
If Kamijou Touma of all people was afraid of how cheap something
was, you knew it had to be bad. After all, this was the king of thrift!
When his finances were in dire straits, he would start to have some
dangerous thoughts: “If you stick a bunch of eggshells in the blender,
could you eat them? Hey, I bet it wouldn’t kill you at least!!” The
Christmas sales wars were built from love, desire, and mistrust. Just
like the products bought at a global soccer tournament, the items
making the city shine so bright would leave you wondering “what is
this and why did I buy it?” just one day later.

Some elementary school girls were making a fuss in front of a store.

“Nyah!? They have a Santa catching kit!! Wh-when did Academy City
invent this?”

“D-don’t buy that, Fremea-chan. That’s definitely a normal bug-

catching net they couldn’t sell during the summer or even autumn.”

“Mister, I want one of these! I’ll pay using my phone – kaching!!”

“Ahh! How are you going to lure Santa in with sap jelly!?”

It was scary how wide a variety of joke products existed (most of

which only added the “joke” so they could get away with it not
actually working). Some would view it as a standard part of the
season, while others would see it as a cruel scam targeted at
children. It was similar to temple festival sharpshooting games in
that sense.

But now was not the time to indulge in any of that.

Not until he knew what had become of his makeup lesson after his
phone had frozen up!! That tiny teacher might as well be a doctor
who wandered out of the OR and left on vacation while my stomach
is still sliced open for an operation!! groaned Kamijou Touma while
gnashing his teeth.

Page | 45
(Damn. My phone rebooted like normal but I still can’t connect, so
the trouble has to be on her end. If an error on her part nearly
corrupted my phone’s data, I need to get an apology out of her. And I
need to avoid being held back. Even if it means blackmailing her!!)

He made a quick search on his still-functioning phone and saw no

sign of other people having similar trouble.

The screen on the airship floating in the blue sky said nothing about a
widespread communications disruption.

It scared him to think this was happening to him and only him. If he
had been infected by something no one else had ever heard of,
wouldn’t it slip right past his phone’s security?

(Please let her device be entirely busted!!)

He did not want to spend his Christmas Eve going on the journey of a
clean install in order to troubleshoot his phone. Plus, he had no idea
how to even do that with a phone as opposed to a computer. The
ordinary factory reset mentioned on one corner of the settings
screen probably would not cut it there. But what else was there?
What was he supposed to do!? A sudden malfunction in the mobile
device he always used brought nothing but unease. Please get better
soon, you kind and beautiful dorm manager!!

(A-anyway, one thing at a time. I need to start with the solution I can
try by just walking there.)

He was pretty sure Komoe-sensei lived in an apartment in Academy

City’s District 7.

It was a two-story building with the stairs and passageways on the

outside. More than that, the two-part washing machine was kept
outside as well. Tsukuyomi Komoe, that 135cm teacher from a

Page | 46
fantasy world, lived in that divine realm where only Showa-era
manga artists and ronin students were allowed.

Kamijou walked up to the door that looked so thin his fist would
break through if he knocked on it and he pressed the doorbell. But
he heard no bell. Either the battery or the wiring was out. He had no
choice but to rap his fist against the thin door.

“Excuse me, miss!! Would you care for a newspaper!? Buy now and it
comes with two boxes of detergent!!” His random choice of words
received no response.

He had a bad feeling about this.

The door had a newspaper slot, so he brushed aside the entire

concept of privacy by crouching down and opening the wide slot with
his fingertips. There was no lucky pervert moment here. Not only
was she not changing within, but he only found a dreary space where
time seemed to have stopped.

(Don’t tell me.)

The neighbor’s door opened.

The woman who stepped out wore a red track suit, a thick coat that
looked like it was made out of a futon, and spiral glasses. Since she
was living in this apartment and dressed like that, Kamijou decided
she was only allowed to be a manga artist.

“Um, my neighbor left to go somewhere three days ago. She asked

me to collect her mail for her.”

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………

Page | 47
He was pretty sure he remained frozen for 5 full seconds.

And then the pointy-haired boy screamed at the top of his lungs.

Tsukuyomi Komoe held his fate in her hands, yet she had gone
missing. That teacher had been using her Santa costume and
communication device to give him a remote lesson from wherever
she had gone. That explained why she had been so reluctant to hold
the makeup lesson at school. Plus, her neighbor had said she went
“somewhere”. That meant the woman did not know where and he
would receive no further hints here. He did not even know if she was
still inside Academy City, so this would be far too difficult a search
for him.

The woman in a track suit, coat, and spiral glasses was not the type
to care about other people’s pain.

“Oh, whoops. I need to get back to day trading. With the big and
bizarre wave of Christmastime in full force, I can’t keep my eyes off
the screen for a moment. I can rest once I sell off all my stocks and
can watch the last trading day of the year end with a smile on my
face! Bye!!”

“How dare you dress like that when you’re rich!!”

She ignored him and shut the door. This place had to have incredibly
low rent, so did she rent it out as a workplace separate from her
actual home?

But now was not the time to be bothered by that unknown woman’s
lifestyle.

Winter truly had arrived for Kamijou Touma.

And this winter was as barren as a nuclear winter.

“Touma, I’m hungry.”

Page | 48
“Yeah, probably so.”

He turned around with awfully slow movements.

He had a smile of shadows on his face.

Laughter may have been the last resort of the lonely person who had
been abandoned by the world itself.

A great demon king had appeared in the modern world.

“Mwa ha ha ha ha!! I don’t care! Why should I even care anymore!!

Fine, let’s spend the 24th enjoying ourselves! Ha ha, ah ha ha! I
mean, if the problem is with the adults’ system, then I’m not at
fault!!!!!! Hah hah hah! Gwa ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!”

No, pointy-haired one.

That right there is known as crying.

Part 3
He had a chance.

The error causing that awfully stylish crash screen really had
happened, so wherever it was stored and whatever had actually
happened, there had to be a record of the error within his phone. He
had tried his damnedest to take that makeup lesson, but the
infrastructure prepared for him had malfunctioned. The dorm
manager’s unseen black underwear was all the proof he needed of
that. So there was no conflict here! He was fine!! He wouldn’t be
held back!! If the 24th was going to put up anymore of a fight, he
would summon the spirit of a middle-aged woman hidden deep
within his heart and make a verbal barrage of arguments in his
defense. Kamijou Touma had traveled through many a country and
region with Japanese as his only language, so he had already proven
how strong he was when he gave up.
Page | 49
That was why he had confidence in his voice when he next spoke.

But it was strange. He was super happy on the inside, yet the asphalt
ground kept shifting around like it was made of cotton candy.

“Where should we go?”

“Somewhere with lots of lights!!”

It was a miracle that Index had not started listing off different foods.
Christmas Eve was a truly devilish time. It was full of unpredictable
things which could even be called little miracles. He was pretty sure
Christmas was supposed to be the birthday of some important
person or another, so was it really okay for it to be such a devilish
time of year?

But anyway.

District 6 had been made into one giant amusement park, but visiting
any of those crowded tourist destinations without a reservation
would be a hellish experience. There was no need to crawl under a
rock and hide on a day like this, but it would still be safer to go with a
place that did not need tickets and had no lines.

“So instead of going somewhere special, let’s check out the usual
places in District 7. Nothing could show off the Christmas spirit
more.”

“Why?”

“Because all the lights and decorations will be more noticeable when
you know what it usually looks like.”

High schoolers had to keep up appearances and maintain their pride,

so when they gave a plausible sounding reason for something, they
were oftentimes hiding their real reasons. In this case, he was too
afraid to go anywhere near the fashionable shopping district of
Page | 50
District 15. Those areas had a high enough difficulty setting already,
but go there at Christmas, Halloween, or Valentine’s and there would
be a strange event boost to that setting, making it entirely
unbalanced. He could already imagine himself being torn to pieces
like the poor fool who accidentally ran across the event boss battle in
an online game!! But there is nothing to be ashamed of, Kamijou
Touma told himself. After all, he was in the right here. The people
boldly walking through those areas on Christmas Eve were decked
out in the real-life equivalent of pay-to-win equipment (brand-name
bags, fur coats, and the like), so he never had a chance! Competing
with them was a lost cause!! If only their leather and fur products
would all turn to cheap plastic!!

“Touma, why do I see a deep shadow in your smile?”

“No reason. There’s nothing weird about me, Index.”

It was Christmas Eve, so Kamijou did not want to feel like he should
never have left the home he had made for himself by chewing
through a rotted fallen tree, so he focused on the things he could
actually manage. Spending Christmas close to home was fine.
Walking around outside with a friend was plenty fun.

They could enjoy themselves seeing how different the city looked
with all the decorations.

That told him where they would be going. The ordinary homes
decorated with all sorts of lights for this one day only were as
laughable as those decotora (←which one is that an insult to?), but
the more populated areas would still be the most decorated. They
made their way to the train station area for now.

The cables of decorative lights had not been attached to the wind
turbine blades. It was pretty cold, but they were going strong and
had not frozen. Their surface was glittering from water droplets

Page | 51
covering them, so they may have been installed with heating
elements to melt the snow. Someone had even placed a bike’s chain
lock on the support pillar in place of a Christmas wreath.

A truck passed them by and they looked over to see an

advertisement vehicle that was really just a truck carrying a big LCD
screen that generally played ads.

This one was playing the news.

“Who wants to try a custom donut decorated with cream!? Here in

New York, these sweets are all the rage instead of cakes. With the
spread of the nuclear family, an entire cake provides far more than
the ideal calories per person, so this practice was started by the
doctors who look after the wealthy residents of Beverly Hills. Even
US President Roberto Katze joined in on social media by…”

“Go to hell!! Don’t force your fancy private lives on us from across
the Pacific! If you’re that worried about calories, then go gnaw on
some wax food samples!! You know what happens when you truly
cut all the calories out of your food!? You starve to death!!”

“Touma, you’re scaring me. …Evil multitude known as Legion, I cast

thee into those beasts and send you running from the cliff!”

Index clasped her hands together and began muttering some kind of
ward against evil, but unfortunately, Kamijou was not possessed by
anything evil. How unscientific. Let us ignore the fact that behaving
like this while in control of himself was far more concerning than any
occult explanation.

But once they arrived near the station, they found some strange lines
had formed.

They were everywhere.

Page | 52
There had been signs of the fad before winter break, but this was
something else entirely.

At some point, a bunch of similar-looking donut stands had

multiplied like an amoeba monster. The entire donut was soaked in a
sweet and gooey pudding-like substance to soften it up like a
bavarois, then cream, colorful chocolate powder, and colorful syrups
were used to decorate it however the customer asked for it. And
how did the customers ask for it? If you guessed anything related to
the flavor, you are truly naïve. They asked for it however would look
best on social media!!

Also, something had gone wrong during the game of telephone as

the fad crossed the Pacific because these had aspects not seen in the
original. This country was quick to adopt new things but never cared
much about getting the particulars right.

(Is that really safe? I’ve heard the decorations are based on your
birthdate, blood type, lucky color, and so on, so can’t people work
out your personal information if you post pictures of that online?)

Also, why did people think luck and colors had anything to do with
each other?

If something like that could create a significant shift in the probability

and statistical data, then he doubted Academy City’s quantum-based
esper powers development would have been necessary in the first
place.

Also, could you really call something a donut when you couldn’t carry
it around with you?

The donut was placed on a small paper plate and lots of cream was
piled on top. They ended up looking like palm-sized wedding cakes
and couples were happily gathered around them and using their
phones to take plenty of pictures of those donuts colored with a
Page | 53
toxic mixture of sky blue and pink. Some even had sparking fireworks
sticking into them.

Since the photos were the main point, the couples would flirt with
each other over who would eat it and try to push it into each other’s
mouth. They had spent so much time waiting in line to buy it, yet
eating it was being treated like a punishment. This was making Marie
Antoinette look reasonable. At some point, people had entirely
forgotten that food should not be wasted. Kamijou Touma wondered
why these people were not being struck by lightning. These thoughts
of his might be shockingly extreme, but the spirit of a middle-aged
woman was rising up within his heart. Instead of the kind dorm
manager, this was the restaurant owner who refused to give a
discount no matter how hard up a student was.

“Ah.”

And Kamijou noticed something off about the scene around him.

But this was not about the girls in red Santa outfits who barely
seemed special anymore now that they stood in front of every single
store, from the convenience stores and bakeries selling cakes to the
karaoke boxes and even the conveyer belt sushi restaurants(!?).

“Touma?”

“Ahhh!? Wait, tell me it isn’t so!”

The ramen shop tucked below the elevated railway was gone.

It had not been good enough to make it into the magazines or onto
the gourmet sites. When asked if the ramen was made with chicken
or seafood, that awful place had answered “I dunno. Some kinda
chemicals?” right in front of the customers. But they had sold a
serving of ramen the size of a rice bowl, making it even smaller than
the usual small size. That had been an irresistible temptation for
Page | 54
Kamijou and the others who had wanted some restaurant ramen on
the way home from school before having to think about what to do
about dinner. And yet…and yet….

This was strange.

It made no sense. It would not have felt so bad if something equally

unique had taken its place, but it was nothing but another fad donut
shop with no history or personality at all! It would probably be
forgotten the day after Christmas and gone by the New Year!!
Kamijou Touma was hanging his head and trembling at this point. I
don’t want my lucky color. Wh-where are you!? Where are you, old
ramen chef!?

He could not fit in.

It just wasn’t possible for him. It was becoming clear that all allies of
Christmas were his enemy. He was starting to think he never should
have taken a step outside of the metal afro of a bird’s nest he had
created by gathering up wire hangers. This winter would be a harsh
one. It pained him that he had ever decided to head out on
December 24.

He had come to a depressed stop, so perhaps he could not be

blamed for not paying attention to his surroundings.

A girl suddenly bumped into him from the side in the area for
pedestrians to wait for the crosswalk light.

“Kyah!?”

“Oh, sorr-”

He apologized on reflex but stopped himself. Yes, he had not been

paying attention, but he had not moved a step (because he was
rendered motionless below the frigid sky by the shock of losing that

Page | 55
ramen shop), so it had clearly been the girl who bumped into him.
Also, he felt a sticky sensation on the chest containing his heavy
heart. He looked down to see a small paper plate stuck there like a
cream pie from a comedy skit. It was one of those gooey things made
of cream and honey – one of those blasphemous and indescribable
cosmic horror donuts that were more about getting a photo than
eating them!

“Oh.”

At times, the misfortune could pile on so thick his heart could not
take it anymore.

Too many sad things had happened today.

While stained with some stranger’s lucky color, unlucky Kamijou

Touma finally snapped.

“Hold it right there, little lady! I’ll have you know this fine article of
clothing is made of simple polyester so it can keep the rain out and
be washed in a normal washing machine! Have you ever shopped at
the year-end sale at Uniclo!? I think not! How do you expect to pay
for this luxurious 1980-yen finery!?”

While bragging about his cheap clothing for some reason or another,
the sparking firework sticking into the donut caught his jacket on fire.
This was his divine punishment for reflexively snapping back at the
girl instead of checking on the extent of the damage. He frantically
stripped off the jacket and began flapping it around to put out the
fire.

And it turned out the trembling girl was one he had seen just
yesterday.

It was Misaka Mikoto.

Page | 56
“I thought I detected the stench of death in my Christmas! What are
you doing here, Misaka!?”

She was not listening.

She wordlessly dove toward Kamijou Touma’s jacketless chest and

clung to his shirt with her small hands.

His mind went blank and the white nun next to him was caught
completely off guard.

Then a storm arrived.

“Find the runaway!!”

“Don’t rely on security cameras and robots! She has Level 5

electricity powers!!”

“She is definitely around here somewhere. I can follow the trail left
by Onee-sama. Hweh heh heh. Because I can detect the faint scent
left behind by her hair!!”

A crowd of people marched by with tremendous speed. What in the

world was that? It was a mixture of students and teachers, but since
when had Tokiwadai Middle School been an angry mob???

What were Academy City’s security robots doing if they were

ignoring that army of monsters?

Or had those drum-shaped devices already been installed with

special rules that made them go easy on cute girls?

Kamijou Touma had been flapping his removed jacket around to put
out the fire and Misaka Mikoto had moved past the jacket, so it was
spread out like a matador’s cape and hid the small girl’s silhouette
from the mob’s view.

“Misaka-san.”
Page | 57
“Yes?”

“Explain this.”

That might seem like a reasonable demand, but he meant it a little

differently. He was not asking her to explain it to him. No, he jerked
his chin over toward the person next to him while Mikoto continued
holding onto him.

“Explain this to Index!! And fast because she’s already started

growling!! I really, really don’t want to spend my Christmas Eve in
the hospital with toothmarks on my skull!!”

It was too late.

Her jaws were latched onto his head, yet it was his knees that gave
out.

Part 4
It was an invincible and unassailable middle school girl.

Misaka Mikoto put her hands on her hips and breathed an

exasperated sigh.

“I’m pretty sure you were born under an unlucky star or something.
But instead of bad luck with women, I think it gave you bad luck with
little girls.”

“Misaka-san, you really shouldn’t suggest that in Academy City,

headquarters of the science side. …And you might have had my
attention if it was a good luck with young women and that it lets me
make friends with all the young dorm manager ladies out there, but
this I refuse to accept.”

“Science side? What? And…ah!! Come to think of it, what ever

happened with that little girl yesterday!?”

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“Don’t even ask that! What absolute moron would dig back up that
horror story now!? I never want to see her again!!”

Then Mikoto stopped moving.

She looked alternately between Kamijou and Index.

“So should I pry her off of you? Y’know, since she’s a little girl too?”

“To be clear, you fall into that ‘younger’ category too.”

“I try to help and you call me a little girl!?”

Anyway, prestigious Tokiwadai Middle School was apparently very

strict about Christmas.

Specifically, they had a gloomy and dreary seasonal event where the
students were sent out into the bitter cold while wearing miniskirts
(although the shortness of her skirt seemed like it was her own fault
for altering it) and had to walk around the city collecting trash for 24
hours, day and night.

They existed.

They really did exist.

Maybe they were not found under the rocks, inside a rotten fallen
tree, or in an afro of wire hangers, but that did not matter. They lived
in a different world from Kamijou, but he was not the only one
having a miserable Christmas!!

One such girl had gotten fed up with it all, saw an opening, and made
a run for it, but her teachers and Judgment had noticed and she was
spending Christmas Eve with them hot on her trail. How hot? Hot
enough that being caught might as well mean being wrapped in
chains and thrown into a blast furnace.

Page | 59
Kamijou grabbed her shoulders and practically hugged her with his
eyes shining bright.

He had discovered someone else who would fight by his side against
this godawful seasonal event.

He had seen the smoke signals demanding a rebellion.

“We might be making an enemy of the entire world here, but let’s
give ourselves a merry Christmas even if we have to fight back
against fate itself!! We’re in this together!!”

“Eh? Huh? W-wait, are you forcing your plans onto me or

something???”

She blushed and started acting oddly.

Nearby, Index put her hands on her hips and puffed out her cheeks
(because biting the back of his spiky-haired head was apparently not
enough to calm her anger).

“Ugh, I don’t like this, but if you want to join us, can’t you at come
out and ask directly?”

“Index-san, now is the time for kindness. Remember the Little Match
Girl? If just one person out there had reached out to help her, she
could have avoided that tragic fate!”

“Hey, wait, I wasn’t looking for pity! Even if I am thankful you saved
me from that army’s grasp!!”

Kamijou Touma had no intention of throwing Mikoto out now. He

was even moved to emotion. His miserable time could not be blamed
on his poor, lower class lifestyle. It happened in the upper class as
well. Those rich girls could treat real life like a pay-to-win game, so
how badly had this girl mishandled her own life to end up with such a

Page | 60
miserable Christmas!? Someone so incompetent clearly needed his
help!!

And so Mikoto made a request.

“I want to do some Christmasy things. Because I’ll be killed if I can’t

blend in here.”

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………

“Hm? Huh? Did I say something weird???”

“No, you’re fine. Perfectly fine.”

Mikoto sounded worried after seeing the smile frozen on Kamijou’s

face, but that wooden response was all he could manage.

Do Christmasy things? As in Christmasy activities?

He had no idea what that could be. He could think of plenty of

Christmasy objects like cakes, turkeys, red clothing, and white
beards. He could think of plenty of Christmasy places to visit like the
main roads lit up by the lights wrapped around the trees or the giant
Christmas tree in the train station plaza.

But Christmasy activities?

This wasn’t like trick-or-treating at Halloween. What could you only

do at Christmastime???

“…”

Of course, the confused boy could think of one thing. You could
always take a lesson from that bearded man who broke into people’s
homes like it was normal and shoved wrapped boxes in their
stockings. You could always just exchange boxes like that.

Page | 61
But you only exchanged presents and said Merry Christmas just the
once, and that generally happened on Christmas day. He could not
play that card as camouflage every single time a violent girl barged
into his life.

So what else was there?

What did people generally do on Christmas Eve?

Growing nervous, he glanced over at Index and Mikoto to see they

were both tilting their heads curiously. In fact, so was the cat on the
silver-haired girl’s head. They had no plan whatsoever and were
counting on him to figure it out. And if he said he had nothing, they
were sure to call him useless. In stereo from the right and left.

It would be one thing if a young woman were gently whispering “oh,

you useless thing” in his ear along with a sigh of mock exasperation.

But this was different.

These younger girls would have dead serious looks on their face
when they said it.

The meaning and the warmth of it were entirely different!!

(Eh? So if the girls form an alliance here, will I be left all alone in a
sea of verbal abuse? If that’s how I end up spending my Christmas
Eve, I can’t even crawl back under the gravestone!)

He was soaked with sweat despite the December chill and he no

longer even saw himself as a bug under a rock. Even his metaphors
were veering in a dangerous direction.

He forced a smile and pulled out his phone.

“Ha…ha ha ha. Nothing to worry about. Just leave everything to

Kamijou Touma, well-known capable adult.”

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“Where are you going?” asked Mikoto.

“Just checking on how crowded some places are. S-so wait just a
moment, okay?”

He hid in the shadows and typed “Christmas Activities” into a search

engine on his phone’s small screen, but all he saw were social media
comments that made him want to vomit, so he quickly abandoned
that route. Plus, the voices online were full of lies that exaggerated
the romantic side of things about three times over. Or at least he
hoped very much those were all lies. The world described there
differed so much from his reality that he wanted to send out a curse
that made sure they were actually all lonely.

He wanted help from someone he knew in real life.

After finding a male friend’s number in his address book and calling
that, he waited a moment and they picked up.

“U-um, Aogami Pierce? I’d like some advice, one classmate to

another.”

“Sorry, Kami-yan, but I have my hands full at the moment!!”

“Eh? Don’t tell me your Christmas schedule is jam packed. No! Please
don’t leave me behind in this miserable world!!”

“I was so desperate to feel some human warmth I stuck my boobs

mousepad in the microwave, but it turned out to be way hotter than
I expected! So now I have no feeling in my fingers!! I couldn’t have
even answered your call if my phone wasn’t sitting on the table and
didn’t have voice-activated commands!!”

“It’s Christmas Eve!! That only comes once a year! What the hell
were you doing at 10 in the morning!? Maybe I’d get it if you had
poked at them with your fingertip out of curiosity, but did you just

Page | 63
full-on grab them with both hands right away? Why couldn’t you
direct these impulses in a productive direction, like building rockets
or something!!!???”

“But VR is so lonely with just the video. I wanted some tactile

feedback to make it more immersive! But I don’t want them to be
cold!! I paid good money for all this equipment and it wasn’t so I
could virtually touch a corpse!!”

“Let me repeat: it’s Christmas Eve!! What the hell were you doing at
10 in the morning!!!???”

“Hear me out, Kami-yan. You know how sometimes you think you’ve
heated your food up, but it’s still cold in the middle? I was afraid of
that happening here, so I decided to heat it up a little longer, but it
turns out silicone heats up really well! This thing is legit dangerous!!”

Did this awful friend not know that they sold silicone pots for use in
the microwave? This was his punishment for taking the easy route
and never cooking for himself. Also, there was no point in listening to
someone complain because they failed to read the warnings on the
box. Kamijou ignored the idiot’s lamentations and hung up.

But giving up on his friend did not improve his own situation any.

Q. What can you only do on Christmas? He was still stuck with that
deadly riddle that sounded like it came from the Sphinx (the original
one, not the pet cat). If he screwed this up, a Girls Alliance would be
established and he would be stuck curled up on the ground sobbing.
On Christmas Eve.

“Touma.”

“Hey, you.”

The two girls asked an innocent question.

Page | 64
Those teenage girls had no idea how much pressure their
expectations were placing on him.

“So what are we going to do?”

Part 5
Don’t worry.

You don’t need to think about it too hard.

Put on a red hat and play a Western party game and you have
enough for a Japanese Christmas.

“You gave this about two seconds of thought, didn’t you?”

“Shut up. I don’t care what you say.”

Misaka Mikoto gave a scathing review and Kamijou snapped back at

her. However, he could not let the middle schooler know how
relieved he was to not have his idea actually rejected.

Whether it was decorative or just how it was constructed, the

building exterior looked like a few large storage containers joined
together. However, the inside had a classic aesthetic of wood floors,
wood walls, and ceiling fans twirling overhead.

Index looked all around the place that was dimly lit even during
these late morning hours.

“What is this? Darts?”

“This is the most mature thing a high schooler could come up with on
short notice, so don’t laugh, okay?”

He made sure to say that part quickly and quietly. He had decided to
avoid karaoke since it was too cliché. He sometimes saw darts at all-
in-one amusement facilities like bowling alleys or batting cages, but
Page | 65
those places would be too bright. He wanted something that made
him look a little more mature!!

So.

There was no such thing as a dedicated darts center, so this was

probably a bar most of the time. A high school boy felt so out of
place inside here that seeing the interior decorating was bad for his
heart. But given the time of day, they were only serving an early
lunch menu. The excessive amount of bar snacks on the side menu
was probably a glimpse of the place’s true form. It was still hiding its
claws.

Now, while Kamijou Touma was trying to look mature, he himself

knew nothing about darts. After all, high schoolers did not go to
bars! He only had a general idea that it was game where you threw
small arrows at a pizza-like target board. When he rented a table for
them, the employee seemed to assume everyone already knew how
to play and did not provide an explanation. If he had come here
alone, he might have been entirely lost.

He ended up having to get Mikoto to explain.

“The most popular version is called 01 and the object of the game is
to reduce your points, not earn them.”

“What?”

“Don’t look shocked quite yet. You have 301 points to start with, you
throw three darts per round, and you see who can work through
their points first.”

Her explanation only confused him more. He was pretty sure you
took turns throwing darts, but was it one by one or did you throw all
three for your round in a row?

Page | 66
“I didn’t even know this was a competitive game.”

“I have to start there? I guess it might be confusing since there’s only

the one board, but yes, it is a competitive game. You wouldn’t go to
a tennis court alone unless you were a pro getting a feel for that
specific court, right? This is the same.”

So if he had come here alone, he would have been more than just
entirely lost. The employee would have treated him like an expert
when he in fact was utterly clueless. That illusion would have been
shattered with the very first throw and then the lukewarm looks he
got would have led him to curl up in shame.

“So it’s best to hit the center, right?”

“Again, no. You play 10 rounds and you can only throw three per
round and you win by being the first to ‘check out’ by getting your
301 points to exactly 0. So if you just go for as many points as you
can, you’ll go too far and end up with negative points. That’s called
‘going bust’ and your score is reset to the start of that round and you
have to try again next round. That means you’ve wasted an entire
round. So what part of the board matters changes depending on
your current number of points. If you end up with just 1 point left in
the third throw of your round, you want to aim for a spot that gets
you the minimum value of 1 point, right?”

“But c’mon. You’ve gotta go for the center.”

“Yes, yes! All the idiots like to focus on the bull’s eye in the center
since it earns 50 points, but you see that larger ring around the
center?”

“The one sliced up like a pizza?”

“Yeah, that. Hit the line in the middle of that and you get three times
the normal points. So get the triple score where the normal score is
Page | 67
17 through 20 and you can earn more points than the central bull’s
eye. That can be useful at the start of the game when you want to
bring down your points by a lot.”

Mikoto grabbed a random dart while explaining. It was 15-16cm

long. It was made of metal, but did not feel all that heavy. It was kind
of like a somewhat sturdy pen with plastic fletching attached.

“I prefer using coins, so these are really more Kuroko’s thing.”

“?”

She casually aimed the point toward the blank board before they had
powered on the scoring.

It seemed like a careless action, but she looked right at home doing
it, suggesting she had done this a lot.

“You throw it from the elbow, not the shoulder. In that sense, it
might be similar to throwing a paper airplane.”

They heard a thunk.

The cat on Index’s head stuck up his tail, perhaps frightened by the
sound.

She had thrown from a distance of less than 3m, but instead of a
straight path, it had taken a smoothly curved parabolic arc. This was
entirely different from the ninja kunais seen in samurai dramas. This
was only meant as a game, but did these really work as projectiles?

Mikoto’s dart had hit in the very center.

“I actually just barely missed the center, so that’s 25 points. Although

the version most popular in Japan counts that outer area as a full
bull’s eye.”

Page | 68
Then why even mention it? wondered Kamijou, but he had a feeling
saying it out loud would lead to a further digression. He could tell he
had to get the basics down pat or he was in trouble.

“Also, most dart games have the score tracked electronically. This
one does. That can be convenient, but don’t forget that we all use
the same board.”

“?”

“The machine doesn’t set everything up for the next person like in
bowling. You have to remove your darts from the board before
hitting the switch to end your turn. Hit the switch with the darts still
in there and it will use your darts for the next person’s score too,
which really messes up the game. Got that?”

Kamijou glanced over at Index who was listening along with him. He
was worried that he was the only one who was still confused.

With the cat still on her head, Index grabbed three of the darts lined
up there and she threw them all in a row.

5 points, 10 points, 15 points.

That was no coincidence. She had intentionally scored increasing

multiples of 5.

Darts was not simply about hitting the center of the board. According
to Misaka Mikoto, who was being an oddly grownup middle
schooler(?) today, you had to reach exactly 0 points in the end or you
would “go bust”. So wouldn’t it be more important to know how to
apply the brakes than the gas!?

“Hmm.”

“Hold on, Index-san. Where did these super skills come from!?”

Page | 69
“I thought I just needed to know my distance from the board and its
diameter, but there’s still a margin of error. Maybe I didn’t get
enough visual samples. If only there were more customers to
observe.”

She was muttering under her breath without even looking his way.

The game had already begun.

“Oh, no. Is she using her perfect memory to memorize people’s

motions!? O-oh, I get it. This wouldn’t work for karate or boxing, but
body size doesn’t matter in darts since it only uses the elbow. If she
understands it intellectually, she can actually pull this one off… Let’s
get this game started already, Misaka! If we dillydally, Index is going
to evolve too fast for us to catch up!!”

“You’re going to start playing without ordering anything? How stoic

are you two? It’s not like you’re pro players. Excuse me, could we get
something to eat over here? Oh, you’re doing those donuts here
too? Then I’ll have one with my lucky col-”

“You are not bringing any of those trendy things to our table!!”

“?”

Kamijou Touma’s shout only made Mikoto tilt her head. She may
have thought he was allergic. In truth, he was allergic to those things,
but he could not let anyone know it was an allergy of the heart, not
the body. If this capable middle school girl hit him with a deadpan
“you’re such an idiot” right now, it would petrify him and then
shatter him into a million pieces.

“Then we’ll take a party tray of snacks. Do we need to go to that

counter for the drinks?”

Page | 70
Fountain drinks were so cheap because you served yourself, so what
was the point of having to get an employee to do it for you? But now
was not the time to be asking that question.

On the other hand, that kind of distraction might actually be the

secret to defeating Index who was continuing to learn like a
fearsome supercomputer preparing to conquer the world with its AI
society.

In other words…

“I lure her in with food and drinks and move in for the kill while she’s
distracted!!”

“You sure are ruthless for Christmas Eve.”

Part 6
With that, their enjoyable Christmas Eve had begun.

Their voices echoed through the darts bar that was created from a
few storage containers joined together.

“Yay! I got the bull’s eye!! How about that?” said Mikoto. “Wait, why
didn’t my points go down?”

“Wow, my bad. I forgot to hit the switch to end my turn,” said

Kamijou. “Ha ha ha. Sorry about that.”

“You idiot! Is how to cheat the only thing you learned from my
lesson!? Stop using the machine scoring to rattle me!!”

“Okay, short hair, that means your bull’s eye didn’t count,” said
Index. “There, I pushed the button for you, so you can try again.
Don’t worry. You still have a chance to redo it!”

“And why did you just remove my dart, you airheaded nun? If you
had just pressed the button and flicked the dart with your finger, I
Page | 71
would’ve gotten my rightful points! That was a bull’s eye. W-will no
one take my side here!?”

The boy and two girls enjoyed themselves while throwing darts at
the board. Things got wilder once they established a local rule that
you had to get a bull’s eye to go get a refill for your drink. The greasy
fried chicken and fries on the platter in front of them was a
tantalizing sight, but eating those without a drink would make them
too thirsty to concentrate. And as soon as you started thinking you
absolutely had to hit the bull’s eye next time, it became impossible
to hit. Kamijou might have hit it out of beginner’s luck under other
circumstances, but not when there was something riding on it.

“I’ve already memorized the motion, so now I’m unstoppable,” said

Index. “Watch as I bring my score down to 32 points.”

“Oh, look. They have a dessert platter covered in tiny cakes,” said
Mikoto.”

“Gotta love how they bring things out the instant you order them
here in Japan,” said Kamijou. “Okay, let’s claim all the tastiest-
looking ones before Index is finished with her turn. I’ve got my eye
on that shortcake and rare cheesecake.”

“Hm, then I’ll go for the Mont Blanc and the caramel pudding.”

“There’s no way I’m letting this Santa sugar sculpture go.”

“Really, I’m more interested in the chocolate plate with a message

written on it. Oh, don’t let us bother you, little one. Take as long as
you need. Although once you get back here, you might only find the
only thing left is the gelatin with canned fruits dumped inside.”

“Let’s not talk ill of canned foods, Miss Fancy. If you don’t want that
one, then I’m claiming it. Hey, kitty cat. Looks like they even have a
cat cake designed just for you.”
Page | 72
“Wait, where’s mine!?” cut in Index. “Give me time to focus!”

Time passed and they became just another part of the noise, just like
everyone else.

“Oh, we’re almost at the end of our 5th game,” said Kamijou. “Then
whoever wins this one gets to say the line.”

“Huh!? Wait, why not whoever won the most games!?” said Mikoto.
“I held a commanding lead when it comes to wins, right!? Right!?”

“Merry Christmas!!” said Index.

“Hey, don’t just come out and say it without winning first!” said the
other two.

That may have been why they did not notice.

While the place was serving a wholesome lunch now, it was normally
a bar and thus the windows were made so no one could see in from
outside. That was why it only had dim indirect lighting in the middle
of the day.

And yet.

Nevertheless.

An observer’s eyes were following every movement made by

Kamijou’s group.

Between the Lines 2

That was a windowless room.
Simply not being able to see outside was enough to make the place
feel cut off from the normal flow of time. No one shown the inside of
that room could have guessed it was currently December 24. In fact,

Page | 73
they could not have said whether it was summer or winter, day or
night.

Yet a monster had chosen to place himself there.

He was the true #1 who overwhelmed even the other Level 5s within
Academy City.

Yet he had also claimed the power of Board Chairman as his own.

“Ironic, isn’t it?” scoffed the white monster.

But his scorn was directed not at Yomikawa, but at himself.

Thinking back, he had always been this kind of person. Everyone had
looked up to him as the strongest and he had reigned at the top as a
target of fear, yet his heart had always been ruled by alienation and
self-loathing. That may have been why that small girl had latched
onto him like that. The pair could seem strange, but it had probably
been the most natural thing in the world for them.

That girl was not here.

There was no airflow in here. Only an oppressive sense of

imprisonment.

In other words…

“I really do have the entire world in my grasp, yet I chose to entomb

myself here. Maybe humans have a tendency to retreat from
freedom the more of it they have.”

Yomikawa Aiho, who had been “allowed” to sit in the seat across
from him, had been speaking with that monster for a little bit now. It
had not been long, but now was not the time to let that bother her.
In fact, it was scary she had been allowed even this. Her expression
was far from bright. The words of the Board Chairman would directly

Page | 74
influence the fates of Academy City’s 2.3 million people and it would
shake the lives of the more than 7 billion people reliant on science
and technology.

There were no absolute correct answers in the world of technology.

For example, it was perfectly fine to loathe microplastics that would

never decompose, but mass-producing exactly as many paper straws
and cups would wipe out the Amazon rainforest in no time at all.
Doing what was considered “right” would not necessarily lead to the
future you wanted. The world would grow distorted. One careless
statement from the new Board Chairman could change the course of
history. It could easily redirect the entire world from right to left.
And that course might bring them to a sea choked with plastic or
continents dried out into deserts. And just as doing what was right
would not necessarily lead to the future you wanted, avoiding the
mistakes before your eyes would not necessarily lead to a future
devoid of mistakes.

Yomikawa Aiho was speaking with someone who controlled the

world.

Like it or not, she was participating in a game of the gods.

No more crime, no more disease, no more accidents, no more

natural disasters, no more wars, and no more tragedies.

Everyone could come up with those sayings, but if you actually said
them here, who would the monster target next and how would it
influence the rest of the world out there? She had to consider those
matters. Now that she was seated here, she could not claim
ignorance.

This was not an issue of selecting a card from a predetermined deck.

Page | 75
If she was going to guide this new Board Chairman, she would have
to make him come up with a brand new option not already on the
table.

And in that sense…

(His choice is certainly an impressive one.)

“Are you really sure about this?” she asked.

“About what?”

“I really think there had to be other options. This might be the right
thing to do, but you’re clearly accepting some tragedy here.”

“Don’t make me laugh.”

“I wasn’t delighted to hear about it, I can tell you that!”

“Then what are you gonna do about it?”

The monster smiled a little.

His lips silently split part and spread into a crescent moon shape.

“Are you going to stop me? As a special kindness, I’m willing to set
aside all of my grownup authority. But what can you do after
descending to the world of us kids?”

“…”

“Do you get it now? I’m sure you did from the beginning. You aren’t
afraid of the title of Board Chairman, but you aren’t scared of the
Academy City’s #1 moniker either. …You already know that this is the
right choice. You know you can’t argue otherwise, so you can’t grab
at my collar to lecture at me or whatever. And that’s fine. That puny
pride is a virtue. You can’t bring yourself to throw a tantrum in front

Page | 76
of a kid, right? You’re far better than those Kiharas and others like
them.”

“But!!”

“Let’s get ambitious, shall we?”

These were the juvenile but cruel words of the child created by the
adults.

It was almost like losing control of the satellite they had launched
and having it fall down on their heads. And since that satellite had
been made with the best of humanity’s technology, it was loaded
with a dangerous reactor meant for use in outer space that used
sodium cooling and deuterium.

Yomikawa felt like “just deserts” may be the best term for this.

But whose just deserts?

“Think through all the annoying little details like you’re a goddamn
Board Chairman yourself. You adults have messed with my brain so
much for your own purposes, so now that you’ve dumped all this
authority in my lap, I hope you’re ready. Because it’s my turn now.
You’ve got no right to complain if I use this clever brain you’ve given
me to utilize this new power to its fullest.”

“…”

“I gave you plenty of time, so I’m sure you’ve got everything set up. I
know you wouldn’t have shown your face here otherwise. I’m not
here to pester you about your progress, so hurry up and tell me
everything is in place. That’s why I called you here. I knew you were
the best one for the job.”

Yomikawa Aiho gently clenched her teeth.

Page | 77
“This will change everything.”

“It will.”

“Not just for the kids in this city. This choice you’ve made all on your
own will affect the fate of this entire planet of 7 billion people!!”

“It wouldn’t be worth doing otherwise.”

He knew full well what he was doing.

Yomikawa Aiho was part of Anti-Skill, so she was meant to protect

the children of Academy City. If dragging that white monster to the
floor and putting him in an armlock would stop this snowball from
rolling down the hill, she would have done so without hesitation. This
was the #1 who was far more powerful than the #3 Railgun who
could create and control currents of more than a billion volts or the
#5 Mental Out who could control people’s minds. She knew exactly
what his fearsome power was, but she still would have grabbed him
with her bare hands. But she understood that doing that would not
stop what he had started.

That would not protect anyone.

It did not take a genius to understand it, but saving people was not
that simple.

“The trigger is ready to be pulled, isn’t it?”

“…”

“I’m saying I want you in charge of this. But if you won’t do it, I’ll just
get someone else. Will you be a part of the world’s conclusion, or
won’t you? Choose. Which will it be?”

When it came down to it, Yomikawa Aiho was only a teacher and this
was the new Board Chairman who held authority over them all.

Page | 78
No matter what they had once been for each other, that was now an
unavoidable fact.

She felt ashamed

She spat out one last thing while powerless to do anything more.

“You’ve changed.”

“And you’re one of the ones who changed me.”

It had already begun below the surface.

The plan of this new era was known as Operation Handcuffs.

Page | 79
Chapter 2: A Changing Academy City, the
Night Before – the_24th,Showdown.
Part 1
The death game rules had changed.

The poor bastard who went bust by dropping below zero would be
punished in some way.

“Hey, wait! I can’t!! This is a reindeer costume, isn’t it!? There’s no

way I can throw darts in this thing! I mean, look! The hands are like
potholders!!”

“Then would you prefer to be the sleigh, Touma?”

“That’s not even a costume!! It’s just a rectangular box!!”

A player would only go bust just before checking out. Even if they
screwed up, they would return to being only 16 or 32 points away
from winning, so they might just finish it up next round. Thus, it was
unsurprising that local rules showed up to trip up whoever was
winning.

Fortunately, there were plenty of party goods here.

That gave them plenty of tools to mess with whoever was doing well.

“Heh heh heh.” Wicked laughter left a middle school girl. Misaka
Mikoto was entering a slight demon king mode. “Keep tripping each
other up this Christmas Eve, you fools. Yes, continue struggling while
I throw three 10s in a row to check out!! It’s the exact same course
each time, so nothing could be easi-”

“Oops, did these bulky reindeer antlers just hit something?”

“Ahee!?”
Page | 80
When the strange stimulus rubbed up along her back, Mikoto
jumped straight up.

But something was odd.

She blushed bright, flapped her mouth, and turned back toward him.

“Y-y-y-you. M-m-my b-b-bra…my b-b-b-bra hook.”

“Eh, what!? I swear I didn’t mean to do that!”

Her dart flew off course and actually stabbed right in the center of
the bull’s eye. With 50 points taken from her remaining 30 points,
she went bust.

Oblivious to what had gone on below the surface, Index checked

inside the plastic costume box.

“Okay, short hair, you have to wear this one. It’s Santa Claus!”

“Ugh, really!? Well, that’s not so bad. A red coat and pants shouldn’t
affect my movements too much.”

“Australian version!!”

“That’s just a red bikini and miniskirt!! The worst part is I don’t think
you’re being intentionally cruel!!”

Mikoto grew somewhat tearful as that costume set was shoved into
her arms, but these punishments were nonnegotiable. It helped that
Kamijou Touma had already transformed into a reindeer. After
forcing him to do it, she could not back out herself. “Dammit,” she
grumbled while disappearing into the back. Kamijou had told her
where to go – a handmade dressing room seemingly made using
curtain rails bought at a home improvement store.

“My turn now. It’s Kamijou-san’s time to shine!!”

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“Ooh, what should I have Touma do if he goes bust again?”

Then he noticed something.

“Why is this dart all sticky?” He squeezed the dart in his hand.
“Index, did you use it after touching the snacks?”

“Eh? I don’t think so.”

That sounded simple enough, but with her perfect memory, an “I

don’t think so” meant she really had not done so. The white nun
tilted her head and touched the dart herself.

“It doesn’t feel sticky to me.”

“No way. It’s definitely catching on my fingers. None of the other

darts did this.”

He pouted his lips while opening and closing his right hand. However,
both his hands were covered by the potholder-like gloves of the
reindeer costume.

“Hey, Index. Is there anything on this costume’s hand?”

“Not that I can see.”

“Then are the two materials a bad match? This is really weird.”

Wiping them off with a dry handkerchief and tissues did nothing to
solve the problem. He recalled seeing some wet tissues in the
bathroom and he could not think of any other option, so he called
timeout and made his way to the back of the darts bar.

After turning the corner, he saw the small space surrounded by a

curtain.

That was the dressing room.

Something suddenly occurred to him.

Page | 82
(Oh, yeah. Misaka hasn’t come back yet. What’s taking her so long?)

He was not about to approach that curtain that was shut tight and
fluttering slightly from the movement within. After all, it scared him.
A lot. With his misfortune, that makeshift dressing room was a
serious threat. What would happen if the curtain rails fell from the
ceiling and exposed the person changing within? He could not hope
to nimbly dodge out of the way in this reindeer costume and his right
hand was covered by that mitten-like glove. Plus, this was Academy
City’s #3, aka the Railgun. There was no surviving a “kyah, pervert!”
attack when it packed the same punch as a battleship’s gun.

(Yeah, best to give this one a wide berth.)

With that, he safely slipped past the dressing room and opened the
door to the unisex bathroom.

His memories vanished after that.

All he could remember was the color red.

The next thing he knew, he was lying in the hallway.

“???”

He truly had no idea what had happened.

There were clear gaps in the film of his memories.

He had simply found himself lying on his back while Misaka Mikoto
mounted him with her face blushing bright red. Instead of her blazer
uniform, she was dressed in red for some reason. Yes, she had
transformed into that Southern Hemisphere Santa Claus. But…

“What was that? I think I opened the door and someone was chang-”

“Stop, no!! Don’t try to remember!! Forget it all!!”

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She hit him with her clenched fists, but that was not enough to
remove the memories from his head.

Then his eyes opened wide.

Page | 84
Page | 85
“Now I remember! Why were you changing in there!?”

“Because you told me to go change ‘in the back’.”

“There was an obvious dressing room set up right there!!”

“I was supposed to use that!? But it looked like a staff only thing!”

Hadn’t that shut curtain been fluttering from movement inside? But
if she hadn’t been in there, then why!? Kamijou grew more and more
confused by how unfair the world could be, but then he heard a
rumbling sound from the ceiling. It was the air conditioning. That
goddamn warm air had been blowing on the curtain.

“Hey, Misaka-san? Wow, wow. Thinking back on it now…wow, wow,

wow.”

“No, I said forget everything!!!!!!!”

Santa shouted loudly while riding a reindeer.

Except there was no sleigh here.

Part 2
“Phew,” sighed Misaka Mikoto.

She was back in her blazer uniform.

The heat gathered within her clothing was still hard to miss, though.

She decided she needed to think about something else or she would
cross the 42 degree border and die.

(Ugh, I feel like that kitty keeps avoiding me. Is it because of the
weak EM waves I passively emit? That’s always depressing.)

They had played a few more games of darts since then.

Page | 86
Not only had she started with more knowledge, but she was
accustomed to the mentality of aiming and shooting. Her Personal
Reality was tailored in that direction. When looking at the overall
score, she had crushed the competition. And the limited number of
male costumes had presented a problem for the special rule they
had come up with. They had a penalty set up whenever someone
went bust, but after that pointy-haired boy had done so several
times in a row, they had run out of punishment costumes for him.

(Oh, god. And I can make a pretty good guess why he’s too
preoccupied to play right, so I can’t even say anything!!)

She just about remembered what happened and felt her

temperature starting to rise, so she fanned her cheek with her hand.

They were taking a short break between games, so she had snuck
into the back to escape the main floor where the boy and other girl
were. The door to the bathroom was here, as was a little shop with
some custom goods to buy. They were of course darts. Those did not
affect the score too much (and if special parts did influence it that
much, the organization in charge of intentional matches would ban
them), but people who were into the game could still be particular
about it. Mikoto was fine with the rented darts, so to her, those
looked little different from homemade parts for a bright and shining
fishing lure.

Her Christmas Eve was passing by without incident.

Or so it seemed.

“…”

But at the same time, she kept feeling a tingling sensation along her
spine. These were human eyes, not a machine. That would be why
she had spent so long thinking before each throw during their last
game before this break.
Page | 87
When she looked toward the exit right now, she saw nothing there.

But when she looked away, she once more sensed a presence there.

She doubted this was a figment of her imagination.

When she used the street security cameras or the security robot
lenses to observe things outside, she could not see anything,
suggesting whoever this was had chosen the perfect angle to hide.

She could tell where they were, but they would duck away and hide
the instant she turned that way. They were clearly observing her.

She was enjoying her freedom while skipping out on Tokiwadai’s

school event, but she doubted any of her schoolmates or teachers
would behave like this.

(This seems more dangerous, doesn’t it?)

There was more to Academy City than the pamphlets let on.

There were real threats here.

Whether it was simple back-alley delinquents or the wealthy looking

down upon the city from their administrative building, there were
ominous shadows and villains here. And they were not all separated
out into neat categories; it was a complex tangle of villainy. The
adults would boss around the dropout students to have them do
crimes or many researchers would serve a single dangerous genius.

In that sense, being Academy City’s #3 made it easy for her to get
caught up in that sort of trouble.

She was not some sheltered girl who was afraid of the unknown
darkness out there. She had seen a large project using her own DNA
map.

(I need to check this out.)

Page | 88
This was why she had suggested they take a short break.

She hated how smoothly she could switch between being open with
people to keeping secrets from them, but if this abnormal attention
was due to her being a Level 5, it made no sense to get those other
two involved.

“And on Christmas Eve of all days.”

She grumbled to herself, released the electronic lock on the staff

only door next to the bathroom door, and walked in. The door locked
automatically, so she let the door shut on its own and then opened
the stainless steel smoke vent on the wall near the ceiling. It was
about three meters up, but she could move freely up the wall by
using magnetism to cling to it. She nimbly climbed outside.

The classic interior was gone and now she was looking at the exterior
that looked like a few metal storage containers joined together. This
was probably an application of plastic construction using large parts
made with a 3D printer. She could cling to it via magnetism thanks to
the rebar placed inside to increase its sturdiness.

And while she had not done much, freedom of movement was the
best way to lose someone tailing you. Just like you could escape
pursuit more easily with a helicopter or submarine.

However…

(The main floor’s security cameras… don’t show anything.)

She used her power to send the darts bar’s security camera footage
to her phone, but that did not help. In fact, the footage itself was
frozen. It was hard to tell at a glance, but it had been modified so no
one could tell if someone passed by directly below the cameras.

She would have to check with her own eyes.

Page | 89
She still felt the gaze piercing her as she used the rear emergency
exit to return to the darts bar. She circled around to move back to
the previous staff only door.

(The electronic lock and the smoke vent should stop someone who
doesn’t have the same power as me. I don’t know why this person is
after me, but now I can sneak up behind them.)

Of course, there was a risk of them feeling trapped and striking back.
It would take a lot to bring down the #3, but Academy City’s darker
parts could provide a lot. There were no absolutes in this field, so she
felt a weight in the pit of her stomach as she approached the
previous door.

“Eh?”

The staff only door was cracked open.

The lock had not been broken. It had been electronically opened.

“Just like I did!?”

She jumped back from the cracked door as if she had seen a
crocodile’s jaws there.

This should not have been possible.

She was the #3 of Academy City’s seven Level 5s. No one should have
been able to use the exact same power as her.

Not understanding the situation could be deadly in a battle with an

esper.

It was like looking at the shogi or chess board and seeing a

mysterious kid’s meal toy on the board. No matter how much of an
advantage your arrangement of pieces gave you, that piece could
take your king in a single move depending on how it moved.

Page | 90
(This is bad.)

This was worse than she had imagined.

Before even considering the specifics of distance, direction, number,

obstacles, and attack method, this mystery person had stolen the
general idea of “the initiative” and that clutched at her heart. How
many turns had she fallen behind in this one second? If they had
maliciously set up the shogi board with the intent of robbing her of
her freedom, they would already be in the perfect position to slit her
throat at any moment.

The enemy had opened the staff only door’s electronic lock and
moved within. But what about the other obstacle – the smoke vent?
Instead of opening the door and checking inside, wouldn’t it be
better to blast through the door and storm inside?

She considered using her Railgun.

She had enough firepower to warrant that name.

(This is bad!!)

She reflexively reached for her skirt pocket and confirmed the
presence of the arcade coin there with her thumb.

And then…

“Oh.”

She heard something through the cracked door.

It was a voice.

And to her surprise, this was no stranger.

Page | 91
“I see. I get that you were lost, but only the workers are supposed to
go in here. Let’s head on out and I can take you to someone who
works here.”

Lost?

That word and the tone of voice took the edge off of her mood, but
she also recognized the voice itself. It belonged to that pointy-haired
boy she had been playing darts with not long before.

(What is happening here?)

Was this an esper who looked like him? Or were they using a next-
generation weapon that could change what you looked like? Or
maybe it was the voice itself that had been modified.

But this meant she could not fire an arcade coin through the door at
thrice the speed of sound without any warning. She was too afraid to
launch an attack without checking first.

“…”

While working to remain as stealthy as possible, she placed her hand

on the staff only door. Then she gradually applied pressure to push it
inwards. The crack between the door and doorframe widened.

That high school boy was down on all fours like a dog with a
diminutive dominatrix of about 10 standing on him with her bare
feet.

“Again, you can’t reach that hole! It’s too high up! If you want to
head out back, then use the kitchen door or the emergency exit!!”

“But Misaka can deduce that the Original left through here, says
Misaka as Misaka sees some magnetized metal and reveals how
perfect a detective she would make! Misaka can’t reach the truth
without passing through that smoke vent!!”
Page | 92
The pig boy receiving the blessing of her bare feet required no
further explanation at this point.

The small girl, on the other hand, had shoulder-length chestnut hair,
a triumphant expression, and a thick outdoor coat worn over a thin
dress. That made her upper body very fluffy, but her legs were
entirely bare, giving her an imbalanced appearance and making her
blindingly bright thighs look all the more risqué.

Perhaps Mikoto should have considered the possibility once

someone was using the same methods as her.

It made sense this girl could use her powers since she had the exact
same DNA map as Misaka Mikoto. Although her actual power output
could not match Mikoto’s.

Her apparent age was very different, but individual parts, such as the
chestnut hair and lively face, were the same as Mikoto’s.

“What are you doing here?”

“Gasp!? I-is this a case of the culprit returning to the scene of the
crime!? says Misaka as Misaka nervously turns around.”

“Get off of that barbaric boy first!!”

That was not any way to speak to a young girl, but it had to be said
first and foremost here.

Except Mikoto’s frantic demand caused the barefoot girl to slip. Her
hips fell straight down, causing her small butt to land right on the
crawling boy like he was her chair.

“Gyah! Squeal!?”

“Oh, nice catch, says Misaka as Misaka gives you a perfect score
while continuing to sit on you.”

Page | 93
The spiky-haired (pig) boy trembled and seemed unable to respond.

Mikoto could not imagine how much that would hurt, nor did she
want to. That kind of experience was not necessary to live a full life.

Also, hadn’t that boy run into trouble with a different little girl just
the night before? She did not really believe in fortunetelling, but was
her joke about bad luck with little girls actually true?

Anyway…

(Was she the one I sensed watching me?)

“I don’t know what’s going on with you, but should you really be out
on your own? What is your caretaker doing?”

She put a hand on her hip and softly sighed, but then…

“You are correct, Original. That is why Misaka here was out searching
for that runaway moron, faithfully reports Misaka.”

A voice spoke from directly behind her.

A quiet but solid sound soon followed.

Mikoto’s shoulders jumped and she quickly turned around to see a

girl of about 14 who really did look exactly like her. That girl was
looking to her with emotionless eyes.

She wore special goggles on her forehead and the metallic noise
from before had been her slowly decocking the hammer of her
handgun with her thumb.

But something surprised Mikoto more than that dangerous toy that
should not have existed in Japan’s capital.

“Wait, really? How did you sneak up behind me?”

Page | 94
“It is true you have an anti-personnel radar that eliminates your blind
spots by emitting faint microwaves in all directions and detecting the
reflected waves, but it does have a weakness, explains Misaka with a
smug grin. Electromagnetic waves are indeed waves, so as long as
you know the frequency being used, you can negate them by sending
out a reverse phase wave. Grin.”

Despite what she said about grinning, her face remained devoid of
expression.

She was one of the Sisters, mass-produced military clones of the #3

Level 5 who were meant to artificially reproduce the Railgun but had
not been able to match the original’s power.

Also, the 20,000 Sisters were linked by a weak brainwave network

and Last Order, a special unit, had been created in order to control
the network and prevent the Sisters as a whole from rebelling. Last
Order had likely been intentionally kept younger than the rest so the
researchers could more easily force that role onto her. Her purpose
as a safety measure was meaningless if she led the rebellion herself.

Academy City had concentrated the negative side of science and

technology like crazy.

But the fact remained that none of it would have happened without
her initial foolish action.

She could easily identify Last Order as #20001, but it was hard to tell
apart he other Sisters, so she asked a simple question of the girl with
thick goggles on her forehead.

“What’s your serial number?”

For some reason, the identical girl opened the chest of her jacket and
showed off the heart-shaped necklace there.

Page | 95
“Misaka is your #10032, says Misaka while showing off a slight
monopolistic tendency.”

“Why aren’t you looking at me while you say that? Why are you
staring at that pig boy who’s being that little girl’s chair?”

“Must Misaka repeat the part about a smug grin? asks Misaka.
Because she will. As many times as necessary.”

The sisters formed a single giant brain through the network link, but
Mikoto had also heard that the specific clones grew more individual
the more they learned on their own. So was this a case where a
clone was developing in a strange new direction? She gained the kind
but pitying eyes of someone seeing a self-proclaimed genius girl who
had been so fixated on memorizing pi or train station names that she
failed to learn how to do anything other than that.

“M-Misaka Imouto?”

“Yes?”

“Please do something about this extreme tomboy sitting on me. Any

more of this and my hips…squeal…my hips won’t last.”

“Understood. This Misaka – your #10032 – shall rescue you from this
crisis while the Original stands uselessly over in the corner. Grin,
grin.”

“You weren’t infected by some weird virus, were you?” asked

Mikoto. “Actually, acting like this without a virus might be worse.”

Some said that it was harder to fix an AI that had been unmaliciously
taught mistaken things than one that had its code or parameters
malicious rewritten by a virus. Mikoto stared into the distance while
hoping she could treat this like an idiosyncrasy and not a weakness.

Page | 96
“Misaka hates being made to work for the benefit of that side of
things, says Misaka to express her stance here. And while Misaka will
respect Last Order’s free will and let her do as she wishes, this
Misaka sides with the pointy-haired Level 0, not the albino Level 5.”

The tension ruling this place had vanished like it had been a mere
illusion.

While making a mental note to look into how her anti-personnel

radar could be negated, Mikoto was pleased to see she was not
being immediately confronted with the dark side of Academy City
which had found it hilarious to create 20,000 clones.

She breathed a sigh of relief.

She had been overly cautious here for the same reason that victims
of burglary could never relax until they had checked over and over to
make sure their windows and doors were locked before they went
out. She did not like carrying around the scars of that old incident
like this, but it could not hurt to err on the side of caution. The unit
the boy had called Misaka Imouto was #10032 and none of the
preceding number existed any longer. Mikoto never wanted to find
herself in a situation like that again. Never ever.

Misaka Imouto placed her arms below small Last Order’s arms and
lifted her up, finally giving the boy his freedom back. He placed his
hands on the wall and slowly stood up before tapping on his lower
back like an old man.

“I-I just about had my hips destroyed after an awfully powerful girl
assaulted me on Christmas Eve.”

“Please rephrase that.”

“Silly Original. When an innocent boy unwittingly says something of

that nature, it is in fact an intellectual puzzle where you replace the
Page | 97
context in your mind for your own enjoyment, says Misaka while she
lectures this rookie on how to properly entertain yourself. You must
not interrupt this game for classy ladies and gentlemen. You simply
remain silent and grin.”

They still had to find out why Last Order had left her hospital or
apartment or whatever to wander the streets, but it was time to end
this little meeting. It would look odd for them to remain in this staff-
only office for too long and they would stand out even more with
three girls who looked exactly the same (even if Last Order was a
different age). They might be able to claim to be two twins and a
younger sister, but clones were banned by international treaties. And
since the researchers might coldly decide to kill the clones and
eliminate the evidence if word of their existence got out, “might be
able to” was too risky a gamble to make when not absolutely
necessary.

(So I guess we can’t just enjoy playing darts together.)

She hated having to exclude the clones like this, but trying to force it
to happen held the greater risk of ruining any chance of a happy and
uneventful Christmas Eve. That was not what she wanted for the
clones.

Someday, even they would be able to walk freely out in the open.

Buying time for that to happen would be the best choice here.

“Let’s get out of here. Who knows when an employee will come to
this office during a break.”

At the very least, there had been no suspicious pursuers or attackers.

Confident of that, Mikoto let out a sigh and prepared to bring this to
an end.

Page | 98
But that was when it happened.

Something slammed into the building from outside and the sturdy
modern architecture of the office was fully split apart.

Part 3
“Oh, whoops.”

Someone somewhere casually placed a hand over their eyes to keep

out the sun.

The shadow whispered.

An alluring tongue licked some cream from their lips, perhaps from a
toxic-looking donut dyed in their lucky color.

“Didn’t quite hit the mark there. I need to be more careful.”

Part 4
The entire scene slanted.

There was an obvious fault line.

The office had been a long, narrow rectangular room, but it had
suddenly been split between front and back. Index and Mikoto
instantly vanished from view. A giant cliff face towered in front of
Kamijou. Had the two girls been launched upwards?

(No!)

He realized it was the opposite when he noticed what that large

shadow pressing down from overhead was. They were not rising up;
he was sinking down. The walls, ceiling, and even ground had been
sliced through and Kamijou and Last Order were plunging
underground.

Page | 99
“Oh, no!!”

The entire room had tilted at a diagonal angle.

Everything seemed different now and the ground itself rocked like a
small boat in a storm. This had been a reinforced concrete building
built on flat ground, but now it was a steep slope. And Last Order had
nothing to grab onto, so she was rolling around and falling away.

Pieces of the ground weighing more than 100 tons were powerfully
smashing together.

The giant jagged edge of the slice was still moving. Touch that with
an arm or a leg and it might bite down and tear the limb straight off.

But Kamijou’s fear never came true.

The mouth was opening.

But this was not a wall of dirt. There was an open space
underground. Given the limited space in Academy City, the
underground area was packed full of development. They must have
broken into an underground tunnel connecting subway stations.
They had sunk unnaturally deep, yet the sliced edge of the ground-
level road could be seen here.

It almost seemed intentional.

After swallowing Last Order, the ground wobbled like a seesaw. Once
the height difference levelled off, the underground tunnel’s mouth
would close.

(This wasn’t an accident or a disaster.)

That was obvious enough. He refused to believe this was a natural

occurrence. He was unsure how exactly it had been done, but human
malice was plain to see here.

Page | 100
They were under attack by some kind of supernatural power, so he
had no reason whatsoever to let it continue.

It was time to make up of his mind.

(I can’t leave her alone right now!!)

“You idiot! Are you insane!?”

“You go check on Index for me. Please!!”

Mikoto shouted down from the upper level, but she could not stop
him while he was on the lower level. He in fact let go of his handhold
and slid down the slanted floor to dive into the underground tunnel.

He just barely made it.

A moment after he was in, the great jaws of the ground snapped
shut. If he had been just three seconds slower, the ferocious weight
of more than 100 tons would have torn his upper body from his
lower body like someone biting through a hot dog.

“Are you okay, Last Order?” he asked from the floor.

“Yes, Misaka is not hurt, says Misaka as Misaka looks around

curiously.”

This would normally have been an entirely ordinary underground

tunnel, but there were now cracks everywhere and dark soil spilling
in from the fissures in the concrete. The power system must have
been knocked out because the fluorescent lights were all dead and
some electric sparks were sporadically pouring down from the walls
and ceiling like fireworks.

“Hm.”

Last Order brushed off her clothes with her small hands. She may
have been particular about staying clean.
Page | 101
The tunnel was as dark as a movie theater and pieces of torn wiring
and shards of concrete could be anywhere. If they were not aware of
where the cracks were, they could be buried alive by dirt. It was
dangerous in the dark, but they only had his phone’s LED light to go
on.

The small girl raised her hands and hopped up and down.

“Misaka can make light too, says Misaka while Misaka holds her head
high.”

“What? Can you send electricity to the surviving lights?”

“Misaka can send sparks from her hair!!”

He politely refused the offer. In the dark, a light source would be the
first thing an enemy would target. Making that light source your
head or hair was the most dangerous option.

She must have been worried because she clutched his clothes with
her small hand and asked a question.

“What should we do now? asks Misaka while Misaka seeks advice.”

“Good question.”

If they were free to move, where should they go?

What could they do to ensure their safety?

(Think.)

This half-broken tunnel was clearly dangerous, but the surface was
not necessarily safer. The enemy might concentrate fire on them the
instant they appeared in an open area.

So it would be best to come up with a plan instead of wandering at

random.

Page | 102
The first issue was…

(If this was an intentional attack, who was the target?)

It could always be Kamijou himself, but he figured that was highly

unlikely. He could not just blame his misfortune for everything. Since
this was Academy City, headquarters of the science side, #3 Misaka
Mikoto would be the top of the list. The cloned Sisters and Last
Order, their command tower, would also be valuable.

No.

(The most unique of them would be this one here.)

“?”

Last Order tilted her head as if to ask why he was looking at her.

He was starting to think it had been no accident that the earth had
opened its jaws and swallowed only Last Order.

Meanwhile, there had been another important person in that darts

bar, albeit important for an entirely different reason.

Index.

The magic side also existed. She was the grimoire library that had
memorized at least 103,001 grimoires and apparently all the world’s
outlaw magicians were after her knowledge. In that case, it was
conceivable someone had used Last Order to remove Kamijou Touma
from Index.

So was it science or magic? Whichever side the unseen enemy

belonged to would greatly change what was to come. If he got that
wrong, he would hold his shield in the wrong direction and end up
being hit in the back or side by the enemy’s concentrated fire.

Page | 103
Assuming the entire building had not collapsed from that initial
attack, then Index would have Mikoto and Misaka Imouto with her.
Those two would not be defeated so easily.

He had two primary options here.

The first was to reach the surface as quickly as possible and regroup
with Index, Mikoto, and Misaka Imouto. Whether Index or Last Order
was the target, he would know where the enemy would attack if
those two were together. And whether the threat belonged to
science or magic, they could team up on the enemy and eliminate
the threat once they showed themselves.

The second was to separate Index and Last Order. Seeing which one
the attacker pursued would tell him whether they belonged to
science or magic. And if he could contact Mikoto’s group, they could
take advantage of being split up. While the attacker thought they
were cornering their target, Kamijou or Mikoto could sneak up
behind them.

“…”

After some thought, Kamijou Touma made up his mind.

“Last Order, let’s get away from here for now.”

“If you say so.”

When he started to move, the small girl followed while still holding
onto his clothes. She apparently had no intention of letting go.

He had chosen the latter option.

He could only choose to split up because he trusted in Mikoto and

Misaka Imouto’s skill. He was hesitant to flee or fight without
knowing who the enemy was. From the moment of the attack, his
group had been a step behind when it came to information. They
Page | 104
could never escape this vicious cycle of attacks unless they filled in
that gap.

Would he really find peace if he escaped back to his dorm room?

If he went to Anti-Skill and asked for protection, was there really no

chance of the Anti-Skill station being destroyed?

At the very least, he wanted to know who this enemy was.

The former option of regrouping might seem safer since they could
pool their forces sand cover for whoever was being targeted, but
there was a trap there. If the unknown enemy chose to hide and
wait, there was nothing he and the others could do. Whatever this
opponent’s attack was, it was powerful enough to split through a
building and lift up the ground. There was nowhere they could safely
hide from that, so he wanted to avoid holing up somewhere while
that unknown assailant could freely walk around outside. That would
be just like being adrift in the ocean aboard a lifeboat with a giant
shark circling around.

He had to drag the owner of those fangs out of the water.

Finding safety could wait until then.

“Okay, let’s go.”

“Why not run? asks Misaka while Misaka hopes to go faster.”

“My phone is our only light source, but the ground is covered with
pieces of concrete thicker than a phonebook and shards of
fluorescent lights. If we trip and fall, we’ll hurt ourselves pretty
badly.”

If this tunnel did connect subway stations, where was the closest
stairway back to the surface? Kamijou tried to remember that. He

Page | 105
did not know how widespread the damage from that attack had
been, so he could only hope the stairs had survived.

After less than 10m of progress after forming their new team down
here, Kamijou and Last Order were hit by another powerful tremor.

“Wah!?”

“So they were after her, not Index!!”

Was the snapping sound he heard from concrete or metal? It was

such an unusual sound that he could not even imagine what kind of
destruction he was hearing.

But the low rumbling never seemed to end.

In fact, it was growing louder.

The deep sound was loud enough to shake the entire floor.

“Dammit. Run, Last Order.”

“Eh? But you just said-”

“They intentionally broke some kind of major water pipe down

here!! Hurry! A ton of water is on its way!!”

His loud voice seemed to push her forward and she stumbled. He
wrapped an arm around her skinny hips and scooped her up while
running forward. He only had a phone’s LED light to go on, but not
even that was much help with his arm pumping at his side. Last
Order kicked her skinny legs while he carried her.

“The entire tunnel is shaking! shouts Misaka while Misaka explains

what she noticed!”

“I know. I hope it doesn’t collapse. Well, put your hands over your
head to protect yourself as best as you can!!”

Page | 106
The noise was growing louder.

No, it was drawing closer.

He felt the deep rumble more in his gut than his ears now.

How many seconds until it caught up and swallowed them whole? He

could not see in the darkness, so his panic just about caused his feet
to tangle together. There was no hope for them if he tripped now.
They would be helplessly swallowed up and there would be no
recovering from it. The fear of bringing about his own death
squeezed at his heart.

Which was why he almost missed it entirely.

Once his bright LED light illuminated the icon for the stairs, he
slammed on the brakes and dove in there. Still holding Last Order’s
hips in his arm, he ran up to the landing two steps at a time.

Then his legs were nearly pulled out from under him.

The deluge had risen to their level in an instant and almost carried
him away. It had stopped at less than knee height, but that was
enough to throw him off balance.

There had been more than 10 steps to the landing, so the actual
tunnel had to be fully inundated. There was no telling how long this
stairway would last either.

“Kh!!”

He slammed himself against the cracked concrete wall to stop

himself from falling. Then he ran up the rest of the stairs. He heard a
muffled sound of destruction in the distance and the amount of
water rapidly increased. Another major water pipe must have
broken. He ran up the stairs to escape the water level that was rising
in order to swallow up his hips.
Page | 107
His feet slipped at the end.

“Gah!?”

He curled up his body to at least protect Last Order from the cold
and hard corner of the stairs. He clenched his teeth to bear with the
pain and used both arms to push that small body up the last few
steps to the surface. But instead of standing up, she stayed on all
fours and reached out a small hand toward him.

“Hold on! Hurry up here! Nhhh!!”

Her efforts probably did not mean much.

If he had slipped down, he would only have pulled her down in the
midwinter water with him.

(N-no.)

But.

That was why he made sure to hold his ground to the very end.

(Not yet!!)

While focusing on not pulling her to her doom with him, he forced
himself up the last few steps and to the surface.

He and Last Order rolled out onto a sidewalk paved with broken tiles.

The torrent stopped at exactly the surface level. The water level
receded, much like a ferocious beast slinking back into the bushes
after failing to catch its prey. Another crack or large hole must have
formed.

Things were bad outside too.

All those sturdy buildings were now tilted and cracks formed
ominous Xs in the reinforced concrete walls. Were those danger
Page | 108
signs of a possible collapse? A drum-shaped cleaning robot had fallen
on its side and could not get back up, leaving its tires spinning
fruitlessly. A few of the three-bladed wind turbines had fully
collapsed and crushed the guardrails and the cars parked on the
curb. It would have been a disaster had any of those hit someone.

It was all made worse by the Christmas season. The cables of colorful
lights meant to decorate the city had broken and were dangling
down and scattering sparks. It was not as bad as old-fashioned
power lines, but there was still a risk of people getting shocked or a
fire starting. Especially when combined with that water.

The road glittered in the sunlight like the ocean surface.

Perhaps due to the damage to the buildings, the windows of the

higher floors must have broken and sent glass shards pouring down.
He was pleasantly surprised to not to see bloodstains everywhere. As
soon as they felt the shaking, the people of this country tended to
hide in sturdy buildings or below cars. In stark contrast to matters of
crime and war, he had seen on a trivia show that Japan was one of
the best countries in the world when it came to disaster response
knowledge.

Last Order opened her small mouth and looked up into the peaceful
blue sky.

The airship gently floating there seemed cut off from all the chaos.
The screen on its belly was not playing any kind of special news
report.

“C-could it have been an esper who controls earthquakes? wonders

Misaka as Misaka tilts her head.”

“I’m thinking no.”

Page | 109
That had been one hell of an attack, but he felt like the attacker had
been trying to mislead them by limiting their own method of attack.

If their power simply shook things, then that darts bar should have
collapsed. Instead of lifting up the ground, it had looked more like
the ground had been sliced through where the building was. That
was why the ground had shaken but the building had not collapsed.
Since it had already been split in two already, it had not twisted and
snapped apart.

And this was the more concerning answer.

If this was a general-use Telekinesis user, they would have a lot more
options. They might even be able to directly target Kamijou or Last
Order and tear their bodies in two. Just like a small child cruelly
playing with a bug they had captured.

In that case, being locked onto meant death.

But on the other hand…

(They didn’t do that.)

If they really did have such a powerful ability, they would not have
needed to make that bluff to fool their prey. That act was proof that
they were afraid. They were afraid of being identified and of a
counterattack. So the enemy was saying themselves that, whatever
their power might be, if their trump card was identified, that alone
would set the dominoes falling and they would lose their
advantageous position.

He could not let the malice swallow him up.

He had to read between the lines and convert it into hope.

Real incidents did not have magic potions and spare ammo placed on
the floor every so often so anyone could win. The enemy would have
Page | 110
eliminated anything that would help him and cut off all paths leading
back to them before making their attack. So don’t expect any help
from the enemy. He needed to transform what he was given. Just like
turning sticky sludge into a disinfectant, he had to find what
information he could from the malicious words and actions sent his
way.

“What do we do now? says Misaka as Misaka asks a question.”

“We look up,” he bluntly replied. “Where could someone see

everything, from the initial darts bar to here? If they’ve been using a
single power this whole time, then they must have been watching
us.”

“B-but we were underground before.”

“Because they invited us there.”

Also, it was hard to think they had lost sight of Last Order after
setting that up themselves.

“The attack underground seemed a lot less targeted than the initial
one that split the darts bar office. They broke open an industrial
water pipe in the distance to flood the entire tunnel, right? They
knew where we were in general, but not specifically. And that was
fine with them.”

He did not have any actual proof of this, of course. This was only
guesswork based on what they had experienced and what he would
have done if he were the enemy.

But he would lose sight of his destination if he did not set up a

framework like that. If he let his emotions take over and simply ran
at random, he knew exactly what fate would await him. Their lives
were on the line, so he wanted to maintain enough freedom to open
up the map and decide on a destination.
Page | 111
“So this might be our chance. The further away we are, the less
accurately the enemy knows our position. If they don’t know if we’re
in that flooded tunnel or out here, they’ll be open to attack. If we can
work out where they’re hiding and looking down on the city, we can
sneak up on them and strike back.”

The enemy used extremely largescale attacks, but wouldn’t that

mean they could not use their full power if Kamijou arrived on the
same building rooftop as them? If they used their power to destroy
the very building they were standing on, they would be caught in it
as well.

An esper could only have one power.

It would be difficult to protect yourself with this destruction-focused

power. That would be like grabbing a raw egg with the heavy arm of
some building demolition equipment.

“Eh, what? What’s going on here???”

A miniskirt Santa girl (probably a part-timer) had fallen to a sitting

position on the curb while seemingly forgetting about her short skirt.
Had she dyed that long blonde hair just for this job? She was
apparently the type of person who would even now continue holding
onto her handmade sign for 20% off if you bought a cake and turkey
as a set.

“This is unbelievable, but I bet I’d get flamed if I uploaded a photo.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. We need to provide accurate records of what

happened!”

The couples who had evacuated into a ground floor café with broken
windows were finally stepping out and taking a look around with a
mixture of apprehension and annoyance. A café worker was
scratching their head while looking at the glass-covered floor. The
Page | 112
lucky color donuts must have been selling really well because they
did not seem all that bothered by the idea of having to buy new
windows.

Needless to say, this was Christmas Eve. It was a busy time even for
winter break. This mystery esper could not be allowed to run amok
any longer.

“Okay, Last Order. It’s time to begin the counterattack.”

“How are we going to find the enemy? asks Misaka while Misaka
checks on your plan.”

It was obvious enough once you tried, but you could not see what
was on the roof of a tall building while looking up at it. Running along
the roads viewing the buildings would tell them nothing, but if they
climbed to the top of the tallest building in the area to look down,
the esper would only have to bring down that building. They would
be caught in the collapse and lose their lives.

But Kamijou had an idea.

“It doesn’t exist.”

“Hm?”

“There is nowhere that gives you a clean view of everything from the
darts bar to here. To avoid drone collisions, modern map apps will
show things in three-dimensions instead of just a flat map. One look
on here is enough to tell me the other buildings would block the
enemy’s view and make it impossible to target us.”

“But they have continued to target us, says Misaka as Misaka makes
a rebuttal.”

“Correct. So there’s some trick at play here.” He lowered his phone

to short Last Order’s eye level. “If you only look at the building
Page | 113
heights, it does look like their view would be blocked, but that isn’t
actually true.”

“?”

“The wind turbines.” He pointed his thumb toward that ubiquitous

feature of Academy City. “They’re everywhere, right? When rotating
so quickly, they can function like a large circular mirror. With the
melted snow covering them, they can reflect light easily enough. So
the direct line of sight might be blocked, but those temporary
mirrors give the enemy a view around the buildings. Which leaves us
exposed.”

Of course, not many buildings would let someone use that.

Kamijou had come up with his answer.

“Ragweed Real Estate’s office building is located 300m west of here.

It gives you a direct view down on the darts bar and the wind turbine
mirrors lets you see around the cinema complex in the way. That’s
the only place they could be waiting to attack us!”

They had a plan.

Kamijou pushed on Last Order’s small back to hurry them along to

the conclusion.

But then a small misgiving pricked at his heart.

(Wait a second.)

Hadn’t he just seen something out of place? The café with broken
windows, the unconcerned employee, and the evacuated couples
were all normal enough. Shards of glass had poured down from the
skyscrapers, but they would have escaped harm as long as they took
shelter inside before the windows broke. Kamijou and Last Order had
been safe because they were underground to begin with.
Page | 114
But what about the other person?

Hadn’t there been someone who had been outside the whole time yet
had not been hit by any of the glass for some reason?
“Well, I guess you can’t expect much more than that from an
amateur’s deductions,” said a voice.

He heard a dull sound before he felt anything.

“Gah?”

A merciless blow had hit him in the right side. What was that
stabbing into him there? It was not a drill or an icepick. It was
skinnier than a pen, but it was in fact a knife. It may have been
designed for slipping through the gaps in an armored jacket to hit
someone in the vitals.

But more than that, there was the person holding it.

The person who had snuck up close enough to feel the heat of their
breaths was not an ancient ninja or an assassin squad that used
electronic camouflage to blend into the background. This person had
been in plain view from the beginning. They had been there, but he
had overlooked them.

It was the part-timer girl.

The miniskirt Santa carrying a sign for a cake shop.

“Damn…you!?”

“No hard feelings, okay? I don’t have anything against you; this is
only a job. If I screw this up, I’ll never hear the end of it from the
higher ups.”

Her long blonde hair swayed as she whispered emotionlessly even in

this situation.
Page | 115
During Halloween or Christmastime, extreme costumes were the
best way of hiding one’s identity. Being the most conspicuous person
prevented anyone from remembering much about you. You could be
attacked head on yet only be able to remember that it was someone
in red clothes and a miniskirt that did so.

(She wasn’t watching us from a distance.)

Something reflected the sunlight in the December sky.

It was an airship.

Those were seen all over Academy City and it had large screen on its
belly. And the thick protective glass covering the screen reflected the
light. But he never would have noticed that large mirror by viewing
his map app.

There had been another point from which someone could view the
entire area using reflected and refracted light.

(She was here the whole time waiting for us to emerge!?)

“Last Order!!”

He gathered the last of his strength and shoved the small girl as far
away as he could manage.

But…

“Useless.”

A crack ran down the road, but not in a straight line; it snaked along
and clearly divided the Santa assassin and Last Order from Kamijou.

The ground rose up as if abducting the small girl and carrying her into
the sky.

Page | 116
But Kamijou did not have time to just watch. Dirt fell down like a
scattershot blast, sending him spiraling through the air.

He still had the knife in his side.

If he slammed into the ground now, he would not survive this. The
shock would cause the knife to shred his insides.

Then it would all be over.

The pursuit would end and no one would know who had taken Last
Order.

“Dammit!?”

There was nothing he could do.

Once his feet left the ground, he had already lost all right to control
his movements.

The object sticking into his body was already gouging into his soul
before he even hit the ground.

Once he did hit, the impact would sever through it all.

Nothing he could do with his arms and legs now would help.

He knew only red-stained death awaited him in three seconds, but all
his senses seemed to vanish.

In the final moment, his nerves seemed to misfire and he felt only a
sensation as soft as feathers.

Between the Lines 3

The low tremor reached that windowless room as well.

“So it’s begun.”

Page | 117
“…”

“You must have known what this meant from the beginning,
Yomikawa. Idealism is powerless against reality, so if you try to force
your ideals onto reality, there is bound to be a fierce backlash.”

When Yomikawa Aiho had first learned who the new Board Chairman
was, she assumed she had misheard.

But when she had heard what he said, she had been willing to follow
him.

He had said he wanted to rid Academy City of its dark side.

He had said he wanted to eradicate all of those wicked and hopeless

experiments.

That was what everyone in this city had wanted but no one had
managed to pull off.

Also, things had changed once Accelerator had taken the position of
Board Chairman. He had created Operation Handcuffs. He was a true
monster who no one could touch with direct violence or indirect
influence, yet that #1 had still said the right thing with no fear
whatsoever.

No one wanted to create tragedy.

Perhaps even those men and women in white coats believed that as
they dedicated themselves to their research.

With the exceptions of trueborn freaks like the Kiharas or the higher
ups who were fixated on enriching and empowering themselves,
people could not escape their own conscience. No matter how much
they fortified themselves with logic to justify their actions, they
would still be plagued with nightmares of the students they had
sacrificed. Every single night.
Page | 118
So someone only had to create an opportunity.

A truly powerful leader only had to take their side.

“Everyone already knew what my Achilles heel was.”

“Last Order.”

“The people who are more comfortable in the corrupt darkness were
bound to attack there first. If they can’t make any headway through
official channels or backchannels, they only have one option left:
take someone I care about hostage and use that to negotiate.”

But if Accelerator gave into his anger and rushed outside, he would
only be repeating the cycle. The white monster had not called Anti-
Skill Officer Yomikawa Aiho here to discuss that.

Yes.

“Send me to the prosecutors and have me indicted.”

“Kh.”

“Why do you think I turned myself in? This is your job, Yomikawa.
You’re the only one I know who can handle the rest of this.”

This was not some secret base of the new Board Chairman’s.

Nor was it a mysterious lab.

This room belonged to Yomikawa Aiho and Accelerator was an

uninvited guest.

This was an Anti-Skill station. Specifically, it was a secret

interrogation room not displayed on any official diagrams, where a
minimum number of officers would make a final check before
beginning the actual investigation of largescale corruption, bribery,

Page | 119
or other cases that required the utmost secrecy before law
enforcement made their move.

She knew this was an emergency.

Still, she had been surprised when she saw someone she did not
recognize in control of her usual workplace.

She was the one who had asked who that guard worked for.

She had assumed the rest of the Board of Directors had taken over
and sent one of their pawns in as a guard. She had never imagined
the man worked for the new Board Chairman himself. Even if he had
the power of the #1, that seemed too careless.

The stage was not yet set.

No one was in agreement, so there was bound to be backlash once

the confusion set in.

“I will rid Academy City of its dark side and I can’t leave any
exceptions. I asked you to write up a charge sheet, didn’t I? I’ve killed
more than 10,000 living humans, even if they were clones. And after
that, I irresponsibly stayed in the dark side and fired guns all
throughout this peaceful city while claiming to be helping. Someone
like that can never be allowed out on the streets again. I must be
placed behind bars no matter who tries to stop it.”

“The Board Chairman has complete control over Academy City. The
12 Directors below you are only for show. And whatever we might
like to think, the rules never say the Chairman has to be a good
person. I’ve never heard of someone that powerful just turning
themselves in.”

“So what? That just means the system has always been broken.
…Don’t make me laugh. If the rules differ from what everyone wants,

Page | 120
then you’ve clearly found yourself a problem in the rules needing
fixing.”

Who had been at fault? The answer was obviously Accelerator.

A Kihara had developed his powers and old Board Chairman Aleister
had guided that monster down the path of murder for his own
purposes, but it was still Accelerator who had actually done it.

But the #1 had been involved in far too much of the darkness.

How many people’s hands would be cuffed from this one boy’s
testimony?

Of course people would be coming out of the woodwork to prevent

this from happening.

Not because they were his good friends; because they had to protect
their own future.

“You will never again leave prison.”

“I am aware of that.”

“Even if you are tried as a juvenile! Even if your sentence is reduced

for cooperation with our investigations!! It just isn’t enough. The
computer has already run some preliminary calculations. At this rate,
your sentence will be for 11,000 years!!”

“Way too short. Around a year per murder? What kind of joke is
that?”

“Why?” Yomikawa muttered under her breath.

The #1 did not look away.

“Didn’t I tell you? I can’t leave any exceptions. I’m the #1 and the
Board Chairman, so I have to lead by example.”

Page | 121
Yomikawa Aiho was supposed to be a protector of the law.

But when she handcuffed an esper run amok, it was so they could be
rehabilitated and have a second chance. That was why she would
never aim a gun at a child. No matter how dangerous an esper they
were, she had to create a situation where she could hear them out.

However, Accelerator would have no future.

This might be the right thing to do, but then who would save him?

“What about the clones?” she asked. “Once this is all investigated,
their existence will come to light. That’s around 10,000 people who
violate international treaties. Society might not accept them.”

Did clones have human rights or not?

Academy City had once answered no and repeated cruel

experiments using them. And Accelerator was the one who had
dirtied his hands there at the insistence of the researchers. They
were undoubtedly the victims there, but the people in the outside
world might not see it the same way.

If they too answered no and even saw the clones as a threat, they
could be “disposed of”.

However…

“That’s why I have to make sure they’re safe.”

“What do you mean?”

“Do you think they’re safe now? If they’re discovered, then that’s the
end for them. How is that safe? I need to correct that unnatural
balance and make sure they have solid footing to stand on. They
were victims in all this, so why do they have to continue keeping

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their heads down and hiding? Unlike me, they deserve a free life out
in the open.”

Accelerator had only one hope of accomplishing that.

The white monster pointed his thumb back at his own chest.

“I’ll be the villain.”

That was the natural result.

In fact, it was unnatural for it to have not happened yet.

“I’ll gather all the attention of the media and the scientific society
and accept all of the criticism myself. I’m the ridiculous genius, I’ve
got all the political power now, and I’ve even got money too. That’s
exactly the kind of asshole people will just love to see go down in
flames. All the news will be focused on me and they’ve only got so
much space for info in their articles. They’ll aim for impact and focus
on the guy who went around murdering clones instead of the clones
themselves. And who cares about the people spreading rumors? A
lot of time will have passed before the media is sick of attacking me.
And then it’ll be like a flat soda. Focusing on the clones after that
won’t move the masses to action. People jump on these bandwagons
because they’re bored with their own lives. These are the people
who find themselves bored even with all the excitement out there to
find, so they’re experts at living boring lives. Once they grow tired of
a topic, their interest in it is forever dead.”

That was why he could not cheat the system.

He could not use his special authority as Board Chairman to pardon

himself after being found guilty and he could not live behind bars but
emerge as a heroic Board Chairman whenever there was a problem
needing solving.

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There could be no exceptions.

The person most deserving of punishment had to be appropriately

punished and that had to be shown off to both Academy City and the
rest of the world.

They had to show that true justice existed here.

They had to show that they had moved past the absurd age where
the evil laughed and the good were left in tears.

Otherwise, nothing would change.

If he tried to use any tricks here, that would create a distortion and
those aware of the secret would eventually create a new darkness.

He had always spat on the self-serving acts of the adults. He had

punched at the filthy concrete wall and shouted in rage, wondering
how they could do things like that.

And now that child held the position of Board Chairman.

So it was time to show them.

He would let the world know he was not all talk.

He would walk a different path than Board Chairman Aleister.

“It all starts here,” whispered Accelerator. It may not have been
obvious without paying close attention, but the #1 and new Board
Chairman was clenching his back teeth. “This is also an issue of how
much I can trust Academy City. If I get worried, can’t bear it
anymore, and break through that wall to go save that brat, then it’s
all over. That would create an exception and those shitheads from
the dark side could have their way. So I have to trust that the giant
system of Academy City will save that brat without me creating an
exception.”

Page | 124
That may have been nothing more than a fantasy.

Accelerator himself had peered into the darkness plenty of times

himself. He knew there were truly hopeless people out there and
that it was absurd to think justice would win out in the end.
Everyone knew it, but breaking the rules gave you an advantage. The
shittier a person you were, the more technology you could surround
yourself in and the more mercilessly you could fire on the good
people who were bound by the rules. At the very least, it had always
been that way in Academy City. There were times when the good
guys did not arrive in time and the good guys who did arrive did not
always win. If he wanted absolute certainty, then he could not rely
on someone else; he would have to go rescue Last Order himself.

He was indeed a monster, so there was a violent part of him that was
going wild inside him right now. It told him the rules did not matter
and he should break out of here right this instant. Villains would
always betray you in the end. Some eloquent speech about being
reformed was not even worth listening to. He needed to pin them
down, crush them, tear them apart, and grasp safety for himself.
Even the greatest villain could not betray you if they were a corpse.
And what other choice did he have if he was going to protect that
young life? What could make a more beautiful story than dirtying his
hands to allow someone he cared for to live their life out in the
open?

But.

Even so.

“I will trust it,” said Academy City’s #1 and new Board Chairman.
That incarnation of slaughter turned fearsome dictator spoke the
words like he was suppressing bubbling magma within himself. “I will
trust this city. I will trust that it is worth throwing out the rest of my

Page | 125
life to protect. If I can’t trust the city I rule, then I don’t deserve to
rule it in the first place.”

Was it Yomikawa who had said he had changed?

It was this monster who had said she was one of the ones who had
changed him.

Which was why this monster had retaken a human form and could
continue to fight like this.

Even if it meant clenching his teeth and bearing with it all alone.

Page | 126
Chapter 3: A Dark Conspiracy and a
Barrier Gone — Enemy_Use_XXX.
Part 1
Kamijou’s vision spun wildly around.

If he slammed into the ground, he was dead. The special knife

stabbed into his side would shred his organs and blood vessels if he
did. He knew that, but he could not just sprout wings and fly. Once
his feet left the ground, he could not recover.

However, that did not happen.

Because…

“Are you okay? asks Misaka to confirm your condition while catching
you.”

A gentle sensation saved his life.

This was not just the soft skin of a girl. Not only had she caught him
without touching the knife, she had used her body like a spring to
eliminate the impact.

But he did not have it in him to thank her right now.

He ignored his aching body and pointed straight up while the young
girl held him in her arms. This should have been a flat asphalt road,
yet there was now a two or three story cliff there.

“Please! Help Last Order!!”

Misaka Imouto did not respond.

In fact, she gently lowered him to the ground and began checking
over his wound.

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“Hey?”

“By grazing your liver, it threaded the needle between several

different blood vessels. This location may have been intentionally
chosen to make it difficult to remove, says Misaka while grimacing at
the cruelty.”

“What are you doing? Forget about me! You need to pursue her or
we’ll lose them!!”

“Misaka cannot do that.” The girl shook her head with no emotion in
her eyes. “Misaka will respect our higher unit’s free will and let her
do as she wishes, but her opinion still reaches Misaka through the
Misaka Network, explains Misaka.”

“What are you talking about?”

“She does not want to reward your kindness by abandoning you. And
this Misaka agrees, says Misaka to establish her own opinion.”

He clenched his teeth so hard he thought they would break.

He reached for his own side and grabbed the handle of the knife.

More than a burning pain, he felt an iciness along his spine form the
slight tremor passing into his body through the weapon. This told
him all too well that a foreign object had torn into his body and the
sharp metal remained there. That unrealistic sensation caused his
vision to darken as if with static and his breathing picked up pace. His
mind was off balance. Before long, he would collapse backwards and
the force would cause him to gut himself.

“Oh.”

But instead, he tightly gripped the knife’s handle and gave a

merciless tug.

Page | 128
“Ohhhhh!!!???”

He felt a slippery sensation, but was that blood? To be blunt, any

other possibility would be even worse. Removing the blade plugging
the wound caused him to start bleeding a lot more, but he had to
ignore that now. He tossed aside the unnecessary blade.

Breathing deeply would only harm him here.

He held his breath for a bit and the illusionary static slowly faded
from his vision. He had apparently started hyperventilating.

He was soaked with sweat despite the chilly air and he glared over at
Misaka Imouto.

The world was wobbling around him.

If he lost any focus, he would pass out almost immediately.

But.

He had to say this.

“Kah, ah… I-is that good enough? Now you don’t have to look after
this useless SOB.”

“That is not even remotely-”

“Shut up!! I wasn’t looking after all of you because I wanted anything
in return! I’m just doing whatever the hell I want, so quit attaching
price tags to it and trying to manage it all!! Who made you the good
deeds police? You might as well be nitpicking every little thing
people do!!”

All his shouting accomplished nothing.

He wobbled and nearly collapsed, so she gently supported him.

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“Misaka shall sew up your wound. A bandage is not enough to stop
this level of bleeding, says Misaka to state the objective facts.”

“…”

“Misaka would really like to administer painkillers or provide a

transfusion first, but are you willing to go through with this as is?
asks Misaka to receive your final confirmation.”

“Go for it. I just need to keep this goddamn body moving for another
minute or even ten seconds. As long as it lets me save that kid.”

The goggles girl pulled something like a sewing kit from her skirt
pocket. The actual tools may not have been all that different, but it
was sealed up in plastic. This was a disposable first aid kit.

“We do not have time to prepare a sterile environment in a sealed-

off operating room, so Misaka will provide field medicine
sterilization. This will hurt like hell, warns Misaka.”

“Just do it.”

“Then enjoy this big-old splash of ethanol.”

He screamed and his vision filled with firework-like afterimages.

This was more than just pain, but she calmly restrained his arms and
legs to make sure he did not further tear open the wound in his side.

“Misaka will sew up the wound once the convulsions have stopped.
That means Misaka will be passing a needle through the already
sensitive wound and sewing it shut with thread, explains Misaka.
Doing this without anesthetic will be a living hell, so consider yourself
warned.”

“A-and if you do use anesthetic?”

Page | 130
“You will likely wake up around this time tomorrow in a sterile
hospital.”

He was having trouble breathing, but he still moved one trembling

finger.

Raising that particular finger formed a gesture one should never

direct toward a girl like this.

“Hell no.”

“You’re so cool, says Misaka while grasping the needle between

tweezers.”

Again, he screamed.

Feeling an explosion of pain atop an already excruciating injury was a

rare experience. His teeth chattered as he tried to clench them and
bear with what felt like having all five senses shattered into a million
pieces. He came close to accidentally biting his tongue.

“Do not worry, says Misaka to state her conclusion.”

“What do you mean?”

“Misaka is not about to unconditionally accept every part of

Academy City, but she knows that the depth of its dark side is
matched by the warmth of its soft side. So do not worry. We can
catch up to them without you carrying all the weight yourself, states
Misaka. This city contains that sort of opportunity as well.”

In other words…

“You are not the only hero. That is what I am trying to say, explains
Misaka with a wink.”

Part 2

Page | 131
Page | 132
The Santa costume girl stood on a relatively gently-sloped part of the
asphalt cliff that rose up at an angle.

“Now, then.”

As powerless as this hostage was, she did not want the girl
struggling.

(My head is so hot in this hat and wig. But I have to keep them on for
a while longer still.)

The girl of 15 or 16 tossed out a bandage roll that spread out all on
its own before hitting the ground. This was a controlled rope that
could bind, constrict, and kill on its own. It had originally been
serpentine duct tape that could safely wrap around and seal off leaks
in gas or steam pipes at accident sites that would be too dangerous
for a person to approach. As she watched the rope automatically
bind Last Order’s limbs and mouth, the girl pulled a handkerchief-like
cloth from the chest of her Santa costume. She spread it out to
reveal the kind of large white bag often seen at Christmas scenes.

It took her less than two minutes to pack up her poor “gift”.

The cosplay girl reached for the side of her miniskirt and pulled a
smartphone from the top of her white kneesock.

“Maidono here. Things have taken a turn for the better, so I was
hoping I could meet you directly and explain the result. Is now a
good time for you?”

The words from her mouth and the violence surrounding her were
like polar opposites.

The asphalt ground had risen up, the structure below the concrete
was flooded, and the nearby buildings were shaking like willow

Page | 133
branches in the wind. All of this had of course been noticed, so sirens
were blaring as Anti-Skill vehicles rushed in from all directions.

(That sounds like a V10 with hydrogen explosions, but those Fugaku
sports sedans don’t generally have E-chargers installed. These are
custom models for those civil servants, not for civilian use. These
must be those unmanned pursuer vehicles that were introduced
lately. Weren’t they called Hammerhead Sharks?)

They looked like slim sports cars built low to reduce air resistance as
much as possible, but they actually had the engine in the rear and
the hood was stuffed full of composite armor. Those weapons on
wheels were meant to stop rampaging drivers and otherwise
dangerous drivers by safely and swiftly catching up to them with no
one onboard and then crashing into the target vehicle to stop it.
After the press conference announcing them, they had been mocked
as an “eye for an eye” policy.

With several of them linked via high-speed wireless internet, those

weapons could force even a 20-ton truck off the road.

They were not meant to be used against an unprotected person.

But the girl going by the name Maidono tossed the bag over her back
and used her other hand to stick her phone between her cheek and
shoulder. With that hand now free, she simply pulled the index
finger in towards herself as if telling them to come at her.

That was all she did.

A moment later, the asphalt ground rose up along with the dark soil
and concrete structure below. Unable to respond to the makeshift
ramp in time, the Hammerhead Sharks flew by over her head,
crashed into the third-floor windows of a nearby building, and
stopped moving.

Page | 134
These were unmanned machines, so had they only been meant to
get an idea of how powerful she was?

A manned unit would be coming next.

“Yes, yes. You probably just heard an explosion, but it’s nothing to
worry about. Just cleaning some things up afterwards. I have safely
secured the gift. To be honest, if we just want to get Accelerator to
self-destruct, wouldn’t it be easier to just wring her neck and kill her?
Eh? We can’t? I had a feeling you’d say that. I will send the gift to the
designated point.”

They must have originally planned to attack from the safety of the
sky after using the unmanned Hammerhead Sharks to secure the
ground. She looked up at the noisy helicopter rotors and saw a total
of four fully-equipped powered suits attached to a round
observation helicopter, two on each side.

With the faces fully covered, she could not judge their age or gender,
but she could easily imagine the looks on their faces. The emotions
of fear and confusion were oozing from the gaps in their armor.

She did not care if they could see her.

She had altered her color sample with the wig and colored contact
lenses.

Her makeup was thick for being seen with the naked eye, but she
had applied a noticeable pattern to be seen through cameras and
sensors, much like a kabuki actor. She only had to ensure they could
not use facial recognition or photo sharing to locate her official data.
The surveillance society of the digital age had eliminated crime? No,
it had only created a new dilemma where crimes that left no
electronic record could not be proven to legal standards. If a
convenience store was robbed in broad daylight, what would happen

Page | 135
if the security cameras were not running? People would simply
suspect the poor clerk was behind the whole thing.

“Yes, I’m dealing with it now.”

With a wave of her finger, Maidono tore a wagon-shaped window

washing robot from the side of a building and threw it. The
observation helicopter had to be fairly maneuverable, but it was
flying between buildings and its exposed companions were clinging
to either side. It could not make any sharp movements that might
shake them off. But that hesitation prevented it from dodging the
mass of steel, allowing a direct hit that sent them all tumbling to the
surface as a giant fireball.

“When will I be done? I already am.”

(These are post-Denmark models, so that much of a crash and

explosion shouldn’t be enough to kill them. I can’t say the same for
the helicopter pilot, though.)

“We can handle Anti-Skill and Judgment in the usual way. If you send
enough violence their way, the confusion causes their chain of
command to break down. The internet will go a little nuts over it, but
there are plenty of crooked ‘experts’ out there. Those filthy adults
will lie and claim none of what happened was possible, all so they
can cover up their mistakes in the initial investigation. If we get them
to make enough of a fuss, it will create the perfect camouflage to
hide our own involvement. No one will see through to the truth.”

She was a natural at cleaning up messes.

Peace of mind was no more than a prey lured out using destruction
as bait.

Page | 136
“Yes. Given what we’re dealing with here, the amount of attention
needed is going to be pretty high, but that is not a problem. It is still
within acceptable bounds.”

She earned points by thoroughly eliminating the people and things

that got in her master’s way. She reached for unease to search out,
snatch up, and offer peace of mind to that master. She would use
concerts, festivals, parades, and other events with abnormal security
routines and where a lot of outsiders would be present and then she
would choose a conspicuous costume that actually helped her blend
into the background.

“I am aware of that,” she said cheerfully.

She was the kind of person who would walk right past a dying old
person while preoccupied with her phone.

“I agree that we cannot have the dark side eliminated on some

idiot’s whim. Not everyone in the world hopes for a world without
crime. Academy City has only kept such a massive lead over the rest
of the world by constructing and preserving an isolated space where
the rules need not apply. You have seen that in the world of money
and me in the world of fists. Neither of us can survive without the
dark side, can we? …Oh, please. I at least know it’s true for me since
you remade me to be that way.”

She could be as noticeable as she liked.

In fact, it only worked as camouflage if it was noticeable.

It had to feel like stepping beyond the bounds of reality and

wandering into a nightmare. By creating such a grotesque and
psychedelic world, she could ensure that boring reality could not
keep up.

The festival of doom was already beginning.

Page | 137
Today was a day to kick back and enjoy the festivities.

(By destroying those specific pipes, the water department will close a
few floodgates to prevent the filthy water from leaking out. I have
control of the waterflow, so after confirming the bag is watertight, I
can toss it in the river and let the collection team fish the trash out
downstream. But the scenario says I need to hold their attention on
the surface so they don’t notice that.)

Had she used the word trash because she was reminded of herself?

The ground was far from clean. It was littered with glass shards and
metal fragments, as well as the bags and phones dropped by fleeing
students. Cracks ran through the asphalt and it rose up in some
places. But when she saw some chopsticks fallen at her feet, she
quietly clicked her tongue.

“One question.”

Her long blonde hair swayed as she looked overhead with the phone
still held between cheek and shoulder.

But she was not viewing another helicopter.

“I can ignore the invisible power balance this time, right? If someone
tries to obstruct my work, I can eliminate them by force without
calculating out the necessary expenses?”

She looked up at one of the skyscrapers swaying in the wind like a

bamboo thicket exposed to a crosswind.

Instead of the roof, she looked to the girl clinging to the wall and
staring quietly down at her.

“For example, I can go ahead and kill anyone who opposes me, even
if they’re one of the Level 5s?”

Page | 138
Part 3
Academy City’s #3 was the strongest girl when it came to pure
electricity generation.

In other words, this was Misaka Mikoto.

“You stabbed him.”

She used magnetic power to cling to the wall at the 44th floor of a
building that included office space on the lower levels and
apartments on the upper levels, but magnetism was not the only
thing she could do. Traveling along the ground would have taken too
much time given the extreme confusion and damage there, so she
had chosen this other path. A Level 5 could reach for this level of
freedom for no other reason than that.

“And on Christmas Eve when we were enjoying ourselves!! You’re a

natural when it comes to ruining the mood, aren’t you!?”

The situation here was exactly what Kamijou Touma had predicted
earlier.

Splitting up into two teams gave them an advantage. While the

villain pursued the boy, Mikoto’s team had managed to track them
down and move in from behind.

Misaka Imouto had been sent to support the boy on the surface, but
she did not need to deliver a finishing blow to the villain. Once she
got the boy out of the way, Mikoto could handle the rest.

She moved from that 44th floor to another building’s 38th floor and
from that 38th floor to yet another building’s 52nd floor.

She was even holding a certain girl while moving freely between
buildings in midair.

Page | 139
The small calico cat in that silver-haired girl’s arms was struggling,
perhaps because of the EM waves.

Unlike the well-trained Sisters, it would have been too risky to let her
move along the ground while it littered with glass and rubble.

“Short hair!! That monster Santa turned the corner, but that’s not
the biggest problem. Do you see that plaza across the bridge? What
is with this country!? It looks like it’s full of red Santas! She’ll blend in
with them at this rate!!”

(No, if she only wanted to hide from our elevated vantage point, she
would only have to move indoors or underground. Is she
intentionally staying visible to distract us from something else?)

Mikoto realized something and ran full speed along the vertical wall
while holding Index in both hands. A deadly attack burst through the
thick reinforced glass just below them. The brand-new sports cars
lined up in the well-polished display area were crashing out through
the window one after another.

There was no rumble from their engines.

The squealing of thick rubber would be from forcibly pulling the cars
out with some kind of power while their tires were not turning.

The #3 was not about to be hit by an attack like that, but it did
destroy the glass she was using as footing, making it hard to continue
clinging to the wall here. She used magnetism to jump to the
opposite building’s wall while clicking her tongue.

“Tch!!”

She was a powerful esper who could use the Lorentz force to launch
an arcade coin at more than thrice the speed of sound.

Page | 140
Her magnetism was powerful enough to stop a car plowing toward
her.

And yet even she was forced to stay on the run. Her power had the
upper hand when things like its breadth of application were
included, but when came to the simple power to move objects, she
could not compete in this game of tug of war. Their enemy had the
greater power output. So if she was still not considered a Level 5…

(Is she the kind of genius that can only use her power for spying or
stalking or something? Where has such a powerful esper been
lurking in the shadows all this time!?)

That girl was a threat, but Mikoto could not lose sight of what really
mattered.

That blonde Santa did not have to defeat her in a fight. In fact,
wearing herself down in this fight had to have been an unexpected
expense for the girl. Combat was a risky choice that unavoidably
scattered material evidence all over the place and increased the
number of witness accounts. Not fighting had to be the best option if
available.

Win or lose, this fight would only work against her.

So for this girl in the world’s most conspicuous camouflage, what was
the ideal result and what was her win condition?

Mikoto only knew one thing for now.

(She’s definitely after Last Order.)

Mikoto hated how coldly she could work through the calculations at
times like this.

The #3 always stood on the borderline.

Page | 141
She was one of the few people who could get involved in both the
sunny and dark sides of Academy City. Of course, just like all the
people who had peered into the dark side, she had not ended up in
that position out of choice.

(She has such a powerful ability, but she made sure not to harm that
girl. That means killing her isn’t her goal. She won’t want us rescuing
Last Order or a stray shot accidentally killing her. That means she will
be taking Last Order somewhere safe no matter what it takes. That’s
her goal! So where is Last Order!?)

All of those conspicuous actions were camouflage. When a stage

magician made some large sweeping motion, they were actually
drawing the audience’s eye while they performed some trick under
the table.

This was where a girl with a perfect memory came in handy.

“The bag is gone.”

“?”

“The monster Santa was carrying a white bag before, but it’s gone!”

(Did she throw it in that river!? But that water has to be freezing!)

Mikoto started to look downstream of the concrete-banked river

that intersected at a right angle with the bridge the Santa-costumed
assailant had used, but she stopped her head.

The Santa girl put away the phone she had been using to speak with
someone, freeing up her hands as she turned toward Mikoto. Her
long blonde hair spread out behind her like something from a
shampoo commercial. She placed her miniskirted butt on a drum-
shaped cleaning robot located nearby and crossed her legs while
aiming her hands toward the sky.

Page | 142
She made finger guns.

Both index fingers were aimed high up at the building where Mikoto
was and she winked.

That alone might have looked like a playful gesture, but…

“Here it comes,” said Mikoto.

Stage magicians did not train just for when things went well.

If so, their shows would be little different from clockwork doll

performances.

The pros would have several recovery scenarios prepared in case

their attempt to draw the audience’s eye failed and their trick was
about to be revealed. If it looked like an audience member had seen
through the trick, they would call out to that person, draw them into
the scenario, and remake the near failure into fuel for a new
surprise.

In other words, the enemy would now be contacting them in

earnest.

“Here it comes!!!!!!”

Part 4
“Not bad. It’s been a while since someone dodged three of my
attacks in a row,” whispered the girl seated on a random cleaning
robot.

She was enjoying the situation.

She wanted the dark side to continue because she could not live
without this sort of excitement.

Page | 143
She tore objects from the buildings and threw them at her opponent:
first a crane atop a building under construction, then a giant
broadcasting parabolic antenna, and lastly a clear glass pool jutting
out partway up a building. But none of them hit. She would have
won right away if her opponent had acted out of pride and
attempted a direct competition of strength, but once that opponent
grew concerned she might be no match for this girl in pure power
output, she had focused solely on dodging. That was the only reason
she was still alive.

Maidono noticed the #3 briefly turn her head in a different direction

while soaring through the air. They were currently engaged in a
deadly battle, so that girl’s life was at risk. No one could look aside
when they suddenly found a dump truck charging toward them.

So she must have spotted something important.

Something she thought she should prioritize over the death fast
approaching her.

(So did she notice?)

If so, rushing into the crowded plaza and vanishing into the sea of
Santas would not be enough. She had to kill that girl to fully cut off
that line of investigation.

But more importantly…

“How should I spend my Christmas Eve?”

(I really want to get this all done with by 7 tonight. My school life
might be built on lies, but I have made some promises. I do want to
cut up those donuts with cheap plastic forks so we can all share them
together.)

Light flashed up in the sky.

Page | 144
She could not avoid lightning by starting to run after seeing the light.
Or she shouldn’t have been able to. But she was even humming as
she slammed the heel of her boot against the side of the cleaning
robot she was riding, causing a malfunction in the robot’s obstacle
avoidance routine and making it move to the side. It only moved the
length of a single human step to the side, but that was enough to
cause an unnatural change in the lightning dropping vertically toward
her. It instead split apart a Christmas tree located nearby. To
intentionally use the tree as a lightning rod, she only had to picture a
right triangle formed by the ground, the top of the tree, and her own
position and adjust the angles to work out a safe distance for herself.

She even seemed to hear a tongue click from far overhead.

And now it was her turn.

“Found you.”

For fire safety purposes, some large wooden boxes were being
carried to the rooftop using a window washing gondola instead of
the indoor stairs or elevator. She “grabbed” at them and launched
them to the side. Those containers were the size of a slender girl, so
the #3 had to launch high-voltage spears from her bangs to blast
them into pieces.

But did the #3 realize those boxes contained someone’s work tools?

A Japanese Christmas was far removed from the solemn atmosphere

of a holy night.

Those electric attacks had triggered the professional fireworks meant

for a countdown event during the night.

“Whew!!”

The Santa girl whistled while watching the tremendous explosion.

Page | 145
With a deafening boom, the midday sky was obscured by a whitish
smokescreen. That might not be enough to kill the other girl, but
fireworks used the principle behind a flame test, where specific
materials would create flames of certain colors when ignited. And
the materials used for fireworks were generally powdered copper,
lithium, tin, or other metals.

Meaning…

(After the initial blast and flash of light, she has to contend with the
smokescreen. That will blind her in the ordinary sense and it will also
function as metal chaff that will mess with any microwave radar she
might be using! And at that height, a single second’s delay can be
deadly!!)

The explosive blast also destroyed a rooftop sign, but the girl only
raised her index finger overhead. The metal sign had to weigh more
than 20kg, but that was enough for it to come to a complete stop in
midair. When she lightly swung her finger to the side, the sign
sharply stabbed into a nearby concrete wall. She did it all as casually
as operating a smartphone’s touchscreen.

Her Telekinesis was powerful enough to directly grab the

underground structure spreading across the entire city and shake it
hard enough to create a new fault line, so this actually qualified as
delicate work for her. Stopping it was not the impressive part,
holding it in place without crushing it was.

Telekinesis, aka psychokinesis.

That was such a popular ability that it was counted as one of the two
major categories of esper power: PK and ESP. If someone was making
a site or pamphlet meant for outside audiences, their primary
examples would likely be using PK to bend spoons and ESP to read a
face-down card. In fact, some academics even used telekinesis as a

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catch-all term for all powers that had physical effects, including
teleportation and thoughtography. In the simplest form, it was the
power to move objects with your mind.

Of those that could produce force out of nothing, hers was probably
the strongest.

The only reason she had not been given the title of Level 5 was
because the adults saw no alternate uses or economic value in her
power.

That power was too specialized for killing and destruction.

To the point that announcing her existence to the world could lead
to as many international risks as announcing their possession of NBC
weapons.

“Now, then.”

The blonde Santa looked over.

A portion of the polished glass was broken, so the target girl (who
carried a silver-haired nun) had given up on clinging to the delicate
wall and had apparently jumped inside a random room instead. It
was not a bad adlib, but it was sorely underestimating the Santa girl’s
power.

Who ever said she could not destroy an entire 50-story building?
“The estimated number of deaths would be just under 2000. I do so
love being freed from my usual restrictions about such things☆”

Maidono grinned and aimed her right index finger toward the entire
building. And she pulled that finger straight down.

The skyscraper shrank to about half its height.

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The destruction was much like crushing an empty can under the heel
of your shoe.

But that was not her true attack. She was only setting the stage by
bending all the doors and windows to seal her target within a giant
cage. The humans within would not be dead. Not yet, anyway.
Skyscrapers had a lot more gaps than the people walking through
them thought. There were ducts, base isolation structures, cable
pathways, and plumbing. Halving the height was not enough to crush
the people within. Of course, they would be unable to stand and
forced to crawl and the metal doors would be crushed and stuck in
place, so it would certainly feel cramped.

(No sign of the target forcing open an exit and emerging. Well, she
can’t rely on the original plans anymore. I’m sure she could blast
through a concrete wall, but I bet she’s afraid of frying the people
buried alive in there. Of course, that hesitation is only going to get
everyone in the building crushed soon enough. Life is full of ironies,
isn’t it?)

She only had to point her left index finger toward the building as
well.

Maidono Hoshimi’s Telekinesis could crush that 50-story skyscraper

to the size of a softball. The intense heat caused by the compression
would make it glow like lava, but it would not even be allowed to
drip down as a liquid. Just like the core of the earth was supposedly
made of molten iron and nickel, yet it still managed to remain a solid.

But a moment later, she swung her left hand to the side in the exact
same pose. The finger gun looked silly, but that was an absolute
weapon coming from Maidono. Something had happened that
forced her to aim that second trigger elsewhere. The Santa girl
whispered a question while aiming at two targets at once like she
was wielding dual handguns.
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Her butt rose up from the cleaning robot and her boots touched the
ground.

Playtime was over.

This irregularity was beyond what the stage magician’s recovery

scenarios could handle.

“What brings you here?”

The threat took the form of a boy.

Bloody Kamijou Touma went ahead and answered her.

He used a word that did not at all suit Christmas Eve, when everyone
was meant to be smiling together.

“Revenge.”

Part 5
How was he supposed to remain calm?

Kamijou Touma’s heart was racing wildly and his throat felt so dry he
could have sworn there was an invisible film coating it. He felt like his
voice would crack if he was not careful.

Plus, nothing he could do would erase the fact that he had been
stabbed.

His opponent was the kind of person who would do that sort of thing
without batting an eye.

The wound in his side had only been roughly disinfected and sewn
up. His lost blood had not been replaced and the throbbing pain
continued to plague his mind. In fact, if the blood loss had not left
him feeling so woozy, he might have been writhing around from the
pain.
Page | 149
Nevertheless, he had made it here.

He was here to reward the good will of the girls who had taken over
while he was out of the fight.

And.

He was here to reclaim Last Order from this absurd cruelty.

It could all be a bluff, but he had to gather every ounce of willpower

and courage he had.

Revealing his weakness would do nothing to improve things here.

And if things got any worse, something he could not afford to lose
would be shattered. Things had fallen to a point that even an
amateur could tell that. It was painfully obvious.

So.

He had to make sure that did not happen.

“Are you sure you don’t have your priorities backwards here?”

The Santa girl smiled quietly while aiming her index fingers at two
different locations.

The boy’s breathing really did catch in his throat.

She had not hesitated to target him with a weapon far more
frightening than a knife.

“You have to choose between defeating your enemy and saving your
friends, so are you sure you want to waste time playing with me
here?”

“If that were true, you wouldn’t be so chatty,” he said while taking a
page out of the girl’s book.

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He formed a finger gun with his right hand and pointed it at the
drum-shaped cleaning robot that Santa Claus had been sitting on
before. With its freedom returned, that machine was slowly moving
off again.

Don’t tremble.

Don’t look away.

Simply making the effort to keep his words flowing smoothly could
turn the tide. He could grab at what was slipping from his grasp and
lift it back up. From his opponent’s perspective, this had to be an
eerie sight. It looked like the enemy soldier she had utterly defeated
and even stabbed in the gut had returned like nothing had ever
happened to him.

He had to make himself look like something illogical.

If his presence here made no sense, then he could throw her off
balance.

This was Academy City, where people either refused to accept the
unscientific or could only accept it by restating it with scientific
terminology.

But at the same time, Kamijou Touma did believe in luck.

Although it primarily hit him in the form of cruel misfortune.

“That bag you threw in the river was a bluff. When you’ve got
something to hide, you aren’t going to transport it in a way someone
could track down so easily. That was why you needed to create at
least two different escape routes. Your recovery scenario was to
gather attention on the river while you let the robot containing Last
Order escape to safety. Right?”

His voice did not crack.

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He could still do this.

Willpower was not enough to overcome blood loss, so he honestly

felt a cold sweat on his brow and was overcome by intense dizziness
with every breath he took.

He heard the crackling of sparks.

The cleaning robot had changed direction.

No, it had been hijacked. A girl with short chestnut hair stood not far
away. She looked just like Misaka Mikoto but was not. Even the
mass-produced military clones known as the Sisters could hijack
control of a cleaning robot.

“Maidono.”

The Santa girl slowly moved her finger.

She moved her right index finger from the distant building and
pointed it at him. That put both finger guns on him. She apparently
saw him as enough of a threat to require everything she had.

“My name is Maidono Hoshimi. Nice to meet you.”

“Another bluff.”

Don’t let her draw you in.

He pictured their exchange of words like waves crashing together. He

had to draw her in. So even if it was not like him, he had to grin and
respond with the look of an absolute know-it-all.

Kamijou Touma kept his mind from falling into darkness and recited
the magic words.

Page | 152
“A criminal would never use her real name at the scene of the crime.
But adding on more camouflage here must mean you’re even more
scared than I thought.”

The deadly battle began with what sounded like the city itself being
destroyed.

He could guess her power was Telekinesis.

She had demonstrated enough power to slice apart buildings, lift up

the road and the ground below it, and freely tear apart water and
gas pipes.

Right and left.

Having two points from which to wield her power gave that power a
much wider breadth of applications.

What had happened just now?

A station wagon parked on the curb was lifted up overhead and then
it was torn down the center like someone slicing through soft bread.
The diesel fuel within its gas tank splashed everywhere. Sparks from
the battery ignited that and fire poured down. Kamijou managed to
roll out of the way, but then the remaining scraps rushed in from the
left and right like a giant’s boxing gloves.

Imagine Breaker in his right hand could suppress the supernatural

power, but then the uncontrolled wreckage would crush him.

So he kept his momentum going and slipped below the guardrail

dividing road from sidewalk. He twisted his body to keep rolling so he
could use one of the thick supports as a shield instead of the long
horizontal metal panel.

The shock-absorbing metal structure stopped the front half of the

station wagon, but he did not have time for a sigh of relief.
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With a dull sound, his vision blurred and he found himself tossed
more than five meters into the air. The ground below him had
explosively risen up to function like a ramp.

Five meters might not seem like much, but as seen in the Ippon Seoi
Nage of judo, even a single meter could knock someone out if they
were not ready to hit the ground. Worse, this was an asphalt ground
covered in glass shards and heavy metal scraps.

“Kh!!”

He immediately reached out and grabbed at the trunk of one of the

Christmas-decorated roadside trees. The thick light cable tore and
swung around like a whip and, once he blocked that, the tree
snapped off at its trunk. But it did not simply fall over like normal. It
unnaturally rotated vertically like it was flipping 180 degrees upside
down.

If that continued, he would have been squashed like a bug hit by a

hammer, but that did not happen.

By letting go of the tree trunk instead of trying to hold on, he was

not caught in the vertical rotation and was flung away instead.
Specifically, he crashed back-first into the center of a giant
polyurethane Christmas present decoration in front of a candy shop.

With her right finger gun still at the ready, the Santa girl going by
Maidono twirled that slender index finger in a small circle.

She could indicate the same target with both fingers.

By pulling the fingers apart, she could tear the target apart. By
pushing them together, she could compress it. But by shifting the
points of force a bit out of alignment, she could provide rotation. Her
power would be dangerous enough if she could only set a target with

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her fingertip and indicate movements with a flicking motion, but by
using both hands, she could also alter the vector.

Her long blonde hair swayed as she quietly assessed his

performance.

“You never stay still, do you?”

“You sure do. Are you a stationary cannon?”

He could do this.

The veil was still functioning. For better or for worse, the Santa-
costumed assailant had shown too much of her power. That had to
be a sign of her fear. She was afraid of an esper with an unknown
power.

So she wanted to believe showing off her power would cause her
enemy to reveal their own, or that her pure brute strength could end
it without needing to solve that mystery.

That ridiculous violence was of course frightening.

But once he saw her fear there, even that violence felt like a mask.

The more powerful the attack she used, the more her fear showed
through.

(I can still win this. I’m the one making enough waves to draw her in.)

The girl pointed her index fingers high in the sky. It almost looked like
she was posing for a photo, but that was actually the sign of a
coming aerial bombing. She “grabbed” something in the sky and
swung both hands down to slam it toward him.

He could not think of that as empty space above him.

There was air there.

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(She isn’t limited to solids?)

Kamijou felt the gears of his mind jam. This was bad. The unknown
always swallowed people up and blanked their mind.

She had shaken him.

His body was already in bad shape, so if the same happened to his
mind, he had no chance of winning.

He had to figure this out and fast.

He could not stop here. He had to grease the wheels of his thoughts.

Otherwise, he would be swallowed up and crushed.

(This is not a freaking joke!!)

“Tch!!”

He quickly removed his belt and wrapped it around a nearby

roadside tree as a lifeline. The mass of air crashing down from above
might be enough to give him a light concussion, but after the wind
slammed into the ground, it would scatter in all 360 degrees in
search of a way out. If he only prepared for the impact from above,
his feet would be scooped out from under him and he would be sent
tumbling for dozens of meters.

Plus, the road was littered with small pieces of asphalt and glass
shards.

What if the wind gathered those up and chucked them toward him?

The road was enveloped in an explosion even more gruesome than a

directional mine that scattered countless metal balls in a fan shape
to instantly negate a charge made by 50 enemy troops. This was like
cleaning out the bath’s water pipes.

Page | 156
He could only cling to the back of the thick tree and bear with it.

The hard bark was stripped away as if by a giant file and the
Christmas light cables and small branches were torn away into the
wind. If he took just one step from behind that trunk, his flesh and
blood body would not last even a single second.

But that was not what really mattered.

He raised his voice while sounding on the verge of coughing up

blood.

“Misaka Imouto!! You’re okay, right!? Then don’t lose sight of that
cleaning robot and chase after it!!”

Yes.

The girl using the pseudonym of Maidono was not really trying to kill
Kamijou here. She was only trying to get away with that container
carrying Last Order. And she had to cut off all pursuit. This flashy
attack was no more than a stage magician preparing to do something
below the table.

That was the entire purpose of this indiscriminate explosion of wind.

He did not know if she assumed the cleaning robot could move
through the storm of glass and metal since it did not feel pain or if
she had intended to launch the robot away with the wind, but he
had to do more than simply endure this immediate threat. Defeating
this girl was meaningless if the robot got away.

And he had figured something out from this.

(This whole time, she has never “grabbed” and thrown around an
actual person with her Telekinesis.)

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If she only needed to remove Last Order from the scene, that would
have been fastest method. Either by throwing the hostage or by
using her power on herself to fly. Even when she had launched
Kamijou into the air, she had done so indirectly, by lifting up the
ground below him when it would have been easier to directly grab
and throw him.

Yet she had not done that.

No.

Once the storm died down, he let go of the belt wrapped around the
tree and rushed out from behind the tree trunk.

He began a charge along the shortest route toward the blonde Santa.

She of course aimed both index fingers at him, but…

“You can’t do it,” he immediately announced.

This mostly seemed like an attempt to convince himself of that fact

to put himself at ease.

He had to understand this or he would be swallowed up. He had to

tell himself he was the one making the waves and attacking her. He
was not the only one who would want the upper hand
psychologically and who would be willing to lie to hold onto that. But
once he considered why he wanted to make that kind of bluff, he
could actually see through to her fear.

He forced himself to bare his fangs while going for a psychological

cross counter.

Yes.

Page | 158
“At the very least, you can’t ‘grab’ living humans!! Maybe it’s about
the material, like protein or something, and maybe the other
person’s mind jams your power, but it’s something!!”

If that was true, she would be unable to directly stop his charge.

Her power may have been similar to a poltergeist that caused

furniture to move around on its own in an old mansion. It was said
those cases were often the work of an undiscovered naturally-
occurring esper known as a Gemstone, especially a small child whose
power spontaneously erupted during a period of high stress. This girl
may have been able to consciously wield that same power.

She could grab things and move them around.

She had to stop him with an indirect attack and that would create a
moment’s delay.

So he only had to arrive before that happened.

In close quarters, a knife was stronger than a gun. Similarly, he did

not have to fear her power once he was right in front of her!!

“So?”

That was when she separated her index fingers.

She moved them far to the right and left.

She had been just a bit faster. She had “grabbed” something and
then she directed those two fingers toward him again.

Much like jaws snapping shut.

“Why should that matter?”

A dull tremor followed.

Page | 159
The two giant buildings on either side of them were torn from their
foundations and mercilessly crashed together with Kamijou Touma in
between, erasing him from the scene altogether.

Part 6
“Phew.”

(I miiiight have overdone that. I can smell gas leaking out.)

Maidono Hoshimi sighed.

She had no limitations this time, meaning she could kill as many
people as necessary to achieve her objective. But that attack had
clearly been excessive and meaningless. From a stage magic
perspective, it was like the magician shouting at an audience
member in anger when they were about to discover the trick.

She had slid two skyscrapers two building-widths to the side from
the left and right. Those buildings were too heavy for cranes to move
and too unstable for workers to enter them, so they would have to
be demolished to clear this major road. And since she had torn them
from their foundations, she had also torn through the electric, gas,
and water lines. The gas line was especially problematic. Since she
could sense the artificially added odor, she was at risk of being blown
up if the conditions were right.

Nothing would be more foolish than performing a “cutting yourself in

half” magic trick and accidentally doing it for real.

It was crucial to always ensure your own safety first.

In that sense, the Santa girl was a second-rate illusionist for failing to
immediately confirm her own safety.

“…”

Page | 160
After a short silence, she looked away.

Her blonde wig spread out as she turned 180 degrees away from the
seam between the two buildings that were smashed together so
tightly not even a sheet of paper could fit between them.

(Those two should manage to crawl out of that half-crushed building

before long. It would probably be safer to wait for them to come out
and make sure I kill them than crush the building and assume I got
them. If I’m not absolutely certain they’re dead, it might worry my
client.)

But more than that, she could not keep her thoughts off of
something else.

There was no direct cause and effect there. It annoyed her to still
feel fear of someone she had supposedly defeated, but she had to
listen to what her own subconscious was telling her.

(That boy gave that ordinary clone some instructions. I need to deal
with her, retrieve the cleaning robot, and finish transporting Last
Order. Is that all? That should end it. This is looking more and more
like a lonely Christmas for me.)

“I need to go eat one of those cream-covered donuts somewhere.

Using a knife and fork to break apart the reddish-purple chocolate
and the tower of matcha cream will rid me of this bad mood.”

While somewhat grumpily going over her plans, she noticed

something else.

Her phone had been going off for a bit now.

She grabbed the vibrating mobile device and it was exactly who she
expected.

“That was unnecessary,” said the person on the phone.

Page | 161
“You think I don’t know that?” she responded.

“Then why did you do it?”

“Shut up. It was you adults who made me like this.”

She was burning with a quiet anger.

But quiet did not make it any less dangerous.

“I can’t use chopsticks.”

That was an odd thing for a high school girl to say.

And it was accompanied by a tone of deep, deep resentment.

“Does that not sound like much to you? It probably doesn’t to those
of you who took it from me, but when you can’t do something that
everyone else can, it binds your heart far more than any of your
calculations could have told you! I can only manipulate things with
my index fingers. Because you made me that way. You sprung it on
me without warning, calling it nothing more than an ‘optimization’
for my power!!”

She had been the class rep who could do anything.

She had not been all that much smarter than anyone else and she
was certainly not the most athletic person. But when it came to trivia
or manners, she was always the easiest one to come to. She had
found a place for herself there.

So she could never allow herself to stumble in those ordinary things.

And yet…

“It’s like I’m a small child. Whenever we’re chatting at school or

eating out after school, I’m always reaching for the fork or spoon
while curling up in fear that they’ll realize the truth!!”

Page | 162
She noticed the person on the phone had gone quiet.

But that was not someone who could be overpowered into silence.
This silence almost certainly came from exasperation. They were not
foolish enough to get rid of useful personnel for purely emotional
reasons, but this had still been a mistake on her part.

She intentionally regulated her breathing before continuing.

“I will do as instructed because I too need the dark side. But please
stop expecting anything more than that from me. Conforming to
society? Adapting to the situation? I can’t. You should know that as
one of the ones who removed that ability from me so you could
manipulate me more easily. So I will do this the simplest way I can.
Just as you so selfishly hoped I would.”

She could tell some lengthy orders were still coming, but a puzzled
look appeared on her face as she held her phone.

Then she quietly clicked her tongue.

“Excuse me,” said the blonde Santa.

She loathed that person, but she also could not leave her work
undone. Grades and family background were useless in the dark side.
It was all about results. She could not let those slip if she wanted to
survive.

“I still have more to tell you, but I must return to my job.”

She had enough of a reason to hang up now.

Namely…

“I’ll tell you why that should matter.”

“…”

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She heard a voice.

An unbelievably simple male voice came from behind her.

But how? How in the world???

During their previous fighting, she had known the boy was covered in
sweat and bluffing every step of the way. It had partially been to
apply psychological pressure to her, but it must have also been to
keep himself going after getting stabbed and beaten up so much.
That method could certainly be effective, especially in Academy City
where battles were often based on esper powers. And as a standard
method, it had been easy for Maidono, a master of underhanded
tricks, to see through it.

But what was this?

Was there some further trick she had not seen?

Or had the situation really and truly moved beyond her tactics?

Someone other than herself spoke so smoothly and loquaciously it

was hard to think it was entirely calculated or entirely uncalculated.

Which one was it!?

“If your Telekinesis can only move inanimate objects, then it all
makes sense. I was wondering why you weren’t counted as a Level 5
with that much power, but I think I get it now. I certainly wouldn’t
want your power. Misaka’s highly adaptable powers and the
psychological powers of the #5 who I’ve heard rumors of sound like a
lot more interesting options if I could trade powers with someone for
a day. There’s just no way I could see your power being on that same
highest rank.”

“…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……”
Page | 164
The gears in Maidono Hoshimi’s mind ground to a halt.

Her planned timetable truly did fall apart here.

“You can’t save anyone and you can’t make anyone smile. All you can
do is destroy.”

He sounded almost regretful, like he had seen someone else horribly

wounded.

“How did you end up like that? …I did hear you say something about
being unable to use chopsticks.”

With the stiff movements of a rusty doll, she turned 180 degrees
again. She was supposed to have the initiative here, yet someone
else had forced her to turn around.

And there he was.

That completely ordinary boy stood there like normal.

With blood soaking his side.

He was sweating a disturbing amount for the December weather and

his face was haggard and pale.

Yet he refused to collapse.

Plus, not even his bones should still be intact. That attack had not
been something you could overcome through the psychological
boost of some bluffing.

“How did you do that?”

“How do you think?”

“I used two skyscrapers standing more than 50 floors tall! Was my

maximum weight limit of 100 thousand tons not enough, or are you
saying you can hold back nuclear aircraft carriers with your arms!?”
Page | 165
“I wasn’t caught in the clockwork traps of some ancient ruins. The
buildings had windows and doors on their ground floors. Tackle
through one of those and there was a whole hollow floor for me
there. If you were going to do that, you should have kept going until
both buildings were squished flat, like metalworking with gold leaf.”

And besides that.

Or because of that.

He had heard her mention the chopsticks.

She only had herself to blame for not checking on the corpse, but
still.

She had lied to her friends and deceived everyone in her everyday
life to keep that secret, yet it had slipped out so easily here.

Psychological pressure?

A psychological boost?

This was beyond anything words like that could influence.

“I’ll kill you.”

“You can try.”

“I’ll kill you!!!!!!”

Most likely, these emotions were not really directed at the pointy-
haired high school boy in front of her. He was just getting caught in
the crossfire. But she could not hold it in any longer. She had soaked
in the dark side to the point of no return. She knew that so well that
it almost made her laugh, but this was something she could not
stand.

She felt like it had all been a waste of time.

Page | 166
Even that twinge of pain she always felt in her heart.

Even that patchwork school life she had held together by deceiving
those ignorant people.

She could feel an unidentifiable noise rising from the depths of her
mind. She could feel it, but she could not stop it. This was the
annoying part of the human psyche. Things had derailed further than
even she had ever imagined.

“Yes!! Yes, it’s true!! I can’t do something everyone else takes for
granted. I can’t manipulate those two little sticks in one hand and I
can’t pick up food with them! I can’t use chopsticks!! All I can do is
hold them in my fist and stab the food like a small child!! But you
wouldn’t understand what it’s like to have the adults steal from you
what no else ever has to even think about!!”

“Stole from you?”

“Modern technology can erase specific information from the brain

without harming the brain cells themselves. There is, technically
speaking, a chance of recovery, but I imagine the only person who
could truly do that would be Academy City’s #5.”

It felt like her head was swelling.

Her temperature kept rising from within, which threw off the rhythm
of her breathing.

Tears welled up in the corners of her eyes as she yelled at him.

“But if you send a massive amount of information to a specific part of

the brain to rewrite it and then repeat the process over and over,
you can leave it truly beyond recovery. It’s known as the signal slide
method. My mind was optimized for using this power. By removing
what wasn’t necessary!!”

Page | 167
So she could not use them.

All so she could fully focus her nerves on her two index fingers.

She could no longer perform a task she had managed with ease
before – and that even kindergartners could do.

“Makes you want to laugh, doesn’t it?”

Her lips had grown loose.

But not because she was smiling.

There were children out there who could not write or do their times
table. And after hitting a roadblock at a point everyone else passed
without issue, they could make no further progress and fell off the
rails of their school life.

She had been the same.

And terrified of what people would say if they found out, she had
kept it a secret.

“All I want is to enjoy eating with my friends without having to worry

about all this. All I want is to eat at a restaurant without hunching
over and fearing everyone is watching me. That’s all I want, but the
next thing I knew, my feet were caught in the quicksand I couldn’t
escape!!”

Something could be heard slicing through the air.

She had pointed her finger at one of the glass shards at her feet and
launched it at her target with a flick of her finger.

Her maximum weight limit was more than 100,000 tons.

After using two entire skyscrapers, she now used a clear needle of
only a few millimeters.

Page | 168
Human senses would adapt to stimuli and make corrections without
the person being consciously aware of it. The average person would
have been stabbed through the forehead before they could adjust to
this sudden change in scale.

“I see.”

“!?”

This was odd.

The boy was not shaken.

All of a sudden, his right hand was raised with its perfectly ordinary
palm directed her way. That was all it took for it to fall apart. The
glass shard that should have shot through her target from only a few
meters away fell powerlessly to the ground.

He had broken it.

He had torn through it.

He had destroyed Maidono Hoshimi’s power itself, which was

something like an invisible ropeway.

Yet he said nothing about that.

But not because he was interested in hiding his trump card.

It was more like he had something more important to say.

“Then do you feel a little better now?”

“Huh?”

She did not understand.

But his words seemed to force their way into the blank in her mind.

Page | 169
“I mean, you haven’t been able to tell anyone about all this, but you
just got it all off your chest. So how was it? Maybe it was painful and
embarrassing and maybe it made you want to stomp and writhe
round, but do you feel some relief in getting it all out there?”

Why did he sound like he knew what he was talking about?

People acting like they understood should have been the most
infuriating thing, yet his words hit home.

After some thought, she fell silent for a bit.

She had no objective proof of this, but could it be?

“You too?”

“…”

“Did you lose something too? No, did you have something stolen
from you too!?”

She could guess that there was something special about this boy’s
right hand. And that was what he used now.

He formed a finger gun with it and aimed at his own temple.

“My memories.”
“No.”

“I’m missing everything before this past summer. A full 15 years’

worth.”
He was not speaking particularly loudly.

He did not make any grand gestures and he did not add any dramatic
tone to his voice. If he had played it up in that way, a pro like her
would have seen through it right away. But she saw none of that.
Which was why she felt the weight of his words.
Page | 170
That realistic sound seemed to make the air itself harden.

The truth was not a kind thing.

She knew that all too well as someone who protected herself by
soaking in the dark side. In fact, she knew the unvarnished truth
could be used as a weapon to scar people’s psyches.

“Although it was apparently just the episodic memories, so unlike

you, it doesn’t really affect my day to day life. I can’t objectively
prove it, much like your chopsticks thing.”

Was that possible?

How was that allowed?

She had had things to cling to for support. Even when she had killed
people while working for the dark side, she had still been focused on
protecting her connections to other people. It was those very
connections that had made her so ashamed of what she could not
do, made her lie to hide those things, and made her sink ever further
into the quicksand.

But.

Did she want to quit just because it was hard? No.

No matter how much it had torn her heart to pieces, she never
wanted to lose those memories she had made with those people. It
was those very connections that had given her the strength to keep
going in the darkness. She had wanted to keep that small light within
her.

Yet that was what had been taken from him?

“Then how?”

The words spilled from her.

Page | 171
She had been avoiding it from beginning to end, but now she found
herself seeking the answer.

“How can you possibly keep going!? Your case is far worse and you
can’t reclaim what you lost no matter how hard you try, so wouldn’t
it be easier to just resent whoever did this to you!? How!?”

He was a normal boy.

He might be accustomed to fighting abnormal battles, but he was

still far too naïve deep down.

As someone soaked in the dark side, she could tell that all too well.
Simply having another place to live made him fundamentally
different from her.

Who had done that to him?

The answer honestly did not matter. When you lost something, it
was like being given an excuse to resent the entire world around you.
After all, no one noticed what was happening, no one protected you,
and now it was too late. You could shout those things to excuse
whatever you were doing. He had essentially been handed the
absolute privilege of being the victim.

But.

The boy shook his head.

“That wouldn’t be easier.”

“…”

He lived in a different world.

“That path is one of pain. I don’t think I could bear it. That’s why I’ve
hidden my memory loss for so long. Although it was terrible act and
full of holes, so some people still figured it out. But that’s why I won’t
Page | 172
rely on intangible things like memories anymore. I mean, we’ve got a
whole world out there. I’d be missing out if I didn’t enjoy that along
with everyone else. Smiling and running around together is the much
easier path.”

His values were fundamentally different.

Which was why they could not reach an understanding.

“So how about you?”

Yet his voice would not leave her ears.

She could not drive those words out of her mind even though they
made no sense to her.

“We lost different things and in different ways, so I’ll ask you what
it’s like. Is it really that comfortable being forever bound by what you
lost? You can’t use chopsticks and there is no changing that. But
don’t you want to become someone who can look at that and say ‘so
what’?”

“I can’t.”

“You can.”

“It’s not that easy!! You can’t just add in something new to fill in the
gaps!! This isn’t a simple case of one plus one equals two!! The same
amount of data doesn’t mean the same contents. This must have
taken a lot out of you too, so stop trying to force it. I mean, I can’t
imagine how hard it would be to lose your memories. That’s way
worse than not being able to use chopsticks! You have to be way
more dead inside than me!!!!!”

“I lost my memories and they’re never coming back. So what? I’ve

made it this far, although I’ll admit it took me a while. But where are

Page | 173
you right now? What part of this long path is most comfortable for
you?”

Then what explained this?

Where had the two of them differed?

These were not the words of some outsider who did not understand
her pain.

There really was someone worse off than her.

So how had that boy managed to make this decision?

“I don’t think I really had a reason.”

“…up.”

“I lost something. I had something taken from me. Yeah, it hurts, but
that doesn’t give me the right to do whatever I want. Actually, it’s
not even about what’s fun or what’s painful. I just don’t want to be
that kind of person.”

“Shut
uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuup!!!!!!”

The ground more than the air gave a roar. Then the asphalt rose up
right next to Maidono Hoshimi. And it did not end there. That was
merely the catapult. A tunnel was pushed up from below. An entire
subway track was tossed up to the surface.

There was no warning whistle.

Based on all the lenses and sensors added to the front, it was
probably an unmanned train. It may have been a freight train
carrying Christmas products, but it would not have mattered even if
it was manned.

Page | 174
The 8-car mass of metal bent and tore through the air while
mercilessly charging toward Kamijou Touma. In terms of pure
physical destructive force and nothing more, this was more powerful
than Academy City’s #3 Railgun. And this was not based on her
power. The train itself was only moving with its electric motor.

But.

However.

“I’ve seen a lot of people, even after losing my memories.”

He moved a meter to the right.

That slight movement of his feet was all he did.

He simply sidestepped the range of those predetermined rails.

He ignored the deafening roar of destruction as he kept his eyes on

her.

“I’ve seen elite Level 5s and I’ve seen dropouts who couldn’t make
any progress no matter how much they struggled. I’ve seen a smoker
magician who couldn’t protect the person he cared for most and I’ve
seen a Saint who was always followed by tragedy due to no fault of
her own. …It’s not just us. Everyone is carrying pain no one else will
ever understand, but they clench their teeth and continue to fight.
This isn’t a small enough world to warrant tearing it to pieces just
because of our own personal reasons!!”

Then.

Then what was she supposed to do?

Changing how she felt would not cause the world to take her side.

The cruel reality would remain unchanged.

Page | 175
After everything she had done, she could never leave the dark side.
Looking back at the bloody path she had taken made her feel queasy.
She needed that resentment that told her she had been justified in
her actions. By only ever looking ahead, she had been able to believe
she could reach that ridiculous future where she would one day
laugh with her friends without any of these worries.

Even though, deep down, she had known that was never possible
after she had killed her first person.

Deep down, she had given up at that point, making it easier to kill
the second and the third.

“Yeah.”

She heard an odd sound.

This did not come from her power. She had not done anything at all.

“So if you’re going to agonize over this all on your own and if you’re
going to waste the opportunities you’re given because you let those
intangible things bind you…”

Then what had made the sound?

She looked up and saw that boy quietly but strongly clenching his
right hand.

She saw him form a fist.

And she heard his words.

“Then I’ll destroy that goddamn illusion until not a scrap remains.”

Part 7
One step.

Page | 176
Kamijou Touma only needed the courage to take that one step and
he could end his battle.

He had been stabbed in the side and Misaka Imouto’s quick sew-up
job was far from perfect. Then he had forcibly twisted his body
around to dodge and defend against Maidono’s attacks. He could not
even imagine what things were like below his clothes right now. The
wound might even be worse than when he was originally stabbed.

But.

Even so.

(I will end this.)

He had to save Last Order no matter what.

His lack of memories and Maidono’s inability to use chopsticks were

not Last Order’s fault.

He had to stop Maidono Hoshimi.

Adding onto her crimes would not return the thing she wanted. All
that would await her after this battle was more of the same harsh
reality. But if she did not stop here, she could never go back. He
could not allow her to move even further from the world she
dreamed of.

There was no more room for tricks.

They both knew where the other stood. Trying to draw each other in
with further words would accomplish nothing. He only had to bring
this to an all-out head-on collision.

He understood her and she understood him.

That understanding was more than sufficient.

Page | 177
So.

They did not need a final signal.

“I swear I will end this! Here and now!!”

She aimed her two finger guns at him.

This was a hopeless enemy.

They lived in two different worlds.

But for some reason, it looked like she was smiling. Her face was
crumpled up on the verge of tears, but he still could not help but see
a smile on her lips.

Finally.

For the first time.

It was like she had found a friend she could reveal her ugly and
violent truth to.

“Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
hhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!”

“Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
hhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!”

They both roared.

Kamijou Touma clenched his right fist and ran forward while
Maidono Hoshimi wielded her two Telekinetic fingers that could
move an entire nuclear aircraft carrier.

The ground rose up and broken pipes were exposed.

Flames and shockwaves erupted around him, but the boy ducked low
and clenched his teeth to charge through while the large screen
Page | 178
installed on a building wall dropped down like a guillotine. Glass and
metal shards scattered in all directions and red cuts appeared on
Maidono’s own cheeks. She had not expected this herself, but that
no longer mattered to her. The screen crashed into the ground,
shattered, bent, and bounced back up while she once more
“grabbed” it with her two index fingers. She separated the two
fingers and that LCD device larger than a tour bus was torn more
easily than toast and the two halves were raised up like a giant’s
fists.

A cloud of gray dust filled the air.

It threatened to hide everything, but that did not happen.

Kamijou Touma ran full speed toward the Santa girl who was
vanishing behind the gray curtain.

She would be enveloped by the intangible dark side and be taken

beyond anyone’s grasp.

He refused to let that happen.

He moved as if to give his thoughts a tangible form.

“Are you immortal!?” she shouted, despite likely realizing otherwise.

She threw a right straight and a left hook. Those arms could have
knocked the average car up to a skyscraper rooftop, but Kamijou
dodged them just by swinging his body.

This was not some special ability. He was not entrusting this to luck
or the divine.

He would protect.

He would save.

Page | 179
And that applied not just to kidnapped Last Order but to Maidono
Hoshimi as well. If all he had to was reach out to the person in front
of him, he could suppress the shaking of his legs. When you got
down to it, that right fist was all he had. If he was going to end this,
he had to get close. So he would do it. The powerful explosions and
sharp glass and metal shards flying about were irrelevant. If he could
not save her without reaching her, then he would make sure he got
close enough to do so. He clenched his teeth and swallowed the
pain.

Yes.

Needless to say, he was soaked with blood.

He was not escaping this unscathed. The wound in his side was not
the end of it. He was being pummeled by shockwaves and pierced by
blade-like fragments. Dark red blood was leaking from all over his
body, but he had decided from the beginning that he would take this
one step here. That decision allowed him to move. That was all there
was to it.

“Don’t worry.”

It did not matter if it was only for 10 seconds, 5 seconds, or 1 second.

He just had to keep his body moving a little longer.

If he managed that, he could tear apart the chain of tragedy that had
trapped Maidono Hoshimi in the spider’s web!!

“You might never again use chopsticks, you might have everything
taken from you, and you might end up behind bars, but I will never
abandon you!!”

An intensely dull sound – a more violent one than expected –

reverberated through the broken streets.

Page | 180
His right fist slammed into her.

What was on that dark side assassin’s mind when that dull strike hit
her cheek?

She did not scream even once.

That girl, who had wanted to be normal more than anyone else,
dropped to the ground.

Part 8
How far you had to go to properly restrain a powerful esper was an
extremely tricky question, but it was obvious enough in this case that
the trigger was her index fingers. Kamijou borrowed some duct tape
that must have rolled in from a nearby construction site, folded
unconscious Maidono Hoshimi’s hands into fists, and wrapped duct
tape all around them up to the wrists. Then he put her hands behind
her back and bound them there.

(Maidono, huh?)

He peered at her face while still crouched down.

That girl could not do what most anyone else could.

If Kamijou had remained fixated on his lost memories, he could have

ended up much like her.

(What can a normal high school boy like me even do for her?)

“Touma!!”

“Whoa! That’s not a Santa costume, so why are your clothes so

red!?”

Meanwhile, the other girls gathered around.

Page | 181
Misaka Mikoto descended a building wall while carrying Index.

“I’m more impressed that you got through that without a scratch on
you. And that you got outside at all while the elevators weren’t
working.”

“Ugh, my hair and coat are so dirty. I so hope that place didn’t use
asbestos. We couldn’t do anything about the half-collapsed concrete
and the combination of broken gas pipes and power cables was
absolutely terrifying! It took some doing hacking the smart tower
and shutting the gas off. Without that, I would’ve been here a little
sooner.”

Misaka Imouto also returned while dragging along a cleaning robot

with some yellow and black construction rope.

“Is Last Order in there?” asked Mikoto.

“Presumably, but we cannot carelessly open it before checking for

nonelectronic traps using a glass fuse, says Misaka to show off how
useful she is.”

At some point, that clone had learned the same rhetorical tricks as
an office worker who wanted to get out of doing any real work.

But anyway…

“Take care of this, will you?”

Kamijou tossed over the phone he had found on Maidono, but for
some reason, the two girls with the same face began fighting over it.

“This is a delicate task where max power output is irrelevant, so you

wound Misaka by implying she would be no help here, says Misaka
while making sure to show off that she is nothing like the ill-
mannered Original.”

Page | 182
“Then how about we hold a cyber-attack benchmark competition?
You can hook yourself up to the entire Misaka Network if you like.
Also, who are you calling ill-mannered?”

“Then the prize can be one of those fashionable donuts. Misaka will
order one via a bike delivery boy and we can see who has it unlocked
before they arrive, suggests Misaka.”

“Deal. But isn’t the point of those to be decorated in your own lucky
color?”

They continued bickering while pressing their cheeks together and

staring at the phone’s screen. They may have been competing to see
who could crack the passcode first, but they looked more like two
friendly sisters.

Then Index cut in from the side.

“Isn’t it 58051?”

Page | 183
Page | 184
“You can’t just guess a random number and hope it’s- ehh!? You’re
kidding! Why does my analysis say it’s 58051 too!?”

“Leave it to the occult girl to show off an occult power, says Misaka
while trembling at this paranormal phenomenon. Misaka has heard
that astrology and fortunetelling use math and statistics, but what
exactly happened here?”

“Yay, a donut for me☆” shouted Index.

The toxic-looking item covered in whipped cream was delivered by

bicycle and was inside Index’s stomach in short order. This put her on
their side too. Their happy Christmastime was too blindingly bright
for the pointy-haired boy to watch from his position in the shadows.

Phones were treasure troves of information.

They knew nothing about Maidono Hoshimi, including her real name.

If she had been acting alone, this would be the end of it, but if she
had been working with someone else, the threat to Last Order was
not yet over. Could they turn this girl in to Anti-Skill, breathe a sigh of
relief, and get back to enjoying Christmas Eve, or did they have to
remain on their guard? Even if they were amateurs and they were
wasting their brainpower thinking about this, they could not rest
easy without figuring that out first.

But.

Mikoto tossed the phone to him without even looking at the screen.

“Here.”

“?”

“I don’t know what happened, but you’re the only one with any right
to look in here.”

Page | 185
Was that true?

He liked to think so, but he was honestly not sure.

Spying on someone else’s phone was a scummy thing to do. The links
to ebooks and videos about etiquette stood out the most. Those
likely had to do with using chopsticks. She seemed to be avoiding
books meant for little children, probably because it would have
wounded her pride too much.

He could sense raw adolescent humanity oozing from those lines of

ordinary digital text.

The album contained quite a few photos, but strangely the blonde
girl was in none of them. He initially thought these were all photos
she had taken of her friends, but he finally realized she had been
hiding her identity with a wig and color contact lenses.

When he crouched down and removed the wig from the unconscious
girl, he found a surprisingly innocent-looking girl with a bob cut.

That same girl was the most common person seen in the album.

The phone did not seem to contain her real name anywhere, but it
might be possible to reveal her identity by analyzing the people and
background objects in the photos. He could not think of any reason
to do that, though.

“…”

All the girls in the photos were smiling.

But those scenes were all something she had created to cover up and
hide her complex.

Maidono Hoshimi had to be a false name.

Page | 186
She had been living a life much like someone who always had to
choose the clothes that would cover up the tattoo they had gotten
long ago. Except in her case, someone else had forced her into that
situation.

(This is all stuff you can’t communicate with nothing but your fists.)

“Misaka.”

“?”

“I’ve looked through most of it, but it’s too normal. She didn’t seem
to have another phone either. I don’t really know what kind of world
the dark side is, but you need some tool to let people contact you if
you work there, right? This phone must have a secret space hidden in
it.”

“I’ll look, but is there anywhere I should check first?”

“There’s nothing in the call logs or address book, so I just want to

know who she was contacting.”

“Got it,” said the middle school girl as she casually accepted the
phone and the task.

And before long…

“There really is nothing.”

“What?”

It seemed unusual to him for Mikoto to so readily throw in the towel.

But for some reason, she was grinning.

“Basically, this phone is only used to connect to a dedicated server

that acts as a remote digital lockbox for all her work documents and
contacts. So even if she does drop her phone or have it stolen, she

Page | 187
only has to sever that one line to prevent any sensitive information
from leaking out.”

“So we’ve hit a dead end? It looked like she was sending Last Order
somewhere, so there must be someone else who was to pick her
up.”

“Yes, normally anyway.”

Mikoto winked and shook the borrowed phone.

It gave off a monotone beep.

“And we’re in. Okay, you’re up again.”

“No, I doubt there’s anything from her private life in there. And if it’s
work info, we can all see it.”

The phone displayed a screen he did not recognize and it contained a

list of filenames. Even the file extensions at the end were unfamiliar
to him. He tried tapping a few, but the text within was
incomprehensible to him. It was not the same as the legal contracts
adults would sign, but the level of confusion he felt was about the
same. It was filled with so much jargon and roundabout phrasings
that he could not get any of it into his head in a sensible form.

“Shall Misaka summarize it for you?”

“Please.”

“Basically, this is related to the Board Chairman, says Misaka to keep

it short.”

“To him?”
Kamijou sounded confused.

Page | 188
The “him” here was not the human known as Aleister. It was the
person who had taken over that position after Aleister.

That person had a strong connection to both Misaka Mikoto and

Misaka Imouto.

And more importantly, to Last Order.

“Yes, assuming this file is accurate.” Mikoto gently nodded. “This

says the new Board Chairman has begun eliminating Academy City’s
dark side, but the people who are more comfortable in the dark side
or cannot escape it oppose that decision. So they want an effective
bargaining chip.”

“…”

The Board Chairman’s plan had to be much easier said than done.

Even if you announced that ideal, the people trembling in fear might
not come forward to testify and others might be opposed to the very
ideal itself. And once everything fell apart and the attempt failed, the
first target of retribution would be the one who had hoisted the flag
and led the charge.

And he had immediately shown how far he was willing to take this.

“First, he will reveal his own crimes,” continued Mikoto.

“What?”

“It looks like he means it. He’s going to reveal everything he’s done,
primarily the more than 10,000 clones he killed in that experiment.
That way he can show there are no exceptions. He seems to think
that’s the only way to drag the fearful skeptics out into the sunlight.
…And he has in fact turned himself in at an Anti-Skill station.”

“He turned himself in!?”

Page | 189
“He certainly doesn’t strike me as the type to do that, but apparently
it’s true.”

His punishment would not be altered by the conditions and timing of

this act. Once his crimes came to light, he would have to pay for
them. And it seemed unlikely he would ever again emerge from
behind bars.

Misaka Imouto tilted her head while looking through the files.

“Does this mean the new Board Chairman is resigning the position
before the year is even out? asks Misaka. And what good is this
effort if the next Board Chairman brings back the dark side?”

“The Board Chairman has the right to resign and choose his
replacement, but the system is not made for anyone below him to
remove him from that position. Just like teachers casting votes in the
faculty room can’t get the principal or the school’s board chairman
fired.”

Academy City was a giant educational system Aleister had created to

achieve his own goal, so he would not have constructed it in a way
that let others interfere with his actions.

Meaning…

“So does he think he can pull it off if he uses his authority as Board
Chairman to run the city from behind bars?” wondered Kamijou.

“He must intend on seeing this through to the end. What is it with
the people at the top of this city closing themselves up behind thick
walls?”

Anyway, they now knew why someone would want Last Order.

One side wanted to destroy Academy City’s dark side and the other
side wanted to stop that.
Page | 190
It was a lot like a direct clash between the light side and dark side of
the city. That meant an entire half of the city would be after Last
Order. Maidono Hoshimi had only been the vanguard. Pulling back
now was not a fundamental solution.

“Isn’t there something more?”

Without even thinking, Kamijou Touma began searching for an

enemy.

“Isn’t there someone else? Like an obvious mastermind behind it

all!? If this is only a sporadic wave of lone wolf villains attacking, then
we can never rest again!”

Error messages suddenly flooded the screen.

Someone had noticed them.

But instead of cutting off the connection, it looked more like the data
itself was being erased.

“There is one person managing all that frustration. And I’m betting
they’re the one supplying the money and weapons needed to take
action.”

But that did not stop Mikoto.

They were not interested in evidence they could use in court.

They only needed to know the name of the mastermind behind this
incident. And this rushed erasure of the server’s data only seemed to
confirm that the data there was legit.

So Misaka Mikoto read the data out loud even as it was erased.

“Neoka Norito. One of the twelve on the Board of Directors.”

Part 9
Page | 191
With a heavy pop, Misaka Imouto managed to remove the round lid
at the top of the drum-shaped cleaning robot she had captured. She
must not have detected any of the traps she was concerned about.
Kamijou was surprised to see they opened up like that. It looked like
they would normally require a special screwdriver other than a
Phillips or flathead, but she had apparently directly turned the
screws using magnetism.

The inside was almost entirely hollow, providing enough space for a
small child to fit while curled up. But since there was no garbage
inside, this must have been one Maidono had prepared (i.e. stolen)
to transport Last Order.

Anyway.

Last Order was unconscious, but she seemed unharmed when

Misaka Imouto reached under her arms and pulled her out.

Her limbs and mouth were bound by a special controlled rope, but it
did not appear to be a trap. And an electronic device like that was no
match for Mikoto.

“Hm? But if a clone like her couldn’t get this electronically-controlled

rope off of her, does that mean I really am superior when it comes to
cyber-attacks???”

“Why must the higher unit’s failure cast doubt on the quality of the
Misakas as a whole? wonders Misaka while trembling at this
unwelcome speculation. The command tower had better learn her
lesson.”

Fortunately, Last Order must have been a valuable hostage because

she had no noticeable injuries. Even if that was to use her for
malicious purposes, it was still a stroke of good luck considering the
massive damage that Maidono Hoshimi had done to the Christmas
Eve city around them.
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Index asked a question with the calico cat still on her head.

She asked about the definitive crossroads they were approaching.

“Touma, what do we do now?”

“Good question.”

If he was being honest, a simple high school boy like him could not
see the big picture here.

He imagined it had something to do with what the grownups wanted

and the overall power balance within the city, but that did not mean
he could see any of the specifics. You could not perform surgery or
disarm a bomb based on a vague sense of “I think I kinda, sorta
understand”. It was probably impossible for him to reach the right
answer using pure logic at this point.

“First, I’d like to know what kind of person this Neoka is.”

Kamijou Touma was not the type to remember who ran the city or
even who his own school’s principal was. This had nothing to do with
his memory loss; he simply never interacted with them. He knew of
those twelve ultra VIPs at the top of Academy City. They may have
been something like a head of state’s cabinet, but that was exactly
why he had no idea who they were. People tended not to remember
much beyond the actual president or prime minister at the very top.

He never would have needed to know who they were if he lived a

normal life.

“The officially released info says he’s a big name in the security
industry,” explained Mikoto. “With bigshots like the Board of
Directors, they’re mostly pretty old, but he’s actually quite young for
the group. That said, he’s still not a child like us.”

Page | 193
“I see. Do important people like that have a list of achievements on
the government website or something?”

“Hell, he’s got his own social media account.”

Kamijou was having trouble following along already. Weren’t these

criminal masterminds supposed to be veiled in mystery in the depths
of a subterranean secret base or something?

But when he took a look at Mikoto’s phone, he saw a very official

looking page. It was all so neat, tidy, and squeaky clean that it had no
real human warmth to it. Even the sign in front of a corporate
headquarters building would feel a bit warmer than this.

The young man looked good in a suit, but he did not have the look of
a businessman.

He was more like a high-profile entrepreneur or film actor. Maybe it

was how he looked too young to be one of those executives in suits
and maybe it was the muscle tone visible even through his suit. Then
again, who could say how edited the photos on his social media page
were. It was even possible the man in the photos was a body double.

“What do you mean by the security industry? Is that another way of

saying he sells weapons? asks Misaka while cutely tilting her head.”

“Pipe down, you flirt,” snapped Mikoto. “And no, it isn’t that. It looks
like his work is in the fields of firefighting and disaster prevention. He
donates a lot of money to charity and volunteer programs. …Of
course, that might all be camouflage to hide his true colors.”

This was not a case of good suppressing evil.

Nor was it a case of creating an evil more powerful than justice so

they could rest easy.

Page | 194
The truly hopeless people would ally themselves with good and
justice. They would manipulate those things to their own benefit
and, when that was not enough, they would rewrite those systems
altogether.

“Firefighting and disaster prevention don’t sound particularly

dangerous at first glance, but you could do scary things by abusing
those systems,” said Mikoto. “Disaster rescue robots could be
converted into weapons, or you could even artificially create your
own disaster.”

Whatever the case, he was one of the twelve VIPs who ran Academy
City.

Maidono Hoshimi had only been the vanguard.

He had to have something of his own. He stood at the top of

Academy City which ruled over all the world’s science and
technology, so he was bound to have all sorts of bizarre tech all to
himself.

He sat on the Board of Directors.

In truth, they were only pretending they knew what he was like
based on rumors and online information. Because fighting against an
unknown entity was too frightening. In the worst case, this could be
a fight that never ended no matter how much they struggled.

They could not challenge him on a whim.

They should have tried to avoid making contact with him at all costs.

But…

“If he’s cheating the system, he must be in a position that makes that
necessary.”

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“Touma?”

“We can’t ‘see’ any of the political power, hierarchy, or power

balance of the adults and there’s no way we can get a feel for it right
away. But we do know that Neoka Norito has been living the good
life by throwing that unseen power around. He’s sure to use that
unseen power before clenching his fist. He used dirty tricks, threw
money around, abused his authority, and set so many people in
motion, but it wasn’t enough. That is why he finally resorted to
violence.”

It was obvious.

It was the most basic of facts, but using violence came with risks.
Director Neoka could use violence to protect his position, but that
would be meaningless to him if his use of violence was exposed and
he was placed under social pressure. That villain was clearly fighting
for himself, so he would not want to bring peace to Academy City by
sacrificing himself.

Which meant…

“We fight.” That was Kamijou Touma’s decision. “If we let things
keep going like this, who knows when it’ll end. The enemy will try
attacking over and over and we’re dead as soon as we let our guard
down for even a moment. We can’t leave this in a situation where a
single mistake spells our doom. So now is our only chance. We can’t
see the power balance of the adults, so none of us can say if the
conditions providing us this chance will still be around tomorrow or
the day after that.”

They could not let this happen to Last Order. Or to Maidono Hoshimi
for that matter. And the same could probably be said for the still-
unseen enemy who would attack next, and the one after that.

Neoka Norito.
Page | 196
That piece of garbage had remade charity and volunteer work into
his own bullets and allied himself with good and justice so he could
create countless tragedies without dirtying his own hands. His
twisted form of cleanliness had robbed so many people of their
possibility and distorted their lives.

The dark side.

If he really wanted to protect that shadowy utopia, he should stand

in the line of fire himself.

Maidono could not use chopsticks.

Kamijou pictured her face as she bit her lip and held back the tears
over that pain no one else understood.

Just like Accelerator had Last Order, Maidono Hoshimi had her
chopsticks complex.

That godawful adult had used those things as a shield to manipulate

children to his will. He did not clench his fist, pit his will against his
enemy’s, or join any kind of battle at all. He stole people’s lives and
used them for his own purposes, but he considered that a sign of his
own intelligence and did not see the need to bother interacting with
them.

The tragedies would not end unless he was stopped.

No matter what.

“Let’s end this.”

The enemy was currently weakened.

The rules of the adults had failed here, so he had been forced to
stoop to the juvenile and violent rules of the children. Meaning he
had chosen to abduct young Last Order and use her as a hostage.

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But if he had descended from his unreachable ivory tower and he
was now within reach…

“We need to grab him by the collar before he can ascend out of
reach once more.” That was Kamijou’s answer and conclusion. “This
will probably only be an option today. He’s been weakened because
someone else was fighting back out there, but we can’t say when
he’ll recover from that. So we should use this chance and finish what
someone else started. Otherwise, we’re right back to square one.
Last Order will be captured, Accelerator’s plan will fail, and someone
will have their life stolen from them so they’ll act as a new pawn in
Maidono’s place. The only person laughing then will be that crazy
clean freak Neoka!!”

“Misaka is fine with that, says Misaka to express her agreement.”

The expressionless goggles girl had more to say. “Setting aside how
you intend to locate and attack Neoka, it is frankly miraculous that
this has been simplified to the point that it can be resolved through
fighting. Forcibly settling things today would likely be a much more
effective and optimal choice than letting this chance go and retrying
it when the conditions are tangled with politics and economics, says
Misaka to further explain her reasoning.”

“So is this the extent of the cavalry?” asked Mikoto. “Counting Last
Order sleeping here, that’s only 5. Oh, I guess it’s 6 if we include the
kitty on your head there. He’s sure to be a huge help.”

“Eh? I’m just glad to not be alone this time,” said Touma. “I’m not
used to having so much help.”

“…”

“…”

For some reason, Index and Mikoto both glared at him. The pressure
was intense.
Page | 198
Being alone was so sad.

And…

“About that.” Misaka Imouto raised her hand. “Since Neoka Norito
was trying to capture the command tower, wouldn’t it be suicidal to
bring her with us? Whatever form the fight takes, Misaka thinks we
should keep Last Order away from it, suggests Misaka.”

“But wouldn’t it also be dangerous to leave her alone?” responded

Mikoto. “We don’t know how many people Neoka has hidden out
here, so she could always be abducted again while we’re fighting.”

“Which is why Misaka will list off what we need. First, we need
fighters to defeat Director Neoka Norito. But if we let the command
tower escape, we cannot leave her alone. That means we also need
fighters to protect her, explains Misaka while raising two fingers. So
wouldn’t it be best to split into two teams?”

She made it sound simple, but who would be on each team?

Kamijou could negate all forms of the supernatural and Index had an
unbeatable interception ability when it came to magic, but they were
both weak to normal firearms. Misaka Imouto was strong against
guns and knives, but she could not deal with extreme supernatural
powers. Mikoto had a seemingly almighty power, but removing her
from the front line would reduce their odds of defeating Neoka
Norito. They were a well-varied team when together, but their pros
and cons stood out once they were separated.

However, Misaka Imouto had an idea about this.

“Misaka thinks it would be best to use her as the command tower’s

bodyguard, says Misaka while pointing at her own face.”

“Eh? You?” said Kamijou.

Page | 199
“Your skepticism bothers Misaka, so she will remind you of her skill
with all firearms and her ability to use the city’s security with her
electrical power.”

“But can you beat someone on Maidono’s level like that?” asked
Mikoto. “You can’t, can you?”

“Wake that scum up right this instant. This Misaka will kick her ass in
short order, says Misaka while rolling up her sleeves to show how
eager she is.”

She was being a little too motivated here, so Kamijou quickly

restrained her. Fists that would not protect anyone’s smile were
entirely meaningless.

The mass-produced girl expressionlessly struggled (while still being

hugged from behind), but she also continued speaking.

“More importantly, Neoka Norito does not want the new Board
Chairman’s crimes – that is, the past project that the Misakas were a
part of – to come to light, correct? Misaka can fight by using herself
as a hostage. We are both clones, the command tower and an
ordinary serial number, so if Misaka fights while drawing attention
using her gunfire and Radio Noise power, it should give them some
trouble, says Misaka to list off the expected conditions of the battle.”

She had a point.

Kamijou certainly agreed that they could not bring Last Order with
them to the front line. Dangling that treat in front of the kidnapper’s
eyes would be foolish in the extreme.

But it still was not enough.

Misaka Imouto’s logic only worked on the assumption that Neoka

Norito’s side was trying to resolve this in secret and thus their

Page | 200
attacker would withdraw rather than risk revealing their actions to
society at large. For example, they would end their attack if they saw
a live broadcast of the scene from a TV station’s camera or a
livestream from a phone.

However.

(He gave so much freedom to Maidono Hoshimi.)

Yes, they could not trust in that assumption.

No matter how big this got, you could still cover it all up if you had
enough power. So if Neoka decided he only had to get through
today, no matter what it took, Misaka Imouto’s plan would not work.
Even in front of a TV camera or a livestreaming phone, he or his
troops would move in to kill or abduct the fleeing girls.

So they needed something more.

They had to play some other powerful card to deter their enemy.

“This might be a complete rejection of his work and efforts, but

we’re under no obligation to play along.”

“Touma?”

“Misaka Imouto, we’ll leave Last Order with you, but can I suggest a
destination to escape to?”

“Misaka may not use it, but you are free to make suggestions.”

Kamijou Touma breathed in and out.

And he ruined someone’s plans with a smile.

“Accelerator is holed up in an Anti-Skill station, right? Take Last Order

there and fortify yourselves there too. Then Academy City’s
strongest will fight off Neoka’s troops for you.”

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The #1 could not leave himself.

He would trust in Academy City’s ability to purify itself.

That was all well and good, but it only meant they had to set up a
situation where Accelerator could protect Last Order while still
behind bars. He could remain there in the same building and fight to
protect himself from the attackers. And if he happened to save some
civilian who happened to be here? Well, that was just a coincidence.

Kamijou Touma did not understand all the tricky grownup politics
and whatnot.

He thought the Board Chairman was incredible for leaving the world
of pure violence and fighting in that more complex world.

But.

Even so.

Accelerator was the one who should be protecting that kid. Not even
counting issues of efficiency and logic, that was just how it was
meant to be. Kamijou Touma was temporarily looking after Last
Order, but there was another world in which she was meant to
spread her arms and run free. He had to make sure that rule was
followed. No matter what.

“Uh,” groaned Last Order with her eyes still shut.

Thinking back, this had been strange from the beginning.

Had she left her usual place and searched out her original, Misaka
Mikoto, because she had realized what was happening and come for
help? Had there been something only she could see using the sharp
eyes of a young child that Kamijou, Mikoto, and the others had
already lost? Maybe so and maybe not. It was also possible she had
sensed some vague fear and just ran around with no destination in
Page | 202
mind. Just like a child pacing around with their pillow after having a
nightmare.

But so what?

What did it matter if this came from cruel reality or a baseless

dream?

Kamijou did not want to abandon people who were afraid and
suffering. He and the others had found her, so they had to notice
what was going on with her and they had to act on that knowledge.
They might not be able to save the entire world right away, but they
could save the people they saw right in front of them, one by one.

A human out there had bet on the fact that the scales of the entire
world would be tilted just a little if everyone attempted to do the
things even they could accomplish. When all the good parts and the
bad parts of the world were weighed against each other, he had bet
it would tilt ever so slightly toward the bright side.

So they would show him that the world he hoped for did indeed
exist.

In the world Academy City’s #1 dreamed of, perhaps no one would

ever again be led astray for someone else’s purposes like Maidono
Hoshimi had. And even if they were, perhaps they could create a kind
enough society to give them a second chance. They could not just
hope someone else would do it. Kamijou and the others had to
become some of the small gears within Academy City who would
help make it happen.

They had to believe.

They had to make their own bets, just like he had.

Page | 203
Kamijou Touma looked to each of their faces in turn: Index, Misaka
Mikoto, Misaka Imouto, and Last Order. And then he made a blunt
declaration of war.

“Let’s give ‘em hell.”

Part 10
There was a lot of noise all of a sudden.

Yomikawa Aiho had been speaking with Accelerator in the Anti-Skill

station’s secret interrogation room, but she was now contacting
someone else.

He lightly clicked his tongue while seated across from her with his
feet up on the clear table.

“So what’s all this about?”

“A girl just arrived at the main entrance with Last Order. And while
carrying one of Neoka’s protegees, who is unconscious.”

He just about fell back onto the floor in his cheap chair.

Yomikawa’s custom tablet was displaying the security camera

footage, so he could tell this was not a joke. Instead of a stationary
camera installed near the ceiling, this was a body camera attached to
an officer’s chest.

An expressionless girl stated her purpose here while making double

peace signs for some reason.

“Boom. Misaka is submitting an individual and electronic evidence

related to illegal activity by Director Neoka Norito. The server itself
was wiped clean and this phone only holds some slight traces of the
data, but looking through it should reveal information on his home

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base, explains Misaka in a thorough enough way to ensure even an
idiot would understand. Hooray.”

“You just said everything Misaka wanted to say! says Misaka as

Misaka stares in shock at the line thief!”

“The Misakas are all one giant Misaka, after all. But make no mistake.
This Misaka is on Team Level 0, says Misaka while winking and
striking a pose with her right hand. Kerpow☆”

The #1 groaned while clenching his teeth so hard he was afraid he

would break them.

“Have those clones never even heard of reading the atmosphere?”

“But they have set things in motion.” Yomikawa must have gotten
sick of the excess formality because she stripped off her black jacket.
“Anti-Skill can’t throw out people seeking protection and we would
be very grateful to receive some conclusive evidence on Neoka. This
will let us head out and attack instead of passively fortifying our
defenses.”

“It won’t be that easy. We’re talking about the biggest shithead of
them all with deep roots in the dark side. He will have something up
his sleeve.”

“Are you suggesting he has more espers like the one just brought to
us?”

“…”

“If so, I will remind you that saving those kids is part of our job. We
can’t just ignore this.”

Accelerator breathed from his nose.

“You’re a dumbass,” he grumbled.

Page | 205
“What are you even talking about? You’re the one that bet on this
kind of power existing alongside all the darkness in Academy City.
And I refuse to disappoint you there.”

With her removed jacket in her left hand, Yomikawa Aiho brought
her feet together, stood straight, and saluted with her right hand.

“Anti-Skill Chief Yomikawa Aiho reporting for duty. I will now leave
on an emergency deployment to bring this all to an end.”

“Suit yourself.”

Part 11
Evening had fallen.

Based on the information they had taken from Maidono Hoshimi’s

phone, Neoka Norito had his base in a giant building in District 15,
which acted as Academy City’s largest shopping district. With a
shopping mall and movie theater on the lower floors, fancy
corporate offices on the middle floors, and luxury apartments on the
upper floors, the skyscraper was a symbol of wealth and power. The
topmost floors acted as the Director’s mansion.

“Just like the powerful people of old.” Misaka Mikoto put her hands
on her hips while looking up at the 70-story building from below.
“The foolish lord looking down at the city from the top of his
towering castle. Or maybe he wishes he could live in those older
times.”

“I’m not quite sure what you mean, but I always thought the corrupt
and rich were really cautious about their own life,” said Kamijou.
“How do you protect that place? With a building that tall, isn’t he
afraid of being trapped during a fire or attack?”

Page | 206
“He’ll have a personal VTOL craft on the roof. There’s as much space
as a helicopter carrier’s flight deck up there, so he has room. He can
also send several remote-controlled ones out along with him to
make it harder to target him with anti-air missiles.”

“Well, isn’t he rich.”

Index was looking all around while carrying the calico cat in both
hands.

“I saw that person before,” she said.

“Index?”

“Same with that woman and that person eating ice cream. They were
in different clothes before, though.”

“Then Anti-Skill is making their move,” said Mikoto.

You could not fool Index’s perfect memory. Anti-Skill officers must
have been taking up position in the area while slipping past any
mechanical surveillance by frequently changing their clothing and
makeup. Since technology was available to good and bad alike,
surrounding a target while avoiding detection had grown very
difficult.

That building was undoubtedly Neoka Norito’s castle, but it did not
belong to him alone. The mall on the lower floors, the offices on the
middle floors, and the apartments on the upper floors meant a lot of
ordinary people would be coming and going, allowing anyone to
move almost up to the very top floors.

There were thick doors in the way and the elevators had several
layers of security applied, but they could still break through the
ceiling from the floor below to reach him. It was unlikely Anti-Skill
intended to just attack the main entrance.

Page | 207
“So what do we do?” asked Kamijou.

“We can let Anti-Skill climb up from below like normal. We wouldn’t
accomplish much more than them if we took the same route.”
Mikoto pointed straight up. “If he’s going to escape, it will be with his
rooftop VTOL craft. So if we can take the rooftop beforehand, it
should have a huge overall impact. And no one will notice us if we
climb the wall with magnetism. So…”

A moment later, explosives flames erupted from the windows on the

highest levels of the building she was pointing at.

They gasped because they had no clue what had just happened.

This undefinable occurrence just about left Kamijou’s mind blank.

Much like a computer that had forcibly tried to read a corrupted file.
This unexpected event violently ate into his mind, swallowed up his
thoughts, and tried to drag him into the deadly depths of the water.

Neoka Norito.

He had caught a glimpse of who that man was before actually seeing
him. Unlike Maidono Hoshimi, this man had to be someone who
created his own waves. The tiny waves a child like Kamijou could
create by gathering up all his courage and willpower would be
crushed so very easily.

However…

“Wha-?”

“Don’t just stand there, Misaka!! The glass is falling!!”

He had to force himself to keep going.

No matter what might happen, they were done for if they came to a
stop and the gears of their minds jammed. Time would cruelly pass

Page | 208
them by and that delay would force them to accept a horrific
conclusion to it all.

So.

His words acted like a slap to the cheek.

After he shouted at her, Mikoto frantically took action. She used

magnetism to forcibly move some Christmas decorations like giant
stockings and a huge Christmas present and she placed those above
the plaza and major road in front of the building. Who knows how
much blood would have soaked the ground around the crowd there
otherwise.

There was no direct damage done, but there was some chaos.
Someone in a snowman costume rolled wildly along the roadside and
a reindeer girl selling toxic-colored donuts from a food truck quickly
shut off the gas, perhaps fearing secondary damage from a panic.

“Wh-what just happened?” asked a dazed Index.

Kamijou bit his lip because a bad idea had just occurred to him.

Just like with Maidono Hoshimi, this was a stage magician’s sleight of
hand. That explosion would cut off the standard route of pursuit.

“Neoka predicted Anti-Skill would be arriving at his castle.”

“So he set his house on fire!?”

“Right when Anti-Skill was showing up. What if it turns out that Anti-
Skill took no damage, but he alone suffered from a fire in his home?”

He had never spoken with any of the Directors, but he had seen bits
and pieces of how they did things.

Page | 209
They were a twisted sort of clean freak that never wanted to dirty
their own hands, so they always had “shields” prepared allowing
them to safely win.

And if you viewed this situation from that perspective…

“He’s using the rules as a shield. That’s the most effective method
against the people who are supposed to protect the peace here. He’s
going to completely flip this on its head and make himself the victim.
Anti-Skill didn’t do anything, but what happens if he points at them
and claims they nearly got him killed while forcing their way into his
home as part of an illegitimate investigation with insufficient
evidence to back it up? Anti-Skill will take all the blame, the
investigation will end, and he’ll remain free to go around destroying
all the inconvenient evidence!”

The methods meant to empower the good would instead be used to

attack the good.

And Anti-Skill was not paid enough to continue searching for a villain
that might not even exist.

Before even reaching him, they could already see just how nasty a
foe this was.

“B-but we handed Maidono Hoshimi over to Anti-Skill,” said Mikoto.

“Her phone had real evidence on it, so isn’t Anti-Skill following
proper procedure in coming here!?”

“Which is why he needs to buy enough time to go and eliminate

Maidono now that she has escaped the dark side.”
Kamijou did not wait even a second before responding and even
Mikoto went pale and fell silent at his answer.

Neoka was not acting alone. He had plenty of fighters on Maidono’s

level and he would have released them into the city. Something
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would be moving toward the Anti-Skill station where Misaka Imouto
and Last Order had gone. The #1 was there and it would take a lot to
break through that barrier, but there was no guarantee that Neoka
could not provide a lot.

They could not let his plan continue.

They did not have a feel for the adult power balance, so they had to
end this today before that became an issue once more. They could
never turn this around then.

(Think.)

Kamijou clenched his teeth.

They could not let the confusion sweep them away. There had to be
a way to retake control.

They could not give in to fear.

There was no need to narrow their range of freedom at the thinking

stage. They had to come up with ideas based on an ideal version of
themselves, like they were a Hollywood star or a mysterious special
forces unit.

The answer had to be hidden beyond that leap of logic.

Especially in Academy City where so much craziness could be made a

reality with technology.

(If he’s going to weasel out of this with a cheap act, he’ll need to
make it look good. In stage magic terms, this is an escape artist’s
trick. Escaping the box before it explodes is all well and good, but the
audience won’t be satisfied if he’s just standing there in some other
place.)

“He’s nearby.”

Page | 211
“?”

“Neoka Norito is somewhere around here!! Pointing at Anti-Skill and

accusing them will be most effective in front of a large audience, so
he’ll show off the injuries he gave himself and use that as a shield to
bludgeon them with by blaming it on their attack!!”

In that case, they more or less already had the answer.

If Neoka’s intention was to influence people’s view of the situation to

reverse the positions of attacker and victim, get the people on his
side, and throw the investigation into confusion, then he would want
people to see Anti-Skill entirely unscathed while was all bloody. That
meant he would have to harm himself. But could an amateur really
do that to himself? He would not want to accidentally lose too much
blood and Anti-Skill and the doctors were experts at viewing injuries.
They would probably see right through a self-inflicted wound only
meant as an act.

So what would he want most right now?

The stab wound in Kamijou’s side started to throb and make its
presence known.

He did not need any special knowledge for this one. He only had to
use his own personal experience.

Yes.

“A medical facility,” said Kamijou.

He knew he could not wound himself like that as a form of disguise.

If he accidentally nicked an important artery or an organ, the wound
would quickly grow fatal.

Of course he would be terrified.

Page | 212
He would want to rely on a medical professional.

Neoka was apparently an expert in firefighting and disaster

prevention, but this was about his authority as part of the Board of
Directors. Just like the chief or superintendent general of the police
was not the best police officer, he might not have the actual skills of
those fields himself. And even if he did, he would not want to sew up
his own wound with the dirty sewing needle and fishing line he had
lying around. That could even lead to an infection of some kind.
Partial knowledge would lead to fear and he would get someone
else’s help to make up for the gaps in his knowledge.

So…

“If he is going to injure himself, he’ll want a sterile environment and

a doctor with all the proper knowledge. And this needs to be done in
absolute secrecy. That building is a single giant complex, so it’s bound
to have a clinic, a medical room for treating anyone who falls ill, or…”
The boy’s eyes stopped on a specific point. “Or at least a first aid kit!!
Is the parking garage underground? A surprising number of minor
injuries happen there, due to people getting their finger caught in a
car door or dropping their luggage on their foot when trying to load
it into the trunk, so they might have some specialized emergency
equipment along with the fire extinguisher and AED!”

He began running before he had even finished speaking.

That would not provide the sterile environment, but it may have
been worth it to Neoka to have something mobile that he could carry
with him or have removed from the scene.

Kamijou ran down the slope and into a concrete space larger than a
soccer field.

But.

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“Th-there’s nothing like that here,” said Index while looking all
around.

There was a fire extinguisher at the base of a concrete pillar and an

AED in a metal box on the wall, but…

“There’s no first aid kit. Could he have already taken it away?”

“…”

Had Kamijou misread this?

It was possible someone as absurdly rich as Neoka would have a

personal doctor who never left his side, or he could feel even more
desperate than they thought and had decided to injure himself
despite the risk.

But Mikoto looked up above.

“It might not be a first aid kit.”

“What do you mean?”

“I said the roof is like a helicopter carrier, didn’t I!? So he can have an
air ambulance parked up there. Some of those have more equipment
than the average medical room!!”

Why had he started by blowing up the very top floors?

Because that would destroy the elevator pulleys, making the

elevators unusable and delaying Anti-Skill’s arrival. Meanwhile, he
could appropriately injure himself in the air ambulance and then
have the helicopter itself fly away. That would of course require
altering the airport’s control data. That might sound absurd, but he
would not have let Maidono Hoshimi make such a mess of things if
he ever thought he could be captured. He definitely had what it took
to pull this off. Once the exhausted Anti-Skill officers had finished

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running up 70 flights of stairs, he could point at them while all bloody
and say the magic words: How could you do this!? These injuries are
your fault!

“He definitely gave this some thought, but not enough,” said Mikoto
while kicking down an elevator door in the parking garage.

The elevator would never arrive no matter how much they pressed
the button, but that was no problem for her. She gave a belligerent
smile while staring up the elevator shaft that looked like a gaping
mouth of hell leading high into the sky.

“Did he forget we’re in Academy City? I can tear through this puny
barrier like it’s nothing!!”

Yes.

She was Academy City’s #3 Level 5, the Railgun. Magnetism was only
a secondary effect of her power, yet it was all she needed to cling to
the skyscraper’s wall.

Part 12
It took no time at all.

The elevator shaft was surrounded by thick steel beams on all sides,
so it may have been easier to climb with magnetism than the
reinforced concrete walls. The elevators would have fallen after their
wires were snapped, but they fortunately did not get in the way.
There was apparently a boiler room and other facilities located
below the parking garage.

Misaka Mikoto held Kamijou and Index while jumping straight up like
this was some kind of ride.

The building was about 70 stories tall, but it took them less than a
minute.
Page | 215
There was no need to destroy the elevator door on the roof. The
explosion had already bent everything outwards along with the
gearbox.

What they found outside was apparently a heliport.

Gray asphalt covered an area just as large as the parking garage –

which meant the size of a soccer field – and white lines were drawn
all over it in a pattern that an amateur had trouble making any sense
of. Mikoto had said it functioned like a helicopter carrier, but it
almost looked like a runway to Kamijou.

She had said he would have multiple VTOL crafts and there were in
fact three fighter craft, like something out of a movie, stopped on
the edge of the roof. However, the white lines formed large boxes
around them, so were those hangar elevators like the ones on an
aircraft carrier?

Mikoto had said they could be remotely controlled and their pure
firepower was frightening too.

However, Kamijou’s group needed to focus on something else first.

Those gray military craft were accompanied by a pure white one.

This helicopter was a lot larger than the four-passenger ones used by
TV crews. If the four-passenger ones were analogous to an ordinary
car, this was more like a van.

It was an air ambulance.

“Misaka!!”

“That’s a crucial piece of evidence, so let’s be clever about how we

retrieve it.”

With a dull zap, black smoke burst from the base of the main rotor.
She had apparently messed with the rotation rate to damage the
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engine. If it could not fly on its own, it could not be removed from
the scene. And with the bloody medical devices remaining, the
Director’s cheap act would be far less convincing.

Kamijou’s group cut across the aircraft carrier flight deck of a rooftop
and approached the white helicopter.

The sliding door was open and someone awaited them with a smile.

“Perhaps I should have had the injury done before the explosion. But
I would have had no explanation for the injury if the explosion failed
to trigger, so I wanted to make sure it worked first.”

“You’re Neoka Norito, aren’t you?”

“That’s Director Neoka Norito to you. I am on the Board, after all.”

The man’s face twisted into a smile while seated on a stretcher and
with his wrist held out toward the female doctor next to him.

This was the same person in the photos on the suspiciously clean
social media page.

Did that mean he had not edited the photos or used a body double?

He looked maybe 30. Now that they were face to face with him, he
definitely felt like an adult, but he seemed more like a friendly
homeroom teacher than a principal or vice principal. He wore a fancy
suit and had the look of a young entrepreneur who had only ever
known success from the moment he was born.

He also seemed like the type to be a twisted sort of clean freak.

Maybe it was due to seeing what happened with Last Order and
Maidono, but he did not look like someone who would dedicate
himself to charity and volunteer work.

Mikoto had likened him to the powerful people of old.

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Or as someone who wished he could live in those older times.

The elderly all said the younger generations had it too easy, but
those comments had come to a stop at some point. This man was
one of the powerful from that newer era.

Electricity crackled and high-voltage sparks scattered from Misaka

Mikoto’s bangs.

“Anyway, I’m glad we got here before you could injure yourself.
You’re aware this is checkmate, right? Even if you blew up your room
with real Anti-Skill equipment you illicitly acquired, you can never
brush aside the suspicions with this air ambulance here. No matter
how clever a statement you write for the press conference, you’ll
have a hard time selling that you got first aid done in an air
ambulance that just so happened to be waiting on the roof before the
explosion.”

“Probably so.” He gave a snort of laughter. “Which means I’ll have to

kill all of you. You could have avoided this fate if you hadn’t spied on
me here. On the other hand, some dead kids to blame on Anti-Skill is
sure to get the bored common folk on my side all the easier.”

“How do you propose doing that? I’m the #3, so I hope you don’t
think firing a bullet at me is going to accomplish anything.”

Neoka seemed stunned she would even suggest such a thing.

Still seated on the stretcher, he tilted his head and answered her.

“I mean, I could always do this.”

Another fearsome explosion erupted out, but this one was pinpoint
targeted at Misaka Mikoto.

It happened so suddenly she could not possibly have reacted in time.

Page | 218
If Index had not tugged on her arm with both hands and if Kamijou
had not held his right palm out front, her body might have been
obliterated beyond recognition.

But what was that?

What just happened!?

He was not holding any kind of weapon, but something had definitely
happened.

“Stand back!!”

This time, Misaka Mikoto placed an arcade coin on her right thumb.

This was the Railgun.

Academy City’s #3 Level 5 was named for it. It could not be more
obvious what would happen if a mass of metal fired at thrice the
speed of sound hit a flesh-and-blood human, but that basic fact may
have slipped the girl’s mind. She had decided the person in front of
her was dangerous enough to warrant it.

And she was not exactly wrong.

If not for the fact that even this was not enough.

“Construct a fictional port between Au and Cu, aka Path 14.”

With a high-pitched ringing in their ears, the world blurred.

The elite from the Board of Directors was a moment faster due to his
lack of hesitation.

He spoke only a single word.

“Feuerel.”

This time.
Page | 219
This time something really did fly in at a supersonic speed and
ravaged Misaka Mikoto’s soul.

Her weapon was eliminated.

What had that voice command activated? The arcade coin on her
thumb was meant to produce great firepower, but something
massive struck it and it melted into the color orange.

The attack shot right by her cheek and scorched the air.

Kamijou had been watching from the side, but he had not managed
to see what it was that had flown by.

(What?)

Neoka.

Neoka Norito had yet to even get up from the stretcher.

(What just happened!? The Directors are the elite few adults who
control Academy City, so is he hiding some kind of technology that
can overpower us!?)

“Now, then.”

The man slowly stood from the stretcher. He removed his expensive-
looking watch, placed it aside, and put on the jacket the doctor
handed him.

No one could do a thing.

The monster took a casual step down from the air ambulance.

With a single word, he had taken control of something unseen and

bent something inviolable to his will. He seemed to be saying he
would play by the childish rules of the children like Kamijou until he
had taught them a lesson using this violence.

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What was his science?

Kamijou could not figure out what this man’s science was.

“What did you do?”

He had been caught off guard with his right hand still held out in
front.

Not only had the mystery attack come as a surprise, but his hand had
negated the first one. So whatever this was, Neoka Norito was using
a supernatural power.

Why had Maidono Hoshimi remained struggling in the darkness

when she had so much power?

He felt like he understood now. At the very least, Neoka Norito

would not be bitten by his own pet dog. He would be able to
overpower a Level 5 by force and put a chain around their neck!

The young Director shrugged.

“You come rushing at me ready to attack and then you act all
offended when I fight back?”

“What did you do!? I thought Academy City’s esper development only
worked on children!!”
Academy City’s monsters could be divided into two general
categories.

The first was the children with powerful abilities, such as Accelerator
and Misaka Mikoto.

The second was the adults who found military uses of next-gen tech
said to be more than 30 years ahead the rest of the world.

But this man was different. Did he not belong to either category!?

Page | 221
“It is simple,” he said while loosely spreading his arms like he was
welcoming his enemies. “Feuerel Construct a fictional port between
Au and Cu, aka Path 14.”

“!?”

Immense flames appeared out of thin air before spiraling and

gathering around the man’s right hand.

Was this an esper power?

“No!”

“Wasserel. Construct a fictional port between Hg and Ag, aka Path

20.”

It was his left hand this time. The water must have been compressed
quite a bit to increase its pressure because it produced a straining
sound like an old rope as it gathered around his hand.

This was bad.

Kamijou had no idea what this was, but he could tell it was bad
news!!

Then the man made a casual motion. He brought his two hands
together in front of his chest. Almost like he was clapping just the
once to gather attention from his listeners.

And he made an announcement.

“The two are different, but their essence is equal. So let us combine
them to arrive at a new solution.”

That was all it took for a fearsome water vapor explosion to erupt
and to cover the entire rooftop in steam hot enough to boil a chicken
white in three seconds.

Page | 222
The VTOL fighters stopped on the edge of the roof creaked and the
air ambulance he had left shortly before rolled onto its side. The
steam must have passed the 100-degree barrier several times over,
so if someone contacted that without any kind of special gear, it
would be just like being thrown into a steam oven.

“Windel. Construct a fictional port between Pb and Fe, aka Path 8.”

A purifying wind whirled around to allow Neoka Norito to stand in

the center of the explosion without batting an eye.

And…

“I see. So this is the Imagine Breaker I have heard so much about.”

“!!”

Kamijou clenched his teeth while holding out his right hand to
protect the two girls.

This was too much.

An adult using an esper power was breaking the rules in the first
place, but he had wielded fire, water, and wind, one after another.
One power per person was an absolute rule, but had he also broken
through that barrier while he was at it to become a theoretically
impossible Dual Skill!? Was his power so great he had to split it up
using that voice control!?

“Is this really so surprising?” The one who had broken through the
barriers made it sound so simple as he smiled and whispered. “This is
no more than Minimum Collision Theory.”

“?”

“For example, exposing a nitrogen atom to powerful alpha rays will

cause the number of protons to collapse. As a result, you will have an

Page | 223
entirely different element, such as hydrogen or oxygen. There is no
need to rely on a Personal Reality to manipulate the visible
phenomena.”

Then was this a product of science?

Had it not left that category?

Kamijou was growing ever more confused, but…

“No matter how complex the world is, you only have to simplify
things by cutting them down to a manageable size. Just like
elementary particles are made up of only so many different particles.
And just like light only has two states – a wave or a particle. I have
merely simplified things in a way that allows me to view the
composition of all things from a different angle. Using Minimum
Collision Theory.”

(No.)

That sounded like an explanation, but it was not.

The example about nitrogen did not connect to what he had

demonstrated. He was forcibly stuffing it all into one big box, but was
that categorization really accurate?

Wasn’t he stuffing something entirely different into the wrong box?

Besides, Academy City’s esper powers were a way of forcibly shifting

how one observed reality by viewing the world before your eyes with
a set of values that only existed in your own head.

That might sound all-powerful, but it only provided the one filter. So
an esper who controlled fire would not have a filter for water and an
esper who controlled water would not have a filter for wind. Trying
to carry both filters at once would only reduce the extent of the

Page | 224
“shift” in your observations and you would fail to produce either
power.

That was not something you could switch between using a voice
activated command. Your Personal Reality would stick with you for
your entire life. It was hard to control even for the esper it belonged
to, so a lot of kids had trouble developing theirs well. Not even the
#5’s strongest psychological powers would be able to freely switch
this back and forth. If she could do that, she would likely have been
known by a different esper name. Because if she had succeeded in
that, she could have developed more than just those psychological
powers.

In other words…

“You aren’t using a Personal Reality?”

“I believe I already said so.”

“I know that! That ‘box’ you’ve created for yourself isn’t the point!!”

The box was clearly mistaken.

But was the thing in that box not even an esper power?

An adult was using the supernatural powers that only kids should be
able to use. He was also ignoring the restriction of one power per
person and freely switching between different types of power.

Or was that not what was happening?

Was he not even an Academy City esper? Then the restrictions

against adults and multiple powers no longer mattered. But in that
case, why was he dividing things up by chemical element to
manipulate whatever classical element he wanted?

Minimum Collision Theory.

Page | 225
What was this thing he had given that mistaken label?

“Hydrogen♪ And helium♪”

Kamijou heard a singing voice. It belonged to the girl who should

have been an outsider in this situation – the white nun. And was she
simply repeating that science song she had heard someone singing in
the city’s crowds?

Or…

“Au, Cu, Hg, Ag, Pb, Fe.”

Even those tiny elements could form bonds.

And in this case, those bonds were formed with the knowledge in all
of that girl’s grimoires.

“Gold is the sun, copper is the planet Venus, mercury is the planet
Mercury, and silver is the moon. No, this process isn’t manipulating
metals. 6, 7, 8, 9, 3, 5. Are they being assigned to the 10 Sephirah to
reach the 22 channels linking them and thus to control the tree?”

All thought vanished from Kamijou’s mind.

But it made sense.

That would explain the many oddities seen here. It explained how an
adult like Neoka could use a supernatural power and why he had
ignored Academy City’s hierarchy by overwhelming Misaka Mikoto.

But this should have been taboo.

The people in this city could not be using that kind of thing.

That had to have been part of the rules Kamijou had never actually
seen for himself. But that agreement had been between Aleister
Crowley and Lola Stuart, both of whom were gone now.
Page | 226
So could it be?

Could it be?

Could it be?

“Are you using magic!?”

Part 13
The situation could hardly be worse.

But Kamijou Touma had a reason to not back down here.

Before coming here, he had exchanged a few words with someone.

“Um, will you hear what Misaka has to say?”

It was such a ridiculous idea.

Some clone girls had once appeared before him. When he had
learned of the experiment meant to kill all 20,000 of them, he had
been overcome with rage and risked his life to stop it. But even he
had only caught the occasional glimpse of Academy City’s dark side,
so he did not have a feel for what that world was actually like.

What did it meant to crush that and get rid of it altogether?

“Can Misaka ask something of you?”

But that may not have been what really mattered.

A girl had been captured, knocked unconscious, and then bound

tightly enough to leave bruises, but Last Order had made sure to say
this before rubbing at her raw skin, trembling in fear, or sobbing.

So he did not need two options here.

The one was enough.

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“Will you fight to save him? asks Misaka as Misaka begs you!”
Kamijou did not know how this would save that boy.

Even if he did defeat this asshole on the Board of Directors,

Accelerator would remain behind bars of his own free will. Maybe
that was the right thing to do, but that would never be a happy life.
Kamijou could not help but wonder if Accelerator would not have
had to make that choice if just one person out there had seriously
tried to stop him.

But.

Even so.

He did not know if that was really true, so he did not want to reject
the other boy’s decision too quickly. This was the path someone had
found for themselves, so he would feel wrong trampling it underfoot.
Maybe Accelerator would have reconsidered if someone had
stopped him, but some futures could fail to come about if he had
stopped.

Kamijou could tell Accelerator knew this would not be an easy thing
but was prepared to do it regardless.

Then there could be no exceptions.

Just as Kamijou and Index had their path to walk, Accelerator and
Last Order had their path to walk.

It would not be easy, but there was no need to overthink it.

He only had to place the scales in front of him.

Would he work up his courage here and live the rest of his life with
his head held high with pride, or would he choose safety here and
live the rest of his life hunched over in shame?

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Which would he prefer?

The answer was obvious.

“So, uh, how should I put this? Yeah, I know what to do here.”
So the boy smiled and answered.

Because he had wanted to be someone who could smile at times like

this.

“We’ll head over to the villain’s place and beat the snot out of him, so
you wait for the good news.”

Page | 229
Page | 230
He could not fail to make good on that promise.

Great political power and concrete military might could allow people
to trample on all sorts of rules.

But true human strength was found elsewhere.

So Kamijou could do this.

The willpower of no more than a boy could keep that other human
on the path they had chosen.

He knew what Academy City’s #1 and the new Board Chairman

wanted.

It was time to protect Accelerator’s dream.

Between the Lines 4

Academy City’s Board of Directors had 12 members below the Board
Chairman at the top.

They each had their own specialty field and were constantly trying to
muscle in on each other’s territory. The complex and antagonistic
structure they formed created an untold history of developing new
weapons and new technologies that were used above and below the
board. And the weapons mentioned here need not be simple blades
or firearms. For those old men and women fighting for a larger slice
of the pie in that adult world, justice and philanthropy were no more
than disposable bullets.

“Good grief. Looks like one idiot has pushed up above the rest.”

A high school girl was whispering in the shadows.

Page | 231
She was not one of the Directors herself. She was the brain who
worked below one of those old men.

“A former rescue squad elite, huh? I don’t know where he took such
a wrong turn, but I bet he’s a lot more athletic than he looks.”

It had been lost in the confusion of Accelerator butting in as the new

Board Chairman, but the old man she worked for had mentioned a
“youth” trying to steal the initiative during former Board Chairman
Aleister’s absence.

Had he made that bold move because he had a reason forcing him to
do so?

Rescue work was taxing and it was even more difficult within
Academy City. An unbelievable number of risks could be found in this
densely-populated metropolis: chemicals, bacteria, electromagnetic
waves, strange next-generation technology, and esper powers gone
berserk.

Of course, none of that ever made it to the news. Academy City only
stayed in business as long as it remained an ideal city where parents
felt comfortable leaving their children. No one would sign on the
dotted line if the contract blatantly stated that the city was under no
liability if the children under their care ended up dead.

Someone had continually braved those hidden dangers.

So how had he wandered over to the world of money and politics,

risen above so many other monsters, taken one of the 12 seats on
the Board, and grown so fixated on the dark side where so many
people sank into the depths of tragedy? As a fellow Director, Kaizumi
had the same authority as that man, but even his computer was not
enough to search out the answers to those questions.

Page | 232
“Now, then,” sighed the high school girl. “I need to write up a report
on the pros and cons of intervening and of not intervening here.
Although as usual, it looks like neither one is quite the right answer.
Either option comes with pain, so it really comes down to choosing
which on you like more.”

The new Board Chairman wished to eliminate the dark side.

When the rest of the Board heard that, they had only checked to see
how it would benefit or hurt them personally. Of course, not a single
one of those 12 VIPs had no involvement in the dark side. The old
woman named Oyafune Monaka was the gentlest of the bunch and
avoided underhanded dealings, but even she had stopped at simply
turning a blind eye to the dark side as a whole. But since they all
dealt with the dark side differently, the damage they would take
from its elimination differed.

Those who would take little damage would welcome it, those who
would take a lot of damage would oppose it.

They did not particularly care if the attempt to eliminate the dark
side actually succeeded or not. They were only interested in
attacking the other Directors when that great wave shook them.

In that sense, Neoka Norito had been the biggest target.

He had sided too much with the dark side in his pursuit of personal
interest. If this attempt destroyed that economic foundation out
from under him, he would have trouble spending the money needed
to maintain his social standing. And once he was weakened, the rest
of the Board would attack. They would bite into him, tear him apart,
and devour him. There was no camaraderie between those 12
Directors.

“Those 12 forces are too busy attacking each other to stop the
attempted elimination of the dark side.”
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This was always going to be a hard fight for Neoka Norito’s side.

He must have thought this was his only option if he was to recover.
Even if it was a baseless theory and he had not been dumb enough
to think it would actually work.

“Then again, I never expected him to join forces with an organization

outside the city. That qualifies as inviting in a foreign threat, so I
wonder how he intends to end this.”

Neoka Norito was using a type of technology this girl and Kaizumi did
not fully understand.

But it was not something he had exclusive ownership of.

Things had been in motion for a bit now.

(Interesting events have a way of falling on Christmas Eve, don’t

they?)

A baked good and some strong coffee sat on the side table next to
the leather sofa she was using.

“A custom donut decorated with a lucky color based on your

birthday, blood type, and such, huh?”

Normally, that sort of occult nonsense would find no place for itself
in this city.

But it had instead become a huge fad.

There was no obvious sign of companies pushing it, like there was
with the idea of giving people chocolate on Valentine’s day, yet
something had grown twisted here.

Academy City was generally atheistic and tried to resolve all things
with scientific equations, but maybe it was not too surprising that
something occult had found its way in on this day.
Page | 234
The donut itself was not a conspiracy.

If anything, it was more like a litmus test meant to measure people’s

hearts.

If a silly product like this could spread so rapidly, then it was also
possible for the people of this city to reach for something else they
normally never would have.

People’s hearts could be swayed.

Like when they viewed a solemn religious painting or cathedral, or

when they saw a giant meteor falling from the sky. Only believing
your own eyes was second-rate as a defensive tactic. You might as
well be telling people you would be easily taken in by the occult as
long as it was shown to you in a visible form.

In other words…

“Gathering local troops via the internet? What a nasty age we live
in.”

The girl hit a key on a special computer the size of a drawing board
and thus too large to call a laptop. She displayed something on an
LCD screen the size of an average TV.

“R&C Occultics. A new giant IT company that specializes in magic,

huh?”

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Chapter 4: Interaction with Another
World, the Starting Point — “R&C
OCCULTICS Co.Ltd.”
Part 1
Magic was a supernatural thing that should have been hidden from
the world at large and carefully managed.

But after several large battles, doing so had become difficult.

And then a new disaster struck.

“Wouldn’t you like to know your compatibility with your crush? Fill in
this online form with your names, birthdates, and your troubles and
a professional fortunetelling group will accurately calculate your
fortune together.”

It had appeared on the internet.

No one knew in what country its headquarters were located.

Nationality could be a vague matter when it came to giant IT

companies, but in this case, no one could even explain where such an
enormous company with so much capital had come from.

“Having trouble finding a new home? Then why not have the land or
building assessed for you? Send us plans of the model room and a
professional appraiser will calculate out your quality of life there
based on the cardinal directions and ley lines.”

It had likely begun as a fortunetelling site.

They had gathered countless people’s personal information in the

name of helping them with their troubles. And in the case of
romantic compatibility, they would receive private information on a
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third party without their consent, so it was a very efficient method.
The collection of people commonly known as the magic side was
powerless to stop the giant corporation as it spread like an amoeba.

After all, they had no experience with someone so loudly announcing

the existence of magic but also remaining entirely hidden.

And while the science side was in control of the internet, they could
not properly detect the threat. A site producing firearms or poisons
would be one thing, but they saw no issue with a fortunetelling site
that sold occult goods.

So they did nothing about it.

R&C Occultics was growing by the second and it ignored the barriers
between all things while setting its sights on the entire world.

“Bad luck is no reason for concern. With the right information, you
can ward off bad luck. Ordinary herbs are all you need to purify that
bad energy! Click the following link for a witch’s potion that only
requires plants available for purchase at any florist and a siphon
coffee maker.”

For example, in Academy City.

Inside and outside, science and magic. The attack used the internet
to ignore those divisions altogether.

How many people had used their phones on this one day?

While they were smiling and heading out to meet someone, what
was it they were actually viewing on that small screen?
“Tip: Answer just 10 simple yes-or-no questions and, like magic, this
AI form will accurately pinpoint what is troubling you and find the
perfect witch’s potion you need right now. Help us teach the AI with
your input!”
Page | 237
That unique environment was already rooted in the supernatural and
there were obvious power differentials between people. The
powerless espers and even some of the adults would have a complex
about that. Students made up 80% of the population and adults only
20%. Plus, the children had powers much greater than any “mere
adult”. Not all of those adults would have accepted that state of
affairs.

If only they too had some kind of power.

And once they started thinking that way, what if they came in
contact with R&C Occultics…and thus with magic?

“Magic is nothing difficult. With a third-generation 3D printer that

can do colors, you can create your own spiritual item – such as a
Symbolic Weapon for one of the four elements – at the click of a
button. A list of products and blueprint data for specific models of
printer can be found here!”

A great number of people would have found this information.

There were no statistics on how many of those would actually act on

it.

“Basic breathing and meditation techniques can be easily learned

with simple training sessions that only take 10 minutes a day. The
lecture videos are divided out by skill level and can all be found here
for free! You can simply watch for now, but make sure to consider
purchasing any equipment you deem necessary.”

But Academy City’s espers were different from normal people, so it

was not hard to imagine there would be devastating malfunctions
and side effects if they attempted to use a different and unknown
form of the supernatural. Those who failed to consider that simple
fact may have already collapsed in a pool of blood in their dorm
rooms.
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And what about the adults?

They were still normal people, so what would happen when they
used the supernatural for the first time?

“If you are dissatisfied with anything about your life, why not take
matters into your own hands?”

True chaos was beginning.

The division between magic and science was no longer the obvious
one between inside and outside Academy City.

It was now the adults and the children.

The divisions of hostility took a marble pattern within a single city.

And it was had all the work of some unknown figure who had to be
laughing somewhere out there.

“When the world cheats you, cheat right back. R&C Occultics will
supply you with true magic to support your efforts to achieve a
better life!!”

Part 2
Flames roared as they consumed oxygen.

“Feuerel. Construct a fictional port between Au and Cu, aka Path 14.”

“Damn you!”

Kamijou obliterated the thrown fireball with his right hand, but that
was not Director Neoka Norito’s only weapon.

“Tch!!”

Mikoto clicked her tongue and raised her hand, but not toward
Neoka himself.
Page | 239
She messed with one of the VTOL fighters stopped elsewhere on the
rooftop and used the main flaps and the jet engine to forcibly turn it
around without a specialized towing vehicle. Then she made a
horizontal sweep with the 20mm autocannon installed on the fighter
craft.

However, the man in a fancy suit still did not bat an eye.

“Erdeel. Construct a fictional port between Sn and Fe, aka Path 9.”

The ground was as flat as an aircraft carrier flight deck, but it

suddenly swelled up and a thick rock shield appeared.

He had now used fire, water, wind, and earth.

“You’ve got as many options as a video game, don’t you!?”

“Who said I am limited to those four? Schmetterlingel Construct a

fictional port between Au and Hg, aka Path 16.”

A swarm of glowing butterflies appeared out of thin air. Unlike

before, they could not even guess what kind of attack this was. Were
their wings as sharp as razors, did they scatter toxic scales, or did the
patterns on their wings confuse the eye and knock you out?

The swarm took the form of a torrent as they flew toward the VTOL
craft Mikoto had hijacked and swallowed it up. The machine visibly
rusted over, corroded, lost its shape, and exploded. And after that
detour, the butterflies flew toward Kamijou’s group once more.

What did they actually do?

There was no need to figure it out. Mikoto repeatedly launched

lightning spears from her bangs, realized those only slipped
unnaturally through the swarm without any effect, and then pulled
an arcade coin from her skirt pocket.

Page | 240
Whatever these things were, they could affect metal badly enough to
eat into and destroy a fighter craft.

She flicked the coin up with her thumb and then unleashed a Railgun
that traveled at thrice the speed of sound, scorched the air, and
destroyed everything in its path. The glowing torrent of butterflies
was blown away and eradicated.

But…

“How?” Kamijou gulped and unintentionally raised his voice while

trembling in fear. “How did you get this!?”

“I thought a high schooler would be more up to date on the latest

trends. You can access this from anywhere now. Although I will admit
I was the one who gave it a little push by having my cracking servers
make enough parallel posts to bring it to the top of the Japanese
language trending lists.”

Kamijou was flabbergasted.

The terms this man was using were something even an amateur like
him could understand.

“Anyone can do this now.”

“No way.”

It couldn’t be.

This was not something he had found in an ancient library or deep in

some ruins.

“The tides are turning.”

“Please tell me you’re joking!! This can’t be true!!”

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This was worse than leaving your bankbook out on the roadside. Was
he saying this kind of thing had been put out there where anyone
could see it!?

“This began when my automatic investment algorithm detected signs

of something interesting brewing, but if I claimed it as my own, it
would be too easy to trace it back to me. So I spread it around as a
form of camouflage. Just like it is much ‘safer’ to use an ordinary
mass-produced knife than a fearsome gun brought in from overseas.
Ubiquity is excellent at throwing off pursuit.”

Index was focused on a different aspect of this.

If Neoka Norito really was using magic, then she would know where
to look much better than Kamijou Touma or Misaka Mikoto.

“Exodus?” She was Index Librorum Prohibitorum, the grimoire library

who had memorized at least 103,001 grimoires, and she opened her
mouth to reveal it all. “No, this isn’t even a sanctifying vocalization.
Are you simply adding ‘el’ onto the end of random German words to
create a random angel each time you need one!?”

“Please, call it Minimum Collision Theory.”

“But!!”

“I do not particularly care if that is only a way to focus your mind

properly, or if something occult is actually in the works. I only care
that I have a technique that works and that I can use to escape this
situation.”

There was no hesitation in the man.

Yet even Academy City espers were always aware on some level of
the possibility that they could lose control of their powers. This was

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proof that he viewed his power differently. He had the fearlessness
of a baby who had never touched a hot tea kettle before.

Had he never considered that he would do more than just burn his
hand if this continued?

“I agree that it is a silly-sounding method, but history has apparently

proven it effective. In a time when angel worship was heating up to
the point of ignoring the Son of God, people apparently crudely
created all sorts of angels never once seen in the Bible. And it was all
ended by…was it Pope Zachary?”

They all heard something akin to a clockwork contraption.

“What is that?” groaned Misaka Mikoto like she was having a

nightmare.

The devices that left his sleeves were a lot like assassination
handguns. The double-barreled handguns were the size of cards, so
they could easily be overlooked while hidden in the palm. These
were magical tools known as spiritual items. In place of steel barrels,
they had glass containers reminiscent of vacuum tubes, each with a
girl smaller than his index finger enclosed within. With two guns and
two barrels per gun, there were four such girls in all.

And those mystical girls had halos over their heads.

These guns weaponized the supernatural.

Had he taken inspiration from Maidono Hoshimi, or had he been the

one to teach her to control her power like that?

“Lichtel. Construct a fictional port between Pb and Au, aka Path 7.”

His whisper brought a clear change to one of the glass containers.

The hair, clothing, and halo of the girl in the sealed space changed in
response to the man’s voice.
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They became a glowing white light.

“Here it comes, Touma!!”

“If you think you can respond in time to stop light, then just try it.”

The man smiled and then the vacuum tube girl came apart.

She transformed into a massive amount of light that was unleased

from the clear muzzle.

And the instant it touched the air outside the glass tube, a
tremendous attack shot straight forward.

Part 3
Neoka Norito was on Academy City’s Board of Directors.

Yet once he realized he could not win if he remained inside the

science side, he had reached for the magic found in the outside
world.

Such a horrific example of cheating.

But in that case, he could hardly complain if Kamijou cheated in his

own way.

Page | 244
Page | 245
“Othinus!!”

“I thought you’d never call, human.”

A blonde girl of only 15cm popped out from within Kamijou’s jacket.
She wore a black witch’s hat and a distinctive eyepatch. She wore a
thick cape that covered a lot of her body, but the outfit below was as
revealing as a swimsuit.

She was a Norse god, albeit a downsized one.

She sat on the boy’s right shoulder and then kicked that shoulder
with her slender leg.

That slight stimulation shifted the position of his outstretched right

hand.

As a result, his palm accurately caught the warship-class beam

weapon that could accurately shoot down even ballistic missiles.
Whatever it might be, magic was magic, so his Imagine Breaker could
instantly negate it upon contact.

“Kh.”

Neoka did something with his fingers and a smoothly curved mass
appeared within the vacuum tube that had lost its master. It took the
form of a girl who could be dyed in any color.

“That is severely lacking in inspiration,” spat the small girl haughtily

crossing her arms. “You have free use of the supernatural at your
fingertips and all you do is recreate a warship weapon that can be
created with machines easily enough? Your magic is weeping. But
what else should I expect from someone without a tragedy
warranting engraving a magic name in their heart?”

“Explosionel. Construct a fictional port between Fe and Au, aka Path

12.”
Page | 246
“How is that different from Feuerel?”

Othinus actually sounded exasperated now.

But Neoka did not aim this at Kamijou’s group. The girl became a
mass of red, unraveled in the air, and was fired on the ground
nowhere near them before triggering an intense explosion.

Othinus did not bat an eye.

“This is a simple adaptation of a sanctifying vocalization. A familiar

and tangible metal is used to envision an invisible Sephirah and,
much like a woodpecker, an extra ‘nest’ is embedded in the
pathways between the tree’s spheres in order to alter the rules of
the world. The Sephiroth are guarded by the angels, so is creating a
fictional angel supposed to create a fictional sphere? I see. Fair
enough. That is very much the kind of spell I can imagine a puny
human coming up with. A truly hardheaded and boring type of magic
that traps your infinite imagination in the realistic frameworks of
metals or elements.”

While Kamijou Touma’s vision was blocked by the flames and smoke,
gravity shifted.

“Othinus, what was that exp-whatever it was!?”

“Explosion. It’s pronounced almost identically to the English, you

failing student.”

“Hey, I still might not be held back!!”

He had assumed it was some kind of gravity magic, but apparently

not.

The helicopter carrier flight deck of a rooftop must have failed to

survive the explosion and it was now tilting while falling apart.

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He heard two familiar girl’s voices from beyond the smoke.

But he could not reach them.

“Touma!”

“Wait, you idiot! Do you want to fall!?”

Or rather, he had his hands full with himself.

He could not keep his footing as the rooftop rapidly tilted and he
started slipping down like it was a slide. There was nothing to grab
onto with his hands either.

“Dammit!!”

“That foolish villain is surprisingly cautious,” casually stated Othinus

from his shoulder. “Eliminating any unknown elements took
precedence for him, so he decided to split us up from the grimoire
library and Academy City Level 5.”

He slid right off the edge of the skyscraper, but fortunately, he was
not thrown out into the empty air. The next floor down jutted out a
lot, so he fell into the garden there. The garden was larger than a
tennis court, but Neoka’s explosion had left it unrecognizable. This
place seemed like it might collapse too.

And there was someone else there.

Neoka Norito had also slid off the rooftop.

“What is that?”

This seemed to be an honest question.

As a member of the Board of Directors and a magician, he was a

huge cheater, but now he had encountered something he did not
understand.

Page | 248
Which was why he had focused his attacks on it to separate it from
the others.

While keeping the two assassination handguns at the ready, he

glanced down at the tiny girls loaded in the glass barrels.

“I’ve never heard of anything like that. It doesn’t appear to be one of

the filaments I have in the flasks here.”

“This is what you get when a fool tries to use magic without knowing
what he’s doing.” Othinus sighed in complete and utter
exasperation. “How could you take step one into the world of magic
without knowing of the Magic Gods who act as the final goal there?
Yes, yes. I’m not getting into the details here, so if you want to know
about this god here, you need only look back into the vast annals of
history.”

“Othinus, I want to punch this asshole out right this instant and I
want your help doing it.”

“Of course you do. If you couldn’t deal with a smalltime guy like this,
you would make a mighty poor understander for a god, human.”

She spat out those words, but there was a look of enjoyment in the
eyes hidden below her witch’s hat.

Her analyses were not quite the same as Index’s.

Hers were more aggressive and had a way of maliciously tearing

down their opponent’s dignity.

“There is nothing original about his magic. It’s really just rehashed
Golden stuff. To efficiently control the colorless and formless angelic
power known as Telesma, the world’s largest magic cabal invented
and split apart the names of 72 angels. What he is using here comes
from a verse in the Old Testament book of Exodus. Magicians before

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the Dawn would extract the text they wanted from Exodus and
create temporary angels by adding ‘el’ or ‘yah’ to the end. That is
why you will hear a bunch of unfamiliar names in the lists of the 12
angels of the zodiac or of the archangels. This fool’s spell is no more
than an adaptation of that. Angel names are simply a way of using
high-level calculations to extract specific meaning from the full text,
but adding a slight modification to the end of the word isn’t going to
give you the full power of that thing.”

“As long as it gives me the power I wish, I do not care about the rest.
Format is of no matter to me.”

“Is that supposed to be a reference to 19th century Hermeticism,

you uneducated fool? Hermeticism was an attempt to explain all of
the world’s mythologies and religions with a single combined theory
based on Western ideas, but it was a pathetic attempt that forced
their own reasoning onto any words or numbers they failed to
understand. The very fact that a god is currently standing before you
as an independent entity should be enough to show you that
Hermeticism alone cannot explain everything in the world. Or do you
intend to continue using that world map that is hopelessly inaccurate
when it comes to anything outside of the conception of Europe
invented by the Romans? Keep in mind that magic is always
advancing.”

“Schneide-”

“Too slow.”
In the middle of their conversation, a high-pitched shattering sound
shook the air.

The Director had supposedly used his left gun in a surprise attack,
but without even uncrossing her legs, Othinus had struck Kamijou’s
shoulder with her tiny heel. That stimulation shifted the position of

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his right hand just enough for him to shatter a steel blade before he
even knew what had happened.

As soon as a lead-colored girl’s head stuck out of the vacuum tube,

she shattered and transformed into countless razor blades that
scattered outwards like a shotgun. Kamijou only realized what had
happened after the fact.

“Your weakness is your limited stock of four and the requirement to

state their name when you are switching from one to another. The
attack we already know is easily dealt with and the movement of
your mouth is enough to warn us of a new attack incoming. So no
matter how you use your spell, it will never function as a surprise
attack.”

“…”

“When fools feel cornered, they run to god instead of trying to solve
things themselves. I imagine you were that type, but it ends here. A
cheaply-bought power will only provide a cheap resolution. What
kind of life did you live before this? You should have found some
deeper lessons there.”

Othinus said it all while crossing her slender legs on Kamijou’s

shoulder.

And she made sure her haughty words tore into the core of the man.

“Why did you choose to resort to magic, former rescue squad

member?”

Now it was the boy who felt left behind by it all.

“Rescue…squad?”

“Yes, human. I can tell from the distinctive way he fires those guns.
They look like assassination weapons, but the way he always aims a
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little high is a habit picked up from firing rescue guns that launch
ropes. He is used to aiming toward someone but not at them
because he must send a gas balloon into the water near the panicked
drowning person so they can grab onto it before running out of
strength. By aiming too high, even a missed shot will leave the
balloon’s rope nearby, so the drowning person can either grab onto
that when it falls or onto the balloon itself when the rope is reeled
back in.”

“Shut the hell up!”

The man’s veneer of politeness had been stripped away.

Neoka Norito was the kind of person who would injure himself and
feign being the victim to keep Anti-Skill away.

He had received help from a doctor on that air ambulance, but that
did not mean he had no medical knowledge himself.

That knowledge would actually increase the suspicions if he had

done it himself, so he had wanted someone else to do it so none of
his idiosyncrasies or techniques could be seen in it.

“If you had managed to engrave a proper magic name in your heart,
you may have made a decent enough magician, but you screwed it
up. Having a righteous goal does not always lead to a righteous
conclusion. Choose the wrong methods and an attempt to save
someone can kill them instead.”

Silence followed.

There were some territories in which no one was allowed to tread.

Finally, he spoke in a truly quiet voice.

“I did save them.”

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From a logical standpoint, speaking here had no meaning. It seemed
odd to Kamijou. But since Othinus had managed to draw these words
from him with a single attack, they may have lived in a world other
than the magic side. This was a man who had discovered magic
without knowing the proper route for such things, so Othinus
pinpointing his flaws may have helped pull out whatever was
jamming the gears.

So he did not resist.

Kamijou had seen a fair number of magicians himself. They would

face the world’s cruelties, gnash their teeth at their own
powerlessness, and then reach for the most secret of techniques.
Normally, people would not reach for the occult unless they
experienced something requiring them to choose to beseech god or
to fear him. So the life of a magician may not have been a happy one,
but they had all found pride in that life.

No matter how much was taken from them and no matter how
stormy a life they had lived, they had always carried that pride with
them.

Neoka Norito had reached for that power for a much cheaper
reason, so searching his own heart here may have been the first real
step he had actually taken on that path.

“I saved so many people. From the flames, from factories full of

chemical smoke, and from the eye of the storm of sorrow created by
their own rampaging esper power. …And what do you think
happened to those people afterwards?”

Kamijou had no way of answering that.

Why couldn’t it be that they lived happily ever after?

Neoka Norito must have believed that to be the case at one point.
Page | 253
But something else had happened.

“They became targets of curiosity.”

This was not at all what Kamijou had expected.

The Director smiled with a sticky look in his eyes and his bizarre guns
still aimed.

“If they had evacuated sooner or if they had been more careful, they
would not have had to bother the firefighters and the people’s tax
money would not have been wasted. Complete strangers criticized
them on and on and on and on. …But they couldn’t have possibly
prevented it. Some disasters are truly unpredictable and anyone who
happened to be there would end up seeking out an expert for help!!
I explained that as one of those experts!! But they couldn’t bear it.
They were crushed by a responsibility they never should have had to
carry. The people we risked our lives to rescue wasted away and
finally ‘disappeared’! And you know I don’t mean that literally, I
hope. In Academy City, you are trapped within walls covered in
countless lenses, so how can someone disappear!?”

Was the visible or invisible side uglier?

Or was it the area in between? Or was there no distinction between

the two in the first place?

Kamijou had occasionally heard mention of the dark side, although

he had been fortunate enough not to have been directly taken into it
very often.

But Neoka’s argument here changed how he viewed that.

The darkness was not just something to be feared; it was also

necessary to gently surround people and give people security and
sleep. In this digital society with cameras everywhere, no one could

Page | 254
physically disappear, so that darkness was especially necessary in
this twisted city.

“The darkness was necessary in this city with nowhere to hide!!

There must be a dark space beyond prying eyes where people can
soothe their wounded minds and bodies before returning to the light
once more. I won’t vouch for all of it and I have no interest in letting
the dark side take control of Academy City. But still!! There were
people who could only find peace of mind in that stagnation!!”

This city had been designed by Aleister, so it made no sense for a

territory to chaotically grow to such a large scale if it was truly
unnecessary, meaningless, worthless, and valueless.

It was the gentle quiet that surrounded all injured people regardless
of social standing. It was the veil that protected the weak from the
harsh artificial lights so rudely trying to bring light to every last nook
and cranny. It was the dark side. Was the only real problem that
some had started using it as a hiding place for wicked research?

This twisted clean freak had targeted innocent Last Order, pushed
Maidono Hoshimi onward when she had no choice in the matter, and
never done anything to dirty his own hands.

But thinking on it now, that made sense.

Everyone had at least one thing they refused to compromise on.

And this man had never had a way to fight himself.

No matter how much he trained his body, he had never been given a
chance to learn techniques he had never before deemed necessary.
When he had heard a voice calling for help within the flames or
smoke and when he had seen a small hand sinking below the water,
he had rushed or dived in no matter where he happened to be. He

Page | 255
had physically and mentally trained himself to the limit for that one
purpose.

But that was why he had never learned to repel people’s malice.

He had lost much due to that.

He had cried, lamented, and raged.

Wanting to change, he had turned in a different direction and

become something that feasted on the city’s malice to use it for his
own purposes.

He had gone that far to protect the sanctuary of that dark shade.

And when he still felt fear even then, he had reached for further
power.

“So I will protect it,” declared one of the Directors who stood at the
top of the city. “I will protect that bedroom full of gentle darkness
where the bright sun cannot reach. I will protect that silent cradle
where you will never be woken by an unexpected explosion. I will
protect that safety net that catches and saves those who slip through
the cracks!! It need only be a small portion of the city, but when
people reach a point where they want to disappear from this world,
there must be a place where they can take their time and rediscover
themselves. And I will break any taboo to protect that dark side. I am
even willing to become a demon that does not belong in this city of
science!!”

This viewpoint also existed.

There were people who viewed the dark side in that way.

When Kamijou Touma heard it all, he doubted he could understand

even a fraction of the anguish this man had gone through. He could

Page | 256
not even imagine rescuing people only to see them sink down into
the quicksand time and time again.

But.

Even so.

Kamijou Touma did not look away as he spoke.

“Don’t give me that crap.”

He rejected it.

This man had his reasons for doing all this, so it would be rude if the
person here to stop him were still having doubts.

The time had come for Kamijou Touma to stand up to Neoka Norito
with his words and his actions.

“You said yourself you’re willing to become a demon.”

“…”

“So while you talk about eliminating tragedy, you knew from the
beginning that you were an exception! You knew from the beginning
that you would be sacrificing Last Order to protect the dark side and
you knew there would always be people who continued to suffer like
Maidono!! You wouldn’t be changing anything. You might think
you’re controlling the dark side, but it can’t be that easy!! You’re
already being controlled by it!! And the fact that you’re already
creating new tragedies yourself is all the proof anyone needs!!!!!”

Kamijou did not know if the dark side really did function in the way
this man claimed.

That albino #1 might know better than him.

But Kamijou Touma was the one here right now.

Page | 257
So he had to be the one to stand up to this here. For all his grumbling
about misfortune, he was still one of the lucky ones. Because he had
never been stained by he dark side, he could take an external view of
it now!!

“The dark side might disappear today.”

He had to look the man in the eye.

He had to glare back at him.

He had to trust in the skepticism he felt. The scale of the issue did
not change the outcome. What had he seen so far? He could never
accept that Director Neoka Norito’s conclusion was the correct one.

“So a Director like you shouldn’t be clinging to the dark side. You
should be remaking Academy City so it can protect everyone without
the dark side!! I mean, you aren’t even talking about a fundamental
solution. This clearly isn’t even about the survival of the dark side!
It’s about creating a world where the people you rescue from the fire
and smoke can live happy lives free of suffering!! That might be a
crazy dream for a kid like me, but you might be able to do it now that
you’ve worked your way up to the Board of Directors!! Am I
wrong!?”

The boy had no money or political power.

It may have been strange that he could even directly stand up to a

monster like this.

But…

“Don’t run from it, Neoka.”

It was one-on-one.

Page | 258
A puny boy who simply lived in the city bared his fangs against one of
the Directors who ruled it.

Because he knew he absolutely had to do this here.

“You never should have resorted to violence. And you definitely

shouldn’t have cheated by relying on magic. What you needed was
to put in the honest effort that’s unavailable to a brat like me who
only has violence in my deck. It might not be dramatic, but you could
have made progress, step by step! Then you could have changed
things. The invisible power balance of the adults? You could have
made it all visible if you had wanted to!! Whether you pulled up
those who had fallen or caught those who were going to fall further,
at least it wouldn’t have been this kind of safety net that only takes
further lives!!”

“I see,” said Neoka while aiming his right gun, but not at Kamijou.
“Feuerel!! Construct a fictional port between Au and Cu, aka Path
14!!!!!!”

Something could be heard breaking.

A red girl with a glowing halo unraveled into a mass of light that
scorched the air in a straight line.

But that sound was not the girls Kamijou knew being roasted by the
flames. It was the sound of him moving in between and destroying
the deadly blast with his right fist.

“Makes you tremble, doesn’t it?” Neoka Norito laughed. “Not with
your body, but in your soul!! This is neither scientific nor unscientific.
This is what it means to have people you care for targeted. This is
what it feels like to witness the moment of a life being taken! There
is no logic here. I am not doing this because it is the right thing. This
is all I have. I cannot even imagine how to rescue people any other
way!!”
Page | 259
“Human,” called Othinus from his shoulder. She sounded
exasperated and somewhat pitying. “Further conversation would be
meaningless. He must know better than anyone that things have
fallen apart for him, but he refuses to accept it. You could easily lose
this, unless you receive some help from a god like me.”

“Othinus.”

“I will lend you some shrewd knowledge, but you must be the one to
fight. Are you ready? You are both reckless and indescribably soft, so
I imagine you are starting to want to save this man, aren’t you?”

With a dull sound, that puny boy clenched his right fist in order to
win out in this clash of wills.

“If…” Kamijou Touma roared while ignoring how bloody his body
was. “If there’s a chance!!”

“You must do it yourself. Show him the power you once used to save
a god like me.”

Part 4
Neoka Norito raised both assassination guns.

A single boy was headed toward him.

The man had four glass barrels. The tiny girls within, who could be
easily dyed in any color, were how many cards he had in his hand. So
what would he load in there? How could he defeat this boy and have
his way?

Fire? Water? Wind? Earth? Or some other kind of power?

He had to think.

And the young Director smiled quietly.

Page | 260
He let go.

He dropped those strange products of magic and tightly clenched his

empty hands.

For the first time, the boy and the small figure on his shoulder both
looked taken aback.

As soon as the twisted assassination guns hit the solid floor, the man
moved.

He tore through the air to rush forward.

“You’re in trouble, human!!”

“I know that!!”

This was a former rescue squad elite. Assuming he had maintained

his powerful body, a mere high school boy like Kamijou Touma did
not stand a chance physically. And his Imagine Breaker was no more
than a bloody fist when no supernatural powers were involved.

Yes.

This was the best possible answer.

This boy had faced the esper power of Academy City’s #1 and the
ultimate magic of a true Magic God, but what he feared most was
the ordinary martial arts that anyone could learn.

“Oh.”

But there was no turning back now.

Neoka Norito intended to win this even it meant throwing out his
pride. He was challenging the boy using his rescue squad body, not
his power as a magician or a member of the Board of Directors.

Kamijou Touma had pushed him to this point.

Page | 261
This was the Neoka Norito he had most wanted to see.

So how could he turn away now?

How could he patiently keep his distance and face the man the smart
way!?

“Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!”

He roared and stepped forward.

Two full-power fists crossed in the air.

A dull sound followed.

Kamijou Touma definitely heard it ringing in his skull rather than his
ears.

In a pure competition of arm strength, he was no match for the man.

Neoka’s fist had slammed into his cheek, but Kamijou’s fist felt
nothing. It had wandered right past this powerful foe’s face.

He had failed to land the cross counter.

However.

“Did you think…”

Kamijou Touma’s brain was rattled, but he could still move his fist.

So he spoke.

“That was just a punch?”

“!?”

His knees were already shaking and he did not have enough strength
left for a fierce rush of attacks.
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So he simply opened his clenched fist.

Specifically, he revealed what was hidden in that palm right next to

the man’s face. It was his own blood. He flicked his fingers to launch
the drops of blood soaking so much of his body.

But.

Even that could be used to blind an enemy if used well.

“Sorry about the cheap move.”

“Tch!!”

The man used his fingers to wipe the blood from his eyes and shook
his head, but an opening was an opening.

Blood would coagulate, especially when exposed to oxygen or other

living things.

“From the moment I heard you were in a rescue squad, I knew I

couldn’t win if it came to a fistfight. So I had to think up some way of
winning even if it was dirty and underhanded. Just like you did!!”

After having his head rattled, Kamijou did not have the strength left
to redo this from square one.

But he still gathered what strength he had.

“But if this is the only way I can protect the people I care for.”

Neoka Norito could not see, so he would probably rely on his ears
instead.

If Kamijou feared pure martial arts, he only had to make sure his
opponent could not use them. But Neoka could not crawl around in
search of the spiritual items on the floor while blinded. If he was
going to win, he too had to keep using his fists.

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“And if you’ve trapped yourself in some nonexistent bonds of your
own creation.”

But that was exactly what Kamijou wanted.

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Page | 265
No matter how much they might understand each other now, they
were still enemies. Kamijou could not have the man stalling until he
collapsed from blood loss, so he opened his mouth to make sure that
did not happen. He used noise and his voice to direct Neoka toward
him. Because he was too weak to charge toward the man himself.

And this time, he really would deliver the finishing blow.

“Then I’ll destroy that illusion of yours!!!!!!”

This punch was the most he could manage.

After feeling the tactile feedback in his wrist and seeing the man
collapse to the floor, Kamijou Touma fell to his knees and then
collapsed alongside the man.

Part 5
The powerful tremors and gunfire had stopped at some point.

The white-haired and red-eyed monster named Accelerator

remained seated on the floor with his back against the secret
interrogation room’s thick door. He had one leg stretched out and
one bent up with his arms around the knee while he looked up at the
ceiling. In that pose, the #1 confirmed something had come to an
end.

That monster never had set foot outside that door.

Even though he could have obliterated this pathetic battle in less

than a second if he had used his power as Academy City’s #1.

“Ee hee hee. Are you sure that was a good idea?”

“Shut up.”

Nothing was more irritating than the temptations of a demon. And

just as he whispered into empty air, he heard something.
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It was not quite a creak, but a definite sensation reached his back
pressed against the door.

“It’s over, says Misaka as Misaka informs you.”

“…”

“Can you hear Misaka? This is a thick door, so maybe you can’t.”

“Oh, shut up. Do I have to respond to every little thing?”

After a quiet sigh, he finally answered.

The “atmosphere” was not a tangible thing. It would be undetectable

even by the Academy City devices that could measure the faint and
invisible AIM Diffusion Fields that espers emitted.

But.

This conversation definitely changed something.

“There is no stopping you, is there? says Misaka as Misaka asks

despite knowing the answer already.”

“Got a problem with this?”

“If this is what you have decided to do, Misaka will go along with it.”

That obedient statement may not have been a pleasant thing to hear
when paired with the path the clones had taken to reach this point,
but Accelerator detected a slight difference there.

Laws and morals.

The general public’s definitions of fortune and misfortune.

This had nothing to do with those established values. She was not
obeying Accelerator’s words as a command; she had assessed them
for herself and decided she agreed. It was a subtle issue and hard to
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put to words, but the two could not have been more different. Last
Order could hear what Accelerator had to say and choose to either
agree or disagree with it.

The white monster decided he could not allow anything to change

that.

The demon floating in front of him grinned without saying a word.

“This is for the best.” He spoke softly while placing the decisive piece
in front of the king. “This incident showed me my will can reach
every part of this city to act in my stead. I can see and move through
the entire city while remaining behind bars.”

Yes.

Academy City was a den of the worst possible people. All sorts of
people went unsaved even when things were successfully resolved
and there were countless fools who would remain fools until the day
they died.

But there were also people who would give him what he wanted.

They were not all part of a special category like him. Ordinary
teachers would gear up in bulletproof armor and rush to the scene as
Anti-Skill, EMTs would transport the injured to the hospital, and
doctors would fulfill the duties of their job. And it was not limited to
those professionals either. Ordinary students and office workers
would work to suppress the chaos and wonder if there was anything
they could do without relying on some kind of special talent.

Not all of them needed to punch out the villains.

People could demonstrate plenty of strength simply by clearing the

path needed for the heroes who would protect people’s ordinary
lives and spring to action whenever they saw a problem. There had

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to be dramatic events playing out everywhere and the people
bringing together that great power were not even aware of what
they were accomplishing. People who could do the ordinary things
were strong in their own way.

He had sensed that here.

Maybe idealism was not enough and maybe reality was cruel, but he
had sensed that this city was worth trusting.

“So this is for the best. It’s high time I gave up the title of ‘white
monster’. That’s no more than a name that was forced onto me, so
it’s time I removed that boring uniform they gave me. How can I call
myself the true strongest if I can’t even do that?”

“…”

“You don’t have to stick with me. I’m choosing this path for myself,
so you can choose a different path for yourself. As soon as this feels
too heavy to bear, you can throw me out.”

“Misaka will come visit you. She can choose for herself and she
chooses to come visit you every day! says Misaka as Misaka can’t
stop trembling!!”

“You dumbass,” spat out Accelerator.

But the only person who could see the look on his face then was the
supernatural demon.

There was a special sort of mirror on the interrogation room wall,

but he had zero intention of looking in it.

No one else could understand.

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There were as many ways for people to form bonds as there were
people. So what was wrong with everyone having their own unique
way?

He could not stop the girl’s tears without letting her lean on him, but
he could not bind her with his words either.

So that human had just one thing to say.

It was just harsh enough in a way only they would understand.

“I won’t be waiting.”

Between the Lines X

Hm.

Well, that should be enough for Set 1.

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Epilogue: Snow and Crimson Cover All —
White_End.(and_Merry_Xmas!!)
It was over.

But they could not forget one fundamental fact.

“Ugh.”

“Wait, are you okay!?”

“Touma, your clothes aren’t just a little stained with blood. They’re
soaked red.”

The pointy-haired boy could not be blamed for feeling woozy.

Nothing would change that he had been stabbed in the side by
Maidono Hoshimi. Misaka Imouto had roughly sewn him up, but the
wound was still there. Plus, he had fought back-to-back battles
against Maidono and Neoka and been slashed by glass and metal
shards all across his body. Kamijou Touma was definitely headed to
the hospital this Christmas Eve. He could only hope he would not be
there long.

Night had fully fallen.

“Neoka, huh?”

“I doubt there is anything more you can do for him here,” dryly said
Othinus from his shoulder. However, she did know how to support
her understander boy. “But you too must play a role in creating an
Academy City he will accept. The city will not change if the person at
the top calls for change. The rest of the people need to respond to
that call or that person will simply be isolated up there.”

Anti-Skill must have given up on climbing the long, long stairway.

They belatedly rushed in on a large tiltrotor craft, so Kamijou’s group
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left Neoka Norito, his doctor, and his helicopter pilot in Anti-Skill’s
care while they made their way back to the ground level. It was a 70-
story building and none of the elevators were working, so it would
have felt like being stranded in the middle of the city if not for
Misaka Mikoto’s magnetic power.

“There weren’t this many people here before.”

“Isn’t that because it’s Christmas Eve?”

Kamijou Touma was bloody, had run around throwing punches, and
still did not know if he was being held back or not, so when he was
thrown out into the frozen city night, his hopes for a romantic night
had finally dropped to devastating levels, but then he saw
something.

He saw a small miracle.

“Th-the old chef?”

“What’s with you?” asked Mikoto.

“Give me a sec!! The old ramen chef is here!?”

He forgot all about the pain in his side as he parted the crowd to
chase someone’s back and circle around in front of them.

It was indeed that old chef.

When asked if the ramen was made with chicken or seafood, he

would answer “I dunno. Some kinda chemicals?” right in front of the
customers. But he had sold a small serving of ramen the size of a rice
bowl for the students headed home from school. Kamijou had
thought the old man’s shop had been lost to the strange onslaught of
donut shops, but here he was. Academy City’s soul was not dead
yet!!

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The old man wore a headband even on Christmas Eve and he pointed
at a used car dealer.

Kamijou was bloody as could be, but that old man reacted the same
as ever.

He was a true man who never strayed from the path he had made
for himself.

“Whatever form it takes, I need a shop to do business, but I can’t

stand to push around a cart in this cold. I was thinking of moving up
to a food truck next. I hope I can get started again before the New
Year.”

“Oh, ohhhh.”

“This place is offering a cheap used one for about 20,000 yen.”

“Ohhhhhh!! It’s really you. Only you would have such a messed-up
sense of standards!! I so missed this complete lack of tact where you
serve customers food made in a food truck so cheap I can only
imagine every past owner ended up dead under mysterious
circumstances! This is the rich kind of afterschool snack that those
fad donuts could never provide!!”

Kamijou was as bloody and fired up as a pro wrestler after a fight

outside the ring, so he failed to notice the girls he had left behind
staring at him with their mouths forming small triangles.

After the old man said he was planning to use an app-based delivery
service since hiring a delivery boy was too expensive, Kamijou waved
goodbye and left him to his business. He had finally found some good
news. Now he only ever had to tap his phone’s screen to eat that
chemical-laden ramen that seemed even more artificial than plastic.
He could not believe the kinds of insanity the dawn had in store for
him. The ramen that man served was dangerous enough when you
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could carefully watch him make it, so who knows what would end up
in the bowl when the entire transaction was handled remotely? This
was sounding like Russian Roulette Lite or something!

His hopes and expectations were running wild.

Kamijou smiled brightly while watching that departing old man who
was not dyed by any of the bright Christmas colors of this decorated
city full of happy couples.

What an excellent sight for the end of the year.

“Let’s make sure next year is a good one,” he said without really
thinking.

“Do I need to remind you that it’s currently Christmas Eve?” asked
Mikoto. “Did you just get caught in some kind of temporal anomaly
or something?”

Anyway, the many people out here did not seem to care about the
recent commotion. There were friends, siblings, and couples walking
and smiling together to form a strange crowd in this city of colorful
lights.

But.

They had not resolved the most fundamental issue.

“That dealt with Neoka, but there is still that outside group he was
working with,” said Othinus from his shoulder. “R&C Occultics, a
giant IT company that has crawled its way into all sorts of industries
using fortunetelling and good luck charms. The world is developing in
yet another odd direction.”

Data could spread to any part of the world using the internet.

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This crowd here might look happy, but no one could be certain of
that. Plenty of boys and girls here were messing with their phones.
While they looked like they were smiling together in good cheer,
what exactly was displayed on those screens? It could come from
simple curiosity, or it could be fueled by a serious complex, but after
accessing the website for a mysterious company and learning of the
existence of a different form of the supernatural, who would actually
try to use it? The seeds had already been sown, so the dormant
threat was only going to grow. It was unlikely this problem could be
solved solely by Academy City and the science side. Nor could it be
solved solely by the magic side magicians outside the city.

This enemy was clearly aiming for the gap between them.

A failure to cooperate would mean time lost and R&C Occultics’s

influence would be growing all the while. Until they eventually
reached a point where you could not get rid of them even if you
wanted to, like air conditioning or cellphones.

When looking at the entire world population, espers were a minority.

They had been a powerful minority who everyone had envied.

But.

What if everyone in the world could now use magic?

What if it spread to the point that it need not be hidden and

everyone accepted it as normal?

Espers could not use magic.

Those who could not use magic would gradually decline as a weak
minority.

But.

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Was using that as a reason to fight back really and truly the right
thing to do?

What if a new age arrived and that desperate resistance became

judged as an evil action?

“…”

(If that really is their aim, then they’ve found one hell of a way to
turn things around.)

Their enemy was a complete mystery.

They did not even need to cross Academy City’s wall and sneak in.

They could create an endless supply of powerful foes just by sharing

information.

“It’s snowing.” Index looked up with the cat in her arms. “It’s really
snowing! We’re going to have a white Christmas, Touma!!”

Kamijou smiled a little.

There was an unseen threat out there, but they had dealt with
everything within arm’s reach. So couldn’t they forget all about it
and bask in their victory for one day at least? If they never stopped
worrying, their spirits would break before the next enemy even
showed up. So couldn’t they enjoy themselves on Christmas?

But just as he started thinking that way…

“Hm, hm, hm hm♪”

He heard a little girl humming.

And he recognized the voice.

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He looked back without thinking and a look of utter displeasure
appeared on his face. This was the sticky(?) little girl who he had
found behind the convenience store last night and ended up carrying
around while chased by delinquents. Even in the frigid night, she was
still not wearing any real clothes. One of her hands did hold a thin
red cloth up to her smooth chest to barely cover herself, but he
could not tell if that was an article of clothing or a bed sheet.

However, Index, Misaka Mikoto, and Othinus were here.

This was more than a case of “Danger: Do not mix!”

The little girl’s eyes had perfectly locked onto him. And her gaze was
filled with the negative joy of someone who had spotted a possible
source of entertainment!!

She spoke.

She definitely spoke while looking right at him.

“Found you☆”

“Please no! I haven’t reached a save point yet!! Beat me up here and
I won’t be able to recover!!”

He put up his defenses before anyone could do anything, but she did
not care. She slipped through the crowd with shocking ease and
moved right up to the trembling boy.

“Merry Christmas,” whispered her childish lips.

She held a phone in her hand.

It was the same one she had held when they first met.

And she was clearly operating it in some way with her small fingertip.

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“Just a quick update to the homepage. Sorry about talking about
work like this.”

“You…”

“R&C Occultics. It has reached the point of a trend, but I still need to
directly look after it until it really gets on track.”

Othinus’s eyes widened in shock.

Needless to say, she was not reacting to the negative little girl’s state
of undress.

“Wait, are you…?”

“Othinus?”

“Get away from her, human!! She is like me in a way!! Except she has
deviated from being a Magic God to become-!!”

None of it mattered.

The little girl placed her index finger to her lips.

Everyone recognized that gesture of silence, but how many people in

the modern age knew it had its origins in an ancient Egyptian ritual?

She grinned and spoke with her finger still on her lips.

“Does my apparent age bother you? I have not taken this pitiful form
of my own free will, I assure you. Doing that is such a pain, but this is
a special day, so perhaps I should make the effort.”

She toyed with something in her small hand.

It was colored too sinister a black to call a large piece of hard candy.

So it was better called a pill.

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A change came over her.

She was a beautiful woman boldly showing off her curvy figure, she
was an alluring woman with her long strawberry blonde hair worn in
what looked like flat fried shrimps, and she was a witch who had
adorned herself with rose symbols.

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Page | 280
To sum up, she was…

“Anna Sprengel!! I had heard of you, but I never thought you existed
in a physical form!”

Even that god shouted in disbelief of what she was seeing.

That legendary magician was a high-ranking member of the ancient

magic cabal known as the Rose and she had given permission to
found the Golden cabal, said to be the world’s largest. She had not
even glanced at the position of Magic God, which was said to be the
final objective of all magicians. Right now, she draped her arms
around the neck of the boy right in front of her.

“Now, let’s try this again.”

Everyone was watching as she made an obvious declaration of war

with that black pill in her mouth.

“Merry Christmas, my amnesiac enemy. You looked good out there

today.”

Her lips met his.

And a pill-flavored attack pierced to the depths of Kamijou Touma’s

brain.

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Afterword
With that, it’s time to introduce myself anew. This is Kamachi
Kazuma.

A numbering reset!! This marks the start of the Genesis Testament

series. We start with a shaken world now that the old leaders of Lola
and Aleister are gone, and since the numbering has been reset, we
might as well make it so you can enjoy the story starting from here.

The special event here is Christmas Eve!! I hear it can be

overshadowed by Halloween these days, but you still want to do
something fun then, don’t you? The time of year puts it during
winter break, but I still included his homeroom teacher and his awful
classmate to give it more of a school life feel.

This doubles as a Volume 1 that has to explain the series as a whole,

so I included a dynamic esper powers battle and went on to include
magic as well. You have to have both science and magic for this
series, right?

And the focus was on angels, which are actually focused on a fair bit
in this series.

I-I finally used German words in a battle, but don’t laugh! Since they
once had their No. 1 Temple in Germany, I thought that would be the
simplest hint. Not to mention the R&C name that doesn’t even try to
hide it. Although that uses the English spelling. I imagine a lot of
people saw it coming from the moment they saw the Table of
Contents.

In the battle against Maidono Hoshimi, I think summoning a high-

speed unmanned freight train to throw at her enemy stands out

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above even moving the ground and skyscrapers around. And I
thought I could show off her complex by having her insist that her
power is stronger than the Railgun in terms of pure destructive
power.

Also, I especially like how you can see just how twisted Academy City
is in how Kamijou saying that he “certainly wouldn’t want your
power” so thoroughly shattered Maidono’s pride. Yes, no one is
going to look up to you if you only have destructive power. Who
children admire can become a piercing attack when it works against
you. And no matter how much money is moving behind the scenes
and no matter how much risk of death there is, that admiration is
what matters most to the people on the front line. Level 5 and 6 are
no more than a standard used to gather admiration based on a
common set of values, so they do not always seem like a necessary
goal to the people who have seen a wider variety of viewpoints after
fighting so many deadly battles in the past.

She cannot use chopsticks.

She cannot do what she had always taken for granted.

That was a bombshell that threatened to eliminate the value of all

the pride that Maidono (who was once the class rep who could do
everything impeccably) had stored up.

To put it another way, no matter what your official Level is, you win
in the end as long as you become someone people admire. Take that
into account, and you should have an easier time seeing what
Kamijou Touma and Accelerator are trying to accomplish no matter
how much it harms them and their everyday lives. There is no reason
to push themselves so hard and they could safely retire, but they
choose not to. It’s a simple thing, but I think the way they risk
everything to have their way is the most entertaining part of the
children’s society.
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 Online fortunetelling and online stores for magic goods might seem
absurd, but there are actually some sites just like that. Sending not
just your own information but information on your crush seems
really dangerous to me, but I guess everyone has different values.
Partially because the setting has almost always been in Academy City
or London, I thought it would be fun to have a magic cabal run amok
using the internet as their base and keeping the location of the
headquarters a mystery. This is an age full of dangerous toys like
herb mixing and 3D printers. …Just like VR goggles, 3D printers are
interesting from a technical standpoint but seem to still be a step
away from really taking off.

About Accelerator, this was the answer that naturally came to me

when I was wondering what he would want to do first if he gained
the absolute authority of Board Chairman. If he had no one standing
in his way, he would obviously want to crush the dark side and lower
that burden from his shoulders. In NT22 Reverse, he regretted that
he could not be the kind of #1 who made a good example for
everyone, but that is all the more reason why I think he would do
exactly that once he had the freedom to do what he wanted. How
did you like it?

And then there was the sticky little girl who came in for the attack. I
debated with myself on whether to have her do that last part while
still small or in her proper form. To be honest, she would not have
appeared in the Prologue if this were NT23. I think it would have
been enough of a surprise for her to show up at the end to reveal
that the villain who had made a move on him outside of Academy
City had now made her way inside the city. But with the numbering
reset, I tried to make it work as a single closed loop within this one

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volume. As far as playfulness goes, she is on the same level or even
greater than Aleister and Othinus in their prime, so I do think this
was the right answer. It seems wrong for Anna to be seriously
scheming in the shadows. But unlike Leivinia who has a playful side
but also makes her authority known as her organization’s boss, I
wanted to make Anna more decadent and “sticky”. …But in that
sense, Fiamma of the Right was more the serious schemer type.
Maybe his life went off the rails because he did not have enough
playfulness in his heart.

I give my thanks to my illustrators Haimura-san and Itou Tateki-san

and to my editors Miki-san, Anan-san, Nakajima-san, and
Hamamura-san. This day only comes once a year. Yes, it is Christmas
Eve, which has to be a real pain for drawing backgrounds!! …I really
am sorry for all the trouble I cause you. I do hope you stick with me,
though.

And I give my thanks to the readers. How did you enjoy Christmas
Eve in Academy City? On this special day, I do hope you were turning
the pages while wishing happiness for the characters. I am truly
grateful you continue to read these books after all this time.

It is time to close the pages for now while praying that the pages of
the next book will be opened.

And I lay my pen down for now.

You and junk food really are a perfect match, Kamijou Touma.

-Kamachi Kazuma

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Credits
Translation Group: Baka-Tsuki

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