Editing Toaru Majutsu no Index:Crossover3 (section)

===Part 9===

'''(11 Hours 40 Minutes After)

She had declared war.

But Beatrice had almost no cards in her deck. She was a Holy Swordswoman who knew around 14,000 types of fire Magic, but she doubted any combination of those could even scratch this white calamity. Unlike with Aika, this opponent would not use a trick to divert her Magic. She would probably deflect it with pure durability.

Everything about this was painful. Everything in the world seemed to be blessing the Queen. If they had all teamed up from the very beginning and used the secret techniques of several worlds, they might have been able to strike back against the White Queen. The worst part was that Beatrice had been one of those actively tearing apart any possible teamwork. She had done it twice: at the very beginning and at the very end. She could not complain about anyone else’s actions.

And…

Now that she thought about it, the White Queen would not have taken even a second to wipe out every last one of them except for her beloved Shiroyama Kyousuke.

Her beautiful and sinister slender hand pierced mercilessly through the center of the red Holy Swordswoman’s chest.

It took just one attack.

Beatrice could not figure out what had happened. How had this broken through the reinforcements of her Percentage-type Magic that took the form of her equipment? The Queen had to have approached right in front of her, so why had she not seen it at all? She was pierced through the chest and out the back, so why was her sense of pain slow to catch up like she had been charmed by the sight? Yes, it had all left the realm of a normal battle. It was abnormal. The Queen herself was, but if any human could clash with her head-on, then they would have to be completely broken as well.

The fact that her rapier was still clutched in her hand almost made her laugh.

But no matter how badly her senses were screwed up, actual time continued to flow without mercy. With her chest pierced down the middle, her life would only last a few dozen more seconds. There was no coming back from this one. If the White Queen had been telling the truth, she would be returned to her world when she was thrown into the forbidden room. Otherwise, she would die here. No, there would be no saving her if she was returned home with a hole through her chest. Either way, the White Queen would escape beyond reach without receiving even a scratch in return.

There was no Magic she could use.

She had no Experience Points to spend.

Boo Boo and the others had already been defeated, but she could only wait for it to end.

But was that really true?

Beatrice, you’re in the process of experiencing something no one else can.

For example, death was something that came to everyone equally, but not many people could effectively use that experience in that final moment.

For example, the White Queen’s power might reach the entire world, but not many people had fallen directly into her grasp.

Beatrice was experiencing exactly that.

Even if she was defeated and killed, and even if she had simply been toyed with by this ultimate foe…

Wasn’t that the ultimate source of Experience Points which could be spent on anything?

“…Ah…”

She even forgot to cough up blood as strength returned to her muddy eyes.

She might be able to pull it off.

She did not know if she could defeat the White Queen. If the Queen was lying, this would all be over. But what if she had not cared enough about Beatrice to bother lying? And it obviously hinged on that technique actually existing.

It was not a form of Magic that Beatrice was familiar with. It was a system from another world. Normally thinking, she would have much more difficulty with this, like trying to learn to ride a unicycle as an adult.

But that did not matter right now.

She could learn the greatest secret technique at the click of a button. With the jackpot of Experience Points won by being personally killed by the White Queen, she could instantly prepare the environment needed to learn any technique.

And on the verge of death, Beatrice reached for that technique.

“I choose to…believe.”

“Hm?”

“You are frighteningly evil, but I choose to believe in your evilly great strength and your unlimited ability.”

The Jinnai house’s forbidden room had become the gate to another world and she took the administrative privileges for herself.

A powerful pressure appeared. It took the form of an invisible wind and it came from that hidden room.

“…Oh, dear.”

The White Queen pulled her slender arm from her poor victim’s chest and tossed her aside. She sensed the presence of someone who should have vanished. Several someones. They approached despite their many wounds and one of them had to be the boy the Queen so loved. That alone set her heart racing. She could barely contain herself.

“That was a nice job right at the very end there. You gave me what I truly wanted, but why?”

As Beatrice had imagined, the secret techniques of multiple worlds were there. As were the people with the minds and bodies needed to use them to their fullest.

The White Queen may have been the strongest in one world, but for this one moment, things were less certain.

But the White Queen was entirely focused on the reunion with her beloved. Nothing else even earned a glance.

“In his world, falling asleep means death.”

She had the entranced look of a girl wondering what kind of lunch to make for her crush.

“So embracing him, patting his head, and singing him a lullaby would make for an excellent attack. Kyah☆ I was right to go along with this child’s game!!”

With that, the second battle began.

The White Queen was drowning in a happiness that did not care if she had to stab her beloved or if she was soaked in her own blood in retaliation. She simply enjoyed the moment to its fullest.