Editing Toaru Majutsu no Index:GT Volume13 Chapter2 (section)

===Part 9===

It was over.

Isabella Theism breathed out through her nose.

Apparently this was all a science side expert in death and the desecration life could manage.

A scratchy sound came from her ear.

That reminded her she was still wearing a wireless earphone. If that had been the science side’s final trump card, then she could only give her condolences. They just hadn’t been up to the task. And that strength, as minuscule as it had been, should have been directed toward Coronzon.

(Then again, I get the feeling she was acting on her own discretion. Magic side or science side, this seems to be the fate of all organizations. The bigger they get, the harder it is to keep track of the extremities.)

“Surely you aren’t going to demand monetary compensation for this damage when the world is on the verge of ending. Or did that finally break your spirit and you’ll announce your surrender?”

“My, how hotblooded of you. But aren’t you fighting the wrong person? Necromancer, you are one of the foolish obstacles to natural decomposition that human knowledge has brought.”

This was not the new board chairman.

Isabella grimaced and lowered her voice.

“Great Demon Coronzon.”

“Don’t act so surprised. You have realized I am taking over the city using something other than science, haven’t you? Then obviously I can take control of the city’s communication infrastructure. Using a method that doesn’t require electricity or electromagnetic signals.”

Apparently Aleister had set up every last part of the city that way. If only he were still alive so she could give him a witch trial and burn him at the stake.

“But the very fact you’re doing that means you’ve already glimpsed your own Achilles heel, doesn’t it?” said Isabella. “If you do launch your Adikalika spell at the Italian Peninsula from here, it will mean the beginning of a global war…but it also ties you to this city. And in the struggle for Academy City’s infrastructure, we have already taken back around half.”

“But you Anglicans don’t rule the world.” There was mockery in Coronzon’s voice. “While Adikalika is directly targeting the Roman Catholics, you’re really only saving them as a means to save yourselves, so I wonder just how much trust they really have in you. Oh, and come to think of it, aren’t there some of them within your own ranks? Yes, that foreign unit of Roman Catholics.”

Dispersion.

She easily separated people from each other.

Even if their goals were the same and they were all working to bring peace to the world.

“And then there’s the Russian Orthodox Church. Heh heh. Have you noticed how much they despise having something inhuman occupying a seat with influence over the fate of the world?”

“…”

“The Roman Catholic and Russian Orthodox Churches will do anything to break free of the current situation. Isn’t that right? And Adikalika is reliant on the geographic features of Academy City. So if someone were to ''wipe Academy City from the map'', they could prevent the world-destroying Adikalika from being activated. Simple, isn’t it?”

Only if you didn’t care about the 2.3 million innocent people living there.

And they likely wouldn’t even provide enough advance warning for the Anglicans there to evacuate.

“I am the world’s gear in charge of dispersion, so I will bring natural decomposition to all things. I will bring opposing factions A and B together so they can be discarded like matching cards in old maid. The three main Christian factions are a pain since they are of an odd number, but I can trigger total mutual destruction by adding in Academy City.”

“I would call that interesting, but I’m not one to trust demons. You could be making it all up to make me rush my next move, so I’ll take it with a grain of salt.”

“Oh, really? Believe it or not, I am one to honestly pass on the truly nasty and devastating truths. Like this for example.”

“?”

“Necromancers are not the only fools born of human knowledge who obstruct natural decomposition. It would seem you are not out of the woods yet.”