Editing Toaru Majutsu no Index:RailgunSS2 Chapter7 (section)

=== Part 11 ===

Her feet slipped.

It was almost a miracle that Lessar managed to land on the nonrotating axis without getting crushed by the giant wheel.

And once she landed, the rest would not take long.

It was true that the weapon was quite powerful and getting caught up in it just once would likely give her wounds she would never recover from.

However, that also meant a lot of effort had to go into controlling it. They would likely have decided to make the magical symbols as pronounced, clear, and easy to understand as possible.

Once she got near, she could quickly analyze it.

And after that, it would not be difficult to destroy the giant wheel snake.

Suddenly, she felt a dull vibration. She felt it coming from her legs, so Lessar looked down at her feet, but she quickly realized that she was wrong.

The entire giant wheel snake was shaking greatly.

As the wheels rearranged, the giant structure’s entire silhouette changed from the straight “snake” to something more triangular.

But just like a bicycle’s gear, the wheels were not in a completely straight line. Instead, they shifted slightly to the side with each connection.

The giant construction almost seemed to be trying to scrape off and crush a bit of “dirt” from its side.

If the “top” of the triangle above her head came straight down, it would definitely hit Lessar where she stood on top of the axis.

Lessar’s throat quickly grew dry.

Her thought processes reached a point where she could think of nothing but life or death.

At that time, she had two options.

First, she could jump away as quickly as possible and run as far away as she could in order to avoid being hit by the wheel being swung down. However, the giant wheel snake could make a quick U-turn at any time. She doubted she could escape on foot and there was no guarantee that Floris would be able to pick her up.

Second, she could carry out the analysis of the magical symbols of the wheels knowing she could end up being hit by the attack. However, even if she completed the analysis, she still had to put together a spell to stop the movements of the wheels, so her odds of success were quite low.

And the option she chose was…

“Yeah,” she said with a small smile.

The slight bit of fear on her face disappeared.

“If I’m likely to get killed either way, I have to choose the one that won’t leave me with a guilty conscience!!”

She yelled out.

She stepped forward.

She stretched out her hand.

She placed her palm just barely off of the side of the quickly rotating wheel and recited something under her breath.

Lessar cast aside the option of jumping off the axle and focused all her energy on analyzing the magical symbols.

She felt as if she had grasped something.

But in that time, the giant wheel snake that had become triangular continued down straight above her head. It moved slowly but accurately down and it was more like a circular saw used to slice lumber than it was a blunt weapon.

It gave a strong impression of death.

Lessar could almost see the countdown until it hit.

Even so, she continued fighting to find a means of defeating the giant wheel snake down to the very end.

And…

With an explosive noise, the entire surface shook.

The huge body of the giant wheel snake trembled.

Its already bent silhouette became even more twisted.

[[Image:RAILGUN_SS2_07_027.jpg|thumb]]

However, that twisting had not been carried out by the giant wheel snake’s own power.

It had been done by an external force.

It had been forcibly twisted by the “other power” that stood opposed to magic.

In other words…

It had been Tokiwadai Middle School’s Railgun.

Lessar heard the explosion after a slight delay.

The giant mass of wheels had been greatly twisted to the side, but it still managed to force itself down toward Lessar.

However, the line of wheels that had been twisted by the Railgun was too far out to hit Lessar. The external force had caused it to miss its initial attack point.

And…

Whether it hit or missed, once it attacked, it lost time until it could attack again. In order to rearrange the many wheels and attack Lessar again, it would have to create a slight opening.

(This will work. I’ve read the contents of their spiritual item!!)

“Bayloupe, Floris, Lancis, I need assistance!! It is indeed related to Michael! It uses the property of bringing balance to the world via military force to constantly give stability, preservation, and regulation to the space between the wheels!!”

In that case, the conditions to create an explosion were simple.

Just like all the other angels, Michael could not be destroyed or brought into disorder. What was considered “stable” for any circumstances had already been inputted into him, so he would take the optimal action and bring about the optimal result. But Lessar and the others were not being threatened by Michael himself. It was nothing more than energy.

What was considered “stable” had been conveniently overwritten by the magic user who had brought in the Telesma.

That meant they could easily make the giant wheel snake self-destruct by interfering with that point and destructively overwriting the conditions for that stability.

The giant wheel snake tried to rearrange its wheels to change its shape and destroy Lessar.

Lessar did not overlook that.

It was her only chance.

“The archangel and patron saint that is St. Michael holds the chains and the key. The chains bind the highest class of fallen angels and the key seals the pit into which the king of demons is cast so that 1000 years of stability may occur.” She recited a spell. “But now that key is to be reconfirmed!! Can the key truly seal the pit? Is it enough to seal the king of demons? Is it appropriate to bring about 1000 years of stability!? Recalculate the necessary outputs needed to match those conditions!!”

The phenomenon that occurred then was quite simple.

Destruction occurred.

The giant wheels fell and completely shattered the rubble and road surface below.

Normally, everything would have been swallowed up and crushed. Nothing in the area would have remained. Not the buildings, not the trees, not anything.

But a moment before, Lessar had rewritten the conditions. The stability between the wheels had been lost and the countless wheels both large and small had scattered. Some collapsed to the side like a coin on its side falling over and some continued rolling and slammed into the wall of a building.

“Oh, oh, oh, oh…”

Lessar jumped down to the ground from the axle. It was only about 5 meters up. An amateur would probably break some bones at that height, but a trained stuntman could jump down that far without any cushions.

The road surface there should have been made into part of the Semipublic AR, but it had not been able to withstand the weight that had been put on it. Sparks flew from various areas and it showed no sign of functioning.

When she landed, Lessar saw Mikoto striking a daunting pose with her hands on her hips.

Lessar had a bad feeling about what was to come.

“I thought I told you not to go running off on your own.”

“Yeah, well…”

That vague response caused sparks to fly her way.