Editing Toaru Majutsu no Index:GT Volume13 Chapter3 (section)

===Part 4===

They had settled on a plan.

First, take a transport plane into the sky. Then every last missile left in Academy City would be fired on Coronzon and they would hide in that barrage to parachute down nearby.

Only so many people could act.

Namely, the group in the crumbling consulate.



Kamijou Touma, Alice Anotherbible, Kihara Noukan, the Bologna Succubus, Blodeuwedd the Bouquet, Qliphah Puzzle 545, Dion Fortune, Takitsubo Rikou, and Hamazura Shiage.



Their job was to battle a great demon to keep the entire world at peace.

It was ironic that the group they had gathered for such an over-the-top objective had such variety yet wasn’t even large enough to play a soccer match.

(So Vidhatri is ultimately staying in the consulate to rest. At least it sounds like she’s woken up.)

They would just have to do this with the group available.

At 9 PM, they stepped out from the former Bridge Builders Cabal consulate.

Their destination was District 23. It was right next door to District 12 where they were now.

They could travel that distance on foot.

Kamijou took a nervous look out at the main street and was shocked by how dark it was.

Was this really Academy City?

“There’s no one here. No cars either. I know the Anglicans apparently took over the city, but I guess they’re not patrolling the streets like Anti-Skill.”

“Because their priority is Coronzon. That selfish and indiscreet group did not travel halfway around the world to keep order in the city,” said Dion Fortune, pouting her lips.

Even if it was only an interim position, she seemed upset that none of them were listening to what she said as their leader. Understandable.

“If they’re not willing to do the job, they shouldn’t have used military might to take over…” said Accelerator over the wireless earphone Kamijou wore.

That other leader was also in a bad mood. Again, understandable.

District 23 was a unique place that specialized in the aerospace industry and the entire district was a giant off limits zone, but not much security was functioning with the city in such a bad state. And it seemed unlikely the Anglicans would understand the scientific value well enough to post magician guards.

The place was wide open at the moment.

Academy City was darker than usual and Kamijou asked a question while walking through the falling red snow.

“District 7 is a big place. Do we know Coronzon’s location there?”

“The former site of the Windowless Building,” said Accelerator.

“…I see.”

“Apparently that damn demon intends destroy every piece of Aleister’s legacy.”

Coronzon was currently spreading “blonde hair monsters” around District 7 for defense. They looked frightening at first, but finding the highest concentration would tell you what Coronzon most wanted to protect, which told them where Coronzon was as she completed her ceremony. …Constructing a defensive line was important, but this could easily happen if you weren’t careful where you positioned it.

In this snow, Kamijou found it frightening to be endlessly on the lookout without anything actually happening.

He felt like he would freeze to death if he didn’t do something himself.

Blodeuwedd the Bouquet opened and closed her iron maiden thing.

“If you want to warm up, my coat is open to you.”

“Help me, her nemesis!!”

Kamijou clasped his hands and prayed to the flying succubus who launched a flying kick into Miss Bouquet’s face since it was the only exposed part of her. She did it with those sharp heels of hers, so would she be okay?

Meanwhile, the border to District 23 came into view. It was impossible to miss with the metal fence taller than an adult stretching endlessly to the left and right.

“So this is the place.”

From the outside, no guards were in evidence.

That special district was supposedly crammed full of runways and launch sites, but it was terribly dark at the moment. The stadium-like lighting was currently switched off. Probably because the international airport was shut down during the emergency.

“Still, there might be someone in the roofed checkpoints,” cautioned Accelerator. “So instead of causing unnecessary problems, find a good spot and climb over the fence.”

“You’re so nice to normal people.”

“Of course I am. Normal people aren’t a nuisance to society like all of you.”

Kamijou had no response to that one.

They all climbed over the tall fence. It looked like little Alice would have trouble…and she might just spread her arms and break through the fence with a smile if left to her own devices, so Kamijou assisted her.

Meanwhile, Hamazura noticed something and grew flustered.

“H-hey. That bouquet person is flailing around on the ground. She fell over!”

“Peh peh peh. It’s a miracle she even managed to climb to the top of the fence in that iron maiden of a coat!” said the Bologna Succubus.

“This world is deeply sick if we must rely on these people to save us all,” lamented Accelerator.

The Bologna Succubus held a hand to her mouth and roared with laughter while showing zero inclination to help (even though that was her colleague), so Hamazura and Takitsubo had to help up the girl who might as well have been wearing a mascot costume made of steel. With all the metal on the outside, she had to be handled with care lest their palms stick to it in the cold.

And the mystery person inside was crying fairly seriously.

“Uh, uh, eh, uhhh… That insane demon who wanders around in her underwear was making fun of me. I’ll never live it down…”

Apparently the Bologna Succubus’s fashion choices were considered abnormal even among the Transcendents. On the other hand, the girl talking here wore a naked apron underneath her thick coat.

“You should have remove the heavy coat and thrown it over the fence,” commented Kihara Noukan who had made it to the other side of the fence.

How had a dog managed that? Was he really just a golden retriever?

They had finally entered the off-limits zone.

But they would be safe for now. This plan came straight from Accelerator at the very top. Kamijou knew he didn’t need to be nervous, but he still found himself crouching down to avoid being seen.

“Your destination is Runway D-25. A transport plane is waiting for you there. I had the snow cleared in this frigid weather to get it there, so don’t you waste it.”

“I’m amazed to learn the city has at least 25 runways.”

But even with the runway lights off, wouldn’t an airplane and its large wings be pretty noticeable out in the red snow? An airplane’s main wings seemed more delicate than a house’s roof, though.

The Bologna Succubus flapped her wings.

“If it’s just the boy, I could carry him up into the night sky. No airplane necessary.”

“I wouldn’t if I were you. Coronzon and the Anglicans will both react sharply to any magical tricks. An airplane lets us fly without using any magic, which will help us hide within the missile explosions to approach.”

Dion Fortune immediately shot down her idea.

In the magic world, you apparently weren’t guaranteed a victory if your magic power level was over a million billion or whatever. At times, it was more useful to fully hide your presence and blend into the background.

Qliphah Puzzle 545 had been flapping her own wings for the same reason, so she froze a bit as everyone turned her way.

The red snow was beginning to accumulate in the darkness. The marks on the runway were hard to make out, but that just meant they had to find the place where a lot of people had been moving around clearing the snow. By following the remaining footprints and tire tracks, it looked like they could at least avoid getting lost and walking in circles through the vast District 23.

“Hey, there’s something there.” Kihara Noukan was looking elsewhere. “It doesn’t look like a city security robot. That is a design that would frighten the children to tears.”

A weird, two meter crab creature was scurrying along in the distance.

No, was that even a living thing?

The monster was made from tons of blonde hair.

This was one of the patrolling guards Coronzon was using for defense.

“A scout, I suppose,” said Blodeuwedd the Bouquet with a white breath.

Kamijou frowned.

“Is it something like the Aethyr Avatars I saw in the UK?”

“She isn’t providing them that much power. Probably so she can focus on Adikalika,” assessed Dion Fortune.

But it was still there.

Hadn’t that #1 bastard said they were only in District 7!? Then what’s this one doing here!?

“Coronzon must have noticed me poking around, so she randomized her defensive line to confuse us as we tried to slip through!” said Accelerator.

“What, so it was your fault!?”

“No, it was your fault for failing to settle on a plan without my help!!”

But while he didn’t say it out loud, Kamijou was moderately surprised.

Apparently not even new Board Chairman Accelerator could see anything and everything happening in Academy City.

Was his observable area being limited by all the unrepaired damage across the city?

This meant Coronzon could more easily learn of their plan…but that didn’t ruin everything. She would have learned about it eventually. Even if she knew they were coming, they would still be able to parachute in among the missiles while she was too busy dealing those missiles to deal with them.

“But if the transport plane or the runway are blown up, you won’t be able to take off. Get aboard the plane as soon as you can. We can discuss this after that!”

Kamijou heard the rumbling of an engine.

Based on what Accelerator had said, he was expecting to find airport staff operating a snow plow, but that wasn’t what this was.

“What the hell is that?” asked Accelerator.

“…That’s my class.”

It was a bus.

With a 135cm teacher gripping the steering wheel.

Either she wasn’t used to driving such a large vehicle or the tires were slipping on the red snow, because it wasn’t moving any faster than a bicycle. He heard a flapping sound and noticed a window toward the back was open just a bit with a curtain caught in it.

Why had they wandered into off limits District 23?

As he wondered that, he recalled the crematorium was in District 10 and that was adjacent to District 23. With Coronzon and her defenders swarming their home ground of District 7, maybe they hadn’t been able to return to their dorms and had come here for shelter.

Blodeuwedd the Bouquet gave a simple comment.

“They’re going to die.”

A shape was already in hot pursuit.

Several were in fact.

Those two meter crabs were made by forcibly wrapping long, long blonde hair. Unlike the weirdly long legs of a Japanese spider crab, these were stouter and had thick, brutally shaped pincers. At that size, a pinch would probably be able to crush and slice right through a steel pipe as big around as Kamijou’s arm, but what was with that clump of hair? In addition to simple physical attacks, its terrifying appearance suggested it could also use toxins and infections.

They couldn’t let Coronzon know what they were doing.

He knew that much.

But then he saw one of the monsters, which could run straight forward despite being a crab, lunge toward the bus that couldn’t get its speed up thanks to the slippery snow. No, the long tail on that one meant it was probably a scorpion. What would happen to his classmates if it caught up?

“…”



Kamijou Touma made a rapid direction change.

He clenched his right fist and charged straight toward the giant killer scorpion.



The instant he punched it, the sensation vanished.

It rapidly lost its shape and scattered across the red snowy ground.

It gave off a twisted shine.

That really was long, long blonde hair it was made of. At this point, there was no need to ask whose.

The #1 groaned from the earphone.

He may have been holding his head where he was.

“You’re just causing us more trouble…”

“Where can I send my class!?”

“The closest option would be the international airport terminal. It’s full of anti-terror mechanisms, so it should last a while. I’ll open the shutter at the delivery entrance.”

Fortunately, smart people could switch gears quick at times like this.

His voice might not reach them inside the bus, but he should still be able to use the school’s social media. Just to be safe, he sent a notification to all their phones, so the entire class received a message from a dead boy’s address simply telling them to change course.

“Now I just have to draw the attention of the golden crabs and snakes so the bus can escape safely!”

''Boom!!!

Something exploded nearby.

No, that was the sound of thick lightning dropping from high in the sky and piercing a giant snake.

“There’s only so much I can do,” said Accelerator. “You figure out which targets are most efficient.”

Kamijou couldn’t afford to die here. Even if he let his class escape, the entire world would be doomed if Coronzon were allowed to launch Adikalika. And then his classmates would be killed regardless.

The Bologna Succubus raised her voice from a short distance away.

“Stop worrying about the future! Focus on what’s right in front of you!!”

The golden scorpion was closer than he had expected.

While he was watching its sharp pincers, something else swooshed sharply down from the upper right of his vision.

That was the giant venomous tail.

“Uh!?”

He heard a powerful metallic roar and saw orange sparks.

For a brief moment, Kamijou truly had no idea what had happened.

He sensed the sweet, sweet scent of nectar and felt someone else’s body heat in what was supposed to be a freezing night.

He wasn’t in complete darkness. He was shut off from the world, but the enclose space was filled with a faint bluish-white light meant for growing plants. And he saw an excessively skinny girl’s body.

That was apparently Blodeuwedd the Bouquet. Her thick metal coat had covered him and deflected the sharply jabbing scorpion tail with its massive armor.

“Th-thank-”

“You’re mine now☆”

“Mgh, mgh, mgahhh!?”

Before the fear could even set in, he was caught in the embrace of a pair of unusually skinny arms. And the thick metal coat that cut him off from the outside world shut the final remaining slit before his eyes. Uh, oh. At this rate, he would be chewed up inside this super-sweet girl’s iron maiden!?

An exasperated voice spoke from outside the coat.

“You know, I’m beginning to think you want the boy’s right hand to strip you naked and toss you out into the open.”

“Hm, is that how it works?”

With a flapping sound, the Bologna Succubus opened her large wings wide.

Blodeuwedd the Bouquet also opened her thick coat like double doors.

Those Transcendents had once tried to bring salvation to the people.

…They really were so much alike. Kamijou couldn’t imagine why they didn’t get along.

And now wasn’t the time to be relaxing. Failing to take out any of those monsters would only lead to further victims.

Once Kamijou was finally returned to the outside world, the demon woman smiled and whispered to him.

“Really, boy. You never do stop trying to show off, do you?”

“Did I do something wrong?”

“I didn’t say that☆” “She didn’t say that☆”