Editing Toaru Majutsu no Index:GT Volume8 Chapter2 (section)

===Part 8===

Kamijou Touma jumped within the mobile combat vehicle.

He had heard that explosion even through the Predator Octopus’s armor. It had sounded like a nearby lightning strike.

“D-did one of them get the other? But which one got which!?”

“That’s no cause for celebration! Once this three-way battle ends, the winner will be after us!! And they’ll have just proven they’re the most dangerous of the bunch!!” snapped back Aradia.

Anna Sprengel remained dazed. She had met that woman – Kingsford? – yesterday too, but her reaction today was entirely different. Her head rocked with the movement of the vehicle, almost look like a doll.

The tiny arrogant wicked woman was nowhere to be found.

(Aiwass, was it?)

Kamijou Touma desperately grabbed at the touchscreen inside the moving vehicle.

(She used her final trump card, but Kingsford is still walking around just fine. She doesn’t even seem injured. That means Anna’s secret weapon didn’t work at all! ''She had her worst fears proven correct''!! So the dread she was feeling turned to actual fear all at once!!!)

She had been turned into a face on a film canister – with no arms, legs, or even a torso.

In fact, there had to be something between the two Annas going back ''before that''. Something involving their overwhelming difference in power.

But for now, Kamijou had to gain control of the vehicle or it would plunge right into the freezing canal. Whether Mut Thebes or Kingsford emerged victorious, they would catch up the instant they resumed their pursuit if the vehicle wasn’t across the 50m width of the canal first.

But a high school boy like Kamijou didn’t know how to operate the vehicle using the flat touchscreen. He didn’t even know how to apply the brakes. He could guess it probably worked similar to a 3D game, but he was terrified of touching the wrong thing and firing the gun. Things never ended well when Mr. Misfortune left matters up to luck.

“Anna…”

He clenched his teeth and shouted into the little wicked woman’s ear.

“This isn’t over yet!! I don’t know what happened between you and Kingsford, but it’s not too late to turn things around!! But if you’re going to get over this, you have to make the attempt yourself. So wake up, Anna Sprengel!!!”

“To hell with this!!” shouted Aradia, fed up with it all.

But she moved to the ladder, not the commander’s seat.

“What are you doing!?”

“I’m not interested in figuring out this hunk of tech. But we’re in trouble, so I have to do something about it! And I can only think of one way!!”

Aradia shouted back her answer before pushing up the hatch.

The icy wind of their 100km/h movement rushed inside and the witch goddess climbed on out.

A yellow warning appeared on the edge of the console monitor. A laser emitter had detected an error. It was meant to detect slight deviations in the gun barrel caused by the heat distribution when firing and Kamijou couldn’t make heads or tails of the displayed message.

When he returned his attention to the external footage on the screen, he saw Aradia straddling the gun barrel.

Just like a witch might ride a broom.

“A witch’s life is at risk here.”

“Aradia?”

“Don’t you dare underestimate the goddess of all witches!!!”

The 20 ton mass began to float.

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In Shibuya on December 31, Kamijou had seen Aradia fly on a crosswalk signal. But still. Nothing could have mentally prepared him for her flying on the entire vehicle with him inside. He made sure to bite his right hand. He felt he deserved some credit for remembering to avoid touching the walls or floor.

If the LCD monitor was to be believed, the 8-wheel mobile combat vehicle had crossed the 50m canal. They hadn’t used a bridge, so they had slipped past Anti-Skill’s checkpoint network.

Aradia was right outside, but he heard her voice coming through the screen.

That helped it seem all the more unreal.

“Ah ha ha!! How about that, Kamijou Touma? This is a witch’s spell – the essence of witchcraft! It’s a liberating power that frees all men and women’s hearts from the world’s bonds!!”

“Hey, are you sure this is safe? Hey! Being this high up is terrifying!!”

Kamijou felt the same tension as if a cramped elevator had stopped unexpectedly.

But the witch goddess was in complete control, so she basked in the elation of soaring through the sky. These things were a lot easier for the one holding the reins.

“Hey. We’re already flying, so do we even need to land on the opposite bank? Seems to me flying all the way to District 15 would be faster.”

Now that she mentioned it, maybe she was right.

And now that they were this high up, the fear of heights vanished. Had they risen 400m? The average building rooftop was below them at this point.

Kamijou Touma was just starting to entertain the idea when the vehicle’s interior lighting went red again.

That meant radar.

The fast approaching sounds of rotors came from an entire group of Six Wings unmanned attack helicopters.

“Take us down right this instant, Aradia, you stupid sexy banana woman!! The airport radar detected us and decided we’re an enemy aircraft!!!”

“Uh, oh! Will this city’s stupid tech never give us a break!?”