Editing Toaru Majutsu no Index:Crossover Extra (section)

===Part 10===

“Ah.”

Rán uttered a meaningless gasp.

Its lack of meaning may have been the only reason it was allowed to escape her mouth.

Meanwhile, the situation continued to progress.

Index’s words were not enough to create a miracle, but all of the strangers were gathering. Laws and possibilities unknown to Rán were scattered around like stars in the sky.

So…

“I use the rose symbol to bind the world’s name and set the ship’s course! The name of light is…oh, honestly! Isn’t there something!? It’d be perfect if we had something to take the place of a vortex of light even more powerful than the sun!!”

“You can leave that to the Princess! You’ll never be short on power with a JPlevelMHD reactor working for you!!”

“A vermilion door is reflected in the mind. Place a single charm on the forehead, close your eyes, accurately picture it in your heart, and…another gap!! To bypass the flow of power, I need a system other than spells!!”

“Then do you think you can build it up as a Package? Hey, good-for-nothing Youkai, you have enough of a connection with Hyakki Yakou to know the formula for that, right? Hand over all the variables and this girl will arrange the rest!!”

“Construct symbols in the four cardinal directions and the south-southwest entrance will call in power!! The torrent of swirling power is…here!! I need to create an exit that can’t be expressed with any of the cardinal directions!”

“I think only the Absurd can satisfy a contradictory request like that.”

“We will release the yoke of the flesh and ascend through the mental door and into the heavens! This resembles a mock funeral, so…last one!! I want to create a state of apparent death, so I need a great symbol of death!!”

“Then how about the knowledge of the Killer Queen?”

A tremendous light broke Skíðblaðnir down into a tremendous torrent. The pillar of light stretched endlessly upwards and looked something like a giant tower or elevator up to heaven.

“…”

Rán simply stared at it.	

As long as the sea’s limits were not broken, the nine worlds’ lives would not be lost.

As long as the sea was not used in their escape, there was no need to keep the strangers here like human sacrifices.

And there was also no need for Rán’s own transformation.

This was a perfect result.

It was what she had initially dreamed of.

Yet as she faced it, she felt an ominous crawling of the muscles in her slender arms.

The hand holding her soul-catching net squirmed as if to ruin it all.

“Ah…”

At that point, she finally remembered her own nature.

The sea gods would not be affected by Ragnarök, but they instead lacked the ability to influence any turning point in history.

Her being and her actions had been doomed to fail from the beginning.

So the more she hoped for a happy future, the more her decisions would smash it all to pieces.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!?”

She no longer had any control over her own actions as she swung around her soul-catching net. Like with a metal ball on a chain, she began building up centrifugal force in order to throw it.

As the others performed their bold yet delicate ceremony, she prepared to destroy it all.

However…

“It’s okay, Rán,” someone said.

First a pointy-haired boy and then several other people stood in her way.

But they were not there to fight.

They were there to protect her heart.

“Ægir told me everything. I know the restrictions binding you and what you really want to do, so it’s okay. We won’t let you destroy your dream!!”

“…”

As usual, Rán could not respond.

She simply twisted her beautiful features like a child on the verge of tears.

But that was more than enough.

Both sides rushed forward at full speed to begin their clash at the midpoint.

The final battle was beginning.



It no longer mattered whether they had stopped World War Three, run around destroying nuke-resistant weapons, or gone around confronting cutting-edge crimes that used occult powers.

They charged forward only because they wanted to protect a goddess’s dignity and pride.

Could they overcome the difference in strength?

The Object and the Youkai were one thing, but some of them were mere high school or college students in every aspect except the workings of their minds. Wouldn’t they be torn to mincemeat?

None of that was a problem.

After all…

“The sea king commands you as the one who can calm any storm by striking the waves with an oar.”

A voice not belonging to any of the strangers rang out.

It was the sea king.

While Rán ruled fearsome stormy seas, the other sea god ruled the calm seas that brought blessings to mankind.

“The stormy waves are forbidden to harm the children of men! The water must peacefully greet human smiles!!”

Ægir’s words and his divinity calmed the stormy sea.

Ægir and Rán’s power may have been evenly matched, but by stripping her of her weapon and power, she was weakened to the point that even a mere high school boy could oppose her.

The truly foreign protagonists rushed forward to do the seemingly impossible and save a goddess.

Behind them, Index spoke the final words.

“Return everything to its rightful place! We follow the aforementioned exorcism process to expel ourselves from this land and become the light in the heavens!!”

They had bought the time they needed.

Rán…no, whatever was behind Rán’s movements had failed to interrupt Index’s ceremony.

So Misaka Mikoto’s body floated up into the air. Quenser, Heivia, the non-human Youkai, and even the two hundred thousand ton Object did the same.

All of the strangers gathered in the torrent of light.

No one could reach them anymore, so this truly was goodbye.

“Ha ha!! See!? Changing history feels great, doesn’t it!?”

As Jinnai Shinobu floated toward the sky, he made a gun gesture toward Rán and shouted that comment her way.

Floating upside-down, Kamijou Touma gave a comment of his own.

“We have to leave now, but there’s nothing we can do that you can’t. You understand now that you saw this, right!? You don’t need to give up on anything from now on!!”

“…”

Rán silently looked up at them.

No.

This time, she fought against the rules of the world with all her strength and moved her lips.

''Thank you.

Immediately afterwards, the torrent of light took the strangers away and launched them beyond the heavens.

This time, they truly did leave the Norse world.