Editing Toaru Majutsu no Index:GT Volume9 Chapter2 (section)

===Part 1===

Sunset came early in the winter.

It was 5PM.

The first to notice the oddity in the red-dyed city was Anti-Skill.

The martial law declared across Academy City had yet to be removed. That meant Anti-Skill had established an alert network stricter than normal, so even the smallest oddity was immediately reported back to them.

The oddity was detected at the far eastern side of the city, in the strongly religious (by Academy City’s standards) District 11.

“Hey…what’s that?”

And.

Christian Rosencreutz, the silver-haired monster, wasn’t concerned with any minefields that might be in his path.

If he had somewhere to go, he would walk right on through, stepping on all the mines along the way.

“Ohh, oh, ohh?”

Presently, the silver-haired young man clad in red was focused on a plastic bottle.

Specifically, he was staring at the side where he had peeled away a small sticker.

“Hmm. This promises a gift of magic gems, but how do you claim this generous offer? I do not see any kind of contact information.”

“You there!! Show me your ID or residency permit!! Right now!!”

“Oh, I see. You must hold up one of those cleverphones, or whatever you call them, to read this square code here.”

A wet splat rang out.

Rosencreutz never even looked toward the Anti-Skill officer. He didn’t move a finger, but the shouting officer and his gun went spinning up into the air.

In this case, managing to hold onto his gun worked against him.

Because the bullets sprayed against his will struck the fellow officer standing nearby.

“Byah!!”

“Wahhhhhh!?”

The color red and a rusty scent created a brutal scene, but Christian Rosencreutz still ignored it all. With the sticker in hand, he tossed aside the bottle and folded his other hand’s fingers to count something.

“Acquire an ultra-rare trading card – check. Eat that restaurant’s frozen hamburger steak said to have a ‘new and improved flavor’ – check. Worn a heated napping eye mask – check. Tried that simple homemade mochi kit – check. Drank the new chemical pink flavor of energy drink – check. Oh, you there, could you lend me some fingers? Let’s see, where was I?”

“Ah, gah?”

“Won a stuffed toy poodle in the crane game – check. Tried the recommended shark fin cheese dumpling, hit a homerun in the batting cage – check and check. Scored a perfect 100 at karaoke – hm, that’s a check too. Which leaves…”

“Gghghghaghyghagyghagyhgaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!?”

Unrestrained cracking noises burst out again and again.

Rosencreutz had not laid a finger on him, but despite his desperate resistance, the Anti-Skill officer’s fingers bent in time with the list. The gun’s grip was crushed by unthinkable force and his index finger pulled the trigger against his will.

“~ ~ ~! Everyone, get down!!”

Something exploded.

Anti-Skill was finally making their counterattack. Snakehead self-destruct drones, which looked like isosceles triangles flying around like a flock of starlings, dropped straight down. Each Snakehead rivalled a shoulder-fired rocket and, when a group of them attacked as sharply as lightning strikes, they had enough firepower to wipe out a group of tanks.

But still Christian Rosencreutz ignored them.

Not a single hair on his head was singed.

“Hm.”

It was the same with him no matter what happened.

He obeyed only his desires when choosing what to do.

Nearly half a day had passed since Alice Anotherbible and Anna Kingsford’s deaths, but he remained in District 12 where he had been reborn.

He had a simple reason for this.

“I’ve tried everything that caught my interest, so maybe I should get moving now.”

CRC’s eyeballs rolled in his head. Everyone present could tell he was focusing on the outside world for the first time.

“''You had better entertain me.''”

Light was compressed.

Sound vanished.

All of a sudden, a 60ton tank was blasted straight up. Anti-Skill had no idea what had happened. Their most well-defended tank had been destroyed in the blink of an eye, so they knew their weaker armored trucks and powered suits wouldn’t stand a chance. The officers wearing military jackets meant to stop bullets and blades would be torn through like paper.

His gaze seemed to pierce right through them.

They knew every spot he turned his attention to would explode.

That wasn’t a logical conclusion.

It was more like a superstition. They were sure that was the rule and anyone who took the rule lightly would be blasted into the air. That was the world they lived in now.

An armored truck was squashed flat, pieces scattering in every direction and knocking over an armored prisoner transport bus being used as a barricade. After taking some kind of destructive damage, an attack helicopter fell toward the Anti-Skill officers fleeing in a panic. There were explosions, screams, and bestial growls.

But Anti-Skill was not broken.

“Surround him!! All units: the current coordinates are designated a max level risk zone, so set up multiple defense lines. This is your top priority!!”

By this point, Anti-Skill viewed the person before them as connected to a wanted criminal. Because they were already aware of another immensely powerful individual who had made fools of them with a supernatural power.

Something tore through the asphalt.

Their tank had been destroyed in an instant, but they weren’t through yet. They had 155mm field artillery, heavy mortars, and even shoulder-fired missiles. The ordinary Anti-Skill officers fired them with teeth gritted.

Orders were given.

“Calculate your line of fire! Keep the danger zone to a minimum!! Fire!!!”

Christian Rosencreutz responded with an exasperated sigh.

“How dull.”

He was hit by explosions from several directions at once.

Moments after massive shells were launched at supersonic speed, most of them was stripped away, focusing all the kinetic energy on the tungsten core. Those special warheads were designed to melt and break a hole through thick composite armor. Each one possessed enough force to punch through and blast apart a flesh-and-bone human, leaving only their collapsing lower body behind.

''But…

“I said you bore me.”

He was unscathed.

That image broke the spirits of everyone watching. The silver young man did not hold back. Explosion after explosion blasted them into the air. The Anti-Skill officers screamed and couldn’t even continue the cycle of dragging their collapsed comrades to safety.

“…”

So.

That young Anti-Skill officer had not been abandoned.

No one around him was capable of moving any longer.

Christian Rosencreutz leisurely strolled through the world of screams, red, and explosive flames.

He stopped when he saw the young officer.

And this was in a world where anywhere that drew his attention would explode.

“Do you want me to stop? But what here could be more entertaining than crushing everyone in my path? If you know of something, I would love to hear about it.”

It all came down to that.

In his world, the mobile game sticker on a drink bottle was just as valuable as a human life.

For a brief moment, the smile vanished from CRC’s face.

“But if you do not, then this is the end for you.”

He slowly held out his hand.

The same hand that had easily blown up a tank and brought down an attack helicopter.

“Ah…ahh.”

There was nothing the Anti-Skill officer could do.

He tried to speak while trembling and unable to move, but…

“Not so fast,” someone else said.

A boy had arrived.

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