Editing Toaru Majutsu no Index:GT Volume12 Chapter4 (section)

===Part 2===

They stood on the spacious rooftop of one of many student dormitories.

The clash between the Transcendent and two Magic Gods below must have been heating up because the building would sometimes tremble unsteadily and it had probably started to tilt. Quite a few thumb-thick nuts lay unnaturally on the rooftop. They had likely broken away from TV antennas or the ladder up to the water tank after failing to bear the bending of the structures.

The fight had already begun.

Something produced an explosive roar.

Red and blue. A scorching flame sword burst from each of Stiyl’s hands. At more than 3000 degrees Celsius, those blades could melt steel.

“!!”

In response, the object in Kamijou’s right hand sprang up.

It was a compression gun made from a portable air pump.



“What ended the age of the sword? Guns!!”



Their head-on clash had started well before this.

Kamijou focused his mind on the trigger that resembled a fire extinguisher lever. The thumb-thick nuts tore through the air and raindrops on their way toward Stiyl’s nose.

Their course was accurate.

Yet they failed to hit.

Flames blew in from either side.

Like wings.

Stiyl moved rapidly to the left and right like he had boosters equipped. Those weren’t to attack. He had given himself extraordinary speed so that he could acquire the best attack position.

In other words…

“You can fly!?”

“Magic flight is easily accomplished, but just as easily brought down. That is a standard rule of our world, but that rule changes when your opponent can’t use an interception spell.”

Kamijou gritted his teeth and prepared to fight.

Stiyl didn’t even need to get close and strike with his flame swords.

By breaking apart the flames himself and sending them out like a flash flood, he could instantly roast Kamijou on this flat rooftop.

He could soar freely through the sky and send down powerful flames to burn anything on the surface on a whim.

He might as well have been a storybook dragon.

That thought caused an unnatural pulsing of Kamijou’s right hand.

(What do I do? Should I head back downstairs!?)

“It’s the same either way. If you escape into a hallway or room, you will have nowhere to escape when I launch a fireball inside to fill the space with flames. Or I could envelop the entire building in fla-”



''Crash!!!

A blinding white light dropped straight down from heaven to earth.



“Kh.”

Stiyl actually gasped.

What was more frightening here: the destructive power capable of causing the water tank to explode from within, or airborne Stiyl managing to twist around and dodge it at the last second?

The black-clad priest gulped and looked up at the rain clouds.

“Was it the rain? No, something isn’t right. That lightning was timed too well!!”

Kamijou agreed.

Misfortune was his default setting, so he doubted a natural disaster would save him by pure coincidence.

And…

“Hi.”

It came from the raindrops.

A familiar voice was mixed in with the noise of so many falling raindrops.

It was clear enough for Kamijou to guess who this was.

“This is a battle. And you didn’t come alone yourself, so you’re not going to claim this isn’t fair, are you?”

“Of course not!!”

Stiyl actually sneered as he made subtle left and right adjustments with his boosters to maintain his balance in midair.

And he placed a fresh cigarette in his mouth.

“That guy’s so straightforward I was getting bored anyway. A real fight to the death needs some tension. …But is that artificial rain and induced lightning tech? Looks like you’re using your scientific viewpoint to simulate the complex meteorological conditions to turn it into your plaything, but can your simulation account for this?”

Kamijou felt a chill.

He had an intensely bad feeling about this.



“I summon thee, Innocentius!!!”



''Roar!!

For an instant, the sensation of the ground vanished from below Kamijou’s feet. He thought it was only an optical illusion. A colossal flame giant had appeared, seeming to fill his entire vision and stretch up from the ground to the rooftop.

Its humanoid form vanished as it transformed into a great vortex. The orange glowing firestorm formed a blazing tower rising up toward the heavens.

“Tch!!”

The lightning shifted.

It pierced the road away from the building instead of the rooftop.

“Ha ha!! This thing has no set form. It’s all based on the number and arrangement of the runes. I prefer not to do this since it burns through so much magic power, but I won’t hesitate to use my trump card when necessary. Now, insolent science worshiper, can you accurately predict the numerical change to the air currents caused by magical flames!?”

Maybe he could eventually.

But it only mattered if he could do it now.

Stiyl rapidly zigzagged in the sky.

This was bad.

If Kamijou was overwhelmed, a single attack would take him out.

(But choosing a projectile weapon was still the right choice!!)

Kamijou suppressed his panic and focused on his compression gun.

He took aim straight up to try and pursue Stiyl’s complicated course, but then a chill ran down his spine.

He had already pulled the fire extinguisher style trigger with his full palm. The thick bullets had already been released.

Yet he trusted his senses and twisted his body with all his might.

Something exploded. A flame sword had burst. And Kamijou was nearly killed by the bullets he had released himself. It was like burying a bomb in the rocky riverside to blast the stones into the air. Stiyl had used his own explosion to knock back the flying nuts and had very nearly split open Kamijou’s skull.

The usual advantage of a projectile weapon didn’t apply against a fearsome supernatural opponent.

“Damn!!”

He had just barely avoided sudden death, but twisting around so quickly had left him in a poor position.

Stiyl had already set his feet on the rooftop and was swiftly turning toward Kamijou.

With his next sword.

Its explosion would blast Kamijou to pieces.

This was his final chance.



“Stiyl!!!”

“Don’t look for favors, my enemy!!”



He pulled the trigger.

And released the bullets.

In the poor position caused by twisting around.

He heard them slicing through the air, but that was all.

Something exploded.

Stiyl tore through the explosion to charge this way.

He accelerated further.

Had he expected that his wide-range magic flame would be negated by Imagine Breaker?

He had detonated both his flame swords directly behind him for a burst of acceleration. There was a grin on Stiyl’s face as he approached.

But.

Kamijou Touma hadn’t been aiming at Stiyl who was too quick for such a slow attack to hit.

He had aimed at a giant outdoor air conditioning unit.

And the rooftop had already been soaked with the blowing rain.

The puny boy was leaning against a concrete wall. It perfectly protected him from the diagonally-blowing rain. Except for around the rectangular box for the elevator.

Yes.

That priest hadn’t repelled Accelerator’s lightning attack – he had dodged it.

Stiyl wasn’t invincible.

There was a reason he had to dodge it.

“Wha-?”

Stiyl Magnus didn’t even have time to say anything.

Kamijou heard the result as he curled up on the one piece of dry concrete.



''Kazap!!!

After a deafening electrical blast, the black-clad priest crumpled to the rooftop.