Editing Toaru Majutsu no Index:GT Volume10 Chapter2 (section)

===Part 3===

Where was Kamijou’s school?

That was actually a tricky question because he had two schools: his original school that was destroyed by Magic God High Priest and the school he had been temporarily using after that destruction.

Neither answer was definitively correct. No one could work out a logical answer.

Kamijou himself just had to go with his gut.

Just like the storybook girl had wandered Wonderland as her whims led her.

He ended up choosing his original high school.

Academy City’s technology was 20-30 years ahead of the outside world. Magic God High Priest, the Elements, and so many other threats had smashed up the city, but it had been redeveloped or repaired back to its original form in an extremely short time.

Kamijou’s school was no exception.

No one who didn’t know it had been destroyed would think it had been rebuilt. The large school building, the dirt schoolyard, the pool, the gym, and the other additional structures were still covered in construction scaffolding and thick soundproofing sheets, but it was all already complete. It looked a bit like a present waiting to be unwrapped. The usual school was there like usual.

“That’s incredible,” muttered 15cm Othinus from his shoulder.

Kamijou frowned.

Sure, it was impressive, but it was nothing more than science. While she had lost her obvious powers, she was still a Magic God. Was Academy City’s construction technology really enough for her to gasp over?

“That isn’t what I meant at all. But I suppose it isn’t your fault you can’t sense ley line fluctuations and distortions. You will understand once you set foot inside. This is something you can’t avoid if you want to meet with Alice.”

“?”

They arrived at the school’s front gate.

It was getting late at night, but the sliding metal gate was open for some reason.

As soon as Kamijou stepped through, the world changed.

But this wasn’t a visible change in the color or light.

Still, he grimaced as soon as he stepped through.

It wasn’t quite like a bog.

This was much worse. To the point that trying to comprehend it by giving it a name would break his mind.

He had to focus on the costs and his stamina.

He couldn’t afford any wasted effort.

From here on, every step he took would put his life at risk.

He was only a high school boy and he could tell that.

“If Alice wanted, she could have changed the world you see before you in any way she liked,” said War God Othinus from his shoulder. “The consulate in District 12 is a good example of that.”

“I thought the other Transcendents made that.”

“You need to assume Alice can do anything the regular Transcendents can. In fact, her version is probably the original.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Did you really think the Bridge Builders Cabal members created that divine cosplay spell all on their own without any hints to work off of? Remember, these are the people who abandoned their magic names and relied on someone else because they knew they could never achieve their goals themselves. …You can think of the regular Transcendents as custom products created by taking the open-source Alice ''Anotherbible'' and tweaking the details to fit their preferences. Where Alice came from, I couldn’t tell you.”

Othinus spoke harshly, but she was that way about everyone on Earth.

In fact…

“Hm? I don’t sense much scorn in your voice there, god.”

“Because I have no real reason to feel scornful,” readily replied the ''real god''.

This wasn’t about what was correct. They simply used different methods. She spoke like a living national treasure of a dancer appreciating the younger people in a phone video who were simply enjoying moving their bodies.

Apparently that was analogous to the one-eyed girl who had gathered faith and polished her skills until she became known as a god and the Transcendents who had chosen various gods and dressed up as them.

“Do not forget that magic itself is a way of breaking the rules. The world of magic is an absurd place where the kind of decent person who stops when the ordinary methods can take them no further are ridiculed as hardheaded. When a magician senses their power is insufficient, they do not run into the wall of reality and give up – they continue struggling to achieve their goal regardless and this comes entirely naturally to them. …Plus, the top Norse god is a god of deception. Have you forgotten that I became a Magic God by defeating Ollerus and stealing his future and possibilities?”

“…”

“Either way, I’m the person ''selfish'' enough to abandon the world of my birth to obtain an understander. Still, I wouldn’t consider throwing out everything I am inside and out to dress up as a different god.”

This was all on such a large scale Kamijou wasn’t sure what to make of it.

He had never imagined the day would come when the word “god” had any relevance to the real world.

Both as a reliable ally.

And as a very real threat.

“Basically, Alice is an extraordinary being who can build a bridge between reality and any proposed theory or concept, no matter how inaccurate or contradictory it might be. It could be the geocentric model, phlogiston, conspiracy theories about the moon landing being fake, that the Y2K problem would cause the world’s computers to run wild and destroy the world, that neutrinos travel faster than light, or anything else. The Anotherbible provides freedom on a level far beyond even the framework of magic. It might be faster to just say there is effectively nothing she can’t do.”

The 15cm eyepatch girl, who existed here like normal, sighed with exasperation and looked to the school once more.

“But despite all that, Alice decided this was the best shape for this place. That shows a fixation, doesn’t it? It implies that using her all-powerful crafting to alter even a single side path or building corner would cause her to lose all interest in the place.”

“…”

“But whatever shape it takes, this is already Alice’s castle. Human, this world will not be kind to you.”

The density of death was growing.

Kamijou always had to contend with misfortune, but tonight was different.

It was intentional.

This world was designed for someone.

It had been remade for that purpose. If everything, even the unseen probabilities, would bare their fangs against any intruders, what could Kamijou Touma hope to do?

“Prepare yourself, human,” whispered Magic God Othinus.

Had she sniffed this out as a god of war, or as a god of magic and deception?

“Something’s coming.”