Editing Toaru Majutsu no Index:Endymion Chapter2 (section)

===Part 5===

As they rushed in the direction of the explosion they had heard, Kamijou asked Index a question.

“Which side is this!? Did the magic cabal do this!?”

“It might have been the Anglican Church,” said Index cautiously. “This people-clearing field is only keeping people from approaching. People outside of it can see and hear the explosion, but they are unable to reach the actual location. This version was likely created to minimize the burden so it can be used on the move!”

But with Index’s knowledge and Kamijou’s right hand, the odds were good they could ignore the restrictions of the people-clearing field.

At any rate, they had to head in the direction of the explosion.

It was unclear which direction Stiyl would head after causing the explosion, but meeting up with him as soon as possible took top priority.

With that thought, Kamijou and Index ran along the asphalt road.

But something happened before they had travelled even 300 meters.

It began with a noise.

It was a small dry sound of something bursting.

The actual event happened immediately afterwards.

“Wah!?”

“Watch out!!”

Giant flames suddenly spread out above their heads at about the height of a three-story building. A stinging pain spread across their skin, but that was the least of their worries. The damage spread beyond them. The windows on the buildings along the road shattered. A shower of shards rained down.

Coming to a stop would have the opposite effect.

Index’s legs were cramping up, so Kamijou grabbed her arm and forced them both onwards. The spot they had stood in a moment before was swallowed up by flames and glass.

“What was that? An explosion? Who’s targeting us!?”

Kamijou finally turned around once he had found his way to a safe area.

But they did not have time to leisurely discuss the cause.

They heard the same noise as before.

“Shit!!”

This time it came from an alley to the side. Flames suddenly spewed from a supposedly empty area and blew a plastic bucket and cleaning robot to pieces.

It was a powerful strike, but it did not directly affect Kamijou and Index like the previous one.

“Is their aim not all that accurate?”

And something else had caught their attention.

Just before the explosion…

“Touma, I saw some kind of bluish-white lightning!”

“So even though it’s flames, the method is different from Stiyl’s? Is this the magic cabal amplifying the electromagnetic waves!?”

“There’s that sound like fireworks again, Touma! It’s Agni’s Festival Fire!!”

“Dammit. We need to run!!”

Flames exploded out again and again with only a short break in between. The accuracy was poor, but they had no way of predicting where it would come from next. It seemed it would be difficult to defend against with any kind of shield, so their only option was to run as fast as they could away from that small bursting sound.

“Touma, the source of the explosion has been getting closer and closer to us since the first one. Their aim is improving little by little!”

“If it reaches us, we’re done for…” An unpleasant feeling ran down Kamijou’s spine as he continued to run. “An opponent facing you head on like Stiyl is one thing, but how is this enemy targeting us so well!? We may be chasing after them, but they shouldn’t even know who we are!”

“Touma, you destroyed the center of Agni’s Festival Fire at that building. If that information was automatically sent to the enemy, it would make sense for them to give top priority to destroying you! I do not have enough information to determine whether they were merely informed of the danger or if this is an auto-intercept spell that does not need a magic user!!”

“You’ve gotta be kidding me… But the enemy magicians are on the run from Stiyl, so how could they search out our loca-…?”

Kamijou trailed off because a sudden thought had come to him.

The burning building they had entered before had been the magic cabal’s base.

In that case…

“They might have had some kind of spiritual item that they can remote control. If they are using it to monitor our situation…”

An explosion occurred overhead.

Mixed in with the concrete dust that rained down were the remnants of some kind cloth and wooden sticks.

The parts Kamijou saw led him to guess they came from a handmade model airplane.

“…Can magicians these days use UAVs?”

“U…A…? I don’t know what that is, but this was likely a reconnaissance spiritual item using the symbols of the god Garuda!”

“And ''I'' don’t know who or what this Garuda is!”

Even after the enemy’s reconnaissance spiritual item was destroyed in their own blast, the explosions continued to intermittently pursue Kamijou and Index.

It seemed the spiritual item was not needed once the enemy knew where they were.

While they continued to run because they were not allowed to remain still, Kamijou almost groaned as he said, “They can keep targeting us no matter where we run. And the accuracy of the explosions is getting better and better. At this rate, we’ll be cornered!!”

It seemed Stiyl and someone else were still fighting in some other place, because intermittent explosions could be heard in the distance. And it seemed that fight was growing closer to Kamijou and Index.

“…Is an enemy magician being driven towards us?”

“Touma, we will be unable to escape the explosions within 20 minutes at this rate. We need to find and defeat the enemy magician before that happens!”

They did not have time to just stand idly by.

This crossing of paths was probably their first and last chance.

From the intensity of the distant explosions they assumed were being caused by Stiyl, they seemed to be closing in on them. Kamijou wondered if the others could hear the explosions occurring near him and Index.

They were approaching each other without being able to see each other.

500 meters.

400 meters.

300 meters.

200 meters.

100 meters.

And…

“Around that corner!!”

Kamijou tightly clenched his right fist once more and charged around the corner.

That was when something unexpected happened.

“Kyah!?”

He ran into a silver-haired girl of about middle school age who let out that high-pitched shriek. She was wearing a white short-sleeve sailor uniform with a blue pleated miniskirt. Both the shirt and the skirt were very short. Kamijou had the feeling her brown belly and ass would be visible if she simply stood around normally. The girl immediately drew back and dropped the paper bag she held in both hands.

(Not good. She’s going to get wrapped up in-…!)

“No, Touma! A normal person could never continue acting normally within an Anglican people-clearing field!!”

“Eh…?”

Kamijou was left speechless and then he saw Stiyl pursuing the girl from behind.

The priest would be using the simplified people-clearing field for the area around him. If that girl was not affected by it…

“I’m sorry.”

Kamijou heard an unpleasant bursting noise.

“But once you make yourself an enemy, the distinction between expert and amateur doesn’t matter.”

In the next instant, Kamijou was swallowed up by an explosive noise.