Editing Toaru Majutsu no Index:GT Volume6 Chapter3 (section)

===Between the Lines 2===

Scarlet flames burned the night sky.

Every breath pulled black soot deep into the lungs, which was enough on its own to shorten someone’s life.

A fire was burning deep in a forest where the old superstitions had never died.

It burned the small log cabin, the garage added to the side, and even the pile of firewood the old lady had smiled and bragged would get her safely through the winter.

What had that little old lady done to deserve this?

Because her life in the forest had taught her how to tame birds? Because she was too old and feeble to keep the black cats from sitting on her windowsill? Because she lived all alone away from society? Because her long life had left her with no shortage of old tales to tell?

Maybe it was all of those reasons together.

Whatever the case, when a mysterious infectious disease ran rampant in the area, the people concluded she was behind it.

“Don’t worry about me.”

Black pieces crumbled from what the witch goddess held in her arms.

Beautiful, noble, and resigned words spilled from the old woman’s cracked lips.

The people who proudly held their giant crosses high probably had no idea this was happening in one corner of the world. With more than 2 billion believers, they would probably complain if they were asked to take responsibility for the actions of a mere 1% who had lost control.

But that didn’t mean it didn’t happen.

These things happened and then were always written off as a margin of error so small it could be ignored.

A life had been carbonized to the point she had no recognizable eyes or mouth left, but she still gathered her last ounce of strength to get out one final whisper.

“So please. Save the next one instead.”

A mere 50m away, the curtain of dark trees opened up onto a highway. A giant billboard stood there for the drivers to see: ''Grapple’s latest phone – the MilliPhone 15 High End – makes its debut this fall!!

…Yes, I will rid the world of this.

The witch goddess roared into the moonlit night while holding a stranger’s corpse so close her hair and cheeks were covered in soot.

Her job wasn’t done yet.

Even in the present day, the world hadn’t changed in the slightest.

It never would unless someone worked to change it.

She couldn’t abandon this mechanism of salvation just because the age of witches was a thing of the past.

So Aradia continues to roar in a world full of true contradiction and cruelty.

She had decided to save any and all witches.

No longer would she be a mere witch.

She swore to herself she would become a goddess.

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