Editing Toaru Majutsu no Index:GT Volume14 Prologue

==Prologue: Updated Objective – Assault_Escape.==

His entire body hurt.

The agony covered him so thoroughly it felt less like he had broken a few bones and more like all his body’s joints were connected wrong.

But Kamijou Touma couldn’t afford to pass out.

He was in far better condition than Hamazura Shiage and Takitsubo Rikou who lay unmoving on the red snow.

More than that, a miracle had occurred before his, Index’s, and Misaka Mikoto’s eyes.

''Great Demon Coronzon had stopped moving.

''Undeniably so.

It only lasted a few seconds. It wasn’t even certain if Aleister had really responded to Kamijou’s call.



“I reject the worship of angels and I am unswayed by the temptations of demons. Tear down that wicked name of 9 letters beginning with C, tear down her color, and tear down her numerical value to shred her very essence!!”



She had no tools.

She needed no magic circles or strange staffs.

Gestures and words were enough to have an effect.

But Index wasn’t supposed to be able to refine her life force into magic power. Then how did her words activate this magic?

Because someone was working with her.

Index’s words, with the calico cat in her arms, joined with Aleister’s incantation.

She let it take control.

To create a spell specialized for use against Coronzon.

This had to be different from working alongside Kamijou Touma or handing what he had built over to Accelerator.

As Magician Crowley and as Board Chairman Aleister, this had to be the first time he ever passed his knowledge to someone else so easily.

But he had done it.

“Ghak, hah!!”

Great Demon Coronzon actually doubled over.

With a hand on the side of her head.

This was new. She was clearly suffering from pain. It wasn’t visible, but something had landed a clean hit.

“Did you think this through, Aleister? The body you were born with has already been buried. It’s rotting as we speak! My body is the only way left for you to preserve yourself… Foolish human, did you think they would all accept you if you destroyed yourself? Refresh my memory: what does the Christian Church, that you so despise yet could never fully abandon, think of suicide!?”

Kamijou shook.

This should have been obvious.

Coronzon and Aleister shared the same body.

Creating an opening for the defeat of Coronzon would have another consequence.

“To hell with that. Wait just a damn second! Aleister, it’s true I asked for your help. But not like this! I wasn’t fighting so I could punch ''you''!!”

“Forget me…”

A voice answered him.

One that clearly wasn’t Coronzon’s.

“I’m tired of living an eternity of endless mistakes. For once, I will do the right thing. I want to atone. If I’m going to call myself a human, I want to act like one. I want to walk the same bright path as you.”

“This isn’t how you do that. Do you think you can atone for everything you’ve done with a single good deed? That’s pure arrogance!”

But there was someone who could make the most of a scant few seconds.

Academy City’s #3 Level 5.

Misaka Mikoto.

“Sorry…but it also feels wrong to waste this chance.”

With a “zap!!!”, a thick bolt of electricity burst from Mikoto’s bangs.

She didn’t stop there. The ground seemed to swell up and then several black whips of iron sand rushed out. Coronzon jumped back to try and dodge, but something large and heavy fell toward her. It was the water tank from the top of a skyscraper.

The metal object struck her back with a thud.

Mikoto flicked an arcade coin up with her thumb.

She caught it, extended her right hand straight out, and released a full-power attack. Without a moment’s hesitation.

She launched a Railgun.

The air was compressed.

The sense of sound truly vanished for several seconds.

The attack was just that powerful.

But still the enemy did not fall.

Still she moved.

The woman with the long, long blonde hair spread her arms wide.

“Ah ha AH HA HA!! You humans are the epitome of powerless, Kamijou Touma. Of all people, why would you pray for the success of Aleister, whose every effort fails and backfires on him!? The world’s lifeline has been hitched to the most unreliable tree branch imaginable!! Regret your choice as the world crumbles around you!!!”

This was clearly Great Demon Coronzon’s voice.

Not Human Aleister’s.

He had been suppressed.

Coronzon remained in control. In the end, Index, Mikoto, and everyone else who had come rushing out of concern for Kamijou would be blown away by some extreme spell.

That was…

That was one thing he couldn’t…

An unpleasant straining sound came from within Kamijou. Nevertheless, the boy grabbed hard at the red snowy ground with his right hand, clenched his teeth, and tried to get up.

That was when another voice cut in.

A gentle female one.



“''Target: Aleister Crowley – Assist.''”



The air froze.

An unpleasant straining sound spread further. Despite crushing the futile resistance and regaining control, Coronzon was being driven back. To the edge. To the corner.

Aleister couldn’t have done this on his own. He had received some unnatural, external assistance. From a single tear.

The unsteady figure was the silver-haired, dark-skinned Magic God.

“Nephthys!?”

“Hee hee. Magic Gods are willing to die to elevate ourselves, so if you truly want to kill one of us, you’ll have to destroy us a little more thoroughly, you filthy demon.”

However it was being done, amplifying Aleister’s mind was certainly effective.

But the weakened Magic God wouldn’t have made this personal appearance if her spell could be used remotely.

That meant it could be removed by putting distance between them.

Something loudly beat at the air.

Coronzon had made no attempt to hide them. She had displayed those thin, bat-like wings from the beginning.

Before, she had used them to fly straight from Academy City to Britain.

Was she running away?

She could do so easily, reaching any point on the earth near instantly. And she could reduce the world to ashes from anywhere. Adikalika wasn’t her only trump card. The look in her eyes said she wasn’t going to stop at one measly planet – she would keep at it until the entire universe was destroyed.

Struggle as they might, a win was a win.

The situation was not shaken.

But confident Coronzon’s cheeks suddenly tensed.

“I hope you didn’t already forget how much my Xian Pao-Pei hurt!!!”

“Curse you, Magic God Niang-Nianggggggggggggg!!”

It only took a single attack.

The right wing was shredded as if slashed by a giant set of invisible animal claws.

This wasn’t quite the same as the situation being overturned in some unpredictable fashion.

Coronzon’s supposedly complete victory had been unnaturally smashed.

A risk she should have been able to predict had slipped her mind for some reason.

“~ ~ ~”

(Not yet. This isn’t enough to call it a victory or a loss. This is no more than Aleister interfering. Do not overthink this. God’s hand has not yet grasped my sleeve as well!!)

In a split second, Coronzon performed a massive number of calculations in her head. What attack would allow her to survive and most upset everything laid out before her? That was an easy one. She had already known the answer. Which was why she had been needlessly confident.

For an instant.

For only an instant, something other than her own interests flashed through Coronzon’s mind.

The figure lying collapsed on the red snow in the corner of her vision.

Hamazura Shiage.

“Kh.”

But she shook it off. Because of his own words.

Was he wrong to bet on her? Was she no more than a petty villain?

It was time to answer him.

To proudly answer the boy who had said she was ''on the side of good and righteousness''.

Kamijou Touma let loose a roar.

“Dammit, hang in there, Aleister… Leave this demon to me. I will end this tonight!!”

“Kee kee kah kah kah!! I give that a perfect 100 for parting words to an embodiment of evil, boy!”

She clenched her hand and then opened it again.

Something like a translucent stone had appeared there. But that definitely wasn’t a mere stone.

She flicked it with a finger.

It fell silently to the red snow.

Coronzon’s lips wriggled alluringly.



“''Sitra Achra.''”



The moon was visible overhead.

Which meant the thick clouds dumping all that red snow had been blown away in an instant.

The cause was a pillar of light.

Falling from heaven to earth.

A beam.

And an explosive boom.

Kamijou didn’t even have time to raise his right hand.

He was dead. He truly thought so.

He was pretty sure he really did pass out for a few seconds.

“…ma…”

Yes.

For a few seconds.

“Touma!! You can’t go to sleep now!! None of this over yet!!”

A loud voice crashing into his mind dragged him back to reality.

What had happened?

Kamijou was truly bewildered, but mourning clothes Mikoto wasn’t looking his way

Her gaze was directed elsewhere: far in the distance.

She flicked an arcade coin up with her thumb and grumbled in annoyance.

“She sure is thorough. Does she use her full power even when running away?”

(Running away?)

''The'' Great Demon Coronzon had?

But the blonde demon was in fact nowhere to be seen. The only sign of her were what might have been footprints in the red snow but looked more like the aftermath of small explosions.

Nephthys and Niang-Niang were missing too, so had they pursued her?

What was that Sitra something-or-other attack? It had seemed like a small fragment used to summon a powerful attack, much like tagging a GPS location.

(No.)

That hadn’t been an attack.

It had been a smokescreen.

Had she run off to avoid taking damage?

Kamijou Touma could scarcely believe it.

It was beyond anything he had expected.

That great demon – the same Coronzon who had lorded it over them – had run off on foot?

Only then did the situation sink in. His blood began pumping.

He couldn’t take an optimistic view of this.

Running was fine for that great demon. If she could get away tonight, she could defeat the entire world!!

“Accelerator!!” shouted Kamijou, focusing on the wireless earphone he wore…but there was no response.

Was he still down after the attack from Coronzon’s magic? Without the new Board Chairman’s assistance, they were mostly locked out from the digital benefits of Academy City’s security cameras, security robots, and so on.

Niang-Niang had eliminated Coronzon’s ability to fly to the southern hemisphere with her wings, keeping her on the ground…but could they really catch up with her? When she was doing everything in her power to escape!?

Mourning clothes Mikoto suppressed her impatience and spoke.

“This isn’t over yet. I can hack the security cameras to an extent.”

“Controlling one or two of them won’t be much help. We need to be able to cover the entire city,” said another girl, getting up from the ground.

Takitsubo Rikou’s flat intonation sent a tremor through Mikoto.

Was she…somewhat afraid?

Takitsubo didn’t seem to mind. Her emotionless eyes were directed at Kamijou.

They weren’t prepared.

So didn’t “making preparations” have to be their first step?

That was likely one valid opinion. It certainly wasn’t incorrect.

But…

“I’m not…regrouping,” he said.

As injured as he was it was a miracle he was still on his feet, but he still clenched his teeth and got the words out.

“No more running away to calm down, waiting for allies and supplies to arrive, coming up with new plans, and twiddling our thumbs until we can enact them.”

He stared out ahead.

In a challenging way.

“I will settle things with Great Demon Coronzon tonight! I swear it!!”

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