Editing Toaru Majutsu no Index:Endymion Chapter3 (section)

===Part 10===

A giant satellite guidance vehicle was parked on the side of the road on an overpass in District 7. It was as large as a pylon for high voltage lines laid on its side. Given its size and the toxic hydrazine it was loaded with, the surrounding drivers would want to be careful around it. However, none of the other vehicles showed any sign of doing so.

It was almost as if…

As if none of them could tell the satellite guidance vehicle was even there.

“Ureapaddy!!”

A boy suddenly shouted out and opened the driver’s side door of the vehicle to peer inside. A silver-haired, brown-skinned woman frowned. And then she realized what was going on.

Her willingness to actually respond with words demonstrated her confidence.

“Oh? So you have already discovered my name. But that isn’t too surprising given the familiar face I see there.”

Despite the teasing reference to her, Sozty took a step forward.

She tried to say something emotional, but the words caught in her throat. Kamijou found it difficult to watch how her expression visibly stiffened as she forced it to remain as it was.

The girl finally managed to speak to her sister.

“…Is it true you destroyed our cabal?”

“If you mean ''your'' cabal, then yes I did.”

Ureapaddy’s lips moved as she made that clear distinction.

She spoke so easily.

She was a stark contrast to Sozty who had needed to force down her emotions so they were only simmering below the surface before she was able to speak. In Ureapaddy’s case, her expression remained unchanged because she did not particularly feel anything about the situation. She was so indifferent it seemed her organs had to be completely frozen over.

The older sister and the younger sister.

An obvious discrepancy existed between the two.

“They were nothing but a burden and I had no further use for them. Their plans were always poorly thought out and the scale of their ideas was too small. And yet they would look down on me if I tried to do something with that frozen project. …What use did they have left other than as a disposable decoy?”

“Would I be correct in assuming the same applies to me?”

“Think what you wish. It is true that the incident with you forced my hand a bit, though.”

Was she referring to the cabal’s attack on Sozty to silence her when she had been captured?

In that case, it was possible some sisterly love still existed between Sozty and Ureapaddy.

But…

“After all, that completely destroyed the already pathetic decoy plan. It wasn’t easy reworking my plan for betrayal on the spot.”

Sozty had risked her life as a diversion.

She had been prepared to let her sister and comrades escape even if it cost her her life. And yet she received only that coldhearted answer.

In that instant…

Kamijou learned the meaning of true silence.

The smiles from the photo he had seen on Sozty’s cell phone appeared in the back of his mind.

Stiyl was an expert in making such severe decisions, yet even he had his breath taken away.

“Damn you…!!” shouted Kamijou as he clenched his fist, but Sozty held a hand out to block his path.

“I have to ask. This may be only a portion of the rocket, but it is still a collection of top secret technology. And it is also filled with toxic fuel. This vehicle had to have some escort vehicles. What happened to them?”

“I eliminated them.”

“What happened to the driver of this vehicle?”

“I eliminated him.”

The fact that she did not specify what exactly she had done gave them a very bad feeling about what had happened. Both the escort vehicles and the driver were not present. That was all Kamijou and the others knew. They could only pray that they were safe.

Meanwhile, Ureapaddy grinned and said, “Yes, yes. Asking questions is the best course of action for you as you did not even realize how poor that plan was. And let me be blunt about one thing: truly optimized actions lack all beauty and elegance.”

“Are you really one to talk about elegance?” said Sozty with a tone as hard as rock. “You shot your comrades in the back for your own goal and plan to destroy Academy City with no just cause. And all to show off your Brahma Astra that should have been frozen long ago. It seems to me you are the one that looks unsightly due to pursuing optimization too far.”

“If you are going to ask any questions, could you keep them short?”

“What are you after?” Sozty’s brief question stabbed out. And then she continued, “The overall plans of the cabal were nothing more than a decoy for you. In that case, you have no reason to continue on with the goal of destroying Academy City. I see no reason for you to use Brahma Astra here. Surely using Brahma Astra in and of itself is not your only goal, right?”

“I have no obligation to answer that. But what would you do if I said that was my only goal?” 

Ureapaddy tilted her head ever so slightly.

Older sister and younger sister.

And yet Sozty answered without hesitation.

“I would kill you. You are a disgrace.”

Kamijou felt dizzy hearing her say that so plainly. It may have simply been that she had lost her cool at having her sister speak so coldheartedly about her, but Kamijou still felt their conversation had gone too far. Or perhaps this was the standard for the creatures known as magicians.

He glanced over at Stiyl, but the priest’s expression was hidden by his long hair.

[[Image:INDEX_Endymion_137.png|thumb]]

“We… The cabal was targeting Academy City because it was necessary. No matter how our actions would later be recorded in history, we decided we had no choice but to carry out the attack.” Sozty spoke her next words as if spitting them out. “And now you’re saying the target doesn’t matter? You just want to use your spell that had been frozen? You’re going to destroy a city of one million just for that? Now I see why the cabal was keeping a careful eye on you. Your ideas need to be thrown into a dark hole and sealed away with a stone.”

“Sozty. Do you really, truly understand what you are talking about?”

“I do,” said Sozty with disinterest. “Seeing someone like you has made me realize the truth. I finally know what it is like to see what I was trying to do from the outside. I am growing angry at the justifications I was making.”

“Sozty…?” said Kamijou in a whisper, but she did not turn in his direction.

She kept her gaze on her enemy and made an announcement in a shout.

“I was wrong!! What we were trying to do is wrong no matter what reason you have. Forcing this onto them does nothing to save the people who would be sacrificed. The existence of a reason makes no difference!! And if it’s wrong with a reason, there is no way I can let you do it without a reason!!”

“Oh.” Ureapaddy gave a thin smile that displayed disinterest from the very bottom of her heart. “So you’ve already made it that far. In that case, I suppose telling you this won’t have that much of an impact on you, will it, Sozty?”

“…?”

“Didn’t you find it bizarre?” continued Ureapaddy in a calm, flowing voice. “The original plan the pathetic leaders of the cabal came up with was to use Agni’s Festival Fire to destroy a few districts, use the confusion to head into the strictly guarded District 23, and then destroy the facilities within. Correct?”

“Looking at it now, that plan makes me want to puke. What about it?”

“Oh? And wasn’t this plan implemented because the cabal works to obtain bodies that surpass the limits using training methods that surpass the limits and so it took issue with Academy City’s optimal training methods using the optimal values?”

“Ah…” muttered Kamijou rather than Sozty.

Ureapaddy smiled in delight.

“It seems that student has figured it out. Don’t you find it odd, Sozty? We were opposed to their methods of training the mind and body, and yet our ultimate objective was to destroy District 23. Their aerospace technology should have been of no consequence to us.”

Sozty seemed completely dumbfounded as she muttered, “Did the cabal have information it was keeping from us?”

“Their true reason for attacking Academy City lay elsewhere. I had hoped to completely shock you by revealing that the justification you held so dear was completely meaningless, but it seems you freed yourself from that curse on your own. I was trying to say I was disappointed my revelation had lost most of its meaning. Do you understand now?”

“…”

“If you learn what it is and what it has brought about, you will finally reach my darkness,” said Ureapaddy. “But that is all for today. I do not have time to spare. My preparations are already complete, so I will be leaving now.”

A loud sound like several simultaneous metallic noises could be heard.

At some point, a giant golden bow had appeared in Ureapaddy’s hand.

A bow.

Or perhaps it should be called an Astra said to be held by the god Brahma.

Once it was fired, it would cleanly tear out a hole with a 50 meter radius in even the sturdiest structure.

“Is that Brahma Astra!?”

“Do not worry, student. The timing has not yet come. Plus, what use is a bow and arrow that always hits the target if I fire it from head on? From your fight against Sozty, it appears you have some powerful means of destroying magic.”

Then what was she targeting?

What was she trying to do?

As soon as those questions came to Kamijou’s mind, Ureapaddy answered them by means of the direction she aimed the bow and arrow.

She aimed at the satellite guidance vehicle.

Specifically, she targeted the rocket container that contained the toxic hydrazine.

“Escape is my top priority today.”

She held a completely normal metal arrow in the bow.

But that was enough.

“So I will give up on this.”

With a dull noise, the arrow pierced into the side of the container.

A hissing sound like carbonation being released could be heard. A clear liquid that was obviously different from water began flowing onto the road surface.

“Not good! That’s hydrazine!!” shouted Kamijou.

Ureapaddy smiled and stepped back. She then prepared to run. She would not allow them to follow her. It was blatantly obvious that was her intention.

Index then spoke to Stiyl.

“You can use Anglican-style spells, right? Blow that away with your flames!!”

Her statement sounded insane.

But it was not.

She added, “If I am correct, the base is fire and the meaning is punishment, but add purification to the 3rd and 5th words and loop it. In English, the initials are P, A, and R. That will cancel out the target’s toxicity!!”

“…I see.”

How had Stiyl felt about that “advice”?

How had that magician felt when he was briefly put back in the position he had once viewed as normal?

Without speaking much, Stiyl Magnus quickly took action.

The roar of flames consuming oxygen burst out.

A sword of flame appeared in the priest’s right hand.

For the first time, a bit of nervousness appeared on Ureapaddy’s face.

She was likely worried she would be caught in the explosion.

“What a wonderful expression.”

With his lips twisted into a smile, Stiyl swung his flame sword without hesitation.

Its form collapsed and it shot directly for the leaking hydrazine.

In the next instant, a great explosion wiped away the darkness of Academy City’s night.