Editing Toaru Majutsu no Index:GT Volume15 Chapter1 (section)

===Part 10===

The airport lobby had been thoroughly destroyed.

More than a hundred footsteps thundered together. Anglicans, Amakusas, former Roman Catholics – various groups adjusted their formations with spiritual items in hand. They rearranged their positions to place Blodeuwedd the Bouquet at the center.

Unsteadily, but definitely under her own power, Kanzaki Kaori stood back up.

She was one of the fewer than twenty Saints in the world.

“Kh, I am willing…to overlook that.”

“Ohh? You’re fine after taking a Transcendent attack to the head? You’ve got one solid cranium, don’t you? Or is it your brains? Do you just have more muscle packed inside your head?”

“Hand Hamazura Shiage over to us. Do so and you need not be harmed.”

“Hey, now! I just provoked you. Don’t act like this is a polite conversation.”

“You fought alongside us to protect the world from Great Demon Coronzon. We may not know who you Transcendents are, but I would still feel bad cutting you down the very next day.”

“Oh? …You think you’re better than me?”

Hamazura gulped and looked up at Blodeuwedd the Bouquet from where he sat on the floor.

Yes, she was ultimately one of those who had gathered to hunt down Coronzon.

The monster herself sighed at his look of fear. With the face of a wounded girl. As if to say his gaze hurt her more than the armed group surrounding her.

Kanzaki continued speaking.

“As a Saint and a Transcendent, we are both extraordinary magicians. We have too little data to predict what will happen if we clash head on. What if Hamazura Shiage, who you are attempting to ''illegitimately'' protect, is harmed by the side effects of our battle?”

It was a touching attempt at persuasion.

But grinning Blodeuwedd the Bouquet didn’t miss that Kanzaki Kaori had her hand on the hilt of the sword at her hip. And careful observation also showed that her fingertips were precisely manipulating thin wires rather than the sword.

“You act all benevolent, but you’re just distracting me so you can launch a supersonic surprise attack.”

“Your accusations mean nothing.”

(Hmm. Is ''this'' why that Hamazura guy bloodlessly flipped around and fell to the floor when she attacked with her sword? She must be able to capture you with the wires and throw you. I bet she used a similar trick to stop that tanker truck with a single hand.)

Apparently Kanzaki Kaori was willing to handle the dirty work if it meant she could keep the enemy from dying. Very noble, but Blodeuwedd the Bouquet had no patience for a leader so beloved by her followers.

“Making people hate you like that isn’t bad, but weren’t you paying attention? I’m siding with Hamazura Shiage right now.”

So.

Blodeuwedd the Bouquet took a step forward.

Casually.



''Fwoosh!!!



Blackness roared out.

That blackness was in fact thousands, or tens of thousands, of crows shattering the tempered glass to break in through the large windows. In a bird strike, the crow sucked into the passenger plane’s engine could even cause the plane to crash, making them hated at international airports – even though the crows didn’t do it intentionally.

The encirclement specialized for anti-magician combat collapsed.

The Anglicans had had an overwhelming advantage in numbers, but in this moment they became the minority.

A rapid shift came over the state of the battle.

“Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!”

Blodeuwedd the Bouquet was a Transcendent. Her mere presence changed everything.

The Anglicans were blotted out.

Of course, the Anglicans weren’t just going to take it.

“Tch!”

“No hard feelings if I take out more than necessary! My time scavenging for food in the back alleys didn’t leave me with many good memories regarding crows and rats.”

Flames shot from Tatemiya Saiji’s large flamberge sword and Agnese swung down her Lotus Wand to bring down a distant group of crows like they were hit by a hammer.

These were only crows, after all. Their numbers were overwhelming, but each individual one was weak. Deadly magic could easily eliminate the threat. ''However…

“Are you sure that kind of shortsighted thinking can get you through this? You’re free to kill, but don’t forget that all life is considered equal.”

She cackled.

Blodeuwedd the Bouquet looked down at the Anglicans with an obvious sneer on her lips.

“''Each life you take will be added to your list of sins,'' so do be careful. The count is accurate. You can’t cheat it. The most dangerous of the deadly risks out there are the ones where the threat isn’t apparent at first glance. And once you’re trapped, it’s too late to work up a countermeasure☆”

When you curse someone, dig two graves.

That phrase might sound like a fair system on par with the law of action and reaction, but there was actually a loophole. …When the number of lives on one side was far greater, the system ceased to be fair.

''Badump!!

There was an odd sound like a heartbeat. No, maybe it really was a heartbeat.

The magicians’ and nuns’ faces changed color.

From red to blue and then to purple.

Hamazura didn’t have the specialist knowledge to know what was happening deep inside them.

But he could see their eyes opening wide.

He didn’t know what was happening, but even an idiot like him could tell those people were suffering. He couldn’t celebrate that his helper was so overpowered with this going on!

A person’s face wouldn’t turn that color even if you strangled them with a thick rope.

It was of course Blodeuwedd the Bouquet who Hamazura shouted at.

“Hey!! All you have to do is keep me safe. I didn’t ask you to kill them!”

The Transcendent tilted her head.

She was confused. She really did seem to find this puzzling.

“Umm, but they’re seriously trying to kill you.”

“So what?”

“They made no attempt to find out what kind of person you are and just decided to kill you because you had an evil friend.”

“Again, so what!? I don’t want to see people die. Is that so wrong? They may be dumb as hell, but that doesn’t mean we have to think on their level! So just stop this!! You said you were taking my side, didn’t you!?”

He heard a quiet sound.

No, it was laughter.

Blodeuwedd the Bouquet…was it? The emaciated girl doubled over and her shoulders shook with laughter.

“Ohh…good, good. Siding with you was so the right decision. I may have stumbled onto a real prize this time.”

When she raised her head again, the short girl’s flushed face displayed a hint of inappropriate sensuality.



“I love that sort of hated person☆”



The density of the black color increased.

Apparently his attempt had severely backfired.

But a thick pressure pushed back against the black storm of crows.

Was it that katana woman?

“Nwa ha ha! Go, Hamazura!! Let the magician handle that magician. I’ll see it through! Besides, I don’t like the way those supposedly righteous Anglicans are dragging an amateur into the ring, ganging up on him before he can even figure out the rules, and declaring victory for themselves!!”

“Are you saying those Anglicans or whatever can still turn this around? But they see me as a villain. And there’s no reason you have to go that far to help me!”

He couldn’t let Blodeuwedd the Bouquet handle it all. He was officially known as a filthy fugitive. He appreciated that she didn’t look down on Coronzon as a great demon and her support had tears welling up in his eyes, but if she lent him a hand, it could end up with her being on the run too.

“Hey, if you stay here, you’ll just get hit by a stray shot and killed. Probably anyway.”

He decided to run away.