Toaru Majutsu no Index:GT Volume14 Epilogue
Epilogue: One in the Darkness – Bad_Light.[edit]
It was over.
The world arrived at a new day once more.
The sunrise was still quite orange as its light washed across Academy City.
Including the Tokiwadai Middle School student dorm in District 7.
“…Onee-sama.”
“Ugh,” groaned Misaka Mikoto.
Shirai Kuroko was seated atop her bed.
She probably hadn’t slept.
“I can’t believe you. I was so worried for you and then you stay out all night without contacting me, so what were you even doing out there instead of returning to the dorm? I’m going to need a detailed report.”
“I don’t understand any of it myself…but I think I saved the world or protected the fate of humanity or something? Wow, and you helped out without even knowing it, Kuroko!! Aren’t you great!?”
“I don’t know anything about saving the world or the fate of humanity, but do you have any idea how trying it was to trick the dorm manager? Would you like to try playing hide-and-seek from hell next time?”
“Sorry, but that’s one thing I can’t do.”
“I am but a small flower blossoming in the shadows, all its efforts gone unappreciated. I’m just so, so lonely, I need your help comforting me, Onee-sama…licky, licky, licky, licky, licky, licky, licky, lick!!”
“Your tongue- ugh, stop moving it side to side like that! Ahhhh, that’s terrifying! Why are you being even more monstrous than usual, Kuroko!?”
“Today’s top news: a secret religious meeting held by the Anglican Church, Roman Catholic Church, and Russian Orthodox Church? We have received word that the Patriarch who leads the Russian Orthodox Church paid a surprise visit to the Catholic Pope who is currently staying at a health resort in Edinburgh. According to someone with knowledge of the matter, they discussed their thoughts on global climate change and on the changes smart technology has brought to daily life.”
A mobile device was playing the TV news.
If this was what the public was hearing, then the true topic at that meeting must not have leaked.
One person who had been caught up in the chaos at Academy City and hadn’t even been able to take a bath was upset about this news. That person was Dion Fortune.
“Are you kidding me!? People of Earth, aren’t you forgetting the great archbishop who leads the Anglican Church!? Those troublemakers caused so many problems with their large-scale spells and now they’re meeting without me!?”
The Amakusas led by Kanzaki, the Former Agnese Force led by Agnese, and the rest of the Anglicans planned to leave Academy City soon. They could have demanded to remain in control of the city, but they decided splitting their forces would only tempt the Roman Catholics or Russian Orthodoxes to attack London.
“Hamazura Shiage? For now, he will remain in our custody as a Coronzon sympathizer.”
Kanzaki Kaori explained the situation to a worried-looking Takitsubo.
“That said, this is only a formality, so you don’t have anything to worry about. He ideologically sympathized with her, but he did not actually provide any material or combat support. After the paperwork is in order and he has been given a stern talking to, he will be released. I will make sure of it.”
Someone else was in that same hospital.
While Tsushima had reentered the fight after some healing magic for the neck wound she received from Coronzon, it had been serious enough for her to make use of an Academy City hospital. Airplane pressurization was a serious issue for the wounded and if she took a turn for the worse on the flight, a flight attendant would have to start shouting for a doctor.
For some reason, Kanzaki and Itsuwa were giving her sharp looks. Unnecessarily sharp.
“…” “…”
“(Well, this is awkward.)”
An unnatural rain fell across Academy City at dawn. The skies had cleared after only half an hour, but it seemed to have gotten rid of the red snow that had persistently stuck around and made driving dangerous. Thanks to that, no one had died.
An airship displayed a message on its large screen.
“There is no threat to the electric, gas, or water infrastructure. Distribution of emergency supplies and recovery work has resumed across the city. Please remain calm and follow the instructions you are given. Academy City is safe.”
The airships being in the sky was itself good news for Academy City. Because it meant things were getting back to normal.
“It begins here.”
New Board Chairman Accelerator spoke quietly while seated on the bed in his solitary confinement cell.
To be frank, the #1 had someone he would destroy the world to protect.
But so did other people.
Everyone had people they wanted to protect.
The world was not controlled by some grand system. It was formed by the accumulation of 7 or 8 billion of those small things.
So being the strongest was no excuse. He could not trample on those feelings in others or force his onto others. And that was why he would create a city where no one had to.
Academy City’s technology was 20-30 years ahead.
So if this city proved it to be a success, it would spread to the rest of the world later.
And if it failed, it could all fall apart.
“So…it begins here. It’s time to prove Academy City’s worth.”
“Honestly.”
Golden Retriever Kihara Noukan walked in the shadows between buildings.
He was curious what happened to Great Demon Coronzon’s – no, to Aleister’s remains – but he had been from the UK, hadn’t he? His original body had apparently been buried there, so perhaps that was the best location for his final resting place.
“He should have left behind a will for this eventuality. That is one romance for those at the top. My terrible friend’s biggest flaw was his complete unawareness of how much influence he had on the world around him.”
Several figures moved through the city.
Alice Anotherbible, the Bologna Succubus, Aradia, and the other Transcendents of the Bridge Builders Cabal crossed the city wall and swiftly departed.
Just once, Alice looked back toward the city behind her.
“Teacher…”
“Alice. If you want to repay him, then it would be best not to bring further chaos to the world. Kamijou Touma has restored your position in society. And his trump card should remain hidden,” said Aradia.
Black Cat Witch Mina Mathers was also plotting an escape.
Unlike Archbishop Dion Fortune, Mina had no official identity. She had entered Academy City without permission. It had been necessary at the time, but now she wanted to leave before the security around the wall recovered.
“You know…”
“What?”
The black cat witch’s words received a response from the little wicked woman Anna Sprengel.
“I thought for sure you would have remained in his dorm room.”
“When he already has the grimoire library and the dregs of a Magic God staying there? There isn’t enough room. And if he starts to stand out, it will destroy his peaceful life.”
Mina Mathers looked taken aback.
Eventually, she managed to get her mouth open.
“Since when do you know how to be considerate?”
“Even a wicked women knows when she owes a debt of gratitude.”
And…
He was dead.
And once he died, he would of course go to hell.
That was the way that human saw it. He had somehow managed to cheat the system in 1947, but his life still should have ended after settling things with Coronzon in the frozen Scottish sea and passing the Master Key onto the next Board Chairman. Borrowing the great demon’s body had been no more than some lingering heat, like the last few embers smoldering in the ashes of an extinguished fire in the fireplace.
He had caused the world so much trouble.
Leaving the Master Key with the #1 may have helped atone a little (in an extremely pragmatic way), but he realized he hadn’t done anything for another boy.
That regret may have been why he clung to life.
He was glad he had managed to help that boy in the very end.
He was truly glad the things that boy was trying to protect had not been destroyed.
There was nothing more for him to do.
It wasn’t a physical sensation…but he had felt something tugging on him. Tugging downwards. The gates of hell were probably flung open in the depths. The human did not resist the pull. Death was not meant to be frightening. Because it led to heaven. He had only feared death to the point of heading to hell because of his own many misdeeds. But now the time had come to pay the price.
He truly thought so.
And yet…
“My, my. You’re being a lot meeker than I expected, Aleister.”
He didn’t understand.
Even that human failed to grasp the situation. Why was he hearing that voice here and now? That person was already gone. She had promised to protect the things he wanted to protect, actually done so, resurrected Kamijou Touma from death, and then gone to hell on her own.
(Wait. Hell?)
“What are you doing there, Anna Kingsford!?”
“Didn’t I 💬 you, Aleister? I keep my promises. I promised to 🛡️ the things you hold dear and make you happy. To accomplish that, I switched off my preserved corpse so I could intentionally ☠️ and intentionally go to hell. So let me do my job★”
“You mean…?”
“Yes, I knew all of this would happen from the beginning. What of it?”
That was all she had to say about that.
To what level had this expert – this true magician – risen?
“And since I knew you would end up in hell, I got here ahead of you and prepared a net. A real 🧙 knows how to alter a little thing like being doomed to ☠️. This is all part of serving those around me. We must cause artificial miracles to make people happy. How hard it will be is not the question. That just means you need to hone your skills further. It is no flaw of the person needing saving.”
Anna Kingsford smiled and wagged her index finger.
A small white light appeared.
In no time, it filled Aleister’s vision and enveloped him.
It was not piercingly bright. It was a gentle light.
And he felt an upwards tug.
…How much had Kingsford paid to accomplish this one thing? Kamijou Touma must have questioned it during his experience: Couldn’t Anna Kingsford crawl back from hell alive on her own if she wanted to? If she were only willing to trample on others and turn a blind eye to the damage it caused the world?
But that was a line Kingsford was not willing to cross.
So she did not hesitate to hand the opportunity to whoever needed it most.
She had demonstrated true strength.
The expert spoke within the light.
“Go home, child of 🪄. And do not take the easy way out. It is still too soon for you to come here.”
Aleister thought of her like a mother.
Even though his actual mother had been someone who pushed young Aleister away with her hysteric shouting.
Perhaps that was the goal Anna Kingsford had set for herself.
“Oh, and I will make hell a more pleasant place to live before you get here. I was just thinking the place could use more fresh air and ☀️shine. I have already taken over the Infernal Court and killed all its chamberlains to lay the groundwork for that! Now, it’s about time I attempted the boss battle against the first of the ministers: Demon Lord Astaroth!! Come on, CRC!! Construction, cooking, and even crafting are all an option! It’s time to turn hell into a land of parks and flower gardens!!!”
Apparently a true expert had enough strength to spare to joke around in hell.
What would happen if he returned to the living world without a body of his own?
Aleister Crowley’s soul was launched straight up before he could ask.
It was 8:30 in the morning.
So much had happened, but a new day had arrived for Academy City. Barely any of its 2.3 million people knew how much effort had gone into that, but their strength to want to live a normal life – get up in the morning, eat breakfast, wash their face, change into their uniform, walk to school – had to have played a not insignificant role. Because that had won out over the rotting power to take the easy way out. To decide to take the day off because some uniquely awful things had happened.
The bonds between people remained strong.
Aogami Pierce was goofing off in the usual classroom.
“It’s true! The boys dorm really was destroyed! It doesn’t matter to me since I’m breaking the rules by staying with someone else…but I hope this doesn’t backfire on me. What if they have no other choice and their emergency solution is to invite all the homeless boys to live in the girls dorm, but I’m the only one who misses out on that joyful paradise!? Know what I mean!? Doesn’t it sound like the perfect setup for a romcom: a poor boy with nowhere else to go ending up in a dorm full of girls!?”
“Your imagination is pissing me off and I say this is enough to count as sexual harassment. I so want to punch you.”
The city ran on human power.
This normal and natural ordinary life could only exist through people’s efforts.
“Okay, Aogami-chan, you need to take your seat. Fukiyose-chan, stop chasing the idiot around and get in your seat. The rest of you get in your seats too.”
It hadn’t felt like it with the highly irregular event of their classmate’s funeral, but yesterday had been the opening ceremony.
Which meant today was an ordinary school day.
The usual bell rang through the speakers.
That signaled an ending. It shut down that place.
Tsukuyomi Komoe flatly read through the students’ names, but one of them did not receive a response.
Kamijou Touma had not returned.
The new term had begun with him still missing.
But then…
The classroom door slid open and a pointy-haired boy walked in.
“S-sorry. I was delayed having the doctor confirm I’m alive.”
He had fought against the destruction of the world so he could say those words.