They had no time.
Kamijou and the others headed to a mall filled with restaurants that truck drivers frequented. They were of course not planning to eat anything. They were instead searching for a truck heading to District 23 out of all the ones parked there.
“The satellite guidance vehicles have a sticker indicating they have been approved. Here we go.”
Kamijou and the others opened up the door for the container on the back and hid inside. Academy City’s busses and trains stopped running after the curfew, so they had to use a bit of cleverness to hurry to a distant location.
After finishing his meal, the driver drove the vehicle away without realizing they were there.
Stiyl spoke within the container.
“We will use this truck to head to District 18 which neighbors District 23. After that, we have to break in. Our only hope is to climb the fence and force our way in.”
“The security is in shambles thanks to the trouble caused by that interference, so it shouldn’t be a problem on its own.”
“The only problem left is my sister,” added Sozty as she leaned against the container’s door. “The project my sister took part in was special even within the cabal. Her entire body was completely remade to meet the usage requirements of Brahma Astra. I have no idea what she might be capable of.”
Index tilted her head in confusion and asked, “You mentioned that before, but does it mean she has been so specialized for Brahma Astra that she cannot use any other spells?”
“No. When I worked alongside my sister on missions in the past, I saw her using other Astras. In other words, she can use other attack spells. Because the experiment failed, she switched over to using Astras related to the god Shiva. But those are not as pure as the Brahma Astra. They are on a level I could use as well.” Sozty hung her head down as if she was trying to remember something. “Trishula, Gandiva… They are all related to Shiva, the god of destruction. If we think of Brahma Astra as a special case, that might be a set rule governing the weapons she normally uses.”
“But we can’t forget that Ureapaddy has intentionally regulated what she reveals to you in order to fool you. She may have purposefully narrowed down the information she gave you so you would analyze it in that way.”
“Exactly. We need to assume there is a chance she will suddenly use Astras of Vishnu, Brahma, or other gods. In other words, it is useless to think about it. We could fall into a trap of hers.”
Either way, an amateur like Kamijou could not calculate out the exact structure of the magic to either neutralize or counteract it, so he decided to keep his thoughts positive. He would be on the lookout for attacks from every direction and intercept them with his right hand. In other words, what he always did.
Stiyl frowned slightly and said, “Since Ureapaddy is trying to use Debris Storm to cover the world in tens of thousands of shooting stars, her target is likely more than just Academy City. And no one knows when the attack will happen. In that case, speed is what matters most. The grimoire library can remain as backup, but Kamijou Touma, Sozty, and I must be prepared to take some injuries.”
“I understand,” said Sozty through clenched teeth. “She is justifying it with some ridiculous hope, but my sister is giving up every part of her life for this day. If she is trying to wear away her entire life, I cannot expect to remain unharmed.”
“But it goes no further than injuries,” said Kamijou as if to cut her off. He continued when everyone’s attention was focused on him. “I will not let anyone die. Not us, not Ureapaddy, and not the people she is targeting with Brahma Astra.”
Stiyl clicked his tongue.
That was when the truck they were riding on came to a stop. This was not simply a traffic light; its engine shut off. They assumed they had reached their destination of District 23.
And they were not wrong.
However, when Kamijou cautiously opened up the container door to peer outside, he found a large parking lot lit up by large lights of the sort found at a baseball stadium.
And…
“What?”
A great pounding noise struck his eardrums.
It came from the footsteps of a large group of Anti-Skill. They were fully equipped and even held guns in their hands. Kamijou initially assumed they must have stumbled across some kind of incident, but he was wrong. As soon as his eyes met those of Anti-Skill, the guns all aimed in his direction.
“Shit!!”
He frantically escaped back into the container just as several gun shots exploded through the air. Orange sparks flew from the metal door.
“What the hell is going on!?”
“We are trying to use this confusion to sneak into District 23. Is it that surprising that they are treating us as dangerous?” responded Sozty in annoyance.
But Stiyl raised an objection. “But how did they get this information? Sozty, the grimoire library, and I are experts from the magic side. I doubt standard law enforcement could have detected our actions.”
“What is this then?”
“To help lessen the friction between the magic side and science side, I provide periodic reports on my actions. I of course leave out any unnecessary information, but I do not doubt they use the information I give them. In other words, the higher ups of the science side must truly not want us to approach that space elevator.”
“Why? Brahma Astra could be activated at any time! If that happens, there will be no magic or science. Everything will be destroyed!”
“There has been a lot of fighting between magic and science over who has the rights to space. You could call it the gold rush of the modern age,” spat out Sozty. “Even if my sister is planning to use Brahma Astra and no matter how much damage it will do, we could be using this as a chance to sabotage the space elevator. That is probably how they are viewing this.”
“What are we supposed to do!? This is no time for two groups of protectors to be fighting each other!!”
The Imagine Breaker power in Kamijou’s right hand would have no effect against a normal bullet. And this was a group of professionals whose everyday job was to suppress criminals who wielded supernatural esper powers. This was not an opponent he could easily break through.
“They are focusing on the single door to this container. I will slice through another wall with my flame sword so we can escape. After that, we will all flee via different routes,” suggested Stiyl. “At least one of us needs to get further into District 23. With the urgent situation regarding Ureapaddy and Brahma Astra, we cannot all be held back here. Kamijou Touma, can you calculate out candidates for routes?”
“District 23 is mostly made up of wide open spaces to provide room for the large runways. They will be able to see where we are at a glance. …Or so Anti-Skill will think. They will not bother to check behind the small pieces of cover. If we keep our path along those areas, we might be able to continue on without being noticed.”
“Then tell me what the most dangerous routes are. Sozty and I can use concealment magic to head unseen through the areas Anti-Skill is most confident are safe. You two head along the routes with the most cover.”
“Understood. And it would be great if you could cause a few diversions along the way.”
“Deal with this on your own.”
“Fine then.”
With an unpleasant noise, Stiyl sliced through the thick wall of the container. Kamijou and the others exited onto the large parking lot and split up as they slipped through the gaps between the large vehicles lined up there.
Kamijou spotted a few of Anti-Skill’s guns turn in his direction.
(Not good.)
As soon as he thought that…
The large baseball stadium-like lights suddenly shut off.
All of a sudden, darkness arrived.
Kamijou had no idea what had caused the blackout, but this was their chance
Kamijou turned toward Stiyl and shouted, “Put out your flames! We can escape now!!”
Anti-Skill’s bullets caused sparks nearby, but fortunately even their professional training was not enough for perfect accuracy at that distance.
It was unclear whether Anti-Skill had night-vision equipment or not, but Kamijou and the others could still gain some distance while they switched over to using it.
Kamijou Touma, Index, Stiyl Magnus, and Sozty Exica.
Those four scattered to different areas as they all headed for a single destination.
Part 2[edit]
Ureapaddy Exica.
Her primary weapon was Braham Astra that used the shooting stars that would soon fill the sky, but Sozty had said she also used several Shiva-related Astras. She had easily defeated the operating unit of her own magic cabal in a surprise attack and neutralized the escort vehicles for the satellite guidance vehicle, so those Astras could not be taken lightly.
On the other hand, Kamijou Touma had Imagine Breaker.
It was limited to his right wrist and down, but that power gave him the ability to completely negate any form of supernatural power. It was his trump card against those that used unusual things to produce unusual effects.
That was why he felt her previous accomplishments did not matter.
He could overturn them.
He could produce an unexpected result.
Kamijou’s calm analysis told him that possibility existed.
And perhaps he was not wrong.
Perhaps he did have that possibility.
However…
It may have been wrong to be satisfied with a possibility that lacked certainty.
He had been naïve.
The fierce attack that came in the next instant taught Kamijou Touma that fact all too well.
“Gandiva,” whispered Ureapaddy.
Her hand moved as if she was drawing a bow and a bluish-white arrow appeared out of thin air.
A great tension ran through the bottom of Kamijou’s gut, but distance meant nothing to an opponent with a projectile weapon. The shorter the radius of a circle, the shorter the diameter. If he wanted to evade by circling around his opponent, he would find it easier the closer he was to the enemy.
But Ureapaddy’s target with this spell she named Gandiva was not Kamijou. She aimed the arrow straight up and released the taut bowstring as if she was trying to shoot the heavens.
With a roar, a bluish-white line of light tore through the dark of the night.
An instant later, more than 10 arrows of light rained down on the area.
“…!!”
Kamijou immediately held his right hand up towards the tremendous light and sound, but then he noticed something. The falling arrows tore into the ground near him, but none of them fell at him directly.
(Not good! This was just meant to hold me in place!)
The attack was meant to seal off his expected paths of evasion.
The rain of arrows was like a cage meant to trap one’s prey.
And Kamijou saw it.
It was right in front of him.
As Ureapaddy smiled thinly, a golden glow came from her right hand. It was a spear. At some point, she had switched from Gandiva to some other spell. And the tip was pointed directly at Kamijou.
It was as if she was sticking some sharp blade in through the gaps of the cage.
A surefire attack was coming.
“Trishula.”
That whisper called in a great disaster.
An explosive noise rang out.
The golden tip stabbed directly towards Kamijou Touma. She had only used this surefire strike after cutting off his escape routes. That destructive power that was great enough to rip apart and melt the asphalt stabbed mercilessly towards a flesh-and-blood human.
It resembled lightning.
If that lightning attack had struck the side of a submarine, it would have evaporated over half of it.
However…
During that flash of lightning, Ureapaddy Exica saw something.
She saw a certain right palm receive that tremendous light. And in the next instant, the Trishula strike was blown away with the sound of bursting air.
“I see.” Ureapaddy gave a thin smile as she repeated the motion of drawing a bow in order to create the spell called Gandiva. “So you actually do have enough power to set foot into this world.”
Kamijou took a quick breath and then charged toward Ureapaddy at full speed.
If his fist could reach…
If he could get close enough…
“But.” Her lips twisted ominously. “Pashupata.”
Kamijou heard an unpleasant creaking noise. But not in from his ears. He heard it directly through the vibrations in his bones.
The sound grew into a pain.
He forgot all about all of the cartilage in his body as his entire body was wrapped in an intense pain like having one’s back teeth scraped down with a course file.
“Ghabhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!”
He fell to the ground, thrashed about, and arched his back like a bow. Ureapaddy looked down on him with a grin.
“That is an interception Astra. I was warned never to use it against a person, though.”
As she whispered, the golden light of Trishula that resembled a three-pronged spear appeared in her hand.
She was going to strike at close range.
The sound of the air being roasted reverberated through the area.
“Oh? So you can still defend against it from this close? My, my. And even when I use it so many times in a row. My, my, my.”
Lightning flashed again and again.
And even while collapsed on the ground, Kamijou swung his right hand to negate the lights as they fell towards him one after another. If even one made it through, his body would be blown to pieces.
“Hm? So you can remove the Pashupata within you simply by pressing your hand against your body? What a convenient right hand. Convenient, but it seems you need the right hand to do it. In that case…”
“!?”
Kamijou immediately rolled to the side.
In the next moment, Ureapaddy dropped another Trishula. But not at Kamijou who was at her feet. She had intentionally missed. The asphalt melted from the high heat so that the boy would be enveloped by that black bog.
He just barely avoided being fried.
Intense pain ran through Kamijou’s upper arm where a few drops of the black liquid landed, but he did not have time to worry about it. After gaining a bit of distance, he shot to his feet.
“Parashu.”
Ureapaddy held nothing in her hand and yet a heavy weight as if from an axe could be seen weighing it down.
She lightly swung it horizontally.
With a tremendous noise, the melted asphalt at Ureapaddy’s feet was sliced in two.
Ureapaddy slowly walked through the path she had created.
“It may seem I use so many Astras because I enjoy novel and destructive techniques.” Her hands nocked another of the bluish transparent arrows of the Gandiva spell. “However, I use so many techniques to ensure reliability. And so I will repeat the same methods as many times as it takes. I will repeat the attacks I have proven to be effective.”
“!!”
Kamijou did not have time to say anything.
Ureapaddy whispered name after name.
“Gandiva.”
“Parashu.”
“Pashupata.”
She sealed off his path of escape, forced him to use his right hand to defend against an attack that would otherwise kill him, and then used the interception spell while he was stopped to eat into his bones. Her means of attack was almost exactly the same as before. But he could not overcome it. Before Kamijou’s body could fall to the ground due to the intense pain torturing his entire body, Ureapaddy reached out a hand to grab his neck.
“Gah…gh…!!”
“Oh, right. You negated Pashupata with your right hand, didn’t you? Could you prove to me that is all you can do? Once you do, I will have the certainty I need. Certainty that I can wear you down and defeat you by repeating this enough times.”
“Is that so…dammit!!”
“Now, now. Don’t force yourself. Choosing a different path when you have no cards left in your hand will only bring you to a stalemate faster. I changed the details, but your response was the same. If the range of attacks you can handle with that right hand is fairly wide, then it should be difficult for you to escape from the rails I have prepared.”
She tossed Kamijou to the asphalt as easily as tossing an empty can away.
And the next attacks came.
“Gandiva.”
“Trishula.”
“Pashupata.”
The pain spread. His weariness grew. And as it did, Kamijou lost his calm and his thoughts grew simpler and simpler. If he could not even overcome that set procedure, the Trishula and Parashu Astras would smash him to pieces.
“That should do it. Now that we have seen each other’s abilities, all that remains is to bring this to the end we can both already see coming. So let us end this. If you have any last words, you should speak them now.”
“…”
“If not, that is fine too.” Ureapaddy grinned as her long silver hair blew in the wind. “This was a meaningless sacrifice, but it will make you the foundation for the change created by Brahma Astra. I suppose I can remember you as playing that role.”
She did not hesitate.
A tremendous sound of destruction reverberated throughout District 23.
Part 4[edit]
An instant passed.
But it was not all over.
Gandiva, Trishula, and the other Astras controlled by the Pinaka spiritual item had been nothing more than sub-Astras meant to protect her primary one.
Brahma Astra.
That was her greatest Astra…her greatest spiritual item. Its purity was much higher than all of her others.
And…
“Ureapaddy!!”
“This really should not surprise you. Unlike my other Astras, Brahma Astra is related to the god Brahma. And while Sozty and the others could use Gandiva or Parashu, only I can use Brahma Astra. Did you not realize it is a completely different type of Astra? I can use it with or without Pinaka.”
The brown woman held a giant bow made of gold in her hand.
Unlike the Shiva-related ones from before, this weapon was related to the god Brahma.
It was the ultimate Astra in a certain magic cabal.
But…
“No, that isn’t what I meant!! Why are you wielding it!? If you continue what you started here, you will destroy everything that you wanted to protect!!”
“Now then.” Ureapaddy Exica smiled thinly. “In the end, what was my goal? I still wish to protect the world. However, I also understand that doing so would require wiping out something else. But…”
“But what!?”
“But I can no longer stop it.”
Even if she knew she had gone wrong at some point, she could not change the path she was walking on. Her stable experience and her many past successes made her reject the idea of switching the rails of her plan over to some unknown direction. All of those past experiences pushed her onwards. Even if it required bending the truth a bit, they insisted she continue on.
That was an illusion.
Her actions would be completely meaningless, but that illusion gave them value.
“Boy, I never asked your name.”
The stars became visible.
But these were no normal stars. The black sky was filled with unnatural lights that one would never see on any armillary sphere or in any planetarium.
They were false shooting stars created from manmade objects. And they poured down.
The time limit set by Debris Storm had come. That violent light met the usage requirements for Brahma Astra and expanded its effects endlessly.
“Boy, what is your name?”
“…Kamijou Touma. Why?”
“I see.”
Ureapaddy Exica looked up into the sky.
A hint of loneliness could be seen in her eyes as they watched the unnatural deluge of light that she had created.
“Then, Kamijou Touma. I cannot stop Brahma Astra on my own. Make sure you understand that.”
She drew back the bowstring.
She had not nocked an arrow and yet a golden arrow appeared at some point.
When she let it fly, the world would end.
That was how much destructive power it held.
“And, Kamijou Touma. As the victor, you must end this with your own hand.”
INDEX Endymion 218-219.png
And so at the very least, the world did not come to an end, Academy City was not destroyed, and Kamijou Touma was not dead.
The busiest person after the fact seemed to be Stiyl Magnus, but Kamijou could not even guess what was going on behind the scenes.
Ureapaddy Exica had disappeared.
That was what had happened.
Due to the damage he had taken in the battle and the exhaustion from his final showdown receiving the full brunt of the Brahma Astra attack that should have assaulted the entire world, Kamijou Touma had allowed Ureapaddy to escape. Due to the security confusion and the interference of Anti-Skill, Stiyl and the others had been unable to pursue her.
And so the two sisters had apparently safely escaped.
The world was sturdier than one might think.
Despite that great event, it continued on like normal with nothing having been destroyed. In fact, the existence of the space elevator in District 23 had been made public. It was still officially said to be “under construction”, but the higher ups of Academy City must have deemed it at a stage where it could not be stopped.
The problem regarding Ureapaddy Exica had been resolved, but the danger of the space elevator remained.
How much chaos would be caused if it was used militarily or for something beyond even that?
The Venus Probe Contest had actually been a front for the elevator’s construction, and yet large numbers of rockets were still being launched into space. It was possible they were hiding some goal other than the construction of the space elevator.
“Touma.” Index called out the boy’s name. “You’ve been staring at that elevator a lot lately. Did something happen?”
“No,” said Kamijou in reply. “But if something does, I’ll destroy it too.”