Toaru Majutsu no Index:GT Volume10 Chapter1

Chapter 1: The World is Not So Strong – the_End_of_Real.

Part 1

It was January 6 at the District 7 hospital.

Furthermore, it was morning.

“Uhh…”

Kamijou Touma was zoning out in a bed that reeked of disinfectant. He was wearing his extremely lazy hospital clothes that were rapidly becoming his secondary pajamas. The look on his face said to let it slide since at least they weren’t a track suit.

His precious winter break was almost over, but he had nothing to do all morning.

“Winter break is ending. And then the new school term is starting. ...Is this really happening? And I thought for sure I wasn’t going to survive this time!!”

“Fool, don’t rewrite your own memories to tell yourself you got through this deathless. You needed Good, Old Mary’s resurrection, which is proof enough that you died. More than once, even.”

“Ugh,” groaned Kamijou in the bed.

Someone sat next to the bed on a simple folding chair.

She looked just like a small girl of around 10. Her long, strawberry blonde hair was done up in several flat fried shrimp shapes, creating a volume greater than her short, slender body. Her oversized, baggy red dress was forcibly held up against her chest, so it did very little to cover up most of her skin.

She was Anna Sprengel.

And true to the exasperation on her face, Kamijou’s current survival was not the result of a future he had acquired through his own work and choices. In his conflict against the Transcendents, Alice Anotherbible, and Rosencreutz, he had learned far too well what happened when he recklessly attempted something beyond his abilities.

His thoughts continued on from there.

But Anna was here. She was not an illusion and she would not suddenly disappear.

Also, this was a private hospital room.

...What was Anna Sprengel doing in his room? What was she doing in the men’s ward which smelled as much of sweat, tears, and unfulfilled desire as a baseball clubroom during the rainy season?

“You’re still recovering too, right? Why’d you slip out of your room to visit me?”

“To nurse you,” was her succinct response.

Kamijou blinked twice before responding.

“Ha ha ha. You were lonely without anyone to talk to, weren’t you? To think that wicked woman would end up like this. You never know what life has in store for-”

“This room reeks, fool. It smells like a lonely, loser male.”

“Really, why are you here?”

He even forgot to cry.

The high school boy had dried out to the point his mind went entirely blank, but Anna had an immediate response for him.

“Fool, is your head so defective it can’t remember what I told you three minutes ago? I am here to nurse you.”

Anna soaked a clean towel in a filled washtub and wrung out the towel with her little hands.

“First, I will wash you until you shine, so strip, fool.”

“Bff!?”

This came out of nowhere.

And it was apparently a foregone conclusion in Anna’s mind. She climbed onto the bed with the wet towel in hand. With a silent, catlike movement.

“N-n-now, wait just a second! Do you know what you’re saying!? As a girl!?”

“What’s this, fool? Are you embarrassed?”

“Don’t be silly, little kid! You’re 10 years – no, 15 years and 4 months – too young to do anything for Kamijou-san and his secret love of dorm managers!!”

Anna, who looked 10, blinked silently at first, but she eventually looked down at her own short and slender form.

And then…

“Oh? You aren’t into small bodies?”

She grinned wickedly.

And a moment later, she had grown into a fully grown woman.

“Lucky for you, I can do this.”

“Ahh!?”

“The choice is yours. I’m fine with either form.”

Anna crawled along the bed in a feline way, but this version of her was no kitty cat. She was a much bigger cat and her sweet scent was far more noticeable than before.

Something large swayed below her.

Anna chuckled with the wet towel in hand.

“Then again, now that I have taken this curvier form, it would take a lot of courage for you to come out and say you prefer the little form better, wouldn’t it?”

Could he defuse this situation faster by staying silent than by trying to correct her reasoning?

Asking himself that had been a mistake.

He was only avoiding the issue.

Because if he did nothing to actively put a stop to it, she would continue along her current course. No matter how misguided that course might be.

“Well, I probably should stick with the bigger form. It is more convenient for moving you and rolling you. But if you do get tired of it and want a change, just let me know, fool. I can change forms at any time.”

“The bigger form is more convenient? What, are you going to grab me and flip me over?”

“I am offering the noble service of washing you, so hurry up and get those clothes off, fool.”

“You’re not making any sense. Do have any idea what you’re asking!? This is as out of place as nikujaga made by a gyaru! Are you sure this is what you wan to do, Anna-san!?”

Anna’s grin only grew.

Miss Sprengel apparently found his fluster to be most entertaining.

Such was the mysterious nature of that wicked woman.

“My, my. Is this one of those foolish adolescent rebellious phases? Only one day in the hospital and the forced abstinence is already too much for you? How depraved a life have you been living? Hee hee. Oh, I can practically hear a certain part of your anatomy sproinging up in response to my sinful body.”

Kamijou’s mind was driven to a stage beyond entirely blank.

He was in new territory here.

He averted his gaze and spoke up quietly.

“Um.”

“What, fool?”

“This is really awkward to bring up...but I know they use a ‘sproing’ sound effect in trashy comedies, but that’s only a metaphor and a guy’s body doesn’t actually make a noise like that.”

“Wha-!? It doesn’t?”

Anna Sprengel quaked while in oddly extreme contrast, like the portrait on a piece of paper money.

She had done a lot to come off as a wicked woman...but was it possible?

“Hey, but that’s nothing to be embarrassed about. Ha ha ha. For grownup Kamijou-san, this return to a more innocent age is honestly refreshing. Yes, it’s so nice to meet a pure young girl who isn’t ready for any of that kind of thing. Ha ha ha ha ha.”

Anna fell silent.

Eventually, she sighed.

“Fool. Maybe it would be better to spring it on you as a joke said in a wooden voice, but just so you know, girls don’t actually shout ‘I’m coming’ when they climax.”

“Eh? Wait, I didn’t want to know that. Is this you taking revenge for-”

“It’s the height of folly really. The screenwriters probably just aren’t used to putting together natural-sounding dialogue because even dramas rarely include sex scenes these days.”

“But!? It can’t be! Noooooo! ….Then how does the cosmos work? Wh-what are we supposed to believe in now!?”

“Not that this information has any relevance to a pure and upright fool who has decided to guard his virginity more fiercely than Joan of Arc despite literally no one asking him to.”

“…”

In this case, hanging his head in silence was definitely the wrong answer.

He did not know how to deal with a wicked woman like Anna.

Sensing something in the air, she grinned. That was the look of a bully who had found the perfect target.

“Well, if you do ever find the dorm manager of your dreams after journeying to some other dimension or something, let’s hope she’s the kind of person who let’s her emotions explode out in verbal form.”

“I notice you’ve taken the issue of your own ignorance and swept it under the rug like someone who doesn’t actually know how to clean.”

“What? You wanna fight, fool!?”

“––––––!!”

“!?”

Part 2

She was exhausted.

“Phew,” softly sighed 15cm Othinus.

As swift as the cat was, he didn’t have the stamina to cross a space as large as Academy City. While riding him, Othinus had held onto his collar with her little hands and given him directions. They had finally made it this far after hopping into the back of the trucks driving through the city during the night and early morning.

Still, they had made it safely.

Any knowledge of how monstrous H.T. Trismegistus and Alice Anotherbible were would tell you how miraculous that was.

There was more than just luck at play here.

This had only been possible thanks to someone else’s sacrifice.

This message had to get through.

Grimoire Library Index had let herself be captured by Alice in order to give Othinus this one and only chance. It was unclear how many screws had come loose in Alice’s little head, so it was impossible to predict when she would take a life due to a malfunction rather than any sensible reason. Index had known this but still gone through with it.

Othinus couldn’t let that be for nothing.

She would reward that effort.

This response was like an instinct for her as a god of war.

So she had traveled all the way to District 7.

She had finally arrived at the usual hospital.

“How many times...tell you...off your clothes, fool?”

“And how many...have to tell...that’s embarrassing!?”

With a big “?” in her head, Othinus gave the cat one more instruction.

Cats these days knew how to get into trouble by smoothly opening a sliding door.

The door opened, allowing the voices to reach Othinus more clearly.

“Why am I the one pinning you down to the bed, fool!?”

“Probably because you haven’t been looking after your common sense by making sure you get enough Vitamin C and coenzyme Q10!!”

The voices came from atop the hospital bed.

Kamijou Touma’s pajamas were partway removed.

Anna Sprengel had grown.

The boy had somehow gotten himself turned around while he struggled, so now his pointy-haired head was resting on adult-mode Anna’s lap who was forcibly placing her weight down on him like she had been sitting on her knees before collapsing forward.

Simply put, a human head was trapped between a pair of thighs and a pair of boobs.

Big Anna Sprengel had apparently turned herself into a human mousetrap because she needed her hands free for some other task. She had her face down near the boy’s navel and…

“Just settle down and let me wash you! I am too sexy and perfect to back down now, fool!!”

“Can’t...breathe! Boobs...too fat! Thighs...too- mgh!”

To sum up, it was one of Japan’s infamous fanservice festivals.

The exhausted god wobbled wearily.

Hatred filled her one eye.

Magic God Othinus passed judgment from atop her feline steed.

She lightly kicked the cat’s belly with her little legs to get the clawed and fanged beast to charge.

“I’m just killing you this time!!!”

“Bwah, what? At least give me a reason, Othinus!”

Part 3

Kamijou was being processed for release from the hospital.

The 1st floor lobby was busy. But was it really a good thing for business to be booming at a hospital? Not only were patients and doctors moving about, but there were workers up on metal scaffolding. A closer look revealed they were replacing the New Year’s decorations with new decorations to match the beginning of a new school term.

Winter break was ending.

He had heard Misaka Mikoto, Aradia, and some others were hospitalized here too, but he hadn’t had any chance to see them since men and women were kept in different wards. He was just glad to know they were okay.

He used the waiting time in the busy lobby to speak with Othinus.

“Rosencreutz is...dead?” he muttered.

“You must have had a peaceful night if that’s enough to surprise you. He is no longer the primary problem.”

He couldn’t see her while she sat on his shoulder, but he could tell Othinus had sighed with her arms crossed.

“Alice Anotherbible was hard enough to predict already, but I fear she may have gone completely off the rails. Even CRC may have been easier to deal with since he was only interested in malicious destruction.”

Alice Anotherbible.

Was she still alive? Even though he could still see the image of her small body tossed artlessly on the floor after Rosencreutz crushed her head?

“Hold on, this isn’t some tear jerking story,” sharply cut in Othinus. “Did you forget the part about her capturing the grimoire library?”

“…”

That chilled his excitement.

Now he couldn’t simply rejoice at the survival of someone he thought had died.

But what exactly had happened?

“It won’t be that simple with a monster like her. Christian Rosencreutz was only a detour. He was the Bridge Builders Cabal’s goal, not ours. This means we’re finally back on track and our true enemy has shown up.”

“Was...Alice mad?”

“Beats me.” Little Othinus sighed softly. “If she was acting based on a simple emotion like that, we might have a chance at predicting her, but that wasn’t the sense I got. I would find it more believable if I learned Alice’s mere presence is enough to destroy the world.”

“…”

“The fact remains that the grimoire library is missing. Because she acted as bait so I could escape. We have no idea what happened to her. An ordinary magician would spare her life and keep her around, but there’s no predicting what Alice might do.”

Index was missing.

And unlike before, Alice wouldn’t have just taken Index to her secret base to play. And even if she had done that, leaving someone in Alice’s care now was far too dangerous.

The girl had been decapitated.

But that hadn’t been enough to stop her.

She had killed CRC.

Even a monster on his level had lost his life when he angered Alice and made her take him even a little bit seriously. And now those same sharp claws were at someone else’s throat.

“But...I can’t believe Alice would threaten Index’s life.”

“I don’t think she’s killed the grimoire library yet. That’s fortunate, at least.”

“Hm? You sound certain of that. I mean, I hope it’s true, but how can you know?”

“Because Alice is still in Academy City. The only reason she hasn’t lost interest in this place and disappeared is because of her obsession with you, human. So in all likelihood, she will be hesitant to kill someone connected to you. But on the other hand, that means the grimoire library’s life comes to an end as soon as Alice loses interest in you.”

That was her prediction as a war god.

It was an analysis based on accurate data and an intuition based on a vast quantity of harsh experiences, so a simple high school boy couldn’t hope to argue with it.

Kamijou still refused to back down, perhaps because an irreplaceable life was on the line here.

“I still find it hard to believe she’s alive. Is she really still in the city?”

“It is endlessly tiresome that my word as a god isn’t enough for you and you require objective evidence for every little thing, but there is some indirect evidence you can see for yourself. Just take a look outside.”

“?”

Exasperated, Othinus elaborated from his shoulder.

“Do you remember the social phenomenon unique to Academy City that was linked to Alice Anotherbible’s presence?”

“Hm? Oh, you mean Kotatsu Syndrome?”

If he was being honest, he had completely forgotten. He had assumed that had just gone away once New Board Chairman Accelerator declared martial law.

That strange form of group psychology led people to passively protest their entrance exams and the new school term by lazing around instead.

It led people to shortsightedly seek peace and comfort without worrying about the later consequences.

“Let’s head outside,” was all Othinus said. “It may not be visible from here, but you will see soon enough.”

Skeptical, Kamijou walked to the hospital exit after his release process was complete.

The glass door was partially soundproofed, probably to make life in the hospital more comfortable for the patients.

Something was exploding outside.

At first, Kamijou had no idea what it was.

He really did think something was exploding in the distance.

But when he listened more closely, he realized it was an amalgam of voices.

“I’m sick of this martial law! You can’t tell me what to do anymore!”

“They’re keeping down the little guy, as usual!!”

“Flip them!! Flip all those armored monstrosities!!”

Was that a wave of people? Were those strange voices and noises being made by human beings?

“I already saw it all on the way here.”

Maybe the hospital was so busy because people were claiming to feel sick and hiding out there for safety.

“It probably began with the melancholy caused by winter break ending and the new school term beginning,” quietly explained Othinus. “Then the new Board Chairman declared martial law and banned them from leaving their homes, so their frustrations grew as their vacation passed them by under those restrictions. When Alice Anotherbible’s return triggered a resurgence of Kotatsu Syndrome, it pushed all the city’s residents’ minds in the opposite direction. ...This is entirely different from the gentle social phenomenon built on escapism. I get the sense that, whether it will help them or hurt them, they will yell at and physically attack anyone who tries to boss them around.”

This wasn’t Kamijou’s first time seeing a city-wide riot.

For example, he had seen Academy City during the Christmas season when Anna Sprengel had arranged the rise of R&C Occultics.

For example, he had seen Shibuya on December 31 flooded with the youths influenced by the Transcendents Aradia and the Bologna Succubus.

But this was different from those.

When it was caused by Alice Anotherbible, the nature of the riot changed.

“It’s beginning.”

“…”

“Acute Kotatsu Syndrome is a very different threat from CRC, who was the ultimate individual. This is a new trend – a countdown toward destruction by a group. If nothing is done about Alice, Academy City will be brought down by internal violence. Maybe it could be stopped by a military force, but that would require Anti-Skill, or whoever else, to fire live ammunition on the people of the city.”

Part 4

“You expect me to head home at night? Why is the school curfew in effect during winter break!?”

“Go to hell!! I’m not going back to school. We didn’t get a real break because your stupid martial law! Extend the break for as long as that was in effect and then we can talk!!”

“We’re free!! No one can tell us what to do!! Get them!!”

A large group of boys and girls shouted and climbed on top of an armored vehicle that was swallowed up by the crowd after its occupants tried to put a stop to the rioting but couldn’t actually fire their weapons.

Would you call this Acute Kotatsu Syndrome?

Human Aleister and Golden Retriever Kihara Noukan were also watching Academy City innocently fall apart.

“U-um, Fukiyose-chan? I know that’s supposed to be cosplay, but what are you thinking? What is that character even from? I don’t think I’ve ever seen a character who’s naked except for a bunch of color-changing rainbow LED ribbons! So, um, I think it’s my duty as your teacher to tell you…”

“Eh!? What’s that!? It sure is loud out here! You’re going to have to speak up, Sensei!!”

“I have one piece of advice for today: I think that outfit shows off way too much of your boobs!!!!”

The children probably saw this as making use of their rights.

Whether they were flipping cars or throwing burning tabloids into the air, they may have been diluting the responsibility and guilt by acting as a group.

But more than any of that, this reckless behavior was caused by the subconscious influence of Alice Anotherbible’s powerful charisma.

They would do things they would normally never even consider yet not find it strange. They could go completely off the rails and simply laugh it off. This was a unique space, ruled by irrational thought processes even worse than “they were drunk, so they couldn’t help it”.

Had Kihara Noukan wanted him to see this state of the world?

Aleister wondered this and creased his brow as he followed the golden retriever around.

A severed head.

A bisected torso.

Anna Kingsford.

Another life lost. He was well aware of what his own inexperience had wrought.

“...me…”

Aleister clenched his teeth as a trembling voice spilled out.

“She died because of me…”

Once he got started, the rest came so easily.

Like a dam breaking.

That human was half howling as he cursed himself.

“It’s so obvious I used her in the wrong way! If I had more sense and if I was actually strong enough to fight by her side, Kingsford might not have died!! Maybe someone had to die, but it didn’t have to be her. If I had only stepped forward instead of abandoning her, she would be right here with us!!!”

But.

That was when Kihara Noukan saw something in Aleister’s blind spot.

Directly behind him, in fact.

Anna Kingsford had the most awkward smile on her face.

This was no ghost.

Kihara Noukan firmly rejected the existence of anything so unscientific.

She was unharmed. She was perfectly fine.

Eliminating all of the silly unscientific terms and logically assessing the situation led him to a single conclusion.

(Th-that bitch survived!)

This was not good.

A change came over Kihara Noukan’s round doggy eyes. They stared far, far into the distance. Extremely complex and advanced calculations rapidly unfolded in his mind. The relative locations of Aleister weeping and howling and of Kingsford blushing, smiling bashfully, and tapping her index fingers together was very bad indeed. It was a lot like a mother looking in her delinquent son’s closet and finding the knit scarf he had used as a small child stored with great care in the back. At any rate, their relative positions were at odds with romance. Depending how this turned out, Aleister’s very existence could explode in violation of all physical laws!!

...Was there any way of safely defusing this situation?

Kihara Noukan had to let his friend know.

It was too soon to give up. Romance’s doom had already approached within 5m of that human’s back.

“Are you listening, Kihara Noukan!? I am trying to tell you about my great sin!!”

“Um, yes. B-but everyone dies eventually, so shouldn’t you see all goodbyes as inevitable?”

“Maybe so! But my point is it didn’t have to be then and there!!”

“My advice as your friend is to take deep breaths to calm this swelling of emotion! When you learn the truth, it will be a great shock and you may curse the world, but I hope you can view it as a reason why this world has its positive side and that you can peaceably lower your raised hand!!”

“What are you talking about!? Hold on, why do you keep glancing behind me?”

“No, my old friend, do not turn around!! Do not, I said!!!”

Aleister ignored that advice.

This was a mistake that human continued to make again and again.

Then his eyes met hers.

Aleister saw it all and petrified.

“Ah.”

It took a full five seconds before that sound escaped his throat.

Kihara Noukan was so nervous he actually failed to get a new cigar in his mouth. The thick, fancy cigar that cost as much as a tenderloin fell to the ground unlit, but he didn’t even glance down at it.

The cat was out of the bag.

“Anna Kingsford?”

Aleister received bitter laughter in response. The glasses woman gave a little wave.

There was some bashfulness mixed in.

She must have heard everything he said.

Aleister squeezed his eyes shut and took a deep breath.

But this was not a ritual meant to calm his feelings.

Kingsford was an expert, so she immediately recognized this as preparations to refine life force into magic power.

“Hm, so should I 🏃 away now?”

As always, she was correct.

The magician who authored the Book of the Law unleashed all sorts of forbidden spells from his hands.

Part 5

This place was “somewhere else”.

But the distortion wasn’t yet great enough to call it another world.

“…”

Index was not dead.

Not yet, anyway.

Alice Anotherbible’s whims had just so happened to work out in her favor. But whether that would remain true a second from now was anyone’s guess.

“The Bridge Builders Cabal’s objective remains unchanged,” said H.T. Trismegistus with a composed expression. “Common sense says we only want universal salvation for the world.”

“You’re going to thoughtlessly repeat your mistake? Rosencreutz wasn’t the saint spoken of in legend. You should know that in your very bones after what happened!!”

Index was not one to be influenced by false appearances or records.

She had a perfect memory.

She had been born with that ability, so it had influenced her psychological development whether she liked it or not.

“Touma and the others’ victory was a fluke. That rebirth ceremony was a type of magic, so it can be reproduced. That means you can try again after that one failure. But if CRC is brought back into this world, there really will be no stopping him!”

“Christian Rosencreutz was no more than a collection of his own desires and passions,” replied the young butler.

Calmly.

No, that wasn’t accurate.

“Yes, yes. Common sense says that can’t be true. I cannot accept that Christian Rosencreutz would bring violence and ruin. His true identity and name are of no consequence. He must have had a good reason for behaving that way. He did not save the world because we were not ready to understand his truth. Doesn’t that make far more sense!?”

“…”

Index said nothing.

H.T. Trismegistus appeared to stay true to his principles and keep his cool no matter the situation, but that was not without its problems.

Common sense.

That young butler had no way of handling unprecedented and abnormal situations. When an obvious mistake or error appeared before him, he would continue to attempt the “preexisting” solution that common sense provided him.

The common sense widely accepted by the world was not necessarily correct.

As an outcast who had worked to learn magic, he should have already known that.

“That method will fail.”

“Oh, I know.” The young butler nodded in a sarcastic way. “Of course I know. I am Transcendent H.T. Trismegistus, a regular-sized being who cannot move past that position. Which is why common sense tells me the best option is to leave the fate of the world in the hands of someone greater than I.”

Part 6

Kamijou Touma left the hospital and walked through the streets.

Aogami Pierce walked with him.

The other boy apparently rented out a room somewhere instead of living in the dorms (which was probably against the school rules), but their way home was the same for part of the trip.

“Man, we just barely got out of the hospital before winter break ended, huh?” said Aogami.

“What, are you happy you’re out? In the hospital, they serve you three meals a day and even clean the place for you.”

“Course I am. I’ll admit I’m sad to say goodbye to the intellectual lady doctors and the nurses, but school starts back on the 8th. The end of the break sucks, but I’ve gotta show up to school on the first day.”

“…”

“I mean, if I skipped the first day for a reason everyone in class accepted as legit, I’d make a habit of it and I’d never work up the motivation to go to school again. Hah hah!!”

Aogami laughed it off.

Even though they had no guarantee the new school term was going to start on schedule.

Was it called Acute Kotatsu Syndrome?

It seemed to have gotten even worse than what Othinus had seen.

The main street was packed full of costumed students like it was Halloween, so vehicles couldn’t get through. The boys and girls climbed on top of the stuck armored vehicles and some even climbed up on top of the wind turbines. It looked like they might even break the turbines down like the tower-toppling game during the Daihaseisai.

“Uh, oh. It’s as crowded as a rush hour train out here.”

“Then how about we charge headfirst into a zone with a high concentration of girls and all the plump boobs and butts that come with them?” suggested Aogami. “It wouldn’t be our fault! They’re the ones blocking our way and forcing us to push through, so we’re the victims really!!”

“Do you want to end up like the creepy guy who gets arrested at a fireworks show or on Halloween?”

The density of people was a lot like a solid wall. Kamijou did not have the courage to plunge in and try to part the crowd to get through.

So he and Aogami took a detour while complaining.

They ended up in a boxy area full of cheap artificial marble and greenery, making it a lot like a sanctuary for people who bring their lunch. But instead of a park, it was technically on the grounds of a trendy office building. The small pathway ran alongside the large building, but it was strangely void of people.

“None of those partiers here,” noted Kamijou.

“Phone GPS maps tend not to show private property. All the popular kids letting their phones guide them to the party don’t even know this kind of path exists. That’s what you get when you don’t think for yourself.”

On the main street, a taxi was being lifted like a mikoshi.

Without knowledge of paths like this, you couldn’t even get around on foot right now.

“Heh heh. The knowledge you pick up living as a Level 0 comes in handy sometimes,” said Aogami.

“Yeah, you can never have enough escape routes to use when some bored delinquents decide to chase you around.”

Now that they were out of the crowd, they found themselves able to observe it more objectively.

They watched the crowd after climbing the stairs to the top of an unnatural rise in the path, probably built up to avoid gas pipes and high-voltage lines.

People were even crowding the top of an elevated train track.

“A miniskirt, a bare midriff, and thigh armor? Hokaze-san, is that supposed to be an armored cheerleader?”

“No, Kobayashi-san, I am obviously the legendary Soaring Knight who flies through the sky and fights with a spear. The character is doing a collab with Gekota at a...I believe it is called a convenience store? Hee hee hee. These ringlets do come in handy from time to time☆”

“How is that supposed to be the ultimate gear? Is it one of those things where your strength grows the more of the heavy seals you remove!?”

“I really don’t want to hear that from the person dressed as a demon character who only wears black tape over her naked body yet has added an apron to try and pretend she is a wholesome homemaker. ...It’s probably just that the closed environment death game is so complicated people lose interest before you’re done explaining the basic rules, but I really wish they would find a less indecent way to sell the character merchandise.”

“Oh, dear. And the entrance exams are coming up soon.”

“I’m going to lie around in the kotatsu all day and no one can stop me!!”

It was honestly bad for his heart.

His distance from them didn’t really matter.

This space didn’t exist on the phone GPS maps, but it wasn’t actually a sanctuary protected by a thick wall. It simply hadn’t been discovered yet. A great crowd could flood in at any moment.

“Wow, look at all the people on the tracks there. Even the trains must be stopped.”

“Wow is right. Check out all those cute little middle schoolers showing off their navels and thighs. If they’re gonna give me some delicious eye candy, they can stop the trains all day for all I care.”

Kamijou and Aogami descended the arch-like stairs to continue along the narrow private pathway.

But their safe zone did not last for long. Once they left the office grounds, they were out on another major street.

In place of fireworks, someone had ignited car smoke bombs and started twirling them through the air.

They weren’t low-temperature fireworks, so they made a lot of noise.

“Anyway, I had no idea you could ask at the hospital reception counter and they’d arrange to have your luggage sent to your dorm.”

“I was worried with the martial law and all, but the delivery industry still seems to be working. We need to thank those delivery drones that can get through even when the ground routes are blocked like this.”

But these life-or-death issues apparently didn’t matter much to the boy who lived for moe.

“More importantly, did you see that ultra-rare cosplayer dressed as Biritta-san? I’m ready to weep for joy. I can’t imagine how hard it was to get that right. I mean, that demon girl only has black tape to cover up her naughty bits. Or maybe the hard part is cleaning up after removing it? Now that I’d love to help with.”

“What are you talking about? Biritta-san?”

“She’s the girl in this year’s winter anime who dies in the first five minutes of the closed room death game. Her death was so unnecessarily well animated that she’s become the latest meme online. The animation team really poured their heart and soul into it since it was in the first episode, so she gets slaughtered with the smoothest animation you’ve ever seen. Seriously, don’t search for ‘Biritta Burrito’. The rest of us were traumatized, but you don’t have to be.”

Oh, so was she the character the show kills off right away to make it clear people know are actually going to die in the show? Kamijou stared into the distance. What a waste. He felt like there were better ways to shock the audience without actually reducing the number of characters, like having her brought back with CPR or revealing it was actually a human-sized hunk of raw meat thrown into the tiger’s cage.

“Okay, say cheese. My phone’s the newest, so I’ll share the photo with you all.”

“Wait a second, Saten-san. …Kongou-san, we’re taking a photo, so try to cover your chest more when you lean over like that. I can see something I shouldn’t!”

“Oh, this isn’t my areola – it’s a rash on my boob. I think it’s the costume’s material making the skin turn all pink. Maybe I have a metal allergy?”

“Um, I wouldn’t know.”

“Seriously though, say cheese! We’ve gotta get a photo of us with this VIP armored car we flipped when it tried to run off!! See, this is what we can do! We don’t need esper powers! With 20 of us together, flipping a 1ton car is nothing☆”

“Oh, no! But I’m supposed to be with Judgment!”

A bunch of girls in revealing costumes were gathered around a single phone to take a commemorative photo.

They wiped their faces with sports towels, drank tea from plastic bottles, and laughed cheerfully together.

Ordinarily, these girls would be chatting peacefully. And a lot of their costumes were about as revealing as a bikini, leaving a lot of skin and curves exposed, so Kamijou got the feeling he would get yelled at if he stared.

At the same time, he had also seen them shouting while they flipped Anti-Skill vehicles.

They were enjoying the freedom of their winter break, but they would also fiercely attack anyone who tried to interrupt them even a little.

Peaceful did not always mean harmless.

They may have been like a swarm of hornets guarding their large nest of peace.

“The world is ending.”

The 15cm war god hiding in Kamijou’s coat collar whispered that in his ear.

The partiers were bad, but the ones trying to stop them weren’t much better.

“Fweeeeet!! What are you doing, you uncivilized barbarians!? And why are you abandoning Academy City’s rules right along with them, Uihar-wahhh!!?”

“But, Shirai-san, a bunch of suspicious gold bars spilled out of that car’s trunk after we flipped it. We may have actually busted a crime.”

The Judgment members were dressed in strange costumes too. Like the busty glasses girl in bikini armor or the twintails girl dressed as a necromancer in a cloak with only thick chains worn below it. This wasn’t quite the same as the Dr. Police who showed up on that giant Shibuya Scramble Crossing during Halloween. The lines were blurry, like they were simply being influenced by the overall atmosphere.

Shirai Kuroko was still managing to resist thanks to her strong sense of justice, but the glasses girl with a high STR value was viewing the riot crippling the city’s ability to function with exasperation, like she had partially accepted the state of affairs already.

Othinus stared into the distance.

She was more bothered by the moral collapse than by the actual destruction.

“These people treating Academy City like their own secret base will bring down the city. And the world economy supported by science will go down with it. They can’t suppress this with force like they do with demonstrations. Not when it’s backed by Alice’s charisma. This is being fueled from the outside. Aiming a gun at these students will not stop them, nor will actually firing on them. So like I said, the only way to stop this is to slaughter every last Academy City resident with Academy City’s guns. Win or lose, the city is done for.”

It was a shift – a distortion – in morals.

Even if captured Index lost her life now, would it be caught up in this bizarre scenery and converted into something that was considered “for the best”?

If so, Kamijou had to settle this before that happened.

He had to draw on everything he had and face Alice.

He understood what had to be done.

“But…”

Misaka Mikoto had died. ******** ****** had died too. (…? Why did I think there was someone else there?)

Aradia and the Bologna Succubus had been killed before his eyes.

Mut Thebes had likely been killed instantly.

That had only been fixed thanks to Good, Old Mary’s resurrection and they were all staying in the frog-faced doctor’s hospital, but what had happened was still etched deep into Kamijou’s heart.

Talent, aptitude, skill, equipment, hierarchy, and rank were no guarantee.

Anyone could die at any time.

That was an obvious but absolute rule.

And this time he would be facing Alice Anotherbible, who had easily slaughtered Christian Rosencreutz, the very person who had caused all that death. That simple firepower was bad enough, but there was a more fundamental condition he had to keep in mind.

As a regular Transcendent, Good, Old Mary could not defeat an irregularity like Alice. That was plain as day from the fact that her resurrection had failed to save Anna from the Shrink Drink which had only contained a portion of Alice’s power.

They already had the proof.

The resurrection would not work on anyone killed by Alice.

Index GT10 will be released on April 10.