A Certain Magical Index, Vol. 16

by Kazuma Kamachi

  “…We can postulate a few things,” said Saiji Tatemiya eventually. “But is his ‘worth’ shared among all three of those organizations, even though they’re put together differently and spread out in different ways? That’s where the ideas stop. I get the feeling there’s still a lot we don’t know.”

  “Vicar Pope…”

  “If we really want to guard Touma Kamijou, we might need to look into that as well. We’ve been on the back foot, reacting to the attacks until now. We should directly hit the attackers at home, whoever they are.”

  That was where he stopped talking. He’d noticed something was wrong.

  People were disappearing. At some point, Tatemiya’s group had become the only people walking on this nighttime underground street.

  Someone had somehow manipulated the flow of traffic. So precisely that even Amakusa, which specialized in blending into crowds, hadn’t noticed.

  “…” Tatemiya had no words. He signaled with his fingers, and the youngsters with him reached for their concealed weapons.

  As they’d been carefully observing their surroundings, Amakusa had felt something.

  A sense of oppression.

  It was much like the burst of air that came when a subway car arrived at the platform. Something simply huge had come near, and they were feeling its aftereffects.

  Tatemiya turned to look that way.

  And there was…

  11

  In that underground city, covered entirely in blue, Kamijou and Itsuwa walked together. The blue was caused by how this city was designed to be scenic from the planning stages, unlike normal cities. The unified nightscape felt somewhat cramped, but as a whole, it was still beautiful.

  Itsuwa, walking next to him, suddenly spoke. “No sign of Acqua.”

  “…I’m sure Academy City security hasn’t stopped him. That would be too convenient.”

  Their relaxing time made it easy to forget their biggest problem at the present moment was still God’s Right Seat.

  Academy City’s police force, Anti-Skill, was no pushover, but Kamijou had seen numerous sorcerers break into the city in the past. He didn’t think leaving this in their hands would eliminate the need for worry. In fact, Acqua had broken into the city once already to retrieve Vento of the Front.

  The Amakusa reinforcements were reliable, but even there, the implication was that they could only support him so far as they didn’t cause a political issue and get cut away with the rest of the lizard’s tail. If the English Church wanted to fight Acqua full force, without worrying about how it looked, they would have used Kanzaki without thinking twice.

  With the change in conversation, it felt like the very blueness of the city had changed in nature. Whether by unexpected coincidence or what, the color Acqua used was blue, apparently.

  “We should be grateful there hasn’t been an attack, but…,” said Itsuwa, her voice somewhat unsteady. She probably couldn’t decide how to take this.

  As they progressed through the streets dyed in blue, Kamijou thought a bit. “They might be secretly preparing somewhere in the city or throwing all sorts of complicated things together. Again.”

  Still, the two of God’s Right Seat he’d already fought—Vento of the Front and Terra of the Left—attacked in polar opposite ways. One invaded Academy City to stomp him out in a fair fight, and the other caused worldwide chaos as a roundabout way to strangle the science side.

  He couldn’t get a grasp on the whole of God’s Right Seat with a sample size of two. In fact, both Vento and Terra had been too irritable to use as a reference now.

  “We’ll just have to keep an eye out for now…,” said Itsuwa, clenching a small fist. “Everyone’s doing their best, out of sight, including the vicar pope. Come who may, we’ll still do the best we can. If we’re just doing the same as we always do, we don’t need to be especially conscious about it.”

  “Same as always, huh…?” said Kamijou, a wry grin forming on his lips. “Still, with this crazy God’s Right Seat after us, the bathtub breaking and us coming to a leisure facility seems kind of pathetic…”

  “N-no, not at all. I don’t think so at all,” argued Itsuwa, flapping her hands in front of her. “A strong enemy may be after you, but if you’re constantly on your guard, it’ll wear you out. It’s important to keep yourself in peak condition. That way, you can use everything you have when the time comes. Relaxing is actually very efficient in that way. If you try too hard to live in some special rhythm, things never go well. It would be like releasing a freshwater fish into the ocean.”

  “Is it?” wondered Kamijou aloud.

  Their walking route wasn’t set in stone. If they talked about Acqua in front of Index, she’d doubtlessly want to fight him. They’d simply decided to keep this all a secret from her. They’d said what they needed to, and they’d just come up to a river; he idly figured they’d cross the iron bridge and return by a different route.

  “By the way, where are the other Amakusa people? Like Tatemiya.”

  “Well, you see…I think they’re keeping watch for us a little farther away, even now.” Her tone of voice sounded a little disappointed. “…If we had the Priestess with us, too, we’d have the strength of an army.”

  “You mean Kanzaki, right? I guess she’s pretty great, huh?”

  “W-well, yes! The Priestess is one of only twenty saints in the entire world! No matter what the problem is, if the Priestess was here, she’d solve it in one fell swoop!!”

  “Huh. I see,” said Kamijou super-helpfully. “Well, she did fight that archangel, the one with the “Power of God,” so she must be really amazing.”

  “Bgwehah?! Fighting…with an archangel? What is that supposed to mean…?!”

  “What?” he wondered. It had happened under special circumstances, during Angel Fall; was that why Itsuwa didn’t know about it? They seemed to have heard—from Tsuchimikado, most likely—that he’d barged into the changing room while Kanzaki was in there, but…it seemed Kamijou wasn’t quite able to get a good mental image of Angel Fall.

  He groaned and scratched his head. “Saints and angels sure are amazing. The world is full of amazing people.”

  “Th-that’s a very sloppy evaluation of them…” Itsuwa looked like she hadn’t fully recovered from her shock. “But really, between an angel and a saint, angels are ranked higher.”

  “Is that right? So even Kanzaki couldn’t beat one if she tried really hard?”

  “Well, that’s a difficult question…In terms of raw strength, an angel is definitely stronger. The capacity a single angel has is far, far greater than any powers given to a saint.”

  According to Itsuwa, there was a limit to how far humans could control saintly powers, and could even destroy themselves if they pushed it too far beyond that. Even scholars in the magic world could only theorize about why angels could store so much power without going berserk. Nobody knew.

  “Damn. Whenever I think about studying, my head starts to hurt. Doesn’t matter what it is.”

  “Your evaluation was sloppy, like I said, but I also think you’re correct…” Given her drooped shoulders and sigh, she must have been going through a lot herself.

  “Back to the topic,” he said. “Why we don’t have Kanzaki’s help, right? Aren’t Kanzaki and Amakusa both part of the English Puritan Church? She’d do it if they asked her, wouldn’t she?”

  “Well…Hmm. She is there, certainly, but saints are like nuclear weapons. I don’t think they can have her act outside of England very easily. And she has a history with Amakusa, so we can’t easily ask for her help…It’s still a delicate problem and all, so…”

  As they spoke, they stepped onto the iron bridge. It was about fifty meters long. Not too big as far as bridges went, but considering the entire river was man-made, it was kind of a moving sight on its own. Its base color, lit up by lights, was blue, as though it were part of the illumination here.

  “(…I know I shouldn’t let up my caution, but it’s just the
two of us, and wow…),” she whispered to herself.

  “What’s wrong, Itsuwa?”

  “N-nothing’s wrong!! Nothing at all!! Nothing at all is wrong!” She waved her hand in front of her face back and forth at lightspeed. “U-um, well, I was just thinking there don’t seem to be many people around. I didn’t mean anything by ‘just the two of us,’ and it’s just that it’s very prettily decorated, so it feels like a, um, waste, and…”

  Kamijou wondered to himself as they went down the bridge’s pedestrian lane. Why had she been talking so fast and giving all those fake smiles this whole time?

  “Well,” he said, “it all depends on the time of day, right? This is what Academy City is like at night. They make the last trains and buses early on purpose, to make it harder to go out at night. I mean, people who want to will anyway, but still.”

  Despite what he said, a moment later, he felt something was wrong.

  The current time was past ten PM. Indeed, major public transport would have been fast asleep by now. It wasn’t unusual for the traffic on the roads to change depending on the time—by itself. Especially since 80 percent of the residents in Academy City were students.

  However…

  A little past ten meant all the night prowlers would be out and about like normal.

  Not…good…?!

  The landscape was unnaturally empty. Kamijou felt a strange chill come over him and went to call out to Itsuwa about the danger.

  But he couldn’t. He didn’t have the time.

  “I gave you a warning.”

  He heard a voice.

  From in front of him. The lights on the bridge, blue, symbolizing a certain man: Beyond their halo, in the darkness, came the rough voice of a man.

  “You had several options before you.”

  He heard footsteps.

  But they weren’t the steps a normal human would make. With every step he took, a dull znn rippled along the bridge. A glimpse of overwhelming power. A countdown to death, now distinct. The strange footfalls closing in on them from the blue darkness presented an unfairness that went far beyond brute force.

  Itsuwa, faced with the abnormality, was stunned. Her face should have been tenser, thought Kamijou—before immediately wondering what had happened to their connection with the main Amakusa team. Hadn’t they been trailing Itsuwa and him from out of sight?

  “If you accepted my warning, ruminated on it, and decided it worth entrusting them with your life, then I will, of course, face you head-on.”

  He smirked.

  “But I’ll be honest. Was there no better option than this?”

  The darkness wiped away.

  The only light sources were the dim lamps on the bridge. They hadn’t put in lights strong enough to drive back the night. But the man merely stepped toward them from the dimness. That was all he did—and yet it felt as though the darkness had opened up like a curtain to let the man through, then withdrawn.

  Brown hair and features like a stone statue. His clothing closely resembled blue golf wear. He looked physically strong but not in a healthy way. His was the body of a blood-soaked soldier.

  “You’re…”

  Kamijou had seen him before. Once—on September 30, in Academy City—he had met this man. This large man, who had swiped Vento of the Front away after Kamijou had just barely defeated her using his Imagine Breaker.

  “Acqua of the Back. I believe I’ve already introduced myself.”

  God’s Right Seat.

  And at the same time, one possessing the qualities of a saint.

  “Just like you announced you would…”

  “I feel no need for intricate plans,” said Acqua simply. “I’ve only come to eliminate the source of the disturbances throughout the world.”

  You’re one to talk, thought Kamijou. Vento of the Front had disabled Academy City’s functions. Terra of the Left had thrown the world into chaos. Whatever reasons they might have had, God’s Right Seat had no right to tell him he was the origin of any disturbances.

  “You’re not here for talk. You want to kill me right off the bat, don’t you?”

  “Hmph. Perhaps I was too impetuous.”

  Irritated, Acqua cast a glance at Kamijou, looking him up and down. “My desire is to sever the origin of these disturbances.”

  “What are you even talking about?”

  “You will not pretend you don’t know.”

  “If anyone caused this, it was you!! You’re not going to tell me you forgot what you did at Avignon!!”

  “But even that was originally based on our goal of defeating dangerous elements—you, Touma Kamijou, and Academy City.”

  They weren’t getting anywhere, but Acqua didn’t even grow angry.

  That meant he hadn’t been listening to Kamijou to begin with.

  “The root of all lies in your idiosyncrasy, starting with a certain part of your body. I don’t need to take your life—so hold out your right arm. If I sever that now, I will spare your life, at least.”

  The offer didn’t deserve an answer. Acqua knew Kamijou would refuse it.

  “What about the rest of Amakusa…?” said Itsuwa suddenly, finally speaking. It must have been some sort of sign; Itsuwa glanced around.

  “Futile,” said Acqua, his one word cutting her hopes down.

  “What have you done to them?” she asked.

  “I haven’t killed them,” he answered simply. “They’re not the ones I need to defeat.”

  As he spoke, he slowly swayed.

  They were ten meters or so apart. As far as Kamijou could tell from watching him, he had nothing like a weapon, and it didn’t seem like any were hidden in his clothes. The golf outfit was stretched around his muscles, not giving him any space to stow something inside it.

  Nevertheless, Kamijou and Itsuwa focused their minds entirely on him, watching for even the slightest move of a fingertip. Avoiding conflict was an impossibility. Because they were fully aware of that fact, they wouldn’t move recklessly and would instead try to gauge the best time to charge in.

  However…

  From the side.

  “?!”

  Before Kamijou could even gasp, Acqua had already jumped right next to Itsuwa. He’d disappeared. That was how quickly he’d closed in on her, now deep within striking range. He released an elbow, aiming to deliver a blow to the side of her cheek.

  Kamijou didn’t hear a noise. But he did just barely make out her body flying over the sidewalk and into the car-less road. He still hadn’t taken a breath. Nevertheless, using the air still in his lungs, he reflexively cried out, “Itsuwa?!”

  Acqua’s voice cut him off. “This isn’t the time to worry about others.”

  Soon, there came a roar.

  The source was the shadow extending from Acqua’s feet. Like a giant orca leaping from the water’s surface, an immense hunk of metal shot out of it. The weapon was over five meters long and resembled the lance a knight would use on horseback.

  And yet, it was far different.

  The object was put together like a parasol, the framework using iron girders from a building.

  It was a metal mace for bludgeoning to death.

  “Here I come, my target.”

  “Urgh!!”

  Before Kamijou could prepare himself, Acqua’s muscles bulged explosively.

  It was no less than a miracle he didn’t die. Itsuwa’s bag came flying in from out of sight and slammed into him, pushing him in a direction Acqua hadn’t predicted.

  The five-meter iron ingot, having lost its target, easily tore Itsuwa’s airborne bag and stabbed it into the ground like a guillotine.

  The bridge was, supposedly, made of asphalt.

  But with one heavy thud, it rattled. Bolts holding fast to the metal framework began to rupture, making ominous noises. Several of the pale blue lights used for illuminating the bridge went out unnaturally. Kamijou, however, didn’t have the time to pay attention to those things. Like a meteorite colliding with the ocean�
��s surface, a barrage of asphalt fragments scattered with Acqua’s mace at its center, and some of them had hit Kamijou directly.

  “Gaahhhhhhhhh!!”

  Just the aftermath made it impossible for him to keep his footing. By the time he felt his feet floating off the ground, he’d already rolled several meters. His back slammed into one of the bridge’s support pipes, and only then did he stop.

  Clattering.

  Fine asphalt shards pouring down like a torrent.

  Acqua hefted his mace up to his shoulder—it looked like a bundle of metal beams—and took a step toward Kamijou where he lay.

  The dust coiled around Acqua, as though it were his fighting spirit made visible, and blew about.

  Then, with only his eyes, he looked to the side.

  Itsuwa had staggered to her feet. She had put together her Friulian spear, which could be taken apart to store in a bag—she’d probably taken it out before throwing the tote—and had its cross-shaped tip pointed at Acqua.

  But she’d taken considerable damage from the first attack. A trickle of red blood dripped from her lips, and her cheeks had reddened. Her aim wavered more unreliably than a fishing pole in the wind.

  Acqua didn’t even laugh. He just spoke. “The lot of you together couldn’t stand up to me. Did you think just one could challenge me and win?”

  “…I…still have my pride.”

  How much emotion, how much determination must have been behind those few words?

  In response, Acqua simply responded, “I see.”

  That was all.

  Shit…!! Kamijou tried to force his pained body to move, to get between Itsuwa and Acqua. But he couldn’t move the way he wanted. And in the meantime, Itsuwa and Acqua clashed at short range.

  Itsuwa moved quickly—but Acqua had already vanished. The next thing he knew, the side of Acqua’s metal pipe mace was buried in Itsuwa’s side. Acqua continued turning himself, using centrifugal force to swipe the mace, with Itsuwa on it, in a horizontal arc at Kamijou.

  His brain didn’t even have time to consider reacting.

  The original weight of the heavy metal mace added to an entire person’s body weight was more than enough to hold Kamijou down, resting against a metal beam as he was. It forced all the air from his lungs. He tasted metal. For a few seconds, his stricken body left the ground. A moment later, the damage hit him so hard it felt like the earth’s gravity had been multiplied, and he crumpled to the ground.