Seeing the two of them about to leave, Kamijou Touma hurriedly asked, "You're not planning to go after Index again, are you?"
"We're here to take her back," they replied.
"To make her lose her memory?" Kamijou Touma asked.
"Stiyl?" Kanzaki Kaori looked at Stiyl and sighed. "It can't be helped."
"If you already know, why try to stop us?" Kanzaki Kaori asked, noticing the large number of people around, she naturally didn't explain the details.
"There's still time. Maybe there's another way," Kamijou Touma said, not insisting. He just didn't want to give up so easily.
"If there was another way, we would have done it already," Kanzaki Kaori said, recalling the heart-wrenching sight of Index forgetting herself.
"I don't understand everything, but I think it's fine to hand her over to him," Ren interjected.
"Why are you so sure? You two know each other?" Kanzaki Kaori asked them.
"I don't know him," Kamijou Touma scratched his head.
"It's the first time we've met," he added.
Kanzaki Kaori understood. Another meddlesome guy.
"Your expression seems off. I mean, haven't you noticed his uniqueness?" Ren looked at Kanzaki Kaori.
Recalling what had just happened, Kanzaki Kaori turned to Kamijou Touma. "What's going on with you? How can you nullify magic?"
"I don't know myself. All I know is that after I got this ability, my life became extremely unlucky," Kamijou Touma said, raising his right hand.
"He doesn't just nullify magic. He can erase anything from magic, powers, even this space. Once his right hand touches it, it will shatter," Ren continued to explain.
"Really?" Stiyl also looked at Kamijou Touma. Indeed, all of his magic had been nullified.
"Why tell us all this? What do you want?" Kanzaki Kaori asked, assuming all information came with a price.
"Simple. I want to challenge other saints as well," Ren said, intending for Kanzaki Kaori to introduce them.
"Well…"
"Just tell me their locations. Besides, this is Index's only chance to keep her memory intact," Ren knew exactly where the other's weakness lay.
"Fine," Kanzaki Kaori finally agreed, but only if Index wouldn't have to lose her memory.
"Um, it seems I've become the key to your plan. Is that okay?" Kamijou Touma felt a bit troubled.
"You don't want the girl to keep losing her memory, right? Every time she forgets, she loses all her friends," Ren patted Kamijou Touma's shoulder.
"Of course not. That would be too sad," Kamijou Touma said. Even if he was worried about trouble, he would do what needed to be done.
"Keep it up, boy." Ren tossed an old-school phone to Kanzaki Kaori.
"What's this?" Kanzaki Kaori felt like a complete novice.
"Contact information." Ren stepped closer. Seeing Kaori's wary expression, he explained, "I'll teach you how to use it. Do you really think I'd ambush you?"
Feeling that he had a point, Kaori looked at the phone. Ren tapped a few buttons, a screen appeared, and then his phone rang.
"What… what?" Kaori was shocked. Where was that sound coming from?
"Don't foreigners know about phones?" Kamijou Touma looked puzzled.
"Ahem, it's just that you don't need to touch it." Stiyl felt a little embarrassed.
"Also, my little sisters want to see magic. Can one of you demonstrate?" Ren asked the two of them.
"My abilities are mostly physical enhancements." Kaori refused decisively. Did he think she was some kind of circus monkey?
"Heh, I refuse." Stiyl declined just as firmly. His magic wasn't a performance trick.
Before long, Stiyl began demonstrating and explaining magic to the girls. He did so willingly.
After recording the magic completely, Misaka 8790 was satisfied. Once she left the barrier, she planned to transmit it to the Misaka Network for collective analysis.
"That should do it." Stiyl said, not waiting for Ren's response, and left quickly.
Kanzaki Kaori left as well. She now believed he came from a rough background, but the fact that a mage remained in Academy City and had already surpassed her strength was a little frightening.
The barrier shattered, and the outside world returned to calm. Kamijou Touma, curious about why there were so many electromasters, didn't press further. After saying goodbye to everyone, he left.
"Let's head back." Ren led the three girls home.
"Magic really is an amazing thing, but that spiky-haired guy… he feels way too much like a good guy." Dolly shared her thoughts about the night's events.
"Misaka feels he is a good person. Misaka guessed this." Misaka Number One recalled his words and expression; it didn't seem like he was lying.
"He really is a good person." Ren remembered his actions, how he burned himself for the sake of others.
The group drove back. He didn't plan to interfere with Index; after all, this was Academy City's chance to make contact with the Magic side. Aleister Crowley would definitely want to see this scene.
"Ren, what is the Level Upper? Can it amplify abilities?" Dolly raised her hand.
"No, it's not that. It uses other people's powers and turns them into versatile abilities. Want to see it for yourself?"
"Yes, I want to go." Dolly raised her hand again. She was curious about everything in this world.
"Misaka wants to go too. She has an interest in it." Misaka Number One and 8790 raised their hands as well.
...
On the day off, Shokuhou Misaki returned. When she learned that Ren had taken Dolly and Misaka to see magic, she was a little angry. They had left her out, and she wanted to witness magic too.
"Misaki."
"Huh?" Misaki turned her head, not wanting to talk to him.
"Have there been students fainting recently?"
"Yes, but they were from other schools. Why?" Misaki replied, slightly irritated.
"Urban legend, Level Upper. You should know about it, right?" Ren smiled.
"Hmm, I do know a bit." Misaki believed some parts of the urban legend, after all, she was involved in it herself, and it felt real.
"It's real. It comes from Harumi's experiments."
"Again, it's Kiyama Harumi?" Shokuhou Misaki bit her glove. She trusted Ren, of course, since their intelligence network in the dark faction was vast.
"Mm, but this time the situation might be different." Ren considered the other person's reasoning.
"So, what do you plan to do, Mister Nice Guy?" Misaki looked at him.
"Of course, I'll intervene and stop it. This is a meaningless experiment from the start," Ren said frankly.
"Really now," Misaki sighed, a little helpless, but she agreed.
The person who had fainted was Misaka Mikoto's friend, Saten Ruiko. She was just an ordinary student, so naturally she wanted to find a way to become stronger.
Who did it? Misaki actually already knew the culprit, but she didn't want to believe that someone like Kiyama Harumi could do such a thing.
She wanted to confront the person directly to verify this inhumane experiment. Until that monster appeared, Misaki finally understood: the one responsible for all of this was her.
But she didn't have the strength to stop it. Thankfully, Kuroko and Misaka Mikoto arrived in time, preventing any tragedy from happening.
**********
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