Part 5
"And that is why I called you out behind the gym," said Ollerus nonchalantly to Kamijou who had let his guard down after safely buying lunch.
Kamijou Touma was already passionately clenching his right fist.
"What do you want? To confess your love? To have a fight you don't want anyone to see? Please, please tell me it's the latter."
"The Japanese school life certainly seems to go between two extremes. To be honest, I am having trouble understanding it." Ollerus shrugged. "As I said before, I want to talk."
"About what? And where do we start?"
"Now that is the real problem. Where to begin?"
He seemed to be troubled, but Kamijou was not sure if he truly was troubled. Did someone who very nearly became a Magic God really need to worry about anything at all?
As if to confirm Kamijou's suspicions, Ollerus readily continued.
"Well, trying to arrange everything in some fancy way just to make myself look good isn't going to help. I'll start with the core of the issue and then we can work our way out from there if you have any questions. That should be fastest."
"The core of the issue?"
"The Magic God Othinus." Ollerus gave her that title despite referring to himself as only the man who "should have become" one. "Unlike me, you can say that she is a true Magic God. There is more or less nothing in this world that she cannot do. The organization of Gremlin is controlled by her power, so if we know what she wants, we should be able to tell what Gremlin's overall actions will be. Also…" Ollerus paused and looked at Kamijou Touma's right arm. "Fiamma of the Right once brought about a world war to acquire that right hand, but Gremlin and the Magic God Othinus are not after Imagine Breaker. Please take that to heart. …You are not necessary to their plan, so they have no need to worry about your survival. If you get in their way, they will kill you without hesitation. Keep in mind that you are up against a group like that."
"…"
It was easy to forget, but Kamijou Touma was just a high school student.
He may have had some special experiences, but he was not a soldier or martial artist who had undergone proper training. Nor could he acquire professional tools or equipment. If he opposed an organization with worldwide operations, he would certainly be at a severe disadvantage. The very fact that he even thought about opposing them was a "miscalculation" of an amateur who could not properly compare his own power to that of Gremlin.
And on top of that, he had already gotten involved.
He had fought members of Gremlin and won, so he was past the point of no return. Even if Kamijou tried to retreat now, Gremlin would still want to finish things.
And after getting involved, Kamijou had no intention of retreating before he had finished things.
If he gave up, it would likely be more than just himself who suffered.
"Gremlin is a magic cabal that appeared due to World War III that Fiamma of the Right caused," said Ollerus.
This was most likely information that even the experts on this topic at the Anglican Church did not know.
"Simply put, their ideology is something like 'don't just decide on your own that Academy City and the science side were the winners of the war'. The most prominent magician at the time was obviously Fiamma of the Right. …But there is more to magicians than just him. They do not like that he named himself the representative of Magic and then lost despite the fact that they had not yet shown themselves."
That may have been why they were based in Norse Mythology rather than Christianity.
They did not like that the loss of the Christian alliance between Rome and Russia had been forced onto their culture as well.
"But then aren't they just being selfish? They didn't want to have anything to do with World War III and refused to help, but now they're complaining that the magic side lost?"
"Well, they would not have gained anything by helping Fiamma. And those higher up than Fiamma had more or less realized that even if he had succeeded, that method of his would not have saved the world as he thought it would."
They could not accept having someone else's loss forced onto themselves.
And so they were taking things into their own hands this time.
If Gremlin had gathered power based on that…
"Unlike a magic cabal with hundreds or even thousands of years of history, Gremlin does not have a regulated ideology. Gremlin is a concentration of the individual dissatisfaction and discontent of the magicians who sensed things heading to a loss during World War III. Naturally, those magicians are preparing a symbol to represent the magic side that can stand up to the winner of the war, Academy City."
"…And that is the Magic God named Othinus?"
"It is a simple case of balancing the scales of power. I do not know if Othinus gathered the magicians around her or if the magicians searched out Othinus, though. Either way, Gremlin is trying to thoroughly strengthen Othinus so she can match the giant weight that is Academy City. …To keep things simple, you can think of Gremlin as an organization to grant the selfish wishes of Othinus."
"But a Magic God can do anything, right? Does she really need to rely on others?"
"Being able to do anything is the problem in and of itself." Ollerus gave a cynical smile as if commiserating with a colleague. "You often hear talk of 'infinite possibilities', but that truly means you have as many negative possibilities as you do positive possibilities."
"?"
"This may be a bit hard to understand for someone at the age where you still believe in infinite possibilities. Just think of flipping a coin. The odds of getting heads or tails are 50/50. That is the true identity of 'infinite possibilities'. Whenever you take an action, you carry both the possibility for success and the possibility for failure. No matter how hard you train, you still have 50% odds of losing in a fight to a child. That is what a Magic God is."
50% was quite large.
In terms of Russian roulette, that would be starting the game with 3 live bullets.
"Gremlin and Othinus want to do something major to Academy City, the victors of this age. And so they want to do something about those ridiculous odds. They want her to be able to perfectly wield the power she has. They want her to have 100% odds of victory. A few modifications are needed for that. The preparations for this showed themselves on the surface as the disturbances in the Hawaiian Islands and Baggage City."
"…Those were nothing more than preparations?"
"Othinus is another way of saying Odin, the head god of Norse mythology. They are likely following that mythology. They are modifying the nature of that god by preparing a spiritual item that symbolizes that god's nature. …Norse mythology is a mythology of weapons. The power of the gods is represented by the power of weapons. Keeping that in mind, it is not too hard to predict what Othinus is after." Ollerus spoke casually even though he was speaking of information that was directly linked to the fate of the world. "The holy spear of Gungnir. A spiritual item that represents Odin's power as the head god. Most likely, they have been heading around the world in order to put that spiritual item together into its ultimate form."
A furnace using the energy of the volcanic eruption in the Hawaiian Islands.
A Dvergr that possessed the skills needed to create the legendary weapons of Norse mythology.
The theft of the design from the head of Brunhild Eiktobel, a Valkyrie who had once succeeded in forging Gungnir even if only in part.
"Even with all that, it should have been impossible to create Gungnir in its ultimate form using the current techniques that exist on this earth, but the incident in Baggage City changed that."
"?"
"The development of holistic espers. A technique that does not exist on this earth. If they do succeed in that, they will be able to reach possibilities that would previously have been unreachable. It would provide them with the final piece to finishing Gungnir."
And once that spear was complete, Gremlin and its leader Othinus would take some kind of clear action against the entire world.
All the large-scale disturbances up to that point had been nothing more than what could be called warm-up exercises.
That power that had previously been constantly bound by 50% odds could then be freely wielded without fear.
That would indeed be a huge problem.
Kamijou did not properly understand just how frightening a thing like a Magic God was. Othinus had crushed his right hand, but that was not enough to see the true depths of that Magic God. However, Kamijou did know one thing clearly. He simply had to think of it as the types of Gremlin members he had seen at Hawaii and Baggage City spreading out to the entire world. That was likely a hopeless turn of events that no one but Gremlin wanted.
But…
At the same time…
"…"
Kamijou Touma looked down at his right hand.
Othinus was trying to modify her own possibilities to do away with the constant 50% odds, but was it possible she could do so without the Gungnir spiritual item?
For example…
By using Imagine Breaker.
That right hand could negate all forms of magic, so in terms of possibility, it could be said to be fixed at 0%. It would be heading in the opposite direction of Othinus who wanted greater power with 100% possibility, but surely there was a way of making use of the exact opposite.
For example, what if the path one chose was always wrong?
Then couldn't you always head down the correct path by always choosing the opposite of that path?
If you knew you would always fail, there were plenty of ways to use that. The Magic God Othinus was bound by the completely balanced odds of 50%. Those results could not be consistently used in the same way. That was why she remained stagnant.
If the helm could be turned sharply in the direction of either success or failure, she could actually do something with it.
And so…
Wouldn't that right hand be of value to Gremlin?
"You do not have to worry about that," replied Ollerus when Kamijou asked that question. "Imagine Breaker is incompatible with Othinus's ideas. Even if she knew it could be of use, I doubt she would ever even consider using it."
"What do you mean?"
"I don't like to answer a question with a question," said Ollerus without changing his expression. "But it is about time we got down to a fundamental issue. Do you know the identity of the Imagine Breaker you wield?"
Part 6
Once November came along, the cold kept much business from open-air cafés.
Academy City was filled with the hustle and bustle of preparations for some kind of festival, but something clearly "foreign" sat amid it all. A few people sat at a table in an otherwise empty open-air café. They gave off the atmosphere characteristic of those who did not understand the detailed rules of the situation, but they did not seem to care.
The first was Marian Slingeneyer.
She was a brown-skinned girl with long, braided silver hair and red-framed glasses. She wore a highly revealing outfit made up of nothing but overalls worn over her bare skin. That outfit seemed unsuited for November, but she had made her way through the Eastern European Baggage City dressed like that. She still showed no sign of shivering from the cold.
The second was Mjölnir.
This girl (?) had lost all semblance of a human form and now looked like a black drum can over a meter tall. She was clearly someone who could not blend into a normal cityscape, but for better or for worse, Academy City was filled with drum-shaped cleaning robots and security robots. She did not draw too much attention because people seemed to assume she was some type of robot.
And there was a third person.
This final person was a thin, white-skinned boy. His thin frame and his waist-length blond hair gave him a somehow feminine look. His clothes were primarily yellow and black. He wore a tight-fitting shirt and pants as well as a stole around his shoulders. He looked the most normal of the three, but the exact opposite was true.
He was Thor.
He was referred to as the god of thunder, he was especially skilled in direct combat even for a member of Gremlin, and he was their representative combat member.
He had the destructive power needed to wage a war all on his own.
And yet…
"Unyah… Nope. I just can't work up any motivation…" said Marian Slingeneyer as she laid her upper body limply on the table.
The drum-shaped Mjölnir clattered as it shook next to her as if to express worry and concern.
They were official members of Gremlin, the organization that was spreading chaos throughout the world, but Thor was a bit disappointed in what he had found once entering within that framework. Despite the large scale of their actions, they did not pay much heed to the hierarchy of the organization. The only real problem was getting into the framework in the first place.
(Well, Marian's bad mood is probably due to Kihara Kagun's death.)
That was Thor's offhand guess. The Magic God Othinus was still using Kihara Kagun as a puppet, but a puppet was no more than a puppet. Only the vestiges of what he was in life remained and not much of his living self would remain for long.
But he could guess that Marian Slingeneyer's desperation would have known no bounds had that lingering "scent" of Kihara Kagun not remained even as fleeting as that was.
To be honest, Thor did not like having someone as unstable as Marian around him in a situation like that. He had no idea when his surroundings would be transformed into something truly psychedelic.
Thor's specialty was war.
Sending in a specialist in direct combat like him could develop into a full blown war.
But even so, he was not a pervert that got turned on by bloodshed. He did not like splatter horror movies and he would much prefer not to go into a haunted house.
And so he wished to give a warning before they began.
"Remember, no preemptive strikes this time."
"Yeah, yeah…"
"And that includes making alterations to people to 'stock up' for the battle. Do you really understand that?"
"…Yeah, yeah…"
They were right in the middle of enemy territory and all he got were horrible half-hearted replies.
The black, drum-shaped girl (?) started shaking and clattering once more.
Part 7
The identity of Imagine Breaker.
That was what Ollerus had said. And that of course implied that he knew what it was.
And more importantly…
Did that mean what resided in Kamijou Touma's right hand did not belong to the science side?
"Surely you have figured out that the power that resides in your hand was not created by Academy City's esper development techniques," said Ollerus simply. "Of course, there are unique natural espers that exist outside of Academy City known as Gemstones. …However, there is no real evidence that you are one of them. You have some sort of supernatural power that came about outside of Academy City. When you put it that way, don't you think that puts your position in a bit of a gray area?"
"…"
"The group you used to interpret your existence just so happened to be Academy City of the science side. That is why you grew to believe that your power could be explained using a scientific interpretation. Now, what if you had been picked up by the Anglican Church of the magic side when you were a small child? You would likely then have explained your own existence to yourself from a magic worldview and grown to believe that you were a member of the magic side."
"So…what exactly is it …?"
Kamijou clenched and opened his right hand.
He then rephrased his question.
"What exactly am I?"
"That is something that you must decide on your own, but I will give you the interpretation I have come to from my own perspective."
Not just science and not just magic.
Someone who stands opposite of the Magic God Othinus who controls Gremlin.
An interpretation from Ollerus, the man who should have become a Magic God.
"You, or rather, the power that resides in your right hand can be said to be a collection of the hope and the fear of all magicians."
"What?"
"One who truly masters magic becomes a Magic God. But fear does not disappear for even a Magic God who can do anything. And that is not simply due to the 50% restriction I mentioned before. It is a fear that anyone with a proper mind will feel if they possess great enough power."
Ollerus had to have experienced that more than anyone else, but his expression did not change.
It was possible the feelings of someone who had advanced as far as him were beyond what a normal human could imagine.
"There was once a man known as Terra of the Left. He was a special magician that belonged to God's Right Seat just as Fiamma of the Right did. Systematically, he was probably the person who came the closest to knowing the identity of Imagine Breaker. …Perhaps even more so than Fiamma of the Right. After all, he researched the contradiction in power relations needed for the Son of God to be killed by human hands and managed to put together the spell Execution of Light all on his own."
"?"
"Imagine Breaker can also have the effect of becoming a turning point of legends and of the very age itself."
Kamijou was unsure what connection that had to do with what a Magic God feared.
Ollerus continued speaking.
"A Magic God can distort the world as she desires. She can distort it as she wishes, but it cannot always be brought back to how it was before. Any childishly selfish wish such as making all the water running from the water pipes turn into orange juice is perfectly doable. But the more the world is distorted, the greater the danger of some kind of harmful side effects presenting themselves. And even if she tries to turn the world back to how it was, there is a danger of her no longer being able to tell exactly how the original world was after distorting it. These changes we are talking about are like changing the length of a meter or changing the weight of a gram."
"So if that's the fear, what is the hope?"
"A world like that would be a frightening thing, wouldn't it? Even if you can alter everything to your selfish whims, you would want some kind of insurance, wouldn't you? The simplest way to put it would be a backup or a reference point you could use to return the world to normal. I suppose you could say your right hand is like the International Prototype Kilogram. Even if the world is utterly distorted and you can no longer recall how long a meter used to be or how heavy a gram used to be, your right hand can negate all magic, so a reference point still exists. By measuring the length, weight, and temperature of your right hand, someone who has distorted the world too greatly can recall what the original world was like. It acts as a lifeline that allows the world to be reverted to normal, no matter how far it has been distorted in any direction."
That was the hope.
If there was some insurance, you could go nuts and not worry about holding back.
No restraint was needed, so you could simply act on all of your desires.
It was an extremely selfish hope that existed only from the point of view of the one making the changes.
"There was a time when powers similar to that showed themselves here and there throughout an era. Some took the form of weapons and made their way into the hands of great heroes, some took the form of frescos and were rumored to heal the diseases of any who touched them, and others took the form of caves and functioned as trials for those who entered them. …I do not know if the power in your hand is simply one more of those powers or if those hopes combined together into another form as they were lost and have naturally appeared here. I can make some guesses, but I have not tested any of them. However, I can say one thing for sure. Your right hand functions as a reference point for the world."
At that point Ollerus paused.
But then he continued once more.
"Othinus wants to take this world where Academy City and the science side have won and distort it beyond recognition. For this reason, she not only sees no value in a backup, but it is actually the greatest hindrance to her plan. If something remains that can restore the previous age after it has been changed, a backup changes from being a hope to being a fear. That is why Othinus does not seek Imagine Breaker. …Gremlin wishes to cut that lifeline and do nothing but advance. The idea of insurance is nothing but an evil temptation to them. And Imagine Breaker's ability to negate everything is the greatest example of such insurance."
Part 8
Evening came. Normally, it would have been past time to be back from school, but that restriction was gone thanks to the preparations for the Ichihanaransai. Kamijou Touma had been temporarily freed from the school so that he could take a short break to refresh.
"…What do I do?"
Index would still be in his dorm, but it did not seem he would be able to return anytime soon. Not only did he have the Ichihanaransai preparations to deal with, but he did not feel he could afford getting sidetracked until he had figured out what Ollerus's objective was and ensured everyone's safety.
Academy City was strictly guarded.
Magicians had snuck in a few times before, but it could not have been easy. It took a fair amount of cost and risk to enter the city. So what did Ollerus gain from doing so? Surely he was not there simply to answer Kamijou's questions.
A chill that stabbed into Kamijou's skin had already crept up on him.
It may have had something to do with distancing himself from the hustle and bustle of his class, but Kamijou felt some sort of emptiness in his chest. It made it all come back to him. Ollerus who should have become a Magic God and Othinus who had gone beyond that and become a Magic God. And Gremlin. How long would those casual and peaceful days last? Would Kamijou head out to face Gremlin or would Gremlin come to Academy City? Either way, the atmosphere surrounding the city would not last forever. And then another thought suddenly hit him.
The disturbance in Hawaii.
The hell in Baggage City.
Those were not simply events happening in some other part of the world. They were directly related to Academy City. If Gremlin's objective really was to show their objection to Academy City being the victors of the era, it was entirely possible the city would become the center of the disturbances.
How much could Kamijou do to protect everyone from such a great mass of violence?
Kamijou was unable to give a clear answer to that question. But it was obvious that, even if he was only a Japanese high school student, he could not just ignore the question. Gremlin and Othinus viewed his right hand and Imagine Breaker that resided within it to be a threat.
He could not avoid a fierce battle.
The only question was when, where, and how it would begin.
"…"
Kamijou shuddered as he imagined the cityscape wrapped in the festive mood of Ichihanaransai preparations transforming into the type of thing he had seen in Baggage City.
Obvious defeat.
A situation where he had arrived too late.
And even if he had made it in time and arrived before it was all over, he had difficulty imagining what he could have done when faced with that horrifying mayhem.
He could not let the same thing happen to Academy City.
Kamijou Touma was strongly and deeply convinced of that.
And then…
"Misaka…?" muttered Kamijou when he spotted a familiar face in the crowd.
It was a girl with short, brown hair who was wearing the uniform of the prestigious Tokiwadai Middle School. She wore an expensive-looking coat over the rest of the uniform. Kamijou guessed she was out buying something to help prepare for the Ichihanaransai.
She was Academy City's #3.
She was the girl known as the Railgun who had the most powerful of the electrical generation-type powers.
Suddenly, their eyes met.
When Mikoto noticed Kamijou, she started in his direction.
Kamijou raised one hand and said, "Misaka, are you preparing for the Ichihanaran—"
He was not able to finish his sentence.
Misaka Mikoto suddenly slammed her fist down on top of Kamijou's head without holding back in the slightest.
It was a completely serious blow.
For an instant, Kamijou's vision completely blacked out and he crouched over with tears in his eyes.
In response, Mikoto gave a derisive snort and said, "How can you approach me with such a friendly demeanor after ditching me in Hawaii?"
"A-aghh…"
"I have nooooooooooooo idea how you think you've made up for that debt, but I am very displeased with you. I'm about ready to beat you to a pulp and dump you in a trashcan."
"…I-I'm sorry."
"That doesn't cut it!! That doesn't cut it at all!!"
"No, Kamijou-san really does think he was completely wrong this time, okay?"
"You say that, but deep down you're still glad you kept me from seeing what happened after that, aren't you? You're using a heroic interpretation for it all, aren't you?"
"…"
"At least try to deny it!! Do you never learn!? And you know what? I'm actually stronger than you when it comes to pure power! Rely on me!! I'm telling you I'm willing to help, so let me!!"
As he watched Mikoto complain, Kamijou began to think.
If Gremlin did invade Academy City, would he look to Misaka Mikoto for help then?
He had managed to get by in Hawaii.
But he had received a serious blow he could do nothing about in Baggage City.
Was that a reason to get her help? Or was that a reason to keep her uninvolved?
He decided he should probably decide on a clear stance on that issue ahead of time.
"Hey, Misaka."
"What?"
"Do you remember what happened in Hawaii?"
"…You mean when you suddenly tossed me aside like a piece of trash? And overseas no less."
"I'm being serious here. Things got a little nuts there, but if some people who thought that was just the beginning were coming to Academy City, do you think it would be right to place your friends in a position where they are likely to bear the full brunt of the attack?"
"…Oh?"
"I'll be honest. I'm conflicted on this issue. I want to get as much help as I can, but at the same time I feel it would be better to deal with it all myself rather than get the people I know involved with those monsters."
"That's quite the unfair question," replied Mikoto. And then, "But it is much, much too late to be worrying about that now."
The tone of voice of the girl standing before him suddenly changed.
And a pale light began to shine from the tips of the fingers on Mikoto's right hand. Much too late, Kamijou realized something odd about what had happened before.
Specifically, that fist to the head.
Misaka Mikoto was the type of person who reflexively shot high voltage electricity from her bangs, so why had she used a physical attack rather than her power?
"You…!!"
"You still haven't caught up? You really are slow."
Kamijou heard a great roar. It was the sound of air being pushed out of the way like when someone swung a bat with all their might. But that was not the true identity of the threat. It was a frighteningly bright flash of light coming from Mikoto's (?) right hand.
(An electric arc? Is it a burner used for welding or fusing!?)
Kamijou's vision greatly blurred.
He dropped his hips down to lower his upper body, and some kind of fusing blade passed by horizontally above his head. The wind turbine behind him was mercilessly sliced through with what looked like a camera flash.
"Oh, nice. When did you learn to do more than simply defend? If you had done nothing more than hold out your right hand, we would have been in a stalemate with you stuck standing in one place."
There had been more than one slice.
The long pillar had been sliced into multiple pieces like a radish sliced by someone who did not know how to cook. This was because an arc fusion blade several meters long was extending from each of the five fingers on Mikoto's right hand.
This was something she could likely accomplish with her power.
However, Kamijou had a feeling she would rely on her iron sand sword for close quarters combat. It was less of an issue of if she could do it and more of an issue of if she would do it with her principles and preferences.
"Damn you…!!"
As Kamijou raged, this person with Misaka Mikoto's face tried to stab their left hand towards his head. Five arc fusion blades were extending from that hand as well. The emission of the blades and the thrust of the arm were carried out in one smooth action like the arm itself was a pile bunker.
Kamijou moved his head to the side to avoid the blades and swung his right fist at Misaka Mikoto's left wrist.
His fist struck her wrist from below, causing her left arm to shoot straight up. Kamijou took a step forward into the empty space this left, grabbed Mikoto's neck with his right hand, and slammed her back into a nearby bench.
While holding her in place, Kamijou shouted, "You aren't Mikoto, are you!? Who are you!?"
He heard a cracking noise.
The skin of whoever was taking on Misaka Mikoto's form began to split open around the neck where he was grabbing them. As Kamijou watched on in shock, the cracks spread farther and farther. And it did not only spread across her entire body. The cracks spread across the entirety of Misaka Mikoto's form, including the coat and hair decorations she was wearing.
"I'm sure you have a pretty good idea," said the person as the lips moved despite a portion of them being missing thanks to the countless cracks.
In the next moment, the destruction exceeded a sustainable level.
The image of Misaka Mikoto shattered and a boy with long, blond hair, white skin, and a feminine look appeared from within.
He smiled thinly and continued speaking despite still being held by the throat.
"I suppose I should introduce myself as the Lightning God Thor. I am in charge of direct combat for Gremlin. …As you can see, we are already here in the city."