Between the lines (Arc 4 Side Story)

Shirai Kuroko had to wonder whether there was some sort of paradox of the chicken and egg when it came to this girl who seemed to dematerialize and rematerialize one by one. After all, one ‘clone’ if she could call it that would be able to create the other. In that case, who was the original and who was the clone?

Things she could worry about when the situation calmed down.

For now, she was glad to see that this skirmish had ended with a quick surrender, albeit, one of the more phoned-in sounding ones she had heard in a while.

Unfortunately, a certain someone didn’t feel that way at all. It was at times like these that Shirai Kuroko both loved and hated when she had someone else more hot-headed than her on the case with her. While she agreed with him, she was annoyed she was not the one with the chance to vent.

She had the role as the good cop to play, at this point. So, she rested her hand upon Furuhashi’s shoulder.

“Easy there. No need to be that fervent.”

However, the world did not give her much of a chance to enact her capabilities as good cop as a desperate cry for help resounded.

“We’re splitting up now!” Immediately, she teleported next to one of the clones and grabbed at her arm. “You’re coming with me. We’re going to get answers from you too.”

That was the last thing she said before starting a serial teleport towards the source of the voice.

---

“Birdy!”

Exclaiming a pet name for the girl who had intervened in her kerfuffle with Sasha, she found herself tossed back upwards and into the wall of the building she had been going down along the side of.

But, there was no reason to keep idle. Sasha had been forced towards the ground. As such, this was the biggest opening she could ask for.

Idling by in the face of the world’s end was far from appropriate for a hunter like her.

Grinding to a halt as her bare feet slid up the building, she kicked straight off, accelerating downwards to the red nun she saw as a comrade-in-arms. She would charge back down and to that idiot who refused to listen to reason.

“GET A GRIP, YOU IDIOT!”

She would once again slam down that knife handle. Straight onto that thick skull of hers.

«What makes you think any of that? First of all, you openly showed your ability like this, while all we did was play around a little. Secondly, we are Judgement, the officials meant to deal with this, not you. If anything at all, we allow you to team up with us, in case we assume that your safety as a civillian might not be endangered. However, where is any reason for that? All I see, is a civilian recklessly engaging into combat with two trained veterans, making amateur mistakes over and over. I got you figured out. Now what stops me from simply throwing the two of you off the roof?»

Though she had somehow managed to calm herself down, the boy in front of her seemed unwilling to do so. So much in fact that his rage was almost enough to anger Chiyo enough to restart their fight.

"Oh yeah, threaten to throw a girl off the roof, way to show your on the side of good Judgement-san!!! What next, gonna display my bloody corpse as an example to others?!?!"

“Easy there. No need to be that fervent.”

Chiyo took another deep breath. The girl was right. Being at each others throats wouldn't fix the riots in the streets. Before she had a chance to try and broker peace again with the enraged boy, everyone's attention was drawn to the sudden cry for help from a young girl.

“We’re splitting up now!”

The Tokidadai girl reacted with the speed of an experienced professional, immediately jumping into action. What Chiyo hadn't expected is for her to suddenly teleport right next to Mio and grab her arm.

“You’re coming with me. We’re going to get answers from you too.”

"Huh..."

Before she even had a chance to protest Mio was suddenly whisked away on a wild ride of teleportation towards the source of the scream. Meanwhile, Chiyo was still on the roof with the angry boy.

"Umm... does she do things like that often?"

«Where are you~?» That sing sang voice was entirely out of touch with the environment. So out of touch even that it was nothing but purely tasteless. People were hurting each other everywhere. People that had hung out with their close friends or relatives suddenly turned onto exactly those, punching, shoving or strangulating each other for no apparent reason. And to make matters even worse, the building structure of the department store was shifting and twisting chaotically as more and more tears formed in the building, reducing its stability with each and every new one.

«There’s no use to hide. I’ll find you eventually~! So come ouuuuuuuuuuu~t!»

Admist it all danced the culprit at the very bottom floor of the building. A flambouyant dress split in the middle between black and white while ornamented with a fiery red, blonde dyed hair, and a stingy yet alleviating odour chasing each of her steps. Stella Dellinger di Ariana.

The building around felt quite like a perfect stage, was it a standard department store stretching over six floors which were arranged in multiple stacked rings that, beyond space for escalators and elevators left their centre core open for a better view. A view down to a classic italian style fountain that was entirely out of touch with the remaining modern material interior. Still, the attempt to play at European styles – albeit typically clumsy for Japan – did give it all a sense of theatre. Not to forget that she was the epicentre of every twist that wandered through the building’s ever frailer growing structure.

Index had come to understand all of that. In fact, it had all been her fault to begin with. When that woman had revealed her true intentions to her, her attempts at self defence had been in vain. Thus, with little to resort to she had been forced to flee into the closest nearly building. Then everything had gone into chaos. No, it had gone there the moment that woman had appeared. Stella Dellinger di Ariana was impossible to understand. Even for someone with her knowledge. Or wasn’t she? All she needed was some time to process it all, but this chase didn’t allow her to. Somehow she had made it to the second floor of the store and taken cover behind a cashier’s desk, but that was as far as she could go. Not because she had run out of stamina, but because she had heard a voice.

«HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!!!!»

From where she took cover, she had a perfect view at the hollow centre of the department store’s structure and across it to the other side. There a girl hung down from what used to be the third floor’s railing a girl of elementary school age hung down, holding onto the lifeline that was a simple metal tube. Her fear for life was clearly audible and visible. But with that monster at the centre of it all, how could she save her?


Rarely did a clash of Magicians result in a victory of pure strength. Hence, seeing one knockin out the other at this speed, was a rare sight. The rush attack finally connecting and Sara hammering the back of her dagger straight into the red nun’s face naturally became a sight to behold for this reason. Especially, since it finally seemed to take all air out of the wings of her opponent. At long last Sasha Kreutzev would collapse blacked out on the street.

That solved one problem. But not the larger one at hand.

«HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!!!!»

That reminder reached those fighting on the open street as well. They hadn’t been here to fight these two in the first place. «Looks like I was a little late. That damn jester», Birdway would mutter in annoyance as her fight turned towards the department store. «If I took a guess, I’d say she’s about to reach her target. So you might wanna hurry yourselves up.» She said that, but there was no sense of hurry at all in the small blonde. Instead, she just casually tossed the other blonde she’d been carrying around until now on the floor like an oversized parcel. «You, too. Go and do your job!»

There she went again. With matters barely resolved by another urgent situation popping up, Kuroko grabbed one of the girls and ran – well more like teleported – off in no time at all. And while she did, Furuhashi and the girl whose name he had to check for on her badge were left behind.

«Umm… does she do things like that often?»

«Unfortunately.» Sighing in defeated annoyance didn’t really help the case, so instead he would focus on their only path ahead. «To the stairway!» Clearly, that declaration lacked a sense of heroism, but at least they, too, would break off after their target. Even if it meant that garganteous detour that was climbing down a building, crossing the streets and arriving minutes later than the others.

It was almost heretical for someone so entrenched in magic, and yet the decisive victory came from her boorish act of brute physicality. The handle of the knife, the bluntest part of her weapon, had impressed itself right into the red nun’s head, sundering her consciousness in an instant. At the very least, this long fight that should not have had to happen had come to an end. With a thud, the nun in red landed unceremoniously on the ground.

But, there was no time for her to rest. The situation around her had not changed otherwise. No, despite Sasha finally being stopped, the entropy that was the chaos surrounding her had shown no signs of subsiding.

Not taking Birdway’s words with a light heart, Sara quickly found herself jumping off without a word. As she bounced off the side of the buildings towards the source of the sound, she saw a certain twintailed girl off in the distance, serially teleporting off of a building, towards the same endpoint.

In all likelihood, they would probably recognize each other. Sara had already remembered her as one of the people from the airport so it wouldn’t be a stretch to say that she had reciprocated.

Yet, none of that mattered. Sara had to find the culprit and right now the most pressing thing was the cry for help.

Atsa would let out a whistle as he watched Sara knocked out the red nun's head with a swift blow to the head using the handle of her knife. That wasn't a sight you got to see everyday even in his line of work. After all, usually the taking out of your opponent in a fight between magicians was usually done in a flashier or esoteric manner. However, one can't argue with results and while it wasn't done in the usually fashion the blunt blow had definitely been effective. The Hatááłii pitied the red nun for the headache she was definitely going to have later after that impact.

"Ouch...."

Unfortunately, even Jack and Sasha had been dealt with it did nothing to stop the chaos that was unfolding around. After all, they had just been victims of the same spell that was causing this whole area to fall into pure chaos as friends and complete strangers turned on each other with supernatural bloodlust. The only true way to bring an end to all this was to find the true culprit, the woman they had chased all the way here from London.

Fortunately they didn't have to waste any time at all before a clue towards Stella location revealed itself in the form of a cry from a nearby building.

<<HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!!!!»

Atsa didn't even need to wait for Birdway's order before he started running off in the direction of the cry. Hopefully this time he'd actually be useful unlike the catastrophe that was his fight with Jack Nightingale.

Mio's field of view was shifting constantly with each teleport. The Tokiwadai girl had seen fit to drag her along on her heroic escapade so now it seemed she was along for the ride. Though she played the part of an unwilling tag along, in truth she too would have gone towards the scream for help. At the speed of serial teleportation, it wasn't long until the pair reached what seemed to be the source of the scream. Looking around they appeared to be in large multi-leveled department store. Mio wasn't sure what had happened here, but the building itself seemed to be falling apart as well. With the quick look around, Mio also spotted two people. One girl in a flamboyant outfit dancing around the ground floor and another small child desperately clinging to what looked like a metal pole up on the 3rd floor. It was obvious which of the two the plea for help had come from. Mio pointed towards the struggling child and called for the teleporters aid.

"Tokiwadai-san! Up there! She's about to fall!"

There were many things that Chiyo could handle with her ability, however this task seemed more suited to the teleport's skills. Meanwhile, Mio's attention would be redirected to the flamboyant girl on the ground. She didn't seem to be concerned about the falling child, which along with her weird outfit and location, made her seem rather suspicious.

"And you, blond girl with the weird dress. What are you doing here?"

---

«Unfortunately. To the stairway!»

At the Tokiwadai girl's words and after hearing the scream, the judgement boy seemed to have lost his anger and switched focus to the task at hand. He throw open the roof access doorway and the pair proceeded to descend the many floors of stairs. After a moment, the Tokiwadai girl and Mio arrived at their destination, so Chiyo saw fit to keep the judgement boy apprised of the situation.  

"Looks like Mio and your friend made it to the source of the scream. It appears to be a department store across the street, and the person in trouble is a young girl dangling from the third floor. They are attempting to save her now."

Everyone who came rushing at that cry for help, was just a second too late. Just like that the girl’s tiny fingers slipped off the iron tube, sending her into the lethal distance.

Or so it would have happened, hadn’t another hand caught hers just that very moment.

Index had given up on her own safety and prioritised that of a complete stranger; an act a holy nun like her would have performed any day. She, too, now had one hand clinging to the iron tube, but unlike before, her other hand had caught the full weight of the little girl. Obviously, she didn’t have the strength to make things any better, but she still had to try, so she acted on a whim.

«Hold tight, yes? I got you…!»

She did not know how long she could, but her determination to hold out and save the girl outweighed all human logic.

«Found ♫ You ♫» The moment the Librorum Prohibitorum had jumped into sight, Stella’s eyes had been fixed solely on her. From the beginning on, the spotlight of her attention had been reserved exclusively for her prey; not the side characters. Thus, not minding any of the circumstances, the flamboyant Magician shifted her stance with a joyous giggle. «30 - 70.» And immediately after a shock ran through the department store, racing across the entire ground floor and up to the higher levels. And as it travelled, everything in its path lost stability and collapsed; be it the marble tiles of the floor, the soft eggshell painted walls or the metal made escalators leading upwards.

Naturally, none of that mattered.

What mattered was the single fact that the iron tube lost all of its hold in the structure, dropping the Index Librorum Prohibitorum down towards her. A twist of fortune she couldn’t away to embrace as she spread out her arms like wings. «Come to me ♫»

At this point Furuhashi Gou could probably rival a marathon runner. At least in terms of sweat she had shed today, he could easily outclass all of them. But then again. These people hadn’t been in situations as tight as this one ever before. With this much tension within him, he was glad to hear the positive news. «Let’s leave that to Shirai. We should focus on the culprit in the mean time!» They hadn’t made it to the department store just yet, but he could already feel the tremours even from this distance. Not just because his ability enabled him to. As such, he understood where the real problem would lie. Of course, he couldn’t ignore the rest either, but no matter what he thought of that Teleporter as a person, there was no denying her capabilities as a Judgement officer.

Therefore, he had to complement them with his own!

Atsa watched with horror as he arrived on the scene only to realize he was just a moment too late. He simply wasn’t fast enough, no spell in his entire arsenal could be cast fast enough to interfere with the young girl’s fall. So he was frozen in place hoping for someone, anyone would be able to make it to her in time. In that moment a miracle happened and Atsa had to wonder if someone out there had actually heard his silent prayer.

A nun had jumped on to the seen and come to the girl’s rescue. Sure, that same nun was now also precariously hanging from the same metal tube but that was better than the free fall that was occurring just moments before. Now they had time to figure how to safely get both of them down or at least they would’ve if it wasn’t for the arrival of a certain magician in a red dress.

All Atsa heard was her randomly saying thirty and seventy followed by the store beginning to collapse in on itself. This was definitely their target and the one responsible for all this chaos. The one who turned family and friends against each other, there was no just how many they had hurt or even died because of the relentless pursuit of her goal. It was unforgivable and yet it also was an all too common occurrence on the magic side. With that in mind after all the chaos the lady in red had caused they couldn’t let her just get what she wanted.

"Sara! You get them!"

As he said this he’d point to the falling pair. Sara was far faster than Atsa in every regard so she was far more capable of catching the pair and creating the necessary distance to interfere with their target's plan. Meanwhile Atsa would start running towards Stella’s blind spot. Given her target was right in front of her it was unlikely she’d pull her attention away from that, especially if Sara got their in time to stop her from catching the nun. From the blind spot behind Stella Atsa shift directions and start running right towards her back. Running quietly was hard but he had plenty of practice and all the noise created from the collapsing building provided plenty of cover. As he was running he’d also pulled out one of the arrows from his quiver.

Once he closed the distance he’d attempted to put one of her arms in a lock while using his other arm to slam the arrowhead into her throat. She seemed to initiate her magic by announcing numbers so all he’d have to do to neutralize that was to take away her ability to speak. Given how many lives were at risk he couldn’t just avoid fatal spots like he usually did, this didn’t mean he was breaking his no kill policy. After all, as long as she didn’t die instantly he’d be able to heal her so all he really had to do was just avoid hitting any spots that would cause instant death.

Fortune be damned, that was not how she was going to let things come to an end. The rebar had fallen apart and now it wasn’t simply one person who was in clear danger. The girl bouncing off from building to building would not let the tragedy that was impending happen.

In that chaos, Sara reached out her hands.

Her mind zoned in purely on the falling girls, driving all the focus towards rescuing the Index and the other girl.

“GRAB ON!”

It was a simple command she let out as she reached for the girls’ hands as they fell.

She would catch them and land on another rooftop, all in a straight line. All before they could fall into the arms of the gaudy woman in red beneath them.

---

That’s one of the suspicious people from the airport.

From her vantage point, she could see the young woman who was far closer to her at making a rescue attempt, her hands reached out to the other two girls. What stood out more was the woman in red beneath them all.

A gaudy woman who had held her arms as if she was accepting a gift raining down from the heavens. She was like the stranger who was reaching to and calling out to the girls in midair. But, there was something far more fundamental a problem around her.

Among the chaos of riots and rescues, the red dress woman was far out of place, as if she was the center of chaos, an unbearable calm that was surrounded by a storm.

In other words…

She’s more dangerous.

Redirecting herself, she turned her focus away from the falling girls towards the woman beneath who Chiyo...Mio...whichever one she had pulled along had called out to but received no response.

She was within 80 meters.

All she needed was the right place to drive the stake.

What better place than driving it into the sole of her shoe and the ground—an inevitable anchor.

It looked for a moment like they were too late. The young girl's hand slipped from the pole and she began her three story plunge towards the hard ground. Or she would have if it were not for the timely arrival of another girl. This one dressed almost like a sister, though Mio had never seen all white sister garb before. Despite the timely catch however, the young sister didn't seem particularly strong and it looked like she was barely holding on to the girl as well.

«Found ♫ You ♫. 30 - 70. Come to me ♫»

As the girl in the sister outfit appeared to catch the child, the other strangely dressed girl on the ground seemed to perk up. Based on what she said the sister was someone she was looking for. On top of that, after spouting some numbers, the entire building started to shake. As if it wasn't already obvious, this girl was trouble. Whether or not she was the cause of the commotion outside as well, Mio wasn't sure, but she was certainly causing one in here.

"Sara! You get them!"

At that moment, Mio heard another voice enter the scene. A young man with dark skin, light hair, and strange outfit. Was there a convention going on today or something? What's with all the strange outfits. That didn't matter though. The boy had called out to yet another newcomer, a young girl, who was soaring through the air towards the pair hanging for their lives.

“GRAB ON!”

Leaving them to the newcomer, Mio turned her attention back towards the girl she was assuming was the cause of the commotion.

"You know, it's pretty rude not to look at someone when their talking to you..."

As she spoke, Mio slowly starting walking towards the girl. Then when she was close enough, she leapt at the girl to swing a punch that'd pack more hurt than you'd expect from a girl Mio's size.

"Maybe this will get your attention!!"

---

«Let’s leave that to Shirai. We should focus on the culprit in the mean time!»

There was nothing Chiyo could do for the falling pair anyway, even with Mio on the scene she was basically just a normal girl. Keeping the judgment boy updated with what was going on inside, Chiyo informed him of the newcomers to the scene as well as...

"Uh oh... Seems like Mio is mad again. She's about to try and clobber the culprit. We should probably try and pick up the pace."

«Sara! You get them!«

«You know, it's pretty rude not to look at someone when their talking to you…»

Everything happened all at once. The prize becoming the lowhanging fruit she could just grasp any moment. The voices of those willing to take it from her, ringing like bells of warning, and the attacks of these enemies coming without any sense of coordination.

«Maybe this will get your attention!!»

Begging for attention was never a good idea.

Maybe it would have worked, had they not announced their presence this flashily. But they had. They had brought Stella back onto the earth. Back to this very moment. Back to the realisation that there were still obstacles left in her path.

However, it wasn’t as simple to interfere with her as they may have thought.

The building was still collapsing all around. The floor was, too. And it hadn’t been a regular collapse at that. The moment any of them would step onto the field around her, they would come to realise that something was quite amiss. Instead of any stable basis what they found was the sensation of stepping onto water. And much like with stepping into water, they would sink immediately. Sink into the floor, through the ocean of liquid debris, and into the underground levels of the department store.

And yet that wasn’t all.

«Huh?» To her own surprise, she had felt a sting all of a sudden. Pain coming from literally nowhere. Only when she looked down did she find a stake stuck in the only portion of the floor she had left solid for her feet to rest upon. And right there, it stuck, a foreign object that shouldn’t have been there. It grazed her foot, drawing blood. She hadn’t seen it coming. Yet by sheer luck she must have shifted her feet accidentally to escape its exact trajectory. «How dare you…»

Looking up she spotted a twin-tailed girl in the distance. The only other company in the entire building.

Actually. No. The only other company? «Where did she go?» The realisation only shook her momentarily. There was no time to lose here. No effort to let go to waste. Her prize had been snatched! She needed to catch up immediately? But where to? Where had they gone? Who had taken them? Was it the girl? Or had there been more than just the first wave?

Nearly having dropped her composure, the flambouyant Magician determined a quick recovery had been the only adequate path to walk. One where she would squash all her enemies in a single all powerful strike.

«77 - 23»

And just like that everything exploded. It wasn’t much of a classic explosion of pure energy, but rather mass itself: All building materials that had previously collapsed suddenly launched into a rapid expansion. Completely without any warning, reason, logic, or any traceable pattern, the decomposed structures shot anywhere, tearing through themselves, whipping across anywhere, all across the ground level, the higher floors, and the underground level. It happened everywhere, at the same time, without limits.

But to make matters worse, the explosions had also launched Stella right up in the air, sending her flying towards the top of the building which no longer resembled anything close to a building.

Now nothing more than a jumbled mesh close to a child’s first attempt at cuttlery, the department store’s structure had become completely bizarre. Walls had appeared and disappeared, walkways malformed to spiral across floor, walls and ceilings at completely random, holes been punshed right through here and there, while elsewhere stakes or pillars had stabbed through everything.

Even at the centre of the building where everything had revolved around an open space where customers could view everything by looking down from above, a tangled mesh of platforms had been created, blocking clean view here and there. And yet, in all that chaos, Stella Dellinger di Ariana landed on her feet softly, humming a joyful melody, as she resumed her chase.

She had to look for the Index Librorum Prohibitorum once again.

But wasn’t that also quite the fun?

«Ready or not ♫ Here I come ♫»

She sang, limping onward, slowly but surely.

It was only a matter of time.


It had only been the matter of a moment.

When the hold of the tube serving as their lifeline had colappsed, she had prayed to god for a saving miracle. Not for herself, but the innocent girl.

A miracle that somehow had come true. «GRAB ON!» Assuming the form of a dark skinned girl who had seemingly come from nowhere. Judging by looks, language, along with skill, their hero had clearly been a Magician.

«Thank you! Whoever you are!»

But there was no time to rejoice.

Just when they had landed in their new cover, a rumble shook the entirety of the building structure.

«Watch out…!!!»

A short warning Index immediately understood as she charged to shelter the poor girl who so far had only stared around disorientedly. But just as she lept, everything was thrown into a frenzy. Beyond her own and anyone else’s understanding, everything just – for the lack of a better word –exploded, knocking her across the space and out for good.

…

…

…

When she awoke only a short moment later, a stinging pain she felt in her side and back made it hard for her to lift herself up. There was something weighing her down. Checking on it, she realised that she had been buried under a small pile of rubble. One not too heavy, as a bit of mustered strength was enough to shake herself free and get back onto her legs. It was hard, but not impossible. Besides, she had more pressing concerns on her mind.

«Elementary school girl-chan? Magician-san? Where are you???»

The nun shouted with her weakened voice, looking for her saviour and the one she had wanted to save? And yet, all she saw upon looking around were walls and floors twisted beyond any recognition.


Much like Index, everyone else had been dealt a completely fresh hand as well.


Atsa, once back to proper orientation would find himself in what used to be the department store’s grocery floor. While originally a vast collection of various ingredients needed to cater to any type of cuisine, ranging from low to high quality, from processed to fresh, from sweets to healthy, from local to international, it now had become a forest of sharp pointy pillars digging from the ceiling into the floor.

But that wasn’t all. He was alone. And yet he wasn’t. There were other people. Young to old. Customers and sales staff. Their eyes were immediately fixed on him, the complete and obvious odd one out. Their glances, albeit shaken by the events, full of anger and rage.

Yes, in their world he was the enemy. An enemy they had to destroy.


Sara, after being knocked around half the building and possible incapacitated, would come to herself hearing the soft yet painladen sound of cries.

«He– Help me…i–it hurts…»

It was faint, but pierced the heart like thin needle.

Following the voice, not too far from herself, she’d find the elementary school girl from earlier. Now pinned to the ceiling by a thick mass of concrete. Cleary, if it had pressed on for only a couple more centimetres, her frail form would have been shattered.

Yet still, with the pain she was visibly under, it was obvious she still was close to lethal danger.


Kuroko, having been quite distant to the centre of the maelstorm, had still not been able to evade its wrath completelty. Having been struck from behind by the chaotic whirlwind that had been the sudden growth, she, too, had been knocked around the building, before finally being knocked to the floor by the randomly reforming ceiling.

It should take her a moment.

When she finally came to properly, she would hear slow footsteps closing in.

She would hear the soft humming of a joyful voice.

Its source appearing at the far end of the corridor.

A gaudy dress of black, white, and red.


As for Miyo, she hadn’t been as lucky as the others. Squashed by the might of the building itself.


«These idiots. Of course, they went ahead and underestimated her.»

Right in front of the building’s entry stood one Leivinia Birdway, openly revelling in her annoyance at the other members of her party, who – once again – had screwed up to the point of whatever movement of art this ugly sculpture, the store had transformed into, could be labelled as.

Already having her golden sword in her hand she was fully prepared to charge through the front door that now was nothing more than a gigantic crack formed in the wall. However, before she could take the step forward, she noticed the two latecomers. «I wouldn’t go in there, if I were you. Summer sale just ended», she threw them a snarky comment as she took a glance over her shoulder.

Unfortunately, plans never really well on the first attempt did they. As Mio and the other boy attempted to close in on their target, she snapped out of whatever state she was in and started paying attention. Maybe it would be in her best interest to stop announcing her intentions to punch someone before hand, but that was a lesson to still be learned. Perhaps even right now as when Mio's foot expected to find floor to stand on near the girl, she instead starting sinking into the water as if she had somehow fallen into a pool. Confused, Mio franticly looked around trying to figure out what had happened as she sank even deeper into the ground. It wasn't just her either. The boy who had been attacking from behind also seemed to share a similar fate. Another quick glance before her head was entirely submerged in the ground saw the girl looking up at the judgment girl before speaking what sounded like two numbers.

«77 - 23»

Suddenly, what could only be likened to an explosion rattled or rather distorted the entire building. Debris, merchandise, even the walls and floors seemed like they were trying to be anything except what they were supposed to be. As Mio fell into the building's underground grocery level, she could see that it was experiencing much of the same. Her ability to look around then came to an abrupt stop as a spiked pillars appeared from most of the surfaces around her and skewered her entire body. Blood poured from the wounds as Mio swiftly died leaving a corpse hanging from the spikes.

---

As Chiyo and the Judgement boy closed in on the building, in a sudden explosion it ceased to be that. No resembling a more of a creative art piece. This was followed quickly by Chiyo nearly collapsing as she felt the impacts of each of the spikes as the skewered Mio's body underground. Luckily, thanks to Mio's swift death, the sensation passed and Chiyo looked up at Gou and spoke in a much more dispassionate tone that would have been expected for the subject.

"Well... Mio is dead. I'm not sure how many of the others on the others survived whatever just happened there. We'll need to head in and check. Watch out, seems like she can turn the ground into liquid or something. I'm not really sure what happened in there."

Chiyo then continued heading towards the building as if nothing had happened. As the pair arrived at the "Doorway" they noticed another girl standing out front brandishing a golden sword. As they approached she spoke.

«I wouldn’t go in there, if I were you. Summer sale just ended»

"Thanks for the warning, but some crazy chick in there just killed my sister so I'm going to go make sure she takes a long nap in the dirt... Right Mio."

A voice then responded from behind the girl with the sword.

"Yeah, no one kills me and gets away with it!"

A girl almost completely identical to Chiyo, except for her eye color, had appeared behind the girl with the sword and was already walking into the building to pick a fight.

How much time had passed? Of that, Sara was not sure. She had been so desperately trying to save the falling girl. And now, she awakened an unknown amount of time later, her body aching all over. And yet, the world would not allow her to rest.

She stood herself back up, pulling herself with her arms as she found her arms and legs trembling from the ever present aches.

The voice of the young girl was something she could hardly ignore. She had no memory of what she had even set as her obstacles, but none of that would help here. Using what strength she had, she immediately found herself jumping atop pieces of rubble until she reached close enough to the little girl.

With a deep breath, she unclasped the necklace she had worn and then once again reclasped it. Fatigue assailed her body at every nook and cranny. And yet, she reached out to the young girl before her—clasped her hand.

And to the girl who was in deep pain, she let forward a simple smile.

Obstacle set: building material.

She would allow the building materials crushing the girl to be inert, incapable of even touching her and pull the girl through a solid that should have been keeping her pressed—a simple methodology only those like her were capable of.

---

She had to make the first move.

Shirai Kuroko had no idea where she was. The world around her transformed in such a grotesque way that if she had attempted to teleport, there was no guarantee she would not find herself torn apart or crushed by building materials.

But that wasn’t all. A familiar, yet dangerous voice—one too jovial for this situation—would slowly form.

She could not let herself be the one to be washed away by the crashing tides it would bring with it. If she let things go on she would find herself far beyond a mere precarious position,

Having found a piece of rubble to hide behind, she placed a hand upon a pane of glass. At the right second, it would teleport into a nearby pillar at an angle, causing it to fall at an angle and crush whatever was in its path.

For someone like Shirai Kuroko, such a plan was beyond bloodthirsty. Yet, she couldn’t see a way out of this if she didn’t use some flashy move. Moreover, it was highly unlikely to succeed. She just needed to force her hand.

Any second.

Any second.

NOW!

Tension. Extreme tension. That was the state Furuhashi Gou’s body and mind had fallen into. Unlike his company he wasn’t tone deaf towards the obvious oddity that had appeared before them. A young girl carrying a weapon; of all things a sword made from gold. It didn’t need an expert to understand the weapon was dangerous. And even moreso to understand that this weapon did not belong to Academy City. It was completely detached from its world view where solely the state of the art of science stood in the spotlight and instead was more suitable for a fantasy light novel or manga.

But that was the current situation.

«And who are you supposed to be? This is an active investigation. We can’t have civilians mess around!», he barked the usual attempt at resolution. It was a warning, nothing more, nothing less. But hopefully it’d sway her to clear the path instead of causing more problems.

In the end, if she wouldn’t, he wasn’t sure what he’d do.

Under normal circumstances he’d surely take the win or at least break through. However, the sword had already dug into his mind. It had already clouded his judgement with purely worry.

After all, it had resemblance to what he’d seen back then…

Birdway remained completely unfazed. By the threat the boy had thrown at her, by the girl’s naive declaration, and by the fact that another girl had just appeared from thin air right behind her. Instead, her reaction came down to an annoyed, unamused sigh. Why even warn people if they aren’t willing to listen to reason? «Fine. Then go ahead and die a million more times.» She was as cynic as she could get, already predicting the turnout of the girls’ rematch with that Magician of all people. «I’m sure you’ll understand what her game truly is, after having your bones crushed for the billionth time. Reexperiencing that lovely sensation over and over again.

In reality there was nothing stopping the blonde from letting them pass. That condescending tone hadn’t been anything necessary at all. However, she ultimately wasn’t the type to let others walk into their certain death. Of course, she would never show or express that in any way. «But what to expect of little children. Always out for more than they can chew.» Instead, belittling them.

«Finally, I found you~»

And yet just as she had casually bullied these children, she immediately readjusted her gears to immense focus. From sword to disk. And even then she barely caught on as suddenly a surge of flames rushed in at all four of them, consuming anything in its path in an instant.

If it hadn’t been for a collection of stone pillars that had suddenly sprouted from the ground, the wrath of the flames may have been far more severe. Strong and sturdy these pillars would stand, protecting those who sought cover behind them. But only for a mere moment. Just as suddenly as they had emerged, they were blown apart by an explosion of pure gold, launching the newly made rubble back into the direction the flames had come from. A counter attack with lethal force executed by the young blonde who know held a wand.

«You are indeed fast, Miss Birdway. Unfortunately that is no surprise to me. Neither should you have expected it to be. Foolish little girl.» As the view was clouded by the dust thrown about by the explosion and the heat of the flames, all one could hear was the voice and steps slowly closing in. Whoever was speaking was a man with a clear obession towards refined speech. It wasn’t his choice of words, but the way he intonated them. Somewhere between reading acclaimed prose and singing.

And while he was, there was an audible drip of venom carried over in ever syllaby.

As he drew closer his figure finally became visible. And with it the notion that this was no ordinary man. Clad from head to toe in white with purple embroideries he appeared noble. Yet that nobility was shattered by the white makeup on his face and the fool’s cap with three tips he wore. Bells were adjusted to each of its ends, completing the appearance of a jester, who with each movement may have been meant to spread joy and laughter. But this very man was less of a comedian and more of a devil.

«Now I would kindly ask you to drop dead, yes?»

Something he’d prove immediately as his arms and legs moved to produce a strange posture.

As a direct consequence, wind itself produced a single horizontal cut aimed at Birdway’s neck and everything on its level, slicing a few metres into the building’s facade. Clean. Perfect. Oh and, of course, lethal.

Even as the pillar came crashing down on her, Stella’s jolly humming wasn’t interrupted. At least by nothing more than a casual mutter. «40-60». That was all it took to diffuse the threat, as the pillar itself decomposed into a fluid abstract mass that simply flushed past her like a stream of water; just not as fluid. But given that, its slowly flowing presence was enough to shroud the Magician to a point where the only thing that was graspable was her voice.

«So it is you? And here I was hoping for destiny to deal me a better card. That’s how things are, eh?» Her tone of voice as flamboyant as ever, the black, white and crimson Magician was devoid of any and all concern. Instead, she was willing to embrace this twist. «At least that gives me the chance to pay you back for this.» While speaking she pointed at the wound the twin tail girl’s previous attack had left on her foot – an act that served no one but Stella herself, as she was still shrouded by the formless pillar.

A condition she would change right away, as the mass suddenly shot forward towards her enemy, enveloping the entire narrow corridor with its shape.

But that wasn’t all.

«60-40.»

The moment it reached twin tail’s perimetre, the mass became physical again, exploding outward devoid of any control, transitioning from waterfall to massive projectile. And yet while the force with which it burst was great, it was neither lethal nor spreading to the far end of the corridor. Instead, the moment it had shifted, the actual mass’s movement beyond the explosion had come to a halt, leaving it as a still barricade of unknown depth.


«Th…thank you…» Even as the pressure had been relieved, the girl’s voice remained faint. The spectrum of reasons covered both the remaining pain caused by injury or the stress she had undergone with everything that had happened in the past 30 minutes.

Not that it was over.

Even now the world was shaking every once in a while. Something was going on somewhere, but what exactly nobody could tell. At least not a frail girl at the brink of passing out. No longer able to stand and actively writhing she clearly was in need for support from here on out. And yet at the same time something else also occupied her mind. «Whe..where is the sister? I…is she alright?», she’d ask with all the worry she was supposed to have for her own good directed towards another.

She wasn’t a doctor, but Sara could say for certain that the girl would probably live. Probably. Neither her abdomen nor her chest had been pierced through. Though she had been placed into a situation where she was very nearly crushed, the immediate danger had passed, at least in her view. The remnant danger to the little girl was far from passed.

And despite it all, the excruciating pain and lightheadedness, her mind had trailed to the very girl who had tried to save her—the one person who had gone missing in all this.

Come to think of it, she was the target.

Had she left during the time Sara had been knocked out? No, the girl would have said something and Index, herself, didn’t seem the type to run away from this situation.

Had she ended up somewhere else entirely? This seemed to be the most likely answer.

Had she inevitably been captured by the woman they were targeting? It was the worst case scenario. If the red-dress target had found Index, things would probably have shifted even further than this or returned to some semblance of normal. But they hadn’t.

“Come here.” With a gentle voice, she beckoned the little girl who refused to discard her goodwill despite her pain and with an equally gentle tug, she pulled the little girl onto her back.

Before taking her first step, she came to a simple realization.

The one to pursue at this point was the nun girl. Ensure her safety. If she did that, there was a chance she could run into the target as well.

“Let’s go find her, alright...” Come to think of it, she didn’t know the girl’s name. But, that didn’t matter. She just kept walking forward through a world distorted beyond reason.

---

The first move had failed almost instantly—no, the moment the woman in the dress had appeared, she had casually brushed off such a great mass. She could only watch as the solid mass of the pillar had been liquefied at the chanting of a pair of numbers without a single movement.

A chill ran down Kuroko’s spine as she heard a singular declaration to recompense for the damage she had successfully inflicted. The liquefied, formless mass that the pillar had become a destructive projectile as it flew towards her at great force.

She had jumped the moment she had heard the declaration. She had opted against teleporting that first step for a simple reason.

I can’t afford to wait out the lag time.

If she could not see where she was going, it was nothing more than a risk to make such a move. On the other hand, as long as she could see, there was no space she couldn’t penetrate.

Unknown depth? That waterfall and projectile had hardly consumed anywhere close to a city block. As such, it was a depth that she could penetrate with absolute certainty.

Before she could hear the first two numbers muttered in reverse, signifying the change of the matter’s state, she aimed to teleport straight past the waterfall. With hands on the pins strapped to her thighs, she would aim to teleport three more into the young woman once she had beaten the lag.

If that wasn’t enough to keep you down, then let’s try this.

«Fine. Then go ahead and die a million more times. I’m sure you’ll understand what her game truly is, after having your bones crushed for the billionth time. Reexperiencing that lovely sensation over and over again. But what to expect of little children. Always out for more than they can chew.»

Based on the way the blonde girl spoke, it sounded as if she had at least some grasp on what Chiyo was capable of. As much as she wanted to just punch her in the face for calling her a child, she was right in that against such a strange ability that she didn't understand there wasn't much she could do.

«Finally, I found you~»

As Chiyo turned to face the source of this new voice, suddenly a large burst of fire came hurtling towards the group. Without enough time to dodge, Chiyo was saved thanks to the sudden appearance of several stone pillars from the ground, though the blast was still strong enough that it knocked Mio to the ground. The pillars were then shattered and sent back like shrapnel by what appeared to be the blonde girl with the sword, who was now holding what looked like a magic wand, as little sense as that made.

«You are indeed fast, Miss Birdway. Unfortunately that is no surprise to me. Neither should you have expected it to be. Foolish little girl.»

The voice spoke again, though obscured by all the dust the shattered pillars had kicked up. Just from his voice Chiyo could tell the man was bad news. However, when the dust settled and she could make out his appearance, Chiyo couldn't help but snicker at what looked like a clown standing in front of her. Despite her snickering, Chiyo was getting more and more confused by the second.

«Now I would kindly ask you to drop dead, yes?»

Before Chiyo had a chance to voice her confusion however, the man struck a strange pose which was followed swiftly by a blade of what seemed like wind slicing at neck height at the group. Mio, still on the ground after the fire blast was luckily spared the wind blade's wrath. Chiyo on the other hand who had been unprepared for the sudden attack, had her head swiftly removed from her shoulders as the rest of her body fell limp to the ground. If anyone was looking at Mio's face, they would see it go from a snickering smile to pure rage in an instant.

"Oh... you are dead!"

As Mio quickly stood up from the ground, Chiyo reappeared behind the clown man went to grab him to place him in a headlock from behind.

"Mass hysteria, weird shifting building, golden swords and wands, along with wind blades and fireballs. Before I beat the shit out of this guy does anyone want to explain what is going on!"

What the hell had just happened? They had almost had her, they had been so close and yet just as they were about to take her out everything had been turned on its head. In hindsight, maybe yelling out to Sara to catch the girl hanging on the post wasn't his best idea. Sara likely would've gone for her anyways and he had just given his location for yelling out. Regardless there was no going back on that decision now and he just had to hope not too many people had been seriously hurt or killed in the crossfire. Looking around him though he had a feeling that such a hope was just an impossible dream at this point. Who knew how many people had been skewered by the pillars that seem to rain down from the ceiling above.

Atsa body would ache as he finally got back to his feet and he'd stretch out his legs and arms a bit before getting a look at his surroundings. Unfortunately, it seemed his surroundings was the remains of a collapsed grocery center and an innumerable number of hostile eyes staring daggers at him. He had a feeling he knew exactly what was going through there head at this moment, there whole world had gone to hell and in the middle of the calamity they were going through no one stuck out quite as much as him right now. He survived being tossed through an entire building as it collapsed by psycho, though to be fair that was nothing, only to have to face an execution carried out by a bunch of rage fueled civilians who had mistaken him for the very person he had come here pursuing.

Atsa would sign and pitch his nose as he continued to watch the eyes around him. There was no telling when one of them might try something stupid. There was nothing to do but deal with the situation at hand but who even knew if that aggravation spell from before was still in effect? If it was there was almost no point in attempt what he was going to try next. He'd take a deep breath and then speak out as loudly and authoritative as he could.

"First of all, racist. Second of all, why you all staring at me for? Got a problem? Think I'm somehow responsible for this chaos? Don't deny it, I see it in your eyes. Just know it means you each of you have less functioning brain cells inside your skulls then the average mosquito. I mean honestly, why would I trap myself in a building I intended to destroy like this? You can see how that doesn't make sense right? Also if I was somehow responsible what are any of you actually going to do about it? I mean if I could tear this entire building down what could any of you do to stop me. What you should be thinking about is trying to see if there is any wounded nearby and figure out how to get them medical attention. As for the person responsible, if you really want to confront them about it go looking for a lady in a red dress who keeps saying number sequences."

Was this actual an effective strategy for dealing with this crowd? Probably not, but didn't scolding all of them let him release a bit of steam. This entire mission had been frustrating, it was kind of nice being able to yell at people about it. Now he had to figure out how to get out of this mess be it just the collapsed death trap he found himself in or the mob around him that could very well still want to rip him to pieces.

It was simple. So very simple.

The jester’s body shifting was all Birdway needed to understand the incoming consequence. Hence, with the knowledge of the attack all she had to do was launch one of her own: Striking with the re-emerged sword instantaneously, splitting the wind blade in half horizontally with one of her own. Of course that would only serve to protect her, not the others; they weren’t her allies in the first place anyway.

But that wasn’t the end of it.

No, simplicity meant effectiveness. Her cut didn’t end there but instead shot outwards, slicing the asphalt like butter in a quick rush to meet the original attacker with the same type of division as his own. But leaving it at just that was a boring and naive play. Instead, with the same lack of mercy as he had shown she drew a circle into the air using the red wand to invoke a circular wall of flames which was launched at the target in quick succession to the wind blade.

And if that wouldn’t suffice, she was already keen on launching another follow up.

«Drop dead? Me? The only one who’s going to is you, you miserable fool!», she’d scoff in the manner of one who stood above them all.


It was simple. So very simple.

All he had to do was prove his own power. The power that put him above that cursed cabal who had brought ruin to his only place in the world. And while he’d do so he would slay the tiny little cockroaches that had dared to interfere.

Casually stepping aside to evade the child’s wind blade, he had already rearranged the choreography he had pictured in his head, trimming it to nothing but everyone’s demise.

And yet, as he was about to set it into motion, someone else’s grasp wrapped around him, reducing his freedom of movement by the weight of another cockroach. «You little insect…!», he’d curse upon realising who the culprit was, yet also whilst taking note of the wall of flames being thrown at him. Both obstacles, he saw as dangerous to his current state of health.

And yet it would remain simple. All it needed was another shift in plans. Another tiny adjustment, considering both necessity and circumstance. Thus, he’d still move his limbs, sing under his breath and…

erase it all.

Within a tiny little instance both the girl and flames had disappeared into thin air; as much as any other sort of oddity beyond the scope of this world.

«Funny. Laughable, actually.» The jester’s chuckle was his companion as he began to motion faster than before. «The super natural never changes in nature does it? Mighty at first, but quite insignificant once your perception expands beyond the threshold.» His confidence was only overshadowed by the raw power of his ability, as his motions immediately translated into another storm of flames that would consume anything in his vincinity whole.

Yet this time he kept moving, kept weaving. And as a direct consequence, the raging flames were accompied by the ground itself bursting upwards with no sense for shape but direct orientation, forming a malestrom around his enemies, closing in into them from all sides with the intent of crushing their physical form from left, right, front and back.

It was simple. So very simple.

Both in her own eyes and those of the enemy. But whose simplicity would come out on top. Stella’s or the twintails’?

The girl had daringly crossed beyond the waterfal of hubris, aiming to surprise her with an unforeseen counter attack. Truly, she hadn’t expected any of it…but she wouldn’t be alone in that either: As she had completed the utterance of those reversed numbers, the shift of balance had occured once more; this time launching the material into expansion. Something that had always been bound to motion into both directions, underlying the concept of unknown depth. In fact, the very effect was completely unknown. To the girl, but also Stella herself. Hence, it defied logic, reason and expectation, explosively launching for the point where the girl had been deadset to reappear.

Fortunately, at least its timing had been on the teleporter’s side as the abrupt shock came in tandem with her own remergence as opposed to right before it. Thus, instead of crossing over with her own position-to-be, it crashed right into her current one – full force, of course – launching her into the wall to her right by matter of trajectory.

Yet, now understanding the danger the girl – or rather her ability – imposed upon her, Stella would not hesitate to tighten her grip on the situation, uttering full of conviction: «10-90.»


It was simple. So very simple. Actually, too simple. The reason the Magician’s words did not reach any of those blinded by rage was as little complex as the reason for why they were aiming for him in the first place. Their eyes were still on him, lingering agitation clearly visible within them. His words, albeit spoken with power, faded into nothing more than nothingness…

Instead, all they would do in response is scream and charge, like the angry mob they were supposed to be. However, instead of pitchforks they had armed themselves with whatever utensils they could grab: Chairlegs, glass shards, vacuum cleaners, brooms and oversized fish. The onslaught they were deadset to deliver upon him was bound to be both disastrous and comical at the same time.

Not that it ended there. No, this was Academy City.

Hence, on top of the makeshift weaponry there were also the likes of fireballs, ice spears, water blades, miniature tonados and lightning strikes casually but also angrily thrown in.

Between the flames, the blades and the explosions, ripping apart any form of architecture as though it was just a canvas forming an artificial backdrop, Furuhashi Gou was still there. He had been there when the girl was decapitated. He was there when the superior sword had slashed the other in half. He was there when the flames had whipped upon the enemy. But also when it all had disappeared into nothingness.

Naturally all this chain of events did was move beyond his simple understanding of what was possible. It had been just like back then. All of it.

This was his key to something.

But also another depth to defeat.

He was on the ground, dropped into the dirt as a result of his initial reflexes. Then, overwhelmed by all the forces in play he didn’t find much time or strength to return to his legs. Not that any of it mattered anymore as heat came whipping at them right from the front while a tremour shot through the below. He’d tense. This was bound to be their end.

Actually, no. There was something he could do. Something he had to do.

His palms were already on the ground, thus the connection had already been established. All it needed now was a single spark. A few calculations and all of a sudden, the rock, debris and whatever else had come to crush them neatly tore apart. And when they did would rain down upon those that were about to be consumed by the raging flames, possibly giving them a kind of secure but safe enough cover.

A gamble still, but all he could hope to achieve.

There was chaos all around. Chiyo could barely make sense of the things going on around her. Wind blades, waves of fire, erupting earth. None of it made any sense. Not to mention the blond girl next to her swinging around a sword and wand. None of this fit in with her understanding of esper powers. Even less so when the the strange man she had grabbed shifted slightly and both her and the wave of fire heading towards him vanished into nothing.

«Funny. Laughable, actually. The super natural never changes in nature does it? Mighty at first, but quite insignificant once your perception expands beyond the threshold.»

The man then followed it up with both a wave of fire and the ground rising up to crush them from both sides. Chiyo was fairly athletic, but avoiding multiple attacks from every direction was a bit beyond her ability to avoid. The only way out was through another her. She once again created Mio next to the man as the earth and fire closed in. The judgment boy next to her finally displayed what he was capable of, and blasted away the walls of earth. Seizing the opportunity, Chiyo through herself to the ground to avoid the fire from above. At the same time, Mio who'd appeared near the strange man threw out a mean punch aimed right at his jaw. Seeing as they had both ignored her previous question, it was clear to Chiyo that she wasn't getting an answer out of either of them while the other was still on the offensive. Thus, the only way to get an explanation on what was going on was to take one down.

It hadn’t worked as she had hoped. Far beyond it, she had taken a severe blow as the material had crashed into her the moment she had rematerialized.

There was not even time to launch the onslaught she had wanted to start. Instead, she was slammed into, thrown completely off the path she had intended and towards a wall. The left side of her body ached all over.

Her focus had been directed to the pain for only a moment. Any attempt to calculate coordinates failed as her mind slowly took itself off the pain and bruising.

But that was fine. She couldn’t let her momentum carry over with her teleport. A deviation in direction could throw her off entirely. So, she let herself hit the wall. Her velocity plummeted to zero as her hands and feet braced against the wall.

She immediately teleported higher up and back midline in that hallway before attempting again.

But rather than attempting to directly attack her again, Kuroko let her hands land upon teetering pieces of shrapnel as she aimed to teleport them directly beneath the haughty woman’s feet.

Destabilize the ground. Trip her up. And go in for the decisive blow.

Whatever 10-90 would be, it would still be problematic for her if she lost footing in the middle, right?

A straight hit to the jaw. Even with his level of attention, the jester had not foreseen the sudden attack from his blind spot. Tasting blood as he was knocked backwards, a realisation came over him. And with it a clear shift. Those two girls had been annoyances, much like the boy who had managed to diffuse his ground attack to cancel out the flames. But why had it come to this in the first place? Why now of all times. He hadn’t been here to fight them. They were just additional obstacles preventing him from reaching his actual goal. His actual enemy. He couldn’t care less about them.

Yet still, they were a problem. After all, with as much attention as he had to waste on them, Leivinia Birdway gained leeway. Something he could not afford at any moment.

…

As the debris rained down all around her, the small blonde watched the flames be fended off naturally. She would have thanked the grey haired boy, if she had the manners for it. Or the patience. However, having run out of those, she now tensed the grip of her fingers around the sword’s hilt.

It was time to end it.

For that very goal she would set off into a sprint, tip pointed forwards, transcending into the speeds of the super human, slicing through any and all resistance like butter. The symbolism was one of pure division, parting absolutely anything in its path. Indisriminately, both the girl who had landed her swing and the enemy jester thrown backwards by it.

…

With what could only be considered perfect timing, Ambroise – who chose not to waste valuable time on banter – had jumped into the air, performing a flip while he was at it, once more weaving motions to invoke an element. Wind once more was his choice as he struck his leg down from above, aiming for the nuisance of the ever-dying girl. This time the wind blade formed would strike down like a hammer, violently cutting through the asphalt down into the subway tunnels below, hopefully halving the girl vertically while he was at it.

However, its actual purpose was to propel Ambroise upwards by a few metres. By means of this he cleanly evaded Birdway’s lethal charge of division, instead travelling upwards rapidly. From there he’d spin more motions, creating further gusts with the imagery of angelic wings that’d maintain his ascension in parallel to the tall building’s height.

He flew up and up, increasing the distance, all the while eyeing that single opponent he lived to slay.

…

Birdway had missed. Not that she cared anymore.

One miss was just another.

Back to the plate, she’d immediately spawn a single stone pillar below her, employing it as a high speed elevator to give chase to her prey. Once she’d catch up, it was only a matter of another switch, another finely woven symbol and another finishing blow.

…

And of course she came, the same unstoppable force he had come to know her as. The one he needed to break at any cost. Such as the true purpose of his life. Revenge. No victory. Thus, he was prepared to go to any length. Prepared to play his trump card.

…

Kuroko would become witness to another strange phenomenon. The kind that completely defied reason and logic as it broke through the system that was science or possibly reality? The spikes she had cast would not follow their predestined route, appearing somewhere mid air for no good reason whatsoever. But that wasn’t where the oddity stopped. No, the sight before her warped completely. Everything before her eyes appeared as though broken by a prism, a distorted reflection in the water. Yet this was no illusion. This wasn’t simply light being broken. Everything was. Everything within space itself.

To make matters worse, the woman in the gaudy dress wore a grin far more sinister than anything she had boasted before. She was so very sure of herself now.

Now that space itself was in the palm of her hand, dancing to her finger’s very command.

«90-10.»

With those two numbers the full reverse arrived.

Beyond logic everything before Kuroko exploded outwards. This time with a force so unreal she neither had the time to escape nor the strength to endure.

…

The frail girl, barely clinging to her own physical well-being couldn’t stop thinking about her previous saviour; even when she was saved herself. Thus, she was all the more happy when her other saviour decided to join her on her journey to do exactly that.

Yet, before they could even set a step forward the ground below them blew apart from below, launching the both of them into the air, before they would drop along the flying debris’ collapse.

Down into the maelstorm…

…

«I need to stop her. Now!» Having felt the rumbling race through the entire corridor around her, Index could only guess what must have happened above. Given the extreme force alone, that Magician must have unleashed another super power with as little care as before.

Thus, now that she knew her enemy’s location, she would seek to run there. Up to the floors above. Prepared to face her!

…

As the two Magicians had been about the clash beside the walls of the former department stores, they both found themselves victim to a sudden explosion from within the building. An explosion so mighty it would blow them both off trajectory, shrouding them in a cloud of dust as it happened.

But that wasn’t all.

To those standing below the true madness of the phenomenon would appear, as this time the form of the building wasn’t the only victim to distortion. Instead, the sight of the upper floors now matched abstract art in more manners than one. The physical structure had bent as much as the light passing through itself did. Nothing no longer made any sense up there, as twists and twirls had formed from the glass that was space.