Chapter 3: Closure. Battle_Cry.[Part 2]

This is a battlefield.

Passing a corner in the underground street, Kamijou inadvertently covered his mouth.

This was a real battlefield.

No one was battling in front of him, and there were no gunshots or growls. All he saw were injured, battered people who were ripped apart and were leaning on the pillars and walls. It wasn't the frontline, but a place similar to a hospital. The warriors who had lost and retreated from battle were treating their wounds in an impromptu manner.

These were all Anti-Skill members, numbering almost 20 of them. Every single one of them was injured badly, and it was hard to imagine what kind of monster they were facing. Band-aids and bandages were useless here. The treatment here was like using thread and needle to patch a large hole on a rag sack.

(To be able to beat Anti-Skill down like this. What kind of magician is he…)

Kamijou was flabbergasted. Even though he was an amateur who didn't know the details, at least he knew that there was the science side and the magic side in the world. Before today, he thought that both sides were equal.

However, the current reality right now was like this.

Up till now, Kamijou had faced off against numerous magicians that couldn't be underestimated, so he wouldn't underestimate a magician's capability. However, right now, he was seeing the science side that he was living in being beaten badly, and was rather shocked by it.

The people in charge of security in Academy City were as weak as the armies in those monster movies.

But even so, they didn't intend to retreat.

The people who could still move were trying to move the tables and chairs near the shops, intending to create a road block. No, the ones who couldn't move were the important ones. At this moment, Kamijou had already confirmed that they couldn't move.

These people weren't just betting on their own lives.

They had the determination of finishing this even if they died.

(Why…)

Kamijou was speechless.

These people may have been trained, but their occupations were only 'teaching staff'… or school teachers. No one forced them to do this, and their salary wasn't exceptionally high. On a whole, they had no need to risk their lives and do battle. They weren't official policemen who had passed the National Security Test. Nobody would blame them even if they were to run away and try to protect their own lives. But they were not doing this…

At this moment, an Anti-Skill member who was sitting against the wall spotted Kamijou, who was rooted at the corner. What was surprising was that this Anti-Skill member was a woman. She was taping up her injured comrade's wrist, but on seeing Kamijou, she was stunned.

"OI, THAT BOY OVER THERE! WHAT ARE YOU DOIN HERE!?"

The angry shout caused several Anti-Skill members to turn around. Kamijou didn't respond. The woman who shouted scowled impatiently and said,

"Damn it, are you that brat from Tsukuyomi-sensei's class? What's wrong? You got locked up? That's why I said not to let down the sealing wall! Boy, you ran to the wrong direction! Go to gate AO3, the Judgment members backups will be waiting over there! Though it's impossible to escape there, at least it's safer over there! Put on this helmet, at least it's better than nothing!"

Tsukuyomi was Komoe-sensei's name. In other words, this Anti-Skill woman had heard from Komoe-sensei regarding Kamijou. The female Anti-Skill member angrily took off her gear and roughly threw it at Kamijou. Kamijou frantically reached his hands out to catch the safety helmet that was passed over like a basketball.

Kamijou again looked around.

Then, he roughly knew why these people wouldn't retreat.

Kamijou then walked further in.

"WHERE ARE YOU GOING? DAMN IT, I CAN'T MOVE MY BODY! SOMEONE GO GRAB THAT DAMNED CIVILIAN!"

The female Anti-Skill member reached her hand out, but she was rather far from Kamijou.

On hearing that, several Anti-Skill personnel rushed up to stop Kamijou, but since they were injured, they couldn't do it. Their remaining strength was such that they were unable to stop a High school student who was not even trained at all.

Even so, they were still not running away.

They were not officially policemen. No matter how much professional training they had, they were still school teachers. Their actions were like patrolmen who were standing by at the roads from school in the evening to ensure the students' safety.

But because of this, they were clear about it. Nobody had forced them to do this, so once they lost to the fear within them, they would immediately succumb. And if they succumbed, what kind of people would be hurt?

From the start, the system that Anti-Skill and Judgment used was that they didn't accept recommendations and requisitions, but volunteers.

If so, the answer was simple. These people chose to gather here because they wanted to protect the children, they weren't requested to.

(Damn it…)

Kamijou couldn't help but let this out.

He tossed aside the injured Anti-Skill member who had stepped up to stop him and continued to move forward. Inside this dark passage that was right ahead, there were many idiots like these. And from how things were going, it seemed like the situation was rather disparaging.

He tightly clenched his right hand.

Without looking away, he stared forward and dashed forward.

Even though fighting against this enemy was a suicidal act, if the enemy was a magician, there may have been a chance of turning the situation around if they used the final trump card, his right hand. Kamijou thought.

Continuing to run down the passage, Kamijou suddenly realized something.

(No…sound?)

There should be a shootout in the path deep inside, but yet it was so quiet it was terrifying. No gunfire, no footsteps, no shouts, nothing. There was not even a single tremor on the floor. A heavy bad premonition struck Kamijou's abdomen heavily.

And like bacteria on a mildew, it was gradually corroding Kamijou's body.

(Don't tell me…)

Under the red light, he dashed towards the other side of the dim passage.

"Hehe, good afternoon. Hehohohoho…"

The heavy voice of a woman speaking echoed throughout the dark space.

There was a woman with messy hair wearing a black robe, her skin as tan as chocolate, standing right in the middle of the passage. The skirt of her dress was extremely long, such that even her ankles couldn't be seen. Maybe it was because that she had dragged it for a long time that the edges of her skirt were dirty and worn out, heavily tattered. A stone golem stood beside her as if it was her shield. This was a huge puppet made by steel wires, chairs, tiles, dirt, lights and other things being crushed, mashed and shaped together by a powerful force.

And surrounding them…

The things that were supposed to be materials for the road block were crushed into pieces and scattered all over the place. As if they had been shot by a cannonball, 7 or 8 Anti-Skill members were lying on the floor together with the shrapnel. They seemed to be breathing, as their limbs were still trembling.

"Hoho, seems like you people have equipment that can absorb quite a lot of impact, to be able to survive a direct attack from Ellis…but because of that, I can play to my heart's content."

There was some cruelty in that smile.

Kamijou didn't know what the 'direct hit from Ellis' meant, but he could roughly guess that it was the attack that the stone golem had released. Just seeing the road block that had been blown to pieces, one could imagine how shocking the power was.

"Why…"

Kamijou wanted to ask 'why must you do such a thing', but was unable to say it.

In contrast, the blond lady didn't seem to feel anything, just saying casually,

"Oh, so you're that Imagine Breaker? Isn't the key to the Imaginary Number District with you? That…how do you pronounce that? Ka…Kazakiri whatsoever. Really, Japanese names are too complicated."

With an impatient look on her face, the lady played with her blond hair.

"Anything, whoever it is will do. Besides, it's not like I have to kill that brat."

"What?"

Kamijou couldn't help but suspect that he had heard that wrong.

He could vaguely tell that this woman was after him and Kazakiri, so he was stunned when he saw the woman have such a casual attitude.

"Don't you understand? Basically saying, it doesn't matter even if the one I want to kill is you."

The woman raised her oil pastel and quickly drew a horizontal line.

The stone golem responded and stamped hard on the floor. The strong tremor caused Kamijou to lose his balance. The stone golem again stamped onto the floor, and Kamijou finally fell to the floor. It was unknown how the woman was still standing upright. It was like she was isolated from the image, as she was the only one who couldn't feel the impact.

"The ground's my strength. In front of Ellis, nobody can stand upright. Fall, be hopeless as you lie on the ground! You defeated dogs, can you still bite me now?"

The blond woman let out a declaration of victory, and Kamijou, who was lying on the floor, could only glare at her.

Truly, in this situation, it was a curb stomp battle. The Anti-Skill members who were wielding guns were unable to effectively attack, and if their guns were pointed in the wrong direction, there was the possibility of them hitting their own men.

Kamijou tried to stand up, and the woman again drew another line with the oil pastel. The stone golem stamped again, causing the ground to tremble again. Kamijou had the Imagine Breaker ability, and he only needed just one finger to destroy the stone golem, but he couldn't move at all.

"You…you woman…"

"Not 'you woman', my name's Sherry Cromwell, remember this. However…it's useless to say my name to you, since you'll die here. It's useless even if I'm to say that I'm from the Anglican Church."

"WHAT?"

Kamijou frowned.

Anglican Church. Wasn't that the organization that Index was affiliated to?

On seeing Kamijou, Sherry revealed a slight sneer.

"I need a spark to ignite a war, so I have to let more people know about it. I'm a member of the Anglican Church, got it?—ELLIS!"

Sherry flipped her wrist and used the oil pastel to draw a circle. The stone golem called Ellis started to move, standing firmly on the floor, and raised that terrifyingly huge fist. Though it was not a punch that was going to be made without preparation, it was still a punch that could crush a road block. Kamijou wanted to get away, but the tremor on the ground caused him to be unable to move, and he could only wave his right hand wildly.

"MOVE ASIDE, BOY!"

Suddenly, an angry shout could be heard from beside him.

An injured Anti-Skill member who was lying on the floor was holding tightly onto a rifle. Before Kamijou could move, the little muzzle started to emit sparks. Gunfire and flashes coved the entire underground street. The bullets that ripped the air continuously collided with Ellis' legs in order to force the stone golem down.

However…

"WAH!"

A stream of strong wind pressure fizzed past Kamijou's face, forcing him to make that sound.

Ellis, who was covering the entire passage, was made of steel and concrete. When one fires at this several ton wall, the bullets would naturally bounce off like a ping-pong ball.

Anti-Skill was aiming to protect Kamijou's life from Ellis, and truthfully, Ellis' feet had stopped. As Anti-Skill was focusing their fire on Ellis' legs, Ellis couldn't stamp onto the floor. If it did lift its legs carelessly, the bullets may have hit Sherry, who was behind.

However, as the bullets were still bouncing off Ellis, they ended up bouncing off in different directions. In the end, Kamijou could only remain on the floor and not move. Anti-Skill was concentrating on firing, and Kamijou was worried about whether he would be hit by stray bullets as he covered his head with both hands.

(Damn it, if I can just touch it…!)

Kamijou and the golem were less than 3m apart, but carelessly moving forward to touch Ellis was a dangerous thing to do. It was obvious to say that the closer he was to Ellis, the more likely he would be hit by stray bullets.

The only chance would be when they reload.

The Anti-Skill rifles were unable to beat the stone golem, and the rifles couldn't possibly have unlimited ammo. After a while, the bullets would be used up. During the few seconds when they reloaded, the flying bullets would vanish. The only chance would be at that moment, when he would rush at Ellis.

Kamijou tightened his body, getting ready to move forward at any second.

Clack.

Suddenly, some gentle footsteps rang behind Kamijou.

As the gunfire continued to reach his ears, that gentle footstep, for some reason, Kamijou had a deep impression of it.

In order to avoid being hit by bullets, he continued to remain prone on the ground, only moving his neck to look behind.

The emergency red lights were very weak, and so he couldn't see the entire underground street clearly. The entire passage was pitch black except for the emergency lights that barely showed the way out. The footsteps came from the darkness.

Those footsteps weren't of one who was trained, nor did they have the presence of a new enemy. It was like someone was trembling as this person entered a haunted house, or a child who went back to school late at night to take back something that was left behind; it sounded rather timid.

A bad premonition rose up Kamijou's chest.

And this premonition came true.

"Erm…that…"

He could hear a girl's voice.

Under the dim red lights, the owner of the voice gradually appeared. It was the girl that Kamijou was familiar with. A long skirt covering her thighs, straight-haired with a rubber band tied beside her ear, and a pair of thin-framed spectacles—it was Kazakiri Hyouka. She was standing right in the middle of the passage, slowly walking over.

"DAMN IT! WHY WEREN'T YOU WAITING FOR SHIRAI!"

The shout that wasn't any softer than the gunfire echoes throughout the underground street.

Kamijou wanted to dash forward at the completely defenseless Kazakiri, who was standing over there, but he couldn't move due to the flying bullets.

However, Kazakiri seemed like she didn't understand the situation as she said,

"…Erm…because…"

"DON'T SAY ANYTHING, HURRY UP AND GET DOWN!"

"…Eh?"

On hearing Kamijou's shout, Kazakiri was stunned.

PAM! After that, her head got blown backwards.

"Ah?"

Kamijou inadvertently let out this sound of disbelief.

Of course, a human's eyes couldn't see bullets that were flying about. However, anyone could guess what happened. Some of the rifles bullets that had hit Ellis bounced off and hit Kazakiri's face. Some skin and muscle was blown off, and her spectacles were blown away.

However, Kamijou was unable to believe the truth that appeared in front of him. No, it was that he didn't want to believe. His mind was blank due to the confusion.

It was unknown when the gunfire ceased. The Anti-Skill members just stared at the girl that was hit. Seeing her target come forward like this and self-destruct in such an unexpected manner, Sherry frowned slightly as well.

At this moment,

Kazakiri's body arched backwards.

Like a puppet that didn't respond.

They could hear that her face got partly destroyed. A thing that resembled a shell dropped onto the floor with a bit of long hair. The bullets seemed to have hit the right side of her face, and the shape of her head was destroyed completely. The broken spectacles landed on the floor, and the ripped off ear still had the edge of the spectacle frame on it.

"Ka…KAZAKIRI—!!"

Kamijou frantically stood up and dashed towards Kazakiri. As he was too panicky, his feet were as slumber as a drunk.

But after getting to Kazakiri, Kamijou suddenly stopped.

His face was full of shock and surprise.

However, it was not because the scene was too devastating.

Kazakiri's injuries were definitely grave, the right half of her head had been blown off. She didn't seem like she had got hit by bullets, but rather, like there had been a bomb in her brain, the wound was so frighteningly big. Such overwhelming destruction was far more than what a person could imagine in everyday life. It made Kamijou feel such a lack of realism, such that even he was about to laugh.

But that wasn't the biggest problem.

The biggest problem that Kamijou was facing now could make anyone forget about the above.

Kamijou carefully inspected Kazakiri's wound.

It was truly a huge wound that had caused half her head to blow off. However, the wound was hollow. There was no flesh, no bone, no brain, nothing at all. There was not even a drop of blood from Kazakiri Hyouka's wound.

It was just like a fake human that was made of papier-mâché, or a 3D puppet that was made from multiple angles. The realistic looking skin looked merely like layers of light purple plastic when one looked from the inside of the hole.

At the middle of the large hole in her head, there was a small magnet-like thing floating. There a triangular column showing the skin color, the base was an equilateral triangle with less than 2cm on each side, the height was less than 5cm. The little column remains fixed there, spinning continuously. The sides of the triangular column had many rectangular things on it, each 1mm long and 2mm wide. Like a super-mini piano keyboard, as if there were invisible fingers playing it, the rectangular keys on the sides of the triangular column continued to move back and forth.

(What…is this…)

Kamijou was completely confused. The scene in front of him was too far away from reality; nobody could associate the feeling of 'it looks painful' or 'it looks unbearable' with it.

Was this an esper power as well? Did Kazakiri's 'counter stop' create this kind of phenomenon as well?

For a basic esper power, Kazakiri's current appearance was too abnormal. Even if there were only 7 Level 5 espers in Academy City like the Railgun and Accelerator, their bodies were still made of flesh. However, this Kazakiri was far different from a human.

"Uuu…"

Just as Kamijou was wondering what to do, Kazakiri let out a little moan.

Maybe it was because she had regained consciousness that the triangular column in the middle of her head started to spin rapidly, and the keys on the side were played even faster, like a firing pin on a sewing machine.

(No…)

At this moment, Kamijou was dragged back to reality, his entire body was feeling chilly all of a sudden.

(This seems to be the opposite…)

It wasn't the triangular column responding to Kazakiri's actions, but rather, Kazakiri was responding to the triangular column's movement, creating her mannerism and expression.

Even Sherry forgot to attack as well as she could only stare blankly at this phenomenon.

The keys on the side of the triangular pillar continued to be hit, ringing like a torrential rain. The triangular pillar started to spin rapidly like a computer trackball rolling. It was unknown what kind of processes were changed to cause this girl with a wide hole in her head to gradually look up.

Left with only an eye, Kazakiri blankly stared at Kamijou. As if she had just woken up, there was not even a sign of pain or dizziness.

While on the floor, she slowly sat up.

"Eh…? Glasses…where's my glasses…?"

She reached her hand out and touched the part where the spectacles should have been at…and seemed to feel that something was not right. First, her fingers shrank back as if she had touched scalding water. Next, she gingerly scraped her face with her fingers.

"What's…going on?"

Her fingers slowly stroked the edge of the opening.

"N…no…"

Her eyes gazed at the glass window of the coffee shop beside her.

Most likely, she saw her face off the reflection in the glass window, as her face that was blown apart lost all color of blood. The only eyeball left was trembling nonstop, showing her inner anxiety and insecurity.

"No…what…is this? NO…!"

Unable to control her own feelings any further, Kazakiri swung her hair away and shrieked. Kamijou felt like he had lost his breath. Kazakiri seemed to have lost her sense of balance, as she shakily stood up, seemingly trying to get away from her reflection in the mirror. Or maybe her thoughts were too messed up that she actually ran towards the stone golem—Ellis.

Sherry recovered on seeing this and drew a horizontal line with the stone golem.

The stone golem waved its concrete arm.

As if shooing a fly away, the stone golem swung its fist and hit Kazakiri's arm and abdomen. Kazakiri, who was running forward, ended up flying away without landing on the ground, flying for about 3m. Her fragile body collided viciously with the pillar, and then bounced off like a ping pong ball, forming a '<' with the pillar at center, and landed behind Ellis, beside Sherry's feet.

Pa! A vicious landing sound could be heard.

Looking closely, Kazakiri, who was hit by Ellis' punch had her left arm ripped off, her flank was completely distorted like a box of candy being stomped on.

"Ah…"

Even so—

Even so, Kazakiri Hyouka's body was still wriggling.

"Ah…ah…ahh, aHH, AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH—!!!!!!!"

This high-pitched scream that came from the nearby thoroughly battered body shocked Sherry. For the first time, she turned her attention to Kazakiri and raised her oil pastel. However, Kazakiri completely ignored Sherry, having lost all ability to see the current situation clearly. The moment she saw that her left arm that was ripped off was completely empty, she started to wave her limbs, as if slapping away a bug that landed on her, and escaped into the pitch black world of the passageway.

"Ellis!"

Sherry shouted lightly and tapped the surface of the oil pastel lightly with her fingertip. Ellis raised its fist and hit a nearby pillar. BOOM! The entire underground street continued to shake, and the ceiling clattered.

The next moment, the materials of the ceiling collapsed on the Anti-Skill group who were holding rifles.

"Humph, now this is interesting. Let's go, Ellis. Let's go capture that poor and funny little fox."

Not looking at Kamijou and Anti-Skill who were buried alive one bit, Sherry raised the oil pastel in her hand and made one round with it, controlling Ellis and headed off into the darkness. It seemed like she was aiming to follow Kazakiri.

(Kazakiri…)

Kamijou just stood there in shock, unable to move for a while.

The scene just now was etched deeply into his mind.