"Fortis931!"
When he completed his incantation, a massive pillar of flameseveral meters wideburst forth from the center of the magic circle, surging toward Mikoto like a living creature.
"Another one, huh?"
Mikoto glanced at the few coins she had left but decided against using Railgun again. Instead, she raced along the street, leaving a string of fiery explosions in her wake. Her mind racedthose cards were the key. The flames weren't coming from him directly, but from those cards acting as a medium just like how she needed a coin for Railgun.
With that insight, Mikoto abruptly changed course. Instead of dodging, she charged straight at Stiyl. He clearly hadn't anticipated a head-on assault. In a panic, he redirected the flame pillar to chase her. At the last moment, just before the flames engulfed her, Mikoto slammed on the brakes, whirling around to face the roaring inferno.
"Zzzzt!"
A powerful electromagnetic barrier flared before her, colliding violently with the flames and unleashing a dazzling burst of light.
"Now!"
Maintaining the barrier with her left hand, she raised a coin high in her right.
"Rumble!"
Thunder boomed overhead. Mikoto harnessed the electromagnetic fields of the entire neighborhood, calling forth a bolt of lightning from the sky.
"You think lightning will help you against flame?"
Stiyl growled, forcing more power into his magic.
"Who said I was attacking the flames?"
A cunning grin flickered across Mikoto's lips, and she pointed her fingernot at the blazing fire, but at the rune cards.
Multiple lightning strikes crashed down in an instant, aimed squarely at the floating rune cards rather than Stiyl's flames.
Under the barrage of lightning, the cards burned and crumbled into ash. Deprived of their medium, the flames began to vanish at once.
~~~
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Chapter 672: Hunt the Witch King, Kaori Kanzaki
"Impossible?!"
Stiyl's expression shifted drastically.
"She saw through the principle behind rune magic?"
A psychic from the science side?
Mikoto gave him no time to recover. The metal manhole cover at her feet was suddenly lifted by her electromagnetic power.
"I've already figured out your tricks. This ends now."
She hurled the manhole cover at Stiyl, who hastily tore open a few remaining defensive rune cards, conjuring a shield of flame in front of him. But Mikoto had predicted this move: a Railgun blast hit the shield. The powerful impact sent the manhole cover crashing straight through the flaming barrier, slamming into Stiyl and knocking him backward.
"Gah!"
Stiyl flew like a cut kite and smashed into a wall.
"Ugh!"
He coughed up a mouthful of blood, splattering the ground.
"Onee-sama is amazing!"
Kuroko, who had been watching from a distance, cheered.
Mikoto, however, didn't let her guard downbecause Stiyl's expression looked off. It wasn't the despair of someone who had lost; there was a note of grim resolve in his eyes.
"You have no idea what you're getting yourselves into"
Stiyl forced himself to stand, pressing his bloodstained fingertips to the wall and drawing a complex symbol.
"If that's how it is then I'll show you some real magic!"
As he finished the last rune, the entire wall ignited with eerie blue flames. From within the fire, a vague humanoid outline began to forma towering, three-meter flaming giant stepped out of the wall. Though it had no features, its head turned toward Mikoto, radiating a suffocating sense of pressure.
"King of Witch Hunters"
Stiyl gasped, forcing out the words.
"Devour her!"
"!!"
The fiery giant let out a silent roar, swinging a massive arm down at Mikoto.
"Wha?!"
She barely managed to dodge. A moment later, the ground where she'd stood was melted into a deep pit.
"What is that thing?!"
Mikoto's eyes went wide. A living creature made of flame? Her understanding of magic took on a whole new dimension.
"Onee-sama!"
Kuroko tried teleporting over to help, but a sudden wall of fire rose, blocking her.
"Stay back!"
Mikoto shouted in warning. Kuroko's ability wasn't best suited for direct combat. Meanwhile, Mikoto was thinking furiously. The flaming giant was magic-based, and the rune symbols were key. If she could find the core rune
Her gaze fell on the faintly glowing rune at the giant's chest, then darted to Stiyl, who stood pale-faced some distance away. A plan formed in her mind.
In a sudden burst, Mikoto dashed toward a nearby street lamp. She pressed her palm against the metal pole, sending a powerful electric current through it. All the streetlights along the block suddenly blazed with intense brightness. While the sudden glare disoriented the enemy, she flicked a coin.
Railgun!
A streak of orange tore through the night skynot at the giant, but straight at Stiyl. Forced to defend, Stiyl had no choice but to command the flaming giant to retreat and shield him. At the moment the Railgun was about to collide with the giant, Mikoto whipped her right hand. An arc of electricity carved out a strange path, bypassing the giant and striking Stiyl!
"What?!"
He tried to twist aside, but the lightning still grazed him. Paralysis flooded his body, forcing him to his knees, and his concentration broke. The flaming giant let out a soundless wail, its form starting to collapse.
Mikoto seized the chance: she yanked every piece of iron around themsignposts, railings, trash binswrapping them around the giant in a makeshift metal net.
"It's over."
She panted, striding over to Stiyl.
"Now tell me: why were you after that girl?"
Stiyl painfully lifted his head, a bitter smile tugging at his lips. He'd lost to an esper from the science sidesomeone he had dismissed.
"You think this is the end?"
"Our people will be here any minute"
He didn't finish. A dark figure descended from above, landing silently between Mikoto and Stiyl. Under the moonlight, a tall woman with her hair tied back into a ponytail stood up slowly, an over-two-meter-long Japanese sword hanging at her waist.
"Kaori"
Stiyl's weakened voice called out to his partner.
"That's enough, girl from the science side,"
the newcomer said calmly, one hand on her sword's hilt.
"I don't want to hurt you, but we must take Index with us."
"And who are you?!"
Mikoto felt a pressure unlike anything before. This woman was ten times more dangerous than that red-haired magician. Still, Mikoto squared her shoulders, electricity arcing across her fingertips once again.
"Don't even think about it! As long as I'm standing, you're not taking her anywhere!!"
For an instant, something like admiration flickered in the woman's eyes. But then her gaze hardened.
"Then my apologies."
A single flash of steel. Mikoto didn't even catch the woman's motion. She instinctively deployed her strongest electromagnetic barrier, only to hear it shatter like glass.
"Zsst boom!"
"Onee-sama!!"
Kuroko cried out, teleporting just in time to catch Mikoto as she was sent flying.
"Ugh!"
They tumbled to the ground. Mikoto finally snapped back to her senses, staring at the woman Stiyl had called Kaori.
Kaori turned toward Stiyl.
"How are you holding up?"
He grimaced.
"Other than being a bit numb, I'll live."
He was relieved now that Kaori had arrived. Kaori Kanzaki, just like him, was from the Anglican Church's special unit, "Necessarius."
She was also a top-ranked magician in London, the former leader of the "Amakusa-Style Remix of Church," andmore cruciallyone of fewer than twenty "Saints" in the entire world.
That status granted her mastery of the massive sword at her waist, "Shichiten Shichitou (Seven Heavens Seven Swords)," and formidable swordsmanship.
Saintsfewer than 20 people worldwidewere akin to walking nukes in the magic side, each bearing a "stigma" bestowed by God. When a Saint unleashed that stigma's power, they surpassed ordinary human limits, able to seize an entire city alone.
So Stiyl felt confident. He couldn't imagine any esper standing a chance against Kanzaki.
~~~
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(Bonus Chapter) Chapter 673: Aleister Plan Chang, A Better Miracle than Imagine Breaker...
In the Windowless Building
Countless informational screens floated in the darkness. Aleister suspended in a life-support apparatus, bathed in a pale green fluid reflecting his perpetually calm features. His gaze was fixed on one particular screen: under the moonlit sky of Academy City's Seventh District, a short-haired girl in a Tokiwadai uniform was facing off against a tall, katana-wielding woman.
[Interesting choice.]
A voice, neither male nor female, resonated in the empty space. A golden glow congealed into a hazy humanoid shapeAiwass, the "angel" of this realm, appeared beside Aleister.
[You deliberately let the Third Level 5 come into contact with the magic side, and directly against a Saint, no less.]
[This runs contrary to the original plan. 'Imagine Breaker' is the key to equilibriumso why the Railgun?]
A barely perceptible smile tugged at the corner of Aleister's lips.
"Plans require variables, Aiwass.
Imagine Breaker's involvement is too predictable."
On the screen, Mikoto Misaka's short brown hair crackled with bluish-white sparks. Her expression seethed with both anger and determination. Beside her, Kuroko Shirai gripped her metal spikes, ready to use her Teleport. Opposite them, Kaori Kanzaki hadn't even drawn her "Seven Heavens Seven Swords," yet the atmosphere was thick with pressure.
[Humans have a term, 'playing with fire,' Crowley. Are you?]
Aiwass's shimmering form fluctuated.
[Having an esper delve into magic can cause uncontrollable phase shifts, especially a high-level being like the Third.]
"It's precisely that uncontrollable factor that makes it worthwhile," Aleister replied calmly.
"The dividing line between the science side and the magic side must be broken by someone.
And Misaka Mikotoshe may now have that potential."
Aiwass fell silent for a moment, golden light flickering.
[Crowley, what have you foreseen?]
"Possibility," Aleister answered succinctly.
"A different sort of 'miracle,' unlike Imagine Breaker."
Nighttime in the Seventh District brought a chill breeze that stirred a few fallen leaves.
Mikoto Misaka's Tokiwadai blazer rustled faintly in the wind, her eyes never leaving Kaori Kanzaki, who stood opposite her.
"She took Index and left, like some kind of teleportation?!"
Stiyl reminded them, still breathing heavily. He glanced toward Kuroko Shirai.
Kaori Kanzaki followed his gaze, eyes settling on Kuroko.
"Hand over Index," she said in a low, firm tone, "and this will be over."
Kuroko stepped forward.
"You gotta be joking! That red-haired bastard tried to kill her just nowwhy would we hand her over?"
A barely noticeable flicker crossed Kanzaki's face, and Mikoto Misaka caught it.
"Stiyl" Kanzaki murmured, her voice faintly wavering. "He wouldn't really try to kill her."
But then her tone grew resolute again. "We have reasons we can't ignore."
Mikoto clenched her right hand into a fist, electricity dancing between her fingers.
"What reason justifies killing someone?" she demanded. "She looks younger than us, and she's covered in injuries" Her voice shook with anger. "What the hell did you people do to her?"
A flicker of pain flashed in Kaori's eyes. Mikoto noticed it but felt no reliefbecause immediately, Kanzaki abruptly spun around, and "Seven Heavens Seven Swords" flicked partially out of its scabbard.
"Clang!!!"
A slash nearly impossible to track by eye split through the night air, colliding with a wall twenty meters away.
"Boom!!!"
Bricks exploded into a cloud of dust. Even Mikoto, who was on high alert, jumped at the seemingly random attack. Kuroko nearly threw her metal spikes in reflex, thinking it a sneak attack.
"Come out," Kanzaki barked.
Their attention shifted to the dusty haze of shattered masonry. A slim figure emerged, staggering slightly: long golden hair and star-like eyesit was Misaki Shokuhou.
"S-Shokuhou?" Mikoto's eyes widened. "What are you doing here?!"
Shokuhou Misaki rolled her eyes. "A certain idiot cut off communication, so I had to come see if you'd gotten yourself into trouble again." She shot a glare at Kanzaki, her expression grim. "Seems it's worse than I thought."
Kanzaki's gaze moved between the three girls. "An esper from Academy Citytonight is full of surprises." She returned to her fighting stance. "One final warning: surrender Index. This is not your affair."
Mikoto took a deep breath. Sparks of bluish-white electricity flickered across her body.
"Sorry, but if there's one thing I hate most, it's being told what isn't my business."
She thrust her arm up, and a bolt of lightning slashed through the night toward Kaori Kanzaki. Yet Kanzaki's figure vanished in an instant, leaving only scorched ground where the lightning hit. The next second, she reappeared at Mikoto's left.
"Look out!" Misaki raised her remote, pointing it at Kanzaki. The swordthough still in its scabbardwas aimed directly at Mikoto's throat.
"Onee-sama!"
Kuroko teleported and yanked Mikoto back, simultaneously hurling several spikes at Kanzaki. Kanzaki dodged them with ease. But Misaki had already raised her remote, focusing on Kanzaki.
"Stop!"
Her voice carried that familiar, compelling powerbut Kanzaki merely gave her head a slight shake, eyes still clear.
"Mental control doesn't work on a Saint, little girl."
Misaki's face went pale. "That's impossible"
"Move back!"
Mikoto pushed Misaki aside. An electromagnetic barrier spread out before the three girls, just managing to block Kanzaki's sword aura. The impact forced them all several steps backward.
"H-her power level is insane," Kuroko panted, sweat beading on her forehead. She recalled how Onee-sama had referred to themmagicians.
~~~
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Chapter 674: The Power of a Saint is no Joke
Kanzaki Kaori stood in place, her long hair swaying in the night breeze.
"You don't understand what you're meddling in," she said. "Index is"
