Mikoto, though, was quite used to it by now. She stepped through the portal without missing a beat.
"C'mon, time's short."
Rei Ao followed her. The other two exchanged looks and then went after them.
In an abandoned factory in District 3
"Cough cough!"
Leaning against a wall, Stiyl coughed violently.
"How's your injury?"
Kanzaki Kaori asked.
"It's fine," he waved her off with his cigarette. The cough wasn't from injury, but from the smoke.
He tilted his head back slightly and gave a bitter laugh.
"Some 'genius magician' I am, losing to those science-side people I always looked down on"
"You didn't lose for nothing. That girl's one of the top espers in Academy City," Kanzaki said, peering out the window into the distance.
"Is that so?"
Stiyl blinked.
"Then taking Index back is going to be complicated"
At least he couldn't manage it alone.
"I'll do it," Kanzaki replied with firm resolve. Even though she found it painful to raise her hand against those trying to protect Index, she still had tobecause time for Index's memory purge was running out, and if they didn't do it, she'd die.
"Sorry to interrupt," a voice suddenly echoed, jolting both of them into combat stance,
"Were you talking about this 'Index'?"
"?!!!"
They whirled around to find four new figures in the room as if they'd appeared out of thin air.
Leading them was a tall man holding the very person they soughtIndex!
~~~
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Chapter 679: You have been deceived! We're here to help Index!
A tense air of confrontation loomed.
"Hand over Index!"
Stiyl couldn't hold back any longer and whipped out a batch of rune cards.
"I was wondering how we'd track you down again, but here you are, walking right up to us!"
"Stiyl, shut up!"
Kanzaki Kaori barked, halting her companion who was about to activate the runes. Her hand gripped the hilt of Seven Heavens Seven Swords so tightly her knuckles went white.
Her gaze locked onto the black-haired young man holding IndexRei Ao, someone she'd never seen before, yet who radiated an aura that triggered every instinct she had telling her he was dangerous.
Stiyl scowled.
"Kanzaki, what are you?"
"I said shut up."
Kanzaki's voice was low and taut. She could feel cold sweat on her back. The man across from her just stood there silently, but she felt like she was staring into an abyss.
In Rei Ao's arms, Index lay quietly, her silver hair hanging loose, as if merely asleep. But Kanzaki sensed it was nowhere near that simple.
Mikoto Misaka's bangs crackled with a hint of electricity, her brown eyes full of caution.
"Hey, you magicianscould you be rational here? We're helping Index!"
"Help?"
Stiyl sneered.
"With your science-side methods? Don't make me laugh!"
Rei Ao took a quiet breathso soft it was almost inaudible. Yet the moment Kanzaki heard it, every muscle in her body snapped taut. She saw Rei Ao lift his right hand and snap his fingers.
Snap.
It was a crisp sound, and time seemed to freeze. Stiyl's face stayed twisted in its sneering contempt. The rune cards in his hand hung in midair, along with the drifting ashes of his cigarette, utterly motionless.
Kanzaki's pupils contracted violently. She realized she could still movebut Stiyl, her comrade and one of the Anglican Church's genius rune magicians, was pinned in place without even a chance to resist.
"What did you do?"
Her voice trembled with tension. Seven Heavens Seven Swords had slid three inches from its scabbard, the cold blade catching the light.
Rei Ao gave her a calm glance. There was no emotion in his iridescent eyes.
"I just made him quiet for a moment. I'm not fond of stubborn idiots."
He paused, then added, "Although in my eyes, you're not exactly bright, either."
"Pff!"
Kuroko couldn't help laughing, before Shokuhou gave her an elbow to the side. Meanwhile, Mikoto pointed at Kanzaki.
"Listen, lady. We're not here to fight. Actually, we want to help you see certain truths that someone's been hiding on purpose."
Kanzaki's gaze shifted among the four people. She could sense they weren't hostile, yet her years of faith and duty kept her from lowering her guard so easily.
"What truths?"
"It's about the lie that Index needs her memory erased every year," Mikoto said, taking a step forward, anger flashing in her eyes.
"That whole 'insufficient brain capacity' claim wouldn't fool an elementary school kid in Academy City!"
Kuroko chimed in, though not fully clear on the details:
"Even though I don't know everything, Onee-sama's right. The brain's memory capacity is effectively infiniteclaiming it'll overflow is ridiculous!"
Kanzaki frowned. She stared directly at Mikoto and spoke in a low voice, "How do you know this?"
That was supposed to be a secret mission known only to her, Stiyl, and the archbishop.
Mikoto brushed it off, clearly impatient. "Don't worry about how we know. I'm telling you, you've been deceived. Humans don't die because 'their brain's memory overflows.' Science has proven that's nonsense!"
""
Kanzaki fell silent. She herself knew nearly nothing of science, but she remembered, all too well, the agony Index suffered every year.
"Then why does Index get those splitting headaches annually? It's evidence she needs her memory erasedI've seen it with my own eyes!"
"Huh?"
Mikoto couldn't answer this. She looked at Rei Ao in confusionshe didn't know about that detail.
"Ah."
Rei Ao let out a derisive chuckle.
"Saint, let me ask you: how many methods do you know that can make someone's head feel like it's splittingphysically or magically included?"
"?"
Kanzaki froze. His question struck her like a hammer to the chest. As a Saint, of course she knew magic that could induce pain. Waither eyes narrowed sharply. She finally grasped what Rei Ao was implying.
"You're saying Index's headaches are man-made?"
A faint smile tugged at Rei Ao's lips.
"You're not totally clueless, then."
He gently lifted Index's chin, revealing her slender neck.
"There's a 'Memory Shackle' planted in her throat. That's what's causing her yearly migraines."
Kanzaki felt dizzy. She shook her head reflexively.
"N-no way The archbishop would never"
"He tricked you."
Rei Ao's voice was as cold as ice.
"He used your faith and loyalty to turn Index into a living library."
Kanzaki's hand trembled slightly on the sword. Memories of the archbishop's kindly smile each time they made their mission reports, of Index's vacant expression after every memory purge If all of it was a lie
"Prove it."
She bit down hard, a tremor in her voice betraying her desperation.
"If you're telling the truth, prove it to me."
Rei Ao met her gaze, as though looking right into her soul.
"As you wish."
He laid Index gently on the floor. With slender fingers, he reached into her throat. Kanzaki felt an unusual flow of energy.
"!!!"
Her eyes went wide in shock. No wonder she never found anything on Index's personthe throat! The inside of the throat isn't protected by the skull. In terms of a direct path, it's closer to the brain than the top of the head.
And few people would have the chance to see it, much less examine it thoroughly. Even Kanzaki, also a woman, had only stripped Index enough to check for superficial injuries. She'd never thought about the inside of the throat. If there was a spell powerful enough to cause Index's migraines, that would be the perfect place to hide it!
~~~
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Chapter 680: Index Recovery! The Final Conspiracy!
Suddenly, a complex magic circle surfaced around Index's throat, emitting a sinister purple-black glow.
Kanzaki Kaori gasped.
"Magic! That's the 'Memory Shackle'"
Her voice nearly gave out.
"It really exists"
This collarusing Index's life as leverageforced annual memory erasures via a spell and ceremony. It was also the shackles preventing her from betraying them. The collar's spell was etched deep in Index's throat, protected by multiple layers of barriers.
Rei Ao's fingers kept probing deeper, triggering an even stronger restraint.
In an instant, Index's body began to convulse violently. Then Rei Ao pushed one finger further into her throat.
Once the collar was disturbed, the Church's second safeguard, called "Auto Rebackup" (or "Automatic Spiritual Preservation"), would activate. The purpose of Auto Rebackup was to protect the knowledge of the 103,000 grimoires from would-be thieves, giving Index a mode where she lost her self-awareness and functioned like a machine, able to parse and explain magic on autopilot.
In combat mode, her eyes would show a magic arrayjust like now.
Her whole body floated into the air as she lost consciousness, eyes closed.
"!!!"
When she opened her eyes again, blood-red magic circles glowed in her pupils.
"Magic"
Kanzaki Kaori stared in astonishment. In her understanding, Index couldn't use magic. Yet here she was, demonstrating something beyond anything Kanzaki had imagined. Everything Rei Ao said was turning out to be true. They really had been deceived by the Archbishop.
Index began to speak:
"Warning! Chapter 3, Section 2: It has been confirmed that the first through third barriers of the Index Librorum Prohibitorum's collar have been destroyed!"
Her voice was mechanical, devoid of emotion.
"Reinitialization failed
Collar cannot regenerate.
Under the current circumstances, priority is to engage the intruders to protect the 103,000-volume library."
Her eyes no longer looked humanthere was no trace of warmth in her gaze.
"So this is the Church's failsafe"
Kanzaki Kaori muttered darkly. She understood perfectly: the Church had likely arranged it so that anyone who discovered the truth would be erased.
"According to data from the 103,000 volumes in the library, reversing the barrier-breaking magic formula failed
No suitable magic found.
Preparing to execute the designated anti-intruder spell Spell located."
Index tilted her head like a puppet on strings.
"Successful. Preparing to use the single most effective anti-personnel invasion magic.
Next is the designated magic 'St. George's Sanctuary'target: destroy intruders."
With a thunderous roar, the magic arrays in her eyes rapidly expanded.
"Aah"
She started to sing, though it was a song impossible for normal human understanding. A massive magic formation began to coalesce.
"Hey, gorilla, what are you spacing out for? Do something!"
Shokuhou Misaki yelled, her body instinctively sensing danger. She was frustrated: dragged into a bizarre situation with unknown powers, and her psychic ability had become useless again.
"I'll block it!"
Kanzaki Kaori sprang forward. She recognized how terrifying St. George's Sanctuary could be.
"No need."
But Rei Ao merely lifted his left hand, pointing a finger forward.
"Break."
Just one word, spoken like a supreme command. Instantly, the magic array forming in front of them froze, as if erased by a giant rubber eraser. Its edges disintegrated in silenceno explosion, no shockwavesimply disappearing.
Kanzaki Kaori stood there dumbfounded, her Seven Heavens Seven Swords half-embedded in the ground. She'd just witnessed the impossible: St. George's Sanctuary had been canceled with a single snap of his fingers?
This went way beyond her understanding.
Rei Ao didn't pause. In a flash, he moved before Index and lightly touched her forehead. Golden light flowed from his fingertip into her brow, and the spell-mark in her throat melted like ice in the sun.
Index's body trembled violently. Then she gasped awake.
"Ha!!!"
She breathed in huge gulps of air as though she'd just recovered the ability to breathe, her eyes brimming with confusion.
"Where am I?"
She had that same blank look she showed every time her memories were erased. Kanzaki Kaori could no longer hold it together; tears flooded her eyes.
Index glanced around at everyone, her gaze lingering on Kanzaki for a moment before she clung to Rei Ao like a frightened cat.
"Ah! You're bad people!"
Seeing that tore at Kanzaki's heart.
"Is she all right now?"
Mikoto asked curiously.
"Yes," Rei Ao nodded. Then he added, "But your troubles still aren't completely over."
Mikoto's brow furrowed.
"You mean that conspiracy?"
"What conspiracy? You're hiding something from us?"
Shokuhou Misaki picked up on the shift. The magicians had been dealt with, so what else was there?
Rei Ao didn't immediately answer. He simply stood calmly, gazing off into the distance, clearly pondering something bigger. After a while, he spoke quietly:
"First, get Index settled. As for the rest, I'll handle it."
With no further explanation, he vanished on the spot.
"He"
Index looked at her now-empty hands, feeling a pang of lossshe'd sensed a strange closeness to him.
"Index"
Kanzaki Kaori approached with anguish in her eyes.
"Ugh! S-stay back!"
Index shrank away, still traumatized from being "pursued."
""
Kanzaki bit her lip, unable to voice the words she wanted to say when faced with Index's fear.
"Tch, not only is she clueless, but she's got no EQ either."
Mikoto couldn't hold back.
"Aren't you supposed to be 'family?' Then speak up and explain yourself!"
~~~
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(Bonus Chapter) Chapter 681: The Man Behind The Scenes, Aleister and his Angel Aiwass
Inside the Windowless Building
Amid a bizarre space formed by countless test tubes and machines, Aleister Crowley floated within a life-support device. Through the faint green fluid, his closed eyes observed the intruder who had suddenly appeared in this supposedly impenetrable facility.
"Interesting," Aleister's electronically modulated voice echoed through the apparatus.
"You're the first person ever to enter here silently."
His voice reverberated across the empty control room. Meanwhile, a figure took a step from midair. A black coat fluttered even with no wind, strands of hair gently swaying.
