Chapter 249: The Puritan Magician Attacks
"The two of them actually know each other?"
Seeing that Misaka Mikoto and the boy were acquainted, George was a little surprised as well, though judging from their expressions, they didn't seem very close.
"What exactly is going on now?"
Kamijou Touma turned to Shirai Kuroko, who wore the armband of the Judgment Committee, and asked.
Seeing that Misaka Mikoto knew Kamijou Touma, Shirai Kuroko didn't conceal anything:
"There are terrorists active in the underground mall. The Anti-Skill officers have already gone to stop them, but it's likely a large-scale battle will break out, so I'm taking the civilians out of here first. After all, I have teleportation abilities."
"Then take them out first. I'll go and help Anti-Skill."
Kamijou Touma pointed to the two girls behind him.
Misaka Mikoto nodded:
"You can only take two at a time. Send them out first, then go look for others who are trapped. Kamijou Touma and I will go support Anti-Skill."
She had fought Kamijou Touma before and knew that although he was a Level 0 esper, his right hand had a special ability to nullify any supernatural power.
No matter how powerful his opponent was, he could bring them down to an ordinary person's level for a physical brawl.
She had lost to him in a one-on-one duel that way before.
"No."
Index was about to object, but Shirai Kuroko had already teleported away with the two girls.
Seeing this, George didn't follow through teleportation. Now that he knew Index's name, it would be easy to find her later.
For now, he wanted to see what level the magician attacking Academy City was at, so he could assess the strength of the magicians in this world.
He followed Kamijou Touma and Misaka Mikoto invisibly, heading toward the sounds of gunfire. They soon arrived at the battlefield where Anti-Skill and the magician were clashing.
However, the battle here had already ended. The Anti-Skill officers lay collapsed on the ground, while the magician was completely unharmed.
The magician was a woman of about twenty-five or twenty-six, wearing a gothic-style black dress. She had wild, fluffy golden hair like a lion's mane and chocolate-brown skin.
She held a wax crayon in her hand, and standing before her was a five-meter-tall stone giant formed by magic.
"So it's the Imagine Breaker. Didn't the Key of the Imaginary Number District come with you?"
The female magician smiled when she saw Kamijou Touma:
"But it doesn't matter. Killing you will have the same effect!"
"Who exactly are you, and why are you attacking this place?"
Misaka Mikoto stepped out from behind Kamijou Touma, took out a coin, and questioned her:
"Tell the truth. This time, we won't let you get away so easily."
"What a pain. You again, Level 5 esper. I don't have time to waste on you. Looks like going after the Key of the Imaginary Number District is simpler. Or killing Index would work too."
Upon seeing Misaka Mikoto, the magician's expression changed slightly. She immediately drew a magic circle on the ground.
"My name is Sherry Cromwell, from the English Puritan Church. I came here to start a war!"
The magic circle on the ground emitted a blinding light and exploded into a deep hole that led directly down to a subway tunnel about seven or eight meters below.
"So she ran away. Looks like she's not as strong as Misaka Mikoto."
George's figure flickered as he jumped into the hole and quickly chased after the female magician named Sherry.
As for Misaka Mikoto and Kamijou Touma, their line of sight was blocked by the stone giant, and by the time they realized it, Sherry had already vanished.
"Levitation Spell!"
After escaping for a while in the subway passage, Sherry drew another magic circle above, similar to the previous one, opening an exit leading back to the street. She then floated out using levitation magic.
"You won't get away."
She quickly drew several magic circles in the vicinity. The eyeballs from the tunnel appeared again and scattered in all directions.
In less than a minute, she had locked onto her target's location and charged in that direction.
"Does magic in this world only work after drawing a magic circle beforehand? Or is this just her unique casting method?"
George followed, still puzzled, continuing the pursuit.
Five minutes later, at the side of a certain street, George followed Sherry and saw Index and the other girl named Kazakiri Hyouka.
"The Index Librorum Prohibitorum and the Key of the Imaginary Number District—one from magic, one from science. Killing both of you would be perfect."
Sherry stood before Index and Kazakiri Hyouka, drawing a magic circle on the ground as she chanted:
"Those who resemble gods, the medicine of the gods, the power of the gods, the fire of the gods, symbols of the four heavens representing the four realms—guide the rightful power in the rightful direction with rightful alignment and rightful guidance!"
As the chant ended, the five-meter-tall stone giant appeared once more.
"Come forth, Ellis, and kill them all!"
The stone giant raised its massive fist and brought it down toward Index and Kazakiri Hyouka.
Hidden nearby, George didn't rush to act. He was still observing.
He felt that the two girls weren't ordinary at all.
One had all the magic books in the world stored in her mind, while the other, in his eyes, wasn't even human—more like a concentration of some sort of energy.
"Forced Chant: Twist to the Right!"
Just as the stone giant's fist came crashing down, Index immediately recited a spell.
As her spell took effect, the stone giant's fist suddenly veered sharply and smashed into the wall on the right.
Sherry didn't look surprised:
"As expected of the Index Librorum Prohibitorum. She instantly saw through my spell and disrupted my control over Ellis."
Being from the English Puritan Church herself, she was very familiar with Index's profile. She knew Index had 103,000 magic books in her mind, and that among them were the Kabbalistic rituals she specialized in.
Just now, Index had used forced chanting to interfere with her control of the stone giant, causing it to receive incorrect instructions and perform a faulty attack.
"But as long as I don't control it, you can't interfere anymore."
The stone giant created through the Kabbalah rituals could be controlled by the magician to attack, or attack autonomously. They weren't entirely without intelligence.
In that case, Index's forced chanting would no longer be effective.
Sure enough, when the stone giant attacked again, Index's interference had no effect.
At this moment, Kazakiri Hyouka rushed forward to shield Index.
She took a direct hit from the stone giant, but instead of being sent flying, her entire body shattered like glass—yet no blood flowed. Instead, faint glowing energy shimmered inside her.
"What... what is this?"
Kazakiri Hyouka was shocked by her own condition. On the other hand, Sherry showed no surprise—her face twisted into a mocking expression:
"Did you really forget you're just an artificial monster? Did you really think you were human?"
"I'm... a monster!"
Memories rapidly returned to Kazakiri Hyouka's mind. She remembered that she was actually the aggregation of the AIM diffusion fields naturally emitted by the 2.3 million espers of Academy City—not a true human.
(End of Chapter)