Motoharu Tsuchimikado, thanks to the help of a Level Four Teleporter, found himself in the Windowless Building, the residence of Academy City’s general board Chairman, Aleister Crowley. There was an intruder in Academy City, and Tsuchimikado, either bravely or recklessly, openly expressed dissatisfaction with Aleister’s seemingly overly lax security.
The invader was one Sherry Cromwell, a blond, dark-skinned woman in her late twenties who wore distinctive gothic lolita attire. What made her particular aggression significant was that, unlike Aureolus, this was blatant desertion, as she was a member of Necessarius.
This, of course, made things complicated. It goes without saying that religious organizations are messy, and that’s emphatically the case with the English Puritans, given the sheer scale of its collective composition. The balance between science and magic grew especially tenuous recently, and Tsuchimikado, as skilled as he was with information manipulation, could do little to stem the tide of tension.
The English Puritans and Academy City had an official agreement not to needlessly interfere with the other and to avoid conflict, but the former became quite distrustful. After all, the holder of the 103,000 grimoires resided in the headquarters of science. And then there was Touma Kamijou. His feats against sorcerers were always excused since the circumstances regarding his previous incidents involved wandering sorcerers. And in the case of Kaori and Stiyl, they were in Academy City on official business.
This problem with Sherry Cromwell was entirely different. There were no closed-door deals and no certainty about her affiliation at the moment or if she was even wholly solitary. Any foolish confrontation could tip the balance toward any number of organizations. Sherry’s techniques were truly unique to English Puritanism, as well, so her leaking its info or getting captured would do untold damage.
She was a proficient user of Symbolic Artwork. Essentially, drawn features could be manifested into reality depending on the countless intricacies embedded within the artistic form’s creation. It was a brutally difficult practice to master that required the usage of Kabbalah statues.
If events went south, with Sherry coming under perceived unjust fire or dealing catastrophic harm to Academy City, a war between the two sides could erupt. Still, Aleister intended on using his usual trump card, the wielder of Imagine Breaker, Touma Kamijou.
Aleister’s motive for his involvement tied to the fabled ith School District, the Five Elements Society. A fabled institution that many of the ignorants assumed to be the authentic control center for Academy City. They’d supposedly be correct in purporting that myth, though there was a veiled falsity surrounding it. The magic side was under the collective assumption that the Five Elements Society was simply the Windowless Building where Aleister himself was contained. Alas, that was not the case.
The truth was that, despite the cruciality revolving around the Five Elements Society’s connection to Academy City, no one understood the reason for its existence nor possessed the capability of controlling it.
Aleister seemingly understood how to acquire control of it but needed to reach that step. And, of course, the “key” to achieving that feat was Touma Kamijou. Tsuchimikado found Aleister’s fascination and obsession with using the boy at his whims vexing above all else, yet there was nothing he could do to cease his actions. After all, even in just the Windowless Building, Tsuchimikado was trapped.
The room Aleister was contained within was akin to solitary confinement. It held no exits or ventilation, so Tsuchmikado’s potential departure here relied entirely on Aleister’s assessments. He was completely in the palm of his hands. Even the countless machines seemingly granting the director life support were probably shams meant to elicit false security for opposing parties.
With that, Tsuchimikado knew he and the boy he was friends with would become involved with this sorcerer whether they liked it or not.
It was September 1, one day after the two incidents Touma Kamijou became entangled with. One was the fake date with Mikoto Misaka that resulted in a sympathetic sorcerer battle, while the other regarded the formerly antagonistic sorcerer known as Yamisaka Ouma. It was a mess of an incident that had Touma leave the city and re-enter under the fear of getting caught. Thankfully, it was all resolved, and he was back home, getting ready for his first-ever day of school.
This new status quo brought with it a slew of new internal conundrums. Not only was it this Touma Kamijou’s first day of school due to his recent memory loss, but he was also intent on keeping it all a secret, meaning he had to subtly learn his dynamics and relationships with his classmates and teachers. Then, there was the fact that Index would be left alone during those hours, which would be understandably lonely. Every connection in her life was reliant on him.
She disliked the fact that the boy had to go to school, but she understood, and he even promised a day of fun afterward. Unfortunately, he left her with no lunch, so that was a crisis waiting to happen.
On Touma’s walk to school, he encountered Mikoto, and they engaged in their usual bickering before parting. Then, at his school proper, a “paragon of normality,” as he put it, he ran into Komoe, who mentioned she was working on a research paper for involuntary diffusion fields, essentially a phenomenon where Espers unconsciously emitted energy dependent on their power. Mikoto’s electricity could be used as an example, even if her case of emotive discharge was more of an extreme.
Touma cleverly initiated a conversation with Aogami in his classroom, requesting him to take out his textbooks to deduce his seat’s location. Touma found himself at home here far more quickly than he thought. It had been a month since his memory loss, and his new self was overwriting his dead self. Internally, it was a relief since it meant he was forming an identity, yet to the unknowing Index, such a development would only cause her pain.
Komoe revealed that a transfer student would join the class this semester, resulting in…Index appearing. Of course, she wasn’t the transfer student, as she only arrived thanks to Maika’s directions in order to ask Touma about lunch. Komoe led her out of the room, and the actual transfer student appeared in her place, Aisa Himegami.
Index realized she probably shouldn’t have made her way here after Komoe gave her a two-thousand yen bill to call a taxi, yet hunger overtook her. So, she made her way to the cafeteria and used a machine to order food. Well, try to, anyway. She struggled with technology immensely, but a new girl managed to help her and explain what each button of the machine meant.
Her name was Kazikiri Hyouka.
She was a timid, shy girl who let Index steer their conversation, primarily comprising complaints directed at Touma. The exchange eventually shifted into making Index blend in by wearing a gym uniform from a nearby office, causing Hyouka to get dragged off by the nun, partially against her own will. The supposed comfort Hyouka described the gym clothes as having encouraged Index for them both to try them on together.
Naturally, this led to Touma walking in on them changing. A bite from Index later, and the trio found themselves back in the cafeteria, with Touma introducing himself to Hyokua. He was admittedly angry at Index’s antics throughout the morning, but he was accustomed to it at this point. Touma refrained from interacting with Hyouka since her overt timidity with him made him think she feared men.
So, he conversed with Index, initiating a typical argument between the two that the recently arrived Komoe mistook as flirting. Or, perhaps it was, and neither side realized it?
Regardless, it was time for the entrance ceremony, and Komoe left to find Touma, so she was pretty frustrated at his situation being the cause of her wasted time. Touma’s apparent propensity for getting involved with the opposite sex was not lost on Komoe, though the boy obviously did not register the effects of those actions.
Hyouka vanished out of nowhere in the midst of that exchange, though she appeared again after the entrance ceremony, conversing with a trepidative Index outside. Index was concerned over Touma’s anger toward her, believing that he simply thought of her as a nuisance above all else. But Hyouka, despite her lack of history with the duo, assured Index that the reasoning for their arguments was because they were close. Rather than carelessly maintaining emotional repression, the two unwittingly trusted each other enough to let their hearts out.
Touma eventually arrived, offering to Index and Kazikiri out for food, which they, chiefly Index, happily accepted. As it turned out, she had no reason to worry over him hoisting a grudge.
Touma left for a store to grab money from an ATM, where he ran into Himegami. Aside from her evident disappointment over his lack of acknowledgment toward her transfer, she informed him that he should be wary of that girl with him and Index, Kazkiri Hyouka. Himegami revealed that this girl, while she had never seen her in person, went to the same school Himegami used to, Kirigaoka Girls’ Academy. It was an all-girls educational institution catered for Espers, whose powers were rather unconventional.
Except, no one seemed to know Kazakiri’s power to the extent it was tagged as the highest in the realms of strangeness. Plus, she was called “Identity Unknown” by her teachers and was said to be the key to “discovering the identity of the ith School District—the Five Elements Society.”
It was a curious tale, perhaps one worth exploring. Yet, even though Hyouka radiated newfound suspicions thanks to Himegami’s story, Touma didn’t detect anything wrong.
At the same time, one Kuroko Shirai was on the job. She was a member of Judgment, an Academy City organization entirely comprised of Espers charged with keeping the peace. It contrasted Anti-Skill, which consisted of adults.
A Code Red rang out, signaling an intruder Kuroko luckily stumbled upon. It was Sherry Cromwell, the sorcerer Tsuchimikado and Aleister were well aware of. Of course, no Esper knew of sorcerers or magic, so Sherry was simply named a terrorist.
Kuroko tried to apprehend her with her teleportation but was caught off guard by a bizarre snake-like mass of an arm that threatened to strike her down. Like all Espers, their calculations were everything. So, even though Kuroko had the capability to flee, the fear of death interfered with her internal calculations.
Thankfully, Mikoto appeared, saving the day with her own power. While Sherry managed to flee, Mikoto lectured Kuroko on her tendency to take on conflicts like this herself. She should ask for help more often. At these words, Kuroko’s infatuation with Mikoto took over her, so some unnecessary PDA took place.
Touma, Index, and Kazakiri found themselves in the Underground Mall seeking lunch, resulting in typical banter while Kazakiri watched. They found themselves at a family restaurant where Index tried to order the Tokiwadai Lunch Set that cost a whopping ¥40,000. Of such, Touma couldn’t let such a request go through, and he wondered about the assuredly extravagant lifestyle Mikoto led.
Hyouka remarked she had never eaten a school lunch before, prompting Touma to imagine she had daily bento services. Truly enviable, indeed. The trio then set off to enjoy the amenities of the underground mall, such as the arcade. Index’s insistence on treating everything technological like a marvel exasperated Touma, but he found it endearing in its own way. And Kazakiri and he seemed to grow closer, even if there was still a noticeable distance.
In the meantime, Sherry Cromwell used 72 inscriptions to summon a golem, Ellis, in order to hunt down her target, Hyouka Kazakiri.
Back at school, Komoe talked with Aiho Yomikawa, a rambunctious Anti-Skill officer who doubled as a teacher. She found Komoe’s complaints of Touma humorous, seeing it as a neat change of pace compared to her studious honor students.
Yomikawa was tasked with apprehending the new intruder, so she went off to do just that, with Himegami entering the room soon afterward.
She was helping Komoe gather materials so the teacher could write a report for her friend’s research. It was related to the Involuntary Diffusion Fields Komoe explained to Touma earlier that same day. Himegami automatically associated the phenomenon with her own unique case, Deep Blood. Her blood that attracted vampires.
Much to her relief, traumatic rumination wouldn’t occur due to Komoe’s rant of Touma’s antics earlier that morning, particularly regarding getting roped in with yet another girl. Himegami began connecting the dots, realizing that this girl was likely Kazikiri Hyouka.
So, to answer the inquiries still coursing through her mind, she asked Komoe if there was a transfer student by that name.
Himegami then called Touma, still in the Underground Mall, while Hyouka and Index went off together to grab drinks. Alas, because of the location, Hiemgami’s voice came out as static, so he couldn’t make out what she was trying to say or who the caller was since it was an unknown number. As he was thinking about the meaning of that message and the caller’s identity, Index conversed with Hyouka.
The nun wasn’t sure why the girl was so scared of Touma. Still, she assured her new friend that there was no reason to fear him at all. Yet, for reasons Hyouka couldn’t discern, there was just something about Touma that made her uncomfortable. The topic quickly changed, though, as the duo attempted to buy drinks. Interestingly, Hyouka had never had juice before, much like the lunch from earlier.
Touma reunited with the girls in his typical Kamijou-style misfortune. They were in the changing room putting on cosplay outfits of the protagonist and former antagonist of Magical Powered Kanamin; the anime series Index was obsessed with. He was bitten severely.
The next few hours passed by rather ordinarily. Index found the hangout quite fun, finding the apparent boredom Touma claimed school life to have to contain a sense of contentment and happiness she envied. Of course, Touma had no memories of school life, so he had to ad-lib his way through the conversation.
Soon afterward, a terrorist alarm rang throughout the Underground Mall via a Telepathy Esper. Said Esper had to inform Touma orally since the Telepathy simply wouldn’t work on him for reasons unknown to her.
Touma, Index, and Hyouka all decided to leave after hearing this news, even with Touma repressing his desire to fight against the terrorist himself. But an eyeball appeared in the middle of a wall from Sherry Cromwell. Index understood that it was a golem or part of one rather.
“A false human image created from the earth—the arrangement on this Kabbalah technique is pretty similar to ours. Especially the part where it substitutes the golem, guardian of Judea, for England’s guardian angels.”
The mall began to cave in due to Sherry’s utilization of the earth. She seemed intent on Hyouka, already knowing she was the Key to the Imaginary Number District.
The eyeball vanished, assumedly so Sherry could use all resources at her disposal now that she knew of Hyouka’s location, not to mention the Index and Imagine Breaker. Speaking of, the latter two argued over who would stop this sorcerer. The nun emphasized Touma’s inexperience with magic while Touma admonished her lack of combat experience. Hyouka inquired if she could help, but she was shot down right away.
As Touma’s misfortune would have it, Mikoto and Kuroko arrived, witnessing a scene of Index on top of him, probably about to bite him. Index saw Mikoto as the “Cool Beauty,” Little Misaka from the Sisters arc, but noticed that Mikoto acted nothing like her. The two girls looked ready to brawl right then and there, yet when they revealed to each other, partially silently, that Touma saved their lives without their asking, they came to an understanding.
Touma became their collective grilling point now. Hyouka watched with great trepidation about the whole affair, while Kuroko was quiet but scheming, learning that her “big sister” confided in Touma rather than her for the unknown conflict she faced.
The group eventually calmed down and discussed the terrorist attack. Mikoto and Kuroko assumed this invader to be an Esper from some sort of organization outside Academy City, causing Touma to silence Index from the sidelines lest she spout out secrets about magic.
Another bombshell dropped, though. There were apparently two intruders. Sherry Cromwell and someone else invaded Academy City for unknown purposes. But Touma quickly understood that this other intruder was just him from the Yamisaka Ouma incident the previous night, so he informed the party as such, and they seemed to accept it silently and exasperatingly, much to his bafflement.
Touma changed the topic, asking why Kuroko and Mikoto were even here in the first place. He learned that Kuroko was a member of Judgment, so she made sense, but Mikoto was another mystery altogether. Unbeknownst to him and much to Kuroko’s annoyance, Mikoto arrived after she saw footage of Touma in the Underground Mall from the Code Red alert. She wanted to protect him and ensure he was okay, not that she’d ever say that aloud.
Kuroko prioritized civilian evacuation. So, after a bunch of arguing, she took Index and Mikoto simultaneously since she could handle two-person trips. Touma was, of course, off the table because of Imagine Breaker. So, he was left alone with Hyouka, but not for long.
With a word of caution toward the glasses girl, Touma told her to stay put and avoid danger as he ran directly into it. In usual Touma Kamijou fashion, he set off to stop this magical terrorist.
Anti-Skill was directly battling Sherry Cromwell and Ellis. Yet, the battlefield was more akin to a massacre. Several Anti-Skill members were torn limb from limb. Touma understood firsthand that science typically couldn’t stand up to magic. The reality before him bolstered that notion.
Anti-Skill was made of volunteer adults who weren’t even professionally trained en masse. All they desired was to protect the children of Academy City, and that genuine goal stirred Touma’s heart. Despite their vulnerability and relative uselessness when confronted with threats far beyond their caliber, they didn’t run away when no one would justly blame them for doing so.
Still, Touma Kamijou’s resolve didn’t wane in the face of death.
One of the officers, Aiho Yomikawa, recognized Touma from Komoe’s talks and urged him to stand back. But she lacked the strength to enforce that order, as did every other Anti-Skill officer in the vicinity.
Touma ran far forward, beginning his battle against Sherry Cromwell, who announced her intentions to start a war. For reasons Touma didn’t understand, she needed to declare her standing as a member of the English Puritan Church for such a feat to take effect.
Hyouka appeared soon afterward, seemingly desperate to contribute in some manner. Touma was taken aback and truthfully quite upset at her actions, but his new priority was keeping her safe, which was short-lived. One Anti-Skill officer’s bullets ricocheted off Ellis and struck Hyouka, completely tearing the skin off half her face.
Touma was horrified at the injury, but that shock vanished almost immediately. Flesh, blood, and bone didn’t pour out from her face. No, nothing spilled. Instead, a glowing triangular prism was where her brain was meant to be.
Hyouka herself took note of this bizarre sight and, alongside a new attack from Ellis that snapped her left arm at the elbow, giving her body a crooked shape, she screamed out in existential and physical terror.
At the same time, Kuroko teleported back into the mall, noting that Touma and Hyouka were nowhere to be found. She had a duty, though. Regardless of her desire to stick by Mikoto and make sure she was safe, she had a job to ensure the safety of any stray civilians remaining in the mall.
Touma briefly helped the Anti-Skill officers from the rubble, relieved to see that none were dead, but he escaped the premises as soon as he could as he internally judged if he should pursue Sherry or Hyouka. Both women fled the previous scene.
Out of options, he decided to call the science side expert Komoe, hoping she would understand what happened with Hyouka. Thankfully, the teacher answered, and alongside him learning that the unknown call earlier was from Himegami, he also learned that Komoe was trying to get in contact with him about the mysterious girl. She was an unknown party who appeared on school grounds, after all. Touma then unveiled what was happening with Hyouka while leaving out the life-threatening and combat details.
A few theories were posited, such as Hyouka possessing the Metamorphosis Esper ability, but only three individuals in the city had that skill, and she wasn’t one of them. Then there was the possibility of her dual-wielding Esper abilities when considering how she suddenly vanished back at the school cafeteria, but that, too, was impossible. It’d be too much for the brain to handle.
Komoe had a far likelier theory, though—involuntary diffusion fields.
The research paper she was helping her friend with was specifically about “investigating the waves that are created when multiple involuntary diffusion fields collide with one another.” Put simply, what if all of the unconsciously emitted powers from all Espers were coalesced into a singular spot?
In my view, Hyouka Kazakiri is like programming code, made up of countless letters that form commands. Every student in the city is typing in one letter at a time. Those letters form commands, and all those commands come together to create a program,” she explained.
This theory, which Touma wanted to shrug off but couldn’t deny due to Komoe’s confidence, would have classified Hyouka as inhuman. The reality delved into a crueler layer, too. Hyouka was shocked at the sight of the prism inside her head, implying that she was wholly unaware of it and believed herself to be human. So, going by the code analogy, she was an entirely artificial existence who was granted sentience and a semblance of physicality without any self-input.
Still, Touma was obviously not someone who would belittle or loathe an existence that wasn’t conventionally human—the one day he spent with her and Index alone proved that Hyouka was her own person. And Komoe believed so as well. While the teacher could theoretically report this hypothesis to staff and provide an inestimable breakthrough in the research of involuntary diffusion fields, she wasn’t someone to sell out her students and their friends for self-gain.
The phone call ended, and Touma got his mind back on track. He knew what he had to do now. He had to confront and stop Sherry’s ambitions with Imagine Breaker in tow.
Hyouka was getting berated and destroyed, both physically and mentally, by Sherry. Hyouka’s wounds were mended by themselves, and memories detailing her true existence permeated her mind. Sherry’s cruel words and attacks desecrating Hyouka’s body instilled the message that she was no different from the golem, Ellis, a monster.
Kazakiri Hyouka had no value in existing amongst other humans if she was this much of an aberration. Her appearance was a veil implying an actualization of humanity. She had no hope, desire, or reason to keep going. So, she braced herself for Ellis’ continuous barrage to break her body ceaselessly and induce endless regeneration.
But she sat unharmed.
A lone boy stood before the golem, his right hand outstretched against the titan’s fist. No fear or desperation coated his visage. He just stood in front of the golem, back-first, and gazed at the miserable form of Kazakiri Hyouka. This seemingly simple action stopped Ellis in its tracks, and Sherry, even aware of Imagine Breaker’s capabilities, couldn’t believe her eyes.
Touma Kamijou was becoming something of a legend in certain parts of the world. He had various epithets.
Some just called him Imagine Breaker. Others called him The One who Purifies God and Slays Demons.
Another that was equally apt, at least in an unconfirmed fashion, is Illusion Killer.
Touma Kamijou was not a killer, nor was he someone who harmed others for the sheer sake of it. He was a destroyer of illusions that clouded those he protected and those he had to protect others from. In front of his eyes, as he rallied Anti-Skill under a banner to defend his friend, Kazakiri Hyouka, he had two illusions to shatter.
The girl who believed she had no place in the world and the woman who sought to instill that miserable self-implication.
Hyouka began to realize what was happening. Touma Kamijou formed a plan with Anti-Skill that involved them shooting at Ellis’ legs to halt his advance while Touma would step in with Imagine Breaker to finish the job.
Yomikawa asked him constantly if he was sure about this plan. She didn’t doubt the efficacy of Imagine Breaker after seeing it in action herself. But should it fail, the boy’s life would be forfeit.
Touma has been through much worse, though, and he was fully prepared to stake his life on this plan, much to Hyouka’s perplexment. He was terrified, admittedly. He was shivering seconds before needing to step in. But he wouldn’t back down now.
Hyouka tried to stop him, but as she got physically close to Touma, he informed her that the reason she feels so scared around him is likely because of Imagine Breaker. One touch with his right hand may negate her existence entirely.
Although he was sure they could stay friends, even if physical contact was out of the question. So, with a promise to return, Touma ran into the recently ceased storm of bullets signaled by Yomikawa’s countdown, causing the golem to lose its sense of balance given to it by the wind of the raging shots.
It was a mess of skillful improvisation.
Sherry made Ellis strike the ground, cracking it and disrupting Touma’s tempo, who used his experience with opportune body balance from street brawls to evade behind Ellis’ body just before Anti-Skill began their next firing round.
An over-swing might look strong and flashy, but it was weak in that it was simple to counter. Its center of gravity ended up right in the middle of the attack, so any sort of evasion is impossible.
Sherry understood that she lost. If she moved Ellis in any way, she’d run the risk of both her and the boy getting killed by those rounds. All she could do was stand there and be mercilessly punched by Touma’s right hand.
She didn’t give up yet, though. She used the remainder of Ellis’ body to break apart the ground and cause them to fall down the subway. Touma thought back on the sorcerer’s actions. Her intentions seemed strange as she lacked attachment toward capturing Hyouka. She simply needed a trigger to start a war. And there was one that came to mind right away. Index.
In the subway by her lonesome, Sherry expressed her hatred for this city. Everything was its fault. Even “Ellis,” the golem she had been controlling, had its name taken from a certain Esper who died two decades earlier.
At the same time, Mikoto and Index were together outside, thinking about what was taking Touma and Hyouka so long to arrive with Kuroko. The two girls didn’t get along with each other, but they adapted to necessary toleration. Mikoto noted Index’s mentions of Sherry’s ability as “magic,” though she didn’t pay it much mind since, to a foreigner, she supposed Esper abilities could be perceived as magic.
Interestingly, Mikoto realized that Index wasn’t all that worried about Touma, which, as she was informed, was because the nun had complete faith in his continual promises to return home. Mikoto wondered about the implications surrounding that statement. There’s no way the silver sister meant they lived together, right? Their exchange was brief, though, as Index ran off to capture a runaway Sphinx, who likely took note of the ground’s tremors.
Speaking of, Touma and Hyouka were caved in below the earth’s surface with a bunch of Anti-Skill officers. She noticed Touma’s panic and was confused since Sherry wasn’t around, but she understood why mere minutes later.
The wielder of Imagine Breaker announced to her that Sherry Cromwell could pursue different targets for her objective, and Index fit the criteria. Plus, unlike with Hyouka, Touma couldn’t ask Anti-Skill to protect the nun since she lacked proof of identification. She had a guest pass, but everything else about her, including her birthday, blood type, and insurance, was nonexistent. In such a perilous context as now, with a Code Red alarm going off, there was no guarantee Anti-Skill would look the other way and not arrest or deport her.
So, Touma intended to pursue the sorcerer again, even if it meant a lone battle, but Hyouka had other plans. She, too, was a monster. If there was one thing she internalized after her confrontation with Sherry and Ellis, it was that startling truth. She could act as a decoy and let Ellis pulverize her to keep the attention away from Index. Hyouka’s physical form would restore itself without end, after all.
Touma was too slow to stop her whims as she descended further down the depths.
Hyouka’s first memory of self-awareness was from a decade ago. She stood in a mirage version of Academy City, born from the involuntary diffusion fields emitted by the city’s 2.3 million Espers.
In this mirage city, there were no shadows, no weight, no movement of the air. It barely even seemed to exist at all. The buildings, the trees, and the people would sway sometimes, like a candle flame being blown by the wind, and there would be a gray noise. They looked like insects that had mistaken protective colors for dangerous ones.
It lay exactly within Academy City, overlapping with it. This facsimile had no sense of stability, as the numerous individuals there took on different forms and appearances depending on Hyouka’s questions to better outfit their roles. When she thought about it all, that was when she began thinking of herself as a monster. The people in that mirage city catered to her whims, even if it was all unwitting.
If the people of the city were cogs in a machine, she was the spring that sprung them all to life whenever she came into contact with them.
Still, as dangerous as it would be to interfere with people’s lives from the real Academy City, she desired human contact. For so long, she sought connection. Whenever she’d try to touch somebody from the real Academy City, she was never noticed. She was like a ghost, transparent to all manner of cognizance.
This all changed when, for one reason or another, Index took notice of her. Hyouka realized she must have sealed her own memories to protect Touma’s and Index’s perception of her and their overall safety.
But now, with her powers beginning to awaken, she had a newfound duty that would discard those relationships she cherished. She would embrace her role as a monster to protect her friends.
On the surface, Index caught Sphinx but was attacked by Ellis. She concluded that Sherry was attempting to craft a humanlike angel, which, while would not come close to replicating an authentic one’s power, could pose a real threat.
As the golem attempted to strike her down, Index utilized Notarikon. While she couldn’t use combative magic, this method could ensure her safety to an extent.
By chanting only the first letter of each word, she could both encode them and speak them more quickly.
Index altered the trajectory of Ellis’ attacks with mere words, twisting its body. This interruption of Ellis’ movements was thanks to Index’s usage of Spell Interception, essentially allowing her to impede control of an opposing sorcerer by muddling their internal magical incantations. It wasn’t precisely traditional magic unto itself, but it interfered with it.
Her efforts were going well for a while until Sherry, from afar, shifted control of Ellis to become fully autonomous, meaning that Index couldn’t hijack the original caster’s control. Spell Interception lost its ground.
Touma Kamijou ran into Sherry Cromwell in the underground. She let Kazakiri go earlier because she was no longer interested in her. She had her sights on Index now and could even take care of the Imagine Breaker simultaneously.
Touma tried to ask her about her motive for wanting to start a war. The rest of the English Church couldn’t have wanted this.
Sherry talked about an experiment that took place twenty years ago. Once upon a time, English Puritans and Academy City wanted to merge magic and science, with the first significant step being to instill someone with both avenues of abilities.
Of course, such a practice ended bloodily. The bodies of Espers couldn’t handle magic, as it burst open their bodies. The institution that began this experiment ceased operations, with the magic side members hunted and killed by English Puritans supposedly on the same side. Such was the price of leaking secrets to the other side.
Ellis was an Esper brought by Academy City for the experiment. She died so Sherry could escape the premises.
It was then that Touma understood her true goal. She didn’t actually want a war between science and magic. She wanted everyone to think a war could start to ensure that the two sides stayed as distant as possible. No sentimentality or hatred would be birthed if there was never a semblance of connection or crossover in the first place.
It was contradictory.
Sherry Cromwell was trying to almost cause a war she didn’t want to happen, all so her grudge from Ellis’ death would remain justified. She didn’t want Espers and Sorcerers to ever fight again, but to ensure that, she would have to use Index or anyone else conveniently fitting the role as the trigger. She would have to kill to prevent future killing.
Her collective motivation was straightforward, as Touma deduced.
Sherry just didn’t want to lose her precious friend. And Touma would not let her do the same to him and Index if he could help it. For as much of exceptions as they were, their relationship proved that the two sides could interact.
Touma Kamijou represented an existence she had long lost—a friendship with someone from the other side. Perhaps as a way of throwing a tantrum, Sherry announced her magic name, Intimus115, unleashing a last-ditch suicidal attack, silently pleading for Touma Kamijou to stop her once and for all.
He understood her implications and struck her with his right hand. He couldn’t linger, though, as he had to find Ellis and make sure that his rampage stopped. Sherry was conscious, surprised he had left her alive. She understood Touma’s desire to maintain his friendship with Index better than most others could. But contradictory desires plagued her, so she sent off one final remote command to the autonomous Ellis that even she didn’t know the meaning of.
On the surface, Touma arrived on the scene after Hyouka saved Index from Ellis, even if it was at the cost of unimaginable agony coursing through her artificial body. To deal the finishing blow, he struck the golem with Imagine Breaker. Ellis did not reform, meaning that Sherry stopped the attack entirely.
The conflict was settled, yet Hyouka resigned herself to her self-induced isolation, choosing to vanish at that moment. Mikoto and Shirai appeared soon afterward, warning Touma and Index that they should evade the scene to avoid dealing with Anti-Skill and Judgment, to which they complied.
By coincidence, though, the boy and nun ran into Hyouka, who couldn’t stop crying at her tragic resolution. She was prepared to stop seeing Index altogether now that she saw her monsterlike form. Even when Hyouka’s limbs were torn asunder from the golem, they regenerated entirely, like none of it ever happened.
Of course, such a conclusion never came to pass. Index approached Hyouka and embraced her lovingly, like a friend.
For the first time, Touma was not left hospitalized after an incident. Still, he went to get checked up on there, where he also encountered Himegami and Komoe, who admonished him for his recklessness after learning what he did in the underground mall.
The teacher and silent student had questions about everything that transpired. Why did Hyouka consistently stay physically manifested in the presence of Touma of all people? What did Sherry mean by Hyouka being the key to the ith School District, the Five Elements Society? Why did that same terrorist target Hyouka knowingly when she initially arrived when the residents of Academy City themselves didn’t know her?
They’d never have the answers to those questions.
Touma’s doctor, nearby, gazed out the window toward a certain windowless building.
In that same building, Tsuchimikado was vexed at the scenario that played out before him. He witnessed the monster known as Aleister Crowley manipulate those below him to manifest and coalesce the existence of Kazakiri Hyouka into being—the key to the ith School District, the Five Elements Society.
No one knew whether that realm posed a danger or benefit to Academy City itself. No one knew if it’d forever remain in the background, remaining stagnant as time passed. No one knew what its true capabilities were.
That’s why Aleister Crowley was so intent on seizing control over it, and Kazakiri Hyouka by extension.
Then, there was another layer of genius to Aleister’s plan. Imagine Breaker. The only reason Kazakiri Hyouka formed a self was because she came into contact with Touma Kamijou, who possessed that unique right hand.
Imagine Breaker is like her reaper. If she came into direct contact with it, she’d vanish. The fear of death instilled a purpose for a sense of self. And because the key to the ith School District, the Five Elements Society, now had a sense of self capable of communication, Aleister could more easily control and track it, bargain with it, and threaten it should the need arise.
Tsuchimikado brought up another concern: the fact that Anti-Skill, members of the science side, took down a sorcerer. The balance was in danger of losing its footing.
Aleister didn’t seem concerned about the potential implications, though, leading to Tsuchimikado thinking about Aleister’s long-term plan here.
Involuntary diffusion fields couldn’t be perceived ordinarily. They were like infrared and high-frequency waves. Like they existed on a plane separate from humanity.
There was a similar subject in the avenue of magic. That being an angel. An existence far removed from humanity’s plane of residence that was comprised of concepts beyond typical perception.
But this went one step further. If Hyouka could be understood as an angel in Aleister’s machinations, could the ith School District, the Five Elements Society, the mirage version of Academy City Hyouka was familiar with be an artificial heaven?
Aleister denied the claim.
Creating a new plane would mean the ending of all magic. To elaborate, the rules that comprised magic, even across every access point of religion, would collapse unto themselves since there’d be an inherently altered status quo from which magic was derived.
Aleister was seemingly seeking to utilize the ith School District, the Five Elements Society, as a way to stop sorcerers from using magic in Academy City. Then, using the Sisters spread worldwide like antennae, the ability development of Academy City would eventually expand worldwide, birthing more Espers. This would, of course, create additional involuntary diffusion fields that would establish ith School District, the Five Elements Society everywhere collectively.
In such a scenario, every sorcerer would lose control of their power and explode from the altered rules governing the world while Espers reigned supreme.
Aleister immediately denied Tsuchimikado’s accusation. He had no desire to make an enemy of the Church, and the prospect of heaven is not something he, a scientist, would have any understanding or wish for.
Except, as Tsuchimikado ceremoniously unveiled to the only two occupants in the room, Aleister Crowley was a sorcerer.
He was the greatest sorcerer in the 20th century, yet held the practice in the greatest contempt. He was at the height of the magic side but, in an unprecedented betrayal, chose to side with science instead. Naturally, he became an enemy of every sorcerer in the world. And ever since, all the information the magic side thought to have had on him was purposefully planted so he’d always have the upper hand.
Tsuchimikado understood that he was out of his depth here. He’d certainly never be on equal footing with Aleister Crowley. Still, before the building’s assigned teleporter carried him out, he gave the ruler of Academy City a warning. Don’t underestimate the Imagine Breaker. If approached carelessly, it will destroy his illusions.
Yet, the world Aleister believed in was already destroyed.
At the hospital, Hyouka’s body became transparent. She’s a fleeting existence who, because of the accumulation of Esper powers defining her, would never have defined physical stability. She promised Index they would meet again, even if their meetings were not consistent.
But before she vanished, she told Index a new truth about Touma’s power that she uncovered.
Imagine Breaker was not a supernatural ability. If it were, then Hyouka wouldn’t even exist. Imagine Breaker was utterly, entirely natural. It was not artificial. Touma Kamijou had it since birth.
But that begged the question: What exactly was Imagine Breaker?
So, we’ve finally reached the end of what the first season of the A Certain Magical Index anime adaptation covered. This is a pretty underrated volume that cleverly utilizes the crossing-over of magic and science in far more blatant ways than one would expect this early on.
Between the strong writing surrounding Hyouka’s existential strife and the new lore surrounding the ever-elusive Aleister Crowley, there’s plenty to ponder about from here. Plus, Sherry’s actions, while not as severe as they initially seemed, also laid the groundwork for future conflicts, notably war.
While we still have plenty of the Old Testament remaining, the reality of war is sooner than you’d think.
With all that said, this volume, save for the somewhat haphazard ending with Ellis, is terrific in every sense of the word. The pacing, revelations, and character writing all merge so masterfully in a way I haven’t felt was the case since the Sisters arc.
Next time, we’ll be diving back into the magic side with nuns galore.
