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Volume 2, Epilogue: Deep Blood of Corruption. Devil_or_God.

“I really think your injuries are really interesting every time.” In a pure white hospital room, a middle-aged-looking doctor with a face like a frog’s spoke to Kamijou.

“...”

Kamijou knew not what to say as he lied on the table, lowering his head to look at the arm held in plaster. The severed limb was repaired neatly for likely the best. The cells near the sliced area were undamaged and, after a day of emergency treatment, the arm itself was successfully reattached. “A pinky sliced off by a delinquent can be reattached,” was the type of information that Kamijou had. However, no one had imagined that such a major reassembly of the arm was possible. However, with such disgusting information in his mind, Kamijou truly did not understand what kind of person he was before he had lost his memories.

“As a side note, you’ve been hospitalized twice in ten days and, naturally, you’ve become a topic of discussion among the nurses. Don’t tell me you have a fetish for nurses?”

“...What are you talking about? Would I have ended up on the emergency room table for something like that?”

“Really? A pity, I thought I’d found a compatriot.”

Kamijou stared wordlessly at the frog-faced doctor. Did he become a doctor for that kind of reason? If it were the case, Kamijou wanted to change doctors and press the emergency call button.

“Hm? Please don’t be mistaken though. I prefer to ‘do it’ than be ‘done in.’ Also, I prefer the delivery platform from the operation table.”

“SHUT UP! NO ONE WANTS TO LISTEN TO THE SPECIFICS! AND STOP DEMONSTRATING IT TO ME, THAT’S DISGUSTING! WHY ISN’T A NURSE TAKING CARE OF ME!?” Like that, Kamijou actually pressed the emergency call button.

The doctor gave a look of despair saying, “I’m going then,” and walked out of the patient’s room.

What the heck? Why did it look like he thought it was a pity?

Immediately after he left, another person, Stiyl Magnus, a man who seemed out of place in Japanese culture, walked in.

“Though I don’t want to get close to you or be friends with you at all, I came here out of courtesy.”

“Let me ask you something... Why are you strutting around as if nothing happened? Tell me why.”

Stiyl unhappily puffed his cheeks and chose not to say anything. Between the two of them, Kamijou was the one less tactful about injuries. Though, he was somewhat justified as Stiyl had his flesh and bones broken and scattered yet at the moment not even a blood vessel was harmed. His organs had splattered the room but he had survived as his blood still circulated. Few could have such precious experiences.

“I actually wanted to more or less thank you for this one. But, when I thought about it, there’s no need. All you did was let Aureolus self-destruct.”

“Hmph. This is all thanks to this Kamijou Touma’s perfect acting skills!”

It was true that Kamijou Touma had lacked the ability to defeat Aureolus Izzard. His magic turned one’s thoughts into reality and, as such, he had needed to ensure that he believed... that Aureolus Izzard could not possibly defeat Kamijou Touma.

To achieve it, Kamijou Touma had bluffed. In fact, the boy had forgotten the fact he had lost his right arm. Though he was supposed to act somewhat properly, in reality, his mind had numbed from the intense pain and shock. According to some suicidal individuals, excessive blood loss brought about a kind of high, which explained his slasher smile.

Of course, the truth was undetectable. Considering his need to act, he raised it up to eleven.

“Speaking of which, it’s pretty unbelievable that you survived. I got my arm cut off but you became a human constellation exhibit. It feels like we’ll appreciate the value of life again... Oi. Why do you look like you’re about to laugh?”

“Nothing. By your attitude, I was just thinking you didn’t realize I was secretly helping you.” Stiyl smirked with apparent condescension. “After you lost your arm, you managed to dodge Aureolus’ bullets without dodging, remember? How do you think that happened?”

“...Ah?”

“Your acting did fool Aureolus but he wouldn’t have believed you right away, right? After you lost your arm and started your bluff, the main reason why he was fooled by it was because you dodged his attacks twice, right?”

“Erm...” Kamijou stared back like a fool.

“You still don’t understand after I said so much? Basically, the reason why he missed the first two times wasn’t because of your acting but because I used my magic to create an optical illusion around Aureolus.”

“What...?” Kamijou looked at him with surprised.

“What’s so surprising about that? I specialize in fire magic. Using heated air to create mirages and manipulate light refraction to create optical errors is not outside my area of ability.”

“Ho-Hold on! I’m not surprised about that! Weren’t you blown to pieces and splattered all over the ceiling? How were you able to cast magic in human constellation mode?”

“Human constellation is an interesting description... but, this is none to strange, is it? I was alive the whole time so of course I could refine life force to create magic. It’s a good thing my rune cards were scattered all over the floor when I exploded!”

Kamijou looked at him with confusion. For an incident involving vampires and Deep Blood, Stiyl was the most frightening one.

“You don’t have to worry about it. I suppose you know the sin you committed during this incident, right? I’m here today to discuss the developments for Misawa Cram.”

Sin.

Kamijou turned to look at the right hand covered in plaster that had once housed a King Dragon. Though it was a self-destructive illusion induced by Aureolus’ own anxieties, the one who had forced the alchemist down the path to self-destruction was none other than Kamijou.

Stiyl sighed. “No need for that expression. What Aureolus imagined was a mental image of the King Dragon, not physical. It was an illusion. Though you couldn’t physically touch it, it was something could devour stuff like souls.”

???

“It means you didn’t harm Aureolus physically but he is mentally broken.”

“...Is that something worth bragging about?”

“Of course it is. In terms of the conclusion, we stripped his memories and that settled it. In this battle involving such a powerful magician, the final casualty count was that one member of the 13 Knights by the lift. In the 2,000 years of recorded magic history, this is the third time such a happy ending occurred.”

Is this really something to be happy about? Kamijou wondered. He then wondered if the Gregorian Chant of the Roman Catholics was safe. Perhaps Stiyl, who had once gotten his memories wiped, could not remember.

“Speaking of which, where did the memory-less Aureolus Izzard go?”

Is he in this hospital?

“Oh, is there a need to ask? I killed him.” He said so matter-of-factly that Kamijou suspected whether he had heard it incorrectly.

“What’s with the expression? Listen. Aureolus Izzard first betrayed the Catholic Church and became an alchemist. Then, he imprisoned Deep Blood and turned Misawa Cram into his fortress. He basically rebelled against the entirety of Academy City and the Christian sects that were wiped out trying to hunt him. He’s someone with a huge bounty on his head. Of course, Necessarius, which mostly carries out witch-hunts and includes me and Index, had a mission to kill him.” Stiyl seemed impatient in the room that forbade smoking.

“Look. Going against so many world organizations, could a memory-less Aureolus Izzard fight them? Simply put, without memories or anything to protect, did he have the will to rebel against the entire world?”

“...”

“Aureolus definitely would have died that simply. The enemies would have killed him with even crueler methods and, most importantly, Aureolus Izzard is the only magician in history to successfully cast Ars Magna. Of course, many organizations would interrogate him severely for this spell. And, worst of all, without his memories, giving a testimony would be impossible.” Stiyl said reluctantly. “So he only had to options. One was death and the other was an even more painful Hell. In my opinion, I’d have chosen the former without hesitation.”

However, Kamijou still could not accept it.

“I still can\'t accept it. I just can\'t. Even if it were the only option, we can’t just treat killing someone as okay. If we didn’t care about human lives, why did we charge into Misawa Cram?”

Certainly, the Kamijou’s motivation to fight was driven from the numerous things that he disagreed with. Deep Blood was treated as a tool, the students were sacrificial materials for the Gregorian Chant and Limen Magna while Aureolus had eventually even killed Himegami in a fit of rage. Because of the blatant disregard for human life, Kamijou had approached the battlefield rather than retreat. If, at the end, they accepted a person’s death as a good thing, the guilt that Kamijou’s fists had caused would have consumed him.

“...”

Even if Aureolus Izzard were someone unforgivable, he was not atrociously bad. At that time, despite the fact he could do anything, Index had never returned to him. Even if there were a possibility of rejection, he was unwilling to give her to command, proving the sliver of humanity in him.

“This’s why I say you’re too naïve.” Stiyl Magnus looked away and spoke calmly. “When I said I killed him, I didn’t necessarily say I took his life away, right?”

Stunned, Kamijou stared at Stiyl\'s face.

Stiyl spoke with a disinterested tone while avoiding Kamijou’s gaze. “Listen, Aureolus Izzard lost his memories. If I reshaped his face, wouldn’t it mean his appearance and personality were completely different? It would no longer be Aureolus Izzard. Wouldn’t it mean that he was dead to the world?”

“Are you actually a good guy?”

“What do you mean by that? I\'m an Anglican priest after all. And, considering I specialize in flames, it wouldn’t be hard for me to burn a face and turn it into a different one.”

“...YOU\'RE ACTUALLY A GREAT GUY!”

“Hm? I\'m really surprised by that response... HOLD ON! WHAT ARE YOU HUGGING ME FOR!? STOP TREADING YOUR TOES ON MY HEAD!!”

As Kamijou and Stiyl tugged at each other in the hospital room, the door opened and Index walked in without knocking. “Touma! They’re selling honey-flavored chips in the shops! It’s so interesting I wanna buy it! But I don’t have money! ...Eh?”

She froze. She saw the struggling magician and the truly touched Kamijou Touma as he tried to touch the magician’s head.

The three of them stopped. The world stopped.

"Touma... Erm... sorry for interrupting you."

"Ho-Hold on a minute! What are you doing? Why’re you looking away!? OI! DON’T GO AWAY WITHOUT RESPONDING!!” GYYYAAAAHHH!! Kamijou cried out as he tried to pull Index as she tried to leave the room. In that situation, he couldn’t say to the young girl, “Sorry Index, I’m interested in you but it would go against social norms.” Kamijou wondered with confusion how he would settle the matter.

"..."

Stiyl Magnus stares at the two of them as they argued with each other rather happily. As if seeing them in their natural environment, Stiyl Magnus continued to watch. He felt neither envy nor hate because he had chosen that path for the sake of protecting Index’s smiles. With satisfaction, he looked at the face of the girl he desired to protect.

"Fu. Well, the next mission awaits me. I should be off now." He said with casual satisfaction.

Index carefully watched Stiyl’s face as she hurriedly hid behind Kamijou’s back. She looked like a sneaking private investigator as she peeked at the magician’s face from behind the boy.

Stiyl thought little of it and raised his foot as he prepared to leave the room.

Such were the consequences of his chosen path.

"Erm." As he took a step out of the room, she spoke up.

Stiyl turned, expecting to find an Index angry at him for dragging Kamijou Touma into the Misawa Cram School incident. There was no reason for her not to scold him.

"First, I should start off by thanking you. Thank you." Instead, Index said thank you.

"If Touma knew that the building was going to be like that, Touma would have run in even alone. So, it\'s great that you were around. And... eh? What\'s wrong?"

"It\'s nothing." Stiyl chuckled. Then with no more words, Stiyl turned his back and silently exited. Which incidentally, Touma thought was the first time he had seen him smile.

"Touma!"

Kamijou’s gaze turned from the door to Index. She seemed rather unhappy that his focus was off of her as she puffed her cheeks and looked at Kamijou’s eyes. Seeing her like that, Kamijou inadvertently smiled. The battlefield Misawa Cram was cruel but I still managed to survive.

Kamijou Touma had a realistic experience as he remembered a doubt he had left on the battlefield.

The King Dragon’s head had emerged from the severed right arm.

It was supposed to be a monster created by Aureolus’ fear of Kamijou. That was the logical analysis. But, in that situation, had Aureolus Izzard truly imagined that there was a transparent King Dragon’s head living exploding out of Kamijou’s right shoulder?

The likelihood was low but what if, just what if, that monster was unrelated to Aureolus’ powers?

...

Impossible.

However, Kamijou remembered Himegami Aisa, the Deep Blood, who had a power only effective on vampires. Considering that her power capable of killing vampires had caused so many incidents to revolve around her, how valuable was Imagine Breaker, Kamijou’s right hand, that negated even miracles?

In essence the basic question: What is Imagine Breaker?

"Touma! Honeydew-flavored potato chips!" Index\'s words returned Kamijou to reality.

"A-Ahhh. Okay okay... If it\'s honeydew-flavored, it should be sweet, right?" Kamijou tried to match Index’s discussion with an ambiguous response.

Perhaps the status quo was fine. No matter how unexplainable that power was, so long as he could use it to protect the girl before him, there was little else to ask for.

So, let’s keep things like this. Like this...

"Touma, Touma. Wasn\'t there a girl called Himegami Aisa?" While walking down the corridor that led to the shops, Index suddenly asked.

"Ah, that wave loving girl Denpa Kei who liked to pretend to be a spellcaster [1] What\'s about her? Hm? Index, what\'s up? You mentioned her, so why do you look so unhappy?"

"...Touma, you fought for Aisa this time, right? Not for me, but for Aisa!"

"What?" Surprised, Kamijou tilted his neck. For some reason, Index, who had said the ridiculous words, seemed rather irritated as she deliberately puffed up her cheeks in front of Kamijou.

"Nothing! It\'s nothing!" Index muttered some words and continued. "Ah. Also, it seems Aisa’s staying in this hospital. I just spoke with her."

Kamijou reacted passively. Oh. Oh yeah, what will happen to Himegami? She doesn’t want to attract vampires again but the Misawa Cram boundary shouldn’t exist anymore. Though it was apparently possible to replace it with a Walking Church like the one Index wore, the Aureolus Izzard that had promised to make one no longer existed.

“I talked to her for a while and decided to keep her in the Church.”

“For some reason, I know what happens next. Can I say it out loud first?”

"GAH! I’d actually prepared this for a long time and Touma still wants to say the ending? You really don\'t know how a script goes! Shakespeare might stab you with a knife!”

"Stop laughing while you talk about stabbing!" Kamijou sighed and stated the answer that anyone could have predicted. "In conclusion, the Walking Church is a type of Church, right?"

Notes

1. ↑ 電波系 or Denpa Kei is similar to the term "Denpa Onna" used in the prologue, "kei" goes for someone who is an incredible fanatic of something, for example "Akiba-Kei" refers to someone "who is in love with Akiba products (an otaku)"; in this case Denpa Kei means that Aisa loves to act strangely (denpa) with no apparent reason at all