The Legend of Level 0 in Academy City

After that, he fell into a coma.

When I woke up again, in addition to feeling severe oxygen deprivation in my lungs, I also felt a sense of pressure from falling from a great height and constantly descending into the deep sea.

At the same time, she faintly heard Index's mechanical warning: "Chapter... Section... According to... circumstances... my body will lose vital signs in... seconds... Forced activation of automatic recording," and then she fainted again.

Because his consciousness was very blurred, Touma Kamijou couldn't hear very clearly.

When I woke up, I found myself on a deserted island.

What followed was the situation that Inoue Hideka and Shirai Kuroko witnessed.

This explains why Touma and his companion were found at a location other than the one Misaka Mikoto had predicted.

Although Index's 'collar' was destroyed by Touma Kamijou, her 'Auto Memory', which is known as the strongest defensive spirit armor, was not destroyed.

When Index faces a life-threatening crisis or an attack from an enemy (referring to the theft of knowledge or destruction of her collar), the 'Automatic Scripture' will automatically activate to handle or repel the attack in Index's place.

That's roughly how it is.

After that, Inoue Eika had Shirai Kuroko take Index, while she carried Kamijou Touma, who couldn't be teleported, on her back. Using the steel needles she gave to Shirai Kuroko as magnetic coordinates, they returned to the supersonic passenger plane one after the other.

At this moment, because the supersonic passenger plane was not far from Academy City, its speed slowed down, and the group finally recovered from the pressure on their internal organs.

Once his mind cleared, Inoue Eika opened his eyes and looked in the direction of Academy City. Just that one glance sent a chill down his spine.

Although it wasn't very clear, Inoue Hideka could confirm that somewhere in Academy City, where the exact location was unknown, there were indeed giant wings that seemed to reach straight to the sky, radiating a dazzling light.

This familiar scene was exactly the same as what he saw when he watched the A Certain Magical Index anime!

Can't go wrong.

The angel of science was summoned prematurely at an inopportune time.

Once he confirmed this, Inoue Hideka immediately took out his phone and dialed Shokuhou Misaki's number.

However, the phone rang with a busy signal.

Frowning, Inoue Hideka glanced at Shirai Kuroko, who was also looking towards Academy City with a worried expression. He hesitated, wondering whether he should have Shirai Kuroko teleport out of the passenger plane with him and rush to the scene to check the situation.

Just then, the wings in the light screen began to shrink rapidly, and within 5 seconds they had all disappeared.

After the wings disappeared, the light that illuminated the entire Academy City also vanished into the air.

------

Inside the ruins of the center of Academy City.

Noticing the girl's unusual behavior, Saten Ruiko knelt down, gently stroking the girl's shoulder in hopes of alleviating her discomfort, and carefully said:

"I'm sorry, is something particularly uncomfortable? How about... I carry you to the hospital? In the current situation in Academy City, it's impossible to call an ambulance, so I'm afraid you'll have to make do with this."

Silently calculating how much longer the electrodes could be used, Saten Ruiko hesitantly offered her suggestion.

A considerable amount of time had already been used up, and even though Saten Ruiko was very frugal and would immediately turn off the electrodes when unnecessary, there was still less than a minute left.

If they wanted to take the girl to a hospital, they would have to find one nearby.

Although Saten Ruiko still trusted the frog-faced doctor, there was nothing she could do.

However, faced with Saten Ruiko's concern and suggestion, the girl's eyes showed fear and regret. Her facial expression twitched slightly, and she murmured self-reproachfully:

"Why...why are you treating me like this? You saw it too, didn't you? It's all my fault, all the destruction was caused by me alone...Shouldn't you blame me, hate me? A monster like me...shouldn't exist. If it weren't for me, none of this would have happened..."

"Eh? That..."

Saten Ruiko looked at the girl who had suddenly fallen into self-reproach and didn't know what to do.

Saten Ruiko was especially confused when she heard the other person say that she was a monster.

She knew nothing, was unaware of the girl's situation, and had no idea what the girl had gone through.

However, Saten Ruiko could not agree that those who protected innocent bystanders were monsters.

Such a humble attitude should not come from such a young girl.

Following her instincts, Saten Ruiko placed her hands on the girl's shoulders, turned her body to her side, forced the girl to look at her, and compelled her to stop what she considered to be a completely unfounded self-reproach.

Then, he spoke seriously:

"Listen to me. I don't know why you said those things, but I can't agree with your point of view. Yes! I saw you wreak havoc on Academy City! But at the same time, I also saw your sacrifices! Those people, those lying in the ruins, did you see them? Not a single one of them was hurt, and that's all thanks to you! Are you now denying yourself because you regret protecting them with your own will?"

No, that's not it.

Saten Ruiko's last words finally brought the dazed girl back to reality.

Her already timid face showed fear and anxiety, as if she was afraid that the girl in front of her would misunderstand her, and she hurriedly tried to explain herself.

"I was the one who hurt them in the first place, so how could I regret protecting them?"

call……

Seeing that the girl's eyes had finally regained a semblance of normalcy, Saten Ruiko breathed a slight sigh of relief, confirming that what the girl was worried about and felt guilty about was simply that she had hurt those innocent people.

She was a kind-hearted, naive girl.

She would feel heartache for hurting others—even if it wasn't her intention, even if she was doing everything she could to protect them.

Thinking of this, Saten Ruiko's expression softened even more, and she smiled gently at the girl.

"So what are you afraid of? They are alive today because you protected them. They should be grateful to you. Who has the right to blame you or hate you?"

"That's not it... They were hurt because of me. I shouldn't have been born in the first place."

For some unknown reason, the girl's eyes lost their luster again, her gaze unfocused and unsure of where she was looking. She simply ignored herself, as if venting her emotions or like a young animal licking its wounds, sobbing softly and babbling incoherently.

“I thought I was finally human... but then I grew those wings... my body attacks uncontrollably... Am I not just a monster? I exist only because of the AIM field of superpowered individuals, and now I'm attacking the city that superpowered individuals depend on for survival! How could a human do something like this! So! I shouldn't exist! I'm a monster that shouldn't exist! Who? Who can... erase me! Anyone will do, I'm tired of this, please let me…”

"Stop talking!"

Saten Ruiko suddenly hugged the girl tightly, wrapping her arms around her back, hoping to bring a bit of warmth to this girl who was extremely insecure.

One could sense that with the girl's whispers, an aura of despair and death was spreading around her.

Saten Ruiko could not understand such a thing.

They clearly protected the people; clearly no one was injured.

Why is the girl so desperate?

Such sorrow?

Such guilt and remorse?

Chapter 392 What is a Human Being?

"Stop talking...please stop talking."

As if in a plea, Saten Ruiko whispered in the girl's ear.

"Although I don't know what you've been through, why you insist on defining yourself as a monster. But... I, Saten Ruiko, from this moment on, firmly believe in you! I believe that the girl beside me is a human being!"

A human being who accomplished what most people couldn't, protecting a group of people with such extraordinary achievements!

The voice was soft, yet unusually firm.

Saten Ruiko's gentle voice continued to ring in the girl's ears.

"Moreover, in the future, more and more people will recognize that you are a true human being. At least, my friends and family will definitely acknowledge you!"

If that's still not enough, then let's help more people, do more good deeds, and gain more and more recognition for you, until... everyone recognizes you as human!

……

……

Saten Ruiko didn't hear a response for the time being, and she thought the girl was thinking about whether what she had said, which was somewhat naive and funny, was feasible.

But she didn't know that the girl she was holding, with her back to her, had two clear tears rolling down her cheeks.

Only when she heard the girl's soft sobs did Saten Ruiko release her in a panic. Looking at the girl, who was bowing her head and trembling uncontrollably, she asked:

"What's wrong? Did I say something wrong? I'm sorry, if you don't want to listen..."

"Raiko, may I... call you that?"

The girl interrupted Saten Ruiko, looked up, and asked nervously.

"Um... rather than asking if it's okay, I really like it when you call me that~~"

Saten Ruiko scratched the back of her head blankly. Although she didn't understand why the girl was crying, she still smiled and replied.

“Kazekiri Hyouka, that’s my name. Thank you, Ruiko, really… thank you…”

As the girl spoke, tears welled up in her eyes again.

If the tears just now were tears of emotion, then these tears are tears of gratitude.

The girl named Kazakiri Hyouka had tears in her eyes, but her face showed a pure smile like that of a newborn.

"Wind Slash!"

Suddenly, a boy's shouts rang out from afar.

Saten Ruiko and Kazakiri Fuuka looked over at the sound and saw a boy carrying another boy on his back, rapidly approaching them.

It's Inoue Hidekazu and Kamijou Touma.

"Hyōka!!"

As Inoue Eika and Kamijou Touma approached, the girl's clear and worried voice rang out once again.

Following closely behind Inoue Eika and Kamijou Touma, Shirai Kuroko and Index moved over in a flash.

After Inoue Hideka's equipment was replaced with an 'artificial magnetic field,' his speed in the city filled with reinforced concrete surpassed that of Shirai Kuroko's spatial movement, allowing him to arrive at the scene long before Shirai Kuroko.

"Are you alright, Kazezaki?"

Upon getting closer, Touma Kamijou climbed off Eika Inoue's back and asked Kazakiri Hyouka as he ran.

"Tears, what happened?"

Inoue Hideka followed behind Kamijou Touma and asked Saten Ruiko.

Before even disembarking from the plane, Inoue Hideka noticed the light spot had disappeared, so she abandoned her plan to have Shirai Kuroko teleport her out of the plane.

After all, Inoue Eika knew that when Index saw those wings, she would definitely associate the angel with Kazakiri Hyouka, and she would definitely be worried and want to get there as soon as possible.