Chapter 248: The Puritan Magician Strikes

"They actually know each other?"

Seeing that Misaka Mikoto and the boy recognized each other, George was a bit surprised. However, judging by their expressions, they didn’t seem very familiar.

"What exactly is going on?"

Kamijou Touma turned to Shirai Kuroko, who was wearing a Judgment armband, and asked.

Since Misaka Mikoto already knew Kamijou Touma, Shirai Kuroko didn’t bother to hide the situation: "There are terrorists operating in the underground district. The Anti-Skill officers have already gone to stop them, but a large-scale battle might break out. So, I’m evacuating the civilians trapped here—after all, I have teleportation abilities."

"Then take them out first. I’ll go help Anti-Skill."

Kamijou Touma gestured toward the two girls behind him.

Misaka Mikoto nodded.
"You can only teleport two people at a time. Get them to safety first, then find other trapped civilians. Kamijou and I will go assist Anti-Skill."

She had fought Kamijou Touma before and knew that, despite being a Level 0 esper, his right hand had the ability to nullify any supernatural power.

No matter how powerful his opponent was, he could reduce them to an ordinary person and fight them on equal footing.

That was exactly how he had defeated her in their previous duel.

"No—"

Before Index could protest, Shirai Kuroko had already grabbed the two girls and teleported away.

Seeing this, George didn’t follow them. Now that he knew Index’s name, it would be easy to find her later.

For now, he was more interested in observing the magician attacking Academy City to assess the level of magic in this world.

Remaining invisible, he followed Kamijou Touma and Misaka Mikoto toward the sound of gunfire. Before long, they arrived at the battlefield where Anti-Skill had engaged the magician.

However, the battle was already over—Anti-Skill officers lay scattered on the ground, defeated, while the magician stood unscathed.

The magician was a woman in her mid-twenties, dressed in a Gothic-style black dress. Her messy golden hair was as wild as a lion’s mane, and her skin was a deep chocolate brown.

She held a wax crayon in one hand, and in front of her stood a five-meter-tall stone golem, formed through magic.

"So, it’s the Imagine Breaker. The Key of the Imaginary District isn’t with you, is it?"

Seeing Kamijou Touma, the female magician smirked.
"But it doesn’t matter—killing you will have the same effect."

"Who are you? Why are you attacking this place?"

Misaka Mikoto stepped forward from behind Kamijou Touma, holding up a coin as she questioned her.

"Answer honestly, or I won’t let you escape this time."

"Tch, what a hassle… You again, the Level 5 esper. I don’t have time to waste on you. Killing the Key of the Imaginary District would be much simpler… or killing Index would work just as well."

Seeing Misaka Mikoto, the magician’s expression shifted slightly. Without hesitation, she drew a magic circle on the ground.

"My name is Sherry Cromwell, from the English Puritan Church. I’m here to start a war!"

The magic circle on the ground emitted a blinding light, blasting open a deep hole that led straight down to the subway tunnel seven or eight meters below.

"If she’s running away, that must mean she’s not as strong as Misaka Mikoto."

George’s figure flickered as he jumped into the hole, quickly pursuing the magician named Sherry.

Meanwhile, Misaka Mikoto and Kamijou Touma lost sight of her due to the obstruction of the stone golem. By the time they realized what had happened, Sherry had already disappeared.

"Levitation Spell!"

After running through the subway tunnel for a while, Sherry drew another magic circle above her, creating a passage to the street above. She then used levitation magic to float up and out of the tunnel.

"You won’t get away."

She quickly drew several more magic circles in the surrounding area, summoning the same floating eyeballs as before. They scattered in all directions.

In less than a minute, she had pinpointed her target’s location and charged toward it.

"Does magic in this world require pre-drawn magic circles to work, or is this just her unique casting method?"

George, still invisible, followed closely, contemplating the mechanics of this world’s magic.

Five minutes later, on a street corner, George and Sherry arrived at the location of Index and another girl named Kazakiri Hyouka.

"Index and the Key of the Imaginary District… one representing magic, the other science. Killing you both would be perfect."

Sherry stood in front of Index and Kazakiri Hyouka, drawing a magic circle on the ground as she chanted:

"Those who resemble gods, the elixir of gods, the power of gods, the fire of gods—symbols of the four heavens of the four realms—may the correct power be guided in the correct direction and properly allocated!"

As soon as she finished chanting, the five-meter-tall stone golem reappeared.

"Come forth, Ellis! Kill them all!"

The stone golem raised its massive fist and swung it down toward Index and Kazakiri Hyouka.

Still invisible, George did not immediately intervene. He continued to observe, believing that the two girls were not as helpless as they seemed.

One possessed the knowledge of every magical text in the world, and the other… to him, didn’t even seem human. She felt more like a being made of pure energy.

"Forced Chant: Twist to the Right!"

As the stone golem’s fist came crashing down, Index immediately chanted a counter-spell.

In an instant, the golem’s fist abruptly veered off course and slammed into the wall on its right.

Sherry, however, was unfazed.
"As expected of Index… You instantly saw through my spell and even disrupted my control over Ellis."

As a member of the English Puritan Church, Sherry was well aware of Index’s abilities. She knew that Index’s mind contained 103,000 grimoires, including knowledge of Kabbalistic magic, which Sherry herself specialized in.

Index had used forced chanting to interfere with Sherry’s control over the golem, causing it to receive incorrect commands and attack the wrong target.

"But if I stop controlling it directly, you won’t be able to interfere, will you?"

Kabbalistic stone golems could either be controlled manually or left to act independently. They weren’t mindless.

Now that she had let the golem act on its own, Index’s forced chanting was rendered ineffective.

Sure enough, when the golem attacked again, Index’s interference had no effect.

At that moment, Kazakiri Hyouka rushed forward, shielding Index.

The stone golem’s punch landed squarely on her. But instead of being knocked away, her body shattered like glass, revealing an inner core of glowing energy instead of blood.

"What…?"

Even Kazakiri herself was shocked by her body’s reaction.

On the other hand, Sherry wasn’t surprised at all. She simply sneered.
"Did you forget? You’re just a manufactured monster. Did you really think you were human?"

"I’m… a monster?"

Memories flooded back into Kazakiri’s mind.

She finally remembered the truth—she wasn’t human.

She was an AIM Diffusion Field, a collective manifestation of the psychic energy naturally emitted by Academy City’s 2.3 million espers.