A Certain Magical Index: The Primal Spirit Descends to My Side

Sunlight in late July streamed through the gaps in the curtains, casting bright stripes on the tatami mats. The air conditioner hummed, keeping out the sweltering heat from outside, and the room was filled with a lazy, tranquil atmosphere unique to summer vacation.

Index leaned against the low table, her long silver hair cascading onto the cushion, wearing her meticulously repaired pure white nun's robe. A midday variety show played on the television screen, where a comedian was imitating a famous politician's speech, his exaggerated expressions and intonation eliciting continuous laughter from the audience.

She was clutching a bag of potato chips, crunching away, her bright green eyes fixed on the screen. The cool air from the air conditioner gently ruffled the stray hairs on her forehead, giving her a relaxed and contented look.

Touma Kamijou stood in the entryway, awkwardly tying his shoelaces with one hand. The cast on his right hand had been removed, but the doctor still advised him to avoid strenuous exercise as much as possible. He tested the range of motion in his fingers; although still a little stiff, they were much more flexible than a few days ago.

"Touma, are you sure you don't need me to come with you?" Index peeked out from in front of the TV, half a potato chip still in her mouth, her words muffled.

"No need, I'm just going to a meeting at school. It's the last tutoring session..." Touma Kamijou straightened up and patted off non-existent dust from his uniform. "Ms. Komoe said she's taking attendance today to check on the progress of summer homework. If I don't go, I'll really have to repeat the next semester."

"Be careful on the road~" Index waved to him, then retreated back to the TV. "Come back early for lunch!"

"Okay." Touma Kamijou opened the door, and a wave of heat hit him instantly, a stark contrast to the coolness of the air-conditioned room. He glanced back into the room. Index was intently watching TV, while the long-haired, grey-white girl sat quietly by the window, flipping through a light novel with a slightly worn cover that she had pulled from the bookshelf.

"I'm going out..." he said to her.

The gray-haired girl looked up, her gray eyes calmly meeting his gaze. "Be careful on the road."

"Um."

The door closed behind him, and the footsteps faded into the distance.

The room was quiet for a moment, but the laughter from the television continued. Index put the empty bag of potato chips aside and stretched. "Ugh...so boring...Touma's not here, nobody plays with me."

The gray-haired girl didn't answer, continuing to turn the pages of the book in her hands. She was intently studying an illustration of an unknown tropical flower on a certain page; it was a popular science book about plant illustrations.

She tilted her head, then, as if remembering something, said, "Oh, right! Why don't you go out for a walk? Staying in the room all the time will get you bored!"

The gray-haired girl thought for a moment, then closed the book. "Okay."

"It's a deal then!" Index clapped her hands happily. "Remember to come back early, I'll take good care of the house!"

The gray-haired girl stood up, put the botanical encyclopedia back on the bookshelf, and went to the entryway to change into her dark brown Mary Jane shoes. Today she was still wearing her casual clothes: a beige hooded sweatshirt paired with dark casual pants, her long gray hair casually draped over her shoulders.

"I'm going out."

"Be careful on the road!"

She opened the door and stepped into the summer street.

In the afternoon in Academy City, the sun scorched the asphalt roads, and distorted shadows of heat swirled in the air. Few pedestrians were on the streets; recent events had made the students less active.

The gray-haired girl walked along a relatively quiet path, without a specific destination, just wandering aimlessly. Her understanding of the city was still very limited—the intricate streets and alleys, the orientation of the buildings, the distribution of shadows, the direction of the wind…

As she turned a street corner, her pace slowed slightly.

Not far ahead, in front of a closed shop, several young men dressed in flashy clothes, who looked like thugs, were surrounding a girl. The girl was wearing the summer uniform of Tokiwadai Middle School: a white collared, fitted short-sleeved shirt, paired with a beige sleeveless V-neck knit top that would make you sweat in the middle of summer, a gray pleated skirt, white knee-high socks, and brown school shoes.

Her long black hair was tied into a single ponytail with a hairband. She was leaning against the wall, holding her schoolbag in front of her chest with both hands, and her face showed a wary and slightly nervous expression.

"Hey little sister~ It's dangerous to walk alone in a place like this~"

"Yeah, yeah, do you want your brothers to take you back to school?"

"Aren't the young ladies of Tokiwadai all rich? Lend some money to your brothers~"

The thugs let out unpleasant laughter as they approached, reaching out to grab the girl's shoulders.

The girl gritted her teeth, a flicker of panic in her eyes. It wasn't that she lacked abilities, but as a first-year student at Tokiwadai Middle School, her abilities were only at Level 3, and they weren't even combat-related. Facing four or five high school students, a direct confrontation was clearly not a wise move.

"Please...please move aside." She tried to make her voice sound calm, but the trembling made her seem so vulnerable. "I...I've already contacted the disciplinary committee, they'll be here soon..."

"Disciplinary Committee members?" The leader of the thugs sneered. "What's there to be afraid of with those little brats? Besides, by the time they get here, we'll already be..."

He stopped mid-sentence. Not because he saw anything, but because he felt something cool gently patting his shoulder.

He turned around, and standing behind him was a girl with long, greyish-white hair. She had appeared there without a sound, without any warning, as if she had suddenly materialized from thin air. Her grey eyes gazed at him calmly, her face expressionless.

"Who...who are you?!"

The gray-haired girl didn't answer. She simply turned her head slightly, looking over his shoulder at the Tokiwadai girls surrounded in the middle. "Are you alright?"

The girl paused for a moment, then quickly nodded: "It's...it's alright! Thank you!"

"Hey! I'm asking you a question!" The thug, enraged, reached out to grab her shoulder.

The gray-haired girl didn't move; she simply reached out and grabbed the thug's wrist. Without using any force, the thug was already kneeling on the ground, crying out in pain.

"Taro!"

"It hurts so much! This woman is incredibly strong! Be careful!"

The thugs looked grim. Taro, who had been easily subdued by the gray-haired girl and was lying on the ground, was the most skilled fighter among them; the others were just somewhat muscular. One of the henchmen whispered a few words, then pulled a speaker from a box nearby.

After they plugged in the USB drive, the speaker erupted with an unprecedentedly piercing sound. The enormous sound waves assaulted the gray-haired girl's eardrums; although it didn't cause any harm, it was so noisy that it made her dizzy.

The voice was somewhat similar to, but not exactly the same as, that of the other users of the "Imagine Master" ability. It had a higher frequency and stronger penetrating power, more like a modified, specialized version of the voice.

"What was that sound?" She frowned slightly and looked at the person on the ground. He didn't react at all, but just rolled around clutching his wrist. The girl from Tokiwadai Middle School, on the other hand, covered her ears and slumped on the ground.

"Haha! How's it going? Not feeling good, huh?" The thug who brought out the stereo looked at the girl slumped on the ground and sneered smugly. "If you'd known it would be like this, you should have obediently knelt down and handed over your wallet, then I might have let you off this time..."

The mocking laughter abruptly ceased as he saw the gray-haired girl standing there. The monstrous strength this woman displayed was undoubtedly that of a physical enhancement user; to make the thirteenth-place finisher in the previous high school fighting competition look so pathetic, she must be a power user.

But what's going on? I did release the "ability-lowering" sound wave that the boss taught me, which is especially effective against ability users. Why is that Tokiwadai student lying on the ground like that?

Just as the scene descended into chaos, a tall figure appeared silently not far behind the gray-haired girl.

It was a man, who looked to be around twenty years old, wearing a faded and worn black leather jacket, with what appeared to be no clothes underneath. He looked like a biker from a TV series from a few years ago. His hair was a bright red, permed into an exceptionally voluminous and curly style, standing out strikingly in the sunlight.

He was holding a carton of Musashino milk in one long, slender hand, while the other hand was in the pocket of his leather jacket.

He put the opened milk to his lips, took a few slow sips, and then wiped the milk from the corners of his mouth with the back of his hand.

"Oh dear, it's so hot, it's not good to bully little girls."

His voice carried a nonchalant languor, as if everything happening before him was just trivial matters not worth caring about. But his gaze was exceptionally sharp, and when it fell upon the thugs, they all felt a chill run down their spines.

"Who...who are you?!" The thugs were already terrified by the gray-haired girl in front of them, and when they saw another strange man appear, they panicked even more.

"Me?" The red-haired man tilted his head, removing the milk carton from his mouth. "Just someone passing by. But..."

He glanced at the gray-haired girl beside him, a slight smile playing on his lips. "Looks like your luck isn't so good."

The moment he finished speaking, he placed the carton of milk on the roadside. Then, with a beaming smile, he walked towards the thugs, only to be met with a steel rod from one of them.

Swish-!

The man tilted his head, spun his body to the right, clenched his left fist, and punched the thug wielding the stick in the face, knocking him to the ground. He then grabbed the iron bar and threw it behind him.

"This won't do... Are all the armed non-ability users these days so reliant on weapons?"

"What do you know! Someone like you!" The thugs saw the person in front of them being knocked down and took two steps back in fear.

One of them suddenly had an idea. He went around to the back of the gang, helped the girl who was lying on the ground up, and held a small fruit knife to her neck.

"You want to save this person, right? Then you'd better stand still! Otherwise, my knife won't hold back!"

"whispering sound……"

The red-haired man wore a disdainful expression, his hands clasped together, pressing lightly with his palms, producing a cracking sound from his knuckles. He shook his head from side to side, then looked again at the thug holding the hostage.

"Have all groups of people without abilities become like this now...?"

Just as the red-haired man was about to step forward to rescue the student, he saw a ribbon suddenly appear beside him, wrapping around the man's fruit knife and binding his body, before throwing him against the wall and embedding him there.

"Wow..." The red-haired man looked at the wall beside him, littered with rubble and cement dust, and at the thug who was almost turned into mincemeat. He seemed to be in a bad mood.

Seeing that the hard reinforced concrete wall had been smashed into a hole and that his companion had stopped breathing, the other thugs all threw down their weapons and ran away for their lives, abandoning even the stereo.

The gray-haired girl stepped forward and took the USB drive away, immediately stopping the piercing sound. She then looked behind her; the red-haired man had laid the student lying on the ground flat, checked his breathing, and then stood up.

The gray-haired girl also looked at the other girl. It seemed that the sound had triggered something, and now her thoughts were in a mess. It would probably take a long time for her to wake up.

"Thank you…"

The red-haired man was surprised to be thanked for doing nothing. He bent down to pick up the carton of milk from the ground, noticing it was covered in cement dust and contained many small pieces of milk. A sad expression appeared on his face. "Uh..."

"I can give you a carton of that milk instead." Seeing his reaction, the gray-haired girl figured it was because of her that he couldn't continue drinking it. So, giving him a carton of milk as compensation seemed like the right thing to do.

"Ah... then no need..." The red-haired man waved his hand with a smile, but when he opened his eyes, he was stunned to see that the gray-haired girl was not joking with him.

"Are you really going to pay compensation?"

The gray-haired girl nodded. He was silent for two seconds, then grinned and casually placed the soiled milk carton on top of a vending machine by the roadside. "Okay, whatever you say. There's one at the convenience store over there."

The two walked side by side into the convenience store on the street corner, a blast of cool air hitting them. The red-haired man went straight to the beverage counter, opened the glass door, and took out a carton of Musashino milk from the back. The gray-haired girl stood at the cashier, counted out her coins, and quietly paid.

Stepping out of the store, the red-haired man unsealed the milk, took a long drag, and let out a satisfied sigh. "This is the taste… As expected of milk, Musashino milk is the best!"

Then he turned to look at her, a lazy and enigmatic smile on his face.

"Kurozumi Misaki," his voice was muffled yet surprisingly earnest, "my name..."

"Okay, I've got it."

Inside a dilapidated, abandoned building, the windows were boarded up, and the gaps were stuffed with tattered curtains. In the center of this dimly lit room stood a luxurious sofa.

A burly man was sitting there, wiping his revolver as he listened to his subordinate's report.

"What do you mean, 'suddenly some white thing embedded Xiao Yong in the wall'? Are you kidding me?" The man shoved the pistol into the henchman's mouth and angrily shook his head from side to side.

"No...no! Big brother! You have to believe me! It really was just something white that slapped him, and then Xiaoyong appeared inside the wall! All the brothers here can vouch for me!"

The man looked up and saw about a dozen people nodding frantically, their fear and trembling unmistakable.

"Interesting..." The man raised his pistol and fired a shot towards the roof. The loud gunshot echoed throughout the building, drawing everyone's attention. "Men! What's my name?!"

"Kurozuma Watanyu!!!"

"That's right! I am Kurozawa Mianliu! The leader of the Great Spider! Just now, our brother Xiaoyong was injured and his life is in danger! What should we do?!"

"revenge!!!"

The man who called himself Kurosaki Mienryu sat back on the sofa, enjoying the pleasure, when a soft laugh came from afar.

Hehe~

"Who is it? Who is laughing at me?" The man drew his gun again, searching for the source of the sound. Then he saw a scene he would never forget: a shadow appeared on the ground, from which all sorts of strange arms emerged, as terrifying as the severed limbs of the dead. In the middle of it, a beautiful young woman slowly rose up, wearing a Gothic red and black dress that she had never seen before.

"Ah...ah!!!" The man was so frightened that he quickly dodged a distance, staring at the white arm on the ground...wait? A white arm? In his underling's report, that white thing looked so similar to this! It matched the scene perfectly!

"Damn it! You killed my man and you still dare to come here to die?!" The man raised his pistol, aiming it at the girl. "Everyone! Shoot! She's alone! We have the numbers, and we have guns!"

Upon hearing this, the henchmen immediately drew their weapons and surrounded Kurumi Tokisaki.

"Oh dear... How impatient you are..." Tokisaki Kurumi lifted her skirt, and in an instant, "Time-Eating City" unfolded, and everyone seemed to lose consciousness and collapsed to the ground.