One-way traffic

A beautiful doll-manipulating girl with golden hair, dressed in a gorgeous blue, red, and white dress.

She clasped her hands tightly together, her hands trembling slightly, yet also appearing hesitant.

"You...are you leaving?"

Accelerator can no longer stay in Gensokyo.

Everything is over, so this is the time for him to leave.

The girl looked at him excitedly, while Accelerator met her eyes in a straightforward manner.

That immediately made Alice's pretty face turn bright red.

"No, don't look over here suddenly...!"

"what?"

One-way paused for a moment, seemingly confused.

—What is this stupid woman up to?

The girl took a deep breath; she seemed hesitant, but she bit her lip tightly.

She took something out of her bosom.

"…this."

That's a puppet.

A doll dressed in black and white striped clothing, with white hair and red eyes.

However, this doll is exceptionally cute; it's more like a plush toy than a doll.

Alice, blushing, presented this gift-like object, which was full of girlish charm, with both hands.

Accelerator calmly accepted it.

"Will you... will you come back here in the future?"

She asked tentatively, yet dared not ask for an answer.

At the same time, the girl was trying to find the answer to the question, but she was also afraid of what the answer might be.

Accelerator stood silently, clutching the doll.

"If something like this happens again in the future, it will probably happen again."

"I see..."

"However, we cannot rule out unexpected situations."

He looked up at the moon and spoke calmly.

"After all, this isn't such a bad place for me."

So, thank you.

That seemingly ordinary sentence caused the girl to shudder violently.

Because that means—

Accelerator calmly put away the doll she had given him.

It was added to his system inventory.

"what…!"

Even though Alice wanted to say something more, the person in front of her had already opened a passage to a region beyond the universe.

Once Accelerator leaves this world, the system within him will function normally.

With his back to Alice and facing the tunnel where the wind was constantly whipping up, he walked in without hesitation.

"I, I actually—!!"

The puppeteer who has always been alone.

She wanted to express her most genuine and final feelings.

But nevertheless.

The white-haired monster with his hands in his pockets had vanished from the spot.

All that remained was a gentle breeze.

"..."

The girl stood silently in place, gazing at the world before her.

"Miss Alice?"

Hieda Akyuu, who was in charge of finding Alice, finally saw her.

She quickly ran to the puppeteer's side, wanting to ask her about her situation.

"Miss Alice? Miss Hakurei's party has already started, and now you're the only one missing... oh?"

Akyu blinked, seemingly in a daze.

"Miss Alice..."

She couldn't help but look at the girl's face and whispered something.

Are you...crying?

The blonde doll-wielding girl had two tear tracks unconsciously appearing on her face.

But her hands remained clasped tightly together the whole time.

Tonight, amidst birdsong and fragrant flowers, colors drift and scatter in this fantastical land.

The strongest monster, who has protected this peace and tranquility without any reward, embarks alone on the path to reclaim the top spot.

A Certain Magical Index: New Testament, Part Two

Chapter 514 A Rainy Night in Academy City

The area was gray, even the sky was the same color.

The coastline is completely different from normal sea areas, making people wonder if ghost ships or other strange things might appear here. An island stands here.

But in reality, this island was not formed naturally.

The island's surface is entirely composed of fragments of various ships, pieced together.

From single-person kayaks to warships, all kinds of boats are included, even huge yachts. However, despite the variety of boats, the ground here doesn't feel out of place, and the texture is no different from that of a normal island.

An island that has never been recorded on maps of either the maritime or land realms, and is not included by any country.

"The Graveyard of Ships".

But the most important thing is not the location itself, but the people who act in that location.

"Yo."

A boy walked to the edge of the shore.

His nimble movements demonstrated that his skill far surpassed that of others; he leaped over obstacles several meters high using only pure technique and movement.

The boy, who fell from a height of several meters to the ground, did not feel any discomfort whatsoever.

"It's almost daytime now, aren't you thinking of grabbing something to eat?"

"unnecessary."

Standing on the shore, a man calmly spoke, like a lookout surveying the distance.

"As a demon god, I don't need to consider these things that only you humans need to do."

A blonde girl who appears to be about fourteen years old.

She had a face that was distinctly different from Asians, yet also somewhat similar. Her long golden hair and grass-like coat fluttered in the wind, but the clothes underneath were almost indistinguishable from a bikini.

A huge witch's hat covered her long, golden hair.

Its single green eye remained fixed on the other side of the coast.

"Is there anything over there that you should pay attention to?"

A blond boy with almost the same hair color as her stepped over.

He stood there beside the girl wearing a witch's hat.

"What could attract a 'demon' like you? What kind of strange things would those be, and are they related to your plans?"

"...It has nothing to do with the Spear of the Supreme God; it was just something that piqued my interest."

The self-proclaimed "Demon God" shook his head, his usually calm tone gradually softening.

"I feel it, something has awakened."

"Awakening... it means something like an ancient creature that has been hibernating in the Earth's Antarctic or Arctic regions for hundreds of millions of years suddenly coming to life."

“There is something I am familiar with, something I know very well. It shouldn’t have reached that point, but it did… it reached a level that I, a demon god, had to take seriously.”

The more she said this, the more serious the girl's expression became.

"Do not."

She suddenly understood something.

"That thing may have already surpassed me in my current state."

"...Huh? What are you talking about..."

“I’m not joking, Thor. It’s precisely because I am a demon god that I can sense more clearly what kind of realm that has been reached.”

All of this was what Euthinus had felt about a day earlier.

To be precise, that might not be a fluctuation in the world.

There was an immense amount of energy erupting in places outside this world, and even the demon girl far away in this world could clearly feel that aura.

And it is precisely because she is a near-omnipotent demon god that she understands exactly what this means.

That familiar scent, black and red, whose exact nature was unclear.

Her own domain has completely transcended herself.

"Although I don't know exactly what it is, I can guarantee that no one in this world can match that power... not even me."

"Are you... joking...? You're a demon god! You can't possibly do something even a demon god can't?!"

"I'm not a complete demon god; I'm referring to my 'current' form. It doesn't mean that my fully restored self would be shocked by this."

despite this.

Something that could shake even a demon girl who holds an extremely high position in the magical realm, who can rewrite everything like a god and is above all others.

So what exactly is it?

Moreover, she just said that she felt familiar with that scent…

Do you know what that thing is?

"No, I just feel a sense of familiarity. I can only confirm that it should have been a product of this world, but I don't know what it is."

"Even so, I am very clear that it is a living organism, a human being."

This conclusion immediately silenced the boy behind him, who was known as "Thor".

One who is considered to have surpassed the Demon God in terms of status and even strength—even if he is only an incomplete Demon God, he is still a human being.

If this were true, what would it mean?

"Plan changed."

Suddenly, the girl who was identified as a demon god spoke.

"The original plan was to go to Academy City in the near future and retrieve the materials that the scientific community would use for the Spear of God."

“Now, we’ll change part of the plan. You will still act to retrieve the materials for the gun and search for the corresponding materials... while I will act alone.”

"Acting alone...does that mean?"

Thor said as if confirming something.

But the demon girl didn't even turn her head back.