Chapter 133: Overlapping Prayers (3)

The footsteps of catastrophe reached the ears of everyone present.

The first to notice was—the spiky-haired boy, Kamijou Touma.

Just moments ago, Touma had been moved by the salvation of two girls’ souls. But now, swept away by a spine-chilling sense of dread, he raised his gaze to the sky—and fell speechless.

"What…the hell—!?"

His mouth moved, and so did his legs.

His raised right hand took a direct hit from "something," with a CRACK! sound, and was violently knocked backward.

"…Gghh, GYAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!?!?"

Clutching his shoulder, Touma realized—his arm was still attached. It was only a dislocated shoulder.

Even so, his eyes had not lost their fire. At the end of his glare stood—a mass of power.

Above, where the giant brain of mycelium had once been, a pitch-black "something" was forming an immense cluster.

He didn’t need to think. That thing was bad news.

"Touma!!"

The next to react was Reicia.

Instantly, she reset Touma’s shoulder in place with ultrasonic psychokinesis. Then—with a KRRRSHHH! sound—she unfolded countless cracks in space, forming a shield against the writhing "something" above.

BOOOOOOOM!!! A deafening blast echoed, and Touma’s group was blown off their feet.

"…Hey, Misaka. Couldn’t you try handling it a little more gently?"

"I don’t have a choice. Things like that… don’t look like the type you can hold back against."

Crackling purple sparks erupted.

The sound’s source was Misaka Mikoto. She had gathered iron sand by pulling in dust from the air, compressed it, and fired it off at five times the speed of sound.

For her, it had just been a test shot. But—

"…If it’s still completely unharmed, then I guess physical attacks won’t be enough to destroy it?"

The "power" above continued swirling ominously, growing larger and larger.

"……It’s Kihara Amata."

The Doppelgänger muttered hoarsely, watching the sight.

"I can feel the Ideal ability going out of control. That man must have realized I wouldn’t obey him. No… he predicted this from the beginning, and set the Ideal ability on a timed self-destruction sequence."

"E-ehhh!? Is that really okay!?"

"……This woman…"

While the Doppelgänger calmly analyzed the situation, Kuriba blurted out her overly carefree worry.

The Doppelgänger couldn’t help but feel irritation, but it was understandable. After all, the Doppelgänger and Kuriba shared the same mentality. The difference was that the Doppelgänger, with machine-like high-speed calculations, had endured despair, stacking thoughts hundreds, thousands of times more than any human could. Put another way, she wasn’t just "Kuriba Ryouko with the same mindset"—she was "Kuriba Ryouko trapped in a cage of despair for centuries."

Naturally, their human experience differed like heaven and earth.

"Kuriba. Can’t you control it somehow!?"

"Doppelgänger is fine. It’s a self-deprecating name, but reconsideration can wait. For now, distinct identification takes priority."

The Doppelgänger spoke casually.

"My control over it is completely gone. It seems Kihara Amata always intended to have me self-destruct once he had gathered enough data."

"Th-that’s horrible…!!"

"It’s not horrible. That was the contract from the beginning."

Indignant as Reicia was, the Doppelgänger spoke as if it were nothing.

It was true—at first, the Doppelgänger had longed for death, and her contract with Kihara Amata had been built on that premise. From that perspective, one might argue that Amata had merely granted her wish.

Of course, anyone familiar with Kihara Amata’s "exploits" in the official history would naturally conclude otherwise—that this was no noble honoring of a contract, but a calculated setup, crafted with malice, for the sheer pleasure of trampling her down.

"…………Impossible."

Her voice came out as if exhaling tension from her shoulders.

The words were likely the result of the machine’s high-speed calculations. Her processing told her there was no way to prevent the self-destruction now. The rampage of the Ideal ability would at the very least engulf an entire district, and even if Mikoto, Kamijou, and Reicia were to throw their lives away to suppress it, neither the Doppelgänger nor Kuriba could possibly escape.

And besides—she no longer had the heart to simply stand by and watch it happen.

"Listen carefully. …The Ideal ability’s rampage can no longer be stopped. The only way to minimize the damage is for me to stay here and hold back the explosion as best I can. In that time, you’ll escape outside the shrinking blast zone."

The Doppelgänger said it without a flicker of hesitation.

I die, you live. That, she declared, was the best possible future left to them.

If just one machine was used up, everyone else could survive. That was the happy ending her calculations presented.

And indeed, perhaps it really was the best possible outcome.

The safest, happiest future the machine’s brain could calculate—all converged on that single conclusion.

And yet—

"But… but I don’t want to die."

She spoke the words even knowing the truth.

Even knowing there was no future left where the majority could be saved.

Even knowing it meant putting countless lives in danger.

Doppelgänger voiced a single, selfish, fragile wish.

"I don’t want to give up anymore. Maybe it’s wrong to say this. Maybe I really am nothing more than a colony of microbes that happened to mimic human thought processes, something worthless compared to real humans. But still…"

Kuriba’s clenched fist tightened.

Her hand trembled, ever so slightly.

"Please, everyone… Save me. Save me…!"

"Of course."

Like an embrace, Reicia Blackguard spoke those words.

Microbes? So what? Does that make any difference worth considering?

The very definition of a "being worthy of salvation" had already collapsed long ago.

A foolish girl who threw her life away in despair, as nothing more than the result of her own mistakes.

A foolish boy who accepted his own death as natural, without resistance.

And not just them.

A boy who carried memories that should never have existed.
Clones that could be mass-produced for a few hundred dollars.
A villain who had tried to socially destroy his own fiancée.

Could anyone truly claim that all of them possessed souls so precious that everyone would agree they "deserved to be saved"? Of course not.

On the contrary—that very notion was laughable. And yet, it was against that so-called law of the world, against that natural order, that they had fought this entire journey.

And so, naturally, Reicia spoke.

With a boldness that seemed to turn the whole world into her enemy.

With her emerald green eyes burning with all her will.

"Because it’s for the sake of pushing through such illusions that we are here!!!!"

Chapter 3 — The Worth of a Soul Is Worthless  Double(Square)_Faith.
Episode 107: Overlapping Prayers (③)  Square_"Faith".

"As a baseline… there’s no way we can suppress the rampage of the Ideal ability on our own."

Behind the group, who were struggling to deal with the sparks of "power" erupting sporadically like a solar flare, Shokuhou spoke.

Her voice carried a harsh authority—the only one here with firsthand experience of stopping the Ideal ability before.

It was true. She had once halted its rampage. But that had been thanks to the cooperation of Astral Buddy, the very "core" that controlled the Ideal ability’s direction.

This time was different. The Ideal ability had been constructed through Gensei’s AIM network, and Kihara Amata had hijacked the network’s administrator rights using a brainwave conversion device based on the Level Upper.

The Doppelgänger, once linked to that network, had been forcibly severed. Even her mycelium-based body was nearing collapse—ten minutes at most before it failed.

"‘A power that can grant any wish’… When that much energy goes out of control, there’s no way the few of us here can hold it back by force."

"Exactly. And none of us are registered participants in this Ideal ability. Which means we can’t repeat the last method—guiding it from within the network itself."

No physical destruction.
No interference from the inside.

The situation was so hopeless that even the Doppelgänger’s machine brain had given up.

It was then that Mikoto, who had just canceled out a blast strong enough to obliterate a building with her lightning spear, gasped for breath and shouted:

"What about your power!? Couldn’t you control one of our brainwaves!? If you did that, then maybe one of us could slip inside the Ideal ability!"

"I thought about that, but… it wouldn’t work. Even if I linked someone in, if they don’t have an ability that can affect AIM, it’s meaningless. In theory, Misaka-san could manipulate the flow through the Misaka Network, but your power right now relies on synchronizing with your Sisters. The moment you adjusted your brainwaves to match Gensei’s, that boost would vanish."

And needless to say, Reicia herself was immune to Shokuhou’s Mental Out.

If Reicia—or even Shiren, with her ability to create "fractures" that sever AIM fields—had been compatible targets, there might have been a chance. But as things stood…

"Then what about me?"

It was then that the spiky-haired boy opened his mouth.

"My right hand… for whatever reason, it isn’t part of the AIM network. But if you adjusted my brainwaves, I’d get pulled into it, wouldn’t I? This right hand of mine… the one that kills the supernatural."

At those words, everyone’s expressions shifted.

It was true. That option existed. If Imagine Breaker, the ability that erased supernatural powers, were added into the network, the system would destroy itself. There would be no need for guidance—it would simply unravel the rampage on its own.

"No. Absolutely not."

But Reicia immediately raised her objection.

She knew. She knew that when Koisa had tried to obtain Kamijou’s power, what she gained had not been Imagine Breaker.

It had been something else—something unknown, something far more terrifying.

If Kamijou’s brainwaves were forced into the network, that same "something" would inevitably be dragged in as well. That was a future that could not be allowed.

Crack! The future twisted again.

"You all saw it earlier, didn’t you? That ‘something’ that came out of Kamijou’s right arm? His power has far too many unknowns. Using it would be reckless."

"Then what do you suggest? As things stand, I don’t see any other way forward."

Of course. That much was true.

With the Doppelgänger running the calculations, there was no way to overcome this crisis using only the pieces already on the board. That conclusion had already been reached.

But—there was one perspective missing.

The idea that the only pieces allowed to be used were those already placed on the board.

No one inside the network to guide its direction?

That wasn’t true. There was someone. Just one.

Someone sitting right at the core of the network—the most suitable candidate imaginable.

“────Onorei.”

Reicia spoke his name slowly.

The reply came within seconds.

“Ah, Lady Blackguard. I’m aware of the situation… no problem. The sleeping princess has already awakened.”

“Hey hey hey, I’m not a sleeping princess, thank you very much!?”

A lighthearted, flippant voice cut in over the line.

The Ideal ability—born from the AIM network Gensei had built.
And within that, there was one indispensable figure.

Nurikae Onorei.

From the very start, Gensei had hijacked and used Onorei’s body. Which meant the AIM network now running was built upon his brainwave patterns. In other words, Onorei too possessed administrator rights.

If that was the case—then with his power, there might be a chance to stop the Ideal ability.

“…And what exactly do I gain by doing that?”

With a sharp edge in his tone, Onorei cut the matter flat.

“You probably think you ‘saved’ me. But honestly? From where I stand, I’ve been dragged into this whole mess from start to finish. Nothing but a disaster. My body hurts all over, and frankly, I want no part in this anymore. If the woman I hate dies over there, that’s just perfect for me. So tell me—why should I overturn that and help you?”

“I’ll kill y—”

“Onorei-san! Stay! Sit!”

Reicia had to rein in Xochitl, who instantly tried to resort to violence.

She knew.

This was a ritual. The formal breaking of their engagement had shattered their relationship completely. Back at the Daihaseisai, Reicia had saved Onorei with her own hands—but saving him did not erase the years of resentment between them.

No, it would never erase it. No matter how many times she saved him, Onorei would hate her for the rest of his life. That was simply the kind of hopeless—pathetic—man he was.

And yet, knowing all of that.

If she still wished for even such a man to be saved—

“Because if you don’t cooperate, you’ll just die like the rest.”

Not arrogant. Not self-pitying. Just steady, natural. Facing him as nothing more and nothing less—

—as an enemy.

“You understand this perfectly well. You’re trying to use this opportunity to buy yourself some goodwill and create a more favorable position for the future. But at this scale? The damage will reach you as well, physically speaking. And if the network you’re connected to goes into full collapse… there’s no telling what kind of fallout you’ll suffer yourself.”

“…gh…”

Onorei’s words caught in his throat.
The conversation had shifted. It was no longer a matter of ‘cooperating with Reicia’s request’. Now the reality was plain: ‘if he wanted to survive, he had no choice but to fight.’

Only then—only with that shift—could Onorei’s pretense be maintained.

“…Tch. Fine. I hate this. Hate that I’ve been cornered into swallowing your demands. But if solving this mess is the only way to keep myself alive, then whining about it is pointless. …Looks like I have no choice, huh.”

His voice came like a muttered growl.

Reicia, hearing that, raised her gaze toward the writhing mass of power in the sky, and answered softly:

“…Yes. Please do.”

“…That said, asking me—a total amateur with abilities—to take control of the network on the fly is about as impossible as it gets…”

Onorei muttered with a sigh, his body cracked and battered in places.

The maid beside him still radiated that overwhelming presence, but when someone asked like that… there was no real choice.

Truth be told, Onorei’s own frustration had been building.

He had been outsmarted and ruined by a young girl who refused to play by his rules.

Then used—and nearly killed—by some mysterious scientist.

Just when he thought he had survived and been imprisoned, that same scientist possessed him and took over his body.

Even surviving intact, his body was a mess of injuries and pain. Every wound would surely leave lasting effects no matter what treatment was available outside. He had been trampled, knocked around, and left worse for wear.

“…At least, while my body was being used, I did manage to gather a ton of experience,” he muttered.

So… it was about time.

Sure, he was a petty villain. Compared to the monsters lurking in the dark underbelly of this city, he had no real power. Stand up to them properly, and he’d be crushed in an instant. His value? Light as a feather compared to those strong ones.

“…Then I suppose I’ll put this blasted ‘inheritance’ to use…”

But. Just this once.

This petty villain could be the final piece that outwits the monsters.

“Yeah. That’s right. That will be my—my story. Mine, Nurikae Onorei’s—”

Just like someone, somewhere else…

With a grin that dared to challenge the entire world, Onorei declared:

“I’ll make this the prologue of my comeback story!!”

And so.

The night when overlapping prayers converged drew its curtain.