Chapter 162: The Worst Encounter

"What!? Why!?"

After defeating Vento, Shiren and her allies had emerged from the battlefield without losing a single member or sustaining any serious injuries. Yet, even with such a flawless victory, a new obstacle had arisen before her.

"See, um… I really do feel bad about this, but, y’know, ‘Kiharas’ and that right hand of yours? We’re just a terrible match."

—It was Kihara Souji’s declaration of withdrawal.

"A 'Kihara’s' behavior is, at its core, driven by malice. No matter how noble the goal might seem, somewhere along the way, malice always seeps in. That’s what being a 'Kihara' means. You noticed, didn’t you? During the last fight, there were moments I just stood there like an idiot."

Souji’s contribution in the earlier battle—such as amplifying Vento’s 'malice'—had been remarkable. Even so, had his decision-making remained intact, he could have ended the fight far more easily; for instance, by striking Vento with electricity the instant her defense spell collapsed.

But the truth was that Souji himself had been forced into a ‘failure’ of thought at that crucial moment, rendered completely unable to act. Even when he tried to cut off sound to escape the effects of the "Result Twister," his attempt failed—because the act of cutting sound itself had been motivated by 'malice.' As such, his interference was nullified entirely.

In short, continuing to fight alongside him risked bringing more harm than good. And on top of that—

"That’s why it’d be better if I operated as a separate unit. As for your Doppel friend here—"

"As I already said, defeating Vento caused Ryokou to awaken… but her mind is far noisier than expected. Honestly, she might’ve been better off staying unconscious."
"That’s a cruel way to put it!"

—With the destruction of the 'Divine Punishment Spell,' Kuriba Ryokou had returned.

Unlike the Doppelganger, who could reason with high-speed calculation despite being artificial, Ryokou wasn’t hardened or jaded—she couldn’t control her malice at all.

Even in normal combat, Ryokou would panic easily. If the Doppelganger forcibly took control of her body to keep fighting, the trauma left behind would scar her forever.

(…Still, knowing this woman, she’d probably steel herself the moment things got truly desperate…)

For the Doppelganger, who saw it as his duty to prepare the process that would bring her to that resolve, continuing to fight alongside Shiren was clearly becoming unfeasible.

"Uu… I understand what both of you are saying, but still…"

Because she understood, Shiren’s tone weakened.

The "Result Twister"—a right hand that forces any action driven by malice to fail.

It might sound like an unbeatable cheat ability when explained that way, but in reality, it was an ability hopelessly incompatible with teamwork.

And worse yet, it clashed terribly with Shiren’s greatest strength—her abundance of allies willing to fight beside her. Like plus and minus canceling each other out, it negated her own advantage.

(If only Reicia-chan were here… If we could’ve used the Jagged Edge together, I wouldn’t have to agonize over this…)

Frustration gnawed at her heart. But Reicia had been separated from her by Aleister’s schemes. Shiren understood it would be wrong to keep forcing these two to fight alongside her any longer.

"…I understand. Actually, I haven’t even thanked you properly yet. I’m terribly sorry. Thanks to both of you, I was able to stop Miss Vento…"

Her voice dropped slightly as she bowed her head. Ryokou, flustered, placed a hand on Shiren’s shoulder.

"W-wait, please, Miss Blackguard. I didn’t really do anything… and Doppelganger and I didn’t help you because we wanted gratitude. If anything, I feel bad that we couldn’t fight beside you properly…"

"—Don’t misunderstand. I only said I couldn’t fight beside you."

"Same here. Besides, a 'Kihara’s' true strength lies in independent action. So while you can’t see me, Miss Shiren, I’ll make sure—properly, thoroughly, Kihara-style—to keep you two safe."

"…And I’ll have to keep a close eye on you, to make sure this guy doesn’t ruin the path to a happy ending."

"Ahaha, come on now, I was joking! You really don’t trust me that much?"

"Not at all."
"N-no, not really…"

As Souji laughed with his usual careless tone, Ryokou and the Doppelganger’s responses aligned perfectly. By that time, Shiren was already facing forward again.

"…I won’t let your efforts go to waste. We will save Reicia-chan!"

With that vow, Shiren bowed deeply, then dashed off—this time, without lowering her head—toward the exit of the Academy Garden.

Watching her retreating figure, the two scientists exchanged glances.

"…Well then, guess I’ll go perform my 'Kihara duties' peacefully. Honestly, the very fact I can say that probably means something essential to being a Kihara’s broken inside me…"

"That’s not a problem. Any system bound by rules is meant to break eventually."

"Speaking from personal experience, are we?"

"…………………………Cut the human-harassment talk before I sue you."

And so, they too cast themselves into their own struggle—

For the sake of the ones they wished to save.

Final Chapter — I Don’t Know What “Predetermined Harmony”  -  Theory “was” Broken.
Episode 136: The Worst Encounter

The one waiting for Shiren—who had stormed out of the academy grounds in high spirits—was not the newly restored cityscape of Academy City, now supposedly freed from the “Heavenly Punishment Formula.”

"What... what is this… what happened here…?"

Black smoke rose into the sky. Explosions echoed in the distance. Buildings collapsed seemingly on their own. Flames shimmered in strange iridescent hues, reacting to lingering chemical residues.

What lay before her was District 7—transformed into a battlefield that could only be described as so very Academy City.

(No… no way…!? Wasn’t Academy City’s law enforcement completely neutralized by the Heavenly Punishment Formula!? In the “Canon,” that’s exactly what happened… Wait—don’t tell me… Aleister prevented that…?)

Aleister Crowley possessed the power to manipulate Academy City’s entire information network at will.
In the “correct history,” he had chosen not to block information against Vento of the Front—who wielded the Heavenly Punishment Formula—and instead disabled the Anti-Skill forces. That decision likely stemmed from the existence of Kazakiri Hyouka.

He had been confident that the manifestation of the Imaginary Number District would weaken Vento enough for Kamijou Touma to defeat her. But allowing the Imaginary Number District to appear publicly would have been far too inconvenient. Thus, Aleister deliberately refrained from enforcing an information lockdown. The reasoning fit perfectly.

But in this timeline, things had diverged.
Because of interference from people like Kihara Gensei, the Misaka Network had been exploited far too recklessly, forcing Heaven Canceller to implement countermeasures. As a result, the manifestation of the Imaginary Number District through the Misaka Network had become impossible.

Furthermore, to prevent public order from collapsing after Anti-Skill had been weakened by their battles with God’s Right Seat, the city’s information flow had been adjusted—making it more difficult to detect intruders at all.

That, in turn, led to the sudden fall of the Windowless Building.

In short, Anti-Skill and Judgment were still largely active.

However—there was no guarantee they were the only ones fighting on this battlefield.

(No… if these were Anti-Skill, the destruction pattern’s far too chaotic!! There’s no gunfire, no command signals, nothing like that… This is something else entirely…)

Even when official institutions couldn’t move, there were still other forces in this city who could.

What drove them wasn’t duty or obligation. No one would condemn them for standing by. They weren’t required to act—yet they did, driven purely by personal conviction.

Beings who acted out of individual faith to carry out good deeds.

("Heroes"!? You mean there are individuals—outside any official authority—fighting evil on their own!? Like white blood cells battling pathogens!!!)

The instant Shiren grasped the situation—

SHLASHHH!!!

A blade of water cleaved straight through a building. The concrete it sliced apart crumbled into sludge, rotting away as if eaten by acid.

"…My, my, what’s the big idea, letting my bullets rot away like that? I thought we were supposed to be allies?"

"Ugh, spare me. I just got separated from my beloved obsession, and now I’m forced to team up with some justice-obsessed exhibitionist? Once I’m done killing him, maybe I’ll move on to you next."

"Nyahahahaha! That’s fine by me!! As long as we can confirm our friendship together at sunset by the riverside, it’ll be perfect!☆"

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!!!

The blades of water tore through overturned cars and shattered buildings—or rather, reassembled them. The destroyed fragments were drawn together by flowing water, rearranging into a massive structure. Parts that interfered with reconstruction simply melted away, collapsing like sludge.

Clearly, multiple supernatural powers were overlapping in this assault.

"In any case, what a strange twist of fate! I never thought I’d be teaming up with a villain!"

"From where I’m standing, this is a lifelong disgrace. A hero, of all people, fighting side by side with me?"

At the center of the battlefield stood two girls.

One wore a bunny-girl outfit with a paper bag over her head, wielding a hose like a naginata.
The other donned a white lab coat stained with noxious-looking blotches, a gas mask hanging loosely atop her head—a girl who looked like she’d turned a science fair into a festival booth.

Earlier, Shiren had described the forces on this battlefield as “heroes.”
But—not all of them were.

One was a hero.
The other—a villain.

Under normal circumstances, these two could never coexist. In any of the three thousand possible worlds, they wouldn’t so much as pass each other on the street. They lived in entirely different realms—good and evil, light and dark. Their very natures were incompatible. Meeting, much less fighting together, should have been utterly impossible.

But such theories—were shattered.

And it wasn’t just them.

Alongside those two stood countless others: a girl fighting as if on stage at an outdoor concert, a silver-haired demon in a hakama with a taste for torture, a middle-aged Anti-Skill officer who’d adopted “dark side” technology, and even a tiny girl who—despite her appearance—was actually a top-class ninja who’d been caught up in this by sheer accident.
Good or evil—it no longer mattered. Every faction within Academy City had been drawn into this chaos.

The premise itself had been overturned.

Predetermined harmony no longer existed.

This battlefield—this entire game board—might already have slipped beyond the control of both God’s Right Seat and even the city’s ruler, Aleister Crowley.

And then—

"Chirping like birds over there, are we? If you think that level of power is enough to surpass God’s Right Seat, then you’re sorely mistaken!!!"

BOOOOMMMM!!!

A white explosion engulfed the two girls and the massive structure of cars and rubble they’d assembled.

At the center of that blast stood—

(Left… Hand of God… Terra…!!!)

A misshapen priest cloaked in a green habit.

"Terra. Try not to destroy too much of the city. Our mission’s primary goal should be dismantling Aleister Crowley and the core systems of Academy City."

But—that wasn’t all.

"Wha—!?"

A man stepped forward, his brown hair swaying, his body muscular and solid beneath white and blue vestments.

The Dual Saint.

Aqua of the Back.

"My, my, let’s not forget, shall we? Our operation also has another target—the Imagine Breaker that throws the world into chaos, and—"

Terra’s eyes swiveled sharply, fixing directly on the frozen figure of Shiren.

"—the elimination of Nears Promise, wielder of the Divine Contract!!!"

At Terra’s booming, almost laughing declaration, the two members of God’s Right Seat unleashed attacks of angelic magnitude toward Shiren.

But Shiren’s reaction was instantaneous.

"This cause and effect—will be reversed!"

GAKK!!

Aqua’s movements froze mid-stride, and Terra’s guillotine of flour burst apart, scattering clouds of white dust through the air.

Without missing a beat, Shiren shouted:

"You’ve done your research, haven’t you!? You should know I’m a professional when it comes to manipulating air currents! Even you magic types have heard of dust explosions, haven’t you!?"

Amid the swirling haze of flour, both members of God’s Right Seat stiffened.

Of course, Shiren no longer possessed the Jagged Edge—meaning she couldn’t actually trigger a dust explosion, no matter how much powder she spread.

But God’s Right Seat didn’t know that. They had no way of knowing Reicia had been separated from Shiren, nor any reason to suspect the Jagged Edge was no longer functional. To them, assuming she could still use it was perfectly logical.

Shiren knew well from the “Canon” how terrifyingly high the pair’s defenses were.
Both Terra and Aqua could survive the direct impact of a dust explosion—but neither possessed the means to deal with the massive oxygen deprivation that would follow.

Especially Terra. Because of the constraints of his spell, he couldn’t “prioritize” multiple factors at once. If a dust explosion occurred here, he’d be crushed by either the blast or the asphyxiation. That meant he’d be forced to take evasive measures to avoid that outcome.

Even with their mission target right in front of them, the situation would demand that they put everything on hold—just to survive.

And the moment they hesitated, Shiren’s options would multiply.

For example, she could slip into one of the collapsing buildings amid the confusion and hide.

The members of God’s Right Seat were already clashing with this city’s “heroes” and “villains.” If she joined forces with them, then maybe—even against two of God’s Right Seat—there might be a fighting chance.

That was what Shiren was thinking—

When suddenly—

"I see. A dust explosion, is it? That would indeed be troublesome. In that case, I’ll simply crush that little scheme of yours along with it."

BOOM!

A surge of steam erupted outward like a detonation. It blasted away the flour filling the air, nullifying the smokescreen in an instant.

Had Shiren been even a second slower to dive behind a building, that wave of superheated vapor alone would’ve rendered her unable to fight.

(Ngh…!! I—I knew they were monsters, but this is just insane…!!)

And that wasn’t even a real attack—just him clearing the area.

The difference in power was overwhelming.

(No way I can win alone…! And from the looks of it, the “heroes” around here have already retreated too—at this rate, forget cooperation, there’ll be no one left to fight beside me…!)

Thinking it through, if all the heroes and villains had actually joined the assault against God’s Right Seat, the battlefield would be far more chaotic by now.

Most of them were probably busy handling opportunists taking advantage of the confusion.
Either way, for Shiren, that only confirmed the hopeless truth—no reinforcements were coming.

(What should I do…? My “Result Twister” hasn’t been noticed yet, so I could probably land one more clean hit. But against Acqua, who moves at supersonic speed—how much can I really do with just one hand!? Damn it, in that case… I’ll have to make Acqua and Terra trip each other up somehow—force a friendly fire mistake…!)

Just as the cornered Shiren steeled herself for a desperate gamble—

A car pulled up in front of her hiding spot.

It looked like a family wagon with its roof neatly sliced off.
Inside sat a pair of young adults—a blonde girl and a brown-haired man.

The blonde in the passenger seat leaned against the window frame, resting her elbow on it as she called out to Shiren with a grin.

"Yo, holy maiden. How about that drive with us after all?"