Chapter 185: The Hand That Was Reached Out
From the start, it had been a future far beyond what they deserved.
And it wasn’t just Shiren’s circumstances.
Even the life Reicia Blackguard now enjoyed could be called an unreasonable future—one that defied all logic.
A person who shouldn’t have even existed on history’s stage now paraded herself across it, boldly twisting the shape of what should have been and steering history off its rightful rails at her own whim. Worse still, she disregarded the bonds that were meant to be, trying to seize a place that was never hers—all for her own gain. Seen from one angle, that could only be described as an unforgivable sin.
A “proper” history.
No matter how much she struggled, her path could only diverge further from it.
In that sense, what was happening now might almost be called merciful.
Instead of erasing Reicia Blackguard, who had merely taken part in the distortion, fate sought to gently correct its orbit by erasing only the root cause—Shiren—and realigning history toward the world that would have been, had the distortion never existed. Compared to being erased alongside Reicia, it was far kinder.
That alone gave meaning to all the battles Shiren had fought so desperately.
And though Reicia would likely fade from history’s stage once Shiren was gone, the bond she left behind would make Reicia stronger. History would right itself into something more peaceful—and Reicia would still be allowed her happiness. Compared to a bad ending where she became some kind of “witch,” that would indeed be a merciful future.
…
…Or so they might say.
“…Like hell it is.”
Quietly—but with fierce emotion—Shiren’s anger erupted.
They said that sitting in a place never meant to exist, basking in history’s spotlight, was forbidden. That history would naturally converge toward a future where “Reicia Blackguard never took the stage.” That this was the proper form of the world. That the rules were set that way.
But so what if such rules existed?
“There’s no damn reason we have to bow down to some neatly written ‘rules’ or so-called ‘proper history’ made by someone sitting above us like they’re a god! Even if that’s how things are supposed to be—who cares!!”
Surely, letting themselves be erased here was the “optimal” choice for the world’s sake. It would save Reicia and everyone she cared about. Rationally, it was the correct solution.
And yet—Shiren defied it.
Because Shiren believed that a future where both she and Reicia stood proudly on the stage of history, living freely and celebrating the world together—that was the true “best.”
Morality. Virtue. Ethics. Justice.
Even if it meant rebelling against all those “good things,” she would still reach out for what she wanted, no matter how selfishly. Because—
“That’s what it means to be the ‘villainess’ I know!!!!”
Shiren had no special talent, no experience, no grand power that could resist a catastrophe like this.
She had her “Result Twister”—the ability to derail malicious intent born from the Divine Contract: Near-Death Promise—but that alone couldn’t fill the hole that had opened in the world.
Still, the other world was full of allies.
Even with their help—was it truly impossible to overcome this disaster?
“Hey, ‘Witch.’”
“It’s impossible.”
When she called out, the “Witch,” dressed in dull gray, stood quietly behind her.
“We never gave up either. We fought to the end! But that’s why we ended up like this! Yeah, I know—it was meddling. But you don’t want to drag Reicia-chan into your own mistakes either, do you!? I’m half of you, Shiren, so I know exactly how you feel!!!!”
The Witch’s voice trembled—not in accusation, but in desperate restraint.
“Even now, Aleister is still alive on the other side! In the best case, we managed to drive him off—but even then, the one who replaced him… was me. And this time, we didn’t even manage that! Do you get it? We’re in a situation where we have to build the best possible outcome—and this future isn’t even close to that!”
“…No. It is the best.”
Shiren replied without hesitation.
“Let’s decide it was the best.”
It wasn’t a compromise.
Not a “second-best.”
Every failure, every loss—they all led here, to the best possible future. One she could proudly claim as her own.
And knowing that, Shiren already saw what had to be done.
“That’s why I won’t give up. I’ll become neither a Witch nor a destroyer of worlds. I’ll seize a future where both are saved!!”
Shiren’s gaze dropped to her clenched right hand.
First, she considered the space around her.
In this world of A Certain Magical Index, the concept of a “different world” didn’t truly exist. What people called other worlds were merely altered layers of reality—filtered by phase shifts, or surplus realms existing within stretched fragments of time.
What looked like another world was really just a distorted extension of this one.
If that was true, then this “otherworldly” space only appeared so due to a certain conceptual filter.
If that was the case—
Then all the materials she needed were already here.
“This right hand—Result Twister—it’s what taught me that.”
The Result Twister wasn’t an innate gift. It was an artificial ability, developed by refining the properties of the Divine Contract: Near-Death Promise.
And if that was true, then it stood to reason it could be used for more than just “canceling malice.”
After all, Shiren had once used that same contract to “choose a convergence of possibilities.”
So, it wasn’t impossible.
(Unravel the causality converged in this right hand.)
Focusing her will on her hand, Shiren thought:
No matter what concept separated this world from the original—this was still part of A Certain Magical Index. Meaning it was fundamentally continuous with her own world.
Then all she had to do was pull it back.
The possibility she longed for.
A future where Reicia Blackguard was by her side.
Even if entire worlds divided them, as long as a bond strong enough remained, she could draw her across—no matter what stood between them.
After all, even Kamisato Kakeru—banished to a “new world” by World Rejecter—had been summoned back through remnants like the A.A.A. and the traces of Nephthys.
It was a story Shiren had never known.
But she could still reach the same conclusion.
Maybe the path so far hadn’t been “optimal.” But the pieces gathered along the way were never meaningless. Because she believed that, she could use them all—to connect everything to the greatest possible future.
“…To summon, you need a line. That’s why Aleister prepared a vessel through the AIM Diffusion Field—to summon Reicia-chan’s soul into it.”
Originally, it was probably meant to draw Shiren’s soul instead.
But because Shiren had come from outside this world, she lacked an AIM field. As a result, Reicia was pulled in first, and Aleister’s plan collapsed.
Then, Shiren just had to do the same.
“The line already exists.”
Her soul resided in this body—and that body was once Reicia Blackguard’s.
The bond between soul and body ran deep, making this flesh itself a connection to Reicia.
That bond would serve as her line.
Shiren didn’t notice—
That the power to draw out a desired future from countless possibilities was the very foundation of what Academy City called “Esper abilities.”
That the system of twisting macroscopic history to manifest a microscopic wish was known as “holistic esper theory.”
"All that’s left—using the untangled causality… is to pull Reicia-chan back!!"
A searing heat welled up behind Shiren’s right eye.
Her vision flickered like scattering sparks as she pictured an axis piercing through the back of her skull. Countless gears interlocked around that axis with a metallic grind—click, click, click—as they meshed together. That was the sensation blooming inside her.
And then it happened.
Crack!—once again, a fissure split across the world.
Without hesitation, Shiren thrust her right hand into that crack.
On the other side, someone’s hand was already there—grasping hers just as firmly.
Then, Shiren spoke to that person, her voice trembling softly.
"...Sorry, Reicia-chan."
And before she knew it, there she was—
the blonde, blue-eyed lady clad in a white-and-black nightdress: Reicia Blackguard.
Facing her irreplaceable partner, Shiren gave a faint, guilty smile and asked:
"Sorry for calling you here without asking first… but would you choose a dangerous future with me, over a safe one without me?"
"Did you honestly think I would ever say ‘no’ to that?"
Once those words were exchanged, the two villainesses stood side by side, their hands still joined.
One dressed in a black-and-white nightdress.
The other in the tattered uniform of Tokiwadai Middle School.
With no doubt in their hearts, they rebelled against the very logic of the world. To some, it might look foolish—a reckless defiance that ignored all reason and morality for the sake of personal desire, even if it endangered the world itself. In essence, it was the same arrogance that doomed any “villainess” to self-destruction: pure, unfiltered ego.
And yet—
That fearless grin… faintly resembled a certain boy who once spat in the face of divine miracles just to protect a single girl.
Standing together, the two who shared one soul as a single “villainess” spoke as one:
"Really now, it’s not all that complicated."
As if to say—
"The Theory of Predetermined Harmony is already broken. All we have to do is live freely—and revel in the world however we please!!"
With a defiance bold enough to make the entire world their enemy.
Final Chapter: I Don’t Know What “Predetermined Harmony” Is - Theory "was" Broken.
Chapter 156: The Hand Reached Out—Already_Shaked.
"So—what exactly are you planning to do now?"
Before anyone realized it, the witch was already sitting casually on the edge of a fracture in the world, looking thoroughly exasperated.
"Ugh, Shiren. Who is this person supposed to be?"
"She’s a being that formed when our Rinshin Contract—Near Death Promise—went haywire and fused the two of us together. Basically, she’s a part of my potential that manifested this morning. …Wait, hold on—you can see her too, Reicia-chan?"
"Well, this place is outside the world’s framework. If we compared history to a rubber band, this space would be the circumference of that band—a future that exists in the same era but at a slightly displaced coordinate. You could call it a ‘peripheral domain’ of the timeline."
"Wow. Now that you say it, that smug explanation sounds exactly like Shiren."
"Are you seriously dissing me through the witch!?"
Setting aside Shiren’s immediate protest at Reicia’s jab, he composed himself and answered the witch’s earlier question.
"…There’s no need for us to do anything more."
Surprisingly, Shiren’s response was almost casual.
Or rather—
"They’re probably already panicking like crazy over there anyway."
Before his words even finished, the crack that had pulled Reicia through widened—far beyond a person’s height—as if something on the other side were forcing it open.
Through that expanding fracture, they saw a world plunged into all-out war.
Mikoto, transformed into a thunder god, hurled spears of materialized AIM energy into a massive horde of machines filling the sky. Nearby, Accelerator and Kakine Teitoku fought side by side against Kihara Noukan, whose body had transformed into a fighter-jet-like weapon system.
Shifting their gaze from the distant peak of that ultimate battle to the nearer ground—
"…Good, it worked! Reicia, Shiren, you’re okay, right!?"
A familiar sister’s voice rang out from surprisingly close by.
Looking toward the figure beside the fracture, they saw Oriana Thomson, drenched in nervous sweat, both hands raised in the middle of a spell, while Index stood beside her giving what looked like last-minute instructions.
"Things are getting really bad! The whole world’s full of cracks now! And the fight between Touma and Aleister doesn’t look like it’s ending anytime soon!"
At her words, Shiren and the others turned their eyes around—and saw she wasn’t exaggerating. Cracks had spread across the sky, the ground, even the air itself. Some buildings had already been torn apart and collapsed into them.
"………………"
Shiren’s face stiffened slightly at the apocalyptic sight.
But that wasn’t the only problem.
Following Index’s gaze downward, they spotted it—Touma Kamijou, the spiky-haired boy, pinning down a silver-haired, green-eyed “human,” gripping him by the collar.
Apparently, after realizing that relying on sorcery against Kamijou was futile, the “human” had switched to barehanded combat—and lost anyway, ending up on the ground.
Suppressing the urge to say Seriously, what even are you two doing?, Shiren cleared his throat sharply to get their attention.
"You two."
That momentary distraction allowed Kamijou to be thrown off and promptly reversed by Aleister, who once again took the upper hand.
"As things stand now, the world is going to end. Are you two still planning to keep fighting?"
"Bwuh!?"
A startled snort escaped both of them—followed by laughter from the witch, whose voice only Shiren and Reicia could hear.
Even in the “best possible future,” where the mastermind Aleister Crowley had been defeated, the world had still reached a bad ending. The witch had said as much herself.
That meant she had never once chosen this path before—never even considered it.
"You’ve got to be kidding me. Even if someone thought of it, who would actually do it? Because that would mean…"
…pulling Aleister Crowley to our side.
"Sure, realistically, no matter how determined we are, we’d never change the ending just by repeating the same actions as ‘me the witch.’ But still! Recruiting the very mastermind responsible for our destruction!? Who does that!?"
The truth—that the world could be saved only through Shiren’s sacrifice—was something Reicia chose not to say aloud. After all, a wicked lady never hesitates to hide the truth if it means seizing the future she desires.
In response, the silver-haired “human” and the spiky-haired boy exchanged a look—then, in perfect sync, both said:
"‘Guess we have no choice. Temporary truce, then.’"
Indeed, a hero would never willingly join forces with the worst kind of villain, no matter the reason.
But this isn’t a hero’s story.
This is a tale where every failure, every loss, is swallowed whole—and turned into conviction that their path was always the right one.
Because this story belongs to them—
To those stubborn, unyielding villainous ladies who rise again.
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