Brahma Astra Destroyed

An instant passed.

But it was not all over.

Gandiva, Trishula, and the other Astras controlled by the Pinaka spiritual item had been nothing more than sub-Astras meant to protect her primary one.

Brahma Astra.

That was her greatest Astra...her greatest spiritual item. Its purity was much higher than all of her others.

And...

“Ureapaddy!!”

“This really should not surprise you. Unlike my other Astras, Brahma Astra is related to the god Brahma. And while Sozty and the others could use Gandiva or Parashu, only I can use Brahma Astra. Did you not realize it is a completely different type of Astra? I can use it with or without Pinaka.”

The brown woman held a giant bow made of gold in her hand.

Unlike the Shiva-related ones from before, this weapon was related to the god Brahma.

It was the ultimate Astra in a certain magic cabal.

But...

“No, that isn’t what I meant!! Why are you wielding it!? If you continue what you started here, you will destroy everything that you wanted to protect!!”

“Now then.” Ureapaddy Exica smiled thinly. “In the end, what was my goal? I still wish to protect the world. However, I also understand that doing so would require wiping out something else. But...”

“But what!?”

“But I can no longer stop it.”

Even if she knew she had gone wrong at some point, she could not change the path she was walking on. Her stable experience and her many past successes made her reject the idea of switching the rails of her plan over to some unknown direction. All of those past experiences pushed her onwards. Even if it required bending the truth a bit, they insisted she continue on.

That was an illusion.

Her actions would be completely meaningless, but that illusion gave them value.

“Boy, I never asked your name.”

The stars became visible.

But these were no normal stars. The black sky was filled with unnatural lights that one would never see on any armillary sphere or in any planetarium.

They were false shooting stars created from manmade objects. And they poured down.

The time limit set by Debris Storm had come. That violent light met the usage requirements for Brahma Astra and expanded its effects endlessly.

“Boy, what is your name?”

“...Kamijou Touma. Why?”

“I see.”

Ureapaddy Exica looked up into the sky.

A hint of loneliness could be seen in her eyes as they watched the unnatural deluge of light that she had created.

“Then, Kamijou Touma. I cannot stop Brahma Astra on my own. Make sure you understand that.”

She drew back the bowstring.

She had not nocked an arrow and yet a golden arrow appeared at some point.

When she let it fly, the world would end.

That was how much destructive power it held.

“And, Kamijou Touma. As the victor, you must end this with your own hand.”

When he heard those words, Kamijou Touma quietly smiled.

And he replied.

“Bring it on. I’ll smash every last bit of that illusion of yours to pieces!!”

She changed her target.

The arrows of the gods that should have attacked every important point in the world were focused on a single point within District 23 of Japan’s Academy City.

The storm of arrows raining down from heaven almost looked like a tornado.

And...

What that boy did in the end was incredibly, incredibly simple.

He stood tall on his two legs and held his right hand up towards heaven.

With a tremendous flash of light, the final round of offense and defense began.

And so at the very least, the world did not come to an end, Academy City was not destroyed, and Kamijou Touma was not dead.

- Road to Endymion, Chapter 5, Parts 5-6