saint willingness to kill

“Why?” muttered Misaka Mikoto as she toyed with her hair on the road at the top level.

It might have been due to the unique population distribution of the Ichihanaransai or it might have been due to someone setting up some kind of trick, but the amount of traffic had disappeared to an unnatural extent.

“Why do I have to go along with what you say? Are you seriously asking a girl to help you in a fight? Come to think of it, I can’t think of a single reason I have to go along with this.”

The asphalt continued on and on and on like a runway.

Someone stood further down the road.

She had white feathers decorating her hair. She wore a short dress with pants forcibly worn underneath, a bulletproof vest, and protectors covering her elbows and knees. It gave her the silhouette of armor. And on top of it all, she had an unnaturally large sword called a claymore hanging down from her hand. It looked like she was holding one of the steel sheets used in construction.

As she walked, the tip of the sword…or rather, the “corner” audibly scraped across the surface of the asphalt.

Her name was Brunhild Eiktobel.

Without even trying to hide her killer intent or aggression, the blonde-haired, blue-eyed woman asked a question in a flat voice.

“Are you my enemy?”

“It’s kind of hard to say.”

Mikoto then heard a voice from behind her.

She was standing back to back with the Lightning God Thor who was in charge of direct combat within Gremlin.

He was facing a different enemy.

“C’mon, Miko-chan.”

“I told you not to call me that! Who the hell are you anyway!?”

“They have formed a group to beat the shit out of Kamijou Touma, who has already been shot in the side, and then abduct a woman named Fräulein Kreutune before his eyes. And they’ll be whispering to Fräulein Kreutune that she’ll be happiest if they use her for their purposes and then kill her. So what do you think, Miko-chan? Do you approve of that? Do you oppose it? Or will you take the clever route and just look away? Which side do you want to stand on?”

“…”

Mikoto sighed.

With an annoyed tone in her voice, she said, “So it’s the same pattern as always.”

“Now you’re catching on.”

“I guess he hasn’t changed at all even after disappearing in Hawaii and heading to that Baggage City place.”

“I heard that was a horrible battlefield, but it seems he still managed to save some lives. I have no room to talk…in fact, you could say I’m just as much to blame…but Kamijou Touma is trying to finish things with the person you could call the primary cause of all this. Will you support him? Or will you get in his way?”

“Tch.”

There was plenty she wanted to say.

But Mikoto just gave up and lightly clicked her tongue.

She did so because she had seen it. She had seen the look of anguish on a certain boy’s face after the incident in Hawaii had come to an end and he had realized he had been made to act for someone else’s purposes. He had fought, struggled, had some coincidences work in his favor, and had finally managed to reach a place where he could bring an end to the string of nightmares for which he had pulled the trigger himself. This was a one-of-a-kind situation that would never come again if he let it escape him here.

So now what should Mikoto do?

No, what did she want to do?

She did not even hesitate.

Bluish-white sparks flew from her bangs.

She slowly turned back to face Brunhild Eiktobel who was still approaching.
- To Aru Majutsu No Index New Testament Vol 6 Chapter 7 Part 3