People Clearing Rune

Something was not right. Kamijou checked the time displayed on a department store’s
electronic billboard. It was exactly 8 PM. It would still be some time before most people
were asleep, and yet a horrible silence had fallen over the area like in a forest at night. A
strange out-of-place feeling hung over the area.
(Come to think of it, I haven’t seen anyone since I was walking with Index...)
With a puzzled look, Kamijou walked further along.
And when he came to a major road with three lanes in each direction, that out-of-place
feeling shifted to a full-blown sense of things being just plain wrong.
There was no one there.
No one was entering or exiting the major department stores that lined the road like
drinks on a convenience store rack. The footpath that usually felt overly narrow now felt
horribly wide and not a single car was driving along that runway like road. All the cars
parked on the side of road were empty as if they had been abandoned.
It was like looking at a farm road way out in the country.
“This is because Stiyl carved the Opila rune for a people clearing field.”
A female voice suddenly entered his head like it was a Japanese sword stabbing through
the middle of his face.
He had not noticed at all.
The girl had not been hiding behind anything and she had not snuck up behind him
either. She was standing in the center of the wide runway-like road about ten meters
ahead of him, cutting off his path.

It went beyond the level of not seeing or noticing her due to the darkness. An instant
before, there had truly been no one there. However, in the time it took him to blink, the
girl had appeared there.
“All the people around this area have had their focus averted so they do not think of
approaching here for some reason. Most of the people are likely inside the buildings, so
do not worry.”

- Toaru Majutsu no Index Volume 1, Chapter 2 Part 4