A sticky sound rang out.

The sound moved inside the stabbed magician and the being known as Coronzon had a
new avatar. The hole in the chest did not vanish, but that was a convenient location. As
long as no one touched it from above the clothing, no one would notice it was there. And
he stayed holed up in his fortress anyway, so there was little chance of that happening.
He remained on his back and his sprawled out silver hair began moving on its own. It was
not visible because he was lying on top of it, but there was likely a demonic face in that
hair.

“Heh heh.”

And.

This time, there truly was no one else in this cold space, so the demon contained in a
beautiful woman laughed.

“Heh heh heh!! Hah hah!! Hee hee!! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
ha ha ha ha ha ha!!”

Coronzon had her own objective.

But for a while, she felt enough joy to forget even that. She simply could not help but savor
the delight of having carved out a father’s dignity using the hand of his beloved daughter.

(Now, I’ve finally cut my ties to that piece of shit Mathers. I no longer need to keep my
good deeds and bad deeds in tune. And just as I hoped, Aleister raised an interesting toy.
It was worth waiting this long.)

Lola Stuart had always been known as someone who kept her good deeds and bad deeds
balanced as if to keep the scales level.

But that restriction had only been to provide an explanation and to calm the waves when
she took an action that seemed out of character. But now that she had fulfilled her contract
with Mathers, that restriction was gone. And a summoned being would not just disappear
on its own. They would only leave once the spell user took responsibility and exorcised
them.

At that moment, a communication spell chirped and a voice reached Lola’s ears from a
remote location.

“Archbishop, it’s an emergency!!”

The giant face disappeared into the golden waterfall on her back and its roaring ceased.

The beautiful leader picked up the gold hair accessory from the floor and almost seemed
to be humming as she asked a question.

“What kind of emergency? After today, I wouldn’t even be surprised to hear London had
fallen.”

She made a joke on a whim.

But the very next moment...

“You knew!? Word really does reach you fast!!”

“...Huh?”

“A largescale attack is underway in Canada, Australia, and the other British
Commonwealth nations! Britain itself has taken some damage. The Knights are currently
holding it back, but the outskirts of London have already fallen!! They say if the enemy
constructs a base here, it could become a long-term battle!!”

“W-wait, what, hold on! What exactly is happening over here!?”

“I repeat: simultaneous largescale attacks are underway in the British Commonwe—
bgyuh!?”

The transmission ended.

No, someone else began speaking over the communication spell.

“...Do you still not understand?”

It was an impossible voice.

But Lola Stuart did not look toward the communication spell or toward the empty shell of
an avatar pinned to the floor. She looked in a different direction.

Someone stood where no one had been before.

Her long, long blonde hair began to wickedly writhe once more.

“...The Thoth Tarot? A grimoire that borrows people’s forms?”

“Is that what you think, or what you hope?”

There was not just one person there.

There was a man. There was a woman. There was an adult. There was a child. There was
a saint. There was a sinner.

Aleister’s generic appearance had left those who saw him with a variety of impressions,
but this very strange scene looked like each of those different faces had been isolated and
brought to life.

“My soul shined with many colors.”

What was this?

Lola Stuart’s cheeks twitched as she made some guesses.

“That is because I had always sealed many different possibilities within my single body.
But once I released multiple versions of myself into the world, it became apparent they
would only clash and I could not expect them to work together. That is why I had to bind
myself and contain every version of myself to a single coordinate. So as usual, I did not
think it through and regretted my actions.”

The group spoke.

“Although when I punished Fiamma of the Right and other such times, a momentarily
branched-off alternative version of myself would have been observable. I appear in an
instant and disappear in an instant. And not through the use of teleportation. Yes, did you
never think it could be explained using the obsolete concept of faxing?”

“Wait a second. You mean...?”

“This was bound to happen from the moment I left the life support device to resolve the
Karasuma Fran and Kihara Yuiitsu problems. Even if Kamijou Touma and Lola Stuart
had not appeared, I would have branched out almost endlessly. This will create every
version of me born from the various ‘ifs’.”

Smiles surrounded her.

And they undoubtedly belonged to the “human” named Aleister Crowley.

“If the number calculated out by the former Tree Diagram and proven by the Reading
Thoth 78 is accurate, the number of options available to me and the number of branches
to which those would lead are 1,083,092,867. In other words, that many Aleister Crowleys
exist as those many possibilities. You have witnessed that moment. Yes, no matter what
you do now, you have only witnessed it. As if you are watching fireworks being launched
from this single spot.”

“...”

“Now, now. How many times does it have to be said? Aleister Crowley does not care if he
succeeds or fails. If I succeed, that’s wonderful. If I fail, I use that to continue forward.
That is the plan based on my Thelema. So why did you relax just because you had won? It
is true I did not arrive at the truth of Lola and Coronzon. You can even say I failed from
the moment I had to once more dirty my hands with that loathsome magic. But did you
really think you could change the trend I had created just because I did not know the
answer and you outwitted me???”

“..........................................................................................................................................!?”

A wet sound burst out.

But even though one of him was crushed and killed, the writhing whole declared war all
the same.

“My plan has failed again. I will give you the alternatively-shaped temple known as
Academy City.”

“My plan has failed again. I will give you the alternatively-shaped temple known as
Academy City.”

“My plan has failed again. I will give you the alternatively-shaped temple known as
Academy City.”

He said it far too readily.

And he overturned everything.

“And instead, I believe I will take your toy: all of the nations belonging to the British
Commonwealth...including the United Kingdom itself.”

“And instead, I believe I will take your toy: all of the nations belonging to the British
Commonwealth...including the United Kingdom itself.”

“And instead, I believe I will take your toy: all of the nations belonging to the British
Commonwealth...including the United Kingdom itself.”

♦

Kamijou Touma was thrown out into the empty air.

It took him a while to realize he had been tossed out through the damaged portion of the
Windowless Building’s wall.

Even after he began to fall, he did not immediately slam into the ground.

Mikoto was flying through the air in the A.A.A. and collecting a few people from the air.

But she could not arrive in time for the very last one: Kamijou.

He did not even have time to scream.

But his life was not crushed and lost.

Even though Mikoto’s hand did not reach him, something did suddenly interrupt his fall.

“Gweh!?”

He felt intense resistance in his neck. Only a little later did he realize the tip of some kind
of stick had caught on the back of his collar at several dozen meters above the ground.

He heard a voice like a small bell.

“Do not swing your right hand at random. Destroy the broom now and I will have trouble
ensuring either of our lives.”

“...Wha-?”

The voice was not at all similar.

This one definitely belonged to a girl of middle or high school age.

“The city’s core functions have been taken, but your Imagine Breaker and the #1
Accelerator are needed to contact Aiwass’s core. We will also receive backup from Aneri,
the version of the Reading Thoth 78, aka Mina Mathers, which I had spread throughout
the city after lowering it to a consumer level. Lola...no, Coronzon seems to think she has
reached checkmate, but there are plenty of holes in her encirclement.”

However, a completely different name appeared in the back of Kamijou Touma’s mind.

Yes, the name of that magician.

“Allow me to introduce myself again.”

The girl smiled.

And that nemesis spoke like they were old acquaintances.

“I am Aleister Crowley. Or, one of his many possibilities.”

-Shinyaku Toaru Majutsu no Index Volume 18 Epilogue