Meanwhile, in Academy City's Seventh District.
A building without windows.
This was Aleister Crowley's residence, officially the Board of Directors' Headquarters.
Sealed, with no doors, windows, or entrances, it was self-sufficient, recycling air, energy, and resources internally.
Temperature, pressure, and humidity were perfectly stable.
Its interior was an endless expanse with no discernible focus.
Only a Level 4 teleporter could enter.
The building's foundation reached 15 meters underground, covering a vast area, with a three-kilometer radius of substructure.
Massive pillars anchored it, making collapse impossible.
To thwart assassins, Aleister had designed it meticulously.
Covered in "Computational Shock-Diffusion Composite Armor," it could withstand nuclear strikes.
This armor calculated incoming shockwaves via electromagnetic or ultraviolet waves, emitting vibrations to cancel them out, like waves neutralizing each other.
Brute force was useless. Even Accelerator's attack, capable of slowing Earth's rotation by five minutes, couldn't scratch it.
It was also resistant to chemicals and extreme temperatures.
The armor's hardness wasn't exceptional; if its computational system failed, a direct blast could breach it. But the building's power was internally supplied, making blackout tactics futile.
Nothing was perfect, though.
By calculating a shockwave the armor couldn't counter and attacking with it, the armor could be destroyed.
Aleister anticipated this, so he built it without windows or entrances.
No dedicated guards surrounded it, only hotels and shopping centers, sufficient for its protection.
Inside, Aleister floated in a mysterious liquid, observing Morpheus via AIM Diffusion Fields.
A glowing humanoid appeared beside him.
Golden hair, a radiant, tall frame, and loose white cloth covering limbs and torso. Its gender was unclear, but it appeared feminine.
This was Aiwass, Aleister's summoned angel.
Through a screen, Aiwass saw Morpheus walking the streets and said expressionlessly, "From my observation, this man is likely a true Magic God."
Aleister, intrigued, asked, "A Magic God in Academy City? Is he probing us?"
Aiwass replied, "Perhaps he's just bored and wandering."
Aleister countered, "Would a Magic God be that idle?"
Aiwass shook its head calmly. "I'm not a Magic God. I can't fathom their thoughts."
Aleister stared at Morpheus on the screen, deep in thought, his gaze flickering.
After a while, he shook his head. "Forget it. It's not time for all-out war. Maybe he really is just wandering."
He didn't believe his own words.
But he wasn't ready to face a Magic God, so he chose to ignore it.
Then Aiwass said, "This Magic God seems to have stumbled into your testing ground."
Its voice was calm, but it carried a hint of schadenfreude.
Aleister noticed too. Morpheus had wandered into a secluded alley.
At its end was a wasteland where a horrific slaughter was unfolding.
The perpetrator: Academy City's top esper, Accelerator.
The victim: the third-ranked esper, Mikoto Misaka's clone, Misaka 999.
Aleister was surprised but didn't intervene. He wanted to see how this Magic God would react.
Morpheus was furious.
A Sister, so adorable, being slaughtered by Accelerator? Outrageous.
He hadn't expected his casual stroll into Academy City would lead him to witness Accelerator butchering a Sister.
No, not a battle—a massacre.
The gap between them was too vast. "Battle" didn't fit; "massacre" did.
When Morpheus watched A Certain Magical Index, he couldn't comprehend this experiment. Even less comprehensible was Accelerator's redemption.
After killing nearly ten thousand Sisters, he was whitewashed.
Not only that, he became one of the three main male protagonists.
Morpheus couldn't accept it, though he could guess the author's reasoning.
Accelerator's popularity was high. Killing him off would be a waste.
But Morpheus rejected this trope. Redeeming popular villains to join the heroes was a cliché in anime.
He couldn't stomach it.
Villains should stay villains. Halfway redemption was nonsense.
So Morpheus had no intention of letting Accelerator off. He'd end this trash cleanly.
He thought this as he walked down the alley.
It ended at the wasteland, where a frail, white-haired boy crouched before a brown-haired girl.
Her limbs were broken, her body bleeding heavily, her state gruesome.
Her faint breathing showed she clung to life.
But her blood loss suggested she was moments from death.
The white-haired boy laughed maniacally, like a psychopath.
Morpheus clicked his tongue, unable to watch.
Hearing it, the boy stopped laughing and turned to Morpheus.
***
Bonus Chapter:
100 Power Stones = 1 BC
300 Power Stones = 2 BC
500 Power Stones = 3 BC
700 Power Stones = 4 BC
1000 Power Stones = 5 BC
***
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