In Academy City, the Paradise Project begins.

Page 32

Chapter 44 Cognitive Storm

Blood seeped from Higashino Yu's nose, and his consciousness teetered on the brink of collapse.

He felt his abilities evolving; the torrent of knowledge from the 103,000 grimoires surged and collided deep within his consciousness like the source code of the universe. He couldn't comprehend their specific contents, but some higher-dimensional "rules" were forcibly imprinted on his instincts, intertwining and evolving with his abilities.

(How...can my ability......)

His pupils suddenly contracted.

Reality was trembling slightly under his will.

"Higashino?!" Kanzaki Kaori's voice seemed to come from a great distance, filled with unprecedented surprise and doubt.

Stiyl's rune card suddenly burst into flames, turning to ashes and scattering in the air. The mummy magician stared in shock at the illogical scene before him: "Hey... what's going on with this guy?!"

Index also woke up, slowly opening her eyes. Looking into Higashino's silver-blue eyes, she felt a sense of familiarity mixed with strangeness: "Higashino... your eyes..."

Deep within his pupils, a silver-blue light flickered wildly, like two miniature galaxies being born and annihilated.

(No... I can't take it anymore...)

Higashino Yu's consciousness finally reached its limit; his body swayed, and then...

boom!

He fell heavily to the ground, his consciousness plunging into complete darkness.

At the same time, an invisible domain spread out from him, sweeping across the entire Academy City like a storm.

At this moment, everyone's perception became slightly skewed.

One minute later.

Misaki Shokuhou blinked and found herself standing at the dormitory entrance, holding a remote control in her hand.

(What was I about to do?)

Misaka Mikoto stared at the drinks scattered on the floor in front of the vending machine, lost in thought.

(……illusion?)

Tsuchimikado Motoharu looked down at the half-eaten takoyaki in his hand, then at Kamijou Touma: "...Did you just say I breathed fire?"

Kamijou Touma shook his right hand, which was inexplicably stinging, looking bewildered: "...No, I didn't say anything." He felt as if the world had paused for a moment, and a vague memory had flashed by.

Inside the Item base, Mugino Shizuri suddenly stood up.

"Hey! Were you guys just now—"

Frenda dusted herself off and poked her head out of the half-destroyed kitchen: "Ah! Mugino! Your abilities are back to normal?!"

Mugino: "...Nonsense! What were you guys doing just now?!" She looked around the messy base.

Takitsubo Rigo and Kinuhata Saiai exchanged a glance and shook their heads simultaneously, a hint of barely perceptible confusion in their eyes: "...I don't know."

Takitsubo felt a slight dizziness, as if something important had been forcibly inserted and then removed.

Mugino: "..."

(These guys... there's definitely something wrong with them! This feeling... have I forgotten something?)

Somewhere in Academy City.

Aleister, suspended upside down in the life support device, slowly opened his eyes. A strange silver light shimmered in the nutrient solution, countless tiny filaments of light swimming within it, seemingly alive. Some kind of "phase interference," beyond human comprehension, was occurring; the lines of latitude and longitude in space twisted, broke, and reformed before him.

Aiwass appeared silently beside the device. His voice resounded directly in Aleister's consciousness:

“The phase… has been triggered. Not in the usual sense of ‘movement’ or ‘overlay,’ but rather… ‘reconstruction.’”

"Ripples of perception pierced the membrane of time and phase. His power, at its peak of loss of control, briefly...affected the past." "Look..."

As Aiwass finished speaking, countless images, like reflections cast into water, clearly surfaced in Aleister's consciousness:

At some point, Touma Kamijou was crossing the road. The traffic light was flashing an unstable yellow light. Just as he stepped onto the zebra crossing, a modified biker motorcycle roared out from the side intersection like a wild horse, far exceeding the speed limit!

"boom--!"

A dull thud echoed. Touma Kamijou was thrown back by the force of the impact, rolling several times on the ground before coming to a stop. A sharp pain shot through his right arm, and his forehead was scraped and bleeding; he was barely conscious. The biker also fell to the ground, but quickly got up, cursing as he picked up his motorcycle and fled the scene before the sirens could reach them. An ambulance arrived with sirens blaring, taking the unconscious Touma to the hospital.

Another point in time: the abandoned viaduct connecting the 7th and 18th school districts.

The night was deep, and the engine roared. A boy sped across the empty viaduct on his beloved red motorcycle, trying to shake off pursuers from an opposing organization. Suddenly, a seemingly intact section of the bridge ahead, without warning, as if torn apart by an invisible force, cracked open, leaving a jagged gap several meters wide! Broken steel bars twisted and exposed, and concrete fragments rained down into the darkness below.

"Boom——!!!"

The motorcycle's front wheel slammed into the broken edge, and the immense inertia threw the entire vehicle, along with the two men, high into the air, where they tumbled and plummeted dozens of meters into the abandoned construction site below the bridge. When the police arrived later, they found his body only beside the wreckage of the motorcycle.

There seemed to be some more images after that, but they were extremely blurry.

Aiwass's brilliance remains constant:

"...These 'past' have been anchored, becoming new 'facts.' The timeline's self-repair mechanism has been triggered, attempting to cover up these 'irrational' wounds, but the cracks already exist. The fluctuations caused by the phase shift... are spreading. His power is touching the forbidden realm of the 'root.'"

“Your ‘plan,’ Aleister Crowley, has become more unpredictable. The evolutionary direction of ‘cognitive restructuring’ is… sliding into an unpredictable direction.”

The synthesized voice echoed in the empty room, carrying an added, almost imperceptible excitement:

"Cognitive restructuring... Evolutionary direction confirmed..."

"Phase interference...timeline disturbance...confirmed..."

“Variables…re-evaluate…”

"The plan has undergone significant changes."

In the nutrient solution, Aleister's gaze pierced through the liquid and the windowless walls, as if staring at the unconscious boy on the other side of the city, and the world that had been briefly distorted and forcibly "stitched" back together because of his loss of control. A new storm was quietly brewing in the cracks of time.

Chapter 45 Awakening and Evolution of Abilities

The smell of disinfectant filled his nostrils, and Higashino slowly opened his eyes.

The familiar white ceiling came into view; he was back in the hospital.

How long was I unconscious this time? And how many times have I been to the hospital? I only transmigrated not long ago, so what, am I some kind of innate holy body for hospitalization?!

Speechless, Higashino tried moving his fingers. His body felt lighter than he had imagined, as if some kind of shackle had been removed.

"Yu!"

The silver-haired girl's voice was choked with sobs. Index practically collapsed to the bedside, her eyes brimming with tears, her hands gripping his sleeve tightly.

"You're finally awake! Waaah!"

Her voice trembled with excitement, as if she was afraid he would disappear again.

You promised to protect me, but you collapsed first! I'm so worried about you!

Higashino Yu smiled gently and reached out to ruffle her silver hair.

"I'm sorry I made you worry."

Index's tears finally fell, dripping onto the back of his hand.

"The doctor said...your brain was almost burned out..."

Her voice grew softer and softer, filled with self-reproach.

"It's all because of me... I'm sorry!"

Higashino shook his head and propped himself up to sit up. Surprisingly, the backlash seemed much milder than he'd expected. Previously, overusing his abilities would leave him unconscious for at least a whole day, but this time…

He looked up at the clock on the wall.

Only five hours?

As expected... my abilities have evolved, and the side effects have also lessened? I don't feel any discomfort in my body now.

"Yu?"

Index looked at him with concern.

"How are you?"

Higashino snapped out of his daze and smiled at her.

"Not only is it good, but also..."

He raised his hand, his fingertips gleaming with a silvery-blue light.

Want to see something interesting?

Index blinked, tears still clinging to her eyelashes.

"what?"

Higashino didn't answer, but simply snapped his fingers lightly.

"Memory projection."

In an instant, images began to appear on the walls of the ward. These were sights Index had never seen before: a street corner in London, sunlight streaming through the stained-glass windows of a Gothic building; ancient parchment lying quietly on oak bookshelves beneath the dome of the British Library; and white doves flitting across the spire of the Houses of Parliament on the banks of the Thames.

"This is……"

Index opened her eyes wide and reached out her finger to touch the flowing images on the wall.

"The scenery of your hometown."

"Higashino said softly."

"Even though you don't remember, they've always been there."

The scene shifts to the garden of St. George's Church, where roses bloom in the morning dew. The silhouette of a silver-haired little girl is faintly visible.

Index's breath caught in her throat for a moment.

"Was that... me in the past?"

Higashino nodded, the light at his fingertips shimmering slightly. The images continued to shift, revealing more details: a little girl standing on tiptoe watering flowers, flipping through a heavy book on a bench, and gazing at the sky with an innocent smile.

"A sight I saw by chance before."

Higashino's voice was very soft.

"It seems there are still remnants in your memory. One day, I will be able to restore all your lost memories."

Index's tears welled up again, but this time they were warm. She reached out, wanting to touch that tiny version of herself, but the image was like a flower in a mirror or the moon's reflection in water, unattainable.

"Thanks……"

She spoke softly, then wanted to throw herself into Dongye's arms and cry loudly.

"Thank you for letting me see this."

At this moment, the door to the ward was pushed open.

"Oh? You're already awake?"

The Soul Chaser from the Underworld walked in wearing a white coat, holding a medical record in his hand. He glanced at the image on the wall that hadn't completely faded away and raised an eyebrow.

"It seems like the recovery is going well."

Index lowered her head somewhat embarrassed.

"Doctor... um..."

The Soul Chaser of the Underworld waved his hand and said with a smile:

"It's alright, they're just young people."

He walked to Higashino's bedside and checked the data on the monitor.

"Brain waves are stable, neural activity is normal...recovering faster than expected."

He closed the medical record and gave Higashino a meaningful look.

"But don't do that again next time. I've seen you several times in the last two weeks!"

Higashino nodded.

"clear."