Chapter 36

As Touma Kamijou saw the feathers encased in ice crystals around him, he knew that Tsukasa Shirai had protected him. Shizuri Godou and Stiyl also gathered around Tsukasa, examining her injuries.

"There are no external wounds. The blood definitely burst from the inside, so the body must have automatically recovered." Stiyl was amazed by this regenerative ability.

"The reason for the unconsciousness must be due to doing something beyond her capabilities. But I can hardly believe it, she actually froze magic." Shizuri Godou looked at the ice crystals shining in the moonlight, who could have imagined such a thing?

"But... why did she get injured? Was it that [Odin's Exile]?" Compared to freezing magic, Stiyl was more interested in this.

At this moment, Index woke up and, hearing the questions from the others, answered: "The [Odin's Exile] is a ritual. Do you know that in Norse mythology, to prepare for the so-called [Ragnarok], the god king Odin chose a ritual to gather all the warriors who fought bravely in life, making them [Einherjar]. For the Einherjar, the greatest harm is not being recognized as an Einherjar, which is to be exiled by Odin. Therefore, [Odin's Exile] is a magic used against Einherjar."

After everyone heard this, they remained silent. If that was the case, Tsukasa Shirai, who could be harmed by [Odin's Exile], must be an Einherjar. Such a mythological existence appearing before them, no one could remain calm.

Touma Kamijou, however, had some doubts: "But my right hand didn't react when it touched Tsukasa?"

Index also had an explanation for this. "That's because it's incomplete. Your friend was injured but didn't die, which means he is not a complete Einherjar. There are only two possibilities: either his body is transforming into an Einherjar through a ritual, or he is destined to become an Einherjar in the future."

However, everyone knew that Tsukasa Shirai was a superpower user, and those who knew that magic and superpowers conflict ruled out the first option.

"Wait, that means..." Everyone present realized the truth.

"Einherjar are warriors who died heroically in battle. If he is destined to become an Einherjar, he will certainly die heroically."

This time, everyone fell silent. First, they felt sad about the fact that Tsukasa Shirai would definitely die in the future. Second, what kind of event could make even Tsukasa Shirai die? Just thinking about it made them shudder.

Meanwhile, no one noticed that in a corner of the park, behind a tree, someone had heard all of this.

This person was Misaki Tokiwadai, and this park was one of the places she and Tsukasa Shirai had played together in the past. As the queen of Tokiwadai, Misaki Tokiwadai could only come here when she had nothing to do.

Regarding the past promise, Misaki Tokiwadai was not unwilling to confess to Tsukasa Shirai, but she shrank back at the last moment, even avoiding Tsukasa Shirai, which made Tsukasa think that Misaki had already seen through her feelings and left, thus accepting Index.

When Misaki entered, she had the idea of leaving. As a Level 5 psychic, Misaki Tokiwadai immediately sensed something was wrong and forced herself to come in. She saw Touma Kamijou's hand reaching into Index's mouth.

Thinking that Touma Kamijou was doing something bad, she immediately hid when she saw Tsukasa Shirai. She was still a bit embarrassed about her "standing him up." Especially since the reason for standing him up was that she was shy! How could the queen of Tokiwadai admit such a thing?

Next, she saw the drama of saving Index, and of course, she saw Tsukasa Shirai's injury. At that moment, she wanted to rush out, but seeing the others, she restrained herself.

Then, Misaki heard Index's explanation and the cruel fact. Tears filled her face. She was already somewhat regretful, wondering why she had been shy. As a queen, wasn't she already prepared to conquer Tsukasa Shirai? Why did she shrink back?

At this moment, Misaki was lost in self-reproach and fear of the terrifying future.

Before Misaki could adjust her state, Tsukasa Shirai gradually woke up. Seeing the pitying looks of the others, she had the urge to hit someone.

"What are you looking at me like that for?"

"Um..." Although it was cruel to tell her, since Tsukasa knew so much about the [Magic Side], she would eventually guess from the name of the [Odin's Exile] spell. So, they had to tell her their theory.

To be honest, Tsukasa was also shocked. She was not destined to become an Einherjar but was already an Einherjar, perhaps not complete, but undoubtedly not human. However, it was better to let them misunderstand. If the [Magic Side] found out, it would cause another upheaval.

Moreover, in today's battle, Tsukasa understood some things: First, she was not Odin's Einherjar, so was she a separate Einherjar or... an Einherjar of Gaia? Second, conceptually, she was already an Einherjar, which is why she was harmed by [Odin's Exile], even though she did not belong to his hall. Finally, there was no such thing as a moderator in this world, because if there were, the gods would have been eliminated by various means, and there would be no need for a fantasy killer.

Looking at the four people worried about her, Tsukasa was helpless. There was no way around it; some things were destined to be unknown, so she had to deceive them: "So what if I become an Einherjar? Isn't it just death? If my death can be as heavy as Mount Tai, then let it be. As long as I live happily now, isn't that enough?"

Since it was already late, the group parted ways. However, they were still shocked by Tsukasa's optimistic attitude and had the thought: [Perhaps only someone like her would become an Einherjar.]

On the other side, Misaki Tokiwadai, hearing Tsukasa's words, stopped her tears, as if she had made a decision. Hopefully, Tsukasa would not die too tragically when facing the upcoming battle.

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