Toaru Majutsu no Index: New Testament

Volume 13, Prologue: Another Possible Demise — Before_the_End.

Volume 13, Prologue: Another Possible Demise — Before_the_End.

There might be a discrepancy in our opinions.

For now, let’s go over what information we have.

The world will suddenly end one day.

When you put it that way, some people might have a reflexive urge to argue. They assume someone had to be filled with a desire to destroy the world through tragedy, that they had to put together an over-the-top plan, that they had to go through a long period of preparation, that they had to work through a few smaller incidents to act as the ignition, and that they would fire off a huge firework at the very, very end to actually destroy the world. Those people assume ending something as vague as “the world” would require an absurd amount of work and that, with something on so large a scale, there would be a 99.9% or greater chance of it being detected and stopped ahead of time.

However, that is not entirely accurate.

How about we think of it like this instead?

The world will not be destroyed because some charismatic evil leader stood at the pinnacle of darkness.

The world will be destroyed all on its own if left alone.

Just as humans wither up all on their own if they forget to breathe or eat, the world will roll down the hill to destruction if it is simply left to the ravages of time. The world has only lasted to this day and this moment because a great many people are desperately holding that giant snowball up and keeping it from rolling down.

That is why the end will come suddenly.

No matter how hard people work, the world’s end will arrive like an unexpected death. Even if everyone’s work manages to avoid that end once, there is no guarantee that death will not make a second visit. Through the ages and eons, the world has fallen ill and been in accidents. And one day, it will be tormented by its own lifespan.

The world will not be destroyed because something special happens.

The world is only being maintained because something special is happening.

In that case, it would only be natural to run across such an ending from time to time.