Editing Toaru Majutsu no Index:Item5 Chapter4

==Chapter 4: Eliminate It at the Root==

===Part 1===

It was 6:30 PM.

According to the schedule, the fireworks should have already been launched by now, but silence remained. Fireworks shows were mostly program controlled these days, but apparently Academy City still had some fireworks technicians with pride in their work.

The color of the sky was about halfway between orange and purple.

The coloration would look right at home on a can of convenience store sweet coffee, but the actual time of sunset was a little later than what the public weather forecast apps said. …Of course, this was nothing on the scale of the planet’s rotation or revolution having slowed. After the sun sank below the horizon, the sunlight was still bent and scattered by the air temperature, humidity, and other factors, so even at the same time of year, meteorological conditions created slight variations in the strict sunset time.

That meant it wasn’t fully dark yet and the fireworks technicians weren’t satisfied.

Hundreds of thousands of lives were now reliant on a stubborn perfectionism that didn’t physically exist.

Still, this was only a margin of error of ten to twenty minutes.

The technicians would eventually reach for the switch of doom and then the blast and the shockwave would trigger a panic among the hundreds of thousands here. Once that happened, the Anti-Skill and Judgment presence in this area would be too busy dealing with that to focus on anything else.

“Oh, dear.”

A-ko whispered into the truck radio while leaning forward and squishing her chest against the large steering wheel of the semi-trailer truck she had parked in a parking lot a short distance away since the large vehicle would be unwieldy on such a crowded day.

“We have a problem. They’ve wandered into a rather troublesome place. The fireworks show is only supposed to trigger the diversion, so I would really rather not get close to the coming panic. Oh, I get it. Item figured out our diversion plan and is trying to stop it.”

“I do not want to be crushed to death in a panic I set up myself,” said B-ko over the radio. “Do you think we made a mistake when we didn’t start the main hunt as soon as they split up and ran?”

“…But I would hate to waste the trap we set up in the fireworks show…” said C-ko, also over the radio.

“We always wait until the authorities are distracted to start the hunt,” said A-ko. “Let’s stick to the plan and kill them.”

“Yes, let’s do that.” “Yes, let’s do that.”

The stolen truck was filled with spare explosives (disguised as fireworks) just in case they were needed, but it didn’t look like that would be necessary. The spares couldn’t be tracked back to A-ko and the others, so she didn’t think twice about abandoning the truck here.

As she wandered around the area, B-ko and C-ko soon approached.

B-ko was a busty girl with a long blonde ponytail. C-ko was a downer of a girl with short chestnut hair. And a flat chest.

Similarly, A-ko was a high school girl with wavy black hair. Her chest was larger than C-ko’s but smaller than B-ko’s, which for whatever reason led the other two to tease her for being too “normal” and “boring”.

They all wore matching tennis clothes with frilly skirts plus track pants. The sportswear wouldn’t look out of place on the schoolyard of any school, but it was actually slightly off from what the students of any actual school wore. It wasn’t exactly fashionable, but outfits just like it flooded the streets during the Daihaseisai.

“Who’s got who?”

B-ko’s question began the usual discussion.

If it was inappropriate, they would ask you to take it up with the researchers who altered their brains this way.

A-ko said something no ordinary person would ever say.

“I’ll take Mugino Shizuri, I guess. Given the nature of her power.”

“…I’ll do Frenda…”

“Tch. That means Kinuhata Saiai for me. Damn leftovers.”

The three girls were hunting Item, but Takitsubo was not one of their targets.

They would strip away all of the excess fat, leaving only the pitiful bones behind. And once she was all alone, they would grab her hair and show her the others’ corpses. And ask her if she was satisfied.

In that sense, the fireworks show was no different.

To truly enjoy a main dish, you needed more than just that one dish. You had to whet your appetite with an appetizer and create a mood allowing for real enjoyment.

“After all, she abandoned us. Takitsubo Rikou refused to become D-ko and ran off on her own, so we need to make sure she understands our anger and sorrow☆”

They continued their chat as they walked along. Keeping it casual.

“I’m Suzunaka.”

“I’ll be Yamakawa.”

“…B-ko, you used that one before…”

“Did I? I can’t remember each and every one. Fine, I’ll change it up a bit and go with Moritana.”

“…Then I’ll be Okano…”

The three girls held their phones together and input their temporary personal information. Being able to take on a new identity without any plastic surgery or fleeing your residence in the middle of the night was both a pro and a con of such a high-tech city.

B-ko looked uncertain about her name. Even though she had chosen it.

“I forget the rules. Does the stroke count of this name give me good luck, or not?”

“…The luck changes depending on if the given name is pronounced Aibi or Manami. According to lucky goldfish fortunetelling anyway…”

“Wow, that turns into a real pain in the ass once you get into the details!!”

===Part 2===

“…” “…” “…” “…”

All four Item members had regrouped without issue.

On the large riverside area covered by hundreds of thousands of people for the fireworks show. It that wasn’t a miracle, what was it?

Cheating, probably.

Specifically, this location up on the riverbank had a lot of obstacles thanks to the food stalls set up.

Some boys around the age of Frenda’s sister passed by, talking loudly. They were using clear cups of cider to make their faces look all distorted. Some kids were taking photos of the small rainbows created by the mist shower.

It was a perfectly ordinary scene.

Item’s clothing was unruffled. They had been very cautious, but it didn’t look like anything had happened.

When the attack had begun, the voice on the phone had been shot and then a large semi-trailer truck had hit Kinuhata.

This was a troublesome opponent, but if A-ko, B-ko, and C-ko of the Advanced Lab didn’t have any support team delinquents, they might only be able to pull off so many simultaneous attacks. Was that why they had to cause such noticeable diversions?

Mugino scratched her head in exasperation and spoke.

“The terrain is perfect for hiding, the wide field of view is perfect for monitoring your surroundings, and there are plenty of escape routes just in case. …It makes sense. Everyone in this business thinks the same way.”

“So are there kinds of places that dark side people super tend to gather in? Although that idea is even less pleasant than the little bugs gathered on the underside of a potted plant’s leaves.”

“In that case, it’s lucky we didn’t run into A-ko, B-ko, and C-ko while waiting here,” observed Takitsubo.

Everyone fell silent at that.

That was the most ridiculous and most deadly possibility they could think of.

This area was plenty crowded.

The fireworks show didn’t seem to allow any bright lights, but when Mugino held up her phone, she saw brightly-colored AR displays all over the place. The advertisements for the plain-looking food stalls were quite something. Whenever they had a chance, they would fill up the screen with their 3D images. Simply approaching them caused a social media invitation to pop up.

Kinuhata took a look at the same screen (while stretching up on her tiptoes).

“What a pain. If you super tried to take a selfie here, I’m not sure you’d even be able to see your face.”

“That just shows how many people’s plans are tied up in this event, Kinuhata,” said Takitsubo. “This isn’t just about us.”

With such a large fireworks show, there would be a TV broadcast and amateur streamers were a common sight in Academy City. That made navigating the place a challenge for Item who spent so much time on illegal jobs.

“Let’s decide who does what. In the end, I’ll take the fireworks launch site. If you need a bomb defused, Frenda-chan’s your girl!”

“…Um. Super what are the rest of us supposed to do?”

“If Frenda tries to defuse the bomb, A-ko, B-ko, and C-ko will try to stop her. We need to stop them.”

They paused their conversation there.

Takitsubo cast a glance over at some passersby and waited for them to continue past. Some girls in yukatas were chatting happily with one holding a small, clear plastic bag filled with water. At first, it didn’t seem to contain a goldfish, but then a small red fish appeared. It apparently hadn’t been visible due to the lighting conditions.

Mugino lowered her voice.

“They’re planning to blow the place up? Would they really come here themselves?”

“What would prevent them? The fireworks show isn’t like the stadiums during the day. No one is checking IDs or tickets or inspecting bags at the entrance. Anyone can come in for free,” said Takitsubo, tilting her head.

The general mood wasn’t right for strict entrance management. Anyone could arrive from anywhere. Maybe it came from this being a free event, but for people trying to protect the place, security seemed lax for the number of people here.

The track suit girl was a pro who always considered the worst case.

“If the fireworks sabotage fails, A-ko, B-ko, and C-ko only have to put on masks and directly shoot up the place. That does increase the risk of being identified compared to the explosive trap, but all they really need is to trigger a large enough panic to keep Anti-Skill and Judgment busy. So that would be enough for them to get back on track.”

In other words, defusing the bomb wasn’t enough to say the place was safe.

Their goal needed to be protecting the lives of the hundreds of thousands here, not stopping the bomb. …Especially for Frenda who was close to biting her thumbnail if she wasn’t careful (even though her delicate fingertips were her life). From the look of her, she probably needed to reapply the makeup meant to hide her fingerprints.

It really would be necessary to take out A-ko, B-ko, and C-ko of the Advance Lab.

Mugino kept it brief.

“Where’s the enemy?”

“I have a general idea based on their preferences.”

===Part 3===

And so Mugino Shizuri was sneaking around on her own.

As a fireworks show, there weren’t many lights on, but the area around the stage was an exception. Bright stage lights supported by a stainless steel framework clearly delineated the world where the artists stood.

In addition to Anti-Skill in their stilt-like gear, aerial surveillance drones were flying irregularly around the other side of the stage to keep an eye on the crowd packed in at the front of the stage. The many different models of drone likely meant there were also some recording the performance for the event group and for the TV station broadcasting it. Either way, they were something to avoid for anyone on the wrong side of the law. If Mugino was spotted carelessly appearing at the edge of the screen, she might gather attention as a spectral figure in the darkness.

While keeping low and moving through the backstage shadows, she voiced her annoyance.

“An idol unit, huh? And another group of three. That’s a bad omen.”

This was where anyone involved in TV would likely be. For a live broadcast. This was a very awkward place for someone from the dark side where she very much did not want to end up appearing in people’s living rooms.

“Is she really here?”

“Mugino,” said Takitsubo over the radio. “If the fireworks bomb fails, they will cause a panic with gunfire. They usually do that by holding a position where they can gather everyone’s attention without being caught in the crush afterwards.”

So would they be spraying bullets into the crowd from up on the stage?

About the worst unplanned performance you could get.

And to make matters worse, it would be happening during the Daihaseisai when so many ordinary visitors and TV cameras from outside the city were here. That did explain why that group had so displeased the higher ups that they had been destroyed once in the past.

“But what do I do if I run into an Advanced Lab esper here? There’s not enough room to fight.”

“Use your creativity and ingenuity.”

“That just means you don’t have any ideas.”

A light leaking in from backstage cast a shadow.

Mugino leaped aside as if struck just before a metal pipe dropped down. No, a girl wielding the pipe in both hands had jumped down from overhead. With enough force to tear a piece out of the dirt ground.

“Tch.”

She produced a voice.

The voice of an adolescent girl that was beginning to show some hints of sex appeal while still not fully losing its innocence.

“You didn’t blast me right away. If you had thoughtlessly fired as you turned around ''because you might as well'', my counterattack would have ended it.”

The two girls glared at each other and kept their distance.

Mugino’s opponent looked to be high school aged.

She may have found the pipe somewhere around here because she tossed it aside without a second thought.

Takitsubo had explained A-ko, B-ko, and C-ko’s powers and only one of them applied to what this girl had said.

…All or Nothing. This girl had a psychological power that would apply the enemy’s deadly force to her own attack if she landed a cross-counter. She was Level 4, but the Advanced Lab’s external boosting meant the level system couldn’t be relied on here.

In other words…

“So you’re A-ko?
”
“I’m going by Suzunaka-san at the moment. As smart as most high-level espers are, they tend to force their way through with brute strength, so surprising them from a blind spot makes it pretty easy to one-shot them. What a pain. Looks like I’ll actually have to try this time.”

At that same moment, a bloody flavor spread through Mugino’s mouth.

Her head jolted backwards.

She had already taken a cross-counter.

From much closer range than she had expected.

A-ko whispered sweetly into Mugino’s ear after throwing a fist into her face.

“Oh? Not willing to take this seriously yet? Although that would have blown your head off if you had used Meltdowner.”

In fact.

Partway through the conversation, Mugino’s right arm had sprung up in front of her, but instead of using Meltdowner, she had thrown a pebble with a snap of her wrist.

(So I can’t use feints or try to throw off her timing. She’ll counterattack me no matter what!!)

“!!”

This wasn’t just her sense of pain being sharpened.

A-ko’s power was supposed to be psychological, but Mugino was physically bleeding. Even though that light jab couldn’t have done that.

There were stories of people bleeding from the heart when the fear of bullets and bombings on the battlefield grew too strong.

Mugino held the bridge of her nose with a hand and took a leap back before her earlobe was bitten off.

===Part 4===

“Kinuhata,” said Takitsubo over the radio. “Mugino has contacted A-ko. That leaves B-ko and C-ko. And it means the Advanced Lab is definitely here.”

“Super acknowledged!”

There was no predicting when the bomb would explode. Not when there wasn’t an obvious digital timer. It was all over once the fireworks technicians reached for the control board on the sandbank and the scheduled time had already passed. The color of the sky was just barely hanging on as a purple tinged with orange…but the sun was no longer visible behind the skyscrapers. If the technicians decided to compromise and launched the fireworks, hundreds of thousands of futures would vanish.

Kinuhata felt an urge to rush to Mugino and focus their attack on the known enemy, but if A-ko, B-ko, or C-ko were killed, there was a risk of the remaining two taking desperate measures. Splitting up and eliminating all three as soon as possible still seemed like their best option.

The point Takitsubo had assigned her was…

“This super…relay station?”

The TV station cameras located here and there across the vast event site had to be relayed to the TV station itself, so large-scale radio communication equipment was needed. Using ordinary internet lines could lead to unexpected freezes (especially during a major event when the communication servers were flooded with connections), so it wasn’t a good option for a live TV broadcast.

Although it was unclear if the main focus of the relayed footage was the fireworks show or the live performances.

“Hi.”

Someone called out to Kinuhata.

The girl was a bit older than Kinuhata. But she shouldn’t have been in this off-limits area.

More than that, she didn’t seem at all bothered by the presence of an intruder like Kinuhata.

“Super who are you?”

“What name did I end up going with again? Ugh, it’s no use. I can’t remember, so just call me B-ko.”

(So she’s B-ko? Her power lets her super search for the enemy’s location using her hair’s scent particles, right? Which makes her similar to Takitsubo-san.)

“That really is B-ko,” said Takitsubo over the radio. “She isn’t C-ko giving that name to hide her power, so you don’t have to worry about that.”

…Oh, had that been a possibility? It helped so much to be working with someone who knew the enemy.

And in that case, Kinuhata’s power gave her the upper hand.

Those search types were most useful when they were hidden. They were like bombers or snipers who unilaterally located their target and delivered a deadly attack from afar. Ideally that initial attack would end it because they wouldn’t want to fail to kill and be dragged into a 50-50 close-range battle.

Around 80% of their charm vanished once they were standing in front of you like this.

A search type alone couldn’t kill anyone. Since B-ko had attacked alone, she was likely hiding a weapon other than her power, but…

“What does it matter that you can use your power to accurately locate me? I was never going to hide from you in the first place. A knife? A handgun? Bring it on, whatever it is. I’ll walk right up to you and punch you so hard your skull super caves in!!”

The sound of evaporation reached Kinuhata’s ear.

Coming from her right upper arm.

No, was it the sound of something burning?

“!?”

Kinuhata shook her arm, but it didn’t help.

Throbbing pain belatedly began to torment her skin. Like drops of sulfuric acid had landed on her skin, or like orange-glowing sparks had touched her. The pain came from points of heat.

It didn’t make sense.

What just happened?

Kinuhata’s entire body was covered by Offense Armor which could withstand a shotgun blast or a 12-ton truck, so why was she feeling this pain so directly!?

“What do you think that was?”

B-ko laughed.

And didn’t move from her spot.

So did she have something that could cause burns and could be used without approaching the target?

“Could I be doing something with friction? Or maybe fire ants? Doesn’t aluminum melt pretty easily when heated? C’mon, start listing up the possibilities and trap yourself in a cage of paranoia.”

“Tch!!”

Kinuhata clicked her tongue, jumped back, and sprang to the right, but the throbbing pain continued to crawl along her arm. Worst of all, the Offense Armor that acted as a mental support for her didn’t work at all. Her thoughts were close to shutting down.

“Kinuhata.”

A voice came over the wireless earphone in her ear. Takitsubo’s voice.

“Remember: B-ko’s power is Territory Pheromone. By scattering her hair’s scent particles, those particles bond with other scents and break down…allowing her to precisely search out people’s locations.”

“Super so what!? How does that help me in this situation!?”

“That’s my point. Discussing her power is meaningless. That will not solve your problem.”

Kinuhata felt like punching that girl watching on from some safe place.

But just when she thought no more advice was coming, Takitsubo provided a more direct statement.

“''B-ko’s power cannot cause an attack like that.''”

“…”

Finally, Kinuhata understood.

She cooled her head while continuing to run around.

This wasn’t some strange new power. B-ko’s attack could be explained with nothing more than ordinary scientific technology. It was a form of science that could burn the skin without being visible. Yes. That sounded a lot simpler than triggering an artificial big bang or time traveling with no assistance.

There was nothing there.

She couldn’t see anything.

Yet as she threw her body around to flee, something invisible pursued her along the metal walls of the relay station.

First an unnatural dark scorch mark and then an orange glow.

The wall was burning.

In other words…



“An HMLa!!”



That is, a homemade laser.

A voice cackled loud.

It was B-ko.

“Look, you don’t need to sound that shocked. Laser weapons aren’t all that unusual.”

Still standing a short distance away, B-ko twirled something in her hand. It was even smaller than the glowing sticks used to guide vehicles at a construction site. It resembled the pen lights used at concerts.

It clearly wasn’t a normal tool.

“You can make one of these from a copier. By rearranging the equipment, insulating it and increasing the voltage, and some other annoying work, you can get as much power as a car’s cigarette lighter. It’s not some amazing weapon that can shoot down a ballistic missile, but it can ignite a piece of paper at a range of 50m. You can imagine some interesting uses for that, can’t you?”

(…Kh. So that’s it. Since I can see when Offense Armor is active, it must be super letting light through. ''Which means laser weapons will pass right through too''!?)

Light was an electromagnetic wave. Takitsubo had known this from the start. The signal passing through her mobile device to reach her wireless earphones was getting through too, after all!

“This isn’t super all you can do though, is it?”

“Do I need more? A single boring success is enough as long as you ramp up the quantity. And lenses gathered together like a honeycomb are enough to boost the power as high as I need it.”

“Tch!!”

Before the enemy could move, Kinuhata kicked over a nearby bucket. The bucket was being used to chill the fruits and frozen treats being given out as gifts in the heat, but it must have been in the way and someone had dumped it out back. When the dry ice and water collided, they spewed white smoke.

And something tore through that white curtain.



The invisible weapon wasn’t so invisible anymore.



There was more than one red line of heat. Multiple weaponized laser beams emerged from each side of the thoroughly modified pen light, looking something like the veins of a leaf or stacked Ys.

This was a projectile weapon.

With a range of 50m.

With so many lasers, it was amazing B-ko didn’t burn herself.

“Visualizing an invisible weapon is probably the right way to go, but lasers move at the speed of light, making them history’s fastest projectile weapon. This is the next gen weapon that will end the era of guns and gunpowder. Surely you didn’t think you could escape by hiding in that smoke, did you?”

“…”

“I have combined my perfect searching power with an HMLa that can burn my target at the speed of light. Do you really think you can escape? I will kill you no matter where you run, so I hope you’re ready☆ I’ll start by burning your eyes to neutralize you. After that, maybe the Achilles tendons? And after that, I can slowly burn you to death while you roll around with your hands over your face.”

===Part 5===

“Frenda.”

“In the end, I’ve got a general idea of the situation. If Mugino and Kinuhata are fighting, that means we know who I’m up against, right? Takitsubo, you focus on supporting Kinuhata. You said B-ko’s using a projectile weapon? That’s a bad matchup for Kinuhata. Close quarters combat specialist espers are in a precarious position. One wrong read and the battle can turn against them, so as her honorary big sister I’m just so worried.”

“Okay, Frenda.”

“Super wait! What makes you my big sister!? You’re the one without a power giving you a shield or armor, so a single hit will kill you instantly!”

“In the end, do you really think Perfect Dark Beauty Frenda-chan would make a mistake like that?”

Both sides of the large bridge were blocked off with red cones and striped bars.

And not just because a large crowd would be dangerously heavy.

The river sandbank acted as the launch site where all the fireworks technicians were gathered. The center of the bridge was in the danger area in case of an explosion, so the bridge had been blocked off just in case there was any trouble.

The bomb had to be on that sandbank.

It was Frenda’s job to defuse its.

A blast from the sandbank might not reach every part of the event site, but the front rows would be in danger. And there was a decent chance of people being trampled in the resultant panic. A wave made up of hundreds of thousands of people could easily crush a person to death. And the victims could very well include Frenda’s 7-year-old sister and her friends.

Defusing the bomb meant going to the sandbank, but her presence on the empty bridge would be conspicuous enough to gather attention from Anti-Skill and Judgment. With so little time, she couldn’t afford any extra trouble like that.

Which meant…

“I can’t swim there, so in the end it has to be here.”

Frenda walked along the riverbank and below the bridge.

The underside of the bridge was covered by steel beams laid out like a gym ceiling in order to distribute the bridge’s weight. If she used those as footholds, she could cross there.

Except someone was already there.

Of course someone was. This was the only route.

“…I thought you’d be here…”

She was above the water, on the underside of the bridge. That footing was unstable at best and the girl was clinging to it with her hands and feet like an insect. While upside down.

Sticking, connecting, and linking. Her esper power allowed her to adhere to anything. Level 4 Composite.

“In the end, you must be the Advanced Lab’s C-ko.”

“…We never had to deal with all of Item. Frenda Seivelun. If we take you out, no one else can perform the delicate defusing…”

“You think you can fight Frenda-sama, the secret strongest Item member? In the end, you lost the moment you didn’t come at me with all three members!!”

With that shout, Frenda launched a few homemade rockets she pulled from her miniskirt.

Their course wasn’t bad, but they detonated before reaching C-ko due to the jungle gym of steel beams.

But this wasn’t a failure.

In fact, the psychological effect on C-ko mattered most. The fact that only luck and random chance had saved her would instill fear and surprise in her. She just had to be made aware that it wasn’t her own skill that had saved her.

From a distance, this would only sound like a food stall’s popcorn popping or someone using party crackers to stand out from the crowd, so this wasn’t enough to cause a panic.

(First, I scare them with a decoy attack, I confidently hold my ground, and once their wounded pride sends them into a rage, they approach just in time for me to remotely detonate the bomb I planted in advance… In the end, that’s the standard plan.)

The dust in the air split as C-ko rushed sharply in.

This was much sooner than Frenda had anticipated.

She didn’t even have time to scatter traps on the steel beams using magnetic suction bombs. The standard plan was based on some optimistic assumptions. It wasn’t too reliable in a real battle.

“…You expect me to give a bomber time…?”

By then, C-ko was already right in front of her.

She jabbed her small palm artlessly toward Frenda. Composite let her adhere to anything.

“!?”

Frenda couldn’t dodge. Just before C-ko grabbed her right wrist, Frenda flipped her poncho up and wrapped the hem tightly around her hand. That was better than having her bare hand adhered to.

She felt a powerful tug.

They were already close enough to touch. Their faces were less than 100cm apart.

“What? In the end, did you want to handcuff us together for a chained deathmatch!?”

She detonated her bomb regardless.

…A bomber who complained that bombs were useless at close range wasn’t second or even third rate in Academy City. The direction of the blast was easily altered using metal plates and such, so with the right connections you could blow away only the enemy even at close range. Such as pressing it against them with your palm.

“Zero-inch bomb!! Hwa ha ha! Behold Frenda-chan’s genius! In the end, watching that kung fu movie marathon with Kinuhata was worth it!!”

“…''That really doesn’t matter''…”

A voice slipped into her ears.

It wasn’t that C-ko had jumped back at the last second. She had kept her feet on the steel beam as she rotated 180-degrees around to the bottom. By attaching herself upside-down like a bat, she had skillfully avoided the uppercut-style blast aimed at her upper body.

Frenda dropped a few more bombs at about the same time C-ko kicked off the beam supporting her to reach another beam.

After all, their field was a collection of steel beams similar to a gym ceiling. C-ko’s ability to move around and attach to anything gave her a major advantage.

But at the same time…

“You abandoned your shoes.”

“…”

“And your socks too. Hmm? Were you using your ankles when it looked like you were using your hands and feet before? So does your power require direct skin contact? But in the end, you do know your toes have the equivalent of fingerprints, don’t you? Not a great power for a criminal.”

“…Shut up. I didn’t ask for your opinion…”

“And in the end, I already know how to deal with this.”

That shut C-ko up.

And Frenda was doing anything but shutting up.

“You have a close-quarters power that requires direct skin contact. …That means I can use the tactics I’ve put together for use against Kinuhata in the sparring sessions that super nice Frenda-chan does for the silly new girl whenever I have some time. No matter how nimbly you can move in any direction, you can’t avoid a blast that forms a complete wall! And if you use irregular movements to try and approach from my blind spot, I just have to create wall blasts in all 360 degrees around me!! And more than that! In the end, as long as those wall blasts are holding you back, preventing you from approaching your target, you can’t lay a finger on the world’s ultra-fragile treasure that is Frenda-chan!!!”

To reiterate, a top rate bomber could trigger explosions at extreme close range without harming themselves. Which meant they could use explosions for defense.

And C-ko whispered atop the steel beams.

“…I can stick hands together, preventing you from escaping. I can attach my feet to my footing, preventing myself from slipping off…”

Yes.

C-ko made her point clear.



“…Did you think I would be classified Level 4 if that was all I could do…?”



C-ko waved a plastic ruler in her hand.

Clear specks sprinkled from it.

She had scattered something into the air.

Some kind of white smoke spread out unnaturally.

Frenda immediately caught on.

(In the end, that isn’t just smoke. Is it some kind of acid!?)

“~ ~ ~!!”

Frenda held her breath.

She abandoned her offensive stance and jumped back on the unsteady footing.

C-ko laughed.

In just a few seconds, around half of ruler had already dissolved.

“…Breathe it in and maybe you’ll figure out what acid that is…”

“Nice joke. In the end, I’m not letting my windpipe and lungs dissolve.”

“…With sulfur, you can create sulfuric acid. You can find the ingredients even in a beautiful city filled with clean air…”

The other likely candidate was nitric acid.

The chemical formula was HNO<sub>3</sub>. Hydrogen, nitrogen, and oxygen could all be found in a river or the air.

(Is she choosing what element she wants to adhere to? And that’s a powerful acid smoke, right? In the end, that’s such a dangerous way to use that!)

An unpleasant straining sound rang out.

The steel beams supporting the bridge’s thousands of tons were crying out in protest.

Not even acid smoke should have been enough to make the bridge collapse so suddenly.

There was another cause.

“…By removing the carbon from the steel beams, they return to being pure iron. That makes them soft and less sturdy. Didn’t think my adhering power could be used this way, did you…?”

Frenda didn’t bother listening to the end.

Her vision was shaking too much.

The steel beams supporting the underside of the bridge spanning the large river were breaking.

Which meant her footing was collapsing.

But Frenda did not plunge into the dark river.

(Damn, did I fall onto the sandbank!?)

That meant she was at the off-limits and highly flammable fireworks launch site.

The damage to the bridge had caused a lot of noise, but had the fireworks technicians not noticed them?

Frenda cautiously sent her gaze darting side to side and saw something unpleasant.

A rubber boat equipped with an engine was crossing the dark river to reach the sandbank.

Had the technicians not been on the sandbank because they were boycotting the start of the show? But if they were approaching now, the show would soon begin. And then hundreds of thousands would be made victims. Frenda’s 7-year-old sister, her friends, and so many others were out there.

(There wasn’t anyone here!? Then in the end, I should have destroyed the control board!)

There was no time.

As a bomb expert, Frenda had to defuse the bomb set up by the Advanced Lab trio, but she couldn’t do that with the enemy here. The sabotage apparently wasn’t too large scale, but she doubted it was something she could kick away without it reacting. She had no idea when a stray shot would hit the bomb and detonate it.

And even if it had only been from the height of a building’s second floor, she had still fallen onto an area much like a rocky riverside. She would even need to be careful when walking normally to avoid spraining an ankle. That she hadn’t broken an ankle when landing from that height was either dumb luck or further proof that Frenda-chan was a super genius.

A short distance away, a small figure landed with no evident excitement.

It was C-ko.

The sandbank was definitely a killing zone. Or right in the middle of one anyway. Was she really willing to approach the giant bomb her group had set up here?

Frenda made sure to keep her breathing steady.

“You’re going after Takitsubo because she’s an old friend, right? Mind if I ask why you’re willing to blow up a fireworks show with hundreds of thousands in the audience for such a personal reason?”

C-ko’s answer to Frenda’s question was simple.

“…None of your business…”

“Glad to hear it. …In the end, if you were doing this for a casual enough reason to mention it here, it would mean you had really and truly lost it.”

Frenda pulled a few convenient explosives from her dress’s miniskirt and calmly considered the situation.

C-ko. What could she do on this sandbank?

Her “selected component extraction” allowed her to extract and use a specific type of atom or molecule in whatever substance she touched.

She could weaken especially strong materials like blast-resistant concrete or special steel.

Either ability was enough of a threat.

And there was more.

The biggest threat was something else.

“…Wrapping the poncho around your hand earlier was a smart choice…”

“Damn… In the end, this is why I hate these high-level monsters.”

“…Without that, it would have been instantaneous. By removing the H<sub>2</sub>O that makes up 60% of the human body, I would have turned you into a dried-up mummy…”

===Part 6===

Kinuhata and B-ko were rapidly changing position behind the temporary relay center on the riverside.

B-ko was armed with a homemade laser weapon built into a concert penlight.

Her esper power allowed her to precisely locate other people using the scent particles of her hair.

The combination of the two meant any target would be hit by the laser with 100% accuracy.

Or so the theory went.

“What!? My Territory Pheromone isn’t working!?”

“Are you stupid? I did tell you I’m super covered by a wall of nitrogen, didn’t I?”

As long as none of Kinuhata’s own scent could escape, it couldn’t bond with and alter the hair scent particles being scattered through the air. That way Kinuhata could pass by right in front of B-ko without her power detecting her.

(That said, the super HMLa is enough of a threat on its own!)

Kinuhata kept low.

She might be able to avoid the scorching laser weapon by swinging her body to the sides.

Still, she heard the unpleasant sound like that of a heated wire pressed against cloth.

Not even her rapid evasion was enough to fully avoid the attacks. As B-ko had said, she really didn’t want to take an attack to the eyes.

(But super wait. Where she’s aiming doesn’t match up with where I’m being burned. Only by a few centimeters, but still.)

Kinuhata’s power was specialized for close quarters combat.

She couldn’t do anything without approaching the enemy.

“!?”

B-ko, on the other hand, only had to continue wielding her modified concert penlight.

The seven lights extended along their respective lines.

The scattershot of light had a range of 50 meters. This next-gen weapon would bring an end to the era of guns and gunpowder. The brutal laser light branched out seven ways from the main axis to race out through the air. Without the white smoke making the lasers visible, Kinuhata Saiai would have either had her eyes burned away or her clothing set alight without even knowing what was happening to her.

B-ko laughed loudly and did not let up on the attack.

The laser light raced side to side again and again.

“Dry ice? Smoke? So what if you can see the lasers? If you think it’s that useful, then just try and survive!!”

The deadly cutting light suddenly bent about five meters in front of Kinuhata.

Unnaturally so.

“Ah!?”

B-ko’s surprise was wasted time.

If she had instead thrown herself down to the left or right, she would have survived another three moves.

Kinuhata Saiai had already rushed sharply up to B-ko.

She only had to extend her fist.

The deafening noise came from the wall of super-compressed nitrogen smashing her muscle and bone.

B-ko doubled over.

And coughed up blood.

But her confusion was more powerful than her pain.

“How…?”

“The orientation of the laser lens and the location of the burns differed by a super little bit. Only a few centimeters.”

B-ko leaped backwards before her entrails could be ripped out.

But her HMLa was no longer a threat.

And her power to locate an enemy couldn’t stop Kinuhata Saiai from marching right up to her.

“It’s true light passes through my nitrogen barrier, but that super doesn’t explain it all. …Light will refract on the border between different densities. And when passing through narrow gaps, it will try to circle around. Sunset continues even after the sun has fully fallen below the horizon because of the temperature difference in the air. Look through the water-filled goldfish scooping bag and the world looks distorted. Mist showers create rainbows. It’s all caused by the same thing: light is super easy to bend.”

“Kh.”

“My nitrogen barrier bent your lasers. It was even easier by taking in small pieces of dry ice. It’s just that I can only make the barrier a few centimeters thick, so the slight refraction of the light still let it hit my skin. That’s super all it was,” stated Kinuhata Saiai.

She then spread her arms a little.

“So I super only needed to mess with the air over a wider area. Dry ice sure is convenient. With it, I can bend the lasers at the border between densities enough to keep myself safe!”

Yes.

Scattering the dry ice smoke around at the start had been the right move. That did more than just make the invisible lasers visible. It changed the conditions of the air by adding an impurity. Take that far enough and the temperature and carbon dioxide density difference created by the dry ice could bend a laser weapon.

There was no such thing as a perfect weapon.

One might have an advantage after its debut, but countermeasures would eventually be developed.

“Your power can only concentrate nitrogen, so it shouldn’t be able to scatter anything over a wide area. Oh, did you absorb ''only'' the nitrogen in the area to move the scattered dry ice particles through the air!? Like creating a corona or fog bow!?”

“Trying to calm yourself by super helping me give the answers? Just keep panicking while I rip you apart!!”

Kinuhata clenched her fist, held it at the ready, and – just as B-ko held her hands up to block – tackled the girl with her shoulder.

With the nitrogen barrier surrounding her, this gave Kinuhata a greater hitbox than throwing a punch or a kick. And any hit would crush her target with super-high pressure, so she didn’t even need to master martial arts forms and worry about the speed and weight of her punches.

“Gh, bh!?”

C-ko was caught and crushed by the mass of super-high pressure nitrogen before being launched away.

Only a gross wet sound continued for a while.

Kinuhata focused on the earphone in her ear.

“Takitsubo-san, one down. …Sorry I couldn’t be super considerate of your feelings. I just super messed up your old friend, so this might be hard for you.”

“I want to end this soon so I can fish for water balloon yo-yos.”

“I know I pushed it onto you, but could you super give me back my kindness?”

But what to do now?

If she had nothing better to do, it might be best to assist Mugino or Frenda, making it two-against-one.

However, something audibly stirred.

It was B-ko.

Even though she might as well have had her torso torn through by heavy machinery. It was amazing she could stand up after bleeding that much and she couldn’t hold her shoulders straight. Even so, she was holding the laser weapon based on a concert penlight.

“You’re still going to fight when more than half dead? You have guts, I’ll give you that.”

“This…isn’t over!!”

“But I will super kill you. Without a second thought.”

Kinuhata was ready to calmly evade the enemy attack and kill her.

In fact, she didn’t even need to evade the laser pointed her way. The scorching lines of light would refract just before reaching her and her skin would be untouched.

But B-ko aimed her concert penlight somewhere else.

“?”

She didn’t have to aim the HMLa at Kinuhata Saiai. She was using several lenses to boost its power well beyond the firepower of a cigarette lighter.

Yes.

And what if she were to aim it at an industrial propane tank that stood taller than Kinuhata?

Was it used to support the simple break room in the large broadcast relay station? Which meant it wasn’t far from this back area.

“Are you super crazy!?”

“Hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee!!”

It detonated.

But the mic performance at the live stage a short distance away kept anyone from hearing it.

===Part 7===

Frenda Seivelun had fallen from the underside of the bridge and onto the sandbank in the middle of the wide river.

She immediately threw the bomb in her hand.

Instead of fleeing, C-ko caught the bomb. By touching the explosive itself, she could break apart the atoms, preventing it from detonating.

Bombs couldn’t win this.

No matter how hard she tried.

Something must have broken inside her because Frenda Seivelun fell backwards.

She landed on her rear and slid backwards.

Lipstick, foundation – she threw everything she had on her person, but C-ko didn’t even bother dodging it.

Because she could break down anything she touched.

Frenda’s resistance was entirely meaningless.

For some reason, she was reminded of her sister.

She might finally die here.

Tears welled in the corners of her eyes.

“…Come at me…”

C-ko wobbled as she slowly approached.

With her small palm held out.

A single touch would extract the oxygen and hydrogen from the human body. And with the 60% water content removed, Frenda would be instantly transformed into a dried mummy.

“…Come at me…!!”

She couldn’t even perform explosives calculations anymore. What all did she have left? A water-repelling spray used to waterproof shoes and bags and, for some reason, a chemical seasoning in her pocket. Frenda threw everything she had on her.

It all struck C-ko in the shoulder or forehead and was broken apart.

“…Come at meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee…?”

C-ko’s shout stretched out unusually long and shrill.

She was convulsing.

She remained on her feet as her eyes rolled back in her head.

“You can extract whatever component you want from any material? You don’t have to fear explosives because you can break them down?”

After throwing so many items, Frenda finally breathed a gentle sigh.

And explained what had happened.

“In the end…this is what happens when you throw around that dangerous power without understanding the basics of chemistry. The water-repelling coating is made from carbon fluoride and the seasoning is made from monosodium glutamate. But atoms don’t just hang around in their pure state. They will bond with other atoms to stabilize themselves.”

She wasn’t expecting a response.

In fact, she was out of ideas if C-ko did do anything now. This was really meant to confirm that C-ko was unconscious.

“So if you use your cheating power to wildly break things down like that, the fluorine and sodium will combine to create dangerous sodium fluoride. You surrounded yourself in a colorless toxin that causes respiratory distress and convulsions when breathed in in sufficient quantities to cause acute poisoning.”

She got to the end of her explanation.

She had confirmed her safety.

And she was feeling silly now.

She took a deep breath before continuing.

“But that’s still better than breathing in the even more toxic fluorine. Do you see the skill difference now? There was a compatibility issue here after all. Aren’t you supposed to be a step above other Level 4s? I wish I could ask you how it feels to be bested by nothing more than a Level 0. Really, you were wide open from the moment you started making nitric acid and throwing around chemical smoke without any protective equipment for yourself, idiot! Why would I start by throwing my lipstick after falling in the ground when I had plenty of round river stones around me to throw, loser!? Did you really think you could outdo Ultra Cute Frenda-chan when it comes to chemistry knowledge of all things!? Wah hah hah! You stupid dumbass!! How’d you end up with so few brain cells, Normal-chan of House Common? Were you an orc in your past life? Or a goblin? Bwa ha ha ha! This was your surprise attack, so you should’ve done your research and known what my specialty was in advance, you clumsy weakling coward!!!”

At any rate, the threat had been eliminated.

The fireworks show had yet to begin. Just barely. How could she approach the many launch tubes and focus on defusing the bomb without being interrupted by the ignorant technicians? Frenda ran some calculations with both her cute public face and her dark hidden face.

Or so she thought.

Just then, C-ko’s body jerked.

No, she had gone limp with her eyes rolling back in her head, but she hadn’t fallen yet!?

Frenda was dead if that girl managed direct skin contact.

She would be instantly mummified as all the water molecules were removed from her body.

Yet C-ko was trying to collapse on top of her at close range. With her arms stretched out, giving her the greatest surface area and making it that much harder to avoid.

Was she aiming for mutual destruction?

“Kah.”

“!?”

“Kahahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!”

===Part 8===

Behind the idol concert stage, Mugino noticed some lights in the distant darkness out of the corner of her eye. The number of artificial lights at the river’s sandbank was growing, presumably for the work there.

Meaning…

“Looks like the stubborn fireworks technicians have finally given in,” scoffed A-ko. “It’s going to explode now. So how about you turn tail and run like the filthy villain you are”

(What the hell is Frenda doing? She’d better not have screwed it up!)

Mugino worked to keep the panic off her face, but she couldn’t leave here and head to the sandbank in these circumstances. She was dead as soon as she took her eyes off this enemy.

It was one against one.

But Mugino Shizuri had a question as she faced A-ko.

A-ko’s power boosted the destructive power of her attacks during a cross-counter. She knew that.

That couldn’t be explained physically, so it was probably possible with a psychological power. Because anyone who wielded a weapon or esper power was aware how painful and terrifying their attack was. The power probably took the image in her enemy’s mind, flipped the target of the pain from herself to her enemy, and then brought that imagined pain to the surface. To a level that could cause physical wounds.

(It’s a powerful card to have in your deck, but I have my doubts that’s ''all'' she can do if it is a psychological power. Controlling people’s bodies or rewriting memories or personalities like we saw in that stadium before seems more convenient to me.)

Yes.

But a power like that shouldn’t be able to ensure a successful counterattack every single time.

She couldn’t be reading Mugino’s mind with a psychological power.

That would mean she could easily die from a failed cross-counter against a deadly attack. Why would she risk her life like that?

This didn’t just apply to Meltdowner.

Bullets were everywhere on the dark side and they too could kill. There were several different ways to stab or slash with a knife, making attacks hard to predict. To be blunt, no amount of training would bring her cross-counter success rate even to 50%. And in a battle where weapon reach and body weight differed, it might be as low as 10%. And this was in the world of real combat where a failed attack meant instant death. So how had A-ko survived to this day?

There was a trick to her consistent victories.

Mugino Shizuri suddenly spoke.

“A microwave speed gun? No, that isn’t it. It would have to be something more sensitive than that. Maybe a drum style or a rotary prism style?”

“Oh, you figured it out?”

A-ko didn’t seem particularly concerned.

“Don’t underestimate analog tech. It can produce precision and speeds unreachable by switching signals on and off with semiconductors.”

“Ultra-high speed photography, huh?”

“The Octopus Shutter. It’s sensitive enough to divide a single second 20 million times. And by reading the images into a machine as data, you can ignore the effort needed to develop them.”

A-ko pulled something from her breast pocket.

The single-lens optical device was about the size of a ping-pong ball. It used eight octopus-like metal arms to skillfully station itself on her right shoulder.

“''So what if you know about it''?”

A-ko smiled.

And stated the fundamental problem.

“You still can’t escape the 1/20,000,000th of a second cage. No matter what. How could you when that’s much faster than the transmission speed of human nerves? There’s nothing you can do with a power ''that requires you to consciously choose to shoot.'' I can monitor every one of your movements from beginning to end, so my cross-counters always hit. Scared to use your power now? If you still want to try it, then give it everything you’ve got, Level 5. But if you do, I hope you’re ready to at least lose your upper body!!”

===Part 9===

The smell of blood scattered around.

===Part 10===

On the riverbank lined with food stalls, Takitsubo Rikou’s breathing stopped.

It was A-ko who ultimately showed up.

She had fought Mugino Shizuri and emerged entirely unscathed. That overwhelming result felt like a recreation of the legends spreading about Academy City’s #1.

The blatant killer intent she was radiating caused a stir around her and who knows what she would do to the crowd just to silence them.

Takitsubo immediately slid down the riverbank.

On the opposite side of the audience. There was only a makeshift parking lot there. Many vehicles were parked in even rows, but since they all belonged to people here to see the fireworks, the parking lot was deserted at the moment.

A-ko slowly approached Takitsubo in the darkness.

Confidently.

On her own two legs.

She really was only interested in Takitsubo Rikou.

The track suit girl spoke while backing away.

“Mugino…and the others…”

“Eh? We killed them wherever we found them,” readily admitted A-ko. “Academy City’s #4? That monster didn’t impress me. It’s not like she can break the 1/20,000,000th of a second barrier. Esper powers are based on the human body, they can’t deal with my cross-counters that exceed the limits of human nerve transmission. She got scared, held back, and eventually lost.”

“…”

“B-ko and C-ko apparently had some trouble, but they didn’t lose.”

Then A-ko tilted her head.

“What is it, D-ko? You look surprised. It was obvious from the start that one side would win and the other side would die. Yes, that’s right. Frenda Seivelun and Kinuhata Saiai are both dead. ''Or did you see some different future playing out''?”

Takitsubo took a few more steps back.

And shook her head.

“No, that’s impossible!”

“It doesn’t really matter either way,” spat A-ko.

Even though they were discussing the survival of her supposed teammates B-ko and C-ko.

She didn’t give it a second thought.

“What matters is that I am standing in front of you. It was I, A-ko, who appeared before you in the end. Not Mugino Shizuri, not Frenda Seivelun, and not Kinuhata Saiai! It was I who claimed you!! And now I can do with you as I see fit. No, that was always my right!!”

Something was fundamentally off about her statement.

Teammates didn’t claim or have rights over each other.

No one had any rights over Takitsubo other than Takitsubo herself.

“But no one ever died while you were with us. You threw everything off balance! Stop running and take responsibility, D-ko!!”

But A-ko was too worked up by her own words to see that.

She had gotten so many people involved in this and increased the number of victims no one had ever asked for.

And she apparently couldn’t even imagine that Takitsubo Rikou was one of those victims.

“Everyone you were involved with is dead.”

“…”

“So now all I need to do is claim you. It’s simple: with Item gone, I can take it all for myself. But don’t worry. Once you become D-ko, the four of us will be complete. ''We'' will be, not Item. Nothing could be more natural. Mugino Shizuri had just gotten in the way until now.”



“Oh, really? And what can you do if it’s just you and Takitsubo?”



Both girls’ eyes were drawn in a different direction.

Toward Mugino Shizuri.

Her hair and clothing were covered in mud.

And blood.

If she was still breathing, she could have saved her life by slipping into the shadows and escaping. Why had she instead dragged her heavy body back here?

For what purpose?

That thought badly irritated A-ko.

That was supposed to be ''their'' position.

They were supposed to become four and find success.

A-ko spat out her next words like they were filth.

“You were alive?”

“Not just me. The bomb on the sandbank didn’t go off, did it? Frenda and Kinuhata both won. Sounds like it was a close thing, though.”

That would imply something else.

B-ko and C-ko were dead.

Leaving A-ko all alone.

“You…if only you hadn’t come here…Takitsubo Rikou would have become D-ko and the four of us would have been complete! Stop getting in our way, Iteeeem!!”

But she failed to even notice the situation was worsening for her.

It had all fallen apart.

B-ko and C-ko were gone. So even if she did acquire Takitsubo Rikou now, they wouldn’t be complete. And they never would be.

But A-ko didn’t seem aware of that.

If only she had Takitsubo.

If only D-ko could complete them.

…Funnily enough, Frenda had addressed this while away from these three: ''If you were doing this for a casual enough reason to mention it here, it would mean you had really and truly lost it.

And come to think of it…what was A-ko’s concept again?

Self-hypnosis.

As long as she continued to believe she couldn’t lose, she could push her power’s specs beyond their limits.

“What a sad creature you are,” spat Mugino with no apparent expression.

Infinite possibilities? I can do it? I can’t lose? She was wandering the front line filled with a confidence with no actual chance of success backing it up. That was suicidal.

They were similar? Because they were four-person teams?

Hell no. They were nothing like Item.

===Part 11===

A-ko snorted with laughter.

“What? You think you can beat me if you work together?”

Academy City’s #4 Meltdowner was no threat to her.

In fact, the more powerful it was, the greater a weapon it was for A-ko.

What good was adding Takitsubo Rikou?

“Don’t make me laugh. Try as you might, a fighting spirit will get you nowhere in this world. It’s impossible! Based on the structure!! Of the human body!!! My Octopus Shutter can follow human movements in steps of 1/20,000,000th of a second and detect any dangerous attack. So no one can escape my cross-counters! Mugino Shizuri, I will kill you, rip you apart, and present the utter hopelessness of your corpse to Takitsubo Rikou. While grabbing her by the hair and rubbing her nose in it!!”

“Don’t worry.”

Takitsubo Rikou pulled something from her pocket.

It resembled a mechanical pencil lead case.

She flicked it open with her thumb and sprinkled a white powder onto the back of her other hand.

That was Body Crystal.

She licked it up.



“This time, I’ll use it for real.”



Takitsubo’s heart throbbed hard in her chest.

That ultra-high-speed camera operated at 1/20,000,000th of a second, but that was only a mechanical substitute for real skill.

AIM Stalker was an AIM Diffusion Field scanning power that Takitsubo Rikou took the extreme risk of using Body Crystal to enhance. Did A-ko really think she could outdo that?

“Mugino.”

The track suit girl’s tone of voice had changed.

The girl could clearly view something deadly with her oracular eyes.

“It doesn’t matter where. ''Just continue firing anywhere away from her'' and outside the range of what counts as a cross-counter.”

At times like this, Mugino Shizuri did not argue with Takitsubo Rikou’s “oracles”.

There was trust there. Enough to let the girl watch her back without hesitation.

A-ko was left all alone.

She wanted Takitsubo so badly, yet they didn’t share anything like this.

“What…? What does that matter!? This isn’t something you can trick by adding in a feint before your attack. I’m tracking your actions down to 1/20,000,000th of a second. A massive number of images are being detected at all times. No tricks will ever let one of your attacks hit. Listen, I will tear them all down with my cross-counters!!!”

A-ko raised her voice, but she could not break free of this strange situation on her own.

She was an expert in cross-counters. So unless Mugino fired Meltdowner to try and kill her, A-ko couldn’t make any attack of her own.

(This is fine. This is fine, this is fine, this is fine. No matter what they do, my Octopus Shutter will break down their actions to 1/20,000,000th of a second and analyze them, so they can’t possibly escape!!)

“…Here it comes!?”

A-ko ducked and dodged before frowning.

Nothing happened.

''Then what was that?

Mugino Shizuri hadn’t made any moves yet. Yet the Octopus Shutter had sent a danger signal?

Even though no attack had been made.

“I think I get what Takitsubo wants to say and wants to do. Unlike you.”

“…”

“That’s right. That high-speed detection is far faster than the limits of human nerve transmission. But that raises a question, doesn’t it? You’re only human, so how are you receiving data from that device in real time?”

A-ko was receiving data from the device, yet she didn’t appear to be viewing an LCD monitor or listening to earphones.

In that case…

A-ko had to be receiving the ultra-high-speed camera’s data from the metal octopus-like legs touching her skin. It was using electrical stimulation, just like a low-frequency therapy device. If she were viewing a monitor and reacting to that, she would lose all of her time advantage, so she had needed a communication method that essentially linked into her reflexes.

Meanwhile, Mugino Shizuri’s Meltdowner was made of a massive number of electrons.

Firing over and over into empty space would electrify the air itself.

So.

If A-ko’s skin was tingling from the start, she couldn’t accurately perceive the stimuli actually coming from the machine!

“But how could you- dammit!!”

A-ko cursed. Openly. She had to be abysmal at poker.

Her 1/20,000,000th of a second advantage was gone.

Without her cross-counters, any attacks would hit her like normal.

And Mugino Shizuri and Takitsubo Rikou spoke at the same moment.

They hadn’t prearranged this.

But their voices joined as one.

“You’re. Dead. Meat.” “You’re. Dead. Meat.”

===Part 12===

Flash!!!

The deadly beam only needed a split second.

===Part 13===

The sun had finally set. And the fireworks were launching into the night sky.

Since there had been no major explosion after the show began…Frenda must have defused the bomb.

The lights and booms in the sky above were irrelevant.

It was a quiet moment.

No threat remained.

The track suit girl could have shut her eyes here and been in no danger.

She had regained her ordinary life.

She could sense that even as she lurked in the shadows.

Viewing the bright circles in the night sky, she staggered on her feet and leaned sideways against Mugino.

Maybe it was the Body Crystal, but the body heat passing into Mugino was unnaturally high.

Even so.

Takitsubo Rikou smiled a little and spoke.



“Now we’re partners in crime.”

“We were from the start, weren’t we?”

<noinclude>
{{Toaru_Nav|prev=Toaru_Majutsu_no_Index:Item5_Chapter3|next=Toaru_Majutsu_no_Index:Item5_Epilogue}}
</noinclude>