Editing Toaru Majutsu no Index:MvM Chapter1 (section)

===Part 9===

Shokuhou could predict where this was going while she watched from a distance.

She saw light flash out and the crowd attacking the facility was swept away.

“Geh!? M-Misaka-san didn’t even hesitate to play that self-destructive trump card, even after all the trouble ability it caused during the Daihaseisai…”

Kihara Gensei’s experiment had already proven Mikoto’s Railgun could be forced up to the next stage by boosting her processing power with the Misaka Network. But as time passed, she lost her human form and she couldn’t shut it down on her own, making it a very risky move.

But that hadn’t stopped her.

This form briefly but definitely gave a glimpse of the stage beyond Level 5. It was the point between. In that sense, the stable brand name of the #5 Level 5 wasn’t enough to feel comfortable facing it.

(But doesn’t that thing come with the dangerous trait of gathering up a group desire to destroy Academy City?)

“Ohhhhhhh!! Begone, world! ''We'' refuse to accept the existence of anyone with boobs bigger than softballllllllllllllllllllllllls!!!”

“So the hatred of those blessed with big boobs ability is endlessly supporting Misaka-san here? Does that mean Academy City is full of unfortunate below-average chests? That’s a little disappointing.”

But there wasn’t time to just observe.

If that monster captured Shokuhou, it might just use a massive amount of electric energy to obliterate her breasts one at a time. By grabbing them and releasing the electricity.

Now.

It was time to face reality.

“Hokaze-saaan, can your brute strength defeat that?”

“If you order me to, Queen.”

Hokaze didn’t even hesitate.

But Shokuhou softly sighed. Complete brainwashing had its downsides. That response was all about determination, not a rational assessment of the actual specs.

After all, that thing was a mass of electrical energy so powerful it slightly distorted the scenery around it. It looked powerful enough for the neighborhood’s eccentric inventor to make a time machine out of it.

If Hokaze charged in without a plan, she would probably just get vaporized.

Even at this distance, Shokuhou could sense its intensity as a tingling in her skin.

The process that had created that monster was absurd, but if it reached the limits of its stability and exploded from within, it might just wipe Academy City off the map.

The #3 had taken her specialty in physical strength to the extreme.

(So what am I going to do about it?)

Shokuhou reviewed what secret weapons she had on hand.

Exterior was a portion of her cerebral cortex cut away and cultivated so it grew endlessly. By using Mental Out on herself, she could open the link, borrow its massive power, and significantly boost her processing power.

Simply put, it was a toy letting the #5 Level 5 forcibly increase her specs.

That said, even at max efficiency, it would not let her abandon her humanity like Mikoto’s lightning goddess form. It only let her simultaneously brainwash thousands of people within several kilometers of herself.

Misaka was immune to Mental Out, so even with Exterior, Shokuhou could not defeat that lightning goddess in a direct confrontation.

So with that established, what could Shokuhou realistically accomplish?

“Oh, I just had a great idea☆”

She no longer needed the emergency power center. She gave up on it and went elsewhere with brainwashed Hokaze.

She had an extremely rough idea of a plan she could use with Exterior.

“What will you do, Queen?”

“Well, what if we try a geometric progression plan?”

“?”

(Brainwashed) Hokaze tilted her head as Tokiwadai’s Queen got to work.

Exterior only let her brainwash a few thousand. That wasn’t much compared to Academy City’s population of 2.3 million.

“So I need to start by carefully choosing who I control. My capacity is a few thousand, but what if I were to ''brainwash only mental espers similar to myself''?”

“Oh, I get it.”

“Those few thousand subordinates can then brainwash ordinary people to increase my capacity. Let’s say each of those espers can control 10-100 people. If I have a few thousand mental espers in my control, I should be able to directly brainwash tens of thousands. Right, Kobayashi-saaan?”

<Yes. And with that many under your control, mass psychology will take effect. You may be able to indirectly control the non-brainwashed people in the same way people tend to follow the crowd’s lead.>

“So let’s get the party started☆”

“Gyahhhhh, Shokuhou Misakiiii!!”

Mitsuari Ayu, a lower-level mental esper (who loathed Shokuhou) shouted in rage, but Shokuhou’s specs were higher and she was being boosted by a large facility. The most that side character could manage was play with some dangerous dark side toys, so she had no way to resist. Shokuhou took that shogi piece right away.

And she didn’t need to brainwash all 2.3 million.

As long as she had half of them – around a million – directly or indirectly under her influence, she could probably get what she wanted.

She wanted a deep secret hidden in Academy City, which would be enough to resist Lightning Goddess Mikoto.

Namely…

“''The AIM diffusion field aggregation. Kazakiri-san, the science side’s shining golden angel, will be mine''☆”

Fearsome light erupted in Academy City for a second time.

“No…you mustn’t force me out from the Imaginary Number District…kyahhhh!?”

During the process, Shokuhou thought she heard the voice of a shy (and a lot more rational than Mikoto or Shokuhou at the moment) girl, but she chose to ignore it.

The tremendous energy was helplessly controlled and stored within her. The air vibrated as Shokuhou’s silhouette greatly changed. She looked a lot like a golden glowing beauty goddess. She had shining angel wings growing from her back. No, were those were giant, sharp flower petals?

“Hwa ha☆”

The Queen laughed.

There was no wind, but her long blonde hair spread out to the sides as a brutal smile formed on her lips.

With a solid “clink!!”, a golden halo appeared above her head. It was in fact a wreath of flowers.

“Hwa ha ha ha ha ha ha!! Long golden hair, big boobs, and the uniform to a prestigious school! I always knew I had an affinity for this mystical ability!!”

The busty blonde pushed out her chest which had grown even larger from the power overflowing within her.

She was faintly glowing and had bright flower wings on her back, but a fist-sized black hole floated at the center of her halo, which seemed appropriate for her.

The superhuman lightning goddess tilted her head and spoke.

“lmao, you really do have a black heart.”

“Hey!? Don’t regain your speech ability just to make fun of me!!”

She couldn’t get distracted.

The golden glowing goddess cleared her throat in an extremely human way.

“Ahem. Okay, Misaka-saaan. Now you aren’t he only scientific god. I’ve caught up and I won’t hesitate to surpass you!! Am I beauty goddess? A harvest goddess? Hee hee. Or maybe a victory goddess? You might be a violent macho lightning goddess who flashes with the most annoying light, but what kind of goddess will Academy City’s people worship me as!?”

<A war god? A destruction god? Or maybe just a death god?>

“Kobayashi-san? Staying out of sight won’t keep you safe any longer.”

The giant flowers blossoming from her hair and clothing shook to scatter a sweet aroma. Glowing pollen blew in the wind, looking a lot like fine gold dust. That was it. She did nothing more, but everyone within a 5km radius was brainwashed.

Flowers remained motionless and used the bugs and small animals lured in by their scent and color to carry their pollen and seeds for reproduction. And sometimes they even lured in the predators of any pests to indirectly attack them.

At this point, Shokuhou didn’t need to aim her remote and consciously focus on her target.

She was like a great mental hurricane that controlled everyone around her with no effort on her part.

“This is the Queen’s realm – my own personal holy ground. And now, Misaka-san, it is time to trample you underfoot and end this once and for all!!”

The thin-lined and curvy girl took a single step and the world quaked around her.

A second kaiju had appeared within Academy City where the city walls kept anyone from escaping.