Editing Toaru Majutsu no Index:Item5 Chapter4 (section)

===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!!”