Editing Toaru Majutsu no Index:MvM Chapter5 (section)

===Part 9===

In the middle of the night, the deep, pitch-black darkness was split by a straight line of orange light that blasted the giant eastern gate to smithereens. Splinters and wreckage scattered inwards, raining down on the city.

Misaka Mikoto’s Railgun was responsible.

And this time, Mikoto’s #3 Level 5 power was not her only weapon.

With a wave of her right hand, several figures passed by her from behind.

Fulgurites were glass stones made by lightning strikes.

In the world of Celesaqphere, they were considered gems even more precious than diamonds, but Mikoto’s control of high-voltage electric currents meant she could mass-produce them as long as she had sand to work with.

What did this mean?

She could gather as many swords-for-hire – aka adventurers – as she wanted.

Despite the adventurer title, they did not actually explore unknown dungeons and caverns. Instead, they were more like a dirty fighting force that would complete any “quest” as long as they were rewarded appropriately. So if you had the money, you could hire them by the dozen without going through the guild.

(It was bad enough that the weapon shops here let you buy swords and even projectile weapons like bows and that everyone can use magic as long as they use the right incantation, but these adventurers take the cake. If you pay them, they’ll turn their swords on anyone. This fantasy world really could stand to tighten up its laws.)

“Stick to what we hired you to do. Focus on the Anubis and Gargoyle autonomous guards made of black ceramic and stone. But you don’t actually have to defeat them – distracting them will be enough. And no pillaging! Don’t even take a quick peek inside a drawer or chest!!”

“Wouldn’t dream of it!! You’ve paid us plenty up front. We’re set for a while financially and a full wallet is the secret to happily swinging your sword while staying morally clean. But anyway, do you two ladies need a bodyguard?”

“No, thanks. We can take care of ourselves, so stick to the job we gave you. Focus on the elves, succubi, scyllas, harpies, and any other monsters being used as slaves! Get them safely out of the city. We paid you up front with fulgurites worth more than platinum or diamond, so you’d better do a professional job here!!”

“Yes, ma’am!”

Something crawled along the surface of the adventurers. It was the rough fur of a wolf.

They were a pack of lycanthropes.

So they were monsters. That explained why they were so eager for a well-paying job that didn’t go through the human-run guild.

Their sheaths and hilts were badly worn, but the drawn blades glinted sharply with a practical light. If their weapons were obviously top-rate, it would put everyone around them on guard. So keeping the visual parts so rundown may have been a strategy to survive by making any possible enemies underestimate them. The logic made sense for werewolves who used their transformation to blend into a human city.

“We just got a hell of a payday, so don’t any of you die before we can throw it all away at the tavern!!”

Mikoto and Shokuhou had hired them to force their way into civilian homes.

“It’s scary what people will do for money,” said Mikoto.

“Sounds like a good lesson ability for Tokiwadai students,” said Shokuhou.

Being able to hire a bunch of sketchy adventurers to rampage through a city seemed like a bit too much freedom. Someone needed to tell Celesaqphere about laws against criminal conspiracy and assembling with dangerous weapons.

“Oh, no! We’re under attack!”

“But by who!? What kingdom are they from!?”

The city guard swiftly got to work, but their confusion was palpable. Having their gate blown apart was a first in the city’s 200-year history and the attacking force was decked out in expensive gear, but they were after the disposable enslaved monsters instead of any kind of valuable. It was clear on the guards’ faces that they couldn’t work out the attackers’ intent.

Bikini armor Mikoto fired another Railgun into the park fountain and destroyed the rainwater drainage ditches alongside the road.

As she continued this process a few times, she heard a dull roaring sound.

“The moat around the city is huge, but they only have small waterways inside he city and there’s no sign of the big river. My guess is they use culverts or underground waterways. So if I keep damaging the flood control infrastructure, the rest should happen for me.”

No matter how large the scale, water control was generally handled with pumps.

By using her Railgun to crush one end and applying enough pressure, the water would come rushing out of the other end. Or the pipe or waterway would fail to endure the pressure and rupture.

The ground split open and water rushed out, filling the roads and the homes’ underfloor space. She didn’t actually need to flood the entire city. She just needed to create enough confusion to prevent anyone from predicting what her true goal was.

The things you didn’t understand were the most frightening.

“Good, good, good. The solid non-rubber bottoms of their feet won’t have any grip ability, so a bit of flooding should make them slip. Now we don’t have to worry about those giant Anubises and Gargoyl- oh!!”

An Anubis wobbled and nearly crushed a nearby home, so Mikoto quickly blew it apart with a Railgun.

This world accepted slavery as normal, but Patissiet and the elves wouldn’t be happy if the ordinary people died.

Mikoto didn’t want to go the revenge route unless the elves truly wanted it.

“Pant, gasp.”

“Run, Shokuhou! A winged Gargoyle is flying toward you!!”

“Wh-what kind of fantasy world doesn’t let you adorably soar through the night sky on a broom!?”

“if they lock onto you from the air, you’ll have those Anubises rushing you from all sides. C’mon, hurry!”

Mikoto adjusted her grip on an iron sand sword and ran through the city night.

The place was flooded, so using electricity would shock Shokuhou unconscious and then she could easily drown in a puddle only 3cm deep.

The lord’s mansion had a noticeably light guard when viewed from outside.

(Hiring so many dirty adventurers was the right move. Their rampage hid that we’re actually after the lord!!)

Afraid of a surprise attack, Mikoto launched a few Railguns into the front entrance and outside walls just to be safe. She and Shokuhou stepped into the half-collapsed building while watching to see what the enemy would do.

People were curled up and trembling in the unlit front hall and corridor.

“?”

Dancer Shokuhou aimed her TV remote, looking puzzled. Mikoto revealed the trick.

“Bright lights and loud noises have a psychological effect on people. Like how a nearby lightning strike is enough to make you cower. Stun grenades do the same thing. Just hiding in a sturdy bomb shelter during a wartime air raid can supposedly cause enough stress for people to bleed from the heart.”

“Am I the only one who thinks the world must be coming to an end if a meathead like you is muscling in on my mental territory?”

Mikoto had gotten the idea from the thorough carpet bombing the lord’s army had launched. No one had been harmed there, but innocent Patissiet had still trembled in fear. So this was payback.

A great feast of payback.

That lord could gorge himself on his just deserts.

“Anyway, it looks like there are still a fair number of people here. Do you know what the lord looks like?” asked Mikoto.

“No, but there are portraits all over the place.”

Shokuhou was right about that.

Maybe he was a hell of a narcissist or maybe this was the norm in Celesaqphere, but giant portraits hung all over the mansion. A large redheaded man wore thick armor with lion-like fur attached. He was like a picture-perfect example of strength, masculinity, and ferocity.

To be blunt, he looked powerful.

“Perfect.”

“You can’t brainwash people into your pawns like I can, so why are you so happy about having a strong enemy?”

As they moved room from room, they checked each of the people trembling where they had fallen to the floor. None of them were the man in the portraits.

At the far back of the third floor, they found an especially large bedroom door

That had to lead to the master bedroom.

Mikoto and Shokuhou pressed against the dark hallway wall on either side of the door.

“(Okay, I’m going to burn through the lock and then launch a blast to dazzle whoever’s inside.)”

“(And I’m supposed to brainwash the lord before he recovers?)”

Mikoto did it all in a single, flowing motion.

She melted the lock with a high-voltage current, kicked the door down, and sent a welding-bright flash of electricity from her fingertip and through the vast room.

“Gyah!?”

She heard a voice from within.

But Shokuhou froze after stepping inside. She fiddled with her remote, unsure what to do.

“What’s the holdup, Shokuhou!? Finish this off, you idiot!”

“You say that, but look.”

Mikoto’s gaze followed Shokuhou’s pointing finger to see someone trembling below a massive portrait. He was a middle-aged man, but he was even shorter than Mikoto. He had sunken eyes, pale skin, and a scrawny build. He looked more like a sneakthief than anything.

(The lord isn’t here? Is this a servant or a guar-?)

“Wh-wh-wh-wh-who are you people!? Y-you dare oppose me – the baron!?”

At first, she assumed this was some servant trying his best to pretend to be his lord. By pretending to be someone important, maybe he could escape an encounter with robbers, so he was putting on the greatest act of his life.

But then Mikoto and Shokuhou both looked up at the giant portrait directly behind the little man.

The portrait showed a large redheaded man with the picture perfect strength, masculinity, and ferocity of a lion.

''Picture perfect?

Wait a second…

“So that painting is supposed to be you?”

Mikoto looked back and forth between the sneakthief and the lion.

She had a hard time imagining just how difficult that had been for the artist. She guessed it had been easier to ignore the model altogether and paint based on imagination alone.

“Forget it, then. Shokuhou, silence this sneakthief.”

“Sure. Sigh, but this weakling is a real letdown.”

They heard a weird straining noise.

It came from the sneakthief’s throat as he hung his head.

Then the lord exploded.

“How dare youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!!!”

That was not a figure of speech.

The lord’s armor exploded with bright light.

And six glowing wings grew from the back of his armor.

All sound vanished.

The deafening boom seemed to come after a delay. The shockwave crashed into their entire bodies and rattled their bones more than their eardrums. The stone wall behind him was blown away, letting the chilly night wind in.

Shokuhou grimaced at the prickling pain she felt across her skin.

All of this was only from the uncontrolled excess energy.

How deadly would this be if he gathered it all together and directed it at a single target?

The sneakthief had evolved into an angelic sneakthief.

“As this region’s lord and as a baron, I am Level 9999. I have long since reached the level cap!! I can equip even the most legendary of weapons and draw out its full power! I will now show you the power of the end! I will demonstrate the violence of the greatest possible spiritual awakening!!!”

“…”

“I haven’t even begun. The despair you feel now is nothing compared to what is to come!!”

He formed a megaphone with his hands and shouted.

“T-t-t-take their weapons from them!! Send a carrier pigeon to the guild and have their levels revoked!!”

His lips twisted into a smile.

His face was drenched with an unpleasant sweat.

The deadly force he wielded and his nervous excitement were a complete mismatch. But the sense that he couldn’t properly control his violence made it all the more horrifying. He was the kind of person who would kill in a flash of anger and then look back on it and desperately search out justifications for his actions.

The sweaty little man smiled with no understanding of what his violence would really do.

A brutal light shined deep in his eyes.

“Hee, hee hee. I can wield the ultimate power with all the Level 9999 magic equipment I want. Meanwhile, you have had your levels revoked, leaving you at Level 1!! The strongest will now trample the weakest underfoot. You will die powerless to stop meeeeeeee!!!”

In all honesty, this was Mikoto’s first thought.

“Oh, crap. I ''completely forgot'' about that equipment rule.”

“~ ~ ~!!!???”

The lord’s eyes opened wider than seemed possible.

Bikini armor Mikoto scratched her head apologetically.

“Patissiet did explain all that for us, didn’t she? Let’s see, how did that work? You register with the guild, work and fight for them to gain experience, and then you report to the guild to level up?”

“Oh, yeah. She did say that, didn’t she? And the weapons and armor you can equip is restricted by job and level, so you ordinarily need to level up if you want to use a powerful weapon, right?”

Mikoto and Shokuhou exchanged a glance.

“Shokuhou, are you using any kind of weapon?”

“You mean like my remote? You, on the other hand, are proving your cavewoman ability by doing it barehanded.”

Tears filled the lord’s eyes.

If those two weren’t using weapons, he couldn’t revoke their right to use them. He couldn’t weaken them.

Also…

“''Level down.''”

“Hweh?” said the sneakthief-faced lord.

Bikini armor Mikoto pointed down and mimed pressing an invisible button.

Over and over.

“''Level down, level down, level down, down, down, down.''”

“Wait, what are you doing ? What do you think you’re doiiiiing!?”

Experience was a special type of bioelectricity.

However it worked in other worlds, in ''this'' world Misaka Mikoto could manipulate experience and thus take complete control of the level system.

''He was at the level cap of 9999?

''If he got in her way, she could bring him all the way down to Level 1.

“Stop, please stop, you’ve seen my looks and my physique, this ultimate equipment is the only thing to prove my dignity and my power! No, noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!”

After controlling the exploitative guild, working the enslaved elves until they collapsed, and growing fat taking all of their experience for himself, the sneakthief lord had the nerve to protest.

The light in Mikoto’s eyes said it was his turn to have everything taken from him.

The time for payback had arrived.

There was a disconcerting “zap!!”

The rapid level drop must have brought him below the level requirement because his glowing armor burst from within and fell away in pieces.

All that remained was a sneakthief in his underwear.

Tokiwadai’s Queen, who looked unusually at home in the dancer’s outfit, grimaced and gave him an icy look.

“What a disgrace…”

“H-hwuh?”

The sneakthief fell to all fours but not so he could use his scrawny arms to cover himself up.

He was trying to cover up the scattered ultimate equipment with his own body.

This was what happened when someone never had to work.

He was still trying to rely on his rare tools more than his own abilities.

That was why the #5 had rejected him with a single word: disgrace.

In a society that required participation in the guild system to survive, the elves were forced to choose from a list of awful jobs each day. And even if they completed the work they would much rather not do, they were cheated with unfair scales and had their pay and their experience stolen away in the form of a “fee”.

They diligently did their work but were still worn down to the point they had trouble eating.

Meanwhile, this man grinned smugly in his throne, leveling up endlessly.

He was the symbol of that system.

He was a visualization of that blackhole of exploitation.

“Wait, stop. Don’t destroy it, I beg you! This ultra-rare equipment is the symbol of my powerrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!”

A Railgun reduced them to fragments.

With a single arcade coin, the legend didn’t even last a full second.

The lord screamed.

The bizarre roar continued for more than ten seconds before he collapsed, lighter than a scrap of paper. His limbs were sprawled out around him and his empty eyes stared off in a random direction.

“A legend bought with money is worth less than the dust on the ground,” spat Mikoto.