Just as he had announced, Accelerator had quieted the Skill-Out group within 10 minutes.
But he hadn't used his powers that entire time.
At first, he had manipulated the atmosphere to create a gust of wind greater than 50 m/s knocking most of his enemies to the ground. He then turned off his powers and shot them while their movements were in disorder. When they were about to counterattack, he would create another gust of wind and start shooting again once they were rendered helpless. That pattern had repeated again and again.
He had easily won after 10 minutes.
Because of this strategy, he hadn't even used 30 seconds of powered time.
In his battle with Hound Dog and their leader Kihara Amata, he had learned just how much a weakness the electrode's battery was. He had to learn how to economize in his use of the battery.
"Now then. Where's that bastard Komaba Ritoku everyone's talking about? He wasn't in that group I just took out, was he?"
Accelerator moved his hand to the back of his neck and flipped the switch off. He looked around to make sure there were no enemies left and headed further into the alley.
He had blown everything away with the wind, but, after walking a mere 100 meters in, the scenery was back to rusted metal trash and colored plastic sheets hiding the sky.
Accelerator suddenly stopped and leaned on his cane.
Musujime's explosions had stopped.
"Tch. So her quota's done. I don't like being the last one done."
He tilted his head to the side in annoyance, but…
"Then…I suppose I can let you take a break."
Those words abruptly reached Accelerator's ears.
He continued down the narrow alley and found a building that looked only partially completed. It was only made out of a steel frame, so it looked like a giant jungle gym. And on the 4th floor, which was about halfway up, a large gorilla-like man was standing.
The man spoke in a quiet voice that sounded like copy paper was coming from his mouth.
"Accelerator...Quite a famous visitor. But I never thought you'd be hunting us down as a dog of the board of directors…"
"So you must be Komaba Ritoku." Accelerator looked up at the steel framework. "I suppose I should ask. What was the reason for this plan of yours?"
"Even if I told you, you don't actually care why Skill-Out is attacking espers."
"Hah. From that I take it that when you got out on the streets you would be attacking everyone indiscriminately."
"No, not indiscriminately... We would choose our targets carefully…"
"You seem pretty calm. Do you really understand the situation here?"
"There was a girl telling me the same thing just a bit ago."
As he spoke, Komaba took something off of his belt and lightly tossed it down.
It was a blood-smeared military flashlight.
It hit the steel frame a few times on the way down and finally fell onto the asphalt where its glass lens and light bulb shattered.
"I killed her."
"…"
Accelerator remained silent for a second at that quick comment.
Komaba frowned.
"You're taking this peacefully… This isn't the kind of person I was told you were. So you really have changed. Loners usually don't hesitate at times like this. And they end up dying because they try to stand up to me. I'm well past the point where I worry about how to clean up a corpse…"
"I see." Accelerator smiled slightly as he spoke. "Did you know that people who stand up to me tend to end up as mincemeat?"
Still smiling, he moved his hand to the switch on the back of his neck.
"Hoo…" Komaba exhaled. "If you're going to try to act cool, at least be battle ready before hand…"
"You do realize you're talking to Academy City's strongest Level 5, right?"
"…Confronting monsters like you is what Skill-Out does best."
Komaba tapped the back of his neck with his pointer finger.
"That electrode…is a transmitter for some kind of electronic information, isn't it?"
"Tch!!" Accelerator clicked his tongue and flipped the switch for the electrode.
He altered the vectors for his legs. The asphalt beneath his feet cracked and he shot like a rocket towards the fourth floor where Komaba was standing.
But Komaba was faster.
He pulled what looked like a spray can from his pocket and hit it with a whip-like kick. His kick was delivered with a force one wouldn't expect from a normal person and it tore the metal can to pieces like it was made of paper. Its contents scattered through the air.
The contents were thin sheets of metal about the size of the lead to a mechanical pencil. They glittered in the dim back alley. They were composed of two thin wings so they looked like tiny helicopter rotors.
Hundreds of these thin sheets of metal stopped in midair while slowly rotating like bamboo copters.
"…These are a type of radio jamming weapon called Chaff Seeds. …They use a micro motor to float in the air using the structure of the seeds of plants in the Dipterocarpaceae family…"
Komaba's expression remained unchanged as he spoke.
"I originally had this to knock out Anti-Skill radios."
"!!"
Accelerator's power of ascent suddenly stopped.
He didn't reach the 4th floor Komaba was on; he fell down and landed on the framework of the third floor.
Even his reflection ability must have been knocked out, because pain spread through his back like it would for a normal person.
"Gh..ah!?"
He let out a cry, but he didn't have room to writhe around.
"I had seen something like that just a bit before."
When he heard the quiet voice come from above him, Accelerator quickly looked up.
"The teleporter who attacked had something like that on her back… Hers probably works differently than yours and I don't know exactly why the two of you are wearing them… But I'm betting they assist you with your powers."
A shadow stretched out.
Komaba jumped down from the 4th floor aiming for Accelerator's gut with both his feet.
If that hit him, his organs would rupture.
He had a handgun, but that giant body wouldn't stop if he shot it.
"Tch! Fucker!!"
Accelerator gave up trying to attack, brought his arms and legs in, and rolled like a ball backwards on the narrow frame.
Komaba's feet landed forcefully in the spot Accelerator had just been in.
A loud dull noise came from the metal.
Stopping his roll, Accelerator brought his handgun up and fired in response, but Komaba moved his upper body dodging the 3 shots fired. He wasn't watching the bullets; he was keeping away from the barrel.
The cartridges that smelled of fireworks fell all the way to the ground.
"…How unsightly." A smile spread across Komaba's face. "If your powers were perfect, you wouldn't need a gun…And you wouldn't have avoided my attack."
(God damn it. I just have to stop his movements by shooting him in the lower back!!)
Accelerator gritted his teeth and altered his aim. But…
"Heh… Don't fall off."
As he spoke, Komaba brought his foot down and the 3rd floor framework broke in half like a tree branch.
(…!? That strength…!!)
No normal human could produce that attack and Komaba was Level 0. That meant he must have some kind of equipment supporting him.
"…Kh!!"
As his already unstable footing slanted to the side, Accelerator's aim strayed a good ways from Komaba. And before he could bring it back, Komaba's gigantic body was headed for him.
(I still can't use my powers!!)
The numerous glittering metal Chaff Seeds were still floating in the air like bamboo copters. They were spread evenly all throughout the area, so trying to brush them away with his hand wasn't going to help much.
Accelerator clicked his tongue as Komaba Ritoku approached.
There was a roaring wind.
Even with the unstable footing, Komaba had moved a few meters in an instant.
And…
He was using his powerful leg to attack with a crushing kick.
"!!"
Accelerator immediately twisted his body, but that leg knocked his gun off of the frame. Komaba had been aiming for the gun the whole time. His speed had been too fast to react to.
"…You're going to burst open and paint this area red."
Komaba pulled a handgun of his own from his belt. It was a large handgun with an odd form that had two thick magazines sticking into it just in front of the trigger.
This wasn't an attack Accelerator could avoid by moving his head to the side.
(Shit!!)
He prepared himself and jumped with all his might to the side and then right off the framework.
The 2nd floor was next.
But since he dove off without looking, he messed up the timing on his landing and struck the framework without being able to soften the blow. He fell down another floor because of it. The impact made a dull noise. He had partially landed once partway down, but he had fallen to the ground from the 3rd floor all the same. The pain was more than one could bear just by gritting one's teeth. And for someone who left everything to his powers instead of training his body like Accelerator, it was even worse.
"Gwaaaah!!" Accelerator yelled while holding the top of his shoulder.
Komaba ignored his scream and pulled the trigger.
As he rolled on the dirty ground, Accelerator somehow managed to avoid the bullet.
The power of the bullet was much greater than a normal one. It pierced a steel frame partway down and the thick piece of metal exploded from the inside. The frame was transformed into a large number of small metal pieces and they rained down on Accelerator. He was rolling on the ground, but he still received small tears on his skin.
"Tch!!"
Accelerator searched the ground with his gaze looking for something.
(…! There it is!!)
He grabbed his handgun that Komaba had kicked down.
He rolled onto his back, held the gun up in both hands, aimed towards the framework above, and pulled the trigger.
The gunshot rang out.
But Komaba wasn't there. The bullet flew through empty space and hit the edge of one of the plastic sheets covering the sky. The bullet must have hit the clasp because the sheet blew to the side.
"Checkmate…"
Accelerator heard this monotonous voice that sounded like the written words were being expelled from the speaker's mouth coming from a blind spot diagonally up from his position.
Komaba must have already moved to a different frame.
"I give you one final choice… Where do you want me to shoot you when I kill you?"
"…So you have a Smart Weapon."
Accelerator muttered that in annoyance, but it was hard to aim towards Komaba in his state.
He heard the voice coming from outside his vision again.
"My Smart Weapon uses infrared rays to accurately measure the target's composition, solidity, and distance. …And then it mixes the powder that will cause the most appropriate level of destruction. …Then the plastic instantaneously hardens forming the bullet. It can shoot through a steel plate or it can leave the bullet in a piece of tofu. If you have a way you would prefer to die, tell me now. I am confident that I can create almost any type of death while operating it on manual…"
"I see," muttered Accelerator.
If Accelerator was defeated here, Komaba Ritoku would trigger Code Orange which would knock out the communications network. Then he would take advantage of the confusion and indiscriminately attack the espers in the area. But nothing would be gained by it. Skill-Out just wasn't powerful enough to gain control of the entirety of Academy City.
That was why they had changed from the original target of their violence and were aiming for an "enemy" they could actually defeat.
They were attacking a low-level "enemy" instead of the Level 5s and the board of directors who they truly hated.
The skin on Accelerator's face distorted into a smile.
The law of the back alleys was ruled by strong vs. weak instead of good vs. evil. He was so familiar with it, he wanted to vomit. And Accelerator had parted from the world of light and plunged into the depths of Group in order to fight that type of law.
Accelerator gritted his teeth.
--Are you trying to rule Skill-Out like this?
"In your case, it may be better if you remain suspicious of others' kind words. Especially if you know the value of what you want to protect."
--Are you just going to enjoy causing trouble at your own convenience like this?
"No matter how unsightly it may be, you have no choice but to keep paying back every yen, every fraction of a yen, you can. If you keep adding it up, your path will surely open up before you. After all, you have power unlike me. There are plenty of ways you can pay it all back at once."
--Are you just going to continue bringing misfortune to innocent people like this?
"I'm back, says Misaka as Misaka gives the standard greet-…Ow! Why are you repeatedly chopping me without saying anything!? says Misaka as Misaka holds her head and pretends to cry!!"
(Is he just going to devour other people's happiness just to vent his own pent up anger and satisfy no one but himself!?)
"Fuck that, you piece of shit!"
And with those words, two guns fired.