Noticing the situation on Reiko's end, Natsume quickly dialed down the input and processing frequency of the bio-computer.
Coupled with Accelerator's increasingly fierce offensive, the spherical territory under Natsume's control shrank drastically, leaving her cornered and all but abandoning any thought of confronting him head-on.
Even if the bio-computer felt no fatigue, she and Reiko certainly did.
As Natsume ceded more ground, the computational load lessened slightly, yet the sense of oppression only intensified.
Accelerator's vortex of air swelled before her eyes, pulling in more and more turbulent winds until it nearly enveloped Natsume completely.
The crimson in Natsume's eyes faded slightly as some of her cognitive capacity returned. She became aware of the nosebleed that had been steadily flowing and tilted her head back, pinching her philtrum in an attempt to stop the bleeding the scientific way.
But before she could manage it, the situation shifted again.
The air vortex that had been relentlessly pressing down on her began to slow its rotation.
The aggressive intensity of the assault eased abruptly, with some of the outer layers of the vortex dissipating into the distance.
Accelerator lifted a hand to his forehead, a faint look of disgust crossing his face.
Behind him, an intensely cold air mass abruptly materialized, its temperature plummeting to nearly minus eighty degrees Celsius.
The moment it appeared, the frenzied winds nearby swept it away—but as soon as it dispersed, another wave of frigid air took its place, repeating in an unending cycle.
It was a familiar tactic, and Accelerator knew exactly what was going on.
What puzzled him, after locking horns with this esper for so long, was when Academy City had produced someone with such staggering computational power.
To him, it felt like stumbling upon an entirely new world.
Caught between extreme cold and blistering heat, the sweat on Accelerator's body froze almost instantly upon contact with the frigid air, forming a thin layer of ice across his skin.
That icy coating soon turned to dust in the wind, leaving Accelerator with a prickling sensation all over.
In the blink of an eye, he urgently seized control of the thermal energy behind him, preventing a catastrophic loss of body heat that would have caused severe frostbite.
A grim realization seemed to dawn on him, and his expression darkened.
He'd grasped the severity of the situation—not only was his opponent using extreme cold, but they were also leveraging the powerful winds he himself had created. The thought made his chest tighten with frustration.
If a person were exposed to temperatures dozens of degrees below zero, they might survive for a while, especially with specialized protective gear—maybe even manage some movement.
But in sub-zero temperatures combined with an unprecedented gale, wearing nothing but a short-sleeved shirt?
The rapidly moving cold air would strip away body heat many times faster than still air ever could.
For instance, in minus fifty-degree weather, a wind of just ten meters per second could drain heat as though one were standing in still air at minus a hundred degrees.
And thanks to Accelerator's own manipulations, the wind speed around him had reached nearly sixty meters per second—comparable to some typhoons. Exposed to such winds at extreme low temperatures, his skin and muscles would freeze almost instantly.
Behind Accelerator, waves of cold air continued to alternate.
Though warm air still lingered in front of him, he didn't dare let his guard down. Immediately, he redirected thermal energy back into his body, preparing for any sudden shift in temperature.
As it turned out, Natsume was thinking along the same lines.
The warm air in front of Accelerator vanished abruptly, replaced by sub-zero temperatures that enveloped him completely.
Whipped by the raging storm around him, the frigid air flowed faster and faster, coating his body in a pale, icy frost.
"The air vortex is slowing down."
With the sudden easing of pressure from the front, Natsume noticed the change immediately. Her idea was working again.
As Accelerator kept displacing the air around him, it had given Natsume the idea to use cold air.
Given the current conditions, she could only lower temperatures to around minus eighty degrees or so.
As mentioned earlier, while minus eighty was bitterly cold, Accelerator could risk brief exposure to lower his body temperature—despite the danger of frostbite—which was why Natsume hadn't used cold air earlier.
But with the extreme wind speeds generated by the air vortex, even a second of exposure in these conditions would cause severe damage to his body.
Accelerator clearly understood this principle.
Without hesitation, he chose to regulate his own body temperature rather than face that deadly chilled air.
And because of the threat posed by the extreme cold, he also decided to halt the now-massive air vortex, abandoning his plan to break through his opponent's defenses with raw computational power.
It had to be said—Accelerator acted decisively.
He instantly gave up his advantageous position to prevent a worse outcome, and just like that, the situation was turned on its head once more.
Accelerator's body temperature issue remained unresolved. If he maintained that high-speed vortex, he couldn't release his internal heat.
It wouldn't be long before the buildup of thermal energy reached a point where it would disrupt his calculations entirely.
Yet he still didn't choose to retreat.
Partly, his pride wouldn't allow it—and partly because doing so would leave him even more vulnerable. After all, his flight speed was no match for Natsume's.
In that moment, Accelerator resolved to focus on improving his flight speed in the future, ensuring he'd never be caught in such a situation again.
As the air vortex in the sky gradually weakened, the territory Accelerator had controlled was swiftly taken over by someone else—allowing Natsume to extend her control over the air right up to his vicinity.
The ground Accelerator had abandoned was now crucial to Natsume. There was quite a bit she could do with it.
By the time the air vortex had slowed significantly, the cold air around Accelerator quickly dissipated, replaced once more by sweltering heat—effectively blocking him from releasing any more body heat.
Freed from the need to maintain direct confrontation with Accelerator, Natsume found her computational load greatly reduced.
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T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
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