The clock ticked relentlessly as the sun dipped slowly toward the horizon.
Juufuku Miho, having just finished her club activities, held her issued bulletproof school bag. Her bangs seemed to have been cut in half, revealing thick, arched eyebrows.
Walking unhurriedly amidst the stream of Tokiwadai students, Juufuku Miho made her way out of the School Garden.
After transferring to Tokiwadai Middle School, she had joined the school's swimming club, eventually becoming the senior to classmates like Wannai.
She didn't particularly love swimming, but she didn't dislike it either.
Come next year, though, she would be able to join Natsume-san's Urban Legend Investigation Club.
At Tokiwadai, the most influential faction was, without a doubt, Shokuhou Misaki-san's Queen's Clique.
Under the overwhelming dominance of the Queen's Clique, other factions had little room to thrive.
Even Misaka Mikoto was suppressed by them, forbidden from expanding her influence within the School Garden.
Surprisingly, however, Natsume-san didn't seem to be specifically targeted, though the Urban Legend Investigation Club had stopped accepting new members.
"What are those?"
Hearing faint whispers around her, Juufuku Miho stopped in her tracks.
Lifting her head to gaze into the distance, her pupils dilated instantly.
Not far away, a group of chatting Shidarezakura girls also halted. Yumiya, the girl with twin tails and a shy smile, stiffened, staring blankly at the suddenly bizarre sky.
"I think that area is...?"
Yumiya mentally recalled Academy City's layout, identifying the epicenter of the anomaly as District 23.
Countless pure white halos hung in the sky, their shimmering light overlapping like endlessly interlocking gears.
They layered, interdependent, influencing each other, emerging from nothingness to invade reality.
Like cloned lifeforms, or a simple copy-paste function on a computer, these halos spread outwards from District 23, flooding out like a tide.
Accompanied by innumerable beams of pure white light, the sky turned a ghastly pale, as if countless suns had appeared.
Being bathed in this light didn't bring warmth; instead, a chilling cold seeped into everyone's bodies.
It felt like evil spirits from the abyss were devouring everything in the world.
--+--
So cold.
At Judgment Branch 177, Meigo-senpai hugged her shoulders uncomfortably, shivering uncontrollably.
It had nothing to do with the ambient temperature; it felt like her very life force was draining away.
These cold lights had been appearing for five minutes now. Even hiding inside buildings brought no warmth, only a slight relief.
Komoe-sesei also seemed distressed, but she maintained her professional duty, looking after the troubled students.
"It'll be over soon. Misaka-senpai and Natsume-san have gone to deal with it. They're Level 5s, after all. I'm sure they'll handle it," Saten-san said reassuringly as she distributed extra clothes to the others.
"Of course. Onee-sama is the strongest," Shirai-san agreed with a nod. She wanted to fight alongside her Onee-sama, but the plan required her to protect Meigo-senpai.
But given the current situation, perhaps that magic had already been activated. Was there still any point in protecting Meigo-senpai now?
The bone-piercing cold, the pale white gears in the sky… Shirai-san had to admit that there existed powers in this world beyond their understanding.
At some point, both Shirai-san and Uiharu had put on their Judgment armbands.
They were fulfilling their duties, doing what they could.
Uiharu used her PDA, bypassing layer after layer of strict firewalls to issue an evacuation order across all of Academy City's broadcast systems, instructing everyone to shelter in light-proof locations. Her actions were faster than the official city response.
"It's not just Natsume-san and the others. Everyone is doing their part," Komoe-sensei said encouragingly to Meigo Arisa, offering a confident smile.
Just after Shirai-san and Uiharu had relayed the news about the Anti-Skill team heading to the space elevator…
A mere seven or eight minutes later, these strange halos began appearing one after another in the sky.
The light they emitted was deeply peculiar, penetrating not only Uiharu's thermal regulation ability but even Natsume-san's constant temperature field.
A certain bun-haired girl genuinely felt the biting cold. Despite the surrounding temperature remaining unchanged, her body was growing chilled.
This cold wasn't related to temperature; it struck from a more mysterious level, invading the human body itself.
Natsume-san initially tried to refract the light away from herself, but found it useless. This was no longer the world she knew.
Fortunately, these cold lights currently couldn't penetrate denser buildings.
But as the light grew brighter and the number of halos slowly increased, the shielding effect of the buildings seemed to be gradually weakening.
Others might be managing, but Natsume-san, grown accustomed to being impervious to heat and cold, was suddenly hit hard by this intense negative aura.
Luckily, Tokiwadai had recently been conducting special physical training for the Daihasei Festival, which had slightly improved Natsume-san's physical fitness, preventing her from being incapacitated immediately.
There was no time left to hesitate.
Natsume Sonoko's previously expended processing power hadn't fully recovered before new problems arose one after another, leaving no room to catch her breath.
The plan remained for Shirai-san to look after Meigo-senpai, while Natsume Sonoko and the others headed towards the source from which these lights were spreading.
As expected, the gear-like halos in the sky grew denser the closer they got to the space elevator.
And as the density of the halos increased, the sensation of cold intensified.
"Natsume-san, are you okay?"
They were now high in the air, with rows of buildings stretching out below them.
Misaka-senpai, being carried along in flight, glanced worriedly at the struggling pilot, her brow furrowed.
The air rushed past rapidly, but Natsume-san's protective airflow layer allowed for normal conversation.
From the start, this underclassman's body had begun to tremble slightly, her face seeming a bit pale.
"Not feeling great," Natsume-san admitted, shaking her head.
This cold that seeped into her very marrow was extremely unpleasant.
While Natsume-san didn't fight with her fists, this chill was affecting her brain, causing her thought processes to slow down.
But she was, after all, a Level 5. Combined with the processing power she could borrow from Reiko-san's side, Natsume-san was still combat-ready.
Even now, she wasn't entirely sure what was happening.
Meigo-senpai was safe back at Branch 177, so what were these suddenly appearing lights?
Did 'destroying the Northern Hemisphere' not mean blowing it up, but rather… these lights appearing in the sky?
Telling Natsume-san to fly lower, Misaka-senpai used her magnetism to draw up a large amount of iron sand.
In moments, a dark, murky layer formed around the two of them.
The fine iron sand acted like a thick protective barrier, preventing the cold light from directly touching Natsume-san.
Until the time came when this cold light could completely ignore the iron sand, its negative effects on Natsume-san would be significantly reduced.
--+--
T/N: 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.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.