Part 5
Kinuhata Saiai was hanging upside down on the office building.
As the steel water tank had been destroyed from the inside, a large waterhole had formed on the side of the roof. A part of her woolen sweater got caught by the sharp edge of the debris.
Even though she had her Offense Armor, she couldn't negate the damage completely. It was as if her abdomen had been hit a few times, and the impacts that had reached her vertebrae caused all her strength to disappear. However, this was already the best case scenario. If she didn't have any ability to protect herself, she would most likely have been crushed to bits.
(…Though it's super lucky that no one's inside the building, this definitely is the work of the higher ups)
But Kinuhata didn't think further.
The door of the elevator linking the roof to the inside opened.
What appeared wasn't an office worker or a building caretaker.
But rather, a young-looking guy with an extremely menacing expression.
"…The #1…?"
The red-eyed white-haired Level 5 was leaning on a modern cane. Accelerator looked rather impatient as he stared at Kinuhata dangling off the debris of the water tank.
"I've heard the Freshmen are desperately trying to prevent Anti-Skill from getting involved. My companion intercepted communication regarding Kuroyoru Umidori and Silver Cross Alpha."
"What's your point?"
"I need their whereabouts. The Freshmen are targeting a brat called Fremea Seivelun. I'd like to set up some precautions before she gets killed."
"Seivelun…? Damn it, so that super crybaby would go about being nosy because of this?"
"Do you have any idea of where they went?"
"If you were able to intercept the secret messages of the Freshmen, shouldn't you know?"
"They've already set it to top secret according to the battle situation. Anything they want to do always comes down to money. Since all the related organization messages were classified, it's a waste of time to tap on them…Anyway, the Freshmen don't seem like they have the complete support of the higher ups."
"I super see."
"Then, any clues?"
"Hmm."
Kinuhata shrugged her shoulders while hanging upside down
"Shouldn't be far away from here."
Part 6
"Hamazura!!"
Hanzou showed his face from the other side of the passage.
"We did it, hey, we really sunk that Five Over!!...Is it all right to go close to it? It won't go berserk, right?"
"It's safe. All the firing is done."
Hamazura collected a large number of LED lights and dropped the electromagnetic wave device in his hand before running towards Hanzou and Kuruwa, who were in turn running at him.
"Hurry up! How many bullets do we have left? The Metal Eater M5 bullets!!"
"What are you talking about, Hamazura, the electric mantis is already…"
"Have you forgotten?" Hamazura grabbed Hanzou's shoulders and shook him violently. "Five Over's not the only powered suit that's here. Some of them got wiped out in the shootout just now, but there are still a few of them left!!"
And those suits weren't going to be destroyed without the firepower of the Metal Eater M5.
However, it was over if those few machines were to gather and attack, or maybe it could be even worse than just a single Five Over.
Hanzou frantically confirmed the number of bullets they had left.
"…We have seven rounds, but I can't guarantee that all of them will work, and based on the enemy's toughness, it might take a few rounds. It's too hard to use these remaining bullets to destroy all the enemies!!"
"But there's nothing else that can immobilize the unmanned powered suits."
As the owner of the place, Kuruwa knew best what items were stored there.
"Light machine guns and assault rifles are going to be deflected no matter how many we use."
"What do we do now, Hamazura? Do you think that the trap just now can work?"
"I have a plan."
The rumbling sounds of suspended objects could be heard from different directions.
Intending to surround them.
There was no time left.
The only thing that could save them was the thing that Hamazura was wearing.
Part 7
The continuous gunfire rang inside Kuroyoru Umidori's ears. The numerous windows of the abandoned building were shattered, and the building itself was starting to tremble a bit.
Though she had spent quite a bit of effort in fighting Kinuhata Saiai, as of the current situation, Silver Cross' collection of items were still useful. It had been ten minutes since they had gone in, so they should have destroyed everything inside, right?
"…It's about time, nya?"
She muttered to herself. What she was imagining was a huge agricultural machinery that was currently cultivating human meat. Those machines could easily get from one point to another without feeling any dilemma that any human would seriously feel. What they lacked was the judgment between life and death, so they had the idea of crushing the enemy's flesh to make sure that they were dead.
(…It's already an era where vacuum cleaners are unattended, couldn't we just leave these kinds of fucking jobs to machines?)
It was true that Silver Cross and Kuroyoru had a rather ambiguous attitude with regards to humans and machines, but she didn't mind the ridicule at all.
Even so, if they weren't kept in check, the human flesh could be crushed into bologna. There may be a need to make sure that they were able to be distinguished through the human eye to allow people to identify them easily.
However, it was likely that she would be attacked accidentally if she entered an unmanned suit's operational area.
"Well, I'll cross that bridge when I get there."
Kuroyoru again stroked the dolphin doll that was about to expand again.
"…They're just mechanical toys, I can rip them to scrap metal within ten seconds if I want to."
An unknown sound echoed throughout the darkness.
It was the thing reinforcing her.
Cyborg.
The large number of baby hands seemed to multiply like a large swarm of locust, looking even more menacing and intimidating as they covered her like a cloak behind.
This was all set up for Kuroyoru's ability, a battery.
Amassing several hundred to thousands of them, they didn't just fire Bomber Lances, but was able to cause interference to everything that flowed within a specific area. It was the same thing with creating a large nitrogen lance, this was to create space to absorb nitrogen, to allow easy manipulation of explosions after all the nitrogen was absorbed at will.
This power was no longer that of a Level 4s ability.
Besides, Kuroyoru herself wasn't interested in that stale ranking system.
"…I got a reputation for not caring about who my allies and enemies are. This time, I'm going to crush human life in exchange for money. I wonder which side will be angered?"
In order to make the situation even more chaotic, the youthful queen headed towards the building.
At that moment, she suddenly stopped.
A mocking snarl appeared on her face.
"Well, it's better for you to come out anyway."
That white figure was leaning on the modernistic cane as he stood opposite to her.
Accelerator.
Academy City's #1; in terms of ranking, he was at the top of the seven Level 5s.
Kuroyoru suddenly laughed.
"But you're a lot more cautious than I expected, or did the war change your personality? To actually scout out information just to preserve your battery life, this sure is different from the thought process I know of. I thought you would waste your energy flying about…Well, thanks to you, I may not be able to catch up." She was taunting him. "You want to protect Fremea, right? Or is it Hamazura? Well, either way, I can guarantee that they died inside. You guys, including that dead Hamazura, are just a little group of resistance, the higher ups won't get angry even if we kill you guys off."
But Accelerator didn't care about her words, instead focusing on Kuroyoru herself.
"…Is this what happens when you try to patch up that inability of yours?"
The muttering from the #1's heart didn't tangle Kuroyoru up.
"Though the timing isn't great, I did gather all the necessary conditions, right?"
They both had a strong power.
Any Level 0 who let Kuroyoru advance would definitely die, though whoever tried to block her would still at least have a chance of survival.
"Speaking of which, even if we leave them alone, they'll definitely be crushed to bits inside. Haha, or should I ask if we should check whether they're still in human shape? Everyone should be the same when they're buried."
"…Are you happy?"
"Ah?"
"Are you really happy to be staying there?"
That place.
The lair of evil.
Accelerator wondered if a certain Level 0 once stared at himself in the same way.
Of course, Kuroyoru didn't know about that.
Her response to Accelerator's question was pretty simple.
Her tone changed.
"Isn't it obvious? I'm definitely happy. I'm really happy here!! This is the pinnacle of the world. To be able to be in a place where I can release evil. This is all I ever wanted!! No matter how much money is offered, I'll kill. There's a lot of people who lift their chins as they look down on others. And with this cyborg body, the way I live; it's even more outstanding than anyone else living in Academy City!! Why wouldn't I be happy about this!?"
"…"
Kuroyoru's words which were specially targeted at a certain part of Accelerator's thinking became a reality due to the higher ups of Academy City having rather poor taste. This was somewhat like a conversation with himself.
Now the hate towards her was being redirected back at him.
"Don't tell me you think that just because you're the strongest Level 5 in Academy City, you have no chance to lose?"
She continued on with her words of mockery.
The toy dolphin started to distort from within.
"No way. There's no way, right!? These guys that I'm controlling behind me aren't just a destructive power. They are cyborgs!!"
Numerous arms appeared from the damaged dolphin doll, attaching themselves onto Kuroyoru's upper right body.
These weapons had originally been developed as something meant to augment a body's functions.
Those ambiguous things could ignore a human figure and expand a certain part of the body.
"Though you're the #1 of Academy City, you did taste defeat before. For example, Kihara Amata, who used that reflection of yours against you and consciously pulled his fist right back to let the reflection hit the fist into you."
Accelerator knew what she wanted to say.
The large number of arms behind Kuroyoru were moving about like waves.
"But my arms are cyborgs, they're machines, completely artificial things that're controlled through numbers!! I can counter you by using Kihara Amata's calculations!!"
Facing a past threat head to head.
That tone, that way of thinking was the perfect way to destroy Accelerator.
"So, #1, what are you planning to do? Kihara Amata only used his human fists, so if it's my Bomber Lances, it'll be over in a single hit. If you don't want to die, bring it on. I'll beat you down and ground you up."
Several thousand arms moved into position.
Each arm could create a Bomber Lance freely, and in groups, they could completely control all the air flow around her.
There were tens of thousands of ways to attack. By setting the inputs to Kihara Amata's values that caused Accelerator quite a headache, she could definitely beat him with his reflection.
The lances could attack from any direction.
No matter where Accelerator tried to hide, there was no safe zone in the air. Even if the Bomber Lances themselves couldn't touch him, in groups, they could manipulate the air in the sky.
It was impossible to defend or dodge.
If so, Accelerator made his own decision.
At this moment, the strongest Level 5 in Academy City made his move.
"…Hmph."
Exhaling slightly, he moved sideways, as if he was letting aside a path.
At that moment, Kuroyoru Umidori did not understand the real meaning behind his action. It was because she had a certain way of thinking implanted within her that she was unable to erase that abnormal feeling. In that situation, no, no matter what happened, that monster would definitely not "step aside". There was definitely a trick behind his move. Even her backup thoughts couldn't think of why he would do that.
Or maybe...
Kuroyoru continued to remain on the path of evil.
And Accelerator had abandoned the path.
Was that what made them different?
"Why? How…"
Because of that, Kuroyoru doubted.
Without changing his expression, Accelerator muttered something.
"You're mistaken."
"…?"
"The first characteristic of a mechanical weapon is that it's not completely controlled by numbers. A mere weapon does not have any thoughts or personal beliefs. All of those are decided by the will of the user. If you think wildly, you'll only end up with a wild outcome; a fucking idiot who uses it may end up with a serious outcome…well, 'using a weapon' is different from mastering it anyway."
"Are you saying that I can't control cyborgs of this size?"
"That's why I moved aside." Without answering the enemy's question, Accelerator looked like he didn't care as he continued with an impatient tone, "Let me say this first, this isn't directed at you."
At that moment, a crashing sound rang out.
Something seemed to fly out from the window on the third level of the abandoned building. It landed on the floor and bounced around a few times before rolling to Kuroyoru's feet… it was one of Silver Cross' collection that had been crushed…in other words, a powered suit.
The gunfire ceased.
And what appeared at the window was a certain precious object…
(Five Over…?)
Had the gunfire stopped just to indicate that the suppression inside was over?
Kuroyoru thought that, but then realized that something was not right.
There was a large crack on the powered suit.
The hatch of the pilot seat was twisted, revealing a hole.
It was as if it had been ripped open by a human.
After that, she immediately remembered that the Dragon Rider equipment Hamazura Shiage was wearing had been created by Academy City. In other words, it was operated the same way the Five Over was.
In other words.
(No way…!?)
It was too late for her to feel a chill.
She understood the reason why Accelerator stepped aside.
Overwhelming gunfire was fired at Kuroyoru Umidori.
A railgun that surpassed the #3 were fired at her at a speed of four thousand shots per minute.
The two Gatling railguns on the two sides of the electronic mantis were shooting at Kuroyoru's arms from behind. They were sickles that summoned death, with one swing enough to slice these esper weapons as if they were harvesting wheat.
The railgun trajectories fired at Kuroyoru from both sides.
That small space could rival a guillotine.
"Damn…iiiiiiiittttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt!!!!!!"
If she was fully prepared, Kuroyoru would win against the Five Over head on based on ability alone. However, she reacted slowly. That small gap of a mere few seconds destroyed a large number of those specially made arms of hers.
Even so, facing the two bullet sickles, Kuroyoru immediately responded.
She moved her remaining several hundred arms about to create a large number of Bomber Lances. The storms created by the manipulation of the atmosphere deflected the bullets, and the large number of huge lances clashed directly with the railguns with amazing devastation, generating lots and lots of storms. Kuroyoru even considered that merely using air alone wasn't going to do the job, so she placed a large number of arms in front of her to act as shields.
(It can work.)
Even though she was on the defense, Kuroyoru was still thinking about counterattacking.
Her aggressiveness would last to the end.
(The Gatling railgun will use up a huge amount of electricity and create loads of heat. It can't possibly continue to fire forever. The safety feature will have a cooling period for some time, so if I counterattack at that moment, it's not hard to destroy the Five Over…)
"You played the wrong card."
As if he was trying to interrupt Kuroyoru's thoughts, Accelerator muttered coldly.
The owner of her implanted thought process.
The voice of the person who knew how to use that power the most.
"If you want to fight defensively, you have to reflect first. Using vector transformation by concentrating on smaller areas can't possibly hold out against such a large area of attack. To actually abandon a shield and use your lances to block this rain of bullets, you look like you're juggling over there."
"…!?"
Defense rather than offense.
Not Kuroyoru Umidori, but Kinuhata Saiai.
"If you want to specialize your attacks, you should have thoroughly destroyed it. If you have such power that you're so proud of, it should be beneficial for you to quickly attack to prevent it from getting to you."
The adverse effect of being unable to get through.
Also known as the way of life being shaken up.
This referred to the basic instincts of living things, to subconsciously choose to defend against this avatar of destruction known as the Gatling railgun.
Accelerator impatiently criticized that series of actions.
"What a waste of talent, cyborg."
A large number of arms were destroyed, and the mechanical equipment exploded.
Kuroyoru Umidori was sent crashing to the ground by a rain of shrapnel.
The winner was decided.
Part 8
Hamazura Shiage rode on the Five Over as he walked out of the abandoned building. It should have be able to use its wings to fly, but he didn't use that unknown technology. Hamazura directly moved from the stairs to the first level, passing through the main entrance.
The powered suit that appeared in front of Accelerator released its hatch, revealing Hamazura's face from within.
"Is it over?"
"The remaining ones were taken away by that irritating clone. However, you took out the two most important people, so it's just a matter of time. If you can use that, it means that the original rider got dragged out."
"That's the case. Right now, Kuruwa-chan…that ninja girl's taking care of it."
Accelerator peered inside the interior of the powered suit.
There were cables attached between the special suit Hamazura was wearing and the inside space. Most likely, he had destroyed the main system of the Five Over and attached the special equipment of his clothing to it to allow him to do the calculations better.
It worked because the principle was the same, and it was activated during that critical moment.
"Are you still able to process the information?"
"Which one do you think is wiser, to think of a way to do it or to do it thoroughly from scratch? By the way, the latter involves having to redo all the mechanics."
"…It's like leaving some cooking utensils to a woman who knows how to cook and expecting a table full of homecooked food, is it?"
Ignoring Accelerator's contempt, Hamazura lowered his head.
Kuroyoru Umidori was lying on the floor.
She had been hit by numerous shrapnel and had lost quite a lot of blood, but at least she still had her limbs intact. Even facing such a sweeping fire, she actually had not been hit directly. As expected of a strong esper of Academy City, she was not an enemy that could be fought using just common sense.
"So the Freshmen commotion is over, right?"
"Where's that Fremea Seivelun brat?"
"Inside the large bank vault. It'll open in half a day because of the timer control."
"…How troublesome. I'll just use my power to force it open."
"I wanted to as well, but we need to hide the weapons before Anti-Skill arrive, or it'll be quite troublesome for Kuruwa-chan."
While talking, the two people subconsciously ignored Kuroyoru Umidori.
That was a mistake.
They were still unable to grasp the nature of the thing they were fighting against.
Cyborgs.
Machines.
Most of it had been shattered into numerous pieces when the Gatling railgun fired on it. However, though the machine couldn't work if a part ABC was missing, by linking part A, part B, and part C, they could create a part D.
In other words.
Even if they were crushed, the arms wouldn't necessarily be disabled.
There was the sound of a breath.
Hamazura saw the collapsed Kuroyoru stretch her small hand forward.
At the same time.
Over one hundred arms that were barely patched together moved at once.
The target was neither Hamazura Shiage nor Accelerator.
Fremea Seivelun.
"Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!"
The sound of an explosion could be heard.
A large amount of air mixed together to form a several-hundred-meter-long gigantic lance. The aim was rather messed up as well; Fremea was definitely on the third level, but Kuroyoru's lance was aimed at the ground, as if it was aiming at the ground level.
But that was enough.
Once she swung the lance horizontally, it would be enough to slice the abandoned building. It was hard to say if the bank vault could completely endure the impact of the fall, and the distorted power itself was enough to easily rip the walls of the bank vault apart.
This was what Academy City made.
A subversion of common sense that was under scientific discipline.
"Fuck you!! This is my last hope!! This is the incomparable darkness of Academy City!! Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!"
An explosion could be heard.
The lance was swung.
Hamazura Shiage regretted. He regretted thinking that it had been over and getting out of the powered suit; he regretted seeing Kuroyoru Umidori like that and forgetting that she could still launch a fatal attack at a kid; he regretted that he could have settled this without killing so many people and yet chose the most redundant method; he regretted that he was not the one who ended up in danger, but Fremea, who believed in him so much.
Accelerator was furious. Angry that he mocked Kuroyoru's wavering sense of living. That excessive talk regained her real nature, and presented her the opportunity to select the "aggression" option.
They were both the same.
They had not made the final choice adequately.
(…Damn it…)
Hamazura gritted his teeth and intended to stop Kuroyoru, but it was too late. Besides, even when he wearing the unique clothing, it was hard for Hamazura to act as a shield without the Five Over.
(…So in the end, a supporting character like me is unable to finish everything like a hero!!)
He moved to block all the lances.
No matter what, Hamazura only cared about charging forward.
A storm was whipped up.
He could only stare and watch the last chance pass by his eyes. He was absorbed in the aftershock of the storm, slowly closing his eyes.
The color of despair clouded his vision.
He felt that all he had done up to now was completely destroyed by one strike.
Fremea Seivelun couldn't be saved anymore.
He chose the wrong winning and losing conditions.
It was not his win even though he had beaten Silver Cross and Kuroyoru.
He had actually forgotten that the simple objective of protecting Fremea Seivelun's life and smile would be the real victory. Beating the Five Over and Kuroyoru were useless.
He had thought that he could protect.
He had thought that Fremea would be safe once he beat a strong enemy.
But in the end…
"Daaaammmnnnnnnnn iiiiiiittttttttttttttttttttttttt!!"
A scream full of despair.
However...
Hamazura noticed it.
He heard the sound of the lance being swung.
But that was it.
The sound of the abandoned building collapsing wasn't heard.
(What…?)
Trembling, he opened his eyes.
It was a strange scene.
There was definitely a lance. It was several hundred meters long, formed by compressing air together unnaturally. The block of violence would undoubtedly cleave the building.
However.
In reality, the building that Fremea was hiding in was completely unscathed.
It hadn't fallen.
What had stopped it? The one attack that Kuroyoru Umidori had let loose with all of her remaining strength and resolve?
It was a boy.
More accurately, it was the boy's right hand.
Kamijou Touma.
The boy with the Imagine Breaker hidden inside his right hand stopped the Bomber Lance.
The conclusion came quickly.
It blew away the nitrogen lance that had so much power within it, and Kuroyoru, who had just witnessed her last hope be broken, lost consciousness.
There was complete silence.
It was a world devoid of danger.
He easily swung the right hand with the most inexplicable power in the world and casually spoke to Hamazura and Accelerator.
"Long time no see."