novel- ??? Agitate_Halation (1)
| ← Ch.085 | Ch.087 → |
Part 1
He could not just sit around in that District 3 high-rise office forever.
Kamijou Touma pulled out his cell phone.
His top priority was the safety of Tsuchimikado who had collapsed bloodily to the floor and the old man who was bound with wire to his luxurious chair.
Tsuchimikado was in especially bad shape. He had already lost consciousness. Kamijou had not trained enough to kill with just his fist, but Tsuchimikado had apparently been gravely injured before Kamijou had arrived. His clothes were stained red.
Tsuchimikado had a self-healing ability that could repair his injuries, but it was incredibly weak and could only place a thin film over burst blood vessels. It was better than nothing, but he would not recover if nothing was done.
But just as Kamijou was about to call an ambulance, a dignified elderly voice spoke up.
"... Stop that." The old man bound to his luxurious chair had spoken. Kamijou did not know who he was, but it seemed he had regained consciousness at some point."They will check the hospital and emergency radio signals first. If you call for an ambulance, his ambulance will undoubtedly end up somewhere other than the hospital."
"But... !"
"If you wish to save him, you must avoid the decisions that will surely lead to his death, " said the old man in a low, quiet voice that still contained great power. The old man continued speaking as Kamijou looked back and forth between him and Tsuchimikado."It seems the person behind this hoped to eliminate anyone who would interrupt the Agitate Halation project by having them defeat each other. The odds are high you were built into these plans.... But do not worry. The fact that we are all still alive shows that the situation has already left their expectations. He will not die. This situation proves that."
"..."
"It is possible their original plan for the situation was for the Wild Card Coccus Tsuchimikado Motoharu possessed to leak out during the battle. That would have infected and killed every single person here. That would have given them quite a laugh. I do not know at what stage the situation shifted away from that, but this is an excellent opportunity. And if you do not use this chance, it will lose all value. Do you understand what I am saying?"
Of course he did not.
What was going on?
Who was fighting who?
How was Kamijou Touma supposed to fight?
And most importantly...
What had led Tsuchimikado to continue fighting even with such serious injuries?
"If you claim to be his friend, your top priority must be what he was trying to protect, " said the old man plainly."Tsuchimikado Maika. Tsuchimikado Motoharu feared that his sister would be used as a negotiation card in this battle over the Agitate Halation project. This incident began when he attempted to pull off the perfect surprise attack. However, if the ones running Agitate Halation have a greater information gathering ability than any of us, there is a serious risk that they saw through it all. If nothing is done, they will reach her. Someone has to stop them now, but the number of people who can do so is limited."
"... This should be Tsuchimikado's job."
"Yes, but he is out of the picture now."
"You make it sound like he's already dead!! Don't talk about him like that!!"
The old man let out a long sigh while still bound to his chair.
This was the reaction of a man who knew well how to take control of the flow of conversation rather than just trying to force his opinion on others.
"What will you do?"
He trimmed as much of the fat as he could and spoke a quick statement that would produce countless words in Kamijou's head.
Kamijou gritted his teeth.
Even if some mastermind had placed countless balls on the table based on thorough calculations, it had been Kamijou's violence that had forced Tsuchimikado down in the end.
He owed Tsuchimikado Motoharu a debt.
When that terrible friend awoke, he did not want the first thing he heard to be tragic news about his sister.
"Do you know where Maika is?"
"I could only determine that she was not in her dorm. After all, she is who this boy wanted to protect most. He would not let anyone find out so easily."
However, it was possible the person behind Agitate Halation knew.
Protecting Maika was his top priority, but he did not know where Maika was. That left only one option. He had to attack whoever was running Agitate Halation to stop the attack plan.
Kamijou glanced at the countless documents scattered across the floor.
"I'll be borrowing these."
"What truly matters to me is that you stop Agitate Halation. But try to save a life in the process."
"I will, but it is only her life I will be saving, " cut in Kamijou decisively."Only one person can truly save Maika and that person isn't me. Remember this: I will untie you, but I will become your enemy if you let Tsuchimikado die."
Afterwards, Kamijou quickly left the office and pressed the elevator button. It had not moved to any other floor, so the door immediately opened.
The elevator shaft was covered in glass, so he could see the dazzling nighttime scenery of District 3. The buildings he could see were more than just high-class hotels. This area put a lot of effort into diplomacy and VIP reception. Psychology and sociology had to have been taken into account all the way back at the town planning stage.
The boy stepped into the elevator and pressed the first floor button.
After the door closed, he leaned against the glass wall and ignored the carefully-designed nighttime scenery to instead look at the bundle of papers in his hands.
They were the documents that had been scattered across the office floor.
He had gathered a few dozen of them.
At the top they said:
Agitate Halation Project.
"..."
Hypothesized Catastrophe 034. Concerning Damages Caused by the Sudden and Coincidental Appearance of Heroes and a Countermeasure against Them Using a Likely Level 0.
From the very title, the document was written to be as difficult to understand as possible. This was not a report written for that old man. He may have taken the documents from somewhere else.
Kamijou skipped over the detailed numbers and graphs and absorbed the information from just the parts he could understand. It was as if he was running through the document with a highlighter.
Uncertain elements referring to themselves as heroes pose a threat to the development of the advanced technology that lies at the core of Academy City. Locating a certain weak individual can solve this problem. It has been statistically proven that an immature girl is most likely to fill the role.
This individual shall be henceforth referred to as the protection target.
This project aims to artificially create a protection target so that the unpredictable heroes will swiftly eliminate each other with a minimum of sacrifices.
Killing a hero with standard means is difficult. They possess a unique ability to suddenly reverse situations where they have an overwhelming disadvantage. However, that ability cannot help them in a conflict between two heroes.
The elevator descended quickly and surprisingly quietly.
Even the sound of Kamijou flipping through the pages sounded loud in the silent space.
This is not simply a plan to send the heroes against each other to eliminate themselves.
The energy caused by their collision will not always be cleanly cancelled out. It is possible it will instead influence yet another hero.
This can be visualized like a game of billiards.
If the countless heroes are the balls, then the protection target is the cue that strikes the balls. The initial strike can lead to a happy ending, but it can also lead to unavoidable self-destruction.
Several complex equations followed.
Kamijou could not even understand what field of science or mathematics they were based in.
The balls are already in place. What matters is the cue, the protection target.
A protection target will occasionally appear from within the ranks of the powerful, but statistically they appear overwhelmingly more often from within the weak. An individual who will function as a cue will be chosen from among the Level 0s. This individual must be remade into a spokesperson who will give his or her own opinions as a representative example of all of the weak.
The backup plan using Skill-Out, the primary plan using the Freshmen, and the secondary plan using Kakine Teitoku all progressed well. The artificially-created weak individual was confirmed to fill the position of the cornerstone to resolving each of these plans. Details can be found in the corresponding documents.
If "she" is now captured and given a simple card problem that relates to the desired heroes, she will become the cue that hits the balls across the table as we wish.
The protection target's brain must be destroyed so that she holds no questions about solving the simple problems given. She simply needs the same level of intelligence as a dove so that she can solve the quiz in exchange for food.
Once the project is complete, we can send any and all heroes to defeat each other at the press of a button. With no burden on our part, we can eliminate them to create a world without heroes.
The person behind the project was Yakumi Hisako, a member of Academy City's board of directors.
Her influence was especially strong in the medical field.
And...
The person this woman had chosen as the cornerstone for her greatest project was...
Fremea Seivelun. Once this artificial protection target has been harvested, this project will be complete.
A soft electronic tone sounded.
The elevator had arrived on the first floor.
Kamijou did not know where Tsuchimikado Maika was being hidden, so the only way to stop the attack on her was to head to the place Yakumi Hisako's group was most likely to attack. He would defeat the attackers there.
The door automatically opened and Kamijou stepped out into the first floor lobby. He threw the dozens of papers into a trash can by the wall.
Overall, the lobby's atmosphere was very calm, but some sort of explosion seemed to have occurred near the stairs. Kamijou could see some blood, but he could see no sign of anyone there.
Without giving it any more thought, Kamijou headed for the building's exit.
He was choosing for himself to step out into the darkness of the night.
Part 2
When he thought about it, it had been an odd day.
He had felt what was commonly referred to as a "bad feeling", but such feelings held no meaning if nothing was done about them. And so Hamazura Shiage had felt that strange gloomy feeling but had continued through the motions of his everyday life as if riding a conveyer belt.
The day had ended and night had arrived.
He was sitting at a window-side table in a café near Fremea Seivelun's student dorm in District 13. He was accompanied by his roommate Kinuhata Saiai, a small girl wearing a knit dress.
"We really are getting relaxed with this, " muttered Hamazura with his cheek resting on his hand while he used a straw to mix around a café au lait filled with way too much tapioca."We started secretly guarding Fremea because we thought the remnants of the Freshmen might try another attack."
"Well, we did super defeat the pillars of the organization, Kuroyoru and Silver Cross. And it seems there are no members who plan to super attack out of emotional revenge after their logical attack plan failed. The odds are super low anything will happen now."
"But shouldn't we still be taking this a little more seriously? For example, we shouldn't be spending the whole time staring at movie magazines!!"
"I super can't decide whether to choose 'The Fiery Indian Cook Runs through New York' or 'Saitama☆Vocal Crisis'. Ah, dammit! I've heard you super can't see the graffiti on the walls during the dark scenes of Vocal unless you watch it in super high quality, but none of the big theaters are showing it!!"
"You chose to eat curry, so are you leaning toward that Indian one?... Come to think of it, why are you eating curry in a café? You really aren't taking this seriously."
"You say that, but aren't you super worse with how you always try to pair up with Takitsubo-san for these protection missions!? Do you super realize that someone's life is on the line here!?"
Hamazura and Kinuhata began grappling (this primarily took the form of Kinuhata's small hands turning Hamazura's face even uglier), but they had a good reason for being so relaxed.
Namely...
"This Fremea girl has that rhinoceros beetle super attached to her backpack, right? Can't we super end this routine work already?"
"Ghgyarbgyar!!"
"... ? Super what are you trying to say, Hamazura?"
"You're pulling my gums out!!"
Hamazura began using all his strength to put out an SOS as the transformation to his face by Kinuhata's fingers began leaving the realm of humanity.
Kinuhata let go with a sigh of annoyance, but Hamazura was unsure if his face had actually returned to normal.
And then...
Something happened outside the café window. All light left the many windows in the student dorm across the street. Only the dorm supervisor's room on the first floor was still lit.
Hamazura checked the time on his cell phone.
"8:30 PM. Lights out. Nothing out of the ordinary today either."
"Then let's super head home."
Hamazura and Kinuhata stood up and began grappling once more over who would pay the bill. Once more, Hamazura's face was made even uglier.
And then...
Hamazura saw a bright light out of the corner of his eye.
He and Kinuhata looked out the window and saw one dorm room turn its light back on despite lights out having passed. After a few dozen seconds, the light disappeared once more.
The light had been from Fremea Seivelun's room.
The two exchanged a glance.
"She forgot to do her homework."
"She was super double-checking on what was in her backpack."
"She spotted a roach."
"She had a super bad dream."
They gave various speculations, but they of course still did not know the answer.
After thinking for a bit, Kinuhata pulled out her phone.
Hamazura frowned and asked, "Hey, wait. Do you really have to go that far?"
"We know that Fremea is still super awake. This will super not be a bother."
Kinuhata scrolled through her address book and called Fremea's phone.
But after holding the phone to her ear for about 10 seconds, she frowned and took it away from her ear.
"... What's wrong?"
"She super isn't answering."
Kinuhata hung up once she received an automatic announcement.
The look in her eyes switched over to one befitting a bloody world.
"As I said before, we know she is still super awake, but she super isn't answering her phone. We need to assume something super happened."
Kinuhata grabbed the bill, slammed it against Hamazura's face, and then rushed out of the café.
By the time Hamazura paid the bill and caught up, something else had happened.
"What is that noise?"
It was not an electronic tone. What sounded like a distant fire alarm was carried in on the night wind. This must have caused a commotion because lights began turning back on in the student dorm.
"Is that a fire alarm?... No, it's the alarm to an emergency exit."
"Meaning?"
"Either someone has forced their way in or someone left."
Kinuhata and Hamazura exchanged a glance.
Either option was bad news.
"But... what about the rhinoceros beetle? I thought Fremea had the #2 as her bodyguard!? No normal attacker would stand a chance!!"
"Super don't ask me! We need to super check on the situation for ourselves!!"
Part 3
Hamazura and Kinuhata had overlooked one simple possibility.
This is what happened a few minutes before the emergency door alarm went off.
"Homework: check! PE uniform: check! My knife and fork are in there, too! Nyah, nyah. My preparations for tomorrow are perfect!!"
Fremea Seivelun checked on her possessions while peering into her red backpack. She was in her dorm room and wearing pajamas. She was speaking out loud because she had been scolded by her teacher that morning for forgetting her homework.
The white rhinoceros beetle key chain on her desk then stirred slightly.
The smoother outer shell on his back opened up and wings so thin they looked translucent spread out. The wings vibrated the air such that they created an artificial voice.
"Did you make sure to put your toothbrush set inside?"
"N-nyah! In the first place, I was just getting to that!!" frantically replied Fremea as she tossed a narrow cylindrical plastic case into her backpack."All done!"
"Excellent."
Lights out would soon arrive. The rhinoceros beetle used his six small legs to move from the desk to the windowsill. Fremea must have suddenly felt tired after finishing her final task for the night because she began rubbing her eyes sleepily as she watched the beetle.
"Nyah. You could always stay here."
"I cannot do that, " replied the beetle while sticking his horn into the crack between the window and the windowsill.
As he used his horn to widen that gap and create an exit, Fremea tried to grab him, but then a red light flashed on the room's wall clock. That signified lights out.
Fremea frantically ran to her bed.
If she did not know where the bed was, it was all over. A nightlight was allowed after lights out (and it could be kept on all night), but that was the sign of a coward.
As soon as she jumped onto her bed, the lights went out.
She could still dimly see the windowsill due to the lights outside. She turned toward it and spoke.
"Nyah. Good night."
"Good night. See you tomorrow."
But just after the rhinoceros beetle finished speaking...
A sound like a thin piece of ice cracking could be heard.
It had come from the beetle. It had been loud enough for Fremea to hear it from the other side of the room. The beetle standing on the windowsill with his six legs then rolled off and dropped to the floor. It happened much too easily.
"Nyah, nyah? In the first place, what's wrong!? Are you okay!?"
If she turned on the fluorescent light after lights out, she would be scolded by the dorm supervisor, but that fact had completely left Fremea's mind.
She turned on the light and ran to the windowsill.
The rhinoceros beetle was still lying on his back with his six legs twitching. Cracks were running through him, but it seemed unlikely they were from the impact of the fall. It looked more like it was the cracks that had caused the fall.
(Not... good... )
The beetle desperately tried to open the outer shell on his back to spread his thin wings.
He was trying to create his artificial voice.
(Someone is interfering... with the Dark Matter... ? I do not know who is doing this... or how... but their draw... is very powerful!!)
However, the beetle was not trying to inform Fremea of his symptoms or to ask for help.
He was trying to do the opposite.
(The damage is focused on my outer shell. I detect no intent to target my weak spots at the joints and sensory organs... That means the enemy is trying to let others know that I am injured. The enemy is trying to concern Fremea Seivelun so she will leave the room on her own!)
"Kssshhhhhhh!!"
The rhinoceros beetle gathered all his strength to move his body and vibrate his wings, but he only produced a sort of static.
This failed voice only concerned the girl further.
The method was the same as a sniper shooting out the legs of an enemy soldier to draw in other soldiers who tried to help the first one. The beetle only now realized that the enemy had been expecting him to let out that "scream".
He was meant to produce a state of panic.
That panic would remove Fremea's thought patterns from their normal rails.
"Nyah... nyah! What should I do? Call an ambulance?... But he's a beetle, so maybe I need a vet. Do they heal bugs? A-anyway, I have to do something!"
"... No... stop... Kssshhh!! Kkssshhhh!!"
His warning did not reach her.
Just as the enemy wanted, Fremea scooped the beetle up into her arms.
"Hamazura... Nyah! That's right! Hamazura! Ahh! Why does he never answer when it's important! Nyah, nyah!!"
She changed into her outdoor clothes and charged out of her safe room.
Her plan was to meet up with Hamazura Shiage to discuss the problem.
Academy City's #2 was supposed to be a powerful bodyguard protecting Fremea Seivelun, but he had instead been used as a tool to drag her down into the darkness.
And then a high-pitched alarm blared to indicate the emergency door had been opened.
The enemy had not needed to send an attacker to harm Fremea.
They had merely needed to have her move to the target destination.
Part 4
Fate took effect.
A girl who could be called the exact opposite of Fremea Seivelun was dragged up onto the stage.
"Shit!!" swore Kuroyoru Umidori with her back leaning up against a building in a District 13 alley.
She was a Level 4 who could control nitrogen as well as a cyborg who had remade a portion of her body with a focus on her arms. She had once controlled the new darkness of Academy City known as the Freshmen, but she was now preparing for the return of that group by working to repair the connections that had been torn apart back then.
To put it simply, she was performing jobs for higher ups in the city.
This job should have been simple. She was aiding a VIP in one of their occasional moves from one stronghold to another. She did not know if it was in the form of checks or bonds, but she had to move the "money" in an attaché case from the old stronghold to the new. This was obviously something that could not be allowed to get out, but she was used to handling this sort of thing.
However...
"Goddamn them. It was empty from the beginning!"
By the time she had noticed something was off and broken the attaché case's lock, it was too late. There was nothing inside. It had not been lost en route; nothing had ever been inside. And she had not been used as a diversion as was common when transporting cash.
She was being framed.
The VIP who had given Kuroyoru the job would soon officially accuse her in the form of an assassin. The VIP would demand she return the money she stole in order to cheat her out of a large sum of money. The entire job had been a lie. The very agreement over who would be paying who had been a lie.
(But that's fine. Now that I know I can't use this connection, I have plenty of other ways to use this. I just need to find people who are afraid of this VIP or people who want her dead. I can create several different connections from this. )
Her power was only effective at close range, but she possessed the destructive power to slice a tank in half.
Even her thought patterns were dyed in the colors of offense.
"Don't make me fucking laugh, Yakumi. Thanks for the opportunity. I'll tie a ribbon around your head and use it as the foundation for the Freshmen's revival."
And then...
She heard soft footsteps approaching.
From the way the person was carrying their weight, this was not a professional. However, Kuroyoru did not let her guard down. An amateur could still kill. Their cell phone's camera might have been taken over to send target data to a sniper or they could be carrying liquid nitrogen without knowing it. Those who relaxed when up against a child or the elderly would not live long. They would just end up being killed by a child or the elderly.
Finally, a "girl" showing no sign of caution appeared.
"Ny-nyah! In the first place, where is Hamazura!?"
(... Her?)
It was Fremea Seivelun.
She had been the target the Freshmen had once tried to crush to achieve their goal. However, it had been Silver Cross Alpha who had actually taken action to abduct Fremea and he had used various types of powered suits and unmanned weapons. Fremea had never actually seen Kuroyoru.
And so...
The girl showed no concern when she saw Kuroyoru Umidori in that alley.
In fact...
Fremea was more concerned with a strange noise coming from deeper in the alley. It sounded like several metal pieces grinding together.
Kuroyoru could think of only one possibility.
"Yakumi Hisako's assassin, " spat out Kuroyoru as she kicked away the empty attaché case at her feet.
She did not know what exactly happened to the metal case after it flew into the darkness of the alley in a parabolic arc. She could only hear a great din that was not quite sounds of destruction and not quite sounds of chewing.
"Ee!" shrieked Fremea as she stood paralyzed with fear.
Kuroyoru ignored her and glared into the alley. Someone was walking their way.
From the clothes, it appeared to be a nurse.
However, the look in this nurse's eyes showed that she did the opposite of "save" lives. Her long hair was worn up to keep it tidy, her fingernails were cut short with no manicure, and her other outward characteristics were just as focused on being hygienic. This made her look very plain, but the look in her eyes was anything but plain.
The nametag on her chest said Rensa.
It was unclear whether this was her family name or given name.
Very few people would want to give away their identity on a field of killing, so this was either a fake name or a declaration that she would kill everyone here.
"I will collect the money later, " Rensa said to Kuroyoru with a sharp glare before turning her gaze to Fremea who stood behind Kuroyoru."Fremea Seivelun spotted. The situation is progressing well. Given the difference in priority, I am setting her capture as my primary objective."
Kuroyoru had not even the slightest obligation to protect Fremea.
If she had been the type of person who would risk her own life to protect a strange girl, she would not have chosen to give herself into the darkness and she would not have decided it was a comfortable place to be.
However...
"Is that supposed to be a joke? Your terrible sense of humor is the only thing laughable here, " spat out Kuroyoru as she held her right hand forward. A nitrogen spear appeared from her palm."Don't underestimate the Freshmen. You assumed trust was more important to me than money. That was a mistake. A terrible mistake. You want to know what's top priority here? It's killing you!!"
"... The situation is progressing well."
A smile appeared on Rensa's face. It was so small it was hard to tell anything had changed.
The smile seemed even less human than the lack of expression from before.
"The artificial protection target has even shown enough control over her enemy to create a dark hero variation. Everything is progressing as expected."
"... What?"
"Just to clarify, I am not taking the Freshmen lightly or making any erroneous assumptions, " continued Rensa at a constant slow rate."The Freshmen were only created to input set values of fear, anger, and joy into Fremea Seivelun's mind. In other words, you were the villains who were intended to fail. From that perspective, you played the command role near perfectly. You lost perfectly."
"I take it you want me to kill you?"
Kuroyoru Umidori lowered her body slightly.
After shifting her timing just a bit, Kuroyoru charged toward Rensa. After drawing her opponent's focus to the spear in her right hand, she extinguished it and produced a new nitrogen spear from her left hand. Drawing the eye like that was the basis of stage magic. It only gave her 0. 5 seconds, but that was more than enough.
She moved to decapitate the girl.
Kuroyoru swung the left spear up and across toward Rensa's head. Rensa stood perfectly still as the nitrogen spear approached in a crescent moon trajectory.
And then Kuroyoru Umidori's Bomber Lance was immediately stopped.
Rensa had produced a transparent nitrogen spear of her own from her palm.
"Wha-... ?"
Kuroyoru gasped.
Her powers had been developed in the Dark May Project. There were others who used nitrogen powers, but Kuroyoru had never seen anyone else who could produce spears with nitrogen. Rensa was clearly using the same power as Kuroyoru.
"The situation is progressing well." Despite the two of them being in a situation similar to locking swords, Rensa's expression did not change."The dark hero ball has indeed been influenced by the cue that is the artificial protection target. It should be possible to create a collision between her and a normal hero. Agitate Halation's usefulness has-..."
"Shut the fuck up!!" shouted Kuroyoru as she intentionally extinguished the spear in her left hand and bent her upper body to avoid Rensa's spear which continued forcefully toward her.
When Rensa lost balance, Kuroyoru held both palms toward her.
If she fired two more Bomber Lances from those palms, it would all be over.
The girl could not defend this time.
Even if she could use the same Bomber Lance as Kuroyoru, Rensa's stance prevented her from using the spears to defend.
However...
Something else happened.
Kuroyoru heard an odd sound as if multiple piece of metal were scraping together.
(What... ?)
She felt as if the world had entered slow motion as some strange object burst from Rensa's back. It was a giant metallic red flower accompanied by countless silver metal rods that looked like the flower's stamen and pistil.
Was she equipped with some next generation weapon based in strange cutting edge technology?
Had she built it into her body like Kuroyoru's former colleague Silver Cross Alpha?
(No... )
Kuroyoru Umidori, who had remade a portion of her body to artificially transfer the meaning of her existence, felt an unclassified, unscientific, vivid, and primitive "bad feeling".
(This can't be... no... it can't be... !!)
With another metallic noise, the giant flower that expanded from Rensa's back folded back up into her nurse uniform. The cloth had not been torn because the back had been made with a special hole.
The entire process had only taken 0. 7 seconds.
Kuroyoru was unable to take action based on her "bad feeling". She could not even cancel the action she had already started to take. Bomber Lances burst from the palms pointed toward Rensa's upper body.
And she already knew that this was a fatal mistake.
The instant the nitrogen spears touched Rensa's body, they burst to pieces and caused a large explosion.
"Ah... bh!?"
Kuroyoru Umidori stopped breathing.
When she lost control of her power, it became a small bomb. The torrent of nitrogen expanding with tremendous force had struck Kuroyoru like someone had tossed a grenade at her chest in the same way one passed a basketball.
Rensa had used some method to defend.
However, Bomber Lance could not accomplish what she had done.
She had ignored the "palm" restriction and reflected the offensive ability when it had touched any part of her body.
(Reflection... ? But then... !!)
The power that could accomplish that was...
(Vector... control... ? It can't be... It can't be!! Is she using the powers of the #1 who my offensive thought patterns are based on... !?)
There was a project known as Five Over.
It had attempted to reproduce the phenomena caused by the seven Level 5s registered within Academy City by using macro engineering technology instead of micro quantum mechanics. Her former colleague Silver Cross had used a powered suit with Gatling gun ability which had borne the name of the #3's Five Over.
However...
(No. If I'm right, this goes well beyond having the #1's Five Over installed in her! This bitch has-... !!)
With the same unpleasant metallic noise, that giant scientific flower opened and closed once more from the back of Rensa's nurse uniform and cardigan.
It was as if she was loading the next round in a pump-action shotgun.
After being knocked back by her own spear exploding, Kuroyoru could only watch as Rensa gracefully turned on one leg. She rotated 180 degrees to point her cardigan-covered back toward the other girl.
"Gh... !!!???"
Pure white wings burst out of her back. Instead of a simple strike, it was more like hundreds of sharp stakes had been shot at her. Kuroyoru produced spears from both hands and desperately tried to defend, but she did not make it in time. Kuroyoru's powers had been modified to be offensive, so they were ill-suited to defend. The white stakes wove between the spears and unhesitatingly struck Kuroyoru's upper body.
This time, Rensa had produced a white material.
This was Academy City's #2.
This was Dark Matter.
(I get it... Does that giant flower rearrange her interior!?)
"Bhh!?... Gah... !!"
That was all it took to make her start coughing up blood.
This was not a mere machine.
However, it was also not the same as the psychic powers using quantum mechanics that Academy City had developed.
Kuroyoru's ability to control nitrogen was upwards compatible with the #1's ability to control all vectors. In other words, his power could reproduce her power.
However, the #1 and the #2 were obviously completely different. No matter how much either one tried to reproduce the other's power, they would never be able to fully do so.
That meant this girl could at least use two powers of two completely different types.
And that was only at the very least.
This created a contradiction with the Dual Skill barrier. A single human brain should not have been able to possess more than one power.
And yet...
(You monster... You monster!! At this rate, I doubt this will end at just two. And yet each individual power is too great a factor for me to handle head on!!)
She did not have time to lie around on the ground. She upped the output of her spears further. She swung her arms around like they were boosters to keep her balance and then jumped straight up into the air. She kicked off the walls a few times and made her way up to the roof.
She heard the same metallic noise from below.
Rensa was changing her attack method.
And then Rensa's orderly voice said, "Hypothesized Catastrophe 034... 'Countermeasure in Case All Seven Level 5s in Academy City Opposed the Board of Directors Simultaneously. ' That is why I was created. In other words, I have been given the power needed to defeat all seven Level 5s on my own. Please do not think you can escape with such a foolish plan."
Kuroyoru then heard a much quieter metallic noise.
It sounded like someone flicking a coin with their thumb.
The Level 5 this brought to mind was...
"Railgun!?" shouted Kuroyoru.
In the same instant, the darkness of the night was ripped apart by an orange beam of light.
Part 5
They heard an explosion.
District 13 was much more silent than an entertainment district, so they could almost feel the commotion forming. It felt like they could tell exactly where in the district the explosion had occurred.
Hamazura Shiage and Kinuhata Saiai had entered Fremea's student dorm to gather information. However, they had not snuck in, broken a window to get in, or anything like that. The emergency door alarm had gone off, so they had simply knocked on the front door asking if they needed help or needed someone to call Anti-Skill.
According to the dorm supervisor, there was no fear of a fire or robber and the resident Anti-Skill member was in the process of checking to make sure all of the students were present. In other words, they had learned nothing.
They had heard the explosion while in the middle of that.
The blast was so loud they thought the windows might have shattered had the explosion been just a bit closer.
"You've gotta be kidding me. That has nothing to do with Fremea, right!?"
"It may have super nothing to do with her, but we mustn't underestimate her ability to get wrapped up in trouble."
Hamazura and Kinuhata told the flustered dorm supervisor to finish checking on the students as quickly as possible and to seal the exits so no one could leave. They then ran toward the site of the blast.
"Will she really listen to what some super suspicious people told her?"
"Whether she does or not, the kids aren't allowed out past lights out. And if Fremea really has disappeared, the teachers are going to be nervous too."
Due to the great commotion, even a monkey would have known where the site of the blast was.
There was no flood of curious onlookers because District 13 was filled with elementary school students who were strictly prohibited from going out at night.
"But what's with this timing? Sure, we were being cautious, but there wasn't any sign of the Freshmen trying to reform, was there!?"
"Let's see, the Freshmen are super definitely the top suspect, but we need to super assume they are not the only ones lurking in Academy City."
And then...
They heard an odd sizzling sound.
It was similar to an insect being fried by a bug zapper, but they could not see one anywhere.
"Hey, wait, wait!" shouted a sugary female voice.
They saw a woman in her thirties wearing the white coat of a researcher. She must not have been used to exerting herself because she was out of breath just from jogging a bit.
As she gasped for breath, she said, "It would be a biiit of a problem if you continued on up ahead. Hm, I suppose you would be the easiest hero to draw in using Fremea Seivelun."
"... What?"
"..."
Hamazura frowned at that nonsensical statement, but Kinuhata was more focused on their surroundings. She was looking around cautiously.
Meanwhile, the woman continued, "Hmm, this is a problem. By their nature, a hero won't listen if you tell them not to go help. Aaand that's why I won't try that.... I'll give you a more convincing reason to give up."
A sound like zapping electricity rang out.
Orange sparks flew from the gap of the hood on a car parked in a nearby parking lot. And it did not stop there. Sounds of electricity continued from all over.
The woman gave a crescent moon-shaped smile while standing in that nighttime street.
"You know that bugs in computers and the like are called that because of real bugs, right?"
"..."
"Real bugs would crawl into the circuits and cause the machine to malfunction. Nowww, a question: Why would I be explaining this in such an ominous setting? Heh heh heh hah hah!!"
Sparks flew from the traffic lights, the vending machines, the outdoor speakers used to announce the time during the day, the emergency public phones, and every other electronic device along the street.
"... They're here. Hamazura, they're super here! We're super surrounded!!"
When Kinuhata said that, Hamazura finally turned his gaze away from the creepy woman.
A manhole lid was being lifted up. He thought he saw a dark liquid pouring out, but that was not what it was. It was not actually anything that unusual. The problem was the overwhelming numbers.
"What the hell... !? Roaches!?"
"Don't worry. Unlike the German or American cockroaches, this kind doesn't eat garbage. These are the giant cockroaches found in forests and jungles that chew through wood. By the way, roaches have the same evolutionary roots as termites. And. That. Means. They already have the teeth they need to tear through flesh and bones."
Hearing that did nothing to eliminate the physiological sense of disgust.
One roach was bad enough, but the mere sight of hundreds or even thousands of them was enough to violently assault Hamazura's vision like a weapon.
"And did you know that an insect's brain structure is simple enough for a bit of psychosurgery to make them to want to eat anything and everything? These days, we don't even have to open up their heads. We can just destroy the cells we want with a neutron beam. Oh, but we did put some forethought into this. No actual genetic alterations have been made, so if they escape and reproduce, their children will not be able to eat people."
In other words, they were man-eating roaches.
The food chain had been reversed. This seemed less like a cutting-edge weapon that carried out optimized destruction and more like harassment meant to lower the enemy's morale for the smallest cost.
"Oh, and they can eat a lot more than just human flesh. They can eat wood. They can eat stone. They can eat rubber, metal, glass, and plastic. If you try to run off and hide, they'll just eat through the building, so be careful."
Part 6
Night had already fallen. The curfew had passed, so the trains and busses had stopped. Kamijou Touma was running from District 3 to District 13. Those behind the Agitate Halation project had set Fremea Seivelun at the center of the project. It was possible they were going to attack her at any moment.
However...
(Where is this Fremea girl's dorm?)
Kamijou was running toward District 13, but he did not know specifically where to go.
(It'll be in District 13. That much I know. That time I let Birdway into my dorm, this girl was there too. I remember greeting her, but was there more than that? Did she ever give any specifics about her school or her dorm?)
She may have and she may not have. He did not remember. At that point, Kamijou recalled the cell phone in his pocket. Index had a perfect memory, so she would remember any trivial comment Fremea might have made. If Fremea had said something in a conversation or even muttered to herself, Index would not have overlooked it.
However, Kamijou did not pull out his cell phone.
Something else happened before he could.
A nearby roadside tree was suddenly sliced apart diagonally.
"... !!"
The attack had come from behind. Kamijou frantically ducked down, but after the fact. If the "blade" that had been swung sideways had been just a few centimeters lower, Kamijou's skull would have been sliced through.
Something like raindrops dripped onto his head.
(What? Was that a water jet!?)
He quickly turned around.
He saw a large empty pedestrian scramble. Empty, that is, except for a single person standing in the center of it. She wore the outfit of a bunny girl which showed off her sensual feminine body lines, but that sex appeal was countered by a paper bag worn over the head. That was strange enough, but she was also using both hands to hold something at her hips.
It resembled a naginata.
It appeared to be made of a combination of carbon and plastic.
However, a hose-like object was connected to the bottom of the grip.
She wore a tank filled with water on her back like a backpack.
(Wait, is that enough to explain this? The water jets used to cut steel sheets in factories need a gigantic machine to cut the steel just a few centimeters away. She used that from easily over 10 meters away!!)
Was it a pure machine tool?
Or was some sort of esper ability involved?
The answer to that could make a world of difference in how useful Kamijou Touma's right hand would be.
"Nyan nyaka nyan, nyan nyaka nyan, nyan nyan nyan nyan nyaaan☆"
She sang mockingly.
And the song had nothing at all to do with rabbits.
Kamijou had been so preoccupied by her strange outfit and weapon, that he had forgotten something important.
"... What? Who are you!? Why are you targeting me!?"
"Nyan!?"
The head under the paper bag tilted slightly.
She replied while shaking her hips so seductively it became creepy.
"Well, you. You there. Can't you hear it?"
"Hear what... ?"
"The voiceless voice." Something inside her head seemed to switch over as the paper bag spoke."There are idiots out there who will call you self-righteous for choosing to fight if the person never asked for help. Those people really are stupid. They can't relax until they've gotten in other people's way just to give an excuse for not helping. They're hopeless. Just so, so hopeless. When I see people like that, it makes me want to slice them in two like a samurai."
This made no sense.
She seemed to have a fairly developed set of principles, so what was she doing here? An intense feeling of something being out of place came over Kamijou. It was like someone had brought in a piece from a different jigsaw puzzle because one was missing from the proper puzzle.
Yes.
It was like a weapon that had no one to protect yet would still destroy any enemy that fit the proper parameters.
"They don't want my help? I don't care. No one wants me to do this? I don't care! Saving them like this won't make anyone happy? I! Don't! Care!!... I just need to listen to the voiceless voice. I just need to save those I want to save! That's what it means to be a hero!!"
Kamijou felt an unpleasant sensation run down his spine. Why would she use that term here?
"It's pounding in my head. The voiceless voice is telling me she's afraid! That she's in pain! And so I will save Fremea Seivelun. I already know she is being targeted. I have no way of knowing who is an enemy and who is an ally, so hmm... I guess the only way to find the assassin is to crush every single other person☆!!"
As she shouted out psychedelically, she sprayed a blade of ultra-high pressure water from the tip of the naginata. She lazily lowered the tip and the water blade tore into the asphalt.
"What... ?" said Kamijou without thinking.
No one should have known what route he was taking from District 3 to District 13. In fact, no one should have known that he was heading toward Fremea. However, that was not the issue he had with this.
Why had an attacker who knew about Fremea appeared with this timing?
It was as if she had some card he had to take from her by defeating her.
"I don't know how far Agitate Halation has progressed, but is this Fremea's influence? But that doesn't make any-... !!"
"I don't care about your complaints. Fnyah hah hah!! Let's settle this with our fists! Let's go for a fistfight! Heh... If I die, make sure to protect Fremea. Just kidding!!"
Kamijou could not allow himself to be held up here, but that water jet naginata could be turned toward him at any moment.
He held his right fist up at the ready.
And then the bunny girl wearing a paper bag was sent flying through the air due to a blow from the side.
Kamijou had not done a thing.
A new intruder announced their presence with a deep sound that Kamijou felt in his gut like in a live music club.
(Was that an explosive blast? No, or just an explosive noise? Was it some kind of shockwave!?)
Four large trucks slowly came to a stop, filling one entire corner of the pedestrian scramble. They were the advertisement trucks that drove around announcing an artist's new song. The four trucks lined up with two on either side and someone walked up along the center line between them.
With the bright headlights behind the person, all Kamijou could see was a dark shadow.
As his eyes adjusted to the light, he managed to make out that the shadow had the silhouette of a girl.
Gradually, he realized she was the person who had put together the group of trucks.
She wore a bikini top and baggy pants. She was so lightly dressed one almost forgot this was a November night. Her clothes looked more like a stage outfit than personal clothes. The girl was holding what looked like a megaphone but was actually a wireless microphone connected to the giant speakers loaded on the advertisement trucks.
That sweet candy-like voice burst through the night at such loud volume that it felt like an explosive blast.
"Ladiiiiiies aaand gentlemeeeeeeeeeeen!! Thank you for coming to today's Fusou Ayame punishment conceeeerrrrrrrrtttttt!!"
"What the hell are you doing!?"
Kamijou yelled with his hands over his ears, but he was not sure his voice had reached her. The great noise seemed to shake his skull more than his eardrums and Fusou Ayame, the girl who had sent the paper bag bunny flying, made various exaggerated gestures as she spoke.
"Here are today's guest performers!! They are the uncertain elements trying to get near Fremea Seivelun! Tah dah! It's time for the bloody sudden death concert you've all come to expect! Let's keep going all night looooooonnnnnnnnngggggggggg!!!!!!"
At that point, high-pitched static as if from feedback mixed in with the already violently-loud flood of noise.
However, Fusou Ayame had not made some sort of mistake.
One of the four large trucks had been sliced in two by an ultra-high pressure water jet.
Kamijou looked over and saw the bunny girl unsteadily standing up from where she had been knocked by the shockwave that had likely been created by an esper ability to amplify noise and give it directionality. She must have coughed up some blood because the paper bag was tinged red around the mouth. Nevertheless, it still looked like she was smiling eerily.
"Don't! Make! Me! Laugh!! The voiceless voice is the guide to salvation. If you claim to be a hero, why are you trying to crush iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiittttttttttttttttttttttttttttt!?"
Fusou Ayame gave an impressed whistle followed by, "Thank you very much for getting so into your performaaaaaaannnnnnce!! Now that everyone's warmed up, let's get the first song started. It's time to dance until your heart buuuuuurrrrrrssssssssts!!"
It almost seemed the person behind the Agitate Halation project had sent assassins to stop Kamijou who was on his way to Fremea. Just like they had placed the ball named Kamijou on the table to knock the inconvenient ball named Tsuchimikado into the pocket.
But that was not what was happening.
The balls that had collided here were the paper bag bunny girl and Fusou Ayame.
(Agitate Halation gives Fremea the "attribute" of a protection target so those controlling the project can freely send any heroes in the city to defeat each other. )
"Tonight's guest performer is putting up quite the fight☆ But I have the overwhelming advantage when it comes to reach! Can she put on an even more exciting show just by swinging around that machine tooooooooooooooooooollllllllllll!?"
"Hah! If you know it's a machine tool, then maybe you should be more cautious!!"
The water jet sliced through the road, the signs, and cars parked on the side of the road.
No, it did more than slice through them.
The systematically sliced-off pieces fit together perfectly like the parts of a plastic model and formed a giant crossbow that was three meters long.
"This is the siege weapon known as a ballista!! I just have to make whatever I don't have! This easily fills in my range weakness!!"
With another impressed whistle, the other girl said, "Preparing a machine on the fly like that is quite the ad liiiiiiiiibbbbbbbb!!"
Kamijou thought while blankly watching the two heroes clash.
(That would mean all the balls involved here are trying to work to Fremea's advantage. But is that really what's happening? Is a third party using Fremea as the cue to control everyone on the billiards table?)
Was that the person behind Agitate Halation?
Was that Yakumi Hisako of the board of directors?
But...
(In that case, it's odd that the heroes aren't focusing on me. In fact, it's odd that I'm here at all. I was originally sent to eliminate Tsuchimikado Motoharu for them. According to that old man, I was supposed to be eliminated by some bacteria. So where did things go wrong? In fact, who is truly controlling Agitate Halation!?)
Kamijou Touma was still there.
And the heroes were not ganging up on him.
A great roar exploded out. Something had happened between the paper bag bunny girl and Fusou Ayame. With a whooshing sound, something fell down toward Kamijou's head.
He caught it and found it was a cell phone.
He opened it and checked on its contents. The owner may have done some independent research because it listed the location of Fremea Seivelun's student dorm.
(This is too convenient. )
The two girls were so focused on fighting that they paid no heed to Kamijou's actions.
He thought while quietly leaving.
(But convenient for who? I doubt it's for Fremea Seivelun or the person controlling her behind the scenes. Where is this project being controlled? Who is leading me around!?)
Part 7
"Pant... pant..."
Kuroyoru Umidori lay on her back on top of a five-story building. Her right eye kept blinking. Her right arm had been ripped off at the upper arm. Instead of flesh and blood, glittering silver pieces of framework and cables were strewn about.
She could not calculate the level of damage.
She could not grasp how much power remained within her.
She felt like wires had been stabbed into the center of her body and were stirring up everything inside. Only her right arm had actually been attacked, and yet her entire body cried out in pain.
(God fucking dammit... The #1, the #2, and even the #3... That monster is called Rensa, right? This goes beyond Dual Skill. Each individual ability is so powerful it hardly matters she can use more than one!!)
While she still felt the pain, her fear had numbed over. That showed just how little she understood the situation and how confused she was. She tried to move, but her three remaining limbs only trembled.
She heard a soft sound.
She turned her unnaturally trembling head just in time to see the nurse named Rensa stepping up onto the edge of the rooftop.
"..."
Kuroyoru had not come up with any sort of plan.
She was not even sure if there was any plan she could possibly come up with.
Kuroyoru's missing right arm was held in Rensa's mouth. She had caught it there after shooting it off. That was all that meant.
It was nothing more than a victory prize.
Once she was done with that psychological harassment she had carried out on a whim, Rensa did not hesitate to spit the severed arm to the side.
"The situation is progressing well. I am glad to see you are not dead. Your death would be a problem."
"... ?"
"I will not kill you, " said Rensa with no change of expression.
With a metallic noise, the giant flower-like object shot from her back and then shot back in.
"I can produce this Bomber Lance from my hand. If I decapitate Fremea Seivelun with this, who will all the heroes think did it?"
"Heh..." Kuroyoru laughed despite the sweat covering her body."So you needed a convenient villain you're fine with them ganging up on? Then why bother with all this? You could have just given me the job. You could have told me to go kill that Fremea brat in exchange for bringing back the Freshmen."
"The end result is the same either way."
She had pursued Kuroyoru rather than Fremea in order to prevent any possible alibis. It would be a problem if Kuroyoru was with someone else while Rensa killed Fremea. That was the only reason.
"But why do you want to kill Fremea? I thought she was so important you used the Freshmen as a stepping stone to reach her."
"Agitate Halation is not Fremea Seivelun's ability. External factors may have placed it within her, but the final stage lies beyond that."
"In other words, now that this ability has been put in Fremea, something else will be completed when you kill her? It's like you're tearing her gut open to take out a baby."
"I am glad you understand. This is an endurance test for mass production. After seeing how far we must go for the artificial protection target to die, we will create a birdcage to control the target.... Is that a problem?"
"Not really."
Kuroyoru Umidori had no reason to actively protect Fremea Seivelun.
Nor did she have any reason to get along with those around Fremea.
If they wanted to hate her, they were free to do so. It did not matter if it was based in revenge for something she had actually done or if it was a grudge they had artificially been led to hold. The darkness held enough benefit, pleasure, and freedom for her to endure it.
"If that's what you're gonna do, then do it."
"Then I shall."
"But." Kuroyoru paused for a second."You made a mistake when you took my severed arm with you."
"?"
"You gave me exactly what I needed to break the Tengu's long nose. I'm not gonna pass up a chance like this even if I have no real reason!!"
The explosive sound of a nitrogen spear appearing could be heard.
However, it did not come from Kuroyoru's left palm.
It came from the severed mechanical arm Rensa had spat at her feet not long before.
"I can control it remotely! As long as the palm remains, I can still use it as an output point for my powers! Did you forget that, you lowly thug!?"
With no body to hold it in place, the right arm began rotating on the spot like a pinwheel firework. And Rensa was standing right next to it.
Kuroyoru created another Bomber Lance from her left hand.
Due to the tremendous damage she had taken, she could not even stand. For that reason, she used the nitrogen spear like a booster to blast herself toward Rensa. She balled up her body in midair and swung the spear around as she rotated.
She attacked with both her right and her left hand.
Even with one of those hands no longer attached to her body, she succeeded in the simultaneous attack.
And...
(You may have multiple methods of attack, but there's a slight lag when you switch between them. That means you're vulnerable to surprise attacks!!)
Rensa immediately produced identical nitrogen spears to Kuroyoru's from both her palms. This may have been based in the thought patterns created to kill the seven Level 5s. Her strategy may have been to respond with the same power as her opponent when unsure what to do.
The four spears clashed.
Rensa must not have wanted to give Kuroyoru any time to recover because she quickly detonated her own nitrogen spears. That was usually not a very effective attack, but Kuroyoru was in midair and her severed right arm was out of control. In other words, she could not brace herself. The explosion blasted Kuroyoru's body and right arm in different directions.
"Gh... !!" gasped Kuroyoru as her back slammed into hard concrete.
Her attacks had not reached Rensa.
(But she detonated the spears at close range without using the #1's reflection. That blast must have hit her too!!)
While collapsed on the ground, Kuroyoru adjusted her position slightly to look over at Rensa.
She grinned.
It was a villainous, hideous, twisted, mocking, and thin, thin smile.
"... I was... right..."
She heard a flapping noise.
It was the sound of the ripped fabric of the nurse uniform and cardigan being blown about in the night wind.
The hair Rensa had worn up in a plain style for hygienic reasons had spread out. It seemed to follow the smooth ups and downs of her skin.
The true meaning hidden in this enemy lay there.
"That... that right there is what makes you... what makes people call you a monster. That's it. But once I know what it is, I can find a way to use it against you. I'm not to feeling my way blindly through a pitch-black minefield. No matter how many mines have been laid, I can walk safely through the minefield barefoot as long as I've marked them all with phosphorescent paint ahead of-... !!"
Kuroyoru trailed off.
She heard the metallic sound of Rensa switching out attack methods and then a tremendous attack sent her body flying through the air... and right off the edge of the building.
| ← Ch. 085 | Ch. 087 → |