novel- ??? Agitate_Halation (2)
| ← Ch.086 | Ch.088 → |
Part 8
The man-eating cockroaches slowly approached.
It was not just the one manhole lid being pushed up. Every manhole as far as they could see had countless shiny black insects pouring out of them.
Hamazura backed up without thinking, but that would not help in this situation.
Kinuhata faced forward and clicked her tongue while glaring at the woman in the lab coat.
"Hamazura, let's super split up here."
"What do you mean?"
"I super have Offense Armor. I can super create a wall of compressed nitrogen around my body. Even if those things super have the ability to chew through and digest flesh and bone, they super cannot reach my flesh."
Was Kinuhata saying she would handle the man-eating roaches?
"But... !!"
"That's a dangerous gamble, " cut in the woman in the lab coat."These maaay not have the ability to eat through a wall of nitrogen, but are you sure that is the only way for them to get through? What if you were no longer able to create that wall? That would only leave your soft flesh."
"You are only super enjoying trying to scare us. We don't need to worry about that."
"Are you sure?"
"The conditions are super identical for you, " said Kinuhata mockingly."You are using all these man-eating roaches and yet there is no sign of them super attacking you. You must have something that super protects you and super sends orders to them. If I super get my hands on that, you will be in trouble. Being super eaten by your own swarm of roaches would be one super hell of a way to die."
"... Kinuhata. Hey!!"
Hamazura tried to stop Kinuhata as she advanced the conversation on her own.
She silenced him with a quick glare.
"She super has some way of controlling all these man-eating roaches. She may be able to super attack in multiple places at once and she may have other pawns.... We super can't leave Fremea-san unprotected. Hamazura, super go help her."
The woman in the lab coat gave empty, mocking applause.
"Nee hee. Do you really think I'll let you go?"
"We will super manage somehow. Now that I know their fangs can't reach me, I can handle as super many of them as I need to."
"Nee hee hee hee hee hee! Didn't I say roaches and termites have the same evolutionary roots? So why do you think I chose roaches? Why not termites instead?"
Her cruelty began to erupt out.
"It was because roaches cause much more mental exhaustion. They affect your mind when you see them moving around and when you squish them! And whether they are performed consciously or subconsciously, Academy City's esper powers require mental calculations. Will you make it to 100? Or 1000? Or maybe even an unthinkable 10, 000? As you are squishing and squishing and squishing, what do you think will happen to your Personal Reality!?"
That explanation alone was almost enough to overwhelm Hamazura.
Kinuhata shouted out as if to free him from the curse.
"Hamazura! Super hurry to Fremea-san!!"
"But... !"
"Are you going to let that super small girl see the grotesque things created for espers of the dark side? And you are the one she has become attached to the super most! You have an obligation to super live up to her trust in you!! And if you do, she will not have to super see the things we have seen!!"
Hamazura slowly shook his head.
He took a step backwards.
However, Kinuhata was sure he had already made up his mind. Hamazura knew just how weak Level 0s were. That knowledge could be transformed into the strength to struggle and become stronger. And he understood just how dangerous it would be for Fremea to be thrown back into the darkness.
"I'm sorry, Kinuhata..."
"I was super never even thinking you would be any help."
"Sorry!!" shouted Hamazura with all his strength as he turned his back on it all.
He ran. He ran as quickly as he could. In the instant Kinuhata had disappeared from his vision, he had thought he saw a grin on her face. He heard a vibration reverberating through the air as if from electric hair clippers held next to his ear. A chill ran down his spine. They were chasing him. He imagined hundreds or even thousands of man-eating roaches flying toward him, but he could not bear to turn around to look. However, those shiny black insects never reached him. He heard a disgustingly graphic squishing sound and the vibrating noise came to an end. Kinuhata was fighting to protect him, but he could not suppress a feeling of disgust. This went beyond logic or emotions. A system had been created to semi automatically wear down Kinuhata Saiai's mind.
He ran toward the site of the blast.
He ran toward the site of an incident that was likely related to Fremea's disappearance from her dorm.
Hamazura put his entire being into running. He ran and ran until he could not tell if the urge to vomit rising in his stomach and the tears occasionally welling up in his eyes were due to the informational violence of all those roaches or to the guilt of running away and leaving it all to his comrade Kinuhata.
"U-uuh... A-aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!"
He shouted out even though it would change nothing.
The pressure inside him had surpassed a certain limit.
If he did not release that pressure in some way or another, he felt his mind would burst like a balloon.
His balance was thrown off, so he staggered again and again as he ran toward the site of the explosion.
And just when he was almost there...
Something came crashing down from a building rooftop.
He looked over at what had slammed into the concrete sidewalk and found the girl named Kuroyoru Umidori.
She said nothing.
That bloody girl who had a Level 4 ability to control nitrogen was a cyborg who had replaced a portion of her body with machines. However, everything but that portion that was centered on her arms was still the flesh and blood of a normal girl. She must have failed to slow her descent with her nitrogen spears, and her body was not sturdy enough to escape a fall from five floors up unscathed.
"... Uuh... ah..."
Without turning her head, Kuroyoru moved her twitching and blood-shot eyes to look up at Hamazura who had stopped in his tracks.
"... Uuh..."
Hamazura approached and crouched down to hear what she had to say, but he only heard a slight gasp. He could not tell what she was trying to say.
It did seem she was trying to say something, but her lungs must not have been able to suck in enough air. She could not turn the movements of her tongue and lips into a "voice".
And...
Something else happened before Kuroyoru could get across what she was trying to say.
A new figure fell down as if a stake had been driven into the ground. However, this person had not fallen helplessly to the ground. They had clearly jumped down and landed.
Hamazura could feel his eyelids twitching as he looked at this newcomer from his crouched position.
"What... the hell... ?"
"Low level problem detected. Hamazura Shiage, one of the individuals under observation, has captured Kuroyoru Umidori while Fremea Seivelun is still alive. It will be more difficult to convince him Kuroyoru is his enemy."
She had originally been dressed as a nurse.
But Hamazura would never have guessed it.
"The estimated number of confirmed heroes brought up onto the table via Agitate Halation is 7500. The absence of Hamazura Shiage will likely have less than a 1% effect on the project as a whole. The experiment can continue."
The girl must have been hit by some sort of attack because she wore nothing but scraps of cloth that were being blown about in the wind. A broken name tag fell from the scraps. It said Rensa.
But there was no soft, flesh-colored skin below those clothes.
There was only metallic purplish-red and pink.
At first, Hamazura thought she was wearing something like a perfectly skintight wet suit, but she was not. With the exception of her head, neck, wrists, hands, and thighs, her skin and flesh had those colors.
Occasionally, areas across Rensa would transform to the look and feel of light flesh as if static was running through her. She would normally cover her entire body in the colors of soft flesh as camouflage to blend into human society.
"... Uuh..." groaned Kuroyoru once more.
Hamazura heard a dry scraping noise from nearby. Kuroyoru Umidori had lost her right arm, but she was using her left index finger to write on the ground with her own blood. Due to her mechanical arm, she was able to write with frightening speed and accuracy.
"Cyborg."
The words she wrote were oddly blunt.
"She has a much higher percentage than me. Everything but her brain is likely mechanical. So...."
"Is that even possible?"
Hamazura heard a strange metallic noise.
A giant "flower" opened up along the musculature of Rensa's back with the speed of a sewing machine and a large number of metal rods shot out from where they were folded up within her.
The countless metal rods moved in and out at high speed based on some form of calculation and then folded back up within her back.
The entire process took less than a second.
And immediately afterwards, a nitrogen spear shot from Rensa's palm with the explosive noise of the air being sliced.
The spear was identical to the ones Kuroyoru Umidori used.
Hamazura's eyes opened wide.
"She can copy esper powers? No, wait. Is she just constructing an output point similar to how Kuroyoru uses her mechanical arms!?"
"Correct. But in my case, I expand the 'knitting needles' in my back to precisely control the values. By altering the wiring of my body similar to pulling the strings of a puppet, I am able to reproduce the characteristics of multiple people and therefore switch between multiple abilities."
That murderous weapon smoothly explained her features like a model at a motor show.
She explained what this fearsome crystallization of mankind's cutting edge technology could do.
"Specifically, I can freely switch between the powers of the #1 through #6 Level 5s as well as any esper within 200 meters of me.... I cannot reproduce the currently unexplainable power of the #7, but I can likely defeat him with brute force using the powers of the other six."
Theoretically, it was possible.
If Bomber Lance could be produced from a mechanical arm identical to Kuroyoru Umidori's arm, then a mechanical arm created based on an analysis of Accelerator or Kakine Teitoku's bodies should be able to function as an output point for their powers. If one then rearranged the makeup of the mechanical body like a train switching rails or a car switching gears, one could create output points for all sorts of espers. Rensa was doing that with her entire body.
However...
It was not so easy to accept when faced with the result.
It was a frightening truth.
A foe that could freely switch between the powers of the #1 to the #6 was bad enough. However, the worst part was that Rensa's strategy did not require any talent at all. It was nothing more than industrial technology. If cyborgs like her were mass produced, the entire hierarchy of Academy City would be overturned in an instant.
This horrifying technology could even destroy the very desire to improve oneself.
(Dammit... )
Hamazura's focus gathered on his right ear.
A small chip was hidden inside his ear using a rubber adhesive.
The chip contained a report called the Parameter List. That report revealed a secret at the base of the powers development program that Academy City could not allow to get out no matter what. That data should have held immense value, but this made it seem no more valuable than a scrap of paper.
With a nitrogen spear in one hand, the reddish-purple and pink puppet walked slowly forward.
"I shall now kill Hamazura Shiage to correct this low level problem. Afterwards, Kuroyoru Umidori will temporarily go missing before Fremea Seivelun is killed by the same power as hers. That will set her as the villain for all the heroes as planned. The plan will be back on track."
When Fremea Seivelun had disappeared from her dorm, Hamazura had guessed that she was involved in some sort of trouble.
(All I know is that Fremea's still alive and apparently fleeing through the city of her own free will, that some organization made up of multiple people is using cutting-edge technology to try to kill her, and that they plan to frame Kuroyoru for that crime. )
That was all he could come up with.
Hamazura frantically tried to keep his mind calm.
(But why? Why!? What reason do they have to target Fremea now? Why would they use a monster with the powers of the #1 to the #6 and tons of man-eating roaches to kill an eight year old girl!?... The scale is just too big. The level of firepower doesn't add up. Fremea is only a Level 0 like me!!)
Hamazura was just a Level 0 and Kuroyoru was in no state to fight. With as much firepower as Rensa had, she did not need to worry about some ace up the sleeve.
So why had she not finished them off right away?
"(She only wants us to think she's going to kill us. Then when we run away in confusion to meet up with Fremea, she can follow us. That's why she isn't killing us. )"
Rensa could use the power of the #1 to the #6 as well as any esper within 200 meters. However, she likely could only select from a list of powers within range. She could not track the location of an esper.
If she could, she would simply need to constantly scan Fremea's location to catch up to her.
She would not have needed to pursue Hamazura and Kuroyoru like a hound.
"(And the firepower of a Level 5 is too much for just dealing with us. Kuroyoru, your spear is the same. She has to hold back. She can't use any powers that might accidentally kill us like the #1's or the #2's.... If only we could use that to our advantage and defeat her in a single surprise attack carried out too fast for her to switch powers. )"
If she had just been a hunk of steel, Hamazura's fist might have been of no use.
However, Rensa was a cyborg. And she had been designed to function as an output point to remotely draw out the abilities of powerful espers. That meant her body's structure would likely be extremely similar to that of a human. If she was decapitated or stabbed through the heart, she would die. If she had the same structure only made with different materials, her joints could be dislocated just like with a normal human.
"(I'll charge at her. That will make this Rensa falter for an instant and block some of her field of vision. You stab a spear in from behind me. I'll swing my right arm up as I charge, so send it through under my arm. If you need to, you can even stab it through my body as long as the injury won't kill me.... If she really does want me to escape alive, she won't use the #1's power. As long as she isn't using his reflection, your spear will reach her. )"
After whispering that to Kuroyoru, Hamazura stopped moving for a moment.
He glared at Rensa as she approached.
"(Right now, we can defeat her. )"
Part 9
At that time, Kuroyoru Umidori was looking up at Hamazura Shiage from where she lay collapsed on the sidewalk.
(... He's brave. I'll give him that. )
But she did not think he was clever. After all, he had no actual proof his strategy would work. But Kuroyoru still thought highly of Hamazura for leaving everything up to his instincts in a situation so dangerous anyone would want to test out the bridge before crossing.
A normal person would only end up crushed by a giant metal ball approaching from behind while they tested the bridge.
She silently checked on the condition of her left arm.
With her heavy damage, Kuroyoru could not make a quick escape. She could make short jumps by emitting a spear from her palm, but she could never manage maneuvers complex enough to lose a pursuer. Defeating Rensa with Bomber Lance was the only way to survive.
Doing so would be difficult on her own.
Whether due to the machinery built into her or the alterations to her brain in the Dark May Project, Kuroyoru Umidori could feel the difference in power between herself and Rensa in the form of precise numbers.
(In that case, the best strategy would be going along with what that bastard says. )
Hamazura slowly stood up.
He glared at Rensa who held a spear identical to Kuroyoru's.
Kuroyoru waited on the ground for the clash to begin.
However...
On the other hand...
Wouldn't Rensa have seen through their impromptu strategy meeting?
That thought slipped into Kuroyoru Umidori's mind like an unexpected blast of cold wind.
And it spread.
Like a piece of trick art, her entire thought process suddenly switched over without her realizing.
(Shit... Goddamit!! It's so obvious. A strategy meeting right in front of the enemy? Discussing a secret plan here? Rensa definitely saw through that! Even if Hamazura was using my hand to cover his mouth and speaking too quietly for a normal person to hear, Rensa is more of a cyborg than I am and she can use all sorts of esper powers. She has to have incredible ability at gathering information!!)
She felt like someone had punched her head.
But the great pressure that had taken hold of Kuroyoru was not the fear that Rensa had overheard their strategy.
The malice she saw was nothing as simple as that.
(Hamazura did it on purpose! He let Rensa overhear the plan! Heh heh. That's right. It makes perfect sense!! Hamazura Shiage's top priority is protecting Fremea Seivelun! He doesn't care about me!!)
Rensa was intentionally hurting Hamazura so he would try to meet up with Fremea.
That much was true. If Hamazura simply left Kuroyoru behind and fled, Rensa would follow him and kill him and Fremea.
But...
What if Kuroyoru attacked Rensa just as Hamazura ran off?
Rensa would first crush Kuroyoru to eliminate the threat. If Hamazura managed to run far enough away in that time, Rensa would be unable to follow him. He could safely meet up with Fremea, hide somewhere, and wait for a chance to counterattack.
And so he had urged Kuroyoru to attack while also letting Rensa know.
He wanted the two to attack each other.
She should have realized it sooner.
Hamazura Shiage was much too naïve despite his connections to the darkness.... But at the same time, he could be frighteningly clever when it came to protecting himself and those he cared for. He would drag everything into the fight like some sort of demon. That was how he had once defeated the #4 when she was pursuing him, and how he had crushed the entire dark side organization known as the Freshmen.
He would protect Fremea Seivelun.
And he had only one way of doing so.
Once he realized that, he would not hesitate to dirty his hands. It did not matter if he would be left naively overrun with guilt after it was all over.
(To hell with that... )
She had lost a lot of blood, but Kuroyoru could still feel the blood rising to her head.
However, her anger was not pointed at Hamazura Shiage.
(To hell with that!! Why the fuck did I think he was on my side!? I've already started slipping so easily! Is this like growing weak when you come down with a cold!? I already know from experience that this kind of error will lead to my defeat! I was trying to keep my dark side thought processes going more strongly and perfectly, so why have I grown so goddamn pathetic!?)
The fingers of her left arm scratched at the hard sidewalk.
She felt an unavoidable feeling of disgrace burning across her entire body.
(Don't make me fucking laugh. You can do that if you want. I'll handle this on my own. Either way, I can't run far like this. I don't need Hamazura Shiage's help. I'll defeat Rensa in my own way!!)
Rensa had approached within three meters of them. Both Kuroyoru and Rensa's spears could reach now. Hamazura lowered his hips slightly. He was telling her he was about to charge forward. And of course, this was a bluff to fool Kuroyoru.
(I'll kill her. I'll slice her to pieces. Hurry up and get over here!! But I won't be doing this for anyone's sake. I've had enough of being controlled by others! I'll fuck her up! I'll fuck everyone up!!)
And then...
Hamazura Shiage made his move.
In that instant, Kuroyoru Umidori precisely controlled her single remaining usable arm. She predicted Hamazura would move to the right or left to make a run for it. She was planning to swing her spear diagonally upwards so it would slice through Hamazura and then take off Rensa's head.
However...
"... Ah?"
The blood gathered in her throat prevented her from actually speaking, but a slight voice leaked out like wind through a crack.
She was seeing something she could not believe.
Hamazura Shiage kicked off the ground.
He moved forward. He moved toward Rensa. He charged at her such that he acted as a shield for Kuroyoru. He was trying to produce even a slight hesitation or opening in Rensa who wanted to let Hamazura live to help her find Fremea.
Yes.
(It... !? It wasn't a bluff!? He was really asking for my help!?)
By the time she realized the truth, it was too late.
Kuroyoru had been heading down a different path and she could not correct her course now.
Rensa moved her cold, surveillance camera-like eyes to observe the situation and then she chose her "weapon". With a metallic noise, the giant "flower" burst from her back and quickly rearranged the wiring of her body.
She had been given the time to do so.
If Kuroyoru had immediately attacked with Bomber Lance, she may not have.
And...
An explosive noise burst out.
After the selection had been made, Rensa attacked her target with wings made of Dark Matter.
There was nothing he could do.
The hundreds of white wings stabbed at Hamazura like sharp stakes. It seemed she truly did want to only wound him so she could follow him. Instead of skewering his entire body, Hamazura mostly only had his clothes torn.
However...
That was enough.
His clothes were ripped through at such frightening speed that Hamazura's body spun around like a tornado. Unpleasant sounds came from his body, indicating the great burden being put on it. He had been charging forward, but he flew backwards and landed right next to Kuroyoru.
Kuroyoru heard an unpleasant sound as a dark red liquid spilled from Hamazura's nose and mouth while his limbs twitched.
"... Ah..."
How had this happened?
Why had this been the result?
Kuroyoru Umidori's frozen thoughts gradually thawed after watching that unbelievable scene. The obvious answer floated up in her mind. Her vision grew dark. Even as soaked in the darkness as she was, and even with the all her gruesome experiences that she had grown to view as normal, she had never felt a pressure like this.
That naïve boy...
Hamazura Shiage had trusted her to the very, very end.
He had left his life in the hands of someone he had no reason whatsoever to trust.
And yet...
She had...
"A-ahh. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!"
The unknown feeling rampaging within Kuroyoru's body caused her to use all her strength to force out her breath. A large hole opened in the blood clogging her throat and the flow of air transformed into the roar of a wild beast. Something was wrong with her tear glands. Her throat convulsed oddly and sobs entered into her scream. She had crushed something that had emitted a much too pale light. She could feel that painfully well.
"Low level problem detected, " mechanically announced Rensa with a slight tilt of the head."Hamazura Shiage will have difficulty moving on his own with his injuries. He cannot be used to lead me to Fremea. I will kill him here and use another acquaintance of Fremea Seivelun instead."
Kuroyoru tried to shout "Shut up!", but her throat was convulsing too much to form words.
While lying on the ground nearby, Hamazura moved his bloodstained lips to say, "... Sorry."
(For what?)
Kuroyoru could not move or even speak.
And so she could not stop him from speaking.
(Why are you apologizing!? I was the one trapped by my own meaningless suspicions. If I had done what you said, this would have ended differently!! I betrayed you... So why are you apologizing!?)
"I..." Hamazura trailed off to cough up some blood before continuing."I didn't put enough effort into gaining your trust. So I'm sorry... This was my fault..."
(God dammit... )
They heard the sound of multiple pieces of metal scraping together.
Rensa took a step forward with a nitrogen spear at the ready. Once she arrived next to Kuroyoru, she cast her emotionless eyes downwards. She held the spear coming from her palm straight up.
A single swing of that blade would slice a human and the ground below in half.
Hamazura moved his trembling lips to speak a word that was difficult to distinguish from a simple gasp of breath.
"Run."
He did not utter a single complaint.
He was naïve and a complete amateur, but he did not lose his convictions like Kuroyoru had.
"She needs to let you escape to frame you. You need to use this chance. Ask for help from Mugino, Takitsubo, or anyone. Now that she can't use me, she'll try to use another member of Item. Get their help before that happens."
(Dammit!! I can't do anything. I can't change anything at all! And why does someone else have to pay for it!? Why!?)
The worst possible conclusion arrived.
Rensa did not hesitate to swing down the nitrogen spear.
But...
An instant before she did.
"Hey."
They heard a voice.
It was a boy's voice. When she heard it, Rensa stopped before swinging down the spear. No, someone had grabbed her wrist. At some point, this person had made his way directly behind her.
This boy...
This spiky-haired boy spoke while holding Rensa's right wrist in place.
"I've got a question: was this part of the plan?"
Part 10
Rensa did not even turn around.
She only twisted her body slightly.
And then...
Numerous "knitting needles" shot out of her back and next to Kamijou. The giant "flower" that switched out the characteristics of the esper power output point immediately closed back up once more.
She used Academy City's #2 power.
White wings made of Dark Matter grew from her back and attacked everything behind her. The wings changed into hundreds of stakes. If they struck a human body, they would tear it to pieces and transform it into a formless sticky liquid.
However...
With the sound of breaking glass, those white wings that supposedly held absolute destructive power shattered.
"..."
Rensa finally decided to turn around to check behind her, but Kamijou unhesitatingly kicked the center of her small back before she could.
"Don't... touch her!!" shouted Hamazura when Kamijou was about to go in for another attack."She can... use multiple... abilities. She can use... several of the... Level 5 powers. If you... touch her... carelessly... the #1's power... will kill you!!"
Kamijou's eyes opened wide in shock as Rensa quickly turned around.
The sound of grinding metal rang out.
A brilliant beam of light appeared in front of her palm.
He heard a roar as if space itself was being fried.
"!!"
Kamijou crouched down while swinging his upper body out of the way just as a beam of light shot by above him and sliced apart a wind turbine behind him.
Kamijou realized this was a different power than the wings from before.
He had no way of knowing it, but this was the #4's Meltdowner.
"Mid level problem detected. The situation has grown concerning."
"Are you the one who drove Tsuchimikado to such lengths? Are you the one that was targeting Maika!?"
Rensa's back opened up and the "knitting needles" once more shot out.
While swapping out her power, she said, "My records show he was the first one to attack. I believe the standard is to repay the victim 100-fold. Tsuchimikado's possessions were insufficient, so we had to find a way to resolve the problem."
"That doesn't... add up!!"
Rensa emitted a high voltage current from her bangs at close range, but Kamijou destroyed it with his right fist.
Rensa's pupils widened like a camera lens.
"What is Agitate Halation? What do you gain from a method of influencing people using Fremea Seivelun!? Is that really worth crushing people's lives underfoot? What good is a project that a Level 0 can throw off track so easily!?"
"The situation has indeed grown concerning. I will now kill Kamijou Touma to correct the course of the plan."
Rensa's back opened, the giant "flower" spread out, and then it closed once more.
A blast of wind burst out.
This was Academy City's #1 power. She had created that wind via vector control.
However...
"If you think you can..."
Before the mass of 120 m/s wind could reach him, Kamijou stepped right up next to Rensa.
"... then prove it!!"
He threw a powerful punch toward her face.
Rensa immediately moved her arm to block the punch, losing control of the wind in the process. She stepped back slightly and the "knitting needles" spread out once more. She was changing the characteristics of the output point. She quickly manipulated magnetism to catch a coin that was lying on the road.
It was obvious what this meant.
Kamijou slammed his fist into Rensa's wrist to throw off her aim.
An orange beam shot out a moment later, but it flew in a harmless direction.
"You can't use multiple Level 5 powers at once."
Despite the fact that she could use the #1's power, she had not attacked repeatedly at greater than the speed of sound. Perhaps due to her cyborg body, she did not use extremely powerful magnetism to create an iron sand sword and she did not take control of cars, security robots, or other electronics.
Unless her defenses fell below a certain point, she tried to attack as much as possible with nothing but projectiles.
That meant...
"The lag from switching powers is always the same, so I can read your timing when you switch."
He slammed his forehead into hers at close range and Rensa staggered backwards. Her back struck a metal dumpster and she bent forward to provide enough space for the giant "flower" to burst from her back. She stuck her hand into the dumpster and pulled out what looked like a television remote.
But just as Rensa pointed it toward Kamijou, he forcefully kicked the remote upwards. It shot from her hand and flew through the air.
"You can only do the same things as the Level 5s!! You aren't a Level 5 yourself! Compared to those monsters that can do almost anything on their own, you're nothing!!"
The "knitting needles" spread out and contracted once more. Kamijou evaded a beam of light and sent a fist flying back in response.
Rensa's eyes moved irregularly.
She may have been calculating the optimal method of defense or course of evasion.
Yet...
Kamijou's fist slammed into the center of Rensa's face as if he was trying to crush it.
(... ?)
Something felt wrong.
It had been one of the cleanest hits he had ever gotten, but Kamijou felt as if Rensa had decided taking that clean hit to the face was the optimal choice out of all her different options.
(Don't tell me... !!)
It happened immediately afterwards.
Rensa's metallic reddish-purple and pink arm shot out as if crossing paths with Kamijou's fist. She unhesitatingly grabbed Kamijou's throat and lifted him up like a crane.
"Bh... gh... !!"
He could not breathe. She may have been cutting off the flow of blood too because he felt a pain like his head was swelling up. As Rensa watched Kamijou kick his feet around, she spoke.
"I have decided I have a disadvantage in an esper battle, so I will instead engage you in a physical battle using my mechanical body. My physical body may not be any tougher than a normal human's, but I can control my pain sensors."
"Why... you..."
"You were meant to defeat Tsuchimikado Motoharu. I do not have the slightest idea how or why you are still on the table after completing that goal, but it ends here."
"Heh, " laughed Kamijou as he dangled from her arm."You really don't get it?"
"?"
"You say you're controlling us... controlling humans like a game of billiards, but you don't understand something so simple?"
Rensa tilted her head while lifting Kamijou up by the neck.
Her eyes contained no hint of emotion.
"You don't need some giant project. All it takes is a single word and we'll act. Someone just has to say 'help'."
"Your words are meaningless. I will put no more effort into analyzing them, " said Rensa immediately.
A cyborg was a human who had a portion of them, or even most of them, supplemented with machines, but Rensa's voice was so flat it seemed doubtful she had any human aspect to her.
Rensa's back opened up like a large flower, the folded up "knitting needles" shot out, and the wiring within her human form were swiftly rearranged.
She was choosing one of the top powers in Academy City.
She was choosing one of the Level 5 powers.
"I will activate the #1's reflection like this. All the blood and electrical signals in your body will be reversed, causing explosive and fatal blood loss."
Part 11
Kuroyoru Umidori could see Kamijou Touma being held up in the air.
However, it was not over yet.
There had to be something she could do.
Kuroyoru gritted her teeth while lying collapsed on the ground. Dark red blood flowed from between her teeth. Nevertheless, she focused her entire mind on her single remaining arm. That was her final weapon. She could only use one Bomber Lance.
(To hell... with this. )
Hamazura Shiage lay next to her.
Once Kamijou Touma was dead, Rensa would move on to Hamazura.
(I won't... fucking let that... happen again!!)
A slight noise came from Rensa's eyeballs.
She was using a wireless signal to illegally access Academy City's giant database known as the Bank. She used face recognition to instantaneously search for information on the esper power of her enemy. She wanted to know what ability she would gain if she created an output point for that power.
Kamijou Touma's power was Imagine Breaker.
According to the System Scan results recorded in the Bank, he was a true Level 0. But unlike normal Level 0s, the precision equipment had truly not been able to detect anything.
However, a comment had been added saying there were reports of him being able to negate other powers. The odds were high that the information given in the comments field was based on false rumors he himself had spread to make himself sound more intimidating. Normally, she would have simply ignored it.
(But he did just cause a few phenomena similar to that. I would be lying if I said I was not interested. )
Rensa could theoretically use any esper power, but she was really only using her ability as a cyborg to create an output point for the power. As she was only borrowing the power, a power would forever disappear from her stock if the original owner died.
As such, she sometimes felt it was a waste when she had to kill the owner of a rare power.
However...
(I must keep my priorities straight. I must kill Kamijou Touma to eliminate this mid level problem. )
Her desire never left the realm of a personal opinion. She prepared to use the #1 power in Academy City which was one of her presets. She would use the point of contact at his throat to reverse the flow of blood and electrical signals in his body.
And then...
"Ohhh!! Ooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!"
She heard a yell from the side.
It seemed Kuroyoru Umidori was trying to do something. She was about to use the #1's reflection, so any attack Kuroyoru might use would have no effect.
However...
Rensa had a slight thought. An ever so slight thought. Kamijou Touma would die here. He would die before she could try out his rare power even once. Kuroyoru Umidori was interfering before she would even have the chance. The desire to try out that exceedingly rare power rose back up within her.
While Kamijou dangled down from her hand, Rensa held her other hand out toward Kuroyoru.
The giant "flower" opened from Rensa's back and the countless "knitting needles" shot out, pulling the many "threads" within her as they did. This action could easily have killed any human with a proper sense of pain, but Rensa's body only swiftly altered its characteristics.
She was creating the characteristics needed to call in Kamijou Touma's power.
She met all of the necessary conditions.
And...
Imagine Breaker flowed in.
She could feel something passing through the arm she held out toward Kuroyoru. She could feel it gathering beyond her wrist.
This was the power to negate other powers.
It was the perfect defensive power.
But...
The arm Rensa held out toward Kuroyoru suddenly swelled up like a balloon.
"Ah?"
She grew confused.
It resembled a lithium battery used in cell phones or laptops when it was destroyed due to over-charging. Tremendous static ran up her arm and spread across her body. Her very thoughts were thrown into disarray.
(Dh... gh... What!? High level problem detec-... I-I-Imagine Breaker should be nothing more than the power to negate other powers. Why is it causing such great destruction... just from being drawn into me!?)
Her mind raced around in search of an answer.
Then she finally realized this was no time to be leisurely seeking an answer.
(E-e-emergency release... of body wiring... !! Dz... Command not... received... Fatal... problem... detected... Th-this is... !!)
She tried to open the giant "flower" from her back, but it only opened halfway and convulsed violently. Swapping out the wiring based on precise values would be impossible.
An unpleasant noise burst from deep inside her head.
Rensa lost all sense of up and down and she collapsed to the side like a piece of wood.
"Cough!! Cough cough... ! D-dammit!!"
After finally being released from Rensa's grip, Kamijou kneeled down on all fours and coughed with a hand on his throat. He almost felt like the oxygen suddenly rushing into him was destroying his body from the inside.
Rensa had not moved ever since she collapsed.
The unnaturally swollen arm had completely blown off. Various cables and metallic parts were strewn across the road.
(What... was that? Did she have some kind of machine trouble?)
He was glad he was still alive, but there was too much he did not understand.
He approached and tried placing a hand on her neck, but he did not even know if blood circulated through her body. She may have overheated because he smelled smoke filled with a chemical smell similar to burning plastic. He tried to check her temperature, but it felt like he was pressing his hand against a hot metal plate. He almost thought his hand would burn onto her forehead. Her back was still opened and several metal rods were sticking out.
It was obvious she was not moving anymore, but he did not know whether he should bring her to a normal hospital or not.
"Are you two okay?"
Kamijou left Rensa and approached Hamazura and Kuroyoru.
Kuroyoru was much more badly injured. It seemed Hamazura had coughed up blood, but he was able to slowly sit up.
His breathing was weak, but Hamazura managed to say, "I'm not going to die right away or anything, but I'd definitely just trip you up like this. Kuroyoru and I will go hide and I'm sure Kinuhata can handle things on her own where she's fighting. The real problem is Fremea."
Hamazura took something out of his pants pocket and tossed it to Kamijou.
It was a cell phone.
"That Rensa girl may have collapsed, but someone else could be pursuing Fremea too. Please. We can't move. That cell phone is connected to Fremea's security buzzer. You can follow her by GPS. Use that to approach Fremea. Got it?"
"Understood." Kamijou hit a switch with his thumb to check on the app that could follow the GPS signal of the security buzzer."But it isn't me that girl is waiting for. I'm just the replacement. Don't die while leaving her with me."
Hamazura lightly shook his hand at Kamijou in response.
He seemed to be saying, "That goes without saying."
With that hint to Fremea Seivelun's location in hand, Kamijou Touma ran off into the nighttime streets once more.
Part 12
"This is super over, " announced Kinuhata Saiai while waving her arms to the side.
With a wet splattering sound, the thick liquid created from countless squished insects scattered across the road. Technically, the liquid had coated the surface of the Offense Armor protecting Kinuhata's body rather than coating her arms themselves, but the sense of disgust did not change.
There had been hundreds, thousands, even tens of thousands.
There had been such an overwhelming number of man-eating roaches that it had seemed hopeless to try to count them all.
Even with all of them attacking from every direction, Kinuhata's will to fight had not been completely worn down.
And...
"Was it a scent... no, a chemical? If I recall, roaches have a substance that super attracts all of their comrades to the same place. You super analyzed that and used it to tell them what was a target and what wasn't."
"Hee hee hee ha ha. Don't make it sound so simple. I used the plasmagene they use to gain a resistance to insecticides to familiarize them with the chemical and then prepared microscopic scent capsules that used artificial pollen. With just two varieties, one to have them gather and one to have them disperse, I managed to create a monitoring device to control the entire swarm.... It all took quite a bit of effort."
The woman in the lab coat was still smiling.
She continued to smile as the shiny black insects devoured her. Due to an error in the target setting, they had swarmed over their own creator until none of her skin could be seen. In just a few dozen seconds, everything but her face had been eaten through.
Kinuhata Saiai's power had made her a good match for this fight.
She could control nitrogen to semi-automatically create a wall to defend against attacks. In other words, the odds had been high she would be able to cut off the trail leading the roaches to her if they used a "scent" to find their target.
Also, Kinuhata did not create nitrogen out of nothing when she used it. She could only call in the nitrogen around her and compress it. The woman in the lab coat controlled the swarm of roaches by creating zones for them to gather in and zones for them to disperse in similar to the high and low pressure zones on a weather map.
Kinuhata could not control the roaches in the same way. However, she could control the air around her by calling in the nitrogen, so the possibility had remained that she could destroy the optimal layout of "scent" that the woman had prepared.
And so the confrontation came to an end.
The swarm of insects repeated their simple actions and, with no sense of good or evil or of master and servant, they simply ate through the food they saw before them.
"..."
But...
Even so...
The woman in the lab coat showed no pain, fear, or any other sort of despair on her face. She simply smiled. Falling victim to her own creation could be seen as the worst way to die, and it was occasionally the fate met by historical makers of torture devices, but this woman smiled.
Kinuhata frowned.
"What has you so happy?"
"Heh heh. Well, y'see... Heh heh heh hee hee hee!!" Even as the roaches finally reached her face and began eating through her soft cheeks, the woman's smile only grew wider."Getting killed like this was part of the plan all along!"
"... What?"
"Did you think it ended with killing Fremea Seivelun? Did you think I just wanted to turn the heroes' anger toward Kuroyoru Umidori? Wellll, today's villain is not one to end things there."
The woman in the lab coat began talking about some things Kinuhata was not aware of.
The sudden mention of that other survivor of the Dark May Project left Kinuhata confused, but the woman only continued speaking.
"Ahh! I'm so glad you didn't figure it out ahead of time. After all, a suicide, a murder-suicide, or an accident would be too weak a symbol. If I didn't create a situation where 'the villain targeting Fremea Seivelun was defeated at the hands of the heroes', it would create an error in the parameters for the final setting!!"
"This was your plan? You were planning to be a super disposable pawn from the beginning? What are you trying to do that's super worth going this far... !?"
"If you don't know, then go asking around. There are approximately 7500 heroes overflowing into the streets, but probably only one or two are approaching the truth. Do your best to search them out."
The countless roaches swallowed up the head of the woman who Kinuhata had never learned the name of. She must have either collapsed or lost even her human skeletal structure because she had been transformed into a black mass. And even after only something like a black puddle spreading out on the road could be seen, she continued to speak.
"Final phase complete. The Agitate Halation project comes to an end with its completion. And! So!"
"... ?"
"Now begins an even greater project! A truly wonderful future begins now! This will make everything leading up to it look like a joke!!"
Kinuhata could not grasp when that woman had died.
The roaches scattered in every direction. Not even bones remained. The roaches left behind only the sidewalk.
Part 13
"Pant... pant..."
Fremea Seivelun ran through the streets at night.
She did not know where she was. She was not even sure she was still in District 13. But she had to run away. That much she knew. She was of course afraid of the various strange things that had suddenly attacked her, but something more important filled her mind.
She had gotten Hamazura Shiage involved.
When the situation was already so dangerous, she could not trip him up too.
Fremea knew there was a world known as "combat" that was far removed from a normal life. And she knew just how powerless she was when she ended up in that world. And it was always Hamazura who got hurt when that happened. As if he was making up for Fremea's shortcomings, he would act as her shield and lose a lot of blood.
She felt something heavy deep in her gut.
Chaos whirled around and around in her head.
The faces of those who had disappeared from her life, her older sister and Komaba Ritoku, appeared in the back of her mind.
The white rhinoceros beetle in her hand was not moving.
She did not know what had happened to Hamazura as he made up for her shortcomings this time.
She had no proof of it, but Fremea felt like everything about the current situation was condemning her.
"... No, " she said without thinking."No more..."
The white rhinoceros beetle twitched slightly.
He was trying to tell Fremea it was not her fault and that she did not need to feel so cornered, but his wings only vibrated irregularly and were unable to produce an artificial voice.
And...
Tears filled the corner of Fremea's eyes as she shouted out despite no one being there to hear her.
She could not help but shout out.
"Nyah!! Someone... someone help meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!"
Normally...
That shout may have not have reached anyone's ears. It was just one of the screams buried in the darkness. The people of the city may have ignored it and went on their way as they pursued their personal problems.
But...
"..."
Someone raised their head somewhere in the city.
"..."
Someone frowned in a different part of the city.
"..."
Even in different districts where Fremea's voice could never have reached, many people stood up.
A certain term may have fit that type of person perfectly:
Hero.
And...
While dealing with the aftermath of the incident at the airport, Yomikawa Aiho of Anti-Skill was sitting in a hospital waiting room to see if Dr. Matsusada would wake up after his attempt to illegally leave Academy City.
In an attempt to grasp some of how he thought, she was reading the type of technical book she was not used to.
It was titled "The Future of Next-Generation Processors using Viscosity and Density".
That was Dr. Matsusada's best seller.
To sum it up, the book was a proposal for a new type of next-generation processer to go alongside quantum computers and DNA computers. If his theory was realized, the book's introduction claimed it would provide specs that surpassed even Tree Diagram's, but Yomikawa could not say whether his method was realistic or not.
(He's an authority in fluid mechanics, right?)
That field specialized in how gases and liquids "flowed". The obvious applications were designs for ships and airplanes, water purification filters, and air purifiers that ensured cigarette smoke did not leave its designated areas. The field was also used in health methods to keep the blood flowing smoothly and the development of new baseball pitches.
"This shading computer (tentative name) would be a water tank filled with a special electrolyte solution. Each individual colloid making up the liquid would be moved with the power of electricity to perform any kind of calculation and..."
Yomikawa could not help but feel the doctor intentionally used overly difficult wordings to make himself sound smarter. This was completely outside of her field of expertise, so the lack of explanation made her feel stupid.
"In the end, the crucial aspect of DNA computers and quantum computers is the destruction of the Von Neumann architecture which performs calculations using the smallest units of 0 and 1. The shading computer (tentative name) constructs its smallest units using the viscosity and density of fluids, so it meets this requirement as well. Naturally, this explosively increases the number of calculations that can be made in a second and..."
There was no sign of any obvious activity in the ICU.
Would Yomikawa finish reading the book first or would she be bored to sleep first?
"... I have given the colloid liquid as a realistic example, but the architecture should work with any liquid, gas, or other medium that can be controlled according to the principles of fluid mechanics. However, if it is to be used for the shading computer (tentative name), the medium used must be one that can be constantly controlled and influenced. This is an important point to keep in mind."
After reading through that far, Yomikawa frowned.
The slight sleepiness brought on by boredom suddenly left her.
"For example, if the AIM diffusion fields spreading across the city were used as the medium for a shading computer (tentative name), one would need to give thought to the danger of the changes in 'pressure' flowing back and affecting the students. For that reason, the shading computer (tentative name) should be built using a fluid that is contained within an isolated box..."
(So we've finally gotten to the crazy theories. )
Yomikawa sighed.
(But if you made a super computer using the flow of the AIM diffusion fields, would any of the people whose AIM diffusion field was built into it possibly be able to manipulate it? Even a Level 0 whose powers can only be measured with a microscope?... Well, doing that would probably end up sacrificing all of the other students. I don't know what it means for the "pressure" to flow back... but could it alter the state of the mind producing the esper power or input information they should not have known? In other words, could it give them a seemingly divine revelation?)
She closed the technical book.
It was obvious now nothing was going to happen in the ICU, so sticking around would be meaningless. After deciding she would be forced to submit her report with a lot of unknowns remaining, Yomikawa headed for the hospital's exit.
In that instant...
In a way...
She may have been the closest to the truth.
Between the Lines 3
In the end, the project came down to who to leave the billiards cue with.
One need only recall the incidents related to Fremea Seivelun.
First, there was the incident in which the Freshmen targeted Fremea Seivelun's life to bring Hamazura Shiage and Accelerator together into a single group.
Then there was the incident where Fremea conveniently made many different forces her ally during the commotion surrounding Fräulein Kreutune.
This was a giant game of billiards that used Fremea Seivelun as the cue, the countless heroes as the balls, and Academy City as the table. That world was ruled by the ideas of who was Fremea's enemy, who was Fremea's ally, what needed to be done to save her, and what needed to be destroyed to protect her.
A sense of justice and a desire to protect were used to hit the hero balls in the desired direction so they would collide with other balls.
The proposed objective was having those heroes kill each other.
This plan would defeat those nigh-undefeatable heroes without having to dirty anyone else's hands.
That summed up Agitate Halation.
While under the influence of Agitate Halation, every single hero's values would be based on Fremea Seivelun. It did not matter if they personally knew her. What would they think when seeing her in the corner of a photo taken when she happened to be passing by? What did her friends casually say about her? What path did she use to and from school and what stores did she visit?
Just as religions from around the world viewed the possessions used by holy people and the inns they stayed at as being holy as well, the objects and people with a connection to Fremea Seivelun were given powerful meaning and value. A choice approached those people. They could either desperately pursue those things or they could try to deny them.
If Fremea was captured by a third party, had her brain partially destroyed, and was made to continually solve simple problems like a pigeon asking for food, that billiards cue would fall into the hands of some completely different player. The balls could be freely sent to collide and the heroes would defeat and kill each other, wearing down their numbers.
And so...
"Hey, " said someone.
It happened within a shopping district of Academy City's District 15. The trains and busses stopped running at the curfew, but this area still provided a decent night life. The sight was a strong reminder that humans would thoroughly enjoy anything no matter how much of effort it took once they learned how enjoyable it could be. In the same way, people had eaten fugu just because it was delicious long before anyone had begun to dissect living creatures for scientific purposes.
At first, it seemed this was just one of the many bits of trouble that always popped up when people gathered at night.
A small girl knocked over a line of large motorcycles stopped along the sidewalk in a no parking zone. As she watched them all come crashing down like dominoes, several angry guys ran out of a nearby darts bar.
"Wait! What the hell are you doing!?"
"Ahh, ahh! Shit! The mirror broke. And the paint scraped off the tank!"
"Who's gonna pay for this? Should we give you a light beating and have your parents pay us the hospital bill? They're outside the city, so they won't know the details."
Meanwhile, the girl remained silent. Or rather, she hung her head down while muttering something under her breath that they could not hear.
One of the angry guys forcefully grabbed the girl's shoulders.
"Do you understand what's going on here, you little shit!? We're gonna need to break one of your legs a bit, so we need to go find a staircase in a building some-..."
He trailed off.
A wet sound followed.
"Oh... ?"
She held a small plastic bottle in her hand.
The transparent bottom had broken and the transparent liquid inside had transformed into a sharp blade. And she stabbed that blade surprisingly deeply into the man's gut.
"B-bhh!? Cough cough!! Gheh... !?"
"Are you shitting me... ? She was aiming for us from the beginning!?"
"You're picking a fight? There are rules for this kind of thing, you know!"
Even as the guys surrounding her grew even angrier, the girl showed no change. With no real difference in her expression, she pulled the water blade from the guy's gut.
"Don't get in my way." Finally, she smoothly moved her lips."If you stand in my way, I can't go rescue that girl. If you get in the way, I can only assume you're her enemy."
Metal shutters were used much more often simply to deter crime than as a physical wall.
They could not stop someone who was truly trying to destroy them.
In District 7, the owner of a sporting goods store noticed an odd sound coming from the shutter. However, his cell phone slipped from his hand just when he was about to call Anti-Skill.
It was a piece of construction equipment.
A device similar to a thick pair of scissors that was used to destroy buildings had broken through the metal shutter. It moved like the beak of a giant bird as it chewed through the shutter. As the machine's arm pulled back, the entire shutter was pulled away with a great din of destruction.
When the store owner saw someone climb down from the machine, he grabbed a nearby product without thinking.
He clicked his tongue when he realized it was a bat signed by a professional player that he had bought on an online auction to draw in customers. In the next instant, someone grabbed the side of his head.
Unable to resist, his head was suddenly slammed into a showcase.
The sound of glass shattering was joined by a high-pitched alarm.
The attacker spoke in an eerily lighthearted voice.
"Yes, yes. Sorry, sorry. I just need to borrow something is all. Once I'm done, I'll leave, so don't worry."
"Wha-... bh? What... this is... robbery..."
"Watch what you say, old man, " said the boy offhandedly as he headed further into the store. He looked through the various bats of different materials and lengths."I guess the standard would be the metal bat. I have no real reason to insist on a wooden one. Ha ha. And it's not like I have time to hammer a bunch of nails into it."
"..."
When he heard that, the store owner pulled his face from the broken showcase.
He gripped the signed bat tighter in his hands.
"Oh? What is it, old man? Why do you look like you want to pick a fight?"
"... Stop joking around. I don't know who you are, but I will not let you use my products for violence."
"What are you talking about?" The boy grabbed a metal bat with a truly puzzled look."I'm using this for justice. A hero is allowed to borrow the things he needs. He can steal a car to pursue a fleeing criminal and he can grab a sword off the wall."
"If you think that permits you to do anything, you are nothing but a villain."
"Oh?"
The boy lightly spun the metal bat around in one hand.
He continued to spin it around faster and faster.
"Then you leave me no choice. You're getting in the way when I'm trying to go save that girl. This entire situation can be summed up with 'you leave me no choice'."
"?"
"What I'm trying to say, you asshole, is 'go to hell, villain'."
Despite it being a November night, a girl was lightly dressed in a bikini top and baggy pants. She stood alongside several trucks in a plaza in front of a theatre in District 18.
She was Fusou Ayame.
This guerrilla band girl possessed a sound-type power and she was spinning a special microphone shaped like a megaphone in one hand.
"The world would continue to turn even if I disappeared."
She muttered in such a quiet and smooth voice that her normal high-volume shouting seemed like it had all been a lie.
"Humanity would feel no sense of loss if my songs disappeared."
She spoke calmly.
It was as if she was trying as hard as possible not to make any waves.
"But..."
No.
This was the lead-in. She was creating this silence to provide an even greater impression when she reached her top voltage.
"If just a single person will fall in love with my voice... If someone somewhere says they need me..."
In the end, Fusou Ayame was a girl who could only live amid great noise and sound.
And to prove it, she held her megaphone-style microphone once more.
"It would be insincere of me not to answer with everything I have!!"
She flipped on the switch.
The headlights of the trucks around her all sent out bright light at once. Fusou Ayame heard the commotion in the night and charged full speed ahead. She locked on to a hero who seemed to be thinking that it was only natural to rob an ATM if he needed it to save Fremea Seivelun. The violent level of noise was already like a punch to the gut, but Fusou Ayame amplified it even further. She shouted out with everything she had and it tore through the bank's shutters.
"Yeehaw!! I was worried about the lack of guests, but music is the ultimate worldwide entertainment!! It's only natural to help each other out in a time of need! And so it's time for a surprise gueeeeeeeesssssssssssssssttttttttttttttttttt!!!!!!"
There was a scream.
Someone shouted in anger.
The normal people and Anti-Skill members who tried to stop it were knocked back and "they" marched through Academy City's night. They filled the entire road and sidewalk.
Someone said, "Honestly, why is everyone getting in the way? What do they have against that girl?"
Someone else said, "It's because of people like this that people like me are needed. Well, everyone who gets in the way must be an enemy, so I just have to crush every last one of them."
The heroes who appeared in Academy City that night numbered at about 7500.
Every one of them was someone who held the possibility to individually destroy the sturdy system of an organization.
"I will rescue Fremea Seivelun."
"I will crush everyone who gets in my way."
"That's what it means to be a hero!!"
The unnatural "divine revelation" sent through the AIM diffusion fields led them through the nighttime streets.
These were the people who would normally miraculously save a person, a city, or a country.
But with an artificial sense of justice and desire to protect "inputted" into them, they were heading in a completely different direction.
While holding no questions about that truth, the balls were hit by the cue, collided with each other, and all headed for a single pocket.
Yakumi Hisako's ultimate goal with the project had been to destroy Agitate Halation herself once it had been completed.
The "counterbalance" Kuroyoru Umidori would act as the villain and kill the "leverage point" Fremea Seivelun who was twisting everything... or so it would seem.
In a way, she was breaking the egg that was Fremea to allow the chick to hatch.
As long as Fremea was killed, it did not particularly matter how, but she wanted to divert the focus of the 7500 heroes on the table elsewhere. That was why Yakumi had let Kuroyoru live after she had been used in the Freshmen incident to input the parameter of "the one the heroes must protect" into Fremea. No better scapegoat existed.
However...
Did Yakumi Hisako truly have control of everything surrounding Fremea Seivelun?
The judgment on that point would soon be given.
| ← Ch. 086 | Ch. 088 → |