Accelerator lay sprawled out on the dirty ground. Blood was gushing from both nostrils, and because his face was originally pale, his swollen cheeks were very noticeable.
"(Did I get him...?)."
It was the best punch I could deliver. He had fallen for my provocation and took it head-on, so the blow felt solid, but it didn't seem like he had completely nullified his ability.
But it wouldn't be that easy.
"Ah, what? I-it hurts. Haha, what was that?"
Accelerator's body swayed as he tried to get up from the ground.
It seemed I hadn't managed to knock him out. If I had, the impact of falling to the ground would have done some damage to his body. But because of his reflection, no damage registered on him other than from my right hand.
The cost of not being able to end it with that was high. He now knew that my right hand could break through his reflection.
"What the hell did you just do!?"
The moment I thought he was looking at me with bloodshot eyes, he started flailing his arms like a spoiled child.
I anticipated what would happen next and switched my abilities.
Accelerator's arm brushed against the concrete wall. It was scraped away as if he were scooping up piled-up snow with his hands.
A piece of concrete, a little larger than a person's head, was...
"GAHHHAAHHH!"
...launched at me at the speed of a cannonball.
If he had thrown it with normal strength, his shoulder would have been dislocated, but he must have used his vector manipulation. The aim was precisely at my head.
"Fangs!"
My nail bullet hit the concrete piece.
"What...!?"
I hid myself in a spin for a moment, then moved with the rotation. I came out again, and I was already in front of Accelerator.
A distance of three steps—!!
"AAAHHHH!"
Accelerator also thrust his right hand out with a roar.
But his movements were childish and unrefined. His fist wasn't clenched. His hand was open, and I could tell he was trying to touch me with just his fingertips.
But,
"Gah...!"
If he relied on his bare physical abilities without vector manipulation, I wouldn't lose.
The second punch landed squarely on his face. My Imaginary Breaker pierced through his reflection.
Accelerator crouched down on the spot. The nosebleed intensified, and drops of blood fell to the ground between his fingers that were trying to stop it.
"You, son of a, BITCHHHH!"
He could make me explode with a single touch. That must be what he was thinking. He reached out to me as if playing tag.
"Don't get cocky, you little bastard!"
It wasn't a refined movement like a judo or sumo throw. It was a simple movement like a child playing.
However, even just flailing his arms was a threat. Since I could only touch him with my right hand, I had to both attack and defend with only my right hand.
If any other part of me touched him even once, it would be over.
But,
"What's that! You're so nimble, so nimble!"
"I'm used to dealing with Aria!"
Compared to the genius fighting style that Aria's small body unleashes, he was lacking in every single way.
Every time I got close, I would land a punch on his face. It seemed he finally understood this, and Accelerator jumped back, creating distance between us.
I also didn't try to recklessly pursue him.
"This must be the first time you've ever stepped back, Accelerator."
"...Shut up, you bastard!"
Accelerator glared at me with bloodshot eyes. It seemed he had cut the inside of his mouth. He spat out a mixture of red and saliva.
"That's an interesting right hand. You're the first person who's ever broken through my ability."
"It's a cool magic trick, right?"
"Yeah... But it seems that magic trick only works with your right hand."
"..."
He had been beaten up so much, but he seemed to have analyzed me perfectly.
"Maybe it's more of a one-trick pony than a magic trick? And while you're breaking through my reflection, you can't use magic. If you could, you would have already killed me a long time ago."
Showing him my Magic of Darkness: Magia Elevea and my Fangs backfired on me. Just as Accelerator said, if I could strengthen my body and punch him, I would have ended this long ago.
"The trick's no fun once the secret's out. So to punch me, you have to be defenseless."
"..."
I silently turned off my Imaginary Breaker.
I don't know what kind of attack he's going to throw at me, but if I take it with my bare body, I might die instantly.
But at the same time, it means I have to be on the defensive. If I can't attack, and I can be killed with a single touch on any part of my body, including my right hand, I have to be on the defensive.
But if I were to force an attack now, it would be the same as declaring that I'm completely defenseless. He would just escape to a range where my fist can't reach him and unleash a devastating attack.
This is bad. I don't have time to think.
Accelerator is already preparing to attack.
"This one move, and you're out."
"!"
Accelerator's right hand hit the ground. The ground around his right hand instantly caved in. Cracks then simultaneously appeared in the walls of the buildings that made up the alley.
Accelerator used his ability to fly high into the air.
"No way...!"
I immediately understood what that meant.
The tremors grew stronger and stronger. The epicenter was the cracks that Accelerator had created. It wasn't just the concrete that had cracked. The shock had been transmitted much deeper.
The ground disappeared, and a huge hole was created. I couldn't see the bottom. Did it go all the way down to the Ballast Area where I had fallen with Einhart and Kirin?
In a chain reaction, the surrounding buildings began to collapse.
This was a narrow alley surrounded by buildings. What would happen if he destroyed the ground itself?
A rain of concrete came pouring down. The only thing I could hear was the sound of the buildings collapsing.
This was a destructive force that could destroy an entire section of the island. I might be able to survive, but...
"Misaka...!"
The Misaka Sister who was knocked out by Accelerator was in danger. She must have taken a lot of damage because she showed no signs of regaining consciousness, even with the shock that could have caused an entire block of the artificial island to collapse.
"Damn it!"
She would undoubtedly die if I left her like this.
I quickly went to rescue her.
My feet could give out at any moment. As I carried the Misaka Sister on my back, I suddenly remembered what I was doing.
"—!"
I looked up at the sky, and at the same time, a white meteor came falling down.
Accelerator, who had flown into the sky, was falling at a tremendous speed. Accelerator's pale skin seemed to have left an afterimage, making him look like a white meteor.
And his feet were pointed down. It was like a Rider Kick. With that momentum, I couldn't counter with a punch. If I were to desperately thrust my fist out, his one leg would be crushed, but I would be pulverized.
And the Misaka Sister on my back would be too.
"Go to hell! You little bastard!"
That attack created a huge hole in a corner of the island.
---------
"(Please, be safe...!)"
Mikoto flew through the now-dark sky, thinking only of that.
She had used her ability to connect magnetic cables to the rooftops of buildings and was rushing straight to that alley.
She had immediately understood the meaning of the things she had seen on the monitor at the research institute. Accelerator and the Sisters. And Sho, who had appeared right in the middle of what was unmistakably an experiment.
Remembering their conversation from a few hours ago, it was easy to guess what Sho was planning to do.
"Why... why do you know about this...?"
She could only think that he had somehow gotten a hold of the information that she had kept from him until the very end.
"(Please be safe—)!"
Suddenly, the middle of the town went dark. With the sun having set and streetlights and building lights on, only that area was blacked out as if painted over with black paint.
"What is that sound...!?"
Then came the sound of a rumbling earthquake.
"That place, don't tell me...!"
It was an obvious abnormal situation. To cause this artificially, a Level 5-class esper would have to exert their full power.
All the pieces of information were carefully being put together, one by one.
"....Huh?"
By the time Mikoto landed, the alley had vanished. To be more precise, a huge hole had been created. A hole large enough to easily swallow a large truck. A mountain of rubble had been created around it.
She immediately realized that this was why the electricity had gone out. And that it had been created just now.
Mikoto started to deny reality, wondering if she had gone to the wrong place or if it was some kind of construction site, but then she saw a white-haired boy sitting on the edge of the abyss.
"—Ha, ah... I'm laughing, I'm laughing. I'm laughing so hard I thought I was gonna die, you little bastard."
"A-Accelerator...!"
"Huh?"
Accelerator noticed Mikoto's presence.
"Yo, we meet again, original."
The face he turned toward Mikoto was painful to look at. His face was covered in blood, and his cheeks were swollen. But even so, his expression was bright.
"Where is he...?"
"Who?"
"Where is he?!"
"Him...? Oh..."
Accelerator pointed to the bottom of the hole.
"Well, if you know about the experiment, it's not strange for him to be an acquaintance of yours. You should be careful, he almost messed up the experiment."
"That's why...!"
"Well, it was a valuable experience. I've never met anyone like him before. He managed to break through my ability."
"!"
Mikoto remembered Imaginary Breaker.
"Did he really, with just one punch..."
"Hey, hey, if you knew, you should have stopped him. Even you must have known how reckless it was. Well, it's too late now that he's dead."
"Dead..."
"Yeah... Oh, I guess your clone was crushed with him, too... Whatever."
"No way..."
All the strength drained from Mikoto's body, and she sat down on the spot.
—See, he's dead after all. An innocent person, because of me.
"(Because of me, because of, me... Not just the Sisters, but innocent people too... are victims...)"
Accelerator clicked his tongue.
"Hey, give me a break. What's with that act, you little bastard?"
"..."
Mikoto held out her right hand with a coin on it toward Accelerator.
"Didn't you learn that that thing wouldn't work on me the first time we met?"
"...Shut up."
Railgun doesn't work.
The first place Mikoto and Accelerator met was the experiment site, the scene of the brutal murder of the Sisters.
She had fired a Railgun in a fit of rage, but—the moment she fired it, a hole was blown through an iron pillar behind her.
The sensation from that time still makes her shudder.
Mikoto had barged in when the experiment was supposed to be over after he had killed the Sisters. Accelerator had tilted his head in confusion at the unexpected situation. Because of that, the 'reflection' that was supposed to accurately bounce back the attack was slightly off. She was only blown away by the wind pressure and got a few scrapes.
But there wouldn't be a second time.
If she fired a Railgun, her body would be torn apart at a speed that exceeds human perception.
Not in the 185 moves that the Tree Diagram had calculated for Mikoto to lose, but in this one move.
But no matter how determined she was, no matter how much of a killer attack she aimed at him, she was just one of the countless masses to Accelerator.
He turned away, as if to say, "Go ahead and try if you can."
Right now, Accelerator's heart was filled with only the satisfaction of having won his first real fight.
But then.
"Phew..."
"!"
Something like a black shadow rose from the rubble. It spread wings of the same color and protected two people.
A boy and a girl. The girl was unconscious but unharmed, and the boy was tattered but standing firm.
"Thanks, Dark Shadow."
The shadow, which had been thanked, disappeared at the boy's feet.
The person Accelerator thought he had just defeated—Sho Yotsuki—was standing there.
---------
The defense from my Dark Shadow barely made it in time. Although I had also used the defensive spell 'Lashield', I probably wouldn't have been able to withstand it without his physical attack nullification.
Since I acted as a shield, I don't think the Misaka Sister was hurt, but I need to get her to a hospital as soon as possible.
To do that, I have to finally end this fight.
"(N-no way. How many Sisters do you think I've killed?! I know what it takes to kill someone inside and out! He shouldn't have survived that attack!)"
The distance to Accelerator is less than 10 meters. He's backing away. His fingertips are trembling, and he's breathing erratically.
"Ha, haha. You're good, you."
Even so, he doesn't seem to have any intention of backing down.
"This is the best! This is so much fun!!"
My mouth curved into a slight smile as Accelerator charged at me with the speed of a cannonball.
He still doesn't know how to fight. He had the advantage of distance, but he's closing in with all his might. He's charging straight into my space, into my range.
Accelerator's arms came at me from both sides. I ducked to avoid them, and our eyes met. He seemed to realize his mistake now.
I raised my clenched fist and thrust it toward the sky. It landed squarely on his chin.
This time, Accelerator didn't get back up.
--------------------------------------------
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