The residual energy of the Railgun still crackled in the air.
Though the Anti-Skill teachers were stunned by the blinding orange beam that had just lit up the sky, their eyes remained locked on the monster it had struck.
"Did we get it?" Misaka-senpai called out, perched high on a wall, held fast by her magnetic powers as she looked down at the creature below.
Shirai-san had returned to Natsume Sonoko's side, though she didn't seem in any hurry to whisk her away.
It appeared she felt her assistance wasn't particularly needed at the moment.
"Shirai-san, that was the Railgun! It was so, so cool!" A flush of excitement colored Natsume Sonoko's cheeks as she tugged lightly on Shirai-san's sleeve, her whole body buzzing with adrenaline.
The thought processes of fans were eerily similar, even if this particular fan meet-up was happening in a rather inappropriate location.
"But of course," Shirai-san nodded, a proud smile gracing her features.
"The esteemed Onee-sama is Tokiwadai's proud Ace, the Railgun." She puffed out her chest slightly, as if the praise for Misaka-senpai was praise for her personally.
"Oh no!"
In an instant, the expression on Shirai-san's face shifted. She vanished abruptly, only to reappear directly above Misaka-senpai.
No sooner had she teleported Misaka-senpai a short distance away than the section of wall where she had been standing began to crumble massively.
Weakened by repeated violent explosions, it could no longer bear the strain.
"Onee-sama, are you alright? You nearly scared Kuroko to death!" Shirai fretted, her hands darting over Misaka-senpai to check for injuries.
"Just where do you think you're touching, you creep!"
A fist of justice descended from the heavens, promptly 'defeating' one Level 4 esper with a solid thwack.
Natsume Sonoko surveyed the scene of devastation before her, thoughts drifting to something completely irrelevant.
Yet, her gaze remained fixed on the humanoid monster standing stock-still, seemingly frozen.
It moved. Its arm began to lift again.
The Railgun shot had struck the monster square in the chest, tearing away the surrounding flesh and exposing the underlying stone once more. The sight made Natsume Sonoko's skin crawl, as if she'd been transported back to a particularly gruesome biology class.
Even so, it seemed the attack had only returned the monster to its previous state, hardly a decisive victory.
After a moment, the creature began to move again. Its earlier stillness was likely just due to the powerful electric current from the Railgun temporarily disrupting its systems.
"Misaka-senpai, that thing is still moving!" Natsume Sonoko called out, urgency creeping into her voice.
The monster resumed its motion. Lacking a mouth, it made no sound, but one could almost imagine a roar of fury.
It closed the distance with terrifying speed, covering dozens of meters in a few strides. Shirai-san, forced to teleport herself and Misaka-senpai repeatedly, barely managed to evade this new wave of attacks.
Watching the monster draw nearer, something finally clicked in Natsume Sonoko's mind.
A barrage of icicles materialized in the air, raining down on the approaching creature like a hailstorm of bullets, peppering its body until it resembled a frozen pincushion.
The icy assault only hindered it for a few seconds. As its flesh rapidly regenerated, the icicles clattered to the ground, seemingly no more effective than a mild irritant.
A little indignant, Natsume Sonoko escalated to a legendary and utterly ruthless tactic: heat shock.
She abruptly spiked the temperature around the monster to levels unbearable for any ordinary human.
As the heat intensified, the surrounding air grew thin, creating a bizarre, high-altitude-like environment that would likely cause most people to faint on the spot. Even for espers, a lack of oxygen combined with extreme heat, starving the brain, would probably disrupt ability usage.
The monster, affected by the sweltering conditions, began to slow down. It seemed this creature did, in fact, possess something akin to a brain.
However, the regeneration of its flesh continued unabated; the intense heat was useless against its body.
"It's actually having an effect!"
Shirai-san appeared beside Natsume Sonoko, giving her a curious glance. She hadn't expected this girl's ability to be so useful.
But the monster now displayed unusual intelligence, turning and striding purposefully out of the range of Natsume Sonoko's thermal control.
At that moment, another brilliant orange beam sliced through the air, striking the monster as it staggered forward. The immense impact sent the creature flying, landing it far away on a nearby street.
The stone in the humanoid monster's chest was exposed once more, this time almost entirely, looking as if it might be dislodged completely by the powerful blow.
"Allow me to send you straight to hell in one go." Several girls who had been watching from the rooftops finally revealed themselves.
The one named Mugino Shizuri, her fluffy brown hair swaying, looked down imperiously at the monster.
Countless glowing, pure white orbs materialized around Mugino Shizuri. In the next instant, countless beams of light shot towards the humanoid monster on the ground at speeds impossible to follow with the naked eye.
This wasn't a fleeting brilliance; the dazzling barrage lasted for several seconds.
When the light faded, the previously intact monster was gone. All that remained was a peculiar stone, still clinging to a few fleshy cells.
The stone itself was surprisingly resilient, completely undamaged by the intense attack. The flesh cells on the stone showed no loss of vitality, rapidly regenerating and soon covering the entire rock with new tissue once more.
"That's disgusting. What even is that thing?" Frenda asked, eyeing the stone with distaste.
"You can think of it as a supercomputer. These biological tissues are its keyboard and mouse. Academy City went through a lot of trouble to acquire them," Mugino Shizuri explained, her tone matter-of-fact.
"And to prevent this computer from booting up arbitrarily, I've heard its brain is incomplete as well."
Just then, a massive shockwave of air erupted from the ground. Accompanied by tremendous pressure, it whipped up dust and debris, forcing everyone to shield their eyes, vision obscured.
Those caught directly in the air blast were forced back several steps by the pressure, struggling to maintain their footing.
A woman in a white lab coat, her face haggard and clearly sleep-deprived, appeared out of thin air. In the next second, she snatched up the stone and vanished just as abruptly.
"Teleportation?"
"No, there was also aerokinesis."
"Actually, there was optical camouflage too," Takitsubo Rikou added quietly.
"Takitsubo! Can you track that esper?!"
Mugino Shizuri, furious, roughly grabbed handfuls of her own hair as she demanded an answer from Takitsubo Rikou, her face a mask of rage. 'Just let me get my hands on her,' she seemed to think.
"It's strange," Takitsubo Rikou replied with a slight frown, perplexed.
"That person's AIM diffusion field was incredibly chaotic, yet it also felt like it wasn't really there at all. Similarly, the monster's AIM field was very problematic, flickering in and out. I couldn't lock onto a complete field."
"Dammit!"
"Mugino, we need to go. Anti-Skill is heading this way."
"Dammit! Dammit!"
--+--
In a certain office, the woman in the white lab coat, looking slightly disheveled from her journey, suddenly materialized. A strange light shone in her eyes.
The flesh on the stone proliferated wildly, quickly restoring the creature to its former tall stature. But now, it stood perfectly still and silent, making no move.
"Raise your hand."
At the white-coated woman's command, the monster obediently lifted its arm.
"With its brain specifically lobotomized, stripped of the capacity for thought and calculation, its brainwaves were instantly overwritten by the Level Upper."
For Kiyama Harumi, today was a good day.
The Level Upper network, connecting individuals via their AIM diffusion fields, allowed her to convert others' brainwaves into her own, effectively harnessing their brains for computational power.
Since she could use their brains for calculation, she also possessed a certain degree of ability to interfere with their actions.
Initially, this monster, having gained the ability to think by borrowing other brains, had instantly run amok. Later, it had fallen under Kiyama's control.
Kiyama Harumi, who had been busy in her office researching methods to revive her students, hadn't even had time to think before a super high-performance special computer was practically delivered to her doorstep.
'I need to study this carefully.' Seeing a glimmer of hope, a look of intense urgency spread across Kiyama Harumi's face.
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.