The sky was gloomy, with more low-hanging clouds than usual lately, all thanks to the heavy rains from days before.
Perhaps Natsume-san had arrived a little too late—the intruder's influence had already begun to spread.
Wings extended behind her, Natsume-san maintained an altitude almost parallel to the cloud layer.
Then, with a sudden "cobra maneuver," she pitched her body up at a 130-degree angle, reversed thrust sharply, and swerved cleanly away from a six-winged unmanned combat helicopter that had been nearly on top of her.
She gazed with some surprise as combat units of all sorts rushed past her one after another. It looked like the situation was more serious than she'd thought—even hardware as rare as this had been deployed.
These machines posed almost no threat to Natsume. Their sensors couldn't detect her to begin with, and even if they did, she could take out such clumsy robots in an instant.
Right now, those unmanned helicopters were all hovering over a certain location, unable to descend and join the fight directly—because the battlefield had shifted to beneath Academy City.
Tearing through the clouds, a certain ace pilot had expertly used the helicopters' navigation data to pinpoint the location.
But as soon as she got there, Natsume-san realized the entrance to the underground mall had already been sealed off.
Anti-Skill troops armed to the teeth, along with other combat personnel, were busy evacuating the crowd. A few Judgment members were also there, helping keep order.
"There's a major incident in the underground mall—everyone, please evacuate immediately!"
An unfamiliar Judgment member, carrying a girl with a leg injury on her back, slowly made her way toward the exit, all the while directing the flow of people.
"You should evacuate too. Leave this to us."
The Anti-Skill member named Yomikawa took the injured girl and spoke to the out-of-breath Judgment member.
"Tsuzuri, call in the riot squad."
Yomikawa-sensei looked toward Tessou Tsuzuri, who wasn't far away. She seemed flustered, talking to someone, but snapped to attention when she heard Yomikawa.
"Right! I'll get them ready right away."
Tessou Tsuzuri gave a start and hurriedly replied, pulling the girl beside her along as she moved away.
"Natsume-san, it's dangerous inside. Please head to a shelter immediately."
While contacting her squad members, Tessou spoke to a certain girl with twin buns nearby.
"Tessou-sensei, I'm actually here to help—and besides, some of my friends are still inside."
As she spoke, Natsume Sonoko produced a Judgment armband. In situations like this, she figured, the armband ought to count for something.
"Alright, I know you've served as a temporary Judgment member, Natsume-san, but this isn't the time to be reckless. Even if I've heard you've become the eighth Level 5, this is no place to show off. Please cooperate with us."
Before she could even finish, Natsume-san was pulled outside the cordoned-off area. Tessou Tsuzuri-sensei's face was stern.
Even if Natsume-san was a Level 5, she was still a student—and teachers had a duty to protect their students.
"But I… alright."
Seeing the determination on Tessou Tsuzuri's face, Natsume-san reluctantly nodded.
Unable to win against Tessou-sensei, Natsume Sonoko obediently stood outside the cordon, looking somewhat wronged.
She had intended to go through proper channels to find Misaka-senpai and Index inside, but all she got was an evacuation order.
'Well, no more pretending. Time to lay my cards on the table—I can turn invisible.'
Before the crowd could finish evacuating, the lights in the underground mall suddenly went out, plunging the brightly lit space into total darkness.
And with the blackout came a widespread power failure.
Because of the outage, the heavy doors at several underground mall exits began to close automatically. Dozens of centimeters thick, they slowly descended.
"No time! Everyone, charge inside!"
Acting on impulse, Yomikawa-sensei shouted, and several dozen Anti-Skill members behind her rushed into the mall.
Just as the main door was about to slam shut, a powerful surge of air pressure lifted it momentarily before it crashed down to the ground.
As the door sealed shut, the rushing air was cut off, sending dust flying everywhere.
Inside the mall, it was pitch black—too dark to see your own hand. With the power out, all light sources in the mall were dead, leaving only the beams from the Anti-Skill's flashlights to pierce the gloom.
Without a second to lose, Natsume Sonoko slipped inside in the brief moment before the door fully closed.
She'd been on the phone with Misaka-senpai earlier—they were supposed to be in the underground mall. If she hadn't seen Shirai-san or Misaka-senpai outside, they must be trapped in here.
She wasn't too worried about Shirai-san, with her Teleportation ability, but Index and the others seemed to be here too.
She had wanted to call and confirm, but the next moment the power went out and the doors started closing. Without overthinking it, Natsume-san dashed inside.
"There are… strange eyes on the walls."
An Anti-Skill member voiced his shock, and instantly, all eyes turned in one direction.
Using the Anti-Skill's flashlight beams, Natsume Sonoko made out eerie things on the walls—like eyes growing right out of the surface, as if watching them.
'An esper? Doesn't feel right… maybe it's magic.'
Natsume-san wasn't some homegrown Academy City student. She'd been outside and seen things—she'd even been trapped in a magic circle for months. You could say her experience was pretty broad.
But that experience was only skin-deep.
If you really pressed her, Natsume-san's knowledge of magic was about as shallow as Index's grasp of science—she even tried to apply science-side logic to explain magic.
'If the intruder is from outside… our opponent might be a magician.'
Natsume Sonoko felt a sudden tension, her breath growing quicker.
She'd actually seen quite a few magicians before.
Thinking back to Index and Kanzaki Kaori, they didn't seem all that different from ordinary people. That thought gave a certain science-side girl a bit of courage.
Moving forward with the Anti-Skill squad, Natsume Sonoko drifted along like a dutiful ghost, hovering silently nearby.
Along the way, they found a few students who hadn't managed to evacuate in time. The Anti-Skill members kept them close—inside this sealed environment, staying near armed professionals felt safest.
But that sense of security didn't last long. A woman in tattered black gothic lolita-style dress walked straight toward them.
Her voluminous, messy blonde hair and chocolate-brown skin stood out. She looked to be in her twenties. Her sudden appearance put all the Anti-Skill members on high alert.
Her name was Sherry Cromwell, a member of the Anglican Church's special forces, the "Necessarius."
No one knew why she had come to Academy City, but she had clearly chosen her target.
At that moment, she lifted her head and glared at the Anti-Skill members blocking her path, a flash of annoyance crossing her face. Troubles just kept piling up.
"Is it her?" Yomikawa-sensei asked, frowning.
"Yes, matches the intel."
Tessou Tsuzuri, standing nearby, nodded.
Within seconds of the confirmation, Yomikawa-sensei gave the order to open fire.
A dense volley of bullets shot out—only to be blocked by an invisible barrier around the woman. Some kind of magic at work, apparently.
Natsume-san froze for a moment. She hadn't found Index or the others, but she'd run into the intruder instead.
Natsume Sonoko didn't stay idle—her expression turned serious.
She tried attacking by manipulating hot air, but found a strange barrier around the woman's body that blocked her heated currents.
So Natsume-san switched tactics, controlling the air inside the barrier. A wave of scorching heat instantly rushed toward Sherry Cromwell's head.
Sherry's steps grew unsteady, and she looked about to collapse—but her reflexes were sharp. She immediately covered her nose and mouth.
Several of the strange eyeballs nearby suddenly exploded.
The blasts weren't powerful, but they kicked up thick dust, churning the air around them. In an instant, Natsume-san lost control of the heated air.
She could calm the turbulent airflow in mere moments, but her surprise attack had already been disrupted.
The next second, Sherry Cromwell's form rapidly moved on Natsume-san's radar map—then vanished completely.
By the time the air settled, a deep crater marked the ground where she had been. And in the spot where the magician had stood, there now loomed a stone golem over four meters tall.
--+--
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.