At dusk, the dim sky revealed a hazy, boundless river of stars. Along the roads of School District 23, the streetlights began to turn on, casting a cool glow over the quiet streets and the bustling crowds leaving work.
In Academy City, School District 23 was a special district centered around aviation and space development. It contained only airports, launch facilities, and related installations. It was one of the few districts without schools or student activity, populated mostly by corporate and institutional employees. Even establishments offering food, leisure, and entertainment were extremely rare.
Whenever the workday ended, aside from the necessary security forces and the unlucky few forced to stay behind for overtime, the streets here became emptier than almost anywhere else in Academy City.
This led to a rather interesting phenomenon. Whenever night fell, all the monsters and demons that had lain hidden during the day liked to crawl out of the shadows.
Today, however, the scale of their emergence seemed excessive. Gunfights erupted almost simultaneously in several factory zones, abandoned buildings, and construction sites scattered throughout School District 23.
Gunfire rattled without end like firecrackers on New Year's Day. Flames surged into the sky as though a war had broken out. Explosions thundered from time to time, accompanied by the roar of rotors as armed helicopters rapidly deployed, causing nearby passersby to stop and look toward the commotion.
Inside a hotel somewhere in the district.
Whoosh!
"Heh... Urgh..."
A red-haired girl wearing a dark Western-style winter school uniform, her hair tied into twin tails, suddenly appeared out of thin air. She dropped to one knee and began coughing violently.
No matter how one looked at her, the girl's condition was far from good.
Blood seeped through several places on her uniform jacket. One sleeve was missing entirely, and the fabric was torn to pieces. The highly revealing miniskirt covering her lower body had been reduced to strips resembling a tropical samba skirt, some of them still carrying sparks. She was not even wearing the matching shirt underneath. The exposed skin of her upper body was bright red, with waves of heat and steam seemingly rolling from it.
Obvious bullet grazes marked her waist, abdomen, arms, and thighs. Even the bandages wrapped around her chest had lost half their length, exposing part of the soft curves beneath. She looked utterly miserable.
It was as though she had just staggered off a battlefield engulfed in artillery fire.
"Damn it... How did Judgment, Anti-Skill, and those riot-control units move so quickly?"
Bent over, the girl dry-heaved several times before panting heavily. Only after a long while did she raise her pale face. She was none other than one of the guides, the Level 4 Move Point esper, Musujime Awaki.
Struggling upright, she could not help looking through the window toward the still-smoking battlefield. She clearly saw armed helicopters circling overhead as riot-control robots descended with a roar, bright engine flames blazing beneath their feet.
Seeing this, Musujime Awaki slowly straightened and looked at the silver-gray suitcase in her hand. She had risked her life to seize it, endured pursuit from a Level 5, fled from Anti-Skill and Judgment, and been riddled with bullets of every caliber in the process.
She could not help laughing. "Did you really think I couldn't teleport myself? As long as I want to... I can do it whenever I please! I can do it!"
Tree Diagram, the world's most powerful supercomputer and the pride of Academy City, was also known as the ultra-high-speed parallel processing device Absolute Simulator. Through reverse-engineering the Honkai energy condensed by the first-ranked Will of the Honkai, hundreds of research institutions had recently collaborated to develop and manufacture a prototype of Tree Diagram's new-generation central data processor.
It was precisely because of this wonderful news that Musujime Awaki's line of work unexpectedly allowed her to learn that Tree Diagram was about to have its central data processor replaced.
Musujime Awaki had always questioned why she possessed such power. Somehow, an idea took root in her mind. She believed that Tree Diagram, the most powerful supercomputer in the world, would surely help her find the answer.
Whether that meant freeing herself from her ability, giving it to someone else, or allowing more people and more living creatures to obtain supernatural powers...
During her ability development, she had once suffered an accident. During a test, an error in her calculations caused one of her feet to become embedded inside a wall while teleporting herself.
The physical injuries caused by that mistake had long since been healed by Academy City. However, while her body recovered, her mind did not.
After that test, Musujime Awaki's ability stopped developing and gained several side effects. First, she could no longer teleport herself repeatedly. Doing so multiple times would cause mental confusion, vomiting, loss of control over her ability, and an inability to continue using it.
Her teleportation also developed a delay. She needed to repeatedly verify the accuracy of her calculations, causing her ability to activate two or three seconds later.
Even with so many flaws, Musujime Awaki's power still far surpassed that of an ordinary Level 4. As a result, she was chosen.
Musujime Awaki was forced to become a guide for the Windowless Building. She could not refuse Chairman Aleister Crowley's orders. Because of this, she knew far more of the "truth" than any other esper and had learned of countless cruel projects.
She hated using Move Point on herself, yet she was repeatedly forced to do so. She was forced to participate, and forced to hurt others.
Musujime Awaki was not a strong person. Had her heart been resilient enough, she would have been fully qualified to become a new Level 5.
Although Musujime Awaki and Shirai Kuroko were both Level 4 spatial espers, the strength of Musujime Awaki's ability far exceeded Shirai Kuroko's.
She could move objects weighing 4.5 tons across a distance of 800 meters, while Kuroko could only move objects weighing 130 kilograms, with a maximum range of just 81 meters. Moreover, Shirai Kuroko had to touch any object other than herself before teleporting it, while Musujime Awaki did not.
Among the fewer than sixty spatial espers in Academy City, had Selene not existed, Musujime Awaki would have been the city's strongest spatial esper based purely on raw statistics.
However, confronted with the reality of the darkness, her sensitive heart fell into despair. She blamed all her suffering on her ability. She wanted to discard it and no longer wished to remain a guide. Whether the ability was given to someone else or simply vanished, either outcome would satisfy her.
Thus, she took action and conspired with companions who shared the same goal to seize Tree Diagram's new-generation central data processor.
For this purpose, she cautiously recruited several groups of external support and prepared a considerable amount of military equipment. However, every outside organization she colluded with was subjected to bloody suppression by Academy City's security forces!
Yes, suppression. This was nothing like Judgment and Anti-Skill hesitating forever because they were afraid to kill, firing rubber bullets, and doing everything possible to capture their targets alive. The two sides had been fighting normally when the lights on those Security Robots suddenly changed from blue to red.
They announced that no prisoners were to be taken!
Every shot targeted a vital area, and every weapon used large-caliber, full-power ammunition. Had Musujime Awaki's ability not been so powerful and had she not reacted so quickly, she might have been reduced to minced meat alongside those outside organizations.
Although she destroyed quite a few Security Robots, there were simply too many. Once the riot-control units rapidly deployed, teleporting such a dense storm of bullets immediately made her dizzy, forcing her to flee.
"It must have been an order from the higher-ups... Now that I've stolen this, I've probably offended them beyond reconciliation."
"No. I have to leave Academy City." Musujime Awaki gritted her teeth. Before her thoughts could finish turning, a sudden burst of agony tore a cry from her throat.
She instinctively reached toward the source of the pain, only to touch something familiar.
It was a corkscrew.
"Leave? You still think you can leave? Judgment hereby places you under arrest, Musujime Awaki, a second-year student of Kirigaoka Girls' Academy and the Level 4 Move Point esper." A familiar female voice filled with mockery came from behind her. "I was extremely careful. I was terrified I might put it in the wrong place."
"You?" Musujime Awaki turned around and instinctively looked toward the voice.
"You... You healed that quickly? Heh. Since when did Judgment receive medical supplies of this quality?"
"Yes, it's me."
Shirai Kuroko, the girl with tea-colored twin tails, sat elegantly atop a dining table while lightly shaking a small bottle of emergency trauma spray bearing the Schicksal Research Institute's logo. A faint smile rested on her face.
"As an elegant member of Judgment, the treatment I receive is naturally different from that of vermin like you who disturb the city's peace."
"If the information I received is correct, your psychological trauma two years ago was probably caused by a coordinate calculation error that embedded your body in a wall or something similar. How careless." At this point, Shirai Kuroko sighed with feigned regret.
"You..." Musujime Awaki glared at Shirai Kuroko in displeasure, only for intense pain to erupt throughout her body at once!
She groaned and dropped directly to her knees. A steel spike had been driven into each of her thighs, shoulders, and beneath her ribs.
"Don't be nervous. I avoided your vital areas."
Shirai Kuroko chuckled as she looked at the scantily clad girl lying on the floor. "This is merely returning the favor."
Several hours earlier, while carrying out her routine Judgment duties, Shirai Kuroko had dealt with more than a dozen black-clad robbers in an alley before encountering Musujime Awaki. Caught off guard, she had been easily defeated. The proud Shirai Kuroko considered that humiliation. Musujime Awaki was not a Level 5, and Shirai Kuroko was inferior to no other Level 4!
"This is an emergency hemostatic spray, a military-grade product specially supplied by the Schicksal Research Institute. I only managed to obtain some high-end goods like this through my connection with Selene-senpai. It's extremely effective."
Shirai Kuroko teleported the spray in front of Musujime Awaki. "All right. Lie there in disgrace and stop the bleeding from your wounds. Now that we've gone this far, we're finally even."
"Hahahaha..."
"What are you laughing at?" The contempt on Shirai Kuroko's face vanished as she watched Musujime Awaki endure the pain, slowly rise from the floor, and reveal a crazed smile.
"Vermin? That's hilarious. It seems Railgun isn't the only one keeping secrets from you... If I'm vermin, then what does that make my 'master' and my 'superior'? Aren't they demons who deserve to burn in hell?!"
"An 'evildoer' like me has reported to your senior and delivered intelligence to her many times. Do you think Selene's seat on the Board of Directors simply fell from the sky, little princess in your ivory tower?"
Musujime Awaki picked up the emergency spray Shirai Kuroko had teleported before her and pointed at the Schicksal Research Institute's logo. With a wave of her hand, the bloodstained steel spikes fell to the floor with a series of metallic clangs.
"It seems you don't understand anything."
Musujime Awaki appeared completely unconcerned by the bloody holes pouring blood across her body. She looked at the Judgment officer before her with a pitying smile.
"Of your two seniors, one lives recklessly within a fantasy of her own making, hopelessly naive, while the other is a monster who stands at the pinnacle, arrogantly looking down upon everyone. It must be difficult for you, caught between the two of them."
"I don't need to understand. That's only how you see things."
"Even if it is an idealistic fantasy, my dear Onee-sama sincerely wishes for a world where neither you nor I would need to oppose one another like this."
Without the slightest pause, Shirai Kuroko lightly hopped down from the table, planted one hand on her hip, and calmly looked askance at the "wanted criminal" before her. "As for Selene-senpai, she simply isn't good at expressing her emotions. But when it comes to the most dependable big sister in Academy City, no one surpasses Selene-senpai."
"Why do you think you're still alive and kicking? I simply didn't want to trouble Senpai, nor did I want to cause excessive damage to public property. A petty little thief like you isn't worth bothering a Board Director over. Otherwise, you would already be dead."
As she spoke, a mocking smile curled across Shirai Kuroko's lips.
"As for Senpai's arrogance and disdain toward you, I think she simply considers you beneath her notice. You're nothing more than a coward and an obvious escapist. The kind of person Senpai despises most is someone like you!"
"All you can do is talk big! I'm an escapist?! You're the monsters!"
As though the deepest wound in her heart had been ripped open, Musujime Awaki broke down on the spot. Blood vessels spread across her eyes as she roared with an Accelerator-like madness.
"What did I do wrong?!"
"I only wanted to confirm whether other organisms could use supernatural powers in place of humans. Even ant societies possess strict laws and order. Supernatural powers cannot possibly be the exclusive privilege of humanity. Then why are humans the only ones capable of using them?! To understand that, to achieve my goal... I have to use this central data processor to build a new Tree Diagram!"
"What did I do wrong?! You don't understand anything! Espers like us may simply be fortunate enough not to have become monsters. Powers this dangerous..."
"Utter nonsense!"
Shirai Kuroko shook her head, lowered it, and sighed before speaking. "An ability is still only an ability. What matters is how the user chooses to wield it. As expected of a villain... Everything you say is utterly lacking in character."
"Whether you possessed an ability or not, you would still be someone who hurts others. That fact would never change. You're even worse than I imagined, an evildoer rotten to the bone. Prison is where people like you belong so you can reflect upon your crimes!"
"Arrest me?! Hahahaha... Do you have the ability?!"
In the next instant, both of them vanished from where they stood.
Crackle!
Tables, chairs, and every furnishing within the room vanished and reappeared out of thin air. Shards of glass flew wildly through space as the two girls fought with all their strength, responding to each other's attacks like mortal enemies.
Musujime Awaki swung the metal suitcase into Shirai Kuroko's body. At the same time Shirai Kuroko suffered the heavy blow, she drove her fist into the back of Musujime Awaki's head. Their battle unfolded at extreme speed, with both girls constantly flashing from place to place and teleporting objects around them.
The two Level 4 spatial espers freely displayed the strength befitting their rank.
Their battle could be called the truest representation of combat between teleportation-type espers.
Every exchange was extraordinarily dangerous. Both sides constantly searched for an opportunity to teleport any available object into the other's body or smash it against them, crippling or even killing their opponent.
Crack, crack!
In mere moments, the building began to shake and tilt as its internal load-bearing structures were folded, teleported away, left incomplete, or shattered by their battle. Gravel and chunks of stone rained downward with a continuous rumble!
Carrying the suitcase, Musujime Awaki instantly teleported out of the collapsing hotel. Shirai Kuroko followed close behind. "Don't even think about escaping!"
"Haha, escape? Since you've investigated my records, you should know you're far inferior to me!"
Musujime Awaki raised the military flashlight she used as an aiming aid, abruptly spun around, and swung it. Several steel reinforcing bars covered in brick and concrete instantly appeared from within the collapsing ruins, hurtling toward the airborne Shirai Kuroko like bolts of lightning.
Shirai Kuroko's expression did not change in the slightest. Faced with the high-speed attack, she teleported away, calmly evaded the steel bars, appeared beside Musujime Awaki, and viciously swung a wooden baton down toward her back.
In the end, you still aren't willing to strike lethally, Shirai Kuroko.
Several kilometers away, Selene stood atop a skyscraper with her arms folded, watching the battle between the two orthodox Level 4 teleportation espers from afar. "Kuroko has lost. The undeniable difference between them is simply too great."
Once Musujime Awaki overcame her fear of teleporting herself under the influence of such intense emotions, even if only temporarily, Kuroko had no chance of winning.
Whoosh!
"What?!"
Shirai Kuroko swung heavily, only to hit empty air. Her expression froze.
"Hahahaha! This is the difference between us! Your limit is merely moving objects weighing 130 kilograms across a maximum distance of 81 meters, while I'm dozens of times stronger than you! Die!"
Musujime Awaki appeared nearby and swung the military flashlight downward with absolute confidence. Then...
"..."
Nothing happened.
Not only was she unable to teleport any object, but she could no longer teleport herself. Both she and Shirai Kuroko were frozen in midair. The surrounding space seemed filled with malice. No matter how she calculated the eleven-dimensional values, nothing responded.
"This is Spatial Lockdown?!"
Musujime Awaki murmured in horror.
"How can this be possible? Hasn't she spent the entire past month occupied with Board and corporate affairs, never interfering in trivial matters again? I confirmed her schedule repeatedly. At this exact time, she should be presiding over a meeting in School District 2!"
"Good grief. Am I not allowed to cancel a meeting?"