Kamijou Touma and Last Order stood completely still.
Neither of them had an umbrella. Kamijou wore a black collared jacket with a red shirt below it and Last Order wore a blue dress with a men's dress shirt over it. They were both soaking wet. The electronic goggles on her forehead were soaked too, but that may not have been a problem since they were made for the military.
The small girl had led him to a large road not far from the entrance to the underground mall. The trains and busses stopped after the curfew, so no one could be seen along the dark roadway.
Or at least, no one who was standing on their two feet like normal.
"…"
Several people were collapsed on the ground.
As the rain falling from the night sky strengthened, men wearing all black lay collapsed on the ground and sinking into puddles. Their armored outfits made of composite materials reflected the light of the streetlights and their sinister looking submachine guns were sinking into the thin film of water covering the road. The helmets and highly elastic masks covering their faces gave off the scent of someone outside the realm of normal people.
Kamijou heard a crackling sound.
It was the sound of a fire.
Just a few meters away from the collapsed men was a horribly smashed van. The van was the fuel for the fire. The automobile had smashed through the guardrail and was stopped in the middle of the sidewalk…or perhaps that was not the best way of describing it. The van's basic shape had been so distorted that it seemed better to say it was "scattered across" the sidewalk. No other vehicles could be seen. Kamijou decided that van must have belonged to those men.
Last Order pointed at one of the collapsed men.
With her face completely pale, she said, "He was attacked by these people, says Misaka as Misaka tells you the truth. That really is what happened."
Kamijou looked down at the collapsed men.
(They aren't Anti-Skill?)
The all-black battle equipment was deceptive, but a closer examination showed that their equipment was different from Anti-Skill's standard…or at least Kamijou thought it was. He had no connection to the military, so he did not have the knowledge needed to know what model the equipment was at a glance.
(But if they aren't Anti-Skill, who are they? Were they attacking as a group with equipment that might be even better than Anti-Skill's…?)
And those attackers were now collapsed on the ground.
He could not grasp what had happened.
Kamijou looked over at Last Order and said, "Is this person you're saying was attacked someone you know?"
"Yes, says Misaka as Misaka answers you."
"So did he turn the tables on them?"
"Unlikely, replies Misaka as Misaka shakes her head. He has a short fuse and gets in fights easily, so Misaka doubts he would stop at this after what they did to him, says Misaka as Misaka makes a simple conjecture."
(What kind of person is this guy?)
Kamijou left that comment unsaid.
But…
"…"
Espers were not invincible.
Kamijou had no idea what kind of ability this person Last Order knew had, but unless he had an irregular power like the Level 5 Railgun, he would be unable to turn the tables when attacked by a trained group armed with guns. Kamijou, a Level 0, had no room to talk, but all espers were still students. Their powers were nothing more than what could be used at school.
If you tossed them out onto a battlefield, there would be nothing they could do. If they were clever…no, they would not even have the presence of mind in that situation to make use of any cleverness they might have. A mere student would not have the resolution needed to fight like that.
They would most likely die.
(At any rate, I need to report this.)
Kamijou had no way of knowing if Last Order's acquaintance had been captured or was on the run, but the situation was urgent either way. He decided it would be best to get help from Anti-Skill, so Kamijou pulled his cell phone from his pants pocket.
But…
"…?"
Kamijou looked up from his phone just before he pressed the button.
(Why hasn't anyone reported this already?)
He could see it right before his eyes. A horribly crushed van. It looked like some time had passed since it had ignited, but the flames continued to give off light with no sign of waning. With everything that had happened, someone had to have heard it. The fire would be visible even from a distance. There should have been no need for Kamijou to use his phone because someone else should have reported it already. Normally, a crowd of onlookers would have gathered.
"…"
Kamijou looked around the area.
The lights had gone out within the city. The scenery was wrapped in thorough silence with no hint of a commotion.
What if…
What if there was no commotion because no one was able to cause a commotion?
What if everyone in the surrounding buildings had collapsed like those Anti-Skill members?
(What is-…?)
Was it an intentional attack or an aimless phenomenon?
The situation was so perfectly lacking in any kind of self-assertion that even that was unclear.
By the time Kamijou had noticed the problem, Academy City's functions had been driven to a stop like a wooden pillar that had been thoroughly eaten away by termites.
The situation felt a lot like falling asleep in the middle of a final exam and waking up to hear the teacher announcing you have 10 minutes left.
With the silent city in the place of that blank answer sheet, a cold sweat began pouring from that boy's body.
(What is going on in this city?)
As Kamijou stood still and unable to move, he saw some movement.
Last Order had crouched down next to one of the collapsed men and was digging through his equipment. She suddenly looked up as if she had realized something and frantically ran back to Kamijou.
She grabbed his hand with her hand that was cold and wet with rainwater and began tugging. She looked like a child dragging her father to a store's toy department.
"Hurry, says Misaka as Misaka urges you to be cautious." Her voice held an odd sense of urgency. "They're coming, warns Misaka as Misaka heads over to hide in the back alley!"
As Last Order pulled him along, Kamijou hid behind a car parked on the side of the road nearby. He frowned at the word "they".
The nearby drain must have been clogged with leaves because a puddle as large as a pond had formed around the car. Just one step in and his foot was already soaked down to the sock.
But he had no time to complain.
The low rumble of an engine reverberated throughout the area.
A strange black van without its headlights on arrived.
While producing a low sound of exhaust as if trying to move as silently as possible, it came to a stop next to the collapsed men in black. The back sliding door opened and a group of people dressed exactly the same got out. At a glance, there appeared to be around 10 of them. Even if they were unarmed, Kamijou would have no hope of defeating them.
But they were not unarmed.
"Shit. Where did they get all those guns?" groaned Kamijou.
The men in black all had submachine guns hanging from shoulder straps. They were probably also armed with things like handguns and grenades.
They did not look like Anti-Skill, the protectors of Academy City's peace.
They did not look friendly.
In fact, Kamijou could feel a tension that made it clear he and Last Order would be filled with bullets the instant they were spotted.
He looked down at his right hand.
The Imagine Breaker power that resided within it could easily stop even the Level 5 Railgun. But it was of no use against a bullet that had no relation to any supernatural power.
The men in black picked up the men who (apparently) were their colleagues and roughly tossed them into the van. Meanwhile, one of the men took a different action. On the man's back was a clear cylindrical container about the size of three family size plastic drink bottles stood vertically end on end. The bottom of the container had a nozzle attached that the man held like a flamethrower.
"That's acid, says Misaka as Misaka gives its common name."
"What?"
"It's called the Acid Spray… By spreading a special weak acid, they can destroy anything like fingerprints or the DNA information in bloodstains, says Misaka as Misaka draws information out of the destruction of evidence manual."
"…"
(This is bad.)
If that group had prepared such large-scale equipment, they must have had a good reason to destroy that evidence. If Kamijou or Last Order were spotted as witnesses, it was easy to imagine what those men would do.
And Kamijou's conclusion was…
(If that happens, I'm not sure we could get away.)
He gulped audibly.
He felt like the men in black would hear even that tiny sound. Kamijou's body was soaking wet and his shirt was sticking to his skin, but he could not tell whether it was due to the rain or his own sweat.
He merely remained silent and waited for a chance to escape.
He mentally prayed that they would not be noticed.
He heard a slight splashing noise.
"…"
Kamijou looked down at his feet.
The drain must have been clogged because a pond-like puddle had formed. And his foot was trembling slightly while submerged in that water. That trembling was creating a small ripple on the water's surface. And it passed under the car they were using as a shield and continued on the other side.
But those men would not notice something that small.
The pouring rain was striking the puddle too. It was dark enough that the details of the puddle could not be seen without looking closely. And so they would be okay…or so Kamijou thought silently almost as a prayer.
But then…
The men in black standing a slight distance away all turned in his direction at once.