The convertible Accelerator was riding in stopped near the terminal station in District 23.
He blankly handed some money to the young man in the driver's seat and got out of the car.
This was the only station in District 23.
A lot of lines connected there, but the platform for freight trains was the closest one. Even though this was the final stop, the tracks continued on. The tracks connected to the switchyard where the trains were serviced and where trains with a large number of containers could unload.
Noticing that his cane was getting in the way, Accelerator moved around the circumference of the station and looked for the antenna. He was walking through the container storage area that was off limits to unauthorized people.
(I have a little less than 10 minutes. This is like the schedule of some famous musician.)
He turned his attention to the electrode around his neck.
(The antenna for the satellite is a few kilometers from here, but a normal car can't go any farther than this.)
He had about 30 minutes of battery left. He wanted to avoid using it if at all possible, but he didn't seem to have a choice here. Searching for a car now would be a pain and it would be faster to "run" using his vector transformation power anyway.
Thinking this, Accelerator moved his hand to the switch on the back of his neck. But…
"Oh. I can't have you doing that."
He heard a soft male voice come from directly behind him.
He hadn't noticed anyone there.
"!!"
Accelerator quickly pulled out the handgun in his belt and turned around, but no one was there.
His body swayed slightly as he stood there with his modern cane.
He moved to push the electrode switch with the tip of the gun in his left hand, but…
"That's your weakness, isn't it?"
Someone grabbed his hand from behind.
"No matter how strong your power is, you can't activate it without pressing that switch, hm?"
Before Accelerator could get his hand free, a heavy blow came to the side of his head. It wasn't the feeling of being punched by a fist. It was a dull feeling that felt like being hit by a metal pipe or hammer.
He felt a liquid oozing from the side of his head.
"! Are you…from Block!?"
"No, no. I'm from Member not Block."
A voice from behind.
Member.
One of the five organizations similar to Group and School.
(Fuck. If it isn't one of these organizations, it's another!!)
"It isn't that I want the same thing they do. I just have to prevent that antenna for the satellite from being destroyed."
Accelerator turned his head and looked back while swaying on his feet, but there was still no one there.
But he did not hesitate.
While still looking in the same direction, he swung his own leg directly backwards and hit the attacker with his foot. The shock freed his left hand and, without turning around, he shot 2 or 3 shots backwards.
"…!? Tch!!"
Sensing he had hit, Accelerator quickly flipped the switch for the electrode around his neck.
He switched it from normal mode to powered mode.
Then he forcefully turned around.
As before, no one was there.
But as he looked around he saw a man standing behind a railroad worker who had approached after hearing the gunshots.
The man had shallow bleeding injuries on his side and thighs. He was wearing a down jacket and the down was soaked red. He looked high-school aged and was pressing a Western-style saw against the railroad worker's neck from behind.
Accelerator gave a scornful laugh.
"So you're a teleportation-type esper who can only move behind other people. What a boring power. You can't even be Level 4. And usually being able to teleport your own weight is enough to get you to Level 4."
"…"
"You fucking loser. You can't do the theoretical 11th dimensional calculations on your own, so you compensate by basing your calculations around the locations of others. That power is wasted on you."
"…I don't want to hear that from someone who relies on an electrode. Enough talking. The Professor asked me to do this too, so I'm going to stop you here."
"A hostage? That guy isn't even any use as a shield. And I'm after the antenna not you."
"You won't abandon the hostage."
The attacker – Accelerator decided to call him Kill Point – laughed scornfully.
"If you would, I doubt you would have come here to stop Hikoboshi II. I can stop you with this guy's life. But if you really think he isn't enough, I can create an even greater sea of blood."
Kill Point pressed the saw against the young railroad worker's neck and the worker gave a slight yell.
"…You lack aesthetics," said Accelerator as he held up his gun. "You simply have none of the aesthetics of a villain."
"If you're planning on shooting me, you should stop. I think that gun's sight is horizontally off by quite a bit."
Thinking about it, Accelerator realized that it did feel different than usual.
When he had shot Kill Point behind him, Kill Point had most likely messed with the setting on the sight. Accelerator could fix the sight if he wanted to, but there was no time to perform maintenance during this tense situation.
Even if the sight was off by a bit, Accelerator was skilled enough to easily hit his target.
But that changed when the target was using a hostage as a shield.
There were problems that could be dealt with using intuition and there were one's that couldn't.
"I see. This certainly is an interesting situation."
"Well? What will you do?"
"This."
As he said that, Accelerator turned the gun towards his own temple.
Before Kill Point could think, Accelerator unhesitatingly pulled the trigger.
Bang!! A gunshot rang out.
"Gh…Ahhhhhhhh!?"
Kill Point's body was knocked backwards.
A dark red hole had opened in his shoulder. He tried to brace himself, but he still collapsed onto the ground.
Accelerator had altered the vector of the bullet he had shot himself in the head with so that it headed towards Kill Point.
He motioned his handgun to the side telling the railroad worker to move out of the way.
The railroad worker fled to the side so hurriedly he almost fell and Accelerator aimed his gun forward again.
"Looks like the sight really is off." He put his finger on the trigger. "But I can correct for that by altering its vector when it hits me. A gun sight is nothing compared to the accuracy of my power."
"Kh…"
Kill Point continued to face Accelerator and looked around by moving only his eyes.
A look of scorn appeared on Accelerator's face when he saw that.
"Excellent. I don't give a fuck who you move behind; I'll still blow your brains out. You can run wherever you want, but with my next move I will pulverize you. Run, piggy. Let fear set in after what I told you sinks in."
"…!!"
Kill Point's throat went dry.
Accelerator ignored his expression.
"Now then. I'll teach you one thing about the aesthetics you lack."
A smile appeared on Accelerator's lips as he spoke quietly.
"This is what a truly first-class villain is, you fucker."
Bang bang!! Multiple gunshots rang out.
Kill Point resisted a bit, but he stopped moving before long.