Thanks to the fact that nobody could see her, Natsume Sonoko's retreat was far easier than anticipated. That is, if you didn't count the sudden appearance of a doll right beside her.
Amidst the series of explosions, Sonoko shot a glance towards the two groups locked in their standoff.
Her eyes met those of a girl with a lazy gaze who was also looking her way, and Sonoko immediately understood her situation—this was the person who had discovered her.
Just as Sonoko was busy with her strategic withdrawal, a harsh, screeching sound began blaring from the research institute's broadcast system.
Sonoko naturally knew what this was; she often used this very thing for her ability training. However, the frequency and volume here were far beyond what she ever used herself.
She hurriedly clamped her hands over her ears, blocking out some of the noise. Combined with her brain's already developed resistance to it, the situation wasn't as bad as it could have been. She still had a few seconds of reaction time, but the boiling sensation in her brain was inevitable.
Violent currents of air swirled around her as the temperature in the immediate area skyrocketed.
Within moments, Sonoko created a pseudo-vacuum zone spanning several meters around her body.
This zone blocked most of the sound transmission, allowing Sonoko to finally catch her breath. She urgently scanned her surroundings, planning to take out the nearby substation in one go and silence those annoying speakers.
On the other side, the members of the dark side organization 'Item' had also fallen victim to the attack.
Mugino Shizuri covered her ears, a ferocious scowl on her face. Frenda Seivelun's reaction was even more intense; she crouched down, clutching her head as if tears were about to stream out.
Curiously, the languid-looking girl in 'Item' seemed completely unfazed, showing no signs of being affected by the Capacity Down.
"How unusual," Therestina sneered coldly. "To find a Level 0 amidst a dark side group."
For a Level 0, the Capacity Down was merely a sharp, unpleasant noise, causing them no real harm. Because Rikou Takitsubo showed no visible reaction, it was easy to mistake her for one.
"Now that's just wrong," a voice cut in. "Rikou is no Level 0."
A distant explosion roared, the sound of a warhead with substantial area-of-effect damage detonating.
The location of the blast was critical. Therestina's face instantly darkened.
The substation controlling the entire MAR affiliate institute's power grid had been blown. The institute's circuits suffered a massive, widespread blackout.
The surrounding lights flickered and died, plunging the area into gloom, and the piercing screech of the Capacity Down vanished completely.
"Rikou's ability is Level 4 'AIM Stalker.' She can sense and track AIM diffusion fields. Attacks related to AIM fields, like this one, have very little effect on her. She's super reliable, you know."
The Capacity Down was a reverse application of the Imaginary Number District, still based on AIM diffusion field research, so its impact on those with abilities closely tied to the AIM field was significantly lessened.
Emerging from the cover of the dark night, a middle school girl in an orange hooded jacket and very short jeans walked calmly over to the 'Item' members.
She lifted her head, revealing a youthful face, and held an automatic rifle in her hands.
"This idiot, just blurting out our intel like that," Mugino muttered, having recovered now that the interference was gone. She heard what the girl said and pinched the bridge of her nose, her brow furrowed in a deep line.
"Saiai is just influenced by those trashy B-movies she watches," Rikou Takitsubo said, sounding almost understanding.
"The heroes in them always reveal secrets at the drop of a hat but always show up just in time to save their teammates."
"Is that so?" Mugino pondered for a moment, wondering if she should ban Saiai from watching those garbage films once they got back.
The girl really did have too much time on her hands.
"Alright, this isn't the time for that," Saiai said, an embarrassed look flashing across her face as she waved her hands dismissively. "That obasan over there is ultra pissed."
It seemed Therestina had indeed heard Saiai's remark. Furious, she barked an order, and the Powered Suit troops behind her sprang into action, while she also summoned the nearby security forces.
"Fair point," Mugino said, her demeanor turning fierce once more. Her arrogant eyes locked onto Therestina not far away. "We never expected you to come quietly, obasan. Now, prepare to face our wrath."
"Mugino's super intense!" Saiai exclaimed excitedly, raising her automatic rifle slightly.
"I can't wait any longer!" Frenda added, having recovered from her earlier distress. She forced a smile and sneakily pulled two basketball-sized homing missiles from under her short skirt.
This was… relatively normal. Pulling a couple of missiles from under a skirt could still be considered a basic trick.
After all, there were those who could produce two flintlock pistols or nine kilograms of stationery from under theirs, and a certain famous oni maid was known to pull out several meteor hammers.
But producing a seemingly endless stream of missiles? That was just excessive.
In an instant, the MAR Driver Suit troops were struck by dozens of missiles from who-knows-where. The area was thrown into chaos, littered with machine parts and shrapnel. The aforementioned obasan was caught in the blast, her own Powered Suit now covered in grime and dust.
According to eyewitness accounts, the appearance of these missiles was utterly bizarre. 'Item' member Frenda Seivelun was suspected of carrying an entire arsenal on her person, leading to speculation that her ability might be Level 4 'Spatial Storage.'
The commotion was huge. A pseudo-Railgun blast, a blue-white light, erupted from Therestina's Powered Suit, streaking across the sky at an initial velocity also reaching twice the speed of sound, its target unmistakably Mugino Shizuri.
The moment this Railgun was fired, a dense cluster of white light beams materialized behind Mugino.
Using the tremendous recoil of her Meltdowner ability, Mugino's body was violently thrown backward, landing steadily on a small earthen slope several meters away, neatly evading the Railgun shot.
"Pathetic aim," Mugino scoffed disdainfully. "Can't even compare to that greenhouse princess."
Several Meltdowner beams shot out from behind her, instantly scouring the ground and leaving a pockmarked landscape of craters.
In terms of precision, she couldn't match the Railgun either, but she relied on overwhelming volume and destructive power to win.
Simultaneously, one stray Meltdowner beam, unexpected even to her, grazed Therestina's unit, directly destroying the power core of her purple Driver Suit.
"I have a hard time holding back. Call yourself lucky this time," Mugino said, a look of 'you got off easy' on her face as she noted her beam had only taken out the suit's power system.
"Alright," Mugino continued, "now shall we have another chat about this 'Capacity Down'?"
The instant Therestina was defeated, the other members had also finished their fights. Several dozen Powered Suits and some security robots… truth be told, it wasn't even enough for a proper warm-up for them.
"Mugino," Rikou Takitsubo walked over and reported, "that unknown individual got away. Their AIM field has become too faint and muddled to track."
"Let it go, then," Mugino shook her head. "No need to use 'Nectar' for some unrelated person. Your body is already nearing its limit as it is."
Nectar, also known as Ability Body Crystals, was a substance secreted from the brains of espers. It was also the very reason that Edasaki Banri and the others had fallen into comas.
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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!
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If you guys wanna check it out.