Wrapped in dense layers of wind, Natsume Sonoko looked a bit tense.
She hurriedly pulled up the last known location of Uiharu. It was on a highway about five kilometers away.
Pulling up a map of District 7 on her phone, the intricate web of the highway appeared on the screen. The vehicle carrying Uiharu was traveling south to north on this highway, with roughly ten kilometers left until the next exit.
Natsume Sonoko drew a straight line from her own position to the highway exit, quickly calculating the shortest possible route.
If she took a direct path, she might just be able to intercept them at the exit.
'Shirai should make it in time, but where is she now?'
Natsume Sonoko set off along her planned route, pushing her power to its maximum, accelerating to full speed.
Her flight speed was fairly average, but it was still a bit faster than your typical train.
If she could master that legendary jet-propelled flight, strap on a booster or figure out how to generate her own fuel reaction, then she might be able to keep up with a fighter jet. Though by that point, she'd probably be falling apart herself.
An annoying headwind buffeted against her, slowing her down a little.
"...Uh... right... I see. I'll keep going."
Natsume Sonoko hung up her phone. It had been Shirai.
Shirai was much faster than her, but she'd also lost track of Uiharu's position. Right now, she was chasing along the highway itself.
'I can't afford to hold everyone back.'
Pumping herself up silently, Natsume Sonoko leaned forward slightly, mimicking a superhero's flying pose, thinking it might help her gain a little more speed.
--+--
Inside the bus, Kinuhata Saiai gripped the steering wheel with all her might, trying to keep the vehicle straight on the road, but she couldn't avoid swerving erratically, nearly causing several crashes.
"Takitsubo, this bus is super hard to control," Kinuhata stuck out her tongue, a hint of awkwardness on her face.
"If you didn't try to imitate those exaggerated driving methods from B list-movies, you might be doing a better job," Takitsubo Rikou clung tightly to the metal handrail in front of her seat, a trace of worry appearing on her face.
"It's not because of B-list-movies! They drive like this in Hollywood movies too!" Kinuhata retorted.
"I'm really worried about whether you'll ever get a driver's license, Kinuhata," Takitsubo murmured softly. There was no question that Kinuhata, currently driving, didn't actually have a license. But for a member of the Dark Side, that was perfectly normal.
What self-respecting Dark Side member bothers with a license? They'd be the laughingstock of the underworld.
"A license would be a piece of cake! Whoa... hold on tight, Takitsubo!" Kinuhata spun the steering wheel, executing a dangerous drift around a corner that sent the bus rocking violently.
"Be careful, don't get us into an accident," A flicker of emotion crossed Takitsubo's typically languid face, deeply distrustful of this so-called 'expert' driver's skills.
--+--
"Found you. So this is where you are."
The air grew warmer. A Tokiwadai girl with a body temperature of roughly 37.3 degrees Celsius appeared out of thin air. The high-intensity spatial jumps had raised her core temperature slightly. The increased oxygen consumption had her brain working in overdrive.
--+--
"Someone's caught up to us. About thirty meters back," Takitsubo said, standing up while holding the rail and patting the focused Kinuhata on the shoulder.
"Huh? When? I'll accelerate and lose them! I'm super fast!" Kinuhata was startled, then slammed her foot on the accelerator, increasing the bus's speed once more.
"Hmm... It doesn't seem like we've shaken them off. They're still right on our tail."
"They vanished. No, they're back. This kind of sudden disappearance and reappearance of an AIM diffusion field... it can only be explained by teleportation," Takitsubo stated, her gaze fixed on the dark night sky outside.
"Teleportation? That's super troublesome. We're just about to get off the highway and reach the hand-off point after the next turn. Anyway, just accelerating is the right move. Once we hand them over, it's not our problem anymore."
Kinuhata took a deep breath, focusing even more intently.
As she spoke, she didn't forget to turn off all the interior lights and headlights to prevent the pursuer from pinpointing the occupants inside and seizing any opportunity.
"Right. The reason they haven't attacked yet is probably because we're moving at high speed. If they tried to force an assault now, it could easily cause a crash and fatalities. Even with spatial movement, guaranteeing the safety of so many people would be impossible."
Takitsubo, ever calm, nodded in agreement.
"So you mean once the bus stops, they'll make their move. What an exciting car chase," Kinuhata muttered. In the dim light, her face was shrouded in darkness, its features unclear.
--+--
"The current situation is tricky. I'll have to wait for the vehicle to stop."
Shirai trailed behind the bus, hesitating as she looked at the vehicle so close ahead.
She really wanted to just subdue the driver, but even if she did, slamming on the brakes immediately could still cause an accident.
Plus, there seemed to be more than one person inside. She didn't know the exact number of enemies in the vehicle.
--+--
"Takitsubo, has that crazy woman Therestina reached the hand-off point?" Kinuhata asked, concerned.
"They say they're already there," Takitsubo checked a message and nodded.
"Good. Let's blast off this highway and leave a little present for our follower in the process."
--+--
Meanwhile, Natsume Sonoko was en route, pushing hard.
After immense effort, urging herself forward and killing countless brain cells, she finally spotted the highway exit in the distance.
But before she could even catch her breath, a violent explosion erupted at the exit's location. The dazzling flames were visible even from her position.
Amidst the fire, a bus flickered in and out of view. Natsume Sonoko had finally found her target.
Two heat-seeking missiles suddenly launched from inside the bus, exploding not far from it. The massive shockwave even shattered the bus's windows.
"Look out!" Uiharu wrapped her arms around Haruue, trying to shield her from the flying glass shards.
After a moment with no impact, Uiharu looked up to find the glass fragments hadn't reached them, seemingly blocked by an invisible wall.
"Sorry, I almost forgot you two were still in here," Kinuhata leaned out from the driver's seat, revealing her soot-smudged face.
"Was that Shirai-san?" Uiharu gripped the broken window frame, peering into the night sky with deep concern.
Kinuhata Saiai's ability, a passive skill 'Nitrogen Armor,' allowed her to freely control the nitrogen in the air, actively condensing it into walls strong enough to block bullets.
Outside the bus, Shirai was also caught in the unexpected missile blast. Although she used her spatial movement to relocate instantly, shrapnel had carved several half-centimeter deep gashes on her body.
"Missed. Super unfortunate."
Kinuhata checked the rearview mirror—now cracked—and saw the missiles seemed to have missed their mark.
"It was somewhat effective. The target appears injured and has stopped pursuing," Takitsubo, sensing the esper behind them, informed Kinuhata.
Blood began to seep from her wounds. Shirai gritted her teeth and stood up, her face paling.
With practiced ease, she retrieved a hemostatic bandage from her person and bandaged the wounds to prevent excessive blood loss.
She called the spatial movement formulas to mind, but their margin for error was extremely low. Affected by the pain, Shirai's first attempt failed. It seemed the pain was already interfering with her ability.
'I can't just stop here.' Shirai tried again. Her body began to fade, spatial movement taking effect once more.
But it quickly sputtered out. The success rate of her spatial movement had plummeted. Frustration welled up inside Shirai as she watched the bus pull further away.
"Shirai, leave this to me! You focus on treating your wounds!"
Dozens of meters in the air, Natsume Sonoko flew over Shirai's head, calling down with effort. Though her voice wasn't loud, the wind carried it clearly to Shirai's ears.
"This guy has surprisingly good timing."
Shirai felt a wave of relief, but it was quickly followed by renewed tension. In Shirai's estimation, Natsume didn't have much practical combat experience.
The girl was lazy, still ranked last in the entire grade for P.E., and while she talked about learning martial arts, she had nothing to show for it yet. The more Shirai thought about it, the more worried she became.
'No, I have to keep going.'
'Shirai really dropped the ball. I guess it's up to me to save the day.'
Natsume Sonoko took a deep breath, a look of resolve and determination flashing across her face—though it might have just been the illusion of her lungs filling with air.
'There's a big river nearby. Perfect for me.'
Natsume observed her surroundings. A river meandered along the direction she was flying. The thickness of the moisture in the air around here was very satisfying.
Anyway, if the battlefield was here, one Natsume Sonoko could do the work of two.
The bus gradually slowed, finally arriving at the 'hand-off' destination set by Item.
It was near a small warehouse. The area was brightly lit, already populated by dozens of fully-equipped Powered Suits, and even a few specialized armored vehicles equipped with independent Capacity Down generators.
"We're finally here. Now we just need that crazy woman to sign the contract and we're done," Kinuhata slammed on the brakes, tires leaving dark streaks on the ground—a sign of severe wear.
"We need to hurry. Another esper has followed us, but it's not the spatial mover from before," Takitsubo reported.
"Ah... Then we really have to be quick. No matter what, we can't fail when we're this close. I'd be super pissed." Kinuhata hurriedly pulled out her tablet.
Good, the tablet was fine. She opened a certain Dark Side software, navigated to the mission contract pages. Now all she needed was Therestina's signature.
Kinuhata stepped out of the armored bus. Playing it safe, she didn't think twice before putting on the specially designed headphones that were standard gear for Item.
These headphones didn't just block outside noise effectively; they were also bulletproof. You could even modify them to use as an entrenching tool sometimes. Their excellent seal and waterproofing meant they could double as water containers.
Their sole failing was a complete lack of music playback functionality, a point Kinuhata never ceased to complain about.
"Takitsubo, you get them out. I'll go handle the negotiations." Once Kinuhata was ready, she finally stepped off the bus.
Soon after, Takitsubo led everyone else off the vehicle.
Riding the wind, the chasing girl finally reached the exchange point.
'I've probably been spotted already.'
Natsume Sonoko was a bit surprised, instantly recognizing the languid-eyed girl who could detect her.
Besides that girl, there were also MAR's Powered Suit units and Therestina, meaning Capacity Down equipment was likely deployed nearby as well.
"So it was these people. Seems they still haven't given up on that so-called Level 6 project," Natsume Sonoko realized immediately.
Haruue and the others were all part of some Level 6 creation experiment. That wouldn't change just because some of the subjects had woken up.
An individual's will was far too insignificant in the face of Academy City.
Never mind whether the Ability Body Crystals could actually create a Level 6, Haruue, as the final test subject, absolutely had no chance of survival.
She didn't have the potential to become Level 6. Her only possible outcome was having her consciousness erased into nothingness during the process.
Level 6: A mortal body, attaining the will of a god.
In other words, a human brain possessing computational power rivaling a deity's.
But this 'rivaling' was open to interpretation.
It might just mean reaching a level where one could barely communicate with a god, without the brain instantly overloading and exploding from the sheer volume of information.
Takitsubo glanced up slightly towards the sky, her languid expression unchanged. Instead, she turned her concerned gaze towards the exchange between Kinuhata and Therestina.
"All done, mission accomplished." Kinuhata waved her tablet, which now clearly bore Therestina's signature.
"Commander, we can't move!" Right then, a voice came from one of the Powered Suits under Therestina's command.
Therestina, the only one not inside a suit, frowned nervously. She was about to ask what was happening when she immediately lost consciousness.
As soon as the words were spoken, the people inside the Powered Suits fell silent. Then, one by one, the fully-armed suits clattered to the ground, powerless.
Even the personnel inside the armored vehicles, ready to activate the Capacity Down at any moment, lost consciousness in an instant.
Only the two members of Item and the kidnapped Uiharu and the others remained unharmed.
A certain someone's ability was truly handily suited for clearing out foot soldiers. However, it puzzled her that the languid-eyed girl and the brown bobbed-haired girl nearby hadn't tried to stop her, allowing her to get within a hundred meters.
But the bobbed-haired girl also gave Natsume Sonoko a bit of pressure. She could also control the air, causing the heated air to not attack the two of them as Natsume intended.
In fact, the other girl could even easily wrest control of the air away from Natsume.
"An aerokinesis-type esper," Natsume Sonoko murmured to herself.
--+--
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.