Chapter 673: Electromaster and Mental Out! The Espers of Academy City!
The cafeteria of Tokiwadai Middle School was less of a lunchroom and more of a grand banquet hall fit for royalty.
Located in the heart of the School Garden, this prestigious institution for young ladies stood as a beacon of high-class education and refinement within Academy City.
Sunlight streamed through the floor-to-ceiling arched windows, casting long, geometric shadows across the polished marble floors that gleamed with a mirror-like finish. The air was not filled with the typical clamor of a school lunch, but rather the soft, musical clinking of silverware against fine china and the hushed, polite murmur of conversation.
It was magnificent, bright, and imposing, designed to make dining an experience of comfort and luxury. Crystal chandeliers hung from the vaulted ceiling, catching the light and scattering rainbows across the pristine white tablecloths.
More importantly, the vast hall was populated by the future elite of society. Young girls in beige blazers and pleated skirts moved with practiced grace, their laughter restrained and their posture impeccable. It was a sea of refinement, a sanctuary for the rich and powerful daughters of the world.
Misaka Mikoto, a girl with short chestnut hair and a spirited, somewhat boyish charm that contrasted sharply with her surroundings, navigated through the tables. She held a tray in her hands, her expression one of mild distraction as she scanned the room.
Despite being the third-ranked Level 5 Esper in Academy City, known as the "Railgun," she just wanted a peaceful lunch.
However, peace was often a luxury for the "Ace of Tokiwadai."
As she moved to find a seat, her gaze inadvertently swept over the center of the cafeteria. There, sitting at a table that seemed to have more space around it than others, was a familiar figure. A girl with long, honey-blonde hair that cascaded down her back in perfect waves, surrounded by a clique of admirers.
Just as Mikoto frowned, recognizing the person she least wanted to see, the blonde girl looked up. Their eyes met across the crowded room. The blonde girl possessed a pair of distinctive, golden star-shaped eyes that seemed to twinkle with a perpetual, mocking amusement.
Shokuhou Misaki. The Fifth-Ranked Level 5. The Queen of Tokiwadai.
Upon seeing Mikoto, the corners of Misaki's mouth curled into a faint, knowing smile—a smile that promised mischief. Without breaking eye contact, her gloved hand reached into her stylish spider-web patterned handbag. She withdrew a small, remote control, pointed it directly at Mikoto, and pressed a button with a decisive click.
Bzzzt!
Hiss!
A sharp, stinging sensation assaulted Mikoto's brain instantly. Blue electric arcs flickered involuntarily across her forehead, cracking like miniature whips. It wasn't a physical blow, but a direct interference with her bio-electricity, a sudden, splitting headache that made her grit her teeth.
Realizing immediately who was responsible for this mental intrusion, Mikoto's expression darkened. The tray in her hands rattled as the metal utensils began to vibrate in response to her agitation.
"Hey! Don't use your ability on me!" Mikoto shouted, her voice cutting through the polite ambiance of the cafeteria like a thunderclap.
Misaki sighed theatrically, lowering the remote but keeping it within easy reach. She rested her chin on her hand, looking at Mikoto with feigned disappointment. "Sure enough, my ability is still useless against you. How annoying. That electromagnetic barrier of yours is as stubborn as your personality, isn't it, Misaka-san?"
The star-eyed girl was clearly not in a good mood, or perhaps she was just bored. For her, testing the limits of her rival was a daily pastime.
This was the fundamental clash between them. Misaka Mikoto's ability, the manipulation of electromagnetic fields, acted as a natural, subconscious defense against Misaki's powers.
Misaka Mikoto. Among the roughly 2.3 million students in Academy City, only seven had reached the pinnacle of Level 5. She ranked third. She was the strongest "Electromaster," a powerhouse capable of firing arcade coins at three times the speed of sound. A second-year student, she was hailed as "Tokiwadai's Ace" and "The Invincible Electric Princess." She possessed a competitive nature, a strong sense of justice, and a cheerful, tomboyish personality that endeared her to many, though it often put her at odds with the school's rigid etiquette.
Unfortunately, Shokuhou Misaki was the antithesis of everything Mikoto stood for.
She was the queen of Tokiwadai Middle School's largest faction, commanding absolute loyalty from her followers. Known as "Tokiwadai's Queen," she ranked fifth among the Level 5s.
She was Academy City's strongest mental ability user. Her ability was "Mental Out."
It was a terrifyingly versatile power. Whether it was mind reading, telepathy, brainwashing, memory erasure, creating illusions, or inducing hypnosis, nothing involving the human mind was beyond her reach. She held the keys to the psyche, able to rewrite a person's very self with the press of a button.
However, her Mental Out relied on manipulating the moisture in the brain to affect bio-electricity. Because Mikoto could directly control her own bio-electric currents and generate magnetic fields, she essentially jammed Misaki's signal. The "Queen" could not control the "Ace."
Misaki boredly pressed the remote control towards Mikoto again, checking for any lapse in defense.
The remote control was Misaki Shokuhou's medium and restriction for activating her ability. Due to the complexity of her power, she restricted herself to using the remote to focus and direct her commands, treating the human mind like a television channel to be changed.
Biri!
Sparks flew from Mikoto's bangs this time, louder and more aggressive.
"You again! Are you challenging me?!"
Attacked by a Psychic ability once more in broad daylight, Mikoto's patience evaporated. She stomped towards Misaki's table, the air around her crackling with static electricity. The lights in the cafeteria flickered ominously as her electromagnetic field expanded.
The commotion grew. Conversations stopped. The attention of hundreds of girls focused on the two titans facing off. It was a clash of heavyweights, the Ace versus the Queen.
"Heh heh."
Misaki chuckled, unperturbed by the walking lightning storm approaching her. She knew the rules of engagement better than anyone. With her ability having no effect on Mikoto, she couldn't defeat Mikoto in a direct mental duel.
And physically? It was a joke. Not to mention Mikoto's athletic prowess, Misaki herself was notoriously unfit. Her physical ability was arguably lower than that of a standard Level 0. She got winded climbing a flight of stairs. In a physical fight, Mikoto could knock her out with a single finger.
But Shokuhou Misaki didn't fight with her fists. She fought with people.
She had a way to deal with a brute like Mikoto.
Misaki pressed a different button on her remote control, her star-shaped eyes twinkling with a cold, calculating light.
Clang!
The sound of hundreds of chairs scraping against the floor echoed simultaneously.
The next moment, the atmosphere in the cafeteria shifted from curiosity to menace.
All the students in the entire cafeteria stood up in perfect unison. Their expressions went blank, their eyes losing focus. In a terrifying display of coordination, they all turned their heads to stare intently at Misaka Mikoto.
Hundreds of pairs of eyes, void of will, locked onto her.
Many of them stepped out from their tables and lined up, forming a human wall between Mikoto and Misaki. They stood shoulder to shoulder, silent sentinels protecting their Queen.
"You!"
Feeling the sudden, overwhelming hostility of the entire cafeteria, Mikoto stopped in her tracks. She looked around, her eyes widening in disbelief and horror. These were her classmates, her peers.
"How can you just use your ability to control other people like they're toys?!" Mikoto yelled, her anger spiking. This was what she hated most about Mental Out—the disregard for free will.
Misaki Shokuhou stood up elegantly, smoothing out the nonexistent wrinkles in her skirt. She looked at Mikoto with a pitying smile.
"You can consider it me challenging you, Misaka-san. Since I'm challenging the third-ranked Esper, the famous Railgun, I need to use my ability to level the playing field, right?"
Misaki took a tissue handed to her by a girl she had controlled—who offered it with robotic precision—and wiped the corner of her mouth gracefully.
She smiled slightly, a look of pure provocation. "This is also part of my ability, isn't it? 'Mental Out' isn't just about reading minds; it's about resource management."
"You just need to defeat them to defeat me, you know."
Saying this, Misaki blinked her eyes playfully, striking a cute pose that contrasted sharply with the dystopian reality she had just created. "Go ahead. Blast them away with your lightning. I'm sure the Ace of Tokiwadai wouldn't hesitate."
"You person..."
This truly made Misaka Mikoto's anger surge. She clenched her fists so hard her knuckles turned white.
"Biri… zzzzt!"
As her anger grew, the lightning crackled violently around her, arching between her hair and shoulders. The smell of ozone filled the air. It gave off a feeling that she would go berserk at any second, unleashing a thunderbolt that would fry the entire building.
However, Misaki wasn't worried at all. She knew Mikoto's weakness.
Although she didn't like Misaka Mikoto, she acknowledged her rival's nauseatingly strong sense of justice.
Misaka Mikoto would definitely not harm innocent bystanders to get to her. She wouldn't electrocute her classmates just to win an argument.
So, while Mikoto's electromagnetic barrier countered Mental Out, Misaki's hostages effectively restrained the Railgun. It was a stalemate.
Just as she expected.
A few seconds later.
Mikoto's clenched fists slowly relaxed. She took a deep breath, forcing the rage down. The electric light around her gradually disappeared, though the static in the air remained heavy.
"You... don't let me see you randomly controlling others again! It's disgusting!"
She glared fiercely at Misaki, her eyes burning with frustration.
Misaka Mikoto turned on her heel and stormed out of the cafeteria, abandoning her lunch. She couldn't stay there a second longer without losing control.
As Mikoto left, Misaki smiled and pressed another button on her remote.
The students blinked, looking around in confusion as if waking from a daydream, before sitting back down and resuming their meals. They had no memory of being used as human shields.
Making Misaka Mikoto frustrated actually made Misaki quite happy. It was the little victories that counted.
[Ding! Welcome to the Doomsday Chat Group!]
"Hmm?"
Just as Mikoto was about to return to her classroom, fuming, a strange sound echoed directly in her mind. A translucent blue holographic screen materialized in front of her eyes.
She froze.
What confused her more was that the text on the screen seemed to be mocking her reality.
Mikoto turned around again, furiously running back towards the cafeteria. She burst through the doors, scanning the room until she found the blonde girl still sitting there.
She marched up and grabbed Misaki by the collar of her blazer.
"What did you do to me again?!"
She was truly angry this time. First the mind control display, and now hallucinations?
"Hey, let go!"
After her warning and retreat, Misaki Shokuhou actually made a move on her again! Or so Mikoto thought.
However, Misaki Shokuhou furrowed her delicate brows, looking genuinely surprised by Mikoto's physical aggression. She said in a low voice, "I didn't do anything. Unhand me, you brute."
"Do you take me for a fool? If you didn't do anything, what is this Chat Group that popped up in my head?!" Mikoto hissed, shaking her slightly.
Misaka Mikoto didn't believe her nonsense.
Besides Misaki Shokuhou's Mental Out, who else in this school could project voices and images directly into her brain? It had to be her.
"!!!"
Upon hearing the words "Chat Group," Misaki Shokuhou's pupils contracted. Her demeanor shifted instantly from annoyance to shock.
She had it too!
The same blue screen was floating in the corner of her vision. She had assumed it was a new type of mental attack targeting her, but if Mikoto saw it too...
Was the light screen in front of her not only targeting her?
Misaki immediately reached into her bag, clicking her remote. She established a link with the surrounding students, diving into their surface thoughts to check their visual centers.
She scanned dozens of minds in a split second.
But she found that no one else in the entire cafeteria had seen this thing called the "Doomsday Chat Group." To everyone else, the air in front of them was empty.
Only she and Misaka Mikoto, who was currently throttling her, had it.
What is this thing? Why does it only target the two Level 5 Psychics in the room?
Misaki Shokuhou, who understood some of Academy City's darker aspects—the deep shadow that lurked beneath the scientific facade—subconsciously wondered if it was a new conspiracy.
Was the Board of Directors making a move? Or was it something from the Magic Side she had heard rumors about?
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