A swarm of barrel-shaped security and cleaning robots deployed by Academy City rapidly converged on the scene, spraying massive amounts of chemical foam to quickly extinguish the localized fires spreading across the block.
Anti-Skill officers and Judgnt mbers arrived at the scene shortly after, blowing shrill whistles to completely cordon off the ruined street. Many ordinary pedestrians gathered at the police tape, murmuring in confusion, though they didn't seem entirely surprised by the carnage.
Street destruction happened about twice a month in Academy City. While Level 5 Espers engaging in all-out brawls was relatively rare, cri scenes destroyed by high-level Espers acting out were quite common.
In fact, there had been a major Level 5 incident just last month, where the glass and concrete walls of an entire city block had been decimated. Many citizens had experienced the collateral damage firsthand.
"What on earth happened here? This entire 800-ter stretch of road has been utterly annihilated. Not only were the massive wind turbines sheared cleanly in half, but even the reinforced asphalt road has been ruptured and overturned. This level of destruction cannot be explained by a simple fight between standard high-level Espers."
Shirai Kuroko stared intently at the severed base of a fallen wind turbine. The smoothness of the cut was absolutely terrifying, as if a thick cucumber had been sliced in one go with a high-pressure industrial water jet.
"Uiharu, could you retrieve the surveillance footage from the scene?" Kuroko asked into her Judgnt walkie-talkie.
"I tried, Shirai-san, but the footage cut out at the most crucial mont. It's likely that the surveillance caras were instantly destroyed by the initial blast," Uiharu's voice crackled over the radio. "However, the footage leading up to the blackout is very strange. In a very short window of ti, every single civilian seed to simultaneously leave the street, as if they had all subconsciously agreed to do so. Even the clerks in the convenience stores that were still open just walked away."
Kuroko exclaid in surprise, "This is no longer a simple Esper cri. An ability capable of compelling everyone on a busy street to peacefully evacuate..."
Such a large-scale, coordinated manipulation of so many people's actions... A girl with starry-eyes flashed through Kuroko's mind.
'Could it be ntal Out?' Kuroko thought, her brow furrowing. 'No... even Shokuhou Misaki cannot actively mind-control everyone on an entire street simultaneously; her psychological powers have limits. That's simply impossible.'
"And what's going on with this kind of residual destructive power at the epicenter?"
Kuroko approached the crater with extre caution. The patches of solidified lava, the scorched ash from the explosion, and the massive three-ter-deep impact crater all proved that a terrifying battle had taken place here.
Furthermore, there was no sulfurous sll of gunpowder or explosives, which proved it was done entirely by supernatural ans.
'How many Espers in Academy City can achieve this level of apocalyptic damage?' Kuroko pondered. 'Definitely no more than twenty... and that's including the Level 5s.'
'Could it be another secret clash between the Level 5s?'
...
anwhile. The Rooftop of a District 7 Building.
"Cough... cough, cough... That guy really went all out. He broke at least thirty-six of my bones. I almost went to see God ahead of schedule."
Stiyl coughed up a mouthful of blood, his face turning an ashen, deathly pale.
"I am so sorry, Stiyl. I don't know any healing magic," Kanzaki Kaori sighed, looking down at her battered partner.
She felt entirely responsible for how things had turned out. She had known from the start that the Esper was incredibly strong, yet she hadn't stopped Stiyl from taking action alone. If she had intervened sooner, Stiyl wouldn't have ended up in this critical state.
"Luckily, I carried a consecrated crucifix with , otherwise I would have bled to death minutes ago." Stiyl pulled a glowing silver crucifix out from the tattered, bloody remains of his monastic robes. A gentle white light emanated from the artifact, and his internal bleeding began to miraculously slow and clot.
"However, this is a massive problem now. There's no chance we can take Index away by force." Stiyl looked depressed, his blue eyes filled with gloom.
He had already drawn first blood against that monster. Now, they probably wouldn't even have the chance to explain themselves; that boy would start trying to kill them the second they t again.
Even Kanzaki had suffered a severe setback at his hands. Taking Index away while she was under his direct protection would be several magnitudes more difficult than they initially calculated.
The most crucial point was the ticking clock: there were less than two weeks left before Index's mory capacity was completely full. Once that deadline passed, Index's life would be in fatal danger.
"Damn it! Why did this have to happen at the most crucial mont?!" Stiyl clenched his fists, his eyes looking like a cornered, vicious dog. He slamd his fist into the concrete roof, breaking his skin and leaving a sar of blood on the ground.
"We still have a chance... if that boy is willing to sit down and listen to our explanation," Kanzaki gritted her teeth, her expression carrying a heavy hint of helplessness.
It would have been vastly better if they had just approached him peacefully and explained the mory-wipe situation from the very beginning. But because they were arrogant and wanted to end it quickly with violence, they had made a complete ss of things. It was a catastrophic strategic misjudgnt on her part.
"At the very least... fortunately, that boy has already established himself as an Esper." Kanzaki noted.
"What do you an? So, that guy wasn't a Magician?" Stiyl's fingers trembled as he pulled out a bent cigarette and lit it with a spark from his thumb.
"He is not a Magician. You know the laws of our world, Stiyl. If a high-level Esper were to cast actual magic, the rejection reaction would cause their blood vessels to violently rupture, and they would die from massive internal hemorrhaging. The 'mana' you felt when your attacks clashed was likely his innate Qi—unrefined magical energy he was born with, simply amplifying his Esper calculations," Kanzaki explained.
"So that's how it is. I was too impulsive." Stiyl's expression shifted as he processed the information.
'So it was innate magic from the womb? I subconsciously thought his power signature ant he was a trained Magician aiming to steal the Grimoires. My experience in dealing with the Science Side is still too shallow.'
The fact that the use of magic by Espers leads to horrific self-destruction was a "common sense" rule that the Puritans had verified through countless autopsies.
"Fortunately, this ans Index is likely just a curiosity to him, not a target," Stiyl exhaled a cloud of smoke. "Grimoires are useless to Academy City's Espers anyway. Those scientists arrogantly scoff at magic, calling it unscientific delusion and false truth."
'Pshaw—what an arrogant and conceited bunch of scientists,' Stiyl thought bitterly.
"However," Kanzaki interrupted his thoughts, "we just violently violated our diplomatic agreent with the upper echelons of Academy City by destroying an entire city block without authorization. I'm afraid our movents will be severely monitored and restricted from now on. We may even be targeted for imdiate expulsion by the city's military."
The General Superintendent of Academy City, Aleister Crowley, must have been notified of such a major incident imdiately. The city would likely have a furious diplomatic discussion with the Anglican Church about it. And since Stiyl was the one who cast the first spell and started the fight, the political bla would fall squarely on Necessarius.
Stiyl shuddered at the thought of the Puritans' internal punishnts for sinners; those tortures were specifically designed for depraved, evil Magicians. Ironically, mbers of the Church of Necessary Evil were often punished in the exact sa way for their operational failures.
"Kanzaki... when the ti cos, could you please vouch for to Archbishop Laura? It would be best if you could help exonerate of the property damage charges."
"There is another, more pressing matter I have to report to London," Kanzaki said gravely. "That boy, Takahashi Yuuya, does indeed possess raw combat strength comparable to a Saint. And he is officially ranked as the Eighth Level 5. If their ranking system is purely based on combat power... I am terrified that the other seven Level 5s might be even stronger than him."
Stiyl shuddered again at the thought of Yuuya—a monster who had fought a fully-ard Saint to a complete standstill without receiving a single scratch on his skin.
'How the hell did I dare to challenge such an anomaly?' Stiyl thought, taking a shaky drag of his cigarette.
That kind of absurd, physics-breaking power... no wonder the Science Side was the absolute opposing pole of the world to the Magic Side. Academy City must be hiding horrors the outside world couldn't even begin to comprehend.
Having personally witnessed the absolute apex of Academy City's power, Stiyl suddenly beca much more docile. He decided it would be very wise to keep an extrely low profile from now on.
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