Part 10
Espers who reached the higher levels could mostly be divided into two types.
The one-point types that used one exceedingly powerful attack.
And the all-purpose types that put together many different varied forms of attack.
Military Oil espers like Aizono Mio and Hyoudou Maki fell into the latter category. Their single power gave them strength by having many different ways it could be used offensively.
And of course the number of different means of attack increased overwhelmingly when more than one such esper worked together.
Starting with Maki, the three girls jumped over the railings of the midair walkways without hesitation. Wing-like parts grew from their backs and thighs, slowing their speed and angle of descent. When their feet came in contact with the sides of the tanks or stairways, a highly-elastic rubber-like power repelled them along through the air. Together, they formed a ring surrounding Aizono, and they tried to disturb her with the changes in speed and angle.
As the Military Oil girls approached accompanied by rapid explosive sounds that were similar to a machine gun firing, Aizono clicked her tongue.
Aizono Mio had been trained to fight the #7 who could move faster than the speed of sound, the #4 who could freely use extremely high-speed projectiles, the #3, and others, so she did not feel threatened by pure speed.
The problem was…
(Shit. Their feints are clearly coordinated to work against me specifically! They’re throwing off their timing and going with the hardest speed and angles for me to deal with!!)
They may have resented her as a fellow White Alligator member. Trying to follow each one individually by eye while within that spiral of movement would be playing right into their hands. Aizono chose to get some distance and then attack them one by one, so she used oil at her feet to move at high speed as if sliding along the ground.
Or that was what she had meant to do.
Instead, her body came to a stop like she was bolted to the ground.
“We control the same oil,” said Maki with a smile and a giant blade on her arm. “So the precedence of control will be decided by numbers. I don’t think you can win in a game of tug of war.”
“!!”
Before Aizono could take her next action, the other three girls counteracted her attempt.
With an unpleasant noise, Aizono Mio’s silhouette split into multiple pieces.
Lightly swinging the blade on her right arm, Kohina spoke to Maki.
“Did we do it?”
“I definitely felt the resistance of slicing through her backbone,” added Sayori.
“We didn’t.”
Maki pointed toward the remains of what had been sliced to pieces by giant blades. The surface seemed like that of a human, but the inside visible where it was sliced was black.
“It’s a silicone doll made to look like her. To make it feel real, she even divided up the parts to make fat and muscle.”
Maki swung her huge blade and the instrumentation for a large refrigeration unit was sliced diagonally. The blade itself had not cut it; something like a guillotine had flown out.
This was followed by a hard thunk.
The instrumentation had been sliced through, but Aizono Mio had stopped the guillotine-like object with an attack of her own from within the instrumentation.
While shutting one eye, she said, “They may be life-sized, but they’re quite cheap. You’ll never have to worry about lonely nights again.”
“Since you’re purposefully keeping your chatter light to keep your mind stable, you must be more worried than you let on,” said Maki in a blunt analysis.
Kohina added, “It looks like we can’t completely take away her control of the oil even with three of us. But the data from this battle will tell us how much it weakened her.”
“Yes. And since she did not use that substitution technique (tentative name) from the beginning, it must have been something like a last resort. In other words, she can’t use it freely.”
With the sound of the air being sliced, the three Military Oil girls held their blades up once more.
“We’ll start with that composite armor. We’ll strip you bare in front of your precious teacher.”
Aizono tilted her head a bit and said, “Hmm. Maybe I should have tried something more heavy-handed like that to get through that good, thickheaded smile barrier of his.”
An explosive noise roared up.
As the three figures approached at close range, Aizono transformed the oil at her feet into something like highly elastic rubber and she jumped straight up. She jumped higher and higher landing on the tanks and the hanging remnants of walkways destroyed by the napalm before jumping again. Of course, the other Military Oil users interfered with her control of the oil, but it was not enough to rob her of all control. If she added the interference into her calculations, she could control the oil just fine even if she was weakened somewhat.
With their prey escaped, the other three immediately changed their direction by 90 degrees to pursue her.
Aizono had expected that.
“Ah?” said Sayori in confusion.
Aizono Mio had affixed a thick rubber panel near the ceiling and headed forcefully toward it. The rubber shot her like a bullet in the opposite direction. With the sound of wind roaring in her ears, she flew toward Sayori at a speed much greater than Sayori had expected. She was unable to evade. Aizono’s feet were pressed together side to side, and the soles of her shoes slammed mercilessly into Sayori’s face.
A great roar exploded out that did not sound like something that could come from two people colliding.
Still in midair, Aizono Mio gave a slight smile at the dull feeling she felt through her shoes.
“Rope techniques are the best of pro wrestling, baby!”
“…But if you fail, you open yourself up to a lariat.”
“!?”
An unpleasant noise vibrated through the soles of her shoes. Aizono saw two eyes glare out at her through the gaps in the black coloration covering the pale skin. The black oil armor had accurately distributed the force of that blunt impact.
Sayori’s lips writhed.
“One can counterbalance you.”
Aizono heard the sound of something slicing through the air on her left and right. Maki and Kohina were approaching fast.
“Three can overwhelm you.”
“Tch!!”
Aizono sent another kick toward Sayori who was beneath her feet and used the repelling force of rubber to jump up high. By ascending, she avoided the blades approaching from left and right and the spear thrust up by Sayori. She landed on top of one of the three-story tall tanks.
Meanwhile, the other three once more smoothly planted their feet on the facility floor.
Maki opened her mouth to speak.
“If you’re hoping to retrieve Saitou Souta and flee, give up now. Your prize does not lie in that tank and you could never lose us while carrying such a heavy burden.”
“I suppose I should praise you for not using him as a shield.”
“That would be too boring.” Maki turned the giant blade made of processed petroleum products back into its original dripping oil. “If we wanted to, we could finish Saitou Souta off on our own, but we would do it in a rather predictable way. There is a limit to how cruel we can be. However, the higher ups who seriously wanted to create and control something like White Alligator and then actually did it are a different matter. They would surely put an end to Saitou Souta in some twisted way we could never even imagine.”
“…”
Aizono remained silent and Kohina continued for Maki.
“It would be something like having your lover assaulted by a stranger. And while it may be horrible, it would still be effective. After all, those adults are the ones who messed us up so badly. Whatever it is you’re waiting for, there is no help there. If you were honest with yourself, you would know that.”
Then Sayori spoke. “Even if we sliced you to pieces, we’d keep it at the level where you could still be hooked up to some horrible life support machine. After all, just finishing off Saitou Souta would be too boring. It’s only any fun if it comes with someone to scream as they watch.”
Their chatting was silenced by the sound of something slicing through the air.
Aizono Mio strongly swung the blade in her hand.
“…I’ll turn you into gator food.”
“You idiot. You really are stupid. What did you learn in that hell? I thought we learned more than we wanted back in White Alligator that this is not a world where being more determined or having more guts is going to get you anywhere.”
In response to the three girls’ wills, the oil in the area all started writhing at once. A number of black bands were being created. The ends of the bands connected to the metal tanks or the midair walkways. The center portion of the bands bent in U-shape and gathered in Maki’s hand.
It looked something like a huge strange flower or a giant slingshot, but it was something else.
“The Multiphase Straight Hammer. Well, you were in White Alligator, so I don’t really need to explain it to you, but it combines the elasticity of rubber, the explosive power of burnable oil, and super high speed propellers to fire a projectile at high speed.”
“…”
“Originally, five of them would be prepared by a group of 8 of us each. The remaining ten people would hold down the target while the massive high speed projectiles would fire from multiple directions and reliably kill the target. That was a strategy to be used against the #4 or the #3. I have no idea how much the power will be reduced with only three of us, but the technical numbers don’t really matter. As long as it’s powerful enough to break through the metal tanks that are the greatest cover around here, we can shoot you down wherever you try to run.”
The sound of straining thick rubber could be heard.
With a thin smile, Maki said, “Your composite armor isn’t working as well as it should be, so you’re going to have to pull this off with determination and guts. How about you give this a nice, moving ending that will bring a tear to people’s eyes?”
“So you’re just a carbon copy of how things were back then. I hadn’t expected you to change much, but I never thought it would be this-…”
“Achoo!”
A tremendous vibration that seemed to penetrate the entire facility exploded out.
Part 11
The Multiphase Straight Hammer was one of the methods developed to attack a single Level 5 with a group of Level 4s. It was unknown how effective it would be in an actual battle, but the researchers had predicted that it would be more effective if the projectile had intentionally increased air resistance.
In other words, they purposefully made sure the projectile would break apart partway through.
The shockwave would assault the target as a surface a few dozen meters across rather than in a single point, preventing the target from evading. It also functioned to hold them in place. As long as a portion of the initial attack struck the target, the target’s physical strength would be worn down enough to prevent any quick movements. Then the same shockwave would strike again and again while the target could only stand in place and have his or her life slowly but surely worn down.
The attack was straightforward, but it was repeated again and again and again.
Despite how it looked, it had no flashy effects.
It was a plain, stable, and – most importantly – surefire attack.
But that was when it was being used against the monsters that were known as Level 5s. If it was used against a mass produced soldier that had her defenses interfered with and could not function at full power, a single shot would be enough to blow her away along with the area of the facility behind her.
“Gh…bh…”
A crash. She may have used her little remaining power to create a low-elasticity substance to absorb the shock, but that was still the best word to describe how Aizono Mio looked. However, it could be said she was lucky to still be in one piece after an attack like that.
“See? Determination and guts aren’t going to get you anywhere,” said Maki as she continued to keep her distance from Aizono who looked like she had fallen some great distance.
At that point, approaching her enemy could only work to her disadvantage. While repeating one straightforward attack, keeping your distance was a good idea.
“I do have to commend you for giving up on evading or defending and simply taking it head on. Even if the shockwave creates a large surface, the fragmentation of the shell is effectively random, so the thickness of the wall can be inconsistent. Intentionally putting yourself into one of the thinnest portions may be effective, but it isn’t an idea any ordinary person would ever think of.”
“…”
A hard sound could be heard as Aizono created a blade from oil and tried to stand up using it in place of a cane. However, her puny weapon soon turned back into dripping oil. Her control had been taken.
“Well, this is the best arrangement direction-wise, so we can just continue this like normal. It looks like we might finish this without having to crush Saitou Souta.”
“…He…has nothing to do with this,” said Aizono, sounding like she had something caught in the back of her throat. “If this has to do with White Alligator…I can do it instead. Why are you…going this far…to involve him…”
“Don’t be silly. Our anger is primarily targeted toward Saitou Souta,” said Maki.
While breathing heavily, Aizono Mio frowned and muttered, “Why? He…has no connection…to the darkness. So he has no connection…to White Alligator…”
“Yes, he has no connection. That is exactly why we are angry.”
A dark tone could be seen in her smile.
Just like with Aizono Mio, something hidden below could be seen in her smile.
“ ‘I want to save everyone. I want to hear the shouts of people’s hearts that have been overlooked. I want to heal the wounds of those who have become truly cornered. I want to hold out my hand even when I have so little strength. I want to save even those of White Alligator.’ …Saitou Souta’s words do sound wonderful and they bring light with their grounding in a proper worldview from a proper world.”
“What, are you saying he was a lying hypocrite? He showed he meant what he said with me. As a member of White Alligator, you should understand just how difficult returning one of us to being a normal person is.”
“But Saitou Souta did not save us.”
Aizono Mio froze in place.
Meanwhile, Maki’s words continued as if they were slipping into her ears.
“He was satisfied with saving you. He did not go any further. He proved he had the power to save those of White Alligator with you, but he abandoned us for his own personal reasons.”
“Did he just grow sick of it all? He may have been satisfied after having some fun, but surely his collector’s spirit would have been telling him to continue on. If you’re going to do something, lick the bones clean. Just picking at it a bit and calling it quits is rude to the cook and to the people who don’t have enough to eat,” added Kohina.
“It all started for us when our hopes were cut off in front of us. Surely you can imagine how you would react if he had told you one day that he had had enough and was calling it quits with you. We all experienced that same hell,” said Sayori.
A single girl had been saved from an inescapable hell. That alone would make for a lovely story, but how much pain would that cause for the others who had watched the hero leave without them.
Even after those in control of White Alligator had fallen to ruin, some had been unable to escape the darkness. Others had managed to escape, but had been unable to fit into normal society, so they were shown a different hell. And eventually, a portion of them had gathered in one place once more.
“We wanted to be saved too,” said Maki as if she was squeezing out the words. The ability to shed common tears had left her long ago. “We wanted to become a heroine like you. There were no clear conditions that decided it. Just because he was satisfied with only you, the gates of hell were slammed shut in our faces. How is that not reason to be angry?”
“You…idiots…” muttered Aizono. “In that case, baring your fangs toward him is the same as throwing away your last chance.”
“Weren’t you listening? We ‘wanted’ to be saved. In the past tense. We no longer have the ability to have such silly dreams.”
From the beginning, there had been no help for those in White Alligator.
It may have even been wrong for Aizono Mio to be pulled out of that situation. Even if that was such a warm and lovely mistake, it may have been wrong for Saitou Souta to have had anything to do with that world.
However…
When Saitou Souta saw what he saw in the depths of that hell, he was not the type of person to be afraid or disgusted; he was saddened. Aizono Mio was not about to let that miraculous movement of his heart lead to his death.
“…He did nothing wrong,” spat out Aizono as she stared sharply at the other three girls. “If anyone was in the wrong, it was me. If I had not been saved, this anger would never have come to be. So it is I that should receive your anger, not him.”
“Your ability to think like that shows that you really have regained your humanity. That will do nothing but make us jealous and regretful.”
The sound of straining rubber could be heard. The countless rubber bands that made up the Multiphase Straight Hammer gathered in once place.
“We will continue with the standard method that leaves you with no hope. We will not try to be the heroine and say we will beautifully finish this in one blow. We are the gators that crawl through the sewers, so we will tear at your flesh slowly but surely with the shockwaves. We will keep you from moving and rip you to pieces without giving you an opening.”
As she spoke, Maki used her power to create the special projectile.
And she gave signal of destruction.
“Fire. And continue firing.”
Part 12
Meanwhile, Misaka Mikoto was wrapped in oil composite armor down in the multipurpose drain that looked like a giant tunnel. Also down there, Yuri was attacked by an unknown chill down her back. It had been longer than 10 minutes, so Mikoto had surely suffocated, but Yuri was a member of White Alligator and knew very well that common knowledge did not always apply with Level 5s.
And then something happened.
Specifically, Yuri realized a strange vibration was repeating within the oil composite armor that should have been under her control.
(Don’t tell me she mixed a bunch of iron sand in with the oil. But where is she getting the oxygen she needs for her brain to-…Wait, is this vibration…!?)
There was oxygen in oil. It was just that human lungs could not make use of it. By vibrating the iron sand, Misaka Mikoto was accurately breaking down the oil and carrying only the oxygen, nitrogen, and other components of air to her mouth.
And it did not end there.
When those components of the oil were removed, the oil had changed enough to lose its characteristics as oil.
Military Oil was the power to freely control the properties of oil and petroleum products.
If what she was controlling lost its characteristics and composition as oil, she lost her control over it. Yuri did not have the power to directly control hydrocarbons or sulfur.
“Wh-what…!?”
With a disconcerting sound, the giant black mass split vertically down the middle. A singe level 5 appeared from within, shaking off the power of a group of Level 4s.
“Honestly, this was one hell of a result.”
The #3 was not even looking at her enemy.
She was focused on the PDA in her hand. Misaka Mikoto spoke to Yuri, but it was almost as an afterthought.
“Did you know this? The story was that Saitou-sensei had disappeared without a trace from Nagatenjouki Academy, but the security guard had been given a few of his belongings as lost items. I found some interesting data in his cell phone charger.”
“From the firmware’s memory area…?”
“Right. Anyway, I analyzed the seemingly random numbers in there and got the key code to a cloud service. I’m in the middle of downloading all the data he had on the internet there.” Mikoto lightly waved the PDA. “It seems to be information on this White Alligator that Aizono Mio mentioned before. He has a file on all the eyewitness reports, one on his overall conjectures about the organization, and even a member list. It does seem none of this ever left the area of conjecture even for Saitou-sensei though.”
This information had not been what he had used to search out the hospital Aizono Mio had been in and bring her to the path of recovery.
The dates of the files were simply too recent.
“Aishima Hitomi, Aizono Mio, Olosun, Francisca Obidos, Kawamo Ryuubi, Kochonwon, Konoha Yayoi, Sakasama Yuri, Ilenia Sagileska, Shirokabe Renka, Suzunari Yuuhi, Sejou Aika, Catherine Hardclass, Hyoudou Maki, Maruiwa Kurumi, Mishou Yui, Irelia Mordman, Yumesaki Saibi, Yoake Sayori, Yosegi Misato, Raidou Yuuko, Wajiku Kobina… Does that list sound familiar? I expect it’s a list of the members at the time White Alligator collapsed. Most of their whereabouts are unknown, but the ‘suggested sites’ list at the end of the file makes it seem he was working on tracking them down.”
That meant…
“Even as I look at this, I find it hard to believe. Even while he was taking care of all the complaints from those parents, Saitou-sensei was tracking down White Alligator after its collapse all on his own. For years and years.”
“…No…”
There was no need to ask why he had been doing it.
In the end, that was the kind of person Saitou Souta was. Even while trapped in an environment anyone would want to be rescued from, his conviction did not waver. In fact, he did not even view their troubles as ‘evil things’ that would cause his conviction to waver.
It was true that he had not made it in time.
It was true that an outspoken ill will had gotten in the way and led to an unfortunate accident occurring before he could reach out his hand.
However, Saitou Souta had not given up on rescuing those in White Alligator. He had not been satisfied with his success with Aizono Mio and abandoned the rest.
“Can you hear me, Aizono Mio?”
Misaka Mikoto had put the PDA back in her skirt pocket as it continued to download the data, and had then pulled out her cell phone. She had then used her thumb to call a different former elite than Yuri.
Mikoto smiled while holding a coin up with her other hand and aiming at Sakasama Yuri.
“It seems the teacher you trusted so much was the real deal.”
Part 13
White Alligator was an organization born within the deep darkness of Academy City. Getting ahold of everything about it is not easy.
It may be impossible for me to learn everything about it.
And I do not care if that is the case.
Many lives were lost in the process of its foundation and I have heard that many of the surviving members’ lives were lost when the organization collapsed. From the beginning, there has been no way for me to play the part of some idealized hero. The only path left to me is to find the few children who have survived, heal the wounds in their hearts, and bring them back to society.
I may not be strong enough to accomplish this, but I cannot abandon them.
There is no such thing as a time machine, so I cannot change the past, but there is something wrong when people continue to suffer without even realizing that they have already been freed.
Some people referred to those girls as “beasts”.
However, I doubt those very people knew of those girls’ true strength.
In Aizono-kun’s case, I learned of a portion of that strength.
That strength is the hope Academy City holds even as it also holds such deep darkness.
I can do no more than help, but I am sure something will change within Academy City’s darkness if I am one day able to teach the rest of White Alligator about that hope. And then I will be able to find pride in myself.
I will be glad that I have lived to that day.
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