You can read ahead up to 70 chapters on my patreon https://www.patreon.com/GGS6395
"BOOM...!"
An explosion powerful enough to make all nearby buildings tremble erupted like a violent storm, instantly obliterating the ground. Blazing flames turned into molten magma, baking the earth until it glowed red-hot, melting like butter under a scorching sun.
A white beam of light swept across the battlefield like an aurora, detonating upon impact with the ground. Its destructive power was astonishing.
In just a blink, the entire area had been turned into a cratered wasteland, nothing left but glowing red lava and columns of hot smoke rising toward the sky. The ground resembled a cluster of miniature volcanoes, and the air itself was sweltering with heat.
In the midst of that devastation, Misaka Mikoto appeared, with one knee on the scorched ground. Arcs of electricity surged violently across her body as she panted for breath.
Across from her stood Mugino Shizuri, one hand on her hip and the other casually holding a hovering sphere of light. Her face was filled with delighted malice.
"Hey, hey, hey, what's wrong with you?" Mugino called out mockingly. "Why are you kneeling on the ground like that? Aren't you supposed to be the Number Three? You're ranked higher than me, right? Doesn't it feel humiliating to lose to me, the Number Four?"
Hearing the gleeful cruelty in Mugino's voice, the pleasure she took in Misaka's pain, Misaka Mikoto clenched her teeth tightly.
Seeing that defiant expression only made Mugino even more excited.
"Yes, that's it! That's the expression I wanted to see! The look of frustration, of regret at your own helplessness!" Mugino shouted, her tone brimming with manic satisfaction.
"That's the real you! What Number Three? A little girl like you doesn't deserve to stand above me! That stupid ranking was just something this boring Academy City decided on its own! I'd love to make those idiots who set the rankings take a good look at you now!"
Without the slightest hesitation, Mugino detonated the sphere of light in her hand.
"Whoosh...!"
The orb instantly turned into a blinding white beam. The air screamed as it tore through it, the atmosphere splitting apart as the ray hurtled toward Misaka Mikoto.
"...!"
Mikoto's expression tightened, and then, steeling herself, she surged with lightning. Her entire body crackled with intense electric light.
"BOOM...!"
A deafening impact resounded.
The Meltdowner beam, capable of piercing any obstacle like paper, was distorted by the overwhelming surge of electricity. Like light refracted by a mirror, it veered sharply off-course and struck the ground nearby.
"BOOM...!"
Another explosion.
The white beam struck the ground like a bomb, erupting the moment it hit. Fire and lightning clashed, crimson flames against azure-white electricity, filling the air with an alternating storm of color and energy.
Mugino, however, didn't pause for even a second. Around her body, multiple new orbs of light appeared, one after another, like a mobile artillery platform. Each one released a roaring beam toward Misaka Mikoto.
"BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!"
A chain of violent explosions rocked the battlefield.
"Ngh…!"
Misaka extended her hand forward, lightning surging from her palm as she flicked away each incoming beam. Explosions erupted all around her, tearing the ground apart.
While Misaka struggled to hold her ground, Mugino continued her relentless assault, firing beam after beam of Meltdowner while speaking with cold arrogance.
"You only ranked higher because your ability's more versatile, that's all! Don't tell me you actually think you're stronger than me?"
"Sure, my Meltdowner is specialized, its only strength is destructive power. Maybe it's less 'practical' for military use than your multi-purpose electromaster abilities with hacking and electromagnetic control. But so what?"
"My ability works perfectly for me, and that's all that matters!"
It was obvious that Mugino's lower ranking compared to Misaka's had long been a deep thorn in her pride.
"A pampered little girl raised in a greenhouse, never even seen real blood, and yet you stand above me? It's infuriating!"
As she screamed, several even thicker beams of light shot out violently.
"BOOM...!"
A far more powerful explosion than any before engulfed the battlefield, covering a radius of dozens of meters in destructive light and flame.
This time, Misaka Mikoto didn't try to block it. Her body, wrapped in electric current, suddenly shot backward as though pulled by an invisible force, landing atop the wall of a nearby building.
That was an application of electromagnetic force pushed to its maximum output, turning Misaka Mikoto herself into something like a living magnet, drawing her body toward the steel-reinforced building with overwhelming pull.
Then, Misaka began her counterattack.
"Chī...!"
A surge of violent electricity erupted from Misaka's body, condensing into a Lightning Attack Spear, which shot toward Mugino Shizuri at astonishing speed.
That strike carried a voltage of one billion volts.
Even if its destructive power wasn't quite as intense as Mugino's Meltdowner electron beams, a direct hit on a human body would lead to the same result, complete incapacitation.
Of course, Misaka wasn't Mugino, she was still holding back.
Although the voltage was terrifyingly high, the current was kept low; it wouldn't cause fatal electrocution. At most, it would disable Mugino's mobility.
Faced with that strike, Mugino Shizuri merely smirked.
"Biri...!"
With a sharp crackle of electricity, the lightning spear suddenly bent mid-air, twisting away toward another direction as if deflected by an invisible force.
"Wha…?!"
Misaka's eyes widened in shock.
"What's so surprising?" Mugino said mockingly. "If you can interfere with my electrons, then naturally I can interfere with yours. The conditions are the same, aren't they?"
"Tch…" Misaka clicked her tongue in frustration.
"So, you understand now, right?" Mugino continued with a triumphant grin. "That stupid ranking doesn't mean anything after all. Looks like I'm the stronger one, little girl."
But before her words could settle, a calm voice interrupted her…
"That's not necessarily true."
A figure slowly emerged from a nearby alley.
"Thud!"
"Ouch!" "That hurts!"
With a dull impact, two figures, Frenda and Kinuhata Saiai, both cuffed, were thrown mercilessly to the ground, crying out in pain.
Beside them was Takitsubo Rikou, who had been hiding nearby but was now caught as well.
And the one holding the struggling Takitsubo captive, was Fang Li.
"You…!"
Mugino's smile vanished from her face, replaced by a scowl.
"Haa…"
Misaka Mikoto exhaled in relief.
But Fang Li didn't pay attention to anyone else. His gaze fixed solely on Misaka as he spoke.
"Stop holding back."
"If you get defeated here, there'll be no one left to save your Little Sisters."
At those words, Misaka's eyes trembled, and she fell silent.
After a brief pause, she sighed softly and stood up.
"Biri Biri...!"
An unprecedented surge of electricity burst forth from her body, blazing like thunder itself.
(End Of This Chapter)