Two dazzling bolts of blue and black lightning crisscrossed in mid-air.
Even though they were both electrical currents, they felt like they carried an energy impact, and the arcing, scattering lightning snakes even illuminated most of the sky.
However, the blue current was visibly losing ground.
Misaka Mikoto had already used all of her strength, but she could only hold out for a brief moment.
But a moment was enough.
Saiki Kusuo, who had been approaching Misaka Mikoto, suddenly accelerated, used Telekinesis to pull Misaka Mikoto to his side at the critical moment, and teleported away in one smooth motion.
And Violet also agreed to the Master/Summoner's summoning at this time.
As if only in the blink of an eye, only Misaka Mikoto Alter was left in the entire world.
After a terrifyingly silent pause.
BOOM——!
Dense, black lightning descended from the heavens, the earth-shattering roar mimicking a nuclear explosion, seemingly filled with furious roars.
But Saiki Kusuo had already taken Misaka Mikoto away, arriving in an alley at the furthest point of his instant transmission range.
...She almost died.
The first thought that surfaced in Misaka Mikoto's mind as she came to her senses.
But even if she had died, no one would know, no one would be sad, not even her parents, because everyone would think that person was her.
"Enough..."
Misaka Mikoto shook her head, trying to shake off these thoughts, but her expression was like a child on the verge of tears.
Although she knew she couldn't beat the other person, the first encounter made her feel the huge gap like a chasm. She couldn't get any useful information before, and now she had exposed herself. If things continued like this, not to mention stopping the war, whether she could survive was a problem.
"Meow—" The sound of a cat.
Misaka Mikoto weakly turned around,
and saw a small black cat appearing at the corner, slowly approaching her, neither bristling nor showing its teeth and claws.
Although Misaka Mikoto loved cats, because her body would unconsciously release weak electromagnetic waves, animals didn't get close to her. As soon as they got close, they would take a panicked attacking posture, but this little cat seemed completely different. It swayed its body and approached her, rubbing its nose affectionately against her feet.
This successfully diverted Misaka Mikoto's attention.
Her eyes stared at the little cat, and she slowly squatted down. The moment her fingers touched the soft fur, she immediately felt that her long-cherished wish had finally come true.
終究還是個小孩子... Standing behind, Saiki Kusuo breathed a small sigh of relief, then gave the little kitten an encouraging look.
That's right, he'd used telepathy to call the kitten over, promising a full three boxes of Dried Fish to get it to approach the frightened Misaka Mikoto.
Why do I have to be the one to do the talking, though?
Saiki Kusuo thought helplessly to himself. Originally, he'd wanted Ryougi Shiki to do it; she had a certain air of trustworthiness about her.
"Ahem."
——Aaah!
The sudden, light cough startled Misaka Mikoto to her feet, causing the kitten to leap away.
She immediately let out a dejected sound, but the Gekota plushie in her arms still gave her great comfort.
"Misaka Mikoto, right?" Saiki Kusuo said, somewhat uncomfortably using his own voice. "I'm Saiki Kusuo. The two girls who fought alongside me just now are my companions."
"...I'm so sorry!"
Misaka Mikoto preempted Saiki Kusuo's next words with a ninety-degree bow, her voice trembling.
"Because of me, because of me..."
She hadn't witnessed the scene of Ryougi Shiki and Violet disappearing directly. She could only assume, based on her own assumptions, that they had been killed by another Misaka Mikoto.
And yet, the one who should have stayed to fight had been rescued by the person in front of her.
"You don't need to apologize." Although he couldn't use telepathy, Saiki Kusuo could guess what she was thinking. "They're fine. Our Master/Summoner took them away at the end."
"Huh? R-really?"
Misaka Mikoto raised her head and, upon receiving an affirmative response, let out a long sigh of relief.
Although she didn't know what was going on with the other Misaka Mikoto, it was definitely related to her. It was good that fewer people might die because of her.
"Also, we were originally planning to come and find you," Saiki Kusuo said, his gaze fixed on the Gekota held in her arms. "We were the ones who put the photo of the doll on the intranet. Master knew you liked it, but we didn't expect you to appear at the same time and run into another Misaka Mikoto."
"I don't... really like it that much."
Misaka Mikoto was the first to deny it, her eyes unconsciously drifting elsewhere, instinctively clutching the Gekota doll in her arms.
"It's just that I thought, its owner would be really sad if they lost something like this. Af, after all, it looks quite valuable, right? Yes, that's it. I just came over because I was worried about this."
"..."
The scene fell into an eerie silence.
However, Saiki Kusuo quickly recovered, because his grandfather was a hundred times more tsundere than this.
In such situations, it was best to simply ignore it, so he continued, "We may know the truth about another Misaka Mikoto. You should have also realized that she has the same memories as you, and believes she is you. Therefore, we need your help to understand her—we are here to handle such incidents."
"To handle such incidents..." Misaka Mikoto struggled to process the information, and keenly noticed the key point, "Do you mean that similar things have happened elsewhere?"
"That's right." Saiki Kusuo nodded. "You can ask the Master when they arrive. They should be on their way now."
Shen He was indeed on his way.
After receiving Saiki Kusuo's message, he immediately initiated a summoning request for Violet and the others, and set off in that direction.
Because there wasn't much time to explain, Kanzaki Kaori and Stiyl Magnus didn't come along, as their priority was to protect the safety of A Certain Magical Index—Index.
In the middle of everything, Shiki and Violet answered the summons and arrived at his side.
"Are you hurt?"
That was the first thing Shen He asked when he saw them.
"I'm fine." Ryougi Shiki raised her right arm, the sleeve only half there. "The clothes were partially burned by the high temperature."
She simply tore off the remaining half of the sleeve, revealing a slender, fair arm. Holding her long knife, she looked even more like a female warrior now.