Abandoned Factory District.
RUMBLE—
The sky collapsed.
Shipping containers, industrial pipes, concrete blocks, and scrap metal crashed down like meteors. The impact raised a mushroom cloud of dust, accompanied by deafening explosions that instantly obscured a two-hundred-meter radius.
Zzzzt!
Suddenly, a beam of pure emerald light flashed through the dust cloud.
It moved like a machine gun, sweeping across the falling debris. The hissing sound of melting steel and crackling electrons filled the air as the containers were vaporized before they could crush the targets.
"Ahhh! That scared me to death!"
Frenda coughed, covered in dust and tears. She looked up at the woman standing in front of them with boundless admiration.
"I thought I was going to turn into a meat patty! In the end, Mugino is amazing!"
Mugino Shizuri stood amidst the ruins, her hand glowing with volatile green energy. She had disintegrated tons of falling debris in seconds.
"It was super dangerous! I thought I was super going to die!"
Kinuhata Saiai wiped cold sweat from her forehead.
"Thank you, Mugino. Even my Nitrogen Armor super couldn't have withstood that mass."
Her heart was pounding. Falling debris of that magnitude was far beyond the scope of a simple trap.
"Mugino," Takitsubo Rikou whispered, her face pale. "We've been tricked. That person lured us here."
"Damn false information!"
Mugino kicked a piece of molten slag. Her expression was terrifyingly gloomy.
"We were played by the client. Our target isn't a Level 4 Spatial User. He's a Level 5."
"That level of mass displacement... only a Level 5 could do that."
Rage bubbled up from the depths of her stomach.
She wasn't afraid of fighting other Level 5s. But she hated being treated like a fool. The client had lied about the threat level to save money or hide the truth.
"When I get back," Mugino snarled, "I'm going to twist that client's head off."
The four girls climbed out of the crater. Before they could regroup, a voice floated down from above.
"I knew this level of force wouldn't kill you. But for ITEM to make a move in a place like this... aren't you afraid of implicating civilians?"
The girls froze. They looked up.
Takahashi Yuuya stood on top of a surviving steel beam, hands in his pockets, grinning.
His gaze swept over them.
'The adorable Frenda. The slender Kinuhata. The healing Takitsubo. And the violent queen, Mugino.'
'Each has their own unique flavor. And wow... their figures are top tier.'
"That's right..." Takitsubo stepped back, her voice trembling.
She activated her AIM Stalker ability.
"He is a Level 5. But... not just any Level 5."
"His AIM Diffusion Field is strange. It feels like... several people mixed together."
Through her vision, she saw a chaotic storm. It wasn't a single frequency. It was a chimera of fields—Electricity, Space, and something else—woven together into a terrifying tapestry.
It felt like staring at a lion disguised as a house cat.
"Tch! So we were fooled," Mugino glared at Yuuya. "A Level 5 Spatial User who hasn't been announced yet?"
"Oh my. You're quite clever," Yuuya sneered, his expression turning cold. "Those researchers are idiots. They thought a secret base could stop me."
He looked down at them.
"Well then, ladies. If you come to kill, be prepared to be killed. Now... I'll play with you for a bit."
Aleister had "given" them to him, but Yuuya knew these girls wouldn't submit without a beating. He had to break their pride first.
"Don't get cocky!"
Mugino roared.
"Even if you're a Level 5, do you think you can take me down?!"
"I am the Number Four! Meltdowner!"
She clasped her hands together. Emerald lightning illuminated her face.
"Die!"
VWOOM!
She threw her hands forward. A lance of high-energy electrons shot toward Yuuya.
Atomic Collapse.
It was the ability to control electrons in the ambiguous state between "Particle" and "Wave." By forcibly maintaining this state, the electrons could penetrate any solid matter, breaking down atoms instantly.
It moved at speeds second only to light.
The air it passed through was scorched into plasma.
'Even a Spatial User can't react to this speed!' Mugino thought triumphantly. 'Before his nerves can signal his brain to teleport, he'll be vaporized!'
ZAP!
The beam hit the steel beam Yuuya was standing on.
The metal vanished.
"Hm?"
Mugino's pupils contracted.
There was no scream. No blood. No vaporized body.
He was just... gone.
"Oh no? I got shot?"
A playful voice whispered right behind her ear.
"I didn't even have time to react."
The four members of ITEM froze.
Frenda, who was hiding behind Mugino, stammered with wide eyes, her jaw dropping.
"Mugino's ability... he dodged it? No... he's behind us!"
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