Chapter 404: Shokuhou-San, I’m Here to Save You

"Huhu..."

Shokuhou Misaki used all her strength to restrain her legs that wanted to tremble, but she still couldn't help gasping for air, greedily breathing in every breath of air.

If you run with all your strength on the streets in the midsummer season, it is easy for runners who are not experienced to get out of the running.

For Shokuhou Misaki, who usually considered even brisk walking an honorable exercise and who could be called a bastard in terms of physical strength, this was tantamount to torture.

Normally, the girl would have been paralyzed on the ground with no love left, but today, she has exceeded her limits several times.

The reason that drives her to break through herself is also very simple.

the scene of living.

If you don't want to die, you have to run.

"Buzz buzz-"

As if to confirm Shokuhou Misaki's idea, the locomotive's engine sound, so manic that it could even make waves of air, sounded faintly again.

"Damn it! I've already run into such a weak alley, and yet I caught up so quickly!"

Normally, Shokuhou Misaki would not go to the less crowded alleys, and the travel time would be consistent with the student's schedule, and he would also take the avenues with constant flow of people.

Only when going to a confidential research institution like the Talent Research Institute would she set out at a more private time.

Coupled with confidentiality requirements that must avoid public cameras, there is also a path that usually requires walking.

It would be too far-fetched to say that it was a coincidence that he was able to stop her at such a time.

However, Shokuhou Misaki at that time only suspected that he was involved in an attack on an ability user.

But after the other party consciously forced himself into such a deserted alley, this speculation became untenable.

If you don't know that psychological mastery is the ability to easily mess up the situation when there is an object that can be manipulated, you will never be able to make such a targeted strategy.

Ordinary gangsters... no, not even the more formal groups of armed incompetent people can't do this, because they simply can't access this level of intelligence.

At this point, no matter how slow he was, Shokuhou Misaki could still realize that he was definitely being targeted.

This was a premeditated attack.

And the girl who didn't even meet the passers-by and couldn't control them to call the police seemed to have been forced into a desperate situation.

Shokuhou Misaki clenched the remote control in her hand and stood up again on her knees. Although she was covered in sweat and even her uniform was clinging to her body in an awkward manner, she no longer had time to care about the eldest lady's manners.

No matter how strict Tokiwadai's school rules are, they are not so rigid.

It would be better to say that those who emphasize maintaining elegance in battle are the odd ones out of the minority.

The girl bit her lip gently and dived into the alley in front of her without looking back. From the current point of view, her only chance of survival was here.

This place is close to the boundary of the Seventh School District. There are many buildings that are on the verge of being abandoned. The terrain has gradually become more complicated. If there is no familiar person to guide the way, it is not surprising to get lost for a while.

But just as he entered the alley, the low humming sounded again.

"So fast?"

Shokuhou Misaki's face changed slightly, and he subconsciously turned his head, but saw nothing.

The girl's pretty face turned pale when she realized what had happened. She raised her head and looked at the sky divided into pieces by the narrow alley.

On the wall at the end of the field of vision, the sound of wheels imprinting on the ground echoed throughout the surroundings.

The true face of the pursuers was also revealed at this moment.

It was an attacker wearing a knight's uniform and a closed helmet.

He doesn't ride a huge motorcycle, but he has tools that are no less impressive.

The body of this bosozoku-like attacker, from the soles of the feet to the knees, joints, and chest, is equipped with small wheels like roller skates.

What is used to provide power are the two jet engines on his back, which are also the source of the exaggerated engine roar before.

With such a power source and an almost 360-degree wheel alignment, you only need to use the same movements as racing skating. At the astonishing speed that rivals a roller coaster, everything from the wall to the ceiling will become the opponent's territory. .

Just hitting it at this speed can turn a person's weight into a fatal impact.

What's more, on the attacker's shoulders, there are cold cylinders that look like gun barrels and look like rocket launchers.

It was a dynamite-activated pile driver.

Let alone being hit, even if it just passes by, the flesh and blood body will turn into a puddle of flesh in an instant.

Shokuhou Misaki subconsciously raised the remote control and aimed at the opponent.

But just like the previous test, after a brief stagnation, the enemy's movements had just deviated, and the indicator light on the helmet suddenly lit up, allowing the uncontrolled limbs to quickly return to their prototypes, and awaken the controlled body. brain.

"Tsk..."

Shokuhou Misaki frowned deeply.

Even the psychological mastery at the top of the spiritual system cannot be effective on pure machines and non-human beings.

Although the materials for this special costume are not difficult to find outside the city, whether it is a pulley or a jet engine, it is the same.

The only thing with a bit of technology, helmets that use programs to control clothing are not very rare.

But after putting them together, it turned out to be the prototype of a driving armor.

The driving armor is a high-end machine specially made to reproduce the power of superpowers with industrial capabilities. Its design and conception are not accessible to ordinary people.

The strength of this weapon is not worth mentioning for most esper users. It charges forward with the body at an overwhelming speed, and the user will often self-destruct before achieving success.

Even if the range is expanded to the entire Academy City, the moment when it can play a role is probably only now.

In other words, this is a thing that is completely useless except for killing Shokuhou Misaki.

But in terms of restraint, it also has the effect of making Shokuhou Misaki, who is Level 5, helpless.

In order to control the ability more precisely and to prevent the overly powerful psychological control from going out of control, the girl usually sets her own rules to weaken her power.

That is, aim at the target with the remote control.

And the high-speed movement that is difficult to capture with the naked eye targets her two points of being a weak person and difficult to aim.

Thinking of this, Miss Shokuhou gritted her teeth.

She is not a gentleman, and she does not reject the use of her ability to manipulate the hearts of others, but she also has her own bottom line.

Because she knows what kind of power psychological control is, she will set limits for herself to prevent the power from going out of control.

But this awareness brought by moral sense has become her death warrant at this moment.

Otherwise, if she switches to a complete state, the enemy in front of her will realize why the superpowers are at the top of the academy city.

However, when the girl was thinking about it, suddenly, a suffocating roar rose to the sky, as if to tear the dim sky to pieces.

The attacker, who had already reacted to the fact that he was manipulated for a moment, launched a charge without stopping.

There was no time for hesitation.

If it weren't for the momentary interruption caused by the previous manipulation, he wouldn't even have time to react now.

Shokuhou Misaki clenched the remote control in her hand and smashed it at the opponent without hesitation.

Although this is as wasteful as throwing the gun without pulling the trigger, it is obviously much more useful in this straight-line penetration situation.

After all, it is just a piece of armor, not a real driving armor.

As an excellent student, Shokuhou Misaki knows very well what the consequences will be if she relies on her body to balance the high speed brought by the jet engine and loses control.

"Ping, bang... boom!"

Instantly, as the girl fought back vigorously, the enemy who was hit instantly lost his balance and passed over her, dragging all the broken bicycles and trash cans scattered in the alley into the water.

Following closely, there was an orange-red flash that burst out along with the explosion.

"You are kidding... why?"

Shokuhou Misaki, who was lying on the ground, looked at the scene in front of her with a look of astonishment on her face.

Suicide attack.

This is the only word to describe the attacker's idea. This pieced-together weapon is more unstable than she imagined.

It seems that even if she was smashed into pieces, the attacker might die under the reaction force. Knowing that there would be such a consequence, why did the other party rush over without hesitation?

In today's Academy City, are there still such dead soldiers?

It is estimated that only those who have everything taken away will have such a strong desire for revenge.

"But the problem is, I don't know them at all..."

Shokuhou Misaki, whose physical strength has been completely overdrawn, stared at this scene blankly.

When the smell of burning gradually came from the end of the alley, she came to her senses belatedly and stood up.

But Shokuhou Misaki did not continue to run away. She just looked at the alley with a cold look and took out two spare remote controls from her bag again.

There was no use running away.

In terms of mobility, her speed was completely crushed by the group of attackers.

Although her psychological control ability was restrained by the set of weapons, it was not completely ineffective.

In this way, the reason why the group of enemies let her hide in the alley was only because they had a far-leading advantage in numbers.

Whether they found their companions and won or lost, the noise they made would be the loudest signal.

The silent wind sound was mixed with the repeated roar of the engine like thunder, highlighting the silence of the atmosphere at the moment.

One after another, fully armed attackers attacked from all directions, but after finding that Shokuhou Misaki did not run away, they did not rush to attack, but just surrounded her silently.

This organization, which was completely different from the crazy suicide attack before, made Shokuhou Misaki shudder subconsciously.

It was as if she had come to the scene of some weird cult ceremony.

What was worse was that she seemed to have entered as a sacrifice.

Shokuhou Misaki glanced at the figures that gradually emerged and came to a conclusion.

The number of enemies had exceeded thirty.

With such a number, even the order to kill each other must be used skillfully at the right time, otherwise it would be converted into program control and the order would be in vain.

Moreover, would the opponent give her the opportunity to give orders?

If they rushed at her from thirty directions at the same time, she would not be able to deal with them even if she waved the remote control with both hands.

Shokuhou Misaki sighed. Although she wanted to pretend to be strong, in the face of the fear of death, she could only bite her lower lip to prevent her expression from collapsing.

At this time, the enemy at the alley also slightly made way for a passage, and a boy wearing the same equipment as others but wearing a bright red knight's uniform walked out of the crowd.

"Excellent! Although it was a one-on-one fight, your ability should not be effective in front of the weapons of the Spear of Usurpation. You achieved such a wonderful counterattack at the age of a junior high school student. You are worthy of being the fifth."

The loud exclamation echoed through the quiet alley, but anyone could hear the provocation in the enemy's words, as well as the thick and almost indissoluble ridicule.

"It seems that tonight's action is destined to be worthwhile to kill a valuable person like you."

As the leader-like boy made a declaration, low, angry, and joyful laughter came from all around.

Even though the voice of a single person was not loud, because of the same resentment deep in the laughter, the torrent of voices still surrounded the girl, conveying the clear malice.

——As long as it can kill me, no matter what kind of sacrifice, it is worth it.

There is no hope.

Shokuhou Misaki thought so.

Even the information that I am the fifth has been obtained, and there is also the Spear of Usurpation specifically targeting me.

In terms of numbers, it is impeccable, and there is also the awareness that it doesn't matter if we die together.

Without a doubt, this is a desperate situation.

Amid the waves of laughter and the seemingly impatient engine sounds, the desperate death warrant also quietly arrived.

As if he could no longer be satisfied with the ridicule, the attacker standing at the alleyway brazenly activated his weapons and attacked with a sharp attitude like a blade.

"Woo--!!!"

Shokuhou Misaki quietly felt the strong wind approaching like a wave, the corners of her mouth twitched helplessly, and the light in her star-shaped pupils dimmed slightly.

It was not easy to find the courage to welcome the past again, and to prepare for the future.

In the blink of an eye, everything will become a bubble again.

Even when Dolly died, she had fully experienced the impermanence of life, but she did not expect that the future would change so quickly.

If I had known earlier, I should not have left directly this afternoon because of my reservedness, I should have kicked that guy a few more times.

At first, he pretended to refuse with a righteous attitude, but his attitude changed 180 degrees after seeing the spider web lace. He could even say such rude words to a lady like me. Now it seems that he is really a perverted guy.

However, it has been a long time since I could talk to others in the most real attitude without any disguise.

Speaking of which, are we friends?

Originally, Shokuhou Misaki just wanted to convince herself to accept death, but at this moment, something seemed to be burning in her chest, and a desire emerged from those crazy thoughts.

Sure enough, there are still some regrets...

She knew clearly that she who failed to save Dolly was not qualified to be saved by others at this moment.

But since she was about to die, it should be allowed to be willful once in a while, right?

Shokuhou Misaki prayed silently in her heart.

The girl knew better than anyone that this was just wishful thinking.

Not to mention that no one would hear her prayer in her heart, even if they did, at this critical moment, even a superpower would not be able to save her in time.

But in order to respond to her last wish, Shokuhou Misaki closed her eyes without any expectation,

No matter who it is, please save me...

"——Okay."

The roar of the engine and the sound of the wind seemed to be cut off in an instant, and even the angry exclamations and shouts of the attackers around were all gone.

But only this sentence, which seemed to be spoken in her ear, was still so clear.

"Huh?"

Shokuhou Misaki tentatively opened her eyes and looked at the face that seemed to be smiling.

That was the face that she had evaluated as being able to eliminate women's unhappiness in the afternoon, but after experiencing it personally, this evaluation was indeed a bit conservative.

"Roland?"

Roland nodded and responded to the girl's call.

"——Shokuhou classmate, I'm here to save you."