One-way traffic

"How is this possible... there are so many?"

He was even a little frightened. Why didn't these zombies react at all after he came in? And, to be honest, why were there so many zombies in this kind of place?

It was as if they had been prepared and were waiting for them here all along.

"There's no other way, Hatsune-chan, run away quickly!"

Takibayashi quickly pulled Hatsune Miku around and headed towards the entrance.

They could only go back to Accelerator; with his power, dealing with these zombies would be a piece of cake.

but.

When they turned around, more than a dozen black shadows had completely blocked their way.

Bang! !

A zombie slammed the iron gate shut and slammed it down several times with its claws.

The iron gate looked as if it had been welded shut, completely blending into the door frame.

There was no way to escape.

"Hello..."

Takibayashi was now completely drenched in cold sweat.

Hatsune Miku was so frightened that she couldn't even speak, while Takibayashi gripped two pistols tightly in his hands and looked around.

The way back was blocked by zombies.

Deeper into the warehouse, there were even more zombies.

This is like winning the lottery!

"Damn it, is this the end for us?!"

Takibayashi watched the zombies on both sides with extreme vigilance. He didn't fire immediately because he knew that if he dared to fire, these monsters would definitely pounce on him like ferocious beasts.

In the end, the two of them will probably be torn into pieces like a pizza by these guys within a minute.

What a joke!

Is it completely... beyond saving?!

Hatsune Miku was trembling all over. Although she was gripping the katana that Takibayashi had handed her tightly with both hands, her face was completely covered by fear.

As if in a hallucination, countless shadows from my own memories appeared before me.

There are friends who became idols with me, family members who became idols with me, and many more. There are also many fans who love me, and my performances at concerts time and time again.

No.

She didn't want to die... and she especially didn't want to die in despair like this!

At the last moment, the girl gripped her only weapon tightly, tears welling in her eyes, and whispered something.

"Mr. Yifang..."

then.

—Disaster struck.

Boom! Boom! The gust of wind blew the huge iron gate away in one breath.

The zombies that had been blocking the doorway were blown away by the storm like missiles. The terrifying hurricane, which was stronger than a Category 10 typhoon, swept everything in front of them into the deepest part of the room in one go.

"What a tasteless plot twist."

Madness, tyranny, and the voice of a demon.

The number one in Academy City reigns supreme here.

"How could you two have gotten yourself into this mess? What bad luck could have gotten into you to end up like this?"

Accelerator arrived here, leaning on his cane.

"One side!"

"Mr. Fangfang...?"

Accelerator clicked his tongue as he glanced at the two people behind him, then looked at the group of zombies in front of him with even more trouble.

The zombies that were knocked down by his storm did not give up; instead, they abandoned their attack on Accelerator.

They all lunged at and gnawed at the area where various hand grenades were placed.

"You bastard, what kind of bullshit joke is this?"

Bang! The first person slammed his right foot directly into the ground, and the storm swept up the pistol he had his eye on.

Incidentally, he also used the wind to pick up the dozen or so magazines belonging to that pistol, and then threw them all into Takibayashi's arms.

"Hold on tight!"

Without hesitation, Accelerator grabbed the two people beside him and retreated at an incredible speed.

The explosion engulfed the entire room.

Not only that, the violent explosion even spread outside the room, rushing out like a fire.

Accelerator tossed the two men into a street sports car, while he himself sat in the driver's seat of the car, which had already been started.

His ability is to manipulate all directions of energy, ensuring that he can reflect all forces. Not to mention this kind of explosion, even nuclear weapons or even Mars colliding with Earth cannot cause him the slightest damage. His reflection limit is terrifyingly high, to the point that even he himself cannot fathom.

But that doesn't mean the two people next to him are safe.

The invincible reflection can only protect the first person.

"You're just causing me trouble, you bastard."

Without hesitation, Accelerator stepped on the gas pedal of the sports car and sped off.

While driving the sports car, he used his abilities to manipulate the wind, suppressing the explosion behind him as much as possible, while also increasing the speed of the sports car itself.

The sports car carrying the three people crashed and sped out from underground.

Almost the instant they escaped danger, a vortex-like explosion completely engulfed the entire area where they had been.

escape.

For Takibayashi and Hatsune Miku, this time, they truly brushed shoulders with death.

Chapter Fourteen: Even if I become weaker, it doesn't mean you become stronger, right?

The roar of a sports car filled my ears.

Only at this moment did Takibayashi feel as if he were sitting on a soft car seat, listening to the sounds coming from his ears. Only at this moment did he feel as if he were truly alive.

He almost lost his life.

Although he has encountered many difficulties like this in the city so far, this is the first time he has experienced such a desperate situation.

Fortunately, he had an ace by his side whose strength far surpassed that of the zombies.

"...On one side, I—"

"Stop talking nonsense. I didn't save you to listen to your boring small talk."

The first driver skillfully sped along the road in his sports car.

Before getting onto the road, he had already used his own abilities to clear all the zombies off the road with a storm, so there was no need to worry about any zombies suddenly appearing and blocking the road.

The car then fell silent.

After confirming that there were no zombies around, Accelerator parked the car on the side of the road, and even he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

Although he couldn't possibly feel fear, he still felt a little tired.

then.

The girl sitting next to him suddenly threw herself at him.

"--Hello!"

The first one shouted angrily, but then he immediately sensed something was different.

The girl lying on top of him trembled slightly.

"...Thank you, thank you so much, Mr. Yifang..."

The idol-like girl began to sob and hugged Accelerator tightly.

"If it weren't for you, we would have been completely killed by those zombies... Really, there won't be a second chance...!"

The girl seemed to be venting her frustration, her beautiful twin ponytails trembling incessantly.

"I'm so scared, really... I'm so scared that I'll never see Kaito again, never see Meiko again, Luca again, Ren and Rin again... I can't even imagine what the future will be like, I can't even imagine what will happen to me..."

"Thank you so much, Mr. Yifang..."

The girl buried her head and cried in the arms of the first-ranked man.

Sitting in the back, Takibayashi couldn't help but show an embarrassed expression.

"...How boring."

The first one pursed his lips and looked at the girl in his arms again.

"So, are you done yet? You spoiled, crybaby princess."

"Huh? I, I—!!"

The next instant, Hatsune Miku fully realized what she had done.

The girl's face turned completely red, an unimaginable shyness appearing on her pretty face.

"I'm so sorry...!! I really didn't mean to! Uh, um! Waaaaaah!!"

Has anyone ever told you that your situation makes you even more likely to be misunderstood, Miss Idol?

Sitting in the back seat, Takibayashi shook his head helplessly. In any case, everyone survived.

"Thank you so much, Yifang. We were only able to—"

"Don't get me wrong."

However, the situation is different.

The first one in Academy City turned around and said indifferently.

"When did I ever say I saved you for your own sake?"

"Huh? But, but that's exactly how Mr. Accelerator is acting! He's just like a hero..."

"Don't make it sound so grand, young lady. A hero is more than just a simple person, isn't he?"

The first person leaned back in the car seat.

"...A true hero is one who will go to the extreme to save even the enemy, and even after defeating the enemy, will try to arrange and help them recover their lost lives. Tsk."

That's right.

For Accelerator, he doesn't even deserve to be called a hero.

A true hero... should be like that bastard.

That damned powerless one who defeated himself in the experiment.

A guy who can defeat himself, the strongest monster in Academy City, all by himself, and whose only goal is to kill tens of thousands of unrelated clones—that's a true hero.

"I'm just a villain."

The first person looked up and gazed at the gloomy sky outside the car window.

"Whether it's my body, mind, or everything else, I'm completely immersed in darkness, but... there are different categories of villains too."

This is why Accelerator saved them.

It's not because of justice, nor because of so-called heroes.

“Those villains who kill indiscriminately, regardless of whether they are good or bad, who only try to use their ridiculous power for their own benefit and are willing to drag everyone into it, are nothing more than trash than fly excrement.”

“There is a hierarchy between a true evil party and a mere scoundrel.”

"They will not harm the innocent indiscriminately, nor will they involve people who are unrelated to them in their own affairs. Even if they are involved, they will do their utmost to distance themselves from them and sever ties with them... This is what a first-rate villain should do."

"This is what is called the aesthetics of the evil party."