One-way traffic

Hatsune Miku and she looked around in astonishment.

According to Frenda's memory, this place should have been a familiar guest room about an hour ago, so it's impossible for it to have turned into such a horrible state in such a short time.

If we could imagine it, the only possible outcome would be an attack.

"It's 'School'..."

After considering countless possibilities, Frenda could only come to this conclusion.

"That second one must have used some means to find our location and then launched a direct attack here...!"

"Is that the guy?"

Hatsune Miku recalled Kakine Teitoku, the man she had fought before.

The opponent's strength gave her a sense of déjà vu, like facing Accelerator, but the sense of oppression was completely different, like a virtual hell.

If a powerful being attacked this place, it would indeed cause this eerie scene.

But there are other areas that need even more attention.

"Frenda! Where are your companions?"

"Ah...yes, right! How are Mugino and the others—?"

Frenda's eyes widened as she thought of her companions returning here to rest after the event.

Could it be that the second one...—

"...Really, it took me so long to find it."

pat.

Footsteps came from a room to the side.

The two couldn't help but look over there. From the dark, gloomy room that had been blown to pieces, a figure emerged.

A tall woman wearing a brown coat and with long brown hair.

"Mugino...?"

Frenda couldn't help but speak up.

That was Mugino Shizuri, a member of the same organization as her, and the fourth-ranked Level 5 Level 5 esper in Academy City.

In other words, that was her companion.

"Thank goodness! Are you alright?!"

"Ah...of course it's fine, after all, I'm fourth."

Mugino Shizuri raised her head, her face obscured by the shadows.

Even so, Frenda still ran straight over.

"I'm so worried about you all! How are the others? What about Kinuhata? And how are Takitsubo and the others?"

With a worried and anxious expression, Frenda hurriedly walked towards the other person, without the slightest bit of vigilance.

"No, that's not right!"

At that moment, Hatsune Miku, who was standing behind, couldn't help but widen her eyes.

"Don't go near her, Frenda!"

But it's too late.

When Frenda got closer to the front, she realized that something was wrong with her surroundings.

—In the darkness before us, several shimmering green lights were shining.

Bang——! ! !

The electron beam, traveling at the speed of light in a straight line, pierced through Frenda's body in one go.

"…Eh?"

The blonde girl's expression froze completely.

However, her body, pierced by the laser, shattered like a lens; it was not a human body at all.

Bang! Under these circumstances, Hatsune Miku had somehow changed into a blue, star-like outfit, surrounded by a petite white snow rabbit, while Frenda's body appeared behind her like a phantom.

"That was close!!"

It still uses the same ability as before, the Lepus, to create phantom-like clones.

The moment Hatsune Miku realized something was wrong, she took this action, creating Frenda's Stand before Mugino Shizuri could act, and switching their positions.

Otherwise, a shot fired at the speed of light would take Frenda's life in an instant, a moment that even Hatsune Miku would absolutely not be able to keep up with.

The blonde girl glanced at the scattered lenses on the ground. Mugino Shizuri stepped out of the shadows and fixed his cheetah-like gaze on her.

pat.

The blonde girl simply collapsed onto the floor.

"Why? Why did you attack me?!"

"Huh? Why? How dare you ask me that?"

Mugino Shizuri, the fourth-ranked student in Academy City, laughed with a slightly ferocious expression.

"How do you think that bastard from 'School' found this place?"

"Miss Traitor."

The four words were coldly etched into Frenda's heart.

In that instant, she felt Mugino Shizuri's gaze become like the infrared beam of a sniper rifle, cold and devoid of emotion, as if she could kill her in an instant if necessary—no, in fact, she had already done so.

If Hatsune Miku hadn't saved him just now, he would have been completely reduced to dust by that attack.

Then, she easily understood what the current situation was.

"You...you don't actually think I leaked the information to the second person, do you?"

"Oh? You revealed who interrogated you so easily. It seems that's really the case."

"No, no, Mugino! It wasn't me! I didn't say anything—!"

"'I didn't say anything, so please let me go'—do you really think such words have any meaning?"

She stared at him intently, her eyes wide.

"What's done is done, and you've already been caught by those guys from 'School,' so you expect me to believe you now?"

"Hey, aren't you taking yourself way too seriously? Little girl, you think you can pull these kinds of tricks just because I'm not watching you? Haha! Interesting, so interesting! This is really the first time I've ever encountered something like this!"

Tap, Mugino Shizuri, wearing a brown coat, easily took a step forward.

An unimaginable sense of oppression instantly enveloped Frenda.

Despite Hatsune Miku being right in front of her, she still felt an oppressive force coming straight at her, as if it were about to crush her entire being.

"Please don't do this...aren't you Frenda's companion?"

"what?"

"If that's the case, we should at least believe what she says; we shouldn't be so heartless!"

Mugino Shizuri stopped in his tracks.

She fixed her extremely dangerous gaze on Hatsune Miku.

"companion?"

At that moment, an even funnier expression appeared on her face.

"Hahahaha!! Hey, did you hear that, Frenda? This guy actually said something about companions! Hahaha!"

"...!"

A chill ran through my entire body.

“Little girl of light, in this dark world, there is only exploitation and being exploited. Our so-called ‘companionship’ is nothing more than being in the same dark organization… Ah, that’s it.”

Mugino Shizuri spoke to them, word by word.

"If they die, we can have as many as we want. If it's just about numbers, it doesn't matter. As long as we can form enough people with abilities, we can kill off the ones who don't like us. So-called comrades are just like that, as many substitutes as we want."

"That's so unfair... Frenda was so worried about you!"

"Excuse me, I didn't know where you came from, you little brat."

Thump! She stomped hard on the wood chips beside her, crushing them.

"But let me tell you, stop fucking putting on airs. I'm looking for that little punk behind you. If you keep spouting nonsense, I don't mind burning you down too, you bitch!"

The temperature of the air has changed.

Around Mugino Shizuri, a certain condensed light began to materialize into a real sphere of light, which then burst forth towards the two of them!

"Follow me quickly!"

"Just die already!!!"

boom--! ! !

A stream of white and green light burst forth in one breath, effortlessly piercing through everything around it.

The entire building was torn apart by the overwhelming sweeping attack. The walls were pierced, and the sweeping attack split the building in two, ruthlessly breaking the pillars supporting the upper half of the building.

Hatsune Miku quickly grabbed Frenda and leaped out of the window.

Snap! The entire upper half of the building was burned to the ground.

But that's not the end.

"Haha! Run as fast as you want! Frenda, run with your new best friend, it doesn't matter if you run out of Academy City!"

The monstrous laughter still lingered.

"Let's see where you can run to. No matter how many of you trash come, I can kill you all. I can wipe you out with a flick of my finger!"

The sound made Frenda tremble.

"Don't panic, Frenda!"

Hatsune Miku gripped her shoulders tightly, looking at her with an urgent expression.

"Let's leave here for now. Staying here will only harm innocent people."

"I...I understand...!"

"Don't even think about running away!"

A monstrous voice came from behind, followed by countless bursts of dazzling light.

It is Shizuri Mugino's superpower, Atomic Collapse.

Hatsune Miku gritted her teeth, gripped Frenda's hand tightly, and used the power of the stars to quickly escape from this place.

Chapter 195 Atomic Collapse

Even within the same third school district, different people are walking on the same street.

Hamami Shiage, Takitsubo Rigo.

One is a Level 0 user with no abilities, and the other is a Level 4 user with great abilities.

However, Takitsubo Rigo, who is a stronger ability user, was being supported by Hamazura Shiage. He looked disheveled and clearly had just returned from a battlefield-like area.

"Bin, noodle..."

Beside him, a girl with black hair looked at him.

It was an expression of extreme weakness, yet one that forced a smile.

"I'm fine... so Hamazura doesn't need to worry about me so much..."

"... "

How could it be okay?

Hamazura Shiage had just returned from a battle with the Anbu "School," though it was called a battle, in reality all the enemies on the other side ignored his intentions.

To them, Hamazura Shiage and Takitsubo Rigo were nothing more than weaklings, not even real enemies.