Accompanied by the ear-piercing Aberrant invasion alarm that sounded in an instant, what echoed over the square... was the melodious, weeping sobbing of a young girl.
Within the dark red erosion domain.
Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi looked at the slowly retreating girl, her mental power erupting like a deluge in an instant.
Unconcealed anger emerged on the young girl's originally arrogant and reserved face.
Right before her eyes... right in front of her...
Someone had hurt a person she had already acknowledged, yet she was powerless to do anything about it.
Zzzzt—
Black and red sparks of subtle lightning burst from the "Epiphany Manufacture" headphones on the black-haired girl's ears, and tiny cracks began to spread across the device. The nagging words of the mother hen in the headphones turned into intermittent static.
A touch of astonishment appeared in the eyes of the maiden known as Zero.
It was completely different from the inferior goods worn by that driver before.
The headphones Zero wore were equipment specialized for mental-type Espers.
Theoretically speaking, it could even withstand a full-force strike from an ordinary Third Sequence mental-type Esper.
An ordinary Second Sequence mental-type Esper shouldn't be able to break through the barrier at all.
Yes, 'ordinary'.
Zero looked in astonishment at the angry maiden in front of her. Amidst Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi's mental aura... the girl smelled the scent of the Abyss.
She was already situated at the Edge of Aberration.
Or perhaps—
She had just returned from the Edge of Aberration.
'But how is that possible?'
In the distant, gloomy laboratory.
The woman leaning her hands on the test bench also looked with astonishment at the blue screen in front of her, which was full of snowy static, and at the Aberrant Index that was severely overflowing at the edge of the screen.
She had detected that kind of Aberrant fluctuation before.
About half a month ago, also at Keigunen Private Academy, they had detected that special kind of Aberrant fluctuation.
Even looking through the long river of human history, Nightmare-type Aberrants were the rarest of the rare.
Only a very small number of mental-type Espers, after being corrupted, had the possibility of becoming Nightmare-type Aberrants.
So the woman had a deep impression of that special Aberrant fluctuation.
But it was a pity—
Back then, before they could even go to capture it, that Nightmare-type Aberrant's aura had already been completely annihilated.
Connecting it with Soga Yura's 'hunt' in the Guanzheng District at that time.
They had every reason to believe that the Nightmare-type Aberrant might have just fallen into the Edge of Aberration when they ran into that 'God of Slaughter'.
But looking at it now... the situation seemed completely different from what they had anticipated.
Looking at Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi's angry face on the blue screen, the woman's eyes held only fanaticism.
'She returned from the Edge of Aberration!!!'
'Even though she had clearly already stepped into the Second Sequence, she still successfully returned from the Edge of Aberration!'
The woman keenly perceived the key information within.
The significance was completely different from a special Aberrant transformation like 'Zero's'. The woman felt as if she saw the door to a brave new world opening slowly before her.
The truth of the world was only a step away from her.
'Get her—' Only this one thought remained in the woman's heart.
'No matter what—'
'———Get her.'
—
—
At the entrance of the training hall.
Control of the erosion domain had already been transferred by Zero to Mihou Sakai, who had fallen into Aberration once again.
The reopened dark-golden vertical pupils looked around coldly and inorganically.
The first target of attack was naturally Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi, who was closest to Mihou Sakai.
Creak—
Accompanied by the tooth-aching sound of crystal growth.
The young girl once again drew a slender tachi from the Catastrophe Crystals spreading from her shoulder.
"Ah—!"
She swung the blade, slashing toward Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi.
Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi hurriedly dodged Mihou Sakai's attack with a roll.
But... also because of this roll, Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi's lockdown on Zero was interrupted.
The girl turned and merged into the crowd of evacuees, beginning to flee outward.
Inside the training hall, an Assault Department teacher closest to the entrance had already rushed out.
She blocked the path between Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi and Mihou Sakai.
"Aberrant transformation again?" The woman looked at Mihou Sakai vigilantly.
Mihou Sakai's aura rose continuously from Level.12, and under Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi's rather nervous gaze, it slowly stopped at the peak of Level.20.
Fortunately... she hadn't broken through to the Second Sequence yet.
Although there was already a precedent of herself being saved after stepping into the Second Sequence, still... every time she thought about the process of herself being like tableware before that massive throne... having the Catastrophe Crystals on her body eaten inch by inch by the smiling maiden.
Just recalling it made Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi feel like her will was about to collapse.
She didn't want Mihou Sakai to follow the same disastrous path.
Moreover... Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi couldn't be certain whether the process of Lady Sister Yuzu saving her was an ability unique to Lady Sister Yuzu, or just a coincidence.
"Ms. Akaza!!!" Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi recognized the woman's figure.
She pointed in the direction Zero was fleeing.
"That guy is the culprit who caused Mihou's Aberrant transformation."
"And... she is also an Aberrant."
The woman Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi called Ms. Akaza looked at Zero, who was accelerating her escape, and nodded to indicate she understood. "Then here..."
"Leave this place to me." Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi stood up.
The aura of a Second Sequence mental-type Esper erupted completely.
The teacher with short red hair glanced at Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi, then accelerated and swept toward Zero's direction.
Besides that teacher, two Second Sequence seniors who had sensed the erosion domain and rushed out from the training hall also followed her, chasing after Zero together.
'Aren't there a bit too many Second Sequence Espers in this school!?' The woman typed rapidly on the keyboard, forcibly accessing Keigunen Private Academy's surveillance.
'Forget it, as long as no Third Sequence Esper catches up.'
'Zero!'
'Turn left at the next intersection, turn into the direction of the commercial street.'
However... the doll-like exquisite maiden's footsteps suddenly stopped.
'Zero?' The woman urged anxiously.
"Jinx..." The girl spoke, which was rare for her, and directly turned back to break out toward the direction of those three Second Sequence Espers.
At the intersection ahead.
The Assault Department Head Su Yuzu had seen before, Director Saionji Sagara, was already standing there, unbeknownst to them.
At the training hall entrance—
Because she was unwilling to hurt Mihou Sakai, Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi was rolling wretchedly, dodging Mihou Sakai's attacks with hands and feet bound by hesitation.
Beside her, there was also a Healing-type senior who was constantly manipulating water currents to interfere with Mihou Sakai's attacks.
"She hasn't stepped into the Second Sequence yet, just beat her awake!!!"
"I know, I know." Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi's eyes were shining; she was trying hard to interfere with Mihou Sakai's will.
The endless pitch-black Abyss, the maiden curled up at the bottom of the Abyss... was weeping.
'Damn it...'
Only at times like this did Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi deeply realize the massive gap between herself and Soga Yura.
"Ah——" A crying sound like a whale song.
The Aberrant maiden brandished the black-purple long blade, sweeping away the water currents beside her.
Mihou Sakai's aura approached the Second Sequence step by step.
[Unceasing Song—]
[Resound through eternity.]
[The weeping maiden dwells at the end of darkness.]
________________________________________
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