"Uiharu..."
Saten Ruiko stood protectively in front of Uiharu Kazari, speaking in a low, fearful voice.
'I never expected that my suggestion to take a shortcut would lead to such terrifying trouble,' Saten thought, her hands trembling. 'It seems like they're not just after our wallets... What should we do?'
"I-I am an official Judgment officer...!" Uiharu mustered every ounce of her courage, glaring at the armed delinquents who were laughing loudly as they surrounded them.
Normally, underground delinquents would actively avoid clashing directly with Judgment officers. So why were they so brazenly surrounding them in broad daylight? Were they trying to get violent revenge on Judgment for past arrests?
Uiharu swallowed hard. Although she had seen a lot of crime scenes on her computer screen, she was physically weak and genuinely terrified of this violent situation that she couldn't handle on her own.
"Hahaha! Besides constantly squeaking that you're from Judgment, do you have anything else to scare people with? You're just a useless brat with zero combat ability! You and your little friends used to chase us all over the place, but things are different now!"
A blond-haired delinquent cracked his knuckles and swung a heavy fist directly at Uiharu's face. It was pure, vindictive revenge against the disciplinary committee.
Uiharu and Saten immediately shrank their necks down, tightly shutting their eyes and raising their arms in a desperate attempt to protect their heads from the impact.
But the agonizing pain they were waiting for never came.
"Oh my, oh my. What exactly is going on here? So many grown men cornering two cute little middle school girls. This looks incredibly fun—can I join in too?"
The smooth, familiar voice reached Uiharu and Saten's ears. They immediately opened their eyes and looked toward the alley's entrance.
A high school boy wearing a casual shirt and athletic shorts was strolling over. His hands were tucked lazily into his pockets, and a dark, deeply mocking smirk rested on his face.
"Takahashi-senpai!" Uiharu and Saten exclaimed in unison, sheer delight and relief washing over them.
"Damn it! Why can't I move?! What the hell is going on?!" the blond delinquent suddenly panicked.
All the thugs suddenly realized their bodies had completely frozen in place. They felt an overwhelming, crushing invisible pressure—as if they were instantly encased in solid, fast-drying cement. They couldn't even twitch their necks, but their eyes darted around in absolute terror as they realized who had just walked into the alley.
"Uiharu, Saten. Are you two alright? I noticed that you were in trouble, so I rushed over here," Yuuya said, his mocking smirk shifting into a look of mild concern as he approached the girls.
"We're perfectly fine, Senpai! Thank you so much for stepping in!" Saten quickly ran up to Yuuya, thanking him shyly with her hands clasped behind her back.
'My heart is racing,' Saten thought, looking up at Yuuya with sparkling eyes. 'He realized we were in trouble and rushed straight over to save us... He always seems to show up at the exact right time like a hero.'
'I owe Takahashi-senpai another huge favor.'
"Thank you! Thank you so much, Takahashi-senpai!" Uiharu gave a deep, respectful bow, her previous terror vanishing into thin air now that the Level 5 was standing in front of them.
"It's nothing. But I have to wonder, how did you two end up cornered by this specific group of Skill-Outs?" Yuuya asked, looking at the delinquents who were currently immobilized by his psychic telekinesis.
"Well..." Saten scratched the back of her head awkwardly. "I suggested we take a shortcut through here to save some time, but I really didn't expect to run into this kind of trouble."
"I see. Next time, you really should avoid Academy City's back alleys. It's incredibly easy to run into fatal trouble here," Yuuya advised.
The most dangerous places in Academy City were undoubtedly the unmonitored alleyways. Countless illegal transactions and dark secrets were kept hidden in these shadows, especially the violent activities of the Dark Side factions. If an ordinary student was unlucky enough to stumble upon the wrong deal, they might be treated as a disposable witness and quietly silenced. Saten had already encountered that kind of terrible luck once before.
Although the Dark Side didn't usually assassinate random civilian witnesses unless strictly necessary, the ruthless hounds working directly under the Board of Directors wouldn't let liabilities walk away so easily.
"This is impossible! I'm a Level 3 Esper now! How can I be completely frozen?!" one of the trapped delinquents cried out in terror, trying to force his muscles to move against the psychic grip.
"It's him! The monster from District 7!" another thug shouted, finally recognizing Yuuya's face.
"Looks like my reputation precedes me. But it doesn't matter," Yuuya said dismissively. He casually snapped his fingers.
BAM!
The invisible telekinetic hold violently reversed its vector. All seven delinquents were instantly sent flying backward as if struck by a speeding truck. They crashed heavily into the brick wall at the dead-end of the alley with a sickening thud, crumpling to the ground in a groaning heap.
The underground delinquents in District 7 all knew Yuuya by now. Many of them had accidentally run into him while he was roaming the streets hunting for Treasure Chests. Whenever they saw him walking alone and tried to mug him, he brutally and efficiently cleaned their clocks. As a result, the smarter delinquents now ran away as fast as they could the moment they spotted him.
Uiharu and Saten jumped, startled by the sudden, brutal impact.
"A-Are they...?" Uiharu stammered, immediately terrified that he had just killed seven people in front of her.
"They just fainted and probably broke a few ribs. They're not dead," Yuuya said with a careless shrug. These low-level street thugs weren't even worth the effort of killing.
"..." Uiharu desperately wanted to lecture him about Judgment's strict protocols regarding the excessive use of force, but she honestly had no idea how to properly reprimand an Level 5 who had just saved her life.
"They claimed to be Espers just now... but registered Espers receive monthly stipends and scholarships from the city based on their Level. So why would a Level 3 resort to becoming a street delinquent?" Uiharu wondered aloud, deeply puzzled.
Historically, ninety percent of Skill-Out delinquents were actually Level 0s (those with zero ability). They formed armed gangs to make a living by robbing higher-level students out of pure spite and economic desperation. Judgment officers despised dealing with these gangs because there were simply too many of them, and since they often used guerrilla tactics and fled quickly, Judgment was sometimes left grasping at shadows.
"Are they actually legitimate high-level Espers? No. These delinquents have just suddenly acquired a temporary burst of power, and now they're blindly, arrogantly confident because they think they're finally special," Yuuya explained smoothly. "They even delude themselves into thinking they can openly clash with Anti-Skill now. They are just a bunch of pathetic, powerless guys whose egos inflated the second they got a taste of real power. In the end, their newfound strength is just a fragile pipe dream."
Yuuya knew the psychology perfectly. If a bitter Level 0 who had spent their entire life living in the humiliated shadow of high-level Espers suddenly gained a Level 3 power overnight, they would instantly become infinitely arrogant. They would genuinely believe they were invincible, perhaps even foolishly thinking they could challenge the likes of Accelerator.
"Suddenly gained abilities?" Uiharu and Saten blinked in profound confusion.
"That's right. These guys are just Level 0s who artificially gained temporary powers. I've heard there have been a massive spike in Esper-related crimes across Academy City lately, right?" Yuuya asked with a knowing, amused smile. "A lot of people who were originally low-level, or completely powerless Level 0s, have suddenly manifested strong abilities."
Uiharu's eyes widened in sudden realization. She looked up with a deeply worried expression. "Yes! The violent crime rate has spiked astronomically over the last few days, and almost all the incidents involve unregistered Esper powers! The 177th Branch has been so overwhelmed that all of our holidays and days off have been completely canceled."
She paused, her mind racing as she connected the dots.
'Wait... suddenly gaining abilities out of nowhere?'
Uiharu cautiously glanced up at Yuuya, a seed of deep suspicion taking root in her mind.
In the entirety of Academy City, Uiharu only knew of one single, miraculous anomaly who possessed the reality-breaking capability to bestow powers and anomalous artifacts onto other people.
'Could this massive city-wide crisis... actually be Takahashi-senpai's doing...?'
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Give me powerstones.
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