Chapter 25: First Cry

—After leaving the Sisters in Mikoto’s care, Kamijou and I now stood face-to-face with Accelerator.

He’d clearly learned by now that letting Kamijou Touma get close was a bad idea. So now, Accelerator was focusing entirely on long-range attacks using wind pressure. But even so… this still wasn’t the worst-case scenario.

(…He hasn’t hit plasma levels yet. As long as it’s just wind pressure, my Jagged Edge can still handle it. If I balance defense with turbulence control, I can buy Kamijou enough time to close the distance…!)

Accelerator hadn’t yet gotten fully used to the calculations needed for manipulating airflow. Still, the mind of Academy City’s top-ranked esper already surpassed my own in controlling wind.

If I don’t end this before he adapts and starts compressing air, it’ll be over. Once he brings out that plasma, I won’t be able to stop it. To beat the brain of Academy City’s Number One, normally I’d need help from ten thousand Sisters.

“Kamijou-san!”

“I know! Cover me!!”

The moment I called out, Kamijou took off—like he didn’t need to hear anything else.

“Ugh… I mean, sure, that’s efficient, but you’re way too fast!?”

Matching his move, I deployed my Black-and-White Serrated Blades—Jagged Edge ahead of Accelerator, like a roof shielding against the wind.

(But right before Kamijou makes contact, I’ll have to pull it back. Will Accelerator just stand there and let Kamijou punch him once Jagged Edge is gone? Of course not. And even if he’s using wind right now, it’s not like that’s all he can do. If he touches Jagged Edge, that part’ll get destroyed instantly.)

If I set up branches A through G, I could use Branch A as a barrier against Accelerator. Then if he was about to break through A, I could deploy Branch B inside as the next line of defense… that setup would let me keep shielding against his wind.

And since Accelerator’s ability only manipulates vectors, not persistent constructs, the moment he lets go, Branch A would regenerate.

But Kamijou’s right hand nullifies all supernatural abilities. If he touches Branch A, everything from A to G would vanish in one go. And Jagged Edge can’t remove just part of itself—once a crack forms, it stays until I dismantle the entire thing.

Which means… if Accelerator disrupts Branch A, and I respond by placing Branch B behind it, Kamijou’s advance gains whatever distance lies between the two. His path shortens.

Now, if Accelerator realizes that and starts baiting me into deploying new inner branches—A, then B, then C—and then backs off before fighting Kamijou… then when Jagged Edge gets destroyed, there’ll be nothing left between Kamijou and Accelerator. Just empty space.

And if that happens, it’s obvious what comes next: Accelerator’s counterattack. And with my ability forcibly disabled, I won’t be able to shield Kamijou in time.

(That’s why I needed more time to work out a real plan…!)

Of course, Accelerator’s clearly furious right now. It’s possible he won’t even think about backing off. But betting on the enemy to be irrational? That’s not strategy. That’s just blind optimism.

So I hesitated, turning the question over in my mind—what should I do next?

(…If Kamijou can just get in one punch… one second’s worth of time… that’s all I need.)

This fight had only just begun. Neither of us had taken much damage yet. But Accelerator’s not exactly sturdy. And Kamijou hadn’t taken any hits, so if I could just give him an opening, he could end it in one blow. Even if not, once he mounts Accelerator and holds him down with that right hand, the fight’s over. No more powers.

(The problem is—how do I make that opening?)

There’s no time. Kamijou’s already closing in. Fortunately, Accelerator hasn’t tried to destroy Jagged Edge yet—but that probably means he doesn’t think he needs to. He’s confident that even at this distance, he can take Kamijou out.

(Something… something he can’t reflect.)

I thought about it—but of course, I don’t have anything like that. Accelerator even managed to analyze the supernatural “Dark Matter” like it was nothing.

And those counter-reflection techniques Kazuta Kihara developed? I don’t have the brain or the equipment for that. Kazuta pulled it off because he helped design Accelerator and knew his mental processes inside out. Same with Kuroyoru, who shared his thinking patterns and had the tech to manipulate vectors with machine precision.

Sugitani, that ninja who tried copying Kazuta, only managed a half-baked hit—and in return, he lost the use of his arm.

So that leaves me with just one option.

(…I’ll have to make reflection irrelevant altogether.)

Misaka Imouto once tried messing with Accelerator’s breathing by electrolyzing the air with electricity. If I do something like that, maybe I’ve got a shot.

Not that I’m aiming to mess with the air itself. Accelerator’s controlling gales. Any interference I try will just get blown apart.

Which is why—I’ll aim somewhere else.

(—The ground!!)

I moved.

Kamijou was sprinting, his path dead straight. No hesitation. His job was to get in close and punch Accelerator. Everything else? That was on me. His strides carried a stubborn trust in me—that I’d make it happen.

And I had to respond to that trust.

With renewed resolve, I activated my ability—and extended Branch A even further.

Here was the plan:

I’d stretch the Branch A shield in front of Accelerator until it reached beneath his feet, slicing the ground under him into a mesh of segmented tiles.

Then, the violent winds swirling around him would scoop up the broken chunks. He’d end up unbalancing himself with his own storm. That would stagger him, just for a second—but that second was enough.

Kamijou would only need to land his punch.

And once that punch connected, and he pinned Accelerator down with his right hand, it’d be over. Accelerator wouldn’t be able to do a thing—because before he could react, Jagged Edge would already be upon him.

And so—my plan was carried out. Flawlessly.

"———OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!"

With a thunderous war cry, Kamijou surged forward. Just as his hand was about to touch Jagged Edge, the fragmented earth I’d scattered beneath Accelerator's feet was caught up in his storm. With a violent HYUGAGAGAGAGAGAGA!!, it slammed into my shield and burst apart.

"What the hell—!?"

Accelerator’s shout was almost comical—completely caught off guard. His eyes went wide with confusion, and for just an instant… his calculations faltered.

The storm—his violent, ripping wind—died down for that one precious moment.

Kamijou's right hand punched straight through Jagged Edge in that fleeting lull—

"Shit—! That’s it! Blondie—your power isn't just some pressure field—it's a force field that actually cuts objects—!!"

"…Shut the hell up. Just lie down and go to sleep!!"

GOGGAN!!

Kamijou’s right fist collided clean with Accelerator’s face.

Like a paper puppet yanked off its string, Accelerator’s body twisted unnaturally as he was hurled into the ground—his head slammed down hard, then bounced several times before rolling meters away across the cracked street.

A perfect hit.

He hadn't pinned him down like we’d planned, but that punch alone looked like it could’ve knocked him out cold. Maybe even left permanent damage if it hit just wrong.

For a moment, I froze—genuinely worried.

“…No, wait! Kamijou-san, no! That’s not enough!! You need to hold him down with your right hand—now!!”

That was what set me apart—what let me act faster. Because I knew how things played out in the original timeline.

Accelerator, even after being punched by Kamijou again and again, never truly stayed down. His body might be fragile, sure, but there was something unnatural about how persistent he was. He always got back up.

If Kamijou didn’t follow up immediately, it was over.

Just in case, I started rebuilding Jagged Edge again, positioning it to defend Kamijou from a counterattack if he couldn’t reach Accelerator in time.

And that preparation—turned out to be the only reason we avoided disaster.

BOOM!!!

The wind howled.

A split second earlier and Kamijou would've been thrown into the sky like a rag doll. Even with Jagged Edge shielding him, the blast made it groan under the pressure.

Just wind—and it nearly cracked my ability.

(This… this is what it means to be Academy City’s Number One…!)

My jaw clenched. No—that wasn’t enough to describe what I was feeling.

I was terrified.

Because the wind wasn’t just wind anymore.

It was glowing.

(No. No no no—he’s… he’s generating plasma…!)

Ionized gas—high-energy plasma. Pure destruction incarnate.

Yumetsuki’s power was similar—she could use plasma to cut through anything. But this… this was on a completely different level.

There was no way we could withstand something like this.

I’d tried everything to stop this from happening. In the original timeline, it took ten thousand Sisters working together just to disable this version of Accelerator’s power. It was his ultimate weapon—the godlike force that made him untouchable.

Not even Kamijou’s right hand could counter something like that in time.

Certainly not me—especially not me.

“――Kamijou-san!! We have to retreat! Now!! There’s nothing we can do against that!”

I didn’t hesitate.

Rushing to his side, I called out as urgently as I could. I wasn’t giving up—not even close. But we couldn’t stay here. We needed to survive this phase. Accelerator’s power wasn’t infinite—he had limits. If we could just hold out until the plasma subsided, we’d still have a chance. In fact… after seeing how much damage Kamijou’s punch had done, our odds were probably better than ever.

If we could pull back now, regroup, wait out the storm—we could win.

I believed that. It was a logical, realistic judgment.

No flash, no flair, but a guaranteed victory.

As long as we still had Kamijou Touma—our joker.

As long as we still had him… in one piece.

“……………………No. I can’t.”

And just like that, my plan fell apart.

He shook his head.

“What… why not!? If it’s about the plan, it’s fine!! It doesn’t matter how we beat him! We will win! That’s the point of being the strongest—we just have to stop him! Even if it’s messy, even if it’s cowardly—if we defeat Accelerator here and now, we can shut the experiment down!!”

“…That’s not it. You don’t see it, do you, Reicia?”

Saying that, Kamijou pointed off in a completely different direction.

And there—there she was.

Misaka, fighting against the Sisters. Half of them—five thousand—were already unconscious, lying motionless on the ground without a single visible injury. But that still meant there were just under five thousand left. Another five minutes, and she’d probably be able to take them all down and get out of there.

But the opposite was also true—until those five minutes passed, she wouldn’t be able to move.

…In other words, if we ran away now…

They’d be swallowed by Accelerator’s plasma—erased completely from existence.

“…A…ah…”

“We have to do this. We’re the only ones who can stop him. This isn’t about whether we can or can’t—we have to do it.”

I let Kamijou’s words sink in. Just for a moment. Then I nodded, knowing exactly what I was agreeing to.

“…You say that so easily, Kamijou-san. And what exactly do you expect me to do about the superheated air caused by the plasma? Am I supposed to come up with a way to push through all that and still close the distance to Accelerator?”

“I’m counting on you, Reicia.”

“…Ugh! As if I could say it’s impossible now!!”

I snapped, half out of desperation, and took my stance.

The highest priority was dealing with that plasma. That’s what I told myself. If I could neutralize it, the heat source would disappear, and the surrounding air would cool down rapidly. Accelerator, robbed of his prized plasma, would be left wide open—and then Kamijou could deck him just like he did in the original timeline. A simple plan, really.

(…If only it were that simple…!)

I cursed inwardly, split one of my rifts, and slammed it into the heart of the plasma. If I could divide the mass, I’d disrupt the precisely calculated structure that Accelerator was maintaining. It should fall apart. It should—but—

Bang.

My Jagged Edge—my black-and-white serrated blade that had cut through everything until now—shattered like brittle glass.

My force field collapsed and vanished like it was never there. The plasma didn’t even flicker. Not one millimeter. Accelerator saw it happen, gave a smug snort through his nose—and then broke out into mad laughter.

“Ahahahaha! What’s wrong, Level 0? That’s your big counterattack!? That’s it!? God, that was pathetic! Show me something with a little bite!! If this is all you’ve got, you’re not even close—you’re not even remotely close, you worthless insects!!”

But I didn’t give up.

I couldn’t give up.

Everything rested on me—how could I possibly walk away now?

One strike. Two, three, four—five, six, seven, eight.

I slashed again and again with my rifts, striking straight into the plasma. But every time, the result was the same. The moment my rift made contact, it was destroyed. Useless.

“…Tch…!!”

Frustrated beyond belief, I switched tactics. I activated the other function of Jagged Edge—one I’d barely used before. A storm. I unleashed all eight rifts at once, controlling the air currents to generate a violent gale.

But—

“Th-this… still isn’t…”

The plasma trembled—barely. That was all. And Accelerator? He didn’t even flinch. He adjusted for the airflow on the fly and maintained perfect control like it was nothing.

“——!!”

I was out of options. Cornered. And in that moment, I made a decision.

A method I’d been avoiding, consciously or not.

A direct attack on Accelerator himself.

Right now, he was calculating the airflow across the entire city. That had to be an insane amount of computation. Back when he was purging that virus from Last Order—his reflection ability had shut down, if only for a moment. That was how he’d gotten hurt.

So it had to be real.

I’d also thought about attacking the ground beneath his feet again, like last time—but he’d probably learned his lesson. If he was levitating using air currents, collapsing the footing would be useless.

If I was going to try anything, it’d have to be something that inflicted pain—enough pain to interrupt his calculations.

(…Am I really going to use this power… on a person?)

Up until now, I’d only ever used it with the unspoken assumption it wouldn’t hit anyone—or that I was targeting objects, not people.

But here, now—unless I was willing to injure him, just enough to stop him—we’d all be wiped out. Misaka. The Sisters. Even innocent bystanders if they were unlucky enough to be nearby.

(…I have no choice!)

No permanent damage. Just enough pain to break his focus.

I readied my ability with absolute precision, down to the last decimal point.

“…Huh? Did you… just try something?”

But it was no use. The moment my attack reached him, it was nullified. Reflected like it was nothing.

The only reason it didn’t come flying back at me was because I’d launched it from underneath his feet. Lucky me.

That’s when it finally hit me.

Back when he was trying to save Last Order, Accelerator had been willing to bend his very identity to make it happen. For him, that was a once-in-a-lifetime situation. There was no room for mistakes—he couldn’t afford even a millimeter of error.

But now? This was nothing to him. Just a test run. A casual flex to see how far his power could go.

One situation demanded everything he had.

The other? He was just playing around.

And the difference in pressure between those two moments… was night and day.

"…Well, well, what’s this? Done already, Blondie? Challenge Time’s over, huh? Guess it’s our turn now!! Here comes a question from the reigning champ—let’s kick it off with a Level 1, yeah!?"

With a slash in return, WHOOOSH!!—a storm roared into existence.

It happened just after I’d unleashed my gust. Whether out of confidence or calculation, I’d crafted the wind with the precision to launch a full-grown person clean off their feet. A perfectly engineered squall, now barreling toward the pair.

The only reason they managed to move in time was thanks to me.

"Kamijou-san!! Watch out!!"

I summoned what remained of my clarity, fully aware that Kamijou was the only one with a meaningful way to counter the enemy. If he went down here, we’d have nothing left. That couldn’t be allowed to happen.

So I shoved Kamijou aside—straight into the line of the storm myself—and took the brunt of it head-on.

"Reicia!?"

"Hyahahahahahahahahaha!! That pain-in-the-ass tank's outta commission! Now this is what I’m talkin’ about!! All that’s left is some weird-lookin’ no-power loser!! Sorry, but there ain’t no continues in this game—so lie there like the trash you are and take a nap!!"

Accelerator’s words rang true.

My powers hadn’t been sealed. But the violent winds had sent me flying over a dozen meters, bouncing me across the ground like a ragdoll. My physical state had clearly deteriorated. At this rate, even crawling away on my own would be a struggle.

(…Again… Is it happening again…?)

The blinding pain blurred my mind—and with it, came the creeping whisper of defeat.

(Just like back then… Even though I did everything I could… is it still not enough…?)

It had happened before. I’d done my best. I’d acted with everything I had, taken the most logical steps. That storm—back then—should have worked. Should have saved someone. But it hadn’t.

And now it was happening again.

This time, my control over the storm had improved. I’d deployed every possible branching vector I could access, launching a tempest dozens of times stronger than before. A force that rivaled even the all-out power of a proper Level 4 esper.

And still, it wasn’t enough. I hadn’t even scratched Accelerator—the Number One in Academy City. Not even chipped his fangs.

Was this just another failure… like before?

"…Like hell I’m giving up now."

In that instant, strength surged back into my broken frame—dragged back through sheer force of will.

I refused to let it happen again. I’d never forgive myself for standing by and watching another friend die right in front of me.

Fueled by that single thought, I tried to force power into my useless legs. I collapsed again, pitifully, unable to hold myself up.

But even so—my face stayed forward. My arm extended. My fingers pointed toward my enemy. And despite the pain, I showed my intent to use my power again.

Even as my vision swam, I clung to one thing:

…I will not give up.

—That’s more like it.

A girl’s voice rang out in my mind, cheerful and warm.

“…?”

—You’ve come this far, haven’t you?

—Your journey’s been riddled with failure. You always stumbled somewhere along the way. Never once pulled off a perfect win.

—But even so, you never stopped moving forward. That’s why you found happiness. That’s how you repaired things with those girls.

—Back when I was the one who gave up and ran from reality… you showed me there was something worth hoping for.

—You showed me your best side. Made me believe life wasn’t so hopeless after all.

"…Giving up after one or two setbacks… that’s not like you at all, is it?"

—Failures don’t matter.

—That’s what makes you strong.

…And at some point, I was standing again.

Wearing a fearless—no, almost sarcastic—smile, I glared straight at Accelerator.

To be honest, this wasn’t the kind of opponent I could overcome with spirit alone.

The world is full of cruel laws, and in the face of them, something like “never giving up” might just be a childish bluff.

But even so—children who know nothing of how the world works can still think this:

『――――Even so.』

Even that kind of bluff, if I keep holding onto it long enough, might just create a small bug in those so-called cruel laws.

Just like that someone—whoever they were—who called out to me when all I did was sulk and shut myself away.

As if speaking to someone who wasn’t here, I let the words flow. Gently… but with strength.

『If your power still can’t reach this reality…』

A power far beyond normal welled up in my fist. I wore a wild expression unbefitting any proper young lady, and with absolute clarity—as if declaring war on the world. Or perhaps, like I was letting out my first cry all over again.

I made my declaration, unshaken and proud.

『…………Then this time, together. I, Reicia=Blackguard…………will help see your illusion through to the end.』