There's not a lot to say about chapter 10. Please go vote on my poll!
Honestly, Accelerator wasn't sure where the entire plan went wrong. Maybe it was due to the fact that there were barely any magicians there. Maybe it was due to the fact that the bodies of dead enemy magicians littered the entire front of the base, bloody runes drawn on their clothing and bare skin. Maybe it was due to the fact that the supposed leader of the enemy base was tied to a chair in his own base, twitching and mumbling words no one understood.
But he did know one thing: if they got out of the entire ordeal alive, he was definitely killing Ryuuichi.
~One Hour Earlier~
"Just make sure she's asleep and won't sneak out after us," Accelerator said to Misaki. "Don't try reading her mind or anything."
"Got it." Misaki looked down at the sleeping Last Order. "You really do care for her, don't you?"
"What's it to you?" Accelerator asked defensively.
"Nothing. I doubt Mikoto would be able to understand, though. Last night, the two clones told us everything about the project. I doubt she views you as anything else but a murderer."
"Huh, ironic. Considering she's also a killer."
"I guess. But I suspect she's also comparing you to Satou-kun. She was never the same when they got captured. When she looks at you, she's probably thinking about the Satou-kun that could have accepted the invitation to participate in the Sisters Project."
Accelerator rolled his eyes. "I'm not him, so why the hell is she comparing me to him? We're completely different."
"You two are the same person, even though you're from different dimensions."
"Whatever." Accelerator's hand reached out hesitantly and patted Last Order's head once, before he turned and walked towards the door. "Send a spy out if we're not back in 2 hours. I'm not wearing the damn crest. Sixth told the others not to as well."
"Smart move," Misaki said. "Hurry and go along. I'll keep watch on Last Order."
Accelerator strode out the door, but Misaki could have sworn she heard a faint "Thank you" from the white-haired boy.
~Ruins of the Windowless Building~
"Is everyone accounted for?" Aihana called out.
"As far as I can see, yes," Mikoto replied. "Plan A is our current strategy. If that goes wrong, Plan B is Accelerator's trump card."
It had taken a while for the Level Fours and the magicians to get used to Accelerator and Misaka Worst, the former due to his appearance and the latter due to her similarities with the third-ranked level 5. But with one death glare from the first-ranked esper, everyone had looked away, embarrassed.
The said boy turned his head to face Aihana and Mikoto. "What's Plan C?"
"We die," the blue-haired boy said, shrugging. "Or get captured."
"You seem way too nonchalant," Mikoto said.
"Is there any reason to freak out? Anyways, move out, everyone. We capture this base, kill anyone who resists, and get back home."
Everyone formed their small groups, and spread out, taking different routes to the base. Accelerator's group of 3 took up the front, Aihana's group and Mikoto's group flanking his. The magicians had taken a shorter, but more dangerous, route.
The trip from the Windowless Building to the magicians' base was 5 minutes. No one said a single word.
When they were 100 metres away, Mikoto spoke. "We're almost there...wait, what?" Mikoto sounded confused. "Where's Oriana and the others?"
"Back here," a voice called. "Don't go any closer to the base."
Mikoto led the way to the source of the voice, where all the magicians were. They all looked nervous and apprehensive.
"What's the meaning of this, Oriana?"
"That's what I want to know," a wavy-haired woman replied. "There aren't any barriers surrounding the base. The entire place looks deserted. I told you guys to not get any closer since this entire thing might be a trap."
"Didn't you guyssay there was an increase in mana levels over the past few days?"
"It cut off the moment we headed here."
Accelerator stepped forward. "Anyone got a pair of binoculars?"
Without a word, Musujime teleported one into his hands. Accelerator jumped onto a building using his ability, zeroing in on the base. "Looks like someone beat us to the punch."
"What do you see?"
"Dead bodies surrounding the base. Wait, there's more..." Accelerator narrowed his eyes. "I see blood all over them. Not randomly as well. I can't identify it, but I see runes." He jumped back down, tossing the binoculars back to Musujime.
"What do we do now?"
"I'm going to see what the hell's going on in there."
"It's definitely a trap," Mikoto said.
"Screw that. I wanted a fight."
"If you die, you can't blame anyone."
"Shut up, I know that. Worst, you're staying behind."
"What?!" Before Worst could protest, Accelerator had already jumped onto a building, flying towards the base.
"Dammit. He's too reckless." Mikoto gritted her teeth. "Aihana. Musujime. Go after him."
"Fine," Aihana sighed. "Musujime, teleport us to the base?"
The girl put a hand on his shoulder, and they disappeared.
~Magician Base~
Accelerator used his ability to hover above the base, noting the places where the corpses of the dead magicians were. I don't know a lot about magic, but the whole arrangement looks like a circle with stuff inside it. This is definitely a trap. But who did it? And why? There shouldn't be any other oppositions to the Magic Side, and I doubt they'd turn on their own. The old geezer said he wouldn't be in this area, so he couldn't have done this. Unless...A cold feeling gripped Accelerator's heart. There's a possibility...
"Accelerator," a voice called out below him. The white-haired boy turned his head to see Aihana and Musujime on the ground beside the building he was on.
"What the hell are you doing here?"
"Mikoto sent us after you."
Accelerator scoffed. "She actually cares? I never knew."
"More like she doesn't want to lose a strong esper. Have you figured anything out?"
"Either there's an information leak and this is a trap, or this is something else entirely. I'm going in."
"I'm coming with you," Aihana said firmly. "You might need backup. Musujime, can you go back to Mikoto and the others and tell them what's going on?"
The girl nodded and teleported away, looking almost relieved.
"Why didn't you leave?" Accelerator asked bluntly as he jumped to the ground.
"I want to see what's going on with my own eyes. Plus, you actually do need some backup," Aihana answered.
"No, I don't." Accelerator replied, before strolling up to the entrance of the base. "Are you going to create a ball of water or something for a weapon?"
"You underestimate me," Aihana retorted. "I can convert all the water vapour in the air into ice spikes in a split second if I wanted to. I don't need a physical manifestation of my ability to fight. Besides—" Aihana's hand lightly touched the handgun holstered at his side—"I don't have to rely on my ability all the time."
"You know, if we ever get back to our own world, I'm going to tell the idiot scientists to re-rank us according to power."
"I'd rather remain the mysterious sixth-ranked esper who nobody knows. Anyways, are we going in?"
Without a word, Accelerator stomped his foot on the ground, sending a wave of destruction towards the doors. The building shook, and the doors exploded outwards, showering the two with splinters and dust. The result left a black, gaping hole where the doors originally were.
"Well? Are we going in?"
"What about the dead bodies?"
"Don't move them," Accelerator said seriously. "They may be catalysts for another trap."
Aihana nodded, following Accelerator into the darkened interior of the enemy base.
~Inside~
"I can't see a damn thing," Aihana complained. "Are you even sure you know where you're going?"
"Just a hunch," Accelerator replied laconically before turning into another corridor. Despite the hydrokinetic's complaints, the hallways were lit dimly with torches. "I know this place from my universe. The magicians didn't change the interior at all." He frowned at the torches. "These magicians really are old-fashioned. Seriously? Fire?"
"Magicians have a certain...ah, what's the word...aversion to technology."
"Tch. Their loss, then."
"Not really. Compared to esper abilities, magic can do a whole lot more."
"No wonder the old man likes mixing magic and tech together."
"Oh, he does that? That's cool."
"Whatever," Accelerator said dismissively. "Anyways, get ready. We've reached one of the former experimental labs."
"Open the doors, then."
Accelerator kicked the door open...
...only to reveal more blood-spattered bodies.
"I did not need to see that," Aihana groaned. "I'm out of here."
"I didn't know you were that much of a girl when it comes to blood."
"I've done worse. But seriously...never mind."
"Tch." Accelerator turned away and walked down another, darker corridor. He paused briefly when he saw the blood-spattered walls. "What happened to this place?"
"Two possibilities, I think. One, it's a trap. Two, it might be Ryuuichi."
"Three, there's a third side. The old man said he wouldn't be in this area, so the second theory's out."
"No way...a third side?"
"It's always a possibility," Accelerator replied with a shrug, but deep down, he was feeling slightly uneasy. "I wonder if the lead magician of this base is alive."
"Leave that up to me," Aihana said. He closed his eyes, concentrating, before walking ahead and stopping at a plain-looking wooden door. "A live person's here."
"What exactly did you do?"
"With all this blood around, the dead magicians' bodies only contain around 50% water. Normal human bodies have around 70%. I can sense the water levels in a person's body and then tell whether they're alive or not. Right now, there are only three people alive in this base: you, me, and one person behind this door, who is most likely the leader."
"Lead the way, then."
"You're not going to lead?"
Accelerator shook his head, muttering something under his breath. Aihana shrugged and opened the door.
In the middle of the room, there was a man tied to a chair. The man had grey hair that might have been blond a long time ago, with torn, ragged clothes. His head was down, making it impossible to see his face. A circle drawn in blood surrounded him, and the man himself was twitching sporadically and muttering unintelligible words over and over.
"So this is Nicholas Geminus? I'll bet you 10000 yen that he lost his mind," Aihana said bluntly.
"Not going to take you up on that one." Accelerator stalked into the room, making his way straight towards the person. He yanked the man's collar back, letting the two see the blond's pale, drawn face and huge, dilated pupils. The man didn't even seem to notice, and continued muttering. Two identical slashes on either side of his face wept blood that continuously dripped onto the ground. "So what should we do with him?"
"I don't know. Take him back to the base?"
"Now that's a trap. I've fought magicians before. Who knows if they cursed this place to explode once we get this bastard of here?"
"That would explain the magic circles. But we have to take a chance, don't we?" Aihana pulled out a switchblade and severed the ropes binding the mindless man to the chair. "Think you can carry him?"
"Hell no." To the esper's surprise, Accelerator's voice sounded harsher than usual. "Something's going to happen, and I don't plan on dragging a madman back to the base while it happens."
"Shield me if something blows up, okay? My ability can create a shield, but I doubt it'd be that effective."
"Just hurry up," Accelerator said. "And knock him out while you're at it."
"Alright, alright." Aihana pressed his finger on the man's neck, and he stopped muttering, eyes rolling up to the back to his head. The blue-haired esper caught him before he could slump to the ground, and started walking out of the room, dragging the man by the collar of his shirt. Accelerator followed, his eyes scanning the magic circle for any changes.
Just as they left the room, the building exploded.
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Aihana had been bracing himself for searing pain or a sense of weightlessness as the building exploded. Instead, he felt something wrap around him, and he cautiously opened his eyes to a white landscape in front of him. The white landscape suddenly jerked and fell away, and the esper realized that something had shielded him. Looking to his side, his mouth gaped open in shock. "Ac...celerator?"
In Accelerator's place, hovered a being with a halo above his head, and large, white wings. The being looked at him, and Aihana saw red eyes that would have been expressionless if not for the traces of annoyance that were in them. "Tch," the figure grumbled. "Should've known this would happen."
Aihana fell back in shock, dropping the unconscious magician onto the ground. "Y-you're an angel?! That's your trump card?!"
"There's no time to explain. Look below you."
Aihana looked down, and saw the ruined building. Looking closer, his heart filled with dread as he saw the dead bodies of the magicians jerkily moving, standing up and opening their eyes to reveal blank whites. "Necromancy..." he whispered in horrified awe.
"With that explosion, the others are definitely going to come and check it out. I'm going to have a little fun while I wait." Accelerator's sadistic expression told Aihana that this was no regular angel. "If you don't hurry, I'll leave you behind."
"At least get me to the building before you decide to ditch me."
A strong gust of wind propelled the blue-haired boy to the ruined building and dropped him ungracefully to the ground. Grumbling under his breath, Aihana closed his eyes as the undead magicians approached...and were literally torn to pieces as millions of razor-sharp ice spikes ripped through their bodies. He opened his eyes to see mangled blood and flesh everywhere. He sighed. "This wasn't as fun as I thought it would be," he remarked to no one. "I wonder how Accelerator's doing."
Another explosion and crazed laughter answered his question. The boy sighed. "Well, I guess I'll go back to Mikoto and the others. I doubt the angel-Accelerator will leave me alive if I get mixed up among the dead magicians."
A noise behind him made him glance briefly behind his shoulder, and he saw the mangled pieces of flesh slowly knit themselves back into bodies. With a guttural roar, the undead rushed towards the sixth-ranked Level 5, surrounding him on all sides. The esper cursed. "This is bad."
EXTRAS (Preview for Chapter 11)
Mikoto: "That's your trump card?!"
Worst: "Misaka should've known Tou-san would go crazy."
Oriana: "How are we going to handle the rest of the magicians?"
Misaki: "With that kind of power, we should be able to take Tokyo back in less than a week."
Accelerator: "Old man, I'm going to kill you."