Hello, everyone! After Mikoto's battle against Salome the last chapter, here we'll see what happens next regarding the Kamisato Faction.

Rekuta: Yeah, Mikoto didn't go quite as crazy as in canon, but she has still been through some trauma with the High Priest, so her mental state isn't currently the best. I'm sorry about your illness, I hope you're feeling better now.

dragonghoul9707: It was a bit of a stereotype, indeed. Mikoto is going through a tough time, but in this case, she at least has Touma to support her.

xellos540: Touma is telling Mikoto about Kamisato, so she'll be more informed here. Different colors and numbers are good ways to distinguish them. Kamisato's power is still pretty OP, since almost everyone has conflicting desires. It's interesting to think about how he got into the city, maybe Aleister was involved. Creating webpages can be done with some HTML and other code, so Mikoto should be able to do it pretty easily. I don't know if the Sisters would wear the shorts like Mikoto does, but they could wear them as regular shorts. A Misaka Sister cosplay convention would be pretty fun! 10 thousand probably isn't that crazy high of a number, since businesses might buy in bulk. Though it's definitely unusual for an individual buyer. Unfortunately, I don't think politicians in Academy City would be able to do more good than evil, even if they wanted to. Hamazura isn't the closest ally of Touma, but he is still an ally. Salome thought he was a much worse target than Mikoto, though. It's good that Mikoto can at least understand the magic stuff a little here. Yeah, the other Kamisato girls don't have the best view of Salome, though they're all allies at the end of the day. Touma will definitely try to help out Mikoto any way he can, but it is still something she'll have to figure out for herself.

Adam Harith: Yeah, that was a pretty emotional chapter. I hope you continue to enjoy the rest of the story.

The following morning, Touma left Index and Othinus at home and began making his way to his temporary school. Since he was not in the habit of walking there, he was a little worried that he might not make it in time.

A few minutes after he started his journey, he noticed his girlfriend walking along the same path, towards her school. Touma broke into a grin upon seeing her, and quickly approached her, exclaiming, "Good morning, Biri-Biri!"

Mikoto looked up, a little surprised to run into her boyfriend here. She smiled back and returned his greeting, "Good morning, Touma."

When Touma looked more closely at her face, he could tell that something was up with her. Wanting to make sure she was okay, he asked, "Hey, did something happen?"

The girl had expected him to see through her, so in response, she let out a frustrated sigh. She then looked up at her boyfriend and told him, "Oh yes, something did happen. Apparently that Kamisato guy has a mass murderer as a little sister, and she picked a fight with me last night."

A chill ran down Touma's spin as he heard this. He frowned and immediately questioned, "What? Did you say a mass murderer? Are you alright, Mikoto?" When the two of them had been together the previous day, Mikoto had told him to be careful about Kamisato attacking him again, but he hadn't considered the possibility that one of Kamisato's allies would go after his girlfriend.

Mikoto closed one of her eyes and answered, "I'm fine, don't worry. It's not like she's the first mass murderer I've fought against. She was a magician named Salome, and she had the annoying ability to copy any weapon she destroys, including my iron sand sword. I was able to hold her off and destroy the stash of weapons she was carrying, but for some reason, my electricity didn't damage her body. And just after that, that Claire girl you mentioned yesterday came in to stop our fight, and the two of them started fighting each other instead." She was somewhat downplaying how much danger she had been in, but she didn't want to worry her boyfriend, since she had ended up okay.

Touma remembered how Claire had played a major role in saving Patricia Birdway, which had made her more memorable than most of the Kamisato Faction. He muttered, "I see. Based on that, it seems like she wasn't necessarily acting on Kamisato's orders?"

Mikoto nodded and replied, "Yeah, it certainly seemed to me like she was acting on her own, I think she and Claire were arguing about that."

At this point, Mikoto began walking again, so Touma followed along with her. He wasn't quite sure what to say next, so he silently grabbed onto her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze, so that they could continue walking together.

Mikoto smiled at the gesture, and kissed him on the cheek. She really appreciated how he was trying to make her feel better. She was still feeling a little conflicted about the fight the previous night, and because of that, she mused, "Hmm, maybe I should go to my school office and change my PE elective."

Touma tilted his head in confusion and asked, "Huh? Why?" He knew that she had enrolled in a standard PE course, but apparently she was considering switching to one of Tokiwadai's more specialized classes.

She replied, "I could take a martial arts class like aikido, or a self-defense class. Maybe fencing to improve my skills with my iron sand sword. Or if I want to focus on my railgun, maybe sharpshooting or archery."

The motivations behind her wanting to switch electives was now abundantly clear to Touma. Perhaps her fight against Salome had not been quite as smooth as she'd let on, but the main impetus was likely the fight against the High Priest. Either way, Mikoto felt that her combat skills were in need of improvement, and wanted to take any opportunity to enhance them.

Touma tried to reassure her, saying, "Hey, you know you don't need to be so hard on yourself, right? I mean, there's nothing wrong with improving your skills, but you're one of the strongest people I know, Mikoto. I wish you wouldn't think of yourself so badly."

Mikoto knew that he was right, but she couldn't quell the anxiety in her chest. She let out a depressed sigh and quietly said, "I know, but it's really hard."

The boy gazed at her with a sympathetic expression. She had told him that this was an issue she would need to deal with personally, and he knew that it could be difficult to get rid of those kinds of self-doubting feelings. So he wrapped his arms around the girl and pulled her into a hug, using one hand to stroke her hair, and said, "It'll be okay, Biri-Biri."

Mikoto closed her eyes and leaned into his chest, enjoying his comforting embrace. The couple stayed like that for a bit. Once they separated and began walking again, Mikoto asked, "So, you're still going to school with Kamisato, right?"

Touma groaned and answered, "Yep. And with my luck, I'll probably get into another spat with him."

The girl frowned and said, "Remember to be careful, okay? He attacked you already, and it's very likely he'll do it again."

The boy chuckled and retorted, "Fine, but you should watch out for him and Salome too, then." Despite his casual tone, he was worried about his girlfriend being under threat from a proud mass murderer.

Mikoto nodded and said, "Sure. I'll contact you if I get in trouble, and you better do the same for me."

Touma smiled at her and agreed, "Okay, you got a deal." She had been regretful about not being able to help him against Kamisato in their initial encounter, and he figured it would be a good idea to have her by his side in any subsequent fight.

By that point, it was time for the two of them to head off to their respective schools, so they said goodbye to each other and headed on their separate paths.

In the end, Touma was actually able to get to the new school a little early, since it was a shorter distance away from his dorm. He caught sight of the student council president who he had met the previous day, and followed her to the dumpster.

He soon learned that she was sneaking off to eat breakfast. This was pretty weird behavior on her part, but Touma's attention was quickly drawn to something else. Kamisato had just entered the school grounds through the back gate.

The instant Touma saw the other boy, he shouted, "Hey, Kamisato, do you know something about-"

Touma was about to ask him about Salome and her picking a fight with Mikoto, but Kamisato interrupted him, exclaiming, "Salome is here! How large is the Kamijou Faction? Being in Academy City won't save them. I don't know how many she's gone after all ready, but you should contact everyone you can. I want to avoid any unnecessary bloodshed."

Touma was surprised to hear this, having expected Kamisato to play dumb. However, based on how frantic Kamisato was acting, it seemed that he and Mikoto had been right in deducing that Salome had acted on her own.

He narrowed his eyes and replied, "Hold on, who exactly is Salome?" Mikoto had said that she was Kamisato's sister, but Touma was interested in getting more information.

Kamisato began explaining, "You could say she's a member of the Kamisato Faction. She's also my little sister, though she's not blood-related." He let out an exasperated sigh and continued, "She's completely out of control, though. No matter what I say or how many people try to stop her, she'll spread endless destruction. That's why we kept her unconscious using electrodes to suppress her brain, but it seems those girls who were guarding her messed up and let her escape."

This lined up pretty well with Mikoto's account of Salome. However, Touma still questioned, "Are you sure? If she's part of the Kamisato Faction, the group that's centered on you, then wouldn't she listen to your directions before acting on her own?"

To this question, Kamisato shook his head and replied, "Do you remember Claire? She's the one whose body makeup is similar to plant cells." Touma nodded, so he continued, "Last night, she had a run-in with Salome, and her body had been sliced in half. Fortunately, her power allowed her to survive, but for anyone else, it would have been a death sentence. And Salome didn't just do that because it was Claire; she would do the exact same thing to Ellen, Elza, or whoever else stood in her way."

Touma's eyes widened in shock, muttering, "Damn, that's crazy!" He'd already learned that Salome and Claire had argued after the latter had broken up the fight with Mikoto, but to think that Salome would be so brutal to a supposed ally. Though if she was currently incapacitated, that would explain why Kamisato didn't know about Salome running into Mikoto.

Kamisato then said to Touma, "I don't know either. But if anything happened on your end, odds are it was caused by Salome. I haven't made any direct request to her. If I wanted a war with you, I would have already attacked. Salome truly is acting on her own here."

Despite Kamisato not being that trustworthy to him, Touma could tell that he wasn't lying about this. But this presented its own problem, and he questioned, "Okay, I get it. But if she really is prowling all around Academy City, and jumping on anyone who knows me, then what do we do?"

This was a difficult issue, and Kamisato could only reply, "The only advice I can give is to warn them and have them defend themselves. She wants to take out anyone who's your ally, so that people will be too scared to join with you. With such a wide array of targets, you won't be able to protect everyone yourself. I'm doing everything I can to track Salome down, but I don't know how successful I'll be."

Touma could see that they were facing a major dilemma. He brought his hand up to his chin and mused, "Hmm, if only there were some way to lure her in." If they could do that, then he could just let Kamisato deal with Salome, and wouldn't have to worry about her going after the people he knew.

Kamisato narrowed his eyes at the other boy's words. An idea came to his mind, and he thus suggested, "Hold on, what if we could lure her in? If she could directly find and attack you, especially if you're about to defeat me, she will. If we stage a fistfight in the streets, she might just come back."

This idea seemed strange, and a little suspicious, to Touma, but he did see some merit to it. He questioned, "So just to be clear, you're talking about tricking your own ally, in fact, your sister."

But Kamisato firmly nodded and told him, "That's exactly why I need to do this. I don't want any of those girls to become a perpetrator or victim." He then pulled out his phone from his pocket and announced, "I'll make some calls. I'm fine with staging a fight, though if our performance is too realistic, Elza and the others will probably rush in to kill you."

Touma shook his head and countered, "No, that's actually perfect. If your faction isn't freaking out, Salome might get suspicious and not come." He then asked a key question, "How are we going to get her to see the information?"

Kamisato immediately replied, "A video site should work. If we upload our fight in front of a recognizable landmark, like the Windowless Building, she'll come running for sure."

Touma agreed to this, and their plan was now set. Kamisato then went off to call his girls. Remembering his earlier promise, Touma walked off in the opposite direction and pulled out his phone to call his girlfriend.

After a couple of rings, he heard Mikoto's voice from the phone, saying, "Hey Touma, what's up?" From the fact that he was calling her during the school day, Mikoto surmised that some sort of trouble was brewing.

Touma greeted her back, "Hey, Mikoto. Did I interrupt you in class?" It was an urgent situation, but he was still a little concerned about the inconvenience.

Mikoto shook her head and answered, "No, my classes haven't started yet. Is something wrong?"

The boy heard her concerned tone, and knew that she likely suspected this was related to Kamisato. He began explaining, "So I just ran into Kamisato at school, and he was really freaked out about Salome going rogue. Apparently they can't stop her from going after people, and she's going after the people I know. So that's why she attacked you last night."

This news didn't surprise Mikoto that much. She placed her free hand on her hip and said, "Hmm, I figured as much. So what happened with Kamisato, did he try to pick another fight with you?"

Touma frowned for a moment, and after a pause, replied, "Sort of. He suggested staging a fistfight in public, so that Salome would come back. We're planning to fight near the Windowless Building."

Mikoto narrowed her eyes, immediately smelling a rat. She said, "Touma, you know that this is almost definitely a trap, right? He's probably going to ambush you with his harem army as soon as you reach the area." Since Kamisato had tried to banish or kill Touma just recently, she was extremely doubtful that he'd suddenly decided to save Touma from his own sister.

The boy let her claim sink in, and couldn't deny it. He sighed and muttered, "I know you're probably right, but he did seem genuine about wanting to avoid bloodshed and not have the girls becoming perpetrators or victims."

Mikoto immediately scoffed at that idea, "Oh, how considerate of him! But you and I both know that it won't be that easy. I bet he's just going to turn around and try to kill you, and smugly justify it by saying it's for the greater good."

Touma winced, but he couldn't deny that she had a good point. Thus, he implored her, "Well, I hope not, but just in case that does end up happening, could you come to the location and keep an eye on things? That way, you could help me if they all suddenly start attacking me."

On hearing his request, Mikoto experienced a warm feeling in her chest, and she brought her hand up to her heart, thinking, "He really does want me there by his side!" She eagerly replied, "Sure, I'll be there!"

The boy was immensely grateful to hear that, and exclaimed, "Thanks, you're the best, Biri-Biri!" He was anxious about facing off against Kamisato again, but there was still a chance that it would help stop Salome from attacking Mikoto or anyone else he knew, and if not, then having Mikoto in the fight would be a lifeline for him.

The two of them said goodbye to each other and ended the call. Touma then went off to find Kamisato again so they could go through with the plan.

Soon afterwards, Touma and Kamisato headed to a spot near the Windowless Building, which was the only major landmark in District 7. Their ostensible plan was to stage a fistfight and catch it on film, so that the dangerous Salome would rush over to help her brother. In order to make it as realistic as possible, Kamisato had also arranged for his girls to participate.

Once they reached their destination, the two boys positioned themselves so that they were facing each other. Touma raised his fist, preparing to start the performance. But before he could take a step forward, Kamisato called out, "Elza. Fran, Maya, Luca."

The girls in question appeared next to Kamisato. This wasn't necessarily out of line with the plan, but Touma sensed an ominous feeling. This feeling only got worse as Kamisato continued reciting names, "Aileen, Lime, Lisa, Mary, Anna, Iris, Nina, Maive, Elly, Clara, Deborah, May, Sophia, Siren, Sandy, Marine, Rosary, Scala, Yuny, Lemon, Nikita, Lemy, Machina, Catherine, Dorothea, Athena, Muse, Berry, Susan, Melon, Milcah, Amy, Linda, Fia, Snow, Laika, Honey, Eve."

Girls appeared from each and every direction, leaving Touma hopelessly outnumbered. Each girl was a strong esper or magician, so fighting against all of them at once would be a daunting task.

Touma felt rage coursing through his veins. Was Kamisato really going to fight him for real, and thus allow Salome to go on her rampage, causing destruction to the people and the world that Touma cared about? Would Kamisato be satisfied with that as a happy ending.

Touma screamed, "Kamisatooooooooo!"

Kamisato rolled his eyes in contempt and said, "Pipe down. Sure, I betrayed you, but this is the best way to stop my sister. Perhaps having Kamijou Touma and Kamisato Kakeru clash in front of the camera and faking my defeat would bring her running to us. But there's still the risk that she isn't fooled by the act, and just continues her killing. So instead of leaving the initiative in the hands of my mass murderer sister, there's a much simpler way of dealing with this problem."

Touma tensed up and questioned, "What…do you mean?" He had been warned of this possibility by Mikoto, but he wanted to hear it directly from the horse's mouth.

The answer from Kamisato was simple, "You just have to die. Salome's goal is to bring my faction to victory, so I just need to make you, the enemy king, die on camera. Then, she'll have no more reason to fight, and you won't have to worry about your friends dying. And since this is not an act, there's no risk of Salome not being fooled. Isn't that the perfect solution?"

Kamisato pulled out his phone and pointed it towards Touma, concluding, "I really hate doing this. I wanted to handle this alone, but I do want the girls' help here. They'll be holding you down so I can deal the finishing blow. I'll dirty my hands by making this grotesque snuff film for the sake of your friends. So let me just finish this quickly, Kamijou Touma!"

On that cue, Elza began the battle, tossing over a thousand copper coins into the air. With her ability, she could use them as deadly projectiles. And even with his right hand, Touma would be hard-pressed to avoid all of the damage.

But before they could strike, those thousand coins were stopped and utterly obliterated by a single coin. A line of bright light pierced through the air, one that Touma recognized very well. He relaxed a bit and thought to himself, "Just in time, Biri-Biri."

Mikoto landed from the air onto the ground, right next to her boyfriend. She smirked at Touma and said, "Sorry I got here a little late."

Given their large number of opponents, she didn't waste any more time in launching her next attack. The girl conjured up a series of lightning spears and fired them towards all the opposing girls and towards Kamisato himself. Since Mikoto's appearance in the battle was a complete surprise, the Kamisato Faction's hasty efforts to defend themselves proved no match for her. The girls were knocked unconscious, Kamisato's phone was shut off, and the boy himself was temporarily paralyzed by the shocks. He couldn't raise his right arm towards Mikoto, so all he could do was seethe, "Damn it! You really got your girlfriend involved."

Touma scoffed and replied, "Of course, if you can bring forty plus girls with you, it's only fair that I call in the one who has already saved my life many times!"

Mikoto smiled at the boy's praise, but then turned her attention to Kamisato. She had left him conscious only so she could speak to him. She gave him a cold, contemptuous look and said, "You're pathetic. Using your mass murdering sister's rampage as a convenient excuse to justify murdering Touma. And you actually think that you're doing the right thing? Give me a fucking break!"

The girl then picked up Touma into her arms and used her magnetism to jump into the air and start flying away from the battle, leaving behind the defeated Kamisato Faction.

Mikoto leaped through the air from building to building, heading vaguely in the direction of Touma's temporary school. Once she was sure they were far enough away, she set them down on a rooftop, allowing Touma to stand back up.

Touma leaned over and kissed her, before saying, "Thanks, Biri-Biri! You really got me out of a pinch there."

The girl smiled at him and patted his shoulder, replying, "You're welcome. So do you think my shocks were enough of a deterrent, or will that guy come after you again?" She didn't like the prospect of them having to repeatedly fight Kamisato over and over again.

The boy sighed and muttered, "I don't know. He had a grudge against me for sheltering Othinus, and Salome might cause more problems even without his go-ahead."

Mikoto then questioned, "Speaking of Othinus, do you think it's safe to leave her and Index behind at your dorm? Couldn't Kamisato or his girls attack them?"

Touma frowned, thinking back to what he had told those two girls before he'd left for school. He now answered, "Well, I figured that he wouldn't risk the girls, just in case Othinus still had her powers. And Index can at least use Spell Intercept." Of course, there was still a big risk, but it seemed for now that Kamisato would rather go after Touma directly.

Mikoto muttered, "Hmm, if Salome is still trying to attack people you know, she might go after your classmates next. Maybe I should take you back to school then?"

Touma nodded and said, "That's a good idea. Let's go, at least I'll be able to keep an eye on them, and on Kamisato if he comes back to school."

With that, Mikoto scooped him up again and started heading towards the school. They were wary of what would come next, but felt bolstered by each other's presence.

When Touma and Mikoto reached his school, it was already approaching the end of the lunch break. As she accompanied him, Touma checked in on all of his classmates. To his relief, they all seemed to be fine, so he figured that it would be fine for Mikoto to head back to Tokiwadai.

But a bit later, Touma felt that there was something weird going on. The guys in his class were visibly excited about something, on the same level as during the preparations for the Daihasei and Ichihanaran Festivals. When Touma asked Aogami about it, he learned that they were planning to sneak into the school at night and burn dirty magazines and body pillows in an abandoned incinerator.

Touma immediately protested this plan, pointing out that it would technically be a crime, and that the fire could potentially spread to the school building. He became even more alarmed when Aogami indicated that this plan had been suggested by Kamisato.

This raised Touma's hackles, and he wondered if Kamisato was setting up his classmates to get in trouble and ruin their reputations. The boy tried dissuading them, but they just brushed him off and called him a killjoy.

Knowing this was likely a devious scheme by Kamisato, Touma knew that he had to take action. Persuasion had not worked at all, and it seemed like the boys in his class had fallen under the influence of Kamisato's suggestion. Thus, Touma decided to wait until nighttime, and asked Mikoto to come then as well. That way, they would be able to act immediately if something was up.

That was why, several hours later, Touma and Mikoto met up at the school gate. Since it was a winter night, the boy grumbled, "Ugh, it's so cold out here. I can't believe I'm freezing my ass off waiting for a bunch of guys to arrive."

Mikoto laughed behind her hand, but then smiled at her boyfriend. She ruffled his hair and said, "Here, let me warm you up." She emitted some microwaves from her body to provide some heating to the two of them.

Touma smiled and said, "Thanks, Biri-Biri." Feeling a little more comfortable, they prepared to intercept his classmates before it was too late.

However, the situation became even more dangerous when Akikawa Mie came up to them. She was the girl Touma and Mikoto had saved from the college students, but she apparently thought that it was the High Priest who had saved her, much to their dismay. She then told them that her sister, the student council president, had been acting weird that day. Touma corroborated this conclusion when he told her that the president had been eating breakfast by the school dumpster, even though she generally didn't eat breakfast at all.

Akikawa was convinced that someone had trapped the president in the incinerator and taken her place, especially since the possible fake had tried to keep Akikawa away from it. Touma and Mikoto were initially skeptical of this, but their observations seemed to line up. Kamisato had treacherously tried to murder Touma, but it was still a shock that the boy who had tried to save the Birdway Sisters could be goading Touma's classmates into inadvertently killing an unrelated person to drive them into despair.

If it was really true, then the boys probably wouldn't notice a girl trapped inside the incinerator, especially if she were tied up, gagged, and unconscious from exhaustion. Thus, they would have to act quickly. Touma and Mikoto ran frantically towards the back of the school.

They heard the sound of someone lighting a lighter, and Touma saw the grinning faces of his classmates, including Aogami. That eerie image made it look like some sort of cult ritual. Mikoto immediately sprung into action, gathering up an iron sand sword.

She sliced through the walls of the incinerator, which caused a tremendous sound. The metal walls split open and crumbled away, revealing an interior that, after years of disuse, didn't even smell like ashes anymore.

But when they looked in, there was absolutely nothing there. They briefly wondered if the president had been moved somewhere else, but there was no human scent at all.

Touma, Mikoto, and Akikawa were dumbfounded, but Touma's classmates were just annoyed that their fun had been destroyed for no apparent reason. They all departed from the area, with Aogami giving Touma a pitying expression that felt very cruel.

With that, Touma belatedly realized what had just happened. Kamisato was probably not the type of person to have an unrelated, innocent person burned alive. But because of his and Mikoto's desperate actions, Touma's classmates had been alienated from him anyway. Now, all the boy could do was let out a depressed laugh.

Mikoto gazed over at him in sympathy, not sure what to say to comfort him. It was clear that something had been wrong in their assumptions, but this situation still seemed suspicious in some way.

At this point, the three of them heard another set of footsteps. When they turned, they saw Kamisato himself, accompanied by Ellen and Elza. Surprisingly, Salome was also present.

Kamisato said in greeting, "Kamijou Touma, you look even more worn out than when I last saw you!"

Mikoto growled back, "Damn you! Even after I tried to teach you a lesson, you still go and do something else so despicable?"

Salome took this opportunity to chime in. She smirked at Mikoto and said, "Hey, I heard about how you clobbered my idiot brother and all those mindless girls. Good job, it saved me the effort of having to do it myself!"

Mikoto tilted her head in confusion, not knowing how to react to her unexpected praise. She just said, "Huh, what?"

Salome continued, "Yeah, the source of his problems isn't Kamijou Touma or the Magic Gods, but that goddamn stupid harem of his. Honestly, it would've been more helpful to kill all of them instead."

Hearing her casually suggest mass murdering her supposed allies make Touma and Mikoto rather weary of her.

Kamisato then interjected, "Ugh, what a pain. Let's get back to the original issue. Oh, there's someone else here." Turning to Akikawa Mie, he asked, "Do you know why these two are so angry? Did something new happen since this morning?"

Akikawa glared at him and fiercely questioned, "What happened to onee-chan, to the student council president? Did you take her somewhere other than the incinerator, or were you focused on making us think she was kidnapped? Who is the onee-chan in the school right now, the real one or an imposter?"

In response to this, Kamisato frowned and replied, "Something happened to the student council president? That's the first I'm hearing of this."

Hearing this, Touma could only give him a blank look, as he gave up on understanding what was going on. However, his girlfriend crossed her arms and countered, "Don't play dumb! You manipulated Touma's classmates to light up the incinerator, and made it look like the president was trapped inside, so that when Touma and I tried to stop his class from becoming murderers, he would end up looking foolish!"

Kamisato held out his hands in a conciliatory gesture, replying, "Hold on, that's not it. I wanted his classmates to witness the battle between Imagine Breaker and World Rejecter. If those powers clashed, then mine would win, but then something unknown would burst from his severed arm. I wanted to observe his classmates' reactions to see if any of them knew something about that."

This explanation did make sense to Touma. After all, Kamisato's goal was to defeat him, so the easiest way to do that would be to finish him off with World Rejecter, rather than some other roundabout plan.

But that still left something explained, as Akikawa noted, "Then…who was that girl I saw? Was I really just mistaken? No, no, there must be some reason she forcefully tried to keep me away from the incinerator."

Kamisato snapped his fingers and mused, "Okay, let's assume that what both of us are saying is true. Meaning, the president has been replaced, and neither of us knows who the fake could be. That means someone else is plotting something, but who?"

The answer to his question came immediately afterwards, starting with a sound. It resembled a fruit being sliced, and Kamisato soon saw its source. It was a small form, close enough to him to cut him off from Ellen, Elza, and Salome. It looked like the student council president, but it was someone pretending to be her.

Rather than approaching at high speeds, it was more like she oozed up from the ground. Kamisato immediately stepped back, but it was already too late. His right hand had been severed at the wrist, and was now in the possession of the fake president.

That powerful right hand that had slain Magic Gods by the dozen had been stolen so easily. Kamisato dropped to the floor and rolled around in pain, and Akikawa shrieked and fainted.

The strange thing was, that the imposter was not holding any kind of blade, and yet had managed to slice off Kamisato's right hand. She then snapped her fingers, and her own right hand became severed at the wrist, the area glowing white.

The girl's silhouette distorted and began to fall apart, soon revealing a woman in a lab coat. She said, "Kamisato Kakeru's right hand was the biggest bottleneck. But in order to take revenge, I wanted that right hand more than anything."

Some kind of thin thread shot from her lab coat, and forcibly attached Kamisato's right arm to her now vacated wrist. The sewing seemed rough, but it must have been a special technique, since the woman was able to immediately clench and unclench the hand.

She laughed and exclaimed, "The stitching by Sample Shoggoth has worked. Using the attenuated St. Germain virus, I will rewrite my brain as the owner of this right hand, of World Rejecter! Yes, stealing your enemy's power and growing truly unstoppable is the epitome of romance, isn't it, Sensei?"

Mikoto had trouble processing the bizarre things that had just happened. So she simply exclaimed, "What the fuck?"

Touma wasn't able to keep up either, so he just asked the woman, "Who are you?"

The woman answered, "I am Kihara Yuiitsu." There was no logical reason to honestly answer his question, especially as the villain. But she did not hesitate, explaining, "I seek romance on the level no one else can reach! Romance, that's the only reason to tell you who I am. But while my real target is Kamisato Kakeru, and Sensei would never involve unrelated people in his revenge, I need to become unique! So I'll take the path Sensei never would have. Killing the bastard who stole everything from me isn't enough. I need to steal everything and kill everyone he holds dear! Then, and only then, will be the perfect time to deliver the finishing blow."

Of course, Kamisato's girls would not stand idly by while Yuiitsu carried out this revenge that she was so hell-bent on. But Mikoto and Touma winced, knowing just how ruthless a Kihara could be. Furthermore, their enemy now had World Rejecter, so even if they joined it, it would likely not be an easy fight. But clearly, it would be a necessary one.