— Accelerator! — exclaimed the guy with the absurd hairstyle, somehow having survived the dust explosion. He shouted at the figure of his opponent emerging from the chaos he had created.

— Yes, I'm here, damn it! — the gray-haired young man replied sarcastically, approaching the annoying zero with a calm yet unsteady gait. — Damn… It seems I won't survive a theoretical nuclear explosion. I almost died from lack of oxygen, you know.

The state of the albino was far from ideal. A few minutes ago, in a fit of playful mood, he decided to create an explosion using a cloud of flour he had stirred up. To his surprise, this unusual zero didn't die from the terrible shockwave, but the gray-haired one didn't account for some consequences for himself. He had to directly protect his body from carbon monoxide poisoning using vector control. But that wasn't all: the explosion had burned up all the oxygen, leaving the Accelerator in a rather unenviable position. He nearly lost consciousness and could have died. The Accelerator felt terrible. Very terrible. He felt like he was about to vomit his stomach and lungs. But, of course, the albino didn't show it. This malaise was proof of why he needed level 6 so badly. With absolute power, he would never find himself in such a situation.

Before the explosion, the Accelerator had already ransacked the railway depot like a wild child who had gotten his hands on a toy set bought by his parents. Using his power, he had scattered a huge number of cargo containers in a strange but aesthetic disorder. Because of the explosion, the contents of some containers seemed to have ignited and were still actively burning, lighting up the night with their glow. The Accelerator stopped halfway to the strange, shaggy zero, beginning to scrutinize him closely. If it weren't for the vector shield, he would be feeling the unbearable heat of the fire on his back right now, but, of course, the albino didn't care. For some reason, his interest in this suddenly intervening citizen had awakened with new vigor. After all, he was an unexpected and unaccounted factor. What was wrong with all this? This idiot seemed to be familiar with one of the clones. The degenerate had interfered right in the middle of the experiment, spouting some nonsense. Funny, he promised to punch the Accelerator in the face! Damn puppet, how could she allow an outsider to stick his nose where it didn't belong? She just needed to ignore that kitten, and they definitely wouldn't have crossed paths… Wait, what?!

The Accelerator was in shock, even stopping to look at the tense Zero. What was that just now? What kitten? What soda cans? The Third World War, a huge number of some magicians, a failed coup in England, gods, the strangest events in Akademgorodok. Strange scenes with the sisters… Immersed in his own mind, the albino couldn't understand what nonsense was happening to him right now. These incomprehensible, suddenly fallen pieces of knowledge…

— Tell me, what do you even need?! — the Zero's voice pulled the albino from his thoughts. Surprisingly, the inner "I" of level 5 told him to pay attention to this guy standing before him in a torn school uniform. The albino decided to listen to him in silence at first. — Why all these deaths? What's the point of this? You're the strongest! What's the meaning of this horror for you?! They feel pain too; they're scared! They must have their own dreams they want to achieve, and you just go and kill them!

— As if I care about your words. Besides, I categorically don't like you, — listening to the empty bravado of the irritating Zero, the Accelerator redirected and transformed the vectors received from the weak movement of his legs. He instantly soared up and landed on one of the crumpled containers, almost standing over this… person. The thought in the Accelerator's mind was that he needed to keep his distance and absolutely not approach him until he figured out the situation completely. — I don't know exactly why, but you annoy me like no one else. I want to smash your bastard head into a bloody smoothie. And this isn't even related to this experiment.

— Wh-what do you mean? — the tense Zero nervously raised his head towards the level 5, unable to quickly ascend to the height. Obviously, at a distance, he had no chance to resist the esper. But for some reason, the Accelerator spontaneously decided to stop trying to kill him and continued the conversation. — Are you saying we knew each other before?

— No. Fortunately, I've never seen you before your amnesia, — the Accelerator chuckled quietly at the Zero's shocked wide eyes. Knowledge… Memory… with every second, they were pouring in more and more, and he was systematizing them in his mind.

— How do you know that? — the surprise of this so-called Kamijou Touma was limitless. — Who told you that?

— What difference does it make? And I can't say for sure about it myself yet, — the Accelerator shrugged. — I can only note that you're complexing over some really silly reason. Anyway, what difference does it make? Try not to die here, freak, — a crooked grin spread across his face.

Calculation. Accelerator lightly tapped the toe of his shoe, amplifying the force he received a thousandfold and redirecting it in the desired form. A massive chunk of the container, torn off with flesh, crashed at incredible speed into the null, hitting him with the blunt side and sending him flying nearly to the other end of the railway depot. Without thinking much, Accelerator jumped after him at no less speed. They landed in an area where there wasn't much chaos caused by the esper. The "carefully" laid gravel of the depot absorbed the thudding figure of the null as he fell like a projectile. Groaning, he pushed the deformed metal plate aside and got to his feet, clenching his fists.

— I-I… — the null's face twisted in pain. Despite the obvious fact that his body should be broken, he continued to move. He looked resolutely at the strongest. — I will stop you and put an end to all this!

It was clear that the island-haired one had no intention of retreating and was determined to see this through, no matter the cost. Accelerator hissed in irritation. He would have to play along a bit. After analyzing part of the information, the esper suddenly came to a conclusion that was worth implementing. For that, he would have to continue this farce.

— You see… Kamijou Touma, — the mentioned null tensed upon hearing his name from Accelerator's lips. His voice was like metal scraping, and his crooked grin was as venomous as a hundred snakes. — Up until now, you had a chance to beg for mercy, and I would have let you go. But now, after those words… — the esper cracked his neck.

— You are no more than a fish on a cutting board to me.

— And it all began…

— I will rid myself of your scales!

After the esper's ominous words, Kamijou charged at him with all his energy, closing the already small distance to strike with his right hand. But he couldn't even fully touch Accelerator. The esper stomped his foot and sent a whole pile of gravel at the null at high speed. He was thrown back several meters. The esper's knowledge told him that while his opponent was disgustingly resilient, he certainly had a limit. He would die in about 10 minutes of this parody of a battle if he continued to receive extensive injuries and lose blood in large quantities. And judging by how the gravel had torn skin from certain areas of the null's body, exposing bleeding flesh, this limit could be quite easily reached in practice with the right knowledge. The key was to stay calm… Accelerator smirked and whistled towards the null, who was getting up again.

— You move like a pregnant cow! — mocked Accelerator shouted. Hmm… what's with the association with those so-called "thugs"?

The opponent fell for the provocation and charged at the albino like a bull, never changing his position. Smirking, Accelerator almost allowed a hit to his nose, but at the last moment, just before taking damage, he redirected the forces of his legs and jumped aside.

— What, are you scared? Shouldn't the strongest esper dodge? — Kamijou asked mockingly, trying to choose the most cutting tone. — That's pathetic. Come closer and try to kill me with your own hands!

— Hmm… — the esper sarcastically ruffled his hair. — I admit, you turned out to be smarter than I expected. Your desire to pull me into close combat is a reasonable idea… After all, otherwise, you don't stand a chance, do you? — he smirked. — Alright, I'll go along with your terms.

In the next moment, Accelerator was already behind Kamijou, touching his back. Before Kamijou could realize what was happening, he received an elbow strike that knocked him down again. Several ribs were broken… Accelerator pinned Kamijou's head, who was trying to get up, to the gravel, while Kamijou almost grabbed his leg with his dangerous right hand. Not letting that happen, Accelerator kicked him in the face, sending him flying once more. The opponent got up, albeit with difficulty.

Another attempt to hit Accelerator. Unsuccessfully, bones cracked in various parts of his body.

One more attempt. The blond, as if teasing, once again barely avoided letting his right hand fully touch him. This ended with a headbutt, not in favor of the zero.

An attempt to grab. A sudden painful blow to the groin nearly made Kamijou cry.

Once more. Now the zero has a broken nose.

Again. It seems the ribcage is in a very unfortunate position.

Once again, the zero's failed strike with his right hand nearly hit the target. Accelerator grabbed him by the earlobe and tore off a piece of soft tissue.

Again.

Again.

Again…

The beaten Null barely stood on his feet, despairingly looking at the Esper. Unlike him, the Accelerator stood before him completely unscathed, breathing calmly and not a drop of sweat on him. Among all the new strange knowledge were those that hinted at how to move in this amazing dance. The Esper compensated for his endurance and strength with his ability. A smirk never left the albino's face.

– So, I think it's time to finish this. – Esper said sarcastically. – Come on, hit me. I won't dodge.

– What?.. – The Null barely croaked, clearing his throat. – A-are you mocking me?"

– A little, but I'm not joking, – said the Accelerator, yawning. He wanted to finish this quickly and go to sleep. – I'm already tired of this. Don't you want to put an end to this? Come over and fulfill your promise. Hit me. I'm ready!

He spread his arms, mockingly looking at his opponent.

No more words were needed. Kamijou lunged forward again and, despite his pitiful state, struck the Accelerator in the face with admirable determination. The blow hit its target… But in the next moment, Kamijou's arm twisted unnaturally. He screamed in pain and found himself in the Esper's grasp. The Accelerator grabbed his head and slammed his face into his knee. Then, taking hold of his leg, he altered and redirected the heat vectors inside and outside the limb. The leg turned into a charred piece of meat on the outside and froze from the inside.

Despair engulfed Kamijou. The Imagine breaker had no effect on the Accelerator; the only key to victory turned out to be useless. What had helped him against mages and espers, the tool that erased the supernatural… How could he win now?

Kamijou didn't understand why his right hand didn't respond to the esper. But this was the result of Accelerator's deliberate actions. The albino knew that this right hand could simply ignore his vector control. With this sudden knowledge, he decided… to adapt to this unpleasant situation. Who knows who else might have a similar dangerous surprise? Thus, he allowed the zero to barely touch his breaker for moments at a time. This time was insufficient for the opponent to exploit the albino's weakness. These time segments were so short that they allowed Accelerator to immediately regain control of the situation. Taking advantage of this, he gradually tried to break through to information about the structure of the zero's right hand effect. Moments of information intake that were even shorter than a blink. But those blinks were enough for the esper to gather information about laws that were previously unknown to him. Constants that the albino couldn't fully analyze in such a short amount of time but included in his consciousness, taking huge margins to eliminate the possibility of failure. Simply put, he used the acquired information at the moment of the right hand's attack, when it almost initiated the decay of his ND field, and…

He reflected the effect of the Imagine breaker.

So simple. It's almost nauseating, right?

Now the opponent is completely defenseless.

To the desperate screams of Kamijo, the albino continued to literally pound his body. Surprisingly, the process of executing this man brought him real sadistic pleasure. Why was this idiot so repulsive to him? A whole cascade of reasons, still not forming a complete picture. What he was doing now... He didn't want Kamijou Toma to die quickly. What a loss that would be! He needed to savor every moment of this process! The Accelerator wanted to torment this man for as long as possible. Inside, the albino was laughing as best he could. Naive idiot! Surely he was really boasting about saving all the sisters, stopping the experiment! And how?! Allegedly, he would defeat the Accelerator! It's hard to imagine the shame of this degenerate; what was all this nonsense for?! He just needed to forget about the esper's grief and move on from the clones. Speaking of the esper... The albino was forced to stop the beating process. He was distracted by the sound of someone running up behind him.

— Accelerator, stop! — the voice was full of determination. — Let him go; his death won't give you anything.

The Accelerator indeed turned away from the barely alive zero. With a cold smirk, he looked at the sudden visitor. It was Misaka Mikoto, whose appearance was nauseatingly familiar to him. The brown hair girl in the summer uniform of Tokiwadai. Stopping about 10 meters away from him, she watched the albino intently.

– How much longer can we go on? – #1's voice was tired. - You haven't realized that there's no way you can stop this experiment, have you? What's in it for you? Don't tell me you value the pseudo-lives of these dolls so much?

– Shut up! – the brown-haired girl clenched her teeth and fists tensely. - I don't need your words. Let's end this right now.

Mikoto suddenly pulled a coin from her skirt pocket. Accelerator's memories suggested to him that it was a token from an arcade game. She didn't waste time and didn't look at Kamijou, who, despite his barely alive state, was trying to stop her. Kamijou Touma realized the electromaster's plan, but in his condition, he couldn't even attempt to get up to interfere. There was a flash, and a searing orange bolt from the railgun, moving at supersonic speed, raced towards figure No. 1. But instead of the attack vector reversing, the railgun was deflected into the sky. Once again, a smirk appeared on Accelerator's face, while the esper, who had already resigned herself to death, wore a look of genuine confusion.

— Did you really think I would let you ruin my celebration with your clones so easily? — Accelerator calmly approached the stunned brown hair girl. — Déjà vu… Your plan is really good, isn't it? You wanted to die by my hand, thereby thwarting all plans of the experiment to reach level 6. With the Diagram Tree destroyed, this became possible. By your logic, this should have stopped the experiment.

The Accelerator stopped, looking at the brown hair girl. She fixed her gaze on the ground, pressing her lips together.

— How did you guess? — The Accelerator's words struck Mikoto like thunder on a clear day. What was she supposed to do now?

— What does it change? — The Esper leaned closer to the brown hair girl's ear. — You do understand that I definitely won't let you die now. Oh, our poor martyr... — Mikoto only grimaced at his false tone. — I promise, now you're the last person I'll think about dying. Consider me your hero.

The last words were spoken with irony.

— Stop talking nonsense, — the brown hair girl, unable to hold back, turned to the Esper, meeting his gaze boldly and fearlessly. — Do you think your knowledge will stop me? I will make you!

At that moment, the esper moved, emitting electrical discharges. Mikoto wanted to use her power to attack with metal objects and lightning. She had to give her all to force Accelerator into battle, despite his invulnerability. But she had already come to terms with the thought that her death was necessary to save the lives of the girls.

However, the next moment, something unexpected happened. Accelerator instantly grabbed his opponent, taking control of the bioelectric currents in her body. Mikoto could only cry out in pain as she fell onto the gravel. Accelerator used his power in a way that she couldn't move for a while. All the esper could do was watch. And she understood what the albino wanted to do. This place in the depot was where Accelerator had been distracted from the main goal of the experiment.

The tired albino walked away from the paralyzed esper and the barely alive Level 0, the gravel crunching beneath him. So much nonsense had happened to him in such a short time. But that no longer mattered. Accelerator wanted to finish with the doll and rest. Speaking of the doll...

He stopped over the clone of Misaka Mikoto lying on the ground. An exact copy of the original. Earlier, he had been distracted from killing her by the Level Zero, babbling some nonsense just as he was about to finish her off. Deciding to play a prank on this pseudo-hero, the esper tossed the wounded doll into the air. Kamijou immediately ran to catch her, and he succeeded. Then the Level Zero began trying to stop Accelerator! But he didn't care anymore. What was all this nonsense doing before? He had other goals, although the newfound knowledge brought some confusion. He would deal with that later, but for now, he focused on the clone. How to kill her? Do it the same way as with the Level Zero's leg? Or the opposite? He wouldn't mind covering her body with a layer of ice and turning her organs into coal. His hand reached for the doll's neck, and…

It trembled. His hand trembled when he saw the girl's face. Something they had never shown before.

The clone. She. Was crying. Horrified, she looked at Accelerator and tried to push away from him.

— N-no… — Whimpering, the clone struggled to catch her breath. — Please… Don't… Misaka doesn't want to die, says Misaka, trying… — Due to her hysteria, the clone couldn't even continue her typical speech pattern. — Misaka… refuses the experiment! Stop! Don't touch Misaka! S-stop! ENOUGH!

She simply burst into tears and continued to mumble something in panic. Accelerator no longer cared what she wanted to say. With glassy eyes, he pulled his hand away from her and turned, slowly walking towards the exit of the depot.

He didn't even notice how he ended up not in the railway depot but on the streets of the night Academy Town. His thoughts were a complete chaos. He began to ask himself: what does all this mean? Where did these strange pieces of knowledge and memories come from? What is this twisted parody of a future scenario? What the hell are light novels? Main characters? Mages? Demons? Angels?

Accelerator sighed. After recalculating his brain's resources, he turned off the vector shield, allowing the wind to cool him down and calm his nerves. It was strange, as the weather was still... But those were minor details. He needed to go to his room to think about everything that had happened in a familiar setting.