Seventeen: Overpowering Instant Kill

In a pitch-black alley, the sound of panicked footsteps echoed. Hatsuharu stumbled along the wall, drenched in sweat and gasping for air, "Haa... haa... what in the world was that thing!"

Not long after she stopped, a terrifying, beast-like growl sounded from behind her. Hatsuharu glanced back at the vast darkness that seemed to hide a ravenous monster, her eyes filled with despair. "What kind of monster is this..." Her stamina was already poor, and the chase she'd just endured had pushed her to her limit. Now, her legs could barely support her. As expected, when she took another step, Hatsuharu Shiori felt her legs buckle, and she fell to the ground.

"This is bad!" Hatsuharu's heart sank. She felt like she was definitely going to die now, as she could practically hear the monster's footsteps behind her.

Just as Hatsuharu pushed herself up from the ground, a roar from behind her made her feel that she had absolutely no hope of surviving today. "Aaaah!!!"

At the same moment Hatsuharu screamed, a somewhat familiar voice spoke from behind her, "Are you alright?"

Tears welling in her eyes, Hatsuharu shakily turned her head and saw a white-haired young man smiling at her. She said with a bit of surprise, "Senior Yifang?"

Luo Yifang had been searching Academy City for some time, and finally, following the guidance of a magic cube, he found this runaway hell demon—Corpse Fire. This time, Luo Yifang had preemptively sealed the surrounding space with his superpower, preventing any space-based abilities from being used. Hatsuharu Shiori watched as the ferocious monster was held in Luo Yifang's hand like a little chick. She finally let out a sigh of relief. As expected, all LV.5s were this powerful. Senior Yifang was just like Senior Misaka.

"How did you find me, Senior?" Hatsuharu stood up from the ground and patted her slightly dirty clothes.

"Oh, this thing is a biological product from a rogue research institute. I received a mission to eliminate it." Luo Yifang frowned. Although he had captured it, how to deal with it was a problem. For this kind of demon, destroying its physical body alone was not enough. However, he was a superpower user, not a magician. He had no idea how to destroy a demon's soul.

It seemed he would have to hand it over to that Necromancer to deal with. But there was still something that puzzled him greatly. "Hatsuharu, why are you here? And being chased by this thing? If I hadn't come, you probably would have lost your life."

Hatsuharu lowered her head dejectedly. "I'm sorry, I was too careless... While investigating surveillance, I accidentally saw a strange man frequently loitering in the nearby blocks and thought he was suspicious, so I came to investigate. I originally thought it was just a delinquent, but I didn't expect it to be this kind of biological monster..."

"But even if it was just a delinquent, you shouldn't have come alone, right? Why wasn't Shirai Kuroko with you?" Luo Yifang was truly impressed by this girl filled with a sense of justice. With your soft demeanor, you couldn't even deal with a delinquent, could you? It would have been fine if Kuroko was with you; at least if you couldn't win, you could run. Coming alone was like throwing your life away...

"I can do it!" Hatsuharu suddenly retorted to Luo Yifang with some excitement, but immediately lowered her head like a child who had done something wrong. Some of the petals on her hairpin fell off, showing how dejected she was. "Sorry... Senior, I was too impulsive. Today, Shirai-san and I had a bit of a disagreement, so I came to investigate by myself..."

"Sigh..." Luo Yifang sighed. He actually understood Hatsuharu very well. After all, not long ago, he was a paralyzed invalid. He understood the feeling of powerlessness better than anyone. That's why he desperately studied, wanting to use technology to save himself. Although he ultimately failed, he accidentally gained another cheat-like life.

Hatsuharu and Ruizi were different. They might try their best, but the results were always unsatisfactory. Academy City's "aptitude assessment" might have sealed their fate for life. Some among them struggled on this path, while others sank into it. Hatsuharu and Ruizi, however, persisted in their ideals, not feeling dejected because of their abilities. They indeed couldn't defeat powerful superpower users, and even ordinary people with slightly better physical strength could easily defeat them.

Just as Hatsuharu lowered her head, thinking Luo Yifang would scold her, a warm hand was placed on her head. "Next time, you must pay attention to your safety. Also, the friendship between friends is hard-earned; don't give up easily."

Hearing Luo Yifang's gentle words, Hatsuharu's face turned as red as an apple. She was like a flustered little rabbit. "Yes, yes, yes! Senior!"

"You should go back first. I need to destroy this thing. It can't be absolutely destroyed here." The Corpse Fire in Luo Yifang's hand was instantly frozen into a humanoid ice stick. The movement of its particles was almost completely stopped under Luo Yifang's control. The freezing caused by a temperature near absolute zero was something even a small demon couldn't escape. "If you encounter danger, you can tell me, and I'll rush over immediately."

Hatsuharu stood in place, watching Luo Yifang quickly leave with the large ice stick. She felt her heart beating a little faster. "Maybe it's because I ran too fast just now... But Senior Yifang is really so gentle... He's an LV.5, yet he seems to be able to feel the hearts of us weaklings, understand our feelings..."

The journey back to the cafe was uneventful. In a little over a minute, Luo Yifang returned to Lilith's cafe and threw the ice stick-like Corpse Fire onto the ground. "Here, the delivery you ordered."

A hint of surprise flashed in Lilith's eyes. She knew Luo Yifang was very strong, but she didn't expect him to be this strong. Corpse Fire seemed to have been frozen into an ice stick and brought back without even a hint of resistance. "Your power is immense... at least much stronger than any mage I've ever seen—when it comes to ice."

"Huh? You can control ice too?" A familiar voice sounded from behind Luo Yifang. Luo Yifang's face stiffened. He turned around and saw Misaka Mikoto looking at him and the ice lump on the ground with curiosity.

"I say, why are you here? Aren't you afraid of being caught by your dorm supervisor if you don't go back to the dorms yet?" Luo Yifang found a chair and sat down. Misaka Mikoto sat opposite him.

Upon hearing the word "dorm supervisor," Misaka Mikoto flinched, but quickly regained her composure. "The deadline hasn't passed yet. It's very close to the dorms; I'll be back in a few minutes. More importantly, what exactly is your ability? You can distort light and control ice?"

Misaka Mikoto didn't believe there were many ability users. Although her title was Railgun, electricity could also generate magnetism. Therefore, she could control iron sand and move between walls and buildings, which wasn't a simple current manipulation ability. So, she thought Luo Yifang might also have a superpower that could branch out in multiple directions. However, judging solely from the fact that he could distort light and control ice—two completely unrelated abilities—Luo Yifang's ability must have been developed to an extremely powerful extent.