vs Misaka Mikoto

It was deep into the night.

In an open space beneath a bridge stood three figures. Blue arcs of electricity crackled around the girl's body. The person standing before her wore a faint smile and crooked a finger at her in provocation, signaling for her to come at him.

The spiky-haired boy looked dazed as he questioned himself.

"Why did I have to come along too...?"

Rod and Misaka Mikoto both chose to ignore Kamijo Toma's presence.

"Don't underestimate me, you bastard old man!" Provoked by Rod's attitude, Misaka Mikoto's lightning surged. Violent arcs of electricity pounced toward Rod like savage beasts.

"To be honest, running into me means you drew the absolute worst lot." Facing the rushing lightning arcs, Rod calmly raised the cursed tool clenched in his hand, [Kamutoke].

The lightning struck the cursed tool [Kamutoke] in Rod's hand head-on, yet it was like mud sinking into the sea, causing not the slightest ripple. Every last bit of it was absorbed by Kamutoke.

In fact, if Rod wanted to, [Kamutoke] could begin absorbing the electricity stored within Misaka Mikoto's body.

Rod had only agreed to this childish little game after giving it some thought. He wanted this ignorant little girl to understand the gap in their strength.

She should not go around demanding duels before figuring out how wide the difference in their abilities was.

"What is that?" Noticing that all the lightning she had released had been absorbed by the strange item in Rod's hand, Misaka Mikoto could not help asking.

"Revealing the technique? Well, whatever. The thing in my hand could be called a 'divine artifact,' using game terminology. Its name is [Kamutoke]. It can absorb and control the power of lightning, like this." As Rod explained, he swung [Kamutoke] downward, sending a concentrated bolt of fierce lightning crashing into Misaka Mikoto.

Misaka Mikoto, struck by the powerful current in an instant, frowned and shouted unhappily.

"What kind of nonsense is that? Isn't that cheating?!"

"Cheating? Well, well, well, if that's the case, I don't mind putting [Kamutoke] away." Rod shrugged indifferently, his tone faintly mocking as he provoked her.

"Tch! I don't need that. Don't think I can't deal with you just because electricity doesn't work." A vein bulged at Misaka Mikoto's temple as she retorted irritably.

Then Misaka Mikoto put on a confident smile and asked Rod a question.

"Hey, do you know what a Railgun is?"

"Yeah, I do. It's a weapon that uses an extremely powerful electromagnet to launch a projectile made of conductive material." Rod answered casually, making Misaka Mikoto's expression stiffen.

She had originally wanted to show off by explaining it herself, but who knew he already understood all that?

"Ahem. Well, that's basically it. Anyway, this is one of my abilities too. Try taking this!" Misaka Mikoto pulled a game coin from her pocket and flicked it into the air. As the coin began to fall, an immensely powerful glow of lightning gathered in her palm.

A sound like a cannon firing rang out abruptly. A game coin shining with brilliant light shot toward Rod with incomparable force.

"Release." Rod raised his hand and murmured. An invisible slash struck the coin head-on, splitting it in two and sending the halves flying to either side, where they exploded against the lake's surface in two massive splashes.

"The Railgun got cut apart?!" Misaka Mikoto said in astonishment, having never expected her ultimate move to be so easily neutralized.

"This is getting a little boring. Do you have any other moves?" Rod yawned, finding Misaka Mikoto's attacks somewhat uninteresting.

"You...!?" Misaka Mikoto's pretty face flushed red with anger. Lightning gathered around her once more, but rather than attack Rod directly, she used magnetism to draw out all the iron sand from the soil within a two-hundred-meter radius. It gradually formed into a pitch-black blade in her hand.

"Iron sand? Interesting. Are you planning to fight me at close range?" Rod teased with interest.

"Hmph, who says a sword has to be for close combat? It can be used like this too!" Misaka Mikoto snorted, then swung the blade in her hand. The blade transformed like a whip as it lashed toward Rod.

Facing the incoming iron-sand whip, Rod pressed his palms together. A vivid flash of blood-red light shot straight through, like a crimson meteor, piercing the iron-sand whip and blasting it apart into fragments.

"What!?" Misaka Mikoto exclaimed, clearly not expecting her ability to be so easily countered again.

"Where are you looking?" Rod's voice suddenly came from behind her. Cold sweat streaked down the girl's temple as she instinctively looked back—only for pain to explode at the back of her head. She clutched it and cried out.

"That hurts!" A crystalline tear slid from the corner of the girl's eye due to the pain. Together with her flushed, delicate face, it made her look all the more fragile and adorable.

"Hey, little girl, let me ask you something." Ignoring the girl's furious glare, Rod spoke as though casually asking a question.

"What?" Misaka Mikoto was also interrupted by Rod's question and asked back.

"Why are you so weak? You're far weaker than I imagined. Are you really a Level 5?" Rod wore an utterly incredulous expression, and his tone was so devoid of mockery that it sounded as though he were genuinely asking. Both Misaka Mikoto and Kamijo Toma froze.

But Kamijo Toma soon saw Misaka Mikoto continuously building up electricity like Pikachu charging an attack. As though responding to her, thunder rumbled in the sky. Amid the low peals of thunder, cold sweat streamed down Kamijo Toma's forehead. He started walking—no, he started running. His sixth sense was screaming a warning. He would not die, but getting hit by that lightning bolt would definitely feel fantastic.

So, he was getting out of there!

"Heh... You actually think I'm not a Level 5. Hahaha... That's hilarious." Misaka Mikoto's lips curled upward as she slowly straightened like a zombie, her eyes brimming with rage.

It was precisely because Rod's words held no mockery at all that they made Misaka Mikoto even angrier. Wasn't that naked contempt!?

"Yeah. Otherwise, why?" Rod smiled as he raised his hand. In the blink of an eye, he seized Misaka Mikoto by her slender neck and lifted her up. Misaka Mikoto, who had been about to use her ability, suddenly could not breathe, while intense pain sent frantic warnings through her brain.

Misaka Mikoto's legs, clad in loose socks, kicked wildly. She gripped Rod's hand as lightning continuously burst from her body, trying to break free from his grasp.

"Why can I crush you as easily as an ant?" The casual laziness vanished from Rod's face, replaced by icy coldness. The killing intent in his eyes stopped Misaka Mikoto's thoughts entirely. For the first time in her life, Misaka Mikoto had come so close to death.

It felt as though her neck could be snapped at any second, plunging her into death. An overwhelming sense of danger screamed warnings through her mind.

Drop after drop of clear liquid fell onto the grass. Rod froze at the sight, his expression turning exceedingly awkward. He loosened his grip on Misaka Mikoto and turned his back to her.

Holding his forehead, he sighed to himself.

I went too far...

Misaka Mikoto came back to her senses and quickly covered her skirt, her face flushing scarlet. Humiliation—unprecedented humiliation. She had actually been scared into peeing herself. What kind of joke was this?!