"D-disappeared?"
Misaki Shokuhou repeated Mikoto Misaka's words, her cheek resting on her hand.
In a single brief instant, her pretty face, which had still held a teasing look, turned calm and solemn.
"Has the enemy arrived already?"
Mikoto Misaka asked with concern.
Several Espers had once regarded her as an ignorant lucky girl who knew nothing of Academy City's dark side and simply lived in the sunlight.
But through the string of encounters brought about by the Sisters project, the girl had long since shed her earlier immaturity and grown in a way that made her more dependable without becoming obsessive.
In this world where magnetic field cities now prevailed, both Esper Abilities and True Magic were out in the open. In a social environment that suited her so well, Mikoto Misaka had gone from a recruitment poster girl to a true Counter Guardian, and thus also knew of the enemies who could destroy the world at any moment.
"Mm... rather, their having already arrived is a certainty."
Misaki Shokuhou looked melancholy, her finger unconsciously winding around the ends of her honey-colored hair, curling them round and round.
"The question is, how many came? And what is the purpose of their arrival...?"
Only enemies on the level of Demon Gods could make Othinus leave in such a hurry without even saying a word.
With Roland yet to return, she would definitely keep part of her attention on the vicinity of the ritual, while also serving as the first line of defense and prioritizing the key figures identified in their intelligence on the enemy.
Under those circumstances, it was hardly strange that she could not be everywhere at once.
"So we must proceed cautiously from here on. Until Lord Roland returns, whatever the cost, we must hold out in our confrontation