Chapter 302: Crown of the Mundane and Divine: Mundane Troubles 『 Part Six 』
〜A Certain Magical Index World〜
"EHHHH—!!"
Inside the Tokiwadai Middle School dormitory, Shirai Kuroko sat on the edge of her bed, legs crossed, idly twirling the ends of her tea-colored twin tails around her finger.
She had been watching the Sky Curtain with a sense of utter boredom, only to be startled by Asta's sudden disappearance.
"Onee-sama~"
She dragged out the syllables, letting her body lean to the side until she was falling toward Misaka Mikoto.
"I'm so scared—"
"Hey! Don't just lean on me out of nowhere!"
Misaka Mikoto, who was sitting cross-legged on the carpet drinking canned coffee, nearly choked when Kuroko collided with her. With a look of distaste, she pressed her hand against Kuroko's forehead and shoved her away.
"Sit properly when you talk!"
"The flames on the Space Station can't burn you anyway, and besides… Space Transport isn't exactly something you should be afraid of, is it?"
Kuroko pouted but obediently scooted back to her original spot, though her fingers continued to tap restlessly against her knee.
"Onee-sama, I'm afraid of that flame demon… Does that fire have the ability to transport any object it attaches to back to him?"
In all of Tokiwadai Middle School, she was the only esper with the ability of Teleportation. However, her power wasn't a simple move from A to B; it involved calculating an expansion of three-dimensional coordinates into the eleventh dimension to find a folding point between her current location and the target destination. Furthermore, her limit for a single jump was 81.5 meters.
She didn't know yet if the blue flame had a distance limit for its spatial movement… If it didn't, that would be absolutely broken.
"Since Mr. Ratio called it a degraded form of Space Transfer, there must be a distance limitation,"
Misaka Mikoto said, tilting her head back to take a swig of coffee.
"If we can assume Miss Asta is safe, then this disappearance might actually be a good thing for her."
"Eh? Why is that?"
Mikoto tossed the empty can with precision into the trash bin.
"It's obvious—the rumors on the Space Station claim that the disappearances are a method used by management to purge dissidents. But if a disappearance happens to Asta, the Lead Researcher herself, those rumors naturally fall apart."
—
「 "Calm yourself. Asta has merely been teleported away; her life is not in danger."
Screwllum remained entirely unruffled. "Through physical contact, I have confirmed that Ifrit's flames are merely sparks of the primordial Phase Flame. They do not possess the capacity for phase shifting. Logic: Asta is still within the Space Station."
Just as his voice fell, a bone-chilling, low chuckle resonated in mid-air.
"Heh heh, merely a spark? This arrogance from a Genius… I find it quite agreeable," the voice said with piqued interest. "If you think you can do it, then come and try."
Dr. Ratio spoke indifferently: "It appears Duke Inferno did not personally descend upon the Space Station. He merely took advantage of the chaos to cast a cluster of Phase Flame here, letting it wander and hunt the researchers. If the flame is extinguished, his conspiracy will vanish with it."
Screwllum stated that he would head to Herta's office to cut off the opponent's transfer route, while Ratio would accompany Stelle to contain the entity.
With their tasks divided, the two set off immediately. Sure enough, they cornered the small flame within the Space Station. Although it attempted to flee via multiple transfers, it was ultimately completely blocked by the pair.
Before being captured, the wisp of fire remained defiant: "Ignorant fools blindly chasing the light, unaware that the grace of Destruction has already landed at your feet."
"It is little wonder that even the descent of the Savior's Legion was unable to cleanse this place. I will acknowledge my brashness... for now, but next time, expect no intermediaries. I will come to personally offer you the demise of your sins with infernal fire."
"Hahahaha—"
Amidst Duke Inferno's arrogant laughter, the flame suddenly flew upward, transforming into several portals. Voidrangers from the Legion drilled out from within, instantly forming a squad of considerable size.
"Tsk… a boring trick to stall for time. That's enough."
A pristine white piece of chalk had appeared in Dr. Ratio's fingertips without anyone noticing. He raised his eyes coldly, flicked his wrist, and the chalk transformed into a sharp streak of white light amidst the sound of breaking air, instantly smashing a Voidranger into pieces.
"So this is the so-called miscreants materializing from the inferno? Is this the extent of it? It seems Dr. Primitive's words were not false." Dr. Ratio scolded in a deep voice: "Zero points! Next!" 」
「 ..... 」
〜Vought Cinematic Universe, The Boys Worldline〜
Inside Vought Tower, Homelander was squinting, the red glow of his heat vision carefully focused on the bottom of a bottle. He had to precisely control the temperature of the milk to around 37 degrees—that provided the smoothest texture.
"Zero points! Next!"
The sudden shout from the Light Screen was accompanied by an explosion. Not only did it make his hand holding the bottle jerk violently, but the beam of light also surged like a runaway horse, slicing his twenty-thousand-dollar refrigerator cleanly in half.
"F*cking hell!"
Homelander wiped the milk off his face and looked furiously at the Light Screen—only to see a massive swarm of Voidrangers had appeared, while Ratio was calmly hurling chalk at them.
He used his super vision to scan the man up and down repeatedly, confirming there were no technological modifications on the chalk in his hand. Yet, with every throw, an explosion rang out from the screen.
"How the f*ck is that possible…"
Homelander muttered to himself, his brow furrowed tight.
"Wait… isn't he a teacher?!"
Those Voidrangers had armor thicker than a goddamn armored personnel carrier—even his heat vision might not pierce them easily—so how was this guy achieving that effect by throwing chalk?!
Just then, there was a knock at the door. Ashley walked in, her heels clicking, wearing a sycophantic smile.
"Sir, I've found another perfect candidate for a Knight of Beauty. I've already had him undergo plastic surgery, and he's extremely loyal to you. Regarding the superpowers, what do you think—"
"Knight of Beauty?"
Homelander spun around violently, a trace of brutality flashing in his blue eyes.
"Did someone f*ck your brains out?! Who the f*ck cares about Knights of Beauty right now?"
He grabbed Ashley by the back of her collar, lifting her up like a baby chick, and wrenched her neck to force her to look at the Light Screen.
"Look at this! Dr. Ratio! This is what the fans want to see right now! Cold, hard, uncompromising! I want someone like that!"
Ashley, stunned by the sudden mood swing and rage, was a bit dazed.
"But… Sir, I completely understand your thoughts, but Dr. Ratio's style might not really fit the tone of The Seven…"
"Are you contradicting me?"
The air suddenly went still.
Ashley turned the color of a pig's liver. Fear contorted her entire face, and her throat could barely squeeze out a disjointed sound.
"I-I mean… You're right, you're always right!
—