"Excuse me, sorry to disturb you. You must be the eighth ranked telekinesis esper, right?" A very polite voice sounded out as the shadow of a human figure was cast across the table.
Arata looked at the person he had been waiting for. The man wore a dark purple suit, and a metal claw hung from his belt. His taste was so gaudy that simply standing next to him made people feel uncomfortable. A gentle smile rested on his face, yet it did not match the gloomy eyes hidden beneath the shadow.
"I have a proper name, Arata, and I don't like being called the Eighth or something like Unformed Matter." Arata spoke with a half smiling expression, then pointed to the chair across from him.
"Would you like to sit down and have a cold drink? It's quite hot outside."
"I also have a proper name. Kakine Teitoku." Kakine Teitoku did not sit down. Instead, he took out a painless syringe from his pocket, tossed it onto the table, and smiled politely.
"Eighth ranked, I won't waste time with unnecessary talk. I need your DNA sample. If you don't want to fight me, then obediently draw a syringe of blood."
Arata laughed softly. "The Number Two Level 5 being ordered around by researchers. That doesn't look very dignified. Or do you believe pleasing the researchers is the only way to live comfortably in Academy City?"
Crack! Bang! The painless syringe instantly shattered under the pressure of telekinesis. It fragmented again and again until it became particles finer than flour, leaving behind a layer of white powder on the table.
"So you know quite a bit." Kakine Teitoku showed no anger at all. Instead, he slowly placed the metal claw from his waist onto his hand and looked at Arata.
"You chose this spacious place because you knew the Dark Side would come looking for you. Even though I'm a bastard, I don't want to drag ordinary people into this mess. That's good. If you had cooperated from the beginning, I wouldn't want to resort to violence against a newcomer who has just joined the Level 5 ranking."
Kakine Teitoku glanced at the few customers sitting in the open air drink shop.
Arata could not help but laugh. "So you believe Dark Matter can definitely defeat me? Being too arrogant might lead to an early death."
"Those words shouldn't come from a mere telekinesis esper who just became a Level 5. Since you refuse to cooperate, then we'll beat you until you cough up blood."
Kakine Teitoku looked at Arata with gloomy eyes, a confident smile still on his lips. He did not take this newly promoted Level 5 seriously at all.
As he spoke, the surrounding air suddenly became heavy, as if the laws of matter themselves were being forcibly altered. Three pairs of dazzling white wings emitting an unnatural light unfolded behind his back.
Passersby immediately turned their heads in surprise.
"Since we're going to fight, there is no other way. I also want to experience what Dark Matter is capable of. But could you let me finish this cold drink first? It costs 300 yen." Arata said calmly.
Kakine Teitoku kicked the table over with disdain. The cup of cold drink fell to the ground and shattered. Immediately afterward, the one meter long metal claw stabbed straight toward Arata's cheek.
Boom!
In an instant, telekinetic power erupted outward. The paving stones beneath Arata's feet were lifted into the air. Within a blink, every paving stone within a radius of one hundred meters rose into the sky.
Seeing this, Kakine Teitoku's stab missed its target as three pairs of white wings folded around his body in defense.
The green belt and railings beside the road were torn apart by an invisible force, while the glass panels on the lower floors of the nearby skyscraper shattered into fragments.
All those fragments formed a violent vortex and crashed toward Kakine Teitoku at extremely high speed. Even with the white wings protecting him, he was smashed into the corner of a building. The wall collapsed and buried Kakine Teitoku beneath the rubble.
The ordinary civilians nearby reacted immediately, shouting in panic as they fled in all directions. Even the slowest person could realize that two espers were fighting in the street in violation of Academy City's regulations.
Some people quickly began dialing the Anti Skill emergency number.
"Seriously, it's such a waste not to finish it, you bastard. Don't you know anything about thrift?" Arata stood up and looked coldly toward the direction where Kakine Teitoku had been buried, while instantly activating his telekinesis again.
"Wow, that reaction was faster than I expected."
Kakine Teitoku emerged from the ruins completely unharmed. The white wings behind him fluttered lightly. With both hands still in his pockets, he smiled maliciously, showing no sign of injury whatsoever.
"However, telekinesis alone is definitely no match for me."
As he spoke, the light wings slowly lifted him into the air. The mechanical claw in his hand swung toward Arata in an instant, releasing a white gale visible to the naked eye that shot forward at tremendous speed.
The movement of the air instantly produced a powerful shockwave of wind.
"Is that so? There are no useless abilities in this world, only incompetent users. Even if Dark Matter is the finest material, it will only be wasted in the hands of an incompetent person." Arata replied coldly.
He fully activated his telekinesis and swung his hand like a blade toward the incoming white gale.
The invisible impact stirred the surrounding atmosphere, forming visible air currents.
The head on collision between two Level 5 espers released a massive atmospheric shockwave that swept away everything nearby, knocking down fleeing pedestrians and shattering the windows of several nearby skyscrapers.
The entire scene fell into chaos. In a battle between two Level 5 espers, it was impossible to completely account for innocent civilians.
This brief exchange clearly showed the difference in their positions. Arata was knocked backward more than ten meters, flying from the open air drink shop into the roadway, while Kakine Teitoku was slammed into an office building high above.
"Heh, you're quite confident in your ability, aren't you? In that case, let me show you what Dark Matter truly is." Kakine Teitoku stood at the breach in the skyscraper wall completely unharmed, not even a strand of hair out of place, as he looked down at Arata with absolute confidence.
In an instant, the wings on his back expanded outward until they stretched nearly ten meters in length. They surged forward horizontally toward Arata.
He arrived in front of Arata in a single breath and skillfully swung the ten meter long white wings, slashing from six different directions at once.
"You really have a lot of experience killing people, don't you?" Arata could not help but remark sarcastically at the extremely tricky attack angle.
Such a precise and deadly attack would leave even other Level 5 espers struggling to respond, unless it was the Number One Level 5, Accelerator.
At that moment, Arata's extraordinary perception activated. Observation Haki was essentially a sixth sense. he could already perceive a short glimpse of the future, though it only extended two seconds ahead.
Using telekinesis together with this precognitive perception, he easily avoided Kakine Teitoku's attack.
Kakine Teitoku had already rushed directly in front of Arata. His metal claw was wrapped in a layer of distorted blue gas as he slashed toward Arata's chest.
The telekinetic barrier surrounding Arata was sliced open as if it were nothing.
"This gas can bypass telekinesis. That's impressive." Arata thought silently.
After avoiding the strike, he clenched his fist. Telekinetic force gathered and compressed within it, causing the air around his fist to spiral violently and form a roaring vortex.
A powerful gale erupted outward.
"Mind the cannonball."
...
Read advance chapters on p@treon
[email protected]/guilt_free_daoist
Join disc0rd link in synopsis.
GIVE ME YOU POWER STONES.