The Legend of Level 0 in Academy City

Inoue Hideka had no choice but to settle for second best and become her assistant, helping with the referee's work.

"Oops! Sorry! I just participated in a competition, and it hasn't even started yet!"

As he spoke, Inoue Hideka glanced around the mud-paved arena.

In the center of the vast arena, ten pitching cages stand in a row.

The ground was covered with dry soil. Even a slight breeze would stir up a considerable amount of dust, let alone people running on it.

The arena is quite large, and given Inoue Hideka's sensing range and current location, she is not yet able to sense the magical incantation that Orianna has placed within the arena.

However, once the competition begins, once you go into the arena and check each of the ten pole cage pillars, you should be able to find the location of the spell.

Thinking this, Inoue Hideka looked through the pole cage at the contestants on both sides of the separation.

As expected, Tsuchimikado Motoharu and Kamijou Touma were still wearing Yuquan High School's sports uniforms, just like in the original story, and were hiding in the group of more than 200 people.

Meeting Inoue Hidekazu's gaze, Kamijou Touma lowered his head guiltily.

Inoue Eika ignored him and looked towards Tokiwadai Middle School.

Across from Yuquan High School, at Tokiwadai Middle School, there are also familiar faces: Mitsuko Koyomi, arrogantly waving her folding fan, and...

Huh?

What's with that murderous look?

Misaka Mikoto's forehead crackled with a violent blue flame as she glared at Inoue Hideka, who stood under the operations committee's tent, with a look that suggested she wanted to devour him.

Damn it! Why did I have to participate in the competition at this time?!

Ugh! You're such scum! You were kissing and cuddling with Saten right in front of the cameras! I'll kill you! You bastard! I'm going to kill you!

This guy who tarnished Saten's innocence is absolutely unforgivable!

An inexplicable aura emanated from Misaka Mikoto the moment she saw Inoue Eika.

Undeterred and invincible!

Even her fellow Tokiwadai companions stayed away from Misaka Mikoto in fear.

"Alright, the match is about to start, I don't have time to argue with you about this, but Inoue-kun, you really need to reflect on this in private!"

Upon hearing Inoue Hideka's apology, Fukiyori didn't intend to say anything more, especially since the match was about to begin.

"Yes, yes! I understand!"

Inoue Hideka nodded perfunctorily, her eyes darting fearfully at Misaka Mikoto, who exuded a terrifying aura, as she hesitated whether to enter the arena later.

"On your marks, everyone!"

When Fukiyori saw that it was time, he picked up the megaphone on the table next to him and called out.

"Ready~~"

"start!!"

As the announcement of "Start!" came over the loudspeaker, the students on the field sprang into action, dust billowing everywhere, and the arena was instantly filled with flying debris.

Using the dust as cover, Inoue Hideka hesitated for a moment before rushing into the arena.

The red and white balls traced graceful arcs, leaped high into the air, and then quickly fell back down, flying towards the cage located in the center of the arena.

Amidst the smoke and dust, unable to determine how many students were blocking the way to the pole cage, Inoue Eika dared not use her magnetic gloves to move directly over. She could only accelerate at full speed, dodging the impact of the rubber balls and energy fluctuations as she approached the pole cage.

Despite having only 20 students, Tokiwadai Middle School completely overwhelmed Yuquan High School's 200 students, as they were all at least level 3 espers.

Fireballs and energy beams hurtled through the air, forcing the Yuquan High School players to flee in disarray.

Dodging the fireball aimed at him, Inoue Hideka ran closer and was able to sense the presence of the spell. The energy fluctuations were as clear as lights in the dark of the dusty arena.

Chapter 234 The Grand Star Festival in Full Swing (6)

After identifying the target, Inoue Hideka began searching for Kamijou Touma so she could call him over to dispel the spell.

But at that moment, someone's power struck the frame of the pole cage, causing it to tilt and fall towards a Tokiwadai girl who was standing still.

"Tsk! What are you spacing out for!"

Inoue Hideka clicked his tongue in annoyance and reached out towards the tilted cage.

The magnetic gloves activated, sending the pole cage flying to the edge of the arena with a 'boom'.

Seeing that the crisis was over, the girl from Tokiwadai ran to Inoue Hidekazu's side, looked at him gratefully, and whispered with a slightly flushed face:

"Thank you! You...you're the referee, right? Thank you so much for saving me!"

"Ah! Don't worry about it, this is my job. You should continue the game!"

Saying this without a care, Inoue Eika abandoned the search for Kamijou Touma and ran ahead towards the source of the disturbance.

He worried that if he delayed like this, someone else might touch the spell, and all his efforts would be in vain.

Amidst the smoke and dust, Misaka Mikoto angrily stopped her pitching motion, clenched her fists, and roared furiously:

"Damn it! Still trying to look cool at a time like this! Are you trying to flirt with other women again?!"

As he spoke, he clenched his fist and was about to smash it against the cage next to him.

"Misaka!"

A loud shout suddenly came from her side. Although Misaka Mikoto was in a bad mood, she still looked over in confusion.

"Huh? What are you doing here? I remember you're a high school student, right?"

"Listen up, Misaka, I'll explain the reason in detail later, so get out of there now!"

Kamijou Touma stood less than five meters away from Misaka Mikoto and said anxiously.

"Huh? What nonsense are you talking about!"

At that moment, a contestant from Yuquan High School suddenly appeared behind Touma Kamijou and threw a wooden dart at Misaka Mikoto.

boom!

Wearing a gym uniform from Yuquan High School, Kamijou Touma ruthlessly thwarted an attack that was meant for his comrade, and then yelled at Misaka Mikoto again:

"Misaka, don't say anything, come here quickly! It's dangerous over there!"

"Huh? I said! You're spouting nonsense right from the start, can't you just speak more clearly?! I'm really annoyed right now!"

Blue lightning suddenly flashed between her forehead, a clear sign of anger. Misaka Mikoto roared as she raised her clenched fist, about to smash it against the cage beside her.

"Forehead!"

Upon seeing this, Touma Kamijou rushed over and tackled Misaka Mikoto to the ground.

------

On the other side, when Inoue Hideka arrived at the cage marked with Oriana's spell, she was startled by the scene before her.

Fukiyori frowned as she looked at the chaotic scene, about to place her hand on the paper sticker on the pole cage.

The paper sticker contained Orianna's magic formula.

"Fukiyose!"

Inoue Hideka shouted anxiously.

"Hmm? Inoue-san, is there something you need?"

Seeing that Fukiyori had stopped moving, Inoue Hideka quickly reached out towards the fishing cage, appearing beside it in an instant. He grabbed Fukiyori's hand and swiftly moved away from the cage before explaining to Fukiyori, who was looking on with confusion:

“That cage has been tampered with; touching it could be dangerous. You stay here and keep an eye on it so no one moves. I’ll go find someone who can handle this.”

"Ah, oh!"

After seeing Fukiyori respond with a confused look, Inoue Eika wandered around again, searching for Kamijou Touma.

"Um, ah! Touma, can you come with me for a second? I might know where you're looking for."

When Inoue Eika saw Kamijou Touma, he was rushing towards Misaka Mikoto and tackled her to the ground.

Although she felt a little uncomfortable, Inoue Hideka knew that Kamijou Touma must have done this out of a desire to protect Misaka Mikoto.

He turned away, refusing to look at the heartbreaking scene, and simply called out to Kamijou Touma before returning the way he came.

"Huh? Yinghua, don't misunderstand!"

Kamijou Touma frantically called out to Inoue Eika, not failing to notice that there seemed to be something between Misaka Mikoto and Inoue Eika.

That's why he was so nervous, as if he'd been caught cheating, that he momentarily forgot he should get up from Misaka Mikoto first.

"Well……"

Misaka Mikoto hadn't recovered from the shock of being tackled, but when she saw Inoue Eika walking over, she forgot all her surprise and anger.

All she knew was that she was being pinned down by that idiot's best friend, and that idiot had seen it all.

But that idiot didn't even flinch when he saw himself being pinned down by the boy!

He just turned around and left!

Thinking this, Misaka Mikoto was suddenly overwhelmed by even greater anger, and shouted at Kamijou Touma, who was still on top of her:

"Damn it! Get up now!!"

Then he punched Touma Kamijou in the face, unleashing even greater force than usual in his rage, sending Touma flying.

--------

Inoue Hideka returned to the pole cage with the spell markings, found an excuse to send Fukiyori away, and waited a while before seeing Kamijou Touma come over.

But what's with the bruise on my right eye?

Didn't it not exist just now?

"Um... well, let's deal with the immediate problem first, Touma. This thing..."

Inoue Hideka pointed to the paper sticker on the pole cage and said, "I can sense that it contains magic. Try putting your right hand on it."

"Oh!"

Kamijou Touma was very frustrated. He went to save someone but instead got punched, and he looked quite listless.

However, when it came to the issue of magic, he nodded seriously and lightly touched the paper sticker with his right hand.