The Legend of Level 0 in Academy City

The council members who did such a thing should have been targets that Inoue Hideka wanted to kill as soon as possible.

But what about now?

After Inoue Hideka gained control of Yakumi Hisako, he did not kill her directly, but instead manipulated her to deceive himself.

What was the key factor that led Inoue Hidekazu to do this?

After a little thought, Liancha came to a conclusion.

He himself was the key to Inoue Hidekazu's painstaking efforts.

Based on what Inoue Hidekazu said through Yakumi Hisako, Rencha could easily deduce Inoue Hidekazu's thoughts—he was afraid of me, and he wanted to kill me!

Having figured out the key to the matter, Rencha calmed down and stopped rushing to regain control of Yakumi Hisako's body. He said expressionlessly to Inoue Hideka:

"Even so, the fact that she's still alive is the biggest proof that you don't dare kill her... Am I right?"

"so what?"

With a confident smile, Hisako Yakumi asked Rencha in return.

At the same time, he moved his feet and slowly retreated towards Feng Zhanbinghua and Xiaoban Junba, who were standing on the road.

"So what? I can't kill Hisako Yakumi, but that doesn't mean I can't hurt her, right?"

After saying that, Hisako Yakumi suddenly turned around, accelerated towards Hyouka Kazakiri, and shouted loudly:

"Wind Slash, attack me!"

The strategy of controlling Yakumi Hisako was something they had discussed beforehand.

Therefore, when Hisako Yakumi left the hospital and acted abnormally, Hyouka Kazakiri and Gunha Kazuha knew that Eika Inoue had succeeded.

At this moment, Kazakiri Hyouka, who had been waiting for a long time, heard Inoue Eika speak through Yakumi Hisako's body and launched an attack on Yakumi Hisako without saying a word.

Whoosh—a beam of light flashing with white dots suddenly appeared in front of Kazakiri Hyōka, and then shot at high speed toward Yūki Hisako, who was running toward them.

boom!

The beam of light exploded, and after the star-like white dots scattered, they revealed Rensha, who had lost his right arm and was protecting Yakumi Hisako.

Upon hearing Inoue Eika's shout, Rencha rushed over without hesitation to protect Yakumi Hisako.

However, she was using Misaki Shokuhou's mental control ability at the time, so her speed, attack power, and defense were all at their lowest levels.

While switching between abilities, he accelerated towards Hisako Yūmi. By the time he switched to Accelerator's ability 0.7 seconds later, the beam of light was less than a meter away from Hisako Yūmi.

Rencha used all his abilities to rush in front of Yakumi Hisako. When he activated Reflection, one of his arms had already been swallowed by the beam of light.

But it doesn't matter.

She is a cyborg, and she can control her sense of pain, which does not affect her actions.

"Are you OK?"

Rencha turned around, checking on Yakumi Hisako's physical condition while asking her with concern.

Fortunately, she was not injured—even knowing that the person controlling her body was an enemy, Liancha couldn't help but sigh with relief.

Hisako frowned slightly.

Sitting in the swivel chair in the design studio, Inoue Hideka, who was observing the situation from Hisako Yakumi's perspective, also frowned.

Even though she already knew that Rencha was devoted to Yakumi Hisako, Inoue Hideka was still surprised by the extent of her obsession, and even felt a complex mix of emotions, such as a reluctance to continue torturing this cyborg.

Rencha herself did nothing wrong; she was simply following in the footsteps of Hisako Yakumi. In the original work, she sacrificed her life without hesitation to create a chance for Hisako Yakumi to escape.

Even if such a person is a cyborg, if possible, Inoue Hideka would not want to add any more tragedy to this tragic character.

However, she remained fiercely loyal to Hisako Yakumi.

Their combat power is ridiculously strong; if we don't deal with them, they'll be a huge problem.

"Hey... Liancha?"

Inoue Eika looked directly at Rensha through Yakumi Hisako's eyes.

"How about we make a deal?"

It wasn't an inquiry, but more like a request.

Lian looked at the familiar face so close to her, those familiar eyes, and inside... was a sincerity and gentleness she had never seen in this person's eyes before.

Even though she knew this person wasn't her, and even though she knew the enemy was controlling her body, Liancha couldn't help but be captivated by such tenderness.

Staring intently into those eyes, Liancha forced herself to calm down and lowered her voice to say:

"Our relationship doesn't seem friendly enough to be at the point of making a deal."

"No. Our goals don't conflict, so we can make a deal."

Hisako Yakumi took a step back, maintaining the distance between herself and Rensha, and coaxed him gently:

"You probably already know my purpose, right? If you die, I can spare Yakumi Hisako's life. But the crimes she committed and her nature dictate that she will never be free again. If you can accept that, if you trust me, we can make a deal."

Hearing such cruel words come from that person's mouth, Liancha felt a moment of disorientation.

Instead of replying to Inoue Hideka immediately, Rencha paused for a moment, pondering what the outcome would be if he didn't do it.

I am aware of the strength of Inoue Hideka's side.

Perhaps the old men of the council look down on students who only possess power, believing that with the entire Academy City as their backing and with special interference or suppression devices to deal with ability users, the ability users can't cause any big trouble, at most just minor skirmishes.

But Liancha doesn't think so.

The council was destined to fail; it was only a matter of time.

More than half of the seven superpowered individuals are on Inoue Hideka's side, and even the Illusion Killer and the Artificial Angel are helping him. There is also a chairman whose attitude is ambiguous. It is easy to imagine how the ending will be.

How can he protect Hisako Yakumi from harm?

Especially now that Hisako Yakumi is under Inoue Hideka's control, if he goes all out, kills Hisako Yakumi, and then gathers ability users to deal with him, the outcome will be the same.

In that case, perhaps we should consider his suggestion?

……

“Before that, I have a request.”

Seemingly agreeing to Inoue Hideka's suggestion, Rencha remained expressionless as he spoke to Inoue Hideka.

"What? Tell me."

"Finally, may I hug her one last time?"

Chapter 450 Aftermath (Part 1)

"Okay." After a slight hesitation, Inoue Eika agreed to Rencha's request.

After thinking for a moment, he added:

"However, Hisako Yakumi is too cunning. I will not return control of my body to her."

"It's okay, I just wanted to say goodbye to her properly."

As Liancha spoke, she strode toward Yakumi Hisako.

The severed arm revealed a cold, metallic sheen. Her entire body was mechanically constructed, with no blood flowing, only the purplish-red armor on her skin exposed to the air.

With his broken body, Liancha staggered to Yakumi Hisako, then stretched out his only remaining left arm, wrapped it around Yakumi Hisako's body, and put it around her back.

He gently rested his chin on Hisako's shoulder, leaned close to her ear, and whispered to her, even though he knew she couldn't hear him at that moment:

"Live well. Although I won't be able to be by your side anymore, at least I will keep you alive..."

The voice paused for a moment.

Inoue Hideka didn't care.

He could only see what Hisako Yakumi saw and hear what Hisako Yakumi heard. Inoue Eika did not know what it felt like to be embraced by Rencha.

He couldn't feel the medicine or Hisako's body at that moment.

Inoue Hideka thought this was just a simple farewell, so he gave Rencha enough time to say a final goodbye.

only……

"I put a substance in her blood that would explode if her vital signs dropped below a certain level."

After a brief pause, Liancha spoke in a slightly colder tone.

"Hopefully, this thing will never be needed."

After saying this, Rencha forcefully pushed Yakumi Hisako away and flew in the opposite direction toward the middle of the road.

During flight, her body rapidly expanded, and after she was a certain distance away from Inoue Eika and the others—she exploded with a 'bang'!

Scattered fragments fell to the ground with a clatter. Perhaps because Liancha deliberately controlled the range of the explosion, her self-destruction did not bring too strong an impact.

A strong wind blew outwards from the spot where Liancha had self-destructed.

A strong wind ripped the hems of Inoue Hideka and the others' clothes, making a rustling sound.

Through Yakumi Hisako's observation of Inoue Eika, Kazakiri Fuuka who was preparing for the next attack, and Shoban Gunha who was slightly tired after multiple battles, all faced the wind, squinted at the scattered fragments of parts, and remained silent.

------

Inside a room at the research institute.

Serahi Kumokawa is on the phone with Eika Inoue.

"You mean, after sparing Hisako Yakumi's life, we have to keep her in good health and take good care of her after locking her up?"

That's right.

"Well... anyway, you're the victim, so I have no objection."

Yun Chuanqin frowned as she spoke, and asked in confusion:

"However, this doesn't seem like something someone who killed nine high-ranking members of Academy City without batting an eye would say, does it?"

Although after hearing Inoue Eika's explanation, Kumokawa Sera knew that this was a deal made with Rencha.

However, if Inoue Eika is determined to kill Yakumi Hisako, Academy City's technology makes it easy to crack the virus in her body.

……