One-way traffic

"That's what I thought at first, but as the game progressed, I got more and more into it and couldn't stop for a while. After all, it's been so long since anyone has been able to spar with me head-on!"

"Tch—don't talk with that disgusting face, you bastard."

Anyway, the battle is over.

For Accelerator, this so-called sparring match wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

The battle with Roswaal helped him further improve his proficiency in the formulas for controlling magic. After all, the energy direction of magic is completely different from the general laws of physics. Even if one can completely control it, the number one ability user still needs practical experience to further improve himself.

He did indeed learn many new skills as a result.

His ability actually has a major drawback: the power to manipulate the direction of energy is ultimately just manipulation, not creation. Therefore, he can only manipulate things in his surrounding environment as his means of attack.

For example.

Just like at the seaside, Accelerator can manipulate the seawater to create tsunamis; at a volcano, he can manipulate lava to burn enemies; and in places like the Arctic or Antarctic, he can even cause avalanches or melt glaciers to raise the global sea level.

However, if he were standing in an environment where there was nothing, he could only manipulate the wind to attack. He couldn't create things like fire, ice, or water from scratch. Even if he could create attacks similar to plasma and electric current, it would still require secondary manipulation based on his control level, which would be too troublesome.

But the magic is different.

There are many kinds of magic in the atmosphere, such as water, fire, wind, earth, and yin and yang magic particles. If Accelerator controls these magics, he can choose the magic he needs to create results that transcend the laws of physics.

Even in a place where there is nothing, as long as he manipulates fire-attribute magic particles, he can create attack methods similar to fire magic out of thin air, just like the magic cast by elven sorcerers. However, Accelerator relies on his own superpower.

This perfectly corrects this flaw of the first superhuman.

Moreover, although his ability requires physical contact to control direction, air itself is a medium, and by relying on wind or air, he can control the magical particles around his enemies.

In that case, he could even interrupt, or even further manipulate, the magic that the enemy was casting or had already cast.

The reason Roswaal was unable to continue flying in mid-air was because the number one esper forcibly controlled the wind-attribute magic of the other party with his own power.

All of this was the conclusion drawn during the battle against this court-level magician.

There was just one thing he didn't understand.

Roswaal shouldn't be the kind of person who acts impulsively.

If it were someone like Subaru Natsuki, it would be one thing, but Accelerator is a monster who has lived in the dark side for who knows how long. He can easily see through other people's social mentality and psychological maturity.

Roswaal is not the kind of person who would impulsively say something like, "Because you are strong, I want to fight you."

His sparring with Accelerator, and even the eventual real battle, were perhaps all driven by some purpose.

What was the so-called purpose? He didn't know, at least not for now.

The first one grimaced unhappily.

Oh well, it's none of my business anyway.

then.

"Party!!"

A familiar voice came.

The number one superpowered person didn't even need to look to know who it was. He sighed helplessly and turned around.

A familiar figure was running towards him at top speed.

"I've already said it, you idiot young lady, someone like me is completely unnecessary—"

He stood there, stunned.

Because the girl in front of him rushed into his arms and hugged him tightly.

Reflection is indeed enabled, but there's one thing to be clear about.

Reflection is just reflection. If the other party approaches Accelerator without any malicious intent from the beginning, then reflection will not take effect until the other party actually engages in aggressive behavior, at which point reflection will take effect again.

In reality, this girl could never have been hostile to Accelerator from the beginning, so Accelerator had already assumed that the reflection would not work on her.

However, this is the first time such a situation has occurred so far.

"Hey! What exactly do you want?!"

Accelerator shouted out in utter dissatisfaction.

But he paused the next moment because he sensed something.

The girl in his arms was trembling slightly.

Even someone like him, a member of the villainous party, could roughly guess some of it.

“…I said.”

"..."

"You didn't become like this because you were worried about me, did you?"

no respond.

But Accelerator could clearly hear the voice coming from the girl in his arms.

That was the sound of sobbing.

The first monster curled its lip.

"What kind of situation is this? This crybaby princess?"

"...Why did it suddenly turn into such a dangerous battle..."

"So what? You don't actually think that kind of trash can hurt me, do you?"

"But...I'm really...worried about you."

Even Hatsune Miku herself doesn't understand why she cares so much about the person in front of her.

They've only met a handful of times, not even that many.

They weren't even childhood sweethearts.

However, Hatsune Miku still remembers one thing.

In that apocalyptic world, the person who was willing to expend his last bit of energy to save her was the one standing before her.

From that day on, the image of that villain could never be erased from the girl's heart.

A world-class idol, a princess in the hearts of countless people, yet she can never forget that villain who denigrated himself as darkness.

In her eyes, that was the gentlest villain in the world.

and so.

Even she herself couldn't help but feel panicked and scared whenever she saw that person facing any danger, even though she knew he would definitely not lose.

Even Hatsune Miku herself didn't know what was wrong with her.

Perhaps even the villain in her heart doesn't understand the reason for all of this.

"Stop worrying about it."

The first one whispered quietly.

This time, he did not choose to use an extremely rude tone with the girl in front of him.

He spoke in a very calm, serene tone.

"I am the strongest Level 5 esper. I am at the top no matter where I am. Even if a Mars fell from the sky, it wouldn't be able to hurt me."

"So, don't worry, I'm not as weak as you think."

"As long as you believe what I say."

Hatsune Miku felt a surge of warmth from the depths of her heart.

Her face showed a look of astonishment.

Such a gentle tone.

He had never spoken to me like this before. So, he had such a gentle side...?

My heart started pounding uncontrollably.

The princess with her azure twin tails murmured to herself in front of the villains who numbered over 2.3 million.

"Um...I know."

"Ah, I understand now."

The first one simply gave a soft hum.

"Honestly, he's acting like a little kid. It's really ridiculous."

"You silly young lady."

He nonchalantly released the girl from his arms.

This could be considered the first time he had ever hugged a stranger.

The scent still lingered in her arms, whether it was the fragrance of a young girl or perfume, a question even the strongest monster no longer bothered to ponder.

"Ouch."

Then, at times like this.

They also forgot that there was another person in front of them.

"While I'm quite surprised that someone like you, Yifang-kun, could be in this situation, are you sure you want to continue like this in front of me, um~"

The two blinked, and only then did they realize this.

Then, the girl's surprised face instantly turned bright red.

"Eh... Eh eh eh eh eh?!"

She finally realized what a stupid thing she had done.

Like a kettle boiling over, steam rose from the girl's head, her hands trembled, and she tried to say something but couldn't utter a word.

Okay, so embarrassing, so embarrassing, so embarrassing! Ahhhhhh!

I can't wait to find a crack in the ground and crawl into it.

"Waaaaah...!! I, I'm such an idiot! No, no... Waaaah, I'm so ashamed to face anyone...!!"

It's like a girl in the throes of a high school crush.

Hatsune Miku at this moment doesn't dare to say anything at all. She can only murmur to herself, blushing, and doesn't dare to look at Accelerator.

She could only cover her cheeks with both hands, like a child, and turn away.

"Oh My God."

Roswaal laughed, somewhat taken aback.

"This is such an unexpectedly adorable side of Hatsune Miku~"

"Who the hell do you think you are? This situation is all because of you, you bastard! And you dare to talk back to me like that?! Huh?!"

Accelerator relentlessly berated Roswaal, leaving the court mage somewhat bewildered.

It's almost like protecting a small animal from being bullied.

It really is like being deeply in love.

But no matter what.

—The plan has been completed.

"Roswaal! Mr. Accelerator!"

Emilia and the others quickly ran over and witnessed this scene.

"Huh? Why is Hatsune-chan acting so shy? She's like a girl in love... Ah! I get it! You're not like those girls, you've got your head spinning—"

Before Natsuki Subaru, who had suddenly arrived, could finish speaking, Accelerator had already kicked him to the ground.

Then he kicked him in the butt with all his might, sending him flying.

The people on the side were stunned and stood there in surprise.

"Um, Mr. Yifang...?"

"You don't need to worry about it. This is a small matter and it's not a problem at all."

The first person waved his hand dismissively and returned to his usual self.