Chapter 30: Simple and Brutal Tactics
A pale red aura surged toward the white-haired youth like a raging tide.
An invisible wave spread outward from the white-haired youth, repelling heat, carbon dioxide, water vapor, and everything else in the surrounding air. Any substance that touched his skin was "reflected."
Yet the pale red aura ignored the reflection and continued crystallizing toward the white-haired youth.
Whoosh~
Su Xiao's aura swept over the white-haired youth, tousling his hair as he staggered back a few steps.
"Cough, cough, cough..."
The white-haired youth bent over, covering his mouth with one hand as a fit of dry coughing wracked him. Blood seeped through his fingers.
"Not bad, you scumbag!"
The sharp pain throughout his body enraged the white-haired youth. He hadn't felt pain in a long time, almost forgetting the sensation. With a wild, unruly temperament and a gaze that seemed ready to devour, that was the first impression the white-haired youth gave.
The white-haired youth shook the blood from his hand. Though he staggered as if on the verge of collapse, his fierce glare showed he wouldn't fall anytime soon.
The white-haired youth was known as Accelerator. His name was unknown, his gender unknown, though he appeared male. He was the uncontested strongest esper in Academy City, with the ability "Vector Manipulation."
This ability was simple to understand: it controlled the kinetic direction of objects and energy. It could make stationary objects move at super-high speeds or change the direction of existing momentum. For example, if someone punched Accelerator, the moment their fist touched his skin, he could arbitrarily change the kinetic direction of that punch, deflecting the attack or even reversing the kinetic energy back onto the enemy's arm.
Overall, this ability was somewhat unbeatable. However, the aura Su Xiao released was neither an object nor energy—it was a mixture of his personal will and mental power, something entirely outside Accelerator's understanding.
For instance, if someone looked at Accelerator, he couldn't change the focus or direction of their gaze. His inability to reflect Su Xiao's aura was similar in principle.
The active effect of Aura Release took effect, dealing significant damage to Accelerator. However, the passive effect didn't trigger.
This caught Su Xiao off guard. He had initially thought Accelerator's willpower wasn't strong, but now it seemed otherwise.
Drip, drip...
Blood dripped from Accelerator's fingertips as his blood-red eyes locked onto Su Xiao.
Su Xiao stood about ten meters away, holding Dragon-Slaying Flash horizontally before him. Before meeting Accelerator, he had considered how to counter his ability.
Unfortunately, even now, he still hadn't found a way to break through it. The reflection ability was too troublesome. However, Accelerator wasn't without weaknesses. The biggest flaw of Vector Manipulation was that it required skin contact to work. In other words, if Accelerator couldn't touch something, he couldn't manipulate its "vector."
Su Xiao thought for a moment. While this was a weakness, Accelerator's ability was like a turtle shell that could counterattack—not only unbreakable but also dangerous to strike.
"I'll have to test it out."
Su Xiao muttered as a circular dent formed in the alloy floor beneath him. He vanished from sight.
"Such speed... a physical enhancement type, huh."
Though Accelerator seemed arrogant, he was actually very calm. Using his ability required his brain to calculate numerous formulas. Lv.5 espers were no fools.
A gust of wind swept in as Su Xiao reappeared, now only about two meters from Accelerator.
Su Xiao held his blade with one hand, slashing Dragon-Slaying Flash horizontally toward Accelerator's neck. He used about eighty percent of his strength.
The blade sliced through the air with a whining sound. In an instant, the sharp edge of Dragon-Slaying Flash touched Accelerator's skin.
Thud~
A strange sound echoed. Su Xiao felt a tremendous force surge through the blade, sending his body hurtling backward as if struck by a hammer.
Boom!
Su Xiao crashed into a metal wall over ten meters away, leaving a human-shaped dent in it.
"Huh, that's it? Boring, hahaha. Well, the gap in strength is too big, so it can't be helped."
Accelerator lazily picked his ear with a finger, then looked up at the surveillance camera in the corner.
"Done. Is this really an experiment?"
As Accelerator spoke, a voice came from the corner of the corridor.
"This is indeed part of the experiment. You've completed 10,012 experiments. We need to change the test subject to verify the degree of ability evolution."
In the control room, Kihara Hasumi held a microphone, his tone still polite.
"Tch."
Accelerator clicked his tongue. He knew full well what was happening. Over ninety percent of today's events were due to the lab being attacked and the defense system breached. He was just a temporary watchdog.
Not only that, but he also knew the "Absolute Ability Development Plan" was impossible.
Killing twenty thousand clones of the Railgun to reach Lv.6? Don't joke around. Even if he killed twenty million, he wouldn't reach Lv.6. He was well aware of that.
Yet Accelerator still cooperated with the plan because he didn't want to die yet. These researchers were trash—he could kill them all easily—but there was a terrifying person in Academy City, someone he couldn't defy.
The strongest esper in Academy City—what a glorious title. But beneath that glory, he bore many pains unknown to outsiders. Not to mention anything else, he didn't even have personal freedom.
"It's not just simple kinetic reflection. It amplifies the kinetic energy during the reflection process."
Su Xiao stepped out of the hole in the wall, gently running his finger along the blade of Dragon-Slaying Flash.
Currently, Dragon-Slaying Flash had a durability of 87/98. Since entering the Magic Index world, it had lost 11 points of durability. The fierce battle with Kanzaki Kaori had placed a significant burden on the blade.
Dragon-Slaying Flash's sturdiness was exceptional among blades of the same rank, especially with the +12 enhancement effect: Weapon Toughness +12.
When Su Xiao's slash was reflected earlier, he took the brunt of the kinetic energy, and Dragon-Slaying Flash lost a tiny bit of durability, but its toughness was still satisfactory.
Su Xiao pressed one hand to his chest. He wasn't seriously injured. He hadn't taken the kinetic energy head-on; being sent flying looked clumsy, but it was actually his method of dispersing force. As long as he didn't resist directly, the reflected kinetic energy did limited damage. Combined with Bubu Wang's recovery aura, Accelerator's reflection ability couldn't harm him much in the short term.
As for changing the slash direction the moment it hit Accelerator, that was useless. Su Xiao had tested it himself. It required complete knowledge of Accelerator's ability, personal habits, weight, height, and activation time to pull off.
Only Accelerator's ability developer, Kihara Numata, could possibly do that. Relying on such a method to defeat Accelerator was unreliable.
Since he couldn't break through Accelerator's ability, Su Xiao changed tactics. The new strategy was simple and brutal: a war of attrition.
Accelerator's twig-like frame meant his stamina was definitely poor—the kind of kidney-deficient physique that needed rest after a short walk.
Using his ability required a tiny amount of stamina plus brain calculations. According to the law of conservation of matter, using his ability must consume something.
That made things easy. Su Xiao's stamina attribute was a full 80 points. Combined with Dragon-Slaying Flash's high durability of 87/98, he didn't believe Accelerator could keep reflecting his slashes indefinitely. After all, the stronger his slash, the greater Accelerator's consumption.
Yes, Su Xiao planned to exhaust Accelerator to death. Once the other party ran out of stamina, Su Xiao could finish him in an instant.
"So you're not dead. Pretty tough, huh."
Seeing Su Xiao unharmed, Accelerator stopped in his tracks and turned his head to look at him.
Su Xiao didn't waste words. He dashed forward in a few steps, leaped into the air to reduce damage from the reflected kinetic energy, and brought his blade down with full force!