In Academy City’s District Seven, within the confines of an abandoned factory. This place was once the research institute for the Absolute Ability User Project, left derelict and untended since Misaka utterly destroyed it in the past.

Now, this crumbling facility had become the battleground for two Level 5 espers. Blue-white arcs of electricity clashed with strands of electron wires, filling the air with smoke, spitting sparks, and leaving behind a trail of infinite breach points.

“Get out here! Hiding away like that—is that all the strength you possess? Your Level 5 power is weeping!”

Mugino Shizuri spat the words as she casually whipped out a sheet of electron wires. Everything obstructing her view instantly vaporized to dust. As the smoke cleared, her gaze swept the area, but the enemy’s figure remained elusive.

My Level 5 power is weeping? If that thing could actually weep, I’d really like to hear it. Lin Luo crouched behind a corner, a knot of conflict tightening in his chest. Mugino Shizuri was clearly resolved to fight him to the death. The power she was unleashing now, while not at full output, had already far exceeded her low-level capabilities.

The sheer destructive force it generated made even him, a fellow Level 5, hesitant to touch those electron wires carelessly.

For now, I’ll weather her initial assault and reassess when her power wanes.

Thinking this, Lin Luo guarded against Mugino’s incoming attacks while trying to shift toward a safer position. The instant his foot moved, however, massive swathes of electron wires shot toward him, tearing away the metal walls as if they were paper. The Atomic Dissolution, capable of breaking down all matter, flashed instantly before Lin Luo.

Zzzzt!

A surge of electricity warped and distorted the incoming Atomic Dissolution, but this time, he distinctly felt resistance. The distortion wasn't smooth; there was a heavy drag... I can no longer fully twist it away.

All nearby cover had been pulverized by Mugino Shizuri’s barrage. Seizing the momentary lull before her second wave, Lin Luo used magnetism to control a sheet of iron on the ground and hurled it toward her with lightning speed.

CRASH!

A heavy fist slammed into the iron plate with a dull thud. The half-desktop-sized slab was sent flying by Mugino Shizuri, not through the use of her ability, but purely by the impact of her physical punch. Faintly visible on the iron sheet was a shallow fist imprint.

Lin Luo gasped inwardly. That iron plate, while not excessively thick, was still solid iron. To leave a dent like that required more than just anyone, especially considering Mugino’s attack seemed entirely casual just now... Terrifying strength!

Despite his shock at Mugino’s raw striking power, Lin Luo wasn't truly surprised.

Kuroko Shirai’s grappling techniques were formidable, weren't they? With just that skill, even three or five burly men wouldn't easily get close to her. But having seen Mugino Shizuri’s memories, Lin Luo knew that if abilities were disallowed and it came down to pure martial skill, even three or five Kuroko Shirai combined would be no match for Mugino.

Many only recognized the horror of Mugino Shizuri’s abilities, unaware that her close-quarters combat skills were equally extraordinary. Her punching power was clearly beyond ordinary human levels; her physical conditioning was at least four times that of a normal adult male. While Misaka now possessed similar physical attributes, Misaka certainly couldn't deliver a punch as heavy as Mugino’s.

Mugino Shizuri was never an ordinary person to begin with!

The last time he managed to get close and stun her with electricity was pure luck. Now, Mugino was on guard; the same trick wouldn't work twice. Moreover, a punch like that landing on him would result in at least a few broken bones—a thought that made his scalp tingle.

Regaining cover, Lin Luo was forced to strategize. However, defeating a berserk Mugino Shizuri with his current power set was proving extremely difficult. Mei Ling wasn't currently connected to the Misaka Network, so borrowing her power was impossible for the moment.

Speaking of which, I don't actually have any irreconcilable feud with Mugino Shizuri... It’s all because of that infuriating memory!

“Aaaargh! I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you all! Die, all of you!”

Suddenly, Mugino Shizuri’s shriek echoed through the factory. She seemed to have plunged into a full-blown rampage, radiating brilliant white beams of light shooting out in all directions from her center, dazzlingly bright.

Where the light passed, everything seemed to melt away like ice and snow, accompanied by small-scale explosions nearby... In a single instant, the entire research institute was reduced to rubble.

The only things left intact were Mugino Shizuri herself and Lin Luo, standing twenty meters away across from her.

Now, the two stood facing each other, with no cover between them.

Then, a crazed smile bloomed on Mugino’s face. She threw her head back, raising both hands high. An intensely dazzling white light pulsed in her palms—it was the Granulated Wave High-Speed Cannon formed by condensing massive amounts of electron wires, resembling a brilliant sphere of light. As the wires cycled and overlapped, this sphere grew larger and larger, threatening to erupt at any second.

Lin Luo had witnessed Mugino in this state of madness twice; this was one instance, and the other was in her memories... Back before she joined ITEM, she had slaughtered over a hundred people in this very posture, all of whom were connected to her past.

Of course, the power she wielded then was nowhere near this level.

“You bastard!”

Lin Luo cursed silently. Mugino was undeniably using high output now, because her two arms were visibly wasting away at a frightening rate... While annihilating everything around her, she was simultaneously destroying herself!

Gathering all the electricity onto his own body, Lin Luo began summoning heavenly lightning from the sky, his own brilliance almost matching Mugino’s dazzling light.

Almost simultaneously as the heavenly thunder descended, Mugino unleashed the full force of her high-output Granulated Wave High-Speed Cannon... Amidst flashes of lightning and thunder, beams of light shot out in every direction like rain.

...This is a true map-clearing attack!!

In the original narrative, Mugino Shizuri had been defeated twice by an Unregistered ability user (a certain "cake" face). But seeing the current situation, Lin Luo simply couldn't comprehend it.

Lin Luo, benefiting from the processing power of the Misaka Network, was essentially a genuine Level 5, aside from insufficient stamina. Furthermore, one of his hands was faintly touching the domain of a mysterious power, beginning to tread into the realm of Rules. In some aspects, his tier surpassed even Accelerator and Dark Matter.

Yet, even with this level of power, he dared not meet Mugino Shizuri’s high-output attack head-on. Lin Luo was absolutely certain that even a slight brush with those dense electron wires would result in instant disintegration, with no time for regeneration.

Such terrifying destructive power—and an ordinary Unregistered user was supposed to defeat her?

What a joke!!

While conviction can be a component of power, for a normal human being to defeat an esper based on sheer faith... Level 5s aren't that cheap! The world isn't that simple!!

Indeed, the laws governing the Toaru dimension are saturated by protagonist plot armor. In the original story, whether it was the "cake" guy or Yuriko, when they were villains, they could be easily beaten by the protagonist's harem protagonist touch. But once they became the main characters, their vitality became tougher than cockroaches. Once protagonist armor engaged, they could slay gods and buddhas!

Level 5s are merely passing clouds before the might of protagonist armor!

...Boom boom boom... Sizzzzzle...

Blinding light and lightning completely engulfed this area of the sky and land. When everything subsided, only Lin Luo remained standing. His clothes were shredded beyond recognition, resembling rags, and the skin exposed showed an abnormal redness.

Facing the high-output Atomic Dissolution, Lin Luo channeled all the heavenly lightning into himself, using ten billion volts of electricity to counter her electron wires, barely surviving this certainly fatal situation.

Not far in front of him, Mugino Shizuri lay collapsed on the ground. Both her arms were completely gone, and she was in a near-death state.

Lin Luo walked over, looking at her condition, and sighed, “What good does doing this do you?”

Mugino Shizuri opened her eyes, gazing at Lin Luo. There was no trace of anger or malice in those eyes, only a flicker of desolation, as if she were utterly unconcerned about her impending death.

“If you don’t cherish yourself, who in this world will cherish you?” Lin Luo crouched down, placing a hand on her, injecting a faint white light into her body.

At that moment, a glimmer of light finally returned to Mugino Shizuri's eyes, filled with confusion and bewilderment.

“The past cannot be relived; the present must be seized; the future is what needs to be looked toward. If a person spends their entire life steeped in the past, they will never see what is most important to them.”

When Lin Luo stood up, Mugino Shizuri’s arms were completely restored.

“Why?”

Just those three simple words seemed to drain every ounce of strength from Mugino. Even with her body recovered, standing up immediately was not something she could manage.

“No why. I just wanted to do it,” Lin Luo said, walking away with his back to her. “Also, about what I saw in your memory, I will forget it as soon as possible, so you don't need to worry... Farewell, and take care of yourself.”

... After a long pause, when Mugino Shizuri finally sat up from the ground, a bitter smile, akin to relief, touched her lips. She muttered, “As expected, you’re such an infuriating bastard.”

P: Alright, to stop you all from agonizing over it, the picture of the fourth heroine has been posted, so... vote for me!