*Biri-biri*
Electricity began to fluctuate, and Dolly didn't hesitate to attack. Unfortunately, this had already been anticipated by Deadlock. They simply walked without concern due to their power suits, which had high resistance to electrical shocks, enough so that Dolly's electrical attacks couldn't penetrate.
*Bam, bam*
The electricity hit the ground, raising a wall of smoke. At the same time, Dolly grabbed Misaki's hand firmly and stomped the ground forcefully. Electricity started coursing through the ground, and Dolly leaped with great strength.
If the electricity couldn't penetrate their tough defenses, then they had to escape. Dolly could use electricity to stimulate her muscles, enhancing her body.
Misaki was surprised by this and held onto Dolly tightly. The Apocalypse Virus in her body had altered her cellular structure, increasing her strength and allowing her to carry Misaki effortlessly.
*Shiiiiiii*
Unfortunately, just as Dolly jumped, a sharp sound was heard.
"What?!"
Dolly fell to the ground, clutching her head, and Misaki did the same. The sharp sound caused them unprecedented pain.
The leader of Deadlock closed his eyes. This high-tech device made his skin crawl. If it weren't for his helmet, he might also be lying on the ground in pain.
This made him wonder about the background of the party that provided all this equipment to hunt Mental Out. Everything was perfectly prepared, as if they had been waiting for the opportunity to catch Mental Out. This was certainly not simple, and they might belong to the dark side of Academy City.
However, this didn't matter to him. His only interest was in destroying all the Level 5s, and now was the moment.
"Kill her."
"Understood..."
Raising their weapons towards the defenseless girls, they did not hesitate to fire.
Misaki's body trembled. Her beautiful starry eyes saw it. A single bullet was enough to kill, even if she was a Level 5. She was the weakest and her powers were restricted. They were going to kill her, and not just her.
(I'm sorry, I didn't keep my promise...)
It was her carelessness that caused all of this. If she had brought her subordinates, this wouldn't have happened. If she had just been a little more cautious, she knew Dolly's current state and how dangerous it was to expose her, but now it was all over. She didn't keep her promise to the Clown. Closing her eyes in fear, she awaited the moment.
*Bang, bang...*
"Huh?!"
But the blood of the two girls did not flow. A golden barrier appeared, protecting them. This left the group stunned, and not only them. Ayu, who had been watching from a distance, opened her eyes in shock.
"Joker-sama..."
She could see it. Misaki's collar was glowing and protecting its wearer, igniting a deep flame of envy and jealousy in her heart.
"Again... Her... Again... Misaki Shokuhou!"
It was always her. All the good things in the world always belonged to Misaki.
-------------
"Hmm?"
Misaki opened her eyes, and so did Dolly. The barrier blocked the sound from the device, allowing them to see clearly, and the pain disappeared.
"Joker..."
The light from the crown shone and created the barrier, causing tears to well up in Misaki's eyes.
It had been a while since the Joker had left her side, and she had kept the collar with her all this time.
But she never thought this collar could do this. Even though the Clown was no longer around, he was still protecting her.
"You're with me... You always were..."
Misaki held the collar in her hands and hugged it. For a long time, her mind had been trying to find an explanation for the Joker's existence.
Did she create him? Was he a product of her imagination?
It was still in question how Dolly had survived, so she rejected the idea that the Joker was a product of her imagination. And the existence of this collar...
Was it some kind of astral being?
If so...
How could she bring him back?
Misaki wanted him back. She wanted him to return to her side, to be part of her shadow again, to sing again...
To admire her starry eyes again...
But she didn't know where to start. She didn't even know what the Joker was. The only thing she had was the collar. Worst of all, Academy City had no data related to the Joker's existence. Everything was so mysterious that it brought deep sadness.
Until now, the crown had shone again and protected her...
*Bang, bang*
The bullets were useless. They unloaded an entire magazine, but it couldn't leave a single mark on that barrier.
"Enough, use your abilities."
"Yes, boss!"
Since the weapons were useless, Deadlock held back no longer, and various abilities began to appear and clash against the barrier. Some of them penetrated the barrier, but the collar in Misaki's hand glowed and created another golden barrier.
"Damn it!"
Deadlock panicked. After all, the more time passed, the more likely Anti-Skill and Judgment would appear, making all of this in vain.
Meanwhile, elsewhere in Academy City, Toshizou, who was watching everything through the cameras integrated into the power suits, was excited and surprised by what he was seeing.
A golden barrier appeared out of nowhere and blocked the bullets and Esper abilities. He looked at the surrounding cameras and, apart from Ayu Mitsuari, found no other Esper. Moreover, Ayu was incapable of creating this barrier.
Being a high-ranking scientist, his perception was very high, and he quickly discovered that this anomaly was created by the strange collar in Misaki's hand.
"Incredible... This is incredible..."
His eyes were examining the collar with interest, and the more he looked, the more excited he became. He knew that there had to be something in which Mental Out trusted. He believed that by threatening Mental Out, this 'help' would appear. However, he never thought it would appear in this form.
The collar wasn't scientific, and the energy it stored was quite peculiar. He also noticed that this collar was connected to Misaki. He didn't know how, but he couldn't allow this to end here. He needed to bring the collar, study it, and discover how it worked. Toshizou had a feeling that this discovery would lead to a qualitative leap in technology. After all, if instead of a barrier, it could store something else, like Mikoto's Railgun, then Academy City's military power would change. If it could be mass-produced, even an unarmed child would be a significant threat to an entire platoon. Therefore, he didn't hesitate to order these criminals. He needed to have the collar and also interrogate Misaki about where she got it and about its creator.
Moreover...
"If I take the collar away from Mental Out... will the barrier disappear?"
Toshizou wasn't sure, but he had nothing to lose by trying.
[Aim at the collar, use 'Transmutation']
Both physical and energy attacks were blocked by the barrier, so they needed to use an attack that the barrier couldn't stop...
Such as from underground. Fortunately, among Deadlock, there was a Level 3 Esper who could alter the shape of the ground and create small earthquakes on a small scale.
Assisting, Deadlock's Esper quickly used his ability. With both hands on the ground, the earth began to tremble, and both Dolly and Misaki within the barrier lost their balance. But this wasn't the worst part, as large spikes emerged from the ground, attacking the duo...
"Misaki-chan!"
*Biri-biri*
Dolly tried to stop the spikes with electricity, but because it was so sudden, she couldn't do it, and one of the spikes pierced Misaki's hand...
"Kya?!"
Her beautiful starry eyes closed in pain, and the collar in her hand fell to the ground, causing the barrier to disappear...
"Joker!"
Misaki tried to retrieve it, but the stake caused her too much pain. Using transmutation, Deadlock's Esper skillfully controlled the ground, and the collar moved...
Dolly destroyed the earth stakes and helped Misaki, also trying to recover the collar. Unfortunately, it had already fallen into the hands of Deadlock's leader...
"Hm~ is this thing the cause of everything?"
The leader couldn't believe that this collar was the cause of the golden barrier, but now he had to believe the guy on the other end of the earpiece.
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TN: sorry but it's raining very heavily and I got a power cut so you gotta wait a while for more chapters but I'll definitely upload it later today