Chapter 953: The Escaping People
"Even you..." Lin Wuming mumbled after hearing Kihara Tamski's words. "And it's a threat again? Can't they come up with something new?"
But then again, the same strategy is used repeatedly precisely because it's effective, isn't it? Moreover, the repetition of the same strategy also indirectly proves that the enemies are the same group of people.
The Anti-Academy City Forces Alliance is, at its core, just a group of ordinary people. Other than using hostage threats, there doesn't seem to be any better way for them to manipulate espers, who are clearly much stronger.
—Except for situations like Black Night Sea Bird, who created new weaknesses for herself through reckless modifications.
As a Level 4 Spatial Ability User, Kihara Tamski should normally be absolutely impossible for enemies to threaten.
Even if she didn't want to fight and just wanted to escape, almost no one would be able to stop a Spatial Ability User.
Unfortunately, the enemies had put a lot of effort into intelligence gathering. They had already apprehended her companions and used the people Kihara Tamski cared about most as hostages, which truly forced her to freeze—she dared not easily attack the enemies, nor dared to simply leave.
The strategy of kidnapping hostages, though despicable, was indeed effective!
There were a total of ten enemies who appeared before Kihara Tamski and were directly involved in the hostage-taking.
This number of enemies was not entirely unmanageable for Kihara Tamski.
However, as a Spatial Ability User, while Kihara Tamski's esper ability was powerful, she had never used it for direct combat.
She had explained to Lin Wuming before that it was far too simple for a Spatial Ability User to kill someone—they just needed to move something into the target's heart or brain, or move the enemy's heart or brain out of their body...
But precisely because doing such things was too easy, it could cause irreversible effects on their minds and thought patterns, so Spatial Ability Users would deliberately avoid doing so.
This was even more true for higher-level Spatial Ability Users.
If she used non-lethal methods, Kihara Tamski could not guarantee that she could deal with all ten enemies present simultaneously. If someone seized the opportunity to retaliate... that was a consequence she absolutely did not want to face.
What was worse, two of Kihara Tamski's companions were not present just now, so they managed to escape and were currently being pursued.
Kihara Tamski didn't know if they had been caught, but she was very worried that if she took action, those two companions might be retaliated against!
As a result, a stalemate ensued.
And just when the enemies were getting impatient and preparing to do something to make an example, Accelerator found his way here...
Accelerator himself was investigating clues related to the Anti-Academy City Forces Alliance. Due to his powerful strength and intellect, coupled with the intelligence network of Judgment, he actually found a temporary enemy stronghold.
Then he saw the scene of Kihara Tamski confronting the enemies.
Compared to Kihara Tamski's reluctance to act due to fear of harming others, Accelerator was much more decisive. He didn't know the young men and women who were being held hostage, nor did he even know Kihara Tamski, so of course, he had no special feelings for them.
Just as Mugino Shizuri defeated the enemies who had occupied the orphanage, Accelerator didn't hesitate at all and immediately took action to deal with all the enemies present.
Not only did the enemies not have time to react, but even Kihara Tamski was so startled that her heart almost stopped.
Fortunately, Accelerator's strength was sufficient, giving the enemies no chance to resist or harm the hostages. He didn't even kill any of the enemies.
After interrogation, they finally learned of the enemies' assassination plan.
—It was actually very simple: to use Kihara Tamski's esper ability, Space Movement, to directly send a sufficiently powerful bomb into the No Window Building.
The Anti-Academy City Forces Alliance generally understood the internal situation of that building. They knew that Chairman Aleister was like a vegetable, fully immersed in a giant test tube, with his life sustained entirely by the medical equipment in the room.
Under such circumstances, once a powerful bomb exploded... even if his giant test tube was sturdy enough to withstand the blast, the surrounding medical equipment would be damaged.
At that time, Aleister would not survive either!
Because this plan required Kihara Tamski's full cooperation, the enemies didn't want to completely sour their relationship. Although they had taken hostages, during the negotiation process, they primarily focused on "persuasion" and "inducement."
This was also the main reason Kihara Tamski was able to maintain the stalemate with them.
Now, thanks to Accelerator's sudden appearance, the deadlock was broken. While Kihara Tamski breathed a sigh of relief, she also became even more worried about the safety of her two escaped companions...
Miyama Shaei, an elementary school boy, for various reasons, had recently been suddenly pestered by a strange older sister.
Then he got caught up in a series of strange and troublesome events.
"My esper ability is ineffective against Spatial Ability Users!" Miyama Shaei said while running. "So I can't see what's happening on Kihara-senpai's side!"
"Damn it!" the girl running beside him, pulling him along, cried out in self-abandonment. "Who exactly are these guys? They have guns! How did we offend them?"
"I'd like to ask what's going on with you two..." Miyama Shaei said, panting. "The bad guys behind us are targeting you!"
"Although I don't quite understand, it must be for Kihara-chan, right?" the girl said. "After all, her esper ability and identity are very special!"
...Miyama Shaei didn't speak. This reason was very reasonable, because his own esper ability was also very special, and more and more people had been targeting him recently.
The reason Miyama Shaei was with Kihara Tamski and became her companion was because Kihara Tamski had helped him once not long ago.
—Now... it was his turn to repay the favor!
"By the way... Miyama-kun," the girl suddenly pulled him into a hidden corner nearby. "Is the path you're leading us down really okay?"
Although she called it a corner, it was actually the back of a flower bed by the roadside. They could barely hide their bodies using the low shrubs.
"Aren't we running further and further off track?" the girl looked around. "There's not a single person around now. Roughly speaking, doesn't that mean we're exposed right under the enemies' noses?"
The main reason the two of them had been able to escape so far was by using the cover of pedestrians on the road and public transportation systems like the subway.
"We're almost at the Twenty-first School District, aren't we?" the girl couldn't help but suspect. "On the way earlier, we clearly had a chance to ask Anti-Skill for help."
