"Dolly!!!"

The liquid shadow figure shattered.

Mitori Kouzaku let out a blood‑curdling scream, eyes filled with disbelief.

She frantically activated her ability, trying to pull Dolly back together, but the core had been wrecked by Meltdowner energy; her control vanished like a stone dropping into the sea.

Just as Dolly was about to disperse completely into a smoking puddle of super‑heated, harmless metallic slag—

Shizuri Mugino moved.

She lunged like a leopard.

Her target: Mitori Kouzaku, reeling from ability backlash and slow to react!

"Move one more time and I really won't be able to stop myself from killing you!"

Mugino's speed was frightening—she was on Kouzaku in an instant.

Her left hand clamped onto Kouzaku's shoulder like a vice, the brutal efficiency of a Dark‑side operative in every motion.

A flash of madness crossed Kouzaku's eyes.

Somehow a shard of sharp glass had appeared in her hand, and she drove it toward Mugino's throat—

A cornered beast fighting back!

"Die!"

Mugino's eyes flared with killing intent.

Her right hand started to rise instinctively, ready to fire Meltdowner and erase the threat—battle‑honed muscle memory.

But—

At the very moment the green light was about to erupt, she forced herself to stop.

She shoved the erupting destructive energy back down.

"Ghk!"

The recoil of aborting the shot hit her chest like a hammer, and her movements hesitated for a split second.

In that instant, the glass shard sliced through the sleeve of Mugino's coat, leaving a shallow cut on her arm.

At the same time, her hand on Kouzaku's shoulder slipped, failing to pin her completely.

"Tch—what a pain!"

Mugino clicked her tongue, eyes blazing—not at the wound, but at that damned, almost‑unleashed instinct.

To avoid killing the target she had to keep herself leashed, a feeling that suffocated her.

She pivoted and brought a knife‑hand blow down hard on Kouzaku's wrist.

"Ah!"

Kouzaku cried out; the glass shard flew away.

Mugino grabbed her dislocated wrist, clamped her other hand on the opposite shoulder, and drove a knee into her lower back.

"Bang!"

Kouzaku was slammed to the floor, face pressed to the cold, rough ground. Pain and backlash robbed her of resistance.

Only those crimson eyes still burned with stubborn hatred.

"Done!"

Frenda clapped her hands and skipped over with a grin.

"Super smooth, super easy!"

Saiai Kinuhata disengaged her Offense Armor, flexing reddened knuckles.

Rikou Takitsubo exhaled and returned to her blank stare.

But Mugino felt no thrill of victory.

She yanked Kouzaku upright, every motion dripping with impatience.

"Tch—so much trouble. Would've been simpler to just kill the trash along with the puddle."

She glanced at the inert molten metal on the floor, then at the struggling Kouzaku in her grip, growing even more annoyed.

In the old days she would have riddled her with Meltdowner shots without hesitation.

"Clap, clap, clap…"

Clear applause rang out.

Awaki Musujime bounced over, a look of appreciation on her face.

"Brilliant, truly brilliant.

"As expected of pro Darkside agents—ITEM really lives up to its name.

"Capturing the target alive under restrictions, perfect coordination, very efficient."

Her gaze lingered on Mugino.

"However…"

She stopped in front of Mugino, jewel‑like eyes probing.

Bluntly she asked, "Mugino, just now…did you almost lose control? Having trouble handling your power?"

Mugino stiffened, pupils contracting like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.

That was her biggest sore spot.

Meltdowner was powerful—at the price of extreme irritability and instability.

A rampaging stallion; lose your grip and it tramples everything, maybe even its rider.

Forcing a shutdown to avoid killing the target—the backlash and the sense of a bridle tightened to choking made her mood foul.

Now Musujime's sharp words hit the bullseye.

"None of your business."

Mugino shot back coldly and turned away.

Musujime only stroked her chin, staring at the hand that had gathered green light.

"Poor control…yes, definitely a problem.

"But—"

She suddenly smiled meaningfully.

"If it's Master, they can fix that for you—let you wield the power perfectly."

"Master?"

Mugino, Kinuhata, Frenda, even the exhausted Takitsubo all blinked, puzzled.

The word on Musujime's lips carried an odd, almost devout nuance.

Just who could be the 'Master' of a Level 5 with formidable spatial powers?

Musujime merely smiled mysteriously and said no more.

"You'll find out eventually. Anyway, mission accomplished—time to report."

She snapped her fingers.

Space warped again, enveloping Mugino's squad and the tightly bound Kouzaku.

…

In the group chat

Mikoto Misaka: "@Rei Ao, what are you doing?"

Rei Ao: "Obviously spending time with my lovely girlfriends—what else?"

Hugging the softness in his arms, Rei Ao smirked.

Rei Ao: "Bigger really is better."

Mikoto Misaka: "?????"

Question marks filled Misaka's face.

She glanced down—

Rage surged.

Mikoto Misaka: "You jerk! How can you be so shameless?!"

Frieren: "Haha, 'bigger is better'—true. Feels good for both sides."

Sui: "?????"

~~~

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