Reincarnation Paradise

Chapter 869: Equipment

The green beam struck almost instantly, faster than one could imagine.

Boom!

The green beam, mixed with firelight, illuminated the night sky. The rooftop where Su Xiao stood had a hole several meters in diameter blasted into it. The edges of the hole, made of steel and concrete, were glowing red from the high temperature of the green beam.

A tall woman in a purple dress stood in a nearby alley, about fifty meters away. She had long, wavy brown hair and was in her twenties. She yawned, seemingly bored with the task.

"All done. This job was too easy," she said.

This woman was Mugino Shizuri, a Level 5 Esper ranked fourth in Academy City's Esper rankings. Her ability was Meltdowner, and she currently worked for Item, a dark organization under Academy City's General Board. Item was responsible for suppressing riots and assassinations and eliminating foreign intruders—essentially, Item handled any shady jobs.

The task this time was to eliminate the foreign intruder, Su Xiao. Mugino Shizuri had chosen to kill him directly. Despite her sweet appearance, she was exceptionally ruthless.

Two other girls stood beside Mugino Shizuri. One wore an orange short jacket with a hood and had her hands in her pockets. Due to the darkness and the hood, her appearance was unclear, but she appeared to be quite young, possibly a middle school or even elementary school student.

The other girl, who had wavy blonde hair, wore a black baseball cap and a white skirt and looked like a high school student.

Item was an organization comprised entirely of women, four Espers.

All three girls in the alley wore wireless earpieces. The fourth member of Item, Takitsubo Rikou, was a sensor-type Esper. After taking drugs, her sensing range would become enormous, although she could only sense other Espers by their AIM fields, which were unique to them.

However, when drugged, her abilities would increase significantly, allowing her to sense non-Espers within a certain range by detecting other AIM fields nearby.

"He's still alive," came a sleepy voice through Mugino Shizuri's earpiece. It was Takitsubo Rikou, sounding like she might fall asleep at any moment.

"He's not dead?" Mugino Shizuri was surprised. She was sure the enemy had taken a direct hit from her beam cannon, which should have struck his head.

As the firelight on the opposite rooftop faded, a cracked light blue energy shield slowly dissipated into the air. This shield had a strength of 200 points, yet it had been shattered by one hit.

"Takitsubo, where is the enemy?" Mugino Shizuri pressed her earpiece, quickly scanning the surroundings.

"Above you," the voice replied.

Just then, a clear sword sound rang out.

Clang!

A light blue blade descended rapidly from above, slicing straight toward Mugino Shizuri.

At the same time, a small figure jumped up—Saiai Kinuhata. Her hands clasped together as she intercepted the blade.

Saiai Kinuhata's slender arms met the blade, and an invisible armor shattered with a crack, dispersing the blade.

Saiai Kinuhata was a Level 4 Esper with the ability of Nitrogen Armor, forming an invisible layer of nitrogen around her body, several centimeters thick, that could be used for defense and attack. Despite her elementary school-sized body, she was essentially a human tank, turned into a killing machine by working for Item.

As her Nitrogen Armor broke, Saiai Kinuhata pulled a metal canister from her waist, quickly opening it. With a hiss, liquid nitrogen sprayed out, forming a thicker layer of Nitrogen Armor around her.

"What's happening?" The blonde girl, Frenda Seivelun, looked confused. Her ability was unknown, but she relied on explosives in combat. Though she had no visible backpack, she likely stored her bombs within her ability.

Whoosh.

A man in a black coat landed a short distance before the three girls. A faint red shockwave spread out as he landed, washing over Mugino Shizuri and the others.

Mugino Shizuri's long brown hair was blown up, her pupils shrinking rapidly as her heartbeat quickened and her muscles instinctively relaxed.

In that moment of distraction, a bright sword light appeared before Mugino Shizuri!

Almost instinctively, she formed a green barrier in front of herself. This was her Meltdowner ability, a green barrier with high temperature, corrosion, and decomposition capabilities.

The long blade stopped abruptly before the green barrier, less than thirty centimeters from Mugino Shizuri's throat.

Holding the Dragon Flash, Su Xiao halted his attack. Though the Dragon Flash could withstand the Meltdowner ability, its durability would be significantly reduced. Since this world had just begun for him, damaging the Dragon Flash would hinder future battles.

Su Xiao recognized Mugino Shizuri, who ranked fourth among Espers. This official ranking wasn't entirely reliable.

Su Xiao leaped back, observing the three girls in front of him.

From his initial skirmish with the Espers, Su Xiao noted several points:

Espers had strong attack power without warning, making it difficult to sense killing intent or hostility. This might be related to Mugino Shizuri's ability.

Espers had keen senses and at least excellent dynamic vision, possibly due to their high mental load from developing their abilities.

Espers' physical strength wasn't weak and varied based on their abilities. Su Xiao used an active ability that caused 100 points of damage plus his willpower multiplied by five. This damage ignored armor, magic resistance, shields, and equipment defenses.

Among the three opponents, the blonde girl Frenda Seivelun was coughing up blood, indicating that Espers weren't as fragile as ordinary people. If their physical strength were that low, she would have been killed instantly by the damage from Su Xiao's ability.

This suggested that developing superpowers might increase life points or reduce damage. Su Xiao leaned towards the idea that it increased life points.

This world wouldn't be considered a tier-three challenge if Espers were fragile.

From his initial engagement, Su Xiao gathered a lot of information. As for why they came, he could guess it was likely Aleister Crowley who sent them.

Mugino Shizuri extended her hands in the alley, forming a green barrier separating the alley. The barrier began to melt and decompose the walls upon contact.

"This guy is something else. Is this just a superpower? More like a superhuman!" Mugino Shizuri's voice quivered as blood dripped from her mouth. Her legs trembled, and her instincts screamed to run away as fast as possible.