Chapter 496

"Still got one breath left…… what's going on?"

Su Han furrowed his brows, pondered for a moment, then nodded toward Hitokiri's direction.

"If he's not dead, toss Kakine Teito to Hitokiri."

Hitokiri: ""

Hitokiri looked utterly bewildered: What am I supposed to do with Kakine Teito? I don't even know him.

Su Han's Kenbunshoku Haki sensed Hitokiri's inner voice; he gave Hitokiri a long, meaningful look.

"Hitokiri, are you planning to hand Kakine Teito over to Aizen for research, or just kill him outright and dump his body in the wilderness?"

Doesn't matter…

Whether Kakine Teito is dead or not, Su Han has no intention of taking him back.

On one hand, he might not even be able to bring him back; on the other, the Toaru Majutsu no Index world is fundamentally different from previous worlds.

Even with system guarantees that can distort the gaze of higher beings.

But a perfectly healthy one—

Beaten to near death: vanish? Only a fool would think there's no problem.

Su Han doesn't intend to treat Rei Starta as a fool.

If he really did that, he'd only be creating trouble for Hitokiri and Bai Jing Heizi.

Su Han's moral compass may be questionable, but he won't deliberately screw over members of his own society.

Hitokiri fell silent for a long while, then finally gave a quiet nod.

Yuzuriha Shizuka snorted, opened a gap, and the unconscious Kakine Teito tumbled out of it, landing right in front of Hitokiri.

Su Han's voice was calm.

"Whether you want to kill him or let him live—it's up to you, Hitokiri."

"I understand!"

Hitokiri lowered his eyes.

Su Han nodded at Hitokiri, whose expression was complicated, "Then, with the mission complete, we should…"

Before he could finish his farewell, Su Han's Kenbunshoku Haki sensed something—he instantly furrowed his brows.

Su Han gave Bai Jing Heizi a deep look and sighed softly: "Heizi, your trouble has arrived."

Bai Jing Heizi: ""

Bai Jing Heizi froze, unable to process what had just happened.

Then a complex voice came from behind her.

"Heizi… what exactly are you and your friends doing?"

Bai Jing Heizi recognized the voice instantly—her body stiffened, she turned to look at Su Han, her face shifting through countless expressions, becoming utterly bewildered.

The voice carried a—

"…President, didn't you already manipulate Sister's five senses?"

Su Han shrugged. "Misaka Mikan is Level 5."

And she's an Electromaster.

If she wanted to, she could use electrical stimulation on her own organs to break free from my sensory manipulation."

Though he said that, Su Han actually thought: probably, it was when I used the Raito Fruit's power—the lightning was too strong, triggering Misaka Mikan's senses, and she sensed something was off.

Aizen's Kyouraku Suigetsu ability is still worthy of respect.

But while Su Han thought this internally, he certainly wouldn't say it aloud to Bai Jing Heizi.

Bai Jing Heizi opened her mouth, then glanced at the others present.

Yuzuriha Shizuka had already vanished back into the gap; Bai Hu Zi's face was calm, his naginata gripped tight, gazing into the distance.

Hitokiri didn't even spare her a glance.

Luo Hao, the sect master, had fixed all her attention on Su Han.

Finally, Bai Jing Heizi could only sigh deeply, then turned around to face Misaka Mikan, whose expression was complicated.

Misaka Mikan stared at the battlefield—though no one appeared dead, the entire street was shattered, buildings collapsed.

"Who… exactly are you people?"

Misaka Mikan's gaze toward Su Han and the others now carried a hint of hostility.

She felt this group might be enemies of Academy City, having deceived Bai Jing Heizi into joining them and committing such an act.

"Sister, I can explain this!"

Taking a deep breath, Bai Jing Heizi fixed her gaze on Misaka Mikan's face and spoke softly: "They aren't from our world… they're from another world."

Bai Jing Heizi suddenly remembered what Kakine Teito had said earlier, and a sudden explanation came to mind.

After a moment of internal deliberation, she spoke slowly.

"More precisely, they're from the Space-Time Administration Bureau…"

"A trespasser appeared in our world; they came here out of duty."

Bai Hu Zi's cheek twitched; he reached up to stroke his crescent-white beard.

He chose to pretend he hadn't heard Bai Jing Heizi's lie.

But Bai Jing Heizi kept explaining: "Just now, they killed someone—but that man's original plan was to kill tens of thousands of Academy City students!"

Misaka Mikan's expression froze.

She looked again at Su Han's group, unsure whether to show hostility or not.

She opened her mouth: "But… even so! To destroy Academy City like this—"

"Looks like you've got a lot to talk about."

Su Han interrupted the exchange between Bai Jing Heizi and Misaka Mikoto, then regarded both of them deeply. "Continue your conversation. We have matters to attend to."

"We're leaving now!"

Bai Jing Heizi stared in stunned silence at Su Han.

"President, that's just... not loyal at all," but Su Han said nothing. He clicked "Submit Task." In the next instant, brilliant light coalesced around the bodies of the group.

With a swift whoosh, the group vanished, leaving only the silhouettes of Misaka Mikoto, Accelerator, and Bai Jing Heizi behind.

"... They really just disappeared like that?"

Misaka Mikoto activated her electromagnetic sense, but detected no trace of Su Han's group nearby.

Her brow furrowed immediately, yet she found herself believing Bai Jing Heizi's explanation—by several tenths.

"The President and the others have returned to their original world. They are no longer in this world."

Bai Jing Heizi took a deep breath, forcing her emotions to calm, then forced a smile as she continued explaining.

On the other side.

Accelerator cast a cold glance at Bai Jing Heizi and Misaka Mikoto. His gaze swept over Misaka Mikoto, and a flicker of complexity passed through his eyes.

Yet he said nothing more.

"Then, Bai Jing Heizi, I'll be leaving as well."

He bent down, seized Okuyasu Kiyotaka, who lay on the ground barely clinging to life, and without hesitation, tapped his toe lightly against the ground. His body shot off like a cannonball, hurtling toward the distance.

Within a few breaths, Accelerator vanished.

Push