These last couple of chapters came out faster than others because since Friday, I had a really bad sore throat. It was so bad I could barely talk. SO I got to stay home and do nothing but watch TV and write awesome Index stories. You all benefit by getting chapters released early and I do not get bored out of my mind. Everyone wins. Enjoy the next fight, Greed vs Jason.

There was a conversation about adding Othinus to this story. I can't say it is impossible, but there are no plans anytime soon to add her. I have several plans already and a big arc once the Sin Saga finishes so the story really is just beginning.

Agent: BOOOOOOO. Go sit in the corner.

Anyway, let's go to the fight. These two fighters like to talk a lot about nothing important. They are both cheaters too so the fight is a little different and less explosions everywhere like Mikoto's and Sogiita's.

Disclaimer: I do not own Toaru Majutsu no Index or any of the characters.

"Without you," Jason growled. "I wouldn't have had to go through a living hell." His shadow swords were still being held around him by the shadow hands. He was preparing himself for anything. The only power he knew Greed had from years ago was magic to increase his speed. But through experience, Greed would never enter a fight he believed he could not win.

"Doesn't progress require some sacrifice?" Greed asked brushing some dirt off his suit. "After all, isn't that what science does? Experimenting with animals and so forth?"

"You can achieve progress without killing others," Jason said glaring at Greed. He balled his right hand into a fist. I'm glad no one else is here. They wouldn't want to see me like this. The buzzing in his head grew louder. Yea, I should find out how he survived.

"I know you can," Greed acknowledged. "But it is faster and more efficient with some sacrifice."

"How did you survive?" Jason asked. "I know my memory is blurry of that event, but I could have sworn I personally ripped out your heart."

The smile flicked on Greed's face for a second as he remembered. "When you lost control and killed our previous Wrath I had to step in. However, your newly established power was too much for me at the time and you did take my heart. But you left immediately afterwards. I was dying but the human brain can still function for a short time after your heart stops. I saw the body of Wrath, her heart was still intact."

Jason's eyes widened. "You were able to take it from Wrath? In your condition?" The buzzing grew loud again, but he ignored it.

Greed smiled. "Even at that time, I was part of The Fallen. I was tasked with other responsibilities while the Herald finished gathering the necessities to revive our master. Remember, I am Greed. Anything I desire belongs to me. It doesn't matter who owns it and what it is, if I want it, I take it. I desired her heart and I took it." He put a hand on his chest over his heart. "When I see you my heart still pounds in rage. Wrath has not forgiven you and her vengeance still exists within me."

"How?" Jason asked. "You shouldn't have been able to move let alone perform a transplant."

"You do not know my magic," Greed said smiling widely. "I kept it hidden from you and the others. I did think that one girl who hung out with you a lot managed to guess some of my power. She never did trust me. I believe her name was…"

"SHUT UP!" Jason interrupted. "You do not deserve to speak her name with your foul tongue. It was your fault she died."

"Really?" Greed said, his smile slipping slightly. "I seem to recall you killed her after she tried to save you."

Jason stopped and the buzzing in his head grew more pronounced. "Everyone else died because YOU made us cast that spell after we developed our abilities in Academy City."

"Yes it was pretty tragic," Greed said nodding. "Your ability allowed you to survive though. And you got the powerful shadow ability in the process. Though, I always wondered why you don't use it to its full potential. When I first saw it, you crushed skilled magicians in an instant. Now you have to use a lot more strategy then raw power."

"I refuse to give you the satisfaction," Jason said. "But before I finish what I started, what spell did you make us cast back then. I feel like I deserve to hear that from you." Maybe I can figure out what their plan is. Greed is pretty smart so it's probably a waste. Angry buzzing filled his head. No need for that language. It's simply a small gamble with no downside.

"I'm hurt," Greed said insincerely with his hand over his heart again. "The spell's primary purpose was a failure because too many of the casters died. The development of your shadow was a completely unexpected development. As for what the purpose was." Greed stopped and shook his head. "You have not earned the right to know. Why don't you ask the Herald, if you survive."

"I see," Jason said glancing around the coliseum. He knew Greed must now know about all of his abilities. Jason hated rushing forward into things. He always liked to plan several steps ahead and then have back up plans for every one of his plans. For the last couple years he mastered this art. He only knew of one person with the ability to outplay him. The person he referred to as the biggest a$$&*^$ in Academy City. Greed only knew him for less than two years, plus whatever the spies told him, but, during that time frame, Jason was young and a lot more reckless. I might be able to use this against him. He heard more buzzing but just ignored it. "I'm good at surviving and I see you are too. But I don't know how you expect to beat me. I'm stronger then you."

"You might be," Greed acknowledged Jason's words. "If you could use the full power of your shadow. You won't, and I know this. You are nothing but a coward."

"You don't know anything," Jason argued.

"You won't even use your magic name I helped give you," Greed said and his smile widened. "You liked it when you first heard it."

"Shut up," Jason growled again. "I didn't know what it meant then, now I do. I am never going to say that garbage."

"But it's such a great name," Greed said. "I mean only one person held it before you. I personally like it." He said something but Jason's immediate response was covering his ears to block out the name. "I see, you really hate it. I'm hurt."

"You really like talking," Jason said angrily. "You should have just stayed dead and did the world a favor."

"Talking is just people being civilized," Greed said. "You mean I should have stayed dead like the girl who cast the spell with you. Didn't you lov…" He disappeared from the spot he was in as a shadow hand with a sword extended suddenly from Jason. It slashed where he was half a second before.

"I thought I told you not to speak of her," Jason growled looking toward the spot where Greed now stood. He's just as fast as I remember.

"Quick to temper," Greed said shaking his head. "Here I thought you would have matured and not be so impulsive like when you were younger." He pulled out a short sword from behind him. "I guess you leave me no choice. I have to end your life. You see, this space is set up so only one of us can leave when the other dies. I hope you have said your goodbyes."

"I have reasons to live," Jason said seriously. The normal joking tone he always used in Academy City had disappeared completely when he met Greed. Greed was from a part of his past he thought he left behind him. He realized, however, scars still remain no matter how long ago they were obtained. Greed had caused him irreversible harm years ago and now he had reappeared in front of him. He's leaving me no choice but to kill him again. He put a hand up to his head as the buzzing seemed to yell at him. You are right, I did promise.

"You don't look well," Greed said studying Jason's face. "As a favor to our friendship, I'll try to make this fast." He vanished from view for an instant. He didn't really disappeared though; his speed was just so fast it was hard to see with the human eye. A couple of Jason's swords flew at him, but he effortlessly dodged them. He moved behind Jason, and before Jason could turn around, Greed jabbed the sword at his back. He stopped when the sword was less than an inch away from Jason. Greed quickly took a step back and put a good thirty feet between them. "Hmm," he said. "Your shirt is just part of your shadow. You really are full of surprises. If my sword made contact, your shadow would have stopped it and probably engulf it and me."

Jason turned around. "It is," he said. One of my favorite defenses and it saves me a lot of money on shirts. You will not believe how many fights just make clothes unusable. All those explosions, bullets, and blades flying everywhere are not shirt friendly." Jason sent two of his shadow sword wielding hands at Greed. Greed sidestepped the first one effortlessly, but Jason predicted the direction he would move. The second hand was slightly behind the first and moved into the direction Greed went. Greed still managed to dodge it, but the sword made a small tear in his suit.

"You have improved," Greed said. "Actually predicting my movements and controlling multiple shadow creations at once. I might have to revise my strategy."

"You won't have time," Jason said as his shadow hands wielding the swords started to strike. The hand stretched out and swung the blades at Greed. Greed's speed allowed him to continue dodging easily. As soon as a blade was near him, he quickly added a burst of speed to move out of the way. He kept circling Jason, but Jason noticed he wasn't trying to approach. He's planning something. Jason upped the speed of his attacks but Greed was still able to avoid them. His blades kept slicing into the ground and walls, leaving deep cuts in the solid stone and concrete. The blades didn't seem to be taking any damage like normal metal ones would.

Greed kept moving watching Jason. It was not like he didn't want to get close, he just couldn't. While the shadow hands wielding weapons were a threat, he could deal with them with his speed. There were two other problems. The first one was the shadows Jason kept near him to prevent any close range attacks. If he tried to strike him with his sword, it would probably be caught by the shadow. The second issue was the way Jason used his shadow. Several arms would seem to attack Greed and he would be forced to dodge, only to find another sword stabbing at the location he moved into. Jason was purposely attacking him from specific directions in order to force him to dodge the way Jason wanted. Then Jason would attack with a hidden blade he kept back out of Greed sight. Greed was slightly impressed, but there was something he realized that made this fight much less interesting.

"You pretend to be angry," Greed called out to Jason. "But there is no killing intent behind your attacks. You are just trying to incapacitate me. That won't work here."

"You say that," Jason replied. "But you don't have any way to stop it." He frowned slightly as the angry buzzing reprimanded him. I'm keeping my guard up, but I want him to believe I'm being overconfident. The buzzing calmed down slightly. I never get overconfident anymore until I am 100% sure I won. I know what happens when you do.

That is not entirely true, Greed thought to himself. While it is true his favorite magic to boost his speed is useless, he is not such a weak mage he can't use other magic. He was not like Wrath or Gluttony though. He did not have powerful offensive magic like fire or gravity. If he had either of those kinds of powers he could have forced a direct confrontation and attack without a physical weapon. The reason he liked to use knives and swords is, because of his speed, he can defeat people quickly and efficiently. Also, by using small blades, he can avoid ruining anything he liked, such as jewelry, weapons, clothes, and other things people would carry that could be destroyed with flashy explosions. No, he was much more subtle then that and his curse mark ability was the very definition of unfairness.

"Do you honestly think I would have fought you one on one with only speed based magic?" Greed asked. "You know me better than that. I am quite resourceful." He pulled off one of his thin black gloves on his left hand to reveal a black mark. The symbol looked like a backwards C with a boomerang shaped arrow on top. Between the ends of the C was a perfect equilateral triangle. "This is my curse mark. You should be aware of the power it grants to the wielder."

When Greed had revealed his mark, Jason immediately put more distance between them. Shit, I don't know anything about the mark's power. If it is anything like Sloth's power, it is going to end the fight in an instant. His shadow arms retracted and started to swirl around him defensively. The buzzing sound turned into a worried tone. I'll be fine. I prepared backups for hopefully everything. Jason casually reached into his pocket and held tight to a stack of cards. "Going to use your trump card already?" Jason asked trying to taunt Greed. Jason was hoping Greed would become overconfident, even if it was a long shot. "If you use it now and fail, it's all over for you."

Greed smiled, but it wasn't an understanding sort of smile. It was the smile of someone who just got away with doing something bad and knowing they succeeded. "It is my trump card, but it is also my favorite ability." He raised his left hand and stretched it out toward Jason. "Everything I desire I can reach out and take." He closed his hand.

At first Jason didn't think anything happened. Everything was silent and he did not immediately notice anything was different. Greed was just standing there looking smug like usual. Jason frowned when he felt a light breeze chill him slightly. He looked down and saw nothing except his pants and dark blue undershirt. He looked back at Greed who was just watching him closely. What did he do? He didn't hear anything and his eyes widened in shock. DAMN IT, HE IS GREED.

Jason's shadow was gone.

Jason didn't even feel it disappear like the time it was ripped from him before it was complete. Even the way he applied the calculations to controlling his shadow were gone from his mind. He still knew them and could picture them in his mind, but he couldn't remember how he actually used them with his shadow. He watched the darkness start to emerge slowly from behind Greed. The shadow started to swirl around Greed and form a layer over his clothes, just like how Jason used it. Shit, shit, shit. He took my shadow and it looks like he can use it. Did he steal my calculation process too? What do I do now? If he uses speed and my shadow I won't stand a chance. Don't panic, calmly analyze and be prepared to use everything you have prepared. "How on earth did you manage to take my shadow ability?"

"The Mark of Greed allows me to steal anything I want as long as I can see it," Greed explained in a bored tone. "This is what allowed me to survive when you ripped out my heart. Maybe I should do the same thing to you so you can understand the pain I went through." He looked down at his arm with his face screwed up in concentration and the shadow started to swirl around it. "Interesting."

"Oh trust me," Jason replied. "There are a lot of things worse than simple physical pain."

Greed laughed. "Only for the weak that form emotional bonds and, even then, when you give them real pain, they quickly forget their loved ones. Isn't that why you are dating that one girl in Academy City?"

"Don't you dare…" Jason began.

"You know when Envy gave us information on her," Greed continued as if he had not been interrupted. "I thought she sounded familiar. She was quiet, hardworking, got along with everyone, and loves flowers. She reminded me of someone. Now who was that?" He put his hand up and rubbed his chin pretending to think.

"Shut up," Jason growled.

"Oh yea it was the girl you don't want me to talk about," Greed smiled as Jason's face contorted into pure anger. "Maybe if Wrath is defeated and she survived I will go and pay the girl a visit. Maybe keep her as a trophy of your defeat. I could probably freeze her in some type of metal and capture her look when I tell her your fate…"

BAM! BAM! BAM!

Greed was so surprised he barely reacted fast enough. He tilted his head to the side while simultaneously controlling his newly acquired shadow to protect himself. Jason had pulled out a pistol and shot three perfectly aligned shots at his vitals in quick succession. The first shot, which went directly toward his right eye, he was able to dodge because of his reaction speed. The second shot was toward his throat and the third shot was right where his heart was. He did the calculations to move his shadow to intercept the second and third bullets. They collided into the shadow about an inch away from his skin and the bullets stopped moving right when they hit. They flattened and fell to the floor with a soft clang. Greed was not able to do the calculations fast enough for the first bullet, but he could for the second and third. These are tough, and against him even a tenth of a second could be deadly. But he actually pulled out a gun? What surprised him most was there was killing intent behind those shots and a single one of them could have been lethal. "Wow," Greed said with a look of shock on his face. "There was killing intent there."

"Don't you dare threaten her," Jason said his voice seeping with hatred. When Greed looked into his eyes, Greed saw nothing but anger and malice. "If you threaten her again, I promise you, death will be the best thing you could wish hope for."

"I don't believe it," Greed said shaking his head. "The loner actually develops attachments to his friends. I bet you are willing to go to the ends of the earth for all of them."

"You seem to be mistaken," Jason said his tone turning back to normal. "I don't have friends." He emphasized the S. "I have one person and everyone else are just part of the environment and have a specific use."

"There's the ice cold kid I know," Greed said excitedly as he recognized the tone and his words. "I knew you couldn't have changed that much."

"Then that is bad news for you," Jason said looking up and sneering. "It just makes killing you easier without unnecessary emotions." His mind was still racing around thinking of every possible way he could win. When Greed took his shadow he lost a lot of his combat ability. The good thing was during their talking, he realized he could still use magic. Greed had only taken his ability. Jason was also surprised at his own reaction to Greed's threats against Kazari. He had planned to pretend to be angry to make Greed drop his guard, but actually pulling out his gun and shooting Greed happened before his mind could think. Damn, I can't act rationally when she's in danger. Damn it Jason, when did you get so soft. He remembered Greed's words about the similarity between Kazari and her. He may be right about that.

"Still so confident," Greed sighed. "I don't know how you do it, but I think killing you with your power will be the most fitting way for you to die." He frowned for a second and scrunched up his face in concentration for a moment, like he had a headache, then his face went back to normal. He lifted his right hand over his head and the shadows stretched above him. As the shadows formed together, Jason realized it was turning into a ten foot long shadow axe. The blade itself was a good four feet long. "How about I just slice you into two?" Greed asked. The handle of the shadow axe landed on his hand and he swung it at Jason.

Jason was a good forty feet away but at Greed swung the axe the pole stretched. Jason dodged to the side right before the axe hit with a defining boom. It cut right through the stone ground and left a large gash as the shadows retracted back to Greed. "You seem to be pretty good at controlling them," Jason said. "I figure you stole the information how to use it too?"

"Yes," Green answered. "I took all the information on how to control it and make the calculations. It really is an interesting ability, but it seems to be purely scientific, I thought it would have some kind of magic element." He frowned again and held a hand up to the side of his head. "What the hell is that noise?"

Jason realized what was happening and a grin found its way onto his face, even in this dangerous situation. "It's true those calculations are pretty difficult, but you get use to them. As for the magic side," he shrugged, "I think you are beginning to realize some of the magic aspects."

"What is this?" Greed said holding his head with both hands as the shadows swirled around him. "This voice keeps echoing in my mind."

"That's the magic side of my shadow ability," Jason said seriously. "Part of my shadow seems to have some level of sentience. It is like how grimoires are sentient enough to disclose its contents to people who desire information from them, or even how they will cooperate with those who will spread its influence. My shadow is like that." He shrugged. "It took a long time to figure out how to block it when needed. You stole the information how to use my shadow, not how to block it out." He laughed at Greed's mistake.

"It can't be," Greed said frowning while holding his hands on his head. He gave his head a good shake before continuing. "Your shadow ability can't be a grimoire. There is no writing in it." He pulled some of the shadow closer to his face and looked at it closely.

"Don't be silly," Jason said dismissively. "It would be much simpler if it was just a grimoire." I hope he doesn't figure out how to combine it with magic.

Greed concentrated a bit and looked like he was thinking hard. His face relaxed and looked back at Jason. "Well I'll keep it quiet while I finish you off." The shadow moved in front of him as Jason emptied his gun as soon as he uttered those words. "You really need to let people finish talking before you shoot them." Several shadow tendrils began to form behind Greed.

Jason looked at the empty gun in his hand and threw it away to his side. "You don't really say anything I need to here." He's got really good at handling the shadow. The longer this goes on the worst chance I have. I need to finish this one shot, but I need time to plan and prepare. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a stack of cards. "Here catch." He pulled off the top card and gave it a flick. He flew through the air and Greed reached out a hand and caught it.

"What's this?" he asked and the card started to glow. He didn't originally plan to catch it, but people tend to instinctively try to catch something if someone tells them to catch it. He dropped it a second before it exploded in a flash of light.

"Cya!"

Greed heard Jason's voice, but the flash temporarily blinded him. He had wrapped the shadow around him as a defensive cloak in case it was an exploding rune. Since there was no heat or damage, Greed assumed it was just a rune used to obscure sight. He did not however, immediately drop the shadow around him in case Jason tried to attack when he couldn't see. He is still able to think well under pressure, but his magic should be limited. His main power was his shadow and now it is mine. When his sight returned he moved the shadow and saw the ring was empty except for him. He turned and looked at the nearest entranceway of the ring where Jason had stood. So he is afraid and ran. This could be fun. The shadow wrapped tightly around him, forming a thin cover over his suit, and he started walking toward the stairs to follow Jason. "A game of cat and mouse it is then!" Greed called out. "Since there is no escape from this space, the game ends when I find you!"

Jason had indeed run away. Not so much out of fear, though it was there. He ran to give himself more time to think about his next step. As long as he was in the middle of the arena with Greed and his shadow, he did not stand a chance. The cards he brought were designed to supplement his shadow, not fight against it. They were mainly utility style cards, though there were a couple of attack runes mixed in on them. However, they were not strong enough to defeat Greed. They would be minor nuisances to him. I could try to use some of the items he has here I suppose. As he exited the stairs and entered the stands, his view of the ring was blocked with all of Greed's collection everywhere. He passed several cabinets of weapons and he gave them a quick look. Several of them had magic properties, but he had no idea what they could do without spending time to identify them. Time was something he did not have, especially when Greed called out about the cat and mouse game.

To Jason, this really was like a game of cat and mouse. Greed had all the cards and Jason knew it. This isn't a fun game at all. Even if Jason did run across something powerful enough to use against his shadow, he would have trouble mastering it in a few minutes. Not only that, he did not know which artifacts could be cursed or Greed could have implemented protective spells. Jason knew he was a collector and he would not have doubted for an instant Greed did not do that. That left two realistic options for him. Option one required a complicated set up and option two would probably cause them both to die together. Jason would prefer not to die, so he narrowed the option to number one. He patted the long metal container in his pants pocket, smiling to himself. I need to find some wood.

"Where are you?" Greed's voice echoed out through the stadium. It sounded like he had reached the top of the stairs and had reached the stands. Jason was not stupid enough to yell back. "I guess I'll just follow your magic trail."

Jason mentally cursed himself and hid his magic presence. He normally did not do this, not because he liked to be the center of attention, but if he did, he could not control his shadow. His shadow required scientific calculations, but also had to have mana flowing through it to operate. It really was a combination of both sides. He ducked between a couple of cars that looked to be from a good fifty or more years ago and made a right turn to get higher up in the stands. He was hoping to see a pile of wood somewhere or something he could rip the wood off of. Come on, there has to be something, the entire stands are full of his collection. There we go. He saw what looked like the remains of playground equipment and moved silently in that direction. As he did, he saw in the distance several shadow tendrils lifting things as Greed walked past.

"This game is getting boring," Greed called out. "Haven't you found something to use against me? I'm slowly catching up to you."

Something in Greed's words made Jason slow down and think. With his speed, he should have been able to catch up to me instantly and it's not like him to give an opponent an advantage no matter how much he pretends to like the challenge. Is it possible he can't use his speed when he has my shadow ability? The curse mark allowed him to take it and use it, but maybe it still conflicts with the pure magic side. If that is the case, I might have a chance. He ran silently to the wood pile and looked around. Most of the wood was rotting, but it seemed to be supporting a large blue vase. Jason didn't care what the vase did and just focused on the wood. He saw a four by four and pulled it out. To his luck it was a good seven feet long, the end was slightly burnt for some reason. Perfect, now I just need something a little longer. He looked around, and kept his body low to the ground. Greed was down in the stands closer to the ring and his shadows were reaching out in between his collection looking around.

Greed kept walking past him and did not decide to move up higher into the stands. Jason gave a sigh of relief. That was close. He waited a few minutes to let Greed get some distance and then turned back to look for another piece of wood. After digging around he found a long enough piece to use. The problem was it was too long, nearly twenty feet long. He only needed roughly ten feet. Jason weighed his options and pulled out several cards. Let's see, five of these should be good as a distraction. This one should be able to form a rope, this one should be able to cut it, and this one should hide them. I will not have much time. He glanced up over a cabinet and saw Greed walking in the opposite direction of him. Jason was quite lucky Greed was not willing to destroy all his stuff to locate Jason or this would have been over fast. Jason smiled at Greed's weakness and took a deep breath.

Damn it, Greed thought to himself as he walked through his collection. The shadow was doing a great job at moving in between spaces to detect Jason, but he was nowhere to be found. Greed wished he could use his speed, but something warned him about using it as long as he had Jason's shadow. In order to use his speed, he would have to give the shadow back. This collection is priceless so I can't destroy it. Why is he not trying to use any of the gear I have here. I would know immediately if he started to mess with any weapons or artifacts. He was hoping one of his traps would kill Jason too; it would have been quite entertaining. He sighed and realized no matter how funny something would be, he should not have dropped his guard and said it out loud. It was a lack of judgment on his part. Wrath's hatred in my heart is still strong enough to mess with my judgment.

Suddenly he felt Jason's magic on the far side of the coliseum. That kid hid himself over there, I should have realized it. He started to run over to the source of magic. He tripped over a box of trinkets and cussed. His shadow started to form large black wings and he used them to jump into the air and into the ring to make a direct path to Jason. About halfway through the center ring he felt Jason's magic split up into five different directions. Clever, he is trying to make me chase decoys. It won't work though. One of the sources was slightly stronger than the others. He used the wings to lift himself into the air as he jumped in the direction of the most powerful source. He was able to catch up quickly by jumping over the shelves of goods.

"Got you now," Greed said as the wings split up into hands and wrapped around Jason who was moving behind some book shelves. However, when the shadow hands lifted it up, it was just two cards stuck together. "That boy," Greed growled and then yelled out in anger as he tore the cards up.

"You sound upset," Jason called out. Greed turned around and saw Jason standing in the middle of the arena waving to him. He used his wings to jump into the arena and walk toward Jason as the wings shrank back into the normal shadow.

"So you finally gave up," Greed said. "After you ignored all my weapons and armor, I was wondering if you would think of a plan, but I don't see any of it on you."

"Nah," Jason said dismissively. "I don't need any of your stuff since I have something that is worth more than your entire collection."

Greed frowned, but raised an eyebrow. He was curious about what Jason was talking about. He did not let his guard down, but kept the shadow wrapped around him as a shield. "You piqued my interest. Let's see what you have that you claim is worth so much."

Jason reached into his pocket and pulled out a small metal case, longer than it was wide. "This."

"What's in the box?" Greed asked. Something felt wrong to him about it, but he was not sure what it was.

"Well, first, the case itself is made of a very specific metal," Jason said. "This metal does not occur naturally in nature, but is only created when several high level scientific abilities clash in a specific manner. It's normally really rare, but recently a large amount was recovered after an unfortunate incident. Man, I wish I had been there to see it in person. I was lucky enough to acquire some."

"So the metal is valuable?" Greed said slightly disappointed. "How dull."

"Well it is," Jason nodded. "But it's not the important thing. You see this metal, commonly referred to as Shadow Metal, has extremely high resistance to scientific abilities. Ability users find it hard to affect it. However, I discovered it also has high resistance to magic so it made the perfect container for this special artifact of mine." He opened the end of the case.

Greed immediately jumped back ten feet. It was not fear, but pure shock. He expected something magical to be in there, but there was only three unimpressive rusty nails. The nails were also slightly brown as if they had been stained in blood years ago. However, what made him retreat was the sheer amount of Telesma, divine power that normally only angels of heaven have, emitting from them. He could not believe three nails could release so much power. "What are those?" he asked unable to take his eyes off of them.

Jason grinned slightly. "These are the Nails of Caiaphas." Greed's mouth dropped in shock. "I take it you know what they do since you are a sin of Christianity?"

"They are the nails the bound the Son of God to the cross," whispered Greed. There was a hunger in his eyes as all attention was focused purely on the nails.

"Exactly," Jason said slowly removing the nails from the box. "They still contain an enormous amount of Telesma that cannot be explained. In fact, even if the power is used, it replenishes it over time. I acquired it accidently, but it's one of my two most prized possessions."

"So you think if you trade it to me," Greed said smirking as he realized Jason's plan. "I'll let you and your friends go?"

"No," Jason said simply. "Fighting you when you have my main source of power is not smart. So I knew I have only one shot of taking you down, so I need to use everything in one attack. I plan to defeat you with it."

Greed looked at him for a moment in shock and burst out laughing. "Y-you think you can control the power of the Son of God? That is hilarious. The best you could hope for is not dying yourself. AHAHAHA." Greed grabbed his side as he laughed. Jason just smiled.

"Of course I can't control his power," Jason said. "I'm not a Saint or an angel. Instead, I plan to use them as a targeting beacon. I'm glad I was the one to fight you. If you had stolen anyone else's ability, they would not have stood a chance. But I can use magic too."

"What?" Greed asked confused. Suddenly behind him, a rune card hidden under a thin layer of dust started to glow. A large wooden cross, lashed together with rope, landed behind him with a dull thud. Greed turned his head around and looked at it for a moment when it dawned on him. "Damn you," he said. "You plan to…"

"Yes," Jason said grimly holding out his hand with all three nails resting on his palm.

Greed never saw what happened next. One moment he was looking at Jason, the next, he was up in the air with pain in his wrist and ankles. His arms were nailed to the sides of the cross and his ankles to the bottom. He was about three feet off the ground. He could not move at all and he could not feel his mana. The Telesma form the nails were overpowering everything. He could not even control the shadow. "Damn it," he said again. "You actually plan to crucify me?"

"What better way to destroy a sin?" Jason asked. "I'm no Saint to take in that power, so I will use it to have God judge you. This is the magic of God's Judgment."

"You will destroy your shadow in the process you know," Greed said. "I can't give it back to you if I am dead."

"A small price to pay," Jason said. "I know if I defeat you the sin mark will transfer to me. I don't know what your master is planning, but it has something to do with all the marks. I figure this will defeat you and ruin his plan at the same time." Jason watched as a line started to appear and draw a circle around the makeshift cross on the stone ground.

"Didn't you promise that one girl you would never kill again?" asked Greed beginning to sound desperate. "What would your friends think if they found out you kill people?"

"First, I don't have friends," Jason said glaring at him. There was no warmth in his eyes, only disdain. "Just one important person. Second, if I did, some of them wouldn't care. Other's would not be happy, but believe it was a life and death situation. Third, I am not actually killing you. God is passing judgment on you. You could survive if he finds you pure. If not, you will be purified."

"You b $% #*," Greed yelled, all pretense of reasoning gone. "You are just trying to become a god, aren't you? Already you are beginning to use his power to defeat your enemies. Soon you will be after his power purely for yourself."

Jason threw back his head and laughed. "You are hilarious. I have no intention in becoming a god. I have much bigger plans and they are already in motion. You guys are just interfering with mine when you forced us all to come here." The ground beneath Greed started to glow white. The clouds above him started to swirl focusing on a single point high above Greed.

"You fool," Greed said. "I'm going to take your shadow to the grave and you will never stop the Herald. His power is greater than all the sins put together. He will kill you all."

"I have one more trump card left," Jason said narrowing his eyes. "If it comes to that, well, at least I won't die alone." A hole in the sky started to open and reveal a golden light. 'Any last words?"

"The girl you loved is not dead," Greed said suddenly. "You will never find her and she does not care about you. Find solace in the darkness as all will turn against you. I am Greed and my last act will be to take any chance of you finding happiness to the grave."

Jason's eyes went wide and he took a step forward. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN!" he yelled. "EXPLAIN YORUSELF?" Greed just laughed.

The golden light grew in intensity at the hole in the sky. The white light below Greed grew brighter too, so much so neither Jason nor Greed could look at it. The golden light rained down upon them messing with their perspective of colors. Everything now had a golden tint to it except the white circle of light on the ground. From the hole in the sky, a cylindrical beam of pure golden light shot down toward the ground. It complete covered Greed, but stopped at the boundary of the circle on the ground. The light made everything in the circle vanish from Jason's view, except Greed, who looked like he was floating while being bathed in the golden light.

"NOOOOOOOO!" Greed yelled as his body slowly became transparent. Jason turned away as Greed's body completely disappeared in the light. After Greed was gone, the golden light from the sky started to fade and the hole in the sky started to close. The beam got smaller and smaller until it eventually disappeared. Jason looked back at the spot Greed was at and all that was left was the cross and nails. All which fell down onto the ground. Jason shook his head and started to walk toward it to pick up the nails.

His legs shook and he fell to the ground feeling as if he had just run a marathon. It was hard to move and he was taking deep breaths. His entire body was tired and sore. Using a divine artifact takes a lot out of you, even using it with minimum power. He looked up at the sky where the golden light rained down. So that was pure Telesma huh. It was amazing and descriptions do not do it justice. He grabbed his head as he remembered something while he sat on the ground. "It takes several years for those nails to recover their power after use. Greed always causes me problems. At least I know he is gone for good this time. Only a few individuals in history have been able to avoid being purified by God's Judgment." He was mumbling to himself more in frustration then anger.

"Well, he was part of Christianity so I bet he was use to crucifixions." Jason looked around embarrassed. "I'm glad no one heard that." As Jason felt his strength return enough to stand, he got shakily to his feet and collected the nails. He put them back in the metal case and slipped it into his pocket. He gave one last glance at the cross still lying on the ground and started to turn away. A small movement caught his eye and he stopped turning his head slightly. A small piece of shadow was moving out from under the cross. Jason stared wide eyed as more pieces of the shadow started to sneak out from under it. The fragments of the shadow started to move toward him and, as Jason watched, they joined with him slowly reforming his shadow.

"Seriously?" Jason asked out loud. "God's Judgment didn't kill the shadow. Ouch." He looked down at his left hand and the mark Greed had worn was now on his hand. "F*$%!" He had planned to destroy the Mark of Greed and his shadow was just going to be a casualty. Now, whatever the Herald had planned was probably not going to be affected by Greed's death.

I hope everyone else is ok, he thought to himself. He heard the familiar buzzing sound in the back of his mind. No I'm not going soft. They all have a purpose still. More buzzing followed which sounded almost inquisitive. Yes, even Shirai. A more humorous buzz was the response. What? That's it I'm ignoring you. Jason shut out the buzzing noise and looked up at the sky. Cracks started to appear and were slowly growing larger. Kazari better be ok.

Yea, Greed cheats and that is why Jason was the only true option to fight him. I was briefly deciding on Accelerator but what would happen if Greed took his power? Having magic and science for versatility is definitely a cheat on its own. Now I can focus on the last fight with Accelerator. If I can write it half as well as I picture it, the fight is going to be amazing.

Mikoto: I didn't understand half of the conversation going on.

Me: Don't you try to break the fourth wall now.

Jason: I'm sure everyone will find out eventually with Touma, being the main character, learning it first.

Accelerator: I feel like breaking the forth wall now. If I learn the secrets first, it means I'm the main character.

Touma: Don't do it, save your strength for your fight.

Accelerator: I'm the strongest, so no one can beat me.

Mikoto: Unless he punches you in the face.

Accelerator: GRRRRR.

Everyone except Touma: OOOOOOOO!