So I think the most important thing to do tonight is wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. May your potatoes be mashed, your beans be green, your gravy flavorful, and your turkey moist. Heh, moist. It's such a great word to say, Moist. I should use that more often in future chapters. If you say it out loud a couple times it just keeps getting better. Moist. If you don't celebrate Thanksgiving, it's fine. Oh, and everyone have a safe Black Friday. It gets dangerous because people are evil.
CamSpams: Yea, a lot has happened since Ch. 25. One does not simply stop reading fanfiction. Good to see you back.
Handsomistic1: Next chapter and they will be doing fun things.
naruhinasakufan1: You should write the skits at the end of my chapters for me lol.
A lot of fun things are about to happen, and this chapter sets everything up. Now, I do have one thing to talk to everyone about before the main event. I was talking with a friend and we were discussing favorite pairings that do not involve Touma or an OC. When I told him mine, he couldn't understand it. What are your guy's favorite pairs that do not involve Touma or an OC? They can be any cannon characters, actual pair or shipping pair. I know some of you will choose the same thing as me.
Disclaimer: I do not own Toaru Majutsu no Index or any of the characters. Reading this story may cause you to burst out in laughter or yelling at fictional characters. This may cause nearby people to assume you have gone crazy. Please read responsibly.
Touma was running through several alleys as he tried to keep up with Lessar. How can she run with that leg? When she was within his view, she was running easily as fast as a normal person while limping slightly, with her tail swaying back in forth, almost like it was helping her keep balance. A normal person would not be able to run like that with an injured. She showed no signs of fatigue, so Touma had no idea how far she could run. When Lessar changed direction and cut down a different street, Touma would lose sight of her for a brief moment. This worried him because he still did not see Mikoto or Agnese anywhere nearby. If he lost her, she would be gone for good. Lessar ran around a corner and Touma sprinted to get her back in sight. As he turned the corner after her, he stopped.
She was gone.
His first instinct was to look up to see if she used her tail to jump, but it didn't seem like she did, as there was no movement. Besides, I don't think she can jump or land with that leg anyways. The street was pretty long, so Lessar shouldn't have been able to get far enough to round another corner, or she would have gotten away a long time ago. The only other option was a closed door to his left. He grabbed the handle and pulled. It's unlocked. I knew it. She must have gone though here. He walked in and left the door open to let in light because the room was dark. There were no other windows as he looked around. It seemed to be some kind of storage unit and boxes of some item lined the walls and rows of containers sat in the center. He moved slowly, constantly looking around in case Lessar tried to ambush him from behind one of the rows. The ceiling was about thirty feet high and had a metal walkway up top. A loud clang broke the silence and he looked to his right.
Lessar had been trying to move silently up the stairs, but her metal tail had hit the metal railing. He could barely see her, except for her outline and the little light reflecting off her tail, but she froze when Touma turned his head towards her. She was obviously hoping he would overlook her but, with the light from the open door pouring in, she was able to see him start moving towards her. "Stop right there!" he yelled at her as he bolted towards her.
"Never!" Lessar called back as she ran up the stairs as fast as she could. She managed to get to the top of the stairs, and onto the metal walkway, by the time Touma had started up the stairs. "Just leave me alone, you don't have anything to do with this."
"Like hell I don't"
"Fine," Lessar called down exasperated. "If I give you my panties as a gift, will you go away? They would still be warm."
"No!" Touma shouted as his ears burned from embarrassment at the thought. When Touma reached the metal walkway he continued. "I told you I have friends here. If you threaten them, I am going to stop you with everything I have." He realized Lessar was trapped as the walkway ended against the wall on the far side. He ran towards her and the walkway shook slightly under his steps. Lessar also noticed she was trapped and her face turned determined. She raised her steel glove and slammed it on one side of the walkway railing, near where it connected to the wall. The thick metal shattered under her powerful blow and the entire walkway started to twist under there weight.
"You won't catch me," Lessar declared confidently.
"Hey now," Touma said quickly raising his hand while his other hand held the railing, that was still attached to the walls, tightly. "Don't do anything drastic…"
"To late," Lessar said smiling and hit the other side of the walkway with her steel glove. The entire walkway fell with them on it. It crashed into the columns of boxes and pallets of the stored items with a resounding crash. Touma held on, with both hands, to the railing as they fell. The containers soften the blow slightly and, instead of falling thirty feel all at once, they fell, crashed and slowed down, and then fell some more. They finally hit the ground with a clang, which shook through their bodies, and containers were thrown all over the place. When the walkway slammed into the ground, Touma had stumbled and fell to the ground. One of the piles of boxes must have had some kind of flour like substance, as a lot of dust was in the air. Touma's body hurt from the sudden stop on the floor, but he rolled to his feet and looked around, squinting as he tried to see through the dust. He saw a movement to his left and ducked as Lessar jumped through the dust and aim her spear at him.
Lessar passed over him and, when she hit the ground, turned around while grabbing a large wooden palate with her glove. She threw the palate at Touma like a Frisbee and he had to dive behind a half fallen column of boxes to prevent the palate from crushing his midriff. The shelter was shot lived as Lessar picked up a heavy box with her steel glove and threw it. It collided with the column of boxes and Touma had to abandon his shelter to avoid being crushed. When he rolled out into the open, Lessar took her chance. She rushed at him and stabbed at his chest with the blades on the end of her glove. Touma reached up and grabbed the spear with his right hand, a second before being impaled. It shattered instantly. "How…?" Lessar asked wide eyed.
"It's my power," Touma said and watched her closely. Even after losing her weapon she didn't let go of the brown case and they collided. Touma fell backwards and jumped up to his feet as Lessar also got to hers. "Now surrender. You can't use your jump power with that leg, and now you are weaponless."
"That doesn't mean I will just give up," Lessar said backing away from the boy who held an unknown power to her. He destroyed my steel glove with just a touch. I didn't even feel any magic. She heard another door open from behind them and light shined in through all the dust in the air. Lessar couldn't see the person's face, but figured it had to be Mikoto. She's here too damn. Maybe I can use her temper against her. "Ah what are you doing," she called out suddenly and Touma looked confused.
"What…?" he asked having no idea of her plan.
"Ah don't touch me there," Lessar called out seductively as she bent her knees preparing to run. "I'm soooo sensitive. Your hands feel so good…" Suddenly she looked like she was hit in the side as her body was lifted slightly into the air, flew a couple feet, and slammed into the floor. She shook her head and looked at who the person was.
"Cheap lies won't work on me," stated Agnese proudly, stepping through the dust with her Lotus Wand in hand. The Lotus Wand was a staff that allowed her to render attacks based on the effects that happen to the Lotus Wand, similar to the method that is used with voodoo dolls. For example, striking the staff on a solid object can summon an invisible blunt force attack directed on the opponent. "I could tell you two were separated from your outlines. Besides, he doesn't have the guts to try anything like that. Good job boy, you got her cornered."
"I'm here too," Mikoto said coming from the door Touma and Lessar had entered. "Wow, you two ran pretty far."
"It's over," Touma said steeping forward. "You can't run from all three of us. Give us your case and the item you have."
"Do you know where Lancis is?" Lessar asked suddenly.
"Who?" asked Touma looking at Mikoto and Agnese.
"I know who she is," Mikoto said slowly, "But I haven't seen her."
"The other two we just captured were named Floris and Bayloupe," Agnese informed them. "But it's only a matter of time before we find her."
"I don't think so," laughed Lessar. "Lancis isn't in London."
"What?" Agnese asked shocked while staring at her. "Why not?"
"She is thirty kilometers outside of London," Lessar explained. "All of us were just relay points. We simply had to get in position and wait for the signal. As long as one of us manages it, we will succeed."
"Quick!" Agnese suddenly yelled. "Destroy the case boy!"
"Why didn't you think we could make more than just a couple cases?" Lessar asked still laughing and moved the case away from Touma as he lunged toward it with his hands out stretched. A blue beam of light, ignoring the walls and boxes of goods, came out of the wall behind them, hit her case, and then changed direction and disappeared through another wall. Touma's hand touched the case a second later and it collapsed into normal strips of woods. "You failed," Lessar continued. "We transferred the item already. I lost the fight, but completed my objective. Our alliance is complete."
"What did you transfer?" demanded Agnese, as she slammed the end of her Lotus Wand on the floor next to Lessar's head with a bang.
What does she mean by alliance? Touma thought.
"If you want to silence me," Lessar continued determined, while looking Agnese straight in the eye, "Do it now." Touma reached forward and grabbed Lessar to shake some sense into her, when something happened. A small hole appeared in the wall far above them, and then a small whistling sound, like something was traveling at high speeds, passed by them. Something hit Lessar in the shoulder, nearly tearing her arm off and spraying her bright red blood all over the place. It may have been a combination of shooting blindly through a wall and Touma grabbing her at the last minute, but the projectile missed any vital organs. The destructive force though still caused Lessar to start losing a lot of blood.
"A sniper!?" Mikoto yelled while diving in the ground.
"Shit!" Touma muttered as he pulled Lessar toward him as he moved behind cover. "Try to find something to stop the bleeding! Agnese, can you use healing magic?"
"Not much," Agnese admitted as they quickly moved behind some boxes to avoid being seen by the sniper. "I should be able to slow down the bleeding at the very least." Touma moved away to make sure his hand didn't interfere with her magic. He turned and looked at Mikoto who was picking something off the ground.
"What are you doing?" he called to her. "They could snipe at us again."
"I don't think so," she said. "If they wanted to keep attacking they could have. They obviously have a way to see us through the walls. I think they just wanted to silence her." She held out an arrow in her hand. "They didn't fire a bullet, it was this arrow"
"Done," Agnese said rubbing the sweat from her head. She had stopped the bleeding, but Lessar still had lost a lot of blood. We need to take her to someone more specialized in healing, but we have more time now." She saw the arrow in Mikoto's hand. "How do you have that?"
"Do you know what it is?" Mikoto asked.
"It's a projectile from the magic item known as Robin Hood," Agnese said as her face turned serious. "This should have been in our possession at the church and is only lent to the knights as needed. As you can probably guess, it specializes in long range attacks."
"So it was either stolen or…" Touma said grimly as he walked over to Lessar. There was a lot of blood on the ground, but the wound was at least closed.
"Or there is a traitor," Mikoto mumbled.
"Why…?" Lessar asked weekly as she barely kept Touma in focus. Everything was blurry in her eyes.
"I'm not going to let someone die right in front of me," Touma told her. "Mikoto, can you help me carry her." Mikoto nodded and together they lifted up Lessar, careful to avoid the shoulder where she was shot. "Agnese, can you have a car meet us here?"
"They are already nearby," Agnese said pulling out her phone. "It's how I got here. They will meet us out front."
"Hang on Lessar," Mikoto whispered to her. "You're going to make it."
"We were transporting…" Lessar said after a moment of silence while they headed toward the exit. They all stopped talking and turned to her. Her eyes appeared softer, as if she was thanking them. "Curtana Original."
Agnese's face turned pure white. "It can't be," she said her voice shaking.
"What is it?" Touma asked her quickly. "Curtana can only be used by the royal family, right? So it would be useless in anyone else's hands."
"Oh no…" Mikoto said as realization hit her. "Are you sure Agnese-san?"
"Robin Hood is a military weapon normally used by a small order of knights," Agnese said again, but extended her explanation. "Those knights are under the direct control of second princess Carissa." Touma's and Mikoto's face paled at her words. "If Curtana Original was the cargo…"
"I have finished my analysis," Index told Carissa and Knight Leader. "It is as we thought, but I have not found any new information on what type of magic they are using to distort the Christianity base. The good news is there is no trace of Telesma, so they should not have trespassed into god's domain."
"In your professional opinion," Carissa said eyeing her closely. "How do you think Eve is able to actually create intelligent golems?"
Index sighed and shook her head. "I don't know for sure. I have one theory, but it is so unusual it couldn't be true."
"Go ahead," Knight Leader said. "We need to investigate all possibilities and you have the most knowledge of anyone here."
"Well," Index said hesitating for a moment. "You know magic is based on ideologies. Well, based on the distortions of their Christian based magic, they have created a new system."
"Keep going," Carissa said waving her hand impatiently.
"They have their own beliefs and rules," Index continued. "While it may be similar to Christianity, some of the core beliefs are different. They would have to create an entire system of rules and traditions from the ground up if they wanted to create a new branch of magic. Instead, they changed a couple core principles of Christianity. While this would still take a while, since they have to find out how each change affects all outcomes, it would take much less time than a new system. This is why I am detecting the base being Christian with distortions of the actual magic. I can't give any more information than that with just this location. Are there any other locations?"
"None that are relevant right now," Carissa sighed and dismissed Index with a wave of her hand. Index nodded and ran over to a maid to try to get some more food. Carissa turned to Knight Leader and spoke quietly. "Well, it seems like they are not magic gods, but I didn't think they were. A magic god would have just forced their way to retrieve what they wanted."
"That is both good news and bad," Knight Leader replied. "As they are not gods, they should be at a level we can handle. The bad news is they use unknown magic based on their own principles. If they are indeed following Lucifer, it is possible they have knowledges obtained directly from him to enforce their beliefs."
"It will all be irrelevant soon," Carissa responded. "When it arrives, we will change the path of this country for the better and we will have the power to face them directly."
"Of course," Knight Leader agreed nodding. "You have our full…" He stopped and his eyes traveled down to the case he was holding. "…It has arrived."
"Excellent," Carissa said as she took the case from him. "Notify all the knights around the country. I, Carissa, have obtained Curtana Original, the sword which decides the ruler of the United Kingdom. All those who desire for our country to regain the power it has lost, it is time to rise…" Her speech was interrupted as Index ran towards her and she eyed the case.
"What happened?" she asked instantly. "I suddenly feel Telesma coming from you."
"Of course you would notice," Carissa said as a smirk appeared on her face. She opened the case and pulled a sword with no blade or tip, Curtana Original. Her grinned widened at the astonished look on Index's face. "I have recovered Curtana Original and am now the new ruler of this country. As the Index Librorum Prohibitorum, your duty is to serve this county, and me."
"So you intend to start a coup," Index said glaring at her and then continued defiantly. "I won't help you in any way."
"It was not an option," Carissa responded mildly, and motioned her hand to Knight Leader. Faster than a blink of an eye, Knight Leader delivered a kick into Index's stomach. She gasped in pain and fell unconscious. He reached down and picked her up with one hand, threw her over his shoulder, and looked at Carissa.
"What now?"
"Before we head back to the palace," Carissa said, as she held up Curtana Original in the light admiring it. "There is one more resource we need to pick up on the way there. Have your knights locate him for me."
"The Imagine Breaker?" The knight Leader confirmed raising an eyebrow slightly.
"Of course," Carissa said. "His power will be useful, and we will prevent the church from using his power against us." She turned and walked back to the carriage. Knight Leader, after hesitating for a moment, followed her. His face was impassive, but his mind was considering the possibilities. While he knew Carissa was right about the boy, if he hadn't known her for so long, he would have thought there was more to it than just what she said. He immediately banished the thought because he knew there was no way anything could happen.
I am just overthinking things.
"After all this time, the first thing you ask for is Misaka's bike Misaka questions?"
"I need to run someone down," Accelerator explained irritated the conversation was taking so long. Standing in front of him was one of the clones who looked exactly like Mikoto. He knew they had been scattered all over the world, but it did not occur to him one would be living in London. He briefly debated taking the bike by force, but he swore to himself he wouldn't use his powers against the sisters after what he did to them. "You know why I can't just chase her down. I have a f&$%*^ time limit. Are you even old enough to drive here?" He remembered Mikoto was almost fifteen and this girl was a clone of her.
"Technically," she said. "Misaka is under a year old says Misaka while smirking at her joke." Accelerator face palmed and glared at her until she continued. "Misaka has a driver license with a different birthday given to her from Academy City before coming here Misaka explains quickly."
"I don't have time for this nonsense," Accelerator growled. "Just lend me it."
"No Misaka says flatly." Before Accelerator could open his mouth to yell at her she continued. "Misaka will however drive you to your location Misaka offers helpfully."
"Fine," Accelerator conceded. He didn't want her to come along, but he had no idea how far he would have to travel to follow Kaori. His battery might not last the entire trip, so a motorcycle would be a better option. Before he could get on the seat, the Misaka sister handed him a helmet.
"Safety first Misaka says smirking." Accelerator had a hard time resisting the urge to hit her on the head. He could see a resemblance between her and Worst. He snatched the helmet from her hand and put it on while glaring at her. He was surprised to actually see the corners of her mouth twitching upright. The sisters normally did not show emotions on their faces. She hopped on the front and, when Accelerator got on behind her, they took off. "Where are we going Misaka asks?"
"Straight ahead," Accelerator replied gruffly. "You will know when we get there." He was scowling under his helmet. He knew what they looked like with him holding onto the Misaka clone. The helmet was covering his face, but he still didn't like the fact he was being given a ride by a girl. None of those brats that came with us better see me, he thought. Specially the fourth. I might have to kill her to make her forget.
Acqua was walking along the countryside of England toward the city of London. His face revealed no emotion and his mace was gone. There was nothing to distinguish him from a normal man, except his very presence. If a normal person saw him, they would immediately slink away quietly. He had that kind of effect on people. After thinking it through, he decided to arrive at the city shortly before nightfall. It would give him time to locate Touma Kamijou and, if their confrontation ended in a fight, there would be less chance of civilians getting involved. He had his mission, and he would carry it out, regardless of who got in his way, but he still did not like involving innocent people. He stood atop a small hill, stopped, and looked down into the valley at the chaotic scene before him.
Below were three factions fighting, though two appeared to be allied with each other. He recognized the armor of the English knights and the symbols of the Anglican Church. The third faction was numerous, but seemed to be slowly getting thinned out by the other two. The third faction soldiers all had gold masks. So The Fallen is causing problems here too. I heard the rumors the one known as Eve took in interest in something here. Regardless, it had nothing to do with me. He continued to walk and changed his course slightly to move around the battlefield. He was not one to slink away from a fight, but he had no quarrel with them, until one of the masked soldiers noticed him and raised a spear into the air.
"He's here," the masked man called out to his remaining soldiers. The ten men that were left retreated and headed directly toward Acqua. Acqua was about to attack them, when he hesitated. He did not feel any hostility from them; instead they appeared relieved he was there. He frowned in thought. The knights and nuns grouped up, but stopped when they saw the masked soldiers fall back around a single man. "My Lord," the masked man said and kneeled before him. "We knew you would come. We are unable to fulfill our mission. We give our lives at our disgrace." Before Acqua could respond to this sudden announcement, the masked man stabbed himself in the chest, and all the others followed suit. Their bodies collapsed and dissolved into dust as Acqua watched. He raised his eyes when the knights and nuns raised their assorted weapons of swords, spears, and bows.
So that is their plan, he thought as a knight stepped forward. Turn us against each other.
"You are to surrender immediately," the knight said loudly. "If you make any action that is perceived hostile, we will…" The knight stopped and his eyes went wide, though no one could see it as his helmet covered his face. "William Orwell…" he muttered and Acqua sighed. The sound of an explosion took place and the knight flew over fifty feet and landed onto the ground with a crash. Acqua's five meter long mace appeared from his shadow as he swung it with a single hand. The other knights and nuns could only watch in shock at the sudden attack.
I cannot afford to be recognized by that name right now, Acqua thought to himself. He was on a mission to capture the Imagine Breaker as a member of God's Right Seat. As great calamities swept through Europe, like the plague, God's Right Seat was born from the necessity of needing to have people that can talk to the Pope regarding the matters of the Roman Catholic Church. They had power and knowledge that even the Pope had to rely on, and were considered a special existence separate from the hierarchies of the church. The goal of God's Right Seat was to purge the original sin from mankind. Using their knowledge, God's Right Seat had diluted the sin within themselves to give them powers similar to angels and far outstripping normal magicians. Acqua's power was aligned with the Archangel Gabriel, also known as the Power of God, the center of the Angel's Fall incident. If that was not enough, he had another type of strength.
Acqua was also a Saint.
He was one of less than twenty people who could claim that title. His body was similar to the Son of God and allowed him a portion of that power. His strength, reflexes, and speed were at superhuman levels. His body could channel a larger amount of mana than normal humans, which only increased his affinity with the power of God's Right Seat. Acqua turned to the remaining individuals who stood before him. There were only twenty knights and five nuns left. "I am Acqua of the Back, member of God's Right Seat. My mission does not require me to have a quarrel with you. If you leave without a fight, you will live. If you insist on fighting me, I will show you no mercy." He saw many of the knights exchange glances and make signal at each other.
"Like we would ever slink away from the Roman Catholic Church," one of the knights called out and several of the others cheered. "You may not be part of The Fallen, but you are still our enemy. For stepping on our soil and attacking a knight, we will capture you for trial." The other knights pointed their weapons as they all moved forward as a single unit. The battle nuns spread out among them to support them with their spells.
"I see," Acqua muttered. He slumped his mace against his shoulder, as he watched the knights and nuns approach. "I respect your courage, even if it is futile." Acqua would forgo killing if he could, as long as it meant he could still accomplish his mission, but only if there was no need. In combat, he recognized only two sides, enemies and allies. When the knights and nuns raised their weapons against him, they declared themselves to be his enemy. He watched the knights get closer, but he didn't move a single inch. An arrow flew at him from one of the nuns, and he just tilted his head a few centimeters to dodge it as his eyes tracked the arrow's trajectory. When the knights were about fifty feet away, he made his move.
He vanished from their sights instantly.
Well, the knights saw him vanish. All that happened was Acqua moved at superhuman speed and appeared right in the middle of their formation. Normally, that would have been a suicide tactic, deliberately putting oneself in a position to be surrounded by enemies. But for Acqua, it wasn't suicidal, it was just strategy. He put himself there because he could cause the greatest destruction with his blows. He swung his mace horizontally, as easily as if he was just knocking down a spider web in front of him. There was the sound of crunching metal, as his mace hit several knights, followed by a boom of displaced air, and then a shockwave. Four knights, with destroyed armor, were sent flying, while several others were blown backwards just from the shockwave. The others turned to look in shock and horror as Acqua didn't stop his attack there. He vanished from sight once again as several others tried to turn their weapons toward him. Another boom reverberated through the area as several more people were blown away. One of the knights managed to predict where Acqua was going to move and swung a blade at him. Acqua blocked with his mace, and delivered a kick into his chest. The armor broke under his leg strength and knocked the knight back ten feet.
Acqua wasn't even using the power of God's Right Seat. This one sided fight was being won only with his innate abilities of a Saint. A Saint was a power that normal people could not hope to match. After two more blows, he looked around and saw only three of the nuns and one knight left. The nuns were chanting while the knight held up a shield in front of them to block Acqua's view. That knight has courage, shame all the struggling is pointless. He was about to finish them off, when his body suddenly felt heavy. It was like a huge weight had appeared on top of him. He looked at his feet and saw he wasn't sinking, so the magic was only affecting his strength. "Is this your final attempt?" Acqua asked.
"Weight of Sin," one of the nuns said panting slightly. "We can't inflict the entire judgment upon you with just us, but it should weaken you. David admitting the weight of sins was crushing him in the Psalms was the basis for the spell. Few people are without sins, the more sins you carry, the more weight you feel." She figured it would take a large number of nuns chanting the spell to actually stop someone like Acqua. She did not know how many sins he actually carried.
"I appreciate your resolve to win," Acqua said. "Impressive." He understood why it affected him so much. Normally, even with a spell like this, a normal person would only feel a slight weight difference. Acqua's list of sins, however, was quite long. His beliefs lead him to do many things he was not proud of, but his reasons for doing them did not change. The number of people who fell at his hand was almost endless. "However," he added. "Such a spell is wasted against me."
"What…?" the nun said and she gasped as the spell broke. "How?"
"I could tell you," Acqua said as he raised his mace. "But I have wasted enough time already and have a mission to accomplish." The knight charged forward as Acqua swing his mace down. The knight's plan was to reduce the momentum of the attack before the swing allowed the full force of the strike to hit them. He rammed his shield into Acqua's mace about halfway through the swing. It did not do anything noticeable, because the shield simply shattered and the knight was thrown back from the blow, pieces of his armor flying in every direction. "I doubt you would be able to comprehend it anyways. Take solace in the fact you have stood this long before me." He raised his mace as the three nuns looked on in fear, they did not have the ability to avoid his blows. He brought the mace down with enough force to destroy everything in its path.
The nuns shut their eyes as a gust of wind from a shockwave knocked them down.
But they survived.
When they opened their eyes they saw a female with long black hair holding a two meter long sword. The sword was still sheathed and the young woman had both of her hands on the sword to withstand the direct blow from Acqua. Kaori Kanzaki looked back at the nuns and said simply, "Retreat, I will handle this." The nuns nodded and fled as they realized they would not be any use in a fight between Saints. Kaori turned to Acqua. "I see the rumors that you have returned are true. I take it you are after Touma Kamijou then too?"
"I am here to take him back with me," Acqua said, leaning his weapon against his shoulder again and then took a step back. "That is my mission, no more and no less. If you tell me where he is, no one else will need to be involved."
"I see," Kaori said softly as she took a step back. She withdrew her sword from her sheath. "I will not let you take him. He has done so much for us, and me, that I will not let you hurt him."
"I was told the Saint of the Far East, leader of the Amakusa, hated fighting," Acqua commented. "Do you truly wish to fight me?"
"I do."
"Do you have any last words then?" Acqua asked shifting the weight of his body slightly.
"We may both be Saints," Kaori said raising her sword while shifting her body. "But I am interested in how you broke their Weight of Sins punishment spell so effortlessly."
"As respect to your strength and resolve," replied Acqua. "I will tell you what you are facing. My attribute mirrors Archangel Gabriel, the Power of God. Gabriel was the angel who delivered the prophecy to the Divine Mother about the birth of the savior. With this connection, I can use the power of the Divine Mother's Worship. As a member of God's Right Seat, I can use that power to be blessed with the gift of the Divine Mother's Mercy, the ability to negate any punishment. The Divine Mother gave birth to the Son of God. She may have been mortal, but she held a special bond with God, a single unique existence. All humans are born with the original sin, we of God's Right Seat have taken steps to weaken it within ourselves, but the Son of God was born without that sin. To do this, the Divine Mother's body purified the sin from the Son. She also had the power to save others from sin."
Kaori understood what he meant. Gabriel was the angel associated with punishing sinners and saving believers. She was the one who rained destruction down upon Sodom and Gomorrah when the city had been completely consumed by sin. Acqua's bond with Gabriel would only intensify his connection with the Divine Mother. With the power of the Divine Mother's Mercy, spells that reply on sin or punishment were useless. The nuns had replied on a spell to use the weight of Acqua's sins but, with his power, even the sin of killing was nullified. To defeat him, she would have to use her strength to stand before him.
Their eyes met as they stared at each other.
The Saint, who only had the desire to protect a boy who meant so much to her, moved her blade.
The Saint, who only had the desire to complete his mission and remove all obstacles, raised his mace high.
As the two forces clashed, the land itself recoiled from their power.
"We got to go," Itsuwa called urgently to Misaki. "I just got word from Agnese."
"What's happening?" Misaki asked quickly, but she heard the urgency in Itsuwa's voice so she followed her to the car.
"I'll explain in a moment," Itsuwa replied and they hopped into the car and took off toward the mall. After they were driving on the actual roads, Misaki noticed they were speeding, Itsuwa turned back to her. "An issue occurred on our side and it appears The Fallen may not be the only problem right now."
"Huh?" Misaki asked. 'What could be worse?"
"It appears one of the princesses may be leading a coup against the Queen," Itsuwa quickly explained and continued as Misaki opened her mouth. "The knights have already begun moving against the church's bases. St. George's Cathedral has already fallen, but we moved all the dangerous items out of it as soon as Agnese sent out the warning. While the public is mostly unaware at this time, some of the police are rounding up people in smaller cities. We need to meet up with the others at the mall and get everyone out of the city. Can you help me convince them with your ability? I know there's a small group who doesn't know about magic."
"What about Touma and Misaka-san?" Misaki questioned. While she might be willing to warn the others, Touma always was a more pressing matter for her.
"They are with Agnese," Itsuwa revealed. "They captured a member of New Light, but it appears they transferred the contents they had to the designated individual. We have little time and they are going to meet us at the hotel outside the city when they finish their half. Everyone else should be at the mall by now and will be shuttled out of the city as fast as possible."
"I don't like leaving them," Misaki muttered, but she had to concede in the end. Her plan is sound and Touma and Misaka are both capable of taking care of themselves and Accelerator can go get beaten up for all I care. ARG, I hate the fact Misaka is alone with him. She turned to look at Itsuwa. She sure is reliable in an emergency. I see why Touma spoke highly of her. After this is over, I may need to explain to her why she should give up. Itsuwa managed to weave in and out of several other vehicles on the road before they ended up near the mall where everyone else was supposed to be. Itsuwa felt Misaki stare at her, but didn't know why, and sweat formed on her forehead.
Things never happen the way they expect though.
"Are we finally meeting everyone at the mall?" Kazari asked as she, Ruiko, Kuroko, Last Order and their guide had just gotten back on the bus.
"Aww," Ruiko said wrapping her arms over Kazari's shoulders from behind. "Is someone missing their boyfriend?"
"Maybe…" Kazari replied blushing slightly. "But I also want to know what happened with Misaka-san and Kamijou-san's meeting with the Queen."
"We haven't heard any announcements of them being jailed," Kuroko added. "So I bet Accelerator and the ape kept at least a modicum amount of restraint and etiquette."
"MISAKA told you Accelerator would MISAKA announces as MISAKA is pleased her prediction came true."
"We would have been there sooner if someone didn't notice a French clothing store and demand we stop," Ruiko said and glanced at Kuroko.
"They do not have a store like that in Academy City," Kuroko huffed looking unembarrassed. "That chain doesn't have many stores worldwide and only allow you to buy in stores, not online. Besides," she motion to the back with their bags. "You and Uiharu bought something too."
"They had some really nice things," admitted Ruiko. "Though, I pretty much went through most of my vacation money today." She looked down slightly depressed. "Uiharu at least can trick Kagere-san into buying her stuff when they meet up at the mall." She nudged Kazari with her elbow smirking.
"I wouldn't do that," Kazari said indigently. "It feels wrong to use guys like that."
"Nah," Kuroko said dismissively. "You should do it. That's what he is good for I guess." She, of course, was perfectly ok with people using Jason. If Uiharu benefits and he doesn't, it's a good day. She looked out the window. "At least that store had what I wanted. It took a while to find the perfect summer outfit." I can't wait to show it to onee-sama, plus I found something nice for her birthday. She noticed something odd though. She could see the mall in the distance, but the bus turned down a side road and made a U-turn back the way they came. She looked at the driver and saw their guide on the phone while talking to the driver. "Hey," she called out getting to her feet and walking over to them. "What's going on? Why are we turning around?" She was aware Ruiko, Kazari, and Last Order's eyes turned to look at her.
Their guide looked at the driver, who gave a brief nod, and she turned back to them. "There has been an emergency and we are picking up a couple of people. Stiyl will explain everything when he boards."
"He's so rude," Kuroko muttered, but she kept her complaints to herself. She could feel the tension in the air. Something big is happening on their side. She moved to the middle of the bus with the others.
"What's happening?" Ruiko asked quietly.
"They didn't tell me much," Kuroko said. "There's been an emergency and we are picking up some people."
"I hope everything is ok," Kazari whispered. "If they have gotten this serious, something big must have happened." Last Order was shifting her gaze between all three of them, but did not say anything as she did not have knowledge of magic.
"They said Stiyl was going to be one of the people boarding," Kuroko added.
"I doubt we will get much from him," Ruiko sighed. "He doesn't talk much." The others sighed too as they knew how tight lip he could be. They didn't talk much while the bus rolled along the road, but they occasionally glanced at each other. The bus took a less conspicuous side road and came to a stop. A moment later Stiyl entered and was followed by five nuns, all of whom were carrying gym bags full of unknown items. As soon as they entered, the bus started moving. Stiyl was muttering to the driver and pointing at a map. The driver nodded and muttered something back. It was only then Stiyl stood up straight and walked to where the girls were.
"Sorry about this," he said lighting a cigarette and Kuroko glared at him. He must have realized what she was mad about so he inhaled deeply before putting it out. "State of emergency, so we needed to commandeer the bus." He didn't look like he was sorry. It was more a look saying, I did what I had to do, deal with it.
"What happened," Kuroko asked him. "Judging by her tone," she indicated the guide, "something serious happened."
"Arg," Stiyl glared outing his hand over his face. "I don't want you all to get involved anymore, but I guess it's too late. The Fallen is not the only issue we face right now in England. It turns out one of the princesses is staging a coup against the Queen. She controls most of the knights and police in England."
"WHAT!" Ruiko, Kazari, and Kuroko all gasped.
"What about everyone else, MISAKA asks as MISAKA worries about her friends."
"Kamijou and the Misaka girl have been warned and will meet us at the hotel," Stiyl explained. "That is our destination as it is outside of the city and not a major stronghold. Itsuwa is leading the team to evacuate your friends at the mall."
"What about Jason and Tsuchimikado-san?" Kazari asked immediately.
"They…" Stiyl said, but there was just a tiny pause, easy to miss, so only Kuroko managed to catch it. "Were found and taken to St. George's Cathedral. Kagere uses magic so we were able to track them down easily. They were planning something before the coup started and we evacuated them with the others."
"That's good," Ruiko said relieved.
"Thank you for helping them…," Kazari started to say, but Kuroko spoke up.
"You are lying," she said suddenly and Kazari and Ruiko turned to look at her.
"What do you mean Shirai-san?" Ruiko asked.
"He doesn't know where they are," Kuroko explained glaring at Stiyl. "And if he is lying about that, he might not know where the others are either." Stiyl met her glare with his own, looking irritated she caught him.
"Is she telling the truth?" Kazari asked.
"Fine," Stiyl said glaring back at Kuroko. "Kagere helped us with a church matter and was last seen at St. George's Cathedral. Shortly after we received word of the coup, we had to take preventive actions against the princess's forces, and I lost track of him. He knows were to meet us though. While I don't know the exact status of your other friends, at this time, they are with Itsuwa and Agnese so they should be fine. Both of them know we plan to meet at the hotel."
"You should have told us that first," Kuroko said trying to keep her voice calm, but her face was turning red in anger and her voice was shaking. "Onee-sama and the others could be in trouble now and you are keeping secrets from us."
"Shirai-san," Kazari said weakly. "You should calm down."
"This is a magic side operation," Stiyl said also trying to keep his voice calm, but his irritation was seeping out. The nuns were deliberately looking away from them as the tension in the air thickened. "Some of you may force your way into our matters, but there is a limit. You will just get hurt if you try to interfere with it and possibly make things worse."
"I don't care," Kuroko fumed. "I'm not going to sit back and do nothing." She turned to Kazari, Ruiko, and Last Order. "I can search faster on my own, go with them." Before any of them could say anything, Kuroko disappeared and reappeared outside of the bus. She kept teleporting into the distance and quickly disappeared.
"DAMN IT!" Stiyl yelled slamming his fist on the wall of the bus in anger. "Fine, if she gets hurt it's not my fault." The other nuns clutched their bags close to them, but still did not say anything. The bus continued to move down the street, heading for the city limits.
"I hope Shirai-san is ok," Kazari muttered to Ruiko. "She shouldn't have run off like that." She pulled out her phone and looked at it, questioning if she should call Kuroko and try to get her to come back.
"I don't like the fact Stiyl lied," Ruiko replied quietly and gave him a quick glance. "I know he had his reasons, but still…"
"MISAKA believes our friends will be ok MISAKA interrupts as MISAKA pats your shoulders."
"Thanks Last Order," Kazari said smiling at her. "I believe in them."
"Touma will make sure everyone gets back for sure," Ruiko declared. "He's never let us down before. Misaka-san, Shokuhou-san, Accelerator-san and the others are also strong. I doubt they would get captured so easily."
A little earlier, back at St. George's Cathedral, Jason was leaning up against a wall watching several of the nuns run into the lower catacombs. He had a hand to his mouth and was on the verge of vomiting. His face was a sickly green and he was leaning up against the wall to steady himself while looking nonchalant. He was mostly fine, until a short while ago, when something hit him and his health deteriorated suddenly. Damn it, why am I so sick all the time.
It just became worse to be in this country .Jason frowned in response to its whispering.
After he had captured Floris, the nuns had arrived before he had time to thoroughly inspect the case. He went with them to try to find out more information about the magical items Floris possessed but, of course, the church didn't share their findings and it annoyed him. From what he understood, based on a few short sentences he heard, someone was throwing a coup against the UK. He didn't hear who, but it seems like they controlled most of the knight and police forces. He looked over at Floris bound to the floor and leaning up against the same wall, several runes placed on her. She glared at him when she saw him looking at her. "Thanks a lot," she said sarcastically. "Now the knights are going to kill me to keep me quiet."
Jason looked around and didn't see any more of the church's nuns. "It seems they did flee and leave you behind."
"They don't care about people once they lose their resourcefulness," Floris said. "Once the knights break through the church's defenses, I will be taken away." Jason felt a slight twinge of pity looking at her bound and helpless. A boom was heard as something pounded on the cathedral's main doors.
"How about a deal then?" he asked.
"What do you mean?" questioned Floris as she gazed at him suspiciously.
"I am willing to let you go on the condition you deliver something for me," Jason explained quickly. "You are a courier aren't you?"
"I doubt you can hold off the knights long enough for me to escape," Floris laughed. "But to humor you, what would I have to deliver?"
"Just a message," Jason said and grabbed a piece of paper and tore it into two pieces. He wrote on both of them and then folded them in half. "One is the message I want you to deliver, the other is a way to get out of trouble if you run into a church member."
"You have that kind of sway with them?" asked Floris.
"They owe me," Jason replied grinning. Another boom echoed through the cathedral and the door started to crack. "You better make up your mind fast."
"I don't want to die like this," Floris said. "So fine, I'll deliver your message."
"Excellent." His shadow turned into a hand and reached down toward Floris. The hand sent mana into the runes, temporarily disabling them as it peeled them off. He reached down and helped Floris to her feet. "If you betray me, I'll track you down and make you regret it." He grinned at her, but she felt a shiver down her spine. He told her the address as a final boom was heard and the front doors exploded. Several knights started to rush in.
"Get on the floor and surrender!" one of them yelled raising a sword. "Or we will kill you!"
"Surrender?" laughed Jason putting a hand over his face. "You all don't know me very well." His eyes narrowed slightly as he felt it. SHIT, they have Telesma? I thought they would just be regular magic knights.
No, it's perfect.
Huh?
Just fight like you normally do. The Shadow can handle this Telesma.
"Run when you get a chance," muttered Jason to Floris and she nodded. Suddenly, his shadow exploded from behind him into large tendrils and knocked the closest knight back into the others. For just a moment, Jason felt the Telesma weaken in the knight and he didn't know why. Nor could he spare the time to think about it as the rest of the knights rushed at him and it took all his concentration to keep them at bay. The Telesma was powering them up and giving them vastly increased abilities.
"One of The Fallen's leaders is here!" a knight called out. "Notify the Knight Commander!"
Jason blinked in surprised. "Woah there," he said hastily, raising his hands as Floris bolted out a side exit. "There seems to be some kind of mistake. I'm not a member of The Fallen…"
His words fell on deaf ears.
Explosions echoed across the empty field as Kaori and Acqua exchanged blows. Each time their weapons collided, sparks and a shockwave were produced, destroying everything in their immediate vicinity. The ground was torn, trees snapped in half, and bushes were ripped form the ground. Kaori could draw her blade so fast, that normal people couldn't even see the blur of her blade. As the former leader of Amakusa, she knew a wide variety of a spells and would use the spells best suited for the situation. If Christian spells were ineffective, she would use Buddhist spells. If Buddhist spells were ineffective, she would use Shinto spells. If Shinto spells were ineffective, she would use Christian spells.
However, none of that was effective against Acqua.
Acqua was a member of God's Right Seat and has access to a wide variety of knowledge through the Roman Catholic Church. It was obvious to Kaori he knew just as many, if not more, spells then she did. Acqua was also a Saint and could match her attacks blow for blow. Kaori jumped over the mace as Acqua swung it horizontally. She swung her blade downwards at his head, but he shifted out of the way. He moved, but a more accurate term would be glided away in a fluid motion without even raising his feet. Her sword swung harmlessly though the air and as soon as she touched the ground, she was forced to jump backwards to avoid Acqua's next blow. His mace crushed the ground where she had stood less than a second ago. That movement is not normal, even for a Saint. How is he doing that?
She didn't have much time to think as Acqua pressed his advantage and swung his mace upwards, bringing up a torrent of dirt and grass. The dirt clouded her view for only a moment, but in battle between super humans, a single moment can be deadly. She dashed to the side only to find the mace moving directly toward her head. She moved her sword in front of herself and the weapons collided again. She was off balance and the blow threw her backwards twenty feet. She twisted her body in midair and managed to land on her feet. Her blade was raised in a defensive stance as she slowly stepped to the side, not taking her eyes of Acqua.
"How exciting," Acqua commented as he waved the five meter mace, that looked like a lance, as easily as a kid with a stick. "It has been so long since I have fought another Saint. Please don't tell me you are going to give up. I have only begun to warm up." He had a mission to capture Touma, but he enjoyed a worthy challenge too. What made this great for him was they coincided with each other. Kaori would prevent him from accomplishing his mission so she had to be eliminated. That meant the fight was not a waste of time.
"I was just testing the waters," Kaori said as she continued to shift to the side looking for Acqua to reveal a single opening from his over confidence. I need to figure out his high speed movement spell, but from our spies, God's Right Seat can't use normal spells for some reason. It has to be part of them gaining their unique powers like his Divine Mother's Mercy. She saw the shift in Acqua's center of gravity and she lunged forward instantly. Their weapons rang as they struck each other and stopped. Both of them gazed into each other's eyes and both saw only resolve, but for completely different reasons. They both jumped back and dashed towards each other again. Each time their weapons hit, the top layer of ground around them was blown away from their power. They appeared evenly matched.
But that was not the case.
Kaori's initial strikes were evenly matched with Acqua's, but she was beginning to feel the strain of exchanging these blows. Each time their weapons struck each other, she felt the shockwave travel through her arms. She didn't want to admit it, but her arms were getting tired and she would not be able to maintain her power forever. What was worst, Acqua's blows seemed to be steadily increasing in strength. How is he so strong? This isn't normal for a Saint. Acqua suddenly disappeared from her line of sight. She ducked and rolled out of the way as his mace passed over her head. She swung her blade at him, while the mace was too far away to be used as a shield, but Acqua managed to glide backwards without even lifting his feet.
"Are you getting tired already?" Acqua asked. "And here I thought this would be a challeng…" He stopped when he saw something shiny fly in the air around him. Seven wires surrounded him and began to split into even more as they begun to weave and overlap. This was Kaori's main attack the Nanasen, also known as seven flashes. There was no space for him to dodge, so the wires wrapped around Acqua and his weapon. Kaori did not stop there as she was not going to hold back against another Saint. Using her wires as a three dimensional magic circle, she created powerful offensive and defensive spells, such as when she blocked Wrath's flame form on the beach. Acqua was suddenly surrounded by bright red flames. The flames around him exploded and he disappeared from view, though Kaori did not worry. The wires would tell her where he was. She gritted her teeth as the wires broke and she had to instantly move to avoid his mace coming at her head. The wires disappeared as she raised her sword in attack position against Acqua.
"An admirable effort," Acqua commented looking at her. He did not appeared injured, even his clothes were still fine. "If you had managed to finish me off quickly, you might have had a chance, but now it is too late." Kaori did not know what he meant and, as she opened her mouth, she felt it. It had begun to rain. It wasn't a torrential downpour, so it did not block everything from view, but it was hard enough to make sure everything was sufficiently soaked in just a few minutes.
"Do you think I am going to be bothered over a little rain?" Kaori asked.
"Yes," Acqua answered. "Remember, I have the same attribute of Gabriel, who is aligned with the element of water."
Kaori's eyes widened as she understood what he meant. They were now being surrounded by water which would just increase Acqua's power. "Members of God's Right Seat shouldn't be able to use normal magic."
"I see you have done your research," Acqua said raising an eyebrow. "Normally, that is true. If we tried to use normal magic, the backlash with the powers similar to God's would cause severe punishment within our bodies." He watched as Kaori's eyes widened further as she processed the true meaning of his words. Their bodies were punished by using normal magic as a member of God's Right Seat, but his particular power, Divine Mother's Mercy, removed all punishment.
He can use normal magic too, Kaori thought as she figured out how Acqua could do his unusual high speed gliding movement. He controlled a small amount of water under his feet to glide on all surfaces, like an ice skater on an ice rink. Is there any limit to his power? She raised her sword again and watched him closely. "It doesn't matter," she said, her voice calmer then she really was. "I will still fight."
"I admire your resolve," Acqua said honestly. "Because of that, I will use all my power to defeat you." He traced a symbol with the rain water on his mace. The rain around him started to twist unnaturally in the air and surround Kaori. Her eyes darted back and forth, her blade still held high, as she prepared for his attack. In a 360 degree dome around her, the water formed hundreds of different weapons, swords, spears, maces, and more. A moment later, all the weapons made of water flew at Kaori. In response, she swung her sword and all the weapons were spliced into pieces, and then turned into steam. She had used Nanasen to channel her flame magic into the wires. As they sliced Acqua's water creations, the flames erupted and turned them into steam.
She couldn't stop to catch a break though. Acqua charged forward and swung his mace at her the moment her wires started striking his magic attacks. Kaori jumped, twisted her body, and struck the mace with her blade. The force of the blow threw her into the air, but she landed softly on her feet. Acqua continued to push his advantage summoning more weapons and creating whips of water to constantly attack her. Kaori would counter with her wires and flame magic. All the time both sides were clashing with their spells, their weapons struck each with enough force to blow normal people away. Sparks flew off with each hit and the sound of metal reverberating, made their blows appear like lighting. Neither side was giving an inch, but Acqua was slowly pressing his advantage. Kaori was knocked backwards, by the force of one his blows and she landed in a puddle.
Shit.
The moment she stepped in the small puddle, the water grabbed onto her food. All the rainwater around Kaori converged toward her and encased her in a sphere of water. The density of the water slowed her swing and the wires started to burn the water, but Acqua was replenishing it as fast as it was evaporating. There were bubbles coming from her lips as some air escaped her lungs. She could hold her breath for a very long time, due to her attributes of a Saint, but even a Saint had to breathe eventually. "What will you do now?" Acqua asked raising his mace effortlessly. "Drown, or be crushed by my mace?" He jumped, covering twenty feet instantly, and prepared to swing his weapon.
An explosion of bright red flames engulfed the location where Kaori stood, blowing the water away, and forcing Acqua to jump backwards to avoid being struck. The explosion faded away and Kaori stood in front of him, panting. Her clothes were slightly burnt but, overall, looked ok. "Quick judgment too," Acqua commented. Regardless of who he fought, a well thought out plan could still impress him. "But how much damage did you take? How much longer will you last?"
"I will keep fighting to my last breath," Kaori said raising her blade, but Acqua could tell her hand was shaking slightly.
"I see," he said sounding slightly disappointed. "I am not going to preach of ideals, on a battlefield they mean nothing. The strongest survive and the weak fall. We all have reasons to fight, but require the strength to back it up. When you take that step onto the battlefield, you accept those outcomes." The rain lessoned as he talked and stopped.
"You make it sound like you have already won," Kaori replied. She was glad the rain finally stopped. It hadn't rained long, but everything around them was wet. At least his water magic will lesson.
"I am going to finish it with my next blow." He raised his hand, the one not holding the mace, into the air. Kaori didn't know what he was planning and moved her sword into a defensive position. The water around them started flowing into the air behind Acqua, converging in a single location and grew, creating a large sphere of water. The sphere began to rise into the air. "Remember, I have the same attribute as Archangel Gabriel. Do you know the other names commonly used to refer to that archangel?"
"Power of God," Kaori mumbled. "The Governor of Blue, Protector of the Rear Side, and Guardian of the Moon… It can't be…" Her eyes glanced toward the sky where the blue water sphere hovered in midair. It was still early afternoon and there was cloud cover, so the sky was blocked. However, she understood what Acqua did. He created an artificial moon to augment his powers. The water rippled to catch even the smallest ray of light slipping in through the clouds. The orb appeared to glow slightly as the light was reflected at just the right angles. Acqua jumped high into the air and raised the mace above his head. Kaori could feel an enormous power form behind him.
"The Divine Mother shall remove all evil."
Kaori bent her knees and prepared to jump to intercept Acqua to prevent him from casting his spell. A ripple of pain shot though her leg as she realized she took a lot of damage from her own fire. Her body had slowly accumulated damage from trading blows with Acqua. When she was forced to strike herself with her own magic, the damage merged and caused her leg to collapse for a moment. With no other choice, she swung her blade and created a barrier using all her wires to stop the attack.
As Acqua began to descend upon her, the power behind him grew exponentially. He brought his mace down with both hands, until now he only used one. The mace hit her shield and she felt it. The power was not in the mace, it was merely a symbol of good striking down evil. The true attack was the immense power he gathered that radiated its own pressure. All that power was brought down on Kaori, destroying her barrier like it was paper. An explosion of blue-white light erupted like a pillar. Anyone nearby would have felt the earth shudder from that blow, like a meteor had fallen. Acqua landed and watched the dust clear. He raised his eyebrow, ever so slightly, when he could see his opponent.
Kaori was on all fours, her sword lying on the ground next to her. Her hair was a mess, cloths town, and she was bleeding from cuts all over her body, but she was alive. Blood began to soak into her cloths. She looked up at him from the ground, her eyes only radiating anger, not only at Acqua, but at herself for being too weak to stop him. His power is far beyond a normal Saint and I finally know why. Saints may have enormous power compared to normal people, as their bodies mimic the Son of God, but they are not all powerful. Saints are weak to attacks that resemble how the Son of God was killed such as being stabbed, a crown of Thorns, and the crucifix. The other more common way was a Saint using too much power. Saints were still human and if they used their powers beyond what their bodies could handle, they would self-destruct. Kaori knew Acqua was drawing power far beyond what his body should be capable of, and she finally realized how.
"You survived," Acqua said. He did not say it in an impressed way, but simply stating a fact. "As you are in no condition to continue, if you tell me where the boy is, I will let you live." Acqua enjoyed a good fight, but he was willing to let people live if they agree to his conditions. If they did not, he would strike them down where they stood.
Kaori took a deep breath, grabbed her sword, and struggled to her feet. She glared at him and her hand tightened on her sword. "I finally figured it out."
"Oh?"
"Why you are so strong, even beyond the limits of a Saint. You taint the very nature of the Divine Mother's Mercy. The Divine Mother spent her time saving everyone equally. It did not matter if they were rich, poor, good, or evil. Her mercy was not made to be used this way. You use that power, not to save, but it remove your own burdens as you commit more and more sins. You lesson the punishment you should face for your choices, including lessoning the impact of your power on your body. You can use the full power of a Saint because of the Divine Mother's Mercy without destroying yourself. SO WHY DO YOU USE IT TO HURT OTHERS INSTEAD OF PROTECTING THEM?!"
"We of God's Right Seat are trying to save all of humanity," Acqua replied after a brief pause. "We do what we have to do, not just what is considered good." He raised his mace and leaned it against his shoulder while looking her over. "It is a shame to see a Saint in such a pitiful state. Now will you accept my offer, or will the world lose one of its Saints?"
"No," Kaori said simply. "I will never give up someone else to save myself, especially him. We may be called Saints, but that boy is more of one than either of us. He is just an ordinary boy willing to throw himself into a fight between people with powers far beyond his own, purely to save others. The world needs more people like him. I will not slink away with my tail between my legs. I will continue to fight, and I will stop you." Her blood dripped onto the ground below her but, when she stood up, she admitted an aura of pure strength.
"Bravado," Acqua said shaking his head. "To the point of foolishness." He was planning to end the fight with his next attack when they both paused. In the distance they heard a motorcycle. Kaori was puzzled, even more than Acqua was, because she had set up people clearing fields before she arrived. They both turned their eyes slightly, still keeping each other in view, towards the sound. A moment later, two people riding the motorcycle passed them. At first it looked like they were going to pass, but the boy on the back jumped off. His face was hidden by a mask, but his jump was unnaturally high and landed on his feet about fifty feet away from them and he scratched his neck. The girl driving the motorcycle drove off into the distance. Acqua could not feel any mana coming from him, but his instincts told him this person was not normal.
The person didn't say anything and simply took off his helmet, revealing his red eyes and pure white hair. "Wow Kanzaki," Accelerator commented. "You look like you got beaten pretty f#$%*& badly."
"You have to leave," Kaori shot back. "This guy is a Saint, you don't stand a chance." Accelerator stared at her for a moment, and burst out laughing.
"That's a good one," he laughed. "To think someone could stand before me. A Saint huh? The hero mentioned something about Saints once. They could take on an entire city at once, that's pretty cute. I was told I could take on the world's military without batting an eye. It might be fun to test out whose rumors are true. I was looking for someone on the magic side who won't faint after just one hit. I want to test some things."
"Leave kid," Acqua told him. "If you step forth onto the battlefield, I will show you no mercy."
Accelerator grinned. "Well, if you put it like that." He turned as if to walk away, and he brought his hand up to his neck to touch his collar. A moment later he took his hand and touched a nearby tree. His hand just sunk right into it like the tree was made of mud. He moved his arm up and the entire tree was effortlessly uprooted. He looked over at Acqua for a moment, and threw the tree like a spear. Acqua dodged it easily and put some distance between him and Kaori.
Acqua still did not feel any magic so he assumed the boy was part of Academy City and someone who knew Touma. "Who are you?" he asked.
"If you're a Saint," Accelerator said sarcastically. "I guess you can call me a Sinner."
The fight between the strongest ability user and a Saint, who was also a member of God's Right Seat, was about to begin.
Feel free to leave a review, comment, suggestions, or ideas, I love reading them. If you have a question you wish I ask and would like a quick answer, feel free to message me directly. I try to respond to those within a day or two. Comments, I tend to respond to in the next chapter.
Shizuri: What the hell? Where am I in all this?
Frenda: Yea, basically we deserve screen time too.
Me: I swear you will be in the next chapter and get to beat up people. Don't hurt me.
Shizuri: We better.
Misaki: Sucks, it looks like I'm going to meet them instead of Touma.
Mikoto: Don't worry, I'll protect him.
Misaki: I rather you not, you always turn into a wolf in those situations.
Mikoto: What do you mean by that?
Frenda: Basically, where is he anyways?
Shizuri: He's with the other guys playing some nerd game through that door. If you're quiet you can hear them.
…
Index: Touma no matter how much power, you can't just split your soul for immortality!
Touma: For the last time it is just a game…
Motoharu: I think it's weird how Kami-yan's character is becoming evil and Accelerator's character is killing everyone, but he's considered good.
Accelerator: Violence solves all problems.
Pierce: The only maid in the game still fell for him. DAMN YOU KAMIJOU!