So I thought I was going to release these on Thursday, but due to holidays getting closer, a lot of stuff I do every week gets cancelled. I had a lot more free time to sit down and write. I also enjoyed finishing up the fights to move the plot along so I wrote a little more each night. I feel the fights ended well and now everyone else is beginning to take action. I will say, they follow chapter after this one is going to be an explosion and I am sure everyone will know why. I feel it is obvious, but who knows, I may just be high again.
Handsomistic1: It kind of turned into a weekly thing as the chapters got longer. The Accelerator fight just broke up so easily, there was a good point to stop it. I imagined it like anime fight scenes were they stop right after a big event before finishing the fight.
Whwsms: Don't question it…. Just accept it and move on.
Agent Nine: There is a method to the madness. We shall build up his misfortune to the breaking point, and then have fun as it all collapses on himself. Plus, have to get rid of some of the good fighters so Touma can do more in the fights that are bound to come.
FireDusk: Never, now because of you, Jason will die. People can't be happy. What do you think this is? A romance novel with a harem ending…. Never mind, disregard that.
I am pleased to see everyone liked Accelerator's fight so far. I had the feels when I wrote it too. It had been slowly building up to that moment, he just needed a good opportunity to express it. Of course, he won't want anyone to find out about it.
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.
Mikoto and Misaki were sitting in silence as Agnese drove everyone back to the hotel. Lessar had fallen asleep, which was good for her as she needed to recover from her ordeal. The other nun was sitting quietly, afraid if she did anything to attract attention, another shouting match would occur. Agnese was also concerned about one starting up again, but she was also worried about Touma. She was thinking of what Carissa was planning to do to Touma and why she even wanted him in the first place. After careful consideration, she had arrived to the conclusion Carissa wanted to keep the Imagine Breaker in her grasp to use against any church counter attacks. But how does she expect to use him like that? A small smile appeared on her face despite herself. Knowing him, he's going to accidently ruin all of her plans. Besides, I know for a fact he wouldn't work with her willingly.
Mikoto and Misaki were also deep in thought about Touma's fate at the hands of Carissa. Misaki was fuming silently to herself, as she stared out the window, deeply upset at Mikoto's lack of resistance to prevent Touma from being captured. After she had time to think, she knew Touma wouldn't want others to get involved and he sacrificed himself to save Mikoto and the others. I can't really expect anything else from him. After all, he really is a prince. She didn't want to think of what the princess was doing to him, but anything she imagined had made her furious. If anything happens to him, I swear I will not rest until her, and everyone under her, is taken down. Now that Mikoto had told her the known conditions of everyone else, there wasn't much reason to talk to others and she remained silent.
Mikoto was in a similar position, as she too was worried about what was going to happen to Touma. She was furious at herself for being unable to stop Touma from leaving with Carissa. Based on what she had saw of the princess, Carissa was tough, willing to fight, and highly efficient, but also appeared to not be willing to needlessly waste resources. She probably wants to keep his hand and Index's knowledge for her use. I doubt she will hurt him, but she is also a girl and he seems to attract… Her face flushed, and she grew slightly angry and embarrassed at her thoughts. There's no way that will happen. She's a princess and she would never go for him. Besides, Touma wouldn't willingly go with her, he has me... friends he would want to go back with. Her eyes traveled down the road they were traveling on and her eyes saw their hotel in the distance. "I hope Kuroko returned by now," she muttered out loud.
"We will know in a minute," Agnese replied as the hotel grew closer. "She shouldn't have run off on her own, regardless of the circumstances. While it will be harder for them to track her, since she cannot use magic, it's not safe in the city."
"I know," Mikoto agreed gritting her teeth. She was still angry at Kuroko for running off on her own, even with good intensions to look for others. Mikoto had tried to contact her, but she never received a reply back. Kuroko's tough and resourceful, I'm sure she will be ok. Hopefully, when she sees my message, she will leave the city and meet back up with us.
"She was really worried about Misaka-san that much huh," Misaki whispered behind Mikoto. "Maybe you should just return her feelings. Not a lot of people would do that for someone else. Risking life and limb to find someone they care about." Misaki figured teasing Mikoto, a little bit, would help keep her mind off Touma until they knew more.
"Shut up," Mikoto snapped. "She's my best friend and I am not in the mood for your games right now."
"Aww," Misaki replied pretending to pout. "And here I thought we were best friends. I'm really hurt now." She made a little sniffle sound from the back seat.
"Where did you get a stupid idea like that," Mikoto said, turning around and glaring at her. Misaki smiled at her and winked, like she was flirting with her. "Our friends are missing and you can't even be serious. I thought for sure you would be upset over Touma getting captured."
"I am and panicking right now isn't going to help us at all," Misaki pointed out her grin slipping off her face. "You should take a deep breath and relax until we get to the hotel and find out what is happening. Shouting angrily and thinking of running off on your own will not only increase the chance of getting captured, but could also impact others, if they are enacting their plan as well. You are not the only one worried about them." Though Misaki was more worried about Touma, Kuroko was just a secondary target, she wanted to make sure Mikoto would not run off on her own. While I don't like her, her power will most likely be required to save Touma.
"You were the one who started yelling when you got in the car," Mikoto mumbled in her defense and turned around to face forward again. I don't want to admit it, but she's right. Mikoto took a deep breath and tried to turn her mind to something more positive. She was going to meet up with Kazari and Ruiko so her stomach, previous in knots from her worries, began to untangle itself. As she calmed down, she knew this wasn't the end. After we regroup, we will rescue him once we have a plan. She sighed slightly. I feel better… wait, was she actually trying to cheer me up? It couldn't be…
"We are here," Agnese announced, as she pulled in front of the hotel. "You two should go back up to your rooms. Your friends should be waiting. We need to move Lessar with the other prisoners."
"Other prisoners?" asked Lessar. She woke up and was looking around. "Who else do you have?"
"We have your two companions who entered the city with you," Agnese said. "You should be glad we got them out of the city. Otherwise, the knights would have captured them." She didn't mention one of them had been left in St. George's Cathedral and was only here because she delivered a message.
"Floris and Bayloupe are here?" Lessar asked slightly excited. "You haven't done anything bad to them right?" She looked suspiciously at Agnese before continuing. "At least Bayloupe can't spank me for messing up," she muttered and her hands moved instinctively to her butt.
"They cooperated to an extent," Agnese said shrugging. "Though Stiyl's form of interrogation can be a little rough, nothing noteworthy happened to them."
"He does seem a little too serious," Misaki added. "Would it kill him to smile once in a while?"
"He never tells us enough information either," Mikoto complained. "He barely lets us know anything is happening, unless it's going to cause a mess on this kind of scale."
"I heard from the Archbishop he is more talkative around Kamijou," Agnese said with a slight grin.
"Seriously?" Mikoto and Misaki asked interested. Neither of them knew the full relationship between Touma and Stiyl, so they were interested in anything she could tell them.
"That's what I was told," Agnese said shrugging. "Kamijou helps Stiyl with missions, usually when a magician infiltrates the Academy City." They all got out of the car and walked into the hotel. None of them were surprised to see a lot of nuns running back and forth while carrying equipment, ranging from computer parts to weapons, and even food. Agnese led Lessar and the nun down a side hallway, while Mikoto and Misaki took the elevator to their room. It was quiet as they went up to their floor. Misaki was still slightly embarrassed she raised her voice publically in front of Mikoto and Mikoto was wondering if Misaki had actually tried to cheer her up earlier. Neither of them talked to each other during the ride. When they got off on their floor, Ruiko and Kazari burst out of their room to great them.
"Misaka-san!" Ruiko called out as she ran up to her and gave her a hug. "Shokuhou-san!" She stopped hugging Mikoto and hugged Misaki too. Misaki's face turned from amusement to embarrassment as she was embraced by Ruiko. Mikoto couldn't conceal her grin at Misaki's reaction.
"I'm glad you both are all right," Kazari said, her eyes full of concern. "We were relieved when we heard Agnese-san picked up Shokuhou-san on the way back. Mugino-san and her friends arrived a little while ago and they told us you stayed behind."
"Any word on Touma?" Misaki asked. Ruiko and Kazari shook their heads sadly.
"All we know is he and Index have been taken to Buckingham Palace by the princess," Ruiko told her. Mikoto realized Agnese had called ahead and gave them the information.
"I suppose you haven't heard from Kuroko either?" Mikoto asked hopefully, and they both shook their head again sadly. Mikoto's stomach sank into the floor as her fear something happened to Kuroko returned.
"We only received a letter from Jason," Kazari explained and she had a curious expression on her face. It was a cross between nervousness and determination, but it looked like she really wanted to give them good news. "He set up an access point for us to remotely hack the London security cameras before leaving the city. Magnus-san said Princess Carissa was most likely going to rely on magical means to monitor the city, so the cameras will be unguarded."
"And Tsuchimikado-san had evacuated with another group to a different location," Ruiko said. "He won't be able to come back here until the heat dies down."
"That's good news," Misaki said nodding her head slightly. "Touma's friends are safe, and we have a way to start tracking him." She turned to Mikoto and smiled. 'See, isn't this better than just running around blindly? Don't you feel better now?"
"Yea," Mikoto grudgingly agreed, but she did indeed feel better. "I wish Kuroko would have thought of that."
"Well she is a brat," Shizuri said, walking up to them with Saiai and Frenda behind her. No one had noticed her approach them until she spoke. "You can't expect her to act logically all the time. So if I understand the situation, there are four people missing, and then Accelerator's off doing who knows what?"
"Any word on him?" Saiai asked.
"Just that he ran off on his own shortly before the coup," Mikoto answered. "I have no idea what goes through his head."
"I wonder what got his attention," Misaki said thoughtfully. "Must have been something big."
"Knowing him," Shizuri formulated. "I bet he found someone strong to defeat, maybe one of these so called magicians, because of their unusual powers."
"I don't think he would go out of his way," Mikoto said thoughtfully. "He always seems so… wait, you know about magic?" She looked at Shizuri in shock.
"You think after this event," Shizuri asked, sounding like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "We wouldn't find out about it? We interrogated the Itsuwa girl until she gave us a quick description of what was happening."
"Basically," Frenda added. "We may not know the specifics, but we have a general overview. It's good…"
"Their abilities are super weird yet powerful," Saiai interrupted. "The knights can take a blast of Mugino's Meltdowner and live. That is super impressive."
"You're shooting your ability at people?" Mikoto asked stunned, as she turned to Shizuri. "Your ability is ridiculously destructive. You can't go shooting it around at normal people! They could have died!"
"They could hardly be called normal," Shizuri replied nonchalantly, while using a hand to flick her hair back over her shoulder. "Besides, they attacked us first, so it was legitimate self-defense. Besides, they didn't die… probably… we didn't bother to check… so what's the big deal?"
"How uncivilized," Misaki muttered, more to herself then anyone else. She had a bad taste in her mouth because she knew how deadly Shizuri's ability is. Even if the knights could somehow survive, if she missed and hit someone else, Misaki did not want to imagine the outcome. Ruiko and Kazari looked at each other in worry. Neither of them had seen Shizuri's ability first hand, but they knew how strong a level 5 could be. Their worry was based on the way Mikoto talked about Shizuri's ability's destructive potential.
"You know what the big deal is…" Mikoto started to reply, her voice slowly getting louder, when they were interrupted by Stiyl, Itsuwa, and Agnese walking toward them. Everyone stopped arguing and turned to look at Stiyl, who was leading the group.
"Everything has been set up," Stiyl said, looking at Kazari. "We need you to access the security cameras now." He stopped and looked at the rest of them. "We aren't interrupting anything, are we? You know what, I don't even care. The current situation is more important than petty arguments. Are you ready?" He turned back to look at Kazari.
"Ah yes," Kazari said hastily. Stiyl turned and started walking back towards the elevator, while Kazari followed.
"They need her to hack London's security camera's right," Mikoto asked Itsuwa and she nodded.
"Thanks to Kagere-san's help," she explained. "He did something in London to allow Uiharu-san to remotely access them. Now we don't have to try to send spies into the city."
"Sounds like he put up bypass with wireless access," Shizuri said almost impressed. "Not a bad plan on his part."
"So we should be able to start gathering information to rescue Touma?" Misaki asked hopefully.
"Yes," Itsuwa nodded with resolution in her eyes. Mikoto and Misaki both noticed the change in her facial expression. "We have a couple people testing London's defenses, but anyone capable of using magic can't get anywhere without being immediately detected. We are hoping we can get some information this way without taking to many risks. The knights have to at least keep their forces spread out to intercept our small groups."
"Though," Agnese said being the voice of reason. "Depending on how many cameras we can access, we probably can't see all of London and monitor it effectively. We are hoping to find any information relating to weak points in their security that we can exploit."
"Makes sense," Misaki muttered. "Running blindly into an enemy's base is suicidal. Learning their defenses is good strategy."
"Do you think we can locate anyone else inside the city?" Ruiko asked.
"If your friends are still inside the city," Itsuwa answered. "We are hoping to locate them too."
"I'm not someone who likes to sit around and wait," Shizuri said sounding slightly irritated. "I kind of want to blast a couple more knights."
"It's a good plan," Frenda said shrugging. "Basically, it increases the chance of success."
"Do you think I didn't know that?" Shizuri asked, eyeing Frenda coldly.
"Of course not Mugino," Frenda denied, violently shaking her head.
"Well," Saiai said putting her hands behind her head. "That means we have to super kill time while the computer girl helps hack the system."
"I don't know about you all," Mikoto said dryly. "I'm not really into doing anything till I know my friends are safe. Also, her name is Uiharu not computer girl."
"Are you sure?" Shizuri asked with an evil glint in her eye. "I found out something really interesting and I was going to share it with you out of the kindness of my heart." That got everyone's attention.
"Oh," Misaki said raising an eyebrow. She doubted Shizuri would, or has ever done, anything out of the kindness of her heart. If Shizuri was going to give them information, it either would increase the odds of her getting something she wanted, or the information would cause problems for someone else. I bet it's the second option. However, her interest was aroused and she really wanted to know. Judging by the looks Ruiko and Mikoto exchanged with each other, they wanted to know too. Frenda and Saiai shared a confused look, telling Misaki they did not know what Shizuri was going to say.
"It seems she," Shizuri said pointing a finger at Itsuwa. "Appears to be in love with Kamijou too. Thought you all should know."
"What?!" Itsuwa said, turning immediately to look at Shizuri, as her face turning scarlet. Itsuwa didn't know what Shizuri was going to talk about, but that was the last things she expected to hear in their current situation. She could feel the stares coming at her from all directions without even looking. Why did she have to say that? It's like having another Tatemiya here.
Touma and Index had only a moments warning, from the thud of heavy boots, and then the door to their waiting room was thrown open. George walked in and he was followed by four other knights. While he was still not in his armor, just his suit, the others were. Touma could feel the tension in the room increase and he realized Carissa must have finally either called for him, or determined his fate. Touma had no idea how long he had been waiting, since there was no clock in the room and his phone was taken away, but it felt like he had been there forever. Though, that could have been because there was nothing to do and it made the time move slowly. He looked at George and opened his mouth to ask what was going to happen, but George interrupted him. "You have been summoned for an audience with Lady Carissa." He nodded slightly to one of the other knights, who walked forward with handcuffs. "You will put these on. The Index Librorum Prohibitorum will stay here as security to ensure you do not try to cause any trouble."
"I want to go with Touma," Index demanded standing up and rushing to Touma's side.
"Our orders were to keep you here," George said sternly and Touma realized, from his tone, Carissa had given him a direct order and he would not disobey.
"It's ok Index," Touma reassured her." He put the handcuffs on and the knight made sure they clicked into place. As they did not break apart when his right hand touched it, they must not have been magical. "I'll be back before you know it." His voice sounded a lot more confident then he felt. He just didn't want Index to worry, but he did not know what fate had in store for him. Carissa seems to always have several things going on at once. I can't really read her intentions.
"Don't you get into trouble when you are out of my sight," Index told him sternly, but Touma could see the concern in her eyes. He smiled.
"When do I ever get in trouble?" Touma asked chuckling slightly. Touma could see her eyes roll at his remark and then she glared at him, as he was led out of the room. They walked down the hallway in silence, but Touma could feel something was wrong. George looked a lot more serious then when he first met Touma. "Something happened didn't it?" Touma muttered to him so the others did not hear.
"A lot of things happen," George muttered back. "None of which I can talk about freely. Let's just say she is not in a good mood." He paused for a moment. "I do not envy your position right now. I don't believe she is going to be that merciful to you and your companions."
"Great," Touma said dryly. "I'm going to have to convince her then to stop this."
"Good luck with that," George said and a shadow of a grin almost appeared on his face. They came to the main meeting room, where Touma had first met the royal family, and George pushed the door open while announcing his presence. Touma saw Carissa sitting in a chair in the middle of the room, while several other people had left through side doors. He could see what George meant. Carissa was scowling at some papers in front of her and was emitting a dark irritated aura, as she pursued the information. Touma was forced into a seat about ten feet from her and she didn't even look up. All the other knights left except for George, who stood slightly behind Touma. Neither of them said anything for a moment, while Carissa studied the papers.
"I take it phase three is not going well," asked Touma as he broke the silence. I guess it's good news the Queen and the other princesses have not been captured yet. I'm sure someone would have mentioned it by now if they had.
"If you were a normal individual," Carissa said softly, not looking up, Touma noticed she still held Curtana in her right hand. "I would have you killed for speaking to me like that. You are lucky you still have a purpose, but you better be mindful of your tongue boy. You are not beyond a good thrashing."
"What purpose would that be?" Touma asked. "I figured you wouldn't keep me so close without a good reason. If you simply wanted to prevent my hand from being used against you, you could have just killed me. I don't know what you want with me, but I am not going to turn on my friends."
"Once again you surprise me," Carissa said, finally looking up from her work and staring directly at him. He felt a shiver go down his spine as his eyes met hers. "You show remarkable perception in these things. Yes, I have many plans for you, but I didn't expect you to turn and fight your companions, willingly or not."
"Then what?" Touma asked confused at what her plan was for him.
"The Church and my family know the only chance they have to defeat me is to remove Curtana Original from my possession," Carissa explained. "That is, of course, impossible with how much power I have at my disposal. So, they would have to find a way to destroy it, even as I wield it. They would need your hand in order to accomplish that. As long as I have it, they will not be able to stop me."
"I see," Touma said, thinking that is similar to what George told him. "But wouldn't that mean…" He suddenly felt his stomach drop.
"They will come for you," Carissa said and a smile stretched across her face. It wasn't a friendly smile. It was a slightly sinister smile of someone who knew they were going to win a game. "But that also means, they will come to me. The church will have to send their elite members and there is a good chance my mother will even come. Though, I am afraid if your friends get mixed up again in this, the outcome will not be good for them."
"Damn it!" Touma yelled standing up. "Don't you dare threaten them." George put his hand on Touma's shoulder and pushed him back down into this seat. "I swear if you do…" Touma started to threaten her through gritted teeth, but she interrupted him.
"Silence," Carissa said forcefully. "Let me finish before you rudely interrupt or I will have your mouth gagged. Which might be kind of fun. From what I have seen of your companions from Academy City, they do not appear to like to keep their noses out of other people's business. By your actions," Touma actually saw her smile for real this time, "I determine you would not sit quietly and wait while they fought my forces."
"You have that right," Touma muttered. I would stop you myself if needed.
"So I called you here to make an offer," Carissa continued and Touma tilted his head slightly in confusion. "The fighting has not escalated right now, so this may be the only opportunity you have. I want you to call your companions and let them know if they head toward the airport and leave England, I will not stop them. I will let them go without incident."
"Why?" Touma asked immediately. To him, that deal was too good to be true. I would prefer they all were able to avoid the fighting, but there has to be more. "What's the catch?"
"No catch," Carissa said smiling. "Your companions will be free to go. You and the Index Librorum Prohibitorum, however, will be staying here and no longer allowed to return to Academy City."
"WHAT!" Touma yelled shocked. Whatever he was expecting, it wasn't that.
"Well having the Index here is only natural," Carissa explained. "She was created here and should remain here for me to use as needed for the country. You on the other hand," she paused, "are just too valuable to let leave. You will also stay here, become a citizen of this country, and be trained as part of the knights under my command."
"Why would you want me?" Touma asked incredulously and he heard George shift uncomfortably from behind him.
"Should I give you the real reason?" Carissa asked pretending to think. "Well, I think I can, as it doesn't really matter either way. First, your power will be quite useful in defending this country. The ability to destroy an enemy's most powerful magic would be a huge benefit. Second, you are brave, even if it is to the point of foolishness. You would carry out your duties as a knight well. Third, well… let's say I am intrigued by you as a person. I would like to know more on what makes you tick."
Touma immediately thought of what George told him and he had to shake his head in amazement. Think, he thought to himself. She has to mean something else then what you are thinking. There is no way a princess could be attracted to you. She's older, strong, famous, and attractive… why am I thinking that? He looked at her and did notice how young she looked, even being in her upper twenties. He figured stalling for time and asking questions might give him more information. "Why would you ask me this, instead of just forcing me to stay, and stop my friends with your forces? From what I heard about Curtana, your knights should be incredibly strong."
"Simple answer," Carissa replied, but her smiled faltered for a moment. "If I forced you, you would plot behind my back. I know you well enough to know if you accept this conditions, you would not betray me as long as I kept my word. Besides, I rather not waste any forces on your companions when I have other matters to attend to."
Touma stared at her for a moment thinking fast. He could tell there was more to it, but he wasn't sure what. Some of his friends wouldn't go quietly, Mikoto and Misaki wouldn't leave any of their friends behind, him included. He also knew Shizuri would never take someone else's orders if she could come up with any reason not to. Jason and Accelerator wouldn't want to follow any authority figures telling them what to do, just out of principle. Geeze, all my friends are so stubborn. Everyone else could probably be convinced. Shirai would go if Mikoto went. What do I do? I hope Jason is ok. Knight Leader went after him… It's been awhile, shouldn't that have been resolved. "I have one more question."
"I suppose," Carissa said almost bored and waved him to continue.
"Knight Leader went after my friend," Touma said and, with those words, he knew he had struck gold. Carissa's eyes flashed from bored to suspicious and he heard George shift behind him again. Ha, something did happen. "You told Knight Leader to capture him alive if possible. What was the outcome and where are they now?"
"He will carry his job out efficiently and effectively," Carissa answered, her eyes flashing dangerously, but Touma could tell she knew something she was not telling him. "I'm surprised you would be worried about a possible Fallen leader.
"He's not a Fallen leader," Touma protested. "I take it he wasn't able to capture him yet? Jason is pretty resourceful."
"He is indeed," muttered Carissa softly, and then her voice turned normal. "Now, this will be your only opportunity. Will you accept my proposition? You will be able to contact your 'friends' and let them know they will be able to leave England unharmed. In exchange, you and the Index will become part of England."
Touma remained silent as his mind processed the strange events. Damn, what do I do? I can't let my friends get involved in the upcoming fight. I know the church isn't going to stop and neither will Carissa. I guess I don't really have a choice. If I can prevent any of them from getting hurt, then I guess it's worth it. I don't know how Academy City is going to take this, but I'm sure she thought of this ahead of time. I hope they aren't going to be too mad at me. It's going to be tough to convince them all. He took a deep breath and looked at Carissa. "I accept," he said slowly. At least this way, Index won't be left alone.
"Excellent," Carissa exclaimed, pleased at his answer. "Remove his restraints and give him his phone." George nodded and followed her orders. Touma looked at his phone and saw there were a ton of messages from his friends. He sighed, moved to the top one, saw it was from Mikoto, and dialed.
"What the…?" Jason asked, and he and Kuroko could only stare in shock. Jason had used his shadow to grab Knight Leader's sword and succeeded in using it against him. The sword had sliced right across Knight Leader's chest. Knight Leader had said something and then it appeared he didn't even try to dodge. The sword hit him directly, but nothing else happened. It was as if the sword had grown dull and his chest was like iron. There was no sign of any kind of damage. Knight Leader reached out and ripped the sword from Jason's shadow.
"How?" Kuroko asked, teleporting next to Jason. "That sword was really sharp."
"I know," Jason replied equally shocked. "He must have used some defensive spell."
"Yes and no," Knight Leader answered them. "It is an offensive spell to use on your opponent, so that defense is not necessary. Have you heard of the Norse hero Thororm?" Jason and Kuroko shook their heads. "He used magic to reduce the sharpness of his opponent's blade to zero. Therefore, his opponent could not harm him and only his sword could cut. I used this as the basis for my spell and constructed this technique. Anything I recognize as a weapon will have its offensive power reduced to zero." He smiled. "This spell also does not differentiate between science and magic. Grenades and rockets will not explode; arrows and bullets will not pierce anything. I can theoretically even use it on a nuclear weapon, though it has not been tested. It only lasts for ten minutes, but that makes it more than enough time for me to take down my opponents. I have to admit. It has been a long time since I have had to use it on my own weapon."
"That doesn't make any sense," Kuroko sputtered. "How do you just reduce that to zero? Even a dull blade should cause damage if you put force behind it."
"It's magic," Jason sighed. "As long as he constructs it from some belief, there really are no limits." He retracted his shadow and formed a couple swords of his own. "Try to find an opening." He ran forward, his shadow stretched out to surround Knight Leader, and all the swords converged on Knight Leader's location from different directions. Knight Leader didn't even appear to be concerned.
"Turn to zero."
All the shadow blades collided against Knight Leader and nothing happened. They simply hit him and his suit didn't even move. "I recognized your shadow as a weapon," Knight Leader commented. "I have taken away your main attack." The shadow swords turned into axes and swung at Knight Leader. The same thing happened. "Changing the shape isn't going to matter." He started walking towards them nonchalantly. He suddenly disappeared and reappeared behind Jason. He delivered a karate chop at Jason in the back of the head, causing him to fly forward, face first, into the ground. Jason rolled a good five feet before stopping.
"It's not over," Kuroko yelled at Knight Leader. He turned to look at her. She had immediately teleported away as soon as she saw him disappear. She discovered it would be too late, if she tried to teleport, after she saw Knight Leader reappear. She had to teleport immediately to try to stay out of his attack range. She picked up several sticks and was preparing to use them as weapons. With teleportation, the exact item she used didn't matter, when it was teleported directly into someone.
"Put those down," Knight Leader sighed rubbing his head with a hand. "And just surrender. You should not be involved in our fight."
"Like hell I'm not going to go and help a friend," Kuroko yelled back.
"Hah," Jason said standing up. "She called me a friend."
"Shut up! Not the time!"
"I see," Knight Leader said. "Admirable, but foolish." They looked at each other and simultaneously unleashed their powers. "Turn to Zero," Knight Leader said as Kuroko tried to teleport the sticks into him.
Without previous experience, no one knew what the results would be. Knight Leader recognized anything Kuroko held could be used as a weapon, due to her power, so his spell could activate. If she tried to teleport something near him, using the momentum to damage him, it wouldn't do anything. The issue arose when trying to teleport something directly into his body. Teleportation forces the teleported object to push out the matter occupying the space, but could it do that with all of its offensive power reduced to zero? That was the question all three of them had run through their heads. Jason and Kuroko knew the more technical aspects of her ability, while Knight Leader just knew she could move items directly into him.
Instead of teleporting into Knight Leader, the sticks appeared right outside of his clothes. Kuroko stared in shock and then frowned. She knew her calculations were correct and, because Knight Leader didn't suddenly move out of the way, he shouldn't have been able to dodge her attack. She analyzed it and it seemed because the offensive power was reduced to zero, it couldn't push out the matter occupying the space. Instead of being stuck in the eleventh dimension, where teleported items travel though before reappearing, the item moved to the nearest point, it could reappear at, to the calculated location. His magic defies logic. How are we supposed to stop him?"
"I was debating what the outcome was going to be," Knight Leader muttered. "But it appeared to work fine. I now recognize anything you touch can be used as a weapon." He took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a fraction of a second. "The pain is annoying. Do I just need to incapacitate you to remove it?"
"I'm just going to say it's permanent," Jason replied shrugging. While he may have used a light tone, his mind was going through the possibilities. His shadow was useless as any sort of attack, while the Thororm Spell was activated. His Marks of Sloth and Wrath didn't work, though Wrath was slowing Knight Leader's reflexes by a fraction, not enough to make it useful for them though. Mark of Greed wouldn't really be useful here, because Knight Leader didn't have any other weapons on him. Also, the mark couldn't steal mana, which was what spells were created from, unlike an ability. Jason had experimented and found out he could steal an ability, like Greed did, but not magic which made the mark pretty useless when fighting magicians. Envy wasn't really an offensive mark, and was primarily used for espionage. What should I do?
Use the girl to attack, use the true power of Envy, or use your last resort.
The last resort will kill me.
I'll take precautions with the Telesma you stole from the knights.
"I shall take you out first then," Knight Leader said, ignoring Jason and looking at Kuroko. "You still have the power to attack." He reached down and picked up a tree branch. It was about a meter long and two to three inches thick. In his hands it could be used like a club, something Jason and Kuroko immediately noted. Kuroko teleported away in response, to put some distance between them, but Knight Leader had disappeared and covered the distance in only a moment. She teleported again to try to escape him, but Knight Leader looked around and chased her down as soon as she reappeared. It was like a bad game of tag, where if Kuroko was half a step to slow, she was going to get struck by a monster. Jason couldn't do much, except watch the two of them move around the area. He had finally devised another plan, but the timing was important.
Kuroko barely had time to think of anything except the calculations. She was able to speed things up, by plotting a simple shaped route, as she teleported around, reducing the time needed to examine her surroundings. While this gave her the advantage early on, it did not escape Knight Leader's notice. He was a veteran of countless battles and was able to identify her route easily. When she reappeared at a location, she was shocked to see Knight Leader, right in front of her, bringing down the tree branch toward her head. She panicked and closed her eyes right before it hit her. She thought she heard Jason yell something, but couldn't make out what it was.
The branch shattered when it hit Kuroko's head.
Kuroko opened her eyes in shock. She heard the branch break, but she felt nothing hit her. She saw Knight Leader's surprise face, as the broken branch he held didn't do any damage to her. She teleported back ten feet, out of reflex, and stared. How? She moved her eyes to Jason, the only other person in the area, and couldn't hold back a gasp. Instead of Jason, another exact copy of Knight Leader stood pointing at the Knight Leader who had attacked her. She stared for a moment and her brain clicked. After all, she had encountered that power once before. He transformed into Knight Leader. He must have used the Mark of Envy because it allows him to copy abilities. Ah, he used that Thororm spell against Knight Leader. That was close. She watched as the real Knight Leader turned around and stared at Jason.
What the…? Knight Leader thought, his mind processing the new information. Having someone transform into him was not the problem, there was a lot of different kinds of magic that could do that. What made him freeze for a moment was the fact his Thororm Technique spell, which took him years to develop, was copied too. How could he mimic that? He stared at Jason and saw something else that unnerved him. It was like staring into a mirror. Not only did he look just like him, the way he held himself, and the mannerisms on how he moved, was also the same. Knight Leader calmed his mind, ignored the pain still wrecking his body, and examined Jason again. His transformation is perfect to a degree, but he isn't able to fool Curtana. He doesn't seem to be infused with Telesma. "What kind of power is that," he asked dropping the remains of the branch. "To actually be able to copy my spell?
"It really is an interesting technique," Jason replied. "But something tells me I can't cast it directly on people. Is it a flaw in the spell?"
"I can't lower an extension of the body to zero," Knight Leader replied. "Nor can it be used against any member of the royal family. As a knight loyal to them, I made sure to include that rule in my theory when I developed it."
"You speak of loyalty," Jason replied, his tone seemed to be more like Knight Leader's then his usual self. Kuroko assumed it was part of the mark's power. "Yet you are willing to betray the queen and two princesses to follow a third."
"It is for the sake of this country," Knight Leader replied.
"I think I understand now," Jason said slowly. "Words will not reach you." He took a step forward and prepared to attack. His shadow began to seep out from under his clothes and form a thin protective layer around himself. While he could not attack with it still, it could still be used for defense. "We must settle this with strength."
"Indeed," Knight Leader agreed. He felt like he was talking to himself, but in a way, that made it easier for him. "However, I know what you are trying to do, but I will not be distracted." Jason gritted his teeth and leaped forward, but Knight Leader was much faster. The Mark of Envy could only copy someone's abilities up to a point. While Jason's strength and speed increased, because Knight Leader was far stronger than him, it was still only a fraction of his normal strength, without even including the Telesma empowering him. Knight Leader disappeared, but he didn't go for Jason.
He went for Kuroko.
Kuroko had been listening to their conversation intently, but wasn't prepared for Knight Leader's sudden attack. She wasn't able to react in time and Knight Leader delivered a blow directly to her stomach. She gasped and collapsed unconscious at his feet. Knight Leader was no longer playing around. He learned their abilities and took down the greater threat. While Jason had a lot more powers then Kuroko, Knight Leader could handle them. Kuroko's teleportation bypassed his defenses, which made it the primary target. To stop it, he would have to constantly use Thororm's spell on everything she touched. He calmly thought it through and decided on the best course of action.
"KUROKO!" Jason yelled in anger as he swung his fist at Knight Leader's face. Knight Leader sighed and tilted his head slightly to dodge it. He didn't appreciate seeing his face looking so contorted with anger and fear, it bothered him. He drew back his fists and delivered a couple blows at superhuman speed. Jason opened his mouth and a small amount of blood came out as his transformation failed and he turned back into himself. Knight Leader then delivered a powerful kick to Jason's chest. They heard a couple cracks, as some ribs broke, and Jason was sent flying a good thirty feet. Jason hit the ground and rolled a couple more feet. His hand gripped the dirt and he looked up at Knight Leader, his wounds healing already. He got to his feet as Knight Leader took a couple steps forward.
"Are you ready to surrender?" Knight Leader asked. "Beating up kids leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I was going to capture you both, but the girl's ability is dangerous. It would probably be best if I killed her, since I do not know if we can hold her effectively."
"Don't you dare," muttered Jason.
"I don't believe you are in a position to make demands," he commented as he turned around and looked at Kuroko. He took a step towards her and suddenly found his body wrapped up by shadow bindings. "You know this isn't going to work." He could feel Telesma being absorbed by the shadow, but it was such a tiny amount, compared to how much he had due to Curtana. He broke the bindings simply by stepping forward.
Damn, I'm out of ideas. He's way to powerful for me. I might as well surrender.
That would be foolish, and most likely a waste. You are in a position where he can do what he wants. He is either going to kill her or not, regardless of what you do. Your only option to guarantee her life is to use that.
Great, then I die.
I can take some precautions with the Telesma you absorbed. You 'might' survive.
…That's reassuring. Fine, let's do it.
Knight Leader looked down on Kuroko and debated with himself. His primary mission was to capture the boy who used the shadow magic in case he was a member of The Fallen. After the fight, he didn't really believe Jason was a part of them. His magic is powerful and unusual, but the world was a wide place. The girl however… He had not encountered someone who could bypass all his defenses and hurt him like she could. He had fought people who could break through them, but bypassing them entirely had never been done. These science powers of theirs are strange. I suppose getting rid of it would be the wiser option. Killing a kid did not sit well with him, but as a knight, he did what had to be done for the country. He was about to reach down when he heard a sound and turned around.
Jason held a hand up to his face and was laughing uncontrollably. Around him, thin shadow ropes were spinning around and intersecting each other. Knight Leader noted the shadows could pass through each other without issues. It might have seemed like Jason was caging himself in, but then Knight Leader noticed a small dark circle started to form above Jason. "What are you planning? Your shadow is unable to touch me for several more minutes."
"I can't believe you forced me to use this," Jason laughed, his hand still clutching his face. "I suppose you made it easier for me by knocking her out. This way I can keep my disguise on longer."
Knight Leader raised an eyebrow. "Are you confessing?"
"Yes," Jason smiled. "I am a member of the Fallen. My job was to watch over the Imagine Breaker until the time came to use him. Being a double agent is tough. I had to do a lot of stuff I was not proud of for Lord Lucifer. Ending a powerful knight of Michael will please him greatly." To his right a shadow hand emerged from behind him. It was slightly larger and longer then his real right hand. "Rejoice," he continued. "Few mortals have ever seen this, and less have lived."
Knight Leader started walking toward him, his face changed from passiveness to determination. He had been going easy on them, using only enough force to try to incapacitate, now he was facing a threat against the UK. He was going to go all out and crush The Fallen Leader. He lunged forward and grabbed Hrunting on the ground. The blood red outer layer started to shrink until it was back to being a normal longsword. When he had used Thororm's spell on it, he used it on Hrunting, not the longsword, so now his normal blade was still useable. He was not going to let Jason use any of his spells. He lunged forward and crashed through the shadow ropes around him. To his surprise, he went right through them without resistance and collided with Jason, knocking him back while simultaneously stabbing him in the chest.
Knight Leader noticed Jason's smile never left his face, even as his face grimaced in pain from the wound. For some reason, Knight Leader felt he was walking into the boy's trap, but he had no idea what the trap was. All that happened was, as Jason moved, the shadow cage followed him, almost like he was the focal point. Knight Leader muttered something under his breath and his sword started glowing. He pulled it out of Jason and jumped back, while simultaneously making a slashing motion. A white blade came out of his sword and crashed into Jason. A second later, an explosion followed, obscuring both of them from each other's view. "That should be enough to take him in," Knight Leader said to himself.
"Do you believe that?" Jason's voice came out of the dust. As the dust cleared, Knight Leader saw the shadow cage was still intact. Jason's shirt was destroyed from the explosion, and the deep wounds were healing before their eyes. Damn, even if I finish this, can I even hit him with it?
That is the important question and our survival hangs on the answer.
"I see," Knight Leader realized. "Your shadow is creating a magic circle. I do not know what you are doing, but I will not stop and let you complete it." He charged forward holding his sword high and Jason gritted his teeth. While he wouldn't die to normal blows, he couldn't finish the complicated design if he was constantly being stabbed and blinded. All Knight Leader had to do was last long enough for the spell on Hrunting to finish. Once Jason was stabbed with it, he knew the fight was over. He watched Knight Leader cover the distance between them in an instance and was drawing back his sword.
A moment later, Knight Leader was blown backwards. He caught himself, and looked to see what hit him. At first he though Jason had used some attack, but with his shadow having no offensive capabilities right now, he would have had to use a magical attack, as physical attacks were useless. The magic attack he felt hit him, did not come from Jason and both of them stared at the source. Between them was a shadow, almost identical to Jason's shadow in appearance, except for one main difference. Unlike Jason's it was not connected to anything, and instead spun in a spiral while hovering in midair. What the hell is that? Jason thought.
Don't question it and finish your summon.
"So I guess it is true," Knight Leader said. "That was the darkness that accompanied Eve. I see now you are truly part of the Fallen."
So that's her plan, Jason thought. Makes sense, but I guess I don't have a choice. He started focusing and the shadow ropes started to finish the complicated circle above him and the dark sphere grew larger. Almost done. Knight Leader seemed to notice it too and charged forward. The living shadow moved on its own and intercepted him. He was knocked back by the force of the blow, yet the shadow did not appear to be attacking, only protecting.
"Turn to zero," he said pointing toward it. He charged forward again to try to intercept Jason's magic circle, but the shadow collided with him again at high speeds, forcing him back. It still has offensive power? Since I recognize it as a weapon, that means the shadow is the body itself, unlike him, or it can circumvent my spell. This is troublesome. He had no idea what Jason was planning, or what this new shadow was capable off. "Movement Speed," he muttered. This was a magical attack pattern that let him travel at speeds surpassing even superhuman. He appeared on the other side of Jason and raised his sword to strike him, when the shadow collided again with him. It's fast. He stopped and jumped back when he felt something was wrong.
"Finally finished," Jason said turning to look at Knight Leader. "You wouldn't know, but my shadow involves the bending of dimensions. Because of this, I created a very small pocket dimension for a very specific item. It was a pain in the a$$, but it was the only way I could keep it." From that black sphere, a long sword descended slowly. The shape was very unassuming, though the hilt was solid gold and there were no markings on it to identify. What stood out most to Knight Leader was the blade itself. It was pure white, like fresh snow, and it did not appear to be solid. The edges of the sword flickered like flames, but it kept the general shape of the blade.
"What is that sword?" Knight Leader asked. He couldn't feel any mana or Telesma coming from it, but he could feel a chill creep down his spine as the sword levitated in front of Jason.
"I do not believe it has a name," Jason replied. "I didn't want to use it because, while it can defeat you, it will probably kill me in the process. The power is quite unstable, or maybe I just can't use it right. Either way, I wanted to avoid this, but you seriously pissed me off and left me no choice."
"No matter what you do," Knight Leader said. "It will not work. Turn to zero." He recognized it as a weapon, even if he didn't know what it was. "Regardless of what you based that sword on, a weapon is a weapon."
"I wonder if that will work," Jason said thoughtfully, as the shadow right hand behind him reached forward and grabbed the hilt. His face grimaced in pain as a white mist seemed to flow from his body. Suddenly, as they were talking, the living shadow that interrupted their fight moved and wrapped around Knight Leader's legs. Jason looked at it curiously.
"It seems it wants to be sure you won't miss," Knight Leader commented.
"I don't know why," Jason admitted as he raised the sword. "To be honest, I lied to you about being part of The Fallen. I also plan to destroy that shadow with you since you told me it is part of them." He had lied in order to draw Knight Leader's attention toward him and away from Kuroko. In response to his words, the shadow appeared to try to flee and released Knight Leader, but Jason swung the sword. Knight Leader's reaction was slightly delayed as he processed Jason's last words.
There was a flash of light.
Then there was darkness.
Then there was nothing.
The last thing Jason saw, before falling unconscious in the light, was Kuroko lying on the ground in the distance. When did I become so soft? Arg, I hate everybody.
Boom!
Air was displaced as Accelerator's black wing collided with Acqua's ice mace. Both of them were not conceding even an inch as they exchanged blows. Accelerator's fury manifested itself as raw power in his wings, while Acqua condensed his own considerable power into his mace. The reason Acqua was able to exchange blows was because Accelerator's wings did not appear to be as powerful in vector manipulation. While he could feel a tiny bit of his power get deflected with each blow, the overall mass of power did not change. It just collided with the mass of power in the wings. He did not know if it was because Accelerator had to focus on maintaining the wings, or they were just a mass of power rather than actual extensions of his body. It could even be incomplete. Either way, this boy is way more powerful then I had imagined.
Accelerator was struggling, because he was waging two battles. The obvious one was his clash with Acqua. His body couldn't keep up with Acqua's speed, but he noticed Acqua had slowed down slightly. At least his reversed blood circulation is messing with him. His black wings were mainly protecting his body and allowed him to attack and defend simultaneously. They seemed to move based on his thoughts, rather than his actions or calculations. The second fight was an internal battle with himself. The dark feelings, in the back of his mind, were trying to take over and he had to constantly focus to keep them back or he would lose himself to the dark wings completely. He could still feel them affecting him, making him angrier and wanted to crush Acqua, but those feelings were still manageable.
His right wing extended and swung at Acqua. He dodged by moving around the wing and avoiding the sharp feather shaped shards. Acqua didn't stop and kept moving around the wing, at speeds far beyond a normal human, until he was behind Accelerator. He swung his mace downwards, but the other black wing intercepted the blow. Acqua was forced back and Accelerator was forced forward from the resulting explosion. "Stand still and die!" he roared at Acqua.
Kaori was watching this fight while holding her sword tightly in her hand. She was waiting for any sort of opening in order to strike at Acqua. She had rested and mended some of her more serious wounds, but she was still far below her optimal form. She could tell Acqua was in a similar position, but he was still far stronger than her if she tried to fight him alone. However, the fight before her was not normal. If she jumped in carelessly, there was a good chance of being killed. Accelerator was obviously not in his right mind and might accidently attack her if she appeared suddenly, and the attack could leave her open. Acqua would take any opportunity to strike her down if he was given a chance. She gritted her teeth and watched the two monsters clash.
Acqua jumped back and swung his mace horizontally, as one of the wings swung at him. Instead of hitting it directly, Acqua lowered his mace at the last second and brought it upwards, knocking the wing above them. This left a brief opening between him and Accelerator. Of course, Acqua made full use of it and lunged forward swinging his mace down at Accelerator's head. Their eyes met and Accelerator grinned as he reached out a hand. The mace stopped when it made contact and Acqua could feel his magic being reflected. The magic was dispersing faster than it had before and Acqua understood why. He's learning… While some of the magic still got through, it was less then what had before. Acqua retreated back thirty feet and just missed the wings closing in on him. The ground where he had just stood was torn apart into pieces and flew every direction. I can't let this go on any longer. He is slowly gaining the advantage, so I will end this with my last attack. He took a deep breath and inscribed a rune on the ice handle.
Accelerator gripped his head with his free hand. After that exchange, he learned something about his new power. His head was pounding and he had almost been consumed by the negative emotions. Using the wings and calculating the magic vector trajectories is too much. He was learning how to manipulate the magic vectors, and it was slightly easier this time, but as he started processing it, the defense against the dark emotions waned. As he was redirecting Acqua's magic, he felt his mind begin to submerge in hate and fear. He begun to want not just to kill, but to maim and slaughter. He was lucky Acqua retreated when he did, a few more seconds under the pressure of being crushed by magic and consumed by darkness and he would have fallen to those emotions. He would have become the monster he had been in Italy and would have killed anyone near him. "Running away like a coward," Accelerator taunted to hide his weakness. "Why make everything so difficult. You should just keel over and die already."
"With as much power as you wield," Acqua said. "I find it hard to imagine you had to be saved." He did not appear to be worried, but was instead focused on his weapon.
"Not everything can be obtained with just power," Accelerator said and his voice lost part of his mocking tone. Acqua and Kaori both noticed it and stared at him. "I found that out the hard way." Even Kaori found herself feeling the same way. After all, she had left the Amakusa because she was afraid of the way her power affected others. People would sacrifice themselves to save her or innocent people would get stuck in traps designed for her.
"This is the first thing you said I understand completely," Acqua acknowledged. "We do what we can with the power given to us. It is a shame we are on different sides."
"People fear us," Accelerator said stretching out his arms to his side, almost like a gesture of a hug. Kaori and Acqua noticed he changed from just referencing himself to all of them. "They pretend to befriend or understand monsters like us, knowing we could kill them in an instant. They simply try to remain on our good side." Neither Acqua nor Kaori said anything. "It doesn't matter what we go through, how tough a fight is, or how much we suffer. The worst part about being strong is that no one ever asks if you're ok. We are alone, but the damn hero is different. No matter what happens, that is the first thing he asks, even to the point of annoyance. No matter how much power I had, I could not save myself, because I did not know what I truly wanted until I found it." The wings behind him grew larger. "So f%^& your words, and f*#$% your attitude," he roared. "Just because you haven't been saved, doesn't mean I will let you kill him. Go use your strength, step off the path you are on, and find the path you are truly looking for."
Acqua froze. He knew Accelerator could not know how those words would affect him. Acqua had originally been a mercenary before he joined God's Right Seat. He left his homeland because he thought he could do more good for it outside of its boundary. He joined God's Right Seat because he wanted to save everyone from his country. They were supposed to remove the original sin from mankind, but somewhere along the way, Acqua began to realize there was something more. Fiamma is up to something and I will make sure I find out what. Regardless, my mission has been set. I will follow it through to the end. "I will consider your words," Acqua said. "But for this fight, I will still take you down. The reason I fight is to express myself with my body and sword" He pointed upwards and Kaori and Accelerator looked up.
A large sphere of water was floating high above them.
"When did he have time to do this?" Kaori mumbled and then realized the answer. While they were talking, and possibly long before that, Acqua had been slowly using his magic to move the water from the field around them into the air. He did it slowly and constantly so they would not notice all the water condensing to a single location. They had been distracted by his ice mace and fierce attacks. Kaori had been on the receiving end of that attack and barely survived. This water sphere was easily twice as large and was shimmering to catch every speck of light.
"What is that?" Accelerator asked. He had no idea how Acqua was planning to use it. "Is that water? You should know that won't work on me."
"Each member of God's Right Seat," Acqua informed him. "Is aligned with a specific archangel. I am aligned with Gabriel, who governs over the moon. Under the light of the moon, my power increases. Gabriel was also the angel who gave the news to the Divine Mother about the birth of the Son of God. I wield the power of the Divine Mother's Mercy, which only strengthens my bond with the archangel. I will use all my power to defeat you."
"Interesting," Accelerator said grinning and flexing his fingers. "You created an artificial moon to recreate the effect? That is ingenious. I will return your challenge and crush you at your best."
"Don't!" Kaori yelled reaching out a hand. "You don't know how much power he can wield under the moon!"
"It is too late," Acqua said as he bent his knees and used his full Saint power to jump high into the air. He leaped several times higher in the air then he had before. Kaori could only watch as Acqua raised the mace high above him. It grew easily three times its size as all the water vapor in the air began to converge. The light reflecting form the artificial moon made his ice and water mace sparkle in the air. Then she felt the tremendous magical pressure began to form above him. If his previous blow had been like a meteor, this one would be like the entire moon was about to come down and crash into the earth. Accelerator looked up as Acqua voice echoed across the field. His voice was filled with the strength and resolve worthy of being a Saint. "The Divine Mother shall remove all evil." As he descended, the pressure grew and seemed to be following his weapon as he brought the full force down upon Accelerator.
"I will break that confidence of yours!" Accelerator yelled back. The ground around him exploded as he jumped. He rocket into the air straight towards Acqua, his hand outstretched in front of him. "I will show you what real strength is!" He had an ominous feeling coming from Acqua's mace as he closed in on it, but he ignored the feeling. Right now, he only had one goal, to completely destroy Acqua. As they closed in on each other, Accelerator's black wing stretched forward, the tips like daggers. Right before they collided he saw a movement out of the corner of his eye. Kaori had jumped up, her sword glowing bright blue.
"This is also my fight," Kaori called out to him as she swung her blade.
A mace made and infused with all the magic from a Saint and member of God's Right Seat, wings of pure darkness from the strongest ability user with his ability to redirect, and a Saint's Yuisen which had the power to hurt even angels collided in midair. If two of these powers simply clashed, the result would cause the world to shake under their power. When three monsters, that surpassed even the power of superhuman, collided in the air, you could hear the world breaking. An explosion of blue and black light erupted in a sphere around them and spread out from their collision point. As it touched the ground, everything simply disappeared. Trees, rocks, dirt, grass, it did not matter. The power consumed it all. From a distance, it might have looked like someone set off a large chemical explosion. Luckily, it was day time, or everyone within countless miles would have seen it. Instead, only those who could feel mana felt the clash of power. As they had traveled a good ways away from the city, only a handful of knights felt it, and none of them wanted to go investigate, along with one other.
The earth looked like a meteor had collided with it. There was a huge dome shape indention in the ground. From the sky two figures fell, a man and a woman. The man had been blown backwards and, when he hit the ground, he bounced back several times until he collided into a thick tree. He somehow managed to land in a sitting position as he heard the crack from the tree. His eyes followed the female, Kaori, as she fell into the side of the indention and disappeared from view. His eyes traveled upwards toward the last figure that was slowly lowering himself to the ground. Acqua tested every part of his body, and found out he couldn't move any muscle in his body except his head. He wasn't paralyzed; he just took too much damage and didn't have any strength left. "So this is how it ends." He did not feel regret or anger toward Accelerator. He knew he would one day meet his fate on the battlefield.
Accelerator's wings were still present, reaching about five meters each direction. He was slowly lowering himself toward the ground, but even he had not escaped that explosion unscathed. His right arm hung useless at his side and a trail of blood ran down it. His eyes were no longer human, but crimson red and looked beast like. Though, they might have had a darker look because of the thin trail of blood running down from under his eyes, like red tears. Another trickle of blood ran out the side of his mouth. He didn't look like he could stand on his own without his wings, but the wings did not appear to be finished. Accelerator opened his mouth, and let out an animalistic howl.
"He appears to have lost all reason," Kaori mumbled trying to get up, but her body no longer listened to her. She was in a similar state as Acqua. Given time, their bodies would heal much faster than a normal person, but until then, they were helpless. "Damn it, move…" she told herself through gritted teeth, but to no avail.
Acqua watched the beast, formally Accelerator, slowly approach him. It was like Accelerator was slowly savoring the feeling of annihilating his enemy. His wings flickered in the air, sending small gusts of wind across the remains of the field. He stopped lightly on the ground and took a couple steps toward Acqua. So the Imagine Breaker fought a monster like this and won? I must reevaluate his ability, though I may not get a chance. If he truly saved this guy, then it appears as if I put him back in the path to hell. I have failed as a member of God's Right Seat. For the first time, Acqua felt regret at himself, not for losing, but for causing someone to lose their path of salvation. Accelerator grinned, and his wings stretched out and rushed toward Acqua, preparing to tear him apart. Acqua briefly imagined him as an angel of retribution or vengeance. He accepted his fate and punishment, and then closed his eyes.
He did not feel pain.
In fact, he felt nothing at all.
Instead, he heard Accelerator's voice.
"WHAT THE F#$% ARE YOU DOING?! ARE YOU TRYING TO GET YOURSELF KILLED?!"
Acqua opened his eyes and saw a small figure standing before him. It was a girl with blonde hair in a ponytail, pure white skin, and wearing a green dress. She was standing with her arms out stretched, to block Acqua from view. Accelerator's wings had stopped about a foot away from impaling her. Her surprise appearance seemed to snap Accelerator back to his senses.
Princess Villain had put herself in harm's way to protect Acqua. "Please don't kill William," she pleaded, her voice shacking, but filled with determination.
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.
Accelerator: Well, the hero is about to start WWIII.
Motoharu: We knew this would happen. He had to just use his Kami Disease to attract a princess.
Touma: It's not like I try to do this!
Jason: Well, he's now taken. I guess we should change this to 'The Adventures of Jason Kagere and Friends' now.
Accelerator: Pssh, you obviously died. If anything, it's going to be 'Accelerator and his Minions.'
Last Order: MISAKA wants to be minion number one MISAKA yells as MISAKA uses her favorite spoiled child tactic to get what she wants.
Motoharu: Fine, I get minion number three.
Jason: Four.
Pierce: Fo… damn five.
Touma: Why did everyone skip two?
Motoharu: That's for the blonde girl who calls him master.
Accelerator: F#$% you that never happened!
Me: Lies it totally did.
(In another location)
Mikoto: I have a feeling we are about to have some really bad news.
Misaki: I'm sure you are just paranoid. Once we find Touma I will rescue him and we will fall in love and be together forever.
Mikoto: Now you are just delusional.
Ruiko: I bet he escapes and manages to get to us.
Shizuri: Nah, we go in blasting and just take him. That's how you are supposed to do it, not wait around for a prince to save you. Disney movies are very unrealistic.
Misaki: It sounds like you hold a grudge.
Frenda: She always wanted the villain to win.