Fine, this is Accelerator, as you all damn well know if you paid attention to the end of the last chapter. MISAKA is here too, MISAKA announces as MISAKA revels in the glory of being able to open. Last Order is here too. I guess I have to answer questions and not kill people. No promises though. So many questions, but I guess I am the strongest so people would admire me. The author gave me limited time, so I guess I'll answer maybe around five random ones. This is such a pain. MISAKA wants to choose one MISAKA demands as MISAKA stomps her feet. Fine whatever.

naruhinasakufan1: It was bound to happen eventually. MISAKA thinks Accelerator isn't being honest MISAKA suggests slyly as MISAKA nods her head knowingly… Ouch. Shut up brat.

Swoob: … I seriously have no idea how to respond to this. I think I have to kill you so this never gets out. How do you forgive yourself when what you have done can't be repaid in a lifetime?

Handsomistic1: Fine, I'll answer these damn rumors, if you don't tell those idiots. The girls name is Estelle Rosenthal. She's actually a magician, thought I didn't believe it until just recently. She's trying to take Accelerator by not covering herself up when he's around MISAKA shouts as MISAKA can't understand her reasoning! Shut up. Don't give those idiots any ideas. Since the IB cancels my AIM field, even if I could discover the IB vectors, I wouldn't be able to defect them. For the rest of the stuff, go to hell.

Salishious: I would get popcorn and watch the death battle. Though, I was voting for the Saten girl to win, but she's not really assertive enough to get through the damn hero's denseness.

Guest: Eh, some scientist tried to get her to assassinate me, she failed, I brought her back, other people fixed her up and now she freeloads at the apartment. MISAKA remembers a lot more than that MISAKA interrupts… No you don't. But… No. You. Don't.

Anon: Who the hell is Suzushina Yuriko? It sounds like a stupid made up name to fool people as part of a prank and will never have any basis in reality. Are you okay MISAKA asks worriedly, as MISAKA realizes Accelerator's change in attitude. Yea, I just got really pissed for some reason. I guess you can choose a question. Yay MISAKA cheers as MISAKA jumps up and down in joy.

wildarms13: MISAKA wants you to answer this one MISAKA declares after MISAKA finished reading the questions. Damnit, I need to kill him. What type of girl do you like MISAKA asks as MISAKA watches Accelerator's reactions carefully. Whatever, I don't have one. LIES MISAKA accurses as MISAKA points a finger at you. MISAKA demands you tell her MISAKA demands. Fine, but first… Wah, don't cover MISAKA's ears MISAKA cries as MISAKA tries to remove your hands. MISAKA can't hear anything. I prefer a girl who doesn't annoy 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 wasn't sure what the plan was. Being so close to Carissa and Knight Leader, they couldn't say anything secretly, without being overheard. He had never seen Knight Leader in action, but Touma heard his strength was at Saint level, even without being given Curtana's Telesma. Damn it, we were having trouble dealing with just Carissa. By diverting her focus, we slowed her down slightly, but now he can interrupt our strategy. His eyes darted to Kaori and saw she had a serious expression on her face. She knows the situation isn't good either. He looked over at the others. Mikoto was nervously biting the corner of her lip in anticipation, Accelerator was focusing all his attention on Carissa, and the other's had anxiety etched plainly on their face. "What do we do?" Touma mumbled to Kaori.

"I hate to ask this," Kaori said, her lips barely moving. She spoke so softly, he could barely hear her. "But Itsuwa and I will distract Carissa, and the rest of you need to take down Knight Leader as fast as possible. I know this is asking a lot, but we have to be able to focus all our strength on her."

"Ok," Mikoto nodded hesitantly. "Any idea of his powers?"

"He's a physical fighter mostly," Kaori explained. "Watch out for his speed and strength."

"We will give you as much time as we can," Itsuwa added. "But it needs to be fast."

"My forces will support you as much as we can," Agnese said grimly. Her forces usually relied on superior numbers to accomplish task. So fighting an individual, with a handful of nuns, was normal for her. But with only a small number of nuns, versus someone at Saint Level, it would not guarantee success.

"Whatever," Accelerator said dismissively. "None of you need to bother with him."

"What?" Saiai exclaimed looking at him. "I'm super ready to fight."

"You think you can handle him yourself?" Mikoto asked. "You have seen what these kinds of people can do."

"Trust me," Kaori told him. "You will want back up when fighting him." Accelerator laughed in response.

"Oh," he said grinning. "None of you will be needed."

Touma frowned. He's smart enough to know how strong they are. Carissa even managed to injure him effortlessly. What does he know to give himself so much confidence? Is Knight Leader injured?

"Look at them strategizing," Carissa mocked. "Though, the white haired boy has an unusual power with physical contact. Take out the pests and leave the Academy City brats to me. I have a score to settle with that girl." Her eyes darted to Mikoto, and Mikoto gulped, but then stared back at Carissa with a determined expression. "Be quick about it. You took you own sweet time coming back."

"My injuries were severe," Knight Leader said taking a step forward and swinging his sword downwards. "But I will not fail you a second time." The grey steel on his sword sparkled slightly in the light from the surrounding decorations, and then it began to bubble. The color changed to a deep red, the red bubbles grew larger, and then began to merge. The normal sized long sword grew three meters long, and it started to emit a dark aura.

"That does not look good," Touma said. What is that? He turned to look over at Accelerator, who didn't look nervous at all, just a bit curious. Well, it's not Curtana's power, so he might be able to deflect it.

"I'm surprised you can use Hrunting without Curtana's Telesma," Carissa commented, slightly impressed.

"I managed to save a small amount after my battle," Knight Leader answered. "It won't last long, but it should be enough to end Kaori Kanzaki and a few others."

"Then let us not keep them waiting," Carissa said raising her sword and making a horizontal cut. A large piece of debris flew from the void at everyone, forcing them to scatter, except Accelerator. He just stepped forward and knocked the debris casually away with his hand. It flew to the side and crashed into a tree, knocking it over. "Take out the church members first," Carissa told Knight Leader again, as she prepared to make another cut. Her instincts told her something was wrong, and she ducked immediately.

Knight Leader had swung his sword horizontally at her neck.

If her instincts hadn't warned her, and her speed wasn't superhuman, that blow would have decapitated her. A few strands of her hair fell down around her, as the blade shaved the ends. She drew Curtana and made an upwards slash, from Knight Leader's lower left hip, to his upper right shoulder. The wound was deep, and bright red blood sprayed out. Knight Leader staggered backwards, held his hand up to his chest, and pressed down on the wound. "Nice try," Carissa growled.

"I thought I could end it with a single blow," Knight Leader gasped, through the pain.

"What happened?" Touma asked bewildered, unable to rationalize the event he just saw.

"Did… did Knight Leader betray her?" Mikoto asked the others in shock.

"I don't know…" Itsuwa said and trailed off. Agnese and Kaori had similar expressions of confusion. They all knew Knight Leader, Kaori knew him the best, and they all were positive Knight Leader would follow Carissa to the end. A betrayal from him was the furthest thing from their minds. Touma turned and looked at Accelerator, who was frowning.

"How did you know?" Touma asked.

"It didn't go as well as I pictured," Accelerator mumbled, and made a fist. "He messed up the timing." He looked like he was about to dash forward to fight Carissa, when she spoke up again.

"Who are you?" she asked, pressing Curtana against Knight Leader's neck.

"I hoped you wouldn't see through it so fast," Knight Leader replied. Carissa spun and kicked him in the stomach, sending him crashing, with a bang, into a piece of Curtana's debris.

"Who are you?" she demanded again. She raised an eyebrow when she saw the wound on his chest had already closed. So, high speed regeneration, not bad. Knight Leader grinned and slowly shrank, until a blonde haired, orange-eyed boy appeared. "A kid?" she asked. "Were you the one who defeated Knight Leader?" But his arm seems to be covered in the shadow I heard about, it must be injured.

"I was," Jason acknowledged. "Though, I had help."

"Would you be interested in a job?" Carissa asked. She continued after she saw Jason's eyes widen in surprise. "I appreciate strength. If you can defeat Knight Leader, it means you are strong. I am not one to waste a useful tool."

"What sort of benefit plan would I expect?" Jason asked curiously. "I don't think I'm getting paid enough for my…"

"JASON I SWEAR FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!" Touma roared across the field. "THIS IS NOT THE TIME FOR THAT!" He was pissed Jason was joking around, when so many lives hanged on the outcome of this fight. Mikoto, Itsuwa, Agnese, and Kaori just watched with dumbfounded looks on their face. Accelerator and Saiai weren't even trying to conceal their grins. Accelerator had known from the start who it was, with only one small piece of information. The sword, Knight Leader had been carrying, had been stolen by Jason.

"You won't be killed," Carissa told him in a monotone. She looked him over, and turned her attention to the sword. "How were you able to use Hrunting? He should never have taught that skill to anyone."

"I stole his sword with traces of magic left behind in it," Jason answered, looking at the sword. It had become its normal length and grey color again. "Plus I had absorbed some of his Telesma, but only enough for a moment, since it devours so much. I then had Index decode it for me and, with my transformation ability, I had a rough idea how to use it. She filled in the gaps I was missing. How did you know I wasn't Knight Leader?" He stood up and took a step toward her with the sword held loosely at his side.

"He would not have been able to save any of Curtana's Telesma after the explosion," Carissa told him, as she raised her sword. "You were closer than most, take solace in that fact." She thought she heard something from behind him, so she brought Curtana down. It passed through air as he disappeared. "What?" That wasn't speed. I would have been able to keep up with it. He actually disappeared instantly. She turned and saw him standing near the others with a small pigtailed girl next to him. That girl must have a teleportation power. They started talking and Carissa paused for a moment to listen.

"Seriously?" Kuroko reprimanded Jason. "You joke at a time like this, and you aimed for her neck? Were you trying to kill her?"

"I told you," Jason said seriously. "We can't treat her like a normal person. A fatal blow for us might not even slow her down. She… Ouch!" He turned toward Touma. "Why did you hit me?"

"For you being incredibly stupid," Touma told him. "You aren't healed and Shirai-san is right. It is not a time for jokes."

"It was super funny," Saiai said, shrugging.

"Hah," Kuroko laughed at Jason's pain. "Serves you right… Ouch!" She clutched her head as Mikoto hit her. "Why onee-sama?" she cried.

"I told you to stay behind," Mikoto said angrily, a vein throbbing in her head. "This is dangerous."

"Which is why I had to help," Kuroko replied, defending her actions. "I can't let you run off into a warzone by yourself."

"This isn't a place…" Mikoto started to say. But she was interrupted by Accelerator.

"If you idiots are done goofing around," Accelerator interjected. "She appears to be running out of patience." They all turned to look at Carissa, except Kaori who had never taken her eyes off Carissa. Carissa's face had turned from curiosity to annoyance. She just raised Curtana into the air when she suddenly grinned. Before any of them could figure out why, she pointed upwards. Touma frowned, looked up, and his jaw dropped as something large passed over them.

It was shaped like a red hang glider, but it was exponentially larger. It was easily eighty meters long. The size resembled a passenger jet, rather then a glider. It passed overhead and began to circle back around over them. It was reinforced with silver metal parts, almost like armor. "Don't look so shocked fools," Carissa laughed. "You are in England, the land of magic. You do realize my forces control almost all of the magical facilities? This is one of my favorite weapons, the mobile siege fortress Griffon Sky." Seconds later, five, ten, and then twenty more of these gliders came into view and started circling above Buckingham Palace. Though they were flying, there were only several hundred meters in the air, not nearly as high as a plane would travel. "They are designed to attack strongholds and specialized in linked attacks. Mindless and stupid, but they follow orders to the dime. They are the perfect military tools."

"What do you plan to do with them?" Touma asked, his mouth dry. Though, he was sure he already knew the answer. He had no idea what sort of attack these fortresses had, but he knew it wasn't going to be good. With Carissa and her superhuman power standing before them, and Griffon Sky above them, their prospect of victory was diminishing fast.

"Isn't it obvious," she sneered. "As your forces begin to approach the palace, they will no longer be spread out. I can then swoop in and crush them all with a single strike." Her grin faded as she looked at them. "But you won't be alive long enough for that happy moment." She raised her sword again, but Kaori, Itsuwa, and Accelerator all dashed forward at high speeds to intercept. They approached her and she disappeared from view. "Time to die." Her voice came from behind Agnese. Before they could finish turning around, Curtana was already moving Curtana towards her throat. Agnese dived forward, as Kaori jumped above her. Kaori swung her blade to meet Carissa's and was thrown backwards, but the strike had been stopped. Itsuwa appeared a second later and brought her spear downwards at Carissa, but Carissa just blocked it with an upwards motion.

"Die," Accelerator muttered as he brought a hand up toward Carissa. Carissa turned to look at him as he brushed her arm. Accelerator found he couldn't manipulate her body directly. There were too many of the magic vectors. If Curtana was infusing her body with that power, it made sense. Instead, he manipulated the vectors on her dress and forced her away from Agnese. It sent her flying backwards and crashed into a piece of debris. She didn't looked phase at all, as she took a step forward. A moment later, Mikoto unleashed a torrent of electricity at her. Saiai picked up a smaller piece of debris and threw it like a baseball at Carissa. Carissa cut the debris in half with Curtana and stood up, smoking slightly, but looked fine.

"That's it insects," she sneered. "Fight as you try to resist the inevitable. You can't stand against me." She felt something hit her in the shoulder, and realized it was the transmission magic from Agnese, but Agnese's blow wasn't strong enough to bypass her normal defenses. "Pathetic," she laughed and sent a piece of debris flying from a slash at Agnese. Right before it crushed her, Kuroko appeared and teleported them both to safety. Carissa stopped laughing and looked annoyed, as she raised her sword to block an attack from Kaori. This is getting annoying. One of them needs to die already. The only ones who are truly a threat are the Imagine Breaker, the Saint, and possibly the white haired boy. Itsuwa joined the assault against her and Carissa continued to deflect their blades and strike at their vitals. To her increasing annoyance, the other nuns were constantly shooting arrows at her, forcing her to spend some of her reaction time to dodge or block those.

"Spread out!" Touma called out as he rolled out of the way of a piece of debris. Carissa was constantly throwing them and creating walls to break their line of sight. "And cover each other. We can't let her get behind all of us." He rolled out of the way as another piece flew at him. He looked up and saw Accelerator kick a block of debris at Carissa, as Kaori and Itsuwa jumped out of the way, but Carissa just knocked it to the side. Saiai was also throwing debris, though smaller pieces then Accelerator. She didn't want to get in range of Curtana's blade. After all, seeing Accelerator get cut wasn't a motivator for her. Touma stayed back, looking for a good opportunity to jump into the fray, when one of the nuns ran up to him.

"Stay back for a bit," she said gasping slightly. "We can't risk you getting hit until she's worn down."

"But…" Touma started to argue, but they were force to separate, because a piece of Curtana's debris came flying at them. He hated to do it, but he knew he couldn't stand in the middle of the fight and remain unharmed. He was just a normal person and couldn't negate the debris with his hand. When he had retreated a decent distance away, he climbed on top of a piece of debris, to get a good idea how the fight was progressing. Kaori and Itsuwa were doing a good job in preventing Carissa from moving freely, but they weren't a match for her in strength or speed. Saiai and Accelerator were focusing on attacking Carissa with rubble to avoid getting within striking distance of her blade. Accelerator doesn't seem to want to attack with melee for some reason. It must be because she can hit him.

Mikoto and Agnese were attacking from midrange, but their attacks didn't seem to be doing anything. Mikoto's lightning had to be doing some damage, but Carissa wasn't slowing down. Agnese had used a dagger to cut at her staff. The slash was transferred to Carissa, but the only noticeable effect was her clothes ripped on the sleeve slightly. The other nuns interjected when they could, but it was obvious the fight was far above their skill. Kuroko was focusing on making sure people weren't crushed from the flying debris. There had been several close calls. Jason's attacks didn't seem to be doing any good either. Carissa cut through his shadow just as easily as any other material. He mentioned once his power involved folding dimensions, so doesn't that mean Curtana is really his worst opponent. Touma figured Jason knew this, and started to use his shadow as support. He created wide strips for the others to jump on and assault Carissa from above, as well as the sides, and constantly moved it over Carissa's eyes to blind her temporarily.

Even with everyone working together, Carissa was pulling ahead.

Kaori and Itsuwa were taking the blunt of Carissa's attacks. Their clothes were torn and they had several cuts on their bodies. They were drenched in sweat and taking calculated deep breaths. Carissa on the other hand looked fine, except for a few tears on her dress. Accelerator's and Saiai's attacks were doing little more than annoying her. Touma knew Accelerator had a limited time frame to fight, Last Order warned him about it, and Accelerator wasn't able to end the fight instantly like he was used to. If they fell, Mikoto and Agnese would fall shortly after. They could not keep up with Carissa's speed. Kuroko was the only one who might be able to, but not for long. Carissa could then finish off the rest of the nuns with impunity. Another lightning bolt struck Carissa and this one had at least a noticeable effect. Carissa winced slightly, and her angry expression grew.

"You damn pests," she growled, but on the inside she was smiling. She could tell the others were getting tired, but her strength was slowly growing, as Curtana saturated her body with power. The constant barrage of lightning and transferred damage was actually hurting her, but they would have to keep it up for years to do real damage. Her priority was taking down the melee fighters, as they were preventing her movements the most. When they fall, the others will to. She focused her power to increase her speed, and disappeared as Kaori brought down her blade. She appeared behind Itsuwa and was about to bring down Curtana, when an explosion above her caused everyone to pause.

Several explosions appeared on one of the Griffon Sky gliders.

This particular glider had dived lower to avoid a different one, and that might have been the reason it was attacked. Touma didn't see them do anything except continue to circle in the sky, but the church probably knew their full capabilities. There was a lot of smoke coming from the glider, but it still remained afloat. A moment later, Touma could see who was attacking it. Several green beams flew from a building outside of the palace ground. Mugino, good she's okay. Wait… oh shit, it's coming down. The large glider was falling, speed increasing, toward the palace. "RUN!" he yelled out to the others. "It's coming down!"

Everyone scattered, except Carissa. Kaori and Itsuwa immediately started sprinting away from Carissa and the palace, with Mikoto and Saiai right on their heels. Kuroko grabbed onto Agnese and started teleporting them away. Jason's shadow grew wings and he grabbed two of the nuns closest to the projected impact site. He yanked them away and leaped away over the debris blocking the path. The other nuns began to scramble away in the distance. Accelerator looked like he was debating if he should continue to stand there or not. He shrugged and the ground exploded beneath him, as he launched himself backwards. Carissa was staring at the falling glider and one thought crossed her mind as the glider crushed the remainder of the palace, with an ear shattering boom, and created an explosion that engulfed her.

That b#$%^!

Touma ducked behind a large piece of debris, as chunks of the palace and Griffon Sky glider flew across the palace grounds. A wave of dust and heat roared and expanded outwards from the collision site. When the force passed, Touma stuck his head out. The palace was a smoldering pile of rubble, with flames shooting high into the air. The area near the palace was stripped bare and formed a crater. Walls of the palace had been thrown hundreds of meters away. Smoke was billowing out into the sky, blocking most of the remaining Griffon Sky gliders form view. He looked around and saw the others emerge from their shelters, dirty and shaken, but unhurt. Accelerator appeared to have just stood in a position near the edge of the palace garden, the ground behind him untouched. Touma was relieved his friends were okay, but he couldn't see Carissa. Could she survive that? Accelerator's the only one I know could… His thoughts were interrupted as Mikoto ran up to him.

"You ok?" she asked.

"Yes," he nodded. "What about you?"

"It was close," Mikoto admitted. "But with the amount of cover from Curtana's dimensional debris, there was lots of hiding spots." Kuroko teleported next to them, and then glared at Touma.

"You could have given us more warning ape," Kuroko huffed.

"Be glad he had time to warn us at all," Jason laughed walking up.

"What caused it?" Itsuwa asked. "There was a flash of light, but I was watching the princess."

"Mugino," Saiai said proudly. "She must have gotten upset at it from some reason. Or she super wanted to return the favor of trying to crush the princess." Saiai shrugged. "Mugino doesn't take kindly to being attacked."

"I can tell," Mikoto said dryly. "She could have remembered we might have been fighting already."

"Wasn't a bad plan though," Agnese admitted. "She took out an enemy weapon and used it against the princess."

"What do those gliders do anyway…?" Jason began to ask, when he was interrupted.

"Shut up all of you," Accelerator said suddenly. Everyone turned to look at him.

"She survived," Kaori said softly. "Look." She pointed as everyone turned to look at the palace remains. The fire was casting large shadows from the debris impaled in the palace grounds. One of the shadows was moving unnaturally. Touma's eyes followed the shadow to a dark human shape emerging from the wreckage. Carissa was walking toward them, all amusement wiped from her face. Curtana was gripped tightly in her hand. What shocked Touma the most was how uninjured she appeared. Her dress was burnt and ripped in many places, but she barely had a scratch on her. A couple small bruises and scrapes were on her arms but, from an impact like that, there should have been a lot more injuries.

"Is she a monster?" Mikoto asked quietly, as she tried to process this.

"How…?" Kuroko trailed off, her eyes widening.

"Eh I could have survived something of that level" Accelerator shrugged, but narrowing his eyes slightly. He wasn't showing it, but he was beginning to question their odds of winning now. He had used up a good portion of his battery with fighting through the city, and the actual combat with Carissa. His power was also not very effective against Curtana's severing dimension ability. This was only the second time his power ever completely failed him. Seriously, I really f#$%^& hate magic.

Carissa continued to walk toward them until she was far enough out of the flames and smoke. She brushed herself off and looked at them, a superior gleam in her eyes. "Does this really shock you all that much?" Carissa said cutting off their thoughts. "What human can kill the leader of angels?" There was silence as everyone held up their weapons. Touma didn't know what to do. Everything they tried didn't work. He glanced at the others and saw similar looks as the others reached the same conclusion. However, one person stepped forward, toward Carissa.

"That sounds like something interesting to try," Jason laughed and Carissa raised an eyebrow at this unexpected action. "Interested in seeing if that's true?"

"Oh," Carissa replied, her mocking tone held a slight bit of interest. "Since you defeated Knight Leader, even empowered by Telesma, I suppose I can address you directly."

"I defeated him in one strike," Jason bragged. "I think I can cause even you trouble."

Huh? Kuroko thought in disbelief. That liar, he barely could do anything until he committed to a suicidal attack. Wait, is he going to do it again? I can't let him he's impor… why am I thinking like that. She heard a shout from far behind her and her eyes widened. So that's his plan…

"Let's see your power then," Carissa mocked, raising her hand and moving her fingers for him to proceed. "Impress me trash."

"With pleasure," Jason said. He raised a hand and his shadow began to swirl around him like a vortex. Each shadow strand kept crisscrossing with each other around him and above him. Touma saw a circle form above Jason, but its design kept changing with each passing second.

"What's he doing?" Touma asked Itsuwa quietly.

"I'm… I'm not sure," Itsuwa said hesitantly. "I keep seeing partial magical circles, but he keeps changing them so I don't know what he's trying to do."

"Is he going to do that incomplete magic circle he used before?" Touma asked wildly. "I wish Index was here, she could tell us."

"I think I know what he is doing," Kuroko spoke up.

"What?" Mikoto said shocked. "Tell us?"

"I can't," Kuroko admitted. "If she overhears us, it will ruin his plan."

"Will it work?" Kaori asked her.

"I think so," Kuroko said turning her head and looking over her shoulder. Everyone else looked too and it dawned on them and they grinned.

"He's super clever," Saiai said. "Now hope he doesn't die before it's complete."

"A well thought out plan," Kaori admitted. "But it comes with high risks." Accelerator didn't say anything, his hand up to his choker. He had turned his choker off to save batteries, but was prepared to flip it if Carissa began to move.

"Are you going to do anything or not?" Carissa asked after a moment of silence. Her patience was wearing out. "If you aren't going to move, I will!" She made a horizontal cut, and then raised the sword, like she was opening a window. A large wall of the white debris appeared and she propelled it forward at Jason. Jason's shadow stopped spinning, as he tried to dodge, but he wasn't fast enough for the large piece of debris. It looked like he was about to be crushed by it.

Until, a large beam of green light flew over Touma's shoulder and past Jason, to disintegrate the wall.

Touma turned around and saw a large number of people running toward them. Shizuri, Stiyl, and Frenda were in the lead, but Index, along with other nuns, and Misaki were close behind them. Touma was relieved Jason's plan worked. "Good shot," he told Shizuri.

"Eh if I hit him oh well," Shizuri shrugged. "I just wanted to piss of the b#$%^."

"What?" Jason called back over his shoulder. "Seriously?"

"You damn piece of trash." Carissa flared up in anger as she realized what happened. "You dare to sprout lies in my presence to stall for time? I gave you a chance to prove yourself and you do this." A vein throbbed in her forehead as she raised Curtana. Before Jason could open his mouth to respond, Carissa had moved. She appeared in front of him and raised her blade high. She brought it downwards with a void following the blade. She was going for a surefire kill.

"NO!" Touma and Mikoto yelled.

"Shit," Accelerator muttered, as he dashed forward in a small explosion. Kaori and Itsuwa also saw the dire situation and dashed forward. The issue was Jason and Carissa were too far away from any of them to get to in time. Kuroko was the only one who reached him first. She grabbed his shoulder and teleported the exact same time Carissa swung her blade. They disappeared as the white debris occupied the space they had just been in.

"That was close," Kuroko sighed. "You really are stu…" She stopped when she felt a warm liquid fall on her ankle. She looked over at Jason and let out a scream. Jason was holding his left wrist with his right hand. Blood was pouring out onto the ground, because his left hand was gone. Her face went white in shock as she tried to realize what happened. She definitely teleported, so the blade should not have hit them. I wasn't slow, so how? My calculations through the eleventh… dimension… I'm an idiot! She can cut through all dimensions. Teleportation can still be interrupted.

"Jason!" Touma yelled running up to them, Mikoto right behind him.

"It looks bad," Mikoto said, ashen face.

"D-don't worry," Jason grinned, but his voice was weak. "Give me a moment to heal and it will be fine." They noticed the mark on his head was glowing brightly.

"What happened?" Misaki asked, breathing heavily. "What … oh my…" Her voice trailed off when she saw the blood.

"Go," Jason said again, and Touma could see the blood slowing. "It's healing, but slowly, must be Curtana's power interfering with the mark. You need to stop her." He stood up and took a couple paces to lean up against a tree. "When I can, I'll support you."

"You can't think of rejoining…" Kuroko said, but Jason glared at her and she stepped back in surprise. "Fine." She teleported away, to continue helping the nuns and Amakusa forces. Many more were joining the fight against Carissa.

"What's the situation," Stiyl asked Touma and Mikoto, as he approached them. His eyes flickered to the explosions and shouting, from the church forces fighting Carissa, and then to the Griffon Sky gliders above them.

"Nothing is working," Mikoto told them immediately, aware Shizuri, Frenda, Index, and Misaki were still nearby and listening. "All of our attacks are barely making any impact, and she's been constantly pushing us back. We have been stacking up injuries, while she just continues to heal. Even Accelerator isn't able to stop her. She cut him like it was nothing. Now, Kagere is seriously injured."

"What?" Shizuri asked shocked. This was the first time she ever heard of Accelerator being injured, except the rumors when Touma beat him. "How?"

"The dimensional cut," Touma answered. "He couldn't reflect it."

"Why?" Misaki asked.

"No idea."

"It was within our prediction," Stiyl said flatly. "I told you we needed an army to fight her. I do have good news for you all though." He paused for a moment and his eyes traveled back to the fight. "Most of the knights have retreated, surrendered, or been incapacitated. The princess is all alone, except for any long range support she may have."

"Excellent," Shizuri laughed. "Time for some payback." She strutted off toward the fight. "Looks like Kinuhata is enjoying herself." She watched Saiai continue to throw large chunks of debris at Carissa.

"Mugino!" Frenda cried, racing after her. "Basically, wait for me."

"Mikoto…" Touma said slowly looking at her.

"I know," she said softly. She didn't need him to say anything else for her to understand. She knew he wanted to help, but until Carissa was weakened, he wouldn't be able to get close enough. They had been through enough crazy adventures to know what each other were thinking. She sighed and turned toward the fight. "I'll do what I can, so don't you dare do anything stupid." She ran back off to the fight.

"Index," Touma asked turning to her. "What happened to you?"

"After you and Short Hair got separated from us," Index said, frowning at him. She was upset he got lost, and Touma decided not to say anything about it. "I joined with several others and we ended up in a fight with the knights. They didn't have any of Curtana's power, so we were able to win using strategy. We met up with the others and came here, after blasting down one of the Griffon Sky."

"Index," Stiyl said, cutting her off. "Sorry to ask you this, but please continue to analyze Curtana. Anything you can do to weaken her control will be valuable."

"Okay," Index nodded and ran off to get closer to the fight to observe. Stiyl had an expression on his face like he ate something that didn't agree with him. He obviously wasn't happy sending her into the fight. Touma always thought Stiyl had a thing for Index. His thoughts were interrupted when Stiyl turned to him, his face becoming deadly serious. "You left her alone in the city, surrounded by enemies. What were you thinking?" Touma could swear Stiyl's hand twitched down to his pocket. For a moment, Touma pictured a flaming rune card flying at his face.

"It wasn't my fault," Touma said immediately. "Curtana's debris separated us, and Kanzaki told us to head to the palace if something like that happened." Stiyl glared at him for a bit, but sighed.

"Yea I know," Stiyl sighed, though his eyes still held a trace of anger. "As of now, all forces are focusing on Second Princess Carissa. You need to stay back with her." He indicated Misaki with a wave of his hand. "Her ability will most likely not affect the princess's mental defenses." He pulled out several rune cards, threw them in a couple different directions, and proceeded to the battlefield before Touma could reply. A second later, he felt Misaki grab onto his arm.

"I'm so glad you are safe," she said honestly. "When Mugino-san dropped that plane on the palace, I was worried sick. Then I saw Kagere…"

"There have been some injuries," Touma acknowledged. "So far we managed to avoid any serious ones. But, she doesn't seem to be weakening at all. No matter what we throw at her, she just pushes back with an even greater force. Even Accelerator couldn't stop her. Kanzaki and Itsuwa skills have kept us fighting, but there is no doubt they are getting exhausted. Jason bought us time for you all to arrive, but Carissa was too fast, even for Shirai-san's teleportation."

"So even two level fives and all these church members can't stop her…" whispered Misaki, more to herself. "Do you think we have a chance? Please be honest." She was worried, but if Touma told her they would win, she would believe it, regardless what the evidence said. He's not the kind of person to lie and everything he has ever done makes me believe in him.

"It doesn't look good," Touma said solemnly and Misaki looked at the ground in worry. "But…" She looked up. "We have injured her, even if only slightly. She may have enormous power, far beyond anything we have individually, but she's not invincible. She has a key weakness."

"What is it?" Misaki asked curiously.

"She's alone," Touma told her. "She distanced herself from the knights, after losing Knight Leader and control of Curtana. She has to rely only on her power. We have everyone here working together to stop her. To be honest, I was once like that. Thinking I had to do everything myself. But then I had friends who told me I shouldn't." Misaki noticed him smiling slightly. "That's our advantage over her, and it's a big one." Misaki felt herself smiling too, even in the dire situation, and both of them turned to watch the fight. Touma had to be prepared to enter when the situation called for it. Misaki was hoping there was something she could do to help Touma.

The church forces were growing exponentially, as they started rushing toward the battle from every direction. Every passing minute their forces grew, and Carissa realized this. Her problem was she was currently in an all-out melee brawl with Kaori, Itsuwa and the other Amakusa. The Amakusa were the church's best group for close quarter, high speed, combat. Carissa was getting irritated as she was forced to constantly dodge, parry, block, and even retreat to avoid them. They were being supported by the church nuns, who either had range weapons, or were chanting support spells to protect them. Occasionally, one of the students from Academy City would attack, throwing off her rhythm. When she saw the green flash of light from Shizuri's beams, she grinned to herself.

Finally, she thought. They are all here. Her confidence flowed through her as she effortlessly blocked a blow from one of the Amakusa, kicked a second one, and then created debris to fling at the others. Two nuns in the back were hit with glancing blows, sending them flying, but she didn't give them a second thought. A green beam flew at her head and she used Curtana to deflect it at another group. Dirt and debris were thrown into the air from the explosion, forcing the church forces to scatter. They may be numerous, but they can't work as a team, unlike the Amakusa. She jumped back to avoid a spear jab from Itsuwa, and created a large wall of debris to stop Kaori rushing at her. She was about to focus on the other melee individuals, when the wall she may suddenly flew at her and she was forced to cut it in half. On the other side, as Kaori lunged at Carissa, Accelerator was lowering his foot. That damn bastard. He's not affected by weight. Another couple arrowed flew by her head and she ducked. She then brought her blade upwards to match Kaori's strike, when she appeared out of nowhere. The Saint was the only true threat to her in close combat, the others were just merely insects biting at a superior force.

"Give up," Kaori told her, their faces less than a foot apart. "End this fight now, you lost."

"Give up?" Carissa laughed. "You all fell for my trap." Kaori's eyes widened, as Carissa pushed her back. Curtana was a one handed sword, while Kaori's blade used two hands. Carissa's free hand was pointed up toward the sky.

"Griffon Sky," Kaori said through gritted teeth. "You actually plan to use them?"

"Of course," Carissa said forcing her blade closer to Kaori. Her free hand reached out, grabbed a spear from one of the Amakusa and hit another with it. An arrow flew at her, but she adjusted herself slightly to allow it to miss her by less than an inch. "Why would I hold back on crushing my enemies?" An evil grin formed on her face. "I was just waiting for you all to converge at single location." She used her force to throw Kaori backwards, and then pointed the bladeless tip at the church forces. A moment later, all the gliders in the sky immediately altered their courses and headed towards the palace air space. Touma was well away from the major fighting, but even he wasn't out of range of all the gliders flying above the city. Touma had been wondering how they attacked, and now he knew.

The gliders began to swoop down closer to the ground, but still a good distance above them. There was no change in the glider and it did not appear to have any guns or bomb on board. Touma was confused on how Carissa would use them to attack, when he noticed the shadows below them. Their giant shadows, created by the moonlight, began to twist into a three dimensional shape. Its form changed as if it were rotating from the ground into the air. The shadow took on the shape and weight of a knights' lance, turned deep blood red, and floated roughly a foot off the ground. The lance and the glider seemed to be moving in unison.

Their direction was right into the church forces.

"GET OUT OF THE WAY!" Touma bellowed at the top of his lungs toward all his companions. Most of the church forces saw the issue immediately, but the gliders were too fast for most of them. The Griffon Sky gliders flew over the ruined palace and the large twenty meter lances flew right below them. Debris, walls, trees, and anything else in front of the lances were blown away. Touma realized Carissa's plan to late. With the large number of people, it was impossible for all of them to get out of the way. Touma and Misaki watched in shock and horror as the lances plowed straight through large groups of people, sending them flying in different directions. Screams of pain echoed across the palace grounds, followed by Carissa's laugh. He saw Sherry's golem Ellis get blown into pieces and the rubble rained down on the others nearby.

"There's a limit to automatic calculations," Carissa huffed, looking around at the carnage. She seemed to be completely unconcern, of all the Amakusa surrounding her, and appeared dissatisfied at the destruction caused by the Griffon Sky. "These things are supposed to destroy fortress walls and other land based defenses, but their automatic calculations are set to use the least force to do so. Guess that backfires when calculating human destruction." She laughed. "I know, I'll set them all to Windsor Castle level. That should give them enough force to blow a human body to smithereens."

"You…" Kaori stuttered through gritted teeth. She was well aware of the forces beginning to stand up in pain. None of them had been killed, but many of them probably had broken a bone. If Carissa set them with enough force to destroy Windsor Castle, one of the greatest strongholds in England, the church's forces would be obliterated. "Itsuwa!" she yelled and Itsuwa gave her a brief nod. Itsuwa and the rest of the Amakusa all moved as one to distract Carissa. Kaori turned to help the rest of the forces stop the Griffon Sky when she stopped. One last glider was coming straight for them. It must have been near the edge of the city and took longer to arrive. A nearby building was blown away and pieces were thrown hundreds of meters away. The glider and lance combination had more force then it should have, most likely due to its magic. Kaori was planning to use her Saint strength to stop it, but before she could get close enough, she stopped.

The glider had stopped in midair, as if it had been frozen.

Kaori looked down at the lance, and a huge smile appeared on her face. Accelerator was standing right in front of the lance, a single hand out stretched. He had stopped a weapon, which contained enough force to blow away a magical fortress, with a single hand. Accelerator grinned and prepared to completely alter the trajectory to throw it at Carissa, when the lance unraveled back into a shadow, and passed right through him. "What the f$%^!" he roared.

"They have an emergency cancel feature in case they get stuck," Kaori yelled at him and then shouted to the others. "Split into two teams, one team focus on Carissa, the other team the Griffon Sky. The more we take down the more people who can focus on the princess."

"Perfect," said a cold voice near her and she turned around as several bright green beams flew over her head. Shizuri had fired her Meltdowner at the passing glider. In order for the gliders shadow to be large enough to turn into the lance, the glider had to fly lower to the ground, which gave Shizuri the perfect opportunity to attack. The smoking remains of the glider started to descend as it passed over everyone. It continued to fall slowly, before colliding into a building outside the palace garden and exploded, destroying two other nearby buildings. "One down," Shizuri grinned looking into the sky. "Plenty to go." She had avoided firing her Meltdowner at Carissa, because all she did was reflect it at others. It served no point for Shizuri to use a useless attack, so she bided her time until an opportunity for carnage presented itself.

"I wish I had brought more explosives," Frenda said sadly as she moved up next to Shizuri, several bombs in her hands. She had been tossing them at Carissa whenever the princess had been out in the open, but the explosions didn't seem to affect her at all.

"It's definitely a pain," Saiai added. She had been one of the people to be blown away by the lance. Her Offense Armor protected her but, due to her small frame, she had been blown away with just a light touch. "Accelerator can actually stop them."

"I can stop them too," Shizuri snapped, but she knew what Saiai was referring too. A large lightning bolt flew down from the sky and caused major damage to another glider. It was still in the air, but its speed dropped considerably and began to smoke heavily. "It looks like the third is at least doing something too."

Carissa frowned as the church forces began to muster a counter attack against the Griffon Sky. She swung her blade and one of her opponents fell backwards, a deep gash in his arm. Without Kaori there to take most of the attacks, the Amakusa were getting easily overwhelmed. "Get out of the way trash," she snarled at them, as the force of her blows threw several of them backwards. She dodged Itsuwa's barrage, spun around, and kicked her twenty meters away. She dashed away from the Amakusa, only to be barraged by dozens of arrows and range magical projectiles, including pieces of wood and small bags of coins. This is getting annoying. She swung her blade into the ground. She made a cut and a large wall of debris formed and jettisoned toward the church forces. The dirt, asphalt, concreate, and some pipes under the garden were pulled up as the wall tore through the ground. It was like a tsunami of earth was flying towards them. The Anglican forces had to scatter, but many of them were blown away by the force. Carissa jumped out into the open, to find the one person who was actually a threat to her, when something stopped her for an instant.

Kaori was standing in front of her, with one of the Griffon Sky lances in her possession.

Unlike Accelerator, who could just change the direction of vectors to fit his need, Kaori used her physical Saint strength to stop the lance and she was panting slightly with the effort. She held the lance tightly in her grips as she spun it around. As the lance and the gliders were linked by the shadow, the glider spun around in midair too. Also, unlike Accelerator, Kaori could use magic. She had to use some highly advanced magic to disable the automatic cancel feature, so she could continue to hold the lance without the glider connection being severed. Carissa glanced around and saw all of her opponents had retreated far away from her. Those damn cowards…

Kaori swung down the lance and the glider came down, like a giant hammer, at Carissa.

The glider collided with Carissa and the earth shook under everyone's feet. A wave of dirt and dust washed over them all, causing most of them to divert their eyes. When the dust cleared, there was only the large burning wreckage of the Griffon Sky. Kaori was breathing heavily, but she couldn't rest yet. Many of the church forces were still trying to bring down the other gliders. They were using magic to help them hold the lances in place, so individuals with heavy firepower, like Shizuri, Mikoto, and Stiyl, could bring them down. Touma saw another couple gliders being brought down, but there were still countless more circling above them. He and Misaki turned when they saw Agnese approaching them.

"I don't think that will be enough to finish her," Agnese said gasping for air. She had been in the middle of the fighting, her clothes were torn, and she had a lot of small injuries on her exposed skin. "Boy, we need you to get closer now. With the Griffon Sky being taken down, we have openings. We need you close to take advantage of any openings the princess shows during the fight."

"Ok," Touma nodded and took a step forward to follow her. He stopped when he felt Misaki grabbed the back of his shirt. He turned around and saw Misaki had a worried look on her face. "It will be ok," he reassured her. "We both know I have to do it."

"I know," Misaki replied, nodding slightly. She watched Touma walk away and her heart started beating heavily. Touma's words echoed in her mind and she truly wanted to believe the fight would turn out the way he wanted. He had never let her down before but, after witnessing Carissa's power, doubt had slipped into her mind. Come on, Touma will succeed. He always survives and will rescue everyone like he always does. She reached into her bag and pulled out a remote. Regardless, she was going to help, regardless of how small.

Back in the fight, Kaori had been planning to help the others, but she stopped when she heard the sound of dimensions being sliced. A moment later the, burning wreckage was split in half and a piece of dimensional debris flew into the air and fell down upon her, forcing Kaori to dodge. From the fire, Kaori saw a humanoid shadow move, before Carissa stepped out into view, a very annoyed expression on her face. "Using an opponent's weapon against them," Carissa said. "Impressive, but futile. You and your forces are getting exhausted, while my strength still remains. All it takes is one slip up in your formation, and the ground will be soaked with your blood."

"Like hell that's going to happen," Mikoto yelled and a giant bolt of lightning descended from the sky. Carissa made a slashing motion and a large piece of debris intercepted the attack. She made a similar move to block a torrent of flames from Stiyl.

"I'm going to kill you first," Shizuri declared, as she fired several large green beams. Carissa blocked two of them, by making a sweeping motion with Curtana, and they were reflected with Curtana's broad edge. Shizuri was forced to jump to the side, as her attack was sent back at her. The ground behind her exploded and she made an annoyed sound with her tongue. Frenda and Saiai joined her barrage, as Saiai checked a large chunk of a building and Frenda fired a couple hand held missiles. Carissa knocked Saiai's attack away with her hand, but Frenda's missiles hit her and exploded. They didn't appear to have any affect though, as Carissa appeared uninjured when the smoke cleared.

Not to be undone, the people with range attacks let loose a volley of arrows and magical strikes. Carissa conjured another wall to block most of the attacks, but some attacks, like Agnese's damage transfer, relied on coordinates. They could bypass a simple wall, but Carissa's defenses were still far beyond anything considered normal, even in the magic community. She barely registered their presence. The next attack, she was actually required to defend against.

A large chunk, of a fallen glider, had been thrown into the air and flew downwards upon her. She swung her blade and sliced it in half to avoid being struck. It exploded at her cut, and her view was blocked by fire and smoke, as both pieces flew past her. The smoked cleared and she saw Accelerator standing next to a fallen glider. He's only been using range since our first exchange. He is right to be scared. She didn't know the entire reason though. Accelerator was defiantly weary of Curtana's power. After all, he couldn't reflect the cut and Carissa's speed surpassed his own. But, there was another reason, known only to him, Last Order, Worst, and recently Touma. His battery was running low and he couldn't leave it on. He had been flicking it on and off, using it only to attack and defend. Right now, he had less than five minutes of full use. After his attack, the Amakusa and Kaori jumped back into the fray.

"You are all getting on my last nerve!" Carissa yelled and spun around, as she started to create a large dimensional cut. It looked like she was about to make one of the largest pieces of debris she had made yet. She knew with so many people, the fight would take a little while, even with Curtana's power, but she was pissed she hadn't gotten a clean kill on any of them yet. Over half the church forces were injured, but they would survive. She was about to complete the cut to easily crush half of her opponents all at once, when she heard the sound of breaking glass. A minute later, the void disappeared. She turned her gaze and saw Touma had managed to hit the beginning of the dimensional cut. His appearance had been methodically blocked by the Amakusa's assault. "BOY!" she roared and then she flickered out of his sight.

"Huh?" Touma said looking around, trying to find were she went. A moment later, he felt a foot collide with his back and he was sent flying forward. Kaori jumped to the side and caught him, but the force knocked her backwards. Touma landed on top of Kaori, and immediately rolled off of her. Kaori catching him prevented him from getting knocked out, but his body ached all over from the kick. He turned around and saw Carissa, looking at him with an odd combination of rage and amusement.

"You were out of the fight so long," she said, making a slash at a nearby person, causing them to retreat as blood fell to the ground. "I almost forgot you were still here." She made another couple of quick slashes and sent debris flying into crowds of people. "Just because you defeated my knights, did you think you level up by defeating some low level enemies?" She laughed as she deflected several more blades and arrows. She reached her free hand into her cleavage and pulled out a radio. "But, I never said those were the only low level enemies at my disposal."

"What are you talking about?" Touma asked, as he was overwhelmed by a feeling of dread.

"Calling the destroyer Wimbledon patrolling the Strait of Dover," Carissa spoke loudly into the radio. "Prepare one of the cruise missiles loaded with a bunker cluster warhead. Set the detonation depth of the warhead for minus 5 meters and aim the missiles for Buckingham Palace…Fire immediately."

"A-a bunker cluster!" Touma heard Mikoto yell from crowd. Touma also had a rough idea of what they were, being part of the science side, and he didn't doubt the others knew too.

"Oh, you're familiar with them?" Carissa grinned, turning to look in Mikoto's direction. "Good, that makes things simpler. They are special warheads developed to destroy military shelters. They scatter around 200 smaller bombs in the air. Because you took out the Griffon Sky that was blocking the path, you gave me a perfect opportunity to use them. Even if my mother got rid of most of our advance weapons, we still have enough to make quite an impact."

"Are you insane?" Touma asked bewildered. "That attack won't just hit the palace, but a good mile around it!"

"Sacrifices have to be made to achieve victory," Carissa shrugged, as all the church forces froze in realization. "After all, your side was prepared to lose a lot of members to stop me, so you know all about sacrifice. I was planning to draw my mother into the open before using this. Since she is with the Archbishop, drawing her to me will be easier than tracking her down. You forced me to move the schedule up a bit. You better think of a plan fast." She smiled. "With current technology, the missiles can easily reach Mach 5 in low altitude. I guess… it will take less than a minute to get here."

A minute, Touma thought stunned. They would have to run over a mile and there was still no guarantee they could escape the explosion. Kaori might be able to with her Saint speed, but the rest of us… Accelerator could probably ignore it, but everyone else can't. There's no way we can escape. Something sparkled and moved above him, drawing his attention. He looked up and saw seven wires crisscrossing in the sky above them. The wires formed a three dimensional magic circle and then a bluish-white light ran across them, creating a thick wall covering up an entire city block. Kanzaki!

"Covering a mile," Kaori said, as the wires continued to expand from her location. "Is not impossible. I just have to intercept them before they hit the ground." Using her power as a Saint, the wires shield began to spread over the city.

"While it may be true you can deal with the missiles using magic," Carissa laughed. She was confident she could survive the explosion thanks to Curtana's power. "If," she held out Curtana in front of her. "I let you try." She lunged forward and swung the blade at Kaori's neck, the dimensions severing along the attack. Kaori was forced to jump out of the way, but she wasn't fast enough. A deep cut appeared on her shoulder and she grimaced in pain. However, the huge length of debris coming from the cut didn't stop at Kaori. Carissa continued to swing Curtana and propel the long thin length of debris into the sky. The barrier in the sky was hit by the debris and broke apart in a thin line. While the tear did stop, the area above the palace and the nearby grounds was no long protected.

The entire time, the cruise missile carrying the bunker cluster approached.

Touma stood frozen in place as Carissa continued to assault Kaori. The Amakusa tried to help, but she just made debris walls to halt their advances. Kaori was completely focused on defense, and couldn't continue to apply the defensive shield. Touma vaguely heard a couple people yelling "run" or "throw up defensive spells," but he barely registered it. She's planning to kill as many of us as possible. She cut the shield above us, but at least part of it will protect the city if anyone is left in there. But why would she care… He stopped thinking as a small movement in the sky caught his attention.

About 4000 meters in the air, the cruise missile split into four pieces. Because the outer shell broke apart, around 200 explosives inside it jettisoned out and spread across the sky. They rained down like spears, because they used the energy from their high altitude fall to penetrate into shelters buried deep in the ground. Carissa had ordered them to explode at minus five meters, so they weren't going to explode in the air, but after they landed. This would cause the most destruction among the church forces. Not everyone had given up hope though.

"F&%$ this!" Accelerator roared, as he stuck his hand into one of the fallen gliders. He lifted the giant magical device into the air, supported only by his arm, and everyone around him scattered. He threw the glider, as hard as he could, into the air, towards the cluster bombs. While he couldn't get all of them, he tried to intercept as many as possible before they scattered. The glider exploded as dozen of missiles collided with the glider, setting off a small chain of explosions.

Getting the idea, Mikoto unleashed a torrent of electricity into the sky. "Take down as many as you can while they are in the air!" Mikoto yelled to the nuns. She didn't know how many of the nuns could use long range attacks, but she hoped some of them could. Her electricity hit one of the bombs and caused it to explode, which caused several nearby bombs exploded as well and set off another small chain reaction. A couple other people let lose magical attacks to destroy a couple more, but they probably only got about half before the missiles started colliding into the ground. One hit the ground about twenty meters away from Touma, the ground shook and he fell.

There was a flash of light, but he didn't hear anything, something happened to make him deaf. He couldn't see anything except pure white. He felt a wave of air and heat before a shockwave passed through his body. He felt his entire body shake and he closed his eyes in shock. He expected the explosion to engulf him, but he felt nothing. He couldn't hear anything, so he had no idea what happened. He opened his eyes, and saw a blurry figure crouched in front of him. He wasn't sure at first, but there appeared to be a green light in front of him. He blinked rapidly and his vision returned. His eyes widened in surprise. Shizuri was crouched in front of him, a large green shield in front of her. He realized someone else was leaning on him, and he turned to see Frenda. It looked like they both moved together and Shizuri blocked the explosions from hitting them directly. There wasn't anything she could do about the shockwave though and his body still ached all over.

He heard Shizuri mumbling something, but he missed the first part because his hearing hadn't returned yet. "Sorry, couldn't hear, can you repeat that?"

"You still able to fight?" Shizuri asked through clenched teeth, as her shields disappeared.

"I think so," Touma said shakily. He was surprised he had his all limbs. "Thanks for saving me."

"You are still needed," she huffed, her back turned him.

"Basically," Frenda said rolling off him. "We really need you to destroy her sword. She's a monster."

Touma stood up and looked around at the carnage and destruction. While it appeared most of the damage did not spread far into London, probably thanks to Kaori's barrier, the palace grounds had been annihilated. Dirt had been torn up, nearby buildings had collapsed, remains of the Griffon Sky littered the grounds. He didn't see anyone else, a lot of dirt and dust was still in the air, so he called out. "Kanzaki, Mikoto, Misaki, Jason, Agnese, Itsuwa, anyone?" No response came. "Did you see what happened to everyone?"

"Most of them retreated," Shizuri told him. "But many couldn't escape the explosions. They might still be alive, if they have magic defenses. It may take the others a little bit to get back through all the destruction around us. Right now, she's the only one left." Touma turned his head to where she was indicating and he gritted his teeth. The smoke was clearing and he saw countless people collapsed all around him, more were probably buried under rubble. This struck the very center of Touma's soul.

I couldn't stop Carissa and people got hurt, he thought to himself. He wasn't angry at anyone except himself. He hadn't been able to make Carissa realize she was wrong, nor was he able to stop her. A faint wind blew more smoke away and Touma could make out a single figure standing in the middle of all the destruction. Carissa turned to look at him, her radiance seeming to transcend the scene around her. Her dress was torn and there were cuts all over her, but she appeared far to uninjured after what she went through. Curtana was resting on her shoulder, as she started to walk toward them. He saw Frenda grab one of her bombs and several green orbs appeared around Shizuri. Touma quickly stood up, but he knew they didn't have a chance with just the tree of them.

"Do you have any hope left?" she asked him softly. "Or are you prepared to surrender and accept my rule?"

"Bite me," Shizuri replied instantly.

"Yea," Frenda agreed. "Basically, we hate you."

"Hah," Carissa laughed. "I'm glad you survived brat. I was interested in making sure you were punished for your insolence toward me. I think I'll take you alive after this." She grinned in amusement. "It's not like you can hurt me." A vein throbbed in Shizuri's head and she fired a beam from one of her orbs. Carissa tilted Curtana so the beam was reflected to the side. It seemed like she was purposely avoiding trying to end their lives. "Oh boy," she said turning to Touma. "You seem awfully quiet. Where was all that attitude you had earlier about saving me? Do you finally understand?"

"You are strong," Touma answered quietly. "It would be childish to say otherwise." He took a deep breath. "You are still wrong. As long as I am still standing, I am going to oppose you."

"With just three of you here," Carissa laughed. "Well, three in any shape to at least fight. The rest of the trash has either ran away or collapsed. You are alone."

"I don't think so," Touma replied, and he couldn't prevent a small grin from appearing on his face. "I have a lot of friends." Carissa opened her mouth to respond, when her danger sense went off. She swung Curtana around to block another blade. Normally, her blow would send the person flying, but when she saw who it was, she couldn't bring her full force behind the blow.

She was staring into her own face.

She felt the imposter's blade edge nearer to her face before she snapped back to her senses. She blew the imposter away and sent her crashing into a large piece of Curtana's debris. "You," she growled. Her anger was twofold. The first was this person dared to impersonate her and, second, that they dared to try a sneak attack on her. "You must be the garbage who disguised them self as Knight Leader. I thought I cut off your hand. Anyway, more importantly, why would you disguise yourself as me? It's not like I would have noticed it wasn't you."

"Regeneration," Jason laughed, still in disguise. He stood up and twirled the sword he had stolen from Knight Leader. "I was interested in testing something, but why do you sound so disturb? It's like you don't like seeing yourself."

Carissa frowned, but did not argue against his last statement. It did bother her slightly that Jason's impersonation of her was almost perfect. The way he held himself, his voice and tone, his attack pattern, and even the facial expressions gave her a sense of déjà vu. The only difference was his power was below her normal strength without Curtana. "Elaborate you pest," she demanded.

"Judging from your expression," Jason replied. "You are impressed with my disguise ability and the depth of its detail. I acquired it rather recently, so I'm not sure of all its uses. I was trying to see how perfect the disguise was by testing it against Curtana. Do you think I could fool it in having it believe I was you?" Jason grinned and Carissa's eyes widened slightly.

It shouldn't be possible, she thought. Curtana is one of the world's most powerful items. There is no way an outsider could use it. But this illusion magic is different than any I have seen. No matter how hard she tried, doubt crept into her mind, before she realized what he was up to. So that's how it is. He's quite good with mind games to maximize the use of his unusual powers. He already knows his shadow magic is unable to harm me. "Let's say it did work," she laughed, as all the doubt left her and Jason frowned. "You wouldn't know how to activate its power."

"The other effect of this power," Jason continued, pretending to be unnerved at her reaction. "Allows me to have a slight understanding of your magic. I don't disagree I probably couldn't use it, but if I could just disrupt it, I wonder how well you would fair." He actually didn't believe he could do that, but fighting Carissa wasn't Jason's plan. He was out matched in every way, and he knew it.

"Sacrificial pawn huh," Carissa said, raising an eyebrow. "You would try to weaken me, so the girl over there could disintegrate me and you would most likely get caught in the blast."

"Yea," Jason nodded. "I know she wouldn't hesitate. After all, she holds a grudge against me from a while back."

"Damn straight," Shizuri said loudly. Touma looked at her confused for a moment. He didn't know what went on between them.

"Your presence here doesn't change anything," Carissa said raising her sword.

"Actually," Touma interrupted her. "It does. If he survived, others did too." He turned to Jason. "How many people are left?"

"I'm not going to say it's good," Jason replied, and Touma felt his heart sank slightly. "I protected a handful, but a large number got caught. Thanks to Accelerator and Misaka-san, the damage was a lot less than it should have been." He grinned. "Kaori prevented a lot of damage to the surrounding city and the others are marshalling toward us right now. Stiyl told me I just needed to be a distraction till they could get here."

"What!" Carissa demanded, rounding on him. She slashed Curtana and a large piece of debris flew at Jason. He rolled to the side to dodge it as it smashed into the debris behind him. "You dare to make a fool of me, not once but twice?"

"You make it too easy," Jason laughed loudly, holding a hand up to his face. If Touma didn't know better, he would have sworn Jason was actually Carissa. "I'm not one to respect authority. You will always find me plotting against them. Touma's a good friend of mine because he keeps himself as an outsider of power struggles." His Carissa disguise faded and his shadow burst out from under his clothes. "Well, my job is done. I rather not get cut again." He lunged over some rubble with his shadow before Carissa could respond. Instead, she rounded onto Touma, Shizuri and Frenda.

"I suppose I don't have time to punish you now," Carissa sighed and raised her sword again. Touma prepared himself to try to dodge, but Shizuri was standing confidently in front of him. Carissa was just about to bring her sword down when she sudden jerked her head to the side. A high powered bullet flew past her cheek and exploded into the rubble behind her. "Is there no end to these insects? Now they have snipers?" She swung her blade and threw a piece of debris through the air at the sniper, but Shizuri shot it down with one of her beams.

"I'm not usually one to help someone," Shizuri grinned. "But if they caused you to be annoyed, they can't be all bad."

"You really want to be tortured don't you," Carissa growled.

(Operation Distraction is a success, informs Misaka 15617.) She was lying down on a roof top far away from the destruction of the palace. A long range, high powered sniper was propped up on a small tripod. She had aimed and fired the sniper rifle in response to Carissa trying to attack Touma. Now, she was communicating with the Misaka Network around the world. After much discussion, the Misaka network decided Misaka 15617, the only one of them nearby, should help out Touma.

(Is your positon secure, asks Misaka 17856.)

(The princess is aware of my location says Misaka 15617. She had planned to attack, but was interrupted by the hero's friend, adds Misaka.)

(Be prepared to continue supporting the hero, says Misaka 19090. We can't let him come to harm, Misaka adds.)

(Misaka knows her role, says Misaka 15617, annoyed at the repetitious phrases. Misaka also would like it to go on record she is tired of Misaka 10032 and 19090 nagging her.)

(Misaka would like to put on record she was not nagging, Misaka 10032 refutes.)

(The record should only contain facts, not opinions, adds Misaka 19090)

(Any sign of Accelerator MISAKA asks as MISAKA tries to escape the locked room Accelerator threw her in.)

(Misaka has lost sight of Accelerator, states Misaka 15617, as she laughs to herself at the moderator's predicament.)

"You three have…" she stopped and jumped back as ten arrows and a flame rune passed through where she had been a second ago. "Damn it, why won't you pests just die."

"Sorry," Stiyl said throwing a cigarette at the ground in front of him. "That wasn't part of my plan for today. Maybe tomorrow if you still are in charge."

"Touma!" Mikoto yelled out from on top of the wall. "Are you okay?"

"Yea," Touma called back. "Mugino saved me. Are the others okay?"

"Accelerator stopped a lot of the explosions," Mikoto called back. She chose to ignore the smug look Shizuri was wearing when Touma told Mikoto of the situation. She decided other things were more important, for now. "So the injuries weren't too bad."

"Then we simply have to add some more," Carissa hissed loudly. She pulled out her radio again and spoke. She was louder than she needed to be, and Touma believed she was doing it for their benefit. "Destroyer Wimbledon, prepare another bunker cluster…" She stopped when she heard another familiar voice echo across the grounds.

"This is First Princess Rimea of the royal family," a voice echoed across the grounds. "I am sorry for this crude method of communication, but most of the transmission items had been disabled around the palace." Carissa made an annoyed sound with her mouth as she looked for the source. It must have been through still operating loud speakers somewhere near the outer edge of the grounds. She was surprised it was still working, but the echo made it impossible to locate. "I have discovered the true aim of Carissa's coup and the reason behind it." Touma also froze as he listened.

"As the princess with the attribute of Military Might," Rimea continued. "She would most likely felt the external pressure, from the Roman Catholic Church influence and the European Union banning most of our military weaponry, was causing England to decline in the world stage. She believed other countries would be looking down on England and its people, something she would not allow. She went behind our mother's back and continued to strengthen the military, so England would not appear weak. But she did not have the most important piece under her control, Curtana."

"When the Fallen began invading, our current strength was insufficient to deal with their unique magic. If Carissa could not protect her country from a threat from within, how would she be able to fight all the external threats? She hired a magic cabal to help her locate Curtana Original, since she would not be able to steal Curtana Second from our mother. They specialized in the creation and locating artifacts. While they were searching, she was left to ponder another problem. She had planned to use Curtana Original as a final trump card, but Carissa was no stranger to history. She understood what happens when an individual acquires too much power."

"Enough!" Carissa yelled loudly, but Rimea continued, as if uninterrupted. Touma, along with everyone else, never took their eyes or weapons off Carissa, but they were listening intently.

"She needed away to keep herself grounded to reality as she wielded Curtana. There was no magical means of defeating Curtana in a fight, so she turned to her humanity. She started looking for someone who would stand against her, no matter how strong willed she was, when she was wrong. She didn't have any luck in this regard, and The Fallen continued to harass our land. The magic cabal she hired was close to finding Curtana and she had all but given up hope of finding someone. I remember years ago, she had been looking for the same thing, but never succeeded. Then by a weird twist of fate, she ran across a certain boy, someone who immediately attracted her attention." Touma felt many eyes on him, and even Carissa glared at him for a moment.

"This young man exhibited many qualities found in a knight, courage, self-sacrifice, and humility. Yet he also had strength to back up his words. From what I understand, Carissa took an interest in him and coaxed him into joining the knights. Her plan was divided into three main parts. First she was planning to kill the other members of the royal family, to ensure Curtana could never be used by anyone but her. Second, she planned to use the power of Curtana to defeat England's enemies completely and decisively. Now, the third phase relies more on guesswork."

"After all of England's enemies were defeated, there would be no need for Curtana or a monarchy. Since she, and many others, believed our mother was leading England down the wrong path, she wanted to create a system where someone could stop a ruler that was leading the country down the wrong path. Having a relic like Curtana made this impossible, as the wielder was virtually untouchable. Even killing all the members of the royal family and destroying Curtana, she could not guarantee a new royal family would emerge after centuries or someone would be able to recreate Curtana. She would need to destroy every clue for making them. She did not choose to stay in the palace grounds on accident. She wanted it destroyed and all the clues it held within." Touma saw Carissa's face darken and he remembered she had seemed to be hiding something when he had talked to her in the limo and the palace.

"I rationalized her third phase is to mess with Curtana Original and Second so they could never be recreated. This is where the young man Mr. Touma Kamijou came in. Holding a relic of unimaginable power, she was afraid she too would be corrupted and lose sight of her final goal. Finding someone to keep her tied down was essential. Almost as if he was a blessing to her, Mr. Kamijou also has the power of complete negation. He can destroy Curtana with a single touch of his hand. To her, he would be the ultimate emergency backup if she lost sight of her goal." Carissa made a fist, and cut a large piece of debris in half. Touma saw, out of the corner of his eyes, the church forces standing up and reappearing in large numbers.

"I cannot agree with my sister's choice, but I can understand it. She decided to make the world her enemy to save England's future. She purposely made herself the enemy for her people. I can't force any of you to help, but if you truly pity her, not as the second princess but as a woman throwing herself into the fire, please listen. I heard Mr. Kamijou, who has no ties or duty to help, has always promised to save everyone, including her. Will you fight beside him, and help save her? She needs to know there are people who are willing to fight for her, not just with her." Her voice cut off and there was only silence, until one person broke it.

"Sister!" Villian yelled from on top of a pile of rubble. Her dress was torn, her hair a mess, and she was covered with cuts and bruises, but there was a look of determination Carissa had never seen on it before. "I promise to stop you, not just for the people, but for your sake as well."

"Just because you know," Carissa said softly. "Nothing changes." Her eyes widened as she shifted her weight to the side to dodge the arrow Villian shot at her. She actually fired a weapon. She has become stronger during this coup. "I'm actually impressed, but it doesn't matter. The second bunker cluster has always ready been fired. I doubt your forces can withstand another one."

"You f#$^%$ b#$%^," Shizuri snapped.

"Basically," Frenda added. "Suicide is a coward's way out."

"You seem to be mistaken," Carissa laughed. "I will survive. I may have used up a lot of power, but I can still easily survive this."

"Damn it," Touma shouted taking a step forward. "I'm not giving up."

"Show me," Carissa said quietly, using her hand to motion for him to try. "Show me the strength you think you can save me with." Touma charged at her past Shizuri, who had a look of surprise at his stupidity, with his hand clutched tightly into a fist. While he ran as fast as he could, his speed was in super slow motion to Carissa. She couldn't draw her eyes away from his face, because she still could not understand him. Why does he fight so hard? He knows he can't win. Does he really want to save me that much? She raised Curtana as he approached, but before he could get near her, Kaori grabbed him by his collar and threw him back.

"Calm yourself," Kaori reprimanded him, drawing her sword and holding it up towards Carissa.

"But…" Touma protested. He had to stop her before anyone else got hurt.

"CALM YOURSELF!" Kaori told him forcefully. "If you get struck down, this entire endeavor would be for naught."

"Touma," Mikoto called out. "I know what you're thinking, but you can't charge forward. The next missile is almost here."

"Stupid ape!" Kuroko yelled. 'Stop making onee-sama worry."

Touma gritted his teeth. He knew they were right, but there was nothing he could do. "Idiot," Shizuri said slapping him in the face. "Pay attention to your surroundings and don't just blindly charge in like a retard." Touma's face hurt, Shizuri was really strong, but he nodded in agreement.

"It's too late for all of you," Carissa laughed and pointed up. They looked and saw the cruise missile coming at them. Touma gritted his teeth, but knew this wasn't going to end well for any of them, when he heard something.

"Turn to zero."

The cruise missile appeared to have malfunctioned. Instead of the outer shell breaking apart and scattering the smaller explosives, it remained as a single missile, falling towards the palace. The flame propelling it from behind disappeared, and it crashed into the ground with a loud thud. It must have been weighted quite a bit, because it sunk deeply into the ground. It was an unnatural scene, almost as if all of the attack power had been stripped away. Touma turned to see who had stopped the missile. His jaw dropped when he saw Knight Leader walking between piles of rubble, holding a longsword. It was not the sword Jason had taken, but a normal sword like a regular knight would have used.

"AH!" Kuroko yelled pointing. "It's him."

"That's the guy you and Kagere-san fought right?" Mikoto asked.

"Yea," Kuroko nodded. "He's super strong and merciless."

"That sounds like Knight Leader all right," Stiyl agreed. "He always fulfills his duties perfectly."

"Until he met Kuroko and Kagere-san," Mikoto smirked slightly and Kuroko beamed at her. They turned slightly, as Saiai climbed up the debris next to them.

"I hope you are prepared for your punishment," Carissa growled at Knight Leader.

"Yes," Knight Leader replied instantly. "I will accept any punishment, including decapitation, when this coup has ended. But for now…" He dashed at high speeds toward Carissa and swung his blade. She blocked it and gazed directly into his eyes. "We have decided to save you."

"We?" Carissa asked, raising and eyebrow. She turned and saw a large number of knights in beaten up armor approaching the battle.

"Split into two teams," Knight Leader ordered them. "Team one, focus on healing the Anglicans, Team Two, commences attacks on Lady Carissa." The knights nodded and split up like a single well-oiled machine. He pulled his sword back and continued to strike at Carissa, his speed making his sword a blur. Carissa continued to block every strike, her gaze never leaving his face. "I have much to atone for."

"Then atone with your death." Carissa swung the sword, causing the dimension to split, slicing his sword in half. He jumped backwards, barely avoiding the attack. "Without Curtana's Telesma, your level is only around that of a Saint. You can't defeat me. You simply walked to your death."

"Knight Leader!" Villian called out. "Don't you dare die! If you truly want to atone for your deeds, then live and repay it with your service to the people!"

"Hah," Jason laughed jumping up next to her. "Well said." His shadow stretched out from behind him and the stolen longsword flew through the air. "I'll lend you your sword back. Lend. I won it fair and square and you have to earn it back if you want to keep it." Knight Leader grabbed the sword in midair and turned to face Carissa.

"More and more annoyances," she groaned. "I guess I'll just send every bunker cluster I have available to this location. You might be able to stop a couple, but you won't be able to get them all."

"We thought of this already," Knight Leader replied. Touma was surprised to see the shadow of a grin appear on his serious face. "A good friend of mine just took care of that." A moment later, on the other side of Carissa, William Orwell jumped over a large piece of debris. He swung his five meter long mace over his shoulder and looked at Carissa. "Is it done?" Knight Leader asked him.

"All communication towers have been taken down," William answered. "She won't be able to call for help anymore." He turned toward Carissa. "Now you cannot send reckless orders to the British military. They are English citizens and should not be forced to fire on the capital. They should be protecting not destroying it because of some ruthless dictator's orders."

"Perfect," Knight Leader said and walked up next to Touma. "I apologize for leaving her fate, and the country's, up to you."

Touma didn't even have to look at Knights Leader. The heard the truth reverberate in his voice. Knight Leader regretted his decision and was determined it make it up. "Let's save her then. Leave all the apologies for later, after this is done and everyone can smile again."

"I don't care how many of you stand against me," Carissa yelled. "All of you will die here."

Knight Leader didn't reply and raised his sword. On the other side of Carissa, William raised his mace. Without any signal, both of them charged at Carissa simultaneously. They weren't the only ones though. Kaori had also charged and all three struck with different blows. Carissa blocked Kaori's blade, dodged Knight Leader's blow and ducked under William's mace. Carissa was matching them blow for blow, but it quickly became obvious to Touma, for the first time since the battle started.

Carissa was finally being overpowered.

Three Saint level beings were matching their blows effortlessly to maximize each strike against her. The remaining Anglican forces and knights began to converge on Carissa. The combination of magic and physical blows began to rain down on her from every direction. No matter how many barriers she made with debris, the sheer numbers broke them apart. Shizuri was actually focusing on blasting the barriers instead of Carissa. Touma thought this was more because she knew it was pointless to fire at her and, instead, it would piss Carissa off more to lose her shields. "You may have the advantage of numbers," she said suddenly and then laughed. "But you are just individuals." She spun around a blow from Knight Leader, and he suddenly found an arrow in his shoulder.

"What!" he said surprised, and looked toward the direction it came from. The nun who fired it looked horrified. Accident, but it's to be expected with so many people. Touma also realized it and spoke it out loud.

"She's beginning to use our own attacks against each other," he said through gritted teeth. "Even cornered, she still won't give up."

"Let me try something," Misaki said and Touma jumped. He had been so distracted by the fight, he didn't notice her approach. Touma looked at her and she winked. She held up a remote and clicked it. Touma didn't know what she did, but she saw her eyebrows narrow in concentration. Before he could ask she spoke up again. "It's tougher than I thought and it didn't work on everyone, but I'm acting as a control tower. They should have a faint idea what the others are doing now."

"Good job," he said, patting her on the shoulder, and she beamed at him. He turned his attention back to the fight and saw the entire flow of battle change instantly.

What happened? Carissa thought to herself. She continued to exchange air shattering blows with Kaori, Knight Leader, and William. Every time one of their weapons clashed, a small shockwave was produced and a loud clang echoed across the field. She was beginning to acquire numerous small wounds, as they pushed her farther and farther into a corner. What confused her was how all the church and knight forces were suddenly able to synchronize. Their attacks missed each other by inches as they flew toward her and forced her to expand more energy just to dodge. Whenever she managed to escape the Saint level individuals, she was assaulted by lightning, explosives, debris, and magical long range attacks. The Academy City students were mainly aiming during this gap. As Touma watched the fight, he heard someone walk up behind him. He immediately turned around and saw Accelerator.

"You're here?" Touma asked shocked. "I thought I missed you in the crowd." Misaki noticed him too, but had to remain focus on the battle.

"I have enough time for one more attack," Accelerator told him. "I'm going to make it f$^%&$ count. Got a plan?"

"I have to hit Curtana with my hand," Touma muttered, and then gestured toward the fight. "But there's no way I can get near that." Carissa, Kaori, William, and Knight Leader were moving at speeds normal people could barely register. They kept flicking out of sight, reappearing only as they stopped and exchanged blows. Their blows were so powerful, anything in between them was annihilated in an instant. "If they could hold her still for just a moment…" He felt Accelerator grab onto his shirt.

'Her fifth rate," Accelerator said. "Tell them all they need to focus on immobilizing her."

"Huh?" she asked confused.

"Do it," Touma said nodding. He realized Accelerator's plan immediately. "Think you can aim?" Accelerator glared at him.

"Don't ever doubt me," he said.

"If you're sure," Misaki said weakly, and she focused all her power to give a single message to all the forces. We have a plan. Do anything possible to immobilize Carissa for as long as possible. She then sent a message to Kuroko and Frenda to tell Mikoto and Shizuri the plan. Both of them could prevent her ability from affecting them. They didn't get a response, but Misaki could tell it worked.

Acqua jumped into the air and swung his mace downwards with his full strength. Carissa was forced to raise her blade and block it. The force of the strike caused her to sink slightly into the ground, the shockwave blowing away the top level of dirt under her. Before Carissa could strike back, Kaori and Knight Leader dived forward and grabbed her arms. Normally, she would still be able to free herself, when she felt a shadow wrap around her, draining tiny bits of Telesma the longer it bound her. Black sand began to rise from under her and cover her lower legs in a small mound. She saw hundreds of the nuns chanting, before she felt the spells take effect. Her body felt heavy and slow. She struggled to break free, but she had used up a lot of her power already, and fighting three Saints, along with hundreds of supporting individuals, is not easy, even for her. She freed her arm from Kaori and was about to bring her blade down on her, when Carissa heard someone shout.

"CTOOCU!SAARTST! (Move Curtana's trajectory up! Stop the slice and redistribute the excess Telesma!)"Index yelled. She had finally finished analyzing Curtana. Carissa felt the blade jerk back upwards and she had to concentrate on keeping the Telesma within it. Her gaze caught something moving and she realized the true attack.

"Damn you all!" she screamed as Touma flew through the air at her, his hand clenched tightly in a fist. He pulled it back and swung it at Curtana.

Curtana shattered into hundreds of pieces, and those pieces dissolved into dust.

But his fist didn't stop there.

It continued into the side of her face. At the point of impact, everyone, who was holding her, jumped back. The force of Touma's momentum caused Carissa's body to twist and fly backwards, her feet lifting up off the ground. She fell, but Touma continued to fly toward a wall made from Curtana's dimensional cut. He closed his eyes, but instead of crashing into a hard surface, he felt something soft. He opened his eyes and saw Kaori had caught him and his head landed directly in her chest. She collided into the wall, but her Saint constitution withstood the impact much better than he could. Touma's wrist hurt like hell, but he turned his eyes back to Carissa.

She was lying sprawled out on the ground.

The battle was over, Carissa was defeated.

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.

Touma: Dang, she was impossible.

Motoharu: It was like one of those RPG games were the final boss has almost unlimited health.

Jason: Wow Touma, you actually punched a girl in the face. Stiyl and Accelerator is one thing…

Accelerator: Watch it…

Jason: But a girl? I thought you were better than that.

Touma: There wasn't any choice, you were there.

Motoharu: There is always a choice.

Touma: But…

Jason: How many other girls did you punch?

Sherry Cromwell: Well, I sort of attacked Academy City.

Agnese: I tried to kill him once.

Oriana Thomson: I nearly killed a couple of his friends.

Accelerator: To be fair, I punched a teleporter girl once.

Touma: See, I don't do it because I want to.

Jason: I didn't see a single viable reason there.

Mikoto: What are you guys talking about?

Motoharu: Gender equality.

Me: I feel this is a meme.

Motoharu: It is.

Mikoto: Okay… So how did Accelerator do at the beginning?

Me: He only threatened to kill most of the readers.

Last Order: MISAKA made sure to keep him in line informs MISAKA as MISAKA remembers reprimanding Accelerator.

Accelerator: Whatever.

Mikoto: Can I do next week then?

Me: If you're sure, some of those guys are ruthless… Okay, go for it.

Touma: Good luck Mikoto.

Misaki: Don't choke too badly.