A Certain Infinite Possibility

by Darkbetrayer

An ancient organization has emerged from hiding in order to bring the world into darkness. Will Touma be able to stop them or will his actions make everything worse. Will Touma finally develop the harem he deserves? Magic and Science will collide in ways no one thought possible. Touma X Harem (Maybe, he is really dense.)

90. S4 Plight of the Level 5s: Part 5

The level five fights are concluding nicely. I'm glad my sudden change in ideas for some of the previous fights went over well. The positive feedback was great. Though, many of you are huge perverts. Imagining Misaki in a skin tight suit, for shame. The way it would hug tightly to her and fit her curves…. Damn it, now you have me doing it. There will be one more chapter to finish off the fights after this one. As for this chapter, somethings happened I did not necessarily plan. When I write, the story sometimes goes off in a direction I didn't imagine and my brain sort of goes with it. It makes some of the scenes really powerful, but then has unintended long term consequences. Living story, am I right? Anyways, I noticed there wasn't nearly as many updates this month compared to the last one, so I hope this brightens up your day.

Brosephg: Huh, so are you saying I should take longer to release chapters so you suffer more? Look at you, one of the few people who doesn't give spoilers. The internet would be proud. Well some of it, the other half would curse you into oblivion.

Meridun: It was originally going to be a basic battle scene, but then I thought, nah, Misaki wouldn't do that. It needs some mental combat, but I already established Lancelot's mind was too well shielded, so I had to go another direction.

Noise: That is a very generous compliment, thank you. As for Mikoto, this chapter will have her, don't worry.

Jujudude: Mugino would actually force herself on him though. She's an older Lessar with attitude. When I first read your comment, Office Space was playing on my TV. So yeah, Accelerator needs to be bullied slightly.

Whwsms: Wow, you picked up on that. I never mentioned her by name, but you knew what I was going for. Yes, she will join. No girl can escape the Kami-yan Disease. Lessar learns a lot of things in Australia, but that will be soon enough. Uiharu is the main character, but she is kind enough to let others think they are the main characters.

GameCguru: I think I will have to have Touma meet Arthur at some point, if he survives. Odds are he will because Misaki and Lancelot probably won't kill him. We will see.

general ironox: Hamazura is hard to write sometimes, but it's interesting to get him to fight powerful people with no special abilities.

anand891996: What? Jason is going to betray everyone? Jason, is this true? No. Okay, good. I think we are just misinterpreting his intentions.

Guest: I don't know anyone with real life psychic powers to test. So I can't answer your first question. If I did a Valentine Day special, I feel like it would turn into one of the many ones were all the girls are chasing him around the city. I suppose I could try Touma having to return the favor on white day…

Seeker: Mental fights could have some interesting stuff mixed in. Combining illusions with actual swordplay to disorient your opponent was one idea a friend gave me. I am still playing around with the final ending. No one understands Gunha. He could already be a level 6 and not know it. Touma is being ignored, while surrounded by many attractive girls who all love him. What's the problem? Australia is going to be long too, and sequential, it happens after the level 5 fights, it's one of the reasons I'm doing these first.

Handsomistic1: I feel like Aogami Pierce should do something awesome in the main story. I have an idea that will work with several other ideas, so I hope you will be prepared. (It's after Australia though so it will be a bit). He was blown into chunks of flesh over an entire street. It does take some time to regenerate perfectly when you are nothing but a brain. He blew up on Saturday afternoon, and it is currently Wednesday evening. He needs time.

Yakutsu Zaishiro: Touma is a much higher level.

wildarms13: Mugino will kidnap him, lock him in her apartment and no one will ever know. It actually didn't take as much work as I thought with Misaki. The story kind of flowed out after I did a little research into Arthur and Lancelot legends.

akd48: I am glad to have proven you wrong. Misaki is strong, but she has to fight differently.

Salishious: That video is going to cause so many problems, but accelerate a certain harem plan for someone. There's so much slice of life stuff I want to get too, but this boring plot is getting in the way. Once fights finish next chapter and then several devoted to Australia, we move to the fun stuff. The final battle you speak of will be the fight to end all fights.

Tardis42: This is why we don't let Lessar gain XP.

5 year old Sal: What if both sides win?

FrodoFighter: You commented before the next chapter? Dang, I'm going to slow. Time to pick up the pace. Misaki has to word things differently for Lancelot. Knights and king relationship is kind of weird, especially when it crosses with friendship. Pervert, imagining Misaki's sexy outfit. She needs to take a selfie before.

Generation Zero: Misaki and Shizuri's awakened states seemed to have gone over well with everyone. Mikoto will be in this chapter. She sat out of the chapters for far too long. Oh Aleister, he knows what is happening.

Disclaimer: Random people do not own Toaru Majutsu no Index or any of the characters. Reading this story may cause you to burst out in laughter or start yelling at fictional characters. This may cause nearby people to assume you have gone crazy. Please read responsibly. Magic Gods own all so they can do what they want.

---

The dark clouds above Academy City rumbled ominously. Lightning bounced across the sky and the roar of thunder echoed over the city. The rain was mere moments away and many people were planning to avoid the severe storms by staying indoors. A large lightning bolt flew down from the sky, much larger than normal, and struck somewhere in the heart of the city. An advisory warning went out for citizens to avoid going out if possible because of the unnaturally powerful lightning. A strong storm had been predicted, but there was another source of electricity powering it. The source was wielding the lightning as effortlessly as breathing. One girl witnessed it first hand, before she was struck.

Juliet disappeared in a bolt of lightning from the sky.

Mikoto turned away from the scene without seeing what happened to Juliet. Her eyes slowly moved to Kuroko and the two Sisters. She didn't say anything, but she grabbed her head with one of her hands. The ribbon wrapped around her unnaturally as she moved, like they weren't affected about gravity. Destroy. Remove. Vengeance. Dark thoughts kept bouncing around her head and Mikoto could not concentrate. The hatred for Juliet overshadowed all rational thought. She wanted Juliet to die. She wanted to squeeze the life out of her….to watch her suffer. Mikoto was not satisfied with instantly vaporizing Juliet. Her hatred would not be sated that easily. Juliet attacked her friends, her way of life, her very reason for existing. Eve! Mikoto's thoughts turned to her. This power I obtained could kill her. I could wipe her off the face of this world. No one would have to suffer anymore. Her thoughts were clear, but they were only moving down a dark path. She felt something disturb the air and she turned.

Scraps of shadow begun to merge together and form a single body. As Mikoto watched, the form began to grow larger and more humanoid in shape. Eventually, it formed the shape of a young girl and then the color and texture returned. Juliet was standing there and she held her left arm with her right hand against her body. Her jeans were burnt, revealing her tanned legs, and some of her shirt over her right shoulder was gone. Part of her blue underwear was peeking out. She was panting heavily, but regained her composure. Besides her clothes, she had no signs of damage. Her eyes darted toward Mikoto, who was standing there unmoving, then to Kuroko, and finally the Sisters. Juliet knew why Kuroko was still unconscious and she was glad to see the Sisters were also unconscious. It was not like she needed anymore interruptions. Eve may have wanted Juliet to kill Mikoto, but now that task seemed quite difficult.

Part of my body is numb, Juliet thought. She could still feel pain, but lasting damage was hard to do to her, as she no longer had a body. She was a memory given physical substance. Telesma was one of the few things that could seriously damage her. Mikoto was giving off something similar, but its foundation was vastly different. What worried Juliet was something told her this was only the beginning. A greater force was flowing out as the dam begun to break. This should be good enough for Eve. My magic isn't suited for this kind of direct combat, but my new form is quite formidable. She transformed back into pure darkness and moved around the unconscious forms of the Sisters. Juliet had never planned to kill the Sisters. They were only to antagonize Mikoto. To say Juliet was a good person would have been overstating, as it was mostly because Jason would be upset if she killed someone. However, sluts and harlots were exceptions to the rule.

Why isn't she moving? Juliet thought as she continued to shift around Mikoto. I knew she wouldn't attack me while I'm next to them, but she's not even trying to distance herself from me. Is she that confident in her new power? Juliet now expected lightning strikes from the sky, so she should be able to dodge them. The shadow on her sides stretched out and curved slightly, like the ends of scythes, and became razor sharp. Time for her to die. She lunged forward, covered the twenty meter distance between them in a second, and swiped the blades at Mikoto's neck.

The blade disappeared.

All Mikoto did was raise one of her ribbons and flicked it.

"What is this?" Juliet gasped as the middle of her body disappeared too. She was made of pure shadow, but still roughly in the form of a human with her arms in the form of scythes. Now, only her shoulders up and legs remained.

"Be gone," Mikoto told Juliet and a bolt of black electricity engulfed her. Juliet's remains were blown backwards, easily a hundred meters, and reform in the middle of the street.

"Those ribbons are pure energy," Juliet muttered. "But why do they hurt so much?" She stood back up and her eyes widened. Mikoto was walking toward her, but her form, her very essence, was mutating.

The pair of horns that had appeared on her head began to merge and harden. They formed an onion-dome shaped structure on her head and at the widest part sat something that looked like an eye. Something revolved around the tapering structure and at the top sat a sphere, like a miniature Saturn. As for the rest of Mikoto's body, the ribbons she created had begun to fuse with her body itself. Her hands and feet were tapered as well and were connected with the ribbons, which made them have a diamond shape outline instead of fingers at the end. The ribbons covered Mikoto in a bright blue glow as they spread over her entire body. She raised a hand and Juliet braced herself.

Another column of lightning struck Juliet. This one was so compressed, when the light faded only a large circle appeared on the ground. There wasn't even any dust, as the dirt was vaporized instantly. Juliet's form had become a twisted mess of shadow, but it begun to correct itself. Juliet's head and torso reformed and she shook her head. The electricity was still coursing through her shadow body, like it had merged with it. It hurts, Juliet thought, as her body prickled like hundreds of needles were being shoved into her. A movement in the air caught her eye and she saw hundreds of items swirling around in the air like a vortex. Mikoto had picked up every magnetic item within eyesight. "Great," she muttered. She retreated into a ball as she was crushed by the mass of metal. She slipped out between the cracks like a liquid and reformed.

What she saw next almost made her wet herself.

Mikoto had transformed again in the time it took Juliet to escape her metal prison.

Her hair was swept back, and a complex halo appeared over her head. It was a circle with four points in each direction. Floating vertically in the center of the halo was something rectangular shaped, but tapered at both ends, with the bottom part being shorter. All of her clothes had disappeared and the surface of her skin was covered in smooth, bright, blueish white energy. The top of her head down to the area around her collar bone was colored black and dotted by something resembling stars. It was as if it had become outer space or the night sky. The remains of her human hands and feet disappeared. Her hands became claw-like with ribbon like protrusions, while her legs turned even more abstract-looking, connecting through the ribbons.

That void, Juliet realized, as she gazed at Mikoto's head. It's like the between space Eve set up for us to use. That wasn't what scared Juliet though. Plenty of magicians could create pocket spaces.

What scared Juliet was the giant black sphere of compressed power hovering above Mikoto. It was easily thirty meters in diameter and the surface was swirling around constantly. Mikoto had her right hand up over her head and the mass of energy was floating a few inches above it. This sphere wasn't just compressed electricity. Juliet could feel the warped Telesma-like substance radiating from it. Her body froze and she begun to sweat. This isn't possible. Science can't do this. It's only been a few years since I left the city. How is this kind of advancement possible!? She took a step back and Mikoto spoke again.

"You will disappear here," Mikoto told Juliet. Her voice wasn't normal either. It echoed and vibrated, but sounded higher and fuller at the same time. The black sphere seemed to reverberate and moved slightly. The wall of a nearby building began to vaporize by merely being in its presence. Rocks and rubble started to float, before being dragged into the black abyss. "Then Eve and the rest of her group are next."

"Are you insane?!" Juliet yelled back at her. It was kind of ironic in a way. She didn't want to die and a mass of power that great would probably wipe the city off the map. With how it radiated something similar to the power from the Domain of God, she wasn't sure if she could survive. "Even if you somehow can kill me with that, are you going to kill everyone else in this city too?! I thought you wanted to protect your friends, or did you just want to do the deed yourself?!" If she was going to die, it would be in the arms of only one person. Her words struck gold when the thing Mikoto had become flinched.

What am I doing?

A small voice welled up in the back of Mikoto's mind. She wasn't even sure when her consciousness faded away. The hatred had overwhelmed her, but it did it in a gentle way, like pulling a blanket over her mind. It just happened and she hadn't been able to stop it. Juliet's words managed to reach the core of Mikoto that still had a small bit of light and humanity left. She blinked and everything around her began to grow clearer. It was like she was stepping out of a daze and the fog in her mind began to dissipate. She saw Juliet standing down the street from her and anger begun to well up again. Juliet tried to kill Kuroko. Juliet tried to kill the Sisters. Juliet tried to kill her friends. Her fingers on the hand holding the sphere flexed and she almost tossed it. It was only the voice in the back of her mind that kept her from doing the unthinkable.

This is wrong. Don't do it.

The voice started to grow stronger and the haze lifted again. This time, Mikoto was able to see Juliet and not lose her mind. As she regained her senses, Mikoto flinched again. Not from Juliet's words, but from the pain all over her body. This was unusual for her. It was like she was constantly shocking herself. The pain actually made it slightly easier for her to stay conscious, assuming it didn't increase. Her body felt weird once she got past the pain. It was so light, like she didn't weigh anything. She tried to move her left hand and found it excruciatingly difficult. Her eyes widened when she saw the blueish white energy surrounding it along with the shape.

What's happening to me? My arm isn't human anymore! Mikoto looked up and she mentally gasped. The huge concentrated mass of raw energy was still above her, and only her right hand was keeping it up. She instantly realized how much destruction that blast would cause if it was released. Everyone in the city would die. I can't let this happen, but this energy... It can't be mine. It's like physically manifested hatred and despair. It's just like that one time. I can't control it. The pain in her right arm was increasing. If she didn't do something with the energy soon, it would likely consume her.

"You stopped," Mikoto heard Juliet say. "Did you regain consciousness?" Juliet's voice felt so far away. Rain was falling, but Mikoto never realized it had started.

"Yes," Mikoto answered simply. It was hard to talk and she couldn't even feel her mouth move.

"It looks like you have a choice," Juliet laughed, but the laugh sounded fake. "If you strike me with that attack, you might be able to kill me but, at what cost? This city will disappear. Actually, I wouldn't mind that. As long as I can save one person, go ahead and blow this hellhole up."

"No," Mikoto answered. A ripple went through the dark mass above her when her anger and fear passed through her mind.

"Then you can't win and you die," Juliet responded with a shrug. "That works for me too." She shook her head and her eyes narrowed. "Which is it?" She suddenly grinned maliciously. "If you die, there will be no one to stop me from killing that slut behind you." Juliet regretted her words instantly. Bolts of black electricity shot all over the place and one of them hit her. Her body grew numb as a sharp pain ran through it. She tried to transform back into her shadow form, but she discovered something. I can't feel my mana. She shocked my system that badly?! She was more vulnerable when solid, but she still couldn't die like a normal person. She wasn't actually alive. Still, this was a new concept for her. She froze and felt a feeling she hadn't expected to feel when she was told to face Mikoto.

Fear.

Mikoto was walking toward her slowly, with the black sphere of dark energy moving with her. The sides of buildings were vaporizing as it past them. Juliet's words had shattered Mikoto's last threads of sanity. Mikoto's weakened mind had snapped. Everything grew red in front of her and all she could think about was the evil vile girl standing in front of her. She hated Juliet with every fiber of her being. Dark thoughts swirled in her mind and it was like they were reflected in the mass of power above her. The dark sphere seemed to absorb light and heat, while radiating hated and pain. Mikoto didn't like to think about killing people, it was something she never wanted to do but, this time, her route was painfully clear.

She was going to kill Juliet.

Mikoto was going to remove the evil creature before her from the world. Juliet was not human. She took pleasure in killing, torturing, and mocking her opponents. After Juliet was gone, Mikoto was going to take care of everyone who harmed her and her friends. Eve, Cain, and Adam were her targets. In fact, she wasn't going to stop there. She would move on to everyone who had wronged her. She would start by purifying the city. All the people who treated children like toys and experimental fodder would be next. Then she would go after the gangs that terrorized normal students. Mikoto even thought she might have to destroy the entire city to make sure the darkness did not escape. Carissa would be next, the woman who nearly killed her friends and took Touma away.

He wouldn't want this.

At the thought of Touma, a tiny bit of light broke through the dark void of her thoughts. It was small, but incredibly powerful. The hated and anger was swept aside as Mikoto recalled the reasons why she fought so hard. The reasons why she wanted strength now stood out in her mind. Mikoto saw the faces of everyone she wanted to protect. Touma was predominantly in front, but she also saw the faces of Kuroko, Kazari, and Ruiko. It didn't stop there and she saw more people. Last Order, her sisters, Worst, Mitsuko, and even Misaki and Accelerator. Then she kept seeing more and more faces, each one giving her a tiny bit of strength. The people from the magic side, her classmates, and all the people trying to live in Academy City were visible.

They formed an anchor for her with Touma as the base.

It was because of them, she could keep her humanity.

I fight to protect, not kill.

She had begun to understand what she was doing and she stopped. Her eyes fell upon Juliet and now Mikoto could truly see. The fear and shock on Juliet's face told Mikoto what she had become. She was becoming the very person she despised. The kind of being Touma would always fight against. No matter the reason, she shouldn't go after someone's life. She felt something on her face and she realized she was crying underneath the energy around her. It couldn't be seen if it was water or some kind of energy residue. Mikoto turned her awareness to the power above her. When she regained control, the power turned unstable.

I can't control it, she thought. The power is going to destroy everything around us. Mikoto made up her mind in that instant. She knew what she had to do. "Juliet!" she yelled. "Get out of here and don't come back. I can't regain control. You said you wanted to kill me, but I'm not going to give you the chance. All I can do is try to focus the energy up and away from the city to minimize the damage, but it's probably going to destroy me in the process!"

"Huh?" Juliet asked and stumbled to her feet. She could hear the change in Mikoto's voice, even if she couldn't see her face. "Are you serious? You aren't going to try to kill me?"

"NO!" Mikoto snapped as the strain of keeping the power from falling begun to weigh down on her. "He would never want that. I don't want it either. I know Kagere-san wouldn't want us to become murderers. If you leave after I'm done, neither of us have to kill."

"Who are you?" Juliet whispered. "Why would you do this?"

"My name is Mikoto Misaka!" Mikoto called out to her. Her voice radiated strength. "And I would do anything to protect my friends!"

Juliet transformed into a shadow and flew backwards, away from Mikoto. The air itself was getting heavy and breathing was almost impossible, as the electricity in the air started to destroy the oxygen. Explosions were going off all around Mikoto. Mikoto looked up one last time at the darkness she no longer felt. Her mind was finally truly clear. She accepted her fate. It was her fault this happened and only she could make it right. There was no one around to save her this time, and she wasn't praying for a miracle. Mikoto wasn't afraid, she felt oddly calm. The power did not frighten her any longer. She smiled underneath the star void that covered her head.

Please forgive me, everyone.

As Juliet watched, the giant sphere of power began to compress itself. All the excess power was being drawn to its core. Mikoto raised both of her hands into the air. The pain in her arms grew. Her mind felt like it was splitting apart. Mikoto was being struck by two different electrical forces. One was crushing her body and Mikoto needed to concentrate to keep her body from being disintegrated. The second force was threatening to split her mind. This force was more subtle and needed a delicate touch, or Mikoto risked destroying her brain and losing control. She had to do two completely different types of calculations simultaneously. This was far more advanced than anything she had done before, but a single mistake meant she would fail at her mission.

Goodbye.

The black orb shrunk to about five meters and began to warp in weird directions.

Mikoto took a deep breath of the little air left, and pushed up against the sphere.

A column of black electricity engulfed her and blasted upwards, high into the sky, before it disappeared beyond the clouds. A single hole appeared in the dark covering before the wind closed it. The rain never let up.

"What the-…!?" Juliet gasped and she trailed off. The column of compressed black lightning had disappeared as fast as it had appeared. Juliet approached the five meter wide hole in the ground and looked down. She couldn't see the bottom and shook her head. The energy had disintegrated everything within it. It was only thanks to Mikoto containing the energy and forcing the vast majority of it away from the earth, the city survived. "Really?" Juliet muttered. "She is… was so stupid. That power though, it probably reached deep into space."

Mikoto had made the ultimate sacrifice.

---

Accelerator and Cain stood no more than ten meters away from each other. The ominous storm clouds above them rumbled and lightning lit up the sky, but it paled before the storm brewing between the two beings that existed beyond the world. Accelerator's white wings glowed like a bastion of hope while Cain's blood wings filled the world with fear. They traveled similar paths, but the point they ended up at was miles apart. Accelerator willingly flexed his fingers, but the wings on his back moved only by thought. He saw Cain's fingers flex too and Accelerator prepared himself. He was angry still, but it wasn't overpowering anymore. He had to kill Cain or Cain would continue to hunt him and the others close to him. Only he had the power to accomplish this task.

Cain suddenly moved.

Cain instantly covered the distance between them and delivered a jab with his fingers in a point directly towards Accelerator's neck. This attack was at speeds normal people could never hope to match, but there was more to it. There was enough mana focused at the point to destroy the entire area. Even a saint like Kaori Kanzaki wouldn't be able to block such an attack. Cain was going for a surefire kill. The form Accelerator took rattled Cain to his core in shock, but also in anger. Accelerator was trying to imitate the power of God by becoming an angel. The form was mocking Cain and he would not let it slide. There was no more playing around. This fight was going to end.

The explosion from the impact destroyed the ground around them and sent out a blast of wind.

"How!?" Cain gasped.

"Pathetic," Accelerator replied. The tip of one of his white wings had intercepted Cain's attack. The blow was stopped inches away from Accelerator's neck. Even though Cain had compressed an enormous amount of mana into a single point, the white feathers had barely moved. Accelerator's mind was completely clear and he could perform all the calculations needed to divert the mana vectors Cain used. His new unknown power did the rest. The black wings were powerful, but they clouded his mind and judgement. Now, he had the power and the knowledge on how to use it. "This is an attack." The other wing twitched.

Cain never saw the blow connect.

"What happened?" he muttered and rubbed his jaw, as he found himself easily a thousand meters in the air. His wings expanded and he stopped unnaturally in midair. His wings were not flapping, so it was more like he was standing high above the city. A second later, Accelerator appeared in front of him. The feathery wings were rustling lightly in the breeze, but they too did not move in a way to sustain flight. Gravity did not seem to want to get involved with those two. This situation was completely unknown to Cain. He had an infinite well of mana at his disposal, but he was now being completely overpowered. Accelerator's science side Telesma was a level above his mana. Cain knew this kind of power could not be maintained indefinitely, but he had no idea how long it would be before it dried up. "So is this how far science has progressed?"

"This is how far I progressed," Accelerator corrected him. "You pushed me to this, so don't you start whining like a bitch when I kill you."

"I still don't believe you can," Cain told him, as he swiped his arm in front of him to create a blade of pure mana.

"Let's test that theory out," Accelerator muttered, as he swiped one of his white wings in return. He cut through the mana blade, but he kept going. The force blew one of Cain's arms off and left a deep gash in his chest. Blood rained down from the open wound. Accelerator didn't stop there and moved forward. All the anger and powerlessness he had felt when Cain attacked Last Order, Bayloupe, Worst, and Estelle was infused behind his next blow. Accelerator's fist flew forward and made direct contact with Cain's face. This blow actually didn't have power from Accelerator's ability or the new power behind it. He only used the vector manipulation to push Cain's magic reinforcement aside. It was a blow designed to transmit Accelerator's frustration.

Cain under stood this.

And it made him angrier.

"Do you think you are better than me?!" Cain roared and swung his other fist. The arm Accelerator tore off had almost completely reformed from Cain's blood.

"Yes," Accelerator responded and flicked his wing again to tear apart Cain's other arm.

"That's going to be the death of you," Cain said and, to Accelerator's surprise, he gave a small smile.

"Oh?" Accelerator snorted. "I would love to hear an explanation for that."

"When you look down on the wrong person," Cain informed him and his eyes flashed dangerously. "You may regret it." The blood from Cain's arm exploded into the shape of a three pronged talon and swiped at Accelerator. Accelerator blocked it with his wing and shattered it by causing the vectors to move in different directions.

"Hate to disappoint you," Accelerator replied with a smirk. "I already did that but," he shrugged. "It all worked out in the end thanks to that idiotic hero." His amusement faded. "But that has nothing to do with our fight. Your sin for attacking those important to me is death."

"A true sin can't be washed away, even in death."

Accelerator moved before he even realized it. A warning bell went off in his head that told him he needed to act. Cain's voice had become lower and sinister. A chill ran down his spine, even with the new power he possessed. He spun around in midair and brought the full force of his wings down upon Cain. Cain's could only raise his hands, they both had regenerated, but the force sent him flying downwards. Before Cain could traverse the distance to the earth, a giant hand made of dirt rose up to catch him. The force of his momentum blew up the hand, but the soft dirt cushioned his fall. A cloud of dust rose and Accelerator lost sight of him. Accelerator frowned and began to descend. He wasn't sure what caused that feeling, but he was mentally berating himself for overreacting. Then he saw his wings.

His pure white wings had partially turned black on the bottom, about the size of a hand.

What did he do? Accelerator thought, unable to explain the situation. A flicker of hatred ran through his mind. No, not again. He concentrated and the hatred disappeared, but the black coloring did not vanish from his wings. It was as if being in contact with Cain's anger had somehow caused them to revert back to the manifestation of madness. With his mind clear, Accelerator continued to descend and sent a gust of wind at the dust to clear the field. "Explain this, you bastard!" Accelerator roared when Cain became visible.

"I only showed you who you truly are," Cain replied and a shiver went through Accelerator's spine again. Cain's voice was still cold and sinister. He was grinning, but it was dark grin that made him look slightly insane. His eyes had grown pure black and the blood all over his body only added to the maddening appearance. "Murderers can always recognize each other."

"Fuck that and die!" Accelerator yelled and charged downwards.

"My thoughts exactly!" Cain replied and flew upwards.

He changed. The thought passed through Accelerator's mind as Cain suddenly moved right in front of him. Being this close, the crazed look in his eyes was magnified. His face was a combination of rage and joy, hatred and excitement, calmness and insanity. Cain raised his arms wide and brought them forward like claws. The blood on his hands seemed to sharpen. Accelerator blocked them with his wings and he felt the hatred within him start to bubble up again. He forced the feeling down and continued to swing his wings. Cain was blown back in the air and sprayed blood everywhere, but nothing was fazing him. Cain just charged back and continued to attack like a wild beast and, one time, even bit at Accelerator's arm. He's a fucking maniac. Accelerator raised his hand and combined his vector manipulation and the unknown power he discovered.

A blast of overwhelming force hit the beast Cain in the chest. Cain was thrown backwards through the air, but stopped about twenty meters away.

"Damn it," Accelerator muttered and grabbed his head. The strain of using the unnatural power and his ability together, while trying to suppress the rage that was again trying to consume his thoughts, was threatening to overload his mind. His pure white wings were now splattered with black, as if someone had been throwing pain over them. "What the hell did he do?!"

"I... simplay… unleack… your… sins… kak," Cain replied as his body straighten up in midair. The hole in his chest was closing, but his words were hard to hear as he was choking on blood. His words grew clearer as he healed. "The church teaches I brought evil into the world with murder. I use that belief against them. I can draw out the darkness in anyone."

"Tsk," Accelerator spat. "This guy won't die like Pride."

"Did you think your sins would wash away if you did good?" Cain laughed. His voice had lost all trace of any elegance and was now full of madness and maniacal laughter. "All you are trying to do is make up for your past mistakes. They can never be undone, even if others forgive you. I know from experience. God never forgave me. He kept this accursed mark on my face." His right hand dug into the side of his face over his mark and a trickle of blood flowed out. "Now we are so close to finally getting revenge." He sighed. "And then I can finally rest and get rid of this insatiable hunger." His eyes flashed. "Ah, I'm so hungry."

"Keep your pathetic urges to yourself," Accelerator snapped.

"I want to eat!" Cain yelled. "Lady Eve, why do you starve me so?!" His eyes were like a beast. They lost their humanity and stared at Accelerator with pure hunger. Cain licked his lips. "I guess you will have to do."

"My blood would kill you from the inside," Accelerator scoffed. "It's far too potent for trash like you." Cain didn't seem to hear him and charged forward, with his hands outstretched. Accelerator brought his wing down like a blade and crushed Cain right before he reached him. Cain succumbed under the force and flew down in a spiral. He hit the ground with a boom and sent up a cloud of dust as the earth collapsed under him. "Did you lose your sanity just being in my presence?"

"So hungry!" the voice of Cain called out through the dust. The dust settled and he stood up. He moved his hand to his neck and a loud pop echoed around him. "Why do people always try to starve me? If someone would just let me feed, so many people could go free." Cain seemed to be ignoring Accelerator, but then he looked up. "If you won't let me feed, I'll find someone else."

"What garbage are you spewing?" Accelerator spat out with a frown, but he had a sinking feeling he knew what Cain was referring to.

"So much food," Cain answered and spread out his arms toward the city. "All around us. I'm going to put a hold on our fight while I feed. This city shall be turned into a sea of blood! So much cattle, ripe for the taking." He licked his lips again. "Maybe I should make a few more vampires to join me in this feast. After all, the only other one still alive hates me." He grinned. "You are all just food to me." He seemed to be unable to focus on only one thing besides eating.

"You bastard!" Accelerator yelled and charged. "I'll crush you before you find anyone!"

"Your blood will be my dessert," Cain laughed and sank into the ground.

"FUCKER!" Accelerator roared as he punched the ground a second after Cain disappeared. The ground exploded and huge sections of earth flew up into the air, but Cain was nowhere to be seen. The earth seemed to fall in slow motion as Accelerator desperately searched around to find him. Fuck, I can't see him. Accelerator had no way of tracking people, and he knew it. Cain was now loose in the earth under Academy City and was no longer being confined to an area without people. The thought of what would happen if Cain ran into Aiho, Kikyou, or even one of his classmates caused his pale face to grow, if possible, even paler. What do I do? He wasn't used to asking people for help.

At least, the old him wasn't.

Accelerator turned around, spread his wings, and flew almost instantly back to where Bayloupe and Last Order were waiting. "I need your help," he told Bayloupe before either of the girls could say anything. Bayloupe nodded. She could hear the urgency in his voice, but she also noticed the black marks all over his white wings, like they had been bruised. Last Order was unusually quiet, because even she knew this was not the time to interrupt. "Cain has disappeared under the city. I have no way of finding him and he's going to try to feed on anyone he can find to regain his strength. Do you have a way to track him?"

"Oh god!" Bayloupe gasped. "If he goes on a rampage, countless people are going to die."

"My thoughts exactly," Accelerator muttered angrily. "So can you track him?"

"I think I can," Bayloupe said slowly, like she was debating with herself. "There is one type of tracking magic I know that can only be used during an emergency. This should qualify." She started drawing a circle in the ground with one hand and reached into her pocket to pull out a piece of paper. She handed the paper to Accelerator. "This will let me stay in contact with you telepathically while I track his location."

"Your skills are impressive," Accelerator muttered and Bayloupe grinned slightly, but he couldn't see it.

"This magic is based off the Wild Hunt in Norse mythology," Bayloupe explained while she completed the design. "Odin was not only chief god, but also god of the hunt. He led the Wild Hunt. People used to believe seeing the Wild Hunt was a sign of a great catastrophe. Seems like this time it will be true." She started muttering in another language Accelerator didn't recognize and the circle started to glow. Instead of dirt, the ground in the circle seemed to turn into glass. Accelerator's eyes widened as a street appeared in Academy City. The road turned transparent and something red was moving under the ground. "Got him!" Bayloupe told him triumphantly. "His unrestrained mana is giving away his location like a beacon."

"I'm off then," Accelerator said, as he lifted up into the air. "I'm relying on you."

"Good luck MISAKA wishes you." A faint smile appeared on Accelerator's lips as he instantly disappeared off into the distance.

---

It started the rain.

The rain was light at first, but quickly became a torrential downpour. Most of the residents in Academy City were nestled away safely in their homes, but some people were still out. Anti-Skill members on patrol, businessman leaving after a late day at work, students who didn't want to go back to their dorms, and the occasional drunk were off doing their own things. Not everyone took severe thunderstorms as seriously as they should. One man was staggering along the sidewalk until he was forced to take shelter under a small bus stop. It was only a bench surrounded by glass on three sides, but it protected the man from the elements.

"Blah," he groaned. "First I lose my job and now this weather prevents me from enjoying my alcohol in peace." He drank from a bottle hidden by a brown bag. Public drinking was illegal in Academy City, but the man didn't care anymore. "Maybe I should just end it all. It's not like I have family or anyone waiting for me."

"Then I might have a solution that benefits both of us."

"What the-…?!" the man turned around and saw another man. The newcomer was soaking wet and was wearing the shredded remains of what previously was some kind of hoody. "You nearly gave me a heart attack. Announce yourself earlier when sneaking up on someone in the middle of a storm." The newcomer didn't say anything and the man thought his eyes looked kind of red. "You want some booze?" he asked and held out the bag. "I don't have anything else on me."

"I'm pretty thirty," the second man admitted. "But I'm also starving."

"Join the club," the first man replied. "I barely have money for food." He looked up at the second man and frowned. "There's something wrong with your teeth, or I'm imagining things. This booze is pretty potent stuff."

"No, you aren't imagining things."

"Huh?" A quick movement was all it took, as the second man moved at the first man's neck. "AHHHHHH!?"

---

He's right up ahead and to the left, Bayloupe informed Accelerator.

Moving in now, Accelerator replied and flew down to the ground. I'm too late. A man was lying on the ground, a broken bottle of alcohol next to him. The man's skin was dry and stretched tightly over his skin. He looked very similar to a mummy and there was a tiny bit of blood on the ground around his neck. He got one victim already. The sight of the body might have made a normal person retch, but Accelerator was far too use to death to be remotely effected by it.

The more he consumes, Bayloupe said. The stronger he is going to get. He's moving east.

On it. Accelerator spread his wings and took off. The heavy rain didn't affect him at all, as it just parted around him. He flew around thirty meters off the ground and was looking every direction for signs of Cain. Bayloupe had just begun to give him more directions, when he heard something that made her directions unnecessary.

"AHHHHH!"

Accelerator flew off at breakneck speed in the direction of the woman's scream. He rounded a corner and stopped. He had been a second too late. Two more victims were lying on the ground, one male and one female. He's too fast. I won't be able to catch him like this.

Keep moving. He's only a couple blocks away. You need to catch him. You are the only one who stands a chance.

I know. Accelerator flew off as Bayloupe guided him. Suddenly, something caught his eye. It was a large black column of electricity that flew high into the sky and then disappeared in an instant. It happened so fast, Accelerator actually thought he imagined it. He shook his head. He didn't have time to go after weird optical illusions. He had to hunt down a vampire.

---

I feel better.

Cain had just devoured the blood of three people and his strength had returned. The endless hunger was gone and he was feeling like his old self. As a hunter, his magic allowed him to detect living things nearby, which made finding prey easy. He was aware of Accelerator following him, and that confused him for a moment. He shouldn't be able to track me. For him to do so would mean the magician girl is helping him. There's still a delay in how fast he can follow me, so I have plenty of time to hunt. I think the next person I come across I'll turn into a vampire. That should slow him down and then I can continue to turn this city into a sea of blood. He detected a lone individual coming out of a building and he rose from the earth behind them.

"Huh?" The person turned around at the sound of the parting earth and she gasped. The girl wasn't special in any way. She had long, straight, black hair and somewhat dull black eyes. She was even wearing a normal high school uniform and carrying a plain blue umbrella. "Who are you?"

"It doesn't matter," Cain told her. "Just accept your fate." He opened his mouth and revealed his fangs.

"A vampire?" the girl gasped.

That actually surprised Cain enough to stop him for a moment. Normal people would call him a monster, let alone those who lived in Academy City where they didn't believe in myths. For the girl to instantly call him a vampire meant she was involved with them in some way or, at the very least, the magic side. "Who are you?" he hissed, but the girl never got a chance to answer. Suddenly, the mass of power behind him moved around a corner of a building. Accelerator was roughly ten meters off the ground and was staring at Cain.

"Caught you, bastard!" Accelerator yelled. "I'm going to kill you right now!"

"Accelerator?" the girl whispered confused.

"Hah," Cain laughed and grabbed the girl by the shoulder. She dropped the umbrella and started to get drenched by the rain. He looked over his shoulder at Accelerator. "I'm back to my full power and I know you are beginning to weaken." Cain could feel the mass of false Telesma slowly decreasing. "You can't defeat me anymore."

"I will rip you apart as many times as it takes," Accelerator told him. "Even if I have to throw you into the sun, I will kill you."

"Then maybe I should increase my army," Cain told him, while the girl struggled in his grip. "This girl will make a great new vampire under my command." He moved aside and Accelerator's mouth fell open.

"Ghost girl?!" he asked in shock. He couldn't remember Aisa's name and the hint of a scowl appeared on her face. Aisa wasn't a person with a strong presence, so Accelerator mostly ignored her. Even if he wasn't close to her, she was still a classmate. "Release her Cain, and I'll make your death painless."

"Cain?" Aisa mumbled and her eyes widened in recognition.

"That doesn't seem like the best option for me," Cain laughed and placed his arm around Aisa's shoulders and neck. She had given up struggling against his immovable strength. He opened his mouth and revealed his fangs. "How about you kill yourself and I let her go?"

"You have got to be fucking joking!"

"It's okay," Aisa reassured him. "I'll be fine."

"Shut up!" Accelerator snapped. "You have no idea who he is."

"If his name is Cain and he is a vampire," Aisa said. "Then he was the first and all vampires are his descendants."

"Oh?" Cain asked surprised. "I'm surprised a normal citizen of this city knows about me."

"What the-…?" Accelerator mumbled and trailed off. For Aisa to know about vampires, she had to be part of the science side, but he believed she was a normal student in his class. None of the other magicians in the city ever mentioned her. He doubted she was a magician, but then he realized something important. I think I remember four eyes saying the hero helped her out of some trouble. Shit. I bet she's been involved in magic before.

"It's okay Accelerator," Aisa told him again. Accelerator noticed her eyes began to droop and sadness began to get etched on her face. She reached up with her right hand and grabbed the silver cross on her neck. "This will be the end."

"It sure will," Cain laughed.

"Stop laughing you bastard!" Accelerator roared as Cain continued to laugh. Aisa continued to smile at Accelerator and pulled off the silver cross.

Instantly, Cain stopped laughing.

The street grew silent.

What is this? Accelerator thought. He didn't believe Cain would listen to his command. Cain seemed to lean in closer and sniff Aisa.

"Delicious," Cain whispered softly and then, without warning, sunk his teeth into Aisa's neck.

"No!" Accelerator yelled and charged forward. With his speed, it would only take a second to reach them, but Cain could kill just as fast. Before he reached the halfway point, something happened he could not explain. His eyes widened in surprise.

Cain exploded into a cloud of ashes.

Accelerator stopped in midair, his expression full of shock and bewilderment. He had no idea what happened. The cloud washed over him, but his vector manipulation pushed the ashes aside. He glanced at them as they passed. They look like normal ashes from a fire. He landed softly on the ground and walked automatically toward Aisa. Somehow, Cain exploded, but that did not make any sense to Accelerator. Nothing should have caused it. He looked around the empty street for anyone or anything that could have done something, but nothing caught his eye. His eyes fell back onto Aisa when he saw her move, but she was only putting her necklace back on. Her uniform was covered in ashes and there was a small trickle of blood on her neck, but otherwise she looked fine. She noticed him watching her and she shook slightly.

"I did it again," she whispered softly and her eyes started watering. "They just want to live and I took another one's life away."

"What did you do?" Accelerator asked in confusion.

"My blood has the power to kill vampires," Aisa told him. "They can't resist it. This necklace," she gestured to the silver cross, "seals my power so they can't find me." Accelerator blinked and his mind took a moment to process this new information.

"BULLSHIT!" he roared out of nowhere and Aisa jumped. "What kind of fucked up power is that? No matter what I did, he could keep standing up and then you go and kill him instantly without even lifting a finger?" He pointed at her. "I'm not going to buy such a stupid reason!"

"It's true," Aisa protested, but Accelerator was having none of that.

"Damn it," Accelerator fumed and stomped his foot. The ground began to crack under his power. "I know the damn hero has something to do with this. Every fucking unexplainable thing in this damn city is because of him. I bet Cain's appearance was because of him too. When he gets back, I'm going to drag you and him somewhere and you are going to fucking tell me how something as stupid as your ability even exists!"

"That might not be too bad," Aisa muttered. "If what you say is true, are those wings because of him too?"

"Probably," Accelerator snapped at her.

"You kind of look like an angel," Aisa pointed out.

"You are going to tell no one about this."

ACCELERATOR! Bayloupe's voice boomed in his mind.

What!? He might have snapped at her harsher than he intended to.

You have been ignoring me, Bayloupe told him irritated. Did you take him out? I can't find Cain's presence anywhere.

He's dead.

You took care of him?!

Don't sound so shock. He's dead. Let's leave it at that.

If you are sure... Bayloupe's voice grew weak. You should get back here as soon as possible, we have another small problem.

What now? Accelerator asked exasperatedly, but Bayloupe didn't elaborate. Fine, I'm on my way back. He turned to Aisa. "I have somewhere else to be. You never saw me and I never saw you."

"Okay," Aisa agreed and looked down at the ground. Accelerator could tell she was still upset she killed a vampire and he sighed.

Fuck, Accelerator thought. Damn hero is rubbing off on me. "Listen," he told her. "Cain had just killed three people and was planning to kill or turn everyone in this city. He tried to kill several people close to me. You may be sad you took a life, but he wasn't a good person. He relished in causing pain and suffering to others. He also complained about being forced to live in a world that didn't want him. You actually might have been doing him a favor. He got off too easily." Accelerator mumbled the last sentence.

"Thank you," Aisa said surprised and then smiled. "You sound a lot like him." She didn't even bother trying to ask anything else about his wings. If Vampires could exist, something like the power of angels would most likely exist too.

"Don't remind me," Accelerator muttered and turned around. His wings flapped once and he was instantly high above the city. He flew off through the torrent of rain to the park and looked around. Bayloupe and Last Order had found shelter under a large tree. Accelerator flew down and walked toward them. His wings broke apart and disappeared. He could tell something was wrong by the look of concern on Bayloupe's face. "What was so important I had to race back here?"

"I found something out," Bayloupe said nervously. "But I think it will be easier to show you instead of telling you. Last Order," she turned to the little girl. "Go ahead and show him."

"Okay MISAKA agrees as MISAKA bounds forward excitedly to tell you the news. MISAKA is also glad you returned MISAKA adds quickly as MISAKA hugs you tightly."

"Yeah, yeah," Accelerator muttered and patted her on the head as she embraced him. "Tell me what happened already." he told her.

"See for yourself MISAKA says as MISAKA opens her mouth." Last Order pulled her mouth open with her hands to reveal her teeth. "Ahhhhh." Accelerator's heart stopped for a moment.

Last Order was sporting a shiny pair of fangs.

"It can't be," Accelerator muttered slowly and turned to Bayloupe, who nodded reluctantly.

"Cain wasn't trying to kill her," she told him. "He was turning her into a vampire."

"So does that mean MISAKA is all powerful now MISAKA asks? Can MISAKA finally get revenge on the evil one?" Accelerator and Bayloupe ignored her.

"What does this mean!?" Accelerator asked impatiently. "Is she going to need blood!? Will she be able to use magic!?"

"She can't use magic without learning to refine mana," Bayloupe reassured him. "As for blood, I don't know. She seems to have their regeneration though. The few scrapes and bruises she obtained are already gone." Bayloupe flinched and grabbed her side. "Wish I had that."

"MISAKA feels tired MISAKA says sleepily."

"You don't look that good," Accelerator told Bayloupe and then he too flinched. "Gah! Fuck, I took a lot of damage and I broke a rib. I realigned it, but I'm going to need to bandage myself up when I get back."

"I can heal that for you," Bayloupe offered.

"Later," Accelerator said. "We need to find Worst and Estelle."

"What about your other friends?" Bayloupe asked. "If Cain attacked us, the rest of Eve's forces are sure to be attacking them."

"We are in no position to enter another fight," Accelerator mumbled. "We would only be a liability. They will have to fend for themselves." He felt a grin form on his lips. "Besides, they might not be in the same league as me, but if Eve is attacking the other level fives, her forces will be in for a big surprise. They won't go down without a fight." He remembered the flash of black electricity. I bet the third rate just nuked one of Eve's tools.

"You speak highly of them," Bayloupe said with a grin.

"Shut up," Accelerator snapped, but she chuckled. "We should get going."

"Carry MISAKA MISAKA begs as MISAKA is about to doze off."

"You can walk brat," Accelerator told her, but there was no anger behind his words. His body hurt too much to carry her and he would have to conserve his battery on his choker soon.

"I can carry her," Bayloupe offered.

"You sure?"

"I'm not that injured I can't carry a little girl," Bayloupe huffed and it was Accelerator's turn to smirk. She knelt down and Last Order wrapped her arms around Bayloupe's shoulders from behind and Bayloupe lifted her up. "So we find the other two first, and then where are we heading?"

"Back to my apartment," Accelerator explained. "It's better to be near each other while we are weakened in case there is a surprise attack."

"They are that way MISAKA mutters sleepily and points as MISAKA falls asleep." She pressed her head on Bayloupe's shoulders and soon began to snooze lightly. Bayloupe and Accelerator looked at each other and started walking through the rain to meet up with Worst and Estelle.

---

Eve didn't know who Noukan was, but she knew who he worked for. Aleister finally considers me a threat. He should have just come out himself. Now he is going to lose his watchdog. Heh, watchdog. The dog didn't scare her. It was the battle suit that surrounded him which was the threat. The countless weapons didn't seem to have a true base. They merely converged at Noukan's location. Eve didn't understand science completely, but even she could tell something was unusual with that suit. The parts were definitely science technology though. "Hey cutie," Eve told the hydra. "Can you go take care of him?" The hydra moved instantly at Eve's command and approached Noukan.

It began to rain, but no one took notice.

"A truly fascinating beast," Noukan commented passively. "It is not something one would expect to see in this day and age." The rocket boosters flared to life and Noukan shot high into the sky, as the hydra tried to bite him. He flew several stories above the hydra and begun to hover in the air. "Shame it lacks the capability of flight." A section of his weapons turned their sights downward and unleashed a volley of machine gun blasts and several air to ground missiles. The hydra roared in pain as the machine gun bullets tore into its faces, and then a couple of the heads disappeared in a fiery explosion as the missiles made contact. The smoke cleared and several heads were blown apart but, before Noukan's eyes, they began to reform. "Interesting. Does it regenerate through its own powers or through Eve's creation ability?"

"How could you pick on a newborn baby?!" Eve cried out. "He was born only a few minutes ago! Now he's going to grow up hating the world!" Then it occurred to her and she squatted down to look under the hydra. "Yep, it's a he. Anyways, it's totally cheating to attack a land-based creature from the sky!"

"Attacking an enemy from outside their attack range is a perfectly logical move," Noukan informed her. "Between like and dislike, I rather dislike it, but between good and bad, it would be the bad form of stupidity to not do so."

"Maybe we should even the odds," Eve suggested and her book fell open in her hand. "Let's see, what kind of treats would this doggy enjoy?" She grinned. "How about this?" Countless papers flew into the sky and each piece folded itself like origami into the shape of a bird. Once the shapes were finalized, they began to glow in a soft golden light and took on the appearance of living breathing birds. "Normally, dogs like to chase birds. How about we mix things up?" The birds took off at unnatural speeds, which caused them to leave small golden trails of light behind each one. They started circling around Noukan, but kept their distance.

Noukan immediately started to lock onto each individual bird. He couldn't be sure what they would do, so he was preparing for all eventualities. They could explode on contact, attack him with claws and beaks, or something else entirely. Eve tended to use unconventional strategies. The birds were moving too fast to hit with normal bullets and Noukan noted they could turn at ninety degree angles without slowing down. The boosters on his suit flared up and he moved to the left, while simultaneously firing off acid sprayers, flamethrowers, and liquid nitrogen emitters. He broke through the wall of birds surrounding him and the ones that were hit with acid and flames did not explode. A couple were frozen solid and fell down to the ground below. They shattered on impact but, again, there was no explosion. Noukan's movement did not go unanswered.

The rest of the birds attacked.

The birds didn't have to flap their wings to move. They kept their wings spread out and moved like they had their own rockets. Noukan led the birds into a high speed chase high above Academy City. The birds were acting like an intelligent swarm and kept trying to surround him. He had to continually take out several birds to keep from being boxed in, but their numbers were too great. This didn't bother Noukan as there was a method to his movements. Over ninety percent of the birds were directly behind him. He descended straight down and the flock of golden birds followed. If dogs could laugh, Noukan would have. He turned around and several of the large plasma cannons locked onto their targets. A blast of light erupted from the cannons and the majority of the birds disappeared. A few more swooped by him and seemed to be trying to regroup. One of the birds passed by one of his outer weaponry and he noticed a gash the size of one of their wings.

So they attack by making physical contact with their wings, Noukan analyzed. He made a slight change to his battle plan, and then he noticed another golden flock of birds rising from the city. She can make them indefinitely and only one needs to make a solid hit. Destroying them is pointless, so I should move to her. His rockets flared up and Noukan descended down in between the buildings. This is when he noticed the birds were flying above him, but were not trying to approach him. He maneuvered through the city until he was back on the street with Eve and the hydra, neither had moved. Noukan started spinning without warning before drawing near them. The swords on his armor moved to the front and sliced several nearly invisible wires. After they were cut, he landed onto the ground, fifty meters or so away from the hydra. "Did you truly believe a few tripwires would work?"

"They weren't trip wires," Eve scoffed. "They were a net. I was playing dogcatcher and it seemed appropriate." She laughed. "Did you enjoy my birds?"

"Those birds were designed to attack enemies at high altitudes," Noukan commented. "Most likely, you used them in order to keep me within striking distance of your beast."

"Bingo," Eve cheered and clapped her hands together. "I hate unfair fights, so I always like giving my opponents a chance. If I went all out, everything would be boring. I was kind of hoping those birds would prove a little more of a challenge for you, but I got to watch a really fascinating power suit. The birds weren't ordered to win though. I merely wanted to see if you could be neutered so you would be less aggressive."

"Such an action would be most uncomfortable." Noukan was not going to rise to Eve's taunts. Eve pretended everything was a game in order to frustrate her opponents and make them act rashly. If one did not rise to her taunts and acted calmly, she would lose one of her greatest weapons. It was very similar to the style of fighting one of his subordinates had. Eve's power was still formidable and Noukan understood this. Even if he did not fully understand magic, he had taken several steps into the world outside of science. Noukan continued to break apart her power into segments to analyze them in-depth. Now that he knew Eve's current plan, his next target was already identified.

The hydra roared and lumbered forward, the street cracking under its weight. Two of its heads circled around to each side of Noukan and opened their mouths. The teeth flashed and they moved forward. Noukan didn't even blink, but two of his rocket launchers had swiveled to target the threat. Rockets fired and were followed shortly by two explosions, but Noukan didn't stop there. A flamethrower unleashed a torrent of flames in one direction and liquid nitrogen was released in the other. The smoke from the explosions vanished and the hydra's heads were gone. One neck was scorched and the other was frozen. Unlike before, the heads did not seem to be able to regenerate.

"Oh no!" Eve squealed. "The dog has gone rabid!" She laughed. "I'm surprised you knew how to defeat a hydra."

"The legends of this beast are well known," Noukan answered. "You always leave a weakness in your creations that can be exploited." The hydra roared again and all the remaining mouths rained down upon Noukan. Lasers and grenades pelted the hydra from Noukan's arsenal in a furry of explosions and sinister hissing. In an instant, only the main head was left while the others had to pause and regenerate. The last head opened its jaws wide and one of the larger excavation drills begun to spin. Noukan brought it up and thrust it into the gaping maw of the hydra. The hydra's eyes opened wide for a moment, before its entire head was shredded by the force of the drill.

Noukan didn't stop there. The thrusters on his battle suit flared to life and Noukan powered forward. The large drill continued to tear apart the hydra as Noukan moved straight down its throat. Instead of blood and guts, the pieces of hydra flying in every direction resembled paper, even while the insides looked alive. The power behind Noukan's attack never weakened and he moved in a straight line down the entire length of the hydra. The hydra was effectively divided in half. Noukan stopped and landed back on the ground. The two halves behind him continued to break down into countless shreds of paper, before they dissolved into ashes and disappeared.

Noukan also briefly registered a strong electrical disturbance in the distance, as a black column rose high into the air, but it disappeared before he could get a reading on it.

"Why does everyone kill these poor children?!" Eve cried out. "Right in their prime of life! He never even found a girlfriend." She stopped when she noticed the large caliber railgun Noukan wielded swivel and aim directly at her. "I think I just became a cat person."

A loud boom was heard, as a bullet traveling several times the speed of sound was fired.

"I see," Noukan commented. "You can create much faster than you have previously revealed." The sound of metal tearing echoed along the silent street and a couple of his armaments fell to the ground with clanking sounds. Noukan never saw a returned shot, but the damage to his suit was the same as if he had been hit by his own railgun. He knew why though. A glowing golden circle was hovering in front of Eve, while an older man stood next to her. "So this is the power of ether. I started to examine it earlier before it was blown away."

"You won't be as lucky as he was," Eve told him, as the shield faded away. "I gave you a warning shot this time, but that was your only freebie. Now, I get serious." She raised her book up and paper begun to fly out of it again. The pages combined above her and took the form of a large bone, roughly five meters long. "Fetch boy!" she said as she threw it. The bone didn't look deadly, but Noukan would never allow appearances to deceive him. He knew there had to be something special with that bone. One of the swords on his suit was moved forward and it sliced the bone in half. There was no explosion, but something else happened.

A swarm of insects flooded out of the hollowed out bone and covered Noukan. They didn't seem to be going after Noukan though, but rather his suit. As he watched, several armaments on his suit were being consumed by the insects; swords, spears, electromagnetic wave emitters, none of them were safe. "A small tweak to termites does wonderful things," Eve laughed. "Once your suit is gone, you will be defenseless. I should make a coat out of you, but I think you'd look even prettier as a rug."

"An attack of this level is useless," Noukan sighed. Several flaps opened up all over his power suit and begun to release liquid nitrogen, acid, and flames, to freeze, dissolve, or burn the bugs off his suit. In seconds, they were all destroyed, and only a few attachments were unusable. Noukan released the useless weapons and they clanged loudly when they hit the ground. With the number of weapons still at his disposal, the loss of a few had no impact on his combat abilities.

"You can chew on my bone," Eve said, slightly frustrated. "This is a waste of time. Aleister should have just come out and talk."

"He is rather busy to meet every insignificant person who wishes to complain about something," Noukan replied mildly.

"I know he doesn't consider me insignificant," Eve scoffed. "We shared some pretty intimate moments around the campfire."

"By campfire do you mean the remains of your enemies' army?" Noukan asked to clarify.

"Aren't you the clever one?"

"If you want to meet him," Noukan continued. "You better throw everything you have at me." Eve smiled and flicked her hand. A piece of paper shot out of her sleeve and twisted in midair as it flew at him. It twisted into something white and cube-shaped. Noukan shot at it with one of his many guns and the white object exploded into several pieces. Noukan looked down at the white object and then looked up at Eve. "Did you just throw a sink at me?"

"A kitchen sink to be more precise," Eve corrected him. "You said I had to throw everything at you. It's okay though. This was the old model. We have a much nicer one in our lair now."

"It sounds like you are running out of tricks," Noukan commented.

"Or I could be wasting time," Eve refuted and then shrugged. "A lot is going on right now, so…" Her voice trailed off and she stared off into the distance. The air seemed to grow cold and Noukan saw, for the first time, pure shock on Eve's face. "How… how is this possible? Cain can't have been defeated. No human should have that kind of power."

"It sounds like your companions underestimated our people," Noukan said.

"Silence," Eve hissed and the air around them grew even colder. Noukan's arsenal automatically all locked onto Eve in response, but he didn't fire. If he fired, the ether controlling Herald next to her would reflect all the shots back at him. Noukan watched as Eve grabbed her head with both hands. "That's impossible. There's no way they could have taken him out. I know I planned for this possibility, but still." She straightened up and recovered her calm demeanor, but there wasn't any playfulness in her eyes. "No more playing around, I have to be serious." She nodded to the Herald next to her. The Herald raised his hands and the golden ether mist began to fill the air around them.

"Planning to suffocate me?" Noukan asked, as he lifted up into the air on his rockets. "Not a bad idea, but I have several counter measures for something of this level. I saw this move once already."

"Not this time," Eve said and her voice was calm, but still held a trace of anger. "Right now, I'm just setting up the stage for my next creation." She held up her book with both hands. "Without using Lord Lucifer's strength, a creation like this would normally be impossible." She smiled knowingly. "However, I can decrease the difficulty by creating a space where the rules are different. Ether is the substance gods' breathe and it occupies their domain. When ether fills up this area like this, the space becomes part of their world. Many beings were formed in this domain, the most notable were the angels of God." Paper began to fly out of her book and the golden mist begun to circle around her. "Come forth from the plane that holds the highest beings! The ones who govern over man!"

Noukan observed something few people would ever get to see.

The creation of an angel.

The form vaguely resembled a man, but three stories tall. It had pure white skin, with silver lines over its entire body. The skin did not look like it was made of flesh, but of a substance that was a cross between plastic and stone. The torso was bare and resembled statues of ancient muscular heroes without flaws. Its lower form had a white kilt like outfit. It covered down to about where the angel's knees should be. The angel's head was plain, with pure white eyes that had no pupils or irises. The skin fused seamlessly into waves on the angel's head, as if it had hair. Above its head there was a half circle, like a crescent moon, that orbited a nonexistent center. The most noticeable features were its wings. Angels were normally depicted as having pure white feathery wings, while fallen angels had their feathers turn pitch black. This angel's wings looked like crystal. They still had the shape of wings and were attached to the angel's back. These crystals were pale yellow but still transparent, as if the ether air had turned solid. The angel raised its hands in front of its face and flexed its fingers.

"Phew!" Eve gasped and rubbed the sweat from her forehead. "That was tough. I couldn't specify the details but, from the color of its wings, it must be associated with the element of air."

Noukan remained silent. For a creation to take that toll on Eve meant it would be in a league above the others. Noukan didn't believe in angels, but he did believe this creature was based on them. The creation 'magic' Eve used was eerily similar to the dark matter the number 2 made. There were differences, but that was to be expected when abilities develop through different means. Noukan also made sure to take in his surroundings. The creation of the angel seemed to have drawn in all the ether in the area, so Noukan could breathe normally. The Herald, Eve created, had fallen onto the ground and broke apart into dust. Noukan theorized the amount of power Eve used to create the angel was preventing her from creating anything else. This was good and bad news. The good news was if he took it down, Eve should not be able to put up much more of a fight. The bad news was how powerful the thing was if Eve used most of her power. Noukan blinked when the angel turned its head toward Eve.

"kdhsyNAMEpwqs?" the angel asked Eve.

"I almost forgot that," Eve muttered and rubbed her chin. "God normally names the angels he creates, but I'm not really in a position to do that." She looked up at it. "I think you should have to earn it by destroying the dog and building over there," Eve said and pointed.

"nczyUNDERSTANDbahr?" The angel did not move and Noukan frowned. The angel's voice was deep and reverberated. It echoed in Noukan's mind. He could somewhat understand what the angel was asking, but he had never heard the language before.

Did Eve not create this thing with the ability to understand our language?

"He doesn't understand Japanese," Eve mused. "So I doubt he understands any human language. I'm a little rusty, but…" She cleared her throat. "uhwyTRIALoprd gtqDESTROYvzdr." She replied in the same harsh language and gestured to the building and Noukan.

"nctwUNDERSTOODbakh." The angel turned toward Noukan and the windowless building behind him. It raised its arm and made a swiping motion. The street tore up from the force of a twister. The wind gathered like a blade and flew down the street. The road split in half and Noukan had to rocket out of the way as the road warped under the concentration of air. He landed back down in the broken street and glanced behind him. The windowless building was still standing, but Noukan saw something to make his eyes widen.

There was a four story high grove in the side of the building.

The wall had not broken, but it suffered major damage. This should not have been possible. The building was made with technology more advanced than the rest of the city combined. It could stand against a nuclear strike without suffering damage. It had been struck with countless of abilities and weaponry since the city had been founded. Accelerator even threw another building at it once and there wasn't even a scratch. Noukan had even once tested the building's defensive capabilities and couldn't make a dent. With a single motion, the angel creation was able to do damage. This was a sign of how powerful it truly was. The angel took a step forward toward Noukan. There was no sound of footsteps, so the angel was either really light or defied gravity.

This creation is dangerous, Noukan thought and turned all the weaponry at his disposal on the single target. Precision guided missiles, bunker clusters, lasers, machine guns, plasma, flames, Gatling guns, and the large caliber railgun rained down attacks upon the angel. Noukan's power suit had firepower capable of destroying a fortress. One of Eve's simple creations should not be able to stand against it. The angel was engulfed with explosions and the street around it was obliterated by stray bunker clusters. Noukan stopped firing and stood still as the smoke cleared.

The angel was still standing.

It looked completely unharmed.

"I'm going to give you one more chance!" Eve called down to Noukan from the roof of a nearby building. He never saw her move. "Have Aleister come out and talk, or this nameless angel will lay waste to his precious building."

This is indeed troublesome, Noukan thought. At this point, a transmission arrived for him through his electronics.

"Perhaps it is time I helped out."

"So you were paying attention," Noukan commented, slightly amused.

"As soon as Eve targeted the building," Aleister replied. "I have to step in. I'm sure you can tell normal weaponry will not do anything to her creation."

"No," Noukan agreed. "It needs that."

"Precisely."

The whistling sound of air being displaced was heard and continued to grow louder. A large container fell down from the sky and sunk into the ground next to Noukan. Eve watched him interestedly and the angel stood there silently, as if waiting for an order. The container opened up and revealed a large drill. This drill was different from the others Noukan was using already. This one was a tactical armor-piercing drill, made of tungsten steel. Noukan moved next to it and it unnaturally rose out of the container and connected itself to Noukan's battle suit. Most of the other weapons fell off onto the ground around him. This drill was dozens of meters long and ran through the entire unit from front to back. It achieved high speeds by using the same electromagnetic acceleration as a railgun or mass driver and could produce immense destructive power through its rotation. Enough force to be capable of breaking into an underground silo or destroying a military base.

"Connection to you confirmed." Noukan said after checking his equipment. "Are you sure you wish to do this?"

"Yes. Eve and I have an old score to settle. She may not be my true target, but she was involved enough to use this."

"You truly are unable to let go of your humanity," Noukan said and he smiled.

"That looks weird," Eve called down to Noukan. "Are you going to use a drill to challenge the power of the heavens?"

"There is very little this drill cannot pierce," Noukan responded calmly. "Men really can't get enough of drills and pile bunkers. We're perfectly willing to ignore profit when it comes to them."

"Hmm," Eve muttered and put a finger up to her cheek. "I'll have to remember that next time I need to get a guy a gift." She turned to the angel. "It's time for him to earn his name." She coughed once. "ihbfKILLwq!" The angel moved forward and Noukan's thrusters roared to life as the drill began to spin. Noukan flew forward and the drill was aimed perfectly at the center of the angel's chest. The instant before the drill hit her angel, Eve had a premonition. That drill feels like Aleister!

This tactical drill had a unique feature when combined with the unnatural science of Noukan's power suit. The drill's rotation could also be used to transmit extremely high-speed, high-frequency vibrations. These vibrations could be used to convey the user's or another's will. This occurred by biological connections, closer to medical technology rather than military, which transcended distance with technology even Noukan did not fully understand. Noukan did have knowledge that was a step outside the world of science and this was the reason he could use this connection. Noukan established this connection with Aleister, the one who could stand up against and even win against Eve.

Aleister's willpower was transmitted from the drill directly into the angel.

Eve witnessed something that could only be described as impossible.

The tungsten drill tore the angel apart from the chest outwards. Its rotation produced extremely high-speed and systematic fluctuations. The vibrations transmitted into a wavelength that converted itself into words. The words were conveyed directly into the body instead of the eardrums. The angel could not understand the words, but it understood the feelings. It did the only thing it considered logical in this situation. The angel transmitted them to its creator. Eve flinched as she understood everything. Aleister being able to transmit his willpower into energy was something she never considered as a factor.

I don't believe it. He actually found a way to kill angels and maybe even gods. A single nameless angel didn't even require him to be emotionally upset with it. He only took out his frustration with me. Heh, Aleister still remembers our time together. I sure do. I doubt anyone except the boy has the willpower to stand against Aleister. This drill requires a little investigation.

The vibrations ripped through the rest of the angel and its body broke apart.

All of this happened in an instant.

Noukan fired the reverse thrusters and stopped on the other side of the shattered remains of the angel. The legs were the only part left of the original body. The rest of it was laying in tiny pieces all over the ground. Unlike Eve's previous creations, the remains did not turn into paper and then into dust. The remains started to glow with a soft golden light. The pieces started to dissolve and tiny golden specks floated up into the air, before they eventually disappeared. The legs also dissolved slowly, starting at the top and moved down until nothing was left. Noukan turned his head to look at Eve. She wore a shocked expression on her face, but then she burst out into a huge grin.

"I don't like the fact science can defeat angels now," she told Noukan. "But I did get to see something interesting." She looked out into the distance. "I suppose it's time to gather what's left of my forces for the next stage of my plan."

"Did you think I would let you go?" Noukan asked.

"I doubt you could catch me," Eve laughed mockingly. "You have destructive power and keen observation, but tracking me with your current arsenal is impossible." She smiled at him. "How about you go rescue some orphans from a burning building or something? I've got things to attend to. Important things." The space behind her opened up into a black void and she fell back into it. She disappeared and the hole closed.

"She seems to have escaped," Noukan reported. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Kaori begin to stir. She could make sure Gunha was alright when she woke. Noukan flew over to the pile of armaments on the ground and began to have them reattach to his power suit.

"No matter," Aleister replied. "She won't leave the city until she has what she came for. Right now, your next priority is Ricane. He has been keeping quiet, but working behind the scenes with scattered Skill-Out groups. His plan is obvious, but he knows how to avoid my electronic eyes."

"I will capture him and bring him back," Noukan said, as he turned on the thrusters and flew up into the air. "His knowledge is indispensable. Of course, I can't deny my personal feelings for my creator are playing a small part in my decision to avoid killing him."

"Do what you must," Aleister told him. "I will take care of Eve in the future."

"Your emotions are leaking through," Noukan informed him as he smiled. "Perhaps you should go and meet her. Rekindle the emotions you obviously had in the past. The ones you are unable to get rid of."

"Then this city would no longer exist." There was a long pause. "As you know, Eve's forces engaged with our subjects and it led to a few minor issues. This was obviously planned by him. I thought you had shortened his lease to prevent that."

"I have," Noukan confirmed. "This was set in motion long before I offered her the job. He won't be able to move freely in the future."

"Good," Aleister replied. "That is what I like to here. He will be punished for this though. That, he can't escape." Noukan quietly agreed and headed straight toward the storage facility where Yuiitsu was waiting for him.

---

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.

One more chapter to finish off the level 5 fights and then we move back to Touma and his group.

Kazari:…

Ruiko:…

Frenda: Huh, I don't believe it.

Kazari: Misaka-san can't really be… gone, right?

Ruiko: It can't be.

Motoharu: I'm sure the author is just trolling people again. He does that.

Touma: There is no way Mikoto would fall!

Pierce: Wow, Kami-yan, that was pretty forceful.

Touma: I know firsthand how strong she is. She will definitely return.

Ruiko: You're right. I'm going to believe in her too!

Motoharu: We should probably get the author to agree. Hey Kagere, where is he?

Jason: He's next door in the fetal position and drinking heavily. He keeps muttering something about how he didn't mean to do something and his friends failed in helping him avoid it.

Everyone:…

Pierce: And that's not even the worst part!

Touma: What could be worst?

Pierce: Accelerator has… A CHIBI VAMPIRE! That's my fifth favorite type! HOW DARE HE HAVE ONE BEFORE ME!?

Everyone:…

Touma: I'm going to punch him, anyone have any objections?

(Silence)

(Dull Thud)