"italics" - thoughts

Bold - Emphasis

Italics Bold - Magic names or titles

"normal" - speech

Disclaimer:I do not own Toaru Majutsu no Index nor its characters. All rights belong to Kazuma Kamachi. Except for my own characters that I create.

Chapter 4: Myth and Legends

"It would seem this duel of ours has ended." Chuckling, William swept his two pronged spear in an arc in front of him. In response, the spikes that were within the range of the arc moved themselves to the sides, leaving an empty field that was in the shape of the swept arc.

Noticing their gazes(or rather, Touma's) on the unusual spear, William gave a hearty laugh. "Ha ha ha! I suppose you have many questions, Imagine Breaker. Of course, you may ask away. But! Would you have the presence of mind to do so?"

With that sentence, William leapt at Touma, closing the 10 metre or so distance between them in what seemed to be an instant.

"He's fast!" Unknowingly, Touma and Mikoto had mirrored each other thoughts at the same time. Surprised by the sudden jump, Touma fell backwards, the sudden displacement of air not helping him with his sudden shift in balance.

It turned out to be a good thing. Seconds after his head was forcefully lowered, Touma felt his spiky hair get sliced. The result: a small portion of his hair fell into his lap.

"Whoops!" In a carefree tone, William used the butt of the spear to whack Touma away, using the unused speed from his earlier lunge to instead whack the unfortunate Kamijou away and into an empty shipping container. Feeling his body go weightless for a second, Touma crashed into the container, denting the metal box. This also caused him to spit out much blood.

*Blurgh*

With a spitting sound, Touma choked out some blood. Dazed, Touma wiped the dribbling blood from his mouth and nose, clearing his airways a bit.

"Thank goodness I skipped dinner." Touma could not help but think that as he wiped the blood. And who could blame him? Right now, as his stomach was empty, he would only vomit gastric fluids and blood, which was a whole lot less difficult to clean from clothes then vomit, or vomit mixed with blood. Then again, vomiting blood was not a good sign for the human body.

"Touma!"

Shouting, Mikoto fired off a few arcs of electricity at William. Spinning his spear-like weapon, William created a wall of stone from the ground, momentarily obstructing his view of both Touma and Mikoto.

With practiced ease, Mikoto leapt from her hidden perch, not forgetting to take Othinus with her. Using her powers, she guided herself onto the ground safely, where she proceeded to run towards William with the intent of buying time. Running past the downed Touma, she threw Othinus at his fallen body after a split second's hesitation, already tuning out the wave of complaints by Othinus that headed her way.

Mikoto knew Touma's fighting style. She managed to get a basic understanding of it after all their past fights, and finally managed to confirm it after their battle in Denmark and their talks up till now.

Touma left it to his body's instinct most of the time during combat, as past experiences, both from before and after his memory was lost(destroyed being a better word), has honed his body to be able to fight espers and magicians alike.

As he fights, he prefers to out-think his opponent, finding ways to overcome obstacles through quick thinking and his knowledge on their powers. However, this style of fighting for Touma, despite fitting the boy himself to a T, was very harsh on his body, as most of the time, his body would get very beat up before he gained a very good grasp on their powers or abilities, and found a way to counter it, even if it is temporary.

"So, this time," Mikoto mentally prepared herself for battle against the magician. "Take a breather, and let me gather the information for you!"

"Oho?" Collapsing the earthen wall, William pointed his weapon at Mikoto. "So you have finally come out, little girl. Despite your age, your tastes are rather... childish, no?"

"Calm down, Mikoto. He is just trying to rile you up." Taking a deep breath, Mikoto calmed herself. She knew if she let her emotions rule in her battles, she would be dead. "I thought this was a duel? Why the sudden change of heart?"

"Fufufu... That was in the past." Stepping forward, he closed the distance between him and Mikoto in seconds. "And right now, I wish to go grow stronger! Strong enough to take my revenge!"

Surprised by the sudden short distance between them, Mikoto used her powers to get away from the magician, sending bolts of electricity at the man as she retreated. Not deterred in the slightest, William used the prongs to parry the arcs of electricity.

"Hmm?" William paused in his movements. "I see Imagine Breaker is awake. And I have been sensing your gaze on this weapon of mine, little girl. I suppose it wouldn't hurt to tell you about this prized weapon of mine. Seeing as you would all be dead."

Spinning the weapon, he sent waves of spikes at both Touma and Mikoto. Seeing the spikes approaching, Touma used his right hand to destroy them before they could pierce him, while Mikoto used her powers to create multiple iron sand swords, their constant vibrations easily cutting the spikes that went her way.

As the two held off the waves of spikes, William explained. "This weapon is called a bident. Its similar to a trident, the weapon that can be associated with Poseidon, greek god of the seas, but instead of three points, it has two. As such, this weapon can be associated with the greek god of the Underworld, Hades. See, Hades was mainly known for being the ruler of the Underworld, where spirits went to when their human life has passed. But, what people forget sometimes is that Hades was also the god of riches. And, as the Underworld is under the earth..." He dashed forward to where Mikoto was. "...it would not be a stretch to say he could control part of the earth."

Mikoto was having a harder time than Touma in holding off the wave of spikes. While Touma had to just hold his hand onto the ground to prevent them from appearing near him, Mikoto had to use her iron sand blades to mow the spikes to pieces to ensure none came close to her. And, as she did not have a somewhat omnidirectional defense like Touma, the spikes came at her from a 270 degree attack range, so she was hard pressed just to keep herself unscathed.

When the waves stopped, it gave Mikoto some breathing room, but she was forced into defense almost immediately again when William came rushing in. Thrusting the bident quickly, the weapon itself quickly became a blur, the user moving it at high speeds. Mikoto was able to defend herself from the attacks, if barely, leaving her little room to go on the offensive.

But when the barrage did stop, and Mikoto did go on the offensive, each of her strikes were parried or dodged. And each time her iron sword came into contact with the bident, it became smaller each time.

"This is not good." A bead of sweat went down Mikoto's face. "That bident of his keeps removing a small bit of my iron sand each time. Each strike is not much, only about a few milligrams each time, but the sheer number of strikes he throws out between each breather he takes is so much, the blades noticeably becomes smaller."

"Tch" Clicking her tongue, Mikoto quickly retreated backwards with her power. Grinning broadly, William advanced, using the power of the bident to help increase his speed with every step.

As Touma watched the two, he noticed a few things. Of course, this would not have happened had Othinus not grasped Mikoto's plan and forcefully got Touma to rest a little, through some rather...forceful means.

"So, the bident represents the weapon that a greek god of the Underworld used." Touma thought as he quietly moved towards the duo who were running all over the switch yard, seemingly playing a game of cat and mouse. "And as the Underworld is below our feet, he can somewhat control the earth. But, if he could, why not create spires at where we stand, instead of making them come at us in waves? Plus," Looking at the spikes, Touma ran his hand across it. "The spires themselves can't be destroyed once they appear. So it would make the bident something like Curtana Original, which using the All Dimensions Severing Spell, created dimensional debris that Imagine Breaker can't dispel. Thankfully, it is easier to prevent this just by holding it to the ground." Starting to run, he dashed to the now clashing duo. "In that case, it would be best to remove source of this mayhem. Otherwise, this may result in something like a second British Halloween!"

This might have been an overexageration in Touma's mind, but a small part of him, his gut, told him that this was actually true. But there was a few things that troubled him...

"Misaka-san!" Touma jumped into the fray at that moment, causing both parties to be momentarily surprised. "Fire it!"

"Huh? What do you mean Idiot! Wouldn't that kill him?" Mikoto used her iron blades to make William's footing uneven, causing him to lose his focus in his precision attacks. Taking that chance, Touma smashed his fist into William's chest. Seeing the incoming fist, William's eyes widen comically as he tried to avoid it.

He managed to do so, but not completely. As it was, a portion of his shoulder pads were destroyed, the breaking glass sound and momentary burst of light the only evidence that it even existed in the first place.

Having avoided that attack, William moved retreated, the possibility of his magical weapon and armour being completely destroyed too great a chance for him to take, even if he could take down the misfortunate boy and, later on, the electromaster. After all, it would be no joke for one's prized possessions were destroyed because of a simple touch.

"Just trust me on this!" Touma used his legs to kick the kneeling William. Instinctively crossing his arms, William weathered most of the blow. Or would have, had he not been kneeling in a certain section of the switch yard.

When Touma and Accelerator first clashed, their battlefield turned a part of the switch yard into a barren wasteland due to the destruction that had occurred. It may have been nearly half a year since then, but with World War 3 and other incidents that occurred, resources were sent to other places with higher priority then a place where a failed experiment occured. It also became a place for espers to test out their abilities. Despite the low numbers, not even reaching a dozen, their abilities further messed up that particular area of the switch yard, so much so, that a small protion of the gravel and metal had melted into a smooth, wave-like surface due to the multiple heating, cooling and other things that it was forced to endure. And currently, William was on that patch.

William could not stop his body as he was suddenly accelerated from the kick Touma launched at him. If it was just gravel, he would have only flown about a few metres at most. But, as the smooth surface had little friction, his body sped up, and was launched from one of the 'waves', essentially turning him into a human projectile, which forcefully collided against one of the few remaining undamaged shipping containers in that area.

"Fine! I hope you know what you are doing!" Preparing herself, she fired her signature move, the Railgun.

Normally, she would not even think of firing it at a person(unless said person was a level 5 esper, or Touma), as the railgun, despite the projectile being a coin, had a velocity of around 1030m/s, so anyone who gets grazed by the attack, never mind a clean hit, would have that part if their body blown clean off. But, Touma's instincts were spot on most of the time. This is proven by his fight with her, other espers, magicians, and even fellow level 0s like him. So, for the very first time, she fired a railgun at a magician.

William was a little winded, but fine nonetheless. His armour was very special, also based off Athena's Aegis. But this Aegis referred to the goddess's mantle. By creating this symbolised cloth, and weaving it into his armour, it in turn made the armour very tough to destroy, protecting the wearer while making it comfortable to wear as well. But, as he looked up from his kneeling position, he saw a beam of orange light approaching him, closing the short distance between the two espers and him in less than a second.

As he saw this, he only uttered a word before the light impacted him, causing both him and his surrounding area to be enveloped in a huge explosion of dust.

"Γαμώ" (Fuck)

"Did we get him?" Touma was panting in exhaustion. He had already expended a lot of his energy earlier that day, running from his place to the closest bus stop, then was smashed into a shipping container, which winded him. All in all, this would have already killed an ordinary student because of the lack of energy and stamina to actually fight. But Touma was very proud of his stamina, having gained it from his countless fights and runs away from danger(AKA, Biribiri and magic). Even then, he needed to take a breather, the fight exhausting the remaining energy he had.

Turning to him, Mikoto could not help but let out a shout. "Why are you asking me for? You were the one who asked me to do this!" She was, in a word, shocked. To think Touma had asked her to fire her railgun at him without knowing if it would kill him!

"No no no no no Misaka-san!" Waving his hands frantically, Touma tried to calm the furious Mikoto. "I know that he would have been able to take it! He had armour on! And it was magical armour!"

"So?" That did nothing to calm Mikoto. In fact, it seemed to make her even more angry. "That does not mean he can take it head on!"

"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!"

Sudden, booming laughter brought the two arguing students back out of their own world. Touma sighed, having suspected that he would not have gone down that easily.

"Thrylos201, the one who brings legends to life!"

Roaring his magic name, William burst out from the cloud of smoke. Landing heavily on his feet, the two could properly see the aftermath of Mikoto's railgun. William's hair was disheveled, which was expected from having been attacked by a fast travelling object at what could be considered point-blank range(for a destructive weapon, that is). A black impact point could be seen on the bronze-coloured armour, showing the two that he had taken Mikoto's railgun head on. Other than that, he seemed no worse for wear.

"How?" Mikoto was dumbfounded. After all, as far as she knew, only less than a handful of people could take her railgun head-on, and that was in the Science side. If she included the Magic side, it would rise to around two dozen. And they were all special cases, having the power of a Level 5. Even if she had lowered the output of her attack to around 20%, she was not expecting the magician to be conscious, much less standing, after her railgun, which had the power to destroy many tanks lined up, even with the power lowered.

"Well now, Imagine Breaker. I believe you know what this means." Grinning like a maniac, William held his bident up high, before stabbing it downwards, the dual prongs stabbing into the concrete surface he was on like a hot knife through butter.

Mikoto was sweating bullets. She had heard from both Othinus and Touma. Having a magic name represents the goal of that individual. But, during a fight, if one's magic name was announced, it would mean they were becoming serious. Beside her, Touma composed himself, preparing himself for what was to come. Truth was, none of them could.

A skeletal hand burst from the gravel, shocking the two. Then another, and another, and another ,another, another, another, another, another, another, another, another, another, another, another, another, another, another, another, another, another, another, another, another, another!

"One, three, seven, fifteen, twenty...There's too many!" Stepping back, Touma and Mikoto could only watch as what could be only classified as an army rose from the ground. The skeletal hands literally dragged their bodies from their 'graves', bringing with them tattered armour, chipped weapons, and for some, degraded bows and arrows. As they watched in stunned silence, mud ran up their bones, gems stuck here and there in the brown mess. The mud covered each bone, acting as a substitute for flesh. Where the eyeballs were, two gems were placed. Some were of different sizes, others of different colours. But nevertheless, they acted as what they should be. Eyes to see the enemy.

Seeing their stunned faces, William gave off a laugh. To them, it sounded like a villainous one. "This is the end, boys and girls!" Still cackling, William grinned maliciously at them. "Meet your end, at the hands of my Undead Legion !"

Far away, in their apartment, Index sensed the sudden increase in mana.

"Hmm?" Index looked at the direction of the mana flow. "That mana flow, that spell...By all rights, this should be impossible!" Standing up, she dashed out of the room, making her way to Touma's location via the flow of mana. "That spell can only be used through a grimoire!" Muttering to herself, Index took a the elevator down. "And that particular grimoire was destroyed by all the churches, having been deemed too dangerous and too sinful for any magician to use."

Continuing to mutter, Index ran towards the source, worried for Touma's safety. "But, there is no mistaking it. That spell is definitely being used. And there should be no way for this spell to be activated, much less used, by a magician, even with artifacts. Unless..."

"Impossible..." Othinus muttered in shock, catching the two's attention.

"What's impossible, Othinus?" Touma kept his eyes on the army of skeletons. Right now, they were still taking shape, only being vaguely human like. But with every passing second, their shapes became a little bit more defined, their movements more refined. Their previously chipped weapons were coated in mud and minerals, before they hardened, becoming heavier and sharper than its previous condition. Similarly, their shoddy armour became sturdier, the liquid gems and minerals coating the tattered pieces of leather or metal, making it harder, stronger, and thicker than before. Mud than coated it and hardened, becoming camouflaged against the mound of earth, mud and gravel that was the body of the skeletons.

"This spell... By all means, this should not be possible by any mage." Glaring at William, Othinus seemed to emit a wave of hostility. "Normally, mages who are necromancers. First, they need bodies. Usually, they are made of clay or stone. Second, they need a soul. In this time, they would be pseudo souls, which is the speciality of the Rosenthal Family."

"I suppose your friend Sherry Cromwell is the closest person to being a necromancer. But, she is not a necromancer. I believe that someone in your faction has a connection to the Rosenthal Family, but I am unable to recall who."

"How do you know this? Or rather, why is this impossible?" Touma chose to ignore the bit about 'having a faction'.

"They have no souls, yet they are not puppets." Othinus clicked her tongue in irritation. "They can each follow orders and adapt, unlike puppets which are only able to follow orders to a certain degree. This is taking things to the level of a Magic God, or even beyond that."

A Magic God. Touma shivered in fear as he recalled the time he fought Othinus. Magic Gods were beings who were all powerful. Thor was, thankfully, a magician. But he was a very powerful one. Ollerous, who was a failed Magic God, was still very powerful. But none of them could hold a candle to Othinus. With her vast power and knowledge, she could, and managed, to bend the world to her will.Not once, not twice, but at least 10,000 times. Touma lost count after 1,000. For William to actual step into the realm of Magic God...it sent shivers up his spine. He never wanted to go through that experience again if he could help it.

As he thought about it, he could see why Othinus was pissed. If someone could attain the status of a Magic God, there would be countless ones already wandering the earth. Unbeknownst to Touma, said Magic Gods sneezed in sync, causing them to cease their plotting and plans for a moment, before they went ahead with their business, wondering who had talked about them.

"...You poor human." Suddenly, Othinus changed her attitude from anger to pity.

"Hmm?" Touma looked at Othinus, who was currently sitting on his soldier.

"Why the sudden change of heart?" Beside him, Mikoto gave a snarky comment at Othinus's change in tone.

Ignoring the brown-haired girl, Othinus answered Touma's unspoken question. "This human is but a walking lump of meat. His mind has long broken. But, the person himself has not noticed this."

"But he can still speak!" Touma was confused even further. "How is he crazy?"

"Not crazy, dead." Othinus's speech was different from her usual conceding tone. In fact, it seemed to be...one of pity. Completely unlike the god(or goddess?) of war she was. "He does not know it, but he is dead. He may seem to be alive. Eating, speaking, and moving. However, mentally, he has died long ago. The person known as William Jackson has been dead for a while. Probably 50 years."

"But...he looks so young..." Mikoto joined in. As there were metal bits in the skeletons, she could tell when they were about to attack. As such, she would be able to hold them back via their bodies, armour or weapons through her electromaster abilities.

"That is but a husk of a man. He is, as you would say, brain dead." Othinus continued to ignore Mikoto. "And, it would seem a grimoire is occupying this man's body, and has taken control."

"A grimoire?" Touma thought of the one person he knew to hold many grimories in her head. Index. One grimoire alone could kill a man due to its potent knowledge. To hold the 103,000 grimoires in her head would have killed a regular person long ago. But Index was immune to this, apparently. Hence, she was forced to read 103,000 grimoires and hold it in her head for Necessarius. If there was a sentient grimoire, it could, theoretically, take over a mind.

"Indeed." Jumping, they looked behind them, There, the armoured person that had guided them stood. In fact, they had forgotten he was acting as the referee for the duel. Now that he was closer, the three could pick up more details. The armour, despite its Western appearance, seemed to be a fusion of Western and Asian armour.

His legs down seemed to be the standard knight boots. But, from his lower body up, it could be seen to be a fusion. His upper chest was plated armour, but a smaller version of sode(japanese shoulder pads), slightly curved, covered his shoulders instead of the western version of shoulder pads. Western gauntlets covered his hands, but instead of being made of metal, it seemed to be made of a cloth, similar to those used in asian armours. And his headpiece seemed to be a mixture of Japanese and Western. A half mask covered his mouth, but his headpiece was similar to the ones that were worn by the Knights in Britain when Touma was with the Royal family, with a visor covering his eyes, while the mask covered up till his nose.

"My liege has been brain dead for a long time." He said, speaking in an emotionless tone. "And you, Imagine Breaker, is the only person who can save him."

AN

Well, that is another chapter done. Too much research for my taste. But, if you are wondering about this, yes, it is possible for a grimoire to take over a person's mind

A grimoire, when taken literally, is a book about magical texts, or a book that has ancient knowledge. As there is many, many different forms of knowledge, it would not be too far a stretch to say that this knowledge can come in the form of something like an artificial intelligence. A good example of this would be Index's John's Pen Mode.Although John's Pen Mode is a security measure, it is nonetheless an entity which has the ability to react to real life changes and adapt to it, something similar to an A.I. (To me anyway.). It can be considered an advanced Security Program under the Church's control.Then, there is the weapon.

Who here saw that is would be the weapon of the lord of the Underworld himself? I thought about the different weapons William could have used. Zeus with his lightning bolt, Poseidon with his trident and control of water, a sword that can control the winds under the god Aeolous, Hermes with his blade that can cut anything, Gaia with her control over the earth, Kronos with his iron scythe that once killed his father, and finally, a hammer that could create and manipulate machines and fire, representing the god Hephaestus.

And for those who are wondering, Misaki is coming. Not yet though. I put her tag up cause she is an underrated character, I feel. After all, out of all of Touma's crushers, Misaki is the one who actually lost a lot in return for his help.