There are times when magicians would thank rune cards for enchanting normal humans to keep away from the area. This time was now, as the normally bustling District 23 was completely empty, save for two magicians. Around them, buildings were burnt and scorched, some still on fire.
Stiyl Magnus was on one side, breathing heavily. Scorch marks caused his usual black attire to hang raggedly about him, and there were injuries all about him.
On the other side was a lightning mage, Nathalia Pyxia. She looked like a typical high school girl: perfect long blond hair, a perfect figure, and too much makeup. She looked perfectly fine, not even one hair out of place. She would have looked somewhat pretty had the look of pure rage not settled on her face.
"You're still not dead? Fine! I will avenge my boyfriend by killing you with this last blow!"
"Oh shut up, you bitch. Half the time we fought, I was hearing you wail on and on about your poor boyfriend."
"He didn't deserve to die such a dishonourable death!"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Fortis931! Innocentius!"
The ferocious flame god appeared, roaring. Nathalia smiled. "That little boy again? Fine then. Cura735!"
A healer that eventually changed to a lightning mage. Who knew she'd be better at that?
Swearing under his breath, he realized that the crazy lightning mage was going to use the same spell her boyfriend used on Accelerator.
Dammit. Even Innocentius can't protect me from that many lightning bolts.
As thunder rumbled in the sky and the lightning bolts shot down, Stiyl heard a voice that caused him to sigh in relief.
"Ultor248!"
The one who will take vengeance on all his enemies, and avenge his fallen comrades.
Nagato appeared on the scene, shouting a spell. The lightning promptly dissipated.
Touma ran over to Stiyl. "Stiyl! Are you alright?"
"You look worse than I am, Kamijou Touma."
Accelerator came up calmly behind Nagato, an interested look on his face. "So this is a magician fight? Well, I hope you guys have something to say to the authorities once the rune cards are down."
Nathalia snapped her head towards Accelerator. Her face twisted with rage. "You!"
"Huh? Do I know you? I think I should be able to remember a clown face." Accelerator's voice sounded extremely bored.
"You're the one my boyfriend was sent to kill. I'll finish the job for him!"
"Tch, who's your boyfriend again? I don't recall a blonde bitch attacking me with the blond asshole. Oh, so are you his ex? Decided to be his faithful lapdog now that he's dead? Oh wait, how can you be his lapdog when he's dead?"
"Shut up! I'm killing you now!"
Immediately, multiple lightning bolts were shot towards Accelerator. Smiling sadistically, he reflected the lightning back at her, and then slammed his foot on the ground, uprooting it before she had a chance to react. She crashed into a building.
Accelerator turned back to Nagato. "That was boring."
"You know she's not dead yet. Nice insults, by the way. They're bound to make her more reckless."
"Of course not. That would make it more boring. Taunting opponents is almost second nature since I did it all the time. Can I just fight her myself?"
"Sure. Don't kill her. I want to interrogate her. And I will step in if it comes to a standstill."
"Ah, sure. Just let me have some fun." The sadistic smile on Accelerator's face had a tinge of mania in it.
As if on cue, Nathalia climbed out of the building, a look of pure hate on her face. Her hair was now sticking out from the once-neat style and she had a few bruises on her face.
"You ruined my outfit and hair! You're going to pay double for this!"
"First thing you worry about is your clothing and hair? Geez, if you're so girly, then I'll let you go to the mall first."
"Shut up you sorry excuse for an esper! I bet you could only reflect my lightning since it wasn't magical. I won't do the same thing next time!"
Accelerator's expression turned calm, but scary. He spoke in an eerily quiet tone. " I'm a sorry excuse for an esper? Do you even know who you're calling a sorry excuse for an esper?! You're calling the first-ranked level 5 esper out of 2.8 million espers in this city, a sorry excuse for an esper? Oh, when I'm done with you, your outfit isn't gonna be the only thing you're gonna complain about."
Laughing maniacally, he controlled the vectors and flew into the air, landing on a building rooftop. "Come on, fight this sorry excuse for an esper! If I'm what you think I am, you should be able to beat me easily!
Screaming, the girl flew towards Accelerator, lightning crackling around her body. A second before she crashed into Accelerator, he sidestepped and kicked her, sending her flying into another building.
He started taunting her again. "Come on, weren't you saying you were going to kill me? Then stop flying into buildings!"
"I will kill you!" The girl flew onto another rooftop, raising her hands to the sky, chanting. Thunder rumbled again, and multiple bolts of magical lightning shot down at Accelerator. Remembering the time he had taken all the bolts head-on, he flew away. The bolts followed him and he reflected them onto the building the girl was on, causing the entire thing to collapse.
Nathalia stumbled out of the wreckage. Her clothing was in tatters, and she looked completely different from the composed girl that had snuck upon Stiyl.
She glared at Accelerator with hate and rage on her face. "You… I swear you will die by my hands!"
"Explain the phenomenon of why you're the beat up one. If you were going to kill me, then shouldn't I be the one looking worse for wear? Unless you're a masochist, that is." He snickered at his own insult.
Nathalia shot lightning at the foot of the building Accelerator was on, making it collapse. Accelerator quickly jumped to another building, and then another, moving too fast for the lightning mage to keep up. Eventually, his speed was almost at the speed of sound, moving from building to building with agility that surprised even Nagato.
Nathalia shot lightning randomly, hoping to get a lucky shot. With every missed shot, her face twisted more and more with rage.
"Stop moving and let me kill you, esper!"
"You, kill me? I'll pass." Accelerator suddenly appeared to one side of her and whispered the words in her ear. When she whirled around, he had moved quickly behind her. "Too late, you couldn't catch me. And this is what a sorry excuse of an esper can do. I could probably reverse your blood flow and make your body explode—" he quickly sidestepped a lightning bolt "—but I can't kill you today, so I'll settle for this." Stepping behind her again, he hit her on the back of her neck, causing her to fall unconscious.
He turned to face Nagato, but he was mildly surprised when he found the trio gaping at him. "What? Don't look at me like you've never seen a fight. Anyways, what do we do with all the destroyed buildings?"
Snapping out of his shock, Nagato muttered a spell. Miraculously, the buildings began to repair themselves. After 5 minutes, the buildings looked clean, neat, and whole. The rune cards were still present.
Nagato turned to Accelerator with a scowl on his face. "Why didn't you show any of that speed when I was training you?"
Accelerator shrugged. "It only came to me when I was fighting."
"H-how did you fight like that?" Touma stuttered.
"I've got a teacher. Honestly, I'm not that guy you beat up nearly a year ago who got too cocky for his own good. Besides, I used magic to enhance reflexes and speed in addition to my vector changing ability. Anyways, shouldn't we head back?"
"Stiyl, want to come back with us?"
"No, I'll be fine."
Nagato raised an eyebrow. "I doubt you're fine in that condition. Anyways, how did you get so beat up? I know you're stronger than that."
"She snuck up on me when I was completely off-guard."
"Exactly why you should be on guard at all times. Well, can't blame you. You probably mistook her for some student in this city." In one fluid step, Nagato stood in front of Stiyl and performed the healing spell. Stiyl nodded at Nagato in appreciation.
Nagato moved away from Stiyl and picked up the unconscious lightning mage, draping her form over his shoulder. "Accelerator, is there any abandoned place you know of?"
"Yeah."
"Take me there. Go back to the apartment, Kamijou Touma. Tell Aiho and Kikyou that we're training."
"Uh, okay."
"Good. Accelerator, lead me to the place you have in mind. I have some interrogation to do."
"Didn't you say she abandoned the Roman Catholic Church? There shouldn't be any information she knows then."
"I know she left only a few days ago. There should be a sufficient amount of information that she knows. Come on."
Without a word Accelerator followed Nagato out of District 23, leaving Touma and Stiyl to their own devices.