Explanation of Ascalon

The sword Ascalon is about 3.5 meters long. Inscribed on the side of the sword is its name and the coat of arms of Acqua of the Back. Sections of the blade resemble an axe, a razor and a saw. There are also spikes and a wire positioned on it. Magical power is supplied to the part of Ascalon that is currently in use and the color of the blade also changes to correspond to a specific function. Red is a thick axe, meant to cleave the dragon's sinews. Blue is a thin razor, meant to cut away the dragon's fat. Green is a church key spike, meant to tear the dragon's scales off. Yellow is a fretsaw wire, meant to disembowel the dragon. Purple is a giant saw, meant to sever the dragon's bones. Pink is a hook spike, meant to pull out the dragon's fangs. White is a close combat spike, meant to gouge out the dragon's nerves. Embedded within the giant sword's grip is a hidden sword which is about 1 meter long. This sword can release its blade on a thin wire connected to the grip which can be extended and retracted. A small clasp mechanism is located on the grip to secure the blade. The Mace can also be produced from the wire.

A red flash of light shot from Ascalon as he held it on his right hand. No. The light was not just one color. From each angle of the blade, the shine changed just like with the surface of a CD. Strictly speaking, even that wasn’t accurate. The 3.5 meter long sword did not have just one blade. Its thickness and angles changed and it had a portion like an axe, a portion like a razor, and a portion like a saw. It also had a can opener-like spike and a wire close to the blade like a coping saw. Ascalon’s shine originated in those different functions. The color changed depending on how and where the different methods of attack would be used. The axe-like blade was red, the razor-like blade was blue, the can opener-like spike was green, and the coping saw-like wire was yellow. Like that, magical power was being supplied and converging on each of the sections of the spiritual item. The real time regulation of what would provide the greatest destruction decided on the color of the light that split between the routes of each blade. “I had hoped I wouldn’t have to use this.” “That isn’t like you. Were you holding back against one who the dragon symbolizes?” Knight Leader smiled and gripped Hrunting’s hilt. In the values of the Christian Church, the dragon was the symbol of more than one thing. For example, it represented pagans and foreign invading forces. It also represented a fallen angel stained with evil.
(Toaru Majutsu no Index Volume 18, pg 24-25)

William used only his right hand to swing up his large 3.5 meter sword and then reversed his wrist in order to put the back of the sword in front of him. The blade glowed crimson. Crimson indicated the axe. The mercenary’s attack was fired in a straight line directly down and was not intended to repel the attacks flying in from all directions. He was aiming for the ground. With a loud impact, the solid earth below shook. An area with a radius of twenty meters with William in the center sank deep down. This included where Knight Leader stood and the innumerable strikes he had fired sliced through the air above the head of the mercenary who had sunk down about three meters. [...] However, William Orwell swung up the blade that was pointing straight down and used his bent over posture to its fullest by explosively stretching his tightened muscles in a charge towards Knight Leader. The explosive sound of his footsteps came after a slight delay. The already slipping ground was utterly destroyed.
(Toaru Majutsu no Index Volume 18, pg 30-31)

Ascalon’s glow turned from red to blue. William reversed the double-edged sword with his wrist again in order to bring the thin and sharp razor-like section to the front. He then swung the sword horizontally right in front of Knight Leader so as to slice him in two. It was as if he were nonverbally saying that Attack Range was no problem for him and that a trick like that would not determine the victor.
(Toaru Majutsu no Index Volume 18, pg 31)

The blade’s color changed from blue to green. He turned his wrist to turn the back of Ascalon’s blade to the front. He attacked Knight Leader who had gotten behind him with the can opener-like spike.
(Toaru Majutsu no Index Volume 18, pg 31)

In that time, William turned the blade around with his wrist and focused on the spike near the base. He then swung Ascalon again. The light turned white. When large swords like the ones William and Knight Leader wielded were used in extreme close quarters, they were not as powerful. That sharp spike attached at near the base of the sword had been prepared to solve that problem. Most likely, its original purpose had been to rip the dragon’s thick nerves from its flesh using the principle of leverage. William gathered his magic power in one point and its penetrating power increased even further. If Knight Leader did not stop that attack, he would be defeated.
(Toaru Majutsu no Index Volume 18, pg 38-39)

The two stood perfectly still, despite having moved here at beyond the speed of sound. Knight Leader’s longsword, having failed its defense, became awkwardly rooted in mid- air; William took the spike at the base of his greatsword and drove it past Knight Leader’s defenses and into the right side of his chest. The spike fitted on the back of the grip wasn’t in the same size range as a nail. Matching the greatsword’s full length of 3.5 meters, the spike was practically a stake. Realistically, even if the attack wasn’t instantly fatal, the right ribs must have been pulverized.
(Toaru Majutsu no Index Volume 18, pg 44-45)

Using his bare hands and seemingly holding the sword by the blade, William drew back Ascalon swiftly. Once he had opened some distance, he released several slashes, each in a different attack method. The light was red—an axe-like thick blade to cleave at the sinews of the evil dragon. “Turn to zero.” The light was blue—a razor-like thin blade to cut away at the fat of the evil dragon. “Turn to zero.” The light was green—a churchkey spike in the blade to tear off the scales of the evil dragon. “Turn to zero.” The light was yellow—a fretsaw wire nestled on the blade to disembowel the evil dragon. “Turn to zero.” The light was purple—a giant saw on the back to severe the bones of the evil dragon. “Turn to zero.” The light was pink—a hook spike attached to the pommel to pull out the fangs of the evil dragon. “Turn to zero.” The light was white—a close-combat spike near the grip to gouge out the nerves of the evil dragon. “That’s already been turned to zero!! Are you quite done yet?!”
(Toaru Majutsu no Index Volume 18, pg 46-47)

Immediately, William Orwell put all his strength into Ascalon and pulled at the grip— only for that grip to abruptly slip out. Knight Leader, now holding onto the blade of Ascalon temporarily bereft of power, felt his balance topple slightly. (He destroyed it himself?) Though he thought that, it was not correct. Extending from William Orwell’s grip was a blade over one meter long. It was the last grand sword, hidden within the 3.5-meter-long greatsword. Normally, a part of the blade’s steel would be imbedded within the grip (or it is caught between two sheets and used as the grip) and then kept in place by screws or wedges, to prevent the blade coming off the hilt when it was swung. For Ascalon, it was the opposite. Stowed in the greatsword, nestled in the shape of the steel imbedded in the grip, was yet another smaller sword. It was a trick only possible because of the sword itself being overly large. And, because it was hidden, Knight Leader did not recognize the sword. William turned his back to him, as though trying to hide the sword behind his large frame. And from that stance, he twisted his body at a high speed, releasing a blow on a horizontal track. The air was cracked with a resounding woosh. “?!” For the first time, Knight Leader’s expression changed. He had moved back with all his might; his suit was ripped, and a wound like a straight line ran across his chest. A spray of red liquid followed after. Yes. Wasn’t the Thororm of Norse mythology killed by a hidden blade that came flying out from under a sleeve? The words pierced his heart, heavier than nails.
(Toaru Majutsu no Index Volume 18, pg 50-52)

William Orwell, the last grand sword in his hand—or perhaps this blade was the true core of the spirit weapon Ascalon—chased down the retreating Knight Leader, breaching his defenses. Whether from his gouging wound, or his blood loss, Knight Leader’s movements became dull. However, it was not a fatal wound. He still possessed two means. Either to cleave at William’s body with his reddish black longsword. Or to render William’s sword powerless with the Spell of Thororm
(Toaru Majutsu no Index Volume 18, pg 52-53)

The Spell of Thororm which Knight Leader controlled could select as a target any object he recognized as a weapon, and turn its offensive power to zero. Reversely, it could not interfere with weapons that could not be recognized as such. It was then that he saw a glitter, something shining. Extending from the sword grip William was wielding was an extremely small wire. And the mercenary’s thumb was touching a button-like object on the grip. (He shot it upwards?!) 53 Most likely, he would have relied on Knight Leader missing the timing of the strike, connecting the blade to the hilt again by rolling up the wire, and releasing a second strike. While it surely would have dealt great damage to him had it succeeded…
(Toaru Majutsu no Index Volume 18, pg 54)

However, there was an abnormality. The sword grip William held, and the small wire that connected it to its floating blade; something like tree sap came bursting out of what was strictly speaking a microscopic tube. Hardening like glue once it contacted the air, spikes flew out in every direction, and was reborn as a primitive club. Yes. It had changed to the weapon William Orwell cherished above all else, the giant mace.
(Toaru Majutsu no Index Volume 18, pg 54)

William’s mace was sunken into the side of his neck. Or rather, the grip of the mace—and the sword. Under closer scrutiny, it was a part of the mechanism which shot out the blade—the small clasp which secured the blade to the grip, and which had protruded slightly, buried in his neck. Knight Leader could select anything he recognized as a weapon to be a target, reducing its offensive power to zero. Reversely, even if it was something right in front of him the entire time, as long as he didn’t recognize it as a weapon, he could not interfere with its offensive power.
(Toaru Majutsu no Index Volume 18, pg 56)