Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 18/Chapter 5

Synopsis
Half an hour after midnight, at the moment where Villian's life is put on the line, William Orwell, now known as Acqua of the Back, saves the youngest of the three princesses of England from Carissa's wrath and flees, with his old friend Knight Leader in hot pursuit. William then heads to a mountain path where he has prepared Bayard, a magical steed capable of eluding magical detection, to bring Villian to Necessarius. Villian initially refuses to use the magical horse, with her hope lost after being betrayed by Knight Leader and realizing the uncertainty of Necessarius giving her refuge. Regardless, William brings Villian to Bayard and her journey begins.

Shortly after, William is joined by Knight Leader and his knights, all prepared to fight him. As William closes up the road Villian took behind him, Knight Leader proposes a fight to the death, to which William accepts. After Knight Leader shows his weapon of choice, the magical sword Hrunting, William and Knight Leader clash swords, causing widespread destruction in the battlefield and hurling the knights away from the sheer power released. Knight Leader notices that William is getting injuries from their fight, a sign that his defeat in Academy City has weakened him, but William responds by making light of Knight Leader's motivation in following Carissa's command. After an exchange of words and attacks with each other, Knight Leader suddenly gains an upper hand, maiming William's left shoulder in the process.

Touma manages to hop on a train knights use to travel to and from Folkestone, and the sheer amount of knights inside force him to cling on to the roof to elude the enemies. In his constant attempts to lose sight of the knights inside, he sneaks inside a wagon, where Touma sees a girl whose clothing seems familiar, who introduces herself as Floris.

In spite of the wound on his left shoulder, William gradually learns of the way Knight Leader attacks, and the latter soon reveals that Hrunting combines the aspects of several magical weapons into one sword, allowing him to obtain additional properties that aid him in battle. Regardless, William is starting to learn of his old friend's fighting style, and decides to use the magical properties of Ascalon despite not wanting to use it on Knight Leader. After a short conversation, Touma considers using the magical shackles that bind Floris' hands and feet. However, as the shackles break apart under the effects of Imagine Breaker, alarms blare, forcing Floris and Touma to escape the knights that are about to swarm them. In spite of Touma's warnings about his right hand and the fact that they are going to plummet into shallow water, Floris jumps and takes Touma with her.

Willam and Knight Leader exchange blows, but the latter slowly gains his advantage over the fight. However, he leaves William with the chance to leave England for good instead of slaying him outright. William refuses to back down on Knight Leader's request, and even rebukes the latter's logic behind his actions. As a result of this, Knight Leader decides to end the fight with a decisive blow, but this was suddenly repelled by William, who finds out that Knight Leader can only use one of the seven aspects of Hrunting at a time. Using this to confuse Knight Leader into using the wrong aspects on him, William moves the tides of battle in his favor.

Elsewhere in the train to Folkestone, Sisters Agnese, Lucia and Angelene hold on to the side of the speeding train using the fragments of Lucia's wooden wheel and prepare to ambush the knights from outside. One particular knight faces the full brunt of the three nuns' magic, but he was able to endure them all, except for Agnese's strikes to the knight's groin. Angelene, under Lucia's advice, is forced to flip Agnese's skirt just to stop her from going too far against the knight. To William's shock, his attack barely penetrated Knight Leader's clothing due to the latter's magic that can "set to zero" any weapon regardless of origin. The different weapons in William's Ascalon is "set to zero" in quick succession, and he is about to deal the finishing blow to William when the English mercenary shows the heraldry emblazoning the Ascalon, which symbolizes his support over the complete harmony of Great Britain. Then, William reveals a short blade hidden inside Ascalon and uses this to slice open Knight Leader. Afterwards, William fought against Knight Leader's magic by using several weapons that can change form, and he was able to deal a blunt blow to the Knight Leader's neck using the clasp from the mechanism on Ascalon's hilt, knocking him unconscious.

Touma manages to survive the river drop, and both Floris and Villian are taken in by the Amakusa, who are now on a defensive stand near Folkestone. Then, a fight breaks out nearby, with a muscular man in blue fending off the attacks of the knights surrounding him after carrying a magical carriage with him. Touma is shocked to see both Index in the carriage and Acqua of the Back, but Acqua shows no interest in their previous issues and instead wants Touma to focus on rescuing Index while he proceeds with stopping the coup. Then, Carissa emerges from the nearby forest, brandishing the Curtana Original as she prepares to confront her enemies. After Touma sees the ability of the Curtana Original to sever dimensions, he assumes that his Imagine Breaker would be able to deal with the magical sword. However, as Carissa uses the sheer force of the Curtana Original to manipulate dimensions to send shockwaves around her, Touma is thrown helplessly a few hundred meters off the ground.

Between the Lines
Elizard ends up making a long trip by horse from Windsor to London, which is made challenging by avoiding roads set up to relay information to Carissa, as well as dealing with an animal with a set degree of endurance. Soon, a convertible stops by Elizard, where a gaudy youth is on the driver's seat with Laura Stuart accompanying him. Elizard is shocked at learning that Laura spent that much time in hitch-hiking and decides to take her out of the car. Then, the gaudy youth becomes too interested in Elizard's steed that he ends up calling the Queen an aunt, causing the insulted royalty to use the Curtana Second to slice away the car's radiator. Although she later regrets what she did after losing a faster way to get to London, Elizard decides to push through with the slower gallop to London.

Characters
By order of appearance
 * Carissa
 * Villian
 * William Orwell
 * Knight Leader
 * Kamijou Touma
 * Floris
 * Agnese Sanctis
 * Lucia
 * Angelene
 * Index Librorum Prohibitorum
 * Elizard
 * Laura Stuart

Abilities

 * Imagine Breaker - Kamijou Touma
 * Lotus Wand - Agnese Sanctis

New Abilities

 * Ascalon - Acqua of the Back
 * Bayard - Acqua of the Back
 * Hrunting - Knight Leader
 * Thororm's Defense Formula - Knight Leader

Referbacks

 * Knight Leader recalls Acqua's defeat in Academy City and blames this for the latter's change in power.

Quotes

 * Knight Leader: “I cannot think of an enemy that I am acquainted with.”
 * Villian: “So that’s enough. I have given up hope. Yes, that’s right. Even Knight Leader who has helped me out so much in the past has started this coup d’état and come for my life. Surely, you are the same. If the situation compelled you, you would betray me as well, wouldn’t you? Then that’s enough. I do not trust you. I just do not trust you.”
 * Acqua of the Back: “I do not need decorative words to speak to others. The reason I fight is expressed with my body and my sword!!”
 * Acqua of the Back: “I’m sorry to say that, I didn’t bring a suitable blade for cutting an old friend.”
 * Unnamed gaudy youth: “Aw, shit. The horse is all blurry. You can’t tell what it is at all. It looks like the old woman on top is ascending into heaven or something. Wait…? I think I’ve seen you before. Are you one of my aunts or something?”