Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 20/Chapter 1

Part 1 (Summary)
October 30.

Shiage and Rikou are in a small car near the country Elizerina’s (sp?) border. Shiage’s planning to find ‘something’ to use in their ‘negotiations’ with Academy City so Rikou can be saved. Rikou’s been translating the Russian radio, and it says war has begun, with Academy City having evacuated all its facilities out of Russia. Shiage thinks that might be the reason why Academy City is letting them be for the moment.

Shiage found they are running low on funds, and he plans to rob a corner store next to a petrol station for some supplies. He wants to avoid hurting the employees there at all costs. When he charged inside there were already 3 robbers in there that have tied up the female employee, threatening her with a dagger. When the Russian robbers asked ‘who the hell are you’ in Russian, Shiage just replied “A robber, so put your hands up!” in Japanese without understanding a word they said.

After hearing many gunshots, Rikou sees Shiage coming out of the shop with merchandise, such as food and warm clothing. When she asked if it went well, Shiage replied he got thanked by the employee and got all the things for free, even fuel for the car. They drove off again with Rikou remaining confused about what happened.

Part 2 (Summary)
Accelerator is hiding inside a military convoy that’s on the ‘Federal train highway’ that spans across Europe and Asia, and will take over two weeks to walk from one end to the other. Due to wartime conditions all safety standards are ignored and all trains are travelling at high speeds. The carriage Accelerator is in is travelling at over 500km/hr, with the first section carrying something like fighter jets.

Accelerator’s thinking about the war and thinks this isn’t like how Academy City does things, unless they have something they want in Russia – like that time when they invaded Avignon (TN: a city in southern France, see vol14), though he didn’t know what Academy City is after at that time either. Academy City could’ve easily stopped the war from happening before it erupted if they wanted to, but allowed it to happen, so there must be something hidden in all this.

Accelerator covered Last Order with blankets found on the truck, and put on a white-coloured coat himself. Last Order woke up and asked where they are, and Accelerator lied saying everything will be fine. Last Order is saying it’s great that after all this time she can finally see Accelerator’s face again, trying to move her hand towards Accelerator but can only make her fingers tremble.

Accelerator can only fume at the injustice of the world that makes a girl that did nothing wrong suffer like this. His heart is feeling like it’s been pierced and he clenched his teeth that strange noises came out of it. He clenched his cane as if to crush it totally. He thinks in this world war there are many people fighting for different reasons, and yet none is willing to fight for her. Accelerator abandoned everything he had, such as his position and his pride, to save this girl. Aiwass said if Accelerator can defeat the cause of this unrest in the world then he might be able to help Last Order in some way, though Accelerator don’t know if he can trust Aiwass. But regardless he can only do as Aiwass suggested since it’s the only option.

Accelerator then heard many clunks coming from all the carriages. Russian profanities cried out and gunshots fired, but all quickly turned into cries of pain and anguish. Accelerator thought maybe Academy City have finally caught up with them, as there aren’t many things that can do this on a train travelling at 500km/hr. Accelerator covered Last Order’s eyes with a folded handkerchief, as he didn’t want her to see the bloody world he lives in. Last Order knows Accelerator is going to do something dangerous, but all she can do is ask to “try not to fight in that kind of wind”, as she no longer even have strength to rob Accelerator of his powers by cutting off the Misaka Network. Accelerator stood up and vowed to kill off every last one that tries to harm Last Order.

Accelerator then shot up to the top of the carriage and left cracks in the carriage. He sees about 10 white Power Armours, the kind designed for speed. It’s noted that these Armours are state-of-the-art, and monetary efficiency in production is completely ignored to get the best possible outcome. As the white armours pointed their weapons at Accelerator, he moved his red eyes around and said: “… You pieces of trash, don’t make me mad.”

A Russian soldier is trembling in terror. Not just at the white armours that’s flying towards them but the white monster with red eyes that disposed of them easily. That monster knocked off one of the armours off the train and then said “Che, so that can’t kill them huh”, making it even more clear they’re all monsters. One of the armours jumped out to try and ambush the monster but he turned the armour into pieces just by touching it. The suitcase the armour is carrying dropped next to him, with what remains of a handcuff still on it. The suitcase was cuffed onto the Russian soldier before, but the one of the white armours crushed the lock with its fingertips. The monster walked towards the suitcase, and the soldier was too scared to try and stop him. The monster shattered the lock like it was nothing. The monster muttered something like “What the hell is this?” but he can’t tell for sure. The soldier then saw several dozen lambskin paper with spells and magic circles inscribed in nearly-faded ink on them, which gives off a ominous feeling.

While the soldier thinks no-one will believe in demons in present day, he don’t believe the upper brass of the military will put something like that in a reinforced suitcase and handcuff it to a soldier when transporting, and Academy City coming after it without reason. Therefore those lambskin papers must hold extraordinary value.

“Interesting…”

That monster muttered in a low voice. “So something like this have the same importance as retrieving the strongest esper of Academy City huh… Though I don’t see anything special right now, this just might have something to do with ‘Another set of laws’ that damn bastard mentioned before.”

Part 3 (Summary)
Kamijou Touma finally reached Russia. Even though it’s only the end of October, the ground is already covered in snow. The snow has gotten into his shoes and it’s freezing. The school uniform he have from Academy City though is made from the latest technology, and can adapt to any environment, which he found to be reassuring otherwise he would freeze even more.

He found war have broken out and according to Queen Elizard it has erupted unnaturally, which means Fiamma is behind it. But also, Academy City’s response is ridiculously fast, as if they’ve prepared for this years ago, since as soon as the war started Academy City have poured massive amounts of AI-controlled weaponry and forces against Russia. Touma decides to think about it later, since what he has to do right now is defeat Fiamma and break his controller to save Index.

Lessar managed to find him as soon as he crossed the border into Russia, which surprised him as they’ve settled everything back in UK. Lessar says she’s not here on orders from the Royal family, she doesn’t have a grudge against Fiamma, nor that she wants to be a part of the ‘Kamijou Faction’. She says she’s only here to keep Touma from dying, since if he dies it wouldn’t be good for UK as a whole – though soon afterwards it’s revealed that’s only an excuse. Lessar also says she now have ‘upgraded’ steel gloves, which can fire off things like a red laser and can manipulate objects just by pointing at it. Touma didn’t pay much attention to that, and Lessar’s disappointed, thinking maybe he’s seen much more impressive things during the civil war.

Lessar asked him if he needed an interpreter for Russian, and Touma’s feeling pathetic that since he’s supposed to be sneaking into the enemy territory, and somehow anyone can just walk up and find him. Lessar mistakens Touma’s melancholy for feeling guilty that not long after leaving Index in London and saying he’ll save her, then soon afterwards meeting another girl. Lessar then told him she’s not wearing any shorts under her skirt, just her panties, and Touma exclaimed why does he need to know that useless info. Lessar then commanded him to forget any other girls he might have a relationship with, and Touma starts to get a twitch on his head when anime characters get angry (TN: Don’t know the name for that, someone please fix this). Lessar then asked how is Touma going to find Fiamma in a country spanning 9 time zones, but isn’t expecting a good answer. However, Touma surprised Lessar by saying: “… Who knows how many times I’ve fought against magicians, by now I know at least a bit on how these people do things.”

Part 4 (Summary)
At Dover Strait, the patch of ocean between France and UK around 30Km long the Knights and Anglican Church set up defences against the Roman Catholic Church. UK has brought out many wooden ships spanning 100m in length, and all have been magically reinforced.

Agnese is talking to Kanzaki on board one of the ships, remarking how resilient humans are, that after the civil war (TN: see volume 17-18) which ended spectacularly and involved everyone in the country, now people are carrying on with life and accepting it. Kanzaki says that’s not impossible, considering things like ‘espers’ are being developed at Academy City people now have greater tolerance for these kind of things. Kanzaki’s not comfortable thinking about using science to cover magic, and decides to change the topic.

If France breaks through here then it would be all over. This time it’s unknown whether France is attacking because of backing from Roman Catholic Church and the Russian Orthodox Church, or they just want to settle the bloody history (in terms of magic side relationships) between the two countries once and for all.

France then commenced their attack, solidifying the ocean surface between the two countries using the salt in the ocean, and negating the UK’s ships from moving. Half of UK’s defence power are the ships, and they’ve been negated so easily. Then as fast as an arrow, over a hundred, no, over a thousand magicians started crossing the distance between the two countries from France’s side. And when Kanzaki and others jumped onto the salt to try and fight back, the surface collapsed beneath them from a long distance attack. When Kanzaki grimaced thinking of course the enemy isn’t going to make this easy, she heard a voice saying:

“Panicking with just this, are you people really a fighting force protecting UK?”

A thin layer of something like paint covered the Strait immediately, and the UK’s forces now have a place to stand. After Kanzaki blown away over 20 magicians surrounding her using her sheath, she turned around and looked at the source of the voice. It turns out it’s the 2nd princess of UK, Carrisa.

Part 5 (Summary)
Touma starts to explain his theory on why Fiamma did what he did. As members of God’s Right Seat that’s capable of fighting decreased one by one, he needed something that can take their place. And the answer is the Russian military. Of course the military isn’t going to be as powerful, but all they need to do is buy him time. Lessar says Fiamma’s goal is Sasha Kruezev, that’s why he entered Russia. Touma said maybe, but if that’s the only reason it’s not enough for him to go into Russia himself – all Fiamma had to do is command the Russian Orthodox Church and the military to hunt her down, while he doesn’t have to move a finger. When Lessar asked what else could it be, Touma replied something he must obtain with his own hands.

Lessar now thinks she can’t tell whether Touma is actually smart or dumb. It’s like he’s only good at certain aspects and terrible at others. Touma then said his plan is to find the discrepancies in Russia, since there’s no way Fiamma will tell the military his real plans. Like an optical illusion, if he looks from a different point of view he might be able to see something different. If that’s not the case Touma says he wouldn’t have had to trek all the way into this frozen land.

Touma looked at the white expanse before him, and then said lightly: “… Wait for me.”

Part 6 (Summary)
Details on the republic of Elizerina are given: it’s a country formed in recent years from several independent nations that have trade relations with the EU. Passports are not necessary to cross into or out Elizerina’s borders. Russia sees it as a thorn in its side and wanted an excuse to wipe it out, and they now have it in this war.

Lessar says Russia military have set up a base near Elizerina’s borders, along with missile launchers that can reach a distance of 40Km away near the border, readying to bombard. Many other armoured vehicles are around as well, making the actual striking distance probably even further. Thousands of missiles are likely to fly into Elizerina if the base is completed.

Touma disagrees with Lessar’s view, saying if Russia really wanted to bombard Elizerina they would use the air force’s bombers and fighters, since they would allow them to ignore the shooting distance and can strike even the heart of the enemy nation. Therefore this base is actually unnecessary, and the weapons are just for show.

At this point a HsB-00 flew past them, dropping off resources for Academy City’s bases inside Russia. Due to its speed, the Russia air force can’t do anything about it and can only watch as Academy City take over large chunks of its territory. Touma and Lessar hear a HsB-00 fly past about once every 30 minutes.

Touma continued, saying there’s no sign of the Russian air force or a runway at that base, so something is not quite right. Even though Lessar can be called a fighting expert from the Magic side, she can’t contribute much due to Touma’s expertise in the Science side. When she asked how does he know all this, Touma told her it’s because of the map he bought. Lessar asked if he can really know all this from just reading a map, Touma said of course not, he’s not a professional soldier – but Touma raises the fact that if the military have taken over means maps of the area wouldn’t be sold. From the size of that base it’s hard to imagine the military don’t have a hand in this area, so it means the security of the area have been deliberately lowered, and that in itself is suspicious.

Lessar is impressed by Touma’s deductions, and asked if Fiamma is really in there and how is Touma going to get past all the soldiers. Before Touma can reply they saw several large trucks on the far side of the plain, and it have been reinforced by metal in several places suggesting it’s military vehicles. Normally that wouldn’t seem suspicious, but at the front and back of the convoy there are 2-horse-drawn carriages, with both the horse and carriage made of metal. Touma have no clue what those horse-drawn carriages are, but Lessar says they’re Sleipnirs(TN: Odin’s steed, a horse that have eight legs, can run faster than the wind and can go anywhere in Heaven, Earth and Hell) made by the Russian Orthodox Church. And the Orthodox church have perfected ways to make the steel horses run on snow. Lessar also said that though magicians are clueless when it comes to latest technology, they can at least drive trucks.

Touma panicked and dived down, but jumped back up as his clothes aren’t waterproof, the snow seeped through and is freezing. Lessar have a ‘Are you serious...?’ expression on her face. Touma wondered out loud what could they possibly be transporting, Lessar replied it’s probably the local citizens. Lessar pointed to the map and said before that base was built there was probably people living around there, and now these people are probably going to be sent to concentrating camps. Lessar continued, saying depriving them of their homes at a season like this means the Russian Orthodox Church don’t care about their lives.

Touma asked how many people are there, and Lessar replied probably about 8 villages with 20-30 people in each, and with that many trucks they can probably all fit in there somehow. Then she sees Touma going to a cottage made of logs nearby, and according to the sign on the 4-wheel drive nearby it’s probably one of the Russian military’s security stations, though it seems there’s no-one there right now. Touma went up to the car and broke the windows with his elbows to unlock the door. Lessar sighed as she saw Touma rummaged to find the tool box and asked if he’s going to try and save the villager with nothing except a crowbar. Touma replied he doesn’t know how many enemies there are nor what magic they use, the chances of winning head on is minuscule; he also says he doesn’t charge into the certain death because he likes to. Since he didn’t deny that he’s going to try and save the villagers, Lessar thought there are most likely probably a few screws loose in his head. But because so she also thought if she can get Touma on her side he’ll be a good asset for UK.

Touma then stabbed the crowbar onto the ground and tied nylon wires onto it. He also looked at the clock-hands on his cellphone, then stabbed another wooden stake onto the ground a bit further and tied the nylon wire onto it. Seeing Touma like this the 1st thing Lessar thinks of is he’s measuring something, probably for the purpose of making some sort of large-scale magic circle since the size of a magic circle needs to fit the purpose of the magician. She asked what is he doing and Touma replied he’s measuring the flight path. Lessar said so he’s not actually going to go rampage with a crowbar, to which Touma replied no matter how much of a idiot he is he’s not that dumb; there’s a lot of people guarding that convoy and he have no chance of winning against a group of professional magicians head on. He went on to say it’s not like the opening scene of a Shounen manga, he doesn’t have a chance in fighting, since even if he have a special ability in his right hand it’s useless if he’s overwhelmed by numerous opponents. Lessar asked then what is he going to do, and Touma asked if the guards really don’t care about of the lives of the villagers that much. Lessar replied if they really did care then the villagers won’t be sent to concentration camps, and is that really hard to imagine for Touma who is from a peaceful country like Japan. Touma said if that’s the case then it’s good, which lead to Lessar asking just what is he going to do. Touma said it’s nothing complex, just using everything that can be used right now, and points up to a plane’s cloud trail up in the sky.

Part 7 (Summary)
The Russian mages saw a HsB-02 flying past them and is more annoyed at the sight rather than feeling safe the bomber have no time for them. Most of them have heard how these things destroyed a large section of Avignon with ease. They also mentioned it’s a pity that mages no longer have control over the sky, due to a magic based on St. John’s deeds that destroys any magician flying (TN: something about how the saint prayed to God to strike down a pagan who’s flying in order to prove the Christian God is the true path or something, more details are mentioned in earlier novels but I can’t find them right now, nor am I a expert on the Bible to know what story this is about).

Then 300m ahead of the Russian mages a building and vehicle seemed to blow up, with the path of destruction extending out for 3Km, and the path glows orange as if magma has risen up. The Russian mages thought Academy City have finally started a all out attack on Russia and are using the ‘Earth Blade’ on them. The mages decides that the spell to make people ignore them (similar to Stiyl’s ‘Opila’ runes) take too long to cast and might not work, so decides to camouflage themselves and run out into the snow-covered plains, and leave the trucks there as decoys to buy time.

It turned out the ‘Earth Blade’ is a rip-off Touma thought up, and asked Lessar to use her enhanced steel gloves to control the HsB-02 up 10Km high in the sky to change its flight path. Lessar cried out in anguish after seeing her enhanced gloves fall to pieces in front of her, while Touma says happily that the plan worked. (TN: the description here is “the supersonic bomber cut Russia’s land in half”, so Accelerator didn’t do something like that in volume 20 – though I’m not saying Accelerator can’t pull it off if he has to do it)

Touma continued on saying since their opponents are professionals if they use something like explosives they might know exactly what kind of explosives are used just by the sound and range of the explosion, so they can’t use a decoy using that; but by using something the Russian mages aren’t familiar with they are able to fool them. Touma and Lessar went over to the trucks and told the villagers to escape with them (Touma asked Lessar to translate), and headed over to the carriage at the very front. Touma asked Lessar to drive the carriage, since he’s only a normal high-school student and normal students wouldn’t know how to drive a horse-carriage. Lessar replied she’s still only a middle-school student as well, but she still went to the driver’s seat. Before Touma went over, a small girl came forward and grabbed the corner of his top, as if to say thanks. The girl’s mother with a baby in her arms came along and grabbed the small girl away from Touma and looked at him with hostility, as due to the 3rd world war going on they don’t trust Japanese people. Though Touma feels a bit hurt he didn’t let it show on his face, and just say don’t worry about what he has done, and if they really want to repay him just help him one day if they ever see him in trouble (He said that in Japanese, hoping the meaning got across). Lessar blared the horns as if to tell Touma to hurry up, and Touma went to the carriage thinking regardless of vehicles these things are all the same.

Part 8 (Summary)
Though the armoured horse-drawn carriage isn’t comfortable at least it wasn’t cold due to some sort of magical air-conditioning. The reins are poking out of the steel walls connecting to the steel horses. Lessar complains it’s getting hot and Touma replies if they move the dial it should get better, but since he touched it with his right hand earlier he seemed to have broken it. Lessar unbuttoned her shirt a bit, and started to flap her skirt complaining it’s hot. Touma asks her to tone it down. Lessar says he’s reactions meant he’s looking at her lewdly, and should just ‘make a move’ on her already, then he can work for UK for good. Touma starts to say a girl that doesn’t even know the meaning of ‘ero’ shouldn’t say things like this, and he should lecture her as a senpai in life. Lessar smiled evilly thinking he fell for it, then with her tail waving around and said if so then she’ll show him just how serious she is.

Part 9 (Summary)
On the battlefield at Dover Strait Itsuwa got a chill down her spine. Tatemiya Seiji asked her what’s wrong and she replied it’s nothing, but she has a bad feeling for some reason…

Part 10 (Summary)
The narrative said nothing serious happened between the Touma and Lessar. 30 minutes later she stopped the carriage, saying if they go further they’ll be in bombing range from the base and their own carriage can’t defend against it. The defence line has a diameter of 40Km around the base. Lessars says there won’t be any blind spots, but Touma disagrees. He says while Fiamma is using the Russian military he won’t tell them his plans, so to move magical items inside the base there’ll be a hidden path made especially for magicians to go inside. Touma continues to say most soldiers in the Russian military won’t be magicians, so it should be easier breaking in from that route.

Lessar asked wouldn’t that be dangerous as well, since Fiamma is the leader of God’s Right Seat and who knows what kind of magical traps are waiting. Touma replied then he can finally step up, gesturing that it’s nothing Imagine Breaker can’t handle. He says it’s not his style fighting against normal soldiers armed with grenades and guns, and after fighting with Russian mages it didn’t feel like he was fighting at normal levels, so now it’s finally time for him to shine. Touma looked forwards at the base and muttered “… Here I come, Fiamma of the Right.”

Part 11 (Summary)
Deep within Moscow the military brass and the Russian Orthodox Church’s Archbishop meets at a place where normal soldiers won’t bother them. The Archbishop asked whether they can suppress Academy City, and the military brass responded that it’s unexpected that Academy City have so much support, and it’s a problem that China and India decided against supporting Russia. The military brass is worried that Academy City will somehow get their hands on Russian nuclear material and take it back to Academy City for unknown purposes – either by hacking into the base or attacking by force. The narrative said they’ve been over this issue many times now. At this time, someone looked at the documents in front of them and muttered “The Kremlin Report…?”, hinting that they might have to resort to using something like that.

Intermission 1 (Summary)
Back in Academy City, there’s a tense atmosphere. Though the possibly is low, it’s not impossible for the Russian air force to break through and bomb Academy City. Due to Russia starting a world war, not even America can be counted on to help Japan. The Japanese Government starts to pressure Academy City to give in to the demands, but Academy City released a video in response: over 30+ intercontinental missiles fired towards Academy City being blown down at once by Academy City’s defences. Academy City says they have no obligations protecting anyone that’s not their allies, and though Russia haven’t used nuclear missiles it’s not impossible they wouldn’t cross that line. And even though Japan have their own Aegis battleships and PAC3 missiles maintained by taxpayers, they should still think about that problem.

Mikoto thinks that’s practically a threat made by Academy City, since they’re saying even though they have anti-air defence they won’t help the rest of Japan. Even though America’s aid is helpful it’s still 30 years behind Academy City’s technology and can’t be compared. Even a child knows American technology isn’t 100% reliable, and even if one missile gets past it means a great tragedy. Because of that, the majority of citizens have protested against the Japan government and wants them to focus on getting Academy City’s help to extend to their own cities. During this time, Academy City can practically do what they want.

Mikoto got all that info off the internet, including Russia’s declaration of war that was released all over the world. Mikoto also thinks Academy City’s image as ‘protector’ for Japan is ridiculously clean, to the extent that if there’s nothing hiding underneath it all it’s very suspicious. Mikoto called Touma multiple times but he didn’t pick up, and recently before he said he was in London while a coup was happening. She’s starting to wonder if he’ll ever get back to Academy City. District 23 restricted all civilian flights after the declaration of war, so it means it’ll be hard for him to get back. If he’s still outside then it’ll be even more dangerous for him then if he’s in Academy City, and she can’t just do nothing about this.