Chapter Summaries

Jiang Rui learned that Aleister had assigned him to oversee the Imagine Hand Incident, which was tied to a major experiment, and planned to participate in the upcoming Void Explosion Incident. The chapter left Jiang Rui preparing for the coming events while Nine Tails offered to join him.

• Jiang Rui’s clone lent Haruue Kiyama computing power, raising her ability to Level 4 and naming it Imagine Hand.
• Jiang Rui returned home upset that Misaka Mikoto had invited Saten Ruiko and Kazari Uiharu to School Garden without him, while Nine Tails showed him a miniature universe she had made.
• Nine Tails warned Jiang Rui that their point rankings were nearing the top twenty and suggested he ask Aleister for work; Jiang Rui said he planned to take part in the Void Explosion Incident.
• Three days earlier, Aleister revealed that he had assigned Jiang Rui to oversee the Imagine Hand experiment and explained that its side effects could be managed by disconnecting the victims from the network.
• Jiang Rui questioned Aleister’s motives and asked whether he could take Kamijou Touma instead, then learned there was no time limit for the assignment.
• Nine Tails asked to accompany Jiang Rui in the coming events, and he agreed to nothing before the chapter ended.

Jiang Rui spread Imagine Hand while preparing for the coming investigation, then intervened when Judgment pursued Kaitabi Hatsuy, the mastermind behind the Void Explosion Case. After Kaitabi blamed him for the attack, Jiang Rui turned on him again, leaving Misaka Mikoto and Shirai Kuroko to witness the escalating confrontation.

• Shigehuku Seiho used Imagine Hand on Mitsuko Konori, while Jiang Rui encouraged her to share the ability and later prepared to spread it online.
• Frenda told Jiang Rui that their vacation notice had arrived, and Jiang Rui cooked a meal for his teammates before he and Nine Tails set out to spread Imagine Hand.
• Jiang Rui explained that he was using Kaitabi Hatsuy’s gang and connections to distribute Imagine Hand while limiting the number of users.
• Jiang Rui attacked Kaitabi Hatsuy with blades as Shirai Kuroko and Misaka Mikoto pursued him, and he claimed he had avoided the criminal’s vital points.
• Kaitabi Hatsuy blamed Jiang Rui for making him attack Judgment, and Jiang Rui announced that he now thought Kaitabi should die.

Jiang Rui fought Misaka Mikoto in an alley, then fled after Kamijou Touma’s Imagine Breaker shattered her conjured sword. The others found Kaitabi Hatsuy dead and connected Jiang Rui to the mysterious Imagine Hand cases, whose users had fallen into incurable comas.

• Jiang Rui and Misaka Mikoto exchanged attacks while Shirai Kuroko and Kazari Uiharu moved Kaitabi Hatsuy out of danger.
• Kamijou Touma rushed into the alley, and his Imagine Breaker shattered Jiang Rui’s enormous conjured sword when she dodged his reaching hand.
• Jiang Rui transformed into a bat and escaped after insisting she was not responsible for the explosion at Seventh Mist.
• Shirai Kuroko and Kazari Uiharu found Kaitabi Hatsuy being consumed by a blood formation, which Kamijou Touma erased with his right hand.
• Shirai Kuroko explained that Imagine Hand could amplify and borrow abilities, and Misaka Mikoto recognized Jiang Rui as the black-haired girl linked to Shigehuku Seiho.
• Shirai Kuroko revealed that Imagine Hand users like Shigehuku Seiho had fallen into incurable comas.

Jiang Rui investigated Saten Ruiko’s coma and suspected Haruue Kiyama was behind Imagine Hand, while Misaka Mikoto joined him to pursue the lead. Uiharu found evidence in Haruue’s laboratory as a mysterious girl prepared to act near Misaka 1698.

• Jiang Rui questioned Heaven Canceler about Saten Ruiko’s coma, and the Doctor explained that Imagine Hand hijacked victims’ AIM Fields through a primary wavelength.
• Jiang Rui left the hospital and met Misaka Mikoto, Frenda, Nine Tails, and Kinuhata Saiai as they searched for the Imagine Hand developer.
• Jiang Rui told Misaka Mikoto that Haruue Kiyama might be the developer and took her to the hospital to investigate.
• Uiharu discovered documents about AIM Fields and Imagine Hand in Haruue Kiyama’s laboratory.
• Misaka 1698 stood armed in an abandoned freight yard while a white-haired man and a hooded black-haired girl watched nearby.

Jiang Rui left Saten Ruiko in Heaven Canceler’s care and joined the battle protecting Accelerator, while Aleister arranged magical reinforcements against the attackers. The chapter ended as Jiang Rui warned Accelerator that his reflection might not work against magicians and urged him to survive.

• Misaka Mikoto rushed out after Heaven Canceler explained that Haruue Kiyama might benefit from the AIM Field, while Jiang Rui reinforced Saten Ruiko’s body with magic power.
• Jiang Rui traveled with Kihara Tsumiki and shifted his attention to his Avatar, who was fighting beside Nine Tails to protect Accelerator from four attackers.
• Accelerator learned that his reflection could not stop one of the attackers, while Jiang Rui confronted the hostile group and identified them as members of the Puritan and Russian Orthodox Churches.
• Jiang Rui told Aleister that two attackers were former companions whom supernaturals could not harm, and Aleister agreed to send a Saint and a magical genius as support.
• Aleister asked Jiang Rui not to attack the two former companions for two days, and Jiang Rui agreed to fight alongside the magicians while keeping his larger goal in mind.
• Jiang Rui warned Accelerator that the attackers’ magic might bypass his reflection and told him to hold on until the reinforcements arrived.

Jiang Rui, Nine Tails, and Accelerator fought a group of magicians whose spells overwhelmed Accelerator and threatened to crush him beneath a canopy of iron hands. Kanzaki Kaori arrived to counter the spell, while the enemy’s attack snapped the threads holding the space together.

• Accelerator dismissed magic as impossible, but Yas and Mistu attacked him and a woman with a knife joined the fight; his Vector Manipulation let him strike back, though he repeatedly crashed into warehouses.
• Yas summoned ghost wolves with a parchment spell, and Nine Tails used Collapsing Star to unleash destructive purple energy against them.
• Mistu challenged Jiang Rui with holy power, announced his magic name, and attacked him with a massive sword of Holy Flame.
• A lean magician and the woman created an alchemical divine body from iron, stripping away the air and forming a canopy of giant iron hands that descended on Accelerator.
• Kanzaki Kaori approached with Stiyl and prepared to release the Saint, while the woman stomped and snapped the threads restraining the iron attack, causing space to shatter into fragments.

Kanzaki Kaori and Stiyl confronted the attackers while Jiang Rui and Nine Tails unleashed a catastrophic Dark Matter explosion at the harbor. The blast killed Mistu and Yas, and Jiang Rui learned that Nine Tails had taken the costly Dark Matter from her family vault.

• Kanzaki Kaori shattered the attackers’ inner world and held off the alluring girl while Stiyl offered to protect Accelerator.
• Accelerator refused Stiyl’s help as Underworld Wolves and enemy magicians attacked, and Kanzaki shielded Stiyl and her target from purple rain.
• Nine Tails explained that the purple rain was Dark Matter, then compressed the black hole and triggered a vast chain reaction that erased a huge area of the harbor.
• Kanzaki lowered her swords and questioned the alluring girl about the destruction, while Nine Tails realized Mistu and Yas had likely been swallowed by the blast.
• The lean man reported the deaths, and the alluring girl blamed Nine Tails for wasting valuable Dark Matter taken from her family vault.

Jiang Rui pressured Kanzaki Kaori and Stiyl into pursuing two fleeing Supernatural Paradise members by invoking Index, while warning that Aleister and the Puritan Church could not stop him. Kanzaki left to capture the pair, and Stiyl remained behind, unable to catch up.

• The seductive woman and her companion prepared to retreat, but Jiang Rui warned that they would not escape Academy City alive.
• Jiang Rui ordered Kanzaki Kaori to act, but she and Stiyl initially refused, saying they had only been tasked with protecting Accelerator.
• Tsuchimikado Motoharu identified the two enemies as magicians who had defected to the science side.
• Jiang Rui invoked Index, prompting the seductive woman to flee and Stiyl to confront him until Kanzaki blocked his path.
• Kanzaki drew Seven Heavens Seven Earths, then agreed to defeat the fleeing pair and hand them over to Aleister.
• Kanzaki vanished in pursuit while Stiyl admitted he could not catch up to her.

Kanzaki Kaori fought two Beyonders, defeating the seductive girl’s alchemical doll and forcing the girl to flee by reincarnating as a child. Aleister showed Jiang Rui the girl’s escape and discussed capturing her for research, while Jiang Rui asked that her corpse be left for him afterward.

• Kanzaki Kaori broke through the skinny man’s storm domain while fighting him and the seductive girl, who warned that their organization would keep pursuing Index.
• The seductive girl used forbidden human transmutation to sacrifice her body and transform the skinny man into a young girl, then attacked Kanzaki with her alchemical domain.
• Kanzaki recognized the danger of the girl’s ability to reincarnate through living beings and prepared to kill her, but the girl escaped into a child’s body and lamented losing her Alchemy Doll.
• Stance Control recorded the child’s appearance and projected it to Aleister, who showed Jiang Rui the girl’s escape as well as the ongoing fight.
• Jiang Rui agreed to Aleister’s research of the ancient divine art and asked him to leave the girl’s corpse for him afterward.

Jiang Rui watched Aiwass capture the little girl who had emerged from the road, then intervened when Accelerator confronted Nine Tails over a wounded Misaka Sister. After Nine Tails and Jiang Rui agreed they were friends, the two left the injured clone in Jiang Rui’s care while Stiyl watched their unusually close exchange.

• Jiang Rui and Aleister reviewed footage showing the little girl emerging from the road, and Aiwass captured her for research.
• Jiang Rui watched Kanzaki Kaori’s battle and noted that her opponent’s fighting ability appeared to involve a doll or summon.
• Nine Tails defended the Misaka Sister from Accelerator, who left after taunting her and threatening to kill ten thousand clones the next day.
• Nine Tails tried to kill the wounded Misaka Sister, but Jiang Rui stopped her and said a doctor friend could take care of the clone.
• Nine Tails asked whether she and Jiang Rui were friends, and Jiang Rui agreed after hearing about her connections and wealth.
• Nine Tails and Jiang Rui joked about being partners in crime while Jiang Rui treated the Misaka Sister, and Stiyl wondered why they seemed like a couple.

Jiang Rui watched the aftermath of Kanzaki Kaori’s battle, then used his authority to reach Misaka Mikoto as she fought the Imagine Beast in the Seventh District. He arrived with permission to assist, leaving the fight poised to become a joint effort.

• Jiang Rui learned from the rankings that the number of Supernaturals had fallen to eighty-six and discussed the changing priorities of the survivors with Nine Tails.
• Jiang Rui and Nine Tails decided not to attack Kanzaki Kaori’s weakened opponents, while Stiyl hurried to check on Kanzaki Kaori.
• Aleister and Aiwass monitored a captured girl who failed to withdraw from her mission and realized she was trapped in a simulated world.
• Jiang Rui showed Izumikawa Aiho his authorization and said he had come to handle Misaka Mikoto’s situation.
• Jiang Rui reached Misaka Mikoto as she battled the Imagine Beast, and she demanded that he help bring it down.

Jiang Rui and Misaka Mikoto tried to stop the Imagine Beast from reaching the Nuclear Power Research Institute while Kazari Uiharu set out to broadcast Haruue Kiyama’s plan to awaken the students trapped in the AIM Field Network. Jiang Rui swallowed the Imagine Beast, but it broke free and announced its return.

• Jiang Rui protected the injured Security Force members with an ice dome and told them the Imagine Beast retaliated against those who attacked it.
• Jiang Rui uncovered Haruue Kiyama, who explained that awakening the students through the healing device might disrupt the AIM Field Network.
• Kazari Uiharu chose to trust Haruue Kiyama and hurried to the Judgment Branch Office to broadcast the healing device’s instructions across the city.
• Misaka Mikoto confronted the Imagine Beast as it moved toward the nuclear facility, while Jiang Rui enlarged himself and swallowed it whole.
• Jiang Rui felt pain from the consciousnesses inside the Imagine Beast, began to swell, and burst into water as the creature broke free and roared that it was back.

Misaka Mikoto unleashed her full power to destroy Imagine Beast and shatter its core, while Jiang Rui absorbed the remaining energy. After the battle, Mikoto confronted Jiang Rui for keeping his suspicions about Haruue Kiyama from her, but he dodged the argument by agreeing to speak with Kiyama before Anti-Skill took her away.

• Imagine Beast attacked Misaka Mikoto, Jiang Rui, and Haruue Kiyama even after the treatment program severed its network, so Haruue explained that its core still had to be destroyed.
• Misaka Mikoto attacked Imagine Beast with electromagnetic fields and iron sand, while Jiang Rui explained that he had spared it earlier to avoid harming the ten thousand children within it.
• Misaka Mikoto fired a railgun that shattered Imagine Beast's core, and Jiang Rui absorbed the remaining energy before handing Haruue Kiyama over to Anti-Skill.
• Izumikawa Aiho asked what would happen to Haruue, and Misaka Mikoto said to follow procedure.
• Misaka Mikoto accused Jiang Rui of investigating Haruue behind her back and letting her chase a victim, then demanded a fight; Jiang Rui agreed to go speak with Haruue instead.

After Haruue Kiyama was taken into custody, Jiang Rui visited Ruiko Saten in the hospital and revealed that magic could be learned by anyone, leaving her transfixed by the possibility.

• Izumikawa Aiho and a Judgment officer watched Misaka Mikoto, Uiharu Kazari, and Jiang Rui say goodbye to Haruue Kiyama, who vowed to keep pursuing a way to save the children.
• Jiang Rui and Misaka Mikoto argued over their reckless actions and fought playfully before Uiharu Kazari calmed them down.
• At the hospital, Uiharu Kazari told Ruiko Saten that she might have awakened Aero Hand, but Saten hid her disappointment that she could not use it.
• Jiang Rui spoke privately with Saten, who apologized for her obsession with powers and said her friends mattered more to her than becoming an esper.
• Jiang Rui demonstrated his magic, explained that people could learn it, and left Saten staring in wonder at the images in his water curtain.

Jiang Rui warned Saten Ruiko that learning magic would make her give up esper development, oppose Academy City, and face the need to kill. After his shopping outing with Nine Tails, he met Ghost Blade and learned their vacation was over, while Saten was left wondering whether Jiang Rui had killed anyone and what that meant for Misaka Mikoto.

• Jiang Rui offered to teach Saten Ruiko magic and explained its risks, including that she would need to learn how to kill.
• Jiang Rui and Nine Tails were accosted by delinquents, whom Jiang Rui incapacitated with an electric shock, before they continued their shopping trip.
• Ghost Blade appeared and discussed Kitagawa, Kanzaki Kaori, and Stiyl with Jiang Rui and Nine Tails.
• Jiang Rui said they could not act against Kanzaki Kaori and Stiyl for two days because they had promised Aleister to let them stimulate Kamijou Touma's Imagine Breaker.
• Jiang Rui recounted the hidden dangers and secrets behind Academy City's urban legends to Saten Ruiko, including that Kazari Uiharu was the Guardian.
• After Jiang Rui left, Saten Ruiko wondered whether he had killed anyone and whether Misaka Mikoto knew about it.

After losing his wallet, Kamijou Touma intervened when Misaka Mikoto was harassed, then ran from the delinquents as Jiang Rui and Mikoto followed. At the start of summer vacation, Mikoto’s battle with Touma escalated into a lightning strike, and Jiang Rui was left stunned when Touma pulled him to safety.

• Kamijou Touma realized he had lost his wallet again and used his personal ID to pay at a restaurant.
• Kamijou Touma stepped in when a blond delinquent harassed Misaka Mikoto, and the delinquent’s companions chased him away.
• Jiang Rui and Misaka Mikoto tracked the group through the alleys, where Mikoto shocked the delinquents and then searched for Kamijou Touma.
• Jiang Rui warned nearby extraordinary people to leave the area around Kamijou Touma, and Nine Tails joined him on the bridge.
• Misaka Mikoto provoked Kamijou Touma into a fight, lost her temper, and sent lightning through the bridge and the city power grid.
• Jiang Rui moved in front of Kamijou Touma, but Touma pulled him behind himself and raised his power-nullifying hand against the lightning.

Jiang Rui protected Kamijou Touma from Misaka Mikoto’s lightning, then revealed that she was a Level 5 esper and his classmate. After Touma left, Jiang Rui sent Mikoto after him and discussed his role in the story with Nine Tails.

• Kamijou Touma held back Misaka Mikoto’s lightning while Jiang Rui considered whether she could kill Mikoto and then used water magic to divert the attack.
• Jiang Rui and Misaka Mikoto argued over Jiang Rui’s appearance and school attendance while Touma realized Jiang Rui was a high school student and a famous transfer student.
• Jiang Rui introduced herself to Touma as Rimuru Tempest, a Level 5 esper, and briefly shook his hand before he left the bridge.
• Touma suggested Mikoto spar with Jiang Rui, then offered Jiang Rui help with school questions before walking away.
• Jiang Rui pointed out that Mikoto had never properly introduced herself to Touma, prompting Mikoto to chase after him.
• Nine Tails revealed she had watched from the bridge, and Jiang Rui explained that Touma was central to the story and offered her a copy of A Certain Magical Index.

Jiang Rui and Nine Tails stole Index’s Mobile Church and replaced her habit before Kamijou Touma could destroy it. The next morning, Jiang Rui went to summer cram school, where he met his classmates and asked Kamijou how Index was doing.

• Jiang Rui stopped Nine Tails from using force against Index and disguised them with crosses so they could approach her without triggering Automatic Writing.
• Jiang Rui stole Index’s Mobile Church, left her unconscious in a replacement habit, and learned that the analyzed garment could resist some attacks and repair itself with magic.
• At breakfast, Jiang Rui told Nine Tails, Frenda, and Kinuhata Saiai that he had cram school, then spent the day with Nine Tails away from the others.
• Jiang Rui introduced himself to the cram-school class as Rimuru Tenspert and clarified that he was a boy.
• Kamijou Touma arrived and gave up his usual seat to Jiang Rui, who asked him how Index was doing.

Kamijou Touma found the wounded Index outside his dormitory and learned that Stiyl and Kanzaki Kaori had attacked her to retrieve the 103,000 Grimoires in her memory. Jiang Rui revealed her magical abilities and intervened to protect Index, leaving Kamijou caught between the opposing spells.

• After running into Misaka Mikoto on his way home, Kamijou Touma found Index bleeding on the ground near his dormitory.
• Stiyl told Kamijou that magicians had attacked Index, and Kitagawa Kouchou appeared to help retrieve her 103,000 Grimoires.
• Jiang Rui and Nine Tails arrived, and Jiang Rui explained that Index's perfect memory stored the Grimoires in her brain.
• Stiyl burned Kamijou's phone to stop him from calling an ambulance, while Jiang Rui healed Index with Holy Light.
• Jiang Rui revealed that she could reproduce magic and declared that Index would be protected rather than taken as a sacrificial lamb.
• Stiyl and Jiang Rui cast opposing spells as Kamijou stood between them and cried out about his bad luck.

Jiang Rui and Nine Tails fought Stiyl while Kamijou Touma tried to get Index to safety, but Stiyl completed his Witch Hunt King spell. Kitagawa recognized Jiang Rui’s account of fighting Ling Ling and gave her an epic-grade shield, while Jiang Rui concealed that she had joined the Light Chasers.

• Jiang Rui’s light attack struck Stiyl into a wall, and she urged Kamijou Touma to take Index away while Stiyl insisted he wanted only to protect her.
• Stiyl began chanting Witch Hunt King, and Jiang Rui’s water attacks failed to break through his automatic flame barrier while Nine Tails briefly interrupted his chant with a spatial trick.
• Stiyl completed Witch Hunt King and unleashed a fire giant, while Jiang Rui defended against it and challenged his confidence in the spell’s heat.
• Kitagawa explained that Magic Gods could wield power beyond the sun and recognized Ling Ling as an old rival after Jiang Rui described their fight and mission failure.
• Kitagawa celebrated Jiang Rui’s victory over Ling Ling and gave her an epic-grade shield, while Jiang Rui decided not to reveal that she had joined the Light Chasers.