Chapter Summaries

Jiang Rui explained Aureolus’s reality-warping ritual and tried to recruit Kamijou Touma to help counter him. Touma agreed to join after learning Index had been taken, and Accelerator confronted Jiang Rui over apparently knowing the danger in advance.

• Jiang Rui explained that Aureolus’s Golden Elixir Art could reshape reality, but only into things he fully believed were possible.
• Jiang Rui retrieved Kamijou Touma after he tried to run, and Nine Tails said his ability was needed to counter Aureolus.
• Kamijou Touma agreed to help after asking to return home briefly and explaining that Rimuru and the others had once helped him without needing a reason.
• Jiang Rui, Accelerator, Nine Tails, and Kamijou Touma arrived at Touma’s home and found dried blood on the door, confirming that Index had been abducted.
• Accelerator accused Jiang Rui of knowing Touma was Aureolus’s target and slammed her against a wall before throwing her aside.

Jiang Rui, Nine Tails, Accelerator, and Kamijou Touma invaded Misawa Cram School to rescue Index and discovered the school’s magic trapped intruders in an endless corridor. After Nine Tails broke the illusion, the group navigated layered magical defenses and entered the school’s inner world, where Accelerator spotted a teacher who could see them.

• Jiang Rui explained that Index had been taken because she was targeted, and told Accelerator and Kamijou Touma that she was at Misawa Cram School.
• Jiang Rui opened a dungeon passage to Misawa Cram School, and the group teleported inside to confront its defenses.
• The intruders became trapped walking in circles until Nine Tails detected the illusion and forcibly broke its magic circle.
• Jiang Rui and the others proceeded through the school, deciphering and defeating the alchemist’s assorted magical traps and animated armor.
• Kamijou Touma found that the cram-school students could not see or touch the group, and Jiang Rui explained that they had entered the school’s inner world behind a barrier.
• Accelerator noticed that the teacher at the front of the classroom could see them and asked why.

Jiang Rui and her companions entered Misawa Cram School to confront Aureolus, whose Gregorian Chant Corps-enhanced magic threatened the group. After Nine Tails was injured, Jiang Rui attacked the teacher and demanded that Aureolus show himself, but the chapter ended as the teacher revealed he had only been pretending to be unconscious.

• Jiang Rui explained that the cram school’s teachers acted as guards for the inner world and warned that Aureolus could use the students and the Gregorian Chant Corps to magnify his magic.
• Kamijou Touma struck the teacher, knocking him unconscious and apparently severing his connection to the inner world.
• Aureolus’s magical attack erupted, and Jiang Rui shielded the group while Nine Tails and Kamijou Touma were wounded.
• Nine Tails demanded that Aureolus die for injuring her face, and Jiang Rui agreed despite Aleister’s mission to capture him alive.
• Jiang Rui attacked the unconscious teacher and knocked Kamijou Touma aside when he tried to stop her.
• The teacher revealed he was awake, transformed Jiang Rui’s blood into golden shields, and drew a challenge from her to summon his real body.

Jiang Rui, Nine Tails, Accelerator, and Kamijou Touma confronted Aureolus’s golden doppelganger at Misawa Cram School, disrupting his spell before it could defeat them. As the group headed for the top floor, the Gregorian Chant Corps began chanting, and Jiang Rui explained how Aureolus’s belief-based power could be undermined.

• Aureolus appeared as a golden doppelganger, and Jiang Rui realized Misawa Cram School served as his domain and let him create more copies.
• Jiang Rui wounded Aureolus with his short blade, while Nine Tails used simulated alchemy to create a Golden Holy Sword and destabilize the doppelganger.
• Aureolus abandoned his doppelganger before activating the Golden Elixir Art, then told Jiang Rui he would be waiting on the top floor.
• Jiang Rui offered Nine Tails the Golden Elixir Art if they obtained it, and the group noticed the students had gone silent and begun chanting.
• Jiang Rui identified the chanting students as the Gregorian Chant Corps and led the others toward the top floor, assigning Kamijou Touma to negate any spell that affected them.
• Jiang Rui explained that Aureolus’s magic depended on his own certainty, so doubt could make his wish-fulfillment spell fail.

Jiang Rui’s group evaded Aureolus’s tracking magic and learned why he had spared them, while the Roman Orthodox Church’s Thirteen Knights arrived at Misawa Cram School. Jiang Rui agreed with Aleister to eliminate the knights, leaving Kamijou Touma shaken by the hidden dealings surrounding Index and her companions.

• Jiang Rui’s group escaped a barrage of tracking light orbs by teleporting from the sixth floor to the twelfth, while Aureolus decided he would turn Index into a vampire if he could not obtain the secret by other means.
• Accelerator questioned Jiang Rui about Aureolus’s reluctance to hurt them, and Jiang Rui explained the history linking Aureolus, Stiyl, Kanzaki Kaori, Kamijou Touma, and Index.
• Great Sage detected thirteen intruders, and Jiang Rui identified them as the Thirteen Knights sent by the Roman Orthodox Church.
• Jiang Rui called Aleister and warned that the Thirteen Knights’ arrival could lead to Aureolus’s death; Aleister ordered Jiang Rui to eliminate the knights so the Roman Orthodox Church could not claim credit for killing Aureolus.
• Jiang Rui accepted the assignment and told Kamijou Touma that powerful factions treated people as bargaining chips, while Accelerator challenged him to consider what he would do if his own interests were threatened.

Jiang Rui and his allies battled the Thirteen Knights in Misawa Cram School while Aureolus watched. As the fight shifted in their favor, Jiang Rui dismissed Aureolus's attempt to discuss cooperation and revealed Excalibur.

• Jiang Rui's group teleported into Misawa Cram School's hall, where Aureolus and the Thirteen Knights confronted them.
• Jiang Rui posed as Stiyl Magnus to approach the knights, then killed Captain Neil with a sudden slash.
• The remaining knights attacked, and Nine Tails, Accelerator, and Kamijou Touma joined the battle against them.
• Jiang Rui killed more knights with Dan, while Nine Tails held off six and Accelerator and Kamijou Touma helped defeat others.
• Aureolus asked about Jiang Rui's armor-piercing weapon, and Jiang Rui dismissed the question before drawing Excalibur and claiming he had taken it from Arthur.

Jiang Rui and his companions defeated the Thirteen Knights’ spell bombardment and Aureolus used alchemy to restore Misawa Cram School and kill the knights. After Jiang Rui revealed that Index had been saved, Aureolus lost focus, giving Jiang Rui a chance to attack.

• Jiang Rui claimed to have lived for two thousand years, while Accelerator protected Kamijou Touma and helped fight the knights.
• The Thirteen Knights retreated and began a spell bombardment, but Aureolus restored the damaged Misawa Cram School with alchemy.
• Aureolus appeared before the knights and used word spells to kill them all.
• Aureolus asked Jiang Rui about immortality and memories, and Jiang Rui told him that Index’s memory problems came from a church restriction and that she had already been saved.
• Jiang Rui attacked Aureolus while he was shocked by the news, but Aureolus used a word spell to prevent Jiang Rui from approaching.

Jiang Rui and his allies fought Aureolus inside Misawa Cram School, where Aureolus’s words made his beliefs come true and severed Jiang Rui’s limbs. After Jiang Rui exposed the limits of the ability and Kamijou Touma repeatedly erased its effects, Aureolus broke down over his failure to save Index and turned his power against Touma and Accelerator.

• Aureolus’s words of power made Jiang Rui seem infinitely distant and then severed his limbs, though Jiang Rui’s health remained unchanged.
• Jiang Rui realized Aureolus’s spell made his beliefs real, and he regained control when Aureolus lost focus and imagined Jiang Rui regenerating.
• Aureolus used gravity to pin down Jiang Rui, Kamijou Touma, Accelerator, and Nine Tails, but Touma erased the effect by touching himself and freed Nine Tails.
• Jiang Rui explained that Touma’s right hand erased supernatural powers and taunted Aureolus about failing to save Index, prompting Aureolus to break down laughing.
• Aureolus spared Jiang Rui and Nine Tails but tried to suffocate Touma, whose right hand erased the spell, while Accelerator continued attacking despite doubting his usefulness.

Saten Ruiko brought Misaka Mikoto to Rimuru's villa and used her Library access to investigate a mysterious experiment involving clones. She found a classified file for the Absolute Power Project, which listed Rimuru as its supervisor, and secretly copied the information while hiding his name.

• Saten Ruiko accompanied an anxious Misaka Mikoto to Rimuru's villa after learning Mikoto wanted help checking experiment invitations.
• At the villa, Kinuhata Saiai and Frenda told them Rimuru had not returned, so Saten took Mikoto to Rimuru's room to search Library records.
• Saten used her A-level access to search for clone-related experiments after Mikoto explained that she wanted to verify an experiment's legitimacy.
• Saten found the classified Absolute Power Project file, saw that it included a photograph of Misaka Mikoto, and discovered Rimuru Tempest was listed as its supervisor.
• When Mikoto went to get a drink, Saten copied the file and deleted Rimuru's name before Mikoto returned.

Jiang Rui, Nine Tails, Accelerator, and Kamijou Touma confronted Aureolus at Misawa Cram School, where his ability to make his words real overwhelmed the group. Jiang Rui broke Aureolus’s confidence and resisted his attacks, but Aureolus escaped toward the second floor.

• Kamijou Touma dispelled Aureolus’s magical attacks with Imagine Breaker while Nine Tails struck Aureolus, who survived by declaring himself unharmed and detonating his golden body.
• Jiang Rui explained that Aureolus’s power depended on his complete belief and gave the group Runes of All-Law Breaking as Aureolus prepared a barrage of tracking bullets.
• Aureolus’s gunfire incapacitated Accelerator, Kamijou Touma, and Nine Tails, but Jiang Rui blocked the bullets with a blood shield and remained standing.
• Jiang Rui and Nine Tails taunted Aureolus’s doubts, and his attacks against them failed to kill Jiang Rui or even injure him reliably.
• Aureolus declared that Jiang Rui would never reach the top floor, then sent a golden chain toward the second floor and fled.

Jiang Rui and his companions fought their way toward Aureolus while he used the Blood Moon to overcome the building’s illusion. On the seventeenth floor, they met Himegami Aisa, whose presence triggered Jiang Rui’s vampiric urge, and he learned that Lilith’s power might be behind it.

• Jiang Rui explained that Kamijou Touma’s right hand could wake the unconscious companions, then used the Blood Moon to reveal the true path through Misawa Cram School.
• Nine Tails described the Star Spirit Domain and showed Jiang Rui how her race could reduce a civilization to a tiny world and destroy it.
• Jiang Rui’s group revived the others and fought their way up the building, knocking aside the students blocking their path.
• At the stairway to the seventeenth floor, Himegami Aisa stopped the group, and her scent provoked a powerful vampiric urge in Jiang Rui.
• Great Sage told Jiang Rui that Lilith’s power desired Himegami Aisa, and Jiang Rui restrained Nine Tails from attacking because Himegami could be useful to him.
• Himegami said she wanted to help Aureolus save someone, while Jiang Rui confirmed he was a True Ancestor-level vampire and traded barbs with Accelerator.

Jiang Rui and his group reached Aureolus’s office after capturing Himegami Aisa, but Aureolus trapped them in a golden transmutation spell. Kamijou Touma remained free to negate the magic, leaving Aureolus unsure how to counter him.

• Nine Tails choked Himegami Aisa when she tried to stop Jiang Rui, but Jiang Rui chose to have her imprisoned rather than kill her.
• Nine Tails trapped Himegami Aisa in a temporary wormhole, and Kamijou Touma rushed upstairs to find Index.
• Jiang Rui, Nine Tails, and Accelerator followed Kamijou Touma through the school, where Jiang Rui’s power knocked out the controlled students.
• Kamijou Touma touched the office doors and triggered a hidden bomb before entering the director’s office, where he found Index beside Aureolus.
• Aureolus activated Golden Transmutation across the office floor, turning Nine Tails gold while Kamijou Touma negated the spell on himself and moved to save Accelerator.

Aureolus attacked Kamijou Touma and Accelerator, but Accelerator crippled him and nearly died when Aureolus exchanged their injuries. Jiang Rui healed Accelerator, yet Aureolus struck again and cut off Touma’s right arm as Touma reached for Nine Tails’s golden statue.

• Jiang Rui severed his legs to escape Gold Alchemy, while Nine Tails let the spell turn her into a golden statue.
• Aureolus appeared behind Touma and attacked, but Accelerator caught his sword and pulverized his arm with reflection.
• Accelerator made Aureolus’s blood flow backward, leaving him badly injured, but Aureolus used a command to exchange their injuries.
• Jiang Rui healed Accelerator and revealed that Aureolus was still pretending to be incapacitated.
• Aureolus secretly extended his sword toward Touma, cutting off Touma’s right arm as he reached for Nine Tails’s statue.

Kamijou Touma awakened the power of the Seventeen Dragons of the Hidden World and defeated Aureolus after Aureolus’s spells failed against him. Jiang Rui and Nine Tails brought Aureolus back as proof of the mission, while Nine Tails’s body was left transformed into a golden body.

• Aureolus attacked Kamijou Touma while Jiang Rui and Nine Tails were distracted, but the Hidden World manifested from Touma’s severed arm and restored his power.
• Jiang Rui explained that Touma’s right hand could ignore supernatural abilities in the area, then urged him to confront Aureolus.
• Touma’s belief that Aureolus’s power could not affect him caused Aureolus’s spells to shatter, and Touma beat him unconscious before the dragon head bit him.
• Jiang Rui confirmed that Aureolus and Touma were mentally dead, and Nine Tails decided to take Aureolus back to Aleister as proof of the completed mission.
• Jiang Rui found that Nine Tails’s body had become a golden body after Aureolus’s death, leaving her dependent on her spiritual form.

Jiang Rui completed his mission for Aleister and learned that Saten Ruiko had accessed information about the Absolute Power Project, suggesting Aleister was accelerating the plan. Back at the villa, he found Saten waiting and asked her about what she had read.

• Nine Tails asked Jiang Rui to make golden statues for her future Star God Plaza, and he agreed after she offered him points.
• Nine Tails took Kamijou Touma and the other unconscious person to the hospital while Jiang Rui brought Aureolus' body to Aleister and received a dissected Sequence 5 corpse in return.
• Aleister told Jiang Rui that Saten Ruiko had accessed the Absolute Power Project in the Library, and Jiang Rui realized the plan was moving ahead of schedule.
• Jiang Rui returned to the villa, where the group held a bonfire party to welcome Nine Tails in her damaged, translucent form.
• Jiang Rui asked Saten Ruiko why she had accessed the Absolute Power Project, and she apologized for secretly viewing the confidential information.

Jiang Rui reassured Saten Ruiko about her discovery of the Absolute Power Project, and she affirmed that she would trust his judgment even if it put her at odds with Misaka Mikoto. The group’s evening of grilling turned chaotic when Nine Tails brought the exhausted Himegami Aisa back to join them, while Jiang Rui reflected on how comfortable his team had become together.

• Jiang Rui learned that Saten Ruiko had read files on the Absolute Power Project, praised her for keeping the original documents from Misaka Mikoto, and explained his role in supervising the plan and recovering the Sisters.
• Saten Ruiko asked whether she might have to oppose Misaka Mikoto, then said she would probably help Jiang Rui because she trusted that he would not harm Misaka Mikoto without a reason.
• Jiang Rui explained that the Board of Directors was divided and that Aleister intended to use the distribution of the Sisters to deploy Artificial Heaven, while the Absolute Power Project itself was never meant to succeed.
• Nine Tails brought Himegami Aisa through a black hole, and Himegami Aisa calmly asked for Sensei before accepting that he was dead and helping herself to grilled food.
• Frenda and Kinuhata Saiai protested as Nine Tails stole their food, while Saten Ruiko joined the playful scuffle and Kihara Tsumiki offered Jiang Rui a squid skewer.

Jiang Rui taught Ruiko Saten about magicians’ Spirit Gear and demonstrated his ability to manifest many weapons. He then asked what kind of Spirit Gear she wanted, but he had not yet found one suitable for her.

• Jiang Rui asked the villa’s residents to turn unused rooms into bedrooms, and Kihara Tsumiki agreed to handle the task.
• Himegami Aisa thanked Jiang Rui for arranging information about a sealing device, while Nine Tails warned her to behave herself.
• Jiang Rui stopped Ruiko Saten from leaving for class and explained how magicians’ Spirit Gear worked, including Aureolus’s Golden Tooth Dart.
• Jiang Rui used Projection Magic to show Ruiko Saten thousands of weapons and explained that his ability let him manifest Spirit Gear he had seen.
• Jiang Rui asked Ruiko Saten what kind of Spirit Gear she wanted, unsure what weapon she could use effectively.

Jiang Rui learned that Aleister planned to send him on a mission in Russia while the Absolute Power Project advanced, and he confronted Misaka Mikoto about how she had discovered the project. The chapter ended with Misaka Mikoto accusing Jiang Rui of trying to make her reveal her informant.

• Saten Ruiko asked Jiang Rui about Spirit Gear, and he encouraged her to take her time choosing a weapon as he continued training her.
• Aleister summoned Jiang Rui and assigned him to meet a British Royal Family-loyal Magic Society in Russia, citing Misaka Mikoto's destruction of two cloning laboratories as a reason Jiang Rui should handle the fallout.
• Jiang Rui's clone visited Kamijou Touma in the hospital, where Misaka Mikoto arrived and tried to leave after seeing him.
• Jiang Rui pulled Misaka Mikoto into the next room and questioned how she had learned about the Absolute Power Project.
• Misaka Mikoto realized Jiang Rui had known about the project all along and accused him of trying to identify and punish the person who informed her.

Jiang Rui confronted Misaka Mikoto about the Misaka Sisters and persuaded her not to recklessly destroy the research facilities, while promising to protect her and her friends. After Misaka left, Ciel pointed out that Jiang Rui was edging into Kamijou Touma’s role, and Jiang Rui began planning when to intervene in Mikoto’s investigation.

• Jiang Rui reminded Misaka Mikoto that he and Heaven Canceler had helped save the Misaka Clones, then warned her that destroying the facilities could make enemies of Academy City and endanger Saten Ruiko.
• Misaka Mikoto admitted she could not ignore the twenty thousand Sisters and asked Jiang Rui to protect Saten; Jiang Rui promised to protect her friends but urged her not to destroy the laboratories.
• Misaka told Jiang Rui to defeat her if he wanted to stop her, and he warned her that Lilith, his colleague assigned to protect the facilities, was dangerous.
• Misaka left for Tokiwadai after asking about Jiang Rui’s female friends, while Jiang Rui noticed her affection rating had increased.
• Ciel teased Jiang Rui about replacing Kamijou Touma as Misaka’s romantic catalyst, and Jiang Rui decided to let Misaka destroy more facilities before intervening a few days later.

Jiang Rui briefed his team on escorting Newborn Light from Russia to England while Misaka Mikoto continued searching for the experiments targeting the Misaka Sisters. The chapter ended with Lilith attacking Mikoto at a research institute, destroying its wall and confronting her.

• Jiang Rui told his team about Aleister’s mission, and Nine Tails objected to leaving Academy City before knocking him into the pool.
• Jiang Rui’s team departed for a Russian border town while Yinyin Qingcao and Fiery Sky attacked the remaining Amakusa-Style members in Academy City.
• Accelerator nearly killed a Misaka Sister and noticed that Jiang Rui had not come to collect her.
• Misaka Mikoto slipped out past Shirai Kuroko to search for the experimental site, determined to stop the killings.
• Jiang Rui waited at a research institute and attacked Mikoto with a thrown cup before Lilith destroyed the wall and confronted her.