Chapter 23: Ending the War

Hello, everyone! Here's the second chapter covering the events of World War 3. Touma is about to fight Fiamma on top of the Star of Bethlehem, and Mikoto is looking for a way to reach her boyfriend all the way up in the sky.

GG Vegito: Yeah, the final showdown is coming soon.

Guest10032: Yeah, Touma's had a big influence on Mikoto even in canon, and that scene after the Graviton Bombing was pretty funny. I guess it took her until the Sisters Arc to realize how cool he is. Misaka 10777 didn't question the flying fortress that much in the light novel, but she has heard the others talk about magic, so there may be an interesting conversation in the future. You're right, Mikoto's friends don't appear much in NT. Kuroko and Uiharu helped as Judgement members in NT13, and Kuroko was in NT16 when Mikoto brought Touma to Tokiwadai, but those weren't really major appearances. But this frees me up to write some original scenes involving them, which I'm looking forward to. I have quite a bit of free time to write since I'm currently unemployed, but I'll probably have to slow down as I get more involved in my job search. I'm also looking forward to seeing what you predicted.

xellos540: Yeah, Lessar's quite an interesting character, especially with how she makes everyone else react to her antics. Thanks for catching that typo, I edited the chapter to fix it. Lessar was being blatant enough for even Touma to notice. She always says she only wants to seduce him for Britain, though maybe she's not telling the full truth. She's probably at least heard about Touma's punch on Carissa, which threw her body through a part of Buckingham Palace. The plane doesn't get cut in half because Mikoto is arriving a bit earlier than in canon. Lessar doesn't mind a foursome, but Touma and Mikoto definitely do mind. As for whether Mikoto reaches the fortress and if Birdway will appear, you'll have to wait and see. Yes, Vento helped Touma, Lessar, and Elizalina fight against Fiamma earlier, but I skipped over that fight.

YoLO1992: I'm glad you're looking forward to them fighting together!

AssassinBlaze: Yeah, Touma fought against Accelerator earlier, but I skipped over that scene, since it's basically the same as in canon.

Surayo: Yeah, Mikoto's been a very bad girl in this chapter!

Hercules8: I'm glad you liked Touma standing up to Lessar, and that you're continuing to enjoy the story!

Clearwing Yuta: Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Stryper88: Yeah, I wanted to have them meet up soon after she landed, and have enough time to talk a bit before fighting. This was the easiest way to do that. I'm happy you enjoyed Touma getting mad at Lessar. The ending of WW3 will hopefully be pretty impactful.

tython055: Yeah, Mikoto had a lot of trouble reaching the flying fortress in canon, and it didn't end well for her even when she did. However, what happens in this fic remains to be seen. I don't know if Mikoto would keep a diary of such secret information. I don't think Saten will go that far when she finds out, but she'll probably be upset and even a bit angry at Mikoto and especially Shokuhou.

fencer29: You're right, Misaka 10777 has already made much more progress towards Touma here than in canon. They will probably need an aircraft to reach the fortress. Misaka 10777 would definitely like a necklace like the Misakas in Academy City, but it remains to be seen if she even gets to see Touma again.

Streetmud: I'm glad you liked the couple's reunion. Touma will certainly have to be wary of Lessar in the future. I did skip over the fight with Accelerator, since it's basically the same as in canon, and since I want to focus on scenes impacting the main couple more. I'm also glad you liked how I ended that chapter, and I hope you enjoy the continuation in this chapter.

Blankow: It helps to have a lot of free time and a detailed outline. I'm happy you enjoyed Mikoto and Touma's reunion, especially since they didn't get to really have one during WW3 in canon. Touma is definitely more wary of Lessar making blatant advances on him now that he's actually in a relationship.

Guest: Thanks, I'm glad you're enjoying them as a couple. Yeah, Mikoto remembered Lessar back from the last time she was in Russia.

HunterX097: We'll indeed see in this chapter how successful Mikoto will be in that goal.

Hotaru TKM: Canon means what happened in the original light novels/manga/maybe anime. I and other reviewers have been comparing what happens in this fic to what happened in the original story.

The One who saw All: I'm glad you enjoyed Touma rebuffing Lessar. Mikoto met Lessar during her demonstration in Russia in June, which was depicted in "Railgun SS2: Shopping Mall Demonstration." It remains to be seen whether Mikoto will see that part of the fight.

Levin: In Chapter 20, Touma told Mikoto a bit about his childhood, which he learned from his father during the Angel Fall arc. It could be interesting for her to learn the full details, though I'm not sure if I want his parents to get involved much in this fic.

Mikoto and Misaka 10777 were currently looking up at the giant fortress in the sky, which Touma had just been taken up by. While he was likely about to fight against Fiamma of the Right, the two of them were stuck on the ground, unable to join in.

Suddenly, the two of them saw a human-like silhouette flying quickly through the sky. It had large crystal wings growing from its back. Mikoto didn't know what it was, but she guessed it was related to magic and had something to do with the fortress.

"Big Sister, do you know what that thing is, asks Misaka, pointing at the humanoid figure darting across the sky."

Mikoto shook her head, "No, not really. But I think we should focus on that flying fortress instead."

"Do you want to get up there to assist the boy, questions Misaka as she observes the giant fortress rising higher and higher."

Mikoto frowned as she thought about how they could get up there. "It already seems like it's over a kilometer above the ground, and it's still going up. It's too far away to attract ourselves to it using my magnetism."

"Is it possible to place multiple relay points in the air at successive heights and go up in steps, asks Misaka, offering a suggestion."

Mikoto placed her hand on her chin and replied, "That's an interesting idea, but I don't think there's a good way to set them up." She then recalled her fight against the Doppelganger a few weeks earlier, and how she had managed to get onto the airship. She continued musing, "Hmm, if I gather a huge amount of iron sand, I might be able to use it to lift us up high enough. But with how high that fortress is, the air might be too cold and not have enough pressure or oxygen. Even a military helicopter isn't airtight, so we probably need an aircraft to get up there, especially if it keeps going up." Unfortunately, there weren't any aircraft around that she could procure. She was frustrated that she'd caught up to Touma only to almost immediately get separated from him again, with no easy way to reunite.

Misaka 10777 suddenly brought her hand up to her headset radio. "Intercepting a Russian transmission, reports Misaka. The encryption is different from the one used for their vehicles. Someone named Nikolai Tolstoy is being frequently mentioned, but this transmission is probably from an independent unit, conjectures Misaka."

Mikoto was a bit confused, "Independent unit? You mean a Russian unit that's acting outside the chain of command?"

"Yes. It seems they are planning a large-scale attack on that fortress from that surface, reports Misaka, summarizing the information."

Mikoto tensed up, "That's not good, that would put Touma in danger." She didn't care if they shot down the fortress, but that would probably kill the boy along with it. It seemed that before they could reach the fortress, they might have to stop this incoming attack. She then asked her sister, "What kind of weapon are they using, anyway? I don't think normal surface-to-air missiles will have much effect on that thing."

"NU-AD1967. That's the name of the weapon being used to attack the fortress, states Misaka."

Mikoto didn't know what that codename meant, so she replied, "Okay, but what is that, exactly?"

"It's a former Soviet tactical nuclear warhead, reports Misaka."

This information stunned Mikoto, who became pale and was forced to sit down in the snow. Her sister turned to observe her as she tried to regain her composure.

"Are you all right, Big Sister, questions Misaka as she observes your reaction to the news."

Mikoto slowly looked up at her sister and asked, "Wait, you mean they're going to fire actual nukes at that fortress? Has the Russian president actually authorized that?"

"There's no mention of that over the standard military lines, reports Misaka after double checking. Furthermore, there's no sign of the nuclear confirmation code being sent. This decision has likely been taken by the man named Nikolai Tolstoy, who is in charge of this independent unit under, guesses Misaka."

Mikoto couldn't believe this, "So you're saying a single rogue unit in the Russian army is preparing to use nuclear missiles? I thought they couldn't be detonated without a confirmation code from the president!" It would be catastrophic if a random unit could fire nukes without being authorized by the Russian government.

"Not necessarily, retorts Misaka, listening to the transmission with a worried look on her face. Apparently this independent unit is using exchanged warheads, says Misaka in utter shock. A number of nuclear warheads leaked out of Russia at the end of the Cold War. Most of them couldn't be detonated without the confirmation code, but certain warheads have their security lock inside the outer shell surrounding the nuclear material, explains Misaka."

Mikoto's eyes widened as she realized where this was going, "So then if they removed the outer shell and replaced it with a new one…"

"Then they could still detonate the nuclear material with the exact same destructive power, concludes Misaka, finishing your sentence." She was getting this information not just from the intercepted transmissions, but also from the Misaka Network. "After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russian special forces were sent to recover any leaked nuclear warheads to prevent them from falling into the wrong hands. The official records say that these warheads were properly disassembled and used as fuel for peaceful nuclear reactors, adds Misaka, providing some more background information."

Mikoto slowly stood back up, deducing, "So this independent unit kept control of some of the warheads they recovered? That means they can fire nuclear weapons without the Russian president's approval?"

"Yes, and they are currently preparing a vehicle-based launcher to fire those exchanged nuclear warheads at that fortress, says Misaka, exposing their plan."

Mikoto muttered, "This is totally insane!" If those nukes were fired at that fortress, both it and the boy on it would likely be destroyed. And even if the fortress had some sort of magical protection that worked even against a nuclear weapon, she realized, "If they fire at a target that high up…"

"Then the ashes from the detonation will spread throughout the atmosphere and eventually contaminate the entire planet, causing radiation poisoning, a nuclear winter, and a global food shortage, replies Misaka, reporting the results of a simulation she ran over the Misaka Network."

Mikoto tensed up as she though about all the cataclysmic consequences of such an attack. She now knew for sure that they needed to somehow stop the nukes from being fired, so she asked, "You said they were preparing a vehicle-based launcher, right? Do you know where it is?"

"They will be firing from about 70 kilometers away in that direction, in order to avoid any harm to themselves, answers Misaka as she points in the correct direction."

Mikoto looked around the battlefield, seeing the tanks, armored vehicles, and powered suits being used by Academy City. She gestured to them and suggested, "Let's steal one of those tanks and head for that location. Can you drive one of them?"

"Yes, Misaka can drive one of those tanks, affirms Misaka after consulting information on the Misaka Network."

Mikoto grinned, "All right, let's go!" She quickly ran towards the nearest Academy City tank and began her assault. She was the strongest Electromaster, so the tank's electronics were no match for her. There were some powered suits that used chemical springs and had armor that repelled all electromagnetic waves, making them resistant to Electromasters, but the tank had no such defenses. She was able to stop the engine from a distance, after which she opened the hatch and kicked out the occupants.

Those soldiers tried to report the incident, but Mikoto interfered with their radio transmissions, as well as with the photographic surveillance from UAVs. As a result, no one else would notice the tank was gone until it was too late.

Mikoto and Misaka 10777 climbed into the tank, and Misaka 10777 began driving it towards the launch site. Mikoto marvelled, "Wow, it's moving surprisingly quickly, even in the snow!"

"Most modern tanks can travel quickly on roads without issue, but only Academy City tanks have the technology to travel 150 kilometers per hour through the snow like this, explains Misaka. At this speed, we'll reach the launch site in under half an hour."

Mikoto lightly replied, "Well, these tanks cost 7 billion yen each, so they better be at least this useful."

"Yes, in fact the main guns of these tanks can fire at Mach 4.5, replies Misaka. That's faster than your railgun, Big Sister."

Mikoto winced at her sister's jab, but she protested, "It's not just about the speed, you know? And besides, that's only one of my moves." Although she was very proud of her railgun, enough to choose it as her epithet, Mikoto had always taken even more pride in her diverse variety of abilities.

"Misaka apologizes for suddenly changing the subject, but it seems that the independent unit preparing the nuclear warheads has spotted us, reports Misaka."

Indeed, they were being fired upon from a distance. Mikoto had a chill running down her spine, briefly thinking that they might be nuclear warheads, but she soon realized that they were too small and there were too many of them for that to be the case.

"They appear to be surface-to-surface missiles, and there are about 30 to 40 of them, reports Misaka. Could you take care of them, Big Sister, asks Misaka, suggesting a course of action."

Mikoto gave her a big grin, "Of course, leave it to me!" She opened the tank's hatch and popped out her upper body. She immediately sent out a bunch of electromagnetic waves to jam the missiles' targeting radar. This quickly caused the missiles to drop down in random directions before they could reach the tank. Mikoto was hit by a shockwave from one of the explosions, but she ignored it and exclaimed, "All right, let's keep going full speed ahead, before they have time to prepare another barrage!"

Misaka 10777 trembled in her seat and started saying strange things. "Misa…Severe….kami…obstruction of the signal…sakami…the network…sakamisaka…cut off…kamisa….attempting to restore….kamisaka…"

Mikoto chided herself, "Of course, I should've known that doing that would disrupt her connection with the Misaka Network." She quickly stopped sending out the jamming EM waves, allowing her sister to return to normal, "Sorry about that, 10777-chan!"

"Heh, as expected, the mass-produced models really can't stand up to the Original, assesses Misaka with self-derision."

Mikoto felt bad about making her sister feel depressed, but there wasn't really any time to waste. Without her jamming, they were once again vulnerable to bombardment. She exclaimed, "Let's go charging in! We're only a few kilometers away, and soon they won't be able to fire on us without being at risk themselves!"

Misaka 10777 resumed driving the tank at full speed, with Mikoto still being partially outside the hatch. The independent unit gave up on the missile attacks, but instead they brought out dozens of tanks to stop the two of them.

"This tank can take a few hits, but Misaka estimates we'll get hit about 20 times before we can get even 500 meters closer, calculates Misaka."

Mikoto retorted, "Then we'll finish this right now!" She gathered up a gigantic mass of iron sand from a circle 200 meters in every direction. It was nowhere near the amount she had used to create that kaiju a few weeks earlier, but it was more than enough to deal with the enemy tank unit. Shots from assault rifles and handguns had no effect on the tsunami of vibrating iron sand, which cleanly sliced apart every single tank and armored vehicle, though Mikoto made sure that the soldiers inside were physically unharmed.

Misaka 10777 was then able to leisurely drive the tank into the center of the enemy position. Mikoto then climbed out of the tank completely, quickly spotting a large vehicle which was loaded with what was most likely the nuclear missile. She knew that firing a railgun at it could cause the nuclear material to leak, so she instead used a lightning spear to destroy the control circuits in the launch vehicle. The missile then slowly but surely tilted downwards and then fell onto the ground completely.

Now that the nuclear missile could no longer be fired, Mikoto sighed in relief and wiped the sweat off her face, "Well, I guess that's that." The sky had suddenly started to turn gold, but that didn't seem worth thinking about in the current moment.

Misaka 10777 poked her head out of the tank's hatch. "You managed to single-handedly defeat a company with 200 troops and dozens of tanks. Seeing that, Misaka can't help but feel inferior, says Misaka, feeling downhearted."

Mikoto noted that this was the second time her sister mentioned feeling this way. She tried to reassure her sister, "What are you talking about? There are almost ten thousand of you guys that can all seamlessly work together! Plus, you have your powers, the Misaka Network, and even Academy City's cutting edge tactical training! These guys would be nothing compared to you!"

"That is, at the end of the day, our collective strength, but Misaka wishes she had some individual strength too. You probably don't understand how that feels, Big Sister, says Misaka in a depressed tone."

Mikoto felt really bad for her sister. She did understand what it was like to feel inferior. She had felt it against Touma, against Accelerator, and most recently against Acqua. But she didn't know how it felt to want some individuality as one of almost ten thousand clones. She smiled at her sister and said, "You're right, I don't know exactly how that feels. But you do have individual strength, 10777-chan. You were the one who helped me find Touma, you were the one who decrypted all those Russian transmissions, and you were the one who drove the tank and gave me the information I needed to stop that nuke!"

"Misaka is grateful for your praise, admits Misaka, feeling a little bit better, though still having some self-doubt." Before she could continue further, she suddenly twitched and put her hand up to her headset. "It seems that the independent unit is no longer able to contact Nikolai Tolstoy, reports Misaka with a serious expression."

Mikoto wondered, "So was this guy taken out by Academy City?" If the leader had been taken out, then they hopefully wouldn't have to worry about any other nuclear launches.

"They appear to have decided to continue with firing the missile. Since you defeated nearly the entire unit, they are unable to set up any further missiles and can only try firing this one, concludes Misaka."

Mikoto glanced at the missile lying on the ground, replying, "But it fell over, so they can't use it anymore, right?"

"They haven't realized that fact, so they're trying to forcibly fire it remotely, says Misaka in shock. The missile itself won't fire, but the warhead might detonate right here, says Misaka, making her own prediction."

Mikoto frantically replied, "If that happens, we'll all die! But if they're sending their signal remotely, maybe I can jam it."

"It's an optical transmission using infrared, so your jamming won't work, warns Misaka."

Mikoto cautiously examined the missile, wondering, "Maybe my lightning spear already shorted out the receiving circuits?" If so, they wouldn't have to do anything further to prevent it from detonating.

"The main circuitry is protected by thick lead and reinforced glass, reports Misaka. Furthermore, these nuclear missiles are made to be resistant to high voltages, since they are designed to pass through cumulonimbus clouds, says Misaka, stating the obvious. In fact, the missile only stopped because the system in the launch vehicle itself was fried."

Mikoto quickly thought of another idea, "There must be an infrared sensor to detect the signal, so we should be able to block it with a piece of cloth!" She pulled out a handkerchief and stuck it into the slight depression on the side of the warhead. She panted, "Okay, hopefully now the warhead is completely neutralized."

"They seem to be panicking that nothing is happening, so they probably don't have another plan, says Misaka, reporting some information on the enemy's emotional state. Misaka predicts that they'll soon flee and abandon the missile."

Mikoto was relieved to hear that, but noted, "But just letting them go might end up backfiring later on."

"A regular Russian military unit seems to have come to the same conclusion. They have surrounded the remaining officers in their building and are preparing to stop them, reports Misaka, intercepting a different set of communications."

Mikoto sighed, "Well, they probably don't want to provoke the rogue unit into detonating the nuclear bomb." She decided it would be best to disable it once and for all, and grabbed a shovel from the tank. She removed the handkerchief and used her magnetism on the shovel to generate enough force to smash the reinforced glass over the optical receiver. Once she was in, she used her electricity to destroy the warhead's connectors, and then announced, "Okay, now this warhead can't be used anymore, at least not without a new outer shell. We should tell the Russian authorities or Academy City about this spot, but I think we've finally taken care of this problem once and for all."

Mikoto was now eager to get back to her original reason for coming to Russia in the first place, reuniting with Touma. As she noticed something nearby, she asked her sister, "You have knowledge installed about how to operate military aircraft, right?"

"That is correct, and if necessary, it's possible to access extra information from the Misaka Network, replies Misaka."

Mikoto pointed at an aircraft lying in the snow and said, "I don't know if they were using it for combat or transport, but there's a VTOL fighter over there." She then looked up and continued, "If we use it, we can fly up to that fortress in the sky."

"And then we can save that boy, concludes Misaka, looking forward to seeing him again."

The two of them quickly entered the aircraft, with Misaka 10777 going into the pilot's seat. She was soon able to take off, and they began flying up towards where Touma was surely locked in battle against Fiamma.

Touma and Fiamma were facing each other on top of the Star of Bethlehem. Fiamma had summoned the archangel Misha Kreutzev, but Touma had destroyed the ceremony room, and Kazakiri had appeared to fight against it. Thanks to these and other efforts unknown to Touma, namely those of Accelerator and Acqua, the archangel had seemingly been defeated. However, Fiamma remained a fearsome opponent. His right arm had the ability to be exactly as strong as required to defeat any attack or enemy. Furthermore, by controlling Index, he had access to spells that were normally unusable by members of the Right Seat of God. Touma had used his Imagine Breaker to negate and deflect multiple attacks from Fiamma, but the boy knew that he was still at a disadvantage.

Fiamma had just declared his intent to save everyone in the world by resetting the gears of the distorted world to normal. He claimed that by showcasing his power to humanity, they would be frightened into obedience and would go along with his plans.

Touma scoffed at that notion, "Save everyone in the world, huh? Have you ever even gone out and seen the world and just how many people are smiling?"

Fiamma sarcastically replied, "I see, that's an interesting view. But I'll think about that after I've saved the world." He then used his giant Sword of Light to quickly sever Touma's right arm at the shoulder. While Touma dropped to the ground and grabbed his severely bleeding right shoulder in pain, Fiamma calmly absorbed the boy's right arm with his giant third arm.

Fiamma then grinned and laughed, "Imagine Breaker may be a tool for purification, but that ability is useless to me. However, by absorbing it as one of the original components of my power, my right hand is complete! I could now be called the Person Superior to God, but I don't care about that. As long as I can use my full power to save the people of the world, I will succeed!"

As he absorbed Imagine Breaker, Fiamma's body was briefly in anguish as it tried to eat away at his core. However, it was quickly assimilated, and then the entire sky was filled with a golden light. He sneered at Touma and said, "You should be honored, you fleshwad! You finally carried out your purpose in life." Now that the boy's usefulness had ended, Fiamma fired an attack that would finally destroy him.

However, to his utter shock, Fiamma's attack had no effect on the boy, and instead scattered to either side of him. It was almost like the attack had been blown away by an invisible right hand coming from Touma's wound. Fiamma asked in disbelief, "I took your right hand, so why do you still have that power?"

Touma's head was still facing downwards, but Fiamma suddenly felt some sort of invisible power gather around the boy's wound. It seemed that Imagine Breaker was not Touma's only ability, and Fiamma started to feel doubt and even some fear at the invisible thing's immense power.

Touma finally raised his head. He could feel the great power gathering by him, but he didn't know what exactly it was. It wasn't Imagine Breaker, and it wasn't the dragons either. But he knew that he didn't want to use it, so he said, "I don't know who you are supposed to be, and I don't know what you're trying to do, but you stay out of this! I'll take care of this myself!" He was then able to crush this invisible power with some even greater power, and a new right arm then grew from his shoulder.

Fiamma couldn't believe what had just happened. He had expected to be crushed by that great invisible power, but the boy had just thrown it away to recover his Imagine Breaker. And now, Fiamma could feel that power draining from the right arm he had absorbed back into the boy's new right arm.

Touma stood back up and started musing, "I'm finally beginning to figure this out. Why did you have to make the Star of Bethlehem this huge, gathering parts from churches and cathedrals around the world, to perform your magic? Why did you make an alliance with the Russian Orthodox Church and start World War 3? Your power changes to match the strength of your opponent, which means that the stronger the opponent, the more power you have. But why did you need this much power? You were afraid, weren't you? You were afraid you didn't have enough power to save the world!"

Fiamma growled and fired an attack at Touma, but the boy deflected the attack with his right hand before continuing, "The world has never ended before, at least not in modern times, so you've never had to have enough power to save it. Just like my Imagine Breaker doesn't seem like it has any power unless I'm surrounded by espers and magicians, there's no way someone who's never saved the world can know if they have enough power to save it. That's why you had to go this far!"

Fiamma gritted his teeth, but then fired back, "So what? Do you have any right to blame me? Have you ever experienced the power required to save the world?"

Touma immediately answered and shattered Fiamma's expectations, "Of course I have! Maybe it was tiny and insignificant on a grand scale, but I have saved others and seen moments where a single person's world was saved." He thought back to all the incidents he had been involved in, where he'd saved many people, including Index, Mikoto, and the Misaka sisters. Meanwhile, Fiamma hadn't even bothered to go out and see the people of the world he was trying to save.

The boy concluded, "Someone who thinks they will save the world can't protect it. Our world isn't so weak that it needs to be saved by a bastard like that!"

The two of them then continued their fight. But no matter how many times Fiamma tried, and even though his power was still too great to be immediately negated by Imagine Breaker, Touma was able to deflect all of his attacks. Fiamma wondered with frustration, "How? How are you able to stop me? You only have the power to negate other powers, right? I should be able to sink an entire continent or dry up an entire ocean. Compared to that, you're just a flesh adapter for that right arm."

As Touma negated another of Index's spells, he replied, "You still don't get it? Your right arm's power varies according to your opponent's strength. And to draw out its maximum power, you started World War 3 to increase everyone's hatred, in order to clearly define your enemy and set up your preparations. But then what if there isn't as much hatred in people's hearts as you think? Then you won't have as much power as you think!"

Fiamma gritted his teeth and derisively replied, "Your assumption is completely wrong. The war I caused is still occurring, and all the thorns in people's hearts are showing themselves. Resource and food shortages, racial and religious differences, warring nations, environmental degradation, they all show the evil of mankind!"

Touma sharply replied, "It's true that humans may have a dark nature, and maybe there's even malice within me that I don't want to believe is there. But there's more to human nature than just that!" Indeed, humans also showed virtue, which is why humanity had not already fought itself to destruction. Since it still existed, people's desires to connect with each other must have been stronger than their desire to destroy each other.

The boy continued, "People don't need any reason to fight for those they love, and they will fight to save those people, even with no special power."

Fiamma scoffed, "Without any reason? That logic only applies to those of us with enough power. If a nuclear missile was about to be fired, it's true that we need no reason to insert the key to stop it. But those who don't hold the key can't stop the missile! Similarly, only those with enough power can hope to save the world."

Touma immediately rebutted, "They don't need a key! They could stick wires into the keyhole, they could break into the control panel and fry the circuits with electricity, or they could even shoot at the missile before it launches! The key is only one way to stop it. Anyone can fight, even against the whole world, as long as they have someone they want to protect!"

He then clenched his fist and made a final declaration, "I'm going to get Index back from you! And that's not all! I'll put an end to the battle between science and magic, the fighting between the Anglican, Catholic, and Orthodox Churches, and the conflict between all the countries involved in World War 3! It's all going to end right now!"

Fiamma retorted, "Do you really think you can emerge victorious from this large-scale conflict without losing anything?"

Touma quickly replied, "Yes, I can! Unlike you, I believe in the strength of humanity!"

The two of them then continued their clash. Fiamma used his third arm and Index's grimoires, while Touma used his Imagine Breaker. However, with each collision between them, Fiamma's third arm got progressively weaker. Furthermore, cracks began to appear all over the Star of Bethlehem. Fiamma wondered, "Why isn't this going the way I wanted?"

Both of them suddenly heard an announcement from Lessar through the speakers within the fortress, "The Anglican, Roman Catholic, and Russian Orthodox Churches have begun bringing down the Star of Bethlehem's joint spell! We're getting into an escape container soon, and there aren't many of them left, so please hurry!"

Touma perked up at the news. Now that the three denominations were working together, Fiamma was in big trouble. He pointed at the man and exclaimed, "It's over, Fiamma! Both your right arm and your ceremonial site, the Star of Bethlehem, are losing power! If you really wanted to save the world, you would be glad that people's good is triumphing over their evil. And since you're not, it means that your illusion has already been shattered!"

However, Fiamma chuckled and replied, "It's true that I'm at a disadvantage now. As things stand, I probably can't continue with my plan. No, not as things currently stand." At those ominous words, a mass of light appeared above in the heavens and started heading down towards the fortress. Fiamma excitedly continued, "This is the result of all your actions. The earth was originally supposed to be transformed in stages, but all the good will you talked about is preventing that. As a result, all the accumulated Telesma will flow from the heavens down to the earth! It's not the route I expected, but the outcome will be the same."

Touma protested, "Do you know what will happen? If all that tremendous power hits the earth, then all of human civilization will likely be destroyed!"

Fiamma replied with a smirk, "That's right, and it's certainly unfortunate for you. Despite all the good that may be appearing amidst this war, this overwhelming divine punishment will crush it from above! Just like the destruction of the Tower of Babel broke the bonds between people, the animosity and malice resulting from this will allow me to once more draw upon tremendous power!"

The boy clenched his fist tightly and gritted his teeth, "Fiamma!" He now realized how the concept of never giving up could be used in an evil way.

Fiamma smirked at the boy's anger and said, "It's too late for your way of saving the world. Now, victory is mine!"

However, this final effort did not work. The golden light filled with Telesma was obstructed by something before it could reach the earth. Neither Fiamma nor Touma knew this, but Accelerator was the one who had managed to block this final gamble by Fiamma.

Fiamma looked around in shock, "What happened? That should've created the necessary output to destroy the earth and complete the conditions for my victory!"

Touma simply replied, "Are you done yet? It's about time for you to give up that fantasy of yours!" He charged forward with his right fist clenched, prepared to deliver the final blow. Fiamma defended with his third arm, but as the boy's Imagine Breaker hit it, it immediately began to disintegrate.

Fiamma was stunned by the result. Before, his third arm had had enough power to defeat Touma's Imagine Breaker in a direct confrontation. But now things were different. He realized that the animosity around the world was weakening, because people from opposite sides of the conflict were working together to destroy the golden arms of Telesma appearing around the world. Without that animosity, his third arm was now weak enough to be destroyed by Imagine Breaker.

Fiamma then tried using one of Index's spells, but there was an error, probably due to the actions of an Anglican magician. With Fiamma having no means of defending himself, Touma tried charging in again, but the ground beneath his feet suddenly sank. Fiamma smirked, "How unlucky for you! I just need 5 to 10 seconds to reset the grimoire library, and then I can blow you away!"

However, Touma jumped from the footing that was about to crumble away and headed directly for him. At this moment, Fiamma realized, "This bastard doesn't care about all my preparations! Good luck and bad luck, he has the power to trample over such distinctions!"

As he made his final approach, Touma said, "If you think your way is the only way to save anyone, then I'll destroy that illusion!" His right fist slammed into Fiamma's face, knocking him to the ground. His third harm finally vanished completely, and the spiritual item controlling Index fell out of his hands. After all the turmoil he had caused, Fiamma of the Right had finally been defeated.

Mikoto was currently directing Misaka 10777 to bring the VTOL fighter as close to the fortress as possible. After their long diversion to stop that nuclear weapon from being fired, Mikoto was anxiously looking forward to seeing her boyfriend again and bringing him back down to the ground.

However, as she looked at the fortress, she noticed something, "What's going on, why is it suddenly starting to fall down?" It had been steadily rising in the sky ever since the beginning, so she was a bit concerned as to why this had changed.

"Big Sister, Misaka apologizes for interrupting you, but it seems the boy is over there near the edge. If you want to call out to him, we need to open the canopy, points out Misaka."

Mikoto was about to tell her sister to do that, but she suddenly realized something important. They were currently about 10 kilometers up in the air, so the outside temperature would be below -50 degrees Celsius, and there would be very low atmospheric pressure and very little oxygen. Opening the canopy could possibly be a death sentence, but not opening it meant that she couldn't reach Touma.

"There is something odd about the roar of the engine, reports Misaka. Based on this, the outside environment seems to be -7 degrees and 1 atmosphere of pressure, calculates Misaka. It is unclear how, but it appears that the area around the fortress is being kept in a similar environment as the surface, concludes Misaka."

Mikoto perked up, "Well, if magic can be used to make it float in the air, it can probably be used to maintain the temperature and pressure." She replied, "So that means that we can open the canopy!"

Misaka 10777 pressed the button to open the canopy, exposing the two of them to the outside air. It was still cold, but still bearable.

Meanwhile, Touma's jaw dropped when the aircraft suddenly appeared in front of him, right after he had allowed Fiamma to leave in the final escape pod. As the glass canopy opened, he exclaimed, "Mikoto!"

Misaka 10777 tried moving the plane closer and closer to the fortress. However, the fortress kept tumbling up and down. "Landing may be difficult, says Misaka as she grips the stick in concentration. This VTOL aircraft is meant to slowly land vertically. But if we forcibly land it on this fortress that keeps moving up and down, there's a risk of crashing the plane, explains Misaka, voicing her concern. If the fighter becomes too damaged to fly, all of us would have no way to escape, concludes Misaka with a frown."

Mikoto was annoyed at the situation, but she wasn't going to let that stop her. She replied, "Fine, then forget about landing! Keep the plane level, and I'll go and drag him up myself!" She got out of her seat and crawled onto the wing of the aircraft. Although the wind was blowing at high speeds, she wasn't scared of falling, since she was using her magnetism to attach herself to the wing.

Touma did feel a bit scared for her, and he shouted, "Don't do it! Stay back, Mikoto!" He was afraid of her falling off the plane, especially if he accidentally touched her with his right hand.

Mikoto replied, "No! I came this far already, so I'm not turning back now!" As she reached out her hand, her hat blew off her head and disappeared into the wind. She noticed that his entire right sleeve was missing, and realized, "He got his arm cut off again? Whatever, I can ask him about that later."

She continued stretching her arm out and lifted her knees off the wing to get as close as possible. But when she was centimeters away from touching his left hand, he made eye contact with her and slowly pulled it away. He shook his head and said, "Not yet. There's something I still need to do."

The girl reeled back in shock, "Wh-what? What do you still need to do?"

Touma answered, "I still need to save Index and make sure this fortress lands safely. I'm sorry, Biri-Biri."

Mikoto tensed up, not sure how to continue. She felt that if she didn't rescue him now, there wouldn't be another chance. But how could she expect him to abandon Index, his entire reason for coming to Russia in the first place?

The fortress then shook violently, and the aircraft suddenly moved away from it. Mikoto looked at her sister for an explanation. "The fortress's shaking has exceeded the critical value, reports Misaka. If we remain too close, we may collide with it."

Mikoto closed her eyes and gritted her teeth in frustration. She considered forcibly pulling him towards her with her magnetism, but she knew that Touma would just negate it. She hated it, but she saw no other choice than to leave him there. She opened her eyes again and angrily shouted at him, "Touma, you better come back alive!"

Touma felt bad that she'd gone through all this effort to save him only for him to have to refuse her. He smiled and said, "I will, I promise!" He didn't know exactly how he would do it, but the boy figured he'd be able to figure out some other way to escape.

With tears appearing in her eyes Mikoto turned her back on Touma and crawled across the wing before returning to the cockpit. Her sister silently closed the canopy and began flying the fighter away from the fortress.

Mikoto felt absolutely pathetic. She had enough power to take on dozens of tanks and even stop a nuclear missile, but it still wasn't enough to save that boy who was so important to her. The girl began sobbing, knowing that the only thing she could do was hope that Touma would be able to keep his promise.

Touma watched the fighter with his girlfriend and her sister in it fly away. He didn't like having to reject her escape plan, but he did still have some things to do. He had to free Index, and he had to safely land the Star of Bethlehem.

The boy looked around and soon found the spiritual item. Fiamma had lost control of it, but it still had Index in its grip. Suddenly, an image of Index appeared in front of him, and he was able to hear her voice, "Touma, why didn't you escape?"

Touma smiled at the girl, glad to see her again, "I need to destroy that spiritual item and also take care of the fortress." But then he frowned and looked down, "I'm sorry. I've kept something hidden from you since the beginning. I've done something terrible to you, and I've been lying to you this whole time. There's no guarantee I'll come back from the Star of Bethlehem, so I'll tell you now while I still can. I...I actually did lose my memories that night." The boy felt that saying that took more courage than anything he'd ever done before.

Index smiled and interrupted him, "That's okay." She had somewhat suspected it, but it was good to hear it for sure, even if it meant that he didn't remember how they'd first met. "It doesn't matter anymore. As long as you return as your usual self."

The boy was overwhelmed by her forgiveness. He vowed, "I will come back. And once I do, I'll apologize to you in person, not just through this spiritual item." He then glanced at the nearby speakers and continued, "Tell the Anglican Church that the frequency of the speakers is 50.9 megahertz. I need their help to bring this thing down safely."

Index replied, "I can't do that. I can't return to my body by myself." She was still under the item's control.

Touma reached his right hand towards the item and said, "Yeah, so go on back ahead of me, okay?" Once Index nodded, he touched the item, finally severing its control of the girl. The image of her disappeared, and he finally achieved his original goal.

All that remained was to bring the Star of Bethlehem down safely. Stiyl's voice appeared from the speakers and instructed Touma to destroy three specific spiritual items that were keeping the fortress aloft, which would allow it to make a safe landing in the Arctic Ocean. This would cause a tsunami, but all the cities along the Arctic coast had been given evacuation orders with the help of all three Churches.

However, before Touma completed that task, Stiyl suddenly announced that the archangel Misha Kreutzev had returned, aiming to absorb the water and ice in the Arctic Ocean to regain its power. But even with all that power, if it tried to output too much of it, it would lead to a massive explosion of Telesma. This would have catastrophic consequences for the entire planet, but Stiyl didn't know if they could stop it, even if everyone worked together.

Touma then took matters into his own hands. He ran around destroying all the large spiritual items, causing the fortress to fall rapidly. By doing so, he was able to follow the archangel's path. Eventually, they reached the Arctic coast, and the Star of Bethlehem crashed into the archangel, forcing both of them, as well as Touma, underwater.

Once he gained his bearings, Touma relentlessly headed towards the only source of light. As he approached the archangel with a clenched right fist, he thought back on all his previous encounters. It had all started at the point he had lost his memories. He had lied to Index in order to prevent her from being sad. He had fought against an alchemist to rescue a girl with special blood. After an intense and emotional encounter with Mikoto on a bridge, he had fought against the strongest esper to save her and the Misaka Sisters. There had been a fight to the death against his backstabbing friend. A lot had happened on August 31, including a fake date with Mikoto. He had stood up to a golem to save a friend made from AIM Diffusion Fields. He had picked a fight with the Catholic Church to save a nun who could supposedly decipher the Book of the Law. There had been an incident involving Mikoto's best friend. During the Daihasei Festival, he had protected Academy City from the Croce di Pietro, while his classmates had unfortunately gotten involved. He had also saved Mikoto and Academy City from the Level 6 Shift attempt forced upon her. In Chioggia, he had battled an ice fleet to save a girl who had once been his enemy. On September 30, after a penalty game with Mikoto, he had clashed with a woman from the Right Seat of God to save his friend who had been completely changed. He had fought against Skill-Out to save Mikoto's mother. In Avignon, he had fought against a man from the Right Seat of God over the Document of C. With the help of the Amakusa Church, he had fought against a powerful Saint in Academy City's underground district. In London, he had stopped the coup by the second princess. Finally, he had just defeated the man who had started World War 3.

He was now faced with perhaps his greatest enemy yet, an archangel. He thought to himself, "Sure, this world may perish someday. But it doesn't have to be today, and there's nothing wrong with fighting to stop that."

Just before his fist reached its target, images of all the wonderful times he'd spent with his girlfriend flashed in his head. That wonderful weekend in early October, the bench by the vending machine where she'd confessed to him and they'd had their first kiss, their first date at the amusement park, her first time coming over to his dorm, her carrying him to the fight against Acqua, and her coming all the way to Russia to find him. Finally, he thought back to the image of Index back on the Star of Bethlehem, as well as to Mikoto desperately trying to reach him from atop that wing. As he finally punched the archangel in the face, he closed his eyes and lamented, "Sorry, Mikoto. Sorry, Index. I couldn't keep my promises after all."

Mikoto and Misaka 10777 finally arrived at the coast. At first, they had tried following the fortress through the sky in their VTOL fighter, but once it ran out of fuel, they had to ditch it and continue on a high speed freight train, but they were much too late. They had just arrived at a town on the Arctic Coast, and no one else was around, due to the evacuation order. The roads were covered in ice from the tsunami, and there was ice floating in the sea.

Mikoto knew that the fortress had crashed nearby, but she could find any clues to Touma's whereabouts. She eventually found a large stick and began stirring it in the icy water, trying to find anything that could help her find her boyfriend. The stick soon caught a piece of plastic. Once she picked it up, the girl gasped as she immediately recognized it. It was a Gekota strap, torn at the string by a great force. It was the one of the two they had acquired on September 30.

As her sister silently sat down next to her, Mikoto began to cry. Even after being forced to leave him behind, she had hoped that Touma would find some way to keep his promise and come back to her alive. But now, that hope was completely shattered.

The patriarch of the Russia Orthodox Church, Krans R. Tsarskiy, proclaimed the end of the war, "We have looked over the conditions presented by Academy City, and we have agreed to a seat at the conference table. We'll negotiate over peace terms, but we will make sure that Russia does not end up at a disadvantage. At this moment, I declare an end to all hostilities. It is my sincere wish that this decision, which we all reached together, will be regarded by a future world at peace as having been correct."

On October 30, the conflict between Academy City and the Anglican Church on one side and the Roman Catholic and Russian Orthodox Churches on the other side, finally came to and end. The countries of Academy City, Russia, Britain, and France were finally at peace. The archangel had disappeared, and though the cities on the Arctic coast had suffered some damage, no one within them had died. Touma had achieved his goals of freeing Index and bringing an end to World War 3, but had he been able to do so without losing anything?