21 - The Star of B'Tselem
Source: Crunchyroll
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(Please feel free to edit the speaker names if incomplete or inaccurate. Names are handled on a best-effort basis depending on the info on the source file. Dialogue is left as is.)
[00:01] ---
Y-Your Holiness, what are you doing?
[00:04] ---
Have to hurry...
[00:06] ---
The citizens have been
seized upon by their anxiety,
[00:09] ---
and are starting to march on the Vatican.
[00:13] ---
I know. You need not say anything.
[00:17] ---
Hi there, my dandy gentleman.
[00:20] ---
Can I assume your position
is still the Pope of Rome?
[00:24] ---
Is that you, Vasilissa? The cardinals
are about to convene a papal conclave.
[00:30] ---
They must have decided that
my authority is already lost.
[00:35] ---
It will take more than
my words to put a stop to this war.
[00:41] ---
Nonetheless, you have stood forward.
[00:45] ---
Oh, sorry about that. I'm in the
middle of bringing the dissenters,
[00:49] ---
who were trying to sell out
our beloved Sasha, to tears.
[00:52] ---
Go easy on them. They are our brethren.
[00:55] ---
I knew you would say that. So, how are
you planning to bring this war to an end?
[01:02] ---
To do what must be done.
But not as the pope over a flock of two billion.
[01:09] ---
I just have to do what I should
as an adherent of Roman Orthodoxy.
[01:15] ---
I made a promise to that
mercenary, after all.
[01:21] ---
It appears that the Lord still
intends to give me more trials.
[01:31] ---
So, what to do? A being like yourself
has been identified within Russia.
[01:38] ---
The Archangel "Power of God," Misha Kruezhev.
[01:42] ---
Once the encroachment begins,
tragedy will befall everyone in that area.
[01:49] ---
What will you do?
[01:52] ---
Nothing. I only undertake
that which interests me.
[01:59] ---
I don't mind going. But
I do have one condition.
[02:03] ---
Please don't take any
action against my friends.
[02:06] ---
As long as they arouse no interest,
it will be my pleasure.
[02:09] ---
If you do hurt them,
then I will become your enemy,
[02:13] ---
even if it means destroying us all.
[02:17] ---
How naive of you to threaten me.
[02:20] ---
You might instead attract
my interest by saying that.
[02:33] ---
Wh-What was that?!
[02:37] ---
An angel...?
[02:42] ---
"A Certain Magical Index III"
[02:49] ---
"#21 The Star of B'Tselem"
[02:52] ---
Imagine, coming all the way to Russia
and still savoring something like this.
[02:57] ---
Yeah, it's handy that some things taste
the same all over the world.
[03:04] ---
We got this far by blending in
with the human smuggling brokers,
[03:07] ---
but this is probably
as far as we're getting by car.
[03:11] ---
Let's take a different route to sneak
into the Russian base where Fiamma is.
[03:20] ---
What'sa madder?
[03:22] ---
Oh... Are there really
this many people fleeing
[03:27] ---
to the Elizalina Alliance
of Independent Nations?
[03:29] ---
The opposite might be true, too.
[03:31] ---
Nobody wants to be a citizen
of a vanquished nation.
[03:37] ---
Let's hurry and put a stop
to this war as soon as we can.
[03:40] ---
Huh?
[03:41] ---
I mean, Fiamma is the one pulling
the strings behind the scenes, right?
[03:44] ---
Let's kick that bastard's ass,
bring a quick end to the war,
[03:48] ---
and return peace to the world!
[03:52] ---
Right. Let's slug Fiamma good,
and rescue Index from him.
[03:57] ---
Now that that's decided,
let's get a move on and finish eating!
[04:05] ---
Now's my chance!
[04:07] ---
Let me pay for that with my body!
[04:09] ---
Why are you licking your lips
with stars twinkling in your eyes?
[04:19] ---
What is this?
[04:21] ---
The privateer base has
been wiped out in no time flat.
[04:24] ---
Is he of one of those
Academy City esper folks?
[04:28] ---
No, he isn't.
[04:33] ---
That takes care of that for now, I'd say.
[04:37] ---
Let me ask you again, who exactly are you?
[04:41] ---
Acqua of the Rear, has-been
mercenary miscreant.
[04:46] ---
Hmm? Something's coming this way.
[04:51] ---
They're Academy City forces.
[04:53] ---
It appears they're here
to occupy this territory.
[04:57] ---
What should we do? Drive them off?
[04:59] ---
No. If they're just defending the village,
we're better off not resisting.
[05:05] ---
I'm not sure exactly
who you're supposed to be,
[05:08] ---
but you can't just keep shoring up
the defenses in one spot forever, right?
[05:12] ---
Mm-hmm...
[05:13] ---
Then it's better to let Academy City's
forces establish themselves here.
[05:19] ---
The place will be occupied for now,
[05:21] ---
but these guys will be able to
defend the place for several months.
[05:24] ---
Mm-hmm.
[05:26] ---
But Hamazura, I thought you were
on the run from Academy City.
[05:31] ---
That can't be helped.
This is to protect the village.
[05:34] ---
Okay, we're getting out of here.
Oh, I almost forgot...
[05:40] ---
Thanks. Because of your arrival,
myself, the villagers,
[05:45] ---
and the girl I have a crush on
all came away with our lives.
[05:50] ---
I'll thank you properly someday.
[06:03] ---
It looks like an instruction manual.
[06:05] ---
It is?
[06:06] ---
Do you understand it?
[06:08] ---
N-No, just that it looks like
[06:10] ---
a list of what appear to be
magical conversion provisions.
[06:14] ---
What to do to make a Roman Orthodox
spell work in the Russian Church style.
[06:19] ---
Huh?!
[06:20] ---
Unlike Madam Elizalina,
I don't know much about magical things.
[06:25] ---
Magic? What the hell is he talking about?
[06:32] ---
Does this mean something exists
that I can't understand? If so,
[06:38] ---
it could end up being the key.
[06:42] ---
Who's this Elizalina?
[06:44] ---
A sorceress--or was she a magician?
[06:47] ---
Either way, this Elizalina twerp
can decipher this parchment, right?
[06:54] ---
Mm-hmm. If she can speak, that is.
[06:57] ---
Right now, she's in a
bed at a field hospital.
[07:01] ---
I don't plan on staying here long,
nor on doing any killing.
[07:05] ---
When will Sleeping Beauty be up?
[07:08] ---
If things go smoothly, one to three hours.
[07:11] ---
All right.
[07:18] ---
They're spies.
[07:19] ---
If I'm going to leave the kid here,
[07:21] ---
I have to make sure to arrange
a nice, clean environment for her.
[07:27] ---
The place where you guys
stand isn't the only hell.
[07:33] ---
This level of darkness
is still pretty weak sauce.
[07:38] ---
Pathetic, isn't it?
[07:40] ---
It turns out that bailing on them
halfway through was the best choice.
[07:45] ---
It's all right. Right now,
you're still fighting to keep me safe.
[07:51] ---
So it's not pathetic at all.
[07:56] ---
What's this?
[07:58] ---
He says it's the key
to the car parked up ahead.
[08:01] ---
No, I couldn't.
[08:02] ---
If I accept this, it will mean
you aided us in escaping.
[08:12] ---
He says you can start the engine
without using the key, then.
[08:17] ---
You don't say.
[08:27] ---
Hamazura, they're coming!
[08:30] ---
It's 500 meters to the border!
[08:44] ---
W-We made it.
[08:49] ---
You're kidding, right?!
[08:52] ---
Is this the end?
[09:04] ---
Accelerator?
[09:06] ---
Tch, I'm in the middle
of searching for spies,
[09:09] ---
and you have to drag
in outside problems I don't need.
[09:13] ---
Tell me everything. I want to hear it all.
[09:24] ---
I don't know what to say.
[09:26] ---
I'd like to do anything I can,
[09:28] ---
as far as restorative magic goes,
if I wasn't so mentally exhausted.
[09:32] ---
Restoration... magic...?
[09:35] ---
Here's the bottom line. I can probably
handle the girl in the track suit.
[09:41] ---
The little girl over here
will be more difficult.
[09:43] ---
That's all.
[09:45] ---
Huh? How do you mean?
[09:48] ---
The two of them each have their
own separate toxins built up.
[09:52] ---
The smaller girl has toxins continuously
injected into her on a permanent basis,
[09:57] ---
so even if they're removed temporarily,
they'll be replenished in no time.
[10:01] ---
But once they're removed from
the track suit girl, she should do better.
[10:06] ---
S-So then, you're saying
Takitsubo will get better?!
[10:13] ---
She will?
[10:15] ---
That's terrific, Takitsubo!
[10:16] ---
Hamazura, I can't breathe.
[10:18] ---
Sorry. But I'm... I'm...
[10:23] ---
I'm neither surprised, rattled, nor angry.
[10:26] ---
I could stamp my feet on the ground,
screaming at the top of my lungs,
[10:30] ---
but that won't change
this situation for the better.
[10:34] ---
Either way, I know that time is short,
so I just have to do what must be done.
[10:40] ---
I don't care what course
of treatment you plan for them,
[10:44] ---
but answer my question before
you get to them. Can you read this?
[10:50] ---
I'd say I could possibly read it
if you gave me enough time.
[10:54] ---
Want me to hold onto it?
[10:56] ---
Nope. All I need to know is
that you can decipher it.
[11:00] ---
You concentrate on treating them.
[11:03] ---
Uh...
[11:04] ---
I don't have time to waste, either.
I'm taking off now.
[11:08] ---
Do you have any clues?
[11:10] ---
If I don't, I'll find one.
[11:21] ---
Where are the spies that I flushed out?
[11:23] ---
They're being interrogated,
but it isn't going very well.
[11:27] ---
You don't say.
[11:28] ---
Would you care to see?
[11:30] ---
Nah, I'm going to run down
a more reliable source of information.
[11:40] ---
Is there something I can help you with?
[11:43] ---
Cooperate with me.
[11:44] ---
With what? Why? How?
[11:47] ---
I found and recovered a number of bugs.
[11:50] ---
They're yielding bits and pieces
from the small timers.
[11:54] ---
You're going to sort
through that information.
[11:57] ---
On what grounds does
Misaka have to cooperate?
[12:00] ---
Ugh... The folks back in Academy City
[12:03] ---
are going to use the
Misaka Network to do something.
[12:07] ---
As they were replacing the network
that started causing trouble for them,
[12:12] ---
you came after the lives
of myself and the kid.
[12:16] ---
But yours is going to end up
the same way--at a dead end.
[12:21] ---
That's the way the people
who applaud as successful
[12:24] ---
the killing of 20,000 puppets see the world.
[12:28] ---
You have to know it won't be used
for any respectable purpose.
[12:33] ---
So Misaka must work with you?
[12:35] ---
Join forces with the most
malicious partner there is, of all people?
[12:39] ---
Okay then, negotiation time.
[12:42] ---
The Dark May Project.
[12:45] ---
You mean...
[12:47] ---
The project that tried to enhance
other espers' Personal Realities
[12:50] ---
by applying the method
I use to control my ability.
[12:55] ---
For you to become an irreplaceable resource,
[12:58] ---
you had to obtain a capacity
that the other Sisters didn't have.
[13:02] ---
What are you going to do?
If you analyze the way I fight,
[13:06] ---
you might find a way out of this.
[13:10] ---
Indeed. That truly does
sound like this Misaka.
[13:15] ---
I'll find a lead to eliminating
the kid's symptoms.
[13:20] ---
You'll stumble upon a route other
than the one where you'll only get used up.
[13:25] ---
That's why we'll fight Academy City.
Why we'll outwit them.
[13:30] ---
We now have a mutual interest.
[13:32] ---
Now that that's clear,
stop being a baby and get going.
[13:36] ---
This Misaka must admit,
[13:37] ---
after being tuned solely
to kill Academy City's 1st-ranked,
[13:40] ---
and with everything she's been put through,
[13:43] ---
she never imagined the day would come
when she'd have to force a smile.
[13:47] ---
Sorry about that. That was my mistake,
for falling for their bullcrap.
[13:58] ---
What was that?! When the villain
makes a face that sheepish,
[14:03] ---
it makes this Misaka's reason
for being seem so much less important!
[14:08] ---
Who are you calling a villain?
Even after perfecting it like I did,
[14:11] ---
I still wasn't able to keep the kid safe!
[14:14] ---
There's not a single reason
for me to stick with it anymore.
[14:18] ---
Simply taking the most
easy-to-grasp side isn't good enough.
[14:22] ---
You and I are both monsters,
deliberately set to evil by Academy City.
[14:29] ---
Far from opposing them,
mastering the ways of evil
[14:33] ---
was simply chugging right
on down their rails, wasn't it?
[14:37] ---
Which is why now, I'm going to
hit back at them in the true sense.
[14:41] ---
So I don't care if I wind up doing
stuff out of character for me to that end.
[14:48] ---
Please.
[14:53] ---
What are you, dense?! Incredible!
That stupid deadpan look is incredible!
[15:04] ---
I know it's Misaka's,
[15:07] ---
but it's also your first time gripping
someone's hand like this, right?
[15:12] ---
No.
[15:13] ---
Huh?
[15:14] ---
I've done it plenty of times before.
[15:18] ---
With a really awful kid
who looks a lot like you.
[15:33] ---
An attack by Academy City?
[15:35] ---
The Russian army has also
started attacking. This is our chance!
[15:39] ---
We can take advantage of the
chaos to sneak onto Fiamma's base!
[15:47] ---
Why do you think the Russian army
is coming to the base's defense?
[15:51] ---
It's because Fiamma doesn't want to move.
[15:54] ---
Either he doesn't want it
known that he's in hiding here,
[15:57] ---
or he's conducting some kind
of magical operation.
[16:00] ---
So what do we do, exactly?
[16:02] ---
We steal a powered suit!
[16:04] ---
If you want to applaud me, I'll listen
to you in bed as you stroke my head.
[16:10] ---
Hey, wait up!
[16:11] ---
Damn it.
[16:14] ---
Still, it's strange.
[16:16] ---
When we snuck in earlier, there were
a bunch of Russian Church sorcerers.
[16:20] ---
Why wouldn't they be placed here?
[16:23] ---
Why would they act like they're
intentionally luring Academy City in?
[16:28] ---
Hmm? Isn't it obvious? To invite you
and your all-important right arm along.
[16:35] ---
I can't have you getting caught
in the attack and losing your right arm.
[16:40] ---
I intentionally left a gap open
to recover you nice and quickly.
[16:49] ---
I always thought he got out
of there all too readily before,
[16:52] ---
and it turns out he was
just letting me get away?
[16:57] ---
Those crybaby spies sure weren't
much of a challenge, huh?
[17:02] ---
That was no fun!
[17:04] ---
Deceptive practices
are still the same as always.
[17:08] ---
Deprive them of any chance
they have to make sound judgments.
[17:13] ---
What do you think of what
that weepy bastard had to say?
[17:16] ---
Everything about it sounded contrived.
[17:18] ---
The Russian army was always going
to take advantage of this war
[17:22] ---
to invade the Elizalina Alliance
of Independent Nations,
[17:25] ---
which they were out for anyway.
[17:28] ---
It's strange that they would send
spies at all, under the circumstances.
[17:31] ---
The circumstances were exactly
why there was a mission.
[17:35] ---
They had to deliver classified
documents to designated points
[17:38] ---
before any full-scale aerial bombing.
[17:42] ---
Once they got there, they'd meet
with someone who needed this.
[17:46] ---
By which I mean someone who
knew how to decode and use this.
[17:51] ---
Misaka is getting puffy all over
at such a self-serving development!
[17:56] ---
Shut up! The designated point
[17:59] ---
was the Russian army's frontline base,
near the border, right?
[18:03] ---
I'm going to go raid it.
You can do whatever you want.
[18:08] ---
What are you doing with Last Order?
[18:10] ---
What would happen
if I left you in charge of her?
[18:13] ---
Probably stuff you couldn't bear
to see, to ward off boredom.
[18:18] ---
There were two remote
control magical items for her.
[18:22] ---
Fiamma took the one from the royal family,
[18:24] ---
but the puritans' item is still here.
[18:26] ---
Also, it's clear who was in possession of it.
[18:32] ---
You're trying to use the puritans'
magical item to keep Fiamma
[18:35] ---
from misusing the knowledge
in the 103,000 grimoires
[18:38] ---
by interrupting his item, aren't you?
[18:42] ---
Deliberately messing around with her body.
[18:46] ---
Supposing your delusion is actually true,
[18:50] ---
I am the head of this organization.
[18:54] ---
How far do you think you could deal
with this on your own?
[18:59] ---
If that were the case,
[19:01] ---
then at minimum,
I would destroy the leader, right here.
[19:04] ---
I see, I see. That's something else.
[19:09] ---
But will circumstances stand by
and wait for that to happen?
[19:12] ---
What?
[19:17] ---
Caution... Chapter 4...
Connection by remote user confirmed...
[19:26] ---
Automatic purge of
risk factors now commencing...
[19:38] ---
Don't hold back.
[19:40] ---
If you've secured Sasha Kruezhev,
then commit, already!
[19:44] ---
I have finished readying the attack.
[19:46] ---
You will not be able to
observe the military situation.
[19:50] ---
Academy City's trademark control
will no longer work.
[19:54] ---
This will become a true war.
[19:56] ---
Whatever the case, as long as
I achieve my goal, it will not be a problem.
[20:02] ---
Patriarch of the Russian Church.
You'd go to these lengths to become that?
[20:07] ---
Never mind about me, where are you right now?
Not on that base, I'm sure.
[20:12] ---
Your signal has disappeared
from those coordinates.
[20:17] ---
You will find out very soon.
[20:19] ---
Like it or not.
[20:33] ---
What is this?!
[20:37] ---
What?!
[20:45] ---
What I was getting ready was not
some giant magical item or facility;
[20:49] ---
it was the space to scoop this up.
[21:12] ---
Y-You do realize...
[21:14] ---
just how much of a risk
you're taking by doing this, right?
[21:17] ---
The question of how risky
it is doesn't matter.
[21:21] ---
Between those who are doing their
best to kill a run-of-the-mill high-schooler
[21:25] ---
and those who are doing their best
to save a run-of-the-mill high-schooler,
[21:29] ---
which side would you want to take?
[21:31] ---
Which side would you feel proud to take?
[21:36] ---
Ugh, this just isn't my style.
[21:43] ---
What is that?!
[21:53] ---
No way. Why is he...?
[22:00] ---
Are you kidding me?!
[22:06] ---
The pilot is safe.
[22:35] ---
Well now...
[22:37] ---
...how am I going to get up into the clouds?
[22:44] ---
Are you...?
[22:46] ---
"Misaka's serial number is 10777,"
[22:50] ---
says Misaka, kindly answering Big Sister,
who doesn't know what to say.
[22:57] ---
I'm guessing you're with one of
Academy City's Russian co-op outfits?
[23:01] ---
"Since the withdrawal there is complete,
[23:04] ---
the choice was made
to spend some private time,"
[23:07] ---
says Misaka, reporting her leisure-time mood
while holding a dangerous rifle.
[23:13] ---
Private...?
[23:15] ---
"Big Sister, are you not on private time?"
[23:17] ---
asks Misaka, seeking confirmation.
[23:21] ---
Well, I'm not here on business...
[23:25] ---
"Preview"
[23:26] ---
Wings of ice spread across the night sky.
A giant aerial fortress.
[23:29] ---
Divine punishment meted out.
What tidings do the angels and stars bid?
[23:34] ---
Next time, "Gabriel."
[23:36] ---
When science and magic cross paths,
the story begins.
[23:41] ---
[23:43] ---