Touma continues to attack Oriana under the scenery of sunset. However, Oriana still proves to him that she is much more experienced in armed combat. As Touma maintains the exchange of blows, Stiyl staggers to stand up and summons Innocentius at once. For some reason, Touma did not want Innocentius to attack Oriana directly, but that moment of chaos momentarily confused Oriana as well. Touma manages to land a punch, which was blocked by Oriana's arms.
Stiyl continues his selfish advance towards Oriana, but trips at the wrong moment. Touma tells him to sit this fight out, but the stubborn rune magician rejects this and summons a column of flame, that launches Touma towards Oriana. Touma's fist connects with Oriana's chest and she is forced back by the attack.
Touma and Stiyl continue of bickering at each other while rushing towards Oriana; the user of Shorthand, however finds herself in a situation where she cannot read her enemy's thoughts. She tries to fend them off using one of her spells, but it was swept away by Touma's right hand, and Stiyl's and his hand land of her jaw, knocking her down.
Oriana uses her mission - to create a clear-cut set of rules to make everyone happy - to stand up after the attack, and upon announcing her magic name, unleashes a rain of icicles at Touma and Stiyl. Touma is knocked away by Stiyl, and the rune magician falls to the ground after being hit by Oriana's spell. As Touma sees his ally downed, Oriana tells Touma to focus on her, since she wanted to end this as soon as possible.
Touma cannot accept Oriana's methods of acquiring what she wants; although he admits that he does not understand her means of fulfilling what she desires, he knows that putting Academy City at harm's way is unacceptable. Oriana shrugs away what Touma said and tells him that his ignorance does not give him a right to tell her what she should do.
Then, as Oriana unbinds the slips of paper that she uses to perform Shorthand, she declares that with her next attack, she will end their battle. The pieces of paper flutter and glow as Oriana calls forth a ball of energy from them, and she launches it into Touma. Touma manages to dispel the initial attack, but he discovers a core inside the orb he dispelled, which implodes and releases an enormous blast.
As Touma loses his consciousness, he remembers Seiri and Aisa, two people who had been involved in Oriana's attacks, and Stiyl and Motoharu, who have been his allies in the pursuit. Using this to empower himself, Touma regains his balance and startles Oriana, who is preparing for a final strike, by landing a powerful punch to her face.
As Oriana stays motionless, Touma checks up on Stiyl, who then tells him to make Oriana reveal the location of the Croce di Pietro. However, a voice emanates from their surroundings... the voice of Lidvia Lorenzetti, announcing that the ceremony will end soon and any attempts to halt it will be futile.
Elsewhere, Lidvia prepares for the countdown to the activation of the Croce di Pietro. Touma wants to know more about Lidvia's plans, but he is interrupted by Stiyl. He wants Touma to focus more on looking for the Croce. However, Lidvia announces that it is impossible; the location of the Croce is actually in the Holy See, a 47,000 square kilometer area (within the Vatican). She also confirms that Oriana is merely a decoy, and the plan is going smoothly as planned.
Stiyl tells Touma to contact Motoharu and ask him to perform the All-Around Reality Circle while he performs tracing magic as well, but Lidvia advises them to stop their attempts...
...because it is only 107 seconds until the activation of the Croce di Pietro.
Touma tries one more time by contacting Motoharu, asking him about the maximum boundaries of the effective area of the Croce di Pietro. Motoharu tries his best, but Lidvia announces that it is over, and the spell will activate shortly.
As Touma laments over failing to protect Academy City, a startling event unfolds: the Night Parade. Touma then stands up, and as Lidvia stutters to the sudden development, he explains that the Night Parade happens at 6:30 PM sharp (local time), and that the light produced by the event is enough to block out the light of the stars.
And with that, Touma announces that he and Lidvia Lorenzetti shall perform one last activity to dictate the fate of the Croce di Pietro: an athletic game between him and Lidvia.
That night, Touma stays in the Frog-Faced Doctor's hospital, where he finally explains everything to Index, much to her annoyance. As Mikoto and Kuroko visit Touma, they witness Index's teeth burying themselves into Touma's scalp. Soon, Mikoto reveals to him the results of the school standings for the Daihaseisai: Tokiwadai becomes victorious, and so Mikoto wins the punishment game, and Touma has to do what Mikoto wants, even in his injured state.
Meanwhile, aboard a private plane, Lidvia pities what happened to her decoy Oriana, only to be interrupted by a voice. It is, in fact, Laura Stuart, talking to her through one of Stiyl's runes pasted on the hull of the plane where Lidvia is boarding. Laura comments to how real Lidvia's expression becomes when she is cornered, and Lidvia simply comments that the feeling of fulfillment becomes more imminent the tougher the challenges faced.
It is there that Laura decides to test that mentality.
One of the runes located at the main door activates, dislodging the door and causing the wind outside to fill the cabin and pull Lidvia out of the plane. As Lidvia plummets, Laura offers her a deal: to abandon the Roman Catholic Church and lick her feet in exchange for her life. As a devout Roman Catholic, Lidvia rejects the offer.
However, upon seeing the pilot of the plane and the Croce di Pietro, Laura forces a choice in Lidvia: save the most powerful magical artifact, or save the pilot. Laura declares that Lidvia has put herself into this challenge by challenging Laura, and as she plummets to the ground, Lidvia outstretches her hands for the pilot...
In the Windowless Building, Aleister comments on the development of the owner of the Imagine Breaker, and wonders if a certain item might be needed to intervene.
The next day, Aisa wakes up from her hospital bed and discovers Index sleeping beside her. Index asks her if she is alright and the reason for her melancholy expression. Aisa tells her that she can go home within the next two days, and she asks Index instead of a certain reckless boy has been doing stuff again.
Index confirms this, and Aisa realizes that he is just the kind of person who help everyone, no matter who it is. Aisa feels somewhat down because of this, and thinks that she shouldn't have been helped by Touma, but Index disagrees. Index and Aisa then overhears Seiri arguing over Touma changing while she visits.
Aisa asks Index why Touma fights. Index is not sure of what to answer, but the last time she did hear from Touma about fighting is because it is for himself, and to him, that is his happiness.
A smile emerges from Aisa's lips as a certain high school boy opens the door to her hospital room.
Rating: 9/10