[Sackett]

Originally Posted by Teh_Ping

Well, again, we'll let the text provide some insight.

Spoiler for Volume 7, the planning part:

Suddenly, a door of the "Fuyou Chapel" opens, as Kamijou Touma stands at the door that’s opened outwards. Orsola, who’s injured badly, is standing behind him, using the bandaged minute hand of a large clock as a crutch. Maybe Kamijou feels that carrying Orsola around while running isn’t the way to go that he’s hiding in the "Fuyou Chapel".

In this critical moment, Index, Stiyl and Tatemiya rush into the "Fuyou Chapel". Kamijou hastily closes the door. Right at this moment, numerous blades are stabbed into the 5-cm-thick oak door.

In a short time, the door had blocked the Roman Catholic nuns' attacks.

But a door like this cannot withstand for much longer. Using the story of the Three Little Pigs as an illustration, it’s like they're hiding in a straw house now.

“Seems like everyone’s okay… Orsola, can you walk?”

“You really like to worry. My injuries aren’t that serious.”

Orsola’s injuries are definitely serious; it’s just that they're hidden underneath her nun robes, so nobody can see it. Even so, she still weakly smiles at Kamijou. Although Kamijou’s feeling compassionate, he can’t do anything. So, he barely changes the subject.

“…Okay, now what?”

Nobody can answer that question. Everyone present realizes that the stalemate that was originally there is gone now.

The Amakusa members out there are surviving through their own sneak attacks and escapes, so they’re already busy themselves and can’t possibly help now.

*Pang!* *Bam!* Like nails being hammered into wood, the number of holes on the wall continues to increase.

Index looks extremely pale as she says,

“They… just… stabbed their ears like that… My ‘Sheol Fear’ cannot work…”

Maybe Index is still thinking about how the nuns stabbed their ears with fountain pens that blood seems to have been drained from her face.

“The ‘Spell Intercept’ can only work against one person at a time. It’s impossible to interfere when there are so many people chanting their spells…”

“Oh?”

Index continues to analyze her battle capabilities, and Kamijou’s all confused now. He doesn’t even know what Index did based on what principle.

Tatemiya then says,

“Although my subordinates are hard-working, I guess it’s hard for them to reverse the situation. Humans are at their scariest when they’re willing to sacrifice themselves. No matter how good an expert fighter is, he can’t handle a group of people rushing like a flood. It’s like how an army of ants can kill any beast.”

His tone is full of reluctance, overlapping with the sounds of blades being stabbed into the door and being pulled out. Several eyeballs are peeking into the dug-out holes.

Kamijou feels chilly in his stomach.

Once the door breaks open, several hundred armed nuns will rush in like a landslide. If they can’t come up with an answer within these next few minutes, everyone inside will be unable to survive.

But the more suggestions everyone gives, the more they sink into despair. Although Kamijou's as panicky as an ant on a hot pot, he’s at a loss on what to do.

“Eh… If… we have ‘The Book of the Law’, maybe we can find a spell to protect ourselves using my code.”

Orsola suddenly asks.

Everyone turns to look at her.

"The Book of the Law".

Although it’s the cause of everything, the magic book had been long forgotten by everyone. The forbidden book written by Edward Alexander- also known as Crowley, the greatest magician in the world- contains a strong power and knowledge, said to be able to allow humans to use the "Angelic Spells". Just opening one page is said to be able to end this Christian age.

Since "The Book of the Law" is so dangerous, "breaking the seal of ‘The Book of the Law’" can be used as a negotiating tool.

“Too bad ‘The Book of the Law’ wasn’t stolen; it was all a ploy to frame us. In other words, the real ‘Book of the Law’ may not even be in Japan. They only brought a fake, and the original should still be in the Vatican; we have no-”

“It’s here!”

Kamijou and Index shout out at the same time.

That’s right, the original "Book of the Law" is here.

“Index, although you’re unable to decode ‘The Book of the Law’, you might have memorized it thoroughly in order to decode it, right? You do have the original text of ‘The Book of the Law’ in your head, right?”

“Un, I still remember those codes that aren’t decoded yet.”

Hearing this, Stiyl’s expression changes drastically.

“No way! If you do so, she’ll memorize the correct content of ‘The Book of the Law’! That means that even more magicians will want her!”

“Are you worrying about me?”

Index, who only treated Stiyl as "somebody who has nothing to do with her", asks suspiciously. Stiyl, who treats Index as an "old friend", doesn’t know how to reply, and his face is flushed red. But Stiyl smacks his mouth again, not saying anything more. Stiyl is clear that Index already knows that the magicians are chasing after her, so no reason will stop her. Besides, there’s no other way out.

Stiyl thinks for a while. Conflicting thoughts are inside his head like angels fighting against each other. He suddenly shouts,

“Kamijou Touma!”

“What… what now?”

“You have to be even stronger! If there’s any consequence that harms her in any way, I’ll burn your body, heart, and soul until there’s not even ash!”

Stiyl then cursed, smacks his mouth again, and turns around. Index still looks like she doesn’t know what’s going on, as she’s somewhat bewildered by Stiyl’s anger. Tatemiya looks at Kamijou with a profound meaning, then turns to look at Stiyl. Kamijou thinks, “Please don’t look at me like that.”

Puzzled, Index tilts her head, and asks,

“Anyway, can you tell me how to decode ‘The Book of the Law’?”

“Ah, yes, then, I’ll explain it to you.”

Being asked by Index, Orsola continues on.

At this moment, Kamijou feels sweat emerging from his forehead.

In the past, he thought that it’s only fantasy, yet it’s about to come true now. The danger that Kamijou had never ever thought of continues to appear in his mind.

Kamijou is very clear of what the "Angelic Spells" that are only rumours and speculation to the magicians are (what an irony). He saw firsthand one of the four large angels, the "Power of God", summon the magic spell "Judgment"- billions of light bombs that nearly turned half the earth to crisp.

If they use such a spell, they can turn the tide around.

But…

Should humanity meddle with such power?

Orsola seems to have sensed Kamijou’s worries, and says,

“We have no need to show them the power of ‘The Book of the Law’; we just need to tell them that we have decoded it and can use it anytime. If possible, I would like to avoid using this power as well.”

Orsola seriously says.

That’s right; the original reason why Orsola’s studying "The Book of the Law" is to cause the knowledge inside the book to disappear. Right now, her actions are going against what she originally believed in. Also, even if they manage to get through this crisis, they’ll get harassed by magicians all over the world for having the knowledge of "The Book of the Law".

She had already thought about all this. But she decides to do this.

Even if it goes against her ideals, even if it’s going to put her in danger, she still wishes to help Kamijou and company.

Throughout history, no one was able to find a way to decode "The Book of the Law".

Even Index, who’s keeping the 103,000 magical texts, can’t decode the banned book inside her.

“The base model is Temurah, which is the switching of the texts' locations. But there’s a special rule that’s closely related to the number of lines. First, arrange the twenty-two lines of Hebrew text into two rows, and according to the rows—”

Kamijou feels like a duck that heard some thunder rumble, but to Index, it’s very important. Kamijou's never seen her so serious before.

Right now, Index is processing and decoding the magic book that nobody has read before, forming a blueprint of the strongest weapon. On one hand, Kamijou is bewildered; on the other hand, he’s wondering if he’s taking part in an irreversible mistake.

“—In other words, the texts with different numbers of lines have to be changed again using another rule, so it sounds complicated. But even if the page changes, as long as the number of lines don’t change, the rule of change won’t change. Then—”

“The sentences with changes done to the positions of the words have to be rearranged according the number of pages. So then, the original content of the text can be restored. The title is ‘End of Two Eras’, and the content is written in Enochian about the Human Angelification Spells.”

Index suddenly finishes what Orsola was about to say, as if she read Orsola’s mind. Orsola is wide-eyed now.

“It’s alright; I know what’s going on.”

Orsola is surprised that Index had interrupted her while she was conveying her own way of decoding that only she should know. She asks,

“May I ask, what do you mean by 'you understand'?”

“Um…”

Index says with a heavy tone.

“This isn’t the way to decode it; it’s a fake answer that the author left behind.”

“What…?”

Orsola goes numb.

Index sadly turns to look at Orsola, and says,

“I’m sorry. I came up with this answer myself as well. Besides this one, there are many more fake ones out there. The most frightening thing about ‘The Book of the Law’ is that…”

Index sighs, and continues,

“There’s more than a hundred ways to decode it. And every single way of decoding it can form a text, but those are all fakes. It’s not that nobody can’t decode ‘The Book of the Law’, but that anyone can actually decode it because they are misguided.”

“This is impossible…”

Orsola hoarsely croaks.

“The wrong explanation can still create a ‘text’ that someone can read, so even when one finds a wrong way of decoding it, everyone will think that theirs is the correct way. It’s normal that you fell into the trap without noticing. Besides the title on the cover of ‘The Book of the Law’, there’s also a line of English words; do you remember?”

Index painfully conveys this cruel truth.

“‘Desire, and it’ll be thy magic’; in other words, what one perceives to be the correct way to decode it can create several ‘wrong answers’ for ‘The Book of the Law’. ‘The Book of the Law’ is such a scary book.”

Orsola Aquinas’s face shows that she has lost all hope.

This can’t be helped. She gambled her life in order to interpret "The Book of the Law", thinking that it’ll bring about happiness to everyone, and destroy this magic book, the root of all evil.

But unexpectedly, the "way to decode" that she so treasured the most is unable to do anything.

Not only is it unable to destroy the magic book, but it also can’t save her friends in this critical juncture.

“Look on the bright side. If we tell them that Orsola didn’t find the way to decode it, I wonder if they’ll be magnanimous in their actions?”

Tatemiya asks.

At the same time, a huge knocking sound comes from the chapel’s doors.

“I guess it’s unlikely. Since they’ve thrown away their façade, they probably won’t hold back.”

Stiyl replies.

In this desperate situation, he gives a faint smile.

It’s useless.

Their only hope is gone.

Kamijou frantically tries to bring Index and Orsola out the back door, but accidentally knocks into Stiyl, who’s wielding a flame sword. The rune cards, which were supposed to be the killer blow, land on the ground without response.

*BAM!*

There’s an impact that’s much louder than the first, and the off-type doors of the "Fuyou Chapel" are knocked down. Kamijou and company only have time to say two or three sentences. A few hundred nuns are wielding all sorts of religious weapons as they rush into this church construct that’s built for funerals.

1: It still shows that they intended to bluff about using the book, so why not bluff that they had decoded it?

2: The anime still should be able to stand on it's own without having to refer back to the text. I don't mind the text adding to the richness of the anime, but the anime shouldn't be full of plot holes.