Toaru Majutsu no Index II Episode 22

Synopsis
As Fuze KAZAKIRI's wings light up the skies of Academy City, Accelerator finds himself running out of time. With only 60 seconds until the device that allows him to use his abilities runs out of energy, he faces the fact that he can no longer return to the light, and prepares to drag his mentor to hell along with him.

His determination, however, is not enough to take down Kihara Amata, who continues to effortlessly counter each and every attack of the "strongest esper in Academy City". Amata chides on Accelerator's efforts to fight him, telling him that things will not change, and only defeat is certain for someone who is trying hard to become a hero. This angers Accelerator, whose resolve to save Last Order from Academy City's dark side never wavered, and he lunges into Kihara for another attack.

However, the batteries that power his link with the Misaka Network gives in at the wrong moment, and a powerless Accelerator falls to the floor before he could land an attack.

Meanwhile, Touma and Vento confront again. Touma is able to block off Vento's magical attacks, although he has to fend off her melee attacks as well. Vento knows that she is at a disadvantage, as a magician dangerously close to a dense manifestation of AIM. However, she does not want to stop fighting Touma, whose power in his right arm disgusts her.

She declares her intense hate for science to Touma and unleashes a funnel of wind upon Touma, who is thrown off into a nearby wall. Touma is clearly shaken by the attack, but he soon notices that he is not alone in the battlefield; he sees an unconscious person on a nearby pile of rubble, and in shock, tells Vento to reconsider the attack. Vento does not take heed of this and continues on her attack.

Soon, FUSE Kazakiri begins to move. Vento watches as the gigantic wings of the AIM angel throw off sparks into the air. Then, she hurls another gust of wind towards Touma.

Kihara feels relieved that Accelerator is no longer able to fight and approaches Last Order, who is still unconscious due to the integration of the virus code in her brain. However, Accelerator manages to stand despite the loss of support from the Misaka Network, although in his current condition he is unable to understand a word he hears and his motor ability is severely crippled.

Touma, on the other hand is alarmed at the sudden turn of events; with many civilians in the proximity of his battle against Vento, he thinks that she might use them as diversions. Soon, he notices that there are crystal-like objects falling from the sky like snow. Touma sees this as Kazakiri's own way of helping the civilians, and with a smile on his face, he tells Vento that he feels very fortunate for the first time, much to Vento's puzzlement.

Accelerator staggers up while his mentor looks with shock. At that moment, the strongest Level 5 is acting with a crippled brain, and despite his injuries he fights on. Part of Kihara's scalp is torn off by Accelerator on the latter's mindless offense and for the first time, Kihara's defense mechanism against Accelerator is made useless. Nonetheless, Amata gives Accelerator a beating, which is merely shrugged off by the Level 5.

Kihara thinks that Accelerator will have a high tolerance to pain without his normal computing power and decides to destroy the antidote for the virus in Last Order's brain, in aims of making Accelerator feel anger; however, it did not work.

Then, as Kihara finds a way to kill Accelerator in the most fulfilling way possible, a girl in nun's robes appear.

Touma continues his fight against Vento. He manages to land a few hits, but it requires him to go past Vento's magical attacks and her large hammer. In the middle of the exchange, he notices that Vento avoids Touma from touching her hammer. Since he knows how destructive his hammer can be when it comes to magical objects, he decides to target Vento's hammer first.

Meanwhile, Vento still thinks that she has the upper hand when it comes to close combat because of her hammer; however, she does not know that Touma is already planning to destroy her weapon. Touma rushes to Vento and dispels incoming magic attacks aimed at him, but there are some which are too fast and powerful to dispel.

In the middle of casting a powerful wind spell to finish off Touma, Vento suddenly feels nauseous and vomits more blood. The interruption causes her spell to backfire. Touma shows his concern for Vento, who is clearly surprised and irritated for having shown concern by an enemy. Vento soon feels that it's not just the AIM manifestation disturbing her magic capabilities; she accuses Aleister of using a system that disrupts the flow of mana, causing her stay in Academy City to be her uncomfortable.

Touma declares that he no longer wants to fight Vento and would even take her to the hospital. However, the word "hospital" triggered one of Vento's memories: the event that changed her view on science.

According to Vento, she and her brother were critically injured by an amusement park ride which promises safety among its passengers. What is worse for her is that only one of them would survive in the hospital, due to insufficient blood supply in that hospital. With her brother dead, Vento develops her intense hate for science, which she brought along with her when she joined God's Right Seat.

Touma strongly disagrees.

He points out that Vento's aim of revenge has been a misunderstanding; that the doctors and the amusement park whom Vento accused of killing his brother truly want to save her brother's life, and that her brother has accepted his fate and saved Vento.

In spite of this, Vento holds firmly to her ideals and fights on, using all of her strength for one final spell. Touma dispels it with ease, and Vento succumbs to the pain she has been enduring. With the perfect opening, Touma clenches his fist and unleashes his final blow to Vento, sealing the battle in his favor.

Meanwhile, Index finds himself in an unfamiliar scene. She heads to Last Order and examines her condition, while Accelerator grabs Kihara to keep him from interrupting Index. Index tries to relate Last Order's condition to magical terminology, but the translation will be difficult without knowledge of science.

Fortunately, in a quick phone call, Misaka Mikoto explains to Index about the nature of an electric brain-wave network and AIM diffusion around Academy City. Using this information, Index concludes that Last Order is used to distort a special power and the only way to free her is to use something that can disrupt the object that distorts that special power... a song.

Mikoto is doubtful about Index's unusual method, but Index stays faithful; "prayers are always heard, and she needs them to save everyone".

As Index performs a magical song, Accelerator finally manages to speak Kihara's name after receiving yet another beating from his mentor. Miraculously, he also gains some of his motor abilities, although they are still not enough to defeat Kihara. Accelerator is knocked down once again, and Kihara decides to seal his fate once and for all... using a grenade.

The grenade explodes, but Accelerator soon emerges unscathed. Then, a pair of black wings sprout from his back. Accelerator then grabs Kihara on his jaw and there, Kihara tries to determine his student's new power... which he finally describes as "angelic". The Rank 1 Level 5 soon mutters words that seem unfamiliar except for the word "KILL" and using his wings, he fires Kihara into the atmosphere, the sheer speed and forces involved ripping apart Kihara's body.

Touma, on the other battlefield, rests for a few moments before tending to Kazakiri; however, he reminds himself of the power in his right hand and stays instead.

Soon, a loud boom is heard from where Vento is. When the smoke clears, a man with brown hair and a muscular build emerges, with an unconscious Vento on his arm. He introduces himself as Acqua of the Back, a fellow member of God's Right Seat, and is only there to retrieve Vento. Acqua then throws Touma the only remnant of the Divine Punishment spell - Vento's crucifix - and assures him that the effect of Vento's spell will wear off in time.

Acqua soon gives Touma a last warning before he leaves: that he is a Saint, and Touma's lifespan will shrink when he tries to confront him.

Adapted From
Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 13

Major events

 * Touma defeats Vento of the Front
 * Accelerator awakens and kills Kihara Amata.
 * Touma meets Acqua of the Back who retrieves Vento of the Front.
 * The invasion of Academy City officially ends with the retreat of Acqua of the Back from Academy City.

Characters
By order of appearance
 * Accelerator
 * Last Order
 * Kihara Amata
 * Kamijou Touma
 * Vento of the Front
 * Kazakiri Hyouka
 * Aleister Crowley (referenced only)
 * Index
 * Misaka Mikoto
 * Hound Dog

New Characters

 * Acqua of the Back

Abilities

 * Redirection - Accelerator, Level 5
 * Wind Hammer - Vento of the Front
 * Imagine Breaker - Kamijou Touma, Level 0
 * Electric attacks - Misaka Mikoto, Level 5
 * Compulsion Aria (Spell Intercept) - Index
 * Fuse KAZAKIRI - Kazakiri Hyouka

New Abilities

 * Awakening - Accelerator, Black Wings

Locations

 * Academy City

New Locations
No notable locations were introduced during this episode.

Trivia

 * Angel language is heard for the first time in the series.
 * The scene where Touma meets Acqua of the Back is played after a regular showing of the ending theme, right before the next episode preview.
 * This marks the first time that an "Awakening" is shown, though no information is provided about it.

Referbacks

 * Index references Brainwave networks, which have been featured in the series several times, most notably the Level Upper Network as well as the Misaka Network.

Cultural References

 * Kihara Amata uses a M26 Hand Grenade on Accelerator. With a blast radius of 10 meters, the grenade should have reastically killed or at least injured the occupants within the office Amata used.

Animation Trivia

 * When the scene focuses on Vento of the Front during her correlation of Fuse KAZAKIRI to her bleeding, if the viewer watches carefully the viewer can see that the background has blocks of pixels as if poorly enlarged.
 * There is a certain delay in Amata's reaction to Index moving closer to the table where Last Order is.
 * Index can be clearly seen to have already arrived at the table Last Order is placed in, however, in the next scene after Amata's reaction, she is now farther away from Last Order.
 * The stance where Amata spreads his arms downwards after beating Accelerator into the floor is reused later during Index's aria.

Unanswered Questions

 * Why can Accelerator awaken into an angel?
 * How was Accelerator able to speak angel language?
 * How many other members does God's Right Seat have?

Quotes

 * Accelerator: "I can't turn back towards the light now... The only thing I can do is accompany Kihara to hell!"
 * Touma: "You think your perspective is the only one that matters in this world? Why don't you ever try to accept others?!" -said to Vento of the Front.
 * Touma: "It's hard to believe, huh? I keep calling myself misfortunate, but I have to say I'm pretty fortunate right now. Don't you think?!" -said to Vento of the Front regarding Kazakiri Hyouka helping him.
 * Vento of the Front: "If science has such a cold existence, then I'll destroy it and fill the world with one warmer! That is my duty to my brother, whose future I stole!"
 * Touma: "Because of your brother's decision, you're standing here alive right now! That was its worth! Shouldn't you of all people understand that the best?" -said to Vento of the Front.
 * Touma: "You're not living your life correctl! Your brother made the ultimate sacrifice! Are you going to trample al over that? Are you going to twist his sacrifice by saying he detested science until the very end?!" -said to Vento of the Front.
 * Touma: "The danger that Academy City and Kazakiri are in... As well as the hate Vento has for science... I'm going to destroy all of those illusions! It's nothing compared to what your brother did, but I'll save you just a little bit. Start your life over, you idiot!" -regarding Vento of the Front.
 * Mikoto: "Call me Mikoto-sama!" -said to Index.
 * Index: "Prayers are always heard! We'll save them with our prayers! This girl, Hyouka, and all of Academy City!" -said to Mikoto, regarding how to save Last Order.
 * Amata: "This bastard... What kind of power is this? Did he achieve another clearance? What values did he put into his personal reality? Don't tell me the true form of your power is an angel or something... You haven't even noticed what's behind what's you, you monster." -regarding Accelerator's black wings.
 * Acqua of the Back: "Let me tell you one thing: I am a Saint. Fighting me will only shorten your lifespan." -said to Index.