Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 19/Chapter 3

Synopsis
With Spark Signal completely eliminated, GROUP now faces the aftermath of losing their only link to DRAGON, and the word itself remains a mystery to them. Unabara Mitsuki reveals his Magic Side background and suggests that the word "DRAGON" may be connected to another magical entity, angels, and this triggers Accelerator's memories of the 0930 Incident, where angel wings appeared in Academy City. With GROUP's interest to know more intensified, they decide to confront Director Shiokishi about it.

Suddenly, GROUP's limousine explodes after being hit by a portable anti-tank missile, forcing the four to go separate ways. Shiokishi is immediately suspected for the sudden attack. But, Accelerator's choker suddenly stops working, leaving him in a vulnerable state. It is there that a man picks him up and brings him into his sports car. The man, who is among the casualties in the District 3 blast, reveals that he is a "grunt" that works for the Dark Side, and he is indebted to Accelerator for saving his life earlier. For that, he agrees to bring Accelerator to Shiokishi's whereabouts.

Kinuhata Saiai struggles to defend Stephanie Gorgeouspalace's bursts of firepower, and she is forced to retreat to the underground mall used as a refuge by the Spark Signal members earlier. Still, Saiai's attempts to attack are easily countered by Stephanie, especially since Stephanie herself knows about espers as a former resident of Academy City, and she quickly begins exploiting the flammability of nitrogen which Saiai uses for her Offense Armor.

Accelerator confirms from Tsuchimikado that GROUP has survived the attacks for the meantime, and the high school student from the Dark Side sets his sights on District 21, where Director Oyafune Monaka is holding a charity astronomy trip, the same trip that was interrupted by the attack of Spark Signal. Accelerator immediately breaks his ties with the high school student as it leaves him behind near the observatory where Director Oyafune is, and he is instead accompanied by the director's secretary, who advises him to go back. Initially, Accelerator is angered at Tsuchimikado's claim that Director Oyafune will help group in their plight, but the secretary clarified that the director only wanted to maintain a delicate balance that also keeps her daughter Oyafune Suama safe.

Oyafune Monaka soon emerges from the observatory and Accelerator backs away from any conversation with her and her secretary, although he mentions dealing with Shiokishi himself. However, as he reunites with the boy that he saved from the Hula Hoop hostage crisis, the confident words of the boy moved Director Oyafune enough to change her stand. As she remembers that particular threat against her daughter, Monaka decides to act and join Accelerator's move against Shiokishi despite her secretary's worries. Using Monaka's bulletproof limo, they head to Shiokishi's residence.

Saiai's absence becomes apparent as Shiage and Rikou receive a message from Saiai herself. However, the fight between Saiai and Stephanie Gorgeouspalace begins to creep closer from the underground mall, and in their curiosity, Shiage and Rikou find Saiai unable to retaliate from Stephanie's attacks.

In District 2, Accelerator meets up with Tsuchimikado and they prepare to confront Shiokishi from inside his residence. Meanwhile, Director Shiokishi himself begins to feel tense after knowing of fellow Director Oyafune's involvement, and he discusses the next course of action with Sugitani. Finally, Shiokishi decides to take on GROUP and Oyafune from inside the safety of his own home. Despite the presence of tanks, Powered Suits, equipped personnel and even an AIM jamming device, Accelerator plows through a way closer to Shiokishi's whereabouts. Tsuchimikado pulls back from the main group, and after Oyafune is separated from Accelerator and Awaki, the girl with the Move Point ability is knocked unconscious by Sugitani, who used an anesthetic shock to render her useless in the fight. Sugitani then states that Oyafune is most like fighting Shiokishi alone, and he is confident that his superior will claim victory soon.

On the other side of the battlefield, Oyafune calmly makes her proposal to Shiokishi to remove his concept of using other people as a resource, as well as for him to divulge any information about DRAGON. Shiokishi immediately sees no point in negotiating since he cannot agree to either proposal and prepares to crush her by using the might of his Powered Suit. However, Oyafune reveals her true identity as GROUP's Etzali and uses the Spear of Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli to dismantle Shiokishi's Powered Suit. Alarmed by being forced outside of his protection, Shiokishi calls on two men that he called Minobe, and ends up killed by the men, who are actually Etzali's former comrades Tecpatl and Tochtli. However, they do not come as reunited allies; instead they come to execute Etzali who was deemed a deserter from their organization.

Accelerator begins the attack against Sugitani, but Shiokishi's underling knows of Accelerator's weaknesses and tries to use it against the Level 5, which showed a proof of concept although his hand swelled in the process. The two begin to mock each other's concept of good and evil, but this ends as Sugitani shuts down Accelerator's choker, turning him vulnerable enough to be open for a single shot to the head. Stephanie continues showering bullets to where Saiai was located. However, as the smoke in the underground mall clears, Saiai is nowhere to be found. Instead, she appears somewhere by Stephanie's side and fires her handgun on her attacker's stomach. Soon, Stephanie discovers a can of liquid nitrogen nearby, which Saiai uses to replenish her supply of the gas for her Offense Armor. Then, Saiai retaliated, not by shooting at Stephanie directly, but by using her esper ability alone.

Etzali finds himself in a tense reunion with Tecpatl, who now leads the organization Etzali defected from, and Tochtli. In their conversation, Tecpatl shows Etzali an original grimoire, stored in a Calendar Stone, and uses it to fire powerful shots that are capable of destroying nuclear shelters using the Aztec concept of throwing rabbits on the moon. However, what enraged Etzali was that Tecpatl was using the bones of Tochtli to substitute rabbit bones.

A fight between the grimoires of Tecpatl and Etzali breaks out. However, Tecpatl manages to break through Etzali's defense, rendering him unable to get up. Tecpatl prepares to finish Etzali off after explaining the futility of preventing war back in their homeland after destroying World Police, the shot he reserved for Etzali suddenly turned back on himself. Etzali considers it a sign that the grimoire had deemed Tecpatl unworthy, and he willingly accepts Tecpatl's grimoire as his own.

Sugitani prepares to finish off Accelerator, but he suddenly feels that he was shot. As Sugitani falters over a gunshot wound on his stomach, Accelerator manages to stand upright again and reveals that he had already prepared for the scenario where his choker is to suffer from interference by tweaking his crutch to protect himself. With the outcome in Accelerator's favor, he shoots Sugitani enough to render him unconscious, but not enough to kill him. Meanwhile, in the middle of the blaze on the underground mall, Saiai decides to ask Stephanie about her involvement in the unmanned helicopter that attacked her and Shiage earlier. Stephanie shows confusion about the inquiry, leading Saiai to believe that there are others who want her dead. However, as Measure Heart with the remnants of Hound Dog emerges to restrain Saiai, the so-called "girl in the dress" explains that Hamazura Shiage is an anomalous Level 0 that was supposed to be killed during the battle royale and that the man known as Aleister is conducting some sort of plan.

Saiai manages to force Rikou and Shiage to flee from Measure Heart. Still, they were pursued by men who used Hard Taping to try to outrun the freight train they used to escape, but they eventually see a passageway to escape to. Rikou's fatigued body gives in once more to the lack of rest, and Shiage tries to push on, willing to carry Rikou even if he is tired himself. Suddenly, the men in pursuit are neutralized by beams of light out of nowhere, and Shiage, to his fright, sees the Level 5 he defeated not too long ago, Mugino Shizuri.

With Shiokishi secured, GROUP finally urges the director to tell what he knows about DRAGON. With a laugh, Shiokishi simply points them to the entity who bears that name, and as the director passes out due to blood loss, Tsuchimikado, Awaki and Etzali lose their consciousness before the presence of a mysterious figure.

This figure finds himself called under many other names, but he instead introduces himself as Aiwass.

Characters
By order of appearance
 * Accelerator
 * Tsuchimikado Motoharu
 * Musujime Awaki
 * Etzali (as Unabara Mitsuki)
 * Unnamed high school student
 * Kinuhata Saiai
 * Stephanie Gorgeouspalace
 * Oyafune Monaka
 * Unnamed boy
 * Hamazura Shiage
 * Takitsubo Rikou
 * Shiokishi
 * Sugitani
 * Girl in the dress
 * Mugino Shizuri

New Characters

 * Oyafune Monaka's secretary
 * Tecpatl
 * Tochtli
 * Aiwass

New Locations

 * Observatory, District 23
 * Shiokishi's residence, District 2

Abilities

 * Accelerator (ability) - Accelerator
 * Spear of Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli - Etzali
 * Appearance borrowing - Tecpatl and Tochtli
 * Time related to Life and Death - Etzali
 * Offense Armor - Kinuhata Saiai

New Abilities

 * Moon Rabbit - Tecpatl

Quotes

 * Sugitani: "All your ‘Evil’ can do is pick at the scraps left behind by ‘Good’. With your level only at stopping two or three tragedies, you want to defeat us who face hundreds and thousands of tragedies on a regular basis? You people are merely scavengers, do you truly believe that the scraps you pick up are enough to satisfy the entire world?"
 * Aiwass: "I’m the one that once taught the necessary parts of the necessary knowledge to an eccentric magician named Crowley—Aiwass."