Etzali

Etzali (エツァリ) is a character introduced in Toaru Majutsu no Index. Originally referred to as the Aztec Magician, he is actually a member of Return of the Winged One. He was sent to Academy City to monitor the growing Kamijou Faction. He is later defeated by Kamijou Touma himself and eventually joins GROUP in order to protect Misaka Mikoto.

Etymology
Etzali's name is likely derived from, the name of the sixth month of the Aztec calendar, running from May 24 to June 12 of the Gregorian calendar. It can be translated alternatively from as "Meal of Maize and Beans" or "Feast of the Corn". It is also a festival in the dedicated to the divine couple  and.

Appearance
Etzali usually takes the form of Unabara Mitsuki. His true form though is that of a young man with dark skin, and black wavy hair.

Background
Etzali was a member of the magical Aztec organization known as Return of the Winged One and was a senior to fellow member Xochitl. A month before August 31st, Etzali was sent to Academy City in order to judge if the growing Kamijou Faction was dangerous and if it would destroy the balance between the magic and science side.

The radical actions of Kamijou Touma compel his organization to pit Etzali against the Kamijou Faction, his operation began when he was able to abduct Unabara Mitsuki and take his form, a week before August 31st and set his sights in Mikoto, with the objective of taking her form and sowing distrust into Kamijou and his peers. Even though he has to follows orders he disclosed that he did in fact fall in love with Mikoto.

Etzali has described himself as someone that has an old hand in his Magic Cabal, and has proved such by knowing a lot of the internal politics of his former association.

Three Stories Arc
Etzali first appears under the guise of Unabara Mitsuki—the grandson of the director of Tokiwadai Middle School, who has been reportedly stalking Misaka Mikoto for a week. During the morning August 31, Etzali's usual routine of following Mikoto is interrupted by the arrival of Kamijou Touma, who is forced by Mikoto to pretend to be a couple with her.

Etzali himself meets Touma, after Mikoto went away to buy beverages. Here, they discuss on Mikoto's personality and feelings (as well as having Etzali solve Touma's summer homework); because of this, Touma discovers that Unabara Mitsuki (Etzali) is truly serious about Mikoto. Their conversation is interrupted by the arrival of Mikoto, irritated that Touma would converse and actually get along with Mitsuki.

Later, after Touma convinces Mikoto to stop acting as a couple, Etzali meets Touma again while he waits for Mikoto is off to buy food for Touma. However, Touma sees that a person similar looking to Mitsuki is running towards the establishment that Mikoto is in. Here, it is revealed that the one Touma is talking to is an impostor who uses an obsidian dagger to attack Touma. Seeing this Touma is forced to run and calls Index, who informs him that Etzali is an Aztec magician who uses a replica Spear of Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli, which reflects the light of Venus as an attack.

They later arrive in an abandoned construction site, where Touma is able to stop Etzali’s attack for a while, destroying his Unabara Mitsuki form in the process, and demands answers from him. Here, Etzali tells Touma of the growing Kamijou Faction, an unstable yet influential group of espers and magicians who is allied with Touma. Etzali states that his organization has determined that the faction is too dangerous, and as such they tasked Etzali with destabilizing the group by pretending to be its members. Touma asks if all he said about Mikoto was a lie as well; to which Etzali responds if it is truly wrong to lie and deceive someone in order to protect them, to protect Mikoto. Etzali continues by saying that if Touma didn’t cause too much trouble, he wouldn’t have to deceive Mikoto in the first place.

The battle continues, with Etzali saying that he is now Touma’s enemy, to which Touma responds that he will break his illusion apart. Using his obsidian spearhead, Etzali tries to attack Touma, though missing and destroying several metal beams that held the building together. As the building collapses, Touma successfully destroys Etzali’s obsidian spearhead, though Etzali is hit by several metal beams as the result of the collapse of the building. Touma is safe however; as Mikoto arrived just in time to use her electromagnetic powers to prevent the beams from hitting Touma.

With Etzali pinned down by the metal beams, Touma confronts him for one last time. Here, Etzali tells Touma that many more attacks will happen, not just on Touma but on Mikoto as well. Etzali pleads Touma, to protect Mikoto, to go wherever and whenever she needs help. Touma responds positively to this, to which Etzali smiles and states that his response is the worst possible he could give. All the while, Mikoto overhears this, and blushes at his response.

Touma later references that he let Tsuchimikado Motoharu deal with the fallen Etzali.

Tree Diagram Remnant Arc
Touma references Etzali after rescuing Shirai Kuroko, as that "nameless person" who fell in love with Mikoto, and states to Kuroko that this is promise to him, to protect Mikoto and her world.

Skill-Out Uprising
In this arc it is revealed that Etzali is still within Academy city and is now an acting member of GROUP, he introduces himself to Accelerator and briefs him on his first assignment. At the end of the novel it is revealed that Etzali was working behind the scenes with the objective of having the higher ups calling off Misaka Misuzu's termination order, also referencing the promise that Touma made to him. The novel also reveals that every member of GROUP is being blackmailed into being part of the team, with Etzali joining the organization in order to protect Mikoto from the shadows.

Battle Royale Arc
Etzali receives an order from Motoharu to investigate Management's room after he took him down.

With Motoharu to communicate with, Etzali begins his investigation in Management's Family Side apartment, looking for places where the man could hide information. Motoharu says that even if it is a small possibility he should take them all, like memory chips from rice cookers and washing machines, to which Etzali feels like he's doing grunt work. Motoharu informs Etzali on how Management organized something for an organization and believes that the thing that Management organized for them will be happening soon, and that stopping it before it happens is their job. Etzali asks if it was really necessary to call on GROUP for the task, but Motoharu just tells him to do his job. He later finds a stack of paper money on a shelf and found it unusual. He asks Motoharu if they have devices to read information on IC chips, saying that he has found stacks of paper money and that they need to check them out as well. He answers that he will prepare them, and says that that there are no more valuable information on his side in the department store's cleaning room. Just as Motoharu continues to speak, an explosion occurs inside the room due to a rocket, then a group for armored men from BLOCK led by Yamate enters the room.

They were there in order to prevent other organizations like GROUP to discover SCHOOL'S plans. This is due to the fact that they were forced to modify their plans in order to accommodate SCHOOL's actions in order for the organization from getting in their way, giving up on dealing with SCHOOL's actions.

Etzali survived, having jumped into a room at the same time the rocket smashed through the window. Trapped, Etzali ponders what to do, once thinking he could use his obsidian knife, though decided not to due to the huge disadvantage in numbers stacked against him. Ultimately, he decided to attack one of them and take their appearance using his magic; Yamate was the unfortunate victim. He later stuffs Yamate's corpse inside a closet as well as stuff the stacks of money in a microwave oven to aid GROUP as the BLOCK grunts take away all appliances that could allow people to discover information.

Etzali as Yamate and his group later return to BLOCK's base in School District 10 near the Reformatory. Unbeknownst to Tatsuhiko, there is a spanner in the works, as Etzali has killed Yamate during the operation and has taken his appearance. Disguised as Yamate and suddenly being in BLOCK's base, Etzali is anxious. Seeing this, Megumi asks what the matter was, to which Etzali says it's nothing. Megumi then says that he should pull himself together as the plan's success depends on his power. Tatsuhiko then tells Megumi that SCHOOL has made their moved and laments on the fact despite giving them the information regarding Management. Megumi then says that it won't be easy outwitting Academy City but says that's also a reason why they can't give up. She then asks about the Man on the Phone, to which Tatsuhiko says that both he and the Hound Dogs are of no concern. After Etzali's ponders on how the subordinates are supporting an actual rebellion, Tatsuhiko then orders Tetsumou to use her Skill Polygraph to make sure there isn't a traitor among them, their usual safety check. Etzali becomes surprised, though manages to hide it. He quickly concocts his plan, playing around with hand cream before his turn and spiked it with a small quantity of liquid explosives. After analyzing Saku and Teshio Megumi, the latter's past disturbing her enough for Megumi to advise to stop reading her mind, it was Yamate's turn. Before Tetsumou could get to him, Etzali pretended to lose his grip on the hand cream container, forcing a minor grunt to pick it up for him.

Etzali goes to it and has him get analyzed by Tetsumou first instead of him, rubbing the dangerous explosive on his hand. As Tetsumou touches his hand to read his mind, their hands suddenly burst into flames, and she loses a few fingers of her right hand. The shock and blood loss then renders her unconscious, which prompts the grunt to reach for the first aid kit, but Tatsuhiko executes the grunt despite his pleas, believing him to be the traitor inside their group all along. Noticing that Tetsumou could no longer function as a polygraph, Saku shows no interest in her condition, saying that there isn't any time to "find a replacement" and instructed some of his men to take care of her body. With that done, Tatsuhiko goes to his laptop and begins the next phase of their plan.

Thus BLOCK begins hacking the Virus Isolation Center and spread the viruses through the External Connection Terminals and at the same time hack Hikoboshi II's satellite control center as so they can use the satellite in order to split the forces that would be sent out to deal with it. BLOCK's main goal with the hacking however was to take down the surveillance system that Hikoboshi II satellite had and deliberately spread false information of using its large caliber ground-attack laser to attack School District 13.

Later, Etzali manages to call Accelerator. He tells Accelerator that he is currently in disguise. Accelerator assumes that he is hiding behind SCHOOL's back and says that he is busy dealing with the satellite hacking as such he can't answer his plea for rescue. Etzali clears to him that he is not with SCHOOL but with BLOCK and that they're the one who is doing the hacking. Accelerator references SCHOOL's attempted assassination with Oyafune Monaka, which surprises Etzali as he had no idea it had happened. Etzali continues with his report and says that BLOCK is the one behind the attack of the Virus Isolation Center and one of the External Connection Terminals, doing so in order to confuse the City's network counter-measure team. Etzali says that the Hikoboshi II will fall into the hands of BLOCK in 20 minutes. Accelerator asks why School District 23 hasn't temporarily frozen the satellite control center, to which Etzali believes that the freezing it takes over an hour. Accelerator then asks Hikoboshi II, to which Etzali then concludes that they are using the laser to strike a target—School District 13, specifically the kindergartens and elementary schools. Both of them knew that attacking a district where children resided would be disastrous to Academy City, a city of schools that needs children to operate. Accelerator asks Etzali if he could stop them from where he is, to which he said he wouldn't have called. He then asks if he can evacuate the residents of School District 13, but says that it would cause panic and unfeasible as the children are outside due to the holiday. Accelerator insults Etzali for his uselessness and whines on how he has no choice but to destroy the antenna that communicates with the satellite. Etzali agrees and says that he will continue to gather information and pass it to him when he can. Etzali then hangs up. Accelerator then tells the driver to hurry up.

Back with BLOCK, Megumi asks if Tatsuhiko has done it, to which he says that he did so. He says that he used the Virus Isolation Center as a dummy while School District 23, where the antenna for Hikoboshi II was located, was understaffed. He then tells that what they have done is the first step in the world Aleister is in. As Etzali ponders what to do, Megumi reports on how something has happened in School District 23. Here she states that a number of Anti-Skills have been defeated though none of them were killed or had fatal injuries. She continues that from there at high speed the offender went to the antenna. Tatsuhiko asks which organization is behind it, presuming that it may be MEMBER. Megumi then says that it is GROUP's doing and it may have been its most recent member, the Level 5 known as Accelerator. Etzali sees a photo of Accelerator on Megumi's monitor, and thinks it was taken in School District 23 by a member of BLOCK's subordinate organization. At first Etzali becomes nervous with BLOCK discovering Accelerator, but then realizes that BLOCK may not be able to snipe or attack from the distance where the photo was taken. Megumi then asks what they should do, to which Tatsuhiko says that it is obvious and that is pray for success. At first Etzali doesn't understand his reply, but then realizes something, they were trying to take down Academy City's surveillance capabilities. Tatsuhiko says that a frontal assault on School District 23 would have been difficult for them, but their current situation wouldn't have occurred if the antenna wasn't destroyed first, as such they needed the likes of those who are powerful but stupid to do the job for them. Megumi says that they may have overthought as Accelerator has already reached the antenna. Tatsuhiko says that the higher-ups must've opened up a path for him as Accelerator should've been already attacked by HsAFH-11 helicopters already, though it doesn't matter since Accelerator can defeat all them. Megumi then asks if they should really use the mercenaries waiting outside the outer wall of School District 11. Tatsuhiko then chastises her for having second thoughts of having unrelated people getting wrapped up in their plans. With that, Tatsuhiko ends the hacking done by his laptop and turned it off. He then tells them that they should go now as 5,000 mercenaries are waiting for them outside.

BLOCK arrives in School District 11 near the outer wall of the city. With the city's surveillance down, BLOCK is waiting for an opportune time to make their move with allowing their mercenaries in. Etzali is aware of this, though he does not know if the other members of GROUP or even the higher-ups know of this. Etzali wonders what BLOCK's goal is with the mercenaries is, not knowing what they're going to attack with such a massive amount of forces. Megumi who stood nearby asks Yamate believing him to be nervous about their big plan, the person Etzali is disguised as, if he is worried, to which Etzali responds in the negative. Tatsuhiko then complains about the Security robots still moving around in his impatience. Megumi asks if that is a problem, though he says that they are unarmed, and that the mercenaries can get over the wall if they time it right. Etzali then asks why they aren't armed, to which Tatsuhiko explains to him the reason. Basically, what the security robots do is not shoot at targets but use a special communication line to sound an alarm in School District 23. This would then mobilize unmanned attack helicopters HsAFH-11, the Six Wings, to attack the intruders. Tatsuhiko then looks at his watch and determines that in 10 minutes the rotation of security robots will begin to recharge, allowing for a 20 to 30 minute gap in the security. As communications with Hikoboshi II which usually filled in the gaps in the security in this rotation, this gives the mercenaries BLOCK hired some time to enter into Academy City. Tatsuhiko then orders to prepare vehicles for the 5,000 mercenaries that are coming.

Tatsuhiko is unaware of Etzali's thoughts as he radios and instructs the mercenaries outside through a radio. Etzali decided to attack now as he had no way to contact GROUP. He later finds a nearby parking garage and takes out his Spear of Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli to destroy it. Tatsuhiko and Megumi witnesses this inexplicable action by their comrade, and as they have no knowledge in magic they merely stared at him. However, shock dawns upon them as they see him running towards the parking garage as it collapses. As Tatsuhiko yells at him, Etzali is fired at by BLOCK and the others. However, he was protected by the collapsing parking garage and then used his obsidian knife to make a hole on the ground to the sewers, allowing him to escape Tatsuhiko's wrath. Shortly after, an emergency signal is sent to School District 23's Air Superiority Preservation Control Center, and due to the surveillance satellite being out special defense conditions, allowing him to immediately mobilize the Six Wings attack helicopters to School District 11.

Tatsuhiko curses Yamate as chaos falls upon them. The HsAFH-11 unmanned attack helicopters with their Flame Crash bullets easily slaughter thousands of BLOCK's mercenaries. Both Tatsuhiko and Megumi are in cover as the attack takes place. The latter then yells to Tatsuhiko that they need to give on the mercenaries as traveling in large numbers while being watched would make them sitting ducks. Tatsuhiko says that if the abandon the 5,000 mercenaries, then all their efforts in getting them would be for naught. However, Megumi says that the mercenaries may have already believed that BLOCK betrayed them. Furthermore, she says that the ones left outside will not come anymore. Megumi suggests that they need to retrieve those that are inside and retreat. Still angered by Yamate's (Etzali) betrayal, Tatsuhiko curses him and promises to kill him.

Meanwhile, Etzali is amazed by the power of the HsAFH-11s as he hid in the rubble, and is glad to have kept as many mercenaries from getting as possible. Finally, Etzali removes his Yamate disguise and puts on his Unabara Mitsuki disguise again. As he moves around the rubble, he is noticed that by one of the HsAFH-11s, seeing him as one of the mercenaries as well. He takes out his Spear of Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli and uses its power to destroy it. However, two others detected his presence and gave him chase. His obsidian knife only able to be used at one target at a time, Etzali flees. However, they are much faster than him. Just as he believes that he is going to die, Accelerator appears and destroys them. His appearance surprises Etzali. Accelerator says that he heard about something happening near the outer wall after Motoharu and Awaki has finished the External Connection Terminal and him destroying the antenna for the satellite, and found the commotion when he got there. Accelerator then asks where BLOCK is as he says Etzali didn't call in the Six Wings for no reason. Etzali tells Accelerator to get away and managed to gather about 100 mercenaries from the outside. Despite Etzali's successes in preventing the onslaught of more mercenaries from entering Academy City, Accelerator berates him for his failure. They later witness the last of the HsAFH-11 helicopters leaving after finishing their "clean-up". After the massacre near the outer wall, Motoharu and Awaki later joins up with Etzali and Accelerator. After Motoharu explains to them on how they destroyed the center of the western External Connection Terminal, Awaki asks Etzali a question if BLOCK was behind everything despite SCHOOL behind the assassination attempt of Oyafune Monaka. Etzali answers that they probably have their own plan as they caused separate incidents and that they just happen to have a point of contact with Management. Accelerator references MEMBER as well. GROUP then moves on to the area near the outer wall where the massacre happened and comes upon a survivor of the onslaught of the Six Wings. Motoharu demands answers from the man on what they were going to attack using 5,000 mercenaries. After some hesitation, the man says that they were planning on attacking School District 10, specifically the Reformatory. Hearing this, Awaki demands to know why as her comrades are being kept in the facility as well. The man tells her that they were after Move Point. Hearing her ability name being mentioned shocks her. The man says that they had information that Move Point's companions are being held in the Reformatory, and that if they capture her comrades they can negotiate with her. As she asks herself why they had to single her out, the mercenary reveals that it is because she is the guide to Aleister Crowley's Windowless Building. He says that BLOCK acquired information that the guide is Move Point despite the identity of the guide being confidential and had her investigated in order to find materials to use in a negotiation. Motoharu asks him what they were going to negotiate with the guide about, to which he says they wanted information on the route through which materials are brought into the building as so they can blow it up using a Synchronous Multilayer Bomb. The mercenary says that the chaos in the world needs to be stopped before War comes. The man continues by saying that negotiating with Move Point would be difficult, and that they worked under the assumption that she wouldn't help them. Awaki agrees, and asks if he knows who he is talking to. Horror dawns upon the man as he realizes this, before he could utter his surprise Awaki finishes cuts off, driving metal stakes all over his body, though it seemed he was still alive. Motoharu urges the others to go to School District 10 to stop BLOCK.

Traveling in an ambulance to School District 10, GROUP discusses the layout of the Reformatory, discovering that there are secret rooms for the likes of Awaki's comrades, as well as its esper countermeasures such as the AIM Jammer. Motoharu warns that they can use their powers in spite of the AIM Jammer but says that it is possible to have their powers go out of control, especially those that use complex calculations, making it dangerous for the likes of Accelerator and Awaki.

When GROUP arrives at the Reformatory, they notice that eerie lacked of gunfire. As the pass through the gate and came to a traffic circle for vehicles that shuttered prisoners around, Accelerator notices the slightly painful effects of the AIM Jammer. Luckily however, it doesn't hinder his walking, though he notes he should avoid switching over to esper mode. His thoughts on the devices used in the facility against espers is cut off after they find the strange state of corpses of BLOCK mercenaries. Motoharu comments on how they all lost their lives to their own weapons, to which Etzali asks if it was suicide. However, he realizes something, but before he could speak of it there was a voice behind them. It is Xochitl, who calls out to Etzali who was in the guise of Unabara Mitsuki. Seeing this, Accelerator thinks she's from BLOCK, but she says that she is from MEMBER, though she just used them and had no intention of joining them. Etzali reacts to Xochitl, asking for who she is, to which Xochitl responds and says his real name. Etzali was shocked and then Xochitl finally removed her disguise. Xochitl states that she needs to thank BLOCK on account of the esper powers being halved in the Reformatory as so she doesn't need to worry with his companions getting in the way. Etzali then asks why she's there, telling her that she's not supposed to have a spell that can do what she did (regarding the mercenaries getting killed by their own weapons). Etzali says that Xochitl was supposed to be in a position in their cabal that kept her away from any dirty work. She tells her reasons and that is to kill him as he had defected to Academy City. Hearing of this Tsuchimikado Motoharu realizes Etzali's situation. Etzali tells the rest of GROUP that he will deal with Xochitl while they go on ahead. He then tells to them her name is Xochitl, an Aztec magician who also belonged to the organization he was in before coming to Academy City. Xochitl then says that she only came for Etzali and doesn't care if they go off. However, she then says on how she wonders if "they" will let them. At that moment gunshots are heard, prompting Accelerator and Motoharu to take cover. Motoharu discovers that BLOCK's mercenaries were waiting to see what would happen between them, and asks Xochitl if they really have to deal with them but she just ignores him.

With time of the essence Accelerator tells Motoharu and Musujime Awaki to go on ahead. He tells them that he can't walk without his cane, and that he can't use his powers carelessly due to the AIM Jammer. Moreover, they can't count on Awaki's Move Point ability. He then states that it makes sense for the slowest person to stay back to hold the mercenaries off. He instructs Motoharu to provide support to Awaki as they have no idea how many people from BLOCK are inside the Reformatory, and that they need to plan on there being a large group inside they have to fight. With that their duties have been confirmed, Unabara Mitsuki (Etzali) will deal with Xochitl, Accelerator will deal with the mercenaries coming out of the building, and Motoharu and Awaki would rescue the people in the special cells. Etzali and Xochitl are later in the facility's exercise area. Here, she pulls out a feather and put it next to her ear. She then asks Etzali why he doesn't use his real face. Etzali says that he likes Unabara Mitsuki's face, and that he no longer has a right to use his face since he left the cabal. But Xochitl tells him that he doesn't even have a right to live. Feeling the deadly aura, Etzali pulled out his obsidian knife, the Spear of Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli, without thinking, though he didn't intend to use it on her right away. Then, it a shocked sounding voice, she asks Etzali what he was looking for when he came to Academy City. There, his right arm from the wrist to the elbow froze, and the obsidian knife he was holding turned towards his face against his will. Etzali immediately had his left hand seize his right wrist, and without a choice, dislocated it. In spite of the pain he was successful and he lost his grip on his knife though the feeling on his right hand disappeared. Without changing her expression Xochitl mocks Etzali and asks him to pick up his obsidian knife. Etzali believes that her spell must have been one that interfered with people's weapons and have it kill its wielder. With that disadvantage, Etzali cannot help but think that there's must be something wrong as Xochitl he knew didn't use such a spell as she was someone who was not used to hurting people. Etzali demands Xochitl on what happened to the organization to make her do this, but she did not respond. Instead, she summons her weapon, the Macuahuitl. She then says that she'll listen to whatever he'll have to say later if he's lucky enough. With that Xochitl starts towards him with the Macuahuitl, trying to cut him with the weapon without hesitation. Etzali dodges and tries to attack with his body, and is reminded of the old Xochitl who hesitated on the use of deadly weapons. As Xochitl continues to attack and mock Etzali, he tells her that the weapon she is using does not suit her. She counters his question by asking if what he is wearing suits him, the one who left the organization, hid his face, and lived in the peace of Academy City. Before he can answer, Xochitl concludes that either Etzali truly is a traitor or is only deceiving himself and have no right to say anything. With Etzali's very own eyes he sees that his junior is truly trying to kill him. She continues to attack, and says to him that it is over. She steps forward and brought the weapon at a distance from which she was sure to hit and in a timing where Etzali cannot avoid it.

Etzali however lifted his dislocated wrist above his head, and though when Xochitl saw it she believed that she had won as she put her entire weight on her weapon. The blade drew blood, tearing Etzali's jacket and the flesh of his arm. However, even though Etzali was in pain he did not die. It did not sever Etzali's arm. With that, Etzali slammed his foot into Xochitl's gut, and thus she is defeated. Here, Etzali shows the reason why he said she was not suited for her weapon as it cannot cut bone. He says that if he continued to dodge he would've eventually lost because of blood lost. With Xochitl down and weaponless, Etzali tells her that he will not kill her and says that she should just leave and go somewhere as he relocates his right wrist. Then a smile appears on her face and she collapses.

Before Etzali's very eyes, Xochitl's body begins to unravel like a bandage. Here, Xochitl says that her body has reached the limit, and says she made up for her lack of power using a grimoire. Etzali assumes that she has read one, but she says that she has done more, as their Aztec traditions hold. She has made her body into a living weapon. Etzali realizes that the true meaning of her spell is her dried flesh turned into a powder and was spread around. Still qualified as "a part of her body," it was like an extra limb through the use of magic and could control things where many of it was closely packed. Etzali knows the limits and tells her that before long her body will fail, and that no spiritual item can aid her. Xochitl says that she doesn't mind so long as she punished the one who betrayed their cabal. Etzali is enraged with his former magic cabal for their actions, and wonders what happened to them when he was gone. Xochitl can only smile as Etzali yelled while her body slowly comes apart by the power of that grimoire. Thinking of it deeper however, Etzali determines that for Xochitl to acquire something so out of the ordinary then the grimoire that merged with her must've been an original grimoire. He confirms this however after reading the words written on the inside of her skin that has come undone before them. Looking at it, Etzali screams in pain and realized that he was correct. Despite knowing of the poisonous nature of the contents of the grimoire and their indestructibility, Etzali will not allow her to die. There were many things he would like to ask of her so he will not let her die.

With that, Etzali determines that though he has no power to save her, he will have to borrow the power of the original grimoire himself to do so. Knowing the properties of original grimoires wanting to be read, Etzali will gain the ownership of the grimoire, and trick the original grimoire that it can't pass knowledge on if Xochitl dies. And from there, he can tear the original from her body. Despite that there has been a precedent for what he is about to do, Etzali does not give up just so he can save her. Etzali later successfully takes ownership of the grimoire and meets up with the rest of GROUP, all of whom were not unscathed.

Due to BLOCK's collapse things have settled down. Motoharu was taking care of wrapping things up, Awaki was taking care of her wounds, and Etzali was safe and likely took Xochitl to a hospital.

Etzali later leaves a hospital after putting Xochitl there despite the effects of the grimoire on her body. Etzali's consciousness wavered due to taking the grimoire, knowing quite well that if he relaxed his attention intense pain would erupt. Etzali then reaches into his pocket and pulls out his grimoire. He spreads the scroll written on animal skin and scanned through it, lessening the pain a bit. Here if all the pain is gone he would truly understand the grimoire. He laughs to himself that the Anglican Church would surely take him out if they discovered what he has. Regardless, he needed power. He was desperate when he entered the dark side of Academy City, and as he puts the scroll back into his pocket, he resolves once again to go back into the darkness in order to answer the questions surrounding Xochitl and their organization.

At some unknown point in time later in an unknown location, Accelerator, Tsuchimikado Motoharu, Unabara Mitsuki (Etzali), and Musujime Awaki gathered together. Motoharu shows the Tweezers that he had recovered from the confusion after Accelerator's fight with Kakine Teitoku, shocking him that he was hiding among the onlookers. Motoharu references on how SCHOOL was able to collect a nanodevice known as UNDER_LINE and store it inside the Tweezers in order to examine it. Accelerator becomes suspicious on how much Motoharu, and realizes that he may have been taking secret actions of his own. Motoharu shows to them the information inside the UNDER_LINE, the core of Aleister's direct communications network. Seeing that it was all a bunch of information they were able to get on their own, and that it was just information the higher-ups are gathering to keep an eye GROUP's actions, they become dismissive of it. However, Motoharu reveals that there is one more, and says the last one the list of information displayed on the Tweezer's screen is the word DRAGON. After all that fighting, they made at least one little discovery, a key that they could potentially use.

DRAGON Arc
While he is visiting Xochitl at Heaven Canceller's Hospital the rest of GROUP arrives to over hear that he had a senpai-kouhai relationship with the Aztec magician who was after his life in Battle Royal. When Tsuchimikado overheard Xochitl calling Etzali "Onii-chan," he comments that Etzali is a lucky guy, having a sister-type girl that's not related to him, and it's unthinkable for him to go and try picking up girls (referring to Etzali falling in love with Mikoto) when he already has Xochitl. Xochitl for her part, looks troubled that Etzali is unwilling to drop his Unabara face and that he calls people from Academy City comrades.

Etzali took part in GROUP's operations, however all of the members of the group had a hidden agenda: They wanted to gather information about DRAGON. Even more so when they learned the reason why they had been sent to eliminate Spark Signal who had learned some knowledge of DRAGON. After their mission he mentioned the concept of Dragon from the magic side to Accelerator and Musujime. Later when he infiltrates the base of Shiokishi of from the board of Directors disguised as Oyafune Monaka who had not hesitated at letting him rip off 10cm of skin from her arm, to make the charm using her skin as raw material. After destroying Shiokishi's power suit, Shiokishi called for Minobe the leader of his other bodyguard group. To Etzali and his surprise they found the other group had been replaced by two people from Return of the Winged One: Tecpatl, the new leader of the organization and the now quasi-comatose Tochtli who was being used as "materials" for Tecpatl´s attacks, they had come to infiltrate Shiokishi's inner circle in hope of replacing themselves as him for the purpose of rooting out Etzali. . Since Tecpatl uses a Grimoire to attack, Etzali chooses a similar course of action against this enemy than when he did in the Battle Royale Arc, however in this case Etzali didn't use the same care to gain the Grimoire from its host and as a result Tecpatl was killed. Etzali decides to use the Grimoire to heal Tochtli who had more than half of her bones used by Tecpatl at this point. After rejoining with GROUP, Etzali collapsed before Aiwass' presence, just like Tsuchimikado Motoharu and Musujime Awaki.

Freshmen Arc
Accelerator states at the beginning of Shinyaku volume 1 that his whereabouts, along with the whereabouts of the rest of GROUP are currently unknown, the Accelerator jokingly noted that he doesn't know Etzali's true name and face.

Homecoming Arc
Etzali is seen visiting the hospital where Xochitl and Tochtli are recovering. He noticed that from "one moment to the other" surveillance on them was totally dropped for some reason or another. Tochtli jokingly notes that Etzali's presence and constant visits are indeed necessary to them as moral support. While Etzali keeps his Unabara Mitsuki face on at all times due to preference, in the end Xochitl and Tochtli constant banter forced him to temporarily remove his mask else face Xochitl's wrath.

Magic God Othinus Arc
In the final recreation of the world by Othinus created specifically to break Touma's spirit, known as the Version_Omega world in-text, where several characters from the original world have been "saved" or have not experienced great tragedy, people from the magic side like nuns are allowed to enter Academy City, and seemingly have no complex against science. Etzali, Xochitl, and Tochtli are first seen by Kamijou Touma during his "last meal" as he decides on what method he should have himself killed. Here, Xochitl asks Etzali what they should do now, but he replies that she should ask Tochtli as she was the one who heard the commotion. Tochtli then complains on how Etzali is forcing it on her as she says that Xochitl is practically his little sister. It is unknown what commotion Etzali is referring to, but is likely the festival that is happening at that time.

Operation Handcuffs Arc
As Operation Handcuffs was getting underway on December 25th, Hamazura Shiage passed Etzali and Xochitl, using their borrowed faces to hide their identities, as they were heading for the hospital to collect Tochtli. The next day, the three Aztecs watched the sunrise, recognizing that the battle between Anti-Skill and the dark side was over, and with the failure they had better prepare for aftershocks caused by the thugs.

Abilities
He is a skilled magician from and a former member of the Aztec Organization, Return of the Winged One. The replica has the restriction that it can only target one objective at the time; it has been shown that Etzali can actually create more than one knife and thus destroying the replica will not mean that Etzali will lose the spell permanently. Etzali needs to use an obsidian knife that will function as a mirror to manipulate the light of Venus and thus he can't use the spell if the light of Venus does not make direct contact with the knife. When the light of Venus is reflected from the Obsidian and hits an object, the object will become disassembled, having its individual parts intact however. However, due to the dagger's reflective nature, it has a low accuracy, making it hard for the wielder to hit targets from the distance. The dagger can only reflect and disassemble things at a set amount of time before being used again, as such it cannot fire attacks in rapid succession. The dagger and the light reflected is magical in nature, as such it can be negated by Touma's right hand. In the novel, Etzali required to chant an incantation, though it seems to be inconsistent:
 * Appearance Borrowing: Through a magic ritual using the flayed skin of a person, he makes it into a Charm (護符) which allows him to mimic the appearance of the skin's owner. Once a charm is made he no longer needs to collect samples from his target and he can freely change between different appearances by creating several charms and alternate their usage as needed, he has hinted that 10 cm of the target's skin are needed to create the charm . Etzali is quite "professional" when it comes to disguising and would normally study the behavior and characteristics of a person for at least a week before impersonating them.
 * Spear of Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli (トラウィスカルパンテクウトリの槍), a replica of the spear possessed by the Aztec God of Venus and disaster which reflects the light from Venus, destroying anything the light falls upon. Since this power is classed as God-like level, humans can't handle the original because it can kill all people in the world receiving the light from Venus, so the replica has flaws.

"The angle’s set, connecting Venus, mirror, and the target. Focus the mana, chant the incantation, and the starlight will turn into a spear that can’t be seen and pierce directly through the enemy! The symbol of Venus and disasters, the Spear of Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli."
 * Calendar Stone (暦石): Etzali also possesses two Aztec Grimoires, after defeating their owners in Volumes 15 and 19 and taking each off them. The special system that rules the function of those grimoires is known as 暦石 literally read as koyomi ishi or calendar stone.
 * Time related to Life and Death (生と死に関する時間) : Has the combat function of countering against any enemy that holds a weapon, having them kill themselves. It also has a very powerful defensive function, as demonstrated when it enhanced his body to withstand the bullet from "Moon Rabbit". The Aztecs used two different forms of calendars at once and believed in the death and rebirth of the sun, this Grimoire is born from that concept.
 * Moon Rabbit (月のウサギ): Has the combat function of sniping. Uses the bones of rabbits to shoot out powerful bullets. The bones of the rabbit can be substituted by human bones, which can be replaced by obsidian and are strong enough to penetrate a shelter designed to protect against nuclear weapons. This Grimoire uses the legend of throwing rabbits at astral bodies as it's basis.

Design Evolution
Etzali was designed (as Unabara Mitsuki) in volume 5, but digital copies of it have been lost by Haimura, it can still be found in rainbow spectrum colors. By the SS volume where Etzali is reintroduced, he designed him differently, and have been affected by Haimura's change of style, with larger heads and smaller bodies for characters. Haimura states that he designed him to give off a feeling of not being able to understand he is thinking.

By volume 19 however, Etzali finally receive a design for his true face, though Haimura states that he had some trouble due to his vague description in volume 5.

Quotes

 * (To Touma) "It looks like nothing ever goes as planned... When you lie to deceive someone."
 * (To Touma)"Could you protect her? Protect Misaka-san? Run to her wherever and whenever... Promise me you'll protect her?"
 * (To GROUP) “Well, that boy was carrying out his ‘promise’ to protect the world around someone I have feelings for, so I thought I should help out some myself. It seems I overworked my shoulder a bit”
 * (To Xochitl) “Damn it!! The organization I knew did horrible things, but not this horrible!"
 * (To Xochitl) “Things such as ‘grimoires’ aren’t meant to be used as trump cards. Using things like these where their own powers are not fully understood when in a team will only lead to destruction… GROUP, where I belong to right now, if anyone tried something like that they would be probably be piled, beaten and killed off that way by everyone else”
 * (To himself) "(… From the looks of this, I’m really popular with these grimoire originals.)" -- After acquiring his second Grimoire.

Trivia

 * It is pointed in the novels that Etzali's charm not only alters the appearance of the user, but also his voice . In the anime there was no change between Unabara's voice and Etzali's voice.