Shinyaku Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 18/Chapter 4

Synopsis
Reaching the summit of the Windowless Building, Kamijou Touma finds himself in space and facing Aleister Crowley. After a brief exchange of words, the two face one another in battle. Although prepared for Aleister's Spiritual Tripping after having seen his past, Touma struggles as Aleister makes use of a technique to gather and fire the sparks from phase collisions due to his magic, and the Blasting Rod which amplifies his magic to ten times what the target expects. Revealing the actions he has taken to be all part of a single ceremony, Aleister summons Aiwass.

At the same time, Shokuhou Misaki and Misaka Mikoto feel their power being drained out of them as the power of the city's espers is drawn to the Windowless Building, but persist in their efforts to help Touma and continue the attack on the building. Elsewhere in the building, the rest of the group is fighting the chain beasts when Othinus senses the appearance of Aiwass, understanding the implications of its summoning together with Index. They continue trying to find a way in order to help Touma in some, knowing that he doesn't stand a chance in a straight fight.

With Aiwass joining the battle, Touma is overwhelmed by the angel's immense power, even more so when Aleister amplifies it with the Blasting Rod. Even the brief emergence of the unknown entity within Touma does no good as Aiwass easily crushes it. Regardless of repeatedly getting knocked down, being heavily injured and having his arm repeatedly dislocated, Touma still keeps standing up and putting his arm back in place.

However, as things look hopeless, Mina Mathers appears to protect Touma from Aiwass's attack. Revealing herself to be the Reading Thoth 78 and also the Thoth Tarot grimoire, she makes use of 'The Aeon' to draw upon the power of Aiwass itself to repel it's attack temporarily and buy some time. As she does so, Mikoto's attack with the Liquid Proof Railgun breaks the building's closed-off environment, enabling Othinus to guide the rest of the group into seeing past the fantastic scenery and revealing the true form of the temple. Having done so, the group pull out information from the building's computers to find a way to neutralize the sword embedded in Tsuchimikado Maika. With Index analyzing the grimoire content and finding the solution, Tsuchimikado Motoharu steps up to save his sister.

With the sword neutralized, the summoning is disrupted and Aiwass disappears. Touma continues to face Aleister, who is still determined to destroy the phases and magic and free the world from the influence which took his daughter Lilith, but is momentarily shaken by Touma bringing up the possibility that Lilith's soul could have reached Heaven and that he might be trampling on that. With the Blasting Rod knocked down by Mina, Aleister is forced to use the sparks he hates for the final exchange of attacks with Touma. Despite the damage, Touma's fist connects and Aleister is knocked out.

Characters
By order of appearance:
 * Kamijou Touma
 * Aleister Crowley
 * Shokuhou Misaki
 * Aiwass
 * Othinus
 * Index Librorum Prohibitorum
 * Karasuma Fran
 * Tsuchimikado Maika
 * Tsuchimikado Motoharu
 * Misaka Mikoto
 * Mina Mathers (Reading Thoth 78)

Abilities

 * Imagine Breaker - Kamijou Touma
 * Spiritual Tripping - Aleister Crowley
 * Phase spark gathering - Aleister Crowley
 * Blasting Rod - Aleister Crowley
 * Electromaster (Railgun-variant) - Misaka Mikoto, Level 5
 * Liquid Proof Railgun
 * Mental Out - Shokuhou Misaki, Level 5
 * The Aeon - Mina Mathers (Reading Thoth 78)

Locations

 * Academy City
 * School District 7
 * Windowless Building
 * School District 11

Referbacks

 * Aleister mentions that he somewhat panicked when a certain space elevator reached the intended site of his ceremony before he did, a reference to Endymion.
 * Rensa, who made use of the Level 5's abilities by mimicking their bodily features, is referenced during the reveal of the citywide network of nerves and blood vessels which Aleister uses to gather the powers of every esper in the city for the summoning of Aiwass.
 * The Temple of Thelema referred to is likely the, which Aleister founded in 1920 in Sicily, Italy. It was abandoned in 1923 following the death of an Oxford undergraduate there and Aleister's subsequent forced departure from the country.

Cultural References

 * A, a traditional amusement park attraction involving a maze filled with mirrors, is referenced with regards to the breach in the wall causing the partial collapse of the conditions sustaining the special environment within the building, specifically how breaking just one of the mirrors would destroy its perfection.

Unanswered Questions

 * What role did Aleister have planned for the entity within Touma?
 * Did Lilith's soul truly reach Heaven?