Toaru Majutsu no Index II Episode 22

"Divine Punishment" (天罰術式) is the twenty-second episode of the second season of the Toaru Majutsu no Index anime adaption, and the forty-sixth episode overall. It was first aired on March 11, 2011.

Synopsis
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

 * Chapter 10

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
 * Index Librorum Prohibitorum
 * Misaka Mikoto
 * Hound Dog

New Characters

 * Acqua of the Back

Abilities

 * Accelerator - Accelerator, Level 5
 * Wind Hammer - Vento of the Front
 * Imagine Breaker - Kamijou Touma
 * Electromaster (Railgun-variant) - Misaka Mikoto, Level 5
 * Compulsion Aria (Spell Intercept) - Index Librorum Prohibitorum
 * Fuse KAZAKIRI - Kazakiri Hyouka

New Abilities

 * Black Wings - Accelerator

Locations

 * Academy City

Trivia

 * Angel language is heard for the first time in the animated 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.
 * When Index intonated her song Accelerator moved his lips in sync, though it was to pronounce Kihara name. This may be a reference to the event of World War III, when he truly sing a similar song.

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 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, this can be answered with Accelerator neutralizing the total damage trying to protect Last Order and Index.

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.