The Best Light Novel Volume I Have Ever Read — The Ultimate Protagonist Deconstruction — Touma Kamijou

If God were to torture you ruthlessly and ceaselessly amidst countless lifetimes, what would your breaking point be? Would a singular drawn-out death be your downfall? Or perhaps a string of sudden demises? In another vein, would brutal physicality or mental devastation be more likely to shatter your psyche and heart beyond repair?

A certain protagonist by the name of Touma Kamijou faced this dilemma.

In the ninth volume of the second series of light novels for A Certain Magical Index, New Testament, the world’s collective might united against a common foe; a genuine God by the name of Othinus. As the leader of GREMLIN, a treacherous magic cabal aiming to fulfill their ordinarily impossible desires, their danger can’t be overstated. However, even after Touma endured severe strife to finally reach Othinus, she destroyed the world on the whim with the Lance of Gungnir.

In a now-blank world devoid of all matter and life aside from Othinus herself, Touma Kamijou wandered. His friends and allies, let alone his home of Academy City, seemingly never existed. Or if they did, their semblances were fleeting, blink-and-you-miss-it moments.

Blankness is a canvas. And without the instruments of life, this canvas’ efficacy is nonexistent.

Existentialism is a fabrication.

Meaning is inane.

Yet, it’s only human nature to grasp familiar permanence, even if abjected.

Touma Kamijou confronted the Magic God, determined to revert back to all he ever held dear in his short-lived existence. After all, he wields the Imagine Breaker, a sacrilegious ability within his right hand that negates the supernatural. He always used to say it possessed the power to nullify God’s miracles, though nothing was positively miraculous at the moment.

Aside from that, it’s a point of restoration and reference. If the world were to ever warp beyond recognition, Imagine Breaker could seemingly commandeer actuality itself.

But a mere human can’t face a God. And in the face of Othinus, who needs Imagine Breaker to further her goal of reaching her original world, there’s a simple method ensuring she can use it by her own impulses.

Break him mentally.

Alas, a conclusive perishing of Touma Kamijou would transfer the Imagine Breaker’s residence elsewhere, and identifying its new location would be too risky and a needless waste of time. So, if Touma Kamijou were to become a husk wholly, she could utilize Imagine Breaker to overwrite the boundaries of reality to fit her precious memories, guaranteed.

And so the almighty God began crafting phases (layers) of worlds designed with the sole intention of devastating Touma Kamijou’s mind.

In the first phase, Touma Kamijou was sentenced to death by the world’s militaries. Japan was bombed countless times to rid the world of this menace. The President of the United States, Roberto Katze, encouraged the masses, pacifist or not, the necessity of slaying the demon known as Touma Kamijou. And everyone cheered.

The Russian Orthodox Church and the Queen of England, Elizard Regnant, expressed similar sentiments.

The world’s displeasure at Japan’s land containing the abnormality known as Touma Kamijou also caused the region to suffer from less than 40% food self-sufficiency, leaving more than one in two people to die.

Japan was in a near-apocalyptic state, and the quick arrival of even more missiles only accelerated its demise. Still, Touma Kamijou was a savior, and in his line of sight, he witnessed the collapsed body of his classmate, Fukiyose Seiri, and aimed to rescue her. But while weak, Fukiyose stabbed Touma with a shard of glass, determined to rid the world of the blight his presence comprised.

Second and third waves of missiles then struck the vicinity.

Othinus revealed that this phase wasn’t as drastically modified as one may initially assume. All she did was alter humanity’s perspective. Touma Kamijou has saved countless people and resolved a multitude of incidents with nothing but his words and right hand. He even put an end to World War III. While in his initial home phase, many saw him as a hero, what if he was seen differently?

Touma Kamijou can be perceived as an incomprehensible force who, realistically, should not be able to do what he has done. He doesn’t abide by the standardized conventions of humanity. The blood flowing through his veins and the cells that form the foundation of his body give rise to a being who reeks of misfortune. His endlessly bad luck, which many assume is a humorous footnote in his life, is anything but normal.

Touma fended off a close friend and classmate, Aogami Pierce, before being haplessly confronted by his usually kindhearted teacher with the appearance of a child, Tsukuyomi Komoe.

On death’s door, a nearby television showed Touma’s parents charged with the crime of giving birth to him. Yet even in spite of that, they were accepting of being judged. They, too, regretted their sin of childbirth and sought the demise of Touma Kamijou as well.

In the face of this peril, Touma asserted that regardless of the changed status quo of this phase effectively making everyone he knew to become different people, they still deserved the chance to be saved. Even former enemies he fought who were enveloped by raging animosity rectified themselves through redemption. So, despite being caught in a dilemma where he was perceived as the world’s greatest threat, perhaps it was his turn to accept his place and progress relentlessly; achieving forsaken regularity.

Except, it isn’t that simple.

Touma Kamijou was stabbed by his high school teacher. Othinus decided she would have fun from now on. The boy was claiming apparent all-knowing, but he was a mere mortal in the face of a God.

In another phase, “Touma Kamijou” was living his everyday high school life with all the wacky hijinks intact. His roommate Index demanded food, his misfortune caused him to endure various perverted scenarios, and his back and forth with his friends was as questionable as ever. It was all peaceful, the lifestyle “Touma Kamijou” cherished with all his heart. And every day would continue like this without end.

Touma Kamijou reflected on the fortunate mishaps of “Touma Kamijou.”

“Touma Kamijou” was not him. He looked nothing like him. It wasn’t a contrived categorization of dread, though.

Othinus explained it succinctly. The accomplishments of Touma Kamijou and the trust he built over his meager lifetime could have been attributed to someone else. The supposedly genuine bonds forged by heartache are ultimately shallow in the sea of desire. It didn’t matter who solved everyone else’s problems. As long as someone solved them, that’s all that mattered. The person responsible for those efforts was not a personage. They were a means to an end. In the eyes of those saved, a savior is a receptacle of convenience.

With that being the case, how can Touma Kamijou accept “Touma Kamijou” for taking what was rightfully his? Well, as it turns out, Touma Kamijou didn’t really mind. Just because he was no longer in that spot, that didn’t mean someone else should stop living that life. They were him now, and he had no right to rip that away from them. So he accepted that with no quarrel.

But then that begs the question. If the “Touma Kamijou” he was just watching is actually Touma Kamijou, then who did that make him? Othinus posited that inquiry.

“Touma Kamijou” became Touma Kamijou, but they didn’t swap places. There was no exchange here. Perhaps it would be accurate to call the one formerly known as Touma Kamijou simply ?.

Othinus presented a class photo of Touma Kamijou’s class. ? had to be someone there. Sex and age didn’t matter, so ? could even be the teacher, Tsukuyomi Komoe. If ? correctly identified who they were from this image, they would regain their life, and Othinus would return their world and existence.

Such a task was essentially impossible, however. With no physical features of their own, how could ? tell who they are?

But somehow, ? exclaimed that they were Touma Kamijou.

Othinus unwittingly gave him a hint. By providing a photo of his class and not specifying that he was someone other than Touma Kamijou, the noose of his identity could still be grasped. And there would be no point in forming another iteration of Touma Kamijou when there would be no preexisting agony to compound upon. She needs Imagine Breaker, after all.

Ironically, Othinus wasn’t aware of the long-lasting crisis plaguing his identity. Though, that’s a story for another time.

But a God’s capabilities are limitless. Seeing through a singular ruse is not enough for validation, even as a speck. So the phases resumed.

Touma Kamijou was cornered and crushed.

Touma Kamijou was accused and hung by a noose.

Touma Kamijou was stranded on a mountain with acquaintances and forced to provide his flesh to the others so they could survive until they were rescued.

Touma Kamijou lay still in a hospital bed his whole life, from birth until his funeral.

Touma Kamijou was buried by humus and gradually decomposed while still living, starting with the ends of his limbs.

Touma Kamijou was forced into outer space after Earth was deemed unlivable, wandering in a space capsule until a robot or asteroid killed him.

The metaphorical heart we use as the basis for human feeling was being silently destroyed, akin to being devoured by termites. Yet, he somehow managed to discover the truth of these worlds and how they’re one and the same. These phases, or layers, Othinus created were placed over the familiar planet he knew all too well. Countless religious beliefs gave the world filters, which Othinus built upon across each attempt to mentally shatter Touma Kamijou.

He did not know how many times he died, but as his memories were retained after each death, perhaps it was possible to slowly defeat Othinus. These intentions halted in another phase, though.

Touma Kamijou awoke in Academy City and saw a happy, living Ellis, a close companion of a magician he fought what felt like eons ago. But in his native phase, Ellis was dead.

Touma Kamijou saw a familiar nun of the Roman Catholic church he once saved, delightfully standing by her parents. But in his native phase, her parents died during her youth.

Touma Kamijou saw members of God’s Right Seat, an organization he fought when World War III was a threat. Yet, they were living in peace and harmony here.

Touma Kamijou saw a magical courier he once stopped during an Academy City festival no longer on the job, standing by those she was glad to be with.

Touma Kamijou saw a certain scientist part of GREMLIN who should be dead, now standing by a familiar maid of a friend.

Touma Kamijou saw the number one and three Level 5 Espers of Academy City, the highest Esper level; Accelerator and Mikoto Misaka. They were no longer at each other throats, as the dilemma regarding Mikoto’s tens of thousands of clones being slaughtered was amicably solved. Once upon a time, Accelerator was part of a project to reach the fabled Level 6. This process comprised killing 20,000 clones of the Railgun, Mikoto, akin to gaining experience in an RPG. Accelerator already murdered roughly 10,000 clones by the time Touma Kamijou put a stop to it all. But in this phase, those losses of life never occurred.

Touma Kamijou saw Index, his nun roommate he saved when first becoming involved with the magic side of the world. She was standing by Kaori Kanzaki and Stiyl Magnus, two guardians who had their roles as guardians stolen by Touma Kamijou.

Within a perfectly peaceful world crafted by God, what did Touma Kamijou have to save? What could he possibly do? Was there any just meaning in still trying to return to his original phase? With God able to resolve incidents Touma Kamijou wasn’t born early enough to face, what was the point of him trying at all? Were his actions unknowingly catalysts for further suffering? Wasn’t he just taking over the roles meant for others to grow closer?

These questions permeated his core. Othinus stated that this phase was made based on the golden ratio that Touma Kamijou never existed to begin with. So, by that logic, his presence here is an error in and of itself.

With that being the case, the only way to guarantee the continued safety of this perfect world was for Touma Kamijou to kill himself, the sole imperfection.

Othinus summoned various tools; a gun, a knife, pills, a car, a grill, a gas can, and more. It was up to Touma Kamijou to choose how to end his life. He questioned which method would be best. He walked past familiar faces enjoying their lives to their fullest, eventually reaching the top of a tower. Despite his hesitation, he walked off.

But someone saved him. The #10,031st clone of Mikoto Misaka. The clone he narrowly missed saving right as he discovered the Level 6 incident involving Accelerator and Mikoto Misaka.

Except this clone turned out to be a unique case. While the body was the 10,031st Mikoto Misaka clone, the consciousness residing within it was the Will of the Misaka Network itself. She was an amalgamation of the life and death of all of the Misaka clones. Therefore, she was an exception, contradicting the boundaries Othinus forged the phases by.

The Will and Touma conversed about his predicament and what he would do now. Would he accept this perfect world despite its shallowness and take his own life? Or would he be selfish, a foreign concept he may not be mindful of, and rip this world away by challenging Othinus?

Touma Kamijou never fought for the sake of perceived good or evil. Those labels never mattered. To him, apparent foes were simply those with different perspectives. People who wanted to achieve something but felt as if there was no other choice. Those backed into a corner. Who many would consider antagonists were not viewed in the same light by Touma Kamijou.

He never embraced the inherent conveniences brought about by those categories, so in a reality where he was viewed as evil, wasn’t he just being a hypocrite? Why do those labels apply in this scenario where it actively demoralizes him?

It was because Touma Kamijou was subconsciously trying to accept this rewritten world full of peace and smiles. Yet, there was a contradiction. A flaw of Othinus that he noticed but did not acknowledge out of fear that actively pondering it would falsify the validity of this reality.

No one in this phase remembered their original one.

If the people of this phase realized that the cost of their happiness was an innocent boy known as Touma Kamijou, they wouldn’t accept it. Even if precious individuals they cherish were suddenly revived, the sheer knowledge that these miracles arose as a result of his sacrifice would not make them want to accept this phase.

Othinus conveniently cheated by not letting everyone retain their memories of Touma Kamijou. As the Will said, Othinus could have made everyone happy regardless of what their circumstances were, even in a world of dead bodies. But by giving everyone happy endings purposefully conflicting with the efforts of Touma Kamijou, it was unfair. There was no actual basis. Othinus was afraid of the countless friends and allies of Touma Kamijou fighting against this perfect reality if they knew who he was.

Even a God can feel fear.

Still, even with this contradiction, Touma Kamijou rejected himself. Even if people were to remember him and want to save him in spite of their forced-upon happiness, that didn’t sit right with him. After all, the reality of remembering Touma Kamijou would a burden that prevented them from achieving ordinarily unattainable happiness.

But morality is a perplexing subject matter to discuss.

What the Will wanted to know above all else at this moment was whether Othinus’ actions bothered Touma Kamijou. If he was displeased with any of it.

And the answer… was a resounding yes. The shaky lid of his mentality spilled forth unrestrained:

“Of course it bothers me. Of course it bothers me!! What was I doing all that time? I didn’t want some huge sum of money and I didn’t want to make my own kingdom with a ridiculous amount of power. I just wanted to wake up in my dorm, make food for Index, go to school, and hang out with my friends after school. I just wanted that normal life back. So why do I have to be treated like an absolute evil!? That’s ridiculous. Othinus saved every last one of the six billion people on earth to make me suffer. There’s something seriously wrong with her sense of scale! Why the hell do I have to go through all this? What was I calling misfortune!? I had always managed to slip past all that and used every trick I had to reach a compromise. I had managed to strike a nice balance! But she destroyed it all. Of course it bothers me! Even if it’s meaningless and no one else cares who it is as long as they’re saved, it still bothers me!! I coughed up blood and shed tears to somehow make my way along that path, but Othinus easily did it like it was just a game! She stole everything from me!! She stole everything I had – even the path I walked down – and she did it so skillfully that I feel stupid complaining about it!! What the hell was that? If she could do that, why didn’t she save everyone in the first place!? If that was an option, why didn’t she use it more seriously!? And I doubt it will even last that long. Once Othinus gets bored, she’ll just destroy this world too. If you can easily create something, you have no problem with destroying it. But I can’t create anything better than this. It doesn’t matter what complaints I make when she can give everyone a smile with a wave of that lance. And this isn’t someone else deciding that it doesn’t matter. It’s me! Me!! She showed me it doesn’t matter if I oppose her!! It’s all a deception created to corner me, but it doesn’t matter to me if it’s all fake!! It’s almost like a game to her, but the smiles she’s given Index and the others are something I could never give them even after a century of hard work. I couldn’t do it without inventing a time machine, but she did it without even trying. Am I supposed to stand up to that!? Why did someone like her have to appear in front of me!? If she was going to do this, couldn’t she do it on the other side of the planet? No, why couldn’t she create this paradise on the moon or Mars and be happy there!? She could leave all the people here alone and create a new human race on a desert planet she made livable!! …I don’t want to fight anymore. I don’t want to oppose a monster like that. I was never fighting because I wanted to. It’s just that I always saw someone holding back tears in some horribly painful situation. Even if they cried and cried, no one would have complained, but they put up with it anyway. …And I couldn’t allow it to go on. I clenched my fist like an idiot, charged in, and somehow resolved the incident. I didn’t do it to be thanked. I didn’t do it because I wanted anything in return. But overcoming those things increased the number of people around me. I began to think those connections with people had some kind of meaning!! And this is where it got me. I had everything taken from me. As you said, someone might rush over for my sake if they knew. They might cast everything aside and join me even if it meant making an enemy of this entire world run by Othinus. But! That doesn’t matter!! It never mattered. That tiny illusion is not worth abandoning this miraculous situation where lost lives have returned. I wanted to have fun with everyone some more. I never bothered to realize how comfortable my position was. If nothing had happened yet and Othinus suggested bringing back all those lost lives, I would probably have rejected it based on some random ideal or another. I would say their deaths had meaning or that you can’t toy with people’s lives so easily! But she’s already done it. To ‘return things to normal’ now would be no different from killing those unknowing and smiling people with my own hand!! No matter how many excuses you make, that fact does not change. A decision that I make would kill every last one of them!! There’s…there’s nothing I can do. What good is it to take away this world without crime, debt, or broken hearts!? Even if I defeated Othinus, returned everything to normal, and justly slaughtered everyone who shouldn’t be alive, would I really return to the world I picture in my head? How would I ever face the people who are living their normal lives, ignorant of what had happened? Could I really just smile? Could I really smile like an ignorant fool when I really knew the truth!! Like hell I could!! Nothing would remain for me either way. Whether I defeat Othinus or not and whether I live or die, I can’t return to ‘normal’!! No matter what happens and no matter how this ends, there is no way for me to succeed. Even if I don’t ‘fail’ in whatever I choose to do, I will still have complaints and it will all fall apart in the end. In that case, there’s no reason to fight!! Why should I destroy this miraculous situation!? If every path leads to destruction, why not just accept Othinus’s victory? Why not let the number of people saved decide it!? Who saved more people, me or Othinus? The answer is obviously Othinus!! I knew from the beginning I couldn’t hold a candle to what she did!! What else can I do? After…after everything she’s done, there’s nowhere left for me to go!!!!!!”

The Will was happy at this admission. It proved that amidst the infinite hells he was subjected to, Touma Kamijou was still human. And there was nothing wrong with being human. Clearly, the boy wanted to return to his original phase.

But there was still one matter left to discuss — how he viewed himself as less deserving of life than others. The Will explained and emphasized how he should prioritize himself, even in just this one instance. And amidst hesitation, Touma Kamijou, having been pushed around enough, decided that it was time to become evil and selfish and battle God. Even if he was casting away the world’s perfect smiles, he would go against it because he wasn’t able to smile.

Touma Kamijou and Will of the Misaka Network then parted ways, and the former confronted the Magic God Othinus with newfound resolve.

Othinus’ frustration reached a boiling point, causing her to summon the Lance of Gungnir. She decided that at this point, it’d be simpler to ruthlessly eradicate Touma Kamijou so the Imagine Breaker could transfer its vessel to a more fragile one, enabling easier ownership.

The battle began. As soon as Touma Kamijou took a step, an explosion marred him. He stuck a finger down his throat to secure his injured windpipe, letting him breathe. Othinus summoned the moon to fall and crush him. He evaded, and then she broke his knees. She then grasped him by the throat and crushed it. This cycle of misery recurred endlessly.

But somehow, someway, Touma Kamijou’s mind did not shatter. And Othinus, who had torn him asunder millions upon millions of times, found herself growing tired. The boy was still fighting on. He was breaking at a slower rate than a God. And Othinus was vexed beyond belief.

Honestly, the situation was far simpler than one would assume. It wasn’t as simple as him not giving up. While that played a significant part, there was more contributing toward his continued sanity than that. We’ll get into the weeds later.

He explained himself as Othinus continued destroying him after each of his sentences. His top and bottom half were ripped apart. She stabbed him with Gungnir, hit him off as if she were playing baseball, and broke his skull.

It wasn’t that he felt no fear. He was pushing it down. After dying an incalculable number of times, he grew desensitized to agony. Of course, he still feared it and dreaded it with all his heart. But he resigned himself to peril. If he were to succeed, continuously creative deaths were part of the process.

He detailed Othinus’ desire to return to her original phase of the world after becoming a God. She feared her own power. Even with her ability to mold the world to her whim, there was no certainty in the end result being her true origin point. That’s why Imagine Breaker was so vital. She could neutralize her fear forever if she possessed that reference point.

Imagine Breaker was a last-ditch effort for magicians. A tool used in emergencies if the world was warped beyond recognition. As Touma puts it, Imagine Breaker could peel away previous phases like a knife to reach the desired one. This was Othinus’ objective.

The battle, or test of endurance, rather, resumed. For the first time in his life, Touma Kamijou fought for himself, while Othinus sought to assert her will over his to reach her dream.

He died in every which way imaginable and comprehensible. But Othinus would revert it all before his bits of flesh vanished entirely.

Almost poetically, after Touma’s 10,031st death in this bout, Othinus reached a crucial decision. She gave up on her dream. She would leave a peaceful life, no longer yearning for a sense of value.

Othinus’ actions became systematic. Her passion waned. Her victories dulled her. She confused this mentality with decisiveness.

A headache struck her.

A blast she shot toward Touma Kamijou missed.

Inexplicably, Touma Kamijou was still standing, determined, while the God struggled.

In what manner of reality could such an outcome be possible?

Othinus was confounded beyond belief. How could a human’s sanity outlast a God’s?

Let’s talk about Kingdom Hearts Data Battles. What makes them so enjoyable? It’s the trial and error. The constant failure is a collective motivator for success. Learning their telegraphs, their attack patterns, their weaknesses, their resistances; it’s all fun. The reward gained across each death is knowledge.

But on the other end of the spectrum, if you’re winning with little effort, over and over and over again, boredom steadily creeps in. The joy of victory is lost. Meaning becomes inane. There’s no reason to experiment with new strategies, and the experience you gain is minimal at best.

That is what was happening here. This was why his mind was intact. Touma Kamijou compared it all to a video game. The deaths were heart-wrenchingly addictive. They were retries, all coalescing for one sole consistent end goal.

So Othinus gave up on this game. As she previously resolved to do, she would take her chances in the next world. Touma Kamijou’s next death would be permanent.

She spawned an invisible explosion.

Touma Kamijou leaped away from the core blast.

Othinus summoned a wall of tens of thousands of explosions.

And as if walking through a crowded restaurant, he turned and took a slight step forward, evading every blast.

Othinus was dumbfounded.

He did not gain a new power. Imagine Breaker did not impart a new tangential ability. Touma Kamijou was both the same and different.

Touma Kamijou revealed a truth Othinus didn’t even humor the concept of beforehand. Going back to the video game analogy, he used every death as a learning point. He chose how he died every time. He memorized Othinus’ telegraphs and attack patterns. Every death was subtly influenced by his actions, letting him test Othinus’ capabilities versus his own.

Othinus was once a human. She was not absolute. That common ground they shared let him systematically analyze her strife and aspirations. With all this in mind, Touma Kamijou’s existence became one explicitly molded to combat the Magic God Othinus.

In such a premise, Touma Kamijou would lose to practically any other magician, no matter how novice. Yet, in the most preposterous scenario possible, he was now only equipped to face a God.

She stopped time and compressed space. With the Lance of Gungnir, Othinus shattered the world, and a void was left in its place.

Yet, even in this end, Touma Kamijou caught Othinus off-guard. He smiled and charged forward with the weight of his faith in humanity carrying his right hand. Imagine Breaker collided with Gungnir.

The Lance cracked, disintegrating before returning to Othinus. Even without the lance, she was still a God. Touma broke his ring and middle fingers, but victory was in his grasp.

Othinus stabbed herself with a power Touma Kamijou did not understand the intricacies of, and she summoned a weapon consistently identified in tandem with her; a crossbow. She shot ten arrows, with the world used as the foundation of the crossbow itself.

Touma evaded the first five arrows by dodging and using Imagine Breaker in the last case. The sixth and seventh arrows merged and then parted, greatly altering their trajectories. Touma ducked and then jumped over them, respectively. The eighth arrow surpassed the realms of the third dimension, and Touma dodged it by pure instinct. The ninth arrow caused a rain of explosions he expertly dodged.

He was near here now; this was it.

But the tenth arrow shot from behind Othinus herself, stabbing through her back and him. Touma Kamijou’s body was broken beyond repair. His arms, shoulders, and head were all that remained. The damage did not affect Othinus at an even comparably microscopic level as she regenerated herself. Touma Kamijou understood how to combat Othinus only when she used the Lance of Gungnir. The rest of her toolkit was beyond him.

In Othinus’ arms, he accepted his death, as it was his own selfish wish, not the world’s. No one would be aware of it.

Touma Kamijou urged Othinus to use Imagine Breaker to return to her original phase, her original world. Like him in that ideal happy world where he felt like a virus, Othinus would feel similarly in a world she tried to make perfect for her. The only way she would be happy would be if she were in that original phase of hers, imperfections and all. Ultimately, Touma wanted to save her from herself. With his last words, he told Othinus to follow her selfishness, as it would lead to a terrific end for everyone, which she already proved with Touma Kamijou’s greatest hell.

Alas, with him now dead in her arms, she only fully realized what she was doing deep down across these hells. Touma Kamijou spoke as he did because he understood her. Without consciously understanding what she had done, Othinus wanted an Understander and made Touma Kamijou one throughout these tribulations. There was little chance of someone like him existing where she came from.

She made one final choice.

Touma Kamijou awoke where it all began. He was where Othinus first destroyed the world. It took him a bit as he gathered his bearings, and saw the damaged body of Othinus in front of him, with his allies nearby. Othinus chose Touma Kamijou’s world.

The world was once again united for the sake of ridding the terror that was the Magic God Othinus. She was weakened by a certain spell now, so there was little she could do in opposition. She accepted her fate, but her Understander had other plans in store.

Touma Kamijou, knowing that Othinus was no longer the God she was before the infinite hells, decided he would save her, even if it means fighting the entire world.

But that’s a story for another time.

Credit to Js06 and the other fans responsible for the translation of this particular volume. You can read this volume in full, more of A Certain Magical Index New Testament, and view the efforts of the fans on Baka Tsuki.

Yen Press has currently only licensed the first series of light novels for A Certain Magical Index, Old Testament. An Omnibus Edition of this series will launch in English later this year.