Hello, everyone! We've finally reached NT10, where Touma faces off against the world. I will only be showing a couple of the fights in detail, and just summarizing the rest. So I strongly recommend that you read the original novel if you haven't already, since it arguably shows Touma at his best.

Blankow: Yes, Touma did end up winning in a mental sense. It's the end of one long conflict, and the beginning of another intense one.

Nightfang123: Thanks! NT11 will be coming up soon, and it'll be interesting to write about Shokuhou in earnest for that arc.

Rekuta: Right, Touma is about to take on the entire world. Fukiyose and Touma's other classmates already know about him dating Mikoto, but did you mean their reaction to Mikoto's friends? Good job on your fic, it looks like you're making good progress on it.

LordChorizoCosmico: Yeah, Touma is very determined, and he did manage to find a weakness in Othinus. Othinus did have some reasons for what she did, but they're not even close to a good justification. It's just fortunate for her that Touma is eager to save everyone, even people like her. Mikoto's confrontation with Touma is indeed coming soon, and it'll be a very impactful scene.

SaSaltyDog: Thanks for the compliment, I'm glad you're enjoying this fic so much! I do plan on continuing this fic into GT, at least. Mikoto and Touma's confrontation will certainly be very emotional. Touma does feel even more guilt about destroying the perfect world than in canon, so it'll be up to Mikoto to set him straight.

xellos540: Yeah, GT4 came out back in May. GT5 will hopefully be a good one with what happened at the end of GT4, but that'll probably take until at least November to come out. Touma may not like battles, but if he had to choose, he would choose simpler ones. I guess Othinus as a Magic God can lift any weight she wants? The iterations are a bit confusing. I think she resets the cycle just when he's about to die? I guess it did take him a while to realize it, but his memories aren't that coherent here. Othinus might be able to make herself an esper if she wants to, but there isn't really a need. She could probably brainwash Touma, but then she wouldn't have any meaning in torturing him, I guess? Yes, Touma even hanging on like this is a huge accomplishment itself. Othinus remembering everything would probably be a pain for her for that reason. She doesn't really directly mess with his brain, so I suppose that wasn't an option she wanted to take. Both of those abilities are pretty OP for Touma. That part is a little confusing, but I think she gave up her power and then later wanted to regain it with Gungnir. That is an interesting parallel between Othinus and Shokuhou. Touma might remain a little delusional to think that anyone else could've done this. Hmm, maybe Othinus used a past version of Imagine Breaker, since she could be hundreds of years old? Or maybe she manually tried removing all the phases? Those 10,031 times each include a countless number of worlds, so it's more than it looks like. Touma is good at seeing into people's hearts, isn't he? I think Touma would be able to avoid it with his battle experience and his right hand. He has dealt with walls of attacks before. Yeah, the fight is pretty entertaining in Kamachi's writing style. Othinus's world did sort of create the current version of Touma, and they do end up getting along a bit in the end. Gungnir is vulnerable to Imagine Breaker, but as you saw later, that isn't the end of the battle. Thanks for catching that typo, I fixed it. Yeah, Touma loses the physical battle in the end. That final scene might be drawn out more than would realistically be expected, but maybe Othinus let him say some final words to her. I'm not quite sure, maybe Imagine Breaker interferes with the fairy spell?

Vegitta: Yeah, Mikoto's reaction to Touma deciding to protect Othinus from the world will be interesting. Mikoto's friends may indeed realize that Touma sided with a terrorist, and she'll have to do some explaining to them.

dragonghoul9707: Touma's confrontations with Mikoto, Index and Birdway, and Othinus in the end will certainly all be interesting to see.

Stryper88: Yeah, it's sort of a strange place for that number to reappear, but with Will's presence, I guess it makes sense thematically. Touma and Mikoto do have a lot of parallels like that, which is really interesting. That previous chapter was pretty similar to canon, but now that we're in NT10, there'll be more room for changes. Mikoto and Touma's confrontation will probably have a more affectionate ending. Hmm, the three girls hanging out together could definitely make for a nice scene. I'll see if I can fit that in somewhere.

PhantomDiamond: Thanks, I'm really glad you're enjoying my fic! "A Certain Strange Addition" is a really good fic too, and I'm honored to be put in such company.

Guest10032: Yeah, there are definitely a lot of video game analogies. The 50% chance there was really symbolic, and it's good that her gamble worked out. Mikoto and Touma's confrontation in my version of NT10 will be a lot different, for sure, but it is cute that she hugged him and might have even kissed his forehead in canon.

This time, when Touma awoke, he was standing on his feet. This was strange, since it implied that he'd passed out on his feet, but that was the only explanation that came to mind.

He wasn't in the pitch-black world or the perfect world. He was once again on Sargasso, that island made of shipwrecks. When Touma realized this, he wondered, "What is this place? Is it Othinus's paradise world? No, wait, don't tell me…did she return me, and rewind it all? But my world would be a little different from her world!"

Touma then looked around at the scene and saw some familiar faces right next to him: his girlfriend Mikoto, Index holding Sphinx, Lessar, and Birdway. A black rubber boat was also moored at the water's edge. He was very happy to see them again, especially Mikoto, and he had the urge to immediately embrace his girlfriend. But he instinctively sensed that there was something else important he was missing.

Then he saw it. Othinus was standing at the edge of a cliff created by a broken ship, though this time without the lance in her hands. Touma mused, "This is just before she destroyed the world? But Othinus was the victor, so there's no reason for her to return to this point. Unless...she conceded the world to me?"

He knew that he could only have been brought back with her help. He didn't know how much his words had reached her heart, but he could tell that there was something different about Othinus now, and he wasn't sure what to say to her. Yes, she was the one who'd created the situation, but she'd also been the one to end it and return Touma back to his world. If she had indeed abandoned her objective for this, then should he be thanking her?

As the boy pondered this, his allies began preparing for battle. Index glared directly at the Magic God and exclaimed, "You're Othinus, aren't you? You brought chaos to Tokyo and caused trouble for everyone!"

Her hostile tone of voice was unlike Index's normal self, and this made Touma stop breathing for an instant. Mikoto then chimed in, "You caused destruction all around the world, and you even brought my mama into this! Prepare yourself, I'm not going to hold back!"

Lessar then said, "Well, let's just get this over with. The chaos GREMLIN is causing is a big nuisance, to be honest."

And finally, Birdway added, "You're a bit too twisted, even for my standards. People like you need to be crushed right away, or else you'll cause problems later."

Touma now realized just what it meant for Othinus to go along with his selfishness, muttering in a daze, "You're kidding…" Returning him to his home meant returning herself there as well.

Othinus had conceded the world and everything else to him. Previously, she had wanted to return to her own original world even if it meant making an enemy of this entire world and using her own GREMLIN members. But she had cast aside her dream to save the boy who had been wandering through another world just like her. He didn't know what change of heart she'd had, but the result spoke for itself. Something must have changed within her.

And now that she had changed, Touma couldn't fathom the thought of fighting her again and helping his allies drive her away in the name of peace.

Mikoto began emitting sparks from her head. Lessar and Birdway held up their spiritual items and muttered enchantments, while Index started singing an eerie song to prevent Othinus from using defensive spells.

Touma tried to get them to stop, shouting, "Hold on, stop! Things are different now!"

Mikoto stopped sparking and turned to him, saying in a confused tone, "Huh? What are you talking about, Touma?"

But his words didn't reach the others. How could he even explain it properly? He had no proof. The world had ended, but it was now back to normal. And in between, something had happened between him and Othinus, and they'd come to some sort of resolution.

The magicians' attacks didn't stop, and so crimson flames flew straight towards Othinus. Touma could only watch, and he thought he saw Othinus smile a little as the destruction reached her. She made no attempt to defend or evade, and so her body was sent hurtling through the air.

This scene felt very wrong to Touma, as if they were ganging up to cruelly beat down a delicate girl. Othinus had been knocked backwards, so he could no longer see her. He immediately ran after her and shouted, "What the hell is this? Othinus, you knew this would happen if you saved me, didn't you?"

Mikoto was dumbfounded by what was happening, and exclaimed, "Touma, what's gotten into you?" She had no idea why her boyfriend suddenly seemed to be worried about Othinus, or what he meant by Othinus saving him.

Touma briefly turned back and said, "Sorry, Biri-Biri, I'll explain later!" He then turned back forward, ignoring the voices of his other allies, and continued running to find Othinus.

The boy cursed himself for not realizing earlier what would happen if Othinus gave him his wish. She was now once again opposed by the entire world. Of course, even without the lance, she could still win that battle. But she had changed.

Touma didn't know how his words had affected her, but it was likely that she no longer intended to fight, or to destroy the world. He desperately shouted, "Where are you Othinus?"

As he searched, he put together all the hints he'd seen. He thought back to the cruel worlds she had tormented him with. He had been pursued by an international coalition, he had seen someone else take his place, he had seen a world full of peace and smiles that only needed him to disappear, and he'd seen so many different forms of hell that he'd stopped counting.

But what if Othinus hadn't just created them on a whim, but instead modelled them after something? What if they had been based on her own painful experiences? He muttered, "Damn it, when I couldn't stand that place any longer and decided to flee that nightmare world, was I just forcing that same nightmare onto you? Are you experiencing the same world that made me give up?"

From a random nearby radio, he then heard a news report about the international coalition launching an attack on GREMLIN's headquarters. They weren't missiles, but it looked like a bunch of shooting stars were heading towards Tokyo Bay.

Then, Touma finally found Othinus lying on her back. She sardonically chuckled and said, "Heh, to think the Anglican Church, the Roman Catholic Church, and the Russian Orthodox Church would start getting along now."

She understood that this was her deserved punishment, for all the chaos she'd caused around the world. Even her own GREMLIN members would probably rebel once they found out that she'd trampled on them. Othinus had known from the moment she'd returned that she had no future. She would slowly die a painful death, the price for briefly obtaining someone who understood her.

As she stared up at the stars overhead, she muttered, "Honestly, that's not enough to kill a god, humans. I knew this would happen, but this is going to take forever, like wearing down a bone with a file."

But before those stars fell, a boy appeared in front of her and held out his right hand to protect her. Othinus opened her eye in surprise, and Touma questioned while still staring up, "You knew this would happen, didn't you? You achieved total victory and could've created any world you wanted, but you conceded it all to me for some reason. You abandoned your wish to save me, knowing the entire world would attack you!"

Othinus replied with a self-deprecating smile, "So what if I did? Either way, I won't last much longer. I created the lance to control my power as a Magic God, and I used Ollerus's fairy spell to create another form of a Magic God. And I succeeded, or at least at first, anyway."

Touma asked with a sense of dread, "What are you saying?"

She answered, "The fairy spell was an improvised method that didn't ensure my safety. I couldn't use both the lance and the fairy spell at the same time, so I was fine until I was forced to use the fairy spell. But now, it's wreaked havoc through my entire body, and even if you negate the stake with your right hand, the pain won't vanish. I won't conveniently return to being a mere human."

In short, she couldn't be saved, and soon the world, in the name of justice and good will, would slowly devour her in her powerless state. She urged him, "Hurry and go, the coalition arms will attack soon. I'm slowly losing my power as a Magic God, and with the entire world after me, I'll eventually meet my end somewhere. There's no need for you to come with me, since that would go against the point of returning you here."

Touma then responded, "But you're different now, right? You need to atone for what you did, maybe for a long time, but this is wrong! I no longer sense any evil in you that warrants killing you like this!"

Othinus scoffed, "You really are stupid. There's no point throwing me in a prison cell. GREMLIN would never accept it if I surrendered, they'd destroy even the strongest cell and hold me up as their symbol. The world's leaders want a break from all this chaos, so if they know I'll be broken out, they won't bother imprisoning me in the first place. Killing me would provide them with peace of mind."

Othinus had nowhere to run and no safe place to hide. The entire world hated her, and she'd done enough to justify that hatred. Othinus had already accepted her end. The people of earth would kill her that day, celebrate it, and perhaps even create a holiday to commemorate the event. They'd all live happily in a world without her.

But the boy who now understood her couldn't tolerate that. And thus, he declared, "Then, I will save you! Even if it means fighting the entire world!"

The entire world's hatred was directed towards a single person, and she'd been driven to the verge of death all alone. It may have started as something she deserved, and it may have been the world properly punishing her, but Touma didn't want to see someone suffer like this in the name of justice. He couldn't accept a future where people lived in peace after slaughtering this girl with a smile.

None of those people or organizations were at fault. The Anglican, Russian Orthodox, and Roman Catholic Churches. The United States, France, and Academy City. Ollerus, Fiamma of the Right, Birdway, and Lessar. Index and Mikoto. They were all blameless.

It was just an issue of shifted timing, that only Touma and Othinus knew about. She had changed, so until he found a way to explain what had happened, he would have to fight them, even if briefly. But he wouldn't let the good will of Mikoto and the others bring about unnecessary bloodshed.

Touma had longed for this world so much that he had selfishly trampled on that world filled with smiles. He now turned his back on that same world, but not because he didn't understand its value. Instead, in order to truly return home, Touma gathered his strength in his right fist and silently made up his mind in front of the battered girl.

He would fight to protect the life and smile of that single girl.

But of course, Touma wasn't just going to unconditionally write off all of Othinus's crimes. He just didn't want her to be killed in a frenzy before a proper judgement could be passed upon her. If she was sentenced to decades of imprisonment, he wouldn't object. But he would make sure to visit her and would wait however long it took until her sentence was completed, so she could rejoin the world with a smile.

Othinus said, "I understand what you want to do, and it's just more proof that you can't fix stupidity." She then asked a very important question, "So what exactly do you plan to do? We're currently surrounded by the ocean, and this island of ships will be destroyed by missiles very soon. So how shall we safely and covertly escape?"

Touma stared at her blankly for a while, before finally saying, "That's actually a really good question…" He began sweating and averted his gaze from her.

Othinus stood up and began angrily scolding him, "What? Don't tell me you haven't given this any thought at all! You make that big show of rescuing me, without any plan at all? And what do you plan to do even after we escape? Imagine Breaker won't work on ordinary missiles, and I'm already on the road to death thanks to that fairy spell. How in the hell do you plan to save me?"

The boy could only respond by stammering. Othinus sighed, "No wonder your girlfriend uses 'idiot' as a pet name for you. Fine, let's summarize the important points. The first problem is that the entire world is after me. And the second problem is the fairy spell that Ollerus hit me with. It's currently destroying my body from the inside, so we have to stop its advance in some way."

Touma asked, "Is there some way of doing that?"

Othinus replied, "There is one hope for the second problem. The fairy spell was designed for use against a Magic God, so it won't work on a human."

The boy saw where this was going, "So if you somehow go back to being human…"

Othinus continued, "Then the internal destruction can be stopped, but it means sacrificing a lot of power." She placed a hand over her eyepatch and explained, "I rose to the position of Magic God by gouging out my eye and offering it to a spring. It was a ceremonial act of destruction. The eye is still at the bottom of that spring, and if I retrieve it and put it back in my eye socket, all that makes me special will vanish. I didn't use this method even when I abandoned my power before, though thinking back, perhaps that was a sign of my lingering regret."

Touma grabbed onto her shoulders and excitedly shouted, "All right! That means we can save you! It's not just a dream, we have an actual goal we can go for!"

The hatred toward Othinus primarily stemmed from her inhuman power, but this method would eliminate that fear. Plus, there would be no danger of GREMLIN breaking her out of prison to regain the use of her power.

The boy then said, "So we need to go retrieve that eye. Where is this spring?"

Othinus answered, "In Denmark. Mimir's spring lies deep in the land that refers to Odin as Othinus, and my eye lies submerged in that spring of wisdom even now."

This solution did not directly solve the first problem. But neutralizing her power would certainly help in getting the world to disarm.

She then told him, "Just to be clear, you don't have to go with me."

Touma chuckled and retorted, "It's too late for that. And honestly, you're breathing a sigh of relief, aren't you?"

Othinus reminded him, "Don't push yourself too far. You thought about killing yourself after you were inundated by the world's malice and good will. The same tragedy will arrive now, except this time there's no fixing the world. Fail once, and you lose everything."

The boy replied, "Perhaps, but I'm not facing it alone this time, so the world looks different now."

The girl clicked her tongue and then asked, "So getting back to the original question, how do you plan to escape Sargasso? We're in the middle of the ocean and surrounded by the forces of both magic and science. Any ideas?"

Touma pleaded, "Help me, Othinus-chan."

She responded in an annoyed tone, "So you're all talk, and your only option is praying to god? Fine, but this is the last time you'll be able to rely on my power. I'll be using every last ounce of strength I have as a Magic God to do this."

Othinus pulled out a bone from her hat. It looked like it came from some kind of animal, and it had strange writing carved into it. She explained, "This is called the Bone Boat. Just like the crossbow, this magic item is specific to Othinus, rather than Odin. I can freely change its size and cross the world in an instant."

Touma replied, "In an instant? Wait, if it teleports you, then I can't go along. My right hand would negate it."

While rubbing her fingers along the side of the bone, she muttered, "Then rethink your viewpoint. It doesn't move the two of us, it moves everything except us. It rotates the whole planet around." An instant later, the scenery started to become distorted.

Meanwhile, Mikoto, Index, Lessar, and Birdway searched their surroundings after being left on Sargasso. They looked around for Touma and Othinus, but there was no sight of them. Birdway stated the only possible conclusion, "They vanished."

Mikoto then crossed her arms and wondered in an upset tone, "What's going on? Touma made a complete 180 as soon as we arrived here! I thought we had all agreed to stop GREMLIN and Othinus?"

Birdway mused, "It's unlikely that he was brainwashed or anything like that, but she is a Magic God. To be honest, we don't really have any idea what she can or can't do."

Index remained silent, but as someone who held the knowledge that could supposedly reach the level of a Magic God, she tried to predict what a Magic God like Othinus would do.

Mikoto thought to herself, "Did she stop time for everyone except her and Touma? Maybe they had some sort of confrontation in their own time bubble, and that explains why he suddenly switched sides? And come to think of it, why did that Magic God not do anything against our attacks? She just let herself get hit."

Birdway scratched her head and said in displeasure, "Anyway, we need to find where they disappeared off to, and tear him away from her. Otherwise, he'd die instantly in a battle between the coalition army and the Magic God."

Lessar laughed at the other girl and teased, "Hee hee, are you just upset that the boy you look up to betrayed you for your enemy?" She then turned to Mikoto and said, "And you, you seem pretty calm, given that your boyfriend ditched you for another girl!"

Mikoto frowned at Lessar's jab, but before she could respond or think about it, her phone notified her of an email. She was surprised, because the panic in Tokyo had previously cut off all communications. But when she opened the email, she was dumbfounded by its contents.

In fact, that email was sent to all Level 5's, and they all had different reactions.

The 1st Ranked, Accelerator, clicked his tongue in displeasure, "What the hell is this? What is that piece of shit doing?"

The 2nd Ranked, Kakine Teitoku, wondered in confusion, "I can't believe it, the city is still doing this kind of thing?"

The 3rd Ranked, Misaka Mikoto, was trembling as she held her phone in her hand, and questioned, "What is this?"

The 4th Ranked, Mugino Shizuri, made some calculations in her head before saying, "Denmark? What a pain. If they don't pay travel expenses, even if you did manage to kill them, you'd barely break even."

The 5th Ranked, Shokuhou Misaki, smiled and said, "Oh? I don't know what happened, but it looks like I have more to do now!"

The 6th Ranked toyed with their phone and said nothing.

The 7th Ranked, Sogiita Gunha, cracked his neck and exclaimed, "What kind of email is this? It's got no guts at all! Did this come from some intellectual with no common sense?"

The email they all viewed explained the details of the situation, but the subject line was direct enough: "Requesting the death of Magic God Othinus and Kamijou Touma, who is travelling with her."

Meanwhile, in an unknown place, the Will of the Misaka Network reacted to the news with amusement, "Ah ha ha ha ha /return!" If she possessed a physical body, she would've been holding her sides and would've had tears in her eyes.

She then spoke to herself, "When I started to disappear, I certainly never expected this to happen /return. But /backspace, he wouldn't be Kamijou-chan if he didn't exceed my expectations /return.

She was closer than anyone, but also more distant than anyone. But in this situation, as if she were watching a rock star who was once more stepping onto the stage after a long slump, she said, "Welcome back, Kamijou-chan /return."

A little while later, Mikoto was now back at the airport she'd been in earlier that day. But this time, she was there by herself. She hadn't told Index, Birdway, or Lessar about the email she'd received, but she was sure that they'd soon learn about Touma and Othinus fleeing to Denmark. Nevertheless, Mikoto wanted to go there and confront her boyfriend by herself, so that she'd be able to get a proper explanation from him.

Mikoto had already gone quickly past security, since she had the backing of Academy City to head for Denmark as soon as possible on a supersonic flight. While sitting at a table and eating a sandwich she'd purchased for lunch, she began to gather her thoughts and think through why Touma had suddenly switched sides and run away with Othinus.

She began, "Okay, let's go over the situation again. We arrived on Sargasso to fight against Othinus, and Touma was all for it up until then. But as soon as we saw Othinus and began attacking her, Touma suddenly told us to stop, and he went after her when she was hit."

Mikoto recalled how strange it was that Othinus did not even try to fight back or dodge their attacks. Was it some sort of trick? Or was there some other explanation?

Like Birdway had earlier pointed out, a Magic God like Othinus could have done almost anything. She could have had a confrontation with Touma while freezing time for everyone else. Since Othinus had the power to destroy the entire world, Mikoto figured that this was also within her power.

The girl continued musing, "So if they did have some confrontation, then perhaps they came to some sort of understanding." Her boyfriend did have the knack of connecting with his enemies during the battles, and then becoming allies afterwards. That would also explain Othinus's passivity in the face of their attacks.

Mikoto concluded, "In that case, he would probably now see her just as a girl being unfairly attacked by the entire world, no matter what sorts of crimes she's already committed."

This conclusion made the girl rather annoyed, and she started chewing her food more furiously. But after stewing in frustration for a bit, she sighed and conceded, "Well, I knew he was like this and still fell in love with him anyway, so I guess I can't complain too much. That idiot probably didn't even think about how I'd feel before instinctively stepping into hero mode."

She really didn't like that her boyfriend had run off with another girl, and resolved to give him a piece of her mind about that. But Mikoto was mainly worried about the danger that Touma was in. Although it was much more extreme than anything he'd done before, Mikoto knew it was within his character to take on the entire world to save a single person, especially if they were a girl. But she was seriously afraid that Touma would die while facing the combined forces of magic and science, and she hoped she could reach him in time.

As Mikoto finished her sandwich, a young woman in a business suit sat down next to her at the table. By itself, this wasn't too surprising, since the seating areas were crowded and the table had outlets for charging phones. But then the woman said, "Hello, Misaka-san!"

Mikoto looked up in confusion, since she didn't recognize the woman at all, but then she noticed the small stars in the woman's eyes. She groaned, "What are you doing here, Shokuhou?"

Shokuhou, who was controlling the woman, replied, "Your rudeness ability is still as active as ever, I see. Well, I'm probably here for the same reason as you are. I assume you also received that same message about a certain gentleman and some girl named Othinus?"

Mikoto's eyes widened, and she replied, "You got that message too?" She had been a little confused as to why Academy City would ask Touma's girlfriend to kill him, even if they thought she'd feel betrayed and vengeful. But if they were sending that message to other Level 5's as well, that made more sense.

Shokuhou rested the woman's head on her hand and replied, "Yes, I did. I suspect that it was sent to each of the Level 5's. I have no idea what a Magic God is, but Academy City must be desperate to request all this firepower ability."

Mikoto narrowed her eyes, trying to figure out the other girl's intentions. She asked in a sardonic tone, "So what, are you going to Denmark too? I doubt you'd be able to survive one hour in that cold weather."

In response, Shokuhou smirked and answered, "No, my ability isn't suited for direct combat, and it would be pointless to control powerless Danish civilians. I'm just here to gather some information ability, especially since I don't fully know what's going on. It'll be quite interesting to see who received and answered Academy City's call to arms."

Mikoto crossed her arms and bit her lip as she listened to Shokuhou's explanation. It did make some sense that she'd want to gather as much information as possible, since she had been brought into the situation. But there was one thing Mikoto didn't get, so she questioned, "Why do you care so much about this anyway, if you're not planning to get involved?"

Shokuhou winked and said in a chipper tone, "Come on Misaka-san, it's possible to get involved without just charging in mindlessly to beat someone up. But as for my reasons, let's just say that I'm very interested in what happens to that gentleman!" Despite revealing this, she wasn't going to reveal to Mikoto that she was there to turn back as many people as possible, in order to reduce the opposition that that certain boy would have to face. Indeed, she had already managed to turn back some members of the dark side who were after the bounty, though Shokuhou guessed that they wouldn't have stood much of a chance against Touma anyway.

She then continued, "Anyway, you're the only other Level 5 I've observed so far with any of the people I'm controlling. But I strongly suspect that the 1st Ranked, if he does decide to go, might use some other transportation ability to get there."

Mikoto frowned, thinking to herself, "Yes, and Accelerator was involved in that fight in Hawaii, so he's almost certainly pissed off at Touma. And honestly, I can't say that I'm not a little pissed off at him too."

Shokuhou observed Mikoto's angry expression and added in a teasing tone, "Well, in any case, I feel sorry for poor Kamijou-san that he has at least two violent monsters coming after him. And honestly, even I am surprised that you're blindly taking Academy City's word about the situation. Are you really going to kill him based on just that?"

Mikoto rolled her eyes, not in the mood for Shokuhou's teasing. She rested her head on her fist and twirled a lock of her hair with her other hand, saying, "For your information, the only reason I'm going to Denmark is to knock some sense into that idiot and drag him back home." A faint blush appeared on her cheeks as she said this.

On seeing the other girl's demeanor, Shokuhou thought, "Wow, Misaka-san is acting like a fight with him will have some romance ability. She really is dumb, isn't she?" She then smirked and said in a teasing tone, "Oh? So you're not at all jealous that he ran away to the other side of the world with some random girl?"

Mikoto groaned and said, "No, why would I be jealous of that idiot going off to save a random girl like usual? This is just par for the course for him."

Shokuhou laughed and replied, "You don't sound very convincing, Misaka-san. It seems like your tsundere ability is as strong as ever!" This just made Mikoto grumble under her breath.

At this point, there was an announcement over the intercom that the flight to Copenhagen would begin boarding. Mikoto stood up from her seat and said, "Well, that's me. I'll see you around, Shokuhou."

Shokuhou then said, as a parting remark, "Bye, Misaka-san, make sure you don't hurt him too badly, okay?"

Mikoto just sighed and joined the boarding line. She saw the woman get up soon afterwards and slip away into the crowd. Now alone again, she took a deep breath and told herself, "Okay, Mikoto, it's time to go bring Touma back home." She wasn't sure how difficult it would be, but she was determined to see it through to the end.

Now in Denmark, Touma and Othinus trudged through the white snow. While there was an asphalt road, it was covered under a deep layer of snow, so the white landscape only had some conifer trees and a few road signs.

The boy wondered, "Where are we, anyway? And where do we need to go, specifically?"

Othinus answered, "We're a bit south of Hjorring. You can see it on the signs, right? And we need to go to the Kvaerndrup area. More specifically, we're headed for Egeskov Castle, which floats above a lake."

Touma could only give her a stiff smile while looking at her blankly. Othinus narrowed her eyes, quickly catching on, and said, "Don't tell me…"

The boy frantically replied, "I don't know any of that! Why would I? You can't expect an average Japanese high schooler to know the map of Denmark, I bet most Europeans don't even know where those places are!"

Othinus let out an annoyed sigh, and said, "Damn it, do I really have to explain Denmark itself to you? Listen, Denmark is a country located north of Germany. It consists of the large Jutland peninsula, which borders Germany, as well as nearly 450 islands. You might think that the peninsula is the main part, but the capital city of Copenhagen is on Zealand, which is one of the islands. By the way, New Zealand isn't named after that island, it's named after the Dutch province of Zeeland."

The boy just nodded along, "Right, right."

She continued, "Anyway, Denmark is part of NATO and the EU. But just like the UK with the British pound, Denmark uses its own currency, the krone, instead of the euro. The official language is Danish, but most people understand English, and German works too in the southern regions. You might guess that their main industry is tourism, but they actually focus on manufacturing, such as shipbuilding and heavy industries. They're mainly Protestant, but there's some Catholicism as well. They see Norse mythology as an important draw for tourism, but no one actually believes in it. It's similar to Stonehenge."

Touma nodded again, "Right, right."

Othinus placed her hands on her hips and angrily asked, "Are you actually listening to me, you bastard?"

He gave her a puzzled look and replied, "Huh? Well, I figured you must like explaining things, like Index and Birdway. So I decided to just take it all in instead of interrupting. Hmm, I guess Mikoto enjoyed explaining things to me too when she was helping me study. Anyway, don't worry about me, keep going, keep going."

Othinus roughly grabbed onto his shoulders and shook him, exclaiming, "Do you think I was taking the time to explain that for my own benefit?"

Touma held out his hands and pleaded, "W-wait, Othinus, stop shaking me! I'm sorry, I promise I'll listen!"

She released him, letting him go limp, and said, "Again, we're just south of Hjorring, which is in the northernmost part of the Jutland peninsula. Egeskov Castle is on the large island of Funen, which is between the peninsula and the main island of Zealand. We can travel there by land by using bridges, but it's still 300 or 400 kilometers away. That's a difficult distance to cover for a human, even if we weren't being hunted by the world."

The boy rubbed his aching shoulders while asking, "If you could conveniently teleport us across the planet, couldn't you have dropped us a little closer?"

Othinus scoffed, "Don't be silly, that spell transported us by tens of thousands of kilometers, so this is a decent margin of error. You should be praising me for not dumping us in the surrounding ocean."

Touma then retorted, "Quick question: By any chance, did the other members of GREMLIN do everything they could to stop you from using that spell? Did they insist on travelling by plane or ship instead?"

She replied, "Shut up. Getting back on topic, how do you plan to safely travel hundreds of kilometers? The coalition forces are forming a search network as we speak."

The boy answered, "I actually do have an idea for that. Stealing a car or bike would help them track us, and they'll be watching the trains and buses. But hitchhiking is surprisingly useful. The checkpoints will focus on the drivers rather than the passengers."

Othinus thought about his suggestion, saying, "Did you learn that during World War 3? But this time, we're both wanted worldwide."

Touma explained, "Is that really that much of a problem? Maybe I'm detectable, but how many people know that Magic God Othinus is a girl? The Magic Side should want to keep your existence and appearance highly classified, or else people may want to use you. I can't imagine the Anglican, Catholic, or Orthodox Churches just handing out information about you left and right."

With that, they settled on their plan of travelling south by foot and hitchhiking whenever they saw a car. But there was a big problem with their plan: they hadn't seen a single car for a while. With them being cold and hungry, it was not a good recipe for success.

In addition, they still had to worry about being pursued. And indeed, soon afterwards, a flash of white light appeared directly overhead. Othinus was the first to see it, as she held onto her hat and looked up into the sky. She then muttered, "Here it comes."

The sight seemed unreal to Touma for a moment, and his brain was filled with the false idea of there being two suns. It took him a few seconds for his thoughts to come into focus. When they did, he grabbed Othinus's wrist and began running across the snow, shouting, "Oh crap!"

An instant later, something made a heavy impact into the Danish countryside, creating a crater 15 kilometers across. And as unbelievable as it was, this "something" was just a giant mass of water that had been fired from space.

An explosion of steam occurred above the impact point, and a circular shockwave covered everything, knocking over the surrounding conifer trees. The thick layer of snow instantly melted, and the exposed ground was heated orange.

Touma and Othinus dove into a cave for cover, but though they survived the shockwave, they were still hit with the heat from the explosions.

After about a minute, they hesitantly looked outside the cave, and saw that the scenery had completely changed. The surface of the giant crater was covered with glass. Although it rationally made sense that heating the silicon in the ground could make glass, it still made for a surreal scene.

Touma then looked above the crater and gaped as he saw something that should have only been seen in monochrome historical footage. He saw a mushroom cloud. And he recalled that nuclear explosions could indeed turn the ground to glass.

Othinus tapped on his shoulder and said, "Don't worry, mushroom clouds can be created by more than just nukes. Any explosion with enough force can do it, so this could be a large fuel-air bomb or a thermobaric bomb."

But Touma muttered, "No, only Academy City could do this. And if they're going all out like this, it won't end that easily. I've only seen a few glimpses of what Academy City's technology can do, but even I can tell that they'll go farther than this if they're serious."

Academy City had fired something from the sky, or even from space, directly at their location. And it couldn't have just been to generate an explosion that could be escaped on foot.

Touma then told her, "Get back, Othinus, this is only the beginning!"

His shout was immediately followed by a violent gust of wind that ripped apart the mushroom cloud from the inside. In front of them now stood the pinnacle example of the esper development that Academy City was primarily known for.

It was the city's strongest esper, Accelerator.

Touma muttered, "Of all people, you're the first one?" While knocking Othinus onto the ground, he briefly thought of how unfair it was that he'd have to face such a strong boss in the very first battle.

Accelerator had emerged from a five meter wide mass of metal, which had somehow maintained its shape during the explosion. He now lightly kicked the transport device, and with his vector control ability, made it fly with tremendous speed towards Touma.

Touma leaped to the side with all his might, and the metal mass lightly grazed his clothing and passed over Othinus, who was lying on her back. He glanced at her for a moment and told her, "Stay on the ground, I'll handle him!"

But taking his eyes off his opponent for even an instant was a mistake. Accelerator had vanished from his original spot. He then appeared directly in front of Touma, with four black tornadoes whipping out from his back.

A deadly hand of reflection approached Touma's side, threatening to reverse his blood flow and electrical signals. Touma twisted his body, barely managing to push that hand away with his own right hand. He went on to launch his fist upwards into Accelerator's jaw, and a dull sensation passed into his fist and wrist.

Accelerator's red eyes stared back at him without any change in expression, so Touma instinctively leaped back. A mass of air slammed into the ground where he'd just been, shattering the glass. Touma thought to himself, "What's going on? He can take a punch more than before, and he's recovering faster than before!"

Accelerator finally opened his mouth, and said, "You know, playing the hero without thinking about your own interests is nothing new, but you're showing a serious lack of vision this time." He spoke in a casual tone, but he was absolutely furious.

He lightly kicked the snow that was beginning to accumulate on the glass. Touma crouched down and twisted his upper body around, and the liquid from the melted snow split through the air at a frightening speed. It looked like a laser beam, and it was just as dangerous. After all, high speed water could be used to slice through steel sheets.

While the sound sent a chill down Touma's spine, he shouted at his opponent, "What are you doing? Sure, GREMLIN did a lot of damage in Hawaii, Baggage City, and Tokyo, but you're the strongest esper! Did you really take enough damage to warrant killing people?"

Accelerator clenched his fist and replied, "I don't have a reason like that. When I was using my power, I didn't have any crazy ideas of saving the world, you dumbass!"

As their two fists clashed, a roar split through the air. Accelerator then continued, "I'm only going to bother looking after the people in my contact list. But the person behind you could destroy the world and kill all of humanity. Among those billions of people are the few I know, so that's a good enough reason for me to fight her."

This was perhaps the opposite of Touma's path. Touma had saved people close to him and eventually dealt with problems on a global scale. But Accelerator had been able to reach that global scale from the beginning, and had used his power to save the people close to him. He stared at Touma and said, "I can't follow your path, but that's no reason for me to feel inferior to you."

Touma winced as he realized how right Accelerator was. He had killed those 10,031 Misaka Sisters, but Touma had now done the same himself. In that sense, he was now perhaps even a worse monster than Accelerator.

At that moment, white wings burst from Accelerator's back. As the two opponents pressed their fists together, those pure white wings stretched to dozens of meters and swung down towards Touma like blades.

Touma slid to the right and somehow managed to intercept each and every wing as it fell from overhead. Rather than stopping and destroying them, Touma deflected them away with his right hand.

Meanwhile, Accelerator concluded, "If it's the most surefire way of ensuring their safety, I might as well kill her. I'm not a fan of getting swept away by emotion and getting stabbed in the back as a result, and I'm even less of a fan when it's someone else's back getting stabbed."

While continuing to deflect those white wings, Touma thought about Accelerator's argument. Although he was a little angry that Accelerator didn't understand, Touma didn't resent him. And not just because there hadn't been time to explain the situation. Touma had had similar thoughts when travelling through the battle-stricken Tokyo to fight Othinus, and Accelerator was more aware of what it meant to use violence to defeat an enemy. In that sense, Accelerator was the wiser and more responsible one.

Touma then tried to explain his own reasoning, "For almost everyone in the world, it's probably true that Othinus isn't worth saving, and perhaps not saving her is logically the better option to ensure your own safety. But for me, I'd say that having her in the group is more fun than not having her, so that's my reason!"

Accelerator replied in a very irritated voice, "You're not even trying to convince me, are you?"

Touma grinned and retorted, "That's how true motives work. If you had a reason that would convince anyone the moment you gave it, it'd only be a manufactured argument with the sole purpose of convincing people." After traversing those infinite hells, Touma had acquired the seemingly childish idea that everyone should get along, but he'd gained enough experience to truly understand it.

Accelerator then asked, "Aren't you a bit too trusting to assume I'll stop with nothing but that?"

Touma immediately replied, "I didn't expect you to stop. That's why we'll fight until we reach an understanding."

Accelerator was silent for a moment, but he then took action. He flapped his white wings and rose to an altitude of 5 kilometers in an instant. He then began diving towards the ground, though all Touma saw was a pure white light flying up and down in an arc.

Touma knew that his only chance was a counterattack. But he could only hit Accelerator with his right fist, and Accelerator could take a punch much better than in their previous fights. And he needed to end the fight in a single hit, or else Touma would be torn into mincemeat.

He thus picked up a rock with his left hand. Though it was as large as a baby's head, with Accelerator's reflection, throwing that rock wouldn't even serve as a distraction. But that was exactly what Touma hoped for.

When Accelerator clashed with Touma back on the ground, he accurately attacked his target, with no thought of evading. He knew the power of Touma's right fist, but Accelerator knew that he could survive a single punch and finish off Touma in the process.

But then Touma took an odd action. His right fist slammed into Accelerator's chest, but that was within Accelerator's expectations. The real problem came later. With Accelerator's reflection disabled, Touma swung up the rock with his left hand and slammed it into his own right fist, which also pressed a great force onto Accelerator's heart, greater than his right fist could have achieved by itself.

With this, Accelerator's mind went blank. The thoughts that controlled his calculations cut out, and he collapsed onto the ground.

By the time Accelerator woke up, he and the glass were buried in the snow, the natural landscape returning even after that strike from a terraforming device. Touma and Othinus were already gone.

But there was someone else near him on that snowy plain. It seemed to be a Misaka Sister, and she was wearing a white coat and a hat with earmuffs. He asked her in annoyance, "What do you want?"

She grinned and replied, "Ha ha ha /return. I was so very worried about Kamijou-chan that I took control of this girl's body /return. I'm glad to see he was able to resolve his own problem, though /return." Indeed, the one speaking was not the Sister herself, but the Will of the Misaka Network.

Will observed, "But /backspace, you weren't going all out there, were you /escape? If the 1st Ranked didn't take action, then the other Level 5's might have randomly taken action /return. And if their strongest esper was defeated right away, then the higher ups would hesitate to use the rest of their precious Level 5's in fear of losing them /return. Back when you knew nothing but winning and being the strongest, you would've never thought about gaining something by losing /return. I think you've grown, Accelerator /return."

Accelerator replied in a displeased tone while sitting in the snow, "Is it really that surprising? You're only here now thanks to my loss."

Will waved her finger and said, "I'm saying it's mature of you to be able to think about it like that /return. I was really worried about Kamijou-chan, but he should be fine now /return. I've been using this ticket so much lately, so I might not be able to come back out again for a while /return. But /backspace, at least I got to see something nice firsthand /return."

He then asked, "How long until the next time?"

She answered, "I might appear one more time soon, just to take care of some unfinished business /return. But don't rely on me /return. As someone who floats around the Misaka Network with no physical body, I'm an outsider here /return. I can give some outside advice, but I can't be presumptuous enough to think about actually joining in /return."

At this point, some static mixed with the girl's voice, meaning their time together would end soon. She thus said, "And as an outsider, I have one last piece of advice for you /return."

Accelerator replied, "Do you ever shut up? Just spit it out already!"

Will then said, "The difference between you and Kamijou-chan is that one of you views us as an embodiment of good, while the other truly views us as nothing but human /return. They may seem similar at first, but they're actually completely different, and it isn't something you can consciously overcome /return. If you truly intend to face us, you have to eventually stop trapping us in the role of victim first /return."

With those parting words, the girl fell forward into the snow. Accelerator clicked his tongue in annoyance, and then wondered, "Wait, what am I supposed to do with this unconscious girl." He immediately realized that some shackles had been prepared for him, and he was ticked off at being played so perfectly.

After the battle, both Touma and Othinus were in bad shape. Touma had smashed his own right fist and almost dislocated his shoulder in the final clash against Accelerator. They were able to numb his pain by applying snow to those areas, but that was only a stopgap measure. And Othinus, whose clothing was not at all suited to the cold weather, had lost her sense of pain and cold.

Fortunately, they soon approached the city of Aalborg, and were able to get some food and warmth by hitchhiking in an RV that had been turned into a food cart. But when they entered the city, a warning was broadcast in Japanese, telling Touma and Othinus to surrender. Seeing a bunch of nuns stationed in the city, they realized that they were up against the Roman Catholic Church.

Touma realized that it was just a ploy to separate him from Othinus and take him out of the fight, though the Roman Catholic Church had prepared a spell that was too powerful for his Imagine Breaker to negate completely. He managed to slip underground and emerge in Ansgar Church, where Agnese Sanctis was located, acting as the breaker for the spell. By telling her that Othinus wanted to give up her own power, Touma convinced Agnese to allow him and Othinus to escape.

Several kilometers south of Aalborg, Touma ran into the next enemies while he and Othinus were taking shelter in an abandoned car. He faced against Sasha Kreutzev and Vasilisa, of the Russian Orthodox Church, but they were also supported by someone who spoke to Touma over a radio. That person used a spell based on the Seven Deadly Sins, which would remove one-seventh of Touma's strength for each sin he was accused of. The voice on the radio successfully forced six of the sins onto Touma for his desire to protect Othinus from the entire world, draining away almost all of his strength, and tried to use Gluttony to finish him off, with Sasha and Vasilisa delivering the final blow.

But Touma was able to recover, since the seventh sin didn't actually fit that well. Moreover, Touma was able to make use of the same spell, accusing the voice on the radio of six of the seven sins, except for Lust. This forced the Russian Orthodox forces into a stalemate, but someone who was not part of that church was still able to knock Touma unconscious.

When Touma woke up, he found himself on a fortress floating in the sky, and he was surrounded by four powerful monsters from the Anglican Church: Kanzaki, Princess Carissa, Knight Leader, and Acqua of the Back. While they were all powerful opponents, the boy was able to take advantage of one of their weak points. Kanzaki would never kill, no matter the situation, so Touma immediately rushed towards her. This forced her to hop over him, which allowed him to escape, though he did take damage from a grazing blow.

Touma then used his right hand to destroy walls and floors until he could jump off the fortress. He knew that Kanzaki would come and save him, which was exactly what happened. She even used her powers to protect him from Carissa's attack and destroy the fortress as well. He crashed into a forest, but was soon able to reunite with Othinus.

They then arrived at the next city of Stovring, and found a truck driver willing to take them 150 kilometers south to Billund, in the center of Jutland. But during that journey, the truck stalled out, so Touma and Othinus headed for a nearby gas station to get a new car battery. It was at this point that they were attacked by Marian Slingeneyer, who was accompanied by Mjolnir.

Marian used fragments of the lance she had tried to create for Othinus in order to create the legendary sword Dainsleif. She then used that blade to create various embodiments of the end of the world from different mythologies. Touma fought hard to avoid all those attacks, and did manage to destroy Dainsleif with his right hand. However, Marian was still able to call forth Vishnu Avatara, which would kill both Touma and herself. Touma then dodged the attack and saved her, and Vishnu Avatara eliminated all the other summoned creatures instead before disappearing. Marian had been knocked unconscious, and Mjollnir decided that she wasn't going to fight, so she carried Marian away, leaving Touma and Othinus to continue their journey.

They eventually reached the city of Billund as planned. But as they continued their journey on foot, they soon came across some American tanks. This was the worst enemy for Touma, since it was pure military might rather than esper or magic powers. While trying to sneak past them, they were ambushed by American soldiers. One of them caught Touma with a stranglehold, using him as a shield, and threw a knife towards Othinus's head. Both of them quickly fell unconscious.

When Touma came to, he heard a bunch of people speaking in English around him, and found that he was lying on his stomach. He tried to get up and shouted, "Othinus, where's Othinus?" But he immediately felt someone step on his back and press a gun against his head.

A soldier tossed a radio in front of him and told him in Japanese, "The president has something to tell you."

Touma reached out for the radio while still having the pressure on his back. He heard President Roberto Katze's voice saying, "I don't know why you did this, but didn't you know this would happen eventually?" The man sounded completely different to how he'd been in Hawaii, but Touma figured that this was because the president was carrying the weight of every US citizen, and perhaps even more, on his shoulders. Touma knew he couldn't talk to him like in a simple one-on-one conversation. But he still had to find a way to convince the man to hold off on killing Othinus.

He began, "Since you're bothering to talk to me at all, can I assume that you're at least a little hesitant?"

The president replied, "I'm just killing time until the video line is confirmed to be secure. We should have about ten minutes left." This video line would broadcast the killing of Othinus into the UN headquarters building where he and the other world leaders were currently located.

Touma resolutely declared, "I won't let you kill Othinus!"

President Katze told him, "You have ten minutes to convince me why I shouldn't. Because I have enough reasons for killing her that I could make a speech lasting three full days on it."

Hearing that coldhearted voice, Touma knew his task would be tough, but at least his opponent wasn't refusing to talk, so he had a chance to change his mind. Touma thus began, "You still don't know everything about Othinus. You know she's fled to Denmark, but you don't know why. Wouldn't it be a bad idea if the US eliminated the big boss without knowing her objective or motive?"

The man replied, "You mean it would damage our international reputation? That doesn't matter, world stability is more important than something intangible like that. You're directly at the scene, so maybe you have a better grasp of what GREMLIN is. But the vast majority of the world doesn't. Do you know how much damage is being done by rumors on the internet? If we don't do anything, it'll develop into a witch hunt. Rumors that certain countries are supporting GREMLIN will gain false credibility, and a new war will break out."

Indeed, the world's population knew almost nothing about Othinus, not even her gender. They were worried about the threat to their own lives rather than some unknown person's life.

Nevertheless, Touma countered, "You're not wrong, but that's all the more reason why you can't kill Othinus."

The president just questioned, "Oh?"

Touma continued, "Killing Othinus won't make GREMLIN peacefully disband. With no leader, the members will randomly scatter. And the loss of their objective will make them angry, and their first target will be the peaceful world, and the United States as its leader."

The president assured him, "We're prepared to continue the fight. Do we look like a country that'll forgive a villain in fear of a distant future?"

The boy forcefully argued, "If you think the fight will just be hunting down the members of the group, you're wrong, Mr. President. In Hawaii, GREMLIN already proved that a superpower like the US could be brought to its knees. I'm surprised no one's tried copying them yet, but what if GREMLIN gathers together again? I don't know much about politics, but aren't there a lot of people who would like to defeat the US?"

The man countered, "But keeping Othinus alive would lead to an age of war just the same."

Touma then said, "Would it really? By keeping her alive, you can learn the secrets of GREMLIN and its members' behaviors, and her survival would prevent someone else from becoming a new leader. The slower the enemy is to act, the less chaos that will spread throughout the world, and the fewer people that will die."

President Katze brought up the key concern, "But Othinus's power is unknown. I don't know what happened with the supposed lance in Tokyo Bay, but she can do something similar or even worse in the future. There's no good reason to let her live. Even if we lock her up in a nuclear shelter somewhere, we can't guarantee that GREMLIN won't be able to attack or break her out."

Touma was now finally able to mention his objective, "Then we just have to take her power from her. We're trying to permanently remove Othinus's power and then surrender to you. Once she has zero power left, she can help the world without being a threat, even if she is taken away. That removes any reason to kill her, doesn't it?" All that remained was to see if the president would believe him.

The man skeptically asked, "Is there really a convenient way to do that?"

The boy answered, "You all probably don't understand since it happened so quickly, but we didn't come all the way here to Denmark without an objective in mind. It would've been safer to hide out in some quiet mountain if surviving was all we wanted to do. Listen, I'm not asking you to write off Othinus's crimes. Once this is over, you can lock her up for decades if you have to, as long as you go through the proper procedures. So, do you still feel the need to kill her? We're just preparing her for an American prison."

The president then asked, "I don't know much about that side of things, but isn't this kind of person usually sent to the UK?"

Touma recounted, "We've already run across the Roman Catholic Church, the Russian Orthodox Church, and the Anglican Church, and they're all determined to kill. That may be normal to them because of their connections to things like the crusades and witch hunts, but I can't get used to those methods. I'm just a normal high school student, and I don't know much about law, but in your country and under global standards, is there really no path except death for her?"

President Katze paused for a bit, and instead of mocking the boy, gave an accurate answer, "She has committed many war crimes, including attacking a country without declaring war, and indiscriminately attacking civilians. She would certainly be executed under those global standards after all she did in Hawaii, Baggage City, and Tokyo."

Touma's breathing became erratic, as he felt his hope drain away. But the president was right, and he would just have to accept that his goal would become much more difficult to reach.

However, the man continued, "But on the other hand, GREMLIN is not considered a nation under international law, nor are they recognized as a legitimate military force. That means that those war crimes charges may not apply, funnily enough. But even then, she wouldn't be innocent. She'd probably be sentenced to over 100 years in prison, and while it's possible she could get a pardon later on to reduce her sentence, it would be best to assume she'd never get out."

Hearing this, Touma couldn't help but laugh. He replied, "That's fine. As long as there's even the slightest bit of hope, I can accept it. We, Othinus and I, will be satisfied with that."

President Katze finally asked, "Are you sure you understand?"

Touma answered, "It's much better than her being killed in a frenzy without anyone feeling any guilt. And I should apologize. Until now, I've only thought about the major world players being Academy City on the Science Side and the UK on the Magic Side. I never thought of the US being all that important, but you were the most rational ones when it came down to it. You did what the Science Side and the Magic Side could not."

Roberto Katze just said, "Is that so?" A moment later, he spoke to someone else, "Operation Norse Wind is suspended as of now. The commando unit shall release Kamijou Touma and Othinus's bonds, and continue their infiltration with the channel open for further orders. Repeat it back to me."

The soldier who'd tossed Touma the radio responded, "Yes, sir. Operation Norse Wind is suspended as of now. The two targets' bonds shall be released, and we shall wait on standby for further orders."

With that, the pressure left Touma's back, and he was able to roll over and finally look around the scene. There were three soldiers in white uniforms, and Othinus was lying a short distance away.

Touma tried to stand up, but he couldn't manage it with the pain in his hips. He thus crawled towards the unconscious girl, shouting in her ear, "Othinus!" After a bit, she finally groaned and woke up.

The president said one last thing over the radio, "We won't attach an obvious collar with a bomb or anything, but the United States will be watching over you and maintaining the ability to kill you. That should act as a good enough collar itself."

Touma made sure that Othinus was not bleeding from the head, but she had only been knocked out with the knife's handle. Her body was cold, and she couldn't fully support herself, so Touma lent her his shoulder so they could stand up. The soldiers soon vanished, so the two of them were once again left alone to continue on their long journey.