Hello, everyone! It seems that a lot of you guys really enjoyed the confrontation between Mikoto and Touma in the previous chapter. In this chapter, we see the conclusion of Touma's quest to save Othinus.
Nightfang123: Thanks! Mikoto's interactions with Othinus after this will be interesting to write, and there will be a good number of slice-of-life chapters between the end of NT10 and the start of NT13.
Blankow: Yeah, I did want Mikoto to learn about what happened here, not just so she could punch Othinus, but also so that she could alleviate his guilt and pain as soon as possible. The timeline is certainly busy, but they will have the chance for some downtime, and the future interactions between Mikoto and Othinus will be interesting.
Aminadab Brulle: Yeah, I kind of agree with that. Allowing villains to have second chances is a big theme in this series, but it did feel strange that people who wanted Othinus to be punished for her crimes were treated as wrong. And there's also the issue that Othinus's eventual punishment, while symbolically very poignant, is not actually that bad, even if there was no better option.
patrickthehedgehog21: Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter! NT is definitely a pretty good read.
Rekuta: Yes, Touma really suffered a lot, but fortunately, Mikoto was able to understand and somewhat alleviate his pain. It really was unfair, at least it's in the past for Touma now.
Toa Solaric: I'm glad you enjoyed Mikoto and Touma's conversation in that chapter, since it was a scene I'd been looking forward to writing for quite a while.
Vegitta: In the original story, Touma told Mikoto a bit about the perfect world, but not about the other worlds. I'm glad you liked their conversation, especially the part where she uses his line and destroys his illusions. A few more battles do remain, which will be covered in this chapter. The reactions of Mikoto's friends to all this would certainly be interesting, though she may not want to tell them too much.
GabrielHaruba: Thanks, I had been looking forward to writing that chapter for a while, so I'm pleased that you enjoyed it.
Sentient Mop: Thanks, I'm happy you liked it so much!
SaSaltyDog: Wow, I'm glad to hear that, I had been looking forward to writing that scene for quite some time, so it's great it turned out so well. I did want to have Touma tell his girlfriend everything he could, since it would allow Mikoto to at least somewhat understand the pain and suffering he went through, and how he overcame it.
PhantomDiamond: I'm glad you enjoyed Touma and Mikoto's conversation about what had happened to him. Mikoto certainly set him straight and alleviated the guilt he'd been carrying. Their relationship's development is something I've been trying to get right, so it's good that it's worked out so far. I'm flattered by your compliments, though I can only write this fic because Kamachi already wrote about this world and these characters. All I've done is modify the original story to give more KaMikoto development.
MC91: Thanks, I'm happy to hear that! Yeah, the dialogue can sometimes be a bit awkward to write, but I think I've been getting better at it.
dragonghoul9707: Yeah, I was a little worried that Mikoto using his line would be cheesy, but it seems people liked it. Othinus was ready to accept whatever Mikoto decided to dish out to her. Mikoto definitely did a lot to refute Othinus's malicious arguments and alleviate Touma's guilt. This did happen in the canon story, though to a lesser extent. But it was still amazing that Mikoto was the one who managed to do it, especially since she didn't know much about Othinus or magic in canon.
Stryper88: Wow, I'm really glad you liked the chapter that much! Yeah, I wanted to put that reveal in that chapter along with their confrontation so that Touma could let it all out, and Mikoto could comfort him. Mikoto using his line was a cute scene to write, and Othinus definitely deserved that punch. That's a good point, Mikoto was forgotten by her friends that time, though it was obviously not nearly as bad as what Touma experienced, since Mikoto was still able to get help from them later. Touma would reject the idea of having a harem even harder in this case. Yeah, the NT16 scenes in Tokiwadai will be really fun to write, and present a lot of interesting possibilities. Mikoto will probably be wary of Othinus for some time, but eventually start to get along more with her. There will definitely be some steamy scenes coming up, though since Touma is hospitalized, that'll have to wait until after NT11.
xellos540: The Five Overs are machines that try to replicate Level 5 powers with pure scientific technology. The Alpha World showed that a coalition could potentially take down Academy City. Maybe she didn't believe he would, but she still wanted to try anyway. Yeah, that's the scene, all right. Mikoto already had an idea of the explanation, but she wanted to use the fight to draw it out of him. She didn't fire the railgun bullets because she didn't actually want to kill him. Touma knows this, which is why he wasn't taking it completely seriously. That's a good point, I guess the machine just didn't fire on itself or try to shake them off, maybe Mikoto kept re-hacking into it. She would still be at a disadvantage in a pure physical fight, but at least she'd have the chance to get some hits in. Mikoto really did have to set him straight on a lot of things. Yeah, there are quite a few parallels, though Touma's ordeal was on a much grander scale. She did act like Touma here, since he was the one who needed his illusions broken. Othinus didn't have much of her magic power anymore, so she just sat and watched. Yeah, it was a reference back to that moment from the Daihasei Festival. Touma did tell her all he could, but they were safe from attack, since Mikoto had immobilized the Five Overs. I came up with Mikoto's arguments myself, though I think they are arguments she would make. Yeah, her point about suffering and negative emotions being a part of life was important. It is different when choosing to sacrifice yourself, but both of them showed each other that suicide to save the people you care about isn't the right answer. Mikoto does know about Will now. Yes, I think that's right, Touma had to cycle through all those worlds to get to each new round against Othinus. At this point, Othinus can't really defend herself, even if she wanted to, except by destroying her own body. Well, Mikoto is wary about his bond with Othinus, but she doesn't completely reject it. Indeed, Mikoto did punch Othinus in the end. There were in fact that many cycles, probably just a nice parallel from Kamachi. Well, Touma doesn't remember the vast majority of that experience, so he should still be a similar age. Mikoto didn't go with him, because she knew he wanted to save Othinus by himself. Thanks for catching those errors from the previous chapter, I've fixed them.
After separating from Mikoto, Touma and Othinus headed towards Fredericia in an American tank. They reached the city, but because Touma wasn't completely familiar with how to drive it, they were forced to bail out of the tank right before it crashed into the sea.
They proceeded on foot, and began walking along the bridge connecting the city to the island of Funen. But they were met by Birdway and Index, who blocked their path. Touma knew that this could be a difficult fight. With Index's knowledge and Birdway's ability to wield that knowledge as real power, they were a truly formidable combination.
After having such an emotional conversation with Mikoto about what had happened between him and Othinus, he didn't want to explain it all over again. Thus, he suggested that they call Mikoto and have her explain. But this only annoyed both girls, so Touma couldn't avoid a fight.
He was stunned when Birdway materialized a weapon that he recognized as Gungnir. While Birdway hadn't become a Magic God, that lance did give her the power to cause untold destruction. Before she could activate its power, Touma quickly rushed around her and headed towards Index, who was supporting the magician by singing.
Index tried to dodge, but Touma was still successfully able to cover her mouth with his hand. This caused her to instinctively bite his hand and scream, which caused the lance in Birdway's hands to explode. Both Birdway and Touma were knocked down into the snow, and the short battle was over.
Afterwards, Birdway guessed that Othinus destroyed the world, maybe more than once. Touma declared that after seeing what he saw, he could no longer allow the world to kill a mere girl like Othinus with a smile. Birdway realized to her annoyance that her concerns about Touma being compromised by GREMLIN were all unfounded, and that he just wanted to protect a girl.
Touma told Birdway that their plan was to neutralize Othinus's power and then surrender her to the US, so Birdway agreed to take care of Index and let them continue on their journey. As Touma and Othinus parted from them, Birdway could only be amazed that he watched the destruction of the world and seemingly didn't change.
Upon reaching the island, Touma and Othinus were able to catch a ride to the city of Odense. But in a park in that city, they detected a people-clearing field, and were ambushed by Silvia and Brunhild, two powerful Saints.
Silvia in particular was enraged at what Othinus had done to Ollerus, so she was thirsty for revenge. She beat up Touma without mercy, while Brunhild focused on attacking Othinus, though Brunhild was cautious due to not knowing whether Othinus had truly lost her powers.
Soon, Touma was reduced to a dark red mass that could barely move. Silvia wanted to make Othinus suffer by forcing her to watch Touma being agonizingly killed. Othinus pleaded with her to spare Touma, who had nothing to do with Othinus's sins, but Silvia wouldn't listen. Brunhild didn't necessarily support this, so she instead prepared to kill Othinus as quickly as possible.
Just as the Saints began to strike, Ollerus jumped into the battle. He caught Brunhild's sword with his hands, and though this action tore his hands and arms to pieces, he diverted the sword towards Silvia, who was also in the middle of an attack. The two Saints crashed into each other, and were both knocked out.
Othinus questioned whether Ollerus had also come to kill her, but he didn't want to turn either her or Touma into a monster by killing the other. As she supported Touma on her shoulder, Ollerus asked if she'd found what she was looking for. Othinus just told him that Touma was the one who understood her, and was much stronger than Ollerus.
By this point, both Touma and Othinus were soaked in blood, so they had to walk the rest of the way to Egeskov Castle. There, they encountered Thor, who had beaten up 50-100 other GREMLIN members, and who now challenged Touma to a fight. Touma accepted, though Othinus warned him that he'd have a hard time beating Thor in his Almighty form.
From the very start, Thor was able to instantly land a punch. Touma tried desperately to fight him, but Thor was always able to vanish and reappear to punch Touma again. Touma wondered if Thor was able to teleport, but his real ability was on a grander scale. After some hinting, Touma deduced that Thor's power moved the entire world to place Thor in the perfect position to win the fight.
Thor explained how all of GREMLIN had joined with Othinus to achieve their individual goals, but Othinus had abandoned them. As a result, he would kill Othinus after defeating Touma. Touma then berated Thor and the rest of GREMLIN for not trying to understand Othinus or stop her, leaving him to do that job when it could have been done by them. He concluded by telling Thor not to run from his own sins. In response, Thor merely moved for his finishing attack.
But knowing how Thor's power worked, Touma managed to make him appear right in front of a train, which then ran into Thor, since his power wouldn't consider anything unrelated to the fight.
Even so, Touma was in an absolutely horrible state from all of the previous fights. Thus, he was terrified when Thor managed to survive and speak from beneath the train. Fortunately, Thor was satisfied with both the verbal and physical battles, so he didn't insist on continuing the fight.
But when Touma told him of their goal of retrieving Othinus's eye from the nearby spring, Thor told him to hurry back there, and that he wasn't Touma's final enemy.
Meanwhile, Othinus was kneeling next to the lake, with her hands placed in the freezing water. After muttering some words under her breath, the entire lake began glowing blue, and the light then quickly condensed into a single point within the icy water, which she scooped up with her hands. It was a hard blue sphere, and though it didn't look like a human one, it was indeed her eye.
By returning it to her empty eye socket, Othinus would return to the human body she'd had before becoming a Magic God. And after surrendering, the global chaos caused by the fear of her power would finally come to an end.
But as she felt the eye's heavy weight in her hand, doubts started to fill her mind. Othinus wondered, "Is this really okay? Should I really be saved?" She had watched that boy ever since she'd returned him to his world. She had watched that now blood-soaked boy as he trekked with her all across Denmark. She had watched him as he became a shield against what she herself had wrought, and as he continued to fight even while literally coughing up blood.
Touma had fought against his allies, even against the girl he loved, his injuries had grown one by one, and it was hard to find a part of him that wasn't injured. So she once again asked herself, "Do I really deserve to be saved?" After all, she had caused so much trouble for so many people. She had not made up for any of it, and hadn't asked anyone for forgiveness. And her current success was built solely on that boy's efforts and sacrifices, while she had done nothing herself.
Yet if she were to ask him, she knew exactly what he would say. Touma, the one who understood her, would say of course she should be saved. But was it right for her to cling to those words? Was it really right for her to rely on him, lean on him, weigh him down, drag those convenient words out of him as if it were normal, and ultimately accept salvation?
Could Othinus really entrust herself to that boy who would unconditionally save her? Wouldn't that be effectively putting the blame on him for her salvation, and acting like she had just been swept away by events, and couldn't stop herself from relying on him?
Of course, to say that she didn't want to be saved would be a lie. Especially after travelling all this way, she wanted to accomplish the goal that was literally within her hands, rather than giving up at the very end. That was what she truly wanted.
But could she really do that? Could she really just let that boy remain a target of the world's hatred? Could she really let herself be saved, knowing that he'd have to bear her sins from then on as well? Could she really use this convenient opportunity to escape that truly painful punishment and leave the blame for that injustice on him?
She made up her mind. She let the blue jewel drop to the ground, and she covered her face with her freezing hands, muttering, "No, I just can't do it. I can't save myself."
A tremendous vibration then shook the entire area. When Touma turned towards the source of the blast, he saw a familiar sight. He saw ten complex patterns seemingly extending to the entire world. They were the crossbows, Othinus's final trump card, and the weapons that Touma had ultimately been unable to overcome even after destroying her lance.
But since Othinus couldn't properly use magic in her state, she was risking her life by forcing herself to do this. Touma shouted, "What's going on? I thought we came here so you could abandon your power as a Magic God! So why are you doing this?"
A blood-soaked Thor crawled out from under the train, saying, "You still don't get it? You're supposed to understand her, right? So you should have realized it by now. She isn't alone and has someone to rely on, but the more she relies on you, the more she hurts the one she cares about. Back when she held the lance, she could've remained alone without batting an eye. But now, it's different."
Touma didn't want to believe what he was hearing, but Thor then made the definitive statement, "Othinus is choosing to reject your salvation. She's seen what it means to save her, so she's keeping you from having to bear that sin in the future. If she dies while fighting you, she thinks it'll cancel out what you've done."
Othinus knew that she would be destroyed if she used any more magic, but she'd still decided to use magic anyway. She was choosing to punish herself, and knowing that Touma would try to stop her, she was making sure to stop him from saving her. She was effectively saying that a monster like her didn't deserve salvation.
Touma now understood what Othinus was doing. So he faced his final enemy, clenched his right fist, and declared with all of his strength, "Don't run, Othinus!"
As he faced those ten deadly crossbows, he exclaimed, "You were a horrible villain, and the entire world hated you! You had the ultimate power, so deflecting that hatred was easy for you! You were born special and crossed the point of no return when you threw your eye into that lake! From then on, there was nothing normal about you, and you didn't fit in this world anymore! But…"
Touma walked towards her across the snow. Othinus had a stake through the center of her chest as a result of the fairy spell, and cracks were spreading to her entire body. An ominous creaking sound coming from her indicated that her body would soon break apart. He then continued, "...despite all that, you chose to face the world, Othinus! You decided to become normal once again. So don't run! Don't run from paying for your sins, and don't turn your back on happiness! That's not humility or justice. You're not saving anyone like this, just running from a painful journey!"
As Touma faced the surefire attack that had previously defeated and killed him, Thor asked, "What are you going to do?"
Even he, as an almighty god, couldn't escape the attack that Othinus had fired in exchange for her own life. Neither Thor nor anyone else in the world would be of any help here. This fight was between the human Kamijou Touma and the Magic God Othinus. The boy would have to do now what he hadn't been able to do back then.
And so, Touma declared, "Isn't it obvious? If she thinks that it's better for her to die, and if she has the ridiculous idea that running from her painful path like that will save me, then I'll destroy that illusion!"
In truth, they were not the not the only ones watching the scene. Those American soldiers were nearby, having tracked Touma and Othinus all the way there. Some of them had witnessed Mikoto's fierce battle against the Five Overs, which had unexpectedly been a clear victory for the girl. She had used her railguns to destroy some of the machines, she'd used her iron sand to slice up some others, and she'd used her magnetism to have them crash into each other. Finally, she had incinerated the surviving machines with a gigantic lightning attack from the sky. As those soldiers had watched that stunning display, they had recalled that the Five Overs were supposed to be more powerful versions of that girl, and yet the machines had been destroyed so easily. They could only pray that they would never have to go to war with Academy City, whose espers were even more frightening than its advanced war machines.
And now, President Katze told them to capture the footage of this new confrontation, so that he could show it to the world and ask the world to forgive the two of them.
Soon, the world leaders who'd gathered at the UN headquarters made a press conference. They praised Touma's courage for fighting to save Othinus. They said that, while Othinus had committed many sins, she was not completely irredeemable, and deserved the chance to be saved and become good. They all asked the world to forgive Othinus instead of killing her.
But it still remained for Touma to deal with Othinus's final attack. As the crossbows were about to fire, Touma shouted, "Thor, get down! A single hit from this would blow the planet away, and I doubt even you would survive." He then started running full speed towards Othinus, his right fist tightly clenched, shouting, "Othinus!"
Her eye was not back in its socket, but he would have to deal with those crossbows first. Without her lance, the source of her power as a Magic God was now the fairy spell wound in her chest. And since it was magic, his right hand could destroy it.
Meanwhile, Othinus pointed her finger at him, locking onto her target. The crossbows then fired, all ten embodiments of destruction rushing out all at once. They presented an absolute wall to Touma, and he had previously been killed by them in the past.
But even so, he charged forward without looking away, thinking, "I can't lose here, and I can't give up after coming this far!" This time, he was determined to overcome this attack.
The first beam of destruction shot by his side. He hadn't moved to avoid it, it was a deliberate sacrifice meant to restrict his possible routes. After all, in that infinite hell, it had only been the final shot that killed him.
Touma understood this, but he continued running. More arrows flew past him, all restricting his range of motion. With his freedom reduced and with death approaching, he still ran forward with all his strength. With each arrow fired, the cracks along Othinus's skin would grow, and he couldn't allow that to continue. So he forced down his fear and ran, to reach her as quickly as possible.
In that hell, one step away from death, Touma met her eyes and saw a slight smile on her face. It was the same smile she'd had when silently accepting his allies' attacks on Sargasso. It was as if she were saying that everything would soon return to its proper position.
While her body continued to crumble, Touma exclaimed, "To hell with this! You brought me back to life in my world, returned everything to normal, and saved me! You understood what a small bit of happiness was! So you can't possibly think it's right to sacrifice yourself like this!"
Her only answer was to fight back, and the final arrow of death approached him. With the previous arrows having restricted his movement into a small corridor, he could not evade it. It would bring an unavoidable death.
As Touma watched it approach, he thought back to the previous time he'd died to that final arrow. But he realized, "Come to think of it, I never tried this back then." Since he couldn't evade, there was just one option left. He raised his right fist and slammed it head-on with the final arrow.
At the moment of impact, Touma realized that his Imagine Breaker wouldn't be enough. An ominous noise passed through his arm, his ability not enough to completely destroy the attack. He felt his arm being pushed back.
But he gritted his teeth and resolved, "I don't care if it breaks, gets crushed, or rips apart! As long as it isn't torn off, I can still negate the stake in her chest!" He swung up his painful right arm. The arrow's trajectory was shifted slightly upwards, and he slipped his body below it.
All that remained in front of him was the girl's surprised face, and so Touma declared, "I win, Othinus!"
When he made his way up to her, he didn't punch her in the face. Instead, he embraced her with his left arm and used his right hand to grab onto the stake of light piercing through her back and chest.
Touma gathered the last strength in the five fingers of his right hand and pulled the stake out from her back. While doing so, he softly said, "I won't let you run away." Though his body was completely battered, he had enough strength in his right hand to smash the stake of light into pieces. He then added, "I promised, didn't I? I promised I would save you, even if it meant fighting the entire world."
Othinus narrowed her eye at him, and she looked truly happy. She replied, "Yes, you did. But you don't have to worry."
Touma heard a quiet cracking noise coming from her. As this sound continued coming from her body, she smiled and concluded, "I was already saved from the moment you said that to me."
The boy then saw small bits of light. By the time he noticed it, he could no longer feel the girl in his arms. Her body crumbled, feeling more fleeting than snow. It turned to smooth bits of light as it fell to the ground, and those were quickly swept away by the wind.
He had been just one step too late, and in that moment, he thought he heard her voice once more even after she'd vanished, saying, "Thank you."
But before Touma could try to determine whether that voice was real or imagined, his body finally reached its limit, and he collapsed onto the snow.
When Touma next awoke, he was not in a Danish hospital room, but back in his usual hospital room in Academy City. By this point, he had been there so often that he was at least as comfortable waking up there as he was in his own dorm room.
Though he'd opened his eyes, the boy could barely move his own body, and he felt a lot of bandages wrapped around him. He gathered all of his strength to bring his right arm into view, and quickly felt his movement being restricted by an IV, a blood transfusion tube, and some electrode cords. His entire arm seemed like it was covered in more cords than a computer.
Touma saw the frog-faced doctor enter after hearing the noise of him waking up. The boy frantically asked him, "Hold on, should you really be pumping so much stuff into me? What are all these colorful fluids anyway? Isn't this going a little too far?"
Heaven Canceller answered, "You should be more worried about the fact that your body was in such a bad state that you couldn't have survived without such extreme measures."
The boy immediately replied, "I've heard that doctors say extreme things like that to scare their patients, but I won't let you trick me!"
The doctor then casually said, "Oh? Well, I don't mind if you think that."
Touma said, "Huh, that was surprisingly dry. Wait, I really wouldn't have survived without all this? You're really not kidding?"
The doctor didn't elaborate, and instead said, "Okay, you're healthy enough to shout, so I think it's safe to allow in your visitors now." He then headed out of the room, leaving Touma frustrated with his lack of explanation.
At that point, both Mikoto and Index entered the room, with Index carrying Sphinx on her head. As soon as she saw him, Index crossed her arms and said, "Touma, do you have anything you want to say to me?"
Touma nervously replied, "Hi Index, thanks for visiting me?" He looked over at his girlfriend, silently pleading for her help.
Mikoto smiled at him. Although she was really worried about seeing him so battered, with bandages all around his right arm, she was glad that he was back. She asked him in a soft tone, "Are you okay, Touma?"
The boy looked down at his arm with a frown. After a few seconds, he replied, "I am. But I couldn't do anything about Othinus in the end. I think the cracks in her body had spread too far by the time she rejected salvation and started that final battle. No matter what I did with my right hand, perhaps it wouldn't have changed the result."
Mikoto silently looked at her boyfriend with a sympathetic gaze. While still in Denmark, she had seen footage of that final battle broadcasted on the news. In particular, she saw how Othinus's body had disintegrated into light, just at the moment that Touma had won the battle. She could imagine just how regretful he felt at not being able to save her at the end, even after coming all that way and surviving all those fights.
Touma continued looking at his bandaged right hand and asked out loud, "What does it even mean to save someone? Just before she fell to pieces, she was definitely smiling. Even with the way it ended and the hellish process leading up to it, she said that she'd already been saved. She said that I had already saved her at the moment I agreed to take on the entire world for her." He knew that saving people was not always a simple thing, but he still couldn't figure out why Othinus smiled at the end.
Could he really accept that as having saved her? Did it count as saving someone as long as they were smiling? Could an act that went against someone's wishes be considered saving them?
He sighed and admitted, "Maybe it was too presumptuous of me to think that I could save her. But I wanted to see her smile like that in different circumstances. That's what I wanted in the end." Just like he'd thought many times during those infinite hells, his right hand could only destroy, in contrast to the Magic God who could create.
Perhaps he was just being selfish, and conflating saving someone with his own ideas of good and bad. Othinus had wished for and had accepted her own death, and had vanished from the world. Whatever he had wanted, and though a bitter feeling ran through his chest, he would have to accept that fact and move on.
But then, a familiar voice said, "Hey, is it just me, or are you acting like I'm dead?" A small figure then emerged from under his pillow. She was now only 15 centimeters tall, but her identity was still clear.
Touma exclaimed, "Othinus? But how?" Having her suddenly appear alive after accepting her death was very jarring for him.
Othinus sat down on the pillow and explained, "Well, it was partly thanks to you. First of all, since I hadn't yet put my eye back in, I was still a Magic God and not a human. Second, you destroyed the fairy spell as I fired the final crossbow shot, so I was not completely destroyed. Finally, even having her body crumble isn't enough to kill a Magic God."
It was hard for Touma to keep up with the explanation. He looked over at the other two girls in the room. Mikoto seemed to be equally confused, and Index also had her eyes widened. But since her grimoires only had the knowledge needed for a human to become a Magic God, she may not have known what would happen afterwards.
Othinus then concluded, "At that point, Magic God Othinus was 99% destroyed, but apparently the remaining pieces gathered together on their own. I've changed form, and I can no longer use my former power, but it looks like I've remained alive." Though she was still surprised that it had happened without, and even perhaps against, her own will.
It was an absolutely ridiculous explanation. The idea of a human gathering together again after crumbling to dust was absurd, but he couldn't really question it happening to a Magic God. If she said that was what had happened, he had no choice but to accept it. Plus, he had seen a similar thing happen before, when Othinus's body had completely healed after being pierced by her own crossbow shot.
Touma then asked a separate question, "So, is it safe to touch you with my right hand?" When he noticed Mikoto immediately narrowing her eyes, he quickly clarified, "I mean, I'm wondering if she'd vanish if I touched her, like with Kazakiri!"
Othinus answered, "There was no problem when you touched me as a Magic God. I can't say for sure without testing it, but my basic properties shouldn't have changed with the downgrade in size."
The boy's brain finally started to catch up with reality. Othinus was right in front of him, and he was able to speak to her again. Thinking about that simple fact, he felt a weight slowly leave his chest.
Mikoto still felt a little conflicted about having Othinus around. But she smirked at her boyfriend and said, "Well, congratulations, Touma! You achieved that prideful and seemingly impossible goal!"
Touma smiled back and replied, "Thanks, Biri-Biri. I'm glad that I had your support."
But then, Mikoto narrowed her eyes at Othinus and said, "Now hold on, why are you even here, anyway? Weren't you supposed to be punished and in an American prison?"
Othinus stared into the distance and recalled the conversation she'd had with President Katze and Queen Elizard in Denmark after Touma had finally fallen unconscious. Othinus recounted, "The president noted that, at my size, there would be no way to prevent me from escaping. I could slip through the bars or the food slot, or I could even flush myself down the toilet if I abandoned my pride. Even a maximum security prison wouldn't be enough for me."
Mikoto crossed her arms and asked, "So they just let you go?"
Othinus shook her head, "No, there is still a punishment. The Queen then noted that, since I'm naturally immortal, any prison term would be pointless anyway, since I'd be able to wait it out. So they came up with a new punishment that would be effective against me and only me. I would be forced to watch the happy world that I tried to kill myself to avoid. She said it's the greatest punishment humanity can give me now that they have achieved victory over a Magic God."
Mikoto wasn't sure how much of a punishment that was for Othinus, but she did note that it paralleled what she had done to Touma with the perfect world. But another part of what Othinus had said intrigued her. Mikoto raised an eyebrow and asked, "Who the hell are 'they'? 'Humanity' didn't defeat you, the only ones who really contributed to the victory were Touma, as well as Ollerus and Fiamma."
Othinus shrugged and replied with a smirk, "Well, humans are rather arrogant and self-absorbed like that."
Mikoto then looked over at Touma, quickly deducing what Othinus's punishment meant. She asked, "So, what's going to happen now? You're going to start living with yet another girl?"
Touma's eyes widened at her ominous tone, and he protested, "Hey wait, I just learned about her being alive! Don't get mad at me before I've even agreed to it!"
But Mikoto now had her answer, "I see, you are going to take her in. So her punishment will include living with the person she cares about the most." When she put it that way, the girl felt that it was not much of a punishment for Othinus at all.
Just then, the calico cat Sphinx made its move. It had been slowly waving its tail while looking at Othinus. Her short form and blonde hair looked like a lure, so the cat now pounced towards her.
Othinus had destroyed and recreated the world a countless number of times, but she now felt true fear as she desperately attempted to run away from that beast. Sphinx managed to catch her, and proceeded to hold her in its mouth like a fish.
Othinus protested, "Wait, hold on, this isn't right! There aren't any myths about a one-eyed god being eaten by a cat!" She looked around at Touma, Mikoto, and Index, all of whom were just staring at her predicament. She shouted, "Hey! Stop staring and actually help me!"
Touma replied, "I'd love to help, but I can barely move in my current state."
Mikoto crossed her arms and gave Othinus a mean smirk, saying, "Hey, weren't cats worshipped as gods in ancient Egypt? So maybe this is just you losing to a superior god."
Othinus shouted, "Noooo, you're not supposed to combine different mythologies like that! Damn you, Railgun!"
Mikoto waved her off and said, "Yeah, yeah. Well, if you are going to live with Touma, at least Sphinx will be able to keep you in check. I still think you're getting off too easy, but I guess at your size, there really isn't much of a better punishment."
The girl then sat down on the hospital bed, right next to Touma. She leaned over and began kissing him, with one hand grasping his cheek and her other hand running through his hair. Touma couldn't really move his arms, so he contented himself with just kissing her back.
When they separated after a few seconds, Mikoto continued rubbing his head. With a loving smile, she said, "Welcome home, Touma."
Touma softly smiled back at her and replied, "Glad to be back, Mikoto." He then teasingly asked her, "So, is this my proper welcome back?"
Mikoto laughed, "No, you idiot. Unfortunately, that'll have to wait until you're no longer hospitalized. But I promise that it'll be well worth the wait!" She said the last part in a teasing and somewhat alluring tone.
The boy blushed a bit, thinking of the various possibilities of what his girlfriend could be planning for him. He soon replied, "Well, I'll look forward to it!"
Now that he had finally made it back to his normal and everyday life, Touma was determined to continue enjoying it as much as possible.