Editing Toaru Majutsu no Index:NT Volume5 Chapter1 (section)

===Part 7===

The identity of Imagine Breaker.

That was what Ollerus had said. And that of course implied that he knew what it was.

And more importantly…

Did that mean what resided in Kamijou Touma’s right hand did not belong to the science side?

“Surely you have figured out that the power that resides in your hand was not created by Academy City’s esper development techniques,” said Ollerus simply. “Of course, there are unique natural espers that exist outside of Academy City known as Gemstones. …However, there is no real evidence that you are one of them. You have some sort of supernatural power that came about outside of Academy City. When you put it that way, don’t you think that puts your position in a bit of a gray area?”

“…”

“The group you used to interpret your existence just so happened to be Academy City of the science side. That is why you grew to believe that your power could be explained using a scientific interpretation. Now, what if you had been picked up by the Anglican Church of the magic side when you were a small child? You would likely then have explained your own existence to yourself from a magic worldview and grown to believe that you were a member of the magic side.”

“So…''what exactly is it ''…?”

Kamijou clenched and opened his right hand.

He then rephrased his question.

“''What exactly am I?''”

“That is something that you must decide on your own, but I will give you the interpretation I have come to ''from my own perspective''.”

Not just science and not just magic.

Someone who stands opposite of the Magic God Othinus who controls Gremlin.

An interpretation from Ollerus, the man who should have become a Magic God.

“You, or rather, the power that resides in your right hand can be said to be a collection of the hope and the fear of all magicians.”

“What?”

“One who truly masters magic becomes a Magic God. But fear does not disappear for even a Magic God who can do anything. And that is not simply due to the 50% restriction I mentioned before. It is a fear that anyone with a proper mind will feel if they possess great enough power.”

Ollerus had to have experienced that more than anyone else, but his expression did not change.

It was possible the feelings of someone who had advanced as far as him were beyond what a normal human could imagine.

“There was once a man known as Terra of the Left. He was a special magician that belonged to God’s Right Seat just as Fiamma of the Right did. Systematically, he was probably the person who came the closest to knowing the identity of Imagine Breaker. …Perhaps even more so than Fiamma of the Right. After all, he researched the contradiction in power relations needed for the Son of God to be killed by human hands and managed to put together the spell Execution of Light all on his own.”

“?”

“Imagine Breaker can also have the effect of becoming a turning point of legends and of the very age itself.”

Kamijou was unsure what connection that had to do with what a Magic God feared.

Ollerus continued speaking.

“A Magic God can distort the world as she desires. She can distort it as she wishes, but it cannot always be brought back to how it was before. Any childishly selfish wish such as making all the water running from the water pipes turn into orange juice is perfectly doable. But the more the world is distorted, the greater the danger of some kind of harmful side effects presenting themselves. And even if she tries to turn the world back to how it was, there is a danger of her ''no longer being able to tell exactly how the original world was'' after distorting it. These changes we are talking about are like changing the length of a meter or changing the weight of a gram.”

“So if that’s the fear, what is the hope?”

“A world like that would be a frightening thing, wouldn’t it? Even if you can alter everything to your selfish whims, you would want some kind of insurance, wouldn’t you? The simplest way to put it would be a backup or a reference point you could use to return the world to normal. I suppose you could say your right hand is like the International Prototype Kilogram. Even if the world is utterly distorted and you can no longer recall how long a meter used to be or how heavy a gram used to be, your right hand can negate all magic, so a reference point still exists. By measuring the length, weight, and temperature of your right hand, someone who has distorted the world too greatly can recall what the original world was like. It acts as a lifeline that allows the world to be reverted to normal, no matter how far it has been distorted in any direction.”

That was the hope.

If there was some insurance, you could go nuts and not worry about holding back.

No restraint was needed, so you could simply act on all of your desires.

It was an extremely selfish hope that existed only from the point of view of the one making the changes.

“There was a time when powers similar to that showed themselves here and there throughout an era. Some took the form of weapons and made their way into the hands of great heroes, some took the form of frescos and were rumored to heal the diseases of any who touched them, and others took the form of caves and functioned as trials for those who entered them. …I do not know if the power in your hand is simply one more of those powers or if those hopes combined together into another form as they were lost and have naturally appeared here. I can make some guesses, but I have not tested any of them. However, I can say one thing for sure. Your right hand functions as a reference point for the world.”

At that point Ollerus paused.

But then he continued once more.

“Othinus wants to take this world where Academy City and the science side have won and distort it beyond recognition. For this reason, she not only sees no value in a backup, but it is actually the greatest hindrance to her plan. If something remains that can restore the previous age after it has been changed, a backup changes from being a hope to being a fear. That is why Othinus does not seek Imagine Breaker. …Gremlin wishes to cut that lifeline and do nothing but advance. The idea of insurance is nothing but an evil temptation to them. And Imagine Breaker’s ability to negate everything is the greatest example of such insurance.”