After getting a clearer picture of the newcomer's background, the group quickly realized that their list of threats had grown. The first was Gatanothor from the Tiga universe. Now, they had the magic gods of the Index world to worry about too.
"Still," Fairy Tail Su Mo said after a moment's thought, "with our current power, it's not entirely hopeless. If we play our cards right, we might just stand a chance."
He looked around at the others. "Do you guys remember who the heroine of Index is?"
DanMachi Su Mo blinked. "You mean Misaka?"
"No way," said Campione Su Mo, shaking his head. "I'd say it's Kanzaki Kaori. She's always involved in the big events."
"I think it's Komoe-sensei!" Index Su Mo chimed in enthusiastically. "She's so adorable!"
Campione Su Mo immediately gave him a scandalized look. "Komoe-sensei?! That's... borderline illegal!"
Komoe was so petite she made lolis look mature in comparison. She was like a character who could get censored on sight—like Paimon, but worse.
"But Komoe-sensei is a grown woman!" Index Su Mo protested. "I'm saying people can, or at least should try! What, we're just going to let her die alone? If I have to carry the cross of being called a lolicon to give her a future, so be it!" (T/N: What a logic)
DanMachi Su Mo narrowed his eyes. "That's not a false accusation. That's just... accurate."
Fairy Tail Su Mo facepalmed. "You guys are impossible. If Index heard any of this, she'd probably cry. You know, Index—the actual heroine of the Magic Index series?"
Everyone fell quiet.
Fairy Tail Su Mo sighed. "Misaka may be the face of Railgun, but Index is literally the title character of the series. Sure, her presence is weak and she barely shows up in major arcs, but still—she is the heroine. The title 'A Certain Magical Index' is referring to her."
The others chuckled sheepishly, choosing to spare the poor gluttonous nun from further ridicule.
"I get what you're hinting at," said Index Su Mo, turning serious again. "You want me to go after the 103,000 grimoires stored inside Index, right?"
"Exactly." Fairy Tail Su Mo nodded. "Even if some of those are fakes or corrupted, their overall value is undeniable. I recall there being a theory that anyone who could fully master those 103,000 grimoires would reach the level of a magic god."
"Whether or not that's true doesn't really matter. What matters is, if we can get access to that knowledge, we can massively increase our overall strength."
Everyone agreed. The grimoires weren't something to scoff at. While they might be trivial to an actual magic god, for them, it was a potential goldmine.
"You're right," said Index Su Mo. "I've considered going after them before. But I only ever thought about it. The original grimoires are insanely toxic. At the time, I didn't think my mental capacity could even handle reading more than a few of them."
One of the core elements of magic in the Index universe was that magical knowledge itself carried a kind of "poison." The purer the knowledge, the stronger the mental backlash. A regular person could go insane just by glancing at one of the original grimoires. Even elite magicians could only process a few before risking permanent mental damage.
In other words, reading all 103,000 grimoires was an impossible task from the start. Naturally, the stronger the magician, the more pages they could endure—but there was always a limit. With Su Mo's original level of power, he might have managed to get through a few volumes, and even then, it was uncertain whether he'd be reading authentic originals or mere counterfeits. The risk far outweighed the potential benefits, which was why he'd never seriously considered the idea.
But now, things were different.
With the existence of the Mist Space and the shared physique and mental resilience from the other Su Mos, the Su Mo from the Index world began to reevaluate the situation. "Now that I've inherited your constitutions and spiritual endurance, I think I could probably handle reading a few dozen grimoires without a problem," he muttered thoughtfully, rubbing his chin. "That alone greatly increases their value."
Even if he could only read a few dozen, there was a fair chance that at least one of them was genuine. And as more Su Mos from other worlds gathered, his tolerance for magical knowledge would only continue to grow. At this rate, it wasn't unthinkable that one day, he might possess the ability to absorb all 103,000 grimoires.
By that point, even if he didn't reach the level of a Magic God, he would be dangerously close.
"Looks like it might be worth making a move," he concluded after weighing the possibilities.
Beyond the grimoires, there was another potential opportunity that the Fairy Tail Su Mo recalled. "Didn't your world have an incident called 'Angel Fall'?" he asked.
"Yeah," replied the Index Su Mo, nodding.
Angel Fall was a massive spell capable of forcibly dragging an angel down from their celestial plane into the mortal world. In the original story, it had temporarily brought down the archangel Gabriel. Though it wasn't a full descent of her divine form, her power had still manifested on Earth.
"If we could recreate that event and use a magic transfer ritual to forcibly absorb Gabriel's divine power, we might be able to steal her strength," Fairy Tail Su Mo suggested. "Even a fragment of Gabriel's might is enough to wipe out an entire continent. If we could claim that, it might rival the Authorities of a Campione."
The Index Su Mo fell into deep thought at the suggestion. "Hmm… Angel Fall was always treated as an uncontrollable anomaly in the original. If we follow the same method, absorbing Gabriel's power seems… unlikely." He paused. "Still, it's not completely impossible. It'll take some research, but the idea definitely has merit."