After all the nonsense settled down, the new Su Mo let out a long, emotional sigh.
"Twenty years! Do you have any idea how I've survived these past twenty years?!"
He was nearly trembling with emotion. "It took this long for me to finally get a cheat? I was seriously starting to believe I was doomed!"
He looked up dramatically, as if thanking the heavens for finally cutting him some slack.
The others shared puzzled glances.
"Isn't that a bit of an overreaction?" Campione Su Mo asked, frowning. "From what I can sense, your power's not bad at all."
"Yeah," the others chimed in. "You're packing some serious energy. Maybe not invincible, but you shouldn't have been doing that badly."
They had only just shared in the newcomer's power and hadn't had time to analyze it thoroughly, but even so, they could tell—it wasn't weak. If anything, it was probably on par with a Ten Wizard Saint class mage.
With strength like that, even if he wasn't at the pinnacle, he should've been more than capable of making a name for himself in a standard world.
The new Su Mo, however, only shook his head and sighed.
"Don't even bring up my power. Even after syncing with you all—and even with the power of Ultraman Tiga—where I'm from, that still doesn't mean anything."
"In my world, this kind of strength doesn't even qualify me to enter the final battle."
His words left the others stunned.
"What? Even Tiga's power isn't enough to get you a ticket to the endgame?"
That was nuts.
Even if Tiga hadn't unlocked his ultimate Shinning form, his current Solar Corona form could still blow up stars without breaking a sweat. What kind of nightmare world required that kind of power just to be relevant?
"What world did you end up in?" Fairy Tail Su Mo couldn't help but ask.
The newcomer didn't beat around the bush.
"A Certain Magical Index."
They all froze.
"Oh… that explains it."
The Index world—a notorious deep-end of the multiverse pool. On the surface, it looked like a fairly standard world of science and magic, with espers and sorcerers clashing over ideology.
But in reality? That world housed literal gods in human form—Magic Gods. Beings who could destroy and rewrite the universe as easily as blinking.
Even among the many worlds in the infinite multiverse, there weren't many places more absurdly dangerous.
"No wonder you're so broken," Campione Su Mo nodded sympathetically. "If I were in your shoes, I'd be losing hope too."
He had initially thought the newcomer's powers were pretty decent. But in the Index world, they would only get him so far. Against someone like the Right Hand of God, he'd already be in trouble.
And when it came to later threats—like the One-Eyed Magic God—their current level of power wouldn't even be enough to qualify as participants.
Compared to the apocalyptic threats of the Index universe, their own struggles suddenly felt... almost cute.
Compared to the final boss in the Tiga Ultraman world—Gatanothor—the threat he faced was on an entirely different level.
Just as the others were about to comfort the newcomer Su Mo, a sudden exclamation broke the mood. The Su Mo from the Danmachi world suddenly looked alarmed, as though remembering something important.
"Wait a second," he said, his face turning pale. "Aren't we forgetting something major? In the A Certain Magical Index world, espers who try to use magic suffer a violent backlash—or worse, outright explode!"
The comment struck like a thunderbolt. The Campione world's Su Mo's expression shifted instantly. "Shit! Did we just screw ourselves over?" Panic crept into his voice. His divine authorities—powers granted through slaying gods—were central to his combat abilities. If sharing the newcomer's esper abilities somehow interfered with his access to magic or divine power, he'd suffer a massive loss.
But while the two of them started to panic, the Fairy Tail version of Su Mo remained calm. He raised a hand, and a golden magic circle shimmered into view—just a basic illumination spell. According to the logic of the Index universe, anyone who shared esper powers shouldn't be able to use magic without suffering. Yet nothing happened. No backlash. No pain. Nothing.
"Hmm?" The Campione Su Mo blinked in confusion and quickly tested it himself. With a wave of his hand, blue-violet lightning arced around him like obedient serpents. "It actually works?" he said in relief. "No reaction at all. Thank god."
The Fairy Tail Su Mo nodded knowingly. "The key lies in what causes the reaction in the first place. In the Index world, the problem comes from phase interference. It's not that magic and science are fundamentally incompatible. Technically, esper powers are just another form of magic. But our current bodies—and this mist space we're in—don't have anything like a 'phase' system, so there's no rejection."
As a mage himself, even if his magic operated under a different system than the Index world, he still had a decent understanding of magical principles. After explaining, he looked toward the newcomer—the Index Su Mo—for confirmation.
The newcomer gave a nod, then hesitated. "You're not wrong," he said, "but you're not entirely right either."
"Oh?" The Fairy Tail Su Mo tilted his head. "There's more to it?"
Unlike him, who had only read some of the original works before his transmigration, the Index version was a native. He would obviously know better.
"You guys should take a closer look," the newcomer said with a mysterious smile. "The power I shared with you all... isn't just esper ability."
The Campione Su Mo instantly closed his eyes and focused. Sure enough, in addition to the esper abilities, there was a surprising amount of magic knowledge mixed in.
"You're using both magic and esper powers?" he exclaimed. "At that level of mastery? How the hell are you still alive?!"