Multiverse: Why does the world show a health bar? !

Kamijou Touma was an ordinary high school student.

Well, actually, Kamijou-san didn't think of himself as an ordinary high school student. Were there any other high school students like him, running around the world, busy with this and that, barely attending any classes?

—A high school student who didn't go to class? He was probably the only one, right?

But what could Kamijou-san do? Just a couple of days ago, he had even left Academy City on a mission, heading to Avignon, France. He had been dragged into a conflict against his will.

However, Kamijou-san had only been a bystander. The biggest enemy, a member of "God's Right Seat," was already a corpse by the time he arrived, and the c-word book was missing.

Then Kamijou Touma saw Academy City's powered suit units descending from the sky, along with a certain white-haired esper he had fought before.

"Seriously, what bad luck! I should just hurry up and buy the ingredients to go home. Index is probably at home complaining about being hungry, right?"

As usual, Kamijou-san managed to snag some discounted ingredients amidst the chaos.

Based on past experience, the journey back would definitely be eventful. Nine times out of ten, some accident would cause him to drop the ingredients he was carrying. But it didn't matter—Kamijou-san was experienced. Today was already a big win.

—At least he had managed to buy the ingredients.

In the past, Kamijou-san would have lost his wallet or had his bank card fall into a sewer on the way to buying ingredients, leaving him unable to purchase anything.

The fact that he had managed to buy ingredients today meant he was already halfway to victory!

All he needed to do now was bring the ingredients home, and he'd win the rest!

Wait, no—this was a double win!

"Did nothing really happen?"

Looking at the dormitory building where he lived, Kamijou Touma couldn't believe that nothing had gone wrong on his way back. Had the goddess of luck finally taken pity on him?

Even someone like Kamijou-san, who had been through countless storms, felt a little moved when he realized that nothing unlucky had happened to him all day.

Today, he could perfectly handle Index without having his head bitten…

Suddenly, as he stepped out of the elevator and saw the door to his room, a bad premonition struck him.

He hurried over and found that his door had been destroyed again. But considering that he didn't have to pay for the repairs, it was actually something to celebrate…

"Why are you here, Stiyl?!"

Entering the room, he didn't see Index. Instead, there was only a burly man with shoulder-length red hair, standing over two meters tall.

Kamijou Touma knew him.

—Stiyl Magnus. A magician belonging to the Anglican Church's Necessarius.

Wasn't he supposed to be in England? Why was he here?

"Whether I'm here or not isn't important, Kamijou Touma! Haven't you noticed? Index is missing!"

Kamijou looked behind Stiyl, but there was no one there… Not only was Index missing, but even Sphinx was gone.

"So the reason why my shopping went so smoothly earlier was because Index is missing? Damn it!!!"

Kamijou Touma was still suffering from his usual bad luck.

---

Index was a girl who was easily satisfied. She had a huge appetite—the kind that would get her banned from all-you-can-eat restaurants. She wasn't picky either, able to eat expired yakisoba bread or spoiled vegetable salad without batting an eye.

So, for Index, something like mackerel was a delicacy.

How had things come to this?

Li Mo rubbed his temples and looked at the two girls having a picnic. On the picnic blanket, Index and Frenda were eating lunch together. For Frenda, Index had become her friend in no time.

Because Index would eat mackerel.

Yes, the adorable blonde girl absolutely loved mackerel. Meeting Index, who would eat anything, their shared love for food quickly brought them closer.

Watching this harmonious scene, Li Mo finished the yakisoba bread in his hand and began reviewing what had happened earlier. Everything had gone smoothly and normally. With Frenda's guidance, Li Mo had successfully found the dormitory of a certain high school and, naturally, found Index. The Index Librorum Prohibitorum had been quietly playing with a cute cat in Kamijou Touma's room.

Then, how could the Index possibly be a match for Li Mo? He immediately kidnapped her and even took Sphinx with him. After taking a series of anti-tracking measures, they arrived at this place. Then Index fainted from hunger, leading to the current situation.

From Avignon to Academy City, Li Mo hadn't eaten much. As a non-human, he no longer needed to rely on external sources of energy.

His body continuously drew "Mana" from the greater source. This energy was enough to sustain his life, along with his life force.

The immortality from Ladylee's "fruit" was of unknown origin, but its nature was to stabilize life force—neither increasing nor decreasing. Life force was firmly locked within the body, which was why Ladylee couldn't use magic. She couldn't refine life force into magical energy.

During his fight with Kakine Teitoku, Li Mo had also encountered this problem. But by the time he had Kakine pinned to the ground, he had already resolved it.

The immortality from the "fruit" had merged into his third tail. The immortality of Muzan Kibutsuji, who feared sunlight, the demonic immortality of the small evil god, and the immortality of Ladylee's fruit had all fused together, compensating for each other's flaws.

He was now almost immortal, with no obvious weaknesses. The only way to destroy him was through sheer force. At the same time, the appearance of the fruit's immortality had made his life force's internal cycle even more terrifying.

However, the efficiency of refining life force into magical energy hadn't improved…

But the ever-growing life force was there. It seemed he had become a barcode warrior, huh?

「Pseudo-Immortality」 could be renamed.

「Quasi-Immortality」.

After all, the name was something he had come up with on a whim.

Through this encounter with Ladylee, Li Mo could also determine what the knowledge High Priestess had imparted to him was. As long as the target didn't resist, he could extract abilities from them—mainly by converting these abilities into information, absorbing them into his body, and then manifesting them.

The process was roughly like this, but the specific principles were a black box. But that's how mysticism worked.

"Are you two done eating?"

Li Mo walked over to the two girls who had finished their meal and said, "I need to start reading."

Index said, "Are you really sure about this? Those books are all original texts, each with its own contamination. I'm not exaggerating—normal people get hurt just by looking at the original grimoires."

"I have my reasons for reading. I'm sorry, but I need to finish reading all the books before your guardian arrives."

Index didn't try to dissuade him further. Instead, she turned to Frenda and said, "Frenda, don't worry. Reading these books won't affect me. It's this magician who needs to be concerned."

"R-really?" Frenda lowered her head. Had her worry been that obvious?

The conversation didn't continue.

Li Mo put Index into a state of unconsciousness and began reading the knowledge of the books stored in her mind.