Phase

A **Phase** is a layer applied over the world, in this context referring to a single planet, the entire universe or reality itself, which acts like a veil or filter, and changes how the world appears to be.

## Principles

The world, as it is normally perceived, is not pure and untouched - various layers, or phases, exist over it and act like filters, affecting how it appears. By applying new phases over it or manipulating the existing ones, the world can be altered.

Many phases have different forms of energy locked within them, such as the Telesma present within Heaven, which can be brought out through various means. Some of them may also hold life-forms, often in the form of energy masses, such as the angelTemplate:TrackTag53s within Heaven.

The phases are closely linked to the use of Magic.

### Creation and Manipulation

The many religions (Christian, Buddhist, Celtic, Indian, Shinto, Incan, Aztec, Greek, Roman, Norse etc) which have arisen throughout history have had the effect of applying various phases to the world. The world is said to contain as many phases are there are divine legends and religions. Extremely powerful beings, such as Magic GodTemplate:TrackTag51s, are also capable of applying new phases and manipulating existing ones.

As the Imagine Breaker is the reference and restoration point of the world, it can be used to restore the world back to a previous state before the phases were manipulated. This later proved problematic to Touma as though he knew its purpose, he didn't know how he could use it to restore the world back to his original world other than Othinus, forcing him to cast his "hesitations" in a fight with Othinus, believing that he could "reach her".

The sword Dáinsleif, when unsheathed, is capable of cutting through Phases, releasing energy stored within them and manifesting them as a figure of calamity from that mythology or religion, representing the evil imprisoned by the gods brought forth once the domain of the gods and their protection is removed.

Kamisato Kakeru's power, known as World Rejecter, has also shown the ability to crush a new phase as it was being created, before being embedded into and changing the world, being a product of the conflicted Nephthys.

Aleister Crowley, as well as devising a plan to eliminate the phases, has also devised a way to gather the sparks and spray from the phase collisions resulting from the magic he uses, allowing him to target and fire them at an opponent or contain them within his own body so they don't cause harm to anyone else.

### Effects

 File:NT Index v09 006-008.jpg  The effects of an individual phase on the world and the effects of the phases being manipulated vary depending on the circumstances involved. The recreated world may be similar to the previous one, like the Omega World being recreated by Othinus each time Touma was near death, to radically different, like the Omega World being different from Touma's original world, where people's various traumas and tragedies have not come to pass. People and events may be completely changed; for example, in the Omega World, many who had perished in Touma's original world were alive, and Sherry Cromwell had the age of a child, despite everybody else being the same age as that of Touma's original world.

When the world is changed due to the manipulation of the phases, most of its inhabitants have no idea that the world has been changed, truly believing that the world is the same as always. However, if the Will of the Whole Misaka Network saying that Othinus "cheated" can be believed, it can be assumed that Othinus can assure that people would have memories of the previous world. Regardless, the only people that have continuous memories of all of the worlds as the phases are manipulated, are beings like Magic Gods, and to a limited extent, likely the living bearers of the Imagine Breaker, such as Touma. There are also beings such as the thought entity known as the Will of the Whole Misaka Network, referred to as beyond the living and the dead, and the collective entity St. Germain, who may not be directly or completely affected by the changing phases of the world, though they may be indirectly influenced.

The phases themselves are not usually perceived by most people, though there are beings who can detect them, including ones capable of influencing them. There is one particular layer, referred to as the Hidden World, where the true Gremlin reside, hidden but unable to leave, which was beyond being detected or destroyed by most - even Othinus, a Magic God, was unaware of its existence.

#### Sparks

The distances between the phases are not even and the gaps between them change irregularly on a daily basis. As the overlapping phases contact and collide with one another, **sparks** (火花, *Hibana*?) are produced. The sparks and **spray** (飛沫, *Shibuki*?) produced by phase collisions have a thin but widespread influence on the world and its people, affecting fortune and misfortune. With the use of magic, particularly those involving unified theories such as Hermeticism, the phases are gathered and collide even more, making sparks more frequent. The Imagine Breaker is capable of providing some protection from the effects of these sparks. These unintended consequences of magic use have also been called the "recoil" of magic by Aleister. Index is skeptical of the existence of this recoil, noting that she has never heard of it before, but Aleister claims that this is because she doesn't know how to properly use the information in her grimoires.

### Pure World

Main article: Pure World
Beyond the filters lies the 'pure world', described by Othinus as a world of science unaffected by religion - one which the man known as "The Silver Star" has been apparently been attempting to tamper with.

Aiwass, not originating from any religious category and subsequently the phases of magic, is described as the angel of the bottommost layer, closest to the world of pure physical laws, and as such, is at the core of Aleister's plan to eliminate the phases by establishing a means of controlling him and using his power to destroy the other filters above him, leaving only a magicless world.

## Background

The ability to apply Phases and change reality was implemented by Raul Lukman as an easy "undo button". Ultimate Observer allowed him to create and erase anything he wanted, but the power only deals in "yes" or "no", it offers no form of manipulation or fine control. So if he

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5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Toaru Majutsu no Index: Kanzaki SS Chapter 4 Part 2
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