User blog comment:Auric Drake/Theory about Aleister/@comment-25431873-20180807153704/@comment-34962159-20180808012046

You have a point about IB potentially being the strength of the world. However, the thing is that IB alone wasn't enough to restore the world in NT9: that occurred because Touma was able to convince Othinus into restoring the world with IB and her own power as a Magic God. Not only is Touma's ability to do this not related to the world, but why would someone who hates Magic Gods (to the point of refusing to become one despite having the opportunity) depend on a Magic God to restore the world?

About what Aleister said, I still think that "The world was temporarily led to destruction as a result" doesn't confirm that he knows that the world was actually destroyed. I believe that it refers to the world being on the path to destruction. NT8 and NT10 both contain numerous references to the major disruption to the world caused by Gremlin, with many worried about another world war starting. I remember at least one character back in WW3 wondering if the world was going to be destroyed (I think it was in NT22, though I'm not sure). Again, this is just my interpretation of the English translation. If you know of the intended meaning of the original Japanese, or have any other quotes that unambiguously confirm Aleister's knowledge of the world's destruction, then I'll drop this issue.

Even though Aleister managed to find and defeat the other Magic Gods, that doesn't mean that he knows about what happened in NT9. Being able to defeat someone with intelligence and guile doesn't require knowing more than them, it just requires you to know something that they do not (and/or other advantages like being underestimated). An example, Shiage defeated Shizuri multiple times, but that doesn't mean he knows the exact workings of her powers or what she's done in the past.

In Aleister's case, I believe that another factor is his own biases blinding him to the truth. As an example, one of the reasons for eyewitness testimony being unreliable is that people's memories are easily influenced by many factors, including their own biases. This is a well-known phenomenon and it would not be implausible for Kamachi to include it (I'm pretty sure he has done so before, though I can't remember where). Recent volumes, especially NT18, have emphasised that Aleister is just another human, being far from perfect and often failing at his endeavours. It would not be out of the question for him to miss something that other magicians with otherwise lesser knowledge have figured out (in St Germain's case, it's pointed out that he learned from the public footage of the manhunt). It's even possible (though I admit that this is stretching it) for him to have listened in on the High Priest's conversation with Touma in NT13 (where the destruction of the world is referenced) and misinterpreted it.

Finally, when talking to Touma in NT18, Aleister uses the death of his daughter as a reason for his crusade against magic. He doesn't mention the complete and repeated destruction of the world, or Touma's hellish torture by a Magic God. Even if these things wouldn't make Touma change his mind, that doesn't explain why Aleister doesn't even mention them.