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*****
"Then stop right there!"
Within Misaka Mikoto's mental world, George's spiritual form struck through the darkness enveloping her spirit, splitting it open with a single palm. Then, using his psychic powers, he began awakening her spirit.
At the same time, outside her mind, George opened his eyes. With an ability of the same nature, he simultaneously suppressed Mikoto's advancement while carving various sealing runes into her body to contain the energy she was releasing.
Finally, with a swift kick, he shattered the black lightning surrounding them, breaking the control over Kamijou Touma.
"Come help me!"
With the method he was currently using, it would take at least half an hour to fully suppress Misaka Mikoto's breakthrough and return her to normal.
However, with the help of Kamijou Touma's cheat-like right hand, they might be able to finish much sooner.
"I'm on it!"
Freed from the steel rods that had previously restrained him, Kamijou Touma rushed toward Mikoto, grabbing her by the shoulders.
Thanks to George's intense suppression, the black lightning no longer attacked Kamijou Touma, allowing his Imagine Breaker to activate successfully.
In just five seconds, the black lightning cloaking both George and Mikoto disappeared, and everything returned to normal.
"She's in your hands now. I have something urgent to attend to."
He pulled two outfits from his transformation space—one he put on himself, and the other he dressed on Mikoto, whose school uniform had been destroyed by the lightning. Then, without waiting for Kamijou Touma or Shokuhou Misaki to ask any questions, he quickly left.
His mind was now flooded with insights about ascending to Level 6 and the essence of electricity. He needed to retreat and meditate on these revelations right away.
Although things hadn't gone exactly as planned, achieving over fifty percent of the advancement still yielded significant gains for him.
"Why is it always 'something urgent' with him?"
Watching George leave, Kamijou Touma couldn't help but complain. Every time they encountered this version of a Misaka sister, he would barely speak a few words before rushing off again.
At that moment, Mikoto slowly opened her eyes and muttered,
"That was strange… I saw a man I didn't recognize pull me out from the abyss."
The one who entered Mikoto's mental world was George's spiritual form—and naturally, his spirit didn't resemble Mikoto's. Instead, it mirrored the physical appearance of his original body from the Marvel main universe.
After all, the soul that had split off and occupied his body back then was still George himself.
Back in his room inside the windowless building, George didn't bother looking for Aleister. Instead, he went straight into seclusion.
However, the retreat didn't last long. He was soon jolted awake by a wave of soul-tearing pain.
His original body in the Marvel universe had undergone another soul split.
Focusing his attention on the new incarnation in another world, he discovered this time the vessel was a human—and male. A mature man, to be precise, although a little too mature—he was over ninety years old.
Still, it didn't matter. After taking over the body, its former frailty and decay were instantly reversed, acquiring the same constitution and magic power that all his incarnations shared.
Though the external appearance remained unchanged, the essence of the body was now entirely different.
The only downside was the man's old age—the brain held too many memories, and digesting them took a significant amount of time.
"Li family in Hong Kong, Clow Reed... Could this be the world of Cardcaptor Sakura?"
After fully absorbing the body's memories, George was lost in thought.
He rarely watched anime—but that didn't mean he hadn't seen any. He had caught a few episodes of older action series like Saint Seiya and Dragon Ball.
And Cardcaptor Sakura? It happened to be one of the few anime he had seen.
Mainly because back in school, the girl who sat next to him was obsessed with it, and she ended up roping him into watching a few episodes with her.
Back then, he found the magic in the show really fascinating. The main character, Sakura, was adorable and sweet—before he knew it, he'd unexpectedly ended up watching the entire series.
Because of that, he later even watched a similar anime called Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha.
Thinking back now, he had to thank the girl who used to sit next to him—the same one he'd once had a bit of a crush on. If it hadn't been for her enthusiastic recommendation, he would probably be completely clueless right now.
But come to think of it, even though this show looked like just a cute magical girl anime on the surface, the worldbuilding was actually pretty vast.
In fact, it could be considered a large-scale multiverse setting.
Aside from the world where Sakura lived, there were many parallel worlds—kind of like how the Marvel universe had countless alternate realities, though perhaps not quite as many here.
And the magic in this world was nothing to scoff at. Clow Reed, the one who created the magical cards, could control time and space, foresee the future, and even travel between dimensions.
In Academy City, he'd probably be considered a god-tier existence—someone who had grasped the very essence of magic.
"First things first—let's get out of this coffin."
Slowly opening his eyes, George looked around and gently pushed aside the coffin lid above his head.
The old man he had now taken over was named Li Xuan, a direct descendant of the Li family—one of the strongest Taoist families in China. Though his talents were average and his magical power unremarkable, he had lived a long life and passed away peacefully at the age of ninety-eight.
Today marked the seventh day since his passing—if he didn't come back to life now, he'd be buried by tomorrow.
Sitting up slowly inside the coffin, George glanced around. This was clearly a mourning hall, and kneeling below the altar were many Li clan members, all dressed in mourning garb.
At the front of the group knelt the current head of the Li family, Li Yelan—who also happened to be Li Syaoran's mother.
Though Li Xuan's magical strength was mediocre—even after over ninety years of cultivation, he still hadn't surpassed the current generation's most gifted child, Li Syaoran—he was still the oldest and highest-ranking elder in the family.
By seniority, he was the top figure in the Li family.
His younger brother was the grandfather of Li Yelan. So by family hierarchy, even Li Yelan had to call him "Granduncle."
If he hadn't devoted his entire life to the Tao and remained unmarried, the current family head probably wouldn't be Li Yelan—but one of his own grandchildren.
Of course, for George, that was a very good thing.
He had no desire to suddenly inherit a bunch of blood relatives—especially not a wife.
"Th-the-the old ancestor has risen from the dead!!!"
At that moment, a teenage Li family junior happened to glance up—only to see George sitting up in the coffin, casually surveying his surroundings. The boy immediately let out a high-pitched scream.
His cry startled the rest of the mourners awake. They all looked up in unison and stared in shock at George.
When they realized that he had actually sat up from the coffin, panic broke out. Some grabbed compasses, others drew peachwood swords, a few began sketching talismans, while others started forming hand seals and chanting spells.
Even if he was the family's ancestor—if he'd turned into a jiangshi, they were duty-bound to exorcise him in the name of righteousness.
"Hold it, juniors! Cease your actions! I am not some undead!"
Seeing the chaos, George bellowed with full force, his voice resonating with authority and strength—freezing everyone on the spot.
He was right—if he had risen as a jiangshi, surely these seasoned experts would've sensed it. And no jiangshi could possibly speak so clearly or shout like that.
(End of Chapter)