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*****
"Heretic, what are you trying to do!"
As George strode toward him, the old Pope clutched the sacred cross hanging from his chest, forcing out the last of his strength in an attempt to retaliate.
However, before he could even act, George pressed a hand against his head and began a soul search.
Once the search was complete, George instantly teleported away.
He did not kill the old Pope. The entirety of God's Right Seat had already been confined within his small world. If the Pope were to die as well, the Roman Orthodox Church would fall into chaos.
And when one thread is pulled, the whole fabric unravels—such chaos could ripple through the entire magical world, leading eventually to worldwide turmoil.
Although a global upheaval would not directly affect him, the ones who would ultimately suffer were still the countless innocent ordinary people.
Thus, instead of leaving the Vatican immediately, he first performed soul searches on the Right Hand of Fire and the Forward Wind, extracting all their memories, and then cross-referenced them with the Pope's own recollections.
He also copied every single magical tome within the Vatican that might be of use to him.
The 103,000 grimoires recorded by Index mostly came from Puritan collections; many of the Roman Orthodox Church's secret arts were absent from those records.
This included the Pope's personal magic and the Angelic Rituals of God's Right Seat.
Since he had already come this far and incapacitated the upper ranks of the Roman Orthodox Church, would it not be a waste not to copy their grimoires as well?
After plundering every valuable magical text the Church possessed, he still did not return to Academy City. Instead, he traveled to the Russian Orthodox Church.
But he was not there to plunder grimoires—his target was a battle nun named Sasha Kruezhev.
From the Right Hand of Fire's memories, he had learned that this nun possessed a unique constitution known as the "Angel's Vessel."
Through a certain ritual, Sasha Kruezhev could serve as the medium to summon Archangels from the higher planes.
Angels were beings that existed between God and mankind—souls of immense power, capable of unleashing forces that could destroy the world.
The Right Hand of Fire's plan had been to ignite a Third World War and then summon an Archangel through Sasha Kruezhev to aid in carrying out that scheme.
George sought Sasha Kruezhev for the same reason: to summon an Archangel.
Yet his goal was not to rely on the angel for battle assistance, but to forcibly bind it using his spirit-binding technique and then absorb its essence to strengthen himself.
If he could not yet deal with a Magic God, then he would first subdue an angel, digesting its power step by step.
Since Archangels descended in pure spiritual form, they were particularly vulnerable to his spirit-binding art.
—Midnight. The Russian Orthodox convent.
A silent shadow slipped in, and just as silently slipped away. The only difference was that one nun was missing from the dormitory when he left.
In a desolate area, George erected a barrier and, following the memories of the Right Hand of Fire, began arranging the ritual required to summon an Archangel.
Once the ritual was prepared, he placed the unconscious Sasha Kruezhev at its center.
"This should be about right."
After double-checking and confirming it matched the ritual from the Right Hand of Fire's memories, George began channeling magic to activate it.
As the ritual ignited, complex magical runes shimmered in the air, as though a gate to heaven itself had opened.
A terrifyingly powerful spiritual force broke through dimensions and entered the circle, gradually coalescing into the humanoid form of an angel, descending toward Sasha Kruezhev to possess her.
"Spirit-Binding!"
At that moment, George instantly opened his small world and drew the angel inside. Then, transforming into his dragon form, he entered as well, unleashing his spirit-binding art at full force.
As expected of a soul second only to a Magic God—even without self-awareness, it was extremely difficult to subjugate.
By principle, since the possession was not completed, the ritual had failed, and the Archangel should have returned to heaven. But faced with George's forcible spirit-binding, it thrashed and resisted with all its might.
Fortunately, George had not been careless this time. He had first confined it within his small world, using its laws to suppress the angel's power.
Meanwhile, in dragon form, he maximized the might of his spirit-binding technique.
After half an hour of fierce struggle, the Archangel was finally subdued, forcibly bound and absorbed into George's body.
With the binding complete, he returned to the real world, quietly returned Sasha Kruezhev to the convent, and then teleported back to Academy City.
This expedition had yielded tremendous gains.
Once he digested the Archangel's power, his true body's strength would rise significantly.
Perhaps before his small world even advanced into a full singular universe, his own raw power would already have stepped into that level.
"The matter is settled. I'll be going into seclusion for a while. Unless it's something absolutely critical, don't call for me.
And if you do need my help, think carefully about what price you're willing to pay."
Inside a windowless building, George informed Aleister of the situation with the Roman Orthodox Church, then immediately returned to his room and entered closed-door cultivation.
He had much to do: refining the angel he had bound, studying the 103,000 grimoires, mastering the angelic and divine punishment rituals of the Roman Orthodox Church, and researching the Saint, the Virgin, and the Right Hand of God.
He had not lied to Aleister—he truly would be extremely busy in the coming days, with no time to concern himself with other matters.
"This guy… how is it that every time he leaves and comes back, he seems stronger?"
Watching George teleport away, Aleister couldn't help but mutter.
Still, he did not dwell on it. Instead, he began adjusting his future plans based on George's new level of power.
George had helped him eliminate the troublesome Right Hand of Fire, which was a great favor.
Though the man's strength was not insurmountable for Aleister, at this stage he could not risk acting directly, nor afford to expose any flaws.
If the Right Hand of Fire's plan had succeeded, it would have become a major problem for him.
George's intervention had removed that danger, allowing Aleister to proceed more steadily, without resorting to risky gambits.
While George's avatar in this world entered seclusion to refine his gains, his incarnation in the Middle-earth world also began making bold moves.
—The Elven City, Magic Academy.
George looked down at the diligent humans practicing Light Magic and the idle elves nearby, then turned to the human chieftain, Briegoras, and said:
"From today onward, the aptitude test for magic is abolished.
Spread the word: every human, as long as they have interest in magic, may enroll in the Magic Academy to learn."
"Headmaster, all humans? Isn't magic only for those with special aptitude?"
Briegoras's face showed astonishment.
Who did not wish to learn such wondrous arts? Especially Light Magic, which was devastatingly effective against the dark creatures spawned by Morgoth—far more useful than their swords.
But apart from elves, who each possessed high magical talent, only a rare few humans had been capable of studying it.
The rest could only learn close-combat techniques from the elves, or forging from the dwarves.
(End of Chapter)