Chapter 316: The Chairman Hanging Upside Down
"Directional Manifestation: Aleister Crowley!"
After leaving the Hound Squad base, George turned invisible and began casting a tracking spell on Chairman Aleister, then flew toward District 7.
According to the information he had gathered, Academy City could at most catalyze superpowers up to Level 5. Since he was already at Level 5, this meant Academy City was no longer of use to him.
Since his esper abilities had reached their limit, his only path forward was to pursue magic.
He couldn't break through Index's "Automatic Writing" magical defense system and thus couldn't get his hands on those 100,000 grimoires. So the best approach was to infiltrate the major churches and search for magical books in their libraries.
Or stealthily take down high-ranking officials from these churches and directly read their memories.
But before that, he was quite curious about what kind of person Aleister Crowley—the chairman who founded Academy City and made science and magic stand on equal footing—really was.
On one hand, he constantly felt that this chairman's shadow loomed behind many incidents and wanted to get close enough to uncover his secrets.
On the other hand, since Aleister was the top leader and founder of Academy City, there was a chance he might have developed some method to help a Level 5 esper evolve to Level 6.
A Level 6 esper, also known as an Absolute Esper, was theorized to be capable of comprehending divine will with a non-divine body, their strength comparable to that of a Magic God.
As for Magic Gods, according to Shirley's memories, they were mages who had grasped the true essence of magic, fully mastered it, and through special rituals, elevated themselves into the domain of gods.
They possessed infinite power and could easily destroy the entire world.
According to his understanding, their strength in Marvel terms would be roughly equivalent to a single-universe level entity, capable of destroying an entire universe with ease.
So, if he could ascend to Level 6, his power would increase drastically.
Even in his full dragon-transformed state, he was merely at the Sub-Heavenly Father level.
"So this is the building. Not a single window—what a strange structure!"
Following the tracking spell, George quickly located Aleister's position, in a building at the center of District 7 that had no windows at all.
Instead of entering through the front entrance, he landed directly on the rooftop.
"Alohomora!"
With the unlocking spell, he opened the mechanical door on the roof and, while still invisible, descended the staircase step by step.
Soon, he entered a large hall on one of the floors.
Just like the building, this hall gave off an odd feeling. The entire floor and walls resembled an enlarged integrated circuit board, and in the center of the hall stood a device that resembled a life-support system.
Inside that device was a thin man with long silver hair hanging upside down.
All around the life-support unit were various virtual monitors.
"So this guy is the creator of Academy City, Chairman Aleister Crowley?"
Seeing that his tracking spell pointed straight to the man inside the life-support system, he knew that this upside-down figure was his target today.
"Why does he seem like an ordinary person?"
Logically speaking, someone capable of creating Academy City couldn't possibly be ordinary, but he couldn't sense any energy fluctuations from the body of the man hanging inside.
But the next second, he dismissed that foolish thought.
"How strange... You're a clone, yet your abilities are already catching up to the original, and you can even use magic. Could it be that your body has been taken over by a demon?
But no, that's not right. There's no demonic aura in your body. How can this be..."
The upside-down Aleister in the divine device suddenly opened his eyes wide and stared directly at the invisible George. A powerful magical force instantly suppressed George, rendering his body completely immobile.
Only now did he understand that this chairman was no ordinary person at all—his presence was simply hidden too well, even George hadn't noticed any flaws.
And this chairman of the science-based Academy City was also an overwhelmingly powerful mage, his internal magical power far surpassing any mage George had encountered before.
Just the pressure from that magical power alone made it impossible for him to move, not even enough to use Apparition to escape.
However, he wasn't entirely out of options.
As long as he used Animagus to transform into his dragon form, his strength would skyrocket, and he could break free from Aleister's magical suppression and escape with Apparition.
But he didn't do that right away.
Because the other party hadn't attacked—he had only restrained his movements.
And honestly, now that he had discovered Aleister's true identity as a mage of such terrifying power, he had grown even more interested in him.
A mage this powerful would never be obscure in history.
Yet no one in the outside world knew Aleister was a mage. They only knew that he had founded Academy City, the city of science-based espers, to rival the magic side.
Everyone assumed he was a top-level scientist or perhaps a Level 5 esper.
So who was Aleister really? What was the true purpose behind founding Academy City?
"Though I don't know how to explain it, I really am not some demon-possessed entity."
"That's true. If you were possessed by a demon, your power wouldn't stop at just this."
Aleister withdrew the pressure he had placed on George and looked at him with deep interest.
"So who are you really? You don't seem to belong to this world."
He couldn't afford to release his full power for long. If discovered, it would be a huge problem.
He had always stayed inside the biological chamber, manipulating others within Academy City to achieve his goals, never acting directly—just to avoid revealing his identity.
Due to past events, he had been relentlessly hunted by the entire magical world and the Archdemon Clenzo.
If clone No. 9981 hadn't suddenly barged into his place, he wouldn't have risked exposing his power to suppress him.
But upon careful examination, he realized that clone No. 9981's condition was highly unusual. He didn't just possess magical energy comparable to that of a saint—his magic was strange as well.
It wasn't the modern magic that Aleister himself had developed and extended, but a completely foreign kind of magic not belonging to this world.
Why did he conclude it didn't belong to this world?
Because he basically knew all the magic systems of this world, and the esper powers he developed inherently conflicted with this world's magic.
Since clone No. 9981 was an esper, he shouldn't be able to use this world's magic.
So perhaps the essence of clone No. 9981 didn't belong to this world at all—only beings like Magic Gods, demons, or angels would have such characteristics.
However, he couldn't detect any of those three traits from clone No. 9981.
This deeply puzzled him, and at the same time, greatly intrigued him.
(End of Chapter)