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*****
Seeing every eye in the room locked onto him with expressions ranging from skepticism to outright disbelief, George stepped forward with a faint smile and a wave of his hand. He was well aware of Julius's intentions, but since being the face of this operation didn't hurt him, he was perfectly happy to play along.
"How could a mere commoner possess such formidable magical ability?"
"His mana levels look incredibly low. Is there some mistake?"
"Looking at him, he must have only received his grimoire recently. Why haven't we heard of him before?"
As the mages of the Magic Knight squads scrutinized George, a wave of whispers rippled through the hall. Despite the words coming from the Wizard King himself, they found it hard to believe that a teenager with such seemingly meager mana could have uncovered the Word Soul Devil's plot and achieved so much.
Under Julius's long-term influence, the prejudice held by the younger generation of noble mages had lessened significantly. With captains like Jack and Yami—neither of whom were nobles—proving their worth through absolute strength, most mages were willing to accept a powerful commoner.
However, George didn't give off the aura of a genius. If it were Yuno, the Golden Dawn recruit who possessed a four-leaf grimoire like the First Wizard King and had been scouted by all nine captains, they might have believed it more easily.
"It was indeed George who rescued me from my seal," the First Wizard King, Lumiere, announced as he entered the hall from a side chamber, accompanied by Secre. "Furthermore, his mastery of magical research is something even I find myself envying."
The sight of Lumiere triggered a fresh wave of gasps. Although the current Wizard King had already informed them of Lumiere's return, seeing the legendary figure in the flesh was a different shock entirely.
Julius gave George a subtle nod. George stepped toward the Vice-Captain of the Golden Dawn, Langris Vaude. Langris was one of the few extremists who harbored deep-seated contempt for commoners. Seeing a member of the "lowly" Black Bulls—especially one from his brother Finral's squad—approaching him, his face twisted in disgust.
"Filthy peasant, what do you think you're doing?"
"You have an elven soul inside you," George said, raising an eyebrow. "I'm here to separate it."
"I wouldn't know if there was another soul inside me? You think a lowly commoner like you can trick the Wizard King—"
Before Langris could finish his insult, George slapped him across the face.
"You dare attack me!" Langris's face contorted with rage. Orbs of spatial magic materialized around him, hurtling toward George. A normal mage hit by those would be killed or, at the very least, crippled.
However, just as the spatial orbs were about to touch George, an invisible film shimmered on his skin. Upon contact with the film, the spatial magic vanished instantly, as if it had never existed.
This was a new defensive barrier George had developed by studying the Anti-Magic from Asta's Demon-Slayer Sword. It consumed negligible mana but was incredibly effective; any magical energy attack that touched it was neutralized back into basic mana particles.
"Force."
George's right hand glowed with Force Magic as he landed a heavy punch on the stunned Langris.
BOOM!
Langris was sent flying like a cannonball, crashing into the stone wall of the hall before collapsing unconscious.
"Done," George said, dusting off his hands. A confused elven soul drifted out of Langris, whose face was now swollen like a steamed bun and missing half his teeth.
"There... there really was an elven soul!"
The mages were torn between two shocks: one, that a boy with such low mana could one-shot a Vice-Captain-level mage; and two, the terrifying confirmation of the possession. They now fully believed the Wizard King's warnings. The thought that they could have been possessed without knowing—watching helplessly as their own bodies were used to destroy their kingdom and families—sent a chill down their spines.
"Mimosa, go treat Langris," William Vangeance commanded calmly. He didn't blame George for the knockout, instead sending his squad's healer to provide basic first aid.
George sealed the elven soul in a vial and moved to another Golden Dawn member. This time, the female mage immediately covered her face.
"Is the slapping necessary for the separation?" she asked nervously.
"Not at all," George shrugged. "I just didn't like that guy's attitude."
He gently tapped her chest, smoothly drawing out the elven soul. The other mages, while some were slightly miffed by his casualness, didn't dare complain. Most were grateful, feeling Langris had earned his beating anyway.
One by one, George worked through the ranks. He discovered that four of the possessed individuals were at the Captain level. However, when he reached the final mage, an apprentice named Ronne, the unexpected happened.
"Sword Storm!"
Ronne's mouth twisted. Suddenly, physical steel swords manifested above George's head, launching a silent, lethal ambush. It was clear the attacker intended to kill the one person capable of separating the souls. The suddenness of the strike left everyone else frozen.
Everyone except George.
"I noticed something was off with you a while ago," George smirked. "That's why I saved you for last."
A spatial portal opened above him, swallowing the steel blades whole. "Silence!"
Ronne, preparing a second attack, suddenly realized he had lost the ability to speak.
THWACK!
George's fist struck Ronne's chest, and two ethereal forms were knocked out of the body. One had the pointed ears of an elf—Bawal. The other was a pitch-black entity with two demonic horns: a fragmented soul of the Word Soul Devil.
Centuries ago, before being sealed by Secre, the Word Soul Devil had split off a fragment of its soul. It was this fragment that had guided Patry, ensuring the reincarnation magic was completed so its main body could be unsealed and summoned into the human world.
The devil hadn't expected its plan to be unraveled by a literal nobody like George. To protect its scheme, it had attempted to assassinate him during the separation process.
"Open!"
George didn't seal the devil immediately. Instead, he uncorked his vials, releasing all the elven souls so they—and the Magic Knights—could witness the truth. Bawal immediately confessed to the other elves that he had been under the devil's control the entire time.
"So you were the real murderer!" Patry roared. His soul, along with the others, lunged at the devil fragment in a blind rage. The devil fragment dissolved into black smoke, attempting to flee.
"Get back here!"
George aimed a vial at the smoke, activating a sealing spell that forcibly sucked the fragment inside.
With the dust settled, Patry led the elves to Lumiere. "I am sorry. We were wrong to blame you."
"You were merely blinded by him," Lumiere said softly. "And had I not fallen into his trap that day, I might have reached you in time."
With Lumiere's forgiveness, Patry apologized to the humans they had inhabited and thanked George for his help.
"Now that the misunderstanding is cleared, we move to the next phase," Julius announced. He was pleased with the unexpected catch of the devil fragment, which had firmly united the elves and humans.
He ordered the reformed members of the Midnight Sun to bring out the cloned bodies. Under the guidance of Sally, the rogue magical scientist, they had used George's research to rapidly grow physical vessels for the elven souls.
"George, if you would," Julius requested.
George moved through the room, systematically placing the elven souls into their new physical shells. As they merged, the clones' appearances shifted slightly to match the elves' original looks, their ears lengthening into sharp points.
What a terrifying individual, the human mages thought in unison. George lacked massive mana, but his precision was unparalleled. Whether it was the Vice-Captain or a devil's fragment, he had neutralized them with ease. They realized that in a one-on-one fight, even a Captain might not be able to take him down.
"Now for the final step," Julius declared. "We will open the Shadow Palace, use the Magic Stones to revive the Elven Leader, and destroy the Word Soul Devil once and for all. Any objections?"
The Magic Knights raised their hands in a salute, their voices echoing through the hall: "We follow your command! Protect the kingdom! Slay the devil!"
"Not a bad group after all," George noted to himself. The nobles had their flaws, but when it came to defending their home, their resolve was unshakable.
"The elven race stands with you!" Patry added.
While the army prepared for battle, George took the devil fragment and performed a forced Soul Search. Within minutes, he had mapped out the devil's knowledge of the underworld and the mechanics of its Word Soul Magic.
The magic was formidable—nearly anything the devil spoke became reality. It could summon spears that decomposed magic and creatures that devoured mana. However, its weakness was glaring: if it couldn't speak, its power plummeted. George immediately shared this with Julius, who organized a specialized support squad of mages capable of silencing or blocking sound.
Two hours later, the elves used their magic to open the gateway. The Shadow Palace manifested above the Royal Capital, a massive structure that caused a stir among the citizens. However, Julius had already prepared a cover story about a "special magical experiment," preventing any widespread panic.
(End of Chapter)