Marvel's master of cosmic magic

Chapter 547

"Heretic... what are you trying to do?!"

As Rowan stepped toward him, the aged Pope raised the relic cross hanging at his chest, squeezing out the last of his strength in a desperate attempt to retaliate.

He never got the chance.

Rowan placed a hand on his head.

Memories flooded.

When Rowan finished, he vanished instantly.

He left the Pope alive.

The Right Seat was already contained within his inner world. If the Pope died too, the Roman Church would collapse into chaos. And chaos there would ripple outward, destabilizing the entire magical world.

Rowan wasn’t concerned about himself.

But global magical war would still crush ordinary people first.

Before leaving the Vatican, he searched the memories of Right Hand of Fire and Front Wind, layering them together with the Pope’s knowledge.

Then he copied every magical text in the Vatican that held any value.

Most of the grimoires recorded in Index’s 103,000 texts came from Anglican archives. The Roman Church still possessed secret systems that Index never catalogued. The Pope’s faith-based magic. The Right Seat’s angelic techniques.

Leaving those behind would have been wasteful.

After harvesting the Church’s arcane archives, Rowan didn’t return to Academy City.

Instead, he traveled to the Russian Orthodox Church.

Not for books.

For a person.

A combat nun named Sasha Kloezev.

From Right Hand of Fire’s memories, Rowan learned she possessed an "Angel Medium" constitution. With the correct ritual, she could act as a vessel to summon a true Archangel into the world.

Angels existed between gods and mortals. Pure soul entities with catastrophic power.

Right Hand of Fire had planned to trigger World War III, then use Sasha to summon an Archangel as support.

Rowan wanted the same ritual.

For a different reason.

If he couldn’t bind a Magic God yet... an Archangel would be a worthy substitute.

Archangels manifested as descending soul entities.

Perfect prey.

Midnight. Russian Orthodox convent dormitory.

A shadow entered silently.

It left the same way.

One nun was gone.

Rowan moved to a remote wasteland and built the summoning circle exactly as Right Hand of Fire had done.

He placed the unconscious Sasha Kloezev at its center.

"This should do it."

He activated the ritual.

Runic structures ignited in midair, forming something like a gateway into heaven.

Then it came.

A colossal soul-force ripped through dimensional space and condensed into a humanoid angelic form, descending toward Sasha.

Rowan moved instantly.

"Spirit Command."

His inner world opened, dragging the Archangel inside. Rowan shifted into his dragon form and followed, unleashing the full force of his spirit-binding technique.

Even without true consciousness, the Archangel resisted violently.

By normal ritual law, failed possession meant automatic return to heaven.

But Rowan had prepared.

Inside his inner world, reality itself suppressed the angel’s power.

Half an hour later, the struggle ended.

The Archangel was bound.

Rowan absorbed it.

He returned to reality, placed Sasha safely back in her dormitory, then teleported to Academy City.

This mission had been extraordinarily profitable.

Once he fully digested the Archangel, his core strength would spike again.

He might reach universal-tier physical strength before his inner world even finished evolving.

In the Windowless Building, Rowan spoke briefly to Aleister Crowley.

"It’s handled. I’ll be in isolation for a while. Don’t contact me unless it’s critical."

"If you need help... bring something worth trading."

Then he vanished into seclusion.

Binding the Archangel. Studying the 103,000 grimoires. Analyzing Roman angelic systems. Studying Saints, Divine Right phenomena, and punishment rituals.

He wasn’t exaggerating.

He would be busy.

Aleister watched him disappear.

"...He came back stronger again."

But Aleister simply adjusted his future plans.

Rowan had eliminated Right Hand of Fire, removing a major threat. Aleister could now proceed more cautiously.

Meanwhile, in another world—

Middle-earth.

Elven City. Magic Academy.

Another Rowan stood overlooking a training field.

Humans practiced light magic below. Elves trained lazily nearby, relying on natural talent.

Rowan turned to the human clan leader, Bregolas.

"Effective immediately, abolish magical aptitude testing."

"Announce it to all human settlements."

"If a human wants to learn magic... they may enroll."

Bregolas stared in shock.

"...Director... only those with special talent can learn magic. Isn’t that the rule?"

For humans, magic had always been rare.

Elves were born close to magic.

Humans had to fight for it.

Until now.