[20] Magus

"The time is approaching."

A person with a masked face, shrouded entirely in a black robe, spoke.

His face couldn't be seen.

One could only make a rough guess about his age from his voice; he was likely around fifty or sixty years old.

"God's envoy.."

That's how they referred to him in this organization.

In reality, he was well aware that it was not the case. He was not a god's envoy but a magus.

Now, he had brought numerous children to this place in London, a small magicial vein, which was the only place he could occupy. All the good magicial veins within the vicinity of the Mage Association had already been taken.

But that was okay... as long as this experiment succeeded this time!

As the sixth generation head of the Hubbard family, Garfield Hubbard, he was also the last descendant of the Hubbard lineage. From his ancestors up to him, their magecraft had never thrived.

In his view, there were two simple reasons for this:

Terrible magic circuits! Poorly designed magic crests!

When it had been passed down to him, he had to rely on various tools to barely produce any magical effects. Without these tools, he would be no more than an ordinary person.

However...

After three generations of determination.

Starting from his grandfather's generation, they had been researching magecraft.

By relying on incomplete magecraft research materials, he had joined a "Necromancer Cult," even though he didn't know any necromantic magecraft...

Then, with the resources of this Cult, he had finally succeeded in developing his magecraft:

By using the spiritual vein here, along with the hundred boys and girls, and his own peak magical power—

By sacrificing all one hundred boys and girls, using their life essence to transform his own body, he would gain more magic circuits and alter his magic crests!

Especially the magic circuits. Typically, the number of them was predetermined at birth and couldn't be increased due to external factors...

He would complete this magecraft and become an outstanding magus!

The pupils behind his mask were slightly frantic.

Inside, he felt fear and worry...

But there was no choice because this was the first official experiment to apply this magecraft to humans.

And he was using his own body as the test subject!

After all... he had been a part of this organization for over twenty years. If there had been no results by now...

Moreover, given his position in the organization, he had no right to request individuals with "magic potential" as test subjects.

Even though his magecraft was so constructive! Once it succeeded, it would make waves throughout the world!

But...

"Damn it... those guys don't believe i'll succeed. So no matter how much I apply, they won't provide me with resources... now I'm just someone who doesn't care if it works or not! At best, I'm a peripheral member with a bit of freedom!"

"You'll see, as long as this experiment succeeds, you'll all have to acknowledge me!"

With that in mind, he touched a certain tool on his right arm with his left hand. He could only find peace when holding this item.

He lifted his shabby wand with his left hand.

He hadn't set up any barriers here.

Because this was London, and maybe it was safe without barriers. However, setting them up might attract the Clock Tower's attention.

If he could, he would have left London to complete his experiment... Of course, that was only if it were possible. But in reality... he couldn't leave London!

And his subordinates were all a bunch of misfits.

The organization didn't provide him with any personnel; he had hypnotized these people one by one himself.

However...

His magecraft was quite terrible... he could only hypnotize those with weak wills, or use his magecraft to impersonate a "God's Envoy" and beguile those with some cognitive deficiencies...

Honestly, the plan had been ongoing until now. He had gathered a hundred boys and girls without any issues and hadn't been visited by the police. He was quite pleased with this.

Previously, in order to prevent any issues with his subordinates, he had always waited until they brought the children back before secretly moving them. This way, he could avoid being followed by London's police.

For him, the threat level of London's police wasn't any lower than that of the magus because he couldn't evade or defend against bullets.

"Alright, bring the people up."

Garfield Hubbard spoke to his subordinates.

There were six guards at the door and eight inside the room. These were all his subordinates.

"Yes, God's Envoy!"

The eight people under his hypnotic influence showed crazy reverence on their faces, which Garfield greatly enjoyed.

"No... don't."

"Save me! Dad—"

The next moment, Garfield, immersed in these emotions, frowned.

"Hey, didn't I tell you to gag them?" Garfield said irritably.

"Yes, yes! We'll do it now."

"Never mind, hurry up!" Garfield sighed. There was enough time... they could take it slow.

"Hey, who are you?"

Just then, another scream made his heart race.

Bang, bang—

He turned around to see that the two people guarding the door had already fallen to the ground.

A man of East Asian descent, about 1.9 meters tall, walked in.

"It looks like I arrived just in time."

"Who are you?" Garfield asked the newcomer.

"Onii-chan!" Kazumi exclaimed in surprise.

"Are you okay, Kazumi?"

"Yes! I'm okay."

"That's good." Kazuya relaxed a bit and frowned as he looked around the room.

In addition to the children and the two he had knocked out earlier, there were nine other individuals—someone in a black robe and a mask, who seemed to be the leader, and eight others who were his subordinates...

The police would likely arrive in about ten minutes... The best course of action would have been to wait outside, but he couldn't be sure what was happening inside, and he had heard cries from within. So, he decided to enter.

"So... you're the ones pursuing us," Garfield said, relieved. At least it wasn't the police or magus.

"Alright, you guys, get rid of him quickly. Don't disrupt the arrival of our gods." Garfield pretended to instruct.

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