NOVEL NEXT Chapter 8: The Founding of Academy City
December 1, 1947 –
In a dilapidated straw hut nestled in a rural village along the Severn River in England, Aleister Crowley lay sprawled on a pile of withered grass. His breathing was labored, his body drenched in blood, making him look like a broken marionette.
Death was creeping closer with every passing moment. His life was ebbing away, and it seemed he would not last much longer.
"So pathetic… I failed again in the end. This is the price I pay for killing my own child with my own hands…"
Aleister lay spread-eagle, reflecting on the last three decades of his life.
…
In 1919, Aleister had been hiding in Egypt, meticulously constructing the foundation of his grand plan. Yet fate played its cruel hand when an unknown intruder penetrated his sanctuary in the Imaginary Phase.
Believing the stranger had found him by deciphering The Book of the Law, Aleister, without hesitation, unleashed one of his most devastating spells—a technique calibrated to annihilate Magic Gods with a force equivalent to tenfold the energy of a universal explosion.
Aleister succeeded. His magic worked flawlessly. The stranger was obliterated.
Yet, Aleister had also failed.
When the spell concluded and he saw the intruder's true form, Aleister immediately recognized the young man as his own child.
The realization shattered him. Every fiber of his being told him that the boy he had just killed was his son. From the resonance of their souls to the unmistakable lineage in their blood, there was no doubt.
This knowledge drove Aleister to madness.
Abandoning his carefully laid plans in Egypt, he returned to England—a place fraught with danger for him—to seek out the son he had mistakenly killed.
He knew what awaited him there: relentless pursuit by every magician in the world. As the "greatest heretic," a man capable of erasing magic itself, Aleister was the common enemy of all magic practitioners.
No faction was more relentless in their hunt than the English Puritan Church.
Despite Aleister's unmatched strength, he was still a human. From 1919 to 1947, he endured 28 grueling years of constant combat, fending off magicians from every corner of the globe.
Finally, the previous day, Aleister was ambushed and gravely wounded by an English Puritan assassination squad in the English countryside.
"This… is a fitting end for someone like me," Aleister muttered.
There was no despair in his voice. The moment of despair had come and gone 28 years ago, when he killed his child. Since then, he had embraced failure and setbacks as the defining elements of his existence.
To him, no calamity—no Magic God, no impossible challenge, no unyielding fate—could truly defeat him. The only force capable of breaking Aleister Crowley was his own family.
"Click."
The door to the straw hut creaked open. Aleister's ears caught the sound of approaching footsteps. Despite being on the brink of death, he remained unnervingly calm, even managing a sardonic smile.
"So, who's the lucky one to claim my head? The English Puritan Church? The Roman Catholics? The Russian Orthodox? Or some other magic cabal? My money's on the Puritans."
He smirked weakly.
"Go ahead. Take my head as a trophy. It's worth quite a fortune, I imagine."
The visitor said nothing, maintaining an oppressive silence as they stepped into the hut.
Aleister finally turned his gaze toward the intruder, and what he saw left him momentarily stunned.
"...A frog?"
Standing before him was an elderly man with the face of a frog. The man wore black-rimmed glasses and had a slightly portly build. He was no magician Aleister had ever encountered.
"How rude. Calling someone a frog the moment you meet them. Such poor manners," the old man muttered in annoyance.
Ignoring Aleister's weakened state, he approached with a stern expression, scrutinizing the extent of his injuries.
"These wounds are severe. If I'd been even a little later, you'd already be dead."
Aleister stared at him, intrigued. "Who are you?"
The old man glanced out of the hut's door toward the Severn River, lost in thought. His mind wandered briefly to distant memories—visions of rolling rivers in Jiangnan and a friend from a hundred years ago who defied colonial oppression, burning opium while reciting poetry and laughing in the face of death.
Shaking his head, the old man smiled faintly. "The name I used to go by no longer matters. You can call me… Heaven Canceller."
"Heaven Canceller?" Aleister echoed, the name as arrogant as it was audacious.
"Yes. Now stop talking. Time is short, and I need to keep you alive."
The elderly man knelt beside Aleister, preparing to administer emergency treatment.
"My body can't be saved," Aleister murmured. "No magic can heal these wounds."
"Then we won't use magic," the doctor retorted without hesitation. "We'll use science."
Aleister's dim eyes flickered with newfound light. "Science…"
He had no fear of death, but he still had unfinished goals—dreams he had yet to realize. To Aleister, even death was just another obstacle to overcome, never a reason to stop.
"You realize who you're saving, don't you?"
"I don't care who you are," Heaven Canceller replied firmly. "I know only that you're a patient who needs help. And no matter what, I never abandon my patients."
"You're an overly kind and absurdly strange man," Aleister said, almost amused. After a pause, he added, "I can't stay in England. Too many enemies."
Heaven Canceller thought for a moment. "Then go to Japan. They've just lost the war. That land is desperate and open to anything. You'll find the environment there… accommodating."
…
With Heaven Canceller's help, Aleister survived his injuries and quietly left England for Japan.
To the magical world, however, Aleister Crowley's death was confirmed. On December 1, 1947, it was reported that the world's most feared magician had perished in the English countryside.
...
1950: The Founding of Academy City.
In the aftermath of these events, Aleister Crowley began constructing a new base of operations in Japan—a haven of science and innovation that would come to be known as Academy City.
…
In a dark space, Roy suddenly opened his eyes.