[Marvel's Magic Master]Chapter 251: The Kabbalah Ritual

"I'm not Misaka Mikoto; I'm her older brother, Misaka George."

George pulled his arm out of Shirai Kuroko's embrace and casually joked.

"Misaka-nii! So you enjoy this kind of play, huh? Let me check if you have what a big brother should have!"

A mischievous glint flashed in Shirai Kuroko’s eyes as her hand shot toward George’s lower body like lightning. However, before she could even get halfway, sparks of electricity erupted from George’s body, sending her crashing to the ground.

"You really are something else."

George twitched at the corner of his mouth, then waved at Index and Kazakiri Hyouka.

"Alright, I have things to do, so I’m heading out!"

Since there was nothing left for him here, he figured he might as well find a place to experiment with the magic he had just learned in this world.

Not long after George left, Kamijou Touma and Misaka Mikoto arrived at the scene.

Seeing the mess around them, along with an unconscious Sherry and a dazed, just-awakened Shirai Kuroko, they looked at Index and Kazakiri Hyouka with puzzled expressions.

"What happened here?" Kamijou asked.

Index glanced at Misaka Mikoto with a strange look, then pointed at the still-unconscious Sherry.

"She attacked us just now, but luckily, your older brother, Misaka George, happened to pass by and saved us. You two really look alike! If it weren’t for your different outfits, I wouldn’t have been able to tell you apart at all."

Kazakiri Hyouka quickly nodded in agreement with Index’s statement.

However, Misaka Mikoto was left completely bewildered.

"My older brother, Misaka George? Since when did I have an older brother?"

"Onee-sama, how could you not tell me you had an older brother?! I embarrassed myself so badly!"

Shirai Kuroko, blushing furiously, tried to fix her frazzled hair, which had puffed up from the electric shock.

She recalled how she had just reached out to grab Misaka Mikoto’s supposed brother in a very inappropriate place. The embarrassment was overwhelming—it was pure social death.

"I don’t have a brother... Oh! I see, it’s her!"

Misaka Mikoto first denied the claim, but then suddenly froze as realization dawned upon her.

After the cloning project was shut down, most of the Misaka clones had been sent to research facilities worldwide for treatment due to Academy City's limited resources.

Only a dozen or so clones remained in Academy City's hospitals.

They dressed almost identically to her, except for the military night-vision goggles they wore on their heads.

And among them, the only one who preferred dressing like a boy and was strong enough to defeat a magician was that mutated No. 9981.

"Onee-sama, he’s not your brother?" Shirai Kuroko asked curiously.

The others also leaned in, intrigued.

"She does share my DNA, but she’s not my brother. Strictly speaking, she’s my younger sister—she just prefers dressing as a boy."

Misaka Mikoto sighed, feeling a headache coming on as she explained.

She had never told her friends, including Shirai Kuroko, about the Misaka clones, fearing it might cause trouble due to Academy City's high-level involvement.

But now that the situation had come up, this was the best way to explain it.

"You have a younger sister?! What school does she go to in Academy City? Why didn’t she transfer to Tokiwadai? She—"

The moment Shirai Kuroko heard that Misaka Mikoto had a sister who looked just like her, she got excited. If she transferred to their school, wouldn’t that mean double the joy?

Misaka Mikoto hurriedly changed the subject.

"Kuroko, now’s not the time for that. We should focus on dealing with this intruder first."

...

Meanwhile, after leaving, George first used invisibility to confirm that there were no Aleister’s micro-drones nearby before disappearing with a teleportation spell, reappearing in a deserted area outside Academy City.

Academy City was full of surveillance drones, making it inconvenient for him to act freely even while invisible.

That’s why he found a secluded spot outside the city to research and practice magic, only returning to Academy City when he needed to conduct experiments to enhance his abilities.

"Kabbalah Ritual—the human simulacrum created from earth."

Standing in a grassy field, George controlled his magic, slowly drawing a magical array on the ground with his energy.

To cast this spell, using wax crayons to draw a magic circle wasn’t necessary—directly inscribing it with magical energy worked just as well.

Sherry had used wax crayons because hers weren’t ordinary—they were infused with consecrated salt and holy oil, enhancing the golem’s power after formation.

As the magic circle neared completion, the earth trembled, gradually shaping itself into a stone golem. However, before it could fully form, it crumbled apart.

"Looks like it won’t be that easy—I’ll need more practice."

George wasn’t discouraged by the failure. Instead, he smiled.

This proved that his magic was compatible with the magic of this world and wasn’t hindered by differences in magical systems.

The magic in this world was unique. For example, the Kabbalah ritual’s stone golem was based on the myth of gods creating humans from clay. Magicians had adapted this legend into a spell.

However, humans weren’t gods—they couldn’t create true life. The best they could do was craft a stone golem with limited intelligence.

Most of this world’s magic followed the same principle: mimicking myths and legends.

Even many powerful magical artifacts were replicas of legendary divine weapons, granting them immense power.

Originally, this world had no magicians or espers—only "Gemstones," individuals naturally born with supernatural abilities.

Magicians were those without such innate talents who sought extraordinary power. They mimicked myths and legends, using sheer willpower, luck, and insight to become something beyond ordinary humans.

As a result, most magicians had undergone significant hardships in life.

For example, some had been unable to save a loved one from a terminal illness, suffered famine that led to cannibalism, or lost family members and endured humiliation for the sake of revenge.

It was only under extreme circumstances that they transcended normalcy, became magicians, and created their own magical archetypes.

This also meant that magic was difficult to pass down. Unlike esper abilities, which relied on genetics, magic required immense mental resilience, making magicians incredibly rare.

Moreover, most magicians emerged from religious backgrounds, where faith was strong and myths were abundant.

It wasn’t until two immensely powerful magicians, Mathers and Westcott, co-founded the Golden Dawn magic society that magic was systematized.

They gathered powerful magicians from different religions, merged various magical traditions, and created the foundation of modern Western magic, making its study far more accessible.

However, the once-mighty Golden Dawn quickly collapsed due to unknown internal conflicts. Its founders and most of its members perished.