[Marvel's Magic Master] Chapter 249

Chapter 249: Magic and Superpowers Cannot Coexist

Before, Kazakiri Hyouka had always lived in a virtual world. She couldn’t touch humans, nor could she talk to them. She wandered around Academy City like a ghost, filled with fear and loneliness.

That was until a few days ago when she accidentally touched Index. Thanks to Index’s power, she transitioned from illusion to reality and finally experienced what it meant to have friends and to feel happiness.

"Since I’m a monster, let this monster deal with you, another monster."

Summoning the energy within her, Kazakiri Hyouka’s shattered body instantly regenerated. She raised her arms with all her strength, managing to block the stone giant’s attack once again—though just barely.

"Interesting. Things are getting more and more intriguing."

George narrowed his eyes as he observed the situation.

Kazakiri Hyouka was a collective manifestation of the AIM diffusion fields naturally emitted by 2.3 million espers. He highly doubted this was a mere coincidence—this was likely another large-scale experiment conducted by Academy City.

"It’s over!"

The stone giant’s left fist was blocked by Kazakiri Hyouka, but its right fist came crashing down toward Index.

At that moment, George finally revealed himself and took action.

"Railgun!"

Flicking a coin, he unleashed an electromagnetically accelerated projectile, directly shattering the stone giant’s right hand.

"Who’s there?! It’s you again! Don’t think I’m afraid of you!"

Sherry gasped in shock and turned to face George. Her brows furrowed deeply.

Though he was now dressed in male clothing and wearing a hat, she instantly recognized him as the Level 5 esper, Misaka Mikoto—the attack confirmed it.

"It can regenerate on its own… So it’s not a one-time construct."

George was slightly surprised to see the stone giant’s severed right hand regenerate within seconds.

He had assumed that Sherry’s golem functioned similarly to the one created by the apprentice mage Horvath from the magical world—where once destroyed, it would simply vanish. However, there were clear differences.

If anything, this made things even more interesting for him.

"No matter how many times you attack—whether a hundred or a thousand—it won’t destroy my Alice!"

Sherry swung her wax crayon, activating an enhancement magic circle. The stone giant grew from five meters to eight meters, becoming even stronger.

"Alice, kill them all!"

With a thunderous roar, the stone giant clasped its hands together and struck down at George.

Rather than confronting it head-on, George grabbed Kazakiri Hyouka and Index, leaping backward to evade the attack.

"If targeting specific areas isn’t enough… then I’ll just destroy it completely."

After setting the two down, George clasped his hands together, forming a particle cannon.

He channeled all of his electrical power into it, aiming at the charging stone giant.

"Plasma Electromagnetic Cannon!"

A massive surge of plasma shot forth, vaporizing the stone giant’s chest upon impact. Then, with a swift motion, he swept the plasma across its entire body, disintegrating it into nothingness.

This time, the stone giant did not regenerate.

"So, I have to completely destroy it in one go to eliminate it."

"T-This is the power of a Level 5 esper?"

Sherry trembled as she watched her golem vanish into thin air.

"How can he be this strong?!"

She knew Level 5 espers were powerful, but she hadn’t expected them to be so overwhelming—to the point of obliterating her Alice in a single strike.

"It won’t be that easy! Let’s see how many times you can use an attack like that!"

Regaining her composure, she immediately began chanting while drawing a magic circle on the ground with her wax crayon. In less than a second, another stone giant rose from the earth.

But before she could even lift her head to command it, her pupils suddenly contracted.

Because she heard George’s voice—right next to her ear.

"Looks like the key is you. As long as I take you down, I can stop the stone giant from regenerating."

She instinctively swung her elbow back in an attempt to strike him—only to hit nothing but air. Before she could react further, a sudden dizziness overtook her, and she collapsed.

George had anticipated her summoning another golem. Using electrical stimulation, he accelerated his movements and instantly appeared behind her. Dodging her counterattack, he delivered a precise palm strike to her forehead, knocking her out.

"So, in this world, magicians have weak physical endurance… I wonder if she’s an exception."

In truth, this female magician’s magic wasn’t weak. Her summoned golem possessed immense strength, high durability, and self-repair capabilities. Even if destroyed, she could immediately summon another one.

Against an average esper, she would be a formidable opponent—even Misaka Mikoto would have trouble dealing with her without relying on her Thunder God form.

However, the flaw was clear. She needed to remain in a visible position to control her golem. If she had stayed hidden in the shadows, she could have been a much bigger threat. Instead, standing out in the open made her an easy target.

"Let me take a look at your memories."

Since she was a skilled magician with likely a high status in the magical world, George assumed she possessed valuable intelligence.

"Legilimency!"

Using a combination of Legilimency and telepathy, George placed his hand on Sherry’s forehead and began scanning her memories.

Just how much could be stored in a person’s twenty-plus years of memories?

A lot.

Even if he filtered out the unimportant ones and focused solely on key moments, watching them all as recordings would still take months.

However, this was under normal circumstances.

Within the human brain, thoughts process at incredibly high speeds, and with mental acceleration, scanning memories was exponentially faster than real-time perception.

It was like dreaming—where it feels like hours pass, but in reality, only a few minutes have gone by.

Especially during those short naps at a desk.

Thus, in less than a minute, George withdrew his hand from Sherry’s forehead, his expression shifting into one of profound intrigue.

"I didn’t expect this… so that’s how it is!"

The information he gained from Sherry’s memories far exceeded his expectations, finally allowing him to understand this world.

Now, about Sherry’s background—

Sherry Cromwell was a magician affiliated with the Necessarius, a special forces branch of the Anglican Church.

Her expertise lay in earth-elemental magic, particularly the manipulation of golems. Additionally, she was an expert in cryptographic decryption, specializing in deciphering ciphers hidden in allegorical paintings and emblems.

Twenty years ago, some magicians from the Anglican Church and a group of scientists from Academy City shared a common goal: to merge magic and science.

They wanted to combine their respective knowledge and technologies in a single facility, attempting to fuse esper abilities with magic to create a new kind of practitioner—one capable of using both.

Such an existence would be the ultimate being.

But the result was obvious.

Failure.

In this world, magic and esper abilities simply cannot coexist. If one attempts to wield both, the consequences range from severe internal bleeding to complete bodily collapse and death.