"So it turns out we don't just have mages here!"
"Lord have mercy-I saw a real Angel!"
"I will never forget that divine radiance. That face cannot be profaned. That was a holy Angel, favored by the Lord..."
"..."
There was no need to think about it.
The very next day, the entire world erupted into heated discussion.
A living Angel had appeared on the streets of Westminster, London.
And Westminster happened to have Westminster Abbey.
The combination alone was enough to drive people mad.
Even in countries where a single bullet could cross the entire territory, believers were already vowing to make a pilgrimage to Westminster Abbey.
Worse-or perhaps better-Noah himself had been stunned on the spot.
Several photos had been taken.
Because of that appearance, Ministries of Magic across the world went on high alert.
More than twenty years ago, those winged beings had been thoroughly dealt with.
Now that they seemed to be back, how could anyone not take it seriously?
That said, there wasn't widespread panic.
The people responsible for dealing with them back then were Noah and the Ancient One.
One was now the leading candidate for Sorcerer Supreme.
The other was the current Sorcerer Supreme.
Honestly, with those two around, even if Angels came looking for trouble, they wouldn't find any.
Even if they brought their so-called "Lord," the result would likely be the same.
If anything, their Lord might be the one in danger.
So the Ministries remained cautious, but restrained.
What truly puzzled them was something else.
Why hadn't the famously ill-tempered Sorcerer Supreme candidate made a move yet?
What they didn't know was simple.
The breathtakingly beautiful Angel was that very candidate.
Because of the peculiar nature of the Holy Light-and Noah's subconscious guidance-he had ended up in that form.
To put it bluntly, if Noah declared that he was a man while looking like that, a lot of people's fantasies would shatter on the spot.
At that moment, Noah was sitting in his Master's room in Kamar-Taj.
He looked utterly dispirited.
The Ancient One, on the other hand, watched him with clear amusement.
"You certainly caused quite a stir," she said, pouring him a cup of tea.
"I never imagined that the disciple I accepted for his talent and courage would one day resemble the enemies he once faced."
"The world really is strange."
"Master, please don't," Noah sighed, rubbing his aching eyes.
"I didn't expect this either. I only wanted to test how much of that power I could use, and then..."
There was no need to finish the sentence.
The experience hadn't been pleasant.
The only thing worth celebrating was that the power had been successfully sealed in his eye.
To be honest, the sealing process had been far easier than Noah expected.
He hadn't even needed to gouge his eye out and put it back.
Under the System's guidance, he simply sealed that state directly into his right eye.
Still, he hadn't felt great afterward.
Both eyes had produced a strong sense of rejection at first.
Noah had panicked briefly.
Then the feeling faded.
What surprised him most was that his left eye had returned to its original color.
Noah's eyes had always been blue.
The Dragonborn seal had turned his left eye blood-red.
He had worried the Holy Light would dye his right eye gold or something equally conspicuous.
Instead, the two opposing powers seemed to have balanced each other out.
The side effects vanished.
That alone was good news.
He no longer needed magic to conceal his eyes.
Both looked completely normal now.
No strange aura.
No abnormal color.
Noah felt that even if he stood in front of Alonsus Faol again, the old priest wouldn't notice anything unusual.
"Tell me about your condition," the Ancient One said, taking a sip of tea.
"Were you... conscious during your breakthrough?"
"Conscious?" Noah blinked, then understood what she meant.
That had been his biggest question as well.
He nodded seriously.
"Yes. I saw many..."
"Strange life forms?" the Ancient One smiled.
"I saw you too, Noah. Aside from that, did you hold on until the end?"
She saw me too?
Noah froze for a moment, then realized what that meant.
Just as he had suspected, those beings wrapped in multicolored light were all terrifying existences.
The Ancient One was among them.
Odin as well.
They had simply been concealed by that bizarre radiance, making them indistinguishable.
Noah steadied himself.
"I held on," he said.
"I saw a sphere of light."
"A sphere of light..." The Ancient One nodded, her smile widening.
"Then you truly succeeded. Remarkable. Truly remarkable."
"Congratulations, Noah."
"Master..." Noah felt a trace of unease.
He knew what the sphere was-or at least, he thought he did.
But something felt off.
"What was it?"
"I cannot tell you," she said, shaking her head as she sipped her tea.
"But I believe you will understand eventually."
"When you reach your next transformation, you will know."
Noah held his teacup, silent.
The next transformation.
The elevation of his life form.
Crossing into true Divinity.
Reaching the tenth rank had already changed him.
His soul had been strengthened in a way he couldn't properly describe.
But the duration of that strengthening felt... strange.
Short.
He couldn't be certain how much time had passed, but he was sure of one thing.
From seeing the sphere, to the strengthening, to returning-
It had taken less than a second.
Yet in that instant, the improvement had been immeasurable.
A Demigod was called a Demigod because only half of their existence had crossed the threshold.
Noah was in a similar state.
That made him wonder.
If the tenth rank took less than a second-
What would the eleventh rank be like?
The God rank.
After thinking it through, he dismissed the thought.
That was far beyond him for now.
He had just stepped into the tenth rank.
Overthinking was pointless.
Besides, the Dormammu incident had been a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Not every god would encounter something like that.
"I understand, Master," Noah nodded.
"I'll work hard."
"You don't need to work hard right now," the Ancient One said calmly.
Noah froze.
"What?"
"The leap from the tenth to the eleventh rank is no longer about accumulation," she explained.
"You need deeper understanding. Deeper perception."
"And more importantly-you need rest."
Rest?
Noah rubbed his chin.
He understood what she meant.
The System had mentioned laws and rules before.
At this level, those things mattered far more than raw power.
Even if he didn't understand them yet, it wouldn't stop him from trying.
And honestly-
He really was exhausted.
He had been pushing himself nonstop for far too long.
He had already planned to spend time with Hermione anyway.
Now that he was tenth rank, and his Domain was being fused by the System, this was his most relaxed period in a long time.
After resting properly, he would inherit the position of Sorcerer Supreme.
Then he'd deal with the mess Hela was bound to cause.
But for now, Hela wasn't a concern.
Even without a completed Domain, Angel Mode or Dragonborn Mode would be more than enough to keep her busy.
After some more casual conversation, Noah left Kamar-Taj.
The discussion with his Master had been extremely valuable.
This time, he didn't open a portal.
He floated upward instead.
Suspended in the sky, Noah closed his eyes.
A familiar panel appeared before him.
Name: Noah Finniel Neltharion
Mage Level: 10 (Tier 1)
Progress: 8% / 8%