Aiwass possessed emotions such as joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness, but whenever Roy faced her, he always felt a strange sensation from the depths of his heart. It was as though, buried beneath the Angel's emotions, there were feelings utterly different from those of humanity.
Her voice seemed distant, like the static crackling from an old television with a poor signal. According to Aiwass, this was because her words were difficult for humans to understand, resulting in this distortion.
"...The one dwelling inside Laura Stuart's body is the Great Demon Kolozun. He is the demon who symbolizes '333.' Ten years ago, he failed in his attempt to seize Aleister's body, and somehow ended up in London, England."
Aiwass's voice was always vague and indistinct, as though she were trying to translate secrets incomprehensible to humans into ordinary English. It sounded exceptionally awkward.
"The Great Demon Kolozun? Since you're called the Holy Guardian Angel, is Kolozun an existence similar to you?"
Roy furrowed his brow. If the demon dwelling inside Laura's body was an existence equal to Aiwass, then things would become extremely troublesome. He had never imagined that demon's origins were so extraordinary.
Come to think of it, those siblings were quite interesting. One had an Archangel following behind him, while a Great Demon dwelled within the other's body.
"You may understand Kolozun as a fallen Angel. He is indeed an existence similar to me... Existences like us live within a higher phase XXXX and can appear in the Material World only in the form of 'spirits.' As spirits, we cannot exert much influence over the Material World. We require a physical medium in order to do so. That is why Kolozun wanted to seize Aleister and obtain Laura's body. Without a medium, he is merely a spirit capable only of observation."
Part of Aiwass's words was automatically censored. Roy knew that she had not deliberately skipped over it. Rather, when she spoke that term aloud, his human brain could not comprehend it, so his mind automatically filtered it out.
"I don't want to know where Kolozun came from. I only want to ask you, Aiwass: what do I need to do to drive that demon's spirit out of Laura's body?"
Roy interrupted Aiwass's long explanation and asked the question most crucial to him.
"You cannot do it."
Aiwass's answer was decisive.
"Then who can?"
"Aleister Crowley might be able to."
"Where is Aleister now? I'll go find him!"
This time, Aiwass did not answer Roy. The Holy Guardian Angel, the "Secret Chief" from a higher phase, gave Roy a strange smile. "...Roy, let me ask you something. Is Laura Stuart really your sister?"
"What do you mean?"
Hearing Aiwass's words and seeing her eerie smile, Roy was suddenly struck by terror.
Just as Roy was about to continue questioning her, Aiwass's radiant Angel form quietly vanished before his eyes.
Roy knew that unless Aiwass was willing, he had no way to force any more information out of her.
"Whew..."
Roy exhaled the turbid air in his chest, clenched his fists, and walked over to a full-length mirror.
He knew that all of this was because he was too weak and lacked sufficient power, leaving him so passive. If he possessed great strength and abundant knowledge, he could try driving the demon out of Laura's body himself. With enough strength and knowledge, he could even uncover the truth without relying on anyone else.
"Strength, knowledge..."
Roy whispered the words. He had never desired strength and knowledge so intensely before.
Standing before the full-length mirror, Roy looked at his reflection. Although this body was only fifteen years old, it was already nearly six feet tall. He had neat silver short hair and a beautiful, androgynous face that made it impossible to tell his gender when he stood there silently. Yes, his appearance could be described as beautiful.
Roy knew that his hair and looks must have been inherited from Aleister Crowley. Though he had never met the man called his "father," Roy knew that Aleister was a charismatic man with long silver hair and an exceptionally androgynous beauty.
In any case, compared to how Roy had looked before crossing over, his current appearance was countless times better.
"If I had looked like this before, I probably wouldn't have had any trouble finding a girlfriend, right?"
Roy gave a self-mocking smile, then shifted his gaze to his eyes in the mirror.
They were pitch-black eyes, the only feature Roy had inherited from his former self. Yet within those black eyes were two pupils—the legendary sign of a saint, Double Pupils!
According to the historical records of Cathay, only eight people had possessed Double Pupils, including Cangjie, Yu the Great, Chong'er, and Xiang Yu. Before crossing over, Roy had also been called Roy, but his surname had been Luo and his given name Yi, rather than the single name he had now.
The former Roy had been from Jiangsu, which was precisely the ancient territory of the Chu State. He had been born with Double Pupils and had suffered plenty of ridicule from other children when he was young. It was only after growing up and reading many history books that he learned that "having Double Pupils" was the sign of a saint. He had even smugly imagined himself the reincarnation of the Hegemon-King of Western Chu.
Then one day, Roy went to an ophthalmology hospital. After the ophthalmologist told him, "Double Pupils are actually a sticky deformity of the pupils and a symptom of early-stage cataracts," his dream of becoming the Hegemon-King of Western Chu finally died.
The rest of his life had been even less connected to the Hegemon-King of Western Chu. Had anyone ever seen the Hegemon-King end up as a photographer who occasionally used his photography skills to take suggestive pictures for girls?
Thinking of those amusing incidents from the past, Roy could not help laughing.
But he soon composed himself and shifted his gaze back to his silver hair.
What color had his mother's hair been? He could hardly remember... He had inherited Aleister's silver hair, while Laura's golden hair had come from their mother?
Was Laura Stuart really his sister?
Recalling what Aiwass had said, a faint fear rose within Roy's heart.
If Laura was not his sister, then who exactly was she? Who was the girl who had lived through hardship with him for so many years, always calling him "Brother" with a sweet smile, and occasionally letting him tease her for being a clueless airhead?
Roy suddenly slammed his fist hard into the wall beside him. Pain traveled from the nerve endings in his hand and stimulated his brain, while bright-red blood slid down the wall between his fingers.
"No, Laura is my sister. She's that adorable, beautiful little sister. No matter who she is, nothing can change the fact that she's my sister!"
Roy spoke with absolute determination and not the slightest hesitation.
Chapter Four: The Book of Secrets
"Brother, your hand?"
Bright-red blood flowed down the mottled wall. The sweet, pure voice behind him brought Roy back to his senses. His stern face once again revealed a gentle smile, and he quickly turned around. "...Sorry, I frightened you, Laura! The contents of that book put me in a bad mood. Before I knew it, I ended up like this."
Roy gestured with his lips toward the Book of 777 on the table.
As her brother, he could not pass his troubles on to his sister. He was the sort of person who would perfectly fulfill the responsibilities brought by his identity.
It was a Grimoire that served as an extremely toxic Demonic Path Canon, practically a text recording the "essence of an evil god." Fools were fine after seeing the occult knowledge recorded on its surface, but the more intelligent a person was, the deeper they could dig into the thoughts of Aleister contained within the book, and the more thoroughly they would be poisoned by its profound, terrifying venom.
"Aleister Crowley..."
Laura Stuart saw the author's name on the cover. A trace of gloom flashed through her ocean-blue, pure eyes, and even her sweet, lovely voice became low. "...You shouldn't read something written by a piece of trash like that, Brother. It will poison you."
Ever since she was little, Laura's tone had always carried deep hatred whenever she mentioned "Aleister." Back then, Roy had assumed that Laura hated Aleister for forgetting the two of them and leaving them to suffer alone. But after hearing what Aiwass had said, Roy felt that there was a deeper meaning behind her hatred of Aleister.
"Oh no, your hand is still bleeding..."
The somewhat airheaded girl seemed to notice only now that the blood was still slowly flowing from Roy's hand. She hurriedly and clumsily found a roll of gauze.
The war had just ended, and military supplies that could be used at the front were surprisingly easy to find in London. Laura fetched a pair of scissors, carefully cut off a strip of gauze, and gently wrapped it around Roy's right hand.
Roy lowered his head. His nose was filled with the girl's elegant, orchid-like fragrance. Laura's gorgeous golden hair spilled messily onto the floor, while her delicate, pretty face was utterly serious. Her slender hands were like pale, warm jade as she carefully wrapped the wound on his hand with gauze. Only—
"Laura, I advise you to hold on to your kindness and never take up a job related to nursing."
Roy looked helplessly at his bulky, bandaged hand. He felt as though the gauze had strangled his main artery. There was no way it could stop the bleeding like this.
If this had been the front line, he suspected the soldiers might not have died in battle with the enemy at all. They would have been strangled to death by Laura's gauze.
"Huh? Is my technique really that bad? I was definitely taught how to do this..."
Laura's eyes wandered, and she did not dare meet Roy's gaze. A faint blush appeared on her tender cheeks, and she looked extremely guilty. Her foolish, embarrassed smile made her resemble a dazed goose.
"Who taught you how to bandage wounds?"
"Sister Ella from the Puritan Church nearby."
"I trust Sister Ella's bandaging skills. She shouldn't have taught you to wrap it like this."
Roy glanced again at his bizarrely bandaged right hand and teased her.
"Is my bandaging really that terrible, Brother? You're not joking?"
Laura opened her mouth slightly, surprise appearing on her face.
Roy rolled his eyes. He had to admit that his sister, Laura Stuart, was sometimes truly an airhead—so much of one that he could not understand her at all.
"The bread is going to get cold. Once it turns hard, it won't taste good. I'll bring it over."
Perhaps Roy's expression had embarrassed her. Laura lifted her long skirt and stood up to fetch dinner. However, kneeling for too long had impaired the circulation in her legs. When she stood, she accidentally stepped on her own hair, which was almost as long as she was tall, and staggered. If Roy had not caught her, she would have taken a spectacular fall.
Watching Laura dash foolishly and adorably into the cramped kitchen, Roy could not help laughing.
This was the sister who had lived with him for more than ten years—a sister who, apart from having an unbelievably beautiful face, was practically useless at everything. She seemed unable to do any kind of work. Perhaps the only thing she could do was raise her beautiful, adorable smile and act cute.
Dinner began at the old table in this warm atmosphere. Calling Laura "useless" was not meant as a malicious insult, because she truly was bad at many things. For example, she had done an ordinary job with this simple dinner, and the homemade jam was a little too sour. Roy could barely swallow it.
Still, he did not complain. This was not the twenty-first century. In London, where the war had just ended, two impoverished children being able to eat even a little jam was already a great blessing. More than a decade of hardship had taught Roy to live simply.
After dinner, Laura went to tidy the room. Although she was diligent, she once again ended up in a flurry of chaos. Roy did not dare let her touch things like plates and bowls. If she accidentally smashed them, they would probably have to eat with their hands for a long time afterward.
During the leisure time after dinner, Roy walked over to the bookcase and randomly pulled out a book.
As though remembering something, he asked the busy Laura, "...Is there any news today?"
Laura was wiping the table when she accidentally knocked her knee against it and cried out in pain. Hearing Roy's question, she thought for a moment before answering, "...Sister Ella said that the countries involved in the war seem to be holding a meeting."
Because the siblings had received a great deal of care from the church when they were young, they were both devout enough. Whenever they had free time, they would go to the church and do volunteer work to help others.
"Paris, huh..."
Roy muttered under his breath.
At this point, Roy was already considering whether he should find a way to move to North America. In the first half of the twentieth century, it should have been the safest place in the world. Most other countries had wars breaking out somewhere or another.
However, there were still more than ten years before the war began. Perhaps by then he would have become a powerful mage, strong enough to protect himself and his sister during the war. Thus, Roy was not in any hurry.
He read the book in his hand for a while before closing it and turning it over to look at the cover. There he saw the author's name—Aleister Crowley.
This was not a Grimoire, but a thoroughly erotic novel.
In Roy's limited memories, Aleister Crowley was a final boss standing behind layer upon layer of curtains, seemingly playing with the entire world in the palm of his hand. In reality, Aleister Crowley was an extremely lecherous middle-aged man. Calling him "lustful" would not be an exaggeration.
Aleister's private life was a complete mess. He had countless lovers, enjoyed telling strange jokes, and spent his time among women.
However, Aleister had no respect for or sacred feelings toward "romance." In this room were also letters Aleister had written to Roy's mother. From the fragments of those letters, one could tell that the reason for his attitude was simple: he was too handsome.
Yes, Aleister was too handsome. He could easily win women's hearts through his appearance alone. To him, obtaining a woman was as simple as eating or drinking. That was why he did not care about women at all—not even realizing that he had illegitimate children.
(Note: I didn't make this up. The Aleister in the original work really was this kind of person.)
"What a sad, hateful world that judges people by their faces!"
Roy let out a wail. Before crossing over, he had struggled enormously just to find a girlfriend. He was incredibly jealous now.
But after seeing himself in the mirror, the lemon planted in Roy's heart quickly changed from sour to sweet. Having inherited Aleister's excellent genes, he seemed to have no reason to be jealous anymore.
"Even Aleister was limited by his era. What kind of garbage are these novels? They can't compare at all to the web fiction from Cathay that I've read. Even if I wrote one now, it would be better than his."
Roy shook his head and shoved the novel back onto the bookshelf. Aleister loved writing strange web fiction, but he really was not very good at it. No publisher was willing to publish it and lose money, so Aleister eventually had to finance the publication himself.
After straightening out his emotions, Roy returned to his workbench. He took a deep breath and pulled a book from the very bottom of the desk.
This was a truly forbidden book, one feared by every mage who followed a religion.
Roy looked at the name on the cover—
The Book of Law (Law of the Thelema).
Chapter Five: Aleister Crowley
Many people believed that The Book of Law had been written by Aleister Crowley. In reality, Aiwass had dictated the book to Aleister, who merely recorded it. Thus, the knowledge contained in The Book of Law did not belong to Aleister at all, but to the Holy Guardian Angel Aiwass.
Aside from the Book of 777, whose existence was known only to a very small number of people, Aleister's true achievement was The Book of Thoth.
Drawing upon his knowledge of Egyptian Mythology, Judaism, Hebrew symbols, the I Ching, alchemy, astrology, spiritual mathematics, and more, Aleister created a new set of tarot cards for himself—the Thoth Tarot. The Book of Thoth recorded his understanding of this tarot deck.
The Thoth Tarot could be called the most classic tarot deck in the world. It held an extremely important position in the occult and was an essential item for cultivation.
Now, Aiwass existed behind Roy in the form of a "plurality." If Roy wished, he could also reproduce The Book of Law through Aiwass's voice.
"The Book of Law should already have been written by Aleister Crowley, right? If I write another Book of Law, will it conflict with Aleister's Book of Law as an original canon?"
Roy sat before the chair, a quill turning in his hand as he opened the Book of Law he held.
Three-quarters of this Book of Law had already been written, leaving only one-quarter of its pages blank. For a Grimoire, before the writing was complete, it was merely an ordinary book containing recorded words. But once the Grimoire was completed, unimaginable magical properties would emerge.
"A Demonic Path Canon is merely a medium through which a mage records the knowledge they have learned throughout their life. If another person copies a Grimoire, the new book will remain an ordinary object because that person cannot understand the knowledge within it. However, if the original author of the Grimoire possesses the ability, they can write two identical Demonic Path Canons."
Aiwass's voice remained as obscure as ever, like a distorted recording, but Roy understood what she meant.
In other words, if someone copied the contents of The Book of Law, the copy would possess no magic whatsoever. But if a new Book of Law was dictated personally by Aiwass, then two Books of Law would exist in this world.
Aiwass was, by nature, a Secret Chief capable of creating two identical Demonic Path Canons.
"I understand. Then let's continue copying it now. Today, we'll finish The Book of Law."
As Roy finished speaking, Aiwass, who had appeared behind him, transformed into streaks of light and vanished. Roy's eyes immediately became hollow and vacant, as though his body had been taken over by someone else.
His long, slender hand gripped the quill and began moving across the paper on its own. As his lips moved, it was as though a spirit were manipulating his body, imparting to him, by word of mouth, "only the necessary parts of the necessary knowledge."
"..."
Before you continue