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*****
Leaving Mr. Door to wait on the sidelines, George consumed a Sequence 1 "Key of Stars" Beyonder characteristic, successfully jumping from the Fool pathway to the Apprentice pathway.
Upon the success of this transition, he simultaneously possessed the dual powers of a Key of Stars and an Attendant of Mysteries.
"Amanises, restart the seal."
At the original site of the altar, a pitch-black door creaked open. George stepped inside without a moment's hesitation.
This was the very seal the Lord of Storms and the Evernight Goddess had previously used to imprison Mr. Door; now, the Evernight Goddess had reopened it for him. Once George crossed the threshold of the dark gate, the portal snapped shut and slowly faded into nothingness, as if it had never existed in the first place.
"Is he planning to..."
Seeing George vanish behind the black door, Mr. Door immediately guessed that George intended to advance to Sequence 0 of the Apprentice pathway—becoming a True God.
Just as he was wondering how George would eventually break through the seal from the inside, a spatial rift suddenly manifested. George stepped out of it quite leisurely.
"Why is it that after switching to the Apprentice pathway, his Sequence 1 spatial abilities are even stronger than mine were after I became a True God?"
Watching George exit the seal by simply opening a spatial door, Mr. Door's eyes widened in disbelief.
However, when he recalled how George—while still only a Sequence 1 Attendant of Mysteries—had not only defeated him right after his own advancement but had also driven away the Goddess of Depravity, he felt that the current situation was perhaps not so unacceptable.
The gap between individuals could truly be an insurmountable chasm.
"The Apprentice pathway's ability to open doors is actually quite useful," George remarked with a sigh of satisfaction after the advancement ritual was complete.
In truth, his original plan had been to use brute force to break the seal of the Evernight Goddess and the Lord of Storms; it wouldn't have been particularly difficult for him. However, after jumping to the Apprentice pathway, he realized that its spatial authority greatly enhanced his own spatial magic. Thus, he didn't need to go through such trouble; he could simply 'open' a door through the seal and return to the altar.
---
Countless phantoms of doors overlapped within George's body. Once again, every door in the entire world swung open, and the seals on all Sealed Artifacts momentarily failed.
A moment later, George opened his eyes. He had become a True God of the Apprentice pathway.
A True God of this pathway possesses many abilities, most of which are tethered to space. The most formidable of these is the mastery over the conceptual authority of "The Door."
As long as the power gap isn't too vast, an Apprentice True God can open or close anything in the world related to the concept of a door, allowing seals to be broken or reinforced at will. They can also conceptualize their physical form—for instance, turning into a ray of starlight to travel across the universe.
With the blessing of these True God abilities, all of George's spatial and sealing magic received a massive boost. The various creative uses of the "Alohomora" unlocking charm he had once imagined were now finally achievable in reality.
This meant that his Unlocking Charm, beyond opening literal doors, could now truly open "conceptual" doors: the mind's door, the heart's door, or even biological "doors" like genetic locks.
Having successfully advanced, George did not stop. He produced the "Fool" Uniqueness and the two remaining "Attendant of Mysteries" characteristics. Today, he intended to advance directly into a Dual-Pathway True God of both Apprentice and Fool.
"I didn't expect you to become a Dual-Pathway True God so quickly. In that case, I'll be taking this body!"
Just as George swallowed and fused the Fool's Uniqueness and characteristics, the consciousness of the Celestial Worthy began to awaken within him once more.
Compared to previous instances, this awakening was exceptionally powerful and rapid. This was because George now held two of the core pathways belonging to the Celestial Worthy's original domain.
"Wishful thinking. Go back to sleep!"
George was unfazed by the Celestial Worthy's resurgence. He used his immense soul strength to forcibly suppress the ancient consciousness. He was no ordinary Dual-Pathway True God; his inherent power was already comparable to one even before this advancement.
"You can hide for a moment, but not for a lifetime. Once you take the final pathway, even your current soul strength won't be enough to stop my return," the Celestial Worthy's voice echoed one last time before being completely suppressed.
George merely curled his lip in disdain. "Sorry to break it to you, but this is only one-twelfth of my soul."
---
After advancing to a Dual-Pathway True God, the energy within George's body surged several times over, bringing him to the absolute limit of a Single Universe entity.
"In that case, I might as well break through to the Multiverse level!"
He was not one for hesitation. Since the opportunity for a breakthrough was right here, he decided to push his individual power to the Multiverse level. Doing so would see his strength leap forward once again.
Including his main body in the primary world, all twelve of his bodies closed their eyes simultaneously to begin the breakthrough. An individual's ascent to the Multiverse level isn't as complex as a cosmic multiversal shift; as long as the energy is sufficient, the barrier can be breached.
Furthermore, George's body was filled with high-level energies like the Phoenix Force and Chaos Magic, making the breakthrough even smoother. With almost no effort, George's life tier underwent a massive evolution, and his internal energy reserves instantly multiplied more than a hundredfold.
In terms of raw energy alone, the Multiverse-level George had already surpassed the Outer Deities lurking in the cosmos.
"It's not over yet!"
Taking advantage of the surging energy and his body's unprecedented state, George's various avatars began to act.
The avatar in the Sorcerer's Apprentice world poured out all its mental power and energy, completely enveloping that entire world. Then, in a sudden burst, he dragged the entirety of the Sorcerer's Apprentice world into his own internal world.
If he had relied on his previous strength, it would have taken him at least several years to fully devour and integrate that world. But now, thanks to his dual-pathway advancement and his shift to an individual Multiverse level, he finished in one breath what should have taken years.
Simply pulling the world in wasn't enough; he needed to fully merge it to reach the World-Multiverse level.
"Fusing!"
The souls of the main body and all other avatars flooded into the Sorcerer's Apprentice avatar, causing his soul strength to explode twelvefold. With such overwhelming soul power, manipulating the world laws to integrate the new realm became effortless.
Within two hours, the Sorcerer's Apprentice world had completely become a part of George's domain.
Possessing two worlds simultaneously meant that George had broken the boundaries of a single universe. His life tier leaped again, and his energy reserves skyrocketed once more. Now, both his main body and all his avatars were dual-threats: Individual-Multiverse level and World-Multiverse level.
With the combined magic of multiple worlds and the authority of a Dual-Pathway True God, he could now hold his own even against established Multiversal entities—like Chthon, the God of Black Magic.
He might not be able to win a direct confrontation yet, but he could certainly get away.
(End of Chapter)