Since the timing wasn't right, Victor didn't examine the book closely. Besides, he still had some questions for these two old-timers who had lived for a very long time.
Thus, Victor simply flipped through the book, scanning its contents directly into his database in the form of memory.
Aziraphale was right. Even with just a cursory glance, Victor was shocked by the bloody and evil Dark Arts within its pages.
This book deconstructed the three Unforgivable Curses in great detail and included various sinister sacrificial rituals and curses...
After a while, Victor closed the manuscript and handed it back to Aziraphale.
"You're finished already?" Aziraphale asked, somewhat surprised.
"I just flipped through it; I didn't study it in detail," Victor said with a smile. "As you said, the content of this book is far too evil."
"It's just a pity the author is dead and not in our world. If he were in mine, he'd definitely go to Hell. I might even have been able to make friends with him then," Crowley said cheerfully.
"Hmm... I have some questions I'd like to ask the two of you," Victor said, weighing his words.
"What questions?"
"You mentioned earlier that your power was assimilated by the world... Has your essence changed as well?" Victor asked.
"No, only our power system changed. This world's power cannot change our essence," Crowley replied, shaking his head.
"That's how it is... However, this conversion is ultimately good news," Aziraphale added. "Because in this new world, we cannot feel Heaven or Hell. Originally, our power would have dwindled as we used it... but that's no longer the case, as we have been completely assimilated into wizards."
"Ha! I even got myself a new wand!" Crowley pulled a jet-black wand from his pocket.
"Oh... where did you get that?" Aziraphale asked in surprise. "Did you buy it from that wand shop in Diagon Alley you mentioned?"
"Buy? No... I don't like buying things," Crowley said, waving a hand. "I found it."
"Found it?" Aziraphale looked at him with deep suspicion.
"Of course!" Crowley shrugged. "Anyway, when I took his wand, that Dark Wizard didn't raise any objections."
Hearing this, Victor thought to himself that the unlucky Dark Wizard was probably dead by now...
Dead people certainly don't raise objections. 'Perhaps Secrets of Darkest Arts was taken from that poor fellow's home as well.'
"He didn't object? That's strange... No! How is that possible! Did you... did you..." Aziraphale seemed to realize something and looked at Crowley in shock.
"He was a villain anyway; I could smell the stench of decay coming from his soul. Sending him to Hell early was just preventing him from hurting more people... This is one of those rare occasions where I'm acting on your behalf! Why are you looking at me like that?" Crowley said impatiently.
"Ahem..." Victor cleared his throat, interrupting their conversation before it could escalate into an argument. "I actually have a very important question to ask you."
Both of them turned to look at Victor.
"Well... I have a friend..."
However, before Victor could finish, Crowley began to laugh.
"Haha, that 'friend' is you, isn't it! Just be honest and tell us what you want to know," Crowley chuckled.
"You... you two..." Victor was left speechless by Crowley's directness.
Although Aziraphale didn't speak, his eyes gleamed with a wisdom that was entirely different from before.
Victor understood now.
While Voldemort was shrewd, he was far inferior to the two beings in front of him when it came to observation and wisdom.
Beings who had lived since the dawn of creation—even if they were from another world—possessed experience and cunning far beyond that of ordinary people.
"Although you questioned our story earlier and performed the appropriate amount of shock... I can sense it was a lie. So... in truth, you're just like us. You also come from another world, don't you..." Crowley looked at Victor with a smirk.
"There's no need to be nervous, Mr. Wick. We mean you no harm," Aziraphale said sincerely.
He had actually seen through things a long time ago. However, he was an angel after all, and he wouldn't be as casual as Crowley the demon in stripping away someone's disguise.
But since Crowley had laid it all out, he could only try his best to soothe Victor's emotions. He didn't want the first wizard friend he'd made to fall out with them.
Victor fell silent for a moment.
Being seen through was likely because he had left openings during their last conversation; he had been too eager to know things and had asked too much.
As the saying goes, the more one speaks, the more likely one is to slip up... Victor had learned another lesson.
In that case...
"Alright, you caught me. I am indeed from another world. It's just that... I might have arrived ten or so years earlier than you, and I don't have such a special identity."
Victor's decision to admit this came after careful consideration.
Since they had already mentioned that there might be other interdimensional travelers, there was no harm in admitting it openly.
Besides, since he had already been seen through, continuing to hide it would be meaningless and might even cause their relationship to hit rock bottom.
Victor didn't want things to go that way. After all, he might need their help in the future...
Moreover, now that everything was out in the open, he could ask many questions directly, which made Victor feel much more relaxed.
"Haha! I knew it!" Crowley laughed.
"Then we have even more in common. We shall certainly become better friends," Aziraphale said, appearing somewhat excited.
Although they came from different worlds, encountering fellow travelers in this new world was a special kind of fate.
Furthermore, exchanging information would be beneficial for everyone.
"Now, you can ask your questions boldly. There's no need to pretend anymore," Aziraphale continued.
"Alright... then I'll ask... Will you... will you be able to live forever after being assimilated by this world?" Victor asked.
The angel and demon before him were immortal beings who had lived from the beginning of time in their respective worlds. Thus, the question wasn't out of place.
"Of course! As I said, our essence hasn't changed. It's just that our original power can no longer be used; it's been assimilated into this world's... magic," Crowley said.
"Then... is it possible for other interdimensional travelers to be granted the power of immortality by this world?" Victor asked.
"Immortality?" Crowley and Aziraphale both looked at Victor in great surprise.
They exchanged a glance and then began to look Victor up and down.
After a long while, Aziraphale finally spoke. "Theoretically, it should be impossible... but you seem very different. I noticed it before. You have a power in you that is entirely different from ours..."
"It's eternity," Crowley interjected. "The power in him seems to keep him perpetually in the state of a specific moment. In other words, like us, he can live forever!"
"But I can still get hurt," Victor said, frowning.
"It's like a reflection in water. Even if it is occasionally distorted by ripples, it eventually returns to its original appearance," Aziraphale said.
"Are you saying that I am actually just a projection in this world?"
"No, no, no... I'm just using that as a metaphor... Your existence may be more complex. It's the assimilation power of this world that is constantly maintaining your state from a certain moment," Aziraphale explained.
"But... through my efforts over the years, both my mental strength and magic have made significant progress. If I am destined to be restored to a certain moment's state, how did my magic and mental strength grow?" Victor asked.
"Perhaps your efforts weren't making you progress, but rather allowing you to discover... Perhaps this was your own power all along, and your training simply allowed your original power to gradually manifest and be mastered. You yourself haven't actually changed much," Aziraphale said. "Or, it's possible that this assimilation power only keeps your body immortal, while the progress of your abilities isn't affected. Otherwise, your knowledge and skills wouldn't grow with time. I think the latter is more likely."
"Yes, your state is very peculiar," Crowley chimed in. "Theoretically, people who come to this new world have even their memories assimilated... We both felt that assimilation power. We even have a set of memories exclusive to this world in our minds... as if we grew up here. In the memories of some people around us, we've even been here for over ten years. But you... your memories seem to have never been modified."
"Exactly. It feels as though... our existence was copied from another world by this world and then meticulously woven into a background identity. You, however, seem to have been plugged in directly without any modification at all!" Aziraphale added.
Victor began to understand their words. Their arrival in this world was far more rational than his; at least they had plausible identities!
'I really am a patch added later, a piece of code... and the kind of code that can learn and grow on its own.'
'Is this world just a giant, precise program currently running?'
Victor suddenly realized that his understanding of this world was still far too shallow...
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