The opening ceremony for the film was still held in Massachusetts. It's farther north than New York, so it's colder too. Two more heavy snowfalls had come after Christmas. But on the day of the opening, it was an incredibly clear day, the sky so blue it was almost transparent, without a single cloud. The snow‑covered Magic Academy castle looked like it had walked straight out of an animated film.
The cold weather didn't dampen the Little Wizards' enthusiasm in the slightest. Everyone was running around the castle's great hall. Many of them hadn't seen each other for a long time. For kids this age, that span of time was already enough to count as a long‑awaited reunion. Everyone was looking for their own little buddies to chatter away with. The parents also sat in small groups, chatting together.
You could see that this time there were more parents than before. The publicity for the first film had been very effective, and it meant that when many parents discovered their children's Magic Talent, the first thing they thought of was Iphamoni. So this year's intake was more than double the previous one; the entire great hall was almost filled to the brim.
The academy's regulations had finally been improved as well. What age they enrolled, what age they graduated, all had very strict requirements. The brand‑new freshmen were all the same age. If they were too young, they would be asked to go home and wait a while. If they were older, they would be considered for skipping grades.
This nicely eased the problem of wildly uneven ages within the same year. When everyone in a grade is the same age, they also get along better, which is better for the children's mental health.
In addition, Iphamoni's adult academy had been split off. Before, when they recruited Batman, he studied together with the younger children. But that actually wasn't very good. After all, if you mix elementary school with university, it's unsafe on one hand, and on the other, it easily leads to bullying.
Fortunately, the space inside the castle was large enough. A separate, self‑contained courtyard was designated as the adult academy. The people who studied here were mostly those who awakened their Magic Talent only in adulthood, or simply independent Magicians who had set up on their own. Calling it an academy, it was actually more like a research club, especially when quite a few Batmen came here for further study.
The first batch of Batman who came here had already completed their studies, but of course some people had missed the chance. And then they saw those Batmen who had mastered Magic punching the Lantern Corps and kicking Mount Olympus, so naturally they wanted to understand the mysteries of Magic as well, and applied to the academy to study.
The school even had a few Robins. Most of them came because Batman didn't have time, and they had learned about Magic from their counterparts, so they wanted to come see for themselves. Most Robins actually didn't have much Magic Talent, but there were always a few special ones, so they stayed on to study.
At present, Strange himself was mainly responsible for the adult academy. Because with so many adult Mages, it was too easy for trouble to break out. They could all contract Demon Gods right from the start. If that rich, surging Magic Energy wasn't properly controlled, it could blow up the whole school.
However, Strange had too many things to manage. Especially since he now had to write electronic medical records himself; even though he could use templates, it still took a lot of time. Fortunately, Hanix's arrival solved his problem.
This powerful Witch became the dean of the adult academy, freeing Strange from that duty and allowing him to put more of his energy into the film shoot. His role in the second film was quite substantial as well.
The parts Strange had to perform were actually quite challenging. On the one hand, he had to play the headmaster in the real world, but that headmaster was actually fake, and he had to act out the fake headmaster's contempt and impatience toward the Protagonists. On the other hand, he also had to play the real Supreme Magician, especially since he had a lot of scenes opposite Shiller in the Saphire arc, and he had to embody the true Supreme Magician's sense of justice and power.
Bear in mind that Strange had almost never put on any Supreme Magician airs in front of Shiller, so the opening scene went very poorly.
"Christ Crown…" The Supreme Magician's voice echoed through the meditation room. He stood in front of the table, his brows and eyes under the dim lamp light taking on a certain mysterious sharpness. He gently rolled up his sleeves and clasped his hands behind his back. "Why have you become interested in that place?"
"The New Continent always has many interesting places." Saphire stood opposite him. Compared to the slightly weathered face of the Supreme Magician, he looked much younger. "Kamar-Taj is always so hidebound. We know very little about that Mainland. There's no harm in going to take a look, is there?"
"What you call enterprising spirit is actually a greedy pursuit of Strength that was never meant to be yours. Saphire, that sinful, barren land will only drag you deep into the mire."
The two of them were in a dimly lit room, the visual language of the camera obscuring their true features. Saphire's brows and eyes were much softer than the Supreme Magician's; he didn't look gloomy at all. On the contrary, he exuded a kind of scholarly elegance.
Keep in mind, the audience had already learned from the first film that this guy named Saphire was a brutal Black Magician. Even though he had yet to appear or take action, he was already notorious.
So when the Supreme Magician called out Saphire's name, everyone would feel surprised. Because this young man being addressed as Saphire didn't look evil at all, nor the least bit brutal; he was nothing like the utterly depraved villain they had imagined.
Many in the audience would speculate that perhaps he, too, had once been a good person, and only after undergoing some major upheaval did he become the Great Demon who later made the Magic realm tremble in fear.
And this so-called journey of exploration to the Crown of Christ might be exactly the crucial turning point. It's meant to let the audience understand how this man, probably the biggest villain in the whole series, ended up becoming what he is today.
However, some sharp-eyed viewers have already noticed that the Supreme Magician seems somewhat wary of Saphire. Whenever he talks to Saphire, he looks extremely tense. Many people think it's because Saphire's Magic Talent is too good, that the Supreme Magician feels his own position is threatened, which is why he's nervous.
By this point, the Supreme Magician's reputation has taken a bit of a hit. Quite a few viewers think he's just jealous of the talented and resentful of the capable, suspecting Saphire for no reason at all, and that this might be one of the reasons Saphire eventually falls.
What they don't realize is that this tension has absolutely nothing to do with acting. Strange tenses up whenever he has a scene opposite Shiller.
Back when he played the principal and school doctor, he already didn't dare get too close. Now he's playing the Supreme Magician and the Great Demon, and he's still just as nervous.
During the scenes set in the school, it's because Strange realized that wasn't Greed. And in the scenes outside the school, it's because Strange almost never puts on the Supreme Magician's airs in front of Greed; he even feels slightly ashamed doing it.
It's like you usually joke around with your friend, and then one day you show up at their job interview and watch them solemnly bullshitting through it—it's really hard not to crack up.
Just filming this segment alone, Greed broke character laughing several times. Because Strange playing the Supreme Magician with a straight face is genuinely hilarious; you really can't blame him for having a low laugh threshold.
First off, Strange gives himself special effects. Clearly indoors, but there's wind around him. According to Strange's own Explanation, this is "the natural manifestation when Magic and Spiritual Energy are surging," but Greed knows perfectly well it's just Strange using Magic Energy to whip up effects, so his hems, cloak, and hair tips can flutter in non-existent wind and look cooler.
And Strange's eyes will Blink with Magic Glow. He's always done that whenever he uses Magic, but now he's randomly blinking even while talking, which really makes Greed lose it—it's like he's wearing overpowered spotlight-colored contacts. Every time Strange looks over, Greed immediately gets yanked out of the scene.
Also, Strange might be acting seriously, but the Cloak definitely isn't. The Supreme Magician's Cloak has a mind of its own. The Cloak and Gray mist are good friends and aren't scared of Shiller at all. So you get the Supreme Magician reciting lines with a straight face, scolding Saphire, while his Cloak is behind him secretly making little hearts at Shiller. Anyone who can keep from laughing at that is practically superhuman.
The director is also at his wits' end; he never expected what seemed like an easy opening scene to turn out like this. If it's already like this now, what's going to happen with the final battle later?
Luckily, once they get to the Crown of Christ, the Supreme Magician exits the stage, leaving just Shiller and Mephisto's scenes. Those two are surprisingly in sync when they film—so much so that you could say life imitates art and art imitates life. No need to act at all, they just interact the way they normally do.
The segment where Saphire Temptation Mephisto is the climax of the entire sequence. Greed also brought out everything he's got. The moment his true face is revealed, the audience went wild.
Most people had been expecting a tragic tale. For instance, a powerful, gifted young Magician is lured into corruption by Devils, commits irredeemable sins, strays further and further under the influence of his Heart Demon, and ultimately becomes the most powerful Black Magician.
What viewers were looking forward to was the psychological transformation Saphire undergoes through this series of painful experiences. That would keep the villain from being too flat and would make many of his actions feel justified.
But contrary to everyone's expectations, there's no catastrophic ordeal, no agonizing transformation. Saphire is simply rotten to the core.
Was that gentleness just a facade? Actually, no. Even when he's talking to Mephisto, he's unhurried and calm, never displaying any obvious evil or bloodthirsty traits. He uses the mildest tone possible to say things that make even Devils shudder.
So are the things he does in the Christ Crown Region evil? Not exactly. Thanks to the setup about the background of the Christ Crown Region, all viewers know that the evil there is bottomless. And the ones responsible for all of it are the people living there. One bloody case after another, each murder crueler than the last. There are very few in this world more wicked than them.
Saphire chooses to purge the place. His methods may be a bit brutal, but many viewers believe he had no choice. This place is already rotten to the core; if your methods aren't extreme, you simply can't save it.
Through his performance and actions, Saphire draws many viewers into his logic, making them viscerally grasp one truth—bad people never think they're bad.