Osiris did not stop attacking the Evil God. Instead, he directed his voice towards Raven's position, speaking in a manner that only Ian could clearly perceive, like a whisper from the soul itself.
In the next instant... Osiris's words exploded like thunder in Ian Prince's mind. These few words struck his consciousness like a heavy hammer, shaking him to his core.
"Prince Family's bloodline..."
Such a simple phrase, yet it carried astonishing implications. Not only did the god of the underworld know his surname, but he also seemed familiar with the origins of his house. Ian's thoughts raced:
Could the magical bloodline of Prince House be connected to ancient Egypt in some unknown way?
But how could that be?
While the Prince family was indeed one of the pure-blood families, and their ancestors may have had some ties to ancient Egypt, Ian himself came from a later era of Hogwarts.
While ancient wizards and modern wizarding bloodlines might share similarities, it shouldn't be possible to identify them so definitively at a glance. Having never studied his family's genealogy in detail, Ian was unable to make sense of it.
At that very moment, Osiris and Isis acted simultaneously!
Osiris hurled forth the condensed sphere of deep-blue destruction. At the same time, he crossed his flail and crook, invoking the laws of the Underworld. Countless wailing souls of various forms surged forth like a tidal wave, chanting a deafening requiem as they charged towards the Evil God.
"An existence that should never have been born! You must be purified!"
Isis raised both hands high. A green-gold light of life transformed into a vast net of healing that continuously purified the assimilated city while forming a resilient barrier that disrupted the Evil God's perception and attacks below.
"Insects! You dare shake a tree?! You should be buried; you're nothing more than mere old gods!"
The Evil God roared furiously. Its massive body, resembling a mountain of flesh, writhed violently as countless thick tentacles, covered in fangs and suckers, rose like living mountain ranges. Shrieking as they tore through space, the tentacles surged forward to meet Osiris's tide of wailing souls and the sphere of destruction.
At the same time, the enormous, purple-red eye on its chest, mutated from the Eye of Ra and oozing putrid fluid, unleashed a devastating energy beam, which crashed violently into Isis's net of life!
"BOOM...!!!"
An indescribable explosion swept across heaven and earth!
Osiris's deep-blue sphere of destruction collided with the tentacles, erupting into a storm of dark energy that devoured everything in its path, instantly annihilating several of the tentacles. Yet more tentacles surged forward relentlessly, forcing the storm back.
The requiem hymn of the wailing souls clashed violently with the tentacles' shrieks. The combined sound made the very fabric of reality groan under unbearable strain.
Under the continuous bombardment of the purple-red beam, Isis's net of life began to crack and fluctuate violently. Yet the green-gold radiance around her grew ever brighter, constantly repairing the damage and spreading purification without pause.
Space itself screamed!
The distortion of heaven and earth reached its peak. The viscous, gelatinous air was torn apart, forming countless fractures in space like shattered glass. The battle in the sky had entered its most intense phase.
Osiris and Isis stood side by side. The power of the Underworld and the energy of life merged to form a rotating vortex that surged directly towards Set-Apep.
"I am invincible!"
The Evil God let out a thunderous roar. Sixteen radiant wings burst forth, emitting a profane light and forcibly resisting the combined attack of the two gods.
The collision of these three forces had terrifying consequences.
Space itself continued to emit cries of unbearable strain.
The fabric of reality fractured, forming a web of cracks.
Ian could clearly see dimensional ruptures appearing in the air, like a shattered mirror reflecting countless distorted fragments of reality. This was precisely the phenomenon recorded in ancient magical texts as the 'Wail of Reality': when forces beyond the world's limits collide, the boundary between reality and illusion begins to blur.
Perhaps it was this apocalyptic clash of gods and demons, with its immense energy fluctuations and tearing of space, that had completely exposed the boundary where Ian was hiding, at the intersection of reality and illusion.
That must be how Osiris discovered him.
Had this boundary become unstable due to the aftershocks of the War of Gods, spreading like ripples across a calm lake after a stone is thrown, thus revealing Raven's form?
Ian's raven form, concealed through advanced transfiguration and cognition-interference magic, was difficult to maintain under such violent disturbances of reality.
It was like someone hiding behind a curtain; once the curtain itself began to shake violently, their silhouette would inevitably be revealed.
"Perhaps that's the reason…"
Ian could only speculate, but he had no time to verify it.
Fortunately, it was the God of the Underworld, not the Evil God, who discovered him. Osiris was clearly helping him in secret. Not only did he refrain from exposing him, he even guided him subtly.
But the Evil God must never discover him!
If that devouring monster were to turn its attention towards him... all his efforts to remain hidden would become meaningless.
There was no time to question anything further.
The most urgent task right now was to enter the cellar and find out why Osiris cared about it and why he had diverted his attention during the battle just to tell Ian to go and take a look.
"I have to hurry."
Suppressing all shock and doubt, Ian concentrated all his energy on transforming into his raven form.
In his Raven form, Ian beat his wings and sped forward like a bolt of black lightning, weaving through the chaotic battlefield.
He nimbly dodged the scattered aftershocks of energy. The River Styx's churning waters and the fragments of light shed by the Evil God corroded the air itself, tearing open one spatial rift after another.
He took advantage of the moment when Osiris and Isis unleashed their most ferocious joint assault, completely drawing the attention of the Evil God to the frontal battlefield.
The raven transformed into a streak of black light and, at maximum speed, shot straight towards the area beneath the Evil God's massive, flesh-covered body, the region engulfed in writhing flesh and purple-red radiance, almost fused with the earth itself!
The closer he got to the Evil God's true body, the more terrifying the surrounding energy turbulence became. Ian had to constantly adjust his flight trajectory, narrowly avoiding energy storms powerful enough to tear apart even legendary wizards. Several times, the creature's radiant wings nearly brushed against his own, and the resulting energy fluctuations caused his transfiguration to destabilize briefly.
"This won't work…" Ian quickly realized that, relying on himself alone, he would never break through the automatic energy barrier surrounding the Evil God. Those distorted halos were not just defenses; they were a sensory domain. Any intruder would immediately be detected by Set-Apep.
And the Evil God's perception was frighteningly sharp.
He had nearly been discovered just moments ago.
Even while being restrained by the two gods, he sensed a faint disturbance below, something that did not belong to this world. A thin, serpentine tentacle shot out from beneath the flesh mountain with a piercing shriek, aiming directly at the black streak of light. Its speed far exceeded the Raven's flight!
At the last possible moment, Ian pulled back abruptly, just managing to avoid detection. This only made things worse, however, as the difficulty of the situation became even clearer.
Just as he was considering his next move, the battle suddenly shifted.
Osiris seemed to have noticed something. The hooked staff in his hand changed direction abruptly. Instead of attacking the main body of the Evil God, it pierced towards the root of the third light wing on Set-Apep's left side. Even while battling several massive tentacles, the god of the underworld had somehow sensed the danger below.
This was more than just an attack.
With a sudden sideways swing of his crook, Osiris invoked a powerful pull from the Underworld, forcibly dragging aside a massive tentacle that had been about to strike Isis. This seemingly minor action caused the enormous body of the Evil God to shift in order to maintain balance and attack rhythm right at a critical node in its energy flow.
"Damn it! Damn it! Why won't you submit?!"
Enraged, Set-Apep roared and shifted instinctively half a step to the right. This movement seemed insignificant, but it created a fleeting opening.
Just that half-step!
The mound beneath the Evil God's body suddenly slipped outside the protection of its energy barrier!
"Now!"
Ian seized the opportunity without hesitation. The Raven beat its wings violently, transforming into an almost invisible black line as it shot straight towards the exposed mound.
The pitch-black Raven crossed the mound like navigating the most dangerous minefield.
At the very instant it brushed past the tip of a tentacle, it slipped flawlessly and without obstruction into the dark abyss beneath the flesh mountain, where writhing flesh and purple-red light intertwined.
The closer he got to his target, the denser the chaotic energy in the air became, like flying through thick, viscous honey.
He could feel the monstrous body of the Evil God looming above him like an enormous, unstable mountain, radiating suffocating pressure.
At the same time, Isis provided perfect support. The ankh cross in her hand shone with an unprecedented brilliance as life energy surged towards the Evil God like a tide, forcing Set-Apep to focus its attention on her.
This gave Ian a precious fraction of a second.
Just as the Raven was about to reach the mound... A sudden change occurred.
An invisible force surged up from underground and gripped him as if in the grasp of a giant hand. He felt his transfiguration being forcibly undone: feathers retracting, beak transforming, and wings reverting to arms.
In the blink of an eye, he was forced back into human form and stumbled as he fell into the buried temple below.
"A suppression field?" Ian frowned as he sensed his surroundings.
The energy field here was extremely peculiar, seemingly designed specifically to counter all forms of magical transformation. It wasn't just magic; there was another kind of energy mixed within it. Not even his Magic-Immunity Raven form could withstand it.
There was no time to hesitate.
Ian pulled out his wand and cast a precise excavation spell on the ground.
"Rock Dissolve."
Wherever his wand pointed, soil, stone, and even the flesh of the Evil God melted like butter under heat, revealing the structure buried beneath.
It was the dome of an ancient temple. What should have been pure white marble had been stained a grotesque flesh-pink color.
Spotting a damaged opening, Ian didn't hesitate.
He leapt straight inside.
The sight inside took his breath away.
The interior of the temple had been completely taken over by the flesh of the evil god. The walls were covered in a network of pulsating blood vessels, and the floor was layered with soft tissue that oozed a viscous fluid when stepped on. The main hall, which was once used to enshrine divine statues, had become a huge cavity filled with the cloying, sickly smell of blood.
The most horrifying aspect of all were the 'Ghost Brides' embedded in the walls, dozens of women in tattered wedding dresses, their lower bodies fused to the walls and only their upper halves exposed. Their eyes were hollow and lifeless, yet their mouths opened and closed continuously, emitting endless wails.
And yet, those wails carried a strange sense of pleasure.
It was as if pain itself were their ultimate ecstasy.
"Merlin…" Ian felt a wave of nausea. These women were clearly remnants, devoured and then 'expelled' by the Evil God and turned into decorations and guardians of this temple of flesh.
The moment Ian observed them, all the Ghost Brides suddenly fell silent.
Dozens of faces turned towards him in perfect unison. In their hollow eyes, a blood-red glow ignited.
"Foreign entity," one Ghost Bride spoke, her voice like fragments grinding together.
"Eliminate," said another.
"Assimilate," a third joined in.
Like an immune system detecting an invading virus, the entire flesh temple suddenly came to life. The veins on the walls throbbed violently, and the ground began to writhe.
The Ghost Brides struggled frantically, trying to tear themselves free from the walls.
The first one succeeded.
Instead of human legs, her lower body was a mass of writhing tentacles, propelling her forward at an unnatural speed. Her fingernails had grown long and razor-sharp, aimed straight for Ian's throat.
"Protego!"
Ian cast a Shield Charm just in time. The Ghost Bride's claws were stopped just inches from Ian's throat by an invisible barrier, and she screeched as they scraped against it.
Because of the suppression field in this place, Ian's magic was less powerful than usual. Fortunately, he was strong enough to withstand the attack, even with weakened magic.
However, more Ghost Brides were breaking free.
A second. A third. Soon, over a dozen monstrous women surrounded him. Their cries had changed, not wails anymore, but rather a dizzying psychic assault intended to disrupt his thoughts.
"Muffliato!"
Ian reinforced his mental defenses while tracing complex patterns with his wand.
"Incendio... Ian's Modified Version!"
A whirlwind of blue flames erupted outward from him. This was no ordinary fire; it was a 'cold flame' created by combining ancient runes with modern charmwork.
It was designed specifically to counter magic-resistant entities.
The Ghost Brides screamed in agony as their bodies ignited and rapidly carbonized under the blue flames. Yet, disturbingly, their faces still bore that same twisted expression of pleasure, as if they were enjoying being burned alive.
Even worse... Fresh flesh continuously seeped out from the vascular network in the walls, quickly forming new Ghost Brides.
Ian realized that if things continued like this, he would be trapped in an endless war of attrition.
He had already experienced what these creatures were capable of.
A series of control spells temporarily slowed their advance. However, the temple itself was hindering him too, the fleshy ground suddenly bulged upwards, trying to entangle his legs.
The veins in the walls sprayed corrosive liquid.
Even the air had grown thick and viscous, making it difficult to breathe.
"Purification field!"
Ian had to divert magical power to maintain a cleansing barrier around himself, isolating the Evil God's corruption. This consumed a tremendous amount of his magic, but he had no choice.
"I have to find the cellar entrance."
As he fended off attacks, Ian quickly reviewed the temple's layout in his mind. Based on his prior research, the cellar of the Sun God Temple should be located behind the western wall of the main hall, a place where priests once stored holy relics, conducted secret rituals, and even incubated embryos of the Evil God.
"My priority isn't fighting these things."
Suddenly, Ian's body turned intangible, allowing three lunging Ghost Brides to pass straight through him. This was a high-level combat spell called Phase Shift, which temporarily shifted him into the Spirit Realm.
The closer he got to the western wall, the greater the resistance became.
The Ghost Brides seemed to realize his objective and became even more frenzied. Rather than attacking directly, they began to merge, several of them fusing into a grotesque, larger mass of flesh to form a barrier in his path.
This made Ian pause for thought.
"They're going berserk to stop me. Looks like there really is something in the cellar that the Evil God doesn't want me to find."
(End of Chapter)
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