The priests that were supposed to maintain the magic shield all stood by the mountain cliff, facing downhill, their faces pale and terrified, with their robes billowing in the wind.
The magic staffs in some of their hands emitted an uneasy hum.
The atmosphere of unrest and anxiety permeated the air. Ian could even hear the group muttering to themselves, their voices laced with undisguised fear.
The Fierce Goddess followed these people with her gaze.
Her expression also changed.
The golden hair that flowed like flames in the sunlight suddenly lost its stability, revealing the great shock she must have felt inside.
"What happened?"
Ian walked over to his acquaintance Cassandra, also looking down the mountain, but he could only see vague distant views by following the light emitted from the eyes of the Fierce Goddess.
"There..."
The little girl, Cassandra, had a face as pale as paper, her small hand trembling slightly as she pointed into the distance. Following her finger, Ian saw the dense shadows moving on the city's streets.
The shadows squirmed on the streets like countless ants crawling. Ian hurriedly took out his binoculars, and the next moment felt a chill rushing up from his feet.
"My God!"
The Little Wizard's hand shook a few times.
He saw it.
It was an entire city of people, resembling a tidal wave, but no longer vibrant lives. They had transformed into the corpses they encountered before, their skin an unnatural gray-white, with deep-set eyes, yet still moved mechanically. Their steps were uniformly converging towards the city's central square.
In the center of the square.
What was once suspected to be the runaway Helbo finally appeared before the Little Wizard—he was suspended mid-air, his body merging with those corpses.
Each corpse that came into contact with Helbo's body turned into a black mist that he absorbed. His form was constantly shifting, sometimes expanding, sometimes contracting.
As if searching for the perfect form.
Countless figures fused into Helbo's body emerged within that black mist, mechanically chanting something that made Ian's scalp tingle from the visual impact.
"He is collecting his followers... acquiring them in this terrifying way." Ian realized the existence of these people, and the cruelty that far exceeded the Black Demon King left him appalled.
"How could he have converted an entire city's people so quickly!" Ian even felt like he was undergoing a mental assault; he swallowed hard, his expression incredulous.
"He had secretly planted his imprint in every corner of the city and every household long ago." The Fierce Goddess's vision swept over every room of the entire city.
She saw a terrifying situation that left her shocked and incredulous. In the entire ancient city of Pompeii, even the water reflections bore the rising imprints of Helbo!
"No! It shouldn't be like this!"
"Calamity! This is calamity!"
"God, save us! Save those innocent souls!"
The priests were already prostrate on the ground, praying to the divine spirits they worshipped, while some sought help from the Fierce Goddess, who only frowned silently as she watched the distance.
Over there.
"Witness... my ascent!"
Helbo, presenting a "divine state," raised his head.
His face bore a contemptuous and mocking smile. His gaze pierced through space, directly meeting Ian and the goddess at the forefront of the Divine Hall, as if silently proclaiming his victory. At that moment, Ian and the Fierce Goddess realized that the emergence of the Dark Divine Hall, and their arrival, was just one part of Helbo's grand plan!
A carefully laid bait!
The purpose was to draw away all the opposing forces from the city! At least the majority of opposing forces! Only then could Helbo, with the help of the Fierce Goddess, obscure the gap in time from those gazing eyes in the sky to complete his scheme as quickly as possible! He even predicted the choices the Fierce Goddess and Ian would make!
Meanwhile!
Riddle's choice was the same!
"Is this guy really going to ascend to divinity?"
Ian felt a chill strike his forehead in horror. His gaze suddenly fixed on a figure beside Helbo—a figure strikingly different, none other than Malfoy!
This Slytherin wizard's whole body was covered in black markings.
Like a demon child.
His eyes were hollow, kneeling directly on the ground, his arms raised as if lifting Helbo in mid-air. Ian then noticed that the ground had three triangularly distributed grooves, and Malfoy was kneeling in one of the grooves. The other two positions on the ground formed a triangular distribution with Malfoy's position.
"The mystical number, three."
Ian had an ominous premonition.
He sensed those two positions seemed to be waiting for something and turned to ask the Fierce Goddess, only to find that Riddle, who had been unconscious beside him, had disappeared without anyone noticing.
"Where's Riddle?"
Ian's pupils contracted violently.
The next moment.
He saw on the distant city's square, a green light appeared in the vacant groove, and in the next moment, the missing Riddle emerged from the green light bit by bit.
He remained unconscious.
But this didn't affect him assuming the same lifting posture as Malfoy. Countless black marks, like ants, began to occupy every inch of Riddle's skin.
While the Little Wizard was still in shock at Riddle's disappearance, wondering why he hadn't sensed a magic fluctuation.
"Damn it! We must leave immediately!"
The Fierce Goddess suddenly seemed to realize something, shocked. She grabbed Ian's wrist, urgently wanting to take Ian away from this place of mutation.
"What is this situation? Are you planning to run away and not care?" Ian felt an unresistable force, only managing to grab the frightened little girl Cassandra into his arms.
As always.
Saving one is saving some.
"Of course, I'll be back! I still need to inform the other gods!" The Fierce Goddess tried to remove the clouds from the sky but found them locked in place.
"Uh... your father didn't say anything just now; it shouldn't warrant such a sensation." Ian heard the Fierce Goddess's words, feeling a chill down his spine.
What could possibly alarm all the gods?
The Fierce Goddess's expression was unprecedentedly serious!
"I saw it; I saw why Helbo could still operate in the human world. He is in a paradoxical state of neither life nor death, and now he wants to use those bearing the same paradox to become his angel, lift his divine throne, and ring the bell for his godhood, becoming the... God of Paradox who shouldn't exist!"
The Fierce Goddess's voice was tinged with fear.
She pulled Ian.
Preparing to transform into a stream of sunlight to leave the city.
At the same time.
Her voice rang in Ian's ear.
"Riddle, the boy you were looking for, are all people with time paradoxes, and now he still needs one more Paradox Angel... Who do you think that Paradox Angel will be?"
The goddess's words struck like thunder in Ian's mind. Good heavens! It turns out it wasn't Ian targeting Helbo! Instead, Helbo had probably been targeting him since he came to this time!
Ian wanted to use Helbo to achieve a legendary story, while Helbo intended to use Ian and Riddle to prove his way—such is the ancient Dark Wizard, famed and infamous!