Perhaps the gap is even bigger.
After all.
This is a Fantastic Beast, not an ordinary animal.
The Phoenix circled gracefully above the small town, the wind stirred by its wing tips as gentle as a mother's hand. With a clear, ringing cry, countless points of light drifted down like a spring rain.
Wherever those points of light touched.
Miracles began to happen.
Its power seemed to carry an unfathomable healing ability; it could not only cure the hidden injuries remaining on those Fantastic Beasts and people, but even mend things that had no life.
This clearly was no longer just a kind of Magic, but more like a kind of Law. The first to recover were the houses collapsed by the storm. Roof tiles began to return to their places on their own, broken beams pieced themselves back together, and the cracks in the walls vanished like droplets of water. The church bell tower that had been a scene of utter devastation.
Now shone with a brand‑new luster under the sunlight. Even those buildings that had already been burned into charcoal were constantly being repaired; beams that had been completely consumed suddenly emitted the crisp sounds of wooden skeletons regrowing.
From the piles of rubble, emerald vines pushed out, weaving new window frames at a speed visible to the naked eye.
On the charred black walls.
Bricks that had burned into powder automatically rearranged and combined.
Golden sap seeped from the gaps, mending the cracks so they looked as good as new. The drifting wreckage at the harbor was lifted by an invisible force and reassembled into Solid fishing boats like toy blocks being manipulated by a giant hand.
"This truly is a miracle of Magic."
The bell tower that had been melted by Dragon breath regathered as if a film were being rewound, and even the brass bell beneath Ian's feet that had become a puddle of "sludge" quickly returned to its original form.
It even looked newer than before.
The rust faded away, and finally, with a clang, it chimed on its own. The sound waves rippled through the air in golden rings, just brushing Ian's face, allowing him to clearly feel the Magic structure contained within.
"A Mending Charm?"
Ian was a bit surprised and somewhat shocked. He sensed a familiar Magic aura, yet it was different; this "Mending Charm" was clearly capable of mending even life.
Yes.
Even the ordinary trees affected by the battle began to grow wildly.
The branches were instantly laden with all kinds of fruit.
The trees lining both sides of the street also burst into life in an instant, their withered yellow leaves turning a lush, dripping green. Flowers bloomed one after another, their fragrance so rich it was almost overpowering. Even the old well in the town center, which had long since dried up and had now been destroyed in the previous battle, began to gurgle with clear spring water.
"Ah! My flowerbed has been Reviving!"
An old gardener, his hands trembling, stroked the freshly opened roses.
Tears slid down his cheeks.
"The Phoenix God's Blessing!"
The old Pharmacist, tears streaming down his face, kissed the ground.
"My herb garden… look at this!"
In the herb garden that had not been destroyed during the battle, those delicate herbs were undergoing astonishing changes.
The Moon Shadow Grass had grown as thick as an arm.
The patterns on its leaves formed ancient runes.
The Star Vein Grass, which normally required music to nourish it, began singing an ethereal song on its own, and even that locked‑up Nightmare Mandala quieted down and blossomed with pure white flowers.
This was clearly a kind of evolution for plants.
Even Ian was dumbfounded when he looked over—this really exceeded his understanding of Magic Potion Materials, and at the same time, he roughly understood why the Magic Potion Materials in this place were so astonishing.
According to what the residents had said before, this Giant Phoenix appeared once every few decades, and if each time this Phoenix could grant the Magic Plants here another evolution.
It was easy to imagine.
As long as the span of time was long enough.
Even ordinary wild grass.
Could probably become Advanced Magic Potion Materials that made Ian green with envy—one could only say this Phoenix's power was truly bizarre; later generations of Wizards would never even dare imagine that such a Fantastic Beast could exist.
Granted.
In the Wizarding World, the birth of some Advanced Magic Potion Materials does require the participation of certain Fantastic Beasts; however, that is merely a specific symbiotic relationship.
This kind of Magic that directly grants evolution to plants—no one among the Wizard community had ever attempted to research it, all believing it was the sort of Magic that was simply impossible to develop.
Ian had never had this kind of wild idea before either.
And now.
The appearance of the Giant Phoenix seemed to reveal to him another path of Magic Potion cultivation hidden since Ancient Times—of course, the Magic Power fluctuations and structure of this kind of Magic were completely different from Wizard Magic.
It might belong only to Fantastic Beasts.
And belong only to this unique Giant Phoenix. Ian still didn't know the answer, but this was no excuse for him not to study it. You only know the backlash after you try.
"I can also turn into a bird; what if I can replicate this kind of maneuver?" Ian quietly memorized the structure of this Magic, intending to explore and study it in the future.
"This… this is the Phoenix God's Blessing?" Some young people who had never seen this Fantastic Beast before all widened their eyes, unable to believe what they were seeing.
The Phoenix let out a cry.
Fine motes of light continuously drifted from its feathers.
They fell on the ground, into the water, onto people's shoulders. Everyone who came into contact with the light felt a warm energy flow into their bodies; their fatigue melted away, and even their hearts were soothed into profound calm.
The most breathtaking sight was in the central square—the ground that had been pitted and blackened turned into a crystalline field of crystal, each piece of crystal sealing within it a dancing flame. Ian flew to the square in a flash, crouched down, and touched one of the crystals; instantly a warm current surged through his whole body, sweeping away even the exhaustion from last night's battle.
This was clearly a kind of "wonder" Blessing?
A Legendary Fantastic Beast had actually used its own power to create an entirely natural‑seeming Alchemy Creation in this square, and the complex structure contained within made Ian click his tongue in amazement.
"This really isn't the same as the Alchemy I know." Ian was also a man hungry for knowledge; faced with knowledge from Ancient Times, he immediately began copying and learning it.
No one stopped him.
No one criticized him for committing blasphemy by not kneeling to the Phoenix. The residents here had barely any concept of what Magic even was, and as a Foreigner, Ian's lack of reverence for the Phoenix God was perfectly understandable.
Watching as the Giant Phoenix swiftly made the entire town look brand new and even gave it a special kind of upgrade, the townsfolk could hardly describe how moved they were.
"Thank you, Phoenix God!"
The crowd erupted into waves of cheers and sobs.
They were tears of being moved.
The children hopped excitedly, chasing the falling motes of light, while the elderly pressed their hands together, tears streaming as they kowtowed to the sky. The entire small town was immersed in an indescribable sense of the sacred and of joy.
"Hm? Here for me?"
Ian stood in the square.
He looked up at the Giant Phoenix gazing down at him.
There was no hostility in the Phoenix's eyes; instead, they held a kind of unfathomable depth. It gently flapped its wings, and a golden feather drifted down from high above, slowly landing on the steps before Ian. The golden feather shone with a soft radiance under the sunlight. The air was suffused with a warm and holy aura.
It was as if time itself had frozen in that moment.
All the townsfolk's eyes turned to look.
"What do you want with me?"
Ian frowned slightly. When his gaze met those eyes like Molten Gold, a warm Spiritual Power fluctuation lightly tapped against his mental barrier.
It was not an aggressive breach.
But like a polite knock at the door, a friendly "communication" request from a Mental Power.
"Interesting…"
Ian slightly relaxed the mental defenses he habitually kept taut, and in that instant, an ethereal and gentle voice sounded in his mind.
"Hold onto me, Raven."
No extra explanation, only a firm and clear intent. Ian felt a hint of confusion in his heart, but he did not hesitate; he reached out and tightly grabbed the Phoenix's leg.
"…"
The Phoenix clearly froze for a moment.
But it still activated that ability all Phoenixes possessed. The townsfolk were still excitedly discussing the miracle that had just happened in the square when they suddenly saw a whirlpool of crimson flames appear.
Accompanied by a soft breeze and a low humming sound.
The Phoenix and the boy vanished.
"What… just happened?"
"Where's Ian?!"
The crowd boiled over.
People raised their heads and looked toward the newly transformed square ahead, only to find that there was nothing left there but a wisp of red light‑dust yet to disperse, glimmering faintly in the afterglow of the setting sun.
The boy who had been like a hero.
Together with that Legendary Phoenix.
Had vanished without a trace.