Hogwarts Raven

Chapter 432, Section 431: Fierce Battle Against the Fallen God

This is no longer just a rescue operation!
It's also a battle against a god! Even if he's a fallen god or a god in poor condition, he's still a being whose divine power surpasses that of ordinary life!

This really put a little bit of pressure on Ian.

of course.

It's just a tiny bit.

After all, Ian wasn't a stranger to killing gods; he had killed a god once before coming to this timeline, and now he was simply challenging another "evil god."

Although he no longer has helpers like Hades, who says Ian can't beat such a being in a one-on-one fight? Besides, even if he couldn't beat him, he could definitely outrun him.

The advantage lies with Ian.

The choice also rests with Ian.

While it wasn't a sure win, it guaranteed that he wouldn't lose badly. With that confidence, Ian naturally wanted to see just how far he could go.

"Surrender obediently! Become my support!" The roar of the fallen god was not a vibration of the vocal cords, but a shriek that directly affected the soul.

It felt like a million shards of broken glass scraping inside the skull.

The terrifying sound even caused spiderweb-like cracks to appear in the surrounding obsidian walls, which were reinforced with multiple layers of protective magic, and stone dust began to fall. To be fair, the sound was incredibly powerful, and beneath its seemingly withered humanoid body lay a vast and corrupt divine power, as deep and filthy as an abyss.

I saw.

The fallen god's raised arm was as thin as a withered branch, but its movement stirred the energy flow throughout the underground space.

"Die or submit!" With its twisted divine roar, the ashen, corrupting domain expanded rapidly from its center, as if alive. This was not a simple magical effect, but a manifestation of a law. The ground was not being corroded, but rather its very existence was being covered by the law of "decay"!

The hard rock melted and collapsed silently before Ian's eyes, like snow under the sun, turning into a swamp bubbling with thick bubbles and emitting a pungent smell of sulfur and corpses.

Air was no longer a medium for sound transmission, but had become a deadly poison blade, each breath carrying a searing pain that tore through the lungs and a chilling cold that directly eroded the very essence of the soul.

Even more terrifying, countless translucent ghostly hands, composed of pure resentment and curse energy, proliferated wildly from every corner of the void like seaweed.

They have no fixed form, only constantly twisting fingers and emitting shrill howls that can drive a person to the brink of madness. They move from all directions, even ignoring physical distance, directly grabbing at Ian's soul core, intending to drag him into an abyss of eternal torment.

"As expected, it's another evil god."

Ian felt a life-or-death crisis unlike anything he had experienced since entering the legendary realm. This was no longer a contest of strength, but a direct confrontation of understanding the rules and willpower.

The core of his magic began to spin at an unprecedented speed, and the vast legendary magic was no longer gentle, but surged out of his body like an enraged galaxy.

I saw.

Ian gripped his wand tightly with both hands, no longer waving it lightly, but as if lifting a heavy burden, slamming it down heavily on the melting ground!
The moment the tip of the staff touched the ground, an extremely complex magic circle instantly unfolded around him, not carved on the ground, but directly imprinted on the surrounding spatial structure!

"All curses end, only my own law remains!"

A deep, yet majestic chant resounded. In an instant, a blazing light, pure to the extreme and seemingly composed of countless intricate runes, appeared.

Like the first ray of light at the beginning of creation, it burst forth with a roar! This light was not simply energy, but a manifestation of Ian's understanding of the magical essence of "order," "stability," and "existence."

It formed an ever-expanding hemispherical light shield, forcibly creating a "domain of order" belonging to Ian in this area covered by the law of "corruption"! The light and the domain of corruption clashed fiercely, and a teeth-grinding "sizzling" sound came from the boundary, as if cold water was dripping into boiling oil.

Wherever the Light of Order passed, the melting ground was forcibly solidified, restoring itself to rock covered with a layer of crystalline magical luster; the highly toxic air was purified and repelled, forming a safe zone where one could breathe. The captured ghostly hands, upon contact with the Light of Order, were like demons exposed to the midday sun, emitting even more shrill, terrifying screams, their forms rapidly blurring and dissipating.

It was reduced to the most basic negative energy particles. At the same time, Ian compressed and wove his vast, ocean-like spiritual power to an extreme degree, constructing a spiritual barrier within the domain of order that was as solid as the purest crystal, with countless fine silver ancient runes flowing on its surface.

This barrier protected him firmly from head to toe. The remaining curses and wails that had penetrated the weakened light of order but still tried to invade his soul crashed against the mental barrier, making a dense "clanging" sound like rain hitting banana leaves, but they could not shake it in the slightest, leaving Ian still standing tall and unmoved.

However, the fallen god's attack was unpredictable. A glint of madness and cunning flashed in its crimson eyes, and its withered hands suddenly clasped together in front of its chest.

A twisted rune, seemingly composed of countless faces of agony, flashed and disappeared in its palm.

"A painful echo!"

A strange and inexplicable surge of power swept across the entire battlefield like ripples on water. Ian was shocked to discover that the corrupt energy he had just purified, the dissipated remnants of the ghostly hands, and even some of the pure magic that naturally dissipated from his own domain of order and soul barrier were being forcibly captured and extracted by this power!
These energies, which are completely different in nature and even conflict with each other, were violently mixed together under the effect of that distorted divine magic, as if they were forcibly kneaded together by an invisible hand, forming arrows with chaotic colors, extremely unstable internal energy, and exuding an aura of destruction!
What's even more chilling is that these arrows seem to possess some kind of malevolent will, locking onto Ian and reflecting back at him with even greater speed and power than when they came!

To be fair, this move was extremely insidious. It not only utilized Ian's own power but also incorporated the divine power of pain and chaos, thus amplifying the power of the counterattack.

And it is difficult to defend against using conventional methods.

Just like how supersonic missiles are unsolvable for Muggles.

"Hmm, it seems his brain isn't broken, just corrupted; it still possesses sufficient intelligence." Ian's pupils contracted a few times.

In the blink of an eye, the wand drew two intertwined arcs in the air, each with a mysterious trajectory.

"Mirror Reflection! Magic Decomposition!" A huge, smooth, mirror-like magical barrier with edges flowing with a mercury-like luster instantly solidified in front of him. The surface of the barrier was not a simple plane, but had countless tiny, constantly adjusting angles of refraction, attempting to deflect and scatter the energy of these chaotic arrows in the most ingenious way.

At the same time, another exquisitely refined decomposition magic, like countless invisible, self-aware threads, precisely entangled the incoming chaotic arrows—not in a head-on collision, but like the most skilled bomb disposal expert, attempting to find the weak points in the internal energy structure of the arrows before they exploded.

Then, the magical connection within is quietly dismantled.

"Boom boom boom——!!!"

A series of deafening explosions rang out! Chaos arrows struck the mirror barrier one after another. The first few arrows were successfully deflected, hitting the surrounding walls and blasting open huge craters, sending debris flying. This seemed to be an effective defense, but its effectiveness was short-lived.

no way.

The subsequent arrows were too numerous and their energy too violent. After enduring the overload of attacks, the Mirror Barrier let out a mournful cry of despair and shattered like broken glass! Ian's disintegrating magic was only able to disintegrate about one-third of the arrows.

There were still quite a few left. The remaining seven or eight streams of chaotic energy, like mad dogs that had broken free of their reins, crashed heavily into Ian's soul barrier and the surrounding domain of order!
"Ugh!" Ian's body jolted violently, as if struck in the chest by an invisible hammer. His soul barrier flickered violently, the silver runes flowing on its surface fading and disappearing erratically, as if it might collapse at any moment. The outer layer of order was also blasted, ripples spreading outwards, and several clear cracks appeared at its edges.

The overall light dimmed somewhat.

The chaotic laws contained within the chaotic energy invaded his body, causing his blood and qi to surge, and his magic power to stagnate and sting in his meridians.

"Hehehe... Not bad, not bad! The legendary soul and magic are indeed a great tonic! Much better than those muddled nature spirits!"

The fallen god let out a hoarse, triumphant laugh.

Its crimson eyes practically gleamed with greed. It could tell that although Ian had barely managed to block the counterattack, he was greatly exhausted and had already suffered some hidden injuries.

Just as Ian said, it has only fallen, not lost its mind. This is the effect it wants. It uses this almost rogue-like attack, which combines the properties of pollution and reflection, to slowly consume and torment the object, and finally devour this rare "tonic" completely, using the object's magic as fuel to help itself eliminate the pollution that has been afflicted on its body!

At least some of them can be eliminated.

The legendary magic is more effective than divine power in eradicating corruption; this is a secret known to the fallen god, and it is why he was so excited when he saw Ian.

It gave Ian no chance to catch his breath. Its withered hands clenched loosely in front of its chest, and thick, almost tangible, filthy divine power surged from its body like ink, frantically gathering and compressing in its palms! The surrounding air hummed low due to the condensation of this terrifying energy, and space itself began to distort slightly.

A pitch-black spear, dripping with viscous black liquid and radiating an aura of absolute "end" and "annihilation," slowly took shape. Its tip was not sharp metal, but a constantly rotating miniature black hole that devoured all light!

"Spear of Death! Pierce through, and reduce this vibrant existence to eternal silence!" Anyone who didn't know better would think he was suffering from chuunibyou (middle school syndrome) after watching too much "Bleach" anime.

It's clear that this method is very taxing. The fallen god used all his strength to hurl the divine spear that contained the core law of "annihilation"!

The moment the spear left his hand, it seemed to swallow even sound, leaving only a clear trajectory in the void, exuding an aura of absolute stillness. Its speed surpassed the limits of visual perception, ignoring spatial distance, and aimed directly at Ian's heart! This strike had already locked onto Ian's very "existence"!
"Learned it from Odin? Isn't this spear-throwing technique Odin uses?"

The hairs on Ian's body stood on end in that instant!

The intense premonition of death was like being doused with ice water.

He clearly realized this.

Conventional defensive magic, even the most powerful armor spells and domains of order, would likely be torn apart like paper by this attack containing the pure law of "annihilation"!
"Don't panic when you encounter a problem. Think about it for a while and you'll find a solution."

In that life-or-death moment, Ian's mind raced at an unprecedented pace, his past magical knowledge surging like a boiling spring. He didn't choose to withstand the attack head-on, but instead decided to use a more ingenious method, closer to the very essence of the rules, to defuse this fatal blow!
Ian's exceptional intelligence lived up to expectations.

I have indeed come up with a solution.

In his eyes, a silver hourglass seemed to shimmer in his left eye, while his right eye reflected layers of spatial folds. He no longer swung his wand, but gripped it tightly in both hands, holding it upright before his chest, its tip aimed at the approaching, deathly spear. Ian mobilized his vast, boundless spiritual and magical power, dividing it into two distinct yet interconnected streams, each simulating ripples of the laws of time and space.

"Time Distortion: A Moment of Eternity!"

"Spatial Folding: A World Within Reach!"

His deep voice seemed to possess a strange magic. The moment his words fell, the flow of time in a small area centered on the rapidly shooting spear of deathly silence underwent a violent and illogical distortion! Under Ian's perception and magical effects, the trajectory of the spear, which was originally as fast as lightning, seemed to be infinitely stretched. Every tiny forward movement became clearly visible, as if it had been trapped in an extremely viscous swamp of time.

Although in reality this time warp may only gain a few tenths of a second of space, it is enough; it makes it seem like a very long time has passed within a finite period of time.

This is a method of consumption.

At the same time, the spatial structure in front of Ian began to change strangely. It was not a simple spatial barrier, but rather like repeatedly folding a piece of paper, instantly creating dozens of microscopic spatial faults between him and the spear, imperceptible to the naked eye, yet greatly elongating the actual distance!
Yes, double insurance.

Each fault layer is like an independent, tiny spatial bubble, and the spear needs to penetrate these bubbles one by one to reach Ian's body.

It's not that it can stop the other party forever; yes, yes, yes, this undoubtedly greatly increases the "actual" distance it needs to cross and constantly consumes the divine power on it.

"Om-!"

The dark spear plunged into this distorted spacetime region, its unstoppable speed visibly decreasing as if it had crashed into an invisible, elastic gel. Its condensed aura of "annihilation" remained terrifying, but as it pierced through layers of time stagnation and spatial distortion, its energy inevitably dispersed and attenuated. Even the miniature black hole at the spearhead, which devoured light, seemed to slow its rotation slightly.

This precious time gained, and the weakened state of the spear, was exactly what Ian needed! Without any hesitation, he instantly activated his final, prepared measure!
"Look at my power!"

(End of this chapter)