"I don't understand..." the middle-aged mage said. "Do you not realise that this will cause a catastrophe? Vast numbers of plants will die due to the lack of sunlight, then animals will follow, and famine will spread across the land—"
"And what does that have to do with me?"
The middle-aged mage fell silent.
Then he realised something.
The person before him was a madman among madmen, a monster among monsters. The survival of the world meant absolutely nothing to him.
Even after reaching that conclusion, he still found it difficult to believe.
Unable to resist, he asked another question.
"Are you trying to destroy this world?"
"Yes."
Rhys's honesty was terrifying.
Not a single word he had spoken to the three of them had been a lie.
"Why?"
"That has nothing to do with you."
This answer was also true.
Yet somehow, those words completely broke the three of them.
They all thought of the same phrase:
Your destruction has nothing to do with you.
"Madman... demon... the incarnation of the Great Heaven's Shadow..."
"Call me whatever you like. Wait, what exactly is this 'Great Heaven' you're talking about?"
By now, the three had become accustomed to Rhys's ignorance.
They explained that the Great Heaven was the Creator God of this world, an omnipotent being.
However, like all things, the Great Heaven also possessed a shadow.
The Great Heaven was the creator of all things, while the Great Heaven's Shadow was the destroyer of all things.
After completing the creation of the world, the Great Heaven would fall into a deep sleep from exhaustion.
At that point, the Great Heaven's Shadow would awaken and begin the destruction of the world, unleashing the Great Calamity.
During the Great Calamity, all things would be destroyed.
Afterwards, the Great Heaven would awaken and begin creation anew.
The period from the awakening of the Great Heaven until the end of the Great Calamity was known as an Era.
Certain exceptionally powerful beings could survive the Great Calamities.
The Dragon Kings were among them.
Rhys immediately understood who the "Great Heaven" referred to.
Wasn't that just Rowena?
"I understand now. Then let me tell you something."
Rhys smiled.
"I am the incarnation of the Great Calamity."
The eyes of the three widened.
The middle-aged mage, whose tongue had not been sealed, immediately burst into curses, denouncing Rhys as delusional and utterly insane.
Destroy the world?
You?
Who do you think you are?!
"Believe it or don't. Your choice."
Rhys snapped his fingers.
Three blood-red spikes instantly pierced the hearts of the three men.
Their corpses fell straight down into the molten meteor crater below, while the three points of light were captured in Rhys's hand.
After dealing with the alchemical lifeforms who had come to extinguish the disaster, Rhys flew towards the horizon.
While flying, he took out the crystal ball issued by the Ministry of Magic.
The moment he entered the alchemical world, Rhys had disabled the crystal ball's broadcasting function.
The children watching the tournament were still young. These scenes were not suitable for them to see. Rhys was also worried that the moment he left the arena, he would find himself surrounded by Aurors and Dementors from the Ministry of Magic. That would make things very awkward.
However, turning off the broadcast function did not prevent him from receiving mission notifications. What Rhys was currently looking at were the two mission prompts that had just been issued.
[Main Quest: Defeat a dragon and obtain its heart. Time limit: one month. Failure to complete the quest will result in elimination.]
[Side Quest (1): Obtain a noble title from any nation on the continent. Reward: 10 points.]
[Side Quest (2): Rendezvous with the other three contestants assigned to you by the organisers and form a four-person team. Reward: 30 points (an additional 10 points for each extra team member).]
[Note: Failure to complete quests may affect later stages of the competition.]
[Your teammates' locations: ...]
Rhys sighed.
This blasted thing has a tracking function too?
Looking at the three quests, he felt a headache coming on.
He had indeed killed two dragons already, but both had been obliterated by the meteor impact. That meant he now had to go elsewhere and find another dragon to kill.
As far as he was concerned, the other two side quests were a complete waste of time.
The noble title was manageable enough. If he killed another evil dragon, the local lords would most likely reward him with a knighthood or some minor noble title like baron or lord.
What truly annoyed him was having to form a team with three other people. Since the crystal ball hadn't specified that they would be students from the same school, it obviously meant that the teams had been shuffled. Rhys had no patience for babysitting students from other magical schools.
Judging from the design of the quests, the organisers were encouraging contestants to cooperate and hunt dragons together. They could even make use of the locals' strength.
If the world hadn't decided to target him specifically, he would probably have ended up fighting alongside Iris's four-person party.
"...Sigh."
Thinking of this, Rhys couldn't help but sigh again. He turned and flew towards the nearest city that hadn't been obliterated by the explosion.
He had to complete the main quest.
Otherwise, he would be teleported out of the competition.
And that would be troublesome.
After landing outside the city walls, Rhys gazed at the medieval-style cityscape before him and was overcome with emotion.
When Rowena created this world, she had undoubtedly based it on the experiences the four of them had shared during their travels in their youth.
There were countless familiar traces here.
Some of the streets even felt as though he had once walked them himself.
This feeling intensified when he spotted a small stall whose sign read:
[Orland: Crafting Fine Wands Since the Third Era]
Memories surged through him like a tidal wave.
Rhys possessed absolute control over water.
Yet he had no control over the waves that rose from the sea of memory.
This was what it meant to be moved by one's surroundings.
Rhys's hand closed around the Resurrection Stone ring in his pocket.
This place could no longer be considered Hogwarts territory.
Using the Resurrection Stone to summon Godric here would have no adverse consequences.
So perhaps...
[I don't want you using that little trinket to summon me again.]
Godric's voice echoed in Rhys's ears.
Rhys hesitated for a moment.
Then he gripped the Resurrection Stone ring tightly.
You think that just because you said not to summon you, I won't?
Since when did Godric Gryffindor get to tell me what I can and can't do?
In fact, I'm going to summon you with this ring precisely because you don't want me to.
What are you going to do about it? Jump out and hit me?
Without the slightest hesitation, Rhys took out the Resurrection Stone ring, turned it three times, and summoned Gryffindor.
This time, the summoned Godric had learned his lesson.
He didn't speak immediately.
Instead, he first confirmed who had summoned him.
Hmm?
Salazar Slytherin?!
Godric's eyes lit up like a hunting hound that had finally cornered its prey.
"Aha! Salazar! Just as I thought! Your willpower is weak, and you've become obsessed with the past! Didn't I tell you not to use that little trinket to summon me again?"
Like someone reciting a prepared speech, Gryffindor fired off a barrage of words he had clearly rehearsed in advance.
Rhys: "..."
"Take a look at your surroundings first."
Godric froze.
Then he looked around.
A trace of astonishment appeared in his eyes.
Where exactly has Salazar brought me?
Is this still twentieth-century Britain?
____
12 Chaps ahead at Patreon.com/HornyFBI