Seeing that Luna appeared concerned about the weather, Fleur chuckled lightly and told her that she could teach her a spell.
As long as the spell was applied to her robes, she would not have to worry about the rain soaking them.
"I can make a pot of sukiyaki to warm everyone up. Rainy days are perfect for it," the Mahoutokoro wizard added from the side.
"Yamashita, you'd better make more this time. That four-person meal you prepared last time was only enough for me," Krum quickly reminded him when he saw that Yamashita Ei from Mahoutokoro was planning to show off his cooking skills again.
That Japanese meal last time had truly broadened Krum's horizons.
Did Japanese wizards survive through photosynthesis or something?
Could anyone really feel full after eating so little?
Even Fleur of Beauxbatons had tactfully remarked afterwards that eating Japanese food every day would definitely help someone lose weight.
The atmosphere within the team was relaxed and harmonious.
All four were in excellent spirits.
Until the next morning.
According to their original plan, they would reach the Eternal City in three days.
However, the four soon learned that they might never reach the Eternal City in their entire lives.
Because the legendary Eternal City had already become ruins.
The mysterious powerhouse said to have slain all Four Dragon Kings had arrived at the Eternal City.
He had first publicly executed the Pope, then fought two opponents alone and killed both the Emperor and the Chief Court Mage.
During that battle, other powerful figures from the Eternal City had also come to support them.
But before that terrifying opponent, they had been reduced to shrivelled corpses in a single encounter.
A rain of blood engulfed the Eternal City.
Blood flooded the prosperous capital.
Then, the enraged gods descended.
A divine battle erupted.
The Eternal City was completely razed to the ground.
No one knew exactly what had happened after that, because everyone present had been utterly annihilated.
After hearing the stories told by the fleeing refugees, Fleur and the others stared in stunned silence.
Was this part of some storyline arranged by Hogwarts?
Could that mysterious powerhouse be a boss intended for the later stages of the competition?
If so, they might as well withdraw now.
Someone who could casually destroy an entire city was not an opponent they even wanted to appear in front of.
The Eternal City was obviously no longer an option.
Just as they were debating where to go next, the four spotted Rhys Lint of Hogwarts among the crowd of refugees.
"Rhys?"
Luna tentatively called his name.
Sure enough, Rhys stopped.
"Did you come from the Eternal City?" Fleur could not help asking when she saw his somewhat pale complexion.
The main reason Fleur asked was because Rhys looked as though he had spent several days fleeing for his life.
"Yes."
Rhys nodded without hesitation, then kindly warned her, "There's no point going to the Eternal City now. That city no longer exists."
"What exactly happened?"
'What happened? Three Domain-level powerhouses died, along with one genuine god.'
Rhys complained inwardly, but he did not say that aloud. Instead, he gave them a vague explanation that was more or less identical to the information provided by the refugees.
To be fair, Rhys had been genuinely astonished when the god descended.
He had not expected Rowena's small world to actually give birth to a deity.
However, after fighting that so-called god, Rhys discovered that its essence was still human. It was simply extremely powerful and had fused with a considerable amount of the world's origin.
And there seemed to be more than one such god.
That was not a problem.
The more gods there were, the better. They were all convenient sources for recovering the world's origin.
Over the past half month, Rhys had travelled across almost the entire continent, reclaiming a substantial amount of the world's origin from the Dragon Kings and other powerful beings.
But it still seemed insufficient to meet Rowena's requirements.
After meeting Luna and the other three, the two groups simply joined together and travelled across the continent.
The remaining half month passed in the blink of an eye.
When the one-month deadline arrived, every contestant received the same message through their crystal balls:
Regardless of whether they had completed the main quest, all contestants were to return to Hogwarts.
That suited everyone perfectly.
Ever since the destruction of the Eternal City, the situation across the continent had grown increasingly chaotic, as though war might break out at any moment.
All the contestants had been forced to remain constantly vigilant.
Being able to return to Hogwarts now was exactly what they wanted.
At least they could relax for a while.
Fleur, Krum, Yamashita Ei, and Luna were taken out of the alchemical world one after another by their crystal balls.
Rhys, however, suppressed the restless magic of his own crystal ball and instead looked at Godric's phantom standing beside him.
For the entire month, Godric had actually remained by his side.
However, because of the nature of the Resurrection Stone, no one else had been able to see him.
"We're going back. Why don't you rest inside the Resurrection Stone for now? I have a feeling that bringing you directly back to Hogwarts like this might cause some unexpected consequences."
Rhys was worried that Godric's phantom might react strangely with the impostor, so he planned to have him return to the Resurrection Stone ring.
Of course, the Resurrection Stone ring was only a temporary home for Gryffindor.
Rhys already had a rough idea of how to bring him back properly.
Godric blinked.
He had originally wanted to say that whatever consequences occurred could simply be dealt with head-on.
But the moment his eyes met Salazar's, he immediately understood that his old friend would not compromise on this matter.
So he could only accept Rhys's suggestion.
His figure transformed into a warm breeze and disappeared.
After "dealing with" Gryffindor, Rhys prepared to leave as well.
However, just before departing, he suddenly stopped.
A bold idea arose in his mind.
This was Rowena's alchemical world.
No one would come here to supervise him.
No matter what he did, no one would suddenly appear to criticise him.
More importantly, this world was destined to be destroyed anyway...
This was the perfect experimental ground!
Rhys suddenly felt as though Rowena had possessed him.
The desire in his heart surged like a flood, impossible to suppress.
Eventually, the flood called desire shattered the dam within his heart.
"Petrificus Totalus!"
Rhys used a spell to immobilise a passerby, then slowly walked over and took a small vial of potion from the deepest part of the leather pouch at his waist.
He injected the potion into the passerby's body.
"Obliviate!"
Rhys first erased the brief memory the passerby had of him, then removed the Full Body-Bind Curse.
Everything continued as though nothing had happened.
The passerby resumed travelling along the road.
Rhys, meanwhile, stopped suppressing the magic within his crystal ball and allowed it to take him back to Hogwarts.
The first stage of the tournament had ended.
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12 Chaps ahead at Patreon.com/HornyFBI