Although the Ghost Brides might appear to possess individual awareness, they were merely extensions of the Evil God.
They were manifestations of its will.
If the Ghost Brides were trying to stop Ian from going somewhere, it meant that, subconsciously, the Evil God did not want anyone to find that place.
"Could the cellar where the Evil God was incubated be some kind of weakness?"
Ian couldn't help but speculate, and the Ghost Brides' next actions confirmed his suspicion.
"Protect… the sanctuary…"
A monster formed by the fusion of multiple Ghost Brides emitted broken syllables. Its upper body still resembled that of a woman, but its lower half had transformed into a massive base of writhing tentacles. Five faces and ten eyes locked onto Ian, filled with pure malice.
Ian struck first without hesitation.
"Sectumsempra!"
An invisible blade slashed towards the creature, but dissipated just inches from its body. A formless force field surrounded the creature, capable of neutralising conventional magic.
"An adaptive field…" Ian's pupils shrank. "It can evolve this kind of defensive mechanism, something that should belong only to the main body of the Evil God?"
The monster gave him no time to think.
All five mouths opened simultaneously, unleashing attacks of different elements — acid, frost, fire, shadow and pure psychic force. These weren't random strikes, but a perfectly coordinated blockade, sealing off every possible escape route.
"Omnidirectional Defence Matrix!"
Ian's wand moved at blinding speed. Seven layers of differently coloured shields unfolded instantly.
The acid corroded the outermost physical barrier.
The frost froze the second layer's energy deflection.
The fire melted the third layer's elemental resistance.
The shadow seeped through the fourth mental barrier.
Finally, the innermost Absolute Domain was barely holding back the psychic assault.
But the entire defensive matrix was on the verge of collapse.
Ian could feel his magic draining away rapidly; at this rate, he wouldn't survive three more exchanges.
He had to change his approach.
A resolute glint flashed in his eyes as he suddenly pointed his wand towards the ground.
"Seismic Tremor!"
The entire temple shook violently. The fleshy ground tore apart, exposing the stone structure beneath. The ground beneath the fusion monster collapsed, throwing it off balance.
"Now!"
Seizing the moment, Ian aimed at the creature's core.
"Arcane Disintegration!"
A beam of azure light struck the monster, breaking down its structure. It let out a piercing scream as cracks spread across its body like a spider's web.
But despairingly, the cracks began to heal almost immediately.
The Evil God's adaptive ability had activated again. The creature was rapidly developing a resistance to disintegration magic.
Even worse... Other Ghost Brides had started to merge, too. Three more fusion monsters were forming.
"No choice."
Gritting his teeth, Ian pulled a small crystal vial from his robe. Inside swirled a silver liquid... It was a 'Magic Power Overload Potion,' derived from the magical power potion he had developed at Hogwarts.
This potion could massively boost magical output for a short time, but the side effects were severe.
Namely, explosive diarrhea.
For Ian, that counted as a serious drawback.
He downed the potion in one gulp.
Instantly, a surging tide of magic coursed through his veins. His eyes glowed silver, and energy began to radiate around him in visible fluctuations.
"Let's see how you handle this!"
Raising his wand high, Ian began to chant a complex incantation.
"Reality Anchoring!"
The surrounding space began to distort. The fleshy walls and ground started to fade, as if losing their 'realness'. The fusion monster's movements slowed, and its adaptive field flickered unsteadily.
"Anchor complete… Reality Tear!"
An invisible fracture spread from the tip of his wand. Wherever it passed, everything was 'denied' at a conceptual level.
The fleshy ground reverted to cold stone.
The vascular network turned to ash.
Even the fusion monster disintegrated, its five Ghost Brides being forcibly separated and collapsing weakly to the ground.
There was no time to rest.
Ian pressed on towards his destination.
The effect of Reality Anchoring was already fading. The Temple's environment was becoming corrupted again by the Evil God's power.
Several...
Dozens...
hundreds of Ghost Bride spirits abandoned their scattered harassment.
As if drawn by an unseen force, they screamed and twisted as they converged frenziedly towards Ian's path.
Black mist of resentment, shredded wedding dresses, pale arms, and hollow eye sockets churned together in midair before him, like wax figures thrown into a furnace, melting and fusing violently.
All these elements churned together in mid-air in front of him like wax figures thrown into a furnace, melting and fusing together violently.
They were clearly panicking now.
This confirmed Ian's suspicion once again.
The Evil God didn't just not want anyone to approach the cellar.
It was instinctively driven to prevent anyone from getting near it at all costs.
All the remaining Ghost Brides fused together at once, forming an enormous mass of flesh.
This grotesque entity almost filled the entire main hall of the temple. Dozens of human faces drifted across its surface while hundreds of tentacles writhed like a frenzy of serpents. It had no fixed shape, only a constantly shifting, endlessly adapting, and terrifying aggregate.
"This path… is closed." The creature's unified voice thundered, making the air tremble.
Seeing Ian draw closer to the cellar...
"Do... not... touch... it...!"
The resentment of countless souls converged into a soul-shaking roar.
The creature was no longer humanoid, but instead a living mountain of flesh, over ten metres wide and composed of twisted limbs, rotting skin, tangled hair and countless mouths that opened and closed in endless despair.
Its 'surface' was a writhing, semi-transparent membrane. Beneath this, countless faces of the Ghost Bride struggled. At its centre was a massive, distorted 'face' that stared directly at Ian. Its features were misaligned and its lips moved as it declared in a hellish, echoing voice:
"Profaner! This place is an eternal grave! The true God has descended, this is our destiny! Your resistance will only bring deeper despair! Stay and be assimilated!"
The moment it took form, the monster radiated an overwhelming sense of pressure. It wasn't just a physical entity; it was a twisted amalgamation of resentment and sealed divinity.
At its core lay the powers of 'adhesion' and 'assimilation'.
Battle was inevitable.
Ian didn't hesitate.
His hands formed rapid seals in the air as he chanted a modified version of one of the oldest soul-purification spells from Hogwarts. A faint halo of deep blue magic, shimmering with starlike motes, flowed around him, magic once intended for a Dark Lord, now shining brilliantly.
A concentrated beam of dark blue light shot forward and struck one of the monster's wailing mouths. Where the beam touched, the membrane sizzled and burned. The mouth instantly rotted away, revealing bone and flesh beneath.
At first glance, it seemed effective. But the damage vanished in an instant. The surrounding membrane writhed and regenerated, immediately filling the wound. Even the destroyed mouth reformed elsewhere on the creature's body.
Worse still...
The purified resentment did not dissipate. Instead, it was absorbed into the monster's core and transformed into a cold, thick black energy that began to invade Ian's soul. His spirit body flickered violently. A bone-chilling cold and a tearing sensation surged through his consciousness.
"Useless! Your 'light' only nourishes our 'dark'!"
The fused face roared mockingly.
The creature's massive body trembled, and countless tendrils made of hair and sinew shot out like black serpents, bearing an overwhelming hatred of assimilation as they lashed towards Ian.
Ian's mind raced.
Physical attacks and soul purification were ineffective; worse, they were being turned against him.
He needed a different approach.
Abandoning the offensive, his spirit body shot backwards. At the same time, his hands traced a complex, circular magical array composed of countless tiny runes in front of his chest.
This was a spatial stasis rune recorded in the Restricted Section of the Hogwarts library, capable of freezing space temporarily within a limited area.
"Cocoon of Spacetime!"
The magic array flew out and transformed into a faint silver ring that locked onto the incoming tendrils.
The moment it made contact, the raging tendrils slowed drastically, as if frozen in ancient ice. Their assault stalled.
Now!
Seizing this fleeting opportunity, Ian's spirit body became a streak of light and surged once more towards the western wall.
The resistance was immense, but he forced himself several meters forward with the precious time bought by the 'Cocoon of Spacetime.'
"Do you want to die that badly!" The flesh monster roared in fury.
Its colossal body tilted towards Ian, collapsing like a living mountain of flesh!
The membrane on its surface pulsed violently. Countless Ghost Bride mouths simultaneously spewed thick, foul-smelling black blood of resentment.
In mid-air, the droplets solidified into countless tiny, spike-covered projectiles.
A rain of death, covering every possible escape route.
Ian Apparated, trying to create multiple afterimages to confuse the monster. But this entity, formed from countless vengeful spirits, did not rely on sight.
It could directly 'sniff out' the essence of Ian's consciousness!
The moment the phantoms materialized, the central fused face homed in on Ian's exact location. Its enormous mouth opened and unleashed a psychic shockwave, condensed from pure hatred.
"Bzzzzz..."
The invisible wave struck Ian's mind like a massive hammer. The flesh monster relentlessly pressed its advantage. The collapsing flesh mountain and deadly rain closed in... It was on the verge of completely devouring and assimilating Ian.
At that critical moment, a reckless plan took shape in Ian's mind.
He stopped resisting the invasion of the resentment spikes.
The instant the first spike pierced his spirit body and greedily absorbed that 'otherworldly' magic, Ian poured all his remaining willpower into a desperate gamble: he activated his final, most forbidden spell.
"Reverse Contamination."
He did not attack the monster.
Instead, he turned himself into a conduit, reversing the flow of pure magical power that the Ghost Brides were absorbing. At the moment of assimilation, he forcefully injected a tiny 'concept' that he had pre-inscribed into his spirit body.
Freedom.
This concept was like a poisonous seed.
Mixed within the pure magic, it surged backwards through the 'roots' of the resentment spikes, instantly contaminating the part of the flesh monster absorbing the power.
"Graaah...!"
The countless mouths of the Ghost Brides no longer emitted a unified hatred from the contaminated area. Instead, a faint, fractured note emerged.
A trace of individuality.
A flicker of longing for freedom and confusion.
This tiny 'discordant note' was like noise in a perfect symphony, instantly triggering violent instability in the monster's core!
The disruption lasted less than half a second, but for Ian, it was a divine opportunity.
Seizing the moment of hesitation and chaos caused by the "conceptual contamination" within the monster, he shattered its gathered momentum completely. The creature roared in agony as it attempted to sever the infected tendrils.
This attack had caused real damage.
However, due to the suppression in this environment, Ian could not exploit the advantage sufficiently to destroy the monster completely.
The monster did not disappear.
Instead, something even more horrifying began to take shape.
A bizarre entity formed from a fusion of death energy and corrupted divine flesh, as if trying to evolve further into the world.
"Evolving again…?"
Ian felt a pounding headache. Fortunately, the explosion of chaos had bought him some time. He had no intention of prolonging the fight.
Every second mattered.
Seizing the opportunity presented by the monster's momentary instability, Ian rushed towards the cellar door.
But the wall was completely covered in flesh.
Thick biological tissue pulsed like a living barrier.
The original stone structure was nowhere to be seen. The flesh thickened visibly, countless agonized human faces surfacing across it as if silently screaming.
"Get out of my way!"
Steeling his resolve, Ian Prince stood before the wall of flesh.
There was no time to hesitate.
Behind him, the terrifying mass was already reforming. Every second of delay would mean facing it again.
So, he unleashed Fiendfyre, tearing open a path.
The flesh wall shrieked under the extreme heat as its tissue rapidly carbonized and peeled away. Yet, horrifyingly, the destroyed portions were instantly replaced by new growth, healing almost as quickly as they were burned.
The entire wall pulsed like a living organism, resisting penetration.
"Not enough!"
Gritting his teeth, Ian pulled out his final three potions, his last reserves, intended for emergencies only.
And this was that moment.
He drank all three.
A terrifying silver light burst from his eyes.
Raising his wand once more, he forced the flesh wall apart, finally tearing open a narrow passage barely large enough to pass through.
Beyond the opening… There was only bottomless darkness, radiating unsettling energy fluctuations.
No time to hesitate.
Ian leapt inside.
"NO…!!!"
The monster's furious roar echoed behind him.
He plunged downward.
All around him were writhing flesh-tunnels, their walls lined with pulsating veins and nerve bundles. Thick, viscous fluid dripped continuously, and the air reeked of rust and something indescribably organic.
Ian felt as though he were falling through the digestive tract of some colossal being.
The thought sent a chill down his spine.
The fall seemed endless.
Just as Ian began to suspect he had entered some kind of spatial trap—
A faint light appeared below.
He adjusted his posture, preparing for impact.
"Cushioning Charm!"
At the last moment, he barely managed to cast the spell.
He hit something soft yet elastic.
Though he avoided serious injury, every bone in his body protested.
Struggling to his feet, Ian found himself in complete darkness, with only the faint glow at the tip of his wand illuminating his surroundings.
The silence was suffocating.
Yet within that silence—
He could hear a steady rhythm.
"Thump… thump… thump…"
Like a heartbeat.
(End of Chapter)
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