Hogwarts Raven

Chapter 369 (368): The Ghost Bride's Hunt

The night rain poured down, pattering against the stone-paved streets with a soft, chilling sound. The entire city seemed shrouded in a gray fog, with sparse lights and no pedestrians in sight.

Just as the midnight bell tolled its twelfth time.

Then something strange happened.

The maid who died during the day reappeared on the street.

At this moment.

She looked incredibly creepy.

She wore a worn yet still magnificent red wedding dress, its hem trailing on the ground, stained with mud and decaying leaves. A faded white veil adorned her head, her face as pale as paper. Her steps were so light they seemed inhuman; with each step, a thin layer of frost formed on the ground, and a sweet, decaying fragrance filled the air.

"Moonrise and Moonset"

"Bride looking for bridesmaids."

The ghost bride's song echoed through the empty streets, each note like a rusty knife scraping against the listener's eardrums. She dragged a black coffin, its bottom creaking against the stone slabs with a teeth-grinding sound. Moonlight shone on her pale face, and golden dust swirled in her empty eye sockets.

The gold dust sometimes formed a sun pattern, and sometimes turned into a twisted spider shape. Her head suddenly turned 180 degrees behind her, and her torn mouth stretched all the way to her ears.

"Be careful, lest something unclean discovers you."

Ian pulled Cam into the shadows of a doorway, casting a triple concealment spell on his wand before him. He could feel Cam trembling—the young Hermit had never seen anything so horrifying.

“That coffin,” Cam’s voice was barely audible, “is for the living.”

Although he was terrified, he was, after all, a wizard with a sharp mind, and was able to make accurate judgments.

Just at this time.

The ghost bride suddenly stopped. She mechanically raised her arm, the black liquid dripping from her fingertips glistening in the moonlight. Her withered finger pointed directly at a two-story building ahead—Ian's magical vision immediately detected faint magical fluctuations inside, indicating that at least two wizards were hiding there.

"The bridesmaids are getting ready." The ghost bride's song suddenly rose, turning into a piercing shriek, "Gold comb! Silver comb! Lend me yours!"

Her chest burst open again like flower petals, and dozens of golden threads shot out, piercing the wooden door like venomous snakes. A piercing scream immediately erupted from inside the room as two male wizards in nightgowns were dragged out the window, entangled in the golden threads. They frantically waved their wands, but all their spells were absorbed by the writhing golden threads, which only made the threads thicker.

The two wizards were roughly stuffed into the coffin, and the ghost bride slapped the coffin lid three times with her long, sharp-fingered hands. Immediately, a chilling scream came from inside the coffin.

"They're potion dealers from the black market!" Cam recognized one of them. "How did they get here?"

“The flesh and blood of wizards are rich in magic.” Ian analyzed calmly, his eyes fixed on the ghost bride’s every move. She was the ghost bride, and her target was clear—all the wizards staying in the city.

"Are wizards the perfect nourishment?"

Ian seemed to be deep in thought. He had already made a judgment at this moment—the evil god embryo could not bear the long gestation and wanted to cultivate its own minions to draw nourishment for itself, which is why it created this ghost bride. The temple had obviously realized this as well, which is why it looked so serious in the afternoon.

at the same time.

The ghost bride has begun her operation again.

"Over there, there are wizards too."

Cam was shocked and exclaimed in surprise. Of course, he knew every wizard in the city. Although they were not in the same organization, the communication between wizards was more frequent than most people imagined.

after all.

In this world, wizards are a minority, so naturally they will at least openly stick together for warmth wherever they go. It was thanks to Cam, a local, that Ian was able to know which groups the Ghost Bride was targeting—the first family the Ghost Bride was looking for after her renewed operation were wizards with special magical talents.

The first house belonged to an elderly wizard named Morin, who lived alone and made his living through astrology and divination. He was engrossed in studying a complex star chart, the candlelight illuminating his wrinkled face.

Suddenly, the candlelight flickered violently, and the temperature inside the room plummeted.

"Who?" Morin looked up alertly, wand in hand.

The door opened silently. The ghost bride floated in, her red veil fluttering gently.

"You...you're not human!? Are you a necromancer? There really are necromancers active in the city!" Morin trembled as he held up his heavy wand and recited the defensive spell.

"Barrier of Light!"

A golden barrier instantly formed in front of her. However, the ghost bride simply raised her hand, her fingertips tracing the air, and the barrier shattered like glass with a "crack".

She approached step by step, her red eyes locking onto Morin.

"No...don't come any closer!" Morin retreated in terror. "I'm an officially registered wizard! You can't—"

Before he could finish speaking, the ghost bride's fingertip touched his chest. A line of blood spread from his heart, crawling across his entire body like a spiderweb. Morin's eyes widened, a gurgling sound escaped his throat, and his wand fell to the ground. His body did not fall; instead, an invisible force slowly lifted him up, suspending him in mid-air.

The ghost bride dragged a pitch-black coffin out of the void, and the coffin lid opened automatically.

With a gentle push, Morin's body slowly slid into the coffin. His eyes were still moving, and his lips were slightly parted, as if he wanted to speak, but it seemed incredibly difficult for him.

"You...cannot...bury me...alive..." he managed to utter a few words with difficulty.

The ghost bride lowered her head, looking down at the person in the coffin, a strange "smile" appearing on her empty face. She slowly closed the coffin lid with a muffled "bang".

The wizard is still alive.

He was sealed alive inside a coffin.

Because she was to take it back to her master to absorb the life force and essence of the wizards. Precisely because the evil god embryo could absorb the essence of these people's existence, the choices of the ghost bride were all very carefully considered, almost all of them being wizards with talents in some aspect.

It's like the second household.

Another young witch, named Arya, was skilled in herbalism and healing magic. She seemed to sense something amiss; just as she lit a protective candle, the ghost bride burst through the wall like smoke.

"Exorcise! Begone!" Arya waved her wand, releasing a purifying light blade.

The light blade struck the Ghost Bride, but it was as if it had hit a phantom, having no effect whatsoever. The Ghost Bride raised her hand, spread her five fingers, and a blood-red thread shot out from her fingertips, instantly wrapping around Arya's neck.

The witch struggled, suffocating, her feet leaving the ground.

"Please...please...I haven't...finished...my potion yet..." she cried.

The ghost bride remained unmoved, coldly dragging her to a corner. A coffin reappeared. Arya was forced into it, her limbs curled up. Before the lid closed, she was still scratching at the inner walls with her nails, making a creaking sound—she was still alive, but now she could only wait in the darkness for her fate to end.

The third household was occupied by a wandering wizard from the north named Karl, a master of defense and anti-spells. He erected a triple barrier: a ring of fire, a wall of frost, and a soul barrier. However, with each step the ghost bride took, the barrier shattered like thin ice. "Who are you?! Who commands you?!" Karl roared, raising his wand high, "Ice Storm!"

A fierce wind arose, and countless ice blades whistled out. The ghost bride stood still, letting the ice blades pierce through her body—yet her figure only rippled slightly, like a phantom, completely unharmed.

“You… are not a physical entity?” Karl’s expression changed drastically.

The ghost bride finally spoke, her voice like the whispers of hundreds of people at once: "Offering to Him... a living sacrifice..."

She raised her hand, her fingers forming a claw, and Karl's heart clenched violently in his chest. He collapsed to his knees, spitting out black blood, his eyes rolling back. However, the ghost bride did not let him die. She injected a wisp of black mist into his body, and Karl's body convulsed violently, yet he did not stop breathing.

The coffin appeared. Karl was dragged into it, his hands still pressed tightly against the inside of the coffin lid, his nails cracked and bleeding profusely—he was still alive, and would be sacrificed in agony.

The fourth household was occupied by a dark magic wizard named Victor, who was arrogant and sneered, "A mere female ghost dares to come here? Watch as I use 'Soul Tear' to ensure you never reincarnate!"

He chanted the incantation, and a jet-black energy wave shot straight towards the Ghost Bride. However, the Ghost Bride raised a finger, and a blood-red thread shot out, instantly piercing Viktor's forehead. His incantation stopped abruptly, a sinister smile still lingering on his face, but his body had already stiffened.

But the ghost bride didn't kill him. She dragged him into a coffin and sealed him away. Inside the coffin, Victor's chest was still heaving, and his eyeballs were rolling wildly in their sockets.

Just then, Karan, hiding at the alley entrance, witnessed everything and trembled all over.

"My lord! They are dying! Our compatriots are dying!"

He almost rushed out, and he did look like a passionate young man. If this happened in later times, this young wizard would probably be able to attend Gryffindor.

After all, even though his legs were trembling, he still had a lot of courage.

"Don't go. Magic can hardly harm such special life forms."

Ian held the other person down.

"Then what should we do?"

Cam's wand fell to the ground with a clatter. Ian caught it with lightning speed, simultaneously covering Cam's mouth. But it was too late—the Ghost Bride's head jerked in their direction, its eyes, composed of golden sand, flashing wildly.

"Bridesmaids playing hide-and-seek."

She dragged the coffin faster, and where the hem of her wedding dress swept, the stone slabs melted like wax.

Ian grabbed Cam by the back of his collar: "Close your eyes!"

"Fluorescent burst!"

A blinding white light instantly filled the entire street. The ghost bride let out a high-pitched scream, and golden sand gushed from her eye sockets. Ian seized the opportunity to drag Cam into a narrow alley.

His wand cast a series of trap spells behind him.

“We must save those people!” Cam struggled to get back. “The Hermit’s creed demands it.”

“Foolish!” Ian slammed him against the wall. “Look at this!”

The wand drew a curtain of light in the air, displaying the scenes of other neighborhoods—there wasn't just one ghost bride! At least seven identical figures were hunting throughout the city, each dragging a black coffin. Even more terrifying, their routes formed an intricate net, driving the surviving wizards toward the temple.

"A clone technique?" Kam's face turned deathly pale.

“No, it’s time overlay.” Ian’s pupils contracted to pinpoints. “The embryo is manipulating local time flows, causing the same entity to appear in different locations simultaneously.”

Suddenly, a loud crash of collapsing buildings echoed in the distance. The screen showed a house in the northwest corner being completely blown open, and five wizards draped in star-moon robes fled in panic—members of the Twilight Hermits! They formed a defensive formation back to back, their wands spitting out various spells, but they were like mud sinking into the sea when they hit the Ghost Bride.

"It's a comrade from the branch!" Cam broke free from Ian like a madman. "I have to go!"

"Halt!" Ian's stern shout, carrying a magical resonance, froze Cam in place. "Look closely!"

In the light screen, an elderly witch suddenly pushed her companion toward the incoming golden threads, then turned and fled. The betrayed hermits were instantly bound into cocoons, while the traitors were intercepted by another ghost bride after only a few steps. As the coffin closed, her desperate pounding on the inner wall could be seen.

"How could this be?" Cam slumped to the ground. "We clearly swore an oath."

The ghost brides' hunt grew increasingly frenzied. Ian observed that they weren't attacking indiscriminately—wizards with strong magical energy fluctuations were the first to fall, while those with only a little talent were deliberately spared. Most disturbingly, a golden mark appeared on the forehead of each captured wizard, identical to the one on the maid's wrist that morning.

“They’re screening.” Ian suddenly realized something. “The embryos need a specific type of magic.”

A scream that was inches away interrupted his thoughts. At the alley entrance, three ragged wizards were scrambling for their lives, pursued by a ghost bride singing a nursery rhyme. When they spotted Cam, their eyes immediately gleamed with malice.

"There's something fresh over there!" The scarred man in the lead suddenly turned around, and his wand shot out a beam of purple light that struck Cam's knee.

"Ah!" Kam cried out in pain and fell to the ground, his wounds immediately turning a strange golden color.

The three wild wizards seized the opportunity to scatter and flee, one of them turning back with a sinister grin: "Thanks, scapegoat, kid!"

The ghost bride indeed turned around, the coffin scraping against the ground with a grating sound. Cam crawled in vain, his eyes filled with despair. Just as the golden thread was about to touch his back, the runes on Ian's wand suddenly lit up with a blinding red light.

"Phantom Transformation!"

Cam vanished instantly, reappearing beside Ian the next second. The ghost bride's golden threads missed their mark, corroding the stone floor with spiderweb-like cracks. She roared angrily, golden sand gushing from her seven orifices, but quickly turned mechanically in the direction the wild wizard had fled, continuing her hunt.

"Why...why?" Cam clutched his bleeding knee, his voice trembling. "Why did they do this?"

“Because fear triggers the most primal instinct for survival.” Ian, expressionless, healed his wounds, silver healing potion seeping from the tip of his wand. “More people choose to survive basely than to die noblely.”

The scene within the light screen grew increasingly horrific. The black smoke above the temple had coalesced into a massive vortex, and the seven ghost brides were sending the captured wizards in that direction. Ian noticed that before each coffin was thrown into the vortex, a wisp of blue light was extracted—the essence of the wizards' magic.

“That evil god embryo couldn’t wait any longer.” Ian extinguished the light barrier, his voice as cold as a stone at the bottom of the Nile. “Normal gestation takes years, but it forcibly created these minions to plunder nutrients for itself.”

Kam's wounds slowly healed under the power of magic, but the shock in his eyes remained undiminished: "So the temple was so tense this afternoon... because they lost control of the embryo?"

"Or rather, the embryo has begun to rebel against its creator." Ian gazed at the distorted sky in the distance. "The first instinct of any life form is survival, even an artificially cultivated evil god."

The ghost bride's song drifted closer again, this time accompanied by the dragging sound of at least three coffins. Ian quickly set up a new concealment barrier to prevent the ghost bride from approaching him.

however.

It didn't work.

The ghost bride turned her head away once again.

He looked at him and Cam.

(End of this chapter)