Hogwarts Raven

Chapter 381: I am perfect!

The evil god is about to enter its second phase.

Ian was not surprised by this.

Before he transmigrated, he occasionally had access to video games, and after transmigrating, he also enjoyed designing board games using magic. Therefore, he knew very well that it was easy to encounter a second phase when fighting a boss.

Having spent years navigating the virtual world, I've long been familiar with an unwritten "common sense"—whenever you encounter a boss, there's a high probability of a second phase. While the first phase of those game bosses might reveal some patterns, once their health is low, the style drastically changes, their skills upgrade, and the difficulty skyrockets.

This gaming experience, accumulated over a long period, is deeply imprinted in the player's cognitive system. When players project this understanding from the game onto real life, it forms a unique perspective—major challenges or "bosses" encountered in reality may also have similar "two-phase" situations as in the game.

Yes.

It's actually quite reasonable to encounter similar situations in reality, since everyone knows that fantasy comes from reality. Following this logic, the fantasy setting of a boss having two phases must also come from reality.

Ok.

No problem.

"Do you see that, Mage?" Countless mouths opened and closed simultaneously. "This is evolution! This is perfection! With each soul I absorb, I get closer to my ultimate form!"

With this blasphemous declaration, the remaining shell of the evil god was revealed.

The phantom formed of light and darkness, blood and gold—collapsed inward with a roar. Immediately afterwards, an indescribable stench, a mixture of pungent, rotten sweetness and metallic rust, filled the air.

One face after another appeared on the same torso at the same time, but the voices were like a torrent of cries from millions of living beings, exploding directly in the depths of Ian's soul.

Seth Appepp's transformation reached its peak at this moment.

His remaining human form completely disintegrated, his sixteen wings of light melting into a viscous golden liquid that enveloped his wildly expanding body. His once perfect golden skin cracked and peeled away, revealing the writhing flesh beneath. The faces that had been devoured now appeared directly on his body's surface, raised and sunken like reliefs, uttering maddening murmurs.

The most terrifying thing was its head—seven faces merged into a giant compound eye structure, below which split open a mouth full of spiraling teeth. Each arm tip differentiated into different weapon forms: some became tentacles covered with eyeballs, some turned into bone scythes, and others sprayed viscous black mist from their fingertips.

The sky responded to this transformation. The pseudo-sun began to pulsate, contracting and expanding like a giant heart, its rays becoming viscous like blood. The clouds twisted into impossible angles, as if the entire sky had become a distorted oil painting. A cloying, putrid stench filled the air, enough to make one dizzy just by inhaling it.

The Egyptian sky had just begun to return to some semblance of normalcy.

At this moment, like a mirror struck by a boulder, everything suddenly distorted and folded. The once warm sun was stretched into a gigantic eyeball, pulsating and oozing a thick, pus-like light, hanging high in the sky, casting down nauseating, morbidly purple-red rays. The earth groaned, and ancient stones writhed and merged as if alive.

Countless fleshy hills, flowing with fluorescent slime, formed. The evil god was no longer a perfect reflection of Apollo, but rather the ultimate nightmare that seemed to have stepped out of the Cthulhu Mythos.

"I am Dumbledore..."

Ian instinctively took a half step back; even with his legendary wizarding experience, he had never witnessed such a desecration of nature. His magical matrix emitted a piercing wail under the impact of this pure chaotic energy.

The newly formed maw of the evil god opened and closed, spewing out black mist tinged with starlight: "Thank you, mage. You have taught me that perfection lies not in uniformity, but in embracing all imperfections."

"Have you seen the true meaning of 'perfection'? This symphony of flesh and blood, this tapestry of pain, is the most primal form of the universe! Your struggles, your 'magic,' are nothing but a child's futile thrashing in the mud!" Before the words were finished, a giant tentacle, as thick as a mountain and covered with suckers and sharp spikes, appeared.

It tore through the viscous air, sweeping with immense force toward the ruined platform where Ian stood! Its speed far surpassed any previous magical attack; it was pure, devastating physical crushing!

"Damn it! This is inhuman!" Ian quickly Apparated, and a bottomless crack appeared in the ground where he had been standing, from which a colorful, oily liquid seeped out.

"Armor Protection - Matrix Overlay!" Ian appeared thirty yards away, instantly deploying twelve layers of rotating magical shields. But a second wave of attacks followed immediately—three bone scythes slashed down from different angles, tearing the magical shields apart like paper. Ian barely dodged the fatal blow, but his robes were ripped.

A deep wound, exposing the bone, was left on his arm.

"What the hell is this?!"

Ian's pupils contracted sharply as his survival instinct overwhelmed his physical limits.

"Run! Run!"

Mocking laughter emanated from all parts of the evil god's body, "Let your fear season my feast!"

He clearly enjoyed the feeling of hunting his prey.

Ian gritted his teeth and swung his wand.

"Thunderous Explosion - Chain Reaction!"

An unprecedentedly thick bolt of lightning struck the evil god's chest, bursting into a dazzling light. But when the smoke cleared, only scorch marks remained on the writhing flesh, which was healing at a visible speed.

"Poor magic."

The evil god's compound eyes rotated simultaneously.

“Let me show you true power.” He suddenly vanished from his spot. It wasn’t apparition, but pure physical acceleration. Ian only had time to cast “accelerated thinking” on himself before the world slowed down—just as he saw a giant, scale-covered fist slowly smashing towards his face.

"Armor Protection - Absolute Defense!" En completed the incantation in a fraction of a second. His giant fist slammed into the suddenly appearing diamond-shaped shield, unleashing a deafening roar. The shield successfully blocked the attack, but the shockwave sent Ian flying hundreds of feet, crashing through three stone walls before finally coming to a stop.

"Cough," Ian coughed up blood as he stood up from the ruins, feeling that at least three of his ribs were broken.

He hurriedly pointed his wand at himself.

"Bone Regeneration & Pain Shielding!"

The intense pain subsided temporarily, but a portion of my magic power was depleted. The opponent's attack seemed to have an effect that made it difficult for my magic power to recover, carrying a persistent and negative impact.

"Your magic is interesting, but too civilized." Xie Xinbu walked over, the ground in his wake turning into a purplish-black swamp. He casually waved his hand, and five black lightning bolts shot out from his five fingers.

These lightning bolts would track and curve, bypassing the defenses Ian had hastily set up.

"Phase Shift!" Ian urgently teleported himself temporarily into the Spirit Realm. Black lightning pierced through his ethereal body, corroding the entire temple behind him into a bubbling, viscous liquid. When he materialized again, Ian was covered in cold sweat. This monster was not only terrifying in physical attacks, but its magic also possessed a strong corrosive property.

"Elemental Torrent - Ultimate Compression!" Ian decided to take the risk. The four elements were forcibly compressed into an energy sphere the size of a tennis ball, with a violent fusion reaction taking place inside. This was a forbidden technique he had developed in his underground laboratory at Hogwarts.

Never before used in actual combat. The energy ball flew out of his hand, distorting space in its path. The evil god seemed to sense the threat, and all sixteen weapons simultaneously met it, only to be vaporized the instant they touched the energy ball. Ultimately, the energy ball struck the evil god's chest, causing a silent collapse and explosion.

Succeeded?
Ian looked over nervously.

At the epicenter of the explosion, most of the evil god's body had vanished, and the remaining parts continued to disintegrate. But just as Ian breathed a sigh of relief, the scattered flesh and blood suddenly stopped dissipating.

Instead, it began to aggregate in reverse.

"A decent attack."

The remaining severed head was still speaking, "It almost really hurt me."

Suddenly.

His flesh and blood reassembled in a way that defied all the laws of physics, returning to full strength within seconds and even becoming more powerful—his newborn body was covered with scales that shimmered with starlight.

Each scale has tiny eyes that blink.

"But energy attacks are ineffective against me; I am energy itself."

“You try to define ‘good’ with fragile concepts like ‘freedom’ and ‘choice’, but you don’t realize that ‘unity’ and ‘eternity’ are the ultimate harmony. Your existence and your struggles prove that my path is correct—only complete integration can end this pointless cycle of suffering.”

A chorus of voices sang out.

Ian saw this.

He frowned.

"Avada Plague!"

This was no simple killing curse. Ian had combined the essence of Hogwarts' ancient transfiguration with the dark magic, reconstructing the spell. A beam of death, not emerald green, but composed of countless swirling Egyptian hieroglyphs radiating an ominous black light, shot forth from the tip of the wand.

It struck precisely at the base of the sweeping tentacle!
"boom!"

The beam of light collided with the tentacle, unleashing a blinding surge of energy. The "Death Curse" beam, composed of pure magic, left only a charred mark on the tentacle's tough surface, which seemed to be made of stellar core material! The tentacle paused only slightly before retracting at an even faster speed.

The immense force created a storm that completely blew Ian and the platform beneath his feet away!
"Triple Protection - Starlight Barrier!"

"boom--!!!"

The colossal tentacle slammed into the Starlight Barrier! The crimson flames were instantly extinguished, the eerie blue starlight flickered violently, and the warm yellow light dimmed completely. The entire shield emitted a groaning sound, space twisted and shattered under the immense pressure, and countless tiny black cracks spread across its surface! Ian's arms trembled violently, his bones felt like they were about to break, and his feet sank deep into the writhing, fleshy ground, blood seeping from his seven orifices. This pure, transcendent physical power had completely shattered his defenses.

"Ha...hahaha..." Sixteen distorted faces simultaneously erupted in deafening laughter, filled with the ultimate mockery of mortal wisdom and magic. "Magic? Inheritance? Before absolute 'existence,' they are nothing but embellishments! Look at your 'protection,' as fragile as a sandcastle! Is this the legend you're so proud of?"

Before Ian could catch his breath, the evil god's attacks came one after another!

Countless tiny, snake-like tentacles shot out from the main body of the mountain of flesh, each gleaming with a metallic cold light, its tip like a drill, emitting a piercing shriek, and slashing in from all directions! Several enormous tentacles danced in the air, like giant pythons whipping the heavens and the earth, each strike causing the space to collapse!

Ian's figure flickered and leaped amidst the surging tide of tentacles, each flash accompanied by a violent drain on his magic. He continuously unleashed the ultimate variations of Hogwarts magic.

The scene was incredibly powerful, with the brilliance of magic clashing fiercely with the filth of evil gods in the distorted world. Each clash triggered small-scale spatial collapses and energy storms.

However, the ending was incredibly cruel—Ian's legendary magic, no matter how exquisite or powerful, was like an ant trying to shake a tree when it struck the evil god's evolved body, which seemed to be composed of the most primordial matter of the universe. His attacks could not cause any effective damage, while every physical blow from the evil god was enough to injure his body.

of course.

Ian had already used the power of paradox to deny the possibility of his own death, so he didn't need to worry about it happening. However, this design meant he couldn't spare any more paradox power to influence the other party—perhaps even a full-force attack wouldn't have much of an impact, as the Ra's Eye on the other party's chest gave him too high a status.

Ian's paradoxical power becomes less effective against stronger enemies.

Is there any dignity left for life?

Ian knelt on one knee on the writhing, fleshy ground, his wand embedded in the ground beside him, almost broken. He gasped for breath, each breath carrying the stench of blood, his vision blurring with pain and depleted magic.

He looked at the terrifying mountain range made up of countless tentacles and tumors under the distorted sky, and at the sixteen faces that opened and closed constantly, full of "divine" wisdom.

What welled up in my heart was not despair, but a cold, insightful sorrow.

"Only I have the right to define life!"

The evil god slowly "moved" its massive body, like moving a living mountain, finally stopping in front of Ian. A tentacle covered in sharp teeth slowly lowered, almost touching Ian's forehead. The mouths opened and closed in unison again, the sounds carrying an unprecedented, almost "satisfied" calm.

“Ian Kent… I thank you.”

The evil god's words carried a hint of sincerity.

"hehe."

Ian struggled to lift his head, his silver hair stained with blood and sticking to his face, but his eyes remained sharp as knives.

"Thank you for your resistance,"

The voice of the evil god echoed in all directions like the whisper of the universe: "Every attack you made, every bit of your magic, your indomitable will... has become an indispensable piece of my 'perfect' puzzle. You made me understand that so-called 'flaws' are not imperfections that need to be covered up, but rather the necessary path to a higher form."

"Yes, you made me accept this chaos of flesh and blood, this tapestry of pain, this instinct to devour—and so, this is the true 'me' in my current form!"

"Now..." The evil god's voice suddenly rose, filled with the majesty of a sovereign, and the crimson light emanating from the distorted eye of the sky converged entirely on its massive body.

"I have perfected all the 'flaws'. I am evolution, I am perfection, I am... the one true god!" With this declaration, the writhing and opening of the evil god's enormous body, composed of countless tentacles and tumors, gradually subsided, and a strange, suffocating sense of "order" spread out.

(End of this chapter)