Hogwarts Raven

Chapter 388, Section 387: The Sun God and Prince
The roar of the battle between gods and demons outside, like distant rumble of thunder, resounded continuously through layers of flesh and space. Each time the hymn of Osiris, the god of the underworld, soared, or the shriek of the evil god's tentacles tearing through space, the fleshy platform beneath Ian's feet trembled violently, its pulsation becoming frantic and rapid, like a giant beast charging in fury.

This continuous, intense energy fluctuation from the outside world was like an invisible hammer, constantly impacting the structure of the cellar and Ian's taut nerves.

He suppressed the instinctive chill that arose from those pure, dark eyes, and the light from his wand remained steadily locked onto the boy. This eerie calm contrasted starkly with the violent pulsation around him, creating a hellish scene.

The mysterious boy seemed harmless.

Her knees were curled up to her chest, her arms were tightly wrapped around herself, and her head was buried deep in her arms, motionless, like a forgotten, abandoned rag doll.

His hair was a light gold, shimmering faintly in the golden light of the wand.

Most strangely, the little boy's existence was completely out of place with the pulsating flesh and blood and the pervasive evil energy around him. There was not a trace of assimilation on his body, no flesh buds, no mucus, and even the omnipresent pulsating sound seemed extremely weak and distant within a meter of him, as if he himself was a "silent zone" that isolated the power of the evil god.

of course.

even so.

Ian's vigilance remained undiminished. How could there be a living person in this cellar? And a child at that? Was it a trap? Another incarnation of an evil god? Or... something else entirely?

A stronger impulse, a mixture of doubt and inquiry, drove Ian. He cautiously approached the corner, step by step. Each step pounded on the pulsating flesh, each step making the deep beating of his heart clearer. He drew closer to the boy, the light from his wand clearly illuminating the boy's back.

Just then, the boy seemed to sense something. His head, which had been buried in his arms, slowly, with a rusty, mechanical stiffness, lifted up little by little.

He remained in that curled-up position, his unusual eyes staring blankly in Ian's direction, yet seemingly piercing through him to gaze at the void of the end of time and space.

There was no fear, no hostility, only a deathly silence and bewilderment.

"This doesn't look like a place to wait for anyone."

Ian held his breath, his wand's light locked on tightly.

He tentatively took another small step forward. The golden light of the wand moved accordingly, illuminating a small area at the boy's feet. There, the pulsation of flesh seemed even weaker, forming an extremely faint, almost imperceptible golden halo, like the most ancient sealing runes.

He was silently confronting the crimson veins of the surrounding evil gods. This might explain why the boy wasn't affected by the evil gods' power. Of course, it could also be a scenario deliberately created by the evil gods to lower Ian's guard. In any case, the boy's presence in such a place is highly suspicious.

The evil god can devour and imitate everything! A seemingly harmless, amnesiac child is the perfect disguise! It may be waiting for him to lower his guard, get close, and then—ambush Ian.

Do you know what's happening outside?

Ian asked tentatively.

The boy shook his head blankly, but for the first time, a flicker of emotion flashed in his eyes.

“It’s noisy. It’s painful. Lots of screams.” The boy still seemed harmless. He blinked slowly, extremely slowly. The movement was as clumsy as a rusty gear. Then, he tilted his head slightly and answered in a childlike, innocent voice, yet with a metallic, hesitant quality.

"That's the evil god Set-Appepp fighting against the gods."

Ian explained, carefully observing the boy's reaction. Upon hearing the name "Seth-Appepp," the boy suddenly trembled, a glint of gold flashing in his eyes.

"Evil god... evil god..."

He seemed to want to express something, but his language system was as if it had been completely shattered and reassembled, only able to utter meaningless syllables mixed with pain. He raised a pale little hand and unconsciously, tremblingly, touched his cheek, as if confirming his own existence. Finally, a very faint ripple of "confusion" crossed his eyes.

“Amnesia?” Ian’s heart raced. This reaction… didn’t seem like a pretense. An imposter wouldn’t be so completely “blank.” But the more it was like this, the more dangerous it felt. This “amnesia” itself might be the most insidious trap set by the evil god! Using reality to deceive, then manipulating the boy to launch a sneak attack at the last moment.

It's inducing sympathy, drawing people closer!
An avatar of a demon god capable of perfectly mimicking the helplessness and confusion of a child is far more cunning than imagined! It may be waiting for a "hug," a "touch," before launching an attack on Ian in an instant! Perhaps it's not just an attack, but a desire to devour Ian, as the demon god had previously shown great interest in him.

"The evil god, he stole it, he stole it!"

The boy repeated softly, his tone carrying a strange sense of familiarity.

"What did you steal?" Ian asked urgently.

But the boy returned to that empty state, as if the fluctuations from before had never happened.

"I do not remember."

He spoke softly, then lowered his head and curled up again.

suddenly.

“I am a god… pain… tearing… sun… going out… no…!” The boy’s body trembled violently! He clutched his head in agony.

It emitted a suppressed whimper, like a wounded wild animal.

"what?"

Ian caught the reaction, and his heart pounded. A bold conjecture arose in his mind. He recalled some ancient texts he had read in the Forbidden Library at Hogwarts, records of secrets about the Egyptian pantheon. It was said that the sun god Ra would die at sunset each year and be reborn as a child at dawn the next day.

“Impossible,” Ian muttered to himself, but was shocked by his own thought. He observed the boy more closely. The pale blond hair, the unusually pale skin, the empty eyes that occasionally flashed with intelligence, and the sun-shaped mark—everything matched the “reborn form of Ra” described in the ancient texts with astonishing accuracy.

Just then, the boy suddenly raised his head, his eyes shining with an unprecedented clarity.

"Chaos devours order, darkness obscures light, but the sun will rise again." His voice suddenly became ancient and majestic, creating an eerie contrast with his youthful appearance.

Ian Prince stared at the boy huddled in the darkness, his mind replaying Osiris's meaningful words: "Perhaps you should go back to the crypt one more time." At the time, he thought Osiris was referring to the mysterious crypt beneath the Temple of the Sun, but now he suddenly realized that Osiris was likely referring to the true secret hidden beneath the flesh and blood of the evil god.

The seemingly ordinary boy in front of him might be the key that Hades wants him to find.

"Did Hades already know?"

Ian muttered to himself, a storm raging within him. As the ruler of the underworld, Osiris must be able to sense the delicate balance between life and death. His guidance of Ian here was no accident.

Ian's gaze returned to the boy. His youthful face, pale skin, and especially the faint sun mark on his chest—everything strikingly matched the description of Ra's reborn form in the ancient texts. An unbelievable thought formed in Ian's mind: perhaps the temple's plan to create an artificial sun god wasn't entirely a failure?
"Do you remember your name?"

Ian approached cautiously, speaking as gently as possible.

"name?"

The boy looked up, a glimmer of light flashing in his empty eyes.

He repeated softly, as if chewing on this unfamiliar concept, "Many people have called me. Many names."

Ian's heart raced. He continued tentatively, "Did someone call you 'La'?"

Upon hearing the name, the boy suddenly trembled, clutched his head with both hands, and let out a painful groan.

"Pull the sun's flames," he said haltingly, the gold in his eyes growing increasingly brilliant, as if molten gold were flowing within them. "It hurts so much... so many voices are calling my name."

This may be because, in times of crisis, many followers of the sun god Ra were praying to their god, which may indirectly confirm something.

"Yes, relax, don't get excited, and most importantly, don't mutate randomly." Ian cautiously took a half-step back, his wand ready to deal with any unexpected situation. But the shock in his heart was hard to calm—this boy before him could very well be the resurrected sun god Ra! The supreme deity of ancient Egypt, who should have long since perished, had actually been reborn in this form!
"But how is that possible?"

Ian's mind raced. "The artificial sun god project clearly gave birth to the evil god Set-Appep, so why would it also resurrect the real Ra?"

Suddenly, Ian remembered a key figure—the black-robed woman in the temple who was the favored one of the sun god Ra. On the surface, she assisted the high priest in the ritual of creating a new sun god, but some of her actions now seemed quite suspicious in retrospect: she always stood in the shadows chanting ancient prayers, her ritual movements were slightly different from others, and most importantly, in the final moments of the birth of the evil god's embryo, Ian clearly saw her secretly insert a luminous object into the embryo.

When Ian transformed into a raven to spy earlier, he saw everything very clearly.

"I see!"

At that moment, Ian had a sudden realization.

"On the surface, she was assisting in the creation of a new god, but in secret, she was carrying out a plan—to use the entire ritual as a cover to resurrect the real sun god Ra!"

It must be said that this conjecture is not entirely unfounded. This discovery both shocked and impressed Ian. Under the black-robed woman's machinations, the birth of the evil god had ironically become the perfect cover for Ra's resurrection. Set-Appepp had devoured so much energy and souls, yet he was unaware that a true sun god was being nurtured within him!

"That's really unexpected."

Ian was somewhat surprised.

Just then, the battle outside reached a new climax. Deafening explosions rang out one after another, the entire ventricle shook violently, and large areas of blood vessels at the top ruptured, gushing foul-smelling liquid like a waterfall. The evil god was clearly struggling in his battle with Hades and his wife, and this internal upheaval only made things worse for him.

Ian knew time was running out. He had to confirm the boy's true identity, or all his efforts might be in vain.

“If you really are the sun god Ra,” Ian stared directly into the boy’s eyes, which were gradually turning golden, regardless of whether the boy had amnesia or had not yet truly recovered.

"Prove it to me."

Ian needs solid, credible evidence before he can make his decision.

The boy—or rather, La—seemed to be struggling with some kind of inner pain. He clutched his head, his voice broken and fragmented: "Prove...what? What do I need to prove?"

Before he finished speaking, a sudden change occurred!
Suddenly, the sun mark on the boy's chest burst forth with an unbearably dazzling light. The light spread out as if it were a tangible substance, and wherever it touched, the evil god's flesh and blood melted away as rapidly as ice and snow exposed to sunlight. The entire ventricle shook violently, and the thick biological tissue on the walls withered and fell off at a visible speed.

The ancient stone structure beneath is exposed.

To Ian's astonishment, the stone walls, adorned with exquisite reliefs and ancient emblems of the sun god, were gradually awakening under the golden light. The reliefs depicted scenes of the sun boat traversing the heavens, and the emblems contained immense divine power. This was not the heart chamber of some evil god, but a temple of the sun god concealed within flesh and blood!
"I see."

The boy, now confirmed to be Ra, the sun god, slowly rose to his feet. His body was still small and immature, but the majesty and power emanating from him were enough to suffocate even the legendary wizard Ian. It was a powerful force originating from the very source of the world, far beyond the reach of ordinary magic.

It was as if the strange event just now had awakened something.

He looks completely different.

“Set-Appepp stole my divine body, but he didn’t know that the true sun has never been extinguished.” Ra’s voice had now completely transformed into that of an ancient god, deep and majestic, with golden flames burning in his eyes. “He thought he had devoured the light, but in reality, he had only built a golden cage for himself.”

Suddenly, a sinister roar of pain and rage echoed from the outside, clearly indicating that the voice had sensed the anomaly within him. The entire space began to tremble violently, the walls of flesh writhing and twisting in an attempt to suppress the awakened Sun God once more. But all this was in vain—the golden light emanating from Ra's body formed an absolute domain.

Any flesh and blood of the evil god that gets close will instantly turn to ashes.

“My followers have done it.”

La merely smiled at this turn of events, a smile that contained wisdom and power transcending millennia. His eyes, as bright as the sun, turned to Ian.

It was as if Ian's body had been penetrated, and Ian's soul had been seen.

He stretched out his hand, palm up. Ian felt the magic within him surge uncontrollably, resonating with the power of Ra. Even more astonishingly, he sensed a dormant bloodline power awakening—a mysterious power passed down through generations of the Prince family, yet one that no one had ever been able to fully awaken.

"This is."

Ian stared in shock at his hands, where faint golden lines flowed beneath his skin.

The outside world suddenly fell silent, the calm before the storm unsettling. Then, an indescribable, terrifying energy began to gather, clearly indicating that the evil god was preparing for a final, desperate attack.

However, the sun god Ra was not in a hurry at all.

“Descendant of the Prince family, your arrival is no accident.” The Sun God turned to Ian, his golden eyes filled with profound meaning. “The blood pact has finally been fulfilled today.”

Prince!
Princeton again!
(End of this chapter)