Hogwarts Raven

Chapter 395, Section 394: Travel Accident

Ian Prince was standing next to the time machine, about to step into the cabin, when suddenly a warm golden light descended from the sky, enveloping him completely.

This light was not as dazzling and sickly as that of the evil god, but rather as gentle and full of life as the morning sun.

“Ian Prince,” the voice of Ra, the sun god, resounded directly in his heart, “the hope you have brought to this world deserves a special reward.”

This is also a blessing.

This is different from the blessings given by Hades and his wife before.

The blessing from the God-King took effect on Ian. Golden light gradually condensed, transforming into countless tiny runes that flowed into Ian's body like gold. He felt an unprecedented warm power flowing through his blood, perfectly merging with his magic.

"From now on, your white magic will be blessed by the power of the sun god."

Ra’s voice was solemn and loving: “Light will be your source of strength, and shadows will retreat before you. This is the sun’s gift to its guardian.”

Ian felt the divine power surging within him and couldn't help but feel a deep sense of awe: "Thank you for Your Majesty's blessing. I will make good use of this power and will never fail the Sun's trust."

A hint of a smile flashed in Ra's golden eyes: "Go, traveler of time. Your mission is not yet over; more challenges await you in the future."

His voice seemed to have a hidden meaning, but Ian didn't catch it. Ian stared at his list of materials to find, feeling like he was being treated like a beast of burden by Tantalus Lyle.

Ian bowed deeply before stepping into the time machine. As the hatch closed, indicator lights on the control panel lit up one by one. He took one last look at this ancient era through the porthole—the sun god Ra stood atop the ruins, radiating divine light and healing this wounded land.

“Initiate time jump.” Ian pressed the button.

The time machine hummed and began to turn transparent. The instant Ian activated it, the entire altar erupted in blinding light, spacetime began to warp, as if the universe itself trembled for this moment. In the instant before it completely disappeared, Ian seemed to see Ra cast a meaningful glance at him.

As the time machine vanished completely into the sky, the sun god Ra continued to gaze in that direction, lost in thought. Above the yellow sand, only the empty ruins of the temple remained.

And his sun, still high in the sky.

A moment later, ripples spread through the void, and figures emerged from the gaps between light and shadow. Thoth, the god of wisdom, wore a crown of ibis, held a scroll, and his eyes gleamed with contemplation. Horus, the god of the sky, had the head of a falcon and the body of a human, his wings spread, and his gaze sharp as a knife.

And Anubis, Sekhmet... all the gods appeared one by one, surrounding Ra.

A shadow gathered around him, and Osiris, the god of the underworld who had left earlier, emerged from the darkness: "You just let him go like that? I sensed an ancient aura about him."

Another soft light flashed, and the goddess Isis gracefully appeared: "His bloodline does indeed bear the mark of the Prince family, but there is something else, something much older."

Horus, the god of the sky, descended with outstretched wings, his sharp eagle eyes narrowing: "Father, you seem particularly interested in that mortal. Who is he?"

La's gaze remained fixed on the direction where the time machine had disappeared.

There was no immediate response.

He gazed up at the sky, as if staring at some distant being. After a long while, He slowly spoke, His voice seeming to come from the end of time, A mysterious smile on His lips: "Before the birth of the gods, it was there watching. At the end of the universe, it is still there watching."

"It is both the beginning and the end."

This is a very riddle-like response, which can be described as completely irrelevant.

“What are you saying?” Isis asked softly. “Who is ‘it’?”

Ra still did not answer directly. His gaze was profound, as if piercing through countless layers of time and space. The gods looked at each other, puzzled by these enigmatic words.

Hades asked softly, "Are you referring to... ancient secrets? The Mysterious Raven?"

As a deity whose domain is within the Enchanted Realm, Hades understands the Enchanted Realm better than other ancient Egyptian gods, and thus knows the immortal legend within it.

"I do not know."

La smiled but did not answer, instead changing the subject: "Although the threat of Seth-Appepp has been eliminated, a greater crisis is still approaching. We must be prepared."

Osiris's expression turned serious: "It was because we foresaw the arrival of that power that we were forced to fall into slumber, which allowed that filthy thing to take advantage of us."

Horus flapped his wings and took flight, circling in the air: "What exactly is that crisis that engulfs the entire pantheon? Even you, Father, had to risk your life to orchestrate it?"

These second-generation deities don't know much about it.

"Why did you choose this moment to bestow blessings? You have just been resurrected, and your divine power has not yet fully recovered. Giving away your primordial power to others would be a huge drain on you."

Anubis questioned in a low voice the blessing the sun god had just bestowed upon that strange human. He had also fought Ian, and could only describe Ian as wicked.

Ra finally turned around, his gaze sweeping over each of the gods. At that moment, a barely perceptible hint of compassion flashed in His eyes.

“Because I foresaw it long ago.” Ra’s voice was low and heavy. “My demise was not accidental.”

All the gods were startled.

“You… already knew?” Osiris asked in shock.

“Yes.” Ra nodded. “My fall was the beginning of a crisis for the entire pantheon. The darkness that swept through the gods did not come from the outside, but from within ourselves—from our greed for power and our obsession with eternity.”

In this regard.

Most of the deities nodded solemnly.

"The influence of the supreme god on us is aimed at reaping our power." Hades was well aware of this and promptly pointed out the crisis facing the gods.

This also serves as an explanation for other gods who are unaware of this matter. Clearly, this is a secret even Ian doesn't know, explaining why all the gods who embark on the path of divinity become mad and incompetent.

It did not actually originate from the gods themselves, but rather from the gods being corrupted by some higher-dimensional being, causing them to become senile and insane, thus triggering Ragnarok.

The so-called God of Gods is Ra, the sun god who perceived this. It is a name for the mysterious and unknown influence, and he suspected that such an existence was the trigger for Ragnarok to strengthen or maintain itself.

"Such a thing exists? Our real enemy?"

Horus was horrified.

Isis continued, "Yes, it was precisely because we foresaw its attempt to reap our harvest that Ra chose to fake his death, using the plan of creating an artificial sun god as a cover to secretly plot his true resurrection, thereby freeing himself from his ravaged body and soul. Otherwise, even we would have no chance of winning if we faced that being directly."

So this is the truth behind the sudden death of the Sun God. He was not killed by some powerful being or by the betraying gods, but rather he chose to be reborn from the ashes after realizing some truths.

Osiris added, "The birth of Set-Appepp was an accident, but definitely not a coincidence. It was the aggregate of those filthy substances after Ra shed its poisoned body and soul. Of course, it became the perfect smokescreen, preventing that being from realizing Ra's true plan."

This reveals why the evil god is so wicked yet so powerful: it all stems from the fact that it is indeed derived from the sun god Ra and has the blessing of higher-dimensional power.

This is why he was able to steal the most essential essence of the sun god Ra using the Eye of Ra. In reality, it was indeed the sun god, but his deeply corrupted remains. The gods remained silent for a moment, processing this information. Horus finally landed, folding his wings: "So the arrival of that mortal, Ian Prince, was not accidental?"

La smiled slightly: "In the tapestry of time, no stitch is accidental. The contract between the Prince family and us, a scheme spanning thousands of years, is all to prepare for the challenges to come."

He turned to face the other gods, his tone becoming serious: "The crisis of the God of Gods is a real thing, I have verified it, so our battle is not over yet."

Osiris gripped his staff tightly: "So, how should we proceed?"

Raise your hand, palm facing upward. A ball of true solar fire burns within it, and countless possible futures can be vaguely seen within the flames.

“We need to unite all the forces that can be united—including those from other pantheons. We also need to use the power of time to form alliances with the gods of other pantheons when they are most lucid.” Ra’s gaze was far-reaching. “Ian Prince may not even know it himself, but his time travel is also opening a channel for us.”

Horus seemed thoughtful: "So that's why you bestowed upon him the blessing of the sun god?"

“It’s not just about giving power,” La said calmly, “it’s about releasing goodwill. You have to believe that cause and effect will eventually pay off, and we need to unite all forces that can be united.”

He explained his various reasons for thanking Ian and giving him the source of power.

"Gods above gods..." The gods stood atop the mountain peak, looking down upon the human world below, which was gradually regaining its vitality. The setting sun cast long shadows of them.

Isis sighed softly: "Mortals are still celebrating the destruction of the evil god, unaware that an even greater storm is brewing."

Osiris replied, "Let them enjoy a little more peace. We will face the challenges ahead."

A complex light flickered in Ra's golden eyes: "The descent of the God of Gods is inevitable, but we are not without a chance of victory. In every time and space, there are powerful beings preparing for this ultimate battle."

He turned to face the gods, his voice firm: "Now, we need to awaken more slumbering deities and unite all forces that can be united. When that moment comes, we must be prepared."

Horus flapped his wings and flew into the sky: "I will inform the other sky gods."

Osiris merged into the shadows: "I will contact the gods of the underworld."

Isis vanished in a ray of light: "I will awaken the goddesses of life."

Soon, only Ra, the sun god, remained standing on the mountaintop. He gazed into the distance, a raven feather appearing in his hand without his knowledge.

"Guardian of time."

La murmured to himself, as if conversing with some unseen being, "You have been planning this for a long time, and now the pieces are in place. Let us see where this game against the god above gods will ultimately lead."

The sun sank completely below the horizon, and the last ray of light disappeared into the sky.

But in the darkness, the light emanating from Ra, the sun god, shone even brighter, like an inextinguishable lamp in the night.

The wind stopped.

The light shines eternally.

Ian was completely unaware of this secret conversation among the ancient Egyptian gods. He had already entered a time portal and, guided by the time machine, was heading to the next era, the era of Merlin, King Arthur, and their teacher Morgan. There were other materials, and Ian needed to find the female Titan who liked to command "oxen and horses."

Ian felt a blinding white light before his eyes, followed by endless darkness and a feeling of weightlessness. The time machine hummed in his ears, like the low roar of an ancient beast, engulfing him in a tunnel made of flowing light and fragments. Time lost its meaning here; the past and future intertwined into colorful threads, rushing past him.

He saw the initial construction of the pyramids, the flooding of the Nile, and the moment he knelt before the sun god Ra to receive his blessing—that golden divine power now flowed quietly within him, warm and powerful, like a miniature sun pulsating in his chest.

"Returning to an old haunt."

Ian murmured to himself, a nostalgic smile playing on his lips. He thought of the grasslands and castles of that era, and of the battles he had fought against Merlin.

The time machine cruised smoothly through the time tunnel, countless historical fragments flashing by like a revolving lantern. Ian leaned back in his seat, relaxing, and began planning the rest of his journey.

However, just as he was lost in thought, a sudden change occurred—an invisible, terrifying force swept in, slamming down on the time machine like a giant hand. This force contained a suffocating rage, as if it were the violent reaction of some great being whose plans had been disrupted.

"What's going on?!" Ian exclaimed, gripping the seat tightly and trying to steady the violently shaking time machine.

The indicator lights on the control panel flashed wildly, and a piercing alarm blared. The time coordinates in the crystal ball began to jump erratically, indicating that they were deviating from their intended trajectory.

[WARNING: Under attack by unknown energy]

[Warning: Spacetime stability has decreased to a dangerous level]

[WARNING: Propulsion system overheating]

Ian frantically manipulated the control panel, attempting to stabilize the situation, but all his efforts were in vain. The invisible force grew stronger and stronger, as if it intended to crush the time machine along with its passengers.

"Damn it! What is this?" Ian gritted his teeth and persevered, his magic automatically activating to form a golden shield around the machine. But the shield quickly cracked under the impact of that force.

Just then, he saw a chilling scene through the porthole—an indescribable eye was watching him from outside the barrier of the time tunnel.

That being had no specific form, but was merely a constantly shifting mixture of shadow and light, yet the power it contained made even Ian, who had seen the evil god, tremble.

The time machine groaned under its strain, and sparks began to fly from inside the cabin.

"No! Hold on!" Ian desperately channeled magic into the control panel, but to no avail.

Boom!

With a deafening explosion, the time machine's propulsion system was completely destroyed.

Thick smoke filled the cabin, and flames began to spread.

"Damn it! Titan Technologies junk!" Ian roared, frantically adjusting the coordinates while pounding on the smoking control panel.

Before the words were even finished, a deafening explosion erupted from the core of the time machine. Sparks flew, metal twisted, and the entire machine, like a cardboard box being crumpled by an invisible giant hand, began to shake violently and disintegrate.

"what--!"

With a scream, Ian and the wrecked time machine, billowing black smoke and with its parts flying everywhere, were thrown out of the time tunnel like stones from a slingshot.

The feeling of weightlessness lasted for several seconds, followed by a violent impact.

"boom!"

He fell heavily onto a patch of damp grass and rolled several times before stopping.

(End of this chapter)