Hogwarts Raven

Chapter 439, Section 438: A Sudden Change

The battle continues.

Neither could completely overpower the other, but each clash at the level of divine authority gave Ian a deeper and more dangerous understanding of his own power.

"I'm evolving, but... what about you?"

He spoke to the god who was certain he could not win.

The tone was contemptuous.

In the sea of ​​consciousness, the paradoxical divine light and the decaying darkness were like two intertwined and fighting pythons, tearing, eroding, and twisting each other. Ian's will was like a lone boat in a storm, yet he always firmly grasped the helm. He was no longer merely passively defending or looking for loopholes to counterattack, but began to actively guide this clash at the level of divine authority.

Each time darkness attempts to imprint the laws of "end" and "decay" onto his soul, Ian twists, dismantles, and even attempts to "graft" them with more ingenious paradoxes.

He defined "decay" as "another form of stability" and subtly transformed "end" into "a certain node in a cycle".

This is not a simple sophistry, but rather his attempt to forcefully drive his own "wedge" into the other party's divine domain based on his own understanding of the rules of the universe.

This process was extremely perilous, like walking a tightrope over a bottomless abyss. A single misstep could have corrupted and assimilated his self-perception with the other party's fanatical faith, or caused his paradoxical divine authority to collapse under the weight of too many contradictions. But Ian's mind was as firm as a rock.

His desire to explore the nature of power outweighed his fear of danger.

then.

They became increasingly adept at using divine authority.

He is truly growing.

He sensed that, in this highly stressful confrontation with theocracy, his paradoxical theocracy, which had originally served more as a "tool" and a "characteristic," was becoming more "dynamic" and more "profound." It was no longer merely distorting the rules of the outside world, but was even beginning to influence his own cognitive boundaries regarding "existence," "reality," and "logic."

In layman's terms...

A grander, more dangerous vision was slowly unfolding before him. On the twisted face of the fallen god, for the first time, his crimson eyes held a light that was neither anger nor greed.

It was genuine terror!
It clearly sensed that Ian's soul was not weakening under its erosion, but rather was being constantly tempered and polished by its divine power as a whetstone!

As Ian declared.

The light of that paradox did not dim in the confrontation; on the contrary, it became more refined and more... possessed a kind of "aggressiveness" and "growth" that it could not understand!
"He's...evolving?! Using my power?!" This realization sent a chill down the fallen god's spine. It had existed for countless ages, devouring countless lives and spirits of nature, yet it had never encountered such a bizarre, such... "evil" opponent!

A mere wizard, yet he not only possesses divine authority, but can also use the enemy's divine power as nourishment to promote the growth of his own divine authority during battle.

"What the hell is this!"

"Damn it!" the fallen god roared in shock and rage on a spiritual level. It realized that if this stalemate continued, not only would it fail to devour the legendary wizard's soul, but it might actually become a catalyst for the wizard to ascend to a higher divine position, or rather, to some new, paradoxical rank that it could not comprehend!

Once this mortal completely abandons certain constraints of the wizard and fully embraces and elevates that damned paradoxical divine authority, even I, in my best condition, might not be a match for him!

What's more, it's currently polluted and constrained!

this moment.

Fear prevailed over greed.

It cannot accept becoming a stepping stone for others to ascend to godhood!
Without the slightest hesitation.

The fallen god abruptly severed the deep connection with Ian's spiritual world, as if burned, forcibly pulling his will and divine power out of that paradoxical vortex!

The battle within consciousness has ended.

Back to reality.

"Ok?"

In the real world, Ian abruptly opened his eyes, countless contradictory concepts flashing across his deep gaze. He immediately sensed the abnormality of the fallen god opposite him. The twisted humanoid body was clutching its head in agony, emitting incomprehensible roars filled with chaos and struggle.

"I can do it...no...I can do it...I can do it..." The foul divine power around it became extremely unstable. The stains of contamination, like fungal spots and pustules, flickered on its body surface, sometimes spreading and sometimes contracting, as if two consciousnesses were fiercely vying for dominance within it.

Forcibly withdrawing from the mental confrontation, especially in the face of Ian’s “evolving” paradoxical theocracy, clearly caused a significant backlash.

This exacerbated the conflict between its own divine fragments and the external contamination.

perhaps.

The source of pollution.

This is to impose some kind of punishment on this deity.

of course.

This is not something Ian should care about.

He just knows.

This is a good opportunity.

"A perfect opportunity for a sneak attack 1"

Ian did not hesitate at all.

He suppressed his mental exhaustion and physical pain, and raised his wand once more. But this time, his target was not the fallen god himself!
Rather, it was the ever-flowing, polluting divine power surrounding it!
"Definition of the paradox: Impurity is the foundation of purity!"

Ian benefited greatly from that exchange. That's why they say pressure is the best motivation for growth. The growth he made in one day was equivalent to several months of systematic learning.

"As expected, I am still more powerful than the system."

I was a little narcissistic.

Instead of trying to dismantle or fight against that force, he used a more sophisticated and more fundamental paradoxical divine authority to act directly on the concept of "pollution" itself!
He forcibly "defined" that disgusting, filthy divine power, filled with madness and destruction, as a kind of harmless, "transformable" primal energy!

This is common sense.

but.

A strange thing happened. The dark, corrupting wave that was surging toward Ian underwent a fundamental change in nature the instant it came into contact with the area enveloped by the paradoxical divine light.

The mind-blowing ravings disappeared, and the corrosive properties were stripped away, leaving only something slightly cold, but essentially exceptionally "clean."

Perhaps it is an energy flow without attributes.

In the end, it turned into a cool breeze, brushed against Ian's cheek, and dissipated into the air.

efficient!

A glint flashed in Ian's eyes. He had only intended to test the waters, but the effect had been far more remarkable. It seemed that the most terrifying aspect of this fallen god was not its ancient divine power, but the "contamination" that clung to it and distorted its essence. If this contamination could be peeled away or even purified, then what remained might be merely a weakened ancient god, perhaps even one that had regained some of its sanity, which would greatly reduce the threat to him.

No sooner said than done! Ian immediately changed his battle strategy.

"I'm not trying to save him, I'm just trying to kill him better!" He stopped dodging the chaotic divine spells of the fallen god and instead faced the pervasive, corrupt divine power head-on.

With each wave of the wand, beams of paradoxical light, like precise scalpels, continuously "cut," "define," and "transform" the dark energies.

"The superposition of existence and nothingness—contamination both exists and does not exist here!"

"Cause and effect reversed—the result of pollution yields the cause of purification!"

"A closed logical loop—this pollution is destined to be negated by itself!"

Ian seemed to enter a mystical state, fully utilizing his understanding of paradox. The originally rampant, corrupt divine power, before him, seemed to have met its nemesis, being transformed in large swaths into harmless breezes, faint specks of light, and even pure magical fragments carrying a hint of ancient vicissitudes!

It can be absorbed!

Strengthen Ian's magic!
"How is this possible! How is this possible!"

The fallen god initially roared and struggled in chaos, instinctively resisting this "purification." But soon, it seemed to realize the change within itself.

As the insidious pollution was gradually peeled away, its original consciousness, which had been suppressed and distorted and belonged to its own ancient divine nature, actually felt a long-lost sense of... ease.
next moment.

The madness in its scarlet eyes gradually faded, replaced by extreme shock, disbelief, and... an increasingly intense, almost manic joy!

"You actually managed to do that!"

It stopped attacking and even began to actively "send" the foul divine power that permeated its body into the range of Ian's paradoxical divine light, as if cooperating with his "purification"!
"So that's how it is... So that's how it is!!! I understand! I understand!" The fallen god let out a voice that was completely different from its previous roar, filled with an excited realization. Its eyes were fixed on Ian, as if it were looking at some rare treasure, or rather... its only hope?
You can do it! You actually can! This paradox…this power that negates all definitions…is the key! The key to freeing me from this eternal torment!!

It seemed to understand something, to understand the special significance of Ian's strange power to its own situation! It no longer saw Ian as prey, but as... salvation?
This is also related to the fact that some of its pollution has been purified.

"Ok?"

Although Ian didn't understand what exactly was making this fallen god so excited, the other party's cooperative attitude undoubtedly greatly accelerated the "purification" process. He continued to output paradoxical divine power, like a skilled cleaner, slowly washing away the thick filth on the fallen god's body.

The twisted shell gradually became clearer, and one could vaguely see what appeared to be an even more ancient and majestic outline beneath it, as if a statue buried in the mud was about to reappear in the light of day.

However, just as the filth was about to be completely purified, and the true face of the fallen god seemed about to be revealed, with even a trace of the gentle radiance of "procreation" or "abundance" that should belong to an ancient god returning to its eyes—unsurprisingly, some unexpected situations will always occur.

A sudden change occurred!

From the deepest, unfathomable darkness of the ruins, beyond even Ian's perception, an indescribable and inexplicable terrifying power descended without warning!
This force is neither an energy surge nor a mental oppression; it is more like a... forced intervention at the level of rules! It is silent and stealthy, yet it carries an absolute tyranny.

And an unquestionable will.

It's like an order issued by the universe itself.

"What the hell? There's an even bigger boss?!"

Ian felt the paradoxical divine authority that had been operating freely around him suddenly freeze, as if it had been forcibly "held down" by an invisible hand! All the paradoxical influences he had placed on the fallen god, the ongoing purification process, melted away instantly in the face of this power, like ice and snow under the sun!

He was covered and replaced by a more fundamental and colder rule! He didn't even have time to react to what was happening. He only saw that the invisible force easily dismantle his divine intervention, and then, like a living dark tentacle, it suddenly wrapped around the fallen god who had just shown a glimmer of clarity and whose face was still filled with ecstasy and anticipation!

"Do not--!!!"

The fallen god roared with a cry far more shrill and desperate than ever before, "Just a little bit more! Just a little bit more!! Let me get rid of it! Let me..."

Its roar abruptly ceased.

That irresistible force from the deepest abyss, like dragging a weightless shadow, easily pulled the struggling, resentful fallen god into the absolute, deathly silence behind him, a silence that swallowed even light and sound.

Previously, no area had been able to be shaken by fighting.

Sure enough there is a problem.

Everything happened in a flash of lightning.

One moment he was undergoing a crucial purification, the next his target had vanished, leaving Ian standing alone. The paradoxical divine authority was still somewhat stagnant, and the fallen god's final "no," filled with despair and resentment, echoed in his mind, along with that dark abyss that seemed to devour everything and sent chills down his spine.

"Huhuhu~"

The wind only blew a few times.

Deep within the ruins, a deathly silence returned. It was as if the breathtaking divine battle, the near-successful purification, and the sudden, terrifying anomaly had just occurred.

It was all just an illusion.

Only the lingering trace of purified divine power in the air, along with Ian's depleted magical energy and mental exhaustion, proved that what had just happened was real.

"No, so what I attacked was just a pawn? A chess piece?" Ian stared into the deep darkness, his face more solemn than ever before.

He realized that the secrets hidden in these ancient ruins, and the true schemes of the African Ministry of Magic here, were probably far more profound and terrifying than he had imagined. The fallen god who was dragged back into the abyss might not have been a free evil god, but merely a "prisoner" or "tool" controlled by some more terrifying being.

If that's the case.

What exactly is the African Ministry of Magic plotting?

Or rather.

Does the African Ministry of Magic still belong to wizards? A series of questions arose in Ian's mind. He knew that to find the answer to this question, he had to delve into the darkness.

"I... let it go."

This might be the first time Ian has backed down, and there's nothing he can do about it. After all, no matter how audacious he is, he still has some self-awareness.

Even moving a single chess piece is so dangerous and difficult. Heaven knows what exactly controls that piece, and what kind of crisis is hidden in that unshakeable depth.

Ian was merely a daring wizard, not a fearless one. Moreover, he didn't belong to this era; in fact, he now wanted to leave it as soon as possible.

"I have to go; this place is no place to stay any longer!"

Ian thought to himself.

He turned to leave.

however.

He was completely dumbfounded when he turned around.

That gate.

It's gone...

(End of this chapter)