From Hogwarts to Strixhaven.

Chapter 462 Abandonment
Eileen had already spread her wings and, carrying Serene's radiance, headed to the Inn of Endless Light to reunite with the Harpist and Flame Fist. Serene's divine power left a silvery-white trail in the sky, still shrouded in the Shadow Curse, as if she had torn a rift in the heavens.

This is a perfectly obvious symbol, the same for everyone—war is about to begin.

The portal that Eileen opened was located in the city of Resven, or more specifically, in the center of the town square.

On a base with three open steps, there is a statue decorated with gold thread.

The statue is of a young male elf, wearing armor with the Selenne emblem, and holding a law book in his left hand.

Indeed, this statue is of Katheric Somme himself, representing his time ruling Rasven as a follower of the Sereng.

But Ivy deliberately opened the portal here, not to admire a young Katheric.

It was in this square that Halsin and the evil thought persuaded Oliver, the shadow half-body of the spirit of nature, using physical means.

Now, Ivy has returned to this place with the adventurers to complete the unfinished business.

"So—should we smash this Katheric too?" Karak tilted her head, examining the Katheric statue clad in silver-white armor, pondering where to begin.

“When I came here before, I felt that there was some kind of mechanism here…” The evil thought pointed to the three engraved plates on the base of the statue, “The text on them is completely illogical and doesn’t make any sense at all.”

“It’s actually quite easy to explain.” Ivy waved her hand and copied all the text on the three engraving tablets using magic. “The three engraving tablets are about the same thing, so you have to read them together.”

Under Ivy's meticulous operation, the first line of letters on the three engraving boards were connected end to end, forming a complete sentence: Lost Mother.

"Oh!" The evil thought widened its eyes and read aloud word by word. The four lines of text on the three engraved tablets had all appeared: "Our lady of loss, Mistress of pain, When night falls, Thorm shall rise..."

“I think I’ve seen similar inscriptions in the Iron Hand Temple… Shadowheart must be very familiar with them…” Evil thought scratched his head, looking around in confusion. Shadowheart hadn’t made any connection with Shar, which made Evil thought very uncomfortable. “…Where did Shadowheart go?”

Ivy frowned, dispelling the magical runes in the air, and turned to look for Shadowheart. When she left the Fallen Shadow Realm, Ivy knew very well that she was right behind her.

“A portal malfunction…” Gale hesitated. “The first possible answer that popped into my head…” But when Ivy looked at him, he quickly changed his mind, “Maybe she just missed the portal. We can go back now…”

Like a magic trick where someone suddenly appears out of nowhere, a cloud of black mist suddenly exploded in the air, and Yingxin fell out of it, crashing heavily to the ground.

"Please... madam... please forgive me..." Yingxin closed her eyes tightly, raised her arms to protect herself, and cried out in a sobbing voice, "No... no!"

Ivy crouched down, helped Yingxin lean against her, and reached into the inside of her breastplate—there was the Night Orchid Concoction that Ivy had given her earlier. Ivy had watched as Yingxin placed the crystal bottle into the place where the breastplate was.

Yingxin's body was ice-cold, comparable to a solid block of ice.

Ivy quickly uncorked the bottle and brought the crystal bottle to Yingxin's lips.

As a potion concocted by Ivy using the liquid from the Hufflepuff Cup as a base, Night Orchid Concoction is remarkably effective in boosting spirits.

Yingxin woke up after only taking a small sip. Her voice was very hoarse, as if she had just experienced a heart-wrenching cry: "...Ivy?"

“It’s me.” Ivy said with some worry. Judging from what had just happened, Shadowheart had most likely been captured by that petty goddess Shar. “You just disappeared for a while… Was it Shar who did it?”

“I thought I was going to die…” Yingxin nodded, still shaken, and took another sip of the potion that Ivy had brought to her lips. “Maybe I’ve already died once…”

The Night Orchid Special Concoction had a remarkable effect; a little color returned to Yingxin's pale face, and she struggled to stand up.

Ivy let her lean against her chest and helped her get up.

“This is a nightmare…” Shadowheart murmured. “I stood right in front of the Song of the Night, with Lady Shar’s voice all I could hear, and yet I still betrayed her. I threw her artifact into the abyss with my own hands… This is worse than betrayal; it is defiance, it is rebellion!”

Shadowheart's gaze returned to Ivy's face: "When I entered the portal... Shar stopped me, to punish me for disappointing her. I thought I knew what kind of pain that mark would bring... I thought I was prepared to endure it for a lifetime..."

“But Shar proved me right... I knew nothing about her power.”

"It was like experiencing a thousand excruciating pains in an instant... My blood was boiling, my hair was burning, and I thought I was going to tear my own face off, but the pain made my mind and body completely stop functioning..."

“But the next second, she let me go—or rather, banished me. She said I would become a homeless child, and that all the believers would know about me and reprimand me… I was all alone again…”

“You’ll never be alone!” Karak blurted out before Ivy could. “Are you alright?” She immediately regretted the question, waving her hand as if to dismiss her earlier statement. “Of course you’re not alright… but listen, you still have me. If you need rest, lean on me. If you need a hand, use mine. If you need ears, I have two. Whatever you need!”

After saying all that, Karak seemed to remember that Shadowheart was leaning against Ivy. Like an old machine that often malfunctioned, she stammered for a long time before finally saying, "Uh... I believe Ivy will support you too... Yes... That must be it!"

Karak's enthusiastic yet slightly comical concern brought a smile to Yingxin's face.

She wriggled out of Ivy's arms and regained her footing on the ground using her own strength: "Thank you, Karak. You let me know I'm not a homeless person. Let's end this, defeat Katheric, and then find Erin and ask her about my hidden past."

Although every adventurer was worried about Shadowheart's current state, no one offered any words of comfort after noticing the determination on her face.

After confirming Shadowheart's condition, Ivy prepared to continue with the necessary work.

According to the information that Xie Nian and his group had previously gathered throughout Resven, the Som family had always been an elven family that worshipped Shar. Katheric Som's brother, Marus Som, had been secretly engaged in activities related to the Shar faith for a long time, using his identity as a doctor. It was only because he fell in love with Melodia, a follower of Serene, that Katheric Som converted to Serene, making Resven a town belonging to Serene.

However, his joining the Serene sect was a personal act. The other members of the Somme family still worshipped Shar, but under the dual pressure of the lord and the patriarch, the Shar faith in the Reisven region went underground.

Judging from the bizarre deaths of Melodia and Isobel, the influence of the followers of Shar was not uncommon.

When his wife and daughters died one after another, Catherine naturally returned to Shar's embrace, seeking peace by forgetting everything, and instigated a full-scale purge of the Selenge believers in the area.

Ivy used telekinesis to tap on the three engraved plaques under the statue in turn, and a hidden door leading to the bottom of the statue opened automatically.

Below is a dark room containing three statues of Shar, one large and two small.

“Placing the statue of Shar below the statue of the Lord of Serene suggests that a large number of Shar believers must have participated in the construction of this landmark.” Gale looked around and came to the conclusion. “If we combine this with the inscription on the tablet, the Somme family must be a long-standing family of Shar believers.”

“That’s right.” Ivy nodded in agreement, stopping the evil thought from going any further. “Whatever treasure lies below, it’s not for us. Halsin, summon Senir and Oliver. We need to dispel Rasven’s Shadow Curse.”

In addition to the nails driven into the bodies of natural spirits and celestial beings, the ritual to summon the Shadow Curse also requires a physical anchor point, and this small, hidden temple serves as the base point for the ritual.

"I have waited too long for this day." Halsin struggled to suppress his excitement and raised his hands to call upon the power of nature.

The twisted, terrifying vines in the town square of Rasven began to writhe, retreating into the darkness like startled tentacles.

The forces of nature re-emerged from the ashes, like new shoots compared to the boundless shadows, yet embodying a vibrant and indomitable life force.

A gentle breeze blew through the verdant landscape, and the curled green leaves formed the silhouette of a child—a little boy covered in wounds, with branches on his head resembling deer antlers.

“Just one last step, Halsin,” the nature spirit, its shadow scars still unhealed, said with a smile. “I can almost sense the vibrant life beneath the earth!”

“Yes, Senir, yes.” Halsin crouched down, looking at his childhood friend, and they both smiled. “To restore the balance of the earth, we need your other half. Hmm… can you talk now? Have you played hide-and-seek together?”

“Oliver is right here.” The Spirit of Nature looked towards a particularly dense darkness, within which two points of green light flickered. “If we remove the Shadow Curse, he will disappear, won’t he?”

“The removal of the Shadow Curse cannot be accomplished overnight,” Halsin said, placing his hand on the Nature Spirit’s shoulder. “You will need to stay together for a long time.”

"Like a mortal who will eventually die?" The Shadow Spirit stepped out of the shadows and asked impatiently, "Will I grow up? Will I grow old? That sounds cool!"

“I…I can’t explain it clearly…” Halsin shook his head. He was unwilling to lie or tell the cruel truth.

“Of course.” Shadow Spirit Oliver patted the Archdruid on the shoulder. “When Senir first met you, you weren’t even as tall as him! But now,” Oliver punched the Archdruid’s arm muscle, “you’ve become a wall! My growth process will definitely be slow! Slower than yours, anyway!”

Halsin shook his head and remained silent.

“Don’t worry,” Ivy interrupted his sadness. “Rasven isn’t just the world above ground; it also has an underground space. If we handle things properly, Senier and Oliver will become two sides of the same coin, interdependent yet mutually opposed.”

"Can it really work?" Halsin asked in surprise. "But what about the life in the Underdark? They are innocent!"

“The area around Rasven isn’t that big. Besides the drow and grey dwarves we left in the adamantite furnace, there are only some mushrooms and their spores left down there,” Ivy waved her hand.

"You want to unleash the Shadow Curse into the Adamantite Forge?" Minsara frowned and said sternly, "I disagree! My half is in there too!"

“Compared to the betrayal and lies of the Drow, I think you would prefer a city of loyalty, wouldn’t you?” Ivy had already figured out how to persuade Minsara, and he was certain that this prospective matriarch of the Banri from Menzoberranzan would agree to his plan.

"Go on," Minsala said, her expression softening slightly, though her brows remained furrowed.

“A loyal city needs loyal subjects, for example…” Before Ivy could finish speaking, Minsara interrupted.

“For example, the True Soul of the Supreme God!” Minsara laughed. “You finally agree with my idea? After defeating the Supreme God, bring the Order under your control!”

“No.” Ivy shook his head helplessly. Mind control had never been one of his options. Not only was it naturally opposed to those who sought freedom, but it was also a concrete symbol of resistance, making it too prone to unforeseen changes. “I’m referring to constructs. They are absolutely loyal to their owners and are not affected by the Shadow Curse. Moreover, these metal contraptions have room for continuous improvement; they are not only highly efficient but also consume far less energy than real life forms.”

Long before Ivy's time travel, there were already many tech companies on Earth advocating for robots and intelligent AI, but even after Ivy's arrival, he had never heard of anyone being able to miniaturize the core components of intelligent AI and deploy them in robots. Robots fighting against humans had always been a plot device only found in science fiction novels.

Ever since he began researching constructs, Ivy had held high hopes for artificial intelligence. If science could handle it, there was no reason magic couldn't. Besides, intelligent magical artifacts had existed in the D&D world for a long time; embodying this intelligence on a large scale in constructs shouldn't be a world-class problem.

“That sounds interesting…” Minsara thought to herself. She had already witnessed the constructs created by Ivy, and the scene was very convincing. “The Shadow Curse can’t be considered entirely a bad thing… at least it can help stop those who covet the Adamantite Forge.”

Although Dawn swore to offer his unwavering loyalty to Minsala and received the Staff of Mourning as a reward, there was no reason for him to betray Minsala and Ivy. However, the inherent skepticism of the drow elves still made Minsala consider ways to guard against Dawn.

Before finding a population that fills the adamantite furnace and establishes a true settlement there, Minsara must guard against all other life in the underworld.

Dawn, who might be able to contact other drow elf families, is naturally a threatening individual.

(End of this chapter)