From Hogwarts to Strixhaven.

Chapter 474 The lurking crisis

Golden rays of dawn swept across the land, triggering a series of violent explosions.

The cultists' tents and their bodies were blown to pieces and then set on fire.

The undead creatures mixed in with the army were burned to charcoal in the blink of an eye, then turned into ashes and disappeared without a trace.

As a construct, the Shadow Destroyer does not feel fatigue. After receiving the divine spark of Losanda and becoming a true construct life form, his greatest limitation was also removed.

Before Ivy used the four drops of Losanda's divine blood as energy to power the Shadow Destroyer, the golem, powered only by the Whisperflower Engine and the Sun Crystal, had very limited activity time.

While the four drops of divine blood do indeed provide the Shadow Slayer with the ability to stay operational for extended periods, their primary function remains to power the Dawn Cannon.

For Dawn Cannon, the four drops of divine blood were like disposable cannonballs. Three had already been used in the previous battles, and the last one was transformed into a divine spark by the divine power descending from Losanda.

Although it lost its energy reserves and ammunition depots, it does not mean that the Dawn Cannon will become a mere decoration.

The divine spark occupied the space in the Shadow Destroyer's mind core that originally belonged to the divine blood. In addition to providing energy to the machine, it also retained the core function of activating the Dawn Cannon.

However, without the divine power of Losanda from the blood of the gods, the Dawn Cannon's output efficiency has been greatly reduced. It's roughly equivalent to a meteor burst that deals 1.5 times the damage to undead creatures and also has the effect of igniting flammable materials.

Being able to use the Dawn Cannon as a permanent weapon was already a pleasant surprise for Ivy, since the Losanda monks of the Rosemary Monastery had initially intended it as a one-time anti-theft measure. Now, the Dawn Cannon could not only be reused, but had even become an indispensable central axis for the Shadow Destroyer's rotating weapon.

Apart from the roasted brains that the Mind Flayer mastermind hastily abandoned, there was nothing left in the cult camp.

There were neither voters nor the Netherstone in their hands.

As for the army of cultists who were bewitched by the Mind Flayer mastermind, they were completely wiped out by Ivy and the Shadow Destroyer.

Their weapons were as ridiculous as cardboard toys to the adamantite bodies.

The voters' numerical advantage, which they were so proud of, was rendered ineffective by Ivy's massive, wide-range magical attacks, and they were unable to mount a decent counterattack.

At first, Ivy was wary of a sneak attack by voters and the mastermind, but after discovering that they had indeed fled the scene, she became unscrupulous.

As the ogre's stinking wooden club swung down at Ivy's face, a staff made entirely of mithril suddenly appeared in his hand. It not only summoned a shield that easily deflected the ogre's attack, but also retaliated with an even more terrifying spell.

The gravity that bound all objects to the earth's surface was suddenly reversed, and the ogre, who was two people tall and three people thick, waved his thick hands and feet and rose into the sky, accompanied by a large group of cultists who were eager to grab onto something to hold onto their bodies.

Seeing that the enemy had reached the peak of the spell's effect, Ivy did not hesitate to withdraw her focus on the spell and begin her next casting.

The gem at the top of the mithril staff refracted a dazzling seven-colored light, which flowed and changed with the movements of Ivy's hands, as if it were dancing a mysterious dance.

As the light points danced to their rhythm, the ground beneath the cultists' feet also began to dance.

The earth's crust did not rise vertically, but rather with a more violent trembling and shaking. The granite walls split open, swallowing several cultists who did not have time to scream, and slamming other goblins who could not maintain their balance to the ground.

Almost simultaneously with the earthquake, a hurricane stretched almost into the clouds. The chaotic airflow obediently flew past Ivy, and then quickly became part of the spiraling updraft.

The roar of thunder and the lightning that transformed into countless silver snakes illuminated the entire battlefield, turning all the believers of the Supreme God who dared to raise their weapons into charred remains.

"I've finally found a bit of that old feeling again." Ivy reached out to smooth the stray hairs on his forehead, but found nothing, because he still had that hairstyle that belonged to a strongman.

When he was just a fifth-grade student, he slaughtered the Fire Serpent Gang and the Black Wizard who were poaching in the Forbidden Forest.

Later, he joined the Lonely Mountain Expedition of the Turin dwarves and destroyed the orc army with a stunning spectacle.

Since then, Ivy has not taken down more than three digits of enemies in a single battle for a very long time.

Although the cult army of the Supreme God was not well-equipped or powerful, its consistently high morale and fearless attitude of advancing wave after wave were enough to surpass the regular armies of many countries.

Ivy stepped onto the magic-ravaged earth and let out a satisfied sigh. His nerves were burning like molten lava from the intense spellcasting, and the uncontrollable magical energy was tearing through the cracks in his skin, trying to break free.

But as Ivy took a deep, relaxed breath, the adventurers, who had already begun to doubt whether Ivy would explode under Gale's mutterings, still surrounded him. They had witnessed firsthand that the mage with the gleaming bald head had returned to his familiar appearance, even including his familiar hairstyle.

"What a magical feast... Oh, this illusion magic is not bad either..." Gale began to suspect that Ivy might be having an affair with the goddess of magic like him, otherwise a normal mage would never be able to wield magic so freely.

Evil Thoughts glanced at Ivy's head with a hint of regret: "I quite like your somewhat bizarre look... it's very... um, exotic."

Yingxin seemed somewhat worried, whether it was because of Ivy's hair or her own background.

Before the battle began, Irene, daughter of Serene, promised to answer more of her questions about her origins. Although Shadowheart had betrayed Shar, she still possessed the divine magic she had mastered through asceticism and torture, unlike Minsara, the former priestess of Lolth the Spider Queen, who had lost it all. Delving into the source of her magical power could very well break this half-elf girl.

“How long will it take for your hair to grow back?” Yingxin twirled her braid with her fingers. “I mean… I’ve actually been thinking of changing my appearance… After betraying Ms. Shar, I need a new anchor to help me confirm my identity… Changing my appearance is a simple and effective way… I was thinking of changing the color of my hair. But changing the length is also acceptable—especially when you look like you need a wig.”

“Maintaining the illusion of hair all day shouldn’t be too difficult for Ivy, right?” Karak could barely contain her smile. “But even if you didn’t use magic to cover it up, I definitely wouldn’t laugh at you! After all, look, almost all the male Ironhanded Dwarves are bald!”

You were clearly already smiling.

Ivy declined, saying, "No, thank you. One night is enough for my hair to grow back."

"So, mages also have magic that can make hair grow faster?" Will joined the conversation, trying his best to hide his disappointment. He hadn't found any trace of his father on the battlefield. It seemed that when the Mind Flayer's mastermind and the Chosen Ones disappeared, they took the High Duke of Baldur's Gate with them.

“It’s a potion,” Ivy explained. “I’m also an alchemist.”

After transmigrating, Ivy should be considered a native-born young man from a small, almost unintegrated kingdom of Britain, but he doesn't seem to have the hair loss problem that most British men worry about, so he doesn't do much research on hair growth products.

After quickly reviewing the various potion-related books he had seen in the Forbidden Area of ​​Hogwarts, Ivy finally settled on the Weasley twins' prank product—a cookie that could turn a person into a giant fluffy creature if eaten.

The specific recipe was probably found in Filch's drawer, and Ivy wrote it down because he thought it was interesting. However, he never expected that the first test subject of this prank product would be himself, and not for any prank purpose at all.

Hogwarts, that castle, was like home to Ivy.

Perhaps Ivy can go back to Hogwarts before the summer vacation in Streahaven ends.

As long as the journey to Sword Bay goes smoothly enough, Ivy is confident she can squeeze out enough time.

It has only been a little over twenty days since he arrived in Sword Coast, and he has already obtained a Netherstone. Although he has not played the third chapter of Baldur's Gate 3, he doesn't think the time span should be any longer, not to mention that he is a spellcaster who can teleport.

Although the rune sequence of the Baldur's Gate teleportation array was unclear, Gale, being an archmage himself, must have been prepared. However, due to the Destruction Orb and the Mind Flayer Tadpole, his spellcasting ability was greatly reduced, which is why he was not teleported to Baldur's Gate immediately after disembarking from the Shell Ship. Otherwise, with his connections and knowledge, he might have been the first among the many adventurers to get rid of the Mind Flayer Tadpole.

“This is a battle that will be sung in every tavern across Faerûn for many years to come, I can assure you.” High-ranking harpist Jahira swept the messy ground.

“I’ve always been a nobleman of the night in taverns’ erotic tunes, and I’ve never appeared as a hero in the bards’ stories before,” Asdellen said with a tsk-tsk. “The great hero of Baldur’s Gate must know a lot about this, right? I always hear different versions of your story from the bards.”

“I can assure you of that—you probably won’t like it.” Jasira pulled a dead man’s tooth from his dreadlocks. “Those bard stories are pretty much the same: half of them want me to become their follower, and the other half want me to sleep with them.”

“Very well, I’ll probably only hate half of it.” Asdallen grinned, revealing his sharp teeth. Everyone could tell he didn’t mind sleeping with the bard, but who would actually enjoy whom was another matter entirely.

“We saw Melkor in the battle just now, right?” Jahira changed the subject as quickly as an Englishman discussing the weather. “He also got beaten up by Losanda. So what Ivy and Minsara said is true, the Death Trinity has once again reached out their claws to Baldur’s Gate?”

“And they also have a Mind Flayer mastermind with them,” Gale added. “They’re definitely planning to infect the whole city with Mind Flayer tadpoles and then do some unpleasant things to that city.”

"I never thought that with half of my big brain gone, I could still escape alive." Xie Nian touched the wound on the back of her head. Although it had now turned into a pink scar, she still clearly remembered the excruciating pain in her head when she first got off the snail shell ship. "But when I think about my own brain, it makes sense again."

“I should have learned from dimensional anchors.” Ivy nodded, admitting her mistake. “I haven’t encountered many enemies that can teleport over such a large area.”

“Even if you do learn Dimensional Anchor, its casting range won’t be able to affect the mainframe,” Gale said reassuringly. “Without you, we might have already been overwhelmed by the cultist army of the Supreme God.”

"Fortunately, Ivy completely wiped out that cult army." Karak stretched, his bones cracking all over. "Otherwise, Baldur's Gate would have been in danger."

“Baldur’s Gate is still in danger,” Minsara interrupted Karak coldly. “You don’t think this is the only camp in Som, do you?”

“The Supreme God’s conspiracy has been going on for at least several months.” Minsara took out a map from the map tube. Judging from the emblem on the map, it should belong to a True Soul of a Supreme God. “Through the Mind Flayer colony beneath the Tower of the Moon, the Order has been sending a large number of Mind Flayer tadpoles from the Chongza River and the underground water system to the entire Sword Bay. Even if only a few of them can actually parasitize intelligent beings, this is still an unimaginably large force.”

"Through the Chongsa River and groundwater?" Jahira looked enlightened. "No wonder those True Souls who went to the Tower of the Moon had nothing in common... Anyone who came into contact with water could be infected by the Mind Flayer Tadpoles."

“Due to the existence of the Shadow Curse, it is difficult for Rasven to supply too many living troops, so the army here is mainly composed of Melkor’s undead.” Minsara stretched his hand and pointed to several locations marked with red circles on the map. “This can only be considered the smallest camp of the Supreme God. The enemy’s power is still very large.”

“I thought the first thing we’d do after such a hard-fought battle was to celebrate,” Karak couldn’t help but complain. “Why are we talking about this now?”

“For those refugees,” Minsara gave a reason that seemed completely unlike anything she could have come up with.

"You want to leave those Tifflins in Rasven... no, in your dungeons?" Will displayed the political acumen befitting his surname.

Minsara simply gave a proud smile and looked at Ivy: "What do you think? DOOM? That city is half yours."

(End of this chapter)