From Hogwarts to Strixhaven.

Chapter 555 The Usurped Power
Anyone who has played MMORPGs knows that as long as you don't actively provoke yellow-named monsters, which are neutral monsters, they usually won't bother with you.

To the bottled, animated Bigby's Hand summoned by Gale, all the creatures present were neutral units and had no desire to attack.

As a magical creature, the Animation Spell has only one survival goal: to continuously plunder magical energy to ensure its own longevity. Therefore, the Animation Spell will only actively attack the caster or someone equipped with magical items.

The two sides fighting in the Pearl Palace are either spellcasters or adventurers equipped with a large number of magical items. Logically speaking, apart from Ivy, who created the Animated Biggby's Palm, everyone should be regarded as an enemy by the Animated Biggby's Palm on an equal footing. However, after the Green Hag launched the first attack, the situation changed.

Although the Activated Bigby's Hands are classified as mud monsters in biological classification, they are actually more of a construct. They are classified this way only because their bodies, which are made of magical elements, can stretch and elongate like real mud monsters, and their attack methods are more similar to the wrapping and devouring of mud monsters.

The snowballs from the green hag Ethel not only failed to do any effective damage to the activated Bigby's Palm, but instead completely enraged this newly created activated spell.

A pale blue, semi-transparent hand instantly covered a distance of thirty feet, swung its palm wide, and delivered a powerful slap, sending the green widow, who had just finished casting a spell, flying far away.

The holy power of the oath enveloped Elise's magical longsword, and the exile from Menzoberranzan unleashed a Holy Slash, delivering a devastating blow to the green hag who flew past him.

The dazzling golden light shimmered in the room, reflecting off the pearls and colorful crystals that adorned the walls and ceiling, drawing everyone's attention.

Black Maven, the widow who was being overwhelmed by Bigby's Palm manipulated by Ivy, used a strange fairy magic to open a portal behind her and escaped the sixty-foot attack range of Bigby's Palm in a sorry state.

Seeing Ethel, the green-haired hag, lying on the ground after being cleaved in two by the Holy Sword, she couldn't help but shout, "Fools! Fools! This is my palace! And you are nothing but a bunch of shameless ants! You are courting death!"

The old hag, who kept cursing, did not stop casting her spells. Her rapidly changing hand gestures summoned surging waves and a salty sea breeze. The tide suddenly surged from every corner of the Pearl Palace, forming a huge whirlpool that submerged everyone in it.

The witch's spell is an eighth-ring vortex spell, which can create a huge vortex in a sufficiently large body of water, causing blunt damage to every target affected by it. Targets that cannot breathe underwater will also suffer a drowning effect, and if they cannot escape the vortex before their oxygen runs out, they will die.

Moreover, these giant whirlpools can drag large or smaller creatures to the bottom of the water, causing them to spend more time escaping their drowning predicament.

Generally speaking, such wide-area spells that combine control and damage have relatively demanding activation conditions, either requiring difficult-to-obtain casting materials or limiting their applicability. The eighth-ring spell, Vortex, cannot be cast in waterless spaces. Attempting to cast it on land will only waste a spell slot without producing any effect.

But the Great Witch's vortex spell succeeded, not only summoning a massive amount of water from the tide hole buried deep beneath the reef, but also flooding the entire Pearl Palace in one fell swoop.

Pearls, swept away by the water flow and detached from the wall, formed a magnificent yet deadly spiral underwater. In addition to the pearls constantly reflecting the light, there was also a group of adventurers dancing and gesturing underwater.

The Great Witch Blackmawen's vortex spell had a wide range and powerful effect, almost instantly changing the battlefield situation and dragging the adventurers into danger. However, a few adventurers managed to stabilize themselves temporarily, either through preparation or personal skill, preventing the situation from deteriorating further.

When Jahira went to the Water Queen's palace to investigate, she had envisioned an underwater battle, so she specifically obtained underwater breathing potions from Avina. When the Great Witch cast her magic to summon a whirlpool that engulfed everyone, she immediately started reaching into her pockets, trying to take out potions to distribute to everyone. However, the current was too fast and too strong, and apart from putting the underwater breathing potions into her own mouth, she couldn't help anyone else.

Harsin, a high druid, remained calm after being caught in the whirlpool. Instead, he transformed into a gigantic shark. As a Lunar Society druid skilled in shapeshifting, and living near the incredibly congested Chowza River, it was perfectly normal for him to possess one or two aquatic wild forms.

With poor physical condition and unable to resist the swift current, Gale tried his best to hold his breath and widen his eyes as he quickly rummaged through the series of alchemical potion bottles that Ivy had thrown at him underwater, hoping to find one that could be of use.

Flames, lightning, explosions, strong acids... Gale saw every label on the bottle very clearly, but the clearer he saw, the more desperate he became.

Until a gigantic mouth filled with countless triangular teeth delivered Jahira's underwater breathing potion to him. His vision blurred, Gale used all his strength to uncork the bottle and swallow the liquid along with the seawater, thus escaping his drowning predicament.

Riding the giant shark, Gale finally broke free from the current and entered a huge bubble.

"Cough cough..." Although the underwater breathing agent could prevent Gale from drowning, the feeling of seawater filling his mouth and nose was still not good. He felt his nasal cavity and throat burning. After they came into contact with fresh air, Gale found it even harder to resist the urge to cough.

“I’ve never seen such unreasonable magic!” Gale exclaimed, looking up to see his companions filling the bubbles.

Karak's Infernal Engine was running at high speed, constantly releasing steam from his body.

Will, who was in almost the same sorry state as him, was trying to pour water out of his ears.

Yingxin's white hair was completely plastered to the side of her cheeks, and her smoky eye makeup near her eyes was completely ruined.

Then there was Asdalon, lying on the ground, his body charred black, looking half-dead. It was as if he hadn't just been swimming in the sea, but had fallen into a pool of acid.

As a vampire hybrid, Asdalon cannot enter flowing water, as it would harm him like a strong acid. Although the Mind Flayer tadpole saved him from the deadly threat of the sun, the vampire's unique weaknesses still plagued him.

Inside the bubble, only the powerful Ivy and Jashira, who is always good at handling unexpected situations, seem to be doing well.

As for Minsala, Minsk, and Leezer, they are now nowhere to be found.

“The hag’s magic is indeed very strange.” Ivy’s face was grim; this was the first time he had encountered such unreasonable magic. “The moment she cast the spell, I tried to counter it with a spell, but it had no effect whatsoever…”

It was precisely because Ivy tried to counter the witch's magic at the first opportunity that she was unable to save more teammates in time.

After the failed counterattack, Ivy created a bubble within the vortex, providing footholds and fresh air, and used Bigby's Palm to rescue her teammates. Most of the people Gale saw were rescued by Ivy using Bigby's Palm, but some, like Gale, were brought there by Halsin, who had transformed into a giant shark.

“Even if it’s a witch, this magic is just too unreasonable!” Gale complained. “A spell with such a huge range that can create and control water bodies, and with such a short casting time… who exactly is the chosen one of the goddess of magic?!”

“It’s divine power.” Shadowheart tucked her wet hair behind her ear and looked down at the mark that belonged to Shar on the back of her hand. “Most people call things that are beyond reason miracles, and that is the realm of gods. Although I don’t know much about magic, please trust a priest’s intuition.”

“That does make sense…” Ivy recalled the letters she had seen before, and also Jasira’s earlier warning, “It seems these witches did indeed usurp the power belonging to the sea goddess Ambori. This also explains why those witches’ spells were all about ice or water…”

Ivy sighed inwardly: The true gods of Faerûn are too weak; their divine power was so easily usurped by one or two of them.

Leaving aside Baal's deliberate attempt to cause trouble, how could Ambori, one of the raging gods, be so easily usurped?

"The only question now is, why haven't those witches continued their attack?"

Several minutes had passed since the Great Witch summoned the vortex that engulfed the entire Pearl Palace. In the ever-changing battlefield, this time was usually enough to complete several battles.

But the witches seemed to have vanished suddenly, showing no intention of striking while the dog was down. This rendered Ivy's carefully prepared counter-attack spells futile.

Just as everyone was wondering what the witch was planning, Halsin, who had transformed into a giant shark, swam back again, flicking his tail fin.

The enormous mouth, filled with sharp teeth, was holding a heavily armored drow elf, who appeared to be in a deep coma.

The moment the giant shark entered the bubble, it reverted to Halsin's original form. After handing Minsara over to Shadowheart, who was in charge of healing, it urgently said, "The hags have summoned a large group of murlocs and are besieging Leezel and Minsk!"

Jahira breathed a sigh of relief: "Minsk also has underwater breathing agents, so at least they don't have to worry about drowning."

"The witch was also involved in the attack?" Ivy confirmed. "Which direction are they in?"

Halsin shook his head, his expression very strange: "No... the big hag who created this whirlpool doesn't seem to be able to breathe underwater either. It was only after the sea hag found her and cast a spell on her that she was able to give orders to the fishmen."

“No wonder…” Ivy had a lot of complaints in her mind, but she held back in the end. Even many magic masters couldn’t avoid being tripped up by the effects of their own spells. “It seems the hag isn’t quite familiar with the power she’s usurped… But in any case, this body of water is not a suitable battlefield for us. I will drain the water here, so that the enemy’s combat advantage will be gone. Get ready…”

Drain the water body?

Gale couldn't understand what kind of magic could be used to stop a spell enhanced by divine power, especially since Ivy's previous counter-spell had also failed.

But soon, Ivy proved herself with her actions.

A wide, colorful portal, twenty feet in diameter, appeared at the very bottom of the vortex. Gale, who had seen this spell many times before, immediately recognized it as one of Ivy's signature spells—the Ninth Ring Interdimensional Portal.

This spell allows communication between different planes of existence, making interdimensional travel a very simple thing.

However, the interdimensional portal summoned by Ivy was too far from their life-sustaining bubble. Given Gale's swimming skills, it would probably take him three or four minutes to paddle there. As a passage to escape the battlefield, the portal's location was completely unsuitable.

The next second, the increasingly turbulent whirlpool made Gale realize Ivy's plan.

"Where did you put the exit?" Gale clung tightly to Halsin's strong arm, watching in horror as the bubbles that provided them with a foothold trembled violently in the rushing water.

“Wilderness.” Ivy calmly gestured with her staff over the bubbles, creating smaller bubbles that covered her companions’ heads. “There’s no air in there, so be careful not to let the life-sustaining bubbles burst.”

As one of the main worlds in the D&D universe, Toril possesses many wonderful characteristics.

In addition to the two echoes that exist alongside the Prime Material Plane, the Fallen Netherworld and the Fairy Wilderness, there are also inner planes such as the Elemental Plane, and outer planes that are strongly correlated with alignment preferences.

Even with so many planes, the world of Toril is still a planet revolving around the sun, and it also has a satellite orbiting it, the Tears of Serenne.

The structures that contain these giant celestial bodies are called galaxies, and each galaxy floats and sinks in the astral plane, a transit plane connecting the multiverse.

The Wasteland is not truly as desolate as its name suggests; it teems with all sorts of wondrous space life, all coexisting in a vacuum ocean. As a transitional zone between the astral plane and the material plane, the creatures and objects in the Wasteland are normally affected by the aging process of time, and exist simultaneously in two phases. This allows these creatures to be transported to nearby worlds by various forms of teleportation magic, unlike those within a planet where ordinary teleportation magic is limited by the inability to cross planes.

Conversely, as a teleportation spell that can only point to different planes, the portal to another world can also be opened in the wilderness.

What would happen if such a spell, capable of teleporting all objects, connected water and a vacuum?
To use a somewhat inappropriate analogy, it's like pressing the flush button on a toilet.

The still-unsettled vortex suddenly intensified, frantically flinging everything trapped in the water into the desolate universe surrounding the world of Toril.

(End of this chapter)