From Hogwarts to Strixhaven.

Chapter 578 Consumption

With its wings fully folded, Ansu swooped down rapidly, almost becoming a bronze-colored meteor. Arcane vision granted it the ability to see all obstacles in its path; with just a slight adjustment to the wide wing membranes folded to its sides, the high-speed airflow would guide the ancient dragon's body to change direction.

Ansu dodged a fireball, and a mental blast aimed at him blasted into the air.

This complex commando team was already very close to the top of Nyssa's head.

It was almost a platform made entirely of brains and flesh, with layers of black keratin forming crowns. The broad top of the skull was comparable to a square. Several mind flayers, radiating a faint purple psionic energy, floated above Nether's head, raising their hands to guide ranged attacks time and time again.

The mind flayer society, connected by a psionic network, can be viewed as a whole, with each mind flayer being a tentacle of this vast network, and the one who rules over all these tentacles is the absolutely unshakeable Mastermind.

The mastermind has no concept of happiness, compassion, or mercy. It believes that all the thoughts devoured by the mind-stealers are merely being integrated into a higher level of existence. Under its cold calculation and domination, it can accept any price, as long as that price can bring enough benefits.

Although the Netherbrain has no eyes or ears, and its psychic powers for observing the world cannot detect the bronze dragon Anzu, which is protected by the Mind Flayer Barrier, it can directly see the high-speed bronze meteors by connecting with the Mind Flayer Guardian's psychic powers.

Combat is a game of strategy. The core idea of ​​both sides is to hinder the opponent from achieving their goal and then find a way to achieve their own.

In order to prevent Ivy from landing with Netherstone, Netherbrain instantly calculated and evaluated various tactics and quickly found what it considered to be the optimal solution.

Like a sudden solidification after passing through a silver mist, a shell-shaped ship with constantly waving tentacles suddenly blocked Ansu's only path.

Two red dragons, tearing flesh from the ship's hull, were perched atop the great creation of the Mind Flayer Empire. The sudden phase shift alerted the Gith Yankee combatant, who quickly scanned the sky, hoping to locate the source of the threat.

However, just as the cyan phantom was captured by the red dragon's vertical pupils, a tremendous impact descended upon them.

The dying snail-shell ship had completely lost its vitality. Its tentacles, used to capture food and hosts, drooped after a tremor, and its hull, covered with chitinous shells, broke in two. The bronze dragon, unable to change direction in time, had already passed through the snail-shell ship and crashed heavily into the skull of Netherbrain, which resembled a bone plate covered with grayish-white flesh.

If you can't stop the opponent from landing, then weaken their strength as much as possible—that's the answer the Nash brain gives.

Even for an ancient metal dragon with thick scales, colliding with an astral spaceship while flying at high speed is not an easy thing to tolerate.

Ansu's sweeping horn broke off, and his beard and cheek bones seemed to fall apart. Large amounts of blood seeped from all over the dragon's body, quickly turning him into a dragon soaked in blood.

"Roar—" A high-pitched dragon roar came from the red dragon that had been lying on the shell ship. It had narrowly escaped the previous collision and was still flapping its wings and flying in the air.

However, its companion wasn't so lucky. Another red dragon was pinned down by the wreckage of the shell-carrying ship, wedged diagonally against the carapace protrusion on the head of the Netherbrain. The red dragon's formidable vitality allowed it to still struggle, and fragments of the shell-carrying ship's shattered flesh and Netherbrain's carapace flew everywhere under the red dragon's attacks.

The next second, both the roaring red dragon in the sky and the struggling red dragon on the ground stopped moving and turned their heads strangely to look at Anzu, the bronze dragon who was trying to get up. Surging flames spewed from the mouths of the two red dragons, which were full of sharp teeth, forming a wall of flames that rushed towards Anzu.

The red dragon's attack did not stem from the chromatic dragon's natural hatred for the metallic dragon, but rather from the immense spiritual power of the chromatic brain.

In the blink of an eye, the two red dragons, who had fought alongside the Githyanki for an unknown period of time, instantly turned against them and became slaves of the Netherbrain without the Mind Flayer tadpole parasitizing them.

"Vulcan clears the way!"

The red dragon's cross-shaped breath attack failed to achieve its goal. Ivy, holding aloft her mithril staff, loudly recited a spell from Hogwarts. The surging dragon breath split into two again before the light emanating from the Heart of the Mountains, then coiled back into a tornado and turned towards the Mind Flayers that Netherbrain had placed above his head.

"Do what you have to do, Orpheus!" Ivy strode forward, raising her wand, forcing the two dragon breaths back again.

The Comet Prince remained silent. His purple eyes, which were almost indistinguishable from those of an ordinary mind flayer, flashed with a blue light. His psionic talent, inherited from Gith, rapidly expanded, and in the blink of an eye, he severed the connection between Netherbrain and the two red dragons.

The wall of fire formed by dragon breath disappeared, and Ivy took the opportunity to take out the icosahedron made by the Demon Grand Duke and gently tossed it behind her.

The astral prism that had rolled a few times above Nether's head suddenly leaped into the air and unfolded into a portal linking the astral demiplane and the prime material plane.

Leading the charge was the war machine personally crafted by Ivy, one of the templates for his future creation of omnics—the Shadow Destroyer, constructed entirely of adamantite.

The mechanical mind, ignited by the divine spark of Losanda, instantly assessed the situation. The hammers and drills on its left and right arms whipped up a whirlwind of death as it charged toward the guards that Nether's brain had placed there.

Countless tentacles extending from the brain tissue coiled around the adamantine golem's tentacles, hoping to halt the war machine's charge.

However, large amounts of gray slime gushed out from the broken openings in the Netherworld Tentacles. These tentacles, each as thick as a person, were completely ineffective in stopping it. Instead, the Shadow Destroyer left a series of wounds spraying brain matter wherever it stepped.

Nether's brain tissue, crisscrossed with grooves and folds, trembled. The wound left by the Shadowbreaker had not yet fully healed; the ugly scar was still clearly visible even from the ground of Baldur's Gate.

To unsuspecting mortals, the wound, bridging countless purplish-red flesh and blood, resembled a gaping maw from hell, attempting to devour all the beauty in the world.

But only Netherbrain knew that the Dawn Cannon, blessed by divine blood, had almost killed it.

Although the Nash brain does not possess pity and compassion, the fear of death is still deeply rooted in its heart.

Netherbrain unleashed another massive psionic shockwave, creating visible ripples in the air. This was its unique wail, its way of issuing attacks and calling for reinforcements.

The newly formed mind flayers floating around the Netherbrain quickly swarmed together, seeking to provide support for their master. The shell-like ships, scattered and fleeing from the red dragons and their knights, also attempted to approach the Netherbrain, throwing other mind flayers from the astral plane onto the head of the mastermind most likely to realize the Great Plan.

Arrows and various spells formed a barrage, shooting out from behind Ivy. The buffs located in the Astral Prism had already rapidly arrayed themselves in the Brain Plaza, beginning to provide fire support.

With the pressure suddenly reduced, Ivy finally had a chance to observe the situation, and his gaze was involuntarily drawn to the thing that shone the brightest in his field of vision.

It was a huge crown floating above the dark gray sutures of Nether's brain, like a spear challenging the sky. Spikes made of unknown metals gathered to form the shape of the crown, and the red gemstones accentuated the designer's extraordinary ambition and arrogance.

The Crown of Karthus, one of the few remaining treasures of the Netheril Empire, is the seat of the Foolish Ones' divinity and the source of power that sustains the Supreme God.

"Stop the Mind Flayer's reinforcements and buy me time!" Ivy shouted the order, while calling out to Orpheus, "I need your help, Orpheus! Let's suppress it together!" The Comet Prince did not hesitate at all. His powerful psychic energy lifted the body that had become a Mind Flayer, and he nimbly bypassed the tentacles that kept extending from the brain tissue, standing next to Ivy.

A blue psionic mist quickly enveloped the two of them and continued to swirl towards the Karthus Crown floating above Netherhead's head.

The crimson energy cluster huddled at the center of the crown, like a startled bird, immediately extended countless spikes and launched a counterattack against Orpheus's psychic mist.

The psionic energy fluctuations generated by the collision spread out, causing everyone standing on Netherhead to stagger involuntarily.

"Suppress its psionic energy! I will crush the Crown of Karthus and its will to resist!" The three Netherstones that had been perfectly joined in Ivy's hands separated again due to the magic and will he had poured into them. The swirling rainbow light shot out from the tip of Ivy's staff and shone brightly on the three rotating Netherstones.

When the iridescent light, refracted multiple times within the crystal, shines out again from the Netherstone, it has transformed into a deep red, identical to the Netherstone essence contained within the Crown of Calathes.

The deep red magic, like threads, drew upon the essence of Nether's brain, forming chains that bound it. Ivy, who was fully committed to this battle, was finally able to confront the will hidden behind the clusters of divine power within Nether's brain.

"—Absolute—Will—"

"—Complete—Freedom—"

Amidst the Netherbrain's wailing, Ivy seemed to see reality shatter. The bone plates atop the Netherbrain's head vanished, replaced by layers of blood-soaked black keratinous platforms. The dark clouds covering the Baldur's Gate, along with the red dragons and shell-like ships that fought amidst them, all disappeared, and the blood-red astral plane became the new backdrop.

The dying stars, like countless bewildered eyes, shone dimly through the crimson stardust.

The Netherbrain that had dominated the sky disappeared, and what appeared before Ivy was the head of a gigantic Mind Flayer. Each tentacle was as wide as the widest part of the Shell Ship, and the sharp teeth that filled its mouth were comparable to the pillars in the ruined temple. It was hard to imagine what kind of giant's head could satisfy this insatiable brain-eating monster.

All of Ivy's weapons had vanished, leaving only the Netherstone chains that extended from it still clutched in his hand. Through these chains binding Nether's mind, a torrent of emotions not belonging to Ivy was surging forth, conveying fear, pain, and trembling to him.

"—Reconsider—Evaluate—"

"—We earnestly request—to surrender—"

The mindless psychic tremors in Nether's brain began to become smoother and gentler, and the enormous Mind Flayer head floating in front of Ivy also began to change.

A whirlwind of crimson stardust blew away the Mind Flayer's hideous form, and a beautiful body emerged from the stardust, slowly drifting towards Ivy.

Ivy had tasted this body more than once; it belonged to evil thoughts, to that woman who seemed to be soaked in blood.

However, that was Ivy's thought when she first met Evil Thought. After completely draining Baal's divine blood from her body, the reborn Evil Thought was more like a docile, greedy cat than a venomous snake eager to devour its prey.

"Don't destroy me!" Netherbrain pleaded in the form of a malevolent spirit, tears of blood streaming from her eyes, her trembling, tender lips uttering gasps of sobbing. "Use me, toy with me... I am willing to submit to you... I will open the path to the divine realm for you, from this day forward you will be the supreme god, ruling over everything in the world of Toril... The rise and fall of the stars will be based on your will, and boundless magical knowledge, the arts and scriptures leading to truth will be at your disposal..."

“Don’t destroy me…control me…” The female body, formed from desire, knelt before Ivy, gently taking his hand and placing it on her smooth skin. “Treat me as a tool for you to manipulate, as a slave to your will…I am willing to offer you everything…my master…”

Ivy shook off those pale, delicate hands, and meeting their horrified yet delighted gazes, grasped their swan-like, elegant necks: "Of course I won't destroy you..."

The ecstasy that had just climbed onto that bright face turned into a ferocious expression in the next instant.

Ivy tightened her five fingers and whispered in its ear, "I'm going to wear you down..."

"Ah—" A painful scream erupted from the crowd, and the adventurers who were resisting the increasingly frenzied attacks of the Mind Flayer fell to their knees.

The Leatherman, who was like a wall of flesh, didn't even have time to groan before he began to convulse.

"What's going on!" Jasira threw a ball of moonfire at the Mind Flayer, simultaneously leaping over its head and severing the octopus-like head. "Are they metamorphosing? Did Ivy fail? What should we do, Comet Prince?"

"Disappeared……"

Before Jahira could get a response from the Comet Prince, a large hand grabbed her ankle. She instinctively wanted to swing her scimitar to cut off the arm, but the next second she realized it belonged to a Leatherman.

"The noisy little visitor in Minsk's head is gone!" Minsk leaped to his feet, celebrating his rebirth.

Jashira breathed a sigh of relief, a wave of dizziness washing over her. She rubbed her temples and looked up to see the adventurers who had fallen earlier all standing up, grimacing. It seemed that removing parasites from the brain was not a pleasant process.

"How come you look perfectly fine, Gale?" Karak, standing next to the Waterdeep Archmage, punched him jealously.

"Oh!" Gale rubbed his shoulders and walked toward Ivy, who was still guiding the Netherstone. "Perhaps it's because I won't need this body anymore? So Ivy didn't make me suffer anymore."

He ripped open his shirt, revealing the tattoo that had appeared as the Orb of Destruction leaned over him: "You may soon witness the most dazzling fireworks in Faerûn!"

“It’s time, Gale.” Ivy, who was guiding the Netherstone, extended her hand to Gale. “Let all of Karthus’ creations come together. The Supreme God should meet his end. I will teleport everyone to Baldur’s Gate, where many new Mind Flayers are still rampaging. I don’t need to tell you how to maintain order and treat the wounded—see you later.”

Teleportation beams flashed above Naise's head, and the crowd that had almost filled the brain square immediately disappeared. Even Ansu, who was seriously injured and unconscious, was properly taken care of.

“Leave, Orpheus.” Gale pulled a short dagger from his inner pocket. “I must fulfill my promise to Mystra, and Ivy is willing to help me achieve it… It’s a win-win situation.”

Orpheus, now back in his Githyanki body, shook his head, not asking the question: why not order Netherbrain to destroy himself, instead of detonating the Orb of Destruction...

Seeing the last figure disappear above Netherhead, and the Mind Flayers guarding Netherhead like puppets, Gale took another deep breath, loudly recited the incantation that Mystra had told him, and plunged the dagger belonging to the goddess of magic into his heart.

(End of this chapter)