From Hogwarts to Strixhaven.

Chapter 580 Divinity

“Ivy Doom!” Losanda repeated Ivy’s name loudly, as if it were the first time she had heard it. “What a resounding name! I have a feeling you will become a new legend, someone people will sing about, or even a new god!”

Ivy was certain that he had no intention of becoming a god for the time being. He humbly said, "I am just a mortal. If I had to say what is special about me, it would probably be that I can use magic."

“No, no, no. Don’t underestimate yourself, Ivy.” Losanda shook his head vigorously. “The moment I saw you in person and heard your name, a brand new future appeared before me.”

"You will definitely accomplish the feat of ascending from mortal to godhood, and make your name resound throughout Heaven Mountain!" Losanda's expression was so confident that Ivy began to doubt her original intentions.

Could it be that he really intends to go to Faerendon?
No, no, no, he's destined to become a great mage who can traverse the multiverse, how could he be confined to the small world of Toril?

“My eyes have already seen that glorious future, the day you will join the ranks of the gods.” Losanda closed his eyes, looking as if he were lost in a beautiful dream. “Therefore, I intend to gently turn the gears of fate and bring that day forward.”

"Wait! Losanda!" the goddess of magic tried to stop them. "Aeo forbids us from interfering in the fate of mortals!"

"Can't you see it, Mystra? The Ivy Doom before you is no ordinary man; he is a god in preparation, destined to join our ranks." Losanda's smile widened, seemingly proud of her vision that surpassed that of the goddess of magic.

“You could have used the power of the Supreme God to become the new god who dominates Faerûn, but you did not do so. Instead, you exhausted the power of the Supreme God in a childish and absurd way, without causing any damage to our world!” A golden light shone from Losanda’s fingertips. The light was more dazzling and purer than his skin, like the midday sun, which could not be looked at directly and could not be refused.

"Therefore, I will bestow upon you a wisp of divinity as compensation, the divinity from the sun." Even Avina's superb reflexes, derived from the [Sword Saint], were ineffective; Losanda's finger, gleaming with pure golden light, had already pierced his forehead.

It felt like a red-hot iron had been plunged into his head. Ivy clutched his forehead and took a step back. The pain was fleeting, vanishing without a trace before he could even savor it.

"What did you do?" Ivy was both shocked and furious. He had never imagined that he would be ambushed by a god who was generally considered to be benevolent.

“It’s just a small gift. You’ll love it!” Losanda raised his chin smugly, like a peacock spreading its tail feathers, waiting for exclamations of surprise.

"The divinity of the sun?" Mystra, the goddess of magic who witnessed the whole thing, was equally shocked. "The divinity belonging to Amannata? You don't intend to obtain the divine office of the sun?"

Amanatha—Ivy knew the name, having learned it from the Almanac of Karthus. He was likely a deity widely worshipped by the Netherians, for the name appeared only a few times in Karthus's manuscripts, always in exclamatory form, followed almost entirely by Karthus's self-praise.

Ivy believed that Amanatha was perhaps to the great arcanists of Netheril what Merlin was to the wizarding community.

After all, even the professors at Hogwarts would use "Merlin's stinky socks" to express surprise and amazement.

According to Mystra, this Amanatha seems to be the sun god in the Netheril faith. Since his name is rarely heard in mortal society now, it means that he may have disappeared with the fall of the Netheril Empire.

The act of Losanda using the divinity of Amannatha to obtain the position of the sun god is actually quite common among the gods.

The spider queen Lolth, worshipped by the drow elves, and the night lady Shar, are both deities skilled at devouring weaker gods and spirits.

The former regards all the gods outside the Drow Darklands as mortal enemies, while the latter has already swallowed up several priests and gods associated with Him through various intrigues.

If Losanda was seeking the office of a long-dead deity, that would sound quite reasonable. His intention would likely be to expand the divine authority of the Lord of Dawn to that of the Sun God, thereby comprehensively enhancing his own divine authority.

Why would something so important be given to Ivy so abruptly?
Ivy didn't think she possessed any domineering aura, not even considering that a powerful and benevolent deity like Losanda would bow down in worship. The sun god and the god of dawn had some kind of subordinate relationship.

Could it be that Lossanda is planning to use someone else's resources to their advantage, taking advantage of Aviden's passing to annex him, or turning him into one of its own forms?
Ivy, whose mind raced as she tried to decipher Losanda's motives, then heard Losanda's explanation: "Amannatha has some good believers, and taking advantage of the time when I was assimilating Him into the clergy, they have formed a considerable force within my church. If these heretics are allowed to continue to develop, perhaps the long-deceased Amannatha will actually have a chance to be resurrected."

“As I said before, Ivy has the ability to become a new god of Faerûn. And before he ascends the throne and becomes the true sun god, he can roam the mortal realm. In just two months, he has laid the foundations of a new city in the Sword Coast. I believe that those heretics who dream of reviving Amannatha will be converted to the right path under his influence and witness the rise of a new sun god from Faerûn.” Losanda’s expression was practically smug.

"Haven't you considered that even if those heretics hiding in your church become his followers, it would still be a blow to your church?" The goddess of magic expressed her deep disapproval of Losanda's assumptions. "Your approach is too radical..."

Most of the beliefs circulating in Faerûn inevitably fall into different sects and branches, and even the goddess of magic had heard of those claims that Losanda herself refuted as heretical.

There are two main heretical doctrines that explicitly link Lhoshandar, the Lord of Dawn, with Amannatha, the sun god of Netheril: the Ascending Sun Heresy and the Three-Faced Sun Heresy.

The former proclaims that Lorsanda is the reincarnation of Amenatha, the new face of the Netheril sun god in a new era. As their power grows under the influence of the Brotherhood of the Radiant Sun, they have begun to proclaim that Lorsanda's transformation is imminent, and that Amenatha will soon return to Faerûn.

If the teachings of the Rising Sun Heresy lead to a widespread conversion of believers, it could not only potentially awaken the long-dead Amannata, but also transform Losanda from an independent and powerful deity into an appendage or manifestation of Amannata. Losanda, of course, could not allow such a thing to happen. Therefore, even if the considerable Rising Sun Heresy were to be completely severed from the Church, He had no intention of losing His independence as Lord of Dawn.

The Three-Faced Sun heresy is even more heretical. They claim that the sun god is a supreme deity composed of three faces: "dawn," "noon," and "dusk," and that only two of these faces can be seen at any given time.

Losanda and Amannata were considered by the Three-Faced Sun heretics to be dawn and noon, respectively, while in the Netheril period, the god of death Jergo, representing the "dusk" aspect, appeared alongside Amannata.

When the Netheril Empire fell, and Jergod divided his divine office among the three gods of death, the newly born face of dawn, Lorsanda, and Melkor, who inherited Jergod's face of twilight, became the two gods visible among the three suns.

The followers of the Three Suns are now also proclaiming that Amannata is about to rise, while Losanda may change from the dawn face to the midday face.

Although the Three Suns Heresy seems more benign than the Rising Sun Heresy, at least it still reserves the position of the midday sun god for Losanda, it is actually undermining Losanda's very foundation. Because Losanda was never a sun god, but a god of dawn; asking Him to relinquish His position would mean He would fall into the same predicament He faced before Amannatha.
After a brief moment of thought, the goddess of magic, Mystra, understood Losanda's request. She hoped that Ivy, who was now a mortal man active on the continent of Faerûn after obtaining the divinity of the sun, could absorb all the heretics within the Church of Losanda and prevent them from threatening Losanda's independence as the Lord of Dawn.

This approach may seem like cutting off flesh, but it is actually debridement. And the rotten flesh that is cut off can nourish a new ally with unlimited potential. Why not do it?

Mystra, the goddess of magic, did not doubt that a mortal could do such a thing. In the turbulent year when the gods were driven down to the mortal realm by the supreme god Eo, many gods who could not reclaim their faith had no choice but to reluctantly merge with other gods. Some were unlucky enough to be swallowed up by more powerful gods, while others were completely usurped by mortals.

Aside from the relatively orderly lineage of the goddess of magic and the god of death, Bane's tyranny, Baal's murders, and even the involvement of mortals, all contributed to the devastation. If it weren't for the humans who usurped the divine positions of the three gods of death and their subsequent descent into madness after ascending to godhood, it's questionable whether the three gods of death could have regained their power and caused trouble at Baldur's Gate.

"In just two months, you've already decided that the person before you is worthy of your entrustment with the divinity of the sun?" Although she had figured out Losanda's scheme, the goddess of magic's worries hadn't disappeared. "When mortals obtain power that doesn't belong to them, the most likely thing to happen is that they change their original intentions. We've both witnessed that era; you and I both know how the three gods of death fell and rose again. How can you guarantee that your actions today won't lead to Amannatta's resurrection in the future?"

"My eyes have seen the call of destiny, a beginning worthy of being celebrated by the world!" Losanda straightened his expression and proclaimed with great enthusiasm, "The newborn sun god will not only spread light upon Faerûn, but will also completely banish the lingering darkness. We will form the greatest pantheon of light in history, and utterly end all darkness in Toril!"

“So you still haven’t given up on this plan!” Mystra frowned, pure purple light flowing from His face. “Your last attempt led to the fall of the Empire and the silence of the benevolent gods. Haven’t you learned your lesson? Impulsiveness and radicalism can’t solve any problems; on the contrary, they may lead to a series of disasters.”

"Of course I repent for my impulsiveness, so this time I've chosen someone wise enough to carry out this plan, this vision! Don't tell me you can't see his potential. The Supreme God's conspiracy involves too much power struggle between deities; he not only solved our problems but also fulfilled his own desires. I firmly believe that a bright future will emerge from the sun! Let it begin from this moment!" The golden-skinned youth became even more generous, with dazzling divine light shimmering on every inch of his body. "Serenne, Sunny, Heim... and even you, we will unite under the same banner and banish darkness from this world forever!"

“But…” Mystra knew she couldn’t change the mind of a true god with words alone, but Losanda’s impulsiveness still made her feel deeply worried.

"Have you finished discussing?" Ivy's slightly anxious voice came from the side. "Does anyone know what's wrong with me?"

When Ivy first appeared in this astral space, his body shimmered with a pure, pale blue arcane light. Now, a faint golden mist is rising from his body, as if an ethereal flame is constantly burning within him.

This situation was beyond Ivy's control, but he didn't feel any discomfort and could only ask the two true gods beside him.

The goddess of magic gave a warning with just one glance: "Stop right now! You are manipulating a magic network that doesn't belong to you! No matter what magic you intend to cast, I will only give you one chance to receive a warning!"

"Are you really the goddess of magic? I didn't cast any spells at all!" Ivy said, quite dissatisfied. He could tell whether or not spell slots were used.

“If not now, then in the past… You are trying to banish a true god from this world!” The Goddess of Magic is the embodiment of the magic network. She can not only track all magic cast through the magic network, but also stop it with her authority. However, faced with what is happening to Ivy, she finds herself powerless. “What exactly have you done with the supreme god? If I try to stop this magic, it will completely negate an entire period of history… This is not a realm that mortals can tread!”

"I knew I hadn't misjudged him!" Losanda, like a cheerful young man who loved watching the drama unfold, clapped and cheered.

“That spell is over…” Noticing Mystra’s loss of composure, Ivy briefly explained her magical experiment, “I explored the possibilities of myself in parallel universes and tried to bring them together…”

“Your spell not only involves horizontal interference with spacetime, but also vertical manipulation… You are banishing yourself from this world.” As the goddess connected to the roots of Toril's magic, Mystra understood the consequences of Ivy's spell. “It has already succeeded, but only now is it beginning to pay the price… The gods will see a different future in you, probably because of it… I will help you complete this spell faster, and never come back!”

"Wait!" Ivy didn't understand Mystra's meaning for a moment, but he was certain of one thing: the goddess of magic didn't want him to cause any more trouble for Toril's magic network. This meant that he couldn't return to Toril for at least a long time. "After all, I helped you eliminate all the creations left behind by Karthus. Giving me some time to say goodbye to my companions isn't unreasonable!"

Mystra, whose image displayed the stars of the eight schools of magic behind her, stopped what she was doing and waved her hand dismissively: "Go. But always remember, Mystra is watching your every move."

Ivy breathed a sigh of relief. If he stayed in Toril, having been endowed with the divinity of the sun by Lossandar, he would inevitably clash with the sun god worshippers of Netheril. Ivy didn't like being used as a pawn, not to mention that he had never intended to stay in Toril to become a god in the first place.

Leaving this world to avoid the limelight is certainly a good thing, but the city he left behind and his loved ones must also be properly taken care of. At the very least, they need to know why Ivy will be absent from the city's development.

(End of this chapter)