From Hogwarts to Strixhaven.

Chapter 640 The Dream of the Child of Destiny

Ivy didn't wait for the fifth day in the repaired ferry fortress; Irina returned with her teammates.

He went there full of enthusiasm, but returned looking listless.

“Ivy…” Ivy asked her what was wrong, but Irina didn’t act like the confident actress she used to be. Instead, she seemed very hesitant. “Tell me the truth, do you think I’m stupid?”

Ivy was surprised that she would ask that question. Even if he really thought Irina wasn't very bright, how could he say it to her face?

"Your manners are impeccable, you know how to advance and retreat, you have a captivating charm, and you can handle things with ease. How can anyone call you stupid?" Ivy complimented her, thinking to herself, "I hope you stop thinking about riding me all the time."

“But…” Irina hesitated for a moment before saying, “Nie Niu’s fox head led us to an unnamed ruin, where many strange ghosts stood, all wearing masks. Even when I tried to cut them with a knife, they just kept spouting nonsense like ‘the absence of an answer is also an answer.’”

"Later we found a few pillars with statues in front of them. The fox-headed one was dazed for a while and then started talking nonsense. I was dizzy too." Irina looked displeased, clearly not happy about what had happened in the nameless ruins. "She said that someone had extracted our consciousness from this plane and temporarily transferred it to another plane... It's like we've fallen into someone's trap... and we even went there on our own!"

This surprised Ivy.

In terms of magical abilities, he is already one of the most skilled in all planes, and therefore his insight and knowledge are also top-notch.

However, transferring a person's consciousness to another dimension is no ordinary magic.

It's important to know that the Astral Projection, which allows the Creator to travel through the Astral Plane, is a ninth-circle spell. Although the effects of the spell on Ilinica and the others were not as dramatic as when the Creator projected them into the Astral Plane.

But it is still magic that transfers consciousness to another dimension. Regardless of who the caster or the one who sets the trap is, their magical skill will certainly not be low.

The Crusader commander, Ilinica, who possesses both mythical power, is indeed the chosen one. Now, another powerful being of unknown origin has begun to test her.

"Your consciousness went to another dimension?" Ivy stopped worrying about what kind of magic Irina was under and became concerned about the intentions of the person behind the scenes. "What did you see and hear?"

Irina's eyebrows furrowed even more, almost forming a knot: "I couldn't see anything, it felt like I was dreaming, but there was indeed a strange voice asking me questions. It asked me who I was."

who am I?
Why is it another philosophical question?
Ivy also felt that the person behind this was strange. Next time Irina ran into them, she wouldn't be asked where she came from and where she was going again, would she?
"How did you answer?" Ivy asked, curious about how Irina perceived herself.

“Why should I answer?” Celias rolled her eyes at him. “I’m already so famous, and he doesn’t even know me! Why should I tell him! I think he’s just playing a trick on me! He’s deliberately doing strange things to make others look up to him. Besides opera, there are always people in Celias who try to pull some magic tricks to get ahead and make a name for themselves! I’m not going to be a stepping stone for those kinds of people! If I see him again, I’ll chop him down! I want all the people of Grallion to know that I, Illinica, am not made of dough.”

“Hmm…” Ivy paused for a moment, then nodded. “Then you’d better be glad that the person behind it all is a demon lord, otherwise it certainly wouldn’t have reached the point where the whole of Grallion knows about it.”

Upon hearing the word "Demon Lord," Irina couldn't help but feel a sense of fear.

It was only because Descarri launched a surprise attack on Kanaburi on the city's founding day that she happened to be in the city square and witnessed the entire process of how the demon lord cut off the head of the silver dragon Terendilifer.

However, Ilinica wasn't afraid of the demon lord, but rather of the slime from the giant worm Descari sticking to her body.

If I ever actually end up fighting Descartes, no matter how the fight goes, I'll probably never be able to keep my clothes.

Thinking of this, Ilinica was no longer afraid. It was just an insect. Chelias was located in the south, where there were many mosquitoes in spring and autumn. It wasn't like she hadn't killed disgusting insects with her own hands before.

At worst, we can just throw away the slippers we used to use to kill bugs, like we used to.

"What's there to be afraid of, Demon Lord! What are Descari and Baffom? If they come, I'll kill them one by one, and if they come, I'll kill them both!" Ilinica threw the large machete she carried on the weapon rack, took out a set of clean clothes from her storage box, and was about to walk out of the house.

"Where did you pitch your tent? Can I borrow the bathroom?" Just as she was about to leave, Irina remembered that they were now inside the Ferry Fortress, not in the usual layout of a Crusader camp, so she turned around and asked.

Ivy was someone who knew how to enjoy life. Even when he was traveling, he arranged everything for himself in the highest tier. This was because he carried the Grimoire of Destruction with him, which contained the House of Requirement, where several skilled housewives, including Poppies, lived.

So his tent in the military camp may seem inconspicuous, but it is actually a hidden gem.

After Illinika accidentally wandered in one of her tents, she could no longer stand the largest tent in her military camp.

That awful place was only used for offices; the only place to sleep was a wooden bed with a dirty carpet underneath. Although it was much better than the usual Crusader's multi-person marching tents, it couldn't compare to Ivy's Moving Castle at all.

Not to mention you can even take a bath inside that castle!

Ever since she learned that Ivy's residence was comparable to a palace, Irina went there almost every day.

As a singer in Chelias, she naturally bathed every day. Now that she's a commander of the Holy Knights, getting dirty during marches and battles is unavoidable, but with the means to bathe, she'll certainly enjoy it.

Besides, Illinika had other ideas. Even Queen Godfrey of Montevideo lived in a marching tent like a real knight of a small knightly order, and her body was probably smelly by now. On the contrary, she, the knight commander, could ensure that she smelled good every day. How could this not be a victory?

Last time, the tap sprayed blue bubbles of bellflower, this time Irina decided to try big purple bubbles of lavender!

She wanted to fill the entire bathtub with bubbles and enjoy herself.

Judging from the eagerness on Irina's face, she must have been sleeping rough these past few days. The only orthodox mage among the adventurers was the fox-headed Nie Niu, but this strange-looking fellow clearly wasn't one to enjoy magic, and shouldn't possess any spells suitable for camping. Being able to learn a couple of rituals to combat the corruption of the world's woes was already a blessing.

Ivy pointed and pulled open a door in the wall of the makeshift command room, saying, "Go in. If there's anything you'd like to eat, my butler can make it for you." Ilinica cheered and disappeared through the door.

The next morning, on the day the Crusader army was to set off to cross the river, Ivy used magic to build a large bridge across the West Seren River and set up a fort at the bridgehead. Then she arranged for the garrison troops from Kanaburi to be stationed there. Now that this matter was completed, the Crusader army should continue on its way to attack the City of Favor.

However, before the troops set off, Ilya approached Ivy again with a dark expression.

I thought the Crusader Knight Commander would be refreshed after taking a good bath yesterday, but why does he look like this again?

Ivy raised an eyebrow and chuckled, "Had a nightmare?"

“No…” Irina tilted her head and thought for a moment, “Doesn’t it count?”

"Anyway, I didn't sleep well last night!" Irina felt like she was invaded by a nightmare last night, and she slept restlessly all night, full of anger. When she saw Ivy, and remembered that he was the wise Golden Dragon, she thought of asking him for advice.

“Last night I had a dream, and I felt an unusual power. The dream was full of distorted light and air, creating a terrifying, dark atmosphere,” Irina described in detail, pausing occasionally to recall the experience. “That power seemed to be trying to pull me away, but it happened during the day, so how could I possibly resist at night? But… the anger that surged within me seemed to ignite something strange, like a demon… even darker and more terrifying than a demon. In short, the unusual power that touched me with that anger receded. I wanted to unleash that anger and wipe everything out, but then I thought it wouldn’t be right… Once I finally managed to suppress the anger in my heart, the unusual power disappeared… But before I woke up, I felt like I vaguely saw something… It must have been a huge bull’s horn, like a crown, though not as majestic as the horn crown of your golden dragon body, but it still looked extremely ferocious and malevolent.”

"Do you think I might have seen Baphomet?" Irina asked with some concern.

“It’s not Baphomet.” Ivy glanced at her. “Baphomet has ram horns on its head. But we can’t rule out a connection to Baphomet; most minotaurs are related to it.”

"That's good." Irina breathed a sigh of relief. Although she said yesterday that she would kill Baphomet and Descari, she was not arrogant enough to do so now. "He's just a demon with no sense of right and wrong. Once I find him, I'll definitely cut him into pieces thinner than the dried beef made by the Sakorites!"

"Since there's nothing else, let's prepare for the advance. The west bank of the West Seren River is difficult to traverse, so we need to prepare early. I've already sent men to scout the route; just follow them. However, we'll be crossing an extremely treacherous canyon in a few days, so we'll need to prepare early as well." Seeing that the knight commander had regained her usual composure, Ivy assigned her tasks for the day.

Illinika nodded, instantly putting last night's dream behind her. Now that she knew the enemy was a demon, all that was left was to find him and kill him.

However, in Ivy's view, what is more worthy of attention is not that Irina was tricked by a great demon from who-knows-where, but the dark power deep within her heart.

"Could it be... that she hasn't chosen her path yet?" Although Ivy was also a novice in the power of mythology, he had traveled through many worlds, and although this power was novel and powerful, it was not exactly obscure or difficult to understand.

In his view, the power of mythology is more like an amplifier, capable of elevating people's original power to the extraordinary. Just like Ivy, who obtained the power of mythology with the body of a golden dragon, he naturally embarked on the path of the [Mythical Golden Dragon].

Entering the Path of Destiny was supposed to happen simultaneously with the [Moment of Ascension]. Previously, Ivy hadn't seen much of the unique manifestation of mythical power in Ilinica, and assumed her Path of Destiny was that of a righteous and simple strongman. But now, it seems as if she hasn't even chosen a Path of Destiny yet.

That rage that could frighten away demons could not have been without the involvement of mythical power, yet this power seemed completely different from its first display in the Gray Army camp, making it difficult to fathom.

Upon careful consideration, the only possibility is that Ilinica has not yet embarked on a path unique to herself.

The chosen one is strange.

Not only are the demons and monsters of Glalieon staring at her with wide eyes, but even her choice of the path of mythology is so unclear. Who knows when she might change her mind and switch paths in the future!
This is an excellent research sample.

Ivy was determined to increase her focus on Illinika by at least double, which made it even more necessary to reduce the time wasted on military affairs.

Many trivial matters need to be decided by his Pengluoke apprentice early on!

Doing everything yourself is not the right approach; focusing on the big picture and letting go of the small details is the key to long-term success.

However, in addition to human management, Ivy also wanted to use artificial intelligence to handle these trivial matters. However, the artificial life forms he had created before were still too immature and could only be considered to have barely escaped the category of artificial stupidity. They were absolutely unsuitable for managing the army.

However, these things are good at learning new things, so it's not impossible that in the future there won't be intelligent machines that can handle government affairs for Ivy.

Although the departure date had been set for today, it would be time-consuming and laborious for the army to cross the river one by one. It would also take quite a while for Ivy to move the camp to the other side of the river.

The knight commander had just left when the deputy enforcer of the Divine Claw Knights came to pay his respects.

“I have an urgent matter to discuss with you, Lord Doom.” Although Regil stood with his hands behind his back, Ivy could still tell that he was very concerned about the knight commander who had just passed by him.

Ivy nodded, waiting for him to continue.

But before Regil could speak, Ivy realized what he meant: "You also obtained the power of mythology?"

“So this is called the power of mythology? That’s quite fitting.” Regil nodded. “This power also flowed into me, and it only happened after the Knight Commander officially returned to the camp. After last night’s routine debriefing, this power naturally manifested.”

“To those chaotic demons and cultists, I have become a real threat.” Regil’s voice carried a hint of emotion, but Ivy couldn’t tell whether it was excitement or reluctance, even with his mastery of emotional magic. “It’s astonishing, isn’t it? Even in crucial moments, divine intervention is rare, but not entirely unimaginable… However, I still have doubts about our knight commander… I originally thought that those favored by their successor would exhibit similar qualities, but…”

It seems that Illinican's impulsive, artistic personality is not quite compatible with this serious and rigid soldier.

“At least she loathes demons,” Ivy comforted her.

(End of this chapter)