From Hogwarts to Strixhaven.

Chapter 467 Nese Stone

Since gravity reversal cannot bring battlefield advantage, why should it be maintained?
Ivy withdrew her finger pointing to the sky, releasing her focus on the spell.

Bone cocoons and various sacrificial items gathered on the rooftop vault fell down, carrying flames and dust, and crashed down on Katheric, who was standing in the center of the rooftop.

As a general of Melkor, Katheric was not just a brute who knew how to wield a warhammer; he also had a shield for defense.

In his battles for Melkor and the building of his army, Katheric's life became intertwined with Erin's immortality, which made him accustomed to risking his life and trading injury for survival.

But Ivey broke that connection, so Kaiserrick had to reconsider the importance of defense.

Raising his shield to deflect the falling debris, Katheric summoned the power of Melkor and charged toward Ivy. Magical runes shimmered from the armor that symbolized the Reaper's Embrace, adding to the aged general's unstoppable aura.

Since the forced movement spell effect cannot be applied directly to Katheric, Ivy has to consider whether polymorph and control spells are also immune to Melkor's divine power.

Ivy changed her approach, activating the magical power of the [Supreme Warlock] and quickly casting another [Instant Spell].

As he charged forward, Katheric cautiously raised his shield, but he saw no flying magical energy or any other environmental changes occurring on the rooftop.

Without giving a chance to consider whether the elegantly dressed young man in front of him had failed in his spell, Katheric resolutely leaped onto the Melkor Order banner, which had turned to ashes, and launched an attack on Ivy above the altar.

However, he had only jumped less than halfway when he crashed hard into a transparent wall.

If the hard one doesn't work, then use the soft one.

Since we can't achieve control directly with magic, we'll use terrain manipulation to achieve soft control.

Katheric was completely bewildered when he bumped into a 5th-circle Evocation spell, Force Wall, which had no offensive capabilities.

The transparent force field wall created by this spell can block all physical passage and is immune to all damage. It cannot be dispelled and will only be completely shattered and disappear when attacked by the Disintegration spell.

Katheric wasn't a proper mage; he couldn't possibly just pull a Disintegration scroll out of his crotch when faced with an invisible and invincible force field.

While the force field wall will also prevent Ivy from using spells with a clear physical path, such as fireball, spells that directly target a specific area will not be hindered.

For example, the Burning Cloud Technique that Ivy is about to use.

The cloud created by the Burning Cloud spell clearly has a definite path of movement, but Ivy can place this cloud on the other side of the force field wall from the beginning, allowing it to have close contact with Katheric.

As Katheric crashed into the wall, he was still testing its limits when he suddenly felt the surrounding air getting hotter and hotter.

In the next instant, he was completely surrounded by swirling, hazy, hot white smoke.

Katheric's armor is called the Reaper's Embrace. Melkor's divine power grants him unshakeable strength through this armor, but it also reduces his agility.

The Burning Cloud spell happens to be a spell that requires a speed check. As long as you are agile and react quickly, you can hold your breath and cover your mouth and nose before the smoke enters your body through your respiratory tract, and at the same time take the opportunity to leave the area covered by the spell.

Unfortunately, Kesherrick clearly does not yet possess this ability.

The scorching heat from the smoldering smoke pushed Katheric to his limits. He wanted to scream to relieve the pain, but he knew all too well that doing so would only cause further damage to his respiratory tract.

As Eileen soared through the air, holding her holy sword aloft, she witnessed Katheric being at a disadvantage and immediately became overjoyed.

Serene's silver holy flames poured down from her greatsword toward the center of the space shrouded in thick smoke.

However, the heavy obscuration also made it difficult for Eileen to aim; of the five or six balls of holy flame that flew out, only one hit the target accurately.

Unable to inflict any damage on Ivy any longer, Katheric could no longer tolerate being passively attacked. He straightened his back and activated the purple resistance stone on his body, summoning the Mind Flayer's mainframe below.

"You've chosen the wrong target!" Even within the blazing cloud spell, Katheric could not contain his rage, raising his warhammer and roaring at Ivy, "My destiny is to pronounce Faerûn dead! And you are nothing but a pebble I can kick aside!"

Although the direction Katheric was facing was slightly off due to the high degree of obstruction to his vision, this did not prevent him from using the Netherstone to power the Mind Flayer's main brain beneath the Tower of the Moonrise.

It was precisely to avoid the interference caused by the earthquake that Ivy chose [Air Elemental Summoning] this morning. When the entire Moonrise Tower began to tremble, he was already floating in the air.

Arcane energy flowed through his left hand, covering the Beastbite Sword. Ivy then quickly imbued his ancient weapon with Ghost Strike, a powerful spell that could bypass armor and shields.

He wanted to completely decapitate Ketherick before the Mind Flayer's main brain could activate its contact teleportation ability.

The secondary tower behind Ivy, topped with the emblem of Melkor, was shattered by tentacles from below, sending rubble flying and dust billowing everywhere.

Guided by Katheric, the spiked tentacles rained down on Ivy. With ample attack range, minor misaiming was no problem.

However, Ivy, who was prepared, would not be hit by this expected attack.

He vanished like a wisp of smoke, leaving only Melkor's altar in ruins; Katheric's attack was futile.

The concealment provided by the Burning Clouds spell was dispelled by Ivy, and Katheric, whose eyebrows and beard were singed black by the smoke, turned around in astonishment to see Ivy suddenly appear behind him.

The Beastbite Sword, gleaming with arcane light, ignored Melkor's sacred armor, piercing deep into Katheric's body and emerging from the other end.

“You…” Blood gushed from Katheric’s wounds and blistering respiratory tract. He gripped his warhammer tightly and managed to finish his sentence, “You will not be the victor today…”

The Mind Flayer's tentacles swept horizontally across the entire rooftop, turning the pillars supporting the vault into shattered stones, and then aimed directly at Ivy and Katheric, who were standing together.

Despite the biting wind, Ivy showed no sign of panic; instead, a triumphant smile even appeared on her face: "Really?"

Under Ivy's precise telekinetic manipulation, the deep purple Netherite detached from the grooves in the armor pierced by the Beastbite Sword and flew past Katheric.

"Netherstone!" Katherrick threw down his warhammer and reached behind him with all his might, trying to intercept the trajectory of the Netherstone. But the Beastbite Sword pierced through him from behind, and how could Katherrick possibly turn around smoothly without Ivy letting go?

The chromatic stone trailed a purple path, bypassing Katheric's futilely outstretched hands, and was tightly gripped by Ivy.

Without the control of the Netherstone, the Mind Flayer's mastermind seemed like a bewildered drunkard, completely disoriented and unsure of its location or what to do next.

However, the inertia brought about by its enormous size was not easy to overcome. Although it lost its subjective drive, the tentacles covered with spikes still completed the sweeping motion.

However, with the platform's stone pillars blocking their way, the tentacles were no longer fast enough to stop Ivy from casting her spells at her leisure, and they weren't even fast enough to penetrate the entire rooftop.

Beastbite Sword and Ivy vanished from behind Katheric, and Melkor's general knelt on the ground, panting heavily.

Darkness gradually expanded in his field of vision, and coldness and powerlessness slowly crept up his limbs.

“No…death is not my destiny…” Katheric struggled to refocus his gaze on the Mind Flayer’s tentacles. “I…am a servant of death…I am Melkor’s chosen one…I will pronounce Faerûn’s death…”

He tried his best to stand up, but the blood and life force flowing from his wounds had taken away most of his strength.

Even with all his might, Katheric could only collapse into his own blood.

"The villain is dead!" Eileen, who witnessed everything from the air, let out a joyful cheer and then launched a diving kick.

The silvery-white Nightsong armor was stained with Katheric's filthy blood, and even Eileen's shattered, marble-like skin was splattered with the blood.

But the madwoman of Serene paid no heed and continued to desecrate the corpse.

"Villain! Pathetic wretch! He was crushed, destroyed! We tore him in two!"

Eileen delivered a final, powerful kick, sending the fallen Katheric flying sideways.

“Justice has been served…” Eileen, having calmed down, wiped the blood from her face and looked at Ivy, who was slowly falling to the ground. “Now… now we must choose our own paths. And I have finally been freed from the shadow of Katheric… Ivy Doom. My sword is ready to serve you—and so is my loyalty.”

Asmo, his silver skin gleaming, knelt in the filthy blood of Katheric, offering his greatsword to Ivy with both hands.

“Sigh—” Ivy sighed, reaching out to support the arm of the daughter of Serene. “Although your finishing moves are good, they’re just a little lacking in power. It seems like Katheric hasn’t died enough.”

"What?" Eileen got up and turned to look for Katheric's body, but found nothing.

Because of Eileen's final kick, Katheric was kicked right into the Mind Flayer's tentacles.

As a predatory tool, the Mind Flayer's tentacles automatically release teleportation spells upon contact with any creature, typically landing on a Mind Flayer's storage sac.

But Ketherrick is Melkor's chosen one and one of the masterminds behind the Supreme God's plan. They had long ago given the Mind Flayer mastermind an almost reflexive command—the tentacles would teleport the chosen ones to the top of the mastermind's head, the place where the crown of Karthus is worn.

"Katheric isn't dead?" Eileen trembled with rage. It was her recklessness that led to all this, making it even harder for her to accept.

“Whether he lives or dies doesn’t really matter much.” Ivy looked up at the vaulted ceiling, which had been half-collapsed by the tentacles. “Katheric is a chosen one of Melkor. As long as the God of the Dead thinks he can still serve him, he won’t die so easily. Let’s go, this place is about to collapse. Let’s talk outside.”

Ivy only remembered the Melkor voters after Irene kicked Katheric's corpse into the tentacles.

After all, they had already obtained a third of the Netherstone, so they should at least admire it properly. Who would have thought that Eileen was truly a hindrance, not even giving Ivy a chance to loot the corpse?

No sooner had Ivy and Erin been thrown off the roof than the precariously swaying vaulted ceiling collapsed.

The tentacle, feeling the pain, twitched and slowly retracted into the secondary tower it had opened earlier.

The floor of the secondary tower had long since disappeared, and even the inner walls had completely changed.

It was a deep pit made of writhing flesh and scarlet organs, and a stench was gushing out from the breach, polluting the surrounding air.

"Mind Flayer colony?" Eileen almost flapped her wings and swooped down from the breach, but Ivy's telekinetic hand remained on her shoulder.

“Our intelligence is indeed correct, isn’t it?” Ivy glanced at the deep pit of flesh and blood and lost interest. Although the mastermind wearing the crown of Karthus was still hidden below, he was not willing to put himself in an overly unfriendly environment. “The Supreme God Order is actually a front for the Three Gods of Death, and they have created countless soldiers comparable to fanatics by controlling the Mind Flayer colonies.”

"We should go down now! We must completely thwart the conspiracy of the Three Gods of Death!" Eileen's silver eyes flashed with anger and pleading with Ivy. She knew very well that it would be difficult to do so on her own.

“That’s true,” Ivy nodded, “but I have a better way.”

He didn't integrate so many powerful technologies into the Shadow Slayer just so it could kill mobs at the Tower of the Moonrise.

Since its creation, the Dawn Cannon hidden under its adamantine shell has never fired a shot!
"But our comrades are still down there!" After hearing Ivy's description of the Dawn Cannon, Eileen really wanted to fire a shot right away, but her concern for her comrades stopped her.

“That is indeed a problem,” Ivy nodded, “but I also have a solution.”

With a wave of his hand, Ivy grabbed a flag that was unfurled atop the Tower of the Moonrise and drew a circle on it with his bare hands.

As Ivy's finger trace closed, a two-dimensional elliptical ring emitting a faint fluorescence appeared on the flag's surface.

“This is a portal,” Ivy explained. “Everything that enters this portal will be redirected and come out through another portal.”

“Now we’ll split up.” Ivy handed the flag with the portal to Erin. “You take this portal and go in from where the Allied forces entered the underground, and put all the friendly forces you encounter along the way in. I’ll find a safe place to set up an opening.”

Pointing at the adamantine golem that had almost wiped out all the cultists on the surface of the Tower of the Moonrise, Ivy shrugged: "After everyone leaves, we'll give it a good blast!"

(End of this chapter)