I, Hogwarts Second Time Around.

Chapter 348 First Encounter with the Gods—The Invisible Monster

Countless lives were instantly killed from the primordial furnace.

Dust and smoke rose from the earth.

The star-shaped amber beads continued to fall, piercing through the smoke and crashing to the ground.

Casting magic on such a scale would be a huge burden for Owen.

The soreness and weakness in his limbs forced him to stop the spell. He had to maintain his fighting strength; it would be irrational to cast a spell until he fainted right away.

As for the next attack, let the dragon handle it.

Irving reached out and touched Bakal's neck.

The dragon immediately understood.

The next second, the kitten carried Irving off his back.

Bakal, possessing an ancient aura, flapped his wings high, raised his head sharply towards the sky, and clenched his forepaws, catching the red lightning that fell from the heavens.

Immediately, the dragon roared loudly, and lightning transformed into a long sword, hundreds of feet long. With a fierce swing, the lightning surged towards the Hundred-Image Army like a tidal wave.

In an instant, it devoured countless lives.

At the summit of the snow-capped mountain, red lightning gleamed beneath the stars.

The heavens were enraged, and stars, amber, and lightning fell simultaneously.

For a while, it was a scene of hell.

At this moment, both the giants and the wizards were relieved that such magic had not fallen on their heads.

Compared to the modern pursuit of increasingly simple and efficient magic, this kind of magic, which comes from the ancient mythological era, even earlier than the age of gods, presents a more splendid and magnificent appearance.

But it also proves how terrifying the world was during that era.

The vortex in space began to twist and turn.

Irving then reappeared in the camp.

The moment he landed, his legs buckled and he half-knelt on the ground.

After catching his breath, he took a bottle of blue potion out of his pocket.

A bottle of vitality supplement.

I drank it all in one gulp, and the weakness that was coming from my limbs eased a little.

Everyone present, from Sirius Black to Professor Lupin, and even Harry and the others, stared at Owen in shock.

The giant Ego Titan had the same expression.

He felt some regret.

Sirius was starting to regret it.

Looking at the three little wizards beside him, and then at the terrifying war magic in the distance.

He suddenly realized that he seemed to have done something stupid.

He was spotted by Harry yesterday after returning to Hogwarts.

It was the last day before summer vacation in the castle.

Harry asked him what he'd been up to lately.

Because the alliance with the giants went so smoothly, he didn't think much of it at the time and readily agreed to take the young wizards out to broaden their horizons.

Who knows—

"Owen." Hermione stepped forward and helped him up.

She knows that feeling.

During her practice of Origin Magic, she often did this, exhausting her magic power and feeling weak and sore all over.

Then he was helped back to the castle by Owen.

"It's nothing," he said, trying to appear composed. He staggered to his feet, his right hand trembling from the loss of strength, but the wand in his hand was still glowing faintly.

"Watch out, Miss Granger." Owen grabbed Hermione's hand.

The causal principle of ancient magic.

Like a mountain stream, the magic will flow into the river of origin.

This makes his body like a vortex, causing external magic to flow towards him unnaturally and slightly.

He is like a spider at the center of a web, able to judge whether there is danger in the surroundings by the magical fluctuations that come from all directions.

Any magical creature, wizard, or magical item possessing magical power is within his "radar" range.

Unless there's a Muggle a few kilometers away with a Barrett rifle aimed at his head, Owen really has no way to deal with it.

And it is this 'radar' that exists.

He vaguely sensed several unusual magical fluctuations around him.

"Are there enemies nearby?" The little witch drew her wand and looked around warily.

"Very close." He walked toward the wizards. "Very close."

The distant nebula has not yet disappeared, like endless lotus leaves reaching to the sky, and the snow-capped mountains are covered with a layer of starlight as a base.

Sirius and Lupin's expressions froze instantly.

They, along with Hagrid, quickly moved closer, protecting the young wizards behind them.

"A Death Eater?" he said.

His eyes were fixed intently on the direction of the forest.

Because on the other side, there is an endless plain, where nothing could possibly be hidden.

"Maybe—" Irving said.

"The Ominous Legion can't just appear out of nowhere; someone must be pulling the strings behind the scenes."

"Voldemort? Is he nearby?" Harry asked bluntly.

He already knew from Sirius that Voldemort had sent the Death Eaters to find the giants and form an alliance with them.

Now that this has happened, of course, the first name that comes to his mind is this one.

"Alright, Harry, don't say that name." Sirius Black, still cautiously surveying his surroundings, said seriously, "The Man from Darkness has cast a spell on his name. He can sense the location of the person who says his name, which is why everyone calls him the Man from Darkness."

"Yes, Harry, don't be reckless, especially later when we'll be fighting against the Man of Void, so we must be careful," Professor Lupin warned, recalling a painful lesson they had learned in the past.

It's no easy feat to get a group of Gryffindors to obediently call Voldemort "Mysterious Man." They are impetuous and arrogant, especially in school, where they look down on other students who dare not call Voldemort by his name.

Until they left Hogwarts.

After countless times their friends were put in danger or even killed because they uttered that name, they realized that this was not bravery.

"What do we do now?" Sirius asked again. "I can use the door key to get them out of here."

If he were the only one present, he would absolutely join the battle without hesitation. Running away is not a quality that Gryffindors possess; they would at least resist for a moment.

But now—there are still three children!

Irving: ? ? ?

"No—" Owen interrupted, taking another sip of magic before saying, "We must not use the Portkey now."

At first, Owen did not notice any traces of wizards around him.

But now—"Whether it's a Portkey or Apparition, there's always a gap of more than two seconds when leaving the current space and entering the spatial conduit. During that time, we can't cast spells because that would force Apparition to stop, and the enemy could take advantage of the gap to attack us. This is essential knowledge for Aurors; you should all know it, right?"

"Yes! Professor Moody talked about it, and he also taught us how to counter Apparition—" Hermione nodded, and Harry and Ron exchanged a glance and nodded as well.

"Right now, those villains are in the shadows while we are in the open. If we rashly use the Portkey to leave, they will surely launch an attack. Even if my deduction is just needless worry, we cannot ignore this possibility. After all, nobody wants to die." With that, Owen revealed a cruel smile. "At this stage, we can only help the Titans hold the line. Without the ability to Apparate, we can certainly outrun those hundred-dimensional beings. Continuing this stalemate will only allow us to watch the Titans get killed, and then we'll be the ones who suffer next."

"Besides—the number of the Ominous Legion cannot be infinite, and magic also requires the conservation of energy."

"Except for the Philosopher's Stone"

"Alright then." Sirius thought for a moment, his eyes gazing at the surrounding forest. Those places where the sunlight couldn't reach seemed to him to be hiding evil.

In the distance, the nebula finally dissipated.

Bakal was also forced back by the countless viscous, grayish-brown, burning flames thrown out by the Hundred-Faced Creatures.

That stuff was really strange. It was burning like flames, and when it fell to the ground, it had a viscous, corrosive effect.

Large numbers of trees have been eroded and lost parts, and the wounds on their surfaces are still burning with flames.

"Let's set up a defensive line!" Sirius said, frowning. "We'll hold off those strange spells and let the giants and monsters fight, Owen." He turned to Owen and warned, "You're in charge of watching these young wizards. Don't let those scum in the shadows get away with it. I know your methods, so don't be careless."

After saying that, he spoke with Professor Lupin and Hagrid.

He turned and rushed to the battlefield.

Hagrid moved the fastest because his mother was still in a treehouse in the forest. She was old and had little ability to move. If those monsters got close, he couldn't think of any other possibility but death.

"I know without you saying it." Owen grasped Miss Granger's hand; the strange magic around them was very close. Judging from the magic, it should be within 300 feet.

But it was 300 feet wide, all open space with no view whatsoever; there was no wizard to be found.

unless

"You guys come closer," Owen said. The only good news he had now was that these unseen wizards might be after him. If these monsters used their strange abilities to deal with Sirius and his friends, the original Harry's godfather demise plot might have to be played out ahead of schedule.

"Damn it, they're so close, but I can't see them."

"Invisibility?" Upon hearing this, Harry, one of the group, frowned. He was very experienced in this area, so he waved his wand and cast an Invisibility Charm.

Golden light swept across the land, like a radar scan.

In the interplay of light and shadow, a creature draped in a strange cloak was outlined by golden light and then flashed by.

"Merlin's Beard!" Ron saw the figure and launched the first attack.

"They'll all be petrified!"

The gray spell streaked through the air and exploded where the figure had appeared.

But—clearly, he missed.

"What kind of monster is that?" Harry exclaimed, because although the moment the light had just outlined the image was very brief, appearing to last only a moment, the shadow that was outlined in that instant was enough to tell that it was a humanoid creature wearing some kind of skin.

"A sudden storm!"

Owen raised his wand and cast a weather spell towards the sky.

The originally gloomy sky, which was almost completely clear, suddenly turned from light raindrops to torrential downpours in an instant.

It rained heavily.

Raindrops soaked Irving's clothes.

Naturally, it can also depict those hidden monsters.

This is the least significant weakness of invisibility in the magical world.

Invisibility doesn't make you disappear. As long as a wizard knows that there is an invisible creature nearby, they will always find a way to make it leave a trace.

"There!" Hermione spotted a dazed figure in the rain at a glance.

The next second, she unleashed her corruption curse.

A purple light suddenly appeared.

Then it struck the monster directly.

Then something shocking happened.

The monster struck by the spell suddenly glowed with a white light—or rather, its cloak—and then miraculously neutralized Hermione's magic.

"How could that be?"

On the other side, Irving raised his hand and unleashed the Killing Curse.

"Avada Kedavra!"

Death is busy reaping heads, and today it is especially busy.

But then—Death failed.

A milky white light blocked the Grim Reaper's scythe. Ou Wenming clearly saw that the Killing Curse had killed something, something like a ghost.

But the monster in the rain was still lively and energetic, as was Teng Nuo from the mountain villa. He held a purple dagger as thin as a cicada's wing in his hand.

They will seize the opportunity to launch an attack on them.

"Watch out!" There was more than one monster around.

While everyone's attention was focused on the person in front of them, two more rushed up from behind.

"Ironclad Protection!"

"Ultimate protection!"

At Owen's prompting, Hermione and he activated the spell almost simultaneously.

An invisible armor enveloped them.

The next second, the monster's dagger arrived.

Then—then Owen and Hermione watched helplessly as the dagger seemed to slice through the air, and their spell had no effect whatsoever.

The attack was imminent, and Irving instinctively raised his hand to block it.

The dagger then plunged into his arm.

Blood splattered.

Before Hermione's shocked eyes, another attack arrived, aimed directly at Owen's face.

"Summon the boulder!" Harry roared, and the rubble beneath his feet shot into the air, striking the second monster that was about to kill Owen with its sword.

Irving, with his right hand, which had been pierced through his arm, grabbed the monster's back, then with his left hand, he grabbed its neck, lunged, and pinned it to the ground.

He gripped the demon's neck tightly.

But my hands are getting weaker and weaker.

He could feel a curse invading his body through the wound on his right arm.

"Use this." A light voice sounded from behind him.

It's Hermione.

A sword had appeared in her hand without her noticing.

It's Gryffindor's sword. She actually carries such a treasure with her!

Without time to ponder why Dumbledore would give the sword to Hermione, Owen took the sword and slashed it straight at the monster's neck.

One sword strike wasn't enough; another strike was needed to finish the job.

With a swift stroke, he slashed five or six more times until the monster's head was separated from its body, at which point he stopped.

"Whoosh—" Using his longsword as a cane, Owen propped himself up and kicked the monster's head away.

I'm afraid this thing might suddenly reconnect its head and body and come back to life.

"Owen—" Hermione cried out in anguish. She rushed forward, pressing one hand against Owen's wound while frantically searching her pockets with the other.

"Don't panic, don't rush," Owen said weakly.

Then he struggled to pull the dagger off his arm.

Blood gushed out, but he remained unmoved.

He covered the wound with his left hand and began chanting incantations.

The ancient magical principle of reversion began to analyze the curse that had invaded his body.

Curses are also a form of magic.

It is magic, which originated from ancient magic as the primordial magic.

The principle of regression can cure all abnormal states, eliminate special effects, remove all mimicry, and reveal the true nature of things.

No wonder Dean Bridged stated that the fundamental principles of ancient magic—the principles of regression and causality—are among the two most important aspects of magic.

It is something he must master.

We also have to thank Koyatl; if she hadn't put me into a three-month slumber—which was actually longer in the dream—Owen would have had enough time to practice both of his fundamental magics.

Otherwise, I would definitely die here today.

Meanwhile, Harry is using Transfiguration, Summoning Charms, Levitation Charms, and other spells that can manipulate matter to fight the monster.

His combat awareness is already excellent.

After realizing that magic in the form of energy was no longer effective against these monsters.

He immediately realized that he had to retaliate using physical means.

After his initial confusion, Ron found a way to counterattack.

The two of them, as if having a snowball fight in winter, manipulated the surrounding rubble and launched a frenzied attack in all directions.

This bought Irving time.

Meanwhile, Hermione, who had finally found a bottle of white potion in her pocket, hurriedly opened the bottle full of potions. Whether it was rain falling into her eyes or tears flowing out, her vision was blurred, and several times Hermione failed to aim at his wound. Perhaps she couldn't bear to look at the hideous scratches, which pained her.

After dumping a third of the white sap on the ground, Hermione finally managed to pour the rest onto Owen's right arm.

The potion takes effect quickly.

Within seconds, the terrible wound on his arm disappeared.

Owen finally completed the analysis of the curse, and the primordial magic instantly devoured him.

"I just heard the echo of the Outer Gods' methods."

"Owen frowned as he spoke. The wand returned to his right hand."

Just now, while analyzing the curse, he began to hear a kind of tinnitus-like whisper. This was exactly the same symptom he experienced after being tainted by the Outer God's magic from Koyater.

"Use fire." He steadied himself and said to the young wizards around him, "They should only be able to withstand one or two spell attacks, not continuous burning."

As he spoke, Owen waved his wand.

The blue and white flames instantly detached from the tip of his crystal wand.

"Fire Shield Protection!"

"boom!"

This war magic, modified from the Fiendish Curse, is incredibly powerful.

Even in the midst of a raging storm, the flames remained unaffected and continued to burn brightly.

Harry and Ron understood immediately and used their fire magic.

As for Hermione.

Amidst resentful complaints, the grapevine wand unleashed a torrent of water.

"Soul Torrent!"

It is also a continuous type of magic.

This time, after hitting the monster, she did not reduce her power, but instead increased her magic output.

The monster's cloak lit up with a milky white light again, flashing seven times in a row.

Finally, its cloak tore.

The next second, Miss Granger's torrent of fury pierced through its body.

Along with its flesh and bones, it was completely evaporated.

(End of this chapter)