I, Hogwarts Second Time Around.

Chapter 461 The Galaxy Connecting the Coffin of Consciousness

"Wait a minute."

The goddess did not speak.

It was that bishop who spoke.

The vines, like sharp needles, pierced his skin little by little.

He was being manipulated like a block of wood.

The voice was still his, but no one could guarantee that his consciousness was still his at that moment.

Zhang Xiaolin didn't pay any attention to the bishop at all.

Her dark eyes were fixed on the goddess in the tree trunk.

She had a feeling that the other person was talking to her.

"I had a very long dream."

The bishop, who had been kneeling before the statue, stood up listlessly with his head bowed.

His voice changed.

It was no longer a man's voice; it became melodious and deep—with a drawn-out tone, as if the speaker had lived for a thousand years.

"Skin like faded gold, fresh blood gradually decaying." The woman's voice was piercing and ruthless, each word as if pulled from a cold abyss, carrying endless loneliness and indifference.

The air seemed to freeze, and the wizards' breathing became heavy and suppressed.

The world around us seemed to lose its color at that moment, leaving only gray and gloom.

Snap—The bishop's right arm suddenly underwent a terrible transformation; his bones multiplied at a visible rate.

In the blink of an eye, the hand completely disappeared, replaced by a bone sword that gleamed with the luster of white jade.

"I woke up to find myself surrounded by corpses, corpses, and more corpses."

In an instant, the bishop's black hair turned silver-white, like snow under the moonlight, cold and noble.

Her figure also became tall and slender, and her emerald green eyes were filled with a cold light that could see through all hypocrisy and lies.

"Waiting for your arrival."

The bone sword was pointed at Miss Zhang Xiaolin.

"Hoo—" Ms. Zhang, her face full of caution, took a deep breath, trying to calm her shock and unease.

"Who are you? Why are you waiting for me?"

The bishop, now transformed into a goddess, responded coldly and hollowly, "I am the blade of the supreme will of Ionia, the goddess Diana."

As soon as he finished speaking, the entire canyon seemed to fall into a deathly silence.

The sacred tree swayed, and countless leaves fell.

The whisper from the soul caused the temperature in the entire canyon to plummet once again.

The waves in the distant canyon were still emitting white steam due to the heat, but everyone felt as if they were in an ice cave.

It was an attack targeting the soul, and they had already been hit.

At this moment, the black bird let out a cry and returned from the sky, landing on Miss Zhang's shoulder. Its warm silver light, like sunlight piercing through the dark clouds, dispelled much of the chill from Miss Zhang.

Having felt slightly better, Ms. Zhang immediately waved her folding fan and launched an attack.

She knew perfectly well that the other party wasn't there to reason with her. Although she still didn't understand the situation, it was always better to strike first.

As the folding fan unfolded, seawater-like bones burst forth. Within a few breaths, the two Kunpeng suddenly grew larger, their wings spanning thousands of miles, resembling two colossal beasts, roaring as they charged towards the goddess Diana.

"Emperor Yan, summon him—" Miss Zhang, fearing it might not be safe, waved her folding fan again, unleashing a spear formed from flames.

Sacred tree, sacred tree, no matter how powerful, it is still just a tree.

Anything made of wood is afraid of being burned.

However, facing this fierce attack, the goddess Diana merely smiled coldly. With a gentle wave of her bone sword, the roc and flame spears rushing towards her vanished into thin air as if encountering an invisible barrier.

"The stars will shine again." Diana's voice was cold and hollow. Her eyes revealed a deep contempt, as if she were watching a group of ants struggling.

"Let us return to great unity."

After saying that, her figure vanished.

Yes—it has completely disappeared.

Miss Zhang's pupils constricted, and she subconsciously cast the Apparition Spell.

However—while the space around her was still distorting, in those few milliseconds, a bone sword appeared out of thin air and pierced straight through her body.

"puff--"

Zhang Xiaolin felt as if her brain had been punched hard, and a powerful weight pressed down on her, making it hard for her to breathe. Then everything seemed to become blurry, as if a thick fog had suddenly risen around her, blocking all her senses.

Those emerald green eyes were fixed on her, calm and undisturbed.

Her soul was retreating, her heart was screaming, but she couldn't look away, completely enslaved by those huge, captivating eyes.

She coughed up a mouthful of blood, and her Apparition was abruptly interrupted.

The curse of failure tore through her body, splattering blood everywhere.

But this is not the point.

The key point is that bone sword, which pierced her heart. It was so simple and unadorned.

"Lin—" Mr. Basil and Mr. Winston, who were standing to the side, were shocked and their eyes widened in horror.

But they didn't have time to get close at all.

The goddess's silver hair was like a sharp blade, or like vines, constantly piercing them.

Mr. Basil activated the Ironclad Spell, but it was completely useless.

The moment the silver-haired man touched the Ironclad Curse, he melted like a candle touching a flame, leaving a large hole.

Then, the silver hair, as sharp as a blade, pierced through his chest in an instant.

Mr. Winston watched this scene in disbelief.

He hurriedly used his phantom teleportation to leave.

After dodging the silver-haired man, she immediately Apparated to Mr. Basil's side and then dragged him away again.

"Lin—no—save her."

Mr. Basil shouted, but Winston simply pulled him away from the pavilion under the sacred tree and back onto the bridge.

The wizards all returned to the bridge.

Sirius Black gripped his wand tightly, issuing commands to direct the wizards to keep their distance.

They cannot go up rashly.

If you go in without figuring out the opponent's attack methods, you're just asking for death.

As adults, especially the Aurors fighting against dark wizards, they have long since lost their passion. Battles cannot be won with enthusiasm alone; the key to victory lies in assessing the situation, making calm judgments, and strictly enforcing orders.

Mr. Winston quickly pulled a bottle of white sap from his pocket and poured it on Mr. Basil's pierced chest.

The wound began to heal quickly.

Thankfully, he breathed a sigh of relief; at least the goddess's attack did not come with a curse.

That would be troublesome.

On the other side, Zhang Xiaolin was still gazing into those eyes, a gaze that held life and a vast, unknowable wisdom.

It saw her. It seeped into her, penetrated her, and she felt her reason begin to unravel, like a spool of thread being thrown into the darkness. Ms. Zhang felt a knot twist in her stomach, and the edges of her vision began to be surrounded by shadows, writhing and slithering, as if to—

death.

"you"

Facing imminent death, her strong will to survive finally allowed her to detach herself from those eyes.

Zhang Xiaolin lowered her head and saw the bone sword, the bone sword that had pierced her heart, greedily sucking her blood.

The darkness in her eyes was caused by massive blood loss.

Beyond the goddess's slender waist, she could see that the true goddess sleeping in the sacred tree in the distance was becoming younger at a visible speed—her limbs had turned into tree trunks, her body was covered in moss, and her face was as withered as an ancient corpse.

Now, after taking a large amount of her blood, it has begun to gradually become younger, its trunk rushing forward to pull out its limbs, and the moss on its body is rapidly disappearing.

The withered body sprouted tender skin like new buds.

Zhang Xiaolin was startled by this horrifying scene.

The so-called god wanted to be resurrected, and the method of resurrection was to devour himself?

A chill ran from the soles of my feet straight to my head.

In that critical moment, she suddenly pressed the folding fan against the goddess's chest, then murmured, "Source Flow - Star Stream Thunder Strike".

"Click—"

The next second, a bolt of lightning suddenly shot out from the void, striking the goddess Diana away like a falling meteor.

The magic was incredibly powerful; it actually blasted half of the goddess's upper body apart.

The left half of his chest had been evaporated.

The raging lightning continued unabated, striking directly at the sacred tree.

However, the moment it touched the goddess's true form within the tree trunk, a golden magic ring suddenly appeared, firmly blocking the lightning attack.

"Cough cough—" Miss Zhang coughed up blood.

The next second, Sirius appeared beside her.

Then, the two disappeared at the same time and returned to the stone bridge.

"Quickly—save her!" Mr. Basil urged.

Before Winston could even speak, almost the instant Miss Zhang appeared, he poured a large bottle of white potion onto her chest and then took out other potions from his pocket and poured them into her mouth.

"You do indeed possess divine power," Sirius said, staring at Miss Zhang's twisted, pained face.

"What god? What power?" Winston blurted out instinctively, his gaze fixed on Zhang Xiaolin, whose body seemed to exude an air of mystery. The wounds were healing too quickly.

This is abnormal—even for a wizard, a pierced heart is an extremely serious injury; severe internal bleeding and heart failure can kill a person within minutes.

If the wound penetrates a large area, a person would probably only have about ten seconds to live.

Although there are many ways to heal injuries in the magical world, there is absolutely no chance of survival for injuries like this unless a healer is by your side to provide immediate first aid.

He noticed that the damage to Ms. Zhang's body caused by the failed Apparition spell had largely healed on its own.

This is simply a miracle.

This inevitably reminded Winston of Victor, who was teaching at Hogwarts and researching ancient magic.

That was a kind of magic that had a powerful mutating effect on organisms; his own left arm was forced to be amputated due to the mutation during an ancient magical human experiment.

Could it be that Zhang—who is standing before us—possesses that kind of magic?

"Outer Gods, Ancient Magic," Sirius replied with a frown. Within the Order of the Phoenix, especially Dumbledore and Grindelwald, no one wanted the public to know about gods and ancient magic.

There are other divinely inspired towers in the world, which may also contain this power. If the news were to spread, he could easily imagine that all the dark wizards in the world would frantically search for these divinely inspired towers.

In order to obtain its magic and become the successor of the gods.

Even some white wizards would be tempted.

After all, who could refuse such a powerful force?

"So it really is ancient magic?" Winston murmured, his eyes revealing complex emotions. He knew the power and danger of ancient magic, but he was also eager for it; otherwise, he wouldn't have lost his left arm.

Ms. Zhang had recovered somewhat by this time. Although her head was still foggy, she had finally regained some energy.

She knew her body was different from others. Just like yesterday when she fought the Thorn Man, she was covered in vines, lost a lot of blood, and was covered in wounds. But even so, she slept in the church all night and when she woke up in the morning, she didn't have a single scratch on her body.

The Master discovered this very early on and warned her never to reveal her secret to anyone.

She also disguised her hair, and she herself did not know why the teacher did so, but because of her trust, she never asked.

She also overheard Sirius's conversation with Winston.

But this still couldn't dispel the doubts in her heart.

What deity?

Are there really gods in this world?

Do I possess divine power?

Why does that sound so unreliable?

Sirius's eyes were burning with knowledge; he knew more, but the principle of secrecy prevented him from sharing it with others.

In fact, ever since the Battle of the Divine Tower in Brazil.

After the Purifiers' research on the Outer Gods was exposed, the Federation established a professional excavation team, namely the United Wizard Relics Protection Committee. Their mission was to use the intelligence obtained from Ionia City to excavate the seven divine towers around the world, study their secrets, and find the possible successors of the power scattered by the divine towers.

For example, the existence of Koyater.

There is only one divinely ordained tower in East Asia, located in India.

That divinely inspired tower is the safest one the Federation has discovered so far. It seems that someone studied it decades ago and took away the essence of the gods sealed inside.

Although there are some minor troubles, they will not cause as much of a stir or danger as other divinely inspired towers.

If that's the case, then where did Miss Zhang's inherited power come from?

Sirius has good reason to believe that a portion of the divine essence scattered within this divinely ordained tower in Australia was inherited by the so-called goddess Diana. They inherited this magic, and the final inheritor is none other than the Miss Zhang before them.

So now, he knows the name of the one in the sacred tree—Ionia—it is the true name of the Outer God.

Supreme Will - Ionia Samothrace.

That brief exchange just now has proven that the Supreme Will wants to take back her power.

How do I take it back?

It's nothing more than devouring flesh and soul.

This will be a battle between gods, and the victor will be...

Sirius's thoughts paused for a moment.

Because he realized that if Zhang won and seized the power of the Outer God, would she still be herself?

Perhaps she will become like Voldemort, a puppet of power, controlled by the gods, and a scourge that harms the region.

But if she loses, they might never be able to leave this virtual realm.

For some reason, Sirius Black felt a pang of nostalgia for Kyrie Irving.

As a true heir to ancient magic, a successor born to be an enemy of the Outer Gods, he certainly has a way to handle the troubles before him.

But now—he doesn't know where Irving and Grindelwald have gone.

However, they are probably doing the same work as them, searching for divinely inspired towers and any magic that may have been lost within them in other parts of the world.

"call--"

"I wonder if they've encountered any troubles like mine."

Sirius's thoughts began to become chaotic.

But reality didn't give him time to continue plunging into chaos.

The puppet whose body was half blown apart by Zhang Xiaolin.

Suddenly, countless black mists gushed from her wound.

Silver lights shone within the black mist, like a cluster of converging galaxies slowly unfolding.

Sirius sensed something was wrong.

But then he, and the other wizards present, were horrified to discover.

The Apparition spell seems to have failed.

It was as if countless anti-appearance spells had been cast around them.

They could only watch helplessly as the Milky Way enveloped the entire canyon.

The stone bridge before them had also undergone a dramatic transformation. Just moments before, it had been dilapidated, but now it was completely transformed. The pavilion and statues in front of it had vanished, as had the enormous sacred tree and the goddess atop its trunk. In its place stood a luminous sphere, seemingly the core of the galaxy, guiding them into some kind of passageway.

"Damn it—" Sirius couldn't help but curse.

They no longer have the option to leave.

"Since they've already set up the stage for us, we have no choice but to go on stage and perform."

As her injuries gradually healed, Ms. Zhang coldly stood up from Mr. Basil's embrace.

Her soul had a strong urge to return, just as a great river eventually flows into the sea. In the distance, the sphere in the trunk of the sacred tree served as the sea for her.

The wizards around sighed.

Now, they seem to be getting closer and closer to death.

A bizarre illusory realm, relatives within the blooming spirit flower, a strange island, and finally, even gods appear.

They are taking steps toward death, toward eternal peace.

Since reality remains the same

"Then let's go in and give it a shot!"

The tall, strong wizard Craig Yaxley, who had Slavic ancestry, spoke up.

Everyone present was a young man in his late twenties, and at such a young age he had already achieved something that was difficult for ordinary people to reach.

They are the pride of heaven, each one an outstanding graduate of the school.

They wouldn't give up so easily. Even if it were heaven or hell, these young people would dare to jump in and try!

The wizards quickly reached a consensus.

If they cannot completely defeat this so-called god, their fate may be to become mindless puppets like the townspeople.

Given that, they are willing to give it a shot.

Zhang Xiaolin walked at the front.

Her eyes were fixed on the ball of light inside the tree trunk.

Mr. Basil held her left hand, and the two were almost side by side. Ms. Zhang did not refuse; instead, she held on even tighter.

Finally, they went back into the pavilion.

The glowing spheres were almost within reach.

Zhang Xiaolin turned her head and glanced at Mr. Basil.

The other person smiled gently and nodded slightly.

Then, Zhang Xiaolin raised her right hand and gently touched the sphere.

The next second, an invisible gravitational force suddenly erupted, and in the blink of an eye, the core of the galaxy swallowed them up.

(End of this chapter)