I, Hogwarts Second Time Around.

Chapter 529 History Under Our Feet

Lost cities have mostly become desolate ruins on the snowy plains.

As he traveled, Irving did not detect any trace of living beings.

Only the lonely, seemingly endless buildings that appear to exist in Genggu.

Ultimately, he and his grandfather chose to land in an open area.

Strangely enough, the howling wind stopped as soon as they entered the city.

The surroundings became eerily quiet, a quiet that was strange and unsettling.

In front of what appears to be a plaza, a striking tall tower stands.

It stands on the side where the sun shines directly.

Without needing to speak, the grandfather and grandson tacitly drew their wands.

After exchanging a glance, they walked towards the tower.

About a minute or two later, they arrived directly in front of the tower.

The divinely inspired tower before us is unlike any other tower on this planet; it is no longer an obelisk but a cylinder.

There was no trace of ancient magic on the surface of the tower, and Owen couldn't even see any signs of magic.

It's as if it were an abandoned building, originally used to seal away the Outer God, but for some unknown reason, the Outer God was sealed away elsewhere, so it was abandoned.

In front of the tower, the gates are wide open, letting in the polar sunlight, through which a spiral staircase leading upwards can be vaguely seen.

Owen searched for a long time but still found no trace of magic or ancient magic. It was as if this wasn't the Divine Tower, but just an ordinary building.

"Strange!" Owen, who had muttered this countless times, waved his wand and released several beams of light.

Fireflies drifted into the tower, illuminating everything.

"Nothing at all?"

"Perhaps the Tower of Divine Gift isn't here," Grindelwald said, frowning as well.

"Perhaps we've made a mistake of relying on empiricism," Owen explained. "The seven locations marked in Ionia were assumed to be Divine Towers because the other locations were also Divine Towers. But here—this place seems more like an ancient ruin, not the location of a Divine Tower. The Chosen Ones marked this location probably to study these ruins?"

"That's possible," Grindelwald said.

"Well—" Irving frowned slightly, "that's really not good news."

If the location of the divinely inspired tower is unclear.

How many days will it take them to find the rest?

He can't possibly turn the whole earth upside down!

"But—since we're already here," Owen said, striding towards the tower. "This place is very likely a relic from that era; perhaps it holds some clues."

We can't just turn around and go home right after we arrive.

Grindelwald remained silent and followed Irving into the tower.

Inside the tower, the moment the two entered, a smell of dust filled their nostrils.

Owen immediately activated his Iron Mantle, keeping the dust particles at bay to prevent the spread of any poisonous gases or similar contaminants.

The fireflies overhead cast a pale, stark light, typical of the far north. At first glance, the tower appeared both spacious and exquisitely crafted.

It's spacious because there's nothing inside except for the spiral staircase leading upwards; it's exquisite because the staircase is ornately decorated, and the surrounding walls are covered with bas-reliefs. The staircase ascends step by step.

Irving stepped onto the stairs and observed the reliefs on one side. At first glance, these exquisite and lifelike reliefs seemed to have grasped the principles of aesthetics to the highest level. Their artistic achievements and craftsmanship were extraordinary, and they even had an unparalleled rigorous structure.

Soon, his pace slowed down.

His expression changed from casual and indifferent at the beginning to serious and earnest.

Because he understood the information recorded and revealed in those bas-reliefs.

The bas-reliefs covering the walls are like a documentary from ancient times, depicting a history that overturns everything with vivid yet ruthless strokes.

It meticulously records events from distant times, from stars falling to Earth from the stars, to the brilliance of the creation of origin magic, the discovery of ancient magic, and the final war between the gods.

It even reveals a part of the history of wizards. When Owen saw the wizard with rings on all ten fingers dueling with the gods, and the most profound spell of King Solomon erupting on the Mediterranean-shaped continent, a chill ran down his spine.

Moreover—the forbidden truth of this abandoned capital city in the far north, unseen by humankind, and the ultimate fear forgotten by history, all point to the same name: "Supreme Will!"

------

In the beginning of chaos, there was no light in the world.

One hundred thousand years ago, the primitive Earth welcomed a star from the depths of the universe.

The star burned up in the atmosphere, leaving only its remains that fell to Earth.

It brought unprecedented changes to the planet, and magic—a supernatural force—took root in this land.

The earliest shamans came from a primitive tribe that later called themselves "Stargazers." They were descendants of the mortals who witnessed the stars fall to Earth and were the first beneficiaries of the star's remains.

The ancient Stargazers gleaned the earliest magic from the stars, the Three Origin Spells.

Magic is the embodiment of the power of the stars, a gift from heaven bestowed upon humanity during that "Age of Gifts".

As time passed, a group of brilliant and talented wizards emerged from among the early humans. They searched for water in the magical desert and planted towering trees that transformed nature. The glory of the [Age of Gifts] was like a city gradually built, evolving from a thatched hut into a metropolis.

Then came the [Human Age]. After [Origin Magic] defeated other creatures that had also obtained the power of the stars, the stable era allowed wizards more time and wisdom to study themselves.

They not only began to study the power of the stars, but also the more complex biological flesh and blood. The wizards not only created food, but also created multicellular protoplasmic biological settlements known as the "Furnace of Life".

Creations in the furnace can transform body tissues into various temporary organs, or merge with other organisms, thus becoming ideal servants to perform arduous and repetitive physical labor.

These mucus-oozing invertebrate polymers were initially called "Hundred Omens," but later wizards preferred to call them "Ominous Signs."

After nearly ten thousand years of development, especially after the decline of [Origin Magic], research on various specific spells began to unfold. Magic is the power of imagination; aside from life and death, it can fulfill almost all the wishes of a wizard.

At this point, humans no longer needed gifts; they became the gifts themselves, the symbols of civilization. They established rules to manage livestock and their creations.

To regard oneself as a god was the wildest ambition of mankind at that time.

Driven by this near-mad exploration, humanity inevitably entered the "Age of Gods".

—Which wizard discovered the original [Primal Magic]? Who discovered the fundamental principles? These questions are now impossible to answer.

This question is meaningless, just like asking who the Elder Wand's original owner was—it's pointless.

Because those who initially discover it are irrelevant. Those who truly master and expand upon it are of paramount importance.

Compared to the magic wielded by wizards, the primordial magic, belonging to the original power of the stars, is far more powerful because it can alter the most fundamental arrangement and combination of matter, turning stones into bread.

Such a discovery thrilled the ancient wizards, and the study of ancient magic became a popular field of study. As the research deepened, more and more results emerged in an explosive manner.

The first god was the god of abundance. That wizard could easily control the growth of all organisms; he had mastered the transformative effects of ancient magic on organisms. Scattering seeds would instantly cause a forest to grow, and newborn calves would grow into strong cattle in the blink of an eye. Birth, aging, sickness, death, and rejuvenation were all within his control.

What a terrifying and powerful force this is.

Three consecutive bas-reliefs on the tower praise the deity's great achievements.

In that era, he was the most renowned god, far more revered than those gods who controlled thunder, fire, wind, and rain.

The great achievements of the Age of Gods reached their zenith, like a beautiful dream from which they would never awaken.

At their peak, the gods were found throughout the land and water of the entire Earth.

However, even the ancient wizards, who possessed wisdom surpassing all ages and could be called gods, seemed unable to escape the universal law of rise and fall.

Perhaps they never imagined that the unpredictable collapses and sinkholes of the earth would become external threats to the destruction of the land, while the unexpected internal troubles would be their own proud wisdom and the knowledge accumulated over countless years.

Because—finally—a wizard—deepened his research on [Primal Magic] to its most forbidden source: the soul.

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Irving has never had such a clear understanding of the words "supreme will" as he does now.

Before reaching the tower, he had only superficially connected the Supreme Will with the Outer God Ionia.

He thought it was the same person, or the same god.

Just like people have their own titles.

But now, he understands.

The Supreme Will has never been a single person or a single god.

It is a virus, a seduction, a fixed program.

The wizard Ionia Samothrace delved into the depths of ancient magic, reaching the very soul, listening to and witnessing the indescribable source of the stars, and went mad amidst the blasphemous voices.

He's completely insane.

His entire logic and behavior underwent a radical transformation. He went from being a person to a machine, clamoring to devour everyone's magic, to devour all wisdom and knowledge, and to let all living beings return to the embrace of the stars.

Equally insane were the servants created by the wizards, amorphous, viscous individuals born from the [Life Furnace], resembling countless ever-expanding and changing bubbles of flesh glued together in the [Hundred Forms].

They reproduce by devouring magic and splitting themselves. Tens of thousands of years ago, their numbers and traces were found all over the planet.

After their madness, these uncontrollable monsters became enemies that ordinary wizards could hardly defeat.

Subsequently, a war broke out between gods, and between man and his own creations.

The world buried all the madness with a bloodbath that lasted for tens of thousands of years.

The surviving gods banished the soul of the demigod from this world. From then on, Ionia had another name—the Outer Gods.

And the [Supreme Will].

No one knows what it was. The surviving gods only know that it emptied the souls and bodies of the poor Ionia, turning them into beings with a completely different kind of rationality. Just like those [Hundred Faces], who were originally such obedient servants, but under the influence of 'madness,' they all bared their fangs at their masters.

Perhaps—Ionia no longer exists.

The moment that poor wretch saw the other side, his body was taken over by the [Supreme Will].

As time went by, the titles Outer God and Supreme Will merged into one, becoming the epithet for the culprit who destroyed the Age of Gods.

The age of gods is long gone.

The tower's bas-reliefs also entered the last era of historical commemoration.

[Spark Era]

The expelled outer god did not die, but vanished.

It still has a powerful influence on the world and its power is constantly permeating everything.

To solve this problem.

The surviving gods and wizards built the Divine Tower together.

Owen—in the Forbidden Forest, the history he heard from the centaur demigod Chiron, and the history that Headmaster Dexter of Hogwarts believed, both contained accounts of the gods wanting to continue their attack on the Outer Gods through the Tower of Divinity.

Yes, it's normal for history to be damaged over tens of thousands of years and due to human interference, but the ultimate purpose of building the Divine Tower was indeed to challenge the Outer Gods.

The gods lured the power of the outer gods from the tower to infiltrate and defeat and seal away the spirit. This prevented the amplified magical power of the outer gods from randomly seeping into other parts of the world.

However, doing so would require a protracted struggle to continue, because the power of the Outer Gods is constantly increasing.

The gods would build divine towers every so often and challenge the outer gods.

This is a brutal war.

Because every battle means that a god must be prepared to give up his own life and fight a long and protracted struggle against the essence of the Outer God.

The divinely inspired towers that Irving discovered were all witnessing an eternal struggle that had lasted for thousands of years.

This spontaneous combustion of sparks, which lasted for thousands of years, ultimately sheltered the surviving humans. The flames also did not completely isolate the Outer Gods.

But the cost is extremely high.

The Outer Gods' plundering of the world's magic has caused most living beings to lose their magic.

That glorious era, when all organisms possessed magic, is now completely gone.

Magic has become a privilege for a select few.

The primordial magic has become forbidden knowledge. Apart from training successors to deal with the Outer Gods, no wizard is allowed to study this power.

Afterwards, the surviving forgotten gods even buried the [Primal Magic].

It's like diverting lake water underground, leaving only a spring on the surface. When the underground lake water reaches a certain level, some of it will gush out through the spring, and this portion represents the inheritors of ancient magic.

(End of this chapter)