HPxLOTM: A Wizard's Path to Divinity

"Frenzy! Awe!"

Audrey hurriedly activated her Beyonder abilities. Although it was a Sequence 7 against a Sequence 6, the element of surprise worked in her favour. The devil dog was instantly thrown into chaos and madness, tumbling off the roof of the carriage.

She sent several calming placates to the horses, soothing them until they finally slowed down and came to a stop more than ten meters ahead.

"Let's go."

Grabbing hold of Annie with Levitation Charm, Audrey jumped down from the carriage alongside the two small companions. In a quick glance back, she saw the devil dog barreling toward them again. It appeared to still lack flight capabilities and was charging forward on all fours.

"Petrificus Totalus! Stupefy!"

She cast several spells while running, but they only managed to slightly slow the creature's pace. The hound leapt forward, its speed increasing, and spat out a single demonic word, laced with filth and corruption:

"Death."

In an instant, Audrey stumbled and fell forward—she felt as if her heart had been gripped by an invisible hand, her breathing suddenly laboured.

Sensing danger, Lilith immediately changed direction and charged straight at the devil dog, becoming visible as she simultaneously used [Instigation].

"Ugly mutt! Come fight me!"

Suzy barked loudly, "Woof woof! I'm right here!"

The hound turned its blood-red eyes toward them. "Corruption."

Thump.

Lilith froze mid-charge and collapsed, her body drenched in a sticky black liquid. Her expression twisted in visible pain.

Recovering her breath, Audrey caught the hound mid-leap and cast another spell.

The ground suddenly caved in, forming a deep sinkhole. The hound crashed straight into it and became mired in the swamp. Its massive weight caused it to sink rapidly.

Desperately, it flapped its wings in an attempt to break free from the mire.

Audrey knew this would only hold it temporarily. She quickly pulled out two Tracking Dung Bombs and hurled them into the pit, hoping to throw off the hound's sense of smell.

Then she rushed over and picked up Lilith.

"Expecto Patronum!"

Silvery-white wisps burst from the tip of her wand, swirling and coalescing in the air. The black liquid covering Lilith hissed and dissolved the moment the Patronus appeared—like it had met its natural enemy.

"ROAR—"

The silver dragon took shape once again, unleashing a mighty roar as it dove toward the hound, which had just managed to free itself from the swamp. The shining light, infused with frenzy and awe, slammed it back down into the pit, eliciting a shrill, anguished howl.

The devil dog's skin began to sizzle and melt under the dragon's proximity—it was clearly being seared alive.

As expected!

The Patronus, a purifying force against Dementors, was just as effective against demonic creatures of corrupted nature.

Audrey exhaled in relief, waving her wand again.

Two consecutive weather charms were cast, and the entire street ahead became obscured in thick fog and swirling dust. Without hesitation, Audrey turned and ran.

"Let's go!"

She cast another Disillusionment Charm on herself and Lilith as they fled.

"All that commotion just now must've already drawn the attention of official Beyonders. As long as I…as long as I can hold on until they arrive, I'll be fine!"

Just then, heavy footsteps echoed from ahead.

A silver figure clad in full armour emerged from the haze. Its left shoulder was slashed diagonally and stained with dried, congealed blood—a gruesome sight that paradoxically gave it an eerie beauty.

It moved with immense weight, each step sending subtle tremors through the ground.

Audrey caught a whiff of blood—thick, metallic, and overwhelming. How many had to die to create such a suffocating stench? It felt as if an ocean of blood had suddenly appeared before her eyes.

Her face went pale, and her legs gave out. She couldn't take a single step.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

The blood-stained silver armour drew nearer and nearer…until it simply brushed past her shoulder and continued walking straight ahead—toward the devil dog.

Leonard, who wore the armour, felt every step weigh on him like a mountain. As he passed Audrey, he barely noticed anyone other than his target.

Just then, the silver dragon dispersed into countless glowing motes. The badly wounded devil dog finally leapt free from the pit—only to find a silver-armoured figure striding through the mist.

"Howl!"

It bellowed furiously and lunged—but at that moment, countless silver beams burst forth from within its body like exploding fireworks, blooming into a storm of blood and flesh.

It died so thoroughly, it couldn't die again.

But Leonard's face suddenly changed. He shouted, "That was just the devil dog—one of his minions! He used it to cause chaos on the streets…just to draw our attention!"

"That Jason guy isn't here!"

Ten seconds too late, Soest's expression shifted drastically. "Damn it! We've been played!"

——

Meanwhile, in the private luxury villa of Duke Negan.

A man stood in the attic—his entire body covered in a viscous black liquid, like the embodiment of all the ugly desires and intense emotions buried deep in the human psyche.

The room was a wreck—scorched and shattered everywhere.

The Duke's mistress lay twisted and contorted, her once-beautiful face split open with a gaping wound. Blood poured from her skull, her frozen expression full of madness and terror. She had been dead for some time.

The bespectacled secretary lay unconscious nearby, severely injured.

If Edward had been present, he would have immediately recognised this man—he was the same person who had twice passed messages from the Twilight Hermit Order to him at the café.

As for the true target of the attack—Duke Negan—he had already been killed by the so-called "Jason," a Desire Apostle who harvested his life through fear.

"Heh…If I hadn't known their layout in advance, things wouldn't have gone this smoothly today."

Jason let out a cold laugh. Then his body dissolved into countless streams of black liquid and slithered into the villa's courtyard drain.

In the damp darkness of the sewer, Jason clung to the cold pipe-lined walls, forcefully suppressing the bloodthirst and killing urge surging within him. The viscous black liquid coating his body gradually reabsorbed into his flesh.

After estimating he had moved three or four blocks away, Jason relied on his keen perception of danger to confirm there were no pursuers nearby. Then, he exited the sewer and emerged into a dim, shadowed alley. Turning a corner, he stepped into a busy street filled with people.

He carried a suitcase and wore a grey overcoat—indistinguishable from any regular office worker. Blending into the crowd, he descended into the subway station and boarded a train.

With the rumble of the train beneath him, Jason disembarked at a station in the East Borough.

There, a man wearing a hood approached from the opposite direction, also carrying a suitcase.

As the two brushed past each other, they completed a seamless swap. Jason didn't even pause, continuing on as if nothing had happened.

Click.

He carefully unlatched the new suitcase and, under the faint crimson glow of the moonlight, glimpsed the item nestled within: a single, exquisitely crafted tarot card—

It was the Abyss Card.

———

[Empress Borough—A Small Villa]

"Something bad happened!!"

Lilith burst through the door, shouting in alarm. Edward, who had been washing up in the bathroom, rushed into the living room.

"What happened?" he asked, tense.

Lilith ran over, breathless. "We were just attacked by a huge monster!"

Edward's expression shifted. "Is everyone alright?"

"No one was hurt, but Audrey was scared stiff!"

Edward immediately picked her up in his arms. "What kind of monster?"

"Audrey said it was the devil dog you mentioned before."

"The devil dog?"

He didn't waste another word. With a pop, he Apparated straight to Audrey's bedroom.

Audrey was curled up on the couch, her face pale as she stared blankly at the cup in her hands. Susie sat beside her, watching with deep concern.

"Are you hurt, Audrey?"

"You…why are you here?"

Audrey looked up reflexively and then shot a glare at Lilith. "Traitor! I thought we agreed not to tell Edward just yet?"

Lilith responded with righteous indignation, "Nope~ Miss Lilith doesn't want a long nose! I can't lie~"

Edward gently knocked her on the head. "You're in danger and still want to keep it from me? I always tell you everything the moment something happens."

"I wasn't trying to hide it…It's just that…I still haven't calmed down. I was going to tell you tomorrow."

Edward's expression turned serious. "Lilith said you ran into a devil dog—are you sure?"

"It's just a guess," Audrey said softly. "At first, it looked like a large black dog. But then, right in front of me, it transformed into a terrifying demon."

Edward frowned. That doesn't make sense…

In the original storyline, the devil dog was taken down by official Beyonders the day after it attacked Klein. Could it be that Klein didn't encounter it during his theft of the Black Emperor card this time? Or…did something change in the middle?

"I actually wasn't scared by the devil dog," Audrey added quietly.

"It was that suit of silver armour afterwards."

Her hand clenched tightly around the cup. Her face grew even paler. "When I saw it—even though it didn't even look at me—I felt like I was drowning in a sea of blood. I heard the cries and screams of countless dead in my ears. It invaded my mind like a flood."

"I tried to calm myself, tried to distance myself from it, but that sense of utter despair, the feeling of death looming so close…it's still there. I can't shake it."

Edward gently grasped her cold hand, comforting her with warmth. "It's okay now…it's okay."

This was the first time he had ever seen Audrey like this.

After thinking for a moment, he said, "That silver armour you saw was likely a Grade 1 Sealed Artifact."

He vaguely remembered that in the original novel, the devil named Jason Beria was almost killed instantly by that armour—Leonard had delivered the finishing blow.

The armour itself was said to be stained with the blood of an ancient deity—insane and bloodthirsty. It once caused the deaths of 100,000 people in a city.

According to some readers' analysis, based on its silver colour, light-based attacks, and its devastating effect on demons, the blood on that armour likely came from the Giant King, Aurmir.

If that were true, then the fact that Audrey had merely been frightened after brushing past it was already remarkably fortunate.

Edward shared his theory, and Audrey's eyes widened in shock. "You mean…I passed by a Sealed Artifact tainted with the blood of an ancient god…and I just got scared?!"

"Pretty much."

At that, she didn't know whether she should be terrified or relieved. Still, the shadow in her heart did ease considerably.

———

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