HPxLOTM: A Wizard's Path to Divinity

Edward reassured him, "Mm, but don't put too much pressure on yourself, Mr. Hanged Man. Your safety comes first."

"Thank you."

Alger turned to The Fool. "Mr. Fool, thank you for your help as well."

Klein said lightly, "Mr. Hanged Man, why didn't you tell The Tower why you've been so unlucky?"

Alger shook his head. "I just think all of it would sound like excuses."

Klein nodded. "Alright, then let's leave it at that."

With that, he severed the connection with the two and left the space above the grey fog.

——

On the Blue Avenger.

Roy King was feeding a sailor a potion when he suddenly heard a faint clack. He immediately stood up, walked to the side, and, making sure no one was watching, pulled a delicate ring box from his coat and opened it:

Inside was a milky-white die—currently showing the face with a single pip.

Roy King's face turned pale. The worst luck he'd ever gotten before had only been a "2," but now it was a "1"! He stared blankly at the endless ocean around him.

What kind of disaster was coming next?

Pirates? Thunderstorms? Tsunamis? Sea monsters? Or something even worse?

Seconds ticked by. Yet, no disaster came.

Roy grew more confused. He checked the die again. It still clearly showed a blood-red 1. But why hadn't anything happened?

Or…was the Probability Dice holding back, waiting to unleash something truly catastrophic?

No.

I can't keep dragging Alger and the others down with me.

Maybe I should just jump into the sea and end it here.

Just as the thought passed his mind—clack—the die flipped again. This time, it landed on a six.

"???"

Almost immediately, the ocean around the Blue Avenger seemed to boil. Schools of fish leapt out of the sea in droves, landing right onto the deck.

One after another, the sailors watched in stunned silence as the deck filled with fish—soon forming a small mountain. They looked at each other, wide-eyed and speechless.

Roy King murmured, "The bad luck of a '1'...really just passed by like that?"

At that moment, the first mate who was monitoring the route shouted, "Captain! Pirate ship sighted three nautical miles ahead!"

Alger stepped briskly out of the captain's cabin.

"Suspected to be the Black Death—Vice Admiral of Ailment's ship!"

Alger took the spyglass and looked. Sure enough, a black-painted vessel was approaching from the distance, flying a massive white flag with a skull emblem.

He took a deep breath and glanced at the confused Roy King before shouting, "Prepare for battle!"

"Wait, Captain! Their flag signals say they have no hostile intent!"

"You new to the seas? Since when do we trust a pirate's good intentions?"

Despite that, Alger, knowing the power gap between them, still ordered everyone to stay alert—but not to strike first.

Ten minutes later, the Black Death stopped a few hundred meters away. On its prow stood Tracy, dressed in a white linen shirt and a dark red coat.

"The Blue Avenger, huh? I remember you—you're that friend of Gehrman Sparrow."

Alger paused, then nodded. "That's right."

"I heard you got robbed on Dainos Island?"

Damn it, who's spreading gossip so fast? It's only been an afternoon, and it's already across the Five Seas?!

Alger's lips twitched. "So what?"

"I can help you."

"Why?"

She smiled seductively. "Because I owe Gehrman a few favours."

———

The next morning.

After spending the morning tracking leads from the maids at Prince Edessak's estate, Klein returned to 15 Minsk Street—only to find a note lying on his coffee table. It was penned in neat yet slightly stiff handwriting:

"10 PM tonight. Meet behind the Bravehearts Bar."

Klein blinked in surprise. He turned to look out the window and sighed silently:

"So it's finally beginning…"

At the same time, Edward also received word from Sharron: Tonight at 10, we act.

In a certain townhouse in the West Borough, Viscount Ernes of the Sanguine also received a letter from Cosmi: Tonight is the operation.

———

9:50 PM.

Having spent the afternoon practising ballroom dance, Edward slipped on his invisibility cloak and quietly arrived at the back door of the Bravehearts Bar.

Ten minutes later, Klein met Sharron and Maric behind the bar, and the three finalised their operation plan. They then rode in a corpse-driven carriage to the abandoned West Bayam Dock warehouse area—scheduled for renovation after lying idle for a year—where they planned to ambush the three Rose School pursuers.

After the plan was set, Sharron and Maric split up to lure the enemies, while Klein planted explosives that Maric had prepared throughout the area. He didn't expect the bombs to harm the enemy—they were more for theatrical effect during his "Magician" performance.

Edward nodded in admiration. As expected of our Mr. Fool…he sure knows how to make an entrance!

Not long after, three figures darted into the warehouse at lightning speed.

Leading the charge was Maric, followed closely by a Werewolf and a Zombie—both from the Rose School of Thought.

A few minutes later, the battle began.

Thanks to the ambush, Maric was able to hold his own at first. But as the fight dragged on, the weaknesses of the Temperance faction became more apparent against the Indulgence faction's brutal style.

Soon, Sharron joined the battle—only to be suppressed by the werewolf Tyre, who had clearly come prepared and was wielding the Scarlet Lunar Corona.

"Hahahaha!"

Tyre raised the crimson-glowing, palm-sized circular ornament and laughed maniacally:

"Lord Steve was right. You lot would try to strike back. And Sharron—you'd obviously use a host who's lower in Sequence than you…So he gave the Scarlet Lunar Corona to me."

"Wanna guess where he is right now?"

Under the glow of the Scarlet Lunar Corona, Jason wantonly indulged in the ecstasy brought by lust. Without the need to suppress his desires, his strength surged dramatically.

"I wonder what Sharron would look like stripped naked—hahaha!"

He licked his lips and laughed maniacally, just about to launch an attack when the blessing of the Scarlet Lunar Corona suddenly…vanished. The cruelty and madness in his eyes froze for a second. He turned toward Tyre in confusion.

"Tyre…you…Where's the Scarlet Lunar Corona?"

"???"

Werewolf Tyre stared blankly at his raised, empty hand. Yeah, where was that big, red, glowing accessory?

Sharron and Maric acted immediately, charging forward. At the same time, the Indulgence Faction's Wraith, Steve, joined the fray. Klein, having spotted the wraith with the help of the All-Black Eye, used the golden Sun Brooch and purification bullets to attack it.

In the original plot, even with the interference of the Scarlet Lunar Corona, Sharron and her team still managed a narrow victory at the critical moment. Now, without it, the tide clearly turned in their favour.

Hidden and invisible on a high vantage point several hundred meters away, Edward sat with a crimson, palm-sized ornament in his hand. Yes, he had used [Magnify] + [Theft] to swipe the Scarlet Lunar Corona.

Although they'd agreed he wouldn't interfere as long as no demigods appeared, now that he was here—could he really just sit back and watch?

At that moment, dazzling, illusory lights burst from Sharron's palm. They devoured her spirituality and intertwined into a massive bronze door inscribed with arcane runes and emanating an indescribable scent.

From the gap of the door stretched out dozens of hands—pale, transparent, toothed, or bloody and skinned. They reached across space and grabbed Jason, who had just been repelled by Maric.

But then Maric's body stiffened. Suddenly, he grabbed Jason and started pulling him back from the door.

He had been possessed by the wraith Steve!

Klein instantly channelled his spirituality into the dark-gold Sun Brooch, which emitted a warm, pure beam of light down onto Maric.

Though it hurt Maric—being a Zombie—the light freed him from Steve's control. He immediately slammed his foot into Jason's chest, sending him hurtling toward the bronze door. Jason screamed as he desperately clawed at the edge of the door to keep from being dragged in.

"Help me!" He shouted hoarsely.

Tyre immediately dashed toward him. But just then, a purification bullet glowing with golden light struck Jason square in the forehead—though not fatal on its own, the sheer impact was the final straw.

"No!!"

In the next second, Jason was dragged through the bronze door and vanished completely.

"Damn it!!!"

The wraith Steve's expression twisted in horror. He hadn't expected to lose the Scarlet Lunar Corona inexplicably and watch Jason get taken down within mere minutes. Now only he and Tyre remained—victory seemed far out of reach.

He quickly retreated, raising his head to let out a piercing scream.

"Hmph! Useless."

Hundreds of meters away from the warehouse district, a figure rapidly materialized midair.

Dressed in a black clerical robe, wearing a black glove on his left hand, his face was gaunt and corpse-like with deep-set eyes and dark, grizzled facial hair trailing from mouth to ears. He was Zatwen, the demigod from the Rose School of Thought, responsible for hunting down Sharron and Maric.

He took a step forward, just about to lend his aid, when a voice came from behind him:

"Why's an old man like you jumping into a kids' fight?"

Zatwen immediately turned and let out a screeching cry. A visible shockwave burst forth—but Edward had already blinked away, reappearing several hundred meters away.

"Magnify—Avada Kedavra. Cull!"

A deep green spell shot straight at Zatwen.

His figure distorted, dodging with Mirror Blink, while dozens of glowing blue ice arrows launched in return.

"Fiendfyre."

The inferno met the ice arrows in midair, creating a cloud of steam. Edward blinked again to gain distance, shedding his invisibility cloak and provocatively beckoning at Zatwen.

Zatwen sneered, ignoring the taunt as he rose into the air toward the warehouse: "I'll finish off those traitors first, then come for you."

"Magnify—Distortion!"

Edward twisted Zatwen's trajectory, then followed up with another Avada Kedavra.

"Bribe. Confusion!"

He stomped the ground, his body floating into the air as he raised his arms to embrace the sun. A scorching pillar of light descended from the sky.

Zatwen, caught off guard, took several hits head-on. Were it not for his enhanced zombie-like body, he would have been overwhelmed by now.

Edward landed lightly, once again beckoning with his finger.

It was a crude, childish gesture—but it worked.

Zatwen had no memory of being this humiliated since becoming a demigod.

"You really want to die?!"

He charged forward—but Edward merely smirked and repeated the gesture.

In the blink of an eye, Zatwen vanished, and Edward teleported again. The two flashed across rooftops along the dock district.

Edward occasionally turned to fire off spells, while Zatwen stayed silent and locked on like a hound.

Finally, when Edward turned to fire once more, Zatwen seized the chance—he leapt into Edward's pupil and simultaneously activated Possession.

"Unfettered! Possession is forbidden here!"

Edward instantly ejected him. A blue-black dragon of flame roared forth.

As Zatwen used Mirror Blink to evade, Edward tried several Magnify + Theft combos—but failed to snatch anything.

At the same time, Edward felt several abilities vanish—Distortion, Cull, and more. He looked down at the glowing black glove on Zatwen's hand.

Edward's illusory grimoire flipped rapidly. He cast Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves—and suddenly his mind buzzed with chaotic voices, like dozens of people talking at once.

But the noise quickly organised itself: analysing, assessing, and reaching a consensus.

The final vote was unanimous:

Go report to the Church of a True God—immediately!

———

[Note]: Don't forget to VOTE. It keeps me motivated.