HPxLOTM: A Wizard's Path to Divinity

[Backlund—In Doctor Aaron's residence]

The Snake of Mercury, Will, suddenly sat up from his rocking chair, his face full of frustration.

"Tsk! Of all times, that one had to show up right now? What was even the point of my effort then?!"

Originally, even though Klein had died once, it would've served to help him escape Amon's pursuit.

And now?

Because that being had stepped in—it made it look as if Will had deliberately orchestrated Klein's death.

Will thumped the arm of the chair, nearly in a tantrum.

"Arghhh! I tried to save someone and ended up making things worse! That was intentional!

It had to be intentional!! They must think I'm easy to bully, don't they?!"

"Edward's here, Klein's there, secretly there's Ouroboros lurking in the background, and above it all, even a god has their eye on me—Why am I so damn unlucky?!"

"AAAAHHHH!!!"

———

[Empress Borough—Sodela Palace]

King George III, wearing his crown and sitting atop the imperial throne, his face stern beneath a sharp pair of moustaches, gazed wordlessly at the Earl Palatine standing before him.

In the depths of his eyes burned quiet fury.

"It's all been disrupted…everything is in chaos!"

First came the exposure of the mausoleum photos—though unexpected, it didn't faze him much. He knew the Seven Churches needed a Black Emperor now.

So, he had simply pushed forward the plans, instructing the Demoness Sect to act immediately.

But this "Fog Catastrophe" wasn't just for distraction. More importantly, it was to secure collaboration with the Demoness Sect—to be specific, with Cheek.

George III had long anticipated the need to appease the Churches, so he had already arranged a series of policy trade-offs:

Opening more channels for the Church to obtain Upper House seats…

Agreeing to the demands of the Air Pollution Commission…

Passing labour laws guaranteeing minimum protection and working hours…

Even allowing the three major Churches to place personnel inside the military…

These trade-offs wouldn't damage him personally.

In fact, they would strengthen the ritual's requirement of "associating one's name with the title of Emperor in the minds of the people."

But what he hadn't expected was a sudden barrage of chaotic incidents completely derailing his blueprint.

Almost simultaneously with the outbreak of the Fog Catastrophe, over half of the high-ranking power-holders in Loen—ministers, MPs, nobles—were assassinated by their own children or siblings.

It happened across the board—New Party, Conservative Party alike.

While this didn't mean the government had collapsed, it definitely ignited a political crisis. After all, these weren't replaceable bureaucrats; these were carefully selected successors—many of them groomed personally by the very people they killed.

Even worse, would this not give the Feysac Empire a perfect opportunity to declare war on Loen?

George III was not ready to ascend to Sequence 0 yet!

"Damn it!"

His moustache trembled slightly as he clenched his fists.

"The Psychology Alchemists…"

MI9 had already traced the sabotage to the Psychology Alchemists.

But what George III couldn't understand was: Weren't they working with him the entire time? They had even sacrificed a Demigod of the Spectator Pathway for this!

Why would they now—without a word—stab him in the back?

Even more maddening, when MI9 tried to arrest the Psychological Alchemists who had interacted with those noble heirs, they were all already dead.

Some had even committed suicide in front of MI9's agents.

"Who the hell is behind this…"

He rubbed his temples in exhaustion, waving off the Earl.

"Let the Churches do what they want. Pass their policies. Give them the laws they're asking for. Also, assure them—anyone involved in the mausoleum matter, I promise I won't pursue it further."

He paused.

"As for the assassinations…"

A long silence followed.

Then he said flatly:

"Tell them to quickly choose new successors. I don't care about their infighting—I want only one thing now: Stability. Stability. Stability!"

'Just a bit longer…Just hold out a while longer.'

———

Deep within the Spirit World.

With Phoenix's help, Edward hurtled straight toward the depths of Calderón City. All around him, shadows streaked past like ink bleeding across silk—dense and murky.

From time to time, terrifying Spirit World creatures flickered at the edges of perception.

Minutes passed.

Then at last, a city of crumbling ruins and deathly silence came into view.

Enormous, pale-white stone pillars protruded throughout the broken landscape.

"Almost there."

Just then, a voice rang beside Edward's ear:

"Where are you going?"

He instinctively began to reply, then froze.

That wasn't Phoenix's voice.

Nor did it belong to anyone he knew.

His chest tightened. He turned to look—

It was a man with a beautiful, serene face. Silver hair cascaded down his back. Simple linen robe. A pair of wings layered one atop the other behind him.

Or more accurately—this was no man.

This was Ouroboros.

A being infamous in the Mysteries for being almost completely devoid of humanity.

He's here.

"Hmm?"

Phoenix blinked in confusion. "Why does it feel like we haven't moved at all?"

It hadn't noticed Ouroboros.

It was still flapping its wings in full effort.

Seriously? Your reaction time is worse than mine…

"Where are you going?" Ouroboros asked again.

There was even a trace of curiosity in his eyes—which, as Edward knew, was extremely rare.

Edward replied honestly, "To Calderón City."

"Oh, Gregrace's former divine kingdom."

Ouroboros nodded.

Then asked again, "It's been polluted by the River of Eternal Darkness. Why go there?"

Can I say...I'm hiding from you?

"…Just out for a stroll."

A hint of confusion flickered across Ouroboros's face.

But soon he said, "You can't stroll anymore. I need to bring you to see the Lord."

Edward asked cautiously, "May I ask…what does the Lord want with me?"

Ouroboros shook his head.

"Don't know. He simply said he wanted to see you."

"…Is it because of the uniqueness of the Door pathway?"

"Don't know."

"…Do you think the Lord has good intentions…or…"

"Don't know."

"Can I…refuse?"

"No."

Edward: "..."

Forget it—there's no such thing as a free lunch in this world.

Edward had borrowed the other's good luck to kill Hvin Rambis, and again to save Earl Hall. Now…it was time to pay the price.

Still, after a moment of thought, he asked a question that was extremely important to him:

"Lord Ouroboros…do you know if the Lord…has two personalities?"

Ouroboros's still, unfathomable gaze fell upon Edward.

"Perhaps."

"Then…which personality was it that sent you to find me?"

Ouroboros tilted his head slightly, a somewhat dazed expression surfacing once again.

"Don't know."

"I mean…was it "His" rational side, or the insane one?"

Ouroboros lowered his eyes and pondered for a moment.

"Don't know."

…Fair enough.

"Let's go."

Ouroboros reached out and lightly patted Edward on the shoulder.

The next moment, the two vanished without a sound.

Just then, Phoenix finally realized things had returned to normal.

It turned its head happily.

"Okay, we can—wait, huh? Where'd he go?"

——

Edward's vision flickered with light and shadow.

When it cleared, he realized he was back in the dining room of the Hall family's villa.

He blinked, surprised—he had thought Ouroboros would take him directly to the Forsaken Land of the Gods.

The dining room was empty. Ouroboros, who had brought him here, stood motionless for some reason, doing nothing further.

"What's wrong?" Edward asked.

Ouroboros didn't answer.

Instead, he silently turned his gaze toward the dining room doors.

Abruptly, a woman in a hooded, classical robe appeared. Her expression was blank, but within her eyes swirled the depths of starry skies.

Edward recognized her instantly—and nearly burst into tears on the spot.

Mommy Evernight! She came to save me?! All those things I bought and sacrificed to her—finally paid off!

One was a King of Angels.

The other a projection of a god.

The two stared at each other across the room, motionless.

Like two mutes crossing paths in a narrow alley, competing to see who would speak first.

Suddenly, the ground began to tremble.

Edward's first thought was that these two were about to clash.

But their posture and demeanour said otherwise.

The Goddess's projection slowly turned to look outside.

The once-clear sky had turned a shade of crimson blood, which then deepened into inky blackness, converging from all directions above the Hall family's villa.

Had one viewed Backlund from above in that moment, they would have seen rivers of blood-red light winding through the city's streets, converging upward into a massive black formation in the sky.

If Klein had been there to witness it, he would've recognised this pattern. It was the same one he had seen in his divination—the route through which the True Creator scattered "His" flesh.

Soon, a massive vertical slit pupil appeared in the sky.

The pupil was filled with nothing but madness and savagery.

At the Aurora Order's base in Backlund, Medici stood at a window, gazing upward at the phantom eye, muttering, "This is "His" power…Is "He" really preparing to descend upon Backlund?"

Impossible.

Based on everything Medici knew, the True Creator had been banished by the Seven Orthodox Churches to the Forsaken Land of the Gods. Returning wasn't as simple as just "deciding to come back."

So-called "god descents" were usually only partial projections—dropping fragments of "His" power to create a so-called Son of God.

But this?

This didn't look like a mere fragment.

At that moment, the black vertical pupil in the sky cast a beam of light downward. It pierced through the Hall villa's rooftop, enveloping both Ouroboros and Edward. At the same time, the flowing red light throughout Backlund ignited—forming a massive, ancient ritual array.

Buzz!

The next second, the array dimmed.

The eye in the sky vanished.

So did Ouroboros and Edward.

The Goddess's projection didn't move the entire time.

She simply watched in silence, never lifting a finger to intervene.

As everything returned to calm, a flicker of expression finally crossed her otherwise blank face.

"One Edward…in exchange for the True Creator's infiltration into Backlund…

Worth it."

Her figure, like chalk rubbed from a blackboard, quietly vanished.

———

[Hall Family Villa]

Audrey had just finished her prayer to Mr. Fool when she felt a tremor deep in her heart—a subtle sense that something terrible had just happened.

She hesitated, wondering if she should pray again.

At that moment, the entire city of Backlund seemed to shake.

Above the Hall estate, a massive phantom image appeared—a black, vertical pupil in the sky.

Audrey glanced out the window.

And just that brief glimpse made her spiritual body boil.

A nameless, inexplicable fear engulfed her, causing her to shiver uncontrollably.

Beside her, Susie instinctively tucked her tail and flattened to the ground, burying her head and trembling like a leaf.

"What in the world is happening…That eye in the sky—could it be…the True Creator?!"

Audrey's heart skipped a beat.

"Is that god truly descending upon Backlund?"

"Will the Goddess allow it? Will "She" intervene?"

"Will there be a war between gods in Backlund?"

"No—I must get my father, mother, and Hibbert out of here immediately!"

She gritted her teeth and forced herself to concentrate, preparing to Apparate and rush to find her family.

But just then, the fear that had engulfed her suddenly vanished—along with the phantom eye in the sky.

Her knees buckled, and she collapsed to the ground.

It was a long moment before she gathered herself again.

She prayed to Mr. Fool once more.

But this time…no reply came.

———

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