HPxLOTM: A Wizard's Path to Divinity

Horamick looked confused, but he didn't press the matter. Instead, he turned toward Edward with a gentle smile and greeted him:

"Mr. Edward."

"Uh, greetings, Your Grace."

Ace Snake opened his eyes and raised an eyebrow.

"Oh? Archbishop Horamick knows him too? Don't tell me he's a member of your Church of Steam?"

"Not exactly."

Horamick shook his head and drew a triangle of holy light on his chest.

"You could say that Mr. Edward is one of my Lord's favoured."

"…"

"Hahahahahahaha!"

Ace Snake burst into loud laughter.

"A Nighthawk of the Church of Evernight is actually one of the favoured of the Church of Steam and Machinery? Should I say your relationship is too close…or just too messy?"

Even Anthony's face showed a hint of surprise. He had no idea this was the case either.

"So, what exactly is the situation here?" Horamick stepped into the church.

"Are all of the recent disappearances in Backlund because of that thing?"

Seeing that neither Anthony nor Ace Snake was keen on explaining, Edward had no choice but to summarise the events himself.

"So Archbishop Anthony remained here to protect the lives of nearly a hundred people trapped in the book world?"

Horamick's sharp eyes flashed with insight.

"I understand now."

He didn't know the full picture, but he was certain Anthony had figured something out—and was making a move.

"Mr. Edward, your friend entered that book world, correct?"

"Yes."

"A very important friend?"

Edward nodded firmly.

"Yes!"

"I see."

Horamick turned to Anthony and said calmly:

"Let's begin. God will bless us."

Anthony was silent for a moment. Then he too tapped his chest four times.

"God…will understand our actions."

BOOM!

Two demigod powerhouses stepped into the church in unison, and their overwhelming auras surged to the sky.

Almost at the same time, Akasha's voice echoed in Edward's ear:

"Got it. Let's go!"

Already?!

Wasn't that way too easy?

If it were truly this simple, why had the three saints wasted so much time stalling?

Edward might not be as cunning as these old foxes, but he wasn't a fool. No—even a fool could sense there was something fishy going on!

"Teleportation is prohibited!"

Just then, a man descended from the sky. He had a high nose bridge and wore a white shirt and black vest. It was Qonas Kilgor, the Deputy Director of MI9, flanked by his subordinates.

Akasha raised her hands innocently:

"Hey, I've got nothing to do with this! I was just passing by."

The moment she finished speaking, her body burst into a swarm of bats that darted toward the horizon.

Qonas instantly activated the [Exploit] ability of the Earl of the Fallen and stepped forward to intercept the swarm.

He didn't even glance at Edward—because Edward had already transformed upon hearing the prohibition—his face altered to that of a random passerby.

Qonas flicked a gold coin into the air. Though it looked casual, under the effects of magnify and distortion, it exploded with firepower far beyond that of any artillery shell.

BOOM!

Even though Akasha's transformed state required all her bats to be destroyed to truly harm her, she had no desire to get hit and quickly changed direction.

But Qonas was ready.

He tossed a 1-penny coin, activating Bribe to weaken her. Then, with a subtle use of Bestowment, he attempted to crush her will entirely.

That was when it hit him:

"Wait! This is going too smoothly!"

How could a fellow demigod just sit back and take a beating?

"Gotcha!"

"Heh. Follow me, sweetheart."

Akasha suddenly pulled out a picture frame—the one Edward had just given her. She had seen this powerful mystical item in action back when they'd hunted the Marauder demigod from the Jacob family.

In the next instant, both of them vanished.

It had all happened so quickly that Qonas only had time to shout:

"Grab that brat!"

The upcoming battle between the two demigods would unfold in a separate dimension.

Edward couldn't help finding the situation a little ridiculous.

Last time when they hunted Botis, he too had been pulled into another space by Mr. Azik in nearly the same way.

The dozen or so MI9 operatives who had arrived with Qonas immediately turned their attention to Edward.

Edward gave a cheerful wave:

"Hey there!"

"Flash!"

"Let's go!"—he tossed out the taunting doll.

As his right hand summoned his wand into his palm, two powerful area-control spells were released, catching MI9 off guard.

Then his wand became like a magical machine gun, firing off incantations one after another:

"Stupefy!"

"Expelliarmus!"

"Petrificus Totalus!"

"Levicorpus!"

Among the twenty-some MI9 agents, about half the lower-sequence members instantly lost the ability to fight.

The rest—mostly mid-sequence—rushed to counterattack.

Most of them were Beyonders of the Arbiter pathway. They responded with Psychic Piercing, Whip of Pain, and various restrictive commands.

Edward had already used a Disillusionment Charm to conceal his true form, dodging the first wave of retaliation.

Unfortunately, it only lasted a few seconds before the area-wide "no invisibility" effect forced him to reappear.

BOOM!

Suddenly, a crimson blaze erupted outward from Edward, dazzling like a miniature sun and forcing the MI9 agents to retreat.

By the time the fire dissipated, Edward had completely vanished.

"He escaped?!"

"Impossible! Teleportation is blocked here. He couldn't have just disappeared."

"Where is he?!"

Just as the question was asked, a voice whispered near the agent's ear:

"Imperio!"

The agent's consciousness was ripped away, and he turned around and attacked his teammates.

The suddenly ambushed teammate flinched—but only for a moment.

He quickly realised what had happened, and, with disbelief in his eyes, raised his revolver and began to fire back.

A similar scene quickly unfolded among the remaining dozen MI9 agents—internal conflict spread like wildfire.

And Edward, having completed his primary objective, silently lurked on the periphery, ready to deliver the finishing blow at any time.

This was a strategy he had developed specifically to deal with large groups of enemies:

Magnify + Confundus Charm + Transfiguration + Imperius + Control Charm

A few minutes later, the battle ended with one final Stunning Charm from Edward.

Over twenty MI9 agents lay sprawled across the ground, each one tightly bound in tortoise-shell bondage.

The fact that none of them were dead had nothing to do with kindness—he simply didn't want to overstep in front of the three archbishops watching nearby.

Some of them were helping him. Some were merely spectating.

If he just casually wiped out official Loen agents in their presence, it would come across as incredibly tactless.

Throughout the whole skirmish, Edward used only the Magnify spell outside of standard magic—not because he looked down on these MI9 operatives, but because his spirituality had been warning him:

There was someone even more dangerous hidden on the scene.

He was feigning weakness.

"Thank you, Your Graces. I'll take my leave now."

Edward pressed his right hand to his chest and gave a courteous bow. Then, he took a few steps back as if preparing to depart.

Sure enough, in the very next instant, his spirituality flared violently—an overwhelming sense of danger set off alarms in his mind.

Edward frowned and casually drifted back behind the others, muttering as if to himself, "Hmm…suddenly, I feel like it's safer back there."

"Sigh—"

A heavy, aged sigh brushed past his ear.

Edward instantly recognised the voice—the same Spectator-path demigod from last time!

A scholarly, refined elder suddenly appeared—Hvin Rambis.

A flash of gold flickered in his pupils.

In an instant, Edward became a soulless puppet—eyes hollow, consciousness stripped—as he began walking forward, step by step.

Horamick, who had been keeping a close watch on Edward, immediately frowned and moved to leave the church.

But someone blocked his path.

The man had a rectangular face, wore a white peruke, and sported curled moustaches.

He was dressed in formal attire and draped in a cloak—his entire appearance screamed "century-old relic."

Horamick froze in his tracks and looked over with a frown, "What is the Loen royal family trying to pull now?"

Even Grove Augustus, that old fossil, had shown up?

Was he trying to destroy the book too?

Then...what was hidden inside that book?

Or rather—what secret was someone inside the book hiding?

Horamick's brows furrowed as he said coldly, "That kid is my Lord's favoured. My Lord does not wish to see him harmed."

Grove Augustus nodded from afar.

"Our objective is merely the book and the quill. You needn't worry, Your Grace."

By this time, Edward had already approached Hvin Rambis.

The old man said softly:

"Hand over the item that vampire gave you."

Edward obediently reached into his pouch and retrieved a quill.

Hvin Rambis smiled faintly:

"Give it to me."

Edward stepped forward, hand outstretched—then, just as the old man reached for it, Edward's fingers squeezed the quill lightly—

Magnify + Theft

Hvin Rambis' train of thought blanked out instantly.

The very next moment, Edward unleashed a flurry of counterattacks:

"Old man…you really think the same trick will work on me twice?"

With the Angel's Embrace blessing from Mr. Fool active in advance, there was no way he would be hypnotised so easily again!

Distortion—altered the target's current intent.

Bestowment—weakened his willpower.

Magnify—boosted the power of all following spells.

Tossed coins + Cull + Exploit—all aimed at striking the enemy body directly.

Another Distortion—made the damage even more severe.

Final volley—Magnify + high-damage spells in rapid succession.

"!!!"

Hvin Rambis snapped back to consciousness—only to find his body shattered and in tatters.

Before he could even react, another wave of spells engulfed him.

"Arghhh!"

With a furious howl, Hvin's mangled form began to expand rapidly.

His pupils became vertical slits, shifting from light blue to gold.

On his face, his hands, and every inch of exposed skin—gray-white scales like stone began to emerge.

RIIIP—!

His white shirt, black vest, formal coat, and straight-leg trousers all tore apart, revealing the dragon scales underneath.

In the blink of an eye, Hvin Rambis transformed into a massive aberration.

His head retained a human appearance, but the rest of his body had mutated completely.

He looked like an incomplete, not-yet-fully-formed gray-white dragon.

The dragon's back sprouted two dull-grey skin-covered wings, and the white-gray scales etched across his body were covered in complex, three-dimensional arcane runes.

The runes seemed to extend both inward—into his flesh—and outward—into the surrounding void, as if they were part of something beyond the material world.

This was the incomplete mythical creature of the Spectator Pathway!

And by assuming this form, Hvin Rambis had completely restored the damage done to his physical body.

"ROAR!!!"

A raging gale burst forth from the monstrous dragon, equal parts real and illusory.

This was the mythical creature's Dragon's Might and Mind Storm.

Edward felt his brain boil.

Panic surged uncontrollably within him—he couldn't stop his body from running in random directions.

And this was with the protection of the Angel's Embrace!

At that moment, Edward finally understood:

The Bookworm devours Beyonder abilities, but his mind and body were still only Sequence 5.

A true demigod wouldn't be this pathetic!

Fortunately, the Unfettered trait of his helped him break free in time, and he quickly hit himself with multiple Clarity Charms.

But then, an overwhelming sense of danger hit him again.

Oddly enough, the incomplete gray-white dragon had made no move.

That's when it clicked—

"Of course. High-sequence Spectator pathway battles never happen in the real world. They happen in the Sea of Collective Subconscious."

The enemy was climbing his mind island, trying to unlock the door to his spiritual body, and manipulate his subconscious.

If not for Mr. Fool's Angel's Embrace, Edward probably wouldn't have even noticed it before he was already completely compromised.

"No! I've barely had any real experience in consciousness-level combat. I should absolutely avoid fighting him in the mindscape!"

But clearly—that was not up to Edward anymore.

———

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