HPxLOTM: A Wizard's Path to Divinity

Edward felt as though his body had been shoved into a tube pressurized with compressed air, plummeting downward at breakneck speed.

From all directions, an overwhelming force squeezed him tightly—it felt like he might be crushed at any moment.

Suddenly, the speed and pressure vanished.

His feet touched solid ground again, and his vision gradually adjusted from complete darkness to normal.

Just then, a stream of mad whispers surged into his ears.

They pierced his eardrums like fine needles, drilling into his brain. The pain overwhelmed every thought—even though he was familiar with this sensation, it still overtook his senses.

These were the whispers of the True Creator.

Compared to Mr. Door, the King of Angels of the Door pathway, these were countless times sharper and more dangerous.

Fortunately, the pain came fast—and receded just as quickly.

A blinding ray of sunlight broke through the gloom, and Edward finally saw his surroundings.

He stood atop a reef in the middle of an endless ocean.

Not far away, the azure waters were torn apart by a massive rift. Endless seawater plummeted down like a waterfall into an unfathomable black abyss!

"This place is…"

Before he could make sense of it, he felt a gentle push on his back.

His body lurched forward—falling uncontrollably into that gaping rift.

The roar of crashing waves filled his ears, and countless droplets of water struck his face like icy needles.

In seconds, he was soaked to the bone.

The descent grew faster and faster.

All Edward could see was darkness at the bottom of the rift—completely impenetrable.

That's when he remembered: this majestic spectacle was the entrance to the Ruins of the Battlefield of Gods.

This wasn't a part of the real sea.

It was a relic from the War of the Deities.

After ten or so seconds, his fall began to slow.

Then—gently—he landed on the surface of a dark sea.

Ouroboros hovered silently beside him.

With a flicker of divine will, the two of them arrived at a nearby ruin.

A vision of an inverted stone clock flashed across Ouroboros's eyes, and in the next instant—

—the sun, which had been high in the west, reversed its course, racing back to the east and sinking below the horizon.

Darkness fell instantly.

Edward's eyes widened in shock.

In the original novel, when Amon brought Klein here, he stole daylight from the Ruins of the Battlefield of Gods.

And Ouroboros, not to be outdone, reversed time itself, shifting the ruins from day back to night in a blink.

What would happen if I used my Time-Turner now?

He suddenly had the urge to test it.

Damn…I was so anxious earlier, I completely forgot I even had a Time-Turner on me. It only works up to two hours back in this world, but…that should be enough to save Earl Hall!

Though—he wasn't sure which was more precious: the Resurrection Stone, or the Time-Turner.

"Sleep," Ouroboros said calmly, glancing at him.

Only then did Edward recall: In the ruins, if you don't sleep at night—you'll vanish.

He quickly sat down against a wall.

Then, remembering the little one in his pouch, he opened it—only to find that Lilith had already curled up on the sofa, fast asleep.

"Whew…"

Edward let out a long sigh, took a sip of Draught of Living Death, and soon drifted off as well.

But instead of entering a foggy half-conscious state, he found himself immediately lucid.

He stood in a world shrouded in misty grey.

Behind and to both sides of him stretched a monastery of black buildings.

Ahead, a bottomless cliff loomed—beyond it stood a towering mountain, covered in countless palaces, towering spires, and majestic walls.

The structures were vast and magnificent, almost too enormous for human habitation.

Grouped together, they emanated a mythical, miraculous aura—something beyond words.

It was the projection of the Giant King's Court.

Wait…I'm lucid?

Was that Ouroboros's doing? Or, like Klein, am I under the protection of the Goddess?

Ouroboros appeared beside him in his simple linen robe, dangling a sleepwalking, flailing Lilith by one hand.

Edward recalled: This was a shared dream. Anyone who fell asleep here would enter this space and be randomly placed somewhere.

He actually retrieved Lilith for me?

Ouroboros casually tossed Lilith back to him, then turned and began walking toward the monastery.

"Come."

"Thank you, Lord Ouroboros."

Edward stuffed the little one back into his pouch and quickly followed.

"How do we get to the Forsaken Land of the Gods?"

In the original story, Amon used the unique "bug" power of the Marauder pathway to enter the Forsaken Land.

So, what would the King of Angels of the Fate pathway do?

"I'm lucky," Ouroboros replied calmly. "I always just happen to find a way in."

As he spoke, he arrived at the front of the monastery and gently pushed open its heavy doors.

Without pause, he walked inside.

Dim towers and black buildings loomed on both sides, connected by shadowy cloisters and bridges. They surrounded a wide grey-stone plaza riddled with potholes. Gigantic arrows were embedded in the ground, and a few scattered firepits still burned faintly.

Clearly, this place had once suffered an attack.

Ouroboros didn't stop.

He walked straight toward a descending staircase, leaving Edward trailing behind.

He didn't even bother to check if Edward would try to run.

Where could I even run to…?

Edward shook his head helplessly and followed.

But just as he stepped past the threshold of the enormous monastery—

—a figure leapt out from behind the door, grabbing his wrist and pulling him outside.

His heart jumped in shock, and then he exclaimed in disbelief, "You?! What are you doing here?!"

"Saving you."

Bernadette didn't even look at him.

Faint starlight flickered beneath her feet as she whisked them both swiftly away from the dark monastery.

Only now did Edward remember—

Back when he'd been ambushed by Herwin Rambis, he had used the Resurrection Stone's Specter ability to send Phoenix out with a distress signal to his allies.

But no one had responded in time.

After defeating Hvin Rambis and getting swept into a series of new events, he had forgotten all about it.

He never expected Bernadette to show up now, trying to snatch him away from Ouroboros of all people.

"Do you even know who brought me here?"

"No."

"Do you understand what a King of Angels is?"

Bernadette's steps came to a halt. She turned back and asked, "He's a King of Angels?"

"Yes," Edward sighed. "The Angel of Fate, Ouroboros. The King of Angels who governs destiny—the Sequence 1 among Sequence 1s."

He gently pulled his wrist free from her grasp.

"You should leave. He's only taking me to the Forsaken Land of the Gods to meet the True Creator—it shouldn't endanger my life."

Bernadette's ocean-blue eyes rippled faintly.

"You're going to the Forsaken Land of the Gods? That place even the gods can't find?"

"Of course the gods can find it," Edward replied, somewhat surprised. "They just choose not to."

He looked at her, brow raising slightly.

"Don't tell me you're interested in it now?"

She replied evenly, "As a Mysticologist, it's natural to seek out hidden knowledge and secrets. That's nothing strange."

"But isn't that only necessary once you reach demigod?" he asked.

"It has nothing to do with Sequence. It's simply a fundamental trait of the Mystery Pryer Pathway."

Edward frowned. "What are you planning to do?"

"I want to see the Forsaken Land with my own eyes."

"…."

Lady, now's not the time to indulge your thirst for knowledge…

"Fine," Edward muttered. "Go ahead and try to rescue me."

As soon as the words left his mouth, he suddenly felt a dizzying shift—then found himself back in the black monastery, Bernadette still gripping his wrist, as if they were about to leave.

Ouroboros was now standing silently at the staircase entrance.

"If you're finished chatting," he said mildly, "then come."

With that, he turned and descended the steps once more.

Edward looked at Bernadette's confused expression.

"You…do you remember what just happened?"

She released his wrist, nodded, and glanced around in realisation.

"That was…just an illusion?"

"No," Edward said, "It was a reset of time. We've returned to about one minute ago."

Bernadette's eyes widened slightly in astonishment.

"As expected of a King of Angels…The power he wields already belongs to another tier entirely."

"Alright, you need to go back now. This really isn't the time to indulge curiosity."

Suddenly, Edward seemed to remember something. He reached into his pouch and pulled out Lilith, shoving her into Bernadette's arms.

"Do me a favour and take this little one back with you."

"I won't! I'm not going back!" Lilith woke up from her daze with a start, flailing and shouting.

Edward pretended not to hear her and quickly walked toward the staircase.

But only a few steps in, he heard footsteps behind him—Bernadette had followed.

"You…"

"I noticed that even after I tried to take you away," she said calmly, "this Angel didn't get angry, nor did he harm me. That means he likely bears you no ill will. Since that's the case, why not seize this opportunity to witness the Forsaken Land myself?"

Lilith's round eyes widened in frustration.

"Miss Lilith wants to go too!"

"Fine," Edward said, not even looking back. "Come along if you think you can."

It's just walking down a few stairs. That doesn't mean Ouroboros will actually let you go into the Forsaken Land.

The two of them followed behind Edward, walking down the stone-carved steps.

After several minutes, they reached the monastery's lowest level, where they stopped before a massive black wooden door inscribed with strange runes.

Ouroboros stood silently beside it.

When he saw Bernadette had followed, his expression didn't change in the slightest.

Bernadette stepped forward, gazing at the door.

"When I came in earlier, I tried to open this door…but the power behind it almost shattered the entire dream world."

She paused.

"This… is the gate to the Forsaken Land of the Gods?"

Ouroboros shook his head. "No. It's merely an entrance to another dream."

Bernadette then asked, "Can I come with you to the Forsaken Land of the Gods?"

Lilith raised her tiny paw.

"Me too!"

Ouroboros quietly stared at Bernadette for a few seconds, then said slowly, "Yes."

Edward was stunned.

"Huh? Why? I thought the Lord just wanted to see me?"

Ouroboros didn't answer.

Instead, he turned, gripped the door's handle, and slowly pulled open the black door covered in strange patterns.

In the next second, vast golden waves poured forth from within, as radiant as the light of the sun.

Edward recognised it immediately.

This was the blood of the Ancient Sun God.

Before "His" death, under the influence of the Evernight Goddess, "He" fell into a dream where "He" envisioned "His" own dismemberment and "His" blood staining the oceans.

A terrifying aura leaked from within, causing the entire monastery to shudder violently, as if an apocalyptic quake had struck the dream realm.

Bernadette instinctively grabbed Edward's wrist again.

Together, the three—plus one cat—stepped into that golden sea.

In that moment, Edward was overwhelmed by an intense burning sensation, as if the heat were searing him from all directions, threatening to melt him alive.

But quickly, the pain vanished.

Ouroboros took out a black cross.

On it was an inverted human figure.

A soft, dim light radiated from the cross, enveloping the three humans and one cat, shielding them from the golden sea's corrosive effects.

Then, with the cross still in hand, Ouroboros made a gentle slicing motion toward the projection of the Giant King's Court in the distance.

The golden sea split apart effortlessly, revealing the clouds above and the towering mountain range behind it.

A dark, bottomless rift appeared between.

Once again, the vision of the stone clock shimmered in Ouroboros's eyes—this time, its hands turning clockwise.

Whoosh—

The mountain range and the Giant King's Court were pulled rapidly closer.

In a blink, the group arrived at the foot of the tallest palace in the entire projection.

The palace had a spire on one side and a rounded tower on the other.

Its massive front gate towered over ten meters high, coloured in shades of bluish-grey and etched with symmetrical sigils, symbols, and arcane motifs.

To the left of the gate, there was a deep, black circular hole.

Edward asked, "How do we get in—?"

Before he could finish, Ouroboros had already reached out and pushed the bluish-grey doors open.

Only then did Edward remember—

Ouroboros didn't need to worry about being watched by the True Creator.

———

[Note]: 275 Powerstones for an extra chapter! Go, Vote~

And if you are like me and want to read 40 Chapters in advance of the current story right now, you can support me on my Patreon. Thank me later~

Link - (P)atre(o)n.c(o)m/ Iseeblack [Remove the brackets]