Hogwarts: Bloodline Legend

The Priest asked in a breath like a dying thread.

The Ghost Bride did not answer. She hoisted up the limp Priest; this special lifeform did not linger where she stood, but dragged the Scepter Priest and walked toward the depths of the great hall.

The Raven that Ian had become spread its wings in silence, sliding down from the dome, flying close along the wall's shadows, always maintaining a distance of thirty steps behind the Ghost Bride.

She passed through a dim corridor, its walls carved full of ancient runes, depicting embryos being nurtured in a pool of blood. The candles on both sides ignited on their own, yet the flames were ghostly green, casting twisted shadows on the walls. The Eye of the Raven that was Ian's could pierce through material and Magic veils, clearly seeing the track of every step the Ghost Bride took.

The other side dragged the Scepter Priest like a dead dog back to that wall engraved with runes. Ahead, there was a stone wall that looked ordinary, its surface full of cracks, with a complex Hexagram Array carved at the center. In the core of the array was set a dark red Gemstone, like a droplet of coagulated blood. This was the Defense Ian had previously failed to break through.

The Ghost Bride halted, hanging the Scepter Priest before the wall. The Priest was nearly shattered, lips trembling, yet he did not dare beg for mercy again. At her fingertip, a drop of black blood gathered and lightly touched the Gemstone. In an instant, the Gemstone flared, the Hexagram Array began to spin, runes lighting up one by one, emitting a low, droning hum.

"Open."

The Ghost Bride commanded.

She had clearly already searched the Scepter Priest's memories, yet now still used a command to threaten him, obviously to manifest the authority she possessed.

Joy, anger, sorrow, and delight.

Already present, and the Seven Deadly Sins thriving. In despair, the Priest closed his eyes, lips quivering as he chanted a string of obscure Spells. The runes on the wall lit with golden light one after another, finally forming a spinning sun pattern at the center. As the last syllable fell, the stone wall let out a resounding "kacha kacha."

With the roaring grind of massive stone, the wall slowly split open, revealing the deep spiral staircase behind it. A rotten stench surged out, laced with a cloying sweetness that made one nauseous. From the depths of the steps came the faint echo of liquid dripping, and… some kind of rhythmic throbbing sound, like a heartbeat magnified a hundredfold.

The Ghost Bride dragged the Scepter Priest and stepped inside. The Raven that Ian had become quietly alighted on the windowsill at the end of the corridor, its feathers gleaming with a metallic sheen under the ghostly green candlelight. His Eye of the Raven fixed on that opening wall, on the Ghost Bride's vanishing silhouette, on those stairs leading down into the earth.

At the very last moment.

Ian in Raven form also slipped into the wall under cover of the darkness.

He knew this was no ordinary cellar.

It was the womb of an embryo.

The altar where the Evil God was gestating.

The source of nightmares for the entire city.

Ian knew he needed to resolve the problem, and that what he himself sought was very likely also inside that cellar, so when he followed the Ghost Bride, there was not a shred of hesitation.

Because Ian in Raven form could still hide within the border of phantasmal unreality.

The Ghost Bride did not sense a thing.

The wall thundered shut behind them, completely severing the inner and outer worlds. The only light in the passage came from patches of glowing moss scattered over the walls, casting a sickly sheen over the Ghost Bride's blue-black wedding robes.

The spiral staircase seemed without end. She dragged the half-unconscious Priest downward; their footsteps were devoured by some sound-absorbing material, leaving only the drip of liquid growing ever clearer.

By now, Ian could already feel the aura of that Evil God.

Stronger than last night by more than tenfold.