The Brash Goddess, seeing her backer arrive, immediately straightened up and marched right into the blazing sunlight to clasp the Sun God's hand, eager to "borrow" a little strength.
"Your follower's body cannot withstand my divine power."
The Sun God refused to serve as her battery. His gaze shifted toward the depths of the temple.
Those eyes, twin blazing suns, left no shadow unpierced, seeing all that lurked in the darkness. Yet within them, there was no reflection of Herpo.
He seemed unconcerned by this.
"Besides, I do not believe you should interfere with the course of history."
As he spoke, his gaze swept over the Stupefied Riddle, then to Ian, who, thanks to the Sun God's earlier strike that had blown apart much of the encircling Silent Wraiths, was now surrounded by an even denser cluster of them, and could only fend them off by directing his Patronus, Ariana.
"A Heroic Spirit?"
There was a note of surprise in his voice. His gaze settled on Ariana as she swung her sword.
"That's the Patronus summoned by my teammate. I could tell at a glance that something was off. So it is a Heroic Spirit. Looks like his magic isn't bad at all."
It seemed the Brash Goddess didn't know Ian completely, either. As for exactly how much she did know, well, that was probably something only she could answer.
"He likely possesses a Hall of Heroes of his own," The Sun God murmured.
Before the astonished Brash Goddess could respond, "Bloody hell! Do these things ever run out?!"
Ian's only effective means against the Silent Wraiths was Ariana, summoned through the Patronus Charm.
He had tried using other kinds of magic, but none of them could so much as touch the Silent Wraiths; it was as if they existed in an entirely different dimension and space from him.
They were truly bizarre creatures. In truth, Ariana's clearing speed wasn't exactly slow, but it was like there was a hidden monster-spawning cage nearby; every time she cut down a group, another wave emerged.
Even with her quick swordplay, it still felt like the more she killed, the more they appeared.
"I'll help you!"
Hearing Ian's exasperated complaint, the Brash Goddess immediately started running toward him, only to be caught by the Sun God's avatar, whose golden radiance was slowly retracting.
"And I was wondering why you suddenly descended into the mortal realm… turns out you let yourself be sweet-talked by some troublemaker from the future. Come back with me now; someone else will correct the mistakes here."
The Sun God intended to take her away without further discussion.
The Brash Goddess instantly panicked.
"If he dies, I'll be erased from the source as well! You can't just leave him here alone!"
The "he" she was talking about was obviously Ian.
As for Riddle… who cared about him?
"Hm?"
The Sun God's gaze instantly sharpened at her words.
He was wreathed in a flowing halo of golden light, not static, but constantly shifting like a living corona, sometimes condensing into flame-like patterns, sometimes scattering into motes of radiance.
"Look!"
To prove she wasn't lying, the Brash Goddess raised her hand and revealed her bond with Ian, probably meaning only to show she was, for once, telling the truth.
However, she failed to think it through. She didn't consider what such a contract might look like in her father's eyes. And when the Sun God saw it, a ten-thousand-year oath of loyalty, his golden eyes flared violently, as though a thousand suns had erupted within them.
His mood? Well… it was probably about as bad as a father finding out his daughter not only married some bleach-blond punk, but also signed a mortgage for several modded mopeds in his name.
"I don't recall any such calamity in your fate!" The Sun God's voice was molten gold flowing in the air, each syllable sending ripples that made the temple walls tremble. His gaze suddenly fixed on Ian, and the heat of it made Ian feel as though he might burst into flames on the spot.
"This one isn't right!"
With a cold snort, the Sun God moved before the Brash Goddess could say a word.
And there he stood, even as merely an avatar, his features were breathtakingly sharp, as if the finest artisan had sculpted them from pure gold. His high, straight nose, the eternal divine fire burning in his eyes, two miniature suns swirling in their depths, were enough to make Ian's skin prickle.
"If I told you your daughter forced me to sign the contract, would you believe me?"
Ian tried to reason with him, but clearly didn't realize such words only made things worse; it was about as convincing as a bleach-blond punk telling a father, "Hey, she's the one who made the first move, that's how she got pregnant."
In short, Ian and the Brash Goddess were truly a matched pair of disaster.
After all, birds of a feather flock together.
"I believe Ian." Ariana tried to back him up.
The result?
The Sun God merely glanced at Ian's wand, and Ariana was instantly pulled back into it, vanishing into thin air as if she'd never existed.
"A mere mortal… I want to see by what right you dare enslave a god."
The Sun God's expression could not have been darker. His burning gaze nearly shot flames as he leaned over Ian; the air within three feet of him wavered with heat, forming a faint, shimmering halo.
Good news: Every Silent Wraith in the vicinity had been burned away by the Sun God's radiance.
Bad news: With the Wraiths gone, Ian now had to face something far more terrifying, the Sun God himself. And his eyes were truly, truly unnerving.
"Show me… your secrets!"
It wasn't like a divine command, it was a divine command. Ian's prized Occlumency and mental defenses, which he considered unbreakable, were torn through under the Sun God's scrutiny as if they were nothing but tissue paper.
Ian felt as though he was about to be sucked into the Sun God's eyes.
"I…"
In the end, he couldn't get the words out.
The instant his gaze met that of the Sun God, it was as if countless beams of golden light pierced straight into Ian's mind. His consciousness was dragged, irresistibly, into a strange realm.
The subconscious world.
A jungle of steel and concrete.
His home from his previous life.
Towering skyscrapers, crisscrossing roads, streams of traffic, busy office workers, fashionably dressed men caught in street photography, women dancing for livestreams on the sidewalk, all together forming a bustling and lively "forest."
Ian was looking down on it all.
"This is bad!"
Realizing where he was, his heart gave a sudden jolt. The little wizard instinctively glanced down, only to find himself perched on top of a utility pole, both feet hooked in an odd yet stable grip around an electric wire. Everything before his eyes seemed to be seen through a faint reddish filter.
Still…
His vision had been enhanced to an epic degree.
"There!"
Beneath him stretched an endless iron forest, and amid the crowd, Ian spotted that familiar figure, the Sun God, radiant lord of Olympus.
And at this very moment…
That domineering god was also looking up at him.
Only now…
The terrifying Sun God, once surrounded by dazzling sacred light, looked deathly pale, eyes wide with horror, his expression entirely visible.
"So… it's the Raven…"
The Sun God's voice was no longer majestic, but instead tinged with a faint helplessness.
Ian continued to stare at him.
The Sun God took several steps back. A moment later, a fine crack appeared across his flawless face. The flowing golden light around him began to falter, shattering like pieces of broken glass. The surrounding scenery twisted and faded, vanishing like morning mist under the first sunlight, until everything returned to nothing, bursting like bubbles.
"That's it?"
When Ian opened his eyes again, he was back in the real world. In front of him was still the Sun God's avatar, but now the Sun God seemed on the verge of collapse.
The Warrior Goddess stood beside him, supporting him with a look of shock and uncertainty. The god's eyes were veined with spiderweb cracks, molten gold flowing within his pupils as if they could shatter at any moment.
"I really should've checked the almanac before going out today." The Sun God sighed helplessly, his entire avatar dissolving into streams of light that poured into the Warrior Goddess's body. She instantly gained the "super power bank" blessing she had wanted, it was obvious now that her father's earlier claim that his believers couldn't handle it had just been an excuse.
The power boost had arrived.
Yet…
The Warrior Goddess had no time to be happy.
"What's in your head?" she asked, eyes glowing and wide with disbelief, staring at Ian, who was clutching his pounding head.
She truly couldn't imagine what had happened between the Sun God and Ian, nor understand why her father, who moments ago had adamantly refused to let her interfere with history, had suddenly changed his mind after being injured.
But above all…
What she found most unbelievable was the Sun God's condition.
She couldn't comprehend it at all.
What kind of secret…
…could burn a god?
(End of Chapter)
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