HPxLOTM: A Wizard's Path to Divinity-Chapter 715: Cheek Arrives

The terrifying disturbance in the Astral World was naturally witnessed by Edward and Lilith.

Edward knew very well that, regardless of which side emerged victorious, it would be beneficial rather than harmful when it came to resisting the Outer Deities—but that was a conclusion based on the original course of events.

Under the current circumstances, with a crack already torn open in the barrier, a life-and-death battle between three true gods would only further weaken that barrier, creating even more opportunities for the Outer Deities to invade.

This was something everyone understood perfectly well. Yet they also understood even more clearly that this divine war was unavoidable.

Soon, Edward’s worries were confirmed by Grisha Adam.

He awakened ahead of time from the state in which He had been accommodating a tributary of the Chaos Sea.

At the time, Audrey was in the middle of telling Edward about the reactions of other Backlund nobles and landlords after the Hall family had opened their granaries over the past few days. Her cheeks were flushed red with anger as she spoke, "...Those bastards. I thought they would secretly cause trouble at most, but they went even further—sending people to massively buy up the low-priced grain and continue hoarding it."

Resting her chin on her hand, Lilith said, "I thought you had already considered that possibility from the start."

"I—I did think of it!"

Audrey trembled with anger. "I was prepared for them to send their lackeys to do this, but...but they bribed some of the civilians instead, using enormous profits to buy them off."

"I was clearly doing this to help those civilians, yet they...they..." Her voice faltered. "I’m really disappointed now. All of a sudden, I feel lost about what I’ve been doing. Maybe from beginning to end, this was nothing more than my own excess of goodwill—my own self-righteousness. In the eyes of those nobles and even those civilians, perhaps I’m just a naïve fool who doesn’t understand the world."

"I’m now...now I even feel a little regretful..." Audrey looked at Edward helplessly. "Edward, I don’t know what I should do anymore."

Edward fell silent. For a moment, he truly didn’t know how to comfort her.

Human nature was sometimes like this. Perhaps most people were kind, or at least neutral—but the malice of a small minority was enough to destroy the goodwill of people like Audrey.

"This question—perhaps I can answer it for you."

Grisha Adam, dressed in a priest’s robe, stepped out of the air itself. His face was still as gentle and calm as ever, filled with compassion for all things.

The sudden appearance of the priest startled Audrey, but she immediately guessed His identity. After her instinctive fear, she mustered her courage and asked, "P-Please...go ahead."

Grisha Adam said calmly, "The reason you’ve fallen into confusion, and even anger, is because you care too much about the outcome. You believe that since you did a ’good thing,’ it must inevitably produce a good result."

"But most things in this world are not like that. Even gods as powerful as we are cannot guarantee that everything we do will always be correct or good. Therefore, my suggestion is that you follow the truest intentions of your own heart."

Lilith curled her lips. "Easy for you to say. Anyone can spout empty platitudes like that."

Grisha Adam glanced at her. "But she is a Spectator. If a Spectator cannot follow her own heart, she will not be able to go very far."

At this point, Edward asked in a low voice, "Is something wrong with the barrier?"

"Yes. I must depart immediately to repair the barrier."

Grisha Adam nodded slightly. "Although those in the Astral World each have their own agendas, they will not interfere with me in this matter. What I’m worried about...is Cheek."

"I understand. When the time comes, I’ll go help."

"No."

Grisha Adam shook His head, his words carrying a deeper meaning. "What I’m more worried about is the situation on the Chaos Sea side."

He continued softly, "Remember—each of us only needs to properly play the role we are meant to play, and fulfil the duties that belong to us."

"..."

After a brief silence, Edward said, "I understand."

With that, Grisha Adam’s figure abruptly vanished into the air.

At this moment, Audrey tugged lightly at Edward’s sleeve and asked, "Edward, what were you just talking about? Why do I feel like I’ve lost a part of my memory?"

This was Grisha Adam deliberately blocking her thoughts to prevent her from hearing information she should not hear. Edward explained gently, "Just like I told you before—some information is far too dangerous for your current Sequence."

Her expression immediately filled with concern. "Is it related to high Sequences...or even gods? Is something major about to happen?"

Edward lightly flicked her on the forehead and smiled.

"We all just need to play the roles we’re meant to play. As for you—focus on figuring out how to resolve the problem you’re facing right now, and then, by the way, advance to Sequence 5."

"Leave the rest to us."

"...Alright."

———

The moment they left the Hall residence, Lilith asked with a puzzled expression, "Edward, why didn’t you let Audrey and the others hide directly in the Hogwarts world? Logically speaking, that should be the safest place right now, shouldn’t it?"

Edward thought for a moment before replying, "I still haven’t completely trusted that ’Creator.’ Between the two worlds, which one is actually more dangerous...that’s really hard to say."

A glimmer flashed through Lilith’s eyes as she nodded. "That’s true."

"Then your next plan should be to find someone to help look after Audrey, right?"

"Exactly."

She giggled. "Let me guess—are you thinking of asking him?"

Edward smiled as well. "Say it together?"

"Will!"

"Little Snake!"

———

Three minutes later, inside Doctor Aaron’s home.

Little Snake Will was holding an ice cream, happily eating away, when his body suddenly stiffened. He looked up at the two people who had appeared out of nowhere, expressionlessly wiped the cream from the corner of his mouth, and extended one hand.

"No need to explain. I know. No problem. Done."

"..."

After that, he took out another piece of parchment that Edward had given him before falling asleep.

"Do you remember that promise you still owed me before you went into slumber? I think it’s time to cash it in."

Edward raised an eyebrow. "Anything is fine—except becoming your father."

"???"

Lilith’s eyes widened instantly. She leaned over in shock and exclaimed, "Eh? What? What are you talking about, Edward? Since when did the two of you have this kind of relationship? Did Miss Lilith miss some very important plot development?!"

Edward pressed a hand against her head and pushed her away, then looked at Little Snake. "Alright. Say it."

"..."

Little Snake sighed with a complicated expression. "I know you’ve made it big now and look down on a mere Sequence 1 like me, but...no matter how I think about it, this request doesn’t exactly put you at a disadvantage, does it?"

Edward said calmly, "I also don’t think having an old—ahem—senior like you become my child counts as me gaining an advantage. After all...every one of your ’reboots’ has merely been accomplished by borrowing someone else’s body and fate. You still retain your original memories."

"Oh, I see."

Little Snake suddenly realised something. "You think that being born from your female companion’s body would be a form of desecration to her, right?"

He grinned. "Then let’s change our way of thinking. No—more precisely, you’ve misunderstood me from the very beginning."

"What I’ve always wanted," he continued with a wide smile, "was simply to use your status to ’reboot.’ Nothing biological. So the one who needs to ’give birth’ to me was never your female companion."

"It was you."

Edward’s face instantly darkened. "Fuck."

Beside him, Lilith immediately burst into laughter, clutching her stomach.

"Hahahahahaha! Edward, congratulations! This time, you really are going to be a dad! I’d love to see Audrey’s reaction when she finds out she doesn’t need to get pregnant and still ends up with an extra son!"

"Hahahahaha!"

Little Snake handed the parchment with the written terms to Edward.

"Then it’s happily settled?"

———

The Astral World, the Divine Kingdom of Cheek, the Primordial Demoness.

From the very first day Grisha Adam set foot here, a colossal cathedral constructed from countless corpses had appeared within this realm. Row upon row of black pews stretched endlessly, spreading across the entire divine kingdom. A gigantic cross towered between heaven and earth, facing directly toward the terrifying hole in the sky.

Grisha Adam stood calmly before the cross. Behind Him loomed a vast, indistinct projection of light. In the light-figure’s hands was an enormous, ancient grey-white stone slab, continuously emitting faint golden radiance that drifted toward the crack in the barrier like an adhesive, slowly repairing it bit by bit. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

Boom!

Boom!

From time to time, the divine kingdom trembled violently in response to the colossal detonations coming from afar. That was the Evernight Goddess battling the God of Combat and the Earth Mother. The shockwaves of the three gods’ clash enveloped the entire Astral World.

At that moment, a silver mirror the height of a single person suddenly appeared not far behind Him. A hazy figure soon emerged within the mirror’s surface. She possessed peerless beauty and a graceful bearing, exuding an irresistible charm that could enthral countless beings at every moment.

Grisha Adam lifted His gaze and cast a calm glance at her, saying nothing.

"Hehe."

Cheek smiled seductively and stepped out of the silver mirror. Almost in the next instant, the mirror behind her began to fracture at high speed, splitting apart until it transformed into countless mirrors that blotted out the sky.

Within every mirror stood a Cheek. They all gazed toward the crack in the sky and chanted in unison:

"Great Door of All Doors;

Guide of Endless Cosmos;

Key to all Mysterious Worlds,

Open the gate that leads to reality,

Let the original consciousness descend once more upon this land,

And together welcome the return of the Great Mother!"

As Cheek’s voice fell, the three demigods she had thrown out—corresponding to Bizarro Sorcerer, Secrets Sorcerer, and Parasite—were seized by invisible hands. After a brief struggle, they exploded outright, turning into masses of flesh and blood that shimmered with light of different colours.

As if possessed of their own vitality, these bloody remnants gathered in midair under the guidance of an indescribable force, outlining one twisted, filthy symbol after another. Gradually, they formed a gate more than five meters tall, its flesh still writhing as though alive.

The gate stood beneath the giant hole in the sky. Its interior was pitch-black, and within that darkness floated clusters of faint, star-like lights—like strange, curled insectoid creatures formed from condensed starlight.

———

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