It was no longer human-shaped, but a living mountain of flesh, over ten meters in diameter, composed of countless twisted limbs, festering flesh, tangled hair, and innumerable mouths that opened and closed continuously, emitting desperate wails!
Its 'surface' was a writhing, translucent membrane beneath which countless faces of Ghost Brides struggled, and a gigantic, twisted 'face' was fixedly 'staring' at Ian. The features of this 'face' were dislocated, lips opening and closing, issuing a fused proclamation that echoed like Hell:
"Desecrator! This place is an eternal grave! The true god has descended, our destiny awaits! Your persistence will only bring greater despair! Stay! Assimilate with us!"
The moment this monstrous flesh took shape, it erupted with terrifying pressure. It was not a simple physical entity, but a twisted amalgamation of resentment and sealed divinity.
Its core power of 'adhesion' and 'assimilation'.
Battle was inevitable.
Ian did not hesitate in the slightest. His hands quickly formed seals in the void, chanting a variant of Hogwarts' ancient Soul Purification Spell. Dark blue magic, speckled with stardust glow, circulated around him, forming a faint halo. This was a magic many wished to use on the Black Demon King, yet it shone brilliantly in ancient times.
A condensed blue beam shot out, accurately striking one giant wailing mouth on the surface of the fleshy monster. Where the beam touched, the membrane emitted a 'sizzling' burning sound, and that giant mouth rotted instantly, disappeared, exposing a deeper cavity of bone and flesh.
It seemed effective.
However, the damage was fleeting! The surrounding membrane, as if possessing life, swiftly writhed and proliferated, instantly filling in the damaged area, and even the vanished giant mouth 'grew' anew in a fresh spot!
Worse yet, the purified resentment did not dissipate, but was instead absorbed by the monster's core, transformed into a more chilling, viscous black energy, reverse contaminating Ian's core essence! The spirit body's light flickered intensely, and Ian's consciousness felt a piercing chill and sense of tear.
"Useless! Your 'light' will only nourish our 'darkness'!" The fused giant face issued a mocking roar. The monster's massive body trembled violently, countless 'tentacles' composed of hair and tendons burst forth from its surface like a horde of black serpents, carrying the powerful assimilative resentment, strangling towards Ian!
Ian's mind raced. Physical attack and soul purification were easily deflected and even countered; he must pursue a different approach. He abandoned the attack, the spirit body instantly retreated backwards, while both hands quickly drew a complex circular array in front of his chest, composed of countless tiny runes—this was a spatial stasis rune recorded in the Hogwarts Library's Forbidden Book Area, capable of temporarily solidifying spatial flow in a small area.
"Space-Time Cocoon!"
The array flew free, transforming into a circle of silver light, precisely ensnaring the approaching tentacle horde. Upon contact, those wild tentacles instantaneously slowed to a crawl, as though mired in millennia-old ice, halting subsequent attacks.
Now was the moment! Ian seized this fleeting opportunity, the spirit body transformed into a stream of light, rushing again towards the western wall! The resistance was still immense, but leveraging the precious time gained from the Space-Time Cocoon, he forcibly advanced several meters!
"Courting death!" The fleshy monster roared furiously. Its enormous body suddenly 'collapsed' toward Ian, as if a living mountain of flesh was pressing down! The surface membrane undulated intensely, countless mouths of Ghost Brides simultaneously spewing out a viscous, foul-smelling black blood of resentment!
These droplets solidified in mid-air into countless tiny, spiked 'Grudge Needles', forming a rain of death, covering all potential escape paths in front of Ian!
Ian performed Apparition.
Attempting to create multiple afterimages in the space to confuse the monster.
However, this monster, fused with countless resentful spirits, did not rely on visual perception. It could directly 'sniff' the source essence of Ian's consciousness! Just as the phantoms formed, the fused giant face in the monster's center accurately 'looked' toward Ian's actual position, and opened its huge mouth, emitting a mental shock wave fused with all the resentment!
"Sssss~"
The invisible sound wave struck Ian's mind like a substantial giant hammer!
The flesh monster, gaining the upper hand, relentlessly advanced, the collapsing flesh mountain and death rain approaching once more, seemingly about to completely devour and assimilate Ian.
At the critical juncture, a mad plan formed in Ian's mind, he no longer resisted the erosion of the Grudge Needles, when the first Grudge Needle stabbed into the spirit body and began greedily absorbing this 'Otherworld' magic, Ian used all remaining willpower to desperately trigger his final, most forbidden magic.
Reverse contamination!
He did not attack the monster, but used himself as a 'conduit', instantly reversing the flow of pure magic from Hogwarts' Little Wizard in the process of assimilation, forcibly injecting a tiny 'concept'—'freedom' which he had previously imprinted onto the spirit body.
This concept, like a toxic seed, mingled within the pure magic, reverse flowed along the 'roots' of the Grudge Needles, instantaneously contaminating the portion of the fleshy monster absorbing magic!
"Ugh—!" In the polluted region, the countless mouths of the Ghost Brides uttered not unified resentful howls, but a faint trace of individual yearning and bewilderment for 'freedom'! This minor 'discordant note', akin to noise introduced to a perfect symphony, immediately triggered the monstrous core's violent tremor!