The Ghost Brides, as pawns created by the Evil God, each may seem to possess intelligence, but in essence, they are merely extensions of the Evil God himself.
They are a certain extension of the Evil God's will. If the Ghost Brides attempt to stop Ian from reaching a certain place, it proves that the Evil God's subconscious does not want anyone to find that location.
"Could the cellar where the Evil God is incubated be a kind of weakness for him?" Ian couldn't help but speculate, and the subsequent actions of the Ghost Brides confirmed his guess.
"Protect... the Sanctuary..." muttered a Fusion Monster formed from Ghost Brides, emitting broken syllables. Its main part still retained the female upper body, but the lower body had turned into a massive base composed of countless tentacles. Five faces with ten eyes simultaneously locked onto Ian, their gaze filled with pure malice.
Ian did not hesitate to take the initiative.
"Sectemsempra!"
An invisible blade cut towards the monster, but it suddenly dissipated a few inches before reaching the target — the monster was surrounded by an invisible force field capable of disintegrating conventional magic.
"Adaptive Force Field..." Ian's pupils shrunk, "Even such a power should belong to the Evil God's body, yet it's able to evolve a defense mechanism that seems unsolvable?"
The monster didn't give him time to think. Five mouths opened simultaneously, ejecting attacks of different attributes: acid, frost, flame, shadow, and pure mental shock. These attacks were not chaotic; instead, they formed a perfect blockade net, sealing off all possible escape routes for Ian.
"Omnidirectional Protective Matrix!"
Ian's Magic Wand danced swiftly, and seven layers of different colored shields immediately unfolded. Acid corroded the outermost physical guard, frost froze the second layer of energy deflection, flame melted the third layer of elemental resistance, shadow penetrated the fourth layer of mental barrier... Eventually, the mental shock was barely blocked by the innermost Absolute Domain.
But the protective matrix was also on the verge of collapse. Ian felt his Magic Power depleting rapidly; at this rate, he wouldn't last beyond three rounds of attacks.
He must change his strategy.
Ian's eyes flashed decisively, and his Magic Wand suddenly pointed at the ground.
"Earth Tremors!"
The entire Temple shook violently, the fleshy ground forcibly torn apart, revealing the original stone structure below. The ground beneath the Fusion Monster suddenly collapsed, leaving it temporarily unbalanced.
"Now's the time!" Ian seized the opportunity, pointing the Magic Wand at the monster's core area: "Arcane Decomposition!"
A beam of blue light struck the monster, beginning to decompose its structures. The monster let out a pained screech, its body's surface cracking like spider webs. But despairingly, the cracks quickly began to heal — the Evil God's adaptability was at work again, the monster rapidly developing resistance to the decomposition magic.
Worse yet, other Ghost Brides began the fusion process. Three more Fusion Monsters were forming.
"No other choice..."
Ian gritted his teeth, pulling out a Small Crystal Bottle from his bosom, the silver liquid within swirling — this was the "Magic Overload Potion," an extension of the Magic Potion he invented at Hogwarts.
This potion could greatly boost magic output in a short time but had severe side effects, which would cause diarrhea. Well, for Ian, that was already a significant side effect.
Drinking the potion in one gulp, Ian felt the surging Magic Power rushing through his veins. His eyes began to emit silver light, energy fluctuations visibly surrounding him.
"Taste this!"
Ian raised his Magic Wand above his head, starting to chant complex Spells.
"Reality Anchoring!"
The surrounding space began to distort, flesh-like walls and floors gradually faded, seemingly losing their "reality." The Fusion Monster's movements stiffened, and the adaptive force field around it started to flicker unstably.
"Anchoring complete! Reality Rip!"
An invisible crack spread forward, starting from the Magic Wand, negating all within its path from the conceptual level. Fleshy ground reverted to cold stone slabs, the vascular network turned to ashes, even the Fusion Monster began to disassemble — five Ghost Brides were forcibly separated and collapsed weakly to the ground.
No time to rest.
Ian continued to press toward his destination.
The effect of Reality Anchoring was fading, the Temple's environment starting to be re-polluted by the Evil God's power. Several, dozens, even hundreds of Ghost Brides' Resentful Spirits abandoned their dispersed harassment.
As if drawn by an invisible force, they screamed, twisted, madly converging toward Ian's advancing direction. Dark mist of resentment, tattered wedding dresses, ghastly white arms, hollow eye sockets... all elements fiercely stirred and fused mid-air before Ian, like wax figures thrown into a furnace!
They clearly panicked.
It further validated Ian's suspicion — the Evil God didn't merely disapprove of others approaching the cellar; its subconscious wished to prevent anyone from nearing the cellar.
All remaining Ghost Brides fused simultaneously, forming a colossal flesh monster. This monster nearly filled the entire Temple's main hall, with dozens of human faces floating on its surface, hundreds of tentacles twisting like a serpent swarm. It lacked a concrete form, merely a continually changing, adapting terrifying aggregate.
"This path... is closed..."
The monster emitted a deafening chorus, even the air trembling.
Ian was nearing the cellar.
"Do— Not— Touch— It—!"
Billions of souls' resentment converged into a soul-shaking roar.