"What are you doing, Lilith?"
Lilith immediately retracted her paw, darted away as if nothing had happened, and leapt onto the bed, where she began chasing her own tail, playing by herself.
Edward chuckled, then looked down at the items spread out before him—the Resurrection Stone (set in a ring), the Hand of Glory, the Time-Turner, and so on.
A wisp of faint mist slipped into the Resurrection Stone. A sharp, piercing scream rang out, and the stone trembled violently for a long while before finally calming down.
"Was Voldemort's soul fragment destroyed!?"
Edward gripped his wand tightly, ready to cast the Fiendfyre Curse at any moment, and with his other hand, he cautiously picked up the Resurrection Stone.
The moment it touched his skin, it was scalding hot, like a piece of searing metal. But the temperature quickly dropped, turning icy cold. Moments later, information about the Resurrection Stone surged into his mind.
After absorbing the overflowing energy of the Sefirah Castle, the Resurrection Stone had indeed become a mystical item, and now possessed four supernatural abilities:
1. [Resurrection]—Grants the bearer an immediate revival upon death, but only once.
2. [Corpse Reanimation]—Consumes spirituality to revive a dead body as a living corpse that retains the abilities it had in life, but is completely uncontrollable. 'Uncontrollable' meant no distinction between friend and foe, making it highly likely to backfire.
3. [Specter]—Consumes spirituality to allow the soul to leave the body, unrestricted by time or distance. However, if one's spirituality is depleted before returning to the body, the soul can never go back and will become a mindless wraith.
4. [Unknown]—An ability not yet activated or discovered.
Edward let out a long breath. The mystical Resurrection Stone was both powerful and awkward to use. Its first ability, [Resurrection], was undoubtedly incredible—essentially giving him an extra life. But the other two known abilities came with obvious side effects that made them double-edged swords.
He moved on to examine the rest of the items one by one and found that none of them had changed. This was within his expectations, so he wasn't particularly disappointed.
As for Ravenclaw's Diadem, he hadn't taken it out of storage for safety reasons. Two Horcruxes could mean having to deal with two versions of Voldemort at once.
But judging from what had just happened, Voldemort's soul fragment was laughably weak in the face of an object like the Sefirah Castle.
"Hopefully after next week's Tarot meeting, Ravenclaw's Diadem will give me a pleasant surprise too."
Edward put everything away, leaving only the Resurrection Stone ring on his left index finger. Since it didn't carry any negative effects unless actively used, wearing it in advance would provide an extra layer of protection.
He touched the cool surface of the ring, hesitated briefly, then decided to test its third ability: [Specter].
The moment he mentally issued the command, Edward felt his body become weightless. In the next instant, he floated into the air—only to realize that the body seated at the desk below wasn't levitating.
His soul had left his body.
Flight—the greatest and most ancient of human dreams. Although Edward had flown in airplanes and ridden broomsticks, those were all assisted forms of flight. This—this was true freedom, unbound and unassisted.
He silently drifted around the room in a few circles, calculating the rate of spiritual depletion.
"Hmm? This is way less consumption than I expected. At this rate, I should be able to stay out for over half an hour."
"Meow?! Σ(°△°|||)︴"
Just then, Lilith—who had been happily playing on the bed—suddenly froze, her fur puffing up. She arched her back and glanced warily around the room, clearly sensing something off.
Edward grinned mischievously and suddenly swooped toward her.
Whoosh!
Lilith sprang up like a spring, bolted toward the door—but after a few steps, she abruptly skidded to a halt. After a brief hesitation, she turned and darted toward Edward's body instead, jumped onto the desk, meowed several times at him, and when she saw no reaction, bit down on his clothes and tugged with all her strength.
"Heh, I guess pampering you wasn't a waste after all. But with your strength, there's no way you could—wait, what the—?!"
Edward watched in disbelief as his own body—still seated in the chair—was being dragged backward by Lilith's efforts.
"Return!"
He rushed back into his body, catching the back of his head just before it hit the floor.
"Ow—almost broke a finger…"
"Meow?! *(Д)"
As he looked up, he saw Lilith staring at him with wide-eyed concern. He scooped her up and asked curiously, "Lilith…when did you get so strong?"
"(,,,,,,)??"
Edward pushed himself up and gently set her down.
"Alright, I'm fine. Go play."
But this time, Lilith didn't listen. She simply lay down right in front of him, staring straight into his eyes.
Edward exited his body once again, and this time, phased through the wall into the living room. After circling around a few times, he floated down to the lower floor.
"The spiritual drain is increasing! So the farther I go from my body, the more it costs?"
He floated over to a window and stretched out his hand into the sunlight streaming through the cracks—there was only a faint warmth, no discomfort at all.
"Should I go out for a little walk?"
No sooner had the thought arisen than Edward drifted through the glass and out into the open air. Sunlight, breeze, the scent of flowers—he found that even in soul form, he could still feel everything in nature.
He suddenly lunged forward, swiftly soaring past several blocks while mentally monitoring his spiritual depletion.
Thirty seconds later, a sharp pain surged through him—
A warning from his depleted spirituality.
Edward shuddered in alarm—he had only flown a few kilometers, and already most of his spirituality had been consumed? That was an outrageous rate of depletion!
Without hesitation, he changed direction and flew toward Tulip Street. Trees, flowers, and buildings zoomed past on either side in a blur, everything around him becoming indistinct.
Suddenly, a familiar figure appeared ahead. The two of them brushed past each other, and in the fleeting moment when their eyes met, they both caught the shock on the other's face.
"Edward?"
"Klein?!"
Klein had just started to question whether he was seeing things when an intense wave of weakness surged through him from the inside out.
"Damn—it! My spirituality can't sustain this state anymore!"
A vast and terrifying force of suction descended upon him. His near-transparent form trembled once—and vanished from the physical world.
The boundless gray-white mist returned, spreading in absolute silence. Klein reappeared at the head of the ancient, mottled bronze table, inside the grand palace that resembled a giant's dwelling.
He let out a sigh of relief. For a moment, he had thought he was in serious danger.
"Looks like I was summoned…and once the summoning ends, I just naturally return."
Klein lifted his hand, finding a thin golden talisman resting warm and pure in his palm.
"The Flaring Sun!"
Sure enough, he could bring real-world objects up into the space above the gray fog by summoning himself! Klein carefully examined the charm, confirming that it was no illusion or projection—but despite the success, there was no smile on his face.
"Was that spiritual figure I saw just now really Edward?"
"But…how did he turn himself into a spirit? Don't tell me…he also has access to the space above the gray fog?"
"Or is it actually not that rare for Beyonders to take on a spirit form? Then…should I bother explaining anything to him at all?"
Klein wrestled with the thought for a while, then chose to refocus on The Flaring Sun Charm.
Propping his chin on one hand, he mused, "Although I've confirmed that I can bring physical objects up here, it seems I'm the only one capable of doing it this way. In the end, I still know too little about this field. I need to consult someone more knowledgeable."
"Maybe I can talk to Mr. Azik…"
———
Meanwhile—
Edward's soul had just returned to his body when he was hit by violent gasps for air and a wave of dizziness and weakness. He quickly pressed his tongue against the roof of his mouth to avoid accidentally swallowing the mandrake leaf.
Too dangerous!
He had come within a sliver of completely exhausting his spirituality—one step away from being unable to return.
"If I'm going to use [Specter] again, I have to be more cautious…Ah, right. I should also test whether I can cast spells in spirit form."
At that moment, Lilith—who had been lying quietly—stood up slowly. She arched her back into a stretch, then began prancing her way toward the living room.
"Next…"
Edward picked up the golden timer—the Time-Turner. In the world of Harry Potter, this time-traveling device was undoubtedly a bug-tier artifact. But Edward wasn't sure if it would function properly in the mysteries world governed by gods & authorities.
Carefully, he began turning the timer—one turn, two turns—click!
After just two turns, Edward felt an invisible resistance stop his fingers from rotating it any further.
"One turn equals one hour…So I can only go back two hours max?"
Edward looked around. Everything surrounding him had grown viscous, like time itself had thickened—except for him, holding the Time-Turner.
He could feel it. The moment he let go, time would reverse, and he would return to two hours ago.
Crack.
A fine fracture appeared across the surface of the Time-Turner. Alarmed, Edward quickly reversed the rotation, restoring it to its original position. The sticky sensation vanished instantly, but the crack remained.
"Looks like…this thing breaks after a single use."
Edward carefully stowed the Time-Turner away, unwilling to risk another trial.
After resting for a few more minutes, his body suddenly twisted with a snap—and vanished.
———
He reappeared sitting on the toilet in the company's washroom. Flush. Wash hands. Open the door.
And right outside, Leonard was leaning against the wall, looking at him with an amused smirk.
"Yo, Edward. What's with you? Still so young and your body's already giving out? You need to learn some self-restraint, man."
Edward responded with a sunny smile, "Says the guy getting up in years with no lady friend to speak of. I think I'm doing just fine."
"…"
The grin froze on Leonard's face. He quickly turned his head and huffed, "I'm just…picky. I'd rather have nothing than settle for garbage."
"Praise Emperor Roselle."
Edward shrugged. "Otherwise, you wouldn't know what excuse to use."
Leonard stepped in closer, voice lowered.
"…Why did you conjure a monocle that day?"
"Huh? I was just performing a conjuring trick. If I'd pulled out an egg, I bet you'd have asked why I conjured that, too."
"That's all?"
"What else could it be?"
Leonard was silent for a few seconds, then suddenly dropped his voice even lower and asked directly:
"Who are you, really? The old man inside me is from the Third Epoch. How do you know about him? And…how do you know he's inside me?"
Edward shot a glance toward Dunn's office and said coolly:
"Everyone has their secrets. Just like you—you don't want anyone to know there's a powerful and mysterious entity living inside you, do you?"
———
[Note]: Don't forget to VOTE. It keeps me motivated.