0112 Temples and Murals

Thump, thump, thump–

The sound of his heart echoed in his ears as he surveyed the aftermath of the devastating battle that had ravaged the land. The once lush and verdant island was now a barren and desolate wasteland, littered with corpses and debris.

Bryan jumped off the oak boat that had carried him across the treacherous waters and stood on the shore, wiping the sweat from his forehead. He felt a surge of exhaustion and pain from his wounds, but he ignored them and reached for his backpack. He took out a few bottles of magic potions and drank them wildly, not caring about the taste or the cost. The precious potions worth thousands of galleons were swallowed into his stomach, replenishing his depleted magic and healing his injuries. Bryan smacked his lips, with a look of dissatisfaction.

He wished he had more potions, but he knew he had to save some for later. The moment he stepped on the land, the bones that were still moving in the swamp immediately lay low, as if sensing his presence and power. They dared not to challenge him, for they knew he was a formidable foe. Bryan had fought his way through countless enemies, using his wand and his wits to survive. He had seen things that would make most people lose their sanity, but he had persevered. As if it was a trial, and Bryan passed the test with his strength.

Clang–huh.

He casually threw away a few empty bottles, looking at the swamp that was almost plowed over by his spells and footsteps. Bryan let out a sigh of relief. He had finally reached his destination, but he knew that the hardest part was yet to come. However, when he checked the amount of his mana level, he showed a bitter smile.

"It was indeed enjoyable, but I hope there won't be any more trouble in the future–"

As he said that, Bryan gave a kick to an ugly one-legged creature lying at his feet, which was bound by magic ropes. It was a Hinkypunk, a creature that usually appeared as a flickering light in dark places, luring travelers into bogs and marshes.

But these Hinkypunks had developed real bodies under the nourishment of the thick evil magic on the island. This situation was very special and rare, so Bryan took one that was not affected by the battle just now and planned to take it out for a good study. He hoped to find out more about the secrets of this island and its inhabitants.

He stored the special Hinkypunk away in a magical cage, turned around and saw that Gryffindor had walked up a gentle slope along a path covered with withered thorns and vines.The founder of Hogwarts was wearing his signature red cloak and silver armor, holding his sword. He looked majestic and heroic, but also solemn and grim. He was standing on the high ground and looking at the temple not far away with a determined gaze. 

Seeing this, Bryan did not delay, and ran after him. Although he was just a phantom recorded by the chaotic time and magic, Bryan felt inexplicably at ease following him. Perhaps, Godric Gryffindor was such a man who had a 'sense of security'. He radiated confidence and courage, inspiring others to follow him into danger.

In the center of the island, a huge and magnificent temple that exuded historical breath stood silently there, not knowing how many years it had existed. It was surrounded by a circle of stone pillars that formed a protective barrier against intruders. The temple was the heart of the island, where its secrets and mysteries were hidden.

Staring at the temple, Bryan's eyelashes trembled, showing some confusion.

Sitting on the steps, the rectangular temple was built entirely of white marble. The huge building was supported by nearly a hundred giant marble pillars that were carved with intricate patterns and symbols. The walls that formed the main body of the building were dilapidated and many places had even collapsed into large holes, revealing glimpses of what lay inside. The roof was adorned with statues of gods and goddesses, but some of them were broken or missing.

This was a typical ancient Greek-style temple, and Bryan's confusion came from this.

As the holy land of the ancient Druid sect, how could there be such an irrelevant Greek temple in the center of the mysterious Avalon Island? This was as strange as Hogwarts Castle turning into a Vampire Castle. It was simply unreasonable. Bryan thought he would see a wooden palace built on a huge oak tree here.

"Is Cliodna there?"

Bryan's gaze passed over Gryffindor's sturdy body and looked at the temple. He vaguely felt where her magic was. After a short thought, Bryan waved his wand to cover his breath and hide his figure. Before meeting Cliodna, Bryan wanted to explore with Gryffindor, to see what else the temple had to offer.

Surprisingly, the decay and death atmosphere that filled the space around the temple in the center of the island was not as heavy as Bryan expected. It seemed that there was some strange power suppressing that thing.

The two resumed their steps, but they hadn't walked far before Bryan suddenly stopped and looked ahead with a serious expression. In his sight, many figures overlapped continuously in front of him, creating a blurry and distorted image. He was familiar with this figure because it was his own back. He realized that he was seeing himself from different points in time, as if he had been here before or would be here again.

"–The chaos of time here has suddenly increased by many levels. Hmm., it should be caused by two powerful magics counteracting and interfering with each other. Tsk tsk, an unheard-of wonder–"

Bryan resumed his steps again, but as he approached the temple, strange phenomena happened again.

Gryffindor was not affected at all. His trajectory towards the temple was a straight line. He walked steadily and calmly, as if he knew what he was doing. But Bryan who followed behind him seemed to be constantly using phantom shift, a spell that allowed him to teleport short distances. One second he was behind Gryffindor, and the next moment he flashed directly to the front. Then he 'floated' above Gryffindor's head, as if gravity had no hold on him.

Without much thought, Bryan knew that this space had been twisted and misplaced by the chaotic magic. Fortunately, this displacement was still continuous and predictable. If there were spatial gaps, it was very likely that one step out would result in Bryan's foot being cut into two pieces, or worse, being trapped in a void of nothingness.

The many bizarre phenomena caused by magic here, if studied separately, could definitely write a few papers that would shock the magical world. But after seeing a lot, Bryan's nerves also became tough. After all, this was the 'land of myths', where anything was possible.

Gryffindor did not go to the steps of the temple entrance, but stopped at a large hole in the side wall of the temple, staring at the space inside the temple. 

Bryan also 'struggled' to his side, glanced at the temple a few times, and did not marvel at the magnificent temple supported by those magnificent pillars. Instead, he frowned at the jagged corners of the wall that were broken and rotten.

  He left Gryffindor and walked forward alone, squatting on the ground and digging up the loose soil with his palm. He soon made a small pit, revealing a layer of hard rock underneath. 

"Sure enough, this temple is not the original building of Avalon Island, but the whole temple was forcibly lifted and moved here–" 

Such a huge and magnificent building, if it really belonged to Avalon Island, then when it was built, the builders would not have failed to build a foundation. In addition, the traces of broken corners around the temple that touched the ground, Bryan was sure that this temple was moved from somewhere else.

  "Is this still the magical world of Harry Potter?" 

Bryan shook his head, his expression solemn. 

He wondered if Avalon Island was really as Cliodna had claimed: the place where Merlin rested forever. If that was true, then everything he saw before him, including the temple, the many wonders on the island, and even the island itself floating in the sky, must have been Merlin's creation. 

"Did Merlin ascend to godhood? How far can the wizards of that era go?" 

Bryan asked in awe. He lived in the modern magical world, where he could not imagine the glory of the ancient times when wizards ruled the land and were revered as gods by muggles. 

"Magic has a gap. Some extremely important events have been forgotten. Or deliberately erased." 

Bryan muttered softly. He had this guess not only because of what he witnessed along the way, but also because of Gryffindor's casual remark:

'The world was still intact, a magnificent era of magic!' 

As he looked at everything around him that seemed like a miracle, Bryan suddenly thought of what Voldemort had done when he was alive, and felt a surge of disgust. 

Voldemort was obsessed with power; he craved others' fear; he sought immortality; no wonder he had great strength, but Albus Dumbledore always regarded him with disdain. 

Voldemort did make a lot of efforts to ensure that he would not die, but those efforts were nothing but holes he dug for himself. His path of magic had been severed long ago. He never understood the true meaning of magic: love, creativity, wisdom…

Bryan suppressed his contempt for Voldemort and followed Gryffindor into the temple.

His eyes swept around, and saw that inside was even more dilapidated than outside. The walls and pillars were cracked and crumbling, the floor was covered with dust and debris, the ceiling was missing in some places, letting in the sunlight and the wind. Time and space were still as chaotic as outside. Bryan felt dizzy and nauseous as he moved through the distorted dimensions. There was only one thing that surprised Bryan. The magic inside the temple was very 'pure', without any trace of evil from outside. It seemed to have been purified.

Gryffindor who entered here behaved a little abnormally. According to common sense, anyone who explored this temple for the first time should go to the hall where Cliodna's magic was. But he did not do so. Instead, he looked solemn and stepped over a pile of rubble, passed through a cracked wall, accelerated his pace, and went in a clear direction.

Bryan only hesitated for a very short time before following him again. Compared with the woman in the hall, Bryan who graduated from Hogwarts obviously trusted Godric Gryffindor more.

The two crossed the temple and passed many rooms along the way. The ashes and wooden shelves that were smashed into pieces should be libraries. The rooms with many bones and rotten equipment that could not be distinguished seemed to be where wizards did research. In addition, there were some rooms for daily life. It seemed that this place used to be someone's residence.

Gryffindor's speed was very urgent. Bryan who was restricted by chaotic time and space had to run all the way to keep up. He felt his magic fluctuate and his vision blur as he moved through the distorted dimensions. Twenty minutes later, they stopped in front of a huge stone wall with a dark color after crossing many obstacles.

Godric Gryffindor was a person from a thousand years ago, and this temple was undoubtedly built in an even more ancient era. After being ravaged by time and magic anomalies, almost nothing inside the temple remained intact, including the main body of the building. But this huge stone wall that stood abruptly among a pile of rubble in front of them was intact as before. And it didn't even have any dust on it. It looked like it had been polished recently, reflecting the light and the shadows.

"Is this the battle–"

Gryffindor stared at the stone wall with interest, and the words he blurted out unexpectedly made Bryan, who was puzzled by why the stone wall was not damaged, come back to his senses. He also raised his head and focused his attention on the wide stone wall. The carved lines were rough, like primitive people recording things on the cave wall. But they also had a certain artistic sense, conveying emotions and stories.

The first scroll on the far right of the stone wall seemed to record a piece of land with undulating mountains, ancient city-states and lakes. This seemed to be a simple landscape scroll, but what puzzled Bryan was that at the top of the stone wall, far away from the land in the scroll, there was an irregular closed figure filled with many chaotic lines that seemed to represent 'wind'. It looked like the outline of a jellyfish swimming in water.

Bryan frowned and stared at the pattern that was neither 'sun' nor 'cloud', and looked gloomy. He was a little confused, but he also felt vaguely that it was very important. He wondered what it meant, and why it was placed above the land.

He was curious and walked quickly to the second mural. He stepped back a few steps and looked up. He found that at the top of the stone wall, there was still that 'jellyfish', but the situation on the ground had changed dramatically.

On the vast land, a tense confrontation was taking place.

One side of the confrontation was a warrior riding a tall unicorn, with a cape behind him that showed his heroic spirit. He held a sword with a gorgeous shape and looked coldly at the sky. From those simple lines, Bryan could feel the king's aura around this warrior like a war god.

Behind the warrior was an endless and huge muggle army. They were led by twelve knights who were also heroic. They wore armor and helmets, carried shields and spears, and rode horses or dragons. The whole army stood silently like iron, exuding an oppressive atmosphere.

The other side of the confrontation had only one person. She hid under a large black robe that covered her whole body except for her hands and feet. Bryan guessed from her slender wrist exposed outside the black robe and holding a strange wand that she was a woman.

She stood alone on a high platform surrounded by flames, looking down at her enemies with contempt. Behind her were countless dark creatures: giants, trolls, werewolves, vampires, dementors… They roared and howled, eager to join the battle.

About the two sides of the confrontation, Bryan had some guesses, but he did not say a word. He silently went to the third mural.

The magnificent and extremely tragic war began. The forest was leveled, cracks were everywhere on the ground, and lakes as vast as oceans evaporated. On a large piece of stone wall representing the sky, there were many cracks carved, as if space was also torn apart by the fierce magic clashes.

This third mural was still clear, but Bryan frowned.

"Can muggle warriors and knights have the ability to compete with such legendary wizards?"

Bryan wondered in his heart, but then he suddenly glanced at Gryffindor who wore a silver sword and was also watching the mural. His doubts were somewhat relieved.

He realized that the warrior in the mural must be King Arthur himself, and the twelve knights behind him must be his loyal companions, the Knights of the Round Table.

The fourth mural recorded the result of this battle. The witch did not seem to have changed much. She still floated in mid-air, looking indifferently at the land where blood flowed everywhere and muggle limbs were everywhere. She seemed to have no emotion, no fear, no regret, no joy. She was like a cold machine, executing without hesitation.

On the ground, only one warrior stood with his sword, and his cloak that was torn but still fluttering behind him vaguely showed his perseverance. He was covered with wounds and dirt, but he did not fall. He was like a lone hero, facing the overwhelming enemy with courage and dignity.

Bryan who was immersed in that war unknowingly walked to the center of the stone wall.

In the fifth mural, the warrior's mount became a winged horse. He rode it with a desperate and tragic determination towards the witch. He knew that he had no chance of winning, but he still chose to fight for his people and his land. He was willing to sacrifice himself for a greater cause.

Because she had summoned an island that was almost squeezed into the entire stone wall, huge beyond measure. The direction of her gaze was the city-state in the far distance. It was Camelot, the capital of King Arthur's kingdom. She wanted to destroy it, along with everything that King Arthur had built.

"Avalon Island"

Bryan squinted his eyes and gave his judgment. Before, when he followed Gryffindor flying to the island, he had seen its outline below. It was easy to recognize.

In this mural, there was another very important detail. At its junction with the sixth mural, there appeared an old wizard with flying beard and hair, whose figure resembled Dumbledore somewhat. He was rushing to the battlefield at high speed. He wore a long robe and a pointed hat, and held a staff that emitted a bright light. He looked wise and powerful.

"Merlin."

Bryan pursed his lips and muttered. There is a small square in the depths of Knockturn Alley. There stands a white marble statue of Merlin on it. This statue is also the entrance to the underground world located in London. Bryan often enters and exits from here. He is very familiar with Merlin's appearance.

There is no doubt that the sixth mural depicts Merlin and King Arthur fighting against that witch together. 

The earth turned upside down, magma surged from deep underground to skyward. The air was filled with fire and smoke, lightning and thunder. The three figures in the mural were blurred by the chaos, but their magic beams were clearly visible: red for King Arthur, blue for Merlin, and green for the witch. Bryan felt as if he had witnessed a 'god war' lost in time! 

In this mural, there was also something that Bryan cared very much about. 

In the previous five murals, the 'jellyfish' at the top of the stone wall stayed in the same position without moving. But in the sixth one, the outline of the 'jellyfish' seemed to be shaking violently. About a tenth of its area had already detached from the stone wall and disappeared! It looked like it was breaking apart and falling down. 

The seventh mural recorded something that made Bryan extremely astonished and made Gryffindor's eyes fierce. 

Under the joint efforts of Merlin and King Arthur, that witch had already been defeated. She fell from the sky to Avalon Island, which had returned to the ground. She lay motionless on the grass, her black robe torn and her wand broken. But there was a vague figure that looked very much like the one that Bryan had seen in the underground world. The old wizard who was fooled (in CH-1) and died before changing into a grim reaper-like shadow, similar shadow emerged from her body! 

In the penultimate mural, the 'jellyfish' that continued to detach from the stone wall had completely disappeared. What also disappeared was that witch. She held a strange staff in her hand by the 'grim reaper' who was also defeated. And this grim reaper was making a throwing motion, as if he wanted to throw away the staff in his hand!

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