HPxLOTM: A Wizard's Path to Divinity-Chapter 725: Turns Out, I Have No Moral High Ground

Deep within the starry sky of the Harry Potter world, the folding and assimilation of reality by the mirror world spread outward at an ever-increasing speed. As more and more of reality and the mirror exchanged places, the aura of the Mirrored Original Creator grew increasingly vast, quickly surpassing even that of the Mother Goddess of Depravity.

Although Edward possessed the "home-field advantage," when facing the Mirrored Original Creator, he could no longer casually suppress it the way he had other Outer Deities by relying on the authority of the "Creator." That was because those very authorities all originated from the Oldest One—and the Mirrored Original Creator was also the Oldest One—

When it came to the "right of inheritance" over the Oldest One's authority and power, the Mirrored Original Creator was, in fact, more legitimate than Edward. Edward was the one who had seized the "family property" through illegitimate means!

Unless Edward immediately advanced—inherited—to a level beyond the Sequences, he had absolutely no way to deal with the Mirrored Original Creator. Yet the price of ascending beyond the Sequences was Lilith.

What Edward could do right now was only one thing: delay. Delay for as long as possible.

He spread his arms wide. One planet after another streaked through space like meteors, smashing violently into the spreading mirror surfaces. In an instant, shattered mirror fragments and planetary debris engulfed the region, temporarily creating a massive void at the heart of the Milky Way.

Then, those cosmic fragments rapidly converged, forming an absurdly gigantic planet. The tremendous gravitational force generated in that instant—manipulated by Edward—directly dragged both him and the Mirrored Original Creator toward it.

As the two plunged into the atmosphere, Edward snapped his fingers several times in succession. The imagination accumulated by billions of living beings was instantly consumed, forming a fully enclosed barrier around the planet. Using that barrier as a foundation, Edward established a single rule for this world:

"All abilities from the world of mysteries are forbidden here."

That rule slammed a hard stop button on the exchange of powers between the two.

In an instant, the Mirrored Original Creator became a blank slate with nothing but its status remaining, while Edward calmly took out his wand.

"We're entering the magic duel phase now."

At the same time, he split off a Worm of Spirit and sent it away from the planet. After several jumps through space, it returned to the Dwelling of the Gods.

At this moment, Li Li stepped out of the mental world and returned to reality. With light, unhurried steps, she boarded the train. Amid a roar of sound, the train began to move, carrying Li Li swiftly away.

As the distance between her and the "amber" grew greater and greater, she gradually shed her original destiny entirely, slowly embracing the freedom she had long yearned for.

Watching the scenery flash past the window, she couldn't help but reveal a serene smile. She had ridden this train countless times before, reaching the station again and again—but those times, her consciousness had merely been temporarily parasitised within other "people."

This was the first time she was truly leaving.

Suddenly, a voice reached her ears.

"I'm sorry to disturb your good mood right now."

The smile on her face stiffened slightly. She turned her head—and saw Edward sitting quietly across from her.

Li Li frowned. "Why are you here?"

Edward fixed his gaze on her. "You allowed the Mirrored Original Creator to act—no, you personally pushed it to seize nearly half of the Oldest One's authority—just to force me to advance beyond the Sequences?"

"Why?"

Li Li met his gaze for several seconds, then answered frankly, "Because at that point, Lilith suppressing the Oldest One's consciousness would become an unchangeable reality. You would have only two choices: forcibly rescue her, at the cost of allowing the Oldest One's will to revive within your body…or wait. Wait until the Oldest One's will is completely ground away. At that time, Lilith would naturally regain her freedom."

As she spoke, she smiled faintly.

"Well? Feeling desperate? But that was the fate she arranged for me from the very beginning. Yes, I lied to you last time. Even if you advanced beyond the Sequences and obtained the Oldest One's authority, you still wouldn't be able to immediately rescue the one suppressing the Oldest One's will."

Edward thought for a moment, then said in a low voice, "That's not reasonable. Lilith would never make such an arrangement."

"Hehehe…"

Li Li laughed softly. "Do you really think you understand her that well? The Lilith you know is merely one who lost her memories, one shaped by your influence."

"No," Edward replied firmly. "My judgment isn't based on personality or character, but on logic. If I were to make such a decision, I would never grant consciousness to the avatar bearing such an immense price. That way, it would forever remain a tool without emotions—never developing unforeseen changes over time, never becoming a hidden risk."

Li Li fell silent.

"So," Edward continued, "this was the Oldest One again, wasn't it?"

When she still didn't respond, he pressed on.

"Then the last time you told me the Oldest One had no intelligence and only acted on instinct—that was a lie too, wasn't it? Makes sense. Aggregating too many Beyonder characteristics would indeed lead to madness, but madness doesn't mean the absence of consciousness."

Edward stared at her intently, enunciating every word. "Since so many of these matters bear the shadow of the Oldest One, how can you be sure that your departure from here to obtain freedom isn't also part of Its plan?"

A faint smile appeared on Li Li's face.

"Grisha Adam already asked me a similar question. My answer is still the same…"

"I just want to live properly once. To take a look at this world—even if it's only for a single instant. As for everything else, I don't care."

She interlaced her fingers beneath her chin, tilted her head slightly, and looked at Edward.

"Alright. We've chatted long enough. It's time for you to make a decision," she said calmly.

"Either give up your ascension for Lilith's sake, allowing the Mirrored Original Creator to overturn reality and the mirror world and become the Original Creator…or ascend beyond the Sequences, become the saviour—at the cost of Lilith's freedom for perhaps decades, centuries, or perhaps tens or hundreds of thousands of years."

Looking at the face before him—the one that had once appeared in the mirror world—Edward's emotions churned.

He had once believed those were merely false memories fabricated by the Mirrored Original Creator, yet it turned out they all originated from Lilith's lost, genuine memories.

The girl before him, who called herself the "Creator," was Lilith's true appearance before transmigration, the root of everything that had happened. Yet at the same time, she was not Lilith—she was an independent consciousness born under the influence of the Oldest One.

Seeing Edward remain silent, Li Li smiled and continued, "Or, you could try persuading me—to willingly take her place and suppress the Oldest One's will. In the end, someone has to be sacrificed. If not her, then me…"

She paused for a few seconds, as if recalling something, then added casually,

"Oh right. You could do it too."

"I already told you last time—our fates have long been intertwined. When it comes to opposing the Oldest One, you can seize Its authority, and you can also suppress Its consciousness."

"But the real question is—would you give up the supreme authority and power already in your hands for someone else, Edward?"

Edward's heart jolted violently.

He suddenly realised that this moment mirrored the moment when he had once faced Adam—only now their positions were reversed. He had become Adam, forcing another to make a sacrifice for the sake of the 'greater good,' while the girl before him had become the one unwilling to be sacrificed.

What was even more ironic was that Adam truly could sacrifice himself to save the world.

But what about me?

However, Edward quickly regained his composure. He looked at Li Li calmly and said, "Sorry. If you want to morally blackmail someone, the prerequisite is that the person actually has morals."

"I've always been very clear about how I see myself. Deep down, I've always been a selfish person. Most of the time, I can be considered a good person—but once my own interests are involved, I have no interest in being a good person at all." 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

"So, although I truly sympathise with you and understand what you've gone through…"

Edward extended a hand toward her.

"For my sake—and for Lilith's—please endure it a little longer. The only thing I can promise is that I'll do everything in my power to free you as soon as possible."

"…"

The smile on Li Li's face vanished.

BOOM!

In the next instant, time and space around them collapsed and stretched infinitely.

Li Li immediately leapt backwards. Her movements turned stiff and sluggish as she was first flattened into two dimensions, then rapidly transformed into a book.

Unfortunately, before Edward could flip open its pages, Li Li leapt straight out from the book's cover, returning to the current dimension. She then swept her arms outward—

The Chaos Sea and the River of Eternal Darkness descended simultaneously from both sides, forming walls of Sefirot that severed the space between the two of them.

Those walls, formed from the Chaos Sea and the River of Eternal Darkness, suddenly collapsed inward.

Li Li's pupils reflected the mysterious script flickering within Edward's eyes. In the next instant, the Sefirot blocking them shattered into countless droplets, flowing upward like reversed rain toward the sky.

In a blink, the River of Eternal Darkness and the Chaos Sea rapidly withered and vanished, sent out of this world by Edward—the River of Eternal Darkness returning to the Evernight Goddess, and the Chaos Sea falling into the hands of Grisha Adam.

"Have you forgotten?" Edward said coldly. "This is the Harry Potter world—and I am the Creator here."

Li Li watched everything unfold with an icy gaze.

"If that's the case," she said softly, "then none of us is getting out of this unscathed."

She tore open the air with a single motion. Almost simultaneously, endless mirror surfaces poured out from the rift she created, spreading rapidly in all directions.

Then, a gigantic hand tore that narrow rift even wider.

The fusion of the Mirrored Original Creator and the Outer Deities stepped forth.

"I told you long ago—only by possessing supreme power can one have absolute freedom!"

In the next moment, Edward's main body and avatar fused into one. Seeing the Mirrored Original Creator reach out toward Li Li, he immediately separated the two of them into different dimensions once more, then invoked imagination again to establish new rules:

The Law of Convergence of Beyonder characteristics—infinitely weakened.

The Law of Separation of Beyonder characteristics—infinitely strengthened.

In an instant, cracks spread across the Mirrored Original Creator's fused body. The Outer Deities that had been merged within it regained their consciousness one after another, struggling desperately to break free from the Mirrored Original Creator's aggregation.

Edward then invoked imagination again—this time to distort Li Li's thoughts, erode her humanity, and force her to once more shoulder the responsibility of suppressing the Oldest One.

However, Li Li quickly regained clarity. Shock flashed through her eyes.

"Do you have any idea that abusing imagination like this means you'll never be able to ascend beyond the Sequences again?" she demanded.

"Are you really willing to let the world fall into apocalypse just to save Lilith?"

Edward let out a cold laugh.

"I'm not in a hurry," he replied.

"So why are you?"

———

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