Chapter 289: The Cemetery

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Sethilarys Scgji.

A name both familiar and unfamiliar to Harry.

It was he who unveiled the mystery of the "Awakened" for Harry. Although the two had never truly met in person, Harry had received much guidance from this senior Hufflepuff. Calling him Harry's idol would be no exaggeration.

This upperclassman, who left Harry a gift and continued to pursue his dream with relentless determination, was nothing short of a guiding light in Harry's life. In fact, his approach to life had greatly influenced Harry's own. After witnessing Sethilarys ruthlessly and efficiently deal with poachers in the Forbidden Forest, Harry's attitude toward such people—if they could even be called that—had shifted. Under Sethilarys' influence, Harry no longer regarded them as "human." Rather, they were more like the low-level mobs in a video game—fodder for gaining experience and loot.

Now, on the verge of finally meeting this legendary Hufflepuff senior, Harry found it hard to describe what he was feeling. Was it excitement? Nervousness? Perhaps a mix of both. A wave of unprecedented anticipation left him restless.

"Should I bring a gift or something?"

"What? There's still a free-for-all duel tournament this afternoon? Not going, not interested. I've already lost first place, and the rest doesn't matter much."

"If it weren't for common courtesy, I wouldn't even show up for the awards ceremony. What's a lousy medal compared to meeting my idol?"

Under Professor Flitwick's amused and exasperated gaze, Harry accepted the silver medal for the arena duels and promptly submitted his withdrawal from the afternoon's large-scale battlefield match. No one thought he was backing out due to fear—far from it. The fact that Harry could come and go freely within the anti-Apparition enchantments was enough to give the other competitors headaches. While Professor Flitwick could be ganged up on, such tactics were meaningless against Harry.

Ganging up on him? Impossible. Even if they tried, it would just result in Harry running thirty or forty consecutive one-on-one instant victories. As for exhausting him through a war of attrition? Against a monster with infinite stamina and magic regeneration like him, if you can't finish him off in a flash, prepare to be tormented slowly and thoroughly.

Li Jiannan, too, had little interest in the competition. His only reason for participating was because someone had asked him to assess Harry. If not for that, he wouldn't have bothered with the Young Spellcasters' Duel Tournament. Given his skills, even placing in the top three at the World Championships would have been well within reach. Showing up here was essentially just bullying children.

"Is it just going to be you and me going?"

After taking care of all the other miscellaneous matters, Harry, now ready to depart, turned to Li Jiannan and asked.

"It's a gathering for people like us, after all," Li Jiannan replied, glancing at Fleur. He had clearly noticed that Fleur was different from ordinary wizards. "Some things we can easily endure would be a heavy burden—or even poison—for others."

Harry nodded in understanding. Then he let go of Fleur's hand, gently wrapped his arm around her waist, and kissed her forehead.

"I'm off to meet Senior Sethilarys."

"I'll be waiting for you to come back."

Off to the side, Li Jiannan, who had just received a hearty dose of public affection, turned his head slightly with a wry smile. He clutched his sword case a bit tighter, reaffirming the universal truth: Women only slow down your sword-drawing speed.

"Brother Nan, where exactly are we headed now?"

Harry had always been the friendly, outgoing type, and Li Jiannan wasn't nearly as cold and aloof as his appearance suggested. Once they started interacting, it didn't take long at all for Harry to start calling him "Brother Nan" naturally.

"The cemetery," Li Jiannan replied calmly. "A burial ground holding the remains of 3,696 individuals. Eleven hundred years ago, every single one of the world's Awakened—3,696 in total—entered the rift leading to the deepest depths of the Nine Nether Realm. They slaughtered billions of demons and joined forces to destroy the Seven-in-One Demon God before its final awakening."

"And of those who went in, less than one in ten came out alive. Most of the bodies could not even be recovered. The survivors could only bring back their fallen comrades' crystallized spiritual essence."

"Eventually, they were all buried in this cemetery—3,696 in total. That was the most glorious era the world has ever known."

"The most glorious era…" Harry echoed, picking up on the subtle undertone in Li Jiannan's words. He asked, somewhat hesitantly, "How many Awakened wizards are there now?"

Li Jiannan raised his left hand and spread all five fingers, then slowly curled them one by one until he was left flashing a playful "V" sign.

"If you don't count people like me…" his voice grew heavier, "there are fewer than twenty Awakened wizards alive today."

"Why?" Harry asked. He had always known the number of Awakened wizards was low, but after hearing that there were over 3,000 a thousand years ago, he had assumed that—even after a decline—their numbers today would at least be back to a "decent" level. But the reality was harsher: today's total didn't even reach a fraction of what it once was.

"Because we won."

Li Jiannan's answer was cryptic, leaving Harry puzzled.

"Because the abyss of the Nine Nether Realm has stabilized. The world no longer needs so many chosen ones to suppress a monster that once threatened to devour everything like a black hole."

"Have you heard the phrase 'the dog is cooked once the rabbit is caught'?" Li Jiannan paused in his steps and glanced at Harry. When Harry nodded, he shrugged lightly. "Exactly. When we were needed, we existed. Now that we're not, we're gone. The fact that we haven't been completely erased is the world's greatest mercy. To this world, every Awakened wizard is a heavy burden."

"Too weak, and they're feared. Too strong, and they're feared even more. The runes we wield aren't just any magic. They carry the power of this world's very foundation—they are rules, spoken into reality."

"We've arrived."

Li Jiannan and Harry stopped before the Heavenly Gate. The earlier duels had taken place in the plaza at the Southern Heavenly Gate, but now they stood directly before the grand and majestic main gate. A stable swirling vortex had appeared before them, opening a portal to an unknown and distant destination.

(End of Chapter)