INNOVATOR; Ch 43: World War

Author's Note: Hello there, this is chapter 43 of INNOVATOR. I really hope you will like it.

Also, many thanks and congratulations to our six holders of the Guildmaster tier: Camo, I am Lord Dems, StormFox, RyanMK666, Lyrical and PenguGoesVroom! 😇🥰

Now, without any further ado....Let's begin!

Author Out!

“I am Talking.” 

‘I am Thinking’

Spells

"The Damned talking."

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Our greatest weakness lies on giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more Time.

~Thomas A. Edison
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INNOVATOR

-Dev Sagittarius Black

~~Chapter 43: World War~~

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Everything was chaotic around them, the entire castle was being called out for emergencies as members ran around as fast as they could to perform the tasks assigned to them by their superiors. Drauma, the faithful assistant, was continuously summoning the fighting squadrons of the Guild so that they could be sent to their respective places of duty on the continent that they dwelled in.

“Call the Guildmasters!!” Achlys commanded as she stood in front of the Showball that was given to her, and was connected specifically to seven other places around the world so that it would create a private network of the international forces.

The showball was switched-on as the runes on it started to glow blue, and a bundle of light was thrown from it towards the white screen placed in front of it, and instantly, six other squares were visible that showed the head offices of all the other Guildmasters.

“Achlys, I take it that it’s time?” Atticus asked her, leaving the quill on his desk as he stood up and walked towards the screen.

“Indeed, Atticus.” She nodded. “The rifts have opened in seven places on earth — one over each of our continents. Anubis tried hard to protect us from the fates; he is still engaged in a battle with Tom Riddle. Unfortunately, the spirit that has been guiding Voldemort was more cunning in delaying his early demise long enough for the rifts to actually open.” 

“Well, what are the plans now?” Beasten grinned, cracking his knuckles. “Because I am fucking ready to butcher some ass.”

“Those are souls, blood breath, not some stupid criminals that you catch like a filthy cop.” Atricia sniffed haughtily. “Stupid brute.” 

“As loving as this reunion is, I think we should focus more on the fact that the world is in danger, and make a plan to protect it first,” Master Camillus added his two cents. 

“Aye.” Grugger nodded. “So, what’s the plan, Achlys? Any changes or are we going to follow the one we all agreed upon?” 

“We will follow the second plan, Grugger,” she told them. “Since there are seven crevices instead of one, we need to send resources to each of our guilds while simultaneously protecting our own continents as well.”

“And what about the Statue of Secrecy?” Grugger asked her. “Because from what I can see, this will definitely reveal us to the rest of the world.”

“For Merlin’s sake, Grugger,” Atticus shouted. “If you haven’t realised it yet, then magic, souls, and a whole other dimension have already been revealed to those piss panters. Revealing that there are humans with magic and creatures like Goblins and Dragons actually exist won’t make a difference anymore.”

“Not to mention that if we don’t reveal ourselves to the world now, then there would be no world to hide in the first place,” Camillus added.

“Fair enough.” Grugger nodded. “This means we are going all out.” 

“Well, then.” Achlys sighed. “It’s time for us to reveal ourselves, and protect everyone. Just make sure to not find yourselves in the Realm of Death before the rifts are closed by the Potter brothers.”

“You still think that two kids, no matter how strong they are, could actually do that?” Atricia asked her, frowning that Achlys, of all people, was still thinking that two Potters could save the day.

“Yes, Atricia,” Perenelle finally began, not allowing someone to besmirch the name of her adoptive grandson. “The prophecy is more clear than ever, and so, if there is anyone who could stop the descent of madness and total breakdown of the natural order of earth… it’s the Potter brothers.”

“But how could—”

“Let us all do our duties first, Master Safenguard, we can worry about the details later,” Achlys interrupted them before they could once more delve into another one of the pointless discussions. 

“Fair enough.” Camillus nodded. “Also, I would like to know if you know the specific places where the rifts have opened? It would be much easier for us that way.” 

“Indeed.” She nodded. “Now, each of you have to send teams to protect your continents, but you personally have to visit these hotspots where the rifts have opened according to the eternal sphere: The Antarctic Peninsula, New Delhi in India, London in United Kingdom, New York city in USA, Rio de Janeiro in Brazil and Sydney in Australia.”

She saw them nod and continued, “The rift in Africa is situated in South Africa, particularly Johannesburg, and once our conversation ends, each of us will leave for our respective destinations.”

They nodded in consent and were about to leave when Beasten spoke, “Oi, Grugger, how about a small bet?” He grinned. 

“A bet?” 

“Yeah, we can bet on who’s gonna protect better.” He smirked. “Like, kill more of those souls, save more lives and shit like that.” 

“Only you would be stupid enough to even think of a bet in times like these, blood breath.” Atricia sniffed. “I pity the poor members of the Creatures Guild who are forced to work under you.”

“There’s a reason I didn’t ask you, stinky.” Beasten smirked when he saw the glare that she threw at him. Everyone knew that Atricia had OCD, and if there was anything that she hated more than Beasten’s snark, it was germs and lack of cleanliness. “So, what do you say, Grugger? Want to bet or are you a chicken?” The golden-eyed master continued, completely unbothered by the glares thrown at him.

“What a childish tactic, blood breath.” Grugger sighed. “We aren’t ten anymore, grow up.” 

“Chickening out it is then.” Beasten grinned. “Alright, my fellow Masters, and Loser Grugger, I’ll be off.” 

But before he could leave, the silver haired Guildmaster smiled when he heard Grugger scream the words, “YOU’RE ON!” 

The others just sighed at both of their childishness before they, too, switched-off the showballs and went towards their own Commanders so that they could begin the sharing of resources between the Guilds, make their plans for the people of the continents as well as leave for the hotspots as soon as they could.

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While the Guilds and the ICW were preparing for the war against the souls, Harry was having another battle with an ancient Dark Lord who was grinning madly as he looked towards the heavens, waiting for the half of his soul, trapped in the Realm of Death, to pass through the crevice and join him on mortal plains. 

“What is the meaning of this, Tom?” Harry asked him as soon as he reached the deranged Dark Lord on the balcony. “What did you do now?” 

“The Tom that you are looking for is not here anymore, Harry Potter.” Herpo smiled, his rotten teeth peeking from behind the blackened lips. “And what you are feeling right now regarding the changes in the natural order of this planet, are what you have been trying to prevent all this time. You have failed.” 

Harry shook his head at that, he knew that Voldemort had done something drastic but to even think that the guy was foolish enough to voluntarily get possessed by a spirit was not only humiliating but also disgusting and awfully nauseating at the same time. Still, he ignored that, in the favour of the second statement that he had been told. 

“What do you mean by that? Changes in the natural order of the planet?” He frowned. “What did you do?” 

“Me? Nothing,” said the ancient wizard. “But I think that you shouldn’t be asking such questions anymore, Harry Potter, for the world that you used to know will very soon be changed into something that we want, and no one, dead or alive, can stop us anymore. Not you, not your Guild, and not even your ‘Master’!” He screamed happily as he raised his arms to the heavens. “Behold, Apprentice of Death, the true powers of ruination because my army… the Army of Damnation…”

He finished with a grin,  “It is here.” 

Harry’s eyes widened in shock as he looked up at the skies, the rumbling of clouds, and the flashes of lightning that crawled across the darkness of the heaven., “Whoever you are, you are lying,” he said. “The Crevice wasn’t going to open for another two weeks, there is no—”

“It was, yes, but that was before I had joined Thomas,” Herpo continued, waving it off. “The souls in the Realm of Death were sentient enough to know why the Crevice was opening, and who was responsible for their way to freedom. Once we figured out who it was, the half of me present on Earth was guided by the half which was trapped in the Realm, and I merged with Thomas Riddle, the Dark Lord who is responsible for our freedom from the fields of punishment.”

“And I take it that this… merging, of yours, boosted the process of Crevice formation?” He asked and received a small smile in response. “I know you are in there, Riddle, and just so you know, you are a disgusting freak… a nauseatingly disturbed creature, and trust me when I say this, tonight I will kill you with my own hands.” He sneered before pointing his wand at the Dark Lord and shouting, “Avada Kedavra.” 

Harry shot the unforgivable curse, while his second wand moved in a circle and made a small twitch to the left, releasing a small dart of light green energy opposite to that of the curse. The Innovator internally smirked when he noticed — as he had calculated —  that Tom dodged away from the curse, only to enter the pathway of his little green dart which entered his right hand before disappearing completely.

The Dark Lord turned around to look back at Harry, raising his staff to fight the boy only to be surprised by the fact that said ‘boy’ wasn’t even there in the first place. He looked towards the younger Potter, and wasn’t surprised to find both of them together as the eldest explaining something to his brother.

“So, you understand the plan, right?” Harry asked the boy, who nodded. “Good. With my calculations, I will need one whole minute, and I don’t want him to interrupt me at all.” Then, he added, “Ask for help only when you are about to die, understood?” 

“Yeah,” Alan told him. “But what are you going to do after that? Because if what you are telling is true, then Voldemort has already won this battle and in a few hours, the entire planet would be filled with possessed individuals who would destroy the very place that they live on.” 

The Innovator just gave a grin. “Just trust me, Alan.”

He looked up and saw Voldemort flying towards them. “If what I think is correct, then our dear Dark Lord is about to run away from us, and I promise that everything will return back to the way it was within one hour. Just do what I said, and leave the rest to me.” He shot up in the sky and waved his wand at their approaching enemy.

“Fulgur Fossa.” He shot a huge bolt of white lightning while he waved the Elder Wand in a circle, slowly levitating the dirt and dust off of the ground to form a tornado surrounding the three mages who were battling with the powers of nature at their fingertips.

The end was here and each side wanted the sweet taste of victory, it was just a small matter of time before the struggle between the forces would end, and then, Earth would have a new ruler who would shape it. 

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The world as well as the natural order of existence was crumbling as thousands of souls entered through the seven crevices that had appeared between the realms of Life and Death, and not a single place on earth, throughout the seven continents could have been considered safe from the Army of Damnation that was rapidly overtaking the creatures, robbing them off of their lives and consciousness, and possessing their bodies to cause chaos all around them.

The infamous guilds who were responsible for protecting the continents, as well as the ICW’s Mage council, were continuously working to abate the impact of the crevice. They had been forewarned by Achlys to gather all of their forces, keep thousands of portkeys and protection runes and many other instruments like the alarm bells, creature cages and many more that would help them tackle the incoming forces. 

The seven Guilds had ended up helping each other, as well as the ICW council to gather resources to fight their common enemy, but did that mean that they were going all out with their new found team spirit? Not at all.

The seven had remained autonomous organizations for centuries, and years of separation had cultivated a deep sense of pride, arrogance and ego which prevented them from helping each other completely. They tried — Oh, yes, they tried their hardest — but that didn’t mean they weren’t opposed to having a little competition among themselves about which Guild — and Guildmaster, obviously — would end up slaying more of the damned, and protecting as many mortals as possible.

Guildmasters Beasten and Grugger had begun an active competition, while Masters Perenelle and Atticus were having a small ‘friendly’ competition of their own, and Masters Camillus as well as Achlys just ignored them and kept going against the incoming forces.

The only one whose battle had ended as soon as it began was Guildmaster Atricia, and that happened for two main reasons: the Health Guild wasn’t made for fighting the monsters, instead they took up the job of healing anyone who had been injured in the fight against the Army, and being situated at the poles of the planet, the Health Guild didn’t have to protect a lot considering the less density of human population at the poles and Atricia had portkyed all the living creatures of Antarctica to the Arctic lands so that they would be as far away from the Army as they could be. 

The ICW’s Mage Council had already been forewarned by the Enlightened One to be prepared for the ultimate battle of their lives for which they had not only recruited infamous and extremely dangerous wizards and witches from around the world but had also asked for help from other species that were around the globe.

The International Confederation of Wizards were working round the clock to make it through the attack of the Damned by going as far as to call the Goblins, the Centaurs and the Dwarves as well as other magical creatures to fight with them.

The Dwarves in the northern mountains had refused to help, claiming that they did not want any form of contact with the ‘disgusting’ humans who never upheld their end of the deal, and tried to fool the old gods by the usage of cunning against them all.

The Goblins, on the other hand, had been quite easy to persuade when they were given a hefty sum of money, as well as a few lucrative deals that would benefit the Goblin nation for centuries to come. Not to mention, even the little money-gobblers knew that there would be no business if there were no foolish wizards willing to trust them with their gold. 

Ultimately, the entirety of the wizarding world, from the squibs who resided in various alleys of different shopping districts to the magical creatures like the Centaurs from the Albanian forests, entirety of the Goblin nation, and huge organizations like the seven Guilds as well as the ICW alongside the hired Titans of Magic that dwelled in various parts of the word had been brought together to battle the attack on the planet, and the only way for them to win was to survive the forces that were coming from the seven rifts that had been opened around the globe.

Each of them were fighting their own battles, protecting their own continents and had been safeguarding their citizens from falling prey to the clutches of the souls. 

“Call of the ancients – TIME FREEZE!” Achlys screamed, pushing a thick beam of green light from her hands which exploded all around them, immediately freezing everything in place. “Take them away! Quick!!” She grunted, holding the ancient spell in place.

Thirty Maesters and fifteen Archmaesters pointed their wands towards the humans who were running away from the damned and summoned them all before transporting them away with a portkey. 

“What about the ones who have been possessed?” One of the Maesters asked her, “What are we going to do for them?” 

“Bind them in unbreakable chains,” she grunted, feeling the pressure of using such a power consuming spell. “These are humans without magic,they couldn’t use it back then, and they can’t use it now either.” 

Almost instantly, everyone started to follow her words, conjuring chains and spells to lock them unless unlocked specifically by the magic of their guild. 

Achlys sighed when she looked up at the Crevice which was frozen in place along with all the souls that were entering. She looked back at the team of Maestes and Archmaesters who had been helping her. 

They were tired, and had lost a few of their brothers and sisters to the attack of the souls. They hadn’t been able to do anything against the ones who had been touched by the souls of the Damned. Nothing could have saved them, and nothing could stop a Damned soul from possessing you if they managed to touch your soul.  

“My lady, we have bound them all,” Archmaester Andrius, one of the oldest ones in the guild, told her. “You can release the spell now, we are building a rune net from the protection runes that would be placed around the crevice to trap as many of the souls as possible.”

“That sounds… good.” She nodded and released the arcane spell, immediately releasing the frozen souls from their trap. “Now, tell the Maesters to build the net while you, and others, would be with me so that we could protect them while they construct it.” 

‘I hope that others are having better luck with saving their people than me,’ She thought, looking at the snarling rotten faces of the unfortunate humans who had fallen prey. ‘...and I hope that you will be able to end this soon, Anubis.’ 

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Beasten grinned as he pulled out his blade from another possessed one’s chest. He looked around himself at the sheer number of dead bodies, the bloodbath around him would haunt his memories for decades to come and yet, he wanted nothing more than to kill the idiots who were causing a ruckus around them.

“You should try to hold back, Blood-breath, this place stinks of burning flesh.” Atricia sniffled as she calmly walked to stand beside the silver-haired hunter. 

“That’s how a man works, Stinky.” He grinned at the glare she threw his way. “Although, I am quite surprised that you personally decided to join me and my team instead of all the others who would appreciate your help more.” 

“I know how you work, and it is better to protect the protector than to protect those who are already being protected by the protector,” she said, her hands moving in circles as she healed the many cuts that had appeared on his back.

“What?” 

She shook her head at his dumbness before she decided that it was useless to explain it to him anyway. “Just be glad I am here, would you?” She snapped her fingers, knitting the skin flawlessly. “And I have sent a team to everyone else, it’s just me here.” 

“As far as I could see, you are enough for me.” He grinned before groaning when she deliberately pinched him hard where he had got stabbed by a random muggle under possession. “Why the fuck are you so violent?” 

“Shut up, idiot.” She slapped his back. “Done. Now, I will go and check others, give me the signal when the next hunt is complete”

“Alright.” He nodded before concentrating on his powers. “Centaur!!” His golden eyes darkened considerably as the lower half of his body expanded to represent that of a horse. 

“Is the power of ten beasts alluring enough to turn a human into them?” Atricia frowned. “I still don’t understand this weird power of yours, Beasten.” 

“It works if it works, no?” He smirked at her. “Take care.”

And with that, he pulled back on two of his hind legs before dashing towards the next site from where he could feel the dark magic of the dead souls.

Atricia , on the other hand, sighed once more before she turned around and started to walk towards the first group of injured members who were trying to nurse each other. 

She smiled when the ‘brutish’ hunters gave her puppy dog eyes just so she could heal them first and they could rush to help their Master once more. 

Atricia still wasn’t sure about the Potter brothers being the ones capable of ending this once and for all, but even her mind knew that all she could do was heal as many as possible and wait for either the Potters, or someone else to put an end to their sufferings.

In the sea of red, rotten bodies and black corpses were haphazardly thrown around. The lady in white gown healed the fallen hunters and helped them stand once more to protect the unfortunate humans against the threat of world destruction. 

This was what the Health guild stood for, and this is exactly what they were doing for all the Guilds, as well as the ICW and WHO.

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“Aestis Inspiratione.”

“Aqua Murum.”

“Calor incremento-Ventus maxima.”

The Dark Lord shot up in the sky as the wave of steam traversed through the place where he stood a few moments ago.

“You are getting spectacularly vicious in your approach, Alandale Potter.” Herpo smiled. “Alas, it’s not something that could harm someone like me.” 

“Is that why you had to run away like that?” Alan smirked, he looked behind him and noticed that his brother was nowhere to be seen. 

“Simple back and forth maneuvers are a part of a battle, boy. You are not a victor unless your opponent cannot get up anymore.” 

“Then, are you ashamed of the fact that you have been unable to win over two teenagers?” Alan grinned. “I mean… big, bad ‘Dark lord’ not being able to defeat two teenagers is pretty bad for your reputation, isn’t it?” He waved his wand, conjuring about fifteen small sticks that were floating mid air. “I bet it would ruin your image in your Dark Lord circle, right? Depulso!”  

Herpo cocked an eyebrow at the incoming projectiles. “There is no such thing like a—” His eyes widened when the wooden sticks transformed to needles mid-way. “What the–” He quickly conjured a wooden board only to be thrown away when all of the needles blasted on contact.

“Hmm… didn’t think it would work.”

Alan looked behind himself and grinned when he saw Harry once more. “I told you so, they always underestimate McGonagall’s first lesson.”

“I guess they do. Now, keep it up.” Harry nodded.  “I am almost ready here and I am damn sure that Voldy would try his best to stop me from doing this. Just keep him busy for two more minutes and then, we’ll win.” 

Alan nodded and looked back at the Dark Lord who was getting up. “I still don’t know what you are doing but I will definitely try to keep him at bay.”

“Good,” the Innovator said and looked down at the runic trap that Voldemort had made for Alan. He was using this because the one for him had Karkaroff’s dead body in it, and this one was empty, not to mention that it was clean.

He had tweaked it a bit, and hoped that it would be enough to get things done in a relatively safer manner. 

‘Alright, let’s do it,’ he thought and sent a pulse of magic to activate the primary circuit of the trap before stepping inside it. The primary circuit, and five other runes around the hexagon began to glow blue as the iconic golden thread of magic started to connect them all.

Harry looked behind himself and noticed that Alan and the soul possessing Tom’s body were already engaged in a heated duel, he could see that the boy was trying really hard to keep the Dark Lord’s attention to himself, going as far as to using heavily magic draining spells to keep Voldemort busy. 

He closed his eyes as he slowly went inside his own mind, searching for the pool of death’s magic that was inside him. This time it was a bit easier to locate the darkness, and as gently as possible, he tapped into it to connect with the infinite sources of destruction once more. 

The moment Harry did that, he felt the connection form between his soul and the cosmic plane of existence where everything resided. He opened his eyes, exactly in time, and jumped up in the air as the last of the runes got connected together by the golden thread which effectively activated the trap. 

The boy spread his magic out towards the trap, and connected himself with it so that the trap’s power of sucking natural magic can be pooled into him and he can use mother earth’s magic to summon… IT.

The Innovator screamed in pain as he became a link for earth’s natural magic and the one that resided in the cosmic plane of existence as he started to pull the one thing that could help them all against the army of infinite souls. 

This time, it didn’t take him much time to locate it, and once he did he instantly forged the connection between the entity and the natural magic of earth which was being pushed inside him. 

‘The divine weapon of infinite destruction, the commander of the army of infinite creatures of ruination, the one above us all… leader of the divine weapons, holder of the trinity of existence…’ He thought, grunting in pain as he felt the being move towards him in his mindscape. ‘I request you to show yourself, the ultimate weapon of the multiverse… come forth and stop this planet from collapsing… COME FORTH WITH YOUR DANCE OF DESTRUCTION… THE GREAT TAANDAVAM!!!!’ 

With that last thought, his eyes rolled back into his head and his world went white as excruciating amounts of pain passed through his very being. The poor boy screamed to the heavens above him as he finally felt the most powerful weapon move from the cosmic plane and walk towards Earth. 

A part of his mind couldn't help but think of a single thought, ‘You think that things had been messy before, Tom? Well… get ready because I am about to bring the entire damn thing to its fucking knees!’ 

And with that, Harry lost himself to the power that was rapidly coursing through his body. 

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Ending note: There you have it fellas, chapter Forty-three of Innovator, hope you liked it.

NOTICE: Going on Hiatus till January ends because of my medical exams. If you were here last year, then you already know that I am in a medical college, and I can't fuck up my career for story. Not when the career heals people.

The hiatus (for how) is a month long, and I will return on February, exactly one month from now. If I don't, then I will tell you about it, and the next date.

Your can leave, or stay...It's upto your, just wish me luck so that I could work it out. Thanks for being there.

I am waiting for all your comments. Constructive criticism is always appreciated.

Thank you for reading and your comments,

With regards,
Dev Black