Gods Exist in This World / Rowena's Oath Is Quite Overbearing ...

"Hmm... I understand! I absolutely understand~"

At that moment, Harry even felt the threat of death emanating from Rowena, and hurriedly nodded in submission.

Helena's background does seem to have some hidden secrets, but Harry dared not speculate any further.

"Alright, let's get down to business and talk about your fate."

Seeing Harry admit his mistake, Rowena's voice returned to its previous pleasant tone, as if she hadn't been the one who was angry just moments before.

She waved her hand forward again, and Voldemort, who had been frozen like a statue, disappeared from his spot. In his place appeared a giant snake that was suspended in the air, its head and tail joined together, its body twisted into the shape of an '8'!

"It's Ouroboros! How incredibly strange..."

Seeing this, Rowena's expression changed several times, as if she were very conflicted. However, she eventually walked slowly forward and reached out to touch the giant snake's body.

"This is... no good! Ugh!!"

The moment her hand touched the giant snake's body, her expression suddenly changed drastically. But by the time she tried to pull away, it was too late.

Suddenly, a sharp black light burst forth from the giant snake's body, slicing across Rowena's abdomen like a blade. The immense impact sent her flying high into the air, leaving a trail of crimson blood in her wake.

Hiss!!

At the same time, the giant snake, representing Harry's fate, let out a fierce roar.

"The Grey Lady?!"

Caught off guard by this sudden turn of events, Harry hurriedly caught Rowena as she flew back into his arms... but upon catching her, he was immediately horrified!

A horrific gash was slashed across Rowena's abdomen, and blood gushed out in large gushes, staining her clothes completely red.

"So that's how it is... So this is your destiny..."

Rowena weakly clutched her wound, muttering to herself, her pale face filled with disbelief...

Chapter 400 This world has gods.

"The Grey Lady, are you alright?"

Holding the badly injured Rowena in his arms, Harry had no time to worry about anything else and immediately began to frantically try to stop her bleeding.

In his current soul state, he couldn't use a wand or any healing potions like Dittany. He could only try to stop the blood from gushing out by controlling the power of the water element, while simultaneously using his clumsy Wandless Magic to cast Episkey. It took him quite a while to finally manage to treat Rowena's injuries.

"I'm alright now, but I never imagined your fate would be like this..." Rowena's expression was still one of great pain. She was breathing heavily, but then she grabbed Harry's shoulder and even pinched it tightly with her five fingers!

"Boy...no, Harry, you have to promise me one thing!" Her voice was so excited it was almost off-key. "I can give you the Ravenclaw's Diadem, and I'm willing to help you decipher your destiny, but...you have to do one thing for me!"

"Uh... what is it?" Rowena's expression made Harry very worried, and he instinctively didn't want to answer.

"Promise me first!!" Rowena screamed at Harry.

"Well... okay." Harry hesitated for a moment, but finally nodded silently.

Although Rowena hadn't told him what she wanted him to do, she had reminded him of Salazar's situation and had even been seriously injured while helping him... For both reasons and emotions, Harry felt he shouldn't hesitate.

"That's great! I'm so glad you agreed!" Seeing Harry's consent, Rowena felt as if a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders, and her weak face was filled with relief.

After resting for a while, she finally regained some of her energy and became as wise and noble as before.

"Harry, you're smart just like me, so we don't need to shout those silly slogans like 'try hard' or 'never give up'... Your fate is almost unchangeable. The only viable way is to raise your power to a level that is strong enough that you might be able to assimilate it and, based on that, create a completely new destiny!"

"Assimilation?" Harry didn't quite understand what Rowena meant.

"Let me put it another way that you're more familiar with. You can think of it as your fate being altered into what it is now through alchemy," Rowena explained, pointing to the giant serpent. "The Ouroboros, with its head and tail joined together, is an important symbol of alchemy. Therefore, the most feasible way for you to solve this problem is to refer to the principles of alchemy. Assimilation, in essence, is simply to completely analyze this Ouroboros, then decompose it and reconstruct it into something that belongs to you."

"Using alchemy... to create destiny?" Harry raised an eyebrow incredulously. "That doesn't sound very plausible..."

"How is this unreliable?!" To everyone's surprise, this casual remark drew a shrill scolding from Rowena. "Let me tell you, alchemy is absolutely the most rigorous and all-encompassing discipline in the world! Haven't you heard the saying, 'Mastering alchemy is equivalent to mastering everything in this world!'"

Hmm... As long as you master math, physics, and chemistry, you can go anywhere in the world without fear!

At this moment, the image of Rowena in Harry's eyes is getting closer and closer to that of his high school homeroom teacher from his previous life.

"Alright, now I'll explain the details about this snake." After giving Harry a disapproving look, Rowena continued, "Your destiny, in its outward appearance, consists of two parts. One is its overall structure, which represents an endless, cyclical process... This means that the person who forged your destiny possesses the power to alter time."

"Secondly, go around to the front of this snake and see how many tails it has bitten?"

"It bit its own tail... How, how is this possible?!"

Following Rowena's instructions, Harry circled around to the front of the giant snake. He suppressed his fear of being locked onto by the snake's enormous eyes and cautiously glanced at the Ouroboros's gaping maw, only to see two forked tails there!

"Why are there two? Could it be...?"

Yes, he didn't need to doubt it at all... those two tails were Hermione and Luna Lovegood.

"Now you understand, right? The second characteristic of this Ouroboros isn't just about biting its own tail; it's that as you accumulate more ties, it might bite off even more tails!"

"So, in short, the person who shaped your destiny can disregard, and even defy, the rules of time, arbitrarily altering the past and future; at the same time, they can use you to influence others and indirectly manipulate their destinies."

At this point, Rowena paused slightly before continuing, "Generally, beings possessing this kind of power are called... gods."

"You... what did you say?!" Harry was shocked. "God? How could such an ethereal being..."

"Why is it impossible?" Rowena retorted, raising an eyebrow. "In my opinion, God not only exists, but is definitely an alchemist! Otherwise, how could the First Primal Matter have spontaneously evolved into all things? And magic—if God didn't create it, how did the original magic come about? And most importantly, without the protection of a power higher than magic, a divine power, how could you possibly travel through time at will without causing serious damage to the world? Do you really think you can easily travel forward several decades with just a small Time-Turner?"

"So... you know how I traveled through time?" Harry was startled by this question.

"We don't know yet, but it's definitely not through Time-Turner ...at least not entirely," the Spirit of Rowena explained. "The magic of time reversal, which is what you now call the Hour-Reversal Charm, is essentially still about distorting reality, not completely changing it. Assuming you really did travel back several decades using Time-Turner, then the time you stayed in the past would definitely not be very long, maybe only a few days, or even just a few minutes, before you returned to the present because the spell's effect wore off."

"Moreover, after you return, your body will be rapidly affected by the passage of decades from the past to the present, and you will go from a teenager to an old man with gray hair!"

"But..."

"But you didn't undergo that transformation; and although you don't have the memories of that past, you must have spent a considerable amount of time in history. More importantly, you ultimately died in the past." Before Harry could speak, Rowena continued, "This is absolutely impossible in time travel, because if you died during time travel, it's equivalent to your life trajectory disappearing from history. Therefore, even if time were to rewind to the era you should have been born in, you would never reappear."

"So... what happened to you, rather than calling it time reversal, would be more accurately described as 'reincarnation.' Think carefully about your origins. If even reincarnation has occurred, don't you believe that gods exist in this world?"

"This..." Harry knew that Rowena was using her experience as a time traveler to make him believe in the existence of God.

Because the other party was using Chinese to refer to 'reincarnation'...

(P. S. Regarding the settings for the Time-Turner, please refer to J. K. Rowling's article "Time-Turner" in Pottermore, which details the various limitations and drawbacks of time travel. Based on that setting, the time loop in Harry's body could not possibly be achieved simply with Time-Turner.)

Therefore, I mentioned in a previous reply that there is a spell in Heroes of Might and Magic III... but I definitely redesigned the spell's effects, since I can't be too bound by the game's established rules.

Chapter 401 Rowena's Oath is Domineering

Honestly, as an ambitious young man who has been influenced by atheism and materialism for a long time, Harry really finds it hard to believe that there is such a thing as 'God' in the world.

But just as Rowena had warned him, if he had already encountered something as absurd as time travel, then the appearance of a god was nothing to be surprised about.

So... why would a god like that enjoy toying with his own destiny?

How incredibly bored must he be?

"That's the basic situation. In short, I suggest you don't dwell too much on the issue of fate. Just focus on improving your own power." Rowena concluded casually with a flick of his sleeve, "Especially alchemy. When you're able to successfully refine that snake one day, you'll naturally be able to change your destiny."

Looking at her relaxed demeanor, Harry even felt that forging this Ouroboros, a symbol of destiny, was no different from forging a Wind Brick...

But that's clearly impossible!

"The Grey Lady, aren't you being a bit too presumptuous?" Harry sighed helplessly. "You yourself have repeatedly emphasized that it's a god, how can I..."

"You have to be able to!" Rowena shrieked, interrupting Harry before he could finish, her expression incredibly serious. "I don't care if you can reforge your destiny, but you have to work towards it! Because what I want you to do is related to it!"

"What do you want me to do?" Harry asked hesitantly.

"I want you to completely change Helena's fate!!"

"What?!"

Rowena's words were so startling that Harry was completely stunned, and without thinking, he wanted to refuse.

"You want me to change Helena's fate by saving her from being killed by the Bloody Baron, right...? The Grey Lady, isn't that a bit too much to ask?"

To be honest, for Harry, changing Helena's fate wouldn't be that difficult, since all he had to do was travel back a thousand years...

Please, that's the biggest problem!

He didn't even understand what happened decades ago, and yet Rowena arranged an even longer time travel for him. Isn't that utter nonsense?

"I don't care, you already promised me, and now you have to do it," Rowena said coldly, pressing him forcefully. "You don't understand what Helena means to me. She wasn't fully grown up back then... Anyway, no matter what, she absolutely cannot die at the hands of that bastard Bloody Baron!"

"The Grey Lady, I understand how you feel, but what you're saying is really unrealistic." Harry helplessly spread his hands. "Leaving aside whether I could travel to such a distant past, even if I could prevent Lady Grey's tragic death, have you thought about what would happen afterward? There would be an extra living person who should have died, and from then until now, all of history would probably be completely distorted..."

"No...I'm sure it won't!" Rowena shook her head firmly. "If it was you who made the changes, then it definitely won't! As long as the Ouroboros within you remains, it will help you correct the severe damage caused by time travel, retaining only the changes strongly related to you. Therefore, your time travel and stopping Bloody Baron from committing evil deeds will absolutely not have a significant impact on the present, and might even bring about some positive changes!"

"Well, even if you say that..." Harry was speechless. He hadn't expected that he had dug a hole for himself.

So, what Rowena is saying is that because of the existence of the Ouroboros, high-level rules like time paradoxes won't apply to her?

So, could I really use the Time-Turner to go back in time and have some barbecue with myself from an hour ago?

"Hmph, speechless now? Then hurry up and agree!" Rowena put her hands on her hips at Harry, even looking like she was about to throw a tantrum. "Kid, let me tell you... if you dare not agree, I'll destroy my Ravenclaw's Diadem right now, so you won't get anything! And I'll leave a fragment of my spirit here, so when you fight that noseless guy for the body, I'll definitely help Salazar stab you in the back, you bastard!"

"Oh... The Grey Lady, isn't that a bit unreasonable?" Harry asked, his face showing displeasure.

No way... how can you do this? Are you kidding me, gouging out someone's eyeballs?

"Harry Granger, are you an idiot? Trying to reason with a woman?!"

"What... damn?!"

For a moment, Harry even felt as if a thousand mythical beasts were roaring through his mind...

Damn it, I've definitely screwed myself over.

Based on what Rowena just said, Harry is 100% certain that she was assimilated from his memories.

"Hey, what are you still hesitating about? Are you even a man anymore...?"

"Stop, I agree!" Seeing that Rowena's character was about to completely collapse, Harry had no choice but to give in.

Good grief, if Harry keeps arguing with her, he might just witness the Founders of Eagle House swearing in fluent China on the spot.

"Hmph, just agreeing isn't enough; you have to swear an oath to me." But even after Harry relented, Rowena remained relentless. "Give me your hand!"

"Fine..." Harry twitched his lips helplessly and reluctantly extended his right hand.

In his mind, Rowena probably wanted to make an Unbreakable Vow with him.

But as Harry understood it, such an oath required a third person as a witness...

Just as he was thinking this, Harry suddenly felt a sharp pain in his palm. He then saw that Rowena had also cut her palm. She quickly grabbed Harry's hand and aligned the cut with her own.

"I know what you're thinking, but the oath I'm about to make with you isn't as complicated as you think, but its effects are far more powerful." A smug smile appeared on Rowena's lips. "You can think of this oath as a combination of Unbreakable Vow and Blood Pact, but it doesn't need a third-party witness, nor does it require any tokens... There's absolutely no possibility of breaking it except for fulfilling the oath!"

"Well, it seems I have no choice. Let's make a vow." Harry sighed deeply, finally relenting and letting their blood mingle together.

A vow made in the form of a spirit would probably be engraved directly into the soul...

I knew it! Legilimency and all that stuff, I hate it the most!

"Stop complaining, now look me in the eyes." Rowena gripped Harry's hand tightly and asked, enunciating each word clearly, "Harry, would you be willing to go back in time, if it's within your power, to change Helena's fate and save her from being stabbed to death?"

"I do."

Harry responded in a hoarse voice, and the blood that had been mingling between their palms transformed into a scarlet thread that wrapped around their clasped hands.

"Are you willing to do everything in your power to protect Helena until she fully matures, to keep her from harm, and to ensure she doesn't die a violent death?"

"Wait... why does this come with additional features?"

"Answer me!" Rowena's sharp shout made Harry tremble.

"Okay... I do."

Looking at the red mark on his hand that had grown from a thin thread into a chain, Harry sighed inwardly, knowing that he would now have to carry another burden...

Chapter 402 An extra guest has appeared in the Limbo.

In his confrontation with Rowena, Harry was undoubtedly outmatched, but overall, both sides gained something.