When that goblin stepped forward, all other movement stopped. Harry was frozen, Susan and Daphne were frozen, even the Fire Crabs stopped and looked towards that goblin. Only the Heaven Grade Fire Crab and Susan's bone giant continued wrestling.

"Griphook, how unsightly," the lead goblin sneered. "To lose to a mere human at the 3rd level of the Qi Absorption Realm, have you no shame? If I were you, I would immediately commit suicide in embarassment."

"He is not at the 3rd level of the Qi Absorption Realm! He's hiding his cultivation!" Griphook yelled. There was a panicked, desperate tone to his voice.

"There is no fooling my Spiritual Sense. He is at the 3rd level of the Qi Absorption Realm. Griphook, you're definitely the weakest. We were right to sentence you to taking care of the Fire Crabs."

The crowd of goblins laughed loudly at Griphook's plight, who turned red in anger and embarrassment. It was weird to see his green skin gain a red tinge, Harry thought, then his brain caught up with what the new goblin said.

'You're definitely the weakest...'

'My god, this one is the weakest?' Harry thought numbly. Griphook was already powerful enough, and Harry knew he just barely won the fight. If all these new goblins were stronger, then just what could he do?

And this goblin mentioned something about Spiritual Sense... so indeed, it was at the Spirit Fusion Realm.

"AUUUUUUGGUGGGHHHHHHHH!"

Off to the side, Susan's bone giant was still struggling against the Heaven Grade crab. The two of them were evenly locked, but it wouldn't be for long. Susan's cultivation fell to the 5th level of the Qi Absorption Realm – and then the 4th.

"Hmph," the lead goblin snorted. It pushed its palm towards them, and a wave of force emanated outwards. The next second, the bone giant was smashed into the cliff wall, where it disintegrated into ashes. Susan spat out a mouthful of blood, then collapsed.

"Susan!" Daphne yelled, and quickly supported her friend.

'He destroyed it in one hit…' Harry looked at the scene of destruction with wide eyes. That kind of strength… just what was that?

"Now, as for you..." the Spirit Fusion goblin said while looking back at Harry.

"Well, Griphook isn't completely wrong. There is something odd about you. You have the strength of the Core Formation Realm. If you're allowed to grow, and step in the Core Formation Realm... there's no doubt you'd be Blessed. At that point..." the goblin trailed off.

"Well, we cannot allow anything that opposes the Goblin Race to exist. So, you will die."

An icy feeling spread through Harry's body, raising the goosebumps on his skin. When Griphook said he would die, Harry didn't pay any attention to it – he knew Griphook wasn't capable of killing him. But when this goblin said it, it was completely different. It was final, like an unavoidable judgement.

There was no escape from this goblin.

"But not to worry – I will not be the one to kill you. I shall not stoop so low to kill a mere human at the Qi Absorption Realm. After all, the Goblin Race is a honorable race. Instead... Bogrod, you do it."

"Gladly," a goblin from the crowd stepped forward. He looked very similar to Griphook, the only difference being that he held a long sword as a weapon instead of two daggers.

"Make sure you leave a complete corpse, so we can discover the secrets of his body. As for the other two... do what you wish."

A lecherous grin spread across Bogrod's face. There was little doubt as to what he was thinking.

"Wait a moment!" Daphne suddenly called out. She and Susan were actually walking forwards – well Susan was stumbling, supported by Daphne – but they were coming closer to the goblins.

"What the hell are you doing?" Harry yelled. "Hurry up and run!"

"I'm the Young Mistress of the Greengrass Sacred Clan! And she's the Young Mistress of the Bones Sacred Clan! If you kill us, our clans won't let you off!" Daphne announced.

A look of surprise crossed the goblin's face, but it was quickly replaced by a sneer.

"What lies. Why would the heirs of two Sacred Clans come to the Smoking Gorge? And without even any protection? Do you expect me to believe such a pathetic bluff?"

"Take a look at this," Daphne replied, then pulled out two metal tokens from her Space Ring. One had the symbol of two crossed bones on it, while the other was green and etched with the image of a blade of grass. They were identification tokens.

"Oh?" the goblin looked at the tokens with interest.

"Well, maybe you're telling the truth. Or maybe you took those off their owners. Or maybe they're forgeries. In any case, what's the difference?"

"What do you mean?" Susan nervously asked.

"I mean, when we kill you, how will your clans know?"

"W – of course they'll know!" Susan exclaimed. But even Harry could tell she was bluffing. Susan had always been a bad liar.

"Lies," the goblin sneered again.

"Well, let's give you the benefit of the doubt. Suppose you two truly are the heirs of the Bones and Greengrass Sacred Clans. And suppose your clans do find out you died in our hands. Even in that case... so what?"

Both Susan and Daphne blanched. The goblin's tone was too confident, too haughty, and an icy feeling spread through their bodies. This obviously wasn't going how they expected, and they backed up a step.

Seeing the frightened expressions on their faces, the crowd of goblins broke into satisfied laughter.

"The Bones Sacred Clan, the Greengrass Sacred Clan, all those human clans... true, in the past your clans were stronger than us, and suppressed us. We lived below ground, rarely interacting with humans. You could even say we were... hiding. But no, we were merely biding our time!"

"Our Goblin Clan has gathered our its strength for centuries. After patiently enduring the long years, the right moment has come! We'll take over the empire in one fell swoop, and amaze the world with a single brilliant feat. This time, our Goblin Clan has raised countless Blessed! The ones you see here are just a small portion of our army!"

"With these numbers, who can stop us? The human clans shall be wiped out, and then you'll be the ones in hiding. Once we conquer the entire empire, we'll keep spreading. The whole world is in our grasp! Bones Sacred Clan, Greengrass Sacred Clan... if those clans really retaliate, then they'll just be the first clans to be destroyed!"

"In fact, I hope they come! It'll be the chance for us to announce the start of our conquest, to announce our strength to the rest of the empire! Hahahahahah!"

All the goblins, minus Griphook, laughed in chorus. They chortled at the looks of dread on Susan and Daphne's faces.

"Alright, that's enough talking. Bogrod, kill them. And when you're done with them, get rid of Griphook. Our Goblin Clan has no need of weaklings like him."

"Understood," Bogrod grinned at Griphook, who wilted.

Harry backed up so that he was standing near Daphne and Susan. The two of them nervously huddled behind him, worry written all over their faces.

"James? What do we do?" Daphne trembled. Her body was shaking.

"Oh, it's over," Susan moaned.

For Daphne and Susan, this was their first time leaving the safety of their clans. Until now, their lives had never been in danger. They had their family or powerful Elders protecting them at all times. Even if they weren't protected, there wasn't anyone who dared to attack them. They lived their lives in complete safety. But out here, on the run and facing these heartless goblins, they were made vulnerable for the first time.

On the other hand, Harry walked through his life without ever having any backing. His life was constantly in danger, and he survived each dangerous encounter by the skin of his teeth. He was constantly walking on the edge of a cliff, able to fall off at any moment. Compared to Daphne and Susan, Harry was calmer.

"I'm sorry it turned out like this," Harry said as he watched the group of goblins and Bogrod.

"It was I who wanted to come to the Smoking Gorge."

"No, I was the one who suggested it! So it's my fault!" Susan insisted. To her credit, she didn't blame Harry at all. She was surprisingly level-headed, even in the face of death.

Bogrod began moving forward. The goblin unsheathed a long sword, and swished it through the air a few times, like it was practicing the strokes to cut Harry apart. Harry nervously gripped his nearly destroyed sword, mind spinning with how to make his next move.

There was only one option left.

"James, I'm also really glad to have met you," Daphne suddenly said. Her hands were tightly grasped around Harry's. Though she sounded brave, Harry could feel her trembling.

"Even if we die here, I won't regret it."

"Don't talk like that," Harry interrupted. "We're not done for yet."

"We're not?" Susan asked, with a look of hope in her eyes.

"Do you trust me?"

"I do," Susan and Daphne said together.

"When I say it, just... just run, got it? Run! Run away as fast as you can. Just leave the goblins to me."

"Hehehehe, what inspiring words," the Spirit Fusion goblin laughed from its position. The crowd of goblins, along with Bogrod, joined it in laughter.

"Just leave the goblins to me," it mocked in a high-pitched voice.

"Boy, you won't even survive two moves from Bogrod! Accept your – ghuurk!"

The Spirit Fusion goblin made a strange noise, like something got caught in the back of its throat. Harry flickered his attention from Bogrod to the goblin leader – and saw that it had gone stiff with fright. It was no longer smiling, no longer taunting, the haughty expression earlier was erased as its two beady eyes stared at something high up in the sky.

It looked like it saw a ghost hovering behind Harry.

Risking a glance, Harry craned his neck upwards to see what had captured its attention. But all he saw was the smoke in the gorge.

Harry looked back at Bogrod, only to see he was looking at his leader with the same expression of confusion. The other goblins, too, were perplexed at why their leader looked so spooked.

"What's he looking at?" Harry whispered to his companions. But Susan and Daphne couldn't see anything up there either, and looked as confused as he was.

Harry vigilantly watched the goblins, wondering if this was some kind of stupid trick to make him let down his guard. But there was no need for them to use this strategy, as any of the goblins here could finish the three of them off. Harry simply couldn't understand what was going on.

"Y-y-y-y-y-y-you – you – you – you?" the Spirit Fusion goblin stammered. Its legs were shivering, its entire body was trembling. Its frightened eyes were looking at something above Harry's head, perhaps something that only it could see.

"What the hell is going on?" Harry muttered.

"What's going on?" Bogrod asked its leader.

"Bogrod, come back!" the Spirit Fusion goblin ordered. Then adopting a friendlier tone, it seemed to be addressing the thing in the sky,

"Fi-fi-fi-fi – I mean, your excellency – we shall take our leave now. Please, excuse my words from earlier. I had no idea you – you – were i-i-i-involved... "

'What the…' Harry's thoughts slowed to a lull. Next to him, Susan and Daphne couldn't believe their ears either.

Were the goblins actually… going to leave? Were they saved?

Harry looked up once again, along with Bogrod and all the other goblins, to see just exactly what had spooked the Spirit Fusion goblin so badly. But no matter how Harry observed, he saw nothing but the smoke that pervaded the Smoking Gorge.

"It's a trick," Daphne muttered. "It wants us to think we're saved, then it'll kill us anyways. I heard the goblins are cruel like that."

But Harry wasn't so sure. That terrified expression on the goblin's face looked genuine.

Either it had gone crazy, or there truly was something above his head that frightened the goblin badly. Though for the life of him, Harry had no idea what it was.

"Bogrod, get back here!" the goblin ordered again, more firmly. Bogrod hadn't moved from his position, just a couple steps away from Harry. There was an unreconciled look on its face.

"Why?" it demanded. "I'm just going to kill these –"

"NO!" the Spirit Fusion goblin roared, so loudly that Harry's felt his eardrums clap.

"Get back here, now! That's an order!"

"What's going on?" Bogrod sneered. "Have you lost your courage? Who can stop me from killing these lowly humans?"

"Dammit, Bogrod, stop! That's – that's – that's –" the goblin couldn't even finish his sentence, just pointed a gnarled finger up into the sky – where Harry still saw nothing but smoke and air.

"There's nothing there," Bogrod sneered. "Just watch as I slaughter these three humans!"

With that, it charged at Harry, brandishing its long sword. He moved in a blur, far faster than Griphook, and Harry only barely parried his move in time.

CLANG!

When their swords met, Harry was shocked to discover a large dent of metal was nicked out his sword. Maybe it was because Bogrod was stronger, or because his sword had suffered a lot of damage against Griphook. His blade was nearly cut into two pieces, with hundreds of smaller dents along the formerly sharp edge. Harry knew this sword wouldn't last much longer.

"BOGROD, YOU IDIOT!" the lead goblin howled, and charged forward too.

If Harry was paying attention to the Spirit Fusion goblin, he would have noticed the panicked look on its face, how its skin paled from green to white, how it looked like its soul fled its body. But all of his attention was focused on Bogrod, and just how close this goblin's sword was from chopping his head off his neck. All Harry knew was that if he didn't do that, then Bogrod would definitely kill the three of them. And realizing that the Spirit Fusion goblin was charging in, without being sure of its purpose, Harry panicked.

"Now! Just run!" Harry yelled. With one last painful look, Daphne and Susan turned and fled. They scampered away as fast as they could, away from the army of goblins and Harry, who was left facing them all.

'Run, run as far as you can. Run until you can Portkey out of here. And then… warn them, I guess. Warn them the goblins are coming.'

"Lowly human, die!" Bogrod snarled, then stepped forward. A vast strength exploded out his body, pushing Harry back a couple steps. Harry's arms were shaking, at the limit of his strength, and just as that Spirit Fusion goblin was nearly there, looking like it was about to throttle Bogrod's throat for attacking Harry, Harry did it.

"BOGROD, I SAID STOP!" the Spirit Fusion goblin howled.

"Heavens Asunder!" Harry roared at the same time.

Clink!

The two blades met one last time – and Harry's Heaven Grade sword was shattered into thousands of little pieces. Tiny fragments of it simply exploded in midair, and just as Bogrod's sword was about to carve Harry in half, at that moment, the Sea of Lightning discharged its destructive energy.

Kakakakakakakakakaka BOOOOOOOOMMMMM!

There was an enormous exploding sound, like a bomb going off, then the Lightning Qi within the Sea of Lightning shot in all directions. Every cell of Harry's body was electrified, and the electric energy blew out his body into the surroundings.

RRRRRUUUUUMMMMBBBLLLLEEE!

"Yeeeooow!" Bogrod hissed, and leapt back when a tendril of electricity ran through his body. The Lightning Qi turned into a pillar that surrounded Harry, a beam of yellow light reaching into the Heavens, growing wider and wider by the second. The crowd of goblins collectively took a step back, unsure what to make of the spectacle in front of them.

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH" Harry screamed as electricity raced through his body, then with a final mental push, he sent all that energy out!

The beam of Lightning Qi shot off into the Heavens, like a yellow spear soaring into the sky. The layers of smoke and ash were pierced straight through, and for the first time in days, Harry saw a bit of blue sky above his head. Sunlight entered the Smoking Gorge, possibly illuminating this area for the first time.

The Spirit Grade goblin also leapt back, having barely dodged the lightning. It looked frightened for a brief moment, but the next moment, it actually breathed a sigh of relief when it saw Harry was safe. The goblin grabbed Bogrod, who was about to charge Harry again, and restrained it from attacking.

That caused Harry to pause. If this was an act, some sort of trick like Daphne speculated, then this goblin had taken the performance too far. It seemed genuinely relieved that Harry was unharmed.

"Little boy, I mean, I mean, young hero, I'm glad that you are safe. What happened earlier was... was a misunderstanding! That's right, just a misunderstanding! We will be leaving now!" it spoke hurriedly.

"Like hell we're leaving!" Bogrod suddenly yelled.

"Have you gone crazy? Why are you letting that filthy human go?"

"You're the crazy one, you son of a bitch!" the Spirit Fusion goblin howled, then slapped Bogrod right across the face!

Slap!

Bogrod let out a yelp of pain, and Harry's eyes nearly boggled out their sockets.

'What the... am I hallucinating? This Spirit Fusion goblin was so eager to kill me earlier, so what caused its change in attitude?'

"You imbecile! You damned nitwit!" the Spirit Fusion goblin howled into Bogrod's face.

'This isn't an act...' Harry abruptly came to a realization. This Spirit Fusion goblin was truly furious with Bogrod. And it was truly relieved that he had survived.

"Bogrod, you're so stupid, you don't even know how stupid you are!"

'Then, it's actually going to let me go? Wait... was I too hasty in activating Heavens Asunder?' a worrying doubt bloomed in Harry's mind. He knew Heavens Asunder had as much of a chance of killing himself as killing his enemies. If it weren't for the perilous situation he found himself in, he definitely wouldn't have used it.

"Bogrod, you're sentenced to the mines for next month! No, for the next year! If you actually... oh if you actually killed him..."

The goblin stopped ranting as all of a sudden, the sky went dark. The Smoking Gorge was already dark, with a red-tinge, but now, it was nearly pitch black. That small beam of sunlight disappeared, and their surroundings were thrust into an eerie darkness. The group of goblins looked up with puzzled expressions.

Above their heads, the humongous, seething black thunderclouds were back. This was Harry's third time seeing these, and once again, he wondered if these clouds weren't actually sentient. It sounded crazy, as there was no way a cloud could be sentient, but Harry could feel the anger and fury contained in their bellies, just waiting to drop hammers of lightning down on his head.

"What's going on?!" the Spirit Fusion goblin looked at Harry.

"Your death, that's what!" Harry yelled, then ran towards them. The strength of the Five Elements whipped through his body as he raised his broken sword to battle.

Even if the goblins were going to let him off... he wasn't going to let them off!

That was just the sort of person Harry was – if someone tried to kill him, he wouldn't forget it so easily. Even if this lead goblin had a change of heart, Harry remembered how casually it ordered his death, how it laughed when it saw the fear on Susan and Daphne's faces, how it gleefully talked about the goblins taking over the empire and killing all the humans. Harry wasn't going to let any of that go.

Just then, Harry almost died at the hands of Bogrod. If he was just slightly slower, or Bogrod was slightly stronger, he would be dead now.

Besides, it was already too late. Heavens Asunder was like a boulder rolling down a hill. Once it started moving, there was no stopping it. All he could do was take advantage of it to take out these goblins.

And at that moment, the clouds split apart and unleashed their fury.

BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!

Bolts of lightning rained down on and around Harry, smashing through the smoke and landing near Harry's feet. The smoke dispersed, the smog was cleared, and once the goblins saw what was truly above their heads, their mouths all dropped wide open.

Before, none of them could really see the thunderclouds due to the smoke. But once the smoke was gone, they realized it wasn't just one thundercloud – it was a whole swarm of them, covering miles and miles of the Smoking Gorge. The ones above Harry's head were spitting out bolts of furious lightning, but all the others looked like they were charging up. One bolt hit a large boulder, reducing it to rubble. A dozen hit the cliff walls, sending an avalanche of rock tumbling down.

BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!

The army of goblins scattered, running all over the place to dodge the lightning. Their orderly ranks broke into disarray as they scrambled for their lives.

"Damned human, no matter what, I'm going to kill you!" Bogrod yelled in fury. Due to the sudden lightning storm, the Spirit Fusion goblin was caught by surprise and released its hold on Bogrod. It was looking up at the thunderstorm, trying to understand just exactly what was going on. Bogrod took the chance to charge forwards.

BAM!

Just before Harry and Bogrod were about to clash again, twin spears of lightning fell down from the sky. One hit Harry right on his head, while the other hit Bogrod.

"ARRRRRGGGHHHHHHHHH!" both of them let out screams as they were blasted backwards.

Though this wasn't Harry's first time getting struck by the Heavenly Tribulation, no amount of times could prepare him. The lightning hurt just as much as it always did, like a lance of pain that bypassed every defense. This strike, Harry felt, had the strength of the Core Formation Realm. The massive force sent him rolling backwards, skidding along the ground, until he crashed into a wall.

'Uggghhhh...' Harry groaned, then staggered back to his feet. His body and hair were singing. On the other side of the gorge, Bogrod got up too. It looked dazed, and there was a burnt mark on the top of its bald head, but it was otherwise uninjured.

CRACK CRACK BBBOOOOOMMMMM!

Three spears of lightning raced to the ground, and Harry tried to roll away. He dodged the first, but the next two landed right on his body. Harry's body was wracked with convulsions as electricity raced through him.

"Little human, you really pissed me off now!" Bogrod roared. It staggered, dropping to one knee, but then regained its balance and charged at Harry yet again. If anything, Harry had to admire this creature's single-mindedness.

"Bogrod, NO!" the Spirit Fusion goblin yelled. In its haste to stop Bogrod, it sent a blast of its power and pinned Bogrod down.

It couldn't do this earlier, because Bogrod and Harry were too close together. It couldn't stop Bogrod without also injuring Harry – at least, not from a distance. That was why it charged in, leading to Harry misinterpreting its actions. But now, the lead goblin used its power to forcefully push Bogrod against the ground. The power of the Spirit Fusion Realm whipped through the gorge.

For a brief moment, the thunder stopped and the lightning stilled. The world was plunged into silence.

'Ah... here it is,' Harry thought.

The goblins didn't know what was coming, but Harry did. When the Heavenly Tribulation was active, anything that used its cultivation was targeted. The stronger ones' cultivation was, the stronger the lightning became.

And this goblin was in the Spirit Fusion Realm...

The world above them simply exploded. The clouds increased in size, again and again, until there was no end to them. Before, Harry could barely see the edges – though they were far away, they were just in the range of sight. In the blink of an eye, the clouds swelled until there was no end to them. For all he knew, the lightning storm encompassed the entire gorge.

A deadly sensation pervaded the Smoking Gorge and the next moment, the Spirit Fusion goblin's face whitened. It leapt back, moving faster than Harry could follow, and was on the other size of the Smoking Gorge in an instant. Then –

BOOM!

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Dozens of thunderbolts fell right where it had been, then continued in an arc towards it current location. The goblin was forced on the run as the lightning chased it.

KAKAKAKAKABOOOOM!

Thunderbolts fell by the dozens, no, by the hundreds, all around Harry and the goblins. It was like the heavens were truly furious, and sending down its power to smite the goblins. A wall of lightning surrounded Harry, making it impossible to move anywhere. And where lightning struck, land was destroyed. Bits of stone and dirt flew in all directions, as the Smoking Gorge gained crater after crater. Harry was knocked over by a moving wall of rubble, and then a massive boulder landed on his legs, pinning him down. The next moment, a bolt of lightning blew the boulder apart into a pile of loose rocks, thoroughly trapping him, while also delivering a massive shock that made Harry howl in pain.

Out of the corner of his eye, Harry saw the goblin leader get hit by a bolt of lightning that sent him flying across the Smoking Gorge. It landed in a crumpled heap, dazed and in shock, with smoke wafting off its body and a black scorch mark on its left arm. It looked completely different from how a dignified Spirit Fusion cultivation should appear. Unfortunately, it was still alive.

Harry saw an entire wall of the gorge simply collapse into rubble, revealing the passageway on the other side. Then he saw another dozen bolts of lightning smash the rubble into smithereens. All across the domain of the thunderclouds, an area stretching for miles and miles, the Smoking Gorge was being destroyed.

Then the clouds above compressed themselves, rolling and seething into a thick, pitch-black mass. Harry knew this was a sign the lightning was charging its power.

From the look on the goblin's face, it realized that too.

"Retreat!" the Spirit Fusion goblin yelled. It waved its hand, and the ground beneath the goblins' feet turned into sand. The next moment, the whole group of goblins dived into the ground. They simply leapt downwards, and their bodies sunk into the earth. The goblins moved like fish swimming through water, and then they were all gone.

Only Bogrod was left, staring at Harry with a look of fury. Even now, it didn't understand why its leader had interfered. But with the wall of deadly lightning separating him from Harry, there was no way he could continue his attack.

"It's a pity I couldn't kill you with my own hands! Damned human, pay the price for humiliating my Goblin Race!"

A bolt of lightning struck right where Bogrod was standing, but it was too late. He joined his companions underground. Since the goblins weren't the target of the tribulation, they were able to escape easily.

CRACK! BOOM!

BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!

The goblins were gone, having escaped through a method Harry never even imagined was possible. Trapped under a mountain of rubble, Harry could only watch them flee in frustration.

And now... there was only him left.

'Dammit! What a waste!' Harry berated himself.

In the end, he didn't even manage to take out a single goblin.

In the end, all he did was cause his own destruction. If he knew this would happen, that the Spirit Fusion goblin was actually going to spare him, or that the goblins had such a miraculous method of fleeing, then he would never have activated Heavens Asunder. He made a mistake, and now he was paying for it.

Spears of lightning fell like rain, blowing up everything in sight. The power, and anger, of the Spirit Fusion Realm was no joke. The destruction could be seen for miles all around, and the lightning was still falling. With worry, Harry wondered if Susan and Daphne got away safely. As long as they didn't use their cultivation, they wouldn't be targeted. But could they actually outpace all this destruction?

If he ended up causing Susan or Daphne's deaths, he'd never forgive himself.

The thundering sound entered a crescendo, the crackles and sparks in the air increased tenfold, and then Harry felt an intense sense of danger, like he was being stared at by some ferocious bloodthirsty beast. It was the thundercloud in the center, largest and meanest of them all, which narrowed onto him. Even as he watched, Harry saw a deadly bolt of lightning, powerful enough to even kill someone at the Spirit Fusion Realm, form and shoot towards him.

The lightning bolt reached him in an instant, but to Harry, it was like time slowed down. The incoming bolt was many meters thick, the biggest one he had ever seen. Harry didn't even know lightning bolts could be so large. The anger contained in its strike was enough to raise all the hairs on his neck. In front of it, and trapped, Harry was cowered like an ant.

Harry closed his eyes.

'I made a mistake,' he sighed.

And then, the bolt of lightning was right there, mere millimeters away from striking his face and turning his body into melted flesh and goo.

And then... and then...

There was a POP! and Harry Potter disappeared.

Harry opened his eyes.

He was laying on a barren, jagged surface, of white and grey rocks. Everywhere he looked, he saw an endless expanse of rock, with tall hills and even mountains in the distance. A layer of regolith covered every surface. There were no trees, no plants, no animals, no smoke, no gorge, no fire, nothing other than himself and rock.

'What the... where the hell am I?'

Harry almost thought his necklace had saved him, but he knew it wasn't that. When the necklace activated, he felt the metal turn into fire, burning against his skin. And the travel was accompanied by the feeling of something latching onto his navel – like Portkey travel. But this time, he had simply been in the Smoking Gorge one second, and here the next.

It was dark here, so Harry looked up. Where the blue sky should have been was nothing but darkness, lit only by the glittering stars. It was the night sky, though it seemed different in some way Harry couldn't quite explain.

The Qi here was pure, far purer than anything he ever felt. Each breath he took sent Qi into his body, and somehow, it seemed like his lungs weren't drawing any air. There was only Qi.

His body also felt lighter, like he lost most of his weight. But everything else looked the same.

Harry looked to his left, and his jaw dropped. There, silently floating in the distance, was a big blue sphere, like a marble. The bottom half of it was shrouded in the darkness, but he could clearly see the top half. He saw streaks of white wisps and sections of brown and green. The blue parts looked suspiciously like water. And the white streaks looked suspiciously like clouds. Only, he was looking at them from high above.

It took him a few seconds, but then he realized what he was looking at.

Could it be...

Harry looked down at his feet, at the white and grey rocks that formed the surface of wherever he was standing on, and an impossible thought arose in his mind.

It couldn't be...

There was absolutely no way...

No…

'How the hell did I get here?'

"Hey there!" a girly voice came from behind.

Harry whirled around, and saw the last two people he ever expected to see.

"You – you?" Harry could only hang his mouth open and stare.

It was a girl, with long silver hair and large silver eyes, wearing an ornate silver dress with silver earrings in the shape of stars hanging off her earlobes. Behind her, her father was standing at attention.

"Yep, it's me! Welcome to the Moon!" Luna Lovegood grinned back.