As a Parselmouth, John found it difficult to judge whether the creature before him counted as one snake or three.
"Um… could you tell me where that place no one survives is?"
The heads on the left and in the middle were furiously ramming themselves against the head on the right. John had no choice but to interrupt the spectacle of "beating up themselves."
He noticed that the Runespoor's fangs had been pulled out. No wonder the snake had been allowed to grow to such a size.
Considering how foul the right head's mouth was, it clearly wasn't the first time it had been beaten up.
"Oh my god, stop hitting me! He can understand what we're saying!"
The right head wailed miserably. Hearing this, the middle head stopped attacking and said, "I am a rogue snake. Wee~~"
The left head slid down from the tree and approached John.
"Hiss… you can understand what we're saying?"
It was obvious that the left head was the one controlling the body.
John nodded.
The three snake heads circled around him.
Left Head: "You're the first person in all these years who can understand us."
Middle Head: "I am a rogue snake. Wee~~"
Right Head: "Well, that's rare. My neck itches. Hurry up and scratch it for me."
The three heads seemed to have developed a strong interest in John. After circling him once, the left head spoke again.
"You want to know about that place? I can tell you… but you'll have to do something for me first."
"What is it?" John was curious about what a Runespoor could possibly need his help with.
The left head knocked the right head, which was still yelling for John to scratch its neck.
"My stomach is hungry. Bring me enough food, and I'll tell you."
John's expression turned strange. "That's it?"
"That's it." The left head coiled itself around the old tree and said, "An old wizard trapped us here so we can't leave. He pulled out our fangs so we can't kill each other."
Middle Head: "I am a rogue snake. Waa waa waa~~~"
The right head shouted loudly, "If it weren't for that old geezer, I'd have scattered the ashes of the one on the left long ago."
Unsurprisingly, the right head was beaten again.
Seeing this, John couldn't help but admire the old wizard's method. By pulling out the fangs of the three snakes, none of them could harm the others.
The request was simple, and John agreed.
Food could be obtained from the large river he had passed on his way here. There were plenty of fish in the river to catch.
He turned and headed toward the river.
Using his wand, he controlled the vines and wove them into a massive fishing net, then sank it into the river.
After waiting for a while, the net was filled with trapped fish.
With a wave of his wand, he cast a Levitation Charm, letting the net float along behind him.
When he returned beneath the old tree, John set the net down.
The smell of fish filled the space beneath the old tree, and the Runespoor stopped arguing.
It slithered over and surrounded the net, devouring the fish greedily.
Having been trapped here for hundreds of years, the Runespoor had no real source of food. It had somehow survived by eating leaves and fruit.
As one fish after another disappeared into its mouths, new fangs began to grow inside the Runespoor's jaws.
By the time the entire net of fish had been eaten, all three heads had regrown their fangs.
The Runespoor slid down from the old tree. The left head lowered itself and said, "Thank you, generous wizard."
Its teeth gleamed like curved blades. The left head lifted itself, and before the right head could react, it bit down.
The middle head joined in the attack as well.
The two heads repeatedly tore into the right one. The right head let out a miserable scream before being bitten clean off.
The bloody scene sent a chill down the spine.
After the right head was torn off, it fell to the ground.
The Runespoor, now missing one head, bled continuously. John's heart sank. What was the meaning of this?
"I've put up with it for a long time," the left head said. "As repayment, I can tell you how to enter."
The left head moved aside from the old tree and said, "This is the entrance. But you need a snake's eye to see it."
A snake's eye?
John's mind stirred. From his temporary handbag, he took out the snake-eye gem.
The left head said with some surprise, "Looks like you're quite lucky. Place that snake eye over your own eye, and you'll be able to find it."
As it spoke, the Runespoor gradually lowered its body, its voice growing weaker and weaker.
The left head said, "Remember, don't try to ..touch those treasures. They'll ..curse you."
The middle head said, "I.. am a ..rogue snake. W-wee..."
Having lost too much blood, the Runespoor finally lost all signs of life.
John said quietly, "Mutual destruction… or release?"
Three incompatible minds forced to exist together for hundreds of years. None of them could kill the others, and years of torment had never produced even the slightest trace of affection.
John opened the middle head's mouth, and several pebble-sized snake eggs rolled out.
Runespoors were different from other creatures. They laid their eggs inside their mouths.
Malnourished, the Runespoor hadn't been able to grow fangs. After finally eating enough food, it had used the last of its life to produce these eggs.
John counted them. There were six in total.
Runespoor eggs could be used to brew potions that stimulated the brain's reactions. On the black market, six of them would be worth quite a fortune.
After putting the eggs into his temporary handbag, John also pulled out the right head's fangs.
Among the Runespoor's three heads, only the right one carried venomous fangs, making them a valuable ingredient as well.
Once everything was done, John followed the left head's instructions and placed the snake-eye gem over his eye.
Through the gem, the vine-covered old tree began to change. A hollow that hadn't existed before appeared in the trunk.
John stepped closer, set the gem down, and reached out to touch the old tree. His hand met nothing but rough bark.
Picking the gem up again, his hand passed straight through the trunk. He stepped forward and walked inside.
After John disappeared beneath the old tree, the Runespoor's body turned into white bones.
They had long been dead. Because of some kind of magic, they had remained here all this time.
…
Beyond the tree hollow lay a desert.
John lowered the snake-eye gem, and the copper snake on his wrist began to move again.
This time it didn't stay on his wrist. It jumped straight into the sand.
The copper snake moved swiftly, and John followed after it.
There was no end in sight in this place. The copper snake kept moving forward.
No one knew how long passed before it finally stopped.
John looked up. In every direction there was nothing but endless wasteland. No pyramids could be seen anywhere.
"Are we there?" He raised the snake-eye gem. Through it, he saw a black pyramid standing in the desert. At least, that was what John saw.
Outside the pyramid was not a sphinx, but a basilisk with a human face.
John frowned. Setting the soul lamp down, he drew his wand.
"Specialis Revelio."
His wand pointed toward the pyramid. The human-faced basilisk at the entrance began to move, its body twisting into the shape of an "8."
At the same time, an entrance appeared at the base of the black pyramid.
The only difference was that at the entrance stood a door that could not be touched.
John walked over and reached out. His fingers passed straight through the door.
He cast the Revealing Charm again, but this time there was no reaction.
"A tool is required."
John immediately understood the reason.
The copper snake was responsible for finding the place. The snake-eye gem was responsible for seeing it.
That meant the final item was the key for entering.
John took the empty hourglass out of his small handbag.
This thing had been damaged, most likely broken by poachers.
Now that he had reached the door, he still couldn't enter.
John felt somewhat speechless.
"Good thing I'm an alchemist."
Using materials he had obtained from the darkroom, John sat down cross-legged and began taking out one item after another.
In his hands, the materials melted and transformed within golden flames. The body of the hourglass had originally been made from underground crystal.
John didn't have underground crystal, but he could synthesize another material capable of carrying the power of time.
John took a soul from the soul lamp and infused it into the hourglass.
The soul was crushed and transformed into silver-white sand that flowed within the hourglass.
Holding his wand in his left hand, John traced a Möbius ring and engraved it onto the hourglass.
The power of time circulated through the soul, constantly amplifying itself.
With a clap of both hands, John completed the final step of repairing the hourglass.
The copper snake extended its tail and hooked onto the soul lamp. John held the snake-eye gem in his right hand and flipped the hourglass with his left.
As the sand inside the hourglass began to fall, the illusory door slowly started to change.
"Using time as the key to open it… this was a wizard proficient in forbidden magic."
John's eyes widened in realization. Anyone else would have been stopped at the step where the hourglass was broken. Only someone equally skilled in forbidden magic would have a chance to qualify for entry.
"Time, alchemy… I'm getting more and more curious about what I'll find inside."
Excitement flickered in John's eyes. As a wizard, he possessed not only the cunning of Slytherin but also an adventurous spirit no less than that of Gryffindor.
Things that could be solved easily did not count as adventure to him.
Only challenges that demanded his complete focus could truly excite him.
As the sand in the hourglass gradually ran out, the illusory door slowly became solid.
Outside, the eyes of the human-faced serpent statue turned, as if secretly observing the newcomer.
John felt the gaze fall upon him. When he turned back to look, the statue's eyes shifted away again, as though nothing had happened.
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