A dead silence reigned within the grotto.
The Dark Wizards stared in astonishment at the grotesque old crone who had suddenly appeared.
They felt a chill crawl up their spines.
"W-What the hell?"
One of them gritted his teeth, gripping his wand tighter.
"Damn it! Didn't Yaxley say this was foolproof? What is this thing!"
"Go to hell! Avada Kedavra!"
Whoosh!
The ghostly green curse sped through the air, aimed straight at the old crone!
But halfway there, it was blocked by a gigantic palm that suddenly extended downward!
Bang!
The curse merely left a pitch-black scorch mark on that grayish, gloomy palm!
"D-Damn it!" The Dark Wizard mixed fear with rage. "Why isn't the Killing Curse working on them?!"
On the other side.
Seeing that familiar, withered arm, Michael's eyes lit up, and he blurted out, "It's Professor Norn! This is Professor Norn's magic!"
"Professor, you've finally come to save us! (T_T)"
[Hehehe...]
A sinister laugh echoed.
The giant palm slowly moved away, like a curtain drifting down from above.
Revealing what lay behind it.
The hideous, grinning face of the old crone.
[It seems... you are bad children...]
As the voice faded.
In an instant.
The corners of the old crone's mouth stretched beyond human limits, grinning high up to her ears!
With her cloudy, gray eyes, she stared dead at the group of Dark Wizards.
enunciating every word:
[Bad children must go to hell—!]
Whoosh!
The old crone's upper body suddenly elongated!
She opened that blood-basin of a mouth, stretched all the way to her ears!
One could clearly see the rows of jagged, uneven fangs inside!
In a single bite, she snapped the Dark Wizards into her mouth!
Crunch, crunch, crunch!
Accompanied by blood-curdling screams, blood trickled down from the corners of the old crone's lips.
Until, with a gulp, she swallowed them whole!
"Ahhh..."
One of the Dark Wizards, Giles, fell into the darkness along with the others.
With a splash, he fell into a current of water.
"Puh-ah!"
Giles threw his head back, gasping greedily for air.
He was still in shock.
With trembling hands, he patted his body.
"I... I'm still alive...? What was that just now... Was it a hallucination?"
The pain of being cut by fangs had been far too vivid.
It felt as if every single nerve was being repeatedly grated by a saw.
"Damn it, this kind of hallucination magic... was it a Boggart? What exactly is going on..."
Giles slowly propped himself up.
He looked around.
A trace of panic mixed with bloodlust floated in his eyes.
"Heh... it's just a fake, that's all. At worst, I'll just focus my mind and use Apparition..."
"Hmph, it's not like I haven't survived dangerous situations before..."
Giles recalled the faces of the people he had killed in the past.
There were Muggles, ordinary wizards, and even Aurors.
He loved harvesting lives.
It gave him a sense of control over everything.
It allowed him to forget the humiliation he suffered when his family fell from grace.
[Giles! Y-You... how did you become like this?! Even if you want to revive the family, you cannot use slaughter as a way to—Ah!]
At the end of his memory.
Was the image of his incompetent and cowardly father dying under his wand amidst a flash of green light.
And the encouragement given by the Dark Lord, pressing a hand on his shoulder.
"...Honestly, why am I suddenly thinking of this?"
Giles shook his head.
Clearly, during his days imprisoned in Azkaban, he couldn't even remember his family's former surname.
Giles stood up, preparing to leave this hellish place.
But just then.
Smack.
A hand grabbed his ankle.
He jolted and looked down sharply!
He met a familiar face—
[Son... my excellent, good son...!]
A rotting face, eyeballs falling out, only a few teeth remaining.
It was a visage of utter horror.
However.
Giles recognized it at a glance—
That was his father...
What was his name again?
"N-No... impossible..."
Giles's eyes nearly split open with rage as he roared tremblingly:
"I already killed you! Impossible, argh!!"
He cried out in pain, watching in horror as the flesh on his ankle, gripped by his father's hand, began to peel off in layers.
He raised his hands.
He didn't see his wand.
Instead, he saw two hands rotting and dissolving at a rapid speed.
Ah.
Giles finally realized.
He was already dead.
Right now, he was probably in hell.
He looked up.
From the muddy swamp, face after face was constantly emerging.
Faces of those he had killed.
Crawling and tearing towards him.
[Haha... my dear son...]
"Ahhh—j-just give me a quick death!!"
[Give me back my life...]
"Urgh—ha, ha!"
[Go to hell...]
"...S-Save... Save me..."
"Oh God... I know I was wrong..."
For the first time in his life.
Giles began to pray to God.
Similar wails of misery.
Echoed in every corner of this pitch-black space.
The River Styx washed over everything.
Using its razor-like currents to cleanse the sins of the dead.
—As for what happens after the cleansing?
Sorry.
Its creator seemed to have "accidentally" forgotten about that part.
[Ah... delicious... it's been a long time since I've tasted something so delicious...]
The old crone smacked her lips, her gray-white eyes rolling.
She swept her gaze over Michael and Neville, who were frozen in place.
She grinned:
[Hehehe... don't be afraid, little dolls. I only collect bad children...]
[Though their bodies have perished, their souls have not yet passed on...]
[They must wait until all their sins are washed away before they can cross the River Styx... Hehehe.]
[Remember, be good children...]
Leaving these words behind.
The lighting shifted.
The boat, seemingly slow but actually moving rapidly, vanished into the darkness.
As if guided by something.
Not long after.
From the distance, another burst of blood-curdling screams rang out.
"..." Michael shook like a leaf, murmuring in a voice thick with tears, "It turns out Professor Norn wasn't just holding back in class; he was holding back an entire ocean!"
—Thank you, Professor, for sparing our lives!!
Neville stood silently by his side, nodding furiously.
"Huh?"
Michael suddenly realized something and asked in confusion:
"Where did Luna go?"
At this moment.
The mist dispersed, and the figures of other students gradually appeared in the grotto.
But among them.
The figure of the eccentric blonde girl was nowhere to be seen.
[You have ferried many sinful people and received their gratitude!]
[Soul Fusion increased by 0.2%!]
[Current Soul Fusion: 94.2%]
Seeing this line of ghostly blue subtitles.
Ethan raised the corners of his mouth in joy.
Like a seedling bathed in sweet dew, he was nourished by the magic power.
"This is great. Hogwarts doesn't have any place for the "River Styx Ferryman" to shine. But in a Dark Wizard's lair, I can feast to my heart's content~"
Ethan's eyes curved into a happy smile.
"Although I get very little each time, many drops make an ocean. One hundred percent is just around the corner!"
"Now, time to go get my loot—the Ancient Magic and Bellatrix's wand."
Ethan hummed a little tune.
He leisurely walked toward the direction where the magical fluctuations were strongest.
Passing through the screaming grotto.
Trampling over magical traps, walking through the corridor.
He arrived before the deepest cave.
Inside.
There was a hazy, orange-yellow glow.
As if it were waiting for Ethan's arrival.
"Hmm," Ethan's nose twitched, and he licked his lips. "The scent of a human."
"It seems someone beat me to it."
It was probably the final "checkpoint" set up by Yaxley.
But no matter who it was.
Right now.
Aside from Death and the embodiment of Fate itself.
No one could do anything to him.
Thinking this.
Ethan, unafraid of shadows with his clear conscience (or so he pretended), walked in openly.
However.
The figure that came into view.
Made Ethan widen his eyes in surprise:
"—Luna?"
At his call.
The blonde girl, who had her back to him, slowly turned around.
The candlelight standing in various parts of the cave illuminated her gentle face.
In her hands, she held an object emitting a silvery-white brilliance.
Ethan raised an eyebrow.
For the first time, he felt that Luna was different from the girl in his memories who skipped around exploring everywhere.
Without him realizing it.
She had grown up so much.
Like a lotus rising from the water, a bud ready to bloom.
"You're here, Ethan," Luna said softly, the corners of her mouth slightly raised. "I've been waiting for you for a while."
Ethan's eyes darted.
He caught a glimpse of the unconscious figure at her feet.
"Sigh, you're looking at other people again."
A sigh brushed over Ethan's consciousness.
His eyes involuntarily lifted, landing on Luna.
He saw the blonde girl open her arms toward him.
On her fair, slightly pale face, a faint smile bloomed.
As if bewitching him, she said gently:
"Come here, Ethan."
"The Ancient Magic you want is right here."
--
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