The dark mist surged, instantly posing a massive threat to the Titan Whale pod!
Living on the desolate, snowy mountains, they survived by inhaling and exhaling the magical particles in the air, boasting a lifespan of up to thousands of years. This near-infinite lifespan resulted in an equally massive, ever-expanding physique.
And that meant—they feared no threat!
Even more so now, at this critical moment when one of their calves was injured!
"Wuuu—!!"
A high-pitched howl, like a train whistle, suddenly echoed through the wind and snow!
Whoosh!
Carrying a monumental amount of force, the giant whales swung their caudal fins, hurtling toward Ethan like a volley of massive torpedoes!
BANG!!!
The snow erupted like an inverted waterfall. The colossal force of the impact caused the snowpack across the entire mountainside to violently fracture and give way!
Ethan leaped into mid-air, his black hair whipping around, his handsome face completely exposed to the biting blizzard. His cobalt-blue eyes scanned the whale pod rapidly through the driving snow.
To catch the bandits, first capture their ringleader. He didn't want to waste too much energy halfway through.
"According to the records, Titan Whales are usually led by the oldest individual, who commands the pod," Ethan muttered. "As long as I control the leader, I can control the entire pod. The question is, which one is it?"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The giant whales crashed down one after another. Every single impact was like a falling meteor, creating a massive blast radius!
This forced Ethan to repeatedly use his Anywhere Door to blink around and evade, making it hard to steady his gaze and locate the target individual.
"The longer this drags on, the worse it is for me. In that case..."
Ethan's eyes flashed, a cold, stern look surfacing within them! He extended his hand, and the dark mist swirling around his body suddenly swelled exponentially!
CRASH!!!
A giant hand, as massive as a Titan Whale and large enough to blot out the sky, slammed heavily against the mountainside! The iron-black skin collided with the hard, grayish-black rock, unleashing a force no less destructive than the whales' impacts, smashing a deep crater into the mountain and sending web-like fractures spidering outwards!
—Stand attack, kid!
"Argh!"
The massive blast of air whipped everyone's hair wildly. As a dark shadow flew off into the wind, a brilliantly shiny bald head suddenly appeared in the crowd.
"Holy crap?! Jeremy, you've been wearing a wig this whole time?!"
"Ob-Obliviate!"
"You'd be better off casting 'Engorgio' on your hair first!"
Newt Scamander paid no attention to the commotion behind him. He stared blankly at the terrifyingly massive hand, feeling a sudden pang of dread in his chest.
"Professor!" his assistant yelled, struggling against the wind and snow. "That Dark Lord is about to start a slaughter! Are we just going to stand here and watch?!"
Scamander snapped out of it and corrected him first: "Ethan isn't called the 'Dark Lord'."
"Whatever, should we call him [Mr. Lamp] then?" the assistant sneered before turning serious. "We absolutely cannot let that kid run wild! Are we really going to just stand by and watch the precious Titan Whales go extinct all for some vague, ethereal 'curse'?!!"
Mr. Scamander fell silent. He stared at the scene ahead. The killing intent radiating from the dense dark mist and the bizarre, giant hand felt almost tangible, pricking his skin and making his breathing tighten slightly.
Scamander wanted to argue back, but the only image that popped into his mind was from decades ago—of Ethan standing alone in a cemetery, smiling with pure amusement.
...Perhaps agreeing to this operation was merely out of emotional reverence rather than reason.
The assistant's hoarse voice drifted into his ears: "Allowing them to defile this snowy mountain was a mistake from the start—"
Right then, a sudden coolness pressed against Scamander's temple from behind! As icy magic seeped in, an ethereal and pleasant voice rang out beside his ear:
"Tell me, learned Magizoologist. Which one is the leader of this whale pod?"
Whoosh—
Scamander's eyes widened as his field of vision violently zoomed in! It felt as though he had been instantly pulled right into the center of the battlefield, suspended high above the heads of the giant whales, where every single detail and movement became crystal clear!
The snow dust kicked up by the giant hand of dark mist, the roaring, furious pod of whales...
Due to genetics, the largest individual among Titan Whales wasn't always the oldest. It usually required a close-up look to judge based on specific physical characteristics; it was impossible to tell at a single glance—
Wait, was it really impossible?
In a flash, a spark of inspiration struck Scamander's mind!
...Was it truly impossible to tell at a glance? Was Ethan's action truly just a simple slaughter?
A gleam of clarity erupted in Newt Scamander's eyes. His gaze stopped wandering aimlessly and shifted to a targeted search! Within just two seconds, relying on the keen perception honed over most of his lifetime, Scamander spotted the target individual!
He burst out shouting, "That whale to the left of the protruding rock is the leader!"
Amplified by the magic cast by Luna, his voice boomed deafeningly across the distance, carrying straight into Ethan's ears amidst the chaotic battle!
"Very well."
The corners of Ethan's mouth curled up. His sharp gaze pierced through the rows of giant whales, instantly locking onto the one Newt had specified!
The Anywhere Door opened. His figure vanished from the spot and reappeared directly above that giant whale!
Sensing danger, the whale—whose size was completely unremarkable—suddenly erupted with a resounding howl! Several blasts of snowy mist erupted from its blowhole, transforming into chilling blades that whirled and lunged toward Ethan like the blades of a meat grinder!
However—
One after another, iron-black arms extended like a blooming lotus, bracing against the ground as if constructing a massive black cage. Next came the torso, shoulders, and neck, and finally, a hideous, terrifying demon head!
The sky darkened. Shadows spread across the pure white snow, gradually enveloping the whale's massive body. The snow blades sliced against It, merely stirring the surface of the dark mist without causing any actual damage.
The other giant whales halted their movements, watching the scene unfold as if bound by a tacit agreement.
Billowing black vapor snorted from the creature's upturned fangs. Its white beard and hair drifted in mid-air, and its pitch-black eyes looked down upon the whale leader below as its colossal body slowly pressed downward.
"The... the Grim Reaper?" Ron murmured tremulously, his entire body freezing up as he felt that terrifying aura of death and malice from that night all over again!
So dark, so immense! Like a demon crawling out of hell, only the Grim Reaper could exude such an awe-inspiring, terrifying presence, right?!
"No, that's not the Grim Reaper," Hermione spoke up. Staring at the behemoth that rivaled the Basilisk Grim Reaper, her eyes flashed with profound admiration and respect! "That's Ethan's avatar!"
[Name: "Asura"]
[Grade: Tier 5 · Endless!]
[Type: Portrait Painting]
[Description: Possesses the divine, miraculous powers of a celestial god, yet lacks their benevolent deeds; harbors human desires and emotions, while carrying the malicious nature of a demon. This is the "Asura."]
[Effect: A self-portrait created by infusing one's own blood. Its highly artistic face possesses the powerful capability to stop a crying child in the dead of night. It can unleash power close to that of a "god"!]
[Tier 5 Paintings: 1/3]
—This was precisely the Tier 5 painting that Ethan had created with the assistance of the Girl in the Mirror! Functioning as his own avatar, it wielded power capable of rivaling the Grim Reaper itself!!
The whale leader froze in place, its wrinkled eyes reflecting the monolithic entity slowly bearing down upon it. As a creature at the very apex of the food chain, an overwhelming pressure unlike anything it had ever experienced washed over it.
Between heaven and earth, only the howling blizzard remained, sweeping across the landscape.
Amidst the standoff, Ethan's Asura avatar slowly raised an arm and reached toward the whale leader. Dark mist and shadows crept over the whale leader's massive frame.
Finally, the palm pressed against the leader's head, gently patting and stroking it—exactly like petting a puppy or a kitten!
"That whale is lowering its caudal fin... that's a gesture of submission!" the assistant cried out in utter shock, looking up from his telescope. "No way... did he actually succeed...?"
"That guy actually managed to tame a Titan Whale?! Is he even human!!"
In centuries of research records, no such precedent had ever occurred! How could a puny human possibly force a thousand-year-old beast to submit?!
"Merlin's beard..." The assistant's eyes went completely blank, his entire worldview thoroughly shattered. "Am I dreaming...?"
Newt Scamander blinked and smiled. "You can't judge Ethan by conventional standards."
As he spoke, Scamander looked at the youth standing beneath the colossal dark shadow, a complex emotion flitting through his eyes.
...The reason he was able to quickly determine the leader's position was actually because Ethan had dropped him a hint.
In the Titan Whale species, the reason the elder became the leader wasn't because they possessed greater physical strength. For them, every single individual had already reached the physical peak of the biological world; there was no need to compete. Rather, it was because the elders possessed far richer survival experience.
Methods for handling climate shifts, treating injuries, choosing nesting sites... survival experience inherently translated to a sharper perception of danger.
During Ethan's ferocious counterattack, the whale that had been singled out was the very first individual to make an evasive maneuver! Coupled with its appearance, the final result proved his judgment correct. The whale that had dodged first was indeed the leader of the pod!
And since the leader had yielded, the entire pod yielded along with it.
All the giant whales hovered suspended in mid-air, stripped of any hostile intent. Even as the group approached warily, they showed no reaction, because in their current consciousness, that tiny "two-legged beast" was their "new leader"!
"Magizoology will have to open an entirely new branch for you, Mr. Vincent," Scamander chuckled, walking up to Ethan while catching his breath.
"Haha, thanks for the compliment." Ethan's mouth tilted upwards. He turned his head to look at the giant whale bowing in submission before him. "Now we don't have to wait around. We can head straight up the mountain—and who knows, maybe our friendly new companions can even give us a ride."
"Wuuu—"
The giant whale let out a low, deep rumble. It suddenly drifted forward, gently nudging Ethan with its snout before slowly turning around and swimming toward the deeper recesses of the area. Every now and then, it would look back, casting a glance at Ethan as if urging him to follow.
"It's telling us to follow it," Scamander said in astonishment, his eyes shining brightly. "Merlin's beard! I've never had such close contact with a Titan Whale before! Haha!"
Saying this, the plump old man dashed forward with a burst of energy, proving he was still remarkably spry for his age.
The others stepped forward, looking at Ethan and asking, "Well, should we follow?"
"Hmm..." Ethan pondered for a moment, glancing up at the mountain peak shrouded in thick mist, and finally nodded. "Let's follow and see. We might just stumble upon an unexpected harvest."
And so, the group followed the giant whale deep into the nesting grounds, arriving at a natural cave embedded within the mountain. Thick sheets of ice coated the rock face, tinting the grayish-black stone into a deep, ethereal blue.
"Brrr..." Fleur rubbed her arms, looking around the cavern, and murmured, "It is truly freezing here, though it is quite beautiful."
Soon, they understood exactly what the giant whale wanted them to see—it was the injured calf that had caused the entire pod to linger here.
A whale calf about the size of a sailboat lay slumped on the ice, letting out continuous, plaintive "Yo, yo" cries, sounding much like a fawn calling out for its mother. A massive, jagged laceration ran clean across its body. The blood had already clotted, but the surface was covered in a layer of viscous, tar-like fluid that spread across its skin like fungal mycelium, throbbing in sync with the rise and fall of its breathing.
Mr. Scamander immediately stepped forward to inspect it. Wearing his gloves, he deftly extracted a sample from the wound and examined it closely.
"...There is an incredibly, incredibly dense aura of Dark Magic on this." Scamander looked up at Ethan, his brow furrowed deeply as he said in a heavy tone, "I'm afraid your suspicions were correct. Whatever is going on, some things that have absolutely no business being here have appeared on this snowy mountain."
"Wuuu—wuuu—"
The giant whales called out anxiously from outside the cave. Due to their sheer size, only the relatively "petite" females were able to fit inside the cavern.
Scamander was astonished. "It's begging for our help. Good heavens, they are actually seeking aid from outsiders...!"
In a matter of just over ten minutes, he could already see the birth of countless groundbreaking research papers.
The assistant frowned. "We can't solve this right away. We need to go back and call for reinforcements—"
"Let me do it."
Luna stepped forward from the crowd. Her fair hand gently rested against the whale calf's body as she pointed her wand at the wound, its tip emitting a warm, soft white glow. She softly cooed, "Good boy, good boy..."
The wound began to heal at a pace visible to the naked eye. The disgusting matter on the surface hardened and flaked off, exposing the bright red flesh beneath. The muscles knit themselves back together, a milky-white fascia blanketed over them, and the thick layer of blubber merged seamlessly with the outer skin...
Clack.
A fist-sized object was squeezed out from the closing wound. Following that, within just a few breaths, the originally horrifying laceration was reduced to nothing more than a faint, pale scar.
"Yo~!"
The whale calf let out a cheerful cry. With its pain gone, it happily wagged its tail, causing the cavern to rumble and vibrate with the impact.
"Shh—" Luna embraced the calf, pressing her ear against its body, and smiled. "Don't get too excited, little one, or you'll end up burying us all alive."
"Brilliant work!" Scamander couldn't help but applaud, praising her in astonishment. "St. Mungo's is bound to gain a top-tier Healer—or if you prefer, our team is always happy to have you join us."
The assistant glanced at his mentor, pursed his lips, clenched his fists, and remained silent.
...Dammit, what kind of monsters are these people? If you ask me, the biggest anomaly on this snowy mountain is this entire group of yours!!
At that moment, Ethan stepped forward, curling his fingers to pick up the object that had just dropped from the wound.
—It was an ordinary-looking, five-pointed star-shaped stone. Its surface was grayish-brown, looking no different from a regular rock, yet when Ethan wiped it with magic, it remained entirely unscathed. Its hardness far exceeded that of standard stone.
Its shape was peculiar—resembling a naturally formed five-pointed star while retaining the distinct feel of primitive carving, carrying a subtle balance and symmetry. Across its surface, several ancient runes were engraved. Ethan recognized them to mean "Open" and "Key."
[Congratulations! You have discovered the key to an ancient ruin!]
[Place this key into the corresponding slot and recite the correct incantation to open the ancient ruin.]
[Ruin Guide: The summit of the Alps!]
—Which was precisely right above them!
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