Shouts echoed continuously through the cavern.
Ethan Vincent's breath hitched for a fraction of a second, but his expression remained perfectly still, keeping his emotions entirely under control. He stared at Tom Riddle, who was currently occupying Harry Potter's body, locking eyes with those glowing crimson pupils.
It felt like staring down a venomous serpent; a wave of cold, ruthless malice washed over him.
...How fascinating. It's the exact same face, yet it gives off a completely different vibe, Ethan thought idly.
Behind him, the darkness churned as several figures stepped forward. Members of the Enlightenment Society, the Order of the Phoenix, Viktor Krum, and Fleur Delacour—every single one of them radiated an aura that wasn't the least bit inferior to Tom's!
—If Tom was a man-eating serpent, then Ethan was the eagle hunting it down!
Tom's oppressive aura instantly faltered. His posture slouched slightly, and a drop of cold sweat rolled down his temple as he stared warily and anxiously at Ethan and his companions.
So they noticed me ages ago... Hmph, whatever. It's not like I ever expected to hide from Ethan anyway.
"The enemy?" Krum grunted in his deep, rumbling voice. He glanced down at the unconscious dark-skinned Auror and his deputy on the floor, giving a nod. "Not a bad job."
"What did that bastard do to Harry?!" Ron Weasley yelled furiously, itching to charge forward right then and there to throw a heavy punch at "that guy."
"Only if you want to punch Harry himself," Hermione Granger said, rolling her eyes hard. She stared at Tom in astonishment and murmured, "Ethan called him 'Tom Riddle'... I remember Harry mentioning that was Lord Voldemort's original name!"
When the name "Voldemort" left her lips, everyone realized a beat later that they hadn't reacted at all. Their hearts remained perfectly calm. There was none of the usual trembling or the frantic urge to resort to "You-Know-Who" like in the old days.
...Well, who could blame them? Ethan's brilliance was just far too dazzling. He had single-handedly raised everyone's tolerance levels—a literal panacea for their fears.
Luna Lovegood spoke up, "I'm more interested in the Deathly Hallows. Are they the ones from the fairy tales?"
"The Elder Wand, the Resurrection Stone, and the Cloak of Invisibility. Bring all three together, and you gain power surpassing Death itself."
Hermione frowned. "But that's just a children's story! It has to be fake!"
"Heh," Tom sneered, shooting a sidelong glance at Hermione. "Before me, no one had ever split their soul into seven pieces either—which is precisely the reason I'm standing here talking to you now."
"So, what do you say, Ethan Vincent? Care to cooperate with me? I guarantee that only by gathering the Deathly Hallows can we truly kill Death!"
"And only I, who was once granted a portion of Death's power, can bypass the illusions and reach the altar!"
Tom waited anxiously, his heart pounding hard against his ribs. He watched as Ethan tilted his head, flashed a warm, pleasant smile, and said softly:
"But I don't need to cooperate with you to get that information."
"I can just use Legilimency on you."
!
Tom's pupils snapped shut, his fists instantly clenching! Drenched in cold sweat, he croaked, "Then I guarantee you won't be able to successfully activate the altar..."
Krum raised his wand. "Why waste more words? Let's restrain him."
"Hold on," Ethan said, raising a hand to stop the hot-tempered, bear-like wizard.
His cobalt-blue eyes locked directly onto Tom. With a cold expression, Ethan spoke slowly, "The reason you're so certain isn't just because you intend to blow yourself up at the last second to stop us... It's also because activating the altar requires a living sacrifice, doesn't it?"
The moment those words left his mouth, everyone froze, staring at Ethan in shock!
Wait, why are you so casually familiar with this dark ritual stuff?!
Tom paused for a moment, then grinned mockingly. "Heh, it seems you're already quite well-versed in ancient magic. Exactly!"
Tom suddenly grew agitated. Spreading his arms wide, a bloody crimson light surged in his eyes as he glared at Ethan and shouted, "Use my fractured soul as the sacrifice! Even if it's incomplete, the power it holds is more than enough! Not to mention the lingering influence of Death upon it!"
"I never imagined that my future self would choose such a humiliating path, preferring to corrupt his own being just to eliminate you..."
"Heh, when it comes to evil, you truly are a prodigy."
Nonsense. That is clearly a delightful torment that allows the soul to achieve sublimation, Ethan snorted internally.
"A living sacrifice?" Viktor Krum perked up. "I remember reading that the reason these ancient ruins require blood sacrifices to activate is because the people of that era didn't truly understand magic yet."
"They mistook the ambient magic contained within flesh and blood as a requirement for physical slaughter. This led to the creation of many Dark Magic relics, though the effects they achieve are admittedly earth-shattering."
A member of the Order of the Phoenix clicked their tongue. "To teach even that kind of Dark Magic history... Durmstrang truly has no taboos..."
Viktor remained expressionless. "At least it's better than Horcruxes and sinister paintings."
With that, the members of the Order shut their mouths and fell silent.
Ethan raised an eyebrow. "You, offering yourself as a sacrifice? Since when are you so full of good intentions?"
Tom declared, "I would rather die with glory than live in humiliation—"
Ethan: (@_@)
Tom: "...Fine, actually, living in humiliation isn't that bad. I really want to escape my current predicament. I don't want to go on living as neither human nor ghost... I want you to use the Resurrection Stone on me after this is all over!"
The moment those words left his mouth, everyone stiffened. The members of the Order of the Phoenix, in particular, glared with eyes wide, their tempers flaring instantly!
Hermione gritted her teeth. "Resurrect you?! You've murdered so many people and torn apart countless families—where do you get the nerve to say that?!"
"Besides, the Resurrection Stone is just a myth from a children's story! It doesn't even exist!"
Tom completely ignored her. Turning a deaf ear to their angry curses, he stared stubbornly at Ethan as if looking at his absolute last lifeline. Beneath his burning ambition, his anxiety and unease were impossible to conceal.
Under everyone's watchful eyes, Ethan slowly drew an object from his robes—a ring set with a jet-black stone. It bore the heavy marks of time, its surface dull and lusterless, save for that single black gemstone reflecting a faint, dim glint.
Hermione's breath caught in her throat. "Could that be..."
"Exactly," Tom grinned, his eyes locked onto the stone with sheer fanaticism. "That is one of the Deathly Hallows—the Resurrection Stone!"
It was the Gaunt ring that Ethan had picked up from a cavern beneath Hogwarts back in his first year! At the same time, it was also one of Voldemort's Horcruxes. It was likely due to this dark connection that Tom could sense the ring was in Ethan's possession.
A collective, startled gasp echoed through the room as everyone's eyes locked onto the ring.
Ron stared blankly, murmuring, "Merlin's saggy left boot... just how many surprises is Ethan hiding from us?"
Whipping out a legendary artifact just like that? Is that even allowed?!
"But," Fleur spoke up, her brow furrowed. "Even in the fairy tales, the Resurrection Stone never truly brought someone back to life. It merely recalled a soul from the world of the dead, rendering them little more than a ghost, which ultimately ended in tragedy. Does the great Dark Lord not even know—"
"I expect he knows," Newt Scamander interjected. His weathered, wise eyes looked deeply at Tom, who was still possessing Harry's body. "He is simply desperate to grasp onto any final shred of hope."
—Ethan was like the sole beacon of light in the pitch black. Even if he knew he was a moth to a flame, Tom couldn't help but fly toward that brilliance without a second thought!
"Cooperate with me. I promise you won't regret it," Tom said, extending his hand, his blood-red eyes staring intently into Ethan's icy cobalt ones.
After a long, heavy silence, Ethan spoke—
Echoing footsteps resonated within the deep, dark passage.
The unconscious deputy, the dark-skinned Auror, and Newt Scamander had already been sent back to the foot of the mountain via a Portkey.
After navigating countless winding forks, the group finally arrived before a stone wall several meters high. It stood squarely in front of them like a sheer cliff, ancient carvings barely visible beneath the thick, packed grime.
"This is it," Tom Riddle said, raising a hand to touch the stone wall. "The aura of Death bound to my soul tells me that the altar you are looking for lies just beyond this wall. It can only be revealed by opening it through the proper method."
As he spoke, Tom applied pressure with his fingers, channeling magic to pry away loose chunks of earth and rock, revealing a pentagram-shaped indentation carved into the wall.
Ethan stepped forward and pressed the stone—the very one that had harmed the whale calf—into the slot. Click. It fit perfectly, without a single gap.
[Altar Key used! The altar's seal is about to break!]
A sudden vacuum grabbed Ethan's palm, greedily and hungrily siphoning his magic! Ethan didn't resist, smoothly letting his power flow into it. The pentagram stone began to glow as faint, ghostly blue patterns representing ancient magic rippled across its surface!
Rumble!
Loose rocks rained down from the gateway as ancient, esoteric runes flared to life one after another!
"Whoa!" Cries of surprise echoed through the ranks as everyone scrambled to keep their footing.
The ground trembled violently, shaking from every direction. A low, bass-heavy rumble seemed to echo from the deepest depths. With the insertion of the key, the entire mountain felt as if it were slowly waking up!
Finally, Crack! Crack! The entire stone wall split right down the middle, grinding slowly to either side like a high-security vault door in Gringotts!
Revealing three massive stone pillars towering within! And occupying the dead center of those pillars was a writhing brain!
For a split second, everyone thought their eyes were playing tricks on them. What stood before them was completely out of place with their surroundings—and their sanity.
Thump-thump, thump-thump!
Its convoluted, ash-gray surface pulsed and twitched, looking as though tens of thousands of earthworms were bound together, radiating an eerie, vital force. It was colossal—dozens of meters tall—looming before them like a small hill, casting an immense, elongated shadow over the chamber!
—It was the brain of this very mountain. This peak of the Alps was nothing more than its predatory organ! It was also the source of the "curse" that had injured the whale pod and forced them to migrate!
[The final remains of Death have been discovered!]["The Brain in a Vat"][It has noticed you.]
Ethan: "—Sanctuary Guard!!"
In an instant, a wave of pure, spine-chilling dread washed over everyone like a tidal wave!
Fwip!
A translucent barrier erupted from the ground just as a colossal tentacle, thick as an ancient oak tree, slammed violently against it! A heart-stopping, dull thud rang out!
BANG!!!
The ash-gray brain slowly rotated toward them. Layers of pitch-black magic rippled outward, sweeping across the entire cavern like dark waves.
"Look at the walls!" Ron shrieked, pointing in terror at the surrounding rock.
The stone itself seemed to liquify into raw flesh, oozing a viscous fluid as it pulsed and morphed into a thick, bruised-purple membrane! Fleshy tentacles burst forth with sickening squelches, lashing through the air until the cavern resembled a living cage of meat!
"Bloody hell, what is this?! Are you—did you do this on purpose?!" Ron whipped his head around, glaring furiously at Tom Riddle.
Tom gave a humorless smirk. "Heh, use your brain for once. You're a pure-blood, aren't you? There is absolutely zero benefit to me doing this. No, I knew nothing about this."
As he spoke, Tom's expression turned slightly sour and frustrated. ...Are these people getting a bit too casual with the Dark Lord? How the mighty have fallen.
"It seems if we want to use the altar, we'll have to evict this uninvited guest first."
Ethan looked at the massive brain and its writhing tentacles. A card materialized between his fingers as a smirk tugged at the corner of his lips. "You can serve as kindling for the light as well!"
"Fifth-Tier Painting—"Asura"!"
Boom!
The moment the words left his mouth, a dense, swirling black mist erupted from the card! Like a rising curtain, a succession of heavily muscled, iron-black arms thrust out from the fog!
With a wild, lion-like mane of hair, protruding fangs, and terrifyingly fierce features, the divine avatar exhaled a long, heavy breath. Its numerous hands clenched tightly around an array of weapons—silver staves, heavy silver warhammers, spears, and scimitars... Clutching a small arsenal, it looked like a god of war descending upon the mortal realm, unleashing an incredibly majestic pressure!
"[Shatter]." Ethan pointed a finger at the brain, uttering a single, compressed syllable.
The next second, blazing flames erupted all over Asura's body! The fire enveloped its multiple weapons, carrying a heat fierce enough to instantly distort the air, roaring forward as it hacked down toward the brain!
[ROAR!!]
The dragon-fire weapons collided violently with the thick, flexible tentacles! The resulting shockwave blasted outward, knocking everyone off their feet!
"Is... is this Ethan's true power now...?!" Viktor Krum stared open-mouthed at the spectacle, feeling a primal shudder echo deep within his soul!
How powerful, how terrifying! It utterly transcended human limits. He doubted even the Four Founders who built Hogwarts could match the Ethan of today! He was paving the way for a brand-new era of history!
Only after seeing it with his own eyes did Viktor realize how laughably ignorant his previous desire to test his skills against Ethan truly was.
"...Heh, I lose. Complete and utter defeat." Viktor suddenly let out a laugh. For the first time, a look of profound resignation and absolute reverence crossed his rugged, harsh features.
"The speed of your evolution is downright monstrous, Ethan. I'm afraid only a true 'God' is worthy of fighting you now!"
—In that case, they would give everything they had to lift him up to that divine battlefield!
Viktor raised his wand, his eyes sharp and fierce as he bellowed, "Crucio!"
A beam of crimson light shot straight at the giant brain, causing it to convulse in sheer agony!
[!!!]
A silent scream rippled outward like a physical shockwave, battering their surroundings! Deep fissures raced upward along what little remained of the stone walls.
Clang!
The dragon-flame-imbued weapons sheared through the tentacles and slammed hard against the fleshy membrane. It acted as the final, fatal blow to the brittle cavern.
CRASH!!!
Boulders collapsed, sunlight flooded inward, and a biting, fierce wind came howling through the breach! The cavern had broken open right into the mountain peak!
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