In the design conceived by the Father Troubleshooters, even if this giant squid completed its modification and gained extremely formidable combat power, throwing it directly into battle as it was would make it difficult for it to play much of a major role.
Magical creatures were excessively dependent on their natural talents and were completely incapable of using other forms of magic.
As long as an opponent used Disapparition to pull away, the giant squid's immense size would make it nothing more than a giant sitting duck.
Only by closely bonding it with a wizard—much like a perfect Tailed Beast Jinchūriki—could its maximum combat potential be unleashed.
As time ticked away, the giant squid's modification gradually neared completion.
After using Healing Charms to mend the incision on its belly carved out by George and Fred, Kyle turned his head toward Cedric and gave him a nod.
Understanding the signal, Cedric flicked his wand lightly. A ring of IV bags hanging on the bars of the iron cage immediately began continuously injecting the Re'em blood essence inside them, mixed with Kyle's fine-tuned Bloodline Fusion Potion, into the giant squid's body under the influence of magic.
Simultaneously injected into the squid's body was a specialized nutrient solution containing a massive amount of nutrition.
Instantly, the giant squid's body looked as if countless tumors were growing inside it. Tumors and lumps of various sizes constantly formed, migrated through its muscles, and then vanished.
As these lumps squirmed around, the outer surface of the squid underwent continuous transformations.
Its skin and muscles gradually grew tough, and its muscle fibers grew thicker and stouter, appearing far more bursting with power than before.
Two massive protrusions burst through the squid's head, their shape growing closer and closer to ox horns as time went on.
The corners of Kyle's mouth twitched. What on earth was this supposed to be?
Eight-Tails Gyūki?
But a squid had ten tentacles, whereas only octopuses had eight.
Could it be called Ten-Tails Gyūki?
It's completely out of whack.
Even though it was anesthetized, the squid's body twitched violently from the excruciating pain.
Seeing this, Kyle line-frowned, then slammed his hands together tightly.
"Sage Art: Deity Gates! Seal Ten!"
Ten massive red wooden torii gates generated out of thin air, crashing down heavily from the sky and pinning the squid's ten thick tentacles securely to the ground.
Although Gyūki, pinned down by the Deity Gates, continued to struggle, it clearly could not break free from Kyle's seal.
Before long, the giant squid slowly calmed down—not because it was tired of struggling, but because the wave of pain had passed.
Looking at Gyūki in front of him, Kyle cupped his chin, a thoughtful expression appearing on his face.
This Gyūki seemed... to be missing a pair of hands?
Just as well, it had ten tentacles; why not modify two of them into arms?
This modification wasn't merely to match the image of the Eight-Tails Gyūki in Kyle's memory, but rather because hands offered far higher dexterity than tentacles, and transforming them into arms would allow it to unleash even greater power in combat.
No sooner said than done. Kyle motioned to Cedric and shared his idea.
The two each selected one of Gyūki's tentacles and waved their wands continuously as the tentacles gradually altered their shape under the magic.
The suction cups on the original tentacles shrank and degenerated under Transfiguration, eventually turning into smooth tentacles.
That was only the first phase of the modification.
Immediately after, the friction sound of bone growth grinding against muscle echoed from inside the tentacles. Hearing that sound felt like someone scratching a fingernail across a blackboard, instantly giving all four Father Troubleshooters a layer of goosebumps.
Fortunately, the bones grew quite fast, and this torture only lasted...
One minute.
Well, no matter how fast bone growth was, considering the size of Eight-Tails Gyūki's tentacles, its arm bones had to be roughly thirty to forty meters long, so taking a minute was completely understandable.
Upon finishing this final task, the modification of Eight-Tails Gyūki was finally complete.
By now, the giant squid from the Black Lake was completely unrecognizable. Even if Dumbledore stood right here, provided the Father Troubleshooters didn't reveal the truth to him, he likely wouldn't recognize this as the giant squid from the Black Lake either.
However, completing the modification didn't mean everything was finished.
Next, the Father Troubleshooters needed to find a suitable candidate for a Jinchūriki, attempt to let them integrate Eight-Tails Gyūki's bloodline, and seal Eight-Tails Gyūki inside their body.
As for why the Father Troubleshooters didn't become the Jinchūriki themselves...
Uh, Kyle had his Obscurus, Cedric had already integrated the Hydra bloodline and had Garaga as a pet.
George and Fred, on the other hand, were thoroughly repulsed by and resistant to this hideous giant squid.
It was simply far too ugly.
If it were the other Tailed Beasts Kyle had shown them before—such as Shukaku, Matatabi, Kokuō, or Kurama—the two of them might have considered becoming a Jinchūriki.
But Eight-Tails Gyūki...
As expected, this world was still one that judged by appearances.
Faced with a choice between aesthetics and strength, George and Fred decisively chose the former.
After completing the modification, Cedric took off his white lab coat, crumpled it into a ball, and tossed it aside.
"What do you think we should name it?" Cedric gestured with his chin toward the half-ox, half-squid in front of them.
Without a second thought, Kyle tossed out the name Gyūki. "It has two big ox horns and looks this ugly. Let's just call it Gyūki."
George and Fred exchanged a glance and offered no objections, tacitly accepting the name.
"In the future, this series of magical creatures we modify will be called Tailed Beasts," Kyle added. "From One-Tail to Ten-Tails, ten Tailed Beasts in total."
"Tailed Beasts?" Cedric tilted his head, sizing up the eight tentacles behind Gyūki. "If you put it that way, Gyūki's full name should be Eight-Tails Gyūki?"
Gleams of mischief flashed in George and Fred's eyes. "Does that mean we still need to modify nine other Tailed Beasts?"
"That's right," Kyle replied casually.
Clap!
Fred clapped his hands together heavily. "I've decided. When the time comes, pick a cooler one for me, and I'll be its Jinchūriki."
Kyle smiled. "No problem at all."
After confirming that Eight-Tails Gyūki exhibited no obvious aggressive urges and that its actions remained within their control, the Father Troubleshooters naturally cast the Four Red Yang Formation once more, shrank Gyūki down, and under the cover of night, returned it to the Black Lake.
Watching Gyūki vanish into the Black Lake, Kyle, standing by the shore, slowly withdrew his gaze.
He examined the wand in his hand, his brow furrowing slightly.
On the shaft of his current wand, faint traces of scorched black marks had already begun to appear.
Although the material used for wand shafts was merely ordinary magical wood, a wand's resilience in enduring magical energy far exceeded ordinary wizards' imagination.
Even for an Obscurial, it was exceptionally rare for a wand to burn and scorch because it couldn't withstand the sheer volume of magic, as was happening to Kyle.
One could only imagine how much Kyle's magical energy exceeded that of an ordinary Obscurial.
This was already the third wand Kyle had replaced.
His very first wand had been a walnut wand with a dragon heartstring core purchased from Ollivander.
Later, while attempting to use the Reversed Patronus Charm to create Black Zetsu once again, instead of creating Black Zetsu, he was almost engulfed by the spewing maggots.
He threw that wand away on the spot and used Fiendfyre to burn it into a pile of ashes, mixing it in with the ashes of those maggots.
After that, he had commissioned the old butler to buy another wand from Gregorovitch.
Then, on the second day of trying to master the power of the Obscurus, that wand broke down as well. The one he currently held in his hand was his third.
If he used a wand with a mithril shaft to bear his immense magical energy, there naturally wouldn't be much of an issue, but Kyle had already given his Phoenix's Vow to Cedric during Christmas.
It seemed that acquiring a new custom-made wand was an imperative step.
Kyle rested his chin on his hand, a thoughtful expression on his face. What kind of new wand should he make?
Putting the matter of a new wand aside for now, going back to catch up on sleep was the priority.
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