https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-178-Fire-Engulfs-the-Gaunt-Shack/12572576/
https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-180-Lupin-Emptiness-After-Forgetfulness/12572587/
Chapter 179: The Second Horcrux, Destroyed!
Chapter 179: The Second Horcrux, Destroyed!
A piercing scream, like a knife scraping against the brain, rang out. For a moment, Lupin was stunned, his mind reeling.
Then, they saw a huge humanoid shadow rush out, its body engulfed in flames, twisting and screaming in agony. It caught sight of Ved and Lupin.
"You... How dare you..."
It roared in madness and charged at them in a frenzy. Lupin, startled, snapped back to his senses. He thrust his wand forcefully into the ground, and a massive transparent barrier appeared before them.
The fiery figure crashed into the barrier, and the fierce fire splattered like shattered glass. Then, the firebird rushed forward, pouncing on the fiery figure and tearing at it.
Roars and screams alternated as the figure struggled to break free from the firebird's grasp, attempting to attack the duo, only to be blocked by Lupin's barrier.
In the most dangerous moment, the barrier was almost shattered, but the firebird suddenly grew several times in size, pinning the shadow to the ground. Its sharp claws nearly tore the shadow to pieces.
The fierce fire splattered, but without any fuel, it quickly died out. The old Gaunt house and the nearby trees were reduced to ashes.
Suddenly, the shadow let out a despairing wail that seemed to come from the depths of its soul, and it vanished.
Only the firebird, having lost its enemy, pounced to the ground, looking around in apparent confusion.
Under Ved's control, the firebird gathered all the scattered flames and lay among the ruins of the Gaunt house, burning until the last blade of grass was gone and the last brick was split.
Lupin lowered his wand, his face as pale as paper, his fingers trembling slightly.
The last time, it was the crown in the cave, and this time, it was the Gaunt house... Both incidents involved similar shadows that screamed in agony... They seemed to have a mind of their own and attacked those who tried to destroy them...
This couldn't be a coincidence.
Lupin's mind conjured up some terrifying speculations.
He recalled the magic books he had read, trying to identify the type of magic that could produce such effects.
The firebird's body shrank smaller and smaller.
Finally, it lay among the dust, its body as small as an egg. It tilted its head to look at Ved, opened its mouth, and let out a silent, feeble chirp.
Ved hesitated for a moment, then walked over and crouched down, maintaining his control over the fierce fire.
Then, a thin silvery mist emanated from the tip of his wand, enveloping the firebird. Instead of being consumed by the fire, the mist gradually permeated the firebird's body.
Of course.
Pure thought has no physical form and cannot be burned.
As the mist thinned, the firebird's eyes became more lively. It no longer attempted to set Ved ablaze but instead submitted, bowing its head.
Ved chanted softly, and magical runes flashed one after another on the firebird's body. Mystical magic arrays overlapped, and complex magic texts moved along specific trajectories, embedding themselves into the firebird.
The dissipating fierce fire absorbed stray magical power from nature, stabilizing its body. On its illusory form, feather patterns began to form.
Lupin stood by, holding his breath, not daring to disturb the process.
Even as a wizard himself, he found this alchemical transformation of a living being profoundly mysterious and wondrous, almost forgetting to breathe.
Faintly, he thought he heard a heartbeat, or perhaps it was just his imagination.
After an unknown amount of time, Ved lowered his wand.
The firebird jumped a few times on the ground, suddenly spread its wings, and flew into the sky. It alternately flapped its wings in high-speed flight and dove with its wings tucked in, sometimes darting back and forth at lightning speed and sometimes perching on tree branches to dance gracefully.
When it landed, Lupin's heart skipped a beat, fearing that it would set the nearby forest on fire again. But the dry branches did not ignite, and only a few charred marks appeared where the firebird had been.
After flying for a while, the firebird flew to Ved's front and landed. It opened its mouth, stretched out its neck, and after a few seconds of effort, finally let out its first cry—
"Cheep!"
A small clump of flames splattered onto the dry leaves in front of the firebird, causing them to ignite instantly.
The firebird was startled and quickly jumped back. After observing for a while, it opened its mouth and swallowed the clump of fire, then hopped back to Ved's side.
Ved reached out his hand.
"Be careful!" Lupin exclaimed, startled, and quickly tried to stop him.
But the firebird had already jumped onto Ved's palm, carefully controlling its flames. Still, tendrils of white steam rose from its feet.
Lupin looked closely and noticed a thin layer of water film on Ved's palm. Although the boy was unharmed, Lupin shook his head disapprovingly and said, "That was too risky."
"It's fine," Ved reassured him. "I created it with the beliefs of protection and loyalty, and it will never harm me. It's not an indiscriminate force of fire anymore but a sentient being."
"Then you must keep an eye on it," Lupin advised. "If this little guy flies out, it could cause a huge disaster."
"Of course, it will stay by my side at all times," Ved agreed, thinking for a moment. "How about we name it Mikhail? The Sword of Flame... a light born from darkness."
Lupin looked at the little bird, tilting its head to size him up, and said, "That's a great name."
Coincidentally, the little bird nodded as if in agreement with his opinion.
Lupin couldn't help but smile.
He had seen Ved's magical pets before and had personally gone to the Aslan Magic Workshop, representing Ved in the design and manufacturing process, so he wasn't surprised by this.
But Lupin hadn't truly realized that Mikhail was different from the previous magical pets.
The difference lay not just in their physical forms but, more importantly, in the very essence of their lives.
Conventional biomancy involved imparting thoughts to inanimate objects. Even though Ved's version of magical pets was more flexible and capable of growth than wizard's chess pieces, they were not truly alive; they were merely magical versions of AI.
However, Mikhail was different.
When Ved discovered that traditional biomancy couldn't be applied to these fiery creatures, he had a moment of insight and recalled what Professor Mori had taught him about true alchemic life magic.
Although Professor Mori had stated that creating life was a taboo in magic, she had still taught Ved about it intermittently during their lessons.
At that moment, as Ved and Mikhail gazed into each other's golden eyes, a thought occurred to him:
Are you truly alive?
Or are you... just appearing to be?
In his mind, life alchemy should be a lengthy and arduous process, not something accomplished in just a dozen or so minutes.
Ved stared intently, his eyes glowing with interlacing patterns of magic.
Even though the magic imbued in the firebird originated from Ved, as he gazed at those patterns, he felt a sense of complexity and profundity.
It was as if this firebird hadn't been created by him but was a natural wonder, a miracle of life.
(End of Chapter)
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