[Chapter Size: 1900 Words.]
Third Person POV
Hogwarts.
...
...
Severus entered the hole and quickly began to descend in free fall, while finding many more ants trying to climb up the only path created by themselves.
"Igris, go ahead," he said, while his shadow shot forward, slaughtering all the ants as it materialized with the sword.
[Congratulations, you have leveled up. You have reached level 180.]
Severus received the system notification while raising an eyebrow as Igris continued killing the ants. He was at level 180. He felt that he could reach level 200 soon, before his trip to the lair that the system said would open in three days.
He felt something down below. Something powerful that would be good to get closer to 200. That made him excited as he passed through the countless bodies left behind. Igris continued advancing. Severus noticed that his royal guard had become much stronger since the moment he awakened his official shadow, after that throne room.
Just like all the other shadows, which had been growing a lot since he had placed them all under his command. The shadows were becoming stronger over time, and that satisfied him — he was not the only one evolving.
Either way, he kept descending and already knew he was far below the level of the castle. Believing that he was now even beneath the deepest levels of the Black Lake and still did not stop going down.
He received information from his shadows outside, stating that they had already wiped out all the ants inside the castle. He simply ordered the majority to come to the place where he was going, keeping only a few as a precaution to protect the students.
When he saw that the hole was becoming more horizontal, he quickly slid along the walls, dodging the dead ants, until he found himself in a completely flat tunnel, with Igris continuing his slaughter ahead.
Severus followed him until Igris stopped at an entrance, killing all the ants that approached, while a roar of rage began to echo through the enormous chamber, amplified by the space.
"All of this is beneath Hogwarts..." Severus murmured, surprised as he approached the entrance.
What he found down there was more than just a hall — it was a massive space. They were beneath even the Black Lake itself, and the place was the size of Hogwarts and the entire lake combined. There were at least tens of thousands of ants appearing, moving across the gigantic pillars that seemed to support the castle above.
They had no wings and climbed up and down the pillars ceaselessly.
Severus admired the place for a few seconds before looking at the source of all that chaos. He saw a broken frame in the distance, but there was no portal there.
"How long have these ants been here? How can a dungeon have so many monsters like this?! Has it been so long since their portal closed?" Severus commented, looking with curiosity.
He couldn't help but shudder. With this quantity of ants, if he wasn't careful and they were released to the surface, the whole of Great Britain would be in great danger.
Something caught his attention — and it was not the queen ant, the largest of them all, roaring furiously upon seeing him from afar, making the others respond in the same way. That one should be the boss.
But something bothered him. The sensation of presence did not come from her, but from the cocoon in the back, a blue light pulsing inside it, as if it were a beating heart…
Could it be a new monster evolving? It was clearly stronger than the queen, much stronger, Severus could feel the mana pulsing from it.
Severus pondered. He still couldn't fully understand what was happening.
Either way, some shadows arrived to him at that moment.
"Kargalgan, you arrived just in time." Severus opened a smile upon seeing the orc Shaman, while countless ants began to run toward him under the queen's orders.
"Devastate them." It was the only command Severus gave before Kargalgan began to release his powers, creating a circle and summoning some symbols in the air. His mouth opened and a beam of fire emerged, shooting forward at the ants.
The trail of fire crossed the entire area, exploding everything into flames, while the ants were devoured alive by the fire.
"Let's continue on our own, since we have given our greetings," Severus said, pulling out his daggers. He would spare his magical energy and advanced, jumping from the hole as he fell into the area crowded with ants.
More shadows began to appear, coming from Hogwarts. Igris came right behind Severus, falling in free fall onto the mound of ants.
Quickly, Severus entered combat, cutting the ants as if they were cheese, killing one after another, and continuing to advance through the area. Igris came right behind as well, and all the shadows began to manifest.
Chaos took over that place — screams, shrieks, and cracking sounds echoed, while Kargalgan continued firing flames at the entrance of the hole, reducing it and preventing any ant from escaping, guarding the entrance.
"Advance!" The shadows quickly began to gain ground, until they encountered the queen.
She began to emit shrieks, transmitting orders, while her eyes constantly looked toward the cocoon, as if she expected it to open at any moment.
Before she could react, Igris advanced directly against her. The queen roared in pain, trying to move away from the flames passing near her and did not have time to properly form her defense. When she noticed, Severus was already there, advancing with his two daggers after slaughtering all the ants around.
He was about to attack when something inside the cocoon broke at that moment. A huge tongue shot out from inside it, advancing toward Severus and the queen.
Severus reacted immediately, cutting the tongue, which allowed the queen to retreat, while the tongue returned inside the cocoon, even injured.
He ignored the queen and looked at the cocoon with even more interest.
"If you're in there, don't be shy. Show yourself. She must be your mother, right? She raised you to be stronger than her from what I can see. Why don't you show me what you're capable of and try to protect her?" Severus remarked with a small smile, while the blue inside the cocoon began to shine increasingly.
A shadow began to emerge from within it, standing out against the light.
In the next instant, the cocoon exploded — releasing a wave of mana so strong it surpassed any other creature Severus had ever faced.
The energy shot in all directions. "Well, this is interesting."
Severus couldn't help but murmur, smiling, as what was inside the cocoon began to manifest, cracking and breaking. Huge claws appeared — a creature different from all the ants there; despite the resemblance, it was humanoid. Gradually, it crawled out of the cocoon and landed on the ground.
"An ant-man or something?" Severus commented, as the being turned its head toward him.
"Are you the king?" the creature asked. Severus raised an eyebrow — a monster that speaks was rare, he thought, before answering.
"I wouldn't say I'm a king. Why do you ask?" Severus replied, curious.
"I want to kill the strongest human. He must be the king," declared the ant.
"Well, I don't remember being a king, but you will certainly die by my hands. But I can also say I'm a Prince." Severus declared.
The ants were already upon him when they were massacred by the shadows that arrived to help. Igris passed by him and charged at the queen to finish the job his group had started, going straight for her.
Suddenly, Severus was impressed by the speed of the enemy ant that had just emerged from the cocoon — it shot forward so fast that Igris had no time to react and his body was sliced by the sharp claws.
Severus just shook his head, pleased by the speed, while Igris transformed into a black mass before beginning to regenerate.
"You are protecting the queen," Severus observed.
"She created me. Created me to protect her and make me stronger; so I must kill everyone who threatens her," declared the ant.
Severus simply drew his wand. Saying nothing more, he raised the wand and thrust it downward in a motion. The humanoid ant was stunned; its eyes widened when a blue bolt emerged from above them and fell behind it and struck the queen herself, consuming her body in a blow — the queen lost her head where the bolt hit her.
"Now you don't have to protect her anymore," Severus said with a tone full of mockery.
"How dare you!" declared the ant, charging as a red energy began to explode across its body, as if trying to intimidate Severus. It began to unleash energy in all directions; even its allied ants recoiled at the sight of the enraged ant-king.
Outside, the Aurors and teams were gathering, trying to figure out what was happening, sending groups and bringing information about the situation inside the castle. No new monster had been seen — only a pile of bodies scattered across the place. Suddenly, a tremor was felt.
"Hey, what is it now?" some students said, frightened.
"Stay steady! Be careful not to bump into each other!" — Professor McGonagall ordered them to remain calm.
"What is happening inside? No... what is happening down below?"
Rosária murmured, until suddenly, an explosion came from inside the castle, shooting through every corridor, coming directly from the third floor. Everything was filled with a wave of red energy — the windows, even the closed ones, opened and trembled as a red wind appeared for everyone like a scarlet spectacle.
"This is almost equivalent to the power we felt that time... when Severus destroyed the Death Eaters and Voldemort himself..." Professor Slughorn could barely hold back his gasp.
"The energy... this is far beyond any living creature in the wizarding world..." commented Dumbledore, his eyes turning to Rosária.
"Tell me, Miss Valenstein... did Severus say anything before entering that hole to the chamber below?" the headmaster asked.
Rosária hesitated, wondering if she should answer or not. "He told me there was something very dangerous down there. And that I shouldn't be involved... that's why I stayed," she said.
The headmaster nodded slowly. "It seems he was right. That being is more powerful than all of us," he said, his voice low and worried.
At that same instant, another explosion came from the castle — this time bluish — overlapping the previous red energy, making everything shake even more.
"What is it now?!" a student shouted, frightened and trembling.
Rosária raised her eyes, feeling it differently from the others. "That's Severus..." she spoke almost in a whisper — it was as if he were responding to the enemy.
Meanwhile, in the depths beneath Hogwarts, a humanoid ant shone in red, its aura exploding with power, facing a man enveloped in an equally intense blue aura. Both stared at each other, motionless, while the ground crumbled around them and the air seemed to have vanished.
The problem was that this was not happening only down there.
The energy of the two was spreading throughout the entire castle, leaving students, professors, and Aurors frightened by what was happening.
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Raccoon Here:
Just to let you know, this fanfic is starting to enter its final stretch on my Patreon. In 30 chapters, things start to happen one after another. Severus begins the biggest battle narrated in this story, against the Ice Monarch's army with 500,000 monsters, facing his more than 100,000 shadows of the Shadow Monarch in the middle of London.
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