Beneath the surface of the Black Lake, the waters churned as thick tentacles thrashed in fury.
For a moment, Theodore actually wondered if some eldritch Old One was about to break the surface and start whispering madness into people's ears.
A heartbeat later, he caught himself and finally remembered which creature in the original books fit this description.
"The Giant Squid?!"
Theodore was stunned. He really couldn't see how the Giant Squid had anything to do with Yuanshi Tianzun.
By his earlier guesses, Yuanshi Tianzun's counterpart in this world should have been Gryffindor's founder, Godric Gryffindor. So why was this here?
Until a joke he'd once heard in his previous life surfaced in his mind—and made him suck in a sharp breath.
Back then, J. K. Rowling had once joked in an interview that if Gryffindor's founder were still alive, the most likely candidate would be the Giant Squid in the Black Lake—that it would be the greatest Animagus in the wizarding world.
It had been a throwaway gag. How had it become reality?
Could Godric Gryffindor really have become the Giant Squid?
If so, what was he trying to do now? Why reveal himself at this moment, and why attack Theodore's group?
There was nothing like this in the original plot.
Questions tumbled through Theodore's mind as he stared into the dark water, trying to use his Seven Apertures Exquisite Heart to make sense of the muffled, booming sounds rising from the depths.
This time, even that talent failed him.
The reason was simple.
If the Giant Squid really was Godric Gryffindor, then the founder was almost certainly mad.
The sounds he uttered held no meaning at all—barely even counted as language. They were the incoherent mutterings of a lunatic.
Mixed into that chaos, Theodore could only barely make out a few fragments—syllables he wasn't even fully sure of:
"Ancient…"
"Return…"
"Terror…"
Theodore frowned and thought of the prophecy Professor Trelawney had made at the Sorting Ceremony.
The age of the old "Big Four" would come to an end. A new Big Four was rising. And in that prophecy, too, the ancient were said to be returning.
Was this one of the first signs of that prophecy taking shape?
Before he could chase the thought further, the sky itself dragged him back to the present.
The Giant Squid's tentacles moved through the lake with a strange, deliberate rhythm, as though it were waving a wand. Magic of staggering intensity gathered in a way Theodore had never felt before.
Waterspouts began to twist up from the lake's surface. The clouds, wind, hail, and lightning in the heavens above grew even more violent.
For a moment, it felt like both sky and water were closing in on Theodore from all sides.
A flicker of something unreadable passed through his eyes.
"Magic that can twist the heavens themselves… There's nothing like this in the modern spellbooks," he murmured. "Only in stories of ancient witches and wizards are there records of such feats."
"So this is probably… ancient magic?"
He licked his lips, but his gaze remained steady—no real panic to be found.
A suspected founder-level being. Ancient magic. For almost any witch or wizard, that would be enough to shake them to their core.
Theodore was the exception.
No matter how strong a wizard, no matter how terrifying their magic, they were still confined to the framework of this world's wizarding standards.
Theodore's sights were set on the Great Desolation.
The Big Four? So what?
Did these people have any idea how much weight that name carried—Great Desolation?
Looking upon the storm, Theodore felt no fear—only the itch to test himself.
A thin film of golden light rose over his skin.
Unworn by calamity, eternal and indestructible—Adamantine Body, Unclouded Mind.
The storm raged. Hail hammered down. Dark-violet lightning coiled around him like serpents.
None of it could budge that golden radiance by so much as a hair.
Theodore lifted his head, eyes gleaming as he stared up into the ancient-magic storm. A faint, cold smile tugged at his mouth.
"You're using wind and thunder in front of me?"
"At least figure out who rules the wind and thunder first."
For the first time since he'd obtained it, Theodore unleashed his Command Wind & Thunder talent without holding anything back.
In that instant, the gale fell still. The thunder paused.
Then both reversed.
Wind and lightning swarmed toward him, whirling around his body like subjects around their rightful king. They circled just outside the blaze of gold, crowning Theodore in the air like a thunder god—like Lei Zhenzi reborn.
He plunged into the storm.
In the raging heart of ancient magic, Theodore ripped the tempest apart piece by piece, shredding it into tatters and turning its remnants into his own mount and cloak.
All the while, he swung his staff.
Dense staff-shadows bloomed around him, while killing intent surged from every direction and gathered along the length of the staff. It slowly coalesced into a force so heavy that even Theodore felt a chill—an aura strong enough to threaten his reinforced body.
Staffwork Reaches the Divine—one staff to make even immortals bow their heads.
With the power of wind and thunder added on top, this was unquestionably Theodore's strongest strike to date.
In the Black Lake below, the Giant Squid seemed to sense the danger. It suddenly began to sink deeper, retreating into the dark.
Theodore bared his teeth in a grin.
"After finally sticking your head out, you want to run?"
His staff came crashing down.
It was as if a small mountain had been hurled into the lake. Water exploded upward, geysering nearly a hundred metres into the air.
But a thick, inky blackness suddenly spread beneath the surface. Even Theodore's Night-Sight couldn't pierce it. In the blink of an eye, the Giant Squid vanished from his vision.
He arched a brow.
Not done yet, he swept his staff again, killing intent surging skyward as he dove straight into the Black Lake.
The four seas boiled; winds shrieked across the nine provinces.
A massive whirlpool formed around him, spiralling down from each sweep of his staff. For a moment, it really did feel like some divine ape crashing into the Dragon King's palace beneath the waves.
But the Giant Squid seemed to have fled far away. No matter how he searched, there was no sign of it.
Within the roaring vortex, only a single merperson approached Theodore, trembling all over.
In halting, heavily-accented English, they pleaded:
"Little wizard, I… I am chieftain of the merfolk under the Black Lake. Please, stop the magic!"
"Our people cannot bear this. Our home is soon destroyed!"
"If you stop now, you'll be honoured guest of the merfolk. Anything you want, we agree!"
As they spoke, the chief pulled out a small pouch crammed full of pearls and gemstones.
Theodore's eyebrow twitched upward. He slowly stilled his staff. The suffocating aura that had the merfolk leader on the verge of collapse finally faded away.
The truth was, he'd already lost the Squid. Keeping this up would only wreck the merfolk's home—and he had no real quarrel with them. They'd lived in the Black Lake for generations; tearing their home apart would be going a bit too far, even by his standards.
Besides, he could feel the sincerity behind the mer-chief's offer.
He glanced at the System panel.
[The talent you displayed has deeply shocked the Lord of the Dragon Palace. Certain that you will earn a high rank in the Jade Void Palace, the Dragon Palace's Lord takes the initiative to curry favour.]
[Your relationship with the Dragon Palace's Lord has reached the level of casual acquaintance. You obtain a talent reward—Where Dragons Dwell, Spirit Wakes.]
[The dragon race commands clouds and rain, and governs all the world's water-veins. From those water-veins, they may draw spiritual qi. With this talent, you may harvest spiritual qi in places where the water-veins are strong.]
[Used together with Dining on Wind & Drinking Dew and Sun & Moon's Essence, the effect will be greatly enhanced!]
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