"Crackle!"
Hydrus vanished.
"Where did she go?" Dumbledore asked.
"I do not know," Grindelwald shook his head. "Her state is a bit... unusual. I cannot say."
"Headmaster, how should we handle this?"
Professor McGall inquired, her gaze fixed on Grindelwald while her hand pointed toward Arjonia's corpse not far away.
Dumbledore let out a long sigh, pausing to reflect for a moment.
"Let the Ministry of Magic handle it. Report that Arjonia attempted to cast the Killing Curse on Audrey Astley and was neutralized by the faculty."
McGall offered no further comment, turning away to write a message to the Ministry.
"Crackle!"
Hydrus reappeared in the same spot, clutching a ring set with a black gemstone. Upon closer inspection, the Peverell coat of arms was engraved upon the stone.
It was the Gaunt ring, and that black gemstone was none other than the legendary Resurrection Stone!
Wasting no time, Hydrus wove strands of black magical energy around her fingers and wrenched a mass of dark mist from the ring.
"Aaaaaah—!"
A shrill, piercing shriek erupted from the ring. Aside from Grindelwald, Dumbledore, and Hydrus, everyone nearby covered their ears in pain.
"No! Stop!"
The black mist wailed in agony.
"My blood flows within your veins! How can you do this to me? I can grant you power! I can grant you authority! I can teach you to become a master over all others!"
Hydrus remained unmoved, steadily pulling the dark mist from the ring, inch by agonizing inch.
In the original universe, Dumbledore had used Gryffindor's Sword, imbued with Basilisk venom, to destroy the Gaunt family ring.
But Hydrus was different. She had inherited the complete legacy of Slytherin's soul magic.
Separating a soul fragment from a Horcrux without damaging the vessel itself?
That was a piece of cake for her. Only special cases—like Harry Potter, where Voldemort's soul was entangled with his own—would be truly tricky.
And even then, if one didn't mind the possibility of Harry Potter becoming a vegetable, it wouldn't actually be that difficult.
...
Near a distant cave exit, Barty Jr. and Selenis were still watching the scene unfold.
Voldemort's furious voice hissed from the back of Selenis's head: "That traitress! How dare she! How dare she!"
His shouts were almost silent, as he didn't dare be discovered by Dumbledore.
That old man standing next to Dumbledore reeked of the Dark Arts. If he wasn't mistaken, it was the legendary Gellert Grindelwald, the man who had nearly brought the wizarding world to its knees!
With these two old lions present, even at his peak, he wouldn't dare raise his voice!
"Selenis! You seem... quite pleased?"
Though Voldemort's voice was soft, it resonated like a thunderclap in Selenis's ears. she pleaded instantly:
"Master, I'm not! I'm not!"
Selenis was, of course, overjoyed. Knowing that Voldemort was the one responsible for the destruction of her family, how could she not be happy to see him suffer like this?
But that slight leak of emotion was immediately detected by Voldemort.
Voldemort gave a cold snort. "Barty Jr., let us go. It seems I need to teach Selenis a lesson in discipline. This place is no longer safe; we must move."
"Yes, Master."
The destruction of the Horcrux was a foregone conclusion, but Voldemort didn't seem to have much regret. His rage appeared to stem solely from Hydrus's 'betrayal.'
That was because he had discovered another path to immortality—one far superior to Horcruxes!
It turned out that gods really did exist in this world!
Not only had they lived for thousands of years, but they possessed such terrifying power...
Heh heh heh heh...
Becoming a god... it didn't seem so far out of reach after all!
...
...
"This is..."
"A Horcrux!"
"The Gaunt ring... the Resurrection Stone!"
Hydrus extracted every last shred of Voldemort's soul fragment from the ring. The mass of black mist struggled violently within her palm.
The soul fragment radiated waves of intense hatred and fear.
These negative emotions directed at Hydrus couldn't harm her at all; instead, they served as a constant source of power, bolstering her strength.
Normally, Hydrus would have turned this soul fragment into an alchemical artifact to provide her with a steady stream of emotional energy, but now—
Hydrus slammed her hand into a tight fist. With one final, shrill scream, the soul fragment vanished into nothingness.
She didn't dwell on the fact that she had once again acted as a 'patricide.' Instead, she began channeling her magic into the Resurrection Stone!
At this moment, saving Edmond was the only thing that mattered!
She wanted him to live!
A moment later, Edmond's soul, glowing with a silvery light, drifted up from the ground.
However, his soul's eyes were tightly shut, and he remained motionless.
Hydrus let out a sigh. She had succeeded, yet she hadn't quite made it in time.
Edmond had indeed been pulled back before entering the Land of the Dead, making his resurrection possible.
Yet she was a step too late. He had already fallen into an endless dream of his own making.
In the process of plunging into the abyss of death, every soul experiences agony and despair. Within that torture, the soul activates a self-protection mechanism, using memories to weave a dream and dull the pain.
Hydrus had been a moment too slow in pulling Edmond up; his soul was now trapped in such a state.
He couldn't be woken up externally. Everything depended on when he could break free from the dream on his own.
But it didn't matter. As long as his soul was intact, he would eventually wake up.
Hydrus breathed a sigh of relief. The first step was complete.
Now she needed to find a vessel to temporarily house his soul.
Conveniently, she had one.
"Accio, suitcase!"
Opening the case, Hydrus plucked out the small, soulless Basilisk.
Basilisks were magical creatures of high intelligence. If Edmond's soul resided here, he wouldn't lose his sanity—a completely different concept from Nagini, who had been assimilated by a beast.
"Edmond, go on. It will be a bit uncomfortable for a while. Just have a good dream, and I'll make a proper body for you!"
With a flick of her fingers, Edmond's soul slowly drifted into the Basilisk's body.
Previously, the Basilisk felt like a mere breathing lump of flesh, but now, although its eyes remained closed, it felt as though it was simply asleep.
Hydrus was satisfied with the result. Slytherin's legacy told her that the self-protection triggered by the descent into death would last anywhere from one to three years before he woke from his self-woven dream.
Hydrus hadn't ignored Voldemort's method of resurrection, but after thinking it over, Edmond had no servants! Strictly speaking, he had no enemies either!
So, her plan was to build an alchemical puppet body, similar to the one used by Rowena Ravenclaw.
Once her own power reached its peak, she would simply transmute the alchemical body into flesh. Haven't the gods of 'life' in myths and legends performed such outrageous feats?
Like molding a clay figure and commanding it to become human...
Hydrus felt she couldn't afford to be lazy anymore.
Having Magni bring the fight to her doorstep today had made her realize a hard truth.
Without a peaceful environment at large, it is impossible for an individual to have a peaceful life of their own.
She had originally wanted to flee the final battle because she wanted to escape the unstable environment. She just hadn't grasped the deeper meaning back then and chose to run away.
Facts proved that running was useless.
And Edmond's 'sacrifice' had shaken her to her core. Seeing everything Edmond had done for her, she felt her past laziness was practically a crime!
The grand goal wouldn't change—that was a lifelong pursuit!
Eventually, she would live the life where she could sleep when she wanted, eat when she wanted, and play when she wanted.
But before that, she had to fight. She had to create a stable world where she could enjoy such luxury!
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
First, a small goal: become strong enough to fuse a soul into an alchemical shell and bring Edmond back!
As for how to get stronger?
Hydrus's answer: By becoming the main character!
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+50 chapters) patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]