บท 263: 0262 The Cave (Part-3)
As Bryan had said, the ghostly boat did not return to the shore after they left, it just stayed there, waiting for them to return or die.
The island in the lake was not large, about the same size as Dumbledore's office at school. The ground was a flat black slab, unlike anything natural. It looked like it had been carved out of the rock, or maybe it was a part of the magic that protected the place. It was smooth and shiny, reflecting the green light that came from the stone basin that stood in the middle of the island.
Standing on the island, they all noticed that the green light they had seen from the shore was much brighter, and Bryan blinked, knowing that this was the stone basin filled with green liquid that Kreacher had described in his story. Curious, he walked over to it.
Sirius had a gloomy face, now that he was here, he did not shout or scream to get back Regulus, but instead, he walked into the green halo with Remus.
The three of them surrounded the stone basin, which was the center of the island. Inside the basin, there was a basin of emerald green liquid, emitting a faint phosphorescence.
Bryan only glanced at it and then shifted his attention to the base of the basin, which seemed to interest him more. He ran his fingertip along the curved line downward, until his palm pressed on the smooth and cold black slab.
The green liquid in the basin was not very clear, and it seemed to swirl and ripple, as if it was alive. He hesitated for a moment, then looked at Bryan, who was acting strangely, "Do you have a way… I mean, to get out the fake locket, that… after all, it's Regulus's–"
"Sirius–"
Remus called him softly with a reproachful tone, "You heard what Kreacher said, what would happen if you drink the potion in the basin, you shouldn't trouble Bryan. Oh, to be honest, I kind of miss Snape right now, he's a potions master, he might have some advice on Voldemort's potion–"
'Maybe this potion was made by that snot'– Sirius was about to say this, but he held back, considering that Bryan was present.
Kreacher also hoped to get back Regulus's relic, but he was more concerned about Regulus's body, his eyes were always looking in one direction, where Regulus was dragged under the water by the inferis, that was a memory he could not face, but he could not forget.
But now, He did not dare to remind the three of them of their purpose, especially, he did not dare to disturb Bryan, Kreacher could see that, to get Regulus's body out of the lake, they had to rely on the new master of the Black house.
"It depends on how much you are willing to pay–"
Bryan clapped his hands and stood up, saying, with a cunning smile on his face,
"There are two ways, the simple one is like Regulus did, drink the stuff in the basin, it won't kill you, it will just make you lose the ability to move, I guess Voldemort did this to interrogate the wizards who came here, how they found this place, and what they wanted the locket for–"
To be honest, if he didn't have to look for Regulus's body, Sirius would have drunk the potion. Sirius would not let Remus and Bryan, who had come to the island, drink the potion, he had no right to do that, even if they offered, he would refuse, he was already grateful that they accompanied him to this cave full of dangers.
And Kreacher, Sirius stopped Kreacher, who was eager to try, with his eyes, even Regulus knew to sacrifice himself, he would not be so despicable as to order Kreacher to drink the potion.
"What's the second way?"
Remus asked for Sirius, breaking the silence. He looked at Bryan, who was standing near the stone basin, his expression unreadable.
"There's more than one way to get rid of the potion in the basin–"
Bryan tapped his left palm rhythmically with his wand, he scanned the darkness around the island, his smile cold,
"The base of the basin connects to the earth, linking the magic of the entire huge space, to destroy the potion in the basin with force, you have to drain the magic of the cave to a very low level, but, because of the 'magic negative pressure' phenomenon, this has a certain possibility of causing the mountain above to collapse.
Normally, this is a very stupid and thankless way, but unfortunately, I happen to have this mood tonight."
Mountain collapse– Hearing these words, the two middle-aged men looked up at the ceiling of the cave hidden in the darkness, shivering in unison.
"Let's find Regulus first, Bryan."
Sirius quickly changed the subject, trying to dissuade Bryan from his crazy idea.
Finding Regulus's body was indeed the first priority, Bryan nodded slightly, "Well, Kreacher, you must remember where Regulus was dragged under the water, right?"
"Kreacher will never forget, sir!"
The old house-elf wiped the tears from his cheeks, and pointed in a direction.
"Good–"
Bryan nodded with satisfaction, he saw that Remus had taken out his wand and assumed a defensive posture, and Sirius had also taken out the wand he had found in the old house, a wand of some ancestor of the Black family, his eyes determined, staring at the direction Kreacher pointed.
"The inferi won't come up one by one, before Regulus appears, you have to deal with them yourself, I won't help–"
After scanning the surroundings with his keen eyes, Bryan estimated the density of the inferis under the dark and murky lake near the small and rocky island. Then, he withdrew his sharp gaze and saw that Sirius and Remus were ready for battle, their wands gripped tightly in their hands, and even old Kreacher was in a fighting stance. Bryan nodded slightly and lifted his right index finger, which was resting on the base of his wand, and tapped it lightly.
Hum-——
A faint humming sound followed, and a gentle breeze appeared out of thin air, spreading from the center of his finger to all directions. Wherever the breeze swept, whether it was the green liquid in the basin that could not be touched directly, or the mirror-like black lake, they all rippled slightly, as if disturbed by a pebble.
Splash!
The next second, the lake surface suddenly surged, and countless dead bodies with stiff and pale faces emerged from the water. Their gray and lifeless eyes stared at the people on the island in the lake, and the green light from the basin shone on their faces, making them look even more ghastly. Although they did not roar, in the silence, everyone seemed to hear the deafening howl of the inferi.
"I've never seen such a big scene, Padfoot——"
Even Remus, who had experienced the cruel and bloody war years, felt his legs go soft at this sight. He twitched his mouth and sweat dripped from his forehead, mixing with the water on his face.
"It can't be worse than dealing with the Death Eaters, right, Moony——"
Sirius's voice also trembled a bit, but he refused to give up. He forced himself to look at the inferis of men, women, and children with their dim eyes, trying to suppress the fear and disgust in his heart.
The charge began!
In the distance, the inferis were floating towards the center of the lake, like a swarm of flies.
And around the island, hundreds of inferis gradually approached the shore from all sides. They shuffled their stiff steps and squeezed together, their shoulders and arms bumping into each other, causing their bodies to sway. Their movements were slow, but relentless, like zombies in a horror movie. When the inferis and the lake water rolled onto the shore, Sirius and Remus unconsciously backed against each other, feeling the coldness of each other's backs.
Sirius blew the horn of attack first. He threw out a curse, and the blue curse light shaped like a sickle flew over a distance of sixty feet and successfully tore off the legs of the frontmost inferi, sending blood and flesh flying.
But that did not make the corpse lose its ability to move. It and its companions who were tripped by it crawled together, relying on their arms, slowly but firmly crawling towards them, like a group of hungry worms.
Whoosh!
Remus's wand tip shot out a thin rope, which tied up several inferis on the ground, blocking the progress of the inferis in that direction to some extent. But in other directions, the corpses were still crawling towards the center like a tide, and the nearest ones were only thirty feet away from them, close enough to smell their rotten breath.
These slow actions won't work!
Sirius and Remus realized this at the same time. If they continued at this pace, they might be done for in less than two minutes. They needed to use more powerful and effective spells to stop the inferis.
The attack rhythm suddenly accelerated. Sirius and Remus moved around the island, which was not very large, in a crisscross pattern. One after another, dazzling and brilliant curse lights cut through the gloomy space and finally disappeared on the lake surface. From a high altitude, it looked like a grand fireworks show was being held on the island, but with a deadly purpose.
And Kreacher also played a big role. The house-elf's attack methods were not many, but fortunately, they were powerful enough. Kreacher jumped around, constantly flicking out a piece of silver light with his fingers, pushing back the inferis who tried to land. His face was twisted with anger and hatred, as he remembered his former master Regulus and his sacrifice.
"Have you seen Regulus, Sirius!"
Remus was still in the weak period of transformation. He had just soaked in the cold sea water for a while, and this high-intensity battle made him feel very exhausted. His muscles ached and his breath was ragged. After knocking down a few more inferis, he shouted at Sirius on the other side of the island,
"We can't hold on for long, unless we use fire to deal with these inferis——"
Fire was the only thing that could destroy the inferis completely, but it was also very dangerous to use in such a confined space.
"Wait a bit, Remus, Kreacher and I are looking!"
Sirius shouted back, his voice hoarse and desperate. He jumped on a low wall made by transfiguration, which was barely enough to keep him away from the inferis. He kicked off a middle-aged inferi who tried to grab his trouser leg, sending it tumbling back into the water. He looked anxiously for Regulus among the moving heads, hoping to spot his brother's familiar features.
Boom!
At this moment, a hundred feet away from the shore, the boiling lake surface suddenly burst out a huge monster. The monster looked like a rhino, with gray-white skin and a long horn on its head that shimmered with a slight metallic luster. It was covered with scars and wounds, some of them still bleeding.
This monster was obviously dead too, but it retained its previous strength. It easily knocked the dozen or so inferis in front of it into the air, and even a few inferis were directly torn apart by its hard horn, and white intestines and transparent slime splashed everywhere, creating a gruesome scene.
"There's a horned serpent here!"
Sirius almost vomited, but he forced himself to hold back. He jumped down from the low wall with a pale face, feeling a surge of nausea in his stomach. He staggered back a few steps and stabilized his body, then turned his head and yelled at Bryan, who was standing next to the stone basin and the base.
"Help!, Bryan, we can't handle this!"
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