Chapter 156: The End of the Snake Eyes!
"Compared to various fire dragons, this Basilisk is more akin to the dragons in my understanding. However, in its current Basilisk form, it can at most only be called a Flood Dragon."
Dylan examined the Basilisk thoroughly, from top to bottom, left to right, front and back. Finally, he let it go.
"However, the Basilisk itself is not a creature naturally bred in the wild. It's a monster hatched by a dark wizard's magical means, from a toad using a rooster's egg."
Slowly standing up, he put the scales pulled from the Basilisk, the horn powder ground from its head, and even some of its teeth that he had chipped off into small bottles. Dylan slowly walked towards his laboratory.
"So, now that this Basilisk has become my experimental material, do I have a chance to further research and create a true dragon based on it?"
Thinking about the possibility of one day creating the true dragons he imagined, Dylan couldn't help but feel a little excited. Although this path was merely an idea he had, in reality, whether it was science or magic, daring to imagine was the sharpest blade that could cut through the m mists of reality!
Only by first outlining the blueprint in one's mind can one find the path to reach the goal.
Anyway, if he could come here from his own world, what else was impossible? Dylan was already brainstorming how to use this Basilisk to advance his various researches.
As Dylan strode away, behind him, the Basilisk's massive body lay limply on the ground, looking like a buckwheat noodle.
Its huge head drooped weakly, and the malevolent gleam in its eyes had long vanished. Even its usually tough scales now seemed to have lost some kind of support, clinging limply to its body. Many parts of its body had scales scraped off by magic, revealing bloody wounds.
However, no fresh blood seeped from the wounds—it seemed it had all been harvested already. Its mouth was stained with some red, as if a lot of blood had flowed earlier.
Its once sharp teeth had been forcibly broken off in small sections by someone, appearing jagged. The gums where the teeth were broken were swollen and red, and every breath tugged at the wounds, making the Basilisk tremble in pain.
The Basilisk's gaze followed Dylan, its pupils shrunk to the size of soybeans, filled with terror and numbness. Coal scurried to catch up with Dylan. Norberta looked at the pathetic state of the large snake. She suddenly recalled her master's previous actions of plucking scales and drawing blood from her.
—It felt like Master was completely lenient with me back then!
Norberta retracted her neck, looking at the Basilisk with some pity. However, whatever her master wanted to do, she would naturally fully support it. And this guy looked so fierce; it must have provoked her master earlier to be captured! Hmm! So this stinky snake deserved it!
Her not-so-bright mind quickly processed a few pieces of information, and Norberta lifted her head again, marching towards Dylan.
In just over a year, her size had grown considerably. The house Dylan used for his experiments naturally couldn't accommodate her. But Norberta was clearly accustomed to it. She merely circled outside the house, looking like a proud guard, protecting her master from disturbance.
Placing the various materials harvested from the Basilisk one by one on the table, Dylan wasn't in a hurry to begin his research. Instead, he glanced at his system panel. After opening it, the icon symbolizing achievements was flashing continuously and regularly.
"First, let's claim this wave of achievement rewards."
Clicking on the icon, Dylan's gaze swept over his completed achievements.
[Achievement]: I, Lord Voldemort!
[Description]: From now on, Voldemort shall be my servant for sweeping and tidying!
[Requirement]: Possess Voldemort! Hmm~ How is possessing a part of his soul not possession?
[Reward]: Max-level Random Dark Magic +1
[Achievement]: Terrifying the Good Student
[Description]: You, evil one, as a schoolmate, almost scared a good student to death! You are utterly wicked!
[Requirement]: Make Tom Riddle feel horrified.
[Reward]: Mental Control Magic Resistance +10
[Achievement]: Tom Riddle's Breakdown Observer
[Description]: What better way to signify yourself as the new Dark Lord than to witness the former Dark Lord's expression of collapse before you? Make the old man roll out of the wizarding world!
[Requirement]: Witness the young Dark Lord's expression, more splendid than a Dementor stuck in snot.
[Reward]: Ability to vaguely perceive the source of strong negative emotions in others.
[Achievement]: Interdimensional Human Trafficker
[Description]: Evil, insidious, despicable, and malicious, you actually kidnapped people! And a snake! In front of the Savior!
[Requirement]: Kidnap hostages in Harry's direct sight.
[Reward]: Dark Lord Aura +10
[Achievement]: Serpent's Eye Tales
[Description]: You have won the fear of the King of Snakes! All snakes will fear you!
[Requirement]: Make the Basilisk regard you as an extremely ominous entity.
[Reward]:The End of Snake Eyes
Scanning these achievements, Dylan's eyebrows subtly raised. Among the achievements, the most practically useful ones were clearly the new max-level magic achievement reward and the The End of Snake Eyes.
Dylan thought for a moment, then decided to claim the max-level dark magic first. He gently closed his eyes and instantly entered a void. Only a dark star above his head emitted light.
With a flick of Dylan's thought, the star plummeted!
"Swish!"
The next moment, Dylan opened his eyes, and magic surged around him. He abruptly raised his wand. As a low incantation emanated from his mouth, in an instant, Dylan saw a ghostly green light explode before him. Then, a gigantic snake slowly emerged from the light.
The giant snake's body was winding, its scales shimmering with cold light, and its coarse texture exuded a terrifying aura. The size of this giant snake was actually comparable to that of the Basilisk! Its triangular head was held high, and its vertical pupils revealed a captivating malevolent gleam. As its tongue flicked, a foul odor would spread.
[Message]: Congratulations! You have mastered a max-level spell—Serpensortia!
When Dylan came back to his senses, he saw the system prompt, and he had once again mastered a max-level spell.
"Serpensortia?" He hadn't expected the spell he learned to be related to summoning, similar to the flock of birds, and summoning a black snake at that. However, the summoned creature he saw in the recent illusion, both in size and ferocity, far surpassed the black snake Malfoy had summoned during the Duelling Club.
"Now that's a real Serpensortia!" As expected of a max-level spell; a casual use immediately showed the difference from others. Dylan was quite satisfied.
Although the Basilisk was now in his trunk, this item couldn't be shown to others. The Ministry of Magic strictly forbade others from creating Basilisks; such methods were too evil, and Basilisks themselves were extremely dangerous and ferocious magical creatures. So, at most, this Basilisk would remain in his pet space, becoming an experiment that provided him with materials.
If it were a bit more obedient, for example, if it eventually chose to submit to him under his long-term tyranny, Dylan could also let it replace Norberta and Coal, becoming a patrol demon in his space to deter other creatures.
This way, the Basilisk could at least move around on its own, instead of being completely paralyzed there every day by Dylan's spells, unable to move.
—Prolonged inactivity would obviously make the Basilisk's body sluggish. The materials it could provide would naturally be of lower quality than at first. Dylan didn't want such a thing to happen.
However, Dylan didn't receive an opportunity to contract a new pet after completing this achievement. Just using the Imperius Curse... not to mention that the Basilisk itself had magic resistance, which would frequently drain Dylan's magic.
This prevented him from using it too many times without intending to kill the Basilisk. Even if he frequently used the Imperius Curse to control the Basilisk and combined it with other soul spells to immobilize it, he would still be outside and couldn't constantly stay in the trunk space.
So, there was no guarantee that the Basilisk wouldn't become cunning one day due to his torment. It might take action against the creatures in his trunk space while he was away, ultimately destroying his pet space, which he had spent a fortune to create. Dylan would have nowhere to cry.
Therefore, if the Basilisk could express its submission to him on its own, Dylan wouldn't force it into complete confinement. However, whether this could be achieved depended on whether the Basilisk had that self-awareness. Of course, Dylan wasn't overly concerned about this.
After all, even if he couldn't directly control the Basilisk, Tom was still the Heir of Slytherin. And now, Tom was in his hands.
While the Imperius Curse was difficult to maintain on the Basilisk for long periods, Tom, being merely a fragmented soul, had significantly reduced power now. Ultimately, he was just a cheap piece of merchandise parasitic in a Horcrux. What right did he have to resist the Imperius Curse?
So, if he couldn't control the Basilisk directly, he would control Tom first. Having Tom control the Basilisk would achieve the same result.
Dylan turned his attention to another reward.
[Trait]: The End of Snake Eyes
[Ability 1]: End of Snake Disaster
[Effect]: When the The End of Snake Eyes is activated, all snakes within a forty-four-meter radius centered on you will be forced into a forced paralysis mode. Enemies other than snakes who meet your gaze will be dragged into a dream illusion, enduring overwhelming and endless fear of a serpent plague.
[Ability 2]: Serpent's Curse
[Effect]: You will master Parseltongue, and every Parseltongue phrase you utter can be converted through magic into chapters of the "Apocalypse of the Worm." Unleashing this book will cause mental contamination to others.
[Ability 3]: Fear Reversal
[Effect]: Snakes intimidated and killed by you will project their final gruesome death scenes into your dreams upon death. The greater the number, the stronger the effect of your End of Snake Disaster.
Scanning the abilities of the The End of Snake Eyes, Dylan's eyebrows subtly raised in surprise. This trait actually provided him with three abilities directly. And quite remarkably, almost every one of these three abilities had extraordinary effects!
The first ability allowed him to create a domain almost identical to the trait effect he had acquired through magical refinement. Within a full forty-four-meter radius, all snakes present would instantly be paralyzed.
—Evidently, the Basilisk would likely also be included in this range. So, having mastered this ability, Dylan could try to see if he could integrate this effect into a certain object. Then, normally, he could completely use Coal, or directly use this object, to control the Basilisk's movements.
And besides snakes, other creatures could also be forcibly dragged into a dream by meeting his gaze, enduring the biting serpent plague within.
If someone had a strong enough will, they might break through this dream directly. However, catching the opponent off guard and pulling them into a dream for a moment would be enough for Dylan to use this vulnerability to bombard them with Avada Kedavra.
As for ability two, it allowed him to directly master Parseltongue. This way, he wouldn't need to covet Harry's soul or refine Riddle's remnant soul. He could become a Parselmouth just like them!
And this ability was not limited to that. Dylan carefully felt it out. Suddenly, a deep, eerie black mist rose from his palm. Accompanied by a low incantation, a thick tome emerged from it.
The cover of this tome was made of rough leather from an unknown creature, and it also seemed to incorporate some metal, its dull hue giving the impression of having been soaked in blood countless times. Dried blood patterns crisscrossed its surface, and the edges of the pages were bound with sharp, twisted metal, shaped like fangs, gleaming coldly under the light. The cover bore large characters: Apocalypse of the Worm.
Dylan raised an eyebrow. "Just looking at this thing, it really does give off a feeling of mental contamination."
Dylan opened the tome. On its yellowed, rough pages, lines of obscure runes were etched, looking like worms wriggling out from the depths of time. Dylan gazed at these characters and could tell that they seemed to be related to Parseltongue. He could even read them one by one.
Dylan took a slight breath, channeling the magic within him, his tongue trembling as he uttered the first section of the Serpent's Curse in Parseltongue. The next moment, a sound like a snake's hiss winding from distant mountains, eerie and prolonged, pierced into one's ears.
As he chanted, threads of magic peeled from his fingertips, sinking into the pages, recording the content of the curse in flowing blood-red light. The previously dim runes now seemed to come alive, looking even more like wriggling worms.
The instant the last character fell, the entire Apocalypse trembled violently. A more intense evil aura surged forth. What was originally just an oddly shaped object now exuded an indescribably chilling sensation. Just a glance could make one's stomach churn, like countless cold, slimy worms crawling and wriggling inside one's body.
Dylan could also feel this sensation, but as the owner of this Apocalypse, he felt it as if it were a gentle breeze, experiencing no discomfort.
"Mental contamination, huh?" Dylan stroked his chin. He turned and glanced at Coal. The little fellow was wide-eyed, staring at the Apocalypse in his hand, baring its teeth, and silently retreating backward. It had already reached the doorway.
"Indiscriminate attack?" Dylan reached out and wiped the Apocalypse, trying to make the book not attack his own creatures like Coal. But it didn't work.
Dylan frowned slightly. "If it causes indiscriminate mental contamination... that's a bit troublesome. Does this mean I still have to let Kael'thas use it?"
Dylan's lips twitched. Imagine: a figure in black robes, wielding a wand of authority in his right hand, summoning illusions of mountains of corpses and seas of blood. His The End of Snake Eyes open, creating endless nightmares of terror. His left hand cradling the Apocalypse, with mental contamination from worms sweeping over everyone.
He wouldn't even need a wand to instantly cast fifty Unforgivable Curses—fifty of each. Making the Unforgivable Curses rain down, surrounded by Fiendfyre, attacking everyone. Finally, the traits from magical refinement would layer several more killing domains...
"Why do I suddenly feel like I've become a very strange person? Regardless of the abilities I possess or these dark experiments I conduct every day... this isn't at all the direction I originally wanted to rush towards!"
Dylan took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled. Forget it. Anyway, as long as it allowed him to go further in the end, that was enough. He hadn't killed anyone, nor had he set fires. Although his experiments and the spells he researched might be slightly radical, it couldn't be denied that he was still a good kid, a good student!
—Even better than Tom! —A million times better!
Dylan hummed softly. He then looked at the third ability of the The End of Snake Eyes—Fear Reversal. This ability, compared to the first two, wasn't particularly dazzling, but it was closely related to the first ability.
When he activated the The End of Snake Eyes, he could drag enemies into a dream and subject them to the serpent plague. As for how terrifying the serpent plague was... that naturally depended on how many snakes he could kill, and how gruesome their deaths were. The more terrifying and horrific, the deeper the fear an enemy would experience upon entering his serpent plague dream.
"I'm truly defeated. Doesn't this force me to torture and kill living beings? How can I, such a kind person, bring myself to do that!" Dylan sighed slightly. In the not-so-distant cockroach and spider circles, those little creatures all froze in place.
"But thankfully, this time the trait given to me wasn't that 'Underworld Roaring Beetle Pressure' or whatever. I don't know how brain-dead one has to be to roll out such a trait."
Dylan was quite satisfied with this set of achievement rewards. At least, besides these two rewards, both the mental resistance and the ability to vaguely perceive strong malice emanating from others were decent effects. Dylan nodded and closed the system panel.
He turned and looked at Coal again. "Go play with Beta outside. Don't let any other creatures disturb me, and don't let them fight in the forest—if they do, remember to bring me any fallen blood, fur, teeth, or bones."
Coal blinked, then gently nodded: "Moo!"
Since Coal was a Shadow Beast, and Shadow Beasts were quite rare magical creatures in the entire wizarding world, Dylan naturally couldn't find another one to refine its living soul and thus understand Coal's language.
However, Coal was his pet after all; even if it didn't understand what he was saying, it could understand his meaning. Just like him and Beta. Even before he could transform into a Norwegian Ridgeback, he wasn't unable to communicate with Beta.
It was just that after completing his Animagus transformation, he could communicate with Norberta directly through speech, without relying on the soul connection between master and pet.
Coal's meaning, naturally, was a resounding agreement. Dylan waited for it to leave, then began to sort the various materials he had just extracted from the Basilisk. Some materials needed to be preserved properly.
Otherwise, over time, the magic within the materials could gradually dissipate, eventually leading to a continuous weakening of the material's properties until they disappeared, becoming ordinary items useless for potion brewing or other research.
After handling the materials, Dylan wasn't in a hurry to conduct experiments. After all, he didn't know what the situation was like outside.
He had abducted Tom, along with the Horcrux, and even the Basilisk. This was not like the original plot where Harry resolved the problem. Therefore, he couldn't be sure what would happen next.
So, Dylan decided to go out and read for a while, or just go to sleep directly. He would see what happened tomorrow.
Thinking of this, Dylan prepared to leave the trunk space. However, before that, he took out a notebook. This notebook was wrapped in a wizard's robe. The wizard's robe had several effects enchanted by Dylan's beautification function: obscuring vision, shielding senses, and blocking hearing.
Dylan wasn't sure if little Tom had any way to convey what was happening here to other old Voldemorts.
Therefore, without using the Imperius Curse on him, Dylan still felt that he should be careful in his actions to avoid revealing any weaknesses. He didn't want Voldemort to know his true identity before Dumbledore and the other professors did.
"I'll just throw it in the corner for now. Only I come to this laboratory." Dylan placed Tom's diary on a bookshelf in the corner, planning to research it later when he had time.
In this laboratory, Dylan would also wear a black robe that obscured his face to ensure that even if any information was leaked, others wouldn't immediately recognize his true appearance. This was called being prudent~!
Imprudent people tend to die messy deaths. Dylan didn't want to become an old schemer like Dumbledore, but a little schemer was necessary.
"Wait, what nonsense am I spouting?"
.....
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