Looking at the large field of Pute Fruit before him, Char subconsciously tightened his grip. To others, this might just be a strange fruit that could fill the stomach. But for Char, planting them would complete another crucial piece of the puzzle leading to his mythical life and mythical power. At the same time, only by obtaining the Pute Fruit could he meet the food demands of the trolls he had taken under his care. The yield of the goldfish spider plant could finally be increased.
Char had been stuck at the threshold of platinum-level magic perception for a long time, and as a result, his magical attainments had stagnated, making progress difficult. This was just the threshold for the platinum level. The requirements for diamond and even epic levels would only be higher. If he didn't increase the production of goldfish spider plants soon, Char doubted he would even be able to raise his magic perception to the epic level by the time of the final battle. Then, his magical attainments would be stuck in a rather awkward position. Whether it was his need to kill Antonius Dolokhov or his desire to change the fate of his friends, he would be powerless. Because of this, Char was determined to win. The Pute Fruit was essential.
But at this moment, Char was not overwhelmed by the sight of the fruit before him. He saw them. There were several Quintapeds wandering around the fields. Compared with the monsters that had appeared on the beach, these were smaller, seeming to be juveniles. They were too weak to join the siege on the beach and could only stay here, guarding the Pute Fruit fields. It seemed that for the Quintapeds, trapped on Drya Island without their usual source of food, the Pute Fruit had become their most important sustenance. Char carefully observed the movements of these young monsters.
"One, two, three… there are five of them," he counted silently. "They've been going around in circles, with no intention of stopping."
This made his expression darken. Pute Fruit grew as tubers. To meet the planting needs of his land on Sprout Island, he needed to get enough of them to divide out. Even if he harvested carefully under the Invisibility Cloak, the Quintapeds were not fools. Seeing so many fruits gone, they would definitely search the area inch by inch. That process would take too long, be too inefficient, and would likely lead to an accident. He had to hurry, to get what he wanted before Voldemort finished his battle on the beach.
Cold determination rolled through him. If I don't kill these five young Quintapeds, he thought, it will be difficult to harvest these fruits. Char didn't like taking risks. But sometimes, the purpose of taking risks is to avoid even greater risks in the future. Once he had the Pute Fruit, he would have a solid foundation for his planting enterprise. This risk now seemed unavoidable. Besides, before coming to Drya Island, he had made sufficient preparations.
Under the Invisibility Cloak, Char's head was covered in the bubbles from the Bubble-Head Charm. The water-gathering effect had been triggered, and both his magic perception and magic strength had reached their current peak. Even his thoughts were clearer and sharper than usual. In his hands, the sharp points of the shadow thorns glowed with a cold light. The shadows around his feet were slowly creeping. After a moment's pause, he and Eugene exchanged a glance.
Eugene snapped his fingers. The soil on the ground rose up, and several stones shot towards the five young Quintapeds. Waves of sharp screams, like the cries of children, came from the red hair of the monsters. Then, small, child-like heads popped out from the matted hair, crying noisily. Their five human hands swung furiously, smashing the stones to pieces. That wasn't all. The Quintapeds were like curse-firing machine guns. All five hands were capable of casting spells, and waves of magic filled with malice flew forward, each one promising excruciating pain.
But at that moment, behind them, a shadow vortex created by Shadow appeared silently on the ground. The writhing shadows transformed into sharp swords, lashing out at the nearest Quintaped. Before it could react, the shadow solidified, stirring violently. The child's head that extended from its red hair was strangled and fell limply to the ground, splattering foul-smelling blood everywhere.
As Shadow launched the assassination like the most experienced killer, Char emerged from the vortex with practiced ease. Almost simultaneously, he waved his wand, unleashing his most powerful single-target spell. His wand slashed through the air like a sword. "Sectumsempra!"
The sharp magic, more profound than when he had battled the Acromantula, exerted its amazing power even against a creature far more ferocious. The heads of two more young Quintapeds fell off. Char didn't even pause to celebrate. He threw another Sectumsempra at the fourth Quintaped and, at the same time, pulled a bat from his pocket. He swung it violently. The air exploded. An overwhelming force, the same strength that could wrestle with the Kraken, followed the bat and slammed fiercely into the fifth Quintaped.
No matter how ferocious the species was, a juvenile's physique was only so strong. After all, a Gryffindor student had once managed to capture one with a simple iron cage. Against this blow from Char, there was only one outcome. A series of sickening sounds, of flesh and blood exploding, were heard. A blood mist erupted from its red hair, and its strange head also fell to the ground. In the blink of an eye, four of the young Quintapeds were dead.
The only exception was the one hit by Char's second Sectumsempra. It was hit, but not killed immediately. A thin layer of skin and flesh on its neck held the head in place, and it stubbornly persisted, stumbling towards the more central area of the island.
Char's expression turned cold. Whatever it was going to do, he couldn't let it. What if there were more Quintapeds, young or even adult, in the center of the island that hadn't been lured to the beach? That would make harvesting the Pute Fruit even more difficult.
"Shadow!" Char growled.
The shadow transformed into a vortex, which reappeared on the ground. Char stepped into it. In the blink of an eye, he passed through the shadow passage, crossing the distance to appear not far behind the fleeing monster. Taking a few more steps, he caught up. His wand slashed again without hesitation. "Sectumsempra!"
Another curse was cast, and the young Quintaped fell to the ground cleanly, no longer moving. Only then did Char finally breathe a sigh of relief. In the short term, there would be no unexpected situations to affect his harvest.
Just as he was about to turn around and go back, his sight penetrated the mottled leaves of the jungle. He saw the direction where the Quintaped had been escaping and spotted a building standing there. Its architectural style was solemn and magnificent. It looked like a… temple?!
Char was stunned for a moment. All the classics he had read confirmed that before the Quintapeds wreaked havoc, the two wizarding families on the island were typical wizards. They did not believe in any gods, nor would they build any temples. Why was there a temple-style building here? Unless the MacBoon family built this temple after they turned into Quintapeds. But that was even more difficult to understand. A temple built by Quintapeds? What did they believe in?
Char subconsciously glanced at a corner of the temple building. Then he saw strange and bizarre patterns carved everywhere on it. The moment he saw the patterns, he felt a profound, subtle, evil, and ancient knowledge of black magic calling to him. On his system panel, a new line of words was taking shape rapidly.
[Ancient Black Magic]