The emerald-lit chamber, a long-awaited silence, was filled with an oppressive pressure.
The snake monster in the cage seemed to have gained a bit of courage, tilting its head slightly as it relied on its keen magical senses to detect the direction of its great master's descendant. The constant actions of its scarlet tongue flicking out and retracting revealed its unease, yet the immense source of magical power just a few steps ahead of it dared it not to move.
Amorsta and Tom Riddle looked at each other, both of them sorcerers who could see through many things through intuition, though they had not spoken yet, they had already begun to glimpse each other's true nature.
"You don't need to be like this, Professor Braun, we are friends, not enemies, do we?"
Ultimately, it was Riddle who spoke first. As he was far from fully resurrected, he was undoubtedly at a disadvantage in the confrontation with Amorsta. He offered a reserved smile, his gentle and polite voice as if Amorsta were truly his teacher.
"I heard from Harry Potter about some things about you in the past and after your return to Hogwarts, Professor Braun. There's no doubt that you're not a commonplace, mediocre talent. We are all the kind of elite that Saraquarth Slytherin would consider unique. Now, Hogwarts and the magical world are dominated by hypocrites and a bunch of idiots who only know how to cover up troubles. The world urgently needs change, and only we..."
"Mr. Voldemort--"
Amorsta interrupted Riddle's speech, cocked his head, and with a penetrating gaze, examined the core of the soul object in front of him. He casually said in a lazy tone,
"How many times have I faced your artifact?"
Riddle fell silent, his expression of astonishment quickly transforming into the calculating glow of a hungry wolf on the prowl. The creased nostrils on his otherwise handsome face turned his features fierce and ugly.
"What does that mean!"
Riddle seemed to have given up pretending, glaring at Amorsta with malice and asking,
"Soul stone... what is that thing? Are you saying that you have faced my original form before? Well, then you should know that Voldemort was the greatest wizard in history, his power is unimaginable to those fools who can't even scrape their brains!"
Amorsta pursed her lips, seeing more than just the boy's phantasmal figure in front of her. It wasn't the evil magic, or the terrifying power, but the soul, glowing with colors!
That is truly a remarkable thing!
Amorsta still remembered the soul fragments she faced when destroying the Crown of Destiny all those years ago, they were completely immersed in an endless sea of evil desires and darkness, they were completely uncommunicative, only using enchanting magic to lure people into sacrificing their own lives.
"---Amorsta Braun, you've had dealings with Dumbledore, you should know he's a narrow-minded little man who is suspicious of all gifted young people and is determined to destroy their talents. I dare say to you that Dumbledore will someday target you... oh, no, he's already made a move, isn't he?"
Amorsta's increasingly oppressive gaze made Riddle feel like he had a fish bone stuck in his throat. His lips curled up as he spoke in a rapid tone.
"The professor of the Defense Against the Dark Arts, did Dumbledore persuade you to take this job? Everyone knows that this course has been cursed by the Dark Lord himself, he wants to get rid of you through it... Bring me away, Braun. Wait for me to recover all my magic, I can help you fight Dumbledore!"
Amorsta has not dealt with the second Dark Lord, Voldemort, but the Tom Riddle before her is indeed a cunning guy who is adept at finding opportunities.
"Does it seem that this diary is the first soulstone you created?"
A quiet sentence from Amorsta left Riddle speechless. It seems he realized that no matter what he said, this rising star of Slytherin was determined to eliminate himself.
"---Emotion comes from the soul, and the dark magic of the soulstone will prioritize stripping away reason and emotion from the soul, turning a person into a madman controlled by desire..."
Dap dap...
As Amorsta took a step forward, the purple in his eyes began to fade at a visible speed, with magic thick enough to shake dragons, the air around Amorsta twisted like space on a tar road in the summer heat.
Suddenly, a deep rumble echoed through the vast and empty chamber, causing the snake monster in the cage to let out a fearsome hiss. It tucked its snake head into its coiled body, as if it had already encountered Tom Riddle's end.
The sculpture of Salazar Slytherin, level with the ceiling, silently observed Amorsta Braun and Tom Riddle below. The lonely statue standing for a thousand years was about to witness a Slytherin destroying his bloodline, or perhaps... upholding his true glory?
"I see the emotions of a normal person in your soul, Riddle... fear, hate, loneliness... oh... and many other interesting little emotions..."
"Wait... wait a minute--"
The faint silvery mist surrounding Riddle's pale face was gradually drawn back into his ethereal body, unable to move, he struggled to squeeze out his voice from between his teeth.
"You crave power, don't you..."
"We are all the same, there are secrets in this castle not just one, Professor Braun. I am willing to share with you those powerful ancient magic left behind by the Slytherin, as long as... uh!"
The rest of the words Riddle could not say anymore, as emotionless Amorsta finally approached him.
He watched as the young professor, who had been a source of unease since Riddle first became aware of his existence and was not afraid to expose himself to recover his body quickly, began to glow with a faint light outside his body. Then, he stared in horror as Amorsta slowly lifted his hand, the tip of his finger moving incrementally towards Riddle's brow...
Uh!
Amorsta ignored Riddle's pained whimpers, his fingertip, palm, arm, and entire body began to sink into Riddle's body. The diary in Riddle's pocket flew out on its own and floated in the air. There was no wind, but the pages of the diary seemed to be fluttering wildly as if blown by a strong wind. A stream of black smoke emerged from the pages with a sizzle, in the empty chamber, such a scene was eerie and foreboding!
A burst of brilliant light flashed before Amorsta's eyes, and when he came to his senses, his body had appeared in an unfamiliar space.
This space is like the vast and boundless universe, filled with tangible and fierce gray hurricanes that fill the space with an evil and powerful magic. It seems that the protection magic applied to the diary by Voldemort and the soulstone itself must be responsible for this.
Whew... boom!
The luminescence adhering to Amorsta's body surged instantly, forming an elliptical magical barrier around him. Endless hurricanes clashed against the barrier of faintly reddish color, and the explosive flashes as the opposing magic forces clashed seemed to make Amorsta stand in the midst of raging flames!
Amorsta surveyed the surroundings, and after a while, he sensed an unusual space to his right.
It seemed to be the core of the entire gray world, a ball of light that flickered in black and white was constantly radiating an ominous magic to the surroundings.
"Aha, found you!"
Amorsta smiled faintly, took out a glass bottle from his chest, tidied his collar leisurely, and walked slowly...
