Focusing his gaze on the Basilisk's mouth, Asterion avoided the petrifying stare and easily dodged the venomous bite, which grazed past his body.
Asterion attempted to speak amicably with the serpent, but the response was a massive mouth capable of swallowing a whole cow. Obviously, the Basilisk had no interest in conversation and was likely very hungry at the moment.
The Black heir wasn't surprised; fifty years of hibernation surely induced a profound sense of hunger. But that also meant the Basilisk wasn't at 100%; it was malnourished and hungry, following only primitive instincts to feed.
The good news was that it was easier to conquer a hungry and injured animal than one in good condition. The bad news was that a hungry animal would likely risk its life for food.
Asterion reinforced his body with strengthening magic and walked along the serpent's long, sinuous body while pointing his wand towards its eyes. With a swift flick of his wrist, a Lumos Maxima was chanted, illuminating the entire Chamber of Secrets in an instant, almost like the birth of a second sun.
The blinding light pierced the Basilisk's eyes, bringing a warm, burning sensation and intense pain. The Basilisk's enormous body writhed in agony, crashing uncontrollably against the walls of the Chamber of Secrets.
Balancing between the Basilisk's horns, Asterion pointed his wand downwards and used a Diffindo, but the magical cut left no mark on the Basilisk's verdant scales, demonstrating the incredible magical immunity of the laboratory-bred serpent.
But Asterion didn't stop using Diffindo; instead, unlike the previous attempt, this time he poured even more magical energy into the cutting spell. He believed there was a limit to the Basilisk's magical immunity, and once that limit was surpassed, it would be easy to penetrate the serpent's scales.
Another thought occurred to him: to use the moment when the Basilisk was attempting to bite and cast a stunning spell inside the animal's mouth, rendering it unconscious until the moment he received Salazar's inheritance and awakened his second Inborn Technique.
The only problem with this plan was that the venom in the Basilisk's fangs had the ability to break magic, as seen in the movies. This meant that casting a spell in its mouth was almost certain to be nullified.
Whoever created the Basilisk certainly knew of such an obvious weakness and added the venomous fangs to compensate for such an exposed and easily detectable vulnerability. So it remained for Asterion to create a cut strong enough to penetrate the scales and reach the serpent's flesh, thus casting a stunning spell on the Basilisk.
As he cast his fourth Diffindo, Asterion noticed the serpent was recovering and didn't hesitate to cast another Lumos Maxima, causing the poor ancient serpent to thrash furiously in pain once again.
Holding onto one of the horns for balance, Asterion ignored the world spinning around him and continued to increase the potency of his spells. Until he used 10% of his magic in a single attack!
The Diffindo spell, carrying 10% of Asterion's magic, tore through the air with almost surgical precision, collided with the magic-immune scales, and cut through the impenetrable scales first, making a three-meter-long gash, blood spraying onto Asterion's face and clothes.
The serpent, feeling a pain it had never experienced before, let out a hissing roar and violently thrashed against the walls of the Chamber of Secrets, trying to strike the ant on its back.
"Take a nap, little snake," Asterion gripped the horns to avoid falling and cast a Stunning spell with 10% of his magic.
At that moment, the enormous Basilisk stopped moving and crashed heavily to the ground with a thud.
"This kind of magical immunity is just too broken," descending down the Basilisk's face, Asterion couldn't help but complain about the serpent's magical immunity. It might seem easy what he did, but it was 10% of his magical reserves!
That meant he could only use eight of these spells!
Eight!
Asterion could cast tens of thousands of spells with his magic reserves.
Taking a deep breath, ignoring the smell of blood on him, Asterion didn't bother to adjust his appearance and made his way, covered in blood, down the ceramic path that traversed the suspicious green side.
In the Chamber of Secrets, only the sounds of his footsteps echoed in the open space. Arriving in front of Salazar's face, Asterion passed through the entrance, which oddly enough was within the statue's mouth. Inside the statue, he found himself facing a small, narrow corridor that could accommodate only one person. Walking forward without hesitation, the surroundings became extremely silent with each step he took.
At the end of the narrow corridor, there was a light, and as Asterion crossed that light, he found himself in front of a medieval living room with a fireplace burning with silent blue flames. Above the fireplace, a portrait of an old bald man with green eyes, dressed in an antiquated wizard's robe and holding a book in his arms. The man moved within the portrait, revealing that it was the animated portrait containing the memories of its creator.
Salazar looked at the blood-covered boy and spoke calmly. "After fifty years, another potential heir to my legacy."
He opened the book in his arms and conjured a quill, continuing to speak. "State your name and lineage."
"Asterion Black-Slytherin," Asterion spoke, his voice cold and calm.
Salazar, who was about to write the name in the book, couldn't help but pause and look up, his green eyes coldly observing Asterion, particularly focusing on his red eyes.
"Black-Slytherin, you said?" The portrait asked, as if he had misheard.
"Yes, that's correct," Asterion reaffirmed his ancestral lineage.
"I met young Corvinus in the winter of 1004. A young wizard, yet undeniably brilliant with an insane dream," Salazar spoke, his green eyes coldly shining with morbid curiosity. "Although I found his dream foolish, even childish, I admired his unwavering spirit. The will to persevere in the face of all difficulties, that's the essence of humanity that Corvinus embodied."
"That's what makes us superior to all intelligent races," he spoke, his voice filled with pride and disdain for other races. "Tell me, child. Do you dare to do the impossible? Even knowing that it will never be possible to complete your Noble House's ancestral plan? Do you dare to walk an endless path?" Salazar's portrait spoke, his voice tinged with a touch of emotion and a look bordering on madness.
"I am already treading that path of no return," Asterion looked into Salazar's green eyes and spoke coldly. "Whoever stands in my way, including you, will die."
Salazar was very pleased with his young descendant's response. To accomplish great things, you have to be cruel not only to yourself but to others as well. History taught that, human-shaped monsters who were deified as kings and gods, regardless of how many deaths they caused in the process of their ascensions to the top.
"But I must say, I did not expect my offspring to one day marry a Black," Salazar remarked, looking Asterion up and down, he noticed something curious about him. "Your red eyes are a mutation and make you hypersensitive to negative magical particles."
"Can you sense people's negative emotions?" He asked, even though dead for over a thousand years, his insatiable thirst for knowledge had not changed at all.
"Yes, but I don't use it much. Only when I'm creating a cursed spirit," Asterion replied nonchalantly, Salazar's curiosity was a good thing. It meant he had a great chance of awakening his second Inborn Technique.
"Creation and Manipulation of Cursed Spirits," Salazar murmured. "Indeed, an extremely powerful Inborn Technique, imagine creating your darkest nightmares hidden in your subconscious."
Regaining his composure, Salazar looked at Asterion and showed a cold smile. "I presume you are here to awaken your second Inborn Technique." Asterion nodded, confirming his ancestor's words.
At the same time, he knew what kind of person his ancestor was, someone cruel to others and even more cruel to himself.
"The process will be painful, so painful that all five attempts before you failed. They all had their spirits, minds, and bodies destroyed," Salazar Slytherin continued speaking with a cold and indifferent tone.
"I theorized the awakening of the second Inborn Technique when I was about to die. I used my third son, who was born without magic, as my first test subject. But in the end, he failed miserably. His body exploded in front of me, spraying blood in my laboratory."
Every word of Salazar lacked a hint of emotion; even speaking of the son who died because of him, there was no trace of regret or pain, almost as if it wasn't his own son who was killed, but just any peasant.
"The filthy half-breed before you refused the inheritance when he heard the risks, but it was to be expected; that boy was more afraid of death than anything else."
Asterion knew Salazar was talking about Voldemort; he hadn't expected that this was why Voldemort hadn't received the inheritance. Indeed, such a risky thing wasn't something Voldemort could accept, especially since he had feared death when he was still at Hogwarts.
"Will you accept it? Noble son of the House of Black," Salazar looked coldly at Asterion and asked calmly.
"I..."
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Author's thoughts: I got fired from my job, which means I'll have to write more so I don't go hungry... You'll have more chapters starting next week... I hope you enjoyed the two chapters.
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My new fanfic > Mythological Tales: Ruler of the Golden Order.
Next Chapter: Chapter 82 - Heir of Salazar Slytherin (3), Chapter 83 - Salazar's Heir Slytherin (4), Chapter 84 - Sequels, Chapter 85 - Civil War (1), 86 - Civil War (2), 87 - Civil War (3), 88 - Civil War (4), 89 - Civil War (5), Chapter 90 - Civil War (6), Chapter 91 - Battlefield (1), Chapter 92 - Battlefield (2), Chapter 93 – Conflicts on the Battlefield (1), Chapter 94 – Conflicts on the Battlefield (2), Chapter 95 - The War Intensifies (1), Chapter 96 - The War Intensifies (2), Chapter 97 - The Death of Voldemort (1), Chapter 98 - The Death of Voldemort (2) And end of the first volume.
Next Chapter Second Volume: Chapter 99 – Decision (1), Chapter 100 – Decision (2), Chapter 101 – Decision (3).