Chapter 179: The Second Horcrux, Destroyed!
A piercing shriek, like a steel blade scraping against his brain, momentarily stunned Lupin.
Then, a gigantic, fiery humanoid shadow burst forth, its body twisted in agony as it shrieked. It then spotted Wade and Lupin.
"You... how dare you..."
It roared frantically, lunging at the two of them in a furious rage. A stunned Lupin snapped back to reality. He forcefully plunged his Wand into the ground, and a massive transparent barrier instantly formed before him.
The fiery figure crashed against the barrier, and Fiendfyre splashed everywhere like shattered glass. Immediately after, the firebird swooped in, directly tackling the fiery figure from above and tearing at it.
Roars and screams alternated. The figure tried to break through the firebird's entanglement several times to attack the two, but Lupin's barrier blocked it each time.
During the most perilous moment, the barrier was almost shattered, but the firebird suddenly grew several times in size, pinning the shadow down from above, its sharp talons nearly shredding the shadow.
Fiendfyre splattered, but quickly extinguished itself due to the lack of combustibles. The Gaunt Family's Old House and the nearby large trees were almost burned to ash.
Suddenly, the shadow let out a desperate wail, as if from the depths of its soul, and abruptly vanished.
Only the firebird remained, having lost its enemy, landing heavily on the ground. It seemed to look around, a little disoriented.
Then, under Wade's control, the firebird collected all the scattered Fiendfyre and settled on the ruins of the Gaunt Family's Old House, until the last blade of grass was burned and the last brick cracked.
Lupin lowered his Wand, his face ashen, his fingertips seemingly trembling slightly.
The Diadem burned in the cave last time, and now the Gaunt Family's Old House... both times a similar shadow appeared, both shrieked... and both seemed to have thoughts, attacking those who destroyed them...
This couldn't be a coincidence.
Some terrifying conjectures formed in Lupin's mind.
He recalled the Magic Books he had read, pondering which Spell could achieve such an effect.
The firebird's body shrank smaller and smaller.
Finally, it lay in the dust, its body as small as an egg. It looked up at Wade, opened its beak, and seemed to let out a silent, faint chirp.
Wade thought for a moment and walked towards it. He crouched down, never relaxing his control over the Fiendfyre.
Then, a thin silver mist emanated from the tip of his Wand, enveloping the firebird. This mist was not burned away by the Fiendfyre; instead, it gradually permeated the firebird's body.
This was natural.
Because pure thought has no form and cannot burn.
As the mist gradually diminished, the firebird's eyes grew more intelligent. It no longer eagerly wanted to set Wade on fire; instead, it docilely bowed its head.
Wade softly chanted a Spell, and streaks of magical patterns constantly flashed on the firebird's body. Profound magical arrays layered upon each other, and complex magical script moved along specific trajectories, embedding themselves into the firebird's body.
The dissipating Fiendfyre absorbed the free-floating magical energy from nature, and its body gradually stabilized. On its ethereal form, feather patterns slowly emerged.
Lupin held his breath beside him, not daring to disturb.
It was his first time witnessing Bio-Alchemy. Even though Lupin was also a Wizard, he found the process incredibly profound and wondrous, almost making him forget to breathe.
Vaguely, he thought he heard the sound of a heartbeat, or perhaps it was just his imagination.
After an unknown amount of time, Wade lowered his Wand.
The firebird hopped a few times on the ground, then suddenly spread its wings and soared high into the sky. It sometimes flew at high speed, flapping its wings, and sometimes folded its wings to dive downwards. It occasionally darted back and forth with lightning speed, and at other times landed on tree branches, dancing gracefully.
When it landed, Lupin felt a pang of anxiety, fearing it would set the nearby woods on fire again. But the dry branches did not ignite; only a few charred marks were left on them after the firebird flew away.
After flying for a while, the firebird landed in front of Wade. It opened its beak, stretched its neck, struggled for a few seconds, and finally let out its first chirp—
"Chirp chirp!"
A small ball of flame splattered onto a dead leaf in front of the firebird, and the leaf instantly ignited.
The firebird was startled and quickly hopped away. After watching for a moment, it opened its mouth and swallowed the ball of Fiendfyre. Then, it hopped back to Wade.
Wade extended his hand.
"Careful!" Lupin exclaimed, startled, and quickly tried to stop him.
But the firebird had already hopped onto Wade's palm. It carefully controlled its flames, but wisps of white steam still rose from its feet.
Lupin looked closely and saw a thin film of water covering Wade's palm. Although the boy was unharmed, he still shook his head disapprovingly and said, "That was too risky."
"It's fine," Wade said. "I created it with the belief in guardianship and loyalty, and it will never harm me. It's no longer Fiendfyre that doesn't distinguish between friend and foe; it's a sentient being with thoughts."
"Then you must keep a close eye on it. If this little guy flies out, it could cause a huge disaster."
"Of course, it will always stay by my side." Wade thought for a moment and said, "How about we call it Mihail? The Sword of Fire... light born from darkness."
Lupin looked at the little creature tilting its head to observe him and said, "That's a very good name."
Whether it was a coincidence or not, the little bird also nodded, seemingly agreeing with his opinion.
Lupin couldn't help but smile.
He had seen Wade's magical pets before and had even personally visited Aslan's Magic Workshop to represent Wade in the design and manufacturing process, so he wasn't surprised by this.
However, Lupin didn't truly realize that Mihail was different from the previous magical pets.
Their difference wasn't just in the different carriers; more importantly, it was in the fundamental nature of their life.
Conventional Bio-Alchemy imbues inanimate objects with thought. Even though Wade's version of magical pets was more flexible and had greater growth potential than Wizard's Chess, they didn't truly possess Life Alchemy; they were merely magical versions of AI.
But Mihail was different.
When Wade discovered that traditional Bio-Alchemy had no effect on this Fiendfyre creature, a flash of inspiration struck him. He remembered what Professor Murray had said about true Life Alchemy.
Although Professor Murray had stated that creating life forms was forbidden magic, he had still taught Wade bits and pieces of it during their lessons.
Now, as Wade met Mihail's golden eyes, he couldn't help but wonder:
Are you truly alive?
Or… do you just appear to be?
In his mind, Life Alchemy should be a long, arduous process, not something completed in a mere ten-odd minutes.
Wade gazed intently, golden magical patterns appearing in his eyes.
Even though all the magic on the firebird was bestowed by Wade, looking at those patterns now, he still felt they were intricate and profound.
It was as if this firebird hadn't been created by him at all, but was a natural miracle of life, born from the heavens and earth.
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