To be able to briefly render a painting that transcends his own tier?!
Ethan's eyes lit up.
He stroked the sleek, soft fabric in his hands, feeling the vibrant hum of life within it, and murmured with delight:
"Good stuff... As expected of a treasure dropped by the God of Death himself. It possesses characteristics that no other extraordinary material has!"
"Perhaps I can use this treasure to paint the one thing I haven't attempted yet—"
"A Rule-based Painting!"
Ethan's eyes sparkled. A longing surged within him, making him wish he could start painting right then and there!
He happily stowed this piece of "Heart Epidermis" into his bag.
Immediately, a faint, muffled boom resonated from the moleskin pouch, which had been enchanted with the Undetectable Extension Charm.
It sounded as if he had stuffed a clap of thunder inside.
"After so many years of accumulation, my moleskin pouch is practically overflowing with treasures," Ethan thought to himself, chuckling.
"Haha, if someone were to take a tour inside my bag, they might just write a sequel to The Chronicles of a Hidden Paradise in there~"
Simply beautiful.
Speaking of which, Ethan suddenly let out a confused noise.
"Eh? Why do I feel like... I've forgotten something?"
There weren't any living things in the moleskin pouch, were there?
Vaguely, he thought he heard an extremely faint roar coming from within.
Ethan cocked his head and listened for a moment, but silence returned.
"Hmm, maybe I heard wrong."
Ethan shrugged, casually putting the bag away.
Then, he stretched his limbs wide, let out a comfortable yet exhausted yawn, rubbed his eyes, and said sleepily:
"Alright, the dark wizard's underground chamber has finally been fully explored."
"Time to head back to my cell and get a good, comfortable sleep~"
Tonight, Azkaban would surely be very quiet.
Just as Ethan was casting a lingering, appreciative glance around the secret chamber, which was riddled with signs of decay, his spiritual intuition suddenly flared.
It guided him to look at the withered heart that had been split in two.
Ethan extended a slender finger, pointed at the heart, and whispered:
"Diffindo."
Magic lit up his fingertip, forming an invisible blade.
From a distance, it sliced through the massive, thick, mushroom-like heart with a squelching sound.
—Incidentally, this was the spell most commonly used for chopping potions ingredients.
And Ethan was always the one who chopped them best.
Even Professor Snape, stretching out his hooked nose to inspect the work, couldn't pick out a single flaw.
Inside the sliced-open heart, a section of pale white spine was revealed.
Its shape was perfectly regular, about the size of a forearm. Even though it was embedded in flesh and blood, the bone itself remained as white as snow and smooth as jade, emitting a faint glow.
"What is this?"
Curious, Ethan leaned down and picked up the spine buried within the heart.
The instant his fingers made contact, Ethan's mind was struck by a raspy, ethereal female voice—
[I implore you, take me with you. I will guide you to the side of the Death God.]
The voice vanished in a flash.
Ethan took two seconds to react, blinked, and then his eyes suddenly filled with excitement!
"To be able to breach my mental defenses in an instant and speak directly into my mind... Interesting!"
—This fairy-tale magical world truly had more secrets worth digging up!
Ethan licked his lips, his fingers stroking the ice-cold spine.
His gaze was burning, his heart filled with fearless curiosity.
[You have obtained an Extraordinary Item: The Guiding Bone]
[The Guiding Bone: Capable of pointing toward the remains of the Death God scattered across the earth.]
[An item left behind by some unknown existence. Because it possesses a strong connection to the Death God, when placed on the ground, it will always point in the direction related to Death.]
[Simultaneously, it can serve as an extraordinary material to enhance the power of paintings.]
—Isn't this just a bone version of a compass?
Ethan tossed it up and down curiously a few times.
Every time, the spine pointed in the exact same direction.
"It seems the System is right. It really is a compass—or should I say, a 'Death-Pointing Needle'?"
Ethan played with the spine, speaking with keen interest.
However, while it had a guiding function, the range was too vague.
He couldn't possibly just walk in the direction the bone pointed until the end of time.
"Besides, with my current strength, I'm not entirely confident I could face the next set of Death God remains."
"Killing the heart this time was a victory by the skin of my teeth. I can't guarantee that next time, I'll be lucky enough to come out on top again."
Ethan tossed the spine up and caught it with a snap, gripping it firmly in his hand.
He murmured with determination:
"For now, I should focus on improving my strength and successfully ascending to become an Immortal. As for the Death God's remains, I'll search for them as I go."
Just like this time.
wherever the remains existed, darkness and mutations would surely gather.
He would encounter them eventually.
"Still, it's not a waste. I've obtained an extraordinary item that can be used repeatedly and can strengthen my painting abilities."
Ethan gazed at the spine in his hand, his eyes curving into a smile.
In his mind, he was already formulating a plan on how to "modify" it.
"First do this, then do that, and then this... Hehehe~"
Amidst laughter that rivaled any dark wizard's, the pure, flawless spine began to tremble slightly.
...It was trembling as if a virtuous maiden had fallen into the clutches of a villain.
Just then.
A loud crack echoed through the room.
Ethan stopped his joyful laughter and looked towards the sound. A massive fissure had split open on the wall.
The heart had lost its vitality. The thick veins and arteries that had originally supported the walls were now withering and shriveling up.
The magic was losing its effect.
This underground fortress, which had been soaked in seawater for centuries, was rapidly aging and cracking apart!
In the blink of an eye, the initial crack spread across the entire wall!
Rumble—!!!
Feeling the ground shake, Ethan fell silent.
He pocketed the spine, turned, and walked quickly outside, grabbing Percy, who had just started to stir.
Swish.
He opened the Anywhere Door.
Percy, dizzy and weak, stammered, "W-What's happening...?"
Ethan looked down, flashing a gentle smile. "Minor issue."
"It's just that the foundation collapsed. Azkaban looks like it's about to cave in."
Percy: "???"
His eyes went wide, staring in shock at the rumbling, shaking surroundings.
His eyes rolled back, and he fainted dead away again.
He simply refused to face this overly surreal reality.
Ethan stepped into the Anywhere Door. The other end opened in the bottom-floor hall of Azkaban.
He poked his head out of the pitch-black doorway, startling the group of panicked Aurors huddled together.
Ethan: "Excuse me, when does my second trial start?"
The Aurors gaped, mouths hanging open, and answered hesitantly:
"Uh—it seems to be in the next two days?"
"Excellent. Looks like I'll make it back for Christmas."
Ethan curled his lips into a smile and spoke with utmost politeness:
"If there's nothing else, I'll be going then. Sorry for the disturbance during my stay."
"Uh—good... goodbye?"
With that, Ethan tipped the hat he had conjured and ducked back into the Anywhere Door, intending to teleport directly to the Ministry of Magic.
He just thought about how his dear Minister for Magic would react to his sudden, dazzling appearance.
He would surely be jumping with surprise.
Ethan couldn't help but chuckle; it made him feel warm and fuzzy inside.
People just needed to show a little more care, a little more connection with one another.
"Hmm, if I remember correctly, in the original story, Ron's father, Arthur, was bitten by Voldemort's snake right before Christmas..."
Ethan pondered.
That plot point hadn't happened yet.
He didn't know if he had 'butterflied' it away, or if it was going to happen soon.
"If it happens to coincide with my second trial, that would be quite the coincidence, hahaha."
Ethan laughed, making a mental note of it.
Before leaving, Ethan was exceptionally considerate and cast a protective barrier over the group of Aurors.
As the pitch-black door vanished from mid-air, the first brick of Azkaban fell.
The Aurors: "..."
RUMBLE—!!!
Countless bricks and debris fell from the sky like rain!
The ground collapsed with a roar, like a giant mouth opening up, swallowing the group of Aurors whole!
They were swallowed into the billowing dust and smoke!
—This tower that had stood for centuries, burying countless souls, the "most secure" prison in the modern wizarding world, the infamous Azkaban.
It collapsed!!!
Amidst the rubble and debris, the Aurors, safe within the protective barrier, let out a scream from the depths of their souls:
"Ethan! You godforsaken menace!!!"
He had completed a feat never seen before and likely never to be seen again!
It was enough to leave a heavy, indelible mark in the history books of the wizarding world!
As for his reputation... let's just say, he was now on equal footing with the two Dark Lords.
...Tomorrow's newspaper headlines were going to explode again.
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