"Graaaargh… Aaargh."
The thing letting out inhuman screams no longer held the shape of a person.
Its skin had become translucent, revealing everything hidden behind it, and its human form was melting away.
I watched this with interest. "Aha, I see. So it really is a Horcrux. The fact that you didn't die immediately after being hit by the Killing Curse proves it."
Whether one could reasonably call that state 'alive' was questionable, but regardless, it was still moving after being hit by the Killing Curse, wasn't it?
And that wasn't all.
As time passed, its collapsed form was returning to its human shape.
Like a melted candle rewinding time to regain its original form, Riddle's ruined body was gradually reverting to its original state.
"Gahak! Keuk!"
As his body regained its shape, Riddle gasped for air and made a retching motion.
Naturally, nothing came out.
Though it mimicked a human, it could never be called a human with a body in the truest sense.
Watching this, I raised a corner of my mouth and asked, "Brat Riddle, how did it feel to experience death?"
Riddle stared at me with eyes full of hatred and screamed, "Knightly… Knightly!!"
However, there was an emotion in his eyes that he could not hide.
An emotion that Tom Riddle, that Voldemort, had likely never felt in his life. Or more accurately, an emotion he would have denied feeling even if he had.
Deep within his pupils, Riddle could not conceal the fear that was the sole province of the weak who had met the strong.
"What… what was that magic… What in the world was it?"
It seemed the terror of the modified Avada Kedavra had been immense.
I watched him and asked softly, "Brat. Do you understand who you've messed with now?"
Riddle flinched at my words as if his spirit had been broken, but animals tend to become more aggressive when wounded.
It was an apt metaphor, as the ways of Dark Wizards in thought and action were not so different from those of beasts.
"Knightly. I understand that you are a powerful wizard. However, even with such magic, you could not kill me!"
Then, as if a brilliant idea had struck him, he pulled the trembling muscles of his lips into a smile.
"Ah, yes. Yes! There's that. No matter how strong you are, would you really have the heart to abandon the other students?"
He then whipped his head around to look at a corner of the ruined Chamber of Secrets.
The very place where Potter, Lockhart, and Malfoy were being held captive.
***
Hermione was disoriented by the deafening explosions that shook the cave as if it were collapsing.
The moment Aisen and the unknown heir confronted each other, a black, curtain-like barrier had separated them from everyone else. Naturally, she couldn't see what was happening inside. It was clearly the heir's doing.
All Hermione could do was listen to the tremendous sounds of the battle raging behind the dark curtain, her heart in her throat.
No. There was one other thing she could do.
The task Aisen had entrusted to her. Fulfilling it properly was the only way she would be able to look at him with pride when he returned alive from that battle.
She had to remain calm.
*'Aisen… he'll be alright, won't he?'*
But Hermione couldn't calm her pounding heart. She knew, of course, that Aisen was an incredibly powerful wizard, but whether he was powerful enough to rival the Heir of Slytherin was another matter.
Could Aisen possibly win amidst the clash of those roars, which seemed to far surpass the level of a student, perhaps even the level of the professors…?
No, that couldn't be. Aisen would surely come back alive and well. And he would tease her just like he always did.
Hermione shook her head, trying to banish the dark thoughts.
With her composure barely regained, Hermione whispered as quietly as she could, "Harry, where are you!"
If Harry was conscious, he would surely respond to her voice.
If not… she would have to search every inch of this vast space before the battle ended. Hermione prayed it wouldn't come to that.
Fortunately for her, a moment later, Harry's voice came from somewhere in the Chamber.
—*Hermione?*
Following the welcome voice, she found it was coming from behind a pile of collapsed stones.
"Harry! Are you behind there?"
"Yeah. You actually came to rescue me!"
She briefly wondered how to move the boulder, but then she recalled Aisen's advice: when you can't find a reason not to destroy something, just break it.
*Surely breaking this much won't make the cave collapse.*
Having made up her mind, Hermione shouted, "Harry, I'm going to break the wall, so stand back!"
"…What did you say?"
*That's strange. Is she really the Hermione who would say something like that the moment she sees a collapsed wall? Wasn't she more… thoughtful than this?*
Before Harry had time to question it, Hermione drew her wand, aimed it at the wall, and shouted, "Bombarda!"
"Hermione, wai—!"
*BOOM!*
An explosion erupted before Harry could finish his sentence, destroying the wall.
And as the dust settled, the scene revealed was… Lockhart and Malfoy, unconscious and buried under the new rubble, and Harry, watching it all with a dumbfounded expression.
Hermione looked at the scene, thought for a moment, and asked, "Was that my fault?"
"Do you have to ask something so obvious?"
After staring at the sight in disbelief for a moment, Harry showed her the iron shackles on his wrists. "First, could you get these off?"
"Oh, right."
Without hesitation, she raised her wand towards the shackles, but Harry, noticing that her wand movement was the same as for an explosion charm, hastily stopped her.
"Wai-wait! You're not trying to use an explosion spell, are you? An unlocking charm will be enough!"
"…Oh, right. Sorry, Harry!"
Hermione looked at her hand, startled, as if she'd only just realized. Perhaps it was the result of spending so much time with Aisen, who solved all sorts of problems with destruction.
She was shocked to realize that, without even thinking, her mind had jumped to the conclusion of just breaking it.
"Ah, Alohomora!"
With a click, the shackles came loose. Harry, freed, rubbed his wrists and said, "Hah, finally free. Thanks, Hermione. But Aisen…?"
At his question, Hermione answered with a grim expression.
"Aisen is… fighting the heir by himself right now."
"By himself?"
"Yes. We can't even see what's happening because of a dark curtain the heir put up."
However, contrary to Hermione's expectations, Harry's expression brightened.
He spoke with a confident tone. "In that case, it's better to just trust Aisen. He'll win in no time. We should be thinking about how to escape in the meantime."
The two then turned their gazes to the fallen Lockhart and Malfoy.
Unconscious and buried under rocks, the sight of them inspired a degree of sympathy, despite all they had done…
"…We should take them, right?"
"…I suppose so, right?"
That Harry and Hermione hesitated for even a moment was by no means a reflection of any malice on their part.
And it was just a coincidence that at that very moment, the two men's faces began to turn marble-white as their vitality drained away.
Seeing this, the two shouted in alarm.
"Harry! Something's wrong. Are you sure it's okay to take them like this?"
Harry's expression grew serious as well. This was undoubtedly related to Tom Riddle's soul fragment. If that was the case, he didn't know what would happen if they were separated from the source—the heir.
The best-case scenario was that the curse would vanish once they were away from the cause, but in the worst case, they might lose any way of lifting the curse.
Knowing this well, Harry said with a hardened face, "…Let's clear this rubble first and watch them. There might be a problem if we move them now."
*KRA-KA-BOOM!*
Just then, the dark curtain that had been spread across the Chamber of Secrets was lifted.
And the scene revealed was… the heir, collapsed and groaning, and Aisen, without a single strand of his black hair out of place.
"Aisen!"
Hermione shouted upon seeing his clear victory.
*Flicker.*
The eyes of the heir, who had seemed to be defeated, snapped in their direction.
*SWOOOOOOSH—!*
And then, his entire body turning into dark smoke, the heir flew straight towards them.
"Damn it…!"
Seeing this, Harry instantly grabbed Hermione and quickly attempted to Apparate.
But no matter how talented he was, there was no way a twelve-year-old could properly use Apparition.
Appearing only about five meters away, Harry and Hermione tumbled to the ground. They could only be grateful that they weren't seriously injured.
However, the heir's interest had never been in Harry and Hermione to begin with.
"Come here!!"
The heir, who had reformed from smoke back into a person, seized the unconscious Malfoy and Lockhart.
***
Riddle shouted, drunk on his victory. "Knightly! From now on, every time you so much as lift a finger, I will absorb the life force of these two. Even if you have the power to kill me, you won't have the power to save them!"
Riddle cheered inwardly.
This was it, the only path to victory!
Yes, he now understood just how powerful a wizard this Aisen Knightly was.
He might even wield a power greater than Dumbledore's.
Nevertheless, Riddle's mind was now as calm and unshakable as the surface of a tranquil lake.
Why had the so-called heroes always been defeated by the Dark Lord? The answer was simple.
Those who professed to be wizards of the light could never cast aside their ethics.
No matter how much power they possessed to destroy everything, they could not use that power properly for the sake of protecting the insignificant.
Dumbledore was the same. To have power rivaling Lord Voldemort's, yet to do nothing more than play headmaster at this pathetic magic school!
Riddle could guarantee it.
The wizard before him would be the same. He would be bound by the triviality of hostages and unable to attack him!
…Of course, this was after he had somehow erased from his mind the fact that this wizard of the light had just used a terrifyingly modified version of Avada Kedavra.
"Hostage threats. How classic."
Therefore, Riddle was confident he could maintain his composure no matter what Aisen said. A thought that was shattered exactly five seconds later.
What sent a tremendous ripple through Riddle's calm heart was not what Aisen said next, but what he took out.
"In that case, shall I try a hostage threat of my own?"
The moment Tom Riddle, or rather, Tom Riddle's diary, saw the object he produced, he couldn't help but let out a scream, his face twisting horribly.
"You! You! H-how did you get that!"
Because from the object he had produced, a golden cup, he felt a very familiar aura.
They were Lord Voldemort's other Horcruxes.
With a snap of Aisen's fingers, the object vanished again.
Though it disappeared like an illusion, Riddle could not dare to think it was a fake.
He had instinctively realized that a magical wavelength similar to his own was flowing from it.
Seeing the way Riddle's eyes darted about aimlessly, Aisen raised a corner of his mouth and said, "How about it, Riddle? The moment you so much as lay a finger on the hostages, I will start destroying this Horcrux, bit by bit. How about it?"
"…Damn it."
His last resort shattered, all Riddle could do was quietly close his eyes and mutter a curse.
***