great-warnovel Chapter 172 The Cowardly Knight's Great Bow!
Chapter 172 The Cowardly Knight's Great Bow!
Chapter 172 The Cowardly Knight's Great Bow!
The giant snake, tightly bound by the steel goggles, writhed violently, wildly banging its head against the rock wall in an attempt to break the goggles.
Lockhart continued to turn stones into steel and fuse them with the eye patch, increasing its thickness and even beginning to spread it, trying to cover its mouth as well, but with little effect; the basilisk struggled extremely violently.
"Professor! Don't forget the Christmas present I gave you!" Hermione noticed Lockhart's predicament.
He shouted down.
But Lockhart had previously plugged his ears, so he couldn't hear anything at all. Focused on sealing off the basilisk, he didn't have time to see what the people on the cliff were shouting.
The blind basilisk strained to sniff around, and once it located Lockhart, it sprang up and lunged at him.
Lockhart immediately stopped casting the spell, and the Hippogriff carried him back rapidly. He then drew a circle with his wand, and at the spot where the basilisk landed, the ground softened into a mud pit.
With a loud crash, the basilisk plunged headfirst into the mud. Unfortunately, Lockhart's spellcasting time was limited, and the mud pit wasn't too deep, only causing its entire head to sink in.
A large gust of icy wind mixed with snowflakes blew out from Lockhart's wand, and an enhanced version of the Freeze Charm began to rapidly freeze the mud and the snake's body, with icy frost flowers climbing up the thick snake scales.
But this still couldn't stop it. Although the cold did affect some of the snake's characteristics, such a huge body wouldn't freeze so quickly.
Lockhart watched as the giant python struggled to pull its head out, and had no choice but to continue to distance himself.
"The cumbersome basilisk is no match for the professor—if he musters his courage, but its snakeskin makes it impossible for him to attack," Hermione said, frowning.
The narrow terrain, the intense desire to attack, and the extremely fast movement speed left Lockhart with no time to charge up and draw his bow.
"Is there anything special about your Christmas present?" Dumbledore asked curiously.
"I gave him some sword oil, which was made under Professor Lily's guidance. With his sword, it might be able to cut through the basilisk's soft parts."
Dumbledore chuckled softly, slightly opening his mouth, and an invisible sound wave traveled down, which even Lockhart's attempt to block out the spell failed to prevent.
As he was riding his horse, a faint but clearly audible whisper reached his ears. He belatedly released the silencing spell, then hung his longsword on the eagle-horse's saddle and reached into the leather pouch at his waist: "Sword oil, fly here!"
A wad of grease, wrapped in kraft paper and attached to a thin string, passed through various odds and ends and landed in his hand.
Before the basilisk could catch up, he stuck the grease onto the sword. With a pull of the thin rope, the grayish grease melted quickly and evenly, covering every part of the blade.
"Peerless Blade!" He mustered all his strength and used his strongest magic to imbue the longsword with a new sharpening spell. The entire blade began to emit a captivating light, while a layer of nitrogen-argon gray mist enveloped the blade, looking contradictory and strange. "I have to find an opportunity; the probability of breaking through the soft spot is greater." Lockhart examined the basilisk's entire body.
Apart from its eyes being covered by an iron eye mask, the basilisk's entire body is covered in hard scales, leaving only its mouth as a point of attack.
"Should I rush into the basilisk's mouth and thrust my sword in?" He hesitated for a moment.
Although this seems more reliable than staring directly into the snake's eyes and trying to pierce them, that huge mouth, big enough to swallow a dozen people, could probably chew him and the harpy up in an instant.
But the basilisk didn't give him much time to hesitate. After realizing it couldn't shake off the steel eye mask, it simply gave up on sight, opened its mouth wide, and continued to use the curse power it had used before.
The erected snake body began to writhe, and two emerald green figures reappeared in its gaping maw.
"Sister—" Lockhart murmured.
The familiar headache and delirium struck again, but he remained unmoved as if he were used to it.
"This time, I won't be afraid—" Taking a deep breath, he buried his fear and weakness deep in his heart, tried to compose his expression, spurred his horse, and charged towards the direction of the basilisk.
Lockhart drew up his sharp longsword and whipped up a gust of cold wind to lower his body temperature in order to avoid being detected by the basilisk.
"This time! I'll come to save you!" Even though he was shivering from the cold, Lockhart gritted his teeth and silently slid toward the basilisk's gaping maw.
The harpy seemed to sense its master's determination and silently charged toward death.
The power of the curse intensified rapidly as the distance closed, constantly eroding Lockhart's body, but he still endured the hallucinations and dizziness, staring intently at the phantom images of his sisters.
"Partner, I can't let you risk your life for me this time," Lockhart said softly.
Once he was close enough to the basilisk, he vanished from the back of the harpy with a snap, using his most proficient Apparition technique to teleport into the basilisk's mouth.
Even with a splitting headache and layers of phantoms eroding his will, he still appeared accurately in the basilisk's mouth!
Two faint shadows stood in the snake's mouth, with the foul-smelling, crimson esophagus behind them. They looked at Lockhart, who had suddenly appeared, and gazed at their younger brother with the same eyes they had when they were alive, silently opening their mouths to say something.
These are not the souls of the sisters, but a curse; they are merely manifesting what Lockhart wanted to see!
Lockhart had little time to think. Without further hesitation, he swiftly and decisively thrust his gleaming sword upwards, which, as expected, pierced the basilisk's upper jaw without any obstruction!
"hold head high!"
With a scream, the basilisk snapped its jaws shut, but Lockhart, at the last second, Apparated and returned to the back of the Hippogriff.
He stared tremblingly at his hand, a long gash—it was from being accidentally grazed by the snake's fangs when he let go, the longsword coated with hypnotic grease left in the snake monster's mouth.
The potent snake venom began to seep into the wound, but he had no time to be afraid. He casually pulled a bottle of antidote from his pocket and poured it on the wound, which could only slow down the onset of the poison. Fortunately, the Tears of Galatea could also alleviate the symptoms to some extent.
"Forget everything! Forget everything! Forget everything!"
We can't waste the effects of the hypnotic oil; it's the only way we can possibly restrain the basilisk.
He gritted his teeth and relentlessly attacked the basilisk with his strongest spells, combined with the concentrated life-and-death water that had penetrated its upper jaw and was close to its brain, constantly eroding the basilisk's will.
Aside from the excruciating pain of being stabbed, the potent Life-and-Death Water made the basilisk unable to even feel the wound, only experiencing a comfortable numbness and itching.
Wave after wave of the Oblivion Curse eroded its will like a tide, causing its mind to short-circuit and making it increasingly drowsy, as if a vast ocean had descended from the sky, burying its beast-like soul beneath the sea.
Finally, after countless forgetting spells, the basilisk swayed and fell heavily to the ground.
"It's not over yet." Lockhart gritted his teeth. The intense snake venom made his entire left hand feel like it was in an ice cellar, but fortunately the antidote had a slight effect, and Hermione's perfume was reliable enough. He could hold on for a little longer.
On the cliff, McGonagall no longer wanted to continue.
"Gidero is dying, we have to go down and save him!"
Dumbledore remained silent, while Flitwick and the children were filled with anxiety, clutching their clothes and staring intently down below.
But Hermione stopped her: "Don't you trust Professor Lockhart?"
She glared at him, unable to hide the burning fighting spirit in her eyes: "I want to go down even more than you do. It's been a long time since I've had a proper fight."
As she spoke, she turned to Lockhart below: "But this is a respectable battle. The professor is not only killing the Basilisk, but also his past self!"
"We should trust him! Just as you trust me!"
McGonagall was persuaded by her and remained silent, no longer moving forward, the girl's words still echoing in her ears.
"Good buddy, fly higher," Lockhart whispered, almost lying on the horse's back with his arms around the Hippogriff's neck.
The hawk seemed to be blaming him for abandoning him earlier, and smacked him hard before carrying him uphill.
"I have learned everything about the Loretta Great Bow."
"Only one chance—" The snake venom left him with no more time.
"The children are watching me! The professors are watching me! The older girls are watching me too!"
He silently encouraged himself, and little by little, a fluorescent blue light emanated from his poisoned left hand.
"Mom! You keep a close eye on things too!"
A magnificent bow!
It took shape in the hands of the knight riding the eaglehorn, even though the hand holding the bow was almost purple and frozen, he still gritted his teeth and persevered.
The scorching blue light arrow slowly took shape, and a violent burst of air erupted from his body, turning the entire canyon blue. The basilisk, under the influence of the Water of Life and Death and the Curse of Oblivion, remained in a deep, slumbering sleep.
"I can do it! I, Gilderoy Lockhart, can do it!" The light arrow surged again and again, and with its full power, the terrifying light arrow contained an aura that could destroy everything.
Lockhart shook his head hard to see his target clearly; his eyes were filled with tears, as if he were recalling memories he couldn't bear to look at.
"Go to hell!"
As he loosened his grip, the light arrow seemed to lose its trajectory and exploded on the basilisk in the next instant.
The intense pain awakened the giant snake, and everyone heard the most agonizing snake cry since the start of the war.
A huge gap appeared beneath its snake head, and Loretta's great bow lived up to expectations, blasting open those indestructible scales!
"He did it," Hermione said.
No one responded; everyone watched their Defense Strategy professor in silence. Even someone as powerful as Dumbledore, who probably considered the Basilisk a mere pet snake, was still proud of Lockhart at this moment.
"It's not over yet, the basilisk's life force..." Amicus, who had been watching silently, suddenly said.
"It's tougher than any of us, not so easy to kill." Even the captured villains were shocked by Lockhart's demeanor.
Hermione glanced at him but did not refute him.
Just like during the summer vacation, the severely injured basilisk could still move and attack freely. Now, with its scales even more resilient, a single shot from a large bow can only wound it.
Sure enough, the basilisk, awakened by the excruciating pain, roared to the sky. A layer of green light flowed around its wound, ensuring that the injury would not affect its combat ability at all.
"Look! The professor hasn't stopped!" Ron pointed in Lockhart's direction.
He remained in the bow-drawing posture, the second arrow of light formed from sapphire energy ready to be fired.
"One of us will fall!" Lockhart maintained his posture, closed his eyes, and no longer had the energy to aim. His fingers were trembling, his nerves were screaming, and all the magic in his body was being given to the Great Bow of Radiant Stone.
"The second arrow!"
Another explosion occurred, and at the same spot where the basilisk was wounded, more flesh was ripped open, exposing the basilisk's thick bones.
It crashed heavily to the ground, and the gash it caused this time was larger than the one Hermione had caused before.
But an even denser green light seeped from deep within its flesh, supporting its imminent rise once more.
"The third arrow!"
Lockhart seemed to have turned into a machine; he squeezed out all the strength in his body and fired another arrow.
"Crack!" It sounded like bones breaking.
Mixed in with the explosion, yet it appears so clear.
The basilisk's most important spine was blown off, and it fell to the ground howling. This time, the tenacious green light could not reconnect the bones; it could only ensure that it would not die.
"The fourth arrow!"
Lockhart won't stop until he senses the Basilisk's death!
God knows where he squeezed the magic from; even Hermione, with her Golden Snitch's power, was astonished by it.
"Is this the will of the wizard?"
A deafening roar echoed through the canyon as the basilisk's neck was finally blasted off, the deathly green glow bestowed upon it by Voldemort.
Finally, it could no longer be sustained, and its enormous head was pushed far away by the explosion, completely separating from its body.
Large amounts of corpses and blood leaked from the abdominal cavity, instantly filling the air with a stench.
"Go and save them!" Dumbledore said, and Fawkes the Phoenix appeared in the flames and plunged off the cliff.