great-warnovel Chapter 180 The Sacrifice of Death
Chapter 180 The Sacrifice of Death
Chapter 180 The Sacrifice of Death
Using the excuse of mourning his father, Barty Jr. disappears from the chaotic mire of Malfoy Castle.
He is now nervously entering the Church of Bones, terrified by the master's summons.
The church was empty; none of the Death Eaters he usually knew were in sight, not even Bella and Severus.
He stood alone in the church, staring into the eyes of the lamp that emitted a green light.
"Come down." Voldemort's echoing voice came from the well, as if Death itself had spoken.
Barty felt his heart skip a beat. Of all the living beings that had entered this well, only two had ever come out: Voldemort himself and the Basilisk, but the latter was already dead.
Hogwarts spread the news so widely that even Muggles in Australia and the Far East knew about it, so how could their masters not know?
Although the Carlo siblings who caused this situation are dead, he himself has also failed to complete the task his father entrusted to him, and it is hard to guarantee that he will not be blamed.
But Voldemort's orders could not be disobeyed, so Barty Jr. could only take a deep breath and leap into the blast despite the radiation.
All he could see was a thick green fog, and the radiation levels were getting higher and higher. He felt like he was going to be roasted alive.
But the next second, passing through that layer of green mist, in the huge space below the well, there was not a trace of radiation.
Little Barty landed on the ground, feeling lost. It looked like another world, with long, thin, dark sticks, each with the corpses of children or magical creature cubs hanging from it, like a forest.
At the tip of the stick, like candles, dark green flames burned steadily and for a long time.
It was the light source provided by these flames that made the entire underground world look like a deadly apocalypse, and the thick smoke rising from the fire gathered in the air to form that deadly and intense radiation cloud.
He saw countless pure white, translucent flowers blooming on the ground beneath his feet. They blossomed in this terrifying hell. The blood flowing from each club formed a babbling brook, spreading across the land, nourishing these flowers, and finally converging and flowing down to the highest throne.
There, Voldemort stared at him expressionlessly, while Bellatrix and Snape stood below, also watching him.
Seeing this, Little Barty breathed a sigh of relief. His father's most valued people were all down there, which meant that at least he wasn't really there to die.
"Father." He hurried forward, trembling with fear, and prostrated himself on the ground to apologize.
"Because of my incompetence, I have not yet uncovered Dumbledore's secrets."
When he said this, he was prepared to be tortured by the Crucifixion Curse, but Voldemort surprisingly did not punish him.
His tone was even gentler than usual, and he showed no anger at the death of the Basilisk, which was Slytherin's legacy. Many wizards believed Voldemort was the chosen one because of that.
"This is not your fault," he said softly, sitting on his throne made of bones.
"Although you haven't made any progress this past year, I can see your efforts."
"I am deeply moved that you obtained the most powerful curse from me and used it to curse your own father."
Barty lowered his head even further: "I'll give you everything I have, that's what I said from the very beginning."
"It's a pity that at the last moment, Dumbledore killed the Basilisk and found the Cup." He gritted his teeth.
"And that woman Lily, she must have twisted the magic in the Cup, making that liquid able to bring the dead back to life!" From his perspective, the Basilisk was definitely not something Lockhart could kill; it must have been Dumbledore himself who did it. And the Cup that brought the dead back to life, as well as that magical potion, must also be Lily Potter's doing.
That woman is very famous.
"No, she can't do it," Snape said indifferently.
"Her skill level is not high enough—"
"Whoever it is," Voldemort interrupted him, looking at Snape.
"What's done is done, there's no point in hiding here and wallowing in resentment." Perhaps it was extreme anger, or perhaps Voldemort had regained his sanity, but he waved his hand, letting the matter vanish.
"All these mistakes are my fault. I thought that the Carlo siblings, with the basilisk and the cursed artifacts I gave them, would be able to kill Lockhart, but I was careless," he reflected.
"I overestimated your level and underestimated the power of Hogwarts. I was still viewing the world with old eyes, and that was my mistake."
It seemed like they were mocking themselves, but everyone quickly knelt down and begged Voldemort for forgiveness.
"Father, it's all because we're too incompetent to carry out your will," Little Barty said, pressing his forehead to the ground.
Voldemort remained unmoved. He looked at the three kneeling men, not letting them get up, and said instead, "I've realized that guarding the secret of immortality won't make you serve me wholeheartedly."
"After being captured, the Carlo siblings planned to betray me without even being tortured or given truth serum."
Therefore, they exploded under the effect of the contract, leaving not even ashes behind.
He stood up, stepped down from the throne, his long, dark green robe trailing behind him as he passed the three men.
"I realized that for a long time, most Death Eaters have been trading loyalty for eternal life. It's a transaction, but loyalty can't be traded. It's just a false lie."
He turned his head and looked at the three people kneeling on the ground with their backs to him.
"You are my most valued subordinates, and I believe that your loyalty is genuine. Therefore, you have been granted the opportunity to enter the realm of immortality and will also learn the secrets of immortality."
Snape could hear Bella's excited panting beside him, but it was probably not because of the mystery of immortality, but because of Voldemort's high regard for her. This woman was captivated by her master's charm, even leaving her husband behind.
Voldemort spread his arms, displaying this small, unassuming world: "Just as the rumors say, I came to Albania in search of the Ravenclaw crown, but along the way, I found a secret place of the goblins, this unassuming place."
"Get up, stop kneeling." Only after he spoke did the three dare to stand up and look around.
"What exactly are fairies? Where does their power come from? And can this power transcend life and death?"
To be used by me?
"I studied this problem for a long time, but fortunately the wise Ravenclaw tiara helped me."
He gave a smug smile.
"Besides me, I'm afraid no one else has carefully studied the magic of fairies. That power to create a fantasy world in the real world is such a waste if it's just used for hiding."
He gazed intently at his own death forest.
"I drew inspiration from the power of the fairies and killed all the fairies in this secret realm, using their bones to build the first Well of Immortality."
"I used radioactive waste and uranium rods to build a twisted altar, offering up all magical newborns as sacrifices."
Offering sacrifices to the dead.
"Finally, I succeeded!" He walked affectionately over to each Death Eater, stroking their heads and cheeks.
"Death accepted my offerings, I carved a hole in the world, I exploited the gaps in death, I replaced life with life, and I replaced myself with others."
Ignoring the surprised looks of others, he walked up to the throne and sat down again.
"Therefore, I need a large number of newborns every year to replenish the losses of this sacrifice, and you, me, and this covenant we have made are sharing this loophole of death."
"So that you can exchange lives for lives, and every person you kill with the Killing Curse can become a sacrifice to die in your place."
He looked at the crowd with a pained expression: "I have gone to great lengths to maintain this blessing, and you..."
Unable to offer any positive help, and instead repeatedly failing, they are like mediocre Muggles, utterly worthless except for their chatter.
"Father! We have failed your grace, please punish us!" Barty shouted fervently, and Bella echoed him. Only Snape remained silent, like a silent tombstone.
"Alright, enough of that. There are still many Green Flame Party members who are not worthy of this favor," Voldemort said casually.
"You are all meritorious individuals, but merit is not always equivalent to strength."
He tapped the armrest of the throne and said slowly, "I can feel that the power I have accumulated is about to reach its limit. Perhaps it won't be long before I can completely break through the boundary between life and death and become an invincible god. At that time, this well will be useless to me."
He looked at the three of them and said, "At that time, who among you will be able to inherit this title and become the second god after me will depend on his performance."
Bella wasn't that interested in immortality, but if she could stay by Voldemort's side for a long time, she would do everything in her power to achieve it.
Snape, on the other hand, was simply curious about this power and wanted to study it, just as he did with Voldemort's Gift.
It created the golden cup that could reverse life and death.
Barty the Younger raised his head feverishly: "Father! I will keep trying! I will find a way to infiltrate Hogwarts so I can gather secrets for a long time!"
Upon hearing this, both Voldemort and Snape turned to look at him.