Chapter 300: Creatures Hiding in Consciousness and Centaurs
Just as the situation between the two centaur factions was becoming increasingly tense, with weapons being drawn and ancient grudges surfacing like poison in an open wound, the two dragons chose that precise moment to intervene in the tribal dispute.
Internal contradictions instantly transformed into external ones with the swift efficiency of battlefield tactics, so the centaurs immediately turned their shared animosity toward these unexpected visitors who dared intrude upon sacred tribal grounds.
Bane and Ronan both approached with weapons raised and eyes blazing with unified purpose, their temporary alliance signalling just how deeply they resented outside interference in centaur affairs.
Aiden said nothing in response to their hostile advance and directly expanded into his mythical creature form, his human facade dissolving like morning mist. Mysterious symbols flickered across his scaled hide with faint, otherworldly light that seemed to pulse with the rhythm of ancient heartbeats.
Bane and Ronan's eyes widened immediately in primal recognition and terror that reached back to their species' earliest memories, and soon every single centaur in the gathered crowd bowed deeply before Aiden's imposing draconic presence.
"Master of consciousness," Ronan said with the reverence reserved for forces beyond mortal comprehension, stroking his chest in the traditional gesture of submission as he approached with careful, measured steps.
"So, what is the centaurs' choice in this matter?" The dragon's voice rumbled through the forest clearing like distant thunder. "Destruction or submission?"
The dragon opened its massive jaws, revealing rows of teeth like crystalline daggers, and deep dreamscapes began enveloping the centaurs as reality itself dissolved around them. They fell through an endless void where up and down lost all meaning, their screams echoing in dimensions that had no names.
Aiden brought the terrified centaurs and fascinated Astoria through the boundaries between reality and illusion, crossing the Ethereal Realm's shifting landscapes and descending into the Deep Realm's forbidden depths where mortal minds were never meant to venture.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity of falling through layers of existence, Aiden led them to the fifth layer of the Deep Realm, a place known with dread as the Spiral of Ecstasy.
Here, in this realm where nightmares took physical form, Astoria witnessed the most authentic and horrifying form of the centaurs. The truth before her ignited her mind with white-hot horror, and fury rampaged through her heart like wildfire consuming dry tinder.
"How dare you commit such abominations!"
Astoria stepped forward several aggressive paces, her raised wand flickering with deadly green light that promised swift death to those who had violated nature's most sacred laws. Aiden's hand shot out like lightning and stopped her before she could complete the killing curse that burnt on her lips.
"As you can clearly see, this is precisely our way of survival in a world that offers us no other choices," Ronan said with crushing resignation, lowering his proud head while reaching backward with one trembling hand toward the source of their shame.
Inside the Spiral of Ecstasy, countless bizarre vines spiralled and intertwined together in grotesque patterns that defied every natural law and moral boundary. The air itself seemed thick with corruption and whispered promises of forbidden knowledge.
Protruding from the middle of the twisted vegetation were countless translucent eggs, each one containing a newborn centaur submerged within viscous fluid that glowed with sickly bioluminescence.
But if you followed the arrangement from the innermost to the outermost layers, you could see with growing horror that the outermost row of eggs contained complete human infants in various stages of development, their innocent faces peaceful in artificial sleep.
The eggs from outside to inside formed a complete transformation process from humans to centaurs, a horrifying metamorphosis that violated every boundary between species and transformed stolen children into something altogether different.
"Please calm your righteous anger, great dragons," Bane said with defensive defiance, though his voice wavered like a leaf in a storm. "This merely gives dead children a second chance at life and purpose. After all, it allows them to see this world again rather than rotting in cold graves."
"Perhaps these children don't share your views about such a twisted gift," Aiden replied with cutting precision. "After all, not everyone wants to become bait and guides for the Deep Realm Kings in their games."
Aiden's words finally exposed the terrible truth about the centaurs and the origin of their abnormal ability to actively connect to and observe the collective unconscious sea with supernatural clarity.
"If it weren't for Eastern wizards capturing the entity known as Life, you would probably just be batches of sacrificial offerings fed to hungry gods," Aiden continued with merciless honesty. "Now you shamelessly talk about continuation and tribal survival, you cowards hiding in consciousness rather than facing reality."
Aiden's face bore a mocking expression that cut deeper than any blade, while Bane and Ronan could only smile bitterly at his devastating assessment of their species' true nature.
"This is, after all, our ancestors' decision made in desperation long ago," Ronan pleaded with the dignity of the defeated. "We had no say in their choices, but this cursed existence is already the only way for us to survive in this world. Please, show mercy to our people who had no voice in their creation."
Ronan knelt before Aiden on his front hooves with desperate humility, his proud warrior's spirit finally broken. After hesitating for a long moment, even the defiant Bane knelt down beside his former rival.
"Forget it," Aiden said with casual dismissal that somehow carried more weight than any threat. "Coming here today, I just need a simple answer from you."
"Please speak your will, and we shall listen," both centaurs responded simultaneously, their voices carrying the hollow echo of complete surrender.
"Are the centaurs preparing to incite rebellion against wizard-kind, or have you already prepared to side with the Death Eaters in their war?"
The Dream Weaver's supernatural pressure was released without any restraint or mercy. The oppression from a high-level being made the centaurs struggle to draw breath, their lungs working frantically.
"No, we absolutely will not..." Bane managed to speak with tremendous difficulty, his voice barely audible above the sound of his own laboured breathing.
"Great Dragon of the Mind, I beseech you to spare them," a gentle voice appeared behind Aiden with unexpected authority and calm that seemed to push back against the suffocating atmosphere.
Aiden turned around slowly to see a centaur emanating pure white light that seemed to burn away the Deep Realm's oppressive darkness, creating a small sanctuary of peace in this nightmare realm.
"Firenze," Aiden spoke the newcomer's name with recognition and perhaps a hint of respect.
"I am willing to make a binding magical oath on behalf of everyone gathered here," Firenze announced with quiet dignity that commanded attention. "We will never actively antagonise wizards, and when wizards have internal conflicts among themselves, we will remain completely neutral. Is that acceptable to your requirements?"
"Stop this madness! You cannot speak for the entire race..." Bane wanted to protest this presumptuous declaration but was immediately silenced by Aiden's withering glare that promised unspeakable consequences for further interruption.
Aiden raised his hand with the authority of absolute power, signalling for Firenze to continue with his desperate proposal.
Firenze spread his arms wide in a gesture of complete surrender, and a golden oath flew from his body like a living thing made of pure light and binding magic. As the oath departed, the white light surrounding him faded significantly, leaving him diminished but resolute.
The magical oath flew toward Aiden with purposeful intent, and he caught it deliberately in his grip before crushing it with casual violence. Golden particles immediately exploded outward and enveloped the entire Deep Realm with binding magic that would hold for generations.
"Firenze, you traitorous bastard!" Bane's eyes turned red with rage that had been building for decades. "Do you have any idea how many of us have longed to become a proper race instead of remaining these twisted abominations!"
His massive hands shot forward and grabbed Firenze's neck with murderous intent, squeezing with all the fury of a proud warrior who had watched his dreams die.
Ronan pulled desperately at Bane's iron grip, using all his strength to prevent the enraged centaur from strangling Firenze to death in his consuming fury.
"Behave yourselves," Aiden commanded with the bored tone of someone addressing misbehaving children.
The dragon returned to human form with fluid grace, completely uninterested in participating in whatever internal disputes would tear the centaur tribe apart, and led Astoria away from the Deep Realm's corrupted depths.
On the winding journey back to Knockturn Alley through London's twisting streets, Astoria kept quietly observing Aiden with unreadable expressions that shifted like storm clouds across her delicate features.
"Go ahead and ask whatever's troubling you," Aiden said without turning, his enhanced senses picking up her emotional turmoil with ease.
"Those disgusting creatures we just witnessed," Astoria said with barely controlled revulsion. "Why not destroy them completely and end their suffering?"
She was clearly prepared to learn from a certain excellent dropout's more direct methods of problem-solving.
"The existence of centaurs is unfortunately necessary for the greater war we're fighting," Aiden explained with the patience of someone who had wrestled with this moral complexity for years. "After they die, their corrupted bodies and twisted minds return to the Deep Realm and become nourishment for the Deep Realm King called Life. Since that entity has already been forged into a weapon by Eastern wizards to fight against the Deep Realm's influence, the centaurs' tragic cycle can continuously strengthen the wizards' power."
Astoria fell into troubled silence, her analytical mind working through implications that made her stomach turn.
Because this represented a classic trolley problem with no clean solutions. If you refused to use these transformed deceased children, then the desperate struggle against the Deep Realm Kings would necessarily require sacrificing the living instead.
Aiden recognised that she could adjust her mindset given time and didn't interrupt her contemplation with unnecessary words or false comfort.
Returning to the familiar shadows of Diagon Alley, they discovered that during Astoria's absence, Miss Witch had handled the complex administrative duties very well despite her inexperience.
"Why don't you just stay here permanently and let me have a proper vacation for once?" Astoria teased with obvious affection, though exhaustion lined her features.
"No! Sister, no, Mother!" Miss Witch immediately rushed over and hugged Astoria's leg with desperate relief, her face showing the strain of days spent managing impossible people.
"Let me tell you about these insufferable Knockturn Alley fools..." Then Miss Witch began complaining endlessly about her recent experiences dealing with the criminal underworld.
Managing these wizards whose brains had been systematically damaged by prolonged exposure to dark magic was no simple administrative task, especially when dealing with those troublemakers who harboured hidden ulterior motives and schemes.
Some had even repeatedly tried to set elaborate traps for Miss Witch, testing her authority and competence while probing for weaknesses they could exploit.
Fortunately, as an avatar of a Sequence 3 Dream Weaver, she could naturally see through their convoluted thoughts and avoid their pathetic schemes time and again.
"Sigh," Astoria released a breath heavy with motherly exasperation.
"Didn't I explicitly tell you not to show any weakness to them, or they'd immediately think there's an opportunity to exploit?" Astoria scolded gently while patting Miss Witch's head with affectionate comfort.
"Because..." Miss Witch lowered her head with obvious shame, unable to meet her creator's eyes.
"Because her legend and corresponding identity originally brought the expulsion of pain and disease to suffering people," Aiden explained kindly, seeing her obvious hesitation. "It's perfectly natural that she's not instinctively good at fighting or intimidation."
"Still want to play administrator to these criminals?" Aiden asked with raised eyebrows and obvious amusement.
"No, no, no! I'm completely finished with that responsibility!" Miss Witch immediately rushed toward Aiden with obvious relief and dissolved into countless white threads that merged seamlessly into his body like coming home.
"Oh, not good at fighting, you say?" Astoria asked with dangerous sweetness, her voice carrying undertones that promised future retribution. "What exactly does that make me then?"
"Cough, cough, the letter I sent to Snape should have arrived by now," a certain dragon stammered, his usual composure cracking under her pointed stare. "I really need to go find him immediately for urgent business."
He fled the office in obvious panic, leaving behind only the echo of hurried footsteps.
"Heh." A meaningful laugh rang out from the office, low and rich with promise, followed by the deliberate sound of quill scratching against parchment as plans took shape.