With the Water Demon's miasma fully transformed, a sudden mist of water spread throughout the Room of Requirement.
The chilling fog soaked straight through Louis' robes, leaving Hastur's fur damp and bedraggled as well.
"Meow!" Hastur yowled in protest, pitifully licking at its wet fur.
The air seemed thick with moisture, yet paradoxically carried a strange dryness.
Sensing carefully, Louis realized that the water vapor had been stripped apart into a special elemental state. It carried every property of water, yet had somehow shed the very essence of water itself.
This water had gained life of its own, deliberately repelling all other living things. That was why it left him drenched, yet at the same time made him feel parched.
Above Louis' head, a vortex of Dark Qi formed once again. This time, however, it was laced with a strange watery mist, staining the violet-black cloud into a pale lilac hue.
From the cauldron, the Water Demon's miasma rose slowly, intertwining with the Dark Qi above. Water vapor, black energy, and demonic power converged into a single towering humanoid form.
A woman. And unlike Gan, Wen, and Chui, she was nothing like the other dark assassins.
Her skin gleamed with a seductive shade of lavender. Her face was sharp and alluring like a serpent spirit's, her voluptuous curves wrapped in a leather corset that emphasized her full chest and narrow waist, with taut abdominal lines clear as steel.
Across her body ran faint blue markings, like tattoos etched into her flesh, while every strand of her hair writhed like a thick snake slithering behind her. She looked eerily similar to a creature of legend—
A Naga.
The moment she appeared, the unique Dark Assassin dropped to her knees before Louis, bowing deeply.
"Greetings, Master."
"You can talk?"
Louis was genuinely startled—this was nothing like the mindless Gan, Wen, and Chui.
"Yes, Master. The demonic miasma granted me higher intelligence. With it, I can better understand and carry out your will."
Unlike the others, she was not only capable of speech, but spoke with thought and awareness of her own.
"Not bad." Louis gave the beauty before him a thorough look. "What can you do?"
"Like my kin, I wield weapons forged from Dark Qi."
The female assassin raised her hand, and a whip of black energy materialized from thin air.
The whip slithered around her like a living creature, its tip flashing with a short blade that gleamed like the venomous fangs of a snake.
With precise control, she made it coil and strike, obediently dancing around her body.
Then she lifted her other hand, conjuring a sphere of water. "And I command the powers of the Water Demon's miasma."
The water orb shifted and reformed into spears, blades, and staves—cycling through a full arsenal of weapons. Then, with a ripple, her body itself dissolved into water, reshaping into countless different faces and forms.
Space was too limited here, so she refrained from demonstrating greater feats—like summoning tidal waves or spinning whirlpools.
"Interesting."
Louis was thoroughly pleased. Even if he had absorbed the Water Demon's power for himself, he doubted he could wield it with such mastery.
The assassin ended her display, standing quietly before him, head lowered as she awaited her master's command.
"Do you have a name?" Louis asked.
"No. I am a Dark Assassin created by you, Master. I have yet to be given one of my own."
Louis thought for a moment. "In that case, you'll be called Chuan."
"Thank you for bestowing me a name, Master."
Chuan dropped to one knee again, bowing deeply in reverence.
"Rise. I have a task for you. From now on, you'll be in charge of having Gan, Wen, and Chui keep a close watch on Quirrell."
Finally, Louis had a subordinate with a brain. He wasn't about to let her go to waste.
While assigning the mission, Louis also took the chance to give Chuan a crash course on Voldemort and Quirrell.
Chuan listened attentively. When Louis finished, she raised a question.
"Master, this Voldemort seems very sharp. Gan, Wen, and Chui may be battle-hardened warriors, but their stealth is lacking. They'll be discovered easily."
"Exactly. I want them to be discovered." Louis was very pleased with his new subordinate's insight. "It doesn't matter if they're caught. If Voldemort takes further action, that's when you step in—present yourself as an examiner from the 'United Villains of the World, One Big Family.'"
"What… what… one big family?" Chuan blinked in confusion, her alluring face suddenly wearing an adorably dazed expression.
"Yes—'the United Villains of the World, One Big Family.'" Louis patiently explained again. "If you can't remember it, just say you're an examiner. Whatever they ask, keep a cold face and tell them: 'That's not something you need to know.'"
"That's not something you need to know," Chuan repeated, trying it out with a frosty expression.
"Perfect! That's it." Louis clapped his hands. "Your acting's pretty good. Also, remember to collect the prepared items from that guy and stash them in the adjoining room."
"Yes, Master."
Louis was essentially patching a hole in his own story. The great organization he had invented—United Villains of the World, One Big Family—had been established in name as a mighty force, yet until now, not a single rank-and-file minion had appeared. That was far too suspicious.
A leader could stand alone, sure—but if every petty errand had to be done by the boss himself, where was the gravitas in that? Even Voldemort had at least a few squads of Death Eaters.
That was why Louis had decided to summon Dark Assassins.
In truth, his first choice had been the Shadowkhan, the legion born from the power of the Tarakudo mask. But alas, his mastery of Dark Qi was nowhere near enough to control the mask's power.
And he wasn't about to wear the mask himself and risk becoming Tarakudo. A stand-in would be too risky as well—if the mask backfired, the consequences would be dire.
With his top choice off the table, he had to settle for the backup plan. Thankfully, with Chuan as commander, he felt far more at ease than leaving everything to Gan, Wen, and Chui.
He feared those brainless assassins might accidentally butcher Quirrell. And in Voldemort's current weakened state, the Dark Assassins could squash him flat without effort.
"Oh, by the way—do you have any special needs for your weapon?" Louis suddenly asked.
Chuan hesitated for a moment, then replied, "Master, our weapons are born with us. They obey like our own limbs—we require no others."
"I know you have your innate weapons. But that alone isn't enough."
Louis snapped his fingers. A golden ripple shimmered into existence before Chuan, from which emerged a long, gleaming whip.
The system had named this weapon Gleipnir—the legendary chain forged from things that did not exist in the world.
It came from the Treasury of the King, which meant it was an "original." Originals, however, weren't necessarily stronger than their mythical counterparts; myths carried divine blessings, while an original merely held the raw materials and a touch of myth's essence.
"Take it. This is my gift to you. It should be able to bind any existence in this world." Louis said.
"Thank you, Master." A rare flicker of delight appeared in Chuan's eyes. She accepted the divine whip, letting it coil around her arm.
Gold against lavender skin—it lent her an even more dazzling aura.
"Good. You may go. I authorize you to command Gan, Wen, and Chui. Carry out the mission I've given you."
"Yes, Master."
Chuan bowed, then turned and melted into a pool of water, vanishing into the Room of Requirement.
The Room, impervious to the outside world, could not block the Dark Assassin's innate darkness. Even here, she could slip in and out of shadow at will.
And though Gan, Wen, and Chui were already out in theory, tailing Quirrell and Voldemort, Louis could summon his loyal pawns back at any moment with ease.
Truly, the most convenient kind of cannon fodder.
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