Whoosh.
A mist-like chill overflowed, spilling into the air.
On the pristine white floor and walls of the ward, patterns of frost began to crystallize.
It was a slender rapier.
True to its name, it resembled a magnified sewing needle. Its needle-like tip reflected a blinding, dazzling glare.
The silver-white handguard and hilt were engraved with intricate, beautiful floral patterns.
It looked like a sword designed for a lady.
[Name: "Lament of the Arc Moon"] [Rank: Tier 3 · Blue Rare] [Type: Tool/Painting] [Description: Originally belonging to a resilient exiled daughter, the chill wrapped around it perhaps stems from the unforgettable hatred within her heart.] [Effect: Capable of severing everything, including spells. It can directly attack the soul. The pierced area will suffer frost attacks and become immobilized; using it to slice open the physical vessel allows direct entry into the creature's soul space.]
Ethan gripped the magnificent rapier.
A layer of frost coated his eyelashes, and white vapor drifted from his nose and mouth as he exhaled.
It made his aura appear even colder and more noble, resembling a princely aristocrat.
This rapier, infused with Arc Moon magic, could be used for more than just Neville's parents.
At the same time, it was Ethan's new weapon!
Aside from the sharp fingernails of The Rats in the Walls, this was the second sharp weapon capable of blocking spells head-on!
More importantly, it was his first weapon capable of interacting directly with the soul!
It was comparable to...
A physical Killing Curse—cough, cough.
Ethan declared that he absolutely did not mix any magic harmful to physical or mental health into this painting.
Heh heh.
"Having a new weapon also drastically improves my own combat capabilities," Ethan thought to himself. "It also makes combat appear much more aesthetic."
"A wizard definitely shouldn't just be someone who goes pew pew shooting spells—I'm not some human-shaped magic blaster."
"The power of magic has no limits!"
Ethan planned to put it into practice when he visited Gringotts.
Retracting his thoughts, Ethan looked at Neville's parents, who were smiling foolishly and looking confused in front of him.
He raised the rapier, which radiated a cold glint, and aimed its sharp tip right at them.
He said in a deep voice:
"I am going to begin the treatment."
Neville: "???"
—Wait, why does your treatment involve using a weapon?!
Are you going to beat them back to health?!
"W-Wait a minute—"
Clack!
A withered hand suddenly reached past Neville and grabbed Ethan's wrist!
Like an iron pincer, it choked off his movement in a death grip!
A sharp pain instantly shot up his wrist.
"Hiss."
Ethan frowned slightly.
He looked at Neville's grandmother, who was glaring at him angrily, and nodded.
"Are we starting with a pain sacrifice first? You really know how to enjoy things."
Neville's grandmother, Madam Augusta Longbottom: "..."
What is he talking about?
Her eyebrows were raised high; she looked like an angry squash capable of crushing an Inferius with a single sit.
Neville was instantly terrified, not daring to breathe loudly as he shrank trembling to the side.
"What do you think you are doing?!" Madam Augusta lowered her voice, roaring hoarsely. "Do you intend to harm my son and daughter-in-law?!"
Hearing this, Ethan blinked.
Those cobalt-blue eyes immediately became moist as he exclaimed in shock:
"Oh, Merlin's beard! How could you have such a terrible misunderstanding?"
"I only want to cure these brave and pitiful souls!"
Ethan looked as if he were on the verge of tears.
His pale and handsome face looked like a suffering angel, emitting a radiance strong enough to melt stone.
"Oh my god! He's too cute!"
The nurses huddled at the door watching could not help but feel their maternal instincts explode.
They sighed with emotion:
"I really want to hold him in the palm of my hand~"
"Yes, even if he is that 'detestable' Ethan Vincent, it doesn't matter anymore~"
"Come here come into big sister's arms"
Neville, standing to the side, listened with a face full of sweat.
He stared dumbfounded at the President of the Enlightenment Society.
He felt as though Ethan's glorious image had just cracked open.
...Is this Ethan's magic?
Other people really can't learn this.
Even the cold and hard Madam Augusta couldn't help but soften her expression.
Subconsciously relaxing her grip on Ethan, she spoke:
"Hmph, why did you take out a sword for treatment? It's bizarre."
Ethan smiled gently.
"Haha, naturally, it is to slice open their flesh and blood~"
amidst the stunned silence that suddenly fell, Ethan's clear and cheerful voice continued:
"Slice open their skin and flesh, bare their chests..."
"Like peeling open a juicy pomegranate, allowing us to see the heart beating within, and every precise, intricate blood vessel."
"Of course, there is also the core, the soul burning like a flame."
"Ah~ just thinking about it makes one's scalp tingle with pleasure, doesn't it?"
Looking at the deadly silent crowd, Ethan grinned widely.
The sunlight faded, and shadows spread.
Like a noble, bloodthirsty demon, he stood before them.
Outside the door, the peeping nurses were stupefied.
After a long while, they said blankly:
"...As expected of the 'Overtime Demon', Ethan Vincent."
This is the familiar flavor!
Immediately after, Madam Augusta snapped back to reality.
She stared at Ethan in utter shock, her eyes tinged with a trace of imperceptible fear that even she didn't realize!
It felt as though standing before her was not a teenage boy the same age as her grandson, but a Chosen of the Four Gods wearing a human skin!
"You... you leave this place immediately!"
Madam Augusta shouted explosively, raising her hand to draw her wand.
But she hesitated for a split second.
This crazy brat is still a student after all; is using a wand too excessive?
However, devils have always been good at seizing the gaps in people's hearts.
"Eat my 'Physical Opening of the Heart' strike!"
Ethan gave an excited shout.
Without hesitation, he drove the rapier into the chests of the Longbottom couple!
Whoosh!
Silver-white brilliance erupted instantly, filling the entire ward!
"Ugh—Aaaah!!"
The Longbottom couple threw their heads back, light bursting from their eyes.
As if touching upon some terrible memory, they struggled madly.
Their bodies trembled, and like children, rolling tears streamed down their faces. Their pleas for mercy echoed throughout the ward:
"No—don't—please—Ahhh!!!"
"Let go of my children, you devil!!"
Madam Augusta frantically pounded on the protective barrier Ethan had set up.
Her body slid down in despair.
On that face, usually so cold and severe, a fragile expression of pain appeared for the first time.
The nurses also immediately twisted the door handle, wanting to stop Ethan's "insane" actions.
But—
Click-clack, click-clack.
Messy black strands of hair hung down from the ceiling, looming over the nurses' heads.
They looked up.
And met a pair of blood-red eyes.
[No... passing...]
The female ghost from The Rats in the Walls rasped.
Her appearance was incomparably hideous.
Nurses: Okay.
What, why didn't you just say so earlier? Look at this mess.jpg
Amidst the wailing, Ethan's expression remained unchanged as he murmured softly:
"Sorry, it will be over in a moment."
He felt an incredibly strong suction force.
Like a straw sucking up a pearl, it pulled his consciousness into the chest that was radiating magnificent light.
—Entering the soul!
Suddenly, a crisp crack rang out.
A hand broke through the protective barrier, reached in from the outside, and tightly grabbed Ethan's arm!
Oh?
Ethan raised his eyebrows slightly and rolled his eyes.
He saw Neville's anxious and determined face.
Curling the corners of his mouth, he whispered:
"Damn it, does the Longbottom family have a tradition of using grappling techniques whenever there's a disagreement?"
Couldn't you just say 'I want to go too'?!
My arm is about to be snapped!
—One hundred points from Gryffindor for entering the classroom using limbs!
Neville froze.
Before he could react, the next second...
"Aaaaaah!"
The two of them were sucked into the soul together.
Web-like cracks covered every corner of the darkness.
Crunch.
Ethan retracted his foot, watching a fragment break off beneath him.
It felt like walking on ice, precarious and dangerous.
"W-Where is this?"
Neville hunched over in terror, looking around.
Ethan: "This is your mom's soul world."
Neville: "..."
Ethan: "Oh, your old man's should be here too; they've fused together."
Neville: Sob QAQ
He looked at Ethan's "gentle" smiling face with a mournful expression.
He wished he could shrink into the ground.
...After returning to school, he won't be hung up and whipped just because he stepped into the club with his left foot first, right?
Lord Ethan is so benevolent and magnanimous, surely... surely not, right...?
Before Neville could decide on the proper posture for groveling, a hazy white light lit up ahead.
Then, it rushed toward them at high speed!
Ethan's pupils constricted, a chill flashing through his cobalt-blue eyes.
One hand gripped the silver-white rapier tightly, while the other prepared a protective barrier.
This was his first time entering a soul world.
He didn't know what he would face.
For all he knew, he might be facing a pair of irrational "wraiths."
However, very quickly, Ethan realized he had overthought it.
The mist-like hazy light rapidly condensed into two figures as it approached them.
Their arms were spread wide open.
Like a warm cotton quilt covering one in winter, they embraced them gently and passionately.
"Oh—Neville! Our son!"
A joyful cry rang out.
Neville's eyes slowly widened, and his rims instantly turned red.
Whoosh.
Ethan quietly stepped back from the embrace.
He sheathed the rapier, crossed his arms, and silently watched this touching reunion scene.
...The embrace was very warm.
In that instant, it reminded him of the Lovegood father and daughter.
Pity.
Mr. Lovegood's body was too frail.
Often, before saying two sentences, he would faint on the ground.
After waiting for a moment, once both parties had calmed their emotions, Ethan tipped the brim of his conjured hat and spoke politely:
"Good day, you two. I am Ethan Vincent."
"I came to ask you both about something."
Two round faces, looking very much like Neville—er, it seems I said that in reverse.
Anyway.
The two gentle-natured soul spirits of the couple wiped away their tears and bloomed with brilliant smiles:
"We often hear Neville mention you, Mr. Vincent—may we call you Ethan?"
"Mmhmm."
Ethan nodded reservedly.
The Longbottoms: "Hehe~ Ethan, Neville often tells us that you are a hero."
Madam Alice stepped forward, raised her hand, and gently patted Ethan's head.
She whispered:
"Thank you for teaching our Neville so much, Ethan. Thank you."
"If you need anything, please just ask."
—This is probably an emotion Voldemort will never feel in his entire life.
Ethan thought.
The spirit hand on his head radiated a lifeless chill.
But it was comforting, like a warm poached egg.
Ethan: "I heard from Neville that you have a map of the secret passages in Gringotts. Is that true?"
Hearing this, the Longbottom couple looked at each other in surprise and chuckled:
"Haha, did Grandma tell Neville that?"
"Oh Merlin, her memory is truly good; we only mentioned it to her once in the past."
"Yes, we do indeed have a secret map of Gringotts. The plan was originally to use it to transfer our headquarters to the Gringotts underground in case the Black family ancestral home fell."
"After all, that is the 'safest' place~"
Madam Alice winked playfully.
Her young face didn't look out of place at all.
"If you need it, we will draw it for you right now... Ah, our power isn't enough."
They raised their hands, looking at their palms covered in cracks.
However, in the next second...
BOOM—!
An incomparably massive, boundless golden energy instantly swept through the entire soul world!
Like a torrential downpour falling upon parched, cracked earth!
In the blink of an eye, those dense, web-like cracks were repaired until they were nearly non-existent!
Illuminating this darkness until it was as brilliant and bright as day!
"Is this enough?"
Ethan stood holding the silver-white rapier inserted into the ground, his body wrapped in golden light, speaking calmly.
The Longbottom couple's mouths gaped into "O" shapes!
Their bodies, originally on the verge of collapse, were also enveloped by the golden light and became whole again.
It took a long while for them to come back to their senses, murmuring in disbelief:
"Simply incredible. No wonder you can enter the soul space... It turns out you possess power far surpassing that of most adult wizards."
The Longbottom couple composed themselves.
They gave Ethan a look of deep gratitude.
Then, they immediately began to draw the secret map of Gringotts in mid-air.
Very efficient, without any sloppiness.
[You have obtained "Gringotts Underground Secret Passage Map" (1 Copy)!] [A path allowing you to infiltrate Gringotts from underground unbeknownst to anyone.] [It is a secret passage left behind by the original founder of Gringotts for the purpose of running away with the money. Unfortunately, before he could use it, he was hanged from a streetlamp by angry subordinates who hadn't been paid their wages.] ["Brother, can I use your back door?"]
...It's a secret passage with quite a story.
Ethan curled the corners of his mouth, looking at the map with delight.
Regardless of which back door was being used, with the secret passage map, he could enter Gringotts from underground without anyone knowing!
Giving those goblins a little shock from the Enlightenment Society.
The Longbottom Couple: "The map is very complex. Do you have a way to carry it out?"
Ethan looked puzzled: "Carry it out? Why do I need to carry it out?"
He pointed to his own head and said cheerfully:
"I've already memorized it all~"
The Longbottom Couple: "Wow..."
They were shocked once again, staring blankly at this black-haired boy.
...It feels like he isn't even the same species as them.
Are young wizards these days all this amazing?
At this moment, an outward pushing force struck.
Signaling that Ethan and the others were about to leave the Longbottom couple's soul world.
The Longbottoms composed themselves, looking at the increasingly blurry figures of Ethan and Neville.
They revealed a somewhat lonely smile:
"Good luck, children."
"Ethan, thank you for everything you've done for us. If possible, please take our strength with you and make the world a better place."
[You have obtained "The Gratitude of the Longbottom Couple"!] [You can summon the spirits of the Longbottom couple once to fight against enemies— —You can also use this inspiration to create a new painting.] [You have healed a portion of the pitiful Longbottom couple.] [Although the souls could not be completely repaired, they are much better than before.] [You obtained 0.1% Soul Fusion.] [Warning! Continuing to cure the Longbottom couple will incur great hostility from Fate!!]
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