allendalepharm Chapter 223 Soul Substitute
Chapter 223 Soul Substitute
Chapter 223 Soul Substitute
"Ho~ Ho~ Ho~"
From deep within the forbidden forest came the terrifying, thirsty panting of werewolves, the sound rapidly approaching.
That extreme wildness, amplified by magic, seemed to be painting its inner arrogance and ferocity onto the world, baring its fangs and claws, accompanied by roars that sent a shiver down one's spine.
In contrast, Lockhart's werewolf form was less wild and more 'human' in its agility and malice.
One is the exposure and expression of one's inherent nature, and the other is the unrestricted release of one's own evil side.
Compared to those two, Lupin looks much more normal.
He panted in the moonlight, and although he looked just as wild, he always gave off a sense of loneliness, forbearance, restraint, and even a paleness that seemed to want to retreat into a dark corner.
"Restore to human form!"
"Restored to its original state!"
Grindelwald drew his wand and cast a spell on Lupin. Fragments of clothing flew toward Lupin as he cast the spell, as if time had reversed. Lupin twisted and deformed rapidly before finally returning to his original form.
Lupin was so panicked that he tried to escape, but Grindelwald grabbed him.
The old man was so strong that Lupin couldn't break free for a moment. He could only lower his head in a sorry state, not daring to look at anyone else or imagine what kind of look Tonks would give him.
"You can continue to run away, or you can choose to face yourself!" Grindelwald's voice was deep.
Lupin looked up at him, somewhat bewildered.
"A werewolf is a werewolf. Does hiding it make you less of a werewolf?" Grindelwald stared intently at him. "Face yourself, face the fact that being a werewolf is part of you, face your current state!"
"If you can't understand your own place, you'll never find yourself in this world!"
Lupin was almost in tears, his face covered in sweat and his disheveled hair pressed tightly together. He was in indescribable pain. "What place do I have left? What sense of self do I have..."
"Yes!" Grindelwald pointed to Lockhart's retreating figure as he plunged into the woods. "He's certainly not a werewolf, but if he really were, I dare say he would very naturally announce to the whole world that he is one. His inner strength is so great that his power also becomes great, and he would forcefully and domineeringly demand that the world respect his identity as a werewolf!"
"And you, all you do is hide your werewolf identity, begging for the world's acceptance. Ha, will the world accept you? Dream on! You will always be rejected!"
"The world will not tolerate the weak; the world only yields to the strong." Grindelwald's words were so harsh and cold. "You will only prove to the world that people's stereotypes of werewolves are correct, that they deserve to be bullied and discriminated against, while he will fight for a free space for werewolves to live in!"
Lupin's expression was so gloomy and lifeless; he was curled up, filled with pain. "Yes, someone like me shouldn't be alive..."
"Me!" Grindelwald wanted to say, "If you don't want to live, I'll give you a big slice of melon right now."
Oh shit!
If I really wanted to kill you, you'd know just how much you wanted to live.
Grindelwald stared at him. "It would be fine if you truly succumbed to fate, but your heart is filled with resentment and bitterness. You can't live like a werewolf like Fenrir Greyback, nor like a human like Lockhart. You... are you really willing?"
Lupin fell silent.
He certainly didn't want to end up like this.
Grindelwald's words echoed in his mind, piercing his soul and also giving rise to an extremely unfamiliar power within him.
"Go help Lockhart, you're the only one here who can help him!"
Professor Kettleburn, who was nervously watching the battle raging in the woods and contemplating whether to rush in, paused for a moment upon hearing this, "We're not going to help?"
Grindelwald sneered, "Tom is spreading wolfsbane throughout the world. If you want to become a werewolf, you can go over there!"
Professor Kettleburn didn't understand.
But he soon understood.
With Tonks's exclamation, everyone looked up and were horrified to find that the surrounding trees were rapidly twisting and changing, becoming exceptionally grotesque and terrifying.
Wolfsbane, can it even corrode trees?
Oh, that's easy for Grindelwald to understand, of course. He'd seen far too many things like that: powerful, vengeful spirits that couldn't bear to die altering the magical nature of an entire castle; the unique connection between Dementors and Azkaban; flowers blooming wherever a witch with a heart full of joy walked by…
"Back off!" Grindelwald hissed, warning the group. "Get out of the way if you don't want to become werewolves!"
As soon as the words were spoken, streaks of flame with ridiculously high temperatures roared out from the forest, transforming into serpentine shadows as they swept past them and plunged into the forest on the other side.
Along the way, all the trees, flowers, and ground were instantly scorched into ashes and crumbled by the high temperature. Strangely, only the scorched areas were affected, while other areas remained untouched by the high temperature.
This is an extremely concentrated yet explosive high-temperature heat, full of destructive power.
As everyone looked along the path burned by the fiery snakes into the depths of the forest, they could see two werewolves fighting each other. The werewolf that Lockhart had transformed into was powerful and fierce, and the black smoke emanating from his body and the fiery snakes that attacked each time were extremely powerful.
The werewolf that Voldemort transformed into was incredibly fast, so fast that even after staring at it for a while, no one could make out its exact appearance; all they could see were blurry afterimages.
This is not a contest of strength and speed.
Lockhart felt immense pressure.
Almost every attack he launched unleashed the werewolf's most powerful strength, accompanied by powerful magic. From the perspective of the online novels he had read in his previous life, this could almost be described as a dual cultivation of physical and magical abilities.
But it didn't work!
Voldemort's werewolf form had a very simple attack: claws, and that was all he had!
But what seems like the simplest grappling, combined with the werewolf's powerful magic resistance, its incredibly fast movement speed that's difficult for the brain to analyze, and its attack rhythm that's too fast for the mind to keep up with, makes it all the more terrifying.
Lockhart seems to be making every move impressive, but he is actually on the defensive the whole time.
If Voldemort hadn't been influenced by his werewolf instincts to attack those he considered closest to him, he might have already escaped his attack range. Lockhart had to admit that he might not be able to keep Voldemort in this state.
It was at this moment that Lockhart truly realized how terrifying werewolves could be!
That's because werewolves attack without thinking!
Yes, it's that simple.
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The soul directly governs the body, and the mind no longer acts as a buffer or intermediary, allowing all actions and reactions to reach the most fundamental and ultimate state of life, a response speed that neither the mind nor the brain can achieve.
This is the ultimate "true self".
Lockhart did the exact opposite, becoming a werewolf while retaining human thought, attempting to use magic to enhance his physical strength.
With this understanding, the steps become quite simple.
He just needs some time!
Voldemort's attacks were so fast that he was caught off guard, and those around him gave him no chance to make any changes.
Fortunately, Lu Ping rushed up at that moment.
Of all the wizards present, none understood werewolves better than Lupin. He knew all too well how to deal with the situation before him. He waved his wand and summoned a swarm of bees. The buzzing sound created by the overwhelming flapping of their wings and the pervasive sensory influence quickly led Voldemort to make a wrong judgment, finally giving Lockhart a chance to catch his breath.
Summoning a swarm of bees is not difficult; this kind of magic, similar to flocks of birds, is often used as a form of interference.
However, determining the effectiveness of the bee swarm on werewolves and seizing the right moment to cast the spell undoubtedly requires extremely keen combat insight.
Lupin suffered greatly from werewolves throughout his life, and through this monthly, year-long ordeal, he gained an understanding and mastery of werewolves that far exceeded what most people could imagine.
Lockhart nodded at him, quickly closed his eyes, and his massive werewolf body collapsed, twisted, and deformed rapidly. The magic within him boiled, and when he opened his eyes again, only a pair of cold, vertical pupils remained in his eye sockets.
The snake's vertical pupils.
Ultimately, he wasn't a real werewolf. His so-called werewolf incarnation was more of a mental construct, a spiritual image that emerged from the containment and sealing off of all his negative aspects.
But he speaks with a snake-like accent.
He was even more eccentric than Parsleyan, having truly grasped a magical bloodline related to 'snakes.' Perhaps no one in this world understood the existence of snakes better than him.
Unlike the snake that represented wisdom, good fortune, wealth, and all other positive forces in its previous life, the 'snake' in the wizard's magical bloodline contains a more unpredictable power.
Healing and regeneration in the realm of nature, temptation and redemption in the realm of fate, danger and hope in the realm of mystery.
Soon, Lockhart transformed into a long snake.
Unlike his previous state in the river of time, he no longer focused on controlling his life, but decided to rely on the instincts brought by his soul, and to restrain his mind from participating in life's actions.
He couldn't do this in his werewolf or human form, but in his serpent form, it was indeed possible.
This is an extremely delicate state.
He seemed to have become a god, looking down from above at all the changes in time, watching "himself," the snake, attack the werewolf that Voldemort had transformed into, fighting and hissing, finally no longer just passively resisting the attacks and barely holding on, but beginning to fight back and forth.
It's amazing how he always makes the most accurate and timely reactions. Sometimes, his attack methods even surprise him – "Can you do that?"
Yes, he knew he was capable of doing it, but he had never done it before.
The instinct within the soul is a wondrous ability. It is not merely physical behavior, but also encompasses all abilities, including thought. Moreover, it is not as simple as feigning weakness to launch a counterattack. One action leads to another, and each attack accumulates the guidance of what posture one ultimately desires the enemy to adopt in response to the attack.
Lockhart's fascinating observation led him to discover that human thought is not limited to the mind and brain; the soul and body also possess their own capacity for thought.
He calls this interesting state "soul boosting".
(End of this chapter)