Chapter 699
The Viper in the Church
Chapter 699 The Viper in the Church
After passing through the collapsed cloister, the group entered the monastery's main church.
The place had long since fallen into ruin. The towering dome was cracked with huge gaps, shards of stained glass were scattered all over the ground, dusty benches were arranged crookedly, and candlesticks were rusted, with melted and dried wax dripping from their blackened metal stems.
The wooden door to the confessional was tightly closed, and intermittent sobbing could be heard from inside. The sound rose and fell, like someone suppressing their tears in extreme pain, or like the mournful cry of a wounded wild animal, and sometimes it turned into indistinct murmurs.
Harry's small body trembled violently. He stared fixedly at the confessional, not understanding under what circumstances a person would make such a terrifying sound.
The scarred man threw the two children to the ground, then bowed respectfully and said, "My Lord Dark Lord, Wade Grey and Harry Potter have been brought here."
Harry's knee slammed against the stone slab, the pain making his vision blur. But he bit his lip hard to keep himself from making a sound.
Wade instinctively turned his head away, his gaze quickly sweeping across the confessional, and his heart tightened.
The door to the confessional seemed to have opened a narrow crack, and Wade could vaguely see a blurry figure huddled inside, seemingly wearing heavy shackles.
The room was filled with a nauseating stench of blood, and the shackles made a slight scraping sound, as if someone was dragging their body along the chains with difficulty.
Suddenly, Wade caught a glimpse of something unusual out of the corner of his eye—
Suddenly, a blood-red eye appeared behind the crack in the door, staring unblinkingly at Wade. It was filled with pain and despair, and looking into it was as if one were gazing into an abyss.
Wade shuddered, cold sweat instantly beading on his back. He quickly looked away, his face pale, his heart pounding.
Just then, the sound of wood rubbing together came from in front of the church.
Wade glanced up and saw a high-backed chair, entirely black, slowly turning around, with a chilling snake coiled on its back.
The snake's body was as thick as an adult's thigh, and its more than three-meter-long body slithered slowly on the back of the chair, its scales shimmering with a glossy black-gold luster.
The triangular head was held high, its amber vertical pupils coldly staring at the two children. The folds of the snake's neck skin opened, and its constantly flicking tongue emitted a chilling hissing sound.
[—King Cobra!]
Wade thought to himself.
He couldn't remember when he had seen a science documentary, but he did recognize the snake.
In nature, toxins are often weapons used by small organisms or insects. Large organisms are inherently powerful and do not need the property of toxicity.
But the king cobra is different. It is a rare and dangerous creature with a large body and highly lethal venom. It can grow to more than five meters long, and a single injection of venom is enough to kill twenty people!
As Vader's heart pounded, it suddenly occurred to him that in this world, the king cobra, in terms of both size and venom, was not actually the best among snakes.
Because in the magical world, there also exist basilisks, which are very illogical hybrid creatures.
And that powerful basilisk... will be killed by twelve-year-old Harry.
Thinking about this, Wade subtly calmed down.
The high-backed chair was turned completely around.
Within the coiled body of the king cobra sat a strange infant, half-human and half-snake, its body entirely red. Its pupils were shrunk to a thin red line, and two long, narrow slits on its noseless face opened and closed slightly with its breath. Its neck was unusually long, and it held a slender black magic wand in its soft hand.
Unlike his terrifying appearance, he had a very ordinary name on his head—
Tom Riddle.
Vader's breath hitched. He looked down at the floor, his small body trembling. As he looked down, he noticed an oval mirror, about the size of a person, floating in front of Voldemort. The mirror was a hazy white, reflecting nothing of the church interior.
Harry, standing beside him, seemed slightly lost in thought. Perhaps overwhelmed by fear, he began to believe that everything around him was probably just a nightmare, not reality. Even upon seeing the eerie baby, his expression remained largely unchanged.
The boy's gaze kept sweeping towards the king cobra, his expression somewhat strange.
"Master!" Little Barty looked over with fervent eyes, seemingly oblivious to the baby's strangeness and disgust, and said impatiently, "I've finally brought you Harry Potter!"
Voldemort twirled his wand casually, letting out a hoarse laugh: "Ah, I know, I saw it all..."
He glanced at the blank mirror next to him.
“You did very well, Barty…very well…”
Little Barty's face immediately flushed a sickly red, like a child who had finally received candy and was overjoyed.
The scarred man and the tattooed woman both turned to look at him. Little Barty looked back defiantly, a light, fleeting pleasure filling his heart.
—Even if you can serve your master, what good is it? The one who truly made the greatest contribution to him is still me…
The two turned their gazes away, their expressions subtly strange. Little Barty believed this was their jealousy of him.
“It’s a pity,” Voldemort said slowly, “the live stream was interrupted, otherwise we could be seeing... Dumbledore and the others in a panic right now.”
"Master!" Remembering the terrifying White Wizard, Barty quickly said, "We'd better proceed with the ritual as soon as possible! Otherwise, Dumbledore might..."
“No need to worry.” Voldemort raised his deformed little hand and said confidently, “This place is under the Fidelity Charm; Dumbledore will never find it.”
"That's great..."
Barty immediately smiled with relief, and even felt somewhat ashamed for underestimating the Dark Lord's caution and wisdom.
Just then, he heard Voldemort's voice suddenly turn cold: "But... Barty Crouch Jr., do you know what that kid said in front of the camera?"
Little Barty's expression changed, and he subconsciously looked at Wade.
To ensure Harry could make it to the end, and ideally be the first to touch the trophy, Barty Jr. naturally also had a palm-sized telescope so he could keep track of the game's progress at any time.
So, when Wade and Harry stood in front of the trophy, Barty Jr. was actually hiding nearby and overheard the entire conversation.
His smile froze instantly, his whole body trembled, and cold sweat beaded on his forehead.
“Master!” Barty hurriedly protested, “This boy doesn’t know the whole truth! Although I was indeed captured by Dumbledore, I didn’t say anything! And I escaped quickly. That Ryan Smith… he was the eye Master planted in Ivermony. That student helped me distract the guarding wizards…”
"Don't be nervous!" Voldemort raised his hand to interrupt his explanation, and said softly, "Of course I believe in your loyalty, my dear child. But... to dispel any doubts and prove your innocence, I think you wouldn't refuse a few small verification measures, would you?"
Little Barty crawled forward without hesitation: "Of course! I'm willing to accept any test, Master! I can do anything you need!"
"So……"
Voldemort raised his wand, a ruthless glint in his crimson eyes.
"Legilimency!"
(End of this chapter)