Even if a ghost appeared in the basement, Cohen would find it more normal than the current situation—perhaps even "the appearance of a ghost here" wouldn't be normal, since Cohen should have devoured all the souls of the dead here ten years ago.
But a mere label of 67 soul strength wouldn't scare Cohen away, especially since the label was followed by the word "weak."
And even if he really couldn't win, Cohen felt he could still escape.
Surely there wasn't another Dementor behind him, right?
As Cohen approached the door at the end of the corridor, a strange feeling spread from his heart throughout his body.
It was like…
"Child…"
It was a woman's voice, but Cohen felt as if the voice appeared out of thin air in his mind.
This was the first time—this kind of mental magic shouldn't be able to target Cohen at all.
"Mom?"
Cohen blurted out—it felt like a giant hand called blood relation had appeared out of thin air, prying open his mouth and making him shout.
Blood relations in the magical world were a bit too bizarre…
and Cohen figured he'd have to get used to this phenomenon.
Considering that Cohen's system panel shows five races, he likely has more than one mother and possibly more than one father—his parents are practically everywhere.
He might wander around and bump into some strange creature that shouts "Son!" and then hugs him, intending to stuff all the gold, silver, magical items, and powerful objects it's amassed into his hands, saying things like, "Son, you've worked hard all these years. This is your father's (mother's) compensation, so please accept it."
"Too abstract. It's probably just the inferiority complex of an orphan causing this,"
Cohen shook his head, lost in thought. Those melodramatic scenarios were still far from his reality—just now, Cohen's mind conjured up images of five magical creature parents meeting and fighting.
To be on the safe side, Cohen used half of his soul to peek through the door—after all, a soul can escape faster than a physical body.
Behind the door was a dark basement, but even though the space was dark, Cohen could still see everything clearly through his soul-form "night vision."
To the left of the entrance was a long wooden table piled high with bottles and jars.
The floor was covered in a tangled web of demonic tendrils—these tentacle-like vines easily proliferated in basements.
But Cohen was most concerned with the other side.
The right side, compared to the table and alchemical flasks on the left, seemed rather empty.
There was only a wide metal cage, almost as tall as an adult, so large creatures inside couldn't even stand up.
Inside the cage was a black horse, like a Thestral, but more robust than the emaciated ones.
It was the creature that had just called Cohen "child."
[Soul Strength: 67 (Weak)]
Suddenly, it raised its head, staring directly at Cohen's location.
It had pale pupils, and its head, almost blending into the darkness, looked extremely eerie.
Just as it looked up, Cohen saw a single horn—a silver, spiraling horn, one Cohen had seen in the Forbidden Forest.
Only unicorns possess this sacred horn, capable of neutralizing almost all toxins, making it an extremely precious ingredient for potions.
Before it raised its head, the horn was dull and lifeless, almost blending into the darkness and its fur.
But when it raised its head, the previously dull horn regained its normal luster, shining brightly.
However… no unicorn's fur is black; they should only have golden fur in their juvenile stage and silver fur in their adult stage.
Wait a minute—
Cohen immediately shrank back.
He was in spirit form! Even Dumbledore couldn't see it—could this unicorn see it?
[Child…don't be afraid…]
Its voice appeared in Cohen's mind once again.
[Let your mother see you…]
He had no mother in his past life, and suddenly he had so many mothers in this life; Cohen was a little unaccustomed to it.
"Sigh…"
Cohen sighed.
[He could clearly feel that this unicorn had no ill intentions towards him; it even considered Cohen its child—no mother would harm her child; this is a fairy tale, and fairy tales should be like fairy tales.] Cohen
pushed open the door and went inside.
Driven by the light from the tip of Cohen's wand, the Devil's Net shrank into a crevice in the corner. Cohen walked to the cage.
"Don't be sad... I can live a long time... I can stay with you for a long time..."
It thought Cohen's downcast expression was because he saw his mother trapped—
"Actually, it's not that sad."
Cohen said dejectedly,
"It's just that the Earl can actually attack me with 'mother fuck' now, it's a little painful."
[...]
The mood it had carefully built up was shattered by Cohen's words.
"But was what you said last time true?" Cohen looked up and met its eyes, which were mostly white. "The part about 'staying with me for a very long time'?"
Sincerity is always a sure-fire weapon, especially the "sincerity" emanating from an eleven-year-old child with pitiful eyes, so much so that it seemed to instantly forget what Cohen had just said.
It even forgot to ask who the "Earl" was.
"Of course, Mom will always protect you..."
"Can you let Mom out?" "
Sure!" Cohen readily agreed. "But I've been tricked so often before—would you trick me?"
[Mom is a unicorn—unicorns don't lie…]
It looked at Cohen affectionately—Cohen didn't know why he could see "affection" on the horse's face, which was mostly white; perhaps it was some kind of psychological trick.
"Then swear that Chinese people don't lie to Chinese people—no, unicorns don't lie to Dementors."
[I swear.]
The black unicorn was visibly impatient.
"How about we make an unbreakable vow?" Cohen looked at it pitifully. "You know… I've always been an orphan… I have no sense of security…"
[Fine, fine, hurry up—I mean, I can.]
The black unicorn impatiently tapped its hoof against the metal bars of its cage.
It didn't really know what an "unbreakable vow" was until an owl reluctantly flew in, exchanged a few words with Cohen, and began its ritualistic interrogation—
"You—what's its name? Black Horse? Moldy Unicorn? Or what?" The count, wand pointed between Cohen and the black unicorn, was about to begin when he realized he didn't know the unicorn's name at all.
The unicorn snorted angrily but didn't speak—it just wanted to get out of there, no matter what this damn vow was.
It knew perfectly well that no curse could bind it—or rather, it was the embodiment of curses. Even if it broke its vow, what curse could this magic possibly cast upon it?
"Alexia," Cohen found its name on the cage's tag.
"Oh, alright, you go first, you little rascal." The Earl had prepared the prelude to the unbreakable vow—for the first time, Cohen felt a talking bird could be so useful.
"Alexia, when I need you, will you come to help me solve my problems?" Cohen asked the unicorn.
[I do]
A thin, dazzling tongue of fire shot from the wand beneath the Earl's paws, like a red-hot metal wire, wrapping around their hands and horns.
The first vow had succeeded.
The most reassuring aspect of this spell wasn't the consequence of "the one who breaks the vow will die," but the enforceability of the vow's concept.
Once the vow was spoken, its complete concept was fixed—there were no loopholes to exploit, and the other party couldn't distort the initially made vow with their own ideas.
So when Cohen's first demand took effect, the unicorn began to sense something was wrong.
[Wait—what happens if this oath is broken—]
"Are you willing to obey my demands forever and never break them?" Cohen said his second sentence. "Whatever, either we complete the whole process amicably, or I'll leave with my bird right now. You choose."
[I do]
The unicorn's voice was laced with gritted teeth. It really wanted to leave this hellhole, but this was definitely not how it wanted to leave.
This little brat, mixed with its own blood, had acted perfectly normally before. Didn't it seem like a benevolent mother? It clearly heard Cohen call "Mom" from outside the door.
A normal, lonely, experimental subject with even a modicum of conscience would have unhesitatingly unlocked its mother's shackles. This child should have immediately opened the cage and cried in its arms…
A second flame erupted from the Earl's wand tip, leaving a clear mark on the unicorn's horn.
"Breaking the oath will result in death," Cohen answered its question. "But you promised not to hurt me, and to stay with me for life."
"Chinese don't lie to Chinese."
[I'm not Chinese at all—and I'm not even human!]
It completely revealed its true nature, its shrill voice piercing Cohen's eardrums.
"Well, there's no way around it now. The oath has been made, hehehe… You have to obey me forever!" Cohen let out a sinister laugh. "Now, make one last oath with me."
"Do you promise never to hurt me, or any other life I cherish?"
[I…I do]
It had almost exhausted all its strength just saying those three words.
It seemed that escaping or not making any difference—no, it seemed that being in the cage was even freer.
A third tongue of fire shot from the tip of the Earl's wand. All three oaths had been made, and Cohen had made them flawlessly.
"Mission accomplished—you don't really think I'm that stupid to believe a unicorn whose fur has turned black, do you?" Cohen rubbed his hands together. "Even if you're really my mother by blood, it doesn't matter. I have at least five fathers or mothers; these things aren't that rare."
[You *****]
"You'll get used to it," the Count said to the unicorn Alexia in a knowing tone. "But you're a little dumber than me; you walked right into the cage."
The unicorn was trapped in some kind of runic metal that blocked magic; Cohen's spells were useless against it—the only way was to find the key in various corners of the room.
Finally, Cohen found the key and unlocked the cage that had imprisoned the enraged unicorn for over a decade.
"Why do you look unhappy?"
Cohen asked with concern.
"I'm not some slave owner. Like I said, those were just precautions. Aside from helping me with chores, you can do whatever you want with your time—"
"Expelliarmus!"
Suddenly, with a loud Apparition sound, a red beam of spell struck Cohen, sending his wand flying.
Two men in black robes appeared in the basement, one tall and one short. The taller one caught Cohen's wand, his own wand pointing directly at Cohen, its tip emitting dangerous sparks of spellcasting.
The shorter wizard served mainly as a backdrop, holding his wand aloft, its fluorescent light illuminating the scene.
"Don't make any rash moves. You're under arrest," the taller wizard said, narrowing his eyes. "Hmph, Dumbledore even told us to trust you—I've always maintained the opinion of eliminating the threat completely."
Both were Aurors.
And Cohen vaguely remembered them.
The tall Auror… seemed to have appeared in Cohen's memories when he was "one year old," his face accompanied by a green glow.
He had used a killing curse on Cohen, but it hadn't succeeded.
"You mean… you wanted to kill me when I was one year old—and now you want to kill me again without explanation?" Cohen asked, tilting his head.
"Returning to the manor, releasing the dark magic creatures, you've already embarked on the path of a dark wizard—or rather… you were always on that path," the tall Auror said coldly. "Monster."
"Some bad seeds are born that way. I still stand by my opinion from ten years ago; I should have tried to kill you back then."
He seemed to have absolutely no good opinion of Cohen, firmly believing that the monsters created in the dark magic laboratory would always be evil monsters.
"So there's no room for negotiation then?"
Cohen raised an eyebrow.
"In that case… then I can only—"
This sentence made the tall Auror immediately realize:
"Protect Armor!"
The tall Auror released the Armor Charm.
But Cohen did not cast a spell without a staff, nor did he launch an immediate attack. Instead, he took a deep breath—"Mom!!!"
Join p4treon for advanced chapters.
Need support for study...
[email protected]/Horizons685
(End of this chapter)