Chapter 490: Tom: I don't use Dark Magic anymore!

Tom smiled stiffly, not trusting himself to say more than that.

“You flatter me…”

Wade said cheerfully, “He really is impressive. Among all my friends, his talent is the best. And now he’s even learned when to bend and when to stand firm. He’s definitely going to accomplish great things in the future.”

He looked toward Tom.

“Tom, why are you just standing there? Come over. I’ll introduce you.”

“I’m saying… is it possible that my legs just won’t move right now?” Tom said numbly.

…

Tom was very afraid of death, more than he liked to admit even to himself.

If the spell that had just brushed past his ear had been something else, even Sectumsempra or the Blasting Curse, he would not have been nearly as frightened.

If either of those spells injured him, even severely, Wade’s healing abilities would still give him a chance of being saved.

But if it was the Killing Curse…

Then you really could not blame Tom for nearly wetting himself.

Even being grazed by that thing meant death.

Tom sat on the garden steps, his hands still trembling slightly as he accepted a steaming cup of hot chocolate from Nagini and took a sip. Only then did he feel himself gradually calming down.

“I’m really sorry, Tom. How about I teach you a powerful spell as compensation?” Wade offered.

Tom set down the cup and glared at him fiercely.

“I want the strongest one.”

This was compensation he deserved, so Tom had no intention of being polite about it.

“No problem!” Wade smiled. “I just happen to have created a fairly powerful spell myself. Interested?”

“Show me,” Tom said expectantly.

“A spell you created yourself?” Miravia’s interest was immediately piqued as well.

“I only remembered it after seeing Snick. This spell was derived from a basilisk’s eyes,” Wade said.

“Oh?” Tom grew even more interested.

He held out his hand, and the young basilisk slithered onto his wrist before curiously raising its head to look at Nagini nearby.

For some reason, it always felt as though she carried the presence of one of its own kind.

Nagini looked at the little basilisk with a complicated expression she did not bother to hide.

She had once curled around Wade’s wrist just like that, not so long ago.

Fortunately…

She had finally regained her human form.

Wade flicked his wand, and the fallen targets stood upright again.

“Maybe you should turn the targets in another direction,” Tom could not help saying. “Otherwise, what if André or Anne suddenly arrives and you actually hit them?”

“Oh, right… good point.”

Wade lightly tapped his wand, and the humanoid targets immediately turned to face another direction.

Standing before them, Wade said, “Watch carefully. The important part of this spell isn’t the incantation, but the path of the magic. You only need to visualise a diagram of the magical flow in your mind, and then…”

Before Wade had even finished speaking, a huge translucent phantom appeared behind him.

It was an enormous coiled serpent, larger than anything Tom had expected to see.

Wade swept his wand forward.

The serpent behind him instantly opened its eyes, yellow and unblinking.

Brilliant yellow light shot from its gaze and struck one of the targets ahead.

Buzz!

A strange humming sound rang out.

The target instantly turned to stone before cracking apart and scattering across the ground.

And after launching that first attack, the giant serpent phantom behind Wade still did not disappear.

Wade remained completely still, but yellow beams continued firing automatically from the serpent’s eyes without any further effort from him.

Only after every target in front of him had been struck did the phantom slowly fade away.

The spell’s visible effect did not seem especially spectacular.

But Miravia, Tom, and Nagini all became serious at once.

Because every one of them had sensed a lethal threat from the spell the moment it fired.

It felt almost like facing the Killing Curse, the same cold certainty that left no room for recovery.

“What happens if you use that spell on a person?” Tom asked immediately.

The same spell could produce completely different effects when used on a person rather than an object.

When Avada Kedavra struck a person, they died instantly.

When it hit an object, the object was simply blasted apart.

That was why the best defence against Avada Kedavra had always been physical cover.

Of course, it had to be sufficiently thick cover.

“I haven’t tested it on a person, but the result should be immediate death,” Wade answered calmly. “I already told you. This magic was extracted from a basilisk’s eyes. What happens when someone meets a basilisk’s gaze?”

Tom replied, “Anyone who looks directly into its eyes dies… Is your spell the same? If someone makes eye contact with the basilisk phantom behind you, they die?”

“Not just that. If direct eye contact were required, it would be too easy for an enemy to defend against. So I improved it slightly. As long as it sees you, it attacks. If the attack hits, you die.”

A basilisk’s gaze did not fire spell-like beams.

Anyone who met its eyes directly died.

But for that very reason, closing your eyes and refusing to look at it prevented the gaze from taking effect.

After Wade’s modification, however, the basilisk phantom’s gaze had been transformed into actual magical beams.

Even without direct eye contact, being struck by one would still kill the target instantly.

It was not as sudden and unavoidable as a real basilisk’s gaze, but for a wizard, it was much easier to control and far less likely to kill an ally by accident.

Otherwise, if a teammate lost focus for a moment and happened to meet the phantom basilisk’s eyes, things would become rather troublesome.

“This spell of yours…” Tom paused. “Barring anything unexpected, it should probably count as an Unforgivable Curse too.”

The most basic characteristic of an Unforgivable Curse was that it had no counter-curse.

This spell caused instant death, and just like the Killing Curse, even being grazed by it would kill.

So Wade had effectively created an entirely new Unforgivable Curse, whether he intended to call it that or not.

“I’m only asking whether you want to learn it,” Wade said directly.

Tom shook his head.

“That’s Dark Magic, Wade. I don’t use Dark Magic anymore.”