Volume 4: The Sea and the Ship Heading North Chapter 290 Cold Snake
cold.
This was the only feeling Jon had after entering the ice pit.
The biting cold seemed to have turned into materialized white mist, lingering around him.
As he continued to fall, he first used a levitation spell to slow down his descent, then tightened his robe to cover all the exposed skin.
The descent was not long, only about ten seconds, and his feet touched the solid ice surface.
After landing, the temperature here was not as cold as it was above, which made Jon, whose hands and feet were numb from the cold, breathe a sigh of relief.
Without stopping or hesitating, he immediately started running along the only passage leading inside the next second after landing.
Although there is still a lot of magic power left in the gem, it cannot be consumed endlessly. Jon's entry into this ice maze now does not mean the end, but rather the beginning of a fierce battle.
He couldn't waste the precious magic power in the gem on rushing on the road, so he didn't use flying, which was the fastest way of movement. He just mobilized his own magic power to reduce the weight of his body, allowing him to run faster and save more energy.
"There will be a fork in the road ahead. When Gabrielle and I came here, we chose the one on the left. But after that, we soon came to a three-way fork. We didn't find anything behind it, and we didn't find the end."
Nick followed Jon and quickly repeated to him what he and Gabriel had discovered in the maze.
Jon spoke as he ran.
"Then let's try a different route this time. We don't know which way is right anyway, so let's go right this time!"
They kept running forward, and there was no sign of the Death Eaters catching up behind them. However, Jon did not slow down his pace, but instead quickened it.
He was not blinded by the fact that he could enter this maze guarded by so many Death Eaters so easily.
Things were going too well for the better. Jon actually had two alternative plans for this break-in, but nothing unexpected happened.
As expected, most of the Death Eaters were attracted by his Patronus, and none of the Death Eaters guarding the entrance could successfully stop him, allowing him to rush into the maze with a blasting spell and a crushing spell.
This smoothness seemed very abnormal to John. Even if there were mediocre Death Eaters, they could not be so incompetent.
It seemed like they were just pretending just now. Their real purpose was to let him enter the maze instead of stopping him.
This phenomenon made Jon more certain.
The main goal of this group of Death Eaters in the Arctic is not to guard the place where Voldemort once visited, they are doing it for themselves!
If their real purpose was to lure him into this maze, then they must want to use this place to deal with him.
So after entering the maze, Jon not only did not relax, but became more vigilant.
After running for nearly half an hour, he finally arrived at the first intersection that Nick said he and Gabrielle met.
Jon didn't hesitate and ran straight to the road on the left.
Although this road is unknown , it is precisely because of the unknown that there are more possibilities. If he wants to be safer, he can just walk again along the path Nick and the others took before, but then his entry into this maze would be meaningless.
Just as Jon ran past the fork in the road, Bella, with a cold face, was looking at the Death Eaters who were already prepared.
"Now that he is here, this is the last chance the master will give you."
Her voice was sharp and cold, and there was no trace of Roland, the French Chief Justice, in it. Even when she looked at her husband Rodolphus, her gaze was no different from that of other Death Eaters.
"At the same time, I will also convey the master's promise that whoever kills or captures the boy will become the next French Minister of Magic and the de facto leader of the French wizarding world!"
Her words made all the Death Eaters below breathe heavier.
Everyone knew that Voldemort's appointment as Minister of Magic for France was merely a temporary stopgap measure.
His ambitions must not be limited to Britain and France, or even to continental Europe.
Once he embarked on his next journey, he would certainly resign as the French Minister of Magic and allow a reliable confidant to control and manage the land for him.
Unlike Britain, Voldemort's lair and headquarters, the land of France will not be overly influenced and controlled by him, which means that the next Minister of Magic will have a great deal of autonomy.
This also represents huge benefits, which will surely make these Death Eaters excited.
But then Bella's tone suddenly changed, and she looked at everyone fiercely.
"But at the same time, if our mission fails this time, you should also know what you will face!"
When she finished saying this, she glanced at Rodolphus specifically. There was no sympathy or comfort in her eyes for her husband who had lost his brother. Instead, there was more of a threat.
Even if the consequences of failure were not explicitly stated, everyone present knew them.
What their master hated most was the incompetence of his servants. The Death Eaters led by Rodolphus had already failed once on the sea. If they failed again on the ice field of the Arctic, no one would be able to obtain his forgiveness.
So after Bella explained the consequences of success and failure, the Death Eaters began their actions.
They were divided into three groups, led by Rodolphus, Bella and another leader. The group led by Rodolphus went directly into the ice pit blasted by John and started diving on their flying brooms.
The other Death Eaters, led by Bella and another leader, Apparated to another entrance and entered the maze from different directions.
After entering the maze, they began to move deeper and deeper into the maze, and every time they came to a fork in the road, they would split into a team of three. Eventually, all the Death Eaters were divided into small groups, and began to spread towards the maze in a network structure!
Jon, of course, didn't know this.
Not long after passing the first fork in the road, he came across a four-way fork in the road.
Without any hesitation or struggle, he chose a path and continued walking down.
But before leaving, he used the Shadowless Sword to leave a shallow mark on the ice wall on one side.
After feeling his breathing becoming rapid, Jon stopped running. Only when he actually entered the maze could he feel how huge this maze was. If he continued running blindly like this, he would probably be exhausted to death before he reached the end.
"I actually wonder who has the ability and energy to build a place like this in the Arctic."
Nick expressed his doubts on the way.
Jon was actually thinking about this question too.
This maze is located at the point that Grindelwald saw and that Voldemort had visited before, which means that he would not have dug it himself.
Moreover, for such a huge project, John didn't think that Voldemort had the ability and mood to create such a place when he had only disappeared for a month.
This place was most likely left behind by some wizard who came to the Arctic before, and the purpose of creating this maze was most likely the reason why Voldemort came here in the first place.
If a wizard could carve out such a huge maze on the permafrost that has not melted for millions of years, he would definitely not be an unknown person.
And among all the famous wizards in history, it is true that no one has ever been to the North Pole.
"It may be just like the one who created Azkaban Island, Axtis. If no one discovers this place, no one in the wizarding world will know how powerful the creator of this maze is."
Jon walked forward as he spoke, but the next second, he suddenly stopped, and his whole body suddenly became motionless as if he had been hit by a petrification spell.
Nick and Gabriel, who were following him, were also stunned where they were. But before they could open their mouths to ask, Jon made a gesture to silence them.
As all their movements stopped, they faintly heard a rustling sound.
The sound was not loud, but very subtle. If Jon hadn't asked them to stop talking, almost no one would have noticed the unusual sound.
Nick and Gabrielle both held their breath as the sound grew louder and closer to them.
Then, a long and thick creature crawled out from a corner not far in front of them!
After seeing the emerald green skin and the body as thick as a bucket, Jon instantly remembered an extremely dangerous magical creature he had seen before!
He couldn't react quickly at the first moment, so he could only close his eyes instantly, then reached forward with his hands to cover Gabrielle's eyes, and at the same time spoke loudly to remind Nick.
"Don't look it in the eyes, Nick!"
However, he did not receive a response from Nick. The only sound that came through was the rustling sound made by the huge creature's movements, like the sound of hard stone falling to the ground!
Jon's heart suddenly sank to the bottom. This voice not only confirmed his guess, but also made him realize that his reminder was too late.
Gabrielle, with her eyes covered, looked quite at a loss.
"What's wrong, Jon? What happened to Nick?"
"Don't be nervous, Nick is fine, but don't open your eyes! Remember, no matter what noise you hear, don't open your eyes. Then float upwards. You should remember how high we are now. Float to one meter above the ceiling and wait in the ice. Wait until I ask you to open your eyes, then open your eyes!"
Jon quickly gave Gabrielle all his instructions.
Gabrielle was also very obedient. After Jon let go of her eyes, she did not open them. Instead, she followed Jon's request and kept closing her eyes nervously, floating upwards until she stopped in the ice.
After letting Gabrielle hide in a safe place, Jon closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
He forcefully tore off a piece of black cloth from his robe, then calmly and completely covered his eyes.
After seeing the body that he remembered so clearly and learning that Nick was no longer able to answer him, Jon knew exactly what he was facing.
Basilisk!
He once killed a rooster of his own kind in Hogwarts Castle with a rooster!
A basilisk that can actually live in the Arctic!
This was a situation that Jon could never have imagined. Even magical creatures generally followed the habits of nature.
No matter how powerful a creature like the basilisk is, and even though it is called the king of all snakes, it is still a snake.
All snakes have the characteristic of hibernating in cold environments. In nature, the only snake that lives in the Arctic is called the Arctic adder. But even if it lives there, it will hibernate for up to eight months a year. This is in the Scandinavian Peninsula, which is not as cold as the North Pole.
No one could have guessed that in such a cold environment like the ice maze, there would be a basilisk that could move freely.
Although this accident caught Jon off guard, he was not yet panicked.
It's not like he hasn't seen basilisks before, and he's also killed them before. Even if he doesn't have the rooster, the best killer weapon against this kind of creature, Jon won't have any fear.
The rooster is gone, but he is no longer the same person he was more than a year ago.
"Thunder explosion!"
There was no scruple at all. Whether it was Nick who was suspected to be petrified, or Gabriel who was hiding in the ice, the blasting spell would not cause any harm to them.
"boom!"
The sealed space of the maze made the blasting spell emit a huge roar that was not heard outside!
Jon couldn't see the target, he was just casting spells right in front of him. He didn't care whether he could hit the target accurately or cause damage to the target.
Because the purpose of this blasting spell itself is not to kill!
The basilisk's reaction was very fast, or rather, its reaction speed was among the best among all snakes.
When it saw the only target that could pose a threat to it and raised the small wooden stick in its hand, it nimbly squirmed its body and wrapped itself around a protruding piece of ice above the maze!
After the earthquake caused by the blasting spell, apart from shattering a piece of ice and creating a ground full of fine ice fragments, there was no other record.
This made the basilisk wrapped around the ceiling stare at Jon with its cold eyes, and at the same time it curled up its body like a spring.
Just as it was planning to complete the distance charge at the fastest speed and swallow Jon directly into its mouth.
Jon waved his wand again, and a spell that could be used in any situation came out of his mouth.
"Wingardium Leviosa!"
