Chapter 261 260. The Curse. Part 1. The Beginning of the Ritual.

Having finally recovered from casting the previous spell, Severus began preparing for the ritual, and Nagini also prepared herself, both mentally and physically.

Severus had already warned her that the ritual would certainly not be painless, since it involved restructuring nearly her entire body and a battle between two curses, one of which had touched her soul, even if only a small fragment of her soul.

So the process of tearing it away would be agonizing. While physical pain was not particularly difficult to manage, the soul was an entirely different matter, and no spell or potion could help with that.

Although Nagini tried to show that she feared nothing and was ready for anything, it was easy to see that she was still a little frightened. So Severus called Eileen for support while he himself was occupied.

Lucky tagged along behind Eileen, and behind him came the three Qilin with Li Er, who were originally meant to participate in the ritual. But thanks to improvements in the magical circle and the potion ingredients, as well as water from the sacred spring, their assistance was no longer needed.

Severus did not send the whole group away, letting them stay for moral support. He decided that positive emotions and encouragement could help in this endeavor.

Although earlier he had wanted Nagini to be completely focused on the ritual, after reconsidering, he decided to abandon that idea. Such emotions could have a far greater influence on the outcome.

The preparation itself took another ten minutes, during which Severus moved three barrels of pure dragon blood behind the glass barrier, collected semi-voluntarily from the pond beneath the snakes' lair, and protected them with charms.

He also reinforced everything else, making sure to add elasticity to the walls, since after such a ritual, Nagini could easily grow at least another ten meters, if, of course, she did not immediately take human form, which was unlikely.

The final stage was connecting the magical circle to the house's core, to regulate the incoming magic, observe the ritual's operation in greater detail, and maintain complete control over it.

But the latter was only a backup plan, in case the primary method of control proved impossible.

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Upon returning to the work area and stepping through the glass, Severus was met by the support group. At the front stood Nagini, radiating confidence, her face showing unshakable readiness.

"Now that's more like it. You'll succeed, just don't give up," he said, dropping to one knee and smiling warmly at her, gently running his palm over her head. "It's just a pathetic curse, nothing more."

Hearing this, Li Er's eye twitched, because he had studied this affliction thoroughly and could say with certainty that even in his time, there had simply been no means to combat it. When such a horrifying curse was called pathetic, it made him want to hit the speaker hard.

"He's right. And don't forget your main goal, because if you don't succeed, someone will beat you to it," Eileen said with a playful note in her voice, winking at Nagini. The snake, caught off guard, flushed with deep embarrassment and even looked at Eileen with slight resentment; the aristocrat mischievously flashed her white teeth.

But such words worked as well as could be hoped, and Nagini herself crawled toward the magical circle, muttering unflattering things along the way about a certain haughty aristocrat, to whom she had no intention of simply surrendering Severus.

The magical creatures exchanged bewildered glances, sensing that something had happened but unable to understand what. Only Li Er nodded approvingly, stroking his beard.

Lucky landed on Severus's shoulder while he watched Nagini, and then the Qilin approached the glass.

"You be ready as well," Severus said, lowering his gaze to the three little ones, who had more or less learned human speech over the past few months and understood what their master was talking about. Li Er himself had been preparing them for this day all along.

"Don't worry, I taught them the Purifying Spell, and if she can't handle it herself, they won't fail," the spirit replied proudly, and the Qilin, backing him up, snorted briskly and nodded in unison.

"Thank you, but let's hope we won't have to resort to that method."

The Purifying Spell, in the realm of light magic, as its name implied, cleansed anything of dark energy but did not restore it.

For example, if it were a necrosis curse, the spell would simply erase it, but the already corroded arm, where it all began, would be impossible to restore.

The same applied to the soul: if a small part was infected, this spell would simply erase it, which could greatly affect a person's magical power and health.

Therefore, Severus wanted to avoid such an outcome, because it was unknown whether any treasures capable of restoring the soul even existed in this world.

"Purrrrr…!"

Noticing the nervousness on Severus's face, Lucky began to rub against his cheek to cheer him up a little.

"Thank you, but everything's fine. I'm sure everything will work out."

By this time, Nagini had already returned to her true size, coiled in the very center and taking up half the room.

"Are you ready?" he asked, looking up at her. To his right, a Time-Turner appeared, and the hourglass within began to turn.

"Begin!" she answered firmly, striking the stone floor with her tail and nodding.

"Most importantly, don't give in to this curse, and know that I will be waiting for you here."

With those words, the magical circle beneath her began to glow, and inscriptions flowed across her body, covering her completely in seconds. In the next instant, the white light abruptly vanished, replaced by runes that emitted a dark crimson glow, which condensed above her head, taking the shape of a human skull.

*What a powerful curse…*

Li Er, a wizard who had surpassed the rank of Magister in his time and held the title of Sage, shuddered at the sight. The Qilin quickly hid behind Severus, looking fearfully at the motionless snake, who lay with her eyes closed, as if unaware of what was happening outside.

And even the eternally confident Lucky trembled at this terrible dark magic.

Only Eileen and Severus seemed the calmest, but though neither showed it, both were every bit as tense as the others, especially Severus, who never took his eyes off Nagini and did not even blink, afraid of missing something.

When the skull was about to fully form, she shuddered all over, and a repulsive dark green aura burst from her, enveloping the entire room in a green mist. A small part of it transformed into a snake with blood-red eyes that hissed furiously and rushed toward its counterpart.

*As I thought… over so many years, it simply couldn't help but gain self-awareness…*

Severus thought grimly, watching the battle between the two curses, where neither could gain the upper hand. They were both immaterial; while one fed on her own core and the surrounding environment, the other had an inexhaustible source of magic thanks to the house's core. So although it was only a newborn, it could already fight back.

Severus had arranged this so that the blood curse, a significant portion of which was bound to the soul, would begin to gather all its strength and counter the other's attack.

The skull and the snake, woven from dark magic, struck each other and dissipated, then recovered and clashed again.

But this was only a small, visible part of the aura; the main battle raged inside her body.

Two opposing curses fought for control of her body, but so far neither was gaining the advantage; instead, they were only destroying each other.

Nagini herself, aside from discomfort, felt almost no pain for now due to the potions she had taken earlier, which suppressed the sensation. Concentrating, she could sense how two unknown dark forces clashed, and how the new one, little by little, was even gaining the upper hand. But before she could feel even a moment of relief that everything was proceeding according to plan, an incredible pain suddenly pierced her entire body.

"Ssssssss…! IT HURTS! HOW MUCH IT HURTS! IT'S TOO PAINFUL…!"

She hissed furiously, writhing wildly on the floor and thrashing her tail in all directions, striking the walls and causing the whole house to tremble.

"Endure it! It won't last long!" Severus exclaimed, pressing his palm against the translucent glass, watching her with a frown.

"…L-like sharp needles piercing every millimeter of my body! It's too much…!" she cried back, feeling the pain grow stronger with every second.

"It's starting to retreat! Endure a little more! Just a l-little bit longer, I beg you!"

Thanks to the Qilin, he could see through its eyes how the dark magic that had previously infected her soul was beginning to fade. That meant it was growing weaker with every second, because the curse was expending strength to fight the other magic. It had begun to gather all available resources to resist and was once again gaining the upper hand in the battle.

"No, not yet! Use more power!"

He increased the flow of magic absorbed by the magical circle, and the foreign magic regained the upper hand over the resident curse, forcing it to draw more and more magic from her soul.

"I… I can't… it's…"

"Nagini! Have you forgotten your words?! Are you really going to just give up and abandon them?! Wasn't it you who said you would always be by my side?! Where has all your determination gone?!"

Hearing that cold but firm voice, she struggled to open her eyes and look at him.

"I…"

Trembling all over, she struck the floor with her tail again, much harder this time, cracking the stone. Clenching her teeth tightly, she froze, and then:

*I… DID… NOT GIVE UP!*

Emphasizing each word, she cried out again, this time silently.

"Good… I will believe you this time."

Unclenching his fists, he continued to watch her soul, whose dark hue had faded several more shades and was now nearly gray.

"But… it hurts…"

"I know…"

"Very much…"

"I know…"

"Severus…"

"Just a little bit left."

He continued to reassure her, trying to keep himself in check and hide his worry. Right now, worry was unnecessary and would only keep him from thinking rationally, as would any other emotion.

"All right…"

Holding his palm over her trembling form, he did not take his eyes off her soul, which was already nearly ready. Now only two curses remained, having worn each other down significantly and completely permeating her body.

"A little more…"

They continued to bite pieces off of each other, expending magic with each attack, and shrinking with every passing second.

*Will such a small amount of water from the sacred spring be enough to erase both…? No, I need to wait a little longer…*

And he began feeding the magical circle again.

"How is it going?" a worried Eileen asked, coming closer to him. Thanks to her growing affinity for dark magic, she could sense it much better, and although she could not see, she felt that both curses were weakening rapidly.

"So far everything is going according to plan."

"And if… I go in there and…" she began to suggest, since watching Nagini suffer was already painful for her, but…

"You won't be able to. The moment you do, you'll simply explode from an excess of magic," he answered in a dispassionate tone, continuing to watch the curses gloomily, paying no attention to her flinch.

"Meow?"

Lucky extended his claws.

"Not you either. Right now all we can do is wait until they weaken enough, or until one absorbs the other."

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