The Witcher: The Journey to Transcendence from Marvel...

Chapter 99 Alchemy Array

Black's Old House, while not as grand in scale or mystery as Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, also hides many secret rooms that even the most experienced wizards would find difficult to discover.

One particularly secluded spot even became the last refuge for the house-elf Kreacher—a place that even Sirius Black, the heir to House Black, could not easily find.

However, Sirius had other options.

"Kreacher! Appear before me immediately!" With a loud shout, Sirius Black issued the order, using his position as the patriarch of the Black Clan.

Almost instantly, the air rippled, and then Kreacher appeared before everyone.

"Kreacher," Sirius gripped Kreacher's collar tightly, "hand over Voldemort's Horcruxes." But Kreacher simply lowered his head and replied in an almost inaudible voice, "I don't know what Horcruxes are..."

Seeing the other party's attitude, Sirius became even angrier. He lifted Kreacher up and forced him to look directly into his eyes.

"Stop pretending! Hand over the stuff!"

Just as Sirius was about to lose control due to his anger, Dumbledore stopped him in time.

"Calm down, Sirius, violence won't solve anything."

After a brief silence, Sirius took a deep breath.

Then, suppressing his anger, he spoke again: "Kreacher, this is my last warning: hand over the locket immediately."

Faced with his master's uncompromising demands, Kreacher could not disobey Sirius's orders.

It slowly extended its palm, in which lay a finely crafted locket.

Sirius snatched the locket away, and Kreacher's emotions instantly collapsed; he began to wail loudly.

"Waaaaah~"

It kept banging its head against the wall, recklessly hurting itself. Blood quickly flowed down its forehead, but it seemed to feel no pain and just continued to repeat this self-harming behavior.

"Kreacher is a useless house-elf; he didn't even complete Lord Regulus's last task."

This unexpected scene attracted the attention of other members of the Order of the Phoenix, who all gathered around.

Sirius stood to one side with a furrowed brow; he had never heard of any connection between his younger brother Regulus and Horcruxes.

"Regulus? What does this have to do with Regulus? Why are you in this locket? No hiding anything, tell me the truth."

Faced with its master's stern questioning, Kreacher became even more agitated: "Sirius was a bad seed! Master Regulus is the true heir of the Black family!" it cursed angrily, "Why wasn't it Sirius who died?!"

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Kreacher recounted the long-buried past in fits and starts, weeping as he spoke.

"That year, Master Regulus took me to a cave."

Kreacher, weeping, recounted how Regulus discovered Voldemort's true nature and realized that joining the Death Eaters was a mistake. To undo his error and protect his family from harm, Regulus decided to stop Voldemort's evil deeds.

Regulus resolutely drank the poison that protected the Horcrux in exchange for the Slytherin locket. Before his death, he entrusted this important item to Kreacher, instructing him to do everything possible to destroy the Horcrux and not to reveal this to anyone.

On his way back, due to extreme thirst, Regulus was unfortunately dragged into the water by an undead lurking there and perished.

By the end, Kreacher was sobbing uncontrollably and could barely continue: "I failed to complete the task assigned to me by Master Regulus. I tried everything I could, but I couldn't destroy this damned locket."

Sirius Black, stunned, clutched the Slytherin locket. "I had no idea Regulus would..."

At this moment, he seemed to rediscover his younger brother, the one he had once considered weak and a follower of dark forces.

Dumbledore, the Weasleys, and even the usually composed Moody seemed somewhat lost in thought.

Among the Death Eaters, there was a hero who silently resisted Voldemort, even at the cost of his own life.

"Regulus is a good lad." Moody patted Sirius on the shoulder, though he seemed a little bad at offering words of comfort.

The surrounding members of the Order of the Phoenix were also moved by Regulus's deeds. Sirius's expression became even more complex, and tears involuntarily streamed down his face as he felt a mix of emotions.

"I didn't know anything at all." Sirius's voice was choked with sobs.

He was proud of what Regulus had done, but also deeply remorseful.

As a member of the Order of the Phoenix, he once openly opposed Voldemort, but a misunderstanding led to the destruction of his close friends James and Lily's family, and he himself spent a long time in Azkaban.

During this time, he made no contribution to the fight against the dark forces and could only wallow in despair and self-pity.

Not a single mistake, not a single poem, not a single post, not a single piece of content, not a single look!

Sirius felt deeply ashamed compared to Regulus.

Dumbledore noticed Sirius's change in mood and gently reminded him, "Everyone has different circumstances, but the most important thing now is to destroy this locket."

"That's right." Sirius wiped away his tears and gripped the locket tightly in his hand. He couldn't let Regulus's efforts go to waste.

Meanwhile, Kreacher remained consumed by self-blame, constantly punishing himself.

"Stop, Kreacher," Sirius had never been so gentle with Kreacher before. "Don't punish yourself anymore. We'll destroy this locket."

"Really?" Kreacher couldn't believe it. "I've tried everything, but nothing worked."

"We have Dumbledore and Wes," Sirius pointed to them, "and not just this locket, but we will utterly destroy Voldemort, to avenge Regulus, James, Lily, and all those who have suffered."

"You're not lying to me?" Kreacher looked at Sirius with eager anticipation.

"I think you can be a witness," Weiss added.

Kreacher nodded eagerly in agreement.

In the basement of Black's old house, the members of the Order of the Phoenix gathered.

Wes had just finished the last stroke of the complex alchemical array drawing, and the entire array emitted a faint glow.

"That's fine."

Wes stood at the edge of the alchemy array, took a deep breath, and then activated the alchemy array.

With a faint hum, the air in the entire basement seemed to vibrate. Marvolo Gaunt's ring and Slytherin's locket were placed at the center of the alchemy circle, and they began to slowly rotate under everyone's gaze, emitting an eerie glow.

(End of this chapter)