Chapter 99

Leaning against a tree, Severus frowningly watched the wolves that one by one entered a small tent with an invisible expansion charm, which he had been preparing for this trip from the very beginning.

But then he had changed his mind about using it, considering outdoor recreation by the fire being a more enjoyable pastime than just living in a tent. Finally, a tired sigh escaped his lips. "What's happened?"

"I… I cease to understand you, if you wanted to subjugate them to yourself from the very beginning, then why…" for a moment Nagini looked with a rather complicated look towards the place where the bodies of the dead wolves had already disappeared, but the blood still remained in place, " … did this…"

"First of all, they are beasts and understand only the language of power, if I just scared them with an aura of fear, then in the end one day they could betray us, considering it a weakness, and to be honest, I planned to just kill them all …" with a wry smile, the young man looked up at the sky, "It also applied to the King of Treants. We are coming from the outside world that's why you're finding it weird, but this is the rule of jungle, here everyone is a prey to someone stronger than them. If we were weaker than the Treants, then he would've hardly let us go. Same with the wolves." exhaling, the wizard met her eyes again, feeling through the connection how the early onset of melancholy began to recede.

"Then why did you change your mind?" Nagini asked.

"Their willpower and predisposition to fire magic, if they just wielded fire magic, I would not pay much attention, but at least those seven were able to withstand my aura of fear, and even the mental impact of the snake, because even though he(snake) tried to subdue the leader , but he only slightly influenced the leader's mind, the strange fruit played a big role, which helped him gain a mind, and a promise to give more if he obeys, that's why they interested me, so I decided to take them with me, let them guard the house, for when we are out of the country," the young man shifted his gaze to the last wolf standing outside, which was the leader of the pack, who glared at him angrily.

"What else?" Snape asked coldly, causing the beast to shudder and lower its eyes sharply, "Do you really regret that you can't get those fruits anymore?"

The monster stared at the man in amazement, because how could the wizard know about them? The wolf did not even think that there was magic that allowed him to delve into the head of the enemy.

"Next after you, that snake will go, so behave yourself and if I find them, I will help the rest of your relatives become stronger, do you understand?" smiling, Severus asked the slightly agitated leader, who did not expect such a terrible person to suddenly decide to do this with those fruits, of course, after a demonstration of strength, the wolf did not doubt the victory of Severus, but still there was a bit of distrust, but he couldn't do anything anyway, so all he had to do was trust empty promises and head down to the tent with his head down.

"I am sorry I thought bad of you." sounded the depressed voice of Nagini, because indeed, if he did not have that power, they could stay there forever and become fertiliser for plants, she also remembered the words of the woman they met last night: that dozens of wizards die each year in Treant territory, even if they only happened to set foot there.

"Never mind, I'm glad I have someone with a 'conscience' like you, even I can make mistakes sometimes, and for those times, I have you to stop me if I start doing that shit, so Enough of these meaningless conversations, otherwise, some tears will start flowing down and although ... " he looked down at her head, protruding from under the collar," I would have not mind comforting you, if you had the upper part of a human."

"I'm going to bite you now, " she muttered in embarrassment and, as proof, slightly opened her mouth, releasing her fangs.

"Okay, okay, I'm silent," stroking her on the top of her head with a smile, the young man turned around and walked towards the cave, located not far from here.

"Stop! He's on the other side!" said the King of the Treants.

"You've been fooled, there's a trap."

"Why do you think so? I myself saw him crawl into that crevice!" The King's voice sounded again.

"I'm legilimens, I can read other people's minds, and from the memories of the leader of the bloody wolves, I learned that the snake is hiding there, and that place is specially prepared for you," Severus looked at the root with a mocking smile, "They were going to brick up the entrance, and then burn you in improvised furnace, through special holes to launch a flame into it."

The tree monster fell silent, apparently experiencing shock, and maybe embarrassment, but Snape could not feel his emotions through the root, and he did not think much about it, and he wasn't worried about the emotions of a creature with whom he had barely spent four hours.

On the way, exchanging words with Nagini, twenty minutes later they reached a small stone hillock of a domed shape, next to which a river flowed, from which, just at that moment, a huge snake calmly drank water, the scales of which were blood red.

Severus could not tell the exact length, but it was more than a metre and a half wide, already larger than the Basilisk he had previously met at Hogwarts.

But, what sincerely, for the first time since he moved into this world, struck him, were those small wings on the snake's back.

Although Severus had heard legends about snakes that turned into dragons, he couldn't even think that someday he would see something like this with his own eyes, because even the snake's aura was different from the usual ones.

And watching it, Snape for a moment had a desire to not kill it, but to follow it and see with his own eyes how it will turn into a dragon.

But still, the Slytherin quickly put aside these thoughts, after all, he had to finish the task, and with his current strength, he would not be able to subdue it.

Therefore, the best option would be to simply kill the snake before it turns into a dragon. "It's been about two weeks since the last time the leader of the wolves and this snake met, and at that time it was only a metre wide, and there were no wings, but now… it is an amazing rate of evolution…" Severus could not restrain a disappointed sigh, because he would have to kill such an amazing creature, which was only mentioned in legends.

Just at that moment, the creature lifted its massive head up and narrowed its eyes, sticking out its tongue.

"Human, stop hiding, come out!" exclaimed the serpent, in some unpleasant, nasal voice, looking around at the very place where Snape was now hiding.

'Hm? Did you decide to develop your sense of smell first? Not a bad choice…' Severus thought with a wry smile, and his outfit abruptly changed to a set of black, leather armour with a hood, with metal inserts, "At least I can try out the armour…"

"Be careful!" to the words of support, the young man only sadly waved his hand, which puzzled Nagini.

"Human! When you kill this snake, in addition to the Heart, you can also come to my territory at any time and take any herbs, in any amount!" sounded the impatient voice of the King of Treants, which seemed to be full of bloodlust.

"I hope you won't go back on your promise." And finally, the wizard got out into a more open area, but at the same time, on his face there was an aloofness that bordered on melancholy and sadness.

The serpent was also somewhat surprised at the sight of the unknown, who instead of a stick, like any other human, held his hand on the hilt of the sword.

"Human, you decided to bring me a toothpick in addition to yourself?" with a mockery in his voice, the snake asked, leaning towards him,"I feel the magic of that lousy tree from you, so he sent you?" the monster gave him a contemptuous glance.

"To be honest, you're a lousy actor," sharply drawing his sword, Severus plunged it halfway into the ground and in a moment pulled it out, but it was already covered in blood. But the creature did not give even a second for Snape to shake it off, as a huge tail rushed out of the water into it and at the same moment from its open mouth, it exhaled a purple cloud into the wizard, upon contact with the foliage, it quickly withered and collapsed right on eyes, leaving behind only an empty space.

Severus, of course, did not plan to fall under more than one of the attacks, so he also retreated and waving his palm, he was surrounded by a pillar of fire, into which, in a moment, the tail crashed with a roar, and the cloud could not break through it, but at the same time it destroyed everything around, not leaving even a blade of grass.

And after a few tens of seconds, it dissipated. The area around Severus, in the radius of the next thirty metres to the right and left, a small part from the back turned into a real scorched wasteland, as if nothing had ever grown in that place, at this time, only a small green part remained under the wizard's feet.

The area around Severus managed to hold off that tail attack but Severus had to apply a little force because the fire wall could not stop the tail attack fully.

The snake's physical strength, size and speed were all colossal, even with a material core, Severus had to put in a little effort to be able to block the tail.

The monster stared in shock at the completely unharmed man, who only thoughtfully watched it with a strange expression on his face. "How can a human withstand my blow?! What is this monster! Is he even human?!"

"Eh ... apparently I have no choice …"

Noticing how Severus touched the blade of the sword, the snake became alert and was ready to attack at the same moment as soon as the "human bug" took the first step. But still, it was careful this time, because after the first collision, it immediately realised that the enemy was very strong.

And that's why there was a constant thought in its head "I must run away from this abnormal person!" but this thought came too late, because in the next moment the snake saw only a flash and the swordsman disappeared, and then he reappeared in the same place, but with his back to the snake, putting his sword back into its sheath …

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