Selma Lake Monster

Hearing this, Sean could only shrug.

Indeed, only you can quickly understand what you've done.

The two were crammed under the tiny Invisibility Cloak, but Grindelwald still looked completely relaxed, as if he were sitting in a luxurious velvet armchair.

He was clutching something in one hand and rubbing it for a while, then he said, "A very well-thought-out plan. If I'm not mistaken, the thing should be at the bottom of the lake."

After saying that, Grindelwald waved his hand and said, "Go, fish him out and then go find him. Let me know when he's ready to accept it."

Grindelwald's straightforward manner caught Sean off guard. He awkwardly touched his nose and muttered, "You're so quick to agree... This is a matter of global importance, I'm under a lot of pressure, you know..."

Grindelwald scoffed. "I must correct you on one point, Sean. Even if the sky were to collapse right now, it would have nothing to do with the world. The world has existed for far too long—what does it matter if life is devastated and everything is destroyed, or if there is friendliness, happiness, and prosperity? It makes no difference to the world as a whole."

Sean rolled his eyes and retorted, "Of course I know that. The world I'm referring to is the circle in which we, humans, animals, and so on, live."

The old man opposite him burst into laughter. "Since you know, what are you waiting for, the Chosen One boy?"

Sean gave him a disapproving look, but in the end, he stepped out of the Invisibility Cloak.

In Grindelwald's memories before his time travel, the other party mentioned that if things got out of control, he should have Sean kill him.

Sean knew that if he brought it up, Grindelwald would most likely accept it readily, as the other man always had a strange sense of responsibility.

To save himself some trouble, Sean decided it was best to say as little as possible.

Moreover, he couldn't stay with Grindelwald, who was under the Invisibility Cloak, for too long, otherwise there was a risk that the world would hear him—he still had to go find Young Grindelwald with his things, and there would be all sorts of problems then, so not increasing the risk factors was his top priority.

Sean walked to the lakeside, glanced inside, and then shouted back, "Did you put something weird in there? Can I really go on like this?"

A lazy voice came. "I've released a few Inferi, but they won't attack you."

How many? Sean remained skeptical.

He pointed his wand at himself, and after a moment of contortion, something resembling shark gills appeared on his cheeks.

It's not that complete Transfiguration is impossible, but while Human Transfiguration is a type of advanced Transfiguration, it is fundamentally different from Animagus and has many inconveniences in actual combat.

Then Sean took out a bottle of light blue potion and took a sip. It was Underwater Breathing Potion, which, when used with shark gills, would allow him to maintain good fighting ability in the water.

After all, wizards are far weaker in water than on land. Of his Magical Creatures companions, only the Basilisk can dive, but even the Basilisk's strength is greatly reduced in water, as it is not an amphibian, it can only swim.

This is the best combination for underwater operations that Sean has tested— Gillyweed is too rare and can't be taken ashore.

Without further hesitation, Sean plunged into the icy lake water.

He was still breathing smoothly, and he cast a Night Vision Charm on himself in the water, making the pitch-black water instantly visible.

Then Sean felt a chill run down his spine.

He certainly didn't believe Grindelwald's claim of "just a few Inferi," but he never expected there to be so many!

The pale skin was pressed against the black, sticky lake water. Men, women, and children—at least hundreds of Inferi stared straight at Sean.

As the tattered clothes floated on the lake, the Inferi stared intently at Sean with their sunken, blind eyes. Those empty, misty eyes sent chills down one's spine.

Moreover, there are far too many!

Sean had barely entered the water when he was embraced by a Inferi, its stiff, cold skin pressing against him, desperately drawing warmth from him.

"Why does that unlucky old man like to do these underworld things..."

Sean pulled away the Inferi's hand with obvious disgust and swam downwards.

Grindelwald was right; the Inferi indeed wouldn't attack Sean, although they looked at Sean with very unfriendly eyes.

The number of Inferi in this lake is countless. It seems that Grindelwald once created many waves of Inferi armies here. In some places, the Inferi are even piled up like sardines.

After swimming downstream for more than ten meters, the number of Inferi around the lake finally decreased significantly. However, apart from some aquatic plants, no living creatures could be seen in the lake.

Come to think of it, even if there were fish here, they would probably have been killed by the Inferi long ago.

Sean made his wand glow brightly and wandered around for a while, but still couldn't find a place where he could hide anything.

Did I make a mistake? Sean wondered.

He searched places that were mostly densely populated with Inferi, but he never sensed any magical fluctuations.

Sean changed his approach and slowly swam towards several areas with few Inferi.

He soon stepped to the bottom of the lake, where the silt churned and brought out a stream of murky water.

After searching several places without finding anything, Sean looked around and suddenly spotted an even darker spot at the bottom of the lake.

It appeared to be a cave in the water.

"That's probably it..." Sean perked up and quickly swam toward the cave.

The entrance to the cave was large enough that Sean estimated the Basilisk could come and go freely. However, the water inside was even darker, and even with his Night Vision Charm applied, Sean could only vaguely see a few things.

He instinctively became more vigilant.

As he slowly walked deeper into the cave, his view gradually expanded. When he reached the end, Sean was astonished to find that the terrain here was very similar to the dragon cave where he had stayed when he played the Fire Dragon in Newmontgard.

So, Grindelwald had planned this all along, hadn't he...? Sean couldn't help but think to himself.

What happened next stunned Sean.

Just like when he once played the Fire Dragon, in the open center of the cave, there was a white... nest.

The nest was made entirely of human bones, with all sorts of bones haphazardly assembled, and strange green specks of light drifting out from it.

In the center of this bone nest was an egg as big as Sean's upper body.

The dark green egg bobbed back and forth slightly in the pitch-black lake water, occasionally trembling in a way that didn't go against the current.

This is enough to prove that what's inside seems to be about to emerge.

Generally, one of the parents should be present around an egg that is about to hatch...

The moment Sean saw the egg, alarm bells went off in his head. A faint, fishy smell was rapidly approaching from another direction in the cave!

Is there anything else living in this place besides the Inferi?!

"Damn it!" A few bubbles popped out of Sean's shark gills, and he immediately raised his wand to cast a defensive spell on himself.

The cave was trembling, as if some enormous creature was recklessly crashing against the rock walls and rushing towards it!

That's incredibly fast! Faster than the Grindylow!

Sean's pupils suddenly contracted.

Grindelwald only said that the Inferi wouldn't attack him, but he didn't say anything else!

Before Sean could even hide himself, a huge head suddenly burst out!

Before Sean could even see the attacker's face clearly, he was struck by a tremendous force. The transparent barrier absorbed most of the impact, but the excess force still sent him flying.

"What the hell—" Sean was stunned by the sudden attack. Although he was not injured, his counterattack was still a beat too slow.

Before he could unleash his spell, a thick tail snapped off a stalactite above the cave and hurtled towards him!

"Trajectory Flash— " Sean's usual cautious approach finally paid off. His body, unable to adjust in the water, vanished instantly, his thick tail lashing out before slamming into the rock wall.

In another part of the cave, Sean's figure appeared out of thin air. He quickly turned his head and finally saw the attacker's full appearance.

It was a giant snake, even thicker than Basilisk. Its head was ferocious and terrifying, and its mouth was wide open like Fire Dragon. Its red tongue was licking back and forth in the water, bringing out wave after wave of fishy smell.

Most striking are the five soft, ribbon-like tendrils extending from its head, which writhe and tremble in the water, emitting a dangerous signal.

This giant snake looked somewhat like a cobra, with its neck noticeably swollen. However, its scales were not layered like those of a snake, but rather arranged like those of Fire Dragon. Its dark gray belly was Recycling.

What kind of magical creature is this? Sean's brain started working at lightning speed.

He had never seen such a creature before, not even in the book "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them," and given its size and strength, its danger level was definitely at the xxxxx level.

Sea Magical Creatures? Sean suddenly remembered a passage in Newt's notebook.

In Norway legend, there is a serpentine monster that lives in a cold lake, Norway many people call the "Loch Ness Monster". However, this creature is rarely seen, and there have only been more sightings in recent years.

Newt had never seen the creature in its true form; he had only pieced together its general information based on the locals' accounts.

This creature is known as the Selma Lake Monster!

The few existing records describe the Selma Lake Monster as mysterious and terrifying, a cruel creature that craves both fish and human flesh!

Sean finally understood where the materials for the bone nest came from, and he also understood why there were no more Inferi around... they were probably all eaten by the Selma Lake Monster!

The location Grindelwald gave was indeed close to Norway, but Sean never imagined that a Selma Lake Monster would be living at the bottom of the lake, and even hatching a baby lake monster.

In the blink of an eye, the Selma Lake Monster's sensory abilities were clearly incredibly powerful. It simply flicked its tongue a few times and immediately turned its head to locate Sean.

"Roar—" It let out a hoarse, strange roar, and a piece of bone protruded from its open mouth, followed by violent fluctuations in the water!

And what about the magical powers of water?

Sean's eyes narrowed, and he quickly waved his wand, Freezing Charm the surrounding water.

The Selma Lake Monster's deep red, round eyes exuded an even more terrifying aura.

I wonder if my +10 Magical Creature Affinity will even work...

While dodging the attacks, Sean pondered how to get close to the Selma Lake Monster.

However, in the eyes of the creature, Sean is probably just an egg thief who sneaks in while the owner is not at home. This creature is cruel by nature and has no intention of making eye contact with Sean. All it does is attack and attack frantically!

"Boom—" The shattered stone wall kicked up a lot of fine foam. The tail of the Selma Lake Monster was even thicker than that of the Basilisk. It didn't look like a snake's tail at all, but more like a dragon's tail with terrifying power.

"Damn it... this volatile temper..." Sean gritted his teeth, dodging or blocking the opponent's attacks while throwing Shadow Bug one after another into various corners of the cave.

"Roar—" The Selma Lake Monster lashed out with its tail, shattering the rock wall. However, as it retracted its tail, it flicked the very end of its tail, sending a huge boulder hurtling towards Sean with the powerful current.

His combat abilities are also terrifying... Sean barely dodged the rock, but the rock hit the nearby Freezing Charm water, and the ice that broke off shot out in all directions, cutting Sean's cheek.

A trace of blood seeped into the water, and perhaps because it had always fed on Inferi, the Selma Lake Monster went unusually berserk upon smelling the blood.

Sean's Petrification Charm and Binding Charm were blocked by his scales, which were equipped with high magic resistance. Then, he opened his mouth wide and bit down without hesitation.

"Trace Flash!"

Sean flashed behind the Selma Lake Monster, but to his surprise, the moment he appeared, the Selma Lake Monster, which had been frantically lunging forward, suddenly swung its tail upwards.

The other party can even sense water flow?!

Caught off guard, the tail slammed into Sean's back, sending him flying.

"Roar—" The cruel monster let out a cold roar.

Behind the defensive spell activated by the necklace, Sean wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, his eyes turning cold.

If it weren't for this triggering Defensive Magic item, even this hasty tail strike would have seriously injured Sean, and he would have had to use his Trace Flash to return to the island in the middle of the lake to heal.

And now, Sean can sense that he has probably broken two ribs.

The shark's gills twitched violently a few times, and tiny bubbles kept rising to the surface. Sean's eyes turned completely cold.

Since he began learning magic, aside from the accidental encounter with the Basilisk, this was the first time Sean had been physically injured in direct combat.

This infuriated Sean.

I'll post a picture of the Selma Lake Monster in the post later. I think the one I found is pretty cool, haha.