Legend had it that among the first lives born from chaos,
one was known as Tiamat.
She had nine dragon heads, an upright draconic body, powerful limbs, and a flexible, vicious tail.
In the legendary war of the gods,
she had advocated destroying the order of the world and returning everything to chaos, simply because she liked chaos. The world of order had too many chains of order restraining her, and she hated that.
Clearly, she had failed back then and been driven beyond the world.
Yet her legend had remained, spreading widely through the shadows of this backward, savage continent.
Whether Muggle or wizard, all one needed to do was draw an extremely crude magic circle, chant her name, and resolutely offer up one's soul as a sacrifice.
Then one could easily gain extraordinary power.
But such power ultimately demanded an enormous price.
So long as one used that power, the soul would take on a rotten stench, which would grow increasingly severe. To remain lucid or advance further, one had to use even more souls to mend it and offer them in sacrifice.
Clearly, this method of acquiring power had drawn the united resistance of all supernatural beings in the world.
That was what Cypher had learned from Newt while they watched the battle from the hilltop, with Newt telling him about his investigation unilaterally.
"I only learned these legends while chatting with the local wizards at the tavern. I thought they were just stories."
Newt kept one eye open and one shut, holding a telescope in one hand while reaching into his waist with the other to draw his wand.
"I want to help that adorable little black panther. The one trying to kill it may be human, but when facing an evil wizard like this,