Purifying Fire Burns the Curse
Liuguang's clear, glass-like eyes remained fixed on Nagini inside the iron cage.
Listening to the giant snake's "heartfelt voice," sometimes bloodthirsty and frenzied, sometimes painfully pleading, one can feel the despair hidden behind the chaotic sounds—the despair of being trapped inside one's own body, wanting to struggle but powerless to break free.
"Master," Liuguang's voice softly echoed in Lucien's mind, "Could you... let me try using fire?"
Lucien turned his head to look at the little Qilin.
He knew that Liuguang's Qilin Purifying Fire could burn away curses.
When healing the little Unicorn Aurora, the Liuguang flames demonstrated their ability to purify the remnants of Dark Magic.
But Nagini...
This curse, rooted in her blood and entangled for decades, had become one with her.
As the Purifying Fire burns away the curse, will it also harm her?
Lucien remained silent for a moment.
"Give it a try." He finally nodded. "Control your strength, start with the gentlest approach."
Liuguang walked to the edge of the iron cage, opened his mouth, and spat out a wisp of almost pure golden flame.
The wisp of flame, like a light feather, drifted down slowly and gently covered the palm-sized area of scales on Nagini's body.
"Hiss--!!!"
The giant snake suddenly let out a shrill roar!
The sound was sharp and piercing, and the thick snake's body tensed violently, about to twist and struggle wildly—
Lucien's wand was already raised.
"Petrificus Totalus"
A flash of gray light appeared, Nagini's body instantly stiffened to avoid moving and catching more of the Purifying Fire.
Only her vertical pupils continued to tremble violently, revealing the immense pain she was enduring.
Dark purple smoke billowed from between the scales covered by the Purifying Fire.
Some of the smoke was burned away the moment it came into contact with the golden flames, making a soft hissing sound; the rest turned into solidified liquid and dripped down the scales.
"Zzz--"
The liquid dripped onto the metal floor, instantly corroding small holes, with smoke still rising from the edges.
Lucien activated his Eye of Magic Sight once more, and a black vortex appeared in his pupil.
He stared intently at the twisted Magic Circuit within Nagini's body, observing every slight change.
Newt also came closer, his eyes fixed on the scales covered in the Purifying Fire.
Then, his eyes widened.
The scales surrounding the golden flames are shrinking.
It wasn't burned, nor was it charred and curled up; rather, the whole thing was shrinking—like time flowing backward, like something forcibly distorted was returning to its original form.
The edges of the scales revealed delicate skin.
That's human skin!
Newt's breathing became rapid and stopped.
"Stop!"
Lucien's urgent voice suddenly rang out.
The cluster of golden flames extinguished instantly.
The iron cage fell into darkness again, leaving only the petrified giant snake and the palm-sized area—where most of the scales had fallen away, revealing a patch of reddish human skin that stood out starkly against the backdrop of the surrounding dark green scales.
"It's really too deep."
Lucien shook his head, his tone full of helplessness.
The Purifying Fire can indeed burn away curses, and the effect is even more obvious than expected. The curses hidden in the flesh and blood are ignited and expelled, and the snake scales on the body are showing a tendency to turn back into human skin.
but--
In the vision of the Eye of Magic Sight, when the Purifying Fire began to touch the curse entangled in the Magic Circuit, the already distorted Magic Circuit began to tremble violently.
The curse burned by the Purifying Fire was dissipating, but the Magic Circuit entangled with it were also collapsing in sync, like a spider web being forcibly torn apart.
If it keeps burning, the circuit will break before the curse is completely burned away!
Nagini will naturally not survive then.
This reminded Lucien of the time he rescued the little Unicorn Aurora.
At the time, Aurora's Magic Circuit were damaged, and he used "Magic Weaving" to gradually reconnect the broken magic channels.
But Magic Weaving on Magical Creatures.
Nagini's situation is hard to categorize as either human or Magical Creatures...
This is because the curse and she are so deeply intertwined that they are almost inseparable.
While the Purifying Fire burned away the curse, it also harmed her life.
Finding the balance to remove the curse without killing Nagini is incredibly difficult.
As for the soul...
The Purifying Fire hadn't penetrated to that level yet.
Moreover, having learned from the previous experience of the circuits becoming entangled with the curse, Lucien was now even more hesitant to use the Purifying Fire to touch Nagini's soul.
Inside the iron cage, the giant snake lay quietly.
The area scorched by the Purifying Fire was still twitching slightly, and the exposed human skin, surrounded by scales, looked shocking.
Newt didn't say anything.
He simply stared at the giant snake, his lips moving slightly, his eyes reddening.
Lucien noticed Newt's expression.
"Don't worry, Mr. Scamander."
The voice wasn't loud, but it carried a certainty that made people want to believe it.
Sooner or later, you'll be able to sit down with your old friends again and enjoy afternoon tea.