Basilisk, Contract, and Horcruxes (4)

He clenched his fists, his nails digging into his palms, drawing blood from Ginny's fingers beneath his grip.

"Good... very good..." His voice was hoarse, filled with gritted hatred. "Even a beast dares betray me..."

The Basilisk did not answer. It simply stood quietly in front of Madara, like a living wall.

Seeing that the Basilisk had completely turned to Madara's side, a flash of crazed resolve passed through Riddle's eyes. He no longer cared about hiding. Dumbledore, exposing his identity—none of it mattered anymore. He only wanted to make the man who had humiliated him pay the price.

Ginny's body suddenly stiffened. Her mouth opened in a silent scream—not her own voice, but the wail of the remnant soul inside her as it tore at her soul while devouring her life force.

Strands of dark red life energy seeped from beneath her skin, flowing along the lines of her body toward her heart before being swallowed mouthful by mouthful by the black mist lodged deep within her soul. Within seconds, Ginny's hair lost its luster, changing from copper-red to dry grayish-brown; her skin turned waxy yellow, her cheeks hollowed out, and her eye sockets sank deep, making her look like a drained mummy.

But she was not dead yet. Her consciousness remained, suppressed in the deepest place, unable to do anything except watch helplessly as she was drained dry.

Black mist surged from Ginny's body and condensed into a blurred human form before her. It was a tall, black-haired young man—Tom Riddle at sixteen, handsome but with sinister eyes.

His body was still unstable, its edges constantly rippling like smoke scattered by the wind. At his feet, Ginny's body collapsed limply onto the ground like a discarded old garment.

Riddle lowered his head and looked at his hands, spreading