Alchemy toward the source

"You're a Parselmouth?"

Jealousy tinged Malfoy's astonished voice. The name Tom Riddle sounded like some boring Mudblood, a half-blood at best. Yet someone like that actually possessed the ability he dreamed of most!

But Cyrus's next words soon stunned him.

"Is that so strange?"

"My mother's surname was Gaunt. I'm a descendant of Slytherin!"

Who could have imagined that this young Tom, unknown throughout the Wizarding World, was actually a descendant of Slytherin? No wonder he could open the Chamber of Secrets!

Still, Draco remained annoyed.

Why couldn't one of my ancestors have been a wizard as great as Slytherin?

Then I could have awed all of Hogwarts as the heir of Malfoy!

Oh, forget it. I'm the heir to the Chamber of Secrets now anyway, so it makes no difference. His only complaint was that this wretched Tom Riddle, a Parselmouth himself, refused to summon the monster for him to see. He really had no sense at all!

"Little Tommy, since you're a Parselmouth, shouldn't you show me what you can do?"

Cyrus: ???

Little Tommy???

This Draco Malfoy really has a death wish!

Fortunately, the person inside the Diary wasn't the real Riddle. Otherwise, if he really came back to life-no, he wouldn't even need to come back to life-he would drain Malfoy's life force dry on the spot!

"I'd certainly be willing. The problem is that to speak Parseltongue, I have to borrow your body to make a sound. That means you'd never get to see the basilisk."

"A basilisk? So the monster in the Chamber of Secrets is a basilisk!" Malfoy was surprised at first, then nodded as though it were only natural.

Of course the monster Slytherin left behind would be the mightiest serpent king!

But if what Tom Riddle says is true, doesn't that mean I'll never see the basilisk or control it?

What sort of heir does that make me?

At most, I'm just Little Tommy's voice box!

"Can't you summon it first, then give me my body back?"

"If you have the courage and strength to face a basilisk alone, I certainly wouldn't mind. But I should warn you that without my control, it will attack you immediately. Please forgive it. After all, it has barely eaten anything in nearly a thousand years. The rats in the sewers aren't enough to satisfy its appetite."

Malfoy shuddered at once.

"Then never mind..."

He sighed and looked around.

The vast chamber seemed to contain nothing beyond a few statues.

That's all there is to Slytherin's Chamber of Secrets?

Honestly, it was rather disappointing.

In truth, there was naturally far more to Slytherin's Chamber of Secrets. Although Slytherin had originally built it merely as a classroom, he had also left behind many precious manuscripts and secrets.

Voldemort had already absorbed most of these, using them to strengthen himself. Now, that power belonged to Cyrus as well.

There were also many records of dangerous magical experiments. Some had succeeded, but far more had failed. According to rumor, Slytherin had been as ugly as a monkey.

That hadn't actually been his original appearance, just as Voldemort had once been a handsome young man.

Both had experimented on their own bodies, modifying themselves in pursuit of greater magical power.

To a large extent, Voldemort's experiments had taken Slytherin's work a step further, but he had still failed to escape disfigurement.

Having absorbed both men's experience, Cyrus was, in fact, very tempted by the prospect of modifying his magical bloodline.

But he had no particular desire to become an ugly monster, so he would have to approach that step with extreme caution. It's still too early to think about this. Unless I come back to life, I don't even have what I need to make those modifications.

With a soft sigh, Cyrus knew it was time to make Draco trust him even more.

"You're wondering what other secrets this chamber holds?"

"How did you know?" Cyrus's words startled Malfoy. Can this Diary use Legilimency?

"It wasn't hard to guess. If you want to grow stronger, I know a good place. All you need to do is bring your head closer, just as you did at the beginning," Cyrus replied, turning the Diary to another page.

With his first experience behind him, Malfoy knew exactly what to do this time.

Once their consciousnesses switched again, Cyrus took out the Marauder's Map. Only after confirming that no one was outside the Chamber of Secrets or in the Seventh Floor corridor did he leave and head for the Room of Requirement.

"Give me a room for practicing dark magic."

He opened the door, and a sinister, terrifying classroom appeared before him. It was almost filled with books on dark magic, including quite a few that covered highly advanced spells.

He hid most of the spellbooks, leaving only a few simple jinxes.

Young witches and wizards already knew plenty of these minor jinxes. They wouldn't affect their temperaments too much, and they would keep Malfoy occupied, making them an excellent choice.

Then he returned the body once more.

Malfoy was naturally delighted to see so many jinxes and lavished praise on Cyrus. Cyrus, meanwhile, returned to the Diary to continue analyzing the books on alchemy and the other forbidden texts.

Although he was now in Malfoy's hands, the actual situation hadn't changed much.

The possibility of ultimately facing Dumbledore still remained.

"Reach the World of Archetypes at the summit through the twenty-two paths of the Tree of Life."

"The devil waters it with sin, and the skeleton cuts it down."

"The ten emanations, comprising the celestial spheres of the seven planets, the sphere of fixed stars, the empyrean, and the sub-lunar world, are the fundamental forces of God and the world."

"Running through the feminine pillar of mercy, the neutral pillar of mildness, and the masculine pillar of severity-"

"The creation of perfect spirit, thought, and ideas, with states of mind beginning to take material form, ultimately reaches the material world."

The more Cyrus read these books on alchemy, the more he felt as though he were sinking into an unimaginably terrifying mire. A vast world and boundless power, more mysterious even than magic.

It was almost a path toward the true source!

Must I complete all twenty-two paths to create a true Philosopher's Stone?

Or would I gain an even more perfect, fundamental power?

Cyrus's ambition began to swell.

How could simply coming back to life be enough?

The body I'll have after coming back to life will be Tom Riddle's. Gifted though he was, he still had his limits. He made himself neither human nor monster, yet still failed to attain ultimate power.

Cyrus had no desire to settle for that.

Now that he had encountered so many mysteries, what he craved was to become a truly perfect life-form!