The surrounding scenery quickly rearranged, and the image froze in a cozy but lifeless little house.
Sunlight streamed through the window onto the old carpet, but couldn't penetrate the oppressive chill inside.
Young Morgana stood by the bed, her gaze complex as she looked at the old man lying on it—her father, whose pain and trauma she had just forcibly removed using Ancient Magic.
The old man's eyes were as empty as two dry wells, and there was no movement of any facial muscles.
His face showed no sadness, no anxiety, and no shadow of the past that had tormented him day and night, but equally, there was no joy, no tenderness, and no emotional fluctuation towards his daughter.
He was like a machine whose power had been cut off; it was intact, but had stopped working.
A relaxed, even slightly smug smile slowly spread across Morgana's face, which had been filled with worry.
She thought she had done something great.
"That's wonderful..." she whispered, "You're finally free from pain, and you'll never be tormented by those nightmares again."
She leaned closer.
She longed for even a single response from her father, a glance, or just a nod of approval.
But the old man just stared blankly into the void ahead, his pupils unfocused, like a beautiful but soulless sculpture.
He couldn't hear her words, couldn't feel her feelings, and couldn't even recognize who was standing in front of him.
In his world, all sound and color have disappeared, leaving only absolute nothingness.
The smile on Morgana's lips froze little by little, then vanished completely, slowly turning into astonishment.
She panicked, gripping her father's withered arms tightly with both hands, shaking him violently, her voice trembling with tears:
"Father? It's me... It's Morgana! I helped you get rid of your pain, you should be happy..."
Why won't you look at me? Why won't you speak?
No one answered.
There was only a suffocating silence; even the birdsong outside the window sounded jarring, highlighting the deathly stillness inside.
She naively thought that...
Eliminating pain is equivalent to welcoming happiness; once the gloom is gone, the sunshine will naturally fill the void.
But only now did she realize, in a daze, that with the disappearance of pain, joy, emotion, and warmth had also vanished.
Her father was completely "liberated," completely freed from all the suffering, but he was no longer her father.
Morgana stood frozen in place.
Her gaze shifted from initial astonishment to deep confusion, and finally sank little by little into a cold abyss of panic.
The scene suddenly rippled like water, and the setting shifted.
Four tall and imposing figures appeared inside the small house; the ancient guardians looked solemnly at Morgana's father.
Fitzgerald turned to look at Morgana, whose face was streaked with tears, his eyes filled with deep regret and heartache.
Look what you've done!
"I just want to stop his pain! He suffered so much before, but now he's finally at peace!" Morgana continued to defend herself.
"Peace?" Fitzgerald looked at her with pity, shook his head, and sighed softly, "This is not peace, Morgana, it's an empty shell of the soul."
"You took away not only his pain, but also all his senses as a 'human being.' You killed his soul, leaving only a breathing shell."
"What else did you do? Those magical fluctuations... it's not just that." Rookwood's tone became even harsher.
Morgana finally stopped hiding it.
With Morgana hand, a huge, cold, illusory container made of Goblin Mithril appeared in the air.
It was a bizarre device capable of sealing away thousands upon thousands of emotions and pains, gleaming with a chilling light.
"I've found the most skilled Goblin craftsmen," Morgana, her eyes burning with an almost fanatical obstinacy.
"I want to create an eternal vessel to draw away and completely seal away all the suffering in the world!"
"In this way, no one will ever struggle in endless torment like my father did!"
After she finished speaking, the guardians' faces turned icy.
"You're insane!" Fitzgerald exclaimed.
"Pain is an inseparable part of life; it is the anchor of the soul, and you must never forcibly tear it from your soul!" San Bakar shouted sternly.
"This isn't salvation, it's erasing humanity!" Rookwood's accusation pierced Morgana like a sword.
"You don't understand! You have no idea what it's like to be tormented day and night! I will prove that I am right--"
A fanatical fire burned in Morgana's eyes.
The images of memory suddenly tightened at this moment, as if an invisible hand had gripped everyone's heart tightly.
"Hoo--""
The three of them were abruptly pulled from their memories, panting heavily, and returned to the solid floor of the Map Chamber, but the memory still burned in their nerves.
"At first... she really just wanted to save her father, but she was too stubborn and too naive..." Hermione said regretfully.
Professor Babbling felt the same way as Hermione.
She thought that eliminating pain meant happiness, but she didn't realize that light without darkness is not light at all.
Draco stood to the side, completely unmoved.
After calming themselves down, the three of them arrived at the ancient "Guardian's Mirror" deep within the Chamber of Secrets.
The images of the four guardians reappeared, but this time, their expressions were more severe than ever before.
"We intercepted intelligence in the coastal caves; Ranrok is having his men build a giant drill, attempting to force open that ancient Repository," Draco reported to them.
"The real Repository is deep beneath Hogwarts," Professor Rookwood immediately added. "That mine is quite a distance from Hogwarts; drilling through the rock will take time."
"No, it's not that simple." Rackham denied his claim. " Ranrok is a descendant of those Goblin from back then. Although we cleaned up the mess, his forging of the drill must have led him to the true clues to the Repository."
"Yes, they already know the location of the Repository; all that's left is to build that drill," Hermione interjected.
"In that case," Bakar said.
"Then let's hurry. We must complete the final trial as soon as possible and seal away the overflowing negative emotional energy before Ranrok arrives."
"Seal it again?" Draco caught the key phrase.
"So the final task of this last trial is to make me the 'seal'?"
"You rascal..." Rackham paused, then stroked his long beard and couldn't help but smile. "Your choice of words is quite blunt, but it gets to the heart of the matter."
Rookwood and Fitzgerald's lips twitched slightly, while Professor Babbling couldn't help but chuckle.
" Draco! This is a matter of great importance to the entire Wizarding World..." Hermione tugged at him.