As Tom carefully pocketed "Barol's One Eye," the crushing aura that had blanketed the mountaintop vanished.
The giants slowly rose, confusion etched on their faces.
"..."
Their god… truly was dead.
Grolg felt a pang of loss, but he could not deny the truth.
Balor hadn't even flinched when his eye was gouged out. What sort of slumber was that?
Dead beyond dead!
"Sigh…"
Grolg sighed, his previous defiance gone.
Before, he'd wanted to stop Tom, partly out of faith in Balor, but also because he'd felt secure with a "god's backing."
Tom couldn't possibly wipe us all out in front of Balor, could he? he'd thought.
But now… that faith evaporated the moment "Barol's eye" was plucked out.
Bereft of confidence, he no longer had the courage to defy the Dark Lord.
To do so would mean annihilation for his entire tribe.
Unfortunately, not all giants were as quick-witted as Grolg.
Some fools hadn't grasped the change in circumstances and were about to vent their anger on Tom for "offending" Balor.
Grolg moved to stop them.
"But, Chieftain, our god…"
"Fool, that's not our god!"
Grolg barked, cutting off the giant. He'd just glimpsed…
Though Tom's back was still turned, his right hand had already drawn that "wizard's little stick"! And it was glowing green!
A terrifying sight for any giant!
Grolg hadn't expected his people to be so dense.
The giant protested, "But Chieftain, haven't we always worshipped Balor? Why isn't He our god anymore?"
He scratched his head, confused. Had he been worshipping the wrong god all these years?
Enraged by his tribesman's stupidity, Grolg slapped him upside the head. "Who told you we believe in Balor? We've always believed in the Dark Lord! Long live the Dark Lord!!!"
Desperate to save his tribe, Grolg threw his hands in the air and shouted. If it weren't for the cold sweat beading on his face, one might easily mistake him for a true zealot of the Dark Lord.
"..."
Seeing that the other tribesmen remained motionless, Grolg glared and roared again, "Long live the Dark Lord!!!"
"Long… Long live the Dark Lord!"
A few of the brighter giants understood their chieftain's intent and joined in.
The others had no choice but to follow suit, until the entire tribe chanted in unison, "Long live the Dark Lord!"
For a moment, their shouts echoed across the mountaintop.
"..."
After several repetitions, Grolg, hand still raised, glanced furtively at Tom and was startled to see the man had turned around.
He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Tom had re-holstered the Elder Wand.
"There's a saying among Muggles,"
Tom said with a gentle smile, as if he hadn't just been about to curse them all, "Discretion is the better part of valor."
He looked at Grolg. "You did well."
...
Tom left the Giants' Village.
Just as he had planned, he had no interest in slaughtering the entire tribe—provided they weren't utterly foolish.
However, from now on, the giants of the Scottish Highlands would likely have to truly worship the Dark Lord.
Even though Tom hadn't explicitly threatened them, Grolg remained terrified that they might face extermination for "deceiving" Tom.
Once clear of the giant territory, Tom found Nagini and the others, who were still en route.
They breathed a collective sigh of relief at his appearance. As expected, there was never any need to worry; Tom was the strongest wizard of them all.
And what to do after that sigh of relief? Well, express their dissatisfaction to Tom, of course!
Harry and Malfoy wouldn't dare, naturally.
But Cassandra, the "traitor," had already conspired with Nagini: upon Tom's return, they would give him the cold shoulder for at least… three whole minutes!
Before they could put their plan into action, however, Tom said, "You all go back to school," and promptly vanished again.
"Sister Ka, the master is gone. You don't have to pretend to be unhappy anymore."
"Get lost!"
Were they pretending?!
They were genuinely angry!
...
Meanwhile, Tom located a remote highland far from both Muggle and wizarding civilization.
With a wave of the Elder Wand, the entire region came alive, the rugged mountains rising and shifting to create a massive "natural" barrier.
He landed in the heart of the range, and with another wave, a castle erupted from the earth.
Of course, the interior was devoid of kitchens, bathrooms, or bedrooms.
This castle was merely a shell, built for immediate use. All other necessary materials and equipment were safely stored within his Silver Serpent Ring.
Inside the castle, Tom retrieved the "Eye of Baror," the shattered "Mirror of Bastet," and a mithril lion…
Originally, if he had acquired an artifact of similar or slightly inferior quality to the damaged "Mirror of Bastet," he would have repaired it conservatively.
However, the "Eye of Baror" far surpassed it.
As a king of evil gods, Balor's divine power dwarfed not only Bastet's but even Death's!
Thus, Tom revised his plan. He would melt down the broken Cat God Mirror as a vessel, add fairy mithril to enhance its power storage… and use the "Eye of Baror" as the core, forging a new divine artifact!
With a rough outline of the process in mind,
a crimson blaze engulfed the interior of the castle. Ordinary flames were insufficient for forging a divine artifact.
While Fiendfyre wasn't strictly a flame, its destructive power was immense. By suppressing its associated properties, it could be used for smelting and forging—though one had to be careful not to reduce the materials to ash.
Under Tom's control, the crimson Fiendfyre enveloped the mithril lions, melting them into molten silver.
The molten silver, guided by magic, was shaped into ordinary metal bars, which Tom then forged into a massive silver chain using his fairy forging techniques.
Next, the shattered "Mirror of Bastet" was melted, transforming into droplets of golden liquid. Before their power could fully dissipate, he used alchemy to bind them to the silver chain.
The enchanted fairy mithril would even preserve the mirror's divine power, preventing its dispersion.
Gazing at the golden-veined silver chain floating in mid-air,
Tom nodded with satisfaction. "Now, only the final step remains."
---
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