Things had stopped making sense for Kai.
The Cartoonist chuckled in his ear, his sharp voice cutting in through the receiver.
"Did it never strike it odd to you, doc?" he asked, mocking. "Did you never question yourself why a wizard, like Herpo the Foul, would create a dark magic like Horcrux, but then also breed a basilisk—the lone beast whose venom can destroy Horcruxes?"
Kai listened, transfixed.
"Herpo the Foul created a Horcrux," the Cartoonist continued, "and the Horcrux was an Inferi.
"Haha! The Inferi then began developing its own consciousness, using Herpo the Foul's soul as the basis.
"The process of Horcrux's creation was in a very crude shape, then. So not even Herpo himself anticipated such a horrible turn of events."
It was as if he could see it happening in front of his eyes.
Kai could tell how much of a threat Herpo the Foul would have found his Horcrux, being sentient, with all of his powers, mories, and potential.
This wasn't a re threat.
This was a disaster.
"Of course, Herpo the Foul wasn't exactly a dark wizard," the Cartoonist told Kai, narrating the tale for Death. "Youth had just led him astray.
"So, when he saw things going out of hand, he began working on a solution to destroy his Horcrux. That's how the Basilisk ca to be.
"Anyway, this another dark creation did nothing but worsen his reputation, earning him the na of Herpo the Foul."
Kai licked his lips.
How could he have ever missed such logical thinking? Why hadn't he considered these scenarios?
"How did he fail, then?" he asked, knowing well that this Horcrux still lived. "Why couldn't Herpo the Foul kill... No. He didn't fail..."
The Cartoonist laughed.
"You are right, simple-minded friend," he jested, chewing the carrot. "He didn't fail. He didn't even try it.
"Only during experinting with the Basilisk venom did Herpo find out that destroying a Horcrux this way would weaken him permanently, harming his already broken soul. So..."
"... he just let the Inferi walk away," Kai said, finishing the Cartoonist's words.
"Exactly. But by doing that, Herpo the Foul created a great enemy. No. Not the Horcrux, though the Inferi indeed turned out to be a nuisance."
[The order of death must be maintained. The cycle must continue. Those who live must die.]
"Chased by Big Brother Death, both Herpo the Foul and the Inferi began taking false identities, hiding in the dark corners of the world," the Cartoonist added. "And then, hundreds of years later, an opportunity presented itself to the infamous wizard."
Kai knew this opportunity, for he had considered it an opportunity too when he had t them. "The Order of the Immortal Lotus..."
"Bingo!" Crackers exploded in the background, one after the other. "Herpo the Foul and his Horcrux, the Inferi, both hated each other.
"Yet, none of them could approach the Order because one was undead and the other... well, let's say Herpo the Foul's reputation had beco worse even by the Order's mbers' standards. He had only one path..."
This?! Kai's pupils trembled.
"He created another, didn't he?" Kai asked, shocked. "One more Horcrux."
[The gall!]
The Cartoonist looked up and growled inwardly, why you making explain all this... Tch!
"Yes. Another Horcrux. This ti Herpo the Foul had wizened," he continued anyway. "First, he adopted the identity of a sage, calling himself rlin.
"Then, he crawled his way into the Order. But when the ti ca to create the Imperishable Artifact, as per the Order's demand, he hoodwinked them.
"Instead of creating just an Artifact, he turned the Staff into a Horcrux and behaved as if rlin had died.
"The Staff then beca rlin, the second Horcrux, and the original rlin returned to his previous self, i.e. Herpo the Foul."
Such a grand sche! The words rocked in Kai's mind. What a masterfully handled plan! But...
"How did the mbers of Order get hoodwinked so easily? They are monsters... And... how do you know about the Order? You talk like you know everything about them."
The Cartoonist scoffed.
"Well, of course," he said, as if it was an idiotic question, to begin with. "I am reading it while talking to you."
Kai spun his head and his eyes widened.
The Cartoonist was reading a stack of docunts, the red telephone's handset pressed tight between his right cheek and shoulder.
The man noticed Kai's gaze and winked at him.
For a mont, Kai considered storming toward the man, and snatching those docunts, seeing what was written in them.
But he couldn't leave the call.
It was his only chance.
"Anyway," the Cartoonist's voice continued through the receiver, "about the Order's mbers not finding out anything... do you know what rlin is famous for?
"Heh! You don't even know what I am famous for. You sure are lacking, my gullible friend."
Kai closed his eyes. Yes. How could he not know? "Prophecies..."
The Cartoonist paused.
"Well, what do you know," he comnted, jeering, "your vocabulary is strong, doc. Ah, yes. Prophecy.
"In all hate, cursing, and loathing, the wizards, even the best, forgot where the Herpo the Foul's true expertise lay before becoming a Dark Wizard. He was a Grand Prophet, a skill which only rose with ti.
"By doing that, Herpo the Foul not only got himself a great ally, but he also stabilized his struggle against Inferi Horcrux and our friend, Death.
"Then, he actively began hunting the Inferi with the help of the Order."
Wait a minute! "How can his joining the Order help Herpo the Foul stabilize his position against..."
"Death?" the Cartoonist finished Kai's sentence and burst out with a peal of laughter.
[You must have t the Phoenix and Qilin there, my Scion.]
A deep of sense foreboding took over Kai. He nodded.
"Oh, wow!" the Cartoonist exclaid. "The docunt says..."
[They both are Half-Deep Ones.]
"Haha!" the Cartoonist laughed. "No wonder you can't just barge in Avalon, even though it's outside the purview of Tiline, old friend."
A deathly snort rang out on the other side.
[They are just a step away, but they don't have what it takes to take that step.]
Outside the purview of the Tiline?! Kai couldn't understand the significance of these words.
But he knew they were just too important in this discussion, and in whatever that was coming next.
"What... happened to the Inferi, then?"
"You must have already guessed it," the Cartoonist told him. "It did the only thing that could let it survive."
"The Inferi..." Kai said, already finding this talk impossible, "... created more Horcruxes."
"Damn! Not that much of a fool, are yeh?" the Cartoonist laughed. "That's right. Guess how many? Five!"
"Five?!"
"Hmm. He created self-sufficient, and the darkest, Horcruxes.
"To abate the unrest caused by the Inferi, and the five Horcruxes, the Order deployed four of their best Disciples of that ti.
"The Inferi ran away, again. But the four disciples subdued the five Horcruxes and sealed them into five Vaults.
"Not only that, they even built a School around it, adding a layer of Bounded Field around each to keep the Inferi away.
" You know the na, alright. The School..."
Kai found it hard to comprehend. "Impossible..."
[Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.]
***************
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