Chapter 118: The Man-Eating Prison

The location of Eukstag Prison was incredibly concealed, and the scene within was equally dim and eerie.

"I'll go in first to scout the path," Xivon whispered to Newt. He then vanished from sight, bypassed the warden at the entrance, and slipped into the gloomy underground tunnel.

The interior of Eukstag Prison was a grim, dark subterranean fortress. The prison was cylindrical in shape, with countless tiers of corridors spiraling downward. Within these corridors were numerous apertures, and hanging upside down from each was a prisoner, accompanied by a flickering lamp that cast a wavering light.

The corridors circled a vast, bottomless chasm, from the depths of which came the occasional chilling roar of a beast.

Relying on his immunity to physical attacks, Xivon curiously drifted downward for a distance.

In the dim pit, peering closely, one could vaguely make out a massive scorpion tail, at least several dozen feet long, swaying in the darkness.

Suddenly, the tail lashed out, striking with lightning speed into one of the small holes in the corridor.

Startled, Xivon immediately looked up at the aperture the tail had pierced and saw that the light there had extinguished.

Accompanied by the prisoner’s desperate scream, the scorpion tail dragged them into the depths of the chasm. Soon after, there was a sickening sound of gnawing and the low rumbling of a beast.

The prisoner's cries faded into nothingness. Shortly thereafter, a corpse, now reduced to little more than bone, was tossed back into the corridor above.

'So, all the prisoners here are merely fodder for the monster below...' Xivon felt a surge of profound horror as he looked at the lights filling the prison.

Every light represented a captive, and every light that flickered out meant another living soul had fallen into the beast's maw.

One could only hope Theseus was alright.

Just then, a group of small, fierce-looking yellowish creatures with crab-like claws and scorpion tails surged in one direction, looking as if they were ready for a fight.

"Oh no, Newt!" Xivon’s heart skipped a beat, and he hurriedly flew toward the tunnel leading into the prison.

Xivon floated to the front of the swarm, intending to rescue Newt from these vicious little creatures, but he witnessed a bizarre scene—

Newt was holding a strange pose, legs spread apart, hands raised to his shoulders in a duck-bill shape. The swarm of creatures with crab claws and scorpion tails were also holding their claws high, mimicking Newt and "dancing" along with him.

"What are you doing..." Xivon’s mouth twitched uncontrollably as he asked in a strange tone.

"A gesture that might lower the aggressive impulses of arthropod magical creatures," Newt said in a low voice, watching the surrounding creatures with a tense expression. "Of course, this is my first time trying it; I don't know how effective it will be."

"So, what are these creatures?" Xivon asked, his scalp tingling as he looked at the fierce little animals covering every ring of the corridors. "How are there so many of them?"

"They are Manticore hatchlings," Newt explained. "Manticores are like crabs; they have a massive egg-laying capacity and an extremely high hatching rate. A single one can produce tens of thousands, or even millions, of little Manticores."

"A Manticore has a human head, a lion's body, and a scorpion's tail. It is just as dangerous as a Chimera and just as rare," Newt continued, rattling off knowledge about these magical creatures to Xivon.

"Manticores emit a low humming sound when they devour their prey. Furthermore, their skin repels almost all known spells, and the sting on their scorpion tail is highly venomous; any wizard pricked by it dies instantly. It is precisely because of their danger and rarity that wizards find them so difficult to deal with."

"Is the large monster at the bottom of the chasm the leader of the Manticores?" Xivon asked.

"It should be called the Manticore Matriarch," Newt corrected him earnestly.

Just as the two were speaking, a light in a nearby aperture went out.

"No, help me!" The prisoner hanging in that hole shrieked in terror, struggling and twisting, but was still instantly hooked into the chasm by the giant scorpion tail.

Then, a low humming sound drifted up from the deep chasm, perfectly echoing Newt's earlier explanation—"Manticores emit a low humming sound when they devour their prey."

However, Newt, who had just provided the accurate information, was far from happy; a look of horror had crept onto his face.

"How can there be such a large Manticore?!" Newt said, shocked.

"Perhaps because there is an abundance of food," Xivon felt a chill in his heart as he looked at the corpse, now surrounded by a group of Manticore hatchlings, being tossed back into the corridor.

"Mr. Strange, we must hurry. Every minute we delay puts Theseus in more danger!" Newt’s expression became extremely anxious as he urged Xivon.

Xivon nodded silently, and he and Newt split up to search for traces of Theseus.

...

"Strange, Theseus is here!" Newt called out in a hushed voice toward the corridor.

He dared not shout, lest he disturb the giant Manticore at the bottom of the chasm.

Fortunately, the prisoners in the prison dared not speak loudly either—or rather, the long-term hanging had sapped them of the strength to speak. Thus, Xivon heard Newt and drifted toward his position.

Luckily, Theseus was still hanging intact in an aperture in the middle section of the prison, the light beside him still flickering.

Perhaps because he hadn't been transported here long, Theseus was in decent condition and could even speak with relative ease.

"Are you here to rescue me?" Theseus asked.

"We are currently trying to do just that." Newt held his lamp in his left hand and used his right to undo the ropes on Theseus's feet.

Consequently, Theseus fell hard to the ground.

"Ah, ouch! I thought you might have thought of a more appropriate way to let me down," Theseus complained, rubbing his sore shoulder.

"Alright, Mr. Scamanders, I think we should focus on getting out of here now," Xivon interrupted their bickering.

Newt hesitated for a moment and said to Xivon, "We still need to return to the entrance. My wand, Pickett, and Teddy are still locked in a cage at the entrance."

"The Portkey Dumbledore gave me should be there too; we need to retrieve it to return," Theseus added.

"The Portkey isn't much of a problem, but we must get Pickett and Teddy back."

Xivon thought for a moment, turned to Newt, and asked, "When you came in, did you notice how many people were guarding the entrance?"

"There were quite a few people guarding the outside, but there should only be one warden inside Eukstag Prison," Newt said. "Perhaps they don't want to stay with these animals either."

"Then that shouldn't be a problem." Xivon nodded, waved his hand to draw a circle, and opened a dimensional portal leading to the entrance tunnel...

He then saw Teddy the Niffler carrying Pickett the Bowtruckle on his back, with Pickett clutching Newt’s wand; the two little darlings were pitting their wits against the bearded warden of the prison.

Seeing Newt through the portal, Teddy and Pickett felt as if they had found their pillar of strength, and they leaped through the portal and into Newt's arms.

Newt took the wand Pickett was holding and immediately cast a Stunning Spell, knocking the bearded warden unconscious.

"Looks like it went quite smoothly!" Theseus said with a smile, subconsciously wanting to put his arm around Xivon’s shoulder, but his arm passed right through Xivon's body...

Theseus had no choice but to pretend nothing had happened and let out an awkward laugh.

"I suppose things here are finished," Newt said. "Should we use the Portkey to go back? Or is Strange going to open a portal?"

Xivon shook his head, silently turned, and floated toward the chasm, a golden ring coiling around his wrist.

"You go on ahead," he said softly. "There is still one thing I have to do."