Pursuit of the "Traitors"

The front-page report in Merlin's Weekly Prophet caused a huge uproar. Reporters from newspapers around the world flocked to the headquarters of the Wizarding United Guard in Belgium, and many wizards who graduated from Newmontgard began to question the true purpose of the Guard Corps.

The winds have begun to shift, but the Wizarding United Guard, in an interview, stated that the true identities of the two 'deceased' wizards in the photo are being confirmed. They urged the public to be vigilant— Grindelwald's crimes are undeniable, and this could very well be a cunning retaliatory tactic.

Of course, the reporters were not so easily appeased. They kept asking questions such as, "Why not disclose the true circumstances of the deaths of the two France Auror?" and "Is the Guard Corps aware that Ms. Marshall did not die?"

Finally, a spokesperson for the Guard Corps stated that they would not answer any questions at this time because the person in charge had not yet made a decision. Then, the spokesperson Apparition away.

The Wizarding World, which had just calmed down, was in turmoil again.

In a certain mountain forest, two Mooncalf were leisurely foraging for food when suddenly, as if sensing something, they disappeared from the spot with a "pop".

The next second, accompanied by a deep red light, the thick, tall tree was blown in half, and a male and female wizard, both covered in dust, were running for their lives.

Strangely, despite the constant attacks of magical light from behind, the two remained expressionless, their eyes even appearing somewhat vacant. Only when they retaliated against the magical light did a fierce glint flash in their eyes.

Behind them, a dozen or so beams of magical light surged forth, and explosions and the sound of trees collapsing echoed through the mountains and forests. Before the dust had even settled, the pursuers were already upon them.

There were a dozen or so wizards holding wands, dressed in the uniforms of the Wizarding United Guard, but the leader wore a thick black robe and covered his face with a hood, despite the weather.

Another huge explosion occurred at the feet of the two people in front, causing them to lose their balance and fall to the ground. Their faces, which had been covered, were now revealed.

These are the two people who have recently been at the center of public opinion.

Cyril Marshall, the former interim leader of the Wizarding United Guard, and Rosha Onassis, a former member.

Onassis was hit on the forehead by a flying rock, and blood gushed down his forehead, but he didn't even flinch. He simply raised his hand and swung his wand backward.

The deep green curse swept away.

Having dodged the deadly curse, the Guard Corps chasing the two men showed expressions of anger. Their opponents had been using Killing Curse, while they could only use ordinary curses.

Otherwise, how could those two have held out for so long against the pursuit of this elite wizard team?

But the situation is changing too fast now, and they need to capture them alive to find out what exactly happened.

After a short chase, Onassis, who had been fleeing for his life, suddenly stopped. The dazed look in his eyes deepened, and then he began to wildly wave his wand as if he were insane.

He completely disregarded defense, unleashing one terrifying Killing Curse after another, disrupting the pursuers' formation.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Marshall waved his wand without changing his expression, and a stone wall rose up from behind him. Then he attempted to Apparition away from there.

Behind them, the black-robed wizard who was in the lead finally raised his hand. To be precise, you couldn't even see his hand; only his long sleeves were raised in mid-air.

Marshall's body twisted as she was about to Apparition away from this place, but was abruptly interrupted by some unknown magic, as if something had gone in before her and pushed her out of a passage she was about to enter.

Apparition failed, and Marshall Splinching.

One of her feet disappeared, leaving only half of her blood-soaked trouser leg.

Just as she lost her balance and fell to the ground, Onassis, who was frantically covering her, was hit by four Expelliarmus at the same time. He was sent flying backward and crashed heavily into a tree trunk, then lost consciousness.

Marshall showed no sign of surrendering; she raised her wand to cast a spell.

A silent Stunning Spell struck from the side, her eyes rolled back, and she collapsed limply to the ground.

The Guard Corps rushed forward, swiftly confiscated the two men's wands, and then used the wands to conjure ropes to bind them.

"Should we go back first?" a member of the Guard Corps asked the man in black.

The black-robed wizard shook his head; his voice was hoarse and dry, yet light and weightless.

"Headquarters is crowded and there are other people with ill intentions watching us. Go, five men, stand guard on the outside and check these two 'traitors' first."

"Yes!"

Once the Confundus Charm and Defense Charm were cast, one of the team members took out a Potions and poured it directly into the mouths of the unconscious Onassis and Marshall.

After waiting for half a minute, the two people did not react.

"This isn't Polyjuice Potion; this is me," the team member said.

The black-robed wizard took a half step forward and muttered to himself in a voice inaudible to others, "You fooled everyone... First, you controlled them, then you concealed your form with the Disillusionment Charm, followed by a combination of the Transfiguration spell and Illusion Charm... In this rage, you actually devised a plan and then executed it on the spot... What a calm mind, what exquisite magic... I really don't know how to describe you, Grindelwald..."

The teammate next to him didn't hear what he was saying and asked in confusion, "What did you say?"

"It's nothing..." He resumed his usual tone, then looked at Onassis and Marshall, "It must be the Imperius Curse ..."

The team member frowned. "The Imperius Curse hasn't been broken, and this was Grindelwald's own Imperius Curse. Their willpower is clearly insufficient to resist. What do we do now? The Imperius Curse hasn't been broken, so carrying them is like carrying two time bombs—or should we just kill them?"

"Now is the time to use people, and these two are still very useful in dealing with Grindelwald's methods."

As he spoke, the man in black raised his hand, which remained hidden in his long sleeve. Immediately afterward, two water bottles flew out of his sleeve and floated toward the team members standing nearby.

The man took the water bottle. "What's this?"

"The Thief's Downfall at Gringotts has a small magic spell fixed to the bottom of the water bottle—also the work of Goblin."

The team member opened a water bottle and glanced inside; it contained a bright, transparent liquid.

A look of amazement flashed in his eyes, then he glanced with some apprehension at the black-robed wizard who had not yet revealed his true face.

After learning of Marshall and Onassis's whereabouts, their leader brought in this black-robed wizard and ordered them to use him as their leader to capture the two.

Unexpectedly, this person actually has this kind of relationship with Goblin...

But why give it to me, an Aquarius? Can't stand sunlight...?

As he was pondering, the black-robed wizard urged, "The Thief's Downfall will start to lose its effectiveness when exposed to sunlight, so hurry up and do it."

"Uh, okay." The team member quickly raised the water bottle and poured it all over Onassis, who was closest to him.

The cold liquid woke Onassis from his coma. He struggled instinctively for a moment, then looked at the crowd in front of him with a dazed expression.

"Creel ..." His chest heaved weakly as he called out the name of the teammate who had watered him.

A cold smile tugged at the corner of Creel's lips, "You're awake? Onassis? Do you know what you've done?"

During the period when the wizard is under the influence of the Imperius Curse, he can still retain his memory, although it is slightly blurred, he can still recall it.

After being told that by Creel, Onassis's eyes glazed over again for a moment. When he regained his composure, he couldn't help but shiver.

"Grindelwald ... Grindelwald ..." he murmured.

Creel stepped forward. "Onassis! Cheer up! Besides controlling your presence near headquarters, did Grindelwald have any other orders? What about the others? Are they dead or being controlled? And where exactly is Grindelwald hiding?"

A series of questions left Onassis somewhat bewildered. He shook his head vigorously, but finally regained his clear consciousness.

He swallowed hard and shouted, "Grindelwald, it's him!"

The sound stopped abruptly.

A beam of green light struck Onassis, his eyes widened, his pupils dilated rapidly, and his limbs went limp.

He died.

The one who cast the spell was none other than Marshall, who had just been unconscious!

Her eyes were lifeless, a layer of hazy mist covering her originally deep brown pupils, but her face was filled with immense anger.

"How dare you betray the great Lord Grindelwald!"

She raised her hand, the ring on her middle finger pointing at Onassis; it was that ring that had just unleashed the Killing Curse.

"Petrificus Totalus!" Creel swiftly unleashed a spell that froze Marshall.

Her blank stare and angry face froze.

"Damn it! Avada—" another Guard Corps member cursed angrily, then prepared to cast the Killing Curse.

"Stop!" the black-robed wizard immediately shouted, "She is still under the influence of the Imperius Curse!"

The man swallowed back the rest of his incantation.

"This is Grindelwald's tactic. If one person is controlled, the other will definitely find an opportunity to eliminate them," he glanced at Onassis, who was now truly dead, and saw a ring of the same design on Onassis's hand. "If you kill Marshall, you'll play right into Grindelwald's hands. That's exactly the effect he wants! Don't forget our objective; we need information!"

The man was taken aback, then walked angrily toward the frozen Marshall and reached out to take off her ring.

"This is the first time I've heard of Killing Curse being stored in a magic ring. It's fucking unbelievable..." He suddenly froze in place as he spoke.

"Cadwell?" Creel noticed something was wrong with his teammate.

"K... Creel ..." Cadwell turned his head with great difficulty, his hand holding the ring seeming to want to throw it.

But it was all in vain. As he slowly turned around, Cadwell's skin quickly turned yellow and black, as if he had been scorched by the sun, and his whole body became withered.

A mountain breeze blew by, and he and the ring on his hand turned to dust.

There was no more sound.

Everyone was horrified by the scene. The two people controlling Marshall and Onassis involuntarily took two steps back, and Onassis's corpse, wearing the ring, was magically thrown far away.

The black-robed wizard's voice grew even hoarseer. "Triggering magic, that ring itself is a spellcasting artifact... Creel, your people were too careless."

Creel gritted his teeth. "Then why didn't you warn us?"

"I am not Merlin, and the Grindelwald we are facing is a wizard who is approaching Merlin..."

Just as Creel was about to speak, the teammate behind him suddenly shouted in alarm, "Marshall, something's wrong with Marshall!"

He quickly turned around and saw that, starting Qidian the finger where Marshall's ring had been removed, a layer of blackness spread out, clearly visible even on the petrified gray surface. At this moment, her entire right hand had turned completely black, and the spread was still continuing.

"Three spells! Grindelwald is going to silence them all! Quick, Thief's Downfall!" the black-robed wizard shouted in a hoarse, slurred voice.

Creel held the bottle in his hand, but hesitated in his steps.

Grindelwald's endless tricks were truly terrifying, and even though he didn't want to admit it, Creel had to admit that he was genuinely afraid.

Seeing the black coating still spreading over Marshall's body and the light in his eyes fading, the black-robed wizard shouted sharply, "Quick! Grindelwald is not the God of Wizards! Three spells are already the limit, otherwise that ring could have killed us all! It's not that he didn't want to, it's that he couldn't! That Thief's Downfall can definitely wash away that spell!"

"If we can't save Marshall, we'll know absolutely nothing about Grindelwald! When he comes back, we'll all be dead!"

Upon hearing this, the hesitant Creel finally gritted his teeth and took two quick steps forward, then poured the entire bottle of Thief's Downfall onto Marshall, whose body had turned half black.

After doing all this, he quickly stepped back and raised his hands, only to breathe a sigh of relief when he found that he was unharmed.

Just as the black-robed wizard had predicted, the Thief's Downfall worked its magic. Along with the Petrification Charm, the spreading blackness gradually faded, and Marshall's skin returned to normal.

Most importantly, the confusion in her eyes finally disappeared.

The first thing that surged up was the intense pain caused by the Splinching. Marshall's chest heaved violently, and his normally emotionless face trembled with agony.

"Ha... ha..." She was hanging in the air by ropes, panting heavily.

"Marshall?" Creel called out loudly from a distance.

Marshall looked up, her eyes filled with humiliation and anger, and she gritted her teeth. "No, it's alright... I'm free from the Imperius Curse..."

"Do you sense anything is wrong?"

"It's alright now. That spell was cast on me by Grindelwald. It triggers when the ring leaves my body. The ring is a medium, and I am also a medium... The Thief's Downfall was very effective..."