Clash and Escape

On the outskirts of Hogsmeade.

A winding cobblestone path looped around the entire village.

Beyond it lay a dense forest.

Past the forest, the castle complex of Hogwarts could be seen.

Scattered puddles dotted the path.

The still water reflected the Swooping Evils streaking across the moonlit sky.

Suddenly, ripples disturbed the reflection. Several blood-covered red-eyed black rats had run through.

The two figures holding hands in the shadows watched the rats disappear, and only then did their tightly clasped hands relax slightly.

"Is it impossible?"

The girl's voice drifted through the air.

"No. This barrier cuts off the magical connection between the inside and outside. I can't teleport out."

"Reducto."

A dazzling beam struck the barrier, creating only a few invisible ripples across its surface.

Luna frowned slightly and used Transfiguration to turn a branch into a small wooden bird.

The moment the wooden bird approached the barrier, crackling electrical sparks erupted. Naturally, the little bird was blown to ashes by the current.

"It resembles wartime magic. It was used in ancient times to besiege castles and villages, cutting off internal contact with the outside."

Luna briefly voiced her opinion.

"In that case..."

Cypher abruptly abandoned his plan and took out a tail feather from Fawkes the phoenix.

Sure enough... a long silence followed...

A breeze passed by, and falling leaves disrupted the motionless scene, casting a shadow over both their hearts.

"What... is Fawkes asleep?"

Luna made a dry joke.

"No..."

Within Cypher's sensory field,

the feather emitted a golden-red ripple, only for the barrier to block its path.

There was no choice. He could only see whether Icy Soul Hammer could break the barrier.

If that still failed, he would have no choice but to hold up the feather and ask Aberforth for help...

Icy Soul Hammer required charging, and it required an enormous amount of magic.

At a time like this, a wand meant for precise control was useless.

"One minute. I need at least one minute to gather enough magic to blast an opening."

"Are you really not considering the secret passage?"

Luna asked hesitantly.

"We absolutely cannot let outsiders know that Hogwarts has secret passages leading directly inside. They must believe Hogwarts's gates are the only way in! If Dark wizards suddenly entered Hogwarts and slaughtered unprepared young wizards, my conscience would condemn me!"

Seeing Luna lower her head in silence, Cypher could not bear it. He gently hugged her and comforted her.

"Sorry, I was too harsh. I swear..."

Something soft covered Cypher's mouth.

"You always tell us not to recklessly raise death flags."

Hoo—Cypher let out a long breath.

"Did you learn the Lightening Charm I had you practice yesterday?"

The Lightening Charm differed from the Levitation Charm. Once Luna cast it, she became like a large human-shaped balloon. Cypher could pull her along with ease.

"Of course!"

Luna's tone rose slightly. She seemed to have figured something out.

Feeling the girl's burning determination, Cypher also found his fighting spirit.

"Featherlight."

Luna's body became weightless, and Cypher gestured for her to grab onto his back.

"Cast the Water-Making Spell beneath my feet in a moment!"

After saying that, Cypher took two cleavers from his bag and used Transfiguration to turn them into ice skates. Brackets on them firmly secured them to his shoes.

Then the two of them dispelled their Disillusionment Charms together.

"Now, go!"

At Cypher's command, Luna unhesitatingly cast the Water-Making Spell at the ground.

Before the water could fall, Cypher's magic took control of it.

"Frost Path! Ice Blade Barrage!"

After putting away his wand, Cypher would have needed to devote immense effort to constructing magical runes in order to cast the Water-Making Spell.

But the water summoned by Luna's Water-Making Spell would become the raw material for his ice magic.

As Cypher's magic activated,

part of the water Luna had summoned turned into icy mist and fell to the ground, forming a smooth path of ice.

The other part spiraled toward Cypher's right hand, transforming into ice blades that circled around him like arrows drawn upon a bowstring.

Cypher's left hand was naturally busy constructing magical runes and gathering power for Icy Soul Hammer.

The violent magical fluctuations were like fireworks in the darkness.

All the dark creatures in Hogsmeade swiftly converged on Cypher's location.

At that moment, Cypher moved.

He skated swiftly over the ice, while an unbroken stream of icy mist fell ahead, creating a smooth frozen surface.

Moreover, the ground-dwelling dark creatures chasing behind them became stuck to the frigid ice.

Jagged shards of ice scattered chaotically into the sky.

Against the countless Swooping Evils and other flying creatures,

the ice blades effortlessly carved through them like mowing down grass.

So that was it... Luna understood. Behind him, she stared at Cypher's struggling figure with her sparkling blue eyes, completely entranced...

But the bubble of romance was quickly burst.

"Cruciatus Curse."

"Fiendfyre."

"Flesh-Eating Curse."

Such a huge disturbance naturally caught Austin's attention.

He easily made his way onto a rooftop near the two of them.

He casually dodged several indiscriminately flying ice blades.

Austin began casting Dark Arts at Cypher as he darted below. One Dark spell after another, spoken in unfamiliar words and tones, flew from his wand.

Fortunately, Cypher had remained alert and maintained his sensory field. He swiftly adjusted his posture, causing every spell to strike the ground.

The shattered stones hissed with corrosive sounds and gave off trails of white smoke.

A great deal of pressure weighed on Cypher's heart.

If those spells struck flesh, they would surely be unforgettable for the rest of one's life.

Even if they did not kill him, taking one hit would definitely make him suffer enough to reveal information just for a quick death.

Cypher concentrated intensely, draining vast amounts of mental energy. Sweat from his face even flew onto Luna's face.

Luna floated behind Cypher, one hand gripping him while the other cast spells. For a moment, she found herself unable to do anything else...

No, I can still help! At a time like this, why should I care about a girl's modesty...

Luna pulled herself toward Cypher and wrapped her long legs around his waist.

Though the position was intimate, it secured her more firmly against Cypher and freed both her hands at once.

Seizing an opening, Luna wiped the sweat from Cypher's face.

Then she began casting with both hands gripping her wand.

In theory, holding a wand with both hands allowed spells to be cast at greater power.

Luna cast at full strength without regard for the cost.

The water flow from the Water-Making Spell nearly doubled at once.

Cypher did not worry about magical depletion, because his mental exhaustion far exceeded his magical expenditure.

The greater flow gave him more ice blades and widened the icy path.

Naturally, it forced the dark creatures farther away and saved him more effort when changing direction, giving him more routes to choose from.

Seeing that the two could still hold on,

Austin gritted his teeth and released an adult Black-Striped Saber Leopard.

The Black-Striped Saber Leopard was a type of dark creature bred by African Dark wizards.

Its body was covered in alternating black-and-white stripes, and it possessed saber-toothed tiger fangs and a cheetah's running speed.

It was said that its teeth, claws, and steel-whip-like tail carried venom no less potent than a Basilisk's.

It was simply that no one had ever possessed both creatures at once for comparison.

Within Cypher's sensory field, a black shadow radiating powerful magical energy hurtled toward him.

Cypher decisively concealed an Exploding Fireball among the ice blades.

The Exploding Fireball combined the magical runes of the Fire Spell and the Blasting Curse. It could instantly unleash immense light, heat, and shockwaves.

The ice blades struck the Black-Striped Saber Leopard's skin and shattered like glass bottles hitting the ground, unable to harm it in the slightest.

"Boom!"

The Exploding Fireball detonated.

Cypher sensed that the incoming creature's aura had not weakened at all, and he could not help glancing back.

Within the firelight, the saber-toothed-tiger-like dark creature gleamed with a flowing layer of light.

"It even comes with a Shield Charm? Then it must be one of Charles's trump cards, not some disposable item."

The fierce clash made time seem to crawl.

Even now, fewer than forty seconds had passed.

And Cypher had made it to Hogwarts's main street.

The empty street opened up before Cypher's eyes.

His forward speed surged.

However, at the side, the Black-Striped Saber Leopard should have been able to dart back and forth across rooftops at a speed too fast for the naked eye to follow.

But if it wanted to catch Cypher from behind, it could only run and leap across the houses.

After all, the ground was covered in ice...

Thus, when it leaped into the air and pounced at Cypher,

Cypher was already prepared.

He gathered all his strength into an ice spear glowing with blue fluorescence from its excessive magical energy.

Turning around, he aimed its tip at the Black-Striped Saber Leopard's black-red eyes.

The force of his swing, combined with the force of the Black-Striped Saber Leopard's descent,

sent the spear tip easily through its eye and straight into its throat.

The creature did not release even the faintest cry. After passing Cypher and Luna, it crashed heavily to the ground without moving, kicking up a cloud of dust.

"@###..."

Cypher heard Austin curse behind him in an unfamiliar language.

There was no time to leave behind a taunt. So long as he escaped, it would be the greatest mockery of Charles.

Furious, Austin waved his wand, attempting to turn the trees on either side into vines to stop Cypher.

He had forgotten that the village possessed ancient protective magic.

The Transfiguration he cast changed the trees extraordinarily slowly.

Austin angrily swung down his wand and gave a new command.

Layer upon layer of creatures formed something like a giant sack. He wanted to drown the two of them just before they reached the barrier.

If the dark creatures became dense enough, the dark creatures killed on the ice blades ahead would become meat shields for those behind them.

If there was one spell that could withstand such an assault, the only one Cypher could think of was the incomparably evil Fiendfyre Curse.

Unfortunately, he did not know it, and using it would bring severe punishment from the Ministry of Magic. He might even be expelled from Hogwarts.

But none of that mattered now.

The magic in his left hand had finished gathering.

"Icy Soul Hammer!"

Pure magic solidified into an ice flower that spun at high speed.

When it struck the transparent barrier, icy-blue flowers spread outward, freezing the surrounding magic and preventing it from repairing the breach in the barrier.

The outpouring magic made Cypher stumble. Once the storm of clashing magic subsided, he hurriedly teleported away with Luna, leaving Hogsmeade.

As the two disappeared,

Austin's expression turned exceptionally ugly.

He stood there in silence for a long time before finally waving his wand and sending a message to his subordinates.

The barrier abruptly vanished. The toxins in the air and the smoke Cypher had spread gradually dissipated, while the dark creatures returned one after another to Austin's pocket.

"Boss, we..."

Austin stopped his subordinate from speaking. He looked around, saw that several of his men were pale and drained of magic, and held back his rebuke.

"It's fine. We still have another mission: hunt enough magical creatures in Hogwarts. The organization needs to study their bloodlines..."

"This time, we must complete the mission, unless we die!"

Yes!!!

Everyone understood as well. If this mission failed too, even if they survived, the Empire would execute them.

Meanwhile, Cypher landed in the forest with Luna. He did not dare linger and teleported forward repeatedly.

At last, his strength was nearly exhausted. His vision went black, and his teleportation went awry, leaving deep gashes in his right hand and right leg.

Cypher collapsed to the ground, gasping harshly.

Wait, why was Luna not saying anything?

Cypher struggled to turn around in panic and checked the silent Luna over, only to discover that she had merely fallen asleep.

She must have consumed too much energy, and the final impact had been more than she could bear.

At that moment, the backlash from overdrawing his magic power began to surface.

Cypher had never imagined that the first time he drained all his magic power would be at a time like this.

Using the last of his strength, he pulled out Fawkes's feather.

He no longer had the strength to keep his eyes open, and Cypher closed them wearily.

Just before his eyes shut, he saw a golden-red flame.