Let's See You Dodge This
Agreement is one thing, resonance is another; now the two sides are enemies.
An enemy is an enemy, and we must confront them with all our might.
Regulus didn't yet have the confidence to hold back or toy with powerful opponents. His most fatal mistake in battle was underestimating his opponent.
Moreover, it's the Abyssal Whisper, Dark Wizard society comprised entirely of elites.
Their members can sever their left shoulder in the instant of Severing Charm, can gather Magic Power power to defend themselves the moment Stone Spike strikes from behind their head, and can calmly retreat in the gap between the deaths of their companions.
Any opponent like this deserves serious consideration.
Regulus's attitude was simple: if he could kill them outright, he would never give them a chance to breathe.
The masked man said he was waiting for them on the island, but that was the other party's territory.
The island is small; from the outside, it looks like a barren land made up of black reefs.
Not a blade of grass grows there; there is no vegetation whatsoever, except for a cluster of low-rise buildings in the center.
The buildings were a dull gray, almost the same color as the rocks, and there was nothing special about them.
But just because a wizard's territory looks ordinary on the surface doesn't mean it's really that simple.
The Untraceable Extension Charm can transform a small Cabin into a maze-like complex.
Disillusionment Charm can conceal an entire building, Protective Charm can be buried underground, Trigger Charms can be placed behind doors, and Warning Charm can be placed on every reef.
Places that appear empty often conceal the most deadly things.
That's their home turf; Regulus wouldn't step into it—that would be too unwise.
He gestured for Freya to stop when they were about fifty meters from the island.
The two hovered in the air, the Broomstick beneath them slightly adjusting its angle to stabilize themselves. The sea breeze blew from the side, and seawater splashed onto their clothes, but was blocked by Waterproof and Damp-proof Charm.
Freya's expression remained unchanged, as if she had originally intended to stay there as well.
Regulus knew that she had undergone professional combat training and possessed strong tactical thinking.
She obviously wouldn't willingly step into the other party's pre-set home turf, as that would be tantamount to handing over the initiative.
The two exchanged a glance, Regulus said, "Ready? I'm about to cast the Second Form of the Severing Charm."
This open and unobstructed space is an excellent testing ground.
Freya simply nodded to indicate that she understood, then drew her wand and waved it quite dramatically in front of her.
The wand left a faint blue trail in the air, which then spread outwards.
Deep blue flames surged from her body as Freya rode on her Broomstick, the blue flames beginning to swirl around her as if they were alive.
She hovered in mid-air, the flames reflecting on her face, casting a faint blue glow on her cold, aloof features.
Regulus looked at her, a thought flashing through his mind.
Blue Fire.
really.
The fleeting guess I had that night has now been confirmed more clearly.
He didn't look any further, gathering his thoughts; now was not the time to dwell on these things.
Regulus raised his wand and uttered the incantation. "Diolvo."
The Second Form of the Severing Charm.
An invisible ripple spread out from him.
Ripples swept across Freya, and the blue flames surrounding her body trembled slightly, like the surface of a lake ruffled by the wind. The flames contracted inward before returning to their original state.
The ripples continued to spread outwards, sweeping across the sea surface.
Several meters below the surface of the sea, a group of fish that were swimming by suddenly froze.
Their bodies were still propelled forward by inertia, but their vital signs had disappeared.
Fish scales, fish skin, fish flesh, fish bones—everything that makes up a fish as a whole—loses its definition as a whole at the same moment.
They dispersed, suddenly becoming countless tiny, unrelated particles, mingling with the seawater, and disappearing without a trace as the waves swept them away.
The ripples spread forward at the speed of sound.
Fifty meters, 0.15 seconds.
As the ripples struck the island, almost simultaneously, a semi-transparent barrier suddenly appeared above the buildings in the center of the island.
The barrier rippled like water, spreading outwards in concentric circles from the impacted center.
The ripples were large, and the entire barrier was trembling violently, as if it were being subjected to an invisible impact, as if it were about to be torn apart.
That defensive spell can withstand physical impacts and regular spells, but it's different from the Shield Charm.
The Shield Charm is a physical barrier formed from Magic Power; anything that wants to pass through must first collide with it.
The defense logic of this barrier is more like a filter, only intercepting the attack patterns it recognizes; the infrasound of the Severing Charm is not on its list.
The ripples penetrated the barrier and continued to spread.
Freya watched this scene unfold from the side.
She saw the barrier materialize under the impact of an invisible force, and saw it tremble violently but unable to stop anything.
She recalled what Regulus had said earlier, explaining the two forms of the Severing Charm.
I only heard him say it then, but seeing it with my own eyes now feels completely different.
This type of attack is virtually impossible to defend against.
The renowned Lord of Water-Strengthening has joined Cola with his new work, <Hogwarts: Regulus, Lord of the Starry Sky>!
You're hit before you even realize the attack is coming.
She glanced at Regulus.
He held up his wand, his expression calm, his gaze fixed on the small island, the sea breeze ruffling his hair.
The moment the barrier appeared on the island, the Masked Man Leader knew he was under attack.
But he had never seen this Magic before.
He had seen another spell, the grey-green one the boy had used on the first night, and he had witnessed it Magic his companion.
But he didn't know that the two spells were actually two forms of the same Magic.
He also reviewed the incident afterwards.
That Magic was powerful, but it could be dodged.
As long as they keep their eyes on the boy, pay attention to where his wand is pointing, and make an evasive move the instant he Spellcasting, given their reaction speed and combat experience, it is entirely possible for them to dodge.
He shared this judgment with everyone.
But he didn't know that Regulus's true attack method was a combination of Spatial Warp and Spatial Anchor, which allowed the spell to bypass the transmission process and hit the target directly.
He didn't see that scene; he thought that's how the Severing Charm works—powerful, but evasive.
Therefore, his companions were all misled.
But at this moment, when Regulus unleashed his second form, everything he had said was meaningless.
Because of this curse, there was no escaping it from the very beginning.
The attack came without a wand pointing, without a spell beam, and without any predictable signs.
He didn't even know the attack was coming until the shockwaves from the impact on the barrier told him.
The seven masked men reacted extremely quickly.
The leader and another masked man who had experienced the first night's battle instantly activated their Shield Charm.
A transparent barrier unfolded in front of them, covering their entire bodies.
Of the other five, three also made the same move at the same time, and the Shield Charm Curse lit up one after another.
The other two didn't do that; they chose to hide.
They mounted their Broomstick and flew rapidly to the sides, attempting to escape the attack range.
However, the Second Form of the Severing Charm is an area-of-effect attack with a speed of sound.
The two masked men flew less than two meters before their bodies suddenly froze.
Then they began to disintegrate.
From the outside in, everything that once constituted them lost its overall meaning at the same moment.
There was no blood, no screams, no sign of struggle; it simply existed, and then ceased to exist.
In the end, only two clumps of ash remained, which were scattered by the sea breeze.
The five masked men watched helplessly as their two companions vanished before their very eyes, leaving nothing behind.
The Shield Charm was still on his body, but that transparent barrier now seemed incredibly fragile.
Meanwhile, the aftershocks of the Severing Charm continued to spread.
The remaining five people felt varying degrees of discomfort, nausea, dizziness, and a sensation of something loosening inside their bodies.
The intensity of the discomfort is directly related to the strength of the Shield Charm; the thicker the seal, the lighter the sensation, while those who react slowly will already be shaking.
But he couldn't care less about that; the leader's eyes widened behind the mask.
He looked at the two people on the sea.
The boy still held his wand, his expression calm, his gaze fixed on the island, as if observing the effects of the attack.
The leader's gaze shifted to the witch standing next to the boy.
Freya von Eisenhardt.
She was surrounded by blue flames, which were particularly conspicuous in the sunlight.
The color of the flames, the way they burned, the oppressive feeling that could be felt even from this distance—
The leader's pupils contracted; he knew what the flame represented.
That was not ordinary Magical Flames, nor was it a destructive Dark Arts like Fiendfyre, nor was it a spell that an ordinary wizard could master.
It represents a person, a name, and a piece of history.
That period of history has passed for decades, but the traces left by that name have never truly disappeared.
The Eisenhardt family...
No, that's not right.
Something suddenly clicked in the leader's mind.
This witch is no ordinary member of the Eisenhardt family, and this island, this document, this conflict—from beginning to end, are not simply power struggles.
A thought suddenly flashed through his mind: someone was manipulating everything behind the scenes.
Before the leader could think further, the boy moved again.
Regulus raised his wand again, but this time not with Severing Charm.
Three small orange-red birds flew from the tip of his cane, flapped their wings, circled, and then flew towards the island.
They are very small, each only the size of a sparrow, with delicate feathers, agile movements, and even a bit cute.
The three birds flew about thirty meters away, then suddenly expanded, split, and exploded.
Orange-red flames burst from the tiny bird's body, as if something that had been suppressed for too long was finally released.
The three little birds instantly transformed into a three-headed beast: a Giant Serpent coiled and twisted, a Fire Dragon spread its wings and roared, and a Chimera all three heads raised.
They swarmed towards the island.