Bellatrix, Tragic

Bellatrix saw the change; she recognized it.

Dark Enlightenment.

The gift his the Master gave him, that highly condensed Dark Knowledge Entity, possessed the dual characteristics of spiritual pollution and spiritual temptation.

She had personally delivered the Bone Box to Grimmauld Place and watched Regulus open it before her very eyes.

After she returned, she reported all the details to her the Master. Her the Master examined her memories and concluded that the corruption of Dark Enlightenment was gradual and deep. Even if it was initially a disguise, continued contact would eventually lead to assimilation.

Now she sees it.

The composure he had maintained all night crumbled, and an expression she had never seen on his face before tugged at the corner of his mouth.

The Master is right.

The Master is always right.

Bellatrix let out a sharp, maniacal laugh, her whole body trembling. As she laughed, tears rolled down her cheeks, it was hard to tell whether it was a physiological reaction to extreme madness or something else.

"Can you feel it!" she screamed at Regulus, her voice distorted by laughter. "It's biting you! It's crawling in your bones! You're afraid of it!" Her lips parted even wider, revealing all her teeth. "No, you like it!"

She raised her wand and hurled the Killing Curse, unleashing a more powerful surge of Magic Power.

Two beams of purple light followed, from different angles.

Regulus darted among the rubble, sidestepping the first green light. He raised his wand, a gray Magic Power entity emerging from its tip. Instead of emitting light, it absorbed the surrounding light, darkening the air.

He used this Magic Power to deflect the purple beam of light, causing it to veer off course, fly past his shoulder, and strike the distant ruins.

He dodged the second purple beam by sidestepping it.

Bellatrix continued her onslaught from the opposite side, unleashing a barrage of Killing Curse, Cruciatus Curse, purple beams of light, and Dark Arts magic Explosion Charm —so densely packed that there were barely any gaps between them. "You've finally decided to use what your the Master gave you," Bellatrix's voice pierced through the light of the spells, trembling with fanaticism, "You liar! You've been faking it all along, you're clearly quite full!"

Regulus ignored her, his attention partially absorbed into his body.

The power of Dark Enlightenment was essentially a test for him.

The Grey Matter attached to the Magic Power did indeed increase its power; the difference was noticeable.

The Magic Power became thicker and heavier, giving a feeling of being lifted up when Spellcasting. The effects of the spells were heavier, more oppressive, and carried a more domineering load.

This is only the result of the Magic Power being contaminated by that semi-polluted substance.

Indeed, it's strong.

But this thing is from elsewhere; it's not his.

The soul was very quiet, the light of Bellatrix shone steadily in the depths of consciousness, and the Grey Matter stayed where it belonged.

Everything is just an appearance.

His lips twitched upwards a little more, this time even wider.

It's time to take out the knowledge inside and put it to the test.

His Magic Power poured out from within him, releasing in all directions simultaneously. Centered on him, it spread out like a heavy fog, covering a circular area with a radius of about ten meters.

The air suddenly became heavy, the gravel sank downwards as if its weight had been increased, and the few remaining flames on the ground were extinguished. The flames bent, shrank, and went out under the pressure.

The air itself becomes viscous, and you can feel resistance when breathing.

This is the knowledge stored within the Dark Enlightenment, the release of Magic Power that governs attributes.

Regulus charged towards Bellatrix, using Sprint Charm. His figure, trailing a gray tail, drew a straight line through the ruins as he crashed into Bellatrix. Bellatrix was inside the Black Barrier, but the oppressive aura still penetrated it.

She felt the weight pressing her down, her knees buckled, and her arm holding the wand was forced to drop.

It urged her to kneel down, urged her to submit.

She recognized it; this was how her the Master acted when she was angry. She knew that feeling all too well.

This made her even angrier and more frantic, because it reminded her of her the Master and the feeling of being desecrated.

As he pressed down on her, she screamed and unleashed spells.

But after the spells were launched, they began to deviate from their original trajectory, as if being pulled back by an oppressive force, and they slowed down.

Regulus sidestepped, three green lights flashing past him without even using Sidestep Charm.

He looked at Bellatrix, his eyes growing brighter, then raised his wand.

A dark gray spell shot out from the tip of the staff, silent and incredibly fast, directly striking Bellatrix's Black Barrier.

The barrier couldn't stop it; it went right through.

Bellatrix's body stiffened abruptly, and her eyes widened instantly.

The Soul Burning.

This spell is an attack method developed by the Virtual Persona from Dark Enlightenment. It and the Black Barrier should come from the same system, both being Voldemort's creations.

Voldemort taught the Death Eaters how to use the Barrier as a defense, while retaining the means to penetrate it.

I'll give you the shield, but the spear is in my hand.

Very Voldemort.

The Soul Burning Curse affects the soul, a torment on a different level than the Cruciatus Curse. It's like roasting the soul over a fire, causing excruciating pain without harming the flesh.

Bellatrix's face contorted to an inhuman degree, her mouth opened, and she let out a shrill scream.

Her body convulsed within the Black Barrier, and her wand nearly slipped from her grasp.

But Bellatrix is Bellatrix; she's gone mad. The burning pain, ironically, has given her the will to attack again from her madness.

Despite the excruciating pain of her Soul Burning, she managed to unleash a Killing Curse in the intervals between spasms. Her movements were contorted and her angle was off, but the incantation was complete, and green light shot out from her Transfiguration arm.

Regulus dodged to the side, severing the connection to the Soul Burning.

Bellatrix vanished, Apparition.

But she was still within her domain; the space was compressed, and the passageway was squeezed as it formed.

With a snap, she appeared more than ten meters away, but the fabric on her right shoulder and the skin underneath didn't follow; they remained where they were, bleeding from the torn wound.

She fell onto the rubble, bracing herself with her right hand, unable to move her Left Arm at all, bleeding from her right shoulder, and with few unscathed areas on her body.

Regulus locked onto the landing point in advance, used Sprint Charm to catch up, and was already standing three meters away the instant she appeared.

The wand was pointed at her, Fear Projection.

A mental attack method that erodes willpower, striking the target and making them feel what the Spellcasting has infused into them.

What he poured in was domination.

He demanded her obedience, his kneeling, and his admission that the man before her controlled her, controlled her mind, and controlled the loyalty that had just been desecrated.

Bellatrix remained in the position of being lying down, her eyes darting around in their sockets, her mouth open, and a muffled sound coming from her throat.

It sounded like someone was cursing or shouting, but the words were fragmented and couldn't be pieced together to form a complete meaning.

She only obeys one person, but now someone is telling her to obey in the manner of her the Master.

That feeling again, that blasphemy!

"You—" she forced out through clenched teeth, bloody saliva trickling from the corner of her mouth, "You are not worthy—you are not worthy to touch that." She struggled to her feet, her body swaying as if she were about to collapse at any moment, but the wand was still in her hand.

She screamed, cursed, and unleashed spells, roaring Voldemort's name at him, but her voice was beginning to tremble, and the density and force of her attacks were noticeably decreasing.

There was no strategy, no tactics. They were throwing out everything – Cruciatus Curse, Killing Curse, Explosion Charm – and the direction was all wrong.

Regulus stood a few meters away, watching her.

His expression seemed particularly out of place in this scene; the corners of his mouth were upturned, his eyes were shining, and a gray Magic Power emanated from him, giving off an unsettling aura.

He was enjoying himself.

Watching Bellatrix struggle and scream before him, casting crooked spells with her broken body, he relished the scene. This was the essence of the Dark Enlightenment: domination, oppression, forcing all that is inferior into submission; disdain for the weak needs no restraint, nor explanation.

He is now a person corrupted by these things, a person who has broken free from restraint and composure, a person who has become addicted after tasting the sweetness of power.

He didn't stop, continuing to Soul Burning, one wave after another, Bellatrix's screams exploding outwards in rhythm with him.

She couldn't take it anymore; she couldn't even form coherent sentences with her curses, her syllables breaking into screams. Her body arched forward and then leaned back, with wails and screams gushing out alternately.

But her madness remained; she was still trying to raise her wand.

Then she Apparition escaped again, this time in an even worse state; a piece of her left calf was torn off, and she collapsed to her knees upon landing. Regulus didn't chase after her. He flicked his right hand, and Flame Whip emerged from the tip of his staff, black flames surging within it, thicker and longer than before, with denser dark red lines.

He twisted his wrist twice, the whip drawing an arc in the air before lashing out.

The whip tip struck Bellatrix's Black Barrier, creating a sonic boom that exploded above her head, cracking the surface.

With the second lash, tiny cracks began to appear where the barrier had been struck, and the impact passed through, causing her body to bounce upwards.

The third crack widens, and the barrier Transfiguration.

With the fourth lash, the entire structure of the Black Barrier finally began to crumble under his continuous lashes. Cracks spread outwards from the point of impact, and dark Magic Power fragments peeled off the surface of the barrier.

The fifth lash shattered the barrier.

The impact threw her off her feet and onto the pile of rubble. She still had her wand in her hand, but her body was no longer under her control.

She knelt there, the barrier gone, her Left Arm useless, her right shoulder bleeding, and a piece of flesh missing from her left leg.

She was still chanting incantations.

From his kneeling position, with his only still-functioning right hand, he tilted his body, pointed the tip of his staff at Regulus, and unleashed spell after spell—green, purple, red, all sorts of spells.

Most of them are off-center.

Regulus stood a dozen meters away, watching the crooked spells fly past him, none of them hitting him.

He used Sidestep Charm to teleport three meters in front of Bellatrix and then finished her off with a Soul Burning.

Her screams were indistinguishable from shrieks or pleas; she arched her back and then fell back down, her Soul Burning and scorching her will. She finally lost all ability to resist, collapsing to the ground, her limbs twitching slightly, her lips still moving as if she were chanting something, but it was no longer audible, like the whimper of an animal dying.

Then she fell, sideways onto the rubble, her wand slipping from her fingers, rolling twice, and stopping beside a broken stone pillar. Her chest was still rising and falling, her eyes were still open, she was still alive.

But her role ends here.

A small bird had landed on Regulus's shoulder without him noticing.

Orange-red, not much bigger than a sparrow, with each feather clearly defined, it quietly folded its wings amidst his somber Magic Power.

He didn't even glance at Bellatrix, turning directly to Rodolphus standing next to the doorframe.

When Orion saw the little bird, his fingers twitched slightly on his wand.

He recognized the bird.

Easter holiday, Regulus showed it to him in the Training Room.

Orion finally relaxed.

He had overheard Regulus's plan in the Study, knowing he intended to use the power of Dark Enlightenment to stage a performance. Regulus said he could control it, and he believed him, but witnessing Regulus's transformation firsthand was still different.

That expression was so real, that look of pure enjoyment in his eyes was so genuine, as he watched his youngest son cast spells on Bellatrix was already lying on the ground, again and again.

That's nothing like him.

At that moment, a flicker of uncertainty did Orion's mind, but he didn't show it.

Now he saw the little bird, the Fiendfyre Bird that only he had ever seen before.

Regulus was telling him that he wasn't crazy, that he was still alive.

He acted much better than last time; this time, even he, as the father, almost believed him.

Orion stopped looking at the battlefield; he knew what Regulus was going to do next.

That little bird won't stay a little bird forever.

His gaze swept across the Banquet Hall, then he looked outside, where moonlight shone through the collapsed wall.

Regulus had said in his Study that he wanted to bring the Lestrange family into the fold, which he initially thought referred to as a political connection.

Looking at it now, this isn't just about framing it; it's about making Lestrange Manor disappear from the map.

Lestrange Manor was burned down; Rodolphus was unlikely to have been burned to death, but Bellatrix was mostly ruined.

If Regulus wants her dead, she is; if he doesn't, Fiendfyre can bypass her.

But he didn't intend to interfere. If Regulus really wanted to do it, his son's influence was already enough; the rest was up to him. The aftermath would be considerable—burning down a Pureblood families's estate would require a story from Wizengamot, Lucius Malfoy, as a witness, carried weight in Wizengamot's account.

The Ministry of Magic, along with several powerful families, exerted pressure, characterizing the incident as an internal family conflict. Bellatrix's use of the Killing Curse was key, and the Unforgivable Curses provided a ready-made excuse.

The Heir of the Black family lost control in self-defense, unleashing an uncontrollable Fiendfyre; legally, this is plausible. The Lestrange family's influence in UK will be severely damaged, as will their influence in France.

Orion thought for a moment and realized that the assets and connections of the France estate in Lestrange were independent, so burning down the UK estate would not affect them.

However, if we want to maximize the impact of this incident, the France team also needs to be dealt with.

No rush, let's take things one step at a time and focus on the present.

"Go," he said, uttering a single word.

He pulled Walburga along, stepping over the ruins, towards the hole in the collapsed wall of the Banquet Hall.

Lucius, arm in arm with Narcissa, followed. He didn't ask why they were leaving; Orion simply left without a word, and the Malfoy family didn't ask questions at a time like this. Sirius didn't move; he stood there, staring at Regulus in the center of the field, his eyes filled with anger and a sense of turmoil.

He saw the little bird, but he didn't recognize it.

What he saw was the gray Magic Power emanating from Regulus, his cracked expression, and that arrogant smile that didn't seem like him at all, as he repeatedly cast some kind of spell on Bellatrix was lying on the ground, making her scream.

These things piled up and pieced together a conclusion in his mind.

Dark Enlightenment, Voldemort's gift.

Regulus had told him in the Hogwarts Corridor that the thing had no effect on him.

When he asked, Regulus told him to look for himself, and he did, confirming that it wasn't there.

What about now?

This is what you call having no impact?

He lied to him.

Regulus lied to him, saying that the Dark Enlightenment had no effect, and then exploded in front of him, transforming into someone he didn't recognize.

He wanted to rush out, grab Regulus by the collar, and demand to know what had happened, what that thing had done to him, and why he had lied to him.

He took a step forward, and Orion's hand landed heavily on his shoulder. "Go."

Sirius turned to look at Orion, but Orion didn't look at him; his gaze was no longer on Rodolphus, but on the hole in the wall through which the moonlight was streaming in.

"This is not the time to ask questions." Orion's voice was low, only Sirius could hear it.

Sirius gritted his teeth as Orion pushed him out.

Narcissa glanced back one last time; Bellatrix lay on her side on the rubble, her body still convulsing, her wand lying two feet away.

Regulus stood beside her, a small, fist-sized Flame Bird perched on his left shoulder, a creepy smile on his face.

That image was imprinted in her mind.

Lucius grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the hole in the wall.

Rodolphus followed at the back; he was brought out by Orion's gaze.

As he passed Regulus, Regulus turned to look at him.

The expression on his face was cracked, gray Magic Power flowed around him, and the light in his eyes shone abnormally.

His voice had a strange quality. "Rodolphus, the Lestrange family has harmed my people."

Rodolphus stopped in his tracks.

Regulus's lips twitched up a little more. "No need to reimburse the repair costs."

Rodolphus looked at him, his confusion lingering on his face for less than a second before his expression changed drastically.

He simply Apparition and escaped.

Regulus stopped looking at them and glanced down at Bellatrix at his feet.

She was still moving, her lips were moving, her eyeballs were moving in their sockets, and her whole body was convulsing, but she could no longer make a sound.

He looked at her for two seconds, then looked up at the ruins of the building, which could no longer be called a manor. The little bird on his shoulder fluttered its wings. He held out his finger, and the bird hopped from his shoulder to his fingertip, tilting its head to look at him.

Regulus loosened his fingers, and the bird flew from his fingertips, expanding and exploding in mid-air.

The flames no longer coalesced into a bird shape, but instead transformed into a truly out-of-control, raging, and powerful form of Fiendfyre.

The flames along the edges of the Giant Serpent's scales hissed as they burned.

The Dragon unfurled its wings from the tendrils of flame on the other side. Wherever its wings swept, the stone slabs on the ground cracked from the heat and instantly cooled into charred fragments. A third giant beast stepped out of the flames, its six legs stomping on the ground, each step shattering the stone slabs into dust.

They were no longer under anyone's control, tearing each other apart as they burned.

The Giant Serpent coiled around the Dragon's wings, the Dragon bit into Chimera's neck, and flames collided, splashing molten lava.

Regulus stood at the center of the flames, sensing the Fiendfyre spiraling out of control, maintaining the most basic connection, but no longer trying to rein it in.

Granite softens like wax in the face of Fiendfyre, Structural Solidification Charm had been in place for over two hundred years, instantly fails at this temperature, peeling away the Magic protection layer by layer.

The Banquet Hall of the Lestrange Manor, or rather the ruins of the Banquet Hall, began to collapse under the Fiendfyre. Cracks in the dome widened rapidly, and stones fell down, disappearing once they hit the fire.

The flames spread outwards from the Banquet Hall, burning through the Corridor and the Entrance Hall, engulfing the wood and glass along with the window frames.

Regulus stood in the center of the flames, the Fiendfyre swirling around him but not touching him.

He looked at these things, his expression flickering in and out of focus in the firelight.

Then he looked at Bellatrix at his feet; the Fiendfyre hadn't reached her yet, but the circle of fire was shrinking.

The next moment, the air changed without warning.

One second ago, the air was filled with the Fiendfyre; the next second, the heat vanished.

The way it disappeared was very unusual; the temperature didn't drop, the flames didn't weaken, but Regulus could sense it.

His Magic Perception detected the change before his sight; something was being emptied out.

Magic Power, heat, even light were collapsing inwards, as if a Black Hole was coming from that direction.

What he sensed was not the Magic Power itself, but the traces left behind by the Magic Power —deep, cold, oppressive, and deathly.

The texture is the same as that of Dark Enlightenment, but many times more concentrated, thicker, and heavier. Dark Enlightenment is a condensed copy, while the person leaving these traces is the original, the true self.

It is at a higher level and is more complete.

The Fiendfyre raged, illuminating an area of several dozen meters in radius, but the light in one direction was being swallowed up.

The flames in that direction were dimming, shrinking, and retreating.

It was as if something was coming from that direction, and even Fiendfyre dared not approach the area it passed through.

Darkness spread from that direction, pressing down on the firelight, layer upon layer.

A figure appeared in the darkness where the flames receded.

Regulus's pupils contracted; this time, the reaction was genuine.

Voldemort.