43, Choice

No matter how dangerous the Forbidden Forest was, it still belonged to Hogwarts. Hoffa had never imagined that he would encounter Schmidt Ruterov inside the school itself.

But there was little time left for him to think.

Spells crossed through the air, casting purple and green light across either side of Hoffa's face.

Not a chance!

Hoffa gritted his teeth and twisted his head.

He snatched up the stunned Argeleia.

Then decisively slipped into the shadow state.

Ghostwalk!

The world before his eyes became nothing but gray and white, while an inexplicable wind howled past his ears.

The magic throughout his body burned rapidly like raging fire.

All the crossing spells struck empty air, blasting up huge clods of dirt that froze midair into eerie green ice.

Hoffa rapidly retreated through the shadows.

In the dense forest, countless Swooping Evils instantly pulled their heads away from the centaurs' heads and soared high into the air.

They shot toward Hoffa and Argeleia.

"You think the same trick will work every time?"

Seeing that Hoffa had escaped again, Schmidt said indifferently, "Using magic beyond your limits means paying a price beyond your limits. I'm very curious how long you can hold out."

He tore open his clothes, revealing a small beast coiled on his chest.

"Roar!"

The beast's head turned and let out a roar. Its head rapidly swelled, spikes densely bursting out across it until it grew to the size of a person.

Thick gray smoke billowed from its head.

A Poison-Pouch Leopard!

An extremely dangerous XXXXX-level magical creature.

Fortunately, it was still young.

Ghostwalk made Hoffa incredibly fast. Within ten seconds, he had retreated more than eighty meters. He tore off Argeleia's sleeve and ripped it into two, tying one half over her face and the other over his own.

"Aguamenti!"

After soaking the cloth, he shoved Argeleia.

"Run. Don't look back."

Still shaken, Argeleia ripped the cloth from her face.

"There's fog behind us!"

Hoffa hurriedly tied the wet cloth back over her face.

"Idiot, I don't have time to explain. If you don't want to die, keep that thing on."

Two dark wizards rushed out of the darkness.

Tilting his head, Schmidt ordered, "Bring them before me. Take them alive."

Hoffa grabbed Argeleia and tapped an invisibility spell onto his arm.

He tried to sneak away.

But the next second, he saw his old adversary.

That silver-glinting monkey.

It chattered and leaped through the treetops, every landing spot directly above Hoffa. It drove him nearly mad, because the dark wizards only needed to follow the monkey to know where he was.

Argeleia also noticed something strange overhead and raised her wand.

"Incarcerous!"

But the Phantom Monkey had already foreseen what was about to happen and nimbly jumped away.

Argeleia's spell hit nothing, exposing their position even further.

The two pursuing dark wizards immediately moved in from the other side to block them.

One of them flicked his cloak and instantly vanished from where he stood.

Then, while running at full speed, Hoffa unexpectedly crashed into the dark wizard who appeared at the other end of the forest.

The dark wizard in front of him raised his wand, pointing it directly at the invisible Hoffa.

At that critical moment, a loud shout rang out from the woods.

"Expelliarmus!"

The dark wizard's wand flew from his hand.

It was Joey. Riding his fully armored warhorse, he charged out of the dark forest.

The horse's head sent the opponent flying.

Joey caught the wand midair, then smashed another glass sphere hard onto the spot where the dark wizard landed.

Crack! Crack!

The temperature suddenly plummeted.

Within ten meters, every tree was covered in ice, crackling as it froze.

The dark wizard reacted quickly, rolling several times to evade the deadly strike. His robes and shoes were covered in a thick layer of frost.

Joey shouted, "Kid, where are you?"

Hoffa emerged from stealth and yelled, "Watch out!!"

The other dark wizard waved his wand, and scorching flames burst from its tip, roaring toward Joey like a fire dragon.

Joey immediately turned around. He kicked off the horse's back, and the horse cleverly leaped away.

Using the recoil, Joey dodged the blazing flames.

Then he drew his cross sword like lightning, carved an arc through the air, and brought it down hard.

The dark wizard wielding the wand was caught completely off guard and was struck across the shoulder.

He screamed in agony.

The wound was deep enough to expose bone.

Joey gripped the blade tightly and shouted, "Take that girl and get out of here, kid! This is beyond you!"

As soon as he finished speaking, another beastly roar sounded.

The fog in the air grew thicker. Joey's warhorse had barely taken a few steps before it inhaled the poison gas, swayed twice, and collapsed unconscious.

Seeing the poisonous gas, Joey's face went pale.

He wanted to take out his wand and cast Aguamenti, but the dark wizard whose shoulder he had struck suddenly became ferocious, gripping the blade tightly. Even as his hand was sliced open, he refused to let go.

Joey forcefully shoved the blade.

The dark wizard staggered back several steps.

Then a furious shout came from behind them. "Stupor!"

It was another of Schmidt's accomplices.

A dazzling red flash tore through the darkness.

Both Joey and the dark wizard locked together were hit.

They spun twice through the air and crashed to the ground.

Hoffa caught sight of it, but there was nothing he could do. He could only grit his teeth, grab Argeleia, and run forward.

Argeleia had regained some of her senses by now. She asked anxiously, "Are we just leaving him like that?"

Hoffa did not answer. Lips pressed tight, he ran toward the exit of the Forbidden Forest.

Only by returning to Hogwarts and bringing reinforcements would they make the most rational choice at present.

Schmidt immediately saw through Hoffa's intentions. He bent down, picked up his unconscious companion's wand, and waved it.

The thick poisonous gas in the Forbidden Forest rapidly spread outward, forming a ring that caught up to Hoffa in an instant.

Schmidt spread his fingers, and the wet cloth over Hoffa's face flew straight back to him.

He wanted to subdue Hoffa with poison gas.

Hoffa looked at the fifty percent magic power he had left, gritted his teeth, and dared not hesitate any longer.

He could only activate Ghostwalk once more.

This time, he did not cancel the ability, dragging Argeleia forward through the poisonous gas.

The moment he emerged from Ghostwalk, he activated it again without hesitation.

Two successive high-speed flashes made him vanish from Schmidt's view almost instantly. Even the Phantom Monkey could not foresee where Hoffa had gone.

But the price of that brief escape was immense.

More than one hundred and fifty meters away.

Two figures staggered out of the shadow state. The familiar sensation of his brain being torn apart swept over Hoffa again. He plunged face-first to the ground, and momentum dragged Argeleia with him like a bulldozer, plowing through a wide swath of fallen leaves as darkness filled his vision.

His magic power was overdrawn again.

This time, he was not in the safety of an inn.

In the pitch-dark woods, everything was silent for several seconds. Argeleia, her face covered in dirt and looking utterly disheveled, forced herself up from the ground.

Then she jolted.

"Hey, hey!"

Seeing Hoffa lying motionless in the pile of leaves, Argeleia panicked. She dropped to her knees and shook him hard.

"What's wrong with you!?"

Hoffa did not respond. To be honest, he heard her, but he had no strength to answer.

Argeleia stood up, pushing and pulling Hoffa upright before dragging him to a tree trunk. She kept slapping his face.

"Hey, are you dying?"

"Hey, hey, you're so weak—"

"Feed your mother's head!!"

The first thing Hoffa did after recovering a little strength was slap her hand away. "Don't touch me. My magic power is overdrawn."

Ordinarily, Argeleia would have mocked him for being a Muggle, but now she silently stood up, poked her head out to look outside twice, then pulled it back and said tremblingly, "They're looking for us. There are people on three sides, and poison gas—"

"Shut up!"

His attitude was extremely unfriendly. If she had not held him back, how could two consecutive Ghostwalks have carried him so short a distance? If she had not gone looking for trouble, how could he have fallen into this trap?

"Hey, aren't you supposed to be clever? Think of something already—"

"Will you die if you stop talking? Let me rest!"

Argeleia gritted her teeth and shut up. She stood there, turning in circles like a headless fly and constantly rubbing her head, as though trying to think of a solution.

Meanwhile, Hoffa could only seize every second to meditate and restore his magic power.

After circling around for a while, Argeleia grew anxious. "Have you thought of anything yet? Someone's coming this way!"

Hoffa opened his eyes and took a deep breath. Turning his head, he said coldly, "If we want to get out of here, the little magic power I have isn't enough."

"Teach me that invisibility ability. I'll take you away."

Argeleia said anxiously.

"Hmph."

Hoffa snorted disdainfully. Never mind whether she could learn Ghostwalk—even if she could, he would not casually hand over his ultimate trump card to someone else.

He had not yet reached the end of the road.

But now.

He had to make a choice.

Without a doubt, under the threat of death, he abandoned his dignity.

Hoffa reached toward his chest and pulled out three vials of potion.

"How long would you need to brew a diluted restorative potion?"

Argeleia's expression visibly changed when she saw the potion vials in Hoffa's hand.

"Ten minutes—no, eight."

"Five minutes." Hoffa looked at the figures in the distant fog and said softly, "We don't have time. If you can't brew the potion in five minutes, we'll die. Joey will die too."

Argeleia looked around at the sky and said helplessly, "It's too dark here. I can't see anything. Brewing potions has to be extremely precise."

"Lumos."

Hoffa said.

"Are you crazy? You want me to use Lumos now? Wouldn't that make us living targets?" Argeleia whispered, stamping her foot anxiously.

"I'll draw them away. You brew the potion." Hoffa said, pale but resolute.

"Y-you're serious?"

Argeleia's voice trembled slightly.

"It's our only chance."

Hoffa calmly handed the potion to Argeleia.

Taking the potion, Argeleia stood there in a daze.

"Go." Hoffa said.

Argeleia looked at the pitch-black hand before her. She reached out and took the potion, glancing at Hoffa one last time.

She took the potion.

Then she turned and vanished into the forest without looking back.