"You guess."
The faceless man, having lost its wand, slowly climbed to its feet and flexed its neck, which had been bent crooked by the gauntlet.
Crack. Crack.
It forcibly twisted its neck back into place, then let its hands hang naturally at its sides. Standing in the middle of the observatory with its head tilted, its mouth-only face fixed its gaze firmly on Hoffa.
Hoffa remained in an extremely guarded stance.
For some reason, even though he had taken the other party's wand, he did not feel the slightest bit reassured.
After working its neck loose, the faceless man began to applaud.
Clap!
Clap!
Clap!
When it finished clapping, it said calmly, "Very skilled, Hoffa Bach. In just half a term, you've grown quite a bit. I'm becoming more and more interested in you."
"Who are you? Why are you doing all this?"
Hoffa gripped the wand tightly.
"Does who I am matter?"
The other party did not even glance at its wand. It strolled toward Hoffa with leisurely steps.
"Transfiguration. An invisibility spell that lets you evade damage. I'm curious—do you have enough magic left?"
Hoffa took a step back.
"You can try."
"You don't need to bluff. I know you too well. Your strengths, your weaknesses—I understand them perfectly."
The faceless man shook its head.
"But what about you? How much do you know about me? And how do you intend to defeat an opponent you know absolutely nothing about?"
With that, it raised one hand, fingers pressed together, and aimed at Hoffa.
Phosphor Bullet.
Five tiny fireballs spun out from its palm. Under an immense surge of magic, they were instantly compressed into a blue bead of fire the size of a bullet.
It flicked its hand!
The fire bead shot toward Hoffa like lightning.
The