Philk Elios

Seeing this, Nightingale immediately raised a vast mist of ice to slow the monsters, then decisively used the Banishing Charm to force Sagreles back, trying to move him away from the battlefield.

"Don't mind me. Kill him!"

Sagreles endured the pain and gave the order, then cast Mechanical Mind on himself.

Blue radiance swept over him. The pain in his body didn't lessen in the slightest, but the sanity eroded by agony returned to him once more.

"Frenzied Explosion!"

Sagreles turned and fired an Explosion Curse. The terrifying blast scattered the horde, but some of the curse-corrupted monsters had already closed in on them. The situation was far from optimistic.

In the shadows, Elios was startled by Sagreles's astonishing destructive power. Realizing things seemed to be getting out of control, he immediately decided to slip away.

Sagreles noticed his intention at once. He blew the monster before him into fragments with a Shattering Curse, then immediately pointed his wand at the old man from afar.

Pale flames ignited at the tip of his wand, and a pure white Patronus wreathed in roaring fire shot toward Elios.

The flames burned through every monster in their path, clearing a clean passage between Sagreles and Elios.

"Summon Dispel!"

Elios hastily released a jet-black spell to block the Patronus.

"Dispel."

"Dispel."

It took the old man several Banishing Charms in succession to completely disperse Sagreles's Patronus.

He panted wildly, then hardened his heart and fired a red spell at the monsters.

"Flesh Withering!"

As the hoarse voice fell silent, every monster suddenly accelerated. The black veins across their bodies bulged one after another, then burst in succession, splashing cursed poisonous blood everywhere.

The situation grew increasingly dire. Sagreles blasted several approaching monsters away with Impedimenta, then followed with a Cutting Curse that shredded them into pieces midair.

"Holy Light Exorcism!"

Pure white blades of light shot from his wand. The cursed monsters ahead of him collapsed into scattered bones the instant the blades struck them.

At that moment, Nightingale rapidly closed in on Elios as well, but several dog-like monsters lunged at her from the side.

"Quicksand Trap!"

The dog-like monsters were immediately dragged into a whirlpool of quicksand and buried.

"Swamp Abyss!"

A long stretch of swamp appeared between the monsters and Sagreles, halting their frenzied advance.

At last, Sagreles was finally free to act.

"Nether Fiendfyre!"

Elios tried to seize the chance to slip away again, but Nightingale had already approached him from the side.

A frigid ripple condensed in the air, and ice spikes shot forth. The old man fled in disarray, casting an Acceleration Charm in his panic and barely avoiding the fierce attack.

Cold sweat ran down Elios's smooth scalp. Furious and flustered, he turned and fired another Killing Curse at Nightingale, then prepared to Apparate away without even looking back.

Nightingale controlled the ice spikes to block the green light of the Killing Curse, then sent the old man flying with a precise Impedimenta.

Elios wanted to risk being splinched and Apparate in midair, but before he could cast the spell, he was struck by Nightingale's magic once again.

"Expelliarmus!" Red light struck his chest, and the wand in his hand flew free.

"Silencio!" Old Elios smashed through a wooden rack in the corner and fell to the ground, yet he couldn't even let out a muffled groan.

"Incarcerous!" Magical ropes appeared out of thin air and bound him tightly.

"Immobulus!" The Freezing Charm extinguished his last sliver of hope.

A series of instant spells completely restrained Elios. Nightingale then used the Summoning Charm to lift him from the rubble.

After removing the old man's silencing magic, Nightingale pointed her ebony wand at Elios's throat and threatened coldly, "Make them stop!"

"Haha, this curse has no countercurse..."

"Make them stop!"

"Kill me, you stupid woman..."

"Cruciatus Curse!"

"Ha! Philk Elios will never submit to you! Kill me, with that rotten stick of yours! Kill me... now!"

"Cruciatus Curse!"

"Stop, Nightingale." Sagreles's voice brought Nightingale back to her senses.

When she turned around, she realized Sagreles had already dealt with every monster and was now walking toward them over severed limbs and broken arms.

Pale fire crows danced through the air, reducing all bloody remains in their path to drifting ashes.

Sagreles walked up to old Elios and lightly touched the old man's gaunt chest with his wand.

He had now fully mastered the use of Mechanical Mind. Altering a living being's emotional fluctuations was as simple as controlling a machine. It was a more intricate emotional magic than the Cruciatus Curse, capable of selectively stirring all sorts of emotions buried deep within one's heart.

Old Elios still didn't understand what was happening, but an extreme rage suddenly rose in his heart. Bluish-gray veins throbbed ceaselessly at his temples. Then he lost his mind and cursed loudly, "You parasites, you bandits, get out of my domain... You failures who aren't even worthy of using hawthorn wood, you want to steal my wand? Ha! Don't even think about it. It's fused into my flesh and blood. Any user besides me will suffer a backlash and spit their organs out through their nostrils..."

"Did that idiot Gregorovitch send you? Did he? Isn't he always hiding in his workshop, thinking all day about how to surpass Garrick Ollivander? What, to achieve his goal, has that swine who uses the Elder Wand as a gimmick started coveting my research as well?"

Sagreles tapped Elios's body with his wand again. Instantly, an indescribable sorrow engulfed the old man, and he immediately let out a mournful wail.

Sagreles continued casting, and Elios fell into wild ecstasy next. His unrestrained laughter instantly echoed throughout the ruins.

Finally, Sagreles lightly touched his skull with the tip of his wand, and absolute calm took over every one of the old man's thoughts.

Suppressing the pain in his arm, Sagreles spoke in an icy voice. "We followed the prophecy in search of the wand, while you're merely an outsider with a slight connection to it. We have no interest whatsoever in your skill or research. It was your own greed that brought this disaster upon you..."

He looked at the old man, who seemed like an empty shell, and pronounced coldly, "You shouldn't have taken what wasn't yours, nor should you have used dark magic to attack Villis."

As his words fell, an Unforgivable Curse was instantly released. Old Elios was immediately controlled by the Imperius Curse. His trembling fingers slowly reached toward the black curse on Sagreles's right hand, then peeled it away bit by bit and transferred it onto himself.

Only after the curse had been completely removed did Sagreles end the Imperius Curse. Then he held out his hand to the old man. "Return the sea monster's heart."