Aurors Attack

While Lester and the other prisoners battled on the Ministry of Magic's second underground level, every other department in the Ministry received notice that Azkaban prisoners had launched an attack.

For a time, every Auror stationed outside the Ministry received orders to return immediately.

At the same time, departments on the Ministry's other floors also received notification of the prisoners' assault. Under the leadership of their highest-ranking officials, every department began constructing defensive fortifications on its floor.

At that moment, all the Pure-blood officials in the Ministry sprang into action with remarkable efficiency. They immediately set up countless defensive barricades on the third underground level, with innumerable wands aimed at the exits of the secure passageways. The moment a prisoner showed their face, they would unleash a fierce attack.

Just as the officials believed the situation was under control and that, once all the Aurors returned, they could join forces and crush the prisoners in a pincer attack, Lester on the second underground level made his move.

"Fire Shield Charm!"

Lester's lips moved slightly as he spoke the incantation.

In an instant, the blue Fiendfyre that had been ravaging the Department of Magical Games and Sports stopped spreading outward. Instead, it changed direction and began relentlessly eating away at the second floor.

Whether it was hardened steel reinforcement or expensive magical materials, only one fate awaited them before Lester's Fiendfyre: being consumed!

Boom!!!

With a thunderous crash, a massive hole was burned through the western side of the Department of Magical Games and Sports' floor.

Amid a cloud of dust, the second floor, eroded by Fiendfyre, collapsed outright.

All the prisoners standing on the second floor fell directly into the third underground level under the cover of the swirling dust.

The third level housed the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes. At this moment, every Ministry official capable of wielding a wand was waiting there in full battle formation for the prisoners' arrival.

Unfortunately, even after racking their brains, they never imagined the prisoners would burn through the floor and descend straight from above!

The instant the second floor collapsed, many officials on the third level were buried beneath the rubble.

At the same time, the prisoners skilled in Dark magic unleashed several Killing Curses at the Pure-blood officials the moment they landed.

"Avada Gnaw-the-Melon!!!"

Through the billowing smoke, countless terrifying green Killing Curses streaked fiercely toward the Pure-blood officials.

Fortunately, the barricades they had built beforehand proved highly effective, blocking many of the Killing Curses.

Of course, a few unlucky souls were still brutally killed by the Killing Curses.

It was not only the ordinary prisoners who struck. The freshly landed Lester swung his wand and summoned a Fiendfyre Serpent into the air, sending it charging through the Pure-blood officials' position.

The Fiendfyre Serpent, dozens of meters tall, was practically the deadliest weapon possible in such a cramped space. With a single sweep of its tail, the scorching Fiendfyre could claim dozens of lives.

[Ding! Fear Points gained from Ministry of Magic officials: +56]

[Ding! Fear Points gained from Ministry of Magic officials: +46]

[Ding! Fear Points gained from Ministry of Magic officials: +73]

[...]

Lester, displaying overwhelming might, immediately gained a substantial amount of Fear Points.

For a time, Lester's Fear Points reached an all-time high—980,000 Fear Points!

Seeing how powerful Lester was, the other prisoners grew even more zealous with their Killing Curses, firing all manner of vicious Dark magic from their wands.

Only Ludo, who stood at the very front of the battlefield in prison clothes like the others, remained rooted to the spot with a wand in hand, utterly at a loss.

If he attacked his colleagues at the Ministry, that was definitely wrong.

But if he turned around and attacked the prisoners who had just trusted him, wouldn't that be sending himself to his death?

Just as Ludo was caught in a painful inner struggle, a green Killing Curse shot from the Ministry's position and flashed past his ear, startling him into a cold sweat.

The green Killing Curse did not strike the dazed Ludo. Instead, it slammed viciously into another prisoner behind him.

The powerful force instantly sent that prisoner flying, and the resulting impact struck several others behind him as well.

"Damn it, those Ministry bastards actually lifted the restrictions on the Unforgivable Curses!" Ludo snapped out of it and immediately darted into the nearby ruins.

Faced with prisoners who kept using Killing Curses, the Ministry officials naturally would not foolishly retaliate with nothing but Disarming Charms.

In fact, under extremely special circumstances, the Ministry would immediately issue an emergency order allowing wizards to freely use the three Unforgivable Curses, including the Killing Curse, for a short period without punishment.

The Pure-blood families controlled the entire Wizarding World not merely through their extensive connections, but through the countless resources possessed by their families.

Although these officials usually lived pampered lives, with the support of vast resources, their magical power still far exceeded that of ordinary people.

Not to mention Lester's prisoners, who had only become Dark wizards halfway through life because they could not find work.

These Pure-blood nobles, with legacies passed down from their ancestors, were the true Dark wizards.

After all, if a family did not have a few trump-card spells hidden away, it would have long since been worn away by the river of history. How could it possibly have survived to pass down its lineage?

"Dark Soul-Eater!"

"Serpensortia!"

"Thunderous Blast!"

All kinds of Dark magic, whether seen or unseen in the original work, shot continuously from the wands of those Pure-blood officials.

With the Ministry officials' counterattack, the scale of the battle immediately expanded severalfold.

In particular, one Pure-blood wizard used Dark Soul-Seizing. He merely glared in the prisoners' direction, and one prisoner immediately staggered into the center of the battlefield as though he had lost his soul.

His fate was easy to imagine. The instant the prisoner whose mind had been controlled entered the heart of the battlefield, terrifying spells tore him to pieces, and blood splattered across the entire hall.

As if that were not enough, the Fiendfyre Serpent that had been relentlessly wreaking havoc among the Pure-bloods under Lester's control let out a mournful cry after being struck by countless Killing Curses, then exploded right in the middle of their ranks.

The scattered Fiendfyre splashed rapidly in every direction, claiming several more Pure-blood wizards' lives.

[Ding! Fear Points gained from Ministry of Magic officials: +56]

[Ding! Fear Points gained from Ministry of Magic officials: +46]

[Ding! Fear Points gained from Ministry of Magic officials: +73]

[...]

Unfortunately, this attack only claimed the lives of a few Pure-bloods and was utterly insignificant to the overall battle.

At the same time, orderly footsteps continued to echo down from upstairs!