"Let's go." Draco deactivated his shield, bent down first, and nimbly slipped through the newly opened hole.
Hermione and Professor Babbling followed closely behind.
Stepping over the scattered rubble, we entered the newly opened passage. The deeper we went, the more numerous the Goblin armies blocked our way.
Goblin of goblins brandished scimitars, hurled fireballs, and roared as they tried to stop their advance.
But these enemies were utterly no match for Draco, who wielded an ancient wand and whose body was imbued with ancient magic.
Draco didn't even aim deliberately; he simply waved his wand casually, each stroke of the tip creating a flash of azure magical light or a wide-ranging energy ripple.
The Goblin warriors fell like felled wheat; their armor, shields, and mounts were all laughably fragile before the Ancient Magic empowered by the " Watcher."
He strolled forward leisurely.
Occasionally, he would deliberately leave a few survivors for Hermione and the professor to practice on, in order to keep them in combat condition.
" Draco, hurry up!" Professor Babbling urged gravely after dealing with yet another Goblin.
"The fact that the Goblin are blocking our way here means that Ranrok's people are likely already ahead of us!"
We have to get that thing before he does!
Draco's eyes narrowed, and he no longer held back.
He suddenly swung his wand forward, and a fan-shaped, azure shockwave swept through the passageway like a tidal wave, clearing out dozens of Goblin along with their shelter.
"Get on the broom!" Draco said, Hermione immediately jumped on his back, Professor Babbling also mounted her broom.
The three of them stopped bothering the scattered Goblin along the way, mounted their brooms, and flew at high speed close to the ground in the relatively wide passageway.
The speed suddenly increased!
Occasionally, Goblin would launch flying axes, arrows, or even some rudimentary magical attacks from the shadows, but the three of them skillfully wielded their brooms to dodge them or deflected them with simple Shield Charm.
They have only one goal --
That is to reach the deepest point as quickly as possible.
After flying over a bottomless cliff, the view suddenly opened up, and a magnificent stone gate appeared before us.
Two enormous rune warriors stood silently before the gate.
They wielded giant swords taller than a person, and their bodies were covered with flowing blue runes.
These two guardians were enormous, several times larger than the last rune warrior in Gringotts.
When Draco and his two companions' brooms landed on the platform in front of the door,
"Buzz--"
A low, rumbling sound rang out.
The two long-dormant warriors seemed to have their souls awakened, and the runes in their eyes suddenly lit up.
They started walking, step by step, towards the three of them.
With each step, the ground trembled violently, emitting a dull rumble, as if an earthquake had struck.
Judging from their actions, they do not seem to have any intention of launching an immediate attack; they appear to be on patrol.
But who could remain calm when faced with such a colossal creature that could crush a person into mincemeat with a single step?
Draco's eyes narrowed, and he instantly raised " Watcher," energy gathering at the tip of the staff, preparing to strike first with the strongest Ancient Magic shockwave to bombard one of them.
"Wait! Draco, don't attack!" Hermione quickly stopped him, her eyes fixed on the changing runes on the two warriors. "They don't seem to be going to attack us!"
Draco suppressed his instinct to immediately unleash a spell.
In the one or two seconds that Draco hesitated, the two enormous rune warrior colossi had already arrived at a distance of less than ten yards from them with earth-shaking steps.
A massive shadow completely enveloped the three of them; looking up, they could barely see the top of the colossus's head.
At that moment, Draco's ancient wand suddenly emitted a soft yet bright blue light, which resonated strongly with the blue light flowing around the rune warrior.
They turned around in unison, their backs to the three of them.
Then, to the astonishment and disbelief of the three, they raised the enormous runic greatswords in their hands high and plunged them into a specific spot on the platform beneath their feet!
Thump!
With a deafening roar, blue light waves erupted from beneath their swords, rapidly extending along the trenches in the ground, like a blue river flowing straight towards the tightly closed gate behind them.
As blue light poured in, the long-sealed door began to turn with the sound of gears turning, slowly opening to both sides to reveal a deep and mysterious space inside.
"Thanks to you, Hermione." Professor Babbling breathed a sigh of relief, looking at the girl beside her with eyes full of approval.
"If you hadn't stopped us in time, we might have triggered the defense mechanism and might never have been able to open this door. Your keen observation saved everyone."
Hermione was a little embarrassed by the praise, but her eyes also shone with the excitement of solving a puzzle. "I just... felt that the trial wasn't designed to be a pointless killing spree."
Behind the door, a forgotten underground divine realm unfolds.
The giant wooden skeleton grew out of the rock wall, its dark brown branches intertwining and arching like the exposed ribs of a giant beast.
The tree trunk was covered with dark green ivy, and the drooping vines were intertwined with long-lost gilded pipes.
Countless spiraling metal pendants were suspended in mid-air by thin chains, swaying gently in the wind, while the ground was covered with gravel and decaying leaves.
At the edge of the field of vision, suspended in the center of the high platform, lies the container of memories that holds countless emotions.
"Great! We've gotten here first!"
Looking around, Professor Babbling confirmed that there were no other living beings besides them, and her tense nerves finally relaxed.
"Don't be careless, go check it out," Draco said.
The three quickened their pace and headed towards the platform.
Suddenly, without warning, a blinding red light exploded behind them, and a violent energy shockwave, carrying an aura of destruction, roared towards them, heading straight for their backs.
" Protego Maxima!" Draco didn't even turn his head fully, but simply tossed " Watcher " back and shouted.
A pale gold magic shield, with Ancient Runes magical runes flowing across its surface, solidified in the path of the incoming shockwave!
"Boom!"
The dark red shockwave slammed into the golden light shield.
The collision sparked a flurry of sparks and shockwaves, but against that impenetrable defense, it ultimately failed to gain an inch, only causing the hems of the three men's robes and hair to flutter backward.
As the embers of the shockwave dissipated, a short figure clad in Mithril armor slowly emerged from behind the door.
Ranrok is here!
Its right gauntlet, from which it had just launched the shockwave, was still emitting wisps of dark red smoke.
"Heh heh heh... Thank you," Ranrok's laughter was full of sarcasm, "I was just worried about not finding a way to open this door, you've saved me a lot of trouble."