In Helga's view, a puppet like this, paired with that set of Godric's armour, was enough to crush every professor at Hogwarts except them and Dumbledore.
There was a hollow at the puppet's neck. This was a space Helga had deliberately left open, intended to store the "good stuff" Rhys would be bringing later.
Such a powerful combat puppet, however, seemed somewhat inadequate when facing their students, because it lacked a domain.
What Rhys needed to do was make up for this shortcoming, and at the same time add a bit of killing intent to it. As for the materials required for all of this, they would naturally have to be sponsored by the Esoteric Order.
"Since it has to be done sooner or later, I'll go today," Rhys felt that putting it off until the last moment would still mean he had to do it himself. It was better to get it done early and let Helga arrange the follow-up steps.
"Good." Helga had called Salazar over today precisely for this matter. Seeing him finally agree, she was overjoyed.
She and Salazar had long discussed this. The Secret Order definitely had the ability to detect exposed divine remains. All they needed to do was lie in wait, deliberately activate a seal burying divine remains, and use that to lure the Order's Mages.
And the Mages who took the bait would become the materials they used to strengthen the puppet.
"Then when?"
"After the final exams. I'll have Jamison lure Dumbledore away. It will be just the right time to talk to him about the Triwizard Tournament."
This trial might cause quite a bit of commotion, so Dumbledore had to be sent away. If Daphne and the others were in the middle of an intense battle and Dumbledore suddenly appeared and instantly destroyed the trial puppet, that would be a very awkward scene.
Helga nodded.
"I'll leave these arrangements to you."
Rhys did not waste any more words and walked straight out of the office.
This time, he did not return to the common room. Instead, he left the school and headed north, eventually arriving in Finland before midnight.
"After all this time, it really is a bit hard to find." Night had long since fallen, and the Finnish countryside lay in complete darkness. After some effort, Rhys finally located a small hill where the remains of the gods had been buried years ago.
A spell streaked across the night sky, and the hill immediately began to tremble. Earth and stone collapsed, eventually revealing a stone slab.
Carved into the slab were four animals: a lion, a snake, a raven, and a badger.
Rhys reached out and poked the snake-shaped relief. The serpent carving stirred, wriggled, and vanished into the soil.
As the snake carving disappeared, the other three animal reliefs also faded away one after another.
With a casual knock from Rhys, the stone slab shattered into fragments, revealing a deep, shadowy opening. A thick stench of blood surged out, shooting straight into the sky.
As the opening was exposed, a rustling sound echoed from deep within the cave. A dozen seconds later, a mass of blood-red insects crawled out of the opening.
These insects had originally lived within the cave. After being corroded by the blood of the divine remains, they had undergone mutations. Each was dozens of times larger than an ordinary insect, their entire bodies a vivid crimson.
Rhys had no intention of dealing with these insects, because they were, in fact, already dead. What sustained their movement was nothing more than the resentful aura leaking from the divine remains.
Driven by that resentment, the insects would move as far away from the cave as possible. Once the resentful aura dissipated, they would vanish into ash along with it.
What would truly require some effort to deal with was the big thing that was about to come out next.
As the insects gradually disappeared, a strange scraping sound echoed from within the cave.
Rhys did not wait for it to emerge before firing several attack spells into the cave in rapid succession. The interior instantly fell silent.
"Couldn't you just lie honestly in the mud and rot…" Rhys clicked his tongue, feeling somewhat displeased.
The remains left behind by those pseudo-gods he had slain back then still had not fully dissipated their resentment even after a thousand years.
Even though most of their divinity had faded and their bodies had already decayed, they still stirred the moment the seal was opened, attempting to leave the seal to seek out their old enemies for revenge.
Unfortunately, even if he did nothing at all, by the time the sun rose tomorrow morning, these remains would collapse on their own—unless they obtained a supply of fresh flesh and blood.
After finishing this, Rhys simply found a rock to sit on, casually cast several concealment spells on himself, and quietly waited for the Mages of the Secret Order to arrive.
Rhys did not have to wait long.
As a faint fish-belly white appeared on the horizon, accompanied by three loud booms, three hooded figures in long robes appeared atop the hill.
Moving in haste, the three did not notice Rhys at all, seated to the side and hidden from sight.
"This should be the place."
"Be careful. The divine remains inside may not have completely lost their activity yet."
"Honestly, the organization already has more than enough divine remains. Why do we still have to run all the way out here to recover more? This is basically doing free labour for the Finnish Ministry of Magic…"
The three complained as they slowly approached the cave entrance.
The closer they got to the cave entrance, the more solemn the expressions on the three became.
The Secret Order had handled no small number of divine remains, and the variety of unexpected situations they had encountered was enough to fill an entire book. They could not afford to be careless.
"Thrilling… my blood is boiling…"
"Yeah, I can feel my heart racing too. This is my first time recovering such divine remains."
"?!"
The leader of the trio's expression changed drastically. A layer of sand and grit instantly surfaced over his body, but it was already too late.
"Do people from the Order really like moving in groups of three that much?" Rhys's voice sounded from behind him.
The leader immediately rushed into the cave. Possessing a sand-and-earth domain, his instincts drove him toward places with thicker layers of soil.
It was the correct choice. The sand and earth did indeed save his life, suppressing the violently surging blood within his body. But his two companions were not so lucky.
They froze where they stood as large and small bulges began to swell across their skin, as if water were coming to a rolling boil.
Pop. Pop.
Accompanied by two explosive sounds, two masses of red liquid burst out from their bodies. The two Secret Order Mages who had not awakened domains were instantly reduced to shrivelled, mummy-like corpses.
Heh~ Blood, too, is a liquid.
"So it's a domain-level powerhouse…" The Esoteric Order Mage deep within the cave had already grasped what was happening outside. After seeing Rhys's actions, he immediately realized that the one targeting him was a powerful figure who possessed a divine domain.
He had no desire to clash with such a person. His future was bright, and he had no intention of risking his life.
What he did not know was that, in Rhys's understanding, fools had no right to bargain in front of the strong.
Rhys tilted his head, glanced into the deep, shadowy cave, and spoke. "Alright. Leave the divine remains you're carrying behind as payment to me, and you can go."
Mage: …
Leave the divine remains behind?! That was asking him to die!
Having accepted reality, he decided to fight it out. But at that very moment, a surging torrent of water poured violently into the cave. Like a collapsing mountain and overturning sea, it slammed into him, instantly washing him into unconsciousness.
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12 Chaps ahead at Patreon.com/HornyFBI