The tide of battle shifted in the blink of an eye.
Faced with such an unnervingly illogical and terrifying scene, the British Aurors—displaying their vast wealth of experience in such matters—promptly surrendered.
The sight gave Andre a momentary hallucination that a white flag of surrender was already fluttering over their heads.
Meanwhile, his own companion, Laura, had been swallowed by the dolls amidst her frantic roars. Half of her body dangled outside a plush torso, her face ash-gray and her limbs frozen.
Fire, explosions, freezing charms.
No spell seemed to have any effect!
Even when their outer shells were blasted open, the squirming, pitch-black tentacles within would instantly surge forward to fill the gap. It was as if living biology had fused with inorganic matter, making their appearance even more grotesque and horrifying.
Dammit! This entire space is nothing but a giant carnivorous plant!
The moment they stepped inside, they had lost any chance of resistance.
It was just like an Anti-Apparition ward; from the second they decided this office was their target, they were doomed.
Andre grit his teeth. It was only now that he realized the excessively "cute" door was entirely out of place with its surroundings. Every inch of that wood radiated an aura of eerie wrongness.
"Stop struggling," one of the British Aurors said, watching Andre with a smirk of schadenfreude. He let out a dry chuckle. "Ethan hasn't even lifted a finger yet, and you're already buckling under the pressure."
"Don't waste time. Just surrender as early as possible, my mighty [Sir Auror]."
He placed a heavy, mocking emphasis on the final words. The sarcasm was palpable.
"...Shut up."
A vein throbbed on Andre's forehead. He was drenched in sweat, his eyes darting frantically around the room, searching for a way to break the deadlock. As a battle-hardened veteran, he refused to lose to a mere brat!
It was then that Andre's eyes locked onto a figure huddled in the corner—Miss Connie Rosier.
She was the only British Auror who actually possessed a modicum of competence.
Instantly, a spark of hope ignited in Andre's eyes!
He stared fixedly at Rosier. Using the swarming dolls as cover, he quickly used a silent charm to manifest a line of glowing text in mid-air:
[I'll cover you!] [Quickly, use the ultimate weapon on Ethan!]
That powerful artifact, developed by the British Ministry of Magic's Department of Mysteries, was capable of instantly suppressing any living creature. It was currently being carried by this descendant of the Acolytes!
...Hmph, he had originally intended to keep it for himself and bring it back to Germany for research. But now, he couldn't afford to be picky.
Receiving Andre's signal, Connie blinked. She straightened her posture, nimbly dodging the dolls as she began to move, closing the distance toward Ethan.
Wait... she's not injured? Then why wasn't she moving earlier?
The doubt flashed through Andre's mind for a split second before his attention was entirely consumed by an attacking doll.
"Ba-ba-ba-bad boy! Immediate purification required!"
"Purify your mother!" Andre spat.
He swung his wand, severing the doll's arm with a sharp crack. Ducking low to avoid a lunging "hug," he rolled into the ruins of a collapsed sofa.
"How exciting. Oh, thank you."
One of the surrendered British Aurors sighed with appreciation, politely nodding to a doll that had just handed him a cup of tea. He turned to his colleague and whispered:
"I'll bet five Galleons he doesn't last three minutes."
"I'm in. I'll bet he lasts more than three."
"Hey! Don't give Ethan the eye! You're ruining the stakes!"
Hearing their conversation, Andre nearly coughed up a lungful of blood from sheer rage.
Were these British wizards all brain-dead?! Dammit, how dare they look down on him!
Andre's features twisted, his teeth grinding so hard they threatened to shatter. He watched Connie, who was now almost within arm's reach of Ethan. A cruel, triumphant glint flickered in his eyes.
Hmph, just you wait!
Once he successfully took Ethan down, these fools could pack their bags and crawl home. And then, he'd report them all for conspiring with the enemy...
The mere thought of that glorious future made Andre's heart swell with anticipation.
Suddenly, a raspy, choked voice drifted from his side:
"Don't... mole..."
"Hmm?" Andre turned his head and met the bloodshot eyes of his companion, Laura.
"Don't trust... Rosier is... a mole...!"
The words landed like a sledgehammer. Andre's head spun, his eyes widening in absolute shock.
A mole? That descendant of the Acolytes was a mole?
Impossible! Absolutely impossible!!!
He whipped his head around just in time to see Rosier reach Ethan's side. She reached into her robes and pulled out the "ultimate weapon," which thrummed with a dense, potent magical aura.
Yes! That's it! Activate it! Just a drop of magic and—
"I offer this to you, Great [Mr. Lamp]."
Connie Rosier dropped to one knee. Holding the ultimate weapon in both hands, she presented it to Ethan with an air of profound piety.
Her face, which usually lacked any expression, was now radiant with an eerie, fanatical light. She looked up at Ethan with total devotion—a look that reminded Andre of a zealot praying in a cathedral.
"Pfft!"
A British Auror spat out his tea. With liquid dripping from his chin and his teacup still raised, he stared blankly at his defecting captain.
After a long silence, he muttered, "Is 'Obliviate' covered under worker's comp? I need to put this in my logbook."
...Connie Rosier, the Auror Captain who had been leading them from the very start.
She was a member of the Enlightenment Society.
She was a follower of [Mr. Lamp]—Ethan's most loyal believer.
Snap.
Andre heard the sound of his own sanity fracturing.
This entire operation had been a joke from start to finish. He had been playing the part of a jumping clown the entire time. He thought he was the one pulling the strings, but in reality, he had been tangled in a web long ago.
He was entirely at the mercy of this terrifying young man.
"Hurensohn!!!"
Bang!
A doll disarmed him with an elbow strike to his wrist. Amidst Andre's string of furious German curses, another doll quickly gagged him.
Even so, he continued to let out muffled "mmmph-mmmph" roars of rage. The veins on his neck bulged, his eyes were bloodshot, and his face turned a deep shade of purple. It made one worry his blood vessels might actually burst.
"Such a temper. Is your liver fire burning a bit too hot today?" Ethan asked with mock concern.
He received an even more "passionate" muffled reply.
Ethan turned away, ignoring him, and looked down at the Auror lady still kneeling before him. He curled his lips into a smile and reached out to lightly pat her head.
"Well done."
Connie's breathing grew visibly shallow, a faint flush creeping onto her cheeks. Suppressing her excitement, she said respectfully:
"This is a magical artifact developed by the Department of Mysteries, based on your previous actions within the Veil. It rightfully belongs to you, so I have brought it to you, esteemed [Mr. Lamp]."
Ethan nodded, accepting the artifact without ceremony.
It was conical in shape, resembling a palm-sized pyramid. It appeared to be made of translucent, jagged ice, shimmering with a ghostly blue light. Upon touching it, Ethan felt a piercing, terrifying chill—a sensation very similar to the deathly aura he had felt inside the Veil.
[You have obtained an Extraordinary Item: The Frozen Prison]
[A single-use magical item. It can seal a target within ice; the target's time will be frozen at the exact moment of entrapment until the artifact's magic is exhausted.]
[Derived from the power within the Veil. As long as the target falls within the category of a "living organism," it will take effect.]
["Flash-frozen for freshness; the premier choice for preserving ingredients."]
...The flavor text was as full of twisted humor as always.
Ethan gave it a mental thumbs-up. This was indeed a powerful artifact, easily reaching a "Tier 4" grade.
"A pity it can't be used on Death (non-living entities). If only the Grim Reaper could be defeated that easily," Ethan shrugged, satisfied as he tucked the powerful tool into his pocket.
What? You say he already gained plenty from the Veil? Why take the researchers' hard work too?
This, that—aren't they all mine anyway?
Ethan lifted the birdcage, locking eyes with the little snake inside, who looked utterly soul-crushed.
He curled his lips and smiled. "Don't be afraid, student Naga. Your kind and open-minded Headmaster won't hold your little prank against you."
"We're just going to perform a tiny craniotomy. To find a certain hidden treasure."
He would enter her soul and find the other half of Death's remains!
Naga: ?
...Is it too late to pretend I'm just a pile of green dung?
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