In the forest, Fleur Delacour dragged her younger sister, Gabrielle Delacour, fleeing without direction.
She had no idea what was going on. All she knew was that a suspicious man had suddenly appeared and raised his wand to attack her.
If not for her bloodline gift, which allowed her to charm others, she would have been taken down the moment they first crossed paths.
Behind them, Daniel chased in frustration.
He had been too careless. He had warned Odyss not to underestimate their opponent, yet he had let his own guard down.
Who would have expected a witch who hadn't even graduated to be capable of charming him? She wasn't even in her fifth year yet, was she? If she could do this now, what would she be like as an adult?
A flicker of envy stirred in him.
As a member of the Raven Organization, he knew very well that within the seemingly "equal" world of wizards, there existed a distinct and extraordinary group.
Bloodline wizards.
They were born with powerful magic, and their blood granted them unique, formidable gifts.
It meant they started far ahead of everyone else. Only true prodigies could stand on equal footing with them.
Take Fleur Delacour, the girl he was chasing. She wasn't even of age, yet she could charm him for more than ten seconds.
Naturally, such an ability would draw covetous eyes.
What Daniel couldn't understand was why the organization had only recently begun hunting bloodline wizards.
As far as he knew, that decision had been made at a council meeting of the Raven Organization, after the Second Senator uncovered a certain prophecy.
What exactly had that prophecy said?
His rank didn't grant him access to that information, but curiosity still gnawed at him. Even while in pursuit, his thoughts drifted.
He didn't notice that along the path he was bound to take, a branch on a nearby tree had begun to change.
A once-soft shoot that had stretched upward toward the sunlight slowly bent sideways, thickening, hardening, sharpening into a spike.
Its tip aligned perfectly with Daniel's neck.
If he continued running in that distracted state, his unprotected throat would slide straight across the sharpened branch.
Just then, Daniel suddenly heard footsteps behind him and instinctively stopped.
At the same moment, the abnormal branch froze and swiftly returned to its original shape.
Frowning, Daniel turned around and quickly spotted two black-robed figures approaching at high speed. When he recognized their faces, he froze.
"Moen? Rayel?"
Like him, Odyss, and Wade, they served under the Third Senator. But unlike the others who handled field operations, these two enjoyed far greater trust from the Senator.
"Charles, Odyss, and Wade are dead," Moen said as they rushed past him. "The Senator is very displeased. We've been ordered to capture the two Delacour girls immediately."
They didn't slow down. The words were all they left behind.
Charles, Odyss, and Wade were dead?
Daniel's expression changed instantly. Things had gone far beyond what he'd anticipated. If the Senator hadn't stepped in, this mission would have been a complete failure.
And with Odyss's personality, if he thought he had the upper hand, he would have blurted out details about the organization without thinking. If the Delacours escaped now, the consequences would be severe.
Fortunately, the Third Senator was here.
Wait. Hadn't the Senator's raven been with Charles earlier?
If the Senator had suddenly appeared… did that mean something had happened to Charles?
But Charles had been guarding the perimeter of the target area. He hadn't been with the target at all. That meant someone else had killed him.
The ravens were one of the Raven Organization's methods of gathering intelligence. Conjured from magic, they could store everything they observed and relay it back to the caster upon returning.
But if a raven died, the stored memories vanished with it. The caster would only sense the raven's death, without knowing how it happened.
Which meant the Third Senator didn't know who had killed Charles.
He had no idea that a third, unknown force was hiding in this forest.
"Wait! Moen! Rayel!"
Daniel tried to call out, but they were already too far ahead.
He clenched his teeth and sprinted after them.
He had to warn them. There was someone else in the forest—and they were dangerous.
He wasn't worried about the Third Senator. With his strength, no one could harm him.
In this world, aside from the universally acknowledged strongest wizard, Dumbledore, and the mysterious First Senator, hardly anyone would dare challenge the Third Senator, Cappadocia, to a duel.
The real danger was to them.
As Daniel ran at full speed to catch up with Moen and Rayel, a branch from a nearby tree suddenly snapped outward.
Its tip was razor-sharp.
Daniel didn't notice. He rushed past it without slowing.
At the instant he passed, the branch's tip gleamed with a metallic sheen.
Pfft.
The sound was so faint it was almost nonexistent.
But Daniel felt a slight sting at his neck, followed by a chilling coolness.
He slowed to a stop, dizziness washing over him. One side of his body felt oddly heavy.
Instinctively, he raised a hand to touch the sore spot.
His fingers came away warm and wet.
What…?
His thoughts were sluggish. He lifted his hand in front of his eyes.
Red.
Bright red.
Only then did he realize—it was his own blood.
Blood sprayed from his neck like a broken fountain, splattering the forest floor.
Panic seized him. He fumbled for the Essence of Dittany he carried, but another wave of dizziness hit, and he dropped to his knees. His hands trembled too violently to even twist the cap open.
"...Help… help…"
He tried to shout, but only a thin rasp escaped.
His brain was already shutting down from lack of blood. The rapid blood loss made it hard to breathe. Black spots swam across his vision.
He was dying.
The wound on his neck wouldn't kill him instantly. There was still time before complete death.
And during that time, he could only lie there helplessly, feeling the warmth drain from his body along with the flowing blood.
In the end, his consciousness faded entirely.
Daniel collapsed into the pool of red beneath him.