Deep underground beneath Gringotts, the four Father Troubleshooters had already split up, each selecting a vault door to breach.
Standing before the vault door of the Fudge family, Kyle held out his hand, causing a sphere of clear water to hover above his open palm.
As magic was injected into it, the clear water instantly turned pitch-black, as though a massive amount of ink had been poured inside.
What Kyle had infused into the water was pure, concentrated curse energy—a trick he had learned from that unknown Dark wizard who had nearly taken his kidney back then.
The black water began to spin frantically in Kyle's palm, gradually expanding and taking the shape of a sharp water spear.
The rotating, layered currents produced a crisp, audible clattering of metal, sounding very much like a metallic drill bit.
"Water Release: Water Dragon Whip!" [Translator's Note: Water Release: Hard Whirlpool Water Blade / Water Release: Water Dragon Whip - Hydro-jutsu technique.]
Kyle raised his hand and slammed the technique straight into the vault door. The frantically spinning water drill at the tip of the spear possessed terrifying destructive force, and paired with the erosion of curse energy, it shattered a huge hole right through the vault door in an instant.
Dispelling the technique in his hand, Kyle stepped through the gap he had just carved out in the door. The moment he set foot inside the vault, the glittering treasures nearly blinded him.
Heaps of gold coins were stacked all the way from the ground to the ceiling, with mountains of vessels crafted from gold and silver, alongside large chests filled with massive, radiant gemstones sparkling in seven colors.
In addition, the treasure vault contained a vast variety of rare materials, ranging from alchemy ingredients to potion ingredients. Due to the sheer quantity, they could only be piled haphazardly in the corners...
Even though the vault in New Nurmengard Castle contained far more treasure than this, Kyle still couldn't help but let out a curse.
One had to keep in mind that the Fudge family was hardly considered a prominent family in the Wizarding World.
If they really were a powerful family, Dumbledore wouldn't have recommended Cornelius for the position of Minister for Magic back then.
Yet, for such an unremarkable small family—and given that Fudge had only been Minister for Magic for roughly three years or so—how on earth was this guy able to rake in so much money?
He had previously heard Mr. Weasley complain that the Ministry of Magic hadn't raised salaries for employees like them in seven or eight years.
However, Kyle remembered that during the purge of Death Eaters back then, those pure-blood families who followed Voldemort had been squeezed for a massive fortune, and every year since, they still had to pay a heavy tribute of Galleons to the Ministry of Magic.
It seemed that the position of Minister for Magic truly was a lucrative job; those tribute funds were likely sitting right here in Fudge's vault.
Facing the mountain of gold before him, Kyle raised his arm.
"Universal Pull!"
Under the force of attraction, all the gold, silver, and treasures instantly transformed into a dazzling river of gems, flowing straight into the spatial storage bag Kyle had prepared in advance.
On the other side, the other three Father Troubleshooters were undergoing roughly the same process.
However, their application of curse energy was nowhere near as proficient as Kyle's.
So when breaking open the doors, they followed their previous drills: first using Fiendfyre to heat the doors to a certain temperature, and then rapidly cooling them down with a Freezing Charm to crack the vault doors open.
Cedric was in charge of the Lestrange family's vault, while George and Fred targeted the Malfoy and Parkinson family vaults respectively.
These four vaults were the top priorities. If time permitted after clearing them out, they would proceed to strike at other family vaults.
The targets selected were basically all former Death Eater families.
Goyle, Crabbe, Rosier, Borgin, Carrow, Yaxley...
On the Father Troubleshooters' counter-revolution list, there were a total of seventeen Death Eater family names. It was safe to predict that after today, at least half of the families on that list would see their assets drastically shrink.
Accompanied by the faint popping sounds of Disapparition, Hit-keyers and Aurors who had rushed over from the Ministry of Magic appeared in the blocks surrounding Charing Cross Road, tightly sealing off both Diagon Alley and Charing Cross Road.
Because Apparition and the Floo Network were both blocked, their people were completely unable to enter Diagon Alley to assess the situation, leaving them with no choice but to teleport into surrounding areas not covered by the Anti-Disapparition Ward.
The current Head of the Auror Office, Rufus Scrimgeour, stood at the very front of the crowd.
He looked like an old lion. Strands of gray were woven into his yellowish-brown hair and bushy eyebrows, and behind his wire-rimmed spectacles were a pair of sharp eyes—one glance was enough to tell he was a tough customer not to be messed with.
Gazing at the Four Violet Flames Formation in the distance, Scrimgeour's expression was extremely grim.
For a barrier spell that usually only appeared in large-scale wizarding wars to show up here meant that the robbers raiding Gringotts were definitely no ordinary foes.
He scanned the assembled Aurors and Hit-keyers, then turned his eyes to the Black wizard beside him.
"Kingsley, I need you to take a team around toward Knockturn Alley and launch an attack from there."
Kingsley Shacklebolt, who was called upon, nodded. After gathering a team, he set off immediately.
Scrimgeour divided his two hundred-plus subordinates into five squads, personally leading the two most elite squads to launch a direct assault on Diagon Alley from the front of the Leaky Cauldron.
The remaining three squads completed the encirclement from the other three directions. Once the battle flared up on his side, they would launch simultaneous assaults.
Just as the Auror unit led by Scrimgeour closed in on the vicinity of the Leaky Cauldron, a torrent of colorful spells shot toward them from all directions.
Although there were only three Saints stationed inside the Leaky Cauldron, their exquisite combat skills and profound magical mastery allowed them to unleash the momentum of thirty people.
With the aid of the mithril alloy anti-explosion shields financed by Grindelwald and meticulously crafted by Weasley Industries, the Saints didn't even need to cast defensive spells; even if a Killing Curse hit the shield, it wouldn't leave so much as a dent.
The Saints only needed to make sure they weren't hit when poking their heads out to counterattack, allowing them to protect themselves with great efficiency.
Despite the Saints' formidable equipment, the Ministry of Magic's overwhelming numbers still forced the well-trained Saints into a tough battle.
A vast number of Aurors were firing spells every single second. The overwhelming barrage slammed onto the mithril alloy shields before them, and even with the Super-Protego Charm engraved on the shields, they were beginning to struggle under the sheer weight of the assault.
Countless ripples washed over the glowing barriers on the surface of the shields.
Yet the Saints were no pushovers either. They seized every possible gap with desperate resolve to fire spells back at the Aurors, with every strike taking down an Auror or a Hit-keyer into unconsciousness.
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