Since there was no escape, she had to fight.
It wasn't like she had no strength to fight back!
Facing Bode Gray's provocation, Hydrus took a deep breath, answering with a gout of dragon's breath.
A full-powered, unrestrained blast dyed the sky red.
The dragon's breath, at an extremely high temperature, had a core of mixed blue and orange-red flames. The air instantly warped from the intense heat.
But Bode's face kept its scornful smile.
He twitched his wand, and an ice wall appeared, completely blocking the dragon's breath.
"Zzt!"
He appeared behind Hydrus. With a series of wand waves, orange-red magical energy surged forward like machine-gun fire.
The ice wall hadn't yet been broken by the dragon's breath. Hydrus hadn't expected this surprise attack and was immediately hit by the magical bullets.
"Bang, bang, bang..."
This wave of attacks from Bode used no incantations at all.
He was purely firing raw magic. Unless a wizard had absolute confidence in themselves, no one would do this to a dragon.
Because if the magical intensity wasn't enough, not only would it fail to harm the dragon, it would enrage it.
But clearly, Bode's strength not only exceeded Hydrus's imagination but was also enough for him to act as he pleased.
Every hit of his magical barrage pierced Hydrus's dragon scales, sending blood flying.
Of course, Bode could have taken Hydrus out with a single Avada during the sneak attack, but he wanted to torture her thoroughly before she died.
He blamed all the Gray family's recent misfortunes on Hydrus. In his own mind, this felt a bit like misplacing blame, lacking grace, but in reality, Hydrus was not innocent.
Hydrus gritted her teeth. After weathering the first wave, she started taking evasive maneuvers in the air, trying her best to dodge.
But Bode only needed to flick his wrist to cast magic, while she needed to make huge movements to evade.
Sure enough, it wasn't long before she couldn't keep up.
Her movements became slower, and her body was covered in wounds. Blood stained half her torso.
Tattered and torn.
"Is that all you've got?"
Bode gracefully twirled his wand. Seizing an opportunity, a thick stream of magic struck the girl.
"The evil dragon Hydrus. A big name, but sadly, too weak."
The girl seemed exhausted, unable to even maintain her dragon transformation. She plummeted toward the ground.
A gleeful smile spread across Bode's face. This stumbling block hindering the rise of the Gray family was finally being kicked aside!
"Avada..."
The falling Hydrus suddenly opened her eyes. She felt that even if she quit singing, she could have a career in acting.
Her acting skills seemed pretty good. She had successfully fooled Bode, buying time to switch her constitution.
"Kedavra!"
"Zzt!"
The green beam of light tore through the sky, but Hydrus was no longer there.
Bode froze. She got away?
No matter. With his magical skill, tracking the girl's Apparition was as easy as pie!
'Let me just analyze the magical echo left by her Apparition.'
But the next moment, he faintly heard the "whoosh" of wind above him!
He snapped his head up, only to see Hydrus descending from the sky, landing right in front of him! She hadn't chosen to flee but to wait for a chance to counter-attack!
'What nerve!'
"Take this, old man!"
A heavy punch landed on Bode's face.
Half of his old teeth shattered and flew out from the impact.
At the same time, the eye socket on the struck half of his face split open, the cheek a bloody mess, revealing white bone beneath.
Hydrus's two and a half years of hard MMA training in her past life had finally borne fruit!
"Ah!!!!"
Bode felt a wave of dizziness and began to fall.
Hydrus panted, switching back to her dragon constitution.
Bode had made the mistake of underestimating his enemy and paid dearly.
She wouldn't make the same mistake, having learned from his example.
'Kick him while he's down!'
Hydrus accelerated, diving toward Bode.
She took a deep breath, dragon's fire brewing in her throat. She was ready to show Bode exactly how the "evil dragon Hydrus" earned her name!
However, Bode's willpower was extremely strong. He was disoriented for less than a second before he recovered.
Catching sight of Hydrus rushing him from the corner of his eye, Bode, now furious and humiliated, gripped his wand with both hands and slashed viciously at the air.
Directly above Hydrus, lightning crackled in the empty air.
"Boom!"
A bolt of incredibly fast lightning struck down, hitting her before she could unleash her dragon's breath.
'Huh?'
'What magic is this?'
That was Hydrus's last thought.
Then, she coughed out a puff of black smoke, her eyes rolled back, and she lost consciousness completely.
She free-felled. Bode quickly followed, wanting to personally put an end to the Lestrange family line!
But he couldn't help but marvel inwardly. How could this little girl's physical endurance be so absurd?
A normal wizard struck by that lightning would have been reduced to ashes, yet Hydrus was merely knocked out.
This was Ancient Magic, after all!!
"Avada—"
Bode Gray probably hadn't checked his almanac before leaving today.
'Inauspicious day for Avada.' This time, the Avada was destined to miss.
A giant phoenix of fire appeared from thin air and flew toward him.
Bode's expression changed drastically, his heart shaking with shock.
Not for any reason other than the fact that this fiery phoenix was blue, like the blue flame of a gas stove.
As an old man who had followed the Elder Lestrange from continental Europe to Britain, how could he not recognize this magic?? All of Paris had nearly been incinerated by this magic back in the day!
Although the scale of this fire phoenix was far smaller than the giant dragon in Paris, it was not something his current self could withstand.
'Damn it, the research hasn't progressed, and the two books are still missing!'
'What an unlucky year!'
Bode did not stop casting the killing curse. How could he possibly watch Hydrus leave alive right in front of him?
This little thing was already so powerful at such a young age. What would happen if she were allowed to grow up?
Letting her continue to grow was nurturing a tiger that would come back to bite him!
"Kedavra!"
Green light shot from his wand tip toward the falling Hydrus.
But another beam of green light flew from another direction, colliding precisely with Bode's curse and causing a sizable explosion.
'What a pity...'
Bode shook his head in regret and Disapparated, his escape crisp and decisive.
'Tsk, why would that person be involved with this little girl? What bad luck!'
He immediately cast a healing charm on his left cheek, but the spell didn't seem to work.
'Damn it, why is that brat's punch like dark magic? The healing charm can't even restore the wound?'
Half of his face was already numb with pain. 'This is terrible, I'm going to be disfigured!'
...
...
In a daze, Hydrus seemed to hear two people talking.
One old, one young.
The young man said: "Grand-uncle, she's badly hurt. Will she make it?"
The old man said: "Her future is clear. She absolutely will not die here. Come, lend me a hand."
"Yes, Grand-uncle." The young man waved his wand, seemingly moving something extremely heavy. His voice strained, "Can she really bring about the future we want?"
The old man laughed, "This time, I see it more clearly than ever before, child."
"Alright," the young man clapped his hands. "I hope my efforts won't be in vain."
"Of course not. Because this time, he is also on our side."
"Indeed," the young man sighed. "It's quite incredible that he would agree to your plan."
"What's so incredible about it?" The old man poured a potion into Hydrus's mouth. A bitter, foul-smelling liquid slid down her throat, making Hydrus frown. The old man spoke as he administered the potion.
"He is the one who most wishes for the wizarding world to be better. As long as the goal can be achieved 'without harm,' he will not refuse."
The young man began to cast non-verbal spells. Several healing charms hit Hydrus. After a moment, he said, "Ah, she's about to wake up..."
Hydrus's eyes fluttered open to a blurry world.
The old man said, "It's not convenient for me to appear right now. It's all up to you."
"Understood, Grand-uncle." The young man leaned close to Hydrus. "I'll take good care of this naughty kitten, make sure she doesn't get hurt by her own claws."
Hydrus's whole body ached, and she couldn't help but groan. Her vision gradually cleared, and she saw a rather handsome face. A pair of bright, sparkling eyes filled her entire view.
'I seem to have seen those eyes somewhere before. So familiar...'
"You can't wake up now, Your Highness," the young man with the sparkling eyes teased. "It would be very troublesome for me if you woke up at this moment."
"Stupefy!"
Hydrus's eyelids closed again. The last words she heard were:
"Although this is a hero saving the damsel, please don't fall in love with me, Your Highness."
"I'm no prince."
"Besides, even if I were a prince, you're a little too young to be my princess."
'What the hell!'
'What era is this... still with the prince and princess talk...'
Her body felt warm. Hydrus fell completely asleep.
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+50 chapters) patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]