#443 - Departure
"……It's time to move."
The long-awaited signal finally came from afar. The man who was called "devil" decades ago, along with the core members of the Wizengamot, would be held at that manor, unable to suddenly return using apparition.
Oh... right... it should be called Apparition.
The man with high cheekbones corrected himself in his mind, a somewhat smug smile on his lips.
He put down the phone, nodded to the person next to him, and the young man slammed down on the red button.
A mechanical female voice sounded: "Launch sequence initiated, 3, 2, 1, 0!"
A black shell, dragging a fiery tail, pierced through the air and flew out, leaving a trail of white smoke behind.
It flew into the air, its previously unstoppable speed abruptly slowing down, as if hindered by some invisible force.
The next second, the ammunition exploded with a bang, and an invisible wave spread out violently!
The instrument in the young man's hand was the first to respond - the display screen, which had been flashing, suddenly went dark, and the indicator lights next to it all turned black. He typed on the keyboard twice, but nothing changed.
The man 'tsk'ed' and threw the discarded instrument aside, looking up into the distance.
Gusts of wind, carrying snowflakes, crashed head-on, almost blinding him. The high-cheekboned man shielded his face with his hand, squinting, and saw a wonderful sight through his fingers—
The invisible air seemed like shattered glass, with spiderweb-like cracks spreading from top to bottom, refracting tiny, outward-radiating light, like trees growing upside down.
At some point, the spiderweb suddenly shattered and disappeared, turning into tiny sparkles, like ice crystals in the air refracting the morning sun after a snowfall.
In the starlight, a huge castle seemed to appear out of thin air, like a giant beast growing out of the rocks.
The dark gray exterior walls gleamed with a metallic cold light, and the spire of the main castle seemed to be at least a hundred feet high. The surrounding moat was also thirty or forty feet wide, and the surface of the water was already covered with thick ice. The oak drawbridge was connected by iron chains as thick as arms.
Everyone's breath caught.
Such a large and majestic building would still inspire awe even in modern society, let alone in ancient times, it would seem like an irresistible giant.
And ten seconds ago, the distance was still a ruin, and it was impossible to find even a complete wall.
"Magic..."
The young man said with longing and awe.
Then, the high-cheekboned man waved his hand and said loudly: "Attack!"
The flaps on the trucks instantly 'clicked' and fell, slender gun barrels stretched out, and fully armed soldiers stood beside them operating manually. The next moment, a roar sounded, and countless shells flew towards the castle like a dark cloud!
……
For Volverite, today was not a day for working with any peace of mind.
The agreeable children were taken away by Grindelwald, and he didn't know if they would be able to return safely; the obedient apprentices were also taken away, and a group of alchemists who were bad at physical activities couldn't run as fast as others. He hoped that they would hide well on the battlefield.
Since everyone had left, Volverite had walked back and forth in the room dozens of times, and finally opened his vault, took out his treasured potions, and placed them on the table one by one after counting them.
After they all return, some injured little guys will be able to use them...
While using this method to calm himself down, Volverite worried about whether there would be many casualties as before.
Suddenly, his arm trembled, and he felt an unspeakable tingling sensation all over his body, as if he had been stung by a poisonous scorpion, but it was as fast as an illusion, and it passed in the blink of an eye.
"Pa!"
A bottle of healing potion floating in the air fell to the ground. Fortunately, the crystal bottle was of good quality, and the bottle did not break, but just rolled around twice.
Volverite raised his finger to make the bottle float again. After putting it back on the table, he looked at his arm in confusion.
--Why did the magic suddenly go out of control? Could it be that he had contracted some terminal illness?
Volverite snapped his fingers again, and the flames in the fireplace soared a bit, as if everything had returned to normal.
No... it's not quite the same as usual...
The flames in the fireplace were brighter than usual for some reason, and they made a strange sound of breaking wind.
Volverite saw his shadow on the ground changing with the light, and realized sluggishly that the light was actually coming from behind him... from outside the window.
He turned his head and saw the sky glowing with an eerie green light, and countless shells were flying towards the castle with fire!
"Enemy attack——"
Someone shouted in a tearing voice!
The next moment, the shells hit the castle, the glass shattered instantly, and a huge shock wave overturned Volverite to the ground, hitting the cabinet with a thud, and blood flowed from the corner of his forehead.
Volverite's vision was blurred, his ears were ringing, and he propped himself up a little, only to see rubble and dust dancing in the air. The wand accidentally came loose and flew out to roll under the workbench.
Fortunately, the stone walls of the castle were thick enough, and they had been strengthened by generations of wizards. After a round of artillery fire, the castle still stood strong, with only a few places collapsed.
Volverite could barely hear anything for a moment. He crawled over to grab the wand, and swept all the potions into the box. The door was suddenly knocked open.
What rushed in was a witch with a face full of horror. She pulled Volverite up from the ground and told him something anxiously and fearfully, but Volverite couldn't hear clearly at all.
"I can't hear you!" The old man shouted loudly: "What are you saying? I can't hear you! What's going on outside?"
The witch with the bun said something again, and dragged Volverite away quickly.
The main force of the Wizengamot followed Grindelwald away. At this time, almost all those left in the castle were old, weak, sick, and disabled, as well as the wounded and corpses who had just been sent back from the battlefield.
The entire castle had fallen into chaos. Wizards were screaming and running around, and some were injured and dragged away by their companions, covered in blood.
"Wait! Wait!"
Volverite forcibly shook off the witch's hand, and took out the potions from his box tremblingly. With a wave of his wand, he distributed them all to the injured.
He also poured a bottle himself. The effect of the potion was immediate, and soon Volverite heard countless noisy voices.
"Muggles! It's a Muggle army!"
"How did they find us? The castle clearly has Concealment Charms and Muggle-Repelling Charms!"
"All the protective spells have failed! Where is Mr. Grindelwald? When will they be back?"
"He's dying! Someone help me!"
"Calm down! Calm down! Everyone go to the basement! Run to the basement!"
A strange whistling sound rang out again, like countless Erumpents howling in unison. Everyone's face turned pale, knowing that another round of bombing had arrived!
"Protego Maxima!"
"Protego Totalum!"
"Impedimenta!"
The wizards threw out messy spells, the light of magic was flickering, but fear and despair were revealed in their eyes.
The outside of the window suddenly lit up!
The next second, a rumbling explosion sounded, and all the glass in the castle was shattered. A fiery storm swept through the corridor, even making a whistling sound.
The originally gloomy corridor was illuminated as bright as day, and long shadows were cast behind people. The stone walls made a rustling sound in the vibration, and a pebble rolled down from the high windowsill.
But...
No one was injured or killed again, and the walls did not collapse further.
The outside of the window was still very bright and hot, but those shells seemed to explode before they touched the castle.
"Wha...what happened?"
Someone asked softly.
Volverite swallowed, pushed away the young man protecting him, walked to the window, and looked out through the narrow window.
The suddenly lit light was rapidly shrinking, and a golden-red bird spread its wings and flew. The body made of flames was two or three times larger than a Hippogriff.
"What is that?" A young witch shouted in surprise: "Is it... is it a phoenix?"
Speaking of phoenixes, one would naturally think of Dumbledore, who was the only wizard known in the magical world to have a phoenix as a pet, and also the strongest wizard who was trusted and admired even by enemies.
Volverite was stunned for a moment, then shook his head and said: "No, Dumbledore's phoenix is much... smaller..."
Volverite froze before he could finish speaking.
In the distance, where the Muggle army was gathered, black mist churned, directly overturning several trucks and throwing screaming soldiers into the air.
That was a pure, destructive force... the force that Grindelwald had been trying to obtain for the first half of his life.
--Obscurus.
Volverite silently recited this name in his heart, so shocked that he couldn't speak, and completely didn't understand how this scene happened.
Why would an Obscurus appear outside the castle? What was that strange firebird? They seemed to be protecting the people in the castle... why?
If it was a guard force that Grindelwald had arranged in advance... why didn't he mention it to everyone?
Volverite's mind was full of fog, and everything that followed was even more bizarre than he could dream of.
The firebird, which had detonated all the shells in the air, was traveling through the flames after the explosion, as if absorbing some kind of power from it. Its body was becoming larger and larger, almost... like an ever-expanding Fiendfyre.
After half of the vehicles were overturned, the Muggles suddenly pushed out a chubby gun barrel and fired at the black mist tumbling in the air. After a flash of blue light, the black mist suddenly shattered and disappeared, and a thin girl fell from the air.
The black-clothed soldiers shot at the girl, a cloak flew over to block the bullets, and then suddenly a broom flew from somewhere, caught the girl, and took her away with a "swoosh".
The firebird, which seemed to be enjoying the flames, screamed angrily, and its body, which had expanded to more than ten meters high, suddenly pounced on those Muggles!
Its slender tail swept across, leaving a long string of burning flames on the ground.
The huge body was like a natural target, and it was easy to be hit even when flying in the air.
The firebird was also hit by that gun barrel with an invisible "bomb", and the flight trajectory suddenly shifted, crashing into the distant hills with a bang, igniting a large area of flames.
While everyone's attention was attracted by the firebird, the broom flew back furtively, and dropped a cube with a strange color from the sky.
"Bomb!"
The soldiers around the landing point screamed and rushed behind the bunker, only to see the cube landing above the gun barrel, and metal claws suddenly stretched out on both sides. With a few "swishes", it dismantled most of the gun barrel at a speed that was invisible to the naked eye, and also pulled out an axe and chopped it several times!
"Fire!"
The Muggle commander shouted loudly, and bullets shot out like a rainstorm. A shield suddenly unfolded on the cube, instantly blocking itself tightly and catching all the bullets.
But the shield was not invincible, and there were soon pitted dents on it. The strange cube moved while resisting the attack, suddenly dropped the shield and rolled to the side. The high-speed bullets hit the truck's fuel tank!
"Boom——"
The explosion sounded again, turning the surrounding area into a sea of fire!
In the fire, the cube jumped up, and various strange tools stretched out from the side - metal claws, pliers, wrenches, bottle openers, shovels, etc., like a fierce general who killed all directions, driving the surrounding Muggle soldiers to flee in panic.
Suddenly, a masked monster jumped out. He was terribly strong, like a runaway bison, and slammed into the truck, flattening the front of several cars.
These two guys seemed to have copper skin and iron bones. They were not afraid of Muggle bullets at all, and they were not even afraid of death. They grabbed the Muggle guns and shot at the truck's fuel tanks and even the weapon boxes!
Several balls of fire exploded one after another, and the hot wind scorched people's hair.
The wizards in the castle were squeezed by the windows, watching dumbfounded, feeling like they were watching an absurd comedy.
Just when they thought the Muggle army could do nothing about those guys, they saw some Muggles fire a gun with a hook again with a "bang"!
"Zizi——"
A strong electric arc flashed, and the cube and the masked man, who had been invincible just now, withered at the same time, unable to move as if their joints were rusty.
The high-cheekboned man sneered: "I knew it, as long as they are guys related to magic, they can't withstand this kind of attack. Let me see what you two are!"
He walked towards the masked man, reaching out to pull off the cloth covering his face.
"Flipendo Maxima!"
Someone shouted loudly, and the high-cheekboned man flew out like a tossed sandbag.
Twenty or thirty wizards who had been hiding nearby dispelled their invisibility, and then raised their wands together——
"Petrificus Totalus!"
Spells were flying on the battlefield, but Volverite heard the people next to him say in a groan: "Merlin... that seems to be... the Order of the Phoenix?"
Volverite glanced at him, recognized that this was a young wizard from England, and asked curiously: "Order of the Phoenix?"
The young wizard explained in a trembling voice: "That was a secret society founded by Dumbledore more than twenty years ago to resist the Dark Lord and the Death Eaters. It is said that it suffered heavy losses in the First British Wizarding War and was disbanded ten years ago... I know two of them."
He murmured as if he had discovered some great secret: "It seems they have reorganized... the Order of the Phoenix is definitely not here to help us, and Dumbledore may appear soon... we... shall we run away now?"
He looked around, fearing that the headmaster would appear in front of him in the next second, and he didn't know what to do.
Vauquelin didn't pay attention to what he said next, and asked with a strange expression, "Dumbledore created a secret society to resist Voldemort..."
He suddenly felt indignant and said angrily, "Why wasn't it created when our Esoteric Order of Wizards ruled Europe?"
The young wizard collapsed: "...Is this the point?"
"Thump!"
A heavy impact suddenly sounded on the outer wall. Everyone turned their heads and saw a familiar flying broomstick parked outside the window without glass. The cube, the masked man, the little girl who could turn into an Obscurus, and a firebird that looked extremely similar to a Fiendfyre beast were all staring at them, all exuding a dangerous aura.
"Excuse me, where is our master, Wade Greaux?" the cube asked politely.
Beside it, the firebird slightly spread its wings, golden-red light flashing in its mouth. Black mist emerged from the little girl's body, and her pupils faintly turned white.
"Good question, I'd like to ask that too."
Sirius and Lupin, riding broomsticks, also appeared outside the window, holding wands and pointing at the many Esoteric Order of Wizards members.
"Release that child!" Sirius said coldly. "Otherwise, you can go keep those Muggles company!"
