Chapter 1277 The Fifth Victim

A common characteristic of directly triggered black magic is that it cannot be completely eradicated; it can only slow down the progression of the curse.

Voldemort cast this kind of dark magic on the ancestral ring in Gaunt's old house, and even Dumbledore was wary of it.

In front of a group of medical personnel, Vincent, standing in front of the isolation pod, took the caduceus from the Ring of Le Maire.

Ignoring the gasps of the crowd, he aimed the soft light emanating from the Twin Serpents Staff at Aidan.

A chilling aura emanated from outside the cabin, and everyone stared in disbelief at the thin black mist.

Vincent reached out and grabbed, trapping the black mist inside.

As time passed, more and more fine sweat appeared on his forehead, and the black mist that he had suppressed with his magic power became thicker and thicker.

Half an hour later, the black mist was finally compressed into a single point and dissipated into the air, along with the soft light emanating from the Twin Serpent Staff.

Vincent had done his best; the curse's effect had been weakened infinitely, but it still couldn't be completely removed, even with the help of the Twin Serpents Staff, which could greatly enhance healing magic.

“This is not a disease.” He turned to look at Sir Sarah behind him. “It is an extremely dangerous dark magic curse. What we can do is not to cure it, but to contain and delay it.”

Sir Sarah clenched her fists. "Mr. Wayne, is there really no way even magic can help?"

Vincent put away his serpent staff and casually wiped the fine sweat from his forehead. "If my guess is correct, this child has come into contact with a dark magic item used to spread pain and death. Its curse will constantly devour his life force and resist all external healing forces."

He paused, then looked back at Aidan in the isolation pod. "It's like a diseased cancer cell suddenly appearing in the body, but it's more dangerous and more deadly."

Sir Sarah's face turned deathly pale. "Then this child..."

“He’ll pull through.” Vincent’s voice was soft, but firm.

His gaze fell on the two senior MI6 officials. "I need to know the details of that thing. Every black magic item has its origin and the intention behind its creation. Understanding these might help us find the weakness of the curse."

The two men exchanged glances, and the official named Carlton stepped forward. "The boy was found unconscious in the backyard of an abandoned antique shop in the Camden district. There were no signs of a struggle at the scene. He briefly regained consciousness on the way here."

He said he came into contact with a protein necklace, exquisitely crafted, which had fallen into the backyard of the antique shop. He fainted the instant he picked it up.

Vincent frowned. "Where is that thing?"

Carlton shook his head regretfully. "We didn't find anything suspicious at the scene. The antique shop owner claimed he had never seen the necklace before, and we conducted a lot of investigations to confirm that he was telling the truth."

Vincent's brow furrowed even deeper as a cursed dark magic item mysteriously appeared in the backyard of a Muggle antique shop.

No matter how outrageous the British Ministry of Magic may be, it would never allow such a powerfully cursed dark magic item to enter the black market, let alone appear in the Muggle world.

Clearly, this is a cleverly designed and malicious trap.

But why? Why target Muggles?

Why would a wizard choose to use a curse when there are countless ways to resolve personal grudges?

Just as Vincent was puzzled, a doctor in protective gear rushed in, "Sir! Mr. Carlton! Another patient has arrived from the second isolation ward! Symptoms... symptoms are almost exactly the same!"

Her hands had black bruising, and her vital signs were rapidly deteriorating! She was a woman in her twenties, found in an alleyway behind a nightclub in SoHo!

Sir Sarah glanced sharply at Vincent, who was already striding toward the door with a stern expression.

He looked at Carlton and said, “Have your men seal off both discovery sites immediately. This is not an accident, nor a chance discovery of antiques, nor an accidental leak.”

He paused, his tone icy, "This is a display, a placement. Someone deliberately puts these things in places where Muggles, especially young people, are most likely to find them."

The atmosphere in the second quarantine zone was even more somber than before. The newly arrived girl, Lina Torres, was 23 years old, and her condition was much worse than when Aidan was first brought in.

Hospital staff didn't have time to change her out of her nightclub clothes and immediately placed her in an isolation ward of the same size as Aidan's.

Through the high-strength transparent glass, you could clearly see her makeup gradually smudging as she sweated and suffered.

Vincent, standing in front of the cabin, remained silent and quietly took out his double serpent staff.

Her situation was basically the same as Aidan's, but the curse was much stronger. If she had waited a few days like Aidan, she would probably have become a cold corpse by now.

“The same source of the curse.” Vincent said expressionlessly, tearing apart the black mist that emerged from the isolation chamber with his magic. “The curse is much stronger, but I’m sure it’s the same piece, or at least from the same series made by the same maker.”

Carlton's face was ashen as he quickly issued instructions into his encrypted communicator: "Immediately implement a grid blockade within a 500-meter radius of the location discovered in SoHo, covering all entrances and exits, underground passages, and aerial lines."

"Retrieve all public and private surveillance footage from the past 72 hours. I need the faces and license plates of every person and vehicle that passed through that alley. Contact MI5 and cross-reference them with known extremists, organized crime members, and anyone with a history of collecting unusual items."

His instructions were professional and swift, displaying the precision and efficiency characteristic of intelligence agencies.

But everyone knows that conventional criminal investigation methods are unlikely to be effective against this kind of supernatural crime.

Vincent put down his twin serpent staff, looking slightly tired. Lina's condition had finally stabilized.

The previously violent fluctuations on the life monitor stabilized, and her tightly closed eyelids trembled slightly.

"She's waking up."

Sir Sarah hurried forward.

With great difficulty, Lina opened her tightly closed eyes in eager anticipation.

Her pupils were dilated, almost unfocused.

Vincent lowered his voice, "Lina, you're in the hospital, you're safe, can you tell me what happened?"

“Necklace…” Lina’s voice was hoarse, each word sounding like it was uttered with all her might, “Blues Soul… Back Alley…”

She described it haltingly, "It was on the ground... shining... I picked it up..."

The intense pain caused her body to convulse, and her eyes began to glaze over. "Cold...it hurts so much..."

"Who gave it to you?" Carlton couldn't help but lean closer to the isolation pod, trying to control his tone. "Lina, have you seen anyone else?"

Lina shook her head in anguish, tears mingling with the smudged black eyeliner as they seeped from the corners of her eyes. "Nobody...only...the necklace..."

She slowly closed her eyes, and it took her less than 13 seconds to go from being awake to falling unconscious again.

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