#600 - A sudden change (asking for monthly ticket recommendation ticket)

"This isn't something that can be brushed aside with a simple 'failure to perform.' What exactly has been happening at the club during this time?" Runewen Snake glared daggers at Goldfinch, as if trying to nail him down with his eyes.

"It started about a month ago..."

Assuming a humble posture, Goldfinch began to recount the events that had transpired at the club over the past month, starting with the problems at the breeding grounds. He even told Runewen Snake about his and Thunderbird's suspicions that the mastermind might be Phoenix.

"So, in just one month, the club has gone from a colossal entity with thousands of raw materials and control over half of Germany to a hated pariah, stripped of all its resources?"

After listening to Goldfinch's account, Runewen Snake was furious, slamming his hand on the armrest as he stood up and pointed at Goldfinch. "You idiot! Why didn't you tell me all this sooner? You only come running when the club is on the verge of collapse?"

"Why else..." Thunderbird interjected coldly, "but because he was afraid you'd see the situation was dire and run off on your own? Isn't that how you've always been? A fox with three burrows! A shrinking turtle!"

Thunderbird's merciless mockery made Runewen Snake turn his gaze to him, exposing his back to Goldfinch. "You still have the heart to mock me at a time like this? I know you've always thought I've been controlling and using you with the Elixir of Immortality all these years, but please, use your dog brain and think. If it weren't for my Elixir of Immortality, would you have gained almost endless life? Would I be able to speak to you calmly even when you're sneering at me? In the end, I've always treated you like my own flesh and blood!"

"Tch..." Thunderbird seemed amused by Runewen Snake's words. "What? Do you expect me to call you 'Father' like an innocent child? If that's the case, why don't you show some fatherly love and share the Elixir of Immortality recipe with your precious children?"

"You..." Runewen Snake was choked by Thunderbird's retort, his veins bulging. Then he realized that he never seemed to win an argument with Thunderbird, so he simply waved his hand and said, "Stop saying useless things. What we should be thinking about now is the club's future and whether there's any way to salvage the situation."

"Salvage? Salvage what?" Thunderbird shook his head with a cold snort. "Go outside now and dare to tell anyone you're with the Silver Spears. Do you believe those wizards outside won't drown you in spit?"

"Then what should we do?" Runewen Snake now acted like a powerful but simple-minded person, becoming irritable whenever he encountered a problem. "You've been operating outside for so long, you must have a solution, right?"

"A solution?" Thunderbird pointed his thumb backward. "My solution is to leave. Completely withdraw the club from Germany. Stop clinging to European territory. Go to North America. We have plenty of time to rebuild a club there. The environment there is much better, and the magical animal resources are countless!"

"Leave?" Runewen Snake couldn't help but lower his head and ponder for a moment, then muttered with some hesitation, "But we've been operating in Europe for so many years to build our current foundation. Are we just going to abandon so many branches? Can't we find a way to create a direct transport route to North America?"

"Runewen Snake, how can you be so naive after all these centuries?" Thunderbird rolled his eyes at him. "Why are you being so fussy like Goldfinch? How many raw materials can these few European branches squeeze out for the club each year? How many raw materials can be transported in now that Germany is under Andrei's control? You don't want to withdraw from Europe, but I don't want to share my territory in North America with you!"

"You..." Always being mocked by Thunderbird, Runewen Snake glared at him in annoyance, but Thunderbird showed no fear, staring back just as fiercely.

"Thunderbird! Can't you talk properly?" Goldfinch, standing behind Runewen Snake, seemed to see the two of them locked in a stalemate and wanted to mediate, so he approached while speaking.

But at this moment, a sudden change occurred!

As Goldfinch moved behind Runewen Snake, a short knife flashing with an eerie light suddenly appeared in his hand. He raised his hand and stabbed it into Runewen Snake's back!

"Ah!!!" Runewen Snake, suddenly attacked, cried out in pain. Then, with lightning-fast reflexes, he unleashed a terrifying concentration of magic, instantly generating several layers of protection around his body.

"Azure Nether Blade!"

Thunderbird, upon seeing Goldfinch succeed, didn't hesitate. He drew his wand and instantly conjured a long blade composed of blue Fiendfyre on it, slashing fiercely at Runewen Snake.

The moment Runewen Snake's shield was generated, it was struck by the Fiendfyre blade. The solid Azure Nether Blade collided with the protective shield, instantly breaking through the outermost layer.

Goldfinch was not idle either. After the backstab, he immediately flicked his wand, using pure magic to materialize a semi-transparent short spear, heavily stabbing it into Runewen Snake's lower back, piercing through another layer of his shield.

"Why? Dennis, why are you betraying me!" Runewen Snake didn't seem surprised that Thunderbird would attack him, but Goldfinch's betrayal was unacceptable.

"You talk too much, Father!" Goldfinch muttered through clenched teeth, then added force to his right hand holding the short spear, making Runewen Snake's last two layers of shield falter.

"Pfft!"

It seemed that the attack from both sides had aggravated his injuries. Runewen Snake, under the mask, spat out a mouthful of blood in pain, but still stubbornly shouted and unleashed a terrifying wave of magic, forcibly pushing the two of them away with sheer pressure.

Taking advantage of this squeezed-out gap, Runewen Snake leaped into the air, his entire body twisting like a rubber band into a long snake, shooting towards the exit to the side.

Seeing Runewen Snake trying to escape, Thunderbird flicked his hand and slashed out a row of Fiendfyre, trying to block his path.

But Runewen Snake, in his special form, was incredibly swift, twisting his body to avoid the flames and squeezing through the gaps.

"Quick, chase him!"

Goldfinch shouted, then raised his hand and cast an 'Anti-Apparition Jinx,' while Thunderbird also charged out without delay, dragging the Nether Blade.

"You idiot, why didn't you just use the Killing Curse to ambush him? How much damage can a broken knife do to him?" Thunderbird couldn't help but complain to Goldfinch behind him as he chased Runewen Snake.

"I think you're the idiot." Goldfinch cursed back just as irritably. "With Runewen Snake's keen senses, could he not detect the movement of my magic? Killing Curse, a magic with such obvious killing intent, is no different from a prank to us. My knife is coated with 'Rotting Tissue.' As long as he doesn't get time to rest, he'll soon rot to death!"

"Let's hope so. If he gets away, we'll both be in trouble!" Looking at Runewen Snake constantly dodging in the corridor ahead, Thunderbird shouted excitedly at Goldfinch, then accelerated and charged straight ahead.

During the frantic chase, Thunderbird occasionally flung out a Fiendfyre blade, but as if to prove Goldfinch's words, Runewen Snake didn't even need to look back, relying on his senses to skillfully avoid them.

But Runewen Snake, desperately trying to escape, seemed to be affected by the short knife stabbed into his back. His movement speed quickly slowed down, and he was eventually cornered in the corridor by Thunderbird and Goldfinch.

"You... why are you attacking me? Are you not afraid that the Elixir of Immortality recipe will go with me? If you kill me, you'll both die soon!" Forced into a dead end, Runewen Snake struggled to support himself against the stone wall next to him, panting as he shouted at the two.

"Stop bluffing." Goldfinch, also somewhat breathless, breathed out a sigh of relief, then sneered, "I haven't been a fool all these years following you. I've long discovered that your memory is gradually declining with time. In this situation, would you, who are always cautious, rely solely on your brain to remember the recipe? You must have backed up the Elixir of Immortality recipe long ago, and it's stored in the basement of this manor. Am I right?"

"You... how do you know?" Hearing Goldfinch reveal his secret, Runewen Snake panicked. "Don't, don't kill me. I'll share the recipe with you, and then we'll all go our separate ways. Can't you appreciate my years of nurturing?"

"Your nurturing, I repaid it long ago during the Saint Society!" Hearing that the recipe really existed, Thunderbird stepped forward excitedly and swung the Azure Nether Blade fiercely.

Faced with Thunderbird's full-strength attack, Runewen Snake, as if in despair, struggled to straighten up and also flicked his wand fiercely at him.

"Secret Art: Strange Serpent!"

The spell cast by Runewen Snake, who had seemed to be at his wit's end, was actually astonishing!

Two intertwined cyan-green energy snakes suddenly popped out from the tip of his wand, spiraling to meet the Azure Nether Blade. Not only did they block Thunderbird's strike, but the two magical snakes actually wrapped around the Fiendfyre blade as if they were alive.

But at this moment, another change occurred!

"Avada Kedavra!"

Goldfinch, who had been behind Thunderbird all along, suddenly cast an Avada Kedavra curse, taking advantage of the stalemate in their magic!

But his target was not Runewen Snake, but Thunderbird in front of him.

"Ugh!"

The sickly green death curse struck Thunderbird's lower back heavily. Thunderbird screamed from the sudden heavy blow, and his body immediately collapsed.

On the other side, Runewen Snake was no longer in that heavily injured state. He flicked his wand and tossed it lightly, sending Thunderbird flying backward!

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