Chapter 1304: Incomprehensible Yet Full of Hope
The Twin Serpent Staff can amplify the effects of healing magic many times over, but healing hundreds of people at the same time would undoubtedly be a huge burden for the caster.
While receiving treatment, Vincent quickly walked towards the Christmas tree in the square.
The light hanging on it was flashing at a high frequency, clearly indicating that it was being interfered with by magic.
As he approached the Christmas tree, a heartbreaking, childish cry caught his attention.
It was a girl who looked only five or six years old. She was wearing a reindeer antler headband and was kneeling next to a man curled up on the ground.
She kept shaking his arm, her face covered in tears and fear. "Daddy... what's wrong? Wake up... Santa Claus is coming... Daddy... please get up..."
Vincent quickened his pace. The girl was under the Christmas tree, which seemed to be the source of the curse. Her father had been tortured into unconsciousness, but she showed no signs of being affected by the curse.
He quickly glanced at the children around him; they were in similar situations. The adults were all lying on the ground, but the children seemed to be just frightened and did not show any symptoms of being cursed.
What is this? The last shred of conscience of an antisocial pleasure criminal?
Vincent crouched down beside the girl. His appearance startled her, and she looked at him with teary eyes as he suddenly appeared, holding a glowing stick.
“Don’t be afraid,” he said softly, his expression still cold. “I’m here to help your father. He’s sick, with a very special illness, but I can cure him.”
He took a handkerchief from the Flamel ring and gently wiped away the girl's tears.
Perhaps it was the soft white light emanating from the caduceus that dispelled her fear, and the girl finally stopped crying.
"Big brother, can you really cure Dad?"
Vincent gently stroked the girl's head. "Of course, I'll tell you a secret. Big brother is actually a wizard, a very powerful wizard."
The girl nodded blankly. She didn't understand what a wizard was, but the older brother's calm voice and bright blue eyes made her feel inexplicably at ease.
Under her gaze, Vincent gently waved his caduceus, and a white dot of light silently landed on her father's chest.
About a minute later, the girl's father let out a long sigh. His clenched fists loosened, and the muscles in his contorted face relaxed. Although he was still pale and weak, the excruciating pain had disappeared.
His eyelids trembled a few times before he slowly opened them. His gaze was initially unfocused and blank, but then gradually focused on an unfamiliar face, followed by his daughter's bright, tear-streaked face.
Not only him, but many people around him also woke up one after another.
“Lily… Lily?” His voice was so hoarse it was almost inaudible.
"Daddy!" The girl could no longer hold back and rushed over.
Her tears welled up again, but this time they were tears of joy.
He instinctively hugged his daughter, looked around, as if he had just woken up from a nightmare, with only a vague and lingering memory of the pain he had just experienced.
"Baby...I...what happened?"
"It's your big brother!" The girl looked up at Vincent. "He's the one who healed you!"
Vincent helped the girl's father to his feet. "You are very weak, but you are not in any danger. There are professional medical staff outside the square. You can take your daughter there for a basic check-up and rest."
The girl's father looked at Vincent, his lips trembling, a thousand words stuck in his chest, finally culminating in a choked sob: "Th...thank you! Sir! Thank you!"
Vincent released his grip after confirming that the boy could stand on his own, and turned to look at the Christmas tree in front of him that exuded an ominous aura.
Suddenly, he felt his clothes being gently tugged.
It was that girl named Lily. Her father was holding her hand with one hand, while she held up the handkerchief that had just been used to wipe her tears with the other.
"Big brother, here's your handkerchief... and thank you for saving Dad."
The girl looked up at him with her big eyes filled with the purest gratitude, "Big brother, you are the most powerful wizard!"
A warm feeling washed over Vincent. He knelt down to be at eye level with the girl, and instead of taking the handkerchief, he gently patted her small hand.
"Here's the handkerchief for you, little lady. Now, leave with your father. Santa Claus is waiting."
The girl nodded vigorously, clutching her handkerchief tightly, and kept waving goodbye to him as she left.
Her father would occasionally turn around and cast an indescribable look of gratitude at her.
This scene was brief yet powerful, like a glimmer of light in the darkness.
The people around them, still struggling in pain, saw hope; that person, that wizard, had come to save them.
Under the soft white light of the caduceus, the panic ceased to spread, and the curse on people was gradually being removed.
Outside the square, some foreign tourists who had set up their equipment, hoping to capture the fire dragon or the festive spectacle, as well as media reporters who rushed over, all used their cameras to record this incomprehensible yet hopeful scene.
"My God...he did it!"
"What is that light? Is it some kind of new medical device?"
"He saved him! And they did too!"
Everything he did, his rescue efforts, and the magic he publicly used are being recorded and disseminated on countless cameras.
An even more incomprehensible scene unfolded: Vincent raised his hand in front of the giant Christmas tree, and the constantly flashing five-pointed star decoration at the top of the tree was "removed" and quietly suspended in front of him.
“Opal again…” His azure eyes instantly turned cold.
Inside this five-pointed star decoration is a small and exquisite opal. The flame-like brilliance on its surface tells you that it is of high quality and is not an ordinary item that you just picked up.
The Bogin and Bogin brothers? This possibility was immediately ruled out.
The brothers were pure businessmen, barely more daring than the dust in their shop, and he had already warned them that it wasn't worth risking their lives and business for Galleons.
Other underground black market dealers might be able to provide some illegal materials piecemeal, but there must be more than one opal of this extremely high quality, clearly specially treated to carry and spread the curse.
Black market dealers scattered throughout the corners of Britain simply couldn't support orders of this size unless they formed an alliance.
Once they form an alliance, the Ministry of Magic will definitely receive the news immediately.
Could it be the Selwyn family?
The Order had been secretly monitoring them, but had not found any contact between them and any suspicious persons.
Vincent, his face grim, raised his twin serpent staff and lightly tapped the pentagram ornament hovering in front of him, releasing a strange, malevolent flame that burned it and the source of the curse within it to ashes.
After ruling out all possibilities, the conclusion reached is chilling.
Behind Aiden Selwyn is a force that can easily obtain illegal materials, and whose resources even surpass those of the entire underground black market.
As far as Vincent knew, there were not many forces in Britain that met the above criteria. Apart from a few ancient pure-blood wizarding families, only Voldemort and his Death Eaters remained.
……
……
