Chapter 390: The Rescue
Chapter 390: The Rescue
"Mabel..."
A boy tugged at the girl's sleeve, his voice trembling as he spoke, "Haley... Haley might have..."
The girl remained silent, her stubborn and determined eyes fixed on Vold, her fists clenched tightly, her frail body like a volcano ready to erupt.
Vold asked, "Is Haley one of your companions too?"
"Yes," Rita Skeeter replied, "She's only nine... She was taken away about an hour ago."
Vold looked at their expressions and knew they weren't lying. He asked, "Do you know where she was taken?"
"I know," Mabel nodded firmly, her voice shaking slightly, "I know the route."
"Mihal."
Vold waved his hand, and a firebird suddenly appeared, flying back and forth above them. It tilted its head, looking at Vold and letting out a friendly cry.
"You protect Rita and these children," Vold said, "Don't let anyone harm them."
Mihal nodded and then landed between the upper railings, watching the children below intently.
Vold turned to Mabel, "Lead the way, let's go find the child."
"Follow me."
Mabel ran without hesitation, her brown hair flying behind her.
Rita Skeeter watched the two leave, wanting to call out to them, but in the end, she didn't say a word.
Hearing the sound of the iron door closing automatically, she suddenly felt a sense of insecurity.
Rita Skeeter's magical abilities were focused on being an excellent gossip journalist. When it came to fighting, she was even less capable than some third-year students.
—Vold had left, but Dumbledore should be coming soon, right? He should, shouldn't he?
After all, there were so many children here, and the headmaster wouldn't just ignore them.
But with so many people, how could they escape safely? Even Dumbledore, as powerful as he was, couldn't possibly summon a ship out of thin air, could he? If it were just the three of them, escaping would be much easier...
Rita Skeeter couldn't help but have these thoughts, and at the same time, she deeply felt her own despicableness.
She also thought of something she didn't dare admit—
In Rita Skeeter's heart, she considered herself, Vold, and Dumbledore as a group of wizards.
But in their hearts, they probably didn't think the same way...
Even though they had come to rescue her, if a choice had to be made, they would probably prioritize saving the younger children...
Thinking of the terrifying methods on the island and the children's help over the past few days, Rita Skeeter anxiously bit her nails, gnawing at her once well-manicured nails until they were pitted and uneven.
Suddenly, she heard strange noises from behind. Rita, who had recently been on edge, thought the guards had woken up and turned around hurriedly—
"Bang!"
Blood splattered everywhere.
"Ahhhh!"
Rita Skeeter couldn't help but scream.
A red-haired boy, around ten years old, took the guard's baton and smashed it down on the guard's head. He turned back to Rita Skeeter with an expressionless face.
Rita covered her mouth in fear.
Luke stood in front of her, his voice quivering as usual, and said timidly, "She's a witch... She's not like those people."
The children from the same cell stood in front of Rita, their small bodies forming an unsteady wall.
Rita Skeeter couldn't hold back her tears and started crying softly.
She had just been hesitating about whether to get rid of these "burdens," but they had protected her once again.
The red-haired boy, without saying a word, turned his gaze away and raised the baton high, putting all his strength into the next strike.
"Thud!"
Rita confirmed she heard the sound of bones breaking and couldn't bear to look. She turned away, seeking help from the dazzling and hot firebird.
Mihal preened its "feathers" with its beak.
Vold's command was only to protect the children and Rita Skeeter, not including the guards.
Even though Mihal wasn't human, it could still distinguish who its enemies were.
Mihal, born in a special environment, was different from the divine phoenix. It loved destruction and carried a disregard for life in its bones.
Rita's plea for help went unanswered, and she quietly huddled next to the railing, clinging to it and watching helplessly as the scene unfolded before her.
Led by the red-haired boy, even the children who had remained in the cell came out and joined the others. They swarmed the guards, attacking them with batons, knives, punches, and kicks.
Some even crawled on the ground like wild dogs, biting and tearing at the guards with rage.
The scene became extremely bloody and gruesome.
Rita Skeeter struggled to keep herself from vomiting, afraid to look yet reluctant to close her eyes, feeling an indescribable fear for these children.
Muggles... Are these also Muggles?
Shouldn't Muggles be clumsy, foolish, easily deceived, and clueless?
What's going on on this island?
Why are these Muggles so terrifying?
...
Although Mabel always put on a brave and strong front, her physical strength was poor. After climbing up two floors from the dungeon, she was already breathless.
However, she dared not stop for a second—perhaps that momentary hesitation could mean the difference between life and death for Haley.
Suddenly, she heard a voice nearby, "Come up."
Mabel turned and saw Vold riding a broomstick, extending his hand to her.
The broomstick was floating in mid-air! Mabel was astonished, but without hesitation, she grabbed Vold's hand and jumped onto the broomstick, sitting in front of him.
"You direct the way," Vold said.
"Okay," Mabel steadied herself and pointed, "Fly to the right!"
Vold kicked off the ground, and they soared into the air.
This time, he carried with him the Fire Arrow, capable of reaching speeds up to 150 miles per hour.
However, inside the building, Vold naturally couldn't fly too fast, but even at this speed, he was much faster than Mabel running at full speed.
A fireball flashed past the window, and the sound of shattering glass reverberated through the area.
After leaving the dungeon, Mabel realized that the situation outside had drastically changed. Most of the base was engulfed in flames, and many soldiers in black clothing lay on the ground, their fate uncertain.
"You really only came with two people?"
She shouted into the wind, unable to contain her curiosity.
"Of course."
Vold turned the broomstick in the direction Mabel indicated, and after the turn, they faced several white-coated individuals fleeing with computers in their arms.
Seeing Vold, they were also startled and fumbled to draw their guns.
Vold waved his wand, and they all fell simultaneously.
Mabel, seeing them still writhing and groaning on the ground, shouted, "Don't let them go! These guys are demons! They deserve to die!"
"Don't worry, they won't get away!"
Vold assured her, but the broomstick didn't stop.
Mabel heard a clinking sound and turned her head forcefully. She saw small, black beads the size of beans falling and bouncing on the ground.
Bombs?
She thought instinctively, eagerly anticipating the sight of those people being blown to pieces.
Suddenly, the black beads rapidly grew larger—
Transforming into mantises, centipedes, spiders, and scorpionflies taller than humans.
Mabel's mouth hung open in shock.
Behind them, there were piercing screams of agony.
As the broomstick turned, the scene was no longer visible. Mabel, stunned, turned her head, her heart pounding rapidly. Sweat poured from every pore, and her hands could only grip the broomstick tightly.
"Mabel, which way should we go now? Mabel?"
"Oh, oh... Left, two consecutive left turns, then up the stairs, and turn right..."
Mabel stammered, gasping for breath.
"Scared?" Vold comforted her, "Don't be afraid. They're just insects enlarged by an Enlargement Charm; they'll return to normal soon."
"Insects?"
Mabel asked, her mind filled with doubts.
"Yes," Vold, assuming she was questioning the choice of insects, explained, "Dumbledore asked me not to kill—I promised him."
"Oh..."
Mabel responded with a multitude of questions but didn't know where to begin.
Does using insects not count as killing?
The logic of wizards... Is it a little strange...?
Speaking of which, everything that happened today was so bizarre... It felt like a realistic dream, intertwining her most feared and desired scenarios...
Was the base truly destroyed? Could they really be saved?
Was the person behind her real?
She looked at the empty corridor, littered with papers and items people had dropped while fleeing. The shattered glass, extinguished lights, and even bloodstains on the walls and floor.
In a corner, a man lay dead from gunshot wounds, his glasses slipped down, a look of disbelief still on his face.
Mabel remembered this man—countless times, she had watched him stand behind the glass wall, speaking to researchers in a tone of consultation:
"The experimental effects aren't very noticeable. Should we increase the dosage?"
"The blood doesn't seem special. Can we draw bone marrow again?"
"I hope we can conduct more comparative experiments. It's fine if they fail; after all, they're consumables, and new ones will arrive next month."
Mabel pinched herself hard, tears welling up in her eyes from the pain. It felt so real, like it wasn't just a dream.
She reached out again, seemingly wanting to verify Vold's presence. Vold, who was riding the broomstick with her, had been vigilant, his metal-threaded cloak never removed.
As Mabel approached with a dazed expression, extending her finger towards him as if to pinch him, Vold immediately warned, "If you dare touch me, I'll throw you off. Have you forgotten we're on our way to save Haley?"
"Haley!"
Mabel snapped out of her dreamlike state, finally regaining her composure.
"The door here requires the scan of an insider's eyes to open. We need to find one of those guys in green surgical gowns..."
Before Mabel could finish her sentence, she noticed the metal door, which should have been locked, slightly ajar, and on the ground, a trail of crimson footprints leading chaotically from inside to out.
Mabel's heart sank as a foreboding feeling washed over her. She jumped off the broomstick, rolled on the ground, and then crawled into the room on all fours.
Vold examined the crimson footprints and noticed they were the size of an adult's, so he threw out a black bead.
A swarm of insects quickly enlarged, and with a flick of Vold's wand, they scurried along the trail, clicking and clacking.
As he stepped into the room, he heard Mabel let out a scream, indistinguishable between pain and terror.
Vold hurried inside and first noticed several conveyor belts, reminiscent of an assembly line factory. Upon closer inspection, he realized this was a 'processing plant' that used humans as raw materials.
He recalled the administrator's confession:
"Blood, organs, bone marrow, skin... We can all fair game... As long as someone can pay the price, we can provide... There's even a special collector for bones and eyes, especially butterfly bones..."
On the conveyor belt, a head with its butterfly bone removed lay haphazardly, perhaps about to be 'processed' when a sudden power outage halted its journey midway.
Mabel, on the brink of collapse, caught sight of the hair on the head and gasped, pressing her hand against her chest as she struggled to breathe.
"No... It's not Haley... Haley, Haley might still be alive... I have to find her..."
She took a couple of steps, stumbled, and started convulsing violently, gripping her neck tightly like a fish gasping for its last breath.
Vold quickly approached, retrieved a healing potion, and forced it down her throat. He immobilized the girl's convulsions with a Body-Bind Curse and then pulled her hands away to examine her neck.
Mabel's neck was adorned with a black collar, almost embedded in her flesh, emitting a faint buzzing sound, and a faint smell of scorched flesh lingered in the air.
Her neck was covered in these scorching red burns, resembling blood oozing from a decapitated body, a truly horrifying sight.
Vold frowned, and with a flick of his wand, the collar clicked but didn't break. Instead, it cracked, revealing several fissures.
The buzzing sound ceased, and Mabel took a deep breath, followed by violent coughing.
As Vold was about to continue working on the collar, the girl pushed him away.
"No, no... Just leave me... Go find Haley..."
"Alright, be careful."
Vold, knowing he couldn't waste time, placed two small puppets beside her and quickly ran towards one end of the room.
If one end of the conveyor belt led to where the bodies were processed, the other end naturally led to where the surgeries took place.
He pushed open the door with a bang, walked through a room filled with picture books and old toys, then through an empty operating room, and finally, in the third room, he saw a human figure.
On a bloodstained hospital bed lay a girl, her abdomen eviscerated, pale as a paper doll.
She looked so small and frail, as if her soul had departed to another world, leaving behind only a ceramic shell.
Vold froze.
Although he hadn't held any expectations, the sight before him still shocked him profoundly.
He stood there, stunned for a moment, and then he noticed the girl's eyelids twitching ever so slightly.
...
"Cough, cough, cough..."
Mabel lay on the ground, coughing violently, struggling to stand but failing.
She couldn't understand why she had become so weak—her heart pounding as if it would burst through her chest, her entire body devoid of strength, her mouth dry, her head spinning, and her breathing incredibly difficult.
Suddenly, Mabel's struggling stopped, and she turned her head to look at something beside her.
"Ding-a-ling..."
She heard a familiar ringtone.
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report
