https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-406-Under-the-Hidden-Blade-All-Beings-Are-Equal/13453980/
Chapter 405: Operation Begins
Chapter 405: Operation Begins
Liam and Hermione climbed to the mountaintop along a previously scouted route and looked down. The scene before them confirmed they had arrived at the right place.
This was a mountain basin, surrounded by towering peaks. The basin was quite large, and there was even a small mountain lake providing a water source. At the base of the mountain, several campfires burned, each about the size of those you might see at a Boy Scout camp. However, compared to the six- to seven-meter-tall, mountain-like shadows nearby, these campfires seemed insignificant.
"Are these the Giants?" Liam and Hermione were lying in a small depression at the mountaintop, covered in camouflage nets and peering through a low-light night vision telescope. "They look so ugly!"
Liam agreed with Hermione. These Giants appeared to weigh more than elephants, with skin as rough as rhinoceros hide. Their heads were like large spheres, covered in curly, thick, and dirty hair. Their features resembled crude carvings on a large stone ball. Their squat noses were almost shapeless, and their mouths were crooked, filled with misshapen yellow teeth the size of half a brick. Their eyes were murky brownish-green and, by Giant standards, quite small. Their hideous heads sat directly on their shoulders, with almost no visible neck.
"Damn them!" Liam muttered after carefully observing the Giant camp.
"What's wrong?" Hermione turned to look at Liam, who was lying beside her. She noticed his face was ashen, as if he were suppressing a great deal of anger.
"Look in their pot", Liam whispered. Hermione aimed the telescope at the large pot placed by one of the campfires. After a few moments, she let out a stifled gasp. A human hand was being stirred by a stick.
"Hagrid never mentioned this. No one ever told me Giants eat humans", Hermione said, shocked.
"In the past, they might have only occasionally eaten Muggles who wandered into the valley by mistake. But it seems the Death Eaters have made these Giants more evil. They've forgotten the painful lessons of their past failures and have awakened the dark forces within them."
Liam pointed to a small cave on the other side of the cliff. "I feel there are at least twenty people in there, but only two Magical Reactions. They're likely Muggles the Death Eaters have captured to incite the Giants' bloodlust. The Death Eaters don't consider the Giants as allies; they see them as filthy beasts. They're only working together to exploit the Giants' combat strength and cause us trouble. In this situation, they'll use every means to make the Giants more brutal and savage."
After moving to the opposite side of the valley, they confirmed their suspicions through the telescope: Mcnair, dressed in black robes, was sitting at the cave entrance, and they could faintly see iron cages inside. Some were empty, while others held people. From their clothing, it was clear these were Muggles.
"What do we do?" Hermione asked. "The enemy is too numerous, and we are only two."
"Drink this first." Liam pulled out a bottle of bright red Elixir. "No sleeping tonight. We need to figure out their movements and come up with a plan."
After two hours of observation, they discovered a weakness. The third Death Eater on the perimeter had very little contact with the others. If they could take him out first, they wouldn't be discovered for at least a day or two.
The hidden Death Eater was very cautious. He had hollowed out the center of a massive tree trunk, several meters above the ground, and then used a Vanishing Spell to dispose of the wood. Finally, he replaced the bark, making it nearly impossible to detect anyone inside. From the small holes in the bark, he could monitor the area above the cave where the other two Death Eaters were stationed.
The Death Eater had also set up numerous defensive and surveillance spells around the tree, turning the area into a formidable stronghold.
Liam was able to detect this individual because the tree stood out like a beacon in the presence of Nature Magic. The Death Eater had left this significant vulnerability because no Wizard in Britain had possessed Nature Magic for centuries, so he hadn't considered this aspect.
"Stay here and monitor the Giant's movements. If anything happens, use your rings to notify me. I'll go deal with the Death Eater hiding in the shadows first." Liam instructed Hermione, then climbed out of the observation point backward, only standing up once he was behind the tree and climbed away.
"Good luck!" Hermione whispered to herself as she watched Liam leave. She then raised her telescope and continued to observe the Giants and the cave on the opposite side of the hill.
Liam swiftly leaped from branch to branch in the forest, stopping only when he was about ten meters away from the tree where the Death Eater was hiding. He sensed a Magic barrier around the area.
"Let me take a look." Liam pulled out a purple Crystal Orb and made a few gestures. The Crystal Orb quickly displayed numerous runes.
"Peaceful protection, all guards, enemy traps. It seems this Death Eater is using fairly conventional Magic—what's this?" Liam suddenly noticed a Magic he had never seen before on the Crystal Orb.
"Soul, perception, shockwave. Any intelligent being that gets close will receive a soul impact? This Magic is quite novel. It seems the person hiding in the tree is a Wizard skilled in soul attacks." Liam thought as he pulled out a few soul defense Talismans from his Spatial Bag and activated them. Then he began to break through the surrounding defenses and Magic.
Each time he neutralized a Magic, the corresponding runes on the Crystal Orb disappeared. After 15 minutes, the last rune vanished. Liam checked his equipment and jumped out.
Reaching the tree where the person was hiding, Liam touched the trunk and quietly communicated with the tree. Soon, he determined the exact location of the Death Eater: the person was sitting against the wall of a tree hollow, peering through a small hole in a movable piece of bark.
"Against the tree, that makes it easier." Liam smiled, then drew the Blade of the Enemy, which he had obtained from the The Lord of the Rings world, and positioned himself on a branch above the Death Eater.
"Now—time to act." The Death Eater was human, and in the moment when he lowered his head to drink, Liam, who had been standing on a branch with his eyes closed, suddenly opened his eyes and leaped headfirst from the branch.
The wind rushed past his ears, and the ground rushed toward him. But Liam's mind remained calm and sharp.
"1, 2, act." After mentally counting to two, Liam confirmed his position and thrust his sword into the tree trunk. The Magic Sword, forged by Elves, smoothly pierced through 20 cm of wood and a layer of Magic defense, emerging from the other side and impaling the Death Eater's neck. The tip of the sword then protruded from the Death Eater's throat.
The Death Eater died instantly. Even though a Wizard's life force is stronger than a Muggle's, the severing of the neck bones and the nerves within was enough to cause immediate death.
In the split second after the sword pierced the target, Liam let go and used the momentum to flip in the air, adjusting his position. He landed on his feet and rolled to absorb the impact.
He quickly stood up, wand at the ready, and aimed at the area where the enemy had been. But there was no counterattack.
After confirming the person was dead with Life Magic, Liam disarmed the traps below the tree, retrieved his sword, and moved the piece of bark aside.
"Aemicius Carrow." Liam recognized the Death Eater he had killed by lifting the chin with his sword tip. As one of the ten escaped Death Eaters, Liam had seen his photo in the newspaper. This explained why the defenses around the area were so basic; Carrow was known for his simple-mindedness, despite being quite skilled in combat and extremely cruel. He likely wouldn't have set up complex defenses.
"The first target is taken care of, and the area is clear. The next task is to address the core issues." Liam quickly gathered the loot, then hurried to meet up with Hermione.
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report
