Chapter 442: Bombs and Flames

Chapter 442: Bombs and Flames

"It's time."

The long-awaited signal finally arrived from afar, and the man who was once known as the "Devil" decades ago, along with the core members of the Wizengamot, would be trapped at that estate, unable to suddenly return using Apparition magic.

Oh... right... it should be called Apparition.

The man with high cheekbones mentally corrected his statement, a smile of satisfaction playing on his lips.

He hung up the phone and nodded to the person beside him. The young man slammed down on a red button, causing a mechanical female voice to announce: "Launch sequence initiated, 3, 2, 1, 0!"

A black bomb, trailing a fiery tail, pierced the air and flew forward, leaving a white smoky trail in its wake.

As it soared into the sky, its previously relentless speed abruptly slowed, as if hindered by an invisible force.

The next moment, the ammunition exploded, and an invisible wave of energy suddenly spread out! The young man's instrument responded first—the screen that had been glowing dimmed suddenly, and the indicator lights beside it all went dark. He tapped on the keyboard, but nothing happened.

The young man clicked his tongue, tossed the discarded instrument aside, and looked up at the distance.

A fierce wind carrying snowflakes rushed towards them, almost blinding. The man with high cheekbones shielded his face with his hand, squinting as he witnessed a marvelous sight through the gaps between his fingers—

The invisible air seemed to shatter like broken glass, and a spiderweb-like crack spread from top to bottom, refracting tiny, outward-radiating light, like a tree growing upside down.

At one moment, the spiderweb suddenly shattered and disappeared, transforming into specks of light, akin to the morning after a snowfall, where ice crystals in the air refracted the morning sun.

Amidst the scattered light, a gigantic castle seemed to materialize out of thin air, resembling a colossal beast emerging from the mountain rock.

The dark gray outer walls emanated a cold, metallic glow, and the main tower's spire appeared to be at least a hundred feet tall. The surrounding moat was thirty to forty feet wide, and the surface had already frozen over with thick ice. An oak drawbridge connected to the castle via thick iron chains.

Everyone's breath caught in their throats.

Such a massive and majestic structure still evoked awe in modern society, let alone in ancient times, where it would have seemed like an invincible giant.

And just ten seconds ago, the distant landscape had been a pile of ruins, without a single intact wall to be found.

"Magic..."

The young man spoke with a mix of awe and reverence.

Then, the man with high cheekbones waved his hand and shouted, "Attack!"

The truck's shield instantly clattered to the ground, and slender cannons extended. Fully armed soldiers stood by, manually operating the weapons. The next moment, a deafening roar filled the air as countless bombs soared towards the castle!

...

For Volvaret, today was a day of distracted work.

His young friend had been taken away by Grindelwald, and he wasn't sure if they would return safely. The obedient apprentices had also been taken, and a group of lazy alchemists ran faster than anyone else, hoping to find good hiding spots on the battlefield.

Ever since everyone had left, Volvaret had paced back and forth in the room dozens of times. Finally, he opened his treasure chest and took out his precious potions, counting them bottle by bottle before placing them on the table.

When they all returned, there would surely be injured little ones who could use these potions...

Volvaret tried to calm himself through this process, but he couldn't shake his concern about the potential casualties, just like before.

Suddenly, his arm trembled, and he felt an indescribable stinging sensation throughout his body, as if he had been stung by a venomous scorpion.

Volvaret snapped his fingers, and the flames in the fireplace shot up, as if everything had returned to normal.

No... it didn't feel quite the same as usual...

The fire in the fireplace, for some reason, seemed brighter than usual, and it made a strange whooshing sound.

Volvaret noticed his shadow on the ground changing with the light, and he slowly realized that the bright light was coming from behind him... from outside the window.

He turned his head and saw the sky glowing with an eerie green light. Countless bombs, trailed by fire, were flying towards the castle!

"Enemy attack!" someone shouted in a voice that seemed to tear through the air. The next moment, the bombs hit the castle, shattering the glass instantly. The massive shockwave knocked Volvaret to the ground, slamming him into a cabinet, and blood gushed from his forehead.

Volvaret's vision blurred, and his ears rang. He propped himself up a little, and all he could see was debris and dust swirling in the air. His wand slipped from his hand and rolled under the experiment table.

The castle's stone walls, reinforced by generations of wizards, withstood the barrage of artillery, remaining steadfast despite the occasional collapse in certain areas.

Volvaret, momentarily deafened by the blast, scrambled to his wand and swept all the potions into a box. Suddenly, the door burst open.

A terrified witch rushed in, pulling Volvaret to his feet. She spoke urgently, but he couldn't make out a word.

"I can't hear!" the old man shouted. "What are you saying? What's happening out there?"

The witch with her hair in a bun said something and dragged Volvaret out of the room.

The main force of the Wizengamot, following Grindelwald, had left the castle, leaving behind mostly the elderly, the weak, the injured, and the bodies of those recently returned from the battlefield.

Chaos had engulfed the castle, with wizards screaming and running in all directions. Some were injured, their bodies covered in blood, being dragged to safety by their companions.

"Wait! Wait!"

Volvaret forcefully shook off the witch's hand, trembling as he took out potions from his box. With a wave of his wand, he distributed them to the injured.

He drank a bottle himself, and the effects of the potion were immediate. Soon, Volvaret could hear countless noises.

"Muggles! It's a Muggle army!"

"How did they find us? The castle has concealment and Muggle-repelling charms!"

"The protective spells are all failing! Where is Mr. Grindelwald? When will they return?"

"He's dying! Who will help me?"

"Calm down! Everyone, to the basement! Run to the basement!"

The strange whistling sound echoed again, like a chorus of Erumpents, causing the crowd to pale as they realized another round of bombings had arrived.

"Protect us all!"

"Iron Armor Charm!"

"Obstruction Charm!"

Wizards threw out incoherent spells, and the light of magic flickered, but their eyes betrayed fear and desperation.

The window suddenly lit up, and in the next second, a loud explosion shook the castle, shattering all the glass. A scorching blast swept through the corridor, howling as it went.

The once-gloomy corridor was now bathed in brightness, casting long shadows behind the people. The stone walls rattled, emitting a sandy sound, and a pebble rolled off the high windowsill.

But...

No one else was injured, and the walls didn't collapse further.

The window remained intensely bright and hot, but the bombs seemed to detonate before reaching the castle.

"Wh-what happened?" someone whispered.

Volvaret swallowed, nudging the young man beside him. He approached the window and peered out through the narrow opening.

As the light outside rapidly contracted, a golden-red bird with fiery wings, two to three times larger than a Thestral, took flight.

"What is that?" exclaimed a young witch in awe. "Is...is it a phoenix?"

When it came to phoenixes, one couldn't help but think of Dumbledore, the only known wizard in the magical world to have a phoenix as a pet, and the most powerful wizard revered even by his enemies.

Volvaret hesitated and shook his head. "No, Dumbledore's phoenix is much smaller than that..."

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Before Volvaret could finish his sentence, he froze, witnessing an astonishing scene.

In the distance, where the Muggle army had gathered, black mist surged, overturning several trucks and hurling screaming soldiers into the air.

It was a force of pure, destructive power...the very power Grindelwald had sought for most of his life.

Merlin.

Volvaret's mind whispered the name, awestruck and unable to speak, struggling to comprehend the unfolding scene.

Why was Merlin outside the castle? What was this peculiar firebird? They seemed to be protecting those inside...but why? If this was a defense arranged by Grindelwald, why didn't he mention it to anyone? Volvaret was baffled, and what happened next was even more bizarre than anything he could have imagined in his dreams.

The firebird, which had detonated all the bombs in mid-air, now flew through the flames, seemingly absorbing some power from them, its body expanding until it resembled...an ever-growing Fiendfyre.

Amid the chaos of overturned Muggle vehicles, a fat cannon emerged, aiming at the swirling black mist. A flash of blue light, and the mist shattered, vanishing as a frail girl fell from the sky.

Muggle soldiers fired at the girl, but a cloak flew in front of her, blocking the bullets. Suddenly, a broomstick appeared from nowhere, catching the girl and whisking her away.

The firebird, which had seemed to be enjoying the flames, screeched in anger. Its body, now over a dozen meters tall, charged at the Muggles! Its long tail swept across the ground, leaving a trail of blazing fire in its wake.

The massive body was an easy target, even in the air, and was easily hit.

The firebird was also hit by the cannon's invisible "bomb," its trajectory suddenly shifted, and it slammed into a distant hill, igniting a large area of fire.

While everyone's attention was on the firebird, the broomstick stealthily flew back and dropped a strangely colored cube from high above.

"Bomb!"

Soldiers near the impact point screamed and rushed for cover. The cube landed above the cannon, and metal claws suddenly extended from its sides. With a few rapid movements, it disassembled most of the cannon at a speed invisible to the naked eye and even chopped it with an axe several times!

"Fire!"

The Muggle commander shouted, and bullets rained down. The cube suddenly unfolded a shield, instantly covering itself completely, blocking all the bullets.

But the shield wasn't invincible, and dents quickly appeared on its surface. The strange cube, while defending itself, started to move. It suddenly dropped the shield, rolled to the side, and as the shield hit the ground, the high-speed bullets struck the truck's fuel tank!

"Boom—"

The explosion sounded again, turning the surrounding area into a sea of fire! In the flames, the cube leaped up, and various weird tools—metal claws, pliers, wrenches, bottle openers, shovels, and more—extended from its sides, like a fierce warrior, slaughtering the Muggle soldiers around it, who scrambled for cover.

Suddenly, a masked freak appeared. His strength was terrifying, like a rampaging bull, slamming into the truck and flattening the fronts of several vehicles.

These two seemed to have copper and iron bodies, unafraid of Muggle bullets, and even fearless of death. They grabbed Muggle guns and started shooting at the truck's fuel tank and even the weapon boxes!

Several explosions went off one after another, and the hot wind singed people's hair.

The wizards in the castle crowded at the windows, watching in disbelief, feeling like they were witnessing a surreal comedy.

Just when they thought the Muggle army was helpless against these guys, a clawed gun was fired.

"Zzzzz—"

A powerful electric arc flashed, and both the cube and the masked man suddenly weakened, as if their joints had rusted and they couldn't move.

The high-cheeked man laughed coldly. "I knew it. Anything related to magic can't withstand this kind of attack. Let me see what you two are!"

He approached the masked man and tried to pull the cloth off his face.

"Thunder explosion!"

Someone roared, and the high-cheeked man flew out like a thrown sandbag.

Two or three dozen wizards, who had been hiding nearby, suddenly became visible, and they all raised their wands.

"Petrificus Totalus!"

Spells flew across the battlefield, but Volvaret heard someone next to him groan, "Merlin... that seems to be... the Order of the Phoenix?"

Volvaret glanced at him and recognized a young wizard from Britain. He asked curiously, "The Order of the Phoenix?"

The young wizard trembled as he explained, "That was more than twenty years ago. Dumbledore created a secret society to resist the Death Eaters and the Death Eaters. It's said that they suffered heavy losses in the first British Wizarding War and disbanded ten years ago... I know two of them."

He seemed to have discovered a big secret and muttered, "Looks like they've regrouped... The Order of the Phoenix must not be here to help us. Dumbledore might show up soon... Should we... should we run away now?"

He looked around anxiously, fearing that the headmaster would appear before his eyes the next second, and he didn't know what to do.

Volvaret didn't pay attention to his next words. Instead, he asked with a strange expression, "Dumbledore created a secret society to resist Voldemort... and a secret society?"

Suddenly, he felt indignant and said angrily, "Why didn't he create it when we were ruling Europe?"

The young wizard broke down. "Is that the point?"

"Bang!"

A loud banging sound came from the outer wall, and everyone turned to see a familiar flying broomstick hovering outside the window without glass. The cube, the masked man, the girl who could turn into a silent observer, and a firebird that looked very similar to a Fiery Horde were all staring at them, each emitting a dangerous aura.

"Excuse me, where is our master, Vide Gray?" the cube asked politely.

Next to it, the firebird spread its wings, and golden-red light flashed in its mouth. Black mist rose from the girl, and her pupils turned slightly white.

"Good question, I'd like to ask that too," said Sirius and Lupin, who had also appeared outside the window, wands in hand, pointing at the many members of the Wizengamot.

"Let the child go!" Sirius said coldly. "Or you can go join those Muggles."

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end