Chapter 649: Counterattack
Chapter 649: Counterattack (Request for Subscriptions, Favorites, and Votes)
"Is that bird still following us?" After flying directly north from Brest at the tip of the Brittany Peninsula into the English Channel, Liam asked Hermione through the Phoenix Mark.
"It's still following us", Hermione replied, surprised. "We've rested twice, but the bird hasn't changed. What kind of bird can fly for over three hours without resting?"
"Should we take care of that little bird first?" Rose Crystal suddenly suggested. "I think a wizard like Lucius Malfoy would be quite cautious in this situation. A bird following us for hours should have been noticed by now."
"You're right, and now is a good time to deal with it", Liam said. He then maneuvered the Thestral to fly backward and aimed an Avada Kedavra at the bird. A green glow flashed, and the little bird plummeted into the sea like a stone.
"Alright, they should now be certain of our identity. Let's head west", Liam said after rejoining the group. "We'll circle around the western coast of Ireland; it should disrupt the ambush they have set up."
Half an hour later, they were flying over the sea a few dozen miles off the coast of Ireland. Dark clouds covered the sky, and Ryan and the others were struggling to fly through them.
Suddenly, several green glows shot at them from their right rear. Ryan and the others, who were prepared, quickly had their Nightwalkers fold their wings and dive, avoiding the attack.
"Seven of them", Liam quickly assessed the number of pursuers. After identifying their equipment, he warned Hermione and Rose Crystal, "They're wearing uniform robes and all have Nimbus 2001 brooms. This isn't a random group like before; they're a trained elite squad."
"Understood", "Got it", Hermione and Rose Crystal replied in unison. They then quickly flew to the sides, as if trying to escape due to their perceived weakness.
This behavior fit their current status as recent graduates, and the attackers believed it too. As Hermione and Rose Crystal flew to the sides, two of the pursuers broke off to chase them, engaging in a spell duel that quickly took them into the clouds.
"One against five, the odds are much better now", Liam thought. Recognizing the leader as Auror Dawlish, he concluded that this squad must have defected to Voldemort. In Britain, only they were trained and organized enough to mount such an attack.
The spells coming from behind confirmed this. The spells were precise and aimed at critical points. If not for Liam's ability to communicate with nature and control the Thestral flawlessly, anyone else would have been knocked out of the sky.
"This distance should be enough", Liam thought as the pursuers, led by Dawlish, got closer. When they were within 50 meters, Liam activated Rose Madonna, cutting off their control over their brooms.
Unlike the previous unorganized group, these pursuers immediately abandoned their brooms and used their equipment to float in the air, maintaining their formation. They even fired a couple of spells at Liam to prevent him from taking advantage of their moment of vulnerability.
"You're not Lucius Malfoy", Dawlish realized. "You're the Pink Demon."
"Caught me", Liam replied, extending his pair of crystal-like pink wings. He then gracefully flew off the Thestral, dodging two Killing Curses.
As the five wizards gripped their wands and watched Liam with tense expressions, a sharp whistle came from the left. Before they could react, a purple light struck the wizard on the far left, causing his head to explode like an overinflated balloon.
A green glow shot out from the right, striking the Wizard on the far right. He didn't make a sound as he plummeted from the sky, splashing into the sea and creating a small white wave.
Delius panicked and looked around, only to see a small Doll in a purple dress and a brown-haired girl riding a Thestral descending from the clouds on either side.
"We are Aurors and Hit Wizards from the Ministry of Magic. You can't—” Before he could finish his sentence, a powerful pink beam of magic from Liam forced him to dodge to the side. His two subordinates weren't as fortunate. After losing their broomsticks, their movements in the air became extremely clumsy, and they were quickly killed by Hermione and Rose Crystal's magic.
"They are not Aurors, just Hit Wizards", Hermione said to Liam through the Phoenix Mark. "Real Aurors are much better than this. I've practiced with Tonks before. Even a beginner like her is far more skilled than these people. At the very least, she wouldn't lose all mobility after losing her broomstick."
Dawlish, the genuine Auror, confirmed this. Upon realizing he was no match in the aerial battle, Delius immediately abandoned his floating magic artifact and plunged toward the sea, apparently hoping to use some magic to escape from the water.
However, his last hope was shattered by a pink feather. Liam shot a feather from his wing, which, crystal-like, pierced through Delius' multiple layers of defense and struck him fatally.
"Looks like our ambush today was quite successful", Rose Crystal said as she flew to Liam's side. They spent a few minutes opening a dimensional gate to transport the bodies and called upon Gill to erase any traces. Then, led by Hermione, they Apparated to a town on the outskirts of London.
"I came here when I was very young. It's as deserted as I imagined", Hermione said, using her wand to change their clothes before walking down the path. Liam also returned to his original form and looked around, realizing they were in an abandoned park.
"This place used to be a coal mining town, but it was abandoned about a decade ago after the mines closed", Hermione explained in a low voice. "We can find an empty house to sort through the loot and deal with these bodies."
Exiting the park, they faced a wide street lined with two- and three-story red brick houses. The scale of these houses and the street indicated that this residential area was once quite prosperous.
But time had taken its toll. Many of the roofs had collapsed, the windows were shattered, and the walls were covered in graffiti. The thick layer of leaves on the paths at the entrances suggested that the place hadn't seen much human activity in a long time.
"Perfect for what we need to do next", Hermione nodded approvingly. She and Liam then jumped through a broken window frame of a black hole.
"Why don't you use magic to open the door?" Rose Crystal asked, puzzled. "I remember there's a specific spell for that."
"Of course not", Liam turned and explained seriously. "This place is too close to London. We need to use as little magic as possible to avoid drawing attention."
"Understood", Rose Crystal nodded and flew over to help Hermione sort through the loot from the bodies and perform some cosmetic alterations to prepare for the next steps.
"Your product is selling well", Hermione said, removing a silver bracelet from Delius' wrist and waving it at Liam. "It's almost a standard item for both sides now."
(End of Chapter)
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