Chapter 678: Chamber of Secrets
Chapter 678: Chamber of Secrets
"Something is indeed off, but it's not because the defenses are lax. There are many contradictions in the defense setup", Liam said as he flew forward with Hermione in his arms, explaining to Gill, who was floating beside him. "There are far too few people guarding this place, yet the Magic Artifact we saw in the guard room is both expensive and difficult to deal with. If I weren't skilled in Alchemy, even a regular Wizard could manage to take out the guards in the guard room but would still fail to prevent the news from leaking out."
"So, what's the reason behind it?" Hermione furrowed her brow. "What could make the Death Eaters unwilling to station more people here, even though they know how important this place is, and instead choose to wait at a distance, ready to rush over at a moment's notice?"
"That's why I said this place is full of oddities", Gill nodded seriously. "We need to be extremely cautious when we get there. A place that's both important and sparsely populated makes me worry that they might be conducting dangerous Magic experiments."
In less than a minute, Ryan and the others flew to the small hill behind the warehouse. Liam thought that the reason they dug here was because this area of the entire manor had a stone ground, which allowed them to create a massive dimension. For Ryan and the others, this made it easier to monitor this suspicious location.
"There should be some Magical Reaction here, but the lack of any reaction is what makes this situation truly abnormal", Liam said after releasing a Scouting Orb to circle the small house. "If it weren't for the ultrasonic detection device in one of the Scouting Orbs, I wouldn't have even noticed the large dimension beneath the room."
"We should thank Wizards, especially Pure-blood Wizards, for their lack of interest in non-Magical technology", Hermione said softly, looking down at the house. "Otherwise, they wouldn't have left such a significant loophole for us to exploit."
"What should we do next?" Rose Crystal asked eagerly. "Should we launch a direct assault on the warehouse and its underground dimension, or do you have other plans?"
"Since you're the fastest flyer among us, you should go place these magic gems at the key Magic nodes around the plantation. Once you're done, we'll act together", Liam said, marking the important points through their soul link and passing a small leather bag to Rose Crystal.
Rose Crystal opened the bag and found it filled with gemstones the size of peas, each with a rune-like symbol made of light in the center.
"Do we really have to use all these beautiful gemstones this time?" Rose Crystal said, looking a bit pained. Perhaps because her name was Rose Crystal, she had a special fondness for shiny objects and felt a pang of regret at using them as disposable items.
"Sometimes, to achieve our goals, we must make sacrifices", Liam patted Rose Crystal's head. "If you really like these things, you can always visit my treasure vaults next time. There are far more gemstones there than here."
"It's not that I want the gemstones; I just felt a bit sad about using them", Rose Crystal said, quickly tying the bag shut and flying into the sky. "I'll place them all and be right back. You only need to wait a short while."
Rose Crystal moved quickly, returning in just five minutes. By then, Liam had used the ultrasonic data from the Scouting Orb to roughly determine the number of people in the room.
"I'm back, and everything is in place", Rose Crystal said as she landed. "The designated spots had Magic alarms, but since I'm not human, I didn't trigger any of them."
"Thank you for your hard work", Liam nodded to Rose Crystal, gesturing for him to sit beside him. "Now that everyone is here, let's plan our next move. Based on the reconnaissance, we can confirm—"
"Even on the ground floor, we've already identified at least three people in such a small room, and we still don't know how many are in the dimension below", Rose Crystal said, looking at the others with surprise. "You're right, this place is definitely suspicious."
"So we need to be extremely cautious, and we should even assume that the Dark Lord himself might be inside", Liam said. He then pulled out several amulets from his Dimensional Bag and handed them to the ladies. After ensuring they were all wearing them, he waved his hand, and the four of them set off. However, instead of heading straight to the only entrance to the room below, they used Magic to fly up to the roof.
"There are a few defensive spells, but they're not too troublesome", Liam said after sensing the roof. He quickly dispelled the spells, allowing everyone to land. Hermione, as she landed, said with a slightly complaining tone, "Flying in the air using just magic power is so clumsy. It feels like we're just sitting ducks. I need to find a proper flying spell next time."
"I'll help you with that", Liam said, drawing his wand. "Alright, everyone, take your positions. On the count of three, we'll blast through the roof and jump down."
"—One, two, three, Disintegration Spell." Seeing that everyone was ready, Ryan and the others simultaneously blasted through the roof and jumped down. As they passed through the roof, the room below came into view.
The room was dimly lit, and three Wizards in black robes were holding their wands, warily observing their surroundings. Clearly, they hadn't expected an attack from above and were quickly neutralized as soon as they raised their wands.
"More Death Eaters", Liam concluded after a quick check of their arms. "But these are more elite than the ones in the guard room. It seems there's something important below."
"I'll go first", Gill said. "Our movements have probably alerted those below, so it's safer for me to go first."
As she predicted, the commotion had indeed alarmed those below. As soon as the door to the underground tunnel opened, several green spell beams shot out. Fortunately, Gill managed to evade the attack by turning into her spectral form and dispersing.
"Damn, we can't get through", Rose Crystal cursed after being forced back. He had intended to use his small size to charge through, but he was quickly driven back by a barrage of spells.
"We need to think of another way", Liam said, turning to Hermione. "The floor here has been magically reinforced, and I can't dig through it quickly. Do you have any ideas?"
"We don't know if there are any hostages below", Hermione said, thinking quickly. "Our commotion has likely attracted reinforcements. If there are hostages, we need to retreat. If not, we can use some special tactics."
"You're right", Liam nodded, then released a pink light from his hands, which slowly seeped into the open entrance. He discovered four Dark Wizards gripping their wands tightly, ready to unleash a hail of spells at anyone who appeared. Behind them was a metal wall fortified with defensive spells, with only a single exit large enough for one person.
"The wall behind them seems well-defended, but I have an idea", Liam said, opening his Dimensional Pocket and retrieving something from inside.
(End of Chapter)
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