Chapter 96 — The Collapse of the Soviet Union and the Auction
"So this is… the head of a skeleton knight?"
Gomez recognized it at once. "You found this in the ruins as well?"
Wednesday's eyes gleamed as she stared at the skull, practically glowing with excitement.
"And lastly, there's this."
Russell placed the branch of the Avalon apple tree before them.
The room fell silent.
Everyone stared at it, wide-eyed. They had expected the final treasure to surpass even the skeleton knight's head—yet it was nothing more than an unremarkable twig.
That was, until Russell explained its origin.
"So Avalon truly existed…"
Morticia gazed at the branch with barely concealed longing. After all, what woman wouldn't want to preserve her youth and beauty?
"I think I can guess where those gold coins came from now," Gomez said slowly.
"They were most likely minted by Morgan le Fay herself—though unfortunately, they were later completely destroyed."
Russell had originally assumed that when the Addams spoke of a "ruin," they were referring to Morgan's trial site.
Instead, they had genuinely unearthed a tomb.
There were no burial treasures inside—only a coffin containing a dried corpse.
According to the murals carved along the tomb walls, the deceased had once been a wizard under Morgan le Fay's command, tasked with guarding her treasure until the end of his life.
The tomb itself had been built by his own hands.
Out of respect for this nameless guardian, the Addams family chose not to pursue the treasure he had protected.
Even if they had wanted to, it would have been futile—the site had self-destructed shortly after Russell's departure.
When Russell relayed this to Morgan, she remained silent for a long time.
Only after a while did a single sentence appear in the diary:
"I clearly told him… that he was free."
---
The situation in the Soviet Union continued to deteriorate.
On August 19th, its end was officially announced.
That day, the Chairman of the Soviet Magical Committee declared his resignation.
Moments after stepping out of headquarters, he was torn apart by frenzied Soviet wizards.
With the Committee's dissolution, the massive magical barrier covering the entire nation was shut down as well.
At the same time, foreign wizards poured into the Soviet Union in droves, each eager to tear off a piece of its corpse.
The Addams family was no exception—though their approach was far subtler.
They had amassed wealth beyond measure. To them, gold was nothing more than dust.
And dust was exactly what Soviet wizards lacked the most.
Desperate to flee, they began selling everything that couldn't be carried—fast.
Rare spellbooks, potion ingredients, enchanted artifacts of dubious origin flooded the market at shockingly low prices.
And all the Addams family paid… was money.
Gomez took advantage of the chaos to acquire quite a few valuable items of his own. Just as they were preparing to leave with a full haul, a letter arrived for him.
"An auction?"
It seemed that his lavish, unrestrained spending had finally attracted attention. Someone had sent him an invitation.
Originally, Gomez had no intention of attending. However, after glancing through the list of items, he noticed several extraordinarily rare magical artifacts—things no ordinary wizard could possibly obtain.
The Soviet Union had long since done away with noble wizarding families. From this alone, Gomez could tell that whoever was organizing the auction had to be a former high-ranking member of the Soviet Magical Committee.
"In that case," Gomez said calmly, "let's go take a look."
Morticia naturally accompanied him. Ever since they had been together, the two were rarely apart.
Russell also wanted to broaden his horizons, and when Wednesday saw that Russell was going, she followed without hesitation.
Fester, on the other hand, had little interest in such matters and stayed behind in the room with Pugsley.
---
The auction was held in a Muggle grand theater.
No acting troupe had the heart to perform anymore, making it an ideal venue.
The auction itself proceeded smoothly, without incident. Gomez dominated the event with overwhelming financial power, cutting a swath through the bidding and walking away with significant gains.
Just as the auction was nearing a perfect conclusion, the unexpected happened.
A squad of uniformed wizards suddenly burst in from outside the theater, barging in with brazen force.
"Alexei. Petrov. Kolosov. Smirnov. Sokolova."
A bald man with pale blue eyes and an emotionless expression called out coldly.
"Stop hiding. Your acts of selling off national assets have been classified as treason. By authorized order, I hereby sentence you to death."
"Then… does that mean we're free to leave?"
A pot-bellied wizard hurriedly stood up.
"Americans?"
The bald man frowned slightly.
"I'm afraid not. Due to your transactions with traitors, you are now classified as spies. You will come with us for questioning. If no issues are found, you may leave."
"Heh."
A wizard seated in the front row stood up, arrogance written all over his face as he drew his wand.
"The Soviet Magical Committee has already collapsed. Who do you think you are, judging me?"
"Yuri, do you still think you're the Director of the Magical Security Bureau?"
He spat on the ground.
"Bah."
The Magical Security Bureau was roughly equivalent to Britain's Auror Office—the director being something like its chief.
With that, he launched an attack on Yuri without hesitation.
Often, people only need a single spark.
Once he moved, the other wizards attending the auction—fighting for their lives—joined in, unleashing spells at the intruders.
"Questioning before release?"
Nice words—but everyone knew the reputation of the Magical Security Bureau. Even if you were clean, they would fabricate charges if they felt like it.
Some wizards attempted to Apparate away, but Yuri and his men had anticipated this. Anti-Apparition barriers had already been set up outside.
Yuri watched the attacking wizards impassively, his expression utterly unchanged.
Spells of every color shattered harmlessly as they neared him. He wasn't fighting alone—the wizards behind him had layered Shield Charms together, forming an unbreakable barrier around him.
"Pointless resistance," Yuri said coldly.
He raised his wand high, then slammed it downward.
"Confringo."
A crimson beam burst from the tip of his wand.
Wherever the light swept across, violent explosions followed. Objects struck by the spell were smashed apart as if struck by an invisible, overwhelming force—pulverized in an instant.
Debris flew everywhere. Smoke and dust filled the air, the echo of explosions ringing through the theater.
The once-grand hall was reduced to ruin. The surviving wizards were left battered and disheveled.
The American wizard who had spoken earlier hadn't even managed to raise a defense. He was blasted by the shockwave, his body drenched in blood, his fate unknown.