On the other side of the castle, Kyle and Catherine were strolling through the gardens.
Alfred, who had been accompanying them, had slipped away unnoticed at some point, leaving only Kyle and Catherine alone in the blossoming rose garden.
The corner of Kyle's mouth twitched. Alfred was a crafty old geezer; his intentions were far too obvious.
Even if he wanted to recruit a grandson-in-law, surely he shouldn't use such blatant tactics.
"Master Kyle, what is life like at Hogwarts?" Catherine asked with considerable curiosity.
She attended Beauxbatons Academy of Magic, located in the Pyrenees. It boasted a magnificent chateau that left visitors in awe, surrounded by vast, magically created lawns and beautiful mountainous scenery.
As the granddaughter of Alfred, a loyal Acolyte, it was only natural for her to be curious about Hogwarts, the school that produced the white wizard who had defeated Grindelwald.
Hearing her address him so formally, Kyle felt it created too much distance. "Miss Catherine, just call me Kyle."
"Is that alright? Then I shall call you that. Kyle." The young girl smiled like a flower in bloom. "Then you should just call me Catherine, too."
In the distance, Alfred, who had been sneakily observing the situation, couldn't help but reveal a knowing smile as he watched his granddaughter and the Little Demon King chatting so happily.
After chatting for a while about events—any one of which could have caused Dumbledore to stage a performance of The Headmaster's Fury at Hogwarts—Kyle finally asked the question that had been on his mind since they met:
"By the way, Catherine, why do you look..."
"Like I have an Oriental face, right?" Catherine knew immediately what Kyle wanted to ask.
Kyle felt a bit embarrassed. "Sorry, was my question a bit presumptuous?"
"It's quite alright," Catherine smiled faintly. "I was adopted. My name was changed after I was taken in."
Adopted. That explained it.
"Then you are originally from..."
"I am of Chinese heritage."
"So, what was your previous name?" Kyle asked curiously.
He felt it was strange for Catherine, with her clear Eastern heritage, to bear such a Western name.
"Konan." Catherine smiled gently.
Kyle: "???"
Konan?
That Konan?
You are darkness. In a world without light, flowers can only wither!
Kyle's expression turned odd. Should he find time to help Konan develop the Dance of the Shikigami?
If Konan put on the Akatsuki uniform, then a question arose...
Was he Nagato or Yahiko?
If he were Nagato, would he have to stab his best friend to death with a kunai?
Wait, he remembered that before the Akatsuki fell into darkness, Konan was with Yahiko.
Kyle rubbed his chin. Perhaps it was better to nip the crisis of growing a "green hat" on his head in the bud...
Ottery St Catchpole, the Diggory household.
Cedric suddenly noticed that his right eyelid wouldn't stop twitching.
A bad premonition arose spontaneously, as if something terrible were about to happen.
Pop!
Pop!
Pop!
In the castle's magic training room, Catherine held her wand upright before her. A barrier emitting a hazy white light blocked all three incoming Water Release: Great Shark Bullets.
That's right, she was fighting Kyle. This was a challenge Kyle had actively proposed.
Kyle wanted to know exactly how strong he was right now. However, in this vast castle, he couldn't find a suitable sparring partner.
To put it bluntly, anyone Alfred grabbed at random from his subordinates would be an elite wizard Kyle couldn't beat.
Kyle didn't want his opponent to suppress their strength just to fight him; even if he won against someone not going all out, there would be nothing to be proud of.
Therefore, as a seventh-year student at Beauxbatons, Catherine was the perfect candidate for a challenge.
Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!
After blocking Catherine's offensive with the Great Shark Bullets, Kyle slammed his hands onto the ground.
Four earth walls carved with dog heads instantly rose from the ground, encircling him and Catherine in the center. They formed a massive, enclosed dueling arena, and their vision plunged into darkness.
This was Kyle's objective: utilize the earth walls to cut off outside light and create a completely pitch-black environment.
A head-on confrontation was impossible to win; Catherine wasn't the type of slacker student who coasted through magic school.
Kyle didn't think for a second that he could win a direct duel of spell bombardment against Catherine.
In this dark environment, Catherine's reaction was exactly as Kyle expected.
While ensuring her Shield Charm was stable, she immediately cast the Lighting Charm for illumination.
Kyle covered his eyes and then drew his wand.
Muffliato!
Lumos Solem!
Endless radiance bloomed within the enclosed space.
Accompanying this creation-like brilliance was a tremendous noise exceeding one hundred and eighty decibels.
The destructive power of sound and light was maximized in this completely lightless, enclosed environment.
Protego could withstand the vast majority of magic, but it couldn't block sound waves and intense light.
Caught off guard, Catherine felt her head buzzing, and tears streamed uncontrollably from her intensely irritated eyes.
Fortunately, she barely managed to control her body and hurriedly layered several more defensive spells around herself.
Clang!
A loud sound of metal striking iron erupted behind Catherine.
Her hearing was still in a state of ringing shock, so she didn't capture the sound entirely, but she could roughly sense it.
Kyle tossed the broken kunai in his hand aside and lifted the forehead protector covering his eyes.
He had held back slightly just now for fear of hurting her, but he hadn't expected the defensive shell formed by the Shield Charm to be so thick; his kunai, forged from refined steel, had actually snapped.
However, he had no intention of taking a new kunai from his ninja tool pouch. He was going to attempt to use a different Jutsu.
A trace of electric light crawled up Kyle's right hand. As his magic converged, this trace of electricity grew stronger and stronger, gradually expanding until it was enough to engulf Kyle's entire palm.
A massive roaring sound, like a thousand birds chirping, erupted from Kyle's palm.
Feeling that the pain coming from his hand was still within an acceptable range, Kyle grinned in excitement.
He could finally use Chidori in actual combat.
On Catherine's side, sensing that Kyle's attack had paused, she seized every second to recover her vision.
In the instant her sight returned, Catherine could only see a streak of lightning rapidly expanding in her field of view.
Lightning Release: Chidori!
Kyle's attack was so swift and fierce that her body couldn't keep up with her brain. She could only watch helplessly as the lightning tore open the white light barrier formed by the Shield Charm and then crashed into her.
This was Kyle's first time performing Chidori with his body's cells activated by lightning.
He had underestimated his explosive speed; he thought he would be able to brake after breaking through the Shield Charm.
The two collided and instantly tumbled together in a ball.
Kyle only had enough time to swap positions with Catherine, using himself as a cushion between her and the Earth-Style Wall, before slamming heavily into the wall.
The soft sensation against his face made Kyle temporarily ignore the sharp pain radiating from both his arm and his back.
He remembered that Catherine seemed to be wearing high heels.
So, with the height difference between him and Catherine, this position seemed to be...
The "March of Pain" immediately began playing in Kyle's mind:
Grandma caresses you~
————
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