On the hunters' and saints' position.
There was no need at all for Link to issue any orders.
The moment those spell barrages formed in the air above, everyone immediately set up layer after layer of Full Protection Charms around the dragon-hunting ballistae.
The next second, the dense spells poured down like sheets of rain, smashing fiercely against the shields, making ripples ripple across the surface. Some unlucky spots that were hit repeatedly even shattered open directly.
But the hunters' movements were even faster.
Under their magic output, those damaged areas were instantly repaired, directly causing this wave of concentrated fire from the Aurors to achieve absolutely nothing.
Scrimgeour, floating high in the air, watched this scene with his face turning black.
Because this scene was nearly identical to how the Aurors had defended against the Death Eaters at the entrance of Gringotts earlier.
And in fact, the Full Protection Charm tactic the hunters were using right now originated from the Auror forces.
This tactic, along with the special variant casting method of the Full Protection Charm, had originally been a secret technique of the Auror Corps, classified strategy. But after the large-scale downsizing following the Second Wizarding War, it leaked out.
The Flamel family's hunter squad had absorbed many retired Aurors, so naturally they inherited it as well.
But even though he was furious, Scrimgeour still issued the order for the back-row Aurors to continue firing spells to cover the front-row Aurors' advance.
Though the Aurors were currently so poor they had no means to destroy the enemy's dragon-hunting ballistae from mid-to-long range…
Scrimgeour still firmly believed that Aurors' close-quarters combat was absolutely invincible.
And once they reached close range, those dragon-hunting ballistae would be useless.
But just as his command left his mouth, Link down below suddenly swung his wand hard, throwing out a basketball-sized orb of light.
The light orb shot straight up into the air at incredible speed, then exploded, hanging in the sky like a dazzling sun. In an instant, it illuminated the entire cavern as bright as day, and also exposed the Aurors moving silently in the darkness.
Scrimgeour's expression changed drastically on the spot.
The opponent's glowing-flash spell, like a fusion of a flashbang and a flare, had not only blasted the Aurors out of stealth, the intense light also temporarily robbed them of combat ability.
Meanwhile, the hunters down below burst into ecstatic cheers.
Shooting upward at a high angle, their range was far shorter than the Aurors', and the ballistae consumed tremendous energy, so they couldn't just fire blindly. That was why they had been forced to defend passively earlier.
But now things were different.
Without the slightest hesitation, more than a dozen dragon-hunting ballistae fired at once. The thick energy bolts shot straight into the group in the air like long rainbows piercing the sun.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
A chain of violent explosions shook the air.
For a moment, the flames roaring skyward even drowned out the light of Link's "flashbang."
Those unlucky enough to be hit directly were vaporized into nothingness, no screams, not even a scrap of a corpse left behind.
The teammates around them didn't fare much better.
The powerful shockwaves and heat instantly killed or knocked them out.
And this wasn't even all of the hunters' attack.
Facing the Auror units that had already partially entered their range, the hunters firing the ballistae specifically chose slightly farther targets.
The rest of the hunters, long prepared, cooperatively raised their wands and launched a volley.
Dense crimson bolts shot skyward. Those "fish that slipped through the net" at the very front collapsed instantly, their bodies stiffening as they fell from the air.
Pap! Pap! Pap…
Another round of "heavy rain" hit the transparent shield above the hunters' heads.
But unlike last time, this "rain" wasn't enemy spells, it was corpses and mangled limbs.
The brutal, savage sight made Newland and Sigefin turn pale, completely at a loss.
Only today did they finally understand how cruel and bloody wizard warfare truly was.
———
Meanwhile, behind the Auror frontline, Scrimgeour felt no less shocked than they did.
He was a veteran of the Second Wizarding War, familiar with countless ingenious strategies and tactics, but because of the Ministry's underfunding and over a decade of peace in the British magical world, he had never witnessed a new defensive system centered around large dragon-hunting ballistae.
The scene before him undoubtedly opened a brand-new door in his mind.
His current mood was no better than the Polish Winged Hussars facing the German tank-infantry steel flood back in the day.
"D-Director… what should we do? Retreat?"
His assistant Auror approached, stammering.
At those words, Scrimgeour snapped his head toward him, eyes blazing with fury so intense it was nearly tangible.
In the Auror Corps' dictionary, the word "retreat" didn't exist.
But the moment he turned, he noticed that all the surrounding Aurors were looking at him with hopeful eyes.
Their eyes held none of their usual pride or confidence, only fear.
Which wasn't surprising. Anyone would think of retreat if their unit lost nearly one-third of its numbers in a single volley.
In fact, the Aurors not collapsing already showed remarkable training and strong will.
Scrimgeour's gaze swept slowly across the crowd, and everywhere it passed, every Auror lowered his head in shame.
This made Scrimgeour's expression grow even darker.
Finally, gritting his teeth, he ordered, "Everyone, lift all attack restrictions. I grant you maximum wartime free-fire authority. Prepare for one last assault!"
The moment he said this, the previously ashamed Aurors instantly raised their heads, their faces filled with disbelief.
Both "lifting attack restrictions" and "maximum wartime free-fire authority" were powers that should never be granted unless absolutely necessary.
The first meant they could use any spell they wanted, including Dark Magic and the three Unforgivable Curses.
The latter was even more extreme.
It meant the commander was voluntarily relinquishing command authority.
It allowed everyone to freely choose targets and open fire without hesitation.
If necessary, they could even fire at their own teammates.
And any consequences from these two orders would not fall on the soldiers, they would fall entirely on the commander who issued the orders.
"Director…"
The assistant Auror stared blankly at Scrimgeour, pupils trembling from sheer shock.
Scrimgeour did not speak, he simply nodded at him.
That tiny gesture swept away all of the assistant's hesitation, leaving only unshakable resolve.
He drew a deep breath, turned, and charged downward into the storm of fire, his wand swinging wildly as several sickly green Killing Curses shot out.
This was like a signal.
The previously frozen Aurors suddenly roared and charged as well.
One Killing Curse after another, one Fiendfyre spell after another, erupted from their wands.
If the Death Eaters outside saw this, their eyeballs would probably pop out in shock.
Because the way these Aurors used Unforgivable Curses and Dark Magic was even more practiced than actual Dark Wizards.
Which was understandable.
The Ministry's funding for Aurors was so low they could barely maintain daily operations, if Scrimgeour wanted to raise combat ability, he could only work on things that cost nothing.
Moreover, during the Second Wizarding War, Aurors had used Unforgivable Curses plenty of times.
Now, on the battlefield, with the Aurors unleashing Dark Magic, the previously one-sided situation slowly became more balanced.
The Killing Curse's extreme speed and instant-death nature caused the ballista energy bolts to be detonated mid-air again and again.
The massive energy released by the explosions was then instantly absorbed by the surging Fiendfyre, transforming into even larger flame beasts rushing downward.
The Aurors didn't even need to use much mental effort to keep the Fiendfyre under control.
Because to the Fiendfyre, compared to mere wizards, the charged ballistae shone like blazing suns in the sky.
The Fiendfyre charged downward relentlessly, barely noticing the Aurors.
Faced with such ferocity, the hunters' and old saints' position finally experienced casualties.
Seeing a Killing Curse slip through a gap in the shield and strike a hunter directly, Link's expression darkened.
Power surged out from his body, before even forming a spell, it condensed into a tangible whirlwind, whipping his combat robe violently.
Link stepped forward with his right foot, arm bent as though charging a slash.
"Severing… Shadowless!"
Ssshh!
A terrifying blade of nearly twenty meters was unleashed, tearing straight through the Full Protection barrier and bursting with a violent shockwave in mid-air.
The well-trained Aurors immediately noticed the anomaly.
They all concentrated fire on the blade.
Attempting to use the old method, energy against energy, to cancel the slash.
They were confident.
Because the Killing Curse not only had one of the highest energy levels among curses, its single-point penetration was nearly the strongest known!
Normal spells couldn't withstand even an instant of collision, they would be crushed outright.
Those cases in the books where a Disarming Charm clashed with a Killing Curse and won were miracles created by countless coincidences, impossible to reproduce in real combat.
However, once again, they completely misjudged the situation.
The Shadowless Severing Slash Link unleashed wasn't something that could be compared with ordinary spells.
Its blade was composed entirely of ultra-dense curse power. In terms of energy level, normal Killing Curses weren't even worth mentioning.
Before everyone's eyes, the enormous blade collided with the rain of green light and scattered Fiendfyre.
A shocking scene unfolded.
Explosions bloomed continuously in the air, but the blade didn't even pause, it shattered every spell in its way in an instant, tore straight through the Auror ranks, killed a significant portion of them, and then slammed into the rock wall.
BOOM!
The wall split open, and several low-level vaults hidden inside were sliced apart.
A large wave of Galleons shot upward along with chunks of stone and dust, forming a bizarre rain of gold coins.
The battlefield fell silent instantly.
Coins and rubble fell past both sides. A few coins even hit some people on the head.
But right now, no one reached out to pick any up. No one even looked at them.
Everyone was staring, stunned, at the massive gash carved into the stone wall.
A long moment later, a thunderous cheer erupted from the hunters' and saints' position.
They cheered while rapidly launching attacks upward at the Aurors once again.
The situation on the Aurors' side was completely the opposite.
Link's strike had nearly broken their minds.
Even now, after regaining their senses, their fighting spirit was mostly gone.
Most maintained only minimal resistance, while glancing again toward their director, whose face was now black as charcoal ash.
As for some others, they already started secretly helping the hunters destroy the Anti-Apparition enchantments of the underground Gringotts vault.
They knew very well, ahead were enemies blocking the way, behind were enemies chasing.
Their only escape was to break the barrier as soon as possible and Apparate out.
Their actions were extremely discreet, but Scrimgeour noticed everything.
He didn't punish these "deserters."
But his mood was so foul it could no longer be described with a simple word like "bad."
The Auror Corps' combat ability was weaker than he had ever imagined.
By his past experience, if the Aurors launched a full assault, shouldn't the enemy be crushed in a single charge?
How had they ended up like this despite having the obvious advantage in numbers?
Looking at the panicked, lost faces around him, Scrimgeour felt bitterness fill his mouth.
He gritted his teeth and finally declared, "We... retre..."
Before the last word could leave his mouth, a green Killing Curse grazed his ear. The terrifying energy shredded a few of his hairs and smashed directly into the chest of his assistant Auror beside him.
Under Scrimgeour's shocked gaze, the assistant's expression of hesitation remained vivid, but all color drained from his body in an instant, turning pale gray.
The flight charm surrounding him flickered unsteadily.
Instinctively, Scrimgeour reached out to catch him,
But his hand closed on empty air.
The assistant's corpse rolled downward, bouncing off the rock wall a few times before being blasted into dust by another dragon-hunting bolt.
Scrimgeour's heart trembled violently along with the explosion of the corpse.
That Auror had been his assistant for three years.
Though somewhat talkative and prone to small mistakes, overall he was still a good young man.
Scrimgeour had planned to send him to gain experience after Christmas, so that he could shoulder greater responsibilities in the future.
But… he died here.
Scrimgeour's eyes reddened instantly.
He clenched his teeth and looked downward, only to suddenly realize something was wrong.
That Killing Curse just now… seemed to have been fired from above?
Scrimgeour jerked his head upward, and his pupils shrank sharply.
The cavern ceiling, once lit by torches, was now pitch-black. Countless Dark Wizards were hovering in the air under the lead of a drifting black figure, laughing wildly down at them.