If one really had to rank them, Link actually favored Newland more.
After centuries of exploration by countless wizards, Newland's path of development had already been clearly proven to be a bright and reliable road.
It was not only well-rounded and powerful, but the entire path had been planned out in great detail.
As long as Newland followed this road step by step, he would naturally become a powerful wizard.
Even if Newland's current combat strength looked weaker than Sigefin's, that was only because Newland hadn't had access to especially powerful spells. It had nothing to do with the path itself.
Sigefin was different.
He was walking a development path that had no reference points at all.
Even though he appeared extremely strong right now, his long-term future was still a complete blank.
In one sense, that represented infinite potential, but at the same time it also meant that Sigefin would have to build an entirely new system from scratch, and he couldn't afford to make a single mistake along the way.
As far as Sigefin was concerned, Link wasn't optimistic at all.
After all, the existing wizarding system had taken thousands of years to grow from nothing into what it was today, consuming the lives of countless geniuses along the way.
For Sigefin to try to accomplish all of that on his own was simply absurd.
He wasn't some protagonist out of a fantasy novel.
In fact, if it weren't for Link, whether it was Newland or Sigefin, both of them would have faded into mediocrity and become nameless extras who wouldn't even get half a sentence in the original story.
Thinking this, Link exchanged a glance with Emily, and his smile grew even wider.
"So, what do you plan to do with that giant?" Emily said softly as she wrapped her arm around Link's.
Link shrugged when he heard that.
"You care about that too?"
"I don't care, of course," Emily said, then tilted her head toward Harry and the others. "It's just that your three little companions seem to care a lot."
Link followed her gaze and, sure enough, saw Harry, Hermione, and Ron all wearing deeply conflicted expressions.
Seeing this, Link didn't rush to speak. He simply watched them quietly, waiting for them to speak first.
Harry and the other two naturally noticed Link's gaze.
But even though words to plead for Grawp were already at the tip of their tongues, they just couldn't bring themselves to say them.
The Grawp before them now, covered in blood, eyes full of savagery, brutally ruthless in his actions, felt far too unfamiliar.
In the past, Grawp had often done cruel things that hurt other creatures, but Grawp himself had been pure, even kind.
Those terrible outcomes had only happened because he couldn't control his strength.
But now, it was different.
They could tell that Grawp clearly knew what he was doing.
He was even enjoying the process of destruction and killing.
On some level, this directly proved Link's earlier argument that giants were dangerous and inherently disastrous beings.
It also filled Harry and Hermione with deep sorrow.
Because during the fight, the word Grawp kept repeating, "hello", was the very first human word that they and Hagrid had taught him.
Now, a greeting meant to be warm and kind had been twisted into something used in bloody combat, imbued with malice.
Harry couldn't imagine how heartbroken Hagrid would be if he ever learned this.
As they hesitated longer and longer, the distant battle gradually reached a fever pitch.
All kinds of spells flew through the dense forest, and the low ground where Newland and Sigefin stood was becoming increasingly muddy and scorched.
To be honest, under Umbridge's relentless investment of resources, the black-clad volunteers had already developed tactical discipline that somewhat resembled that of Aurors.
Or rather, they were probably elite candidates originally trained by the Ministry of Magic to be funneled into an Auror expansion program after graduation.
Facing Newland and Sigefin, whose individual combat power was clearly higher than theirs, they didn't blindly charge forward.
Instead, they fully exploited their numerical advantage, forming three-person squads and using the forest as cover to carry out constant mobile firing.
At the same time, they tried to reshape the terrain, creating swamps and toppling trees, in an attempt to force Newland and Sigefin apart.
They were confident that once the two were separated, their superior firepower would allow them to subdue them easily.
This increasingly polished teamwork put tremendous pressure on Newland and Sigefin.
Without the effects of the Battle God's Roar Elixir and the Mental Stimulation Potion, they would have collapsed already.
And the worst part was that the effects of those two potions were gradually weakening and were about to disappear completely.
"Link, they can't hold on much longer. It's your turn," Emily said again from the treetops.
"No need to worry, right?" Link replied.
"Whether it's Newland and Sigefin or Umbridge's volunteers, they all know they're Hogwarts students, so none of them really intend to kill. Even if Newland and Sigefin are captured, they won't be in danger."
He paused, as if suddenly thinking of something. "By the way, if it really comes down to the wire, how do you think they'd handle that giant?"
Emily rolled her eyes at him.
"What else would they do? They'd kill the giant immediately and destroy the body. That's the only thing they could do after failing their mission. They know very well that if the body falls into Umbridge's hands, they won't have a good time either."
As soon as she said this, Harry, Hermione, and Ron's faces turned deathly pale.
Emily let out a deep sigh.
She knew her fiance's twisted sense of humor far too well.
Reaching out, she lightly pinched Link's arm as he chuckled, then said again, "Umbridge has already gotten the news and is on her way. Unless you really want Newland and Sigefin to be captured, you should make your move now."
Link glanced at Emily, then at the hopeful looks on Harry and the others' faces. In the end, he nodded.
"Fine. I'll indulge you this once."
As soon as the words left his mouth, Link shot out like a cannonball, propelled by a blast of white steam.
The thunderous boom instantly drew everyone's attention on the battlefield.
Newland and Sigefin, as well as the black-clad volunteers, all stared slack-jawed at the white streak cutting across the sky.
The volunteers clearly had no idea what was happening.
Newland and Sigefin, however, instinctively let out a breath of relief.
But that relief lasted only a split second before being replaced by overwhelming terror.
Because as the white streak passed directly over their heads, an enormous pure-white sphere of light suddenly plummeted downward.
"This is a goddamn indiscriminate attack!" Newland couldn't help but curse.
Beside him, Sigefin had already slammed his sword into the ground.
Under the control of transfiguration magic, the frozen earth beneath their feet instantly split open into a long fissure, like a gaping mouth, swallowing Newland and Sigefin whole before snapping shut again.
At the exact moment the opening closed, the sphere of light finally hit the ground.
There was no massive explosion, no searing heat, no blinding flash.
The huge sphere of light was like a smoke ring magnified countless times, turning into a thick, spreading cold mist the moment it landed.
Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack…
Within the mist, dense sounds of ice forming rang out nonstop.
The ground, which had just been blackened by spellfire, was quickly covered in frost again.
And that frost continued to spread outward with the cold mist.
At this point, even the dumbest person realized something was terribly wrong, and the black-clad volunteers were no exception.
The tightly coordinated squads immediately scattered in all directions.
Wrapped in thick white mist, Link descended from the sky.
He walked forward over the frost, the ice beneath his feet creaking with every step, while several volunteers nearby wailed in agony on the slippery surface.
These were the unlucky ones who hadn't escaped in time.
The rapidly spreading frost had almost instantly frozen them together with the ground beneath them. The most unfortunate were even encased halfway in thick ice.
They weren't without ideas for self-rescue.
But whether it was fire spells or finite incantatem, none of it had any effect on Link's frost infused with curse power.
Link didn't pay much attention to them.
When he released the cold mist, his control had been precise. It wasn't enough to take their lives, only to cause severe frostbite.
In the Muggle world, that kind of injury would be a death sentence, but in the wizarding world, it wasn't considered particularly serious, perfect as punishment for siding with Umbridge.
When Link reached the center of the impact, an ice mountain blocked his path.
He brushed away the fine snow covering its surface and saw the giant Grawp frozen inside.
Even after such a devastating blow, Grawp hadn't lost consciousness. In fact, Link's frost had conveniently stopped his bleeding, indirectly easing his injuries.
When Link looked at him, Grawp rolled his eyes and met his gaze.
Link couldn't help but marvel at the giant's resilience.
After clicking his tongue in amazement for a moment, Link snapped his fingers.
Two house-elves from the Flamel family estate, dressed in tailcoats, instantly appeared before him and bowed respectfully.
Link didn't speak. He simply pointed at the ice-encased giant.
The two elves skillfully pressed their hands against the ice and, using Apparition, transported it away.
From here on, the heavily injured, half-crippled giant would be imprisoned together with other captured ferocious magical creatures in an underground holding facility, or zoo, owned by the Flamel family.
Life there probably wouldn't be pleasant for Grawp.
His wild nature had fully awakened, and he certainly wouldn't behave himself.
Unfortunately for him, the wardens of that zoo were all disabled veteran hunters.
Their biggest flaws were their terrible tempers and complete intolerance for disobedient animals.
Once Grawp arrived, he would inevitably be "trained" (tortured), but at least he wouldn't have to worry about starving for the rest of his life.
That was already the greatest mercy Link could offer.
From a purely profit-maximizing standpoint, killing Grawp outright would have been the better option.
So Link felt that neither Harry nor Hagrid had any grounds to complain.
While Link was dealing with Grawp, Newland and Sigefin also emerged from underground.
They didn't say a word, simply standing behind Link in silence.
This was entirely due to the psychological impact of Link's earlier indiscriminate attack.
Newland and Sigefin had truly witnessed what Link looked like when he unleashed his full firepower, and because of that, the shadow that attack cast over them was almost infinite.
After all, if Link really wanted to eliminate them, hiding deep underground wouldn't have helped at all.
It wasn't until they surfaced and saw that the black-clad volunteers who had taken the attack head-on were still alive and kicking that they finally believed Link had no intention of killing them, easing their fear slightly.
Only slightly.
When Link turned to look at them, the fear radiating from them was still strong enough to make him wrinkle his nose.
But that was exactly the outcome Link wanted.
Toward people like Emily, Cedric, or Krell, those who had followed him from the very beginning, Link never begrudged showing mercy and genuine friendship.
But for latecomers like Newland and Sigefin, a certain amount of fear made it easier to extract loyalty.
Of course, pure oppression like Voldemort used in his later years wouldn't do.
Carrots and sticks were the eternal formula.
The stick had already come down. As for the carrot, it would be better to wait until the lumps on Newland and Sigefin's heads swelled a bit more.
After sizing them up for a while, until both of them were trembling and lowering their heads, Link finally smiled, offered no explanation, and turned his gaze toward the other side of the forest.
There, Umbridge was approaching quickly, surrounded by nearly twenty volunteers.
Perhaps to match their attire, Umbridge had unusually abandoned her garishly bright outfits and instead wore a pure black mink coat.
It should have been a very serious look.
But after trudging through the snow for so long, the coat was covered in snow, and combined with Umbridge's short, stocky build, she now looked exactly like an oversized fat penguin struggling across the snow.
Worst of all, Umbridge seemed completely unaware of this, maintaining a solemn, imposing expression the entire time.
Link couldn't help but laugh out loud.