"Sizzle!
Nearby, the Ashwinders on the ground weren't giving up; they wanted to keep attacking.
But the spells that used to be so easy to cast were failing completely now. At most, a few dazzling sparks sputtered from the tips of their wands, looking somewhat pathetic.
"Professor!" The young members of the Knights Templar ran over, their faces filled with reverence.
"Finish them off," Victor Wick ordered.
"Yes!"
While the Ashwinder wizards' magic had failed entirely, these young people's spells still worked perfectly!
Spells streaked across the sky...
How could those Ashwinders dare to stay? Those who could still run fled in all directions instantly. Even those with leg injuries who couldn't run struggled to crawl away.
However, they had only taken a few steps before they realized their strength was vanishing, and it was disappearing fast...
It was as if this virtual palace could drain not only their magic but also their physical energy.
Soon after, the Ashwinders, who had lost all ability to resist, were slaughtered by the ten young men.
The man pinned in front of Victor Wick watched them being killed, his eyes twitching slightly.
"Are you the leader of the Ashwinders?" Victor Wick asked.
The man didn't speak; his gaze toward Victor was filled only with malice and hatred.
With things ending up like this, there was no way he could continue living, regardless of the outcome.
Even if Victor didn't kill him, he would be dead once he went back. Why would he bother answering Victor's questions?
Victor seemed to have expected this and didn't ask again. He simply pointed his long wand at the man's forehead.
White light instantly enveloped the man's entire head!
The light intensified.
The man let out a series of screams. A moment later, he collapsed in convulsions and never got up again.
Fleur looked at the man who had just breathed his last before turning to say, "Professor, we could have helped you interrogate him. We've been trained for it."
"No need. Everything he knows, I now know too." Victor flicked his wand, a wisp of white light still shimmering at its tip.
Since he could turn the properties of Felix Felicis into the Felix Felicis Charm, the properties of Veritaserum were much simpler by comparison. Victor had reverse-engineered it into a spell and even improved upon it, creating a new form of magic.
There were two versions of this new magic.
One was milder, providing general answers without harming the target.
The other was brutal; the target was guaranteed to die after its use, but it extracted the most comprehensive information possible.
This man had led a group to ambush the youths, and Victor never intended to let him go anyway, so he naturally used the second version.
Victor looked at the group of excited young people and nodded with satisfaction. "You did well. Fleur, record their names."
Hearing this, the youths became even more excited.
It seemed that Victor remembering their names was a greater reward than any bonus!
Fleur took out a notebook and wrote down the names of the members of the two squads.
Having grown up and trained together, she knew everyone here.
"Clean up the battlefield, deal with the bodies, and treat any wounds. Then, use the Vanishing Cabinet to return. I'll bring the suitcase back later," Victor instructed.
"What about the Chimaera's carcass?"
"Leave it to me. You don't need to worry about it; go back and get some rest."
Fleur nodded and placed the suitcase on the ground to open it. The Vanishing Cabinet was inside; another one was already set up in the training facility, allowing them to return directly to their headquarters.
The youths scattered, moving with practiced efficiency to clean up the site.
They stripped the items from the fallen wizards and piled the bodies together. Then, with a burst of Fiendfyre, those who had just been ferocious and dangerous Dark wizards were reduced to ash.
Victor watched their movements in silence, a hint of complexity flashing in his heart.
Clearly, the training these young people had received since childhood was far more intense than he had imagined...
This was definitely not the first time they had experienced such a scene.
Grindelwald... that old man really was no good...
Fortunately, neither am I...
Soon, the youths finished their work and silently lined up, climbing into the suitcase to leave quickly through the Vanishing Cabinet.
Victor walked up to the Chimaera's body.
There were no wounds or traces of curses on the beast... it seemed to have died of old age.
It made sense; almost no creature could rival such a beast, and only time could effortlessly take its life...
Victor was quite pleased; a complete Chimaera carcass would be of immense benefit to his experiments.
After inspecting it for a while, Victor brought the suitcase over.
Runic sequences flowed through the air, and before long, the space inside the suitcase had been expanded a hundredfold...
Victor casually tossed the Chimaera into the suitcase.
The squad that had discovered the Chimaera earlier had been hit so suddenly that they hadn't had time to prepare such a container. They had been forced to fight while on the move; otherwise, those Ashwinders might not have caught up with them.
As for why the Ashwinders had arrived so quickly, it was because they had been tracking the beast for a long time.
Seeing that the beast was near death, they didn't need to risk hunting it; they only had to wait.
But they hadn't expected that after finally outlasting the old beast, they would encounter a group of youths swooping in to steal the prize. Naturally, they weren't going to let them off easily.
All of this was information Victor had just retrieved from the man's mind.
Although the Ashwinders had lost many men this time, it was far from a crippling blow. However, the Ashwinders weren't really a concern for Victor.
Not a single soul had escaped tonight, and those poachers wouldn't be able to find out who did it. Even if they knew, Victor wasn't worried.
He, Victor Wick, no longer needed to be as cautious as he once was...
Now, he finally understood some of the sentiment Grindelwald felt back then, casually walking into his own trap-laden hut.
Stowing the Chimaera away, Victor walked over to the massive dragon.
The dragon had fallen from the sky, and even though the height wasn't that great, for a magical creature of such massive size, the fall had still left it with significant injuries.
"Whoosh!"
The dragon looked up and spat a blast of searing flame at Victor.
However, a meter before the flames reached Victor, they were blocked by a thin firewall...
Victor raised his wand and tapped lightly toward the dragon's head. The head, which had been struggling to stay up, collapsed instantly. The dragon could only let out heavy breaths, unable to launch any more attacks.
Victor examined the dragon—a species that had never appeared in any magical creatures' books—and couldn't identify its breed for the moment.
There was no helping it; even the leader from before didn't know, only aware that it was a 'tool' assigned to him by his superiors.
Victor's gaze soon landed on the silver-white collar around the dragon's neck.
Complex runic sequences were carved into the collar...
"This is goblin alchemy... used to forcibly enslave magical creatures," Victor murmured. "Those fellows really do have their specialties."
Goblin products truly were impressive; the runic sequences on this collar were exquisitely crafted, surprising even Victor.
After his assessment, Victor placed his hand on the collar. The runic sequence flickered... He hacked directly into the collar and seized control.
The dragon's fierce eyes instantly cleared. Its body, which had been struggling violently to break free of Victor's control magic, relaxed at that moment.
"Alright, you're coming back with me too." Victor packed the heavily injured dragon into the suitcase as well.
Victor locked the case and gave his wand a gentle flick over his head.
The massive palace that had been covering the scene turned into streams of data and vanished into the air.
Victor picked up the suitcase and took a step forward, his silhouette disappearing from the spot instantly...
Urgent footsteps echoed in the empty corridor.
Snape strode forward.
Just as the Halloween feast had begun, Quirrell had come running in, babbling about a troll being loose.
It had caused total chaos...
Once the students were being evacuated, Snape discovered that Quirrell, who had just fainted in the Great Hall, had actually disappeared!
Snape wanted to find Dumbledore, but he found that Dumbledore had also disappeared at some unknown time. And Victor... that guy hadn't shown up at the feast at all tonight!
Therefore, Snape had to head to the fourth floor alone.
Snape didn't know the Philosopher's Stone on the fourth floor was a fake; he only knew he absolutely couldn't let Voldemort's servant get his hands on it!
He hurried to the fourth floor and, without stopping to think, threw the door open!
Just as Snape entered, Quirrell peered out from a dark corner in the corridor behind him, watching Snape's back with a grim expression.
He had been planning to go in... but he hadn't expected Snape to arrive so quickly!
While Quirrell was cursing his luck, a scream suddenly erupted from inside the room, followed by... a series of barks!
Quirrell's face turned pale. Whereas he had been resenting Snape just a moment ago, he was now somewhat grateful to the man.
He knew it wouldn't be that simple!
"Click!"
The door swung open again.
Snape scrambled out in a panic, slamming the door shut behind him!
Through the brief opening of the door, Quirrell saw the three ferocious heads behind Snape!
A Cerberus! Dumbledore had actually put a three-headed dog here to guard the door! Moreover, Snape had arrived so quickly!
Quirrell was now absolutely certain the Philosopher's Stone was behind that door.
Putting the Cerberus aside, just Snape's frantic behavior proved that Dumbledore cared deeply about this place.
If the Philosopher's Stone wasn't there, why would Snape be so worried, rushing over to check and even getting bitten by a dog?
At that moment, Snape slumped in front of the door, his face pale...
He hurriedly pulled several bottles of Dittany from his pocket and poured them onto his wound.
"Ugh..."
The intense pain caused Snape to break out in a cold sweat.
Snape felt incredibly frustrated. In the span of just one month, he had been bitten by dogs twice!
And both times, it was the same leg!
Snape began to wonder if he had offended dogs in a past life!