The combat prowess and devastating capabilities of giants needs no explanation.
These monstrous beings possess gigantic physiques that tower over even the tallest humans. Their tremendous physical strength is legendary—a single giant can tear apart stone structures with its bare hands, can lift and throw objects weighing several tons as casually as a human might toss a pebble.
Moreover, among all magical creatures chronicled throughout history, the natural resistance of giant skin to magical attack ranks among the very highest. Only the most powerful curses and concentrated magical assaults can penetrate their defenses reliably.
Most critical and frightening of all these attributes, these terrifying creatures are savage by nature and revel in slaughter and destruction. It's absolutely no exaggeration to say that a dozen giants gathered together and working with even minimal coordination constitute a brutally effective army capable of overwhelming almost any conventional defensive force.
Even if the Ministry of Magic's elite forces of best trained Aurors and Hit Wizards had gathered here in full strength with proper preparation and support, they would still be unable to overcome these beasts without paying a terrible price in casualties and resources.
So, when this entire pack of giants appeared suddenly on the battlefield, even the battle-hardened bounty hunters who had survived years of dangerous mercenary work lost their will to resist. Many simply fled without even trying to fight.
Therefore, when Tafir and Thanatos managed to execute their brilliant combination to actually take down a giant—the scene immediately earned wave after wave of enthusiastic cheers across the chaotic battlefield.
After all, bounty hunters were a highly adaptable lot by necessity.
Once these mercenaries fully realized that the binding magical contracts left them absolutely no possibility of escaping this battle unscathed, they made the rational choice to throw themselves wholeheartedly into mortal combat against the giants.
Recovering somewhat from his brush with death, his heart still hammering wildly in his chest, Tafir immediately expressed his genuine admiration and gratitude to Thanatos. His voice was breathless but sincere.
"With a kill like that on your record—no one in the underground world will dare provoke you casually in future!"
"In future? You're talking about the future?"
Thanatos gasped out the words, still catching his breath from the magical exertion. The corner of his mouth was twitching.
"I only hope I can survive today!"
Giants are not particularly social creatures by their nature. These individually powerful beings generally prefer solitary, private lives and only tolerate communal living when forced into it by the harshness of their external environment.
However, this preference for solitude doesn't mean they remain completely unmoved by witnessing the deaths of their own kind, especially deaths that happen right before their eyes.
A mournful, terrible roar echoed across the entire battlefield!
Simultaneously, eight giants that had been occupied wreaking general havoc elsewhere on the field suddenly turned their massive heads. They spotted the fallen giant and the dragon skeleton standing over it. Their minds made the connection instantly.
They charged toward Thanatos's necromantic creation with unstoppable, savage momentum!
Thanatos and Tafir were frightened out of their wits by the sight of eight giants bearing down on their position. They didn't hesitate for even a fraction of a second.
Both men hurriedly transformed themselves into formless gray mist through advanced Transfiguration, becoming insubstantial and flashed away more than two hundred feet!
Other defenders saw the charging giants and tried to help. Colorful and vicious spell-light exploded continuously against the charging giants from multiple angles. But only a few managed to break through the giants' natural magical resistance and inflict any actual harm worth mentioning.
However, these scattered successful attacks only made the already enraged giants more frenzied and violent rather than producing any decisive tactical effect or slowing their charge.
Thanatos watched helplessly from his new position, as eight completely maddened giants pounced like a pack of hungry wolves on his painstakingly cobbled-together dragon skeleton.
Crack!
In a single instant, the magnificent dragon that had just performed so valiantly shattered completely to pieces under those massive hammering fists. One particularly large giant, showing unexpected thinking, wrenched out the dragon's entire spine from the scattered remains.
It held the long chain of spine like an improvised whip and wielded it viciously against the wizards who had been attacking them from the flanks!
Thwack!
One unfortunate wizard didn't even have time to cry out in pain or fear. His body simply transformed into a spreading puddle of mangled, unrecognizable flesh under the tremendous impact!
In less than two minutes since the giants had first entered the fray, at least a dozen defenders including members of the Ministry's Auror teams had perished on the spot.
And accompanied by a deafening roar that echoed between the remaining buildings, the last structure still standing within half a mile—Gringotts' magnificent and majestic entrance hall collapsed completely in rolling, choking clouds of dust and debris.
Among the massive piles of rubble lay nothing but the severed limbs and crushed bodies of goblins!
Whoosh!
"AVADA KEDAVRA!"
A sound of tearing air came from somewhere above the dust-filled sky, cutting through all the other noise. It was followed immediately by a rough, deeply angry shout.
A rich green curse-light broke through the obscuring haze. It struck with devastating accuracy at a giant that was currently pursuing Thanatos and Tafir.
The very instant the Killing Curse made contact with the giant, the creature staggered like a drunk man who had lost all coordination. His previously thunderous steps immediately became feeble. After stumbling forward a few more paces on momentum alone, the giant crashed to the ground with a thunderous impact that created a small crater!
But!
The giant hadn't actually died from the Killing Curse!
He merely lay there as if struck by some powerful weakening charm, his bloodshot eyes were still moving, breathing painfully!
"Moody!"
Sirius on his racing as he flew, stared down in shock at Alastor beside him.
"The Ministry hasn't authorized the use of Unforgivable Curses!"
"Then you can bloody well wait around to become stuffing between these big fellows' teeth, Sirius!"
Moody roared roughly, not bothering to look at him. His sharp gaze remained fixed intently on the giant just struck by the Killing Curse. His wand was already rising to deliver a proper finishing blow to make certain.
Whoosh!
At that critical moment, a vicious blast of wind struck from the side without warning.
"Get clear, Alastor! Incoming!"
Sirius immediately called out an urgent warning. Then he jerked his broomstick handle sharply to one side with all his strength, dodging the incoming boulder at the last possible second!
Boom!
The boulder that had nearly killed Sirius happened to land near Thanatos's current position instead.
The powerful shockwave from the impact threw him violently to the ground. When he finally managed to crawl painfully out from between the scattered stones, spitting blood and dust, and surveyed the battlefield, his face immediately darkened completely!
The Ministry still had some Aurors and Hit Wizards alive and fighting—he could see perhaps a dozen scattered across the battlefield. But these 'courteous gentlemen' were still pelting the giants with common spells like Stunning Charms and basic Impediment Jinxes.
It was utterly, completely useless against creatures with such high magical resistance!
Instead of helping, that group was actually being chased around like panicked chickens by a single moderately sized giant!
His fellow bounty hunters were performing considerably better under the circumstances.
They had quickly realized that fighting giants one-on-one was completely futile and suicidal. So, they had adapted, forming spontaneous groups of two or three fighters. They were cooperating capably to disperse the overly concentrated giants before engaging in prolonged combat from multiple angles simultaneously.
Moody, who had just arrived from abandoning the second train, showed genuine courage and practical thinking.
He dared to throw around Killing Curses at giants without hesitation or legal concerns, treating the situation as the genuine war it was.
And Sirius, once initially alerted to the desperate nature of their situation, had immediately thrown all caution and legal restrictions to the wind as well—he was now using whatever spells and curses proved most effective.
However, even these two skilled fighters were being tied down and neutralized by the giants they were engaging.
Though the giants possessed low intelligence by any reasonable measure—over thousands upon thousands of years, they had still somehow managed to pass down some tactical experience and survival wisdom through their crude culture.
The two particular giants currently entangling and occupying Sirius and Moody had shown unexpected cleverness.
They had lifted two of Gringotts' massive entrance doors to use as improvised shields. The doors blocked the fierce curses raining down from above. Then, from behind this defensive barrier, the giants grabbed whatever rubble lay at hand and hurled it viciously toward the sky with their tremendous strength!
Under the enhancement of their tremendous natural strength, those seemingly ordinary fragments of stone and metal attacked Sirius and Moody like bullets!
"Protego!"
Sirius roared, and his hastily conjured magical barrier bloomed just in time to block the incoming debris. But the impacts were so powerful they made him wobble dangerously on his flying broomstick!
Moody, with decades more experience, managed to dodge one entire wave of deadly debris through superior flying skill and his magical eye's ability to track projectiles. He raised his hand immediately to retaliate with another Killing Curse.
The spell struck the improvised door shield with a heavy, resonant clang that rang across the battlefield but the giant crouched behind it remained completely unharmed protected by metal and luck!
"Oh, they've actually gotten clever! Wonderful!"
Moody cursed and maneuvered his broomstick to dodge yet another wave of thrown stones.
The battlefield had fallen into utter chaos. Wizards screamed continuously as they died or were wounded. Giants roared in both triumph and agony as spells occasionally found vulnerable spots.
Half of Diagon Alley's streets showed no trace of their former prosperity and commercial vitality—they had been completely reduced to smoking ruins and rubble!
'This is actually a good chance to escape!'
The selfish, survival-focused thought flashed through Thanatos's mind as he found himself momentarily untargeted by any giant.
However, the burning sensation that spread throughout his entire body the moment he seriously considered fleeing forced him to abandon the idea completely.
'We have to finish off these giants quickly! There's no other option!'
A ferocious, desperate light flashed in Thanatos's eyes as the thought formed through gnashed teeth.
If the Dark Lord Voldemort had made his move, he absolutely couldn't have sent only these giants to do his work. So far, his actual Death Eaters and the rumored dark wizard army still hadn't shown themselves on the battlefield!
Thanatos absolutely refused to believe those dangerous, fanatical people intended merely to hide in the shadows and watch passively while giants did all the work. They had to be planning something, waiting for the right moment to strike.
'Should I use that?'
A visible struggle flickered in Thanatos's eyes.
After obtaining that particular object from the wretched Viper, he had spent nearly a full year in dangerous experimentation before he could even barely control it without killing himself.
Thanatos believed that thing was sufficient to sweep through the giants. But afterward, after using it, he would be left completely defenseless and magically exhausted for hours.
"Heh!"
After only a brief hesitation—Thanatos realized that he had no real choice. Otherwise, forget about the Death Eaters and the Dark Lord who might appear in some dramatic fashion at any moment—just the giants already present on the field could very well annihilate everyone currently defending Diagon Alley!
Having made his final decision, Thanatos raised his head sharply and shouted loudly toward Sirius and Moody, who were still engaged in their desperate aerial combat with giants using improvised shields:
"Let's make a deal, Moody! Black! I need guarantees!"
The harried, exhausted Moody and Sirius were immediately drawn by Thanatos's unexpected shout cutting through all the other battlefield noise. The two veteran fighters exchanged glances through the smoke-filled air.
"What exactly are you planning to do, Norus!"
Moody roared back.
'Damn you to hell, Moody!'
Thanatos's face darkened considerably behind his mask—this observant fellow had already seen completely through his disguise somehow!
"That bastard Fawley said that if we complete this mission successfully, my previous criminal record at the Ministry gets completely wiped clean, and I can legitimately work for the Department afterward, right?"
Sirius was slightly startled.
'The tall figure fighting below was actually Norus Deman from the Department of Mysteries?! A Ministry employee gone mercenary?'
"If you have some ace up your sleeve, use it quickly!"
Moody roared bluntly, dodging another boulder.
"Otherwise, the Ministry can only promise not to shortchange your death benefits to your next of kin, Norus! That's all the guarantee you'll get!"
'B*stard!'
Thanatos's expression twisted with frustrated rage.
"You and Black have to ensure I can leave here alive afterward! That's the deal!"
After shouting his demand furiously, Thanatos took a deep, centering breath to calm his racing heart. Then he suddenly raised his staff high and pointed it toward the heavens above!
Crack!
After a deafening thunderclap, a bolt of pure black lightning struck down from the sky. It hit the mountain of rubble and debris piled before Thanatos's position with tremendous force.
The ground shook. Dust exploded out in a ring.
ROAR!
A roar from ancient times reverberated across the sky above Diagon Alley!
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Author's Note: If you want to know more about thanatos you can go check chapter 0307 and 0308.
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