But as she listened further, Astoria narrowed her eyes. She seemed to have thought of a way to break the stalemate.
"Granger, you should be able to control who enters your domain, right?" Astoria suddenly asked.
"Of course." Hermione did not grasp her intention and simply nodded.
"Then why not try pulling the puppet into your domain? Based on the earlier 'paint' analogy, this place should already be covered by your color. My sister and Cedric can take advantage of the moment it's pulled in to claw back some ground!" Astoria reasoned.
She believed Hermione could use the advantage of her domain to restrain the puppet, buying Cedric and the others some time, and repeatedly disrupt the puppet's actions by dragging it into the domain again and again.
The time the puppet disappeared was only a bonus. Even if Hermione alone could stall it for an hour, that would only amount to a single second outside.
The key lay in the "stiffness" that occurred when the puppet entered and exited the domain. Hermione certainly would not explain the characteristics of her domain to the puppet, nor would she tell it when she planned to pull it in or release it. That would naturally create enormous interference for it.
After hearing Astoria's idea, Cedric's first reaction was opposition. It was far too dangerous. But Hermione felt she could give it a try.
Her confidence did not come from what Astoria had said about "this place already being covered by her color," but from Rhys's phantom within the domain.
Through her persistent efforts, Rhys's phantom was now capable of communicating externally and making physical contact.
In other words, Rhys's phantom already possessed combat ability.
This was Hermione's greatest trump card.
The four of them had been in such a sorry state this time precisely because Rhys had been trapped. If he were here, the puppet would definitely not be a match for Rhys, who possessed a complete domain.
The simple-minded Hermione did not consider one question: why had Rhys, who had a complete domain, been trapped by a single spell for so long?
At this moment, all her attention was focused on the plan she was about to carry out.
After some discussion, she sent Cedric and Daphne out of the domain, while Astoria remained behind with her to restrain the puppet.
The instant Cedric and the others disappeared, the puppet was pulled inside.
Suddenly appearing in an unfamiliar place, the puppet froze for a moment.
Before it could react, Astoria's rapid-fire barrage of attacks came crashing down. To demonstrate her value to the fullest extent, she even unleashed the offensive spells built into her magical items.
The sudden turn of events and the relentless string of attacks left the puppet thoroughly disoriented, causing it to fall completely into the disadvantage.
Taking advantage of the opening, Hermione silently recited Rhys's name in her heart.
Very quickly, Rhys's figure appeared beside the table behind the bookshelves.
"The library is quite lively today," the phantom Rhys said with a smile as he drew his wand and began fighting the puppet.
Boom! Boom! BOOOM!!
His spells were far more refined than Astoria's, and he completely suppressed the puppet.
Only then did the puppet react and attempt to unfold its own domain within Hermione's domain.
But this was, after all, Hermione's territory. The puppet's domain expanded much more slowly. At first, it merely caused grains of sand to appear across the library floor.
"Oh? It actually possesses a domain. How impressive," the phantom Rhys remarked, unable to resist praising the puppet.
While the phantom Rhys held the puppet down, Hermione tried to summon Astoria's phantom as well.
Although it felt a bit hurtful to think this way, Hermione believed that even a mosquito was still meat. No matter how weak Astoria's phantom might be, it could at least provide some level of restraint.
However, to her slight surprise, the attempt to summon Astoria's phantom failed.
Glancing at Astoria, who was not far in front of her and was currently casting spells at the puppet, Hermione felt a flash of understanding. So long as the person themselves was inside her domain, she could not summon their phantom.
As the puppet's domain gradually expanded, Astoria and the phantom Rhys began to be slowly suppressed.
As the battle continued, a bold idea suddenly surfaced in Astoria's mind.
'Huh? Since this phantom is the Rhys from Hermione's memory, then can this phantom control Rhys's domain?'
She felt it was worth trying.
Just now in the Forbidden Forest, she had not dared to casually unfold Rhys's domain, worried it might cause too great a disturbance. But inside Hermione's domain, those concerns no longer existed.
Even in the worst-case scenario, wasn't the puppet right here to "clean up the mess" for them?
Astoria directly grasped her citrine brooch and activated the fragment of Rhys's domain contained within.
The instant the water droplet appeared, the phantom Rhys turned his head, a flash of surprise passing through his eyes. The next second, he took over control of the domain.
"Big help," he said softly. Then the water sphere, originally only half a person tall, rapidly expanded.
In less than a minute, Hermione's library was filled with thick, misty water vapor.
Puppet: ?!
It did not have long to be shocked, because the pitiful bit of sand it had just produced was already completely wiped away by the phantom Rhys's water mist.
The mist, composed of countless tiny droplets, seeped into the puppet's joints and seams. The puppet, which had been operating relatively smoothly, suddenly began to stutter.
After several explosive pops, the key components responsible for the puppet's operation were destroyed by the phantom Rhys.
Astoria and Hermione stared at everything unfolding before their eyes, so stunned that they even forgot to close their mouths.
After swiftly clearing the puppet's domain and destroying its central control components, the phantom Rhys's body had already become nearly transparent.
There was no need to say more. It was obvious he would not be able to last much longer.
The phantom first glanced at Hermione and Astoria, the corners of his lips lifting slightly, as if to say, "You two still need more practice," then his gaze locked onto the last trace of blood-red light remaining in the puppet's eyes.
The next instant, the red glow began to burn violently. Then, like fireworks, it flared brilliantly for a brief moment before completely fading away.
The puppet had been thoroughly dismantled by the phantom Rhys and had reverted to a pile of components.
Before disappearing, the phantom began to retract the domain.
After a burst of white mist rose and dissipated, the phantom Rhys vanished, leaving only a beautiful piece of citrine on the ground.
Astoria and Hermione both fell into silence.
They had originally intended to restrain the enemy, and yet they had ended up killing it outright.
Granger, your domain is practically cheating.
____
12 Chaps ahead at Patreon.com/HornyFBI