The wizarding world had undergone such a drastic change. Having remained in seclusion for so many years, he had clearly been careless.
The development potential of humans, a species capable of continuous growth, was unimaginable. Polaris felt a trace of regret. He should not have relaxed his surveillance of them.
"Then I wish you success," Polaris said with clear disinterest, no longer wanting to waste words. It would be better to let Voldemort experience it himself.
"My lord…" Seeing that Polaris was about to leave, Aries grew anxious and quickly called out to stop him.
"Oh, right." Polaris seemed to recall that he hadn't dealt with Aries's situation yet.
"You will stay here and represent the secret society in maintaining contact with Mr. Voldemort."
Aries: "…"
She felt despair wash over her. After spending these past days with Voldemort, how could she not understand what he was? He was a venomous snake wearing human skin, a complete monster.
For Polaris to arrange things this way meant he was treating her as a disposable pawn.
Indeed, in Polaris's eyes, Voldemort's importance now far exceeded that of a mere Zodiac mage. Aries's role was to remain here and act as bait alongside Voldemort.
He was also aware of Taurus's abnormalities, but it didn't matter. His divine domain was insignificant. Non-core members like chess pieces were as plentiful as needed.
"I've brought you some helpers." Polaris snapped his fingers, and more than a dozen robed figures with hoods appeared.
Aries looked at them, and her despair deepened. Those who had come were all the trusted subordinates of the four of them.
It was obvious—the organization intended to use them as offerings to feed Voldemort.
"Now you are all Death Eaters. Go with your Lord Voldemort and add a bit of excitement to the match!" Polaris vanished, his voice gradually fading into the air.
"I truly must thank Lord Polaris for providing me with so many subordinates," Voldemort said with a smile as he looked into Aries's eyes. "I'm not particularly picky about Death Eaters. As long as they are loyal to me, they are my servants. But only the truly outstanding ones who pass my approval can receive the Dark Mark."
Aries shuddered. In those snake-like eyes, she once again saw the familiar gaze of a predator looking at its prey.
Voldemort had no interest in what Aries was thinking. He drew his wand and conjured more than a dozen sets of robes and masks, dressing the people brought by Polaris in the appearance of Death Eaters.
Once the secret society's members were all disguised as Death Eaters, Voldemort found them much more pleasing to the eye. It felt as though the version of himself from more than a decade ago—the one who commanded the winds and clouds—had returned.
"Go give the wizarding world a little surprise!" Voldemort let out a cold, cruel laugh.
...
Inside the stadium, the opening ceremony of the match had begun.
The Bulgarian team's mascots entered first.
A hundred Veela glided onto the field. Their skin shone with a soft, moonlike radiance, and their hair flowed behind them even without wind. Their beauty was like fallen angels in the mortal world, leaving the male wizards present unable to think.
"As expected of Veela—such powerful natural charm," Rhys remarked, acknowledging their group enchantment.
At this moment, the box had descended into chaos. Harry stood up from his seat, one leg propped against the wall. Beside him, Ron crouched on the railing in a posture like he was about to dive.
The other wizards also displayed varying degrees of madness, while those who could still maintain control were mostly witches.
As witches proficient in sensing the flow of mana, Daphne and Astoria both successfully resisted the Veela's allure.
The two exchanged a glance, then simultaneously looked toward Rhys, only to find him sitting calmly in his seat, completely composed.
"Rhys, how are you doing that…?" Daphne asked in disbelief. There were a hundred Veela—why wasn't Rhys affected at all? He was a wizard, after all!
Rhys spread his hands, indicating that his willpower was simply a bit stronger.
Besides, both of you are fine, so isn't it normal for me to be immune to the Veela's charm? If he couldn't even resist this, what was the point of anything?
But looking at the wizards around him making fools of themselves, Rhys was rather speechless. These people were truly embarrassing.
He raised his hand and lightly tapped the armrest of his seat. A wave of magic spread outward from his body. Instantly, the dazed male wizards in the box shuddered, as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over their heads.
Rhys half-closed his eyes and further expanded the range of his spell.
Soon, like a stone thrown into a pond, ripples spread outward, carrying his magic across the entire stadium. The wizards who had been enchanted by the Veela all snapped back to their senses.
The Veela continued dancing to the music, but the strange thoughts in the wizards' minds had already disappeared.
"Phew…" Rhys let out a soft breath as a wave of fatigue washed over him.
Dispelling the charm affecting tens of thousands of wizards at once was indeed somewhat taxing. The easiest method would have been to strike the Veela directly and interrupt their performance, but that would have ruined the atmosphere. Rhys had no intention of spoiling such a harmonious opening ceremony.
Daphne and Astoria both noticed his subtle movements. Facing their questioning looks, Rhys said softly, "It's a mass dispelling spell—very practical. I'll teach it to you later."
After the Veela's performance ended, it was time for the Irish team's mascots, the Leprechauns, to enter.
They circled above the stadium, and then countless golden specks began to rain down.
It was countless gold coins!
The wizards in the stadium went into a frenzy. They cheered while scrambling in chaos, some even crawling under seats to pick up the coins.
Daphne excitedly stood up from her seat and nimbly grabbed several coins into her hand.
Then she turned back and saw that her sister and Rhys were both sitting still, unmoving. She immediately urged them, "Aren't you going to pick up some coins? These are—"
"Leprechaun gold." Rhys covered his forehead and said with a sigh, "Take a closer look."
Astoria covered her mouth and laughed quietly.
Good thing I didn't go grab any!
In truth, Astoria hadn't noticed anything unusual about the coins either. She just felt that such a small amount of money wasn't worth jumping around like a monkey for. If she had stood up to grab coins as well, wouldn't she have become just like her sister?
Hearing Rhys's words, Daphne took a careful look at the coins in her hand and noticed that the flow of magic within them was different from that of real Galleons.
"These are…"
"Fake coins. They disappear after a few hours," Rhys explained the nature of Irish Leprechaun gold to Daphne.
Daphne: "…"
Feeling dejected, Daphne took all the coins out of her pockets and tossed them away in one go.
Astoria watched everything from the side, then lowered her voice and said, "Sister, did you throw away your real Galleons along with them?"
Daphne:"?!"
Rhys sighed again and used magic to retrieve the coins Daphne had thrown out.
"Just relax and watch the match. The players are entering."
With a single announcement, the grand spectacle officially began.
____
12 Chaps ahead at Patreon.com/HornyFBI