"My sister is very strong too," Daphne immediately spoke up for Astoria, then continued to plead, "Let us stay and fight together. Without fighting, how can we improve?"
Rhys considered it for a moment and felt that Daphne's words made some sense. Seeing that Voldemort was not alone at the top of the stadium, he agreed to her request. At the same time, however, he emphasized that the two of them must not enter the core battle area.
Tonight, Voldemort would first be tested by Rhys Lint himself.
"If I find him weak enough, I'll leave him to you," Rhys said, leaving Daphne and Astoria speechless.
But after thinking about it, they felt somewhat surprised. Previously, when Rhys had said that the two of them would be able to handle Voldemort alone before graduation, they hadn't quite believed it.
Yet now that Voldemort had actually appeared, they didn't feel much nervousness. Instead, a sense of eagerness to try had taken over.
Was it because their horizons had broadened so much over the past few years? Or was it because Rhys's calm presence was setting the tone?
While Rhys and Daphne were negotiating, the Ministry's puppets had already rushed to the top of the stadium. The Aurors followed closely behind, engaging the dark wizards stationed there.
"Neahaha~ Look at them, running and crying like mindless insects!" Voldemort let out a cold laugh. A patch of shadow spread out from beneath his feet, thick and viscous like a swamp.
As the shadow covered dozens of feet around him, bubbles began to rise within it. Then, accompanied by a foul stench, a mass of rotting corpses crawled out from the darkness.
Some of these corpses had decayed to the point where only bones remained. Others were not yet fully decomposed, and their twisted faces still faintly revealed their identities.
The Aurors from the Ministry quickly recognized familiar faces among them.
"Wilkes? Wasn't he already killed by Moody and the others… Is this an Inferius or a zombie?"
"Dark magic!"
"I knew it…"
The corpses crawled out from the shadows, letting out chilling, guttural growls. Within seconds, fresh flesh regrew over their skeletons.
Now the Aurors recognized them all: Rosier, Wilkes, old Lestrange…
All of them were Death Eaters who had died during the First Wizarding War.
The resurrected Death Eaters within Voldemort's domain drew their wands and charged at the Aurors and the puppets with ferocious grins. For a moment, the top of the stadium looked like a fireworks display, with spells of all colors flying everywhere.
Not far away, Aries, who had taken in everything, felt her pupils shrink sharply. She now roughly understood what had happened to Taurus.
The real Taurus had long since died. The one standing behind Voldemort now was merely an advanced puppet manifested by the domain.
He could speak, eat, and possessed the same intelligence and magical abilities as when he was alive, appearing no different from a living person. But in essence, he was nothing more than a puppet, manipulated by Voldemort even after death.
Seeing a colleague and senior member for the society reduced to such a state, Aries silently made up her mind. She was determined to survive and not end up like Taurus. She took a couple of steps toward the edge of the canopy, putting as much distance as possible between herself and that nauseating domain.
At that moment, Aries noticed three figures, tightly wrapped from head to toe, appearing on the top of the canopy. With just a glance, she was certain they were not members of the secret society—their attire was different from the organization's practitioners.
These three were, naturally, Rhys and the Greengrass sisters.
Before taking action, Rhys conjured three cloaks, wrapping them tightly from head to toe. In particular, Daphne and Astoria's distinctive faces and silver hair was completely concealed to avoid exposing their identities.
Aries, as if spotting prey, rushed excitedly toward the three of them. Several secret society members followed her lead, no longer entangling themselves with the Aurors and puppets, instead moving together with her.
"Move aside." Rhys snapped his fingers. Aries instantly felt a wave of heat surge through her body, her blood seeming to boil.
Alarmed, Aries immediately drew upon the power of her divine relic to stabilize the turbulent blood within her. However, the few members who had followed her were not so fortunate. In a single instant, all the fluid in their bodies was drained by Rhys, leaving them drier than mummies from ancient Egypt.
With a light summer breeze, they crumbled into dust.
'What is this…? Is he also someone with a domain?' A string of questions flashed through Aries's mind, but her actions did not hesitate in the slightest. She immediately put distance between herself and Rhys.
When facing a domain user, as long as you can retreat faster than the expansion of their domain, you can survive.
Rhys's actions didn't just shock Aries—they also frightened Daphne and Astoria.
The two had thought that Rhys would at least need to cast a spell to deal with those people, but they hadn't expected them to be eliminated the moment they encountered him.
The blood of the secret society members gathered in front of Rhys, forming a crimson serpent. Rhys turned his head toward Daphne. "That woman is yours to deal with. I don't have the patience to waste time on minor characters."
Hearing Rhys's words, Aries first let out a sigh of relief, but then her face flushed red again.
On one hand, she was relieved that she didn't have to fight a monster like Rhys. On the other, she felt indignant at being treated as a mere minor character.
But regardless of what she thought, she obediently stepped aside, allowing Rhys to go deal with Voldemort.
Rhys walked straight ahead, leaving Aries to Daphne and Astoria.
While the secret society members, the resurrected Death Eaters, the Aurors, and the puppets clashed in fierce battle, Voldemort did nothing. He was savoring the fear of the wizards within the stadium.
Suddenly, he sensed an extremely strong scent of blood.
Voldemort turned his head and saw a hooded figure standing behind him, silently watching. Beside him was a crimson serpent. Upon closer inspection, the serpent was formed entirely of blood.
"Let me test your strength, Voldemort," Rhys said calmly. "I hope your power will satisfy me. My students need a sufficiently worthy challenge."
Voldemort was momentarily stunned, then burst into loud laughter.
After laughing, he fixed Rhys with eyes devoid of human emotion and said coldly, "Very well, no problem. But it seems you've misunderstood something, so let me tell you—you are the challenger.
Because I am the strongest wizard of this era!"
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12 Chaps ahead at Patreon.com/HornyFBI