"You mean…" Lucius was not entirely sure he had heard correctly.
"Yes. That person held an overwhelming advantage against the Dark Lord. Before I left, I personally saw the Dark Lord's chest pierced by a blood spear he conjured."
Lucius almost lost control. After using all his strength to suppress the smile tugging at the corner of his mouth, he asked in a rather strange tone, "So… our.. ehm.. you know who.. is dead?"
Yaxley sighed. "He escaped. Apparated away."
Lucius immediately felt a trace of regret. If he had known earlier, he should have strongly urged Minister Bones to set up Anti-Apparition charms around the venue. At this moment, Lucius did not consider at all that he had previously intended to use Apparition to flee with his family.
Yaxley clearly did not think that far. After delivering the news, he prepared to return to the stadium to continue his work.
However, before he left, Lucius stopped him, as he had suddenly recalled a detail Yaxley had mentioned.
"You said that mysterious powerhouse killed more than a dozen people the moment he appeared? How did he do it? Did he trigger a massive explosion?" Lucius asked with a frown.
"Oh! It was like this—" Yaxley instantly became animated. He told Lucius that he had not clearly seen what that person did. Those people dressed like Death Eaters were killed in an instant, and all the blood in their bodies was extracted and used as weapons against the Dark Lord.
"You say, where did those Death Eaters come from?"
Lucius: "…"
"Those people definitely weren't Death Eaters. Who knows where the Dark Lord pulled those reinforcements from," Lucius said helplessly.
As for the condition of the Death Eaters, Lucius Malfoy knew it better than anyone. Not to mention how difficult it would be to find more than a dozen loyal Death Eaters, if that many people had gathered to join Voldemort, how could he have heard nothing about it?
In Lucius's view, those dozen individuals were not Death Eaters at all. Most likely, they were dark wizards the Dark Lord had recruited from elsewhere after his return.
After explaining it to Yaxley, Lucius fell silent and sank into thought.
At first, when he learned that someone had beaten Voldemort to the point of near death and forced him to flee, he had been quite pleased. But after hearing the details of the battle, Lucius suddenly could not feel happy anymore. This person who had suddenly appeared… how was he even more sinister than Voldemort?!
Extracting all the blood from more than a dozen people with a single spell and using it as a weapon… was that something a proper wizard could do?
This person seemed even more dangerous than the Dark Lord.
Seeing that Lucius had stopped speaking, Yaxley Apparated away from the woods. He still had duties to attend to and could not be gone for too long.
"Father?" Draco Malfoy called out tentatively, pulling Lucius back from his thoughts.
"Let's go. We'll return to the camp first." After concluding that the area was now safe, Lucius made the decision to stay the night.
It was not that Lucius enjoyed camping, but rather that he needed to meet with his associates to discuss important matters.
Voldemort had returned, yet he had been beaten badly and forced to flee in disgrace. How should they face their former master now? And what about this newly emerged powerhouse? That was something they also needed to carefully consider.
The Malfoy family left. Daphne and the others revealed themselves.
"See? I told you Rhys would win," Daphne said to Aries in a tone of "just as expected."
Aries blinked, feeling that the Rhys Daphne spoke of was almost godlike, and silently rejoiced that she had made the right decision.
"Let's go. We'll head back to the camp as well." After learning of Rhys's overwhelming victory, everyone was in a good mood. Daphne took the lead and guided the group toward the camp.
…
Rhys stood atop the stadium canopy, quietly watching the Aurors standing in the distance.
Voldemort had already fled, and the lackeys he brought had all been wiped out. As for the Constellation Mage from the Society who possessed a Domain, Rhys had just noticed that she seemed to have been captured by Daphne and the others.
Aries had been rather unlucky. Not only had she been hunted down by Daphne and Astoria, but she had also run into Hermione and Cedric. Against Daphne and Astoria alone, Aries could have held the upper hand, but against Hermione, defeat had been inevitable.
Rhys cleared his throat and used magic to project a deep, reassuring male voice throughout the stadium.
[The danger has been eliminated. This place is now safe. Voldemort will not return.]
The spectators who remained in the stadium were momentarily stunned. Some trembled at the mention of "Voldemort," but once they reacted, they immediately burst into cheers.
The Aurors, however, looked at one another before turning their gazes toward a middle-aged man.
'That voice really sounds like Kingsley…' the Aurors thought in unison.
Kingsley rubbed his forehead helplessly. Why are you all looking at me? Haven't I been here this whole time?
After calming the audience with his magically enhanced voice, Rhys turned his attention to the Aurors.
Although the person before them had driven away the Dark Lord, the Aurors still treated him like a formidable enemy. The scene of him killing more than a dozen wizards in an instant and using their blood as a weapon was still fresh in their minds.
At that moment, Rhys suddenly had an idea. He felt this might be a very rare opportunity to rehabilitate Slytherin's reputation.
In his view, his appearance had turned the tide, just like a hero in a story. If he declared at this moment that Voldemort was not a true Slytherin, would that not be a powerful way to restore its image? Perhaps in the future, Slytherin House could become as desirable as Gryffindor for countless young wizards.
"Voldemort is not a true Slytherin," Rhys declared in a firm, resonant voice. "He is a falsehood, an absurdity, a distortion that twists Slytherin's original intent. A true Slytherin is a knight among wizards, noble and dignified."
Rhys felt that the spirit of chivalry suited Slytherin very well, so he did not hesitate to borrow this concept from the Muggle world.
The Aurors exchanged glances, their brows furrowing even more. It still sounded like the same old pure-blood rhetoric, all that talk about nobility and knights…
And it seemed like this man was competing with Voldemort for legitimacy, arguing over who was the true heir of Slytherin?
Kingsley asked in a deep voice, "So by your meaning, you are the true Slytherin?"
Rhys paused for a moment. Although the Aurors' reaction was somewhat unexpected, Kingsley's question was excellent. Of course he was the true Slytherin. No one understood Slytherin better than he did.
Rhys nodded matter-of-factly.
Confirmed. Completely confirmed. This was an internal conflict between dark wizards fighting over Slytherin's legacy!
The Aurors collectively fell silent, standing motionless like the automated constructs on the canopy, saying nothing.
In theory, they should have rushed forward together to capture this newly emerged Dark Lord. But what he had just done left too deep an impression, and the Aurors instinctively chose to remain still and adapt to the situation.
No one wanted to provoke this powerful dark wizard.
Seeing the Aurors fall into a contemplative silence, Rhys assumed they were reflecting on their previous prejudice against Slytherin House. Satisfied, he nodded and disappeared from the canopy.
____
12 Chaps ahead at Patreon.com/HornyFBI