What William had left behind with such effort, of course, was not just a single arm.
Indeed, another of the Twelve Olympian Gods—despicable Mr. Helbo—had just been picked up by Ares. Initially, William had aimed for Ares's neck, but that old fellow dodged too quickly, resulting in William only chopping off an arm—
"I wonder what we can do with it. If we stew these 'gods' arms a little…"
Looking at the arm in front of him, emitting a faint golden glow even though it had left its owner, William rubbed his chin and murmured softly. Then he turned to Dumbledore, whose expression was somewhat complicated, and grinned, "Just kidding, don't take it seriously."
"...I trust you."
Dumbledore nodded, his expression slightly serious. But for some reason, William felt that the old man and he were not referring to the same thing.
"What do you plan to do with him?"
Dumbledore didn't say much more, instead, he looked down at the still unconscious Helbo, and asked softly.
"I've got a new plan... Tsk, don't look at me like that, plans are supposed to be flexible, aren't they?"
William tossed the Niffler in his hand to the ground. Kabuda adeptly enlarged itself to about the size of a Troll, grabbed Helbo, and shook him vigorously to dry the mud and water off, then stuffed Helbo into the open pocket on its belly before shrinking back to its original size and bouncing into William's collar.
"And him?"
Dumbledore turned again, and so Edgar blinked a bit blankly.
...
...
The dry wind whipped up the sand, which beat against the black wizard robe with a rustling sound.
The long-absent protagonist—Harry Potter—was tightly gripping his Holly Wand, scanning the eroded boulders and ruined arches nearby with sharp eyes. Behind him, Ron appeared somewhat curious, his gaze constantly roving over their surroundings.
"Listen."
In the glow, Hermione flipped through the notebook in her arms as she walked out, speaking rapidly, "According to the previous walkthrough, we've reached the later stages of the 'Arena.' Here, the monster formations aren't as uniform as before—the types will combine randomly…"
"Then…"
Ron instinctively started to speak.
"Don't even think about it; the monsters have a unified alliance by default, no friendly fire—"
Hermione shook her head, denying Ron's idea of "ditching class," "So, this is a 'tough battle.' Our goal this time is to clear the path to the central tower and reach the next save point. Next, Harry will take on the battle command role; any objections?"
She twirled the magic wand in her hand and put it away, asking.
"Understood."
Harry nodded, his gaze locked on the tower deep in the yellow sand. "Then, three o'clock direction, behind the dunes."
Just as Harry finished speaking, several short yet cunning figures suddenly leaped out from behind the dunes, wearing rusted but intricately structured Iron Armor, wielding finely crafted small war axes and enchanted crossbows—"Armed Goblins!" Ron announced loudly.
"Protego!"
Hermione reacted the fastest, flicking her wand to instantly envelop the trio in a solid Shield. Almost simultaneously, with several "whoosh" sounds, crossbow arrows glinting with eerie green light slammed into the Shield, emitting a nerve-wracking corrosive sound.
"Impedimenta!"
Ron shouted, pointing his wand at the goblin charging at the forefront. An invisible wall formed, sending the lead goblin flying backward.
"Good! Don't let them get close!"
Harry praised loudly, his wand simultaneously stabbing out, "Stupefy!" The red light accurately hit a goblin attempting to flank them, knocking it out.
Hermione didn't stop her wand, "Incendio!"
A scorching wall of fire sprang up, temporarily blocking the subsequent goblin attacks. The trio's cooperation was seamless, clearly not their first time; they retreated while fighting, using the massive stones and structures as cover, alternating precise shots and control magic. They quickly cleared this small group of armed goblins.
"The first wave felt this easy—"
Seeing the goblins one by one turn into light particles and fall, Ron excitedly wiped the nonexistent sweat from his forehead, "Was it this easy for you guys before?"
"Don't let your guard down, it's just the beginning." Hermione carefully scanned every nook and cranny around them to ensure there were no remnants, then nodded at Harry, "Keep moving towards the tower!" Thus, Harry gave the order, and the three formed a triangular formation, slowly advancing into the depths of the yellow sand.
...
"Pah! Pah! Seriously, every time I feel this, I wonder if I'm still lying in the classroom—"
After passing through a quicksand trap area where one could easily get stuck, Ron, who was pulled out by Harry, spat out sand forcefully, raised his wand, and rinsed his mouth with "Aguamenti," saying.
"Indeed, it feels incredibly real—"
Looking at the tower situated across the gorge in front of them, Harry nodded, subconsciously waving his hand in the air. However, this slight action seemed to trigger some mechanism; looking at the white thread in his palm, Harry blinked.
"What is it?"
Ron asked curiously, seeing Harry suddenly fall silent.
"This time it's Acromantula—"
Harry took a deep breath, unconsciously glancing at Ron—sure enough, the moment Ron heard this, his body instantly tensed up.
"...Didn't you say there are no spiders?"
Ron, who had a severe fear of spiders, began trembling, instinctively gulping down saliva, asking in a low voice.
"George's group indeed said they didn't encounter any arthropods…"
Harry, too, was puzzled, squinting his eyes, cautiously watching the stone walls on both sides.
"It's a probability refresh; the monsters Angelina's group encountered were different from George's, so it's possible they didn't encounter spiders—"
Hermione put away the strategy guide, looked at Ron, "What's wrong? Can't take it? You can forcibly log out, or—wait, I think the seniors designed a 'spider phobia mode,' let me find it…" She waved her wand, her gaze seemingly scanning an empty space, "Found it!" She raised her hand and pressed a button.
"Has… anything changed?"
Hidden behind Harry, Ron peeked his head around to look at their surroundings. As soon as he spoke, countless creepy clattering sounds filled their ears. Looking up, they saw the cliffs on both sides of the gorge were covered with countless car-sized Eight-Eyed Giant... Cats.