"Oh, sorry, I have nothing to do with Santa Claus, except that we're both probably old men. And, for giving gifts to Muggle children without permission, Santa Claus violated the Statute of Secrecy, was sentenced to life imprisonment, and died in his cell a long time ago—"
"...?"
"Okay, I was just joking, there's no such thing as Santa Claus in reality."
"..."
"There really isn't."
"Before today, I thought you Wizards were like Santa Claus, only existing in stories—"
But now...
Edgar took a deep breath, his gaze finally drifting away from the old man beside him—everything that had just happened had already made him too lazy to inquire about this "Santa Claus's" identity, and instead, he couldn't help but turn his attention back to the battle not far away—simply put, the special effects were just too cool there.
A long snake woven from chains shot out like an arrow, giving Helbo no space for further evasion, the sharp spikes almost instantly pierced through his limbs, then his chest, abdomen, and tailbone, but strangely, in a scene that should've been bloody, not a drop of blood was visible, and William, seizing the opportunity, didn't go for a finishing blow, instead, pointing his magic wand behind him—
"Protego."
A substantial deep blue shield appeared behind William, blocking the sudden ghastly green light in the air, at the same time, William reached out with his right hand, firmly gripping in another direction, and the empty air flickered, the blade-wielding Helbo hadn't even struck before his throat was directly caught—
"Not running away? Instead choosing to come closer to me?"
"Huff huff—"
Helbo tried to pry open William's palm, but it was futile, his stature wasn't large, so at this moment, his feet were already dangling, and the magic wand and dagger in his hand fell to the ground due to exhaustion—but clearly, for an old undying that had lingered in the world for nearly a millennium, this was far from being a dead end.
He took a deep breath, his form instantly became fluid, the high-precision Human Transfiguration made Helbo almost turn into liquid, flowing through the gaps of William's hands.
"Tsk, slipperier than an eel—"
William clicked his tongue, the shield behind him vanished, he was about to bend down to pursue when suddenly—"Huh?" He abruptly turned, his magic wand flicked, a lightning bolt as thick as a barrel instantly struck, sending a gray shadow flying like a rag.
It was a crafty trick within a trick, the well-crafted Invisibility Cloak ended up scorched and useless, falling into a puddle, clearly ruined.
However, this time Helbo clearly couldn't continue his series of tricks, he landed in the mud not far away, seemingly motionless.
"Accio Pendant Box—"
Seeing this, William casually pointed his wand again, and the helpless Helbo could no longer grip the Pendant Box, allowing the brass-colored box to fly toward William.
But the moment William grasped the Pendant Box—
Time seemed to press the pause button.
Transparent raindrops were suspended in the air—
Not far away, Dumbledore's pupils seemed to start constricting due to some appearance.
The teasing smile on William's face and his outstretched finger were frozen in place.
As if even the air's flow had become stagnant.
A figure, unexpectedly emerged from the void, the man's upper body was draped in a red-bronze battle armor, the lower half was clad in an exceedingly simple yet remarkably regal pure white shorts, barefoot, with a helmet adorned with plumes, the whole person looked as if they had walked out from a medieval fresco—a Warrior.
The man's face was blurry, only a pair of eyes were clear—seemingly the color of molten gold, sparkling with awe-inspiring golden light.
His appearance was precisely between William and the flying Helbo, he didn't speak, just slowly extended a hand, the target was the rusted Slytherin Pendant Box already grasped by William—
But the next moment, the golden glow in his eyes flickered, he subconsciously looked up at the man in front of him—
What greeted him was a blinding white bolt of thunder.
"Who are you kidding—"
William twirled and withdrew his magic wand, unable to resist a sly comment, "Coming in with such a grand entrance, I thought you were some formidable being—" glancing at the man crashed onto Helbo, William smirked, "Which graveyard did you crawl out from, you old mummy?" William could certainly tell this person's identity—
After all, the area of speculation had already narrowed, not to mention the person's unmistakable attire, anyone could deduce the identity with a bit of thought.
But now he couldn't reveal too much, as he still had a spy in the other camp, he couldn't risk exposing him, Lucius had worked under him through life and death without any complaints (or courage), he couldn't let him be disappointed, could he?
The War God Ares—also known as the half-naked man with only his eyes visible, who now struggled to rise from the mud, his formerly indifferent golden eyes now brimming with rage so self-evident it required no translation, he spread his hand, and a spear made of bronze appeared in his palm.
Then, he pushed off the ground with both feet, the golden-red runes surfaced on his battle armor, and his form shot toward William like an arrow.
"Roar—"
Yet the moment Ares charged out, a jet-black Fire Dragon emerged from under William's coat, a shield of dazzling gold appeared, intercepting the roaring Ares, then, Norbert's angry roar, accompanied by purple-red Dragon Flame, blasted toward the "War God" trapped by the shield—
Ares didn't dodge, the dignity of a God prompted him not to retreat an inch, instead, he forcefully drove his spear into the ground, trying to withstand the Dragon Flame.
But, just as he underestimated William moments ago, he also underestimated the seemingly unremarkable Norbert this time—
The result was, he flew even farther.
"Seems like we need to move a bit farther away—"
Seeing the figure crashing down towards them from mid-air, Dumbledore raised his hand and pressed it on the Muggle's shoulder next to him, squeezing the Talisman Stone in his palm—yes, the Anti-Apparition Array didn't discriminate, thankfully William always gave Dumbledore some peculiar magical gadgets.
Before leaving, Dumbledore exchanged a resigned glance with William, and William successfully interpreted the meaning in the old man's eyes—
'What does this battle have to do with Wizards, they think?'