Just as Fenrir Greyback made his move, a ripple suddenly spread through the air.
An unseen, invisible blade out of nowhere swept across Fenrir's neck.
With a heavy thud, Fenrir's head tumbled onto the snow. Blood erupted from the clean cut, instantly staining the pristine white ground a brilliant crimson.
A silhouette materialized amidst the distant thicket—golden hair, and blood-red Sharingan.
The moment Hermione saw this silhouette, a glimmer of light called hope suddenly resurfaced in her originally dimming eyes, but it quickly turned into intense dread.
Because Kyle had come completely alone; there were no reinforcements behind him.
Hermione would rather be bitten by a werewolf than watch Kyle fall into the encirclement of this group of dark wizards.
A hand reached out from the side, brutally hoisting Hermione up.
A glinting dagger was pressed tightly against her throat.
"Boy, if you don't want your beloved woman to die, drop your wand and surrender like a good little boy."
Seeing the enemy hold Hermione's life hostage, Kyle's expression turned as cold as ten-thousand-year-old ice.
It was merely a wand.
Kyle casually tossed the wand in his hand away.
Seeing Kyle surrender so easily, the dark wizard holding Hermione let out a soft chuckle and waved his hand, signaling his companions to step forward and capture Kyle.
Then, a sudden mutation occurred.
The snow beneath his feet abruptly exploded outward. A mass of black mud with eyes and a mouth burst forth from the flying chunks of snow.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
Black tentacles slammed onto the ground, and two figures wearing black cloaks with red clouds materialized abruptly right beside Hermione.
An invisible repulsive force erupted. Everyone except Hermione felt a massive, overwhelming force strike them like an encroaching tidal wave, sending their bodies flying backward through the air.
Almighty Push!
Caught completely off guard, every single dark wizard within a five-meter radius of Hermione was completely cleared out in just a single second.
Flowing like liquid mercury, the metal instantly molded into a shield in front of Hermione. Innumerable spells crackled and banged against the shield, unable to cause even a minor dent.
Two six-barrel Gatling guns emerged upon the shoulders of the Asura Path, unleashing a torrent of green light bullets as the barrels spun rapidly.
In his fury, Kyle had no intention of letting the Asura Path hold back; every single bullet fired by the Asura Path was the Killing Curse—Avada Kedavra.
Under the overwhelming barrage of Unforgivable Curses, the dark wizards could do nothing but flee in sheer panic, scurrying like rats.
Casually picking up a stray wand from the ground, the Deva Path held it level and spun around in place.
In the direction the wand pointed, eerie blue Fiendfyre ignited, and a wall of fire rose straight from the ground, completely isolating them from the outside world.
The Gatling guns on the Asura Path's shoulders slowly stopped spinning. Continuously firing the Killing Curse consumed a terrifying amount of magic, and the Asura Path needed to conserve some magical energy to deal with the upcoming battle.
Only then did Kyle's figure cross the wall of fire, arriving by Hermione's side.
"Hermione, how are you? Are you hurt?"
Kyle's question received no spoken answer; instead, a soft body crashed directly into his embrace.
Hermione buried her face against Kyle's shoulder, her arms wrapping tightly around his body. All the terror and anxiety she had endured along the way completely broke loose at this very moment.
No matter how mature and rational Hermione usually acted, she was ultimately just a fourteen-year-old girl.
To suddenly encounter such a terrifying ordeal, it was already incredibly commendable that she had managed to hold back her tears until now.
"Alright, alright, there are still enemies outside," Kyle whispered, gently patting the tightly clinging young witch.
Hearing Kyle's words, Hermione let go of him, feeling a bit self-conscious.
"Let's slaughter every single one of them." Kyle's tone was incredibly gentle, yet the sheer killing intent woven into it made Hermione's heart shudder slightly.
However, she did not object to Kyle's approach. Instead, she picked up a wand from the ground—dropped by some unlucky soul who had been blasted away by the Almighty Push—and stood firmly by Kyle's side.
"I will leave the Asura Path here to protect you. Support me from afar with your spells."
Hermione nodded, offering no objections to Kyle's arrangement.
By this time, the dark wizards outside the wall of fire had also shaken off the panic from the initial ambush.
After reforming their ranks, they dispersed in all directions around the fiery wall of Fiendfyre.
"Finite Incantatem!"
Incantations kept echoing from every direction.
As the group of dark wizards drove their glowing wand tips deep into the earth, the ground split open. Dazzling golden light surged into the sky from the fissures, forming a massive golden barrier that locked around the wall of Fiendfyre.
Ignoring the two clashing torrents of fire in the sky, Kyle drew Fengqiuhuang, which hadn't drunk blood in a very long time.
A bolt of lightning leaped rapidly through the woods, plunging into the crowd in the blink of an eye.
The brilliant, blinding lightning transformed into a sharp blade of sword-light. As it cleaved through the trees in front of him, it swept across an enemy's waist.
The dark wizard who was severed in half didn't fall until a few seconds later. His bifurcated body hit the snow with a thud, and he threw his head back, letting out a bloodcurdling, agonizing shriek.
The killing intent in Kyle's eyes soared violently. No matter who these people were, the fact that they dared to kidnap Hermione meant they had crossed the absolute baseline in his heart.
"Block him, quickly!" a wizard who appeared to be the leader roared.
Walls of earth conjured via Transfiguration rose from the ground one after another, and layers upon layers of Impediment Curses blocked Kyle's path of advancement.
The lightning crackling around Kyle's body suddenly exploded outward, transforming into a six-winged avian beast of prey that enveloped him entirely.
Positioned at the head of the Thunderbird, Kyle held his sword with both hands. The Thunderbird violently flapped its wings, carrying him as he charged toward the enemy at an even greater speed.
In the blink of an eye, the Thunderbird shattered seven or eight earth walls, simultaneously crushing several dark wizards to pieces before continuing unabated straight toward the leading wizard.
The leading wizard felt his soul nearly leave his body in terror.
But under these circumstances, he could not back down. Once he retreated or dodged, it would only lead to a dead end.
With a frenzied expression, a faint, eerie green light lit up at the tip of his wand.
In this situation, using the Avada Kedavra curse to trade his life to inflict a wound on Kyle was his best option.
"Reducto!" A spell bullet abruptly flew horizontally from the flank, slamming into the hand holding his wand with a loud explosion.
Before the leading wizard's terrified eyes, his hand exploded into fragments, spraying outward in all directions.
"Great job, Hermione!"
Kyle seized the opportunity, instantly increasing his output of magical energy. Planting his feet firmly, his speed kicked up another gear.
With a single sweep of his sword, a head tumbled to the ground, the terror from the moments before death still vividly frozen upon his face.
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