"Thud."
Amycus's still-warm body fell straight to the ground. The nearby Death Eaters scrambled back in panic, terrified that the furious Dark Lord might turn his anger on them next.
It was not as though the Dark Lord had never been angry before. During the last war, even when everything had been going smoothly, he had not minded punishing a few Death Eaters as a warning to the rest.
But this was different.
When had they ever seen the Dark Lord with such a livid face? Even after killing Amycus, there was not the slightest trace of satisfaction from having vented his anger.
Clearly, there was still an even greater rage inside him that had yet to be released.
Amid the panic, Voldemort suddenly said in a dark voice, "Alecto…"
"Yes!"
Even though her brother had died so miserably, Alecto did not dare show the slightest resentment. Her whole body was trembling with fear.
Amycus, that fool, had actually been stupid enough to say something so disrespectful directly to the Dark Lord. His death was more than deserved.
But if she were dragged down with him too, that would be far too great a loss.
Fortunately, Voldemort did not seem to intend to kill her. After dealing with Amycus, he had instead come back to his senses.
Regardless of whether Amycus was a mole, someone stupid to this extent would never be truly trusted by Tver.
So that Dusko, along with the Death Eaters who had escaped prison the second time, remained suspicious.
One could even make a bolder guess. Perhaps Tver had deliberately taken advantage of Amycus's stupidity. He had not actually recruited him, but had used various forms of psychological suggestion to guide him step by step into acting according to Tver's plans.
Damn that fool!
Having figured this out, Voldemort became even angrier.
Just by looking at the cowering Death Eaters around him, he could tell that his sudden killing of Amycus had made these already displaced followers increasingly fearful of his rule.
In the past, that would not have mattered, but things were different now. After repeated setbacks, their hearts were already unsettled.
Now that he, as their leader, had become so unpredictable in his moods, it would inevitably make them feel sorrow for Amycus and fear for themselves.
So at this moment, Voldemort could not very well continue targeting Alecto or Dusko.
At least, before finding solid evidence, he could not casually create more bloodshed.
He had only this handful of followers left. Tver's mole had merely eliminated the mole he had placed inside the Ministry of Magic. In essence, it was a small-scale contest between undercover work and counter-undercover work.
But if his people's hearts truly scattered, then his foundation would really be gone.
He gritted his teeth and pointed at Amycus under the panicked gazes of the Death Eaters.
"Amycus was a mole. All the intelligence he gathered was deliberately fed to him by Tver Fawley. In other words, the Ministry employees you tortured during this period were all our own people!"
At this point, Voldemort could only insist on this explanation. At the very least, he needed to give himself a reason for acting that sounded acceptable.
The grief on the Death Eaters' faces suddenly froze. Their disbelieving gazes moved back and forth between the Dark Lord and the corpse lying on the ground.
Why was their reaction so strange?
Voldemort frowned. He could only assume they were so shocked that they had suddenly begun acting abnormally.
"In short, whether it is you…"
He slowly swept his gaze across the crowd, his blood-red eyes lingering especially on Bella and Alecto for a moment.
"Or that Dusko, none of you are to take any action for the time being. We must avoid being misled by Tver again and harming our own people!"
The Death Eaters remained silent. Their expressions were so complicated that even Voldemort found them rather strange. Fortunately, Bella stepped forward at this moment.
"We understand, Master. Until we receive your orders, we will not take any further action!"
Even in Bella's eyes, there was the same flicker of bleak sorrow.
But Voldemort, as he was now, could not truly understand that emotion. Instead, he only felt that the Death Eaters' silence was somewhat unsettling.
After thinking for a moment, he could only attribute it to the pressure he had placed on them.
"You will not have to wait long. My preparations will soon be complete. When that time comes, the dawn of victory will belong to us!"
This rare, impassioned encouragement finally managed to raise the Death Eaters' spirits a little.
"We have long been eager to accomplish something great, Master!" Rookwood loudly echoed him like a supporting performer.
Voldemort looked at this scene with satisfaction.
Compared with when he was younger, he had rarely spoken such morale-boosting words to the Death Eaters in person in recent years.
Although it was a little stiff and unfamiliar, the effect was still quite good.
Satisfied, Voldemort did not stay any longer. His plan at Hogwarts was already his final means. He could not afford to let down his guard now.
Once the Dark Lord left, the Death Eaters' expressions instantly became complicated. They looked silently at the corpse on the ground, and the place instead sank into stillness.
The afternoon sunlight fell on everyone, but even that could not change the fact that Amycus's corpse was gradually turning cold. The clothes on his body snapped in the sea wind, like his unwilling wails.
"I heard the Dark Lord came back, so did something happen?"
Marvolio suddenly appeared. His originally relaxed expression softened considerably when he saw how differently everyone was acting, as well as Amycus's corpse on the ground.
"The Dark Lord said Amycus was a mole and told us to suspend all operations from now on," Bella whispered, recounting everything that had just happened.
In the silent square, her voice sounded especially piercing, deepening the grief in everyone's hearts.
Sensing the situation, Marvolio almost laughed out loud.
Amycus had been meant to take the blame for him from the beginning. It was just that Voldemort had chosen the worst possible way to handle it.
Of course, for Marvolio's side, that was excellent news.
Voldemort might not even have realized it. Of course, for him, there had only been one oversight.
Among these Death Eaters, the one who respected and even blindly trusted the Dark Lord the most, apart from Bella, had been Amycus.
After Amycus said something so disrespectful, taking a Killing Curse for it was perfectly normal. These Death Eaters could all understand that, and would not even have minded carrying it out themselves.
But after Voldemort killed him, he had actually poured dirty water onto Amycus as well.
Even the most insane Bella knew that even if Amycus had been controlled by the Imperius Curse, he would never have betrayed Voldemort.
So it would have been better if he had not explained at all. The moment he did, the sorrow in the Death Eaters' hearts was truly stirred up.
Forcing down his laughter while wearing the same sorrowful expression as the other Death Eaters, Marvolio pressed his lips together before saying in a voice that seemed almost like that of a savior, "Whether Amycus was a mole or not, he was once one of us. We cannot leave his body exposed here like this."
Receiving this instruction, the Death Eaters immediately looked at Marvolio with gratitude. Then they skillfully divided the work among themselves and prepared a simple but necessary funeral for Amycus.
Watching this scene, Marvolio finally understood why Tver always described Voldemort as a good person.
Although he would no longer be able to continue leading these Death Eaters into action, there was no longer any need to act.
Because his mission to infiltrate this place had already been completed perfectly.
And all of it was thanks to Voldemort's own brutality.