Rey wasn't sure what it felt like for others to be hit by a spell, but when the curse struck his left shoulder, it felt like being hit by a high-velocity rubber bullet.
The impact point stung sharply. He reached up to touch it, but there was no blood, and no projectile was embedded in his flesh.
He didn't know if his resilience was due to being half-dragon, with thick skin and tough flesh capable of withstanding magical attacks, or if his opponent had pulled their punches, aiming to capture him alive without causing serious harm.
So, being hit this time only forced Rey back a few steps, leaving his left arm temporarily numb and unable to lift.
While retreating, Rey didn't forget to wave his wand. More and more smoke billowed out. In less than two seconds, Rey's figure was obscured, and the smoke rapidly spread in all directions.
Rey held his breath and shifted his position multiple times within the cloud. Now that he had blinded the enemy, standing still would be tantamount to suicide.
The smoke swirled—Rey quickly ducked. This was a sign someone had entered the smoke cloud. He was at the center; as long as he paid attention to the disturbances in the smoke, he could track intruders.
Two enemies entered the smoke one after another. One of them had rushed to within two meters of Rey.
Entering a cloud of smoke naturally requires the eyes to adjust. Moreover, Rey was crouched low on the ground; if the intruder could spot him immediately, they'd have to be superhuman.
With the enemy at such close range, Rey felt for the first time that having a sword in a wizard's hand would be an excellent choice.
"Sectumsempra!"
He didn't have a sword, but he knew Snape's original spell.
Whispering the incantation, he slashed his wand horizontally toward the intruder's legs.
Squelch. The sound of a blade slicing into flesh was followed immediately by a heart-wrenching scream.
The intruder only had one leg severed; the other was a peg leg made of ironwood, which miraculously survived the Sectumsempra slash. If it had been a real sword and Rey had put his back into it, it would have broken too.
With his only good leg severed, the intruder toppled over. The ruthless Rey stood up and delivered a swift kick to the man's face.
Crack. The sound erupted from the point of impact. Whether it was a shattered nose or a dislocated jaw, Rey didn't know. The falling man's head snapped back violently from the kick, sending his body flying backward before hitting the ground.
Dead or alive? Rey didn't know.
But he was definitely unconscious and critically injured. A kick with that much force, judging by the angle of the head snap, likely caused severe spinal damage.
"Avada Kedavra!"
One down, one to go. Rey pointed his wand to the right, and a bolt of green lightning erupted.
They weren't far apart, so the other man naturally saw Rey dispatch his companion. The shout of "Avada Kedavra" came from both the enemy and Rey simultaneously.
Seeing his partner fall, the objective shifted from capture to kill. The enemy wasn't stupid.
Two bolts of green lightning collided in mid-air, the impact blasting the surrounding smoke away.
The bolts were similar in size, but one could clearly see that Rey's green lightning carried streaks of dark green, while the other was a translucent green.
In terms of magical quality, the difference wasn't trivial. Rey felt only slight resistance before the green lightning from his wand blasted the one-handed enemy away.
"Avada Kedavra."
However, just as Rey blasted the one-handed man away, another Killing Curse was shouted. The earless old man had arrived.
Just hearing that raspy, broken-porcelain voice was enough for Rey to identify him.
This man was the strongest of the three. Seeing his two subordinates killed, he wasn't about to give Rey a chance. The incantation was fast, and the green lightning rushed forward.
Rey turned frantically to respond, but he was too late. He saw a flash of green light, and then bang—he was sent flying backward.
The powerful Killing Curse lifted Rey off his feet and slammed him into the ground. Pain flared from where he hit the earth, but oddly, he felt nothing where the Killing Curse had struck his chest.
I'm still alive?!
Shocked, Rey lay still after hitting the ground.
Getting hit by Avada Kedavra without a physical shield meant certain death. But that certain death hadn't claimed Rey.
Although he didn't understand why he hadn't died, this was an excellent opportunity for a counterattack.
---
The earless old man was the strongest of the trio, and his bait-and-switch tactic had yielded a pleasant surprise. He hadn't expected the hidden eavesdropper to actually reveal themselves after he pretended to leave and doubled back.
In his eyes, Rey was an underage wizard, and underage wizards were just children.
If he could capture this child and bring him back to the Church, Bishop Aroffman's move against Hogwarts would go much smoother. After all, the focal point of the conflict was the children, and the boy before him was a Hogwarts student.
To capture him unharmed, he first blasted the rock to stop Rey from Apparating. However, upon emerging from the valley, he was shocked to find one of his useless subordinates dead and the other critically injured.
A child who chopped off legs and killed without blinking—regardless of age, the earless old man, who had survived countless dangers, dared not be careless. Killing him was the safer bet.
So, abandoning his plan to use Petrificus Totalus, he immediately switched to the ruthless Avada Kedavra.
The green lightning struck exactly when Rey hadn't fully turned around. As expected, it sent Rey flying.
But just before the curse hit, a black cloth seemed to appear suddenly in front of the boy's chest.
The green light hit the black cloth, Rey flew back, the light vanished, and the cloth disappeared as if it had never existed.
Perhaps his eyes were playing tricks on him. The boy must be dead; a piece of black cloth couldn't block Avada Kedavra.
That was common sense, just like water doesn't get stuck between your teeth.
However, because of this common sense, the earless old man relaxed slightly. He walked toward Rey, intending to check if there was any breath left. If there was, it would be a blessing from God, and he could deliver the boy to Bishop Aroffman.
Lowering one's guard after a battle is a common way for powerful wizards to die.
You couldn't entirely blame the old man. The key was that he had never seen anyone survive Avada Kedavra, nor had he seen a black cloth block it.
Even if it couldn't block it completely, it must have had some effect, otherwise, it wouldn't have appeared to intercept the curse. That was why the old man held out hope that Rey might still be breathing.
But as luck would have it—sometimes water does get stuck in your teeth. Rey, lying motionless on the ground, flicked his wand hand. The invisible sword of Sectumsempra slashed through the air, aiming for the old man's right side.
An invisible sword cut through the air. The earless old man sidestepped. He could sense the attack but couldn't see it. fast as he was, his right arm was still caught by the blade.
Pain flared, and his wand dropped from his hand as blood spurted from the wound. Meanwhile, Rey, who should have been dead, climbed to his feet, wand pointed at the old man. With his left hand, he rubbed the spot where he had hit the ground hard.
One against three, turning defeat into victory. Clutching his wound with his left hand, the earless old man stared at the rising Rey with shock and rage. "You took a Killing Curse... and didn't die!?"
His raspy voice carried no perceptible anger, sounding almost cleansing to the ears. By contrast, his eyes looked ready to kill.
"I don't know why I didn't die either."
Rey stood up straight, his wand like a gun, pointed unwaveringly at the earless old man.
He didn't want to capsize in the gutter, so he remained vigilant. He certainly didn't assume an opponent was harmless just because they had lost their wand.
---
"Tell me, how do you plan to deal with Hogwarts?"
Killing was a last resort; Rey had no perverse hobby for torture. If he could get the answer he wanted simply, he would at most knock the man out, bind him, and take him back to Hogwarts.
This wasn't out of kindness. "Do not kill casually" was Rey's bottom line. Crossing that line would make him no different from the evil wizards in history who treated human life like garbage.
"Heh. Deal with Hogwarts? That's not for me to worry about. Facing the entire Church, even the Four Founders have to weigh whether they are strong enough."
Although held at wand-point, the earless old man didn't seem particularly worried about his life.
"Cut the crap."
Rey shouted, twisting his wand to manipulate the wound on the old man's right arm. He wouldn't salt the wound, but adding a little torque to the injury? He had no psychological burden about that.
With a twist of the wand, the old man's face changed rapidly. His expression shifted from normal to liver-colored with pain, groans escaping his lips as he tried to endure it.
"Heh... heh. Kid, don't think this little pain will make me compromise. You have a lot to learn. When you fall into my hands later, I'll show you how I train someone."
The earless old man grunted, then rattled off a string of vengeful threats.
Rey naturally dismissed them with disdain.
If he truly fell into this man's hands, regardless of this scene, he knew his fate would be miserable.
So, threats meant to scare children were pointless to ignore.
---
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