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Suddenly!
A blinding flash of light exploded without warning less than three feet in front of him. The brilliance was so intense that it instantly swallowed Lucius's vision behind the eyeholes of his mask, leaving nothing but a searing white before his eyes!
"Crack—!!!"
Immediately following it was a deafening roar of thunder.
The sound didn't come from high above, but from right beside him, making Lucius's ears ring incessantly.
Before he even had time to react—such as raising his wand or casting a Shield Charm—he felt something whistle past, almost brushing against the skin of his cheek.
"Ugh—!!"
A short scream came from behind him.
Still shaken, Lucius relied on the instincts honed over years of fleeing danger and spun around—
He saw the Death Eater who had been impatiently urging him forward just moments ago standing stiffly in place, still holding his wand half-raised.
But thick smoke was now billowing from his black robes, and his eyes behind the mask were stretched wide to their limits, filled with unspeakable terror and pain.
Countless blue-white electric snakes, still crackling loudly, wildly darted and jumped across the surface of his body!
The next moment, he fell flat forward, hitting the ground with a heavy "thud."
A burnt stench filled the air; the body had already turned into a piece of smoldering charcoal, without a single sound left.
Killed in one blow! He hadn't even seen where the attack had come from!
"Who's there?! Come out!!" The remaining Death Eaters were instantly frightened out of their wits by the sudden and terrifying attack.
Like a flock of startled birds, they scrambled in all directions, each seeking cover. Their wands pointed haphazardly in every direction, their tips trembling with light as they fearfully scanned every shifting shadow and suspicious shrub.
The attack did not stop.
At the very moment their nerves were stretched to the breaking point—
Rumble—!!!
It wasn't thunder, but a terrifying roar like a waterfall crashing down.
A concentrated jet of rushing water, like a high-pressure cannon, appeared out of thin air in the night sky above them, crashing straight down toward one of the Death Eaters who was leaning against a tree trunk and looking upward!
The Death Eater was terrified; his survival instincts made him want to roll sideways to dodge, but his legs seemed tightly entangled by water weeds, making it impossible for him to move even an inch.
"No—!"
He could only raise his arm in despair, futilely trying to point his wand at the destructive torrent.
But the anticipated agony of broken bones from the impact of high-speed water never came.
Just an instant before the water column was about to swallow him completely—
Crackle—!!
The solid column of water suddenly burst apart mid-air, only a few feet above his head.
Countless "water droplets," as dense as a sudden downpour, rained over a much wider area, enveloping all the Death Eaters standing in the center of the clearing, as well as those nearby trying to find cover.
The "raindrops" fell onto the soil, leaves, black robes, and masks...
Sss—! Sss-sss—!
A sound like strong acid corroding metal instantly rang out.
The ground touched by the "raindrops" emitted choking white smoke and was left riddled with pits; the leaves quickly withered and blackened; and the "raindrops" that landed on the Death Eaters' robes ate right through the thick fabric, burning the flesh underneath!
"Ah! My arm!"
"There's something wrong with this water!!"
"A curse! There's a curse attached to the water!!"
Shrill cries of pain rose one after another.
The water column hadn't directly crushed them, but it instantly left everyone with torn flesh and unbearable agony, causing their original formation and vigilance to completely collapse.
Amidst the chaos and intense pain, one Death Eater's psychological defenses finally crumbled.
No mission from the Dark Lord, no punishment, could compare to getting out of this place alive.
Clutching his arm, which had several bloody holes corroded into it, he ignored everything else and frantically waved his wand, about to cast the Apparition spell—
But in the split second before the syllables could leave his mouth—
"Crucio!"
A voice devoid of emotion drifted from the deepest shadow at the edge of the clearing.
A blinding crimson beam shot out from the darkness at a speed far exceeding an ordinary jinx, sinking with pinpoint accuracy into the back of the Death Eater trying to escape!
"Ugh-aaaaah—!!!"
An ultimate torture, a hundred times more intense than the pain of corrosion and striking directly at the soul, instantly erupted.
The Death Eater's Apparition was interrupted; his body arched like a cooked shrimp as he let out a miserable howl and collapsed to the ground, twitching violently.
But then, a weird and terrifying scene unfolded!
The moment the first Crucio hit its target—
Bang! Bang-bang-bang-bang-bang—!!!
It was as if a chain reaction had been triggered.
The moment that crimson light exploded on the first target, it split, refracted, and jumped!
Like a chain of living lightning, in less than a tenth of a second, it surged through every Death Eater who had been soaked by the corrosive "raindrops" and still bore the same cursed residue on their bodies!
Every Death Eater "connected" in the chain began to shake violently, then erupted into similarly shrill screams, collapsing to the ground one after another.
In the center of the clearing, the only one still standing was Lucius Malfoy, who had not been touched by the "raindrops" from start to finish, nor had he been "connected" by the Crucio.
He stood frozen in place, his wand fallen to the ground. His eyes behind the mask were wide enough to split as he stared in disbelief at his "colleagues," now all writhing and screaming on the ground, and then toward the shadow from which the crimson beam had emerged.
Tap... tap... tap...
The sound of footsteps rose from the darkness.
A figure calmly stepped out.
It was Lynn.
He had already returned to his original appearance.
Lucius looked at the excessively young figure before him, his mind completely blank.
"You... I... this..." He pointed at the Death Eaters being tortured on the ground by the Crucio, then at Lynn, his finger trembling slightly.
"What kind of ridiculous Crucio is this?! How could it even fork?!"
Even though Lucius Malfoy had witnessed the Dark Lord's power and seen many strange Dark Arts, he had never seen—nor even imagined—such an attack that completely defied common sense.
(A certain noseless Dark Lord: Then you haven't seen a Killing Curse fork.)
Lynn's gaze swept over the Death Eaters rolling in pain on the ground, and he clicked his tongue, apparently disappointed that no one had come to save them.
"Avada Kedavra!"
Another series of green flashes lit up the clearing, and the Death Eaters completely lost their lives.
Lucius: "!!!"
"Good evening, Mr. Malfoy." Lynn spoke casually. "I just dealt with some 'noise'; I hope I didn't startle you. Also... thank you for your information. It was very timely."
Lucius subconsciously swallowed, his Adam's apple bobbing with difficulty.
"G-good evening, Mr. Lynn... Y-you're welcome. It... it's what I should do."
"Oh, by the way," Lynn said, as if suddenly remembering something. He reached into his pocket and rummaged around for a moment before pulling something out.
"There's a little gadget I meant to give you yesterday, but I forgot."
He held out his hand; a ring lay in his palm.
The ring appeared to be made from some dull silver-gray metal. It wasn't flashy, but the craftsmanship was exceptionally exquisite.
The face of the ring was carved into the shape of a coiled snake with its head slightly raised. The details were lifelike, with even the scales clearly visible, and two nearly invisible dark gemstones were embedded in the eyes, occasionally flashing with a faint light in the darkness.
Lucius took the ring, his eyes full of confusion.
"This is...?"
"A small gift. A benefit for a partner, and also for your safety."
Lynn explained, "The main function of this ring is... to passively sense and defend against Legilimency."
Lucius's pupils contracted slightly.
"When someone tries to pry into your thoughts with Legilimency, the ring will activate immediately. It won't forcibly block or reflect the other person's magic—that would be too obvious and would easily arouse suspicion."
Lynn pointed toward the ring.
"You can pre-store some... well, 'memories' or 'thoughts' that you want the other person to see inside it. For example, your 'determination' of absolute loyalty to the Dark Lord, your 'anxiety' about completing a task, or any fragments you think could gain trust without exposing your true intentions.
"When Legilimency occurs, the ring will project those preset contents, covering your real thought activity.
"Of course, it's very intelligent and will make subtle adjustments based on the intensity of the probing to make everything seem as natural as possible."
There was one more thing Lynn didn't say: it would be useless against him. He could read whatever he wanted anyway.
Without any hesitation, Lucius immediately slipped the ring onto his finger.
The cold metal pressed against his skin, bringing with it a strange sense of security. The ring automatically adjusted its size slightly, fitting him perfectly.
He looked at the snake ring on his finger, then at Lynn.
"Mr. Lynn... this gift... is too precious. I don't know how to thank you..."
Lynn waved his hand, interrupting him.
"We're partners; we help each other. Your safety is also beneficial to our future 'business.'"
Lucius immediately made a decision in his heart:
As long as the Dark Lord was still alive, he would not take this ring off for even a single day.