Looking at Regulus's cold expression across from him, a sense of complexity flashed through Victor's heart.
Among the friends he had seen surrounding him in the Mirror of Erised, Regulus had been there.
The Regulus in the mirror was young and handsome with a soft expression, a far cry from the man standing before him now.
"Mirror magic? Heh... To maintain this positive image of yours, you actually don't even dare to violate the Statute of Secrecy. If this were back then... I'm afraid everyone here would have been turned into Inferi for the Dark Lord's use, wouldn't they?" A trace of mockery appeared on Regulus's face. "I heard that you've even developed the good habit of paying for things when you go shopping in Knockturn Alley now."
"So... am I really that despicable in your eyes?" Victor said with a sigh.
Regulus's mind flashed back to that godforsaken place that had almost trapped him to death; the memory of those thousands of Inferi made his heart ache as if pierced by needles.
Back then, he had actually admired such a murderous demon so much, even looking up to this henchman before him as a role model...
It was a disgrace!
"How do you have the face to say such words? Don't you know exactly what you did back then?"
Regulus's eyes turned ferocious.
His wand lashed out like a whip, snapping violently toward Victor!
In an instant, the ground shook as a vicious, formless spell hurtled forward like a runaway truck.
Even the solid ground was plowed open, leaving several unfathomable cracks in the wake of the magic!
The moment the spell was cast, Regulus lunged forward.
As he charged, he pulled several small metal spheres from his pocket and threw them.
These spheres exploded the moment they touched the empty ground around Victor.
Countless clouds of ink-black fog spread rapidly! The plants in the flowerbeds withered completely before the mist even reached them.
The black mist surged forward, melting the solid floor into pools of black liquid. Combined with the initial invisible spell, it cut off all of Victor's paths of retreat!
Simultaneously, the once-level ground began to deform rapidly! The magical traps he had prepared in the square beforehand were activating!
How ridiculous!
Regulus hadn't expected that when Victor activated his Mirror Magic, he would even copy these traps along with it!
A look of excitement appeared on Regulus's face, as if he were about to see Victor descend into panic.
However, to Regulus's surprise, Victor remained standing in place not far ahead, his face as calm as a still pond.
He hadn't even raised the wand in his right hand, acting as if he hadn't seen Regulus's ferocious assault!
Just as the vicious invisible curse was about to hit him, Victor casually raised his wandless left hand and tapped the air in front of him.
"Module No. 33... Shield."
"BOOM!"
The savage invisible spell slammed into him, but it was as if it hit an invisible wall of air, detonating violently right in front of Victor!
The sheer force of the explosion blasted a deep trench into the ground!
Yet, where Victor stood, the ground remained completely unscathed...
Even the magical traps that were about to activate ground to a sudden halt just as they were about to reach Victor's feet!
As for the rapidly spreading black fog that seemed capable of melting anything, it vanished like snow hitting fire before it could get near Victor, turning into clouds of white steam that drifted away into the air...
Seeing this, Regulus's charge came to an abrupt halt. At that moment, he felt as if his very breath had hitched.
Victor hadn't even used a wand to completely neutralize his meticulously planned opening gambit!
For a fleeting moment, he even had the illusion that he was facing the Dark Lord at the height of his power!
"Lost Mist, Soul-Devouring Curse, Magic-Lock Traps... It seems you have indeed learned a lot over the years and grown much stronger," Victor said calmly.
That calm expression made Regulus's heart skip a beat...
"It's not over yet!" Regulus whipped his wand. The fountain behind Victor began to boil, and the water was drawn out, shaping itself into a basilisk that lunged to bite Victor's back!
Simultaneously, the rubble on the ground instantly transformed into a pack of ferocious Nundus, pouncing toward Victor!
Regulus's wand flicked again, and a nearby tour bus rose like a small mountain, hurtling down toward Victor's head!
However, Victor didn't even bother to raise his hand this time; a red protective barrier flashed briefly before him.
The water basilisk and the lunging Nundus froze mid-motion the moment they touched the barrier. Rows of runic sequences flashed across them before they reverted to their original forms...
Rocks fell to the ground... The fountain water dispersed, slowly raining down onto the pavement...
As for the tour bus falling from the sky, just as it was about to hit Victor, it split down the middle like sliced butter, crashing down on either side of him...
Victor sighed softly. "You've had enough fun, haven't you?"
Behind him, a three-dimensional circular model constructed from countless runic sequences slowly emerged, hovering and emitting a dazzling radiance.
Regulus stood not far away in shock. The light from the model made his eyes sting slightly...
At this point, no matter how confident he was in his own strength, he could see that he was far from Victor's match.
"I didn't tell anyone my purpose for leaving Hogwarts when I came here. I believe you did the same. So, if I were truly the villainous Victor Wick you speak of, you would be dead by now—silently. But I don't intend to do that. Because your understanding of me is nothing more than a rather unpleasant misunderstanding," Victor said calmly.
Regulus couldn't help but take two steps back.
The Victor Wick of the past was notorious for his cruelty and cunning...
Thus, even though Victor's current behavior was unusual and his words were logical, Regulus didn't dare to easily trust a single word he said!
Furthermore, having struggled in the underworld for years—dealing with dark wizards from the moment he woke up every day—he had long since developed an extremely cautious nature.
Now, Regulus only wanted to leave this place immediately.
Victor waved his wand, dropping his combat stance and slowly walking toward Regulus.
He stepped over the deep pit before him as if walking on level ground...
"I failed to save your brother back then, but now I will find a way to save you..."
"You think I'll believe you just because you say that?"
"Your reluctance to trust others isn't wrong. In fact, I don't expect you to believe me right now. Sometimes, to decide whether to trust someone, you don't need to listen to what they say; you only need to watch what they do..."
Regulus sneered, "You think I can't escape today, which is why you're being so patient with me, isn't it? Did my appearance today give you another useful pawn to play with?"
Victor's footsteps halted. He watched Regulus quietly for a long moment before saying, "I never said I wouldn't let you leave, did I?"
In the next second, the ambient noise of the surroundings returned.
Regulus looked around and realized they had silently emerged from the Mirror Dimension!
The ground, the fountain, the tour bus, and the flowerbeds that had just been destroyed were now completely intact.
It was as if the battle just now had been nothing more than an illusory reflection.
Regulus stared at Victor for a long time. Just when Victor thought he might have something more to say, his figure suddenly twisted and vanished into thin air!
*Clink...*
A small bottle fell to the ground.
Victor looked at the bottle... it was the very teleportation potion Regulus had taken from him.
This potion, refined from house-elf blood, could break through the restrictions of Anti-Apparition Charms.
Victor sighed softly. At the tip of his wand, a tiny hummingbird flashed through the air and vanished...
Regulus's figure suddenly appeared in a secluded alleyway!
He didn't linger, immediately placing his hand on a broken wooden barrel on the ground.
In the next second, both he and the barrel vanished once more...
When he reappeared, he was in a Muggle neighborhood.
He tossed the one-time Portkey barrel onto the ground.
A flash of fire erupted, and the barrel turned into a pile of ash.
Regulus quickly opened the door to a nearby house and stepped inside...
He had barely stepped inside when a voice as unpleasant as a bullfrog's croak rang in his ears.
"Oh! Young Master, you're back! Kreacher has already prepared lunch for you! Oh... Young Master, why is your face so pale? Are you injured?"
"It's nothing, I'm not hurt..." Regulus collapsed onto the sofa.
This was his ancestral home, 12 Grimmauld Place.
This ancestral home had long since been protected by the Fidelius Charm, so he finally allowed himself a sigh of relief.
While Kreacher fussed over him, checking for injuries, Regulus was reflecting on the day's events.
He hadn't expected that on his first move against the Death Eaters, targeting Victor Wick—who had been the weakest back then—his confident self would nearly meet disaster!
Victor Wick... he remembered that the man hadn't been particularly strong back then; it was only his research and planning abilities that made him the Dark Lord's right-hand man.
How had he suddenly become so powerful now?
And... he clearly had the power to kill him, so why hadn't he finished the job?
With the power Victor had displayed, if he had truly gone all out, Regulus wouldn't even have had the time to use the remaining half-bottle of the teleportation potion to escape!
It could be that I really did misunderstand him? Is he truly an undercover agent sent by Dumbledore?
But... how is that possible?
A sense of absurdity rose within Regulus.
He had seen Victor kill several Aurors with his own eyes!
Moreover, when planning the hunt for the members of the Order of the Phoenix, Victor had exerted every bit of his effort!
That sheer madness, that desperate urge to find every member of the Order and tear them to pieces—even now, when Regulus recalled it, he felt a shudder of fear.
How could such a pure Death Eater possibly be an undercover agent sent by the Order?