Cutting off several rats with one swipe of his magical sword, Black suddenly paused, his head snapping in the direction that led straight to MACUSA.
Then, in the very next moment, his body began moving as if he had never stopped.
This Squad seems to be led by a more cool-headed Sergeant, Black contemplated, letting an Echo act like Arlen Black. It would have been much better if they had stormed the Headquarters. Best, if both Squads had entered the Bounded Field together. Now, I have no choice but to keep the Entry Point open.
Between Sirius getting kidnapped by the Order of the Immortal Lotus' Unspeakables, letting Pillars somehow invade the Mirror Timeline, and the Pillars finally making their moves at three fronts simultaneously, not even a full day had passed.
The Ultramarines had already added a wild variable to the Ad Infinitum's calculations.
From their strength, especially that of the Fulmination Discipline's Librarian, it was easy for the AI to guess that these Astartes belonged to a Pillar timeline themselves.
Which meant if it came to testing Magic against the Librarians' ability to tap into the Warp, Black might come up short, no matter how versatile his abilities were.
Then there were the Characters from the Harry Potter Pillar timeline.
Neither of the two Pillar timeline's Characters would survive one flick of Black's finger.
But the forces that lingered in their surroundings also needed only that much power to end either Kai or Black.
Not to mention, if it came to battling one-on-one, neither Kai nor Black was sure they could take on even Lord Black Phoenix. Not without using underhanded schemes and treachery… something Kai had never had an issue depending upon.
Still, there was a risk, the AI and Lucky Intuitions had confirmed.
And, not knowing what the risk was or what shape it would take, before letting Meg play the part of the decoy Yellow Warlock and attend the meeting, Black had taken some necessary steps.
The first was to turn the White Serpent Pirates' HQ into a trap.
Black had already sent the Contestants and Characters away, with only Meg and Red Sun staying behind.
Meg needed to remain in the Harry Potter Bubble because of the Unbreakable Vow and the need to play the part of the Yellow Warlock now and then.
Red Sun, meanwhile, was ordered to go to the Bleach Bubble, along with Mayuri.
However, because of Darth Kars' presence, Black had kept the 12th Floor Contestant of the White Serpent Pirates around the planet, sending only Mayuri to keep an eye on things for now.
With that taken care of, preventing any other Herpo the Foul's raid-like situation, and knowing that the Pillars would raid MACUSA to flush out any Contestants hiding within the Bounded Field, Black emptied the HQ… leaving two surprises.
And the first of those two surprises was none other than Devil Snare — the Magical Creature Kai had caught near the first year's end at Hogwarts.
Devil Snare was nowhere near as mighty as the Three-Headed Devourer and Venom, as it had clear, exploitable weaknesses — heat and light.
Then there was the fact that it wasn't actually sentient, per se, and had almost zero intelligence.
It was basically a magical vine that acted on instinct.
It hadn't come as a surprise to Kai that not many in the Primordial Tower preferred to nurture it as a Magical Creature. The fact that it was almost impossible for it to experience a Grade advancement didn't help its case, either.
Even Kai himself had never used it in his battles.
Against the enemies he fought, the vine wouldn't have survived a moment before ceasing to exist.
Thus, all this while, Kai had kept it to himself, secretly nurturing it by letting it feed upon his unending supply of heavily poisonous and corrupted blood.
…
The five Ultramarines' Bolters tore through the hundreds of dark tentacles lingering in their surroundings, a continuous SCREECH echoing across the forest.
[Devil Snare,] Sergeant Corvinus said, identifying the Magical Creature, despite its unorthodox, mutated growth. [Brother Cato. Burn.]
Cato handed over his Bolter to Aquila, who began firing both Bolters and proceeded to unclip another weapon that was attached to his back.
It was much bigger and heavier than a Bolter and, instead of muzzles, carried nozzles.
A Heavy Flamer!
The moment Cato pressed the trigger, the highly concentrated Promethium fuel burned, and two jets of extremely bright and hot flames shot out, incinerating everything.
Flashes of Bolters continued to demolish everything.
The flames of the Heavy Flamer turned trees and vines to ash.
Devil Snare's SCREECH became louder and louder, as if the entire forest had come alive, screaming in pain.
The Ultramarines knew all the Magical Creatures of the Harry Potter Bubble, along with how to deal with them.
Against Devil Snare, which couldn't even think and acted on instinct, it was as easy as it could get.
Then, just as it felt that it was over, something changed.
Not in the surroundings, but within the Devil Snare.
A hibernating Echo came alive, the yellow crystal dancing in the Magical Creature's consciousness, taking the reins.
The SCREECHES paused.
The flailing of tentacles, despite the fire burning them to a crisp, stopped.
Standing in the formation, the Psyker of the Telepathy Discipline suddenly frowned.
[Lost contact,] the Librarian instantly reported. [Mind Scan is picking up… only one mind.]
Then, within Devil Snare, its Master's voice rumbled, giving it the command it needed.
[Use Shadow Stealth.]
One moment, Devil Snare's massive, uncountable tentacles were still lashing out in random directions under the Ultramarines' onslaught.
In the next moment, it just… disappeared.
For the first time, Corvinus changed his stance, his Battle Brothers catching onto the strangeness as well.
They continued to fire.
They continued to burn.
And, in doing that, they continued to create shadows beneath them.
So, when vines, hundreds of meters long and thousands in number, erupted from beneath their feet — like black lava getting spewed from a volcano — it sent all the Marines flying in different directions, giving them absolutely no chance to dodge.
Then, the simple, mindless Devil Snare received its second command.
[Use—] the Echo commanded, making all the vines glow blacker. [—Power Whip.]