"Codex: The Apocalypse
The start of the Apocalypse started on the day of 6. 6. 2006, when Dark Lord Voldemort destroyed the World Barrier and interconnected the Terra with the wider Cosmos and the entire Dark Great Beyond.
The appearance of the Burning Legion wasn't the only thing, but the Terra came under the influence of the God-Devil System. Upon the first day when the God-Devil System spread on the Terra, the Z-Day happened when an unknown Magical Plague was spread through the world from the God-Devil System.
In a single day where, half of the human race became zombies and half of all animals in the world became mutant beasts; when Z-Day happened, the world plunged into Chaos; hordes of Zombies attacked humans and Mutant Beasts, devoured many humans, cities were devastated, many nations collapsed, society collapsed, there were millions of deaths all over the world, all the nations of the world collapsed on themselves and society split into armed gangs and military factions at war and conflict with each other, the human race first had to fight a full-scale war against Zombies and Mutant beasts, but then, well soon, the human factions began to fight each other, for control of what was left of the world.
Coupled with the Burning Legion that was ravaging practically everything that it could, and the increased number of the Cursed Spirits that were being created in tens of thousands due to the overwhelming amount of Negative Energy that was being generated from the events of the Apocalypse.
But among all of these, there were those who, in fact, profited from this. For the entire Moonlit World and all supernatural species, The Apocalypse had another name. While the ordinary humans called Doomsday a testament to the end of their civilization, the people of the Moonlit World called it The Reclamation.
Connection to the God-Devil System and the spread of the Undeath Plague and other things throughout the Terra made the supernatural species even stronger than before. And thus, amidst the collapse of human civilization, it was the races of the Moonlit World that stepped forward and started carving out their territory.
With the establishment of The Congregation, the forces of Wizardkin, Werewolves, Vampires, Jujutsu Sorcerers, and Psykers marched through the hordes of Zombies and Mutated Beasts and, quelled their numbers, and started the Reclamation.
The Reclamation of what they believed was rightfully theirs. It actually didn't take long for the armies of The Congregation to take over the entire planet and start the process of deconstruction and establishing the new world order.
Most of the old human cities were torn apart and deconstructed by Wizards so nature could thrive, and new Fortress Cities were being created that could be well-defended in the case of a possible attack.
Ordinary humans that were numbering something around 7 billion before the Apocalypse were reduced to barely a few hundred million after the Apocalypse. Among those who survived, many were descendants of the Wizardkin, Psykers, and Jujutsu Sorcerers but couldn't access their abilities and were considered as Squibs.
During their Apocalypse, approximately 99% of the Squibs awakened their innate abilities and were assimilated into the Moonlit World. Another part of normal humans that survived the Apocalypse was related to the various militaries of the human nations that were under the control of the supernatural factions. Many of these soldiers and their families were assimilated into the standing army of The Congregation.
For many, the Apocalypse was the end of the world as they knew it, but for many it was the start of a new, glorious age. The age when the supernatural species didn't need to hide from the normal humans and when the strong ruled as they wished.
The entire Apocalypse could be divided into several phases.
The 1st Phase was the opening of the Dark Portal and invasion of the Burning Legion that led to the fall of most of the entire Great Britain and simultaneously the spread of the Undeath Plague that exterminated half of the world's population.
The 2nd Phase was the so-called Z-War and Demon Crusade. Both of the events happened simultaneously when the forces of the Congregation took control of the surviving human armies and assimilated their forces into their own, and started a huge cleaning-up operation against the Zombies.
At the same time, the Grand Chancellor of the Congregation, Jujutsu Marshall Shirou Amakusa Tokisada, led several Special-Class beings and Special 1st-Class beings into Great Britain and managed to banish the Demons back to where they came from, but Terra was still under threat of the Burning Legion.
The 3rd Phase was the final phase of the Apocalypse. During this phase, the remnants of the large Zombie Hordes were exterminated, and most of the large cities in the world were reconstructed by the Wizardkin. At the same time, the armies of the Congregations created the first Fortress Cities and destroyed the first Mutated Beast Hordes and some feral Magical Creatures that got huge power-ups from the entire Apocalypse.
The mark of the end of the Apocalypse is credited to the 1st of July, 2010, when the last Demon Lairs were purged from the islands of Great Britain by the members of the House of Black, and The Congregation claimed supremacy and rule over the entire planet.
Yet the peace didn't last long as the time for the opening of God and Devil Gates neared and the first World Merger seemed to be inevitable."
- Excerpts from God-Devil Age
***
Great Britain, London, Grammual Place 12
It wasn't really that surprising that the Patriarch of the House Black wanted to secure a good marriage for his granddaughters. Magus-Class was essentially the result of the selective inbreeding between Pure-Blooded Wizards and Jujutsu Sorcerers that gave rise to their Class.
To strengthen their traits, marriages with other Magi or powerful Jujutsu Sorcerers were always welcomed. Arcturus Black had three granddaughters who were eligible to marry, and he needed some suitable partners for them, especially the kind of partners that would be beneficial for the House Black.
When it came to the middle granddaughter, Andromeda Black, he was already in he talks with the Zen'in Clan, one of the Five Great Principal Clans. If the Jujutsu Sorcerers Clan were searching for marriage partners, aside from the other Jujutsu Sorcerers, they were often turning to the Magi.
Mostly for the same reasons as the Magi did, but the Jujutsu Sorcerers could possibly evolve the Inherent Technique. Arcturus Black wanted to secure a match with the Zen'in Clan for a very simple reason.
Aside from the fact that the Zen'in Clan was one of the Five Great Principal Clans, one of the current direct descendants, Zen'in Toji, was born with the Heavenly Restriction that elevated his Physique to the state where he was physically as strong as Special-Class Werewolves and Vampires.
Even his regeneration was no weaker than that, and his abilities never stopped growing. This put him in a rather complicated position within the Zen'in Clan, which prided itself on the Ten Shadows Technique, so it was clear that Zen'in Toji wouldn't be able to become someone high-ranked in the Clan.
The old Patriarch of the House Black knew that the Heavenly Restrictions like that couldn't be passed to the descendants, but the descendant would benefit from its effects like the child would be born with extremely strong physical capabilities.
Meanwhile, both Narcissa and Bellatrix didn't have a suitable marriage partner yet, even though that slimy Malfoy was already bothering him so much for his tastes that he was tempted to turn him into Undead.
And the inbred Lestrange line wasn't much better. He would rather die to marry one of his own to the Malfoy line; in his eyes, they were just a bunch of upstarts that only knew how to stab orders in the back, and while the Malfoys were rather rich, they were weak.
For the past several generations, they failed to produce someone as the Special 1st-Class, and even the Patriarchs were barely at the 1st-Class Wizards or Magi, and even a fool could see that the House Malfoy was in very serious decline.
If this continued even further, they would sooner or later be picked apart by the Houses with far more powerful Wizards and Magi. He hoped to get one of his daughters to be at least a concubine to the Jujutsu Marshall.
Even the child would be born as a Magus, then even better, because it would bear the name Black and rise to an extremely powerful individual with even a good chance to become a Special-Class Magus.
"Are you aware that your strategy won't most probably work? The Five Principal Clans have been attempting this for centuries, and it never really worked well for them."
Hearing what his wife said made him ponder over it for a short time, but he knew the real reason for the rejection. It was rather an open secret in certain circles that the Jujutsu Marshall wanted someone who had at least the potential to reach the Special Class.
While immortality sounded nice, it was actually a very lonely life. Even among the Wizards and Magi, immortality was something that many strove for, but there was only a very small number of individuals who attained it.
Aside from the Special-Class Wizard-Alchemist Nicolas Flames, who was the most famous, there was only a very small number of the Wizards and Magi that managed to prolong their lifespan, mostly through Flamel's Elixir of Immortality, which he was selling for an exorbitant price.
Most of the Special-Class individuals in the world, from all species, were men. There was a very small number of meals that attained the Special-Class, and most of them were actually Vampires, mainly due to their inherent immortality, which gave them a lot of time to get stronger.
"Well... Bellatrix has a very good chance of reaching the Special-Class Magus... far higher than me, actually, because she already attained very high mastery over our family Craft Heaven's Feel, and unbeknownst to everyone, she already has created one Special-Class Undead. It won't be long before she can reach the Special-Class Magus. I am personally giving it five or six years, and on this, we are not even talking about her talent for fighting. For that reason, marrying her off is out of the question."
Among all the current descendants of the House Black, for Arcturus, the most precious one was most obviously Bellatrix because she was the only one who had a solid chance of reaching the Special-Class Magus.
And on top of everything, she was also staggeringly talented in the arts of combat, because she was one of the best duellers under the age of 18 in the entire Wizarding World, which was a very remarkable achievement.
Aside from that, she was a very powerful and talented Necromancer due to her high mastery over the Craft of the House Black, the Heaven's Feel, and at the same time, she had an unnatural affinity for the Curses, Dark Magic, and Dark Arts, even if one considered the average talent of the members of the House Black.
When it came to Andromeda, she was undoubtedly an average member of the House Black, with no particular talents or anything that would make her stand out enough. The youngest daughter, Narcissa, while not sharing the same talent as her eldest sister, she had a very strong affinity for the Healing Magic.
This was something very rare because the Healers were in extremely high demand in the entire Moonlit World. Ironically, this is especially true among Vampires and Werewolves because even though they had very high regenerative factors, there were times when these regenerative factors were not that useful or effective.
"Are you betting on her talent?"
His wife was intrigued by the approach of her husband, and in fact, she thought that it could work. There were some rumors that the Director of the Jujutsu Association had some ambitious relationship with the Vampire Elder Amelia of the New World Coven, and it was confirmed that he was in a relationship with another Special-Class Jujutsu Sorcerer, Yuki Tsukumo.
"Yes. There is nothing better to bet at, actually. With the connection to the Jujutsu Higher-Ups, we can increase the influence and power of the House Black, especially with the turbulent times that are coming our way. The squabble between Voldemort and Dumbledore is getting too dangerous, and the others are watching with glee and waiting to pounce."
The Patriarch of the House Black wasn't really that happy with the current political status of Great Britain as it was getting more and more dangerous with every passing month. Aside from that, it really seemed that the Civil War was inevitable.
He wanted to obtain some advantage for the House Blacks so they could capitalize on the unstable situation in Great Britain. Even though Arcturus Black was relatively confident in keeping the House Black from the entire mess with Voldemort and Dumbledore, he wasn't that confident in doing it without any losses.
The real power of the House Black lay in their capability of using Undead and Dark Magic, Curses, and other unsavory methods. Within their homes, which were warded and defended to the extremes and coupled with their Undead, it would be extremely hard to attack them directly.
Even despite all of that, the old Patriarch of the House Black hoped to fish something good from the entire situation. In the ages of chaos, there was always an opportunity to rise in prominence, and the impending civil war in Great Britain would be the perfect opportunity for the House Black to play a fisherman and seek some benefits.
Both Voldemort and Dumbledore were very powerful Special-Class Magi, especially in the aspect of the raw power. They were considered as one of the strongest Special-Class Magi that had ever lived, mainly due to their Craft.
And with the modifications and rituals that Voldemort made to himself, Arcturus Black could say that his Magic Circuits and Raw Magic rivaled those of Barthomeloi's Blue Blood Magic Circuits.
Which was already pretty disturbing news. Not to mention Dumbledore, with his destructive Magic, he was even more problematic to deal with and it was also true that Dumbledore was taking too hard a stance on the Aristocratic Families among the Wizardkin.
In the current Wizarding Britain, there was an impending civil war, and there were several factions already in play that would have a key role.
On one side, there were the Death Eaters and their affiliated factions that were under the command of the Special-Class Magus named Voldemort, who had most of his support within the Noble Houses of the Wizarding Britain nd then with many unsavory elements of the Moonlit World, including those of the rogues and criminals from the different factions and certain number of Curse Users and dangerous terrorists from different nations.
The second faction was the Ministry of Magic and the so-called Order of Phoenix, which was just a fancy name for Dumbledore's bootlickers, in Arcutrus's opinion. Still, the forces of the Ministry of Magic were relatively powerful, and the Auror Department was in its golden age right now due to repeatedly increased funding.
Then, there was the third faction that was officially neutral in the entire conflict. It consisted of the neutrally aligned Noble House of the Wizards or some ancient Magus Lineages like that of the Barthomeloi that didn't want to have anything with this mess because they considered it far beneath their stature.
Arcturus knew that Barthomeloi's view on the Muggle Borns and even on the 1st Generation Magi was ironically more in alight with that of Voldemort, but Barthomelois also realized that she truth that if not for those people, then nobody would really work in the Moonlit World.
In every single faction or supernatural species, the First Generational Ones were always the most important for the menial manual work and such. This was especially true for the Wizardkin, where the Muggleborns consisted of approximately 90% of their workforce.
Something that the stupid supremacists could really see is that if they were taken out of the equation, then there would be nobody working on them and for them. It was really utterly short-sighted in his opinion, and he could see that many Noble Houses would be wiped out in this civil war.
Either by the Ministry and Dumbledore's forces or by the Voldemort himself, because the man was reported to be mentally as unstable as he was powerful, which was a really dreadful combination, in fact.
The House Black was standing among the neutral as the neutrals in Great Britain created their own bulk to protect their own interests against both Voldemort and Dumbledore because their agendas were going straight against their interests.
"Well, the world war has been left unfinished, and now many Purebloods are feeling that their society is under the threat of the Muggleborns, whose numbers are increasing with each passing year."
Arcturus agreed with what his wife said because it was really one of the main reasons for the rise of the Pure-Blood Movement in Great Britain. The number of Muggleborns was higher with each passing year, even though, according to the data, approximately 99% were destined to never become stronger than a 3rd-Class Wizard.
This was one of the things that the Wizards had in common with the Jujutsu Sorcerers; the Bloodline and Potential were everything in this world. For the Magi and Jujutsu Sorcerers, this was especially the truth, though some of the first-generation Jujutsu Sorcerers managed to awaken their Innate Techniques, which became the building basis for the new Clan.
Though such cases were rare.
For Magi such cases were even rarer as the number of the 1st-Generation Magi that possessed powerful Craft could be counted on one hand. There were not many of them, and most often, developing their Craft was financially very expensive, something that wasn't really a concern for the 1st-Generation Jujutsu Sorcerers who needed just to train and develop their Innate Technique.
"Ts... most of their fears are completely baseless... even though the number of the Muggleborns are rising very fast, the numbers of them that reached even the 1st-Class is lesser than ten and till now, there was no Muggleborn who reached Special-Class and we all know how the last one that reached Special 1st-Class ended..."
Arcturus, as someone of very high social standing in the entire Moonlit World and Wizarding Society, knew that the number of the Muggleborn Wizards that reached 1st-Class was extremely low, and there were only one or two people who managed to reach Special 1st-Class, but...
One of them was killed by him personally so he could dissect him, and the corpse was turned into the Undead, while the other Muggleborn that reached the Special 1st-Class was born several hundred years ago in Russia, but someone coincidentally leaked the information to the local Chieftain of the Werewolf Tribe and...
Well, the aftermath wasn't that nice.
This was some tacit understanding between the Noble Houses of Wizards and Magi...
Nobody wanted the Muggleborns to become too powerful because their place in society was to work and become the machine that pushed the entire society forward or work for the benefit of the Noble Houses.
Every time, when someone Muggleborn Wizard managed to break the limitations of the Bloodline, then they would care of it. Even from the Muggleborns that reached the 1st-Class Wizards, many met with accidents and were left dead or crippled sooner or later.
***
3rd POV
Great Britain, Ministry of Magic, Headquarters of the British Ministry of Magic, Some Time Later
The headquarters of the British Ministry of Magic was located deep underground, below Whitehall, in London. It was comprised of a very large, ten-story building housing several offices, departments, and courtrooms.
This was for the first time in a few hundred years that he had visited Great Britain, and he also wanted to leave once again. The environment here wasn't really to his tastes, but they needed to attend the interrogation of the Fenrir Grayback that was captured in Great Britain.
Selene, who was next to Shirou Aslos, shared a similar sentiment, though hers was more from her contempt for the Wizards as she considered them weaklings. Most of the older Vampires developed very strong Magic resistance, so most of the ordinary Magic won't really work on vampires like her.
Selene was actually a 3rd-Generation Pureblood Vampire who was turned by Vampire Elder Vcitor, who was in turn created by the Primogenitor himself, so her strength and potential were unmatched.
At the same time, her Magic Resistance was frightening, so she looked down on the Wizards because they could barely injure her, and approximately 99% of their spells would be entirely useless against her.
Only a small number of Spells, mainly those related to the Souls, and spells like Fiendfyre were effective against Vampires like Selene.
"And try to not kill anyone as we are here... even though these Wizards could be annoying as heck."
Shirou said because the Vampire Princess, as he jokingly called her a few times, something that she didn't really seem to appreciate that much, was still rather grumpy from the trip to Great Britain to save time, they arrived through the International Portkey.
A Portkey was a magical object enchanted to instantly bring anyone touching it to a specific location. In most cases, a Portkey was an everyday object that would not draw the attention of a Muggle. Traveling by Portkey was said to feel like having a hook "somewhere behind the navel", pulling the traveler to their location.
The sensation of traveling by Portkey was universally agreed to be uncomfortable, if not downright unpleasant, and could lead to nausea, giddiness, or worse. The only positive of this method of travel was that it was instantaneous, though Shirou really pressed the Wizards and Magi under his rule to invent something that would be more comfortable and wouldn't have such severe side effects when traveling.
"Welcome to Great Britain, Lord Amakusa, and Lady Selene."
As they exited the Porkey Area, they were greeted by the current British Minister of Magic, Eugenia Jenkins. The British Minister of Magic was a middle-aged woman; she was around fifty years or so, and she had been the Minister of Magic for the past few years.
It seemed that the stress was already coming for her, because she had a lot of wrinkles and some white hair among the black ones. For the past few years, apparently everything that could go wrong in Britain would indeed really go wrong.
"We appreciate your hospitality, Minister Jenkins. Now, as you are aware we can't really waste any time, so I would politely ask you to us to the Azkaban as soon as possible for the interrogation of the Greyback."
Shirou thanked the woman as she nodded and led them across the Atrium in the Ministry of Magic.
The Atrium was located on Level 8, and it was an area that served as a lobby and reception room for visitors and employees. The Atrium was a very long hall with a highly polished dark wood floor. The ceiling was peacock blue and was filled with golden symbols that kept moving like a noticeboard.
The walls on each side were covered in gilded fireplaces used for traveling via Floo powder; the left-hand side ones served for arrivals, and the right-hand side ones served for departures.
"Of course. The Ministry of Magic would be delighted to work together with the Jujutsu Association and Old World Coven on the Greyback and his activities."
Eugenia Jenkins knew that the Ministry of Magic was more or like a toothless tiger in most of the cases.
Most of the powerful Wizards and Magi came from the Noble Houses; approximately 95% of them were affiliated with some Noble House or different organization, so it was hard for the Ministry of Magic for the Ministry of Magic to do something without being dependent on the Noble Houses, Families, and various interest groups.
And this was a state that was the same with every single Ministry of Magic, with only MACUSA being the exception, because the Congress was created by the Psykers, Wizards, and Magi alike.
Due to this state of the various Ministries of Magic, they were only able to have Aurors, which was a form of Law Enforcement, but not even a single Ministry of Magic had an Army on their own or proper armed forces whose task wasn't just about enforcing laws and arresting criminals.
She knew that among the Death Eaters, Dumbledore's own forces, and the Neutrals, the British Ministry of Magic was, in fact, a small-time player that was being controlled by the most powerful person around.
Right now, with the situation with the next Dark Lord on the Islands, the entire situation was getting more and more problematic, and she knew that it would only be a matter of time before the entire Ministry was overrun by the Death Eaters.
Fortunately, they managed to capture Fenrir Greyback was something that was considered a great achievement for Great Britain because Fenrir Greyback and his Snatcher Moon Gang were internationally wanted criminals with bounties on their hands issued by practically everyone ranging from fellow Werewolves to Jujutsu Sorcerers.
So when the Aurors, together with the help of the House Black and Barthomeloi Family, managed to capture Greyback, it created huge waves. It was rather surprising to find out that Greyback had dealings with Death Dealers, and many of his dealings were even with the Curse Users, rogue Vampires, and many other unsavory elements.
The worst part of it was the very strong suspicion that Greyback was supposed to play a significant role in Voldemort's plan. Or at least that much they managed to gather when they captured the mad Werewolf, though the interrogation would show the truth.
"Who else would be present during the interrogation of the Greyback?"
Shirou asked as they went to the specially designed Floo station that was connected to the Azkaban and led to the prison.
"Only a few people, mainly the Head of the Magical Law Enforcement, Bartemius Crouch, Patriarch of the House Black, Lord Arcturus Black, and Patriarch of the Barthomeloi Family, Barthomeloi Augustus."
Right now, hearing who would be going to attend the interrogation of the Fenrir Greyback made him raise his brows because they were exactly the people that he needed to talk with right now, or rather, could talk about some things right now.
Even though talking with the Barthomelois would be rather challenging due to Selene's presence, that family had some sort of disdain for the Vampires that stemmed from their deep-seated hatred towards the Dead Apostles.
Dead Apostles were humans, Wizardkin, Psykers, Mix-Bloods, or, in some very rare cases, even normies that became a special type of Undeath. Being very similar to the Vampire, but not limited to them, because many of them were no different from a feral beast as in appearance or in behavior.
Shirou could see how even Selene tensed at the mention of the Barthomeloi name or even, to a lesser degree, the mentions of the Blacks.
The origin of the Dead Apostles was most probably lost in time, but it is widely believed that they were the result of a magical experiment when ancient Wizards attempted to imitate the form of the Vampire's biological immortality.
Unfortunately, these efforts of the people brought up rather mixed results because while they managed to imitate the immortality of the Vampires, it came with an extremely heavy price as the people who became Dead Apostles often lost all of their sense of self and became nothing more than just feral beasts.
Another major downside for the Dead Apostles compared to their Vampiric cousin, if they could even be called such, was their dependency on Blood. While the Vampires would get weaker if not drinking blood and could go into hibernation for centuries without drinking blood, it was different for the Dead Apostles.
They needed it because otherwise, the genes that compose their bodies are constantly degenerating, and once they die, they won't leave a trace as their bodies turn into ash. The only way to interrupt and reverse this degeneration, even if just temporarily, is by regularly ingesting the blood of living creatures in order to absorb genetic information and stabilize their own bodies.
"I would be delighted to have a talk with the Lords Barthomeloi and Black at a later date. Also, if the Minister finds some time, I would like to discuss certain sensitive matters concerning the safety of the Ministry."
Shirou stated that the British Minister of Magic gave him a subtle nod, after which she led them to the Floo Station connected to Azkaban, which they would use to teleport to Azkaban.
***
Somewhere in the North Sea, Azkaban Island
Azkaban, the highest-level security prison in the Moonlit World, was located on the Unplottable island somewhere in the North Sea, whose precise location was known only to a few selected people.
It was defended with countless Wars, Barriers, Curtains, Illusions, and many other forms of defense, making this place impossible to enter or escape. Not to mention, it houses the entire garrison of Dementors, one of the foulest Dark Creatures, including a few Dementors at the Special-Class somewhere around the island.
The island in the North Sea on which the wizard prison was built had never appeared on any map, wizard or Muggle. Its first known resident, Ekrizdis, practiced the worst kinds of Dark Magic and constructed a fortress on the island, luring Muggle sailors there to torture and murder them.
Shirou actually knew the man personally because he was one of the Magi who was participating in the adjustments to the Jujutsu Sorcery System and Magus System, and he considered Ekrizdis a friend.
Unfortunately, the man was killed by the Dementor King when he ventured into the Dementor Dimension for some experiment and was obliterated in the instant, which spoke volumes about the Dementor King's power.
Not many knew it, but Ekrizdis was a peak Special-Class Magus, whose power was no weaker than Shirou's own right now. The fact that someone like that perished without uttering a word, spooked him a lot.
After his death, the various Concealment Charms he had cast on the island faded away, and the British Ministry of Magic became aware of the mysterious site's existence. Those who entered the deserted fortress to investigate discovered, among other horrors, an infestation of Dementors and, most obviously, various monstrosities that Ekrizdis kept in the fortress as a result of his experiments.
The British Ministry of Magic of the time considered destroying the fortress but, fearing reprisal by the Dark Entities or the island itself, decided against such action, and the Ministry allowed the sizeable colony to remain; the island was thus left unmolested and unchecked for many years.
In the end, it was then taken over by the International Confederation of Wizards after an agreement with the Psy Council, Jujutsu Association, Vampire Covens, Werewolf Tribes, and a few other notable factions, and the fortress was renovated as a prison.
"This place seems like home."
Hearing what Selene said made him chuckle because, for her, it really must have seemed like home due to the gloomy appearance of the entire place. It was no wonder that this place was most popular among the Vampires, who were always eager to be stationed in the Azkaban.
"Yeah... for Vampires, this must be like a nice summer vacation..."
Aside from the Dementors of course.
One of the most dangerous and nasty creatures in the Moonlit World.
Dementors were gliding, wraithlike Dark Creatures, widely considered to be one of the foulest of the Dark creatures to inhabit the wizarding world. Dementors literally fed on human happiness and thus generated feelings of depression and despair in any person in close proximity to them.
They could also consume a person's soul, leaving their victims in a permanent vegetative state, and thus were often referred to as "soul-sucking fiends", and the people they left soulless were deemed to have been turned into an "empty shell".
They strode through the halls of the Azkaban; they soon enough encountered one Dementor that was floating through the halls of the Azkaban.
"Careful..."
Shirou said as the 1st-Class Dementor approached them, while the air was slowly getting colder and colder, and the place seemed to get darker. It was one of the side effects of the Dementors, as they sucked all the light, sound, and happiness from the air as they drew long rattling breaths and caused darkness to close in everywhere and the victim to feel incredibly cold. They could even glide towards a victim with no sound other than then sounds of their own rattling sucking.
Dementors had a humanoid shape, approximately 4 or 5 meters, and were covered in long robes and hooded cloaks of ripped black cloth, making them closely resemble wraiths. Their skins were grey, slimy, and decayed-looking, like a decomposing corpse.
Their breathing emitted a rattling sound, like it was trying to suck more than air out of a room. Their hands were glistening, greyish, slimy-looking, and scabbed. They seemed to exude an aura of cold.
Their face, which are usually completely hidden by their deep hoods, had empty eye sockets covered with thin, scabbed skin. There was a gaping large hole where the mouth should've been, which was used for consuming the positive emotions of humans, as well as for sucking the soul out of the victim in a process called the Dementor's Kiss, leaving victims in a state generally considered worse than death.
Shirou looked at the Dementor for several moments before he tapped with his feet on the ground several times and sent a burst of Cursed Energy toward the Dementor, as the creatures immediately flew away as soon as possible.
"The Dementors are very similar in nature to the Cursed Spirits, as they are, too, using the Cursed Energy. Once they feel stronger and more powerful, Cursed Energy, it would overwhelm their senses, and they would usually flee."
Shirou was one of the people in the world who studied a lot about the Dementors and their origins because they were unique creatures that combined both the Cursed Energy and the Magic Power.
The earliest records about the Dementors were from the ancient story about the Dark Wizard Raczidian.
According to an ancient story, the Dark wizard Raczidian lived with a colony of Dementors at his castle. Upon being refused marriage to a witch named Eliana from a wizarding village, Raczidian ordered his Dementors to destroy the village unless Eilana was brought to him. The villagers fought off the Dementors with their Patronuses but were overpowered, until a young wizard called Illyius conjured a small but powerful mouse Patronus, repelling all the Dementors from the village and saving it.
Yet Shirou knew that the Dementors were not from their world... They were originally the Extradimensional Creatures that somehow ended up in this world. Most probably, they were summoned by some powerful Special-Class Wizards into the world through some kind of ritual from some Dimension.
One thing was sure.
That they were a very dangerous threat to the entire world if they were left unchecked, and Shirou always felt that they were ticking bombs that could explode into their faces. Even though Wizards and Magi were able to control them to some degree, it was far from perfect and far from enough.
When the path was cleared once again, they continued to the Warden Office within the Azkaban. The number of the Wardens, the living ones, and not the Dementors within the Azkaban, was around one hundred, and it consisted of the major players in the Moonlit World.
"Welcome to the glorious prison of the Azkaban. Lord Amakusa, Lady Selene."
They were welcomed by a man with a certain rangy loping grace; he walked with a slight limp and looked rather like an old lion with grey streaks in his mane of tawny hair and bushy eyebrows. He had keen yellowish eyes and wore wire-rimmed spectacles using a walking stick.
"Rufus Scrimgeour, Vice Warden of the Azkaban."
Shirou and Selene noticed that the man was a 2nd-Class Wizard, which was already higher than most Wizards would reach in their whole lives.
"Where is the Warden McRemitz?"
Leonhardt Fraga McRemitz was the current Head of the Clan Fraga McRemitz, an Irish Magus Clan with a history that traced back to the Age of Heroes, but their real lineage could be traced back to the Age of Gods.
They were in the control of one of the very few Divine Artifacts in this world, something that not even Shirou had the privilege to own.
Fragarach: Gouging Sword of the War God, also called Freagarthach, The Answerer: That Which Comes Later Cuts First and The Retaliator. It is the "Sword of Retrograde" and an indefeasible weapon of the gods, divinely protected by some malicious will, that works by using a conceptual curse to warp destiny and a divine trick that uses time as its blade. It warps causality to always strike the opponent in the heart with a thin needle-concentrated blast right before they unleash their ultimate attack.
This weapon was so strong that it was enough to kill instantly any Special-Class being.
"Warden McRemitz is handling the settlement of the Greyback... the beast has proven to be rather uncooperative."
Hearing that, both Shirou and Selene nodded at that, because Greyback was a Special-Class Werewolf of considerable power, and even after he was captured, he was still left with a lot of strength, so they needed to contain him properly.
And as the Warden, the Patriarch of the Fraga McRemitz was overseeing it personally as well he was personally guarding the prisoner.
"Has everyone arrived already?"
They started walking towards the holding cells that were holding the Special-Class inmates, though there were not many of them, and they were already severely weakened to actually do anything from the enviroment of the Azkaban and various measures.
However, beings like Special-Class Werewolves were rather problematic to deal with due to their overwhelming vitality, which made it rather hard to contain them properly.
"Lord Black has already arrived, and we are awaiting the arrival of Lord Barthomeloi any moment. Lord Dumbledore will arrive in fifteen minutes, as we have already sent a missive to Hogwarts."
This was rather an impressive setup for Britain, as it consisted of some of their strongest and most influential Magi that were arriving here. The interrogation of Fenrir Greyback would be overseen by several Special-Class and Special 1st-Class individuals.
"Then lead me to the holding cell... we need the information in his head and his dealings with the rogue Vampires and Curse Users and god knows whom else."
Time was ticking, and they needed to extract the information from his mind as soon as possible. Shirou believed that what Greyback knew would be the key to clearing out the Old World Coven and solving the situation with the Elder Victor...
Once that was solved, the conflict between the Old World Coven and the Lycan Rebellion would be resolved, and the perilous situation would be over. Once this matter was finally put behind all of them, the other plans for the stability of the Moonlit World could finally be implemented.
Vice Warden Rufus Scrimgeour also told them that there would be few other people present during the interrogation of the Greyback, though most important were Bartemius Crouch Senior, the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement of the British Ministry of Magic, and Alastor Moody, the Head of the Auror Department.
Crouch was a staunch supporter of the heavy usage of the Aurors and militarizing the Auror Department to deal with the dangers to Britain, which was something admirable, considering the fact that all Ministries of Magic that managed Wizards were not really militarized.
Many of their Auror Departments were underfunded, and severe, mainly sabotage, was carried out by the Nobility to ensure their power. Nobody from the Noble Wizarding Families was keen on the stronger Aurors because it was a threat to their power.
From a certain point of view, they were right.
If the Ministry of Magic that managed the Wizardkin matters got much stronger, then various Wizarding Noble Families and Magus Families would get weaker. However, this was more true for the Wizarding Noble Families because the Magus Families were many, many times stronger in the aspect of raw power.
Many of them had Special-Class Magus or Special 1st-Class Magus among their ranks, so even if the numbers of the Auror Department got higher, it was none of their concern in the future because numbers were not that effective in front of raw power.
Overhelming raw power.
It didn't take them long to arrive at the top holding cells where the most dangerous criminals were being held. The worst of the worst collected across the Dark Wizards, Rogue Magi, feral Werewolves, Vampires, Psykers or Curse Users, and many, many others.
There were even worshippers of the Demons, Cultists of the Dark and Evil Gods, or other monstrosities that were whispering to them during the night, and many others. Shirou knew, in fact, that there were even some ordinary humans being imprisoned in Azkaban, mainly the ones that came into contact with the much darker part of the Moonlit World.
Demons and Evil Gods.
Mad Cultists have been a serious problem for the past few years. In such encounters, even an organic no-maj could obtain tremendous power by pledging himself to some dark entity.
They were following Vice Warden Scrimgeour into the tight corridors as they were on the uppermost layer of Azkaban, which was specifically designed to hold Special-Class beings.
The Azkaban, at most, could hold something around twenty Special-Class Beings if needed.
At the end of the corridor, Shirou saw the Warden of the Azkaban Prison, Leonhartd Fraga McRemitz, and Arcturus Black; both of them were Special 1st-Class Magi and were very powerful.
"Greetings, Lord McRemitz."
Shirou greeted Leonhardt Fraga McRemitz, a man in his fifties with magenta-colored hair and eyes, who was wearing the combat uniform as all members of the guards. Because the fight was possible at any moment, all Wardens working in Azkaban were armed with the best possible Cursed Tools, Artifacts, Enchanted Gear, or Mystic Codes.
Everything was sponsored by various factions in the Moonlit World to ensure the stability and strength of Azkaban. Even though all prisoners were totally isolated, especially the more dangerous ones, and there was little to no contact between them and wardens.
For the prisoners at Special 1st-Class or Special-Class, there was a strict policy of zero contact between them and the prisoners. The food was teleported to them through Magic every day, and they were placed in the Sealing Containment Cells that were enhanced with countless Wards, Barriers, and Seals.
The doors were extremely enchanted by the Goblins and crafted by Dwarves and could be personally opened only by three keys, where one of the keys belonged to the Head Warden, one to the Vice Warden, and one to the Guard Captain.
The doors were created to withstand the full force of anything in the Special-Class, and it would take a lot to even damage them. The rotation of the key was created because nobody would be able to open the doors for someone through corruption or any other means.
The possibility of someone bribing three people at the Special 1st-Class was indefinitely close to zero.
"Lord Black."
Two of the most powerful men in Britain came to Shirou and Selene as they exchanged pleasantries, and the two of them gave a gentlemanly bow to Selene. It wasn't every day that so many powerful experts were gathered in one place.
"Lord Amakusa. Lady Selene. It's my pleasure to welcome you to Azkaban."
Warden Leonhardt Fraga McRemitz welcomed both of them to Azkaban. It wasn't the first time that Shirou visited Azkaban, but the last time he was here was a good many decades ago.
Though it seemed like the place hadn't changed even a bit.
From a certain point of view, it was rather nostalgic.
"Well, we thank the Head Warden McRemitz for his welcome."
Shirou said as Selene just nodded, preferring to stay silent, as this was really going into the realms of politics, something that she wasn't a fan of. Just by a single look, she could tell that Lord Black was a political animal, no less than any Vampire Noble, most probably even more.
Humans were as treacherous as vampires when it came to politics, with the single distinction being that the Vampires were focusing on the long-term plots and schemes that stretched out over several decades due to their immortality.
"So, how is the state of the prisoner? I heard from the Vice Warden Scrimgeour that Greyback has been giving you trouble."
Hearing what the Director of the Jujutsu Association said made Head Warden McRemitz cringe because Greyback was like a rabid beast even after he was captured. And containing a Special-Class Werewolf was no joke by any means.
"Even when we placed tons of Spells on him and gave him a few potions to be a good dog, he is still energetic as hell... It seems that he underwent several rituals that altered his physiology, and he is much stronger than the average Special-Class Werewolf... but according to our own Werewolves, those rituals are not perfect, and they created a lot of inconsistencies in his very own being, and they are clashing against each other. The part which is taking the heaviest toll is his own mind and sanity."
Well, that much wasn't really surprising, considering the Greyback... Shirou knew that there were plenty of rituals out there, and in fact, he was one of the foremost experts on the Ritualistic Magic even though he wasn't a Wizard or Magus.
Yet the Jujutsu Sorcerers, too, had their own branch of Ritualistic Sorcery, and it was one if not the most dangerous out of all types of Spells. One wrong move and death would be salvation for the person undergoing the ritual.
Shirou didn't really know what Greyback had done to himself, but if he had to guess, then it would be something to bring him closer to the idea of being like the Fenrir, the World Devouring Wolf from the Scandinavian Mythology.
It seemed that while it gave him power, it also messed up his head pretty much.
As was expected.
"Around ten years ago, Greyback, together with his Moonsnatcher Gang, attacked one of the Library Repositories of the Old World Coven and managed to obtain a very old grimoire about the Rituals on the Flesh Alternation. It was also his target because almost nothing else was taken from the Library Repository when the Death Dealers arrived on the scene and fought off the Moonsnatcher Gang."
Selene remembered this event because it created a lot of commotion in the Old World Coven when the Greyback with his Moonsnatcher Gang dared to attack the Old World Coven and even rob their Library Repository.
This was pretty bad news to everyone involved because the Flesh Alternation was one of the more controversial branches of Magic. Well, it told a lot when even Vampires locked it up and classified the thing as Forbidden.
Among the species of the Moonlit World, the Vampires were the ones with the most lax laws regarding the study of Magic and uncovering the mysteries of the arcane. They were rather frivolous in their research, and some things that they were doing were nothing short of madness, as he liked to say.
Yet even they considered the Grimoire on the Flesh Alternation Forbidden Lore, which was available only to the few selected within their Covens. Selene as the Head of the Death Dealers in the Old World Coven most obviously had that acess and knew the dangers.
Most often, the great power came at an even greater price.
"That is certainly a most concerning piece of information, My Lady."
An elderly voice resounded through the room, as another person entered the uppermost floor of the Azkaban, as everyone could see Arcturus Black visibly frown seeing who the newcomer was.
Albus Dumbledore.
Albus Dumbledore was tall and thin, with silver hair and a beard so long that it could be tucked into his belt. He had a very long and crooked nose that looked as if it had been broken at least twice.
He also had long and skilled fingers, the last part of the statement was told due to his skills when it came to Dueling as he was one of the skilled duelers in the entire wizarding society. His eyes were a brilliant, soul-piercing shade of blue, and usually twinkled with kindness and mischief.
"Dumbledore. You took your time."
The strongest living Magus, though that statement was rather questionable because there were many contenders for the title of the strongest Magus alive. Still it was unquestionable that Dumbledore belonged to the most influential people in the entire Moonlit World, due to his own power, but also thanks to his connections and political backround.
"I have a school to run, Lord Back... not everyone has so much free time. Lord Amakusa, Lady Selene. It is my pleasure."
Dumbledore came to them as he greeted the people who were talking. The only one missing was Lord Augustus Barthomeloi, who should have been coming at any moment.
"Lord Dubmeldore, it has been a long time already. When we last saw each other, your hair and beard were still auburn-colored and you were much, much younger."
Shirou said that it had indeed been a pretty long time since he had seen Dumbledore, and he was much younger. Just something more than thirty years old, it was already more than many decades.
"Indeed, it has been a long time. Though it would be better to meet under much better circumstances."
Albus Dumbledore was very soft-spoken and to the outsiders he really seemed like a very nice old man... though for those who knew him, he was one of the most ruthless Magi around who would do everything for his Greater Good.
"Well... I believe that you would be doing the Legilimency on the Greyback, Albus?"
Legilimency was the act of magically navigating through the many layers of a person's mind and correctly interpreting one's findings. A person who practised this art was known as a Legilimens. No-Majs may have called this "mind-reading", but practitioners disdained the term as naive.
The art of the Legilimency was natural ot the Wizards, Magi, Vampires and Psykers. Some Jujutsu Sorcerers could also learn it if they had a predisposition towards the Mind Arts, but those cases were rather rare.
The opposite of Legilimency was Occlumency, which was used to shield one's mind from the invasion and influence of a Legilimens. Some Magical Creatures, such as Wampus cats, could also perform Legilimency.
The most advanced Legilimens could perform Legilimency nonverbally and wandlessly, but less talented practitioners must use their wand and utter the incantation "Legilimens" to enter their victim's mind.
If a target was not skilled in Occlumency, a Legilimens would be able to detect if the person was lying, as well as delve into their thoughts, emotions, and memories. It was noted that it was easier to perform Legilimency when the target and the practitioner's eyes met.
Highly skilled Legilimens could also communicate with other Wizardkin and other beings overall telepathically, even when the target was at a considerable distance.
They did this by projecting their own thoughts, emotions, and memories into the mind of an intended recipient without directly accessing it, thereby creating visual impressions in their minds.
"Yes... It seems that this task has now fallen on me this time."
Albus Dumbledore was the most powerful Legilimens among the Wizardkin present, so it was most obvious that he was the one who would be delving into the mind of Fenrir Greyback.
"May we know why such a book was locked up even by the Old World Coven? As far as it is known, Vampires are more lax in their approach to researching mysteries of the Magic?"
This was something that was on everyone's mind, due to the Vampire's apparent attitude towards the research of Magic, as they were most open-minded for some, arrogant for others, and foolish for even more people.
Though it was undeniable that, as probably the second most powerful species in the world, which was at the same time immortal, they had the capital for that.
"Many of the rituals in that Grimoire include bargains with the entities that not even the Primogenitors would dare to approach... I seriously doubt that even King of Curses during his time would take such a bargain."
Selene, as General of the Death Dealers of the Old World Coven, knew very well what was in the Lore that the Greyback and his Moonsnatcher Gang stole from the Old World Coven and what dangers it represented.
King of Curses.
When Shirou created the Jujutsu Sorcery, there was one man whose talent for the Jujutsu outclassed even Shirou's very own by leaps and bounds due to the unique circumstances of his very own birth and complete disregard for everything aside from power.
He became one of the very few Hero-Class individuals that this world gave birth to.
"Well... that is really a problem, isn't it?"
Someone muttered because dealings with the Extradimensional Entities was something that was extremely dangerous and not even some of the maddest people in their history took the deals with such beings.
"It is... but..."
Before Dumbledore could finish his sentence, the last person of their "fellowship" arrived, and it was undeniable that the Patriarch of the Barthomeloi Family, Augustus Barthomeloi, was one of the Special-Class Magi in Great Britain.
He was a middle-aged man wearing a Victorian three-piece suit, and in fact, in terms of appearance, he was rather bold with the crowd with his brown hair and beard.
"Augustus."
Shirou greeted the man as they were very well acquainted with the Lord of the House Barthomeloi. The Barthomelois often intermarried with the Five Principal Jujutsu Clans to increase the power of their Craft, due ot that they gave birth ot the Blue Blood Magic Circuits and their Craft was one of the most powerful in the world.
"Shirou."
Lord Barthomeloi was also pretty often visiting Japan, and among the Magi that the Jujutsu Sorcerers had the most contact with, the Barthomelois were first in place. Aside from the fact that Barthomelois considered the aristocratic pure-blooded wizards as disgraced to their entire breed due to their weakness, they were.
"Well now when are we in the full formation, can we start?"
The Director of the Jujutsu Association asked because time was pressing them too much, and he wanted the information from Greyback's mind as soon as possible. Even though he, too, was well-versed in the Mind Arts, he didn't dare call himself a Master on the level of Dumbledore.
Shirou wasn't natural.
Some people were Innate Legilimens and Occlumens.
Shirou was an Innate Occlumens and learned Legilimency, meaning that he had learned Legilimency on his own, but Innate Occlumens meant that he was born with a predisposition for defending his own mind.
So, it was left to the professionals in this aspect as all of them then went to the holding cell containing Fenrir Greyback.
Contrary to the ordinary cells, where the prisoners could at least partially move in the cramped complex, in this one, it was vastly different as the prisoners were bound by the heavy chains forged by dwarves and goblins from the adamantine.
Countless runes were engraved around the cells, all of them aimed to securely contain the target that was imprisoned in the containment cell. Because the prisoner was just captured, he was completely bound from tips to toes.
"I will be starting."
Dumbledore said as he started delving into the depths of the Greyback's mind.
Everyone else was just observing for the time being as they left Dumbledore to work his magic. The elderly Magus was doing several things at the same time because he was extracting memories from the Greyback, while also categorizing them and preparing them to insert into the Pensieve.
A Pensieve was a very rare and powerful magical item. They were a Magical Devices used to store and review memories. Pensieves were rare because only the most advanced Wizardkin ever used them, and because the majority of Wizardkind is afraid of doing so.
The entire process was rather arduous for Albus Dumbledore, because Greyback's mind was a total mess and shattered into countless pieces. Even such an experienced person as Dumbledore, who was a legit master in the Legilimency and was also an Innate Legilimens.
Nobody spoke during the process to avoid disrupting Dumbledore when he was extracting the memories from Greyback's mind. It was now wondrous that it took him so long, because most apparently, whatever the Werewolf had done to himself, he pretty much messed up with his mind too much.
When someone had a shattered mind, it was much harder.
Due to that, one needed to go from one fragment to another and extract every single one manually. It was a very arduous and lengthy process, but if there was one person who could achieve a perfect result, then it would only be Albus Dumbledore among the people gathered presently.
In the end, the entire process took around one hour, and when Dumbledore was finally finished, everyone eagerly waited for Dumbledore to give them a summary of the information that he had gathered from the Greyback's mind.
They would view the complete memories of the Greyback in the Pensieve.
"So, what did you find out?"
Shirou was the most eager one to find out what the information he obtained from the Greyback was about, and the state of things.
"Well... as it was feared there was some kind of agreement between the new Dark Lord Voldemort, Greyback, former Regent Kraven of the Old World Coven and Kamo Noritoshi."
Hearing the last name made Shirou frown as he subconsciously frowned heavily, because Kamo Noritoshi was one of the strongest Curse Users that ever rose among the Jujutsu Sorcerers.
He was the one who was researching the Cursed Spirits in some rather dangerous way, as he wanted to create a method of most easily increasing the Cursed Energy of the Jujutsu Sorcerers through the assimilation of the Cursed Energy of the Cursed Spirits.
To achieve that, he created the Cursed Womb: Death Painting.
At the beginning of the Meiji Era, a woman with a special genetic composition bore a half-human and half-cursed child. It was a mysterious pregnancy that caused her to be ostracized by her family. With her child in hand, she fled to a temple where jujutsu sorcerers operated.
However, Noritoshi Kamo, the most evil Jujutsu Sorcerer in history, forced the woman and her child to become prisoners of his intellectual curiosity. The woman had nine pregnancies and nine abortions, but all records surrounding this and the woman would be destroyed in time.
"Continue..."
Shirou said as Dumbledore nodded and proceeded to explain the situation, as it was more concerning the situation in Great Britain than anything else.
"Greyback was working for Kraven and Lucian, who had apparently perished several centuries ago at the hands of Kraven, who, according to the publicly known information, had killed him, but it seemed that they were conspiring together to kill the Vampire Elders and take over the Old World Coven. This is also where Voldemort and his Death Eaters came in as Kraven used Greyback as his middle man to bribe Voldemort to help him depose the Elders in exchange for the resources..."
Dubmledore explained that everyone was disturbed, but there was one person who was shocked beyond belief.
Lucian was believed to be dead by the Vampires of all Vampire Covens.
Killed by Kraven many centuries ago.