Dudley's pupils contracted sharply.
The surrounding chaos seemed to instantly fade away. The screaming voices and fleeing figures at this moment appeared to come from another world entirely.
Dudley could almost hear his own heartbeat thundering in his ears.
The next moment, Dudley took a deep breath and regained his composure. Facing a crisis, he clearly understood the absolute necessity of remaining calm.
The object pressed against his back was undoubtedly a wand. If he made the slightest unexpected movement, his captor could attack him with a spell instantly.
But the opponent hadn't used control spells like Stupefy on him immediately, which meant they needed Dudley to remain conscious, or at least temporarily aware.
The dark wizard who had fled earlier was most likely a deliberate diversion, designed to create chaos and separate Dudley from Kingsley and the other Aurors.
They needed Dudley isolated and vulnerable.
Dudley's mind raced through possibilities. In just an instant, he had analyzed the current situation with crystal clarity.
"Good. As long as you obey, I won't harm you," the voice behind him spoke again, hoarse and deliberately low, making it impossible to discern specific details or even distinguish gender.
"Now, don't turn around. Take out that golden ring," the voice behind Dudley commanded slowly.
Hearing this demand, Dudley's expression changed dramatically.
These people's target was actually the Sun Ring! How did they know the Sun Ring had fallen into his possession?
"Don't resist. I know that ring is in your possession. Now obediently hand it over, and I won't hurt you," the voice continued with menacing patience.
"Otherwise, I don't mind turning you into a corpse first and then searching your body at my leisure."
"Alright, I'll give it to you. Please don't hurt me," Dudley said after a brief pause, injecting fear into his voice.
"Very good. Do exactly as I say," the voice replied with obvious satisfaction.
Dudley reached into his clothing and withdrew the Sun Ring from within the Mirror of Erised's dimensional space.
"Let me see that ring clearly," the person behind him immediately demanded.
Dudley didn't resist and complied without hesitation. He turned his wrist, clearly presenting the Sun Ring for that person's inspection.
"Put your hands behind your back and give it to me!" the captor said with obvious urgency.
You could hear that his voice had become much more excited and impatient.
Dudley continued to comply, reaching behind his back to hand the ring to the dark wizard.
Without any hesitation, the person immediately snatched the Sun Ring from Dudley's outstretched hand.
"Stup..." The moment he seized the ring, he immediately began chanting a spell, preparing to render Dudley unconscious and then add a Memory Charm for good measure.
But the instant the ring fell into his grasp, he suddenly felt overwhelmingly fond of Dudley, with indescribable goodwill surging through him, as if the person standing before him wasn't his enemy but a beloved family member.
He completely couldn't bring himself to harm Dudley! Not that he couldn't physically manage it, but that he genuinely didn't want to cause him pain.
Whoosh!
Just then, Dudley suddenly spun around with lightning speed. Without any fancy techniques, his already-prepared fist slammed into the black-cloaked wizard's abdomen with devastating force.
Bang.
With a sickening thud, the dark wizard was launched backward by Dudley's punch, crashing into a nearby stone wall and spitting out a mouthful of blood.
Bribery combined with the Barbarian's close combat abilities. Dudley had just demonstrated perfect Black Emperor sequence combat techniques.
"Stupefy!" "Petrificus Totalus!"
Immediately afterward, Dudley chanted two spells in ancient Hermes, with almost no preparation time needed, directly striking the dark wizard and leaving him completely motionless on the cobblestone ground.
"Daring to actively steal a Briber's possessions? You won't be the first, and you definitely won't be the last," Dudley sneered as he approached the fallen black-clad figure.
Even if he had given the Sun Ring to this person, so what? It was impossible for them to so easily claim this sealed artifact from Dudley's hands.
Reaching the person's side, Dudley pried open his clenched fingers and reclaimed the Sun Ring.
Then he pulled back the dark wizard's hood, revealing his face completely.
This was a middle-aged man, approximately forty or fifty years old, with unkempt black hair and a face covered in coarse stubble.
Blood continuously flowed from the corner of his mouth, soaking most of his black cloak. His breathing was extremely labored, his abdomen had completely caved inward, and probably few of his internal organs remained intact.
After all, Dudley's close combat abilities were extraordinarily powerful. Beyonders of both the Black Emperor and Arbiter sequences would dramatically improve their physical capabilities during advancement, especially the Black Emperor sequence, which allowed Dudley to engage in physical persuasion when legal negotiation failed.
This ability could kill even mountain trolls, let alone striking an unprepared wizard's abdomen. That the man didn't die immediately was already Dudley showing considerable mercy.
"An unknown dark wizard," Dudley muttered, studying this dying wizard with a deepening frown.
"Dudley, Dudley, are you safe?" voices called from a nearby alley.
It was Cole approaching rapidly.
"I'm perfectly fine. There's a dark wizard here who might be connected to the previous cases," Dudley immediately called out loudly.
"Thank goodness you're unharmed. That's absolutely wonderful," Cole said with obvious relief. "When I discovered you were missing, I immediately came searching for you."
"Do you recognize him? This person attempted to attack me," Dudley said, pointing to the dying dark wizard sprawled on the ground.
"My God! You actually defeated a dark wizard single-handedly," Cole said in complete shock, immediately examining the fallen wizard.
"Never seen this person before. Maybe..." Cole drew his wand, his words trailing off incomplete.
"Mental Piercing!" Suddenly, Dudley directly activated the Interrogator's ability, condensing his mental power into an invisible spear and thrusting it at Cole, who was within arm's reach.
"Ahhhhh!" The next moment, Cole let out an agonized wail and nearly collapsed to the ground.
"Reducto!" While screaming in pain, Cole's face contorted with rage as he forcibly pointed his wand at Dudley and completed the destructive spell.
"Bribery!" Without time to consider alternatives, Dudley directly threw the candy he had been holding at Cole.
"Protego!" At the same moment, Dudley cast a Shield Charm in ancient Hermes.
Instantly, a faint golden light flashed around him, forming invisible protective armor.
Bang.
A dull impact sound echoed. Dudley felt like he'd been struck by something invisible and powerful, but he only swayed slightly without falling.
"Dudley! What are you doing?" Cole's eyes were bloodshot as he roared with hysterical fury.
Facing Cole's outraged questioning, Dudley's expression remained ice-cold. While sliding the Sun Ring onto his index finger, he said with deadly certainty:
"Stop pretending. You're all working together!"