(TL NOTE: The author designated chapter 58 as a comments compilation chapter.)
Late at night, a drizzling rain fell on the muddy road, splashing droplets mixed with soil.
A soft sound rang out by the roadside, and a rough-looking man appeared out of thin air, standing in the rain.
He paid no attention to the raindrops falling on him but strode toward the unremarkable Muggle building not far away.
His heart was somewhat panicked now because he had heard some incredible things from that Ollivander girl.
Someone had actually managed to rescue that old fellow from the church's heavily guarded dungeon?
No, that old fellow couldn't be allowed to live, and none of the Bellance family could be allowed to live!
Only when they were all dead could the Lestrange bloodline completely master the power to transform Obscurials into Obscuruses, and no one would know what he had done!
Fortunately, that old fellow probably wouldn't stay at home. He still had his so-called "more important matters" to attend to.
But if he had moved those family members away in advance, that would be troublesome...
"Good evening, Mr. Lestrange."
A voice suddenly sounded nearby. Lavok jerked his head around and met the gaze of a young man.
He remembered this young man called Kevin. His mental strength was comparable to his own, but his magical power was pitifully weak, making him not much of a threat.
After confirming there was no sign of that old fellow behind the young man, Lavok breathed a sigh of relief, his face showing a somewhat mocking smile.
"Since it's you who came, that old fellow must have gone to pursue his pipe dream of throwing eggs at rocks, right?"
"I suppose you helped move his family members away?"
"That's right, since that old fellow wants to throw eggs at rocks, he certainly has no time or energy to move his family members, so he could only entrust it to you, an outsider who rescued him."
"Although I don't know where you came from, repeatedly disrupting my plans and appearing before me is your greatest mistake."
A trace of cruelty appeared on Lavok's face.
"If you had hidden together with them, I probably would have had no way to deal with you. But now..."
"I'll dismember your limbs and use Legilimency to find their whereabouts."
"The magical power in your body is far from sufficient to oppose me. Although I don't know why your mental strength is so high, mental strength can't determine the outcome of battle."
"Yes, I know, Mr. Lestrange."
The young man opposite still wore a smile on his face. He showed no fear and didn't even draw his wand.
Lavok felt something wasn't quite right.
Where did his confidence come from?
Just as Lavok sensed something was wrong, the young man suddenly asked a completely unrelated question.
"Mr. Lestrange, do you know about Erumpents?"
"What?"
Gripping his wand warily, Lavok didn't understand why this young man would ask such a question.
He had indeed heard of Erumpents, though his knowledge wasn't deep, but what did this have to do with the current battle?
But the young man seemed to completely ignore his wariness and continued his introduction.
"Erumpents are a rather dangerous magical creature."
"Their horns can secrete a special venom. Any object injected with this venom will explode, even living beings are no exception."
"The power of the explosion depends on the amount of venom the Erumpent secretes. Generally speaking, Erumpents only secrete enough venom to be stored in their horns, for emergency use."
"But Mr. Lestrange, why don't you guess, if an Erumpent secretes excessive venom, where would that venom be stored?"
Hearing the young man's words, Lavok had an increasingly bad premonition.
Although this young man didn't appear to be carrying any so-called Erumpent venom, just standing there, for some reason Lavok inexplicably felt a fear of the unknown.
"Stop playing mysterious tricks!"
Shouting harshly, Lavok raised his wand. A dark green light flew from his wand tip, and at the same time, wisps of invisible wind hid behind the light, attacking the young man who still stood there.
He now only wanted to quickly deal with the person before him. As for Legilimency and such, he no longer wanted to bother with it.
But the next second, his eyes suddenly widened.
The power within his body was somehow no longer under his control. No matter how he urged it, that invisible wind was rapidly flowing away from his body, leaving only magical power flowing alone through his body.
Although relying on magical power alone, Lavok didn't think he wasn't a match for this young man, this sudden turn of events made his heart gradually panic.
"What did you do?"
Why was the transformed Obscurus leaving his body?
Hearing the words spoken by the man before him, who no longer fit his rough image, Evans suddenly smiled.
The corners of his mouth slowly curved up. He used Disapparition to dodge the incoming curse and turned his head to look west.
Unfortunately, the distance was too great. He couldn't see any light or anything like that.
But it should have succeeded.
He could feel that the memory magic enveloping him was constantly receding. This seal had reached the edge of collapse.
He had completed all the conditions. There wasn't much time left for him to enjoy himself with an immortal body.
Muttering to himself, Evans withdrew his gaze and looked again at Lavok before him.
This person still didn't know what had happened and was staring at him with a face full of wariness.
Showing another smile, the air behind Evans twisted, outlining a beast's head that resembled a rhinoceros but had many differences.
The blood vessels at his neck gradually showed traces of bright red color. The color spread along his blood vessels throughout his body. Feeling the surging power within, Evans's figure instantly disappeared from the spot.
The next second, Lavok heard the young man's voice behind him, carrying a hint of mockery.
He wanted to use Disapparition, but such a brief time wasn't enough to cast the spell.
"The answer is in the blood!"
BOOM!
Violent flames completely devoured everything around them.
St. Peter's Basilica
The Pope, dressed in white vestments and wearing a crown, stood expressionlessly in the center of the chapel.
But the other bishops around him, dressed in red robes, all had their heads lowered. Anyone could see that His Holiness was desperately suppressing the rage in his heart.
Although there were still three other dungeons and quite a few imprisoned wizards, the most important great wizard was gone.
Now they could only forcibly proceed with the ritual, using five Obscuri as fuel, together with the other wizards to ignite that power.
Although the effect might be greatly reduced, they couldn't delay any longer. All the preliminary preparations had been completed. If they delayed further, they might have to wait another few hundred years.
Those heretics preparing to ally with wizards wouldn't give them another few hundred years.
But just as the Pope was thinking this, footsteps suddenly sounded not far away.
Raindrops struck the church dome. An old man with a face full of wrinkles slowly walked into the church. Behind him, those judgment knights who had been on guard fell to the ground one by one, losing all sound.
He stood under the light of candles and braziers, gazing at everything before him.
"So dark."
Saying this, he flicked his wand and spoke softly.
"Lumos."
Boundless light illuminated everything. All the braziers and candles appeared dim under this radiance, even flickering slightly before gradually extinguishing.
Seeing the old man who walked into the chapel, the Pope was first stunned, then a smile slowly appeared on his face.
"I didn't expect you would dare to return."
"Perfect, I won't need to use Obscuri as sacrifices after all."
He glanced at the wooden box placed on the table nearby, then waved his hand. Figures with white pupils and cold expressions twisted into view from the air.
They weren't wizards—no magical power could be sensed from them. But they constantly emanated dangerous auras in all directions, danger that no wizard could ignore.
Bellance looked expressionlessly at those figures.
Obscuri are monsters created by torturing Muggle souls through extremely cruel means, forcing them to match with Obscurus.
This method wasn't created by Muggles, nor by wizards. It seemed to be some kind of rule inherent in the power of Obscurus, and only those who completely understood this rule could create Obscuri.
However, after today, there should be no more Obscuri in this world.
Even Obscurials would no longer exist.
He would personally remove this rule.
He glanced at the wooden box on the table beside the Pope and spoke softly.
"I actually wanted to leave it for ordinary Muggles after removing the rule inside."
"If only wizards possess power, the story of the Black Death might repeat itself."
"But that power cannot be in your hands."
Watching the old man talking to himself there, the Pope snorted coldly and waved his hand. All those white-eyed figures moved, transforming into twisted lines rushing toward Bellance.
But the next second, their movements suddenly stopped.
At the same time, extremely astonishing changes occurred in the old man opposite.
"If I wasn't confident, how would I dare come here alone?"
"Speaking of which, I should thank Lavok. If not for him, I wouldn't have much confidence in achieving this step."
As his words fell, the old man's pupils turned white. His face was instantly covered with pitch-black lines, and vast despair emanated from his body in all directions, almost becoming tangible.
There had never been a case of an adult wizard being transformed into an Obscurial, but this scene occurred before everyone's eyes in the church.
And no one knew just how powerful the Obscurus born from a great wizard would be.
Black wind swept in all directions. Bellance knew it would become the most powerful Obscurus in the world and suppress the production of all Obscurus.
He believed this because this was their common ideal.
No despair could suppress a true ideal.
"Once, I simply walked between wizards and Muggles, trying every means to stop everyone from killing each other."
"At that time, I was confused and desperate. Because I discovered that no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't eliminate that barrier."
"Until I found the real culprit."
His pure white pupils surveyed the surroundings. Everyone who made eye contact with those pupils involuntarily shivered.
"I found the meaning of my existence and am about to complete my ideal."
"Perhaps I cannot completely destroy your existence, but I will at least light a fire."
"As for now, my life has only one final question left."
The old man's tone gradually became serious. He gripped that cypress wand, and waves of invisible wind rippled outward. His powerful spirit even affected reality, making his robes flutter.
Then, a gentle breeze passed by, and everything it touched turned to dust, falling to the ground.
"I fight for my faith, unto death."
"But where is your god?"
The old man raised his wand, pointing it at that magnificent church, as if facing a beast with fangs.
"That one who brands people as sinners, treats people's labor as atonement, and disguises his minions as the supreme god."
"Where?!"
[Chapter Complete]
***
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