That was his moneybag, his livelihood.
And someone dared touch him?
Gus stormed out in fury. Musashi picked up his wand, turned back to release Shizuka from her bindings, and chased after him.
Shizuka looked at Kra's corpse, the terror on her face draining of all color. She knew there was no turning back anymore.
She picked up her wand and followed Musashi.
Fortunately, for the sake of convenience in research, the Headmaster sent the students home on holiday every year around this time.
Mahoutokoro was eerily quiet now. Aside from Shizuka and Kra, only four other instructors were resting in their offices.
When the three of them reached the library, they were confronted by a door plastered with sealing charms. Gus moved to force it open.
"Ugh! Why can't I open it!?"
"It's useless. The seals here are extremely powerful," Shizuka said urgently, stopping him as she stepped forward.
She took a sharp stone and cut her palm, gripping her wand as blood flowed steadily into the runes carved into the door.
As her blood seeped in, the door slowly began to loosen.
Musashi looked at Shizuka with a complicated expression. "When the Headmaster set up this magic, he never imagined that his great-granddaughter would defy his orders."
The Headmaster's name was Minamoto Shige, and he was also Minamoto Shizuka's great-grandfather.
That man had long since lost his humanity, to the point where he even used his own great-grandchild as an experiment.
Shizuka's face was deathly pale as she said bitterly, "I'm just Minamoto Shizuka."
She didn't want anything to do with that inhuman patriarch.
Gus pushed the door open.
A pitch-black, unfathomably deep staircase spiraled downward.
They lit their wands.
But after the light traveled down only three steps, it vanished without a trace.
Like a gut that devoured life itself, it sent a chill creeping up their spines.
"Extra pay, extra pay, extra pay!" Gus muttered, psyching himself up before letting out a shout and charging inside.
If he could save the boss, Gus was absolutely going to demand ten thousand Galleons to soothe his wounded heart.
Musashi had intended from the start to destroy that place, which was like a demon's lair. He rushed in without hesitation.
When there was only one final turn left before the end—
A gust of wind blew out.
The three of them froze as their breath caught.
Blood.
A thick, suffocating stench of blood, so heavy it was almost impossible to breathe.
It was as if countless lives had been extinguished inside. The overwhelming bloodiness put all three of them on high alert.
Shizuka said in a trembling voice, "The Headmaster set up a barrier inside that suppresses all magic."
"No wizard can use magic there. And the Headmaster once fought in a war—he's a swordmaster who's slain a hundred men."
The implication was painfully clear.
A veteran who had been through the battlefield and reached the level of a hundred-man-slaying swordmaster, facing wizards who couldn't use magic—what kind of situation would that be?
Shizuka grabbed Musashi's hand, pleading, "Please, run. Get out of here."
Musashi knew that if he fled now, he wouldn't just lose this chance forever—he would never find peace for the rest of his life.
He held Shizuka's soft hand, slowly prying his fingers free, his voice resolute. "I won't give up."
He took a step forward.
Seeing this, Gus immediately slapped Shizuka's hand away and clasped Musashi's hands with both of his, gazing at him with exaggerated sincerity. "Good brother. Let's go in together. Fifty-fifty split."
Even someone like Gus, who valued money over his own life, took one whiff of the blood stench inside and proactively suggested a fifty-fifty split just to get some backup.
Musashi tugged his hand once, but couldn't pull free.
Gus pulled two small knives from the side of his shoe, keeping one for himself and handing the other to Musashi.
Don't ask why a wizard carries knives. Ask, and the answer is professionalism—better prepared than sorry.
The two of them slowly moved past the corner.
The smell of blood grew even more pungent.
They frowned imperceptibly, making not a single sound.
Gus advanced through the darkness, and his hand brushed against something that didn't feel like hard stone.
He froze for a moment, then reached out and touched it again. There was fabric, and something wet.
Slowly turning his head, a terrified face came into view. Looking further down, the throat had been slit.
This was only the first.
After fully rounding the corner, the two of them stopped at the same time.
At the end of their line of sight, bodies lay scattered in disarray—some had their throats cut open, others had their eyes stabbed through, their brains stirred into ruin.
There were also three people who had been skewered together by a single blade.
Corpses covered the ground. A rough count put them at dozens.
Musashi saw one person in particular—the military executioner known as the Hundred-Slayer, the Headmaster.
His face was frozen in disbelief. He had been strangled by his own beard, hanging outside the railing.
The bestowed blade, Mitsumichi Kawahira, had snapped in two and was tossed aside.
As for the patron Gus cared about...
John was opening a glass container, inspecting its contents.
"There's still hope," John said as he looked at the children soaked in a thick, viscous liquid inside.
Some were locals. Others had clearly been trafficked in from other countries.
It was obvious the Headmaster had intended to test whether people of different races could transform from Muggles into wizards.
John sensed someone entering. He glanced back, saw that it was Gus and the others, and said casually, "Take the ones who are still alive out. Twenty Galleons per person."
"Mission guaranteed!"
Gus couldn't be bothered with shock anymore. He immediately set to work with glee, opening the glass containers one by one.
The children were released one after another. Shizuka stepped inside as well—and like Musashi before her, she froze in place.
Musashi noticed John staring at the lowest platform.
"Musashi, if I remember correctly, there's a volcano beneath this place, right?" John spoke softly. "I don't have a habit of taking losses."
"Silverhand… sir?" Musashi said stiffly.
John's right hand transformed, coating itself in silver. He closed his fingers in midair, and the Silverhand Sword appeared in his grasp.
In that instant, all the runes in the chamber burst into flames.
Daring to set up an array in front of a level-seven alchemist—John could only say they were very brave.
When he saw that Gus had more or less gotten everyone out, John raised the sword in his hand.
At that moment, magic surged forth, turning into a terrifying mass of black vapor that poured into the ground.
||Draco ignis sum||
The blade plunged downward.
The flames at the sword's tip transformed into a fire dragon, drilling relentlessly into the solid earth.
Musashi suddenly realized something, his face changing drastically.
He turned, grabbed Shizuka's hand, and shouted, "He's going to blow up the volcano—run!"
Deep underground, at an unknown depth, the layers of rock formed over countless years were pierced one after another by John's single strike.
The dormant volcano... The instant it came into contact with that fire dragon...
Awakened.
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