Chapter 53: Beaten Until You Question Your Existence!
Lockhart wasn't just cackling in mid-air, waiting for Dumbledore to wreak havoc.
No matter how powerful Dumbledore was, there was still a distance to close, and Lockhart had to face the immediate danger himself.
The unique mechanism of the "Kalibu's Gem" chapter in "Caro's Bedtime Story Fairy Tale Book" was that every time an Inferius died, it would absorb the power of 'slaughter' to resurrect, doubling into three.
While Dumbledore walked unharmed through the powerful magical inferno of "Fire God Paves the Way," Lockhart's situation became increasingly dangerous.
As large numbers of Inferi died, they tripled and crawled out from the edge of the fire sea, turning their heads and pouncing towards Lockhart.
They began to be unsatisfied with just throwing Inferi and spitting upwards.
They clawed at each other, forming huge pillars of stacked corpses, the pillars swaying and climbing towards the sky.
On the corpse pillars, Inferi were constantly being grabbed and thrown at Lockhart. Several pillars that reached a sufficient height would even throw three at the same time. As they approached, two Inferi would frantically tear another Inferius in half, creating a large spray of foul blood, showering and drenching him head-on.
Such a massive amount of foul blood contamination instantly brought unbearable pain all over his body.
Lockhart was already suffering like this, let alone the Winged Horse, a magical creature distracted by having to carry him while flying.
It had almost completely lost all ability to move.
Fortunately, Lockhart's cleaning charm arrived instantly.
He had never cast magic at such a high intensity before. This didn't make him feel any mental fatigue; on the contrary, with his increasing proficiency in the cleaning charm, he found it increasingly effortless.
It was a very strange feeling. He felt himself entering a state where his characteristics were undetermined and about to be determined.
It was as if the most primal magic within him could be disciplined and become more condensed after learning at a magic academy, or it could become a "Forest Darling" full of spirituality and natural affinity in a free and unrestrained forest, or even a "Obscurus" state born from self-repression and pent-up anger.
Lockhart suddenly had an epiphany—the characteristics of magic originated from the wizard's behavior.
This was originally something wizards didn't need to dwell on. Everyone had their own instinctive behaviors and their own characteristics. For example, Harry Potter's magic became powerful and extremely suitable for combat scenarios because he was adventurous and dared to face crises directly.
However, he was different. He had too many choices.
The Forest Witch's "Forest Darling" was one, Lockhart's "Social Darling" was one, and there were a dozen different states in his mind.
Perhaps all of these could be called "Heart of the Strong."
These wizards became powerful because of this, achieving accomplishments that ordinary wizards couldn't reach.
And now...
With a certain degree of digestion of memories, with a deeper understanding of the wand's perception, with magic beginning to be used by him at a high frequency, and more importantly, as he truly stepped into the romance of the fairy tale, he also began to need his own inclination.
Magic was asking him!
The wand was asking him!
Magic was asking him!
What exactly—should you be like!
Choose one from the "templates" of those dozen powerful wizards? Or choose "Lockhart"? Step into their lives and become them?
No!
These were just the foundation of the fairy tale, not him!
Their fairy tales were simply not enough, not satisfying his greedy appetite for life at all!
Lockhart had never been confused about life.
He was so excited that he was almost manic, struggling to grab the Winged Horse's claws and flipping himself onto its back.
He stood swaying on its back, welcoming the storm of wind and blood, not worried at all about falling from the high altitude. He stretched out his arms and laughed loudly.
Shouting, "I only crave the intense!!!"
This was his answer!
Come on!
Not enough!
These so-called Inferi were simply not enough. He felt the blood slapping his face, the piercing pain stimulating his soul, and he laughed even more hysterically.
Then, he elegantly waved his wand, shouting each word clearly, "Clean! Up! Everything!"
Pale golden magical waves swept through, like an eraser, like a tide, quickly sweeping towards the surroundings.
In an instant, the blood rain that filled the sky, the howling wind that devoured life, and even the filth on the Inferi that were being thrown around in mid-air, all completely dissipated.
Look, this is magic!
Magic itself has no strength or weakness; it only depends on who uses it!
And the magic in my hand...
It is full of intensity!
"Oho~"
Lockhart's peripheral vision caught a flash of bright emerald green. He turned his head and saw a plump witch wearing emerald green wizard robes lying in a very strange posture on top of a corpse pillar. Clearly, she had been secretly mixed in with the Inferi, planning to ambush him.
However, she was so conspicuous at this moment.
"Alecto Carrow!" Lockhart smiled brilliantly, full of surprise. "I've been waiting for you for a long time!"
Amycus's sister—I came on this trip precisely to kill you!
—I had already anticipated it. The technique of controlling "Caro's Bedtime Story Fairy Tale Book" to separate Dumbledore and me and throw us into different locations was probably a secret method known only to a member of the Caro family like you.
—I've been waiting for you!
Lockhart crouched slightly, leaned forward, reached out and grabbed a protruding piece of shoulder armor on the back of the Winged Horse's neck. His right hand shook his wand, conveying his will to the Winged Horse.
And then—instant acceleration!
The Winged Horse carried him and swooped down towards Alecto.
Alecto's expression changed, her gaze fixed on this young man who showed no fear towards her, even laughing madly. Then, a surge of anger welled up within her.
Back when she and her brother followed the Dark Lord to conquer the world, who in the wizarding world didn't fear them Death Eaters? Now, in just over a decade, the young man before her clearly knew her identity yet still looked down on her so much. It was simply arrogant, simply hateful!
"Crucio!"
She waved her wand at Lockhart.
However, the young man before her seemed completely fearless, only urging the Winged Horse to charge, charge.
Bang!
The wand in Lockhart's hand suddenly flew out of his grasp, quickly flying into Alecto's hand.
"Hahahaha~~"
Lockhart laughed wildly. He understood Alecto too well. No one in the world understood her better, not even her brother Amycus, because Amycus now had completely lost all memories of his sister.
He knew Alecto's little tricks.
She liked to start by shouting the Cruciatus Curse, but secretly cast the Disarming Charm. No one in this world understood the importance of the Disarming Charm in combat better than dark wizards.
Without a wand, even if the other party really knew some wandless magic, how many spells could they cast, and how much power would they have?
Alecto reached out and grabbed the flying wand. Her expression suddenly changed, and she quickly brought it to her eyes for a look. Her pupils dilated violently. "A twig?"
Yes, a twig.
This was the reason why Lockhart liked the ring style of the Undetectable Extension Charm so much—because it was too useful. With a flick of his wrist, the wand reappeared in his hand.
He elegantly raised his right hand holding the wand.
This was an extension of his will. Magical creatures could easily sense his thoughts and accept his commands.
A black smoke extended from the pocket of his wizard's robe. Before it had completely emerged, the upper half had already transformed into the upper body of the massive 'Hanged Corpse,' and it looked so much larger than before, as if its body had cracked open, filled with cracks of black smoke inside.
It raised its right hand along with Lockhart.
"Alecto, hello, Alecto, goodbye!" Lockhart roared as he swooped down, laughing wildly, and suddenly swung his wand.
The thick arm of the 'Hanged Corpse' behind him also swung down in exactly the same motion.
Bang!
The huge palm swept away Alecto and a pile of Inferi beside her.
Even a battle-hardened dark wizard as powerful as Alecto was almost torn apart by this force. She was thrown into the air, dizzy, and crashed towards the ground.
But soon, a huge illusory image of a book appeared behind her, its pages opening and closing, enveloping her whole body. With a flash of light and shadow, she completely disappeared without a trace.
This sudden blow hadn't killed her?
Lockhart wasn't in a hurry. He just laughed wildly, recalled the Boggart, grabbed the Winged Horse's neck armor, and soared into the sky again. "You'll be back, I know. You'll go crazy and come back regardless, I know you too well!"
"Come on~"
"I'm waiting for you!"
However, what followed was clearly a slight accident.
Alecto didn't appear immediately. Instead, she controlled the storybook to create a dozen tornadoes in this desolate land.
The howling winds swept up the Inferi, twisting them into balls of foul blood, transforming into pillars of blood that washed towards Lockhart's corner from all directions.
All of them were aimed at Lockhart.
Not a single one went towards Old Albus.
Lockhart even knew why Alecto was targeting him.
She clearly planned to kill him first, the one who knew the information about the storybook, and then use this magical artifact to completely trap Dumbledore.
Trap him to death!
Don't think Dumbledore was truly invincible. That was a myth.
Gellert Grindelwald, who was equally powerful, only slightly weaker than Dumbledore, was dealt with by Newt using a Winged Horse in his prime state, earning himself a prison cell.
The wizarding world was like this; one careless move could lead to complete defeat.
Well, of course, if that's what she really thought, then she could just wait for Dumbledore to completely destroy this world, tear apart this storybook passed down through generations of the Caro family, and then welcome his fury.
Lockhart clearly didn't intend to let Alecto live until the moment she had to face Old Albus's fury.
He kept loudly mocking her in the sky, every sentence piercing Alecto's heart.
"You coward, you're not coming to find me because you're afraid, are you? But I'm not a one-eyed doll, what's making you so scared?"
"Or do I look like that handsome guy you used to like? Oh, he couldn't stand you. He'd rather go for Muggle women than have you, hahahaha!"
"You usually act so crazy in front of your brother when you torture Muggle men, but that's to cover up your excitement and trembling, right? You're not coming for me because I'm not a Muggle?"
"..."
Suddenly, the sky began to shake violently.
Giant meteorites fell from the sky, carrying immense power as they crashed down.
"Enough!" Alecto stood on one of the meteorites, shouting sharply, waving her wand madly and pointing it at Lockhart. "No matter where you learned these secrets of mine, I want you dead!"
Hehehe~
This state...
The Killing Curse, undoubtedly!
Alecto would only use this whenever she was furious.
Frankly, Lockhart might really have trouble dealing with other spells, such as the "Oppugno Cloud" that Alecto was very likely to cast on him.
That was a meteorological charm, invented during Grindelwald's active era, originally used to deal with Muggle helicopters, bombers, and other aircraft.
It created a dense, oppressive cloud, devoid of oxygen inside and filled with a strange stench.
Later, this spell was widely used against wizards riding magical creatures or flying broomsticks, and the effect was particularly good.
He had no way to deal with this spell that Alecto was proficient in, but the Killing Curse was much easier to handle.
Because he knew every habit and force with which Alecto wielded her wand extremely well, dodging it was simply too easy.
But area-of-effect meteorological charms required brute force to deal with.
He wasn't capable of that yet, so he tried his best to provoke the other party into using a killing move.
Whoosh~
A green light carrying extreme malice flew towards him.
However, Lockhart had already urged the Winged Horse to dodge early on. He knew which way to dodge from the slight angle at which she had just raised her wand.
Whoosh~
Whoosh whoosh whoosh~
Alecto was terrified to discover that she had fired a full seven Killing Curses. Each one, driven by the extreme anger and pain in her heart, had reached the peak of her life's power, yet not a single one hit the young man before her.
He was getting closer and closer!
Alecto couldn't help but feel a surge of fear in her heart.
This wasn't the little golden monkey's influence; it was fear of the incomprehensible situation before her.
This person...
Just how powerful was he?
He didn't even bother to cast a single spell at her, just constantly laughing wildly as he approached, with such contempt and even disdain, and she had no way to stop him.
Why was he getting closer to her?
She couldn't help but recall that terrifying, huge slap just now.
Alecto was wrong.
What awaited her was a foot.
Lockhart jumped straight off the Winged Horse's back, kicked her down onto the meteorite, forcefully stepped on her chest, and looked down at her with a cold smile.
"I caught you!"
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