[It would be a packed week. The story will progress faster. Send some of those power stones.]
It had not been long since Aurora had left the inn. Antonio had promised her his help and had assured her he would soon visit her home to meet Lord Raphel Sinistra. There, he would listen to her grandfather and formulate what could be done to alleviate their problem.
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The Olario inn and the Olario house were one single building with the inn forming the front section of the house. The house had a front gate on the other side of the street. A small corridor, also, connected the inn to the house which Antonio generally used.
He had just finished tending to his work for the closure of the inn and was preparing to walk towards his home when he suddenly froze.
The atmosphere around him had shifted. Thick, tense and wrong. His instinct screamed something was about to happen. In an instant, the wand from the wand holster was in his hand.
He took a step forward, instincts on high alert, when a thunderous explosion tore through the air.
The entire structure of the inn shook violently. He and his inn were under attack.
Antonio narrowed his eyes. Though fury burned within him and he was raging, he kept his composure. In such scenarios, loosing one calm was one of the bigger mistakes any wizard could make.
With measured steps, he headed toward the exit on the main street.
Another explosion. A chunk of the ceiling collapsed with a loud crash as it smashed the tables and chairs in the inn.
This was followed by few more explosions. With every explosion, the inn shook violently and the walls began to crumble as successive blasts rocked the inn.
A massive slab of stone came hurtling toward him. He did not even need to look up what was coming. With a precise jab of his wand, the stone slab was turned into dust. He continued without breaking stride.
By the time he reached the outside, the once sturdy inn had been reduced to rubble. Despite his calm expression, Antonio was livid. His blood was boiling from anger.
The street was completely empty and the shops were shut. It was already late at night and if any shop had remained open or any person was still roaming the streets, they had surely fled after the attacks.
Standing before the wreckage of the inn were six figures. Six wizards dressed entirely in black robes. And the too familiar black masks were concealing their faces.
Death Eaters.
It did not take Antonio long to understand why they were here. There was only one man who could have planned this attack: Rodolphus Lestrange.
The real question was about which he himself was curious. Had Voldemort himself sanctioned this attack?
Even faced with six enemies, Antonio stood tall, unflinching as he raging eyes remained fixed on them.
"Antonio Olario," one of them spoke in a voice which had been distorted by magic.
"Kneel, and accept your punishment. It may yet save your life."
Antonio did not respond. Not with words.
He took a step forward as the entire aura around him shifted. His presence suddenly turned heavy, imposing. Magical rippled pulsed around him as he made a smooth, diagonal slash with his wand.
And magic obeyed his wish without hesitation. A blue coloured magical slash through the air and it raced towards the death eater who had just spoken.
The Death Eater did not even have time to raise his wand as the slash sped past him. For a moment, it looked like nothing had happened.
Then a thin red line appeared across his body. Diagonally from right shoulder to left hip.
The upper half of his torso slid backwards and hit the ground with a thud. The lower half stood for a moment longer, blood pouring from it, before collapsing. He did not even get a chance to scream.
The remaining five Death Eaters staggered back in horror. Their faces had turned pale with fear and their backs drenched in sweat. They tried to hold their wands tightly to alleviate their fear but nothing seemed to work. Their eyes darted from the split corpse of their companion to Antonio's impassive face.
"You should have attacked me directly," Antonio said, his grip tightening on the wand. "I might have been a bit gentle with you lot."
"But now… you have destroyed my inn," he continued; his voice ice cold. "So, you will have to compensate."
He raised his wand again, "with your life."
The five Death Eaters, by now had slightly recovered from their shock. And they simultaneously launched a volley of spells at him.
Antonio did not even blink. With a sharp jab of his wand, a magical shield was erected in front of him. The spells struck the shieled and disappeared without causing a scratch to it.
To him, their attacks were no faster than the crawl of ants. He cast another spell which struck the ground near to one of the death eaters.
The ground near one Death Eater glowed ominously. The man tried to jump back to save himself from whatever was coming but it was too all for naught.
The brick street warped and twisted as two conical drills burst from it.
One of them, pierced through the man's chest and emerged from the back of his head.
The other pierced his back and emerged through the chest.
The Death Eater screamed, his body was lifted into the air, as his legs continued to dangle in air until they stilled with his death.
Now only four remained. And they understood. They were outmatched. Hopelessly. They stood no chance against this monster. The information they had been provided with was wrong. The rumours were also wrong. Because even the rumours had not described that what a monster this man was.
Without another word, they began to apparate.
"Not so fast," Antonio's voice boomed like thunder as he slashed his wand once more.
His spell struck the vanishing silhouette of one Death Eater.
A bloodcurdling scream followed, and something heavy hit the solid street. A hand; a severed hand.
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