"HP: Too Late, System!"Chapter 384: He's Treating Us Like His Personal Cleanup Crew
Lupin's brow knitted tightly as he paused beside an unremarkable mound of earth. He crouched low, inhaling deeply.
A faint, sickly scent—despair, agony, and the acrid tang of powerful potions—drifted up from the soil. The smell raked across something primal buried in his blood, not with excitement, but with a surge of raw fear and fury.
"There's… something wrong inside."
Douglas produced a magical radar, sliding a slender probe into the earth.
"A magically sealed cave. Strong residual magic, but no signs of life… Wait, there are traces of defensive enchantments."
Lupin couldn't wait any longer. He drew his wand, eyes flashing crimson as he aimed at the mound.
"Terra Divido!"
With a guttural incantation, the damp earth tore apart as if ripped by invisible giant hands, revealing a massive stone door.
The slab was covered in dense, unfamiliar runes.
As the soil split, the stench of blood and potion hit them like a physical blow. Lupin let out a strangled gasp, staggering back, doubling over in violent, dry retching. His face turned ashen, nearly translucent.
"This place…"
He clung to a nearby tree, knuckles white, voice trembling and broken.
"Not just one… Not just one of our kind was here—torn apart while still alive… Their souls… their screams are still here…"
Douglas watched Lupin teeter on the edge of collapse and frowned.
"Remus, get a hold of yourself! This is a trap—a hunter's cage, waiting for curious beasts or… people like us to walk right in."
He grabbed Lupin's arm, holding him back.
"If we try to break that door, the entire Apennine range will know. We're here to find people, not get ourselves killed."
As he spoke, Douglas pulled a small notebook from his pocket, tore out a page, and scrawled a quick message with the tip of his wand. He folded the paper into a crane.
The paper crane fluttered its wings twice, then soared to a nearby branch, settling there and blending in as just another leaf.
He dusted off his hands, speaking with a casual ease that belied the tension.
"Let's go, Remus. We ought to give Director Piero a chance to earn some glory with his superiors, shouldn't we? After all, upholding the dignity of Italy's magical community is his job."
A cold, knowing smile curled Douglas's lips.
"And besides, I imagine they could use an excuse to pick a fight with the Vatican."
A biting wind swept through the mountains, chilling them to the bone.
Nearly half an hour later, where Douglas and Lupin had vanished, a few scattered leaves were brushed aside by an unseen force.
Piero stepped out of a shimmer in the air, his boots caked with mud, eyes sharp as a hawk's as he surveyed the ground.
An Auror materialized behind him, murmuring, "Director, their anti-tracking charms were impressive. We nearly lost them—fortunately, they left just enough magical residue for us to follow."
At his signal, several elite Italian Ministry Aurors fanned out, wands glowing with a restrained, predatory light—like leopards stalking through the shadows, silently combing every inch of ground.
Piero's gaze swept over faint traces nearly hidden beneath the fallen leaves.
"Director, over here."
A young Auror pointed to the earth mound, now torn open by magic.
Piero didn't approach immediately. He narrowed his eyes, instincts honed by years of experience warning him that the most ordinary places often hid the deadliest fangs.
Suddenly, his shoulder felt a slight weight, as if a leaf had drifted down.
"Careful!"
The young Auror snapped his wand up.
"Stand down."
Piero didn't even turn, his voice flat.
He held out his hand, and the "leaf" unfurled into a delicate paper crane. It fluttered its wings twice, then a lazy, mocking voice issued from within—not loud, but clear to every ear present:
"Esteemed Director Piero, a little gift for you.
A certain faction has crossed a line no wizard should. I trust you won't stand idly by. The scene is all yours."
The voice faded. With a soft "pop," the paper crane burst into flames and crumbled to ash.
Piero's mouth twitched, his eyes growing colder.
A flicker of anger crossed the young Auror's face.
"He's treating us like his personal cleanup crew!"
"Silence!"
Piero snapped, his eyes locked on the stone door, jaw clenched so tightly the muscles stood out in sharp relief.
Typical Douglas—even his manipulation was so brazen, so precise.
Like a master chess player, he'd calculated that Piero would have no choice but to pick up this burning piece.
His gaze lingered on the mound and the rune-carved stone door.
That foul stench—despair mingled with potions—still seeped from the cracks, chilling everyone to the core.
A young Auror stepped forward, voice low.
"Director, should we force the door and investigate?"
Piero barked without turning, fury barely contained.
"Idiot! Do you want to bring every knight order in the Apennines down on our heads?"
He didn't touch the door. Instead, he drew his wand, conjuring a thread of silver smoke finer than a hair and gently probed the cracks between the stones.
Moments later, the smoke recoiled, transforming at his wand tip into twisted images—a brand, a cage, and a face contorted in agony.
"This is the Holy Tribunal's latest Sacred Cage!"
Piero's voice was like ice.
"A magical trap designed for live capture and mental branding, linked to at least five prayer beacons.
If we try to breach it with ordinary magic, the defense system will instantly convert our magic into a holy light signal. Within a minute, the Order of Saint Benedict Wolf Hunters will have this place surrounded!"
He stared at the door, as if he could see through the stone to the horrors that had happened inside.
The young Auror went pale, cold sweat beading on his brow. Only now did he realize how close he'd come to disaster.
Piero spoke, each word bitten off, fury leaking through every syllable.
"An illegal Project Adam experiment site… They really dared to do this on our soil!"
He drew a long, shuddering breath, forcing his anger down.
Turning to his team, he issued new orders.
"Mark this location. Use the highest-level anti-detection and confusion charms—hide the entire area. Make it clean. Leave no trace of the Ministry."
His gaze drifted to the dense forest where Douglas and Lupin had disappeared.
"That bastard Holmes wants to use us as his pawns… but he's right. This really is… quite the gift."
A glint of calculation flashed in Piero's eyes.
"The Minister's been desperate for leverage to force the Vatican's hand at the European Magical Affairs Committee. Now, we have it."
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