Just as Nios was feeling smug about his blueprint, he finally noticed the look of shock and confusion on Dumbledore's face.
'He must be stunned by my abilities, right?'
Nios understood, even feeling a little pleased.
However, Dumbledore's internal alarm bells were already ringing wildly.
The boy in front of him was far more bizarre than he could have imagined.
Although he was a master of Legilimency, he rarely actively probed the minds of others.
But the inhuman characteristics displayed by Nios and Azazel forced him to make an exception.
The moment Nios's gaze turned to him, a flash of light gleamed in Dumbledore's deep blue eyes, and a powerful will instantly surged into Nios's mental world!
The expected torrent of memories and whirlpool of emotions did not appear.
What presented itself before Dumbledore was a pure, chilling blankness!
There were no memories, no emotions, no traces of thought activity, like a blank sheet of paper that had never been written upon!
This was absolutely not normal! Dumbledore's heart trembled, and he immediately withdrew his consciousness.
Almost at the same time he retreated from Legilimency, an abrupt change occurred!
"Whoosh!"
Nios's figure, like a startled leopard, leaped ten meters backward, landing on the manor's lawn!
The moment he landed, the ground beside him arched upward as if alive, and a two-meter-long spear, gleaming with metallic luster, burst out of the earth with a "splutter"!
Nios snatched up the spear with one hand, pointing it directly at Dumbledore, and roared:
"Azazel! Fight!"
In the distance, Azazel, who had just picked up a cake, stiffened all over, the coercive force of the contract instantly making him feel Nios's will.
Pink flames ignited around him with a "boom," and he vanished from his original spot.
"Poof!"
The next moment, a puff of pink flame exploded at Nios's feet; as the firelight dispersed, Azazel stood in front of Nios, holding his trident.
Dumbledore's pupils constricted slightly, and his elder wand instantly lifted, its tip steadily aimed at the ready master and servant.
He didn't want to harm a student, but the strange blankness of Nios's mental world and Azazel's existence made him realize that only by testing them could he unravel the mystery!
"Old man!"
Nios's delicate, doll-like face was now twisted with rage, the eye under his pure black eye patch "staring" fixedly at Dumbledore.
"You just burrowed into someone else's mind without a word? Did you feed your manners to the dogs?!"
Azazel, even more, added fuel to the fire, blurting out his true thoughts with a slip of his dog's tongue.
"Exactly! You damned old man! Why didn't you take the opportunity to scramble that bastard Nios's brain into mush?!"
"Pfft!"
Nios flicked his wrist, and the spear, without warning, pierced Azazel's head! Impaling him like a skewer!
Dumbledore's brows furrowed, and this scene made the chill in his heart even deeper.
He hadn't expected Azazel to be enraged by "failed assassination," nor had he expected Nios to be so ruthless and decisive in attacking "his own kind"!
The coldness this child displayed reminded him of another equally dangerous person—Tom Riddle.
"Now."
Nios's voice was as cold as the wind in a cellar; with a flick of his wrist, he slammed Azazel's corpse heavily onto the ground.
"Can you explain now? Old, man?"
However, just as Dumbledore thought a fierce battle was inevitable—
"Cough… cough, cough…"
Azazel stumbled up from the ground, the terrifying bloody hole in his head wriggling, contracting, and healing at a visible speed! In less than ten seconds, the fatal wound had completely recovered as if new!
Dumbledore's shock was practically written on his face.
He stared intently at Azazel's rapidly healing wound; in his 110 years of life, he had never seen such an incredible regenerative ability!
He strongly resisted the urge to use Legilimency again; a strong warning, stemming from a Wizard's intuition, screamed in his mind: probing this creature's brain was definitely not a wise move!
The courtyard fell into a dead silence, with only the sound of the wind rustling through the treetops.
Nios did not take the opportunity to attack.
He knew full well: this new body was not yet fully acclimated, and the demon book was still in the basement; without the book's power, Azazel was just a meat shield. A head-on confrontation was definitely not the best strategy.
He looked at Dumbledore's probing, wary, and deeply confused eyes, especially the other party's intense focus on Azazel's "inhuman" characteristics, and a bold and absurd thought flashed like lightning into his mind!
St. Paul's arm bone has magic traces… this old man is also a Wizard, so interested in my demon, Azazel said he is righteous… doesn't the Church also claim to be righteous?!
Everything seemed to connect!
Nios suddenly understood, a cold light bursting from his eyes, and the spear tip pointed at Dumbledore again.
"Old man! You're a spy sent by the Church, aren't you?! You've been lurking deep enough!"
Nios's voice was filled with the anger of "seeing through the truth."
"President of the International Confederation of Wizards? First Class Order of Merlin? Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot? Heh! How many resources did the Church throw in to get you to this position?!"
"Huh?"
Dumbledore was completely bewildered; even with his vast experience, he was caught off guard by this bizarre line of reasoning, and the corners of his mouth twitched uncontrollably.
This misunderstanding had escalated greatly!
"Child, calm down."
Dumbledore said with a wry smile, quickly clarifying.
"I swear to God—uh, no, to Merlin, I am absolutely not with the Church! I am just the Principal of Hogwarts, an old man who cares about his students."
"Hmph! Then why did you attack me just now?!"
Nios didn't believe him at all; that last move almost severed his connection to his body; without its energy supply, this body would instantly disintegrate into mud!
"I just wanted to confirm."
Dumbledore sighed helplessly, his gaze falling on Azazel again.
"What exactly is this… friend you created? His form of existence is beyond my comprehension."
He deliberately avoided the word "demon."
"What else could it be?!"
Nios roared impatiently.
"Didn't I tell you already? A demon! Although the art style is a bit different from those that crawl out of hell, he is a demon!"
He was calculating in his mind that he needed to get Azazel to tie down this old man, while he himself found a way to get the book.
"Child."
Dumbledore's tone carried a calm that came from enduring many vicissitudes.
"I have lived for 110 years and believe I have witnessed many wonders of the magic world. But 'true demons' only exist in ancient myths and Muggle religious texts. In the real world, I have never seen them with my own eyes, nor has there ever been any conclusive evidence that they existed."
Nios scoffed: "You're lying! Aren't Wizards and demons in a symbiotic relationship? Isn't your power given by demons?!"
"I think there is a huge cognitive discrepancy between us."
Dumbledore found it increasingly difficult; this child had clearly, through some unknown means, constructed a worldview completely different from the mainstream magical world before coming into contact with Hogwarts.
"The source of a Wizard's power has been debated for thousands of years; some believe it's bloodline, some believe it's magic itself, and some believe it's resonance with nature… but it is absolutely, absolutely not from so-called demons."
Nios was stunned. Dumbledore's gaze was frank and certain, not like he was lying. More importantly…
"Azazel!"
Nios suddenly turned to his creation, his voice filled with urgent demand for confirmation.
"Although you don't have a hell household registration, as the aggregate of 'Lust and Chastity,' you should have power sensing, right?! Tell me! In this world, how many beings with the same level and type of power as you are there?! Give me a number!"
Azazel flinched from the shout, his dog face filled with innocence and blankness, and he replied softly: "Uh… Boss… I can't sense any… I can't smell a single 'scent' of a similar kind…"
"What?! What did you say?!"
Nios's voice suddenly rose, filled with incredulous astonishment, but then an unspeakable ecstasy surged from the bottom of his heart!
He could feel that Azazel wasn't lying! This meant… Dumbledore was telling the truth!
It also meant—the root-level conceptual powers in this world were almost all ownerless! Like countless treasures scattered in the wilderness, waiting to be picked up!
Watching the instant, spectacular changes in Nios's expression, though mostly hidden by the eye patch, Dumbledore revealed an "I knew it" look of understanding: "You see, child. The Wizard's power system is completely different from your 'demon contract' as you know it."
"In other words…"
Nios murmured to himself, a dangerous and excited glint in his eyes.
"The Wizard's power does not originate from demons…"
"Yes," Dumbledore affirmed, "at least, our known history and reality are not so."
Nios understood! He understood completely! The huge information gap had made his previous judgments entirely wrong.
But this mistake… was so wonderful it made him want to laugh out loud!
"Zzzzzzzzt—!"
An electric arc flashed under his feet, the soil churned, and the demon book in the basement was precisely "squeezed" out by a force, landing steadily in Nios's hand.
"Azazel."
Nios's voice returned to calm, even carrying a hint of… pleasure?
Azazel, who was trying to sneak away, stiffened all over, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, instantly darting back to cling tightly to Nios's leg, raising his watery dog eyes, trying to cute his way out of it.
"Nios~ How about you accompany this kind old man for tea and a chat first? I'll go fix the main house right away! I promise it'll be brand new!"
Nios looked down, the cartoon eyes on his eye patch "lovingly" "watching" him: "Now, I have good news and bad news. Which do you want to hear first?"
Azazel looked at the open demon book, his dog fur bristling, and whimpered: "First… first the good news…"
He had a bad feeling.
"The good news is."
Nios's voice was like a devil's whisper.
"You will soon… have many new colleagues. Many, many."
Azazel swallowed, his voice trembling: "And… the bad news?"
Nios did not answer, merely his lips moved, and he began to chant the incantations from the demon book in an extremely awkward, fragmented, and blasphemous language.
This time, the spell was incredibly long, far exceeding any previous punishment!
Azazel was terrified out of his wits: "Wait! Boss! Isn't this spell too over-the-top?! Let's discuss it… Ah ah ah—!!!"
His plea for mercy abruptly ceased!
"Splish! Splat! Whoosh—!"
A series of horrifying sounds!
Azazel's body rapidly expanded and twisted like a burst balloon, his skin cracking inch by inch, finally exploding completely in a pink mist of blood and an indescribable squelching sound! Flesh, organs, and bone fragments, mixed with pink energy residue, splattered in all directions like a downpour!
Nios was prepared; the moment the explosion occurred, a thick stone wall rose with a "rumble," precisely blocking his and Dumbledore's direction, stopping most of the filth.
Dumbledore in the distance reacted equally swiftly; almost the instant Azazel's body changed, he had already cast a silent Shield Charm, and the barrier instantly unfolded, deflecting all the splashing debris.
Inside and outside the gazebo, only the heavy smell of blood and a mess of gore remained.
Behind the stone wall and the light curtain of the Shield Charm, Nios and Dumbledore, separated by this "battlefield," fell into a new, even more bizarre silence.