"Boom—"
The deafening explosion echoed within the vast hall. With Lupin no longer holding him back, William wielded the Fiendfyre even more...freely. The deep blue fire dragon roared incessantly, crashing back and forth in the pitch-black palace, and aside from a few who slipped through the net, most of the Quintapeds were burned into ashes.
Having dealt with external threats, now there's only one thing left to resolve—
William turned his head and looked at the Goblin sneaking backwards. He stepped forward calmly, and before Groo could snap his fingers, the Magic Wand gently waved—"Sectumsempra."
Groo's face instantly turned pale, subconsciously glancing towards his hand...Where's his hand?
The excruciating pain only registered with his nervous system, finally forcing Groo to scream in agony. He cried out, falling to the ground, rolled around to pick up his severed right hand from the floor, instinctively trying to press it against the wound—
"Don't bother, Dittany won't work—"
William lowered the Magic Wand and shook off the hood from his head, smirking at the Goblin glaring at him with hatred, "Truly, regardless of how much time has passed, you bunch never have any plans to behave?"
As the terminator of the Second Goblin Rebellion, William has dealt with countless Goblins.
Back then, the Goblins under Lanlock's command outnumbered the entire British Magic Realm's Goblins, and most of them were combat type.
Additionally, Lanlock, having mastered part of Ancient Magic through cunning methods...Thinking of this, William glanced downward, watching as the deep blue Fiendfyre revealed the deep red Magic Circle to his eyes—
With this color, he seems to guess where Lanlock got his cunning tricks from?
"What are you trying to do? The agreement between Gringotts and your kind doesn't allow this!"
Groo's tone was filled with intense hatred, and as the facade crumbled, his previously courteous expression shredded away instantly. Goblins and human Wizards have always shared a strained relationship, barely coexisting because human Wizards feel that their own kind shouldn't control Golden Galleons, this powerful equivalent exchange commodity, and they don't want the stigma of genocide either—
Otherwise, given Goblins' historical consecutive rebellions, these creatures should have fallen to the status of House-Elves as the normal development of the story.
"Agreement?"
William repeated. Yes, at this moment, he still wore the guise of a Poacher collaborating with Gringotts...Yet, whether this organization still calls itself "Poachers," he's actually uncertain. After all, the web of connections uncovered deeper after leaving Austria, and throughout the journey, he slaughtered over a dozen camps—
Of course, most done secretly behind Lupin's back, since that gentleman clearly didn't share the same ideology.
He believed those people should stand trial and face legal punishment; so William complied, and the next day the two found the "captives" from the previous camp at the next encampment.
Realizing this, Lupin no longer commented on William's actions.
After all, William hadn't used the Killing Curse, nor was he torturing and killing, and dealing with these Black Wizards, their deaths could purify the air—even Lupin couldn't guarantee remaining calm and handing Death Eaters to the Ministry of Magic as they were during the Wizard War era.
Lupin was just naturally good-tempered, years of habit making him instinctively adhere to the law, but he wasn't some obstinate old fossil.
Moreover, after spending time together, their relationship grew increasingly favorable, which is why William kept Lupin by his side instead of ditching him, because when truly interacting, Lupin turned out to be a genuinely good friend.
And treating a friend is entirely different from treating a subordinate like Mundungus, although this friend's words may sometimes be excessive.
But given his impressive Wizarding prowess and ability to transform into a Werewolf to aid William's experiments, his talkativeness was hardly an issue.
—Of course, an occasional Silencing Spell was still necessary.
All in all, having slashed and hacked their way to Cairo, they easily caught the black Wizards arriving to collect goods at the port, utilizing a shipping manifest uncovered in Austria. With Snape's remaining Unused Veritaserum, they successfully retrieved crucial information—
Unfortunately, the seemingly flawless plan encountered a little hiccup.
Where did those Weasleys suddenly come from?
...Forget it, Lupin's handling it anyway; With his skills, dealing with three minors and a few remaining Quintapeds is nothing.
But since unforeseen events happened, it's time for emergency measures—the cages around those Quintapeds disappearing isn't directly inexplicable. William merely noticed the prior Goblin Groo's actions and deduced this must be Gringotts' Goblins' ill-conceived scheme to prevent Poachers from exploiting them.
However, these Goblins aren't fools, concurrently devising an escape route—
So William ignored Groo's venomous curses, following the direction the Goblin retreated, pacing cautiously over the tiles, and soon discovered an unusually positioned spot, "Click—"
After brief contemplation, William exerted slight downward pressure with his foot, and as the latch clicked quietly, an existing restraint abruptly vanished, and the deep red Array extinguished.
William knew it was the signal of the Anti-Disillusionment Array disappearing.
"Boom—"
Another rumbling sound erupted, but this time it wasn't ignited by the surging Fiendfyre, prompting William to instinctively raise his gaze, witnessing the fresco painted with Anubis weighing hearts suddenly start peeling layer by layer, black stones continuously crumbling from the surrounding columns—
...The place was going to collapse.
Realizing this, William decisively retreated a step, reaching out to grab the paralyzed Goblin beside him—"Snap—"
Both vanished without a trace.
...
"Boom—"
?
Listening to the unexpected rumbling, Bill, immersed in his work, instinctively lifted his head, observing the surroundings starting to loosen, and even the stone bricks falling downward, his large eyes filled with confusion...What's happening?
Wait a minute, where's everyone else?
It wasn't until now that Bill, as if breaking through some Restriction, raised his head instinctively, looking around—he didn't know when not just his three mischievous brothers were missing, but even Mr. Groo left using the restroom excuse... How long?
Half an hour?
Or an hour?
"Run fast—"
As he plunged into contemplation again, a sudden shout broke Bill's somewhat muddled thought process heavily manipulated by the Goblin who cast the Confundus Charm. Four figures—three red, one black—suddenly dashed out from the side, pushing Bill along before he realized, running towards the exit—
"Boom—"
Thankfully, the exit wasn't far from here; the five of them stood next to the camels in the golden sand as the Pyramid collapsed with an enormous explosion, leaving a giant pit in its place.