Not? You two really treat this place as your own home?
Stepping on the balcony railing, William gently lifted his magic wand, and his figure slowly floated up, leisurely drifting between the two giant beasts.
The next moment, the dark clouds parted, and both a snake and a bird instinctively looked up—
Golden light?! Boundless golden brilliance instantly pierced the eyes of the two giant beasts, leaving them momentarily bewildered. The next moment, the golden "Divine Punishment" descended from the sky, and a brilliant golden sea engulfed the entire world—
It was unknown how much time had passed, but the golden sea finally vanished. William tidied the somewhat wrinkled corners of his clothes and glanced at the snake and bird lying on the ground, emitting black smoke, and snorted coldly.
He seemed to have discovered the use of this magic.
Just find a way to pull someone else's soul into the depths of your mind, and then strike them dead with a thunderbolt...
No, why is it becoming more and more fantastical?
Feeling that his style didn't quite fit, William was silent for a moment, then shook his head, throwing this feeling aside—it's useful, who cares about style?
Seeing the two giant beasts losing the ability to resist, William didn't linger and began to float his consciousness upwards. Soon, he opened his eyes, then—
Grabbed Norbert's mischievous tongue.
"Aooaooaoo—"
Norbert, having its tongue grabbed, wanted to break free. But since the grabber was William, it didn't dare exert force. Eventually, it hid its wings behind its back, and looked at William innocently, its golden eyes full of pleading.
William held the little fire dragon's tongue, like pulling an elastic band, "Snap—" released his grip, and Norbert rolled backward two and a half times due to its tongue.
William no longer paid attention to Norbert, looked at his arm that had returned to normal, and with a slight thought, the fine blue scales replaced the skin, like a miniature version of the giant snake from the depths of consciousness. William looked at his elongated body and thought again—
This time, the blue scales began to disappear inch by inch into the air. Norbert, who had shaken its head and recovered, looked in shock at the direction William had disappeared, sniffing the air uncontrollably.
No scent at all.
"Snap—"
The next moment, Norbert only felt a slap on its face, and it wanted to snap at the air but only lunged at empty space.
"Snap snap snap snap—"
Soon, Norbert's anger dissipated. It cradled its head, pitifully pouted its backside, and lay on the ground.
Only then did William, satisfied with his slapping, emerge from the air. The invisibility ability of the Horned Serpent was far stronger than his Disillusionment Charm and Invisibility Cloak.
It could also fly, and its venom was considered among the strongest batch, hmm... This haul was quite good.
Returning to human form, William tidied his collar, then patted Norbert on the head to signal it to get up, and then he stood and walked toward the stairs.
He didn't know how much time had passed—
...
"Are you done?"
Lupin tossed the chicken bone out the window, then reached out to hand the bucket of fried chicken to William, who had just crawled out of the box, "Want some?"
"Where have we reached?"
William frowned at Lupin, then turned his head to look out the window. They seemed to still be on the highway around Mississippi, the pitch-black rainforest silent, and far away, the similarly dusk sky not revealing even a glimmer.
The car stopped on the roadside, not moving.
"Didn't go far."
"Where's that guy?"
William nodded and continued to ask, the passenger seat now empty.
"Went to the bathroom..."
"How long ago?"
"...An hour?"
Lupin's expression suddenly turned horrified, as he only now realized this, a terrifying feeling suddenly crawled up his spine, cold sweat starting to flow down it.
"You've been affected by a Confundus Charm."
William frowned, seeing Lupin's eyes regaining clarity, and then nodded again.
It didn't take much persuasion; the basic vigilance was still there, but—to have influenced Lupin's consciousness to this degree without being noticed, that was something.
It wasn't unexpected, though. Over the past half-month, from California westwards all the way to the Mississippi River, William had raided all the poachers' strongholds one by one. Although not leaving any poachers behind, it had been so long; keeping it hidden forever was magical thinking.
What's more, they freed many American natives abducted by the poachers.
"What now?"
Lupin already held his magic wand in hand, his gaze alertly sweeping through the dark outside the car window, instinctively asking, his face looking somewhat grim.
"Probably not dead yet."
William shook his head, reaching down into the box to pull out Kabuda, who nested as usual, pulling out a clock with lots of pointers. Instinctively scanning it, Lupin saw—Harry, William, Hermione, Cedric, Ginny, Luna...
The clock had four regions: "Safe," "Danger," "Extreme Danger," "Death."
Lupin also saw his pointer on it, with its bright tip stubbornly resting in the danger zone. But under his watchful gaze, this pointer stubbornly and resolutely turned to extreme danger.
"!"
"Boom—"
Spells broke through the darkness from every direction. Lupin instinctively cast an Iron Armor Spell, but the next moment, he looked in shock at the light blue scales enveloping him.
The spells shattered the car windows, impacting William turned into a Horned Serpent, the light blue scales quivering ever so subtly, leaving behind just a faint white smoke.
"Hiss—"
William opened his mouth wide, his blue crystalline head turning slightly luminous, forming a real sound wave that spread out. Countless black figures fell from the treetops around the dense forest, piling up around in a small half-circle.
"Roar—"
The fire dragon, restored to its original size, soared into the sky, shedding its goofy demeanor seen only in front of William. Fluttering its wings, it ascended to the sky, spewing scorching Dragon Flame, igniting the surrounding trees—
Countless flickering figures illuminated by the flames, spells of various colors shot skyward, silver-gray chains bound Norbert's wings, pulling the fire dragon downward.
"Hiss—"
Another round of group control attacks, William's form darted out like lightning, his thick snake tail lightly flicked, pulverizing a dozen foes into fragments.
"Awoo—"
The bright moonlight accompanied by the wolf howls erupted, silver-gray shadows rushed from the wreck of the car, razor-sharp claws flashing in the darkness, leaving a trail of cruel blood every time they appeared.
...
The cleanup was quickly wrapped up, the remaining survivors looking terror-stricken at the werewolf before them, its sharp claws piercing his neck's skin, blood flowing down his collar—
The man knew he was done for, bitten by a werewolf in lycanthropic form, even if he narrowly survived, he'd be haunted by shadows for life.
Moreover, he knew his organization regarded werewolves merely as... toys for amusement.
"Where was that person, that man taken by your group?"
Lupin squinted, his dusky yellow eyes betraying a dangerous glint.
"...I think you need to release his mouth first, or he won't be able to talk."
Slightly dirty at the corners, William stopped Lupin, feeling that if he arrived any later, Lupin wouldn't resist gnawing off this person's head.
Under such extreme bloodthirst brought by Wolf Poison Potion, problems could still surface.
Looking at the man kneeling on the ground, seemingly having lost his soul, William lightly tapped his wand on the man's brow, drawing out a milky white light sphere; the man's body instantly turned gray-white, his vitality vanishing completely.
"Found him."
Closing his eyes to sense the light sphere in his hand, William nodded, lifted his hand to grab Lupin's arm—
"Snap—"
The two figures vanished from the original spot, leaving behind a scene of chaos.
ps: Went back home for the Dragon Boat Festival, only one chapter today!
ORZ