"Protego! (Protego)"
An invisible barrier burst out from the tip of the wand again, buzzing and trembling, barely deflecting another sting shot by a Spinybacked Orbweaver. The sharp poison sting grazed the edge of the barrier, making a "thud" sound as it deeply embedded itself into the stone wall where Harry was leaning, only a few inches from his ear. The splintering wood grazed his cheek, causing a sharp pain.
Somewhat tricky...
Harry sighed deeply, looking at the Russian who had no intention of cooperating. The concept of allies seemed completely absent in his eyes—
Meanwhile, Cedric Diggory felt his arm holding the wand was starting to wail. Maintaining the advanced Fire Shield Protection was like controlling a ferocious beast. Now, as the magic power was being slowly drained, the thing was becoming disobedient—
Tongues of fire crazily licked in the damp air of the cave. Every time the Spinybacked Orbweavers fearlessly hit the edge of the flame, it triggered a painful "sizzle" sound and a pungent burning stench. These guys were clearly not suitable for barbecuing.
Charred remnants like black charcoal rapidly piled up around the flame barrier, forming a smoky black wall of corpses.
But there were still more spiders, some as large as two adult-sized figures, while even the smallest were as big as an adult dachshund. They climbed on the walls, ceilings, or the bodies of dead companions, countless pairs of shimmering red eyes locked tightly onto the flames' center where four tiny prey were located, their enormous pincers and mouthparts grinding, producing a tide-like "click-click" sound.
It was enough to make one's scalp tingle.
"Do it, Harry!"
He shouted loudly at Harry, now was not the time to talk about sportsmanship.
"Hold on!"
Harry nodded; at times like this, external affairs must be settled first—
He took a deep breath, his gaze locked onto Alexander, who was entangled by several Spinybacked Orbweavers. "Expecto Patronum! (Expecto Patronum)" Then, "Hagrid" bounced out from the tip of Harry's wand, the giant swinging its two fists, forming solid white globes of light that hammered onto the man's face.
"..."
Cedric watched the scene with some envy. Although he had also practiced the Patronus Charm, the Saint Bernard Dog he summoned could only deliver messages and act cute, totally lacking this bizarre, nonexistent close-combat ability for a Guardian God—
Come on, summoning a "Hagrid" to help in a fight is really cool, okay?
"Fleur!"
Having lost all the rune effects on his body, coupled with a damaged Achilles tendon—the strange Diffindo with a wound that simply couldn't stop bleeding, even after using all the Dittany he had—Alexander was really feeling the pressure, so he called out his teammate's name. But unfortunately, he obviously hadn't read the chapter title carefully—
"Sorry, Russian, perhaps your brain is stuffed with Russian-flavored beef sausages, making it unable to think—obviously, internal strife at this time isn't a good idea."
Fleur grinned but didn't turn her spear towards Harry. Instead, she continued to support Cedric in blocking the surrounding Spinybacked Orbweavers, "Please, guys, I just turned eighteen, and I don't want to be pulled out from the anus by those damned spiders with you—"
It was unclear whether the disappearance of cameras led to throwing off the idol burden, or the pervasive stench in the air really made people irritable, but anyhow, Fleur's tone and content were drastically different from before—apart from the still French-flavored English, the girl's words totally mismatched her face—
"For Christ's—"
Alexander shouted, and then, was hit consecutively on the head by three Stunning Spells from Harry, collapsing neatly to the ground.
While Fleur replied, Harry wasn't idle either.
But now, even though one internal chaotic factor had passed out, the situation hadn't improved much; those spiders—as if having hibernated after being slaughtered nearly to extinction, had spent a hundred years just mating and sleeping, had developed to this scale—
Cedric's Fire Shield Protection was already teetering, the bright yellow flames now appeared dim and dull, with more and more spiders rushing in from outside the flames, while the endless spider ocean behind undoubtedly made the three people in the "center of the ocean" feel despair—
Now, they must work together as one—
"...Don't look at me, both of you, I just want to get out alive now."
Noticing the gaze of the other two, Fleur sighed helplessly, "Just like Mr. Potter said, everything happening now must have exceeded the organizers' expectations, just like the current situation, the referee can't suddenly appear—"
"Beep beep—"
The group instinctively lowered their heads, looking at the wristwatch emitting red light. Then, at the next moment, with a "pop" sound, William's figure appeared above Alexander, and Kabuda sitting on his shoulder was holding a camera wrapped in a magic carpet.
"Chirp chirp!"
Kabuda tossed the camera to Harry, signaling the latter to protect the thing well.
"These things are indeed not within the scope of assessment—"
William ignored Harry's greeting and simply said a sentence, then gently tapped his magic wand. Countless tiny white streams of light drilled out from the tip of the Redwood Wand, winding through to connect with every Spinybacked Orbweaver around, "Expecto Patronum."
A white light exploded instantly, accompanied by the exploding swarm of spiders.
Then, some lucky survivors who escaped the fate of death trembled as they poked their heads out, looking at the face etched into their genetic sequence at the center of the wreckage. The spider faces showed a human-like horror, screaming as they vanished into the cave, cleanly and completely.
"Tergeo."
A whirlwind howled, sweeping away the spider corpses and the smell in the air together, making the cave clean and tidy in an instant. Even the air, originally somewhat damp and stuffy, became much drier. William nodded towards the three, and then grabbed the unconscious Alexander's head.
"Pop—"
"…"
Fleur blinked in bewilderment, watching William appear, clean up the spiders, lift Alexander's head, and then Apparate and disappear again... Everything happened very quickly, not even giving her brain time to restart, as Harry's camera began to float slowly, hovering above the three.
The camera reappeared, the girl opened her mouth, not knowing what she was thinking—
Finally, she shook her head, picked up her idol burden again, and spoke gently, "So, can we reconcile?"
"...Of course."
Cedric and Harry exchanged a glance, and then Cedric nodded gently as well.
"So now we are..."
Fleur looked at the exit behind Harry, asking subconsciously.
"Of course, we are..."
Harry shook his head and picked up the slate that William had thrown from Alexander's body, the ancient slate continuing to emit a faint glow, "Of course, we must continue deeper. Otherwise, why would I bring you here?" The boy smiled, looking harmless.
…
…
"It's here."
Daniel Stephens held the slate and closed his eyes to confirm for a moment, then nodded towards the giant bear squatting beside him. The man dressed in dark green shorts, usually liking to show off, now had to be a bit low-key—
"...How do we get in?"
The giant bear asked with a booming nasal tone. Her fur wasn't smooth, fire burns had turned much of her abdominal hair black, while countless arrows from goblins protruded from her back. Blood flew down from her head, along her hair. She was using a paw to sprinkle Dittany White Powder on the wound on her head caused by the troll.
The giant bear looked up, gazing at the camera floating above the two and the shadow on the treetop—
"Those damned goblins didn't catch up—"
Yamamoto Senren, looking all black, seemingly dressed in a tight-fitting suit, jumped down from the treetop, sighed, "Honestly, do we really not need to find a way out of here? Everything happening now seems wrong, and after those goblins appeared, aside from Krum answering our signal, the others—"
"No response, I know, but now trying to get through those goblins is not simple—"
Daniel shook his head, "Moreover, we haven't received any notification of the competition ending. You know, if something like this happens, our leading teacher would have a way to notify us—at least my aunt has a way, but she hasn't, meaning the Tournament hasn't been paused or ended, also meaning—"
"Also means we must hurry up, those two guys from Hogwarts have two such slates."
The wound on the giant bear's head healed, and her shape began to shrink. Soon, Abeba Hailu appeared, cloaked in black robes. She took the slab Daniel handed over, crouched down, lightly tapping the stone bricks around the tree roots, "Moreover, that Russian didn't reply. If he's been eliminated, the situation might be the worst—"
She took a deep breath, "He was eliminated by those two from Hogwarts, meaning they have three slates, and then they possess three 'treasures.'
"…"
No need for her to continue, the other two understood, if by then those two Hogwarts champions truly obtained three treasures—then they would turn on each other next, rather than cooperate with other champions against them, it would be better to defect with the fourth treasure—
Backstabbing is way simpler than loyalty, and far more rewarding.