The standoff between Long and Beckman had reached a white-hot stage.
Although Beckman had seized Long's arm that held the staff, preventing him from casting spells, Long, a battle-obsessed lone wolf, was still physically far superior to him.
Under that kind of overwhelming strength, Beckman could only rely on sheer willpower and desperate ferocity to barely hang on.
Even so, Long still dragged Beckman all the way to the entrance of the square.
Hearing the sounds of the dragon-like lizard monster rampaging behind them, a faint smile finally appeared on Long's face.
But just as he reached out to push open the stone door, that door, sealed tightly just moments ago, suddenly opened on its own.
Then Link appeared in his sight, holding his wand high and leading dozens of fierce, murderous brutes.
"Uh..."
For a split second, Long's brain froze.
Then, his decades of battle experience kicked in, making him instinctively dive to the side, barely dodging the invisible blade Link had slashed toward his head.
His reaction was so sudden that even Beckman, who had just seen Link appear, relaxed his guard for an instant, long enough for Long to snatch the wand out of his hand.
"Damn it! You planned this all along, to take us down!"
By now, Long had fully come to his senses. He roared furiously at Link, but his hands didn't stop moving. With a flick of the wand, thick fog burst out in torrents, instantly engulfing Link and his men's vision.
Not only that, but flashes of green light flickered within the mist every so often, and each time the light flashed, one of Link's hunters would collapse behind him.
"You useless idiots! Raise the Reinforced Armor Protection Spell and guard the young master!"
Krell shouted hoarsely, then charged to stand protectively in front of Link.
Snape, watching, curled his lip in disdain.
To him, Krell was just shamelessly trying to flatter and prove his loyalty. After all, Link's strength alone far surpassed most of the people here, not to mention Snape himself was silently watching over him.
And most importantly, Link didn't seem the least bit appreciative of Krel's gesture.
With one shove, he pushed Krel aside, and his eyes flared with a bright blue light.
Long was indeed strong, with an extremely high level of combat experience.
The fog he had conjured wasn't just ordinary smoke, it carried a psychic-blocking magical property that could effectively suppress the perception of most wizards.
That was why Link's elite hunters had taken casualties at first, they were caught completely off guard.
Unfortunately for Long, such fog was useless against Link, who possessed an advanced Sensory Spell.
Through the spell's extraordinary perception, able to detect even the flow of magic, Link could clearly see through the mist. He saw Long launching a wave of Killing Curses before sprinting along the wall, heading for the small path behind the black gem door.
It was his best and only choice left. The other entrance of the square had already been sealed off by Link's men.
"Don't even think about running! Sectumsempra!"
Link sneered, swinging his wand. A massive invisible blade, surrounded by dozens of smaller ones, roared toward Long.
But Long seemed to have eyes in the back of his head.
Even under such assault, his movements were lightning-fast and unpredictable, leaving faint afterimages behind.
His wand flicked continuously, and each incoming blade was either dodged, deflected with a Shield Charm, or countered with precise spell-reflection techniques.
He even had the time to turn and flash Link a mocking grin.
"Ha! Not bad at all!"
Link felt a surge of irritation.
He had to admit, he had underestimated the old cowboy.
Just his evasive footwork and his flawless string of counterspells were already far beyond what most elite Aurors could pull off.
Judging from the way he fought, his combat experience was on par with none other than "Mad-Eye" Moody, the so-called "Strongest Auror."
'But so what?'
Link's grin twisted into something far more sinister.
He locked his glowing eyes onto the fast-moving Long and shouted, "All units, prepare the Dragon-Slayer Ballistae!"
Even though the elite hunters had looked a little disorganized at first under Long's surprise attack, their training still showed.
They immediately responded in unison. While maintaining their protective enchantments, they quickly assembled rows of enormous, grim-looking ballistae.
As wands were slotted into the launch ports, crimson light began to gather at each weapon's mouth.
"Target my mark! Aim at my three o'clock! Ready… fire!"
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Dozens of massive magical bolts, each as powerful as a full-strength strike from a professor-level wizard, shot from behind Link, forming a barrage that blanketed the area where Long stood.
The endless explosions shook the entire Nurmengard Prison.
Chunks of stone and thick smoke surged upward with the fiery blasts, swallowing half the square whole.
And that… was only the beginning.
After a brief recharge, the hunters unleashed another volley.
Standing at the front, Link simply held his wand level and watched.
Through his enhanced vision, he could see Long once again displaying his astonishing reflexes, dodging, blocking, even being blown into the air by shockwaves, yet somehow managing to cast Shield Charms midair and land unharmed.
For a moment, Link almost felt as though he were watching a breathtaking dance performance.
But even the most beautiful performance must come to an end.
After enduring such an intense bombardment, Long finally slipped up.
Another explosion sent him flying, and this time, he couldn't cast his Shield Charm in time. A stray stone fragment, flung by the blast, struck him square on the forehead.
It wasn't a fatal blow, but it broke his concentration, interrupting his spell.
'Now!'
Link's eyes flashed sharply, and power surged violently into his ebony wand.
"Avada Kedavra!"
A beam of green light erupted, silent, dim, almost invisible.
And yet that faint, nearly imperceptible ray pierced straight through the magical fog, through the fire and debris, across most of the square, until it struck Long's airborne body, frozen mid-fall.
Thud!
Long's body hit the ground hard. The light of life had already vanished from his eyes.
His corpse even bounced slightly from the impact before explosions roared again.
This time, without any magic protection, Long was blown apart instantly.
"Target eliminated. Cease fire!"
At Link's command, the formation of Dragon-Slayer Ballistae withdrew and returned to their initial positions. Snape and Krell swept away the lingering smoke and dust with a whirlwind charm.
Only then did the devastated square reappear before their eyes, pocked with craters and rubble everywhere.
Everyone looked shocked.
They all knew too well the destructive power of those ballistae. By all logic, after such prolonged, high-density bombardment, half the square, maybe even the entire Nurmengard Prison, should have collapsed.
Yet the walls still stood intact. Not a single one had been blasted through.
'Could it be that this entire place was built with high-grade anti-magic alloy?'
That thought flashed through everyone's mind, but they quickly dismissed it.
'Impossible!'
Under the Extension Charm, this square stretched nearly a thousand square meters and rose several stories high. If the whole thing had been made from anti-magic materials, the cost in Galleons would've been astronomical.
No one would spend that much on a wizard prison.
Unless… there was another secret buried here.
Link suddenly remembered the old witch overseer's repeated warnings not to damage the structure of Nurmengard itself.
'Could that have been the real reason? To keep this secret hidden?'
A wave of unease rippled through his heart.
Just then, Krell, who had already led a team to inspect the square, shouted excitedly from beside the fallen Old Hartman and Little Schwartz, "Young master! They're still alive!"
The shout snapped Link from his thoughts.
He and Snape walked over slowly. Sure enough, Old Hartman and Little Schwartz were alive, but in a state worse than death.
The two strange dragon-lizards had shrunk down and burrowed into their bodies, now swimming freely beneath their skin. Everywhere they passed, flesh and organs melted into glowing orange-red matter.
"Kill… kill me… please…"
Little Schwartz murmured weakly. The light in his eyes was fading fast, his pupils dilating, his mind about to collapse under unbearable pain.
Old Hartman, however, held on better. Even though the creature inside him had wriggled up to his chest, his spirit burned fiercely. Seeing Link approach, he didn't beg for mercy.
He only trembled as he asked, "H-how… how are the people outside? My grandson… what happened to him?"
"Of course he's dead." Out of mercy for a dying man, Link answered plainly.
"And since you're about to die, I might as well tell you, the way he died was much like this. He was corroded to death by Cold Venom. Oh, that's the same stuff I used on him back at the banquet hall."
Old Hartman didn't seem sad. His bloodshot eyes widened as he burst into wild laughter.
"Hahaha! I knew it! I knew it would end like this! Beckman was right! We're all going to die here! This is the fate of traitors! But..."
He pointed a trembling, orange-glowing finger toward Beckman, who was receiving treatment nearby. "Beckman's a traitor too! Why?! Why does he get to escape punishment? He should die here too, die before Grindelwald himself!"
His hysterical screams drew every gaze toward Beckman, who lowered his head in shame but said nothing.
Link rubbed his ear, smirking.
"I think you're mistaken. I'm no disciple of Grindelwald. The only reason I'm killing you is to take over the Beckman family. As for Beckman, he's still useful to me. That's all."
Old Hartman froze.
His bulging eyes stared at Link. His lips moved as if trying to speak, but before he could, the dragon-lizard in his chest suddenly lunged upward, burrowing straight into his skull.
Both Old Hartman and Little Schwartz were dead.
The two dragon-lizards, now free, slithered out of the corpses, glowing orange-red, their eyes gleaming with hunger as they darted toward Link and his men, as if to say, you're next.
They weren't stupid; far from it. The fact that they'd shrunk and hidden inside the bodies earlier showed they feared the Dragon-Slayer Ballistae.
So even before Link gave any order, Krell had already commanded the hunters to reassemble the ballistae and aim them at the two glowing creatures.
Sensing danger, the lizards roared furiously, bursting from the corpses and transforming back into their fiery dragon forms.
"Ready!"
Krell shouted, raising his hand to give the order,
But Link raised his own hand, stopping him.
"Don't shoot. I have a strong feeling, we cannot damage this square any further."
Krell froze. "But if we don't concentrate our fire, how can we deal with them? You saw it yourself, their magic resistance is terrifying."
"I have my ways. Let me try first."
As he spoke, Link walked alone toward the two dragon-lizards.
They roared even louder. One opened its jaws, gathering a glowing orange energy sphere in its mouth.
They feared the ballistae, but not enough to surrender.
Still, Link didn't stop. He even put his wand away.
Graaah!
The dragons couldn't hold back any longer, they were about to attack.
But at that instant, a wave of blood-tinged power surged from Link's body like a rising tide.
The metallic stench of it filled the air.
Under its oppressive force, everyone, including Snape and Krell, felt a deep, instinctive dread.
As for the dragons, they fared even worse.
The energy orbs in their mouths vanished instantly, and both beasts collapsed flat on the ground.
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