"You…" Lucius glared at Gary, covering his face. He hadn't expected Gary to actually hit him.
"Crucio." His next target was Alfrina.
Alfrina awoke from her coma, feeling as if her internal organs were burning, while the cold from outside continued to invade her body.
Every bone in her body felt as if it had been crushed. She wanted to scream, but when she opened her eyes, the ground before her shimmered like a double image.
She felt a little nauseous, the urge to vomit coming from her abdomen. She desperately pounded her stomach, curling up and rolling around constantly, as this was the only way to make herself feel slightly better.
Gary watched Alfrina screaming in agony on the ground, then saw Lord Voldemort, attracted by the screams, looking on with interest. Gary knew he couldn't stop.
Gritting his teeth, he continued to output magic, and a strange sensation arose within him.
It was so exhilarating, so refreshing, completely different from the first time he cast Crucio on Howard. He could feel some kind of energy flowing from his brain, and a light, weightless sensation enveloped his body.
magic surged from beneath his skin, and the energy flowing from his brain enveloped the magic, rushing into his wand, then bursting forth.
Gary lowered his wand, quietly savoring the Crucio he had just cast.
Alfrina closed her eyes, gasping for breath to regain her strength. Her hand fell limply from her abdomen to the ground, her golden hair scattered on the dirt and dust. Sweat had soaked her robes, leaving dark stains.
She didn't look at Gary, just stared blankly at the sky.
Lord Voldemort smiled with satisfaction, "See, Gary, isn't it simple?" His hands rested on Noang's shoulders, a satisfied smile curving his lips.
Noang, the Minister for magic of Brazil, had a face full of fear. Lord Voldemort's spider-leg-like fingers tapped back and forth on his shoulders, making Noang's expression look as if a real spider was crawling on his shoulder.
"Continue, Gary, let me see your sincerity."
The expressions of the hostages crouching on the ground with their hands over their heads changed from pity to fear when they looked at Gary. When Gary's gaze shifted to them, they even averted their eyes, avoiding eye contact with Gary.
"Crucio." Gary pointed his wand at Lily.
That mysterious energy once again surged from his brain, though this time in a smaller quantity. Gary felt a clarity in his mind, and the sensation of weightlessness enveloped him once more.
The energy emerging from his brain was different from the energy that had previously merged with Gary's wand. The former originated from the brain and was a milky white color with high viscosity; the latter was a rich green and originated from the heart.
The thick white energy enveloped the magic, entered the wand, and then emitted a red light. After all this magic was exhausted, the white energy returned to the brain, and this light, pleasant sensation was produced.
At the same time, Gary also felt extremely surprised. Unlike when his wand had mutated before, this time he couldn't see what was happening inside his body with his eyes, but he clearly knew the color and consistency of that energy in his mind.
Gary felt as if he had touched the doorknob to a new world. He just needed to gently twist it, and a brand new, never-before-seen world would appear before his eyes.
"Mental power…" Gary recalled what the Sorting Hat had told him before.
This was the key power for carving multi-layered alchemy arrays.
Thanks to Lord Voldemort telling him to infuse emotion when casting the Unforgivable Curses, otherwise he still wouldn't have figured out the trick to outputting mental power.
Gary tried to continue improving his control over mental power through Crucio.
He looked at Kona, whose face was as pale as paper, a trace of reluctance flashing through his heart, but in the end, he still cast the spell. He comforted himself that this was the only way to keep everyone alive.
He hadn't attached too much magic, but Kona had already begun to scream in pain.
Gary's Crucio on his four companions lasted for a quarter of an hour. He lowered his wand, watching Kona lie feebly in Howard's arms, seeing his companions lying twisted on the ground, and recalling their screams from before. Gary felt as if it were a nightmare.
"Are you satisfied now?" Gary turned to look at Lord Voldemort. He didn't ask Lucius, who was responsible for supervising him.
Lord Voldemort was whispering something into Noang's ear. Noang's expression when looking at Lord Voldemort was like looking at a madman.
"Very good, Gary," Lord Voldemort slowly walked over. He helped Lucius, who was lying on the ground, up. "Well done," he praised.
"Master, he…" Lucius quickly turned his head to expose the side of his face. His well-maintained, fair cheek was now swollen, indicating that Gary had not held back.
Lord Voldemort made a gesture to stop, and Lucius immediately shut up.
"The great Lord Voldemort will keep his promise. Your muggle-born friends can be pardoned."
Lord Voldemort held his wand in his hand. He looked at the wands scattered on the ground. "Narcissa, clean up the ground."
Narcissa looked worriedly at Lucius's face. With a gentle wave of her wand, dozens of wands scattered on the ground neatly arranged themselves together. A thin white ribbon appeared from mid-air and tied the wands into a bundle.
"Everyone," Lord Voldemort took the bundle of wands into his arms, then faced the hostages, "I have already discussed it with dear Noang. You do one thing for me, and you can regain your freedom."
The crowd began to stir restlessly. They were naturally not fools and could infer that the task Lord Voldemort wanted them to help with would definitely not be simple.
"Noang, you villain!" Corella, the chief of the American Magical Congress, lay on the ground, cursing him viciously, "Your child will definitely be born without an anus…"
Not just Noang, all the hostages present, including the Death Eaters, were dumbfounded.
No one would have thought that the highest official of a country's magical world would be so refined and gentle, yet utter such foul language.
"Alright, Corella, you don't have a say here." Lord Voldemort waved his wand, and Corella closed her mouth again. She also knew that she wouldn't be able to speak now, so she simply kept quiet obediently.
"Those of you who agree, stand up. I'll give you ten seconds. Those who don't stand up will be considered to have given up," Lord Voldemort said softly, expressionless, his crimson snake eyes unblinkingly staring at everyone.
Noang was the first to stand up, then Mr. Bonaparte, and one by one, people stood up, silently.
After ten seconds, Lord Voldemort looked at the more than forty people standing in the open space before him, somewhat surprised, his snake eyes widening slightly.