It wasn't just Lucius who was biding his time on the outskirts of the battlefield; Barty Crouch Jr. had likewise recognized Bellatrix's voice.
Though the two hadn't coordinated beforehand, they shared a tacit understanding: they both intended to strike from the shadows to rescue this gang of ironclad deadweights, who were useless at everything except being number one at causing trouble for their own side.
Furthermore, both of their motives for taking action were identical.
Even if this team of allies was no different from a pack of pigs in front of that blade-wielding figure, they were still fellow Death Eaters. If there was a way to help them, they had to lend a hand.
After all, the Dark Lord had been fallen for so many years; when the tree fell, the monkeys scattered, leaving behind only a handful of mismatched stragglers.
If this guy were allowed to slaughter every last one of them clean, then once Lord Voldemort made his return, he would have to face the Big Three Demon Lords—two old veterans and one young blood—completely alone.
How could anyone fight that? Better to just forfeit early.
After using the blinding flash generated by the collision between Great Fire Annihilation and Finite Incantatem to inflict heavy casualties on the Death Eaters with a barrage of falling meteor-like fireballs, Kyle adopted a cat-and-mouse mindset and abandoned the idea of using magic any further.
He drew his sword once more, continuing to mow down the crowd in close-quarters combat.
Seeing that single-target Killing Curses were achieving no effect, Bellatrix recklessly ordered the Death Eaters to switch to wide-area destructive spells, such as Blasting Curses and Fiendfyre.
Before long, the battlefield where Kyle and the Death Eaters clashed was crisscrossed with deep trenches, battered and utterly ruined.
Nearly half of the Death Eaters were killed or injured in short order, though the vast majority of those heads weren't even claimed by Kyle.
Wherever the mithril longsword passed, severed limbs flew through the air. Even if the Death Eaters managed to cast a Super Shield Charm (Protego Totalum), Kyle only needed to coat his blade in a layer of lightning to slice right through it.
However, a wizard's vitality was far more resilient than that of a Muggle. Even when cleaved in two at the waist, a wizard lying there wouldn't die right away.
Instead, when their own allies' Blasting Curses landed with a sudden boom, people were instantly blown to bits.
I can't just stand by and watch this happen.
Lucius stood on the edge of the battlefield, using the chaos created by the spell explosions as cover to quietly gather his magic power.
Majestic magic churned at the tip of his wand. When this magic accumulated to the point where Lucius could no longer hold it back, he abruptly raised his hand. A pale blue bolt of lightning burst from his wand tip, roaring toward Kyle in the crowd with unmatched fury.
Accompanied by a earth-shattering rumble of thunder, an afterimage went flying backward out of the crowd—it was Kyle, who had been blasted through the air.
Underneath the Invisibility Cloak, Barty Crouch Jr. was a bit bewildered as he watched the shift on the battlefield. He had still been gathering his power; how had the situation suddenly changed?
Strike while he's down!
Barty Jr.'s reactions were by no means slow. He yanked off the Invisibility Cloak with one swift pull and Disapparated right above Kyle's head.
Sensing spatial fluctuations coming from above, Kyle tilted his head back slightly.
Above him, a figure had appeared out of nowhere. The arm holding his wand was raised high, with a massive sphere of magic gathering at its tip.
As the man pressed his arm downward, the colossal ball of magical energy plunged toward Kyle's head like divine retribution, pushing the surrounding air aside as if carving out a clear path for the glowing orb.
An opportunity!
Bellatrix pointed her wand from afar. Under the influence of Transfiguration, the ground beneath Kyle's feet surged upward violently, slamming toward the sphere of magic falling from the sky.
There was not a trace of panic in Kyle's eyes. Under the dynamic vision of his Sharingan, the opponent's movements were like slow motion, playing out frame by frame in his eyes.
Looking at this absurdly bold wizard, a faint, indifferent smile curled across Kyle's face.
The majestic magic surging out from within his body flowed like liquid currents, constructing a skeletal frame around Kyle's entire being.
Immediately following were blood vessels, muscles, skin... An ethereal, dark-blue Fiendfyre formed the outermost layer of armor.
In the blink of an eye, right at the moment the sphere of magic came crashing down overhead, a half-body giant nearly twenty meters tall materialized, enveloping Kyle completely within its core.
The magical light orb collided with Susanoo like a nuclear bomb detonating midair. The shockwave expanding in all directions kicked up clouds of flying sand and tumbling rocks across the ground.
Under the protection of Susanoo during such a fierce explosion, Kyle remained entirely unscathed.
However, Barty Jr., who had launched the surprise attack, was blown several dozen meters away by the shockwave. Vomiting a large spray of blood in midair, he crashed heavily onto the ground, his life or death unknown.
Before anyone could react, four sword beams broke through the air out of the dense smoke toward four different directions. The earth along their path was split wide open, leaving behind four deep trenches on the ground.
Wherever the sword beams condensed from dark-blue Fiendfyre passed, any Death Eater struck was instantly reduced to ashes.
Standing in place, Kyle maintained his hand seal, a contemptuous and playful expression hanging on his face as he continuously manipulated Susanoo to go on a wild slaughter.
In the distance, Lucius—whose sneak attack had failed to achieve any result—had deep terror flashing in his eyes.
Grindelwald's son was merely a fourth-year young wizard, yet he was already this powerful.
Then how insanely strong must Grindelwald himself be?
At this moment, the urge to retreat sprouted within him.
Yet he couldn't simply stand by and watch this pack of pig allies die here either. He didn't care whether Voldemort had any followers left upon his return, but if he ruined Snape's plan...
He had no idea how Snape would treat him then.
Today's Snape was no longer that honest, law-abiding Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. After breaking the second seal of the Resurrection Stone, Snape's strength had also increased by a massive margin.
To put it simply, Snape possessed the potential of a Dark Lord.
Perhaps when the time came, he might even beat Kyle to the punch and claim the title of the Third Dark Lord for himself.
Thinking of his family, Lucius gritted his teeth, finally making up his mind.
He rolled up his sleeve. Under the flickering firelight in the distance, three faint chain-like marks were faintly visible on his arm.
Clenching his fist abruptly, a blinding glow of fire erupted as the three chains suddenly tightened, binding Lucius's arm in a vice-like grip.
This was a phenomenon that only occurred when the maker of an Unbreakable Vow harbored the intent to violate the oath they had sworn.
Enduring the agonizing pain, Lucius persevered with great difficulty.
In just a few short seconds, a dense layer of sweat beads broke out across his forehead.
It was only when the signature sound of Apparition echoed beside him that Lucius let out a sigh of relief, finally able to unclench his tightly held fist.
Snape was entirely shrouded under a black robe. Before he even had the chance to ask Lucius why he had triggered the oath to summon him, a flying sword beam whistled right over their heads.
"Relax your mind." Snape pressed his wand against Lucius's temple, using Legilimency to rapidly read through his memories.
After getting a rough idea of the turn of events, even the old bat couldn't help but curse these pig allies furiously in his heart.
"Leave it to me now," Snape's gaze locked tightly onto the two tents at the top of the gentle slope in the distance. "We must hurry before..."
Before he could finish his sentence, a massive burst of emerald-green light suddenly shot straight into the sky from the darkness.
A colossal skull appeared in the sky, composed of what looked like countless emerald-green stars, with a giant serpent emerging from its mouth like a tongue.
Looking at the Dark Mark that had suddenly risen, Snape uncharacteristically spat out a direct curse:
"Fuck!"
————
Supporting me on Pa-treon to gain early access to advanced chapters and enjoy expedited updates. Your support is greatly appreciated.
pat-reon .c-om/Dragonhair
(Just remove the hyphen - and space, to access Pa-treon normally.)