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Chapter 56. Revenge Ten Years Late (Part 4)
"There's more to this than you can imagine."
Seeing that he was no longer hiding, Professor Fawkes stopped wasting words and unleashed an Avada Kedavra curse.
Wilkes ran to dodge the killing curse while retaliating with green light.
In an instant, the forest was lush and green.
"Fawkes, I think we can talk!" Wilkes tried to negotiate with Professor Fawkes.
"What do you want to talk about?" Although Fawkes seemed to be negotiating, he was constantly using the killing curse, the Explosive Curse, and the Divine Strike, giving Wilkes no time to breathe.
"I didn't do anything! It was all Lestrange and his gang! They did it all! I was just a bystander! Just a bystander!"
"Just a bystander?" Professor Fawkes seemed enraged by his words, growling menacingly.
"Do you know what I've regretted all these years in Azkaban?" His eyes were bloodshot, burning with hatred that seemed capable of incinerating his very soul.
"I've always regretted it! Regretted letting those five bastards die so easily! How could the Cruciatus Curse be enough? I should have tortured them more, tortured them until their very souls were filled with remorse! Remorse for what they had done!"
"Eye of the Shadows!"
An invisible blade swept outwards from Professor Fawkes!
Countless trees were cleaved in two, crashing to the ground with deafening roars!
Wilkes's expression immediately changed.
He had once been a Death Eater who followed the Dark Lord and had witnessed the devastating power of dark magic created by his colleague Snape.
But he was certain that the effect of Eye of the Shadows was far more extreme!
Just like the Killing Curse that killed the spider swarm, the Eye of the Shadows had also been modified by Professor Fawkes!
Without hesitation, he dropped to the ground, and almost instantly, the blade swept across.
The centaur, paralyzed on the ground, escaped unscathed, but Aragog, whose joints were bound, wasn't so lucky.
All eight of its legs were severed in an instant! Foul-smelling green blood splattered everywhere as if it were free.
Aragog's vitality was tenacious; even with all eight limbs severed, it wasn't dead, only a round, bloated body lying on the ground howling.
Professor Fawkes's use of the Divine Slash Spell was terrifyingly effective, clearing away all the trees within a twenty-meter radius, creating a large clearing in the Forbidden Forest!
"Madman! You're a madman!" Wilkes yelled as he scrambled to his feet.
He was covered in mud and looked extremely disheveled.
Professor Fawkes, having just unleashed a powerful attack, wasn't in good shape either. Excessive magic consumption left him pale, panting heavily, and clutching his knees, his strength failing.
"Smoke Screen!"
Just then, Wilkes suddenly cast a low-level Smoke Screen Spell.
White smoke began to rise around them, obscuring their vision, and Professor Fawkes grew wary.
He didn't underestimate this spell, which even first-year students at Hogwarts knew how to use; he chose the fastest way to break the Smoke Screen Curse.
"All Curses End!"
A universal dispelling spell could forcibly remove the effects of most spells, and the Smoke Screen Curse was no exception.
But just as the smoke was about to dissipate, Professor Fawkes suddenly heard the sound of hooves!
The centaur had stood up again?
Before he could turn around, Wilkes appeared less than five meters in front of him.
The two were now extremely close, close enough that no spell could escape them!
Professor Fawkes had no time to worry about the centaur behind him.
The Ironclad Charm had been protecting him, and the centaur was already quite injured; even if it attacked him, it wouldn't cause much damage.
The most crucial thing now was Wilkes, who was right in front of him.
At this distance, whoever cast the spell first would be the ultimate victor!
"Avada Kedavra..."
Wilkes' face contorted in agony. He had already recited half of the Killing Curse, but before he could finish, countless wounds suddenly burst open on his body!
A dozen deep, bone-revealing cuts caused him to scream in agony, and he naturally couldn't continue casting the Killing Curse.
Professor Fawkes didn't choose the Killing Curse, but instead used a silent version of the Divine Strike, though its effect was greatly reduced, its casting speed was incredibly fast.
Seeing a sure chance of victory, Professor Fawkes didn't do the foolish thing a villain does by talking too much.
He ignored the centaur behind him, raised his wand, and was about to cast the Killing Curse when a tremendous force suddenly struck his back.
The armored charm couldn't withstand such force and was instantly destroyed.
Professor Fawkes felt a sharp pain in his back! He was thrown back into the air.
Looking down, he saw a sharp horn had pierced his abdomen!
The attacker wasn't a centaur, but a unicorn.
A unicorn with empty eyes, controlled by the Imperius Charm!
Wilkes was in excruciating pain all over his body, his mind stretched to its limit.
Seeing that the unicorn's attack had worked, he abandoned his attempt to imperius it.
This magical creature's magical resistance was too strong; if he hadn't persistently used the Imperius Charm on it, he wouldn't have been able to control it.
Now that his plan had succeeded, Wilkes laughed with relief.
"Fawkes! I won!"
The unicorn regained consciousness, staring blankly at Fawkes, who was impaled on its horn, somewhat bewildered. Then it pulled its horn from Fawkes's stomach and fled in panic.
Professor Fawkes wasn't dead yet, but he felt he was close to death.
He lay on the muddy ground, trembling as he pulled various potions from his trench coat pocket, gulping down a bunch and pouring some over the horrific, gaping wound in his stomach.
Wilkes was ecstatic; he was also badly injured, but felt much stronger than Fawkes.
"You're going to die soon! Fawkes! With your death I can be free… I can be free… I'm going to escape this hellhole! I'm going to leave England! I'm going to leave this damned place…"
He struggled to his feet, blood staining the ground. He picked up the centaur's spear, using it as a crutch, and tried to reach Fawkes.
"I'm going to kill you… Only by killing you with my own hands… can I forget… forget the horrific deaths of Lestrange and the others… Only by killing you with my own hands… can I sleep peacefully… Ahhh!"
Wilkes suddenly let out a chilling scream, his wounds slowly widening and enlarging,
like a dozen worms quietly devouring his flesh.
He collapsed to the ground again less than ten meters from Fawkes, the pain seemingly etched into his very soul driving him to the brink of madness!
Professor Fawkes, clutching his still-bleeding stomach, chuckled softly.
"This isn't so bad, really... good. Thank you, Merlin..."
His voice grew weaker, as if he were talking to himself.
"Everything I could leave behind, Lynn, I've left to you. I hope you can continue and finish everything I failed to complete..."
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(End of Chapter)