Eda had opened with Misty Cloud for one reason: to block everyone's view. That way, when the audience finally saw the dragon subdued, the impact would be far greater, leaving them stunned without even understanding how she had done it.
There was another reason as well.
Eda wanted to keep a few tricks hidden. She had no intention of letting everyone witness her entire spellcasting process.
Still, things had been genuinely dangerous.
The moment the mist appeared, the Chinese Fireball spread its wings and tried to take flight, intending to attack Eda from above.
Fortunately, Eda's casting speed was fast enough. She instantly caused a mass of vines to burst from the ground, dragging the Fireball back down before it could gain altitude.
Seeing its legs entangled, the dragon immediately struggled, turning its head to tear at the vines with its fangs or burn them away with scorching flames. That was why the audience had still been able to see flashes of fire even though the mist blocked their view.
Naturally, Eda seized the opportunity while the dragon was occupied.
She fused and reshaped the enormous boulders scattered throughout the arena, transforming them into one gigantic stone lock after another.
The massive stone restraints rose into the air one after another, relentlessly crashing into the Chinese Fireball. At that moment, the dragon's enormous size became a perfect target. The vines that had survived the flames continued restraining it, preventing it from dodging the incoming stone restraints.
Working together, the vines and the stone restraints gradually forced the dragon down onto the ground. The vines took the opportunity to wrap around its body, binding it tighter and tighter.
Meanwhile, the stone restraints no longer struck the dragon at random. Instead, they locked down its neck, limb joints, tail, and wings. By immobilizing its joints, they prevented the dragon from generating enough force to struggle free.
In her previous life, although Eda had been physically frail and constantly sick, she had loved sports. Besides hockey, she enjoyed boxing, MMA, and even watched WWE.
In combat sports, a knockout was certainly exciting and exhilarating.
But if you couldn't knock your opponent out outright, then a technical knockout was an excellent alternative.
Since Dumbledore had forbidden Eda from seriously injuring or killing the dragon, she had no choice but to win by technical knockout, using stone restraints and vines to subdue it.
Otherwise...
By now, the dragon's head would already have been smashed apart by those boulders.
A dragon certainly possessed incredible magical resistance and was practically immune to blades and axes, as though it wore an exceptionally fine suit of armor.
But beneath that armor, it was still made of flesh.
Back in the age of cold weapons, blunt weapons and heavy arms had been the answer to heavily armored infantry and cavalry. The sheer force of the impact was enough to inflict devastating internal injuries.
If a hundred giant boulders slammed into the dragon's head, Eda refused to believe its skull wouldn't crack. Even if it didn't shatter, it would at least suffer a severe concussion.
And if that still wasn't enough?
Then she'd simply drop another hundred.
Besides, if dragons truly couldn't be killed by wizards, then where did dragon heartstrings, dragon blood, dragon hide, dragon liver, and dragon horns come from?
Surely people weren't just waiting for dragons to die of old age.
Only a handful of people around the arena had actually seen what had happened, such as Dumbledore and Moody with his magical eye.
Most people had been completely in the dark.
All they knew was that Eda had really subdued the dragon.
And she had made it look ridiculously easy.
Eda raised her wand once more and pointed it toward the sky.
A gigantic boulder slowly began forming high above the arena.
Higher and higher it floated.
Larger and larger it became.
The spectators had to crane their necks upward just to keep it in sight.
Suddenly, Eda slashed her wand downward with her right hand as though swinging a massive battle axe.
The colossal boulder instantly plummeted toward the dragon's head at terrifying speed.
So she hadn't been bluffing.
She hadn't been an ignorant, arrogant child.
She truly possessed the power to kill a dragon.
Was she really going to kill the Chinese Fireball?
That question arose in every spectator's mind.
As the boulder hurtled downward, the dragon let out an unwilling roar and spat a massive ball of fire.
But its struggle was meaningless.
With a flick of Eda's wand, the fireball was shattered. The vines and stone restraints continued holding the dragon firmly in place.
Closer.
Closer still.
The falling boulder drew nearer and nearer to the dragon's head.
The audience collectively gasped, covering their mouths as they imagined the dragon's skull being smashed into a bloody pulp.
Even the wizards standing around the arena were stunned.
They forgot to stop Eda.
They forgot to protect the dragon.
They simply watched as the enormous boulder hurtled downward.
A deafening crash echoed across the arena.
Dust exploded into the air.
As the dust slowly settled, some of the braver spectators cautiously opened their eyes and looked toward the Chinese Fireball in the arena.
The scene they had imagined, blood and flesh flying everywhere, had never happened.
The gigantic boulder had landed beside the dragon instead of striking it directly.
No one believed Eda had missed.
The dragon had been far too large a target to miss.
She had done it on purpose.
She had deliberately sent the boulder hurtling toward the dragon.
She had deliberately missed to frighten everyone.
Twist was downright evil!
The wizards around the edge of the arena finally came to their senses. They rushed into the arena to stop Eda.
But all they saw was her back as she slowly walked out of the arena, golden egg tucked under her arm.
Silence.
There was no applause.
No discussion.
Even Ludo Bagman had forgotten his duties.
It was as though the entire world had been muted.
Everyone around the arena stared blankly at the small figure. Her long golden hair seemed especially dazzling that afternoon.
Karkaroff rubbed his eyes, cursing nonstop in his heart, every word worthy of being censored.
He simply couldn't understand.
What in the world is this monster? Why don't you come be Headmaster of Durmstrang instead! Drug test her! She absolutely needs a drug test! You're telling me this is a seventeen-year-old witch? Who are you trying to fool? Ghosts?
Madame Maxime was equally unable to believe what she had witnessed.
She also felt this was far beyond what a seventeen-year-old witch should be capable of.
Compared with Karkaroff, however, she felt something else.
Jealousy.
That girl could have been a Beauxbatons student.
She could have been my student!
Are the people of the Rosier family all idiots?
Clap!
Clap!
Clap!
Dumbledore stood up and began applauding.
Only then did the stunned crowd snap back to reality and join in.
The world found its voice again.
Excitement.
Shock.
Disbelief.
Every imaginable emotion spread through the stands.
The Slytherin students, in particular, silently thanked their lucky stars that they hadn't tried to gang up on Eda in the common room at the beginning of the school year.
What a blessing that had been.
Among the Gryffindors, Fred and George hugged each other tightly.
The exact same thought crossed both their minds.
Brother, we're going to be rich!
From the arena to the champions' exit was only a few short steps.
Yet Eda somehow managed to walk those few steps with the unmistakable air of, I'm the greatest in the world.
It wasn't because she was deliberately showing off.
She was adjusting her condition.
Her relentless barrage of attacks had certainly astonished everyone present, but that brief period of high-speed, high-intensity spellcasting had also left her heart racing.
In truth, she hadn't needed to fight that way.
She could have slowed down, advancing steadily and methodically until the dragon was subdued.
But Eda wanted perfection.
She wanted to shock everyone.
So she had accelerated the entire process again and again.
Although she had executed it beautifully, almost flawlessly, she still needed a moment to recover and steady herself.
That was why she chose to walk slowly.
After claiming victory, maintaining the elegance of a winner was equally important.
Today was only the beginning.
The beginning of making the entire magical world of Europe remember the name Esmeralda Twist.
...
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