Wentworth stumbled as he dodged curses flying at him from every direction, hastily casting Shield Charms upon himself over and over again.
But the attacks came far too quickly. Just as his Shield Charm flickered and vanished, before he could replace it, two more spells shot straight toward his path.
In that critical moment, Adisa apparated to his side, intercepting the curses meant for Wentworth.
The two stood back-to-back, struggling to hold off the unrelenting assault.
A faint, strained voice came from Adisa:
"Wentworth, where are your people?!"
Hearing the weakness in her voice, Wentworth cast a glance behind him. He saw that half of Adisa's body was soaked in blood.
Not far from her, two black-robed witches lay motionless on the ground.
Gritting his teeth, Wentworth shouted, "Headmistress Adisa, aren't these your students?! Can't you control them?!"
Adisa gave a bitter smile.
"They are my students, but these young witches from the Kalembo Tribe have always placed tribal interests above all else. If I weren't injured, I might still be able to keep them in check. But now? There's no way they'll listen to me."
Hearing that, Wentworth growled through clenched teeth:
"When this is over, we're adding a Wizarding Ethics and Conduct course to Uagadou's curriculum. They need to learn what it means to respect their teachers!"
He paused.
"Not that it matters… those particular students won't be around to attend it!"
As Wentworth and Adisa fought desperately to stay standing, Nala finally arrived nearby, leading Rosier and the others toward the Uagadou Headmistress's office.
Thankfully, Nala had taken the lead along the way. As a renowned Potions prodigy at Uagadou, she was widely recognized.
When passersby saw Nala leading a group of unfamiliar witches and wizards toward the headmistress's office, many looked on with confusion, but no one dared stop them, assuming they were guests of Headmistress Adisa.
But even Nala had been inwardly terrified, worried that the standoff from the school gates might repeat itself.
Though blind, Nala could feel the tension earlier, when a student from Uagadou had stepped forward to block their way, she sensed more than one wizard behind her had already begun preparing spells.
Fortunately, the student had recognized her. She had quickly improvised a believable lie and managed to diffuse the confrontation without incident.
Now, as they approached the headmistress's office, Nala suddenly caught the scent of blood, strong and metallic, unmistakably Adisa's.
"They're just ahead!" she called out urgently to Rosier and the others. "Go! Help them!"
The others looked around in confusion, the grounds of Uagadou appeared calm, even deserted. Many exchanged puzzled glances.
Thankfully, Rosier and Abernethy reacted swiftly. Something clicked in their minds.
They exchanged a glance, drew their wands in unison, and pointed at the seemingly empty space ahead.
With a ripple of magic, the tranquil image of the school grounds shimmered and dropped away, revealing a battlefield.
Wentworth stood, one arm supporting Adisa. All around them, witches from the Kalembo Tribe lay strewn across the ground.
The remaining tribe members were still pointing their wands toward the pair, but they were trembling, as if they had just witnessed something truly terrifying.
"Wentworth?!"
"Young Master!"
The calls echoed through the air. Wentworth turned.
As he did, Rosier flinched. For the first time, he saw something in Wentworth's eyes he had never seen before: a cold, unmistakable malice.
When Wentworth saw that Rosier and Abernethy had arrived, his brow furrowed.
"You're late."
Rosier and Abernethy were stunned, this was the first time Wentworth had ever expressed disappointment in them.
Immediately, Rosier dropped to one knee.
Behind her, the members of the Alliance followed suit, kneeling on the ground and pleading for forgiveness.
Wentworth took a deep breath. The coldness in his eyes began to fade.
He pointed casually toward the trembling Kalembo Tribe witches who were still standing.
"Take care of it. I'm tired."
Without hesitation, the witches and wizards of the Alliance stepped forward to clean up the battlefield.
Rosier and Abernethy hurried to Wentworth's side. Abernethy pulled a potion vial from his robes and offered it to Wentworth.
But Wentworth instead placed the potion gently to Adisa's lips.
At that moment, Nala arrived, kneeling beside Adisa. The overwhelming scent of blood made her voice quiver.
"Headmistress… Headmistress Adisa, are you all right?!"
Adisa gave a weak smile.
"It's nothing. Just surface wounds. I'll be fine with a bit of rest. Nala… thank you."
Rosier and Abernethy stood silently before Wentworth, awaiting his next command.
There was something new in their eyes, something that hadn't been there before.
Wentworth downed the second potion Abernethy handed him, then paused for a long moment.
Suddenly, he looked up, smiling at the two of them.
"Why are you staring at me like that? Is something off?"
Abernethy quickly shook his head.
Rosier, however, replied with quiet emotion:
"We've been waiting for this moment… for you… for a long time."
Elsewhere, Auston Greengrass, who had followed Rosier, stood over the corpse of a young Kalembo witch. Her limbs were stiff, her body lifeless.
He resisted the urge to look away, his heart pounding with dread.
Just then, Wentworth's voice rang out sharply:
"Auston! Go find the ones with the fanciest robes lying on the ground. Bring them to me."
"Yes, sir!" Auston replied quickly, hurrying to carry out the order.
But a quarter of an hour later, Wentworth stood at the place where Juma Kalembo had last collapsed, now completely empty.
He fell silent, deep in thought.
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TN: This fanfic has been fully translated and is available on my Patreon —— patreon(.)com/PrimalDemon [remove the parentheses ( )]