Lys waited a moment longer, but Bellatrix didn't raise any more serious accusations.
Lys felt momentarily dazed.
Thank goodness what she'd been worried about hadn't been dug up.
"Maybe I don't have that much loyalty, but I have plenty of fear, Bella. Don't underestimate the deterrent effect the Lord's power has on me." Lys continued, facing the sudden silence and the many eyes now fixed on her.
Lucius frowned from below. Not that much loyalty? Was that something you could say?
"Don't say that! Little darling~ I'm taking action because I already know." Bellatrix raised her wand. "If you'd left home just a bit later, maybe we could have learned more specifically what you've been up to..."
She wore an expression of finally catching her prey as she grinned wickedly at Lys: "But it's not too late now."
When Bellatrix's curse shot out, Lys sensed trouble, but she didn't counterattack directly. Instead, she activated two protective items and took the hit head-on. Her cloak and shirt were shredded by invisible magic, leaving a long whip-like gash across her side that beaded with blood.
Lys realized the Dark Mark's summons had been triggered by the Dark Lord himself. She thought it wouldn't be appropriate to start fighting Bellatrix now when the Dark Lord hadn't yet appeared.
After all, even now, controlling her magic and casting spells still left Lys feeling an indescribable thirst, as if she might crack apart from extreme dryness and lose her ability to think clearly—her mind might simply stop working properly.
"You have no evidence, because I haven't done it!"
"I don't need evidence. Because of my loyalty to the Dark Lord, I won't let anyone with ulterior motives slip by..."
"Bones was your operation. You practically turned the house upside down, but the brats weren't even home. My subsequent missions had nothing to do with Bones—you blame me for his family's two brats not dying?! And Dumbledore..." Interrupting Bellatrix's speech, Lys tore off the guard on her left arm and threw it on the ground, revealing the Dark Mark on her arm, made even more twisted by the uneven flesh and swollen muscles.
Seeing the Dark Mark, Bellatrix withdrew her next curse, but she looked even angrier.
"That old fox's heart is full of deep arrogance and prejudice, and I am a Death Eater personally marked by the Lord!"
Catching sight of Noah approaching, Lys shook her head.
"Though my cowardice and stupidity mean I haven't had the chance to serve directly at the Lord's side, all this time I've made my contributions to the noble legislation and several battles. You can't condemn our family to direct annihilation based on mere speculation—that's different from what the Lord once promised: serve him, offer loyalty, and receive eternal glory."
"Sophistry won't bring you life..."
Facing Bellatrix's increasingly angry expression, Lys began throwing accusations back at her, interrupting again:
"You're targeting me! You must be like Walburga Black! Trying to use the Lord's name to eliminate... ugh..." Lys suddenly groaned as Bella's curse struck her again.
"No, I haven't! I'm the most loyal to the Lord!"
As Lys clutched her abdomen, the corner of her mouth twitched. "Then why did you attack my family directly without evidence?! And not allow me to explain before attacking me directly!"
"Are you abusing the power the Lord gave you, or can't you find the real traitor so you're using someone without background like me to appease the Lord! Did the Lord allow you to attack Death Eaters without evidence?!"
This accusation was extremely serious... extremely!
When everyone arrived, the scene was already filled with screams. Those with flexible minds could guess that Bellatrix wasn't just someone who enjoyed cruelty—she was applying pressure to everyone present.
But now that atmosphere of pressure was broken by a few words from someone everyone considered a joke, and it stirred up everyone's slight dissatisfaction with Bella during this period. Bella and that newcomer had been too ruthless and extreme in their monopolization of materials and internal investigation actions.
Just like now, she always used torture to get the answers she wanted after forming suspicions.
Moreover, the recent situation was indeed that the Dark Lord's exploitation and constraints on everyone were becoming increasingly severe, making many people secretly dissatisfied even if they didn't dare show it.
What surprised everyone even more was that this joke of a bastard's daughter could still shout loudly and clearly after taking two of Bellatrix's curses head-on—quite different from the rumored sickly weakling...
Some people exchanged glances under their masks before looking back at Bellatrix.
Bellatrix was furious, but instead calmed down. She sneered coldly and raised her wand at Lys: "I certainly have ways to make you tell me what you've done! Then send your whole family to reunite in death!"
But Lys wasn't intimidated. She also raised her wand. If this was unavoidable, perhaps fighting was the best option.
"Bellatrix! If you can't produce direct evidence, don't randomly assign guilt. I haven't passed messages to Dumbledore! I ask again—where's my mum!"
The response was a flash of crimson curse light. Lys flicked her wand to deflect it, then counterattacked.
The rapidly spreading thirst and pain severely hampered Lys's performance. For a moment, Bellatrix and Lys were evenly matched.
Lys vigorously waved her left sleeve backward. The Death Eaters below all thought it was her movement to relieve pain after being hit by a curse, but actually Lys was signaling the anxious Noah not to come over!
Bellatrix and Lys fought near a half-stone platform in the center of the courtyard, and the area was quickly cleared by the retreating crowd.
"You little bastard, what did you and Dumbledore say at St. Mungo's!"
Bellatrix's answer was a powerful curse, and Lys kept talking:
"Is this how you serve the Lord? Even the portraits in the Chief Healer's office know I didn't speak with Dumbledore!"
"You can't even beat me—seems you're not just incompetent, your strength isn't much either!" Though she kept talking, Lys didn't dare relax.
The opponent would mix Killing Curses into those attack spells! Avada Kedavra!
Under this curse, no one struck had ever survived. This was something Mum had taught Lys in second year—
—Avada is a short incantation. Never let the opponent's wand point at you.
Almost every curse from both produced violent explosions. Lys even threw several runic spells, but was still hit by the attack's aftermath, her hair tie blown apart, her cloak continuously burned and torn by incoming flames and flying stones.
With torn, bloodstained clothes, disheveled hair, and a broken arm, Lys looked utterly wretched.
The opponent wasn't having it easy either, but she screamed at others not to help, as if being proven weak was another kind of disloyalty to the Dark Lord.
When a Killing CurseLys dodged landed near the slow-moving Noah, Lys couldn't bear it anymore.
She used magic to push all surrounding obstacles and people far away. Noah was shoved into the crowd, lost his footing and fell, then was picked up by another black-robed figure and placed aside.
After that, Lys became increasingly vicious, using "Swift Arrow" for rapid movement, even gathering that runic spell that shattered magic power. But their fight was interrupted.
The Dark Lord had arrived.
Bella looked as if she'd been slapped hard—even her wand-holding hand trembled. She hadn't completed what the Lord had assigned her! She'd brought shame to the Lord!
As for Lys, the moment her magic was suppressed by the Dark Lord, she was overwhelmed by that indescribable thirst. The sudden cutting off of her magic made her afraid to move even slightly.
She felt like she was about to scatter into grains of sand. Using curses and magic without restraint had put her back in the state she'd been in when she drank that entire cauldron of potion.
She stood among the crowd that had knelt in unison, looking around in bewilderment, appearing on the verge of tears.
"Mum, I want to go home..."
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
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