AN: Hello everyone! As promised, I'm back for another round of updates.
The battle in Hogwarts is about to reach its peak. With March, Caelus and their team finally arrived; will Voldemort's advantage still work, or will his army get demolished?
Shall we all witness it in this chapter?
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Non-Administered World #97, Star Rail Universe…
The tide of the war, which had originally favored the Quantum Shadows and Voldemort's army, had completely turned against them.
The moment March and Caelus' Quick Response Force arrived, everything changed.
The Alliance brought together wizarding magic, Midchildan bombardment spells, Belkan combat magic, the Clock Tower's Mystic Codes, and modern weapons enhanced by magical systems. Against that combination, Voldemort's army and even the Quantum Shadows were quickly being overwhelmed.
Those who had been fighting desperately to defend Hogwarts could only stare at the forces that had suddenly appeared around them.
TSAB aerial mages floated above the castle grounds, their Devices still aimed at the remaining enemies. The Clock Tower Enforcers moved through the battlefield with frightening efficiency, using magecraft and Mystic Codes to tear apart enemy formations, binding some in place before eliminating them with carefully coordinated spells.
The local wizards and mages fought alongside them, filling the battlefield with curses, elemental magic, barriers, and support spells as they pushed back the Death Eaters, werewolves, vampires, and dimensional creatures.
Meanwhile, Chaldea personnel spread across the battlefield, intercepting the Quantum Shadows before they could get anywhere near Hogwarts.
What had been Hogwarts' desperate final stand only moments ago had transformed into something entirely different.
Now, it was Voldemort's forces being pushed back.
"They… finally came." James slowly lowered his wand, staring at the battlefield in disbelief.
"…Yes," Remus answered. His own wand lowered slightly, though his eyes remained fixed on the hundreds of soldiers surrounding them. "Yes, they did."
"And here I thought Miss Pinky and her boyfriend were already way too much." Sirius let out a breathless laugh.
"Miss March is not 'Miss Pinky.'" Pandora immediately puffed her cheeks.
Sirius glanced at her. "That is the part you objected to?"
"Yes."
James snorted despite himself.
Pandora turned her attention back toward the battlefield. "The Alliance has been closely watching the movements of the Dark Lord and his forces. So sending a team led by Miss March and Mister Caelus to counter them was only appropriate."
"A team?" Remus looked at the overwhelming reinforcements surrounding Hogwarts.
His eyes moved toward the TSAB battalions above them, the Clock Tower Enforcers advancing across the grounds, and the Chaldea personnel tearing through the remaining Quantum Shadows.
"…That word seems rather modest."
"Personally, I was thinking invasion force." Sirius grinned.
Cyrus glanced toward March and Caelus, then at the reinforcements sweeping across the battlefield.
"Well…" A small laugh escaped him. "I suppose we can stop worrying about being overrun."
Sirius stared at him.
"Stop worrying?" He gestured toward the battlefield, where TSAB mages and Alliance forces were tearing through the enemy lines. "Five minutes ago, I was wondering which one of us was going to get eaten first."
Peter swallowed and glanced toward the retreating werewolves.
"I was trying very hard not to think about that."
"That explains why you looked ready to faint," James said.
"I still look ready to faint."
That finally pulled a laugh from Lily and the others. After everything they had just survived, even that tiny bit of laughter felt precious.
Nearby, Minerva supported Dumbledore as he forced himself to remain standing. His eyes moved across the newly arrived forces, disbelief and relief mixing across his exhausted expression.
"So this is the rescue force Lord Peverell's Alliance prepared…" Dumbledore murmured.
"They certainly chose their moment well." A tired smile finally appeared on his face.
Behind them, the professors and students reacted far more openly. Some cheered the moment they realized the battle had truly turned in their favor. Others simply dropped onto the ground, exhausted, while several students hugged one another and finally allowed the fear they had been holding back all night to spill out.
Even the Aurors and residents of Hogsmeade could no longer hide their relief. Several lowered their wands for the first time since the fighting began, while healers immediately rushed forward to treat the wounded.
For Hogwarts, they could finally breathe.
For Voldemort's forces, however, the sight before them was something else entirely. The army they had believed unstoppable had been torn apart in mere moments.
The surviving Death Eaters stared across the battlefield, completely lost. Giants lay scattered across the grounds, some unconscious while others struggled from the powerful restraints. Werewolves were bound by TSAB magic before they could escape into the forest. Vampires trying to flee through the darkness were being hunted down by Clock Tower Enforcers.
And above them, Quantum Shadows were being destroyed before they could even reach the ground.
"What… are they?"
"Where did all these people come from?"
"This was not supposed to happen…"
Another Death Eater stared toward the sky as several TSAB mages flew past them.
"We were winning…"
Those words seemed to break whatever confidence remained. Several Death Eaters slowly began stepping backward. Some looked desperately toward Voldemort, waiting for their master to somehow overturn the situation once again.
Others looked toward the forest or toward the ruined paths. Anywhere they might escape.
Unfortunately for them, Voldemort noticed. He saw their frightened expression, every backward step and every moment of hesitation. And worst of all, he saw the doubt appearing in the eyes of the very people who had celebrated his victory only moments earlier.
"Useless fools!" He shouted in anger as his power exploded outward.
"I DID NOT GIVE YOU PERMISSION TO RETREAT!"
The ground he was standing on cracked violently. Dark magic crashed over his followers like a physical weight, forcing several Death Eaters onto their knees. Those who had already begun turning away immediately froze.
Suddenly, the Alliance surrounding them was no longer the most terrifying thing on the battlefield, but their own master was.
"You dare to escape after everything I have granted you?!" Voldemort's eyes filled with humiliation and fury.
No one among his followers dared to move. And that made his expression twisted further.
"I said…"
The pressure around him intensified.
"STAND!"
The surviving Death Eaters forced themselves back onto their feet, but none of them looked eager to continue fighting. Their eyes moved nervously across the forces surrounding them.
TSAB mages floated above the sky. Clock Tower Enforcers were advancing across the grounds. Chaldea personnel were tearing apart the remaining Quantum Shadows. And standing at the center of it all were the two people who had destroyed their charge in a matter of seconds.
Voldemort followed their frightened gazes.
March stood beside Caelus with an almost cheerful smile, while Caelus casually rested his baseball bat against his shoulder as though the army before him had never been a threat at all.
The sight made Voldemort's anger explode again. After all, those two were the ones who had ruined everything.
Moments ago, Hogwarts had been at his mercy. Its wards were gone. Dumbledore had been defeated. His followers had been charging toward the castle while its defenders prepared for their final stand.
Then those two arrived, bringing their army. His victory had been snatched away from him.
"Those two…"Voldemort slowly raised his wand and pointed it toward March and Caelus.
The Death Eaters looked toward their master, his eyes filled with humiliation and rage.
"Bring them down."
Several Death Eaters exchanged frightened glances.
"My Lord…" one of them finally whispered.
Voldemort's head snapped toward him, and the Death Eater immediately went silent.
"I said…" Voldemort's magic surged around him once more, forcing several of his followers to stumble beneath the pressure. "…bring them down."
Still, hesitation remained.
Voldemort's face twisted with fury.
"ATTACK THEM!"
Their fear of their master won against their fear of the Alliance. The surviving Death Eaters raised their wands with trembling hands.
"Avada Kedavra!"
"Confringo!"
"Diffindo!"
Dozens of curses flew across the grounds toward March and Caelus, but neither of them showed the slightest panic.
"Guess they finally decided to try," Caelus simply stepped in front of March and swung his bat.
The force from his swing carried the Imaginary energy from the Path of Destruction and shattered the incoming curses before they could get anywhere near them.
"Huh." Caelus raised an eyebrow. "That's it?"
"I think they're trying their best." March tilted her head, almost looking sympathetic.
"That was their best?" Caelus glanced back at her.
"YOU BASTARD!" One of the Death Eaters heard him and screamed in frustration and fired another curse.
March casually raised one finger and a Six-Phase Ice formed instantly in front of them, creating a crystal wall of pink, blue, and white. And when the curse hit it... nothing happened.
March peeked around Caelus' shoulder. "…Was that supposed to break it?"
The Death Eater went pale. Around him, the others slowly lowered their wands.
"Impossible…"
"Our spells aren't doing anything…"
"What are these monsters…?"
"Pathetic," Voldemort said, watching his followers fail him
Every Death Eater immediately went silent.
He stared at his followers with open disgust. "I give you one simple command, and this is all you can do?"
Dark purple light began to cover his body. The mark of his contract with Dormammu burned beneath his robes.
Dumbledore immediately noticed, and his exhausted expression changed.
"Everyone, get back!"
The space around Voldemort twisted as the dark purple energy gathered around him, and the ground he was standing on cracked.
"…Now that feels different." Caelus's amused expression disappeared.
March's smile faded as well. She could feel something deeply wrong gathering around Voldemort.
"Caelus…"
"Yeah..." His fingers tightened around his bat.
Voldemort slowly raised his head.
"If these useless fools are incapable of destroying you…" His eyes narrowed. "…then I will simply call upon something that can."
He spread his arms, and several dimensional tears ripped open around him. The sound came first, low growls mixed with something heavy scraping against the other side of the dimensional tears, followed by deep movements that sounded far too large and far too inhuman before enormous silhouettes appeared from the openings.
"What did he just summon…?" Dumbledore's face paled.
"Caelus!" March immediately drew her bow.
That was all he needed. Caelus ran forward. Rushing directly toward Voldemort, raising his bat while Destruction energy wrapped around it.
"HAAAAAA!!!"
March released several arrows at the same moment; they flew toward Voldemort from different directions.
But Voldemort did not move. Instead, he let out a smile. Caelus's expression changed the moment he saw that.
'Something is wrong...?!' he thought.
Just before his bat and March's arrows could reach Voldemort, something came out from the dimensional tear. Caelus' bat smashed at it as March's arrows followed the next second.
BOOOOM!!!
It was a massive upper arm, moving with a speed that something of its size should never have possessed. A clawed hand snapped around Caelus's bat, gripping it tight despite the Destruction energy wrapped around it.
"What?!" Caelus's eyes widened as the creature tightened its grip, with enough force that his indestructible bat gave an unpleasant groan.
Caelus immediately pulled back, but the monster refused to let go. He poured more strength into his arms before he finally pulled the bat free and jumped backward. He barely dodged before the creature's other arm came crashing down.
BOOOOM!!!
The ground where Caelus had been standing was pulverized from the impact, chunks of stone and dirt exploding outward.
"Caelus!" March called, worry immediately replacing the playful expression she had worn moments earlier.
"I'm fine!" he answered, straightening himself while staring at the creature now forcing the rest of its body through the dimensional tear. "But this thing's definitely not one of the usual Quantum Shadows."
Black armor-like flesh covered its enormous body, six long limbs extending from its torso and ending in curved blades, while its head possessed no recognizable face at all. Instead, a vertical opening split across it, filled with rows of glowing teeth.
And it was not alone.
More creatures began forcing their way through the other tears. A winged beast with a torn, skeletal body crawled into the night sky, followed by a tall humanoid whose form constantly flickered between solid flesh and dark smoke, while the largest tear distorted violently as an enormous serpent-like creature pushed through, purple flames wrapping around its body before it released a deafening roar across the Hogwarts grounds.
Even the Quantum Shadows nearby recoiled from them.
The defenders of Hogwarts could only stare.
"What in Merlin's name are those?" Minerva whispered, her grip tightening around her wand.
Dumbledore's expression grew grim as he watched the creatures spread across the battlefield. "Whatever they are… they do not belong to this world."
The answer came almost immediately when the winged creature hurled itself toward the TSAB formation and crashed directly into one of their barriers. Cracks spread across the magical shield from a single impact, forcing several aerial mages backward as warning calls filled their communication channels.
At the same time, the other creatures charged into the Chaldean and Clock Tower formations without the slightest hesitation. Volleys of magecraft struck them from every direction while enchanted firearms opened fire, tearing chunks from their bodies, but the monsters simply continued forward as damaged flesh began knitting itself back together.
One of the serpent-like creatures wrapped its massive body around a golem summoned by a Clock Tower mage. The construct barely managed to raise its arms before the serpent tightened around it and crushed the entire body apart, then hurled the shattered remains into another defensive line.
"Defensive lines, hold!"
"Unknown hostiles entering from multiple directions!"
"They're regenerating!"
"Standard magical attacks are barely slowing them down!"
The Alliance had completely dominated the battlefield only moments earlier, but that overwhelming counterattack finally began to lose its momentum as Dormammu's creatures broke their formations and forced the advancing forces onto the defensive.
"Ahahahaha!" Voldemort laughed as his confidence returned, watching the Alliance forces struggle against the creatures he had summoned. "Yes! This is how you crush insignificant insects!"
No one on the Alliance side bothered answering him. They had far more important things to worry about as the summoned creatures attacked in every direction, forcing TSAB squads, Clock Tower Enforcers, Chaldean personnel, and the exhausted Hogwarts defenders to fight simply to keep the battlefield from collapsing again.
March's eyes moved quickly across the chaos. One creature ripped itself free from a TSAB binding spell and charged straight through the mages holding it, while another slammed into a Clock Tower Enforcer from behind and sent him crashing across the ground. Before she could even react to that, several smaller beasts broke away from the fighting and rushed toward the injured Hogwarts defenders.
Caelus noticed them at the same moment and immediately moved to intercept. His bat smashed into the first creature and sent it tumbling across the ruined grounds, but two more rushed past it almost immediately. "Seriously? These things really don't know when to stay down!"
"Then stop letting them get back up!" March called before releasing several Six-Phase Ice arrows over his shoulder. The shots struck the creatures one after another, encasing them in pink, blue, and white ice, but cracks began spreading across the frozen shells almost immediately as the beasts forced themselves against their restraints.
"I'm working on it!" Caelus answered, already charging toward them again.
High above the battlefield, one of the winged monsters swept past the TSAB formation and released a massive wave of dark energy toward the entrance of Hogwarts. Several aerial mages reacted immediately and combined their barriers together, but the first shield broke the moment the attack hit, causing terrified cries to break out among the students gathered farther inside the castle.
March's eyes widened, but her alarm eased when the remaining barriers held and dispersed the rest of the attack before it could reach them. "Good… they stopped it."
Her relief lasted barely a second.
Another creature had slipped through the Alliance line during the confusion and was already charging toward Pandora, James, Lily, Sirius, Remus, Peter, and Cyrus.
Caelus turned toward them, but one glance was enough to tell him he would never reach them in time.
"March!"
"I see it!"
She drew her bow in one smooth motion and released an arrow of Six-Phase Ice. The arrow hit the creature at its side and instantly froze half of its body, forcing it to stagger to a halt only a short distance from Pandora and the others.
That was all the opening Caelus needed.
"Nice shot, March!"
He rushed in from the side before the creature could break free, planted his feet, and swung his bat with both hands.
BOOOOM!!!
The impact lifted the monster completely off the ground and hurled it away from the Hogwarts defenders, sending it crashing straight through what remained of a broken stone wall.
March lowered her bow with a satisfied smile. "See? Now that is teamwork."
Caelus glanced toward the crater where the creature had disappeared.
"…You're going to make me praise you again, aren't you?"
"Obviously ♫."
March lowered her bow after their combined attack sent the creature crashing through the ruined wall, but her satisfaction quickly faded when she looked past Caelus and saw how badly the fighting had deteriorated across the rest of the battlefield.
The TSAB mages who had dominated the skies only moments ago were struggling to hold their formations. Clock Tower and Chaldea forces were being forced backward, while behind them the exhausted Hogwarts defenders were once again trying to protect their wounded. The remnants of Voldemort's army had regained enough courage to attack, more Quantum Shadows continued pouring from the dimensional tears, and now the creatures Voldemort had summoned were tearing through the Alliance lines.
March lightly bit her lower lip.
They had finally turned the battle around and somehow, in only a few minutes, everything was becoming troublesome again. Her normally cheerful expression slowly disappeared. Six-Phase Ice began forming around her. It spread across the ground, like thin crystals branching farther and farther away from her.
"…March?" Caelus noticed her change immediately.
March lowered her bow and closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them again, the familiar pink-blue color was gone. Her eyes now changed to red, and a faint smile appeared on her lips.
Caelus paled the moment he saw 'that' smile. He had seen that particular expression before in Diagon Alley, right before several Death Eaters ended up frozen like statues while March calmly scolded both him and Noah.
"Ah…" Caelus slowly lowered his bat. His body shook as that particular experience came rushing back to him. "…She's here."
"My, my… ♭" March murmured as she calmly looked over the battlefield. Her bow disappeared from her hand, replaced by her umbrella, which she placed lightly against her shoulder. "There are so many unpleasant things gathered in one place today ♭."
====== Chapter 226 END ======