After a brief moment of shock, Lupin finally snapped out of it.
He yanked Ethan away from the Dementor, stepped forward, raised his wand, and growled, "Expecto Patronum!"
A brilliant, silvery-white light flooded the carriage.
A wave of warmth spread through the air, slightly pushing back the bone-chilling cold.
"Hoooh!" the Dementors roared in fury.
It sounded like the guttural moan of someone without a tongue or vocal cords.
Eerie and terrifying, it made the hairs on the back of one's neck stand up.
They scattered under the silvery-white glow.
But they didn't flee entirely.
Their hollow eye sockets, concealed beneath their hoods, fixed greedily and unyieldingly on Ethan.
That boy... was theirs...
A dark soul that could fill their bellies and bring them ultimate pleasure...
He was their perfect prey...!!
Their mouths, like black voids, sucked in, draining every positive emotion from the surroundings.
"Ugh!"
Lupin gritted his teeth, his brows knitting together.
Fine beads of sweat dotted his forehead.
His arm started to tremble.
The silvery-white light of the Patronus Charm was steadily fading.
He had never seen Dementors this frenzied before!
It was as if Ethan alone was worth more to them than all the prisoners in Azkaban combined!
But still.
To dare attack a student—Ministry of Magic, do you really think Headmaster Dumbledore has such a mild temper?!
"Hoooh..."
The Patronus light grew weaker and weaker.
In Lupin's widening eyes, the Dementors' horrifying forms pressed closer and closer.
They clustered together, forming a massive black mountain.
All sorts of tragic memories flooded his mind uncontrollably.
The Order of the Phoenix members falling one by one, James and Lily dying in battle, Sirius being captured...
Lupin's entire body began to shake.
He desperately clung to happy memories.
In his mind's eye, he saw a past scene of little red-haired Amy hugging him in gratitude.
It bolstered the silvery-white beam a little, but it was still barely holding against the hundreds of Dementors.
No... if he collapsed, what would happen to Ethan, Harry, and the other students?
The Ministry of Magic had always treated Dementors as tools.
But they had never truly controlled these malevolent creatures!
"Roar!" The Dementors surged forward.
A cruel, wicked triumph twisted their cadaverous faces beneath their hoods.
One by one, their withered, stick-like arms reached out toward this already defeated human.
Just then,
"Artwork · 'Elysium'."
A voice rang out, clear and utterly out of place.
The world turned pure white in an instant.
It was as if winter had descended all at once.
Heavy snow and frost blanketed every carriage as far as the eye could see.
Darkness flipped to daylight.
Blindingly bright.
...What was happening?
Lupin instinctively stepped back.
His shoe crunched into the thick snow with a sharp "creak."
As if sensing something, Lupin turned to look at Ethan.
But Ethan was gone.
In the compartment, only Harry and his two friends lay slumped on the floor, shivering.
And...
The blonde girl sitting quietly on the cushioned seat.
In this pure white world, Luna's figure seemed like that of an elf.
She held a pot of hot tea, calmly flipping through a book as if she were completely detached from it all—Hmm?
Wait, where had that hot tea come from?
Lupin felt like three question marks had popped up on his forehead.
What on earth was going on???
On the other side.
"Hoooh..."
The Dementors were equally bewildered.
They tried to seize Lupin.
But it was as if a thick barrier stood between them.
Their claws scratched futilely for ages, unable to break through.
At that moment,
"Click."
A soft sound came from below.
The Dementors felt their robes being tugged.
So they looked down—and locked eyes with a pale face.
Dementor: ?
Its skin, like melting wax, dripped constantly downward.
It uttered garbled noises from its hollow mouth.
As if enduring endless torment.
This "living corpse" clutched the Dementor's cloak tightly with its withered arm.
Like a dying soul grasping at the last shred of warmth.
"Roar!" The Dementors shrieked in fear and rage.
Desperately trying to shake off the "living corpse" clinging to its body, it struggled to fly upward.
Of course, it wasn't scared of the "living corpse's" horrifying appearance.
After all, the "living corpse" looked like an albino version of a Dementor without its cloak.
Neither was uglier than the other.
What terrified it was the sensation of its dark energy—the very essence of its being—constantly draining away!
Being absorbed and devoured by this white "living corpse"!
What kind of monstrous evil was this?!
Just then,
"CRASH!"
A massive thud echoed from the end of the carriage.
The Dementors and humans all turned their heads.
Their gazes stretched along the narrow corridor, passing through compartment doors.
And landed on...
The figure standing in the center of the hallway.
White gauze veiled his face.
In his hand, he gripped a silvery-white warhammer radiating golden light.
The enormous warhammer appeared utterly sacred.
But upon closer inspection,
One would notice scarlet eyeballs embedded in it!
They rolled around amid pulsing red veins, like throbbing blood vessels.
Causing the surrounding space to crackle and flicker.
Exuding a thick, viscous aura of malevolence.
For some reason,
It made the Dementors—who should have been impervious to harm—
Feel an intense shudder.
In the silence,
The warhammer rose high.
Then, with a thunderous crash, it slammed down!
"BOOM—!"
The carriage shuddered instantly, golden lightning exploding wildly!
A bolt struck a Dementor.
It let out a piercing shriek!
More than half its body was torn away by the lightning!
The Dementor had been attacked!!
"This... how is this possible...?"
Lupin stared at the scene in shock.
He felt his worldview, built over more than thirty years, shatter in an instant.
The Dementors were stunned too.
They hovered in mid-air, gaping foolishly at their companion, now missing half its form.
And then,
Their gazes slowly shifted to the white-veiled figure holding the warhammer.
A rising wind lifted his veil.
Revealing a pair of brilliant cobalt-blue eyes.
Ethan?!
Lupin blurted out.
He felt his mind reeling.
Circling back around, he found himself in Ethan's "embrace" once more.
The torment... it was too much!
Ethan regarded the Dementors, still hovering in a stupor, and a smile of sheer delight curved his lips.
He spoke softly:
"Today, I'm treating."
"I invite you all to Elysium."
Of course, on the way to Elysium, you'll have to endure a little pain.
Ethan said, slowly lifting the warhammer in his hand.
And from the ground, walls, and ceiling, all blanketed in soft snow,
Wax-like "living corpses" began to emerge one after another.
[Name: Elysium]
[Type: Scene Painting]
[Grade: Tier 2 · Blue Precious]
[Description: This is a land of ultimate bliss, without strife or sorrow—well, because all evil has been eliminated.]
[Effect: Based on the current environment, construct a world of ice, drawing specified creatures into it and isolating them from the outside world; the icy environment has a built-in slowing effect.]
[Consumes magic power to generate "Wax-Dripping Living Corpses." Living Corpses have no combat ability, they can only absorb negative energy (cannot eliminate curses this way), burning themselves to provide energy for this painted world.]
[Evaluation: Time to link the fire, brother.]
[Although somewhat of a crutch, it has miraculous effects on certain dark creatures.]
—That's right!
This was exactly what Ethan had painstakingly devised.
Inspired by the spirits in the Pure White Gate.
A surprise gift package prepared especially for the Dementors!
Their entire bodies are made of dark energy—it must be so uncomfortable, right? Don't worry, your priest has arrived!
Professional living corpses, specializing in absorbing negative energy.
You deserve to have them!
"Hiss—!"
The Dementor that had been entangled by the living corpse earlier let out a wretched wail.
Like a terrified beast, its form slowly withered away.
In the end, only a pile of crumpled robes remained on the ground.
It had been sucked dry completely.
Dementor: ?!!
Can we actually be killed???
"CRASH!"
The warhammer slammed down.
The carriage shook again, lightning flashing like beacons in the night.
Amid the screams,
It tore apart several of their companions with brutal force.
They watched as the eerie human with the white veil over his face dragged the warhammer, advancing toward them step by step.
And on the surrounding walls and ceiling,
Wax-like living corpses swarmed, hissing as they crawled toward them.
In that moment,
The Dementors finally remembered a fear they had long forgotten.
"Hiss... Hiss!"
Run!!
They whirled around, fleeing desperately down the seemingly endless train corridor!
Gone was the arrogance of their earlier patrol.
They just wanted to escape this cursed train as fast as possible!
You should have told us you were Khorne's chosen—we little ones would have bowed down to you as king in a heartbeat!!!
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