"Pop! Pop! Pop!"
A few faint muffled sounds rang out consecutively within a very short time.
Laira felt a slight impact on her abdomen, as if someone had poked her a few times with their finger.
She stared in shock at the cleaning lady who suddenly attacked, the woman's originally wooden expression turned into one full of confusion.
In a fleeting moment of eye contact, Laira suddenly realized she had just narrowly escaped death, the terror of surviving turned quickly into murderous intent. She swung her Magic Wand without hesitation, and shouted:
"Confringo!"
"Bang!"
The cleaning lady flew backwards, crashing hard against the wall behind her, black smoke and fire erupting from her head as she lay motionless on the ground.
—She's done for!
Laira lowered her Magic Wand with satisfaction, feeling the vest she wore under her clothes, still feeling the lingering fear.
She knew how powerful Muggle Firearms could be, if not for this vest, she would have died just now.
It was an Anti-Curse Vest she got from Soren Minden's house—the cowardly guy, who because of a previously faked video at a banquet, mistakenly thought the Magic World was about to be exposed, was the first to buy himself a life-saving vest.
Minden pretended to care a lot about his wife and children while begging them to hand over the vest, but judging by his wife's expression, she was clearly unaware of this.
Because the Anti-Curse Vest was extremely expensive, Minden only cared to buy just one.
After acquiring this vest, Fontana, confident in his strong magic, disdainfully passed it on to her.
And at this moment, it saved her life!
Laira swallowed, looked at the fallen assailant nearby, focused her mind, and immediately began Apparition!
This place was no longer safe; she had to transfer somewhere else right away... even outside the country if possible!
Without Fontana, all plans must be overturned and remade; the most important thing now is to survive!
As she began to spin, the "dead" cleaning lady on the ground suddenly bounced up!
Her head was still smoking, half her skull blown away, and one eyeball gone.
Yet the woman seemed completely impervious to pain, coldly fixed her remaining eye on Laira, and with a flick of her arm, tossed out a fist-sized dark green metal sphere.
—Hand Grenade!
And while lying on the ground earlier, she had already silently pulled the pin; the timed death sphere boomed as it exploded mid-air!
"Whoosh—Boom!"
The air seemed to split open, scorching waves and sharp fragments exploded in all directions, the wall blasted into pits, the violent shockwave instantly swallowed the area where Laira stood!
Yet before that, Laira's figure had completely vanished into the smoke!
Vera, disguised as the cleaning lady, despite being some distance from the explosion site, had seven or eight punctures from flying shards, an arm bent backward, with small pieces embedded all over her legs.
She casually snapped her arm back in place, pulled out bits of metal, and while holding her ear, calmly said:
"I failed, she escaped..."
Her gaze swept over the ground where a bloody, smooth severed leg lay, adding:
"...but not entirely."
...
A particularly heavy sound echoed in an obscure alleyway.
Laira's figure fell heavily from mid-air onto the cold asphalt ground, intense pain sweeping over her, especially her left leg, unbearable agony and burning sensation erupted!
She screamed, curling up, instinctively reaching for her left leg but only touched a bloody stump.
"Ahhhhh—"
Extreme pain and fear made Laira release an inhuman wail as tears and snot uncontrollably flowed out, while she struggled to raise her head, seeing the familiar yet strange Times Square around, neon lights penetrating the alley entrance, reflecting against oily surfaces into bizarre colors.
She hadn't succeeded in escaping from New York, nor had she escaped far, failing Apparitions only threw her a few kilometers away.
The screams attracted the attention of passersby, one of whom ran into the alley from nearby, asking with concern:
"Hey, what's wrong? Do you need help?"
While speaking, he saw Laira's terrifying leg injury and recoiled with shock, exclaiming: "Oh my God! Your leg... your leg..."
At that moment, amidst the agony, Laira raised her head, her disheveled hair sticking to her forehead with cold sweat, and casually flicked her Magic Wand.
She didn't even utter a Spell, yet the life-threatening pressure allowed her to successfully cast Imperio on the first attempt.
The man's gaze abruptly glazed over, murmuring the instructions in his mind: "This is... this is my wife, Mary... we had a car accident... I must take her to the hospital immediately... the nearest hospital..."
He bent down to pick up Laira, sprinting towards the alley entrance, his body erupting with strength and speed beyond normal.
As she jostled, Laira shuddered in pain, but she bit her lip firmly, not screaming, instead using her Magic Wand to staunch the bleeding swiftly.
At this moment, she deeply regretted spending most of her time on political affairs, resulting in her magic skills from student days deteriorating into half-baked levels; Apparition she dared to perform only when calm, Healing Spell not even reaching beginner level.
Her consciousness started to blur between pain and blood loss, vision darkness setting at the edges, Laira tightly pinched her palm to maintain consciousness through pain.
She forced her eyes open, seeing ahead a scaffold, two maintenance workers initially busy working, hearing footsteps, they turned simultaneously.
At the moment of eye contact, Laira felt as if she was sharply poked, the murky consciousness suddenly clear!
That gaze... familiar.
Their expression toward her was almost identical to the cleaning lady earlier!
The Muggle man holding her was wheezing, saying: "Hold on, Mary, we're almost at the hospital..."
At the moment they were close, Laira exerted her entire body forcefully, shoving hard!
The Muggle man was caught off guard, pushed towards the two maintenance workers, while Laira leveraged the reaction to fall straight to the ground, initiating Apparition desperately upon contact!
Vito deftly twisted his wrist, avoiding the sharp dagger from the man's direction, taking the befuddled Muggle who turned toward his "wife."
"You were exposed?" He looked at Victor, asking.
"I hadn't even drawn my gun yet." Victor rolled his eyes, saying: "That woman might have awakened something like 'Spider Sense' in desperation?"
...
The wind howled sharply across the river at night, through steel bridge gaps, producing a sound akin to wailing.
Luckily, Laira didn't land on a roadway with vehicles, a hurried Apparition didn't split her, but luck seemed to end there.
She lay on a wooden plank pedestrian walkway, breathing heavily, seeing cold steel cables overhead like ancient beast ribs, crisscrossing into the vast sky.
Warm blood continuously drained from her body, dissipating all warmth, chilling her to the bone.
She tilted her head, seeing dark river waters flowing beneath the bridge and in the distance, New York's seemingly never-sleeping brilliant lights.
"Tap, tap, tap!"
The soles of leather boots clinked against the wooden planks, approaching her.