"Reducto!"
"Incendio!"
The colorful spells traveled through the rocky ruins. Dougt had barely added a Shield Charm to his body, but it broke after resisting one or two hits. His body was overturned by the magic's aftermath and rolled under a stone pillar.
"Ptui..." Dougt spat out the dirt in his mouth, along with a missing tooth and a little blood.
I should've drunk less if I'd known... waited until after the wizard market to teach that damn goblin a lesson.
Dougt was secretly annoyed but was thinking more about how to escape.
He'd originally thought the five opponents would look for him in teams of two or three, search separately, or even scatter completely, giving him a chance to break through.
Unfortunately, the five wizards stayed close together, faintly forming a semicircular encirclement, constantly casting spells so he couldn't concentrate on using Apparition.
And even if he changed location, these people would probably follow again.
This was very troublesome for Dougt, and he had no good way to force them to split up.
"Come out, Dougt!" The black-robed wizard leading them kept releasing long-range spells, narrowing Dougt's hiding space, but didn't approach at all. He was obviously very wary.
The leading black-robed wizard suddenly remembered a rumor and said tentatively, "Coward! If you don't have the guts, just keep hiding like that!"
Right after speaking, the black-robed wizard suddenly felt his heart skip. He quickly added several protections to himself, and an angry voice sounded the next second.
"Confringo!"
Orange flames rushed straight into the pile of rocks ahead and exploded. Countless large pieces of rubble hit the five black-robed law enforcers.
"Impedimenta!"
"Protego!"
After hurriedly casting spells, the black-robed law enforcers finally blocked the rubble from outside, but at the same time, Dougt's exact position was exposed.
A large number of spells took turns beating the stone pillar on one side into several pieces. Dougt's body was also exposed, and there wasn't much place left to hide.
"Apparate—"
Just as Dougt was about to force an Apparition escape regardless of risk, a white shadow like lightning suddenly rushed out of the stone wall behind several black-robed law enforcers. Its feet heavily stepped on the leading black-robed wizard's body.
Crack!
The magical barrier of the Shield Charm flashed briefly and broke apart the next second. The leading black-robed wizard only had time to show slight horror on his face before being kicked away by the Unicorn's Shadow.
"Andrew!" Several black-robed wizards suddenly panicked, and a bunch of crackling spells hit the Unicorn's Shadow.
"Stupefy!"
"Incendio!"
However, the rays of various spells went straight through the illusory body of the unicorn and hit Andrew behind it.
Poor Andrew was already badly injured. He'd barely gotten up from the ground when he ran into many spells head-on. He was left with only his last breath, and even his clothes were burned.
The remaining black-robed wizards were very flustered.
Even Dougt was bewildered, but fortunately, his long combat experience enabled him to seize this great opportunity to counterattack.
Taking advantage of the black-robed wizards' distraction, Dougt brewed a powerful curse. Strands of purple flames gushed from the tip of his wand, then swelled in the wind and turned into a sea of fire toward his opponents.
Unfortunately, face-to-face spellcasting was hard to make work. What's more, there were four wizards on the opposite side, and a series of counter-curses easily restricted the purple sea of fire.
It's just that counter-curses had little effect on blood magic.
The ghostly Unicorn's Shadow occupied an illusory form and roamed through the purple sea of fire. From time to time, harassment or sneak attacks left the black-robed wizards devastated. After a while, another black-robed wizard was knocked flying by the Unicorn's Shadow, losing the ability to resist.
"Foster!" The three black-robed law enforcement team members were furious but couldn't help it. Andrew's earlier encounter made them afraid to release magic at will, lest they all hit their allies again.
The only thing that made them breathe easier was that Foster activated the dark magical item on his body before being seriously injured, blowing off half of the Unicorn Shadow's body, a loss for both sides.
Dougt's eyes flashed with worry. When he saw the white mist, he'd guessed this powerful spell was cast by Adrian and was mostly related to the Patronus he'd practiced before.
Although he didn't understand how Adrian had mastered it at this age, now obviously wasn't the time to think about it. Once the Unicorn's Shadow dissipated, he'd have to face three wizards alone.
Both parties' perspectives were concentrated on this illusory, pure white creature. The unicorn's figure suddenly dispersed, turning into white mist floating in the air.
Before the law enforcement wizards had time to celebrate, a neighing sound rang out, and the Unicorn's Shadow reappeared!
Having been blown off half its body before didn't seem to have caused any hindrance to the unicorn. Two huge beast pupils scanned the three men in black robes.
"Mad Dog Dougt, I didn't expect you to have such a trump card!" The tall, thin black-robed wizard looked at the restored Unicorn's Shadow, then at the disheveled figure opposite.
This strange, unknown magic was simply amazing.
He could only say that Dougt usually hid his abilities too deeply.
Dougt hesitated for a moment about exposing Adrian's existence but pretended to be very dismissive and spoke.
"If you weren't pushing too hard, I didn't intend to get serious."
The remaining three black-robed wizards hesitated. They hadn't expected that five wizards couldn't take him down even after being dispatched together, and two had been easily brought down.
They might not be able to win if they continued fighting.
"Surrender now? It's too late." Dougt saw these three people's thoughts and spoke contemptuously.
Was his injury for nothing?
Dougt stood proudly in the center, quietly waiting for the Unicorn's Shadow to act. In the previous battle, Dougt had already analyzed this magic's characteristics.
In normal form, it could pass through obstacles, ignore spells, and could transform into a physical entity briefly. It had the ability to interfere with reality—not to mention it could quickly recover after being seriously injured in materialized state. Having it as a shield to help block dozens of spells would be relaxing.
If there were no other restrictions, it was almost unstoppable.
Dougt was full of confidence. Even if there were three more wizards, he could handle it.
The black-robed wizards present were afraid to make the first move, and the scene froze for a while.
After waiting a few seconds, Dougt looked at the majestic Unicorn's Shadow staying in place and faintly felt something was wrong.
Move already!