Chapter 223 The shock brought by the apparition
Dika and Modo exchanged glances. A Sleeping Charm and Petrificus Totalus were cast simultaneously, without the slightest pause.
Brilliant white light rained down, sealing off all of Aaron's escape routes.
They tried to control the power; these two spells wouldn't be very offensive, but their effects were undiminished, perfect for use on Aaron.
"You guys really aren't holding back!"
Aaron watched the dense rain of light flying towards him, twisted his neck, and decisively cast a Shield Charm on himself.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The transparent barrier blocked several spells, but Aaron was continuously pushed back. Unless he recalled his thought form, with his strength as an Intermediate Wizard, he had no ability to retaliate against two battle-hardened Advanced Wizards.
"Enough!" Aaron roared, "This is endless!"
Modo and Dika stopped casting simultaneously. "Please, Young Master, come back with us."
"It's not about coming back or not, it's that you didn't use your full strength. Are you looking down on me?"
"Absolutely not," Dika said earnestly. "We are thinking about the Young Master's safety."
Use full strength? Are you kidding?
If we accidentally injured you, Giennes would give us a severe dressing down later.
Aaron snorted. "How about this! I recently learned a new magic. If you can block it, I'll go back with you. If you can't, then don't block my way."
"No."
"We respectfully decline."
Both stated their refusal, their negative attitude very clear.
They knew their Young Master was no easy opponent, and the initiative was currently in their hands, so there was no need to take risks.
"You…" Aaron was so angry he laughed. "Then I'll compromise. If you can't block it, give me five minutes to run. That's fair, right!"
The two exchanged glances and said in unison: "Half a minute."
"Okay, half a minute it is." Aaron immediately agreed, afraid they might change their minds.
He took a deep breath, pointed his wand at them, and assumed a ready stance, but in his mind, he was thinking about where to go.
Whoosh!
A twisted, grey and white space flashed by, and Aaron's figure instantly vanished before their eyes.
The two blinked blankly, feeling as if millions of alpacas were stampeding through their minds, and for a long while, they couldn't react.
"Damn it!" Dika stomped his foot hard. "That's too devious."
"Apparition, that's going too far!" Modo's expression also wasn't good. "When did he learn that?"
They had anticipated the Young Master would use various methods to unleash powerful spells, but they never expected him to use a teleportation spell to run away. Is this something a thirteen-year-old Wizard should know?
"What do we do?" Dika asked.
"What can we do? Report it!" Modo said dejectedly. "This can't be blamed on us. If I had known the Young Master knew this magic, I would have set up counter-spells in advance."
...Pfft!
Giennes, who was enjoying hot chocolate at the auction house, suddenly felt something. A stream of black liquid was spat out from his mouth.
"I apologize, Sir." Pierre bowed tremblingly. "Did it burn you? I'll make you a new one right away."
"No need." Giennes waved his hand. "I'm going out for a bit, but I'll be back soon.
You better not slack off, or you'll face the consequences."
"Understood, understood." Pierre said immediately. When he looked up, Giennes had already vanished from his spot.
He subconsciously let out a sigh of relief, but looking at the dozens of Wizards in the auction house waiting for him to cast the Memory Charm, he felt a surge of frustration.
It had been decades, and he had never felt so wronged.
But he dared not complain; even with two times his courage, he wouldn't dare provoke a Grand Wizard.
However, a punching bag was still necessary. After a moment of thought, Pierre quickly walked up to Mochila and, without hesitation, began to punch and kick her.
It was all this old witch's fault, she had no sense at all. Why did you bother tying him up when you had nothing better to do?
Half a minute later, Mochila painfully opened her eyes, immediately followed by intense pain.
She recalled the fragments before she fainted and couldn't help but grit her teeth. "You little beast, don't fall into my hands, or I'll make your life a living hell."
"Awake?"
Pierre watched her with a cold smile, stepping on her face and twisting his foot hard several times.
"Ah!" Mochila let out a painful scream. "Pierre, what are you doing?"
"It's so obvious, can't you see? I want to kill you!" Pierre said coldly, then turned her head so she could see the utterly destroyed auction house. "Look, this is all thanks to you."
"This, what does this have to do with me?" Mochila said with some difficulty.
The ruined auction house was indeed visually impactful, but for Wizards, it was nothing. Even a Wizard like her could destroy a building with some time.
But the dozens of Wizards lying motionless on the ground, or groaning while clutching their wounds, made her heart pound with fear.
At least more than half of these people were stronger than her, but their situation seemed only slightly better than hers.
"It has everything to do with it." Pierre vented his resentment. "Do you know how important that child is?
His butler is a Grand Wizard, a truly rare existence. He alone took us all down.
Heh heh, it's one thing for you to seek death yourself, but you cleverly implicated all of us."
Hearing this, Mochila's eyes were dull, and it took her a while to accept this absurd fact.
"Damn it... that kid definitely has issues, and serious ones." Mochila said with a look of grief and indignation, on the verge of tears. "If he has the means, not enjoying life is one thing, but why come and ruin mine?"
Slap!
Pierre immediately gave her a resounding slap. "If you don't want to die, control that rotten mouth of yours. His butler dared to speak You-Know-Who's name. Do you know what that means?"
Mochila shivered in fear, feeling wronged and wanting to cry.
They had encountered situations like running into trouble before. Once, when they were kidnapping children, they ran right into Aurors from the Ministry of Magic, but that time, they managed to escape with their coordinated efforts.
But this time, they didn't just run into trouble; they ran into a cannon.
She was just a small-timer who passively provoked a behemoth, and the consequences were obvious without even thinking.
At this moment, Mochila, in despair, suddenly realized a crucial point: among those in the auction house who still had enough stamina and remained conscious, it seemed only she and Pierre were left.
"Pierre, Mr. Pierre." Mochila pleaded, "Please, can you let me go?"
"What do you think?" Pierre muttered, looking at Mochila as if she were an idiot. "I didn't kill you only because that Young Master didn't explicitly state how to deal with you, a human trafficker.
Of course, even if he doesn't care, you won't get off easy.
He sold you to me, for ten Galleons!
But I believe I can make a profit. There are dozens of victims here, and from what I know of them, they will definitely take their anger out on you.
Even if I set the price at a thousand Galleons, they will pool their money to bid for you. By then, I'll have a hundred times, or even higher, profit..."
At this point, Pierre suddenly paused, a mercenary smile appearing on his face.
"Counting it this way, it seems I'm not losing out after all!"
Mochila:...Meanwhile, Giennes also Apparated to the abandoned factory.
He looked at Number Three and Number Four, who were bowing their heads in silence, obediently waiting for criticism, and sighed helplessly.
"This is the second time, gentlemen."
"Boss, this..." Dika was about to explain when Giennes interrupted him.
"Stop, don't call me Boss, you are my bosses.
Two Advanced Wizards, absolute elites in the magical world, yet you let a thirteen-year-old child slip away right under your noses." Giennes patted his cheek. "Embarrassing! I'm ashamed for both of you."
"But the Young Master knows Apparition," Modo said directly.
"What did you say?" Giennes was startled for a moment, then composed himself. "Are you sure?"
"Absolutely sure. We're not so incompetent that we'd mistake such a high-level magic." Dika interjected, "So this really can't be blamed on us; it's a lack of information.
If we had known earlier that the Young Master knew this magic, we wouldn't have been completely unprepared.
And the task of recording the Young Master's growth and strength, it seems, has always been your responsibility, Sir Giennes."
Hearing this, Giennes's old face flushed. "Ahem! Just call me Boss. No need to be so formal."
Dika and Modo rolled their eyes, wanting to complain, but a higher rank trumps all. Dwelling on a superior's mistakes was just foolish.
"Boss, let's think about what to do!" Modo reminded. "The Master and Madam will be back in a few hours. If they don't see the Young Master, we'll all be held accountable."
"Yes, Boss, why don't we call everyone else over!
Although the Young Master has learned Apparition, with his magical energy, he can't Apparate too far. We can narrow down the search area."
"Easier said than done." Giennes said helplessly. "The Young Master's Apparition was clearly prepared for today. I'm certain his proficiency with this magic isn't low.
And how can you be sure the Young Master won't continue to use this magic to run away?"
"We can stop..." Halfway through his sentence, Dika noticed Giennes's glare that promised death. "Sorry, I take that back."
"Hmph! If you had the ability to stop the Young Master's Apparition without harming him, I certainly wouldn't stop you.
But you don't need me to remind you of your skill level, do you! If Apparition is forcibly interrupted midway, it would at least result in serious injury. Can you bear that responsibility?"
"Then we can't just let it go, can we!"
"Of course not."
Giennes took out a palm-sized compass from his pocket.
With a light tap of his wand, the needle on it spun rapidly, pointing in a direction.
"It took me over half a month to make this one. I didn't expect it to come in handy so quickly."
"Uh... Boss." Modo hesitated, saying, "This isn't made from the Young Master's hair, is it? That would easily make him angry."
"Don't I know that?" Giennes rolled his eyes, then pointed to the crystal ball in the center of the compass, where a drop of faintly glowing liquid floated.
"Getting something from Abe is incredibly easy. Its fur, scales, and blood are all fiercely protected, but its drool is absolutely unlimited.
Put a plate of meat in front of it, and you'll have as much as you need.
If the Young Master runs away, he might leave everything behind, but he definitely won't leave Abe.
It's a good thing I had foresight, otherwise I would have failed again this time."
"You truly are the Boss!" Dika gave a thumbs-up. "The Young Master would never have thought you had this trick up your sleeve. We're sure to win this time."
"Hahaha." Giennes waved his hand triumphantly. "Low key, still need to be low key.
This thing can probably only be used once. Once the Young Master is on guard, it will be impossible to find him this way again, after all, he knows too many things and can completely shield his own aura.
So this is your last chance, understand?"
"Understood." Dika nodded solemnly.
Modo's tense nerves relaxed a little, but he looked at Giennes thoughtfully, musing, "Boss, I have an impolite request. Could you come with us?"
Giennes's mouth twitched, and his gaze at Modo became strange.
Why hadn't he noticed Number Three was so unscrupulous before? Wasn't this blatant ingratitude?
You missed your chance to redeem yourselves, and I gave you another chance to make amends.
Not only are you not grateful, but you're trying to drag me down with you.
Initially, if they had caught the Young Master, he might have grumbled a bit and then it would have been over. But now, he had outsmarted dozens of Dark Wizards and exposed his Apparition just to barely escape.
If he were to bring people to capture the Young Master now, it would negate all his previous efforts, and a bucket of cold water at his most triumphant moment would definitely make him resentful for a long time.
Dika and Modo, as two guards, would be fine. Even if the Young Master wanted revenge, he wouldn't find an opportunity in the short term. But he, the butler, would be miserable.
"That's not appropriate. I still have some aftermath to deal with." Giennes politely refused, giving a reasonable excuse. "You've been with him all along; you should know what he did in Knockturn Alley. And the Ministry of Magic prohibits minors from using magic outside of school. I need to go and speak with the relevant departments."
"Such a small matter can be handled by anyone. There's no need for you to go personally." Modo said, winking at Dika: If he runs off, we're in trouble.
Dika immediately understood his partner's meaning and instantly looked at Giennes, saying, "Boss, you understand the Young Master best.
What if he's hiding another trump card, and we're unprepared? He might escape again."
Giennes:...Then all the more reason not to go with you. That way, if we fail, the responsibility on him won't be too great.
Modo saw the hesitation on Giennes's face and knew they couldn't wait any longer. If he found a reason to refuse, the blame would still fall on them.
"Boss, the Master and Madam will be back very soon.
You also said this compass is only useful the first time, and we must ensure foolproof success, so... we can only shamelessly ask for your help."