The first to join the battle were the scattered Aurors. Many of the Aurors who were not wearing uniforms began attacking the rioters.
However, there were too few of them, and their attacks lacked sufficient force. They did not achieve much.
At the outskirts of the battlefield, Shirella was leading her squad around the perimeter, hunting down one rioter after another who tried to escape.
"Sixth!"
A cold smile appeared on Shirella's face.
In an instant, she appeared beside a burly rioter, her sword crashing directly into his chest.
With a thunderous "boom," her strike was like a battering ram, or an exploding shell. The rioter was sent flying and slammed into a large rock before sliding limply to the ground.
He was dead.
Immediately afterward, silver mist enveloped Shirella, and she disappeared from the spot.
A blood-red [Cruciatus Curse] struck the place where she had just been standing, missing completely.
The black-robed witch who had attacked her panicked when she saw this. She looked around frantically, trying to find Shirella's whereabouts.
As expected, the witch hunter appeared directly behind her.
Silver mist flashed.
The black-robed witch suddenly looked down at her abdomen.
The tip of an Arcane Sword, stained with blood, had emerged from her stomach.
At this moment, Shirella was exactly like the true source of the uniform she wore, transforming into an assassin of the night and stabbing straight through the witch's abdomen from behind.
The power of ice erupted through the wound.
The black-robed witch's internal organs instantly froze and died.
"Another soul…"
Far away, Lewis took out a pitch-black crystal orb and stared at it as he muttered to himself.
The crystal orb looked completely ordinary, but anyone with sufficiently keen senses who approached it would hear endless wails and screams coming from within.
That was because it was, in essence, a specially crafted soul stone.
And contained within it were the souls of all the dark wizards who had died today.
The marks Lewis had secretly placed on them earlier served not only to guide Tonks, but more importantly, to collect their souls.
As long as the mark remained active, whenever a marked wizard died, their soul would automatically be collected by Lewis.
At this moment, there were already seven souls inside the crystal orb.
Although the Aurors had not truly gone all out until now, casualties were inevitable in a chaotic battle.
And now, the Aurors were finally going to make their real move.
"Everyone, attack."
Seeing that the enemy not only refused to surrender but had even dared to attack their side, Tonks no longer wanted to hold back.
At her command, the Aurors arranged in formation behind the Iron Golems no longer showed any restraint.
They simultaneously cast all kinds of powerful spells, sending them through the gaps between the Iron Golems and toward the rioters trapped within the encirclement.
Considering that this was still not a true war, most of these spells were powerful single-target offensive spells, such as [Shattering Curse], [Entrail-Expelling Curse], [Chain Lightning], [Scorching Ray], [Acid Arrow], and others.
They still had to leave the enemy some opportunity to surrender.
Of course, Tonks had not forgotten to arrange control spells either.
Beside her were six wizards from the Knowledge Society. Divided into groups of three, they used Professor Lewis's [Arcane Ring Formation] to cast spells cooperatively.
One group maintained the [Dimensional Anchor], ensuring that no one nearby could escape using spatial magic.
The other group cast a large-scale [Web Spell].
Sticky webs constantly appeared among the rioters, severely hampering their movements. Whether they were trying to cast spells or dodge attacks, their actions became clumsy and difficult, greatly reducing their combat effectiveness.
Facing the Aurors, who had formed an organized army, the rioters might have had superior numbers, but they were nothing more than scattered fighters.
Their attacks could not break through the Iron Golems' defenses, while the Aurors' coordinated offensive displayed astonishing efficiency.
They had firepower.
They had control.
And, most importantly, they had unified command.
As the highest commander of the force, Tonks did not personally participate in the battle. Instead, she continuously observed the rioters.
Several Arcane Eyes hovered in the air like drone cameras, providing her with a complete view of the battlefield.
Thus, Tonks was almost like a player in an RTS game, constantly directing the Aurors to attack the rioters' weak points, concentrating their fire on any leaders attempting to command the rioters, as well as dark wizards with particularly powerful individual strength.
Step by step, she dismantled the rioters' ability to resist.
After all, no matter how skilled someone was, two fists could never defeat four hands.
The rioters gradually realized that the situation was wrong, and despair began to spread among them.
Screams, shouts, and unmistakable explosions rang throughout the night sky.
Brilliant flashes of magic shot in every direction.
Some rioters who had fallen during the battle had their hoods knocked off, revealing their true faces.
But they had no time to cover themselves. They desperately waved their wands, fighting for their lives.
A thin, tall rioter trapped within the encirclement clutched his chest as bright red blood flowed from his eyes, nose, and mouth. His expression was one of extreme agony.
The hot, sticky sensation on his cheeks told him that he was losing a tremendous amount of blood.
Two wizards had already fallen beside his feet.
One had been struck by a [Shattering Curse].
The other had been hit by an [Acid Arrow].
Not far away, a witch lay on the ground. Numerous tiny spikes had somehow emerged from inside her body and pierced outward, covering her entire body.
She looked like a sea urchin that was constantly bleeding.
Then he heard a scream that made his heart wrench.
The pain expressed in that scream was something that neither fire nor ordinary spells could possibly cause.
"This firepower…"
The rioter struggled with all his strength to make his voice carry across the battlefield.
"They lifted the ban!"
The circle of young Aurors continued to tighten layer by layer.
The thin, tall rioter felt an overwhelming terror in his heart, a fear greater than anything he had ever experienced in his entire life.
And it was not just him.
Every wizard trapped within the encirclement felt the bone-chilling cold of despair.
Under such circumstances, those who were on the verge of breaking down began fighting back desperately.
The explosions in the air became increasingly dense.
Spells flew wildly across the battlefield, wreaking havoc everywhere.
Compared with the young Aurors who had formed a military formation and were protected by Iron Golems, the veteran Aurors who were accustomed to fighting alone and were not wearing uniforms found themselves struggling to cope.
Amid the chaos, even more wizards were injured, wounded, or knocked unconscious.
Within the storm of flying spells, the wounded Aurors lying on the ground remained exposed to attacks, constantly in danger of being struck again and killed.
Lewis immediately realized this.
He transformed into his Animagus form, becoming a Chimera.
Relying on his powerful magic resistance, he repeatedly entered the battlefield and carried heavily wounded or unconscious Aurors outside the encirclement.
After seeing this, Tonks also dispatched several Formation Breaker Golems to join the effort of carrying the wounded.
These Golems had no shields and therefore could not join the shield formation, but their armor possessed basic magical resistance, making them far more suitable for this task than ordinary wizards.
Seeing that the casualties were gradually becoming concentrated among the veteran Aurors, while the new recruits remained completely unharmed, Scrimgeour could not help but frown.
"…"
"Have them withdraw to the rear."
He immediately issued the order.
"The front line can be left to Tonks's people. Have the veterans provide support from the rear."
Fudge had also seen everything that was happening. He frowned, then nodded in agreement.
A trace of a smile quickly flashed through Gianna's eyes.
By now, it was becoming increasingly clear which group was superior—the new Aurors or the old.
The orderly sound of dress shoes striking the ground rang out.
Each step seemed to stomp directly onto the hearts of the surrounded rioters.
The Aurors' encirclement gradually closed.
The Iron Golems' shield formation moved forward like a bulldozer, forcing the rioters closer and closer together.
The space available to them became narrower and narrower.
"[Wall of Fire]!"
With Tonks's command, one Arcane Ring Formation group switched to casting the spell.
Roaring flames formed a wall dozens of meters long, blocking one of the rioters' escape routes.
"Another group! [Wall of Fire]!"
The moment Tonks's voice fell, three more Aurors stepped forward and formed an Arcane Ring Formation.
Another wall of fire rose into the air.
The rioters had nowhere left to retreat.
Ahead of them were those terrifying Iron Golems and the Aurors' concentrated barrage of spells.
Behind them was a burning wall of fire.
Anyone who touched it would be reduced to charcoal.
Some people attempted to use [Flame-Dissipating Curse] and [Flame-Freezing Curse].
But such spells could only deal with flames that had already formed.
Against a wall of fire continuously maintained by magic, they were completely useless.
As Tonks swung her arm, the orderly sound of marching footsteps rang out once again.
It sounded like the footsteps of the Grim Reaper.
"Everyone, prepare—"
Tonks raised her hand, about to order the next attack.
"Stop! Stop!"
"Please wait! We surrender!"
When that demonic female voice rang out, many of the rioters could no longer withstand the pressure and began demanding to surrender.
Tonks's cold voice was the only response.
"It's too late to surrender now."
"All those who want to surrender, throw away your wands, put your hands behind your heads, and squat down on the ground."
"Then pray that Merlin protects you."
"Commander, why won't you accept their surrender?"
A veteran Auror who had been providing support from the side finally could not hold himself back any longer and stepped forward to question her.
"I am the commander here. I have no intention of gambling with the lives of my subordinates."
"Follow orders!"
Tonks narrowed her eyes.
Her expression left no room for argument.
"Fire!"
Magical light once again illuminated the battlefield in waves.
The number of rioters still standing began to rapidly decrease.
The outcome was decided.
If you want to read 60 chapters ahead of the public release, head over to: Patreon.com/RedString