0850 Surprise
The turbulent river of blood suspended itself in the magically sealed space like a crimson aurora, its surface swelling with hypnotic beauty that contradicted its true horror. Each droplet deflected light in patterns that seemed almost artistic in their terrible brilliance, creating waterfalls of liquid ruby.
But beneath this deceptive beauty lay something far more sinister. As Amelia forced herself to look more closely though every instinct screamed at her to turn away, she could see them: human faces trapped within each shining sphere of blood.
They appeared for few seconds before dissolving back into the crimson tide, their expressions were frozen in eternal agony, their silent mouths opened in noiseless screams of despair.
The faces were not random, each one told a story of suffering. A young woman's eyes filled with terror, an elderly man's face twisted in final anguish, a child's innocent face stained by incredulity of their fate. They flickered past like pages in a book of atrocities, each one representing a life stolen, a soul consumed to feed this abomination.
And if one listened carefully, truly focused past the magical interference and dread that clouded the mind, the faint sounds became audible. Whispers that might have been wind through broken glass, but were actually the collective wails of the damned.
Even with all her years of magical education and short experience at MACUSA, Amelia could recognize this was something that transcended ordinary dark magic and went into field of evil that most wizards could scarcely imagine. Her hands trembled as she gripped her robes fighting the nausea that tried to overwhelm her.
Bryan's mind worked as he studied the hovering sea of blood. His knowledge of magical theory and dark arts allowed him to understand immediately why this particular manifestation had been able to extinguish his Fiendfyre.
The troublesome reality was that this river of blood operated on principles that went far beyond conventional magical contexts. It wasn't merely a spell or curse that could be countered with superior power or clever technique. The blood had been transformed into something that existed partially outside normal magical boundaries, drawing its strength from those deaths and resentment.
Ordinary magical defenses would be completely useless against such a weapon. Even his own abilities would be stretched to their absolute limits to erase this abomination from existence.
Bryan had never anticipated encountering such a troublesome thing on this trip, but now he had no choice—
But as his mind raced through potential countermeasures and magical solutions, an unexpected interruption broke through his concentration like a thunderbolt.
A surge of scorching heat erupted from his chest with such intensity that for a moment Bryan wondered if he had been struck by some unseen attack.
Something within his magically expanded traveling bag had awakened.
The object that burst free moved with such speed that it appeared as little more than a streak of bone-chilling white lightning. The Undetectable Extension Charm that should have contained any object within the bag's dimensional space became ineffective against whatever force now drove this thing forward.
It tore through magical barriers as if they were cobwebs, racing straight toward the malicious sea of blood that hung above them like a red sword of Damocles.
Bryan's sharp vision penetrated the blazing white aura that surrounded the mysterious object. What he saw in that instant of clarity caused his usually calm expression to shift into genuine astonishment.
A fang.
It was roughly the size of a human thumb, curved in an elegant arc typical of vampire teeth. The material it was made of appeared to be some sort of green crystal.
The fang hung motionless in the air for a second, rotating slowly on its own axis. Then, without warning, white electrical energy began to dance across its surface. The air around it began to shimmer and distort.
When the fang's true ability was finally showed, the effect was spectacular.
The malicious sea of blood that had been hovering above them began to respond to an irresistible attractive force. The liquid which had seemed so solid suddenly found itself pulled into a spiraling pattern
A whirlpool formed in the air. The rotation accelerated with each passing second, the tide spinning faster and faster until it resembled a tornado. Crackling bolts of red lightning danced between the droplets as whatever dark magic had created the blood began to discharge itself in vicious bursts.
The blood-colored tornado stretched down from the ceiling like a grotesque umbilical cord, its tip connecting directly with the fang that now blazed with white lighting. Every drop of the blood was being drawn relentlessly into the fang.
His thoughts stalled for several seconds as Bryan tried to remember what this thing actually was.
After Hermione was attacked, to investigate clues about the curse, he had gone alone to the underground market in the depths of Knockturn Alley, and found Verrence who specialized in selling cursed items. From his small stall, he had spent forty Galleons to buy this vampire fang!
The reason he had bought it then was because Bryan had indeed sensed some extraordinary power from it. Only this power was sealed, disguised by crude curses.
Bryan had planned to study it when he had time, but the subsequent tracking of the curse caster, the Longbottom couple's matter, Lawrence's calling, the second task of the Triwizard Tournament, and Voldemort's resurrection—these events came one after another, giving Bryan almost no breathing room, causing him to completely forget about this thing.
Now, watching this supposedly minor purchase casually devouring what appeared to be one of the most dangerous dark magic artifacts he had ever encountered, Bryan felt a mixture of amazement and chagrin at his own oversight.
It wasn't just Bryan who felt bewildered. Not to mention Amelia and prisoner Haruto Lee, even the 'acquaintance' who had thrown out that black small coffin was staring in amazement at the fang that had flown out from Bryan Brain's body!
This vampire fang was like a hungry beast. The churning sea of blood in mid-air, under the effect of the powerful absorption force, was completely devoured in just one or two minutes. The sky above the café ruins immediately cleared.
Hum—
After devouring the blood, the soft milky white halo surrounding the fang gradually faded, and the now more crystal-clear and lustrous white tooth quietly suspended in mid-air.
A long silence fell over the devastated café. Bryan's group of three, along with those vampires who had narrowly escaped death, all stared at the crescent-shaped fang that could be called a work of art.
"What exactly is that...?"
The first to break the silence was Amelia, who stared blankly at Bryan. Since this fang had flown out from Bryan's body, Amelia naturally assumed that Bryan should know.
"Seize it back!"
The shriek shattered the silence. The vampire who had arrived last, the one who had thrown the coffin and witnessed his weapon being casually consumed roared with such intensity that his voice was cracked and became almost inhuman.
His command spurred the remaining vampires into action. Despite having just witnessed the complete annihilation of their companions; despite facing a wizard whose power had already proven overwhelming, they responded to their leader's desperate order without hesitation.
Their humanoid forms dissolved into clouds of living shadow, each vampire becoming a wriggling mass of darkness that vaguely resembled the shape of enormous bats.
They launched themselves up toward the hovering fang with determination, streaking through the air like arrows fired from some bow. But their desperate attack was destined to fail before it even began.
The pitch-black canopy that sealed the space above them suddenly exploded into dazzling radiance that banished every shadow from the devastated café. The light was not harsh or painful, but rather carried with it the pure, clean quality of dawn breaking over snow-covered mountains.
The commanding vampire, who had been coordinating the attack from below, instinctively raised his hands to shield his eyes from the unexpected brilliance and squinted through the spaces between his fingers to look at the sky and saw something—
Falling stars.
Countless streams of golden light descended from the heavens like arrows fired by the gods themselves. They moved with purpose and precision that spoke of intelligence behind their guidance, each one tracking toward its intended target.
The sight was breathtakingly beautiful and utterly terrifying in equal measure which showed a rain of heavenly fire that transformed the air into a constellation of deadly beauty.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
The sounds of the golden arrows cutting through air mixed with the increasingly frantic shrieks and wails of the vampires as they realized their desperate attack had failed catastrophically. One by one, the creatures in shadow were struck by the falling stars, and each impact resulted in their instant annihilation.
There were no dramatic death scenes, no final words. The vampires simply ceased to exist, their body dissolving into specks of light that scattered on the winds.
When the heavenly bombardment ended, the only traces of the vampire attack were the burning golden crosses that now stood embedded in the floor throughout the café like burial tombstones—
In the span of perhaps thirty seconds, an entire supernatural strike force had been reduced to nothing more than scattered ash and fading memories.
Bryan's gaze turned to the sole remaining vampire. His cold stare made it instinctively retreat several steps. Before it could make any evasive moves, its body suddenly flew up uncontrollably, shooting directly in front of Bryan. Under heavy pressure, like its companions before, it crashed heavily to the ground, its knees bloody and mangled.
"Mmph!"
Watching Bryan toying with the fallen fang, the vampire let out angry and unwilling grunts.
"It is..."
Everything finally returned to calm. What had just happened almost made Amelia lose her ability to think. She stared blankly at the sinister-looking vampire in front of her, breathing heavily.
"It is... if I remember correctly—"
"I think you haven't remembered incorrectly—"
Bryan temporarily looked away, glancing indifferently at the wretched-looking vampire.
"You're one of Gnarlak's employees, aren't you? I recall seeing you working as a server at the Blind Pig tavern during my previous visit. We've met before. So, what's your name?"
The vampire remained silent, and only glared hatefully at Bryan.
"How did you manage to discover my location?"
At this point, Haruto Lee, who had been petrified for a long time, also gasped and stood up, asking the question he was most concerned about.
"It was the girl who was playing piano."
Bryan glanced at the girl who had fainted among the ruins, answering this question.
"That girl is a Squib, isn't she? Working as an informant in exchange for the promise of a vampire's first embrace."
Squib, first embrace...
These two terms flashed through Amelia's mind. She was surprised and asked, "A vampire's first embrace can actually give a Squib magical power?!"
"The possibility does exist, though it comes with a terrible price."
Bryan said calmly.
"According to the texts that document such matters, vampire transformation rituals, when combined with certain blood magic techniques, can rarely enable squibs to use magic.
However, the success rate is extremely small, and those few who do gain magical power through this method discover that it comes with conditions that most would consider worse than remaining powerless. To maintain even the weakest connection to magic, these people must regularly consume human blood or the blood of magical creatures, just like vampires do."
Amelia looked at the beautiful girl, and her expression was unclear whether it was disgust or sympathy.
"You recognize this fang, don't you?"
Gnarlak's vampire servant glared hatefully at Bryan, but Bryan could sense that its hateful emotions were largely feigned. What it cared more about was the seemingly significant fang in his hand. Looking down from above, Bryan lowered his gaze.
"Moreover, I'm quite curious about that pool of blood you conjured from your coffin. Such sophisticated blood magic doesn't simply appear from nowhere. Where did it come from?"
The vampire continued its silence, appearing determined to die rather than speak.
However, some outcomes cannot be determined by willpower alone, no matter how strong that will might be.
Bryan gently moved his wand, and the immobilized vampire floated up from the ground, forced to face Bryan's torch-like gaze.
The vampire whose name was Morgans, though he would never voluntarily reveal that information knew exactly what was coming next.
He had prepared himself for this possibility, had even taken precautions that he believed would protect the secrets he guarded. If the wizard attempted to breach his mental defenses through Legilimency, the magical safeguards implanted in his mind would immediately take his life, ensuring that no information could be extracted through such invasion.
His only regret was that through reckless actions, they had personally destroyed their dream that was about to succeed!
But just as Bryan prepared to initiate the mental probe that would either yield answers or result in the vampire's death, his senses detected something that made him pause.
His eyes narrowed slightly as his attention shifted away from his captive, focusing instead on the darkness that surrounded their battleground.
"Right on time."
Bryan said. The next second, the black veil sealing the space was torn apart, and Graves's solemn face appeared in everyone's field of vision.
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