binnovel Chapter 326 - 326: 327: Scorched Earth
Chapter 326 - 326: 327: Scorched Earth
Once everyone had successfully climbed onto the raven's broad back, Noctis suddenly spread his wings, and the enormous black shadow launched itself from the altar engulfed in flames.The powerful lift forced all seven passengers to instinctively crouch down, their fingers digging tightly into the gaps between his iron-hard feathers.
The rescue had gone unexpectedly smoothly.
The howling winds at high altitude quickly swept away the scorching heat rising from the sea of flames below.
Despite themselves, the passengers leaned over the edge of the raven's broad back and looked down.
The entire camp had been reduced to a blazing inferno, and the towering flames illuminated half the night sky.
The dying howls of the werewolves, the explosions of colliding magic, and the desperate screams of the wounded merged into a dirge of destruction.
At the same time, the ground beneath Sagres's feet rumbled and rose, forming a stone platform that steadily lifted him into the air.
His black robes billowed in the wind as he gazed down at the twisted faces within the flames, finally fixing his eyes on the defiled altar.
There was no expression on his face.
He merely slowly raised his wand and pointed it towards the night sky, now reddened by the firelight.
The sky seemed to be torn apart by an invisible giant hand.
The previously bright moon was instantly swallowed by surging crimson clouds.
Then, his wand swept downward.
Countless stars burning with crimson flames broke through the cloud cover and descended from the sky like spears hurled by an enraged god.
Accompanied by a mournful whistling sound, they struck with perfect precision within the fiery prison below.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Deafening explosions rang out one after another, as though the heart of the earth itself were being struck repeatedly.
The ground trembled violently.
The towering stone pillars shattered under the shockwaves.
The foul altar collapsed amid the thunderous roar.
The figures of the werewolves were instantly vaporised by the crimson flames, their final screams swallowed by the greater sound of destruction.
Sagres watched the end of it all with complete indifference, as though he were merely observing a fireworks display that had nothing to do with him.
The people on Noctis's back stared in stunned silence.
The enormous burning meteors pierced through the clouds, trailing long tails of fire as they plunged towards the earth.
They could even feel the waves of heat radiating from the meteors' surfaces and the vibrations in the air caused by the passing destructive magic.
"This is... Starfall! An ancient battle spell lost to history!"
Tonks swallowed hard and muttered in a dry voice,
"No wonder only two of them came. If not for the rescue, he alone would probably have been enough..."
...
On the scorched earth below, with every explosion and every werewolf's aura that vanished completely, Sagres could feel the mark of the Blood Moon Alliance on his arm growing increasingly distinct.
Yet he made no attempt to suppress or remove it with magic.
After only a few dozen seconds, the meteor shower came to an abrupt end.
The crimson clouds slowly dispersed, and the clear moonlight once again illuminated the devastated landscape.
The highland where the ancient stone circle had once stood was gone.
In its place remained a massive crater filled with scorched and crystallised earth.
Everything, including the werewolves and their evil altar, had been utterly annihilated.
Nothing remained.
Sagres slowly lowered his wand and glanced at the mark on his arm, now as red as blood and pulsing ever so faintly.
The core strength of the Blood Moon Alliance had long since been eradicated by him, but Sagres knew very well that an organisation of that scale would always have a few remnants left behind.
Perhaps they had been sent abroad on missions and failed to return, or perhaps they were hiding in some forgotten corner of the world, waiting for an opportunity.
And this mark, deepened by slaughter, would become a beacon of vengeance.
Should those remnants ever encounter him again, this mark would act like the most vicious of curses, awakening the hatred buried in their bones and drawing them towards him like moths to a flame.
The raven folded its sky-darkening wings and landed steadily on the edge of the scorched earth, kicking up dust and waves of heat.
The people on its back, still shaken, climbed down on unsteady legs. The rescued Wizards stared at the enormous crater behind them, their eyes filled with the disbelief of those who had narrowly escaped death.
Tonks took several deep breaths of the smoke- and magic-tainted air, trying to compose herself.
She turned to Sagres, her voice carrying a respect far greater than it had during her school days, along with a faint, almost imperceptible trace of fear.
"Professor Greengrass... what... what do we do now? These survivors need treatment, and as for what happened tonight, the Ministry of Magic..."
She did not finish the sentence, but the meaning was obvious.
Such catastrophic magical fluctuations, and the devastation before them, could never escape the notice of the Ministry of Magic.
Sagres's gaze swept over the trembling survivors before finally settling on Tonks.
"The survivors will be sent to St Mungo's for treatment. I have already informed Healer-in-Charge Mirabella Rolston in advance. As for tonight's events..."
He paused before continuing in a calm voice.
"You may report everything you witnessed truthfully."
Tonks understood immediately.
He simply did not care whether the Ministry of Magic knew, or how it chose to react.
After witnessing that war magic, which resembled divine punishment itself, a chilling realisation struck her.
For a Wizard who possessed such overwhelming power, the laws and authority of the Ministry of Magic might truly be no more substantial than a fortress made of paper.
After all, even if Fudge and his officials hid in the deepest vaults of Gringotts, they would probably not survive a strike of that magnitude.
The idea of holding him accountable seemed absurdly weak in the face of such power.
No wonder he had been able to continue teaching safely at Hogwarts after what had happened at the Quidditch World Cup.
At that moment, the five rescued Wizards, supporting one another, stepped forward and expressed their gratitude with obvious emotion.
"Thank you. Thank you so much!"
A man and woman who still looked deeply shaken spoke. The man introduced himself.
"We're Elliot and Sophia from Kent. We were just hiking in Yorkshire, and we never imagined..."
He glanced back at the scorched crater with lingering terror and was unable to continue.
Next to speak was a tall, dark-skinned middle-aged man. Though his clothes were dishevelled, his eyes remained sharp.
"John Cronin, from the Australian Dragon Sanctuary. Thank you all very much for rescuing me. I was ambushed by those... those beasts while conducting a field survey."
The man spoke with strong Australian accent. His words were filled with disgust towards the werewolves, and at the same time, his gaze involuntarily drifted towards Sagres, carrying a trace of curiosity.
Finally, there were two very young-looking East Asian students. Even in their damaged state, their robes still displayed exquisite embroidery. They respectfully performed an ancient cupped-fist salute.
One of the youths spoke in somewhat stiff English.
"Thank you all for saving our lives. We are students of the Kunlun Academy of Magic. I am Ye, and this is Xue."
He looked at Sagres with shining eyes full of awe.
"Thank you. If you had not intervened, we would probably have become sacrifices on that altar."
___
o(*≧▽≦)ツ???? Read up to 12+ chapters in advance on Patreon/DarkDevil1