The swarms of Dementors around Azkaban no longer obeyed the Ministry of Magic. They circled the entire island, spreading despair with utter abandon.
Inside the cells, the Death Eaters, along with the Werewolves driven mad by the full moon, were also taking the opportunity to smash apart the none-too-sturdy walls.
With enemies attacking in tandem from inside and out, the wizards guarding the place had no choice but to shift from a posture of intimidation to one of defense.
They had underestimated this.
Marvolio looked at the scene in front of him and instantly found himself in a difficult position.
According to their plan, the strengthened guard force here, together with himself, should have been more than enough to handle both the prisoners and the rebelling Dementors.
After all, Tver had long since predicted what might happen here.
The problem was that they had never expected Voldemort, after Marvolio left the Auror Office, to use ordinary crimes as a way of sending a group of newly recruited Death Eaters into Azkaban.
Then, through Ministry connections they had no idea he possessed, he made sure that these "criminals" not only kept their wands, but even got hold of the wands belonging to the Death Eaters who had already been imprisoned here.
Now the prisoners, who had originally been nothing more than lambs for slaughter, had suddenly become the blades about to fall on them.
Ordinarily, even this failure would have been bearable. At worst, it would only have given Voldemort a few more followers, and an old fox like Tver would always have some way of dealing with that.
But the anti-Apparition magic that had originally been meant to restrain the prisoners was now hindering their own retreat instead.
Every means of transport on the island that could have taken them away had either been destroyed by the Dementors or taken by the Death Eaters who had been slipping out one after another.
Even Marvolio could do nothing but lead the defending wizards in holding one corner of Azkaban. The enemies outside could not get in, but they themselves had no way out either.
Yes, under the influence of the Dementors, Marvolio was feeling a flicker of fear in the depths of his heart for the first time.
Because he cared, he feared losing them more than anything.
Suppressing the worry rising inside him, Marvolio casually blasted away a howling Werewolf that had leapt toward him.
It was almost funny. Those frenzied Werewolves were completely uncontrollable, and they caused far more trouble for the larger enemy force than they did for his side.
That was why Marvolio only knocked the Werewolf back, and knocked it straight into the middle of the Death Eaters.
Watching the Death Eaters instantly fall into chaos, he let out a slight breath of relief, then turned to look at the wizards behind him who were barely holding on.
Well, even with that, their own side was not in much better shape.
Azkaban's defensive force had never been especially strong. Most of the people stationed here were members of the Magical Law Enforcement Patrol under the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.
After all, every Minister for Magic in history had trusted the Dementors' ability to guard the prison and had never sent a stronger force of wizards here.
Fortunately, Marvolio had specifically transferred a group of Aurors over, which had at least reinforced the defense and allowed these wizards to keep going until he arrived.
But even so, under the constant influence of the Dementors, and after the earlier ambush from the prisoners inside the cells, the hands with which they maintained their Patronuses were trembling.
Looking at this corner filled with gloom and despair, Marvolio suddenly had no idea what he could possibly say to raise their spirits.
Unfortunately, the only magic he could truly be said not to excel at was the Patronus Charm.
"Mr. Marvolio, if it really comes to it, then leave by yourself. I'm sure you have the strength to do that..." said an Auror in crimson robes with a ponytail, his voice weak and exhausted.
Marvolio looked at him in silence, as if seriously considering the suggestion.
"They'll tear you apart..."
Only after a moment did he speak, in a tone so calm that no emotion could be heard in it.
"From the moment we became Aurors, we knew a situation like this could happen, didn't we, Williamson?" another Auror said, putting an arm around the first speaker, Williamson. A bitter smile, forced to the extreme, appeared on his pale face.
Williamson ignored him. He only pointed at the Death Eaters watching them hungrily from outside and kept his eyes fixed on Marvolio's impassive face.
"You may be incredibly powerful, but the Dementors out there haven't even made a move yet. Just this crowd of Death Eaters and Werewolves is enough to wear you down to the point of exhaustion."
"You'd be better off preserving your strength. You're still young, and from what you've shown so far, your future ability definitely won't be below those old professors at Hogwarts. No, you might even have a chance to surpass Dumbledore."
"There's no need to throw away a genius like you for useless people like us!"
By the end, his voice had already gone hoarse.
No one was free from the fear of death. But his duty as an Auror, and his bond with his comrades, forced him to use the last of his strength to urge Marvolio to leave.
"Heh. I'm the one who brought you here..."
Marvolio let out a strange little cold laugh, lowering his head slightly as if lost in thought.
Williamson sighed. "There's no need to dwell on that. Your intelligence was accurate. Even if we had known there would be danger, we still would have-"
"No. I'm the one who brought you here!"
Marvolio suddenly lifted his head. There was a kind of disdain in his expression that somehow made people want to hit him.
"You want me to abandon you, then live on carrying this guilt, and become some muddle-headed genius wizard drifting through the wizarding world."
"In your dreams! I'm a man who's going to become Superman!"
"What?"
Williamson's pale face was full of shock.
It was as if he had not heard clearly, and yet had heard every word too clearly to believe it.
"I told you, I'm the one who brought you here..."
Marvolio slowly turned back around and faced the Death Eaters and Werewolves who were about to charge them again.
The new wand loosely gripped in his right hand seemed to sense its master's will. It trembled excitedly, giving off the faintest hum.
"Then I will make absolutely sure I take every last one of you out of here whole!"
The instant the words fell, his wand shot upward. From the tip came what sounded like the roar of a fire dragon, and along with that roar came an enormous dragon made of pure flame.
The heat from the fire instantly drove away both the cold brought by the Dementors and the island's accumulated chill. And the moment it touched the Werewolves charging at the front, it melted them completely into the flames.
They did not even have time to scream.
Staring at the blazing light in front of him, bright enough to make it seem as though Azkaban itself had been set on fire, a strange expression appeared on Williamson's face.
"Er... does Mr. Marvolio really have to be tsundere to fight at full power?"