Brilliant blue light shimmered in Link's eyes.
It was the unique glow that appeared when the Level 6 Super Sense Spell was used at full power.
Through that magical light, Link could clearly see the old woman's body.
There was no flesh or blood inside her at all. She was entirely made up of machinery and crystals condensed from magical power.
In other words, she was an alchemical puppet, no different in nature from the alchemical butler and gardener at Nicolas Flamel's old house.
"I really didn't expect those French guys to use something like this as a receptionist at the Ministry of Magic. Their alchemy really is impressive."
"No wonder it's Nicolas Flamel's homeland," Krell said after noticing the old woman's abnormality as well. "But why did they design her like this? Wouldn't a younger appearance be more popular?"
Link glanced at him and said with a smile, "That's because the French Ministry of Magic doesn't only receive wizards."
"Goblins, centaurs, merpeople, giants, and other intelligent magical beings also come here regularly to handle business or even work here."
"Because of that, the receptionist's appearance can't just match human standards of beauty. The French magical world values freedom, but too much freedom has also created plenty of conflicts."
"The old woman's appearance is actually perfect."
"Her elegant manner and superior bearing satisfy human vanity, while her elderly appearance doesn't make intelligent beings of other races feel threatened."
Krell clicked his tongue.
Even though he had been born as a house-elf, he still disliked this kind of approach.
As far as he knew, although the French magical world was free, the rights of non-human intelligent magical beings weren't much better than anywhere else.
Yet the French Ministry of Magic always acted as if it stood for freedom and equality.
It was just too hypocritical.
Compared to that, the Fountain of Magical Brethren statues in the British Ministry of Magic's main hall looked much better.
At least they were honestly discriminatory.
"Visitor, please state your identity and purpose. After completing registration, I will show you the way."
Perhaps because the two people in front of her had not responded for so long, the old woman puppet repeated the exact same greeting again. Even her tone, movements, and expression were completely unchanged.
Link withdrew his gaze and said expressionlessly,
"Where is everyone else?"
"I'm sorry. If you're referring to the staff of the Main Hall Administration Office, then I cannot answer that, because they are no longer here." The old woman tilted her head with a smile.
"In fact, not just the Main Hall Administration Office. The entire Ministry of Magic is basically empty now. The staff from every department are gone. At present, only the Minister remains in his office."
As soon as she finished speaking, Newland, who had been leading people to search the area, walked over and quietly reported to Link, "Lord Flamel, we still haven't found anything unusual nearby."
"This reception hall is even more normal than the entrance hall. There isn't even a trace of blood here. It looks exactly as it usually does."
"But I think that's exactly what's most abnormal."
Link nodded.
He agreed with Newland.
To unite people's support, they had declared war on the French magical world almost a week in advance.
That should have given France more than enough time to prepare defenses.
Yet from the moment they arrived in France until now, apart from one foolish French Auror, they hadn't seen even half of a proper defensive measure.
The French Ministry of Magic itself was completely deserted.
It was as if everyone had evacuated after hearing about Britain's declaration of war.
But could something like that really happen?
This was the French Ministry of Magic, the center of power for the entire French magical world.
Unless...
Those shadow people had done something again.
Sighing softly, Link said, "It looks like we'll have to have a proper talk with the French Minister of Magic."
Krell and Newland immediately acknowledged the order and began gathering the scattered teams.
Meanwhile, the old woman sitting behind the counter spoke cheerfully, "So, sir, are you planning to visit the Minister?"
"What if I am?"
Link replied with interest.
He genuinely thought alchemical puppets were excellent.
When he returned to the British Ministry of Magic, he planned to get a few to serve as receptionists and attendants. The security clerks at the Main Hall Administration Office currently acted even more arrogantly than he did.
Hearing that, the old woman's smile grew even wider.
"I've finally been waiting for you, sir. The Minister told me long ago that someone might come looking for him. But he also said that I must stop you from reaching his office, so..."
The old woman stopped speaking and slowly began clapping.
Her movements were graceful and unhurried.
As the crisp, steady applause echoed through the empty reception hall, a series of mechanisms activated inside the three passages behind her.
Pairs of glowing blue eyes appeared in the darkness.
"Rrraow!"
A sharp cry rang out.
More than a thousand black cats poured out from the three passages.
They were much larger than ordinary cats, closer in size to black panthers. Their large eyes looked like round blue sapphires without any pupils. Their wide-open mouths were filled with sharp fangs, making them frightening to look at.
Link didn't even need to give an order.
The Aurors and Hit Wizards gathering behind him immediately split into several squads.
One squad stepped forward, pushing a blazing white, semi-transparent magical shield wall ahead of them, blocking the path before everyone.
The remaining squads behind them raised their wands in rhythm.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
A continuous storm of spells roared forward.
The charging cats were instantly driven back into the three deep passages.
But only a few seconds later, more and more black cats poured out, charging through the rain of spells once again.
"What the hell are these things?!"
One of the shield-bearing Hit Wizards at the front shouted in panic.
He had just watched a black cat get blown into chunks of flesh by Blasting Curse.
But in the next moment, those chunks began growing like wheat seeds struck by the Herbivicus Charm. Before they even hit the ground, they had turned into more than a dozen identical black cats, which immediately charged at them again.
With this virus-like ability to copy themselves, the heavier the firepower from the rear, the greater the pressure on the shield bearers at the front.
In less than a minute, the first black cat reached the glowing shield.
It clawed and bit at it wildly.
At first, the wizard maintaining the shield paid it little attention.
After all, these black cats weren't actually very large. To Aurors who regularly dealt with dragons and truly dangerous magical beasts, they were just little cats.
But they soon stopped smiling.
As the black cat clawed and bit, the supposedly unbreakable shield wall was torn open like a tough sheet of thin film.
The wizard behind it jumped in fright and quickly poured more magic into the shield before repairing the hole.
"Those are Matalagot Cats!"
Looking at the wave after wave of black cats crashing against the shield wall, Sigrfen said, "They're magical creatures found only in the French magical world."
"They have extremely strong resistance to magic and are very good at destroying it. They're fast, and they can also copy themselves. Many French wizards keep them to guard their homes."
"Individually, they're actually not that powerful. Unlike their incredible ability against magic, they're not especially strong in physical combat."
Newland frowned.
"If they can copy themselves, is there a limit?"
"Fifty times. Someone tested it. Each Matalagot Cat can copy itself at most fifty times in one day."
"Oh! That's exactly the same as the limit of human cell division. Then here's the question. Can the copies continue reproducing?"
"Of course. Second-generation Matalagot Cats also have the ability to copy themselves, with the same limit of fifty times."
"But the third-generation cats produced by the second generation lose that ability. That's the true reproduction limit."
"Going by what you said, I remember the first wave from those three passages had around a thousand Matalagot Cats. That means..." Newland rubbed his chin while doing the math in his head.
A few seconds later, his eyes suddenly widened. "That means we'll eventually have to fight an army of more than 2.5 million cats?"
Sigrfen looked surprised.
"Oh! How did you calculate that so quickly? That's impressive!"
Normally, Newland would probably have proudly replied, "That's Muggle wisdom!"
But now, he couldn't feel proud at all.
Because an army of 2.5 million cats was simply too terrifying.
The only good news was that these Matalagot Cats had a very low threshold for triggering self-duplication.
In other words, using weak but rapid attacks should let them reach their duplication limit as quickly as possible and eventually defeat them.
But how could they possibly do that?
Thinking that, Newland instinctively looked toward Link.
However, Link clearly had no time to worry about that.
Because at the exact moment the Matalagot Cat horde rushed out of the passages, the old woman puppet behind the counter also began changing.
The corners of her smiling mouth stretched wider and wider until they reached her ears, exposing rows of sharp teeth.
Still grinning, she bit straight through the counter.
As wood chips flew everywhere, her true form finally appeared before everyone.
She was an alchemical monster with a human head and a cat's body.
She was nearly five meters long. Each of her four slender limbs ended in five blade-like claws that gleamed with cold light. Her silver-white metal tail lashed like a whip, carrying a deafening sonic boom as it slammed toward the Fiendfyre serpent behind her that was about to pounce.
It was actually an extremely foolish move.
Because Fiendfyre was still fire and magic in essence.
Neither fire nor magic had a physical body, meaning physical attacks were almost useless against them.
Yet, to everyone's shock, a blur flashed by.
The terrifying Fiendfyre serpent was instantly shattered into pieces.
Although that wasn't enough to destroy Fiendfyre completely, damage at that level was enough to leave the serpent unable to fight for a while.
Link's pupils shrank.
Because it looked almost exactly like the black cat tearing through the magical shield earlier.
In other words, this cat-bodied old woman also possessed the same anti-magic ability as the Matalagot Cats.
And that ability wasn't true destruction.
It was energy disruption.
Only by cutting off the flow of magic feeding the Fiendfyre could it stop consuming fuel, prevent it from growing larger, and truly scatter it.
But giving the traits of a magical creature to a lifeless alchemical puppet...
How was that even possible?
Had alchemy really advanced that far?
The cat-bodied old woman gave Link no time to think.
She dropped onto all fours, driving her sharp claws deep into the solid mithril-alloy floor.
Then she sprang forward like an arrow.
Link reacted just as quickly.
With a slight movement of his wand, several invisible giant hands made of cursed magic struck from different directions, almost sealing off every possible escape route.
But in the next instant, the blue sapphire eyes of the cat-bodied old woman flashed.
Her entire body disappeared.
She instantly reappeared above Link's head, swinging her claws down.
Boom!
The moment the alloy claws collided with Link's wand, a blinding white light exploded.
The cat-bodied old woman was blasted away by the huge surge of magic bursting from the tip of Link's wand.
But before Link could follow up on the airborne enemy, she teleported again, reappearing more than ten meters away among the cat horde, pacing like a cat while warily watching Link.
Link's expression also darkened.
She not only possessed the Matalagot Cat's anti-magic ability, but could also teleport freely inside the French Ministry of Magic despite its Anti-Apparition enchantments.
That level of destructive power and mobility made her a terrifying wizard killer.
Combined with millions of Matalagot Cats, this setup would slaughter any wizard below the Legendary level, no matter how many came.
Unfortunately, Link himself was a Legendary wizard.
And not just barely.
He was well into the middle stage.
Against overwhelming power, this kind of targeted setup meant nothing.
"Heh."
The corner of Link's mouth curled into a cold smile.
He raised his wand high.
A raging tide of blazing white Fiendfyre poured from its tip, instantly flooding the entire reception hall, engulfing the British battle wizard formation and the Matalagot Cat horde alike in flames.