When the dust settled, Harvey and the women stood unharmed in the rubble, protected by a magical shield.
"Tsk tsk. Going mad enough to blow up your own palace."
Black Bolt felt a pang of regret for his impulsiveness; his own luxurious palace was destroyed, yet the enemy seemed completely unscathed.
He said viciously: "Damned sorcerer, don't think a few tricks can block my next attack. If you're smart, you'll kneel and beg for mercy, otherwise..."
Black Bolt didn't have time to finish his threat.
A Version 2.7 Confringo spell flew straight toward his position.
"Swoosh!"
Swallowing his words, Black Bolt nimbly dodged the attack and prepared to open his mouth to shout.
The magical light in his field of vision grew blindingly bright.
His pupils shrank; there was no time to evade before he was submerged in a wide-range magical bombardment.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The explosions within the palace drew a massive number of Attilan guards.
"Protect Black Bolt... move, move, move!"
"Send the distress signal! Notify the Queen and Princess Crystal!"
Harvey sensed that Black Bolt's aura was flickering, clearly on the verge of death.
Just as he was about to finish him off, a crisp, bell-like voice rang out.
"Stop!"
Princess Crystal, in a classical ruffled gown, appeared before Harvey via teleportation, followed by a large brown dog with a small tuning-fork antenna.
Crystal was Black Bolt's daughter, a noble of the Inhuman Royal Family, and had been resting in her chambers deep within the palace.
She had rushed over the moment the explosions began.
Harvey looked the pale-skinned Crystal up and down and said expressionlessly:
"We only wanted to stay for a while, but you insisted on seeking death. Who else is there to blame?"
Crystal signaled for her maids to place the dying Black Bolt onto a stretcher for treatment.
Only then did she look at Harvey with cold eyes and say: "None of you will leave Attilan alive today!"
Hearing this, Harvey was speechless.
"Have you people stayed high and mighty on the Moon for so long that you've forgotten how to read the room?"
"Is living that bad? You just have to die?"
Hermione sensed a massive gathering of fire elements around Crystal; the girl was preparing to cast a spell.
She seized the opening and flicked her wand.
"Confringo!"
Boom—!
As the smoke cleared, a barrier of earth-element magic appeared before Crystal.
Clearly, her combat talent wasn't poor; she had prepared before her own cast and steadily blocked the Blasting Curse.
The air grew hot.
A dozen half-meter-wide fireballs hurtled toward the group.
Simultaneously, Crystal condensed hundreds of half-inch ice spikes, sending them flying toward her enemies.
Her companion, the giant dog Lockjaw, let out a low growl and lunged at Harvey like a starving wolf.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
A swarm of palace guards coordinated their efforts, aiming their laser rifles at the intruders and squeezing the triggers.
Swoosh! Swoosh!
Cho Chang and Wanda raised their magical shields in unison, blocking the laser fire.
Wanda's hands glowed with scarlet light as she levitated and flew toward the guards at the edge of the battlefield.
Cho Chang waved her wand to cast multiple Impedimenta charms, intercepting the lunging dog.
Harvey watched with interest as Hermione transformed into a magical turret, trading blows with Crystal.
Swoosh! Boom! Thud!
Countless lasers and spells crisscrossed the battlefield; the situation was pure chaos.
Harvey watched unhurriedly; he believed Hermione and the others could handle these enemies.
He remained a bystander, keeping an eye out for Inhuman reinforcements.
The Royal Family's strength surely went deeper than this; Queen Medusa and Black Bolt's brother, Maximus, had yet to appear.
Many Inhuman abilities were bizarre; Harvey needed to clear those variables so the girls could maintain their rhythm.
Bang! Bang! Boom!
The duel between Hermione and Crystal was the most intense; both were fighting with "true fire" now, aiming for lethal vitals.
"Elemental Ice Dragon, emerge!"
"Avada Kedavra!"
BOOM!
The two women grew more frantic as they fought, the shockwaves of their magic further leveling the surrounding palace structures.
Just then, Harvey sensed over a dozen powerful auras entering his range of telepathic detection.
"Reinforcements finally arrived. Time for me to end this pointless squabble with a single blow!"
Harvey levitated into the air, the lasers and spells bouncing harmlessly off his shield.
Getting serious, Harvey channeled his mana through the tip of his wand toward the sky.
"Petrificus Totalus!"
The large-scale Version 3.0 Body-Bind Curse took effect instantly, freezing everyone on the field.
Hermione, Crystal, the guards with their rifles, and even Medusa, who had just arrived at the edge to provide support...
Friend or foe, all were held by invisible shackles, unable to move anything but their thoughts.
the once-roaring battlefield fell into a ghostly silence.
Harvey offered a subtle nod; all that time spent upgrading his spells had paid off.
The Body-Bind Curse, originally a single-target control, was now a divine-tier AoE technique.
The control effect had achieved a leap in power.
He spoke with feigned pity: "Sigh... Today I shall be merciful and teach you arrogant Inhumans a single word: awe!"
"Avis Volley!"
This was the Version 3.0 upgrade of Oppugno.
Tens of thousands of golden arrows with a metallic sheen condensed around Harvey out of thin air.
With a gentle tap of his wand, they broke the sound barrier instantly.
A sonic boom echoed as the arrows, seemingly sentient, tore through the air toward the hearts of the enemies.
Swoosh! Pfft! Squelch!
A sickening series of sounds echoed as metal met flesh.
A massive number of low-tier Inhuman guards had their hearts pierced, blood geysering two meters high from their chests.
The gruesome scene forced even the war-hardened Hermione to cast a Bubble-Head Charm to block out the thick stench of gore.
Harvey praised her: "Nice work, darling. It seems you haven't slacked on your daily training; your progress is impressive..."
Hermione was about to offer a humble reply, but Crystal used some form of hidden, special magic.
Relying on her latent power, she was the first to break the effect of the Body-Bind Curse.
Once free, Crystal didn't try to run.
She knew she had no chance. She turned with a look of helpless misery toward her struggling kin and let out a bitter laugh.
"My people, your sacrifice is for a greater future. I, Crystal, swear I will compensate you!"
"But now, this battle is over. We have lost."