Chapter 406: Ancestral Weapons, One Shot, One Mage
"That's truly a shame." Lord Voldemort's voice was calm, but everyone could feel that he was on the verge of a furious outburst. "Perhaps only when your friends die in front of you will you understand the preciousness of eternal life."
Hearing this, Aaron's expression changed drastically, and his heart pounded wildly.
"Avada Kedavra."
Three green spells, like lightning, shot directly towards Cedric and the other two.
"Damn it!"
Aaron cursed under his breath, no longer caring about hiding his strength. He immediately stood in front of the three and formed hand seals.
An orange-red magic circle was instantly outlined, with rings of lines forming the Seraph Shield, a cube that enveloped them.
The Killing Curse struck the magic circle, splashing green sparks imbued with the aura of death.
Bang!
The Killing Curse dissipated into specks of light, and Aaron retreated a few steps, dispelling the magic circle.
"Very interesting magic, I've never seen it before. It can even block the Killing Curse," Lord Voldemort said with interest. "It seems you've learned many new things these past two years."
"Thanks for the compliment." Aaron shook his numb hands. "If you keep up the continuous magical output, I won't last more than a few seconds either."
"Hmph!" Lord Voldemort snorted. "You want to protect them?"
"I can't just stand by and watch them get killed!" Aaron said helplessly.
"Swear allegiance to me, and I might show mercy and spare them. Otherwise, you won't even be able to save yourself."
"Don't listen to him," Cedric said. "While we don't want to die, we know we absolutely cannot let you stand on their side."
Krum and Fleur remained silent, simply gripping their wands to show their stance.
"Ungrateful fools," Lord Voldemort scoffed, then gave a look to a few Death Eaters. "A few of you, go kill those three. Mr. Gaius needs to experience the feeling of losing his friends.
Wormtail, you go stop Mr. Gaius. Don't let him have a chance to rescue the others. If necessary, you can make him suffer a bit, just don't kill him."
"Yes, my Lord," Pettigrew stammered, his expression a bit unnatural.
He had just dueled with Aaron, and though Aaron was young, his strength was even greater than his own.
Lord Voldemort's command was practically forcing him into a difficult situation, but at this point, he had no choice but to comply.
"My Lord," Barty hesitated, interjecting, "with all due respect, Wormtail might not be his match."
"I know that, but I don't want to kill him yet.
His magic has already been significantly depleted. Letting someone test his abilities is harmless."
"You three, I can't help much in this situation. You're on your own." Aaron took a deep breath and faced Pettigrew.
"Honestly, you're the one I despise the most. Perhaps only when you die will you know repentance."
"I… I don't need your respect," Pettigrew said meekly, then suddenly brandished his wand.
A crimson pillar of fire erupted. Aaron raised an eyebrow, made no movement, and allowed the flames to strike him.
"Fire is useless, Wormtail," Barty reminded him. "Gaius seems to have an immunity to fire."
Before he finished speaking, the roaring flames were swallowed by Aaron.
It didn't taste great, but it did restore some stamina.
"Stupefy!" Pettigrew immediately switched to a different spell.
Aaron calmly waved his wand, shooting out pale red orbs of light, engaging in a back-and-forth duel with Pettigrew.
The two seemed to have reached a tacit understanding, neither using powerful spells, just like an ordinary Wizardduel.
And indeed, this was the case. Pettigrew had been tormented by Aaron's Crucio several times, developing a fear of Aaron, and had no desire for a direct confrontation, only wishing to stall him and complete Lord Voldemort's mission.
Aaron was also happy to play along, on one hand to conserve magic, and on the other to buy time.
As long as Genes could arrive with reinforcements in time, his safety would be somewhat guaranteed.
However, the time for slacking off was brief. From Aaron's perspective, Cedric and the other two were being pushed back by the three Death Eaters, and defeat or even death seemed to be only seconds away.
"My luck is terrible," Aaron sighed, then cast a Confringo.
Pettigrew's eyes widened instantly. He frantically raised his wand, barely managing to defend against the spell.
Damn it, no sportsmanship.
It was Stupefy and Petrificus Totalus just now, and in a blink, it's a Confringo. This leap is too sudden.
The spells connected, and the two began a contest of magical power.
Pettigrew went all out. This was a Confringo; while it wasn't as torturous as Crucio, its destructive power was several times greater.
Aaron was no freshman. The lethality of this spell was beyond doubt. Even if he could offset some of its power, being hit would, at the very least, put him in bed for a while, if not seriously injure him.
Aaron gripped his wand with one hand, holding Pettigrew in check, while his other hand extended into the air.
"Equip."
A crimson magic circle appeared, and Aaron pulled out an exquisite flintlock pistol from it.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Three bullets shot out instantly, whistling through the air, reaching the three Death Eaters in a flash.
The magic bullets suppressed the hastily cast spells of the three Death Eaters, blasting them dozens of meters away, then transforming into three enormous fireballs in mid-air.
The phantom of a Phoenix flashed and disappeared, the explosion's fire reaching dozens of meters high.
The three moderately skilled Death Eaters fell from the sky, their gasping breaths indicating they were still alive, but barely.
Gulp! x n
The sounds of swallowing echoed, almost everyone watched this scene dumbfounded, even Lord Voldemort was no exception.
Those three Death Eaters, though not famous, were at least Magisters, considered elites in the Wizarding world.
Yet, these three elites instantly lost their combat ability, which was utterly absurd.
Aaron's face paled slightly. A third of his magic was instantly drained, making it difficult for him to adapt for a moment.
However, his condition was bad, but Pettigrew's was even worse. He seemed to have been scared by those few shots just now and was still in shock, unable to recover.
Aaron made a decisive move, immediately increasing his magical input.
A bluish-white ball of light sent Pettigrew flying, the tearing pain in his body making him scream hideously.
"Truly useless, this is the second time," Barty shook his head speechlessly. "Maybe more than twice."
"Is that a Muggle weapon?" Lord Voldemort asked with interest. "No, no, that's not right. I sense complex magic.
A pure offensive magic weapon, compressing a large amount of magical energy and enhancing its power in a special way, unleashing strength beyond the Wizard's own level."
"As expected of Lord Voldemort, you see right through it.
However, the magic this gun can hold also has an upper limit. It can only bully Magisters, but its effect on Grand Magisters is greatly reduced."
"Where did you get such a weapon?"
"It's an ancestral heirloom, crafted by my ancestor, Argus Gaius, with countless rare materials. Its name is Higanbana," Aaron said bluntly. This was the honest truth; how others interpreted it was none of his concern.
Lord Voldemort raised an eyebrow, his wand twitching slightly.
Higanbana trembled violently, slipping from Aaron's grasp and flying towards Lord Voldemort.
"Come back."
Higanbana instantly quieted down, broke free from the Dark Lord's spell, and flew back into Aaron's hand.
"This is a famous artifact of the Gaius family. It became mine when it came into my possession, so I am its master. Unless I authorize it, no one else can use it."
"A good security measure," Lord Voldemort sneered.
"Aaron, just now… I think I saw a Phoenix," Harry said with a strange expression, tentatively asking, "It wasn't Fawkes, was it?"
Aaron spread his hands. "Phoenixes are powerful magical creatures, much stronger than Unicorns. Extracting magical energy from their feathers to enchant bullets can enhance their power to a certain extent."
Harry's mouth twitched involuntarily. "You really should have plucked more feathers back then."
Fleur seemed to recall something, her expression unreadable. "I remember you bought a box of magical creature feathers from Hagrid back then, didn't you? They weren't all for making bullets, were they?"
"How many bullets do you have left?" Cedric's heart stirred with a faint hope, and he whispered, "Shoot them all out at once. If used well, we might…"
"Don't be delusional," Aaron immediately doused him with cold water. "The power this gun can unleash is determined by the magical energy infused by the wielder. Enchanted bullets are just icing on the cake.
Those three shots just now were my full effort. It took a massive amount of magic to barely reach the attack level of a Grand Magister.
There are dozens of Death Eaters here. Even if we drained all four of our magic, we couldn't kill a third of them, and You-Know-Who wouldn't just stand by and watch his subordinates die."
"So that means we can only struggle to our deaths, and even then, it depends on You-Know-Who's mood," Krum said with a grim expression.
"Don't state the obvious," Aaron said, exasperated, then took a deep breath. "If you're willing to trust me… hold on, there might be a way out."
"Is that supposed to be comforting?" Fleur said with a wry smile. "It's not very convincing. It looks like we're all dead ends today."
"Don't include me," Aaron said. "You have a high probability of dying, but he'll at most beat me half to death, then find a place to lock me up."
"Are you done discussing?" Lord Voldemort asked languidly. "Gaius, we're practically acquaintances. Every time, besides the unpleasantness, you always surprise me. I hope you perform even better next time."
As his words fell, three more people emerged from the ranks of the Death Eaters.
Aaron blinked, swallowing with difficulty.
"This time, you really are on your own. I'm afraid I don't have enough magic for another round of shots."
The few of them exchanged glances, a hint of solemnity appearing in their expressions.
"Give Mr. Gaius a good welcome, but be careful, don't kill him."