Chapter 407: Round Robin, Other Purposes
"Wait, hold on a moment," Aaron quickly waved his hand, "I'm just an ordinary fifteen-year-old Wizard, there's no need to target me like this, right?"
"A fifteen-year-old Wizard, yes, but truly ordinary?" Lord Voldemort sneered, "It might be more interesting to kill your friends in front of you once you've completely lost the will to resist."
"Hehe!" Aaron gave a strained laugh and said nothing more.
Three against one was difficult, but not impossible to withstand.
As long as he could stall for enough time, Gines and the others should be able to arrive!
"You'd best stand clear, I won't be responsible if you get caught in the crossfire."
But none of the three left; instead, they stood firmly behind him.
"Sigh!" Aaron let out a helpless sigh, "Do you think you're being very heroic? Do I have to tell you that you're a burden before you'll stand clear?"
The three exchanged glances and, with a tacit understanding, put some distance between themselves and Aaron.
Harry Potter saw this scene and couldn't help but show a hint of embarrassment on his face; he seemed to have been told something similar before.
The three Death Eaters advanced, wands raised.
Blue-white magic orbs shot from their wand tips, all aimed at Aaron.
He neither dodged nor avoided, letting the attacks land on him and pass straight through.
Explosions rang out.
The three Death Eaters looked at the craters blasted into the ground, bewildered; they seemed to have hit him, yet also seemed to have missed.
"He's hiding," one Death Eater said, "This is a strange deception spell."
"He must be nearby."
"Master," Barty Crouch Jr. explained, "Gaius's illusion magicis very clever."
"I can see that." Lord Voldemort shifted his gaze to the other side of the target; to others, that spot was empty, but as a peak-level Archmage, he could easily see him.
"It's just that I don't like cheating." Lord Voldemort extended his hand, "Mad-Eye's magical eye."
"Yes." Barty Crouch Jr. immediately took out the wildly rolling eyeball.
Lord Voldemort smiled at Aaron's location, then pointed his wand at the magical eye.
A dark green aura shot out from the magical eye, and an invisible wave instantly spread in all directions, forming a special field.
The illusion was broken, and Aaron was exposed to everyone's sight.
"Holy crab!
They're not giving me any time to rest!"
The three Death Eaters quickly found him and continued with ordinary magic bullet attacks.
Aaron immediately cast a Shield Charm on himself, then began to dodge the attacks, with no intention of fighting back.
After more than a minute, the graveyard had been blasted into a pockmarked area.
Aaron stood in the damp earth, panting heavily, looking utterly disheveled, but without a single drop of sweat on his forehead.
The chests of the three Death Eaters also rose and fell erratically; they had never seen such an elusive eel before.
"What are you doing?" Lord Voldemort roared angrily, "Are you playing games with him?"
"Master," a Death Eater said timidly, "Didn't you say we couldn't kill him?"
"Crucio!"
The Death Eater immediately let out a bloodcurdling scream, and the other two Death Eaters were scared stiff, trembling.
"You can't kill him, but I didn't say you couldn't hurt him." Lord Voldemort said indifferently, "One minute. I'll give you one minute. If you can't satisfy me, you will be punished."
The three Death Eaters froze for a moment, then looked at Aaron with a hint of ruthlessness in their eyes.
"Gulp!"
Aaron couldn't help but swallow; stalling for time was likely going to be difficult.
He didn't care about these three Death Eaters, but Lord Voldemort's patience was slowly being worn away.
The next moment, the three Death Eaters also got serious.
One Death Eater unleashed a fierce magical fire, crimson and blazing, turning into a roaring beast that lunged at Aaron.
"Fiendfyre, is he trying to kill me?"
"That's more like it, Avery.
What you were doing just now wasn't even child's play." Lord Voldemort said, and the Death Eaters all laughed, even Barty Crouch Jr. was no exception.
Aaron snorted lightly. As the fiery beast bit at him, he gripped its fiery fangs with both hands, then opened his mouth and inhaled.
The beast seemed to sense something and wanted to leave immediately, but it was out of control, being sucked into Aaron's stomach at a visible speed.
Burp~
Aaron let out a satisfied burp.
The Fiendfyre's mass and magic were much greater than the fire spell Pettigrew had cast; he felt his own magic had recovered by half a percent.
"Master, I…" Avery nervously explained to Lord Voldemort, "I didn't know he could also swallow Fiendfyre; that's never happened before."
"No need to say more, I understand.
But I must remind you that half a minute has already passed."
"Imperio."
The second Death Eater's Stunning Spell hit Aaron. Just as he thought he had succeeded, a rich, eerie purple light appeared in his pupils, and he collapsed to the ground like a zombie.
At this moment, the last Death Eater Apparated behind Aaron, "Crucio…"
"Don't move!"
The last Death Eater immediately stopped casting magic, because a gun was pressed against his abdomen.
The Death Eaters who had attacked Cedric and his friends were still groaning on the ground; with that precedent, he didn't think he could withstand this shot.
"Twenty seconds left," Lord Voldemort said coldly.
The Death Eater shuddered; he would rather take the shot than endure Lord Voldemort's punishment.
He didn't dare to hesitate and immediately cast Crucio, and Aaron unceremoniously pulled the trigger.
Bang!
Both flew backward simultaneously.
When the Death Eater landed on the ground, the left side of his body was severely burned, bones and steaming flesh mixed together, a sight that made one's scalp tingle.
Aaron staggered to his feet; the Shield Charm on him had resisted the opponent's Crucio, but that shot had further exacerbated his already limited magical energy.
"Watch out," Harry suddenly shouted.
The sound of something tearing through the air reached Aaron's ears. He instinctively dodged, but a blue light still grazed his arm.
Blood seeped from his shoulder, staining his robe red.
"Apparition." Aaron gave a wry smile, "I was careless, I forgot about you, I thought you were out of the picture after casting the Fiendfyre Curse."
Hearing this, Avery said nothing, warily pointing his wand at Aaron.
He dared not be careless; the other two Death Eaters with him had lost their combat ability. All in all, this fifteen-year-old Wizard had defeated six Archmages.
"Don't be so nervous, I'm not far from being at the end of my rope now." Aaron casually tore off his sleeve and began to bandage himself simply with his wand.
Avery saw this and knew it was a rare opportunity, so he immediately cast Crucio.
Aaron raised an eyebrow, Apparating to dodge the spell, "Sectumsempra."
"Ah!"
Avery was sent flying, his entire body covered in bloody gashes as if he had been cut by knives, screaming in pain.
"That makes us even."
Hearing this, several black lines appeared on the Death Eaters' foreheads.
Avery had only injured him, but this round of retaliation was almost indistinguishable from being sliced into a thousand pieces.
"I'm truly disappointed." Lord Voldemort let out a deep sigh, looking at the several Death Eaters lying on the ground, and angrily said, "Thirteen years! You haven't made much progress, being beaten black and blue by a student."
"That only shows your judgment is indeed quite good."
Lord Voldemort snorted coldly, "Crabbe, Goyle, Malfoy, I hear your sons have a good relationship with him. You three go."
Crabbe and Goyle subtly glanced at Lucius. Seeing he didn't hesitate, they immediately followed.
"Uncle Lucius, long time no see!" Aaron said playfully.
Lucius hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth, "Your magic should be almost depleted; you're no match for us.
Surrender! The Dark Lord won't treat you badly if you serve him."
"No, it's still the same thing, he's not worthy."
Lord Voldemort's anger instantly flared, "Hurry up and attack."
Lucius dared not hesitate and immediately waved his wand; Crabbe and Goyle also assisted.
The three's magic converged, forming a terrifying shockwave that swept across the ground towards Aaron.
Aaron shook his head and pointed his wand at the ground.
The ground immediately cracked open, and earth and stones, along with the bones from the graveyard, mixed together and, under the command of his wand, fiercely crashed into the shockwave from Lucius and the other two.
Rumble!
With a loud crash, both sides were simultaneously buried by the earth.
Soon, the burly Crabbe crawled out. He dug out Goyle and Lucius.
"M-master, we didn't mean to kill him," Goyle stammered nervously.
"Shut up! You can't kill him anyway." Lord Voldemort looked at the loose, crumbling ground, "Are you coming out yourself, or shall I help you out?"
"I'll come out myself." A hand suddenly reached out from the mud, and Aaron laboriously pulled himself out, coughing up some dirt.
His face was almost completely devoid of color, and his body swayed, as if he might collapse at any moment.
But no one dared to underestimate him. Including Luciusand the other two, Aaron had defeated ten enemies who were not weaker than himself; such a formidable record was incredible to anyone.
"Honestly, I'm quite curious." Lord Voldemort asked, "What are you waiting for?"
Aaron's heart skipped a beat, but his face remained expressionless, "Nothing."
"No, you are definitely waiting for something." Lord Voldemort said with great certainty, "I started paying attention to you when you were in your first year. I know you far better than anyone else."
"Perhaps you don't know me well enough," Aaron shrugged.
"I know your methods. Two years ago, you almost killed me when I was sixteen using a magic array.
But you haven't used a magic array now, even though you could have ended the battle with a simpler method. Instead, you chose a complicated approach, even at the cost of getting injured.
Do you think I'd believe you have no other motive?"
Aaron: …